A.N. I am very, truly sorry about doing this to you guys.
I thought I could get this fic done before the end of Goh Week, but complications happened... I had to split the fic in two.
But don't worry, hopefully I'll finish the second part sooner, rather than later. When I do, I'll either edit this chapter or just add another one, I'm not sure.
The credit for this idea comes from the AO3 user ColourfulVoid! :)
Chapter 2 - The Quest For Ultra Balls
"Pokéball, GO!" Goh yelled out once again. The Pokéball flew from his hand and hit the Golem in front of him, transforming it into a beam of light that then went inside the Pokéball.
Ash and Goh's breathing stalled as they fixed their eyes on the wobbling pokéball. It wobbled once, then twice, then…
PSSHT! The Golem broke free and proceeded to roll away.
"Aw, darn! You almost had it!" Ash bemoaned. Goh could only feebly extend his arm outward in the direction that the Golem had fled in.
"Golem, come baaack!" He shouted. "It's the fifth time I try to capture that thing, and it still doesn't work! WHY?"
"Seems like your lucky streak's over…" Ash stated while looking at Goh with concern.
"Don't say that! If you say it, it makes it feel more real!"
"Do you want me to give you some money so you can buy Great Balls or Ultra Balls?" Ash suggested. Goh grimaced. He was silent for a little while as he composed his thoughts.
"I don't need money, I can just ask my parents if I need any… but the problem is… the reason why I can't use Ultra Balls…"
"-IS THAT THEY WON'T SELL ME ANY!" Goh screeched in front of the Pokémart's cashier.
"What? Why can't Goh buy Ultra Balls?" Ash scratched his head.
"Your friend is a civilian, not a trainer on a journey or a member of the Pokémon League", the cashier explained. "We can't allow him to use the more specialized balls. If any trainer with money could catch powerful pokemon with ease, it'd be chaos!"
"See? What'd I tell you?" Goh said to Ash.
"Is there any way he could be allowed to purchase them?" Ash asked.
"If he manages to win 2 gym badges, then he's eligible for purchasing Great Balls. And 3 gym badges for Ultra Balls."
"I see." Ash and Goh exited the Pokémart.
"Why don't you just fight some Gym Leaders?" Ash questioned.
"I mean… I guess I could, but what'd be the point? It's not like I want to be a Pokémon Champion!"
"But think of how much easier it'd be to catch Mew if you had 50 Ultra Balls" Ash said, whispering into Goh's ear and touching his shoulder like he was some sort of manipulative vizier or something.
"Why'd you whisper that into my ear?" Goh groused. "But I guess you're right. I should probably try to win a battle against a Gym Leader, but it's just… all the training and stuff… I did it for Magikarp, but I find the regular kind to be… boring! You know?"
"You did pretty alright when we were fighting that Flygon back then", Ash pointed out.
"Fighting a wild pokémon is different from fighting a Gym Leader, though!"
Then, Ash got a look like a lightbulb had just lit up above his head. Addressing Goh with an arched eyebrow, he asked, "…Is it because you're scared you'll lose?"
"What… no, of course not… I'm sure if I just applied myself, I could take on just about anyone!" Goh replied with his face flushed red.
"You are scared!" Ash laughed. "That's adorable!"
"Am not!" Goh yelled with frustration.
"Are too!" Ash replied with a teasing grin.
"AM NOT!"
"ARE TOO!"
"AM NOT TIMES INFINITY!"
"Are too, though."
"Rrgh! I'll prove it, then! Here I goooooo!" Goh yelled out as he ran off at incredibly high speeds. Very inelegantly, might I add. He fell a few times.
Pikachu glanced at his trainer's eyes and let out a soft "Pika".
Ash grinned as he high-fived the mouse pokémon on his shoulder. "All according to plan! Now, come on, Pikachu, let's follow after him!"
"Visquez!" Goh yelled confidently as he opened the door to the Gym once occupied by Lieutenant Surge. "I challenge you to a gym battle!"
"Goh? But I thought your focus wasn't on pokemon battles." Visquez, the one who was subbing in for Surge as the Vermillion City Gym Leader, replied.
