Author's note: Heyo!

Well, I think I'll be working on a string of shorter one-shots for a bit! Just coz the last two one-shots were a mite taxing and I wanna work on simpler stuff for now.

But, while I'm doing that...

Fics wanted!

Yes, that means you, good people! I would like to request fics from you! The PikaBun section is criminally small and it's a lot of work keeping the fandom afloat! Even after so many years!

Many a PikaBun fic has been started and never finished! So I would like to ask for your help, readers!

Whether it be a drabble, a one-shot, a short fic or even a full-fledged fic, I would like to see your creative minds at work! :D So, please, help contribute to this fandom!

Any idea for a fic you may have, no matter how small, is welcome! I will happily read it and review it for you, too! Anything to keep my ship sailing!

Now, please enjoy the one-shot!

P.S. I watched the 'dreaded' Sun and Moon episode (subbed version). As I suspected, Pikachu didn't get the girl. He didn't even care when he lost out. So fear not! The writers will never give him a girlfriend, because they simply don't care enough. They don't even care about keeping him in-character, hence why his personality is every nature at once these days!

So chin up, dudes! And keep on lagomorphing!

On the Sidelines

Buneary just couldn't relax. As much as she loved the warmth and comfort of the digital space inside her pokéball, she was too energised. She couldn't sit still at all! It'd been ages since she'd done any contest training and the energy was building up! True, it would never build up as much as Pachirisu's did - that little guy needed time to run around every day, just to burn it off - but still. She was antsy.

Dawn only needed one more ribbon to get into the Grand Festival, and boy, was Buneary excited! Unfortunately, they'd lost their last contest in Lilypad Town to Jessilina, despite Piplup's amazing appeal and Mamoswine's incredible battling.

Jeez, when had been the last time Buneary had been used in a contest?

She cast her mind back. Well, before Lilypad Town, there'd been the one in Sandalstraw Town, where Ambipom had won the appeal round, but had lost to Kenny. That had been before the monkey had left for ping pong and that had been ages ago.

Before that had been the one in Chocovine Town, the day after meeting that creepy phione again and telling him to buzz off. Buneary had won the appeal round and Pachirisu had won the battle rounds.

... Huh. Had it really been that long ago? Jeez, no wonder she was getting antsy! She hadn't seen any action in ages!

She really hoped Dawn would use her in the next contest, whenever that was. Their first job, though, was to get to Sunyshore City, so that Ash could win his eighth gym badge. Argh, she needed to stretch her legs, or she was going to go crazy!

Shoving her digital body into the side of the pokéball, she caused it to pop open. It sucked her outside in a flash of white light, materialising her on the floor. She stretched with a grin. Ahhhh, much better!

"(Oh, hello there!)" a voice said.

She turned to see a chansey smiling at her. Buneary blinked. "(Uh, hi!)" she replied. "(Am I in a pokémon centre?)"

The chansey beamed. "(You certainly are!)"

Buneary smiled back. "(Oh, okay!)" She blinked again, looking around. Three items sat in the corner of the room. Ash's green backpack, Brock's blue backpack and Dawn's yellow bag. "(Uh, where's my trainer and her friends?)"

The chansey pointed into the distance. "(Oh, they were heading out the side door! They said something about doing some training.)"

Buneary pouted. Aww, did that mean Dawn wasn't planning to use her in the next contest, after all?

"(Okay, thanks.)"

"(No problem~!)"

The chansey turned around and left. Probably to help Nurse Joy with her duties, or whatever.

Hmph. Darn that trainer of hers! Always training everyone but her these days! She wanted some action, too, darn it!

... Though, to be fair, contests only allowed a maximum of two pokémon each. One for appeals and one for battles. It sucked, but those were the rules. She much preferred the rules of the Wallace Cup, where you could enter as many pokémon as you wanted. But, alas, only one of those happened per year...

She was distracted from her thoughts when she heard a commotion outside. Raising both her ears in intrigue, she hopped over to the side door.

As quietly as she could, she opened it and peered outside.

... Huh? Why were Pikachu and Piplup hugging each other so tightly? And why did they look so happy? Had the two of them gotten some really good news lately?

... Looking at them, their eyes were practically sparkling. Like they'd had the greatest news in the world.

... Heck, it reminded her of whenever she looked in the mirror while thinking of Pikachu. She'd have that same sparkle in her eyes. That same love-struck gaze.

... Wait, love-struck?

No, no, no, no, that wasn't it. That couldn't be it. It must have been something else.

"(Buddy~!)" Pikachu said, nuzzling the penguin.

"(Pal~!)" Piplup said, nuzzling the mouse.

