The Meaning of Friendship

                                    

                                          
"Yeah! I'm back to one-hundred percent!"
                          
"Pika Pikachu!"
                          
Ash was shouting this loudly in the Cerise Park first thing upon waking up. Quickly, he was approached by Gengar and Dragonite, who emerged from the shadows nearby and descended from the sky, respectively, to embrace him, leaving the pride of Pallet Town to laugh at the attention he was receiving.
                          
"Alright, guys, I need to figure out what I missed yesterday!" he announced to them. "Where are Lucario and Farfetch'd? And where's Goh? I haven't seen him either!"
                          
Gengar pointed a shadowy finger towards the middle of the park, where a tent was erected. Sleeping outside of it, still in his sleeping bag was Goh, Cinderace and Sobble laying in various positions.
                          
But who was in the tent?
                          
Ash jumped down from the overlook he was standing on, lowered safely to the ground by Dragonite before rushing over. "Hey Goh!" he shouted. "What's goin' on?"
                          
Goh barely opened a blue eyes. "A-Ash...? Is it morning already...?"
                          
"Sure is! It's time for you to tell me what happened yesterday while I was sick! I know Professor Cerise sent you out on a mission and I wanna hear all about it!"
                          
Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder and gave his own nod. "Pikachu!"
                          
Goh sat up, still cocooned in his sleeping bag. Sobble rolled over into his lap. Cinderace continued to lay unmoving. "Oh, right. Well, you see-"
                          
"You guys are way too loud."
                          
Both Ash and Goh turned their heads to the tent to see the frizzy bedhead of Chloe sticking out, her hair a maroon puff cascading to the ground. "Sleeping with you two talking is basically impossible so I guess I'm awake, too."
                          
Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Chloe! But uh, what are you doing here? Didn't you go home?"
                          
Chloe shot a glance at Goh. "You explain it to him. I'm going to start getting ready."
                          
And with that, her bed head returned to the tent and it zipped shut.
                          
"Why me...?" Goh sighed.
                          
A few moments later and Ash, Goh, and Chloe were sitting in the kitchen of the institute. Everything had been freshly disinfected by Mr. Mime, who had prepared the three children and the gathered Pokémon - Pikachu, Cinderace, Sobble, and Yamper - a breakfast. Everyone was dressed and prepared for the day except Chloe, who had given up trying to get her hair ready herself. While she sat in a fresh change of clothes (the grey blouse and yellow overalls she had worn to the museum, no less), her hair was still in the disarray she found it in this morning. After finishing her own breakfast, she sat away from the boys, still struggling with her hair.
                          
"So you all found some traps, huh...?"
                          
Ash sat there, hands in his lap while his empty plate was cleaned away by Mr. Mime.
                          
"Yeah, there's definitely poachers in the forest nearby," Goh said. "We told Officer Jenny, but if they're operating in the forest this close to the city, I bet they're really sneaky and good at hiding."
                          
"You don't think it's those Team Rocket guys, do you?" Chloe asked, the images of the man, woman, and Meowth that formed that particular trio appearing in her mind.
                          
"I wouldn't put it past 'em," Ash said with a shrug. "But the way they're always tryin' to steal Pikachu away, I don't think it was them."
                          
"Yeah," Goh said, joking, "they'd probably have come out and done their lame motto."