The next day started bright and early for Goh, with Grookey smacking him in the side of the head with his stick in his sleep. At least he saw that the sun was up when his eyes cracked open. He turned over in his bed and looked over the side to see if Ash was still asleep in the bottom bunk.

Sure enough, Ash was sprawled out over his mattress, his blanket tossed carelessly into the floor. Even attempting to slip out of his own blanket made Goh shiver at the early autumn chill, but he knew himself better than just about anyone, so he did eventually throw the blanket off, wondering idly how Ash could sleep like that, uncovered, but given what he knew about Ash's life before he became a research fellow, he chalked it up to being something he simply got used to while traveling.

Goh grabbed a clean change of clothes from his part of the dresser and left Ash sleeping in bed, slipping out to head into the shower before he could. From his experience, either the sound of the shower would wake Ash up, or the scent of whatever Mr. Mime was making for breakfast would lure him out of bed. The banging on the door while Goh was showering told him that the shower had won out.

After finishing his shower, brushing his teeth, and changing into his fresh set of clothes, Goh was sitting down to breakfast, with Ash right behind him. While he, Ash, Grookey, and Pikachu ate breakfast, Goh scrolled through the notes he had made on his phone about the test he had at the end of the week. There were a few pictures taken among them, including pictures of Chloe's own notes taken during class. He stared for a few minutes at her loopy, flowing handwriting, wondering if the notes he tried taking during class in his blocky, scratchy penmanship were even worth looking at.

There were a few more pictures taken in his phone, snapped by accident after Grookey snatched the phone in a bout of mischief during the study session. Most of them were blurry shots of Ash and Goh trying to take the phone back, but there were a few of Chloe just rolling with laughter. Having the look frozen in time for him to appreciate was definitely better than hearing it as he struggled to get the phone back from his Pokémon. Looking at it, though, he felt like he would get in trouble for getting caught staring, so he quickly moved on to the next page of his own notes, typed into the phone.

He heard the door at the front of the manor-turned-laboratory open and shut, and the familiar pitter-patter of Yamper's paws against the wooden floor, which heralded the arrival of Chloe into the kitchen. She was once more dressed for school, though today it was obvious that Goh wouldn't be joining her. Still, she entered the kitchen with a smile on her face. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey Chloe!" came Ash and Goh's shared response, complete with a wave from both of them.

Chloe approached the table and took a glass of juice from Mr. Mime as it was handed to her. "Sorry about my Dad today," she said, taking a seat next to Goh as she began glancing at whatever Goh had on his phone.

"Why's that?" Ash asked before Goh could ask the same thing.

"Well, as soon as he sat down after getting home, he fell asleep," she explained. "Mom was able to get him to go to bed but even so, he almost overslept this morning. I think all this research is taking its toll so he might not be at his best today."

"This is definitely not going the way we all thought it would, is it?" Goh asked. "Even I expected there would be some lead we could chase, even if Ash and I had to go on location to find it."

"All the same, try not to push him today. I don't think there's enough coffee in the whole city to undo all the stress he's been putting himself under."

Ash snorted. "Almost sounds like you're the parent and he's the child," he said.

Chloe giggled. "Well, I'm used to looking out for people who push themselves too far," she joked. "Speaking of which, wow, Goh! You're actually studying for this test and it's not even today!"

Goh, not wanting his phone to be scrutinized further, went along with it. "Yeah, well, not all of us get the privilege of studying in class each day. Some of us have work to do."

"Yeah right," Chloe bantered back. "You're way too happy to be out of there each day to act like I have it better than you."

He couldn't keep his facade from cracking, so he just laughed. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "But someone's gotta do the hard stuff, Chloe. Thank you for your sacrifice."

"Just study with me again after school today and we'll be even," she said, gently nudging him in the side with her elbow. "Even if I do get the top grades in the class, it's not because I sit around and let it happen."

"It's just like training!" Ash interjected, to which they all raised their glasses and laughed.

At that moment, there was a knocking sound on the door to the lab.

Goh frowned. "Who could that be?"

