Day 1 – Catch
"I used to think I knew exactly what I wanted in the perfect soulmate. I was wrong because you are even better than I ever imagined" – Unknown

Satogou week has begun, fellas. Strap in, and hopefully I'll have a new fic every day for you all.

The following chapter has offhand mentions of Goh applying makeup as well as him acting very tsundere (not in a mean way), so if either of those things bother you, wait until tomorrow and maybe the next chapter will be more to your liking 0:)

"I don't need a boyfriend! I'll be happy as long as I have Mew!"

That's what Goh used to say whenever the topic was brought up, and he genuinely believed it.

The prestige from being the first person to catch would surely be enough for him to lead a pleasant life. It didn't matter how long it took. Who cared if his classmates and other kids his age teased him for it? He was too busy for that sort of thing!

Chloe would usually concur, except she still thought he needed more friends.

That being said, he didn't blame anyone if they were attracted to someone as he beautiful as he, he'd say to anyone who would listen. It was why he spent so much time in front of the mirror every morning.

And if, hypothetically, he would be interested in a boyfriend (after catching Mew, perhaps), he had a very clear idea of who he'd be interested in.

Someone smart, good with machines and electronic devices, like him. Someone handsome, too, because Goh is the handsomest boy in the entire world, after all, and would never settle for less.

They'd probably have to be someone as driven as him, with a clear goal they're moving toward. And they would need to be well-spoken and reserved. Someone quiet. Someone like…

"GOOOOH!" A very loud voice shouted from the other room. Goh sighed.

"What is it, Ash?" He shouted back.

"The Marshtomp are stuck again! We gotta help them!"

"HOW? This is the fourth time!"

Nevertheless, Goh exited his room and went with Ash to the observatory to check on the problematic Marshtomp.

If you're wondering, no, Ash wasn't who Goh was going to mention when he was thinking of who the perfect boyfriend would be. The notion was ridiculous! Him, be Ash's boyfriend?

Surely, he could do better than that.

On the way, Goh kept thinking about the idea, and how odd of a pairing they would've been. Not that he was seriously considering it, of course. But he couldn't help but remember the number of people who insisted to him that he and Ash 'looked like a good couple' or something along those lines.

Chloe, his grandmother, his parents, as well as everyone they met… all of them had this weird notion that he was in love with Ash, and needed to confess as quickly as possible. That not doing that was hurting him. How annoying.

Just because he admired Ash didn't mean he was in love with him! The other boy was frumpy and homely in appearance, and – not to be rude – quite thick-headed. It wasn't that Ash wasn't an amazing guy in spite of those things, but Goh just imagined himself with someone a little different, that's all.

Speaking of thick, wow, the Marshtomp really outdid themselves this time. You could barely see the tops of their heads. Were they even still alive?

Only one way to find out. "Do you have the shovels?"

"Yeah, grab this one!" Ash replied.

After the second time it happened, Ash and Goh had made sure to have a reliable solution in case they were to encounter this situation again – which they did, many times. They weren't sure where all these Marshtomp kept coming from, nor why they never learn their lesson, but a pokémon was a pokémon.

So Goh and Ash diligently shoveled the mud out of the Marshtomp's way, and they climbed out of their self-made trap, sheepishly thanking their saviors as they went.

"All in a day's work!" Ash cheered while petting one of the Marshtomp.

"These Marshtomp really are a handful…"

"You know, you act annoyed, but you didn't hesitate to come and help them, either", Ash pointed out.

"Well, it would just have been wrong of me to leave them to fend for themselves", Goh rationalized. "Some other pokémon might have attacked them."

Ash smiled at him. "Funny thing for the same boy who told me that I was being conceited for wanting to help pokémon to say, don'tcha think?"

Goh turned away and huffed. "Well, people change their minds all the time!"

Truthfully, if he could admit it, the real reason was because of watching Ash. And Ash knew that very well. With one of this typically-wide grins, he grabbed Goh's shoulders and said "Come on, let's go back to the lab! There's still plenty of stuff we could do today."

Flustered, Goh went along with him, while trying to recall what exactly he was thinking about before Ash called for his help.

Oh, right. He was inside his room, playing League of Legendaries again while thinking about what his ideal soulmate would be.

He wasn't sure why the topic was on his mind right now, come to think of it. It's not as though he'd ever actually date anyone… though he most certainly would be able to woo anyone he wanted to, he thought. I mean, who wouldn't want to date such a smart, self-sufficient and stunning young lad?