"Sometimes changes of plan are necessary", Goh said by way of explanation. "What are you doing, by the way?" He asked, noticing Visquez fiddling with some equipment in the gym.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that I thought maybe I could add some kind of fun challenge for the trainers to pass before challenging me."
"Fun challenge?"
"Yeah, so I put all these garbage cans here, right-" Visquez began explaining, "And then, inside two of them there are switches to deactivate the laser barrier – I'm gonna add the laser barrier later – And the trainers are gonna try to find them. But! They need to find the second switch right after they find the first switch! Otherwise they have to start all over again!"
Goh sweat-dropped. "I don't think the average trainer will have much fun rummaging through garbage cans."
Visquez sighed. "I guess you're right. It was just an idle thought I had." She put down one of the garbage cans and faced Goh. "What pokémon are you going to use?"
"Well, Cinderace is the only pokémon I brought with me... So I guess I'll use him!" Goh grabbed a pokéball and pressed the button to open it. "Cinderace, I choose you!"
"Cinder!" The Striker Pokémon exclaimed cheerfully.
"Go, Goh! Go, Goh!" A joyful voice was heard yelling from the stands.
Goh glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw Ash shaking two pom-poms he was holding, as well as Lucario, who was wearing a cheerleader uniform for whatever reason and appeared to be trying his best to sink into the ground, judging from his expression.
"When did he- oh, never mind." Goh shook his head, thinking about how he's learned to not question Ash's quirky behavior at this point.
"Raichu, I choose you!" Visquez declared. A stout yellow mouse came out of her pokeball in response.
"Neither of them has any type advantages against the other, so this match will depend on our skills alone", Goh thought aloud. "Let's go, Cinderace! Use Quick Attack!"
"Cinder!"
"Raichu, use Reflect!" Cinderace slammed into Raichu with a flurry of kicks.
"A defensive strategy this early in the match?" Goh asked.
"Actually, it's more like a feint", Visquez explained with a confident expression. Goh and Ash gasped in unison as they suddenly noticed that Raichu's tail had wrapped itself around Cinderace's legs!
"She's using the same strategy she used against me and my Pikachu!" Ash observed.
"Good, Raichu! Now use Slam!" Visquez ordered.
"Rai, Rai!" The rotund Mouse Pokémon used its tail to Slam Cinderace onto the ground to its left, then flung it in the opposite direction and smashed it into the floor again. It repeated this several times before loosening its grip and letting Cinderace collide violently against the arena's wall.
Lucario let out a brief howl of worry, before coughing and remembering himself. Ash remained resolute. "You can still do it! Go, Goh!"
"Cinderace! Are you alright?
"Cin… Cinder!" Cinderace nodded, lifting himself off the ground.
"It's your move, now, right?" Visquez pointed out.
'That was a rash decision, making Cinderace close the distance like that', Goh considered. 'I should have remembered this tactic from when Ash fought that Raichu!'
"…Cinderace, use Pyro Ball!" Goh decided after a few moments' deliberation.
"Cinderaaace!" Cinderace launched a large ball of flame in the direction of its opponent in response.
"Use Reflect again, Raichu!"
"Another Reflect?"
"My Raichu and I can take anything you can dish out, little man!" Visquez replied ("I'm NOT little!", Goh shrieked in outrage). The Pyro Ball hit Raichu directly.
After the smoke cleared, Raichu appeared slightly wounded, but otherwise completely fine. Goh flinched, realizing he had severely miscalculated Raichu's strength level. "I don't remember it being this strong back then!"
"Well, you have to remember I'm also participating in the World Tournament, so I've had plenty of time to improve as well! Now let's finish this!" Visquez declared. "Raichu, use Volt Tackle!"
"Cinderace, dodge over it and use Blaze Kick!"
The two Pokémon charged at one another at high speeds, with Cinderace effortlessly vaulting over Raichu's Volt Tackle, and counteracted with another kick, leaping away as quickly as possible.
"I see you've switched to a more defensive strategy", Visquez pointed out.
"I'm sure I can win this if I'm just a little more careful than I was being before."
"You can do it, dear!" Ash cheered on from the sidelines.
