Chapter Text
“I did it. I actually did it.”
The maroon-haired schoolgirl’s mind was aflame as she hurriedly walked down the hallway of Cerise Laboratory, shuffling her feet as her hands balled into fists at her side.
“I asked him out. And… it really was that easy!”
Chloe Cerise couldn’t have asked for a better result. Everything was unfolding just like in the latest light romance novel she had engrossed herself in. As Eevee, Chloe’s faithful Pokémon companion, kept up with her brisk pace, the girl began to feel the onset of creeping doubts and concerns.
“Hey, Eevee? Do you find it weird how… I dunno, easy that was?” Chloe looked down at the brown-and-white-furred Pokémon, who just tilted its head to the side as it looked back up at its trainer, and smiled while giving a puzzled bark, “Vui?”
Chloe sighed.
“Maybe I’m overthinking this, for once. I mean, when I asked Ash out on a date, he agreed to it really quickly! That’s gotta be a good thing, right?” Chloe’s eyes darted up towards the ceiling as she made her way around the lab. Then, all of a sudden, she whipped her hand in front of her mouth in a gasp, struck with a sudden enlightenment towards a possibility that, as it mulled and festered in her head, seemed to make more and more sense.
“Wh-What if he agreed so quickly because he likes me?!” Chloe blurted out.
“Eeeehhh…?” even the rather aloof and carefree Eevee found this to be stretching it.
“I mean, think about it! It has to be the only reason!” Chloe smacked a fist into her open palm, “I asked Ash out on a date! No hesitation! No second-guessing! I remember the words exactly as they come out of his mouth!”
As always, Ash had answered with enthusiasm and a roaring fire, “Sure, Chloe! That sounds great!”
Eevee shrugged, then barked up in agreement, “Vui, vui!”
Chloe now felt a small wave of relief wash over her. Sure, Ash was quite the dense guy, but she knew her light romance novels. The way things were going, her own story would be nothing but skipping straight towards the finish line for a happily-ever-after. Sure, the whole Chrysa and Psyduck ordeal had shaken her romantic intuition for a brief moment, but this was entirely within her hands.
Hold on, what was that thing that Goh always said?
“The future’s bright, and it’s in the palm of my hand!”
Chloe gave a small snort. Dawn really did have her work cut out for her.
“No, not that! Do you really expect me to go out in my school uniform?!”
Yamper sniffled as it slunk away, the collar of Chloe’s school dress in its mouth.
It was the dawn of the next day, and thanks to a load of homework (and trying to power through the end of By the Stars, yet another light romance novel), Chloe hadn’t put much thought into what she would wear for the momentous occasion. Her lack of preparation, both now and even before popping the question in the first place, was truly coming back to bite her. Both Yamper and Eevee were busy trying their best to search both her closet and wardrobe for anything, yet every outfit they put forward was turned down by the girl.
Whatever feelings of elation and wonder she had enjoyed from the accepted proposal were quickly turning into those of frustration and agony.
“Jeez, I really don’t have anything ‘special’... ugh…” Chloe sighed as she tilted her head back, “And my hair’s still a mess too…”
Then, a knock came on her door. It was soft, and subdued, as if trying its hardest to not be intrusive, but still inquisitive towards what all of the ruckus from the girl’s room was about.
Chloe turned towards the door, “Y-Yeah? Who is it?”
The girl had been expecting her mother to be at the entrance to her bedroom, but rather, someone else had taken it upon themselves to investigate what had been on Chloe’s mind all throughout yesterday, and apparently today.
“Hey, Chloe. Everything okay in there?”
It was her father, Professor Cerise.
Chloe was slightly taken aback, “Uh… yeah! Everything is fine!”
“Then, is it okay if I can come in?”
Once more, Chloe hung her mouth slightly ajar. Yamper and Eevee had stopped scurrying around, and looked up at the schoolgirl to await her response. Truth be told, while she did love her father, she often felt that his work, work that often poured down onto Ash and Goh’s antics, was something that she wasn’t too interested in, and as such, he had begun to tone it down around her. She suspected that he might have gotten the message about her indifference, but yet here he was.
Of course, she wouldn’t say no.
“Yeah, you can come in.”
The door opened up, and standing in the doorway was the tall and modestly built, if a little lanky, head of the Cerise Laboratory. He bore that professional, yet genuine smile he always carried on his face.
