Goh and Clemont had decided that they had discovered everything that needed to be at the burnt island, and left soon after the police showed up and apprehended the Team Rocket grunts. Of course, none of them said anything about why they were burning the forest and why they were in uniform for an organization that had crumbled as a result of the Cell War, but they were arrested nonetheless.
Clemont had felt bad about Bonnie, so he suggested that he and Goh meet up at the Pokemon Center there at Snowbelle City to discuss their next move and figure out why Ash was on that island. "And figure out where he is now, right?" Goh had added to Clemont's agenda. "Sure," Clemont halfheartedly responded, adding it to the list he was writing down.
Upon at the Pokemon Center again, Goh was completely unprepared for the cold weather and rushed inside, where he was met with the cozy atmosphere and hot chocolate that Nurse Joy provided. They both sat down at a nearby wooden table and spread everything they had on the table.
"Let me call Bonnie and let her know we're back, then we'll get to work," Clemont suggested. Goh gave him a thumbs up and stared at the small piece of paper where Clemont had written the keywords his Tangela had told them. "Black... Pikachu... Lightning," he repeated under his breath.
Without a doubt, Goh knew that this was Ash. He didn't know any trainers that had black raven hair and had a Pikachu, so to think optimistically here was most likely the right move. That creates more questions than solves them, though, Goh told himself. While the question of who was there was answered, many more questions such as why Ash was there and how long ago he was there. It was hurting Goh's head, so he quickly decided to do something.
"Let's just start from the beginning," he muttered to himself, setting aside everything except the page from the journal, which still held the name 'Saul' inside. The first thing he did was simply try to remember if Ash had mentioned Saul to him at any point. The only thing close to that was the Paul he had battled in the World Coronation Series, so that wasn't an option.
Clemont walked back into the Pokemon Center, shivering. "How's Bonnie doing?" Goh asked as he looked over at Clemont. "Not too happy with me; I don't blame her, of course, but she went to the forest to train, so we'll have time to work on this mystery," he explained, sitting down across from Goh. He noticed the journal page sitting on the table and scratched his chin in thought.
"There are so many people named Saul, so who knows where to begin," Clemont stated. Goh wordlessly nodded and frowned. "Maybe we just try to find out what kind of person this Saul was?" Goh suggested, looking closely at the page. "I mean, this journal was written by Ash himself, so why don't we try to look at it from Ash's perspective?"
"Great idea," Clemont said. "There's not much else to do besides that, so..." He grabbed the page from Goh and stared at the small sentences for a moment. "I think this Saul might be someone who is helping Ash," Clemont said after a few minutes of silence. "Like a teacher?" Goh asked.
"Precisely," Clemont commented, writing it down on a separate piece of paper. "I mean, look at this sentence here; it says, 'I asked him when I can master...'," Clemont pointed out. "But master what exactly?" Goh asked, feeling frustrated. Ash was usually one to say exactly what was on his mind without thinking about the consequences of his actions, but it seems that those days were over.
"I don't know, Goh," Clemont responded stressfully, running his hair through his head. "Look, I'm happy to help you, but if I'm being honest, it looks like Ash is trying to make his identity concealed," he said truthfully. "Sure, I want to find Saul, but it might be that we have to leave Ash out of this search for the time being."
Goh frowned at Clemont. "What, you think he's just... hiding from us?" He asked in disbelief. "He left a journal so that other people could find it, right? Why else would he write in a journal, to begin with?" Clemont stood up and stared at Goh. "Maybe because he didn't want to go insane on that island? I mean, if we're assuming he was there for 6 years, then he was writing in this journal every day," he said.
"And why do you assume that?" Goh asked, both out of genuine curiosity and frustration. "Ash is a very social person," Clemont explained. "It's something everyone knows. For him to have been writing in this journal and not come back to talk to anyone of us means that he wants to stay away from us." He sat down and scratched his head. "For what reason, I'm not sure..." he muttered.
Goh frowned and grunted as he quickly lunged forward and swiped every bit of evidence off the table. Clemont looked up, shocked. "If you aren't going to help me find Ash, then I'll do it myself," Goh shouted angrily, hastily stomping over to the door and pushing it open with his body. Clemont, unsure of how to approach the situation, stood up and clumsily dashed towards the door.
"Goh!" He shouted as he pursued the young researcher out into the open, snowy streets. Goh was already beginning to pull out his Pokeball for Flygon, but his lack of space in his hands had proved to be a major issue. "You know it's true!" Clemont exclaimed in a mocking tone. "Ash only made himself hard to find because he didn't want to come back! Even if you think this isn't true, it's just how it is!"
Goh continued fumbling for his Pokeball as Clemont stood on the creaking wooden stairs that led up to the Pokemon Center's porch. It wasn't unlike Goh to drown someone out when what they were saying was a statement he simply didn't want to hear, no matter how factual said statement was.
"Why don't we just take this one step at a time?" Clemont said, reasoning with Goh. "I'm able to get Clemont to take over everything for a few days; maybe we can stay here and figure out this mystery?" He suggested desperately. Goh brought his head up, donning a confused look, and scoffed. "Why do you care so much about this? This... little puzzle that we've stumbled across?" Goh asked condescendingly.
