A/N: ...
Literally no one:
Me: I'm going to write an Ash/Bea two-shot because Bea is one of my new waifus.
No, you guys. This doesn't mean I've dropped AmourShipping for good. It's still my all-time favorite; don't fret. But after watching the second episode for the "Pokémon: Twilight Wings" miniseries, well, I must say, I have become a big fan of Bea. Well, actually, I was always a fan of her ever since her design was introduced, but the episode solidified my feelings about her. And now, I've always wondered what it would be like if the Sword & Shield saga of the anime returned to the old format of previous sagas and introduced Bea as Ash's female traveling companion. I'd always been banking on that possibility happening. Alas, it wasn't meant to be...so far, that is.
Well, at least I have fanfiction, so screw it. I'm gonna try and milk this never-met shipping for all that it's worth, which is next to nothing. XP
Oh, and by the way, this two-shot is set in an AU. Ash is not traveling all around the world with Go in this. For all intents and purposes, it's just Ash and Bea, and no one else.
Alright, I think I'm done talking about meaningless exposition. On with my first two-shot! ENJOY!
P.S.: I recommend you guys should watch the second episode of "Pokémon: Twilight Wings", if you want to understand some of the context behind this two-shot.
P.P.S.: Due to the ever-worsening situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I'm going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:
-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to
And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:
-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)
If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.
Disclaimer: All forms of "Pokémon" DO NOT belong to me in any way whatsoever! All rights of ownership automatically go to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Game Freak, and Pokémon Company International!
She hated losing.
Bea knew this was an immature thought coming out of her, the strong, well-respected Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side. But she didn't hold that title just for show. No, she worked hard to get it and hold onto it, exactly like how she worked hard to understand the complex, centuries-old traditions and techniques of Galar Karate, exactly like how she worked hard to make herself a great force even her own Fighting-type Pokémon should reckon with...EXACTLY like how she worked hard to ensure her victory over Leon. All of that hard work paid off, rewarding her again and again with the fruits of success. A loss in any shape or form was something alien to her, a concept not in her vocabulary.
So...why did she lose?
Why did she let Leon get the better of her?
Why did all of her hard work fail to penetrate Leon's strategies and take him down?
These thoughts, and so, so much more, plagued Bea's mind as she continued punching at the mountain air. Beside her, her faithful Machamp, Machop, and Machoke did the same thing, their movements in complete sync with one another. It was just like any other training session they endured, all the way down to the tranquil yet chaotic environment they were in.
After punching the air for the umpteenth time, Bea lowered her arms and spoke, trying her best to mask the exhaustion, labor, and fast pace in her pants.
"Alright, you guys, let's do some more running! To the lake and back! Come on, gotta break our record!"
Bea started running as soon as she said that, with her Pokémon following right behind her. All around her, she could see the expansive, bustling valley that was the Wild Area. But the breathtaking scenery, amplified by the panoramic view she had from her position on a precarious precipice, did nothing to command her attention. Instead, she kept running on the narrow mountainside pathway.
After all, she didn't have time to gawk like a child. She had to make up for her loss. She had to win.
She had to train harder.
She should've known she wouldn't be alone.
That was the thought that crossed Bea's mind the moment she collided into someone on her way to the lake. A human.
"OW!" the boy cried, his spiky, raven-black hair looking more ruffled than usual as he sat up. "Sorry about that-"
"Darn it!" Bea snapped as she took a cursory look at her wristwatch. "Ah, great! Now I'm six seconds behind!" Then, she glared at the boy with a hatred that could burn away her insides. "Watch where you're going, tourist!"
She could tell as much from the kinds of clothes he was wearing. They looked a lot like something a city boy would wear, consisting of a blue T-shirt with rolled-up, elbow-length sleeves; dark-blue jeans with small white stripes; a pair of black, fingerless gloves with pale-green cuffs; black-and-golden-yellow running shoes; and finally, a cap with a blood-red brim, a white front with a red Poké Ball outline as a symbol, and a blood-red rear.
Of course, the boy was affronted by her tone.
"Hey!" he exclaimed with narrowing eyes; they were as auburn as...chocolate... "I didn't mean to interrupt..."
His voice trailed off once Bea's Machamp ran up to them. Then, in an instant, the look of outrage vanished from his eyes and was replaced with a powerful glimmer of childish awe.
