Author's note: Heya, guys! Happy New Year!

Not much else to say here, so I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Twenty-five: Talks

... Wow. He'd really just thought that, hadn't he?

Pikachu stared up at the sky, surprised at himself.

He'd thought it. The big 'L' word. The word of ultimate loyalty, affection and commitment. He'd just thought it.

Love.

... Could it really be true? The first time it'd been brought up during his relationship, he'd denied it. The second time, too. Now, though?

He continued to stare at the slowly drifting clouds.

He thought about Buneary. Her smiling face. Her infectious laugh.

Love...

He wanted to try saying it out loud.

"(Love...)" he murmured to himself.

A strange feeling spread over him. One of... freedom? Relief? As though a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. Like air had finally filled his lungs. Like the shackles of doubt had finally fallen off.

Huh. Was this what love felt like?

... Although... why did it feel so cold? Wasn't it supposed to feel warm, like when he'd realised he liked her? Warm and cosy and fluffy? Wasn't it supposed to make him feel... happy?

As a cloud above him started to form the shape of a buneary, he crinkled his eyes at it in despair.

... No. He knew why it felt cold.

It was because of him...

This was one of those occasions to celebrate. A milestone in his life. A feeling that he'd never experienced before.

... As far as he was concerned, though, there was nothing to celebrate.

He sighed, his eyelids slowly growing heavier. Maybe he should rest his eyes a bit. It couldn't hurt, he supposed. When did he even last sleep? Quite a while ago...

Closing his eyes, he felt his consciousness begin to drift. It was like floating in an endless void. Like something was sucking him in. Taking him to a warm place. A comforting place. A place with fluffy blankets and hot cocoa. A place of peace...

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.

Opening his eyes to drag himself out of the abyss, he forced himself into a sitting position. He sighed again, turning to address the one who was closing in on him.

"(Oh, hey, Bui-)" Something smacked him on the back of the head, launching him forwards. "(Ow!)" He held a paw to the sore spot as he looked up at Buizel in disbelief. "(What did you do that for?)"

Buizel folded his arms. "(Either you've done something really stupid...)" he replied, "(or you've messed up your wording. Again.)"

Pikachu rubbed at the sore spot, glaring very lightly. That had hurt, but he supposed he deserved it.

"(So,)" Buizel continued, "(wanna tell me what happened?)"

Pikachu looked down at the grass. "(What's there to explain? I cheated on Buneary.)"

"(Tsk. Is that really what happened?)"

"(Yeah. With the eevee and the...)" He looked up at him. "(You already heard it from Piplup, right?)"

Buizel rolled his eyes. "(Well, yeah, but you know how he is. Crying and freaking out all over the place. So I wanna hear it from you. What did you do?)"

Pikachu looked back down. "(Well... I did the thing... the bad thing that I-)"

There was another sharp pain to the back of his head. "(No more word fudging. Buneary's depressed, Piplup's in tears, and Pachirisu's trying to cheer them up. Just tell me straight.)"

Pikachu heaved a sigh, rubbing at the sore spot. He took a moment to form his words carefully.

"(I... had a... No. I... kept having... Wait.)" He thought about it some more. His head was buzzing, so it was hard to think straight. "(... Okay. Remember that dream I had?)"

"(... Hmm?)"

"(The one about the eevee?)"

There was a pause. "(... Oh! Yeah, I remember now.)"

"(Yeah. Well... it kept happening. Over and over and over and over again... It wouldn't stop...)"

"(... Yeah?)

Pikachu looked up at Buizel's confused face. "(Then I...)" He paused. Somehow, this was hard to put into words. He cheated on her with a dream? He saw the eevee in real life and spent time with her? Why did it sound so trivial in his head?

"(... Yeah?)" Buizel prompted again.

Pikachu stared at Buizel, dumbfounded by his own thoughts. "(Uh...)" He looked down at the grass in embarrassment. "(Well... the eevee yesterday... She was... probably the one from the dream and...)"

There was a long stretch of silence.

"(... Wait, you...)" There was another pause, then Buizel's voice rose in pitch. "(Is this the same thing as last time?!)"

Pikachu looked up at his disbelieving gaze. "(W-Well, yeah! Except there was a lot... you know, more! And it was more... you know!)"

Buizel slowly put a paw to his own face. "(... You think you cheated on her with a dream again.)"

"(Well... yeah, but... no, but... it's different!)"

Buizel heaved a sigh. "(How's it different?)"

"(Well... the real one! She... We nuzzled and...)"

Buizel lowered his paw to peek over it at him.

Pikachu continued. "(A-And only me and Buneary nuzzle!)"

"(... What about Ash?)"

Pikachu faltered. "(Yeah, well...)"

"(Urgh!)" Buizel slapped both paws to his face. "(You didn't do anything at all with her, did you?)"

"(... Well...)"

"(Any licking? Holding paws? Dates? Anything?)"

Pikachu's voice lowered awkwardly. "(... Yeah, in the dreams...)"

"(Urgh! Alright, that's it!)" Buizel forcefully grabbed Pikachu's paw and yanked. Pikachu yelped as he was pulled to his feet.

