The title says it all really

thewittywhy: Yeah Zenkai ain't goin anywhere. It's way too convenient a story element. Not to mention the jokes that could be made. it is brought up Once after the Namek Saga, and that is to make the last part of the Cell fight more interesting with Super Perfect Cell. And honestly, that's just such a waste.
Now, I might stop mentioning it as much later on as it becomes implicant, or SIGohan would just stop getting injured as much after a certain point

Shadowj6480: Admittedly I do take some lines from the show itself, usually modifying them to fit into the fic since some of those lines can be awkward even in context of the show. I've obviously done the same with the abridged series a couple times.
I've been thinking of Nappa here as the most practical Sayain. The common sense/tired(TM) Sayain remains to be seen. And obviously Goku is Goku, I think I've added a few of the more abridged Goku elements in, but not enough that I think would be exaggerative. And Vegeta is...Vegeta. Is there a difference between Canon Vegeta and Abridged Vegeta? uhm, probably? Abridged Veggie swears more I guess.
And issue is, there won't exactly be much time for talking in the Namek arc, and unless I change something after that at least a year would have passed before the next time Goku and SIGohan get to talk. And obviously Instant Transmission is too important to be skipped.
And it was less of an issue of SIGohan not remembering that, that's an easy thing to remember once you remember the body swap, and more of an issue of Nappa being caught of guard with it. Even a rock can hurt someone here if they're not expecting it
I've based what SIGohan knows on what I remembered before my rewatch. The base plot, fun moments, and the most memorable being the main things. Details get washed out with time

frankieu: Goku being the softest Sayain is pretty standard, though far from pratical. Thou shalt not kill even the most genocidal villain is not a great trait to have in a series of super genociders

Hikari-J: It's not so much that I had SIGohan forget for convienence, more so for consistency. I based what SIGohan remembers on what I had remembered before my rewatch, and I had barely remembered the body switch plot, and more for the stupid Bulma switch than Goku. In the heat of the moment, after just getting beat into the dirt? It's not gonna be the first thing that comes to mind

Reishin Amara: darn that would have been a good idea. I do have something planned for them though, not much, but not nothing

Things fell apart pretty quickly after I called Ginyu out.

There was the initial shock of course, and the pair of 'em were courteous enough to let Krillin process the difference.

Once the fighting started, Nappa almost eagerly took up the role of fighting Goku-Ginyu. By which I mean, laughing and almost bouncing with joy.

Ginyu-Goku showed up then with the proclamation that that wasn't him.

Once again, Krillin had a crisis over Goku actually being Ginyu, but in the opposite direction.

Vegeta showed up out of who knows where to fight Jayce. Like he was supposed to when he disappeared off Goku.

"Oh, don't you worry about me Kakarot. I'll be perfectly happy to beat you, I mean Ginyu to a pulp," Nappa smirked glancing at Ginyu-Goku through the side of his eyes.

Goku-Ginyu paused, "wait, who's Kakarot?"

"You're Kakarot," Vegeta informed.

"I thought his name was Goku."

"It is Goku," Krillin confirmed.

"No. It's not."

"Yes it is," Ginyu-Goku confirmed.

"No, it's Kakarot."

"But he just said Goku."

"I know what he said. But he-"

"So which is it, Kakarot or Goku?"

"It's Goku!/Kakarot!" Krillin and Vegeta both declared.

Man, I wish I had a snack watching this.

"No! No! No! Look. His Sayain name is Kakarot. But it was changed when he landed on Earth as a baby. So they keep calling him by his Earth name, and I am calling him by his real name!" Vegeta ranted.

"Uh, the word you're looking for is birth name. A person's real name is whatever they want to be called, so yeah, Goku," I corrected.

"Technically that's two words."

"Shut up Nappa," Vegeta and I both snapped.

Great. Now I'm agreeing with Vegeta. Kill me now.

"So… it's Goku then?"

"Yes!/no!"

"Ok, this is getting nowhere. Can we proceed?"

"Let's." Goku-Ginyu confirmed.

So Nappa was fighting Goku-Ginyu, Vegeta was fighting Jayce, Ginyu-Goku was barely managing to float, half-dead already, which left Krillin and I just kinda…there…?

I felt another presence land behind us.

"You!"

