Four years had passed since Majin Buu's defeat, and the Earth was in absolute peace and tranquility. Goku had returned to Mount Paoz with his family, where he trained hard every day alongside Goten.
For his part, Gohan had returned to his studies and completely abandoned training, because despite his father's insistence, he didn't see the need to continue fighting. Unfortunately, this led to a considerable decline in his fighting level over time.
Goten's case was different. The little Saiyan hated studying, not to mention that he wasn't very good at academic activities. No matter how hard she tried, Chi-Chi couldn't get the boy to continue in school. In fact, he always ended up running away somehow.
He didn't love training and fighting as much as his father, but he certainly preferred it to the tedious task of sitting in front of a boring book. The boy's attitude pleased Goku greatly. Now, he would have a constant training partner, who, to his great delight, was his own son.
Despite Chi-chi's displeasure with this situation, she had no choice but to let it go. At least Gohan had become a great researcher, just as she had always hoped. She thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let Goten become more like his father.
Little Goten wasn't so little anymore. He had grown a little, as he was now eleven years old. He still had his father's strange, tousled hairstyle, as well as his cheerful and innocent expression. He had improved his skills a lot in those four years. But he wasn't the only one.
Trunks had also trained very hard alongside his father during this time. After all, Vegeta, the Prince of the Saiyans, wouldn't allow Kakarot's son to surpass his own for anything in the world. So he practically forced Trunks to train brutally every day inside the gravity chamber.
From time to time, the two boys would visit each other to play and have fun together. They remained best friends. But somehow, a small part of the rivalry that existed between their parents had been passed on to them. Therefore, friendly sparring was a central event in their reunions. Thanks to this, both boys could see how much their skills had improved.
When Goten visited Capsule Corporation, the little Saiyans almost always played video games or strolled around the city, where the amusement park was one of their favorite places. Other times, they just went to the movies, then consumed huge amounts of fast food at the mall.
But when Trunks visited Mount Paoz, everything was different. Usually, that meant a meeting to fight. They would take advantage of Goten's vast home to fly to a secluded spot, free to fight at ease, without fear of destroying anything or harming anyone.
They were friendly fights, but sometimes they got carried away. Last time, for example, they both decided to end their match in a draw, but only after they blew at least a dozen surrounding mountains into a thousand pieces, the result of the dangerous explosions generated by their destructive energy techniques. And they were trying to hold back.
Of course, the boys were also a mess. Torn clothes, bumps, scrapes, blood, and bruises were the facade they presented to their disgruntled mothers. Goku and Vegeta didn't give the slightest thought to this incident. In fact, they were fine with their children entertaining themselves this way, especially the Prince of the Saiyans.
They were both good, obedient, and even quiet kids. The problem was that when they got together, they usually did stupid things. They hadn't matured much since they were just kids and almost always ended up getting into trouble. Especially because of Trunks, who, at twelve years old, had a very active and inventive mind, so he ended up convincing Goten somehow to do something stupid when they were both bored.
Once, when he went to visit the Son family's home, he began to tease his friend, telling him that his Kamehameha was very weak and could barely knock down a mountain. Of course, the little black-haired Saiyan's response was immediate.
"You think so? Well, I'll prove you wrong! I'll destroy that huge mountain over there right now!"
"Ahh, come on, you know that wouldn't mean much," Trunks said, his eyes closed and his hand fluttering in the air in a disinterested manner, trying to provoke his friend even further. "If you really want to change my mind, you have to do something more surprising..."
"Oh yeah? What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't know, maybe something like... No, no way! You're too much of a coward to do that..."
"To do what, Trunks? Tell me already!" Goten pleaded desperately, shaking him by the shoulders.
"Ummm, I don't know, I was thinking about you throwing a Kamehameha at the Moon..." He finished, unable to avoid letting out a mischievous smile.
"To the moon? Are you crazy!?"
