A Journey's Link

Chapter 74 - Awakening

Goh sat down near one of the benches at the park across from the Pokemon Center they were staying at and sent out Cinderace and Sobble. "Alright you two," he began. "You know what time it is." Cinderace and Sobble both nodded as they realized exactly what Goh meant.

They had been training every day in the morning to hone their moves and better understand what battling felt like. Goh wanted to be more involved in their training like how Ash was, but his obvious injuries prevented him from doing so. "I just want you guys working on your ranged attacks today," Goh explained while setting his crutches aside.

Cinderace and Sobble nodded and began shooting at the brick wall Goh sat by, with Sobble using Water Gun and Cinderace using his Mega Ember, which Goh had still not understood what it was even after extensive research into it. All he knew was that it was powerful, and he heavily relied on its strength.

"What're you thinking about?" Chloe asked from behind Goh, startling him and breaking him out of his thought process. "What?" He asked embarrassingly. "You look deep in thought," Chloe explained with giggles. "I'm just wondering what's got you so lost."

"Just thinking about the concept of training," Goh answered. "I mean it must be important. You saw what happened to Pikachu without Ash training him." Chloe nodded her head. It was true; Pikachu had gotten so depressed after only one week of Ash being in a coma that he simply walked back to Pallet Town and stayed by himself in the Ketchum household, which had yet to be repaired.

"Why didn't he just stay with Aaron?" Chloe asked. Goh shook his head and responded, "You know how Delia feels about Aaron." Someone had mentioned Aaron once when they were recalling a story, only to be met with anger from Delia, who had been nearby and overheard the name drop. Ever since they've respected her wishes and decided against speaking his name.

"Whatever happened to that?" Goh asked. "I'm not sure," Chloe responded. "I swear he just disappeared into thin air after the whole conflict. I guess he just wanted to help us and then leave to go back to doing whatever he was doing before." Goh frowned and shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "He seemed pretty adamant about returning to his old life."

Chloe just shrugged in response and turned her head back to Cinderace and Sobble, who continued to use their respective moves on the brick wall. It was silent for a moment before Chloe spoke up. "Serena's talking about maybe trying Pokemon Performances again," she said casually.

Goh turned to her with a shocked, but happy, expression on his face. "Really?!" He asked in disbelief. "She said that?" Chloe nodded in return and Goh exclaimed, "That's great! I'm happy for her!" Chloe frowned as Goh turned his head back to his training Pokemon.

"Goh, she said that the only reason she's gonna try is to make sure she forgets about Ash," Chloe said sadly. "She's gonna do Performances to try to remove Ash from her thoughts altogether." This time, Goh didn't excitedly turn his head towards Chloe, instead sighing and turning his head up to the sky.

"He could still wake up," he whispered to himself. "I just wish he would." He heard the door to the Pokemon Center open, followed by the sound of two pairs of shoes running against the pavement. He and Chloe looked over and saw Clemont and Bonnie running across the street, practically sprinting towards Goh and Chloe.

"Is Clemont... running?" Goh asked. Chloe nodded and blankly said, "Yeah." Goh cupped his hands around his mouth. "What's with the rush!?" He yelled to the two. "It's Ash!" Bonnie exclaimed, answering for Clemont who was out of breath. "Pauline just called from the front desk!" She explained. "He woke up!"

Goh and Chloe's eyebrows shot up. "Really?!" Goh exclaimed, trying to stand up, forgetting that he needed crutches. "Ow!" He exclaimed, falling back onto the bench. "Are you okay?" Chloe asked him as he grabbed his crutches nearby. "Yeah, who cares about me? Ash is awake!" He responded, turning to Cinderace and Sobble, who overheard the conversation and had made their way over to Goh.