Chapter Text
Clemont really tried his best to not think about it too much, but it was simply impossible.
Not when another one of his inventions ended up being a failure.
It was a day like any other. They were all continuing their journey when Team Rocket appeared as usual and, of course, tried to steal Pikachu again. Even worse, they managed to actually grab the mouse and disappear with it.
And when even Fletchling couldn't find them, the group knew they had a problem.
Seeing his friend's worried expression, Clemont knew he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. So he decided to put his Clemontic Gear into test again and show off his newest invention he started to build a way back, when he realized just how badly Team Rocket wanted to capture Ash's Pikachu.
Of course, there was an Automatic Pikachu Retrieval Device before, but Clemont decided that invention was a failure, just like Serena said. Not only because it exploded in their faces, but also because the robot had difficulty navigating rough terrain and was therefore easily stuck in that metal fence.
He really did want to believe that failure was the mother of success, so he tried again.
So this time, Clemont tried to invent something smaller. Specifically, a Pikachu locator that fit in one hand and could show the location of the nearest mouse Pokémon on the screen. One of the downsides was that it could locate any Pikachu that was nearby, but Pikachu weren't exactly super popular in the Kalos region, so the boy decided it shouldn't be a problem.
It... didn't work out the way he wanted it to.
They ended up finding Pikachu, sure, but it was after the device exploded like it always did. And then Ash took care of Team Rocket all by himself anyway.
It wasn't what Clemont had in mind when he told himself that he had to do better back in Lumiose City.
Ash deserved someone who would be valuable in his journey instead of being a burden. Someone who could stand by his side and help save the day when he needed it. Someone who would ensure that, what happened in Lumiose City with Garchomp, never happened again.
Most of the time, Clemont was anything, but that.
Some gym leader...
He didn't even realize that it was probably the fifth time he sighed in the last three minutes.
"You okay, Clemont?" Ash's voice snapped Clemont out of his thoughts and the boy looked up at his friend.
They were all just setting up camp for the night and while Serena and Bonnie were setting up a table, both Clemont and Ash decided to take care of the tents. Except only then the young gym leader realized that he was just holding one side of the blue tent, while Ash awkwardly tried to pull the tent up from his side. Of course, it was no use without Clemont's help.
He had to be better than that.
"H—huh? Oh, right! Sorry!" Clemont quickly began to move his arms to try and fix the situation, but the tent didn't cooperate right now, no matter what he did. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me today."
If it was anyone else, they would probably be frustrated by his distracted mind. But Ash only smiled like the mess Clemont made, didn't bother him at all, "Hey, seems to me that something's troubling you."
It didn't even surprise Clemont that his friend figured it out. He was never good at hiding whenever he was concerned about something. And even though he knew Ash wouldn't press if Clemont said that it wasn't important, he forced himself to speak this time.
"Truth to be told, I'm kind of worried about the future of my inventions," Clemont said, leaving the tent alone and looking down.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked, tilting his head, not understanding what he meant. "Your inventions are awesome! And they always help a ton!"
"Thanks, but... I wouldn't call them that," the blonde boy smiled sadly at his words, before scratching his chin. "They don't work like they're supposed to and usually do more harm than good. Especially when they blow in our faces every time. It's just hard to not consider them complete failures."
No wonder Bonnie always teased him about them.
He didn't know what was that he said, but it made Ash pull back with surprise and drop the side of the tent he was holding, "Wait, what do you mean by failures?"
Clemont only sighed, "They always blow up before they can even help us properly. Not to mention, sometimes they don't work properly at all. Like when we were trying to lure in Fletching since it was flying too high and my machine was supposed to do just that. Except it attracted Beedrills instead." He shook his head with resignation, staring at the tent on the ground, "Isn't it logical to call them failures?"
The black-haired boy blinked before bringing his hand to his chin to think. Seeing that, Clemont started to wonder if maybe he should just drop the topic and stop bothering Ash with his problems.
"I mean... even if it's not perfect, they do work, aren't they?"
Ash's words instantly made Clemont look at him.
"I may not be an inventor, but in my opinion, you're not giving yourself enough credit, Clemont," Ash spoke, before looking somewhere in the distance and the young gym leader now followed with his gaze. "If it wasn't for you today, we wouldn't be able to find Team Rocket and my Pikachu."
Clemont listened as he looked at Pikachu who was just returning to their camping place with Dedenne, Froakie, Fennekin, Fletchling and Chespin. All of them carrying bunch of berries they found in the forest (all except Chespin, who probably ate all the berries it picked on the way back).
As usual.
"But it didn't exactly find Pikachu," Clemont pointed out when he looked at black-haired boy again.
"But it did point us out in the correct direction," Ash said instead. "Fletchling would never be able to find them from the sky after they hid in that cave. But we did and it's all thanks to your invention."
"Pika pika!" it looked as if Pikachu agreed when it suddenly appeared on it's trainer's shoulder. Ash only chuckled before giving it a small scratch on the chin.
"See? Pretty sure Pikachu feels the same!"
His friend's kindness couldn't really make Clemont argue more.
"Thank you, it really means a lot," the blonde boy smiled, not being able to hide his grateful blush. Though his smile still was still hesitant, "I just wish I somehow found a way to stop my inventions from exploding all the time."
"Gotcha. I imagine it's probably really tricky to understand why it happens." Ash thought for a moment before he raised his finger up, his smile still there, "But you did build Clembot and he didn't explode, right? So it's totally something you can figure out. It's like with Pokemon battles!"
"Pokemon battles?" Clemont repeated.
"Yeah, like when you battle, some super strong gym leader for example, and they have a strategy you can't beat, that's when you pause and focus on that!" he began to explain. "You already know how to create lots of machines with all these unique options. Now you just gotta figure out a way to stop them from exploding."
Clemont blinked hearing that. Ash was right. His inventions had only one error in them and Clembot was a perfect proof that he could somehow avoid it in everything he was creating. Maybe after returning to Lumiose City, he could take a closer look at his robot and figure out what exactly he had that his other inventions didn't.
But he especially liked his friend's perspective and the way he compared inventing to Pokemon battles. It indeed was similiar situation. If there was a problem, there had to be a way to solve it. And Ash's battles and his trainings were definitely pretty inspiring. Maybe thanks to traveling with Ash and watching him challange the gyms, Clemont would find an answer to his own problems.
"You know, this is a great observation! I'll make sure to take a note of it," Clemont said with determination. "Thanks a lot! I'll do my best to find the perfect solution for my inventions!"
"That's what I'm talking about! I believe you can do it, Clemont" Ash said, pumping up his fists, while Pikachu did the same. "Now, how about we finish putting up the tents?"
To that, Clemont nodded with a more confident smile.
And with his head clear, the work went smoothly this time.
As long as he's going to travel with Ash, he decided that everything's going to be okay.