Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 68: Battling to the Quarters

So Ash beat Malva. He actually beat her. Ash is better than an Elite Four trainer. Sawyer couldn't stop thinking about this, as he watched the following battles, while waiting for his own. As each trainer advanced to the quarterfinals, he could only think of how tough it was going to be, if there were to be even one or two more trainers at Ash's level. The task was so daunting. Could he really compete in this tournament? Could he really match up against his idol?

"Hey Sawyer, what's up? You've been pretty quiet today." Sawyer jumped at the question, having let his surroundings drift out of his thoughts. He looked to his left, where Ash was sitting. Even though the other trainer had asked Sawyer a question, his eyes were still on the battlefield below, where Alain was currently rolling right through his third round match.

"I...I'm fine," Sawyer muttered, unconvincingly. "Just...um...nervous about my next match." He looked back at the field, avoiding eye contact as Ash suddenly looked back at him.

"You're joking, right? You don't need to be nervous. Sure, Tierno's strong, but that's what will make the battle fun. I thought you liked a good battle." Ash sounded so genuinely confused, as if he had never been nervous before. Sawyer doubted that, though. As confident as Ash was, there was no way he hadn't been at least a little nervous before battling Malva.

Sawyer turned to Ash, deciding to confront him with that thought. "Are you saying battling Malva didn't make you nervous?"

Ash nodded, as though agreeing that was a good point. "Yeah, well I guess I do get nervous sometimes." He took a quick look over to Serena, who was talking to Dawn and then looked back at Sawyer. "I think nervousness gets me more battle hungry, though. Get what I mean?"

Sawyer laughed a little at that, although not fully getting that feeling. Obviously Ash didn't realize what he was actually nervous about. The idea of not being able to keep up with him. Sawyer remembered his own battle with Malva. It had been close. In fact, they'd had a draw. However, seeing Ash so calm and being able to really take control as he battled...it was intimidating. Sawyer had been so sure he was finally at Ash's level once the tournament had started...now he wasn't so sure. "I think you and I get nervous in different ways, Ash."

"Just have fun," Ash said seriously. "There's no more Malva drama to deal with. There's no more Team Flare stuff to go through. It's just the Kalos League now. We can all just finish the tournament and enjoy it."

"Easy for you to say," Sawyer joked. "You're the one who got rid of those obstacles. You've already proven yourself to be one of the best trainers here. Probably the best. It's pretty intimidating."

Ash stared down at the battle below for a few moments. It was kind of odd, but he seemed to have little interest, despite his friend being involved. Sawyer supposed that with Alain winning so easily, there wasn't really much point in the crowd being emotionally invested, especially after Ash's dramatic match.

Finally, Ash spoke again. "Sawyer, you made me a bit nervous when we ran into you on the way to Vaniville Town."

"Really?" Sawyer asked, barely able to believe what he was hearing. "How?"

"When I found out you had the eight badges before me, I was sure I'd fallen behind," Ash explained, his eyes looking at something that wasn't there, perhaps just seeing the memory in front of him. "When we had that battle, and I just kept beating your Pokemon..." he looked up at Sawyer, a guilty expression on his face. Sawyer realized Ash seemed to think he was accidentally taunting.

"Go on," Sawyer encouraged, more interested in what Ash had to say than any unintended insults.

"Well, when I was winning, I knew that I wasn't facing you at your best. It was frustrating, because I knew I'd be facing a much stronger opponent once the Kalos League came up." He was silent another couple of moments and then continued. "And then you still won against Greninja, even with Sceptile kind of going out of control. You showed that even when you weren't at your best, you had enough power to beat one of my best, when I was fighting with a clear head."