Author's note: Hey, folks!

Sorry this fic hasn't been updated in a while. Blame Fire Emblem: Fates... XP

Doing all three paths multiple times takes a lot of time, patience... and frustration. Yes, there are about a million things I could complain about with this game. I could go on an all-day rant, I swear... but I'll save you the ear ache. XD

Hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

Chapter Seventeen: Celebrations

Pikachu frowned at Sparky across the battlefield. His fellow mouse smirked back at him.

His ritchie certainly was powerful. The trainer-type had already taken out three of his pokémon. His brock, his dawn and his tracey!

... There was nothing else for it. He needed to bring out the big guns.

From beside him, his girlfriend expressed worry over his chances. Calmly, he waved her off. He had this covered.

With a smirk, he spun his cap backwards and threw his next pokéball.

"(Ash!)" he cried. "(I choose you!)"

With a click, the pokéball opened in midair, releasing a flash of white light. After a moment, it dispersed, revealing his best friend. His partner. His most trusted pokémon.

Ash opened his mouth, ready to express his enthusiasm for the battle.

A high-pitched squeal erupted from his throat.

Pikachu rapidly blinked awake. Wow. That had been loud.

... Wait, why could he still hear it?

"Huh?" Ash mumbled, voice heavy with sleep. "Whazza matter, Dawn?"

"That's so cute~!" Dawn replied.

"Hmm?" Brock asked. "What's cute?"

"That!"

There was a pause, then Brock gasped. Curious about what was going on, Pikachu looked up with sleepy eyes, only to see that Dawn was pointing directly at him.

... Huh?

Confused, he frowned slightly. Then he turned sideways to see if there was anything beside him. When his eyes met the equally sleepy eyes of his girlfriend, it took him a moment to understand.

... Oh.

Brock suddenly let out an inhumane howl that made Pikachu jump.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" he cried, his voice thick with tears. "It's love at its absolute finest, is what it is!"

Pikachu ducked his head in embarrassment. Oh good lord. They were starting on the 'love' stuff this early in the morning?

"Huh?" Ash asked, moving slightly to look. "... Oh, hey, Buneary." He chuckled. "How'd you get on my chest?"

"See, that's the thing, Ash!" Dawn replied excitedly. "She was in her pokéball last night! And now she's not!"

"Meaning she crept out of it and onto your bed, just so she could be with the love of her life!" Brock wailed.

Pikachu's face warmed. Groaning slightly, he hid it behind his paws.

It was way too early for this...

Later, once the humans left the pokémon centre - Pikachu on Ash's shoulder and Piplup on Dawn's head - they began travelling through the town, hoping to reach the next route soon.

Pikachu yawned loudly. After staying up so late, then being woken up by a nightmare, he was still very tired. Thankfully, he didn't need to do any walking for a while.

As they passed a doll store, he briefly glanced over in curiosity. A bellossom doll, a togetic doll and an azumarill doll were all lined up along the windowsill. Right at the end, however, was a clefairy doll. Its glassy eyes and pleasant smile stared directly into his soul. Perturbed, he shivered and turned away.

The humans continued walking in comfortable silence, passing store after store. Pikachu was just starting to wake up properly, when Brock suddenly screamed out of nowhere. Everyone jumped in fright, and Pikachu and Piplup almost fell off their trainers.

"What is it, Brock?!" Dawn asked, panicked.

"I just realised!" Brock cried. "Pikachu and Buneary..." He clenched his fists and burst into tears. "They've been dating for a month!"

Pikachu blushed slightly at the look of sparkling awe on Dawn's face, and the widening of Piplup's eyes.

"Really?!" Dawn asked. "They have?!"

Ash put a wrist to his hip. "Huh," he said. He chuckled. "Way to go, buddy!"

"(Heh, thanks...)" Pikachu replied sheepishly.

Piplup's expression became smug. "(Just goes to show,)" he said, "(I'm a pro at matchmaking!)"

Brock got a sudden fire in his eyes as he clenched one of his fists harder. "This must be celebrated!" he cried.

"Celebrated?" Dawn asked. After a moment, she clasped her hands together in delight. "That's a great idea! Oh, I'm excited already~!"

Brock took on a thinking pose. "But how? How should this monumental step in their relationship be celebrated?"

"(... Guys, it's okay,)" Pikachu said in exasperation. "(It's not really that big of a deal...)"

Besides, they'd already celebrated it last night. Not that the humans had any idea, of course.

"That's it!" Brock cried, clicking his fingers. "I've got just the thing. Wait here."

"Huh?" Dawn asked. "Well, okay then."

