Work Text:
The first thing Ash heard when he woke up was a sot giggle, he quickly identified the sound as Goh’s own laugh, coming from the bunk above. The trainer blinked twice, ready to begin his morning routine.
“Good morning” he said, without getting up
Goh didn’t reply, but after a few seconds, he giggled again. Finally, Ash came out of his bed and climbed the ladder to see the researcher, who had his eyes fixed on his Rotomphone. He snapped his fingers several times, but the other boy didn’t react.
“Goh!” he finally said, a little irritated
The researcher finally looked at him and blushed in an instant, noticing how close his crush was
“W-what?” he stuttered
Ash smiled, that definitely sounded like Goh, getting red an unable to speak for no apparent reason (Or at least, it wasn’t apparent to his dense brain)
“Good morning”
“Good morning, Ash”
“Is everything okay? You didn’t respond me…”
Goh smiled at the other boy’s caring attitude and quickly replied
“I was just talking with Tokio, that’s all”
“Oh… Okay!” the Pallet Town trainer replied, getting down the ladder and waking up his Pikachu “See you downstairs for breakfast!”
Goh, once again, didn’t reply, when Ash looked up to him, he realized the boy was staring at his phone again.
He finally exited the room, frowning
Why was he frowning? Not even he could answer that question…
“You and Tokio have been texting each other quite a lot lately” Ash said out of nowhere
Goh stopped sipping his juice and stared at the trainer
“It’s good to see you resolved your differences…”
“There wasn’t any difference to begin with” Goh explained “Just a misunderstanding, one I’d liked to last less than the two years we spent apart”
“You have…” Ash continued, looking away “A lot to catch up”
“Right, besides, he has a lot of interesting ideas”
“About?”
Goh blushed, looking down
“Lots of important things” he muttered
“About?”
“Can’t say” Goh immediately replied, the blush never leaving his features “It’s a secret”
“I see…”
Ash looked down at his plate, it was still half full, but he didn’t have any appetite, not anymore. He was hoping Goh would ask him what was wrong with him.
Instead, the boy let out a loud laugh at something he saw on his phone. A message from Tokio, most probably, Ash thought for himself.
In that moment, the trainer blinked twice, why he was so mad at his friend’s attitude? Tokio obviously was a good friend for him, and he looked really happy every time he talked about him.
So, what was the problem?
Ash tried to make sense to his current confusion, why was Goh being so mysterious about his conversations with Tokio? Weren’t he and the researcher best friends? Why was he keeping secrets from him? What kind of secrets were those? Why was he blushing when he talked about those secrets?
Wasn’t he supposed to blush only when he was around him?
“Ash!” Goh shouted, and the trainer looked at him with a curious expression “Come on, finish your breakfast, we have to go!”
“Right!” he said
Goh exited the room without looking away from his phone.
Ash simply got up, leaving his half-full plate cooling on the table.
With a quick shadow ball, Gengar defeated his opponent, and Ash jumped in the air, excited, he was back on track, wining again in the World Championship, his Ghost-type Pokemon picked him and Pikachu up and twirled around for a little, also filled with happiness. After that was done, Ash smiled and, directing his gaze to Goh, questioned:
“Did you see… us?”
He dragged along the last words, noticing Goh wasn’t exactly staring at him and his team, but rater, at his own phone.
The confusion from earlier returned, mixed with a deep pang in his chest, the trainer did his best to ignore it and exclaimed:
“Goh!”
“I saw you guys!” the researcher finally said “You were excellent as always Ash”
The trainer smiled at the praise, but a voice in his head told him:
“He’s not being sincere”
And maybe that voice was right, since all Goh did after saying those words was staring at his phone, again. The trainer walked up to him and put an arm around his back, but Goh moved away, and Ash frowned at his attitude.
“Any plans for today?” the trainer asked, hoping Goh would answer something, that he would say anything to him
“Actually, I do!” Goh replied excitedly
And the smile that appeared on his face made Ash’s heart beat faster than usual, there it was…
“Tokio invited me to a place that’s filled with Natus and Xatus, I still need to catch those Pokemon!”
“Tokio…” Ash said, his left eye twitching
“Yep… Wanna come with us?” Goh offered
“Sure”
But truly, at that point, Ash Ketchum wasn’t sure of anything…
Tokio was a normal boy, normal clothes, normal white hair, and normal Chikorita chosen as his starter.
What wasn’t normal was the way Goh looked at him at every single word he said, sure, he knew all about the habitat of those two strange, mysterious Pokemon, but hey, he knew lots of things about Pokemon too!
They were trying to spot a Xatu when Tokio whispered:
“There… Up on that tree”
Ash, Goh and their Pokemon directed his gaze at the tree and yes, quite up there it was a Xatu, seemingly asleep
“Great…” Goh said, picking up a Pokeball “Time for a curve ball”
“Not so fast” Tokio said, grabbing the boy’s hand
Both boys went silent at the touch, staring at each other’s eyes for an uncomfortable long time, at least, according to Ash’s standards.
“Not so fast… Why?” the Pallet Town finally said, coughing
“Right…” Tokio commented, shaking his head “Xatus could be more aware of their surroundings than it seems, so we need to keep his mind occupied with another thing”
“Like what?”
“One of us could climb to there to stare at Xatu’s eyes to distract him, but I’m not a good climber…”
Ash didn’t need to hear another word, with a speed that surprised even Pikachu and Raboot, he rushed to the tree and managed to climb at the Xatu’s side in a matter of seconds. The Pokemon slowly opened his eyes, staring at the intruder.
Ash stared back, if that was what he needed to do to please Goh, then so be it.