“So… I’ve noticed that you’ve been a little preoccupied with something in your head since yesterday. And… I’m not so sure it’s the homework. Would you like to talk about it?” Cerise offered, to which Chloe pursed her lips and tapped her fingers on her legs as she sat down on her bed.
“Oh, it’s nothing! Just deciding what to wear is all!” Chloe gave a deceptive grin, something that her father easily saw through.
“Chloe… I know that we don’t see as eye to eye as you do with your mother, but… I can tell that something’s been bothering you since you came to the lab yesterday. Was it because Goh was leaving again?” Cerise walked over and sat down next to Chloe on her bed, “He sure was gone for a bit.”
“N-No! It’s not that at all!” Chloe waved her hands, denying the prospect, “It’s nothing! Really-”
Professor Cerise exhaled, yet still kept that smile on his face, “Alright. I was just wondering about it.”
The two sat in awkward silence for a few more seconds before Chloe realized that her father really was concerned for her despite her lack of interest in his work and activities, so she decided to come clean to the man.
“Dad, I’m… gonna be hanging out with Ash tomorrow,” Chloe rubbed the side of her arm, “And I’m kind of at a loss for what to wear.”
Professor Cerise blinked, about to say something along the lines of ‘That’s all?’ before shutting his mouth. Of course that wasn’t all.
“Hmm. And… what’s so special about this time that you want to wear something new?” Cerise inquired, beginning to quickly put the pieces together in his head. Despite this, Chloe wasn’t keen on letting her dad in on the true nature of the hangout.
“Well, it’s just that… mmm… I kinda don’t feel like any of my clothes are the right fit for what we’re going to! We’re, uh… going to…” Chloe tried her best to come up with an alternate scenario, “Oh, we’re going to this special Pokémon Presentation, and it has a bit of a chic dress code!”
“A… Pokémon Presentation? Is this a school-sponsored event?” Professor Cerise rubbed his chin, “I feel like I would have heard about it…”
“Oh no! It’s in… Johto! Ash was going to give me a lift alongside him on Dragonair-”
“You mean Dragonite.”
Chloe heaved an exasperated moan, trying to recover from her fumble, “S-Same difference.”
Professor Cerise gave a little chuckle as he leaned back a tiny bit, “Chloe, if your mind’s a mess, you can talk to me just as much as you talk to Mom. It’s okay.”
Still in her pajamas, and the two Pokémon previously accompanying her now leaving the room, the schoolgirl gripped her shorts in a frustratingly indecisive fit. There was no way she could tell her dad of all people how she was beginning to feel about one of the boys that worked with him.
Could she?
Maybe not. Not now.
But… there was something else on her mind about Ash that had gotten her to act on her impulses, in addition to Dawn’s—and Serena’s—advice.
Chloe exhaled.
“Dad… you ever wonder about the possibility of not seeing a friend ever again?” Chloe began, recalling how far Ash had advanced in the Pokémon World Coronation Series standings, “Like… people have already figured out everything they want to do, and you’re just… I don’t know… stuck?”
The professor, at times, could be a bit dense. However, it didn’t take a genius to realize that this wasn’t a question for his daughter to ask him, but rather an answer to give to his daughter.
“Chloe… I think you really need to know that Ash and Goh, compared to so many other kids… are an exception rather than the norm. I’ve honestly never seen two boys quite like them. They’ve got their goals locked into their futures while so many others their age don’t even know if they want to become Pokémon trainers yet,” Professor Cerise started, “But even as they pursue their dreams, they’re still your friends, and they think of you as one too. There’s always a hello and a goodbye, and maybe in the future, it won’t be them saying goodbye to you, but you saying goodbye to them.”
Sensing a mounting sense of dread from his daughter, Cerise gave an undaunted and reassuring smile, “Even Ash and Goh will eventually head off down separate paths, but they’ll never truly be away from each other. And that goes for you too with both of them.”
A little laugh came from the professor, “In all honesty, I’m overjoyed that you’ve been getting along with them more and more. I remember you coming up to me and saying there was ‘some weird shocked boy’ lying unconscious on the outside stairs with Yamper. And… do you consider that kid who got fried by our house pet to be a good friend of yours?”
