Okay, I am on a roll here and I hope I won't break it. Though life is full of surprises, so I might break it. But before that, I got to keep rolling. Well, as I roll away, please stay still and enjoy the chapter. So stand up and roll out! I need to work on that one…

Chapter 10: Trust and Rivals

"Come on out, everyone!" Danny exclaimed as he threw five Pokéballs into the air. In a flash of light, Char, Gar, Arow and Nido all appeared. Chu jumped off Danny's shoulder and joined his team. "Alright guys, time do to some training!"

They all shouted as Ann just started making lunch. She watched as Danny's Pokémon were getting pumped up. They just finished battling five passing trainers today and they were in a roll.

It's been a week since they left Cerulean City. Since Gar and Free evolved, Danny decided to leave them to Professor Oak so they can relax. He also wanted to acquaint with Nido. So far, Nido stopped tackling him.

"Okay, let's get to work!" Danny exclaimed. "Chu and Gar, work on that special combo; Arow, practice combining Wing Attack and Quick Attack; Char, try and melt that boulder with Ember; Nido, you're with me."

They all nodded and started doing their exercise, except for Nido, who followed Danny to the forest. Once they were far enough from the group, Danny sat on the ground and stared at Nido, who stared back at him.

The two did a staring a contest, Nido glaring at Danny's calm expression. A few minutes passed and no one did anything. Finally, Nido relented and moved his head.

"Well, show me what you can do," Danny said, getting Nido's attention. "Use Tackle, on me! Full power!"

Nido blinked twice, trying to understand what he just heard. He watched the white-haired boy waiting, patting his chest.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Tackle!" Danny exclaimed.

Nido blinked before he complied. He tackled Danny in his chest, sending him flat on his back. Nido stared at the Trainer, who groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing his chest.

"Okay, now let's get started," Danny said as he stood up. Nido gave Danny a weird look. This must be the weirdest Trainer he has ever met. But still, he's way nicer than his last Trainer. Just remembering that brat with the stupid accent made him angry.

"Okay…let's see how strong your Tackle is," Danny said thoughtfully. "Try and knock out ten fruits out of that tree," he pointed at a tree full of apples.

Nido stared at the tree before at Danny. Thinking that this was easy, Nido charged and tackled the tree. It shook a bit, but only one apple fell. Nido stared at the apple with wide eyes. He shook his head and tackled the tree again.

No apple fell.

Nido growled before stomping his front feet. He charged at the tree, this time it shook a bit. Three apples fell to the ground. Nido panted for air as he glared at the four apples.

He felt Danny knelt beside him, patting his head. He flinched a bit before relaxing. Whenever a Trainer tried to touch him, he ended up being hurt.

"Hmm…try relaxing a bit," Danny said to Nido. "Take deep breaths and just focus all your strength on your horn. Don't be angry."

Nido gave Danny a side glance before doing what he said. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. A few breathes later, Nido started forgetting his anger. Once he was relaxed enough, he started focusing all his strength on his horn.

He opened his eyes and then charged at the tree. When he tackled it, the tree shook slightly. Nido was about to sigh when fifteen apples suddenly fell on him. Nido looked at the apples in shock.

"Well, you're stronger than I thought," Danny said, getting Nido's attention. The Pokémon turned and saw Danny grin at him. "This is gonna be fun."

Nido looked at the grinning Trainer before he huffed and looked away. Danny just grinned since he knows that Nido was just embarrassed. He picked up the apples and tossed one to Nido. He stared at the red fruit before he chomped on it.

Danny grinned as Nido ate the apple. He grabbed one apple, cleaned it using his shirt before eating it. He was sure that he was slowly breaking Nido's shell. That last Tackle he felt was not as strong as the last three Tackles Nido did.

Now that Nido somewhat trust him, he can finally train him to bring out his potential. He could see that Nido was strong, but his anger was preventing him from reaching his full potential. Now, all he needs is training.

Suddenly, he heard some buzzing noise. The two looked up at the tree and saw six Beedrill appearing from the leaves, buzzing angrily.

"Crud!" Danny exclaimed as he picked up Nido and ran, the Beedrill chasing them. "Why does this always happen to me!?"

They kept running, trying to reach the others. With Char and Chu, they'll be able to chase the Beedrill away. Suddenly, Danny tripped on a rock, causing him to fall to the ground. The Beedrill saw this and charged. Nido looked at the Beedrill and was about to charge when Danny suddenly used his body to protect Nido, much to his surprise.

"Don't worry," Danny said to Nido. "I won't let them hurt you!"

