As the author of this work, allow me to thank all of my readers from the bottom of my heart. I was blown away by all the positive feedback this story received, and how so many people seemed to love it so much. I have often said, "As long as one person who reads my writing smiles, I have been successful as a writer" and all of the smiles you all have shared with me must mean I am very successful indeed. My heart is filled with gratitude for you all. Thank you.
Since the story ended last chapter, you may be wondering why there is a new chapter! While I do intend that the story I started in Chapter 1 did end in Chapter 25, I wished to include two bonus scenarios that I couldn't include, for one reason or another, in the main story. Consider these both a sort of extended epilogue that follows Ash and Chloe after they are able to connect their hearts together.
It is only because I have such wonderful readers that I am able to include these two bonus chapters. Thank you. The last chapter will be posted before too long, so please stay tuned.
The forest held the gentle, familiar glow of the mushrooms. The air was as moist and humid as Chloe remembered it, but it wasn't an unpleasant familiarity. Over these gnarled roots and past the mysteriously glowing mushrooms, Chloe had once traveled and enjoyed her own adventure without her childhood friend Goh, or her now-boyfriend Ash. She fondly remembered the Ponyta and Rapidash native to the Galar Region that she assisted, all those months ago.
"I hope they're still doing alright…" she said, stepping over yet another overgrown root.
"Ponyta and Rapidash, right?"
She looked over her shoulder to see Ash there, smiling confidently at her.
"I'm sure they are," he said. "Maybe we can see 'em before we'll head back home!"
"Wait for me!" Goh shouted, having fallen behind.
Chloe sighed and shrugged. "Some things never change," she said, shaking her head. Eevee chattered in her arms, smiling and wagging her tail as she watched.
Goh ran to catch up, tripping over the overgrown root she and Ash carefully stepped over. Before he could fall, Ash caught him by one arm, and Chloe by the other.
The look of relief on his face was palpable. "Thanks, guys…"
"We're never gonna let you down, Goh!" Ash said as he and Chloe helped him stand up.
She frowned at him. "But you should REALLY be more careful, you know?"
"Maybe you two should slow down…" Goh said, still trying to catch his breath.
"Grooki…" the chimp on Goh's shoulder said in agreement.
"I swear, ever since we got back from Alola, you guys have been rushing ahead more and more. It's hard to keep up with you guys sometimes!"
Ash laughed. "Hey, what can I say? Bein' with Chloe fills me with a lot of energy!"
"That's right," Chloe added, giggling. "And his excitement is infectious, so I get a lot of energy, too!"
"I'm glad I'm vaccinated…" Goh joked, groaning.
"Pikapi...Kakachu…"
Both Ash and Chloe sighed, hearing Pikachu's chastisement loud and clear.
"Right, we'll slow down from here…"
"Sorry, Goh."
They both bowed their heads, which only made him roll his eyes.
"It's alright. C'mon! Let's get going! Ballonlea is just ahead!"
Goh was now the one foraging ahead, with Chloe and Ash chasing from behind.
From her memory, Chloe recalled that Ballonlea was a town nestled in the heart of the Glimwood Tangle, lit up by the large, glowing mushrooms that made the forest their home. It always looked like something out of a fairytale to her, and as she gazed out upon it from the distance she was at with the others, her mind went back to that book she discovered it in.
"There are so many cool things you can find written in books…" she said to herself.
Ash paused and turned to her. "You think so?"
"Yeah," she said, holding onto Eevee with one hand and gesturing to the forest with the other. "Do you think anyone in Kanto would believe a place like this existed if you couldn't show them pictures? Most of them don't even believe in a Meowth that can talk."
"Mika does," Ash offered with a shrug.
She sighed. "I mean, right… but still! There's lots of amazing things you can read about, and that's not even including the things that the writer just made up. It's like being able to make your own world, you know?"
Ash smiled at her and nodded. "I get it. It is pretty cool, now that you mention it. Imagine writing a story about a Pokémon no one's ever met, or one where there's a huge tournament with all the strongest people in it in one place."
"You mean like the World Coronation Series?"
"I mean like that but with everyone all together at once! Wouldn't it be awesome!?"
