Author's note: Heyo!

This chapter was kinda tricky, but very fun to write! It contains a scene I've been looking forward to for a while, so I hope you enjoy it!

Also, any PikaBun fans are welcome to join the PikaBun server on Discord that's run by our main man, Len! If you're interested, just ask for a link and I'll drop you one!

Alright, over and out! :D

Chapter Nine: A Precious Person

Buneary hurried over to catch up to Riolu, still a bit flustered from earlier. Gosh, whenever Pikachu reacted like that, she was never ready for it! Even though that was exactly the sort of emotion she was trying to get out of him!

It always, always took her by surprise how strong it was! Even though she should be used to it by now! Jeez...

... Him reacting out loud had certainly caught her off-guard, though. Floundering and pushing Riolu away like that. It was so unlike him to slip so much! She'd find it funny if it wasn't extremely embarrassing...

She hadn't even been able to say anything, because she wasn't supposed to understand what 'aura' Riolu had been talking about!

Also, jeez... that was no aura for a kid to be sensing! But he'd said he'd felt it before?

Well, if he came from a place filled with riolu and lucario, that made sense, she supposed. What one of them emanates, another one will sense. With so many of them around, they were bound to pick up various auras.

It still made her uncomfortable, though.

"(Uh,)" Riolu said, his waves very unsure, "(so what does he want us to talk about?)"

"(I'm... not sure,)" she replied, giving a cautious glance back.

She saw Pikachu smiling pleasantly, his waves full of turmoil, while Munchlax chatted away to him about something or other, his waves as happy as ever.

She could listen in, with her great hearing, if she wanted, but...

Shaking her head to clear away any temptation, she turned back to Riolu.

His waves were confused now. "(And why didn't he answer my question?)"

She paused a moment. When she remembered the 'aura' question again, she felt warmth spread to her face.

"(U-Um... m-maybe don't think about that one yet. Not until you're older.)"

He turned to blink at her, his waves now even more confused. Yet also intrigued. "(Huh?)"

"(Tr-Trust me.)"

He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say something in response, when Ash's voice suddenly cut through the air.

"So, Kellyn," he said, grabbing Buneary's attention. She was glad for the distraction, though she sensed tense, yet curious waves from him. "Are we almost there?"

"There's a little while to go yet," Kellyn replied, his waves calm and collected. "First, we have to head to the pier, where I have a boat reserved. Then we have to sail the rest of the distance to the rendezvous point. There, we can hand Riolu back to his rightful owners."

"And what about Hunter J?" Brock asked, his waves cautious.

Kellyn hummed in thought, glancing behind himself briefly. "I would estimate that she's caught up with her henchmen by now."

There was a tense spike in the waves of the other three humans.

"That means they'll probably be getting a tongue-lashing right now," Dawn added.

Kellyn nodded. "Right... and, if you really are familiar with her, you'll know what she's likely to do next."

Ash frowned, his waves growing angry. "Probably come after us herself," he replied.

Dawn's eyes widened, her waves tinted with shock. "Right, since her goon squad failed..." she added in realisation.

"Exactly," Kellyn replied. "So we have to stay low, and try not to attract her attention. Then, hopefully, we can get to the coordinates without her seeing us."

"Right!" all three responded in unison, their waves full of determination.

"(Oh no...)" Riolu muttered from next to Buneary.

Whipping her head around, she saw him clutching the pink, string-tied pouch that was wrapped around his neck. His waves were full of fear.

"(Hey, it's okay,)" she reassured, patting him on the arm. "(We'll keep you safe. Promise.)"

He whined in response, his waves not faltering much. Hmm, it seemed he wasn't completely convinced.

Maybe she should distract him, instead.

"(Hey, um...)" She searched her brain for something to talk about. "(... about your aura.)"

He looked up at her, his waves now curious, though there was still a lot of fear mixed in.

She smiled, continuing. "(Maybe to avoid any, uh... unsavoury auras, you should just look away!)"

He blinked, his waves growing very, very confused. "(Huh? But... I don't need to look at people to feel their auras!)"

Buneary paused, knitting her brows together in confusion. "(... Wait, you don't?)"

