Chapter Text
Lillie
Lillie might have grown up in a city by the sea, but Hau’oli City feels minute when compared to Vermillion. Vermillion, that begins at the ocean and ends…well, she doesn’t know yet.
There is a bridge that rests an immeasurable number of miles away, rising and stretching the road to even more city, more wonder, more than she can’t wait to see.
Oh, how Lillie loves it already. How charmed she is by the warmth of the sun, and the way the faint wind rustles her white Summer dress; by the children eating ice-cream, and the young ladies fanning their faces with their hands. Downtown it’s a colorful parade of sun-screened faces, shorts and sandals and can we have some iced tea…? Let’s go in somewhere with AC!
The heat she can take — she’s used to it, even — but Lillie might feel a little struck by the calling of this place. And for the few days they have, she feels like indulging in the fantasy of what could’ve been a life here, a Summertime affair with an endless city by the sea, where she could write in the humid nights, and spend her days by the marine, taking in the salty air, watching her porcelain skin shade under the sun…
Ah…a girl can dream.
And a girl can always count on their stubborn, impossible elder sibling to crush said dreams without a moment’s hesitation, because right at the other, grimmer end of Lillie’s dream — and next to her on the table — is Gladion, who is sweating profusely under the three layers he deemed appropriate to wear on the trip over, and that he refuses to take off even now, when it’s been well over an hour since their arrival, and it’s beyond evident that the heat-wave isn’t passing any-time soon.
Gladion gulps on his iced tea as if he’d just finished a quest through the desert, and no-doubt in a manner that would have their mother gasping in horror at the lack of table-etiquette.
(Then again, this is a bit of an oasis, however temporary, and what their mother doesn’t know won’t hurt her.)
For all of Lillie’s day-dreaming, she can’t forget this visit isn’t precisely a vacation, yet, with most of their time unscheduled, and without the all-seeing eyes of their parents, or the weight of their last name back in Alola, it almost feels like one. Keeping Gladion from melting into a poodle is a small price to pay, a tiny responsibility compared to what’s usually expected of her.
But how-ever could she complain? When thanks to this visit they also get a chance to see their friends again. Their smiles are bright as the day, carefree, sincere and beautiful. Ash has gotten tanner, likely a consequence of their time in the Orange Archipelago; and even though it’s not even been a year since they last saw each other, Lillie can almost swear Goh has gotten taller (she had to stand on her tippy-toes to hug him earlier, and that definitely wasn’t the case last November).
Ash and Goh are the embodiment of her little city-life fantasy, they know exactly where to go, make their way through downtown with springy steps and held hands, despite the scorching heat. You’re gonna love this restaurant, said Ash, as he chose an outdoors table, we come all the time — because you’re obsessed with their bread… — it’s good bread!
It’s inviting, their energy, and Lillie selfishly takes a little of it for herself, fuels on their easy laughter and insane anecdotes, in their cheery grins and the general optimism that is always Ash, but that overtime she’s learned to associate with Goh as well. Big dreams that never feel impossible. Is all within reach, would say Goh, you can hold in your hand…yes, Lillie has grown to believe so as well. It’s hard to deny it, when the living proof is right before you.
“And will you be in Hoenn for long?” Asks Gladion, wiping off the sweat on his forehead with a napkin. Mother sure would have frowned-upon that.
Goh takes a sip of his own drink, and delicately places his glass back on the coaster in a way that, in contrast to Gladion, would have made their mother proud. “Just two weeks,” he replies. And while two-weeks sounds like a lot to Lillie, it’s apparently nothing to Ash and Goh. “Well…I hope it’ll just be the two weeks.”
Ash gives him something that looks like an apologetic smile, and his hand squeezes Goh’s shoulder, where it’s been resting on the back of his chair pretty much since they sat down. “It should be two weeks.” He affirms.
Something tells Lillie it’ll likely be longer. “It sure must be nice, to travel so much,” she says, a little wistfully.
Both of her friends nod. “It is,” says Goh immediately, “but you miss home a lot.” For the way his blue-eyes cast down, Lillie can tell he’s experienced it firsthand. “I really miss our Pokémon here. And our families, when we are away.”
