Warning. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE approaching.

Author's note: Heyo!

Another AU of an episode coming at ya! This one's dedicated to Dirty98. I know it's not quiiiite what you asked for, dude, but I hope it's still alright!

... And I know at least one other person requested this, but I can't remember who they were for the life of me. So, uh... whoever you are, this is dedicated to you, too! I'm sorry I lost track of your PM. Aheh...

Oh! By the way...

If anyone has a particular fondness for a one-shot and wants to see it continued/expanded upon, well, you now have my express permission to make a fic on it!

Prequels, sequels, mid-quels... maybe even fics that are simply inspired by the one-shots, whatever!

A little bit of credit would be appreciated, but, more importantly... (since I've been a bit of a jerk about that in the past and I'm sorry... I'm better now, promise)... I would love to hear about anything you're writing! Since I've been dying to read some new stuff, myself!

I'd love to see what headcanons people come up with for things!

You're free to use whichever one-shot you like. Multiple people can even use the same one-shot, if they wish! Anything for more content, right? :D

Let's make this community bigger and better than ever! Huzzah!

... Also, is this my longest one-shot yet?! It just might well be!

Hope you enjoy it!

Everything Changes

"Urgh," Jessie grumbled. "I'm so bored..."

"Me too..." James grumbled.

"Me t'ree..." Meowth agreed.

After a moment, Jessie blinked. "Wait, what were we waiting around for again?" she asked.

"Uhhh... I forget," James replied.

Meowth shrugged. "Somet'in' about de machine we just built?" he replied.

Jessie groaned in annoyance and stood up. "That's it!" she said. "If none of us can remember, then let's just get back to following the twerps!"

Smiling, James stood up, too. "Sounds like a plan to me!" he replied.

Meowth smiled and stood up, too. "Yeah!" he said. "Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important!"

"Then let's hop to it!" Jessie said, heading towards the door of their shack.

"Hopping~!" James replied, following after her.

"We'll be hoppin' so hard," Meowth added, "de twoips will t'ink we're rab-" He screeched as his foot caught something and he fell to the floor. The object landed, open, on his head. "... Ow..."

"Hmm?" Jessie asked, the sound of footsteps halting. "Are you alright, Meowth?"

"Yeah..." Meowth pulled a face. "Knew I shouldn'ta left dat book on de floor..." Sitting up, he pulled the book off his head.

"What's that, Meowth?" James asked.

"De instruction manual for de..." Meowth paused halfway through closing it as he noticed some fine print on the page. He read it for a short while.

"Meowth?" Jessie asked.

"... Ohhh." Meowth turned the book around, so that his friends could see. "It says we're supposed to wait a week for de machine to heat up, den we can use it. Any sooner and it won't woik."

Jessie knocked a fist into her palm in realisation. "Of course! That's what we'd forgotten."

James smiled sheepishly. "We almost made a huge blunder," he said.

"Good t'ing dis book was here!" Meowth said, turning the book around and closing it. He slumped his shoulders and heaved a sigh. "But we still have to wait a few more days before we can use de machine..."

The other two slumped their shoulders and sighed, too.

Pikachu happily rode on Ash's shoulder as the group travelled through a forest, on their way to Eterna City. It'd be a while before they got there, but he was already so excited! They were off to win their second gym badge in Sinnoh!

He briefly cast his mind back to a few days ago, when the humans had taken a look around a place called the B Button League. It'd been very interesting, meeting people who wanted to raise the best pokémon they could, without evolving them. Even the pokémon themselves had been very keen on the idea.

They could have been a mighty gyarados and a beautiful milotic, but they'd chosen to stay as they were. Pikachu found he could relate.

Besides, the results of the training had spoken for themselves. Piplup had never stood a chance against that magikarp and he, himself, had only managed to tie with him. Even though all the fish had been using was Tackle, it was the most powerful Tackle that Pikachu had ever seen... and felt. Ouch.

... As for his own evolution, well... he'd only evolved from a pichu to stop his electric attacks from hurting him anymore. He'd thought about becoming a raichu, but he enjoyed being a pikachu far too much. He was small and cute, a lovely shade of yellow, and he could easily ride on Ash's shoulder.

Yep, he liked life just the way it was!

Later, while Brock was busy cooking lunch, everyone had been let out of their pokéballs. Staravia, Turtwig and Sudowoodo were relaxing nearby, while Croagunk was staring at his own reflection in the small lake.