"(N-No... It's pretty strong, so I can feel aura all around me, no matter where I look.)" He glanced down, his waves a bit sad and guilty. "(... Though, if I get too angry, I lose my zen and can't focus on it well.)" He looked up and his waves brightened with a splash of pride. "(I-If I'm calm, though, I can sense all sorts of things! Like... like feeling evil intentions through a metal wall!)"

Buneary stared at him, her smile stretching uncomfortably across her face. She watched as his aura became confused again.

"(B-Buneary?)" he asked.

... Okay. So Riolu's aura powers were much stronger than her wave powers. Right. Meaning that he could read emotions in ways she couldn't. Mm-hmm. Meaning that, whenever she'd felt any sort of emotion near him, he'd been able to sense it, whether he'd been looking at her or not.

So, all the times she'd been laughing at him inside her head... he'd felt it.

Cruuuuud...

Now she knew what it was like, being on Pikachu's side of things. Thinking you were so clever, hiding your emotions, when someone you knew could read them perfectly.

Ugh, she was so embarrassed...

"(I didn't even know buneary could pull their fluff over their faces!)" Munchlax said, smiling happily as usual.

Pikachu maintained his own smile. Hearing him talk about Buneary so much was pure fricking agony. "(Yeah, she's always been able to do that,)" he replied. "(Ever since I first met her.)"

"(Wow, really? Huh. Who knew it was so stretchy! And she looked super cute with it pulled over her face!)"

His chest tightened, the agony increasing. "(Y-Yeah...)"

Munchlax laughed. "(Not sure what embarrassed her, though.)" He put a finger to his chin in thought. "(Maybe because it sounded like she was flirting? I dunno.)"

"(Heh, maybe!)"

... Truth be told, he wasn't terribly sure why, himself, but regardless...

Dropping his paw back to his side, Munchlax turned his smile to the sky. "(... You know, it kinda reminds me of my childhood friend.)"

Pikachu's ears perked up in intrigue, distracting him from the agony. "(Oh yeah?)"

"(Yeah. We grew up in Vien Forest together... and our moms were friends before we were even born!)"

"(Huh, that's nice.)"

Munchlax turned to smile at him. "(Yeah! She lives at Partner Farm now.)"

Pikachu blinked. "(Partner Farm?)"

"(Yeah! It's in Almia! In a place called Chicole Village! Kellyn's family own it.)"

"(Oh yeah?)"

"(Yeah! His dad grows vegetables, his mom cooks and cleans, and his little sister looks after the pokémon! My friend's one of them!)"

Pikachu's smile returned. "(Ah, okay. Sounds nice.)"

"(It is!)" Munchlax's smile suddenly fell. "(Though she got sick recently, 'cause a bad cold was spreading around the farm.)" He frowned slightly, surprising Pikachu. Whoa, he hadn't known the guy could frown!

The bear continued. "(... I told her I'd stay, to look after her, but she insisted I go on this mission with Kellyn...)" He heaved a sigh, looking defeated. "(I still don't know if I made the right choice...)"

Holy crap, the guy could worry, too! Would wonders never cease? Regardless, Pikachu took a moment to ponder his answer. "(... Well, if you'd stayed, you'd have probably gotten sick, too, right?)"

"(Maybe...)"

"(And I don't think she'd be happy about that.)" He was assuming, of course, since he didn't even know the girl.

"(Probably not...)"

Sweet, he'd nailed it. "(So I think you made the right choice.)"

Munchlax looked at him, a hopeful glint in his eyes. "(Really?)"

Pikachu made sure to widen his smile, to look reassuring. "(Yeah. Plus, you can always go and see her after the mission's over, right?)"

After a moment of blinking at him, Munchlax immediately brightened up. "(Yeah! Yeah, you're right! I'm gonna go see her immediately, after we get Riolu back home!)"

"(That's the spirit!)"

Huh. Well, that had been an interesting story that Buneary had just picked up, about Munchlax's childhood friend! And it had been a nice distraction from being utterly mortified earlier...

Thankfully, Riolu hadn't mentioned it, but she knew he must have felt her embarrassment. Instead, with awkward waves, he'd quietly turned away to look ahead of himself as he walked. She appreciated that, since she really didn't want more embarrassment piled on top of what she already felt.

"(Y-You know,)" Riolu suddenly said, "(I don't get him at all.)"

"(Huh?)" Buneary asked in surprise.

She turned to look at the young dog, whose waves were anxious. He was looking back at her, and seemed to have caught her paying attention to Pikachu and Munchlax's conversation. Oh, whoops.

