Small Author's Note: If Goh's name is in bold, then it means that Mewtwo is in control, rather than it being Goh. I didn't want to specify that Goh was not the one speaking when it is Mewtwo every time, so this should clear things up a bit.
Enjoy!
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Goh had suddenly appeared in front of Ash and Clemont's eyes, right in the front steps to the Pokemon Center. Of course, a lot of hugging and smiling ensued shortly after, until Clemont mentioned something. "We should probably tell the girls that we found you!" He exclaimed happily. Goh, who was secretly Mewtwo, nodded and urged the boys to come inside to the building.
After a few minutes of sitting by the campfire, Bonnie, Chloe, and Serena all burst in with a smile on their face. "We can't believe you found him already!" Bonnie exclaimed, running over to hug Goh. They hadn't interacted much before the Cell War, but Goh was one of Bonnie's major battling buddies since Ash had been gone.
Serena and Chloe walked over, standing behind Ash and Clemont, who were sitting on wooden framed couches near the fire. "It's good to see you again," Serena said courteously, with Goh nodding in return. They hadn't truly spoken since she and Chloe began performing together, but there was a lot to talk about.
Chloe stared at Goh, feeling uneasy. She didn't want to stay silent, given their tense last encounter, but she had no idea what to say. "Goh, can I speak with you for a moment outside?" She asked, wanting to be away from the judging eyes of everyone around her. Goh looked towards everyone else for approval; they shrugged their shoulders and urged Chloe and Goh to go outside on their own.
"You think they're gonna get back together?" Clemont asked Ash and Bonnie once the two estranged individuals had made their way to the front porch. "Wait, get back together?" Serena suddenly whispered incredulously; she had been lost in thought about Ash, but this tidbit of information had caused her ears to perk up.
"Oh yeah, we never told you," Clemont said, smiling with embarrassment. Ash chuckled and looked at Serena. "Apparently, those two began dating after you left to go with Palermo," he explained. Serena raised an eyebrow; not the reaction the others were expecting. "Are you sure they were dating?"
"Yes, she even said so herself," Bonnie responded in confusion. "Why?" Serena just shook her head and stared at Chloe and Goh out the window. "It doesn't make sense. I mean, why does she want to get in a relationship if she wants to be Kalos Queen?" She asked quietly. Ash tilted his head in confusion.
"You can't be with someone if you're Kalos Queen?" He asked curiously. "I didn't know that was a requirement." Serena shook her head and turned around towards the group. "It's not. I just think that if someone wants to achieve their goal, they need to dedicate all of their time and effort into doing so."
She sat down and crossed her arms. "They shouldn't be wasting their time with stuff that's just temporary." Clemont and Bonnie both looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, finding Serena's words interesting. Ash, however, found her words to be completely wrong and raised an eyebrow.
"What if being with someone that supports your dreams helps you? What if they don't get in your way?" He asked, challenging her words. "Doesn't that make it worth it?" Serena sighed and shook her head. "I guess, but I think that your goal should be more important than being with other people."
Ash frowned and stared into the fire, realizing that Palermo's strict regimental training mindset was still instilled into Serena's mind. Hopefully, she'll come to her senses, he told himself as he pet Pikachu on his lap. Because right now, she believes that Performances are far more important than any of us.
Outside, Chloe was talking with Goh, who was still Mewtwo with an underlying plan. He noticed that the more support Ash seemed to get from his friends, the stronger he became; something that made no sense, but he needed it to stop nonetheless. His first target was Goh's closest; Chloe.
They both stared out at the falling snow, unspeaking. Mewtwo wanted Chloe to speak first, as he wasn't quite sure of how to approach the situation. For all of his unbounded knowledge about the world that he had attained, human emotion was still a matter he had not quite understood yet.
"So, we found Ash," Chloe pointed out the obvious. "Yes, you did," Goh said. He needed to feign a level of maturity, but not too much as to seem too tolerant about the situation. "Anything you want to say to me?" Chloe nodded and watched as her breath escaped in the form of a visible breath.
"I'm sorry for getting angry at you for leaving my Performance," she apologized. "I realize that it was my father who urged you to do it. It never crossed my mind that you would've tried to leave for no reason." Goh nodded, feeling comfortable in how the conversation was progressing; human emotions hadn't thrown him off just yet.
"And I'm sorry for calling you crazy and saying that we shouldn't find Ash," Chloe continued. "Clearly you were onto something, and Ash is glad to be back, so everything worked out." Goh chuckled and shook his head. "It's me who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you, to begin with," he said apologetically.
She turned to him, eyes shining. "Really? I was so worried that you wouldn't forgive me because I was so mean to you," she said in a relieved manner. "No, I forgive you," Goh said, smiling at her. She approached him and grabbed his hand, clasping it between hers. "Erk," he muttered, taking a step back as she stood in front of him.
"Perhaps this means we can try again. From the start," Chloe said passionately. "Try what again?" Goh said uncomfortably. Mewtwo could not understand what Chloe was referring to and didn't have an inkling of why she was acting so peculiar. "Us; together again. Let's start over now that we have no more worries," she explained.