“Great!” Tokio shouted from below “Now Ash, stay there while we go to catch a Natu”
“Why don’t you catch this Xatu first?” the trainer complained
“You didn’t let me finish, I was going to say we need to catch a Natu before sundown, as soon as the night falls, that species refuge in places that humans can’t reach”
Ash huffed
“Can you hold on for a little bit more?” Goh questioned
Without stopping looking at the Xatu, Ash replied:
“Only for you, Goh”
He emphasized the words, hoping his research fellow would understand the message.
“You’re the best, Ash! We’ll be back in a minute!”
So Ash stayed there, gazing deep into the Xatu’s eyes…
He didn’t know how much time passed, when the Pokemon in front of him said:
“Xatu… Xa”
“Whatever you’re about to do, please don’t teleport” Ash begged, remembering the Pokemon’s powers
“Xa?” Xatu inquired, turning his head to the right, in a movement that reminded Ash to his Rowlet
“Because I need you to stay here” the trainer replied “I want Goh to catch you”
“Xatu?”
“No, I guess that’s not all” Ash muttered
“Xa?”
“I want him to be proud of me” the raven haired boy admitted “I want him to let Tokio go for a while…”
“Xatu, Xa, Xatu?”
“I’m not angry at him; he seems like a cool guy”
“Xa?”
“Then I don’t know!” Ash shouted, exasperated
Xatu didn’t react
“I want Goh to pay attention to me, not to him”
“Xatu, Xa, Xatu?”
Ash scratched his chin for a moment, considering the question, finally, he commented:
“I don’t think I ever felt this way with anyone, no”
“Xatu, Xa, Xatu Xa?”
“Fine, I’ll accept it may sound selfish, but it’s the truth… I miss the way Goh used to look at me, now all he does is looking at Tokio like that, even at his messages, I’m in front of him, and all he does is smiling at a screen!”
“Xatu?”
“Tokio makes him happy, that’s what you mean?”
Xatu nodded
“Oh…”
Ash went silent, and so did Xatu.
A few minutes later and out of nowhere, Ash confessed:
“But Goh makes me happy!”
“Xatu, Xatu Xa…”
“If I had to choose?” Ash asked
Xatu nodded
“Then I’d prefer Goh to be happy with whomever he wants, even if…”
“Xa…” Xatu pressed
“Even if it wasn’t me, I only want the best for him; he’s my best friend, and a great partner, trainer, catcher, strategist…”
Xatu didn’t say a word, but Ash continued
“I guess I never met someone like him, which is why I’m so scared he may change me for Tokio… I don’t know what Goh’s feelings are for that boy, but I…”
“Xatu?”
“I…” Ash doubted
“Xatu?”
“I love Goh very much” Ash finally said, biting his lip
Xatu simply nodded, and after a few minutes, Ash noticed the confusion was gone from his head, his heart was still beating fast, but he could live with that…
“Finally!” Someone shouted from below “Xatu, return!”
The Pokemon disappeared in a beam of red light, and Ash looked below, only to stare at a smiling Tokio, holding a Pokeball.
A new kind of confusion appeared in that moment…
Ash climbed down slowly and finally touched ground, staring at Tokio and Goh
“So… Xatu was yours” he said
Tokio nodded, and the trainer decided to focus his gaze on Pikachu, Raboot and Riolu, who were grinning in a very strange way.
“What?” he questioned
“Oh, I guess they may be thinking about what you said…” Tokio commented, pulling out his phone “You know, the things we heard thanks to the microphone Goh and I hid in Xatu’s wings…”
“You did what?”
Tokio pressed a button, and Ash’s voice clearly said:
“I guess I never met someone like him…”
“Oh…”
“Which is why I’m so scared he may change me for Tokio…”
“Ok, I got it…”
“I don’t know what Goh’s feelings are for that boy, but I…”
“Ok, that’s enough!” Ash shouted, blushing
Goh, who until that moment was silent, put an arm on Ash’s shoulder and smiled warmly at him…
“You heard it all?” he shyly questioned
“Yes…” Goh said, quickly kissing his cheek
Ash’s brain stopped functioning, and he stuttered:
“You just… kissed me”
“Yes”
“Then that means you feel…”
“Yes” Goh repeated, lower this time, and a little bit closer to him
“And Tokio?”
The white-haired boy simply chuckled
“I’m just his friend and the one who came up with the idea to… let’s just say, trick you”
”Why?” Ash asked
“Goh told me about you, and I mean everything about you, he also said he wasn’t sure what your true feelings for him were, and since he also mentioned how deep your connection with Pokemon is, we came up with this plan…”
“But… I saw you blushing at his messages!” Ash accused
“Because he didn’t stop teasing me about me and my…” Goh doubted for a second, and then completed “Boyfriend from Pallet Town!”
“What can I say? I’m a shipper” Tokio confessed “Also, were you jealous of me?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Ash quickly replied, crossing his arms
“You were!” Goh and Tokio said at unison, laughing
Then, the boy from Vermillion City approached his boyfriend a put a hand on his head, whispering:
“There’s no one like you, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town”
The trainer stared at those blue eyes and smiled, holding his soulmate’s hands
“I… think the same”
“I know” Goh reminded him “Now, if we could have some privacy”
“Sure thing!” Tokio said “I’ll be waiting outside the forest so you can smooch as much as you want!”
Goh threw him a menacing look, and the boy ran away, chuckling
Goh’s tickle Ash’s nose and then remembered something
“The privacy thing goes for everyone”
Pikachu, Raboot and Riolu huffed, finally leaving the scene
“Now, where were we?” the researcher asked, smiling at his lover
“You were about to… kiss me, maybe?”
“You bet I’m gonna do exactly that” Goh teased, closing distance…