"DON'T CALL ME DEAR IN PUBLIC!" Goh shouted with a mortified expression. "Cinderace, try another Pyro Ball! Make it as big as you can!" Cinderace nodded.
"Raichu, do another Volt Tackle! Remember what we've practiced!"
"What they've practiced?" Ash wondered.
"Cinder…ACE!"
With a strong kicking motion, Cinderace launched his Pyro Ball in Raichu's direction yet again.
"What is she planning? Why make Raichu run headlong into an attack like that? It's not like I won't just make Cinderace dodge it again", Goh wondered aloud.
As Visquez expected, Raichu managed to endure the Pyro Ball, though it was definitely having a difficult time of it now. "Now, Raichu, spin and use Iron Tail!"
"S-Spin?"
Raichu pivoted in the middle of its Volt Tackle and spun around while its tail became as hard as metal, looking to all the world like some sort of yellow buzzsaw.
"Cinderace, jump out of the way!" Goh commanded. It would probably have worked better if Raichu and Cinderace weren't so close to one another at that point. The moment Cindereace leapt to the air, Raichu did as well, Its Iron Tail hitting Cinderace several times before its attack halted.
"Cinderace!" Goh yelled, running toward the pokémon's location.
"Oohh… Cin… Cin… Cindeer…" Cinderace mumbled, holding its head while its eyes spun in circles. It fainted shortly after.
Goh looked at the downed pokemon with a resigned, yet satisfied expression before calling it back to its pokeball. "Cinderace, you did great! Now rest for a while."
"It was a fine match!" Visquez congratulated, having also recalled Raichu to its own pokeball. "But you lacked the spirit to see it through."
"It's true", Goh admitted with a morose expression. "I just barged in here because you were the nearest gym leader, I didn't even bring any extra pokemon with me, or prepare any strategies beforehand, I had to come up with them on the fly. If I had had an actual game plan, I could have won, maybe…"
"Don't sweat it, it was a great new experience to fight a Galarian pokemon! And I even got to try out some new strategies, so it wasn't a waste."
"Yeah, for you, that is…"
"Thanks for the match! Now I should probably do something about all these exposed wires…" Visquez walked away from Goh and to the contraption she had been working on before.
Ash chose that moment to run toward Goh and comfort him about his loss. "Ahh! I'm sorry, Goh! I thought for sure you could win! I even egged you on before… I'm sorry."
"It's no big deal", Goh replied, running his fingers through Ash's hair affectionately in response. "But I still haven't given up on trying to get more Gym badges!"
"That's the spirit!" Ash concurred. Then, looking down at the pom poms he was holding, he said. "I should probably give these back to Dawn. She said these were her 'lucky pom poms'…"
"Who's Dawn?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll meet her some day, just like all my other friends!" Ash stated with a wink. "Hey, Lucario, the match is over, let's go!
"-Cario?" Lucario muttered, currently occupied with trying to stuff the cheerleader outfit Ash coerced him into wearing inside one of the garbage cans Visquez had placed around the gym.
"Lucario, that outfit was really expensive! Give me that!" Ash huffed and removed the dress from the trash can. A small button fell from the dress in response.
"Oh? What's this!" Ash picked up the button out of curiosity.
"Uh, I think we shouldn't mess with that-" Goh suggested a little too late. Ash pressed it, causing the lights inside the gym to flicker repeatedly before going out entirely.
"I knew I shouldn't have bothered with this stupid laser barrier!" Visquez shouted in frustration, oblivious to the boys' antics behind her.
"Whoops…" Goh and the rest of the gang quietly tiptoed away.
Goh sat somberly on a rock in the middle of the Cerise Park. Ash put his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"Don't feel too bad about it, Goh. Visquez really improved since the last time we fought, I think even I would probably have trouble against her!"
"Yeah, but you would have been able to think on your feet and create a new strategy to counter whatever she did. Remember what you did to her Voltorb? That was crazy! I would never in a million years think to do that!"
"Don't put yourself down like that, dear."
Goh blushed and turned away. "P-Please don't call me things like that in public. I'm still getting used to it."
