A.N. You know that one headcanon people have about Goh? No, not that headcanon, the other headcanon. The one about his thin little leggies. Yeah…

This took too many years for me to write! Glad it's finally finished, I just hope it's good :')

Chloe checked her watch. It was already 6:30 PM. Goh and Ash were thirty minutes late.

"They said they'd get back to the lab at 6! I wonder if anything bad happened…" Chloe said to herself, putting her hand on her chin pensively.

"I'm sure Goh just got carried away trying to catch another pokémon and dragged Ash along for the ride", Professor Cerise chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe…" Chloe replied, uncertain.

They sat together on a couch and waited for a few more minutes. Eventually, they heard a bizarre commotion coming from outside.

"Oh, that must be them!" Chloe ran toward the door of the Cerise Laboratory and waited to greet the boys.

The door opened very slightly for a second, then closed again. Then opened again, then closed again. This continued for a while.

Chloe got closer to try to listen to what the heck the two boys were up to.

"Goh, we have to give Professor Cerise our research data!"

"YOU do it!"

"No, we do it together! Like always!"

"Do we have to? We can always wait for tomorrow… or a week… or a month…"

"Come ooooon, Goh! It's not that big a deal!"

"IT IS FOR ME, OKAY?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO MORONS ARGUING ABOUT?" Chloe shouted at them, fed up.

"Eep!" Startled, the boys crashed through the opened door. Seemed like Goh had been trying to pull Ash's hand away from the door handle, or something.

Looking at the two of them slumped together on the floor, Chloe noticed what seemed to be the problem when she glanced at Goh's legs. They seemed to have broken down, somehow.

Chloe silently prayed Goh had had the courage to tell Ash about his prosthetic legs beforehand, just to save the embarrassment of having to explain to his boyfriend why his legs were suddenly smoking and heating up.

"Why didn't you tell me you had prosthetic legs before, Goh?" Ash asked with a concerned stare. Well, then.

Professor Cerise kept his cool. "Let's take you to your room and we'll see about getting those legs of yours fixed, okay Goh?"

"Okay…" Goh replied mutely. It was clear from looking at his face that he didn't really want anyone to help him, but knew he had no choice.

Chloe took Goh's left arm and together with Ash, they carried Goh to their shared dorm.

At night, neither Goh nor Ash were able to sleep. Goh distracted himself by throwing a pokeball at the ceiling and catching it, over and over again.

"Rookey!" Little Grookey clapped and cheered every time Goh caught it. That was part of why they couldn't sleep.

"That's getting a little annoying…" Ash grumbled from the lower bunk.

"Rookey?" Grookey exclaimed quizzically. It looked disappointed for a second, but quickly perked back up and batted the pokéball away with its stick.

"Darn it!" Goh shouted irritably.

"Rookey, rookey!" Grookey did a little happy dance, pleased it had (in its mind) solved the problem.

"Thanks, Grookey!" Ash said, pleased with the results.

"I swear…"

Goh lifted himself and tried to move toward the ladder to grab more pokéballs from his bag, then paused. "Oh, right." He said in a monotone voice. "No legs."

"You didn't answer my question from before." Ash commented.

"What question?"

"Why didn't you tell me your legs were prosthetics?"

"Oh… did you ask me that?"

"Yeah!"

"Ah… I guess I was too busy feeling mortified to hear it. I'm sorry." Goh explained.

Silence.

"Well?" Ash asked.

"Well… what?"

"Well, are you going to answer my question?"

"Geez, you're relentless!"

"And isn't that what you like about me?" Ask teased.

Goh sighed.

More silence.

"I just…" Goh tried to say. "I think you should ask my parents about that."

"Hmmm" Ash hummed nervously. "Is it that bad?"

"You have your traumas, I have mine", Goh replied.

"I mean, I think your robot legs are awesome! You're like a cyborg!"

Goh gave him a pained laugh. "Always finding the bright side in everything, huh?"

"I just want you to know that I think they make you cool, Goh. If it helps."

"…It does. Thank you." Goh went silent again.

They stayed like this for a few minutes, neither them nor their pokémon saying anything.

Goh eventually got sick of staring at the ceiling without sleeping and asked Ash a question.

"Hey, Ash… do you ever feel… embarrassed about yourself? Your looks, your personality, anything?"

Ash thought about it for some time. With a serious look in his face, he replied. "Back when I was younger, like way younger, yeah… everyone I knew teased me for being 'slow' and thought I'd never make it as a successful trainer. I spent a lot time being really insecure about myself and trying to prove everyone wrong."

Ash's face then changed into a happy expression. "But then, I found some friends who liked me and believed in me! As long as I have my friends in my heart, I can do anything! Doesn't matter what other people think, because I know my friends and my family respect me and love me, and that's enough for me!"

Goh grinned at that. "Heh… who knows, maybe one day, that'll be me."

"I hope so, Goh!" Ash replied with a loving tone.

"…Good night, Ash." Goh said, his head feeling a little clearer now.