“More than that… I think…” Chloe couldn’t help but smirk at the first time she had met Ash before responding to her father, “Y-Yeah. I’m just worried about Ash going away, considering how busy Goh has gotten, and how busy Ash is about to get…”
Professor Cerise got up from Chloe’s bed, and stroked his chin with his fingers, “Y’know, your mother had gotten you a new outfit for a special occasion. It was supposed to be a surprise for if you ever decided to take up being a research fellow… but when I think about it, I don’t want to force anything on you at all. Maybe you’ll find some use out of it at this moment.”
“Wait, really?” Chloe blinked at the sudden revelation.
“Of course!” Professor Cerise held up a finger, “I’ll go fetch it.”
And with that, Chloe’s father exited the room, and walked down the hall. The schoolgirl flopped back on her bed, her mind once again running rampant with everything that had just happened.
“A research fellow… huh?” she quietly mouthed to herself.
As Professor Cerise trudged down the hallway, he gave a hearty sigh as he came to the closet where a box was lodged up on the top shelf. Looking back towards the closed door of Chloe’s room, he smiled once more.
“She’s really growing up. Huh, Yamper?”
“Wamp! Wamp!” Yamper waddled on over, and panted.
As Chloe trudged along the sidewalk in Vermilion City, she tugged at the pink neckerchief that was adorned around her neck. It wasn’t out of discomfort, but more so out of a twinge of nervousness. Her loose and puffy white shirt was complemented by a blue skirt, courtesy of the outfit her mother had gotten her and her father had revealed. It was practically perfect for the occasion, although confidence wasn’t exactly being supplied in ample quantities.
“Vee-vee!” Chloe’s partner barked up, obviously excited at the prospect of seeing Ash and Pikachu yet again, oblivious to the conflicting thoughts festering around in Chloe’s head.
“H-Hey! Slow down!” Chloe groaned as, once again, Eevee began to take off the moment it had laid eyes on the meeting spot that its trainer had picked out; it was a small Kalos-style café on a street corner. Funnily enough, it reminded her of that café where she and the others had met up on their latest Sinnoh trip. Maybe it really was destiny. That thought brightened Chloe’s mood, as did seeing the recognizable outline of Ash’s blue vest and red cap-
Wait a minute.
“Is Ash in his… regular clothes…?” Chloe’s lips parted as an eyebrow raised in confusion, “He… does know this is a date… right?”
Chloe shrugged.
“Well, he can certainly be laid-back when he wants…”
“Hi, Ash!” Chloe waved as she jogged on over, Eevee also running up to the table that Ash and Pikachu were idling by.
The Pallet Town-born trainer gave a smile and waved back as the schoolgirl and her Pokémon partner approached him and his Pikachu, “Hey, Chloe! Glad we could hang out again!”
Chloe, once more, developed a face of bewilderment at Ash’s choice of words to describe their date. The two had just met up, and one of Chloe’s fears was slowly becoming a reality.
“H-Hang out?” Chloe rubbed her arm, now opting to go the direct route in order to either clear up a potential misunderstanding, or to possibly decipher if, for once, Ash was joking around with her, “I’m… pretty sure we were gonna spend time together beyond just ‘hanging out.’”
All of a sudden, Pikachu’s eyes widened, and its ears flopped down as it seemed to connect the dots upon realizing that Chloe was wearing a new (and admittedly, very cute) outfit, and upon hearing the evident disappointment in Chloe’s voice.
Its trainer, however, had not put the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Oh, that’s right! You said that we should get to know each other better!” Ash held up a finger, then gave a chuckle, “Guess I got some catching up to do. I’ve never seen that outfit on you before! What’s the occasion?”
Eevee and Pikachu could feel the incoming tidal wave, and braced for impact.
Chloe slammed her hands down on the café table, a raging inferno of dismay and frustration igniting her entire body, and causing Ash to double backwards in his chair.
“Are you SERIOUS, Ash?!” the usually indifferent and reserved schoolgirl held a fist up as her other hand balanced herself on the café table, “I have no clue how you thought me asking you out yesterday constituted just ‘hanging out’!”
Chloe continued, leaning further towards Ash and raising her temper even more, “I’ve known Goh since we were in kindergarten, and I’d have never thought that someone could exist even denser than that guy!”
Ash was absolutely taken aback, trying his hardest not to tip over backwards in his chair as he leaned back out of genuine shock at Chloe’s outburst, “A-Asking me out…?”
“YES!” Chloe reared back up from the table, gripped her scalp with her fingers, and tilted her head up with an exasperated groan.
