Chapter 8: Resetting the Course

Ash looked at Roger in disbelief. "I lost like that...and you still think I can win a few battles at the Champions' League?" he asked.

"Yes, I think you can," Roger said again. "You are a talented trainer, and you have a team of powerful Pokemon. There's just one missing piece to your training and battling style."

"What?"

"You need to work on long-term strategy. You think of your strategy on the spur of the moment. There are definitely good reasons to think like this, but you rely of this kind of thinking enough to make your overall strategy haphazard."

Puzzled, Ash asked, "How do I do that?"

"Well," answered Roger, "let's start with each of your Pokemon's attacks. How do you choose attacks to teach your Pokemon?"

"Umm...I don't really decide that. Most of the time, my Pokemon learn new attacks on their own."

"Well, it's time to change that. At your level, nearly every trainer teaches his or her Pokemon moves that they think are necessary."

"Okay. So how do I decide what moves to teach my Pokemon?"

"How about I take a look at each of your Pokemon's moves?"

"Sure," Ash agreed. He showed Roger every Pokemon he owned and talked about their attack, and Roger provided his insight on which attacks each Pokemon should start learning. Sometimes, like with Ash's Quilava, he concluded that the attacks the Pokemon already knew would suffice.

"As someone who has an evolved Quilava," said Roger, "this one is impressive. Just keep training it with the moves it has."

However, Roger was much less impressed with most of Ash's Pokemon. Gabite got some of the biggest criticism of all. "You say Gabite knows Rock Smash, Dragon Pulse, and Dig, and it's learning Draco Meteor?"

"Yeah," said Ash.

"I would never use Rock Smash in a battle at your level. It's just not strong enough."

"So what should I use instead?"

"Hmm...it needs a strong Normal-type attack. Every Pokemon should have at least one, since it gives versatility. Teach it Strength," he suggested.

"Okay."

"And about its Draco Meteor, exactly how long has Gabite been learning it?"

"About..." Ash thought for a little while. "About three months."

"Three months? That's awfully long. Make sure Gabite learns it properly, and whatever you do, don't use it in a battle until it's perfected."

"Sure."

"Also, you should teach it a move that's strong against Ice-types, because they're Gabite's greatest weakness...go with Iron Head."

Most of the Pokemon, however, fell somewhere in between the two extremes. The biggest surprise came with Bulbasaur.

"This set of moves looks reasonable," commented Roger when Ash had told him Bulbasaur's attacks. "Razor Leaf and Solarbeam are good Grass-type attacks, Take Down is a good Normal-type attack, and

Sleep Powder and Leech Seed can also help your situation. Still, I think you can take more of an advantage of Bulbasaur's types."

"What do you mean?" asked Ash. "You talked about Razor Leaf and Solarbeam."

"Not the Grass type. Do you know Bulbasaur's other type?"

"Uh...is it...I give up."

"It's Poison, so you should teach Bulbasaur a Poison-type attack. Try Sludge Bomb."

"Okay. But how's all this gonna help beat Paul?"

"You just need a little strategy. The key beating Paul with your chosen team is your Sceptile..."


Finally, Roger was finished telling Ash about strategy. Ash had taken it all in, but all the training he would have to do to put it into practice was staggering. The tournament would begin in only two months, and he would have to teach most of his Pokemon at least one new attack, as well as train all of his Pokemon to use their moves effectively and creatively during battle. When he voiced these doubts to Roger, the gym supervisor asked him, "Ash, how much do you want to beat Paul? Or furthermore, how much do you want to win some other match against any trainer?"

"I want to beat Paul," said Ash determinedly, "and I want to win the whole Champions' League if I can."

"Then you'll just have to try your best to put what I told you into practice."

"You're right," said Ash. He held out a hand for Roger to shake. "Thanks for showing me all that stuff."

"You're very welcome, Ash," said Roger, accepting the handshake. "I'm on the planning committee for the Champions' League, so I'll see the progress you've made by that time. And Gary," he added, turning to face Ash's former rival, "our battle is scheduled on October 28 at three o'clock."

"Thank you very much for your time," said Gary, shaking Roger's hand as well. "I'm looking forward to the chance to become a gym leader."

"Best of luck, both of you," said Roger, departing for the front of the lab.

Ash watched Roger walk away, lost in thought. It was time to take his training much more seriously than ever before. He would need to work himself and every one of his Pokemon as hard as possible if he wanted to triumph at the Champions' League. He knew what he had to do. It was doing it that would be the problem...


Pikachu.

Charizard.

Snorlax.

Sceptile.

Staraptor.

Heracross.

Every morning, the names of his anti-Paul Pokemon faced Ash when he got out of bed. They were a sobering reminder of just how far Ash had to go. They were also his best hope, the six that he was counting on to help him win.

A couple of weeks into the new training program, Ash came down for breakfast to find a letter waiting for him at his seat. "Good morning, mom," he said. "What's this?"

"It came from the planning committee for the Champions' League," said Mrs. Ketchum.

Ash looked at the envelope. It was indeed bout the Champions' League; inside the envelope was the final, official list of all 64 competitors. He barely even looked at most of it, only paying attention to one name on the list:

Paul Shipley. Champion, Sinnoh League.

Ash slouched in his seat after reading Paul's name. He could almost see Paul's face staring at him from the paper, wearing its cold scowl. Since he had been diligent in training his Pokemon since Roger had visited, they had all made enormous progress. Still, Paul was undoubtedly training just as hard, and he was building on his already formidible strategic ability.

He was unusually quiet during breakfast, barely even talking to his mother or friends. Instead, he ate his food quickly and finished before anyone else.

