Adventure's Past

Chapter 16 - Away

I've just got to go to Snowbelle City, he told himself as he looked up the location on a map. If they were there last time, then that means they might still be there, he thought logically. Sure, it was a long shot to assume that, but Goh had nothing to lose when it came to finding Ash. His other friends had disrespected his way of thinking and failed to believe his determination, so this was no issue for Goh.

As he turned off his computer, feeling as though he had wasted his time at his house, a thought entered his mind. When he had spoken to the Team Rocket Trio, they had said that once Giovanni was gone, they were going to go back to stealing Pokemon, despite Goh passionately yelling at them to consider otherwise.

The second wave of realization came over him again, this time harder than the first one. If the only reason they stopped being Team Rocket members was to avoid Giovanni, then what was stopping them from going back after he was gone? He asked himself. Answering his own question then and there, Goh knew he needed to find the three to confirm a few things.

Don't tell me those three went right back to stealing, he thought in annoyance as he walked out of his house and released Flygon. And if they are, please don't tell me they're in Team Rocket again. Goh hopped on Flygon and began his trip to Snowbelle City were hoped to find the three members who could help Goh in his quest to find Ash.

{—}

"Serena, is that you?"

"Hey, mom."

Serena didn't know where to begin. She used to call her mom after Ash left, but told her barely anything, just what she had eaten that day and how she was feeling. The last time she had a real conversation with her mother was right before she left Kalos for Hoenn; right before she had kissed Ash goodbye. She hadn't even told her mother about that.

"I-I can't believe you're calling!" Serena's mother, Grace, exclaimed, making Serena feel guilty. "Um, yeah, but I can't call for very long," Serena lied softly. "You haven't called for years and you can't even stay on for very long?" Grace said with a mixture of emotions that Serena couldn't quite figure out.

"Mom, I have duties as Kalos Queen," Serena explained. "And right now I'm waiting for an airplane so I can go to the Johto region." Grace huffed on her end and said, "Okay, fine. Can you at least tell me what you've been doing these past three years that you haven't called me?" Serena shuffled on the bench uncomfortably as she thought about what to say next.

"I've just been doing stuff that any Kalos Queen would do," Serena explained again. "And what would that be?" Grace asked in a questioning tone. "Does that include staying in your apartment room all day and only leaving for shopping?" Serena froze up at the mention of the truth from her mother and took a shaky breath.

"How do you know what's been going on?" Serena asked nervously. Grace sighed again and said, "I talked to your advisor, Palermo. She told me that you refuse to do another Performance Showcase to battle for Kalos Queen." Serena rubbed her forehead as she listened to Grace speak. "Why don't you do anything, Serena?"

"You know why," Serena replied harshly. "No, I don't, so why don't you tell me," Grace said in a concerned manner. "Did something happen that you won't tell me about?" Serena frowned as she thought about the question. Everything happened, she answered in her head. But I can't tell you about it because I'm worried about what will happen.

"M-Mom, I have to go," Serena said. There was silence on Grace's end before she simply stated, "Fine, whatever. Do what you need to do," and hung up, leaving Serena to stare blankly at the bustling airport she sat in.

A man in a uniform began approaching her, so she looked up and forced a smile. "Ma'am, we've figured out that there are enough seats for you to board safely," he said politely. Serena breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the man, as she prepared her ticket. Looks like I'm going to be having some luck after all.

The call with her mother left a sour taste in her mouth, but she couldn't dwell on that for too long. She had a mission, which was to understand what was going on with Ash and if had returned. Despite this, she had one thing in her mind. I won't fall for him again. I can't fall for him again.

{—}

Chloe was tired after dealing with Goh and his annoying antics, so when she stormed out of the Pokemon Center after slapping him, she didn't really think about where she was going to go. After a few hours of her just wandering the city, she decided to go back to the Center in hopes that Goh wasn't there and she could figure out where to go.

She entered the Pokemon Center and approached Nurse Joy to heal her Pokemon since they were still exhausted from the Performance. "How can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked on cue. Chloe simply pushed forward her Pokeball and asked, "Can you heal Eevee?" Nures Joy nodded and grabbed the Pokeball, but not before commenting, "Your close friend left here pretty quickly after you left, by the way."

Chloe sighed in annoyance at the mention of Goh, but she decided to just sit down and wait for Eevee to be healed. She pulled out her phone and noticed that she had a missed call from her father, someone who she wanted desperately to talk to about her problems. She dialed his number and it began ringing before he picked up on his end.

"Chloe? Have you seen Goh at all?" Professor Cerise asked in a slightly worried voice. "Don't get me started on him," she said in a pissed voice. "No, Chloe. Have you seen Goh? I need to talk to him and he won't answer my calls," he said in a more serious tone. Chloe froze up as she realized her father was acting stranger than usual.

"Goh told me about your problems around an hour ago when he came here," Professor Cerise. "Those problems don't matter right now, I promise. Have you seen him since he was here?" Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had never heard her father acting so serious about something unless it was extremely important.

"N-no, I haven't," she said timidly. "Well, you and I and everyone he's talked to in the past few days need to apologize to him," Professor Cerise said. "Clemont just called me a few minutes ago." Chloe did a double-take on her father's words. "Clemont? Goh just said he was with him."

"Mhm," Professor Cerise mumbled on his end. "That's why we need to talk to him. Clemont just called saying that he was with Ash." Chloe couldn't believe her ears. "Wait, Ash? Like, the Ash that Goh was saying he was going to go find?" She asked in disbelief. "Yup, which is precisely why we need to go find him," Professor Cerise explained.

"If he's going to go chasing after Ash without realizing that's already been found, then I can guarantee that he's going to end up in some big trouble," Professor Cerise said. "We'll need you and the others to go find Goh and make sure he doesn't end up hurting himself." Chloe shuffled uncomfortably as she realized what her father was asking of her.

"You want me to go on a mission to find Goh with Ash?" She asked awkwardly. "Look, I know it's all a bit sudden, but Goh could get involved in some seriously dangerous stuff. He was talking about Team Rocket returning, so I'm worried he could be going down the wrong path." Chloe took a deep breath and saw the light turn on in the Pokemon Center that said her Eevee had been fully healed.

"Fine, I'll help find him," she answered. "But how come you couldn't just track his phone as we tried with Ash?" She asked as she stood up and walked over to the counter to pick up Eevee's Pokeball. "You know Goh. He's... tech-savvy," Professor Cerise muttered. "I've tried to track his location, but it just says unknown, so I'm going to contact Clemont to let them know they need to find Goh and let him know that Ash is back, or else bad things could happen."

Chloe picked up her Pokeball and thanked Nurse Joy. "I guess even though I'm mad at Goh, I can't just let him get hurt," she admitted to her father. "So yeah, tell me where I need to go and I'll go there." Professor Cerise smiled on his end. "Great. Just come to the laboratory and I'll fill you in on everything."

"Alright. Bye, Dad," Chloe said, hanging up on him. She put away her phone and shook her head. She couldn't believe she was about to try to save the very person she pushed away by not believing him. Ash really is back, even after I told Goh he was never coming back, she thought to herself. And it's my fault he's in danger.