Author's note: Hey, all! I'm back again for more lagomorpin' goodness!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

P.S. I'm posting this on my birthday! ^.^ I reach the ripe old age of 27 today.

Chapter Four: Discoveries

The morning sun shone brightly through the trees, casting brilliant sunbeams around the forest. As Brock laid out the food bowls and Dawn tried to convince a squirming Ash to brush his hair, Pikachu stifled a yawn. He was still a bit drowsy from not getting as much sleep as usual, but he was sure he'd be fine in no time.

"Alright, that's the last of them!" Brock said, straightening up.

"Alright!" Ash replied. He stood up, grabbed his pokéballs and tossed them into the air. "Come on out, everyone!"

"You too!" Dawn said, mimicking him.

"It's breakfast time!" Brock said, also mimicking him.

There was a mass of white light as all the pokémon left their pokéballs with a happy cheer. Immediately, they all began to run towards the food bowls.

Choosing the one closest to him, Pikachu sat down. Almost as soon as he'd done so, another bowl was pushed up to his own. He looked up in surprise, only to see Buneary sit next to him.

She beamed, nuzzling against him. "(Morning, Pikachu~!)" she said.

He blushed, both at the contact and the memory of the previous night. "(Oh, uh... g'morning,)" he replied.

She remained pressed into his side, completely ignoring her food. It was rather embarrassing - especially since he could hear quiet chuckling from nearby - but it was also warm and pleasant. His heart was doing that weird somersaulting thing again.

... Was he supposed to be doing something here? He had a feeling he was, but what? Just what did a good boyfriend do in this situation?! He was far too new at this. Not to mention, he'd barely given himself time to think it through before asking her out. Maybe he was in way over his head here...

... Regardless, he had to try. For her sake.

Well, she was currently nuzzling her cheek against his, so maybe that was the right thing to do? It was a rather embarrassing thought, but he supposed he could give it a try...

Mustering his courage, he nuzzled back.

Buneary froze. He blinked, waiting for her to say something, but she'd gone silent. He began to panic.

Oh no, had that been the wrong thing to do?! Had he crossed some sort of boundary that he wasn't aware of?! After one day, was he already being a bad boyfriend?!

"(Uh... Buneary?)" he asked.

"(... Yes?)" she squeaked.

"(Are... you okay?)"

"(... Yes.)" There was a pause. He continued to panic until he felt her relax into him. "(Better than okay.)"

That comment surprised him. "(Oh?)"

"(Mmm-hmm~)"

Oh. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Well, he supposed he'd done something right, after all.

A few days passed. During this time, Ash had won a few battles, fought off Team Rocket several times, and helped random strangers with their problems. In the meantime, Pikachu had gotten a lot more comfortable with having a girlfriend, especially since the others had stopped sniggering around them.

Whenever they'd gotten the chance - which was usually when they weren't either training, travelling or sleeping - they'd spent time together. Eating, chatting, playing, even nuzzling. However, something had begun to niggle at the back of Pikachu's mind. He'd tried to ignore it at first, but now it was starting to keep him up at night, which simply wasn't healthy for him. So he asked to speak to a few select pokémon, while Buneary was playing in the river with Pachirisu and Happiny.

"(So, what's up, Pikachu?)" Buizel asked, folding his arms expectantly.

"(Well...)" Pikachu replied, glancing away awkwardly, "(it's about Buneary...)"

"(You're not regretting dating her already, are you?!)" Piplup asked incredulously.

"(Oh dear...)" Sudowoodo muttered.

Pikachu snapped his attention back to the small group, his eyes wide. "(No, no!)" he replied. "(It's just...)"

"(Hmm?)" Buizel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pikachu heaved a sigh. "(... Well... we're dating... and it's great! But...)"

"(But?)" Sudowoodo asked.

"(... Well, we don't do much. I thought having a girlfriend would be like...)" He moved his arms around, trying to find the right word. "(... More.)"

"(Huh?)" Piplup asked.

"(More what?)" Buizel asked.

Pikachu blushed, embarrassed by his own terrible wording. He paused to consider how best to phrase it. "(I just thought...)" he said, "(there'd be more to having a girlfriend than this.)"

Buizel looked slightly less confused. "(Oh, I see...)"

"(Yeah. Like... it's basically the same as it was before. Only with more nuzzling...)"