I turned to see the pink guy standing there, fuming already as he pointed at me.

"You're the reathon I'm thuck like thith! You're the reathon I loth rank! Beaten by a child they thaid! I'll thow them! I'll thow you!" His voice has a lisp and very obviously stumbled over words.

"You uh, lost some teeth there?"

"How dare you!"

"Yeah…you were kinda scary a few days ago, but one power awakening and quite the Zenkai boost later, you're really…not..? I mean, thanks to the exponential power growth of the Namek Saga, you're kinda just, irrelevant," I shrugged.

"…exponential?" Krillin questioned, kinda squinting at me.

"I…read some dictionaries in the hospital…?"

"…ok…"

Pinky had apparently had enough of our little back and forth and shot forward, aiming to strike specifically me.

I flipped back, landing before shooting forward myself, catching his face in a punch.

He shot backwards almost comedically.

My fist came away with drops of indigo blood.

I froze, but forced myself to ignore it. The was just about the last show to develop a fear of blood in, and I was not gonna start now.

Krillin ducked through some strikes of his own, but it was clear who Pinky's real target here was. I humored his attempts for a while before deciding enough was enough and kicking him in the back of the head.

He dropped like a rock, Ki plummeting until it was at a standard, unconscious level.

The other two fights had just about wrapped up as well.

Jayce was dead. Goku was Goku, and also half dead. Ginyu was a frog. blah blah blah.

I picked up frog Ginyu by the leg, "so…what do you think is worse. Dying, or being a frog?"

The general consensus, was frog.

And so Ginyu remained a frog.

I ignored Nappa as he finished off Pink Guy behind me.

"So Nappa, where exactly do you stand?" Krillin and I looked up from where we were helping Goku up when Vegeta asked that.

Nappa looked between us and Vegeta for several seconds.

"Against Frieza," was his final response.

Vegeta paused, before nodding.

"Alright, follow me," he walked up to the spaceship.

"Ah, healing pods!" Nappa grinned, following after Vegeta as he waved for us to follow too, "really, you gotta get these on Earth. You think that Blue Haired one could do it?"

"She's more mechanical than medicinal scientist from what I can tell," I muttered, as Krillin and I carried Goku forward. Krillin still staring at everything we passed with suspicion.

"Hmm, shame. Maybe she could still try? Or maybe some other scientist? I'm sure there are others on your planet who are smart."

"Why are you speaking to them as if you've already decided where you'd stand after this?" Vegeta asked.

"Anyway! We should get Kakarot to a healing chamber right away, that way whenever Frieza gets here, he'll be back in top shape. With whatever boost he'll get we might even stand a chance!" Nappa ignored Vegeta completely as he continued to speak.

I stared at the ground as we walked, doing my best to ignore the bodies littered around with abandon.

"In here," Vegeta finally said, opening a mechanical door.

"You first," Krillin muttered.

Vegeta rolled his eyes as he walked in, the lights turning on immediately.

Vegeta swiped medical supplies off the table carelessly, sending them scattering across the floor.

And a needle directly in front of Goku.

Apparently, Goku wasn't quite as half-dead as we thought considering he suddenly had the energy to, poorly, try to escape.

"Not dealing with this," Nappa grabbed Goku by the back of his Gi as he held him in place solidly where Krillin and I had been struggling.

"Would you shut up already! I'm not even giving you a needle!" Vegeta snapped as he looked back from, whatever he was doing.

"Oh. Never mind then," Goku was immediately calm.

I sighed.

One of the pods opened up.

"Ok! In you go!" Nappa placed Goku in the pod and then stepped back as it closed over him.

It then quickly began filling with, something. It obviously wasn't water, far too blue-tinted and glossy for that.

I half-listened to Vegeta's explanation as I looked around, kinda bored.

"This chamber's one of the older models so it will take a little longer to get Kakarot back up to par," Vegeta kept hammering at the buttons.

"What happened to the newer model? I know Frieza had one here."

"I kinda broke that one… but no worries, this will work just fine."

"How do you break a healing pod? Why would you break a healing pod?" Nappa seemed personally offending by the concept.

"Alright. This way," and apparently done with the pod, and the conversation, Vegeta was walking away to another room.

"Uh…ok…?" Krillin hesitantly followed. Nappa's eyes lit up as he saw where we landed.

