Chapter 1

Sabrina looked up and saw Will enter the Silph Co. coffee shop. This was a relatively new establishment that opened on the first floor of the Silph Co. Head Office a few months ago. She immediately became one of the shop's most frequent customers, as the coffee was superior to the ones from the coffee machine at Saffron Gym. Sabrina raised her hand to beckon Will to her usual table.

"Hey Sabrina," Will said. "Sorry I'm late. The Magnet Train was delayed this afternoon."

"It's okay, I normally spend my afternoons here reading when there's no trainer challenges. It's been pretty quiet lately," Sabrina responded. "So, what's going on, Will? I haven't seen you in months. You won't return our calls. I know you're an Elite Four member now, but your roots have always been here in Saffron Gym. We're worried about you."

"Yeah...I'm sorry Sabrina. I've kind of just been in a slump lately, and I don't know how to get out of it," Will responded with a hint of dejectedness.

Sabrina was surprised to see Will like this. He was normally so vibrant with personality and always managed to light up the room. His smile and laughter were infectious, to say the least. It was a bit jarring to see him in a slump like this.

"As fellow psychics, we're always there for each other. You know that, Will. What's going on?" Sabrina asked.

"I just...just can't stop losing," Will muttered as he fumbled for his Pokegear. He clicked and scrolled through a few submenus and showed Sabrina. "This is a report summarizing Elite Four win rates by member from the last quarter across Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh."

Sabrina quickly scanned through the list. At the top was Cynthia from the Sinnoh region. And at the bottom, was Will. It wasn't particularly close either, as Will was the only Elite Four member with a win rate of less than 1%.

"I'm sorry, Will," Sabrina said empathetically. "You know, as Pokémon Trainers, we all go through slumps now and then."

"I just...I'm a joke. I'm a laughingstock. Trainers don't even need a Ghost type or a Dark type to beat me. Thunderbolt beats my two Xatu's and Slowbro, and Flamethrower beats my Jynx and Exeggutor. That's it! Two moves. That's all it takes to beat me. Will sighed.

"I think you're just being hard on yourself, Will." Sabrina responded. "I'm sure your Pokémon have strong movesets."

"It doesn't matter, Sabrina. Do you know that out of the all the Elite Four members, my Pokémon are the most underleveled? Sidney's Mightyena starts at Level 46. Aaron's Dustox starts at Level 53. And my poor Xatu is just sitting there like an open duck at Level 40."

Adding insult to injury, Sabrina's Espeon was Level 53, something she chose not to say to Will.

"You know what the worst part is, Sabrina?" Will continued. "That before every battle, I say Losing is not an option! What irony."

"I'm sorry, Will. When you left Saffron Gym to travel the world, I couldn't foresee it would end up like this." It seemed like just yesterday when Will left his position as a Trainer in the Saffron Gym to embark on a journey of his own. It was arduous, but the day he got accepted into the Elite Four was one of the happiest in his life.

"It's not your fault Sabrina. I'm a Psychic too. I should have seen this outcome, somewhere at least," Will said.

"What now?" Sabrina asked.

For the first time in their conversation, Will seemed to gain a little bit of resolve. "I think I'm going to travel the world again. I want to visit Hoenn and Sinnoh and get stronger. And meet new types of Psychic Pokémon. Plus, I've been meaning to meet Tate and Liza, the Psychic gym leaders from Mossdeep City in the Hoenn region. There's probably loads I can learn from them."

Sabrina made a funny expression, which was her way of seeming surprised (something which rarely happened to her). "You're kidding, right? That has huge ramifications. You can't just leave the Elite Four. You do realize that if you leave, it'd become the Elite Three. It's in the name, Will." Sabrina sighed. "We all have our roles to play, whether we want to or not. We can't just abandon our responsibilities."

"I know, but I can't keep going on like this. I'm tired of losing, Sabrina. This is my only way out. Of all people, Sabrina, you should understand. You let me go on my own way all those years ago. And it got me all the way to the Elite Four! It's just time for me to go on another journey." Any hints of defeat had been all erased from Will's psyche as he gained his resolve.

Sabrina sighed again. "Have you even brought this up to Lance?" Although the Johto Champion had a friendly and supportive side to aspiring trainers, he ruled the Elite Four and Gym Leaders with an iron fist.

"I'll...leave him a note. I'm sure he'd understand. With my win rate being so low, I don't think anyone will really notice."

Oh, how wrong Will was. Lance did not understand.