Ash excitedly pushed past Goh and Chloe to stand at Serena's side. "Guys! This is a good friend of mine! Her name's Serena, and we traveled together around the Kalos Region the first time I was here!" He gestured to her excitedly, like how Goh might if there was a new Pokémon in front of him to catch.

This blonde haired, blue-eyed girl, this Serena, laughed. "It was only about a year ago, wasn't it? But we did have a great time."

Knowing the mysterious dancer from before was a friend of Ash's set Goh's mind at ease. After his encounters with the Alolans, Dawn, Korrina, and Iris, he knew that if Ash was introducing someone he had met before as someone he used to travel with, they could be counted on as being friendly. "My name's Goh. Ash and I are Research Fellows who work together for Professor Cerise in Vermilion City. And this is Grookey," he said, gesturing to the chimp on his shoulder.

"Grooki ki!" the chimp said, waving to the girl.

Goh continued the introductions by gesturing to the girl by his side. "This is Chloe, with Eevee."

Chloe bowed slightly, holding Eevee to her chest. "It's nice to meet you, Serena."

"Eievui!" she chattered, wagging her tail happily.

Serena stepped closer to Chloe and put her hand on Eevee's head. "When I saw her dancing, it reminded me of how my Sylveon looked before she evolved," she said, a happy, nostalgic look on her face. "I guess that's why I asked if you were a Pokémon Performer earlier."

Chloe shook her head. "No, Eevee just likes to copy just about anything she sees," she said, smiling at her Pokémon. "Especially if we meet an evolved form of Eevee. It's like she can't help herself." Turning her attention back to Serena she furrowed her brow. "But what's a Pokémon Performer?"

"They're Pokémon Trainers who do these awesome things called Pokémon Showcases," Ash explained excitedly. "They put on shows for people and Pokémon, and there's even competitions where they try to outdo each other and win Princess Keys. A winner with three keys can challenge the top Performer, the Kalos Queen."

Goh shot a glance at Chloe, who nodded back. He certainly remembered the much more restrained and brief explanation that Ash gave on Performers when Koume of the Kimono Sisters had mentioned one was visiting them, and seeing Ash so excited now couldn't have been a bigger contrast to how he acted back then.

His only question was why did Chloe ask it if they were given an explanation back in Ecruteak City.

Serena giggled at Ash's exuberance. "You remembered all of that?" she said. "And here I thought you'd forget it all, just like you forgot our first meeting."

Ash chuckled shyly, backing off. "I apologized for it, didn't I?"

"Pii-ka chuuu," the mouse said from Ash's shoulder before happily hopping over to Serena's and rubbing his cheeks against her face. Goh saw Pikachu's tail spark slightling and Serena's hair puff out as it responded to Pikachu's electricity, but rather than any fear, Serena just laughed, scratching Pikachu below the chin.

"What do you mean, your first meeting?" Chloe asked, tilting her head, causing her own hair to sway in its braid. "Did you guys meet somewhere before Ash came to Kalos?"

Serena nodded, though she kept a hand on Pikachu. "Yeah! We first met…" She frowned, humming as she continued to scratch PIkachu's chin. "...wow, about seven years ago, now! It was at Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp!"

Goh was hit with a wave of nostalgia so hard, it might have been a deja vu. "Wait, you two were at Professor Oak's Summer Camp, too?"
Chloe glanced over at him, eyelids lowered. "We were there about eight years ago."

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, I missed that one and ended up goin' to the one Serena was at."

Pikachu hopped back over to Ash's shoulder as Serena nodded. "I guess you'd call it fate that we met, then, huh?"

Ash and Serena both laughed at that, but Chloe leaned in towards Goh's ear and whispered "They seem awfully close, don't you think?"

Goh shrugged, not quite capturing her meaning.

"But how'd you end up here for this festival?" Ash asked. "I thought you were in the Hoenn Region, still doin' contests there."

Serena giggled. "Well, that's sort of what happened," she said. "I ended up making it to the Grand Festival, but I lost in the battle rounds. But I ended up making such a huge impression on the winner that she ended up starting a whole new kind of contests called Contest Spectaculars!"

"A whole new kind of contests?!" Ash asked, eyes almost sparkling with amazement. "That's awesome!"

She smiled back, pink dusting her cheeks. "Thanks. Since she and I are starting these new kinds of Contests based on combining Pokémon Performances with Pokémon Contests, I thought it would be a good idea to travel around the world a bit to see what other influences we could use!" She clasped her hands together, clearly thinking through her memories with no small amount of joy. "I saw these Super Contest Shows in Sinnoh that were almost like they combined Contests and with a dance contest, and then I saw a Musical in the Unova Region. While I was in Unova, I heard about places that specialized in more traditional forms of song and dance, so I went to the Legend Festival on Shamouti Island."