"I knew it. I knew you'd chicken out. That's why I didn't want to tell you," he replied, turning his back on him with his arms crossed so Goten wouldn't notice how much he was laughing.
"It's not that! It's just that... if my mom finds out..."
"I told you. I knew you wouldn't dare..."
Gripping his small hands tightly, he stepped forward, ready to accept the challenge from his lilac-haired friend.
Goten was a fool for falling so easily for his provocations. But so was Trunks, who always ended up regretting having convinced him. By now, neither of them had learned from past experiences.
That cool spring night, the sky and all the surroundings of Paoz Mountain were covered in an intense and blinding blue glow, which was followed by a powerful roar like no other.
"Come on, Chi-Chi, he's just a kid! What happened isn't that serious. There's a solution," Goku explained with his typical innocent smile, and as tactfully as possible, trying to anger his irascible wife as little as possible. But that was an impossible mission.
"How can you say that, Goku?! You always take everything lightly! Don't you see that our son is on his way to becoming a rebel? He already dropped out of school again, and I tried to pretend I didn't care, but this is the last straw! When he gets together with Trunks, they end up doing something terrible! That kid is a bad influence on my Goten!" Screamed Chi-Chi, extremely upset, red with anger, and with a large vein marked on her forehead.
"But Chi-chi, they were just having fun, they didn't mean any harm. With the Dragon Balls, we can wish the Moon back to normal, I promise." The Saiyan replied, waving his hands in front of him in a gesture of self-protection.
It was important to Goku that Goten and Trunks continue to meet, as it motivated the boys to keep training and test their strength in friendly matches. Part of the problem was the parents themselves, as Goku and Vegeta hadn't taken enough care to teach them how far they should push their limits.
Only Gohan had worried about those details, but the time he trained alongside his younger brother was very short and had been left far behind when the two of them had prepared for that martial arts tournament alongside Videl.
"And what do you propose we do about it? How do you suggest we punish Goten for what happened?" his wife asked, hands on her hips, still visibly upset.
After thinking about it for a couple of minutes and looking up at the ceiling in a clear sign of a reflective attitude, Goku had an idea.
"What do you think about letting the boys find the spheres themselves? Maybe that way, they'll learn to take responsibility for their actions. Then, I promise I'll make Goten study harder."
His proposal seemed to calm Chi-chi's anger considerably. She didn't know how Goku would manage to get the little boy to study harder, but it was better than nothing. So she gladly accepted, not without a hint of mistrust. After all, despite the woman's strong and dominant character, Goku usually ended up doing what he wanted.
Of course, the Saiyan was thinking of asking Gohan to take charge of such a mission, since he had no idea how to convince his youngest son to study more and do his homework.
Meanwhile, the two children heard the entire conversation from Goten's room. It was almost impossible to ignore Chi-chi's shrill screams coming from the kitchen, located just a few meters away from the small bedroom.
"I knew I shouldn't have played your game! Now, because of you, we both have to search for the spheres!" he reproached Trunks, somewhat annoyed.
"Hey, you can't just blame me! I admit what I asked of you was stupid, but that's precisely why I didn't imagine you'd actually be capable of doing it."
The two remained completely silent, analyzing the ridiculousness of what they had done. This time, they had gone too far. But after a few seconds, they looked at each other with a knowing smile, as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking.
"Hehe, did you see how it exploded? Admit it looked great..." Far from reflecting, Goten seemed pleased with his recent feat, if you could call it that.
"I admit it was a lot better than I thought it would be. That beats the fireworks display they dedicate every year to Mr. Satan the Clown!"
Cheerfully commenting on the incident, the two boys continued talking for a few more hours until the tiredness of the busy day prevented them from continuing, and they ended up falling deeply asleep.
The scolding that came the next day was monumental, not only from Chi-chi, but Bulma moved in as soon as she found out about the incident and took it upon herself to publicly embarrass Trunks with a long and humiliating lecture.
