Author's note: Ciao, amici! (Hello, friends!)

Last time, on Yokaitale... Komane used his actual canon moves! Spirit Burst, Burn, Power Punch and Incinerate. Why didn't I label them in the chapter itself, you ask? Well... Pikachu didn't know the attack names. Plus, can you imagine how narmy it would have been if Komane had yelled out his attacks while using them? XD "Power Punch!"

I also added a few Dragonball Z references in that chapter. See if you can spot them all.

And yes, Reuknight and Casanuva were chosen for a reason. Lol, Undertale.

... On an unrelated note, how would you guys feel about a reboot of In Times of Danger? I've been working on giving it a fresh coat of paint and am interested to see what my reviewers think. It promises tighter plotlines! More interesting characterisations! And even better backstories! This time, nothing will be shoehorned in, if I can help it. Haha.

... In the meantime, though, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Sixteen: Discussions

"Next up," the voice on TV said, "is Creature from the Great Marsh, followed later on tonight by Dr. Lycan and Mr. Roc."

Pikachu pressed the power button on the remote, and the screen immediately went black. Placing it back down on the couch, he turned to Buneary. There was silence for a moment.

"(So...)" he said. He smiled awkwardly. "(I wasn't expecting Komasan to evolve.)"

"(Heh,)" Buneary replied with a small smile in return, "(me neither.)"

"(Or to fight so well! I mean, jeez...)"

"(Ha, yeah.)"

There was more silence.

"(... I'm glad it ended the way it did, but man...)" Pikachu's ears drooped slightly in exasperation.

"(Yeah...)" Buneary fiddled with her fluff awkwardly. "(Why did they have to make a movie like this?)"

"(I've no idea.)"

Buneary's ear drooped and she looked sad. "(And the first movie was so happy, too...)"

"(Yeah and this one was depressing.)"

"(Yeah...)"

After a few moments, her eyes started watering. Panicking, Pikachu tried to think of a way to cheer her up.

"(But hey... I guess... it wasn't real, right?)"

Buneary paused a long moment. "(... I guess not.)"

"(It felt pretty real, but... it wasn't. It was most likely that... thing!)"

She gave him a confused look. "(Huh?)"

"(You know... that thing! With the computers and... stuff.)"

Wiping her eyes, Buneary chuckled at him. He sighed, feeling his face warm. Well, at least he'd managed to cheer her up...

"(Do you mean CGI?)"

He immediately perked up. "(Yeah! CGI, that's it! It's probably only that.)"

"(Yeah... I know... but the characters felt so real, you know? And...)" She halted.

"(Yeah?)"

"(Nothing. It just... reminded me of something, that's all.)"

Pikachu's ears drooped further in concern. "(Oh... sorry.)"

She shook her head with a small smile. "(It's nothing.)"

"(Well, alright...)" He paused, then tried to put on a smile. "(Well, hey. Maybe the yokai were actually pokémon actors!)"

"(Heh, maybe.)"

"(I'd really like to meet Komasan's actor!)"

"(Yeah... and Jibanyan's.)"

"(Oh, definitely. Hey, maybe Nick and Clefairy are really nice in real life, too!)"

"(Yeah, maybe.)" She paused, her smile slipping. "(Still, it was horrible watching them kill all those yokai...)"

His smile slipped a bit, too. "(Yeah. You have to wonder why they made that movie.)" He paused as he thought about it. "(Hmm... then again... would it have been as depressing if we hadn't watched the first movie?)"

"(Hmm?)" Buneary paused again. "(I guess not...)"

"(Yeah... it was only sad because we knew all the characters...)"

"(That's true... though it'd be hard to watch the first movie again after this.)"

Pikachu sighed. "(Yeah... this movie kinda ruined it.)"

"(Mmm...)"

After a moment, he put on a another smile. "(It had a really cool ending, though! Really... dramatic and explosive.)"

"(Heh, yeah. It was pretty cool.)

"(It was the best part of the movie!)" Pikachu paused. "(Well, it was the only good part, really... Apart from the cool evolutions!)"

Buneary nodded. "(Yeah. I particularly liked Cas... uh...)" She thought for a moment. "(... Cupistol's evolution.)"

