A.N. Hello, everyone. It's been too long.
Satogou Day served as the kick in the nuts I needed to finally write the last few bits of this, my long-delayed Valentine's Day fic for this year… not very timely now, but oh well :') I suppose it can suit both Satogou Day and White Day, in a sense
Not that much Satogou here, as the main focus is a canon episode-like story, but I did try to include as much as I could! And some other ships too. Besides, it's been way too long since I updated this!
Without further ado, enjoy!
Vermillion City. A familiar place to us by now, but today, things are a little different. For today is a special day.
The narrator begins to speak. "Valentine's Day! A date of love and joy and togetherness. When we share or confess our affections to the people around us…
…Or, in the case of the Vermillion City post office, help others with doing that."
We see two post office workers desperately trying to fit several boxes into a truck. "Grgh… stupid Valentine's Day! This always happens, ever since that kid moved in here…"
"Oh, right", the other worker's partner mumbled. "That Ketchum boy… how many was it, this year?"
"Arceus, I don't know… like a thousand?" The first mailman grunted. "C'mon, help me put all of them in the truck! We're late enough already."
The second mailman complied, piling the boxes of chocolate as high as they could.
As he threw one of the boxes onto the back of the truck, it seemed to make an odd squeaky noise, like a small animal.
"Hey… did you a hear a noise just now?"
"Not really… you sure it wasn't just your imagination?"
"Could be… I am getting really tired… nevermind, then."
Inside of the box, a pink creature sighed in relief. "Tink…"
"It's Valentine's Day! Yaaaay!" Ash cheered.
"Don't remind me" Goh said, cringing.
"What's wrong? You know we'll go on a date today just like always, right? Isn't that something to be happy about?"
"Yeah, but… every time, you get so many chocolates from OTHER people. It makes me feel bad."
"But those are all friendship chocolates!" Ash replied with a confident grin that said that he genuinely believed that to be the case. "From my best buddies around the world!"
"Ash, I've met your friends, they don't want to be JUST best buddies…"
"Hm?" Ash looked at Goh with an expression of curiosity. "What else could they want to be?"
"Boyfriends and girlfriends, duh!"
"That's silly. They know you're my one and only joyfriend, Goh!"
Goh gave him a pained expression, like he was still fretting but was trying to seem reassured by Ash's statement. "Alright, Ash. I'm sure you would never make friends with any homewreckers, after all. But…"
"But what?"
"Seeing that huge mountain of chocolates… it just drives me crazy, that's all."
"I can't stop my friends from wanting to pamper me. If it makes you feel any better, I already promised to give Chloe all those chocolates so she could, er, repurpose them. I promise I'll only eat yours!"
"Repurpose them?"
"Yeah! She said she had too many girls to give chocolate to and not enough time to buy any. So I generously agreed to donate mine!" Ash explained with a sly wink.
Goh raised an eyebrow. Seemed kind of against the spirit of Valentine's to use your chocolates like that, but alright.
Speaking of Chloe, it was then that she decided to barge into their room, looking unusually alarmed. "Ash, the truck with your chocolates just came, but…"
"Something wrong?" Ash asked with a tinge of worry.
"AAAH!" Ash screamed. "They're all gone? It can't be!"
"I'm really very sorry, sirs", the mailman pleaded, bowing in an exaggerated fashion. "We have no idea what could have happened!"
"Hmmm", Ash muttered. "If Cilan was here, I'm sure he would put on a funny hat and say 'It's detecting time!' but since he isn't here, I guess it's up to us!"
Goh nodded, and looked inside the truck. The boxes were all opened, and there were still some crumbs of chocolate littering the floor.
"It looks like someone ate them…?" He pondered.
"Ruki, ruki!" Grookey chirped excitedly, leaping off Goh's shoulder and onto the truck.
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "He's eating the chocolate off the floor like an uncilivized ape…"
"Well, he is an uncivilized ape!" Ash remarked.
"How dare you!" Goh shrieked in outrage. "At least Grookey is his own person, unlike that Eevee of yours who just knows how to mimic others!" He said, pointing at Chloe.
"Excuse you, my Eevee is a refined gentlewoman, who… wait, where IS Eevee?"
"Eevui!" Eevee exclaimed, waving at Chloe from inside the truck.
"Eevee, no! Don't get mixed up with that lout again!" Chloe pleaded. Eevee appeared to not understand what was being said, tilting her head.
"Heh", Ash smirked. "I guess my Pikachu is actually the smartest out of… Pikachu?"
"Pikapi! Pikachu!" Pikachu smirked back at his trainer, having jumped onto the truck and holding some of the chocolate crumbs in its hand while Grookey and Eevee helped themselves to the rest.
Ash sighed. "Well, at least someone is enjoying all those chocolates…"
The comment hit Chloe like a ton of bricks. "M-My girls… I promised I would give them all a piece of chocolate for Valentine's Day… what am I going to do now?"
"I guess buy them at a store like a normal person?" Goh suggested.
"But I have school!" Chloe protested.
"That's your excuse for everything", Goh shrugged.
"Well, sorry for not wanting to waste my life being a truant like some people!"