Goh did a double-take. "Wait, you went to Shamouti Island? The place where they hold the festival honoring Lugia?"

She nodded. "They actually made me the maiden, and I had to help the hero by playing a song. Only I wasn't so good at the instrument, so they let me sing it instead."

"Was that the song you were singing on the stage?" Chloe asked. "It sounded so melancholy…"

"Yeah! It was a lot of fun to learn, and there's a lot of soul in the song," Serena said. "After the festival, they told me that Ecruteak City would be a good place to learn about more traditional forms of song and dance and so I was there learning from the Kimono Sisters who lived there until just recently."

Suddenly the comment by the sisters about playing host to a Kalosian Performer clicked into place in Goh's head. If they had arrived in Johto sooner, then they might have had this conversation earlier

And, with a tinge of guilt, he might not have had to see Chloe engulfed in flames. Though imagining Serena in her place did not comfort him in the slightest.

"So you came to the festival from there, then?" Goh asked, trying to put his previous thoughts behind him.

Serena nodded. "Yeah. There was going to be another performer here, dancing for the festival, but she wasn't able to make it, so Palermo asked me to come to fill in. I was about to go back to Hoenn when I got the call, but spending the New Year in my home region isn't so bad either, right?"

Goh felt like he was being bombarded with too much information all at once, so he ignored whoever this Palermo was and decided to cut to the chase. "Wait, since you're involved with the festival, do you know about the Sea Spirit's Den?"

The performer blinked her blue eyes at him. "Y-Yeah, they did explain a bit about it to me. Is that why you guys are here?"

"Goh's here followin' up on a mystery surrounding a feather we found a while ago. It might be tied t' Lugia somehow, so we're here checkin' it out."

"I need to get one of Lugia's feathers - a Silver Wing," Goh said, a pensive, serious look on his face. "How can we get inside the Sea Spirit's Den to where Lugia is resting?"

Serena frowned at the question. "Well, I do know how to get in to see Lugia, only… it's impossible to go see them now."

Goh felt the pit in his stomach sink. "W-What…? Why can't we see them?"

She gave him an apologetic, modest smile. "Well, do you remember when I was announcing the ceremony tomorrow?"

"You said it was the Whirlpool Ceremony, right?" Chloe said. "Does that have something to do with it?"

"That's right," Serena said. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and produced a Rotom Phone of her own, tapping on the screen a few times before holding the phone horizontally in the direction of Goh and the others. "You see, once a year, right at the end of the year, a great whirlpool forms in the Azure Bay. This makes the water level in the bay fall as the water is pulled deep into the ocean. While the whirlpool's formed, you can get access to caves that are normally filled with sea water, and inside of the great mountain whose top rises above the ocean, you'll find Lugia resting. According to legend, anyone who approaches Lugia with a pure heart will have their wish granted!"

Goh furrowed his brow. "Wait, so to ask for this feather, I'll have to be pure of heart?"

"Don't take it so seriously," Serena said, giggling. "Lots of times, these legends are just things people make up after the fact to just explain something, or record history, you know? I'm sure with Ash here, talking to Lugia will be a piece of cake!"

"Pika, pikachu, Kapika," Pikachu said, wagging his tail from Ash's shoulder.

"So wait," Ash said, stroking his chin. "The Ceremony isn't until tomorrow, right? That means…"

Chloe nodded. "That the Sea Spirits' Den…"

"...is still under the sea…"

Goh groaned at the news. It was another delay in solving this mystery, and every delay meant a further delay in eventually gathering up all the information and presenting it to Project Mew for his tokens.

He deserved a mountain of tokens for all the effort he was going through.

"Hey, no need to worry!" Ash said, patting Goh on the back. "We just gotta wait a day, right? And there's a festival! We can have an awesome time here and meet Lugia tomorrow!"

Chloe shrugged. "Well, you know him. Always impatiently rushing off into things without explaining himself or telling us what's going on," she said, teasing. She shot Goh a sarcastic glance. "Didn't you learn your lesson about rushing and taking shortcuts?"

He winced like he had been physically struck by her words. "I know, I KNOW! You don't have to rub it in, you know!"

Serena began laughing at the two of them, clapping her hands together. "You two must be really close, to talk like that."

"I said the same thing," Ash said, laughing, as well. "Just what you'd expect from two people who've known each other for so long."

"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu added, chuckling.

