Getting to the Pokémon Center carrying the sleeping, weak Argent wasn't a difficult task for Goh. He burst through the doors of the crowded center, shouting for Nurse Joy, which drew everyone's attention to him and to the silver Eevee he held in his arms.
The nurse looked around a young girl she had just given her healed Pokémon back to and saw Goh carrying in Argent. "Oh no…!" She turned to the Pokémon she worked alongside. "Chansey, bring a stretcher!"
"Chansey!" she trilled as she rushed into the back, behind the counter. Joy stepped away from the counter and met Goh halfway between the door and the counter. Goh handed Argent over to her, and he saw even her eyes go wide at how frail Argent seemed.
"Come with me, Goh," she said calmly as Chansey rolled the stretcher out to where Goh and Nurse Joy were standing.
"Of course," he said with a nod.
Joy placed the sleeping Eevee on the stretcher and Chansey immediately began wheeling it into the back room, which Goh followed along to see. Before he could reach the back, he heard a shout of "Eievui!" and "Grooki!" from behind him, and saw that Eevee and Grookey had managed to keep up, even as he ran all the way from the alleyway to the Pokémon Center.
He felt his stomach turn sick at himself, with the Pokémon having slipped his mind out of his concern for Argent. He crouched down and Grookey quickly hopped onto his shoulder as Eevee allowed herself to be lifted into his arms. The sad way they cooed told Goh that they, too, were worried about Argent.
"Goh!" came the shout of Nurse Joy's voice from across the room. She wasn't waiting and expected him to keep up.
He nodded and followed behind her.
When he stepped into the back, he saw that Argent was already in an intensive care healing machine, breathing heavily. He looked even more weak and in pain than he had seemed when he was still fighting to protect his nest in the alleyway.
"Argent…"
"Grooki…"
"Eievui…"
All three of them sounded concerned for the silver Pokémon.
Nurse Joy turned to him. "The scans are telling me that this Pokémon has a trainer. Is that you?"
"No, ma'am," Goh said, shaking his head. "Have you seen the posters about the missing Pokémon? We started putting them up about two days ago."
Joy shook her head. "No, but I did hear about them…" She turned to the sleeping Pokémon. "So this is Argent, isn't it?"
"Yeah. He belongs to a group of Pokémon Breeders that have a home in the city. He ran away from home a few days ago and has been in the city alone until we tracked him down just a little while ago. We brought him straight here after putting him to sleep…"
"Does this look like he's been alone in the city for only a few days?"
Joy's question was sharp and pointed, reminding Goh of Chloe's arrow-like volleys.
He shook his head. "No. No it doesn't."
"Argent is very weak. I'm not sure if he's had anything proper to eat for a while, but even before that all occurred, I don't think he's been treated properly. In fact…"
She turned to the machine and tapped a few buttons on it, bringing up a display. "I see. That's…"
Goh looked over the screen. On it, he saw a list of what he assumed were Argent's moves: Hyper Voice, Dig, Shadow Ball, and Wish. He had seen Hyper Voice and Dig while they were battling in the alleyway, and this confirmed his suspicion that the bite Eevee suffered was merely a savage lashing out and not a proper move, but the latter two were never used against him. Shadow Ball was perhaps a move that would have taken too much energy, and Goh had only seen the last move used by a Pokémon in Johto.
"Wish, huh?" he said, more to himself than anything.
Nurse Joy looked at him, and seemed to think he needed an explanation of the move. "Wish is a move where a Pokémon calls for energy to heal its wounds, but it takes some time for the energy to arrive. Trainers in battle often have one Pokémon use Wish even while it's healthy and switch to an injured one to heal it part way through a battle. Only… it looks as though Argent has been using Wish far too often…"
This made a certain amount of sense to Goh. Argent may have been involved in multiple battles while he was lost in the city, and he used Wish to heal his wounds as he pressed on. But what she said intrigued him. "What do you mean, used it too often?"
"Given Argent's physical condition, I believe he may have been using it to ease the pain from hunger," she said. "He looks like he's been starving for quite some time… far longer than just a few days."
Goh felt his blood run cold. Argent was resting now, but he had been so desperate to protect his nest and his home before. If Goh had actually tried to hurt him in battle, Argent might have been seriously injured, far beyond even Nurse Joy's ability to help him.
