Chapter Text
“Brrr! I forgot how cold Sinnoh gets when it isn’t summer!” Chloe Cerise shuddered with crossed arms as the cold wind assailed her even through the protection of her pink jacket, “I swear, it’s getting colder and colder as the day goes on!”
“Come on, guys! The sooner we get to Dawn’s house, the sooner we’ll all be warm!” Chloe’s childhood friend, Goh, enthusiastically walked at a faster pace ahead of his two other companions through Twinleaf Town.
“Yeah! A heater sounds so nice for once!” the usually hot-blooded Ash Ketchum couldn’t help but shudder from another blast of cold air, “Guess you’re really looking forward to taking shelter indoors again!”
Chloe then took the opportunity to verbally poke Goh, a habit she’d recently adopted despite the hypocrisy one could point out, “Oh, Goh will get warm alright! Snuggling under a fleece blanket with Dawn on the couch? How romantic~”
The Pokémon catcher suddenly broke his stride momentarily and turned back towards his friend and schoolmate, annoyed, “Oh, will you knock it off with that?! I never thought you of all people would begin to tease me and Dawn over…”
Ash stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled. Chloe grew a smug expression on her face as she pressed, “Over…?”
Goh pointed back, “That’s none of your business! Y’see, this is why I told Ash not to tell you about what I was doing in Sinnoh last time we were here! At first, it was because you’d have gotten the wrong idea, but now it’s the right idea, and you still try to embarrass me over it!”
At this point, Goh crossed his arms and huffed, his chin pointing up and away, “Besides, I could tease you for how hilarious your situation was for hooking up with Ash, but here I am, apparently the better person.”
As a flustered Chloe’s face erupted in steam, providing a temporary reprieve from the cold, the Pokémon trainers’ accompanying Pokémon took great entertainment in the dynamic, their eyes and ears shifting or flicking towards each boy and girl that opened their mouths. Pikachu found it exhausting, while Eevee and Grookey just seemed to be going along for the ride, barking or chirping in a happy response that seemed void of understood context.
“Come on, guys! Let’s look forward to having some fun!” Ash, as always, looked towards the positive events that surely were to come, and his partner Pokémon, Pikachu, gave a resounding, “Pika- chu! ”
Chloe decided it was best to drop the subject at that point, knowing that Goh did have a point. Her actual hookup with Ash had been nothing short of a catastrophic misunderstanding that had thankfully turned around for the better.
“Oh yeah, well I’m gonna get there first!” Goh performed a brief hop in his stride before he began to jog down the dirt path towards the outskirts of Twinleaf Town, much to Ash and Chloe’s surprise. The other Pokémon trainer then began to pursue his friend, blazing down the walkway, “Oh yeah?! Not on my watch!”
“G-Guys! Wait for- me…” Chloe held out a hand, and dropped her head down in exasperation before glancing at her partner Pokémon, “Well, at least you decided to-”
The schoolgirl turned research fellow’s sentence was cut short as she realized that her Pokémon companion had also run off, barking after the two boys as they ran towards their destination.
Chloe groaned as she jogged off after everyone else.
“I’m almost there!” Goh called back to Ash, only to find that the Pokémon trainer was rapidly gaining on him.
“No you don’t, Goh! Victory is mine!” the Pallet Town-raised boy rapidly closed the distance as Grookey still stayed on Goh’s shoulder, oblivious to the incoming disaster that an Absol ten miles away got a faint whiff of. Through Chloe’s labored panting from trying to catch up with the excitable boys, she couldn’t speak a word as she bore witness to the catastrophe unfolding in front of her.
Ash managed to get neck and neck with Goh as the two clambored the small set of stairs leading to a large house’s doors to the right, only to stumble at the very top, and go careening into the wooden railings directly in front of them. Goh crashed over the handrail, with Grookey being launched off of the boy and into a bush directly below. Ash, on the other hand, smashed his face into the baluster, a bar-print pattern getting impressed into his cheeks and nose.
