Author's Note: Hello, fellow internet-dwellers! This is my first story, so please bear with me! And, if you have the time, please comment/criticise. I think I really need help.

This story is in the perspective of an Ace/Cool Trainer in the game Emerald/(Omega)Ruby/(Alpha)Sapphire. I thought it'd be interesting enough.

"I want to be the very best. I will be the very best. After all, destiny is never set in stone, right? If I work to this, I can get it, right?"

I have come all this way.

"This is it," I told my Roselia. "This is the last stop before the league."

And we got through Victory Road to the other side of Ever Grande city.

It was breathtaking.

And we stepped through the doors to our destiny . . .

Of defeat.

That's not what really stopped us, though.

We kept trying.

Again and again.

My dear friend grew stronger each time, but was also crushed and shoved back ruthlessly each time.

It was too many losses to count when I found out.

It was another trainer, by the name of Michelle. Funny, she looked a lot like me.

A lot.

I challenged her. We battled. I won.

Accompanying her to the Pokémon Center was the least courtesy I could show. I understood the frustration of not being good enough.

She snorted at my attempts at 'small talk', and looked at me for a moment.

A long moment.

"So, what's up with you, fellow Cool Trainer?"

"Cool Trainer?"

"Like, you were taking this battle pre-tty seriously."

"I can't think what you mean. Of course I'd take it seriously."

"Why?"

I told her my ambitions, my dream of becoming a trainer of high class and world-renown.

She laughed.

Why?

She looked at me, almost pityingly, like she was still waiting for me to get it.

I didn't like that look.

Finally, she spoke.

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Okay, let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you were a bandanna or a white-ish hat?"

"No, of course not—!"

"Didn't think so. Are you from Littleroot Town?"

"I'm from Lilycove; why would you ask—?"

"Yeah, figured. Is your father a gym leader in Petalburg city?"

"Why on earth would you think my father—?!"

"Then, let me help you get this in your head, trainer. You—are—never—going—to—be—the—Champion."

That got me to stutter.

"W-what? How can you say that?"

"Look, here, kiddy. In this world, in this universe, heck, even in YOUR LIFE, you're not the main character. You're not the protagonist, you're just a stagnant side character. There are countless people who look exactly like you and me, and you're not anything special from the rest of us.

"And somewhere right now, there's a ten-year-old kid who's going to tromp through this stinking cave real soon, beat all our prides down like a game of whack-a-mole, challenge the Elite Four, and the Champion, and win. They're going to catch the legendary pokémon like the Regis, the Weather Trio, chances you and I would never even dream of.

"Get it, trainer? You're not important at all. You're just a side character who's only role is to give the hero a battle that they'll easily beat, and they won't even remember your name. They'll walk all over you, and then your screen time is over and meaningless."

I was silent.

Her eyes were sympathetic now, as she opened her mouth to talk again.

"I'm really sorry, Hope, but that's just the way things are."

Silence.

She looked like she wanted to say something more, and she did.

"Hey, though, don't lose your way. Hope, huh? Your name is funny, in a way. You had the most hope and potential I had ever seen."

And that was enough for me.

And I decided, no, I would not give up. I would train, and give that Champion the best battle they'd ever seen.

I wouldn't be remembered. I wouldn't be acknowledged.

But I'd still know I helped pave their path, no, their destiny to victory.

And I wouldn't give up hope.