Day 5 – Awakening
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." - Agatha Christie
Technically, this will be released in the last day of satogou week, but don't sweat the small details, everyone /lh
This one was so tough! I had severe writers' block because I couldn't figure out how to weave the prompt and the quote together. In the end, I think I did a good job, though.
Goh doesn't have the best sleep schedule. He knows this very well.
He stays up late with his phone turned on for hours, and the only reason he actually goes to sleep after midnight is because he knows it'll bother Ash.
Inevitably, this means he has trouble waking up, as well. There was one time he practically slid out of the top bunk in a desperate attempt to get out of bed. Fortunately, Cinderace caught him on time.
It doesn't help that everything you have to do after waking up – brush your hair, brush your teeth, and (for Goh) redo his makeup – is so incredibly tiring. He has to prepare a shot of coffee every time in order to get through it.
According to Ash, he's the same way when it comes to waking up in the morning, but Goh has yet to see evidence of this, since lately he wakes up before Goh every single day, begging for Goh to wake up so they can do stuff together. He probably just works through the physical tiredness with sheer willpower.
The spiky-haired boy wants to spend time with Goh so badly that he can't bear to waste even one second. All of Ash's friends are surprised when he tells them that, saying he brings out the best in Ash. Which sounds rather silly to Goh, since Ash is always the one inspiring him to be better.
Of course, Ash himself can be quite silly as well.
For example, just this morning, Goh had found Ash and Pikachu looking dazed and woozy inside of the bathroom, clutching their toothbrushes. "I challenged Pikachu to see who could finish brushing their teeth faster", Ash explained. "We both lost."
The logical part of Goh's brain wanted to scold Ash for being so irresponsible, but instead he just laughed and helped him up. He was too permissive with his boyfriend sometimes.
And the morning before this one, Ash was playing soccer with Cinderace, completely unconcerned that every time Cinderace kicked the ball, it caught on fire. "Cinderace has the right to enjoy the sports of his home region!" Ash had protested when Goh tried to stop them, the two already having replaced the ball fifteen times…
Ash really doesn't act his age at all, so it's curious that Goh, who is always trying his best to act mature no matter what, is so drawn to him. Maybe it's just that Ash is so full of the innocence that Goh doesn't let himself express anymore.
Of course, Ash does have other characteristics, ones that Goh admires greatly. He's exceedingly brave. He's very selfless, kind and generous. He is strong, stronger than a 10-year old really ought to be, probably. And he's been through hell and come out of it mostly okay.
But on the subject of waking up early, today Goh was forced to wake up even earlier than usual, because Ash and him made plans to spend a weekend in Alola, and that weekend has now arrived. So Ash is even more energetic than usual.
On the way there, Ash has nothing but positive anecdotes to share about his time spent in the region, and how he hopes Goh will warm up to it as well someday.
"Well, I might, as long as no one else feels the need to challenge me to make me prove I'm worthy to be your boyfriend", Goh comments off-handedly.
"Awww, Kiawe was just being protective!" Ash replies. He doesn't seem too concerned.
"Is anyone else over there, uh… protective of you like that?"
"Well, the only other person I can think of would be Gladion, but he's not in Alola right now", Ash explains.
Goh breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe this time he won't have to be the center of attention.
Something else Goh has noticed about Ash during the time they've spent together is that he has trouble sitting still for very long. Usually, he takes the opportunity to sleep more during long trips like this one, but he's so excited that he can't really pull it off now.
To keep Ash busy, Goh made sure to bring his trusty Nintendo Swap, complete with the latest Animáls game, for Ash to play with. When Ash needs to stretch his legs, he asks the flight attendants to give him odd jobs so he doesn't get bored.
Yes, Goh is very experienced in dealing with his silly, hyperactive boyfriend and his many quirks. He actually finds it quite charming.
He will admit, though, that at first, Ash did get on his nerves and he didn't know what to make of him.
What did Ash think of him back during their first days together, come to think of it? Probably that Goh was a stuck-up standoffish jerk, Goh thinks. It wasn't that far from the truth. But like he said before, Ash was helping him get better about that.
Ash turns away from the Nintendo Swap for a moment and giggled while looking at Goh. "Your hair looks weird today!"
Goh looks at him like a deer caught in headlights. "My… my hair?"
Pulling out his Rotom phone as quickly as possible, Goh opens the camera app and looks at himself. "Oh, no!" He cries out. "I forgot to brush my hair this morning! I completely forgot! I can't believe it!"
"Aw, don't worry about it, hon!" Ash tells him, in his usual unconcerned tone. "I think it looks cute!"
"A tangled morass of stringy gray hair is 'cute' to you?" Goh asks sorrowfully, already certain he looks horrible.
"Well… yeah! Weren't you the one who said you looked good in anything?" Ash asks back.
