A.N. This story's prompt and quote are:
Holding Hands / "What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with." Robert Brault
Reusing another common idea here, namely 'Ash wants to express his action and Goh is uncomfortable with it.'. But I promise to make it interesting, I swear! And it has lots of Grookey being bratty and cute, too :D
Falling in love with Ash had led Goh into making all sorts of compromises.
Not having Mew as his starter, for one. Or even just sharing a room with someone else.
But this time, he was putting his foot down.
"I don't like holding hands in public, Ash."
"But we did it before!"
They were on another research mission when a passerby remarked on Ash holding Goh's hand. Ash insisted he did it by accident, which Goh wasn't sure he believed, but still, it was a big no-no for him!
"Only because I had a Gulpin on my face", Goh pouted. "If we keep doing it, people will talk!"
"Just let them! Who cares about what strangers think?"
"I do! Maybe those strangers could be important people!"
"And… what? They will judge us for our love?"
"Yes!"
"Well, that's really on them for being meanies", Ash said with a shrug.
"I mean… you're not wrong… but it's also because… I just feel exposed, showing off our relationship like that", Goh admitted. "When we're among friends, it's one thing, but…"
"But when we're in public, you feel.. ashamed?" Ash suggested, trying to understand.
"No!"
"Then what is it?"
"…I don't know! I just know that it feels embarrassing."
"I think I get it. Sometimes we just feel a certain way and we can't explain why. That happens to me all the time! I get you, my scone", Ash replied, putting one hand on Goh's shoulder.
Goh blushed. "Thanks for understanding, Ash."
"Of course! Now let's go back to the lab, we have to report to Professor Cerise!"
"Right."
"So how did your mission go, boys?" The Professor inquired.
"It went perfect!" Goh boasted. He threw a pokéball in the air and it opened, causing a little purple pokémon to fall to the ground.
"…Tox." It mumbled.
"It looks so cute!" Goh cooed. "Thank you for sending us on this mission, Professor!"
"It must have been quite an adventure!" Cerise remarked. "It'll be interesting to see what form it evolves into."
Grookey, who was sitting on Goh's head at the moment, suddenly jumped to the floor and brandished his stick at the Toxel. "GRRRRookey!" It snarled.
"…What's going on with Grookey?" Asked the professor.
"After Goh caught Toxel, Grookey felt like his territory was being threatened!" Ash explained, with a dissonant smile on his face.
Goh looked distraught. "I wish I could get him to accept Toxel, but I don't know how…"
Grookey then bonked Toxel on the head several times, which the latter didn't seem to notice. "Ru! Ki! Ru! Ki! Ru! Ki!" He repeated, hoping Toxel would get the hint.
"Grookey, please!" Goh shouted. "Toxel is just going to stay at the Park anyway, so why worry about it?"
Grookey's little head leaves drooped in response. Toxel smirked at it without it noticing.
"What a good parent", Ash commented, eliciting another blush from Goh.
But after a few seconds, Grookey started bonking Toxel again.
"…Oh, dear." Professor Cerise muttered.
"Ru! Ki! Ru! Ki!"
Goh stamped his foot. "Grookey, stop this right now or…" He thought for a second about what he should say. "Or you're grounded!"
Grookey paused his bonks, incapable of believing what it'd just heard. Then, he gave a scandalized look to his owner.
Many things passed through the monkey tyke's head then. Then, he started sobbing profusely.
"Grookey? Hey…" Goh whispered at his pokémon with concern..
Lifting his stick over his shoulder in a way that made it resemble some sort of lone vagabond, Grookey started to walk off in what he hoped was a dignified manner. After a while, he gave up and just jumped away, like usual.
"Wha-"
"Ruuuuki!" The small chimp shouted, his voice full of melodramatic despair.
"Groookey!" Goh shouted in turn, not wasting a second in chasing after his precious primate.
"Wow, what a drama queen", Ash remarked. "He definitely gets that from Goh!" He turned toward the professor. "Sorry, Professor Cerise, I gotta help Goh now. We'll give you the full report later!"
