"There!" Chloe exclaimed, swiping her ID card in the slot next to the mini screen. "I'm signed up for the Performance!" She said happily, looking back at Serena, who smiled in return. "Great, now we just need to find a place to stay," Serena said. Nurse Joy working at the desk overheard her say this and suggested that they stay there.
"Why don't we just do that?" Chloe asked, agreeing with Nurse Joy. Serena frowned but ended up agreeing to the suggestion anyway. "Hey! You guys!" Goh exclaimed from behind them at the entrance of the building. The two Performers turned around as Goh jogged over, out of breath. "You left me and Miette behind!" He exclaimed in annoyance.
"Sorry, Goh," Serena said, giggling. "I guess I was just anxious to hurry up and get here." Goh slightly shook his head and sighed. "It's fine. Not that Miette cared anyway, since she ended up leaving me behind as well and somehow found somewhere else to stay." He looked over at Nurse Joy and raised a finger. "Speaking of finding places to stay-"
"We already got us some rooms," Chloe finished his sentence for him. "You did?" He asked in shock, staring at the two keys in her hand. "Yeah, what's so surprising about that?" Chloe retorted with a sarcastic tone. "Nothing! Nothing!" He frantically replied, his hands raised defensively. "I've just never seen you so on top of things before." Chloe rolled her eyes and held out a key.
"This is yours," she said as Goh grabbed it from her. "Thanks," he replied, pocketing it in his sweater. "I was thinking of heading to the mart to grab some supplies for the next few days, so I'll be out a while." The other two nodded as Goh waved at them, heading out through the doors and onto the snow-covered streets.
As Chloe put the key into her pocket, Serena looked around and recognized the layout of this Pokemon Center. She saw the seating area where she, Clemont, and Bonnie had all sat patiently waiting for Ash to return after his devastating loss from Wulfric. Having to stay in the same area that caused her so much distress wasn't exactly ideal, but they needed to stay in a room to sleep.
"You okay, Serena?" Chloe asked, breaking Serena out of her stare. Blinking a few times, Serena looked back at Chloe and softly smiled. "Yeah, let's get to our rooms," she responded, walking down the hallway towards their rooms and away from what bothered her most about coming to this city.
At the mart, Goh was grabbing Pokeballs and food for their journey, as they noticed they were running low the night before. He was picking up handfuls of Pokeballs when a familiar set of voices were heard from behind him. Since they were separated by aisles, Goh decided to peek around the shelf and look into the next aisle over to see the owners of the voices.
"This will help us for a little longer," A soothing, male voice said. This person has medium-length purple hair, which was hidden underneath a black beanie. They grabbed a screwdriver from the shelf and inspected it. "Are you sure that it will keep us away?" A different voice said, resembling that of a woman's. This person was wearing sunglasses and had long, pinkish hair in a bun.
"I trust Jimmy here," A scratchy, almost inhuman voice said. Goh looked down and saw that the owner of this voice seemed to be a small, frail old man. At least, they looked like an old man to Goh. "When it comes to tinkerin', he's da man for da job," the old man said, keeping their hands in their pockets as they said this.
"Let's go then," The one with purple hair said, walking towards the counter near where Goh was. Upon seeing the trio of people walking, Goh quickly hid his head behind the shelf, blankly staring at some products on the wall to appear unsuspicious. I swear I know those voices, Goh thought, trying to think where he had heard them before. I just don't know where.
The trio walked up to the counter, giving the clerk the screwdriver. "How much?" The one in pinkish hair asked, pulling out a wallet with a logo. Goh couldn't make out the logo, so he inched over closer to the counter inconspicuously to try to get a better look. "That's 500 Pokedollars," the clerk said, accepting the money as it was handed to her. She gave them the screwdriver back and told them to have a nice day, to which the trio grumbled and began leaving the building.
YOU ARE READING
A Journey's Link
Fanfiction'A Journey's Link' is a tale about Ash and Goh, as they continue their duties as research fellows at Cerise Laboratory. Meanwhile, Serena has been pursuing her dream as a Pokemon performer, and is learning more about how to perform at greater levels...