"(You know... Pikachu.)" He glanced behind himself for a moment, before flicking his head back again, his waves even more anxious. He lowered his voice. "(H-He's always smiling, but he's... so intense inside.)" He gripped his pink, string-tied pouch tighter. "(I don't trust him...)"

Buneary huffed a little through her nostrils, a soft smile on her face. She understood completely, but it was still a pity to hear that from the kid.

"(Hey, I get you...)" She patted his arm comfortingly. "(He is a bit intense sometimes... Okay, all the time... but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy!)"

Riolu's head snapped in her direction. "(But!)" After the explosion of sound, he lowered his voice again. "(But he's so... so fake! I-I can't trust a thing he says, because it doesn't match his aura!)" He paused, frowning slightly at her. "(A-And wait, how do you know he's always like this?)"

Oh, double whoops! Hopefully, she could cover this one well enough!

"(Well, I'm... just really good at reading people, I guess. He, uh, tries to hide it from me, but I can always tell! Even if it does fool everyone else.)"

His eyes widened, his waves surprised. "(Oh, really?)"

Buneary nodded, smiling. "(Mm-hmm! And I don't think he's a bad guy.)"

He frowned lightly, his waves wary. "(Wh-What makes you say that?)"

She pondered this for a moment. "(Hmm... Well, remember when I said he saved me from Team Rocket?)"

"(Yeah?)"

"(Well, that wasn't the whole story. See, they captured me to use as bait, but, at that point, he had no reason to save me.)"

Riolu blinked, his waves confused. "(Huh?)"

"(By that point, I'd really annoyed him. Froze his friends, spun him around... he got really angry with me. Then they captured me, thinking they could use me to get him to hand himself over, in exchange for my freedom.)"

Riolu's eyes widened again, his waves less confused. "(But he had no reason to?)"

Buneary nodded. "(Right... but you know what he did?)" She paused for dramatic effect. "(... He gave himself up. Right then and there. Handed himself over to people wanting to steal him. Just to save some random girl who'd annoyed him.)"

Riolu's waves filled with awe, but there was still some confusion mixed in. "(Huh...)" He spent a moment mulling this over.

"(... They, uh, didn't hold up their end of the bargain, it turned out... lousy good-for-nothings... but the fact that he did that means he can't be all bad, right?)"

"(Well, maybe, but...)" He glanced backwards briefly, only for his head to snap back into place. "(Ever since I brought it up, he's been squashing down his aura...)" He winced. "(H-He knows I can read it, so he's trying to hide it from me...)"

Ah. It figured that Riolu had caught onto that, too. She pondered how to respond to this.

"(Hmm... well, I can't say why he tries to hide himself so much... I honestly don't have a clue... but...)" She thought carefully about how to word this. "(Well, I was watching, and you kept flinching around him... Does... he squash down his aura after that?)"

Riolu paused for thought. "(I... guess so.)"

Buneary brightened. "(Well, in that case... it sounds like he's doing it 'cause he knows it's scaring you!)"

His waves filled with awe and bewilderment. "(He... doesn't wanna scare me?)"

"(Yeah, exactly! And hey, he's done other good things, too! He always breaks up fights, and protects anyone who's in trouble! He may be hard to read, but... I really do think he's a good guy at heart.)"

Riolu's waves utterly shone with awe, all bewilderment gone. "(... Wow...)"

Her heart warmed at the positive response. After a moment, though, a small smirk crept onto her face.

"(Hey, but don't tell him I told you, alright?)" She felt his waves grow curious. "(It's fun to mess with him!)"

He blinked at her, his waves slowly growing amused as his lips curled upwards slightly. He gave a light chuckle. "(Okay, sure.)"

Suddenly, a bleeping noise cut through the air, surprising Buneary. According to his waves, Riolu had been surprised, too.

"Huh?" Ash asked, attracting Buneary's attention. The boy's waves were confused as he glanced around. "What's that?"

"It's my styler," Kellyn replied, his waves as calm as ever.

Ash's waves grew more confused. "Huh? But earlier..."

Kellyn gave him a brief smile. "It makes a different noise when the Ranger Union's calling me."

He stopped in place, and everyone else also halted their walking. Now that no one was moving, Pikachu and Munchlax were able to catch up, and stopped amongst the group. Kellyn lifted his right arm, flipped open the hatch of his styler and pressed a button.