Pikachu and Eevee had no clue who to feel sorry for in this situation, although when the two began to think back on it…
There seemed to be a reason for the misunderstanding. Said reason was now beginning to resurface in Ash’s head as well.
“But… I remember you saying that you just wanted to hang out and ‘get to know each other better’... those exact words,” Ash pointed out.
“Ash, I asked you out on a date! How on earth could you interpret that any other way?!” Chloe refuted, to which Ash tapped his chin with a finger as he puffed his lips and looked away.
“I… don’t think you ever used the word ‘date’...” Ash furrowed his eyebrows, still looking away from Chloe, “In fact…”
“Hey… Ash…?”
The sound of Chloe’s voice, following two knocks at the door, got the boy to perk up from his bed, as he had opted to do a little bit of a sleep-in that day. Nevertheless, Ash got up and walked over to the door to open it up for his friend. Pikachu scurried off of the bunk as well in order to see what was going on.
“Oh! Hey, Chloe! What’s up-”
The moment Ash opened the door, he wasn’t too sure what to make of Chloe’s demeanor. Rather than the usual Chloe he had begun to hang out with more and more ever since Goh had become busier, the schoolgirl seemed to be a completely flustered mess in front of him.
She was tripping over her words, and her arms were locked to her side with her fingers ragged and jagged as sweat poured down her entire body. Her completely off-putting posture was contrasted by that of Eevee’s, who seemed as nonchalant and happy as usual, smiling up at Ash and the shoulder-sitting Pikachu.
“A-A-Ash, I r-really w-wanted to know if y-you w-wanted tooooo-”
The schoolgirl seemed to be in absolute shambles.
“Uh… if I wanted to…?” Ash could see that Chloe was in some form of distress, so he helped her along by repeating what she had tried to communicate.
“T-To… uh… I…” Chloe was shaking intensely, as if a Spinarak had begun to crawl up her back, “I-If you w-wanted-”
Ash looked at Pikachu. Pikachu looked at Ash.
The two both looked back at Chloe, then down at Eevee. Eevee smiled.
“May-Maybe we could… uh…” the maroon-haired girl was trying her absolute hardest to make words. Clearly, her winglady, Eevee, was oblivious to Chloe’s situation.
Ash tried to help bridge the gap by offering his own completion of Chloe’s offer, “You… want to hang out again? Uh… sure-”
“REALLY?!”
Ash stumbled backwards as Chloe leaned in, the swirls in her eyes that Ash could have sworn he had just seen quickly being replaced by shimmering sparkles, “That makes me so happy! We really should get to know each other better~!”
The boy couldn’t help but give a chuckle with a slight hint of unease about the sudden change of attitude, “Sure, Chloe! That sounds great!”
“I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye, Ash~!” Chloe seemed absolutely overjoyed, walking off with a shimmering glow on her face, and leaving behind the stupefied Ash and Pikachu.
Ash looked at his Pokémon partner, and shrugged, “Guess… she really likes hanging out with me now. Well, no problem with that!”
Chloe had her face buried in the café table; the only sound that occasionally escaped was a groan of defeat. Of course she had locked up and spilled all of that bravery she had gathered up from Dawn’s advice. To make matters worse… her excitement over hearing Ash’s acceptance of her “offer” had only replaced her previous trance with a new one.
Truly, this was not going like how her light romance novels had foretold.
Seeing his friend completely down in the dumps over a misunderstanding, Ash did want to make things better and still continue their hangout. However, truth be told, he had not expected this to be a date at all.
To continue as such… the boy was a bit uncertain and had some reservations. But Chloe clearly had been excited to spend time with him. Thus, Ash made up his mind.
“Chloe? Are you feeling a little better?” Ash asked.
“No.”
The boy pursed his lips. What a dumb thing to ask.
“H-Hey. We can still hang out! I’m not mad or anything-”
Then, from the corner of his eye, the up-and-coming Pokémon Master spotted two boys of similar age to him and Chloe eyeing both of them. Or more specifically, him. He noticed as one motioned towards him, then watched as the other spoke back in a sort of dismissive manner.
“Are they… trainers?” Ash asked himself in his mind. Normally, the boy would be absolutely enthusiastic to have a battle, but today wasn’t really the best of days for that. Especially when he was with Chloe, who was still trying to recover from embarrassing herself in front of her supposed date.
It seemed Chloe had noticed that Ash was eyeing the boys as well.
