Author's note: Heya, folks!
Sorry for the delay in chapters. I took a bit of a break from this fic, since the creative juices just weren't flowing. Turns out, all I had to do was sit down and think about the order of things a little bit, so now it's back!
In the meantime, I've been planning out 'Neo ITOD', as I like to call it, as well as working on a new PikaBun fic! I rewrote the blasted thing, like, three times, though, coz I found it rather tricky. XD I think I've gotten the hang of it now, though.
Anyway, please enjoy the chapter!
Arc V: The Intrusive Thoughts
Chapter Eighteen: Concerns
A few days had passed since the picnic. In that time, not much had happened, apart from Gliscor learning Giga Impact, before being sent away for training with some 'air battle master' called McCann. Now Ash's team was down to five pokémon.
As Pikachu lay on the grass, looking up at the night sky, he wished his teammate the best, and hoped he'd see him again soon. Maybe the bat would even be back in time for the Sinnoh League!
He glanced sideways at his girlfriend, who was fast asleep beside him. For whatever reason, she'd taken to sleeping outside every night now.
Not that he was complaining, of course. It was actually really nice. Sure, he'd sometimes wake up with morning dew on his fur - from sleeping on the grass, instead of Ash's sleeping bag - but hey. It was worth it, he'd say.
Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.
He bit into his belue berry, enjoying the satisfying crunch it made in his mouth. Chewing it, it was deliciously dry and earthy, with a hint of sweetness.
Above him, the sun shone with a radiant glow. Bird pokémon flew amongst the clouds, chirping happily. Looking down, he watched the wind blow the grass with a gentle breath. It was warm, but not too warm. It was just right.
Biting into his magost berry again, he turned to his companion, who was also eating one. It warmed his heart to see the bright smile on her face. She was enjoying the berry even more than he was.
It was always nice to see her smile.
With a smile of his own, he asked how the berry was.
The eevee looked up at him, a light blush on her face, and responded.
Pikachu slowly cracked open his eyes. He blinked once. Then twice.
Huh, that belue berry had tasted oddly like a carrot... Then it had changed into a magost berry... Then...
As the memories of his dream began to catch up to him, his eyes began to widen. His panic began to rise.
Oh no! He'd dreamt about the eevee again!
Quickly turning to the side, he watched as his girlfriend, Buneary, slept soundly beside him, oblivious to his predicament.
Just what was he doing, dreaming about the eevee again?! With his girlfriend sleeping right next to him?! It had been a while since the first time, so he'd assumed he wouldn't have another one! Yet here he was, back at square one!
... Was he truly that disloyal?
He shook his head. No. No, he had no desire to cheat on Buneary! Especially with a random eevee that may, or may not, be one of the many he'd met before. Just which one was it supposed to be, anyway? May's? Gary's? Sakura's? All three of them had evolved by now! Into a glaceon, umbreon and espeon, respectively!
He groaned, clutching at his head. He hadn't wanted to deal with this again. He hadn't thought he would be dealing with this again! He was a good boyfriend! A good one! Right?
... Right?
Too tired to think on it anymore, he closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. Hopefully, the dream wouldn't come back to haunt him again...
As he ate his breakfast the next morning, Pikachu couldn't help but throw concerned glances towards Buneary. His girlfriend, still oblivious to his plight, was happily chatting to Pachirisu next to her. The squirrel was explaining what had apparently been one of his funniest pranks - and Buneary was giggling in response - but Pikachu was barely paying attention.
Fortunately, the dream hadn't returned last night. Instead, he'd dreamt he'd been flying through the air, alongside a few of Ash's flying-types.
Unfortunately, the first dream was still plaguing his mind. As he nibbled on a pellet, a sudden urge to tell Buneary about it surfaced. It bubbled, aching to be released. Perhaps, if he did that, a weight would be taken off his shoulders. Perhaps he'd feel less guilty.
He'd feel just horrible keeping something like this to himself. She deserved to know the dark sins of his mind.
After all, if he'd dreamt it, surely that meant the thought was there, in the back of his mind? No matter how dormant?
Yes. He'd just have to tell her.
He opened his mouth, ready to speak.
Before he got out a single syllable, however, he paused. The last time he'd told her about his eevee dream had been a couple of weeks ago. As he recalled, she hadn't taken it very well...
In fact, the mood had dampened for most of the day back then. It had only been the following day when it had truly brightened again.
He continued to observe the bright smile on her face, his ears gradually dipping in defeat. No. He couldn't do that to her. He couldn't bring down her mood again.
He still wasn't entirely sure why it had upset her, though it was likely the same reason it was upsetting him.
All he did know for certain was that it was probably best to keep it to himself...