"Whoa, so Galar has Machamp!" Then, he noticed Machop and Machoke. "And Machop and Machoke too!"
"Pika..." added the Pikachu that had previously been perched on the boy's shoulder.
"Of course Galar has Machamp, Machop, and Machoke," Bea growled irritably. In her aggressive aversion to the boy, she ignored the hand Machamp held out to her and stood up on her own. "Jeez, you're exceptionally dumb for a tourist."
Once again, the boy caught on to her tone, not to mention her blatant insult. He too stood up and stared her down, the auburn in his eyes blazing. It almost took Bea aback to see this apparently childish boy take on a more fiery personality as soon as it was necessary. Almost.
"I'm not dumb!" he cried. "I'm just learning as I go along! If you must know, this is only my second day in Galar!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cried.
"Oh?" This piqued Bea's interest more than the revelation irked her. "So you're that kind of tourist."
"By 'that kind of tourist', I hope you mean the kind that challenges the Galar League with the aim of winning!"
This piqued Bea's interest even more. In any other scenario, she would've laughed and said a brief prayer to the hapless challenger. But judging by the way this boy said those words, she sensed something coming from him, something she'd never expect coming from a boy like him.
It was a flare of soulful energy, one so strong that it could never be snuffed out...one that reminded her of...
Sneaking an excited grin on her lips, Bea then replied calmly, "So you're taking the Gym Challenge, huh?"
"You bet!" The raven-haired boy raised a clenched fist of determination. "And we're in it to win it!"
"Pika!" Pikachu added in agreement.
"Oh, really? Well, surely if you're so confident about winning the Gym Challenge, then you wouldn't mind accepting my challenge to a battle. Only the strongest can compete, and I wanna see if you have the guts necessary."
"A challenge to a battle?" The boy's auburn eyes immediately glinted like a fiery spark. "I accept!"
"Good." Then, before she could help herself, Bea said, "Name's Bea. What's yours?"
The Trainer jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "My name's Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked.
"Ash, huh?" Bea thought. "Well then, Ash, you'll be great for my practice to defeat Leon!"
She couldn't believe it. She lost. Again.
"NO, MACHAMP!" she screamed as her Superpower Pokémon hit the ground face-first, out for the count.
"Alright!" Ash cried, his eyes shimmering with a childish joy. "We did it, Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Pikachu replied. In spite of his bruised, battered body, he gave his Trainer a thumbs-up like it was nothing.
But Bea couldn't partake in their celebration. Instead, as the world crumbled away around her, she ran up to Machamp's defeated form, knelt down on one knee, and placed her trembling hands on its muscular but somewhat burnt back. She was about to beg it to get back up and continue fighting, no matter what shape it was in, but a dreadful sense of déjà vu washed over her. Before she knew it, the tsunami of celebratory cheering and roaring crept back into her mind, and the grass pricking her patella was starting to feel smoother, waxier, faker.
They were all cheering...but not for her. No, never for her. Only for-
"Hey, are you okay?"
The stadium disappeared, and she looked up. At first, she couldn't see much; her vision was somewhat blurred, and she felt something a little heavy tugging away at the corners of her eyes. Then, once she blinked a couple of times, she could make out a pair of auburn eyes. No longer were they shining with youth; now, they looked upon her with confusion and concern.
Walls shot up around her as she huffed defiantly and snarled, "I'm fine."
"Are...Are you sure?" Ash asked. "It looked like you were-"
"Listen here, tourist!" Bea shot up and delivered a scathing stare at Ash. "You did not beat me because you were strong! All you had were a Rookidee, a Scorbunny, and that Pikachu! That kind of team is a one-second pushover for the average Trainer in Galar! You won against me because of a...a...a fluke, plain and simple!"
"Really?" Ash arched a brow. "I...I admit I'm surprised by how this battle went, but...it looked like your Pokémon were-"
"Don't start with me on my Pokémon! I've trained my Pokémon well, and for years! This whole place, the Wild Area!" She held out her arms to gesture to the expansive environment of the Wild Area that surrounded them. "This is our training grounds! We fight the toughest of Pokémon here together! We work on our forms here together! We run miles and miles and miles across these lands together! We do practice fights with one another, together! We do one-armed push-ups with boulders on our backs together! So don't you tell me I lost all because of my Pokémon! I know my Pokémon, and I know they're better than that!"
