LIVE AND LEARN

- Mandarin Island -

The scene opens up to Mandarin Island. Located south, it is the largest island in the Kanto region. It is also a part of the Orange Islands. Mandarin Island is home to many large cities and towns.

We cut to the lunch area, where we could see some trainers together relaxing and eating lunch together with their Pokemon. Ash Ketchum was also there, and so was his Pikachu, whom was busy chowing down on his food.

"So do you like your food, Pikachu?" Ash asked, smiling.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied happily.

"Great." Ash was happy to see Pikachu enjoying himself.

The young trainer turned his attention away from Pikachu for a moment to look over at the large ocean. He got from his seat, while Pikachu continued to enjoy his meal.

Ash made it near the docks and stopped. His eyes were focused across the sea, just looking straight ahead. There were very few clouds in the sky, the sun was beginning to set, and there even water Pokemon that would sometimes jump out of the water like Magikarp, Goldeen, or even Seaking.

Those weren't on Ash's mind, however. There was something else that he was thinking about. On his recent journey, he had traveled with Brock and Dawn in the Sinnoh Region. He had seen new Pokemon, experienced new battles, and even got to compete in the Sinnoh League. Ash smiled warmly. Those were good times.

But very quickly, that smile on Ash's face had vanished. The Sinnoh League came back to his mind again. He had traveled so far and worked hard to get where was at. His dream of becoming a Pokemon Master has always been his goal. If he had faced Cynthia, the reigning Pokemon Champion and Master, in a one on one battle and defeated her, his dream would've become a reality.

And yet, even with all that effort he had gone through...he still lost. He didn't even make it past the 2nd round of the Sinnoh League. The trainer he lost to was very experienced and very tough. Ash had congratulated him for winning and wished him luck against Cynthia, even though she won in the end.

But now, the Sinnoh League has passed. His friends had departed, and Ash was beginning to feel down and regrets. He was beginning to doubt himself and his abilities as a Pokemon Trainer. His dream of becoming a Pokemon Master...what if it's just a dream that he can't reach? I'm sure other trainers fought for that goal, but none of them succeeded. This was Ash's true goal. To become the best Pokemon Master there ever was. Now that he thinked about it again...maybe he couldn't do it. Losing the Sinnoh League recently affected Ash a lot, even though he never showed it in front of his friends back then.

Pikachu soon joined him, trying to get his attention. That's when Pikachu noticed the look on Ash's face. There must've been something on Ash's mind.

"Pika-Pi?" Pikachu asked.

"Hm?" Ash looked down at his Pikachu, who got managed to get the young trainer's attention. "What is it, Pikachu?"

"Pika-Pika-Pikachu." Pikachu said to him.

Ash smiled a little and rubbed Pikachu's head. "Don't worry about me. I'm all right. Nothing's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong? The way your voice says it, it sounds like something is on your mind. Well, that's what I think, anyway."

Ash and Pikachu looked in the direction on where the voice came from. The person was across from them was a very beautiful female human. She had dark magenta hair with a ponytail that hung down medium length, a dark blue top with the collar up, a red top piece underneath, a jet back skirt, dark blue high heels, and rather large glasses.

Ash was surprised to see the woman who approached him. "Wait, you're...Lorelei?"

The woman, now known as Lorelei, smiled. "That's right. It's nice to see you again, Ash."

"Thanks..." Ash smiled, rubbing the back of his head. Just then, a thought crossed into Ash's mind. "Wait, you remember me?"

"Of course. I couldn't forget about you, cutie." Lorelei replied a little playfully.

Ash blushed at that comment before quickly shaking it off. "Uh...so, how have you been?"

"I've been great. I was coming down here to relax and get some lunch before I head home for the day." Lorelei replied. "That was, until I saw you here."

"Oh, well sorry about that." Ash apologized.

"Not at all." Lorelei didn't seem to be offended as she approached him. "Actually, I'm quite interested in talking to you." She looked closely at him up and down. "You've grown a bit. You must've traveled quite a lot."

"Yeah. Me and Pikachu have been at it for a long time." Ash said.

Lorelei turned to Pikachu and smiled. "Hiya, Pikachu. How are you?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied happily.

Lorelei was happy to hear Pikachu's response. She then noticed Ash turning his attention back towards the sea, just staring calmly at the beautiful view. Lorelei stood beside him, as they both looked at the view together.

"This is a pretty view. I always like theses kind of views on a beautfiul day." Lorelei commented. "Do you?"

"Yeah." Ash agreed. "I remember coming here on my journey with Misty and Brock."

"I remember those two. Have you seen them recently?" Lorelei asked kindly.

"I haven't seen Misty at all. And Brock had parted ways so that he could focus his goals on becoming a Pokemon Doctor." Ash answered with a slight sad look on his face. Lorelei pretended not to notice it.

"And what did you do afterwards?" Lorelei questioned.

"I went to new regions and met new friends along the way." Ash said, bringing up his old friends like May, Max, and Dawn. "I've even encountered new Pokemon and even made friends with some of them. We battled together through other trainers and even competed in other Pokemon Leagues."