"Chrysa and Ren are already here…" Chloe added. "A visitor?"

The three of them, as well as Pikachu, Grookey, and Yamper all rose from the table and left the kitchen, heading towards the front door. As they walked, the knocking grew more and more intense, starting from a calm rapping to a frantic beating before Goh got to the door and pulled it open.

Standing outside the door was a young man that on sight looked to be about Goh's age. He had short, brown hair combed forward so that it curled up a bit at the tips, and deep brown eyes. He wore a cream-colored button up shirt with brown slacks held up by suspenders as well as brown loafers. Just at the sight of him, Goh was instantly reminded of Chloe's Eevee. Indeed, he looked as if a male Eevee had somehow taken on a human form.

Professor Cerise, still with the bags under his eyes, approached Ash, Goh, and Chloe from behind. "Welcome to the Cerise Laboratory. How may we help you?"

The young man's brown eyes, however, were not upon the Professor or even the person who opened the door. Instead, his eyes went wide and seemed to lock themselves onto Chloe's face. The expression he was making was inscrutable to Goh; all he could tell was that in some way, Chloe had captured this guy's interest at first sight.

"Hey, sorry," Chloe said, drawing the rest of the group's attention to herself. "I've gotta get going to school, though. I'll see you guys later!"

Professor Cerise nodded. "Have a good day at school!"

"Later, Chloe!"

Ash's cheerful send off seemed at odds with the stunned awe that the stranger had, and the unease that Goh felt. Forcing himself to say something, he added. "Yeah, see you after school for our study session."

With a nod to them, Chloe stepped forward and the young man stepped aside, letting her leave.

Everyone watched Chloe walk away for a few moments until Professor Cerise cleared his throat. "Did you have some business with us?" he asked the visitor.

His eyes went wide, like he had just been awoken from a dream. "Oh! Right! Please, forgive me!" he said. "I came here because I have a Pokémon related issue that I need help with. This is the Cerise Research Laboratory, isn't it?"

Professor Cerise nodded, and gestured for the young man to enter. "You're in the right place, don't worry," he said. "May I have your name?"

The young man nodded. "Yes, my name is Felix. It's nice to meet you, Professor Cerise."

As everyone began walking into the main laboratory room, Ash gestured to himself and the Pokémon on his shoulder. "My name's Ash! And this is my partner, Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!"

"I'm Goh, and this is Grookey!"

"Grooki!"

Felix gave them both a somewhat uneasy smile. "Yes, thank you."

Goh stopped at the door to the main lab room and looked back to the door that led into the manor. Standing there, not having moved an inch since the door opened, was Yamper, who seemed to be growling and staring intensely at the lab. "Hey, Yamper? What's up?"

Yamper didn't respond to Goh's word, only moving to plop himself in front of the door.

"That's weird…" Goh said before heading into the Laboratory proper.

Felix had been set down on the couch as Ren carried away books from the table to clear it off for their guest.

"Now, Felix, what sort of Pokémon-related issue are you having?" Professor Cerise asked as Goh stepped in, standing next to Ash.

Felix nodded. "You see, there's a Pokémon that belongs to my family that's gone missing."

"Gone missing?" Ash asked, repeating the words like a Chatot.

"Yeah, it's a really special and rare Pokémon, too. It's a male Eevee with a shiny silver coat."

"An Eevee with a silver coat?" Goh asked no one in particular. "So it's a Shiny Pokémon, right?"

Felix looked at him with a stare that told Goh that he was being sized up. He grinned. "I've got a Shiny Pokémon of my own," Goh said. He took out his phone and showed off the entry in his Pokédex for his blue Voltorb.

Felix blinked. "You must have some skill, huh…"

Goh puffed out his chest. "More than just some."

"Where was the last place you saw Eevee?" Professor Cerise asked.

"It's name is Argent, and it was just at our house here in Vermilion City," he explained. "It isn't even really my Pokémon; it belongs to my parents and is part of their Pokémon Breeding company."

Ash frowned at those words. "A Pokémon Breeding Company?"