"One-armed push-ups...with boulders on your backs?" Ash started to space out a little, and Bea knew he was imagining what that would be like. "That sounds a little extreme, don'tcha think?"
"Well, it's what people like myself do in order to stay strong and take on the Gym Challenge!" Bea clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth together. "D'you really think you have what it takes to complete the Gym Challenge and defeat Leon? You haven't even begun to understand what the Gym Challenge is!"
Ash's eyes widened in anger. "Yes, I do!"
"No, you don't!" Overcome with pure, unadulterated rage, she began to project Leon's face onto Ash's. "You're nothing but a tourist who comes and goes whenever he darn well pleases! You should just go back to wherever you came from, because you're clearly out of your league here! You've got no chance of completing the Challenge!"
"Oh, yeah?!" retorted Ash. "Well, this tourist just beat you, a girl who does push-ups with rocks on her back, in a battle! So what does that say about my chances, huh?!"
That was the final straw. Bea marched up to Ash, grabbed his collar with her right fist, yanked him close, and cocked her left fist in the direction of his tanned face.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried with concern.
"One: don't you EVER call me a girl!" she shrieked into his face, flecks of spit flying from her mouth. "And two: don't you EVER say you beat me! Your victory. Was. A. FLUKE!"
She was about to punch him in a fit of rage when she felt a large, hammy hand gently lower itself on her shoulder. With a surprised gasp, she looked over her shoulder and looked into her Machamp's eyes. It had recovered from the injuries it sustained, and now it was looking down on her with a look that bordered concern and disappointment.
Realizing she had gone too far, Bea released Ash, took a few deep breaths to steady her breathing, and then turned her back on the boy. They were both silent, as if one of them was expecting the other to say something. Neither Pikachu nor Machamp moved a muscle.
Finally, Bea walked towards the forest shade without saying a word. At first, she didn't hear Machamp following her. But before she could turn to check on it, she finally heard the powerful footsteps of the Superpower Pokémon behind her.
Not once did she hear another word coming out of Ash's mouth as she left.
He reminded her of Leon. That was why she snapped.
This was Bea's reasoning as she literally traded blows with Machamp. Less than an hour had passed since her battle with Ash, and she was back on the mountainside, doing more training regiments with her Pokémon. Her Machop and Machoke were off in the side, seeking shelter under the cool shade of a large rock and rummaging through their bags. Though she had already applied Super Potions to the wounds they sustained, sweat was already dripping from their bodies again.
In fact, sweat was dripping from her own body, but Bea ignored the weight of her soggy, skintight clothes. Instead, she maintained her form and kept her eyes trained on Machamp, who had stopped moving. She thought it was analyzing her stance, looking for an opening that it could exploit. But after a while, it began to lower its arms.
"Well?!" she cried, restraining her own rapid breathing. "Come on! What're you waiting for?! It's still not your turn to be on the defensive, Machamp!"
"Champ..." Machamp replied, its voice clearly full of concern.
"Look, how're we gonna beat Leon next time if all we do is slack off?! We need to stick to our-" An image of Ash and the triumphant look on his face flashed across her mind. "No, we need to double our training! So, come on, Machamp! Give me everything you've got!"
"Ma?" another voice asked.
Letting out a single tired pant, Bea looked and saw Machop coming out of the shade, wearing a friendly smile. It held out its arm to give her something, but she turned back towards Machamp and raised her arms a little higher.
"Not now, Machop! I gotta keep training!"
"Chop..." Machop moaned in dismay.
"Champ," Machamp said, its voice firmer. It crossed its two lower arms and shook its head in disagreement.
Bea was in disbelief, but she held her ground. "Machamp, don't give me that attitude! Come on, start again! Come on!"
Despite the urgency in her voice, Machamp refused to move.
"I...I admit I'm surprised by how this battle went, but...it looked like your Pokémon were-"
"No," Bea thought, shaking her head. "No, my Pokémon would never hold back in a battle. We...We lost...b-because of a fluke! Plain and simple!"
Dark clouds started to roll in over the Wild Area, enveloping the entire valley in shadow. The temperature began to drop, and the sweat on the quartet's bodies started to evaporate. But Bea didn't notice, as she continued to be absorbed in her thoughts.
"That Ash boy, he doesn't know a thing! I'll show him! I'll show him why I am the Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side! I'll show him that I've got the strength to defeat anyone who challenges me!"