"Ah finally! Proper armor!" He immediately headed off to one of the larger-sized drawers and pulled out some of that spandex under-outfit and a heavier duty armor.

Vegeta did the same with one of the smaller sizes, and then two even smaller sizes.

I glanced over to find a couple of those shiny new Scouters from the Ginyu Force laying on a desk. I went over and tossed them into my backpack.

"What are you doing? You can sense energy, apparently better than the lot of us," Vegeta snapped as he ruffled through the cabinet thingies.

"Sure, but they're still neat and Bulma could probably- wait, better?"

Vegeta scowled as he glared down, "how did you know that was Ginyu?"

"Uh, well his Ki felt kinda different from Dad's?" not technically a lie, though definitely helped by remembering some details from the show.

"Right, hey Baldy, you notice that?"

"No...I didn't, I wasn't looking for it at first, but even after the fact I didn't feel much difference," Krillin barely bothered to look annoyed at the way he was indicated.

Huh, well...I don't see why I would be any better than the main cast. Maybe because I've been using it more? Maybe due to how Piccolo trained me with it? Maybe since that was the easiest way to figure how Piccolo was feeling? I dunno. Whatever the case, it was weird.

My pondering was interrupted by Vegeta throwing two new outfits on the ground in front of Krillin and I, "Put these on. Now."

I scowled, "I have a spare outfit, I think I'll just change into that…" I pointed to my backpack.

"No. This armor will do you better."

"Against Frieza? I don't think it'll make much of a difference…"

"Just put the damn armor on!" Vegeta snapped.

I was about to retort when Krillin placed a hand on my shoulder, "it's only for a little while, it won't be so bad," he smiled.

I grumbled as I picked up the blue spandex.

And then glanced to the floor as the grown men began undressing.

"Oh, you can change in the hallway if you prefer Gohan, there shouldn't be anyone around," Krillin pointed out the door. I nodded, scurrying out.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Oh nothing, he just likes his privacy."

I scowled as I put on the outfit, before walking back in, double-checking to make sure the rest were dressed, picking at the sides and sleeves.

Tight pants? I didn't mind. Tight shirt? Felt claustrophobic and quite disliked.

The second I walked in a piece of armor was chucked at me with a demand to put it on.

I scowled at the stupid-looking armor.

"You will put it on or I will shove your head through it," Vegeta snapped as he started fiddling with more buttons.

I'd be willing to bet he was just trying to look busy to look impressive with the tech.

I grumbled as I figured how to put it on.

On the bright side, the armor distracted from The too-tight outfit. On the negative, it created an uncomfortable seam where the armor started, and the stupid shoulder pads, while stretchable enough to not hinder movement, they were uncomfortable and distracting when moving my arms up.

"Hey! I knew you'd look good in Sayain armor!" Nappa laughed. I looked up as I snapped off the shoulder pads. While they stretched with normal movements, a strong pull, and a bit of added Ki, snapped it off easily.

"Well, I'm sure that won't have any downsides…" Nappa muttered.

Then, Vegeta tossed some white gloves and boots in front of me.

I didn't complain as I tugged on the boots. A bit constricting maybe but nothing I couldn't deal with. However-

"Do I have to wear the gloves? What even is the point?"

"Hey if you don't want the gloves I bet I could find you some cuffs like mine!" Nappa grinned as he showed off his arm cuff thingies. I maintained eye contact as I tugged on the gloves.

I formed a ball of Ki over my hand. Well, at least they don't restrict that. I didn't really expect them to, considering that just about everyone in Frieza's army used Ki with them on, but I was concerned there might be an issue not being used to them.

"Well I think they're pretty neat," Krillin grinned as he tested the flexibility of the armor, "maybe we might even have an advantage over Frieza with these!"

"And maybe you'll get lucky and he won't shove your head up your ass the second he shows up," Vegeta muttered as he squinted at whatever he was doing.

"Rude…"

"T'aw is someone grumpy without his beauty sleep?" I asked in as mocking of a tone as I could possibly muster.

"You will show more respect, speaking to me. I am Prince-"

"Prince of what? All three Sayains?" I could almost laugh.

"I am Your Prince. And you will-"

"Oh, you are nothing to me. Nothing more than a murderous, sycophantic, arrogant fool, better than Frieza only in that you are his victim," I failed to keep an almost wild grin off my face as I spoke.