"Goh, can you please tell me everything you know about Argent? I think this may be a situation where we need to step in for his welfare."
Goh nodded and then began to tell Nurse Joy everything he knew. During the tale, Nurse Joy provided him with a Potion to heal Eevee's wound's, which he sprayed on her while he continued the explanation. Once he had finished, Nurse Joy's expression was just as low as Goh's and his Pokémon's. "It really does sound like the reason Argent ran away was because he wasn't being cared for," she said. "If he was aggressive towards humans, he may have even been abused by them."
"That Felix…" Goh said. "He came to the Lab to ask us for help finding Argent, and it turns out the only reason he ran away was to get away from him…!"
Grookey responded to Goh's growing anger with a growl of his own. Eevee sadly cooed in his arms.
"The most important thing is Argent's health," Joy said, turning her attention from Goh to the sleeping Pokémon. While Goh had been explaining everything he knew about Felix to Nurse Joy, Chansey had brought in a bowl of Moo Moo Milk and half of one of her own nutritious soft boiled eggs to Argent. He laid there, still sleeping for now.
Goh had left out how he set Chloe up on a date with Felix out of his own selfishness and greed for the map that supposedly led to Mew, though internally he was kicking himself for putting her in such a position.
If he would abuse Pokémon, what would he potentially do to her? The thought made him shiver with disgust. Though he was disgusted with no one more than himself at the moment.
"Wait…" he whispered to himself. "Wait, what time is it?"
He looked on the wall for a clock and his eyes went wide. Sunset Junior High was going to dismiss students from class for the day soon, which meant Felix would be meeting with Chloe at the front gates of the school in only a few moments.
'I can't let that happen,' Goh thought to himself. "Nurse Joy! I have somewhere I need to be. Can you please take care of Argent until I come back?"
She seemed surprised at his outburst, but nodded. "Of course, Goh. I'll keep watch over him. I'll also be letting Officer Jenny know all about what's gone on."
"Thank you!" he said. "Grookey! Eevee! C'mon! If we hurry, we can still catch her!"
Grookey once more hopped to Goh's shoulder and Eevee into his arms, and he rushed out of the back of the Pokémon Center.
In the lobby, he ran into a most fortunate fateful encounter.
Tugging on the front of his cap was Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder.
Goh practically crashed into him.
"Ash!"
"Goh?! And Eevee?!"
"Pika?!"
He was surprised to see Goh there. "I was lookin' around for you and I heard some people talking about how a guy that looked like you carried a silver Eevee here," he said. "Didja find Argent…?"
Ash's excited mien was blunted as soon as he saw the look on Goh's face. He looked over the counter back towards Nurse Joy. "You should talk to Nurse Joy about all of that. I need to try and catch up to Chloe!"
"Felix just went to see her…" Ash said, blinking in confusion.
"I know," Goh said, stepping past him. "That's exactly why I have to hurry!"
As Goh pushed past him, Ash reached out a hand that just missed his shoulder. "But Goh…!"
"Pika!"
"Sorry! Talk to Nurse Joy and she'll explain!" he shouted backwards before turning back around and running out the door.
Unfortunately for Goh, it ended up being too late, and by the time he had arrived back at Sunset Junior High, Chloe was gone.
It was the talk of the student body, apparently; a limousine came riding up to the gates of the school, driven by a serious, red eyed woman and in the back was the stylish and calm brown-haired young man who came calling for her. When she entered the limo and left the school, everyone was abuzz with gossip. Many were wondering who the mysterious young man calling for Professor Cerise's daughter was, but there were at least two who were chatting about him, who had only just arrived at the scene.
Standing back from the crowd at the gate were Mika and Deliah, whispering among themselves even as the rest of the crowd was filled with whispers. Many eyes fell on Goh, including those of the two girls, and even he could tell what the whispers would be saying.
He put the teasing he overheard out of his mind.
As the two of them saw Goh approaching, Mika's smile became much more self assured. "Well well," she said, "look what the Meowth dragged in."
"Mika, is Chloe really gone?" he asked.
"Y-You just missed her," Deliah said, pointing at the road. "Everyone was t-talking about how big a deal this was... B-But we knew that if Chloe was hopping in a car with some weirdo, then there must have been something going on with you, r-right?"
Goh grimaced. "Oh, there's something going on with me, alright."