"Good night, Goh. Sweet dreams!"

Ash and Goh closed their eyes and started counting Mareeps until they fell asleep.

Goh's night was dull and uneventful, which was at least better than having nightmares like he thought he would have.

'Maybe Ash's presence was making me feel more at ease', Goh thought as he climbed down the ladder of their bunk bed.

"Speaking of Ash, where is he?" He pondered aloud. Ash wasn't in bed at the moment. Had he gone out?

Goh rummaged through his pokéball bag and grabbed Cinderace's ball. "Cinderace, come out!"

A confident-looking red bunny pokémon appeared in front of Goh, and with a cheerful "Cin, cin!" He picked Goh up from the floor.

"This is so embarrassing", Goh said, cringing.

Cinderace took Goh to the kitchen and sat him on a table. Mr. Mime brought him his food and attempted to feed Goh… using an imaginary spoon. It worked poorly.

"I am more than capable of feeding myself, thank you very much!" Goh huffed while crossing his arms.

"Mime mime!" Mr. Mime replied in a tone that sounded like it was saying "you're the boss" (but then again, Goh is no expert).

It was then that Goh noticed another plate, still half-full, on the table. Ash's Lucario was glaring at it intently while holding a Bug-type-swatter. "Is that… Ash's plate?"

"Luca!"

"He never leaves food on the plate, geez! I guess he was really in a hurry." Goh crossed his arms again and looked upward in thought. 'Is he visiting my parents like I suggested? Must be. He was really insistent on wanting to know what happened, and I can think of few things that would worry him enough to not finish a meal over.'

Goh decided he wasn't going to think about it. Ash would return soon.

And, like clockwork, Ash slammed open the doors of the research center and shouted "Hiiii!" Goh noticed he was covered head-to-toe in Go-Go Systems™ merchandise. 'I guess that answers that question', he thought with an exasperated sigh.

He proceeded to race in the direction of the kitchen and immediately gobbled up the remaining food he'd left. "Mmmm! Well worth the wait!" Ash said, rubbing his belly.

"Uhhh…" Goh sweatdropped. "Are you sure that was a good idea? It looked like it had been left there for a while…"

"Oh, it's fine! I left Lucario here standing guard in case any pokémon tried to steal my food!" Ash explained with a pleased look on his face.

"I see you went to talk to my parents." Goh said diplomatically.

"They're so nice! They gave me this cool hat, and jacket, and this foam finger that says 'Go-Go'! I like it because it reminds me of you!" Ash exclaimed.

"Of course it does", Goh commented with an awkward smile, used to Ash's unending devotion to him.

"They told me 'anything for our future son-in-law'!" Ash explained.

"…Of course they did", Goh said, his smile changing into a cringing expression.

Ash rubbed his nose. "Umm… they also gave me this…" He said as he pulled out a dusty newspaper with the headline 'Son Of The Motion Family Wounded In Tragic Car Accident'.

Goh cringed and averted his eyes. "Yup, that's me…"

"I'm so sorry…"

"I've heard it all a million times, it's fine."

"Is it really?"

"…I don't know."

Ash put the newspaper back. "Anyway, Professor Cerise wanted me and Chloe to go to Alola today, but I insisted you come as well!"

"WHAT?" Goh shouted. "You're crazy! My prosthetics haven't come back from repairs yet! I can't go out like this!"

"That's why I've made some preparations to ensure you can!" Ash replied.

"What… What do you mean?" Goh asked with dread.

"Mime, mime!" Mr. Mime looked at Goh and with a neutral expression, began to mime a vaguely chair-like shape.

And then wheels.

"Oh my god." Goh mumbled to himself.

"Oh my god", Chloe mumbled, dumbstruck. "Why – WHY are you wearing a bag over your head?"

"I have to!" Goh insisted with desperation. "No one can know it's me under here!"

"Yeah, the bag was his idea…" Ash explained sheepishly.

Pikachu looked at the bag with a strange look in its eyes, perhaps thinking of a certain someone else it knew who wore a bag to hide its appearance.

"Where did you even get a wheelchair from?" Chloe continued to ask.

"I talked to my mom, she has a friend whose son is a paraplegian too-"

"Paraplegic."

"Yeah, what I said. Anyway, they were okay with us borrowing this wheelchair from when they were your age, as long as we make sure not to damage it!"

"I feel that's doomed to failure if it's you two using it, but alright", Chloe said. "Still don't see why Goh has to cosplay as the Bombastic Bag-Man over here…"

"It's too embarrassing, alright? That should be reason enough!"

"Goh, there are plenty of trainers out there who use wheelchairs!" Ash stated. "There are kids out there younger than you who go around everywhere like this! What are you so afraid of?"

"You tell him, Ash!" Chloe concurred.

"Pika, pikapi!"

