Note: This chapter is based on episode 8.
13: AJ vs. 100 Trainers
"There it is." Misty pointed to the distance, where the top of a large tent peeked up next to various trees. The previous evening, they had heard shouts of pokemon and humans, and thought there might be some kind of event, though Brock had noted in the map that nothing that might have indicated such was nearby. There were no majorly populated areas nearby.
"What is it?" Ash asked.
"It could be just a local festival, though I don't know what they'd be doing way out here," Brock noted.
"Yeah," Misty agreed.
"Let's go see," Ash suggested. After they cleaned up camp, the three humans, followed by Pikachu, went down the established dirt path, aiming toward the tent in the distance. After a while, they approached. Next to the large tent they'd seen was a smaller one, as well as a wooden platform that had been constructed. Colorful ribbon insulted an area in the otherwise wild-looking forest, and next to the seeming entrance, there was a sign and chalkboard. The chalkboard held a large "98", the "8" a different color and written over a recently erased "7" with some other writing. Ash shouted in happiness as he read the sign. "It's a pokemon gym!"
"Wait right there, Ash," Brock warned. "This is an unofficial pokemon gym."
Ash looked up in annoyance at Brock seemingly raining on his parade. "What's that mean? A gym's a gym, right?"
"No," Misty asserted loudly. "It's good this place has it labeled as unofficial, but unofficial pokemon gyms can be a real problem."
"Why?" Ash asked.
"There had to be some sort of standard for a gym. Some unofficial gyms can do shady things like ask trainers for money to battle, or for a badge if they win. This place is probably fine, since they're being upfront. Just know that they can't give you a badge, and even if they do give you some kind of 'unofficial' one, it's not going to help you get into the league."
Ash frowned after Brock finished his long explanation. "Are gyms really that serious?" he wondered aloud.
"Yes," Misty and Brock asserted at once.
As they spoke, the flap to the smaller tent opened, and an adolescent boy walked out. He ran a hand through his spiky hair, approaching them at a slow pace. "Hey," he began. "Are y'all here to battle?"
"Yeah," Ash said, clenching his fists as he stood up. "I'm going to battle, anyway."
The boy looked him up and down, expression turning cold. "Okay," he eventually said. "A battle's a battle."
"Alright!" Ash exclaimed, then motioned to Pikachu. "Come on, buddy! Let's go! Let's battle.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu stopped poking in the weeds nearby the makeshift gym, turning its attention to the humans. "Pikachu.." It looked around, sensing the presence of other pokemon. Seeing nothing more interesting to do, it decided to follow Ash into the enclosure.
"My name's AJ," the boy said, putting out his hand to Ash, Misty, and Brock in turn, who all introduced themselves. "I heard you talking. You're right this gym ain't official, but I'll give and get some practice here."
"I need a lot of practice, since I plan to become a master," Ash declared.
"Yeah, sure," AJ said. "Y'all can watch there if you'd like," he motioned Misty and Brock over to the wooden platform. He then turned to Ash. "Before we battle, let me know if you have anything to take care of your pokemon once it loses. If you don't, we can still battle, but I'll charge you to take care of it myself afterwards."
"Loses?" Ash repeated. "Hey, we're not planning to lose! Right, Pikachu?" Ash turned to his pokemon, who crouched in the grass, seeming more interested in what was in the large tent than the upcoming battle. He turned back to AJ with a determined glare anyway. "I'm a serious trainer with two badges. You should take me seriously, because you might be the loser."
"What kinda gym gave up a badge to a trainer like you?" AJ mused aloud.
"Hey... What's that supposed to mean?" Misty demanded.
"Look at this guy. Dunno how he's related to you, but he can hardly take care of himself. Comb your hair this morning, kid? And his pokemon just wanders around like a wild one." AJ stepped back to the challenger's area as he took out a pokeball.
"Pikachu doesn't like pokeballs," Ash informed, absent-mindedly smoothing his hair on the side of his hat.
"Yeah, one thing to have it outside its pokeball, another thing to have it wandering around outside a formation," AJ said. "A gym that lost to someone like you'll probably get shut down before long."
