#Trainer Gou

[rixi-96]

[ashxketchum]

ASH AND HIS POKEFAM IN JN135 [FT. GOH & GROOKEY]

[doi-dot]

a christmas miracle

is that these two

stay

TOGETHER ❤️💙

[manofmanymons]

This has gotta be one of the best line deliveries XD

[textpostmemespksp]

Meme #284

(Image description in ALT text, original images below the cut!) 

Id: A meme about Ash and Goh from the Pokemon Journey’s anime They are shown lying next to each other in separate sleeping bags, smiling at each other. Over top of it is a scratch comment reading, “wait are they gay what’s going on,” /end id

[sinnohanvulpix]

Goh is neurodivergent and you can’t change my mind

Since today is Autism Acceptance Day, this is the perfect time to look back on Goh’s iconic moments throughout Journeys and how they support my headcanon that he is autistic. This is also @pikatrainer99​‘s headcanon, and we collaborated to make this post. And yes, we are both autistic, and we are allowed to encourage acceptance through this headcanon. If you’re not autistic and you disagree with any of this, then kindly leave.

With that out of the way though, let’s start with episode 1. And, oh boy, is there a lot to unpack! Just in this episode alone, we can see that Goh has a clear special interest in Pokemon, which brings him so much joy to talk about (which I can totally relate to). We also see that he lacked some social skills, didn’t understand social cues, and infodumped about all the different Pokemon they encountered as he didn’t understand that his role was to be the listener, not the teacher. But the biggest thing that stood out to me was when he said that he didn’t need friends, and it’s later revealed that he had been avoiding going to school. This seems to imply that something happened at school that made him stop going, which is unfortunately not uncommon for autistic people to go through (I would’ve gone through that if homeschooling wasn’t an option for me). So instead, he spent all his time on the computer doing Pokemon research.

Fast forward 4 years later to episode 2, and we see that Goh still finds just as much enjoyment in Pokemon research, with still no interest yet in making new friends. That is until he meets Ash, who was one of the first people he met who loves Pokemon just as much as he does. Because Goh still didn’t understand how friendship worked, he announced to him “I accept you as my friend!” As adorable as this is, it’s not the typical reaction to meeting someone, and I’m glad that it was Ash he said this too and not anyone else.

But episode 3 is when I really started seeing myself in Goh, as it was the first to show his insecure side, which likely developed from multiple instances of being misunderstood. After having one small argument with Ash, Goh became convinced that their friendship was completely over, that he messed it up. He even starts tearing up while muttering to himself, “so you’re one of those people too...”, which shows just how much having Ash as a friend means to him. Fortunately though, since Ash is so forgiving, he quickly forgot all about the argument and helped reassure Goh that they’re still friends, much to his relief.

After episode 3, the evidence became a little more spread out, but we can clearly see in multiple future episodes that Goh’s friendship with Ash hasn’t “changed” his autistic-coded traits. We still see many of these traits throughout the series, especially his fear of being rejected (which I headcanon as RSD, aka Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, which is commonly linked with autism and ADHD). This was most prevalently seen throughout episode 22, when Goh became convinced that Raboot didn’t want him as its trainer anymore and would live a happier life without him, which fortunately turned out to be untrue as Raboot came back for him. This was seen again in episode 101, when Goh saw Grookey getting along so well with the wild Grookey and Thwackey they met that he thought Grookey would be happier living with them. But once again, his beloved partner came back, reassuring him that they do belong together.

Speaking of the Galar starters, we also saw in episode 62 that Goh has trouble identifying his emotions, aka alexithymia (also commonly linked with autism). During a childhood flashback, after he had lost interest in playing with the other kids, his teacher asked him why, but Goh was unable to answer as he didn’t know why himself. Even in the present day when he reassured Drizzile that it’s okay not to know why it’s feeling this way, he began to tear up without knowing why. Something tells me this is something that he’s always needed to hear, whether he realized it or not.