"(Hey, guys!)" Aipom said enthusiastically. She picked up a stone with the hand on her tail. "(Check this out!)"

She threw the stone. It bounced once across the lake, then plopped into the water.

"(Whoa!)" Pachirisu said, looking impressed. "(Way to go!)"

"(Hmph,)" Piplup said, folding his flippers. "(I could do better...)"

Aipom picked up another stone and handed it to him. "(Go ahead, then,)" she said, beaming cheekily.

"(Hmph. Fine, I will.)"

Taking the stone, Piplup took careful aim at the lake. He closed one eye and stuck out his tongue, focusing.

He nodded once, then let the stone fly.

It immediately plopped into the water.

Aipom and Pachirisu burst into giggles, while Piplup looked devastated.

"(These guys...)" Pikachu said with an exasperated smile.

Next to him, Buneary giggled. "(They're a handful, alright~)" she replied.

Hearing her voice, Pikachu remembered not too long ago. Back when he'd been training for Ash's rematch against Roark. Buneary had affectionately petted him on the head with her ear, saying that she believed in him. That he had the power, courage and determination to win next time. He'd felt rather embarrassed by the shameless praising - especially in front of his friends - but he couldn't deny that it had boosted his ego.

Heck, it might have even contributed to him defeating Roark's onix. He'd felt oddly empowered after learning her spinning move, so maybe.

Suddenly, a large cage fell down from nowhere, encasing all the pokémon within it. They all yelped in surprise.

Then a robot rolled in from the side, three people standing on top of it. Cackling maniacally, they began to recite their motto.

Pikachu growled. Team Rocket. He hadn't seen them for over a week, so he'd been hopeful that they'd just given up and gone home. It seemed that wasn't the case, though.

As his friends tried, and failed, to bust themselves out of the cage, Pikachu noticed some robotic arms coming their way. Then the top of the cage slid open. Staravia looked about ready to fly up and out, but his way was blocked by the robotic arms.

They were aiming straight for Pikachu.

Before he could move out of the way, though, they clamped together, encasing him inside a metal container with a round glass window on it. He watched himself be lifted up and out of the cage.

"(Pikachu!)" Buneary cried, trying to jump out of the cage with Bounce.

Before she could, it slid closed again and she smacked her head on the ceiling.

Pikachu winced. Ouch...

Team Rocket laughed again.

"Now it's time for our machine to work its merry magic!" Jessie said.

"Behold, twerps!" James said. "Our Poké Evolution Machine One!"

Pikachu's eyes widened. What?!

"Evolution machine?!" Ash cried.

"Meowth, dat's right~!" Meowth said, referencing their old motto. "And wid yer poké pals over dere, we'll be at dis all day!"

"Then we'll have our own possé of powerful pokémon!" Jessie said.

"That we'll pilfer and package straight to the boss!" James added.

"Poifecto!" Meowth said.

Pikachu quickly looked over at his friends in the cage. Oh no. Almost every single one of them had another one or two stages to evolve into. The only exceptions being Pachirisu and Sudowoodo.

... Including himself.

This machine wasn't really going to work... was it?

Panic rose within him as he was brought closer to the machine.

"And we'll start with this little cutie pie!" Jessie said, beaming.

"Though he'll be a bigger cutie pie once we're done!" James added.

Pikachu felt adrenaline fill every vein in his body. They were... going to evolve him?!

"(No! Please!)" he screamed, trying to break free of the glass container.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, running forward. With a press of a button from Meowth, another cage fell from the sky, trapping the humans inside it. Ash angrily grabbed hold of the bars. "You leave Pikachu alone!"

"(Pikachu!)" Buneary cried from inside her own cage.

Pikachu watched in horror as a glass container on top of the machine opened up. The robotic arms positioned him above it, then pulled apart, opening the metal container he was in. With a shriek, he fell straight into the glass container. It immediately closed above him.

With another press of a button, the glass container began to lower. Panicking, Pikachu slammed his paws against the glass.

He couldn't see his friends anymore. He was inside the robot.

In desperation, he used Thunderbolt.

It didn't work, so he switched to Iron Tail.

That didn't work either, and now the robot was glowing.

Buneary held her breath as the robot's glow died down. Oh no... what was going to happen?!

Was Pikachu really going to...?

"Now... Raichu!" Jessie said smugly.

Then something popped out of the chute at the bottom of the machine. It hit the ground and flopped onto its front, looking dazed. It was orange and brown.

Her heart stopped in her chest. Was... that Pikachu?!

