Author's note: Howdy, everyone!

While I take a short break from my other fics, I thought I'd make a new one! Partly so I can have a break from all the 'Why is Pikachu so dense' comments, I won't lie. XD They've kind of worn me down a bit.

... Then again, maybe anime Pikachu is just destined to be called dense, no matter the fic. XD

Regardless! It's time to work on a fun, slightly wacky fic.

At the same time, I'm also posting a Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky fic! One that promises to cut the fat, and only show the juicy parts of the post-game story!

Hey, I should use that to advertise the fic better, thinking about it!

... Of course, that means there be spoilers in them thar hills, so be warned, me hearties!

Ahem. Anywho... hope you enjoy this new fic!

Chapter One: Taking Precautions

"Gliscor, Steel Wing!" Ash called out.

His pincer wings glowing white, Gliscor swooped down towards ground level.

Ash continued. "Good! Now, Chimchar, counter it with Flame Wheel!"

Spinning in a ball of flames, Chimchar leapt up, meeting Gliscor halfway in a head-on collision.

"Great job, guys!" Ash said. "Now, Chimchar, Flamethrower!"

Unravelling himself while still in mid-air, Chimchar shot a stream of fire from his mouth.

Ash continued. "And Gliscor, block it with X-Scissor!"

His pincers glowing pale blue, Gliscor crossed them over his chest. The Flamethrower struck hard, pushing him back slightly and bouncing off in all directions, though he stayed firm.

From the sidelines nearby, Pikachu smiled. Their training was going really well! They'd been at this for several days, already, in preparation for Ash's first full battle with Paul, and things were looking good! It seemed Ash had been paying attention in the pokémon trainers' school recently, too, judging by how he was trying to improve on his move-calling reflexes. Maybe they really had a shot at winning this battle, after all!

Pikachu felt an icy cold breeze blow across his fur, and sighed contently. It was quite nice, actually. Unlike humans, pokémon were much more resistant to the cold, especially if they had fur. Hence why Ash, Brock and Dawn were all still dressed in the winter coats that Dawn's mother, Johanna, had made for them.

He glanced around the battlefield, admiring the view. Snowpoint City was certainly one of the prettier locations they'd stayed in, that was for sure. The grass, trees and bushes were all coated in a layer of white snow. Not to mention, the buildings had a very old-timey feel to them. One of his favourite places to visit so far, especially since he didn't really mind the cold.

The battlefield of this pokémon centre, though, had been kept clear of snow and ice, most likely to avoid any trainers or pokémon from hurting themselves. It was appreciated, as he could still enjoy the scenery without worrying about slipping, or getting stuck in a pile of snow.

His eyes travelled over his friends, who were also on the sidelines. Buizel, Grotle and Staraptor were paying close attention to the practice battle, but it seemed they were the only ones. Everyone else, who were much further away from him, seemed to be off in their own little worlds. Not that he could blame them, he supposed. Ash's team had been training for several days in a row now, so their interest in it was probably waning a bit.

He looked around at them all. Brock and Dawn were having a pleasant conversation, Mamoswine appeared to be fast asleep, Croagunk was staring at his reflection in a frozen puddle, Sudowoodo and Happiny looked like they were playing hopscotch with squares they'd drawn in the snow, Piplup and Pachirisu were talking animatedly, and Buneary was sitting down, looking inside the pages of a small magazine.

... Huh, wasn't that the copy of Poké Chic that had inspired Dawn to design a vest for Buneary? The vest that her mother had made, and the one that Buneary was currently wearing? Dawn had bought that magazine not long before she and Buneary had won the Hearthome Collection, yet she still had it? How strange. He was sure she'd have thrown it away by now.

Curiously, he watched as Piplup and Pachirisu took a sudden interest in the magazine. Approaching Buneary, they had a quick look. After a moment, they glanced at each other, mischievous looks on their faces. Turning back to Buneary, they said something to her, though Pikachu was too far away to hear what it was. Not to mention, it was difficult hearing anything over Ash's shouting.

Whatever Piplup and Pachirisu had said, it caused Buneary's mouth to drop open in shock. Her head snapped in Pikachu's direction, and their gazes locked.

His back stiffened. Oh dear. Whatever had been said was apparently about him, and that only meant that something embarrassing was about to happen.

Standing up, she hurriedly hopped over to him around the side of the battlefield. When she reached him, she thrust the magazine in his face. On the page was a pikachu wearing a grey, diamond-shaped apron with a red pokéball symbol on it. He vaguely recognised the picture from a while back, when Dawn had said it was 'Buneary's favourite' from the magazine.

His heart pounded in anxious anticipation. What was she about to say?

"(Oh my gosh, Pikachu, is this really you?!)" she asked. "(Why didn't you tell me you modelled for Poké Chic?! Or that you were this pikachu right here?!)"

