It wasn't as grand as she expected, but given the surrounding area consisting of farms, Chloe wasn't sure exactly what she expected. It looked about two stories tall, and a little smaller than her house back in Vermilion. Even without streetlights or the light of the home, though, Chloe would have been able to clearly see the home, with the stars sparkling in the sky overhead.

She caught herself staring at the stars more than the building. There was almost no light pollution in Pallet Town, so the sky was so much clearer and more vibrant than back home. The sky in Vermilion was no comparison, the bright city lights making it hard to see the stars.

If her breath is already taken away by this sky, what other wonders did Pallet Town seem to have in store for her?

Ash approached the door and opened it. "Mom! I'm home!"

Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and followed behind him, Yamper and Eevee following her footsteps as she entered the Ketchum residence.

Looking around the room, it greatly reminded her of her own home, though perhaps a few more years out of date with everything. There were photos of Ash and the woman Chloe recognized as his mother hanging on the walls, a few shelves that looked to hold other trinkets and keepsakes as well. The stairs that lead up to the second story were directly in front of her as the brown haired woman who lived there stepped out of the kitchen.

"Welcome home, sweetie!" Ash's mother said, greeting her son. "And you, too, Pikachu." The woman smiled sweetly and patted Pikachu on the cheek, eliciting a gleeful cry from him.

Looking at Ash's mother, Chloe was taken aback by how young she looked. She obviously wouldn't be asking her for her exact age, but she would definitely bet money that Ash's mom was younger than her own. 'I never really noticed before…'

Ash's mother turned to the girl studying her. "And Chloe, it's good to see you again! I hope you had a nice trip out here, and welcome to Pallet Town!"

Chloe gave a somewhat nervous, fairly shallow bow that was almost more of a nod. "Thank you very much for having me," she said as Eevee and Yamper entered beside her, looking up at the woman.

"Oh, and are these your little friends?" she said, kneeling down and scooping up Yamper. "Hello, there, Yamper! It's nice to see you again!"

"Mom, wait-!" Ash called out, reaching for his mother, but the feared shock of Yamper never came. The pup seemingly melted in her hands before licking her face.

"Aww! Who's a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Chloe exhaled a sigh of relief. 'I thought she was about to be barbecued…' And then Eevee rushed her and climbed up her as well, mimicking Yamper in licking her face.

Mrs. Ketchum just laughed. "Aww! I wouldn't want to leave you out, too, little Eevee!" she said, laughing as the Pokémon both licked her face.

Ash sighed in relief as well. "Glad that's over…"

His mother looked at the two trainers. "Now, Ash. Show Chloe up to your room and make sure you get the things out you'll need to sleep on the couch, okay?"

Chloe was taken aback. "S-Shouldn't I be the one to sleep on the couch? That is Ash's room, after all…"

"Oh, heavens no," she replied. "I raised my Ash to be a gentleman. Whenever he has a friend over, they get the bed."

Ash chuckled. "Heh, yeah… only I won't be stayin' in there, too, like I did when Goh visited."

'That's a good thing,' Chloe thought, trying to will her face into a neutral tone, though she was keenly aware of the stinging in her cheeks that hopefully would go unnoticed.

"While you two are up there getting Chloe settled in, I'll finish dinner," Mrs. Ketchum said, turning and carrying Chloe's Pokémon away.

As Ash turned to go up stairs, he paused. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Oh! Wait! C'mon out!"

In a flash of light, Mr. Mime materialized in the living room. He looked around, blinking. "Mime? Mr. Mime?"

"Go help Mom, okay?" Ash asked.

"Mime!" The Barrier Pokémon turned and ran into the kitchen to the cheerful cry of Ash's mom.

Chloe watched as Ash began ascending the stairs. "Wait, Mr. Mime isn't actually yours?"

"Oh, no, he is," Ash said as he began walking up the stairs. "He just usually stays here with Mom to help her out!"

Chloe blinked to herself and began following Ash up the stairs. There were a few doors situated in this hallway at the top of the stairs. One of them was sitting open into a room decorated much like the rest of the house, with a perfectly made bed and the blinds drawn closed. 'That must be Mrs. Ketchum's room…' she thought.

Ash opened a door on the opposite wall. "Here it is!"

Chloe watched him walk in and turn on the light. 'Okay, it's just his bedroom,' she thought to herself. 'It's probably not what you're expecting. It's definitely not going to be like Goh's or Parker's bedrooms. It's just… a boy's bedroom. A boy you kind of sort of like.'

"Chloe?" Ash called.

"C-Coming!" she replied, stepping into his room.

The first thing that jumped out to her was the green tone of the walls, reminding her of the grass outside. Looking around, she saw that Ash's bed was elevated off the ground, over top of the closed door of his closet. A desk sat next to the closet, and behind that was a television. That was as far as she got before she noticed all the Pokémon memorabilia. A Snorlax cushion. A Poliwag pencil sharpener. A poster with Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Pokémon were all over this room.