"Voicemail! Voicemail!" a melodic voice immediately called out from the speaker. Kellyn's happiness levels shot through the roof, startling Buneary. "It's me, Rhythmi."

"Oh, hello, Rhythmi!" he replied, his smile a fair bit wider than usual.

Buneary blinked at him. Wow. Who knew that Kellyn could get so excited? Just who was this Rhythmi girl to get him so worked up?

Speaking of which, Rhythmi was such a strange name...

Looking up at the styler, she noticed that it was pointing at just the right angle for her to see the screen. So, when this so-called Rhythmi appeared on it, she got a very clear view of her.

Shoulder-length, curly blonde hair, a delicately-shaped face, and shimmering brown eyes. Wow. Whoever she was, she was very pretty.

"Yoohoo!" she said, beaming and waving. Buneary got a glimpse of dark pink nail polish on her fingers. She couldn't read her waves, though, since her power couldn't reach through screens. "So, how's the mission going, Kellyn?"

Waves of happiness and affection were utterly radiating off him. Buneary smirked. Hello, what was this?

"Oh, yes, it's going just fine! Solana's got the client covered, and I have Riolu in my custody!"

"Good going! Oh, but do watch out for that mean old pokémon hunter, okay?"

Waves of pride joined the happiness and affection. "Oh, of cour-!"

Kellyn was abruptly shoved out of the way, creating startled waves among the humans, as Brock rapidly approached the screen. His own waves oozed attraction and joy, while Rhythmi's face displayed shock.

"Woooow!" he cried out in star-struck awe, as he clapped his hands by his face. "A beauty at the Ranger Union!"

Kellyn frowned lightly, a huge spike of annoyance in his waves. His mouth opened, as if to say something, but nothing came out.

Buneary tried not to smirk. Oh dear, now Brock had done it...

Not noticing, Brock placed a hand to his heart. "Hello there, Rhythmi. My name's Brock, and I'd like us to have our very own ranger union!" He spread his arms out dramatically. "A union of love!"

Perfectly on-cue, Croagunk popped out of his pokéball, his waves full of annoyance as he jabbed his glowing purple fingertips into Brock's rear end. The breeder, with waves full of despair, cried out in pain, before slumping slowly to the floor.

"Mission... failed..." he mumbled.

His waves now calm, Croagunk grabbed him by the leg and dragged him away.

After a few moments, Rhythmi started giggling. "Oh my! Someone taking an interest in me? I'm flattered! Though I don't know you very well, so sorry~!"

Kellyn grumbled, still frowning slightly. He turned his frown on Brock. "I... thought he liked Solana," he said.

Dawn sighed and shrugged, her waves exasperated. "Yeah, he does," she replied.

Ash chuckled, his waves amused, but also exasperated. "Brock's not picky, when it comes to women," he added.

The annoyance in Kellyn's waves spiked again. "I see..." he replied.

"Oh, more friends of yours, Kellyn?" Rhythmi asked.

Just as quickly, the annoyed waves were replaced with happy, affectionate ones, as he looked back at the screen. "Yes," he replied. He showed the other two humans to her, indicating them with his left hand. "This is Ash, and this is Dawn." Both of them said hello. "They... and Brock..." Kellyn's waves grew annoyed again for a second. "... helped me keep Riolu safe."

"Oh, good going, everyone! Thanks for your help!" Ash and Dawn responded positively, their waves happy. Rhythmi's eyes lit up. "Oh! Hey, speaking of new friends!" She glanced around herself, before looking back at the screen and lowering her voice. "I shouldn't be doing this now, since it's not very professional..." She winked. "But the others are on break, so I think now's a good time!" She pouted, gazing at Kellyn with big, shining eyes. "You won't tell on me, will you, Kellyn?"

A high level of attraction radiated from his waves, amusing Buneary. "Uh, n-no, no, of course not!"

She beamed. "I owe you! Anyway!" She turned to the side, indicating to someone. "Hey, come on, come over here!"

After a few moments, another girl walked into view. One who had light brown hair that was tied with red hair bands into two small, messy pigtails. She also had dark blue eyes, which paired nicely with her green stud earrings. On her head was a small, red pair of safety goggles with clear lenses.