Lillie nods sympathetically, a pang of whatever longing Goh is describing resonating through her. Her Pokémon travel with her at all times (though she has four of them, and not nearly five-hundred, so perhaps it’s an easier case to carry); but she certainly can understand the ‘missing your family’ part.
Gladion she couldn’t live without; her best-friend and protector since before she was even born, and stubborn and annoying as he might be, Lillie could never imagine leaving him behind, and it still hurts to remember the time in their youth in which he wasn’t around, prideful and decided to accomplish a goal Lillie couldn’t yet entirely understand.
But even then, Gladion was always looking after her, always there for Lillie when she needed him, and that’s a kindness Lillie would gladly spend a lifetime repaying, especially now, that she is grown enough to look after Gladion in her own ways.
Their father…goodness. She had already spent too long without her father, too long thinking him gone for good, and then embarked in what at times felt like an endless adventure looking for the man. Now that she’s got him back, that he’s in her life again, Lillie can’t imagine a week going by without their reading sessions, without his notes on her books, or how they both have a thing for photography. Oh, no, he’s too dear for her to lose.
And even her mother, mortifying as she is, it’s a fixture Lillie wouldn’t want to part with, ironic as that feels. Yes, she’s insane, but loving despite that. To her eyes Lillie may be an eternal child, but that’s something she can come to terms with, if it means her mother will always hug her so warmly, and continues telling her she’s the greatest treasure of them all.
Still, Lillie can’t say she would miss her family all that much, if it’s only a few days away, if she can get lost in this concrete jungle and live her fantasy for a few precious stolen days. “It’s a beautiful city,” is what she replies, “I can see why you’d miss it.”
Ash doesn’t miss a beat. “Wait till you see the lab!” He exclaims, cheery as ever. “You’ll love it, Lillie, there’s this huge park where all our Pokémon live, it’s got a forest and a pond, and…” With how excited he seems, Lillie doesn’t find the heart to tell him she’s seen plenty of pictures of the Cerise park, that Goh would show her on their lunch-breaks back at the Aether Foundation.
Instead she offers her gentlest smiles, and says, “It sounds lovely.” It truly does, and she’s been looking forward to meeting Goh’s hundreds of Pokémon, especially with how fondly he’s spoken of them all these years. “Will we meet Chloe as well?” She wonders, hopeful. Chloe is the person Goh would speak of the most (after Ash, that is), and he would always say how she and Lillie had a lot in common, and would probably get along very well together.
Sweetly, Goh lights up at the mention of his childhood friend, and nods. “Yes!” He confirms. “She’ll meet us in the afternoon, back at the lab.”
As someone who is also coursing their middle years of university, Lillie understands Chloe’s busy schedule all too well, so she nods and mentions how eager she is to meet the other girl as well, and hear about her own research projects.
Not much later, halfway through their lunch, she finally feels exasperated enough with Gladion’s predicament, and subtly leans in to whisper. “Take your sweater off, brother,” it’s a seemingly sweet suggestion, but it doesn’t go without a hint of stop acting like a stubborn imbecile laced in her tone.
Gladion frowns, resolutely shaking his head. “Absolutely not. I will get a sunburn.”
Ah, so that was it. If only he’d listened to Lillie and put some sun-screen on, as she’d kindly recommended before they disembarked…ah, but he seems to be struggling for real, so Lillie takes pity on him, and swiftly orders another pitcher of water for their table. If Gladion is so decided to sweat his bodyweight, at the very least she can keep him hydrated…and extend that misery a little longer.
Across from them, and seemingly oblivious of their melting blond friend, Ash and Goh don’t look like they’re feeling the mid-Summer heat at all. The fact that they’re wearing one layer — and not three — probably helps. She also knows they’ve just come back from a season across a tropical archipelago, so that could be helping with their superior handling of the weather as well.
Intrigued, and having only heard the scientific bits from Gladion, Lillie asks about the Orange Islands, and the rest of lunch goes by in listening to their tales of camping by the shores and in the depths of the forest, and her eyes open like plates when they begin to depict the — frankly impressive — story of an impossible quest in a place called Shamouti Island.
In the midst of storytelling, Lillie begins to realize something.
It’s something she’s been suspecting for a minute, but that at the time, when she first picked up on it, felt a bit much like a teen-aged fantasy, her wishful heart projecting on things that weren’t there.
Why, today they are definitely there.