Chrysa spun around in her chair. "You of course know that Pokémon Breeders are specialized trainers who work to take care of Pokémon even as young as newborn hatchlings and raise them to be happy, healthy, and strong."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I do. One of my good friends used to be a Pokémon Breeder."

"Well, a Breeding Company is a sort of business founded by many breeders working together," Chrysa explained. "They often work large scale breeding operations, such as providing Professors with Starter Pokémon to distribute, but they also oftentimes get contacted by people looking to acquire a rare Pokémon or a Pokémon knowing rare moves they can't normally learn."

Ren spun around in his chair to chime in. "As well, even if we're not sure where Pokémon Eggs come from yet, it's a well-known fact that Pokémon raised by the best Breeders tend to find Eggs that hatch into healthier, stronger Pokémon. Many Pokémon Trainers rely on Breeders to help them obtain the strongest Pokémon for battles."

Ash frowned. "That's stupid," he said, crossing his arms. "Pokémon shouldn't be traded around just to get really strong ones. All my Pokémon are strong because of our hard work, and if we can do it, anyone can."

"Pikachu," he added curtly. Neither of them were fans of this particular conversational tangent.

"So he was at your house but isn't anymore," Goh said, scratching his chin. "Do you think he might have been stolen?"

Felix swallowed hard. "S-Stolen…? It was my job to take care of Argent! I-If it was stolen, my parents are gonna kill me…!"

Ash held his hands up, trying to calm Felix down. "H-Hey! I bet he isn't stolen. Maybe he just got really excited playing one day and got lost! If he's still in the city, I'm sure we'll be able to find him."

"Pika!"

"Right. We'll find Argent, no doubt about it!"

"The best place to start would be from your house, then," Goh said. "And we'll just have to search from there."

"Really…?" Felix said, looking up at them. "Thank you both for your help! Finding Argent is really important! But I'm sure with your help, we'll have it back before we know it!"

The three of them began to leave, but at the entrance of the laboratory, they found Yamper lying in front of the door still, glaring at the three of them. Though he was lying flat on the ground and could easily be moved, there was something intimidating about the small pup growling at them.

"What's with this one?" Felix asked.

Goh chuckled. "Yamper's never really been one to get along with strangers," he said. "I guess since he doesn't know you, he's being protective of what he considers his territory." Goh crouched down. "C'mon, Yamper, you've gotta move."

Yamper growled at Goh and bared his fangs, something he hadn't done in a very long time as far as Goh remembered.

"Hey, what gives, Yamper?" Goh asked.

Ash reached down. "C'mon, Yamper! We've gotta get out!" He picked up Yamper, but the Pokémon's growling only grew, and his body began to spark and crackle with electricity.

Sensing the impending Spark, Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder to Goh's, and Yamper discharged a blast of electricity through Ash's body, knocking him over.

Felix looked on in confusion as Ash twitched on the floor. Yamper leapt from the boy's hands and looked at Goh and Felix for a moment before he began walking away. It was strange to Goh that Yamper was in such a bad mood after being in a good one this morning, but the longer they waited, the more difficult it would be to find Argent, so he just opened the door.

"Well, at least we can leave, now."

"Grooki," his Pokémon added with a nod.


If the Cerise Laboratory was renovated from an old structure that predated Goh's birth by at least tenfold as many years as he's been alive, the home of Felix was a manor that stood on the exact opposite part of time. It was a modern mansion with flat, white-panted walls and great columns holding up the ceiling. Surrounded by a large gate to keep onlookers away, it looked far too large to be just the home for one boy. Goh's mind quickly went over the conversation they all had at the Cerise Laboratory and he turned to Felix as they approached the front door.

"If Argent belongs to your parents, why isn't he with them?"

"Mom and Dad went to a very important conference in the Kalos region," he said. "Actually, that's where I was born. But they couldn't just up and abandon this place when they left, so I'm house sitting and watching over the breeding operation."

"So you're not a Pokémon Breeder yourself?" Ash asked as Felix's hand took hold of the large, ornate handle on the door.