"Grooki!"

"Eievui!"

Even the Pokémon seemed against them. Goh felt his face twist into a glower.

What surprised him, then, was seeing Chloe's face twist similarly, as though she found the comparison as distasteful as he did.

He wondered if she disliked it for the same reason. He was very aware of the growing weight in his stomach as his closeness to her was brought up. The teasing that he secretly liked her hit differently when he was unable to quiet the thoughts himself. The thoughts that he had been nursing since that day in Johto that smacked him in the face. The feelings he had spent his time away trying to forget were pounding in his chest and burning his cheeks just as readily as they had been before.

"Hey, it's a festival, right?" Ash asked. "Why don't we just try an' have some fun with it then? We can't exactly make tomorrow get here any faster, right?"

"Ash is right," Serena said, smiling at Goh and Chloe. "This is a great opportunity for us to have a great time! Honestly, it's kind of incredible that I ran into Ash here, so I'd definitely like to enjoy the festival with you guys if you don't have other plans!"

Chloe let her sour expression fade somewhat. "Well, I guess there are worse ways to spend our time today than hanging out with Ash's old friend," she said. "Besides, it'll be nice for me to have another girl to talk to. Usually it's just me with two Pokémon fanatic boys."

"Oh, says the girl hugging a Pokémon to her chest right now?" Goh teased. "I think you may be protesting a bit too much there, miss."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Says you. Eevee is my only Pokémon. How many do you have? Seventy five? Seventy six?"

"C'mon, having a lot of Pokémon isn't a sign of obsession," Goh replied. "C'mon, Ash, back me up!"

Ash shrugged. "I dunno. I don't even have that many."

Once more he was navigated into a corner in the discussion. He sighed, feeling defeated, running his left hand through his hair. "Well, whatever then. I guess I'm obsessed."

Chloe's combative gaze faltered, being replaced by a look of sadness. "Goh, I-"

"Hey, let's all calm down," Ash said, raising his hands with an awkward smile on his lips.. "C'mon, let's all grab somethin' t' eat and just relax, okay? No use stressin' out about it."

Serena shot Ash a concerned look before smiling again. "Yeah, let's get some lunch, and then just enjoy ourselves today."

"There was this place back here that was sellin' somethin'!" Ash said excitedly. "I only saw it when I got the cotton candy but Pikachu an' I could smell what they were cookin' It smelled like they were fryin' somethin' really tasty!"

"Pikapika…!" Pikachu said, squishing his cheeks joyously, as if to emphasize how delicious it smelled.

The Pokémon's actions just caused Serena to giggle. "Just like Ash and Pikachu to be excited about food, isn't it?"

Goh, still having his pride injured, said nothing, so it was Chloe who spoke up next. "Yeah, definitely. Ash is the kind of guy who's only early to breakfast and is late to everything else."

Ash said nothing further, only laughing and heading in the direction of the food stall. As Serena stepped up behind him, Goh only watched for a moment until Chloe drew closer.

"Hey, Goh?" she said, her tone calm and remorseful. "Are you alright?"

He glanced up at her green eyes and felt his resolve weaken as his heart took over for his mind. "I'm fine," he said, not truly believing it himself.

Neither then, did Chloe.

She hesitated for a moment, but then she let Eevee down and put her hand on his Grookey-less shoulder. "I'm sorry. I went too far. I shouldn't have called you obsessed."

Goh felt himself express more surprise than he thought he should feel. "Th-thanks, Chloe," he said, trying not to look at her, despite his heart pulling him towards her kind emerald eyes. "It's just joking between friends, right? I'm not upset."

She shook her head, rejecting his forgiveness. "No, I mean it. I shouldn't be so rough with you. You came out here to do a job and even though I came, I've just been sniping at you. That's not what a friend should do, so I'm sorry."

He gazed into her eyes, seeing the regret in them. He reached up to her hand on his shoulder and smiled at her. "Thank you, Chloe. Apology accepted." He gave her hand a soft squeeze. In response, he saw Chloe's cheeks burn and she pulled her hand back, but she smiled at him. "C'mon, let's catch up before we get left behind."

"Right."

"Grooki!"

"Eievui!"

With their Pokémon even in agreement, Goh and Chloe headed towards where Ash and Serena were waiting in line for food.

The four teens found a corner of the small town that wasn't occupied by stalls or festival decorations to eat their lunch. Goh tried not to make fun of Chloe for ordering a funnel cake and topping it with fruits and powdered sugar. Especially with Ash ordering three corn dogs, and a fourth for Pikachu.

Goh and Serena both opted for something a bit more reasonable: a savory Pecha berry burger with some fries.