"You guys aren't being understanding, here", Goh replied with clear frustration. "You don't know what it's like to live your life being constantly judged for pretty much everything you do. It's always 'You're too feminine' this, or 'You're too dark-skinned' that, or 'why do you like Mew so much, Goh, you're so WEIRD!" Goh shouted, saying the last line in a mocking tone. Ash and Chloe didn't reply.

He breathed in and continued. "And if people find out I'm paraplegic on top of everything else, all the effort I've made to fit in over the years will just go down the drain, and I don't want that!"

"But that's nothing to be ashamed of-" Chloe and Ash insisted.

"Shush!"

"But-"

"Shush!"

"Bu-"

"Sssh! The bag stays." Goh replied with finality.

Goh's friends sighed in unison. "Alright, Goh. If that's what you want." Ash motioned for them to proceed with their quest. Cinderace positioned himself behind Goh and started moving the wheelchair around. Grookey was resting on Goh's lap.

"Can I really do research like this…?" Goh wondered aloud.

"It should be fine! We're only here to investigate rumors of a Heatran breeding ground. No difficult leg… work…" Ash was going to say 'involved' but flinched as he realized what specific phrasing he'd just used.

Goh glanced at him, unimpressed. Ash coughed. "Anyway, it should be alright! We're just gonna take some pictures and maybe catch some more pokémon."

"Heatran, huh?" Goh turned on his Rotom phone. "I think I remember it…"

"Heatran: the Lava Dome Pokémon. Heatran lives in volcanic caves, and uses its cross-shaped claws to maneuver across stone walls." It parroted back to him in its usual robotic voice.

"Isn't it a legendary pokémon, though? I didn't know they could breed."

"They can too breed! Me and my friends had to protect a baby Lugia and its parent once!" Ash recalled.

"I really thought they were all unique, that's so disappointing! Then again, if there's more than one, I don't have to feel bad about catching one if we do find them." Goh considered. "Weird they're hiding all the way here in Alola. It's a long way away from Sinnoh."

"Wouldn't be the first time a pokémon popped up in a region it wasn't supposed to be in", Ash stated. "They say the Heatrans are nesting inside the Wela Volcano, over there!" He pointed to some far-off mountain peak, while Pikachu mimicked the gesture.

Goh and Chloe both gulped. "I-It's still spewing out smoke… are we really supposed to venture inside of a volcano for the sake of research?"

"C'mon guys, it'll be fun!" Ash replied, shrugging.

"Fine, but we really ought to ask Professor Cerise for a raise after this one", Goh grumbled.

"Uh, he doesn't pay us…" Chloe pointed out.

"EXACTLY!"

And thus, the trio marched off into the distance, conveniently not having spotted the moving bushes behind them.

One of the 'bushes' peeked its catlike eyes from under its foliage and asked: "Guys, d'ya think…"

"…That that kid in the wheelchair is Twerp 2.0?" Another bush with uncharacteristic (for a bush, that is) lavender hair completed the implied question.

"Wobbuffet!" Said a strangely tall-looking bush.

The four bushes glanced repeatedly at one another.

"…Nah, couldn't be", The third bush, which had a strange pink appendage sticking out of itself, said at last. It appeared to be their leader. "Twerp 2.0 doesn't wear a bag over his head, does he?"

"An' he doesn't have ta use a wheelchair, dat's for sure."

"Maybe the twerp and the twerpette made a new friend?"

"Either way, they were talking about catching a Heatran! We have to follow them so we can steal one for the boss!" The purple-haired (?) bush insisted.

"Steal from a crippled kid? Brrr! That's too black-hearted even for us! And I've stolen candies from actual babies, mind you!" Replied the lavender-haired bush.

"Maybe we don't havta do anything. Maybe it's one of those episodes where we just have a cameo appearance, or somethin' like dat."

"Wobbuffet!"

"Well, uh… technically, if we just stop him from catching it first, it won't be stealing! So there!"

"Now dat's more like it!" The catlike bush said in response, rubbing its paws together.

"Then let's go! For the glory of Team Rocket!" With that said, the four 'bushes' started running in the same direction our heroes had gone, while doing their best to keep their presence unknown to them.

Because they were actually Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet, from Team Rocket.

But you already figured that out a long time ago, of course.

"And would you please stop saying Wobbuffet, Wobbuffet? You'll ruin our disguise!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Remember when we went to Sinnoh and saved that Heatran, Goh? I'm surprised you didn't take the chance to catch it then."

"I doubt it would have let me", Goh observed.

"You guys went to Sinnoh and didn't invite me?" Chloe asked them, looking let-down.

"I wasn't aware you wanted to go! You never want to leave Vermillion, usually!"

"Yeah, but…" The explanation died in Chloe's mouth. If she told them she just wanted an excuse to see Dawn again, she'd probably look weird and pushy, she thought.

"I didn't want to leave either, but you guys talked me into it", Goh groused. "I guess that must be how you normally feel when we drag you along."

Ash gave him a concerned frown. "You worry too much, Goh. No one will recognize you like this."

