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A Tall Order

Smiling to himself, Pikachu lay down the last two food bowls he'd been given by Ash and Dawn. Once he was done, he lifted his head, glancing around at his Sinnoh teammates. It seemed that most were either relaxing on the grass, or were happily chatting to one another, while waiting for Brock to finish making their pellets.

Two pokémon who were doing the latter were Buneary and Pachirisu.

Pikachu watched them for a moment, curious what they were saying to one another, when something suddenly caught his eye. He paused and stared.

Wait... had Pachirisu always been the same size as Buneary?

He cast his mind back as far as possible, trying to remember the day they'd met the squirrel, and chased him around a grassy field.

... He could have sworn Pachirisu had been much smaller before...

He continued to stare at the duo, slowly looking them up and down. Yeah, right now, with his own two eyes, he could see that they were the exact same size. So had he been wrong, then? Because pokémon certainly didn't grow that much, in such a short time...

He shook his head, clearing away his thoughts. Clearly, he must've been remembering wrong.

Sitting on the grass, Pikachu happily watched Ash and Dawn's practice battle with Infernape and Togekiss. Flamethrowers and Air Slashes danced across the field, as Ash prepared himself for his upcoming gym battle.

Once the practice was over, Togekiss landed gracefully next to Piplup, who complimented her on a job well done.

Pikachu smiled at them, but then paused as he noticed something. Had... Togekiss always been that tall? She was towering over Piplup, at about three times his height. She hadn't always done that, had she?

Urgh, these ridiculous thoughts again. His shook his head, clearing it of such silliness. There was just no way. He must have been remembering wrong.

Many months had passed, with old friends leaving and new friends joining. Pikachu had enjoyed travelling around Unova, but it sure was a nice surprise seeing Dawn's team again! He really hadn't expected to see them here in Undella Town, at Cynthia's private villa.

With a smile, he looked up at the tallest member of the group, Mamoswine, who was standing next to Dawn. After a moment, Pikachu paused. Wait, had the mammoth... always been that tall, or was he imagining that, too?

He could swear Mamoswine hadn't towered that much over Dawn before... right?

Argh, he must've been losing it. It'd been months since he'd seen Dawn's team, after all, so he must've just gotten it wrong. Again.

... Well, sure, it was strange that he'd made this mistake three times now, but maybe he was just forgetful.

Dawn moved away from Mamoswine, and Pikachu's thoughts were cut short as he noticed a brown figure by the mammoth's leg.

He beamed and waved. "(Hey, Buneary!)" he called out.

She beamed back, immediately walking all the way across the yard to nuzzle against him. He chuckled nervously, his heart now racing. Oh, of course she'd do that the second they met up again!

Except... wait...

It had been several months, but... was her cheek rubbing against his temple? He could swear that it used to rub against his own cheek!

Was he going insane?!

"(Uhhh... Buneary, did you get taller?)" he asked.

"(Huh?)" she replied, sounding confused. "(No...?)"

"(Are... are you sure?)" He moved back a smidge, quickly looking her up and down to gauge their height difference. "(You look taller than me...)"

She giggled. "(Oh, don't be silly, Pikachu! Of course I'm not taller!)"

He placed a paw on his head, suddenly feeling lightheaded. Maybe he really was going insane? This was the fourth time he'd thought a member of Dawn's team had gotten taller, after all!

... No, no, he was certain that he and Buneary used to be the exact same size!

Frowning, he lightly pushed her back a bit. "(No, no, hold on. Lemmie check this!)" He raised his paw to the tip of his head, flattening out the palm, then kept it level as he moved it towards Buneary.

It bumped into her temple.

A flood of excited vindication washed over him. "(See? See?! You're totally taller than me!)"

She looked surprised as she finally noticed. "(Oh...)" Suddenly, she gasped, her paws flying up to her mouth in distress. "(Oh no, did you shrink?!)"

He froze, horror filling his veins, as his paw dropped back down like a lead weight. Oh no... had he been the one shrinking all along?!

"Uh, hey, Dawn?" Ash asked. "Is it me, or did Buneary get taller?"