Chloe sighed once more, walked up the stairs, took a brief note of the indignation of her friends, and rang the doorbell as Pikachu and Eevee tended to the two incapacitated boys. Through the chatter, a familiar, cheery voice was heard inside.
“Coming!”
With this, Chloe grabbed both Ash and Goh by their back collars, and got them upright, “Come on, at least try and make yourselves presentable for your friend and girlfriend!”
Both of the boys shook themselves off as the door opened, and their best companion from Sinnoh stood in the doorway to greet them. It was Dawn.
“Hi, everyone! I’m so glad you could stop by!” the Pokémon coordinator’s face beamed with positivity before throwing her arms around Goh, and burying her face into the boy’s cheek in front of his two other friends, giving him a playful, yet purposefully embarrassing peck, “Mmmmwah!”
“Ahhh! Dawn!” Goh’s face flushed as red as a Tamato Berry from his girlfriend’s display in front of his friends. Ash chuckled while Chloe put her hands over her mouth and silently squeed as her childhood friend had no way to escape the sight that played out in front of her.
Dawn then broke away from the Pokémon catcher, and unexpectedly threw hooked arms around the shoulders of Ash and Chloe, squeezing them together, “And look at these two here, the newest and cutest couple! I’m so happy for both of you!”
Ash, through the group hug, rubbed the bottom of his nose with a finger and smiled, “It’s great to see you too, Dawn!”
Chloe’s hair sprig instantly straightened out at Dawn’s comment as it was her turn to get embarrassed by her friend from Sinnoh, “W-Well, so glad that you could invite us all for a sleepover after all this time!”
As the Pokémon watched the continued affectionate greetings, another resident from within the house waddled out and gasped at the sight of the other creatures, throwing both flippers in the air to greet everyone else, “Pip-Piplup!”
“Pikachu! Arook! Ee-bui!” the other three Pokémon responded back as, while their trainers were still busy getting over their reunion, the little companions decided to trudge into Dawn’s house, taking in the sights of nostalgic memory, or seeing the manor for the first time. Eevee instantly grew enamored with the trophies, ribbons, and plaques sitting on and mounted above both a drawer and a fireplace. The golden statues and certificates overwhelmingly carried the name of Dawn’s mother, Johanna, though newer ones nestled in comfortably alongside the originals, proudly displaying: “Dawn”.
“Come on in, everyone! You can hang your jackets on the coat rack right there!” Dawn offered her guests, then placed her hands on her hips, “Although… I don’t know why you’re wearing so many layers. It’s not that cold outside.”
At this, Goh sputtered as he looked over Dawn’s usual choice of attire, “How can you even say something like that?! It’s freezing out there!”
The coordinator shrugged, “Jeez, guess us trainers from Sinnoh are used to it!”
Ash smiled as well as he hung up his coat, “I remember when I first stepped foot in Sinnoh. It was so much colder than any time I’ve been in Kanto! Dawn didn’t even wear pants when we went up to Snowpoint City, though she did wear a coat!”
At this, Chloe pursed her lips, “I wish I was as resilient as Dawn. I have no clue how you go around this region in a skirt that short.”
Dawn giggled and winked, “Guess that’s the Sinnoh ancestry for you!”
Then, Ash tapped his chin as the boy became uncharacteristically lost in thought, “Come to think of it… Serena, Misty, and Candice also don’t wear pants in the cold…”
Chloe and Goh nervously eyed Ash, sharing the exact same thought, “ What kind of girls does this guy travel with? ”
As the pleasantries commenced, Dawn then called through the house, “Oh, Buneary, they’re here! And I think there’s a special someone here too!”
“Bu-Buneary?”
The sound of tiny pitter-pattering footsteps came down from the stairs as a brown-furred and light-tanned-fleeced Pokémon stepped down. Dawn’s second Pokémon, Buneary, caught a single glimpse of Pikachu, cheerfully bounded down the staircase, and sprang into the air, hurtling towards the Electric-type rodent. Pikachu smiled, sighed, and accepted its fate as Buneary crashed down for a hug-attack.
