Partnership

Happy Vermilionshipping Day! I hope you all enjoy this short one-shot, from a world where these two never met Ash. Special thanks to penachu and mezamun for beta reading.

If you're expecting the next chapter of my Vermilionshipping series, 'One Who Chases', don't worry! That will update on schedule as normal.

For now, enjoy this story, and thank you for reading. 

~~~

As she sat by the campfire in this forest somewhere in a corner of a region far from her own, Chloe Cerise found herself with one question overriding everything else she was thinking at the moment.

Why? Why was she out here?

Of course, her sharp mind knew the answer to that question. He was sitting across from her, polishing off his portion of the soup she had made for their shared dinner in relative silence. Their sleeping bags were already set up and they were ready to settle in for another night of camping under the stars. All in all, it looked like it was going to be the end of another idyllic day of adventure and discovery and catching Pokémon.

But the day that had led to this point was hardly that day of idyllic adventure.

~~~

The day had started well enough. Chloe made an oat porridge with freshly picked berries added in, and though she was more than happy to have something hot to eat this far into the wilderness, Goh groused about how he hated porridge and would rather start the morning with something like pancakes. But minor squabbles like this between the two of them were nothing the other wasn't familiar with.

No, the major fight came that afternoon.

After spending most of the day updating the notes they were sending back to her father on the migratory patterns of the Pokémon in this particular corner of the world, Chloe and Goh came across a rare sight. From the top of the cliff they stood on making their observations, Goh caught sight of a Chansey that, rather than appearing as the bright pink that they were familiar with, was blended in with the greenery she walked about in with her own pale green hues.

"A Chansey!" Goh said, looking through his binoculars while reaching over and shaking Chloe, ruining a page in her notebook as she continued to jot down their observations in her practiced hand.

She looked down at the page, now with a long, sharp ink mark across it, frowning. "Yeah, so? We've seen plenty of Chansey while we're out here, haven't we?"

"This isn't just any Chansey!" Goh replied. "This one is green! A rare, green Chansey!"

Chloe shrugged. "So what, it's a different color?"

"I'm gonna go catch it."

Chloe balked at Goh's declaration as he shoved the binoculars back at her. "You're what? Look how far away it is! Are you going to climb down the cliff and head out there?"

Goh looked at her like she had asked the simplest question in the world. "Well, yeah, right? We can't let such a rare Pokémon slip away!"

"We certainly can," Chloe snapped back. "Climbing down a sheer cliff is dangerous, Goh! You can't just rush off alone!"

His blue eyes almost sparkled as he looked at her. "Well, I'm not alone, right? You can help me get down there!"

As captivating as the look in his eyes was, she had to resist. "No, you're not putting yourself in danger just to catch a Pokémon. You'll just have to appreciate taking a picture or something because I won't let you get hurt trying to catch a Pokémon at the bottom of a cliff."