Author's Note:

What's going on everyone? I hope that you all had a good Christmas Eve/Christmas Day I know I did and as such I decided to post this chapter a bit early!

First I would also like to say thank you to everyone that either left a review, followed my story, or made it one of your favorites so thanks a lot I really want to try to get this story to be as big as it can be so spread the word!

Otherwise that's about it so I hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave a review, follow or favorite my story when you done!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

Crossroads Chapter 2: Help From A Rival!

Previously on Crossroads, Ash finally realized that in order for him to create a future for himself and his Pokémon he needed to stop and get stronger and also met up with his old rival Gary at Professor Oak's lab.

Professor Oak's Laboratory – Kanto Region

"Gary… what are you doing here?" Asked Ash. He was somewhat shocked to see his old rival after such a long time.

"Well what can I say Ashy-boy? I heard you were in town so naturally I had to stop by and see you" answered Gary in his usual cocky tone.

"Alright, since I see both of you are now reacquainted, I'll leave you be as I have some important work to take care off at the moment. I will see you boys later" said Professor Oak as cheerful as ever.

"Alright Gramps, I'll make sure little Ashy-boy over here doesn't get into too much trouble" said Gary with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, we'll see who's the one getting himself into trouble" grumbled Ash while Gary and Professor Oak just laughed. The aged professor bid the boy's goodbye once again and closed the door leaving the pair to themselves.

"What did you stop by here for anyway Ash?" Asked Gary.

"Well I wanted to check up on my Pokémon. But now that you're here, I guess I just have to beat you senseless in a battle first!" Yelled Ash pointing a finger a Gary.

"Oh, don't you worry, Ashy-boy. I didn't come all this way to sit around and do nothing all day. You will get your battle, but before we do that, there was something I wanted to talk with you about" said Gary.

"Oh really? What might that be?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Here let's take a walk, follow me" said Gary. From his facial expression, it didn't look like he would be taking no for an answer.

"Alright, whatever you say. Pikachu, why don't you go hang out with everyone while I go talk with Gary." said Ash. Pikachu responded by jumping off Ash's shoulder and running towards Professor Oak's backyard where most of Ash's Pokémon were kept.

Once Pikachu was out of sight, Ash followed Gary down the steps of Professor Oak's lab and they began walking along the path which led into the forest behind the laboratory.

After about five minutes of walking, Ash finally asked "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" He was now really curious and he wanted to find out what Gary was being so secretive about.

Gary simply ignored Ash's question and fired right back by asking "So how was the Sinnoh league?"

Upon hearing Gary's question, Ash froze up for a second before responding quickly by saying "Everything went fine… I mean I made it to the top four so I'm definitely happy with that!" Exclaimed Ash, knowing that his lie was easy to see through.

"Really? I find that hard to believe after what happened with Tobias" said Gary, seeing straight through Ash's lie. He seemed to be acting more seriously than normal.

"Well, what can I say? He was just better than me. I mean, he had a Darkrai and Latios so there was no way that I could ha..."

Ash was shut up rather quickly when Gary yelled at him "What kind of excuse is that supposed to be!"

In all the years that Ash knew Gary, he had never seen Gary as angry as he was now. Gary continued by saying "Ash, you were publicly embarrassed! I mean six-two! Come on! I get that both of Tobias's Pokémon were legendary but still! Don't you feel bad about how everything turned out!?"

Ash looked at Gary with wide eyes and then looked away from him. As he did so, he noticed that they wound up next to the river where they split that Poke ball so many years ago.

"Well Ash!? What do you have to say for yourself?" Asked Gary angrily. Why wouldn't Ash answer him?

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Asked Ash softly while looking towards the ground, not wanting to meet Gary's eyes.

"Why do I care? I care because I know that the Ash that participated in that match and the one standing right in front of me isn't the same Ash that beat me in the Silver Conference back in Johto!"

Upon hearing that, Ash's eyes widened as he realized that what Gary was saying was right.

"What happened to that Ash, the Ash that wouldn't let anything stand in his way, the Ash whose dream it was to be a Pokémon Master, where is that Ash!?" Yelled Gary once again.

"I… I don't know… I'm just tired of losing. First, it was Ritchie in Kanto. Then it was Harrison in Johto, Tyson in Hoenn, and now the worst loss of my career to Tobias in Sinnoh. I just feel that if I go to a new region, everything will just turn out the same way as before and I don't want myself or my Pokémon to feel that way anymore" said Ash softly with his head now facing towards the river.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Asked Gary wanting to know Ash's answer.

"I don't know… I just want to get stronger, but I feel that if I go to Unova, then I will just be pushing myself further away from that goal and I won't get anywhere" said Ash as he tried to figure out what he really wanted.

"Then if that's the case, how will you make yourself stronger?" Asked Gary. He knew that this was the question that Ash was struggling with himself to answer.

Upon hearing the question, Ash looked at Gary and saw that he had calmed down considerably. However, he still had a serious look on his face and when Ash tried to formulate an answer to his question, nothing came out.

Seeing Ash in this kind of state was definitely weird for Gary but he also knew that this is a crucial time in Ash's life as a trainer. Knowing this, he said "Look Ash, I became a Pokémon researcher because that was truly the job that I was passionate about. I mean sure, being a Pokémon trainer was great and battling in the huge stadiums was something that I'll never forget about, but you helped me realize that being a Pokémon Trainer wasn't what I wanted to do with my life."

Gary continued to speak as he could tell that Ash was listening intently to him. "You helped me change my entire outlook on what Pokémon were all about. Not only that, but you helped me become a better person in the process. After you left Johto, you became a mentor for May and Dawn which is great. However, over the past couple years; you have been the one that hasn't gotten that much help because they and Brock don't know how to help you. A trainer, somebody like myself, can help you. Ash, you're right on the door step to doing great things, but nobody becomes great without a little help along the way. So, let me help you take that first step because God knows you deserve it from me after all these years."

After hearing all that from Gary, Ash looked back towards the ground and said softly "Gary… I need your help…"

In response, Gary just gave his usual smirk and said "Good! Now, you and I are going to have a battle once we get back to my Grandpa's lab!"

At that Ash's head shot up and a smirk almost immediately came upon his face as he said "Alright Gary you're on! Just know that I don't intend on going easy on you!"

"Hey! Just because I have been a Pokémon researcher for a couple of years now doesn't mean in the slightest that I have lost my battling edge at all. Do you not recall what happened the time before you left for Sinnoh when you battled against my Electivire?" Asked Gary with his classic smirk now clearly shown on his face.

"Oh I remember and this time, there is no way I am going to let you get the best of me! Let's go so I can officially put into the record books that I, Ash Ketchum, am the best trainer in Pallet Town!" Yelled Ash, already running back towards the lab to battle Gary.

As Gary watched Ash run off, he thought to himself "What am I going to do with him? This is not going to be easy for either of us. However, if it weren't for him, then I never would have gotten to where I am today. So, I am going to do everything that I can to make sure the he fulfills all of his dreams. Rival or not, in the end he is kind of like the brother that I never had".

With that, Gary ran off after Ash to begin what could be the first real step of a new Pokémon Master.

Author's Note:

Alright so I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter of Crossroads!

Now I wanted to get this chapter out before Christmas so I can enjoy that with my family then I'll get back to writing after then the next chapter should be out by Friday or Saturday!

That's about it so leave a review, follow, favorite whatever you want but regardless thanks a lot and I will leave you will the name for the next chapter and it should be pretty obvious hahaha.

Crossroads Chapter 3: A Rivalry Renewed!

That about it everyone so I'll see you later and have a great Christmas!
Cyclone20