And of course, we can’t talk about Goh’s insecure side without talking about episode 32. Even though we knew by the end that it was all a misunderstanding, Goh was convinced for three whole years that Tokio had intentionally broken his promise and abandoned him. This experience heavily traumatized him, which we can clearly see as his encounters with Ariados and Pineco bring back the memories of his time with Tokio and the painful emotions he associated them with. Not to mention this took place a year after episode 1, when he was already uninterested in making new friends. Seeing his first close friendship end this way definitely contributed to his distrust in others and unclear grasp of how friendship works, even after the two eventually made up.

This was even shown as late as episode 135, the penultimate episode of Journeys. He spent the entire episode trying to find the courage to tell Ash that he wanted to go on his own journey... only for Ash to casually tell him the same thing. Goh felt so betrayed by this that it led to an emotional outburst, which I can honestly understand. I wouldn’t want my dear friends to make this kind of casual announcement either. This proves that even after all this time of bonding with Ash and growing as a person and trainer, Goh still has much work to do when it comes to understanding social relations, which is a lifetime commitment for autistic people.

Fortunately, Goh has still managed to find much fulfillment on his journey. Not only has he finally gotten to embrace his deep passion for Pokemon, but he’s also formed multiple friendships with Pokemon. In fact, Pika and I believe that the reason he wants to catch ‘em all (apart from working his way up to Mew) is because he feels more comfortable befriending Pokemon than people. Pokemon don’t judge him the way people do, so it makes perfect sense why he would want to have friends in his life who won’t betray him.

Overall, we’re both super happy that we got to spend three years following the journey of one of the most relatable characters in Pokemon history. Goh will always be one of our favourite characters, and we’ll always look back fondly on his many iconic and relatable moments ❤️

[4kumatora]

Happy launch day to Scarlet and Violet!

[andrem962]

I begin my Satogou Week contributions. It may be a month late, but that's never stopped me

"Day 1: Letters - Ash and Goh catch up by exchanging letters through their Rotom phones"

[chaotickit]

If I had a nickel for every time a zeno robinson voiced character was possessed and turned british while being possessed, I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird it happened twice

[eternalstargazer]

Please let this be Paldea. PLEASE.

Ash could either meet up with Goh there after the M8 is over and Goh is finished with his PM task (imagine how excited Ash would be to check out a new region after Goh tells him about it) or they could go together after Goh returns from his assignment. 🥺����

It's a great way to introduce Paldea, either as the main focus for the next season, or to incorporate it into the world tour format, and most importantly, it would mean Goh would be staying! 😃 It's the only way I'll forgive the anime for not letting Goh be there to cheer Ash on for the most important match of his life, especially after Goh was there for all of Ash's previous PWC matches. 😢 So, once again...

❤️💙 P L E A S E 💙❤️

[theerurishipper]

Me back on my bullshit, just popping in to talk about this scene.

It's kind of confusing to hear Chloe say it, right? Why would she not call herself Goh's first friend? But I thought about it more, and it makes sense. It's kind of true.

So, it's been established that Goh used to be more of a loner. He's not interested in having friends. He doesn't have any friends and he doesn't want any. He's home alone a lot, and he's always studying to find Mew.

His only friend was Chloe. And what we know of their friendship is that Chloe and Goh met up when Goh came to hang out at her dad's lab. She brought him to camp. They've been friends since they were kids. That's how we're introduced to them.

I'm not going to come here and say that Goh and Chloe weren't friends. That's not true, they are childhood friends. But they weren't really close friends, or best friends. They liked each other and to hang out with each other, but it seems that that's about as far as it went.

Even during the course of their friendship, Goh said, to her face, that he doesn't want to get friends. Despite their friendship, Goh is still more of a loner who prefers to do things by himself and stay in his own shell. He often runs off to do his own thing without telling Chloe and leaves her waiting for him. He doesn't put in the effort to maintain their friendship, because it ultimately falls second to his dreams. Chloe mentions that Goh always came to play at her dad's lab, and that phrasing kind of says that Goh was always more interested in her dad's work than spending time with her. That's not to say that he didn't care about spending time with her or that he didn't care about her, but clearly it wasn't his priority. In episode 2, she brings him the handouts from school for them to do together, but even after she hands it to him, all Goh cares about is Professor Oak.