"No," he answered simply, pulling the door open and walking inside. Goh caught the door before it closed behind him and held it open for himself and Ash to get inside.

Inside the manor, it was beautifully decorated with pictures and paintings of various baby Pokémon. Goh recognized them, seeing one where a Smoochum was getting her hair brushed, and one where an Igglybuff was seemingly bouncing down a lane. There was even a picture of a Riolu training their kicks. Ash tapped Pikachu on the shoulder and pointed the picture out, to which the mouse cooed softly.

"I suppose the best thing to do would be to investigate the area where Argent would have lived," Goh said, stroking his chin. "There might be a clue there as to how he got out."

Felix sighed and looked to Goh as though he was about to deflate. "I, uh, I'm not allowed to let you guys see the breeding center," he said. "It's a trade secret."

"Aww, man!" Ash groaned. "Well, how are we supposed to figure out where Argent went then?" he asked.

"I'll have my head maid investigate and return with her findings," Felix said. He held up his hands and clapped twice. Almost appearing out of the shadows was a woman who looked old enough to be Felix's mother. She had short black hair that framed her face perfectly and wore thick-rimmed yellow glasses. Behind the lenses, she had red irises and a calm, collected demeanor.

"Yes, Master Felix?" she asked. Her tone was much less warm and casual compared to the other head maid that Goh had encountered recently, and he wondered about what sort of person this woman was.

If she had a name, Felix didn't think it was important enough to use it. "Please gather as much information as you can about Argent's room and bring it back to us. Specifically the ways it might have escaped."

"Yes, Master Felix," came her reply, and she slinked back into the shadows of the manor once more.

Felix looked up to Goh and Ash. "While we wait for her to return, how about I show you some of the treasures we have?"

"Treasures?" Ash's eyes went predictably wide at the mention of something as exciting as a treasure.

Felix finally smiled for the first time since he had stumbled into the Cerise Laboratory. "Yeah! They're really interesting treasures! C'mon!"

He walked further inside his house towards a staircase that stood in the middle of this large entrance way. He turned to his left and headed down a hallway, with Goh and Ash following as closely behind as they could. He quickly turned into another room, and inside this sparsely decorated room were several glass cases, each lit up by lights directly over several items.

There was what looked like a crown made of stone, as well as a statue and a vase that seemed to go along with it. In the farthest corner there was a scroll of paper, rolled up and bound with a silver seal.

"The best items we have are in here," Felix said. "These three were dug up from Undella Bay in the Unova Region and are all priceless relics. They're all incredibly valuable treasures!"

Ash frowned. "If they're priceless, how can they be valuable?" he asked.

"He means that they're unique and irreplaceable," Goh explained with a nervous laugh.

Taking a closer look at the vase as he walked by it, it appeared that on the surface of the vase, there was a depiction of a man wearing a crown defeating some great giant by knocking it to the ground.

"This one is special, too," Felix said, walking over to the scroll.

Goh and Ash approached the case containing the scroll. "What's this one about?" Ash asked.

Felix looked down. "This is supposedly an ancient map that charts a way to a faraway island."

Goh blinked. "And there's supposed to be a treasure on this island I guess?" he asked.

Felix nodded, and the look in his eyes made Goh think he was about to shove his hand through the glass and take the map for himself. To him, it was a look of unmitigated greed.

"Not just a treasure. This map leads to a place where the Mythical Pokémon Mew is said to dwell."

Goh froze solid, and his eyes looked back to the map. "It leads to… to Mew…" he said.

Faintly reflected in the glass case, Goh could see his own face now, and it bore a similar look of greed as Felix's did.

"It's pretty incredible, right?" he said. "A treasure related to such a rare and mythical Pokémon that many people don't believe it exists. Truly it must be the most awesome treasure my family owns!"

Goh held his hand up to the case, only barely resisting putting his hand on the glass. A map that could lead to Mew seemed like an impossible thing that shouldn't be able to exist, but having it right in front of him without even getting a chance to look at it felt like it was almost impossible to bear.