"Grooki…"
"Eievui…"
"Isn't that Chloe's Eevee?" Mika's friend asked. "Why do you have her?"
"The guy that invited Chloe out really doesn't seem to like Pokémon very much," Goh said, trying not to reveal too many details. "And it may be possible that he's even abused Pokémon, so I was trying to stop her…!"
Deliah went completely silent while Mika let sound explode from her mouth. "What?! That guy was a huge jerk to a Pokémon?!"
Mika's shout caused Deliah to flinch and take a step back, but Goh just shook his head. "There's this Eevee that we were searching for, and when we found him, he was in really bad shape… He belongs to that guy and his family's breeding operation, which is why I came to warn Chloe that he might be bad news!"
"Well… Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to where they're going. Chloe didn't even mention that this was going to happen today."
"S-She's gonna be okay, right?"
Mika and Deliah were frowning at each other, but for Goh, there wasn't a path forward that didn't have him trying to find Chloe somewhere. "I've gotta find them. I don't know where they're going, but I have to do something…!"
Once more, he bolted off, leaving Mika and Deliah behind as he ran down the road in the direction they indicated the limousine pulled up.
He didn't have a plan and he had no idea where to go, but still, Goh pushed ahead. He checked as many places as he could think of, hitting up the cafe he saw them at the day before, going to the park he had heard Felix talk about. But even with that, and asking for anyone who saw a limousine riding down the street, he kept finding himself coming up short. Without a plan or any direction to search (why would he have any idea of places where Pokémon weren't allowed?) he was unable to find Chloe and Felix before the late afternoon.
Realizing that she would have long-since returned to the Cerise Laboratory by this time, he made his way up the long stairs, still carrying Eevee in his arms.
"Goh…"
His eyes went wide, and he looked up to see Chloe standing at the top of the stairs. In his arms, Eevee wriggled free and ran to her feet, where she picked her up.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "I've been worried."
"S-Sorry," he said. "I should have just brought Eevee back here, but everything just sorta happened…"
Chloe looked like she was about to correct him, but she stopped and furrowed her brow. She tilted her head to the side, curiously. "What do you mean everything just happened? What happened?"
He walked up the stairs, staring into her green eyes. "Felix is… you shouldn't go see him anymore."
She blinked, frowning. "Wasn't it your idea that I go see him? So you could get the map?"
Goh grimaced, the accusation striking him. "I… okay, that was my idea but that was a mistake. Chloe, this goes way past him not liking Pokémon."
She blinked. "...what do you mean, it goes past that?"
"I found Argent," he said. "And he wasn't in good shape. It looked like he'd been starving, so that's why he busted out of Felix's house. When we found him, he was so weak and light. He'd been using his moves to make the pain of his hunger hurt less! He's totally not been cared for or brushed in way longer than the few days that he's been missing! It… it hurt to see a Pokémon that should be cared for get into such a state. He even tried to attack me when I went to help him."
"D-Did you battle him?!" Chloe gasped, her mouth gaping wide.
Goh shook his head. "Not really. I had Caterpie and Oddish to restrain him and put him to sleep. And I took him straight to Nurse Joy after that."
"Thank goodness…" Chloe sighed. "So what did you do with him after that?"
"A-After that…?"
Goh felt the color drain from his face. He knew precisely what he had done with Argent after that, but he knew admitting it would be admitting that he broke his promise to her. But there was no talking around it; he had left Argent at the Pokémon Center alone but for Nurse Joy and maybe Ash if he was still there. Goh could do nothing but admit the truth.
A gust of wind shook some of the trees, making a rustling sound with leaves falling on the grass around the stairs leading to the lab. Grookey hopped from his shoulder and into the grass near Eevee. The two Pokémon watched their trainers with keen interest.
"I… I left him with Nurse Joy."
Chloe frowned at him, her furrowed eyebrows seemed to close in on Goh. "But Goh, you're the only one who knows all the pieces of the puzzle. What if Felix goes to Nurse Joy because he learns she has Argent?"
"I-I explained everything to Nurse Joy before I left," he said, running a hand through his hair nervously. Chloe was routinely finding him on the backfoot more and more these days; he'd felt like he'd done this several times in recent memory. "And! And I ran into Ash on the way out of the Pokémon Center, so she's probably told him everything, too!"
"Probably?!"
Chloe's surprised shout echoed around them.
