The heavy wooden doors that lead into Kurt's property were strangely heavy to Goh as he and Ash shoved them apart to approach the smith's home. He thought that perhaps all the errands and work that he was putting Maizie through might have been just as likely to build her strength and endurance as they were necessary tasks, like in a television show that he had watched as a child.

As the four teens entered, he saw a quiet puff of smoke exiting the chimney of the smaller side building, as well the distinctive sound of hammering coming from the building.

"You think he's workin' on something right now?" Ash asked, turning back towards the group.

"I guess it might be easier to work on things without Maizie around underfoot," Chloe said.

"Eeivui," she said as she stepped around Chloe's feet, towards the side building.

Argent stepped in front of her, as though to stop her from wandering off, but Grookey leapt from Goh's shoulder and babbled while waving his stick into the air, and the chimp and Chloe's Pokémon both darted off in the yard towards the corner of the compound.

Goh laughed nervously. "Well, I guess it's okay if Grookey and the others stay out here while we talk to Kurt, right?"

"Eiebui…" he sighed, rolling his gray eyes.

With that, he tucked his legs underneath himself again and sat in the grass, just watching Eevee and Grookey play.

Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and waved at Argent, inviting him to join in the play, but the silver Eevee merely turned his head, snorting defiantly.

"Pikachu…" he said, scratching his red cheek with his paw.

"Bui."

"You tried, buddy," said Ash. "You can head off and play with the others."

Pikachu nodded and darted into the grass to chase Eevee and Grookey around. Argent remained unmoved and unmoving, just watching the others run around.

"Argent doesn't seem very social," Horace noted. "Has he always been this way?"

"Ever since I met him," Goh said. "He gets along with a few Pokémon back in Cerise Park but he doesn't seem to really have the same sorts of friendships that lots of my other Pokémon do. I think he's just prideful."

"Prideful?" Ash asked. "Like he's got a lot to prove?"

"Something like that," he said. "Argent came from a big Pokémon Breeding company, remember? He must still have a high opinion of the place he came from, and that pride is keeping him from really connecting with the others."

"I dunno if I agree with that," Chloe said, crossing her arms. Looking at her, he saw a conflicted look in her emerald eyes, as though she was still puzzling out the solution herself.

"What do you think then?" he asked earnestly.

"He certainly acts prideful," Chloe said, "but I feel like this isn't Argent's real thoughts. It feels like he's holding back from making connections with others."

Chloe's analysis put Argent's behavior in a different light for Goh. What he originally wrote off as a quirk to the Pokémon's behavior instead was painted as a deliberate decision by the Normal-type. He felt his breath catch as he connected it to his own behavior.

In the past, he had closed himself off from connecting with others, pushing Chloe and her friends Mika and Deliah all away as he continued to skip school and search for Mew on his own. That was how he had acted for years following his encounter with Horace seven years ago.

And he had done it to protect himself.

Looking down at the silver Eevee, he remembered what he had been told by his previous owners. The stories of how, for his weakness or his rare coloration, he had been bullied by others, forced to the margins of the breeding company to the point that his former caretaker's neglect had been the final straw and he fled.

Argent was trying to protect himself from getting hurt again, and Goh felt his heart break for the Eevee. After all, he had been in the same position once, before he had met Ash.

Chloe's soft hand gently took him by the wrist. "C'mon, Goh. Argent will be fine out here while we talk to Kurt."

He reflexively relaxed at Chloe's touch and her words eased his worries. "Right."

Stepping away from the yard while the Pokémon played, Goh and the other teens headed towards the side building with the smoking chimney.

As they approached, the sound of the hammering continued to grow louder until they were close enough to catch a glimpse of the master smith at his craft. He hammered at a red-hot piece of metal on his anvil, working at his forge. While he still wore the blue kimono, his face was covered by a wide guard with a small window to let him see his actions.

"Hey, Kurt," Ash said, as cheerfully as he could, though Goh did notice some discord in his tone. Clearly he was still puzzled by how things seemed to be going off his expected path, especially concerning Kurt's lack of cooperation.

Kurt looked up from his work before using his heavy tongs to quench whatever piece of metal he was working with. He flipped the mask up, revealing his face. "Oh, hello again, Ash." His eyes scanned the other four teens as well. "And hello to your friends as well."

