Goh went into his dorm room and slammed the door behind him. Everyone else but Ash (obviously) had left for the day, and Goh wasn't interested in initiating conversation at the moment. He climbed up to the top bunk and buried his head beneath the covers, angry at himself mostly for how much this rejection hurt. He wasn't ready for this.
He wasn't expecting this.
Chloe was his friend – his closest friend – and the thought of everything they had done together weighing down upon him felt like he was getting crushed under a mountain of Pokémon, putting him farther and farther away from his goal.
Cinderace and Sobble let themselves out of their Poké Balls, but Goh remained hidden away, not wanting to face anyone right now.
"Ace?" the rabbit asked Goh.
Goh's response was to immaturely curl up in his blankets. He didn't want to be strong right now. Or mature. He didn't want to be the smart guy.
He wanted to talk to Chloe more. But from their talk at the café... what conclusion was there to reach other than she only saw him as a friend?
"I didn't know it would hurt so much..."
"S...Sob...?"
The Water-Type scrambled up the bunk bed to join Goh, and tapped him with his claw. Goh stuck his head out to look at Sobble, looking as absolutely miserable on the outside that he did the inside.
"S...Sooooooobubububble!"
And just like that, Sobble began to cry, and his potent, onion-like tears brought tears to Goh and Cinderace, as well.
Now the sound of all three of them crying finally brought Ash upstairs. "Goh? What's the matter? Why are you-BWAAAAA!"
And now Ash and Pikachu were crying, too.
Cinderace picked Sobble up and began rocking him to calm him down. The Fire-Type sat in a corner, cooing softly to Sobble. Sobble sniffed and hic'd but soon his tears were dry. And with that, everyone else's tears dried up.
Everyone else's but Goh's, that is.
Ash frowned. "Goh, what's up? You've been completely bummed ever since you came back from talking to that girl you thought liked you. Did you two have a fight or something?"
"It'd have been better if we did..." he said, lying down.
The Palletonian crossed his arms. "C'mon, Goh. I can't help you out if you don't talk."
"There's nothing to help, Ash. She doesn't want anything to change between us and I can't risk bothering her more about it."
Ash was confused. "Why not?"
Goh rolled over in his bed. "Because I like being able to sleep here and have a place for all my Pokémon to stay."
The gears in Ash's head began to turn.
"...wait, the girl was Chrysa?!"
Unfortunately the gears turned in the completely wrong direction.
"CHRYSA?!" Goh push himself up into a sitting position on the bed. "SHE'S WAY OLDER THAN ME!"
This just made Ash laugh. "Haha, well, there was this guy I know-"
"It's not Chrysa, okay?!" Goh shouted, his face burning. "It's..."
Ash blinked and tried to think a bit more.
"That Kricketune girl?"
Goh sighed. "Now you're just trying to get it wrong."
The battler chuckled. "Well, I'm pretty bad at guessing games."
Goh looked down at him from his bed. Ash had been the one to give him advice before. And he could be trusted not to say too much (he hoped).
"Alright, I'll tell you. Let me get down and start from the beginning."
He opened the door into a darkened room.
"Chloe? Are you even in here?"
The voice came back from the darkness.
"Go away, Parker. I'm not in the mood for it."
"Why're you laying here in the dark, sis?" Parker asked the darkened room. "Did you have a bad day at school today?"
"Something like that."
Chloe was laying on her bed, still wearing her school uniform, starting at the darkened ceiling that only became visible with Parker opening the door and the hallway light coming in. She had drawn the curtain over the window to keep the lights on at this time of night out. She just wanted to be alone.
Goh had called her a friend, and he didn't want that to change. What other conclusion could she draw? To push harder would be to jeopardize her friend, his research fellowship, his road to Mew – everything he held dear. She couldn't do that to him. She cared about him too much to do that to him.
So she laid here in the dark, not even touching her homework yet. Willing herself to just be his friend and forget how warm his hand felt, or his kind gestures, or how he protected her when she couldn't protect herself.
So far it wasn't working.
