Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Or Pepsi.
Piplup POV:
The warm sand spread under my feet as I walked back to our group. Buneary stayed behind, waiting for Pikachu and the alone-time I had promised her.
I had to figure out a way to distract Dawn for a while. I was not sure how, though. Maybe there was a way to tie in my talk with Oshawott too, since I had decided, with Buneary's advice, to find out if he liked me like I liked him. "Ask him, that's the only way to know for sure" her words echoed in my head.
I found myself reflecting about the nicknames Buneary and I had for each other. She called me 'Pipsi' after the affinity I had for the soda Dawn drank. I was constantly asking her for some, or 'pestering her' according to Buneary. I didn't mind because hey, that stuff is delicious, and I can never have enough! I called her 'Fun-Bun' because of her constantly happy and playful mood. She rarely acted serious and loved to goof off with Quilava. It seemed she was always bubbly and full of joy.
Well, she wasn't always pleasant, actually. She was so grumpy and irritating when she was in heat. That's when I tried my best to stay away from her. She had become even worse after Pikachu left, too.
I had considered asking Dawn to spay her. More than once.
Having finished those unpleasant thoughts, I walked over to Pikachu, having reached the others. He flashed me a smile in greeting. "Hey Piplup" he replied, looking at me curiously. "Where'd you go?"
"I needed to talk with Buneary" I told him, and he gave me a questioning look. I forgot he didn't know about us being so close, since it happened after we all went our separate ways. I had to remember to tell him the story later. "She wants to see you over there, alone." I pointed my flipper towards where she was on the beach. He looked at me cautiously.
"Why?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes.
"I didn't ask" I stated flatly. "And I really don't want to know. So please don't tell me." Pikachu's face hardened as he glared at me.
"You better keep your beak shut about us" he growled in warning, his cheeks sparking aggressively. I instantly nodded; I had no intention of telling anyone about their secret love affair. And I did not want to get electrocuted!
"She wants me to distract everyone else for half an hour" I told him, grinning as I had an idea. "And I got a plan" I grinned. "When everyone runs after me, that's your cue to slip away. Okay?" He looked a bit puzzled but nodded.
I left him and snuck over to Oshawott, who smiled at me. "Follow my lead" I whispered to him. He immediately nodded without hesitation. 'Wow, he really trusts me that much' I thought as a spark of hope filled my chest. Maybe Buneary was right about him.
"PIPLUP! (YOU DUMB JERK!)" I screamed, surely catching everyone's attention. I pressed my forehead against his and glared at him, and he glared right back at me.
"OSHAWOTT! (YOU'RE THE DUMB JERK!)" he screamed back, quickly catching on.
"PIPLUP! (NOBODY LIKES YOU!)"
"OSHAWOTT! (NOBODY LIKES YOU!)"
"PIPLUP! (CLOWN-FACE!)"
"OSHAWOTT! (BEAK-FACE!)"
"PIP PIPLUP! (GO AWAY YOU FAT LOSER!)" I yelled as I ran away, kicking up sand along the way. I hoped he would follow me.
"OSHAWOTT OSHA! (YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME YOU SHRIMP!)" he yelled back as I heard him following me across the beach.
"Piplup, wait!" I heard Dawn yell.
"Oshawott, stop!" Ash also yelled.
I ran along the beach with Oshawott right behind me. I saw a small, inconspicuous rock cave off to my right. It looked like the perfect hiding place, so I ran into it, Oshawott following right behind me. Both of us were panting from running so fast.
I put my flipper up to my beak to signal him to be quiet and slowed down my breathing. Hopefully nobody would find us.
"Where did those two go?" I heard Dawn say.
"I don't know, their footprints ended back there" Ash spoke. I felt so stupid to forget about footprints on sand! Thank Arceus they weren't a giveaway.
"I guess we should keep going" Iris' voice chimed in.
'Did the whole group follow us?' I wondered. Hopefully they did, that would give Buneary the alone time she requested.
"Might as well" Cilan said, answering my question. Everyone did follow!
"Seriously, what is up with those two?" Ash asked. "It's like they absolutely hate each other." There was a brief pause. "But only when Meloetta's around." Another pause. "But why would they fight around Meloetta?" I smacked my forehead with a flipper. Ash was just as dense as he was in Sinnoh.
"What a kid" Iris commented with a sigh. I heard them walking away as Ash complained about Iris' constant 'kid' comment.
I turned to Oshawott after they left and was surprised to see him smiling. It seemed he was always smiling at me. "What's up?" he asked me casually, like nothing strange just happened.
"You aren't curious why I pretended to fight with you and had you follow me into a cave?" I questioned. After all, he had no idea. I certainly wouldn't have followed him blindly!
"Nope, I trust you" he answered, catching me completely off guard. I was not expecting him to say that.
"Why would you trust me? We haven't even known each other for that long" I inquired.
"So what? Time doesn't matter; I know I can trust you with anything" he said.
Seriously? Did he really trust me that much?
I felt my stomach flutter with a swarm of Butterfree. He was being so nice, so wonderful, so sweet. I had never experienced anything like this before.
"Why are you being so nice to me when I have been nothing but mean to you? How can you like someone like me?" I muttered, although loud enough he could hear it.
Oshawott…blushed and shifted away from me slightly. I didn't understand why. "How can you like someone like me?" my words echoed in my mind.
Oh, that could be interpreted in a different way. He thought I knew he liked me. 'So he does like me like that!' I thought excitedly.
"Oshawott, do you also like me?" I asked him, purposely adding the 'also' as a hint. He hesitated for a moment before nodding. Just as I thought. And hoped.
"I do like you" he admitted, causing my heart to soar. "I have ever since I first saw you. I don't know why, but I don't care. I hope you aren't creeped out or-wait, also?" His expression filled with hopeful excitement.
'Go for it' my mind and heart urged. I mentally nodded to myself.
"Yes, I like you too" I confirmed, causing him to break out in a huge smile. He tackled me to the floor and embraced me in a huge hug, which I returned. It felt so good, so…natural.
However, I realized he was on top of me in a very suggestive way. He must have realized this too, as he quickly scrambled off me, sitting at my side and sporting a massive blush, which I felt on my face as well.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away" he stammered.
"It's okay. To be honest, I kinda liked it" I admitted, feeling my face heat up more. "I promised Buneary to distract Dawn for half an hour." I paused a moment, trying to phrase the next part carefully. "She wants to talk to Pikachu."
"Right, talk" he said with a grin. I gave him a worried, questioning look. Did he know, or had I just leaked the secret?
"Don't worry, Pikachu told me about them" he said, and I exhaled a sigh of relief. He already knew, I hadn't blown it. "But do you really think he needs more than a minute?" He started to snicker, as did I.
"Probably not" I added, our snickering turning into laughter.
After we finished laughing, he scooted over right next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Is this okay?" he asked calmly. "You seemed to like it on the boat ride here."
I rested my head on his shoulder, letting out a deep, content sigh. "This is perfect" I told him, completely relaxed. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the comforting warmth radiating from his body. My breathing slowed and I felt myself being lulled to sleep. The last thing I thought of before I dozed off:
This was the start of something good.
/
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