It lives in the way her friends complete each other’s sentences so easily, adding bits to the other’s story. In the way they tease each other with playful jabs and inside jokes, that, despite flying over both her and Gladion’s head, carry an undeniable sense of intimacy. It’s comfortable and settled and kind, so kind.
Ash and Goh are right there, in front of Lillie, talking to her and engaging in the conversation, answering Gladion’s burning questions, and yet, at the same time, somehow, they’re in a world of their own.
And…Oh, I see.
It hits Lillie like an ice-beam from her Ninetales would, leaving her stunned. And she only has half the mind to turn to her brother again, her green eyes screaming the question her mouth can’t utter. Gladion’s own gaze meets hers, and he nods in the subtlest of motions, confirming that yeah, he’s seeing this, too. And he’s just as shocked.
A few seconds later, when the stupor waves through, she feels a little silly, because of course. It’s finally time. And it’s finally real. The cold shock melts into radiant warmth when the revelation settles, and once that happens, the new certainty brings her a sense of peace. Of comfort and optimism, feelings she easily associates with Ash and Goh already.
She spares a thought for Gladion, though. While she may be thrilled and excited for this discovery, she knows there’s a fundamental difference between her feelings and those of her brother.
But when she casts her eyes sideways again, all she sees is that Gladion has a small smile playing on his lips, and it’s actively asking Goh about Professor Ivy’s take on the bank migrations, even his stand-off with the heatwave seems to be momentarily forgotten.
Fleetingly, she suspects he’s deflecting, taking a tangent to avoid dealing with the truth. But then she looks closer, and sees the genuine glint of mirth in his eyes, the one everyone in her family has, and that none of them can fake.
Lillie understands that he feels it, too; that he’s made his peace with this truth, that he’s happy for them as well.
That’s a lot to get from just one look, but if there is one thing Lillie prides herself, is in understanding what lies in the essence of a person. And for Gladion, she knows, there’s endless kindness within.
It’s also the reason why her eyes water a little at the sight in front of her, at this beautiful, wonderful revelation that is making her feel as though she’ll burst with unconcealed joy.
Ah, it seems as though treacherous tear has escape her, and it’s promptly making everyone around her worry.
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m fine!” She tells them, wiping her silly tear away, smiling all throughout. “I just got a little emotional,” she confesses, “that adventure with Lugia sounds so wonderful,” it’s not entirely a lie, she can forgive herself for it. And she certainly won’t be elaborating on the real reasons for her display. “Don’t mind me.” She insists, and not even her brother looks as worried as Ash, brown eyes saddened by her sudden outburst.
Silly Ash, thinks Lillie. How much she adores him. Oh, how she wishes she could tell her younger self how proud she’d be of him in the future, how marvelous it’d be to still call him a friend. To tell her that all those dreams of greatness she had for him he would grow to realize. And young Lillie, you needn’t worry, for he won’t be realizing them alone.
She places a bold hand over his on the table, placating, and reassures him that she’s all right. Then she turns her bright green eyes to Goh, promising him the same thing. And Goh, also so dear to her heart, nods as if he understands, and turns toward Ash and tells him to stop fussing, Lillie said she’s all right. It’s all right.
(Goh understood early on their own friendship that, sometimes, Lillie just felt things a little stronger than most. He was ever-kind, and patient, and showed nothing but his uttermost support during the endless afternoons they spent working on her first children’s book collection, their bond oddly blooming in the midst of picture-boards and lettering options:
“Don’t you have important work to do? I bet you think this is so silly.”
But, much like Ash, Goh didn’t think any job was too small. “Not all all! This is awesome! These books will show kids how awesome Pokémon are, right? That’s important, too, Lillie. So important.”
As it turned out, learning about Pokémon is what would keep Goh entertained as a child, long-before he could have any, long-before he became a trainer, and if these books could reach other kids like him, who spend their days by themselves, and accompanied only by pages and pages of Pokémon stories — well, then, they better made Lillie’s books the very best ones out there.
So important.
Such a pure heart as well, in Goh. And Lillie could see then, clear as she can see now, why Ash had fallen so hard. Why they were drawn to one-another.)
She reassures them it’s fine, and goes back to her desert to demonstrate how there’s nothing to worry about, Ash, have you tried this cheesecake? It’s very sweet!