"Sadly, there are some things you can't buy even with money," Felix said, turning away from the case, even as Goh couldn't move his eyes.

"Master Felix."

It was the returning head maid that finally drew Goh's attention from the silver ring around the map's aged parchment. She gave a polite bow to Felix. "Looking around the room, we saw no signs that Argent's room was intruded upon."

Felix let out a sigh of relief at those words.

"However," she continued, "it appears that perhaps the air conditioning vent into his room was smashed open from within, so it seems that Argent may have escaped unaided."

Ash shrugged. "Well, if that's the case, I bet Argent is just wandering around out there lost somewhere!" he said. "All we gotta do is find him!"

"Pikachu!"

"Did you find an exit point?" Felix asked.

"Yes, Master Felix," the maid said. "Follow me."

As the maid turned to lead them out, Goh shot one more glance at the map, and he felt once more that unmitigated greed. He wanted to reach out and take it more than he'd wanted anything in the world before this moment, but his conscience kicked in and told him that he could hardly attempt to steal it, so he'd have to give it up. He let out a longing sigh and put it behind him.

To have it so close yet so out of reach seemed like a tragedy, but he had no choice but to push forward and follow Ash and Felix.


Outside the manor, near where the air conditioning unit was spinning and humming, there was a hole punched out of a vent. Even Goh could see that this vent was broken from the inside, so it stood to reason that Argent was only trying to explore and got himself lost.

"Yeah, that's busted up pretty good," Ash said, nodding.

The hole was plenty large enough for Chloe's Eevee to crawl through, if she was here, so Goh reasoned that a male Eevee would have no problems getting through it either. "I guess here's where we try to start our search," he said.

Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder and began sniffing at the ground. His ears peaked up and he began racing away from the hole and towards the large concrete wall that surrounded the manor.

"Pikapi!" he shouted.

Ash, Goh, and Felix raced up to where Pikachu was indicating, and they saw a hole dug into the ground, also with about the same size as the hole punched through the vent.

"Did Argent dig this…?" Ash asked.

"Dig it?" Felix asked. "How?"

Ash blinked like Felix had just said something foolish. "Does Argent know the move, Dig?"

Felix shook his head, but his eyes held an expression of confusion rather than confidence. "I-I don't know," he said. "I don't have any Pokémon of my own, so I've never tried battling or anything with Argent. I don't know what kinds of moves it might know…"

Ash facepalmed. "Aw, man…" he groaned.

Goh was a bit more charitable, giving a somewhat calm laugh. "Well, it does make it a bit harder to track him since he might be able to do just about anything…"

"B-But you guys are Pokémon experts right?!" Felix asked. "I really need you guys to help find Argent for me!"

Ash nodded. "Don't worry! We'll save Argent!"

"Pikachu!"

"Grooki!

Goh nodded as well. "Yeah. There's no telling what can happen to a Pokémon lost in the city. We'll save him."

"The first place to start'll be on the other side of this wall, then," Ash said. "Maybe there'll be more clues on the other side!"

Ash, Goh, and Felix all left the manor's grounds, but then walked around the walls on the outside until they came to the point where the hole was dug, and sure enough on the opposite side of the wall there was another Eevee-sized hole. There were a few muddy pawprints that headed directly away from the manor, but they quickly faded as presumably Argent shook the dirt from his body.

"Pikachu, can you track him any further?" Ash asked.

Pikachu once more leapt from his shoulder and began sniffing the ground around where the footprints disappeared, but this time he sat up and shook his head, lowering his ears.

"Pikachu…" he sighed.

Ash picked up his Pokémon. "It's alright, buddy. You did your best. We'll do our best to find Argent, too!"

"Then all we can do is assume Argent went this way," Goh said. "Let's go."

"Grooki!"