"Sure thing, honeybun!" Ash replied. Goh made what could only be described as a 'noise of frustration'. "I have an idea. I have two friends who are gym leaders in Kanto. I'll call them and see if they're available. And then you can battle them for practice!"
"You have gym leader friends?"
"I have friends all around the world!"
"Wow. Can't imagine…"
"Anyways, give me a moment to call them", Ash said while pulling his Rotom phone out of his pocket. "The Cerulean Gym is closest to our location, so I'll call them first."
The Rotom phone beeped. "Oh, hi Ash!" Misty's sister, Daisy's face appeared on the phone's screen. "It's been a while, how have you been?"
"I'm doing good! Is Misty available for a Gym battle?"
"No, I'm sorry, she's off to see a modelling contest in Galar. I think it had this one girl – Nessie? Was that the name? Anyway, she said she couldn't miss it, so she isn't around. Did you want to have a match against her for old times' sake?"
"It's for my new buddy, Goh! He needs to get at least 3 gym badges in order to legally purchase Ultra Balls!" Ash put the phone in front of Goh so he could see Daisy.
"Uh, h-hello, miss", Goh stammered. "I did want to do a gym battle if it was possible, but if the gym leader isn't available-"
"Oh, no worries, dear!" Daisy replied. "I can totally fight you in her place! So come on by!"
"Really? Are you sure?" Ash questioned. 'Last time Daisy was Gym Leader, she just gave everyone badges for free…'
"Of course!"
"Excellent! I'll get my best pokémon and we'll go there!" Goh declared. Ash turned off the phone.
"Hey, Ash, one thing… isn't Saffron City way closer to Vermillion than Cerulean is?"
"Yeah, but…" Ash stares off into the distance. "That gym leader is weird and off-putting and I don't like her", he said with a pout, probably thinking of the strange experiences he encountered there last time.
"Uh… okay." Goh grabbed Raichu's Pokeball from his backpack and called her back to it. Raichu dropped a berry she was holding as she was dragged back.
Goh pressed the button on the pokeball again and Raichu came out while doing a dramatic fighting pose. "Since I'll be facing a water gym, I'll use my best electric type pokemon! No more taking chances this time!"
"That's the spirit!" Ash grinned. "This is gonna be so fun!"
"Pikachu!" "Raichu!" "Pikachu!" "Raichu!"
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" Goh groaned. He and Ash had departed to Cerulean City. Pikachu and Raichu were busy running circles around them.
"They're just in their honeymoon phase", Ash remarked calmly. "I think that's what it's called…"
"Well, get to the disillusionment phase already! Everyone is staring at us!"
"I thought you liked being the center of attention" Ash commented with a teasing little grin.
"I like being the center of attention when it means people think I'm cool."
"Well, I'll always think you're cool, so don't worry."
Goh crouched down and picked up Raichu in the middle of her running. "Come here, you. You can play with Pikachu some other time."
"Raichu…" Goh's Raichu mumbled in displeasure.
"Isn't this nice, Goh? Walking around without a care in the world, just the two of us?"
"Speak for yourself. I'm a man on a mission!" Goh replied with placing his hand on his chin confidently.
"The mission I had to prod you into accepting, you mean", Ash pointed out.
"…Details!" Goh insisted. "Do you have any tips for dealing with water-types?"
"Besides hoping she doesn't have a Grapploct? Not really. I just go with the flow in my battles, I don't have any secret formulas stashed in my brain or anything", Ash explained sheepishly.
But before Goh could reply, a rumbling was heard from their left. Something was approaching them, fast. "W-why is the ground shaking?" Ash squeaked out.
It didn't take long for them to discover the reason why. A Golem emerged from a nearby thicket, rolling at high speeds away from them!
"A Golem!" Goh exclaimed. "Pokéball, don't fail me now!"
He flung the pokéball with the mightiest swing his arm would allow, just barely hitting the Golem's back. The pokéball clamped shut…
For a few seconds, all the sights and sounds in the world seemed to melt away, until there was nothing but the wriggling pokeball, which wriggled once… then twice…
"AWWWW, COME ON!" Goh yelled furiously, waving his arms in random directions from sheer frustration, as the Golem erupted forth from the Pokeball and continued to escape.