"We did it!" Team Rocket cried out in joy. They began to dance around. "Weee got a raichu~! Weee went and beat'chu~! Now we'll get a promotion, yay~!"

She stared in horror as the raichu blinked. He blinked again, then sat up.

Oh, good legends... he was so big now. About twice his height and almost three times his width.

Oh no... he wasn't going to like this... Not at all...

Pikachu looked down at himself.

He was orange. There was a circular patch of white on his front. He lifted his paws to see that they were brown. He had no fingers.

He felt his tail freely swishing behind him. He became very aware of how different his feet felt. Much larger, much further apart and with much freer movement.

He looked around him in a daze. Everything looked smaller now. Even Ash, who was looking at him in shock.

"... Pikachu?" he asked quietly.

The word struck him hard in the chest. He felt tears sting at his eyes.

He'd become the thing he'd never wanted to be.

A raichu.

He glanced over at Buneary, who also looked like she was about to cry. She and the others looked much smaller than before.

Then anger hit him. This was all Team Rocket's fault. They'd ruined everything. They'd ruined him. They'd ruined his life! They'd forced him to evolve when he hadn't wanted to!

A third cage dropped down, trapping him inside it, but he paid it no mind.

Rage boiled in his blood, filling every vein in his body. He wanted revenge.

Using Iron Tail, he swung his new tail at the cage. It shattered into pieces instantly.

Team Rocket screamed in shock, apparently not expecting that. Well, too bad.

Facing them, he glared, hard, his cheeks sparking dangerously.

Panicking, Meowth pressed another button. The awful, horrible machine started to transform into a mecha bot. Everyone around him gasped in shock, while Team Rocket gloated, but he was far too angry to care.

"(Screw you guys, I hate you!)" he screamed, unleashing a Thunderbolt.

It hit both them and the mecha bot, electrocuting them. Their screams were a lot louder than usual. They rang through his much more sensitive ears.

Getting even angrier, he pumped up the voltage. They screamed louder, before there was a colossal explosion. They rocketed into the sky, much faster than usual.

"Looks like-!" was all they got time to say before they disappeared on the horizon.

He huffed and puffed, the anger slowly being released.

Once it was all gone, he burst into tears.

After a while, the mouse calmed down enough to free everyone from their cages with Iron Tail. The cages broke just as easily as the first one had.

Well, he was certainly more powerful now, that was for sure...

Once freed, Ash immediately ran over to him.

"Buddy!" he said, kneeling down. He was pretty much eye level with him. Ash gave him a sympathetic gaze. "Aw, man..." He frowned. "Team Rocket have gone too far this time!"

Brock sighed, folding his arms. "No kidding..." he replied. "They've crossed the line with this plan..."

"Um..." Dawn said, "sorry, but... is there a huge problem with Pikachu evolving?"

"Yeah!" Ash replied, standing up. "Pikachu said he never wanted to evolve! Ever! He wanted to stay a pikachu and now he can't!"

The mouse looked at Ash's height, compared to his own.

... Raichu weren't supposed to be this tall, were they...?

Dawn gave a light gasp. "Is... there any way to reverse it?"

"I'm afraid not, Dawn," Brock replied. "Scientists have been trying for years to come up with a de-evolution method, but... no luck so far."

"Oh no..."

"You're darn right 'oh no'!" Ash replied angrily. "Team Rocket are gonna pay for this, next time I see 'em!"

... So there was no way to reverse it. He'd thought not. He'd wanted to hope, though...

His eyes began to sting again.

"(Hey...)" Buneary said, landing next to him, "(Pi- I mean, Raichu?)" He flinched in response. "(Oh. Um... shall I not call you that?)"

"(... I'm not used to it yet,)" he replied.

His voice was so gruff now. It sounded foreign to his ears.

"(Oh. Sorry...)"

"(It's okay...)"

He turned to face her. He blinked when he only saw her ears. Angling his head downwards, he managed to look her in the eyes.

... She only came up to the bottom of his ribcage.

She gave him a sad look. "(You're really not taking this well, huh?)"

He shook his head. "(No...)"

"(... Honestly, I don't blame him,)" Piplup said. The mouse turned to look at him. The penguin cast him a sympathetic gaze. "(I don't wanna evolve either... so if I was forced to, I'd... well, I dunno what I'd do.)"

Aipom put on a smile that looked forced. "(Freak out, probably,)" she said. She gave an awkward laugh. Afterwards, she paused and the smile dropped. "(... Seriously, though, man...)" She looked at the mouse. "(I'm sorry.)"