His enthusiasm made her giggle like always. She took his hand and squeezed it. "You're right, it would be pretty awesome. But let's not be late to the tournament we're actually here for."
"Right!" he said, pulling her ahead with him. "Let's go!"
Once they arrived in the quaint town, their phones told them that they were still a bit early to meet with Opal, the Gym Leader who had invited them out to the Galar Region, so Chloe took Ash and Goh to a patisserie that she saw was located there for a treat, only for them to come face to face with a Milcery that Goh caught and very quickly evolved into an Alcremie.
With their new companion in tow, the group headed to Ballonlea Stadium, where they would meet with the Gym Leader.
The gym's interior, much like it's exterior, was coated in shades of pale pink and blue, which Chloe remembered as being the outfit of choice of the elderly woman who had invited them. Ash's energy was indeed infectious as he and Chloe passed Goh and raced to meet up with her again.
"We're here!" Ash shouted as he pushed past the automated doors. Chloe could only smile at him as he continued to rush ahead as she kept pace without exhausting herself.
Standing at the other end of the entranceway of the gym was the familiar old woman with her cane, dressed in what Chloe would say is a cotton-candy themed dress. She smiled, her wrinkles making it look crooked. "I see that. Welcome to the Ballonlea Gym."
Ash began hopping in place, excitedly. "Ah man I'm so psyched!" he said, grinning wildly. "I can't wait for this tournament to start! Is Leon here yet? I can't wait to get my first battle!"
Opal smiled back at him, her bright purple eyeshadow looking like she had a second set of eyes beneath her wide-brimmed hat.
Chloe briefly wondered what Lillie would look like with that sort of make-up before approaching Opal.
"You'll have to forgive him," Chloe said, giving Opal an apologetic smile of her own. "He's just really excited to get a chance to face Leon."
"And you're excited too, right?" he said to Chloe, his wide, hopeful grin beaming like warm sunshine.
She giggled at his sheer energy. "Well your excitement is contagious. After seeing how amazing your battle with Volkner was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to you battling this World Monarch."
"Right?" he said, his smile never faltering. "And with you cheering me on, I know we can't lose!"
"Pikapika!"
Opal chuckled as Goh finally caught up. "Oh! I sense a spark between the two of you. I wouldn't want to presume but…?"
Ash grinned his cheeky, toothy grin as he took Chloe by the hand and raised both their hands up, fingers interlocked. "Yep!"
Chloe felt her face heat up. "Yeah…" she said, smiling and blushing alongside him, feeling the warmth radiating from his hand.
"Oh ho!" Opan chuckled. "Well, congratulations for you two," she said. "Even after all my time, young love still makes my heart race."
"Thank you very much," Chloe said, lowering her hand but still keeping it held onto Ash's.
"Oh! Before it slips my mind," Opal said, continuing, "the Ponyta and Rapidash in the Glimwood Tangle are doing very well."
Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "Really…? I was wondering how they've been doing. That's so great to hear, right, Eevee?"
"Uei!" Eevee called in response.
Ash began pulling her forward, past Opal. "C'mon! Let's go find Leon right now and get that battle!" he said, his excitement climbing ever higher.
"H-hey, slow down!" she laughed as she ran with him, never letting go of his hand.
What the couple found as they entered the main area of the stadium wasn't Leon, however, but another man. He wore a dark jacket and shorts, and had his back turned to Ash and Chloe as the girl's boyfriend shouted 'LEON' from the top of his lungs.
When the man turned around, Ash stopped in his tracks, and his blue eyes shocked Chloe to the point where she dropped Ash's hand.
"It's Raihan…"
Goh was the one to speak his name.
"If Raihan of the Masters Eight is here, too, then this must be a huge tournament…" Goh said, finishing his thought.
Raihan took several steps over, looming over Ash. "Hey…" he said, looking down at him. "Aren't you… that energetic kid who yelled from the stands? What's your name, kid?"
"I'm Ash," he said with his trademark confidence. "And this is my partner, Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!"
"And this is Chloe, my girlfriend."
She felt her cheeks heat up immediately. "H-Hi…!" she said, giving Raihan a polite bow. "It's nice to meet you."
