1 month later...
"Dove-Pidove! Dove-Pidove!" That was the sound of the alarm telling Goh he needed to wake up. Opening his eyes slowly, he was met with the same blank white wall in the same empty white room. He groaned as he turned over and looked at the time on the alarm, noticing that it was quite early.
It had been a while since the conflict between them and Giovanni went down. Goh knew that they had ended up winning, but a lot of the details were spared from him, thanks to Delia being stingy with the facts. All he knew was that after help had arrived, Giovanni had been restrained accordingly.
Everyone was sent to the Pokemon Center to be treated, but eventually, they moved Goh and Ash to a special care hospital near Viridian City where they could be monitored more closely. Goh later came to find out that it was because while everyone else had somehow only gotten bruises and such, he had broken one of his legs and seriously injured the other.
Pulling himself up in the bed, he looked to his right and saw his crutches situated neatly by his bed. He smiled knowing that Chloe had come in after he had fallen asleep to fix them, as he tended to always set them on the ground upon getting into bed. A knock on the door broke his immersion.
"Come in!" He exclaimed to the visitor. The door creaked open and revealed the group of people that visited him every day. Chloe, Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena all shuffled into the room. "How are you feeling?" Chloe asked, smiling and sitting down next to Goh on the bed.
"The same," Goh responded flatly, staring down. He nodded towards his leg and added, "It feels like this thing won't heal at all." Clemont walked over and said, "It'll take some more time. It's not like you have super healing strength." He gave Goh a friendly punch on the shoulder as he said this.
He had grown closer with Clemont over the past month, as he discovered he and the inventor had a lot in common. "It seems like Ash gravitates towards smart people like us!" Clemont had remarked a few days ago, earning a dirty glance from Bonnie, who stepped on his shoe and said, "Clearly not because he decided to hang around with you!"
Goh loved seeing Bonnie poke fun at Clemont, especially when he got a bit overwhelming. Now was one of those moments, as Bonnie rushed over and said to Goh, "You'll feel better faster than you think! Clemont doesn't know what he's talking about."
Clemont chuckled at Bonnie's opposition and turned back to Goh. "I suppose she's right," he admitted. "Time has flown by, so you might be able to walk again normally in a few days." Goh nodded and responded, "Hopefully. It makes things a lot easier, that's for sure."
He turned around and looked at Serena, who had sat down in a chair near the room's entrance and stared blankly at the wall. Goh sighed and turned to Chloe. "He's still in the same condition, isn't he?" He asked sadly. Chloe nodded and frowned. "The scientists monitoring him said his vitals haven't changed," she explained.
"Except for his Aura levels," Clemont added. "Those have still been fluctuating since the first day." Goh took a deep breath and frowned before laying down on his bed again. "And no one has found Greninja or Lucario yet?" Goh asked the room, which stayed silent for a moment before Serena decided to speak up.
"No," she said weakly, her voice hoarse from not being actively used. "They've been looking, but nothing has come up." Goh felt bad as she spoke, as he knew how much the situation pained her. She and Ash had finally gotten the opportunity to connect without any looming threat, yet it felt somehow worse than when Giovanni was an issue.
"I forgot, what exactly happened with Greninja and Lucario again?" Bonnie asked. "You guys never told me everything." Clemont sighed and looked at Bonnie. "Everyone's Pokemon made it back to their trainers after the ambulances showed up, but for some reason, they couldn't find Greninja nor Lucario," he explained.
"Right," Chloe said, nodding. "They both seemed to have disappeared or something." She turned to Serena, who continued staring blankly at the wall and frowned. "I'm just worried about how he's gonna take it if he wakes up from that coma," she whispered.
"When he wakes up," Goh said, correcting Chloe. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Right. Sorry. He's gonna wake up." There was an awkward silence around the room momentarily, the only noise being produced was the squeaking of the ceiling fan and the occasional beeping of machines.
"Should we go visit him, then?" Goh suggested, getting back up from his lying position. "Before we start the day?" Chloe smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said enthusiastically. "We can't start the day without visiting him first." Clemont nodded and adjusted his backpack as he told the group, "We'll be outside while Goh gets himself prepared."