Chloe brought her hands together and squeed at Buneary nuzzling Pikachu’s cheek with its own, “Aww, that’s the cutest thing ever! Is Pikachu going to get a girlfriend too at some point?”
Apparently, Buneary must have understood Chloe’s query. It quickly hopped off of Pikachu, and buried its face in its ears, squirming about in a flustered breakdown. The other Pokémon couldn’t help but think it was adorable as well.
“So, your mom’s gone for the weekend?” Goh asked Dawn as he scrolled through his Rotom Phone.
“Yep! She says I can have friends over as long as we don’t burn down the house!” Dawn knelt down towards the bottom of a cupboard in the kitchen. Knowing that the last time Dawn had taken her mom’s orders in an overly generous way ended up in her grounding, Goh raised an eyebrow over a twinge of doubt, but shrugged. Any time he could spend with Dawn these days was a blessing.
“Oh, is this it right here?” Chloe pointed at a pair of machines that resembled a crockpot with vibrant colors and floral decorations.
“Yep, that’s it!” Dawn beamed as she and Goh lifted one up and settled it on the kitchen counter, along with Ash and Chloe doing the same with their machine, “These are poffin makers! I felt kind of bad that Goh and Chloe never really got to try making the signature Sinnoh Pokémon treat, so we’re gonna whip up a batch!”
“Poffins?! Alright!” Ash pumped his fists at the prospect of the sweet treats, “I’m sure Pikachu and the others will be stoked!”
“Ash, we just had lunch only an hour or two ago…” Chloe sighed and heaved after getting the machine settled on the counter.
Dawn couldn’t help but giggle, “Poffins are Pokémon food, Chloe. But… that’s not to say Ash didn’t attempt to try one before!”
Before Chloe could respond, Ash brought his hands to his hips and smiled at both of the girls, “Yep! Though… it didn’t really agree with me back then…”
The boy’s stomach rumbled. Everyone broke out into a brief fit of laughter at Ash’s expense.
“Hey, maybe this time Ash can make a poffin good enough for him to eat!” Dawn snickered at an unamused Ash.
“Hah… anyways, how do we make poffins?” Goh asked as he already began searching online for instructions on his Rotom Phone.
“Glad you asked! Y’see, we used to do them by the pot, but poffin machines can whip up a ton of them so that even your Pokémon can get in on the meal!” Dawn motioned towards the two appliances on the kitchen counter, and glanced towards the corner of the room to find numerous Pokémon, peeking around the corner and anxiously waiting for the prospect of delicious treats.
“But the fact still remains! You’ve gotta stir them at just the right speed so you don’t spill out the batter by going too fast, or burn it by going too slow,” Dawn opened up the fridge and pulled out floppy bags of whip, “We already have some in the fridge, so we just have to do the fun part!”
“Alright, sounds like a plan,” Chloe peered into the currently empty poffin machine.
“Me and Goh will bake this batch, while you and Ash will bake the other!” Dawn winked at Chloe, “Just make sure Ash does better than when he did last time he tried baking poffins!”
The Pokémon trainer in question puffed his cheeks as he responded with an annoyed expression, “Hey, I’m way better than last time, and I’ve got Chloe here with me too! We’ll make great poffins!”
Due to the size of the batter loads in each machine, large mixing spoons had to be wrangled by both couples in order to mix the batches. While Goh and Dawn easily got the hang of things, the boy and girl to their left’s commotion proved to be quite the distraction.
“Ash, you’re supposed to mix slower than that- oh no, you spilled some of the batter out!” Chloe scolded the Pokémon trainer, fussing up as they tried to grapple the large spoon in both of their hands.
“H-Hey, just like Dawn says! No need to worry!” Ash flashed a toothy grin at his girlfriend, despite more of the batter flinging onto her light blue shirt.
At this, Dawn took her hands off of the spoon she was using and put her hands on her hips, “Hey, I don’t condone my advice to be used in that manner!”