Droplets of rain started to fall upon their impromptu training ground, leaving the rocky ground slippery. Machop instantly ran back to Machoke's position to seek shelter, but Bea and Machamp remained out in the rain.
"I'll show him that I've got the strength to defeat even Leon!"
"COME OOOOON!" she hollered in a battle-cry.
Machamp seemed to realize it wouldn't dissuade its Trainer. With a glimmer of commiseration in its eyes, it raised all four of its arms and went back into its original fighting stance. The two stared each other down for several seconds before, all of a sudden, a flash of lighting illuminated the scene in a split-second, followed by a deafening bang of thunder.
This was the Superpower Pokémon's cue to charge at Bea. Its body was a blur...but Bea was ready.
It swung its left leg at her. She blocked it with her arm.
It swung its lower right arm at her. She moved her head to the side to avoid it.
It swung its right leg at her. She blocked it with her other arm.
But the impact stunned her for too long, and in that brief, infinitesimal moment, she imagined being back in the stadium, under the sweeping, scrutinizing eyes of tens of thousands.
Machamp swung its lower left arm at her and-
POP!
"AGH!"
Bea collapsed to her knees, ignoring the small, prickling stabs of pain that assaulted her patellas as soon as they hit the wet, watery ground. Instead, she clutched her forearm, feeling it go hopelessly limp. The falling rain did little to soothe it and liberate it from the great, agonizing, almost burning pain. Machamp realized what he did and grunted with distress, apologizing to its Trainer in its own indecipherable language.
But Bea didn't hear anything of that. Instead, she stared down at her forearm with wide, trembling eyes.
"What's going on with me?" she thought. "Why am I slipping so much? What's...What's wrong with me...?"
What were the odds?
Even as the relentless rainstorm intensified in strength all across the Wild Area, even as lightning continued to flash and thunder continued to rumble, Bea felt compelled to just wait it all out in the middle of the great torrents, despite all the desperate running she did just to find even the simplest shelter. She cursed her increasingly bad luck for forcing her into this ultimatum. But in contrast to her, Machamp, Machop, and Machoke had already made up their minds, and the trio of Fighting-types wasted no time in passing through the small mouth of the cave they'd just found, joining the raven-haired Trainer and the Pikachu who had already claimed it.
"Bea, come on in!" Ash called. "You're gonna catch a cold if you just stay out there!"
Accepting the help of the tourist who defeated her over an hour ago and sharing the same space as him. This was even worse than losing to him, or Leon for that matter. But Bea was done trying to defy her circumstances. Everything she did and tried to do to turn them around in her favor...just kept blowing up in her face like an Electrode and making things a whole lot worse for her, anyway.
What's the worst that could happen?
With a sad exhale, Bea stepped out of the rain and sat opposite to Ash. She saw the circle of rocks and the clump of dry twigs and thin branches inside, along with the rocks in each of the boy's hands.
"Trying to start a fire?" she asked emptily.
"Y-Yeah..." Ash replied sheepishly. "Can't say I'm having a lot of success in that, though..."
Bea rolled her eyes and stared gloomily out of the mouth of the cave. "As expected from a tourist..."
Ash stood up. "Hey, I don't know what your problem is, Bea, but I usually have friends who do this for me!"
She didn't look at him as she asked, "You have a Scorbunny, don't you?"
"Yes, I know that, but..." Ash sat back down and started striking the rocks together. "I can't just rely on my Pokémon to do everything for me. And...it just dawned on me that the people I once traveled with were always the ones who started the campfires for me. There'll come a time when it'll just be me, Pikachu-" He gave the Mouse Pokémon a warm, friendly stare. "And my Pokémon, and I need to be ready for when that time comes."
"Be ready for when that time comes?" Bea stifled a laugh. "The time's already come, Ash. Isn't it just you, Pikachu, and your Pokémon right now?"
"Well..." Ash looked up at her inquisitively. "I have you now."
"HA! Don't flatter yourself." A flash of lightning lit up Bea's focused expression. "Once this rainstorm passes, me and my Pokémon are gonna be off on our own way."
A distant but powerful boom of thunder punctuated the Gym Leader's declaration. Even though Bea didn't actually see it, she knew Ash was looking at her with a sentimental sympathy. Then, she heard the sound of rocks striking against one another again. It persisted for over a minute, until finally she heard Ash moan in defeat.