"Guys!" Ash shouted, getting their attention. "We still need to figure out the mystery of the disappeared chocolates!"
"R-Right", Goh acknowledged. "But we have no clues other than that they were eaten…"
"Maybe one of the mailmen ate them? That's what I would do, if I had to deliver so many chocolates!" Ash suggested.
"What?" One of the aforementioned mailmen exclaimed in horror. "That's preposterous! We would lose our jobs!"
"Then how about one of your pokémon? You must have some to help you carry all of these", Goh suggested.
"Hmm", the mailman considered the idea. "Well, we do have a Machamp, a Delibird and a Pelipper. But I doubt any of them would do such a thing, either. They're highly disciplined!"
"Bring them here! We must question the suspects", Ash declared, now suddenly wearing a brown deerstalker cap and holding a magnifying glass. "It's detecting time!"
"Uh…" Goh muttered quizzically.
"How did- oh, whatever", Chloe shrugged. She shouldn't question how Ash does things at this point.
"Machamp!"
"Delibird!"
"Pelipper..."
Ash paced around. "This morning, on a day that will live in infamy, one of you stole my precious chocolates from my best buddies… a most grave crime!"
"Champ!" The Machamp pointed at itself, as if saying "me?"
"Delibirdddd" The Delibird trembled, appearing concerned.
Ash narrowed his eyes. "I notice Mr. Pelipper seems surprisingly calm for being accused of murdering some innocent chocolates…"
"…Murder? Ash, don't you think you are being a little too dramatic?"
"Not at all, Goh! I take chocolate theft very, very seriously!"
"Pelipph. Peli…" Pelipper mumbled.
"Is it just me, or does it have something stuck on its mouth?" Chloe noted.
Ash's eyes widened. "You're right! Like it's trying to hide something!" He immediately attempted to pry open Pelipper's mouth. "Stop trying to conceal the evidence! Admit to your… mmph! Crimes!"
"Let me help you, Ash!"
"Me too!"
The trio used all of the strength in their tiny, child-sized hands to try and open Pelipper's mouth.
"Pelip! Pelipperrr!" Pelipper mumbled desperately.
"Out with it, you criminal sc- OW!" Ash was startled as something pink and angry leapt out of Pelipper's beak!"
"Tink-tink-tink!"
"Whoa! What is that thing?"
"Good question", Chloe replied, pulling out her Rotom phone and scanning the fleeing pokémon.
"Tinkaton – The Hammer Pokémon. This intelligent Pokémon has a very daring disposition. It knocks rocks into the sky with its hammer, aiming for flying Corviknight." The Rotomdex explained in its robotic tone.
"Hammer? I don't see any…" Goh considered.
"Never mind that! It might be our culprit, let's go after it!" Ash ordered.
The three children ran hurriedly in the direction of the small pink creature, but it proved too speedy and small for them, and evaded their capture.
"Dahhh! It ran off!" Ash yelled in frustration.
"I'm sorry, Ash… looks like my morning jogging sessions didn't help much", Goh remarked.
"It's fine, I did say I wasn't going to eat them, anyway" Ash replied, despite still looking forlorn.
Chloe gulped. "Well, I… I have to go now, it looks like I really do have to buy all the chocolates myself in the end… I guess it's better that way. Though I'll have to skip school today."
"Psh! School, who needs it! You can always catch up by studying at home!" Goh opined.
"But that also means I won't be able to bring your homework back for you."
Goh cringed in response. "…I-I'm sure the teacher will understand… if worst comes to worst, I can head there myself and ask for it… even though I don't wanna."
"Man, that pink thing really caused a lot of trouble for us!" Ash griped. "Maybe we should just head back to the lab and forget this whole situation."
"Yeah, let's! Though I do want to ask Professor Cerise if he knows anything about this new pokémon…"
"A Tinkaton, you say? Are you sure?" Professor Cerise asked.
"Yes, that's what Chloe's rotom phone said!" Goh asserted.
"Interesting. They're not supposed to be found here. They're native to the Paldea region!"
"Paldea region?" Ash repeated.
Ren pressed a button on his computer console, making the large monitors show a large landmass – Paldea, Ash guessed.
"Paldea? That's cool! I'm part Paldean on my grandmother's side", Goh stated.
"If it's not native to this region", Ash considered, putting his admittedly-limited brainpower to work, "Do you think it could be a pokémon from the Rocket Prize Master? Like Grookey?"
"Ruki, Rukiiiii!" Grookey seemed elated at the idea, perhaps imagining himself finding common ground with the foreign pokémon. Or maybe he was just happy to hear his own name.
"I'm not sure… maybe we'll find out when we see it again. I wonder why it was inside the delivery truck?" Cerise questioned.
"Maybe it was hungry!" Chrysa suggested. "I've often found my darling Psyduck stuck in my trash can because it wanted to eat some leftovers! That's probably what happened."
"Uh… yeah, maybe." Ren replied, trying not to look at Chrysa's face as she lost herself in daydreams about Psyduck.
"Hmm… but then, there's the question of why it came all this way. It can't have been just for chocolate." Said Goh.
Speaking of foodstuffs, Ash's stomach chose that time to growl. "Oh, man. All that running around seems to have made me hungry."
