Author's note: Hidey-ho!
... I don't really have much to comment on this time, so... how about this? :D
Was there a story you liked? Maybe even by an author you liked? Well, that author worked hard, so drop 'em a line! Tell 'em what you thought!
What you liked! Maybe what you disliked, but don't be overly critical!
Reviews are the fuel that keeps writers powered! Knowing someone likes their stories makes them want to create more stories!
It isn't just me. I'm sure we're all like this!
Everyone just wants to be told that someone out there enjoys what they do. So let 'em know! It'll make their day, I assure you!
Coz I know quite a few writers who are losing faith in their writing because of a lack of reviews, so please. If you can spare the time, drop 'em a line! :D
Thank you for listening.
Now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Thirty-two: Ponderings
Lunchtime rolled around.
Pikachu was eating his pellets next to Buneary, feeling a buzz of excitement. Once he was done eating, he'd spring his surprise. He couldn't wait to see his girlfriend's face when she saw it!
Nearby, Piplup and Togekiss were sharing a conversation. Mildly curious, he listened in. It wasn't like they were talking quietly, anyway, so it wasn't technically snooping, right?
"(You and me, we make a pretty good team, huh?)" Piplup said proudly.
Togekiss chuckled. "(If the last round of the tournament was anything to go by, then yes,)" she replied.
"(Yep! Our combinations were on the nose! Or rather, beak.)"
"(Quite! Though it was a pity that we fell so short of victory.)"
Piplup huffed. "(Yeah... Zoey got lucky this time, but we'll get her next time!)"
Togekiss chuckled again. "(Do you still insist that her victory was a fluke?)"
"(Yeah! We totally had her! Like I said, our combinations were perfect.)"
"(Hers perhaps more so.)"
"(Hmph! You don't know what you're talking about.)"
"Ash, stop eating so fast!" Dawn suddenly said. "You're going to choke!"
"Wanna eat up sho I can train Gible!" Ash replied, sounding like his mouth was full.
"Come on, Ash..." Brock chided, "can't training wait a while?"
"Nuh uh! We gotta work on perfecting Draco Meteor!"
Dawn sighed. "Oh, Ash..." she said in exasperation.
"(Oh no, not Draco Meteor!)" Piplup yelped in fright.
"(Fear not,)" Togekiss replied gently. "(As before, I shall ensure that none of those meteors hurt you, Piplup.)"
Piplup heaved a sigh. "(Thanks... you're a life-saver, Togekiss.)"
"(You're very welcome.)"
Piplup's tone lightened considerably. "(With you around, it's like I have a big sister watching my back!)"
Togekiss chuckled. "(You flatter me, Piplup!)"
"(No, it's true!)" He paused. "(Hey, speaking of which, you weren't around when I met my sister that one time.)"
"(Hmm? Sister, you say?)"
Oh yeah, Pikachu remembered that. A big deal had never been made of it at the time, but back when they'd met a starting trainer and his piplup, Piplup had introduced her as his sister.
"(Yep! It'd been freaking ages since I'd seen her, so it was nice to see her again. She goes by the name 'Pippy' now! And her trainer was called... uh, what was his name again?)" Piplup paused a long moment. "(... Tyler? Yeah, that was it! Tyler!)"
Heh. As Pikachu recalled, Pippy had been a much better swimmer than Piplup, as well as showing great prowess in battle, despite being younger than him. He doubted Piplup would admit to this, though.
And he, himself, wasn't going to bring it up, lest he get a pecking.
"(How lovely! Being able to reunite with your sister! Oh, I do so wish I had been given siblings. Alas, I was an only child.)" Togekiss chuckled. "(To my knowledge, at least.)"
"(Yeah, well, I didn't see much of her, anyway. Breeding centre and all.)"
"(What a pity...)"
"(Yeah... but hey, she looks happy enough now, so that's cool.)" Piplup sounded like he was nibbling on a pellet. "(Wonder if she's evolved by now...)"
"(I can't say.)" Togekiss paused. "(For that matter, why have you not evolved, if you don't mind my asking?)"
"(Oh, that. Well, I didn't really wanna. I like being the way I am. It reminds me of good times and... well...)" He huffed. "(As a prinplup, I'd never fit on Dawn's head.)"
Togekiss gave a light chuckle. "(You have a point, I suppose!)"
"(Hmm... in fact, you're the first member of the team to be caught fully evolved, huh?)"