Raihan smirked, showing off a tooth sharper than the others that looked like a fang. "So you're the Ash that Leon's been talking about so much," he said. "And you brought a little girlfriend with you, too."
Ash grinned with his cheeky smile as Raihan looked over the arena.
"But it looks like Leon isn't here… Think he ran away?"
While Chloe could tell that Raihan's tone was a sarcastic joke, Ash took the words at face value, frowning at him. "Leon wouldn't run away! He'd never run from a battle!"
Raihan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? Well I'd be running if I thought I could get away…" He punctuated his statement with a sigh.
Ash's eyes went wide with surprise as Opal also loomed over him. "Oh, you know you're not getting away from me, Raihan…"
"Oh, I know," he said, his grin looking more pained by the second. "If I tried to run now, it'd only be asking for trouble… I'd never be able to say no to this old bat…"
Chloe took a step back, finding a place next to Goh. "Maybe we should head to the stands and get a good seat before more people show up…" she offered as she began her own retreat.
"Sounds good to me," replied Goh.
Opal looked over her shoulder at them, grinning. "Oh you're here to compete too, you two."
"What?! Us, too?!"
Chloe's mind began to swim with just how she could even compete on the same level as the Masters Eight.
As it turned out, the competition wasn't one for Pokémon Battles. Instead, it was a cake decorating competition like she had watched on TV with her mother occasionally. The catch was that they had to use Alcremie to provide the cream. The Alcremie all seemed to be the personal Pokémon of Opal, all but the one Goh had just caught and evolved, so of course he used that one.
Chloe opted for a lemon cream one with heart decorations. Ash ended up with a caramel swirl Alcremie with berry decorations. Raihan had a rainbow cream Alcremie and Leon, the Monarch, chose a mint one.
Chloe looked at the cake she and Eevee had made while Opal began her judging with Leon's cake. It was yellow with hearts and a few lemon slices, though she did take some liberty with the cream on top. Rather than her initial idea of doing a swirl of whipped cream, she decides to do overlapping zig-zags of cream that reminded her of Pikachu's tail.
Looking over to Ash's cake, it was an overly decorated mess. The Caramel Cream was heaped on thickly and it was topped with all sorts of decorative candy Pokémon (though she didn't miss the sight of the Alolan Exeggutor on his cake - he was clearly thinking about the island region as he worked on it).
The sides of the cake had cookies with Pikachu and Eevee faces pressed into the cream on the sides. Eevee noticed these details, Chloe could tell. She watched her Pokémon's eyes watch as Ash decorated the cake, putting on the cookies, several chocolate bars, and candy in the shapes of other Pokémon as well.
Over her shoulder, she saw Goh despairing over the remains of his cake, Grookey lying by the side with a plump, satisfied belly. The sponge cake base was all that remained, and even that was torn apart with bite marks. Goh had barely anything to show, and it was all she could do not to laugh out loud. 'I guess a Pokémon really ate his homework this time,' she thought, smirking.
It was as she watched this that Opal, fresh from checking Raihan's cake, approached him.
He laughed nervously. "Well… my Pokémon ate it," he said.
Opal nodded. "If your Pokémon is this happy to eat all the cream off that cake already, it just shows that you and Alcremie will be great friends."
A wave of relief washed over him. "Right!" he said, finally relaxing after the stress of the competition left him.
Opal then approached Chloe's table. Silently, she took a knife and cut a slice of her cake, placing it on a plate before taking a bite. Opal chewed the bite thoughtfully, with her eyes closed.
"You have a kind heart that truly values Pokémon, don't you?"
Opal didn't even open her eyes before asking that.
"You… why do you think that…?" she asked.
Opal chuckled. "I can tell just from the taste. I can see why the Ponyta and Rapidash like you so much."
Chloe felt her face heat up as she smiled to Opal and then Eevee and Alcremie. "Thank you very much!"
As she said that, Opal took another bite.
"There's another taste in here as well," she said with her mouth partially full. "It's sweet and smooth… like young love."
To that, Chloe's face heated up even further. "You… you think so?"
She glanced to the side at Ash, who was making some last minute adjustments to the lean of several of the decorations. She smiled at him, wondering what his response would have been if he had heard.
