"That was such a fun battle!" I cheered, causing a smile to form on Pikachu's face. "I hope we get ta do that again sometime soon."

"Yeah," Pikachu agreed, then giggled. "Ash and Dawn should let us battle against each other more! I sure had a lot of fun battling you!"

It was really, really hard not to collapse on the floor in happiness over hearing Pikachu's tone. He sounded so...romantic.

Okay, maybe "romantic" isn't the best way to describe Pikachu. I don't think he really cares for that sort of thing-just ignore that stabbing pain in your heart Buneary, you're being delusional-but he still is as cute as a button. Or a flower. Right, Pikachu liked flowers, how could I forget? I resisted the urge to giggle. I definitely wasn't expecting Pikachu to like flowers, but when I saw the small blush he had on his face when Ash put a flower crown on his head, I almost collapsed. Again. How on this planet could Arceus make somebody so gosh darn cute without suffocating themselves?! I just...I can't-

Wait, Arceus is a god, I deadpanned internally. Of course he wouldn't suffocate under Pikachu's cuteness.

I guess I should have given Brother more credit. He always teased me about my rather "oddball" way of thinking, as he loved to call it. I, in turn, belittled his constant nagging over the smallest and silliest things, like how he would always stare at his reflection for hours-he would say it was ten minutes, but it felt like hours to me-in the morning then freak out afterward over a small tuft of his fur getting loose. I never understood his constant obsession over his appearance.

"Buneary?" Pikachu snapped me out of my thoughts. Funny, because now I felt as if I were about to fall into them again. The mouse had that dreamy affect on me. He frowned in concern, his cute smile turned upside down and oh my Arceus- "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah!" I stuttered. Curses! Buneary, ya dum dum! That's strike numero dos! Not that I knew exactly what language that was, but I knew it meant two, at least. I remembered this seemingly insignificant fact because Dawn had shouted this at a movie she and Ash sat down to watch together one time. The main lead had been getting on her nerves, she claimed, and she was counting off how many times he was going to fall for the bad guy's tricks. "Just spaced out for a second, haha...!"

Pikachu shrugged and flicked his ear. "If you say so. I was just asking if you had any idea where we're going."

"Huh? Well, no..." I paused and thought back to what the mouse might have been talking about. We were currently at our camp in some forest, winding down before dinner was ready. Just after Ash, Dawn, and Brock had let us all out of our Poke Balls-with the exception of Pikachu, of course-they had informed us of a little "surprise" they had for us. None of us had any clue what they might have meant by that and the trainers refused to tell. From the looks of it, Pikachu didn't even know either. Which was strange, since he was usually the smartest pokemon ever...

A'ight, scratch that thought, I giggled to myself, causing Pikachu to stare at me. Pikachu ain't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Still...he could be clever when he wanted ta be. Not that this'll ever stop anyone from makin' fun of him, of course.

"Oh no..." Pikachu said as he stared at me with horror in his eyes. Though, I could have sworn I detected a hint of amusement as well. "Did you get possessed?"

I blinked and looked over myself. That...did not sound good. "Well...I don't think so...why, am I acting weird?"

He smirked and replied in a sing-song voice. "Understatement~!"

Ooh, that little...if he wasn't so adorable, I'd pulverize him!

"Hmm..." I squinted at his playful grin. Then I gave a woeful sigh. "Ya caught me. I have been actin' weirder than normal."

"Just as I suspected," Pikachu said, nodding along sagely. "You have an unfortunate case of Ash."

"A case of Ash?" I snorted. "Oh, no, no, no. I was just thinkin' about how there's been a sudden absence of ya appearin' in my dreams of late."

Scarlet colored the electric type's face and he stuttered in his response. "W-well, y-you see...that can...that can also be explained by this, uh, m-mysterious phenomenon!" He regained his second wind and continued on, smirking as he did so. "I, Doctor Pikachu, officially declare that you need urgent treatment!"

"Oh, do I, now?" I teased. I pretended not to notice Ash carefully eyeing Pikachu as he crept up from behind him.

"Yes," Pikachu said seriously. "Having a case of Ash is extremely-OW! That hurt!"

I burst into giggles as a few pokemon looked over at the scene to do the same. Ash was leaning over Pikachu with a mock disapproving look as the mouse rubbed his forehead with a glare.

Ash huffed and crossed his arms. "That's what you get for calling me crazy behind my back."

Pikachu grumbled what sounded like a "sorry" in response, still disgruntled over the reprimanding forehead flick. Ash grinned at that and ruffled Pikachu's hair, clearing up any grievances. "Well, just so you know, I didn't come over here just to torment you. Brock said dinner's ready. And since we have a special surprise for you all, you're getting a special dinner along with it."

My ears perked at that. "Did Brock make that fancy bread thing again?!"

Ash blinked in confusion and looked to Pikachu for translation.

"She meant to ask if Brock made those amazing, delectable, absolutely out of this world..." Pikachu paused for dramatic affect. "Baguettes."