"So there's the bed," Ash said, opening the closet and pulling out a change of clothes. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder so that he could heft the items in his place. The mouse followed behind Ash closely, watching to make sure he didn't drop anything. "You can watch the TV if you want, too." He pulled out a blanket and a pillow from the closet as well.

As Chloe turned to the TV, her attention was drawn immediately to the dresser next to it. On top of it were many items, stacked carefully next to each other. Several of the items looked to be trophies; as well there were several sets of Gym Badges, a bracelet, a Pokémon Doll, and a statue of what Chloe could only determine was a masked wrestler.

She dropped her bag on the floor. "Ash… What… what is all of that?"

"Oh," he said, looking over at the dresser. "I guess those are my trophies."

"You guess?!" Chloe was flabbergasted. "Look at them all! There's so many of them…! Are they all yours?"

He nodded. "Yup!" Dropping the clothes, blanket and pillow on the ground, he walked over to them, looking closely at them. "These are all things Pikachu and I have earned since starting our journey." He glanced at the doll, Chloe saw. "Well, mostly."

Chloe took a seat in the chair at his desk. "So… would you mind telling me about all of these?" she asked. "I mean, we've got time before your mom finishes dinner, right?"

Ash shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He took a few steps over to the dresser and picked up the smallest trophy. It had a clear crystal in the shape of what Chloe thought looked like a crown, backed by two wings. "This one here's the trophy we got from the Kanto League," he said, showing it off to her. "It's the first trophy Pikachu and I earned."

"Pikaaa," his partner cooed, looking at the trophy. Chloe supposed that there were a lot of memories that that trophy represented.

"The Kanto League…?" she said, blinking. "I knew you were really good since you got to the top 99 of the World Coronation Series, but I didn't know you'd already competed in the Pokémon League here in Kanto."

Ash chuckled. "Well, Kanto gives out participation trophies, which is nice. We didn't make it all the way my first time around."

She looked at the badges on the dresser. "I don't see the ones from Kanto. I may not know a lot but I at least know what the Thunder Badge looks like."

"Oh! That's because those are in my jacket," he said.

He opened the closet and hanging inside the door was a fairly scuffed and worn out looking blue and white jacket with a single button that would clasp it closed. Ash opened it and showed Chloe the inside. There were twelve sparkling badges on one side, and eight on the other.

She blinked. "That's way more than just eight badges."

"Oh! Right, I went to Johto and the Orange Islands, too. So those badges are in here, too."

Chloe found herself taken aback a bit. She was trying to wrap her mind around it. "How… how many badges do you guys have…?" she asked.

Ash frowned for a bit. "Uh… Let's see…" He began to count on his fingers. "There's four badges in the Orange Islands… the other six regions had eight because Alola doesn't have Gym Badges…"

"Fifty-two," she said, doing the math quickly in her head. "Fifty… two…" She looked at Ash again, a painful feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. 'I… had no idea…'

"Yeah, that's it! Thanks, Chloe!" he said, cheerfully. "I also completed a challenge called the Battle Frontier," he said, walking back over to the dresser. "They put all the Symbols I earned from battling the Frontier Brains in this plaque for me!"

"Frontier Brains?"

"Oh, they're like Gym Leaders but way tougher," he said. "They all battle in different ways to try and beat ya. It's not like where a Gym Leader would test you an' see if you've earned the badge. They fight to win."

"I… see…" She looked at the plaque and did some mental math. 'That would bring the running total to fifty-nine?'

He was just out of arm's reach, but suddenly Chloe felt like there was a distance growing between them? 'I had no idea he had done so much… I knew he was a good trainer, but..' She was almost afraid to ask about the rest of the things on the desk. "S-So, the other trophies…?"

He picked up the smaller of the two gold trophies. "This one is from the Orange Islands. You get it from beating the leader of the Orange Crew - that's what they call their Gym Leaders - so it's kinda like the Battle Frontier plaque. It's not a tournament trophy."

"Wait…" Chloe said, blinking. "Are you saying that the other one…?"

He laughed. "Yup!" He gestured to the larger golden trophy. "This one is from where we won in the Alola League at the Manalo Conference."

"Wait, an entire tournament?" Chloe felt like she was just going to keep asking questions tonight. "So if I remember right, then that means you got to challenge the Alola Champion, right?" She knew just enough through cultural osmosis that the winner of a league tournament got the right to challenge the Champion or something.

"Not exactly," he said boastfully. "It was the first Alola League competition, so there was no Champion t' battle. So that's us."

Chloe sat there in silence, trying to make sense of what she just heard. "You… You're the Alola Pokémon League Champion?"

He nodded. "Yeah!" he puffed out his chest. "Pretty cool, right?"

She sat stunned before shaking her head. "Y-Yeah… pretty cool." If Chloe felt like all of his experience started forming a gap between them before, this revelation caused the entirety of Mt. Silver to rise up from under his feet, lifting him completely out of view. 'It's hard to even believe… how has he accomplished so much in so little time…?' She looked down at her hand and curled her fingers up. ' Meanwhile I've… just been going to school all this time…'

"Oh, and this is the coolest," Ash said, gesturing to the trophy that looked like a masked wrestler. "This is a trophy of the Masked Royal! After I won the Alola League, I got to have a battle with him, and he's a huge celebrity in the Alola Region!" He held up his hands like he was about to claw something nearby. "Enjoy!"

