Author's note: Hey, guys!

Wow! Would you believe? This is officially the most chapters I've ever written for a fic! Huzzah! It may not seem like much to some of you, but it's a pretty big milestone for me! I'm vaguely proud of myself!

Here's to more milestones in the future!

Arc VIII: The Experts

Chapter Thirty-five: Scenarios

The following day, after breakfast, the humans packed up their camp, getting ready to set off on the road again.

Ash pulled his green backpack onto his back. "Alright, we ready?" he asked, looking excited.

"Looks like it!" Dawn replied, beaming. She looked up at her head, where Piplup was. "Right, Piplup?"

"(I was born ready!)" he replied proudly.

Pikachu made a motion to jump onto Ash's shoulder, like he usually did. The second he remembered his promise to himself the previous night, though, he hesitated. Maybe... maybe it would be better to walk. He tended to vegetate a little if he stayed still for too long, meaning less brain activity. He'd be needing lots of it if he was going to decide on a plan.

A plan to convey his feelings to Buneary.

"Huh?" Ash asked in confusion. "Something wrong, buddy?"

Pikachu blinked, looking up at the concerned gaze of his trainer. "(... Uh...)" he replied. Getting out of his stupor, he shook his head. "(N-No, not really! I just...)" He walked over to stand by Ash's leg. "(Wanted to walk for once, that's all!)"

Ash blinked, then smiled. "Oh, I get it! You wanna walk, right?"

Pikachu nodded again, smiling back. "(Yeah!)"

"Oh, okay! Sure thing!" Ash looked up at Dawn and Brock. "Well, we all set?"

"Yep," Brock replied, nodding. "Time to set off."

Pikachu had to admit, he'd gotten far too used to riding on Ash's shoulder. It was a bit weird walking alongside him again, though not unpleasant. It would certainly help him think.

... And he had a lot of thinking to do.

He looked at the sky in thought as he walked. Okay. Just how was he going to go about this? He had absolutely no idea how to confess to a girl.

... Well, he'd confessed to Buneary once already, but it hadn't been the least bit romantic. She'd been in tears over a misunderstanding, and he'd blurted out his feelings, in a desperate attempt not to lose her. It had been a mess.

He really didn't want to repeat that for this confession. Especially since this one was much bigger than the last. It held a lot more weight. Therefore, he absolutely could not afford to screw it up!

He nodded to himself. Okay. What were his options?

He let his mind drift...

It was sunset on a beach. The clear blue waves gently lapped at the fine white sand at Pikachu's feet. The backdrop was a beautiful orange, tinted with pink.

He got down on one knee, in front of his blushing, wide-eyed girlfriend.

"(Buneary...)" he said, looking up at her, "(we've known each other for a very long time, you and I. We've been through many trials and tribulations, overcoming them all together.)" He reached up, lightly grasping one of her paws. "(I want to keep sharing these moments with you, good and bad, for perhaps the rest of my life. Perhaps until we're old and grey.)"

Buneary gasped, her free paw flying up to her mouth in surprise. "(Pikachu...)" she said softly.

"(I love you, Buneary. For now and for always...)"

Pikachu, eyes wide, blinked to himself. Okay, no, that wasn't going to work. As incredibly romantic as that scenario was, there was no way he had enough eloquence with words to pull that off. His tongue would trip over itself and he'd end up sounding like an idiot.

Or, worse, he'd end up saying something that would upset her.

He quickly shook his head. Nope, that wouldn't do. He'd have to think of something else.

He let his mind drift again...

Pikachu grasped Buneary's paws tightly in his own. "(Buneary!)" he said enthusiastically. "(I need to tell you something!)"

"(Wh-What is it?)" Buneary asked, blushing.

"(We've been friends for so long, and it took me ages to know I liked you, but that's all different now!)"

"(It is?)"

"(Yes! Because I love you, and always want to be with you!)"

Her eyes widened. "(You do?)"

He nodded eagerly. "(Yes. For as long as possible. I love you. I love you!)"

Pikachu's eyes widened. He gave his head a hard shake. No, no, no, no, no! That was way too forward! He was likely to freak Buneary out if he came on that strong!

Jeez. Clearly, he'd been taking tips from Brock without realising. That was always a bad idea.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly released it. Then he went back to daydreaming...

Buneary was standing on a balcony, overlooking a large and bountiful garden. Far below her was Pikachu, strumming gently on a small acoustic guitar.

"(IIII want to spend myyyy life with youuuu~!)" he sang. "(Here in this region made for twoooo~! We'll be together... and maaaake happy memoriiiies~!)"

Buneary placed her paws to her chest. "(Oh, Pikachu...)" she said softly.

He continued. "(Let's sail out across the seaaaa~! An ocean fantasyyyy~! There's nothing we... can't doooo~! Don't you feel... don't you feel my love for youuuu~?)"

He strummed out some melodic notes on the guitar, building up to the song's climax.

"(If you said noooo~!)" he continued. "(Where would I goooo~?)" He looked up, directly into her sparkling eyes. "(When I am made... for youuuu~?)"

Pikachu blinked. Alright, just where the heck was his mind going?! For starters, he couldn't even play the acoustic guitar! Or any other instrument, for that matter. Not that instruments were usually made in his size, anyway.

Also, that daydream had been way, way, way too sappy! He needed to tone it down several notches, then try again.

