Crossroads Chapter 8: Quality Time

Previously on Crossroads, Anabel started Ash on his road to becoming a Frontier Brain as she showed him around the Battle Tower while explaining other crucial things about her Battle Facility. Anabel then had a Frontier Battle of her own where she defeated Mike 3-1 while showing Ash how a Frontier Brain should conduct themselves.

The pair then left the Battle Tower to head back to Anabel's house for the rest of the day.


Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region

"So, Ash, what you would like to do for the rest of the day?" Asked Anabel as the pair began walking along the path towards Anabel's cabin.

"Umm… I don't know. Why don't we go over to the lake and hang out for a while?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Ash! While we're there, I'll show you some of the new Pokémon I got since you were last here!" said Anabel with a smile.

"That sounds great, Anabel! I can't wait to see your new Pokémon!"

"Same here, Ash; you must have collected a lot more Pokémon since the last time you were here?"

"Yeah, you're right. But before coming here, I decided to take some of the Pokémon I haven't traveled with in a long time."

"Wow, Ash. I fully agree with that. It's so nice to know that after all this time, you still think about every Pokémon you have ever caught. You also make it a point to have each one travel with you, so they don't feel forgotten about."

"Yeah, but to get to Vermillion City, I had to leave behind my Corphish to have enough room for Pidgeot. Otherwise, I would have taken him with me."

"Oh, I understand. You can only take six Pokémon with you at a time, and I know you take Pikachu wherever you go, so that's a no-brainer."

"I actually used a lot of my old Pokémon in the Sinnoh league. Well, except for my battle against Paul, I just used my Sinnoh team for that battle," said Ash recalling the battle against his most feared rival.

"Speaking of which, I've also been thinking about how I'd like my Battle Facility to be run," continued Ash.

"Oh, and how might I ask are you going to do that?" Asked the Salon Maiden.

"Well… Before every match, I'll give my opponent the choice of Pokémon they want to battle. I know that sounds similar to the way Nolan runs his Battle Facility. Still, since I have a wide range of Pokémon types, the challenger would choose six different types to battle against, so I would use different Pokémon each time somebody new challenged me."

Anabel thought about this idea before saying, "Ash, I think that's marvelous because it's not like a new trainer would know what the previous trainers choose."

"That's the idea. Since I'll most likely be staying in one place for a while, I needed to figure out a way to incorporate all of my Pokémon into my Battle Facility. I don't want them to be sad when I leave them to go on a journey with them, knowing I won't need them for a couple of months. With this plan, all of my Pokémon will always be ready to battle at a moment's notice!"

"When did you come up with the thought? It sounds like you've really put some thought into it?"

"Well, when I was riding here on Pidgeot, it took about five hours, so I had some time to think about things. I remembered each Frontier Brains can make their own rules, and I figured this was the best way to challenge my opponents and use all of my Pokémon."

"I see… well, I must say I'm impressed, Ash. You've put a lot of thought into this, which is great! When I was training to become a Frontier Brain, I didn't know what I would do with my Battle Facility until about a month in."

"Speaking of which, who did you do your four months with Anabel?"

"You probably won't believe me, but I decided to do my four months with Greta…" said Anabel, somewhat embarrassed.

"No way! That must have been brutal, so I decided not to go with her!"

"Let's just say it was hell, Ash. Every day it was work, work, and more work. I honestly have no idea how in the world I managed to get through it all. I just thought since Greta was a girl and we were only a couple of years apart, then it would be fun, and we would have gotten along well, but was I ever wrong!"

Ash laughed and said, "Yeah, I could see that for sure! Good thing I went through the Battle Frontier, or I might have decided that myself. Thankfully I did, so I got to choose you!"

Anabel smiled while saying, "Speaking of which, Ash, why did you decide to choose me anyway? I know you said a bit about it yesterday, but I'm curious?"

"Well… first off, when I thought about all the other Frontier Brains, none of them appealed to me, and to be honest... some of them creeped me out too."

Anabel laughed and allowed Ash to continue, "Well, I choose you because I knew you would make learning fun for me. We're the same age, and we both love Pokémon. I remember when I came here to battle you; we hung out before our battle like good friends. I didn't do that with any of the other Frontier Brains because I didn't feel a connection with them other than just needing to battle them and win their Symbol. Plus, I think you're just an awesome person to be around, and even though this is just the first day, I can already see this being a great four months."

