The Battle For Love!

A few days had passed since Mewtwo wiped their memories and the group made a brief stop in Pallet Town to visit Ash and Chloe's families, the visit was rather short but they were understandable as they knew how close it was to the Indigo League and Grand Festival.

"Yamp yamp!" Yamper leaped up into Brock's arms and began licking his face in an excitable manner, the corgi being the same loveable dog that he always was as he quickly earned Brock's love. Brock let out a light laughed and silently pet Yamper as Ash and Chloe filled them in on everything that had happened the past few months, leaving a few of the more life threatening experiences out as to not freak them out.

"You mean you two are still not together?" That was all Talia had to say on the matter. Cerise couldn't help but silently smirk at that while Chloe's cheeks shot a dark shade of red.

"O-Of course not! We're just friends!" Chloe hastily waved her hands. Of course they were technically more than that now but with Mewtwo erasing their memories they had forgotten everything from their introduction to Yellow, their first encounter with Paul and even their confession on top of the knowledge of Mewtwo's existence! Mewtwo felt bad about it but he needed to ensure that nobody would try and catch him or attack his friends in an attempt to get to him, however being the powerful being he was allowed him to use Future Sight to get a glimpse of their near future.

"They'll be together soon," Mewtwo smirked to himself as he was thankful that he wasn't destroying their love. Ash helped him see sense and really owed him his life as he and Mew would have destroyed each other had the battle continued for much longer, he'd have felt guilty had he destroyed Ash's chance at love.

Professor Cerise knew better than to say anything. He was Chloe's father of course he knew she liked Ash and he could tell that Ash liked her, he knew better than to pry. Most fathers would be protective and he might had been had it not been Ash, he knew Ash wouldn't hit and run or break her heart if they got together!

Ash felt a piercing sting in his heart as Chloe said those words, his hand grasped at his heart while Pikachu gave him a comforting shoulder pat.

"Pika pi..." If Pikachu could speak he'd tell Ash that that wasn't true, he understood what was going on between the two and knew that their love would come out on top.

Chloe was quick to change the subject upon noticing Ash's look. "Oh did I tell you about the time that we boarded the SS Anne?"

"You mean the boat that sank?!" Professor Cerise exclaimed with a look of alarm. Apparently he had been too busy with lab work as he didn't see the news report mentioning that Ash, Chloe and Brock were thought to be dead.

"Oh uh..." Chloe shot bright red realizing that her desperation to change the subject made her not think clearly. "Well we went to PokePark after and-"

"Wait that was you?" Talia questioned with a raised eyebrow while steam began pouring out of Cerise's ears. "I heard rumors that a couple of teenagers were caught sneaking around shortly before the place was wrecked!"

Chloe nervously sweated and she was quick to grab Ash's hand before racing out of there. "Wow look at the time, we've got to go! See ya!"

"Chloe!" Professor Cerise angrily exclaimed as the three raced for the door before making a mad dash for the town's exit. Having already met with Delia and Mimey, and Professor Oak and the other Pokemon beforehand.

"Well looks like we got here right on time, the Pokemon Contest will be starting shortly and I've got plenty of time to register!" Chloe exclaimed. "Though it's the final Contest so I've got to make this count, we've come this far and we're not about to give up now!"

"That Luna girl isn't going to be here is she?" Ash questioned.

"Oh no, she already got her final ribbon!" While browsing the Pokenet Chloe discovered that she threw a press conference to celebrate her feat with very few people showing up. Despite Luna being a complete jerk to her and her friends, Chloe couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"So it'll be just you then?" Ash questioned. Chloe certainly didn't have much in the way of rivals, Solidad already earned her fifth months ago, Luna won hers recently while that Jessilina girl kept botching her performances resulting in her blasting off much to the dismay of her Pokemon! "Well this should be a quick one."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Well yeah, not many are actually competing. No sense in competing here if you have less than four ribbons," Chloe laughed lightly before flashing a smirk. "But yeah, I imagine this probably won't be as eventful as usual and thank Arceus for that!"

Chloe would soon be eating her words however as a voice called out to her.

"Chloe? Chloe Cerise?!" Chloe raised her eyebrow as she turned to face an approaching individual. "Chloe, I knew that it was you! It's me, Ron Oneoff!" Ash was taken aback as he was staring directly at what could be mistaken for his body double! However rather than wearing blue and white, Ron's outfit consisted of red and black!

"Ron? Oh, little Ronnie! I remember you now! Everyone this is Ron, we were friends back when I lived in Vermilion City!"

"And might I say that you have grown into a lovely own lady!" Ron remarked, dropping to his knee much like Brock did whenever he encountered a beautiful woman however he didn't stop there as he lowered his head in order to kiss her hand! Chloe shot bright red from embarrassment as they were standing in the middle of a public street while Ash's eye started to twitch.