"Ash," Brock called. As soon as Ash met his eyes, he spoke. "You'd better win this one."
"I know, I know." Ash scowled. "I'm gonna win easy."
"So, you do have potions and other supplies like that?" AJ asked.
"Of course!" Ash declared.
"Fine, then let's battle. It's one on one, do you agree to that?"
"Yeah, let's go!" Ash declared. "Pikachu! I choose you! Time for a battle!" he shouted.
"Go, Sandshrew!" AJ threw out his pokeball, and caught the pokeball flawlessly as it flew back in his hand and the ground type appeared. He smirked as he looked out onto the field.
"Pika?" Pikachu saw the other interesting yellow-colored pokemon and ran toward the field to get a better look. "Pikachu!" it greeted. The other pokemon curled up, arching its back slightly, indicating it was ready for a fight. "Pika!" Pikachu agreed to the challenge itself, and got ready to fight.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash shouted as Brock shook his head in the spectator area. As Pikachu got ready to perform the attack, Ash continued. "You see, my pikachu is-"
"Sandshrew, dig!" AJ ordered, whipping the ground. As he did, Sandshrew dug underneath as Ash jumped in surprised.
"What's tha-" Ash began, interrupted as Pikachu's attack completed, shocking the pokemon as it entered the ground.
"Seems like you got an overpowered little friend," AJ commented. "Too bad Sandshrew's grounded." After AJ informed Ash of this, Sandshrew broke through the ground right underneath Pikachu, causing the challenging electric type to be launched into the air. Pikachu called out in surprise before falling to the ground on its side as it closed its eyes.
"Pikachu?" Ash called it. "Come on, you can stand up! Let's keep going."
"Ash!" Brock called again, this time standing up from the spectator's area. "I know you know better than that. That was a direct hit. Pikachu's done right now."
Ash turned away, and then nodded. As AJ stuck out his hand as a gesture of good will, Ash turned away, running and picking Pikachu up off the field. He took out the potion from his pocket, and started to spray it. AJ turned away, not affected much by his opponent's lack of sportsmanship and went to the chalkboard, erasing and writing until he put it down, now displaying '99'.
"So, what's that about?" Misty asked, looking at the board and back at AJ.
"Oh yeah. I usually talk about it," AJ said, adjusting the display. Guess I'm slacking on that since I'm near the end. This is my gym leader challenge."
"What do you mean?" Misty asked. "I'm a gym leader, and I've never heard of a gym leader challenge."
"You are?" AJ now glanced up, showing Misty much more interest. "Well, it's not official, just like my gym. I'm saying to myself I can't go and even think about applying to have an official gym without winning a hundred battles in a row first."
"Um... That's kind of a lot," Misty pointed out, giggling nervously. When she'd first started as a gym leader, she'd thought it was great that she'd won her first seven battles before her first loss.
"Of course it is. Y'all aren't about to accept a lightweight as one of you, are you?" AJ asked.
"Well, I guess not," Misty replied, glancing up as she thought about what she knew of the application process. "Actually, no one has applied for a new gym since I started. Not that I know of, anyway. Maybe they didn't make it as far as being discussed at our semiannual meetings."
"You see?" AJ said. "You've gotta have something special to get into that established system. A hundred wins in a row, that's gotta catch some attention, huh?"
"I don't know," Misty said. "I mean, it would be impressive, but isn't it kind of too high of a goal?"
"No way," AJ said, motioning toward the chalkboard. "I've only got one win left."
"Wait... So that number..." Misty spied the '99', realizing the implications from their conversation.
"Yep. Ninety-nine wins in a row. Only one left." AJ smiled happily as he informed Misty of it.
"Way to go!" Misty cheered. She normally would have been annoyed by the bragging, but AJ had earned the right to do so with such a win streak.
"I've gotta get to my morning routine. Y'all can watch if you want, join in, I don't mind." AJ walked to the large tent, going by the other two. Brock sprayed the pokemon once more with his own potion. Ash gripped Pikachu tightly in his arms, frowning at the boy that had just defeated him.