"A good taste indeed," Opal replied. "Definitely one I'll have to keep in mind. Now, the last cake…" She stared at Ash's cake for a moment before blinking. "Well this is quite… creative."
Ash grinned widely. "Alcremie made a bunch of yummy cream, so I wanted the cake to be extra extra yummy!"
As she spoke, Opal cut off a slice of cake with a decorative sugar Diglett on it. "Well, there is a certain thrill to a taste you can't predict, isn't there…?"
Like with Chloe's cake, she popped a bite into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I see…" she said, cake still in her mouth before swallowing the first bite. "It seems like the rich sweetness of love made its way into your cake as well. However…"
She took another bite and chewed it silently before her eyes shot open.
"The sweetness of love and the unpredictable taste that changes depending on what piece of cake you get… it has a mysterious taste that makes you hungry for more!"
Chloe gasped. "Does that mean it tastes good…?"
"Maybe we should try it, too," Goh said, swallowing his own pride. Chloe hastily nodded in agreement.
"And so… that means it's time to declare the winner of the competition…!" Opal shouted.
"The winner?"
The word came from everyone's mouth.
Opal nodded. "Right… only… as far as cakes go, there are two winners. So we'll have to have a head to head battle to determine the true winner!"
Ash's eyes went wide with excitement. "A battle?! Alright!"
Chloe swallowed, nodding. "Okay, but… who are the two winners?" She wanted the answer she had conceived in her mind to end up being wrong.
The response she got from Opal was a wry grin. "Why, you are, child," she said. "You and this rambunctious young man here."
Chloe looked over to Ash, who was still jumping with excitement at being told there would be a battle.
"Me and Ash?"
Ash's eyes went wide, and soon they were brimming with excitement. "I get t' battle Chloe for the win?! That's awesome! I'm so psyched!"
Chloe raised an eyebrow, still not sure of how this battle would go. "Wouldn't you rather battle Leon…?"
"Are you kidding?" Ash asked, nearly laughing. "I'll battle Leon when I reach him in the World Coronation Series! But another chance to battle with you? Even if we get to spar every day, I can't get enough of it! This is awesome!"
She found herself smiling at his excitement. "Well… who am I to deny you that, then?"
Opal chuckled. "We'll use the battlefield here in the stadium. I'm looking forward to what kind of battle you two create for us."
"Right!" Chloe said, nodding quickly.
Opal approached her, still that wry, wrinkled grin on her lips. "You may want this, before you head to your side."
Opal held out to her the same white, red, and blue band that Ash was wearing.
"Dynamax band…? So you're saying I could Dynamax Eevee during the battle?"
"Against that young man? You may need every advantage you can get," she chuckled. "Good luck, child."
Chloe turned her sights to Ash and the fire was already burning in his eyes. The sight made her excited, too, in spite of herself.
"We're going to do our best, don't worry."
Ash and Chloe went to the opposite sides of the stadium, standing in the trainer's boxes. The stadium was much larger than any battlefield she had shared before this sheer size of it was somewhat intimidating, but more than that, her favorite part of battling Ash was seeing him get excited and psyched up during their matches. She remembered watching him getting into the battle in Pallet Town those months back and how happy he seemed in that moment.
She twisted the Dynamax band around her wrist. It felt strange, but it would hopefully be a helpful tool for her in this battle.
She took a deep breath and nodded before gesturing forward with her arm.
"Eevee, I choose you!"
Taking her boyfriend's phrase for a spin, she called on Eevee, who was waiting at her feet. The Evolution Pokémon rushed out across the astroturfed stadium field towards the middle.
Ash must have seen and heard her, since he gestured out as well, his voice echoing down the stadium to where she could hear it.
"Pikachu, I choose you!"
It would always have been Ash's trusted partner, the Pokémon with which he shared his life. Just as her heart was linked to Eevee, his was linked to Pikachu, and both of them to each other. They opened their mouths and gave the same command.
"Use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu and Eevee surrounded themselves with power and darted across the field on their short legs, racing head-first towards the other. Both of them leapt up and they crashed their skulls against each other, the impact echoing throughout the stadium as both Pikachu and Eevee flipped around.