"You know its dinner time, right?" Parker said, frowning into the darkness. "It's gonna get cold and Mom made her Yakisoba. You love Mom's Yakisoba. So c'mon... get out of there."
Parker took a step into his sister's room to be met by two growls and a few electric sparks coming off of Chloe's bed. The sparking lit up Yamper and Eevee, who were lying next to Chloe in an effort to cheer her up.
Parker swallowed. "If I call your bluff, Yamper, and you attack me, you know you'll be grounded from Chloe's room for like a week."
Yamper's growls ceased and they turned into a whine. Eevee quieted entirely.
Parker turned on the light and looked at his sister's face.
"Chloe, are you okay...?"
The light illuminated her face, and her eyes were red and puffy. Down the sides of her face were wet trails left by tears. She didn't answer her brother. Parker's concern overtook his trepidation about his sister's room and he entered, kneeling next to her bed.
"Chloe, have you been crying? What happened? Why are you so upset?"
She turned her back to him, laying on her side. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Chloe?"
Parker and Chloe looked toward the door and their mother was standing there, concern on her face. As soon as she saw Chloe's face, she came in. "Parker, can you go help your father for me?"
It translated from "Parent" to "Child" as 'Please get out of here and let me handle this.'
Parker nodded and slipped out without a word. Chloe's mother put her arms around her daughter, pulling Yamper and Eevee with her into a sitting position.
Chloe sat there, pain and heartache written on her face in the way only a mother could read them. "Did something happen with a friend of yours?" she asked, not wanting to overplay her hand.
"I don't really wanna talk about it..." she said, her stance shifting around her mother. "I just... didn't think it'd hurt this much."
Chloe's mother pulled the girl and her Pokémon in tightly, and Chloe relaxed.
"...maybe after dinner," the student amended.
Her mother nodded. "Let's get something to eat and then we can have a talk, just us girls, okay?"
"Okay." Chloe wiped her face clean of any tears with the sleeve of her school uniform. "Thanks, Mom."
"WHAT?! IT WAS CHLOE ALL ALONG?!"
Ash was beside himself (almost literally as Pikachu repeated the same expression).
Goh was just happy that no one was here to overhear that. Ash was seated on his bed and Goh took the seat at his desk while Cinderace and Sobble watched from the corner.
"Y-Yeah," he said, finishing his recounting of everything that happened that day. He looked down at his hand, and in his mind he could still feel Chloe's small, soft hand there. He thrill he felt from holding it was fresh in his mind, even hours later, even with the knowledge that she didn't want to see if they could be more.
He cared for his first friend, deeply. On a level he wasn't quite sure of, yet. But that level would remain out of reach for good, it seemed.
"But you didn't say what you guys fought about?" Ash said. "She didn't hand you a sour apple? Or catch a Pokémon you were tryin' to get?"
"We didn't really fight, okay?" Goh said, raising his voice. "I just observed her and we talked and she said she didn't want to change how she felt about me and that's that!"
Ash frowned, glaring back at him with his brown eyes. Seeing right through him. "Maybe that's enough for you guys," he said.
Goh felt his anger bubbling up. "Are you saying you know Chloe better than I do?"
"No," Ash responded. "But you're both scared, right? Apologizing takes guts."
"Why am I taking advice from you on this?" Goh asked, his annoyance rising. "You already said you've never had a girlfriend before!"
Ash just laughed at that. "Maybe, but I've gotten in plenty of fights with girls before. And you know what was true in almost all of 'em?"
"What?"
"It was my fault," Ash said, nodding sagely. "I would get caught up in jumping in like a little kid and making things worse, or making everyone worry because I was spending my time beating myself up instead of finding a solution. But in the end, they were usually right." Ash looked up at the ceiling, not seeing the lights but seeing the faces of his friends from his journey. "I thought I had it figured out, but I had it all wrong, and I had to be set straight."
Goh furrowed his brow, thinking. "So... you think I might have misread the entire thing...?" he asked. "That maybe... Chloe did want to talk about it?"