Nido gave Danny a strange look, once again viewing him as weird. His old Trainer used his Pokémon as shields and berate them for being weak. This one was willing his life to protect him. It made Nido feel weird, something he only felt to Arow; trust.

Danny closed his eyes, waiting for the Beedrill's stinging attacks when he felt an intense heat fly pass his head. Surprised, he looked and saw a large stream of fire hitting the Beedrill, causing them to fall to the ground.

"That wasn't even a warmup," a voice said in front of Danny. Surprised, he looked up and saw Valerie and her Charmander standing in front of them. She noticed one Beedrill struggling to get up, despite its injuries. Its red eyes held a fierce light. "Well, at least one of you have some spunk."

She threw a Pokéball to the Beedrill. When it hit, the Pokéball opened and the Beedrill entered the ball. The device closed and moved around a bit before it clicked.

She walked towards the device and picked it up just as Danny stood up, putting Nido down.

"Thanks for saving us," Danny said, getting Valerie's attention. "I would have been Swiss cheese if it wasn't for you."

"You were just in the way," Valerie said as she looked at Nido. "Can't even handle a few Beedrill."

"Well sorry for panicking," Danny said with a frown. "We were just training."

"Oh? Well let's see if your training was worth it," Valerie said as she looked at Nido. "My Charmander against your Nidoran(male), one on one."

Danny thought about it before he noticed the look in Nido's eyes. He was ready to fight.

"You're on!" Danny said with a grin. The moment he said that, the two Trainers immediately jumped away with their Pokémon beside them.

"Nido, Tackle!"

"Charmander, Scratch!"

The two Pokémon charged and their attacks met head on. There was a small shockwave as the two try to out-strength the other.

"Nido, Poison Sting!" Danny exclaimed. Nido jumped away from Charmander and fired some purple needles from his mouth.

"Counter with Ember!" Valerie shouted. Charmander spew out some fire balls to counter the Poison Sting. When the attacks met, there was a small explosion.

"Now use Sand Attack!" Valerie shouted.

"Use Sand Attack too, Nido!" Danny exclaimed.

The two Pokémon kicked sand towards each other, which made a huge dust cloud. Danny tried to see through the thick dust, but couldn't see anything.

"Charmander, Flamethrower!" Valerie exclaimed. The dust cloud parted when a giant torrent of flames was going towards Nido.

"Nido, remember the tree!" Danny exclaimed. "Use Horn Attack!"

Nido focused all his power in his horn before he charged straight towards the torrent of fire. Valerie watched them like they were crazy as Nido was engulfed in the fires. She thought the fight was over when she suddenly saw the flames parted.

Nido was cutting the fire like it was butter as he ran towards Charmander. Suddenly, Nido's horn started gathering flames, much to their surprise.

"Cool," Danny said with a grin. "A new special technique! Fire Horn!"

Nido tackled Charmander with his fire-covered horn, sending him a few feet back. There was a small mark on Charmander's stomach, but he seemed fine, though he was mad.

"Charmander, enough," Valerie said, causing her Charmander to stand in attention. "Return."

Danny and Nido watched in confusion as Valerie recalled Charmander back into his Pokéball.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked as he gave Valerie a confused look. "The battle's not over!"

"I've seen what I needed," Valerie said as she turned her back to Danny.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Danny exclaimed angrily. He didn't like the way Valerie was treating him like he was worthless. "Come here and finish the fight!"

"I'll finish the fight when I want to," Valerie said without turning. She then walked away from the fuming duo. Danny's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. Nido stomped the ground angrily. "By the way, I never got your name," Valerie said, stopping for a bit.

"Danny Fenton," Danny said through gritted teeth.

"…I'll remember that, Fenton," Valerie said before she continued walking.

"I WILL BEAT YOU, VALERIE GRAY!" Danny shouted, surprising Valerie. "ONE DAY, WE WILL FINISH THIS BATTLE!"

Nido stomped the ground in agreement. Valerie just kept walking, but had a smirk on her face. Seems like she finally found something interesting in this journey. Danny watched her leave before he heard some rustling behind him. He looked and saw his friends running towards him.

"Danny, are you alright?" Ann asked, panting a bit. "We heard an explosion."

"Yeah, we're alright," Danny said before he looked at Nido and grinned. "Aren't we, Nido?"

Nido nodded with an eye smile. The rest of Danny's Pokémon noticed the change in Nido and smiled.

"Now, let's go do some training!" Danny exclaimed as he raised a fist in the air. His team and Ann cheered as well.

"Better watch out, Valerie," Danny thought, looking at the direction his rival went. "The next time we meet, we're going to finish that battle."