"And if I find out you did any of your stupid things during the trip, I'll have no choice but to give you a real punishment! A one-year punishment you'll never forget! For starters, you won't be able to go out together anymore!" the Capsule Corporation scientist threatened her son.
"Same here for you, Goten! Not to mention I'll make you study way harder than I did with your brother!" Milk finished, arms crossed, extremely furious.
That last threat was too much. Even Gohan, who was present, couldn't help but feel a small shudder run through his body just imagining the torture his brother would go through. Even Videl took pity, volunteering to accompany them to provide better supervision.
Both mothers were about to agree, but Goku intervened, saying that the boys would have to learn their lesson on their own; otherwise, they would never be responsible young men. Everyone was mildly impressed by the Saiyan's analysis and maturity on the matter, but there was a reason behind it.
Goku knew that if the boys went on their own, they could continue part of their training, something Videl would prevent them from doing if they accompanied them.
After endless instructions, Bulma made sure the boys had properly grasped all the necessary information about what they were to do during the trip. After all, she had been through the adventure of searching for the Dragon Balls several times and had plenty of experience.
Finally, he handed over the Dragon radar to them and departed in one of his planes, back to the Western Capital.
"Okay, guys, you know what to do. Remember all of Bulma's advice. Find the Dragon Balls together, one by one. Don't try to get separated. You never know what can happen on these kinds of trips," Gohan repeated to them one last time, making sure they both understood that part of the explanation. "Shenlong will grant you three wishes, but you'll only ask for the first one and then tell him to back off. Don't try anything stupid."
"Understood!" They replied in unison as they finished packing their last belongings and packed them into a few capsules, making traveling easier.
"Anyway, don't get too comfortable. We'll be back tonight at the latest," Trunks announced with a confident smile, the same one that Goten immediately spread across his face.
"Uh, guys, about that..." Goku chimed in to clarify one last detail, placing a hand behind his neck. "You'll have to do it without flying."
"What?! But why, Dad? I don't understand!" the smallest member of the Son family immediately replied.
"Well, it'll be part of the punishment. Otherwise, you'll be finished very soon, and this will be pointless. If you try to fly, I'll quickly capture your ki, and I'll have no choice but to teleport to wherever you are. So don't try to cheat."
It was too much like the truth. Everyone present, including the young Saiyans, was dumbfounded by Goku's attitude. For the first time, he was taking it upon himself to properly punish his children.
"The-but dad~"
"No buts, Son Goten! You'll do exactly what your father tells you!" Chi-Chi scolded immediately, although a little surprised at herself for the comment. She never imagined such words would come out of her mouth one day. Without a doubt, the situation was somewhat strange.
After a couple of hours, the boys left the Son family's house, ready to begin the journey and dressed in their respective training suits, the same ones they wore as children when they faced Majin Boo, only a few sizes larger and adapted to their current height.
Goten wore his orange dogi, identical to his father's, with a navy blue long-sleeved T-shirt underneath. Trunks, on the other hand, wore his green dogi with an orange belt and wristbands.
They had already said goodbye to everyone. With slight annoyance, they turned on the dragon's radar to locate the nearest sphere and travel in that direction.
"Okay, Goten, according to this, the nearest sphere is 200 kilometers north of here," Trunks said, closely observing the small blinking dot on the radar screen. "How about a little race over there? You know, like old times."
The challenge greatly encouraged the youngest member of the Son family. As children, they used to race each other to test their speed. Goten was a natural speedster, although when it came to flying, Trunks was usually the one who came out on top.
"Sounds good to me. I'll even have time to take a nap before you get here. It'll only take a couple of minutes," Goten commented as he did a few stretches.
"Two minutes?"
"You're right, that's a lot! It'll be more like one..."
When the two were warmed up enough, they prepared to take off at full speed on the count of three. But just before they could finish, a familiar voice called out to them from a few feet away.
