Jason ran excitedly towards a small clearing not far from the Pokemon Center, skidding to a halt on the far side. Turning around, poke'ball in his hand, he watched with an excited grin as Natalie walked to the center of the clearing, Ash not far behind, but walking at a more slow pace.

Ash walked behind the duo of trainers slowly, stopping to face Jason on his side of the field as Natalie raised her arms, "This is a 2-on-2 between Ash and Jason! First one to knock out all their opponents Pokemon is the winner!" Lowering her arms, Natalie stepped back and looked from Jason to Ash, waiting for the two to release their respected Pokemon.

Throwing his poke'ball, Jason shouted with the same excited grin stretched across his face, "Its battle time Darmanitan!" Ash watched as the poke'ball opened, the red beam of light taking shape into Jason's first Pokemon. A large, red ape like Pokemon, with long bushy, flame shaped eye brows materialized, pounding its large fists against its chest as it gave a cry of its name, a grin similar to Jason's appearing on its face, "Darmanitan!"

Thinking momentarily to himself, Ash bent down, allowing Pikachu to jump of his shoulder, who turned with an expecting face, "Pi? Pi-Pikachu!" The yellow mouse exclaimed, having though his best friend would have chosen him to battle first. Smiling, Ash rubbed Pikachu's head with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry buddy, you'll get a shot as well" Huffing, Pikachu nodded in understanding and disappointment, choosing to sit down next his trainer, waiting to see who he would chose first. Reaching to his belt, Ash grabbed a poke'ball and threw it silently, finding the announcement of his Pokemon's name pointless:

"Donphan!" Ash's Donphan exclaimed, shaking its head as it scrapped the floor in an almost charging motion. Taking its battle stance, the elephant-like Pokemon took its battle stance, ignoring the fact that two other humans present, deciding to ask his father about it late.

"The first battle will be between Darmanitan and Donphan! Begin!" Natalie announced, raising her arms and dropping them again just as an official referee would, focusing on the two Pokemon in front of her.

- Darmanitan V.S Donphan -

"Bad choice! We got this in the bag! Lets start things of with a Fire Fang!" Jason shouted, pointing at Donphan with confidence: obviously thinking that Ash had made a rookie mistake sending a ground type out against a fighting type! The ape like Pokemon started to run towards Donphan, Mouth wide open as its teeth became surrounded with fire.

"Use Defense Curl, then use Thunder Fang whilst he's close" Ash stated calmly, his face neutral as he watch the battle before him: Quickly rolling himself into a horizontal ball, Donphan waited as the Darmanitan approached him, biting down with the fire attack on his hard armor, smiling to himself as the ape like pokemon pulled back and shouted in pain, holding its jaw as the bite against the armor hurting its teeth. Quickly, Donphan uncurled itself, opening its mouth as electricity gathered around its teeth before biting down on Darmanitan's arm.

"Shake him off Darmanitan! Then use Fire Punch and Hammer Arm!" Not wasting any time, Darmanitan quickly threw Donphan into the air before clenching its fist as it became engulfed with bright red flames, swinging and striking the unprotected stomach of the elephant Pokemon as Ash called out, "Defense Curl into Rollout" watching as Donphan was stuck by the punch, quickly followed by the Darmanitan's arms glowing, who charged at Donphan with its arms raised above its head.

Donphan didn't flinch as the punch connected with his stomach, instead curling up seconds after the fist connected and maneuvering away from the swinging arms of the ape Pokemon, using his Rollout to propel himself away from the arms as they smashed into the ground, throwing up a dust cloud.

Jason grinned, thinking that the dust cloud was the result of his Darmanitan hitting Donphan for massive damage, potentially even knocking it out, but was shocked when the dust cleared to reveal his Darmanitan in a small crater, a gruff cry of, "Manitan!" as he realized that Ash's Donphan wasn't beneath his Pokemon, who had struck the ground with the attack, and had clearly hurt the fire-ape's arms from the impact.

Frowning slightly, Jason clenched his fists and shouted, "Don't let up! Follow that Donphan and keep using Hammer Arm!" Standing quickly, Darmanitan nodded, a small stream of white steam puffing out its nose as it's arms glowed once more and it jumped, swinging its large arms towards Donphan over and over again.

"Use Double Team, then follow it up with Sandstorm" Ash ordered, almost shaking his head at the tactic Jason was using. Watching as his Pokemon duplicated itself till 9 identical clones of Donphan surrounded the now confused ape Pokemon, whose arms were still glowing as it looked around frantically, trying to figure out which one was the real Donphan. As both the Darmanitan and its trainer looked at the duplicates, unable to figure out which one was the real one, all the Donphan's curled up and began circling around Darmanitan, quickly throwing up a Sandstorm.

"Earthquake" Ash said as the dust surrounded the area, watching as all the Donphan's reared into the air, slamming down onto the ground, causing it to shake. Jason struggled to keep his footing whilst sanctimoniously shielding his eyes from the sand, as did Natalie as the earth shook beneath them, whilst Ash and Pikachu just watched, having no trouble in keeping their own footing from the attack.

