Author's note: Greetings, fellow earthlings! It's promotion time again~!
Do you like ghosts? Do you like nonsensical humour? Do you like watching the fourth wall be broken mercilessly, as everything in the Pokémon anime gets made fun of? Then do I know the fic for you!
Lifted Spirits
by VGS2 the Sexy Sausage
Join Pikachu as he dies to ridiculous circumstances, and tries to find a way to not be dead again, only to realise that (since his show is really boring and stupid), being dead's not all that bad! Especially when there's pranking to be done!
If anyone remembers It's An Alright Life (from the same author), this fic is its glorious reboot! As silly as it is, it never fails to make me laugh! I hope he keeps updating it to tickle my funny bone further!
It's seriously lacking in reviews right now, so please do drop him a few! He'd really appreciate the support! It'd make his day and give him the motivation to keep updating!
Well, that's the end of today's promotion, so I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Arc VI: The New Goal
Chapter Twenty-eight: Attempts
A couple of days later, after spending some time in a seaside town - where Dawn had received a new dress from her mother, and Brock had 'heavily stocked up on food', as he'd put it - the group were now in another forest.
As Brock began to work on their lunch, Dawn was trying on her new dress. Instead of the usual pink, dark pink and white, it was yellow and orange with lots of white frills.
Pikachu was no expert on fashion, but even he could tell that the colours all worked well together. It looked very pretty on her.
"What do you think, guys?" Dawn asked, twirling with a smile.
"Very nice, Dawn," Brock replied with a smile back, while stirring something in a pot.
Ash looked up from polishing his coal badge. "I don't get what you need a new dress for," he said. He shrugged. "But I guess it looks nice."
Dawn giggled. "Thanks!" she replied. "And, obviously, it's to look good in the Grand Festival!" She made grandiose motions with her glove-covered hands. "To be elegant! Sophisticated!" She paused. "Not to mention it's a fresh and new look that people aren't used to seeing on me, so it'll make me stand out more!"
Ash huffed amusedly. "Whatever you say, Dawn."
She looked down at her reflection in a nearby river. "... Though it could maybe do with one or two more accessories. Just to spice it up a bit."
Ash shrugged a second time. "Again, whatever you say, Dawn."
"(I think it looks great!)" Buneary piped in, beaming.
Dawn beamed back at her. "Nice to know someone here has good taste!" she said.
"(Hee~)"
"Hey, I have plenty of good taste..." Ash grumbled, putting his coal badge away to start polishing his forest badge.
Remembering the embarrassing blue and red oni costumes from the Hearthome Collection, Pikachu couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly at his trainer's comment.
Suddenly, Buneary turned to him. "(Say, Pikachu... do you wanna go on a quick walk before lunch is ready?)"
"(Huh?)" he replied in surprise. "(Oh, uh, yeah, sure!)"
She smiled. "(Kay~)" She grabbed his paw and led him away.
"Don't be gone too long, you two!" Brock said in an amused tone.
Pikachu turned to face him with a sheepish smile. "(Aheh, we won't!)" he replied.
As Pikachu and Buneary walked, paw-in-paw, the mouse couldn't help but appreciate the peace and tranquillity around him. Above, the trees were blooming into lovely spring colours. To his left, there were bushes filled with chesto berries and, to his right, there were bushes filled with pecha berries. Sprinkled along the grass at his feet were many tiny flowers. It was lovely.
Stopping by a section of the river, which flowed over a miniature waterfall, Buneary breathed in deep through her nostrils. After holding it a moment, she released it in a satisfied exhale.
"(It's lovely out here, isn't it?)" she asked.
"(Yeah, it sure is,)" Pikachu agreed.
She sat down on the grass by the river. He sat down beside her, looking out at the view.
He watched the light breeze gently sway the grass, the flowers and the leaves. He felt the warm rays of the afternoon sun on his face. He listened to the songs of bird pokémon in the trees nearby.
Sneaking a glance at his girlfriend, he saw an unusual expression on her face. A tender smile. Not the usual one that would stretch across her face and brighten up his day. This one was soft. Serene. It caused something weird to happen in his chest. Like a tightening sensation.
It made him think about his feelings for her. How much she meant to him. How much he enjoyed spending time with her. How much he wanted to protect her beautiful smile.
... How much he loved her.
The feeling became uncomfortable and strangely desperate. Almost like something wanted to burst out of his chest, but not quite so drastic.
He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her so much that it hurt.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"(B-Buneary?)"
