Alexandros|29|he/him preferred, she/her and they/them acceptable|genderfluid|vegetarian|intermediate violinist|Aspiring teacher| Substitute teacher| Favourite drink: kombucha| Favourite food: crispy Asian-style tofu| I post almost exclusively Pokemon, with some other random shit dashed in here and there.| Side Blogs: the-beautiful-tsubaki (video games, mostly Fire Emblem), get-rid-of-the-goop (fitness), and an-aspiring-vegan (vegetarianism/veganism) (The latter two are not very active.)
Satogou aside, I was wondering how long it was going to take for Hop to appear :D
Spoilers for Episode 115! (No battle spoilers)
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After finally making it into the M8, you would think Ash would want to spend every possible second hanging out with the champions. These are the strongest trainers in the world, and Ash knows and admires all of them (Iris is a close friend as well). Opportunities like this don't exactly pop up every other day! Next to Iris, Cynthia is probably the one that knows Ash best, and his absence doesn't go unnoticed by her (Lance, on the other hand, is too busy being serious, and Steven can't risk disrupting that cool guy aura he's got going on).
So where is he??
Oh.
Of course. 😂
Keep in mind that Ash didn't know Hop would be sitting with Goh. That makes this extra sweet because Ash didn't want Goh to be by himself. 🥺 Or, Ash just thinks it will be more fun to watch the M8 battles with Goh. Either way, this just further shows how much Ash enjoys Goh's company. The two already practically do everything together and spend all day with each other (before going to sleep in the same room, so technically all night too), and yet still, Ash chooses Goh over a room full of champions. 💖
Out of the three boys, Goh is the one that looked the most serious/concerned during the first battle. Ash may not be the slightest bit nervous about his upcoming matches... but I get the impression Goh is gonna worry enough for both of them. 🤣
This competition truly matters to Goh because he knows how important it is to Ash. If Goh simply cheered Ash on and never showed any signs of concern that he could fail, then his friendship with Ash would be superficial. The way he worries about Ash and his dreams? That really says a great deal about how much Ash matters to him.
Just as Ash choosing to spend his time with Goh at the M8 competition really says a great deal about how much Goh matters to him.