Tension rose high in the air, Vegeta so furious that he could do nothing but glare. Every twitch of his muscles promising a painful death.

"Wow. Did you rehearse that?" The tension broke with Nappa's question.

"Ookkk…" Krillin grabbed my arm and forced me back a few steps, "uh, we'll just uh, wait outside, and you can rest, in here. Where you two cannot interact anymore."

"You do that." Vegeta's voice was forced and clipped; he was very clearly forcing himself to stay in place.

"Uh, quick question, how long will it take for Goku to be healed?"

"I'm not sure, for his height and weight, I'd guess about an hour."

"Ok, we will…see you then…"

And with that, I was all but dragged out of the room. Still not jazzed on being alone with Vegeta, Nappa followed.

I ignored Krillin's confused mutterings of "sycophantic?"

Finally, outside, and thoroughly out of hearing shot of Vegeta, "ok first of all," Krillin started as he finally let go of my arm, "please, please do not antagonize Vegeta like that. Man, I have no idea how we got out of that room alive."

Krillin coughed as he recomposed himself, "second, I think it's best if I go see if either Cargo or Ocari know how to summon the dragon…and if they can't, I'm going to see Guru."

"Yeah, isn't that where you said Frieza was?" Napp glanced off into the general direction.

"I know that! But the Dragon Balls are still active right now, and they might not be later, if, anything happens…and if we can't do anything, this will all have been pointless."

"It'll be safer if you stay here, Gohan," he glanced back at the ship, "probably…please don't speak, or actually even look at Vegeta. You," he glanced at Nappa through the corner of his eye, "I don't care what you do."

"Well, I can stay and make sure Vegeta doesn't kill the kid."

"Sure, whatever."

Oh no. He's staying.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Krillin reassured, and then turned to leave.

…

"So! What should we do while we wait?"

This is going to be a long hour.

…

I ended up sitting on a rock near the edge of the island, turned so that I could still see the Dragon Balls out of the corner of my eyes.

I had taken out a sketchbook, but between nerves and the pending Frieza fight, I could hardly do more than sketch the vague outline of the distant islands. And a short, angry, gremlin with stupid spikey hair and a widow's peak.

"So whatcha doin?"

Oh yeah. Also that.

"Drawing."

"Is that like, a thing you do often?"

"Yeah."

"And you just, brought a book with you for it? To a battlefield?"

"Yeah."

"Huh…"

Silently I cursed my inability to not respond when being spoken to.

Nappa drummed his fingers against his legs for a moment.

"So, Gohan right?"

"What?" My voice came out harsher than I intended.

Nappa barely paused before continuing, "so I assume it was your father who taught you to fight?"

"Nope."

"No? Why not?"

"Mom didn't want him to."

"Ok…then who did?"

"Piccolo."

"..Ah…who I…."

"Yeah."

"Huh…well, that won't be an issue for much longer, right?"

"Ideally."

"Right right…"

…

"So, in a fight, do you-"

"Is that all you think about? Fighting?"

"Well, it's what I do. What I'm good at."

"A month and a half in a hospital could've fooled me."

I grimaced, then vindicated what I'd said to myself. Yeah sure, it was a mean thing to say, but like, Nappa. He'd done so much worse; I should not feel bad about it.

"…well I mean, fighting's what your father does too so, seems fair enough."

…

The silence lasted longer this time.

Somehow. That was worse.

"…what…what was Raditz like? You know, when he wasn't kidnapping four-year-olds or demanding the death of dozens."

Nappa perked up at me asking a question, then paused at what the question was.

"Raditz…well Raditz was a coward. He didn't like training, even skipped out on getting rid of that damn tail weakness, and didn't like any fight where he was at risk. Vegeta almost, well I'm not sure, but, well now I probably think that Vegeta would have killed him if it had gone on much longer…" Nappa paused before continuing.

"I mean, there aren't many Sayains left so, the loss of any of them is, it's a shame. I mean, there are only four of us, or five, counting you. Four and a half? I don't know."

My eyebrows shot up, "five?"

Nappa paused, then laughed, "Oh never mind that, anyway, Raditz-"

Nappa continued but my mind was already stuck. Five huh? I guess Tarble it is then. Couldn't be Broly since there's no way Nappa would know about him, plus that'd have included his father too so that number would have been six.

