Chapter 6
With two Pokémon Badges pinned to his jacket, our hero Ash marched boldly through the grass, an extra spring in his step. A few steps behind him, Brock seemed to be simply going along with Ash's stride, a nervous look drawing his eyebrows down ever so slightly. It was almost like he didn't want to be seen with the bold Pokémon Trainer, but didn't have a choice in the matter.
Since leaving Cerulean City, Ash made a vow to battle as many Trainers as he possibly could, in order to feel like he earned the Cascade Badge that had been given to him by the three Gym Leaders there. And from the looks of it, it seemed that in Ash's head, he had decided that he had earned it. There were a lot more Trainers on the road here than there had been everywhere else, and Ash had challenged or been challenged by every single one of them. Now on a winning streak, his head seemed to have grown.
Suddenly stopping in place, Ash whipped around and rubbed the back of his head with a gloved hand. "Where are we going?" he asked bashfully. So far, they had just been walking away from Cerulean City.
"I heard that there's a really great Gym in Vermilion," Brock suggested, and the statement brought Ash's fists together in excitement.
"A Gym?! All right!" he cried, and whipped around. "Time to get my third Badge!" Running on ahead, Brock only let out a sigh at the younger boy's endless energy and hurried on ahead to keep up with him. But even then, it didn't take long for the pair to encounter a Pokémon Trainer, a boy about Ash's age with tame brown hair that parted to the side. The belt of his shorts that were held up by suspenders had six Poké Balls attached to it.
"Are you two Pokémon Trainers?" the boy asked. "I'm looking for a battle."
"I'll battle you! My name's Ash," Ash quickly responded, his hands shaking in the prospect of another battle.
"I'm Shane. Let's just use one Pokémon each, okay?" the other Trainer suggested, and Ash nodded in agreement. Making a clearing in the grass, the two Trainers pulled out Poké Balls and Ash twisted his cap backwards and threw his Poké Ball forward.
"Squirtle, I choose you!" The ball left his fingertips and opened with a flash of light, releasing the light blue turtle Pokémon as it cried out with determination.
"Squirtle!"
"Rattata, go!" Shane called, throwing out his own Poké Ball. Seconds later, his purple rat Pokémon was peeling back its lips from its over-sized front teeth and gave a cry.
"Rrrraattata!" The two Pokémon stared at each other, sizing up their opponents, but Ash's confidence gave him the courage to call for the first move.
"Squirtle, use Tackle!" Feet pounding in the grass, Squirtle charged forward with its eyes locked on Rattata. But Shane was ready and called for a counterattack.
"Rattata, Tail Whip!" The Normal-type stayed grounded, waiting for the right opportunity, and as Squirtle came in close, Rattata spun around on its front paws, and struck Squirtle across the face with its curled tail. Using the momentum of the swing, Rattata took off in a run towards its Trainer, and then curled around and charged at Squirtle. "Tackle attack!"
"Squirtle, Water Gun!" Ash countered. The tail attack didn't hurt Squirtle much, so the Tiny Turtle Pokémon twisted its head at Rattata, and took in a deep breath before spitting out a blast of water. The attack knocked Rattata off its feet and sent it skidding along the grass. "Now Squirtle, finish it!" Crouching down, Squirtle lunged at Rattata again, this time connecting its Tackle attack. The Rat Pokémon let out a groan of pain as it slid on the wet grass, stopping just before its Trainer. This time, it was unable to get back up.
"Oh, Rattata!" Shane cried.
"And I win!" Ash cheered loudly, raising a fist of victory high in the air. "That's number ten!" In front of him, Squirtle stared with a smirk on its face, and it stared ahead with this look for a few moments, and suddenly, a white glow surrounded Squirtle's body. Ash's fist lowered slightly as his smile faded into confusion. "Squirtle?"
"Hey, it's-"
"Evolving!" Brock finished for Shane, and the three looked on as Squirtle's form changed shape slightly and grew larger. Finally, the glow faded, and a new turtle-like Pokémon stood in Squirtle's place. It was a deeper blue in color, and it had grown fluffy ears from its head. The same fluff on its ears had also grown on its tail.
"Wartortle!" it grunted.
"Wow, Squirtle evolved into Wartortle! All of that battling really paid off!" Ash said excitedly, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning the new Pokémon.
"Wartortle. The evolved form of Squirtle. Its long furry tail is a symbol of its age and wisdom." Putting away his Pokédex, Ash recalled his new Wartortle, and looked down at the Poké Ball in his hand with a dreamy look on his face. It was the first Pokémon of his to evolve, and he couldn't have been more happy.
His thoughts were interrupted by Shane, who walked up to Ash and held out a hand for the Trainer to shake it. The two did, and Shane smiled. "You're a really great Pokémon Trainer," he complimented.
"Well, I guess I was pretty good there," Ash said nonchalantly, and made to fan himself off with his jacket, but the way he stuck his nose in the air and held his jacket open longer than it should have showed that he was trying hard to show off the two Badges pinned inside.