"(Oh, is that so? Well, I did spend a rather long time in the care of Princess Salvia. The day that Her Highness became comfortable in her role as princess was the day that I evolved. Since emotional attachment is what causes the evolution of a togepi into a togetic.)"
"(Huh. Is that so?)"
"(Quite! Only after I developed a keen interest in contests did Her Highness decide to purchase a shiny stone!)"
"(And that evolved you into a togekiss?)"
"(Why, yes!)"
"(Huh. Neat!)"
It was at that point that Buneary turned towards Pikachu. "(Hey, Pikachu,)" she said.
He turned his attention fully towards her. "(Yeah?)" he replied.
"(Why didn't you evolve?)"
Ah. It seemed like she'd been listening in, too. No wonder she'd been so quiet.
Buneary paused before continuing. "(Well, I mean... I guess you did once already... and you told us about that time... but... was there a reason you never became a raichu?)"
Pikachu let out a puff of air. "(Well...)" He tried to think back to his days in Kanto. "(I didn't even think about it, at first... but then I met this one raichu, back in Kanto... Lieutenant Surge's raichu... who was... kind of a jerk.)"
She tilted her head at him. "(Oh yeah?)"
"(Yeah. He called me weak and pathetic, and a baby and... I dunno... I just wanted to prove I wasn't?)" He chuckled awkwardly. "(I guess I still had the mindset of 'be the strongest' back then...)" He nibbled on his pellet in thought. "(I thought long and hard about it... whether or not I should evolve... 'cause, on one hand, I'd be super strong and stuff... but, on the other, I'd be proving that raichu right... I was a bit conflicted.)"
"(Wow, really?)"
"(Yeah... but, in the end, I decided to try and be strong as I was.)" He paused, then suddenly remembered something. "(Oh yeah, remember when Sho showed up? You know, the guy with the pichu and raichu?)"
Her smile faltered a bit. "(Oh... yeah. The guy who wanted you for his collection?)"
"(Yeah. Well, I got another chance at evolving there, too, remember?)"
"(Yeah...)" She glanced down at the pellet in her paws. "(Well, vaguely. I was a bit... distracted that day, since...)" She left the comment hanging in the air.
... Ah, right. He'd almost died that day, hadn't he? It had been rough on everyone involved...
The air was tense now, so he cleared his throat awkwardly. "(Y-Yeah...)" He tried to continue, to lighten the mood. "(Yeah, so I... thought about it again... about how, you know, strong I could be... but I... really like being a pikachu.)" He chuckled awkwardly again. "(I think I've gotten too used to it now, so I don't wanna change.)"
Looking up at him, she giggled lightly. "(Well, I like you as you are.)" She paused a moment. "(Though I'd like you no matter what, really.)"
He smiled, his face warming in happiness. "(Aww, thanks!)"
She giggled again, brighter this time. "(No problem~!)"
He paused as something occurred to him. "(Oh, hey, speaking of which... why did you never evolve?)"
Buneary paused. After a moment, she looked down at the pellet in her paws again, this time fidgeting with it. "(Oh, well... I just never... felt the need, you know?)"
He tilted his head. "(Hmm? Even before Dawn caught you?)"
"(Yeah...)"
He blinked. "(Oh, well... okay, then.)" He smiled. "(Well, I like you as you are, too! Plus, you know... it's nice being the same size and stuff.)"
She smiled gently. "(Yeah...)"
"(Hmm... though I keep seeing raichu of different sizes... like Surge's, who was really muscular... or that one at Summer Camp, who was huge... I wonder if I could pick the size I'd be, or if... you know... I'd be stuck with whatever I got. What do you think?)"
She smiled at him. "(I've no idea!)"
He chuckled. "(Yeah, me neither. But maybe I'll, uh... bear it in mind if you ever decide to be a lopunny. Just so we can be on more, uh, equal footing.)"
She giggled lightly. "(Sounds good. Though I think I'm fine as I am.)"
He smiled at her. "(Me too.)"
After food was finished and cleared away, Pikachu leapt to his feet.
He smiled at his girlfriend. "(Hey, Buneary!)" he said. "(While Ash is training Gible, I wanna show you something!)"
She also stood up. "(Oh?)" she replied curiously.
"(Yeah! Uh...)" He pondered how he was going to do this. Getting an idea, he glanced around. "(How about...)" He pointed over to some bushes. "(You go wait over in those bushes over there and I go get it!)"
She blinked at him. "(Oh, uh... okay.)"