As Brock wandered off, Ash looked around. "... So, uh..." he said, "what are we supposed to do now?"

"I can understand why some prefer the style approach," Dawn said. "You get to dress up your pokémon and make them look cute."

"Yeah, but the pokémon are great as they are..." Ash replied. "They don't need dresses or accessories."

"Says the guy who made his pikachu wear a wig and loincloth for that the Hearthome Collection."

Atop Ash's shoulder, Pikachu smiled awkwardly. That had been an embarrassing outfit, for sure...

Ash frowned slightly. "Hey, you're the one who gave Buneary a min... min..." He paused. "Uh, what was the word again?"

"... Minimalistic?"

"Right. A minimalistic style! So you've no room to talk!"

Pikachu smiled. Ah yes, the white 'snow spirit' dress. Buneary had looked lovely in it. Then again, she looked lovely in anything she wore. The purple dress from the steamboat, the pink cheerleader outfit and, of course, her signature orange vest.

Dawn took on a slightly cocky air. "Yeah, but that was only because I knew it would help!" She smiled. "I'd have loved to put Buneary in one of my other dress ideas!" She took on a dreamy air. "Like the fluffy diamond gown! Or the spiky eighties dress!"

Ash heaved a sigh, slumping his shoulders. "It's like Scissor Street all over again..."

Dawn looked at him curiously. "Hmm? Scissor Street?"

"A place in Kanto." He rubbed his head awkwardly. "There was this whole style vs. substance thing going on there... and I was totally on the side of substance."

Ah, yes, Pikachu remembered that day well. That celebrity breeder, Suzie, had given his cheeks the most heavenly massage!

"Huh, is that so?" Dawn huffed amusedly. "Sounds like you."

Ash frowned slightly. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly, Brock appeared from nowhere, startling them all again. "I'm back!" he said.

Dawn took a calming breath. "Oh. Hey."

"So, what'd you get?" Ash asked excitedly.

Brock waved a finger. "Ah ah ah~!" he replied. "You'll have to wait til later to find out!"

Ash's face fell. "Aww..."

Much later, the humans had stopped for lunch in an open field. As per usual, Buneary - wearing her orange vest - was snuggling into Pikachu, though perhaps a bit more than usual. To Pikachu's embarrassment, it was starting to draw questioning glances from his friends.

Once the humans finished their sandwiches and the pokémon finished their pellets, Brock stood up and clapped his hands together.

"Okay!" he said. "Now to unveil my surprise!"

"Awesome!" Ash replied excitedly.

"In honour of Pikachu and Buneary's one-month anniversary..." A few eyes widened at the declaration, and Pikachu felt his face warm. Brock reached into his backpack and pulled out a picnic basket. "I've prepared a smorgasbord of snacks!"

Everyone grinned in delight.

"(Heh,)" Buizel said, smirking, "(I wondered why there was less in my bowl.)"

"(Yeah!)" Pachirisu agreed, beaming. "(It's to make room for yummy afters!)"

"Heh," Brock said, smiling, "well, you all look pretty excited. Let me just lay out the picnic blankets..."

"(Oh my gosh...)" Buneary said, her paws to her mouth as the food was laid out in front of them. "(Are those...?)"

"(Ha, yeah,)" Pikachu replied in amusement at what she was looking at. Glancing away, he caught sight of something else. He gasped lightly. "(And is that...?)"

"Alright, everyone..." Brock said, "dig in!"

Immediately, all the pokémon went running towards their favourite foods. Pikachu, who'd had his eye on a certain ketchup bottle, made a beeline for it.

With the bottle in his arms, he gave a sigh of contentment. Yeah, this was nostalgic. Hopefully, no scyther would come along and destroy the bottle, like last time.

Popping off the lid, he lapped at the delicious condiment. It danced along his taste buds. He gave another contented sigh.

"(... Ketchup?)" Buizel asked sassily, making him jump. "(Really?)"

Pikachu chuckled awkwardly. "(Yeah, well... you know...)" he replied.

"(Heh. Come on, let's go eat some real food.)" The weasel paused. "(Pfft. Besides, your girlfriend's kind of inhaling all the rice balls.)"

Pikachu blinked. Glancing over at Buneary, he smiled exasperatedly at the sight that met his eyes. The rabbit was, indeed, sitting on the picnic blanket with a mouth full of rice ball. Huffing in slight amusement, he wandered over, Buizel following closely behind.

"(Hey, Buneary,)" Pikachu said with a smile.

"(Huy,)" she replied, mouth still full. Chewing the rice ball some more, she swallowed.