"You didn't stay to explain everything to him?"
Goh swallowed. "I didn't have time! You were due to leave with Felix on this stupid date and I had to stop it!"
After the words escaped his mouth, he realized too quickly that this was the wrong thing to say. It was his idea, after all.
"So that's what it's about then," Chloe said, glaring at him from up the stairs. "You couldn't stand seeing me with Felix, so you had to swoop in and put a stop to it."
Goh felt as though he was falling into a trap, but he couldn't help himself from responding. "N-No, I was worried that by going with him on that date, you'd be putting yourself in danger!"
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "I told you that I would handle it," Chloe said. "I already told you he'd treated me with nothing but kindness, and besides, it was your idea that I go on a stupid date with him in the first place! When I tell you I've got it, I really mean that I've got it, okay?!" Chloe's tone was getting more and more angry with him. To Goh, though, she was definitely stepping out of turn with him. Even if it was his idea, was she really that angry that he wanted to prioritize her safety over Argent's?
"I was worried about you!" he said back, though he took one step backwards down the stairs. "I thought, 'if this guy'll hurt a Pokémon, what'll he do to a person?!"
"So you broke your promise to me, came back and abandoned Argent because you didn't think I could take care of myself?"
His reasoning was thrown back into his face. He trusted Nurse Joy to watch over Argent, but to Chloe that seemed the same as not seeing things through to the end, which felt like an unfair attack leveraged at him.
As the two of their voices continued to rise, Eevee and Grookey backed away from their trainers, standing in the grass alongside the staircase now with lowered expressions.
"I didn't abandon Argent!" Goh shouted. "Nurse Joy has him! He's safe!"
"And did you think about just calling me?" Chloe shouted back.
"You were still in class! I couldn't call during school!
"Then you could have just texted me, you idiot!"
She pulled out her phone for emphasis.
"If it was THAT important that you get me to cancel the second date because he's a jerk, there were a million other ways to do it. You could have called and gotten me in trouble, but you know if you texted I'd read the text before I left school for the day. You had to have known that. Instead you decided that you had to be the hero guy because I am a poor damsel in distress who obviously couldn't take care of herself, and only after I can only guess you spent all this time in the city looking for us that you realized it was too late, you came back to the lab."
Goh stood statue quiet, and his blood felt bitterly cold. Any confidence in his position was quickly eroding, and though the only reason she loomed over him now was her position on the stairs, he felt very small in her shadow. He had no response for either her alternative idea, nor her accusation. The only thing, in his estimation, that she had gotten wrong was his motivation.
It felt like the only path forward was to argue about that, now.
"I-It wasn't so I could just be the hero," he said, much more quietly. "I was really, actually worried about you. I guess I… forgot I could just text you because I got it in my head that something really bad could happen to you, and I freaked out. Chloe, I-"
"So instead of thinking clearly and texting me, you came rushing out." She sighed, growing quieter herself. "Because… I guess protecting me was more important to you than protecting Argent. Than keeping your promise."
Another chill autumn breeze blew past the two of them.
Goh finally found the courage to look Chloe in the face again, and he saw that her emerald eyes looked to be barely holding back tears.
"So why… why did you do it?"
Goh swallowed. "Why…? I…"
She glared at him from her higher position on the stairs.
"What am I to you, Goh?!"
His breath caught in his chest, and his eyes went wide.
"What…? Y-You're-"
"Am I the friend who bails you out at school?" she asked. "Am I the person who got you your research fellow position? Am I just someone you can ask for favors for free so you can get whatever you want? Am I some delicate doll that can't protect herself? Am I some prize to be hoarded and won?!" With every question she took a step towards him, and Goh could see more clearly the tears being barely restrained in the corners of her eyes with each step until she was standing face to face with him. "Answer me, Goh!"
Goh stared for a few moments, quietly contemplating the depths of her emerald eyes as he tried to grapple with her question. His mind went to work, attempting to come up with some answer. The barrage of questions she asked him was just a distraction, he realized. The true central question was the first one asked. And that was the one Chloe was demanding an answer for.
So what was she to him?
Goh was about to say friend before she indicated that would be the wrong answer in her list of suggestions. In fact, everything she said would have to be the wrong answer, then, right? But then what was the right answer? Was there even a correct one?