"(Yeah! See you in a tick!)" He rushed off on all fours.
Heading into the bushes with his present behind his back, Pikachu could feel his excitement build.
This hadn't been a very expensive present, but it was a meaningful one.
Once he entered the clearing behind the bushes, he saw his girlfriend sitting down, patiently waiting for him.
"(Hey, Pikachu,)" she said with a smile.
"(Hey!)" he replied, smiling back.
Concealing the present, he wandered over. He had to angle it awkwardly to sit down, but he just about managed it. He was rather proud of himself.
"(So what did you wanna show me?)"
"(Well...)" He moved the present, until it was in front of him and in full view of Buneary. He held it out to her. "(Ta-da~!)"
Her eyes widened. Her voice lowered to a murmur. "(... Jibanyan?)"
The tone put Pikachu off slightly. "(Y... Yeah! I got you a Jibanyan doll!)" He paused. "(Well... I got Brock to get you a Jibanyan doll!)"
She wordlessly took the boxed toy from him, staring at it.
The silence dragged on for what felt like ages. Pikachu was growing more and more worried.
Oh no... had he somehow made a mistake?!
He'd thought this would be a nice present. Something to bring a smile to her face and a spring in her step! Especially after barely losing out in the Grand Festival! But... what if it did the opposite?!
His eyes widened. Oh no, he'd never thought of that! What if she didn't like the toy at all?! What if it reminded her of the mild trauma she'd suffered from watching But Nobody Came?! He was so stupid!
Ohh, he was the worst boyfriend ever... He should have considered her feelings before getting her something that might upset her!
She suddenly looked up at him. "(You got this for me?)"
"(Y... Yeah, but...)" He began to flounder. "(I'm sorry, I... I shouldn't have... you know... done that... because it's bad... and stuff...)"
Oh, crud. Now he was doing 'the thing' again...
She blinked. "(Bad?)"
"(Yeah...)" His ears dipped. "(I'm sorry. I thought you'd like it...)"
She looked back at it. "(... Well... it was surprising, I won't deny that.)"
"(Bad surprising?)"
"(... I wondered at first... since, well...)" She didn't elaborate, but she didn't need to. Looking up at him, she smiled. "(But it is really cute.)"
His ears rose in hope. "(Really?)"
"(Yeah!)" She turned back to it, feeling the fabric of the doll. Her eyes widened slightly. "(Wow, it's so soft, too...)" Suddenly, she noticed something on it. "(Huh? What's this?)" She reached for the paw.
His eyes widened. "(Uh-)"
Before he could warn her, she pressed the button on it.
"Jibanyaaaan!" it screamed.
She yelped in shock, throwing the doll into the air. Not expecting that reaction, Pikachu tumbled backwards.
The doll fell back down again, landing on the grass nearby. Sitting up again, Pikachu looked at Buneary to see that she'd curled up her ears and was wincing.
"(Owwww...)" she said, "(loud...)"
He smiled awkwardly. "(Aheh, yeah, sorry... I was about to warn you...)"
Unfolding one of her ears, she looked over at where the doll had fallen. After a moment, she picked it up and stared at it.
"(... Um...)" Pikachu started, unsure what to say.
Blinking, Buneary pressed the button again.
"Nyeh heh heh!" the doll said. She pressed it again. "I'm pretty busy right nyoooow!"
Buneary tried to hold in a giggle. A moment later, she couldn't any longer.
"(Aww, this thing's adorable!)"
Pikachu smiled in growing hope. "(It is?)"
"(Yeah! I can't believe they have toys like this now.)"
"(Me neither! But I just had to get you this one!)" He paused. "(So you like it, then?)"
"(Yeah! Thanks!)" She started tugging at the metal wiring holding the toy in place. Pikachu watched as she gradually pulled the doll free of its cardboard box. "(... There!)"
She held it up victoriously. Dropping the box to one side, she held the doll to her chest, beaming.
Wow. The sight kind of reminded him of when Misty used to carry around Togepi, before he'd evolved into a togetic. It was kind of cute, actually...
"(So no hard feelings about the movie?)" he asked.
She looked thoughtful. "(I guess not... I mean, it did really scare me... and probably always will... so I don't intend to watch it again... but...)" She smiled. "(I did love the first movie... and I love Jibanyan! So maybe it'll be fine.)" She hugged the doll tighter.
He smiled back at her, feeling oddly proud of her right now.
Plus, it looked like the doll was a success, after all! So it was a win-win in his eyes!