Chloe was quick to shake her head. "Look Ron there's something I need to tell you-"

"I know what you're going to say Chloe and I understand completely, I feel the same way about you!"

"You do?" Chloe raised her eyebrow. Despite what Ron said she couldn't help but feel as if they weren't.

"Yes, I love you Chloe!" Ash's eye began violently twitching, his hands tightly clenched as he began grinding his teeth in response to Ron's revelation. Brock was quick to take notice and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder in a comforting manner, hoping to calm him down. Brock saw no sense in worrying as he knew Chloe wouldn't pick Ron over Ash, she hadn't seen Ron in years and it didn't sound like they had kept in contact either!

"Wait what? Ron I-"

"Shhhh!" Ron placed his finger against Chloe's mouth, not giving her a chance to speak as he stared romantically into her eyes. "I'm afraid our love will have to wait my sweet, once I win the Grand Festival I'll pop the question and the two of us can be together forever!" Ron threw his arms around her before quickly pulling away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must practice my routine... later!"

Chloe let out a light growl, glaring after Ron before giving Ash and Brock a look. "I'm going on in, I need to cool my head!" She was clearly angry but Ash being the dense boy he was mistook her red cheeks for something else. His eye continued twitching as Chloe entered the Contest Hall.

"The nerve of that guy... who does he think he is?!" Ash growled out. "How many childhood friends does she have anyways?" He grumbled.

"Well she does come from a bigger city than us." Brock lightly stated, he was going to say some comforting words but a lightbulb went off inside his head. Brock could never resist the urge to play cupid! "But I've got an idea, why don't you enter and-"

"Kick Ron's butt? Oh I'm all for it, let's go Pikachu!" Ash aggressively growled out. He wasn't acting anything like his usual self but that was love, it made you do crazy and stupid things!

"That's not what I meant... just be careful!" Brock called out after him as Ash rushed into the Contest Hall in the hopes that it wasn't to late to register for a Contest Pass!

"Excuse me but you are aware that this is the final Contest for the season?" The Contest official questioned behind the desk as Ash asked for a Contest Pass.

"Of course I know, I don't care! Please just give me the papers I need to sign and hurry, time is running out!" Ash anxiously looked towards the clock as there was a few minutes left before the deadline! 'Ron can't win this, he just can't!'

"Suit yourself," The official shrugged as she handed him the paperwork, Ash hastily filled it out before shoving it back into her hands. "Alright, Mr. Ketchup you're good to go!"

"Pika!" Pikachu began drooling as he daydreamed about ketchup.

"Ketchup?!" Ash exclaimed. There wasn't any time to correct her so he merely bowed in appreciation, besides it wasn't as if he'd be entering anymore Contests after this! "Thank you, apologies for the rush but I've really got to get in there!"

Ash burst through the doors to the backstage area and the other Coordinators turned to give him a look.

"Never seen you before, don't you know this is the final Pokemon Contest?" One of the Coordinators asked. Ash recognized her as one of the Coordinators he frequently saw at previous Contests though he didn't recall her name.

"Yeah, don't waste your time or ours!" Another Coordinator anxiously rubbed his arm as the pressure of it being the final Contest was getting to him.

"Now now, I believe he deserves a chance to enter!" Ron pushed his way through the crowd and offered Ash a smile as he extended his hand. "Hello Chloe's friend, might I say that it is an honor to meet you and my you're so handsome! Bet you've got a lot of women falling for you, eh?" Ron smirked as he gave Ash's arm a light nudge. Ash wasn't sure rather it was his anger speaking for him or not but he assumed Ron only said that due to the fact they looked alike! "You know, I never had a best friend so I think you'll be perfect best man material!"

Ash's eye began twitching once more.

"Look I'm not going to be your best man because there isn't going to be a wedding!" Ash growled out. "Chloe has the right to get married when she's ready and to who she wants!"

Ron tilted his head. "What are you talking about? Chloe clearly loves me! We hung out all the time as kids!"

"Then how do you explain Flash? He knew Chloe just as long as you!" Ash retaliated with an aggressive tone. Neither paying attention as Chloe was displayed on the screen.

"Well it's obvious Flash doesn't feel the same way as he's too busy snogging that preppy Giselle chick!" Ron remarked.

"And what about me?! I've known Chloe since we were eight years old, she moved to Pallet Town due to our friendship!" Ash shouted. The other coordinators gave them annoyed looks while anxiously waiting for their turn so they could escape from the drama.

"Hold up, that was you?!" Ron's eye twitched as the two exchanged a series of silent glares.

"Ron Oneoff, please step out onto the stage!" Lilian's voice carried into the room as Chloe made her way backstage, the girl pausing as her eyes automatically picked out Ash.