They opted to tap into the stores of Pokémon food they brought with them for their Pokémon, and so Ash, Goh, and Serena let out the remainder of their Pokémon.

Ash, of course, brought Dragonite, Gengar, Lucario, Sirfetch'd and Dracovish. His Pokémon all tended to sit together, not recognizing Serena's ensemble, though Pikachu definitely sat closer to them than the others.

Goh, for his part, brought Cinderace, Inteleon, Argent, Flygon and Aerodactyl. They sat closer to Ash's squad, with Cinderace seated with his back to Lucario. Grookey joined the rest of Goh's team, sitting with Argent around the large, communal bowl.

Serena let out her three Pokemon, and while Goh recognized Sylveon, her other two were Pokémon he didn't, so he took out his phone over lunch and pointed it at them.

The first was the tallest of Serena's Pokémon, a bipedal fox who's long fur looked to be like the robes of a wizard. She sat calmly as Goh took out his phone and pointed it at her, causing a picture of her species to appear on its screen. "Delphox, the Fox Pokémon. A Fire- and Psychic-type. Using psychic power, it generates a fiery vortex to incinerate its foes. Delphox gazes into the flame at the tip of its branch to achieve a focused state, which allows it to see into the future."

Delphox smiled at Goh and gave him a gentle wave with her paw.

"Oh, wow! Braixen evolved!" Ash exclaimed between bites. Goh tried not to look at his bad table manners, but his friend did say that he and Serena used to travel together. Ash assumedly knew all of Serena's Pokémon.

Seated next to Delphox was a small bear-like Pokémon with black and white fur, wearing a pair of red sunglasses on his head. When Goh scanned him, a picture of the Pokémon appeared on his phone, without the sunglasses. "Pancham, the Playful Pokémon. A Fighting-type. Wanting to make sure it's taken seriously, Pancham is always giving others a glare it thinks is intimidating. But if it's not focusing, it will end up smiling instead."

Pancham, for his part, seemed disinterested in Goh and was chatting excitedly with Pikachu. Clearly the two Pokémon had a lot of catching up to do, but Goh couldn't understand a word of their speech.

Chloe's Eevee sat between Serena's Sylveon and Delphox and joined them in their meal. Serena giggled at the sight. "Every time I look at her, she reminds me of how my Sylveon used to look."

Ash swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking. "Yeah, but Sylveon was way more timid than Chloe's Eevee is. She'd run and hide at just about anything."

Serena nodded. "Yeah, she was. But she's come a long way since then. She was able to find her footing on stage and now she's able to share her dancing with everyone!" She turned to Chloe. "You said your Eevee's really curious about things. Have you already decided on what you're going to evolve her into?"

Chloe shook her head before offering a common refrain. "No, I haven't. But I don't want to force Eevee to evolve anyway. I want Eevee to make the decision on what she becomes."

Serena blinked, somewhat surprised. "You're leaving it all up to her?" she asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Eevee came from a lab where no matter what they tried to do, they couldn't make her evolve. And I think that's because she hasn't decided on what she wants her future to be yet. I want Eevee to make her own choices, because I want everyone to let me make my own choice for my future as well."

A concerned, saddened look grew on the performer's face. "People told you what you had to do, too?"

Chloe hesitated, so Goh spoke up. "Her dad is Professor Cerise, the Professor Ash and I work for as research fellows," he explained. "And because of that, people tend to tell her that she should be a Pokémon professor like he is."

He might not have noticed at first, but it was something he was more familiar with now that Chloe had brought it to his attention. It was something that was always there on the periphery, around them, but it was something Goh couldn't relate to, so it escaped his notice until she explained it to him on that day they had a fateful encounter with the very Eevee who was the subject of conversation.

He felt the pain his newfound empathy brought him, mixed with the emotions he was seeking to conceal.

Serena nodded. "I understand. I'm the same way."

Chloe turned her head to the blonde. "You are? What do you mean?"

"My Mom is a famous Rhyhorn Racer. And so, back before I knew what my dream was, she forced me to practice and prepare to be a Rhyhorn Racer myself one day. I think she did it because it was all she really knew." There's a moment Serena looked almost wistful before shaking her head.

"I hated it."

The words hung in the air.

"I hated being told what to do, and I hated racing. I hated the long hours of practice and I hated not getting to do what I wanted."

Chloe nodded emphatically. "Yeah! That's exactly what happened to me! But… do you still hate Rhyhorn Racing, now that you've found your own goal and dream to follow?"