Goh's an ambitious person. He's a loner. He's got a severe case of tunnel vision. His friendship with Chloe was important to him, considering he does encourage and ask after her throughout the series, but it ultimately comes second. He's just got bigger things to do, like find Mew.

And as for Chloe, she just doesn't get him.

Chloe doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She sees so many options and can't decide which one to choose. She doesn't have any dreams or ambitions. At the beginning of the series, she's pretty aloof and apathetic. This is in complete contrast to Goh's passion for his goal, one that he's already completely sure of. Goh loves this. Goh loves to spill Pokémon facts and talk about Mew. Goh loves to show off his knowledge. Obviously, he's mentioned to Chloe that he wants to find Mew and all that. But at the end of episode 2, again, when he excitedly tells her he met Lugia, this is her reaction.

She's pretty dismissive of him when it comes to his ambitions. I understand that being around someone like Goh can be tedious and that she's probably not very happy with him in this moment, but it speaks to her general attitude towards this side of Goh. She's just not really interested. Not to say that she doesn't care about Goh or that she won't support him, but she just... doesn't really care, I guess.

This generally just comes down to them as people. Goh is ambitious, but Chloe can't get that, because she has no ambitions or dreams of her own. Chloe wants simple things like for Goh to hang out with her, but Goh can't get that, because he's all about his dreams and destiny and fateful encounters. They're both stuck in their own shells, and they can't break out of them, and they don't get closer to each other because they don't understand each other.

Which is why Goh gets along so well with Ash. Ash is someone who understands Goh's passion and ambition, because he feels the same away about becoming a Pokémon Master. He gets Goh. He supports Goh in a way no one has before by encouraging him and supporting him. He offers Goh the affirmation Goh is looking for. His influence helps Goh break out of his lonely bubble and notice the world around him. Ash is the first person Goh actually rewards with his trust. Goh follows his dreams and Ash is there every step of the way, by his side. Goh learns from Ash. Goh does things with Ash. Ash's influence is what helps Goh grow from a rather selfish loner to someone who is empathetic to the people and Pokémon around him. To someone who decides to open up to people and not be scared that they'll abandon him. Ash is the first person Goh really accepts as a true friend.

Again, this is all not to say that Goh and Chloe aren't friends. As the series progresses, they do come to understand each other better. As they grow as people, they get closer. But the fact remains that when they were kids, they were too caught up with their issues to be able to become closer to each other. When Chloe says that Ash is Goh's first friend, she doesn't mean that she was never his friend at all. But emotionally speaking, Ash is the first person that Goh has ever cared about so much as a friend. Ash is the first person who's truly understood Goh and valued everything Goh likes about himself. The first one Goh has treated as a true friend. The first one he's put first and tried to maintain a friendship with. The first person Goh has actually supported, the first person by who's side Goh has stood. The first person he's trusted. (And the first person he's had a cru-)

So that is why that line is there. It made no sense to me the first time I watched it too, but it really does make sense. Chloe and Goh's relationship has improved through the course of the series, maybe not as overtly as I would have liked, but still. They understand each other way better now, and they're more supportive of each other as a whole. But their friendship in the past, while not non-existent, was flawed, and Chloe recognizes that. But it's not all lost. They've grown as people and their friendship has grown too, and I'm sure that in whatever future they're headed towards, Chloe and Goh will continue to be good friends.

[rixi-96]

[savebatsfromscratch]

Windmills and Seabreezes - Palletshipping Week 4 (Coming Home)

Summary:

Ash returns from his final Journey. He can't seem to feel at home.

Notes:

Prompt: Coming Home Note: Btw I have NOT watched any of Journeys. This was just so clear in my head I had to spit it out. Apologies if it’s kinda wacky. This is intended to be a Palletshipping end game, but it’s rather convoluted and extremely open-ended. I still think it counts though, and it is my opinion that matters so… Cws: Post breakup whump. (Satogou for reference.) Mental turmoil. It’s NOT happy. Words: 1,518

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54897274

Ash dropped his bag onto his bed and sighed.

So that was really the end huh?