Pikachu snapped to attention, hope filling him as he turned to look up at the humans. "(Yeah, yeah!)" he called out. "(She totally did, right?!)"

That would mean he wasn't shrinking!

"Don't be ridiculous, Ash!" Dawn replied with a giggle. "Of course Buneary didn't get taller!"

Pikachu deflated. But then...

"Huh?" Ash asked, scratching his head. "But didn't she used to be the same size as Pikachu?"

Dawn paused, staring down at Pikachu and Buneary. After a moment, she gasped in surprise. "Wait, you're right! I guess she did get bigger!"

Pikachu perked up again, hope once again filling his heart. So he wasn't crazy! Or shrinking! Right?

"But, if that's the case..." Iris said, putting her hands on her hips, "then how'd she get so big?"

Cilan put his hand to his chin. "Some food for thought, certainly..." he mused.

Dawn blinked. "... Food?" she muttered. Then she gasped again. "Wait, food! That's it! Ash, do you remember the poffins I'd make for my pokémon?"

"Yeah?" Ash replied.

"Well, I forgot to mention, but, at some point, I started loading them with vitamins! Things like iron, calcium, zinc and pp up!" She paused, looking contemplative. "Some guy in Hoenn said using so many at once might have slight side effects, but I didn't think he was being serious..."

Iris' eyes widened. "That must be what made Buneary taller!" she replied.

Cilan nodded. "It sure sounds like it to me," he added.

"(Oh,)" Buneary muttered in surprise. "(Guess you were right...)"

Pikachu's shoulders finally relaxed. So that was it. He was most definitely not crazy. Or shrinking. Instead, everyone else had been steadily growing taller.

"Huh..." Ash said. "This isn't, like... bad for them, is it?"

Cilan shook his head. "I wouldn't worry." He glanced at Dawn. "Though perhaps you should lower the amount of ingredients, in order to stifle the growth."

Dawn sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right," she replied. She glanced around at her pokémon. "Huh, I wonder if everyone else is taller, too...?"

... Well, to be fair, it wasn't nearly as obvious with the rest of them. Pikachu had only been fully convinced he wasn't going crazy when he'd noticed that he and Buneary weren't the same size anymore.

... Aww. Now that he thought about it, he'd kind of miss the feeling of her cheek rubbing against his. Maybe he could ask her to kneel down a bit whenever she nuzzled him? Though it'd be a bit embarrassing to ask...

"(What the heck's a 'pp up', anyway?)" Emolga asked in amusement from nearby. "(Some kind of viagra?)"

Pikachu's face flushed as most of the other pokémon cracked up laughing. He was not about to ask the squirrel how she knew what that was. Or what had possessed her to come to that conclusion first.

"(Hey, speaking of 'pp up'...)" Piplup started. Something bumped into Pikachu, and he turned to see the penguin nudging him with his elbow. "(Pikachu, buddy... if you ever feel like dating Buneary, maybe Dawn should make you a poffin! For later use?)"

Pikachu blinked at him. "(Huh?)" he asked. "(Why would I wanna grow talle-?)" He paused, his eyes widening, as he realised that wasn't what Piplup had meant.

Most of the pokémon howled in laughter. Pikachu's face was now burning, and Buneary had retreated into her fluff from sheer embarrassment.

The humans and younger pokémon looked confused, but Pikachu was not about to try and explain to any of them what had just happened...

Instead, he covered his face with his paws.

"(Jeez, Piplup!)" Pignite wheezed. "(What is he, a grandpa?!)"

"(More like he'd be a nervous wreck, am I right?!)" Krokorok replied through cackles.

The howling laughter continued, and Pikachu felt like crawling into a hole. He didn't think this could get any more embarrassing...

"(N-No, he... he wouldn't... need one!)" Buneary squeaked. "(He'd be... able to...)" She didn't continue. "(... Eep!)"

Somehow, the laughing got louder. Pikachu dropped his paws to stare incredulously at her, feeling a mixture of shock and horror. Yet also... a bit of flattery and pride.

... Well, he supposed he owed her one for that, but good lord...

The End