Bonnie followed Clemont out the door as Serena stood up. "I'll go with them," she quietly said. "I just need some... fresh air." She shuffled out of the room and closed the door, leaving Chloe and Goh to speak with one another. They had both addressed their feelings subtly, but nothing had progressed beyond that point simply because it somehow felt wrong to do so while Goh and Ash were both recovering.
"So, you think he's gonna wake up soon?" Chloe asked Goh. "And don't say I'm being negative for asking, I'm just worried that if you're too confident that he'll suddenly one day be walking around, then you'll be disappointed if it doesn't happen," she explained worriedly. Goh grabbed her arm and shook his head.
"I know Ash," he said insistently. "He wouldn't just let himself abandon us like that if he can help it." Chloe slowly nodded her head, realizing that Goh could be correct. "Well, I'm just worried for you," Chloe said, patting Goh on the shoulder. She grabbed the crutches that sat against the wall and handed them to Goh, who gratefully took them.
"Thanks," he said, grunting as he positioned himself on the ground using the crutches. "If what Clemont is saying is true, you won't have to babysit me anymore soon." Chloe scoffed and smiled. "It's not your fault you got hurt," she said as if what he had said was nonsense. "You hurt yourself trying to save the world; you're lucky to only have a broken leg."
Goh smiled at Chloe as he began hobbling towards the room door. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "I'm lucky to even be awake right now..." He was silent as he opened the door and made his way through, Chloe right behind and holding the door for him.
Goh took in his surroundings as he stared at the lobby that he'd been looking at for a month now. The walls were completely white, similar to his room. There were, however, some additional decorations in the form of paintings and images of Pokemon interacting with their trainers.
Some couches and chairs sat around sleek wooden desks, but Goh had not seen a single living being sit down there, creating a sort of stigma that prevented anyone from getting near that lounge area. "It's annoying that Ash is in the building across the street," Goh pointed out. "It would be nice to have him in the same building."
While he and Ash had initially been sent to the building that Goh was currently in, Ash was moved to a specialty building across the street once they had discovered that, while he was stable, he wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon.
Goh saw Clemont and Bonnie standing by the door that led outside. "You ready, you two?" Clemont asked Goh and Chloe, who both nodded in response. "Make sure your Pokemon are put up safely in their Pokeballs. Remember what they said about Pokemon being in his room?" Clemont advised.
Goh nodded, remembering how he had accidentally brought Sobble into the room one time and was scolded by the staff to the point where he didn't want to visit Ash again. The Pokemon could contaminate the IV fluids, so any type of Pokemon was simply banned from being present.
"Yep. Cinderace and Sobble are both in my bag," Goh answered. Chloe just giggled and responded, "Of course, I don't have any Pokemon yet." She planned to change this soon, of course, as she had managed to grow closer to Goh's Pokemon over the last month, allowing her to understand Pokemon as a whole more easily.
"Alright. We're all set then," Clemont remarked happily, adjusting his glasses. Bonnie was excited to go, but the mention of Pokemon made her think of Dedenne, who, of course, was still in Lumiose City, being watched over by the sibling's father, Meyer.
"Hey, where's Serena?" Goh asked, looking around. Clemont silently looked out of the window and pointed towards Serena, who sat on a bench near the entrance and allowed the wind to blow her hair around. "Right. She's in her spot," Goh whispered. Over the past month, Serena had found peace by sitting on the bench outside of the hospital and simply sitting there.
"Let's get going," Clemont said flatly, walking outside and getting Serena's attention, who stood up and took a deep breath. It's gotta be hard, Goh thought to himself. I mean, I've cried a few times this past week, and I'm just a close friend. She's... more to him. He thought about if he was something more to Chloe, but shrugged it off after a moment of overthinking.
They stepped outside, Chloe right beside Goh to monitor his pacing, and looked across the street. It was a small building, no bigger than Ash's house itself. But there was a certain feeling that radiated from its exterior, almost a dreadful one. Goh supposed it had to do with the fact that it dealt with people who sometimes would never wake up, but he didn't think much about it.