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu mimicked.

Chloe was just bewildered. "En...joy?"

"Oh, that's the Masked Royal's catchphrase!" he explained, dropping his arms. "He's really cool! He's got this super-strong Incineroar and lots of other strong Pokémon! Battling against him was the most fun I'd had in my entire time there, right, buddy?" he asked, turning to Pikachu.

"Pikachu!"

'Of course it was.' Chloe looked over the dresser again. Just about everything had been explained. Her eyes scanned the dresser, being drawn to the Cleffa doll. "So… is that a trophy, too?" she hesitantly asked, pointing to it.

Ash shook his head and picked the doll up. "Nah, this is a gift from a friend of mine. She left Alola right about the same time I did, and so she gave me this to remember her by."

"Oh." It was all Chloe could say in response.

It was like an arrow through the chest. 'So… not only is he the Champion of Alola, not only did he meet this popular celebrity there… but there's a girl in Alola who cared about him enough to give him this keepsake.' Chloe swallowed, and felt her fingers digging into her bare knees. 'I only just started to have these feelings and now I'm already feeling like I'm getting crushed by them…"

If she had learned anything about Ash over these past few weeks, it's that Alola was one of the things he held sacred, and if there was someone in love with him waiting for him to return to the island region, what hope did a bookworm from Kanto who had barely anything in common with him have? She had come to Pallet Town to try and learn about who he was, and all she's learned is that he was so much more important and impressive than she could ever be.

How could she even relate to someone like that?

"Ash! Chloe! Dinner's ready!" Ash's mom's voice carried upstairs like an escape hatch. Chloe would rather be anywhere else right now than Ash's room, looking at Ash's trophies, thinking about this girl who had probably already won Ash's heart.

So she stood up and dusted herself off. "C-C'mon," she said, unsuccessfully keeping her voice from cracking as she stepped away from him. "Let's get dinner."

Ash quickly gathered up his change of clothes, the blanket and the pillow from his closet and began to follow Chloe out, but his partner stood on the ground, watching the student closely as she left the room.

"Kakachu…?"

The spread before her was unlike any she had seen before. An entire plate of croquettes smothered in gravy. Plates of omelette rice with generous helpings of ketchup. A salad. A casserole. Fresh fruits and dinner rolls and soup and of course bowls for the Pokémon to eat out of.

Chloe blinked in surprise. "You made all of this? By yourself?"

Mrs. Ketchum laughed. "Well, I had all day to prepare, and Ash does get hungry, as I'm sure you know!"

Ash was sitting down across from her, with Pikachu taking a stool next to him with a bowl of Pokémon food. "Oh boy, let's eat!" he said, quickly digging into a nearby plate of omelette rice.

"Now, Ash, you shouldn't be so hasty," his mother chided him. "What if Chloe wanted to try some of that?"

Looking up at her, he offered her the plate he had been scooping and eating directly off of, his cheeks both filled inside and bespeckled outside with ketchup and rice.

"No thanks," she said, holding a hand up, ready to push the plate back at him if needs be. Ash just looked at his mom, shrugged, and went back to eating.

Seeing Chloe's hesitation, Ash's mom looked at her. "Are you having trouble deciding on what you'd like to try?"

Chloe felt a sting of shame at her indecision, looking over the table at everyone but Ash's mother and herself fully given to eating. Even Eevee was munching happily next to her as she shared the stool next to Chloe with Yamper, the two of them eating in unison. Mr. Mime stood ever ready nearby, hands behind his back. Despite his appearance, he was every inch a reliable butler.

"I… guess it's that everything looks so good, I don't know where to start," she said, shrugging. While she did mean that - everything on offer looked incredibly delicious and from her experience would taste as good as it looked - there was a part of her still struggling with what she had seen in Ash's room, a section of her mind still frozen in place from the ever increasing distance between the two of them.

"Here, I always like to start with this," Ash's mom said, taking a pair of serving chopsticks and placing a piece of bread and a croquette on Chloe's plate.

She tried - unsuccessfully - to hide her frown. "T-Thank you." She picked up the fork and knife set out for her and began slowly eating the croquette. It tasted very delicious - that crunchy, salty taste you can only get from something fried, and the potato filling was a different texture in her mouth, helping keep the fried taste of the outside from overwhelming her. Mrs. Ketchum was an incredible chef, as well. It made her reflect on how little she had done around her own home. 'Could I cook something even half this good?'

"I guess it is a bit shocking for you, coming so far from home, right?"

Chloe looked up from her attempt at eating at Ash's mom. "Yeah, I guess I've already seen so many things that are surprising and I haven't even been here for a day so far."

"Ash mentioned that you were coming out here to experience things that were a little different than what you were used to," she replied.

