Chapter Text
It was a peaceful and cloudless afternoon on the outskirts of Vermilion City. Ash and Goh were strolling through a nearby park, with Pikachu perched on Ash’s shoulder and Sobble sitting comfortably on Raboot’s head as it shuffled quietly by Goh’s side.
During this stroll, Goh shared with Ash his most recent adventure: his family trip to Azalea Town. Well, it was less of an adventure and more of an emotional roller coaster for the introverted trainer. He and his family went to that same location three years prior, though it held some heavy memories for Goh. These memories were of a certain individual who was the first to damage Goh’s already weak desire to make new friends, up until he met Ash. He had just finished sharing with his fairly new best friend the key parts of that experience, just to give him enough context for the rest of the story.
“Woah,” Ash muttered with a shocked frown. “So you were waiting all day for Horace to meet you at that spot, but he never showed up?”
Goh shook his head. “All that showed up was rain…” he replied. “Not only that, but we were getting along so well the day before. He was my first close friend. And I was so sure he saw me as his friend too. Until he broke that promise…”
“I’m so sorry that happened, Goh…” Ash muttered.
“Pika…” Pikachu mumbled, looking over sorrowfully from Ash’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Ash…” Goh said, smiling with gratitude for his friend’s sympathy. “Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. While I was catching Pokemon in the forest, I found the Celebi shrine that we were looking for all those years ago.”
“You actually found Celebi’s shrine?” Ash exclaimed, before gazing at Goh with glistening eyes. “That’s totally awesome!”
“Pikachu!” Pikachu cheered with its eyes sparkling in sync with Ash’s.
Goh nodded. “But that’s not all I found,” he remarked. “There was a note wedged inside. And it was a note for me written by Horace…”
Ash widened his eyes in surprise. “By Horace?”
“It turned out that the reason he never showed up was that he caught a fever,” Goh explained while staring at the ground, reliving the intense rush of mixed emotions he felt while reading that letter. “He really did try to meet me back there. He even tried to ask Celebi to time travel him back to that day so he could keep his promise. But it never appeared… So he wrote that letter to let me know that he still sees me as his friend…”
Ash gave Goh a relieved smile. “So he did mean what he said after all,” he said, before looking down as the smile faded. “Poor Horace… He must’ve felt so bad after breaking your guys’ promise… I’ll bet he’d do anything to see you again and patch things up.”
“Oh, we did,” Goh stated.
“You did?” Ash shouted, completely taken aback. “When?”
Goh softly chuckled, then gazed into the distance as he reminisced on that unforgettable moment. “You’re not gonna believe it, but… as soon as I finished reading that letter, there he was, standing right behind me and calling my name. It all felt like a dream… Us standing face to face after all that time… Not only did we patch things up, but we ended up talking for hours. About all the amazing Pokemon we’ve met since we became trainers… and about how much both of us needed to see each other again. After that incident, I was so afraid to trust others… and I was holding onto so much anger… But now all that anger’s gone. And I can’t tell you how relieved I feel now that it’s off my shoulders…”
Raboot and Sobble both looked up at their trainer and smiled, though Raboot’s smile was hidden under its collar of red fur.
“I’m so happy for you,” Ash said. He then paused as he recalled the first few days he and Goh spend as research fellows. Back then, Goh often acted somewhat shy and defensive. Ash had suspected for a while that there must’ve been a reason for it. Now that reason was clear to him. “So that was why you hesitated to open up to me at first?”
Goh nodded.
“Well, I’m glad that incident’s finally been resolved,”
“Yeah…” Goh said, before looking off to the side and mumbling to himself, “At least it has…”
“Hm?” Ash responded.
“Sobble…?” Goh’s little blue Pokemon murmured, worriedly looking up at its trainer.
“N-Nothing…” Goh stuttered, trying to think of a response that wouldn’t require him to go into any more detail. “It’s just… Sometimes I feel a little guilty for not trusting you quicker, you know?”
“You don’t have to feel guilty, Goh,” Ash reassured his friend. “I’ve met countless Pokemon who were scared to trust me at first after being hurt by someone, like Gengar. It makes total sense why you and all those Pokemon took a while to open up… All I can say is I’m really proud of you for doing it. It must’ve felt scary, especially since that whole Horace thing hadn’t been resolved yet.”
“It was, at first,” Goh admitted as his smile returned, along with a mild blush. “But I’m so happy I did it… It’s thanks to you that I not only have a friend my age other than Chloe, but that I’ve also made lots of other friends in all the Pokemon I’ve caught.”
“And those Pokemon will always be by your side,” Ash stated confidently. “Just like Pikachu and I will always be by each other’s side. Isn’t that right buddy?”
“Pikachu!” The yellow Pokemon cheered.
Suddenly, a long, robotic arm launched in from out of nowhere. The red hand at the end of that arm then snatched Pikachu and carried it away!
“Pikaaaaaa!” the little Pokemon cried.
“Pikachu, no!” Ash shouted as he and Goh spun around to see who had taken his Pokemon. To the surprise of neither, it was Jessie, James, and Meowth floating in their Meowth-shaped hot air balloon. Once Pikachu was placed into the glass, spherical container where the robotic hand was launched from, the trio grinned at the two trainers.
“Prepare for trouble, we’re the real duo!” Jessie announced.
“And make it double, ‘cause we want kudos!” James declared.
“To protect the world from bad fanfiction!”
“To unite all people who enjoy good diction!”
“To steal the spotlight, and later the show!”
“To make the fanbase forget Ash and Goh!”
“Jessie!”
“James!”
“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!”
“Surrender now or prepare for a well-written fight!”
“Meowth, that’s right!” Meowth exclaimed.
“Wobbuffet!” cried out Jessie’s punching bag-shaped Pokemon as it hopped in out of nowhere.
“It’s Team Rocket!” Ash exclaimed furiously.
“Why are they talking like they’re in a fanfiction…?” Goh muttered to himself.
“Give Pikachu back right now!” Ash demanded.
“Oh sure,” Jessie replied in a mocking tone. “We’ll give it back just as soon as you turn eleven.”
“And we all know that’s never happening!” Meowth affirmed with complete confidence.
“So long, twerpish duo!” James shouted with a smoke bomb in his hand. He then hurled it down from the hot air balloon to Ash, Goh, Raboot, and Sobble, causing it to explode into a massive puff of black smoke.
“Feels great to succeed!” Jessie cheered.
“Indeed!” Meowth said.
“This story will be a wonderful read!” the trio declared in unison, as the balloon floated off into the distance.
Meanwhile, the two trainers and their remaining Pokemon tightly shut their watering eyes as they coughed repeatedly, waiting for the noxious smoke cloud to disappear. Once it did, Team Rocket’s balloon was nowhere to be seen.
“They got away!” Goh cried.
“Not for long!” Ash proclaimed, taking out one of his Poke Balls. “Dragonite, go and find Team Rocket!”
Ash hurled the Poke Ball, which popped open and summoned a giant, yet friendly Dragon and Flying-Type Pokemon. Immediately upon being sent out, it soared straight into the sky to search for the runaway crooks.