A Journey's Link

Chapter 73 - Life

1 month later...

"Dove-Pidove! Dove-Pidove!" That was the sound of the alarm telling Goh he needed to wake up. Opening his eyes slowly, he was met with the same blank white wall in the same empty white room. He groaned as he turned over and looked at the time on the alarm, noticing that it was quite early.

It had been a while since the conflict between them and Giovanni went down. Goh knew that they had ended up winning, but a lot of the details were spared from him, thanks to Delia being stingy with the facts. All he knew was that after help had arrived, Giovanni had been restrained accordingly.

Everyone was sent to the Pokemon Center to be treated, but eventually, they moved Goh and Ash to a special care hospital near Viridian City where they could be monitored more closely. Goh later came to find out that it was because while everyone else had somehow only gotten bruises and such, he had broken one of his legs and seriously injured the other.

Pulling himself up in the bed, he looked to his right and saw his crutches situated neatly by his bed. He smiled knowing that Chloe had come in after he had fallen asleep to fix them, as he tended to always set them on the ground upon getting into bed. A knock on the door broke his immersion.

"Come in!" He exclaimed to the visitor. The door creaked open and revealed the group of people that visited him every day. Chloe, Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena all shuffled into the room. "How are you feeling?" Chloe asked, smiling and sitting down next to Goh on the bed.

"The same," Goh responded flatly, staring down. He nodded towards his leg and added, "It feels like this thing won't heal at all." Clemont walked over and said, "It'll take some more time. It's not like you have super healing strength." He gave Goh a friendly punch on the shoulder as he said this.

He had grown closer with Clemont over the past month, as he discovered he and the inventor had a lot in common. "It seems like Ash gravitates towards smart people like us!" Clemont had remarked a few days ago, earning a dirty glance from Bonnie, who stepped on his shoe and said, "Clearly not because he decided to hang around with you!"

Goh loved seeing Bonnie poke fun at Clemont, especially when he got a bit overwhelming. Now was one of those moments, as Bonnie rushed over and said to Goh, "You'll feel better faster than you think! Clemont doesn't know what he's talking about."

Clemont chuckled at Bonnie's opposition and turned back to Goh. "I suppose she's right," he admitted. "Time has flown by, so you might be able to walk again normally in a few days." Goh nodded and responded, "Hopefully. It makes things a lot easier, that's for sure."

He turned around and looked at Serena, who had sat down in a chair near the room's entrance and stared blankly at the wall. Goh sighed and turned to Chloe. "He's still in the same condition, isn't he?" He asked sadly. Chloe nodded and frowned. "The scientists monitoring him said his vitals haven't changed," she explained.

"Except for his Aura levels," Clemont added. "Those have still been fluctuating since the first day." Goh took a deep breath and frowned before laying down on his bed again. "And no one has found Greninja or Lucario yet?" Goh asked the room, which stayed silent for a moment before Serena decided to speak up.

"No," she said weakly, her voice hoarse from not being actively used. "They've been looking, but nothing has come up." Goh felt bad as she spoke, as he knew how much the situation pained her. She and Ash had finally gotten the opportunity to connect without any looming threat, yet it felt somehow worse than when Giovanni was an issue.

"I forgot, what exactly happened with Greninja and Lucario again?" Bonnie asked. "You guys never told me everything." Clemont sighed and looked at Bonnie. "Everyone's Pokemon made it back to their trainers after the ambulances showed up, but for some reason, they couldn't find Greninja nor Lucario," he explained.