Chapter Text
Today was a fairytale
You were the prince, I used to be a damsel in destress
🌸
Goh is 9 when one day, he decides he doesn't need any friends in his life. Except…he’s not sure exactly why. Since he remembers, he always preferred his own company. Playing by myself, looking at the photographs and treasures of his dad’s journeys, dreaming about when he will get older and he will be able to set out on his own journey.
Since Goh started going to school, being around others was a pain. The truth is, he hates going to school. The building itself is manageable to handle, but his classmates are making the place worse for him. He can't get along with them well and they always make fun of him just because he is one of the quietest children in the school.
Goh has never mentioned it to his parents. He’s sure they could help if he’d asked them to. He knows they might know something because the teacher has called them out multiple times on different occasions. He knows his parents are worrying about him being alone most of the time, but he hates worrying everyone around him. He doesn’t want anyone to worry about him. He’s fine. He’s just…better on his own, right?
At least he thinks he is.
🌸
“Goh? Why don’t you go and play with your classmates?”, the teacher asks with a smile on her face. “You must be bored just standing all by yourself”.
No he isn’t. He’s fine. He wants to be alone. He takes a deep breath.
“Goh?”, the teacher asks again and Goh looks to the side, ignoring the piercing look in her eyes. He just wants her to go and leave him alone.
“Goh, I’m sure your classmates will be happy when you’ll join them”, she kindly says and Goh feels the tears gathering in his eyes. It’s too much. He chokes on his own sobs and he finally meets the teacher’s gaze with his own teary eyes.
“Are you feeling alright? Does something hurt you?”, she asks worriedly.
Goh already knows she’s gonna call his parents later and worry them unnecessarily. Nothing’s hurting him, but he lies anyway. He just wants to be alone.
He shyly nods to the teacher’s questions and points at his stomach.
“Oh sweetheart, you should’ve told me you have a tummy ache. Wait here on this bench nearby, I’ll bring you some mint tea in a minute”, she smiles sympathetically, and before he notices, she disappears into the school.
Goh breathes out in relief. He can be alone now. He does as instructed though and sits on the bench, knowing his peace will be disturbed soon by the teacher coming back with the tea. But for now, he can at least appreciate a few minutes of silence and oh- he’s proven wrong when an unknown girl sits next to him instead. Goh doesn’t know her name, doesn’t necessarily recognize her, but somehow her presence makes him feel safe. He looks up curiously at her, but the girl just keeps smiling at him. He’s about to ask what her name is when she speaks instead.
“Hey, would you like to go to my house after school? We could do homework together”.
Goh carefully considers, then shyly accepts the offer.
🌸
Goh quickly called his parents that he’s gonna do homework with a girl named Chloe at her house and he tried to ignore how his mom was too enthusiastic about it. How embarrassing. But neither Chloe or her mom judged it, and Talia even promised to drive Goh back to the apartment after they’re done with homework.
But none of the homework was done because Chloe’s dad returned home and Goh looked at him in awe because you didn’t tell me your dad is a Pokemon Professor! and Goh got distracted by some research her dad’s been doing recently. The boy being a Pokemon freak is such a contrast to her being neutral about them. Chloe rolled her eyes, but still, she smiled.
She wants to be Goh’s friend, she decided.
🌸
To Goh’s surprise, he enjoyed Chloe’s company. He’s not used to it yet, but he’s sure it’s gonna change soon. He promised Chloe to do homework together more often- well, he will mostly come just to see what kind of research her dad is working on, but surely they will do homework too. Chloe must’ve figured it out too because she just rolled her eyes. Professor Cerise just laughed, but immediately said how Goh is always welcome to come whenever he wants to.
Goh felt his heart ache a little. The bright rooms of Chloe’s house is a sad contrast to the dark rooms of Goh’s apartment where he lives with his family. His grandma is still at the Karaoke contest, his parents are probably working overnight again.
Goh goes to the balcony, still in his school uniform. It’s too difficult for him to take it off, so it’s probably gonna be another time when he falls asleep wearing it while waiting for his parents to come back. The night breeze welcomes his tired body when he walks over to the railing and watches the stars shining on the night sky. Alone. Again.
He spent most of the day with Chloe and her family and somehow he still feels alone? He never minded being alone, so why does it ache his heart now?
Goh heavily sighs when the glimpse of a familiar figure catches his eye. He chuckles to himself.
“Would you like to play hide and seek again?”, he asks, excited.
Abra nods and disappears.