"(You enjoying that?)"

"(Yep! It's even got red bean paste inside it!)" She tilted the rice ball, so he could see the sticky red substance inside. "(See?)"

"(Yeah.)" He chuckled at her.

"(Oh, sweet!)" Cyndaquil suddenly said from nearby. "(Spicy snacks!)"

Pikachu glanced over, pulling a face at the bowl of spiced mix that the hedgehog was fast approaching. He really didn't like spicy food. It would have to be pretty delicious to convince him otherwise.

Just as Cyndaquil was about to reach the spiced mix, however, Piplup shoved him out of the way. He landed in a heap on the grass.

"(Are those gummies covered in sherbet?!)" the penguin cried excitedly. "(Mine!)"

Cyndaquil jumped to his feet, angry. "(Hey, you jerk!)" He shoved the penguin back.

Piplup scowled. "(Hey! You bigger jerk!)" He shoved the hedgehog back.

"(Uncallled for!)" Cyndaquil shoved.

"(Not my fault you were in the way!)" Piplup shoved.

They continued shoving a few more times, before pressing their foreheads together and growling at each other.

Pikachu was ready to put down the ketchup bottle and interject when Pachirisu suddenly ran over, a huge grin on his face.

"(Sweet!)" he said. "(Sour gummies!)" Picking the bowl up, he ran away with it. "(Losers, weepers!)"

Piplup immediately broke away from Cyndaquil, looking flabbergasted. He stared for a few moments, then danced around in frustration.

"(Heyyy!)" he cried. "(Get back here with thoooose!)" He went running after the squirrel, who was laughing at him the entire time.

After a moment of watching this, everyone let out an awkward chuckle. Some things never changed...

"(Hey, guys!)" Happiny said, appearing to Buizel's side. In her tiny hands was a chocolate cupcake. "(These cupcakes are amazing! Anyone wanna try one?)"

"(Nah, I'm good, thanks,)" Buizel replied.

"(Me too,)" Pikachu replied, holding his ketchup bottle closer.

"(I will!)" Buneary replied enthusiastically.

"(Oh my gosh, these things are delicious~!)" Buneary said before inhaling another vanilla cupcake.

Pikachu watched on in amused exasperation. Though his girlfriend had taken a liking to the chocolate cupcakes, she'd gone a bit crazy over the vanilla ones. She was already on her third one.

He absentmindedly licked at the ketchup bottle, enjoying its sweet and sour taste.

"(... You're lucky no one else wants that,)" Buizel said with a smirk.

He blushed as he realised what he'd been doing. "(Oh, s-sorry...)" he mumbled.

"(I've no idea how you can eat those!)" Cyndaquil said to Buneary. He nibbled on a spicy pretzel. "(They're sho... ugh... shweet!)"

"(True that,)" Buizel said, nibbling on a stalk of celery.

"(You kidding?!)" Piplup retorted, eating a sour gummy. "(Shpicy's the worsht!)"

"(Yeah, I kind of agree...)" Buneary said with a sheepish smile.

"(Me too,)" Pikachu said with an equally sheepish smile.

"(Hmph!)" Cyndaquil replied, pouting. "(No taste!)"

Around a mouthful of sour gummies, Pachirisu grinned. "(S'long as it'sh not dry food, I dun care!)" he said. He pointed at the bowl of vegetables near Buizel, pulling a face. "(Like tha' yucky carrot over there!)"

Happiny giggled. "(Oh, I totally agree!)" she said. "(Though I heard they're sweeter if you cook 'em!)"

"(Eh.)"

Intrigued, Pikachu glanced over. He'd never really eaten a carrot before, but he did tend to like dry food quite a lot...

"(... You interested, Pikachu?)" Buizel asked with a smirk.

Pikachu jolted, then laughed awkwardly. "(Y-Yeah, I guess so,)" he replied.

Buizel chuckled. Grabbing the carrot, he tossed it over. "(Here, catch!)"

In a panic, Pikachu quickly put down the ketchup bottle and held out his arms. The carrot, completely misaimed, smacked him in the face. Almost everyone burst out laughing.

"(Pikachu!)" Buneary said worriedly. "(Are you okay?)"

Pikachu rubbed his slightly sore nose. "(Yeah, I'm fine...)"

He glanced down at the carrot in his paws. Well, it certainly looked quite dry. Shrugging, he took a bite. It made a satisfying crack as it broke off in his mouth. Even more intrigued, he chewed. It was crunchy, slightly sweet and oh-so very dry, with a hint of an earthy aftertaste. He swooned. Wow. Never did he think he'd find something better than ketchup.

