Gladion looked across the battlefield at Ash, who was still standing in the same spot with his eyes fixed on Pikachu.
The excitement and confidence that had filled the boy's face when he had entered the Gym were completely gone.
Gladion watched him for a few seconds before sighing. He had expected Ash to lose. In fact, he had expected the battle to be one sided from the moment he saw Ash's team, but seeing the boy this devastated still made him feel slightly guilty.
He walked toward Ash, stopping a few steps away from him. "You were too overconfident, Ash. You came into this Gym thinking that because Gary managed to defeat me, you could simply do the same thing. You did not study my Pokémon, you did not consider what your own Pokémon were capable of doing, and you entered a four star challenge with a team that was nowhere near ready for it."
Ash finally looked up at him.
Gladion continued before Ash could say anything. "What would have happened if this had been a real battle against criminals instead of a Gym match? Would you just go after them even if you know you are not match for them? If someone had actually wanted to hurt you, you and your Pokémon could have died because you were not prepared."
Ash's expression became even more depressed. Gladion did not soften his words. "For now, you are not ready for even a two Badge challenge. That does not mean you can never become a strong trainer. It means you need to train your Pokémon first. Learn how they fight, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and stop assuming that determination alone will win every battle. You have potential, but potential means nothing if you refuse to prepare yourself."
Ash stared at him. His fists slowly tightened.
For a moment, Gladion thought the boy might argue. Instead, Ash picked up Pikachu.
He looked down at the Pokemon Ball in his hand and then turned around. Without saying anything, Ash suddenly ran toward the Gym entrance.
Gladion watched him disappear through the doors. Misty immediately glared at Gladion. She had clearly been holding herself back during the entire conversation, but now that Ash had left, she no longer had any reason to remain silent.
"A Gym Leader's job is to encourage trainers and help them improve, not completely destroy their confidence after one defeat. You could have explained what he did wrong without telling him that he was not even ready for a two Badge challenge."
Gladion turned toward her. His expression remained calm. "A Gym Leader's job is also to make sure trainers who are not ready for the journey do not blindly go further until they meet their end. If I had given Ash his Badge simply because I wanted to encourage him, what exactly would that accomplish?"
Misty crossed her arms. "He would have been encouraged to keep going."
"And possibly walk into the next dangerous situation believing that he was stronger than he actually is."
Misty's glare remained. Gladion continued, "If Ash wants to become a great trainer, he needs to understand that there is a difference between believing in yourself and being overconfident. Believing in yourself means you know that you can improve. Overconfidence means believing you have already improved enough when you have not."
Misty opened her mouth to respond. She stopped. For a moment, she looked toward the doors through which Ash had disappeared.
Then she shook her head. "You still could have said it differently."
Gladion shrugged slightly. "Maybe I could have."
He looked at the empty battlefield. "But I would rather have Ash hate me for telling him the truth today than watch him get seriously injured tomorrow because nobody had the courage to tell him that he was not ready."
Misty's expression hardened again. She clearly disagreed. But before she could continue arguing, she turned around and ran toward the Gym entrance following Ash.
Brock followed her. He stopped for a second beside Gladion and gave him a strange look.
Gladion raised an eyebrow. Brock scratched the back of his head. "I think you were probably a little harsh, but I understand what you were trying to do. Ash has been the kind of person who charges forward before thinking about what is waiting for him."
Gladion looked at him. Brock smiled awkwardly. "And your mother is still incredibly beautiful."
Gladion's eye twitched. "Get out."
Brock immediately ran after Misty.
Gladion stood alone in the Gym. He took a slow breath.
His expression became thoughtful. Ash was strange. The boy had walked into the Gym with the confidence of someone who had already decided that he was going to win.
Yet the moment things went wrong, his entire approach had fallen apart. His Pokémon were inexperienced, his battle strategy was predictable, and he had barely adapted to anything Spearow did.
But there had been something else. Something Gladion had noticed. Ash had not blamed his Pokemon for losing.
He had not even blamed Gladion. When each of his Pokémon had been defeated, Ash had immediately encouraged them to get back up. Even after losing the battle, the first thing he had done was looking at Pikachu in worry instead of shouting at it for losing.
Gladion folded his arms and stared at the entrance. 'So this is Ash Ketchum.'
He had done what he thought was best for Ash. And he would have done the same thing to any other trainer as his responsibility as a Gym leader.
He had already seen what happened when trainers became obsessed with becoming stronger without understanding the responsibility that came with that strength.
The Pokémon world was full of dangerous places, criminal organizations, wild Pokémon capable of killing humans, and trainers who had no problem using Pokémon battles to hurt others.
The League could provide rules. Gym Leaders could provide guidance.
But once a trainer left the Gym and started travelling through the world, nobody could guarantee their safety.
That was why Gladion took his Gym seriously. A Badge was not simply a piece of metal given to a trainer because they had paid an entry fee and thrown a few Poké Balls.
It represented a certain level of skill. If Ash could not reach that level yet, Gladion would not give him a Badge simply because he happened to be the protagonist of some strange story that seemed to be unfolding around him.
Gladion almost laughed at the thought. 'Protagonist.'
He knew Ash was destined for something important. But destiny did not impress Gladion.
Strength did not impress him either. What mattered was whether someone could survive the road ahead.
Gladion walked toward the center of the Gym and looked down at the battlefield where Ash's Pokémon had fought.
"Let's see if you are really the protagonist of this story," he muttered to himself.
He looked toward the doors again. 'If you really are going to face the challenges that are waiting for you, then you had better become ready for them.'
If Ash was really destined for something greater, then Gladion would make sure the boy learned what he needed to learn before that destiny arrived.
Because Gladion was not going to hand out Badges simply because fate expected him to.
And he certainly was not going to let the fate of different regions lie in the hands of an unprepared overconfident kid.
-----Author Notes------
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