Here we are, another chapter done on time.
The young man who had just opened the door had dark brown hair, wore a blue suit with a red tie and appeared to be a bit short. He carried a nervous look on his face as he heard Ash address him. He turned to face Ash, but carried a shy look as he saw his teammate.
"Hello there, you must be the other Pokémon Trainer. What's your name?"
"Ash, and your's?"
"My name is Joe. It's a pleasure to meet you. Do you mind if I set my stuff down right here?" Joe asked cautiously.
"Um, sure man. Set it down wherever you want." Ash replied confused as to why Joe would even ask for his permission. "What high school did you attend Joe?"
"Pokémon Tech High School."
"Pokémon Tech? I think I've heard of it. Is it the private school that only takes Pokémon Trainers and teaches them all the fundamentals about Pokémon Battling?"
"Yes, that's correct. It's where I learned everything I know about Pokémon."
"That's so cool. So does this mean you're a really strong trainer?" Ash asked enthusiastically.
"Well, not really. I was at the bottom of my class each of my years as a student. I had good grades, but what I learned from books didn't help my performance on the battlefield." Joe revealed. He slowly dropped his head down in shame as he imagined the disappointment Ash would feel knowing that he would have to team up with a scrub.
"Don't even worry about it Joe. I'm sure as you continue to gain experience you'll grown into a great trainer."
"Maybe." Joe replied as he continued to look at the floor. He had heard Ash's words before from his teachers but he simply couldn't imagine himself improving so drastically that he would ever be considered a strong trainer. "What about you Ash? Are you a strong trainer?"
"I wouldn't say I'm a weak trainer. I mean I could beat most of the kids in my school, but there was always someone better than me. Most of the time that someone was my friend Gary, but there were plenty of others who could beat me at school. I wasn't good enough to be recruited. I'm actually here as a walk on."
"That makes two of us Ash. I wasn't recruited anywhere either, but my grades were good enough to get into any college so I wasn't really worried about it."
"Well, it is what it is I guess. How about we stop talking about our battling abilities and we actually have a battle?" Ash asked as he shot up from his sitting position.
"A battle? Right now?" Joe responded surprised by Ash's suggestion.
"Yeah right now. You have your Pokémon right?"
"Yeah, but at the moment I only have one. I was in a rush to catch my flight so I didn't have any time to grab my other Pokémon. I'll transfer my other Pokémon over the moment I get the chance." Joe revealed slightly embarrassed.
"That's fine we'll just use one Pokémon each. I'll wait for you outside." Ash announced as he darted out of the room.
"Okay then, I guess we're doing this. I just hope I don't disappoint you Ash." Joe said to himself
Joe reached into his bag and pulled out a single Poké Ball. He stared at the Poké Ball for a while be speaking again.
"I hope I don't disappoint you either." Joe said to the Poké Ball.
Ash quickly scanned the battlefield. It wasn't anything impressive, simply a some a field of grass outside the dorm rooms. However, Ash prefered it this way. It was simple and reminded him of home in a place where he felt so out of place.
"You ready Joe?"
"Um, sure." Joe responded unenthusiastically.
Normally Ash would catch on to Joe's drop in demeanor, but he was far too excited to see Joe's concern.
"Alright then, Pikachu I choose you!" Ash announced as he threw his Poké Ball onto to the field.
"Pika!" The electric mouse yelled as he came out to the field.
"Pikachu I see, well it's not like I have a choice over what to use. Come on out Victreebel."
"Victree!" Out of Joe's Poké Ball arose the flycatcher Pokémon known as Victreebel. Victreebel seemed confused as to why it had been called out until it noticed that an energetic Pikachu was staring it down.
"Victreebel I know we haven't battled in a while, but try your best and we'll see how it goes." Joe said.
"Alright let's get this started! Pikachu use Quick Attack!"
In an instant Pikachu accelerated towards Victreebel and landed a direct hit before Joe could even give a command. The hit, while not large, pushed Victreebel back a couple feet.
"That Quick Attack was extremely fast and did more damage than expected, I'll have to contain Pikachu's speed if I want to have a chance to compete." Joe said to himself as he watched his Victreebel regain composure. "Victreebel use Vine Whip and grab Pikachu!"
