Poor Misty. I feel for her. Her mom and dad are missing, probably dead and her sisters treat her like garbage. I thought she should get a chance to tell them exactly how they were making her feel by belittling her dream. thus the little rant Ash gave to the sisters. No one should ever tell you that you shouldn't be pursuing your dreams because theirs are more important.

After a long talk with Misty's sisters, and Brock finally chiming in to tell Misty that she could just tell the league that she was going on a sabbatical and let them deal with challenges, the three were on their way again. It wasn't long until they found themselves running into a young boy, tears cascading down his face as he described how he had been so soundly beaten by a young man named A.J who supposedly ran his own gym.

"It can't be a real gym, "Ash said, "Otherwise it would be listed in the league's gym index. But it would be an interesting challenge."

They soon came to a spot in the road where a large tent was sitting, a sign over a field that looked like a gym leader's gym floor in front, proclaiming it to be "AJ's gym" with another sign that said "99 wins, 0 losses."

"that's a pretty impressive track record."

"Thanks, we worked hard to get it, " A voice said from behind Ash, making him jump, "Hey, I'm AJ."

"I'm Ash. So are you a real gym then?"

"No, but I thought that if I advertised myself as a gym then I'd get real challengers ya know?"

"Well how about me? I'd like to see how I can do, I've already got two badges."

"I'm always up for a challenge. Sandshrew to the field."

"Mimikyu, you're up."

"You're going to use an electric type against a ground type? Well, even an easy win is a win. Earthquake Sandshrew!"

"Take the hit!" Ash waited as the earthquake attack hit Mimikyu dead on

"Copycat!

A second earthquake attack hit the ground, opening a gash under Sandshrew

"Shadow ball"

Before A.J. could call another attack the shadow ball hit, and Sandshrew fainted.

"That was a good battle. I didn't know Pikachu could learn Copycat or shadow ball." A.J. remarked

"Pikachu can't but Mimikyu can."

"Oh, I've never heard of that Pokémon before. Guess I have a little more to learn before I can take on the Pokémon League."

"What are you waiting for? From what I saw, you and that Sandshrew are a pretty tough team. Why not take on the League challenge now?"

"Well I had promised my Sandshrew that we wouldn't challenge the league until we had 100 wins, but now that I think about it, I only set up the goal because of how timid Sandshrew was when we first met."

"He certainly isn't timid now," Ash said

"Well then, I'm heading for Pewter for my first badge. Hope to see you at the League."

"You too A.J. Good luck."

End chapter

I made both A.J and Ash less of pricks here. A.J. just wanted his Sandshrew to be strong.