“Dawwwwn! Help!” Goh heaved as he now tried to solo-stir the thickening batter as Dawn had briefly taken her hands off the spoon.
“Oops! Sorry!” Dawn quickly jumped back to mixing with Goh, and thankfully saved their batch from burning on a spot. As for Ash and Chloe…
“See, just take it easy once in a while…” Chloe got Ash to slow down, “You really just like to rush through things sometimes, and I already had that with Goh as my friend-”
“Uh, Chloe, I think it’s burning,” Ash took a hand off the spoon and pointed at a darkening mound in the batter, causing Chloe to panic and churn for her life, “Agh! Chloe!”
Ding!
“Phew! Finally over! I think our batch turned out great, Goh!” Dawn radiated a proud aura, though her partner in baking raised an eyebrow at the other mixture to their side.
“Hey, for your first time, I think you guys did… uh… well… maybe we can salvage most of it…?” Goh peered into the blackening void that was Ash and Chloe’s batter, sniffing once and instantly recoiling back in horror.
Chloe was too embarrassed to even speak.
Ash dropped his head, “This wasn’t even my first time…”
While Dawn and Goh got to work cutting up the batches—and trying to scavenge edible parts of Ash and Chloe’s mix—Ash exhaled as he sat down next to Chloe on their kitchen stools, “Sorry, Chloe. Guess I was trying to make up for the last time I tried to bake poffins. They turned into a real disaster!”
Chloe sighed as well and pursed her lips, “Well, it’s a new thing for me too. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but technically, you’re more experienced with this stuff than I was… probably better to have a little overspill than to burn the batch.”
“Hey, don’t get down, you two. I had a lot of practice with my mom before I became good at making poffins. I should tell you stories of some of my first batches and how Glameow had to be the unfortunate taste tester of them!” Dawn looked back with a smile.
“Aaaand… done! That should be enough for everyone!” Goh added a few sprinkles to the top of each little cookie, “Come and get them, everyone!”
At this signal, the Pokémon present in the living room scampered over, eager to have their share of the delicious treats that the trainers had cooked up for them-
The sound of a Pokéball snapping open was heard in the living room, originating from Dawn’s bag.
An utterly gargantuan Pokémon sporting massive tusks, a flattened nose, and thick, brown fur stood in front of the kitchen, and opened its mouth.
“Mamooooo!” Mamoswine trumpeted as it inhaled deeply, causing an intake of air so powerful that the trainers had to plant their feet firmly on the kitchen floor, brace themselves on the counter, and hold down loose articles of clothing. One by one, the poffins in the bowl that Goh was holding on to whipped out and into the mouth of the eternally hungry Pokémon.
Mamoswine chewed, belched, and laid down, asleep.
The other Pokémon were dismayed, and Dawn groaned, “Ugh, I forgot about you… well, congrats, Mamoswine. You win once again…”
Then, Ash looked at the bowl of his and Chloe’s poffins, noticing that Mamoswine hadn’t bothered with their treats, “Hey, we lucked out! There’s still just enough from our batch for everyone else to have a bite!”
The other Pokémon moaned in dismay.
“Okay… dare!” Ash proudly responded to the question at hand.
“Ash, you’ve done ‘dare’ for the fourth time… why not pick truth?” Goh rubbed the back of his head, sharing the same sentiment that Dawn and Chloe were having.
“Yeah, pick truth this time!” Dawn crossed her arms.
The other Pokémon in the room also chimed in. Clearly they were enjoying the embarrassing and deeply repressed secrets of their trainers.
“Okay, okay! What are you going to ask me, Goh?” Ash patiently waited, a tad disappointed he wouldn’t win another dare in this game.
“Hmmm… have you… dressed up like a girl before?” Goh smugly crossed his arms.
“Oooooh~” Chloe’s eyes shimmered in wonder at Ash’s answer, while Dawn snorted. It seemed apparent that she knew something the others didn’t.
At this, Ash began to sweat nervously, “Uh… I mean… sort of? Oh wait, that one time in Sinnoh I guess I volunteered for-”
“AAHHHHH~!” Chloe squealed, “Please tell me any of you have pictures!”
