Chapter Text
Chloe was feeling a tad nauseous, and she was pretty sure it couldn't entirely be blamed on the turbulence of the plane. Dawn chatted animatedly beside her, as usual, but as Chloe nodded along and tried her best to listen, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
Just keep trying new things… Dawn made it sound so simple, didn’t she? And yet, those words stung like never-melt ice on bare skin, bristling but never quite settling in.
Or maybe they were just blasting the air conditioning too hard on this damn plane.
And the whole Ambipom thing? The way Dawn hyped it up, it was as if Chloe and the purple Pokémon were supposed to be kindred soulmates, all because they hadn’t stuck to one career their whole lives. But now, with the mild excitement of their earlier battle having worn off, Chloe was left feeling like she was back in the same spot as this morning.
Whatever spark her girlfriend had in mind, Chloe just wasn’t feeling it. A part of her doubted that she ever would.
Yamper nuzzled into Chloe’s lap, and she absentmindedly stroked his fur. As she looked into the Pokémon’s beady eyes, it dawned on her – that the two of them had gotten off to an even worse start and had still managed to end up as best friends. So maybe Dawn’s reasoning wasn’t so flimsy after all.
Chloe sighed and decided she was probably just overthinking things. As usual. She let her right hand fall to her side, her thumb tracing the smooth coating of Draceon’s Poké Ball.
Draceon. As far as the whole “unsure of her own path” thing went, that was her soulmate – they’d met at the Eevee Evolution Lab about a year ago, back when neither of them had known what they were destined for. But now, Draceon had evolved and found its calling as a contest performer, yet Chloe was still stuck, perhaps irreconcilably so.
As sweet as it was of her to try, Dawn just didn’t understand what she was feeling – heck, Chloe herself didn’t even understand–
“You good?” Dawn asked. She squeezed her hand, sending a disconcerting shiver up Chloe’s spine. Fifteen-thousand feet above ground, Chloe felt like she was floating but could fall through the clouds at any moment – like she was held but her body wasn’t in the room.
“What does Ash have to do with any of this?” Chloe considered asking. But the answer was already evident in Dawn’s carefree smile – “Just trust me, babe!” As if that meant anything at all.
“Yeah,” Chloe replied, weary. “Just tired.”
Heaving a sigh, she rested her head atop Dawn’s, hoping that her girlfriend’s hare-brained scheme would make more sense once they had reached ground.
At long last, the couple arrived in Petalburg City. Chloe took a deep breath as they stepped out of the airport, the fresh air helping to cleanse some of her nausea. The ride to the city was quick enough; the hard part was figuring out where the guys were. Chloe could've sworn that they’d been searching the city for a whole twenty minutes since they’d exited the cab.
"Gary, where are you guys?" Dawn said into her Xtransceiver as she paced the block. "Yeah, I know, but which field? ... The sign? Would it kill you to be a little more specific here?"
Chloe could faintly hear Gary retort, "I think I'm being pretty clear, Dawn," when she heard a "Piiikaaaa," followed by a flash of lightning just above the treeline. She tapped Dawn's shoulder and pointed. They ran towards the sight, and Dawn had just hung up when they arrived at a clearing, where Ash and his Sceptile were having a battle against Goh and Cinderace.
“Ash!” Dawn hollered.
“Dawn!” the man replied, breaking from his training and running up to her to exchange their signature hi-five.
"Wow, great to see you too, Ash," Chloe jested, earning a sheepish glance from Ash. Whatever – at least Goh and his other boyfriend were considerate enough to greet her by name.
"So, you really got Ambipom back, huh?" Ash asked Dawn.
"Yup!” Dawn winked and did a triumphant twirl before calling, “Ambipom, spotliiight!'' Upon emerging from her ball, the purple Pokémon stared at Ash mesmerized, then proceeded to tackle him with a grin, only getting up only to steal his new hat.
Ash chuckled along with the group as he sat up and clasped one of Ambipom’s tails. "Wow, still energetic as ever."
Dawn grinned and asked what they were training for this time, and Ash revealed that he was preparing for his upcoming World Coronation Series match against Norman, a Gym Leader who recently replaced Sidney as a member of Hoenn's Elite Four.
"Max and May keep telling me how strong he's gotten, so I'm giving this one everything I got!" Ash beamed.
"So he made it all the way to the top eight?" Dawn asked, bringing the topic back to the World Coronation Series.
"Nope, we're both in the Ultra Class."
"What?! But you were number two before! What happened?"