The whole thing is quickly forgotten after that, and, crisis adverted and Lunch finished, Lillie finally thinks it’s been enough torture for Gladion, and subtly redirects the attention to her heat-stroking brother.
While she would love nothing more than to continue discovering the city, she hasn’t forgotten how Goh and Gladion have plans to work on a project this afternoon, and maybe it’s time they head to the famous Cerise Lab, and the equally famous Cerise Park, where Goh’s four-hundred-and-something Pokémon live, the main reason why they have chosen this magical city to be their home.
…
A few hours later, Lillie finds herself sipping iced-tea again, next to who turns out to be a beyond-charming Chloe, who had just come back from her classes of the day, all long-hair, fair-make-up, and a Summer dress that made Lillie shriek in delight, with how utterly beautiful it was. Where did you get it? She asks, and Chloe, sweet beyond herself upon a minute of having met, replied without a hitch, a little boutique by the coast-line! I’ll take you! The new collection is beautiful.
Fortunately, Ninetales gets swimmingly with Goh’s ice-types almost immediately, and his own Kanto Ninetales begins to chase her around in an invitation for play, a handful of Goh’s and Chloe’s other Pokémon joining as well.
Goh and Gladion have been inside the lab for a while now, and Ash has been training with his roaster for the majority of that time. He’s got an important battle coming up, apparently, and has been taking onto a careful training regime in preparation for the event.
Even as a bystander, Lillie can tell there’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders, can feel how serious he is about this battle, and what it represents on his ‘Pokémon Master’ journey.
It might be silly of her, but to see him so decided fills her with admiration, and an odd pride. That’s my friend, she thinks, inspiration flooding her to pursue her own dreams, even teasing her to dream bigger.
“How long will you be here?” Asks the lovely Chloe, as they soak their feet in the water of the Park’s pond, petting the Pokémon that come near the edge to meet her. No longer scared, but rather eager to spend time and get to know these beautiful creatures, Lillie welcomes them with open arms and wide grins, talks to them as if she’d known them forever (with how much Goh would speak of them, that statement doesn't sound entirely wrong).
Lillie runs a hand through Seel’s head, smiling down to him. “Just until Sunday,” she replies, already dreading how time began to tick-down the moment they arrived. “I wish we could stay longer, though. It’s so beautiful here.”
She means the park, the city, this very moment.
Chloe tells her about school, her archeology and botany classes, and Lillie repays by outlining her recent essays on ancient Pokémon literature, they have common ground in their love for history and books, and they branch from there into learning about the other’s unique applications of their fields. Goh was absolutely right, her and Chloe have so much in common that it takes but a few minutes of conversation for Lillie to consider a dear friend already.
There’s so much to talk about, in fact, that Lillie nearly misses the way the sun begins to set, until the glass surrounding them begins to turn all shades of orange, which is simply too entrancing to ignore. “Oh, wow,” she says, quietly, in awe of the movement around them.
‘I know,” says Chloe by her side, she too seems a bit mesmerized, even when, probably, this is a moment she experiences every day.
Goh and Gladion make their way to the park eventually, and all of Goh’s Pokémon — along with half of Ash’s roaster — rush their way across the meadow to meet him, excited and hoping to play.
“They sure love him,” Lillie comments, looking in their general direction, where Goh is currently trying to fit as many of his Pokémon as he can in his arms.
Chloe rolls her eyes, but the fondness filters through anyway. “He leaves for so many weeks at a time, they just go crazy when he’s here.” She explains. Lillie gets a feeling that she misses him dearly, too, even though she’s a little too proud to admit it.
Then Ash walks up to the other men, and only then does Lillie repair on the water bottle and the towel Goh’s brought with him, offerings for Ash to take in his tired hands, that are stained with grass and dirt and hard-work.
Next to her, Chloe positively scorns. “Aren’t they so sweet? Ugh.”
Lillie laughs, enchanted by the crude sarcasm. “Are they…you know?”
Chloe shrugs, “sickeningly in love? Yeah.”
Well, yeah, but that much she already knows. That much everyone can tell.
But she’d meant something else.
Eyes narrowing, Lillie gives Chloe a careful side-glance. She’s looking toward their friends as well, and there’s this…this twinkle in her eyes. Oh, she definitely knows. Has gone through the same revelation Lillie went through earlier, probably a long time ago.