Pikachu perked up at this. "(Yeah, me too! And Armsman's! Uh... Re... Reu...)" He shook his head. "(Whatever it was called.)"

"(Heh, yeah.)" Buneary paused. "(Talk about a dramatic ending, though.)"

"(Oh, I know, right?! Did they really need to make it so...)"

"(Scary?)"

"(Yeah! Komasan... or... Komane, was it? He was completely different by the end of the movie!)"

"(Heh, no kidding. I barely recognised him.)"

"(Yeah...)"

"(And poor Jibanyan... He didn't deserve that...)"

Pikachu's smile slipped again. "(Mmm...)"

"(He was only being nice and trying to help and... well, yeah...)"

"(Mmm... but, again, it's only a movie, right? And... and... you can pretend this movie didn't exist, if you like...)"

"(I guess...)"

Pikachu fished around for something to cheer Buneary up again. "(Uh... so, what was your favourite part about the other movie?)"

She brightened slightly. "(Oh, well... lots of them, really. It's hard to pick.)" She paused for thought. "(Hmmmm... Oh! The funniest moment was Jibanyan with his seafood!)"

He chuckled. "(Oh yeah! He's obsessed with that stuff.)"

Buneary giggled. "(He's such a goofball.)"

"(Yeah.)"

"(What was your favourite part?)"

He thought about it for a moment. "(Hmmmm... probably the big fight at the end.)"

"(Heh, well, you do love your battling!)"

"(Yep, I sure do!)" He pumped both fists excitedly. "(The way Nick and Clefairy both fought for their friends was just... it was just... you know?!)"

Buneary giggled again. "(Yeah, I know.)"

"(And the music! The music was awesome! It got me so pumped up and excited and... and... emotional!)"

"(Yeah, me too! And you should've seen Piplup! He was sobbing by the end!)"

Pikachu laughed. "(Yeah, I saw!)"

Buneary giggled again. After a few moments, her laughter died down and she looked contemplative. "(Hey, Pikachu?)"

"(Hmm?)"

"(Do you think it's that easy? To change from good to bad?)"

He blinked. "(Huh?)"

"(It only took one little thing to turn Nick and Clefairy into bad guys. Is it really that easy?)"

Pikachu tilted his head in thought. "(Hmm... well, probably not? It was probably done for dramatic effect. Maybe.)" He paused. "(Like that moment in the final fight.)"

She blinked. "(Huh?)"

"(Yeah, when Nick came in close and Komane attacked him. Why didn't he attack him sooner?)"

Buneary blinked again. "(... Dramatic effect.)"

Pikachu nodded. "(Yeah.)"

She looked thoughtful. "(... Huh. I guess so.)"

He smiled. "(I doubt it'd be that easy to turn from good to evil... you know?)"

She smiled back. "(Yeah. I guess not.)" She suddenly yawned. "(Oh my.)"

He chuckled. "(Yeah, it's pretty late. Should we get to bed now?)"

Buneary rubbed her eye. "(Yeah, I guess so.)"

"(Alright.)" Pikachu reached to the side of him, where he'd put Buneary's pokéball. Grabbing it, he lifted it up. "(You ready to go back in?)"

She nodded. "(Yup.)"

"(Alright. Buneary, return!)"

In a flash of red light, his girlfriend was absorbed back into the pokéball. Shrinking it back down to pocket size, he glanced towards the stairs.

... Well, now it was time to sneak back into the humans' room without waking them up. Oh joy.

Standing atop the table - and trying not to knock over the flower vase - Pikachu slowly and carefully clicked the door lock shut with his tail.

Holding his breath, he glanced over at the humans, who were lying in their beds. Ash's arms were splayed out, and he was snoring with his mouth wide open. Brock was clutching at his blanket with a goofy smile on his face. Dawn was clearly the most graceful sleeper, though her hair was currently a bit of a mess.

None of them, however, seemed to have woken up. Breathing a sigh of relief, Pikachu quietly jumped down from the table, Buneary's pokéball in his paw. Once he put it back where it belonged, it was time for him to sleep.