The three boys with the two Pokémon began walking the same path that the pawprints directed, going through an alleyway and onto a busy street with people walking up and down. Having no better leads at this point, Ash, Goh, and Felix began asking people if they had seen a silver Pokémon, hoping to not reveal just how rare Argent was. Unfortunately for them, most of the people they had asked had not seen the silver Pokémon, and so the boys split up with Ash heading one way and Goh and Felix heading another. Hoping to cover more ground to find a clue more quickly, they continued asking the people they met on the street.

"A Silver Pokémon?" one woman replied, blinking at them. She scratched her double chin, thinking. "I did think I saw something like that…" she said.

Goh gasped. "Really?! Where?!"

She pointed a bit further up the road, towards an area where there were many restaurants in the city. "I saw it slinking around the alleys up there. I didn't think much of it since there's lots of stray Pokémon in the area and we're all just trying to survive, you know?"

"Thank you very much!" Goh said, giving the woman a bow before turning back towards Felix. "C'mon! Let's go investigate!"

Felix nodded and the two boys were off, running up the sidewalk towards this area of restaurants. Once they reached this area, they began searching again. Like the rest of this part of the city, the sidewalks had many people coming and going, and it made navigation difficult for them as they searched the alleys near the restaurants.

As they entered one, Grookey's eyes went wide and he hopped off of Goh's shoulder. Goh's mouth went into a wide grin. "Did you find him, Grookey?"

"Ki!"

Goh and Felix chased after Grookey, following him down a backstreet that turned into a dead end alley. Looking into the alley, there was a large box with a hole punched in it at the end. There were trash-can lids set up to stay on top of the box, perhaps to keep the rain off of it. Grookey approached the box, excitedly hopping up and down and even hitting his stick at the ground.

"Alright!" Goh cheered as he crouched down near Grookey. "Argent? Are you in there?"

He looked inside the box, and saw that it was empty.

"Argent?"

He looked around the dead end, standing up once again. "I guess he's not here… That woman did say there's a bunch of strays in the area…"

"Grooki…" he cooed sadly as he climbed back up Goh's clothes to reach his shoulder once more.

Felix stood at the entrance of the alleyway, looking distraught, so Goh quickly stepped up and tried to ease his worries. "I'm sure Argent is alright, wherever he is," Goh said. "Pokémon have a sort of survival instinct when they're in situations where they can't get food very easily, and there's tons of Pokémon who'll work together to feed lost ones! I'm sure Argent is doing great and we'll find him soon!"

"I suppose…" Felix said.

"Why don't we take a break?" Goh said. "Maybe after a few moments to clear our heads, we'll be able to come up with something we haven't thought of."

Felix nodded. "Alright… a break sounds good."

Goh took out his phone and began dialing Ash, to ask if he had gotten any closer and to get him to meet with them somewhere.


The three boys met up at a little sandwich shop closer to Ash's location than Goh's, so by the time he and Felix had arrived, Ash and Pikachu were already busy gorging themselves. Goh and Felix both ordered their more reasonable lunches, with Goh also buying a snack for Grookey as they all sat down.

Ash swallowed the bit of food in his mouth at that moment. "Man, all this searching sure worked up an appetite!" he said. "I didn't really find anything… we ended up at the docks dodging sailors who said we weren't supposed to be there."

Goh shuddered at a memory, but ended up shrugging it off. "Well, they do probably deal with a lot of kids who barge in, you know?"

Ash chuckled to himself. From Goh's understanding, his friend also wasn't a stranger to ending up in places he didn't belong. He instead took another sandwich, ripped it in two, and handed half to Pikachu before continuing to eat.

"You two seem pretty close with these Pokémon," Felix said. "Have you two been with them for a long time?"

Ash swallowed his sandwich in a few bites. "Oh, me and Pikachu have been buddies for years now! Right?"

Pikachu stuffed the rest of his part of the sandwich into his mouth and swallowed before throwing up a fist. "Pikachu!"

"I haven't known Grookey quite that long," Goh said, taking a moment to scratch his Pokémon's head. "But we're still really good friends, right, Grookey?"

"Grooki!" he cheered before returning to his own snack, a bowl of sliced fruits and berries.

"And you two have been interested in Pokémon all this time?" Felix asked.