Ash was next to call his move. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Dodge it, Eevee! Use Tackle!"
As Pikachu began building up a charge of electricity, Eevee began rushing forward once more. Ash's partner discharged an electric blast, cutting through the artificial grass and making its way towards Eevee, but Chloe's Pokémon leapt gracefully over the arcing electricity before coming down on Pikachu with a full-body tackle, knocking him back.
"You caught us with that one! But next time won't be so easy!"
"Just try us, Ash! I'm going to show off everything I've learned from battling you!"
Even from this distance, Ash's wild grin could be seen. "Pikachu, use Electroweb!"
"Eevee, use Quick Attack!"
Eevee began charging again at high speed, but Pikachu was standing still, raising his tail into the air to build up an electrical charge before lobbing it at the Normal-type. Eevee darted around the web and continued her approach.
Ash smirked, and Chloe realized too late that she had fallen for a feint. "Use Thunderbolt!"
"Eevee, get back!" she called.
But Ash's mouse was too quick for either of them. Eevee aborted the Quick Attack, skidding to a halt, and that brief moment she wasn't moving was all Pikachu needed. He unleashed the full force of his cheeks onto Eevee, singing her fur and blasting her backwards. Eevee stood up, her face defiant as she glared at Pikachu, a snarl the Electric-type returned.
Even through this, though, Chloe could feel her connection to Eevee, and Eevee wasn't upset or even angry. She was ecstatic and overflowing with joy. Battling Pikachu like this brought a rare side out from her. Eevee became feisty and competitive, and though she wasn't a match for Pikachu's sheer strength and experience, there was little doubt of the passionate fire that burned in her heart.
Ash looked at her, and she caught his brown eyes looking at her, even this far away. 'He must be thinking something like this, too, right?'
Her boyfriend nodded and pumped his fist. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
Chloe immediately understood his intention. "You, too, Eevee!"
Pikachu began charging forward, his tail becoming enveloped in a metallic shell as he charged ahead. Eevee raised her tail, waiting for his approach, a silvery aura surrounding her as she copied the move and her own tail became encased in steel.
Then, they both leapt forward.
Pikachu and Eevee crossed tails like they were swords, and the clanging clash echoed through the Ballonlea Stadium, making even Leon and Raihan stand from their seats in the stands.
Both Ash and Chloe were getting more into the battle. She could still remember when she was disinterested in them, and felt a small amount of pity for herself. She recalled the brightness of Pikachu's moves and how she once couldn't even look at them. Now, she couldn't take her eyes off of them.
This was a Pokémon battle. She knew it now, how incredible they could be.
Pikachu and Eevee's tails clashed together once more and they pushed each other back, both standing on all fours with their tails up. They were ready to continue.
Ash nodded. "You ready to take it to the next level, Chloe?" he shouted.
"The next level?" she asked.
"Pikachu, c'mere!"
Pikachu stood and raced back to Ash. He cocked his head to the side and blinked. "Pikapi?"
"It's time. We're gonna Gigantimax!"
Chloe felt her stomach drop. "Gigantimax…?"
"It's a simple thing, child."
Chloe turned and saw Opal standing next to her. The Gym Leader continued to speak, without even looking at her.
"There are some Pokémon that, when they Dynamax, they instead change the shape of their bodies. We call this change Gigantimax instead, since the change is… well, gigantic."
"And Pikachu can Giganitmax?" Chloe asked.
Pikachu leapt up into Ash's hands. From where she stood, she saw the light on Ash's Dynamax band begin to glow, and then the red, imposing light from it began to pour into Pikachu. Ash lifted his partner over his head and gave Pikachu a toss towards the middle.
And as Pikachu flew through the air, so too did his shape change.
His lithe, flexible body became rounder, losing its definition. His tail, only bent in a few places, began to expand and grow longer, with more bends appearing in it as it grew. The entire tail seemed to change into a bolt of lightning that was affixed to the mouse, and when Pikachu's feet landed, the ground of the entire stadium shook with the weight.
"PIIIIIKAAAAA!"
Pikachu's normally high-pitched and cute voice was now deep and foreboding.