Goh sighed. "You don't know that…"

"It'll be fine! Think of it as exposure therapy!"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "How do you know what exposure therapy is, Ash?"

Ash looked sheepish as he replied. "I do go to a therapist every, uh..." He started counting with his fingers. "Two months!"

Chloe and Goh looked at him with curiosity, but did not pry. "I guess everyone has something they struggle with." The pink-haired girl considered.

"For what it's worth, I think you're a pretty good therapist yourself, Ash." Goh told him, looking at his boyfriend with gratitude.

Ash rubbed his nose. "What are you talking about? You're the great therapist here! Remember how you acted when I was freaking out over my loss to Bea?"

"You're too humble sometimes, you know that?"

Chloe coughed politely. "Ahem. Guys, let's keep our attention on our goal for now."

"Oh! Sorry, Chloe."

Goh crossed his arms and grumbled to himself. "She was the one dreaming about her coordinator crush just a few minutes ago…"

Then, he looked downward to where Grookey was and noticed the grass-type baby pokémon was snoring softly. "Huh, Grookey fell asleep!"

"He must have thought your wheelchair was a crib or something, because of how much Cinderace is rocking it back and forth!" Ash joked.

"Cinder…" The tall bunny stopped and looked sheepish.

"Ah, it's no problem, Cinderace." Goh told his first pokémon. "I know you're just too full of energy."

"…Grookey?" Grookey opened its eyes and looked at Goh with a stare that seemed to say 'Why did the rollercoaster stop?'

"You like being on my wheelchair, eh, little guy?" Goh remarked, rubbing Grookey's head affectionately. "I guess it does have some uses, after all."

The rest of the group looked at the endearing scene with relieved smiles. It seemed Goh was finally beginning to accept himself, just a little bit.

Their reverie was interrupted, however, by the sounds of several pokémon leaping through the streets. Goh's eyes darted around with excitement. "What are those?"

"I think those are-" Chloe started saying.

"Is that a Luxray? I don't have one yet! CINDERACE, FULL SPEED!" Goh shouted over Chloe's words.

"Cinder, Cin!"

"…A Luxray, yes." Chloe finished her sentence while her brow furrowed in irritation. Goh was not close enough to hear it by that point. "Ash, let's follow after him to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

What followed was a comical scene where Goh kept hurling various kinds of pokéballs at the jumping felines while Cinderace did its best to keep the chair level.

"Faster, Cinderace!" Goh shouted.

"CinderAAAAACE!" The bunny yelled at the top of its lungs as though it could somehow make itself go faster just by shouting hard enough.

Meanwhile, Goh repeated "Poké Ball, go! Great Ball, go! Ultra Ball, go!", not necessarily in that order, as Ash and Chloe struggled to keep up. Finally, Cinderace and Goh tripped on some rocks inconveniently placed on the road, and the sudden impact changed the angle of Goh's throw just enough to hit one of the Luxrays squarely in the head.

"Ouch! Did I catch it?" Goh mumbled. The accident had ended up throwing him off the wheelchair, but he was okay.

Ash stared at the pokéball with anticipation, until eventually it stopped moving and clamped shut. "Looks like you did!" He cheered.

"YEAH! Awesome!" Goh crawled in the direction of the pokéball with some effort. "And it's a Great Ball, so it's even color-coordinated!"

"Luxray's data will be added to the pokédex", the Rotom phone's robotic voice intoned.

"Congratulations, Goh!" Goh's two comrades said, clapping in celebration.

"You should be more careful with where you're going, though! You could get seriously hurt!" Chloe told him.

"Yeah… I can't believe I just flew right off of it… hey! Where's my bag?"

The trio of research fellows panicked and immediately began to look all over. "W-Was it carried away by the wind?" Ash pondered.

"No, there's no way! I need that bag! If someone sees me like this-"

"Excuse me, sonny?"

Goh froze. Looking in the direction of the sudden voice, he noticed it came from a tall Gentleman (as in, the trainer class), and he was holding a bag – his bag. Oh, no…

"You were talking about needing this bag, correct? Seems the wind blew it my way. Here, have it back!" Goh mutely took the bag from the old man's hands.

"T-Thank you…" He mumbled.

"Oh, it's no problem at all, m'boy! Someone in your condition, life must be pretty hard already."

"Wh-" Goh looked back at his legs. Then he realized the stranger must have seen him being thrown off the wheelchair and crawling with his hands on the ground just to get to his pokéball. It must have been an utterly pathetic sight.

"I couldn't even imagine living like that, you know… not being able to jog every morning, having to look up at everyone that tries to talk to me… I feel sorry for you."

Goh flinched. Ash and Chloe did likewise, but for different reasons. None of them knew what to say to Goh to help him in this situation.

"Anyway, I hope you have a nice day. I dunno what you're gonna use that bag for, but it musta been pretty important, considering how scared you were back there." And with that, the gentleman walked calmly out of their sight.

Goh was shaking. He looked at the paper bag on his hands. Finally, he whispered "Yeah… yeah, it's pretty important", and placed it back over his head.