Pikachu was nearly completely recovered at this point, staring curiously around it. It heard the sounds of pokemon inside the large tent as AJ opened it and went inside. "Pikachu," Pikachu called as it pushed against Ash's grip. When he dropped it, it scurried inside the tent.
"Hey!" Ash shouted, soon following it along with Brock and Misty.
Inside, AJ snapped his whip to the ground in front of the beedrill, mankey, and several rattata inside. "Get to work!" he ordered loudly. "Me being late because of a battle is no reason to slack! Come on, move it!" AJ snapped his whip several more times, and the pokemon went to several areas of the inside. The beedrill flew through several hoops on the top, the mankey started punching the air, the rattata pushing rocks with their heads as Sandshrew attempted to lift some pokemon-sized weights. "Hey, you!" AJ shouted to his sandshrew in particular. "I hope you're not getting a big head just by beating a little pikachu! Let's move for a real challenge!"
AJ whipped the ground by the pokemon, who stood up, scurrying outside. The humans followed. "Let's get on your strength intensifier," he said. The pokemon approached him, and AJ clicked on the metallic vest. "Now, let's go!" AJ whipped the ground several times, and the sandshrew went over to the large puddle, which soon became obvious was a makeshift pool. The ground type pokemon walked slowly through it, its limbs affected not just by the water but by the extra resistance on the device AJ had fitted it with. AJ whipped nearby the water several times. "Let's go, let's go! I know you can get through this faster! Move it, move it!" AJ goaded as he continued to crack his whip.
"What are you doing?" Ash asked, his mouth opening wide in shock.
"This is an endurance activity," AJ explained, before continuing to direct his pokemon through it.
"Sandshrew is a ground type! They get weakened by water!" Ash shouted.
AJ half-laughed, shaking his head at the obvious information. "I know that," he said. "That's why I'm having Sandshrew do this." Given that explanation, Ash shoved AJ before he could continue with the whip sounds and shouting at his pokemon. AJ stood up, straightening his shirt before he glared Ash's way. "What's your problem?" he asked.
"What's yours?! You're hurting your pokemon!" Ash accused.
"Training's gotta hurt sometimes, because battling does too," AJ said. "What kind of trainer are you if you don't know that? I pity your pokemon if you just wrap them up and hug them all the time before throwing them in a battle." AJ stepped forward, whipping the ground again as he shouted at Sandshrew to go faster.
"I pity your pokemon." Ash still scowled as he spoke. "You didn't even praise Sandshrew once from what I've seen, and it battled hard before doing all this."
"Should I praise my pokemon for a battle it was obviously gonna win?" AJ challenged. "No way! Sandshrew'd be insulted at being coddled like that."
"Don't you respect your pokemon at all?" Ash demanded, following AJ as he reached the other side of a large puddle as Sandshrew almost waded through itself.
"Respect is earned, huh?" AJ mused aloud. "Alright!" he shouted as Sandshrew hopped out of the water. "Now, let's train some more, move, move!" AJ whipped nearby the pokemon, and it ran back in the tent. "Go, go!" he shouted, whipping nearby the rattata. "This is all the progress you made? You can do way better than that. Move, move!" AJ whipped behind the rattata to goad them to push the rocks faster.
"That's enough!" Ash shouted, grabbing his arm.
AJ shook the younger boy off. "Hey, I said you could watch - join if you want. Not interfere! We've got our routine to keep up with here. Get out if you've got a problem," AJ said, pointing to the entrance.
Ash walked to the edge of the tent, lifting up the flap. "Pokemon, let's go! You don't have to stay and get treated badly by a trainer like this! Let's get out of here, I'll be your new trainer! I'll treat you better!"
After Ash finished speaking, he noted neither human nor pokemon paying attention to him. AJ was caught up in training his rattata. Pikachu had joined their routine on its own, trying and failing to push one of the larger rocks. Brock was looking through AJ's supply of pokemon food in a bag between reading the papers next to it. Misty was having her staryu and starmie join AJ's beedrill, floating through the aerial hoops, directing them to go faster and faster, laughing and cheering as they did, avoiding the hoops with increasing accuracy.