So Lillie presses forward, trusting that the complicity born between two women is unbreakable. She needn’t worry of her impertinence being misinterpreted, because this conversation isn’t happening, and is already an agreed upon secret. “Yeah,” Lillie says. Everyone with eyes can tell they are in love. But… “Do you think they are going to — ”
Chloe raises a hand to stop her, her own green eyes widened, and her smile hardly contained with how she tries to press her lips together. “You think so, too?” She urges, emotion dripping from her every word.
I’ve been thinking about it for months!, she says, exasperated, I don’t understand how no-one else has noticed it yet. Honestly, I mean — is everyone blind? Isn’t it painfully obvious?
It is, confirms Lillie, though she can easily understand how it may not be, because, like Chloe has just said, not many others seem to have picked up on it. And if they have, they’re doing a marvelous work at keeping their reactions in check. Much better than Lillie, at least, who nearly broke down in happy tears at a cafe downtown three hours earlier.
Chloe laughs with sympathy, and holds her hand as she tells her it’s fine; when she figured it out, Chloe nearly destroyed one of her favorite plushies in an outburst of confused joy and frustration, because, once her initial shock had passed, the realization that she was the only one who’d worked it out positively infuriated her.
The very only one.
“Oh, so you mean they haven’t — ?”
Certainly, that can’t be right. Not with the way Goh has brought berries and snacks for Ash’s Pokémon to recharge after their intense training, and the way Ash so proudly shows Goh the new moves they’ve been working on.
And certainly it can’t be, with how Ash held his arm around Goh’s shoulders through nearly the entire lunch, and offered to drive when he noticed — without any prompting — that Goh didn’t feel like surfing through the early afternoon traffic on their way to the laboratory.
But Chloe responds with a long, suffering sigh. And perhaps Lillie’s wrong. “Those two will be the very last ones to figure it out.” She says, meaning it to sound every bit as resigned and irritated as it does.
She tells Lillie all about it. The late-nights at the lab, the itinerary planning, the coffee-thing (which has Lillie conflicted between laughing and crying again), and the conversation she recently overheard about finding a house (Ah, no way! — I know!).
They spend the rest of their uninterrupted time coming up with all the theories and ideas their imaginative minds can muster, indulging in that teen-aged colorful fantasy Lillie would recriminate herself in her youth, but that feels acceptable now, in the complicit company of her new friend.
It’s a most wonderful time, until Gladion calls her name just as the sun begins to set, telling Lillie it’s time to leave for the hotel. You can meet later. We’ll be here through the weekend, he says, and Lillie thinks she liked him better when he was sweating too much to form coherent speech.
“Have lunch with me tomorrow?” Requests Chloe, giving her a brief hug goodbye.
Lillie’s got a packed agenda the next morning; it will be meetings until the early afternoon, editor after editor, one publishing house after another, as she works to have her children’s book collection expand into the Kanto region. It’ll take the greater chunk of her energy to stand her ground and ensure things are done on her terms, and even though she’s gotten world’s better and has largely outgrown her shyness and anxiety, it still takes a lot from her, some-times.
With all that on her plate, Lillie already knows she’ll be exhausted by the time the last meeting rolls by. But she absolutely will not pass an opportunity to spend time with a friend. “Of course,” she replies, as she offers her phone forward to exchange numbers.
On the taxi-ride to the hotel, Gladion gently touches her forearm, catching her attention from when her gaze has been lost in the passing scenery of Vermillion’s sunset. Beautiful, she thinks, as she begins to tune in to her brother’s words.
“Don’t say a thing,” it’s what Gladion says, to which Lillie responds with a questioning look. “What you realized today, don’t mention it,” he elaborates. Lillie frowns. Of course, she wouldn’t be so indiscreet as to say it to them. “Don’t say it to anyone,” insists Gladion. And, well, she’s already messed up with that one, hasn’t she. “Especially to the people back home.”
Ah. “I wasn’t planning to,” she responds, looking at her brother with some distrust. It’s still a wonderful thing, though, and she thought they were on the same page about that. She tells him as much.
“It is wonderful, Lillie.” It’s sort of a dry statement, but she understand he means it all the same. “But it’s…er — it’s their thing, all right? We shouldn’t meddle.”
