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Trying to interpret this scene as "Ash thinks lowly of Serena's performances and considers them a lower form of competition" betrays utter media illiteracy. His reaction here isn't "You don't understand me because you've never lost a *real* competition Serena," it's "you've never failed over and over and OVER again, Serena". Ash is reacting this way because Serena is trying to imply her one loss, where she got SECOND PLACE is comparable to his entire journey of back to back losses where he hasn't even cracked 2nd yet. They're completely different. Her dream is still very much in reach, whilst Ash has been given good reason to believe his is slipping away, that despite everything, he CAN'T be the best. After 6 league runs (or even 8 if you count Orange Islands and the Battle Frontier), being unable to crack a gym leader when the literal newbie managed it is a huge hit to Ash's self esteem- It's making him question if he'll ever attain his dream. Saying "oh you can just try again, like me c:" is insulting when you've only ever failed once.
And course, Serena didn't know this, she didn't mean this. What Ash did wrong in this scene is blowing up at her when she had no idea what he's going through, when as she said, he doesn't TALK about how he's feeling. But his reaction is still completely understandable, and is not from a place of genuine malice. How you could ever believe Ash would act out in malice is insane.