The sudden rush of tiredness wasn’t a surprise. It wasn’t at all unusual to feel a little sore after coming home from a journey, just like it wasn’t at all unusual to feel aches creeping into focus after actually getting a room in a hotel for once. It wasn’t even surprising to feel the ever present question of, “what am I even doing here?” spin inside his head.

No.

None of that was the problem.

He sat on the edge of his bed and tried to talk himself into feeling better. He had done it! He didn’t have to fight anymore, he had won. No matter how unlikely it had seemed, especially with his soul crushing defeat in the Kalos league, he had done it. For whatever reason, trainer critics never seemed to take his Alola win seriously, only reflecting on his loss in the Kalos semifinals, and he had to admit that it had got to him a little bit!

But this was not that!

This was something undeniable.

The masters tournament, something that was meant to be the best of the best, and he had won!

So… Why did he still feel so down?

Was there really nothing beyond this? Of course not! He still hadn’t won in most of the leagues he had been a part of, and there were missions upon missions to take on in any project he desired, if he chose to go down a different path. Heck, he hadn’t even given contests or performances a real shot, those looked fun, he knew for a fact that you had to be made of something special to do well there. Beyond that, he hadn’t even been to many regions, completely losing out on their styles of being a trainer.

He’d never tried wild pokemon photography, or card games, or research puzzles, or ranger life, or battle simulators, or capture contests, or any of the other things that he’d heard fellow trainers raving about on the roads. Sure, not all of those options really sounded like his style, but just the fact that there were so many of them clearly meant that there was more out there to do! There was more to learn, more to experience, more to grow in and with, why wasn’t he excited about it?

Of course, he knew the answer.

Duh.

Losing traveling partners always hurt him, but this most recent loss was on a level that Ash found almost completely unprecedented. …almost. There had only been one other abandonment that hurt quite so bad, but it had been years and years since that loss, and now his wounds felt fresh and reopened.

If he couldn’t look at someone he loved, hold their hands, and tell him they’d always been together, what did it matter that he was the champion? What did it matter that there was more to do? What did it matter that he was not yet perfect? He certainly hadn’t been perfect when he’d been unable to see anything but him.

Why had he come back?

Until that point, Ash had felt comfortable, even happy with Goh at his side. Until that point, he had finally thought he had found someone to whom a promise of “forever” wouldn’t be a dirty lie. Finally someone who could, and would, save him, make him clean and whole once more.

Someone who, funnily enough, was exactly the type of person who could make Ash break his promise.

That was his problem, he guessed. He never seemed to be able to pick one. Did he want to be a champion or a friend of Pokemon? Did he want to keep in one region, or did he want to head onto the next? What even was the next? Should he go left, or should he make the right decision? Should he try something new, now that it was over, that which he had spent, and on occasion, even lost, his life in order to achieve?

What about him made it so impossible to make a decision like this?

He forced himself to lay down in his bed, forcing his mind to calm down. He couldn’t risk accidentally stomping his feet and alerting his mother to his distress. He had just gotten home, as far as she knew, he had never even been dating Gou, let alone broken up with him, and he wanted to keep her shielded from his tears for as long as possible.

Ash stared up at the ceiling, eyes burning.

Maybe the problem was not that it was over, but that he knew it was for the best.

He had loved Gou, yes. 

But he had loved Gary longer, and seeing his former rival come back into his life had turned everything on its head. Despite everything, Ash still loved Gary, and, as it turned out, when choosing between the two of them, Ash would pick Gary. 

From an outsider's perspective, Gou and Gary may have appeared to be a sort of uncertain friendship, but Ash knew better.

But apparently not enough to save his relationship.

Forgetting all about not alerting his mom to his distress, Ash clambered to his feet. He had to get out of the house. He had to go somewhere else. The air, so clearly different from the winds that had blown through the trees on his many adventures, felt stuffy and all too warm. Even with the window cracked open, it was hard to hear the sounds of Pokemon around him, and the unnatural shape of rectangular shadows coming through the thin opening glowed with a very false looking sunset.

Despite traveling for so long, it seemed he was not quite ready to go back to a “normal” life, not quite yet.

He hadn’t removed his coat when jumping into his bed, but his bag and Pokemon were left behind as he left his room, crept down the stairs (past where his mother was cooking in the kitchen), and slipped out of the house. Once outside, he took a deep breath of air, but it was not quite right either. It was clean and cool, and tasted of a coming night time, but it was not what he was looking for.