"Ohhhhh, I wonder how Brock and Cilan did these things!"
"Oh, for the love of!" Bea shot up on her feet, marched over to Ash, and sat beside him. "Gimme the rocks."
"E-Excuse-?" began a startled Ash.
Bea released a huff of annoyance. "Please don't make me repeat that."
It was now warm on the outside. Perhaps that was why she felt warm on the inside.
Bea thought spending an indeterminate amount of time with the likes of Ash in this small, cramped cave would be more undesirable than the soundest of defeats. But as she was forced to share her space with the raven-haired Trainer and his Pokémon, she couldn't help but notice something through her observations of him, something she didn't have time to see because of their battle.
He was kind. And considerate. And sweet. Like a chocolate bar.
As soon as Bea got the fire started for him, Ash laid out all the prepacked lunches that he'd purchased from the Pokémon Center in Wedgehurst. Once he called out his Scorbunny and Rookidee from their Poké Balls, he shared the lunches with all three of his Pokémon. They ate noisily, literally stuffing their faces like ravenous children, and once they saw that their faces were caked in food, they laughed heartily at one another. Initially, Bea dismissed their attitudes as immature antics and kept her mind focused on the training regiments she would do once the storm passed. But as the minutes ticked by and turned into hours, she found herself becoming accustomed to their behavior.
Of course, Machamp, Machop, and Machoke quickly joined the festive eating, giving away some of the energy food they brought in exchange for some of Ash's savory-looking prepacked lunchboxes. It didn't take long for everyone to become friendly with one another. In fact, Bea realized how close her Pokémon were becoming to Ash, and vice-versa. He quickly caught on to the things she already knew about each of them, and he even seemed to figure out some things she hadn't already figured out.
And then there was the behavior she noticed in her Pokémon when they were around Ash.
"Machamp..." she thought compassionately. "Machop... Machoke... You all look so...happy. I don't think I've seen any of you look lively all day. In fact, I think the last time you guys were this happy was before..."
The uproarious cheer and the gigantic stadium returned to her senses again. She could see Machamp lying face-first on the artificial turf, while a single, powerful stream of fire shot high into the sky. Then, through this stream of fire, the Gym Leader could see the bright, smiling face of Leon, the Champion...
Which turned into Ash's face.
"Alright, you guys, let's do some more running! To the lake and back! Come on, gotta break our record!"
"Of course Galar has Machamp, Machop, and Machoke. Jeez, you're exceptionally dumb for a tourist."
"You did not beat me because you were strong! ...You won against me because of a...a...a fluke, plain and simple!"
"...Don't you tell me I lost all because of my Pokémon! I know my Pokémon, and I know they're better than that!"
"Look, how're we gonna beat Leon next time if all we do is slack off?! We need to stick to our- No, we need to double our training! So, come on, Machamp! Give me everything you've got!"
"Alright! We did it, Pikachu!"
"Hey, Ash?"
Ash stopped laughing with Machop and turned towards her. He was quite surprised to hear her voice in over an hour.
"Y-Yeah, Bea?"
Bea lowered her face, hiding the scarlet that was blossoming on her cheeks. She felt quite embarrassed, asking this from a tourist like him...but she just had to know.
"How do you do it?" she asked.
Ash tilted his head. "Do what?"
"You know." Bea unconsciously rubbed her bare arm, trying her best to ignore the agonizing pain coming from it. "Win."
Ash blinked. "I don't know."
Bea whipped her head towards him, giving the boy an outraged look. "What do you mean you don't know?! You beat me, a highly skilled and experienced Trainer, in your first battle in Galar! And you say you've traveled before, so that tells me you've been in many, many battles before! To beat me like that..." Her face softened as she trained her gaze on the fire. "You must have a ton of experience. The kind of experience that takes years, maybe a decade to build up..."
Her mind was filled with memories of all her training sessions with her trusted Pokémon, all the way back when she was a child and Machamp was still a Machop.
"You must've won against many different kinds of opponents..."
Her eyes narrowed as she refocused on Ash. They were sitting on opposite sides of the campfire, and it burned between them, the heat and embers slightly distorting their views of the other's faces.
"You know how to win against the likes of me, even with handicaps like a brand-new team! That doesn't happen 'cause of luck and luck alone!"