Gary and Goh locked eyes and smirked, as if silently deciding who would start the dramatic retelling of Ash's fall from grace. The former stepped forward. "Well first, he challenged Diantha when he didn't have to, and decided that now would be a great time to use the Fuecoco he just caught."
Ash groaned in mock protest. "C'mon, Gary, what was I gonna do, just not battle anyone for a whole year? Besides, Fuecoco was all fired up!"
"So that's all it took?" Chloe asked. "Just one loss and you can be eliminated like that?"
"Well, uh–“
"Then there was Iris, who, I'll give you credit, you at least tried not to battle her," Goh added, playfully wagging a finger at Ash. "Course, you couldn't resist her calling you a little kid for avoiding her."
Dawn burst out into laughter. "Of course she did. That's amazing. Well, uh, not amazing, but–“
"Yup," Ash sighed in resignation. "And then Raihan..."
"That one was just plain tough," Gary conceded.
"I guess that adds up," Chloe said wryly. She figured that someone should defend Ash from his ruthless boyfriends.
"But it was all worth it!" Ash said with the kind of boundless optimism that always baffled her. "I know I'll get back up there and win this time."
Dawn echoed his enthusiasm, and Ash asked her if she and Ambipom wanted to train with him and Sceptile, which they happily accepted. They took their places across from each other, and with Gary serving as referee again, Sceptile charged forth with a Leaf Blade.
“Talk about power!” Goh marveled. “The amount of light coming from those blades… and this isn’t even their full power, I bet!”
Chloe nodded, and it occurred to her just then that this was the same Sceptile that had taken down a Darkrai, if Dawn was to be believed. She didn’t know how Ambipom was supposed to stand up to that–
“Dual Chop, let’s go!” Dawn commanded.
Ambipom lurched one tail forward, struggling against the force but inching forth, before walloping Sceptile in the face with the other tail and knocking it back to Ash’s side.
“Whoa, Ambipom, you’ve gotten a lot stronger since last time!” Ash called out.
“Of course!” Dawn replied pridefully. “You didn’t think ping pong was a vacation, did you?”
She wasted no time leading into a Swift attack, barraging Sceptile with a radiant torrent of stars.
“Get out of there, Sceptile,” Ash called. “Agility, and then Leaf Storm!”
As the vortex of leaves fired Dawn’s way, she pumped her fist. “Let’s do this. Ambipom, Dual Chop, and keep ‘em coming!”
The match became a game of Ping Pong – Ambipom returning the leaves with powerful hits, and Sceptile dispersing them with Leaf Blade. However, just as the Swift began to clear, a sneak Quick Attack from above knocked Ambipom into its trainer.
Both sat up, grinning weakly, and Goh suggested that the duo take a break.
“I guess you’re right,” Dawn sighed. “We’ll get ‘em next time, Ambipom.”
Chloe rushed over to help her girlfriend to her feet. “You did great. Better than I could’ve–”
“Hey Chloe,” Ash called, “why don’t you battle me next?”
"Why?" Chloe asked, baffled. "Literally anyone here would be a better help."
"Because I want to?" he said, as if it were obvious. "C'mon, I know you can battle now."
"You got this, Chloe!" Dawn cheered, giving her girlfriend a peck on the cheek.
With a giddy smile and reluctant sigh, Chloe took her place and called upon her beloved Draceon. She commanded a Dragon Breath, Pikachu dodged and used its first attack, and–
Oh. This was gonna be tough. Ash and Pikachu charged forth with lightning-fast instincts – what they lacked in grace and charm, they more than made up for in speed, power, and sheer confidence.
Dare Chloe say he was a better trainer than Dawn? Perhaps that was obvious, number eleven trainer in the world and all, but as Draceon got barraged by yet another Quick Attack–
"Chloe!" Dawn's voice called out, snapping her back into focus. She noticed Ash’s expression, determined yet excitable. Exactly how Dawn always looked during her contest battles.
Come to think of it, Ash was totally operating by Dawn's same fast-paced "a good offense is the best defense" battle style. And she'd managed to triumph that before.
She took a deep breath and, waiting for just the right moment, had Draceon dodge the incoming Iron Tail by using its tail to jump. Pikachu thudded into the dirt, and with renewed confidence, she ordered Draceon to use an aerial Dragon Breath attack. It scored a direct hit.
“Don’t let up, Draceon!” Chloe exclaimed, reeling that she was having such success against such a powerful Pokemon. “Use the dust from your Dragon Breath to power up your Tackle!”