"I'm serious," Ash said. Still, no one looked up from their chosen tasks. "I'll take any of you on as a trainer." He approached the mankey, who stopped punching as he was nearby, but continued as he stepped out of the way.
"Alright, Mankey! Let's see if you can break some rocks," AJ dared, calling it over to the rest of the pokemon.
Ash ran out of the tent, tears of frustration in his eyes. "Hey Ash," Brock eventually left as well, greeting him outside.
"What's with them," Ash lamented, motioning with his head back toward the tent.
"Ash, listen. You can't act like this just because you lost," Brock rebuked.
"Because I- No! It's not because of that! Don't you see what's happening? Why would they stay like this? It's wrong! It's abuse or something, right?"
Brock shrugged. "I don't think so. The pokemon are happy and well cared for. They're all in good shape. AJ's style is a little too militaristic for me, but that's him."
"Just him? He keeps yelling at them! How's that good at all?" Ash demanded.
"It's what works for him. They seem to enjoy it. Even Pikachu was having fun, though it couldn't really keep up," Brock pointed out. Ash remained silent, having seen the same. "Misty's pokemon too. It's something new, and I think we might be able to learn from AJ, even if we don't want to follow what he does exactly."
"Yeah. I dunno." Ash folded his arms, glancing away from the tent.
"Come on, Ash. You were just telling the kids at Pokemon Tech the other day how there's not just one way to do things," Brock pointed out. "Now you're not willing to consider another trainer's approach? I'm not saying you change your more relaxed trainer style, just look at someone else's routine without having to judge it so harshly."
Ash looked toward the tent, hearing various pokemon calls along with AJ and Misty's shouts of direction toward their pokemon inside. He silently considered what Brock had said, along with what AJ had done.
"Go, Starmie! Left, right, left, more, arms in - Not those arms." Misty half-covered her eyes, giggling as Starmie caused the rings to swing. "Your turn, Staryu! Left! Left arm in, you've got it!" Misty cheered as her other pokemon made it through AJ's obstacle course without any troubles.
"Not bad," AJ said with a shrug. "Your two got good at that quick. Beedrill's slacking if it can't make it while these two newbies sail through."
"It's different though," Misty asserted. "Starmie and Staryu just levitate, they don't have to flap their wings. It's easier for them."
"Yeah, I guess there's that," AJ said with a shrug. He watched as Starmie made its next attempt, completing the course with just as much ease as Misty's other pokemon.
"So, AJ, why do you want to be a gym leader?" Misty asked.
"What's easier when it comes to status and an actual job in the pokemon world? Gym leader or top trainer? That is, when it comes to actually being able to keep training professionally, without having to give up your pokemon or back off?" AJ asked.
"Oh." Misty hadn't been expecting such a pragmatic response.
"I did the roaming trainer thing before. I won the badges, made it to the league, then didn't even make it through the initial eliminations." AJ frowned as he explained the experience.
"But what was when you were just starting, right? I bet you'd get farther now," Misty encouraged.
"Maybe. But I'm not counting on that. Being a gym leader is more stable. Not that I'm saying it's easy," AJ continued. "It's not, not all. That's why I'm doing my hundred win challenge. It's not just to show off when I apply. I've gotta prove to myself I can keep up a good win ratio after I've done everything else."
"That is hard," Misty said, thinking of Daisy before her, and her parents before that. There were other gym leaders she'd heard of, met during the meeting, that discussed a rush of talented trainers that had killed their win ratios, and they worried about killing their gym. Not all of them had big families to lean on when they had to resign in order to keep their gyms alive.
"That's why we're working so hard," AJ said. "Me and my pokemon, that is."
"Yeah, I can see that," Misty said. It would be hard to keep a gym up on one's own, she supposed. "So, what type will your gym be?"
"Ground," AJ answered without hesitation.
Misty herself hesitated before commenting, recalling a certain ground type gym leader she knew. "Why?" she eventually asked.
"Because of Sandshrew - It has to be part of my team. It's my first pokemon, my closest partner. I made a promise to never leave it out, and I'll keep it."
Misty noted AJ observing the sandshrew happily as it pushed the large rocks around, directing the other pokemon to do the same. That really did seem to be the only reason, she concluded, forgetting about the other ground type gym leader as she got up, deciding to see what else she might do in AJ's training regimen.