Chloe nodded. "I only just recently caught Eevee and while we've been doing things here or there, I… I want to take a step out as a trainer. And I thought that spending some time in the wilderness would be good for that." All too quickly she realized how that sounded. "N-Not to say Pallet Town is out in the middle of nowhere!" she quickly apologized, "It's just that… I'm a city girl, and coming out to the countryside felt like it would help give me a new perspective."

"You've not spent much time outside the city then?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. A few trips here and there. Goh and I came to Pallet Town once but we were here for a little over a half a day for a summer camp. It wasn't the same as living out here."

"That's for sure. There's always so much happening in the city and so many things to see! But I like the quiet life here in Pallet Town too much to move. I guess I'm kind of past my days of craving excitement."

Chloe looked at Ash's mom and reflected on that thought. "I think I get what you mean," she said. "Ash said something like that on the way here, about how everything's calmer out here. It sounds really nice."

"Mmhm," Mrs. Ketchum agreed. "It might be a bit easier for you to get an idea of what it's like out here rather than if you stayed in the city. If there's anything we can do to help you, we'd love to hear it, right Ash?"

Ash looked up. He was chewing on a croquette he had skewered with a fork. He swallowed what was in his mouth. "That's right! Let's have fun this week, okay, Chloe? We're gonna have an awesome time out here!"

Based on how she'd felt up to this point, Chloe was feeling skeptical. But she mustered up enough energy to at least fake a smile. "Right!" she replied.

"So did you two have anything specific in mind for this week?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.

"I definitely wanna go see how everyone is doing at Professor Oak's," Ash said. "I know it hasn't been THAT long since I was here last, but I definitely wanna spend s'more time with everyone there!"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Everyone? What do you mean?"

"Oh, right!" Ash said. "All the Pokémon besides Pikachu and the ones I've caught since coming to Professor Cerise's lab and the ones I left with Professor Kukui in Alola are at Professor Oak's lab! They help him out with his research a lot!"

Already her mind lurched back to all the trophies, memories, and experiences Ash must have had while she was doing homework. "Y-Yeah, I bet they do," she said, trying her hardest to be polite without sounding sarcastic. Before she could say anything else she stuffed more food in her mouth to shut herself up.

"That's what I wanna do tomorrow," Ash said, continuing his train of thought unimpeded. "And on Sunday, we can head out into the woods around Pallet Town! Depending on how long Chloe wants to go camping, we might be out there a few days. We've gotta be back to catch the bus back to the lab on Friday, though, since that's when the Professor's supposed to be back."

His mother nodded. "That sounds like a lovely time. I'll make sure to pack enough food for the two of you for a few days, then, just in case! I'll be busy cooking up a storm tomorrow!" She giggled and looked at Mr. Mime, who was filling Ash's cup with more water. "And I'll need your help, too, Mimey!"

"Mr. Mime!"

Chloe focused on finishing her dinner as her mind swirled with thoughts. Ash was seemingly doing the same, but she knew that she'd finish first. 'I don't have a black hole for a stomach, after all.'

"Well, it was very delicious! Thank you very much, Mrs. Ketchum!"

Ash's mom giggled. "Oh, you're quite welcome, Chloe. Are you headed off to bed then?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling bushed. I think I'll go ahead and call it a night, if that's okay."

Ash swallowed his current mouthful. "Oh, g'night, Chloe! See you in the morning!"

"Okay, good night!"

As Chloe left the table, Yamper hopped off the stool and followed her, and Eevee followed right along.

She laid in Ash's bed, under Ash's blanket, looking at Ash's ceiling. Sleep wouldn't come to Chloe in the darkened room.

She turned over in bed, looking at the trophies once more. "Look at everything he's done," she whispered to Eevee and Yamper who were snuggled in bed next to her. Of the two, only Eevee's ears twitched at the whisper as the sleepy Pokémon looked up at her.

"Vui…?"

Eevee crawled up next to her and looked at the trophies.

"He's… gone all over the world, even before meeting Goh or me. He's… accomplished so many different things. Seen so many things." Her eyes drifted to the doll. "Met… so many different people."

Chloe sat up, pulling Eevee into her lap. "I was so stupid to come out here. There's no way I can do anything impressive against all of that. Even at my best, I'm just an inexperienced girl who's heart set itself on some sort of-" she gestured towards the trophies "-Pokémon Master. All I've done is go to school. No huge accomplishments. No championship of anything. I'm just an ordinary girl."

Her arms pulled Eevee closer to her chest and turned back over, her back to the trophies and the door.

"...there's already someone else, besides. There's no room in such a jam-packed life for me."

It was to these thoughts she finally found slumber, not noticing the door, sitting ever so slightly open, closing gently behind her.

The next morning, Chloe, still somewhat frazzled, diligently worked to put her hair back into it's typical configuration before she went downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, Chloe!" Mrs. Ketchum said, beaming a smile of pure sunshine. In the kitchen behind her, Mr. Mime seemed to be putting the finishing touches on several stacks of pancakes.