Throughout Ash's speech, the blush on Anabel's face continued to grow, mainly when he talked about him not having a connection with the other Frontier Brains, which meant he thought he had a connection with her.

"So… you think you have a connection with me, Ash?"

Hearing this question caused Ash to freeze a bit before he shook it off and said, "Well… I don't see why not. When I came here to battle for your Symbol, I felt this was easily the best stop on my way through the Battle Frontier! When I left, I felt like I was leaving something behind. I wasn't sure what it was then, though. Ever since the end of the Sinnoh League, I have thought a lot more about the things I need to do to improve. Therefore, I talked with somebody close to me and decided that this was something I needed to do!"

"Who was this person that you talked with, Ash?" Asked Anabel, who had now, with much effort, gotten the blush off her face, although one could still see a slight tint of red.

"I'm sure that you remember Brock, right? Well, the day before I came here, I called Brock to tell him about my choice to come here, and he just solidified my decision to do it," said Ash. He specifically left out what Brock said about meeting that special someone.

"Yeah, of course, I remember him! I'm sure I'll see him again when we all go to Pallet Town to open your Battle Facility!"

"Yeah, for sure; I'm hoping that almost everyone will be there for that. I'm sure it will be a great day!"

"I'm sure it will be Ash! Hey, look, there's my house! Let's change into our bathing suits and head over to the lake! I'm sure that our Pokémon want to have some exercise as well," said the Salon Maiden.

The pair then went into Anabel's house, quickly changing into their bathing suits, and left towards the lake with Pikachu and Espeon, whom Anabel had released from her Pokéball tow.

Once the pair reached the lake, Anabel said, "Come on, Ash! Let's let out our Pokémon to have some fun!"

Ash nodded toward the Salon Maiden and took the five Pokeballs off his belt before throwing them into the air while calling, "Come on out, everyone!"

The five Pokeballs opened in mid-air, releasing Bulbasaur, Kingler, Quilava, Pidgeot, and Heracross, with each Pokémon releasing its specific cry.

"Wow, Ash! These Pokémon are all from Kanto and Johto, and they all look so happy and well-trained!"

"Thank you, Anabel, and you're right. I caught these Pokémon in Kanto and Johto, which is why I wanted to bring them with me this time since it was so long ago. Let's see your Pokémon, Anabel. You said you had some new ones, right?"

"That I did, Ash. Now come out, my friends!" Called the Salon Maiden as she released all of her Pokémon onto the grass in front of the lake.

With Espeon already out, the first two were evident as they were Alakazam and Metagross. The next three, however, were new to Ash, Gardevoir, Starmie, and a Kirlia.

All of Anabel's Pokémon gave out their respective cries before going over to Ash's Pokémon to introduce themselves.

"Wow, Anabel! I didn't know that you had this many Psychic-type Pokémon! They all look so strong, too; it makes me wonder why you only use Metagross, Alakazam, and Espeon against Frontier challengers."

"Well, actually Ash, I've used Gardevoir and Starmie as of late. I just wanted to surprise you with them now, which is why I didn't use them before!"

"Oh ok, I understand," said Ash while laughing and then asked, "Why do you have a Kirlia, though, Anabel? Doesn't Kirlia evolve into Gardevoir?"

"Yes, you're right, Ash, but in this case, the Kirlia you see is a male, which means if you have something like this… then you can evolve it into a Gallade," answered Anabel while pulling a Dawn Stone from her coat pocket.

"Oh wow, a Dawn Stone! Why don't you use it then?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Well, because I think Kirlia isn't ready to evolve yet. I feel forcing a Pokémon to evolve will only set it back in becoming stronger, so until Kirlia is ready, I'm not using it," said Anabel putting the stone back into her pocket.

"Yeah, I agree with you for sure. I remember when my Grovyle evolved into Sceptile because Grovyle wanted to help a Meganium and Tropius from Team Rocket. After Grovyle evolved, Sceptile couldn't use attack moves for almost two weeks!"

"Exactly, so I think it's best just to leave things be for now," said Anabel while removing her top and bottom to reveal her bathing suit.

Ash couldn't help but blush as Anabel's bathing suit definitely helped emphasize her curves as she wore a lavender one-piece bathing suit.

Upon Anabel seeing Ash's face, she decided to take a chance and said, "Well, come on, Ash… wouldn't you like to join me…" said the Salon Maiden in a low tone as she walked towards the water and hopped in while awaiting Ash to join her.