…Okay, maybe he's being a little arrogant. But just a little! Still, though, on the off-chance that someone out there as amazing as him exists, he should probably consider giving them a chance.

Well, there was Horace, but Goh feels like that ship has sailed, somehow.

Him and Ash go back to their room and sit down together. It's Sunday, so they have no missions to complete – whether for research or otherwise. The day is in their hands.

"I should redo my makeup, having to shovel all that mud probably wasn't good for it", Goh muses out loud. He picks up his makeup kit (it was a gift from Chloe) and a hand mirror and starts putting on more eyeshadow. Ash watches him intently.

"Hey, Goh? How come you put so much effort into your appearance?" He asks.

"I guess… because I like it?" Goh responds. "Looking pretty makes me feel better about myself. And people will pay more attention to you if you're more attractive."

"Really? Huh. I never noticed."

"Well, you're not that attractive, but there is a certain charm to you… I'm not sure how to explain it." Goh shakes his head. "What am I saying?!"

All that thinking about soulmates must be messing with his brain. "Anyway, what do you feel like doing right now?"

"Uh…" Ash thought for a while. "Are there any Kanto pokémon you haven't caught yet?"

"You know, now that you mention it, I never did catch that Zapdos…" Goh puts his hand on his chin. "We could try to find it again. But-"

"Then that's what we're doing today! It's settled!" Ash declares, leaping high into the air with Pikachu following suit.

"W-Wait, but we don't even know where it is!" Goh stammers.

"We'll figure it out as we go! It'll be fun!" Ash extends his hand to Goh expectantly.

The spiky-haired boy's enthusiasm is infectious. Goh grins and nods his head. "Okay, I'll get my phone and check if any unusual weather patterns have been reported!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Ash concurs, excited to spend some time with Goh doing what they do best.

After a bit of digging, Goh noticed several reports of atypical storms forming in or around Celadon City, and decided it was worth investigating.

"Worst-case scenario, we'll just have a fun time in Celadon, right?"

"No, the worst case scenario would be we accidentally make Zapdos angry and it fries us with its lightning bolts." Goh chides.

"That's never stopped me!" Ash proclaims with a dissonant serenity. "Right, Pikachu?"

The mouse pokémon agrees with an enthusiastic "Pika-pika!" and Goh is somewhat unnerved at Ash's excessive bravado. Then again, he has seen him get zapped by Pikachu multiple times. Maybe he's developed an immunity?

Getting to Celadon City is pretty easy given that it's so close to Vermillion. It's sunny right now, though, so they might have to stick around for a while.

"Want to go exploring?" Ash asked Goh. "I've been here before, so I know all the best places to relax! As long as we don't visit the gym…"

"What if the gym is where Zapdos is hiding, or something?"

"I mean, if we absolutely gotta", Ash conceded. "But I, uh, really don't want to go there otherwise, alright? Embarrassing things happened there."

Goh raises an eyebrow, but doesn't pursue the issue further, making a mental note to ask Delia about this supposed incident later. She was always more forthcoming with information like this than Ash was, Goh found.

As they walk around Celadon, Ash's eyes move toward a building that looks unfamiliar to him. "…Goh, look! It's a Game Corner! I don't remember that being here! They must have added it recently!"

"Ash, we don't have time to-"

"Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeease?" Ash begged with sad little puppy-dog eyes.

It was super-effective! The opposing Goh gave in! "Fiiine", he grumbled, figuring he could at least ask the people there if they ever noticed anything peculiar about those storms lately.

The first thing Goh noticed was how packed the building was, and he immediately became more nervous. He mentally prepared himself and headed inwards. If Ash could be here and act like nothing was wrong, so could Goh.

The second thing he noticed was that 'Game Corner' was a misnomer, and the place would be better described as a casino. It was full of slot machines, many of which were currently occupied by increasingly-frustrated customers.

Ash looked very disappointed at this development. "Where are the carousels?" He asked, to no one in particular. Goh had to muffle his laughter. Ash's innocence could be just so, so endearing sometimes…

Moving quickly, Goh approached the casino Game Corner's cashier (a woman who looked to be in her twenties) and started to ask her a question. "Excuse me, miss, could you tell me…"

Goh paused. He was momentarily thunderstruck from noticing the absurd length the woman's hair went to. She could give Chloe a run for her money! Or Jessie, that old lady who is a part of Team Rocket. "I was just wondering… there have been a lot of out-of-season storms here lately, haven't there?"