Ash nodded in reply. "Yeah. I bet she wanted to but you said or did something that made her think you didn't wanna talk about it."
Goh thought about his words for a moment then groaned and spun in the chair he was sitting in. "I said we were friends and I didn't want to change that... I'm such a blockhead..."
"Hey," Ash laughed, "At least she doesn't hate you like this girl hated me." Somehow he still had the bitter taste of that fruit in his mouth, even all this time since. "And that means the next part is simple."
"The next part...?" Goh asked, his seat slowing down from its spin. "You mean where I apologize?"
Ash nodded. "It can be a bit hard, but if you're really friends, you'll work it out, no doubt. And even if you like her a bit more than she likes you? That's fine, too. Trust me, real friends make it work no matter what, and you seem like you get Chloe more than anybody. Even her!"
For the first time in hours, Goh cracked a smile. "Thanks, man." He held up a fist, to which Ash responded with his own. "I just gotta get my chance. And apologize for making this misunderstanding."
"You know," Ash said, "Maybe get her a present or something, too. Something she'd like?" He was working from his own memories of his own apology now.
Goh thought for a moment. "Something she'd like...?"
"Oh, those are so pretty!"
Sitting in a flower pot out front were several pink flowers with six petals each. The colors were deeper at the ends of the petals and became pinker as they came together.
"I wonder what kind of flower they are?" she asked.
Goh aimed his Rotom Phone at the flowers, which took a quick picture and compared it to other data it had access to. "Gracidea Flowers," spoke the voice from his phone. "These flowers are native to the Sinnoh Region and are often given to others as gifts to express gratitude."
"That's it! Gracidea Flowers! Because I want her to know how grateful I am that she's still with me, even if she doesn't feel the same!"
"That's an awesome idea, Goh!" Ash cheered.
Goh looked out the window into the night sky. "It's a shame it's so late... any flower shops'll definitely be closed by now."
"You could just rush over in the morning and meet her before she leaves here for school, no doubt about it!"
Goh looked out the window, his confidence in himself restored.
"Just wait, Chloe. I'll tell you my true feelings. Because that's in my future. And I hold my future in the palm of my hand!"
After a very quiet dinner of saying practically nothing, Talia quickly and subtly ushered her husband and son out of the kitchen, leaving her to sit with Chloe. The girl was still picking at her dinner. She had made an effort to eat most of it, but there were a few carrots still on her plate she was moving around.
"It's just us now," she said to her daughter. "You can talk to me and we don't have to worry about your brother or your father over hearing." The emphasis was deliberate. Talia Cerise was a woman of many talents, and she was sure her daughter didn't fall far from that tree. She had an idea about what was going on, but she also knew Chloe needed to say it in her own words.
The student shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. "...Mom, did you and Dad ever have a fight or think you might not be friends anymore?"
Talia sat down next to her. "I'm sure there have been a few times we let our mouths run a bit ahead of our thoughts. Why do you ask?"
Chloe fidgeted again, moving a carrot again across her plate. "... what if that's what happened that made me upset? What should I do?"
"Well, what did you and your friend fight about?" her mother asked.
The student frowned, looks at her plate. "... Can I let Yamper and Eevee eat these?"
"You may."
Chloe took the plate off the table and sat it on the ground, causing the two Pokémon to rush over and greedily feast on her table scraps.
"...I had... have... a crush on him."
She couldn't deny that her feelings were still strong.
"Oh," her mother responded, feigning surprise. "I didn't know. And you told him that you liked him?"
"N- not exactly..." She took a deep breath. "I... He-we talked and I told him that I did want to be friends with him, and he said we've been through a lot together and he didn't want that to change anything... So it's obvious he just sees me as a friend. So... I didn't tell him."
Talia nodded. "But Chloe, how can you expect him to know if you never told him?"
"But he's the one who invited me!" She replied, defiant. "If he didn't think I liked him, why would he invite me out in the first place?"
Chloe's mother smiled at her, waiting for her to understand.
She gasped, recounting her words. "Did... he think I like him?"