"Look, Bea-" began Ash.
"There's something you're not telling me, Ash! You may be a tourist b-but you're not just a tourist! There...There has to be something more to you! So..." Bea stomped her foot down determinedly. "Tell me! Who exactly are you, Ash?!"
"W-Well..." Ash replied while rubbing the back of his head. He seemed rather embarrassed to tell her his secret. But the boy knew keeping Bea in the dark for too much longer would incur her wrath, so he said, "I...I am a Champion, b-but-"
This revelation shook Bea to her core. Normally, she'd have every reason to not believe this claim, but the way he utterly creamed her team gave her an open mind of Ash. No wonder she was defeated so easily!
She shot up on her feet, ignoring the new, quick stab of pain delivered to her forearm.
"You're a CHAMPION?!" she shouted, cutting him off. "No WAY! Of which League?!"
Ash was stunned by her reaction. "Th-The Alola League."
"The Alola League?" Bea's eyes widened with realization. "Ohhh, I've heard of it! Its first tournament was only last year." She gawked at Ash with awe. "So you're the region's first Champion?!"
Ash chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah, th-that's me. B-But it's only in name now. I've relinquished most of the official duties to the region's professor, Kukui, a week after I left."
"Pika pika," Pikachu added, nodding in affirmation.
It was another stunning revelation for her. She could feel her heart straining to beat as she processed this information.
"You...You relinquished your Champion duties?! But...why?! Why would you throw away such a title of power?!"
"Because that's just what it is," Ash replied, his voice more steady and earnest now. "A title." He looked into the fire. "In all my years of traveling, I wanted to be a Pokémon Master. That was my dream ever since I was little. But, as the years passed and I saw victories and defeats, one after another, I realized I barely had any idea what being a Pokémon Master meant. My dream had lost its meaning...and in its place..." He gazed fondly at Pikachu, who smiled back at him. "I found something else."
"And that is?" Bea asked.
"All of the friends and enemies I made along the way, both human and Pokémon. From Kanto to Alola, I've met so many people and Pokémon, seen so many things that would boggle your mind, done so many things that should've gotten me killed. These memories are what I cherish, even moreso than my goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, or my status as a Champion.
"So that's why I relinquished my Champion duties, because I feel like the title is not worth the memories I made with my friends...the memories I am making and will make. If I am going to be rewarded for all the years I put into this journey, then it should be with something greater than the title of Champion. I'm still not sure what it is, though, but I know for a fact it's not being Champion. Until I find out what it is, I'll just keep traveling around the world and do what I best: battle and take on the next challenge." Then, his fond expression turned into a bashful one. "I-I'm sorry if that didn't make any sense-"
"I don't believe it..." A disbelieving Bea collapsed down on her backside in defeat, and she gazed at the flickering flames again. "I...I was hoping I'd learn something valuable from you, something that would help me defeat Leon-"
"Whoa, you're taking the Gym Challenge too!" Ash's auburn eyes shimmered with that same youthful energy. "No way!"
"Not exactly. I'm...I'm a bit of a different case." Glumly, she held her legs close to her chest and rested her chin upon her patellas. "Not that it matters, anyway. I'm never gonna beat him now."
At that moment, Ash seemed to realize the reason behind her attitude and her prying, for he asked, "Is that why you're out here, Bea? Leon beat you and you're trying to get stronger so you can win next time?"
"That's the thing. That...That was my first defeat in...f-forever... I...I..." Now overwhelmed with emotion, Bea buried her face in her forearms. "I'm not sure what to do anymore!"
She didn't want to, but she started crying. She could hear her Pokémon grunting and groaning in sympathy, followed just a few seconds later by sounds of shuffling dirt and pebbles beside her.
"Look, Bea," Ash's voice said to her from the side, "I understand how you feel."
"No, you don't!" she snapped.
"Yes, I do."
Though she couldn't see him, Bea knew Ash had gone from looking at her to looking at the fire.
"You see, before I became the Champion of Alola, I tried so many times to win the Leagues of other regions. I would go to a region, train myself and my Pokémon every day, beat all the Gym Leaders the region has to offer, and then, once all of that was done, challenge the Pokémon League Conference. But each and every time, I would lose. Sometimes, I'd lose so hard...and in the most unexpected ways too. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos... All of them had the same results, no matter how high I was on the board, no matter how hard I worked to try and get to the top of the top. And it does hurt. It really does."