Ash and Brock walked in, interrupting their conversation. Ash looked down before he forced himself to look back up, an expression of resignation on his face. "Sorry about before," he said.
"Yeah. No worries here," AJ assured the younger trainer.
"Can you show me how you train?" Ash asked.
"I'd be pleased to." AJ took them around the tent and outside, showing them the various places he had his pokemon train to increase their strengths and buffer for their weaknesses. As they went back inside, he fed his pokemon for lunch. Brock got out his own food, deciding to feed both his group's pokemon as well as the humans present, comparing recipes with AJ as he did.
"You'd make a good pokemon breeder," Brock said.
"Every trainer ought to look into what they're calling pokemon breeding," AJ commented, which seemed to please Brock.
"I've thought about it," Ash began as they cleaned up after lunch. "And I want to challenge you again. I'll-"
"No way," AJ interrupted him, rejecting Ash before he could even finish his challenge.
Ash sat up. "Hey! Are you scared? I think I have a good strategy now. Don't you want to be a gym leader? You'd have to take all kinds of challenges then!" Ash passionately pointed this out.
"In a real gym, you'd have to wait at least a week before challenging the leader again," Misty pointed out.
"Oh. Right." Ash's knees weakened as he thought of it.
"Yeah, I won't want my hundredth win to be some kid that couldn't give it a break," AJ said. He grinned as he looked away from Ash and to a different one of his guests. "I've already decided my perfect hundredth win. Misty, let's battle."
"Huh?" Misty looked up from the dish she'd been wiping off.
"Yeah," AJ said with a nod. "I won't accept anyone else."
"Um, AJ," Misty began, glancing toward Sandshrew. "You know I'm a water type gym leader, right?"
"Yeah, and one with a pretty good win ratio. I remember seeing your name on the lists. You moved up quick after Cerulean Gym was lacking before, huh?" AJ recalled.
Misty nodded. "Well, if you're okay with that. I'd feel bad about breaking your win streak." She laughed awkwardly, handing Brock the clean dish.
"You'd better not," AJ said firmly. "I'll have worse challenges than this ahead! Don't you dare go easy on me!"
"Hm, okay." Misty nodded, supposing AJ probably wouldn't use Sandshrew anyway, knowing her motif and routine that well. "It's not for a badge or anything I guess you know."
"Of course." AJ stood up straight. "I'm a former league participant, so I wouldn't expect it. Let's go, Sandshrew!" The ground type pokemon ran up to its trainer, who sprayed it with a potion. "Just a few minutes to rest and recover, and then we'll be ready to go."
"Wait... You aren't using that one, are you?" Misty asked.
"Of course," AJ said, nonplused at Misty's concerns.
"But don't you think there's a better choice?" Misty asked.
"There's no other choice," AJ asserted. "Didn't I say before? Sure, I train my other pokemon, but my win streak is with Sandshrew, no one else." AJ patted the resting sandshrew on the head with a wry smile. "If I have a gym, what're the challengers gonna bring? That's what we've been preparing for. And that's why you're the perfect final opponent."
Misty now fully understood just how purposeful and calculated AJ's decision to challenge her was. She nodded seriously as he looked her way. She really had to give this her all, not just for herself and her pokemon, but for her opponents as well.
After finishing their rest and cleaning up after lunch, the group went outside. This time, Misty took her place in the challenger's position while AJ stood across from her. Brock and Ash sat in the spectator's area on the ground, Pikachu in Ash's lap. "Pikachu!" it called out encouragingly to Sandshrew.
"Get ready, Sandshrew!" AJ shouted, pointing onto the field.
"Go, my steady!" Misty threw out her pokeball in a showy fashion, turning around before catching it with her hand as the newly appeared pokemon spun around in front of her. "Starmie, water gun!"
"Sandshrew, dig," AJ ordered.