Well, I could have fun with that. Probably not in such high stakes though. Regardless, a new prince made his way on my sketchbook. This one, much more polite and soft looking than the previous gremlin

A brief pause where I got up to toss away Frog-Ginyu from the Dragon Balls before settling back down. Refusing to get annoyed again as Nappa mindlessly chattered.

Didn't mean I was any less relieved when Krillin finally showed up, Dende in tow.

I shot into the sky to meet them, a grin making its way to my face.

I immediately pulled Dende into a hug, "hey! You made it!" I turned to Krillin with the same grin.

"So, is Vegeta still inside?"

"Yeah, I think he took a nap," I glanced down with bored eyes.

"Great that's-" Krillin cut himself off, glancing down.

Nappa had remained on the ground, Krillin frowned in thought.

He descended to the ground.

"Hey, I know Vegeta asked this earlier, but where exactly do you stand in all this?" He asked.

Nappa glanced at the ship, then shrugged, "eh, I'll probably be upset at him for another few days, maybe a week."

"Really? Someone tries to kill you and you're not even going to hold it against them for two months?"

"Oh, I'm gonna hold it against him alright. That's when the fun begins!"

"Right…so right now…"

"I'm fine with whatever. What's the plan."

"…well, it's not like there's another choice," Krillin sighed.

"I'm thinking we can just, take the Dragon Balls a bit away and summon the Dragon without Vegeta, there."

Nappa laughed, "oh he'll be so pissed!" He coughed, looking at Dende, "I mean angry. Sounds fun, let's do it!"

"Right…"

Wait, he's against swearing in front of kids now? Since when? Do I not count?

Carefully, after double-checking that Vegeta was, in fact, asleep, we gathered up the Dragon Balls and flew off. Nappa carried three, purely because he could the easiest, Krillin two, and Dende and I each one.

"We did it! Again! For really this time though…"

"Alright," Krillin started as we placed the Balls on a new island a fair bit away, "we're all counting on you Dende."

"Right," he nodded.

I scanned to make sure that Vegeta was still asleep and-

"Uh, so slight issue…"

"Oh no, don't say that."

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure Frieza's on his way…"

"REALLY don't say that!"

Krillin turned his head to check himself and-

"Ok, Dende, we're gonna have to do this fast."

Dende nodded, quickly turning to the Dragon Balls and saying something in Namekian that I couldn't hope to relay.

A second passed, then a few-

Then they started glowing.

Then the green sky faded to black.

Then the wind started picking up and clouds covered the sky and lighting shot out and and

And a Golden shape rose out from the Dragon Balls, growing and taking shape until it appeared solid and-

"Woah…" Nappa's voice was borderline quiet.

"Yeah that is… definitely a Dragon…"

The shape of Porunga towered over everything else.

"Man, he's huge! Way bigger than Shenron! Bigger than, anything I've ever seen!" Krillin exclaimed.

"Yes…" Dende spoke, just as in awe as the rest of us, "his name is Porunga, in Namekian it means Dragon of Love. But, to be honest, this is the first time I've gotten seen him."

"You have collected all seven Dragon Balls. And now, as it is written, think wisely and I will grant you three wishes within my power."

"Oh wow, we really do get three…" Krillin spoke, voice still in awe.

"Yes, Nail told you as much before, didn't he?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Please hurry and make your wishes." Dende ushered.

"Alright, can you ask him to bring back our friends by Vegeta and this guy," Krillin pointed with his thumb back at Nappa who was completely unbothered.

"Uh," Dende stuttered glancing at Nappa, "yes, I can try it!"

And once again, in Namekian, Dende spoke relaying the wish.

I had already known it'd fail before Porunga spoke.

"Your wish is unacceptable. Only one life can be restored for each wish used."

"What?! That can't be! What are we- what are we supposed to to-" Krillin began to panic.

"Oh, I killed four of your-"

"YES! THANK YOU NAPPA!"

"No problem."

I didn't even get to open my mouth to speak before a familiar gruff voice manifested itself in my head.

"Gohan, use the first wish to bring me back."

I smiled, "I was already gonna."

I stepped forward, "hey Dende, use the first wish to bring back Piccolo, a Namekian born on Earth. Well, technically Piccolo Jr. but no one calls him that."