Ash's face grew redder as he said, "Yeah… I'll be right… there," and continued to take off his top as he was already wearing his swim trunks and walked towards the water.

Anabel couldn't help but blush heavily upon seeing Ash's bare, toned chest. Traveling around the world had undoubtedly helped the raven-haired trainer grow quite the body despite not working out much.

Ash then jumped in and sprayed the Salon Maiden with water. She wasn't too happy with that, as when Ash came back up, Anabel had one of those glares on her face.

Ash's looked at her and frowned as he said, "What? What did I do?"

Anabel then turned her glare into a smile and began to splash Ash constantly, which turned into a splash war between the two trainers while their Pokémon played happily around them.

After a solid hour of having fun, Ash and Anabel got tired from all the swimming, so they decided to exit the lake.

Once they were changed back into their regular clothes, the pair settled down next to a tree to rest and talk for a little while before heading back to Anabel's house.

The pair talked about... well... everything; their favorite foods, places they've traveled to, battles they've fought; just getting to know each other more was very refreshing.

However, Anabel asked a question that ignited something between the pair, "So why did you decide to become a Frontier Brain now compared to when you won the Battle Frontier?"

"Well… Since my loss to Tobias in the Sinnoh League, I've thought about how to become stronger. If I went to a new region, the same thing would happen again, and I wouldn't get anywhere as a trainer. Sure, it would be great to go out and meet new people and catch some new Pokémon. When it comes down to it, though, I just felt if I went to another region, I would end up letting down my Pokémon all over again, and I wouldn't get anywhere as a trainer."

Anabel impulsively grabbed Ash's hand and said, "Ash, that's not true! Even if you did go to a different region, you would have done great! Besides, isn't reaching the top-four of a conference a good thing?"

"That's the thing, Anabel. Sure, I could say reaching the top-four in a league is great. But I feel I am at the point in my career where if I don't start winning the matches that matter, then I will keep failing my Pokémon repeatedly. It's not something I want to put them through anymore. You know the saying, 'You hate to lose more than you love to win' or something like that, well, in this case, it's the same concept; I'm sick and tired of losing," Ash said while looking down towards the ground.

"Ash, you're not failing your Pokémon, though. If anything, your Pokémon look as healthy and happy as ever!"

"Still, everyone keeps saying I have great potential, and they've been waiting for me to decide this for a long time. If that's the case, it's time to harness, so maybe one day I'll match up against the likes of Lance, Steven, or even Cynthia!"

"How do you plan to do that, Ash? How do you plan to become stronger for your Pokémon?" Asked Anabel. Ash sensed déjà vu when Gary asked him the same question.

"You know Anabel, a good friend of mine, asked me that same question a couple of days ago. I didn't have an answer for him other than needing help. I feel that I have tried to do everything myself over the past couple of years. Even though my friends were giving me advice, it wasn't enough for me. Plus, over the past couple of years, I have mentored May and Dawn, but during that time, I don't feel as if I have improved much myself," said Ash, who was now looking at the Salon Maiden's eyes, causing her to slightly blush at the eye contact while she still held his hand in hers.

"When my friend told me about possibly joining the Battle Frontier, I was initially slightly skeptical, but he, Brock, and Professor Oak convinced me this was the right choice. Despite not knowing then what I would go through, I decided to join the Frontier, and I'm thrilled with that decision. I'm sure learning from you instead of teaching myself is what I need if I'm going to become a better trainer!"

"Oh, Ash... of course, I will help you! I will ensure that every day for the next four months, you are learning and becoming stronger for the future. I know you will someday become a Pokémon Master, and when it happens, I'll be beside you cheering you on!"

"Thank you, Anabel, it means a lot to me… more than you know," said the raven-haired trainer. Anabel then moved to lay her head on Ash's shoulder as the two sat there in silence. They quickly drifted off to sleep, saying in their minds," I can get used to this."

However, a dark figure, easily concealed behind the trees, watched the pair closely. He'd let the pair sleep knowing the time to strike approached. The figure leaped down from the tree and headed deep into the woods, followed by a large two-tailed Pokémon.


Author's Note:

I appreciate all reviews/favorites/follows. Thanks all!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The following four chapters are monsters, so buckle up; here's the name for the next one.

Crossroads Chapter 9: The Heart of a Turtle!
Cyclone20