The airport was...new, for me.

Upon arriving at our destination, our trainers apparently realized that we were...quite a bit early for our flight and still had some time to kill. Luckily, the airport was big and spacious enough for everyone to be out of their Pokeballs in one of the various seating areas. People and pokemon alike ushered about all over as various announcements were made over a loudspeaker. It was truly a sight to see.

Our trainers left us to get us some food. Another oversight on their part - mostly Ash's, and I had to try not to burst out laughing at the looks of frustration Dawn and Brock were giving him - so we were basically left on our own with Pikachu and Piplup left in charge. We couldn't exactly play tag or any other games without bothering the other people and pokemon at the airport, so we were all trying our best to make due with simply holding conversations.

However.

"This is sooo boooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggggg!" Pachirisu whined, her tail flicking back and forth impatiently behind her. "How long until Dawn, Brock, and Ash come back? They're taking forever!"

"Hmm, maybe they got held up or something." Torterra suggested. "Those lines are pretty long."

Staraptor groaned. "'Long' is an understatement, my guy. We have a few hours until the flight and even I'm starting to think we might miss it."

"I wanna explore!" Happiny complained. I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"You an' me both, Happiny." I winked at her. "I'd love ta stretch my ears for a change."

"Same here." Piplup groaned from where he was slumped over on one of the couches. He raised a flipper in agreement, then let it drop in exhaustion.

Gliscor sniffled, then turned to Pikachu. "Pikachuuu, what are we gonna do?"

That did it.

Everyone turned to the mouse expectantly, hoping that he had something to say to help alleviate everyone's mind numbing boredom.

"Uh, well, uh..." Pikachu stammered. Ohhh, my gosh, do I love that adorable little stammer of his. Then, a smirk made its way onto Pikachu's face. Oh my~? What's this mouse up to, now? "Wellll...if you guys can handle yourselves for a few minutes, I can run after Ash, Dawn, and Brock to ask if we can go explore for a bit." He flicked his ear, then gave everyone a teasing smile. "That is, IF you all can handle yourselves..."

Everyone was immediately filled with protests.

"Hell yeah, we can handle ourselves!" Buizel huffed.

"Yeah, you go after them! We've got it all covered here." Piplup put his flippers on his hips.

"You suuuureee~?"

"Yes!" Everyone shouted. Myself included, though I tried my best to be as loud as possible. I wasn't any pushover, after all. Pikachu should know! It's important to understand my very well being and the inner workings of my brain. If he has feelings for me, that is.

Which is probably unlikely.

Or maybe it isn't.

But it probably is.

Okay, but it might also not be-

Pikachu giggled. "Alright, alright. I'll go." He gave a mock salute and jumped off the couch. "I'll see you all in a bit. Don't die!"

"Don't get kidnapped." Staraptor retorted dryly and we all shared a laugh at that. Pikachu rolled his eyes and just skirted off.

It took a moment for my brain to catch up with what Staraptor had said, however, and when it did, my eyes bugged out. "...hey, I know Pikachu can handle himself an' all..." I started sheepishly. "But that mouse really DOES have a habit of gettin' kidnapped..."

"..."

"...just sayin'." I huffed. "Somebody oughta go with him!" And then an idea struck me. "...and I volunteer myself as tribute!"

"Yuh...huh..." Cyndaquil said slowly with a slight smirk on his face. "...you sure there aren't any ulterior motives for this?"

"Oooh, I sense ulterior motives!" Gliscor said eagerly, raising his claws in the air. Then he paused and lowered them. "...wait, what's the ulterior motive?"

"Good question!" Buizel said and clapped his flippers together. "But we're wasting time and Pikachu's already miles away." He slapped me on the back in what I believe was MEANT to be support, but really ended up almost knocking me off my feet. Then, in the most serious tone I've ever heard the weasel muster, he said: "Now, go after your future husbando."

"Ma what?!" I shrieked, turning red in the face.

OH MY ARCEUS HAS HE BEEN READING MY MIND-

Wait, bad Buneary! You can't admit to having these fantasies!

...but I didn't say it out loud.

...wait, but if Buizel is a mind-reader, then that means he knows I'm confirming it right now, ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh-

"Uh..." Buizel sputtered at the snickers everyone was shooting him. "Sorry, bad jo-"

"HAHA, FUNNY JOKE, ANYWAYS BUH BYE NOW!" I hid my face in my ears and bounced off the couch. I bounded after Pikachu as fast as I could, though my new reason was to get away from the direction that conversation WENT as fast as I could.

I just got exposed! Drat!

Now, everybody knows about-

Wait, they've always known about my crush on Pikachu, right?