"I think maybe you and he were so nervous that you looked for the first opportunity to give up and you took it." Talia patted her daughter on the head. "Did either of you say that you liked each other, or that you only wanted to be friends?"
Chloe sat there for a moment, considering their talk. "N-no. No, we didn't say anything like that."
"Then, again, how can you expect him to know if you never told him?"
Chloe sighed putting her face in her hands. "Ugh, I'm an idiot."
Her mother stood and put her arms around her daughter. "You're not an idiot. You're just afraid and in love, and that makes you act in ways that aren't always the most logical. But sometimes how you feel isn't going to be logical. You just have to... well, go with it."
She giggled at the idea of "Goh"-ing with it.
"So... I should stop being scared and just... tell him how I really feel? No ambiguity, no trying to have him guess... just... tell him?"
Talia nodded and pulled her daughter into a standing position. "That's exactly right."
It was the same advice she got from Mika that she had failed to act on. "But how can I do that?!" she said, balking. "I'll freeze up if I have to use my words...!"
Talia gave Chloe another pat on the head. "When I asked your father out for the first time, I wasn't confident, either."
Chloe gasped. "You weren't...?"
Talia shook her head. "No. So what I did do was a bit trickier."
The young Raymond Cerise stood surprised. "You want me to look at the latest comic you drew?" He was a bit shaken and nervous. What would Talia have to show him?
She nodded, not taking her eyes off the ground as she handed him her sketchbook, with a bookmark indicating a page. He opened the sketchbook and his eyes widened. On the page in front of him, he saw a tiny drawn character that looked like himself (Dressed even in his high school uniform) and one that looked like Talia. She was even wearing her beret.
The two characters were holding hands and smiling, with a heart above them.
Below them was written the following:
"I really like you, Ray. I get so nervous when I show you my drawings because I want you to like them very much... I always want to impress you. Could I please be your girlfriend?"
Ray looked up, his entire face as red as his hair, and his glasses fogged up. "T-Talia..."
Now she was blushing profusely as well. Her ears felt like they were on fire. She silently nodded, afraid of his response and that any words that escaped her lips would throw all the effort into drawing away.
"I..."
He swallowed, sweat beading on his brow. He wasn't prepared for this.
"I'd be honored."
Now it was Talia's turn to be surprised. "W-Wait... really...?"
He nodded emphatically. "Y-Yes! I'd like that very much!"
There wasn't much Talia could do but blush and smile.
"You confessed to Dad with a comic?!"
Chloe's mother laughed. "I did. I thought it would be the easiest way to ask him if I didn't have to actually say anything."
This made Chloe think. "Hmm... Is there something I could do like that...?"
Goh came closer and looked at the dessert case. "Oh, is that white chocolate cake? Could I get a slice of that?"
Chloe looked at Goh, blinking. "A slice of cake?"
He grinned widely. "White chocolate is my favorite, and I guess I haven't had any for a while so I was kinda craving it, you know?
Chloe gasped in realization.
"Mom, do we have any white chocolate?"
Chloe left her father behind and raced up the steps. Even Yamper was having trouble keeping up with her. She threw open the doors and stepped into the lab. "Good morning, everyone!"
"G'mornin', Chloe!"
She frowned. That wasn't Goh... That was...
"Ash, I'm a little surprised you're already awake."
Ash was sitting on the couch as Chrysa and Ren logged into their computers that morning, getting ready for work. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't see him.
"Ash, where's Goh?"
He smirked. "Oh, he had somethin' to do this morning, but he should be back soon!"
Her heart skipped. Goh was out doing something? What could it be? "Like he's left the lab?"
"He'll be back, Chloe. Trust me." And then Ash gave her an awkward wink that made her take a few steps back from him.
"I... guess all there is to do is wait, huh?"
She sat on the couch near Ash, putting her backpack on the table and looking inside. There was a box tucked between two books, square in shape. It was the results of her efforts with her mother last night. It plain but neat, and Koharu could hardly wait to give it to him.
And so she waited, looking through her phone for a few minutes. And then a few more. And she eventually looked up to see Ash staring at her with a satisfied grin.