Goh looked startled. "That reminds me! Your Valentine's Day chocolate… in all the commotion, I totally forgot to buy it!"
"Awww, don't worry about it, sweetie!" Ash told him, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "We can go buy our chocolates together! And maybe stop by an eatery along the way…"
"Yeah, good idea. Hopefully that Tinkaton hasn't eaten ALL the chocolates in Vermillion by this point", Goh half-joked.
Nonetheless, he walked in the direction of the exit and waved Prof. Cerise and his fellow researchers goodbye. Ash's stomach kept growling intermittently.
"What kinds of chocolates do you like, Goh?"
"Just plain black chocolate, of course! I like its mature taste", Goh boasted, seemingly wanting to look mature himself.
"I thought you liked milk chocolate, though?" Ash questioned, looking confused.
"I, uh…" Goh facepalmed internally. His parents probably told Ash that at some point, he bet!
Ash shrugged. "I'll just get you both, then! No problem."
Goh breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll go get you your chocolate, then. I want it to be a surprise!"
"Okay, honey! Good luck! I hope it's tasty", Ash replied, waving at him excitedly as Goh went into another candy store.
To his surprise, Chloe was there, too, looking extremely frazzled. "I-If I pick this one… no, but she doesn't seem like she would like it… but then, what about…"
"Chloe?"
"KYAH!" Chloe shouted. Eevee stood at attention on her shoulder, glaring at Goh for startling her trainer. "Don't just sneak up on me like that, Goh!"
"But… I just said your name, that's all…" Goh protested.
"Right… well, I'm really on edge right now, and I need time to think, so…" Chloe trailed off, torn between wanting to do this on her own and asking for help.
Goh could relate to that. "Two heads think better than one, right? Let me help with your problem, and maybe you can help me with mine! What are you trying to do?"
"I need to find the perfect chocolate for all of the…" Chloe started counting on her fingers. "Six girls I like! If I make a mistake, they're going to think I'm not serious!"
"Wait, you're dating six girls?"
"No, I'm not dating any girls!" Chloe rushed to correct him. "I'm just… keeping my options open, that's all."
"That's all you know how to do!" Goh remarked. "Sometimes you have to make a choice, yeah? It's not fair to those girls if you keep leading them on."
"You don't know that! Maybe they're okay with open relationships!" Chloe protested. "Anyway, come on, help me pick a chocolate they would each like!"
Goh perused the selection of flavors. "…How did you manage to get twice as many people to fall for you as I have? I'm much better-looking!"
"Don't get distracted!" Chloe chided him.
"Right, right. Also, do you have suggestion for a chocolate Ash would like?"
"He seems like he would like any flavor as long as it was from you, or something sappy like that."
"…Yeah, that does sound like him", Goh admitted. "What about that one?"
"Sacred Swordsmen chocolate bar", Chloe read the name on the wrapping. "I don't know, it seems kind of random."
"You can send it to one of your girls with a note saying 'I'll be your sacred swordsman', or something!"
"Too corny!"
"Well, I don't know any of the girls you like, so I don't really know what to suggest!" Goh said, shrugging.
Chloe raised a knowing eyebrow. "…You'd be surprised."
"Eh?"
"Nothing!" She said with an odd smile on her face.
Before they could settle on any of the chocolate bars on display, a sudden crashing noise was heard. "What was that?" Goh asked aloud.
"THIEF!" The cashier exclaimed loudly. "Someone stop it!"
Chloe and him quickly turned their heads in the direction the noise came from. They then spotted a small, pink creature, with several chocolates in hand… this time carrying a large hammer as well.
"Oh, lord", Chloe muttered. "It's that thing again."
Goh's face turned angry, and he took a pokéball from his pocket. "You won't stop us from expressing our love through the medium of delicious tooth-rotting candy!" Goh declared, getting the attention of the creature. "Cinderace, I choose you!"
The giant bunny pokémon stood in front of the thieving Tinkaton. "Cinder!" It shouted at its opponent.
But Tinkaton was no fool, and would not battle a pokémon it was very obviously weak to. So it kept on running and fled the store as quickly as it could.
"Darn! Let's run after it! We can't let it escape again!" Goh yelled. Cinderace nodded and followed him out.
Chloe on the other hand, chose to ignore them and continue to try and pick which chocolates would be good. "Maybe this one? It has almonds…"
"Huff, huff… man, I hope that Tinkaton slows down soon", Goh commented.
"Cin, Cin, Cin…" Cinderace intoned with each step.
"Tiiiiink!" The Hammer Pokémon yelled as it desperately tried to outpace them.
Meanwhile, Ash was still buying chocolates. "This one, and this one, and this one…" He said to himself, before noticing the commotion.
"Hey, Ash! A little help here?" Goh shouted at him.
"Hm? Oh! It's that Tinkaton!" Not wasting time, Ash took out Lucario's pokéball and threw it.
Tinkaton ground to a halt at seeing yet another pokémon it had a type disadvantage against. Today just wasn't its day. "Kaaah…"
"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!"
Lucario started charging up its Aura Sphere. Tinkaton, her eyes widening, darted in another direction.
