"Twenty more tips for taming curly hair…"

She sighed, flipping the page.

A few days had passed since the night she caught Ash camping in a tree, and Chloe was sitting on her bed, reading yet another fashion magazine in an attempt to learn how to do more with her wild hair.

"Yamper! Yamper!"

"Eivui! Ei ei ei!"

Yamper and Eevee were both watching the roomba go around her room from Chloe's bed as well, curious as to what the device was for.

As she turned yet another page, suddenly her phone began vibrating on the desk and lighting up. Thinking it might be an emergency of some kind, she scrambled out of bed and checked it.

Incoming Call from: Ash.

Quickly, she accepted the call and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? Ash?"

"Oh!" Ash sounded somewhat surprised. "Hey, Chloe! Are you busy?"

She glanced over at Yamper and Eevee both looking like they were going to jump on the roomba. "Not really. What's up?"

"I just needed to talk to someone about something, and Goh's kinda busy, and you said I could call you so-"

"Alright, alright," she said, trying to limit his rambling. "What's up?"

There's a pause.

"Is there some way we could meet up somewhere? It might be a while and I guess it's easier to talk when I can see the other person."

She furrowed her brow, not that he could see it. "We could video call."

"Chloeeee! C'mon!"

A sigh. "Alright, we can meet at the Sugiya restaurant that's near my house. Do you know where that is?"

"I sure do!" came his cheerful voice. "I've stopped a few times…"

"Alright. I'll see you soon, then."

And with that she hung up and began heading downstairs. Her father was reading something on his tablet, and her mother was drawing something in the corner, her focus intense. It was only Parker, who was groaning after having apparently been absolutely obliterated in the game he was playing, who noticed her appearance downstairs. "Hey, Chloe! Where are you headed?"

"I'm going out to meet…" There was a sudden hesitation in her tone, but she shook it off. "...a friend. They need to talk to me about something, and I figured I'd meet them at the Sugiya nearby."

"Sugiya sounds amazing!" Parker said. "Can I come?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, responding in monotone. "No."

"If her friend has called her up to ask to talk someplace like that, it's probably none of our business," Chloe's mother explained from the drawing table, working on an illustration. "That said… if you could bring us some dinner home, I might be able to finish this tonight if I don't have to stop and cook."

Professor Cerise took a drink from his cup of tea. "That sounds great to me, too! Do you mind, Chloe?"

"Not at all!" she responded, cheerfully. Her parents were not asking a lot of questions, but they probably figured that she was the responsible one of their two children. "Send me a text with everyone's orders! I'm not sure how long I'll be but I'll make sure to bring it home!"

"Thanks, Chloe!" came the chorus as the three of them returned to their various tasks.

With a smile on her lips, she spun out of the house, with Yamper and Eevee following behind as she walked down the street. It wasn't long until she came to the bright yellow-and-red sign for the Sugiya restaurant, famed for its 24 hour service and topped rice bowls. It was something she didn't go to very often, but it had a nice relaxed atmosphere, one where hopefully Ash could get whatever he had on his mind out.

She entered the restaurant and ordered a drink for herself to start as she waited for Ash to arrive. She was glancing over social media when he burst through the doors before apparently thinking better of himself and relaxing. One of the odd things she immediately noticed was that Pikachu was missing. Could this be related?

Ash saw Chloe and began to approach her before pausing and looking at the counter. She rolled her eyes and went to the counter with him. "What would you like?"

"Curry, please," he said, smiling as he looked at the menu.

Chloe purchased the curry for him as well as a veggie rice bowl for herself before the two of them returned to the table. As soon as Ash sat down, Yamper was pawing at his leg, which made Ash pick the pup up and plop him in the booth next to him.

Chloe sat in the opposite booth, while Eevee crawled onto the table. "So…?"

"Man the curry this place has is great," he said, smiling as he began digging in. "It reminds me of my Mom's. Hers is better, but this is pretty close to the taste when I'm away from home."

"Ash."

He froze, looking at her with a mouth full of curry.

"Where's Pikachu?"

He swallowed the curry hard and put his spoon down.

"I left him with Goh because I wanted to talk to you about him. Pikachu, I mean. Not Goh."

She took a sip from her drink. "What about Pikachu? Is he alright?"

"He's fine," Ash said. "But I didn't want him to worry about me. He's already heard all this anyway - he was there for it! I just didn't want to keep complaining about it."

'So you called me,' Chloe thought. "I feel like I'm missing part of the story. Can you start over?"