Serena shook her head. "No. I'm still not in love with it, but I had a lot of time to think, and I can appreciate it for what it is now, even if it's not for me. Even if it's not where my passion lies, there are good things my mother taught me, and that I can get from Rhyhorn Racing that help me even now!"

"There's things you can draw on even now…?" Chloe whispered, almost to herself.

"That's right! And now, I know nothing I experience is a waste of time. That's part of the reason I was traveling the world." Serena turned to Ash and smiled. "I had a great teacher who taught me that I should never give up until the very end!" She turned that winning smile back towards Chloe, continuing. "So take your time and experience as much as you can! I'm sure whatever memories you make, you'll definitely be able to use them when you finally find a dream you want to race towards."

Chloe smiled back at the performer and nodded. "Thanks, Serena. I will!"

The two girls shared a mutual giggle before Chloe brightened up again. "Say, is being the best Performer and becoming the Kalos Queen your dream?"

Serena laughed a little to herself. "Well, that's one of my dreams. I want to be someone whose smile can inspire others and give them the strength and energy they need to keep doing their very best! But I do have a more selfish dream, too. But there's nothing wrong with having more than one!"

"More than one dream?" Chloe said, raising an eyebrow.

"Right! Just like Ash has his dream of beating Leon! I'm sure that's only one of his dreams because his main dream has always been to become a Pokémon Master!"

Ash found himself laughing and looking away, seeming somewhat embarrassed to have it spelled out for everyone, but Goh furrowed his brow. "Wait, we haven't mentioned Leon. How do you know about that?"

At this, Serena's face lit up like a Cheri Berry, turning red. "W-Well, I heard about it from Korrina," she said, turning away from Goh. He could see that her ears and neck were also red at the thought. "She and I are friends, too, and so she told me all about the World Coronation Series. I even managed to see Ash's matches against Volkner and Bea on TV!"

Goh shot Chloe a glance, one that his childhood friend returned. There was something somewhat suspicious about how Serena was acting, but it wasn't something he could put a finger on exactly. From the look in Chloe's eye, she seemed to have a better idea of what was going on than Goh did.

Ash, for his part, seemed taken aback. "You were watching?"

The question, while simple, felt like it held an unspoken meaning to Goh.

Serena brushed her hand through her loose blonde tresses. "W-Well… you've always been such an inspiration, Ash. I just thought it'd be alright to see you again, even if I haven't fulfilled my promise to you just yet." The red in her face was more subdued now, but the performer still struck Goh as embarrassed.

Ash smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about that for now, okay Serena? We just got lucky and ran into each other! That promise can wait until you're ready."

Chloe gasped and put her hands over her mouth, drawing the attention from the other three teens. She looked around at all of them, and so Goh glanced around as well. Ash seemed perplexed, but Serena looked like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I-uh, I was just yawning!" Chloe said, faking a yawn so transparent that even Goh could see through it, but the explanation seemed to satisfy Ash, who stood up, having finished his meal during the conversation.

"Alright! That was good, but there's plenty more festival left, so let's go an' enjoy it!"

Pikachu leapt to Ash's shoulder with a tiny fist raised high. "Pikachu!"

Serena gave him a nod. "Yeah! Let's have fun, everyone!" She stood, as did Goh and Chloe, before they began recalling all their Pokémon besides Pikachu, Eevee, Grookey, Argent, and Sylveon. The five Pokémon all went to their respective trainers, with Pikachu and Grookey hopping on to Ash and Goh's shoulders while Eevee, Argent, and Sylveon sat by their trainer's feet. Sylveon even extended her ribbons to take Serena's left hand as Ash grabbed at her right.

"C'mon! I saw this fun lookin' game over here we should try!"

The giggle caught in Serena's throat. "R-Really? We should check it out then!"

As Ash pulled Serena and Sylveon away, Chloe leaned in towards Goh. "They seem really close, don't you think?" she asked.

Goh felt his face turn into a frown. "I suppose, but Ash's friends with lots of different people."

Chloe shook her head before cupping a hand around her mouth to whisper more directly into Goh's ear. "Yeah, but the promise? You heard her mention that and saw how Ash got all embarrassed, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure Ash got embarrassed and it's not just your imagination?"

She shook her head. "No! I've been paying really close attention to how Ash has acted around this Serena girl and I tell you, there's something going on. This could be a marriage promise!"

Goh felt his eyes go wide. "M-Marriage?!"

The word came out louder than he intended, and Chloe quickly clapped her hand over his mouth. "Shh! Don't let them hear you!"

Goh nodded and Chloe released her hand. "You really think Ash is the kind of guy to promise to get married?" he said in a hushed tone. "A Pokémon fanatic like him?"