"It's going in the direction of the gym!" Goh noticed. "We'll corner it there!"
"Right!", Ash replied, with the pokémon making similar sounds of agreement.
Even running as fast as they could, they barely managed to avoid being outrun by the hammer-wielding pokémon yet again, and would have, if Tinkaton had not conspicuously slowed down as she arrived at the entrance of the Vermillion City Gym.
Ash, Goh and their pokémon (the ones who weren't sitting on their shoulders, that is) took a moment to catch their breath. Goh couldn't help but notice Tinkaton's suspicious behavior. "What is it doing? Shouldn't it be trying to hide?"
"Maybe it doesn't realize we're still following it", Ash suggested. "We should hide somewhere and try to catch it when it's not paying attention!"
"Good idea", Goh agreed. The group sneaked onto a nearby bush and waited.
Tinkaton placed the chocolates it stole on the ground, and then knocked on the gym's door lightly with its hammer. Then it hid inside a bush as well.
"So it didn't eat them this time. Is it trying to set a trap? But for what?" Goh questioned.
His question was swiftly answered when a Luxray stepped out from within the gym, apparently drawn there by the smell of the chocolate.
Even though the bush, Ash thought he could see Tinkaton's eyes sparkle. Before too long, it jumped out and started hugging the Luxray.
"Ray?!" The electric-type exclaimed, startled.
"Tink! Tink, tink, tink!" Tinkaton repeated, eyes now with heart-shaped pupils as it offered Luxray even more chocolates.
"Luxray!" Luxray was not happy, and immediately shook Tinkaton off. Then it went back into the gym before Tinkaton could react.
"T…Tink?" The Paldean pokémon muttered, aghast at the rejection.
"…Was it trying to give it romantic chocolates, too?"
Tinkaton's eyes watered, and soon she began crying rivers out of its eyes. "TIIIINKATOOOON! TIINKATOOOON!"
"Oh, that poor thing!" Ash whispered, moved by Tinkaton's ordeal.
Goh was not so emotional, though. "Now's my chance! Pokéball, Go!"
An Ultra Ball flew out of his hand, so swift that Ash hadn't even seen him take it out.
Tinkaton's tears blinded it to the airborne projectile, which it would usually deflect with its hammer. It went in. "Great!" Said the pokédex.
The ball wobbled, once, then twice… and then broke.
"Nooooo!" Goh shrieked. "Why did I even buy those if they still fail?"
But if Tinkaton was angry at the attempt to catch her, she did not show it. Instead, it continued to sob loudly. "Tinkatontontontontooooon…"
"Goh, it looks really heartbroken… maybe it'll be easier to catch if we calm it down", Ash suggested.
Goh nodded. Ash may not be as smart as him, but he understood the emotional aspect of pokémon way better, so he was probably right.
He started to approach the rambunctious pokémon, but before he could reach it, the door of the gym opened again.
"What is this incredibly loud racket?" A tall, blonde man asked.
"Lt. Surge?" Ash exclaimed, running up to them.
"Oh, it's you, Ash!" Surge replied. "It has been a while. And this must be Goh! Visquez told me all about you."
"Mhm", Goh mumbled in confirmation, suddenly shy due to the presence of a new person.
"I heard you two visited the gym several times while I was away. You see, I was busy training with other Electric-type trainers around the world!"
"Yeah, we heard something about that", Goh replied.
"So, does this pokémon belong to either of you?" The Gym Leader asked, pointing at the still-sobbing Tinkaton.
"Not really… it ate all of my Valentine's chocolates! We've been trying to catch it or stop it so that justice can be served!" Ash huffed.
"And it was trying to give chocolate to a Luxray earlier, if that helps", Goh pointed out. "It's called a Tinkaton!"
"Hmm… I caught that Luxray in one of my last trips. This weirdly-dressed gym leader there traded it to me in exchange for me doing a guest appearance in a livestream. And then I… wait a minute." Surge narrowed his eyes at the Tinkaton. "Now I remember this thing. It was cowering from a bunch of Sevipers when Luxray scared them off!"
"I see. So that's why it was so heartbroken… it must have hunted Luxray all the way to here to confess its love!" Goh theorized.
"Chasing someone to the ends of the earth because you're obsessed with them is a bit creepy, though, isn't it?" Ash remarked.
Tinkaton seemed to notice they were talking about her, so it quickly stopped crying and became very talkative, for whatever reason…
Tinkaton's reminiscence!
And so, there I was, minding my own business and teaching those stupid Corviknights what-for, when suddenly I was accosted by these horrible creatures!
"Ssssseviper", they told me. What a mean thing to say!
But then, who could show up but my hero, my darling Luxray?
"Lux! Luxray!" Oh, he was so brave! All he had to do was snarl at them and they ran with their tails between their… tails, I guess.
"Bah, the pokémon here are too spineless! C'mon, Luxray, we need to find somewhere with better opponents for you", the big, burly human told Luxray. I shouted "Tink! Tink-tink!" at them in gratitude, but they ignored me…
I thought that maybe it was because I hadn't done anything to make Luxray notice me, so I hatched an ingenious plan to visit him when it came time for Valentine's Day! So I hitched a ride to Kanto, then took the next bus to Vermillion, hid myself inside a truck full of chocolates, and now here I am!