"Oh, yes!" The woman exclaimed. "It's very odd. But fortunately, I've heard the problem – whatever it was – has been taken care of, so you don't have to worry about getting hit by any stray thunderbolts, alright, little boy?" She explained while rubbing Goh's head like he was a child. It was very patronizing.

"Wait, but how did they take care of the problem? What exactly was causing the storms to begin with?" Goh continued to ask.

"What do I look like, the Celadon Mayor? Come back here when you want to buy something, kid!"

Goh looked askance at the cashier lady, and thought of saying something about her lack of respect, but decided against it. It someone had solved the problem, regardless of what its source was, it just meant this trip was a bust in the end, didn't it?

He looked back at the rest of the Game Corner, trying to see where Ash was. Much to his shock, Ash was in the middle of a heated debate with a slot attendant.

"This game is rigged, I'm telling you!"

"You knew what you were in for when you came in here, twerp!" The attendant, a man with light blue hair wearing a beanie, replied. Something about him seemed familiar.

Come to think of it, something about the woman from before seemed familiar, too…

"No, I really didn't!"

"He's right, he definitely had no idea…" Goh muttered to himself as he walked closer to them, wanting to hopefully prevent the argument from escalating.

"This game is unfair to the people playing! We have no way of controlling the result in any way besides inserting more coins! We lose more money than we get!" Ash protested

"You put coins inside the machine and hope you get a good result! What could be easier?" The attendant shot back.

"Hi, Ash. I take it the 'games' weren't to your liking?" Goh asked as he got close to him.

"Not at all!" Ash angrily replied. "Games are supposed to be fun! But if you look around, all you see is people losing, over and over! This isn't a Game Corner, it's a… a Scam Corner!"

"Scam Corner? I'll have you know this is a perfectly respectable establishment! So please stop disrupting the other costumers' time, sir!" The attendant shouted indignantly, trying to lead Ash away. Naturally, Ash fought back.

"Hey! Quit manhandling me!"

"Um…" Goh mumbled, unsure of how to proceed. "Sir, I'm quite sorry for my friend's behavior, we'll be sure to just go on, then. So if you can just let go of him…"

Goh then attempted to separate the two, lightly pushing the attendant away from Ash with a little more force than necessary. The attendant's beanie fell to the ground.

"H-Hey, my disgui- er. I mean, my hat!" He stammered.

"Wait a minute…" Ash muttered, narrowing his eyes.

It was as though a fog had been lifted from Goh and Ash's eyes. Now that the blue-haired man was hatless, it was perfectly clear who he was: James from Team Rocket!

"It's Team Rocket!" Ash helpfully pointed out to the audience, in case they didn't know. "I knew this place was a scam! It must be chock-full of Team Rocket employees!"

The Game Corner fell silent. "You mean all this time I've just been giving my money away to Team Rocket of all people? To heck with this, then!" Goh heard one of the costumers yell, with many others giving their assent. The large majority promptly left, with the exception of a few obsessed people.

All the way in the back of the Game Corner, the cashier glared daggers at the two boys. "Why do you twerps ALWAYS have to show up no matter what?"

Then, she did a very impressive somersault, over the counter and into the area where Goh, Ash and James were, by which time she had somehow ditched her disguise and put on her usual Team Rocket attire.

Goh facepalmed in frustration. So the reason why the cashier lady looked exactly like Jessie was because she WAS Jessie! How did this keep happening to them?!

"This was how we made money to buy all those fancy traps and mechs and now you've gone and ruined it! You're nothing but trouble!" James declared, pointing at the twerps, as they called them.

"So we're gonna return the trouble, and make it double!" Jessie completed. Arceus, these two were sappy.

"Bring it!" Ash replied. It wasn't as impressive as Jessie and James' boast, but it did the job. "Pikachu, I choose-"

"Wait a minute!" James interrupted. "If we fight here, the casi- Game Corner will be ruined! And I don't know if we're insured for pokémon battles!"

Jessie looked horrified. "You're right!"

The two Team Rocket members knelt down in front of the boys and did what they do best: begging. "Will you please wait here for a moment while we check our insurances? This place was really expensive! We're still paying for it, so we can't afford to damage it unless we know we can pay for the repairs! I promise we'll battle you as soon as possible!"

Goh and Ash sweatdrop in response. "Um… okay?"