Falling forwards, Darmanitan pushed itself up, flinching from the pain in its arms as it tried to jump when Jason shouted, "Quick! Close your eyes and jump to evade!" but Darmanitan was still reeling from the after effects of its previous move, resulting in the Pokemon not jumping in time as the ground shook beneath it. Struggling to keep its balance, Darmanitan grunted, eventually falling backwards with a thud.

"That's enough Donphan" Ash said calmly, watching as the Sandstorm slowly calmed down. Each of the Donphan's disappeared till only the original one was left.

Jason coughed, slowly lowering his arm as the barrage of sand slowly stopped. confused as to why Ash had stopped, but blinked in shock, running to his Darmanitan who was lying on its back, swirls inits eyes.

Blinking in surprise herself, Natalie lifted her arm in Ash's directs. "Darmanitan is unable to battle! The winner is Ash and his Donphan!" Nodding with a smile, Ash walked towards Donphan, kneeling down besides the short pokemon and scratching behind his ears, "Great job buddy, that Double Team/ Sandstorm combination of yours is getting better every time you use it..." Ash trailed off, smiling when Donphan exclaimed a happy, "Phan!" In response, nuzzling into Ash's hand with a happy smile.

Jason helped his Darmanitan sit up with s small smile, "You alright there pal?" He asked in worry, sighing in relief when his Pokemon gave a soft, "Manitan..." whilst shooting him a quick thumbs up, "Good to here...You were great out their, take a well deserved rest" Jason spoke to his Pokemon whilst holding up its poke'ball, smiling as Darmanitan smiled and returned to the poke'ball.

Standing up, Jason's grin returned back to his face, "Looks like I was right! You really are strong! Lets see you do against this one! Shes a real tough one!" He spoke confidently, putting Darmanitan's poke'ball away and reaching for his next one, "Go Nidoqueen!"

Standing slowly, Ash watched as Jason released his second pokemon: a somewhat reptilian looking blue bipedal Pokemon with a short blunt snout, narrowed looking brown eyes, large ears and a small horn protruding from its head. Stood looking down with eyes closed upon release, the Nidoqueen's eyes open as she slammed her tail on the ground, a loud cry of, "Nido!" echoing around the clearing.

Looking down at Donphan, Ash raised his poke'ball and called him back, "Take a quick rest buddy" returning the poke'ball to his belt, Ash switched to a different poke'ball and threw it in the air, his silence returning.

"Bayyy!" Bayleef exclaimed, shaking herself as she appeared on the battle field, a happy smile on her face: looking around, she smiled when she noticed Ash, running over and nuzzling against his stomach in affection.

Smiling and letting out a small, "Aww" making Ash blush a little, Natalie raised her arms once again, "The next battle will be between Nidoqueen and Bayleef! Begin!"

- Nidoqueen V.S Bayleef -

"Energy Ball Barrage" Ash ordered, once Bayleef finished nuzzling him and returned to the battle field, a determined look on her face. Jumping slightly, Bayleef opened her mouth and began firing green balls of energy towards Nidoqueen.

Jason looked at Ash in confusion and curiosity: he here was again sending out a Pokemon weak to his! "I wont underestimate him this time...he must have a plan!" he thought to himself as Ash spoke the command. Thinking quickly, Jason grinned and pointed at the balls of energy heading for his Nidoqueen, "Use Poison Sting to cancel out those Energy Balls!"

Quickly, the barrage of Energy Balls were cancelled out via Nidoqueen's Poison Sting, making Jason punch his fist in the air, "Great Job! Now use Poison Tail!" he shouted, grinning as his Nidoqueen's tail changed from blue to a dark purple as it swung and slammed into Bayleef.

"Bayyyy!" Bayleef exclaimed in pain as the tail connected with her side, sending her flying and smacking into a tree, "Bayleef!" Ash finally shouted, surprising Jason and Natalie, "Thats the loudest he has been this whole time" they both though as Ash's demeanor changed, running over to Bayleef's side and helping her sit up.

"Are you okay Bayleef?!" Ash asked, a look of worry on his face as helped Bayleef sit up. "Bay...Bay-Bayleef..." Bayleef replied, lifting her head up to reveal it had taken on a tinge of purple, making Ash's face crinkle up in fear and worry: Poison! "Pikachu! Bring me my bag! Quickly!" Ash exclaimed, laying Bayleef down with her head resting in his lap as Pikachu quickly grabbed Ash's bag in his teeth, running it over to him.

Keeping one hand on Bayleef's head, Ash unzipped his bag and pulled out a bag full of pecha berries: ripping the bag open and grabbing two poke'balls of his belt, he released Sceptile and Infernape.

"Sceptile!""

"Infernape!"