"H-Hey, wait a minute!" Cerise protested. "Weren't you going to take Toxel back to the park?"
But Ash was already gone. Professor Cerise looked at the purple lizard with worry. "…I guess I can take it there myself. How hard can it be?"
Toxel only gave him a mischievous look in response.
"GROOKEY! Where are you!" Goh yelled.
"You know, if you keep yelling like that, your voice is going to go sore!" Ash advised.
"Ash!"
"You didn't expect me to let you search for our baby by yourself, did you?"
"…Our baby? But he's my pokémon…" Goh asked with confusion.
"It's just that I sort of consider him a trial run… you know, for the future." Ash replied, his voice as carefree as ever despite the crisis.
Goh desperately tried not to think about what Ash had just said. "L-Let's not jump that far ahead for now, yeah?"
"Anyway, don't you have some kind of Grookey-dar or something?"
"No… I only make radars for legendary pokémon. And you."
"What?"
"I only make radars for legendary pokémon, I said!" Goh insisted.
"Oh, alright. We'll do it the old-fashioned way, then! GROOKEY!" Ash yelled out.
"Isn't your voice gonna get sore, too, if you do that?"
"If we take turns shouting, we'll have more time until we inevitably ruin our voices!" Said Ash. "Let's find that Grookey with the real superpower of TEAMWORK!"
Goh quickly nodded and went right back to shouting. "GROOKEY! WE MISS YOU!"
Meanwhile, Grookey hid underneath a bench nearby. He wasn't quite as talented at finding hiding places as his blue brother, but it'd do.
Dad betray Grook. Stop Grook from defending Grook's place as top baby! Dad evil, He thought while shedding bitter tears.
"GROOKEY! COME BAAAACK!" The scream hit Grookey's ears, but he ignored it.
Not comin back, evil Dad! Grook has new life now wanderin streets like bunny bro and long bro did before Grook, Grookey thought to himself as he lied down on the floor for a good nap.
Grookey fell asleep for a long while, until eventually, Goh found it.
"THERE he is!" He declared. "I'll just… get him out from under there. I hope I don't wake him up…"
Except Grookey did wake up. "Ru… ki?" Looking up at Goh, Grookey smiled happily. "Ruki! Ruki, Ruki!"
"Awww, I knew you'd be back to normal soon!" Goh commented, smiling back.
Then Grookey's eyes widened as it realized what it was doing. Then it bonked Goh in the forehead and jumped off. Must not relapse! Must not!
"Owwww!" Goh groaned.
"Looks like he's not quite back to normal, yet…" Ash observed. "Let's keep looking for him. I doubt he'll go far without us noticing!"
"I hope you're right, Ash." Goh told him.
"When am I ever not right?" Ash asked, smiling boldly. Goh decided not to reply.
"Excuse me, miss? Have you seen this monkey? Short green fur, just turned seven months last week?" Goh asked to a random stranger.
They shook their head. Goh sighed. "Where is that irresponsible child?" He angrily questioned, stomping his feet on the ground.
"He'll be fine, Goh. You know he loves you", Ash said to him, putting one hand on Goh's shoulder to reassure him.
"Y-Yeah…" Goh mumbled. He wasn't sure if he liked Ash putting his hand on his shoulder like that in public, either, but at least that was something he did to all of his friends…
"Even if we don't find him, he'll just come back eventually!" Ash opined. "But if you want to keep searching, I'm here for you."
"…I'd like that. Thanks."
They kept walking together, still searching, but not raising their voice anymore, since a) they knew Grookey wouldn't respond, and b) their voices were already pretty worn out.
Goh was feeling rather discouraged by the end. Tentatively, Ash took hold of his hand again.
"I told you not to do that in public, Ash…"
"Oh… right. Sorry."
They kept walking together, though the atmosphere was now a tad awkward.
After he scurried off, Grookey tried to find another bench to hide under.
Grook is strong, independent pokémon, he insisted in his mind. Don't need no trainer! Grookey run away once, Grookey do it again!
As he walked aimlessly, Grookey eventually found his way to the town square, where a certain girl and her Eevee were playing together.