... As romantic as it sounded, it also sounded really embarrassing. Just imagining her actual reaction to him serenading her brought a fierce blush to his face. She'd probably be shocked speechless. Give him weird looks. Maybe, knowing her, she'd even start giggling at him.

Nope. Nope. He'd think of something else.

He let his mind drift into daydreams again...

Clasping a red rose between his teeth, Pikachu spun over to Buneary. He gracefully held her paw as he pulled the rose from his mouth.

"(Hello~)" he said seductively.

She giggled and blushed. "(Oh, hello,)" she replied.

With one swift motion, he placed the rose on her head. Lowering his paw slightly, he gently stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. "(You're looking radiant, as always.)"

"(Why, thank you~)" she replied.

Spinning his paw around, he lightly held her cheek. "(So radiant that I can hardly contain myself... my love.)"

Her eyes widened. "(Love?)"

"(Yes.)" He tenderly rubbed his thumb across her cheek. "(I love you, Buneary.)"

Her gaze softened. "(Oh, Pikachu...)"

Pikachu had to restrain himself from heaving a sigh. Yeah, if only he was actually that smooth. If he tried that in real life, he'd likely fumble his wording and make a fool of himself.

Nope. He seriously doubted he had it in him. If only, though...

Okay. New plan. Maybe he should just use the direct approach? What if he went up to her and just said 'I love you'? Then he'd cut out the middle man and get straight to the point! Then there'd be no need for fancy wording, or song lyrics, or anything else he was completely incapable of!

... No, no, what was he thinking? That was ridiculous! With a confession this important, you didn't just blurt it out! Especially out of nowhere with no context! He could only imagine her face if he did that!

No. It needed build-up. Without the build-up, then it held much less weight! He wanted it to mean something, darn it! He was fed up of not conveying his feelings properly! He wanted it done right this time!

... The problem was, he was really bad with wording.

He could try a nose lick? Or maybe a nose tap? Those two things usually conveyed romantic feelings in pokémon culture. As long as they were from one pokémon to another, anyway.

Urgh, but she was always giving him nose licks and nose taps! She'd given him a nose tap just last night! It wouldn't convey anything by itself! Just that he liked her enough to do that!

... What about a kiss? It was normally a human way of conveying love, but maybe it could work?

He tried to imagine it...

Pikachu and Buneary were sitting together on the cool grass, underneath a starlit sky.

He turned to her. She turned to him.

"(Hey, Buneary,)" he said.

"(Yeah?)" she replied.

"(Close your eyes.)"

She blinked at him. "(Huh? Okay.)" She closed her eyes.

He slowly leaned forward, closing his own eyes as their lips connected.

Hmm... Pikachu wasn't too sure about that one. For one thing, he was pretty sure he'd find some way to mess it up. Maybe they'd end up knocking teeth or something, and that would be horrible. He had no experience kissing like a human, after all. Even if he did have some idea how to do it.

... Besides that, wasn't her mouth a bit lower down on her face than his was? It could provide a bit of a problem, and make it even more likely that he'd screw it up.

... Though, even if, by some miracle, he did it perfectly, how would she even react? Just kissing her out of the blue like that? He'd have to explain himself, wouldn't he? Then he'd get flustered and screw up his wording as he tried to tell her why he'd done it.

Unable to resist, he heaved a sigh. Man, he really was hopeless...

"What's up, buddy?" Ash asked from next to him. "You getting tired?"

His head shot up. Oh, whoops.

He laughed it off as he waved his paws in dismissal. "(No, no, that's not it!)" he replied. "(I'm fine! Really!)

"Is Pikachu okay?" Dawn asked in concern.

"(Yeah, something up, bud?)" Piplup asked from atop her head.

Pikachu shook his head. "(Nope, nope, I'm all good!)" he replied.

Piplup raised a questioning eyebrow. Ash and Dawn shrugged to each other. Brock hummed in thought, but none of them pressed any further.

Pikachu was glad of that. His feelings were a bit too much of a mess right now.

... Then again, what else was new? He sighed again, quieter this time.

After a few moments, he looked back up to where Piplup was riding on Dawn's head.

Hmm... come to think of it, there was one other option, wasn't there? He let his mind drift as he thought about it...

"(Hey, Piplup,)" Pikachu said, "(can I ask you a favour?)"

"(Sure!)" Piplup replied. "(Anything for you, pal!)"

"(Could you tell Buneary I love her?)"

"(Oh? As in 'love her and wanna spend the rest of your life with her'?)"

"(Yeah, something like that.)"

"(Sure, no problem!)" Piplup proudly slapped a flipper to his chest. "(Leave it to me!)"

He wandered away from the area, over to where Buneary was. Pikachu hid in the bushes to watch.

"(Hey, Buneary!)" Piplup called out.

Buneary turned to him. "(Yeah?)" she asked.

"(Pikachu said that he loves you and wants to spend the rest of his life with you. Maybe. He's not too sure on the details, but probably.)"

Buneary gasped, her paws flying up to her mouth. "(Really?!)"

"(Yep. He's over in the bushes if you wanna confess your undying love.)"

"(Okay!)"

Pikachu shook his head. Oh, who was he kidding? There was no way in a million years it would go down like that.

More likely, Piplup would just tell him to man up and do it himself, resulting in the exact same problem as before. Him stumbling over his wording, trying to tell Buneary that he loved her.

He slumped his shoulders. Urgh... he just couldn't win...