"This is Kate!" Rhythmi proudly announced. "She's the Union's newest top mechanic!"

Kate nodded at them, a confident smile on her face. "Hey," she said.

Rhythmi indicated herself. "And I'm their number one top operator!"

Suddenly, Brock appeared by the screen again, fully healed from the poison, and creating startled waves again.

"Wow, another Ranger Union beauty!" he cried, his waves once again full of attraction and joy. "I now know my true calling!" He held one hand to his heart, while dramatically raising the other towards the sky. "To become a pokémon ranger, and bask in the presence of beautiful mechanics and operators!"

Once again, Croagunk popped out of his pokéball with annoyed waves, only to Poison Jab him in the rear.

Brock crumpled to the floor, his waves full of despair again. "I'm... gonna need an operator and a mechanic... for my broken... everything..."

For the second time, Croagunk grabbed him by the leg, his waves now calm, and dragged him away. Ash and Dawn's waves displayed nothing but exasperation.

"... That guy's weird," Kate mumbled, giving the screen the side eye.

Rhythmi giggled. "Like I said, it's flattering..." She smirked. "Buuuut I've already got my eye on someone. Right, Kellyn?"

Kellyn's waves gave off a spike of annoyance, and he seemed to be straining a smile. "Yeah..." he replied.

Buneary's eyebrows rose in intrigue. Oh? That didn't sound good...

Rhythmi grinned at Kate. "And I suspect Kate does, too! Right?"

Kate flushed an angry shade of red. "I-I do not!" she retorted.

Rhythmi giggled. "Really? Because the way you were looking at Keith the other day-"

"Shut up! I do not like Keith!" Grumbling, Kate stomped away, out of view.

Ash and Dawn's waves were filled with surprise and confusion, whereas Kellyn's were full of shock and disbelief.

Buneary hummed in thought. Keith? Wasn't that Kellyn's friend?

Rhythmi watched Kate leave for a few moments, then turned back to the screen, her grin never faltering. "She apparently met him during his stint in Summerland, in the Fiore region."

"Oh?" Kellyn asked.

"Yep! She was doing mechanic training there, so she knows him well!" She lowered her voice. "Though, if you ask me, she has terrible taste in men."

There was a flicker of amusement in Kellyn's waves. "Heh."

Her brown eyes widened with excitement. "Ooh, speaking of good taste!" She leaned in a bit. "Guess who's gonna be visiting the Ranger Union soon!"

Kellyn chuckled, though his waves felt annoyed and oddly hollow. "Is it Sven?"

Rhythmi beamed. "Yessss!" She held her hands to her cheeks, a dreamy look on her face. "And he said he's bringing me a present!"

Buneary's eyes widened. Oh... oh dear...

"Heh... Well, he might be bringing Linda a present, too."

She pouted at him. "Oh, phooey. Go and spoil my fun, why don't you." She huffed. "Well, even if he does, mine will be much better."

Kellyn's smile tightened, his waves oozing annoyance. "Y-Yeah..."

Buneary huffed in pity. Gosh. Poor guy...

After a few moments, Rhythmi paused, blinking a couple of times. "Oops!" She jumped, sitting back into place. "I completely forgot the reason I called in the first place!" She giggled. "Silly me!"

Curious waves circulated around the group.

"Oh?" Kellyn asked, his tightened smile dropping.

"Yes." She cleared her throat, putting on 'professional mode'. "Ben called earlier. He was on a mission in the Sinnoh region, though it seems he hasn't been very successful. He heard you were there, and wanted me to ask if you'd mind him coming along to help."

Kellyn's eyebrows rose, surprise now in his waves. "Oh. Well, I already have a lot of help, but more would be appreciated."

Buneary blinked. Oh, they were going to meet another pokéman ranger? Gosh, three in one day!

Rhythmi beamed at him. "Great, I'll let him know! He would've called you himself, but he's doing a few quests right now. I'll tell him, and I'm sure he'll meet up with you later."

Kellyn nodded. "That's fine." He gave her a genuine smile, his waves pleasantly happy. "Thank you, Rhythmi."

"No problem!" Her smile relaxed. "Well, I'll leave you to it. You're going strong, Kellyn! Over and out!" Her face disappeared and the screen went black.

Once she was gone, Kellyn clicked the hatch shut on his styler, his waves now calm and collected again.