Piplup's shoulders slumped. "(Me too...)"

"(Yeah, that was really mean!)" Pachirisu said from nearby. The mouse turned around to see the squirrel in tears. "(How could they do that?!)"

The mouse looked around to see all his other friends giving him sympathetic gazes. Staravia, Turtwig, Sudowoodo... Even Croagunk looked mildly concerned.

The mouse sighed. "(Yeah...)" he replied. After a few moments, he looked at his paws, then the rest of his body. "(... Raichu aren't usually this tall.)"

"(They're not?)" Piplup asked curiously.

"(No. Not the ones I've met, anyway...)" He paused, taking it all in. Or trying to, at least. "(They were usually about a head taller than me... like Katrina's... and Kay's... and the one at the vacation place...)" He paused again. "(... I'm... closer in size to Surge's now, actually...)"

"(Surge's?)" Buneary asked.

"(Yeah... though...)" He looked all around himself. He swished his long tail, really not used to how thin and loose it felt. Then he glanced at Buneary, and back at himself. He was almost three times her width. He flinched as his voice lowered to a murmur. "(He wasn't quite this wide...)"

He saw Buneary flinch, too. That just made his heart feel heavier.

Later on, after lunch, everyone was being returned to their pokéballs. The mouse caught one last sad gaze from Buneary before she disappeared in a red light.

He heaved a sigh.

Everyone always joked around, saying that Buneary liked him. That the 'potato stunt' that she'd come to admire him for had made her crush on him.

She'd been very affectionate to him so far, but he still wasn't sure. Plus he hadn't even been sure of his own feelings. They hadn't really known each other that long, after all.

... Not that it really mattered now, with him being a raichu, but still.

He looked up at Ash, who was putting his pokéballs away. Then he looked at Ash's shoulder. It was his favourite place to perch. A place where he could be eye level with his best friend, and have a high vantage point. He'd gotten so used to being up there that he couldn't imagine not going up there.

He walked over and climbed up the side of Ash's leg. His trainer yelped and wobbled off balance.

"Whoa, buddy!" Ash cried out.

"Pika-!" Dawn said. "I mean, Raichu!"

The mouse flinched again, but tried to perch himself on Ash's shoulder.

... Then he noticed how wide he was, compared to the shoulder.

He didn't even fit.

Unbalanced by the weight, Ash toppled to the floor. "Urrrrgh... it's like Bayleef all over again..."

... Oh, right. Bayleef. The second she'd evolved, she'd tried a similar thing.

Now he'd never be able to do it, either. He'd never be able to sit on Ash's shoulder again.

Tears stung his eyes, blurring his vision. He hated everything. He hated being a raichu. He hated being stupidly tall and fat. He hated Team Rocket for doing this to him!

Ash yelped, scrambling into a kneeling position. "Hey, come on, buddy, it's okay..." He placed a hand on the mouse's head, then tried to give him a comforting smile. "You can't ride on my shoulder anymore... but hey! You're a ton stronger now!"

"(Yeah...)" he replied.

"The next time we see Team Rocket, they won't know what hit 'em!"

"(Yeah...)"

Ash gave him a sympathetic gaze. "To think, I still had that thunder stone in my bag, too..."

The mouse looked up at him through watery eyes. "(You did?)"

"Yeah... I never planned to use it, but I had it." He heaved a sigh. "Might have been better than letting Team Rocket do this to ya, though..."

The tears increased.

Ash yelped in panic. "N-Not that you being a raichu's bad! You're still my buddy... my best buddy... no matter what!" He petted the mouse on the head again. "Alright?"

"(... Yeah... thanks, Ash...)"

Later that night, everyone was having dinner.

Choosing a bowl, the mouse sat down to eat his pellets. Then someone sat down next to him. Glancing to the side, he saw that it was Buneary. She was giving him a concerned gaze.

"(Hey,)" she said gently. "(How're you holding up?)"

He heaved a sigh, looking back at his bowl. "(... Not well...)" he replied.

"(Aww...)"

Something brushed against his fur. Looking back at Buneary, he saw that her ear was petting his side.

He blinked. Oh. Was she trying to comfort him again?

"(It's alright,)" she continued, smiling. "(You look good as a raichu!)"

He frowned sadly. "(No, I don't...)"

"(Sure you do! Sure, you're a lot bigger... but it still looks good!)"

"(Well... thanks.)"

She smiled a bit brighter.

