Y'all, this took me way too long, but it's finally here: Goh's first appearance in this series!
I wanted it to be a cute one that showed off his relationship with the kids, and this one ended up being pretty fun to write because I got to take advantage of his personality, which I find to be a lot different than most of Ash's other friends and how that works with the most rambunctious kid of the bunch :P
Aiden: 4 years old
Goh-ing with Who You Know
Goh's eyebrow twitched. He was trying to focus on his laptop but could feel he was being watched from behind. He'd always been able to sense when he was being watched.
Groaning, Goh slowly turned his head and looked over his shoulder. He had been right, of course, and was not the least bit surprised to find a little boy standing there.
A little boy who just so happened to be his best friend's kid.
"Whatcha doin?" The boy asked, tilting his head.
"Research," Goh replied simply, turning back to his laptop.
The boy giggled and ran a half circle around Goh until he was standing in front of the young man. "Wrist searching what?"
Goh looked up and narrowed his eyes slightly, although a small smile was also playing on his lips. "Researching, not wrist searching. And I'm trying to figure out the specific migration patterns of bird Pokémon who originate from the Sinnoh region."
"Like Starly?" The boy squeaked.
"Yeah, exactly," Goh confirmed, returning to his work. In actuality, he was quite impressed the boy knew that, but he really wanted to concentrate on his work and not drag out the conversation.
The kid's eyes lit up. "My daddy used to have a Starly! And then it evolved. Actually, it evolved twice! Did you know that Starly evolves into Staravia? And then Staraptor? Did you know that, Goh?"
"I did," Goh sighed, once again glancing up from his screen. "Aiden, where's your sister? Don't you want to play with her?"
"No," Aiden chirped. "I play with her all the time! I wanna hang out with you."
"Great…" Goh groaned, squeezing the bridge of his nose.
It wasn't that he didn't like Aiden. Not even close. He thought the boy was cute, and sweet, and pretty darn funny. Goh just didn't consider himself to be all that great with kids, and half the time didn't know what to do with them. Heck, he hadn't been good with kids when he was one himself. At least Aiden loved Pokémon, but even then, Goh had a bad habit of speaking a bit too analytically and apparently boring the life out of the little boy. He just struggled to connect with the kid in a meaningful way, even though Goh did care an awful lot about him. He almost liked it better when Aiden and his twin sister were babies; at least then he didn't really need to communicate with them and could've just waved around a toy or a rattle for instant success.
"Goh!"
The man lowered his hand and found that Aiden had inched even closer to him. "Yeah? What's up?"
"Can we go play with your Pokémon?" Aiden asked hopefully.
Goh frowned. "I don't know…I was trying to do my research…"
"So, do it later!" Aiden cried. "I love your Pokémon!"
Biting the bottom of his lip, Goh contemplated it. He really did want to keep at his work, but it could be pretty hard to say no to Aiden. Besides, at least hanging out with his Pokémon was an easier way to connect with the kid. Even if Goh went off on a tangent, Aiden could at least play with the Pokémon instead of wandering off somewhere and potentially getting himself into trouble (which had happened more times before than Goh cared to admit).
"Alright," Goh conceded, much to Aiden's delight. "Just for a little while though, okay? I do have a bunch of work to do."
"Got it!" Aiden cheered, turning on a heel and running off. "Come on!"
"Hey, wait up!" Goh cried, quickly casting his laptop aside and jumping to his feet. "Aiden!"
The young boy laughed as he ran, looking all over the place in search of Pokémon. Aiden thought Cerise Park was one of the coolest places in the whole world. It reminded him a lot of the ranch at Professor Oak's lab, but unlike the ranch, Cerise Park was covered by a large dome, which meant they could visit the Pokémon no matter what the weather was like. Even if it was really cold and rainy, they were able to come play and stay totally safe from the elements. In fact, one of Aiden's favorite things to do was visit when it rained; he loved sitting in the middle of the park with a bunch of Pokémon, staring up and watching water run down the sides of the encapsulating bubble with them.
"Look! Venomoth!"
Fortunately for Goh, his poison moth Pokémon had distracted Aiden and gotten the boy to stop in his tracks, enabling Goh to catch up with him.
Venomoth was soaring right above their heads, looking quite determined to get somewhere. That managed to pique Goh's curiosity as well, and without much of a second thought, he asked Aiden, "where do you think Venomoth is going?"
