Off My Chest

Comfort

Megabondshipping is my guilty pleasure ship! I love it and wish there was just more fics and arts celebrating it. I like that Alain and Ash's relationship isn't about animosity like with Gary or Paul. Alain is a breath of fresh air. I am pissed that he won though...recant his trophy for connections to Team Flare! Or hell, rematch now that he doesn't have the Mega Stone since it was Lysandre's.

....

Ash and his friends were staying at Professor Sycamore's so that all of them could recuperate, both humans and Pokémon. Clemont was hard at work rebuilding his Clem-bot and Serena took Bonnie shopping to get her mind off Squishy. Ash was finally able to enjoy time on his own so he could think things over.

It seemed like the Kalos League was brushed aside once Lysandre began his attack on the city. His Pokémon, barely rested, were thrown back into battle to stop that monster from destroying everything in his path. But now that everything was back to normal, Ash could only think about his failure during the League.

His Pokémon had all done their best against Alain and his team. But once again, his Mega-Evolved Charizard bested Greninja. His dear friend had apologized, but Ash should've been the one apologizing to him. Greninja fed off the emotions and strength of Ash in that form. And that meant Ash failed them both.

Alain was of course, perfect. His Pokémon were strong and his Charizard was in great shape. After everything that happened, Ash found himself unable to look Alain in the eye. Every time Ash looked at him, he didn't like the ugly feeling growing in his chest. It wasn't hate, he didn't hate Alain. He was a great Trainer and an even nicer guy. He could say that freely. But was it jealousy? It was too similar to how he felt towards Gary. And because he felt so negative around Alain, he decided to ignore him. It was easy, sorta. Mairin kept him distracted and random people would come up to get his autograph so Ash didn't have to talk to him. Even at breakfast this morning, he didn't focus on Alain and let Professor Sycamore keep his attention, but he wasn't listening much then either.

Ash decided to come out of his room to go outside where the Pokémon were. He left his hat in his room to let the breeze comb through his hair. He needed the fresh air and couldn't be cooped up in his room forever. Like that time when he lost against Wulfric and needed a moment to himself. He needed to isolate himself for a bit, otherwise he would get upset like he did with Serena. He didn't want a repeat. Eager Pokémon ran his way to play with him, Ash laughing as they begged him for food and scratches. Well-equipped, he handed off handfuls of their food so they would give him space to breathe.

It felt nice to be outside with Pokémon again. It took him away from his personal pity party so he could focus on what mattered. The Pokémon.

A familiar roar took him away from his thoughts, eyes following the sound. And there he saw a Charizard without the familiar Mega Stone around its neck. Its Trainer was calmly feeding it with a small smile on his face. Ash froze. It was Alain and no one was there to distract him. He still couldn't face him with how he was feeling. Alain didn't cheat to become champion for him to feel this bitter.

He turned to walk away, but the excited Pokémon around him weren't giving him the space to do so. In fact, they were getting really vocal when he moved, thinking he wanted to play with them. The commotion caught Alain's attention, the taller boy curiously looking over and beaming when he saw Ash.

"Ash!" he called. The younger one sighed internally. He didn't want to feel this way. Alain was nice. And Ash really liked him because he was a solid Trainer, more so than Gary even. He tried to smile.

"Hey, Alain!" he greeted, waving as Alain and his Charizard came closer. For a second, he saw Alain frown, but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

"It's good to see you walking around after everything that's happened." Ash laughed nervously, scratching his cheek.