But tragically, my love was unrequited, and my heart was shattered just as surely as I shatter the lives of any Corviknight I see… *sob* Oh, woe is me! How tragic is my life!
"Katoon, Katoon!" Tinkaton wailed, arching its head back and putting her hand on her forehead like an overdramatic Victorian lady in a period movie.
"What the heck is it trying to tell us?" Goh asked, squinting at the pink pokémon.
"It sounded like some kind of sob story, but I couldn't tell", Ash told him.
"Tink-" Tinkaton fell over backwards in shock.
"Why did it eat the other chocolates if it wanted to gift them to Luxray, then?" Goh questioned, with his hand on his chin.
"Maybe the trip took so long, it just had to eat them! I get like that sometimes" Ash speculated.
"Uh huh…" Goh mumbled, resisting the urge to say some sort of sardonic remark. "I know what we'll do! We'll help Tinkaton get over its grief! Then it won't try to steal chocolates anymore!"
"How are we gonna do that?" Ash inquired.
"We'll just have to give it some romantic advice!"
Ash and Goh said their goodbyes to Lt. Surge (Ash promising to have a rematch with him some time) and took Tinkaton back to the Cerise Park.
"Do you really think we're cut out to give a pokémon romantic advice? I know you've never dated anyone besides me, and the same goes for me", Ash asked Goh.
"Pikapi…" Pikachu muttered, thinking that if Ash had never dated anyone before, it definitely was not from lack of everyone else trying.
"Puh-lease! You're talking to a prodigy here", Goh boasted without actually answering Ash's question.
Goh sat Tinkaton down on a tiny hill in the park. "Now, Tinkaton, we're going to teach you how to be better at courtship! That way, even if you don't get Luxray, you can at least find someone else!"
Tinkaton gave him a dejected "Tink…" in response, but nodded.
Grookey approached her, brandishing his beloved blue bowtie from the circus and looking very proud of himself. "Grookey here will be our stand-in! Try flirting with Grookey now."
"Tiiiink!" Tink yelled excitedly and glomped Grookey with all her might.
"G…Grook!" Grookey choked out, gasping for breath.
"No!" Goh chided, tearing Tinkaton off of the Grookster. "Now, what did you do wrong there?"
Tinkaton looked confused. "You were too forceful", Goh started explaining. "You need to take things slow, in fact it's ideal if the prospective partner doesn't even know you're interested in them at first."
"Oh, I get it! Just like back when you used to pretend you didn't love me! I understand you, my scone" Ash remarked, smiling in a dorkish way.
"Er… ahem. Yes, that's exactly right." Goh stuttered, not wanting to admit it was actually because he had been in the closet during those days.
"…Tinka?"
The Hammer Pokémon still looked befuddled, so Goh encouraged it. "Go on, then! Grookey, try flirting with Tinkaton and then Tinkaton, you try rejecting him!"
"Ruki! Ruuk!" Grookey complied, pulling out a cute little flower it was hiding in his fur and offering it to Tinkaton.
Tinkaton was teary-eyed, and nearly accepted the flower without thinking. "T-Tink…" but then she remembered Goh's advice. "Tink!" She huffed and turned its head.
"That's it! Perfect!"
"Ruuuki…" Grookey looked as dejected as if it had experienced an actual rebuff of its advances.
"Now, we need to practice slowly opening up as the other pokémon continues to insist on spending time with you in spite of your coldness."
"Just like you did with me, again! I'm starting to think this might actually work!" Ash declared.
"…It better, we missed out on our date to help this thing", Goh admitted. "And I forgot to buy the chocolates. AGAIN."
"Don't sweat it, honeybun! We can have a belated Valentine's date tomorrow!"
"Is it really okay?" Goh asked shyly.
"Of course! Besides, I heard we weren't the only ones whose Valentine's Day didn't go as expected…"
It was true; he had just gone to Chloe's house to say he was sorry for how the day had gone, but she was having an argument with a very large number of girls who weren't happy that they travelled all this way just to realize she'd asked all these other girls out, too.
Chloe tried to de-escalate the situation, but she was so flustered she could only manage to give them the chocolates she'd stressed out all day over and flee into her home in embarrassment without even asking if they'd liked them. It was for the best, really… Ash heard one of the girls she had asked out say the chocolates "tasted like cringe".
"Let me guess, something happened with Chloe?"
Ash wasn't about to reveal those kinds of details to Goh – he had some sense of decorum, even if he didn't know that word – but he nodded. "She should've just asked out one girl, honestly…"
"I kind of get it, though, if I had that many people interested in me, I would have a hard time saying no, too", Goh admitted. Which is why I'm always so suspicious of your other 'friends', he thought but did not say.
"Anyway, our best dates always end up involving helping out some hapless pokémon, so it's totally fine", Ash said to his joyfriend as he gave him one of his trademark radiant smiles.
Goh got very blushy at that. "I guess that's true", he agreed.
Meanwhile, Grookey had taken the time they had spent talking to gather up several flowers to try and offer them to Tinkaton once again. This time, Tinkaton batted them out of the way with her hammer.