"Good!" Team Rocket replies before quickly darting out of the Game Corner's main room.

"Well, I guess we should leave before they come back, huh?" Ash suggested.

"Not yet", Goh replied cryptically.

"Huh?"

"Don't you think it's a little suspicious how much they're trying to make us go away? It's not like Team Rocket to fight us just to vent. And we would have probably left without them doing that anyway!" Goh points out. "Not to mention, I haven't seen Meowth anywhere!"

"Maybe he's sick?" Ash speculates. "I heard he has a tendency to fall ill every once in a while. Poor cat!"

"You… you heard. From who? Them? Your greatest enemies?" Goh questions.

"They're not my greatest enemies, my greatest enemy is complex arithmetic!"

Goh looks awkward, but continues. "Furthermore, Jessie, while she was disguised, told me that Celadon's storm problem was 'solved', but didn't want to give me details as to how. I just looked it up on the internet, and there are no news relating to that!" He elaborated, pointing to a news article on his Rotom phone.

"As far as anyone knows it's still an ongoing issue, so if they did solve it, Team Rocket are the only ones who know about it. This is really suspicious. They're hiding something here, I just know it!"

Ash seems intrigued. "And if they 'solved' the problem of the random storms, that has to mean they caught Zapdos somehow!"

"I mean, we don't know if it's a Zapdos", Goh considered. "It could be some other flying, storm-generating pokémon, like Thundurus. Zapdos is just the most likely because it's native to Kanto-"

"Well, I want it to be a Zapdos", Ash interrupted, winking at Goh. "Because I want you to get the chance to catch it again!"

Goh scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Touché. Anyway, let's see if we can't find anything suspicious around here. Like a secret passage!"

"Secret passages, oooh!" Ash exclaimed, before starting to dart around the room, checking everything that caught his eye. Goh followed suit, albeit a bit more cautiously. Who knew what kinds of traps they might have for non-Rocket members, after all!

It occurred to Goh that they should probably call Officer Jenny at some point, in case they were ambushed by more Rocket Grunts… but considering Jessie and James are involved, it seemed pretty unlikely. Whether due to arrogance, pride or their boss forgetting about their existence, the trio never had anyone else backing them up, in Goh's experience. It was a bit sad to think about.

"Secret passageeee? Are you thereee?" Ash shouted into the walls.

"Ash, do you really think that's going to help?" Goh asked in an exasperated tone. Ash ignored him.

"Passage… passage… oh!" Ash stopped, looking at a poster. "The… acoostics? Around this part of the wall are different, Goh!"

"The… um?" Goh looked flabbergasted. "Did that actually work?"

As Goh walked in the direction of where Ash was, Ash peeled off the poster in question, revealing a small hole, big enough for a child to climb through… or a cat.

"Is this some kind of escape route?" Goh thought. "Wait, considering it's only big enough for Meowth, that's not very likely, is it?"

"Should we try to climb onto it?" Ash suggested, albeit in that very excited voice that said 'I really really want to climb onto it, it'll make me feel like a hero in a PokéStar movie.'

"I guess we've come this far", Goh mused, his heart full of trepidation as he followed Ash into the tunnel.

True, this could all be a big red herring, but they mostly just came here to have fun, right? And potentially correct one of Goh's biggest failures, but mostly that other thing.

"Where did you learn a word like 'acoustics'? That doesn't seem like part of your usual vocabulary", Goh pointed out. "Not to mention using it to find a secret passage."

"Well, to tell the truth…" Ash mumbled, sounding uncharacteristically unsure. "I was learning those things to impress you."

"Impress me? Why?"

"Because I think you're cute!"

Goh barely avoided bumping his head into the ceiling in reaction to what Ash had just said. "E-EEEEEEEHHHHH?!"

"You're a cutie", Ash continued, back to acting happy-go-lucky like usual, "And I wanted to impress you so that maybe you'd consider becoming my boyfriend!"

Goh's face was now the color of a ripe Applin. He stayed lost in thought for most of the trip. What kind of boy just blurts all that stuff out in the middle of a potentially-dangerous situation? Ash, apparently!

Too bad for him, Goh would have to turn him down. He's not into the brash, quirky types, he tells himself. Even if they have cute cheeks. Ash is just not in his league, unfortunately.