“I wasn’t going to meddle,” she defends, turning her head in dismay, puffing her cheeks as if she’d just been terribly scolded.
How audacious of him! To accuse her like that.
Gladion sighs, while Lillie feels every year that breaches between them, in a way she hasn’t in a long time. She feels like a child for a moment, chided by her older brother in a topic that he — seemingly — knows much more about than her. What is more, he doesn’t even grace her with the kindness of explaining himself, but rather chooses to be cryptic (and annoying) about the things he knows and she doesn’t. Stupid big brother.
But then, and as if to remind her that he is, in fact, not the worst older-brother — but definitely still contending for a spot — Gladion crushes the rising tension by ruffling her blonde hair affectionately, messing up her delicate braid in the process.
“It’s just…let them work it out first, okay?”
Rolling her eyes, but willing to give him one last-chance of redemption, Lillie turns to see him again, only to confirm what she already sensed in his tone.
Gladion is positively endeared. Charmed, even, by what is going on with their friends, and while his poker-face was excellent throughout the afternoon, he’s completely rid of it right now, and Lillie can see, clearly as she did with Chloe an hour before, how he already knows everything.
So they laugh, openly and just a little manic, indulging in the discourtesy, since their mother is not around to tell them to get a grip. Instead is only the taxi driver eyeing them strangely from the front seat, and with a generous tip, that’s a fault that can be easily forgiven.
This time, Lillie doesn’t try to cage back the few tears that escape her. It’s fine. She’s glad. She’s so glad.
Gladion offers a handkerchief, and she wipes her faulty joy away as she tells him of the coffee thing Chloe had confided that afternoon. Gladion surprises her when he confesses that Goh did the same with the water, and they keep comparing notes of the counted, yet very noticeable things that arose through this one afternoon. Only one afternoon. And they are always like this?
It’s truly surprising no more people have figured it out.
Lillie admires the glinting ocean from her hotel-room’s window. The orange melting over the blue, entrancing and immediately forged in her mind, as she pulls out her diary, and begins to pour in her heart into the pages, retelling all about her day, and her beautiful discoveries in this painteresque town that earned her love within minutes.
That wonderful bridge, that seemed so far away upon her arrival is actually near this area, and even more impressive up-close, and she chooses to sit near her window, so she can continue admiring it as she writes.
It’s but a few minutes until the sun hides for good, for today at least. And Lillie can’t help but think of how it will likely be a long-minute before those two ‘work it out’, as Gladion had said.
But when they do…ah, I can hardly think of a more beautiful moment. And I can’t imagine anything brighter than their faces, when the day finally arrives. I hope I am so lucky, to be a part of the celebration. Oh! Please, let it be the loveliest of celebrations…
“Soon,” she mutters, as she pictures the scene in her mind, and as she writes the same words on her journal. A prayer, a promise, and, above all else, an unwavering certainty. Warm and powerful, like Ash and Goh themselves.
☀️
Gladion
Ash better wins the master-class qualifiers this year, because that is the only way Gladion will be willing to accept his crushing defeat against the Kanto champion was a well-deserved one. Ash is strong, he has been preparing for a life-changing tournament, and he is so good, in fact, that he handed the current Alola champion his loss in a silver-platter. Yes, Gladion will proudly lose to a master-class champion, but nothing less, and only this once.
It’s funny, the way Ash gets a little bashful and tells him that he’s not so sure, the qualifiers will be tough. He still compliments their battle and gives Gladion his thanks for training with him, says that their last moves with Umbreon are unlike anything he’d seen before; Gladion knows, he’d spent half the Winter working on that new technique with his companion, and yet, Ash was able to read into it right after the first hit.
In his mind there is no doubt that Ash is ready for this upcoming championship, as there isn’t any doubt, either, that he will soon join the highest-ranking trainers in the world.
There’s also another thing Gladion has noticed Ash is ready for, but this he is more careful to bring up. He keeps resolutely quiet about it, actually, and only allows himself the indiscretion of commenting it with Lillie, who is far too youthful and invested for her own good. Alas, Gladion has never known how to deny her anything, even the inappropriate gossiping over their friend’s lives, and what may or may not be happening some-time in the future, though Gladion would be lying if he said he isn’t quite invested, as well.