Starmie's attack hit first. Sandshrew took it, being splashed by the water without moving, then shook its head only one before it dove underground. "Starmie, hurry! Water gun, again!" Misty ordered. The attack could really wash out her opponent underground. It was too bad, but AJ had said to give it her all, hadn't he? Starmie sprayed the water in the direction its opponent had gone, the water seeping into the cracks where the now out of sight pokemon had gone as part of its battle technique.
Ash leaned forward. "Is it okay?" he said.
"Pika?" Pikachu echoed the concern, crawling out of Ash's lap to get a closer look. "Pi!" it exclaimed, scurrying back as Sandshrew jumped out of the ground, surprising the spectators though it only grazed its opponent.
"Sandshrew, now! Fissure!" AJ shouted.
"Starmie, swift! Hurry!" Misty ordered. It was too late, her opponent's pokemon spun quickly, going back into the ground though it popped up much more quickly now, hitting Starmie just as it started its swift technique. This time it was a much more serious hit, and Starmie grew limp as it fell to the ground.
Misty sighed loudly as she returned poor Starmie. As she did, AJ ran into the field, whooping loudly as he hugged his pokemon. "Sandshrew! You did it! That's a hard technique, but you got it! You - We did it! A hundred wins! Thanks so much, Sandshrew!" AJ even grew tearful as he expressed gratitude for his pokemon. Though she certainly hadn't wanted to lose, Misty couldn't help but feel happy as she saw them.
Ash raised his eyebrows, this vision of the aspiring gym leader much different than the one that had been growing in his mind. "AJ, you think it's okay to praise your pokemon?" he said.
AJ stood up, composing himself for his audience, though he couldn't help but give Sandshrew one more pat on the back. "Yeah, sure," he answered. "But what does praise mean, especially if you get it all the time? This is more than worthy of celebrating. Do you know how many times we had to restart before we got here?" AJ wandered over to his chalkboard, erasing it and writing '100' before showing it all around. "Way too many times! And the last time I was all the way to ninety-two. We earned our celebration!" AJ put back down the chalkboard. "And now, it's time for the next part of the journey."
"Are you off to apply, then?" Misty asked tentatively, thinking of the current state of the gym system.
AJ shrugged. "Na. I've gotta catch and train another ground type or two first. Sandshrew can't do this on its own."
"You've got a plan, then," Misty said with a smile. "But as you go forward with this... Be careful, okay?"
"Sure. Yeah, I've heard some stuff," AJ said. "I won't be reckless."
Misty nodded. She wasn't about to bother an aspiring gym leader with all the details of the current politics, but it at least seemed he was aware to some extent.
"Well, just because we had another battle and met one goal doesn't mean we're clear of afternoon training," AJ began, taking out his whip. "Sandshrew, you break for thirty! Everyone else, get moving!"
Ash, Misty, and Brock decided to join the routine with their own pokemon. At the end of the day, Ash and Pikachu were very tired. Ash slowly set up camp, eating only a little before crawling into his sleeping bag, grabbing Pikachu and hugging it as it walked by.
"Pika..." Pikachu burrowed in the sleeping bag itself before peeking its head out, also exhausted.
"So, Ash, do you think you learned anything from AJ?" Brock mused.
"Hm?" Ash sleepily opened his eyes. "Yeah. I guess I can push my pokemon harder," he said.
"Pi?" Pikachu questioned.
"But not too hard," Ash said, hugging his pokemon. "And also... I'm just getting started."
"That's true," Misty said. "I doubt a beginner like you got everything from a trainer like AJ that you might have."
"I know one thing he reminded me of," Ash declared. "I've gotta catch more pokemon too."
"Really?" Misty asked as she started to roll out her own sleeping bag. "Maybe-" Misty stopped as she noted Ash was already completely asleep, Pikachu trying to curl up on the pillow next to its trainer's head. Misty started to relax herself, supposing he probably wouldn't have taken her suggestions anyway. That was just the kind of trainer he was. But what kind of pokemon would he end up catching?
End notes:
I really did think AJ was an interesting character. He will appear again here, but that's down the line. In a story that concentrates on gym leaders as much as this one has and will, the inclusion of him as an aspiring gym leader fits right in.
Next chapter: Bulbasaur vs. The World
(String of starter pokemon chapters coming right up...)