Electrical - Ash Ketchum {1}

Chapter 74 - Friends to the End

It was morning, the day after Ash's battle against Ritchie. Emma and Misty were at the Pokémon Center with the female Pikachu and Togepi, talking at the phone booth with Jane. "It's not the end of the world for Ash," the young woman said with a soft smile, "There's always other opportunities."

"We know, but it was his first time," Misty said. "Yeah, he takes it hard, even though he tries not to show that it affected him," Emma said. Jane sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, if his Charizard would have listen, Ash could have won."

Emma frowned, "Yeah," she muttered. "Tell Ash to cheer up, at least he made all the way to the fifth round," Jane said, "I got to go, but we all will see you guys in a few days when you get back to Pallet Town."

"See you soon," Emma said. Misty waved, "Bye." The screen turned off and Emma sighed. The girls went back to their cabin where Delia, Professor Oak and Brock were sitting on the couch, talking. "Hey," Emma greeted, "Where's Ash?"

Brock nodded upstairs, "In the bedroom. He hasn't come out." Emma frowned in concern and decided to go and check up on him. She handed Togepi to Misty and then went upstairs with her Pikachu, and went into the shared bedroom.

Ash was lying on his bed, depressed, his hat hiding his eyes. His Pikachu was sitting on the table, frowning in concern as he stared at his trainer. He looked over the opening door and saw Emma walking in, "Pikachu-Pi," he said.

Emma petted his head and looked at Ash, "Hey Ash?" The boy suddenly looked over when he heard her voice, "How about you and I go have something to eat together?" she asked. "No thanks," he muttered, "I'm not really hungry."

"How about a walk?" she asked. "No thanks," Ash muttered. Emma raised an eyebrow, "Come on Ash, it's not the end of the world. So you lost this time, there's always going to be another opportunities to win. You just got to train harder. And to train Charizard better if we on the subject of training."

"Yeah? So why don't you train him? Since he clearly listens to you more than he listens to me," Ash suddenly snapped. Emma blinked at him in surprise, while the Pikachu looked surprised and concerned. Emma frowned, "Hey, you the real trainer, if you want Charizard to listen to you, then you got to prove to him you worth it!"

"I know that!" Ash snapped as he stood up. "Why you getting angry with me? I'm only trying to help you, you know! That's what I'm always doing," Emma said in annoyance. "I don't need your help anymore!" Ash shouted as the Pikachu looked between them worriedly, they did not expect that to happen.

Downstairs, the others could hear them. Misty and Brock frowned. "Are they arguing?" Misty asked. "No way, they never do that," Brock said and they all quickly ran up the stairs.

Emma frowned, "Fine then, you on your own in this!" The others ran in. "Hey, hey, what's going on?" Brock asked. "What's going on is that Ash is acting like his old self!" Emma snapped. "Stop acting like you right all the time!" Ash said. Delia looked at her son with a frown, "Don't be angry with Emma, dear, she's only trying to help you."

Misty raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, with the way you are training, you lucky you even made it through the first round. Plus, you should be thankful that Emma is always around to give you a hand every time you need it, and not act like a little kid and snap at her just 'cause you lost the fifth round!"

Ash looked taken back and looked away. "I think Emma and Misty are right," Professor Oak said and they all looked at him, "Maybe you could have gone much farther if you weren't so sure of yourself, and you would have trained your Charizard properly."

"But I--" Ash started and Emma cut him off, "You need to let Charizard out more, and have the time to bond with him, 'cause if you don't start getting to know him better, he'll never give you the respect he gave you when he was a Charmander," she said as she frowned angrily, "That's the last advice I'm giving to you." She took Togepi from Misty and started to walk past Delia and Professor Oak, "Come on, Pikachu."