And yet, the words just wouldn't come out. No matter how hard he tried, Goh just couldn't bring himself to say 'Sorry Ash, I don't like you like that'. Why? It's not like he was interested in Ash in that way, right? He was the furthest thing from his ideal boyfriend as possible.

Not that Goh didn't like Ash, he just wasn't who he saw himself with. He didn't see himself with anyone, really! So how come he didn't want to tell Ash no? And why was his face burning like this?

His thoughts were interrupted as they reached the end of the tunnel, finding what appeared to be some kind of underground lab. In the middle of the lab, Meowth was quietly reading a book as a Zapdos shot lightning bolts at their Morpeko in a vain attempt to escape. Morpeko seemed to enjoy it.

"Now dat we finally caught Zapdos, we won't havta worry about Morpeko goin' hungry again!" The criminalistic cat exposited. "Dat sure was easy! Wonder why we had so much trouble all dose other times we tried ta catch it?"

"That's why they wanted to catch Zapdos?" Goh questioned in a hushed, incredulous tone.

"RAWWWK!" Zapdos cried.

"I get wanting to help your friends eat, but kidnapping someone else to do it for you isn't okay!" Ash shouted, jumping out of the hole and revealing himself to Meowth.

"Ash, no! Think of the element of surprise!" Goh tried to say, but it was too late for that.

"It's da twoip!" Meowth exclaimed. "Wot are you doin' here? An' where is your little boyfriend? Twoip 2.0?"

"I'm not his boyfriend!" Goh shouted, ruining his own element of surprise. He sighed and climbed out of the hole as well. "We sort of stumbled into your casino place-"

"Da proper term is game corner", Meowth corrected.

"Yes, yes, that", Goh replied with frustration. "We were looking to catch Zapdos, and then we came here and got suspicious. So now here we are!"

"I knew buildin' dis tunnel to our secret underground base was a bad idea! But you twoips bit off more dan you can chew!" The feline felon declared, pulling out what appeared to be a laser gun. "You ain't stealing any more of our pokémon, ya hear?"

"Hey! Pulling out a gun is against the rules!" Goh protested. "You should be battling us with your pokémon!"

"I am a pokémon!"

Before anything else could be said, Jessie and James stepped in through a hatch on the ceiling. "Hey, Meowth?" James asked. "How do we check our insurance plan, again? We sort of forgot…"

"I told you a million times to check de company's website! And besides, I'm a little busy right now, alright?" Meowth replied, pointing at the twerps.

Then they looked at Goh and Ash, who looked at them in turn. "You two again? Didn't we tell you to wait for us? Honestly, criminal masterminds get no respect these days!" Jessie huffed.

"I think it's a little arrogant to call yourself a 'mastermind' when all of your plans fail", Goh pointed out.

"He's got us there", said James.

"Anyway, if neither of you mind, I'm just going to zap de twoips with my trusty Rocket-brand Ray Gun", Meowth announced.

Jessie promptly slapped him over the head. "Meowth! What are you doing? That's not the Rocket way! We're supposed to give them a chance!"

"Why, so we can fail for the 827th time?"

"No, so the show can continue to run! Think of the children!" James protested in a very melodramatic fashion.

While the rocket trio argued and broke the fourth wall, Goh decided to fiddle with the device keeping Zapdos trapped. "Rawwwk…" The bird pokémon rumbled from within.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there soon enough!"

"It looks really angry, though", Ash pointed out. "Won't it end up attacking us?"

"I don't know, but we've gotta help it get out!"

"Peeeko…" A hamster pokémon cried in anger, noticing the boys trying to take away its new food source and transforming into its Hangry mode.

Ash stepped in the middle of it and Goh. "So we meet again", he said dramatically. "My old enemy!"

"Peko-peko!" The Two-Sided Pokémon snarled at its adversary. Ash turned his hat backwards and prepared himself for Morpeko's attack.

"Come on, come on, just one more screw…" Goh mumbled to himself as this was happening, and tried to not play attention to the chaos surrounding him.

"I'm telling you, Meowth, the censors would NEVER allow you to shoot a gun at anyone, laser or otherwise!" Jessie shouted. "Just attack them with your claws!"

"Oh sure, stunning them into unconsciousness is off-limits but choppin' them into bits isn't, makes a lotta sense!" Meowth replied sarcastically.

"This is payback for eating all my cookies!" Ash yelled while grappling with Morpeko.

Goh really wished he had earplugs right about now. "…There!"