"Hey, wait we should really think about this before any-"

"If we bring Piccolo back then Kami also comes back, and with him Earth's Dragon Balls."

"Well, I didn't even have to explain."

"Oh…oh yeah! Yeah, Dende go with that!"

"A Namekian born on Earth…? I mean yes! I can!" Dende turned to recite the wish.

"Alright, and now for the second wish. Wish me to the Planet Namek."

"Hey! You promised not to fight Frieza!" King Kai's protests were promptly ignored.

"Seems kinda counterproductive to wish you back only to immediately put you back into danger…" I idly commented, already knowing that I'd comply.

"Sooo…who's he talking to…?" Nappa's question was also ignored.

"Gohan. Listen to me. That is my fight on Namek. If I were to do nothing-"

"Yeah yeah, I got it," I interjected, not making him finish when he was already clearly struggling.

Besides…I kinda just wanted to see him again.

"Hey Dende, for the second wish, ask to bring Piccolo here to Namek."

"Oh uh, ok…"

"Wait! Hold on! What are you-"

Krillin's protests didn't matter since Dende had already made the wish.

"And your third wish?" He asked. I turned to Krillin, shrugging. He sighed.

"Wait then, where is he…?" Krillin asked, and I could have slammed my head into the rocks.

"We didn't specify where on Namek…" I settled for burying my head in my hands.

Man what a stupid mistake, I didn't even think of it.

"Hey guys! Whatcha doing?" We turned to see a well and thoroughly furious Vegeta. Hey, a distraction from my mistakes.

"What're we doing?"

"Thwarting my plans?"

"…" I glanced up at the Dragon, clicking my tongue, then back to Vegeta, "yeah I'd say so."

"…I'm gonna fuckin kill you!"

"But first! Tell me, did you use all three wishes already?"

"Uh-" Krillin hesitated.

"Speak, make your Last wish now!"

Gee thanks.

"Great! You there! Make him make me immortal!" Vegeta marched over to Dende.

"Don't you touch him!" I shouted as I ran over, only to be smacked into the side of a rock.

"Gohan!" Dende exclaimed, "are you-"

Dende was cut off by Vegeta grabbing him by his scarf thingy.

"I said," I coughed, climbing out of the rubble, "don't touch him…"

"You have a lot of nerve to be speaking to me right now," Vegeta growled.

There was a lot of yelling and now I had a headache from being chucked into a rock and-

And the Dragon sparked and faded from existence.

Seven round stone orbs fell to the island with a thud.

"What happened! Am I immortal?!"

"No… no, you're not immortal…" Dende collapsed to his knees, in an instant Krillin was there comforting him.

"Dende? What's wrong?"

"It's Guru…he's gone…" the boy quietly cried.

Krillin's comforts were quickly washed out by Vegeta's outrage.

"What that's it?! You mean that the Dragon Balls become completely useless when some old guy dies!"

"Why do you think we're here? Our old Namek died so we needed to get them back," I snapped.

Vegeta seethed, "IDIOTS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS? IF IM NOT IMMORTAL FRIEZA WILL-will-w…" Vegeta trailed off, looking truly afraid as he looked behind us.

"Oh no. Don't mind me," a chill ran down my spine at the almost light voice.

"By all means, give me some ideas," the voice turned spiteful as I turned, staring into red eyes that promised very bad things.

I acknowledge the fact that I've accidentally made SIGohan slightly too good with the whole KI sensing thing. The show is fairly inconsistent with how much is possible with it. Nail said he could sense the intent from the Ginyu Force as they approached, Goku said the same to Trunks as to why he knew he wouldn't attack with his sword. However, in other cases, well people question if others are dead all the time through the smoke in the show. While it's safe to say they weren't looking in those instances, it feels weird that that wouldn't be their first instinct.

It's easy to conclude that they can sense out individuals based on the Cell saga, but it's not clear on if that depends on just anyone, or if it relies on you already knowing the person relatively well.

Regardless of all that, I've definitely made SIGohan a tad too advanced for someone who's been using it for a year at most

Also, we all know how the Goku-Ginyu fight plays out, even if the details change, I don't need to spend a chapter on it

And, obviously, the answer to Nappa's rehearsal question, is yes