She frowned. "I get that it doesn't seem like his bag, but have you been paying attention to her? She likes him! And if they both know about the promise, then something's up, right…?"

Goh sighed. "I thought you were the one who was supposed to be keeping her feet on the ground. This sounds like a fantasy…"

Chloe crosses her arms. "You really know how to take the fun out of something like this, you know?"

"Bui!" Argent yipped, his tone annoyed and short. The silver-colored Eevee wasn't amused by the direction the conversation was taking. "Buibui!"

Feeling Argent's exasperation himself, Goh grabbed Chloe by the wrist and began pulling her along. "C'mon, let's not get left behind."

"H-Hey, c'mon, Goh!" Chloe stammered, holding her hat to her head.

Goh pushed through the crowd until they caught up with Serena, who was standing nearby a booth that Ash was standing in line for, though Goh wasn't sure why he was in line since there was no one behind him. Serena shot them a sympathetic glance, but her blue eyes just made Goh release Chloe's wrist and shove his hands into his pockets.

Argent walked up to Serena's Sylveon and sat next to her, tucking his legs all beneath his body. Chloe's Eevee copied him and did the same, down to copying Argent's facial expression, which did little more than annoy the silver Pokémon further.

"Is everything alright?" Serena asked, though her gaze was more directed at Chloe than Goh.

He responded first regardless. "We were just taking in all the decorations," he said, as brazen a lie as he'd ever told, but one that was harmless enough.

Serena nodded, looking up. Streamers and flags in the colors of red, yellow, and blue were hanging all around the festival space, each with a small accent of silver on them. "Yeah! The colors are based on Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, the three Legendary Pokémon that come here during the festival!"

Goh raised an eyebrow. "They come during the festival, too?"
"Yeah! People have seen those three Pokémon roaming all over the Kalos Region for a while now. During the whirlpool festival, three small islets become visible due to the water going down, and they're supposed to come and roost there while Lugia is in the Sea Spirit's Den. They say it's so that they pay their respects and thank Lugia for bringing the warm tropical current that helps keep Kalos the warm, beautiful place that it is!"

Goh nodded. This was exactly the sort of thing that came up in his research. "I guess it makes sense. And I guess it'd be bad if I tried to catch 'em."

Serena was taken aback. "You want to catch the Legendary Pokémon?"

"This Pokémon fanatic's dream is to catch one of every Pokémon," Chloe said, shrugging in feigned annoyance. "Of course that means he wants to try and catch every Legendary Pokémon there is, too."

"I know I shouldn't bother Lugia over this, and I can't exactly try to battle any of the others as long as they're here for Lugia's sake. I won't try to catch them."

Serena just giggled. "I'm just surprised that Ash has such an ambitious new friend," she said. "But it's good that Chloe is here to keep your feet on the ground."

The weight in Goh's stomach grew back and the two of them averted their eyes. Serena kept hitting upon an implication Goh wasn't ready to face for several reasons, but that just made the performer giggle more. "I can see why Bonnie would do this. It's kind of fun being on the other side for a change."

"Hey guys!" Ash called out, waving his arms. "We can play now!"

"Pikapika!"

The three teens with their Pokémon approached Ash, who was gesturing to the book. Set up on a table was a game. There were two sticks fastened to the game's board, and a ball sitting atop them. The game was labeled "Telekinetic Challenge", and the scoring section was near where the person would be standing operating the sticks.

Goh recognized the game from a trip to the amusement park with his parents years ago, though he mostly remembered his father failing at it. "The trick is you pull the sticks apart but not too far apart to get the ball to roll backwards along the sticks, and only let it drop to earn points."

"Since there's two sticks, wouldn't it be fun if we played together as teams?" Serena asked, grinning.

Before Goh could object, Ash nodded. "Yeah! That sounds fun! How should we divide them up?"

"I think-"

"Well, since this is the first time we've seen each other in a while, how about you and I team up?" Serena asked, interrupting Chloe. "Goh and Chloe can try, too."

Goh felt like he saw a familiar sparkle of mischief in Serena's blue eyes, but he ignored it. "Well, fine. I guess we're going first then."

Chloe sighed and followed behind Goh, even as Eevee and Argent stayed back with Ash and Serena.

"Oh, so next is this couple," the game's operator said. "If you get enough points, you could win a great prize! Good luck!"

Goh tried to focus his mind and let the events play out, ignoring the teasing from the operator and whatever machinations Serena had in mind. "Alright, let's show them that our teamwork beats their teamwork every time."

"Why do I feel like I got forced into this…?" Chloe sighed. "This is almost like a-"

Even before the phrase was finished, the thought made Goh's arm twitch, and he moved the stick he was holding out and away, causing the ball to drop before it even moved.

"Oh, good try. You get three attempts to add to your score, so here's ball number two."

As the operator reset the sticks and replaced the ball, Chloe glowered at Goh. "What's with you? You're acting weird again."

"I'm acting weird?" he replied, trying to focus on the game but failing. "You're the one trying to come up with childhood marriage promises for someone you met today."

"H-hey! That thing happens!" she protested before sighing. "Whatever. Let's just try to earn some points."

The two of them focused their eyes on the sticks, slowly moving them out and causing the ball to roll before moving them back together and pulling again, making the ball roll closer.

Goh, for his attempts at focusing, couldn't let the idea of a childhood marriage promise go, especially with the feelings he was busy trying to conceal from the girl he was forced to cooperate with.

It was a stupid image to get into his head, so he shook it off, focusing on the game in front of him. He wasn't going to look like a fool in front of Ash and his friend. Even still, the swinging of the pouch she wore around her neck made Goh fear that he would look away and cause the ball to drop early again.

Instead, it was Chloe who hesitated, causing the ball to drop before it could reach the scoring area.

"Aww, tough break," the operator said. "But you still get one more chance to put points on the board."

As he reset the game, Chloe's more aggressive mask began to slip and Goh could see that she was distracted and upset as well. Perhaps she was hurt that Goh wasn't humoring her silly marriage promise fantasy, or maybe she was still thinking about what Serena had told her before, but it was clear that her head wasn't in the game.

"We'll get it this time," he said, masking his own doubts with bravado. "We've dealt with way tougher stuff. Remember when we all stayed up through the night when we were at that sleepover during the blackout."

Chloe laughed a little under her breath. "Deli was so upset, she couldn't sleep, so we all just stayed up talking about things. And when we helped Jinny out with Feeby."

"Yeah," Goh said, pumping his fist. "So let's just focus and handle this in the way only we can."

Chloe nodded and focused on the game at hand. "Got it, Goh."

This time, they were much more unified in their purpose, moving the sticks in a somewhat shaky unison, managing to roll the ball up to the second score zone.

Even so, it was a pathetically low score.

"With a score like that, your prize is a piece of candy!" The operator said, trying to be as cheerful as possible. "Thanks for playing!"

Goh took the small piece of candy from his hand and handed it off to Chloe.

"Thanks," she said somewhat darkly. "Sorry we didn't do that well," she said as the two of them stepped out of the way.

"It's alright. It's just a dumb game," Goh said, shrugging, averting his eyes from her.

Ash and Serena stepped up, each taking one of the sticks in their hands. "Are you ready?" Ash asked, and even from the distance they stepped away to, Goh could see the competitive edge in his eyes.

Serena nodded. "Let's go for broke and max out our score!"

"Pika!"

With a unified approach that looked frankly rehearsed, Ash and Serena operated the sticks, causing the ball to roll backwards up them until it finally fell through, at the scoring zone one past where Goh and Chloe had managed to reach.

In one attempt, the two who hadn't seen each other in a year had surpassed Goh and Chloe's teamwork.

"Awesome!" Ash cheered as the game was being set back up. "That's the first one!"

"It reminds me of one of Clemont's inventions," Serena giggled. "There's always a little trick to these sorts of things that's not obvious at first glance."

"No need t' worry," Ash said, smirking. "We've got this."

As the second ball rolled towards them due to their teamwork, Goh couldn't help but feel jealous at their unity. He and Chloe usually seemed to be on the same page, but lately their teamwork seemed to fail them.

He began to wonder if it was his fault things had ended up this way, whether it be from the huge fight they had months ago now, or the inherent dishonesty in how he was handling his feelings. Even though she was dressed in ordinary clothes for traveling, there was something about Chloe that kept drawing his eye to her. He knew it was that crush he had realized back in Johto, but he felt like time apart from her immediately afterwards as well as having her just dressed like his friend Chloe rather than as a beautiful kimono-clad maiden would have had the effect of snuffing out the crush he had on her.

Instead, it felt like it was burning brighter than ever.
He was kicking himself mentally, and he looked down at Argent, who had come to rest by his feet in the same way he usually sat. The Eevee looked up at him with the same dour expression he usually wore. It was as if he was saying "Be mature about all of this".

Goh couldn't tell what being 'mature' meant in this situation.

