Chaser and the Ultimate Journey

Chaser and the Start of Something Big

Ever since he had spoken with Ash over the phone on his boat ride back to Vermilion City, Goh had been carrying the doubts and confusion related to what his next step should be. But here in the firelight, in the forests that stood in the shade of Mount Moon, he had finally come to the moment he knew he had been preparing for. He was ready to tell Ash about his objective, and how he had decided that he had to take this next step in his life alone. With the crackling of the fire the only sound in the air at the moment, Goh turned to Ash and tried to speak.

"Ash, I-"

"Goh," Ash interrupted, the confident look on his face inversely mirroring how afraid Goh felt.

The next words he spoke shattered the relaxed atmosphere.

"I've decided to go on a journey," he said. "Alone with Pikachu."

"W-What...?"

Goh felt like the air had been taken out of his lungs.

"We still have our dream of becoming a Pokémon Master to reach," he said, his self-assuredness oozing from his expression. "So it's time for us to set out again."

Goh couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Ash had been planning on leaving him, too. It felt like a joke.

But the way Ash stood there, sure of himself, assured Goh that he wouldn't be laughing.

"Are... are you kidding me...?"

Ash's confidence turned to confusion. "Goh?"

He heard Chloe stand behind him. "Goh, hold on a second."

But Goh couldn't hold on. He felt all his worry and fear burst into flames in that exact moment. Every minute he'd agonized about how to break the news to Ash, and now he had just flipped the script on him, telling him he was leaving without a care in the world. It made his blood boil until all he saw was red.

He couldn't stop himself.

"After everything we've been through... after as close as we are.... You're just leaving?! Like that?!"

Ash's eyes went wide.

"I guess you're in a hurry to get back to all your other friends, huh? I guess Chloe and I are just the next markers on the road and nothing more, aren't we? You couldn't even wait a single day, you just had to say something as soon as you could! Treating us like this when we'll probably never see you again!"

"Goh, calm down!" Chloe called out. She took his hand and squeezed it. "I thought-"

He ignored her, continuing to shout at his best friend.

"-And I thought we were friends! But clearly you don't care about us so you know what? I don't care, either!"

He ripped his hand from Chloe's and squeezed back his tears as he bolted into the darkness of the forest surrounding them.

"JUST GO!"

Grookey held on for dear life as Goh ran as far away from Ash Ketchum as he could.

He could already tell he was making a mistake. But he couldn't stop himself from reacting so harshly. Ash was his friend. The first friend he had ever made of his own accord. It wasn't like Chloe, who had approached him that day after school, reaching out her warm hand to help him feel less lonely. He had felt like Ash was the brother he'd never had, and as much as he knew that he would have to part ways with him, he was also afraid to do so.

Wasn't everyone so afraid to say goodbye to their friends? He remembered how he cried after he let his Floette go. He remembered the depths of sadness that he had felt the multiple times it seemed like he would lose Chloe forever.