Ash and Goh both nodded. "I used to go to the forests around Pallet Town to look for Pokémon when I was little," Ash said. "It was so awesome to see so many!"

Goh chuckled. "Yeah, I still remember seeing all the Pokémon out there when Chloe and I went to Summer Camp! That's where we saw Mew!"

Felix's eyes went wide, but the question he asked Goh after that wasn't the one he was expecting to be asked.

"So Chloe… is that the pretty girl I saw at the Cerise Laboratory this morning?"

Goh felt a sudden weight in his stomach and didn't answer, so Ash did in his place.

"Yeah! Chloe is Professor Cerise's daughter. She and Goh have been friends for a really long time!"

Felix turned his attention back to Goh. "You two must know each other really well, then, huh?"

Goh took a bite from his sandwich, hoping that filling his stomach more would help him deal with these questions. "Yeah. Chloe was practically the first friend I ever had," he said, the words slipping out a bit more roughly than he'd anticipated.

"Are you two…"

Goh felt his pulse quicken, like he was being chased through tall grass. "No, we're not," he said, not even opening his eyes to dispute it. "Chloe and I are just friends. That's all."

In the back of his mind, he heard the question she had asked him the day before.

"What did you mean then?"

And he felt like the weight there began to grow.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I mean, we're all friends, right?"

"Pikapi…" sighed his partner Pokémon.

As Ash left the table to go order dessert, Felix turned to Goh with a small smile on his face. "Well… I mean if we are friends… Goh, could I ask you for a favor?"

"A favor?"

Felix didn't waste any time.

"C-Could you ask Chloe if she'd go on a date with me?"

It was all the force Goh could muster to keep himself from spitting up his sandwich. He swallowed the bite roughly.

"A-A date!? With Chloe?! Why would you want that?!"

Chloe and dating weren't concepts Goh ever put together in his mind, other than to tell bullies that they weren't. The two of them endured no end to the teasing over their friendship, so they had gotten used to letting it roll off their backs.

Felix closed his eyes, as though he was picturing her in his mind. "I… I think it's love at first sight," he said. "She's got such caring, inviting eyes, and her hair is so beautiful as well… When I saw her, I felt my heart hop out of my chest…! I-I'd love a chance to get to know her better!"

Goh felt his face cringe. Chloe, beautiful? The furthest he'd go would be to admit that she is, in fact, a kind person, but he couldn't picture Chloe in his mind without thinking about the times they got in trouble together, or how dirty they would be after exploring the forests outside of Vermilion City looking for Mew or any other Pokémon. Words like 'beautiful' and 'pretty' wouldn't even enter his mind.

Thinking about Mew must have made an impression on his face, because Felix spoke up. "Look, I'll give you whatever you want!" he said. "I'll even give you that map my family has that leads to Mew!"

Goh's eyes shot open wide, and that feeling of greed returned to him.

"I saw how much you wanted it," Felix said. "If you can get her to agree to a date with me, the map is yours."

His mind began racing and piling up reasons why this was both a good idea and a bad idea. A map that could lead to where Mew lived? Such a thing was invaluable, not just for his own goals, but for the field of Pokémon research, itself. Could this lead to the same table top mountain Project Mew was seeking out? They were being awfully quiet about where their goal would eventually lead them…

On the other hand, asking a favor of Chloe would be a pain in and of itself. She could be mercurial when she wanted, her moods changing at the drop of a hat. His conversation with her in the classroom yesterday was proof enough of that.

But it was Mew. He formed the shape of the word with his lips quietly. And finding Mew would be like a dream come true. Surely Chloe was a good enough friend that she'd want to help him succeed in this, right? It wasn't as though she hated Pokémon, herself. She just wasn't sure what her path would be.

So she would help him, right?

"Well…," Goh said, chuckling. "I can't make any promises, since it'll be up to her, but… I'll try my best to make the case for you, okay?"

He held up a hand, and Felix took it into his own and gave it a strong shake.

Goh could practically already feel the map in the palm of his hand.