A Journey's Link

Chapter 26 - Celebratory

Goh and Max went up to Ash, Lucario, and the very embarrassed Serena, and thanked Ash for saving them from the Spearow. Goh, however, was thinking about what had just happened with Ash and Serena. She hugged him but seemed to regret it, he thought. Weird. He watched as everyone interacted with each other when a thought crossed his mind but decided not to think too much of it.

"Hey, guys!" Goh said, attempting to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped talking and looked over at Goh, who had a slightly nervous look on his face. "I'm Goh!" he exclaimed. "For those of you who don't know." He looked over at Max as he said this.

Max stepped up to Goh and held out his hand. "I'm Max," he said, introducing himself. "I'm gonna be a really strong trainer and beat Ash!" He said the last part with passion, enough for Goh to chuckle at how much Max reminded him of Ash. Max took his chuckle the wrong way and started threatening Goh. "You think I won't beat him?! I will, you'll see!" he said proudly.

Goh casually put his hands up in defense. "No, no, it's not like that," he explained, smiling. "It's just you're acting a lot like Ash." Everyone laughed at the last part, much to Max's embarrassment. Even though he wouldn't admit it, being told he was acting like Ash filled him with much pride and motivation.

Finishing his laughter, Goh cleared his throat again and decided to speak up again. "I was thinking maybe we should go to a Pokemon Center and I get to know all of you." He began nervously clenching his hands as he spoke the next part. "Maybe I can be friends with all of you?" He looked down as he said this last part. Everyone looked around at each other and smiled, nodding in the process.

"Of course, we'll be friends with you!" everyone said in unison. Goh looked up, shocked that they decided that quickly to be friends with him. Serena must've seen his shocked look and said, "If someone is friends with Ash, then we'll be friends with them, too!" Goh smiled and nodded, glad that they accepted him as friends.

"Let's go now, then!" May exclaimed with a look on her face. "I'm starving, and I'm sure there's a good restaurant in Vermillion City!" Goh chuckled at May and realized she acted just like Ash as well, making him wonder if maybe May and Max were related. I'll have to ask them later, he thought.

Serena looked in disbelief at May at her ability to eat so much, but laughed it off and agreed that they should set off towards the Center before it got too dark. "Alright then, off we go!" Ash exclaimed, walking ahead of everyone else as he was also starving.

Everyone started following Ash before he stopped and turned around with a confused look on his face. "What's wrong?" May asked. Ash looked at everyone and asked, "Which way is Vermillion City?", much to everyone's dismay. Serena giggled as she used her phone to find the location of Vermillion City from within the forest.

"Found it!" she exclaimed. "It's that way!" She pointed in the complete opposite direction Ash was going, causing everyone else to make a note to never trust Ash if he ever said to follow him without any guidance whatsoever.

Walking through the forest, Goh walked alongside Ash; Serena would have but was bombarded by May who wanted to talk with her about a new Contest strategy she devised after seeing Blaziken jump so high. "So," Goh began. "Are we going to go to Anistar City tomorrow?" He remembered seeing a flight for the next morning when he was looking for flights the night before.

"Oh, Anistar City, that's right!" Ash said. "I completely forgot we were supposed to go today because of everything that's been happening. First Paul, then my bag, and now my friends." As he finished that last statement, he looked ahead towards the group walking in front of them being led by Serena.

Goh wanted an answer about going to Anistar City, but he remembered his hypothesis regarding Serena. "Hey Ash," Goh said with a playful curiosity in his voice. "What do you think of Serena?" Goh wasn't the brightest when it came to feelings and everything about them, but Serena's actions were so obvious he was surprised Ash didn't notice by this point. Then again, Goh thought. Ash is probably the densest guy I know.