Zapdos' cage clinked and opened. It looked very angry. "RAWWWK!" It screeched at the people and pokémon in front of him.

"Uh, oh", James muttered. "Maybe we should leave before we don't get-"

Zapdos's eyes glinted as it looked at the Rocket trio, the ones who imprisoned it in the first place.

"…P-Please have mercy on us, Zapdos, sir" Meowth pleaded, standing on his knees. "We were just tryin' ta survive and if we didn't find something for that greedy rat of ours-"

"PEEEEEKO!" Morpeko interrupted, leaping into Zapdos with Aura Wheel with the intent to teach the legendary to know its place.

Zapdos didn't even react to it before retaliating with a Zap Cannon, hitting Morpeko point-blank and launching it in the direction of the rest of Team Rocket. The impact throws them all out of the hideout through the same hatch they came in on, finally launching them into the open sky.

"How in the world did that happen? We were underground!" Jessie complained, before sighing in defeat.

"Team Rocket's blasting off againnnn!" They all shouted in unison.

Back in the (now former) hideout, Goh stared at Zapdos with trepidation. "Easy there, big guy", he said to it in a soothing tone. "The bad guys are all gone now, you can relax-"

"RAWWWK!" Zapdos screeched, throwing thunderbolt after thunderbolt in Goh's direction.

"Agh!" Goh barely managed to dodge each of them, looking almost like he was dancing in slow motion as a result. "He's not giving me any openings to throw a pokéball! And it doesn't seem like he'll calm down any time soon, either!"

"Don't worry, Goh! I got this!" Ash shouted over the din of the thunderbolts.

Goh was horrified as Ash fearlessly approached the rampaging Zapdos, not even bothering to dodge any of the lightning bolts at all. "Ash, what are you doing? You're gonna get hurt! Or worse!"

"Nah, this sort of thing has never stopped me before, remember?" Ash boasted as he kept walking toward Zapdos. "It's okay, don't be scared! We're not like those other guys!"

"Rawwk…?" Zapdos still seemed uncertain. The fact that they did try to battle and catch it the last time they met miiiiight have something to do with it, Goh thought.

"We're your buddies! You'll be safe with us!" Ash told Zapdos encouragingly. As he approached the legendary, it fired off yet another lightning bolt, hitting Ash again.

Goh held his breath as Ash, despite being very charred, gave Zapdos a big hug as though nothing was wrong. And that was enough to Zapdos to calm down and realize that it was in no danger from them.

Immediately afterwards, Ash let himself fall to the ground, utterly exhausted and probably in a lot of pain, not that he showed it. Goh ran toward the pair with a pokéball in hand.

"What the heck did you do that for?!" He yelled. "You could have died!"

"But it was cool, wasn't it? Didn't I look kind of cool?"

Goh scratched his head in bafflement. "Me getting a legendary pokémon is not more important than your life, Ash!"

"You wanted it, though. It would have made you happy, because then you'd be closer to your goal of catching Mew! I told you that was our future before, remember? And I… I want to be part of that future!"

Goh's face turned red again, both out of embarrassment as well as frustration. "You big dork! You don't have to do these crazy stunts to impress me! Because I, uh…"

He thought for a while about what to say, and what his feelings were. Ash had never explicitly asked him whether he wanted to be his boyfriend, but he kept trying to 'look cool' in front of him or whatever. It felt weird.

Looking at Ash's earnest face in that moment, he thought to himself that he had never seen anyone look at him like that before, so full of… of love. Even though he put so much effort into looking pretty and learning all these different things so that people admired his intelligence, no one had ever really appreciated it the way Ash had. It felt good.

Ash made him feel weird. Ash made him feel good. It was an indescribable sensation.

Maybe… maybe his soulmate didn't have to be a genius, or exceedingly handsome, or very polite and tactful.

And maybe the reason he'd set his standards so high, and the reason he insisted to anyone who would listen that he absolutely wasn't interested in Ash, was because he was terrified of how he'd feel when Ash didn't reciprocate. That was the realization Goh had come to.

The words almost choked inside Goh's mouth, but he resisted and and took Ash's hand to lift the other boy's exhausted form out of the floor. "…Because I already know you're quite the catch! So don't worry about looking cool in front of me, yeah?"

Ash's eyes gleamed. "Really? That's great! And just so you know, you didn't have to worry about me neither! I've built up an immunity to this kind of thing!" He explained, cleaning some of the soot from his face and clothes.