As the day wore on, Pikachu began to think less and less about the dream he'd had. Honestly, it was rather hard to focus on it, what with all the training, helping random strangers, and dealing with Team Rocket.
As night fell, and the humans lay down in their sleeping bags, Pikachu snuggled up to his girlfriend. The cold night air, however, was rather chilly against his skin, not helped much by his rather thin fur. After a particularly cold breeze, he shivered slightly.
"(... Cold?)" Buneary asked.
"(Yeah...)" he replied, "(a little.)"
She paused a long moment, then eventually shuffled closer. "(Well... here.)" She gingerly pulled up her fluff and held it out to him.
He blinked at her. "(Huh?)"
"(... It's good to use as a blanket.)" After a moment, she glanced away. "(Do you wanna?)"
"(Uh... yeah, sure!)"
Slowly, he grabbed the fluff and draped it over himself as best he could. He didn't know how far it could stretch, so he shuffled closer, just to be safe.
As it covered him, he felt a wave of warmth. "(Wow...)" he said, smiling.
She looked pleased. "(You like it?)"
"(Yeah! Thanks, Buneary.)"
She smiled tenderly at him. "(You're welcome...)"
Atop his trainer's shoulder, he looked out across the vast landscape. Greenery, as far as the eye could see. Trees, grass, bushes and, in the far distance, large mountains covered in even more trees. Above him, the sky was a lovely blue, dotted with only a few clouds.
Some commotion suddenly occurred around him. There was yelling and scrambling, then something went flying into the air.
He looked up at it.
He couldn't allow it to fall. He just couldn't! Bad things would happen if it touched the floor. He knew that much.
Leaping from his trainer's shoulder, he soared into the air after the object. Once he felt its solid form grasped within his paws, his body began its descent.
He fell an awfully long way. Perhaps ten feet, perhaps higher. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he had to land on his feet, but the way his body was angled wasn't suitable for that.
Spinning into a somersault, he found the correct angle, yet somehow passed it, so he tried again. Then again. Then again. Eventually, he managed - against all odds - to land safely on his feet.
With a smile of victory, he turned to the brown and cream pokémon who'd been watching. Her purple eyes were wide in awe.
He was confused for a moment, before realising exactly what he'd done. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as the eevee praised him endlessly.
Pikachu slowly blinked awake. It took him a few seconds to register what his brain had just shown him. Then his eyes widened.
Three times? Three freaking times?! And twice in two nights?!
He slapped his paws over his eyes and groaned, both from tiredness and frustration. Just what was wrong with him? Why was this happening? Just who was the freaking eevee in his dreams, and why was she in his dreams in the first place?
He turned over to see his girlfriend sleeping soundly next to him, her fluff no longer covering him. For a few moments, he pictured the eevee lying there instead.
Catching himself, he shook his head to clear away the thought. No! Bad! He slapped his cheeks a few times for good measure.
Cheeks now stinging, he heaved a sigh, slumping against the grass. Maybe he really was a bad boyfriend, after all...
For most of the day, Pikachu found himself distracted. He'd forget for a brief time, until the moment whenever his gaze wandered over to Buneary. Then the dream would come back to him, like a punch to the gut.
Her long ears. Her brown and cream fur. Her large eyes. His mind should have always related them to her, but, instead, he kept being reminded of someone else...
As the rabbit in question approached him, her smile bright, he stared into her eyes. They were brown. They'd always been brown, he knew that. Yet all he could picture were purple eyes.
"(Hey, Pikachu?)" she asked.
He snapped to attention. "(Y-Yeah?)" he replied.
"(We're starting up a game of hide-and-seek! Wanna play?)"
He forced on a smile. "(Y-Yeah, sure! Sounds good!)"
She smiled brighter. "(Great!)"
As she turned around and walked away, his smile faltered slightly. Yeah. Great.
The day wore on, and guilt continued to gnaw away at the pit of Pikachu's stomach. He wanted to tell Buneary about the dream - he really did - but he'd already promised himself that he wouldn't. No matter what.
She'd been in a great mood all day, and he was not about to ruin it.
He really did need to tell someone, though, or else he was going to burst. Who would he tell, though?
"Alright, guys!" Ash said. "Time to do some training!"
"(Yeah!)" everyone replied.
Pikachu, lost in thought, snapped to attention. "(Yeah!)" he added.
"So, who wants to go first?" Ash asked, smiling.
"(Me! Me!)" Grotle cried happily, trying to climb on Ash. He was a lot heavier than when he'd been a turtwig, though, so Ash was trying not to fall over.
It reminded Pikachu of Bayleef.
"Whoa! Careful there, Grotle." Ash chuckled. "You wanna go first?"
"(Yeah!)"
"Alright then." Ash pumped a fist. "Then let's get to it!"