They walked across the street and Clemont opened the door first, allowing the cold air to rush outside into the heat. "Go ahead," Clemont said to Chloe and Goh, who politely accepted and made their way into the lobby. Bonnie went in after them, dragging Serena by the arm, something that she didn't want to do.
Clemont walked in and saw that Chloe was already speaking to the front desk person, who knew them well by this point and always allowed them all to visit at once. "Here to see him again?" The front desk lady, whose name was Pauline, asked. "Of course," Chloe said. "He deserves visitors for what he did."
Pauline nodded, as she had heard about Ash and his heroism. "No doubt about it," she responded gleefully. "You know where to go, so have a great day!" She exclaimed. Chloe thanked her and waved toward the rest of the group. As they walked down the hallway towards Ash's room, Goh whispered to Chloe, "Doesn't she get sad working here?", referring to Pauline and her chipper attitude.
Chloe shrugged her shoulders and answered, "I guess you grow numb to all the sadness after a while." For some reason, Serena popped into her as she said this, filling her with extreme guilt and worry. What if Serena has dampened her feelings so she doesn't feel the pain? Chloe thought to herself in worry. She eventually shrugged it off as they approached Ash's room door.
Chloe knocked and turned to the rest of the group. "Remember, be quiet or else it might cause some not great things," she advised cautiously. Everyone nodded and turned their heads towards the door as it opened, revealing a tired-looking Delia and a working Mimey.
"Hey, everyone!" Delia exclaimed, giving Goh a tight hug. "Ow! Ms. Ket-, I mean, Delia! You're squishing me!" He grunted painfully, causing Delia to release him. "I'm glad you guys are here again!" She said happily, ignoring Goh's pain.
"We wouldn't miss a day!" Clemont exclaimed. "Yeah, it's so awesome that we can visit Ash, even though he's sleeping a lot!" Bonnie exclaimed innocently. She was mature for her age, but the concept of a coma wasn't exactly something she would grasp too easily, so Clemont had come up with an excuse for Ash's unconsciousness.
"Yes, of course," Delia muttered, opening the door more and revealing Ash in the bed, tubes coming in and out of his body to keep his life stable. The group made their way in and everyone sat down in a chair near Ash's bed. "He hasn't moved much today," Delia said with a tinge of sadness. "But that's not always a bad thing!"
Ash had this weird phenomenon in his coma where he would spasm and started making punching motions for minutes at a time before stopping abruptly. The specialists in the building had noted this and commented that Ash was one of the most bizarre cases they had to date, as he did things that the average coma patient wouldn't do.
"This could be a good thing," Clemont agreed. "It could mean his body is getting better!" His comment seemed to delight Delia, who had been worried sick for Ash for the past month. Wrinkles had begun forming on her cheeks and dark spots grew underneath her eyes, as she barely managed to get sleep.
"Hey, Ash," Goh said, leaning onto the bed. "Yesterday, we got a lot done. I was able to get Sobble to continue becoming less timid, Chloe was able to bond with Cinderace, and Serena..." His voice trailed off as he looked at Serena, who sat on the chair and stared at the ground blankly.
"Well, Serena was able to help out with the Pokemon!" He exclaimed, finding any way to compliment her. Clemont was the next to speak up. "Yeah, and my new invention is coming along nicely! It's going to help people who are paralyzed!" He exclaimed excitedly.
He had begun working on the invention after bonding with Goh, worried that he would become paralyzed in his broken leg. Thankfully, this never happened, but the motivation Clemont had allowed him to make a breakthrough in possibly reviving that part of the body or utilizing its properties.
"I'm still looking for Squishy and all the others!" Bonnie exclaimed passionately. In the mayhem of Giovanni's wrath, Squishy had managed to escape from Ninja Village and the other two Cores were simply missing in action after being controlled by Giovanni.
Sycamore, who had left back to Kalos shortly after recovering, had hypothesized that the third Zygarde cell was still absorbed into Mewtwo, who had teleported away as Giovanni was being taken away by Officer Jenny. So now, Bonnie had begun searching on the internet to try to see if anyone had sighted any of the three.
They all sat around Ash a little longer, telling jokes and stories as if it was like normal times. Delia silently wept as she saw the scene, glad that Ash had loyal friends, but sad that it was in the wrong situation. After an hour had passed of this, the group stood up and looked at each other.