Chloe rubbed her tired, aching eyes. She had changed into her overalls and gray striped top. Yamper and Eevee followed Chloe down. "Good morning." She looked around. "Where's Ash?"

Mrs. Ketchum looked at her, amused. "I guess you didn't notice. He's still asleep in the living room."

Chloe turned around and saw his foot sticking out from under the covers, laying on the ground off the couch. Pikachu was laying on his chest, still curled up sleeping. She couldn't help but let a smile rise to her face. "I bet I could get him up," she said.

Mrs. Ketchum looked at her. "Oh? Would you like to give it a try?"

Chloe grinned. "It would be my pleasure. Do you have a frying pan and a ladle I can borrow for a second?"

Shrugging, Mrs. Ketchum opened the cabinets and handed both of the items to Chloe. As the maroon-haired girl took the cooking instruments, Yamper and Eevee's eyes both widened, and they held their ears down. "What are you going to do?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.

Chloe entered the living room carrying them both. Spreading her arms apart she took in a deep breath. "WAKEY-WAKEY, ASH!" She then began to hit the frying pan with the ladle, ringing it like an incredibly loud bell.

Ash's eyes shot open and he sat up. "W-What?! H-Huh?!"

Pikachu shot awake, too, and in his surprise, the mouse discharged a bolt of electricity directly into Ash, filling the air with even more noise as Ash's scream quickly drowned out the sound Chloe was making. The bolt passed quickly, and Ash laid there for a moment before sitting up.

"What was that?!" he asked, stunned and twitching from the electricity that coursed through his system.

"It's called 'Waking the Dead'," Chloe explained. "My brother and I tend to sleep in on weekends, so as a last resort for waking us up, my Mom has been known to do this sometimes." She put her hands on her hips, still holding the frying pan and ladle. "Good morning, Ash Ketchum. Do you know what time it is?"

Ash looked around, head still spinning and dazed from his quick awakening mixed with the Thunderbolt he just endured. "B-Breakfast…?" he muttered, looking at her.

She nodded. "That's right. So get up, wash your face, and change your clothes."

"Got it." Ash turned and began heading up stairs to change and prepare for the day ahead and Chloe returned to the kitchen and gave the ladle and frying pan back to Mrs. Ketchum.

"Thank you for letting me borrow those."

Mrs. Ketchum could barely contain her laughter. "That's definitely an effective technique, Chloe! I don't think I've ever seen him wake up so fast!"

Chloe smiled, enjoying the attention this morning. "Thank you. Feel free to make it your own if he keeps sleeping like this."

'It's almost like all that stuff last night doesn't matter anymore, and we're back to being friends again,' she thought. 'I just hope it carries forward into the rest of the day.'

Chloe followed Ash down the dirt road and across the bridge to a building that stood on one of the larger hills in Pallet Town. Looking at its pink roof, Chloe was transported back in time to when she and Goh visited Professor Oak's laboratory. 'How many years ago was that…?' she wondered to herself. 'Other than Mew, I can hardly remember anything that happened back then…'

She carried Eevee in her arms. Yamper had decided that napping in the Ketchum living room after a full breakfast was how he was going to spend the morning. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu were leading the way through Pallet Town and had brought them here. On his wrist was the bracelet that Chloe first saw on Ash's trophy-desk. 'I wanna ask what it is but... ' She sighed. 'There's no way I wanna hear another bit about how he went to some other region and this is some sort of special king bracelet or something.'

Ash led the way up the stairs. He was the one who knocked on the door as Chloe stood next to him, wondering what she'd say to Professor Oak after seeing him for the first time since a brief meeting the day she met Ash.

When the door opened, it wasn't the wisened professor who stood there, but a young man Chloe guessed was only a few years older than Ash was. He wore a red headband under his black hair which peaked over it, covering the tops of his ears. His eyes widened with familiarity as he set his eyes on Ash. "Hey, Ash! It's been a while! Sorry I missed you last time!" He extended a hand towards Ash, which the Palletonian shook.

"Nice t' see you, Tracey! I guess Professor Oak isn't around?"

Tracey shook his head. "No, the Professor's in Goldenrod City for a few days to record episodes of his radio show."

"Aww, oh well," Ash said, shrugging.

Chloe stood with a sour frown on her face. "So, this is another friend of yours?" she asked.

"Oh, right!" Ash said, turning to her. He put a hand shyly behind his head. "Chloe, this is Tracey! Tracey, this is Chloe!"

Tracey offered her a handshake as well. "It's nice to meet you, Chloe. If what I've heard from Professor Oak is true, you're Professor Cerise's daughter, right?"

Chloe's frown intensified. 'Great, another person who only knows who I am because of my Dad.' She took his hand and shook it, regardless. "Nice to meet you, too, Tracey. Do you work here?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm Professor Oak's assistant, and that's especially important during times he's not here. I've heard a lot of things about your father, Chloe! His ambition to learn everything about Pokémon from every region is remarkable!"

"Yeah, thanks," she shrugged, not really interested in talking about her family either at this point.