"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu added with a nod of his head.
Bea stopped crying and simply sniffled. "You are not helping, Ash. I had a winning streak, you had a losing streak. Those are two totally different things."
"But a loss is a loss. There are no categories. Every loss is like a slap to the face, an insult to all the time and effort you put into making yourself stronger. The only thing that matters is how you recover from that."
All of a sudden, Bea felt a gentle hand touch her injured forearm, carefully and smoothly. She hiccuped in shock, but she did nothing to stop Ash from tending to her wound.
"I may not be an expert in emotions, but I know you're not recovering well from that."
"Gee, what else is obvious?!" Bea shot Ash a wrathful look. "All my life, I thought I trained myself long and hard enough so that I could never lose a battle. I thought I was unbeatable. But I was proven wrong! So, so wrong!" Memories of her loss against Leon tugged at Bea's mind as she grabbed Ash's collar and pulled him in close. "I wanted know how you do it! I wanted know how to be stronger! Strong enough to beat Leon! But you...you've given me nothing but SENTIMENT! It's so ANNOYING!"
At first startled by her outburst, Ash's face then softened. "Bea... You can't expect yourself to win every battle. You can't just think you'll always be destined to have an unbroken winning streak. That's...That's just not possible. Yes, to become unbeatable is every Trainer's dream, but...there's just no reasonable chance of that ever happening to anyone."
Then, he delivered a gaze across his shoulder. Bea followed his eyes and saw that he was looking at her Pokémon. All of them, Machamp, Machop, and Machoke...they were looking at her like she was a stranger to them.
"And your Pokémon know it," Ash concluded, his voice firm and resolute. "That's why they held back during our battle."
"Look, how're we gonna beat Leon next time if all we do is slack off?! We need to stick to our- No, we need to double our training! So, come on, Machamp! Give me everything you've got!"
Bea slowly blinked at her Pokémon. "Guys... Is... Is this true?"
At first, her question did not get any reaction from the Fighting-types. But finally, Machamp took the initiative and slowly nodded its head, letting out a soft grunt of affirmation in the process. Then, Machoke followed suit, looking ambivalent as it did so. And last but not least, Machop whined with sadness, but Bea knew it was three out of three.
"I can't believe it," she thought. "All this time, I thought my Pokémon had a change of personality. But none of them did. Instead...it was me..."
"Don't you see now, Bea?" Ash asked, his voice surprisingly sagely. "Losing sucks, and it can suck hard, especially after you have a great winning streak. But you cannot let that loss eat you on the inside. The only thing that does is alienate yourself from your Pokémon. And the only thing that hurts more than losing a battle is losing your friends."
"Well, what do you do, then?!" Bea shot him a look that was more pleading than outraged. "What do you do to make up for that loss?!"
"You learn from that loss and look forward to the next battle."
"But that's EXACTLY what I've been doing!"
"No. From what you told me, it sounds like you have been trying to bury the issue by training yourself and your Pokémon harder than what you guys normally do. That's not the same thing as learning from your loss. You have to acknowledge your loss. Accept that it happened, look into it, see what you did wrong, see what you already did right, and apply what you've learned to all your next battles."
Bea gazed at the fire again. The power and ferocity of the flames were starting to die down, and they were flickering with desperation in the mercy of the cold air.
"And above all," Ash continued, "you have to accept the fact that your winning streaks, no matter how long they may be will not last forever."
"My winning streaks will never last forever..." Bea repeated.
"Yeah. Losing is a part of life, Bea, just as much as winning. If you acknowledge the fact that those things are two sides of the same coin, then you'll be able to go farther and greater lengths as a Trainer. Do you understand?"
Bea didn't answer. Her mind raced back to all the long days and nights she spent training herself and her Pokémon to the limit. At first, it had been difficult and absolutely grueling. So many times, she had to bandage her body, and it was quite a pain just to eat a chocolate bar in the middle of the day. But as the years passed by and they honed in their strengths, Bea found there was absolutely nothing she and her Pokémon were incapable of doing. The bars just kept getting raised higher and higher with every training session, and their bodies always found a way to accommodate, all as long as they kept their focus on the prize.
They were limitless. Or so she thought.
How was she supposed to accept the fact that all of her grueling training, all of the aspirations that guided it, were all for naught?