Opal turned to her. "You and your partner can Dynamax to try to even the odds, if you wish."
Chloe swallowed, feeling intimidated for the first time since the battle began. "I don't really have a choice. How do we do it?"
"Recall Eevee into her ball. The Dynamax Band will do the rest."
Chloe held up Eevee's Poké Ball and pulled her partner back inside. As the ball closed with Eevee inside, the Dynamax band began to glow, and the same red light began to pour into the ball containing her Pokémon.
And then the ball began to glow and grow in rapid spurts, quickly becoming too large for Chloe's one hand. The ball gained a great deal of weight and heft, but it stopped growing when it was just at the edge of too heavy for her to throw.
Chloe gave the ball a toss, and it opened again, releasing her Eevee. Only this time, she began to grow and change as well.
The fluffy fur around her neck grew out, encompassing even more of her body, and her tail grew larger and larger. When her feet hit the ground and shook the stadium like Pikachu did, Chloe was sure she was mostly fluffy fur at this point.
"Did… Did Eevee Gigantimax as well?" Chloe asked, blinking in shock.
"Awesome!"
Ash's excitement was impossible to dampen.
"EEEEEVUIIIII!" she shouted, her newly deepened voice echoing across the arena.
"This battle just gets more and more awesome!" Ash shouted. "I love gettin' t' battle you, Chloe! It's always amazing!"
Chloe felt her cheeks flare up, but she couldn't say she disagreed. "I love spending time with you, too, Ash. Now let's keep this going!"
"Alright, Pikachu! It's time to show off your G-Max Move! Use G-Max Volt Crash!"
Pikachu's cheeks began to spark and course with electricity, and he leapt into the air, only to come crashing down again, shaking the ground once more. He fired the electricity into the gathering clouds, and they disappeared from view for a moment, though with the storm clouds rolling over towards her giant Eevee, she knew the move was incoming. She needed to counter attack.
"Eevee, copy that move!" she called out.
Eevee stood awkwardly on her four, giant feet and raised her tail into the air. The large amount of fluffy fur around her began to roll like waves on the ocean, and a pale-blue aura began to surround her.
The storm rolled closer, and bolts of lightning began to drop, and so Eevee unleashed her attack.
The blue aura was unleashed from Eevee's body, and it stopped not that far away from her.
"Wait… what happened? That's not a Volt Crash…"
Chloe's words were cut off by the falling attack unleashed by Ash and Pikachu. The bolts of lightning came crashing over Eevee, only for the shield of light she created to block each blow as it came. By the time the storm clouds had passed, Eevee remained untouched.
"VUUUUIII," came the Pokémon's also somewhat surprised response.
Chloe heard Opal's sharp laughter coming out from behind her. She turned and saw Opal standing there, rubbing her angular chin.
"So… that Eevee of yours can use Copycat, right?"
"How did you know…?"
"Well, you told her to copy it," Opal said, stepping closer. "And that's the only move Eevee learns that can do that."
"That's true…" she replied. "But why didn't it work?"
Opal shook her head. "It's because of how Max Moves work, child."
"How they work?" Chloe was completely unfamiliar with them.
Opal nodded. "Right. Each type of move transforms into a different move of the same Type, so long that it inflicts damage. However, any move that doesn't inflict damage on its own instead becomes Max Guard."
Chloe frowned. "Well, why does it do that? That doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't they just become different versions of the Max Move?"
The woman shrugged. "That's just how it is. Sorry to burst your bubble."
Chloe turned her attention back to the battlefield. "Then I have to use Eevee's Max Move. What do Normal-type moves become?"
Opal chuckled to herself. "Well, Normally they become Max Strike, only…"
"Only…?"
"...well, your Eevee is Gigantimaxed. And a Gigantimax Eevee can't use Max Strike. It has its own Max Move it can use, instead."
"Well… what's it called?" She asked.
Opal leaned her head down and whispered to her the answer.
Chloe's face turned red, the embarrassed blush overtaking her entire face.
"N-No, I can't call that out."
"And why not?" Opal said, putting her hands on her hips. "You want to give your boyfriend the best battle you can, right?"
"She's right, Chloe!"
That voice was Ash's.
