CHAPTER 1
Am I a weak trainer…?
That was the question Ash Ketchum was asking himself over and over again as he laid face-up on his bed in Pallet Town. He would've been staring at the blank darkening ceiling if it weren't for his trademark cap; he'd pulled it down low over his eyes. His arms were folded on top of his usual black-and-yellow striped jacket as he focused intently on his thoughts.
It was ironic, really. Ash had thought all along that Paul would be the one to knock him out of the League. However, he'd triumphed in their battle, his Infernape pulling through for him in the nail-biting finish. He had been so happy to finally chalk up a win against his Sinnoh rival, even earning the melancholy trainer's grudging respect in the process.
Why? Why did I lose so badly?
Unfortunately for the Pallet Town native, he'd faced a largely unknown trainer named Tobias in the semi-finals, his first visit to the top four of a championship. His happiness evaporated alongside his title campaign as Tobias tore through Ash's team without even breaking a sweat. It took six of Ash's best Pokémon to take out just two of his opponent's, and even though Tobias told him he admired his Pokémon for being able to defeat his Darkrai, it didn't make the loss any easier to swallow. Tobias' utter thrashing of his last opponent hadn't given him any comfort, either.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Ash tried to forget about the ordeal at the League, but his thoughts invaded his mind again. He hadn't been able to get rid of them for the last few hours, so he had locked himself in his room, going over every single move in his battle, trying to work out just where, and why, it had all gone wrong for him.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Ash jolted upright at the sound, sending his hat flying across the room and onto the carpet in front of his bed. After a few seconds of silence, however, he relaxed, slumping back down onto the softness of his mattress, his dark eyes resuming their unfocused staring. He paid no attention to the soft clinking noise coming from beyond the wooden frame of his door, opting to frown at the ceiling instead, as though there was a complex puzzle inscribed into it that he needed to solve.
The only thing you need to do is forget about all this… echoed a voice deep within his head.
"Whatever," he grumbled aloud, shutting his eyes in a failed attempt to discourage the voice from resurfacing.
"You talking to yourself again, huh Ashy-boy?"
For the second time in the space of a minute, Ash's body jolted up, his eyes snapping open in an instant as he heard the voice. His head whipped around to see his door wide open, a boy of about his age leaning casually on the door frame. The most noticeable thing about him was the mess of spiky brown hair atop his head, poking out at all angles like a pin-cushion. He was dressed rather simply; a plain, high collared black shirt and full length purple pants which ended at his black sneakers. His face was fixed in a familiar sneer that Ash knew only too well.
"Gary?" Ash yelped, rubbing his neck and looking around for his hat, finally realising it was no longer atop his head. "My door was locked! How'd you get in here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at his long-time friend. Gary just shrugged nonchalantly and pushed himself off the frame.
"It's not that hard to open these kind of doors from the outside," explained Gary, pointing to the simple revolving lock on the inside door handle. Ash's eyes narrowed even further, up until the point that they were slits, but Gary merely chuckled and waved a hand in response. "Come on Ash, you've been up here for hours. What's bugging ya?" he asked casually, pulling Ash's chair out from under his desk and sitting down back-to-front on it, staring at the darker-haired boy, who had just spotted his beloved hat.
"Who says there's something bugging me?" Ash retorted, getting up and snatching his hat up from the ground before jamming it over his thick black hair. He sat back down on his bed, the mattress sagging slightly under his weight, and he intentionally looked everywhere in the room except at his former rival.
Gary immediately took notice of the behaviour, and he raised an eyebrow at Ash. "Do I really need to answer that?"
"Whatever," Ash repeated, lying back down on the bed.
"You're still ticked about that loss in the Sinnoh League, aren't you?" Gary prodded, resting his chin on his forearms.
"A little."
"Because you went up against two legendaries and lost six-two?"
"More or less, yeah…" Ash sighed, propping himself up on his elbows. Gary nodded knowingly.
"Eh, don't let it get you down like this," he advised. Ash remained silent, opting to bow his head and stare at the floor.
"What I'm saying is," Gary continued slowly, getting to his feet and swinging the chair back under the desk, "Just because you got beaten so heavily doesn't mean you should get so down about it. It happens to just about everyone at least once. A good trainer knows to learn from their losses, and use them as motivation for the next battle," he finished wisely.
He let Ash think over his words for a minute, and smiled when he saw his friend nod his head in understanding. "Yeah, I think I get what you're saying," Ash said, after almost a minute of thought, and Gary could hear his voice change in tone as he talked.
"Good. Now come on; whaddaya say to a little battle to cheer you up?" he offered, sneering at Ash like he used to, and Ash's face slowly began to mirror the look.
"You're on!" Ash countered, clambering off his bed and following an already moving Gary out the door.
Until next time, keep reading, and don't forget to review~