"Pikachu use Double Team!"
Before Victreebel's Vine Whip attack was able to grab a hold of Pikachu, multiple copies of Pikachu formed and began running around in a circle around Victreebel.
"Double Team drastically increases Pikachu's evasion. It'll be hard to land an attack now, I have to lower that evasion. Victreebel use Sweet Scent!"
Suddenly a pink powder started coming out of Victreebel's mouth as filled up the battlefield. All of the Pikachu's stopped moving as they took in a scent of the powder.
"Now Victreebel use Leaf Storm!"
"Victreebel!"
Victreebel sent out a barrage of leafs that circled around in hurricane like fashion and engulfed the entire battlefield in a fury of hard hitting leafs, everywhere except around Victreebel. One by one Pikachu's copies began to disappear as they were struck by the attack. Soon enough, only the real Pikachu remained standing, although he was fighting to simply stay on his feet.
"Guess we'll have to head into the eye of the storm. Pikachu use quick attack to grab onto Victreebel's vines!"
Pikachu regain his focus and zipped towards Victreebel, taking damage along the way, but eventually reaching Victreebel and latching onto its vines.
"Oh no, Leaf Storm drops in power each time you use it, meaning if Pikachu survived that then there's not much I can do to knock out Pikachu." Joe said to himself as he watched Leaf Storm fade away as Victreebel struggled to get Pikachu off of its vines.
"Now Pikachu use Thunder!"
"Pikaaaachuuuu!"
Pikachu roared as it sent out a powerful Thunder attack straight through Victreebel's vines scoring a direct hit.
"Victree!" Victreebel yelled as it was hit by Pikachu's Thunder. Victreebel then collapsed onto the battlefield, signalling it had been defeated.
"On no Victreebel!" Joe shouted as he ran towards his fainted Pokemon.
"Alright, Pikachu we won!" Ash yelled as he ran towards his victorious electric mouse.
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu shouted while striking a triumphant pose.
Ash quickly hugged Pikachu before bringing out Pikachu's Poké Ball, something that Pikachu did not appreciate seeing.
"Hey, don't be like that. I know you don't like in there, but what will everyone think if they see me walking around with a Pikachu that isn't in a Poké Ball."
"Pika." Pikachu said as it turned its head away from Ash.
"How about I let you of your Poké Ball later and treat you to a delicious meal. One specialized for you."
"Pika Pika!" Pika exclaimed as he turned to Ash with a smile. Pikachu always loved eating the treats Ash prepared for it.
"Alright then, back in the Poké Ball you go."
With those words Pikachu was sent back into the Poké Ball and Ash turned his attention back to Joe, who appeared to have already returned his Victreebel and was staring at the grass with a disappointed look on his face.
"Hey that a great battle." Ash said as he approached Joe.
"Your Pikachu is so strong Ash. You beat Victreebel with only two attacks and were able to handle Victreebel's strongest attack Leaf Storm. I'll have to do some major training if I want to be as strong as you."
Before Ash could open his mouth to respond, he noticed something rumbling around in the distant bushes.
"Hey is someone there?" Ash yelled hoping to get a response from whatever was in the bushes.
A figure started to arise from the bushes and presented itself. That figured cam in the form of a man, a man that Ash was sure he's seen before, but couldn't quite remember who it was. Joe on the other hand knew exactly who stood before them.
"You're the Pewter City gym leader!"
And that is that. In case you're wondering this is the same Joe from the school of hard knocks. In the reviews I found it was about a 50/50 split between Joe and Ritchie, but I decided to pick Joe because I feel his experience in a prestigious school makes him a much better fit for Indigo, a prestigious university. So what could Brock be doing here? I have no idea. Actually I do, I'm trying to add drama. Also I realize that Pikachu is in a Poke ball, which he should never be in, however I forget to mention anything about Pikachu not being in a Poké ball the previous three chapters so I thought it would be weird if I just said "Oh yeah and Pikachu has been outside its Poké ball the entire time". Don't worry though, he won't be in that Poké ball for long. That's all for now.