Chaser and the Faraway Island

Chaser and Confronting the Antithesis

Eventually, Porygon raised the elevator to the top, and Goh immediately saw in front of him through the glass Lawrence's chambers. He was seated at a desk that overlooked the elevator's entrance, reminding Goh of a judge's bench in a courtroom. The desk was covered with computers that faced away from the elevator, and behind Lawrence was a complex machine that even from this distance looked to him to be coursing with energy. Floating above Lawrence's head was his Porygon-Z, twitching and watching the elevator closely.

As Porygon forced the doors open, the words Goh heard came too quickly to react.

"Zap Cannon."

On Lawrence's command, Porygon-Z built up the charge of electromagnetic energy and fired it straight at Goh, Chloe, their Pokémon and the friendly Porygon. Without any time to react in any other way, Goh threw himself in front of the group, hoping that he could withstand the blast at least somewhat to protect the girl and Pokémon he loved from harm. He braced himself for the feeling of electricity coursing through his body and the searing pain it would bring with it.

But he didn't feel that. Instead, he felt very, very cold as a bitterly freezing wind whipped up around him. Goh's own shadow moved to protect him, and an explosion of freezing, necrotic energy burst forth, knocking the Zap Cannon awry, protecting everyone from harm.

And as the winds died down, Goh saw his familiar savior before him, and his eyes went wide. But before Goh could even express his thanks, his phone activated on its own, announcing that "Zoroark has been registered to your Pokédex!"

Breathing heavily and still clearly wounded from both the battle with Argent and the sneak attack from earlier was Moyse's old partner, the white Zoroark.

"How... interesting," Lawrence said, standing from his desk at last. "If anyone was going to reach me up here, I would have thought it would have been Ash Ketchum. But I am glad to see you again, Goh."

"Don't be," Goh said. "I'm here to stop you, just like Ash would be!"

"Grooki groo!" Grookey added, swinging his stick threateningly from Goh's shoulder.

"But how could I not be glad to see you?" he said, stepping down from around the stairs that lead up to his desk. There was still enough room between the elevator and where Lawrence was standing for there to be a Pokémon battle, Goh thought. Clearly the man was hedging his bets, even with all his confidence. "After all, you brought this irritating pest back to me so that I could handle him myself."

Zoroark faltered, but held himself up, even if he wasn't quite steady. Goh could tell that the fox was definitely on his last legs. "You wanted revenge on Zoroark?" he asked.

"Zoroark is this Pokémon's name?" Lawrence asked. "It doesn't look like the typical Zoroark, I'll give you that. Another rare find for your collection?"

"Save it," Goh shouted back. "You and I are nothing alike!"

"I wonder how true that is..." Lawrence said mirthfully. "When I look at you, Goh, I see a young man filled with pain who only wants one thing in the world. And you'll sacrifice whatever you need to get your hands on it. Am I wrong?"

Goh felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek. He was reminded of his failure to consider Chloe's feelings when he bartered her for a map. He was so desperate for a way to find Mew that he didn't even consider how Chloe would have felt about it and just pressed forward anyway. So, to Goh, perhaps there might have been some truth to what Lawrence was saying.

"Of course you're wrong!" Chloe shouted before Goh could even speak. "Goh's not like that!"

"Is this where you tell me that love has changed him, Miss Cerise?" Lawrence taunted. "Your love? Do you really think any supposed bond between the two of you could make someone change?"