Yet none of that he shares with Ash, or with Goh, for that matter, with whom he’s been working for the better part of their short visit. The migrational patterns data they’d brought from their Orange Islands trip proved to be a match with recent data collected by other laboratories across different regions, and it has now become a cross-regional effort of several scientists and Professors, the entire scheme spearheaded and led from the Cerise Institute, and in the hands of their youngest research-associate.
It’s fascinating work, and Gladion doesn’t have the time to idly day-dream of what could be, too entranced in science that already is, and now needs to be put in its rightful place. Besides, regarding this other topic, Gladion doesn’t feel the need to say anything, as he deems is blatantly obvious for everyone to see what is going on.
It is…blatantly obvious for everyone to see what is going on…right?
“Good battle,” Gladion hears Goh say, as he approaches their improvised battle field when the dust has settled for good, he brings a water bottle to Ash, and extends another to Gladion, who accepts it with a graceful bow of his head.
“Thank you,” Gladion offers, both to the gesture and the compliment. But his words are quickly barreled over by Ash’s own, loud and energetic, despite the intense battle they’ve just engaged in.
“Thank you!” He replies, chugging his water at alarming speed. He breaths out, warm puff of air leaving him, and gives Goh a hopeful glance. “Are you up to train with Cinderace later?”
Goh hums, and Gladion finds himself pinned under the intense-blue-gaze that used to make him blush, once upon a time. “Maybe… but we’re kinda caught up with the research right now — ”
“Please.” And, there’s no other way to describe it, but Ash Ketchum, several times League champion, and one of the Kanto Elite four, just whined, pitiful and childish and definitely trying to get his way with something.
Gladion winces at how loud the cry is, but Goh merely blinks, undeterred. “Don’t whine,” he chastises. And Ash does quit his whining, but instead now he pouts. “I’ll try, all right? Maybe in the early evening, if you still want to — ”
“Always,” replies Ash at once, taking the maybe as an inevitable yes.
And Gladion sees it again, the smile he has seen a million times over, the one that Goh unwittingly created exclusively for Ash. It’s a smile that breaks over Goh’s entire face, his eyes shine particularly bright, and, even when he tries to fight it, his mouth eventually curls into a broad grin.
Everyone can see that, right? He’s not insane. It’s not like Gladion spend uncounted hours thinking of this particular smile of Goh’s, and hoping against hope that it could be his instead, and not designed exclusively for the fellow Alolan champion…
No, he thinks, he knows better than that these days, and, certainly, a detail like this wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“I can prepare the report for today’s data, and send it to the other teams,” Gladion offers, wanting to be useful. Despite his antics, Ash seemed pretty serious about his sparring session with Goh, and he knows every chance of training counts when preparing for such a big event.
Ash looks hopeful again, while Goh raises a brow. “Are you sure?” He asks, and Gladion knows that Goh, considerate as ever, is thinking of just how much work it goes into the reports, and that’s it’s not an easy task for one person to overtake.
Though Gladion worked with Goh for years, and he also knows his blue-eyed friend is a bit of a control-freak when it comes to the work, so it could simply be him not wanting to relinquish the autonomy over data that, they both know, Gladion could sort through in his sleep. “I’m sure,” is what he replies, aiming for a reassuring voice. “That way you two can train through the afternoon.”
Ash whimpers again, this time in excitement, and he’s practically trembling with emotion, as he awaits for Goh’s response.
With a careful side-glance to Ash, and a resigned sigh to Gladion, Goh finally relents. “All right,” he begins to say, and he’s quick to place a hand to Ash’s wrist, halting him from rocketing off the ground. “Just for a few hours, Ash,” he adds, all seriousness in his voice, “you need to get some proper rest.”
There’s no room for questioning, and Ash nods his understanding while still grinning manically. It’s not been half a moment since Goh releases the hold on his wrist, and he is already blasting off into the park, calling for the Pokémon, and telling them Goh and him will be battling today! Anyone who wants to battle with us raise your hands!
Goh sighs again, and walks up to Gladion as he shakes his head, between resigned and endeared. “Change your mind?”
