Champion's Confidant

On Camping

She hated to admit it, but Chrysa had a point. The words, still ringing in her ears after a few weeks, were beginning to feel like they held some weight.

'If you want tips on getting closer with Eevee, why not ask Ash and Goh for help?'

'N-No, thanks. They really wouldn't understand, I think...'

"They still probably wouldn't," Chloe concluded, feeling confidence in her refusal for only just a moment longer. From her experiences with them, she was beginning to realize there was just some stuff she couldn't do alone. Escaping that rock, dealing with Dugtrio... there were just some things that she couldn't do all by herself. "And besides, a little extra input never hurts, right?" she told Eevee, who was making a game of running between her legs back and forth, energetic after being stuck inside a Poké Ball all day. In the worst case, she could just dismiss it as unhelpful and go about her day.

It was with these thoughts that she approached Ash after school one day. Since he did have a better idea of what she wanted for Eevee, she thought he might be the best place to start, it seemed, from how he understood why she wanted Eevee to see Vaporeon.

As Chloe approached Ash in the field within Cerise Park, he stood giving commands to Dracovish and Sirfetch'd. The fossil Pokémon's jaws snapped at the leek carried by the Fighting-Type, but the Dragon-Type's snout met Sirfetch'd's leafy shield before it could take a bite out of the Wild Duck Pokémon's weapon. Pikachu stood next to him shadow boxing, getting into the mock battle. "Brutal Swing! Catch it with Ice Fang! Block with your shield and use Fury Cutter! Back up and try-"

Chloe cleared her throat, hoping that Ash would hear. It made him jump a little before turning to her, smiling. "Hey, Chloe! What's up? Looking for Goh?"

She shook her head. "Well, no, " she admitted. "I was hoping I could talk with you, if you didn't mind."

His eyes widened in surprise, but it quickly melted into a familiar grin. Turning to his battling Pokémon, he called out to them "Great work, guys! Take a break for now, okay?"

The two Pokémon looked over at Ash, nodded, and dropped from their fighting stances and the boy from Pallet turned around. "What's up? What'd y'wanna talk about?"

She looked down, seeing Eevee's tail wagging as the Normal-Type cheerfully approached Pikachu. "Well... you're really experienced as a Pokémon Trainer, and so I'd thought I could ask you for some advice. If you don't mind."

Ash shrugged, reaching down for Pikachu. "Nah, I can always help out. What's your question?"

"Well... You know how I want to help Eevee decide on her own path, right? That I want her to make her own decisions for her future?" She looked down at the Pokémon still energetically running around her. She smiled at Eevee, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I was thinking that there's still a lot I don't know about Eevee, and I was hoping you had some advice for doing that." She bent over and picked Eevee up as well, holding her to her chest.

Ash scratched Pikachu's chin. Chloe almost saw gears turning in his brown eyes. "Well... have you tried being one with Eevee?"

She blinked in his direction.

"Excuse me?"

"Be one with Eevee. You know, you both are like zing! - and then you burst out with a bang! - and you just let it erupt all over like kafroosh!"

This wasn't going how she'd hoped it would.

"Zing? Bang? Kafroosh? Are you sure about any of that?"

Ash frowned, a hint of frustration on his face. "Maybe it'd be easier to show you rather than tell you..." he admitted. "How about you and Eevee have a battle with us?"