...

...

...double drat!

So, I may or may not have gotten lost.

I groaned and slammed my head against the trash can a couple of times. A pair of starly were giving me a funny look from where they were perched on top of a luggage, but I paid them no mind. What they were witnessing was just the biggest idiot ever! Oh, if only Brother would be able to see me now...

"I can't believe this..." I moaned aloud, lightly hitting at the trash can with my paws. "This is terrible! I volunteered myself ta go after Pikachu even when I prob'ly have even less idea of what I'm doin' than he does!" I sighed and sank to the ground. With a grumpy face, I stared at the trash can. "...you understand, don't ya, Trashy? Or, wait, is that too mean of a name for ya? I don't really got anything else to call ya..."

I heard a few snickers from behind me - probably the starly - and groaned even louder. "Yer the only one who understands me, Trashy!" It was almost funny, this game I created in my mind, but it was kind of depressing having to do it by myself. Still, I continued, if only to, again, block out the comments from those starly. Drat! I only have myself to blame for having gotten myself in this situation. "I must pay tribute! Oh, if only I could figure out what blessed gift would be worth yer greatness..."

"You could throw me in there." Pikachu said solemnly.

"I could," I sighed. "But yer too good for the trashcan, Pikachu."

"That's unfortunate."

"It really is." I replied, then paused. Shrieking, I whipped my head around to see Pikachu in the same kneeling position as I was sporting a teasing grin on his face. "Pi-Pikachu?! How long were ya here?!"

"I've been trying to follow you for a while now." Pikachu replied with a groan. "I literally just asked Ash, Dawn, and Brock if we could explore and then I see you wandering off, completely lost, in the distance."

Uh oh.

"Someone must've wanted to go on an adventure sooner, rather than later." Pikachu continued teasingly. He arose to his feet and gave a dramatic bow. "Luckily, you have me here to prevent you from getting lost. No matter where you are, I'll always be there to find you! And guide you home." Then, he smirked and added. "With a fee, of course."

"A fee?" I giggled. "Oh my, I hope it's not too expensive~!"

Pikachu blushed. Yes! Score! "Y-yes, the...the fee is...um..."

"Yeeees?"

Pikachu looked off to the side for a moment and I noticed his smile faltered for a moment. It took me aback and I almost asked what was wrong before he shrugged it off quickly. "It's, uh, uh, a favor!" He said triumphantly. With a dramatic flourish of his paw, he held it out for me to take. "So, with that being said, may I take you back to where our friends are eagerly awaiting us, Miss Buneary?"

"Hold the phone!" I said between giggles. I felt a heat rush to my own face now and I was starting to think that maybe he was trying to turn this game around on me instead of the other way around. 'Nice try, hot stuff. But I've got the best older brother ever who helped me practice with this stuff all the time!'

In hindsight, my brother really shouldn't have told me all this stuff about romance and flirting when I was younger, but we were kids without parents in a forest of pokemon that all had full families to live with. I was abundant with friends, whereas my brother wasn't. Naturally, he would gravitate towards me when discussing his interests.

"I don't have a phone to hold." Pikachu pointed out cheekily and continued to hold out his paw, though I noticed his mouth wavered a bit. Oh, he was getting nervous, then. Well, that just won't do!

I rolled my eyes. "Hold a metaphorical one, then!" Then, I took his hand and noticed him relaxing slightly. Oh, if that wasn't a sign, I don't know what was. "Lead the way, Dr. Pikachu." Then I giggled. "Or is it 'Knight Pikachu', now?"

"Sir Pikachu, if you would." Pikachu bowed slightly before he gently tugged me away from the trash can. The two starly were giving us bug eyed looks as we walked past and feeling in a teasing mood, I stuck a tongue out at them. To show it was in jest, of course, I grinned at them and politely waved as we walked away. They exchanged looks before politely waving back.

A nice pair, those starly.

"Well then, Sir Pikachu, we best be makin' it back ta our friends right 'bout now, huh?" I winked at him.

"That we should." Pikachu nodded sagely. "Sad that I'm going to have to disappoint them, though..."

"Huh? Why's that?"

Pikachu gave a one-sided shrug. "Trainers said no to exploring. They were just about to order food anyway, so..."

"Ooh, what're we eatin'?" I asked, then felt my heart pang with excitement. "Oh ma Arceus, did they get Kalos Fries?! I love fries! They're the best in the world, those things."

"You and your supposed love of Kalosen foods." Pikachu snickered. "What happened to your love of baguettes?"

"Baguettes ARE from Kalos." I said pointedly, lightly bopping Pikachu on the forehead with one of my ears. His face turned red and I grinned at him cheekily. "So? What'd they get?"