"(You're gonna go straight to Buneary and explain this to her. Right now.)"

Pikachu's eyes widened. "(Right now?)"

"(Right now.)" Buizel began to pull him along, but then he stopped. "(... Actually, that's a bad idea. You'll screw it up. Just stick with me and I'll explain it.)"

"(But-)" Pikachu yelped again as he was forcefully pulled along.

As they reached the campsite, every head turned in their direction. Some faces were confused, some were sceptical, others looked angry. Pikachu felt himself shrink under their gazes.

Undeterred, Buizel pushed on through the crowd. Everyone stepped out of his way.

Even the humans were here, kneeling on the grass and offering comfort where they could.

Then Pikachu saw her. Sitting on Dawn's folded legs.

His heart stopped in his chest.

Both of Buneary's ears were drooped as low as they could go. Her face was covered in tear stains, and she looked very lifeless in Dawn's embrace.

The humans looked surprised to see them approach.

"Pikachu!" Ash said.

Buizel threw Pikachu in front of himself and shoved him forwards. Pikachu glanced at the weasel tiredly. Did he really have to be so forceful?

When he looked back in Buneary's direction, Dawn seemed confused, but Brock had a knowing look on his stern face.

The breeder stood up. "I think we should leave Buneary alone to talk to Pikachu," he said.

Dawn turned to him. "Huh?!" she asked, her eyes wide. "But-"

"Trust me, Dawn. I don't know what happened, but I get the feeling they need this." He held out his hand. "Come on."

Dawn heaved a sigh. "Alright." She looked down at the rabbit. "Will you be okay, Buneary?"

Buneary looked at Pikachu. His breath caught in his throat as their eyes locked.

"(Yeah... I'll be fine...)" Buneary replied, not cracking a single smile.

"... Well, okay then." Carefully, Dawn placed her on the grass. Grabbing Brock's hand, she pulled herself up. "Come on, everyone."

Everyone cast one last glance at Pikachu - some with more hostility than others - before they all started moving away.

"Hope everything goes well, Buneary!" Ash said, giving her a smile.

"(Thanks...)" Buneary replied.

Pikachu's heart began to tear again. Painfully.

As Ash was walking away, he paused, looking over his shoulder. "... You coming, Buizel?"

Buizel shook his head. "(Nah, gotta stay here,)" he replied.

"Oh. Well, okay then! Hope it goes well!" He turned and left.

Eventually, once the area was cleared of everyone but Pikachu, Buizel and Buneary, Buizel heaved a sigh.

"(Alright...)" he said, "(first, we gotta clear this up.)" He jabbed a thumb in Pikachu's direction. "(This one's an idiot.)"

Buneary merely looked up at the weasel sadly. Something burned like acid inside Pikachu's chest at her expression.

Buizel's arm dropped to his side. "(... Look. I'm here to speak for him, since... well, he's gonna screw it up on his own, let's be honest.)" He folded his arms. "(Alright, well... I dunno what he told you, but all this junk about cheating on you? It's not true.)"

Her eyebrows creased in confusion. "(Huh?)" she asked. "(But...)"

"(Yeah, I know. He said it himself. Then Piplup came over screaming about it. Yeah. But... see, that's just it. It's Pikachu. He's an idiot. He says things he doesn't mean. A lot.)"

"(N-No, but... he meant this. I... I saw it in his eyes.)" She locked gazes with Pikachu, knocking all the breath from his lungs. "(He... he was...)" She lowered her gaze to the floor. "(... And I guess... if he likes that eevee more than me, then...)"

Okay, now it felt like his insides were being crushed. Violently. By a machine.

"(N-No, I-!)" Pikachu cried desperately.

"(Hey, hey, hey,)" Buizel said sternly, placing a paw on his mouth. "(I said no talking.)" After a moment, he continued. "(So yeah. It's not true.)"

Buneary looked up at him. "(But... but he's been seeing her for weeks, Buizel...)"

"(Yeah, in his dreams!)"

She stared. "(... Huh?)"

"(Yeah. He told me once that he'd dreamed about an eevee, and asked if that was 'cheating on you'... but then he kept having them, apparently, and this happened.)"

She blinked. "(... Wait, what?)"

"(Yeah. Then he met the real one and... I guess freaked out?)" Buizel looked to Pikachu for confirmation.

Pikachu nodded slowly.

Buizel sighed, removing his paw from Pikachu's mouth. "(Was it even the same one?)"

"(I...)" Pikachu started. He contemplated saying yes. That he was sure it was. That it must be, because destiny was leading him to this fate. The truth, however, kept staring him in the face. "(... I dunno.)"

Buizel shrugged. "(See? He thought it was, but... it probably wasn't.)"

There was a long pause from Buneary. Slowly, her eyes widened. "(Eevee...)" she muttered. She looked up at Pikachu. "(... Didn't... you mention one before? Some time ago?)"

Pikachu paused for thought. He blinked as a memory surfaced. Oh yeah. The first time he'd had an eevee dream, he'd told her about it. Her getting upset over it had been the reason he hadn't told her again.

"(Yeah...)" he replied.

"(Was... that the same thing?)"