Three Days Later…

It was just another fine day for Danny, Ann and Chu. They needed a few more days until they reached Vermillion City, where the next gym was located. It's been a hectic three days for them from fighting Trainers and Wild Pokémon to training new moves.

Suddenly, they noticed a giant gate in the middle of the road. On it was a score board that said 96 wins and 5 loses.

"That's an impressive record," Danny commented. "Wonder how many wins I have."

"I think you can check in your Pokédex," Ann said. "It's in 'Trainer ID'."

"Really?" Danny said in a surprised tone. He pulled out Dex and turned it on. He clicked on 'Trainer's ID and saw his picture, as well as data about himself. He went and spotted what he was looking for, his win-lose score.

"Hm…89 wins, 0 loses and 1 draw," Danny said with a surprised expression. "Wow, didn't know we met that many Trainers."

"I think a quarter of that is from the Box Trainer," Ann said, remembering the strange Trainer that was chasing them.

"Should we check it out?" Danny asked Ann, who shrugged.

With nothing else to do, Danny, Ann and Chu walked towards the gates. Inside, they saw a boy with green hair tied to a ponytail, fierce eyes and holding a whip. He was wearing a red and black shirt, black shorts and red shoes. Next to him was a Sandshrew.

"Who dares challenge my undefeated gym?" he asked in a threatening voice.

"Uh…Danny Fenton from Pallet Town," Danny said, deciding not to comment on the 'undefeated' part. "So…this is one big gym. You run it on your own?"

"That is correct," the boy said with a nod. "I am AJ, and my goal is to get my first 100 wins without losing…but I decided to go with just 100 wins."

"I see…" Ann said uncomfortably as AJ became depress. He shook his head and a fire appeared in his eyes.

"But I will not be hindered!" he exclaimed as he kneeled next to Sandshrew. He suddenly pointed to the sky. "We have sworn to become stronger, through tears and sweat, so will become the top of the Pokémon world!"

He then pointed to Danny, surprising him.

"So I accept your challenge!" he exclaimed.

"But I didn't…" Danny said, but AJ was running towards the other end of the field. Seeing that he has no way out of this, he walked towards the other end of the field.

"This is a one on one battle only, last Pokémon standing wins!" AJ exclaimed as Sandshrew ran to the field. "Sandshrew, go!"

"Uh…Gar, go battle!" Danny shouted as he threw a Pokéball. Gar appeared, looking ready to fight.

"A Shiny?" AJ said in awe before he shook it off. "This will be perfect for you, Sandshrew!"

"Sand!" Sandshrew exclaimed.

"Now then, let's begin!" AJ exclaimed. "Sandshrew, Rollout!"

Sandshrew curled into a ball and started rolling towards Gar.

"Stop that with Confusion!" Danny exclaimed. Gar's eyes glowed just as Sandshrew was about to hit Gar. Sandshrew suddenly stopped midair, much to AJ's shock. "Now send that Sandshrew flying!"

Gar did what Danny said and sent him up to the sky. Once he was high enough, Gar ended the Confusion, causing Sandshrew to fall towards the ground. There was a small explosion of dust when Sandshrew landed. When the clouds cleared, there was a small crater with Sandshrew in the middle, its eyes swirling.

"That was fast," Ann commented.

The scoreboard changed; now it was 96 wins and 6 loses. AJ looked at the scoreboard before he fell to the ground, a cloud of depression on top of him.

"Uh…are you okay?" Danny asked awkwardly.

"…I give up," AJ said in a depressed tone. "I can't do this anymore. I said I'll get a 100 wins, but I keep losing ever since she came along!" AJ cringed when he remembered the girl from Pallet Town. "After that, they kept coming!" In his mind, the people who beat him effortlessly appeared; the girl, Gary Oak, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley and Valerie Gray. "How can I be a Trainer when I keep losing?"

"Okay, enough with all the pity show," Danny said, getting annoyed at AJ. "Get off your butt and just keep training!"

"But…" AJ said.

"I said get off your butt!" Danny exclaimed loudly, causing AJ to immediately stand up. "Now, did Lance give up when he received his first lost?"

"Uh…"

"Answer the question!"

"No!" AJ exclaimed.

"Did Professor Oak give up when his Pokédex prototype exploded in his face?"

"No!"

"That was a bad day," Ann commented, remembering the explosion.

"Did…the Electabuzz baseball team give up after losing to the Magikarps?"

"No!"

"They were not a good team," Ann said.

"Did Zubatman and Spearoboy give up when they were trapped in Mukman's acid cage?"