The following morning, the mouse awoke from a horrible dream. A dream about being eaten by a mechanical monster and turning into a fifty-foot giant. He'd stomped around the forest, accidentally crushing all of his friends.

When he awoke, he felt relieved. Then he looked down at his paws.

They were brown, with no fingers.

... He was very tempted to go back to sleep and stay like that.

The morning consisted of breakfast and travelling. Since the mouse could no longer sit on Ash's shoulder, he had to walk alongside him, instead. Several times, he'd tripped over his new feet, forgetting how much larger they were now. That and his new tail was often unbalancing him horribly. He really wasn't used to it at all.

It was miserable.

At lunchtime, Buneary sat next to the mouse again.

"(Hey,)" she said.

He turned a tired smile in her direction. "(Hey...)" he replied.

"(You doing okay?)"

"(I guess...)"

She tried to put on a smile. "(Hey, it's okay. Things are rough now, but I'm sure they'll improve!)"

"(Maybe...)"

... Hmm. He couldn't help but notice the change in Buneary's demeanour since he'd evolved. Clearly, she pitied him.

He hated that.

The same thing happened at dinner, with Buneary sitting next to the mouse and giving him some comfort.

He appreciated it, though it upset him at the same time.

As well as this, now it seemed like everyone was avoiding calling him 'Raichu', for fear it would upset him.

That, too, was appreciated, yet upsetting.

The next morning, after breakfast, when Ash, Dawn and Brock were busy packing up the campsite, a cage suddenly landed on the mouse. He yelped in shock.

Then came the laughter. The insufferable laughter. He remembered what that laughter meant. It had been only two days ago, after all.

Laughter meant pain. Laughter meant sadness. Despair.

It also meant anger. Rage. Fury.

"Listen," Jessie said, "is that a voice I-?"

He didn't care to listen to their stupid motto anymore. He didn't care for them anymore. They were dead to him. With a single Iron Tail, he destroyed the bars instantly. Team Rocket shrieked in shock. Apparently, they hadn't taken his new power into account.

"Hey!" Jessie continued, dancing around in anger, "we weren't finished with our motto!"

He rounded on them, eyes blazing. "(I don't care,)" he growled, charging up a Thunderbolt.

"Hey, wait!" James cried.

He didn't listen. Instead, he electrified them and whatever robot they'd wanted to use, until they exploded.

They rocketed into the sky a second time.

"Looks like-!" was all they could say before they vanished.

Yep. His Thunderbolt certainly was a lot more powerful than before. He'd never packed this much of a punch in his life.

So that was something, he supposed...

A few months passed.

Badges and ribbons were earned, new pokémon were added to the team, and the mouse was finally getting used to being a raichu.

Team Rocket still hadn't been forgiven, of course. He doubted they ever would. Whenever he saw them, he did his best to send them blasting off as soon as possible. It wasn't always immediate, though, since they'd gotten better at accounting for his new power.

During this time, all of his friends had been so supportive. They'd helped him get used to his new size and his new name. Especially Buneary, who'd been there for him the whole time.

Sometimes, she'd walked outside of her pokéball to keep him company. Other times, she'd cheered for him in battles, then showered him in compliments, whether he'd won or lost.

Gradually, she'd become more affectionate than ever. Hugging him. Nuzzling him. Even winking at him at times.

He was starting to feel differently around her.

... It was just a pity that he was twice her size. Especially since, once he'd started to get comfortable in his new body, the teasing from before he'd evolved had come back. Except now it had increased tenfold.

'She really likes you, huh?' they'd say.

'Are you gonna ask her out?' they'd ask.

'Best do it before someone else does~!' they'd taunt.

He didn't know for sure if she liked him that way, but, if she did, then he wasn't sure what to do...

One evening, after dinner, Raichu decided that he couldn't hold in his curiosity any longer. Inviting Buneary over to a private area of the field, he asked her a simple question.

"(Is... is everyone right?)" he asked, looking down at her. "(... Do you really like me?)"

She blushed, nervously shifting from one foot to the next. "(... By 'like', you mean...?)" she replied.

Gulping, he nodded. "(Yeah... do you... like-like me?)"

Lifting up the fluff around her waist, she hid behind it. "(Well... yeah... I... have for a while...)" She shifted from foot to foot again, still hiding her face. "(And the c... crush only got bigger over time, so yeah...)"

He blushed. "(E... Even though I'm much taller than you?)"