He had used her to help him at school, and back at the Stone Temple. He had moved her like a game piece to get the map from Felix. He had been fearful of showing his own jealousy to her when she left with Felix the first time. And he wanted nothing to do with showing any sign that he might have doubted their relationship. Doubted her.
So why couldn't he piece this together into an answer? Why, when he opened his mouth to say these things, did his words fail him?
The feeling seemed like something he couldn't put into words.
Goh stood there, ashamed of himself. He looked away from her, now feeling the pricking of tears in his own eyes.
"You don't have an answer," Chloe said coolly, her words slicing through any remaining exterior of bravado and confidence. "That's just fine then, Goh." She turned on her heel and began heading up the stairs. "Goodbye."
He looked up to see her back to him as she climbed the stairs. Eevee cooed sadly, looking back to Goh, then Grookey, before chasing after Chloe.
"Grooki…" the chimp cooed sadly.
Goh stood in stunned silence as another gust of cold air blew past him.
He had failed, utterly.
Felix's true nature, the one that caused Argent to be found in his terrible state, had caused Goh to lose sight of the promise he had made to Chloe to search for the silver Eevee, and he had lost sight of Chloe as well, his jealousy over Felix and his lack of faith in her ruining his normally calculated judgment. His confidence was now gone, and any sense of pride he had was taken with it. Now, Chloe had turned her back on him, Felix could easily attempt to reclaim Argent, and Goh will have lost everything.
He couldn't just stand there, locked in his own doubts, he thought. He had already paid a great cost to get to this point. He couldn't let this all be wasted.
He put on a brave smile and faced his Pokémon.
"Don't worry, Grookey…" he said, patting him on the head. "I… I'll make this right, somehow. I know it. I just… need some time, okay?"
"Grooki…?" he asked back sadly, pawing at Goh's hand.
"Can you do me a favor and just… stay with Chloe for now? I promise, I'll be back before the end of the day."
Grookey gave him a nod, confident in Goh. "Ki! Grooki grooki!" And with that, the mischievous chimp turned and began chasing Chloe and Eevee up the stairs.
Goh turned around and began putting the Cerise Laboratory behind him. There was someone else he needed to talk to before the day was over.
He was just going to go claim what he was owed. And considering what it had cost him, he was ready to claim his due.
With the setting sun now firmly behind it, the manor in which Felix lived seemed forebodingly large, casting its shadow over even the other side of the street. And the thoughts that drove Goh here were dark, indeed.
Approaching the breeding establishment that was so neglectful that it drove Argent to flee, Goh willed his face into a stern expression. The yard was gated as it had been when he and Ash arrived here two days ago, and so without the master of the home with him to open the door, Goh was left pressing the button on the speaker, which flared to life.
"Please identify yourself," came the voice through the speaker. Goh recognized it as the tone of the red-eyed maid that seemed to be at Felix's beck and call.
"It's Goh," he said as politely as he could manage. "I need to speak with Felix."
There was quiet on the other side of the speaker for a moment.
"Master Felix did mention you would be coming, and would like to thank you for your cooperation. We are prepared to present you with your prize. I will be out there shortly."
The light went out, and Goh slammed the button again, not quite mastering his emotions just yet. "Wait!"
The woman's voice returned. "Yes? What is it?"
"Have Felix bring it out himself. I need to speak with him directly."
There was another moment of quiet before the maid spoke again.
"Master Felix is busy handling the matters of his estate and his parent's business while they are gone, as I am sure you are aware. I will deliver you what you have come for, or you may leave without it. This is your choice."
Goh grinded his teeth together. It felt like a card game was being played, and his opponent held an incredibly strong hand. They meant to push Goh to the side, his utility to Felix having ended since the boy had built up a camaraderie with Chloe. The only thing that could break through would be a trump card, and Goh yet held several. He decided to play a particularly impactful one first.
"Are you sure Master Felix would like you speaking that way to the best friend of the girl he has his eye on?"
He spoke with as much confidence as he could muster, but given how his own friendship with Chloe was currently in shambles with how their last conversation went not long ago, it could be considered a bluff. But Chloe, knowing what Goh told her about Argent, would have no reason to speak to Felix, and thus any deterioration in their friendship was still kept from him.
And a lack of information was an advantage to be exploited. It was one of the oldest tricks Goh knew.
The speaker went quiet again for a longer period of time than it had up to this point, but when it came back, the words were short and tense.
