It was a tough battle. Ash had lost. All those months of training and it had gone all to waste. But why? It was evident that this gym leader was more powerful than him and he didn't count on that. And he should have prepared better, thought of so much more strategies.
He would train with much more anticipation this time; he was sure of it. He had made all those resolutions on his head, but his thoughts were a secret to his oldest friends, who only saw him clutch his fist and walk through the room impatiently. Even Pikachu was observing his trainer closely but chose to say nothing. Misty chose to go out and have a breath of fresh air for a few minutes, stretch her legs.
Brock stayed and occasionally tried to convince his friend with phrases like:
—Ash, if you keep walking like this, you'll wear the floor down
No reply. He kept coming and going in a monotonous trance of thoughts and objections. Brock waved his hand in front of him and it was as if he saw nothing -Are you hearing me?- his friend tried again. But there was no use.
—Pikapi…— his main Pokémon said dejectedly. Brock sat down in the restaurant and stared at Ash from a distance.
Misty came in and saw the situation immediately but was prevented of getting close to her best friend by a gesture of Brock, to which she raised an eyebrow, with a hand on her hip. He shrugged in response.
—I know what he needs— she said, all of a sudden, winking an eye mischievously. Brock tried once again to dissuade her.
—Ah, ah—she said, and shut him up by getting a finger to close to his lips as she closed her eyes in know-it-all expression and a wide smile invaded her lips.
She got close enough without being seen, after all Ash was absorbed in his own world. She poked his nose. As he got startled and furrowed his brow, he then laughed, he came back to reality.
—Hey! —He tried to defend himself in the childish way of trying to prevent a future attack and planning his own offensive. But she was quicker. She would not give up, she neutralized all his defenses, embracing him slowly. He just sighed.
—It will be okay, I can help you, we can arrange a battling schedule—. She said, with her voice slightly above a whisper as she patted his head.