"Ash? What are you doing here?!" Chloe rushed towards him.

"Chloe my sweet, don't worry for this'll all be over soon!" Ron dropped to a knee and delivered a swift kiss to her hand. Ash's eye twitched as he began violently shaking once more. Chloe didn't pay Ron much mind for she noticed Ash looked quite unlike his usual self. "Ash, what's wrong?"

Ash was quick to shake his head before forcing a smile. "Nothing's wrong Chloe, I'm just here to kick Ron's butt and stop him from marrying you!"

Chloe's cheeks shot bright red as she began to blush. That was possibly the most romantic thing that Ash ever said and almost like something she'd see in one of those cheesy soap operas that her mom watched. "Oh Ash, I can refuse you now! If he wants to humiliate himself in public like that just let him, I'm interested in marrying somebody else!"

Ash wasn't thinking straight however as jealousy was a powerful thing. "It won't come to that Chloe, I promise you! I'm going to go out there and wipe the floor with him!"

Chloe facepalmed and groaned lightly. "Just don't hurt him, he may be thickheaded but he's a nice guy!"

Cheers could be heard as Ron left the stage with Lilian calling out for Ash afterwards. "Alright Ass Ketchup, it's your turn!" The entire audience began to laugh at the name and no doubt Damian would be laughing his butt off if he ever heard about this. Chloe's cheeks burned brightly as she covered her mouth to hide her laughter while Ash silently hung his head as he realize in his haste to register he had misspelled his entire name! "Oh very funny, whose idea of a prank was this?!" Lilian shouted out.

Ash's cheeks burned pink from embarrassment as he stepped out onto the stage, awkwardly waving his hand while Pikachu nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh hi, it's Ash Ketchum actually!"

Lilian gave him a light glare. "Teenagers..." She muttered as she rolled her eyes before backing away to allow him and Pikachu to perform.

Ash took a deep breath before throwing out his arm. "Alright Pikachu use Voltage Vortex!"

"Pika!" Pikachu's eyes glowed a bright shade of blue as he leaped from Ash's shoulder, blue lightning sparked from his cheeks before spiraling around him like a vortex! The audience let out a gasp of awe as Pikachu levitated in the middle of the telekinetic electric twister!

"Oooh!"

"Ahh!"

"Whoa!" Lillian did a double take while the judge's jaws dropped!

"10, 10, 10... incredible Mr. Ketchup received a perfect score!" Lilian excitedly exclaimed.

"Actually it's Ketchum, Ash Ketchum..." Ash corrected her while a light hint of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Not what your Contest Pass says," Lillian shrugged it off as she honestly thought Ash was being a goofy teenager. "Perhaps this will teach you that there's a proper time and place to pull pranks!"

"But I wasn't-"

Lillian carried on as she directed her attention towards the screen. "And with that, the performance round has come to an end! Now let's see who'll be facing off in the next round shall we?!" Images of Ash, Chloe, Ron, the two Coordinators that confronted Ash, and three other random Coodinators appeared onscreen before shuffling around. Ash clenched his fists as he anticipatedly watched, hoping that fate wouldn't pit him against Chloe. Thankfully fate seemed to be on his side as both he and Ron were grouped up together!

"Alright, Mr. Ketchup and Ron Oneoff will be starting off the battle round! Gentlemen mind taking the stage?"

"Of course," Ron flashed Ash a smirk as he stepped out. "Sparky I choose you!"

'Even our catchphrase is similar!' Ash narrowed his eyes before doing a double take as a Pikachu came bursting out from Ron's Pokeball!

"Pika pi!" Sparky looked almost exactly like Ash's Pikachu, the only visual difference being that a tuft of Sparky's head fur spiked upwards!

"Alright Pikachu I choose you!"

"Pika!" Pikachu leaped onto the field and shot his lookalike a glare.

"Voltage Vortex!"

"Pi!" Pikachu raised his arms and blue electricity sparked from his cheeks as the telekinetic vortex swirled around him before quickly filling with electricity! The vortex blasted it's way across the field towards Sparky and sucked the electric rodent right into it!

"Pika pi?!" Sparky let out a startled cry as he was hurled through the vortex before being launched out of it! "Pikaaaaa!" He cried out as he soared through the air before crashing headfirst against the ground with a loud thud!

"Ooooh!" The audience flinched.

"Ah! I-Is he okay?" Ash couldn't help but ask as Sparky collapsed against the ground. Ron raced out to check on his teammate, checking his pulse before hanging his head as he returned Sparky to his ball.

"He is... but he's down for the count."

Ash immediately felt guilty, he hadn't considered the fact that he had Pikachu use his most powerful attack against a Pokemon that potentially didn't see much battle action. He considered it rather fortunate that Sparky didn't receive any serious injuries.