"No!"

"Aren't they comic book characters?" Ann asked.

"Then keep training!" Danny exclaimed as he pointed at AJ and Sandshrew. "Keep giving tears and sweat until you get those 100 wins! Understand?"

"Yes!"

"I can't hear you!"

"YES!"

"Now go back and train like you've never trained before!"

"YESSIR!" AJ exclaimed with tears of passion. Sandshrew was also crying. "We will get those 100 wins and become the strongest Trainer in Kanto! Let's do this, Sandshrew!"

AJ was too busy screaming that he didn't realize that Danny, Ann, Chu and Gar were gone. They were currently outside the gym, catching their breath.

"Man, that guy takes passion to a new level," Danny commented.

"You sure know how to give a speech," Ann said with a giggle.

"Yeah…let's never talk about that again," Danny said. "Well, let's go before he realize we're gone."

"BEWARE!" a voice exclaimed behind them. They groaned when they turned and saw Box Trainer standing there, looking worse to wear. "I have returned to fight you!"

"Geez…" Danny said as he looked around before an idea formed in his head. "I'd like to, but my Pokémon are exhausted because of this gym. That Trainer was tough to beat."

"A tough Trainer?" Box Trainer commented, looking at the gate. "If you can beat him, so can I!"

Box Trainer charged towards the gates, shouting 'BEWARE'. Danny, Ann, Chu and Gar immediately ran away from the gym as fast as they can when they saw Box Trainer enter the gym.

"I guess there are different kinds of people in the world," Ann commented with a chuckle.

"Just keep running while Box Trainer is distracted," Danny said, not breaking his pace. "AJ might give us at least one hour. Those two are Pidgey in a flock."

And done! Nido is now trusting his new Trainer and Valerie has been declared as Danny's rival. I copied Valerie and Danny's fight scene from the manga, where Blue gave up trying to capture Mew. Also, AJ has appeared, but not much. He might appear later on. I thought it was weird that he didn't have a single loss when there were other stronger Trainers there, so I changed that. Can you guess who the Pallet girl is? I know who she is. She'll appear soon, don't worry. I'm trying to be all mysterious. And she's part of Pokémon, but not the anime.

Well, review time.

Guest- I was just thinking about that. And he will get one.

PhantomDragon99- Thanks. This chapter may have been a letdown from the last one, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter. He's gonna get a new Pokémon.

scheffelman- He did in Pewter City. They'll meet again later.

SPARTAN-626- Well, you saw the fight, but it was left unfinished. Trying to build up the tension in that rivalry between them.

Phantomspirit12- Thanks. Also, Arow is from SpeAROW, so not a misspelled word, it's a nickname. As for the second one, I didn't know there was just one type of Gyarados. I was just trying to be creative. Well, glad you like it.

Pegasus Sword Master- Well, Ash is not the main character, so it's understanding that you will forget about him. And yeah, a Gyarados is awesome.

KuriMaster13- Yup. Didn't know there was just one specific Shiny Gyarados, or other Pokémon, so I was being creative. And yeah, that was a funny ending.

GirlFish- Wow, long review. Thanks! Anyway, Misdreavus will appear in the Johto League, so he'll capture one there. And yeah, not letting Pokémon evolve is just a waste of strength, so I'm not gonna do that. Since Danny's Pokemon are Shiny, they will be targeted like bees to honey. And yeah, there will be Mega Evolution, but only for specific Pokémon. Yeah, I will make a Pokémon Flashback, don't worry. Flashback gives the readers insight, so that's important. Yup, Valerie is different from Dash. I also hinted on who Nido and Arow's old Trainer is in this chapter. Dash is gonna wet his pants when he saw his old Magikarp. That would be fun to write. Valerie has a little respect for Danny, viewing him as her rival. Dani sneaking?...I have a new idea for the Johto region. Poor Cujo…He'll be loved soon enough. Yes, Danny can use Aura, just not yet. It's dormant. Yes, Danny will catch those legendary and prehistoric Pokémon, just not all of them. Vlad will appear in Saffron City, so you'll get your answer there. Paulina will appear in the Hoenn region as a Coordinator. I have plans for her. Well, there's Team Rocket and some other poachers, so a lot of them, I guess. Yes, they will meet in Sinnoh, as well as Cynthia. As for Danny and Ann, probably after Johto. Char is gonna stay, he's gonna be strong along with his team. As for Danny's other half, I say Valerie. Dash is an idiot, so he's not much of a threat.

Okay! I am done! Time to enjoy the sun! Next chapter, meeting the genius! Also, a new Pokémon! See you later!