"What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"
Ash just chuckled. "You'll see!"
She raised an eyebrow and checked her phone again. Time was getting short. If she didn't leave in the next few minutes, she'd end up being late for school.
Which would mean waiting hours to get another chance to talk to him. Her heart was pounding and her mind was racing. Maybe she could skip school? Or at least show up late? As tempting as it was she had to dismiss those out of hand. She couldn't skip school without a good reason, and unfortunately "telling a boy you like him" probably didn't qualify as one.
So she went back to her phone and began flipping through things again. Her messaging history with Goh, specifically.
As if by fate, just as she tapped it, a new message from Goh himself came in.
"I'm going to be late because I'm about to have a fateful encounter."
She groaned, letting her head hit the table.
"He's going to be late?! Why does he even bother texting me stuff like this when it's not helpful?!"
She couldn't wait any longer. She had to go to school now. Sighing and more than a little upset, she stood up and put her backpack on.
"I'm off to school."
Professor Cerise waved her off and wished her well, but Chloe hardly heard him as she stepped out of the laboratory and then out of the building itself.
At that time, her breath caught in her throat.
Standing on the path ahead of her, just ahead of the Flygon he no doubt had just landed, was Goh, breathing heavily. She stared deeply into his blue eyes, and all other color seemed to vanish from the world.
"Goh-"
"Chloe-"
They spoke at the same time, and both immediately stopped, their faces flushing in unison, eyes averting their gazes shyly from the other.
There was still a distance between them. Chloe knew that.
Goh knew that.
In his hands, and finally becoming something Chloe perceived, was a bouquet of Gracidea flowers, freshly purchased from the only florist in Vermilion City that seemed to carry them. The bright pink flowers with their vivid green stems were only now catching her eyes and she felt her heart run into overdrive. She felt like she was holding her breath in that moment, waiting for him to say something. Do something. In her heart, she still couldn't believe it was real.
"Chloe, I-um" he started, before stumbling over his words. "I'm sorry."
"S-Sorry...?" she said, still gasping and frozen like a Deerling in headlights.
Goh nodded and stepped forward, no matter how shaky and nervous his steps felt.
"I'm sorry because I said something yesterday that I didn't mean."
He stopped close-but not too close- to her. Close enough to hand her the bouquet.
"What do you mean you didn't mean...? And these flowers? Goh, what's going on?" The frightened part of her mind was jumping in illogical directions. Was it an apology present? A 'we're only friends' gift?
She didn't want to let herself hope that it was really happening, especially after the previous day.
Goh's breathing was ragged and unsteady. He hadn't expected her to still be at the lab! When she stepped out of the door, the sun was shining in just the right way to accentuate her bright eyes, burning with that excitement and passion she had in her happiest moments. Her braided ponytail bounced cutely behind her (Cutely? Yes, he responded to the voice of doubt in his mind, that word did fit the professor's daughter).
In her face, he saw the memories of their adventures, the long-suffering support, and the gleam of potential.
His breathing slowed. He began to speak.
"When I said yesterday that I didn't want anything to change... the part I didn't say was that I was already starting to feel it change. It was starting to grow into something else. It was... it was evolving. Like a Metapod into a Butterfree. And when I said I didn't want it to change, that was because I was afraid that after it evolved, I... I wouldn't have my Metapod anymore."
He took a moment to breathe slowly. He could feel his emotions rising in his eyes. He wanted to look cool for her, and was mentally kicking himself for failing.
"But I don't think we can stop this evolution without letting go of Metapod all together. And so... I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm going to let it evolve."
He held out the bouquet to her.
"...I like you. A lot. No, more than a lot. I-I think I love you, Chloe Cerise. And maybe saying this will make you think I'm a weirdo and wreck our friendship... but I can't keep hiding from it. So... I'm sorry."
The first thing Chloe noticed after he finished speaking was the tears running down her cheeks.
She reached out and took the bouquet from him, using it to hide her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest like Cinderace was inside using Double Kick. Her mind was trying to find words but it was only producing blanks.