"Wait a second!" Goku exclaimed, running up to them, his hand raised to get their attention.
"What's going on? Are you coming with us, Dad?"
"No. You see, I wanted to tell you one last thing," the Saiyan began, his expression changing to a more serious one. "The real reason I forbade you to fly wasn't as a punishment, but as a training method. Since you've known how to fly since you were very young, you've never used any other methods to travel. When I was a child, Master Roshi forbade me from using the flying cloud for a time, so I had to travel the entire world on my own,
"Do you really think traveling like that will help us?" Trunks asked, somewhat incredulously.
"Yes, I assure you. You'll notice the difference. But you're much stronger than I was when I was your age, so you'll have to do it a little differently."
"What do you mean, Dad?"
"Just touch my arm. You'll soon know."
The little Saiyans did exactly as he asked. Then, placing two of his fingers on his forehead, Goku teleported to their side, disappearing completely out of thin air.
In the gardens of Kamisama's temple, Piccolo was levitating in the lotus position, deep in meditation. Mental training was one of the Namekian warriors' specialties. His concentration was immediately broken when he sensed a familiar ki making its appearance.
¡Zip!
Out of nowhere, Goku and the two scoundrels who had caused him so many headaches appeared before him. The kids were much more rude and difficult to control than Gohan, not to mention their lack of seriousness and disinterest in dangerous situations.
When they fought Majin Buu, they wasted the fusion time trying to show off in front of him and doing whatever stupid things came to mind, instead of exterminating the demon when they had the chance. Their actions made the situation much more complicated.
"Hey, Piccolo, long time no see. How are things around here?" Goku asked with his signature friendly smile.
The Namekian simply opened his eyes, observing them while still levitating in his traditional meditation posture.
"I see you brought the brats who destroyed the moon. I'm sorry to break it to you, Goku, but I have no intention of training them," he replied in his usual dry tone, his voice deep.
"Hey, who told you about that?" Trunks asked, slightly annoyed. He wasn't happy that the news had spread so quickly.
"In case you don't remember, I'm fused with the old Kami. I can see that sort of thing from here. Besides, I felt Goten's energy when all this happened." He replied, not giving the little Saiyans much thought. "Like I told you, Goku, I'm not going to take on this pair of runts."
"It's not about that, Piccolo. I came to ask you for a different favor. Will you be able to use your powers to give the boys some heavy training clothes?"
"Hmmm, I see… And how much weight do you have in mind?"
The Saiyan looked up, holding his chin and assuming a thoughtful attitude. "I don't know, maybe a ton will be enough. I think they'll be able to handle it without any problems."
With a snap of his fingers, the Namekian caused the little ones' boots and wristbands to swell, as did their shirts. In Trunks' case, he put a navy blue sleeveless undershirt under his dogi, just like the one the former Kamisama put on Goku when he trained as a child at the temple.
The boys' eyes widened in surprise when they noticed the change in their bodies. They both shook their arms and legs from side to side, observing the obvious change in weight.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon enough," Goku said, seeing the confusion on their faces.
It wasn't that they were unable to move. In fact, at first glance, it seemed as though their clothing hadn't changed at all. What impressed them was the strange way Piccolo had brought about the change. Without a doubt, the Namekian warrior's skills were magnificent.
Placing his two fingers on his forehead again, Goku indicated to the boys to hold on to him. "Thank you for everything, Piccolo. When they gather the Dragon Balls and make Shenron's wish, I assure you everything will return to normal."
Without further ado, the three of them disappeared completely, as if they had never been there.
"Wait, Goku!" But it was too late. They had already left.
Piccolo was petrified. He never imagined someone would have the brilliant idea of entrusting such a delicate mission as summoning Shenron and making a wish to the two biggest idiots in the world.
Of course, it all made sense if Goku was the one coming up with such an idea. But with a sigh of resignation, the Namekian let it go.
"I won't be the one to interfere in this matter. It will be Goku's responsibility, whatever happens because of those two."