Goh felt there was something off in Kurt's tone as well, a faint sense of annoyance, but they couldn't turn back from asking him about the ancient Poké Ball. The old man would simply have to deal with being annoyed.

"Kurt, we had a few questions we wanted to ask you," Goh said. "Would you mind talking with us?"

"For that Project Mew, correct? It's no problem."

Goh could almost hear Kurt's teeth grinding together.

Rather than beating around the bush, Goh decided to address things directly.

"We spoke with Maizie a bit earlier. We ran into her while she was handling your errands," he said. "We were talking about you, and she mentioned you were learning about a legendary sort of Poké Ball that you tried to make in your youth. Can we talk to you about that?"

Kurt laughed, waving off Goh's concern with his hand. "It's nothing you really need to trouble yourself with," he said. "I was merely chasing a fool's errand. A mythical Poké Ball that never existed and never will."

"Is that all…?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms with a frown.

"That is indeed all," he said. "You kids can run along now." He turned down his face-guard and turned back to the forge.

"Can you talk to us about the legend you chased?" Horace asked, reaching out. "Please?"

Kurt stopped and sighed into his face-guard. He turned back to the teenagers and flipped it up again. "I'm telling you, there's nothing to explain. The ball doesn't exist."

"Even so," Horace pleaded, "even the legend you heard might help Goh and Project Mew discover the truth. If there's even the slightest chance it's tied to what they're researching, then it can't hurt to share what you know with us, can it?"

Kurt snorted, glaring at Horace and Goh. "It can certainly be a waste of my time," he said. "There's nothing to be discussed because there was nothing to it. It was a rumor of a rumor. Nothing more."

"But Maizie said you had gone on a journey!" Ash protested. "If you didn't think there was anything to it, why would you have traveled around searching for it?"

"It's called the rashness of youth," Kurt said, his tone short. "I thought I could prove them wrong, but I was the one who was wrong. Now, please leave."

Ash frowned, looking irritated, himself. "If you can't tell us about that, can you at least tell us about the GS Ball?" Ash asked. "Professor Oak's really curious about if you've learned anything so far."

"And I told you yesterday that if I had learned anything, I would have told him," Kurt shouted back at him. "The GS Ball is still a work-in-progress!"

Ash recoiled from Kurt's shout, and the look in his friend's eyes alone communicated to Goh how uncomfortable this line of questioning was making him. Ash already disliked the thought that Kurt could be lying to him about the GS Ball, and being confronted with the idea again did his confidence no favors.

But Goh knew they had no proof to approach him with, to press him with. They could continue to badger him, but Kurt could keep telling them the same lines he had been saying.

Just as Goh began to open his mouth to say how big a waste of time this trip was, Chloe spoke.

"For an old man who seems like he's got nothing to say, you do seem like you've got quite a bit to hide," she said.

"Excuse me?!" Kurt said.

"Despite even your granddaughter knowing about this journey you took when you were young, you won't tell Goh and Horace anything about it. And despite Ash's pleading and you two being old friends, you won't even show him the GS Ball, much less say anything about it. That's really suspicious, if you ask me."

Kurt glared daggers at the girl questioning him. "Now see here," he said. "I am an honest man who has lived a long life. Just because I don't want to talk about certain things with nosy teenagers doesn't mean I have anything to hide!"

"Then say something," Chloe said. "Tell Goh and Horace what they want to know, or show Ash the GS Ball!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Kurt shot back, angrily. "If you're so keen on sharing secrets, I'm sure you all have things you don't want to share. How about we start with your secrets before we dig into mine?"

Goh felt his pulse run cold. He didn't have only one secret, but two. And unfortunately for him, the secrets he was keeping both involved others in the room. He couldn't let Chloe know about how he and Horace met, and how he let it affect him going forward. Nothing good could come from it, as far as he saw. Chloe would either turn against Horace for hurting Goh so long ago, or she would turn angrily on him for not trusting her, much like she had already argued with him back in Lunargent Town.