She looked up at him, tears in both of their eyes. But despite those tears, they both wore smiles on their lips.
His dark skin looked as warm and comforting as it always did and his blue eyes glowed brilliantly clear. There was a vulnerability to him in this moment, but in it, a surging strength. Goh never knowingly lied to her and always encouraged her to step into the world beyond the ones she was familiar with. He would be her guide, as he ever was. His calmness that could see through even the coldest, iciest shell and warm her heart with his that loved so many people and Pokémon, despite feeling so much rejection.
A heart that loved her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find her voice. Her tongue was still, and even the words her brain shouted at her seemed inadequate. So she did what she knew she could do, and spun her backpack off. Taking the box out, she held it out to Goh, who looked at it perplexed.
Had... she expected this? Was she going to say something to him regardless of what he did?
"May I open it?" was all he asked.
She nodded.
Goh opened the box, and inside there was a heart made of white chocolate. On the heart was a drawing in icing of a Poké Ball, and a few words:
"Goh, before I knew what was happening, you captured my heart. May I catch you in mine?"
It was not the smoothest thing ever written on a candy, but Chloe looked with hopeful green eyes at him.
Goh was still taking it in. He reached a hand inside the box and broke off a piece, biting into it, confirming his suspicion. It was his favorite.
He closed the box, setting it aside, and reached into a pocket, taking out a Poké Ball. He stepped closer to her, making both of them blush even harder.
He pressed the front of the ball against her forehead.
There was a moment of silence as they stood there like that.
Goh smiled at her, the joy evident in his eyes as he stared back into hers. "There. Now I've caught you for real."
She looked at him, waiting for something else to happen. When nothing came, she began to giggle. First, it was slow, but it boiled over into raucous laughter.
"H-Hey, that was supposed to be cool...!" Goh stammered, surprised by her reaction.
She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in, holding and hugging him tightly and laughing, completely overwhelmed with joy.
Goh dropped the Poké Ball, and it bounced on the ground a few times. He put his arms around the girl who had been his friend for so many years, smiling into her cheek. He felt so excited in this moment. It was like a brand new world had opened, with exciting sights and scenes they could never have dreamed of apart. And all he could think about right now is how he wanted to see them together with his best friend.
She turned her head towards his and saw in his clear, blue eyes a boundless sky of endless possibilities. Not just for herself, but for the two of them together.
"Goh..."
"Chloe..."
As their faces drew timidly towards each other, the doors to the lab swung open.
"WHAT'RE YOU STILL HERE FOR?!" Ash shouted, barging into the private moment with all the subtlety of one of Yamper's Sparks. "Chloe's gonna be late for school!"
Suddenly she froze up. "Oh no, he's right!"
Goh smirked. "I've got this."
"Wait, what-"
He scooped his arms beneath Chloe's legs and by her back and lifted her into his arms. The student blushed bright red as he hooked his foot into one of the straps of her backpack and kicked it to Flygon, who had been watching the entire time. The Mystic Pokémon caught the backpack and turned around.
"Get ready for us, 'cause here we come!"
Goh climbed onto Flygon's back while still holding Chloe in his arms. Chloe for her part was now clinging tightly to him. "Wait, what are we doing?!"
"Let's go, Flygon! We're taking Chloe to school, express speed!"
Flygon let out a howl and flapped her wings, taking to the air amidst Chloe's shouting as she held on tightly, the two of them zooming off into the wild blue sky.
Chloe looked at Goh as he focused on the fast flight and even this high up, she felt perfectly safe. He would keep her from falling, even as they soared higher together towards their respective dreams. She nuzzled her head against his shoulder, enjoying the warm comfort he brought her.
The flight ended nearly as quickly as it began as Flygon landed in the schoolyard to the confused and excited gasps of the other students filing into the building. Goh sat Chloe down on her feet and smiled at her, taking her hand as he did so.
"Have a good day, Chloe. I'll be back after school."
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her soft fingers, making her entire face burn red.
He took off into the sky on Flygon after that, and Chloe rushed into the building to avoid being tardy.