Ash stepped in to fill the space in the conversation Chloe had retreated from. "I wanna see how my Pokémon are doing, too," he said. "Can we go see 'em?"

Tracey nodded. "They're all out back, though I guess it may take a bit to get them all together!"

"Awesome!" Ash said. He turned to Chloe. "I can't wait to introduce you to all of them! Let's go!" He pushed past Tracey and through the lab, following a path that Chloe assumed he'd walked many times in the past.

Chloe looked at Tracey, feeling a bit sorry for him. "He comes all this way and he hardly says a word to you. Sorry about this, Tracey."

Tracey just laughed and shrugged. "Well, he wouldn't be Ash if Pokémon weren't the biggest thing on his mind!" he replied. "It's just part of who he is."

This just made her frown return. "Another part of who he is. Another part that I have no clue about."

The two of them followed Ash through the lab and into the garden. Ash was cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting. "HEY, EVERYBODY! I'M BACK! AGAIN!"

The response was instantaneous. It started as a low rumble, coming from nearly all directions, but a swarm of Pokémon - most kinds that Chloe had never seen before, all rushed Ash from multiple directions.

Then a second 'wave' appeared, all charging Ash at once, only this one Chloe recognized as a herd of Tauros. The Pokémon that were approaching all diverted from their path, giving the Tauros herd free reign to crash into Ash, tossing him into the sky where another Pokémon Chloe recognized caught Ash in his claws.

Chloe took out her phone and pointed it at Ash's savior, and an image of draconic Pokémon appeared on screen.

"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon," the Rotom inside her phone spoke in it's controlled, concise manner. "A Fire-and Flying-type. Charizard's wings can carry this Pokémon close to an altitude of 4,600 feet. It blows out fire that is hot enough to melt boulders and may cause forest fires by spitting flames."

Ash laughed as Charizard set him on the ground. "Good t' see you too, Charizard!" he said. "Thanks for the save!"

Charizard growled, but there was a grin on his face and a familiarity in his tone.

Tracey stepped next to Chloe as the rest of the Pokémon returned and the Tauros raced off into the distance. "Muk, Heracross, Bayleef, Quilava, Totodile…" he began listing off as he pointed them out in the crowd. "Donphan, Torkoal, Buizel, Gible… Oshawott, Snivy, Scraggy, Boldore… This is most of them, but I guess most of the other Flying-Types are further in."

Chloe did a double take as all the Pokémon crowded around Ash. "Wait, are you saying all of these Pokémon belong to Ash?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Even those Tauros that you just saw, too. Ash has caught quite a lot of Pokémon! It's part of the reason Professor Oak needs all the help he can get!"

As all the Pokémon gathered around Ash, all vying for his attention as he endeavored to give them all hugs and headpats, Chloe watched and felt her stomach twist again. 'Look at them all… All these Pokémon from all over the world gathered here, and they probably only have one thing in common: they all care so much about Ash. It's incredible… but at the same time… what place is there for me?'

She felt more excluded than ever, clutching Eevee tightly to her chest.

'Coming here was a mistake.'

"Oh," Ash said, reaching into his pockets, "since we're gonna be here for a while, lemme introduce you guys to some new friends of mine! First, c'mon out!"

He threw five Poké Balls into the air, which all quickly snapped open. Appearing in several flashes of light were the five Pokémon Ash brought with him from the Cerise Laboratory.

"Everyone, this is Dragonite, Gengar, Lucario, Sirfetch'd, and Dracovish! While we're here, they're gonna be with us, too!"

Immediately the crowd shifted, gathering around the new arrivals, with cheers and friendly waves and nudges from the entire group towards Ash's new Pokémon. Dragonite picked up Oshawott and Snivy and hugged them tightly, while Lucario gave a fist bump to Buizel. Dracovish danced alongside Totodile and Gible, and Sirfetch'd impressed Scraggy and Heracross. Gengar, not quite used to the attention, faded into the shadows before reappearing nearby under the shade of a tree.

"And that's not all! I brought one more friend with me!" Ash called out, turning to look at Chloe.

Her breath caught in her chest, and she looked around and noticed that Tracey had made a quiet escape back into the Lab.

"This is my friend Chloe from Vermilion City! She's come out t' Pallet Town t' learn more about how to be a Pokémon Trainer in her own way! Say hello to her!"

"No, wait-"

The words had scarcely left her mouth before she was bowled over by the surge of Pokémon, all in various states of hugging her arms and legs. She dropped Eevee entirely as she fell into the soft, sludgy body of Muk and the other Pokémon all vying for her attention as well. A vine wrapped around Eevee's torso and lifted her out of the crowd as Ash's Snivy stepped back, trying to give Chloe some space that many of the others weren't going to afford her.

It was at this moment that Chloe's Eevee was truly seen by Ash's Oshawott. Turning from Chloe to her Pokémon, Oshawott approached Snivy and Eevee as the former sat the latter safely on the ground.

"Oshawott!" he boasted, pointing at his own chest. "Osha!"

"Vui?" Eevee replied, tilting her head to the side.