🌸
“That was a close one”, Goh muttered, still in shock, Chloe nodding to his words. They’re both happy that Pichu got saved and could reunite with what seemed to be a Kanghaskan, probably its chosen family.
“Pichu’s pretty cool too, you know?”, Goh said in awe. Mew still was a star of the day to him, he couldn’t stop talking about how awesome it was, but something about Pichu was…
“That’s just a Pichu”, Chloe laughs. “They’re not very strong”.
“Yeah that’s true”, Goh agrees. “But it may evolve into a strong Pikachu!”, Goh exclaims, and Chloe rolls her eyes.
“I have a feeling it’s gonna evolve into one of the strongest Pikachu in the world”, Goh smiles, and Chloe has no choice but to chuckle.
She doesn’t question anything that Goh said, in fact, she feels the closest to the boy again since a few weeks after he decided to put a shell around himself again. It’s the first time Goh truly smiled in a while, so she wants to keep it this way.
“So what are you gonna do for the second half of the vacation?”, she asks again, mostly as a distraction from the Pokemon nonsense Goh has been talking about.
“Well, my parents managed to get a few days off from work, so we’re going to Johto together”, Goh says, visibly excited, and Chloe smiles at that. She missed seeing him this happy. It’s really rare to see Goh happy at all.
“I’m glad you’re gonna spend some time with your parents. Me and my family will be out of town unfortunately, so I think we’ll see each other when we’re back in school”, Chloe says, and Goh winces at the mention of school.
He takes a deep breath. He hasn’t told Chloe he’s not gonna go to school anymore yet.
🌸
Goh is 9 when he thinks he has just made his first friend. It was all a lie. Tokio broke his promise to meet again, and Goh’s heart aches just a thought of that. He feels heartbroken, misled and betrayed. Didn’t he mean the same to him? They were friends.
So why did he…?
His parents found him soaking wet walking back from the spot where he and Tokio were supposed to meet up. He almost feels like crying, he doesn’t though. The rain replaces the tears perfectly. He doesn’t want to talk about what happened, so he meets his mother’s worried gaze and just lies.
He’s still 9 and he still indeed doesn’t need any friends. If he wasn’t sure about it before, he’s sure about it now.
🌸
Goh is 10 when he tries his hardest to focus on the math homework in front of him. Chloe always brings him all the homework tasks and does it with him whenever he skips school. How kind of her.
In all honesty, Goh would rather do some research on Mew now instead, and Chloe knows Goh way too well not to figure it out. He already dreams of turning his 6 screens on and looking at the new data of Mew, when Chloe interrupts his daydreaming.
“You know, I’ve read this book recently called Today was a fairytale", Chloe starts and Goh snorts at the title. Chloe notices this, but despite it, she continues. “It was about a prince that tried to protect the princess by going in between her and a dragon that was attacking her and everything around”.
“I don’t believe in fairytales, Chloe”, Goh replies dryly and he focuses back on the homework in front of him.
It’s not like he doesn’t want to believe in fairytales. It’s just…just the thought of someone loving him or just being around him sounds absurd to him. He’s sure no one will ever love him. Besides, he doesn’t need to fall in love. He’s better on his own, right? Love sounds as absurd as having friends to him. He doesn’t need any friends. He doesn’t need a boyfriend or girlfriend. He’s better off being alone.
“Goh?”, Chloe quietly asks and Goh mutters some kind of reply, still looking into the papers. “Why exactly do you not need friends?”
“Huh? W-why do you ask?”, Goh raises a brow in confusion.
“Well, I’m just always intrigued by how you confidently state that you don’t need any friends. I just wonder if there’s any particular reason”, she explains further, still looking at him to get some sort of explanation.
Goh just stares at her, not exactly sure how to answer that question. He’s just confused.
Chloe is still looking at him and Goh thinks he’s gonna disappear under her piercing look. He gives up on continuing the homework. He takes a deep breath before trying to form some kind of a reply. “Friends are…”. Useless, that’s what Goh wanted to say, but he’s sure it would hurt Chloe, so he tries another way. “I’m just better on my own”.
“I don’t think that’s true”, Chloe admits and Goh rolls his eyes. “You’re not better on your own, you’re just pushing people away”.
“Why does everybody think they know what's best for me?”, Goh says, his voice full of anger now. “I have my reasons, you know?”, he fists his shaky hand.
Chloe doesn’t reply to that. She doesn’t even know what she could say that wouldn’t upset Goh further.
“What do I need friends for if the only thing they do is to break the promise and leave me?”, Goh says, trying so hard not to crumble and start crying.