Goh falls silent for a moment. "Uh, yeah, I did, but don't I look ridiculous right now?"
"Ridiculously cute?" Ash asks, and for a moment he looks so earnest about it Goh can barely tell he's joking. The illusion cracks once Ash starts snickering loudly. "But no, really", Ash continues, "You do look cute with messy hair."
Goh's face turns red like a Darmanitan's fur and he turns away. "W-Well, it's not surprising you would think so… but…"
"Oh, have a little faith! I doubt people are going to notice", said Ash in a comforting tone.
Pretty much everyone noticed, it turned out. Ash's Alolan classmates may not be as familiar with Goh, but they do know enough to understand that not putting his all into looking presentable was very unlike him.
Fortunately, Ash had already advised them not to put Goh on the spot and he had already met most of them, so this wasn't quite as harrowing as the first time he came here.
They spent quite a while making small talk and catching up on recent events, such as Project Mew and Chloe finally deciding to not be as much of a wallflower.
"She's very strong when she wants to be", Goh commented, "She just needs to learn how to use that strength to help herself, not just the people around her."
"Chloe's your childhood friend, huh? You know what they say about those", Mallow teased, making a heart with her hands. "…Just kidding!"
"Hey! I'm the one who gets to say that!" Lana protested, and the group laughed at the remark.
"You guys should bring her with you next time. She sounds like an interesting person", a calm voice spoke from the doorway.
Everyone turned in its direction. Goh saw a pale, platinum blonde girl there, accompanied by the more familiar faces of Professor Kukui, Burnet and their baby.
He didn't recognize the girl, but Ash did. "LILLIE!" he yelled out, racing to her as quickly as he could. "And Kukui, and Burnet! And Lei! This is so cool!"
"When I heard you had visited us along with your new boyfriend, I couldn't resist asking mom to make time to come here again the next time you were here!" Lillie explained.
Ash wanted to talk with Lillie more, but he was interrupted by Mallow also running up to her and giving her a huge Bewear hug. "Honey! How've you been?"
Kukui, who was holding little Lei, held him out for Ash. "Do you want to hold him for a little while? I'm sure he'll love spending some time with you!"
"He says that, but he's just exhausted from looking after him all day", Burnet explained to Ash in a teasing manner. Kukui looked embarrassed, but didn't deny it.
"Of course!" Ash took the tiny baby into his hands and went off to play with him, with Kukui and Burnet following him to make sure nothing bad happened to either child. The rest of the group stayed near Goh, introducing him to the newly-arrived Lillie.
Of course, Lillie didn't know Goh all that well, so she couldn't help but ask the obvious question. "Umm, mister Goh? Is your hair always like that? Is it a fashion choice?" There was no malice behind her words at all, but the reminder of how strange he looked was not something Goh appreciated.
Goh huffed and began to explain. "Well, that little himbo over there", he pointed at Ash, who was occupied making funny faces at Lei, "decided we just had to get here as fast as possible, and in my hurry to obey his wishes and make him happy, I ended up forgetting to take care of my hair."
"I get that. This one time, Mallow wanted to go to this theme park that had been set up here as soon as it opened and she pulled me there so fast, I didn't even have time to braid my hair!" Lillie recalled.
"We had fun, though!" Mallow added cheerfully. "I'm sure your weird hair won't stop you from enjoying your stay here!"
"So it DOES look weird. I knew it!" Goh grumbled, crossing his arms.
"You're kind of a prissy guy, you know that?" Sophocles commented bluntly.
"Who's a good boy?" Ash cooed, holding Lei in his arms. "Who's a good boy?"
"…Ash, he's not a dog!" Goh half-joked.
"Oh!" Ash ignored the comment and walked to where Goh and the others were, baby still in his hands. "Lei, this is Goh! Your big brother's sweetheart!"
"Gaoo", Lei murmured happily, trying to touch Goh's hair with his small arms.
"You want to touch his hair, don't you? Have at it!" Ash brought Lei a little closer.
Lei immediately grabbed onto Goh's hair antennae and started pulling on them. "Hey! That's not allowed!" Goh protested, feeling the baby's strong grip on his hair.
"Okay, little guy, that's enough", Ash pulled Lei away, rubbing the young child's head affectionately. "We don't want you tearing Goh's antenna or anything!"
"Definitely not", Goh asserted while touching his antennae to make sure they were still there. "I'm having enough trouble with my hair today without that happening, thank you!"
"By the way, Lillie", Ash turned to the pale blonde girl, "If you're here, doesn't that mean Gladion is here, too?"
"Gladion? Isn't that…" Goh started to ask, before noticing the concerned glances of Ash's classmates.
"Ohhh… we didn't think of that, huh…" Lana whispered.