“Now, wait! Hold on-” Ash outstretched a hand as Dawn began to tap around on her Pokétch.
“Right here, Chloe! He dressed up in a maid’s outfit this one time, and was super fired up about it!” Dawn giggled as she revealed to Ash’s girlfriend only one of the many instances the boy had donned feminine attire. Goh couldn’t help but chuckle as Ash buried his face into the bed at his side, groaning.
Then, Chloe’s hair sprig stood on its end. It was her turn, and she got an idea!
“Okay, Goh… truth or dare?” Chloe asked the pivotal question.
Knowing how truth had gone for Ash, he opted for the other response, “Dare.”
Hook, line, and sinker.
“I dare you to put on Dawn’s cheerleader outfit!” Chloe blurted out.
“Ooooooh~” Dawn put a hand to her mouth. The other Pokémon somehow managed to mimic the same interested expression. Ash still seemed to be sulking about his prior revelation.
“Wh-What?! You can’t be serious!” Goh stumbled backwards, “There’s no way I’ll-”
He felt Dawn’s hand grip his arm, and the boy was dragged out of the room. A devious smile was plastered on Dawn’s face as she called back, “Give us a moment, you two!”
Chloe and the Pokémon laughed.
Then, Ash perked up, “I got it! Chloe, truth or dare!”
“Hmmm… okay, just for you, dare!” Chloe smiled at Ash, then raised an eyebrow as the boy grabbed a piece of paper provided to him by Pikachu, and began to scribble something on it with a pencil.
Then, Ash handed the note to Chloe, and said, “I dare you to shout this with as much confidence and power as you can!”
Chloe took a look at the note, and befuddlement eveloped her face, “I… really-?”
Looking back at Ash, he was practically grinning from ear to ear, pumping his fists like a little kid.
“Okay… here’ goes…” Chloe cleared her throat. The girl then struck a magnificent pose, pointing ahead as if she were at one end of a Pokémon stadium, staring down her opponent and their Pokémon battle partner, while she was calling out to her own.
“It’s you and me, Greninja! And we’re going to push our limits!” Chloe shouted with a breeze suddenly rushing in from the open window in Dawn’s room, causing her hair to flow with intensity and vigor, “ WITH FULL POWER, NOW! ”
The spectating Pokémon were utterly awestruck at the girl’s typical reserved behavior vanishing.
“Wow! That was amazing!” Ash cheered as Chloe realized she had shaken the entire house with that catchphrase, a deep tinge of red flushing into her cheeks.
A deep wave of emotion washed over Greninja. It was a feeling it hadn’t felt in a long time.
It wasn’t from Ash, but that energy and potential.
The heart felt so similar…
Greninja shrugged.
Maybe they’d see each other again soon. After all, the vines were finally starting to become less and less of an issue.
“Well… there goes Ash and Goh…” Dawn huffed, knowing the boys had dozed off already, “I was hoping they’d want to stay up longer.”
Chloe sighed, “Guess it was inevitable when they burned through all that pizza so fast…”
The two laid out on the grass in front of the house. Nighttime had come, and the stars were out in full display.
Dawn giggled, “Y’know, me and Goh shared a night under the stars like this once. We… exchanged stories about what we went through in the past.”
Chloe looked over to her friend, “Did he mention the nickname he had?”
Goh’s girlfriend glanced down from the stars with a small, yet noticeably pained expression, “Yeah. He did.”
Chloe exhaled, “I was there for all of it. I’m glad I became friends with him, just like how I’m glad I became friends with you.”
The Sinnoh girl grinned back, “Same here. Y’know, Goh always tells me to look towards the future. And that no matter what, it’s in the palm of my hand. Does Ash say anything like that to you at all?”
Chloe Cerise blinked, then looked back up at the stars.
A smile grew on her face.
“Yeah,” she whispered, “Sometimes he says… ‘ never give up, until the very end ’.”