The Frontier Master

Chapter 2: The Offer Stands

"Scott... I would like to join the Battle Frontier."

Scott gave off a weird look for a second and then smirked. "Oh I get it. You're messing with me. Did Noland put you up to this?"

Ash shook his head at the accusation that Scott gave out. "This is no joke Scott. I really want to join and become a Frontier Brain."

Scott gave a real shocked expression this time around. He looked at Ash like the boy yelled at him. "What? But I always thought you were the traveling type of trainer. You even said it yourself that you didn't want to join because you liked the thought of adventuring around."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, and I do... but I feel like I just... just hit a block in my improvment or something..."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "This has to do with Tobias, doesn't it?"

Ash looked completly baffled at the statement. Though Scott was completely right in his assumption, how did he know who Tobias was in the first place. This is making our hero wonder just how much Scott really knows about his life.

Scott laughed. "Guess Brandon hit the nail on the head."

Ash looked even more confused than earlier. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Scott smirked at the young trainer. "Brandon said he ran into you back in Sinnoh. He remembered how powerful you were back when you faced him, but he said that compared to that last time he faced off against you, you seemed a bit lackluster. Nothing like Paul, but Brandon called that you may get far in the league tourney, but you wouldn't be able to win it if you didn't fix yourself up. And sure enough, he called it."

Ash widened his eyes. Was he really like that before he squared off against Tobias? This made Ash worry if he would even make the cut among the Frontier Brains themselves. Due to the power cap these people were on, Ash worried if he should've just taken the offer before the Sinnoh League.

"What should I do?" Ash asked, hopeful that Scott would have a plan.

From the smirk Scott was giving off, Ash could only assume he did. "Come by to Viridian City tomorrow. Brandon is out there right now, and I can call the others to make them come out there as well. We know exactly what to do to you. Now I'll just see you down there. I have to reschedule a few things now that I have something more important to help with. Does around 4 work for you?"

Ash nodded, which led to Scott chuckling. "I'll see you there. And Ash... don't feel too down about losing to Tobias. A guy who only uses legendaries could give any Champion and Elite Four a challenge. Same goes for even Brandon. Don't let it get to you. I'll see you at 4."

With that, the call had ended between the two, and Ash was happy that he could join. But something was off to Ash. Not only did it seem too easy to go to Viridian City, but it left him with more questions than full answers. He doesn't really know what the big plan Scott has to help him join the Battle Frontier, and on top of that, Ash still doesn't really know what happened in between the Battle Frontier and the Sinnoh League that could really affect him so much.

But he knew the answers would come once the time was right. For now, it was time to share the exciting news to his mother. As he ran off out the door, he could hear a voice telling him 'Can you even compare to something like them?'

........

Scott sighed in happiness that the first, and to this day, only person to beat the current Frontier Brain lineup in Kanto. He couldn't be more excited to help that trainer rise to the top with the Battle Frontier like Scott had hoped for back a year ago.

You had to admit, the man was ambitious.

Scott dialed the numbers of all the other Frontier Brains and set the call to conference mode. One by one, the Frontier Brains began answering to Scott's call with curious looks on their faces. It wasn't every day that their boss called them randomly. Especially not all at once.