Sudowoodo smiled. "(Well, what's wrong with that?)" he asked.

"(Yeah!)" Piplup agreed. "(Don't you like nuzzling Buneary?)"

"(Well, yeah, I do...)" Pikachu replied, "(it's just...)" He paused to consider his wording again. "(I was expecting... fireworks.)"

The three pokémon stared at him.

"(... And, instead, you got what?)" Buizel asked.

"(I guess... sparklers?)"

"(... So, basically, you're saying the relationship's not as exciting as you thought it would be?)"

Pikachu nodded. "(Yeah!)" He suddenly felt guilty. "(But that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it. I am! I just... expected more.)"

The three pokémon glanced at each other.

Piplup proudly smacked a flipper on his own chest. "(Well, the answer here is simple!)" he said.

Pikachu was intrigued. "(Oh yeah?)"

"(Yep! Take her on a date!)"

"(A... date?)"

"(Piplup, that's genius!)" Sudowoodo cried.

Piplup stuck his beak further in the air. "(Naturally!)" he replied.

"(Actually, that's a surprisingly good idea,)" Buizel agreed. "(Especially coming from him.)"

Piplup frowned at him. "(What's that supposed to mean?!)"

Buizel ignored him. "(Take her on a date. Spend some quality time alone with her.)" He shrugged. "(After all, you don't really spend much time alone, do you?)"

Pikachu thought about it, his mind running through all the times they'd eaten together, chatted together, and played together. Then he realised it was true. There'd always been other people and pokémon around.

"(... Hey, you're right...)" he replied. He paused as a thought struck him. "(But, how are we supposed to get time alone? Ash and Dawn are always travelling and training and, when they're not, everyone's together.)"

Buizel put on a thoughtful face. "(Hmm...)"

"(How about tonight?)" Sudowoodo asked. "(When everyone's gone to bed, you can take Buneary out somewhere. Not too far off, though!)"

"(Hmm...)" Pikachu replied, thinking it over.

"(Yeah,)" Buizel agreed. "(Then you can make the relationship more exciting yourself.)"

"(Just remember that it was my idea!)" Piplup said proudly.

"(Yeah, yeah... sure...)" Pikachu replied, glancing over at Buneary. She was currently splashing Pachirisu, while Happiny laughed.

... Well, he supposed it was as good a plan as any...

Once all the humans and pokémon had settled down for dinner, Pikachu ignored his pellets for the moment, in favour of talking to his girlfriend.

"(Hey, Buneary?)" he asked.

The rabbit paused halfway to eating her pellet and smiled at him. "(Yeah?)" she replied.

"(Um... tonight, did you wanna... go on a date?)"

Her eyes widening slightly, she blinked at him. "(A date?)"

"(Yeah! After the trainers go to bed, maybe we could... go somewhere together?)"

Her eyes widened a fraction more, sparkling slightly. After a moment, she beamed at him. "(I'd love to!)"

He smiled back. "(Okay, cool!)"

That night, as Ash, Dawn and Brock drifted off to sleep, Pikachu quietly slipped away from Ash's side and over to Dawn's yellow bag. Fishing around inside, he pulled out his girlfriend's pokéball. With a quick nod to himself, he snuck away into the night with it.

Once clear of the campsite, Pikachu took one last look around him, before determining that he was very much alone. He smiled to himself.

"(Alright, come on out, Buneary!)" he said, cracking open the pokéball.

A bright white light burst forth, swirling together into the form of Buneary.

"(Hey, Pikachu!)" she said happily.

"(Hey, Buneary!)"

He dropped the pokéball on the grass, making a mental note of where it was for later.

The rabbit bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "(So, where are we going for this date?)"

"(... Um...)" Pikachu faltered. Now what? He hadn't thought this far ahead. "(Well...)"

Buneary tilted her head. "(Hmm?)"

He glanced away. "(Uh...)" Suddenly embarrassed, he laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "(Sorry... I got you here, but now I don't know what to do...)"

She giggled at him. "(Oh, you~)"

Lowering his arm, he glanced around him, searching for inspiration. Looking to the sky, he paused as he noticed what a clear night it was. The stars were so visible, it was almost as if someone had thrown glitter all over a black canvas.

He smiled, an idea striking him. "(Hey, how about we watch the stars?)"