"I dunno," Aiden murmured. "But I wanna go see!"
"Okay, let's follow it," Goh chuckled, nodding towards the bug and poison type.
Not having to be told twice, Aiden chased after the Pokémon, this time with Goh trailing closely behind. Along the way, they ran past Goh's Golurk, taking an upright nap in a particularly sunny spot. It was surrounded by many other, much smaller Pokémon; some of whom had chosen to nap directly on top of Golurk.
"That's silly!" Aiden remarked with a giggle, having skidded to a halt. "They're using Golurk like a bed!"
Goh looked his colossal Pokémon up and down and smirked. "Yeah, they are! But I don't think Golurk really minds. They do that all the time! And it also really likes looking after all the other Pokémon in the park. This is just another part of that."
"I like to use my daddy like a bed," Aiden offhandedly commented. "And sometimes like a trampoline, too!"
At this, Goh chuckled nervously. "I'm…sure he appreciates that."
Aiden simply grinned and nodded his head before continuing in the direction that Venomoth had flown off in. Goh just smirked and followed after the boy. He couldn't remember ever having that much energy, even as a kid. Maybe he just didn't remember it? Then again, even Michelle wasn't quite as spirited as her brother.
"Whoa! Raichu!"
And, almost as soon as he'd taken off, Aiden had once again paused, distracted by yet another one of Goh's Pokémon. The aforementioned electric type was busy handing berries out to another group of creatures, much to their delight.
"She's cute!" Aiden giggled, which caught Goh's interest.
"Oh, you know Raichu is a girl?"
Aiden proudly nodded his head. "Yeah! See? I can tell -cause of her tail!"
Goh chuckled as Aiden pointed towards Raichu's tail. "Nice job! Did your dad teach you that, too?"
"Yep!" Aiden confirmed. "He teaches me everything about Pokémon!"
"Not surprising," Goh snickered.
"I love learning about Pokémon," Aiden sighed in an almost dreamy manner.
"Something you could do all day, huh?" Goh asked knowingly.
"Uh huh!" Aiden chirped before his face suddenly clouded over. "But…"
Goh blinked when the boy trailed off. "What's wrong?"
"Mommy says I have to start school next year, but I don't want to," Aiden continued with a grumble, furrowing his brow. "And -sides, I don't really think that's as fun or as important as learning about Pokémon."
Goh smiled sympathetically at the boy. "I know how you feel. I didn't really like school, either."
Aiden tilted his head. "Really? But you're so smart!"
"Thanks," Goh chuckled nervously. "But that didn't change the fact I cared about Pokémon a lot more than school! I was always trying to find ways out of it, but Chloe would always manage to drag me back. Well, until I started working with Professor Cerise. Then I officially became a Pokémon trainer and didn't have to go anymore!"
The young boy's eyes lit up at the prospect. "I can't wait until I become a Pokémon trainer and I don't have to go to school anymore!"
"Well, you've still got a bit to go until you get to that point," Goh reasoned with him. "Besides, you haven't even started school yet! And who knows; you might like it!"
"I don't think so," Aiden refuted. "Shelly's the one who likes reading and stuff like that, not me."
"Yeah, but school's not all bad," Goh backtracked a bit, realizing he probably wasn't helping the situation. "You should at least give it a shot, you know?"
Aiden sighed, "Daddy says the same thing to me."
"He and I have a bad habit of thinking alike," Goh remarked amusedly.
"I guess, but you're both really smart!" Aiden exclaimed. "And you both teach me a lot of stuff, too. So, I should listen to you guys!"
Goh couldn't help but to smile at that. It meant a lot to him, although he was certain Aiden didn't realize it. The kid just spoke his mind and wore his heart on his sleeve; it was nice.
"You're really cool, Aiden, you know that?" Goh asked warmly.
"Yeah!" Aiden replied with a sparkling laugh. "So are you!"
Goh smiled and, a bit unsurely, reached out to pat the boy's head. Fortunately for him, Aiden laughed at the action and showed off a big, goofy grin.
"Thanks," Goh chuckled, pulling his hand back. "So…should we keep following after Venomoth?"
"For sure!" Aiden chirped. "I gotta know what it's up to! Especially if it's as cool as all your other Pokémon!"
I relate to Goh a lot because he's kind of socially awkward and seems to second guess himself quite a bit. So I can imagine him doing it even with Ash and Misty's kids, even though they do not care and think he's very cool regardless lol.