"RUUUKI!" Grookey shrieked in despair, frantically leaping at the bouquet in a desperate attempt to rescue it.
"You're doing great, Tinkaton! You're a born heartbreaker!" Goh encouraged.
"Hey, we're trying to teach Tinkaton how to win people's affections, not reject them…" Ash pointed out.
Goh rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I think you'd be better than me at teaching that."
"Alright!" Ash yelled excitedly, seeing Goh's answer as his cue. "Okay, Tinkaton, try giving Grookey some compliments – the kind that sound like they could be platonic but keep the admirer on their toes… like 'You look cute in that outfit!' or 'I like your eyes!'"
Tinkaton thought about it for a second. "Tinkaton, tink?" It said to the Grookster, but without putting too much effort into it.
Grookey turned away. 'Fool him once, shame on you, fool him twice, shame on me', he seemed to say with his silence.
"I feel like Grookey is taking this a little too seriously", Ash remarked.
"Well, there are plenty of other pokémon I have that can help Tinkaton with this!" Goh declared. "Inteleon, I choose you!"
Without skipping a beat, Inteleon batted his eyes at Tinkaton and whispered a calm "Intel…?" to her.
The response was swift and completely expected - Tinkaton fainted, steam coming out of her ears.
"Tinkaton, nooo!" Goh shouted. Inteleon seemed rather proud of itself despite the situation.
The next day, Ash and Goh visited an ice cream parlor for their 'belated Valentine's date'. It was Ash's suggestion.
"Mmm! It tastes almost as good as a Casteliacone!" Ash declared.
"Well, we can't exactly have round-the-world trips every day unless it's for a research endeavor", Goh mused.
"No, it's okay! Besides, your idea of asking for chocolate ice cream was very appropriate", Ash said, smiling.
"What can I say? I'm very efficient" Goh smirked with a characteristically-confident expression. "Speaking of Casteliacones, remember our first date, in Unova? We ate way too much…"
"One can never eat too much, my scone" Ash said, nodding sagely… for a given value of 'sagely'.
Meanwhile, some of Goh's pokémon were busy interacting with Tinkaton on the boys' request.
In this case, Goh thought Tinkaton could use some examples of healthy couple behavior so she didn't stalk other pokémon anymore. Cue Pinsir and Heracross.
"Heracross… Hera, Hera, Hera. Heracross." Heracross intoned in a smooth voice.
"Pinsiiiir!" Pinsir yelled, tears welling up from her eyes.
Tinkaton put her hand on her chin, unsure of what to take away from the interaction.
Goh watched the tiny hammer-wielding ingenue with interest. "I haven't even caught her yet, but she's already getting along so well with them!"
"Even if you don't catch her, at least she's not robbing people anymore", Ash considered.
"I hope Pinsir and Heracross don't mess this up", Goh thought out loud, a feeling of dread becoming evident in his face. "They have a tendency to, uh…"
Heracross' face turned around as a slow buzzing noise started to become louder and louder. "Heracross?"
An Orbeetle made its way across the air near them. It turned to look at Heracross. "Orbeetle", it said simply, winking at Heracross before it zoomed away.
"Heraaaaaa!" Heracross grew hearts on its eyes and chased after the strange arrival, while Pinsir clenched its first and ran away after him.
"Tinka!" Tinkaton exclaimed in alarm.
"…That. They have a tendency to do that", Goh said through gritted teeth.
"I know! We can just have Lucario and Cinderace fill in for them! Look", Ash suggested while throwing his pokéball on the ground.
"Lucario?" Lucario muttered, looking around.
Tinkaton looked at the fellow Steel-type with interest. She started tugging at his leg. "Tink, tink?"
Lucario narrowed his eyes as Tinkaton offered him a box of chocolates she got from Arceus-knows-where.
"HEY!" Goh scolded as he ran toward the Hammer Pokémon. "Where did you get these? Return them to wherever they were, right now!"
Tinkaton's eyes watered, but it nodded sadly, picking the chocolates back up and walking off.
"So much for not stealing anymore", Goh sighed.
"Looks like Tinkaton has a thing for the tall, dark and blue-colored types! I wonder why?" Ash pondered. "Too bad for her Lucario already has a partner in Cinderace! Though, I think he would've enjoyed the chocolates. Just a feeling I have", he noted cryptically.
"You know what, let's just… enjoy our date for now", Goh suggested in a grumpy tone that said he didn't want to think about Tinkaton for a while.
Finally, after a couple of days of Goh and Ash boosting her self-confidence, Tinkaton felt she was ready to try to confess to Luxray again.
"Tink, Tink!" She declared to the boys while dressed in a full-on wedding gown that, just like everything else she produced from thin air, they had no clue where it had come from (hopefully not from someone else's belongings…)
"Uh. I think that might scare him off, Tinkaton. Maybe try wearing your usual attire, instead?" Goh suggested. Tinkaton sighed, but agreed.
"The moment of truth is finally here!" Ash declared. "Let's go to the Vermillion Gym!"
All the Pokémon in the park wished Tinkaton good luck, especially couples such as Pikachu and Raichu, Lucario and Cinderace and Pinsir and Heracross (now having patched up their relationship yet again).