"Sounds like you did a lot." Lorelei said, sounding impressed. "You've grown and gained a lot of experience as a Pokemon Trainer."

"Yeah..." Ash then lowered his head. "But I think it was all for nothing."

Lorelei had a curious look in her eye as she turned towards Ash. "What do you mean?"

"I've been training long and hard, and even gone through some of the toughest Pokemon battles I have ever faced. But even with all that, I couldn't conquer the Sinnoh League, or even get an opportunity to challenge Cynthia for the title of Pokemon Master." Ash must've felt really bad for losing at the Sinnoh League. "What if that goal of becoming a Pokemon Master...is something that can never be achieved? Perhaps I should just give it up."

"That doesn't sound like something I would hear from you, Ash." Lorelei believed she was hearing a different person speaking those words. "You just have to keep trying. Never give up on yourself and you will eventually reach that goal."

"...That's what they all say." Ash muttered.

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Everyone tells me that I shouldn't give up and I should keep trying harder until I do it right." Ash's expression changed with a look of anger on his face. "And yet every time I do that, I always end up failing! What do you think will happen the next time I try again? It will just end the same way!"

"But you don't know that." Lorelei said, bringing up an obvious, yet good point.

"Yes, I do!" Ash lowered his head, still angry and upset. "I train so hard and I feel like I'm taking one step closer towards my goal with each battle. When I reached the Sinnoh League, I felt like my dream of become a Pokemon Master was about to be realized. But then...everything just crumbled right in front of my eyes. I'm not fit to be a Pokemon Trainer anymore!"

"Stop talking like that!" Lorelei said firmly, but staying calm at the same time.

"Why not? You don't care about how I feel! Nobody does!"

"But Ash...!"

"SHUT UP!"

Those words took Lorelei by surprise as Ash ran off in the opposite direction. Thanks to a little bit of wind, Ash's cap blew away from his head, though the young trainer did not notice as he continued to run off.

Pikachu called out to Ash. "Pikachu! Pika Pika Pikachu!" But it was too late as Ash was too far away. Pikachu's ears lowered in sadness.

Lorelei walked over towards Ash's cap before leaning down and picking it up in her hands. "Pikachu? You think you can find Ash for me?"

Pikachu looked up at Lorelei. "Pi?

"I simply want to return his cap to him." Lorelei replied with a calm smile.

By looking at her eyes, Pikachu knew that Lorelei wanted another opportunity to talk to Ash. "Pikachu!"

The scene shifts towards the park was filled with flowers everywhere, all blooming beautifully as the wind calmly breezed by.

While the flowers were blooming, Ash wasn't, as he was looking at the sea from the park. His anger and emotions got the best of him, and he even went so far as to take it out on Lorelei. All because he lost the Sinnoh League. Because he didn't get a shot to challenge Cynthia for the title of becoming Pokemon Master.

Now Ash was regretting his actions from earlier. What if he kinda took it a little far back there? He was thinking about going back to apologize to her. But what if he made Lorelei upset and she didn't want to talk to him? He was afraid on how Lorelei would react if he tried to apologize to her. Would she even want to see his face again?

"Man, did I screw up back there. I acted really immature like a little kid." Ash thought, believing it to be true and it was all his fault.

Ash felt like he needed to cool off for a while. It was probably the best idea on his mind after what happened earlier. Getting angry like that felt unnecessary and instead of talking about his problems normally, he ended up yelling at Lorelei. Now that he thought about it, Lorelei stayed calm the entire time and not once got angry or upset when she was listening to him. Ash sighed, feeling more emotional pain to himself that he didn't need.

"Pikachu!"

Ash could've sworn he heard Pikachu's voice from a far distance. Or maybe that was just his head playing mind games with him again. Probably could've been the latter choice.

"PIKACHU!"

Ash turned his head to see Pikachu running towards him. Ash was surprised to see that Pikachu had managed to find him, but then again, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised by this at all. Though he was surprised when Pikachu leaped forward straight into Ash's arms.

"Pikachu? What are you doing here, buddy?" Ash asked with a mixed feeling of happiness and confusion. "How did you find me?"

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu replied with a smile.

"Uh...come again?" Ash obviously didn't know how to speak Pokemon.

"By me. Well, actually Pikachu led me to you seeing as he could sense where you were."

Ash looked to see that the voice came from Lorelei, as she approached him with her hands behind her back. Unknown to Ash, she was hiding his cap behind her back.

"Oh...hey Lorelei." Ash greeted a little nervously.

"I figured you would be here, cutie." Lorelei thought, as her eyes glanced around the park. "The park is a beautiful place, after all."

"Yeah, I suppose..." Ash replied slowly. He couldn't tell if Lorelei was acting sarcastic or just being friendly. "I suppose you're mad at me. For what I said back there." He lowered his head in shame. "And I guess you have every right to be angry at me.

Lorelei looked at Ash with curiousity. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Ash looked up at her eyes, confused. "Huh? Wait, you're not mad?"