"Wow! You've got Badges!" Shane exclaimed, his eyebrows raising with surprise. It seemed Ash's tactic worked.
"Oh, you mean these?" the Pallet Town native questioned, and if his grin had gotten any bigger, it would have fallen off his face.
"You've got two!"
"Oh brother... Giving him that badge was a mistake..." Brock muttered to himself, one of his eyebrows raised in an attempt to hide the annoyance on his face.
"I bet you could even beat A.J.!" Shane continued. Finally, the smirk on Ash's face dropped.
"A.J.?"
"Yeah, he lives over there," the Pokémon Trainer replied, pointing in a direction behind him. "A.J. trains savage Pokémon. He built his own Gym! He's never lost a single match!"
"Until now!" Ash responded confidently, and wagged his pointer finger. "He hasn't come up against somebody like me."
"He's getting a big head, but his brain's still the same size..." Brock commented quietly. The two parted ways with Shane, and headed off in the direction he pointed to go see this Gym that A.J. had built. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find, as it had a big sign in front of a huge fence made up of trees that told of the large tent behind its gates. 'A.J.'S GYM – UNDEFEATED!' And beside it was a scoreboard. It had ninety-eight wins with zero losses. And underneath it in smaller letters was 'Note: Gym not sanctioned by Pokémon League'.
"Look at that; this Gym isn't even licensed by the Pokémon League," he said, and continued. "Undefeated, big deal. I can beat 'im."
"He has ninety-eight wins in a row," Brock pointed out, silently scared to think how A.J. was going to be when Ash's head was so big just from ten wins.
"I go for quality, not quantity!" As Ash snapped back, another boy approached the pair, clutching a backpack strap over his shoulder.
"Are you my next victim?" They looked over to see a boy with a confidence face – perhaps even moreso than Ash's. His spiky hair stuck up and fanned out at the top of his head, and it was green in the sunlight, but had dark undertones.
"You must be the wild Pokémon Trainer," Ash said to the newcomer.
"That's my job," A.J. scoffed, "but beatin' chumps like you is my hobby." Sticking his nose in the air, he walked up to the closed gate. "Ready to lose?" The gate opened with an easy push of the boy's thick arms, and they walked inside the property. The area was huge, and their mouths dropped in surprise. Since they couldn't see over the gate other than the top of the tent, it was all brand new to them. There was plenty of space in front of a huge circus tent, and a stadium that was a bit smaller than the battle arena at Brock's Gym rose from the ground, obviously made out of dirt and compacted down. The tent itself really did look like it was an old circus tent that had been left there, and A.J. had just converted it into a place to live.
"Wow..." Ash muttered in amazement. A.J. said nothing as he was probably used to responses like this, and put the backpack down on the ground. Just then, a purple butterfly-like Pokémon came fluttering out of the tent, chattering happily to itself as it fluttered down and picked up the backpack by the black straps and flew back into the tent with it. The two watched the Butterfree disappear into the flaps before Ash spoke up again. "What's in the backpack?"
"The wild Pokémon that I just caught. There's a whole bunch more in the tent, and then some," A.J. replied.
"Hey! Can I see them after the match?"
"If you want," A.J. said, climbing up the makeshift stairs leading up to his battle arena, and turned back to Ash, looking down at him. "So, which Pokémon are you gonna choose for my ninety-ninth win?"
"Ninety-ninth..?" Ash repeated quietly, and his face seemed to swell with anger. Stepping up to the battlefield, it was outlined in chalk like how a real Pokémon stadium would be, and both A.J. and Ash took their respective Trainer boxes. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to change this sign after this match! You'll be formerly undefeated!" Reaching behind him, A.J. pulled out a whip that was tied around the belt loop of his shorts, hidden underneath his red and black shirt and pulled at the parachute cord to tighten it.
"You may think that you're hot stuff kid, but you're not playing in the Pokémon little league anymore," he said, and with a flick of his wrist, the whip cracked at the ground like a firecracker, making Ash flinch back at the sudden noise. "After I win a hundred matches in a row, I'll start competin' for Badges."
"That means he's only two wins away," Ash could hear Brock mutter behind him, standing on the flat ground with only his shoulders and head visible from the side of the raised platform.
"Ninety-eight wins and you still don't have a Badge?" the Pallet Town native asked rhetorically with an eyebrow cocked, and Ash stuck his nose in the air as he opened his jacket. "I have ten wins, and I have two Pokémon Badges." Brock couldn't see Ash's face at this angle, but he could just feel Ash's nose getting bigger from the fool he was making of himself.
"Did you buy those Badges, or steal 'em? Either that, or you competed in some loser Gyms. Where were they, Failure City or Wimpsville?" The former Gym Leader's attitude suddenly changed. Though he couldn't speak for the Cerulean Gym, the way that A.J. bad-mouthed his Gym angered Brock.