He nodded. "Okay, so remember when Goh and I came over helping the police the other day?"

"I do…" she said. Ash and Goh had stopped over in an attempt to trap an electricity thief in town, using her house to set up the operation. The electricity made her hair go everywhere and it took an hour to get it combed back to perfection.

"Well, let me tell you how we got to helping in the first place," Ash said. "The police came to the lab because they were still looking for a suspect who matched the description. So they had us gather up all the Electric-Types and the Detective looked at them and then he decided to arrest Pikachu!"

She choked on her drink. "Arrest Pikachu?! Can you even do that?! He's a Pokémon…!"

Ash slammed his fist against the table, making the plates and bowls shake. "It made me so mad. SO mad, Chloe. Even if I didn't have proof, I know my buddy! Pikachu would never do something like that!"

He sat there for a few moments, fuming. 'This must be what he wanted to talk about,' Chloe thought. "That must have been pretty scary for you."

Ash frowned, but nodded. "... yeah. Pikachu is my best friend." He turned his attention to Yamper and began petting him. "Most people probably wouldn't even be able to understand him the way I do. And thinking about the police taking away my buddy for a crime he didn't commit made me angry. I even thought that I might have to bust Pikachu out of there."

"You'd break the law for Pikachu?"

"I know he's innocent. So yeah. I would."

Chloe sat back before using her chopsticks to grab more rice. Ash may have a silly streak, but there was something surprising in hearing that Ash would openly break the law for Pikachu's sake.

Ash caught her staring. "He's my best friend. You'd probably do the same for your best friend, right?"

"Vui!"

"Yamp!"

The calls of the Pokémon drew her attention. "I mean… if there was no other way, then…" Now she was feeling scared. But even thinking about Yamper and Eevee being in danger? "...yeah, I understand. That must have been awful."

"Pikachu and I have been together since my journey began," he said. "We may not have always gotten along, but we both support each other one-hundred percent!"

She nodded, taking another bite. "Yeah, your Mom told Goh and I about how you got Pikachu. You overslept and Professor Oak was out of Pokémon, so Pikachu was all that was left, right?"

Ash nodded. "I don't think my life would be the way it is without Pikachu. He's way more than a Pokémon to me. He's my friend, someone I can just be with, without having to worry about anything. You and Goh are the same way."

This piqued her curiosity. "What do you mean by that?"

Ash laughed a bit shyly, taking off his hat and scratching his rough, unkempt hair. Chloe wondered if it had ever been brushed once in his life. "Well, I have a lot of friends. People I've traveled with, Pokémon I've caught, my friends at the Pokémon School in Alola… lots of people and Pokémon and my friendship with 'em is different with each one. Some of them are like mentors to me, and some I'm mentors to. Some are like rivals, pushing me ahead! Some Pokémon join me to get stronger than they are now, others out of gratitude for me helping them out with a problem they have. Some I catch in battle, just like Goh does! But Pikachu isn't like any of them. He's just... with me, you know?"

She nodded. "I… think I get it. It's like…"

She took a moment to think. About herself, more than anything.

"...with Pikachu, you don't have any pressure. You two are just… you two. You don't have to take responsibility for him and he's got no responsibility over you."

"Yeah!" Ash nodded. "Goh's like that, too! We just click and go and talk about Pokémon! We even kinda got into disagreements like Pikachu and I did at first. But it's like… Goh isn't my rival, or my teacher, or someone I need to teach. He's just my friend!"

"Like Pikachu."

"Yeah!"

"And me, too?"

"Yeah! I mean, not in the exact same way, I guess, but you're just trying to figure your own stuff out. You may come to me to help you figure something out, but it's not the same as relying on me like I'm some kinda leader."

Chloe wasn't sure why, but it felt strange having Ash talk about her like that. "You don't like being a leader?"

Ash shrugged. "I mean, it's alright. I can be, and I am a leader a lot of the time. But there's a lot of stress with it, too. Like you're worried about getting lost or planning your path. Here with Goh? I don't gotta worry about that. I can focus on my friends and my dream."

"That sounds nice," Chloe said, an awkward laugh following it.

"What's your dream, Chloe?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

Her chopsticks dug against the empty bowl in front of her.

"It must be something pretty cool, whatever it is," he said, grinning. "You're always going off to school and doing homework and stuff so I bet it's got something to do with that."