... Huh. Man, they were getting awfully cosy. Even the humans looked confused.

"(Sweetie~!)"

"(Honey~!)"

Buneary's eyes bugged out of their sockets. Wait, what?!

Pikachu nuzzled Piplup. "(I love you~!)"

Piplup nuzzled him back. "(I really love you~!)"

"(I really, really love you~!)"

"(I really, really, really love you~!)"

Buneary felt her legs almost give out underneath her. What...?

When... when had this happened?! She'd never been given any sort of hint that Pikachu was... was... gay! And gay for Piplup, at that!

Heck, she'd never been given any hint that Piplup even liked Pikachu that way!

... She was dreaming, right? She had to be dreaming.

She watched as the humans tried to coax them out of it, but they weren't listening. They continued to hold onto one another, as though their life depended on it.

The humans were so distracted by the strange sight that they hadn't even noticed her standing by the slightly open door.

"(Oh, Piplup, where have you been all my life?)" Pikachu asked.

"(Where have you been all my life?)" Piplup asked.

Buneary suddenly felt woozy. She... wasn't sure she could watch any more of this. Slowly, quietly, she crept back inside and shut the door.

Leaning against it, she felt all of her strength leave her. This couldn't really be happening... could it?

After a few moments, she felt a surge of anger. Just how long had Piplup been gay for Pikachu?! Had he been holding onto these feelings for long? Or had they only just come to light? Had he been in love with him the whole time that Buneary had liked him?!

She felt a desire to storm outside, grab the penguin by the scruff of his neck and demand his answer. He hadn't known Pikachu for that much longer than her! And he'd never shown signs of liking him until now. So, now, he was going to claim that he loved him?!

... Her anger simmered down again when she remembered that Pikachu loved him back. How long had that been a thing? Had he been hiding his feelings all this time, or had he only just realised them?

... Was... that the reason he'd never returned her affections?

Ever since the day they'd met, she'd been throwing him hints. Nuzzles, compliments... even hugs, once she'd gotten confident and comfortable enough... but, each time, he'd looked awkward. Embarrassed.

She'd assumed he'd just been shy, but... what if that wasn't it? What if... he didn't like girls?

What if... he didn't like her?

... He certainly did hang around Piplup a lot. Heck, Dawn even kept the penguin out of his pokéball most days now. So Pikachu, by default, got to spend a lot more time around Piplup than he did her.

... The other pokémon had assumed Pikachu had been an idiot for not noticing or returning her feelings... but perhaps she'd been the idiot all along.

Outside, she heard more commotion. Ash and Dawn were yelling. By the sounds of it, they were trying to drag Pikachu and Piplup apart by force.

... She wouldn't lie. She didn't want them to be in love. If dragging them apart would somehow fix this, then she'd happily do it.

But... that was selfish.

Just as it was selfish to presume a guy would fall in love with you, instead of his best friend. His best pokémon friend, anyway. Pikachu had never said that Piplup was his best friend, but, the more she thought about it, the more she realised how close they were.

They hung out all the time, played together all the time... They hugged, they high-fived, they went on mini adventures together.

... There was no way she could compete. There was no way she'd ever been able to compete.

Heck, she couldn't even really say she loved Pikachu. She'd entertained the thought a few times, but what was love, really? She didn't even know if she'd felt it yet. Maybe she had, maybe she hadn't. Maybe all she felt was puppy dog love, or simply infatuation. She couldn't really say for sure.

... Regardless, if Piplup made Pikachu happy... then she'd just have to give them her blessing.

Slowly, she got up from leaning on the door and trudged back towards where Dawn's bag was being kept. She fished around inside it for a moment, before finding her pokéball. Pressing the button on it, she let it suck her back inside.

It clicked shut behind her.

Much later, everyone was called out of their pokéballs for dinner. Buneary trudged her way over to a food bowl and sat down next to it. She had no idea which one she'd picked, but it didn't really matter.

Usually, she'd go for one that was close to Pikachu, but, with the recent news, she didn't really want to be pestering him anymore.

Whilst in her pokéball, she'd continually prayed for the whole thing to be a dream. The more she'd thought about it, though, the more awake she'd realised she'd been.

It hadn't been a dream. It was as real as the fluff around her waist.

Suddenly, a flash of yellow entered her vision. She saw Pikachu happily wandering over to the food bowls.

Her heart jumped in her chest at the sight of him. She opened her mouth, ready to call out to him, but she stopped. What was she doing? Argh, old habits die hard, she guessed.

It was only then that she realised who was walking alongside him.

Piplup. Of course.

Her mood immediately dipped.