"You know, it's funny. For a second there… I almost considered keeping on going without it." He stated to Ash and Chloe, who looked at him with somber expressions, but didn't reply.

"Let's just… finish this assignment and go back home, yeah?" Goh asked them. He sounded normal, but they both realized Goh was pleading with them to take him back home as fast as possible.

Cinderace picked Goh back up and placed him back on his wheelchair, and the trio continued walking in the direction of the mountain, occasionally taking glances at Goh to see how he was feeling, though that proved difficult when they couldn't see his face.

Goh remained silent for most of the trip, lost in his own thoughts.

Seems like every day of my life is worse than the last, he grumbled inwardly.

No… no, that couldn't be true, he reminded himself. Ash was here. Cinderace and Grookey were here, with him. They weren't here before. His life had gotten better, so why couldn't he believe it?

Maybe it was just too hard to believe at this point. He could talk a big game sometimes, but his childhood experiences left Goh a very insecure boy.

He snapped out of his quiet state once they came to a river. "Looks like it's too deep for your wheelchair, Goh…" Ash remarked after putting his hand in the water.

Goh crossed his arms in response. "Well, this is just great! What the heck am I supposed to do now?"

A few steps behind, the 'bushes' spoke up again in hushed whispers. "So it was the other twerp, after all! We were fighting a disabled kid this entire time?" Said James.

"I coulda sworn he had legs…" Meowth observed.

"Wobbuffet!"

"Huh?" Goh turned his head in the direction of Wobbuffet's cry.

"Eep", the Team Rocket gang mumbled, before quickly hiding inside their disguises.

"Something wrong, Goh?" Chloe asked.

"I thought I heard…" Goh squinted at the group of bushes that had suddenly appeared nearby. Team Rocket stood stock-still and waited for his expression to change.

And since Team Rocket's disguises never fail, he eventually did dismiss it as just his imagination, and went back to looking at the river blocking their path despondently.

"Phew! I thought we were goners for a second dere!" Meowth stated, sighing in relief and wiping his brow.

The trio quickly retreated to a little farther away so the the kids wouldn't notice them as easily. Jessie narrowed her eyes at Wobbuffet. "What did I tell you about giving away our position?!"

"W-Wobbuffet…"

"I won't hear any excuses!" She then smacked Wobbuffet upside the head, causing it to wobble back and forth comically, true to its name.

"Do you think we should help him?" James asked. "We could put on some elaborate outfits to hide our identities, get twerp 2.0 past that small river… that'd be the nice thing to do."

"No, it's a better idea to run ahead of them instead! We might find the pokémon they're hunting first!" Jessie declared.

"Jessie, you're so evil, I love it."

With that, they surreptitiously waited for the three researcher kids to stop paying attention and snuck past them all.

Back to Goh and the gang, Ash and Cinderace were trying to lift up the wheelchair, with a lot of difficulty. "Mmph! This thing is heavy!" Ash said, grunting.

"Careful with that, guys!" Goh admonished. "If you don't hold it right, you might-"

"Might what, Goh?" Ash asked, momentarily forgetting to hold the chair.

"HEEEEEY!" Goh screamed as he fell back onto the floor for the second time that day.

"Bus bus!" "ROOKEEEY!" "Oh no! Goh, are you okay?" Several voices shouted out in unison.

Chloe buried her face in her hands. "Unbelievable…"

"Hey, it's not like it's easy to focus on talking and doing something else at the same time!" Ash told her, attempting to justify himself.

Grunting in pain, Goh quietly put the paper bag back over his head and suggested "Maybe I could just swim over it…"

"Without legs?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever! Who needs legs anyway? Not me, that's for sure!" Goh insisted, in that particular voice of his that always seemed to say 'I'm lying to myself so I can feel better'.

Ash seemed uncertain whether to indulge his joyfriend's attempt to prove himself or keep him from possibly drowning… fortunately, though he ended up not having to decide at all.

"Ash? What are you doing here? And… how come Goh doesn't have any legs?" Said a familiar voice.

They turned around. Kiawe was there.

"Uh… Goh? Who do you mean? I don't see any Gohs here!" Goh nervously claimed.

"Y-Yeah! This is actually…" Ash paused for a while, trying to think. "…Our new friend, Doh!"

"Doh?" Chloe repeated.

"Doh? Goh asked as well.

"Doh, huh?" Kiawe repeated as he eyed Goh suspiciously, making the latter sweat a little. "Well, it looks like Doh needs some help with his wheelchair, so why I don't give you guys a hand? I'm plenty strong, you know!" Kiawe offered.

Goh pouted… but eventually nodded. "Ash's strength doesn't appear to be with him today, so I guess you'll have to do. Just help me pass this river, yeah?"

"Alright."

It was a brief trek – though no less harrowing for Goh. He remained silent, as if too overwhelmed by the vexing situation he found himself in.