She turned to him, seeing his hands cupped around his mouth, calling to her.
"Let's finish this battle in a way we can both enjoy, okay?"
And in the face of his optimism and cheer, what could she do?
She sighed, which signaled her giving in. "Alright, Eevee. I hope you're ready, because here it comes!"
She took a deep breath and pointed her finger straight at Pikachu.
"Use G-Max Cuddle!"
The air went quiet as the name of the move echoed throughout the stadium.
The lumbering Gigantimax Eevee stood on all fours, ready to run, and then she began to dart towards Pikachu. With each step she took, a pillar of light erupted from where she stepped, and out of that light flowed fluffy, soft fuzz that looked much like the fur on Eevee's body. With each step she took towards Pikachu, more of the fluff came out, and though Gigantimax made her move much more slowly than normal, the sight of Eevee looking like she was riding a sea of fluff towards her target was one to behold.
"We're not gonna let it just come in!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu, use Max Steelspike!"
Pikachu grabbed onto his tail and smashed it into the ground like he was swinging a club. At the impact sight, metal spikes began to erupt and surged towards Eevee, but it was only after the move was launched that Ash realized his tactical mistake.
As the spikes shot up, Eevee only rose higher into the air on the wave of fluffy fur, covering them up and rendering them harmless.
"Go, Eevee!" Chloe shouted.
Eevee rode the wave as it crashed down on Pikachu, and for a moment, both Gigantimax Pokémon disappeared under a wave of the fluff.
There was a loud crashing sound as Eevee landed, and then it was still.
Though when Chloe looked up, she saw Eevee moving her head from side to side as the fluff began to fall away. And it wasn't long before Pikachu was visible, either, also moving his head.
The two Pokémon were nuzzling each other's faces, both smiling cheerfully.
Ash and Chloe both were at a loss for words.
"Eevee…?"
Her eyes went wide at the realization. All that extra time Eevee had spent with Pikachu over the past few months, the jealousy from Sophocles' Togedemaru, and now, with the fluffiness of the G-Max Cuddle, Eevee had gotten to do what she had set her little heart on. And much like Chloe had found her heart stolen by Ash's confident, energetic smile and his passionate, loving nature, so too had Eevee become attached to the loyal, supportive, clever Pikachu.
It was enough to completely snuff out any flames in her heart that drove her to continue the battle, and looking over at Ash, she could see the gears turning in his head, and the pieces snapping into place.
It was all he could do to not laugh.
Chloe and Ash began to cross the field towards each other, their Pokémon acting as an effigy of their own love. Chloe offered Ash her hand, which Ash took and shook like he would any competitor before pulling her into a warm hug of his own.
A few moments later, the Gigantimax of Pikachu and Eevee ended, and the two Pokémon returned to their ordinary shapes and sizes.
Goh was the first on the scene after the battle ended, and Chloe could see the smirk on his face from as far away as the stands. "Well… it looks like you guys can double date from now on, huh?" he teased.
She looked down, and sure enough, Pikachu and Eevee were still cuddling each other, even after the effects of the move passed.
"It is strange…" Opal said, stepping up to them as well. "G-Max Cuddle is supposed to infatuate the opponent. It's never really had an effect like this before."
Chloe giggled. "Well… it makes sense when you understand how the Pokémon feel," she said, letting go of Ash and turning to Pikachu and Eevee.
Ash chuckled, adjusting his hat. "Yep! Honestly, I'm kinda embarrassed that I didn't get it before now."
Chloe looked up at him from where she had crouched near the Pokémon. "Is it really that surprising when Goh basically had to walk you through how you felt about me."
He kept chuckling. "Well… no."
"Now, Eevee, you better be really nice to Pikachu from here on out! I don't want to hear from Ash how you upset him!"
"Vui!" came the happy, chirpy reply.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Ash said. "Eevee's just like you. She can be a little silly sometimes, but she's really kind, loving, and soft when you get down to it."
"Pichupi pikapika, Pikapi."
The four of them laughed, with Leon and Raihan finally joining them. The World Monarch smiled widely. "I've never seen a battle end like that. Good luck to you two in the future!"
They both smiled at each other and then turned to him.
"Thank you, Leon!"