Suddenly, her thoughts were broken by a tugging sensation at her injured forearm. Wincing, she looked up and saw Ash was trying to wrap her arm with something. Acting on instinct, she pulled her arm back, though that served to trigger a particularly powerful pain response. Swallowing down a squeak of agony, Bea glared at the raven-haired Trainer, who had been carrying a roll of bandages that he now dropped to the ground.
"Wh-What're you doing?" she asked.
"Your arm's hurt, Bea," he replied as he picked up the bandage roll. "But you haven't bandaged it-"
"Stop it. I'm fine. I can handle it just- Ack!" Another stab of pain rushed through her arm. "Just fine..."
Ash's brow was furrowed. "Obviously not."
"Pika," Pikachu added in agreement.
When Bea didn't respond, Ash leaned forward. "Bea, please let me help you. I know you've probably suffered injuries like this, probably even worse than this, and you tolerated the pain for hours. But it cannot hurt to accept help when it shows itself."
Machamp and Machoke all grunted and growled in agreement. As for Machop, the Superpower Pokémon hopped up from its seated position, waddled over to Bea, and placed a hand upon her knee with a pleading look on its face. Realizing her Pokémon were all concerned for her, Bea swallowed her pride, looked at Ash, and nodded with an embarrassed pink hue adorning her cheeks.
Now that he had her consent, Ash leaned in again and gently wrapped Bea's forearm with bandages. She turned her face away bashfully and watched as the torrents of rain continued to pour powerfully outside. The falling water proved to be a good distraction from the prickling pain she felt.
She suddenly saw some movement in the corner of her eyes, but she didn't have time to identify what it was when Ash withdrew from her.
"Alright," he said with a smile. "All done."
Bea looked at her forearm, which was completely wrapped. Then, she flexed her arm; while she could feel the pain, the sensation had been dulled by the bandages. After flexing for a couple more minutes to test her pain threshold, she stood up and stretched to test her body again. Once she felt satisfied about how she felt, Bea looked down at Ash, her face still wearing a blush.
"Th-Thanks..." she said uneasily.
Ash smiled back at her with that stupidly optimistic smile. "You're welcome, Bea!"
Then, Bea glanced at her Pokémon and saw how happy and relieved they all looked. In fact, Machop was so happy that it was running over to her bag to retrieve something-
Her eardrums were dominated by the sounds of moving, shifting earth. With a gasp, Bea looked toward the mouth of the cave and was horrified to see the rocks supporting it giving way, lubricated by the seeping rainwater.
"The rocks!" Ash shouted. "They're collapsing!"
"No kiddin', Sherlock!" Bea cried in exasperation. "Run for it!"
With that, Machamp grabbed Bea with one arm and Ash in another before yanking them away from the collapsing rocks. Pikachu, Scorbunny, Rookidee, Machop, and Machamp scampered further into the cave, crying out in fear. Before anyone knew it, the rocks fell upon the fire Bea worked hard to create, snuffing it out and sending darkness and smoke hurtling through the cave.
Within moments, everyone started coughing from the presence of smoke hanging in the air. Once the cloud subsided and their eyesight was cleared, everyone looked towards the mouth of the cave, only to be met with a dismaying sight.
It was completely, irrevocably blocked off.
A/N: Well, I think that about does it for the first half of this special two-shot! Just how exactly are Ash, Bea, and all their Pokémon going to get out of this debacle? Stay tuned to find out!
Anyway, I enjoyed writing Bea here! The "Pokémon: Twilight Wings" episode of her gave me the impression that she's an extremely adorable tsundere who abhors the idea of losing, so I reflected that in my writing. Apparently, in-game, she's supposed to be more emotionless, but I feel like an ambitious, tsundere-like personality is more fitting for someone like Bea. I apologize if there is any glaring inaccuracies in my characterization of her, but blame that on "Pokémon: Twilight Wings", since she seems to show a lot of emotion there. Maybe I'll try to factor in more of her emotionless nature in the next chapter, but we'll have to see about that.
Also, I noticed my writings of Bea gave her a little semblance to Iris. That was not the plan, because I hoped to carve out a more unique and well-defined personality from her as a potential Pokégirl. Not that I dislike Iris or anything. Hopefully, I'll give Bea more distinguishing moments in the next chapter too.
Alright, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter for my two-shot! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!