Draceon began to charge forward, gaining momentum before abruptly stopping in its tracks.
“What’s going on?” Goh wondered aloud, echoing Chloe’s confusion.
Ash, still in battle mode, ordered Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, knocking Draceon backwards.
“Drace–” Chloe began to shout. But just then, the Dragon-type bounced forth and retaliated with an electric attack of its own, catching both Pikachu and his trainer off-guard.
"Was that a Thunderbolt?" Gary asked, puzzled.
“Yeah, it had to be!” Dawn exclaimed as Ambipom stood beside her, the Normal-type’s eyes sparkling intently at the field – as if she were still itching to battle. “Chloe, are you sure Draceon forgot Copycat?”
Chloe nodded hesitantly. "I thought so…?” She motioned to a concerned Ash to resume the battle, but her head was still racing. Before that mock contest battle with Ambipom yesterday, Draceon hadn’t used that move in months – in fact, when Chloe commanded the move after it had first evolved, it didn’t work. It seemed as if Draceon had forgotten the move entirely. But now, in the span of two days, her Pokémon had spontaneously used the attack twice. What was going on?
She shook off that thought and dispersed Pikachu's next attack with a Dual Chop, the remnants of electricity shimmering with radiance over the Dragon-type's scales. Then, feeling energized, Chloe ordered a Hyper Voice; however, Pikachu launched into a spin on the ground, the subsequent wall of lightning deflecting the attack entirely.
"That's it, that's my move!" Dawn exclaimed. "Counter Shield!"
With Draceon panting for breath as it scrambled back on its feet, Ash called to end the training.
"Kay, that's enough, Pikachu." The Pokémon scampered over, and Ash patted its head. "Great job, buddy."
Chloe gave her Draceon a reassuring embrace, congratulating it on a job well done. Draceon mewled appreciatively before strolling up to Gary and nuzzling his leg.
"What's it want?" Gary asked.
"I think you know," Goh said, arm latched around Gary’s. "It misses Umbreon."
"Ah. Well, I'm not sure Umbreon misses it." Still, Gary sent out his Pokémon, and Draceon excitedly circled it and nuzzled its cheek. The Dark-type let out a resigned sigh but stayed in place.
As Chloe and Dawn chuckled at the two Eeveelutions, Goh asked Ash if he'd figured out his third Pokémon yet for his battle.
"Still deciding.” Ash shook his head and turned to face the women. “Max told me that Norman caught a bunch of new Pokémon, so I wanna surprise him back."
"You said he uses Normal-types, right?" Chloe asked, hand on her chin. "Maybe you could use Lucario?"
Gary laughed. "You think he cares about type match-ups? Honestly, he'll probably discover a type that's weak against Normal and use that."
"Hey, I heard that!" Ash grumbled.
"I didn't say it was bad,” Gary said with a shrug, “just that I'll never understand it."
Touch é , Chloe thought as she watched Ash splutter while his boyfriends exchanged amused glances. The corners of her lips raised into a smile.
She never thought she’d admit it, but she’d missed spending time with these fools. Maybe she did need to thank Dawn for bringing her out here after all.
Ash’s protest was cut off by a whimper at his feet. He looked down.
"Ambipom?" he asked, to which the Pokémon chanted and shook its tails in a punching motion.
Dawn let out a gasp. "I think Ambipom wants to be the third Pokémon, Ash."
"That true?" Ash asked. Ambipom nodded fiercely, and the trainer smiled decisively and extended his fist to bump Ambipom’s. "Alright, let's do it then!"
As everyone voiced their encouragement – Chloe included – she couldn’t help but feel a bit baffled at this decision. After all, Ambipom hadn’t been his Pokémon for years – wouldn’t it be tough to get back into rhythm for such a high-stakes match? Was he even planning to train again before tomorrow? She certainly couldn't imagine it for herself.
But Ash seemed not to have a care in the world as he flashed her a smile. "So hey, we're getting dinner with May and the others tonight. Wanna come?"
“You did not just call Max and Drew ‘the others,’” Goh teased.
"Sure! Sounds like fun," Dawn immediately agreed, rambling about how she hadn’t seen May in ages, and that she needed to finally meet Drew and Max.
May – that was the Princess of Hoenn, right? Neat. But also… did that mean that contests would be the subject of conversation for the evening?
Probably. If there was one thing coordinators love, it’s gabbing about contests.
“Yeah,” Chloe said, her dread from the Petalburg Airport coming back even as Dawn’s expectant glance subsided. “Sounds great.”