"Me too!" Dawn said, beaming. "Alright, who wants to go first?" There were some heavy footsteps that shook the ground as her largest pokémon approached her. She looked up at him with a smile. "Mamoswine? You wanna go first?"
"(Yes,)" he replied, his face neutral.
Dawn pumped a fist. "Alright! Then let's hit it!"
Mamoswine opened his mouth wide. "(Yeaaaah!)"
Cool. Training. Maybe watching that would take Pikachu's mind off things.
"(Aww, man...)" Buizel said disappointedly from nearby. "(Tsk. I wanted to train, but Grotle beat me to it...)"
"(Heh,)" Pikachu replied, slightly amused, as he glanced in the weasel's direction. "(Well, maybe later, eh?)"
"(Yeah.)"
They began to watch the training. All was going well, and it was starting to distract Pikachu from his thoughts. That is, until he glanced across the battlefield and spotted Buneary on the other side.
She was standing near Piplup, Pachirisu, Cyndaquil and Happiny, watching the battle with much enthusiasm and cheering Mamoswine on. Her pretty face only reminded him of the eevee again...
Glancing away, he caught sight of Buizel, who was also watching the battle. Then, suddenly, he was struck by inspiration.
Buizel! Of course! Although, there was still one slight problem. Glancing around again, he tried to take note of where everyone was standing.
While Buneary's group were spread around the other side of the battlefield, Monferno, Staraptor, Croagunk and Sudowoodo were spread along one side. On Pikachu's other side, there was a strangely empty space.
His eyes lit up. Perfect!
He turned back to the weasel. "(Hey, Buizel?)" he asked.
His friend turned to him. "(Yeah?)" he replied.
Pikachu tilted his head towards the empty space. "(Can we... you know...?)"
Buizel raised an eyebrow.
"(Um... I mean... can I talk to you for a sec?)"
Buizel relaxed. "(Yeah, sure.)"
He didn't move.
"(Um... I mean over there.)" Pikachu pointed a finger.
Buizel blinked. "(Huh?)" He glanced at the empty space, then back again. "(Why? What's wrong with over here?)"
"(Just... please, Buizel.)"
Buizel paused a moment, then shrugged. "(Well, alright, then.)"
Smiling gratefully, Pikachu shifted into position, away from the other pokémon, with Buizel following. With any luck, everyone else was too busy watching the battle to notice.
Once in position, Buizel folded his arms. "(Alright. So, what's up?)"
Pikachu exhaled slowly. "(Okay, well... I've been having this weird dream.)"
Buizel raised an eyebrow. "(Dream?)"
"(Yeah! I've had it, like, three times already, and I'm getting worried about it...)"
Buizel fully turned to face him. "(Yeah? What kind of dream?)"
"(I was...)" Pikachu inhaled. "(Dating an eevee.)"
"(... Okay...?)"
Pikachu stared in disbelief at him. "(Yeah...)"
"(... And...?)"
"(Wh... What do you mean 'And'?!)"
Buizel shrugged. "(It was just a dream, right?)"
"(Yeah, but... I was cheating on-!)" He paused, glanced once at his girlfriend, then lowered his voice. "(I was cheating on Buneary...)"
"(Pfft!)" Buizel's mouth lifted for a second, before he forced it back down again.
Pikachu groaned, his ears dipping. "(Buizeeel... this is serious!)"
"(Sorry.)" The weasel took a deep breath, unfolding his arms. "(Look. It's just a dream, right?)"
"(Yeah... but-)"
"(And you're not thinking of doing it in real life, right?)"
Pikachu's eyes widened. "(Of course not!)"
Buizel shrugged. "(Then there's no problem.)"
"(... But...)"
"(Who was it you were dating, anyway? Anyone I know?)"
"(... Not really.)"
"(Anyone you know?)"
"(I'm... not sure.)"
Buizel shrugged again. "(Well, there you have it. Whoever it was, you probably just made them up, or something.)" He paused. "(Am I right?)"
... That was a distinct possibility, actually. Especially since he had no idea which eevee it even was.
"(Well... I guess...)"
"(See?)" Buizel smirked. "(And I doubt you're gonna cheat on Buneary with your own imagination.)" He snorted. "(Unless you're really pathetic.)"
That made him feel slightly better. He felt his ears rise again. "(I guess so.)"
"(So, don't worry about it, okay? You goof.)" He snickered. "(Only you would-)" He barked out a laugh. "(Only you would worry about something so stupid!)"
Pikachu's ears dipped again. "(H-Hey...)"
As Buizel continued laughing, Pikachu had to concede that his friend did have a point. If nothing else, it had lifted a weight from his mind.
He glanced back over at Buneary, who was still cheering for Mamoswine.
The thought would probably still bother him for a while, but maybe not as much now.