While he battled his internal thoughts, Ash and Serena's third ball dropped. "Congratulations!" The operator called out. "A score like that gets you one of these huge stuffed Pokémon dolls!"

The operator turned to the back of his booth and pulled out a large Pokémon that was covered in yellow fur with large ears, with tufts of orange fur sticking out of them.

"Oh, it's a Fennekin!" Serena gasped as the operator handed the doll to Ash.

Ash then turned and handed the doll to Serena. "Here, you can keep it," He said, smiling.

Serena accepted it with a smile and blushing cheeks, and Goh had to admit to himself that maybe Chloe was onto something with this whole Serena being romantically interested in Ash business.

That just made this excursion feel more like a double date, and Goh wasn't ready to be honest about his feelings on the matter.

As Serena turned from the booth, her eyes caught the sight of a little girl holding her mother's hand, looking at the teens wide-eyed. Serena calmly approached the girl before crouching down to her level. "Hey, there," she said with a wide, comforting smile. "Are you enjoying the festival?"

The little girl nodded, though her eyes were clearly drawn to the large Fennekin plushie that Serena was carrying.

Serena noticed this and nodded, holding the plushie up for the small girl. "I'm a big girl, so I'm old enough to have my own Pokémon. But taking care of all of them is a lot of work. Would you mind taking care of this one for me?"

The little girl's quiet face lit up with the brightest smile Goh had seen all day. She reached up for the Fennekin plushie and took it into her hands.

"Thank you," the little girl shyly said. "I really liked your dancing in the square!"

Serena giggled. "Thank you very much. I hope you and Fennekin come to see me tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay! Thank you!" The little girl beamed happily, and her mother gave Serena a shallow bow before continuing to pull her daughter along.

As Serena stood up, Ash came to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've really come a long way, haven't you?" he asked.

She nodded. "I still have a lot further to go before I can be Queen, but I'm on my way."

She turned to Goh and Chloe, who were still standing back watching and waved them over. "C'mon! Let's go find another game to play!"

Ash grinned and pumped his fist. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Goh and Chloe both sighed with resignation as they glanced at each other. This would be a long day.

It was hours later, but night had finally fallen by the time the group had returned to the Pokémon Center in town, and they had split up into a room for the boys and a room for the girls. Goh had laid down on the top bunk while Ash finished brushing his teeth at the sink in their room.

It was an exhausting day. Grookey was already curled up next to him on his bed, asleep, and Argent had returned to his Poké Ball while they were still at the festival.

Ash and Serena had pulled him and Chloe along to various other games and even back to a square of traveling performers where Goh got to see once again Ash's inability to dance. He and Chloe stayed back, but said relatively little, with their thoughts clearly drifting apart from each other.

It was difficult and lonely despite sitting right next to her. He wondered if having these feelings was part of what was exhausting him, but he could hardly ask Ash about this sort of thing.

He paused as the thought passed through his mind. Or could he?

"Hey, Ash? Can I ask you something?"

Ash spat out the toothpaste from his mouth and quickly rinsed with some water. "Yeah? What's up?"

Rather than direct the talk about his own feelings about Chloe, Goh decided to attempt an indirect approach.

"What do you think about Serena?"

Ash furrowed his brow like Goh had just asked a stupid question. "She's an awesome friend and her performances are always like, kapow! You see them and then you're BANG! And you just gotta rush out and kablam! Do your best because you're so psyched and full of energy!"

Goh groaned, rolling back onto his back. "I honestly didn't know what I was expecting."

"Why'd you ask?" Ash asked as Pikachu began brushing his teeth using Ash's toothbrush.

"Well, is it different from how you feel about Chloe?" Goh asked.

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, but I feel differently about her than I do about you, or Dawn, or Iris, or Gary or anyone else," he said. "Everyone's friendships are different, right?"

"Somehow I don't feel like that's the full picture," Goh replied, sighing.

"What'd you mean?" Ash asked.

Goh chuckled. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. I'm gonna try and get some sleep."

"Okay…" Ash said, sounding unconvinced. "G'night, Goh."

Goh turned his back to the light and his mind towards his thoughts. Regardless of how Ash seemed to feel on the surface, there was a weird way he seemed to treat Serena that perhaps neither Ash nor Goh could quite describe, but it struck Goh as being similar to how he had his own unresolved feelings about Chloe.

Her smile and dazzling green eyes appeared in his mind's eye, and Goh mentally chastised himself for his hypocrisy. How could he dare to tell Ash how he apparently felt about Serena when he himself couldn't admit how he felt about Chloe?

He could almost hear Chloe calling him completely, totally arrogant as his mind drifted off into the darkness of sleep.