Once back on Paoz Mountain, Goku took it upon himself to explain one last thing to the boys.
"Ignore what Bulma and Gohan told you about only making one wish. I want you to use the second one as well. Ask Shenlong to rebuild the entrance to the Time Room so you can access that dimension again."
"And what do you want that for, Dad?" Goten asked, somewhat confused.
"It's a shame we'll never be able to enter it again. You could train very well there and achieve wonderful results. It would be a good idea to rebuild the entrance again, we might need it in a future emergency."
Both young men agreed. As children, they trained inside the room for less than a month, yet their abilities grew immeasurably. They perfected the fusion and managed to transform into Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks.
"But that's not all," Goku warned, his expression more serious. "I would like for you to enter the room and train for a full year once you've made your wish."
"WHAAAAT? A whole year!?" The two little Saiyans exclaimed in unison.
What Goku truly wanted was for both of them to become incredibly strong in just one day of real time. That way, his training with Goten would be much more fruitful and entertaining. Even Vegeta would be secretly grateful to him, as he'd also like to see his son Trunks become much stronger as soon as possible.
"Please, guys! Seize this opportunity! Being in the room for so long won't be easy, but you'll see that the results will be worth it."
Seeing how unconvinced his proposal was with the boys, he decided to blackmail them a little. Glancing around to make sure they were still alone, Goku leaned in and spoke to them in a low voice, a mischievous smile plastered across his face.
"If you do, I promise I'll put in a good word for you in front of your mothers. Goten, you won't have to study the way Chi-chi wants. And as for you, Trunks, I'll convince Bulma to give you back all your video games and let you and Goten go out again wherever you want."
"And if not, what?" Trunks asked, weighing up their options.
"Well, I don't know... maybe their mothers will want to continue the punishment for much longer, and I'll have no choice but to let them do what they want, without trying to convince them otherwise..." He said calmly, shrugging his shoulders with his eyes closed. But inside, Goku was dying of laughter.
Despite his innocence, when Goku set his mind to something he wanted, he would do things like this. Like when he tried to secure Bulma's date with the Supreme Kai from 15 generations ago in exchange for the ancient deity unlocking Gohan's hidden power.
"Spend a year in the room... spend a year grounded... spend a year in the room... spend a year grounded..." Trunks mused softly.
There was no need to agree with his friend. They looked at each other and immediately concluded. There was no need to even discuss it.
"A year in the room!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Excellent! You won't regret it, guys. You'll get really strong! Just keep one thing in mind: never stop wearing your workout clothes."
With nothing else to say, Goku said goodbye to both of them and wished them luck. The two boys then began their particularly fast race north. A race to the nearest Dragon Ball.
"It's not fair, you cheated! You knew I was going to beat you!" Goten reprimanded, quite annoyed, as he removed the rock debris on top of him and shook the dust off his clothes.
Seeing himself as the loser of the race, Trunks felt the need to cheat and threw a small sphere of golden energy at his friend's feet, generating a small explosion and causing the boy to stumble uncontrollably and end up crashing violently against a large rock in the path.
"You didn't say it was forbidden to throw energy," was all Trunks replied with a mischievous smile. But before Goten could answer anything else, the boy continued. "Hey, we have to start searching and stop wasting time. The sphere should be around here."
They spent nearly an hour searching through bushes and piles of leaves until they both concluded that the sphere must be at the bottom of the small lake in front of them.
"One of us will have to go in and get her," Trunks said, holding his chin for a few moments. "I've got it! What do you say we leave it to chance and play rock, paper, scissors?"
"It's only fair. Let's do it!"
And so the two began the little game of chance, until after ten consecutive ties, Trunks was the winner.
―Yes! Paper, scissors, so I win!
For his part, Goten was somewhat disappointed. He didn't want to go into the water and get his entire outfit wet. However, he thought no one would notice if he took off his training clothes, even for a moment, to avoid getting them wet.