There was silence. Confused, he looked down at Buneary, only to see her staring at him.

"(Um...)" he continued, "(Buneary?)"

She blinked. "(Oh, uh... yeah! Sure!)" She settled down on the grass, turning her gaze to the sky.

Still perplexed, Pikachu sat beside her. He observed her for a few moments, but she didn't move her gaze from the sky.

He began to feel insecure. "(Um... did I make a bad decision?)"

Distantly, she turned to him. "(Huh...?)"

He chuckled nervously. "(Sorry... I'm not very good at this boyfriend thing... I've never dated anyone before!)" Buneary made no attempt to respond. He suddenly felt awkward. "(Um...)" Desperate for some sort of conversation, he pressed on. "(Have you?)"

Her eyes glazed over. A ghost of a smile on her face, she looked down at the grass. "(Yeah...)"

Pikachu jolted in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that response. "(R... Really?)"

"(Yeah...)"

"(Oh... Oh. Well... was he nice?)"

"(Yeah... he was really nice...)"

There was a pause. Eventually, she sighed, flopping onto her back on the grass. Uneasy, he lay down next to her, turning his gaze to the sky.

"(... So... why are you not still dating him?)"

There was a long pause. "(... He... he left.)"

He turned his head to look at her, but she didn't return the gesture. "(Left?)"

"(Yeah...)"

"(Oh... I'm sorry.)"

"(... D-Don't worry about it.)" She paused again. "(... The stars look pretty tonight.)"

His ears drooped slightly. He could tell that the topic was sensitive, so he wasn't going to push it. Still, seeing her sad made him sad, too.

"(Yeah...)" He turned back to the sky, desperate to cheer her up and make their first date a success. After a moment, he noticed something that gave him an idea. Forcing a smile, he pointed upwards. "(Hey, look! It's the teddiursa constellation!)"

"(... Yeah...)"

He moved his finger. "(And next to it is the ursaring constellation!)"

Buneary slowly rose her paw and pointed. "(... And over there's the... milotic constellation...)"

Pikachu smiled wider, happy that he was making progress. "(Hey, yeah!)" He pointed. "(Oh and there's my favourite! The seviper-bearer constellation! I especially like the machoke part of it.)"

"(Yeah, it's pretty cool.)" Buneary pointed. "(Oh, there's the gligar constellation.)"

"(Yeah!)" Pikachu pointed. "(And there's the kyogre constellation...)" He moved his finger. "(And the gardevoir constellation.)"

"(I always liked that one. So majestic and pretty.)"

"(Yeah!)" He turned his head to look at her and was happy to see an actual smile on her face.

Her eyes suddenly widened a fraction and she paused. After a moment, she pointed. "(But that one's my favourite.)"

"(Oh?)"

He looked up to see that she was pointing at the one star that stood out amongst the rest.

"(The pikachu constellation,)" she clarified.

He paused to stare. "(Oh?)" He gave an embarrassed smile. His girlfriend preferred the constellation of his own species? "(And why's that?)"

She took a few moments to answer.

"(... Because... it shines the brightest...)"

He was surprised by her answer. "(Yeah?)" He paused a moment. "(Well, I hope I can shine as bright as that star one day.)"

Silence followed his comment. Concerned, he turned his head to see that Buneary had turned away from him.

His concern grew. "(Buneary?)"

"(... You already do.)"

He blinked. "(Huh?)"

She turned to face him, a strange smile on her face. A smile that was somewhere in-between soft and strained.

"(You already shine bright, Pikachu. You always have.)" She paused a moment. "(To me, at least.)"

His face suddenly grew very warm. "(O-Oh?)"

"(Yeah...)"

"(W... Well, thanks!)" He laughed awkwardly.

Her smile softened considerably. "(No problem...)"

"(S-So, I didn't mess up too badly on the date, I hope?)"

She shook her head. "(Not at all.)"

"(Oh, well, that's good! Though, I should... probably take you on more, just to make up for it, huh?)"

"(I'd like that...)" Shuffling closer to him, she leaned her head on his chest. "(I'd like that a lot...)"

His heart still beating rather erratically, he let out a long breath and looked back up at the sky.

Yep, he'd definitely have to make it up to her next time. No matter what, he'd make sure to be the best darn boyfriend he could be!

... Though, in future, he'd best plan out the date first.