A Journey's Link

Chapter 39 - Split

Goh continued running towards the Anistar City Gym in hopes that Chloe would be there. Please be okay, he thought, gasping for air with each step. I didn't mean what I said. Making his way down the street and towards the gym, he scolded himself for his previous actions and his unnecessary fight with Chloe.

Running up to the gym, Goh saw Miette and Serena talking outside of the Gym. "And that's how I was able to go up against Aria!" Miette exclaimed, finishing her story on how Aria had beat her in the Performance Showcase Finals. "Wow! It must've been fun, huh?" Serena responded, a gleam in her eyes. The time she had performed against Aria for Kalos Queen was one of the best experiences of her life, and she was glad to see someone else experience it as well.

"Hey! You two!" Goh exclaimed, running up to the two performers. They turned around and faced an exhausted Goh, clearly seeing something was up. "Have you two seen Chloe at all?" He asked with a concerned tone. Serena and Miette frowned at each other and shook their heads. "No we haven't," Serena said as she turned back to Goh. "What's wrong?"

Goh straightened up and rubbed his head sheepishly. "It's nothing," he muttered, clearly too embarrassed to talk about the situation. "But she's not here? Are you sure?" Goh asked again, hoping that maybe the girls were wrong and Chloe was safe inside the gym.

Again, Miette and Serena shook their heads in response. "We would've seen her come through," Miette explained, which Goh realized was true. He aimlessly looked around, hoping to maybe see Chloe randomly pop up, but was only met with the mellow and calm atmosphere of Anistar City.

Everyone in the group heard a set of doors open behind them, and all turned to reveal Ash with a stoic and otherwise serious face. "Hey," he said simply, not adding anything to the greeting. "Hey Ash," Serena said warily, thrown off by Ash's weird and dull behavior. "What did Olympia talk to you about?" Serena added as Ash slowly walked towards them.

"Oh, it was nothing," Ash said, lying through his teeth. Truthfully, he didn't want to tell anyone about how truly dangerous the threat was because it wouldn't do anything but cause panic and sadness, so he chose to just avoid talking about the subject matter altogether.

Serena seemed to accept this answer, not realizing the lie that Ash was telling her. Looking over at Goh, Ash saw the turmoil in his face and asked, "What's wrong, Goh?", worried for his friend. Goh explained the situation of how he lashed out at Chloe, which was something Ash didn't understand, and how she had taken off towards the gym, hoping to find her there.

Ash clenched his fist. Anytime a friend was in trouble, he always felt obliged to help them out, so this time wasn't any different. He turned toward his friends and decided that it would be best if they split into two groups to search the area. "Let's split up into two groups," he suggested innocently.

"I know!" Miette chirped up suddenly. Oh no, Serena thought, seeing the mysterious glint in Miette's eyes. "How about me and Ash look in the forest while Goh and Serena look in the city!" She exclaimed, walking over to Ash. Serena couldn't believe it. I thought she wasn't trying to mess with me anymore! she thought, remembering back to when Miette admitted to not liking Ash back at the Pokemon Center.

Goh confusingly looked at Serena, who looked back with a look that said everything. Ash begrudgingly accepted Miette as his search partner and said, "Me and Miette will go to the forest and you two can search the city," before walking alongside a smirking Miette towards the end of the path where the forest began. Serena watched with jealousy as the two disappeared into the bush, longing for Ash to not go along with Miette.

"What's up with that?" Serena heard Goh say behind her. She turned around and began explaining the history with her and Miette. "She's my rival in Performances," she began. "Also, she teased me about Ash. A lot." She eyed Goh, who nodded in understanding, as it was clear to him since he met Serena about her crush on Ash.