And admitting his secret, romantic feelings for his childhood friend? Goh would sooner shove his bare hand into his Sandile's mouth. He didn't know what Chloe's response would be to hearing about how he felt about her, but the fear he felt in his heart of her rejecting him was more than enough incentive to keep his mouth shut about such things.

Around him, Chloe's confidence also seemed to collapse as she stepped back behind the group. Even Ash crossed his arms and lowered his head, as though he was suppressing something or another. Goh supposed that Ash was lucky Pikachu wasn't here to try to pull the truth from him, and the three Kantonians fell silent.

But Horace stepped forward. "I would talk about my secret, if I had one."

Goh turned to him, eyes going wide. "Horace…?"

"When someone trusts you enough to share your own secret with them," he explained, "and you keep that secret, it's a sign of strength and maturity. But if you're just holding in a secret that hurts you? That's the same as saying "there's no way you'll understand how I'm feeling!"." The look in his eyes was serious, and focused forward onto Kurt. "The way we can help each other out is by sharing with others, and letting them know what's bothering us. That's what I think."

Goh looked away from his friend, and he felt shame rise in his throat.

He couldn't deny the truth in Horace's words. He was carrying the secret away from Chloe about the events seven years ago because, in a way, he didn't feel like she would understand. She would take it the wrong way and be angry, he thought.

But wasn't this the same as doubting her? Doubting their close ties of friendship? Doubting the feelings he held in his own heart?

He recalled a time when banishing all the doubt he held in his heart for her was his goal. The autumn felt so very far away in the waning days of winter.

But he agreed with Horace and his thoughts. He would believe in Chloe and trust her with what he had kept from her. It was the least he could do, the smallest action to reflect how he felt inside.

But Goh's face contorted in surprise when he looked up.

Instead of reflective, or regretful, the look on Kurt's face was furious.

There was only a moment of silence before the old man spoke.

"I've had enough! I won't listen to another moment of this naive talk! Get out! Get out of my workshop and off my property, or I'll call and have Officer Jenny remove you herself, if you'd prefer that!"

The four teens all flinched at his shouting. Goh wanted to step up to Horace's defense and voice his agreement, but he felt Chloe's hand on his shoulder before he could move very far.

"Think about how Project Mew might react to us getting arrested," she warned. "Let's do as he says for now."

Goh felt like kicking at the floor, but he nodded in agreement. "Right."

The four teens backed away from Kurt, collected the Pokémon, and left his home.

The door closed to the room Goh, Ash, and Horace shared as the four teens began regrouping after their retreat. Not knowing if Kurt went through with his threat of alerting the authorities, they decided the best course of action was to lay low in their room in the Pokémon Center rather than continue to loiter around the town anywhere.

Grookey leapt to the windowsill in the room, cooing sadly as he pawed at the outside. Eevee, meanwhile, was just carried by Chloe as she sat on Goh's bed. Horace and Ash climbed onto theirs but Goh leaned against the door, keeping his gaze turned forward. Argent sat at attention at Goh's feet, still seemingly disconnected from the rest of the group present.

"Well…" Ash said, breaking the silence. "Now what?"

"Pika…" Pikachu said, lying on Ash's pillow.

"It's clear that he's hiding something related to both the legendary ball as well as the GS Ball," Chloe stated. "At least, that's what I think."

"I didn't wanna think Kurt might've not been workin' on it," Ash said, "but Chloe's got a point. He's got no reason to rush us out like that if he's got nothin' to hide."

"I wonder what it could be that's got him so… against talking to us?" Horace asked. "I mean, it's not like saying anything to us could hurt him, right?"

Goh, who had been thinking about the pieces of information they had, shook his head.

"No, I don't agree."

The other three humans turned their attention to him. "Goh?" Chloe asked. "What are you thinking?"

"If talking to us about it won't help, then the only reason I can think of that he might not want to talk to us is because admitting the secret could hurt him if it ever gets out. Or rather, maybe he assumes that if he tells us, it's sure to come out."

"How come?" Ash asked.

The pieces were fitting together in Goh's mind, piece by piece as he went over the data. "Think about it. We're research fellows for a Pokémon professor. As well, we're working to uncover a mystery for Project Mew. Don't you think that if we uncovered anything, it might eventually be published? Made public for anyone to see?"