She turned to him in mild surprise. "(Yeah?)"
His mouth stayed frozen open. "(... I...)"
She blinked, tilting her head at him curiously. "(What is it, Pikachu?)"
... Could he even do this right now? Did he even want to do this right now? Was it a good idea?
He blinked. Wait. He counted the days in his head, then his eyes widened slightly. Tomorrow was the two-month anniversary of them being a couple! What better day was there to do it than then?
Yes. That's what he'd do. He'd tell her tomorrow.
"(Um...)" he replied, "(... lovely, uh, weather we're having... eh?)"
She smiled at him. "(Yeah, it's pretty good! Lovely and warm.)" She gripped his paw tighter.
He felt himself melt slightly at the gesture.
Tomorrow. Yeah. Tomorrow, for sure.
The next day at lunch, Brock had unveiled a surprise for the group.
"Ta-daaaa!" he said, holding up a picnic basket in each hand.
"Huh?" Ash asked, confused. "A picnic?"
"What's the occasion?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Ha," Brock replied with a tiny smirk. "You two may have forgotten what today is... but I haven't!" He gripped the basket handles with a fiery passion. "Today is the two-month anniversary of the day Pikachu and Buneary started dating!"
Pikachu blushed as everyone looked in his direction. He laughed awkwardly as Dawn's eyes began to gleam.
"(... It is?)" Buneary asked in a quiet, disbelieving voice.
"(Yeah, it... kind of is,)" Pikachu replied.
"How adorable!" Dawn squealed. "I completely lost track of how long it's been!"
"Huh," Ash said, looking impressed. He gave Pikachu a lopsided smile. "Good job on keeping her, buddy."
Pikachu laughed awkwardly at that. Oh, his trainer had no idea how close he'd come to losing her. Twice.
Ash looked back at Brock. "I dunno why you need to celebrate it again, though, Brock. Wasn't once enough?"
Brock smirked dramatically. "Once is never enough, Ash..." he replied. Suddenly, his voice raised in volume as he lifted the baskets high. "Because love is a thing that should be celebrated!"
Pikachu's blush deepened, but he made no objections.
Dawn giggled. "Why, Ash!" she said teasingly. "Are you complaining about us having a picnic?"
Ash blinked several times. Then he laughed. "Guess not!" he replied. "Let's get those blankets down!"
Everyone cheered in agreement.
Pikachu hummed in delight as he snacked on some oat crackers. These things were delicious! Crunchy, oaty and slightly sweet! It was a pity that they made him really thirsty. Thankfully, he had just the thing for it nearby.
Grabbing his glass of orange juice, he hoisted it up with both paws, tilted it and slowly drank from it.
Ahhh... very tasty. Sweet, yet with a nice tang. The favourite drink of Ash and his friends.
He glanced sideways at Buneary. He tried not to laugh when he saw her trying to inhale rice balls and vanilla cupcakes one after the other.
"(Careful you don't choke,)" he said.
"(Uh wun'!)" she replied, her mouth full.
He chuckled. She was so cute and dorky, sometimes.
"(Hey!)" Pachirisu suddenly said from beside him. He turned to see the squirrel's tail wrapped around a ketchup bottle. "(You'll be wanting this, right?)"
"(Hey, thanks! Yeah, I... really like ketchup...)" Pikachu smiled sheepihsly.
Pachirisu giggled. "(Yeah, we noticed!)" He placed the bottle down, unwrapping his tail from it. "(Well, I'm off to steal some lemon drops from Piplup. Catch you later!)" He zipped away at lightning speed.
Pikachu opened his mouth to tell him not to be mean to Piplup, but the squirrel was already gone. He sighed.
Glancing at the ketchup bottle, he made a mental note to start eating it once he was done with the oat crackers. As long as nobody else wanted any, anyway...
... Maybe he should just squirt a bit on a plate, instead of eating straight from the bottle this time.
Looking back at Buneary, he watched her pick up another rice ball. She beamed at it, looking excited to eat it. It was then that a funny thought occurred to him.
"(Hey,)" he said, catching her attention. He gave a light smirk. "(What do you think ketchup on rice balls would taste like?)"
She giggled. "(Ewww...)" she replied, "(it sounds horrible!)"
He laughed. "(Yeah, it kinda does.)"
"(What about ketchup on cupcakes?)"
He cringed. "(Aw, that's even worse!)"
She laughed. "(Yeah.)"
He smiled warmly at her. Then he blinked when he remembered what he'd told himself to do today.