As soon as he gets back home, he'll stay indoors until his new legs arrive, and then he'll never think about this day again, he tells himself. Why did he let Ash talk him into this?

"Here you go", Kiawe said while letting him down on the other side of the river. Goh, to his credit, managed to let out a short, strangled 'thank you'.

Kiawe looked at him like he wanted to ask something, but he seemed to change his mind. There was that stupid look of pity again! He wasn't someone to be pitied! Goh hated this.

"Anytime you need my help with anything while you're in Alola, don't be afraid to call, okay, Ash? You should have told us you were around!"

"Well, I would've, but I, um." Ash stammered and started gesturing wildly. "It's a complex situation! Top secret stuff."

"Yeah, it's, uh, research fellow business!" Chloe piped in. "Could be dangerous if other people found out."

"I see. Well, I should be going, anyway. I have a lot of deliveries to make today, not to mention training!" Kiawe informed them.

"Alright, then. Goodbye, old buddy!" Ash told him jovially, waving goodbye as Kiawe left.

Chloe sweatdropped. "Well, we weren't lying, necessarily. There are really rare pokémon, so it wouldn't be a good idea to go telling anyone we meet about where they live…"

"I guess that's true", Goh admitted. "Also, is it just me, or was Kiawe acting a lot nicer than the last time I was here?"

"I think he wanted to do something cool for you so you'd feel better", Ash speculated.

Goh stared at him. "What reason would he have to think I'd need to feel better? The whole point of wearing this stupid bag on my head is so people can't tell what I'm feeling!"

Ash frowned. "But, Goh… you're shaking."

The comment gave Goh pause. "I… I am?"

"Yeah, you are. Just look down at your hands!" Chloe remarked.

Goh complied, and when he did so, he noticed that his hands really were shaking – not to a degree that would make him worried for his health, mind you, but he still found himself unable to stop it. "I…"

"Goh, if you're not feeling okay, we can stop. The mission can wait until later, it's fine-"

"No way!" Goh protested. Quitting now would just make him feel like a failure. "I'm doing this! I'm seeing this through to the end, just like everything I do!"

Sighing, Goh continued. "But it… it would probably be a good idea for us to take a break for now. Right now, I'm clearly way too anxious to do anything like catch a legendary pokémon."

Ash and Chloe nodded. "I'll take our camping supplies out of the bag and we'll rest until you're feeling good!" Ash told him.

Goh simply nodded back, and for a brief moment wished Ash could see how grateful he was, even though his face was covered.

"How is he holding up?" Ash asked Chloe, the latter having just finished checking in on Goh inside his tent.

"As well as can be expected, for being away from home and feeling completely exposed in a way he hasn't felt in years", Chloe sighed. "I think he'll need a few hours at least before he starts recovering from the stress."

"I had no idea… I mean, I never saw Goh like this! I didn't know this would happen…" Ash stated morosely.

"When we were kids, I had to help him replace a screw on his left leg that had popped off", Chloe explained. "He couldn't look at me straight for weeks afterward. Made me promise to never tell anyone. Me and Goh have a lot of promises like that…"

"I can imagine. I just wish Goh had trusted me enough to tell me about it before. I don't know, maybe it would have made it easier."

"Maybe, but it's not really about trusting you or not. He thought you'd love him less if you knew. That you would think he was 'incomplete'. Because that's how he feels. Goh was never good at loving himself, that's why he clings to people like you, who constantly shower him with love and compliments."

"But why, though? Didn't he have anyone who could help him besides you? What about his parents, or his grandma? His schoolmates?"

"Family is busy all the time, schoolmates used to tease him about it in his previous school… and Goh just likes to bottle up his feelings in general." Chloe enumerated. "I bet his parents wish he did feel like he could confide in them, but it's too late for that now."

"But, he did let me ask them about it, at least…" Ash commented, scratching his head as he tried to understand his joyfriend's mindset.

"Yeah, it's not something he would ever do back then. That's something you made happen." Chloe observed.

"Me?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed Goh getting better because of your influence, Ash!" The pink-haired girl scoffed. "Do you think he'd have compromised his dream to have Mew as his starter if you didn't give him the push he needed?"

Ash took a few seconds to consider this. "But I'm just some guy."

Chloe gave him an exhasperated sigh. "I've been Goh's only constant companion for years. Trust me on this."

"Okay, if you say so. But right now, I'm worried about pushing him further than he can take…" Ash admitted, looking at Goh's tent with concern.

"Well, you can worry about that as much as you want when we get back, but Goh is dead set on finishing this mission. I think you should focus on supporting him as much as possible so that he can do it and come back home happy."

Ash considered the words for a moment, then nodded. "Right. I'm the one who convinced him to come, so I'm going to help him see it through!"

Moving quickly toward the entrance of Goh's tent, Ash shouted back, "Thanks, Relationship Counselor Chloe!" and then stepped inside.

Chloe sweatdropped. "R-Relationship Counselor Chloe…?"