Lorelei shook her head. "No. I understand how you feel, Ash. You always want to get stronger by battling some of the strongest Pokemon trainers in the world. Your passion to become a Pokmon Master is very strong and I believe you have what it takes to reach that goal."

"So then you're saying what I'm doing is...who I am?" Ash pointed at himself as an example.

"Yes. You're you. I don't want you to change, Ash. But at the same the time, I also want you to remember that you have friends who support you and cheer you on, no matter whether you win or lose." Lorelei replied. "Winning every Pokemon battle in a row doesn't have to be done all the time. You know that."

Ash did admit that what Lorelei said was true. He also realized that he loved being a part of Pokemon battles. The thought of him winning or losing never came to his mind at all back then. He just knew that he was a part of something big, like the Sinnoh League. And through all that time, he had his friends to back him up and support him through the good and bad times.

"You've gotten stronger, Ash. Being able to compete in something big like the Sinnoh League is no easy task. You were able to win the eight badges of the Sinnoh region, and then moved all the way up to the Sinnoh League. You just have to remember what you've accomplished and how you improved from when you started your Pokemon journey. You might be surprised."

"Wait, you knew about that?" Ash asked.

"I happen to catch something when I see it." Lorelei retorted with a wink.

There was a moment of silence between the two until Ash noticed something odd. "By the way, I noticed that your hands have been hiding behind your back the entire time.

"Oh, that?" Lorelei said, as she revealed the item that shocked Ash. "I wanted to return your cap back to you. It fell off your head after you ran away. I'd thought I would return it to you to show that I care about you."

Ash didn't know what to say. His cap fell off without even realizing it. And this whole time, Lorelei had it with her. Ash took his cap back and put it back on his head.

"I think that looks much better on you if I do say so myself." Lorelei smiled.

The young trainer's head was lowered and he was silent. Pikachu tried to look at Ash's face, but the cap's shadow was too dark for him to view Ash's face.

"I don't know what to say..." There was a small tear forming form Ash's eye as it dropped to the ground. Then Ash's arms wrapped around Lorelei, grasping her in a hug. Lorelei seemed very surprised at first, but then she heard the sound of Ash's muffled sobbing. Lorelei smiled calmly as she hugged him back, like a caring and loving mother.

"It's all right, cutie." Lorelei whispsered, as she rubbed the back of Ash's head. "It's OK to cry when you need to. I'm here for you."

Ash slowly looked up at Lorelei while still in a hugging position. "Can I ask you a question, Lorelei?"

"Sure." Lorelei nodded. "What is it?"

"I've been thinking about what you said. And I was wondering if you could help train me to become a better trainer?" Ash asked. "I know you're probably thinking that I've grown a lot of experience already, but I feel that I'm not fully ready at my current state. That's why I want to train under you. I want to learn more from you so that I can grow and experience more as a Pokemon trainer." Ash didn't hope that statement sounded redundant. "And I'm sorry about earlier."

Lorelei's were closed in thought, thinking about Ash's offer. "Well, I have to admit, this is the first time somebody has asked something like this to me. To be truthful, I'm more of a Pokemon Lecturer than a trainer to others. Hmm..."

Ash thought that maybe Lorelei was going to turn down his offer.

Lorelei opened her eyes and looked at Ash. "But since you apologized, I'll say yes."

Ash eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You mean it?"

"Well...on one condition." Lorelei added.

"W-What is it?" Ash asked shakily.

Lorelei let go of her hugging position. She lifted Ash's chin up and...kissed him on the lips. If Brock was here, he would be very jealous of Ash getting a kiss from a very beautiful woman like Lorelei. Ash's cheeks blushed deep red as his lips were locked with Lorelei's. She then released her lips from Ash's and smiled.

"I want to ask you out on a date with me sometime in the near future." Lorelei replied. "What do you say?"

Ash was surprised and confused to hear this from her. His eyes glanced towards Pikachu, who only smiled for Ash. Feeling the confidence in himself grow, Ash sighed in relief. "I don't see any harm in that."

Lorelei smiled happily. She grasped him in another hug. "That's great, cutie!"

"Yeah." Ash said, smiling with his eyes closed, feeling the warmth of her hug. It felt comfortable and relaxing. "It is."

The two eventually broke it up as they watched the sun starting to set even lower.

"It's getting late. Looks like me and Pikachu going to have to find a place to stay for the night. Maybe I can check into the Pokemon Center..." Ash thought.

"Not necessarily." Lorelei retorted. "Since we're now technically boyfriend and girlfriend, you can stay at my place now."

"Really? Thanks. That sounds like good news, eh, Pikachu?" Ash smiled at his partner.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded.

Lorelei wrapped her arms around Ash's shoulders. Ash felt comfortable in her arms so he wrapped his arm around Lorelei's waist. Lorelei planted a kiss on Ash's cheek as they both walked side by side, arms wrapped around each other lovingly, with Pikachu following from behind. Pikachu watched the two, and he could see a very bright future for the two love birds.

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