Almost aimlessly, Ash began to walk. He walked between trees, houses, and occasional agricultural fields. The land of Pallet was nearly pristine, almost lacking entirely in pollution, and yet the air was not yet perfect.

He followed a small stream of water, not even thinking about where he was going as it winded down a hill, past the research station, past an old patch of red flowers, now mostly withered, and flowed into the sea. Ash looked up, as if only then he was realizing where his walk had taken him. The place wasn't the same as where his heart had longed to be, but the feeling of the wind over the huge expanse of water brought the very same feeling to his lungs.

He breathed in deeply, and let his mind run through memories.

As the sun sank, he remembered everything he could manage.

He had loved Gou, and though he knew it was going to be a while before those wounds stopped aching, he suddenly realized that he was feeling better in the presence of the air of the waterside. It was just as Gou had said, they would both be happier this way.

He had said it with a sad expression, and he had said it with a nod, when his group of explorers had walked back into view.

All the way home, Ash had wondered what he had meant, but now he knew.

This was not an ending, as the setting sun told him, but a new beginning. This was a chance to make his life good again, even better than what he had felt before. It had practically been a command, and who was he to disobey a former love’s last wish?

Ash turned to look behind him, looking up at the slow turning of the windmill of the lab. 

It spun calmly, unshaken by what he was feeling, a constant in his life of constant changing, it seemed to represent the endless cycles he so often found himself in. He felt a rush of wind come across the ocean, and he hugged his hands to his chest. No matter what his past threw at him, he was going to find a place in his future.

He continued to watch as the lights of the lab flickered on, inviting an occupant back home, back into the embrace of the clean walls and bookshelves. Ash stared into one of the windows, and suddenly he was half sure that he had seen a familiar explosion of brown hair look back at him.

As Gou had told him, it was time to live their lives the way they wanted to, a way that was safer. Maybe for Ash, who had been traveling for who knew how long, that safety was right there at home.

Notes:

???? Idk if this fits the prompt. Comments very appreciated!

[doi-dot]

he says they have a friendship of fists.

AND THEN LOOK AT HIM.

also hi im back from the dead

[askthejourneysgang]

And the Journey Continues

Ash: Well, my friends, this is it. We've made our 1000th post.

Goh: So that means no more questions...

Chloe: I'm kinda going to miss them. Some got pretty weird, but we've been doing it for literal years, so it'll be hard to get used to not doing them

Goh: I get what you mean 😔

Ash: Cheer up, guys! Just because this journey is over, doesn't mean we don't have more journeys waiting for us on the horizon...

...Er, that wasn't meant to be foreshadowing, don't get your hopes up 🙏

OOC: And thank you to all the people, both familiar and anonymous, who sent questions and kept this rp blog alive!

Ash: Whoa! Who are you, mister? 😳

OOC: I'm @andrem962. I made this blog and the previous @ask-ketchumjourneys blog that was replaced by this one. I thought I should say something myself

Ash: Oh, okay. Goh right ahead! 😋

Me: Thank you again for your support. I was happy to do my part in contributing to this fandom! I don't know if I'll do any kind of rp blog in the future again, but if you still want to ask the trio some questions, I'm always available in the roleplay channel of the satogou server!

Bu-bye~

[colourful-void]

stgo artists and writers this is the fucking TIME to band together alright with journeys over this is the time for us all to be sharing posts and making recommendations like never before. reblogs and comments will go a LONG way to keeping a dedicated group of fans for this pairing, both those who make the art/writing/edits/cool stuff, and those who enjoy it.

I would be so happy if ppl took the end of journeys as a chance to share the art/writing/edits that people have made around again, to really push and uplift the new things we make, all that sort of stuff! make art of fics, make fics of art, make edits and moodboards, make new things, make posts reccomending old things, just... if you want to keep talking about the journeys characters, ash in general, etc, please please do.

i love seeing all your wonderful pkmn jn creations and I dont want anyone thinking that people won't care anymore, so lets all try and show off each others works!!