Could it be… Grookey's one, true love? With his eyes sparkling with glee, Grookey ran up to them. But at the same time, another pokémon crawled up next to the duo, as well…
"Tox?" Toxel asked, holding up an Apple.
"Eevui?"
"What's this… weird, purple, baby?!" The girl asked aloud, seeming disturbed.
Grookey hissed. Not only did Toxel try to replace him as alpha baby, but it's trying to steal Eevee away, too!
Running as fast as it could, Grookey leapt and delivered a hard bonk to Toxel's tail. It barely flinched.
"And now Goh's Grookey, too? Come along, Eevee", Chloe said to her pokémon as she picked her up from the ground. "Don't get mixed up with these rabble."
"Eevui, Eevui!" Eevui – er, I mean, Eevee, repeated while waving goodbye to them.
This left Grookey very shookey. Usually Eevee's mom lets him get in a few seconds of conversation in!
"Ruruki! Ki-ruki-ruki!" It snarled at Toxel, which roughly translated to 'You jerk! It's your fault this happened!'
"Toxel tox-tox!" Toxel replied with something like 'Bring it on!", pulling its eyelid down at Grookey in mockery.
"ROOOOOH!" Jumping at him, Grookey just started punching Toxel as the two of them turned into one of those balls of smoke and limbs you see in cartoons when people fight (you know the ones).
At the same time, a familiar man in a labcoat approached that area, huffing with exhaustion. "Where is that accursed lizard?" He said as he wiped sweat off his brow.
Then he looked to his side, noticing the pitched battle between the two babies. "Oh…"
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he quickly dialed a number. "Hey Goh, it's me, Professor Cerise. I think I found your Grookey."
"Finally, a glimmer of hope!" Goh cried (in both senses of the word) as the two boys ran as fast as they could to the location Professor Cerise mentioned.
"I hope he's okay. The professor seemed worried."
"He better be, or I'm giving him a stern talking-to for getting in trouble! …Actually, I'll give him a stern talking-to anyway, but still!"
Now reinvigorated by his determination to find Grookey, Goh showed no trace of his previous tiredness, reaching Vermillion City's town square before long.
Upon getting there, they noticed the baby pokémon's fistfight. "Uh oh…" Ash mumbled.
"They've been like this ever since I got here!" Professor Cerise remarked, running to his research fellows. "I'm too scared to separate them. But Goh, you can break up their fight using their pokéballs!"
"Their… Pokéballs. Of course." Goh repeated, feeling idiotic for not having thought of that from the start.
"Although, if you call Grookey back, it might just break free, since it's mad at you…" Ash pointed out.
"Then I'll just use Toxel's", Goh replied, taking out the mentioned pokémon's pokéball. "Toxel, come back!"
Toxel turned into a bright light, and returned to is pokéball. Naturally, Toxel was all too happy to be spirited away from Grookey's paws, even if it meant he didn't win their fight. It was pretty apathetic about most things.
Grookey, who had previously been on top of Toxel while he slapped it, fell to the ground. "Groo!" It squealed in pain.
Goh quickly took him into his arms. "You've been very bad today, Grookey! Beating up your new brother like that… I have half a mind to give you a double-grounding!"
Grookey gave his adopted dad a defeated look, and started tearing up again. "Grookeyyyyy!" It cried, as it hugged Goh and rubbed his face onto his shirt, apologetic. "Grookey grookeykey! Grookey groo grookey! Grookey keykey, groooooo!"
(Which translates into something like Grookey not mean it! Grookey just got upset! Please don't ground, dad!)
"Actually, considering the scrape you just got into, I think I'll just give you a bath. You always seem to treat it like a punishment!" Goh suggested, grinning mischievously at his ward.
"Groooooooooooo!" Grookey howled in horror at the idea.
Ash laughed at Grookey's display. "Calm down, Grookey", he told the small monkey, rubbing its head to distract it. "Sometimes, whether it's your dad, mom, friend or boyfriend, we have to make concessions so we can both be happy. Just like how now you're going to have to accept that you're not the only baby in the family anymore!"