"Snivy sni," said Snivy, waving her hand dismissively towards the sea otter.

"Osha~!" Oshawott challenged, pulling off his scalchop and brandishing his Razor Shell attack, causing a blade of water to extend from it. "Osha oshawott wott!" he boasted, attempting to impress Eevee.

"Eie? Eievui!" Eevee said cheerfully as she raised up her tail. She began to glow blue, especially around the tip of her tail. A surge of water came from her tail's tip, forming a blade much taller and longer than Oshawott's.

"Osh oshawott?!" the Water-type exclaimed in surprise.

Eevee swung her tail, smacking Oshawott aside, sending the lovestruck Water-Type flying far, far away.

Snivy put an arm on Eevee's back. "Snivy, snivyvy."

Meanwhile, back at the pile of Pokémon, Chloe was still unable to get her footing as they all wanted to meet and greet her in their own way. She eventually felt a hand grab her own and pull her back up to her feet. Opening her eyes, she saw Ash smiling back at her.

"They're pretty excited to meet you, huh?" he asked, grinning.

"Y-Yeah," she said, looking away so that he wouldn't see the stinging heat rise to her cheeks. "I never knew you had... so many of them."

Ash shrugged, forcing Pikachu to shift on his shoulder. "There are some people who probably think that the Gym Badges and the Trophies and the titles and everything are the most important, but me? It's all these guys." He smiled, a look of intensity in his eyes as he looked over the Pokémon that gathered around him. "These guys are my family. Just as much as Mom is. If there's anything I have that could be considered a legacy, it's them."

Before Chloe could even think about what he just said, Dragonite flew over to them and pulled the three of them into a hug, making Chloe's face burn even redder. The only thing she could think about was how Ash's clothes smelled like syrup he put on the pancakes he ate this morning.

"You're my family, too, Dragonite!" Ash said, laughing. "And I kinda want to introduce you to another part of my family if you're up for it?"

"Bowa…?" Dragonite asked, letting Ash, Pikachu, and Chloe go.

Ash looked at his gathered Pokémon. "Hey, Charizard! Are you up for a little sparring battle?"

Chloe saw the wild grin grow across the Fire-type's face as he stepped forward. Charizard nodded and approached Ash for instructions.

"Wait, you're going to have a battle here? Now? Against yourself?" Chloe asked as Eevee and Snivy approached as well.

Ash nodded. "I want to get a little practice in with this-" he raised his wrist, showing off the weird bracelet. "It's been a while since I used a Z-Move."

"A Z-Move?" Chloe asked, confused.

Ash chuckled. "It's easier t' show than t' tell. So I need Dragonite's help." He turned to his Dragon Pokémon. "Are you up for it?"

She looked at Ash, then at Charizard before grinning herself, a determined look in her eyes as she sized up Charizard. "Bowa!"

Charizard grinned back, the look in his eyes showing that he's eager to test his strength against one of Ash's newest recruits. He flapped his wings, crossing the field but landing not too far away, to give them both proper spacing to start the battle.

Chloe backed away as well, standing to the side as Ash backed up only slightly from Dragonite. "Alright. Let it rip, Charizard! Come at us with everything you've got!"

"Grrwa!" Charizard shouted, taking wing and zipping across the field towards Dragonite. He held out his claws, which extended and glowed white as he approached.

"Here comes a Slash attack! Dragonite, use Dragon Dance!"

Dragonite took to the air as well and began to spin, using the mystical dance to build power within her body. Charizard drew close and raked his sharp claws across her scales, but the spinning motion kept the damage to a minimum as Dragonite was pushed away by the force of the Slash attack.

"Alright, Dragonite! Show 'im your Dragon Claw!"

Finishing the dance, Dragonite's great paws became enveloped in emerald energy, forming sharp, jagged claws on the ends of her arms. She dove in close to Charizard and struck at his body with her attack, knocking Charizard down into a rough landing on the ground, though the Flame Pokémon did land on his feet, ready for more. Opening his maw, Charizard belched out a gout of hot flames at Dragonite, blasting the Dragon-type with a Flamethrower attack.

Dragonite tried to block some of the damage with her arms and her naturally resilient Dragon-Typing, but the blackened scales on her arms showed that Charizard wasn't just playing around. "Alright, Dragonite! Show 'em your Hyper Beam!"

Dragonite took in a breath as she gathered the destructive energy within herself. Forming an orb of energy before her mouth, she gathered up Charizard wasn't about to give her the opportunity to just shoot freely as she wanted and he began flying around rapidly to throw off her aim. Dragonite fired the attack downwards, cutting into the ground itself, causing a series of explosions as she dragged the beam across the field, chasing down Charizard. The Fire-Type managed to avoid the attack and then began to head skyward.

Chloe felt her heart sink. "N-No, Dragonite! Move out of the way!"

"After using Hyper Beam," Ash said, "Dragonite can't move for a bit." His eyes narrowed but the smile on his face never wavered. "So what're you gonna do with this opening, Charizard?"