"Um, sure," Goh muttered, his hand limp and smiled forced. He forced his hand out of hers and wiped it off on his clothes; she noticed and instantly realized something was wrong. "I'm glad for... us... but I wanted to talk to you about Ash," he said, crossing his arms. It was time for his plan to take action.
Chloe tried brushing off what had just happened and asked, "What about him? He seems fine to me." Goh shook his head. "Has he told you anything about what happened on the island? Or is he being secretive?" Chloe tilted her head and placed a finger on her chin. "Well, he's been avoiding talking about his mentor..." she muttered.
"Exactly! Who knows what he learned while he was on that island? It could be something to manipulate or betray us," Goh said persuasively. Chloe frowned and sighed. "I don't Ash would do something like that, Goh," she said confidently; her suspicion towards Goh was growing with every odd thing he said.
He noticed and quickly decided to change the subject. "Forget about it. All that I'm glad about is that we're all together again," he said with finality, turning and walking towards the door. "Wait, that's it?" Chloe asked, causing Goh to turn around. "You're just gonna act like everything is back to normal?"
Goh had a look of genuine confusion. "Is it not?" He asked, opening the door and heading inside; Chloe knew something was wrong for certain. Not only did he completely ignore her obvious attempts at starting their relationship from square one, but he tried coercing her into thinking something was up with Ash.
This was at the forefront of her mind as she made her way inside behind Goh. The other four were near the table, clearly planning something. "So, we found Goh," Clemont commented. "Now what? We planned to find S, but it looks like we won't need to find her anymore."
"The only thing left to find out is..." Bonnie muttered, trailing as she stared at Ash. "Like I told Clemont, I plan on figuring out the fake Team Rocket ordeal by myself," he said insistently. Goh, who had just walked in beside Chloe, suddenly gained interest in the conversation. He had no knowledge of the fake Team Rocket's identity, besides the information that Goh had gotten from Jessie and James.
"What is your plan, exactly?" Goh piped up, resting his arms on the bench behind Ash, who turned around. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out everything I can about them," he said confidently. "Then after that?" Clemont asked; he and everyone else were curious if Ash would end up staying after he got his revenge or seclude himself once more.
Ash knew what they were trying to figure out, but in all honesty, he also had no idea what his plans were. For the past six years, it had been the same routine: Wake up, train with Pikachu, write in his journal, then go to sleep; he had no idea how to live a different life at this point. "I suppose I could go see my mom. Even if it might bring back some bad memories, she would be happy to see me," he suggested.
"That sounds like a plan," Serena said happily. "Why don't we all go visit your mom together right now," Bonnie suggested. "We just got you back, so it wouldn't be fair to say goodbye now." Ash looked around in shock. "Don't all of you have things to do? Performances, research, gym battles?" He asked incredulously.
"Nah, that can wait!" Clemont exclaimed. "It's not every day that you have an old friend come back after six years." Ash looked over at Serena and Chloe, who both nodded in agreement. Goh looked around in fear; his plan to try to separate the group was not working. In fact, the opposite was occurring.
"What about you, Goh?" Clemont asked, turning towards the troubled boy. "You set to come along and see Ash's mom before he tries to solve his problem?" Goh looked around to excited faces and knew what he had to do next. He shook his head and explained, "Sorry, but I've got a lot of field research to do for Professor Cerise. I'm sure you understand."
Despite the down faces, everyone accepted Goh's conflict. "Alright, then I guess we're off to see my mom," Ash said, trying his best to simply enjoy the moment with his friends. He stood up and gave Goh a quick hug. "Try not to get lost on your way back to Vermillion City, okay?" He said playfully; Goh chuckled and returned the sentiment.
One by one, everyone said goodbye to Goh, leaving the building to wait outside. After Serena and the Lumiose Siblings, Chloe was the final one to say farewell. "I'm looking forward to starting over," she said courteously. "Hopefully you can clear your mind while I'm gone."
"Sure," Goh said, not sure how to respond. Chloe sighed and just shook her head, walking to the door and opening it. "Please figure out whatever is wrong, okay?" Chloe said, confusing Goh. To him, nothing was wrong; human emotions had once again clouded his judgment.
As Goh waved at Ash and company as they boarded their flying Pokemon and departed, one individual was in his mind. If Team Rocket is the one thing that's keeping that group together, then I need to confront the main proponent. He walked back inside and threw his backpack on.
I'm going to have to face my nemesis, he told himself, opening the door and releasing Flygon into the street. "Hey, Flygon. How are you?" Goh asked, trying his hardest to sound like the original trainer. Flygon smiled as he boarded onto his back. "We've got to go here today, can you do that?" He asked, pointing at a location on his map.
Flygon nodded and leaped into the air, allowing the wind to catch his wings. Goh continued staring at the map with a distasteful glare; he loathed this place and what it held, but he knew it was necessary to carry out his goal. He needed to go to the Kanto High-Security Prison and question his torturer.