"(Well, yeah... the size doesn't really matter. It's you I like.)" Lowering the fluff slightly, she peered over it. "(So, uh... what do you think? Do you wanna... try dating, or something?)" She quickly hid her face again.

His face warmed further. "(I...)" He paused. "(... I'd... like that, but...)"

She peered over her fluff at him again. "(Hmm?)"

He let out a puff of air. "(Well, look at me.)" He indicated himself. "(Will this even work?)"

She dropped the fluff back into place. "(You're not that much bigger than me... and, even then... I can evolve, too, you know.)"

He blinked at her. "(Huh?)"

She smiled. "(Yeah! I can become a lopunny! Would that make you feel better?)"

He blinked again. "(... But...)" His ears dipped slightly. "(I don't want you evolving for my sake...)"

She giggled. "(Hey, don't worry! I always wanted to be a lopunny anyway, so it works out!)"

His ears lifted. "(Really?)"

"(Yeah!)" She paused, then fidgeted. "(I told myself I wouldn't become one at first, 'cause... well, I wanted to be the same size as you. I thought I'd have a better shot than if I evolved and became, like, three times your size...)"

He felt oddly flattered by that comment. "(Ah...)"

"(But now I don't have to worry about that! And, if I do date you, I probably will evolve. No, I'm certain I will!)"

His heart swelled at that comment. If there was one thing this rabbit was good at, it was flattery.

"(Oh, well...)" His face felt warm again. "(If you wanna date, then...)" He tapped his fingerless paws together. "(Sure, why not? Sounds fun...)"

She beamed. "(Does that mean you like me, then?)"

He bashfully averted his gaze. "(Um... yeah... I do...)"

He heard a squeal before something latched onto his side, hugging him. "(I like you, too~!)"

He looked at her and couldn't help but smile at how happy and cute she looked.

... Then she started glowing.

Eyes widening, he stepped back. He watched as her bright silhouette grew, changing form. It grew and grew, until it was taller than he was! Then the glow faded away.

In its place was a beaming lopunny.

"(Oh... wow...)" he said.

She giggled. "(Wow, this sure is different!)" She looked herself over, then looked at Raichu. She paused. "(Hmm...)" She stepped forward, until she was right in front of him. "(Huh. Wow, I'm taller than you are!)"

He found that he was eye level with her neck. "(Yeah...)"

"(Now you don't have to worry about being too tall anymore~!)" She stepped back and winked at him. "('Cause now I'm taller!)"

He chuckled bashfully. "(Yeah...)" Recovering, he smiled at her. "(You look good as a lopunny.)"

"(Thanks~! And you still look good as a raichu!)"

"(... Even when I'm really fat?)"

"(Hey, that's not fat, that's pure muscle! If you learned Body Slam, you'd be a killer in battle!)"

"(Heh, maybe!)"

"(Definitely!)" Moving closer, she bent down slightly and hugged him again. "(Mm, this is weird, but I think I'll get used to it.)"

He gave her a nuzzle. "(Me too.)"

She squealed in delight, nuzzling back.

... It was in that moment that Dawn decided to walk through the bushes.

"Hey, Buneary," she began, "how about we-?" She paused, then jumped a foot in the air. "Bah! Buneary, is that you?!"

"(Yep!)" Lopunny replied, nodding.

Dawn's eyes lit up. "Oh, wow, you evolved!" She giggled. "And you're getting real cozy with Raichu! Are you two dating now, or something?"

Lopunny nodded again. "(Yep!)"

Embarrassed, Raichu also nodded. "(Yeah...)" he replied.

Dawn blinked, clearly not expecting that answer. Once she finally processed it, she squealed in joy.

"Oh, how adorable!" she cried. "Congratulations, you two!" She gasped. "I've gotta go spread the news!" She quickly ran off. "Guys!"

Raichu felt panic rising inside him.

He reached out a paw. "(No, wait!)"

It was too late. She was already gone. He heaved a sigh.

Lopunny giggled. "(You're not embarrassed to be dating me, are you?)" she asked.

"(Well, only a little... 'cause I know how much the others are gonna tease me about it...)"

She giggled again. "(Well, don't worry. I'll be here for you. Just stand tall and proud, then they'll have less to tease you about!)" She gave him another comforting nuzzle.

He gave her a tired smile, nuzzling back. "(Thanks...)"

Standing tall would be easier said than done, for sure...

Looking at his new girlfriend, though, he felt it would be worth putting up with a few teasing comments, just to be with Lopunny.

He smiled to himself, finally content with life.

The End