... What?

"(Uh...?)" he replied, a little overwhelmed and confused.

"(Wow, that explains why he's just as hot as you! Because he is you!)"

"(But...)"

"(I can't believe you did this and didn't tell me! Have you taken any more pictures?! I wanna see 'em! Come on, show 'em to me!)"

"(B-But I-!)"

She winked flirtatiously at him. "(Wow, who knew we were modelling buddies?! I bet you look really hot in your other outfits, too! Since you can even make a plain old apron look good!)"

His face now burning, he glanced away in embarrassment. Did she always have to be so forward? Especially when there were other people around?

"(B-Buneary...)" He could feel eyes on him everywhere. "(That's... not me.)"

"(... He's not?)"

"(N-No. I've never modelled for Poké Chic.)"

"(But... Piplup and Pachirisu said this was you!)"

He blinked, his eyes widening. Glancing over at the duo in question, he saw them in fits of laughter.

... Oh, for crying out loud. Those jerks...

Back when Ambipom had been around, she'd be the one to trick Buneary into embarrassing Pikachu, just for her own amusement. Now that she'd left to pursue a career in ping pong, it seemed Piplup and Pachirisu had taken up the mantle for her...

Oh, god, he'd just reminded himself of the day of Ash and Dawn's double appeal practice battle, where Buneary had loudly called out 'Looking good there, handsome~!' while winking at him. In front of Aipom, Buizel, Piplup, Pachirisu, and even Zoey's glameow and shellos.

He'd wanted to crawl into a hole from embarrassment, though not as much as the following morning...

"(Hey, Pikachu!)" Buneary loudly called out across the campsite.

Pikachu jumped in surprise, before turning to look at her. "(Uh... y-yeah?)" he called back cautiously.

"(Yesterday, when we were battling, I was flirting with you, you know!)"

Every head turned at this declaration. His eyes widened and his face exploded in heat.

She paused, watching him expectantly, but his throat had locked up in his humiliation. When he took too long to respond, she continued.

"(You know, because I like you! I think you're hot and wanna date youuuu~!)"

He heard sniggers around him. He suddenly had a desperate need to bury his head in the dirt.

"(Wh... Wh...)" he mumbled. He looked around, trying his best to avoid eye contact with everyone. "(Why are you... shouting that...?)"

"(What?!)" Apparently, she hadn't heard him.

"(I...)" He gulped, raising his voice. "(I said why are you shouting that?)"

"(Because Aipom said you didn't get it! And that I should be more loud and blunt, so you'll get it better! So here! I like youuuu~!)"

His head snapped in Aipom's direction, while his heart did weird contortions in his chest. The monkey fell over, laughing.

... That little...

He forced his head to turn back in Buneary's direction. The rabbit was beaming at him expectantly.

"(Can... can I...)" he replied, his voice cracking, "(get back to you on that?)"

"(Oh, sure! Take all the time you need~!)"

The group couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Everyone except for Buizel, though he also looked vaguely amused.

Pikachu buried his face in his paws. He didn't remove them for a while.

Oh, god, and now Pikachu had been reminded of the time when Chimchar had recently joined the team. The pokémon had all huddled together, sleeping outside on a blanket, content as could be. The next morning, however, he'd woken up to some early morning embarrassment...

Pikachu cracked open his eyes. Stretching, he yawned. Man, that had been an amazing night's sleep. He felt more rested than he'd done in a while. Maybe it was because of that comfortable weight on his back and to his side.

He paused. Wait. What the heck was that, anyway?

He glanced to his side. His eyes widened when he saw Buneary beaming back at him.

"(Oh, morning, handsome~!)" she said.

... She was hugging him, wasn't she?

His face exploded in heat. "(Uh...)" he stuttered, "(what... wh-what are you doing?)"

"(Well, Aipom said that if I hugged you while you were sleeping, my feelings would get through and you'd dream about me! Then you'd wake up and realise you like me!)" She paused, smiling at him expectantly. "(... So, did it work?)"

His heart contorted weirdly in his chest, as he once again felt a desperate need to bury his head in the dirt. Why did Aipom have to keep doing this to him?

Around him, he heard most of his friends crack up in laughter. Glancing around to avoid eye contact, he accidentally locked gazes with Chimchar. The monkey, despite being timid and unsure of himself, had a hand over his mouth, looking shocked and vaguely amused at the same time.

... While it was nice that he was starting to warm up to the group a bit, after being mistreated and released by Paul, did it really have to come at Pikachu's expense?

Groaning, he looked away again. It was too early for this...

"(... Well?)" Buneary asked.

Oh, right. In his utter humiliation, he'd forgotten to answer.

