It might've seemed silly, having found himself actually relating to a Pokemon. But he knew what it was like. Trying to do good, to redeem himself and work on himself to be separated from his past -- more specifically fro. The Winter Soldier -- going as far as to completely disappear off the grid as he'd done in Romania to be as far removed as possible, to undergo intensive brain surgery and extensive therapy in Wakanda to eradicate that violent, murderous ghost from inside of him, but he'd never really be rid of it. People looked at him and still saw the Winter Soldier. Not a man, not Bucky Barnes. When he'd watched and saw first hand how the little pink dog tried so hard to just communicate with the other Pokemon around him only to have them run in fear because he looked so grumpy, and then saw Snubbull crying in the aftermath, he had to take him home. He'd be his companion.
He'd thought for sure he'd have to go through a hour of comforting his little friend again after this, but rather than continuing to run by, Steve had stopped to sort of interact with him. Bucky was shocked, and had uttered an apology and explanation to give Steve an out if he wanted to keep going. But instead Steve was looking at him and actually addressed him. It was just one word, but he could tell by the look on his oldest friend's face that this wasn't just some greeting in passing.
Of course he missed Steve. Other than Steve being frozen and Bucky being a brainwashed assassin for so many decades, they'd been as close as two people could be. They'd spent almost every single day together before the war, and after everything that happened they were still close, brothers bonded forever to each other. How could he not miss that?
Things had been very different here. They hadn't been so close. Steve had felt a million miles away and Bucky didn't really know how to handle that. And that was before they'd had their talk, their breakup, as it were. He backed off Snubbull and let the two Pokemon sniff each other so he could turn his attention to Steve. "Hey, Steve." He felt wary, unsure of himself and he didn't like that. He didn't like feeling that way in the presence of his best friend.
"How are you?" It might've sounded like a casual question, like something anyone could ask anyone else, but there was a weight to his words, because they both should know how the other was doing. They both should still be in each other's lives.