Crossroads Chapter 2: Friendly Advice

Previously on Crossroads, Ash realized that to create a future for himself and his Pokémon, he needed to stop and get stronger. He then 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 of. I will see you, boys, later," said Professor Oak, as cheerful as ever.

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

"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 boys goodbye once again and closed the door leaving the pair to themselves.

"What brings you here, Ash?" Asked Gary.

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

"Oh, don't worry, you'll get your battle, but before we do that, there was something I wanted to talk with you about."

"Oh really? What might that be?"

"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 you wanted to talk to me about?" He was now really curious and wanted to find out what Gary was being so secretive about.

Gary 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, saying, "Everything went fine… 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 serious than usual.

"Well, what can I say? He was just better than me. I mean, he had a Darkrai and Latios, so there was no way 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 year's Ash knew Gary; he had never seen Gary as angry as he was. Gary continued by saying, "Ash, you were publicly embarrassed! I mean 6-2! I don't care if he 6-0'd the rest of the conference because, in my opinion, you were better than every other trainer there! 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 they wound up next to the river where they split that PokeBall 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 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! I don't care if both of Tobias's Pokémon were legendary; you were the best trainer at that tournament, and beating Paul in the quarters proved it!"

Upon hearing that, Ash's eyes widened as he realized there might be some truth to what Gary was saying.

"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!?"

"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 if I go to a new region, everything will turn out the same way as before, and I don't want myself or my Pokémon to have to go through that again," said Ash softly, with his head now facing towards the river.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know… I want to get stronger, but 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 wanted.

"Then, how will you make yourself stronger if that's the case?" 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 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 weird for Gary, but he also knew that this was 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 I was passionate about. I mean, sure, being a Pokémon trainer was great, and battling in the huge stadiums was something I'll never forget, but you helped me realize being a Pokémon Trainer wasn't what I wanted to do with my life."

Gary continued to speak as he could tell 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, you haven't been getting much help over the past couple of years because they don't know how to help you. Ash, setbacks happen in life, but you're right on the doorstep to doing great things; but nobody becomes great without a bit of help along the way.

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

In response, Gary 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 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, I would never have gotten to where I am today. So, I will do everything I can to ensure he fulfills all 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.


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

That's about it, so leave a review, follow, or favorite whatever you want but regardless, thanks a lot.

Crossroads Chapter 3: Rivalry Renewed!
Cyclone20