"Sorry about that, I-I didn't mean to..."

"Save it," Ron looked up at him as he placed Sparky's ball back upon his belt. "It's clear that your love for Chloe is stronger than mine is."

"Wait what?! That's not what-"

"Save it," Ron gave his elbow a light nudge. "Just promise that you'll take good care of her."

"O-Of course I will!" Ash formed a smile as he was thankful Ron was taking this surprisingly well. "But what about you-?"

"Hey the name's Ron, Ron Oneoff! What might your name be?" Ron had already left his side and could be seen attempting to flirt with one of the other female Coordinators. Ash could only silently shake his head before heading backstage as he allowed the next set of Coordinators to take their place upon the stage!

"So it all comes down to this," Ash flashed Chloe a light smirk as the two stood across from each other, it was the finals of the Viridian Contest and both managed to make it although Chloe had a far easier time than Ash did. Ash barely scraped by as far as points were concerned, he may be skilled when it came to Pokemon battles but Contests were a completely different field!

"Yep!" Chloe had a bright grin across her face as her eyes made contact with his own, her cheeks glowed a light red tint. "No matter what happens, I'm glad that you're my final Contest opponent!"

Ash couldn't help but form a blush of his own. "Likewise, shall we get things started then?" He didn't want to keep the crowd waiting.

"Of course, Eevee use Sappy Seed!" Chloe threw her arm forward as she shouted out the command!

"Eevoi!" Eevee stretched herself out and let out a fierce cry as large vine burst through the floor of the stage and towered above them, seeds began dropping off of the vine and exploding across the stage giving Pikachu little room for cover as his points began to drain away!

Ash hesitated for a brief moment before shouting out. "Counter with Voltage Vortex!"

Pikachu's eyes turned bright blue as the telekinetic electric vortex surrounded his body once more, the vortex shielding him from the attack while sending the seeds flying with some even striking Eevee which took points from Chloe's side. However Eevee herself soon found herself sucked into the swirling vortex where she was thrown about!

"Eevoi!"

"Eevee use Shadow Ball!" It was a long shot but the Shadow Ball was sure to fly around the twister before making contact with one of them, Sizzly Slide would just sizzle out and Sappy Seed wouldn't work in there!

"Eeeevoi!" A pink glow surrounded Eevee within the twister as pink energy began to swirl around her body before firing off across the vortex itself!

"P-Pika?!" Pikachu let out a surprised gasp as the attack came flying towards him, blasting him right out of the twister! "Pikaaaa!"

"Whoa, what attack was that?!" Ash exclaimed before quickly diving to catch Pikachu as he flew out of the twister! "I've got you buddy!"

"I-I honestly have no clue!" Clue gasped out. The vortex began to die out as Pikachu landed in Ash's arms, his eyes reduced to swirls.

"Chaaaa!" He groaned out.

"Eevoi!" Eevee landed safely upon the ground and raced towards her trainer.

"Eevee!" Chloe held out her arms and laughed as Eevee leaped right up into her grasp, the Normal type nuzzling against her as Chloe held her close. "I have no idea what you just did but I'm so proud of you!"

"Eevoi!" Eevee cheerfully cried out.

"Well you're certainly full of surprises aren't you?" Lillian stated as she approached Chloe, the Viridian Ribbon sat in her hand as she held it out in offering to her. "I believe this is your fifth ribbon? We look forward to seeing you at the Grand Festival next week!"

"It is," Chloe smiled as she took the ribbon before performing a light bow. "Thank you..." She then turned towards Ash before speaking up once more. "Ash can we talk? O-Offstage?" She motioned towards the crowd.

"Sure, what is it you want to talk about?" Ash asked while nervously scratching his cheek as the two headed backstage.

Chloe shot a look around and waited for Ron and the others to take their leave before finally speaking once they were all alone.

"Ash I-I think I know why you really entered the Pokemon Contest and I'm not going to judge you for it. I-I feel the same way!"

"Y-You do?!" Ash performed a light jump, a look of shock filled his face while his cheeks glowed bright red.

"Of course, I wasn't going to marry Ron for a reason you know. My heart already belongs to another and that's you!"

"I-You mean that?" Ash's body shook from excitement as Chloe gave a silent nod of confirmation. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long lingering moment, sharing a sense of deja vu before pressing their lips against each other as they met in an embrace, no words needed to be shared between them as they kissed!

"Pika!" Pikachu smirked at the sight before blushing heavily as Eevee began nuzzling up against him.

"Eevoi!"

Brock opened the door to the backstage area as he wanted to check on his friends to see if they were okay, a smirk was quick to cross his face upon discovering what was happening! "It's about time, congratulations you two." He silently spoke before backing out to give them privacy, allowing the two to hold each other for a moment longer.