"If he knows about Goh, he's probably going to challenge him to test his worthiness as Ash's boyfriend, or something", Sophocles said with a neutral expression.
Goh looked very distressed. "Oh no, please! I just want to relax here, is that too much to ask?"
"You didn't tell him about my relationship with Goh, did you Lillie?"
"Uh…" Lillie stuttered and touched her index fingers together nervously. "When you told me about your new boyfriend, you just seemed so happy… I had to tell him the good news!"
"Why are all your male friends like this?" Goh bellyached. "Kiawe, Gary, now this Gladion guy?"
"Ash has this… thing about him that just makes you want to protect him and make sure everyone around him has his best interests at heart, you know?" Kiawe commented.
"I'm sure you'd know all about that", Goh snarked, narrowing his eyes at Kiawe. "Look, let's all just get this over with so I can move on and enjoy my weekend away from work, alright? Lillie, where is this Gladion guy right now?"
"Y-You don't need to do that", Lillie tried to say, "I'm sure Gladion won't act like that just because he knows you're Ash's boyfriend-"
Lillie's phone beeped, and she picked it up. "Brother! Hello. I'm with Ash and the others right now."
"Is Goh there as well?" A stern voice spoke from the other side of the line.
"Um, yes. Why do you ask?"
"…Tell him to come to the Aether Foundation building as soon as he can. I want to see for myself if this kid has the right to be Ash's boyfriend or not."
"I KNEW IT!" Goh shrieked while pointing at Lillie's phone. "ALL OF ASH'S MALE FRIENDS ARE A BUNCH OF PARANOID, CONTROLLING CREEPS! THE WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM!"
Goh stormed off in an angry huff and ran toward the Aether Foundation, intent on giving Gladion a piece of his mind. "Stupid, entitled Ash friends and their stupid tests", he ranted to himself.
Ash and the other kids followed close behind to make sure he didn't do something he'd regret. "Goh, honey, calm down! Everything will turn out fine!" He cried out. "I know you're having a bad hair day and all-"
"And I don't need to be reminded of it all the time!"
"Okay, sorry…"
"Goh, if it helps, you can try using one of my combs!" Mallow suggested, oferring a nice-looking comb to Goh.
"Oh, this could work!" said Goh, taking Mallow's comb and trying to fix his hair.
And trying.
And trying.
And trying…
"It's no use", he sighed, giving the comb back. "If I don't do it first thing in the morning, it just stays like this all day."
"Wow, what a tragedy", Sophocles remarked sarcastically. "At least you actually look pretty even without good hair. Some of us have to accept being short and pudgy forever, you know!"
"I mean, when you put it like that…" Goh smiled, and for a brief second, he was back to his overconfident self. "Still, if I can't even tame my hair, how will I be able to overcome this challenge I'll have to face?" He asked, staring into the sky melodramatically.
Ash sweatdropped. "Goh, don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"
"See, you don't care about your appearance at all, so you wouldn't understand", Goh replied curtly.
"He has a point, Ash", Lana interjected. "I mean, your costume has so many colors, it looks really garish. No offense."
Ash sighed. "Still, you have to calm down! I don't want you yelling at Gladdy when you see him!"
"…Gladdy? That's…"
"…Ash and my brother have a bit of a history together", Lillie tried to explain.
"Feels like Ash has 'history' with everyone at this point", Goh remarked.
Ash looked rather embarrassed. "I really, really don't mean to date so many people, I swear…"
"It's okay, dear", Goh told him in a mollifying tone. "I know you're just too lovable for your own good."
"Heh heh, I sure am!" Ash concurred, grinning. "And it's good to see you're calming down, too."
"I can't stay mad when you're around", Goh commented.
The group followed Goh to the Aether Foundation, and Goh noticed how a dapper-dressing young man with hair the same color as Lillie's was standing in front of it. This must be Gladion, then, Goh assumed.
"So, you came", the other boy said, with a voice that sounded completely neutral. "I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like this, but I have to make sure Ash isn't dating someone who'd disappoint him in the future. I'm sure you understand."
However, Goh did not reply, instead acting uncharacteristically silent, so Gladion continued to speak. He gestured to the white, four-legged pokémon standing to his side. "This is Silvally, one of my best pokémon. It's a normal-type, but I can change it to any other type with a memory disc."
Nothing from Goh, still. "I also have a Zoroark, a Lycanroc and an Umbreon, so tell me which of them you'd rather fight. So? What'll it be?" Gladion continued, a bit weirded out by the silence coming from his opponent.
Goh remained silent for a while. He raised his hand to cover his mouth…
And that's when he started giggling.
"W…What? Hey! What's so funny?" Gladion asked, shocked at the sudden reaction.
"It's… it's your…" Goh tried to say between his laughing. "It's your hair! It looks so ridiculous!"