"I'm so sorry, Goh…" Ash spoke while Goh lay defeated in the ground, all color having vanished from his body.
"Well, no use crying over spilled Golems! We're here!"
Goh and Ash stood in front of the Cerulean Gym. It had changed little since Ash was last there. Goh ran inside without missing a beat.
"Geez, he's actually more impatient than even I usually am!" Ash bemoaned before following along.
Daisy was there waiting for them in front of the Cerulean Gym's pool. "Welcome! Pleased to meet you in person, Goh, dear! Ash is always talking about you to my little sister!"
"Really? What did he say?"
Now it was Ash's turn to be bashful. "W-well, let's not distract Goh from what is likely to be a harrowing battle!"
"He better not have said anything bad!"
"Not really, he just said seeing your face in the morning every day makes him-"
"Ahem!"
"Right, yes, the battle." Goh stated, still curious about what Ash might have said, but willing to let it drop.
"Battle staaaaart!" Ash cried out.
"Raichu, I choose you!"
"Quagsire, I choose you!" Daisy declared, flinging a Dive Ball into the ground to reveal a blue salamander-like pokémon.
"A Quagsire? That means my Electric-type attacks will be completely pointless! Darn it!"
"Oh, don't worry, Goh. I'm sure you'll still win! Want me to get my pom-poms again to cheer you on?"
"No, please, that was embarrassing enough the FIRST time", Goh replied with a cringing expression. "So do I go first, or do you?"
"You know, I'm actually not sure. But I'm sure if I look hard enough in this Gym Leader's guidebook here, I'll probably find the answer!" Daisy flipped open some random book with the title 'A Beginner's Guide to Gym Leading' and began shuffling through the pages. Goh and Ash patiently waited for her to finish.
The whole process took 30 minutes. "Okay, so I can say confidently that… I have no idea!" Goh and Ash fell down in shock.
"You're kidding me!", Goh stated while facepalming. "Alright, if you don't know, then I'll go first! Raichu, use Swift!"
"Raichuuuuuu!" The Mouse Pokémon produced a flurry of stars that struck its adversary in rapid succession. Quagsire wobbled disoriented for a moment, but did not fall. "Quag… Quagsire!"
"Quagsire, no!" Daisy yelled. "Use Stockpile, that way you won't take as much damage… I think?"
Quagsire yawned for five seconds and then his body shone a blue color.
"It's still off-balance! Use Quick Attack on it and press the advantage!" In response, Raichu ran toward Quagsire and tackled it at a high speed.
"You're doing great, Goh! Keep it up!" Ash cheered from the sidelines.
"Quagsire, use Recover!"
"Quagsire, Quag!" The Water Fish Pokemon concentrated for a moment, and soon all its wounds had disappeared as if by magic.
"Whoa… I've never seen a move like that before!" Goh exclaimed. "But that just means we've gotta hit you harder and faster!" On Goh's command, Raichu continued to rail on Quagsire with more and more Quick Attacks.
"Goh, be careful! She probably has a really good offensive move up her sleeve-"
"Quagsire, use Recover again!"
"…Oh." Ash muttered sheepishly.
The battle continued to rage on for an infuriatingly-long amount of time, but eventually, Quagsire simply ran out of Recover, and Raichu just barely managed to knock it out with a Slam.
Goh's voice was hoarse from barking out commands over and over. "'I…I did it!"
"Congratulations, Goh! You sure earned your new Cascade Badge!" Daisy said as she took out a cascade badge and handed it to Goh. "That was weird, though, I could've sworn that Quagsire strategy was gold… oh, wait…" Daisy flipped open the Gym Leader Guidebook once again. "OH! I was supposed to use Toxic _and_ Recover, not just Recover by itself! I'm such a ditz!" Daisy laughed while the two boys fell to the ground in shock once again.
Ash eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know… I don't think you're inexperienced enough to make a mistake as big as forgetting to even attack the opposite pokémon." He put his hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes. "And aren't ground type moves super-effective against Electric Pokémon? Why didn't you use those?
Daisy… did you pretend to not know what you were doing so that Goh could have an easy Cascade Badge to help him out?" Daisy sweatdropped.
