Chapter 32: Time and Time Again

"Are we there yet?"
Goh's mother chuckled at their guest's enthusiasm.

"Not yet, Chloe. Almost."

Chloe nodded, and continued watching the scenery outside the window. Ordinarily, she'd be in school or at home. But it was a long weekend, her father had a big conference call, her mother had a big project to finish for the magazine, her brother was on an overnight field trip, and Ash and Lillie were off on a date, leaving Chloe by herself. So when Goh's parents asked if she would like to join them on a trip to Azalea Town, she happily said yes.

"Thanks again for letting me come along. I thought I would die of boredom sitting at home by myself!"

"Of course, Chloe. We're happy to have you."

"Besides, at least Goh will have someone his own age to hang out with."

Said teenager was being unusually quiet, just slouching in his seat while resting his head on his hand, staring lazily out his window. Concerned, Chloe nudged his shoulder, stirring him from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You alright, Goh? You've been awfully quiet lately. Usually by now you'd be raving about catching Pokemon or something."

"Oh, uh, yeah, totally. I was just daydreaming, that's all."

Chloe remained unconvinced, but decided to let the matter slide for now. But she could tell that something was seriously messing with Goh.

After checking into their cabin and unpacking their things, everyone dispersed. Goh's parents headed into town, while Goh and Chloe headed off towards Ilex Forest. Goh was still pretty quiet, making Chloe worried.

"Alright Goh, enough's enough. You've been quiet and mopey ever since we left Vermillion City, what's the matter?"

Goh sighed. He knew there was no getting out of this one.

"Alright, if you must know, I met somebody here three years ago."

"Ohhhh. Goh's got a crush, Goh's got a crush!"

"Stop it, not like that! We were just friends, but we really hit it off."

"Alright, why don't you start from the beginning. Maybe getting it off your chest will make you feel better."

Goh nodded, and began his tale.

"It all started during our last trip to Azalea Town…"

Bye mom, bye dad! I'm off to explore the forest!"

"Be careful, Goh! And don't stay out past dark!"

"I won't dad!"

Goh eagerly stepped out the door of the cabin and into the wilderness. Eagerly, he took out the Pokeball he snuck onto the trip with him.

"Alright, time to catch my first Pokemon!"

Stealthily sneaking through the forest, Goh soon found a Stantler grazing in a small meadow. A maniacal grin spread across his face.

"Oh yeah, you're-"

THUNK!

"Ow!"

Before Goh could throw his own Pokeball, a completely different one hit him on the head, distracting him long enough for the Stantler to finish eating and trot away.

"What the-"

"Sorry! I need to work on my aim!"

Running out of the brush was a silver haired boy around his age, being followed closely by a Chikorita.
"You're not hurt, are you?"

"Nah, I've been hit by worse. I'm Goh, what's your name?"

"My name's Horace! Again, I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine, really!"

"No, I insist. Here, I packed some sandwiches. How about we share them?"

Goh was about to reject the offer, but his growling stomach said otherwise.

"Okay, maybe one."

So the two sat down and ate. After a while, they were good friends, and shared their goals in their respective journeys.

"You want to catch a Celebi?"

"Yeah! I...I know this is going to sound crazy, but…"

"Yes?"

"Promise me you won't laugh?"

"Of course."
"Alright, here goes. One time, some friend and I were playing in the street when a car came barreling towards us. Most of us got out of the way in time, but one of us got stuck like a deerling in headlights. But just as it was about to hit him, time seemed to slow down completely. And believe it or not, I saw Celebi lift him to safety!"

"Really? That's awesome!"

"Yeah, but once everything went back to normal, nobody believed me! In fact, they all acted like nothing had happened, as if-"

"...Time had been altered?"

"Exactly! Oh, why am I even bothering? I can already tell that you don;t believe me."

"Actually, I do. In fact, I've seen a Mythical Pokemon myself."

"Really? That's so cool!"

Time passed, and the two had a great time hanging out. Before long, the sun began to go down.

"Ah man, I've gotta go! My dad will kill me if I'm not back in time for dinner."

"Goh, wait! Let's meet up here again tomorrow, and we'll look for Celebi together!"

Goh smiled, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Count on it!"

"Horace sounds like a nice guy! So…what happened?

Goh started to tear up, memories long since pushed to the back of the mind overwhelming him.

"Goh, if you don't want to say anything, you don't have to…"

"No, no, it's just…I'd forgotten how much it hurt. Anyway…"

The very next day, Goh was back at their meeting spot. Horace was nowhere to be seen, but he wasn't too worried.

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

But an hour passed, and Horace still hadn't shown up. Now Goh was beginning to worry.

"Any minute now."

But Horace never showed up. Goh sat there all day, only realizing the sad truth when it started to rain.

"I don't believe it… I thought he was my friend…"

Goh curled up and began to cry, not caring how wet he was getting. A few wild Sunflora came over and shielded him, keeping him as dry as they could until Goh's father came and took him inside.

Goh wiped the tears from his eyes.

"For the first time in my life, I thought I had found somebody who shared my interest in Pokemon. Someone I could connect to on a different level. But it turns out he was just stringing me along. Some friend he turned out to be…"

Chloe gave Goh a gentle hug, helping him to calm down.

"Well, if you ask me he's missing out on an amazing person."

"Really? You mean that?"

"Of course! Now come on, give me a smile."

Goh laughed, his tears now all gone.

"Thanks, Chloe. I needed that."

"No problem. I'm just glad that-huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"Goh, look, over there!"

Goh glanced over to the treeline, and spotted a figure darting into the forest. He couldn't tell for certain, but it looked like…

"Was that Celebi?"

"Only one way to find out! Come on, let's go!"

"Right!"

The duo ran off after the Pokemon, though they soon lost track of it. By the time they stopped to catch their breath, they found themselves in front of a small shrine.

"Woah, is this…"

"The Ilex Forest Shrine. This is where I met Horace."

Just then, Goh noticed a speck of white in the shrine. Reaching his hand in, he pulled out a piece of paper. It was a note from Horace. When Goh read it, his eyes went wide.

"Oh, wow…"

"What is it, Goh?"

"Horace didn't ditch me, he got sick the day we were going to meet up. He wanted to go, but his fever was so bad that he couldn't even move. The minute he got better, he came back, but I was already gone."

Goh let the letter slip from his hands, his mind trying to comprehend it all.

"All this time, I had it all wrong."

Chloe didn't say anything. She just put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Goh? Is that you?"

Goh turned around, coming face to face with Horace, who was equally shocked to see him.

"Horace?"

"Sorry about ditching you, I…"

"It's okay, I understand."

And as the two reconnected, a Celebi watched them from the treetops above. Smiling at a job well done, the Legendary floated off to patrol the forest.