Please. “Not a chance.” Replies Gladion, smirking in self-satisfaction with the way he makes Goh chuckle. They gaze Ash’s way for a minute, the hoard of Pokémon crowding around him, chanting how they want to join the upcoming training matches. “He’s really — ” something, thinks Gladion. But of course, this much Goh already knows. “He’s going to win this thing, huh,” is what he says instead.
“Yeah,” is what Goh replies, his eyes never leaving Ash, following him and moving as the trainer and Pikachu begin to gauge their potential adversaries. “He is ready.”
It’s a simple statement, and the very same thing Gladion had been thinking about some minutes before. But from Goh’s lips, it sounds like an absolute. Not he’s trained a lot, he’s ready. Or, he’s been a champion for years, he’s ready. What Goh means — the way it comes out is: Ash is ready. All of him. His twenty-years have led him here, and he is ready. No conditions to it. No maybes. He’s winning. That’s it.
Gladion first realized it a few days back, when they were having lunch downtown, and, even through his blurry sight caused by the infernal heat — he certainly hasn’t made the mistake of wearing that many layers again — he was able to notice the inside jokes, the side-glances, how Goh would patiently tell Ash to slow down as he wolfed down his food, and how Ash, untrue to his character, didn’t seem to have any problems sharing his fries with Goh.
It lives in the little things, it’s what Gladion has always believed. In the domesticity of nearly-forgettable moments, and in the power of simple, three word statements. It’s that duality of relationships he has seen over and over, in their parents, in Professor Burnet and her husband, and now in Ash and Goh.
Don’t drink the water too fast. He is ready.
So it’s Goh, in Gladion’s opinion. Both of them are. And if it’s his keen eye, his never untrained capacity to pay attention to Goh, even when his unrequited feelings have long since — gratefully — subdued, if it’s simply that they are painfully obvious. Well, Gladion can’t know for sure.
But he doubts it matters all that much. He won’t be the one to say anything, that much he does know. And he knows his sister, and their newly acquired friend Chloe won’t be running their mouths, either. All of them too careful, too respectful of their friends to allow such an indiscretion to slip through — even so, insists Gladion’s mind, it can’t be that far off.
Not with the way Goh has just expressed himself, his sureness, and his earlier indulgence of Ash’s whims, despite his act of resistance. The unwavering support they show for each other’s dreams and goals.
That’s what it’s all about, after all. Is it not?
Goh has to know. Unconsciously, subconsciously, he has to know already. He’s the smartest person Gladion has ever met, and something like this wouldn’t fly over his head.
From a distance, Ash’s loud calls pull Gladion out of his thoughts. “Come on!” He says, a handful of Pokémon behind him. “Let’s go get lunch! I can’t beat Goh on an empty stomach!”
Well, Ash might take a bit longer to work it out.
But Gladion is confident, he’ll get there eventually.
“Who says you’re beating me?” Challenges Goh, a snide expression on his face.
He feels Goh pat his shoulder, and sees him beckons for Gladion to follow back into the lab, where lunch should be being served right around now. Good, he’s kinda starving, gracefully losing to a future master-class champion really works quite an appetite.
Through Goh’s snap response, Gladion is once again reminded of how these two were perfectly crafted for one another, how they read each other without a fault. There is really not much left in him to feel sad, or even resentful about this fact, Gladion had always known it, and he worked hard to make his peace with this reality from the very day he realized his feelings.
But nothing brings him more serenity than realizing now just how genuinely glad it makes him, to recognize the bond his friends share. It’s a statement to his growth. Not only acceptance, but true glee and hope on what the future holds for them.
He watches Goh run down and catch up with Ash, and instead of holding hands cutely, as they are prone to usually do, Gladion sees them race each other towards the exit of the Park, fighting to be the first one through the door. Then, seemingly not yet done with the competition, he sees their dashing forms disappear down the trail to the Lab’s back-entrance, where they fight to be the first one-through again.
Gladion chuckles, thinks of his sister and her youthful heart, and how she would have loved to witness this moment, just now.
Then he remembers Goh’s words.
He’s ready.
But all in due time, thinks Gladion, as he makes his patient way out of the park and to the lab. And no matter when that time comes: they are ready.
(They also decide to compete for who can fill their plates faster, Gladion finds, as he walks into the cafeteria, and is met with muffins flying everywhere and soda dripping on the floor.
And, oh, yeah, Gladion is definitely telling Lillie all about this later. No details spared.)