"(Heh,)" Buizel said, "(looks like we got a winner.)"

Pikachu paused as he realised the faces he'd probably been making. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head as his friends laughed again.

"(So, congrats on your one-month anniversary!)" Pachirisu said before inhaling another pile of sour gummies. "(Here'sh to anover monf!)"

"(Heyyy!)" Piplup cried angrily. "(Stop eating them allllll!)" He paused. "(And yeah, congrats.)"

"(This is a nice way to celebrate, huh?)" Happiny asked with a bright smile, before nibbling on a chocolate cupcake.

"(Yeah!)" Buneary replied happily. "(Beats the scary movie we watched last night.)"

Suddenly, interest was piqued among the group. They all clamoured for an explanation. As they turned to Pikachu, the mouse sighed.

"(Well, I thought I'd... you know, celebrate and stuff...)" he said, "(so we watched a horror movie. The... sister movie to that Determination movie.)"

Piplup gasped. "(You watched its sister movie without me?!)" he cried, flailing wildly.

"(It was for the... you know, the... thing! Anyway, yeah, it had Nick and Clefairy in it, but...)"

He glanced awkwardly at Buneary, who was shuffling just as awkwardly. He looked back at his friends. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain.

"(... Wow,)" Pachirisu said, mouth wide.

"(That... sounds really awesome,)" Buizel said with a smirk.

Piplup, who was shuddering in horror, suddenly started flailing angrily. "(No, it doesn't!)" he cried. "(It's horribleeee!)" He burst into tears. "(How could they do that to that beautiful movieeee?!)"

Happiny giggled. "(Sounds fun enough!)" she said.

"(I dunno...)" Pachirisu replied hesitantly. "(Sounds scary and depressing to me.)"

Cyndaquil puffed out his chest. "(I could handle it, no prob!)" he said.

"(Yeah, well...)" Pikachu replied, "(we didn't really like it much.)"

"(Yeah...)" Buneary added, shivering slightly, "(it gave me nightmares. I had to sleep with Pikachu that night.)"

Every head shot up in intrigue. Pikachu felt his face warm.

Buizel chuckled. "(Oh, you did, huh?)" he asked.

"(Y-Yeah...)" Pikachu replied for his girlfriend. "(We slept on Ash's chest and...)" Everyone sniggered, heightening his embarrassment. "(You know... stuff...)"

"(How cuuuute~!)" Pachirisu cried happily.

Happiny turned to Buneary. "(Does this mean you'll be sleeping outside your pokéball from now on?)" she asked with a smile.

Buneary paused in thought. "(Hmm...)" she replied.

Hours had passed since the pokémon's little picnic, where every scrap of food had been gratefully devoured. Even dinner had passed by in a blur. Now Ash, Dawn and Brock were calling their pokémon back into their pokéballs for the night.

Once Dawn had called away Piplup and Pachirisu, she held up Buneary's pokéball. Trainer and pokémon locked eyes.

For a few moments, Dawn didn't move. She only continued to stare at Buneary, a questioning look in her eyes. Pikachu got a strange sense of deja vu, but he wasn't sure why. Had this happened before?

Eventually, Buneary smiled and shook her head. Smiling back, Dawn lowered her pokéball.

"Huh," Brock said, smiling, "it looks like Buneary wants to sleep outside tonight."

"Yep!" Dawn replied, beaming. "So she can be with Pikachu!" She clasped her hands together over the pokéball. "Oh dear, that's so romantic~!"

Ash chuckled. "Well, alright then," he said. He shrugged in amusement. "Sure, why not?"

"(Hee~!)" Buneary replied.

She quickly hopped over to Pikachu and nuzzled him. Blushing, Pikachu nuzzled back. Brock immediately burst into tears at the sight.

"It's so beautifuuuul!" he cried. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he chewed on it dramatically. "Why can't I have that?!"

Everyone chuckled at him awkwardly, before heading off to bed.

Pikachu had to admit - lying here on the grass with his girlfriend - it was certainly strange sleeping next to someone other than Ash for once. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, granted, but it was still strange.

... It was quite nice, though. Buneary's fluff was very soft and warm. Much warmer than his own. Even his heart seemed to be bursting with warmth, though that probably had little to do with the fluff.

"(... You alright out here, Buneary?)" he asked.

"(Yep, I'm good,)" she replied, shuffling closer.

"(That's good.)"

She closed her eyes. "(... Goodnight, Pikachu.)"

He smiled, closing his own. "(Yeah. Goodnight, Buneary.)"