In response, Clemont gritted his teeth. "You know why," he replied gruffly. "There's no need to rub in the fact that I'm living an incredibly boring life, Goh." He started inching his way closer to Goh in an attempt to grab the evidence from him. Suddenly, Goh tossed his Pokeball in anticipation and released Flygon right in front of Clemont, knocking him back.
Shocked from the large creature appearing in front of him, Clemont groaned as he stood up, covered in snow. He managed to get one last look at Goh and stared him right in the face. "Don't contact me," Goh bluntly stated, before ascending into the air with Flygon and flying off to what Clemont assumed would be Cerise Laboratories.
"There's no use in chasing him," he muttered to himself, brushing off the snow that sat on his shoulders and hair. "He'll just either reach a dead-end or get bored." He swiftly cleaned his glasses and headed back inside to avoid catching a cold by being out in the freezing temperatures. I'd better call Bonnie and let her know what's going on... again, he thought to himself.
Clemont dragged his feet over to the wooden table and began packing up his belongings. I'd wager we'll be out of this city soon, he told himself as he grabbed his pens and notebook. That is if Wulfric ever reappears. He decided that he was going to go searching for Bonnie in the forest, but as he grabbed his laptop, he realized Goh has made a mistake in his hasty and messy escape.
A small piece of paper had found its way underneath the laptop. Clemont picked it up and eyed it before realizing something. He had been the last one to inspect the page from the journal and had absentmindedly placed it near the laptop. It must have gotten stuck underneath during our altercation, Clemont assumed.
He stared at the words on the page and furrowed his eyebrows. I'm going to figure out this mystery on my own, then, he told himself confidently. I'll figure out who Saul is without Goh. With those thoughts, he sat back down and began piecing together letters in the page in an attempt to create entire thoughts written out by Ash.
{—}
It had only been a few hours since Ash has woken up in the hospital bed, but he was already feeling cooped up and paranoid that his identity and location would be revealed to the entire world. Plagued with these trivial thoughts, Ash had made the executive decision to leave the room on his terms, against Nurse Joy's advice.
He perked his head into the hallway and looked around curiously. No one was there, so he sneakily began quietly making his way to where the Pokemon was held in hopes of finding Pikachu and the others. He had requested for his Pokemon from Nurse Joy, only to be denied under the impression that he would hurt himself further.
It was to be assumed that Ash didn't like this decision and was now searching for the right room. He reached the wing that held Pokemon patients and looked through the windows in search of his Pokemon. "Cubone... Sunkern...Budew..." he whispered, scanning over each bed that held a Pokemon.
Finally, he saw Pikachu resting peacefully on the bed. He quickly did another look to make sure no one had spotted him and swung the door open. "Pikachu," he said, approaching him. "We've got to get out of here." Pikachu opened his eyes and stared at Ash wearily. "Pik?" Pikachu asked in confusion. "We've got to go, or else we're all gonna get found out," Ash quickly explained, picking Pikachu up from the bed.
As he placed a tired Pikachu into his arms, Ash noticed his belt with all of his Pokeballs hung up right beside the bed. "Perfect..." he whispered to himself, grabbing the belt and sneakily heading towards the door. He peeked his head out and saw that Nurse Joy was heading his way, so he quickly ducked back into the room and quickly started brainstorming a way to get out of this.
He was about to simply hide when he realized something. Instead of trying to avoid the situation, he was going to take it head-on. He took a deep breath and walked out of the room, running right into Nurse Joy. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and disbelief. "Ash, what are you doing?" She asked loudly. "Shhh!" Ash insisted, putting a finger over his lips.
"You can't be out of your room," she whispered angrily. "And Pikachu can't be out of his bed." Ash stared her directly in the eye and whispered, "I need you to trust me, Nurse Joy. I have to go." Nurse Joy shook her head. "Go where? I have to make sure you recover," she said. "I'll be fine," Ash replied. "And Pikachu will be just fine, thanks to you," he added.
"Where are you going?" Nurse Joy asked out of curiosity. "I mean, what could be so important that you are risking doing further damage to you or your Pokemon?" Ash thought for a second and realized that she was right. Where was he going to go? "I can tell you're struggling with something, so why not find the root of the problem?" She asked.
The root of the problem? He thought to himself; what was the catalyst that started the chain of events that had unfolded? The only reason he was where he was now was because he reunited with Serena, which was caused by his old Z-crystal flying away in his bag for her to find it. And that Z-crystal had only been acquired at his visit to Moomoo Farms.
Ash realized what he had to do. "I'm sure that a certain Espurr can help me out," he answered after a moment. Nurse Joy nodded and reluctantly said, "Again. Be careful and thank you for saving this world." Ash rolled his eyes and gave Nurse Joy a smile that said thanks for saving him and Pikachu. He nodded and turned away, running towards the back door and quietly escaping into the forest that stood just behind the Pokemon Center.
His next stop was Olivine City to see the only Pokemon that could answer some of his burning questions: Espie.