The next day

"Morning, Jira."

"Hey, good morning. What's up?"

"I feel okay", Ash said. "Goh is coming this morning and he will be there for the rest of the tournament. He's a really good guy. After all, Mew chose him."

"Hey Pikachu", Ash said, "I'll let you come with me. I'm sorry that I kept you in my room for a while."

"Piiika!"

Later

"Hey Blissey, help me out there. Let's give Mamoswine a good rest. He'll be back later."

"Bliss."

As Ash, um, Red and Jira were heading out to meet Goh, Pikachu was sitting on Red's shoulder.

"Pikachu? That's… no way. He reminds me of Ash. Maybe this trainer adopted him… or he could be different altogether. I'd like to meet him… but today my shift is way too busy. Maybe after the quarter-final round."

"Hey Ash!"

"Oh, there he is, hey Goh!"

"It's been a while!" Goh said as he gave Ash a handshake and a quick brother hug. He was happy and in a cheerful mood, now that he finally got some free time. Pikachu jumped on Goh's shoulder as well. This kind of surprised Goh. Seeing how Ash was still in hiding, Pikachu of all Pokemon sitting on your shoulder, especially when you used to be all the rage back in the day was kind of a risky move.

"You must be Jira. Goh here, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. Hey, let's drink a coffee.

"Great idea!"

Later

Ash, Goh and Jira were now in the living room, with Ash taking off his cloak.

"Must be a weird feeling taking off this shit in front of my travelling companion", Ash said. "After all, who cares what's the difference between eight months and two years now?"

"Goh," Ash said, "show us your Mew, what do you say?"

"That's a good idea. Mew, Cinderace, come out!"

Goh sent out the two Pokemon, and Mew immediately caught their attention. It really was Mew after all, that pink little kitty people only speak of in the legends, which could be anything and everything it wanted to be.

"You really are something, Goh." Ash said. "Maybe you should participate in a tournament."

"I'm thinking of it if I catch Celebi." Goh said.

"Oh come on, Goh. Stop making excuses. I won the Coronation Series without legendary Pokemon."

"Goh", Jira said, "Ash's proposal is great if you think about it. Maybe you two will battle one day. You will battle Ash Ketchum however, not Red Satoshi."

"What do you mean?" Goh said.

"Ummm…" Ash spoke. "I'll… tell you about it. I want to reveal myself and go back to my normal life."

"Really?!" Goh choked.

"Yeah. I lost a bet and my life as Red is over."

"A bet? Of all things…"

"Well not quite," Jira said, "we had a battle and I won. But you could say it was a bet, seeing as Ash's energy shot up with this tournament. For almost two years this guy didn't feel like battling in the first place. When you got fired up, that's when I knew you were ready. And I did not hold back in any way, shape or form."

"In either case," Goh said, "if that's the case, Ash, then I'd like to tell you welcome back right now. There's no point in hiding anymore."

"Thank you, Goh," Ash said as he blushed, "it's… it's really embarassing. After all, when I come back… at least… Professor Oak and Brock will be happy."

Goh started typing something on his phone.

"Ash", Jira said, "how do you feel about the upcoming quarter-final round? I've heard you're facing someone from the Paldea region."

"Ah, Nemona", Ash said. "I'm curious to see her abilities. I've heard of something, Tera- however it's spelled…"

"Terastallize."

"It's quite hard to pronounce. But it sounds cooler than Dynamax."

"Yes, it's a mechanic that allows you to change types. Or give a boost to your existing attacks, too."

"Hm. Once I come back, maybe I will look at it. But I want Nemona to show it to me first of all. I want to battle it and see what it can do."

"I know you want to see him. " Goh mumbled.

"Hey Goh, what are you doing?"

Goh put his phone on the table, and being a little nervous said:

"Ah… it's from… uhh, Professor Amaranth. He wishes you good luck."

"That's a nice gesture of him, send him my regards." Ash said, but…

"Hmm. Is that really who you're talking to?"

That night

"Hey Pikachu… who do you suppose Goh was talking to? I mean Gary was with him for Project Mew, so it's a possibility it could be him. Or it could be someone else. But he didn't tell me anything about Project Celebi."