"Understood. He will come."
The speaker again went dark, but Goh had no doubt that Felix would be peeled away from whatever he was handling to deal with him, so he probably wouldn't be very happy to be interrupted.
Goh didn't care what Felix thought, though, so this supposition did nothing but turn his thoughts inward.
Though he remained focused on his true goal, Chloe's question continued to gnaw at him. The fact that he couldn't formulate even one word of a response was damning. She was far more than just the Professor's daughter to him. Chloe was his first real friend, the first person other than his parents who had reached out to him. He relied on her a great deal in many things, both in school and elsewhere. He appreciated her keen mind and her candor. He admired her ability to speak, even in difficult situations.
Indeed, if their positions had been switched, Goh wasn't sure he would have been able to even say anything at all. And yet Chloe pushed forward with the question, not betraying a hint of fear or uncertainty.
And so it shamed him to feel none of that confidence he had been building up over the past several months, since Ash Ketchum came to Vermilion City and the two of them became research fellows. That he was the meek, unreliable one compared to Chloe tore his pride to shreds.
Why couldn't he just answer her? Why was all of that so difficult to put into words?
As Goh pondered this, the tall doors that lead into Felix's manor opened and broke Goh from his inner conflict. Walking into the evening light was Felix, dressed as neatly as he had been the day he turned up at the Cerise Laboratory. There was a painted-on smile on his face that even someone as blind to the thoughts of others as Goh could see through. Clearly he didn't want to be seeing Goh right now, but Goh thought to himself that rarely did people seem to get what they wanted today.
In Felix's hand, curled into a tube and sealed with a silver ring was the old map that had been previously stored in the gallery inside.
Felix approached the gate and hit a button on the inside, causing it to unlock and open. "Goh, my friend," he said, still forcing his smile. "I see you've come for what I promised you."
"Felix," he said with a curt nod, not saying anything more just yet.
Felix looked to his shoulder. "Oh, I see that you left it behind somewhere," he said. "What was it called again? Spooky?"
"His name is Grookey," Goh said, his gaze not moving from the hole he was staring through Felix's face. "He's my partner and friend."
Felix sniffed disinterestedly. "Anyway, I suppose I should thank you for your help. These past two days, spending those hours with Chloe was divine." As he spoke about her, his expression changed, becoming the same blushing, somewhat shy boy he had been when he broached the topic with Goh the first time.
His full analytical gaze now turned upon him, Goh could see that there was a part of this young man that did have soft, tender feelings for Chloe. But even if these were genuine emotions of love at first sight, they made Goh's stomach churn, though whether it was because he knew of Felix's treatment of Argent or if there was something about the idea of Felix continuing to see Chloe that he found detestable, he couldn't say for sure.
All he could really say was that he wasn't overly fond of Felix's good mood and he was ready to drag him down to earth.
"Here. Your reward," Felix said, handing the map to Goh.
Goh didn't take it. He only stared back at Felix.
"C'mon. Take it," he said, shaking it. "This is what you came here for, isn't it?" He grinned. "I saw the greed in your eyes when you first laid eyes on it. You can't fool me."
Goh was familiar with the look, having seen it in his own reflection. Only now, he knew where the path of greed would take him.
"I don't want it," he said plainly.
Felix raised an eyebrow. "You don't? Interesting." He lowered the map the way one might lower a weapon. "You seemed like you wanted it pretty badly, too. Oh well. I guess I'll keep it."
Goh felt his eyes pull in the direction of the map, but he held firm, strengthening his resolve as best as he could. "That map isn't the reason I came here," he said. "We have something to talk about."
Felix's expression continued to darken. "If you aren't here to get the map and you have more you want to talk about… I suppose you really are possessive of sweet Chloe then, aren't you?"
A more prideful, arrogant boy than Goh might have fought off such accusations with bluster. But Goh was a young man who's pride had been shredded and his arrogance shattered into tiny pieces. He wouldn't take the bait.
He still had his trump card to play.
"I'm here to talk about Argent," he said. "I found him."
This definitely piqued Felix's interest. "Oh, you did? Where is it now?"
The fact that he called Argent 'it', like he was an object, was no longer lost on Goh.
"He's at the Pokémon Center," Goh said. "Nurse Joy is taking care of him after the shape he was found in."
Felix blinked. "Is that all? You just came to announce that you found my family's Pokémon?"