"Wait, but I said fancy bread things!" I protested.

"Baguettes are the 'fancy bread things', dummy." Pikachu stuck his tongue at me. Bristling at the insult, I got up and started punching the air repeatedly with my ears, bouncing from one foot to the other in a rhythmic pattern.

"Oh, so I'm a 'dummy'? Guess ya wanna fight, huh?! Just cause I think yer a hot stud doesn't mean I won't hesitate to destroy you!"

Pikachu turned scarlet and simply turned away. I felt a swell of victory before Ash cleared his throat, reminding the two of us that he was still there.

"So, uh...Buneary, you want to know if Brock made those fancy bread things?"

"Baguettes," Pikachu corrected with a huff, sounding as adorable as ever.

"Yeah, yeah, those things." Ash replied. "Brock made a lot, I think. You'll just have to come and see it for yourself."

"Yes!" I cheered excitedly. "Fancy bread things! Fancy bread things! I get ta eat fancy bread things!"

"Baguettes, baguettes, for the millionth time, they're called bague-" Pikachu's rant was stopped by Ash, who once more flicked him in the forehead. "Ow! Will you stop doing that?!"

"Not until you stop acting like a smartass," Ash grinned and walked away before Pikachu could shock him.

Pikachu was truly a treasure, but I had to admit his trainer amused me at times. "Ash just used a bad word..." I chortled.

"You act like it's a new thing..." Pikachu grumbled and waddled over to where Brock was passing out food. I hopped after him, the sounds of chatter feeling like music to my ears. "Nobody ever believes me when I say Ash isn't as innocent as people think."

"They probably think ya corrupted him or somethin'," I giggled.

Pikachu huffed and crossed his arms with a pout.

Oh, my, I swear Arceus poured his heart an' soul out into makin' this mouse...

"Alright, now that everyone's here..." I turned my attention towards my trainer, who had spoken aloud. The bluenette clapped her hands with a devious grin. "We can finally start our announcement! Ash, Brock, if you'd please join me on stage..."

"Stage?" Happiny asked, looking around in confusion. "I don't see a stage."

"She's being metaphorical, dear." Togekiss said gently.

"Oh." There was a pause. "What does 'metaphorical' mean?"

Dawn waited patiently until Togekiss finished explaining, then gestured for Brock to speak.

"Alright, so as you all know, things have been pretty stressful the past few days. We've been training harder than ever, getting on crazier and crazier adventures, and not to mention, all the stuff with Team Galactic, Dialga, and Palkia."

No kiddin', I thought. We've hardly been able to catch a break since around...Ash's battle with Paul at Lake Acuity, now that I think about it. I guess seeing Ash more fired up has led Dawn to become more fired up herself. I giggled. Not that I minded, of course.

"Right and it's because of that, Dawn, Brock, and I have all decided to lay back and relax for a bit. With the Grand Festival and the pokemon league right around the corner...we can't train if we're all so exhausted."

I was genuinely surprised to hear this come from Ash, even more so that Dawn herself had agreed with it. Given the two tournaments are most important to them, why would they decide to take a break now? It was odd, but I just shrugged it off. Maybe they were starting to experience burnout too. It was the best explanation I had, even if I still couldn't help wonder what prompted this sudden decision. It wasn't like the incident with Team Galactic had just happened. It's been over a week since then.

"So...we've decided that we're going to..." Brock paused for dramatic effect.

"Go on a vacation in the mountains!" Brock, Ash, and Dawn said in unison as they posed dramatically.

There was an awkward silence.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Stand back, guys. I think we've been fooled by Team Rocket. Again."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Ash frantically waved his hands. "We're not Team Rocket!"

Buizel narrowed his eyes. "Ash, I know the stuff with Team Galactic was pretty stressful, but the league is coming up pretty fast. Can't this whole 'vacation' stuff wait until after?"

"I agree," Mamoswine chimed in. "We're in a time crunch for the Grand Festival rapidly approaching. It's sooner than the league, even." He finished with a glare. "We can't afford to slack off here."

"Okay, guys," Brock chuckled awkwardly as he attempted to diffuse the situation. Rather poorly, but the attempt was made. "Calm down."

We did not "calm down". Protests instantly erupted over the abruptness of the vacation announcement, the majority of us having been raring to go in preparation for the league and Grand Festival respectively.

"Ugh, come on!" Dawn groaned, shoving her face into her palms. "Guys, we're not going to slack off the entire time! I'd like to think that you would at least understand that much!"

"Dawn..." Piplup started to sniffle next to me. Oh dear. He was making the face Brother would make any time he fell in a mud puddle.

As expected, a second later, Piplup burst into tears and ran toward Dawn. "I'll support you, Dawn! I'll support you when nobody else will! Never forget that! Everybody apologize to my trainer right this instant!"

"No thanks," Staraptor said warily. "I would like an explanation as to why nothing seems to be making sense right now."