When he was completely undressed, he threw his clothes onto a large stone near the shore, which broke with a loud crash under the enormous weight of his clothing.
"Believe me, Goten, I'm very used to training almost daily under increased gravity. I can assure you that shameless Lord Piccolo put more than a ton of weight on these things," he said, observing what had happened to the rock. But suddenly, Trunks noticed something curious when his friend turned his back on him, ready to dive completely into the lake. "Hey, Goten, what's that you have there? Don't tell me your tail is growing back!" He said, pointing at the strange appendage.
"This? Yeah. My dad said it's growing back. But it still has to double its size. He just warned me not to look at the full moon when I was fully grown," she said, swishing her tail from side to side.
Since it hadn't reached its full length yet, the boy still kept it inside his pants.
Without further ado, Goten dove into the lake, quickly diving into its depths. But no matter how hard he searched, he found absolutely nothing. It wasn't that difficult, either, as the lake was small and the water was quite clear.
The only interesting thing he saw was a giant fish swimming in circles, which he decided to catch by the tail and throw forcefully out of the water. This way, the two boys had already made dinner for that night.
After about an hour, Goten stopped exploring the lake. He was tired of searching, and it had already begun to get dark, so his vision was becoming very difficult. Sighing in defeat, he left the water and began to dress again, while Trunks took care of lighting the fire and cooking the giant fish.
"I see you've had no luck. If you want, we can eat, and tomorrow morning, when the sun comes up, we'll continue searching. Maybe there's a cave nearby that we haven't discovered."
Without answering, Goten sat down near the fire, while Trunks handed him a large piece of fish skewered on a wooden stick. The boys began to consume the food with great avidity, much in the same way that Saiyans normally ate.
It seemed impossible that two such small youngsters could store such a large amount of food in their stomachs. After half an hour, they were able to almost completely devour the gigantic fish, which under normal conditions would have been enough to feed at least thirty men.
"Your tail never grew back? Supposedly, both of ours were cut off right after birth." Goten asked, taking the last bites of his fish.
"Yes, a couple of years ago it started growing again. But my mom said having a tail was dangerous and that it would be best to cut it again, although my dad didn't entirely agree." He replied casually.
"Dangerous? But why?"
As Trunks was about to tell him he had no idea, he took a huge bite of his fish, making him immediately regret eating it carelessly.
¡CRAAACK!
"ARRGGG! Damn! What the fuck was that?!" He complained, his hands going to his mouth. "I almost broke a tooth!"
On the other hand, Goten was bursting with laughter, literally rolling around on the floor.
"HAHAHAHA! That's what you get for eating like a pig! You must have bitten into a very big bone."
"No, it wasn't a thorn! It looked more like a rock," he replied, still annoyed, as he rummaged through his food. What the boy saw left him almost breathless. "Hey, Goten! Come see for a second! This is what I bit into!"
The boy stood up and ran quickly to where his friend was, to observe nothing more and nothing less than the small part of a Dragon Ball peeking out from the fish's flesh. Without hesitation, the little Son took it in his hands to examine it better.
"Look, Trunks, it's the Three-Star Ball! No wonder we couldn't find it anywhere! This big fish probably ate it a few days ago."
"Wow, lucky you thought to capture it. But I almost broke my teeth on that thing." He continued to complain while touching his teeth.
"If you ate more politely like me, none of this would have happened," Goten commented with his eyes closed and in a tone of marked superiority, as if he were someone of royalty.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU PIECE OF ANIMAL! YOU EAT MUCH WORSE AND FASTER THAN ME!" Trunks shouted, more than annoyed by his friend's senseless comment, which was only looking to annoy him. Not for nothing, Goten finished his part long before him.
Be that as it may, the boys had already obtained the first Dragon Ball. But their journey was just beginning. They still had thousands of miles to travel around the world to get every one of them.