"G…Groo…" Grookey nodded, looking at Ash while wiping his tears.
"Goh can't abandon Toxel just because you don't like him. But that's no reason you should abandon Goh, instead!"
Grookey thought about it, and after a moment's thought, it smiled. You right, other dad! Grookey promise he gonna work hard to make up for today!
Grateful for the pep talk, Grookey extended its hand forward to shake Ash's own. "Awww. How cute!" Ash exclaimed, shaking Grookey's hand back. "Well, at least someone in this family has no problem with holding hands, eh?"
"…What are you implying." Goh asked tersely.
"I'm just teasing you, honey", Ash replied. "Now let's go back home. We're both tired from the long day, after all.
"And hurt, too! That Toxel electrocuted me and got away…", Professor Cerise complained.
"Sometimes I wonder why you decided to become a Pokémon Researcher…" Goh remarked bluntly while they all walked back to the lab.
"Hey! Keep saying things like that and I might just dock your salary."
"You don't pay us anyway!"
"Taking care of these young pokémon is hard work", Goh noted, applying bandages to both Grookey and Toxel.
Grookey had apologized for hurting Toxel by giving it some of its food, though the bratty lizard didn't really seem to react to it in a significant manner. For his part, Grookey still didn't like Toxel, but it hadn't bonked it since.
"I hope they'll get over their rivalry soon."
"Don't worry, once they do, they'll end up good friends!" Ash insisted.
"Speaking from experience, huh?" Goh remarked while scrubbing Grookey's wounds. "I really wished my pokémon could just get along, but I guess not everything can be the way we want."
"Speaking of that… since we're back home and there's just the two of us here…"
"Yeah?"
"Can I hold your hand now, pleasepleasepleasepleaseeee?" Ash pleased.
Goh huffed. "Well, obviously we can. We're not in public, are we?"
"Yayyyy!" Ash then immediately put his hand on Goh's and squeezed it tightly.
"You really like holding my hand, huh?"
"It always feels so soft and nice", Ash complimented, sporting a very wide smile on his face now. "It's great!"
"Well… I'm glad you like it." Goh admitted, his face slightly red.
"Even if we can't hold hands all the time, as long as I can do it at least once a day, I'm happy", Ash told him. "I like how it makes me feel close to you."
"Then I'll let you hold my hand when we wake up every day! How about it?"
"It's a deal! But… do you think someday, you'll be comfortable enough to hold hands everywhere, like all the other couples?"
Goh considered it. "I'm sure I will… just not now. I'm not bold enough to do that, yet. I hope you understand…"
"Oh, I'm cool with it. I've decided I like the suspense", Ash declared.
Goh smiled at him. "You're a weird person sometimes, Ash", he told him. "But… that's also why I like you."
"Heehee", Ash laughed while rubbing his nose, like he usually did when he got a nice compliment.
"Now be a dear and get me some Antidotes for Grookey, will you? Turns out fistfighting a Poison-type is a really bad idea…"
A.N. Ultimately, this is a story about Ash being supportive of Goh and respecting his boundaries. Sometimes it's good to push those boundaries to take people out of their shell, but Goh is not always ready to do that. Because Ash loves him, he accepts that, even if he'd rather express his affection constantly and clearly no matter what the venue. I just think it shows the mutual nature of their love to have Ash being the one to compromise for a change.
Parallel to that is the story of Grookey refusing to accept the introduction of a new, younger sibling to his family, which ends up hurting both him and Goh. So in spite of his jealousy, Grookey decides to tolerate Toxel for Goh's sake, learning the value of respecting the feelings of someone you love even if you don't like their decisions, instead of being selfish.
Of course, only time will tell if the lesson will stick (heh) in the little monke's head, of if he'll end up bringing down the hammer on Toxel for whatever else Toxel might do in the future… at least in this imaginary timeline where Goh does have a Toxel. But don't blame Grookey for overreacting - he's new to the concept of Goh giving him any limits, you know? ;)
Next will come the last fic for this year - since I'm reusing prompts from 2020 I didn't write for, that only leaves the last one… Confession! See you then.