Chaser and the Ruined Kingdom

Chaser and the Lost City

Queen Ilene had invited everyone to spend the night before heading out, and not wanting to turn down an offer by the literal queen of the small country, they accepted.

Night in Cameran Palace was much quieter than Goh expected. In his imagination, a castle was a busy, bustling place with things happening at all times. But from the window in the guest room he sat staring out of, he saw only a few dim electric lights lighting the pathways around the garden in the courtyard and little else.

Grookey was laying calmly in his lap, having tuckered himself out from playing in the library that day and having eaten plenty for dinner that evening. He glanced over to the bed where Ash was laying, and he and Pikachu were also exhausted, sprawled out on top of the covers without even changing into his pajamas yet.

Goh smiled at them sadly. He wished he could be just as carefree as Ash was.

But between the pressures of Project Mew as well as trying to give attention to Chloe (she was his girlfriend, after all), there was a quiet worry that he had been holding, one that he might have been allowing to fuel his irritation towards Ash as of late.

It made him feel like a terrible friend, feeling like he and Ash were growing apart as he focused on his dream and the girl he loved. He could see why Serena opted not to force the issue with Ash and just press towards her dream for now. The more he saw, the more her wisdom continued to shine through.

He glanced back out the window towards the garden and almost did a double take.

Walking on the pathway in the garden was undeniably Chloe with her Eevee. Her hair was down, and she was wearing her long yellow pajamas

Goh decided that if she was still awake, that he might as well spend some time speaking with her in hopes of clearing his mind.

Looking down at his lap at Grookey, he decided to tuck the chimp in rather than take him outside letting him enjoy his sleep. He shot one more glance to Ash before slipping out of the door and heading downstairs to the garden.

Once he reached the garden, it struck him how similar it seemed to the garden at Sunset Junior High School, the academic institution where both he and Chloe were enrolled as students (though Goh rarely attended, instead focusing on his own dream and journeys with Ash).

Still, it was a wonderful garden filled with the flowers one would expect to be in bloom in the spring, and he took a few steps out into the dim light afforded by the lamps alongside the pathway.

It didn't take very long to locate Chloe, as she was kneeling near some flowers, holding Eevee up to them to sniff. The small Pokémon sniffed at the flowers before sneezing with a loud "Vui!" and shaking her whole body.

He couldn't help but grin. "If she's allergic to flowers, I don't know if Leafeon's the right evolution for her."

Chloe looked up at him with surprise lighting her emerald eyes before she gave him a joyful smirk. "Well, if that's what Eevee decides," she said, "I'm sure we'll find some way to figure it out."

Goh crouched down next to her, planting a kiss on the top of her head before sitting next to where she was crouching. "Are you enjoying the castle?" he asked.

She giggled at the kiss and nodded. "It's... pretty incredible when you think about it, you know? The world's got so many different, interesting places and things in it. I didn't even know there was a castle like this in Kanto, and yet here we are!"

"Eievui?" Eevee asked, turning to Goh.

She seemed to be looking at his empty shoulder, so Goh shrugged and reached into a pocket. "Sorry, Eevee. Grookey's still wiped out from earlier today. But you can play with Argent if you'd like."