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The Masters Eight Tournament was going along swimmingly, which had Bri somewhat on edge. Rarely do things go her way, so when they do she’s immediately suspicious.
Her mood doesn’t improve when Ash joined her in the break room. “Woah, that was awesome! Their moves were so cool and then they met and-“ He continued rambling about the latest match-a nobody trainer who thought they could take on Leon. Naturally, the match didn’t last very long. Not anyone can handle his Charizard.
Ash was still excited nonetheless.
”Oh yeah! I left to get us these.” He held out an ice cream cone. Chocolate, her favorite. She thanked him and took it.
”…Why do you wanna be a gym leader?”
”…What do you mean by that?” Where is he going with this anyway?
Ash licked his ice cream. “Like, you’ve done all kinds of cool stuff! You should be a champion or somethin!”
“Pika!” His Pikachu agreed.
Bri did not. She was just fine where she was, thank you. It was safer that way. Sure, gym leaders would get a lot of recognition in their region, and maybe some of the other gym leaders would recognize them in other regions, but compared to a champion or elite four they were relatively safe.
Being a trainer wasn’t enough for her though, so she went a step further. Besides she did the trainer thing on her first go around. It didn’t end very well.
Ash didn’t help matters later on, what with only properly winning 2 gym badges in Kanto. How he was even allowed to take part in the league was beyond her since the rest were earned for technicalities or good deeds but anyway-
It was safer being in the lower ranks where nobody gave you the time of day, where you could blend into the crowd just like that and be a nobody.
Sometimes Bri wanted to be a nobody. She knew Ash did too.
At least she got to choose her position this time.
Ash was eating away at his ice cream. “I mean…you beat Lance.”
”Only because he said I threw like a girl!” Even though she’s pretty sure he didn’t say that, Meowth probably made it up so she’d actually throw a Pokeball. Rude. Some of the other elites found it funny, mostly Agatha, who chewed him out for losing the battle and his position afterwards.
But she refused the champion position anyway. Too much paperwork.….which is the same excuse she told Siebold and anyone else who asked. Mairin didn’t seem to believe her and neither did Siebold, but he went along with it anyway. Alain wanted to battle him, but he wanted to battle her for some reason. She accepted, reluctantly because why would he want to give her the time of day when Ash Alain is standing right there?
She doesn’t get it, man.
”You helped Alain a bunch of times, and he’s really strong!”
Yeah, but she hasn’t actually battled him aside from him noticing her mega stone and wanting to battle her. He is really strong though.
“And…aside from him, you’re the only one here who isn’t a champion! That must mean you’re really strong too, right?”
Does it? Sure, she has the experience, but does experience equal talent? Is she wasting her potential by staying a gym leader? Should she stay where she is or move up in the world?
Obviously she should stay here. Don’t let that kid convince you otherwise. She licked her melting ice cream (what a waste…when did it start melting anyway?) and waited for the break to be over.
The announcer started up again, and Ash perked up. “My turn!” His Pikachu nuzzled Bri while Ash threw his ice cream away, then jumped onto his shoulder as he ran out to the stadium. “Wish me luck!”
Luck hasn’t done her any favors, so she’ll pass. She stared at her melting ice cream. Stay here in a room full of powerful friends opponents, or go out into the stands?
…
Too intimidating. She threw her ice cream away and headed to the stands. She can be a little late.