"Pikachu! Pikapika!" Pikachu shouted at her.
"Cinder Cin!" Cinderace shouted as well.
(Those translate roughly to "Tinkaton! You can do it!" and "Go get him!", if you're wondering.)
"Tinka…" Tinkaton whispered, feeling moved.
She followed Goh, Ash and their shoulder pokémon out of the park, and headed for the gym. This time, she wasn't alone, and she had a plan… well, at least a plan better than "appear suddenly at your crush's house and shove stolen goods in their face."
As they arrived there, though, Tinkaton became unsure once again. She looked toward Goh for guidance. "Tink…?"
"Just be brave! I promise, everything will be alright", he told her.
Tinkaton nodded. She banged on the gym's door ever so slightly with her giant hammer.
Lt. Surge opened the door. "What's this- oh, it's that pokémon from Paldea again. And you boys!"
"Sorry for bothering you again, Mr. Surge, sir", Goh said, bowing slightly. "I've been trying to help Tinkaton all this time with her… romantic problems. Could you send out your Luxray again?"
Surge considered the request. "I'm a bit disappointed that neither of you came here for a battle, but why not? I like to consider myself a good samaritan."
"Hurray!" Ash cheered.
"Come out, Luxray!" He commanded as he flung a pokéball to the ground.
The blue lynx pokémon looked at Tinkaton warily, half-expecting her to glomp him again.
"Tink… Tinkaton", Tinkaton muttered, putting its index fingers together. "Tink, Tink Tink. Tinka, Tink! Tinkaton Tink. Tinkaton Tinka!"
"Luxray…?"
Tinkaton smiled, and it was obvious she was resisting the urge to hug her one-time savior once again. "Tinka, Tink Tink. Tinkatink, Tinkaton. Tink…"
Luxray gave her no response.
Tinkaton put her hand on her chest and continued her impassioned speech. "T-Tink… Tinkaton Tink Tinka! Tinkaton?" She extended her hand to him, expecting Luxray to take it.
Luxray stared at her stoically…
…Then he turned his head, and huffed. "Lux!" He said in a negatory tone.
Tinkaton's eyes became as wide as saucers. "T-T-Tink… T-T-Tink…"
"That didn't sound good", Ash remarked, concerned for what might happen next.
"Oh no, did he reject her again?" Goh wondered, likewise worried.
"T-T-Tink", Tinkaton repeated, unable to process the fact that she had gone all this way, tried so hard to learn how to interact with her crush properly, only to be rejected once more. "T-T-Tink…"
"She looks shell-shocked", Surge mused. "I've seen that look before… in the war", he said dramatically, gaining a rather distant look on his face himself.
Tinkaton's mouth wavered, her expression looking torn between wanting to cry and wanting to scream. "T-T-Tink… Tinka?!"
But finally, she decided. If her crush didn't want her…
"TINKATOOOOON!"
Then HE would be the one to get crushed!
"Tinkaton, don't! It's going to be okay!" Goh stammered, but Tinkaton couldn't hear him.
"Luxray?" Lt. Surge's Luxray stared in fear as Tinkaton brandished her giant hammer with a fury that would make a Gyarados proud.
"Now THIS is what I'm talking about! A proper battle!" Surge shouted out, breaking out of his reminiscing. "Luxray, dodge and hit it with Wild Charge!"
"Wait!" Ash yelled desperately. "If you dodge, it's going to hit the-"
"TINKATON TINKA!" Tinkaton screamed with bloodlust in his eyes and rage in its heart.
The battle cry would sound like gibberish to a human, but if one were able to speak pokémon, you would have heard it say "Gigaton Hammer".
"…The gym", Ash concluded after the inevitable occurred.
Goh was aghast at the amount of properly damage that had just happened in the blink of an eye. "I-I'm so sorry!" He pleaded to Lt. Surge. "It's my fault this happened… if I hadn't insisted… I-I can pay for the repairs, my family is rich!"
Surge, for his part, stared at his destroyed gym with a dejected expression. "It's like the Battle of Cinnabar Island all over again", he commented. Ash nodded like he understood (he didn't).
Tinkaton quietly snuck off while he assessed the damage, ashamed of itself now that the anger had passed. Without even thinking, she found herself back at the Cerise Laboratory. The door was open, so she entered. Maybe she could wait for the boys in the park and apologize for causing so much trouble.
"Oh… it's that pink pokémon Goh was hanging out with", said an equally-pink girl that Tinkaton remembered seeing before. Though she looked a bit different now, for some reason that Tinkaton couldn't place.
Maybe it was the outfit – Tinkaton distinctly remember her wearing far less black and not having any eyeshadow. "Guess the whole love confession thing didn't work out, huh?" She asked her.
Tinkaton nodded, and the pink-haired girl continued. "I've been there. You shouldn't waste time with that stuff. All being in love does is bring us pain and agony. And it's just a bunch of chemicals in your brain making you act stupid, so who cares?"
The Hammer Pokémon sweatdropped. It politely nodded at the girl and ran off. She was clearly going through some kind of emotional turmoil and Tinkaton already had quite enough of that herself right now.