Charizard grabbed Dragonite with his claws, holding her arms down as he pulled her up and began to do loops in the air, holding her and slowly growing faster and faster as he did.

"That's Seismic Toss!" Ash called out.

Charizard then went into a dive, quickly approaching the ground before he flipped, flinging Dragonite like a slingshot into the dirt with a crash that sent a shockwave that nearly threw Chloe to the ground. It was hard for her to look, but she saw Dragonite, covered in dirt and tired, rising to her feet as Ash began to adjust something on his bracelet. He took off the yellow gemstone on its surface and replaced it with a clear one.

"Alright, Dragonite, are you ready?" he asked.

Dragonite turned to him and nodded.

"This might feel a bit weird at first, but you'll understand what to do. Now, c'mon!"

Ash crossed his arms in front of his chest, and the bracelet began to glow with a bright light, so bright that even the sunlight seemed dim in comparison. Dragonite braced herself with her footing as Ash crossed his hands one over the other in front of him before bringing them both down and slashing with his left arm upwards. He crossed his right arm, hand clenched into a fist, over his chest, and his left arm, also forming a fist, over his forehead. As he did, the bright light that originated from the bracelet moved to envelop Ash himself, gathering around him in a bright, golden aura. The aura shot forth as many strings of light, colliding with Dragonite and being absorbed into her body.

All this time, the bracelet continued to glow.

"Here we go! Full power, now!"

Dragonite leaned forward before kicking off with her feet, launching herself forward and leaving small craters where she had been standing. The golden aura returned around Dragonite, and she flew towards Charizard with a speed Chloe's eyes struggled to follow.

"Breakneck Blitz, go!"

Charizard held up his claws to attempt to catch the charging Dragonite, but the glowing Dragon-Type moved even more quickly than he could respond. The light faded into a shockwave of air and smoke as Dragonite collided with Charizard, sending the Fire-and Flying-type tumbling over the ground backwards. The might of the collision produced a burst of pressure and force that nearly blew Chloe off her feet. The Pokémon watching around her and even the trees around Oak's Laboratory shuddered at the impact, and Snivy had to use her vines to keep Eevee from being blown away. The smoke cleared and Dragonite stood, still as exhausted as before, but grinning wildly and excited to continue to the battle.

Charizard rose from the ground as well, clearly worse for the wear and excited at such a powerful opponent. He spread his wings wide as though to challenge Dragonite to continue.

Ash, however, had done what he had come to do. "That's enough for now, you guys," he said. "Dragonite, that was an awesome Z-Move for a first try! You really let 'em have it! And Charizard, I can tell you've gotten even stronger than before! That's so awesome!"

Dragonite's battle mania faded and she returned to her gentle, happy nature. Charizard smirked and gave her a thumbs up, and she flew over to give him a hug.

Chloe, however, was completely lost. "Ash… what… how…?"

He laughed. "That's a Z-Move. And this-" he held up his bracelet "- is a Z-Ring. You need a Z-Ring and Z-Crystals to use Z-Moves. They come from the Alola Region, so I picked these up while I was there."

Chloe felt her heart still racing after watching the exchange. "It was… It was so cool…" she said, the words coming out on their own. "The light was so bright and intense, but so gentle and strong, too…"

Ash grinned happily. "I know, right? Z-Moves are awesome!" He looked at Dragonite hugging Charizard tightly. The Flame Pokémon was trying to squirm out of the dragon's grip. "Leon is really strong. And everyone else in the Master Class will be, too. I've been thinkin' about this for a while, but I'll probably need to use everything I can if I'm gonna have a chance to beat him when the time comes. Practicing Z-Moves again after not using them for so long is part of the training I wanna do while we're out here."

Chloe looked at him, feeling impressed, though she felt the distance between them grow ever more slightly. "You've been thinking about this the entire time, haven't you?" she asked.

"Not really," he said, shrugging. "But I did plan on doin' it even back in Vermilion City. So I guess this is the reason I wanted t' come home to Pallet Town. To get this."

Chloe looked at the Z-Ring, somewhat in awe. "That's pretty cool, Ash," she said. "With strength like that, I'm sure you'll be able to beat Leon."

Ash shook his head. "I dunno. Even with Pikachu Gigantimaxing, we couldn't really hurt Leon's Charizard. It might take even more strength, I think. It's gonna take everything we've got to win and take the next step towards becoming a Pokémon Master."

Chloe nodded. "I…" she began to say before stopping herself. 'I think… you may be a lot closer to that dream than you think,' she thought, not quite bold enough to say the words out loud herself.

"You what?" Ash asked.

Chloe shrugged. "I… guess I'm feeling a little hungry?" she lied. "I think I'll head back to your place and see what your Mom's up to."

"Oh, you, too?" Ash asked. "I'll come, too!"

Chloe turned and picked Eevee up. "Alright, then," she said somewhat limply before beginning to walk away.

"Pikapi," Pikachu said, looking at his partner.

Ash looked at Pikachu as though the mouse was telling him something important.

"...Did I do something wrong?" he asked quietly to himself before following Chloe away.