"Oh, a-haha... I'm just a substitute Gym Leader, so who could blame me for not knowing how to fight properly... you know?" She laughed awkwardly.
Goh seemed to consider Ash's theory. "If you did throw the match for my sake, we're gonna have another one right now! I'm not buying my new Ultra Balls with pity badges!"
Ash bristled and became defensive for reasons Goh could not imagine. "I don't know about that, Goh, sometimes a pity victory is the truest kind of victory of them all!"
"…Huuuuuh?"
"I think I'll start cleaning up the gym before Misty comes back… or maybe I'll watch a movie?" Daisy considered. "Anyway, I hope you succeed in getting all the badges you need, Goh!"
"Thanks! And thanks for the match, even though it was kind of… tiresome."
Goh and Ash walked out of the Cerulean Gym with happy smiles on their faces.
"You know, I never realized how effective a purely-defensive strategy could be", Goh commented. "If she had just used Toxic once and poisoned my Raichu, it'd have ended up fainting eventually, and then I'd never have my Cascade Badge!"
"You are learning quickly, grasshopper!" Ash remarked (Goh did not ask him what exactly a 'grasshopper' was supposed to be, he presumed it was some weird term of endearment). "You wouldn't have had nearly as easy of a time of it if Misty was there, though! She'd have wiped the floor with you!"
"Oh, so I only won because I was fighting a substitute Gym Leader, huh?"
"I didn't mean it like that…"
"Anyways, where are we off to next?"
"I called Brock in the middle of your match, and he said he's totally available for a Gym Battle! So you'll have a chance to prove your skills against a real pro!"
"Isn't Brock that one friend of yours who's always trying to pick up chicks?"
"Well, he was, but he's been better ever since he got a girlfriend. You shouldn't underestimate him, though!"
"Then off to Pewter City we go!" Goh started walking a little faster, only to be interrupted by a rustling in some nearby bushes.
"Don't tell me it's another Golem…" He remarked with a frustrated tone.
The bush shook until finally its occupant, a lone Butterfree, exited and flew away. Goh gave a relieved sigh that the universe did not choose to taunt him for a third time.
"...Okay, why is he shirtless? I was not expecting that."
"Oh, I'm sure Brock has his reasons."
"What? This is my Gym Leader outfit."
"But you didn't do that when I fought you the first time, though? When did that happen?" Ash questioned.
"…I thought it might help me pick up girls", Brock admitted.
"Awww! But you have a girlfriend now, so it's okay!"
"…Actually", Brock interrupted. "Olivia and I aren't doing so great…"
"What?! No!"
"…She said she 'thinks we should see other people'" Brock continued with tears welling up in his eyes.
"Nooooo!" Ash cried out. "It'll be okay, don't worry!"
"Uh, while this is somewhat entertaining to watch, can we get back to my Gym Battle, please?"
"RIGHT!" Brock exclaimed, suddenly reinvigorated. "I may not be man enough to win a woman's heart, but I am certainly man enough to face anyone who challenges me to a Gym Battle! LET'S GO!"
"Hey now, that's my catchphrase!" Goh joked. "Scizor, go!"
A red-hued armored bug pokémon came out of the thrown pokéball.
"Scizor may not be resistant to Rock-type attacks, but I did take the opportunity to teach it a Steel-type move on the way here!"
"Hm. In that case… Golem! I choose you!" Brock threw a pokéball into the groud that opened to reveal a greyish-colored pokémon that resembled an animal trapped in a spherical boulder.
"Oh, wow! Your Geodude evolved into a Golem, Brock? That's so cool!" Ash exclaimed, while Goh uttered something under his breath that sounded like 'oh, sure, he gets to have one'.
"Battle start!" Ash cheered, with Pikachu jumping into the air and saying the same thing in pokémon speak.
A.N. And that's it for now! I'm really sorry about having it end in a cliffhanger like that, but it just felt appropriate.
If you're wondering about why I had Goh fight Brock but battle Daisy instead of Misty, I just wanted to be different... and I may or may not write about what Misty got up to in Galar eventually.
See you (hopefully) soon, everyone :)