"Felix, Argent was really weak. He looked like he hadn't eaten well in weeks, not days. His fur was matted and overgrown, and that's where it wasn't patchy and falling out. He wasn't well! Not in the slightest!"
He looked at Goh, curiosity filling his features. "And?"
The question threw Goh off balance. "A-And?!"
"And so what? Argent's just a Pokémon. And a miserable one, at that. He might have that bright silver coat, but he's weak in battle, a freak child born under an unlucky star with no potential for battling, contests, or anything else someone might find useful. He is a curiosity alone, and a Pokémon is only worth what someone will pay for them."
Goh's eyes widened in horror as Felix revealed his true nature to him.
As if to emphasize his point, Felix held up the map once more. "This map is worth at least fifty Argents. A useless Pokémon that no one wants to buy, even if it's got a different color than usual… what a worthless thing."
"Wo… Worthless…?"
He was at a complete loss for words, but the fires stoked within him quickly brought back enough indignation to spur him into saying something.
"How… How could you say something so heartless?!"
This was the same guy who was just speaking glowingly of Chloe. Who claimed to love her just this morning. Did he even know the meaning of the word if he spoke that way about a Pokémon in his care?
Once more, Goh's blood ran cold at the thought of what he might be capable of doing to a person if he did this to a Pokémon so easily.
To Goh, how he treated one may as well have been how he treated the other as well, and his anger began to boil over.
Felix shrugged at Goh's fury. "Heartless? Why are you getting so worked up? It's just a Pokémon. We've got hundreds more of them. Even a few more silver-coated Eevee. But my parents would flip if I let even one go, so thanks for finding it for me. I'll be sure to pick it up from Nurse Joy tomorrow."
"Just a Pokémon?!" Goh shouted. His voice echoed around the buildings, but other than himself and Felix, there didn't seem to be a soul around. "Felix, Pokémon are living beings like you and me. You can't just treat them like… like things to be bought and sold!"
He shrugged. "Isn't that what they are? My family made our money breeding these Pokémon and selling them for a profit. They might be alive, but they are not like you or me."
"That's crazy!"
"That's business."
The lack of gravity affecting Felix's mood was like a knife twisting in Goh's stomach. "No, that's crazy and you're crazy if you think I'm letting you get close to Argent or Chloe ever again!"
Felix shrugged. "I think that's for Nurse Joy and Chloe herself to decide, don't you think?"
"No, we're settling this right now," Goh said. He jammed his hand into his pocket, pulling out the Poké Ball containing Cinderace before holding it up. "Let's have a battle right now!"
In his mind, he knew it was wrong to use a Pokémon Battle to settle a conflict like this, but speaking to Felix didn't seem to have any effect. He didn't seem to have any understanding of just how wrong he was.
Felix looked at the ball containing Goh's partner with apathy. "Why would I have a battle with you? I don't even have a Pokémon."
Goh lowered the ball. "Y-You don't…?"
Felix rolled his eyes. "What didn't you understand? Do I need to repeat myself? The only thing Pokémon are good for is how much money you can make with them. I don't need things like Pokémon battles that can't turn a profit."
"So… then..."
He was at a loss.
"Are you done wasting my time?" Felix asked. "You can leave now. There's nothing you can do to me."
He felt the same sense of lost powerlessness that Chloe had inflicted on him earlier. Was there nothing he could say to convince Felix to change his mind? Could you talk someone into flipping their entire incorrect world view? It sounded impossible, and Goh wasn't even sure where to start.
Once again, his words failed him.
"If you're just going to sit there and growl, I'm going back inside," Felix said with a shrug. "I don't have time to waste. I have a business to help run."
As Felix turned to return to his manor, Goh's hands balled themselves into fists. What else could he even do at this point? Talking didn't work, Felix was set in his ways. And he couldn't battle Felix, either, even if all it would do is soothe Goh's wounded ego. What option was left?
And then, Goh realized what it was that remained. Like a flash of inspiration, he knew there was something he could do. And though he knew he was making a mistake, he didn't care. There was no other way to reach Felix that he could think of, so he acted without thinking, instead.
There are some things, he realized in that moment of clarity, that you can't express with words.
He grabbed Felix by the shoulder with his right hand and balled up his left hand into a fist once more. When Felix turned to him, he swung.