"Guys, think about it this way," Brock let out a sigh. He massaged his forehead for a moment before continuing. "If you keep going full throttle, you'll burn out by the time we get to the Grand Festival and the league. Surely, you've noticed training has been going slower this past week? Despite the fact that everyone's energy levels are through the roof? Honestly..."

We all quieted down from Brock's mini-lecture, all of us humbled by his words in our own ways.

"...well, I guess we wouldn't want that..." Buizel muttered before his face split into a grin. "Ah, what the heck! I'm in!"

The rest of us exchanged looks before smiles stretched across our faces simultaneously. It almost felt like a competition of grins. Ah, grinning. What a fascinating thing to do. A fascinating word to describe a fascinating action. How fascinating. Exquisite, even.

"We're in as well!" Sudowoodoo declared, along with a cheerful follow-up from Happiny.

"Same here!" Staraptor chirped from atop Torterra's head, the latter of which nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, this sounds good to me!" Infernape added with an awkward smile. "It seems like a fun idea..."

Mamoswine sighed. "I guess I'm on board as well..."

"Ooh, ooh!" Pachirisu cheered. "I'm excited for this already. Oh, there's going to be so much we can do, especially since it's going to be on a mountain, and then there's snow, and then there's skiing, and there's skating, and trees, and snow-"

"I am going to be the designated bonfire for our group, aren't I?" Cyndaquil sighed miserably. "Fine, I'm in too."

"Erm...you know I'm a fire type too, right, Cyndaquil?" Infernape scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly. "And I'm the one with actual flames sprouting from my body-" He trailed off at the glare he was receiving and chuckled nervously. "Eheh...I'll shut up now."

"Well, I guess that's it, then." I laughed. "We're all in on this vacay idea!"

"...I still have numerous questions." Pikachu said slowly. I noticed that he hadn't moved an inch since getting into a fighting stance and I felt the urge to hold in laughter as I wondered if Pikachu really DID think our humans had momentarily been replaced with Team Rocket. "But I guess I'm on board...?"

"Sounds like a positive response to me." Ash winked at Dawn and Brock, who exchanged grins. "So, whaddya say we all get going to the airport, yeah?"

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.

"Woohoo!" I cheered, getting into spirit myself. I couldn't help but look over Pikachu's direction and noticed an odd look on his face. "Are ya doin' alright there, Pikachu?"

"...I'm so confused." Pikachu mumbled. "Why are we going to the airport? Sinnoh's like the coldest region Ash and I have ever been to. Aren't there plenty of mountains HERE we can travel to?"

"Well, yeah." Ash chimed in, almost catching me off guard. His ability to understand his pokemon was almost uncanny, especially when it came to Pikachu. Personally, I always found it quite entertaining, especially given how they're always playfully bickering with one another. It was adorable and again reminded me of the arguments I used to have with my own brother. "There's a small group of islands further North of Mount Coronet that...we don't have any way to get to except by plane. That's where we're planning on going."

"Makes sense to me." I giggled. I winked up at Ash. "Don't worry, Ash, I think all of ya have the right idea!"

"Uh...thanks, Buneary?" Ash grinned awkwardly.

"You're just saying that to make him feel better." Pikachu sighed, then looked away. My, my...is that a blush I see? I tried my best not to grin as he mumbled through his next few words. "You're sweet like that..."

"Oh~?" I said in a sing-song tone. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Pikachu let out a nervous squeak. "Um..."

"Are ya suuuureee yer doin' alright?" I teased. "I think Doctor Pikachu needs to check if he's got a fever." I huffed and put my hands on my hips. "Not to worry, because Doctor Buneary's on the case~!"

"Um, um, uh..."

"C'mon, just let me check to see if ya have a fever~!"

"You're really close." Pikachu mumbled shyly. Then his eyes widened. "Uh, not that I have a problem with you being next to me! No, it's just, uh, um-" He frantically looked around, I assume to try and get his usual control of conversations back. "I don't wanna get you sick!"

I couldn't help it.

"Love sick~?" I winked.

Pikachu made a choking noise and pulled his ears over his face.

"Ugh, get a room, you two." Buizel said with a roll of his eyes.

...oh, right.

Everyone was watching, weren't they?

I looked up to see Ash was still hovering over the two of us, with a raised eyebrow, probably wondering what the heck kind of magic I pulled on his starter. The others around us seemed to be doing the same.

Then MY momentum died and I followed Pikachu's example in covering my face.

I doubt it did much, oh boy-

"...this is going to be a long vacation." Piplup said dryly.

So, I've finally gone and decided to do it. Write a PikaBun story from the anime. Oh boy, this is gonna be...different. XD

Welcome to the fic that's probably going to be weirder than the anime itself, starring super weird Buneary and weirdly dramatic Pikachu! (Oh, and Ash is kinda weird too, I guess.)

Hope you enjoy!