Oh dear...
He took a deep breath, then looked around himself. Okay, all of his teammates were elsewhere. Now was a good time to do it.
He scooted closer to his girlfriend.
While chewing half of a rice ball, Buneary looked at him curiously. "(Hrm?)"
His chest suddenly felt tight again. "(Um...)" Okay, where would he even start with this?
"(... Shomefin' wron'?)"
"(Uh... n-no, no, it's just that-)"
He stopped himself, remembering past incidents. Did he really want to risk screwing this up? Risk ruining his relationship a third time? And on his anniversary, no less?
Once bitten, twice shy, three times and it's goodbye.
... He didn't want it to be goodbye. But it probably would be if he did so much as open his mouth right now.
It was the perfect opportunity, the perfect day, to tell her his feelings - his true feelings - but he didn't trust himself.
He didn't trust himself not to screw it up. Not to hurt her feelings. Not to be the absolute scum of the earth again.
... Besides, perhaps it was still too soon. Too soon to confess his feelings. Too soon to tell her he loved her. After all, the 'cheating' incident had only been a few days ago. He wasn't sure how well she'd recovered from that. He'd barely recovered from it, himself...
... No. He couldn't do it. His confidence was fading away into nothing. One day, he'd tell her. One day, but not now.
Buneary swallowed her rice ball. "(Pikachu?)" she asked, looking concerned.
"(Uh... n... nothing, Buneary!)" he replied. When she looked even more concerned, he smiled widely at her. "(It's... it's nothing! I... forgot what I was gonna... you know... say!)!
She blinked at him. "(Oh. Well... okay then...)" She went back to eating her rice ball.
Exhaling quietly in relief, Pikachu went back to eating his oat crackers. Next time...
That night, Pikachu and Buneary lay nestled against one another. Buneary snuggled closer as she tried to get more comfortable.
Looking up at him, she smiled. "(It was a nice anniversary, huh?)" she asked.
He smiled back. "(Yeah, it was,)" he replied.
Her smile turned sheepish. "(I kinda forgot about it. Sorry...)"
He chuckled. "(It's okay. I almost did, too.)"
Buneary fidgeted with her fluff. "(Brock really didn't need to celebrate it again... but I'm glad he did.)"
"(Me too...)" He smirked lightly. "(And you know he's gonna do it every month, right?)"
She giggled. "(Probably.)" After a pause, she snuggled closer, looking up at him with an adoring sparkle in her eyes. "(Well... goodnight~)"
He blinked, rather entranced by how cute she looked. "(Yeah. Goodnight.)"
She paused for a moment, looking contemplative. Smiling again, she leaned over and rubbed her nose against his.
The sensation set his heart on fire. As she pulled away, he felt his chest tighten again. That same not-quite painful tightening of desperation. Of wanting to get secrets out in the open. Of wanting to spill his heart to the woman he loved.
He considered doing it this time. He really did. They were alone, it was night-time and it still counted as their two-month anniversary. The timing couldn't have been any more perfect.
The truth began to burn in his chest like acid. He opened his mouth to say something.
"(Hey...)" he said, "(you know, the thing with the... thing and... the...)"
Oh no. He was doing 'it' again.
She blinked at him. "(Hmm?)" she asked.
He stared at her in horror. Horror at himself for what he'd almost done. No. No, he wasn't ready. That was pretty clear. He wasn't ready to do this at all.
When he did it - and he would eventually do it - he wanted to be able to do it probably. With no screw-ups and no messed up wording.
... Besides, did she even love him back?
He tried not to think about that right now. Instead, he'd give her some space after the 'incident'. Give her time to get over it properly, if she hadn't done so already. Maybe even give her time to decide if she loved him or not. He didn't know.
Either way, he'd decided. It was far too soon.
... And, as much as he wanted to tell her, he really didn't trust himself.
"(Uh...)" he continued, "(I, uh... I... really liked the nuzzle... You know, the nose nuzzle... thing... We should... do that more often, or... something...)" He smiled widely at her.
She blinked. After a moment, she smiled back. "(Oh, okay! Sure, if you want~)"
Leaning forwards again, she gave him another nose nuzzle. This time, he returned it in kind.
Buneary giggled at the gesture. When she was done, she curled up into her fluff for warmth.
"(Night, Pikachu~)" she said tenderly.
"(Night, Buneary...)" he replied.
The pained feeling was still there, but he couldn't deny that there was also a warm feeling washing over him.
... He'd really need to work on his confession, though...