Ash entered the tent very quietly (unusual for him, he knew) and so Goh didn't notice his presence at first.

Mostly, Goh just seemed to be looking at his stumps with frustration, while Grookey bonked away at his head, apparently convinced that if he did so enough times, whatever problem was bothering Goh would be gone. Unfortunately for Grookey, problems of the mind aren't so easy to heal as physical wounds…

"Hello, Goh? It's me", Ash whispered.

Goh turned his head to look at him. "Why are we whispering?" He whispered back.

Ash was left a little off-balance by the question. "I didn't know how you'd be when I entered here, so I guess I thought..."

"What, that I'd freak out if I heard a sudden loud noise? I'm not some fragile porcelain doll, Ash!" Goh remarked, a little too bitterly. But, shrinking at Ash's gaze, he added, "though I don't blame you if I give off that impression…"

Ash shook his head. "I get that you think you're broken, or incomplete or whatever, but I just want you to know that I haven't thought of you that way since we've met, and I still don't think so now. If anything, I think you've being very brave!"

Goh gave him a sad look, but nodded in thanks. "It's all because of you, you know. I never did any of this stuff before you came along."

"Yeah, Chloe said the same thing. But are you sure this is what you want to do, Goh? You don't have to prove anything to anyone, you know?" Ash asked, inching closer to Goh and putting his hand on his shoulder.

Goh thought about it for a bit. "Well, at first I didn't want to come here… or come anywhere, for that matter. But now, I feel like I have to do this. I don't want to live all my life thinking I have to be afraid of what random strangers think about me!" He declared, clenching his fist dramatically.

"Good for you, Goh!" Ash shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. One would have almost expected some cheerleader pom-poms to materialize in his hand.

"Now, without further ado…" Goh paused, waiting for Ash to complete the inevitable sentence.

"Let's Go!"

"So this is Wela Volcano, huh?" Chloe asked rhetorically.

"It looks a bit different from the last time I was here", Ash observed. "That big hole wasn't there before."

He was referring to a large opening on the side of the Volcano. "The Heatrans must have made it! That must be where they live!" Goh theorized.

Cinderace started moving Goh's wheelchair in the direction of the volcano's new entrance… but then, before they could get any closer, there was a rumbling.

A Heatran was leaving the volcano in a panic!

"Whoa, whoa!" Goh cried out, as Cinderace swiftly moved them out of the way. More and more Heatrans issued forth from the Volcano in the meantime.

"Is this normal?" Chloe asked Ash, since he had seen Heatrans before.

"No, they usually just stay inside their volcano… something must be going on!" Ash reasoned.

As if on cue, a few Pokéballs launched from the volcano opening, catching a few of the fleeing Heatrans. The kids immediately recognized the type of Pokéball they were.

"Team Rocket!" They shouted in unison.

The familiar Team Rocket trio exited the volcano, seeming out of breath. "Jeez, that volcano's heat is doing horrible things to my makeup!" Jessie remarked.

"At least they ran instead of making the volcano erupt like the Pokédex says they do", James replied.

"Dat thing always says a bunch of baloney, anyway!" Said Meowth.

"Wobbuffet!" No prizes for guessing who said this.

"What are you guys doing here?" Goh asked in an accusatory tone. By this point, he knew that Team Rocket could never be up to anything good.

"We were stalkin'- I mean, tailin' you twoips, so you could lead us to the Legendary Pokémon!" Meowth explained. "Way easier dan just findin' one by ourselves!"

"That's not cool! We were here on a mission!" Ash protested.

"We're on a mission, too!" Jessie protested right back. "Speaking of which… how about we use our new Heatrans to capture that Pikachu of yours?"

"No way we're gonna let you get away with this! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu leapt up into the air and shouted: "Pikaaaa…chuuuuuu!", letting out a bolt from its body that hit one of the Team Rocket pokéballs on the ground, freeing one of the Heatran.

"Not again!" James moaned.

"Rukiki", Grookey started laughing at the sight, remembering its own escape from Team Rocket's clutches.

"Good job, Ash! Now let me help, too!" Goh announced. "If you want to catch legendary pokémon, how about you let the master show you how it's done!"

In just a few seconds, Goh launched pokéballs in various directions, deftly catching the rest of the Heatrans that were around.

"Oh, yeah? What's to stop us from breaking your pokéballs, too?" Jessie asked out loud.

"Dat's right! We just hafta get one of our pokémon from the prize master…"

Pelipper, soaring overhead, dropped the aforementioned Prize Master onto the ground. Team Rocket swiftly placed Meowth on it and turned, turned, turned, until a pokéball came out.

"Let's see how you handle… whatever this is!" James shouted, throwing the pokéball on the ground.

Ash, Goh and Chloe watched with bated breath as the light from the pokéball formed into a…

"Nom, nom. Nom."

"What in Arceus' name is that?" James asked, slightly disgusted by the creature that had appeared.

Chloe lifted her Rotom phone to scan the pokémon. "Snom. Worm Pokémon. Ice/Bug type." It replied.