"Guess we should go start the day!" Goh exclaimed, grabbing his crutches. His day consisted of training his Pokemon, as Professor Cerise had instructed him to do so upon hearing all that had happened. "I want you to be prepared if something like this happens again," the Professor has said. Something like this better not happen again, Goh had thought.
Everyone agreed and said goodbye to Ash, Delia, and Mimey, leaving them to tackle yet another day. As they left the room, Serena was last and looked back at Ash longingly. Why did Arceus do this to me? She thought to herself, closing the door behind her. As the door shut, Ash, still trapped with Azelf, could hear the slam from within.
"Can't you see Azelf!" Ash yelled. "They all need me to come back! I'm their friend! I can't just be sitting in here!" Azelf sighed and floated around Ash, splashing the water wall onto his face. "Ash, it's been a month, and you still seem to think that I can just let you go," Azelf said in annoyance.
"But do you see how much they're suffering!" Ash yelled again, on the verge of tears. Every day they came in, Ash could hear and sense his friends, absorbing their stories and laughing or sympathizing in his small room based on what he heard. Unfortunately, he couldn't respond in any way, instead still being trapped in the small prison.
"I'm just done, Azelf," Ash said pitifully, tears streaming down his face. "I'm done even trying; I don't even care anymore." He curled up into a small ball in the corner of the room, allowing the water to fall directly on his back. Azelf was silent for a while, watching as Ash stayed in a ball, completely still.
"I guess we could try something," Azelf suggested after a while. "If you're so desperate that you don't care anymore." Ash suddenly turned his head towards Azelf and raised an eyebrow. "There's a way?" He asked hopefully, pulling himself up and wiping away his tears.
"Maybe," Azelf said curiously. "But if it fails, Ash, you'll be gone and I won't be able to bring you back permanently." Ash thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Anything is better than being in here," he said confidently. "I might die, too. If this fails," Azelf added. "But don't let that deter you from your decision, as the only reason I'm alive in soul form is because of you."
"Because of me?" Ash asked cluelessly. "How?" Azelf stared at Ash and explained, "Same with Uxie and Mesprit. We all joined a person that we picked to connect with and provided them with a boost of energy. That's the reason they all survived after falling from Mewtwo's Psychic."
"That was you on the field!" Ash shouted suddenly. "In my head! I thought I was going crazy!" Azelf chuckled and did a few spins in the air. "Right!" It exclaimed. "But it does mean we rely on you, so if you die, then I will, too." Ash was torn, as he would feel horrible if he ended up killing Azelf, but he realized that Azelf had to be bored as well, and would love to be free once more.
"Let's do it," Ash said confidently. "I believe whatever you need to do, you can do it." Azelf smiled nervously at Ash and nodded. "All I have to do is let you go naturally into the mortal realm, and if your body can handle it, we're all good. If not, then it's game over," Azelf explained seriously. Ash took a deep breath and said, "I believe in you."
Azelf nodded at Ash one last time before closing its eyes and disappearing before Ash. Suddenly, the water-enclosed box began shrinking in on itself, pushing Ash towards the center. "What's going on!" He exclaimed, watching as it began to come closer to him. "I'm removing this holding place to keep you alive," Azelf explained from outside the box.
"Don't worry!" It exclaimed one last time before Ash felt the box pushing into his body. I trust you, Azelf. You can do it, he told himself as he felt his body compacting against the box. Suddenly, it went black and Ash was confused. "I think I did it!" Azelf exclaimed as Ash opened his eyes and was met with a weird sight.
He looked around and saw tubes going into his body and a bunch of machines at his side. He gasped for air as he felt pain all over his body. "Ash!" Delia exclaimed worriedly, rushing over to Ash, who was sore from the transportation. "Ash, you're awake!" Delia exclaimed, bringing Ash into a tight hug.
I am! He thought to himself excitedly. His mind instantly went to Serena, and how he'd be able to see her again and finally tell her everything. Of course, all of this thinking wore out his body and mind exponentially, so, with those thoughts, he fell asleep once more, ready to wake up next to all of his friends.