Pikachu turned away and mumbled something under his breath.

"Eh?"

He groaned. "Kalos Fries. They got us all fries."

Score! I was right! I continued grinning at him, even as his blush deepened even further. Ohhh, this mouse was just so cute!

...I really needed to find a dictionary or something and update my internal descriptions of Pikachu. Even if it WAS accurate, I tended to overuse "cute" and "adorable" far too much. Plus, I pulled out "hot stud" on him a couple of times, and although he's never expressed any discomfort over it, I don't want to overuse it to the point where it gets...annoying or excessive.

That wasn't something I learned from my Brother, but rather from my old friend Bidoof. She often had her own advice to give on...numerous things in life, of which, of course, included romance. I remember her telling me to always be bold and open, because the worst that's going to happen is I'll just get shot down immediately.

Most pokemon are territorial by nature, after all. From what I could gather from my time spent with Dawn, humans weren't as good at setting or understanding boundaries like pokemon were.

Then again, humans also don't have powerful attacks and control over the elements at their disposal either.

"Kalos Fries are the best-"

"You know Kalos Fries aren't actually from Kalos, right?"

"And how do ya know that?" I challenged him.

"I'm a seasoned traveler." Pikachu said simply. "I know all sorts of things. Just call me Explorer Pikachu."

"I thought ya were a knight."

"The knight's resting at the moment, he'll be back later."

I laughed and soon enough, Pikachu joined in on the laughter. It felt peaceful, for a moment, and in my bliss I let the words, "yer so adorable" stumble out.

Pikachu let out a small squeak - I laughed internally - and looked at the ground as we walked. I noticed we were almost to where our friends were sitting by the couches and also our three humans walking toward the couches as well, holding large bags in their hands, presumably with the fries inside.

Mixed feelings. On one hand, alone-time with Pikachu is over. Another hand, Kalos Fries, yes!

I was lamenting over this conflict in my head and almost didn't notice what Pikachu muttered under his breath.

"Please, you're way too sweet to be saying such things about me of all pokemon..."

I met my eyes with him for a moment and he sharply inhaled, then gently slipped his paw out from mine. I stared at it for a moment, a little confused by his sudden shift in tone.

He looked away, slightly panicked, then pointed to the others. "H-hey, look, there they are! Let's go and, uh, eat those Kalos Fries, yeah? You know, the Kalos Fries that are definitely not from Kalos and you lump in with Kalosen cuisine for some reason."

Ouch.

Want to change the subject, huh...?

I shrugged at him. "I ain't sure I trust Explorer Pikachu. Shows up outta nowhere and then Knight Pikachu disappears? That's kinda suspicious ta me... Maybe I should run away while I have the chance! Otherwise, poor ol' Buneary's gonna disappear too!"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Pikachu rolled his eyes. "You know very well that they're the same-"

"Oh ma gosh, he's comin' ta get me!" I backed away from him dramatically, then rapidly began to hop toward the rest of the group. A few of them were snickering and pointing, which did not help my slowly reddening face at all. "The only thing that can save me now are Kalos Fries! I'm comin' my dear Kalosen food!"

I looked behind me with a smirk to see Pikachu standing there, dumbfounded.

"Kalos Fries are not from Kalos..."

"Explorers are all evil!" I shouted back at him, then continued running. It took a moment, but then I heard him right on my tail.

He eventually ran ahead of me, smirking at me as he did so, then stuck out his tongue. Then he got ahead of me. Ooh, that darn mouse is gonna get it now...!

(Ah, who was I kidding?)

We skidded to a stop once we reached the area where our friends sat, then simultaneously yelled "I win!" to anyone that could hear.

I huffed and jumped in place. "Nah, pretty sure I won that one!"

"Nope. Got here first." Pikachu put a hand to his chest and bowed slightly.

"You got here at the same time." Buizel said dryly. "You're both morons."

The two of us exchanged looks, then burst out laughing.

Buizel looked at us, his serious face making way to a smile. I laughed harder until the water type eventually joined in and felt a spark of pride at that. It's hard not to laugh when others are doing it. I knew that quite well; anytime someone isn't laughing in a scene filled with laughter, it's not ever for a happy reason. At least, from my experience.

Luckily, with the group I was now traveling with, I don't think I have to worry about my friends here anytime soon. These kinds of moments, ones where we can just laugh for silly reasons are always in abundance with this group.

It was part of the main reason why I felt more assured in my decision to join Dawn's team. To travel. To meet new friends. To just...get out of my old den.

I love the sound of laughter. And I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

I tried, lol. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Let me know what you think!

~Jewel