"Aren't both Ice and Bug weak to Fire attacks?" Chloe asked out loud, looking at Goh as if suggesting something.

"Why yes, yes they are!"

"Arceus, no", Jessie mumbled, already seeing what was about to happen.

"Pelipper!" Pelipper muttered, picking the Prize Master back up, satisfied that its job was done.

"WAIT, NO, COME BACK! WE NEED A BETTER POKÉMON!" James shouted at it, to no avail.

"My beautiful Heatran army, use Magma Storm!" Goh yelled as loud as he could.

He barely had to say anything, though. The Heatran colony was more than glad to be rid of their tormentors. They began stomping the ground repeatedly, slowly making several geysers of lava come out, one by one, until eventually, all of the Team Rocket members were flung high into the air, as usual.

"We're blasting off agaaaain!" Jessie yelled.

"We have such poor luck in these stories! I'd kill for at least one good pokémon from that stupid machine", James griped.

"I'm callin' my agent!" Meowth complained as well.

"Woooobuffet!" Wobbufet said with one final salute, before they all became a twinkle in the sky.

Goh breathed a sigh of relief. "We did it!"

"Cin!" Cinderace nodded, lifting its palm to give Goh a high five.

"Ruuukiiii…" Grookey grumbled, narrowing his eyes at Cinderace as if saying "I want a high five, too!"

A Heatran then came up to Goh and nuzzled against him, affectionately.

"Ow, ow! Not so close!" Goh said to it softly, mindful of its intense body heat.

Then, a larger Heatran appeared and gazed at the three of them. It bowed its head respectfully.

"Wait a minute… I recognize this Heatran!" Ash declared.

"Really?" Chloe inquired.

"This is the Heatran we helped in Sinnoh!" Ash said, looking at the bigger Heatran. "It must be run all the way out here to avoid getting captured by Team Galactic again! I guess it had a family, too!"

"Wow, that's one heck of a coincidence. I hope it doesn't mind me catching all of these Heatrans to protect them, haha…" Goh said nervously, looking at the giant lava spider.

But Heatran didn't seem to mind. "I'll release all but one of them, just in case", Goh announced as he started to open all the pokéballs he'd used. "After all, if they all grow that big, the park would get way too cramped if I brought them all!"

Ash yawned loudly. "Walking all the way out here sure made me tired. We should probably head back to the Cerise laboratory by now."

Goh nodded. "Right. And Cinderace – I want to try moving the wheelchair by myself this time. After what just happened, I feel like I can do anything!"

And so they did. Professor Cerise was excited at their acquisition of a Heatran, as it was always a very mysterious pokémon. He was also happy that Goh seemed to be in higher spirits than when he left.

"It must have been tough to do this mission, but I'm glad it all went okay!" He said.

"That's all well and good", Goh replied, "but about our salary…"

Professor Cerise gulped. Ash and Chloe laughed slightly in response at seeing the professor tense up like that.

Eventually, he agreed to give Goh a bonus for this particular adventure. After all, it was a very unusual one compared to their typical escapades. Goh already knew what he would buy with it, too…

A few weeks later.

"I'm here!" Goh announced as he opened the door to the lab.

"Good morning, Goh! Say, wasn't the thing you bought supposed to arrive today?" Ash asked, hurrying to meet his joyfriend.

"Well… see for yourself!" Goh told him. "Notice anything different?"

"Hmm… hmmmm… hhhmmmmmmmm…" Ash just couldn't figure it out. "It's… something about your hair! Right?"

"What? No!"

"It's the fact that he's not using a wheelchair anymore", Chloe pointed out, passing through them while drinking some juice.

"…Ohhh!" Ash nodded in understanding. "You bought a new prosthetic?"

"Yep", Goh confirmed, gesturing toward the new legs.

The first thing Ash noticed was how they looked clearly metallic, unlike the more organic-looking prosthetics he had previously. The second thing was that Goh wasn't covering them up with long socks anymore.

"Aren't you worried people will stare?" He asked him.

"Nah", Goh denied. "I think they look cool like this. Makes me look kind of like a cyborg", He said, winking at Ash.

"Heh." Ash grinned at him, proud of his buddy's decision. "Well, I'm happy for you! You're finally letting people see the real you!"

"The one you already saw from the beginning, right?" Goh asked.

Ash smiled at him softly. "Exactly. All I saw was a trainer who deserved lots and lots of love!"

The two trainers stepped closer to one another, and pulled together in an embrace. Soon, the embrace had turned into a kiss. One which was only ended by Ash's next words to Goh.

"I love you, Goh. Just as you are."

A.N. Well, that's the end! I hope you liked it!

By the way, now I can explain the title: Goh thinks of his prosthetic legs as being proverbial 'feet of clay' (an imperfection in an otherwise admirable person) that he has to hide from others lest they think less of him. Or rather, he thought of them that way. Fortunately he changed his mind!

See you next time!