"Hey, guys," he told the table, "I'm going down to the lab. You guys can catch up, right?" he asked his friends.

"Sure," they all said.

"Okay, I'll see you later," said Ash. He left the kitchen, Pikachu on his heels.

Mrs. Ketchum took his dishes over to the sink, and only then allowed her face to show her worry. Ash has training as his number one priority now, she thought. Like father, like son. Well, if he takes his life in this direction, at least he'll become as great a trainer as his father...it's his dream to be a master, after all...


Ash arrived alone at Professor Oak's lab, and after saying a quick hello to Professor Oak, Gary, and Tracey, he went out back to train. "Okay, everyone, time to come out and train!" he shouted after stepping outside and closing the door. His Pokemon all gathered in front of him. By this time, they all had an air of reluctance. Sceptile had had lost its arrogant demeanor, Squirtle was very nervous, and Donphan lay down as soon as it had come over. "You guys are doing great so far, but there's no time to relax. We have to keep training really, really hard. So Pikachu, Charizard, you're sparring together. Quilava, Totodile, same with you guys..."

Last of all were Torkoal and Buizel, whom Ash had saved just for now. Torkoal still needed a chance to practice its new move and the accompanying strategy. "Okay, Buizel, Torkoal, face each other." When his Pokemon faced each other, he said, "Torkoal, Buizel's helping you practice Earthquake in a battle situation. Since you're not very fast, you'll need to defend yourself first, and then attack. Okay?" Torkoal nodded. "Alright, Buizel, Aqua Jet! Torkoal, Iron Defense!" Buizel jetted towards Torkoal in a stream of water just as Torkoal tucked its head and legs into its shell. Buizel's attack slammed into Torkoal's shell, managing to send its adversary flying across the field, where it landed on its back. "Torkoal, make the defense stronger!" yelled Ash. "If you let an attack through like that, you'll be toast in the Champions' League!" With some difficulty, Torkoal stood up, and faced Buizel again. "Okay, lets try this again," said Ash. "Buizel, Aqua Jet! Torkoal, Iron Defense!" Buizel attacked again, smashing into Torkoal's shell. This time, Torkoal held firm, and Buizel lost control, falling on the ground. "Now, Torkoal, Earthquake!" commanded Ash. Torkoal shook the ground with its front legs, hitting Buizel. "That's better," said Ash approvingly. "Keep practicing. I need to go check on the others."

Ash walked over to Gabite, who was supposed to be practicing Draco Meteor. Gabite, however, was busy digging holes all over the battlefield. "Gabite, I know you can use Dig!" he shouted. "Quit messing around and practice your Draco Meteor!" Gabite, however, was digging another hole, which was almost 40 feet deep. "Gabite, get out of there right now!" Ash yelled. "Remember what happened in your last match? We lost that battle because you couldn't use Draco Meteor! Do you really want to lose another one like that?" Gabite suddenly jumped out of its hole and landed next to Ash. "Good," said Ash. He started going through the technique for using Draco Meteor. "Okay, Gabite, focus your Dragon-type energy in the center of your body!" His Pokemon crouched in concentration, producing a ball of light within its mouth. "Now, fire with everything you've got!" Gabite released its attack, which went skyward, and Ash waited eagerly for it to split spectacularly. However, it just stopped in midair and started falling, and people started screaming as hit the ground in front of the lab's back door.

"Oh, no!" said Ash, running toward three people lying in a crater. He got closer, and saw that they were Misty, May, and Brock. "Practice a little more by yourself, Gabite!" he called to his Pokemon. He turned back to his friends. "Sorry, guys, are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Brock, groaning a little as he got up. "I'm alright." The other two got to their feet as well, and Brock and May went into the field to train some of Ash's Pokemon.

"So what took you guys so long?" Ash asked Misty.

"When we finished eating, we decided to help your mom with the dishes."

"What about helping me?" demanded Ash.

"Huh?"

"You guys said you were here to help me train!"

"Ash―"

"My Pokemon need training for the Champions' League! Do you know how much we still have to do?"

"Yeah, we just thought we should give your mom a hand!"

"So what? There's always gonna be dishes, but the Champions' League's gonna be here before you know it!"

Misty was dumbstruck, not believing Ash's strange behavior.

"I have some work to do," said Ash finally, walking toward Heracross. "Care to help like you said you would?"

Misty just stood there with a hurt look on her face. As soon as Ash was out of earshot, she sat down on the ground and started crying. She didn't notice anything else until May sat down in front of her. "What's wrong, Misty?" she asked.

"Ash blew up at me because we did the dishes," said Misty, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah." Misty paused. "Hey, May? Remember that fight we had the other day? The one where you told me that Ash cared too much about training?"

"Yeah."

"You were right. He's going completely crazy over it. I'm sorry I didn't see it before."

"That's okay," said May. They both turned to look at Ash, who was shouting at Heracross ("I said Megahorn, not Microhorn!"), and then looked back at each other. "Now we just have to help him clean up his mess."

As they got up to start training, a large green and black Pokemon watched from the bushes, hidden from everyone else. Crying a tear itself, it turned around and slunk away from the action.


Author's Note: Another chapter finished! It's a little shorter than some of my other chapters, especially the last two, but I put lots of stuff in there. By the way, the last name I used for Paul is based on his Japanese name (Shinji, for those who don't know).

Also, for those of you who are interested, I'm also planning to start writing a Harry Potter fanfic very soon. I don't have a title for it yet, but it will take place a few years after the books. Don't worry, it won't interfere with updating this story.

So Chapter 9 (Wildfire) will be up soon! Stay tuned!