"Pika!" Pikachu gave Goh a confident thumbs-up and a wink. Goh had the impression that it was trying to say 'he learned from the best!'

Goh turned to face Zapdos. "You know, we came all the way here to see you! If you come with us, we won't put you in a cage or make you shoot lightning at a hamster, or anything like that. And you'll be able to come and go as you please. So what do you say?" He finished, holding the pokéball out expectantly.

Zapdos stayed silent for a moment, but soon it screeched out "Rawwk!" and smacked the pokéball with its wings, catching itself.

"Haha, yes!" Goh exclaimed, victorious.

"We did it!" The two boys high-fived one another as Zapdos' data was uploaded to Goh's pokédex. In the heat of the moment, Ash enthusiastically embraced Goh, much to the other boy's surprise.

"So, uh… I didn't ask it out straight out before because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, but do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"I mean… I guess I do? I've never… dated anyone, though", Goh replied sheepishly. "I always told myself I was too good for other people."

"I know, I've been slowly chipping away at those walls ever since we met", Ash teased. "No one is too good for other people, silly!"

"Yeah, I should have realized that a long time ago. But telling myself that felt better than being scared no one would want me."

"Personally, I think you're the cutest little guy, and I fully expect to have to shoo away entire crowds of competitors in the future", Ash lightheartedly reassured Goh.

"A-Ash! I haven't even actually said yes, yet!"

"But will you?"

Goh paused. "…Yes. I think I've actually been waiting for you to ask me for a long time and just refused to acknowledge it, because I'm a dumb idiot."

"Well, that makes two of us, then!" Ash joked. Then, with a more serious expression, he took Goh's hand. "…I love you, you big dork. Don't worry, because I'll wait for you for as long as you need. Take your time. I don't expect you to be comfortable with me as your boyfriend straight away."

Goh's expression softened. "Thanks, Ash. Now let's get out of here."

He held onto Ash's hand for as long as possible, until they reached the exit of the hideout. It made him feel several different things, both weird and good.

But mostly good.

Back in Celadon, our favorite group of crooks returned to their casino-slash-game-corner.

"What in the world happened here?" Jessie exclaimed.

Wobbuffet was dutifully sweeping the floor, but the slot machines were gone, and cops were all over the place.

Meowth ran over to Officer Jenny to protest. "HEY! Wot's de big idea? Dis is private property!"

"We received an anonymous tip that this place was a secret Team Rocket hideout", Jenny explained. "I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to wait while we conduct our investigation."

She put in her hand on her chin and continued to speak. "Oh, and also, according to regulations, the exchange shop needs to be independent of the casino-"

"GAME CORNER!" Team Rocket screamed in unison.

Jenny sweatdropped in response. "Yes, the… game corner, very important distinction. Anyway, since your exchange shop is located within the same building as the games, this would be considered illegal gambling and we'll have to shut you down. I hope you understand." She concluded, flashing her police badge at them to make sure they complied.

Jessie, James and Meowth looked distraught. "But then how will we make money to afford all of our numerous contraptions and giant robots?"

"Oh, boohoo! I can't afford a giant robot and you don't see me complaining!" Officer Jenny piped in. "Run along, now."

The Team Rocket trio left the Game Corner in defeat, dragging the oblivious Wobbuffet along with them. "Looks like we're going back into debt, boys…" Jessie muttered.

"No more fancy devices for us, huh?" James asked rhetorically.

"We'll havta go back ta bank robbin'!"

"Wobbuffet…"

"This suuuucks!" They all groaned as they walked out.

A.N. I am noticing a trend in my fics where Ash always has to be the one who makes the first move, since Goh just can't bring himself to because he's too awkward. I feel like I should make at least one fic where the opposite happens and Goh's efforts to confess his love are thwarted by Ash's barrier of obliviousness.

The Celadon "Game" Corner has never been featured in the anime before, so it was easy to insert it in the story (and make a few jokes about the TRio's money issues) As for how they caught Zapdos, maybe it was munching on the slot machines' electricity and they happened to get lucky.

One of my favorite things to do in my Journeys fics is add in content from the games that hasn't been seen before. I feel like it fits because that's also what the series itself seems to be doing (the Magikarp Jump tie-in episode, the fact that Goh tried to catch Zapdos in the power plant in Episode 40, etc).

(Oh, also, Team Rocket saying 'this sucks' is a reference to their japanese catchphrase.)

Next up is Day 2: Stars!