“Oh. Trainers. Just what I need right now…” Chloe sighed, “Y’know, this has already been a disaster. If you want to go have a battle or something, don’t let me stop you-”
“Chloe, wait!” Ash suddenly reached towards Chloe as she began to shuffle from her seat, “It’s fine. I don’t need to battle every trainer that challenges me.”
At this, Chloe was completely taken aback. This was Ash, someone who oftentimes accepted battles in completely odd and sometimes inconvenient situations. And he was going to possibly refuse a battle for her sake?
That did warm Chloe’s heart a little bit, she had to admit. But nevertheless, she continued, “Ash, it’s okay. Besides, you can improve your World Coronation Series rank if you win. I shouldn’t keep you from that.”
Before Ash could smile back at Chloe, the two boys were already approaching, both with their eyes locked on Ash.
“Hey, you a trainer?” the boy with brown hair and a blue T-shirt with a stylized Pokéball print asked.
Pikachu scurried up onto Ash’s shoulder before he responded, “Yep, I am! Are you two trainers too?”
“That we are,” the other boy with mossy green hair replied back, “We’re just looking for some battles.”
Once more, before Ash could reply again, the brown-haired trainer looked over Chloe, “Let me guess… not much of a battler?”
There was a slight hint of condescension coming from that trainer. Ash hadn’t exactly picked up on it that well, but Pikachu sure had. And Chloe definitely had as well.
“What a dumb question, Chase. Look at her,” the mossy-haired boy referred to his partner as “Chase”, and pointed out towards Chloe, the two now disregarding any further reactions they could draw from either Ash or Chloe, “You ever seen many girls with Eevee being full-fledged battlers?”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!” Ash stood up from his seat, along with Pikachu, the two clearly having enough of these trainers’ attitudes, “Pika-pika!”
“Well… as Shane just pointed out… that Eevee’s not evolved. Does it even know four moves?” Chase raised an eyebrow.
“So what if my Eevee doesn’t know too many moves? It can practically use any move just by looking at it!” Chloe began to defend her Pokémon partner, who was now beginning to feel the tension in the air, “If that’s not special, then I don’t know what is!”
“It knows Copycat,” Shane whispered quickly to Chase.
“Obviously,” Chase responded.
Then, Ash spoke up.
“Alright, alright. Normally I would say that we could have a battle, but I’m hanging out with Chloe here,” Ash spoke with a hint of defeat in his voice over having to turn down a battle, “Sorry to keep our rankings in the World Coronation Series as they are.”
“Wait… the World Coronation Series? Oh great, it’s another one!” Shane busted up, “You’re actually participating in that farce of battle circuit? Let me guess, you use Z-Moves, Mega Evolution, Dynamax, or Terestralization when the opponent doesn’t have access to the same?”
At this, Ash grimaced at the insult. Pikachu wasn’t feeling too keen on these trainers either. No matter how Ash was feeling, it wanted to teach these two a lesson.
“Oh, give it a rest, you two. Do you even know who you’re talking to?” Chloe pointed at her “date”, “This is Ash Ketchum, one of the best battlers in the world!”
“Chloe, you really don’t need to-”
“Funny, never heard of you,” Chase shrugged his shoulders before taking out a Pokéball, “Unless you care to give us a demonstration? We’re a bit tired of fighting World Coronation Series trainers, but I don’t think another one could hurt now…”
As the tension in the air became thicker and thicker, Ash, for once, decided to prevent his hot temper from getting the best of him, and began to de-escalate the situation.
However, Chloe’s head had once again become a centerpiece for screaming emotions and battling thoughts. The day had already gone to ruin, even before this turn of events had presented itself to her in the form of these two trainers.
Forget the date. She was here to be with Ash, and to get on his wavelength.
This was an opportunity, and-
“Then I’m going to battle you!”
Chloe would take it without looking back!
The environment had briefly gone silent as the sounds of cars, passerby pedestrians, and the occasional Pokémon that flew overhead pierced the stillness.
Chloe had expected the boys to laugh her off. Instead, they looked at each other, unsure of what to make of the situation, before Shane pointed his head back towards Chloe.
“You… really sure you want to do this? I think for your sake, you want this to be a double battle,” Shane raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms once more, waiting to see what Ash’s move was.
Sure enough, Ash got up from his seat and pumped a fist, “Then it’s a double battle!”
“P-Pika?!” Pikachu gasped in shock, while Eevee already looked ready to go with a hearty, “Bui!”