Pokemon One-Shots and Headcanons

Enough

Ash and his friends were relaxing in a small clearing in the forest, watching the sunset. It had been a long day of training and they were all glad for the chance to sit back for a while. The raven-haired teen was talking with Clemont while Serena and Bonnie were having one of their "girl talks", not that either of the boys really understood what that meant. 

A few yards away, the Pokemon were deep in a discussion of their own. Pikachu, Braixen, and Greninja were talking about the upcoming Kalos league and Master Class when the topic of coversation suddenly turned to Ash. 

"You know, I think Ash is glad we met you now instead of when we started on our journey," Pikachu remarked to Greninja. It was a seemingly offhanded comment, but the frog-ninja Pokemon couldn't help but be curious as to why his teammate would think such a thing. 

"Why is that?" Greninja asked curiously. 

"Ash was a bit...insecure at the start of his journey," the electric mouse Pokemon answered. "I think a lot of it had to do with his rival, Gary Oak. They were friends. Until, that is, they started on their Pokemon journeys and Gary basically ditched him over one small disagreement. It didn't help that no one really thought Ash would amount to much. Gary was the one everyone expected to succeed, mostly because he's Professor Oak's grandson." 

"Why would that make a difference?" Braixen asked. 

Pikachu shrugged. "I don't know, but it did. And everything kind of went to Gary's head and he became incredibly arrogant," he replied. "But even so, he was still the 'it' boy of Pallet Town. He was popular, a pretty good trainer, and famous because of his name. He had it all. And even though Ash never really admitted it, I think it bothered him a lot that someone could be so conceited and rude, yet still be better liked than him. To make matters worse, Gary constantly tried to bring Ash's self esteem down by making fun of him and pretending they were never friends. He even had a group of cheerleaders following him around. Not that Ash wanted a group of cheerleaders following him, but seeing them every time we ran into Gary was just another reminder that almost everyone liked him more than Ash." 

"That little-" Greninja broke off, wanting to go strangle this Gary kid for making his trainer feel bad about himself. 

"I know," Pikachu agreed, looking just as upset. "So Ash thought that the only way to get people to like him was to act like Gary. He started covering up his insecurities with arrogance. I think it surprises him sometimes that any of us chose to stay with him. Truth is, we could all tell he wasn't really as arrogant as he was making himself out to be. But it wasn't until after our time in Johto that he finally understood he didn't have to act that way just to get people to like him or believe in him. I guess that's why I think he's glad that we met you now. He probably thinks you wouldn't have liked him." 

"I think I would have," Greninja disagreed. "Just because he might have been a little arrogant doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked him. It might have taken me a little longer to warm up to him, but I'm sure we would have been friends if he was anywhere near as good of a friend as he is now." 

"Oh, he was," Pikachu agreed. "That was one of the main reasons why we chose to stay with him; he never gave up on any of us, no matter what. Not even Charizard." 

"Ash has a Charizard?" Greninja repeated, sounding a little surprised. 

Pikachu nodded. "Yeah, he was one of the first Pokemon Ash ever caught, back when he was a Charmander," he told his teammate. "He was one of the hardest working Pokemon on the team. Well, until he evolved and suddenly stopped listening to Ash. None of us really know why. And things didn't get better when he evolved into Charizard. If anything, they just got worse, especially during Ash's Indigo league challenge." 

"What happened?" Braixen asked curiously. 

"Ash was battling a friend of his, Ritchie," Pikachu explained. "It was a close battle, and in the end it came down to Ritchie's Pikachu, who he called Sparky, against Ash's Charizard. But since Charizard didn't think Sparky was a worthy opponent, he decided to lay down and take a nap instead. That was probably the most embarrassing defeat of Ash's life. But even though Charizard was pretty much the sole reason we lost that battle, Ash didn't punish him or go out of his way to make him feel guilty. He just accepted his defeat and moved on with his life." 

"He didn't do anything?" Greninja repeated incredulously. He himself thought that Charizard's actions would merit a good talking to at the very least. 

"Nothing," Pikachu confirmed. "Thing is, I think Ash was a bit smarter than he let on during our journey through Kanto. Like I said before, the thing he wanted more than anything in the world at that time was to have friends and have someone believe in him. That's what he wanted from Charizard too-his friendship. He didn't want to dominate Charizard; he just wanted to be his friend. And I think part of Ash knew, even if he wasn't fully aware of it himself, that punishing Charizard or yelling at him would only make their relationship worse." 

"Oh," was all Greninja could say to that. 

"It worked, eventually," Pikachu added. "It took a while-a long while, mind you-but eventually Charizard settled down and started listening to Ash again. Ever since then, he's grown into one of Ash's strongest Pokemon." 

"Sounds like Ash has had an eventful journey," Greninja remarked. "I'm sorry it was such a rough start for him, though. Especially with that Gary kid. But I still think I would have liked him anyway." 

"It's all right. I think we're just glad we met you now after things had a chance to settle down," Pikachu replied. 

"Between Ash and Gary?" the frog-ninja Pokemon asked. 

"Between Ash and himself," Braixen answered, seemingly out of nowhere. She was right, however. 

The talk with Pikachu seemed to have awakened some sensitivity to Ash's habits within Greninja. Despite all his attempts to cover it up, the frog Pokemon could see that their continued failure to perfect their form was starting to eat away at Ash's confidence. He realized that, although the wounds were mostly healed now, the pain of first losing a friend and then being viewed as a second rate trainer to said ex-friend had left a scar. 

One day, after yet another failed attempt at perfecting their bond, Greninja decided to talk to Ash. Before the raven-haired teen could go back to camp, he called him back. 

"Ash, wait," he called out. 

"Yes, Greninja? What is it?" Ash asked, turning around. 

Greninja leveled a serious look at his trainer. "You're a great trainer and an amazing friend. Don't let anyone get in your head and bring you down to make you think otherwise." 

Ash was slightly flattered, but wondered why Greninja would say something like that. Then it dawned on him. 

Greninja turned to join the other Pokemon. 

"Greninja?" Ash called. 

"Yes?" Greninja replied, turning around again. 

"Thanks," Ash said, smiling at him. 

Nothing more was said between the two, and nothing more needed to be said. That little conversation had been more than enough.