Behind Tinkaton, two familiar boys walked into the Cerise Institute as well. "Chloe! Have you seen-"
Goh paused. "What in the world are you wearing?" He asked her. "The pastel goth look really isn't you…"
"My old self was too weak and naïve to deal with the bitter truths of this world", Chloe declared dramatically. "The only way to survive in the darkness of reality is to become one with its shadows."
Goh cringed. "I distinctly remember writing something very similar when I was seven…"
"I think you look good, Chloe! I like changing up my look every so often, too", Ash remarked enthusiastically.
"This is not a look!" Chloe insisted. "It's a declaration of intent! An announcement to the world that I refuse to be taken in by its sweet lies and promises of future happiness!"
"ANYWAY", Goh coughed. "Did you see Tinkaton run through here?"
"Yes, I did", Chloe replied. "I shared with her some harsh lessons about reality and then she went into the park. Now she understands how fruitless the pursuit of love is."
Goh sighed. "She'll get over it, I'm sure. Just like you will, too. You can't get disillusioned just because of one failure!"
"You haven't gotten rejected by six separate girls in a row! Don't pretend to understand my pain!" Chloe shouted at him.
Goh stared at her. "S-Six in a row…? That's kind of impressive- I mean, sad! Really sad, and I'm totally here for you if you need me!" He stammered out.
"Same here!" Ash said in turn.
Chloe nodded, her expression unchanging. "I don't really feel like hanging out with you two lovebirds right now… but it's appreciated." She admitted.
Goh smiled, knowing that Chloe would realize how silly she was being eventually and drop this whole façade. He said his goodbyes to her and ran to the park, where Tinkaton hopefully still was.
"I better not find Tinkaton covering herself in black paint or something", he half-joked.
"Hey, Tinkaton. You doing okay?"
"Tiiinkaa…" The Hammer Pokémon sighed.
Ash and Goh exchanged a look. "Looks like she's still down in the dumps", Ash noted.
Goh gave the little pink pokémon an empathetic expression. "Don't get like that! There are still plenty of other water-types in the sea!"
Tinkaton tilted her head in confusion at the statement, so Goh continued. "It means that you'll always have other chances to find love! That's what the training was for too, yeah? If it doesn't work out with one person, you look for someone else!"
"And if things aren't working out, you can always rely on your friends to be there for you, too!" Ash declared happily. "Valentine's Day is about celebrating your buddies, too!"
Tinkaton considered what was being said for a moment… then it nodded. "Tink, tink! Tink!"
"That's the spirit!" Goh replied (though inwardly, he admitted he didn't know exactly what was being said).
Then, Tinkaton started to fidget in place, and took out a pokéball - presumably from whatever pocket dimension she kept in her hammer in as well – and handed it to Goh.
"Ooo", Ash cooed. "I think that's her saying she wants you to catch her now!"
Goh looked at the pokéball with suspicion. "You know, I can't help but notice that my pockets feel slightly lighter all of a sudden… but I'll let it slide just this once." He picked up the pokéball and touched Tinkaton's forehead with it.
Tinkaton went in! The ball wobbled a few times, merely as a formality, and then it locked into place. "Nice!" The pokédex shouted.
"Alright!" Goh yelled. "I got a Tinkaton!"
Almost immediately, Tinkaton came out of her pokéball and started running around the park, handing out berries to every pokémon she came across. "Tink, tinka!"
"Looks like she took your advice about celebrating friends", Ash commented, noticing how Tinkaton gave the most gifts to the pokémon that had helped her through the last few days.
"Yeah! Though I really hope she just picked up those berries off the floor somewhere", Goh remarked, cringing slightly, but still somewhat proud.
Ash smiled like a dork at him, in return. Goh added, "You know, you were the one who taught me that."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I definitely didn't appreciate my friends before I met you! But you're always so gung-ho about how important friends are that it's kind of infectious", Goh explained, chuckling slightly.
"Hehehe", Ash smirked. "People do say I have that effect. Although, I like to think we're more than friends now. We're…"
"For the love of Arceus, please do NOT say 'best bu'-"
"…Boyfriends?" Ash offered.
Goh grinned. "Yep. We're the best boyfriends." He extended his fist outward to Ash, and like always, Ash returned the gesture.
The two lads continued to watch as Tinkaton acclimated to the park and played with her new friends.
Perhaps one day she would find the love she sought, but not everyone can chance into meeting a random boy on a Lugia, after all. But then, Goh does have plenty of blue-hued pokémon she can try with luck with!
And so, Ash and Goh's adventures continue… if I say they'll continue, then continue they shall.
A.N. And that's the end!
I think y'all probably get the reference I'm going for with Tinkaton liking blue pokémon ;) But in case you don't, just look up a certain female Sonic character…
Also, I feel super bad whenever I include Chloe in these because she NEVER gets any luck :'( I even went as far as rewriting one of my fics last minute to put her in a happy relationship because I never, ever do that… but I swear it's not like I hate or anything!
I just find it funny XD Chloe's love life is not unlike the rest of her life, where she has too many options and can never choose
Anyhoo, thank you for reading. I hope you liked it and I'm sorry for my utter lack of activity these days… Until next time, whenever that may be S2