A story of Pokemon

The battle begin [part two]

Ash was confused. It was his turn to attack, and he didn't know what to do. Was it really worth continuing? His Charmander was down to just 3 HP, while Blue's Squirtle still had about 9 HP. It was a finely tuned strategy, Ash thought. Blue had perfectly utilized his Pokémon's abilities, and his tactic to gradually weaken Charmander's defenses before finishing it off with a tackle had paid off, unlike Ash who had just kept repeating the same attack over and over, like a novice player in Street Fighter.

What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Ash muttered to himself. You know what you have to do. There's only one option: attack and lose. You knew this would happen, you knew you'd lose.

He kept hearing that little voice repeating the same lines over and over.Just give up, you don't have to win this time. Ash knew his weaknesses; he was a pragmatic and cautious boy. In fact, his motto was simple: it's better to underestimate yourself and win unexpectedly than to overestimate yourself and lose miserably. To him, that was being realistic. But this time was different. Sure, he'd been challenged, and he had nothing to gain from winning, yet deep down, he didn't want to lose or give up so easily. Maybe it was Blue's determination that drove him. Very likely. We always try to surpass ourselves and give our best, especially when we're told we can't do it. That's what makes us human, after all. But in the end, all that mattered was that, at this moment, Ash understood what it meant to be a Pokémon trainer.

Ash was still deep in thought. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his dilated pupils darted left and right, up and down, each movement corresponding to a different option he considered. But none of them seemed right. He was starting to lose hope. It's hopeless, he kept telling himself.

NO! YOU CAN'T GIVE UP!

It was that loud voice from earlier again, cutting through Ash's thoughts and snapping him out of his stupor.

That voice again? Ash thought, completely bewildered. He wanted to know where it was coming from. Was it stress? Or was he just losing his mind? It didn't matter anymore, not right now, because in a few seconds, Blue was going to wipe the floor with him.

Ash sighed. No matter what the voice in his head said, there were no miracle solutions. It had just shown up to give a trivial piece of advice, like those old mentors in shonen manga who appear in a hero's flashback and shout "GANBAREEE," and poof, problem solved. If only it were that simple, Ash muttered with a sigh. He was on the verge of giving up when suddenly, a message appeared on his virtual screen.

Potion item added to your inventory. Do you want to use Potion on Charmander?

In an instant, Ash's foggy mind cleared. “Oh”, he said, surprised. “How did I forget I had this all along?”

"But how did it get into my console?" he wondered.

"Oh, right!" he exclaimed. "The console must have scanned me and added the potion to the inventory, just like the professor mentioned earlier."

"No time to waste." Ash pressed the button. "Of course I want to use it, yes!" he cried as he pressed the button.

Potion used on Charmander. Charmander gains 16 HP.

Blue watched in astonishment as Charmander, who had been on the brink of defeat, fully recovered its HP.

"No! How can a loser like you have a healing potion? This isn't fair!"

"Well, Blue, this just shows the difference between you and me", Ash said with a wide, mischievous grin. "You should know that a real Pokémon trainer always comes prepared before a battle", Ash added.
He was grinning broadly, his eyes wide with excitement. Against all odds, the fear had shifted sides, and now it was his turn to attack.