She was surprised, however, when Pikachu sat next to her. Though it only served to rub salt into the wound. Especially when Piplup sat on his other side.

Pikachu smiled at her. "(Hey, Buneary!)" he said.

She forced a smile back. "(Oh, hey, Pikachu!)" she replied. It was really painful to hold that smile.

He gave her a concerned look. "(Hey, are you okay?)"

... Apparently, she wasn't very good at faking a smile.

Tired of holding it up, she let it drop. "(Yeah, I'm... fine.)"

He tilted his head at her. "(Are you sure?)"

She paused a long moment. Both Pikachu and Piplup were looking at her in concern and intrigue.

She took a deep breath, then forced the smile back on. "(Congrats on the relationship!)"

Pikachu blinked at her. "(... Huh?)"

"(Yeah! You and Piplup!)"

Pikachu's eyes bulged. "(Wait, what?!)"

Piplup's did the same. "(Wait, what?!)" he parroted.

Ah. So they were trying to hide it, were they? She didn't really see why, considering how blatant they'd been about it earlier. But maybe it was just around the pokémon that they felt awkward about admitting it.

"(It's okay...)" she replied, "(I heard everything! You guys... seemed to really love each other, so...)"

Both Pikachu and Piplup's faces exploded in heat.

"(Um...)" Pikachu started.

Piplup flailed around, flustered. "(What the heck, Buneary?!)" he cried.

Buneary recoiled from the outburst. "(Um...)" she replied, "(i-it's okay, though! I don't mind that you're gay! I-In fact, I'm happy for you! Whatever... makes you happy, right?)"

Pikachu slowly raised a paw to his face. He planted it there and kept it there.

"(What do you mean gaaaay?!)" Piplup screeched.

Whispers and chuckles could be heard all around them. A few voices sounded confused. Others sounded greatly amused.

"(Y-Yeah!)" Buneary replied. "(And you shouldn't be embarrassed! Because... in the end...)" She tried not to cringe at her own words. "(... Love is love, right?)"

There was a howling of laughter from nearby. Her face burned. She didn't dare to look at who it was, or how many of them there were.

"(... Buneary,)" Pikachu said, his paw still planted firmly on his face. "(... I'm not gay.)"

He was still denying it?

She heaved a sigh. "(... Look, you don't have to hide it. I saw everything. You hugged and confessed your love and...)" She cringed again. "(... I'm very happy for you two.)"

"(Urgh! For crying out loud, woman!)" Piplup screeched. "(I'm not dating Pikachu!)"

"(It's... kinda embarrassing you saw that,)" Pikachu admitted, "(... but it wasn't what it looked like.)"

Buneary blinked, confused. "(What do you mean?)" she asked.

"(It was a freaking machine, Buneary!)" Piplup screeched, his flippers flailing everywhere. "(It made us fall in- I mean, get really attached to one another!)"

Okay, now she was really confused. "(... Machine? What?)"

"(Yeah...)" Pikachu replied, finally removing his paw from his face. "(Something called the Affinity Enabler... made by Professor Kodama. A guy in that last town. It, uh... it works like Attract. Except it's stronger.)" The blush on his face got darker. "(And works on the same gender.)"

She blinked at him. "(... Huh?)"

"(It was made so that electric-types and water-types could, uh... 'get along' better... Every time it didn't work on his quagsire and magnemite, he cranked up the power on it.)" He paused, glancing away. "(... It worked quite well on me and Piplup, though...)"

Buneary blinked. She blinked again. "(... So... you're not gay for one another?)"

"(No!)" Piplup screeched. "(I like girls, remember?!)" He frowned at her. "(Remember Marill?!)"

"(Well... yeah, but... you could... be bi, or something, right?)"

"(I'm not bi!)"

"(Yeah, me neither,)" Pikachu said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "(I like girls, too.)"

"(... You do?)" Buneary asked.

"(Yeah.)"

"(Jeez Louise, Buneary!)" Piplup cried. "(I'm not interested in Pikachu and he's not interested in me!)" He folded his flippers and turned away with a huff. "(So you don't have to worry about me stealing him from you!)"

Buneary's face flushed. "(H-Hey, I never said-!)" she replied.

"(We all know you were thinking it, don't lie!)" After a moment, Piplup put on a proud face. "(And I think you've got a shot, personally.)"

"(H-Hey!)" Pikachu replied, looking flustered.

... Oh. Oh.

Well, now she felt really silly. Especially since the pokémon nearby were still howling with laughter. Mortified, she grabbed her fluff and pulled it over her face.

Welp, she wasn't living this one down for a while...

... Though she couldn't help but smile slightly about Piplup's last comment. It seemed something good had come out of the day, after all.

The End