Disclaimer: well obviously i don't own it!
Chapter 9:
While traveling they fought a few wild Pokémons on their way. Ash had also caught a few Pokémon that he usually traded to the first available customer; it was quick money for him. And he really didn't want to get attached to the Pokémon that he would have to later depart with. He didn't have money to care for all those that he caught.
They had also heard of a trainer named A.J. He even had a gym of his own. Ash decided that they would go and check it out. Even though it wasn't authorized by Pokémon league, it would still be good experience to check it out. When they reached the gym, they saw a trainer almost crying as he ran away from the gym with a hurt Pidgeotto in his hand.
"How stupid", ash thought. It is but a part of life, one can't always expect to win. There is nothing to cry about. One should learn from their experience. It helps in improvement. Whenever he had entered a battle against a gym, he had expected a loss. But he had always been determined to do his best. Mopping over your loss doesn't make you rise above others, learning from them does and that is what is called as experience. Prepare for worst was his mantra.
Once closer to the arena, ash saw a kid almost his age, standing with a Sandshrew. That kid seemed to be praising his Sandshrew. Ash looked at the record displayed on the opposite side of the arena.
Win/loss :: 98/0
Now that is an impressive score in Ash's honest opinion.
"So, are you here to challenge me?" asked the kid in front of him.
Ash then assumed that he must be A.J
"Ah, well we were just passing by and heard about this gym. I am Ash Ketchum and this is my friend, Violet Waterflower. And should I assume that you are this A.J guy that leads the gym?" Ash asked after he introduced himself and Violet.
A.J nodded positively and said "indeed, so you are here for a match right?"
Ash nodded and asked "so is this fella with you your starter?" as he looked at the Pokémon standing beside A.J
A.J nodded with a beaming face. He said "why yes he is. We have been through a lot together. And we also train hard every day."
Ash : "how long have you been a trainer then A.J.?"
A.J. : "well I am about to start my journey soon. I got my Sandshrew when it was a toddler of barely 2 months old. He was a gift from my father. It's been four years since then. I set this gym around two years ago. I have trained hard with him for a long time. This score (pointing to the score board), when it reaches 100 wins in my favor and then I will begin my own quest for the glory of being a Pokémon master trainer."
Ash : "that's an admirable goal." Violet nodded and said "indeed, it is."
A.J. smiled and said "thank you. And let us now begin the match shall we?"
Ash nodded as they both turned towards the opposite sides of the rocky pitch. It was obviously a rock user's specialty. Thus ash concluded that A.J must be a rock type user. The match began as the referee signaled with his hand. "the match will be a one on one battle the first Pokémon that faints or the user that forfeits will lose, are both trainers ready?" he asked looking at them. Both A.J and ash nodded. The referee nodded and said "release your Pokémon's together, one.. two.. three.. begin!"
Ash tossed a pokeball. The red light took shape of his Pokémon standing opposite to A.J's. One was Ash's Sayan and the other was a yellow colored mouse like Pokémon that ash recognized as Sandshrew that had jumped in the pitch at A.J's call.
As soon as it was on ground, Sayan took a stance to fight. "ape!" it exclaimed at its opponent.
The Sandshrew also replied in kind with a heated exclamation. "shrew-sand-san-rew!"
Sayan took off at the mouse Pokémon. Ash could easily see that Sayan was holding back. Greatly, he might add. As the current speed was probably only a fifth of what it could actually go with. He was the one who gave O.K for the strategy as to test the waters, so to speak. A.J ordered Sandshrew to wait. Ash had a fair idea that A.J would make it attack at the last moment. That was ideal as it would be difficult to counter at the time and would be too late. But Sayan was already enough experienced with such tactics. Having several years of experience was good for it in such combats. And in addition to that training with a tricky Pokémon like Mewtwo was on another level. He was glad that he was actually useful in training his Pokémon he sometimes felt that it was all the work of his two best friends….
His musings aside, he saw that A.J ordered it to use roll attack. It was definitely a move not powerful but could get deadlier as the time went by. But then again, he was battling with his Sayan. And Sayan was more than capable of taking care of such tricks. Sayan's basic style rotated around efficient use of force and speed. So when the mouse jumped at him in a roll, Sayan jumped aside and kicked the Pokémon in side. The Pokémon grunted as it rolled off of its course and impacted with the boulder that stopped it. Sayan didn't let the opportunity slide; he put a few more hits and then got back to his starting position. It had taken less than 10 seconds for all that to happen. They could see the Sandshrew slowly getting up although it wasn't much of a physical damage but it would definitely damage A.J's Pride as Sayan had not taken any verbal order but yet had perfectly countered him. And yet it again stood by ash which meant that ash was either ordering telepathically as it possibly couldn't be a rebellious one as it would have continued assault without stopping. It was little creepy some times as most trainers ordered the attacks loudly. It also made trainer doubt himself.
But A.J wasn't to go down easily. He ordered his Pokémon to harden. Sayan let it happen and ash narrowed his eyes. He prided on his Sayan. But Sayan was always trying to make even the easiest matches tough. Although this was obviously not a simple match, he was still eager to see just how far Sayan would be pushed while being handicapped. They had decided that they wouldn't show their aura power unless absolutely necessary. They could see the silvery shin on the ground type Pokémon's body, it had darkened considerably. Thus easy to guess that it had raised its attacking and defensive power considerably.
A.J ordered his Pokémon to use rock throw followed by sand attack. As soon as the order was given, Sandshrew started to throw nearby rocks at Sayan. Sayan dodged them easily enough. It even avoided the sand attack by continuously dodging. Sayan was like a flowing water easily avoiding and weaving through the attacks and closing in on Sandshrew. Soon enough he was close enough and started his offensive. He started with a brick break. His fist was glowing a bluish color as it landed a hit on Sandshrew's head. It cried out in pain. A.J ordered Sandshrew to use roll-out. It immediately started to roll-out. Sayan jumped up in the air and landed behind Sandshrew. Sandshrew then turned and again charged at Sayan. Sayan jumped high and landed a high jump kick on Sandshrew. It stopped rolling and swayed a few feet away from Sayan.
It was close, both ash and A.J could see that Sayan was in a far better condition compared to Sandshrew. Sandshrew had only managed bare scratches on Sayan some minor wounds that were probably already healed with aura. To end the match Sayan charged a powerful mega punch and in a last effort to win, A.J ordered Sandshrew to use metal claw. With a burst of speed, both Pokémon ran at each other. Sayan, not wanting to take the metal claw head on, swiveled to right at the last moment possible and barely got nicked that drew a thin line of blood. Without giving it any thought, he simply thrust his purplish glowing hand in Sandshrew's belly. It was literally lifted off its feet and landed near A.J and didn't rise up again. A shell shocked A.J recalled his Pokémon back.
Ash praised Sayan and recalled him back.
After the match result was declared by the referee, they got out of the contestant boxes and met up with Violet. She congratulated him for his win. After that they parted ways from A.J and got to the closest Pokémon center. After getting their Pokémon had recovered from their travels and were in top shape, they decided to take a few days break and booked a room for them. They had decided to share a room as it was convenient and easier on their pockets. After getting freshened up they both sat for dinner and discussed their plans for the next few days. They mutually agreed that it would be better to just relax for a day or so and then continue ahead instead of training these two days as well.