"My hair? What's wrong with my hair?" Gladion questioned, pulling at a few strands with a puzzled and concerned look.
"It looks like french fries! How did you even get it to look like french fries?"
"It's just naturally like this!"
"Oh, it's – haha – natural? You were born with fast food hair? Do you ever try using them as an emergency food supply?" Goh taunted. "Ah, man, this is great. After today, I'll never be worried about people judging my hair again!"
"I don't have to take this, you know!" Gladion yelled. "Let's fight, already!"
"Sure thing, potato head. Let me just transfer some of my pokémon here", Goh said, heading inside the Aether Foundation headquarters. "I wonder which pokémon I should use? Maybe Hitmonchan? They do have a type advantage…"
While they waited for Goh to return, Gladion was left by himself with the rest of the gang. "…I don't have hair that looks like french fries, do I? Be honest!"
"Oh, brother…" Lillie muttered, looking at Gladion with a pitying expression.
The battle went somewhat like Goh's previous battle with Kiawe, with Goh ultimately deciding to use his most experienced pokémon, Cinderace, to fight Gladion's Silvally (He may or may not also have wanted to show off to Kiawe how much stronger Cinderace had grown since their bout, but that's neither here nor there).
Cinderace's speed and higher attack power gave it an edge early on in the match, but any chance of victory for Goh and his first pokémon went down the drain – pun not intended – once Gladion used a Water Memory on Silvally, changing its typing to Water.
Regardless, Goh put in his best effort, and everyone was impressed. Goh was so proud of himself he completely forgot any of the nervousness he had felt from being around Ash's classmates or the matter with his hair.
As for Gladion, he saw how much Ash had cheered for Goh during the match and accepted that in the end, he did deserve Ash's affection after all… Which was really the outcome Goh expected the moment he heard he was getting challenged to prove his 'boyfriend honor' for the third time now, so he hopes no one else comes along and decides to do this again. He doesn't like his chances, though.
"If only your ability had been Libero, Cinderace", Goh commented as he called the beaten fire bunny back to its pokéball. "We might have beaten them at their own game!"
"You did really good, honey!"
"Yeah!" Kiawe concurred. "You've really come a long way as a trainer! Now I know Ash is in good hands."
Goh looked at them sheepishly, but accepted the praise. "Thanks, everyone. Now I think I want to go to Professor Kukui's house with Ash and rest up. Today was a bit tiring."
And so they did. Kukui and Burnet's house was where Ash had stayed while he was studying in Alola, and it was where he and Goh were going to stay during this weekend, also.
It was their first time sharing a bed together, which was scary but exciting at the same time. "This is nice, isn't it? It means I'll be the first thing you see when you wake up!" Ash noted.
"You're right, and I'll be yours. Hope you enjoy staring at my unkempt hair while I wake up!" Goh joked.
"You're not still worried about that, are you?"
"…Nah", Goh replied, and it was the truth. "I think if there's anything I realized today is that being worried about people judging me for my appearance is… silly. As long as it doesn't make a difference to you, that's all that really matters to me."
"See? Now you're getting it!"
"…I'm still going to spend hours applying makeup in the morning, though", Goh clarified. "I do still have some standards!"
"Except when it comes to me", Ash teased.
"Except when it comes to my fashion disaster of a boyfriend, yes", Goh replied in similarly-teasing fashion.
Ash leaned in to kiss Goh's cheek, and bid him goodnight.
Goh reflected on the events of the day. In the end, with as silly as Ash could be, there were times where he acted just as silly in a different way, huh?
That was okay with him. They could be silly together.
A.N. As mentioned previously, this was the toughest chapter so far, but I think all of the ideas fit together pretty well in the end.
I'm not sure where I got the idea for Goh to have a bad hair day and have that be the main focus of the story, but it was mainly because I wanted him to 'look ridiculous', like in the quote for Day 5.
Then I made them go to Alola thinking I would have some soft sleeping scenes to fit with the 'awakening' prompt, and then BAM. The idea of Goh meeting Gladion and realizing there are people with way worse hair out there came. (No offense to Gladion, obviously! But his hair does look… interesting)
Poor Goh having to deal with the consequences of dating the most sought-after bachelor in all the regions is one of my favorite tropes, even if I don't delve into it often. I do headcanon that Ash dated a lot of the people he's been shipped with for at least a short while, since he's always wanting to make his friends happy and doesn't see much distinction between 'friend' and 'lover'.
Oh, and speaking of headcanons, Goh asking flight attendants on the plane to give Ash things to do so he doesn't get bored and can expend his excess energy is a real-life way to help children with ADHD during long plane rides. I thought it was cute, and Ash can definitely be read as having ADHD, so I added it as a throwaway line in the story.
Next up is Day 6: Partner! That one will be another glimpse into the future, much like Day 2, so I have high hopes for that chapter!