The sound of fist against face wasn't a sound Goh was unfamiliar with. As a quiet, shy boy, he was very familiar with bullies and bullying. So as he brought his fist into contact with Felix's face, the soft snap he felt wasn't a new experience, but it was still an unfamiliar one. Usually Goh was the one getting knocked down and hit. Rarely was he in the position to land a blow on someone else, and he'd never sucker punched someone like he just did.
But his frustration with Felix and his treatment of Argent - of all Pokémon - had pushed him to a boiling point. Felix recoiled at the blow, clutching his nose and screaming in pain. He stumbled backwards, but remained standing. Still in shock of what happened, he pulled his hands away from his face.
Goh could already see just what he had done as a stream of crimson trickled out of Felix's nose. Looking down, Felix saw that his own hands were stained red with his blood.
Felix's brown eyes glared sharply back at Goh, like the fiercest Stone Edge that a Pokémon could muster.
And he began to strike back.
He threw a punch with his right hand towards Goh, which he sidestepped easily. He was used to not favoring his own right side, being left handed, and with the fighting tips his father gave him the first time he came home after getting bullied were serving him well.
Felix then threw a left, and Goh, sensing the rhythm of his opponent's attacks, evaded that one as well, leaving Felix to punch air. Goh stepped in and jabbed Felix in the stomach with his left, and the rich boy's face twisted in pain. Though now, he took advantage of the situation and headbutted Goh. He missed Goh's nose but did end up headbutting him in the mouth.
Goh stepped back and tasted iron. He quickly felt for his teeth to make sure they were all in place, but before he could make a full count, Felix was upon him again, landing a hook right onto his jaw that sent him to the ground.
When his head hit the pavement, stars crowded his vision just long enough for Felix to begin kicking Goh in the stomach before moving up to kick him in the face. The first blow made Goh turn over, and Felix then satisfied himself by beginning to kick Goh in the back.
His mind then seemed to click back on. Acting without thinking had gotten him into this position, but he couldn't continue to act without thinking. His body hurt in the places he was being struck, and he tasted his own blood - somewhere between getting kicked and headbutted, his lips started to bleed. He quickly devised a plan, and hoped that Felix hadn't returned to his senses yet.
He pushed himself off the ground, catching another kick to the stomach for his trouble, but he leapt up, tackling Felix to the ground. Felix began punching at him to knock him off and back, but laying flat on your back on top of the concrete sidewalk meant that he couldn't punch at Goh effectively, and though he had to endure the the blows of Felix's fists, Goh took them without much trouble before he began laying into him.
Goh hammered Felix's head and face with his left fist, using his right hand to keep him down. As he did, Felix became more and more battered until he stopped using his hands to try and strike back and used them to defend himself from further strikes, but Goh didn't let up until Felix called for him.
"Stop! Stop, please!" he shouted tearfully. "I give up! I'm sorry!"
Goh stopped punching him for a moment and glared at him. His face was bloody and bruised with the trickle down his nose staining the cream-colored shirt he wore.
Goh stood up and looked around. There were still no bystanders in this area, but looking towards the house, he saw the red-eyed maid watching in abject horror at what had happened.
The entire fistfight must have taken no longer than a minute or two, Goh estimated, but the damage the two had inflicted upon each other looked far worse than one would think could be dealt in such a short time.
He saw the map lying discarded alongside the road and for a moment, considered taking it anyway, if only as a prize for beating Felix into surrender. But he thought better of it and kicked it past the gate, closer to his manor.
He didn't even want to look at the map, the manor, or Felix anymore.
Pointing down at the boy still lying on the ground, he issued an ultimatum:
"I never want to see you near Chloe OR Argent ever again, do you understand? Argent better be at the Pokémon Center when your parents get home so you can explain to them and to Nurse Joy how things got that bad, or I'll be back for another round, got it?"
Felix fearfully nodded, and Goh turned and spat some of the blood mixed with saliva out of his mouth as he walked down the road away from the manor.
He heard the maids come to Felix after he walked away. He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. Realizing that, by now, Professor Cerise would have gone home, taking Chloe with him, he decided to follow a bit of the advice Chloe had given him and he tried to text her.
There was no reply coming, so Goh made up his mind and began walking in the direction of the Cerise household. He had to tell her what happened, and more importantly, he had to answer the question he had been asked.