Chloe dropped the chopsticking clanging into the bowl before quickly picking them up. An embarrassed flush on her cheeks, she quickly put them in the designated holder on the table. Ash didn't say anything, only watching her curiously with his warm, brown eyes. She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm… not exactly sure what it is yet."

Ash nodded. "I've got it. You're still trying to figure out what it is?"

"Yeah," Chloe nodded back.

"You'll find it!" Ash said, grinning before giving her a thumbs up. "And I'm sure Goh and I'll be there to help with whatever it is!"

"Thanks, Ash," she said before turning to Eevee. "But right now, I'm thinking about Eevee. She's like me in that she's not sure of what she wants to do, so I think that by helping her, maybe I'll be able to help me, too."

Ash nodded. "You'll definitely find your dream with a Pokémon at your side! And Goh and I'll be cheering for you the whole way, got it?"

She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "Got it. Thanks, Ash."

Ash clinked his spoon against an empty plate before laughing. "Ha, I guess it's about time to go, huh?"

"You can go on ahead," Chloe said. "I've got to get dinner for my parents and Parker before walking back."

"Is it far back home?" Ash asked, concerned. "I know it's nearby, but if you need help, I could go with you."

For a moment, Chloe considered rejecting the very gentlemanly offer, but Eevee's excited hopping on the table put an end to that. She giggled, picking up her Normal-Type. "Alright! If you insist!"

Still carrying Eevee, Chloe led Ash and Yamper to the counterand pulled up her texts from her Mom, who had sent everyone's Sugiya orders. Ash offered to carry them for her, since she was still holding Eevee.

The two of them were walking through the streets of Vermilion City in the twilight of the evening. It would be dark before too long, and the street lights were beginning to illuminate. Between lights, Yamper glowed slightly, his natural electricity providing a little extra light. Ash was carrying the dinners for her family with no complaints. She almost couldn't believe it. "You're being incredibly thoughtful tonight, Ash," she said.

He just chuckled. "Well, I feel a ton better from talking to you, and you came all the way out here just to hear me out! I just wanted to do what I could to show you how thankful I am."

That made her smile, walking beside the boy from Pallet Town. "Well, thank you, Ash. Talking with you has been fun tonight, too. And carrying all that stuff back would have been a pain, anyway."

He chuckled, grinning proudly. It was a smile that Chloe was getting more used to seeing, and it made her smile, too. But before she could think about the situation much longer, her house came up, and she and Ash were standing outside her home, the lights on.

"Well, we're here," Chloe said. Eevee hopped out of her arms and ran with Yamper to the back door, hoping that Parker was still downstairs to let them in. She held out her hands for the bags, which Ash handed over. "Thanks, Ash. I can take it from here."

Ash tugged on the bill of his cap. "No problem, Chloe. Glad I could help. I'll see you at the Lab tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah! Before and after school. I'll see you then."

He walked away a few steps before turning to see that she was still watching him leave. He gave her a wave of his arm before tuning and running in the direction of the lab.

Giggling to herself, she turned and walked up the steps and opened the door.

"I'm home!"

The morning was an interesting situation for Chloe as she entered the Cerise Research Institute with Yamper and Eevee trailing behind her.

"Good morning, Chloe!" came the chorus from Ash and Goh at the breakfast table.

"Good morning, guys."

"You hungry?" Goh asked, smiling.

She shook her head. "Mom made pancakes this morning, so no thanks. I'm just going to feed Yamper and take Eevee and be on my way!"

"Makes sense," he responded. Ash hadn't said anything yet, between himself and Pikachu stuffing their faces. "C'mon, Ash, slow down! You don't want to choke in the kitchen or on the battlefield, right?"

Ash swallowed and just laughed. "Sorry, Goh. I guess I'm just so psyched for today!"

Chole smiled to herself at Ash's excitement before setting Yamper's bowl in front of him and taking out Eevee's Poké Ball. She tapped the ball against the Evolution Pokémon's forehead and recalled her inside. "Well, I'm off!"

"See ya later, Chloe!" came the chorus from Ash and Goh.

As Chloe walked down the street towards her school, she laughed to herself. Seeing as Goh didn't tease her about meeting up with Ash last night, it was clear that Ash hadn't told her friend where he had gone. And if Ash is okay keeping this a little secret between the two of them?

Well… she would be more than happy to share a secret with him. She would be his confidant, the one he could talk to when he didn't feel like he could talk to anyone else.

She walked to school with these thoughts buzzing in her mind, bringing a smile to her lips. Idly, Chloe began wondering what Ash would want to talk to her about next time...