"(Y... Yeah...)"

Buizel sighed again, folding his arms. "(So, yeah, you see?)" he said. "(This idiot didn't cheat on you at all. He had way too many dreams, got paranoid and...)" He glanced at Pikachu. "(Got no sleep, by the looks of it.)"

Buneary looked at Pikachu in wonder. "(... Is that true?)" she asked.

Suddenly, Pikachu felt like scum again. He hadn't cheated on her at all, had he? He hadn't done anything wrong at all.

He'd upset the girl he loved over nothing.

He lowered his head in shame. "(... Yeah...)" he replied, "(I'm sorry...)"

There was a long stretch of silence.

Eventually, he started to hear something. Was... that chuckling?

He lifted his head to see that, yes, Buneary was laughing. He stared at her in disbelief.

She caught sight of his expression and laughed harder.

... What?

Calming down, she slowly got to her feet, still chuckling slightly. Taking one step forward, then two, she decked him in the shoulder with her paw.

The force jolted him backwards with a yelp. He held the sore spot. "(Ow...)"

"(You're... such an idiot...)" Her voice wavered. He looked up and was horrified when he saw that she was crying. Yet... smiling, too? "(You're... such an idiot!)"

His heart twisted in his chest at the sight. "(... I know.)" He moved forwards and embraced her in a hug. The feel of her fur-covered skin on his was warm. Pleasant. Depressingly so. "(I'm sorry...)" His eyes started to cloud over with tears. "(I'm so sorry...)"

"(Heh...)" Buizel said quietly from behind him.

After a few moments, Pikachu felt Buneary's paws wrap around him. The feeling was so nice. So very, very nice.

Again, depressingly so.

"(It's okay...)" she replied gently. "(... So, you really didn't do anything?)"

"(No...)"

"(Then why did you say you did?)"

"(I dunno...)"

She giggled lightly. "(You're such a dope...)"

He buried his face in her shoulder in shame. "(I know...)"

There was a long pause. The silence was comforting, yet deafening at the same time.

"(... Hey. Pikachu?)"

"(Yeah?)"

"(Um... do you wanna...?)"

He lifted his head slightly, curious, though he still couldn't see her face. "(Hmm?)"

"(Well... I... I dumped you before, but...)" She paused a moment. "(Do you wanna... try again?)"

His eyes widened. Try again? Inside him, his heart swelled with many different emotions at once. He wasn't sure he could handle them all.

Yes, his brain screamed.

Yet...

"(B... But...)" He couldn't continue.

Her tone saddened. "(Y... You don't want to?)"

"(N... No, I...)" He paused, strongly considering his wording. He couldn't afford to mess this up. Not again.

Her tone turned curious. "(Hmm?)"

"(I...)" He sighed lightly. "(H... How could you wanna get back with me after that? I... I really upset you... over... over something so... so stupid...)"

She moved backwards, placing her paws on his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. She said nothing as she gazed at him sadly.

"(I'm...)" he continued, "(I'm the worst boyfriend ever and I...)" He looked away. "(I don't think... you deser... No. I don't...)" He shook his head to clear the fog in his brain. "(Argh. I think... you deserve better than me.)"

Buneary didn't say anything for a while. So long that he looked up to see her reaction.

She had a strange look on her face. Sadness? Pity? Some combination of the two?

After a moment, she shook her head to clear it. "(... No. I... I care about you, Pikachu. I wanna date you... and... well, you did nothing wrong, really. You just thought you did...)" She smiled teasingly. "(And you're apparently so loyal that you freaked out over it.)"

He felt a sliver of heat dust his cheeks. "(Well...)"

"(Dreams are fine, okay? It's real life I'm worried about.)"

"(But...)"

"(Unless you plan to run away with the real one, I don't mind.)"

"(Well, no... A-All we did was talk and... and nuzzle and-)"

She looked intrigued. "(Hmm?)"

His panic rose. "(N-Not like that! She was feeling down, so I cheered her up and... and she nuzzled me... That was all it was.)"

"(Then why didn't you say that from the beginning?)" Buizel asked from behind him.

He turned his head to see the weasel lounging on the grass. Wow, he'd been so quiet that he'd almost forgotten he was there.

"(Well... 'cause... you know...)"

"(You suck at wording things. Yeah, we know.)"

Buneary giggled lightly. After a moment, she spoke again. "(So, uh... do you wanna?)"

Pikachu turned his head back to her. Remembering the question from before, he paused.

Yes. He wanted to. He really wanted to. Just being near her, seeing her smile again, hearing her laugh again, was making his heart soar in his chest. Did he really deserve a second chance, though?

He focused his attention on the paws on his shoulders. The paws belonging to Buneary. The girl he treasured. The girl he adored.

The girl he loved.

... He may not be worthy of her, but, if she would have him...

He smiled. "(Yeah,)" he replied. "(Yeah, I'd love to.)"

Her face lit up in the brightest smile he'd seen in ages. A second later, he was tackled to the ground. The two of them giggled happily, as Buizel watched with a proud smirk.

... If she would have him, then he'd just have to try harder.

Try harder to be the best boyfriend he could be.