"Don't beat yourself up kid." Mark said, patting Ken on the back, consoling him.
Ken didn't reply right away, instead letting out a sigh. "It's fine, I just need to keep improving." He stated, clenching his fist.
Mark walked to the front of the locker room and addressed the team, his voice calm. "I don't think I need to talk too much about what went wrong this game." He said, his gaze moving around the room.
"Our defense was good, but only 3 hits in 9 innings is something that we need to work on. We've got 3 more games against these guys, so I want to see some improvement in our batting before the end of the series."
"Head home tonight and get some rest. Tomorrow we'll go through the film and see areas for improvement."
"Yes Coach."
Ken was one of the first to grab his bag and make his way out of the lockers. He was followed by Daichi and Rohan close by, the mood somber.
No one said a word until they got in the car.
Rohan who had sat on the bench the entire game was feeling rather stifled. He saw that the two brothers seemed down, but he didn't know what to say to make it better. Just as he was building up the courage to overturn the atmosphere, Ken started laughing.
'Eh?' Rohan blinked a few times in confusion, not knowing what was happening.
Daichi soon joined in on the laughter, instantly breaking the somber atmosphere. But Rohan felt a little stifled, since he had no idea what was so funny.
'These guys just lost, but they're laughing? I don't understand…'
"Man that guy is a monster." Ken said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, now I'm even more surprised that we beat him back then." Daichi added, chuckling.
"But still… I can't believe he hit two home runs off me. He really ruined my ERA for the season." Ken complained.
At this, Daichi laughed even harder, "Why are you acting like you care about such a statistic? We all know you only care about winning."
Ken shrugged, "I might not care about statistics, but the media does. Watch them drag me through the mud for the next couple of weeks because of this."
"You can only blame yourself for that one. Who comes out and makes such outrageous claims before the first game is even played." Daichi quipped, nudging Ken.
Ken laughed once more, "You know me. I can be a bit impulsive sometimes."
"What is happening right now?" Rohan asked, finally unable to take it anymore.
Both Ken and Daichi looked at him quizzically, almost as if he was the one with the problem. This only served to frustrate Rohan even more.
"Why are you guys laughing!? Weren't you just depressed a moment ago?"
"Hmm? Did you want us to continue being depressed for the rest of the night?" Ken asked, looking at him oddly.
"That's not what I said…"
"So what are you saying then?" Daichi asked, tilting his head in question.
With the two brothers looking at him, Rohan felt his face reddening before he let out a sigh. "I don't think I'll ever understand you two."
"What is there to not understand? We were beaten by a better team. There's no point in wallowing in self pity." Ken replied matter-of-factly.
"He's right, we're only 11 games into the season. We're bound to lose every now and then." Daichi added, "If I got depressed every time I lost in Japan I think I would have collapsed by now."
Rohan slowly started to feel better at these words. He suddenly realized that he'd been a little silly. These two were true professionals, despite being rookies in the Majors like himself.
"Yeah, losing over here is much better in comparison. A single loss in High School back in Japan means your season is over." Ken added, reminiscence in his eyes.
Seeing that the subject had changed, Rohan felt incredulous. But since Ken and Daichi seemed to no longer be affected by the bad loss, he couldn't really complain.
Later that night, Ken lay in bed next to the sleeping Ai and let out a sigh.
To say he was disappointed in his performance wouldn't be a lie, but for some reason, he had expected as much. Even with the help of showdown, he'd given up two home runs against Leo before he was taken off in the 5th inning.
Ken stared at the ceiling as he brought up his system for the first time in what felt like forever.
MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
SYSTEM LEVEL: 6 (Max)
NAME: Ken Takagi
AGE: 21
TALENT ASSESSMENT: EX
POTENTIAL: L
MAJOR POINTS: 8,604,880
USER MENU:
-STATS
-MISSIONS
-SYSTEM SHOP
-LOTTERY
-IMAGE TRAINING
-IDENTIFY
-TRAINING PLAN
-MENTOR
-???
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: EX
>Pitching: SSS+
>Fielding: A+
>Game Intelligence: SSS
>Mental: EX-
>Skills: 26
>Traits: 4
PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. EX)
Balance and Coordination: EX
Agility: EX-
Strength: EX
Stamina: EX+
Ken's eyes stared at his pitching grade that hadn't changed in over 3 years. This was the thing that had been holding him back from the start.
'I need to do something about it…' Ken thought.
Being beaten so soundly in the showdown with Leo was enough to let him know how far behind he was. While he could probably still pitch well in the Majors, he couldn't afford to settle for less.
'Maybe I should look at hiring a personal coach?'
With this in mind, Ken opened the Image Training and soon appeared in the virtual Koshien he had visited seemingly every night.
#PITCHING MISSIONS:
> Pitch 100,000 strikes [99%] - 5,000,000 Major points + Skill: Striker
> Pitch 100,000 breaking balls [14%] - 5,000,000 Major points + Skill: Breaker of Balls
> Throw pick-offs 100,000 times [0%] - 5,000,000 Major points + Skill: Pick-off Practitioner
> Pitch 100mph 100,000 times [88%] - 7,500,000 Major points + Skill: Over the Speed limit
> Strike-out AI (upgradeable) - 10,000,000 Major points + Diamond Lottery ticket
"1000 more strikes until I finish the first mission… Let's do this."