“I’m not like that”, Chloe says, quietly, but Goh only chuckles at that. Chloe looks up at him with confusion.
“You’re not my friend, Chloe”, Goh says and his eyes widen in shock at his own words. He corrects himself immediately. “I mean you are, it’s just…you are not the friend I made by myself. I just let you stay in my life as a friend because you chose me”.
There’s a few minutes of silence and Goh starts to think he hurt the girl’s feelings. She finally speaks up.
“I understand”, is all that Chloe replies. She truly does. There’s no anger in her eyes, just understanding, and Goh’s grateful for that.
“I know it’s hard, but I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends by yourself in the future”, Chloe just says, smiling, and Goh nods to her words. “And I’m sure you’ll find your knight in shining armor too”, she winks and Goh rolls his eyes.
“Shall we continue the homework?”, she asks, and Goh groans in annoyance. He’d rather research Mew instead.
Chloe looks again at the papers in front of her when she hears a quiet thank you, Chloe. She smiles kindly in reply.
🌸
Goh is 12 when his blue eyes meet the brown ones. It seems the boy in front of him was equally crazy to jump from the nearby cliff on the flying Lugia. Lugia doesn’t shake them off. She just let them ride on her and appreciate the views from the world around them, but the only thing Goh can admire right now is the boy next to him.
You know what? It was awesome to meet so many Pokemon!, the boy exclaims, and Goh doesn’t have any choice but to laugh. He hasn’t felt that way in a long time. Happy? Free?
I accept you as my friend, the words slip from Goh’s lips on their own. He feels home. With that boy by his side, he feels like home. Something about the boy feels different and he wants to keep him with him forever.
🌸
I don’t need you as a friend, rings in Goh’s head loudly. He still hears Ash’s harsh voice, and feels the way he let go of his hand. Suddenly, he feels like he’s 9 again, losing Tokio as a friend.
So Ash is like everyone else then, isn’t he?
For a second he feels like running away from him, but decides otherwise for the sake of collecting the data for the Professor. He really felt like Ash was the first friend he truly has made all by himself, but maybe Ash really meant it when he said he doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore?
Goh heavily sighs. He lost a friend again.
Goh was always the one saying he doesn’t need any friends, so why does his heart ache just at the thought that he lost Ash now?
But he doesn’t need any friends, right? He’s better on his own anyway.
🌸
Goh is still 12, but 30 minutes older than he was before when he decides that he indeed believes in fairytales. The argument lies forgotten in front of him in the shape of Ash trying to protect hundreds of Ivysaur with his own body. Pikachu, a little beaten and tired, stands next to him. They both share a determined look, and before Goh can notice, Team Rocket is defeated. Goh has never seen that kind of courage, and he’s sure that any of the knights in all those fairytales Chloe has read had that kind of courage.
“Goh, are you okay?”, Ash asks worriedly. He knows Goh has never dealt with Team Rocket before, so it must’ve been scary for him. “I was worried they would hurt you too”. Pikachu paws at Goh’s shoulder in worry as well.
Goh blushes furiously at Ash’s words and the boy gets only more worried and confused at Goh’s behavior.
“Are you okay? You’ve gotten really red, do you have a fever?”, Ash asks again, but Goh only shakes his head.
“I-I’m fine. Thank you for protecting… us”, Goh says, shyly, and Ash just smiles widely at him.
“It’s no big deal”, Ash just says.
It does sound like a big deal to Goh. He still can’t believe that little yellow creature launched one of the strongest thunderbolts and defeated two of Team Rocket’s Pokemon. His mind is positively blown right now.
You know what? You’re amazing!, the words slip from Goh’s lips on their own. He wouldn’t be able to say it one hour ago. But now, he’s sure he was right back atop Lugia. Ash is different indeed, in the most positive way.
🌸
It’s almost 2 A.M and Goh can’t fall asleep, replaying the recent events in his head. Ash is already asleep, because he can hear his snoring from the bottom bunk.
Ash.
Ash, who said that he doesn’t need Goh as his friend, only to later on stick with him and help him climb the tower. He still feels Ash’s hand around his wrists, and his kind brown eyes looking straight into his blue ones.
Brave Ash, who would be able to fight Team Rocket with his bare hands to protect hundreds of Ivysaur and him. Him!!!
Goh just chuckles to himself, today was a fairytale indeed. He can’t wait to find out how Ash will surprise him tomorrow and the next upcoming days. Goh closes his eyes to finally try to get some rest, but his eyes snap back open and he realizes Oh no, I’m falling in love.
🌸
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale