Author's note: Hey, guys!
Now, who ordered this extra large batch of fluffy blankets? Heehee.
Hope you enjoy the chapter, my lovely readers!
Reviews are love. Reviews are life.
Chapter Six: Praises
Noise, noise, noise... So much noise.
Yelling and crying and words. Words he didn't register, faces he didn't recognise. Where was he? Who were these people? How did they know him and why were they calling him that?!
What was going on, where was he, how could he get away?!
Why was there a hand on him, why were they restraining him? He had to get away!
Pikachu's eyes snapped open. He blinked slowly, taking in his surroundings. Glancing around him, he could see that he was curled up on Ash's chest, his trainer fast asleep in his sleeping bag. He slumped back down, breathing a sigh of relief.
That dream again. He hadn't had that dream for a while, though it liked to return occasionally.
He'd sometimes wonder if it meant something. Confusion? Stress? Insecurity? He knew some people were genuinely fascinated with how dreams worked and what they meant.
He preferred not to dwell on it, personally. It was hardly going to affect his waking life and, besides, it was more likely that his brain was just messing with him while he slept. Like that one time he'd dreamt that he'd turned into a female human and Brock had flirted with him.
He cringed. Nope, he preferred to think that his dreams didn't mean anything...
A couple of days had passed since Pikachu's belue berry date with Buneary. During which time, he'd apparently fallen prey to some evil togepi's attract, and been forced to be her work slave. He didn't really remember any of it, but it was still really awkward, since he had a girlfriend now...
He'd apologised to her a few times afterwards, but she'd only giggled at him and told him it didn't matter. So he supposed he was off the hook, since he hadn't done it on purpose.
Still, though...
"Machamp, use Flamethrower!"
The machamp opened his mouth and shot out a stream of fire.
"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash yelled.
The mouse quickly jumped with a spin to the side, barely avoiding the blast. He could feel the heat from the fire tickle at his skin as he spun away from it.
Ash continued. "Now, use Iron Tail!"
As Pikachu landed, he sent power to his tail, causing it to glow a bright white. Running at the machamp, he leapt into the air and got ready to swing his body around.
The other male trainer smirked. "Machamp, Vital Throw!"
Immediately, the machamp threw out his arm, clothes-lining Pikachu in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. Swinging him around, he threw him backwards.
Hitting the ground and crying out in pain, Pikachu skidded backwards slightly.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried in shock. After a moment, he composed himself. "Thunderbolt, let's go!"
Climbing onto all fours, Pikachu charged up electricity in his cheeks. Once it built up, he unleashed it with a battle cry.
"Machamp, dodge it!"
The machamp tried to sidestep, but he wasn't fast enough. He cried out in pain as he was electrocuted.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
Sending power to his legs, Pikachu ran, faster and faster, towards his target.
"Machamp, Low Sweep!"
The machamp knelt down and swung out his leg as the mouse approached at high speed.
"Dodge it!" Ash cried.
At the last second, Pikachu leapt up. Planting his front paws on the leg, he flipped himself into a somersault and slammed into the machamp's chest. The fighting-type grunted in pain.
"Machamp, Vital Throw!"
Swinging his arm around, the machamp clothes-lined Pikachu, once again knocking the wind out of him.
"Thunderbolt!"
Just as the machamp was about to throw him, he released a blast of electricity. They both cried out as the mouse flew backwards, hitting the ground and skidding across the dirt.
"Machamp, Stone Edge!"
Clenching all four of his fists close to his body, the machamp created two blue rings around himself. After a moment, they formed two rings of large rocks, which rotated around him. With a battle cry, he flung them at Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge and use Volt Tackle!"
Using a little creativity, Pikachu leapt into the air at high speed, landing on a flying rock, then immediately leaping over to the next. Keeping up this momentum across the rocks, he was able to build enough electrical charge for the attack.
As he leapt from the final rock, he gave an aggressive battle cry before slamming straight into the machamp. The fighting-type screamed in pain.
The recoil stung as Pikachu landed, though not enough to knock him unconscious. The machamp, however, hit the floor with a hard thump. He didn't get up again.
"Machamp is unable to battle!" Brock declared. "Pikachu is the winner!"
As a cheer resounded from the sidelines, and Pikachu caught sight of Buneary leaping in joy, he couldn't help but smile in pride.
"(And then you just jumped across them, like they were stepping stones!)" Buneary squealed.
Pellet halfway to his mouth, Pikachu laughed awkwardly. It was lunchtime and his girlfriend hadn't yet stopped talking about his pokémon battle. Flattering as it was, it was also getting rather embarrassing. Especially since some of the other pokémon were starting to look annoyed.
Even Buizel - who often liked to tease him about his overenthusiastic girlfriend - was glaring at him. It was likely because he was a proud battler himself, and didn't appreciate Buneary praising Pikachu like he was the son of Arceus, or something.
Then again, he had shown off quite a bit in that battle... He wasn't really sure why he'd done it. Maybe it was because of his surge in confidence lately, ever since Buneary's confession a couple of days ago.
She suddenly nuzzled against him. "(You're amazing~)"
He nuzzled back. "(Nah, I'm not,)" he replied. "(I'm sure any of the others could've done it.)"
"(Oh, no chance. You're way too cool~)"
He caught a glimpse of Buizel turning away in a huff. He smiled apologetically, though he knew the weasel couldn't see him. He was pretty sure that Croagunk did, though, before the frog turned away.
Buneary continued. "(Say... after lunch, do you wanna go on a date?)"
Pikachu paused. This was the first time she'd asked him on a date. He'd been planning to ask her on another one, but he hadn't found the chance to.
He smiled. "(Oh, uh... sure!)"
She beamed back at him. "(Great!)"
After slipping on her lovely orange vest - with a pink heart on both the front and back, a white collar and white frills on the bottom, that Dawn's mother had made for her - Buneary took Pikachu away from the campsite.
"(Tada~!)" she called out, showing him the area she'd chosen for their date.
He smiled. "(Oh, wow!)" he replied.
Before him lay a large patch of tulips. Yellow, white, red, and purple. All scattered and patternless. It was as if an artist had flicked a paintbrush over a canvas, letting the colours fall where they may.
Well, he supposed they were pretty close to Floaroma Town now, so maybe that was why it was here.
"(Hee~!)" Buneary spun over to the tulips, smelling them with a delighted look on her face. "(I saw this place earlier and thought it'd be perfect for a date!)"
He chuckled, walking over to join her. "(Well, you're not wrong.)"
She made a happy noise and began to dance around the flowers.
He gave her a smile that was halfway between amused and exasperated. "(You really love flowers, huh?)"
"(Yup!)"
He glanced around at the tulips, taking in the lovely smell. "(So, which kind's your favourite?)"
She paused in thought. "(Hmm...)" After a moment, she beamed at him. "(Pink ones!)"
He raised an eyebrow. "(Pink ones?)"
"(Yup! Any pink flowers, really!)" She glanced around, before looking slightly disappointed. "(Oh, but there's no pink ones here...)"
His ears lowered a bit in sympathy. "(Aww, that's a shame.)"
She smiled again. "(Oh well!)" Plucking a red tulip, she hopped over to him. "(Here you go!)"
He blinked at it. "(Oh? What's this for?)"
"(It's a gift! For doing so amazingly wonderful in your battle earlier!)"
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "(Oh, haha, well... thanks.)"
He reached out to take it, but she tucked it behind his ear, instead. He blushed at how girly it probably made him look.
She giggled. "(Aww, you look so cute!)"
He grumbled half-heartedly.
Her eyes suddenly sparkled with a fierce sense of pride. "(You were so incredibly focused in that battle! The way you timed all your jumps perfectly! I know I would've messed up if it was me!)"
"(Naw, I'm sure you would've landed them...)"
"(No way!)" She beamed. "(And you even used mine and Piplup's spinning move to avoid the Flamethrower!)"
He chuckled. "(Yeah, that move's come in handy many a time.)"
"(Hee~! You're so cool!)"
He felt an increasingly familiar warmth spread out from his chest. One he'd been feeling a lot the past several days.
"(Nah, I'm not...)"
She bounced on the balls of her feet, her grin growing larger. "(Oh, but you are! You're amazing and wonderful and cool and, oh, why can't you see it?!)"
He felt his face grow warm from the compliments. Averting his eyes, a small smile tugged at his lips.
"(Aheh... well, thanks... but you're no slouch, yourself.)"
There was a pause. "(Huh?)"
He looked back at her to see a confused expression. "(Well... you're pretty amazing yourself, you know... You're really good at contests and you're always inspiring to watch!)" He scratched the back of his head. "(I swear, I picked up most of my tricks from you.)"
"(Me?)"
"(Yeah! You're really strong and graceful and...)" He halted mid-sentence. "(Um... w-well, yeah... Basically, you'd be able to do those tricks easy, since you're so cool.)"
Her eyes sparkled. "(Cool?)"
"(Oh, definitely! You've got it all! Strength, beauty and grace!)"
He paused. Oh. Dang, he'd actually said it that time. Not that he regretted it, but still...
Her eyes widened. "(B... Beauty?)"
"(Y-Yeah!)" There was a pause. "(Beauty! I'd say you've got that!)"
She stared, long and hard, at him, her mouth falling open. After a moment, she squealed and grabbed his paws in hers.
"(Oh, thank you, Pikachu! You're the sweetest~!)"
"(Aheh, well-)" He suddenly felt his feet leave the floor, shocking him. "(Whoa!)"
She spun him around and around in circles, her smile as bright as the sunshine.
"(I'm so luckyyyy!)"
"(Wahhhh!)"
As the myriad of colours flashed by his vision - and occasionally fell out of view - he became vaguely aware that Buneary was bouncing up and down as well.
Funny. This was just like the second time they'd met.
The first time she'd done this, he'd been annoyed. Some weird pokémon he'd barely known had - for no reason he'd been able to fathom - frozen his trainer and his trainer's friends, then danced around the field with him, as if it had all been one big game to her.
Now, however...
As he observed the happy smile on her face - the blurry backdrop of tulips almost looking like a rainbow behind her - he couldn't help but smile back.
Sure, the g-force was doing horrible things to his stomach, and his balance would probably fail him once he stopped, but, somehow, that didn't matter at the moment.
Eventually, Buneary ceased her bouncing and landed back on the ground, smiling at him. It took Pikachu a moment to get his bearings back. It was amazing that he could still feel the tulip behind his ear after that.
Once he managed to shake away the dizziness, he glanced down, noticing that Buneary's paws were still holding onto his. It felt oddly nice, though, so - unlike the first time she'd done this - he made no attempt to pull away.
Glancing up again, he then noticed how close her beaming face was. He stared.
... Her species was always said to have no obvious gender differences - and, from what little he'd seen of male buneary, he could just about attest to that - but there was something special about that smile...
The way it made her eyes sparkle. The way it could light up any area, whether indoors or outdoors. The way it conveyed so much happiness and affection.
It was a smile unique to this buneary. His friend... His girlfriend.
As he continued to stare, he began to recall her words from a couple days ago. Nice. Sweet. Cool. Wonderful... Not one of those had been throwaway comments, had they? The way she'd shyly looked down as she'd said them, blushing and fidgeting with her berry, had shown him just how sincere they'd been.
They'd come straight from the heart.
Suddenly, his heart started beating like a jackhammer in his chest. A strange warmth collected at his fingers, where she was holding them, and started to spread down his arms. He then became very aware of the feeling of her paws in his. His own paws tingled at her touch.
He'd never felt like this before. It was strange and scary, but, at the same time, lovely. What was this?
Glancing downwards slightly, he caught sight of her pink button nose. Staring at it for a moment, he got the strangest desire to lick it.
His brain screeched to a halt. What? What?! What?!
He jumped backwards, pulling his paws from Buneary's grasp. He felt his face heat up like it was on fire.
Buneary gave him a concerned look. "(Pikachu?)"
He quickly turned away, laughing awkwardly. "(So, about that date!)" He began walking in a random direction.
"(Uh... y-yeah...)"
After a moment, she hurried after him, only slowing down to walk alongside him. As her paw brushed slightly against his, it sent a jolt of warmth up his arm.
He suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what the feeling was.
Did... Did he... have a crush on Buneary?
A wave of euphoria splashed over him, calming his heart and filling his head with roses. He felt a sudden desire to hold her close and nuzzle her all day long.
His eyes widened in shock. Oh, legends above... Maybe he did...
He glanced over at her to make sure, yet the feeling remained the same. Warm. Cosy. Inviting. Like a cup of hot cocoa by the fire.
... Wow. Just... wow. The feeling was weird and wonderful, yet so confusing and different that his thoughts were just colliding into one another.
He'd never felt like this before. Ever. Sure, he could appreciate beauty when he saw it, but this... This was a whole new feeling.
Suddenly, she looked up and locked gazes with him. Embarrassed that he'd been caught, he quickly turned away.
Oh, good lord... So, he had feelings for Buneary. Okay. Great. But exactly what was he supposed to do now?!
As the date continued, he still had no answer for himself...