Horace nodded. "So… whatever he's hiding, it's something that would really harm him?"

"Harm him or his reputation," Goh said. "Something that's tied to the journey he went on that somehow ended in failure…"

There were still a few pieces that seemed disconnected that Goh was playing with in his head. Kurt clearly knew something about the legendary ball that had drawn the attention of Team Rocket and Project Mew. Whatever that was, it was potentially tied to his journey to make it, the journey that ended in failure.

There was also the GS Ball, the mysterious ball that Professor Oak had been curious about. It was entrusted to Kurt specifically because his expertise was the one that was needed to unravel its mystery. A mystery that, even three years out, still seemed unsolved, as though all attempts to crack it also ended in failure.

Goh gasped, his eyes going wide.

"...is it possible?"

"Goh?"

Chloe looked at him expectantly.

"I… I don't have any proof, but what if both the legendary ball and the GS Ball are related? What if they're the same Poké Ball?"

Ash frowned. "The same one? You mean that the GS Ball is the legendary ball talked about in the scroll?" Ash looked at him, baffled.

"Like I said, I don't have any proof," Goh said, "It could just be a coincidence. But it would explain why he refuses to show us the GS Ball or discuss either of them."

The four of them went quiet. Even the Pokémon all went silent as they considered the implications of what Goh said.

"...it's definitely a weird coincidence if it is the case," Horace said. "You'd think he'd be more excited to unravel the secrets of the GS Ball even more if this is the same ball he failed to make, wouldn't he?"

That was the crucial mystery. Why would he avoid looking into the GS Ball if this was the same legendary ball that he had been trying to forge? Goh didn't have any idea, and as he glanced over his friends in the room, he couldn't see any looks among their faces that said they had any idea either.

"We don't even really know that he hasn't been trying to solve the GS Ball, either," Chloe said. "We can assume and make educated guesses based on how he's acting, but without anything solid to go off of, really all we're doing is harassing a poor old man about a secret he'd like to keep buried."

"Aw, man…" Ash groaned, flopping onto his bed next to Pikachu. "I can't believe we're the bad guys in this…"

"Pikachu…"

"Don't forget that Kurt's been hiding this from Professor Oak for three years," Goh said. "He's not been the best person in this situation either."

"So what can we do?" Chloe asked. "It's not like we can just force him to reveal this horrible secret, right?"

"Secrets…" Goh muttered to himself, turning his gaze towards the ground.

That's what this all seemed to be coming back to. The secret Kurt was keeping that would be the key to unlocking the mystery of the scroll and the Poké Ball that Team Rocket. The secret he was keeping to keep Chloe from getting angry. The secret Argent was holding within, keeping himself withdrawn from the other Pokémon.

In frustration, he hit his fist against the door behind him.

"Horace was right. I hate secrets…"

He whispered the words out, but in the deadly quiet room, everyone heard what he said.

"What do you mean, Goh?" Horace asked.

"I mean you're right. By holding secrets, we're only hurting each other. Saying that we can't trust in each other or have faith in each other. You were right when you said that."

Ash nodded. "Yeah. It's one thing to keep someone else's secret, but just keepin' something like that? That only hurts yourself? What's the point?"

"Pikachu…"

Goh took a deep breath to steel himself before turning to Chloe.

"That's why, before we continue, I have to tell Chloe the truth."

Chloe's emerald eyes widened, and her face flushed. "A-Are you sure now is when you want to tell me the truth?" she asked. "We could always-"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I need to, because holding onto this secret is only hurting myself."

He took a deep breath and looked her in her emerald eyes. His heart began to pound in his chest, and he felt like the rest of the room melted away, even as all eyes were on him.

"I never told you the truth," he said. "The truth about what happened to me seven years ago."
Chloe relaxed as he spoke, and she took a more curious posture. "Seven years ago?"

He nodded. "When I was seven, the year after we went to Professor Oak's Summer Camp and saw Mew, my parents brought me to Azalea Town on vacation."

"I know that much," she said. "And I know how you were after you came back…"

He nodded, his head lowering shamefully.

Grookey leapt from the windowsill to Goh's head and began pulling on his hair, making Goh wince in pain, but the chimp stopped once he was looking at Chloe again.

"Grooki! Ooki ooki!" the chimp said, waving his paws towards Chloe.

He was trying to help him keep focused, so Goh smiled and scratched behind the Grookey's ears.

"Well, that is when I met Horace for the first time. We became fast friends in a single day over our searching for Mythical Pokémon, Mew and Celebi, and we promised that we'd meet again to hang out the next day. Only… Horace never came."

At that point, Horace's eyes left Goh and turned to look at Chloe, but she kept her eyes on Goh himself.

Goh continued.

"And… when he didn't, I felt abandoned, you know? I already didn't have that many friends. Only, like, you and the friends you brought in like Mika and Deliah. And so when that happened… it hurt. A lot. I felt so weak and helpless that I didn't ever want to get hurt like that again."

Goh felt his shoulders shaking as he continued to speak. Even with Grookey there trying to support him, thinking about how he felt on that day still hurt. It may have been an old wound that had since healed, but it still didn't feel very good to touch it.

Chloe, however, was already moving ahead.

"So that's why you acted like you had a chip on your shoulder ever since that day," Chloe said. "At least, until you met Ash and made more friends." She stood from the bed and approached him. "It's why you started skipping school, and bailing on me, and putting a lot of strain on our friendship. It's why you practically sealed yourself off into your room and your research on Pokémon."

Goh opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Once more, his words had failed him.

He looked up into her eyes, and with the sunlight entering the room behind her, she was almost too difficult to look at, like a shadow looming over him surrounded by the sun's corona.

"So why…?" she asked, carrying a calm disposition. "Why did you do it?"

"Why did I…?"

Chloe stepped closer, almost pressing her forehead against Goh's. "Why didn't you tell me what happened? Back then or now?"

"I… I didn't know how…"

Goh saw Chloe's calmness falter, and he could see the sadness she wore beneath the surface.

He could see it because he felt it, too.

"It was already hard talking about friendship and making friends, and I'd never had someone break a promise to me before. I didn't know how to explain how I felt back then. I was just… so sad and angry. It was like I was poisoned, and I didn't know how to get rid of it."

He felt the tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't want to cry in front of everyone, especially Chloe, but he had never had as much control over his tears as he'd like.

"I was afraid that you'd stop wanting to be friends with me, too, so I ended up trying to convince myself I didn't need any friends, and I tried to push you away. But I was also scared about what would happen if we stopped being friends, so I never let you go."

"Goh…"

He stopped talking, and only felt the hot tears rolling down his cheeks. He wasn't even sure where they were coming from, only that there was a part of him that still hurt after all this time.

Chloe's eyes, sparkling emeralds, now looked like they were about to cry as well. Where she had been hard to look at before, now she almost appeared to be an angel of mercy in his gaze.

"Please don't blame Horace," he said, trying his best to stay calm. "He got sick, and I didn't know until a few months back when we met again in Ilex Forest. It's not his fault that I acted like-"

"Shh…"

Chloe pulled him into a hug, putting her arms around him and holding him there as she put her chin on his shoulder.

"You dummy. I'd never stop being friends with you over something like that."

He kept his own arms at his side, though he felt the pull to want to hug her back. To hold her to him, securely and gently.

Instead, he tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth, his words failed him again.

"And I'm not angry with Horace for something outside of his control."

Even still, she understood what he wanted to say.

He supposed it was due to the closeness that only two childhood friends could have, the ability to understand what the other was thinking.

"Honestly, I figured it was something like this as soon as we ran into him yesterday," Chloe explained, her breath tickling his ear. "That you guys met here and something happened. I know it was hard for you to talk about, but it's okay. I'm not mad at either of you. I'm happy you were able to find the words you needed."

He felt his heart pound in his chest. Chloe understood how he thought even better than he did.

"...Thank you. I'm sorry."

Chloe giggled. "You don't need to apologize. I'm just glad you're being honest now." She paused. "Unless, there's anything else you'd like to say?"

He looked up, seeing Ash, Horace, Pikachu, Eevee, and Argent all staring at the two of them. He coughed nervously, but shook his head. "No, that's it."

In truth, he was still concealing one more secret - his feelings for the girl holding onto him - but this secret didn't hurt him, so it would be okay to hold on for at least a little longer.

At least, until the right moment arrived.

She released him and stepped back. "Alright, Goh. But… no more secrets, okay? We can't help you if you're trying to carry everything by yourself."

"She's right," Ash said. "If you're worried about somethin' else but won't tell us, how can we help? We're your friends, Goh. We're here to help!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"Grooki!"

"Eievui!"

"Eiebui."

"She's right! Let us help, Goh!"

As Goh took all the support he was receiving in this room, he recalled Danika's words a few days ago.

"It wouldn't be good if you had to do this all by yourself without any support from us."

He wiped his face against his arm to clear his face.

"Thanks… thanks, everyone."

He took a breath.

"We need to come up with some plan to get Kurt to admit the truth, for his sake as well as our own. And that means, in my opinion, we have one angle we can approach."

"What's that?" Ash asked, sitting up and tangling his legs over the side of the bunk.

Goh smirked. "Well, you delivered it to him, right? That's what you said?"

Ash gasped. "You mean… we need to find the GS Ball?"

"Kurt must still have it. If it's that important, there's no way he got rid of it, especially if he had to still prove he was looking at it from time to time."

"But Goh," Chloe asked, "Kurt basically kicked us out. There's no way he'll let us back inside his house to snoop around."

"I know," he said. "That's why we need to come up with a plan together. A plan to break inside and find the GS Ball. Once we have it, it should be pretty easy to prove he hasn't been investigating it."

"Break in?!" Horace asked. "A-Are you sure that's the best idea?"

He shrugged. "I can't think of any other ones, and Kurt won't cooperate unless we're able to force him. We need a decisive piece of evidence that he's not been telling the truth, and I can't think of a better example than the GS Ball."

"I guess it's time for a heist, then," Chloe said. "Only… you will give it back, right?"

"We just want the information, right?" Goh responded. "We'll definitely give it back, and if he really wants to keep it out of the public eye, we can count on him not alerting Officer Jenny, either."

Ash chuckled. "You can be pretty devious when you wanna be, Goh."

"I'm a cunning and roguishly handsome kinda guy."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Well, how about we get started planning this little 'operation' then?"

"Actually," Ash interrupted, rubbing his stomach, "can we get dinner first? I think a lot better on a full stomach."

"Sounds good to me," he said. "Let's get dinner and plan our attempt to get that decisive evidence to make Kurt talk!"

As all of the people and Pokémon filed out of the room, Goh paused when he noticed Argent not following. The Eevee sat, staring at him with curious, gray eyes.

"What is it?" he asked, kneeling down to the Pokémon's side.

Argent tilted his head, looking like he was trying to figure out how to say it. He hopped towards Goh and tapped his paw against his own face before pointing at Goh..

"Eiebui…? Buibui eiebui?"

Argent was asking about how he felt. He was worried about seeing his trainer cry.

"I'm alright," he replied, guessing at Argent's meaning. "It just felt really cathartic to let that go - like I felt really good to get what was bothering me off my chest, you know? Now it's like I can start again with a clean slate." He smiled at Argent, thinking about Chloe's thoughts on the Eevee's behavior earlier in the day. "We're a lot alike, Argent. We both carry a lot of pain from our pasts, but I think the best thing we can do is accept that pain, and to let others help us through it. I've got Ash and Chloe and Horace and Grookey, and Eevee, and Pikachu and you, too."

"Grooki! Grooki grooki grooki!" The chimp on Goh's shoulder added in his own words of encouragement to the silver Pokémon.

"And you have all of us, Argent," Goh said. "You're not alone."

Argent seemed to relax, sitting on the floor, staring at him. The Eevee swished his gray tail back and forth a few times.

"C'mon, let's catch up. We don't want Ash to eat everything without us, do we?"

Argent smiled and nodded. "Eiebui!" He leapt to Goh's free shoulder and nuzzled his face a bit, making him laugh.

Goh stood and looked at the Pokémon on his shoulders, sure that no matter what plan he and his friends would come up with, they would succeed. Their friendship would help bring the dark secrets they hoped to uncover to light.

"C'mon! Let's go together."

And together they went.