"(Um... I-I'm still not sure... I need more- a lot more time to think about it.)"

"(Oh, okay! No rush~!)"

He planted his face on the blanket. No rush. Sure. As though Aipom would pass up more chances to humiliate him...

Seriously, Ambipom had caused Pikachu nothing but trouble since she'd been around. Although he hadn't wanted her to leave Dawn's team for ping pong, it had been kind of a relief at the same time. With no Ambipom, there'd be less opportunities for him to get horribly embarrassed.

... That is, until Piplup and Pachirisu had continued where she'd left off. Pikachu was never allowed a break, was he?

"(... So this isn't you?)" Buneary asked, snapping Pikachu out of his thoughts.

Giving his head a slight shake, he turned back to her. "(Uh, no,)" he replied. "(I've no idea who that guy is.)"

She blinked, looking down at the page where the pikachu was. "(... Oh.)" She paused. "(Why'd they tell me it was, then?)"

He sighed. "(Because they like messing with you. After Aipom, you should be expecting it...)"

"(I guess so...)" She brightened up. "(But hey! Maybe you should get a photo shoot! Then you can be in the magazine, too! Maybe Dawn can call that Hermione woman and get you a sweet deal!)" Turning the magazine around, she excitedly flipped through it. When she eventually stopped on a page, she turned it back around for him to see. "(Your picture can go right here, instead of this guy!)"

On the page was a bidoof in a rather fancy outfit.

"(I can't just...)" He paused as he realised something. "(... This is an old magazine, though. It's already been made and sold.)"

She blinked. "(... Oh yeah.)" She smiled. "(Well, there's always the next issue!)"

He chuckled bashfully, before looking closely at the picture. "(... Why this bidoof, though? You're saying you want me to replace him?)"

"(Yeah! You're way hotter than he is!)" She glanced down at the magazine. "(Though I really like the outfit.)" She looked back up at him. "(Though it'd look way better on you~!)" She winked flirtatiously.

He chuckled bashfully again, his face growing hot. Did this girl have to be so loud? Everyone could always hear her...

Though it wasn't as if he disliked the praise, exactly...

Suddenly, Ash let out a huff of satisfied air. "Alright, good work, guys!" he said.

"(Thanks!)" Chimchar replied, beaming.

"(Yeah, we did great!)" Gliscor replied, winking and sticking out his tongue.

"Okay, go take a break," Ash said. "Hey, Pikachu, you ready to train, buddy?"

Pikachu looked up at him, nodding with a smile. "(Yeah, sure,)" he replied.

Ash beamed back. "Cool! It can be you and..." He looked contemplative.

"(Please do me!)" Grotle called out from the sidelines.

Ash looked over at Grotle. "Okay, Grotle, you're up!"

"(Ooh, you're gonna train?)" Buneary asked enthusiastically, attracting Pikachu's attention. "(Well, then, talk to you later, hot stuff~! I wanna get a good seat~!)"

He chuckled bashfully, yet again. "(Sure,)" he replied. "(See ya.)"

She giggled and waved as she hopped along the edge of the battlefield, back to where she'd been before. "(Byeeee~!)"

He gave a gentle wave back. "(Bye.)"

Jeez, that girl. One would think that, after several months of this, he'd be used to it by now. He wasn't sure he could ever get used to it, though.

... Speaking of which, he still hadn't given her an answer. When she'd asked that humiliating question about whether or not he'd wanted to date her, Ash had only earned two badges in Sinnoh. Now, in Snowpoint City, he'd recently earned his seventh badge, and Pikachu was still no closer to answering Buneary's question. He'd been putting it off for so long...

Despite that, she'd been incredibly patient with him. Sure, she flirted with him pretty much every chance she got, but it was surprising how long she was willing to wait. She never seemed upset or annoyed about it, either. She truly had the patience of a god.

Ohhh, but the idea of a relationship had always been so embarrassing! Before he'd met her, he'd wanted to avoid one at all costs. For the longest time, he'd gotten away with it, too, as no girls had taken any interest in him. Then, not long into Ash's journey through Sinnoh, Pikachu had met Buneary, and she encompassed everything he'd been afraid of encountering...

Still, though, perhaps he did owe her an answer soon. Since she'd waited so long, and Ash's journey through Sinnoh was reaching an end. All he needed was to earn one more badge, compete in the league, and then he'd probably be off to the next region. Unless he won the Sinnoh League, of course. In which case, Pikachu had no idea what would happen. No one had ever really discussed what happened when a trainer won a league, so it was rather exciting and mysterious.

Regardless, he'd try. For the next few days, he'd think of an answer. He'd think really hard about whether or not he was willing to go against his ideals and date a girl.

In the meantime, though, he and Grotle had some training to do.