"Infernape, use a weak Flamethrower, melt these berries! Sceptile, use your Synthesis whilst touching Bayleef!" Ash ordered, watching as the two Pokemon jumped into action, there faces showing their worry for Bayleef. Shooting small flames from his mouth after he took the pecha berries from Ash, Infernape quickly melted the berries, cupping them in his hands whilst kneeling down besides Bayleef, waiting as Ash gently opened her mouth and poured the liquefied berries into her mouth: At the same time, the seeds on Sceptile's back began to glow as his body began glowing a faint green. Pressing a hand against Bayleef's head, Sceptile transfered the recovered eneryg into Bayleef.

After a few seconds, Bayleef opened her eyes slowly, "Bayleef..." she spoke softly, the purple tint on her snout starting to fade, making Ash, Pikachu, Infernape and Sceptile all sighed in relief. Infernape and Sceptile stepped back slightly as Ash helped the Johto starter stand up, "Are you okay Bayleef?" He asked again, still worried from hos shaky Bayleef was whilst standing. Bayleef's nod didn't completely convince him, but he smiled and raised her poke'ball, "Return Bayleef, you did you best" a small sad smile crossed Bayleef's face as she returned, making Ash's heart ace for his affectionate pokemon.

As the scene took place in front of them, Jason and Nidoqueen looked to each other, each mirroring the other with a look of guilt and regret on their faces, "Maybe that was a little much...return Nidoqueen..." Returning his guilty looking pokemon, Jason bite his lip whilst putting the poke'ball away. Looking at Ash and his Pokemon, Jason slowly began walking over to the small group, "L-Look Ash...I-I'm really sorry about that, i-i didn't mean to-" He started only to stop when Ash stood with an almost murderess face.

"Didn't mean to what?! Nearly kill Bayleef?! Your SORRY?!" Ash screeched in anger, standing up so quickly his hat fell off his head, "Everybody knows that a Poison Tail is EASILY enough to kill ANY grass Pokemon! AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS SORRY?!" the raven-haired boy continued, glaring angrily at the cowering boy in front of him.

Pikachu, Infernape and Sceptile stood in front of Ash, each sporting an equally as angry face: Pikachu's cheek were violently sparking blue electricity instead of the normal yellow, whilst the flame on Infernape's head was growing in size as its anger grew. Sceptile, the normal peace maker in the gorup alongside Bayleef, glared sharply at the boy, the twig in his mouth having been snapped in anger.

"Whoa! Calm down Ash! Jason wasn't trying to kill your pokemon, he was just-" Natalie shouted, running in between the two boys, only for Ash to interrupt her as well, "HE WAS JUST WHAT?! WHAT JUSTIFICATION DOES ANYONE HAVE FOR USING Poison Tail ON A GRASS POKEMON?!" the boy boomed, making the female trainer flinch back from the volume. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, what could she possibly say to defend Jason using a move that was known WORLD-WIDE to kill baby, basic and 1st stage Pokemon?

Shaking in anger, Ash grabbed his bag and turned away from the two trainers, "I knew it was a mistake to leave..." he muttered darkly, quickly taking off into the surrounding forest, ignoring the trainers cries of his name.

-Scene change+Time change-

After running for .some time, Ash finally stopped, hands on his knees as he panted in exhaustion from the running. Not long after Ash heard three cries, "Pikapii!" "Nape-Fernape!" "Tile-Sceptile!" turning his head, Ash sore Infernape, Pikachu behind him, both panting just as hard as him. Looking aorund for Sceptile, the forest-lizard jumped in front of the raven-haired boy from a tree above him, an understanding, but still somewhat angry look on his face.

Tears began to well in the boys eyes as the situation that just happened finally hit him: He had messed up big time! "I can't believe it..." he choked out, "I-I was so stupid! H-how could i send her out against a poison type?!" Ash cried, his knees shaking so bad that his entire body collapsed. Pikachu and Infernape cried out in fear as they sore there trainer collapse, but were relieved when Sceptile caught the sobbing boy, helping Ash to stand using his own weight.

"E-Even after all this time i still made a rookie mistake!" he uttered between heartbreaking sobs, his entire body shaking as tears spilled down his cheeks, dipping onto Sceptile's knees, "I really am a failure as a trainer...they were right! They were right all this time!" He finished, his voice filled with despair and self-hatred.

"Pikapii!" "Fernape! Infernape and Pikachu shouted in protest, running up to the duo, Pikachu jumping and clinging to Ash's chest as tears spilled down his own face whilst Infernape grabbed Ash's arm and helped Sceptile to support him, his own tears close to falling. Sceptile face changed from understanding and angry to pained at his trainers words: Ash hasn't been this broken since the day everyone turned on him.

Just as Ash opened his mouth to speak to his clearly hurting pokemon, a loud, earth-shaking roar interrupted him. Looking to the sky, two silhouettes could just about be made out against the harshness of the sun, but Ash and Pikachu couldn't believe what, or more importantly who was flying towards them.

"Pidgeooott!

"Rawwr!