He ran through the many colourful flowers, laughing joyfully. Turning his head, he could see his brown, fluffy companion giving chase, a beaming smile on her face. Today was a lovely day. The sun was shining, the bird pokémon were chirping, and there was barely a cloud in the sky.

Turning back around, he glanced at the path ahead, weaving in and out of the colourful flowers. When something small and purple, carrying a familiar hat, suddenly cut across his path, he screeched to a halt.

Calling after the monkey, he instead gave chase.

She was so far ahead and he was getting no closer, but he had to get that hat back! Increasing his speed, he dashed towards her. As he closed in on her frame, now larger and with two tails, he leapt into the air and grabbed the hat off her head with his teeth. However, his grip on the hat loosened, and his vision was suddenly obscured as he landed on all fours.

Lifting his head to push the hat out of his eyes, he froze. Two lone figures stood on the road. One tall, with cold eyes. The other short and pink, eyes filled with child-like wonder.

The tall one silently flicked his wrist. The small pink one nodded, forming a gigantic pink ball of energy between her claws.

His blood ran cold as the energy was thrown in his direction. The pink stream of light rumbled loudly as it tore along the dirt path, straight towards him.

He willed - begged - his legs to move, but they couldn't. They wouldn't. He was frozen in fear.

Even before he could will the energy to scream, he felt it slam into him with the force of a freight train. His body, lifeless, flew across the field, hitting the dirt and rolling, until it smacked into a tree and stopped.

The pain was blinding. Everywhere stung like acid, and his vision was suddenly hot, red and wet. Someone was screaming his name, but it was hazy.

The last thing he saw, just before he blacked out, was the pink creature, smiling happily down at him.

Pikachu jolted awake. Breathing heavily, he glanced at his surroundings. Okay, he was in a pokémon centre, sleeping on his trainer's stomach. Okay. He most certainly was not getting destroyed by Nick's clefairy.

He sighed, trying to relax. Well, great. He wanted to go back to sleep, but he had the sneaking suspicion that, if he did, the same nightmare would plague his thoughts. He groaned groggily. Dang, he was so tired, but he really didn't want to get killed again. That dream had been scary...

"(Pikachu?)" a familiar voice asked.

Eyes widening in surprise, he looked down and saw his girlfriend. "(Buneary?)" he replied.

She gave him a light wave. "(Hey...)"

He glanced at Dawn's bag, then back at Buneary. He rubbed his itching eye. "(Why are you up?)"

She glanced down at the floor, fidgeting with her fluff. "(... I had a nightmare.)"

His ears dipped slightly in sympathy. "(Oh...)"

She looked up at him. "(What about you? Did... I wake you?)"

"(Nah. I had a nightmare, too.)"

Her eyes widened. "(You too?)"

"(Yeah.)"

"(... Was it... about Nick and Clefairy?)"

"(Yeah. How'd you know?)"

She looked away again. "('Cause mine was, too.)"

He blinked. "(... Really?)" He paused. "(Did she kill you?)"

She looked back at him, surprised. "(Huh?)"

"('Cause she killed me.)"

Her eyes widened a second time. "(... No... she... killed you.)"

He blinked again. "(Huh. So I died in two dreams?)"

"(Y-Yeah...)"

"(Huh.)"

There was a sudden stretch of silence between them.

"(... Hey, Pikachu?)"

"(Yeah?)"

"(... Can I sleep up there with you tonight?)"

He blinked for the third time. "(Huh?)"

Her voice lowered to a murmur. "(I don't wanna go back in my pokéball...)"

He gave her a sympathetic gaze. "(... Well, okay, sure. If there's room.)"

She gave him a faint smile in return. "(Thanks.)"

Climbing up the side of the bed, she carefully made her way across the blanket and onto Ash's chest. Pikachu shifted sideways to allow her more room. Taking the offer with another smile, she settled down beside him. As he lay back down on his front, she nuzzled into his side, her fur warm and cosy against his.

"(... Goodnight, Pikachu,)" she said, closing her eyes.

He smiled as he closed his own eyes, now somehow ready to sleep again. "(... Goodnight, Buneary.)"