"Hey Ash, pulverize this guy!" the Pokémon Breeder called. Ash chuckled nervously, rarely seeing such an outburst from Brock.
"Let's get started then," A.J. declared, and retrieved his Poké Ball from his belt. Rearing his arm back, he threw the ball into the air. "Sandshrew, go!" The red and white sphere soared through the air, and finally burst open, releasing a tan and white Pokémon that had brick-like hide on the back of its body, and it landed on the ground with a chitter.
"A Sandshrew, huh? This should be interesting," Ash smirked.
"Let's be careful now, Ash," Brock warned the younger boy.
"I know exactly what I'm doing," the black-haired boy shot back, and swiped his hat backwards as he pulled out his own Poké Ball. "Pidgey, I choose you!" The Poké Ball that left his hand bounced off the ground and opened as a burst of light came out of the center and into the air, where Pidgey soared into the air from the light with a graceful coo.
With their opponent now visible, A.J. gave a crack of his whip and looked down at his Pokémon. "Sandshrew, go."
"Pidgey, dive at it!" Ash instructed, and Pidgey cried in response as it tucked in its wings and shot down like a missile at Sandshrew.
"Ash is lucky. The Flying Pokémon should have the advantage here," Brock murmured, looking up at the Normal and Flying-type with anticipation.
"Too bad Sandshrew can't fly," Ash agreed, but A.J. didn't seem worried. With a crack of his whip, Sandshrew jumped into the air and curled itself into a spiraling ball before launching itself into the air, slamming into Pidgey at full force. Feathers flew everywhere as Ash let out a cry of shock, and the Flying Pokémon landed on the ground on its stomach. "Pidgey!"
Across from them, Sandshrew leapt back in front of its Trainer, but it barely had time to rest before A.J. cracked his whip on the ground again. "Finish it!" The sound of his whip made Sandshrew dart forward, dashing on all four legs at the fallen bird Pokémon, and Ash quickly whipped out his Pokémon's Poké Ball.
"Uh-oh! Pidgey return!"
"Pijee..." the hurt Pokémon moaned as the recall beam hit it and it disappeared inside the metal sphere. Quickly replacing the Poké Ball with another, he reared it back while raising his leg and threw it forward.
"Wartortle... I choose you!" The ball opened in midair, and the dark blue Turtle Pokémon soared through the air with a confident smirk.
"Tortle!"
"You can do it! Water versus Ground should be no problem!" Ash called.
"That's what you think, kid," A.J. retorted with a smirk. "Now watch and weep!"
"Go, Water Gun!" Wartortle took in a deep breath, and let out a blast of water from its mouth, and with a crack of his whip, A.J.'s Sandshrew gave a dive, blasting through the Water Gun and disappeared into a hole in the ground it quickly made. Water splashed down into the hole, but overall the majority of the attack missed. Wartortle quickly stopped its attack, and looked back and forth, trying to determine where Sandshrew was going to appear.
"That Sandshrew is well-trained," Brock commented. "He controls it with the crack of his whip, like a tamer." As Wartortle scanned its red eyes back and forth looking for Sandshrew, A.J. snapped his whip to the ground once again, and with Wartortle's shell facing Ash, Sandshrew burst from the ground between Wartortle and Ash, and mounted Wartortle, taking the Water Pokémon by surprise. Each of its limbs were pinning Wartortle's to the ground, preventing it from pulling them inside its shell, and Wartortle's head couldn't twist around, leaving it a stalemate.
"Wartortle!"
"It looks like this war is over," A.J. teased with a sneer, pulling one last time at his whip before putting it away, signifying the match was over. It was almost physical watching Ash's huge head deflate, and as he fell to his knees, Sandshrew climbed off the Water-type Pokémon and waddled over to its Trainer. The double-sided scoreboard at the gates of his Gym changed with a push of a button buried on A.J.'s side of the stadium, and the score went from 98 to 99. "And that makes victory number ninety-nine!" he said, raising a fist in victory while his Sandshrew wagged its tail back and forth soundlessly.
"It's not fair! I'm the one with the Badgessss!" Ash whined, and then got up and wrapped his hands pleadingly around A.J.'s bicep. "How about two out of three?"
"Stop whining, kid. Nobody wants 'ta compete against a crybaby," A.J. answered, ripping his arm out of Ash's grip so hard that Ash almost fell to the ground.
"Hey, there's something fishy here!" Ash suddenly said when he recovered, clenching an angry fist at the boy. "I didn't have any problems winning until I battled in your ring. How do I know this whole match wasn't rigged?" A.J. simply stared at him with a cocked eyebrow, and when he didn't reply, Ash went on. "That's it! You cheated! How else could Sandshrew defeat Wartortle? Water Pokémon always have the advantage over Ground Pokémon!"
"Chill out," A.J. muttered, not looking amused anymore and looking worried at the boy's antics, but Ash placed his hand on A.J.'s arm once again, like a child would to bring an adult somewhere, and pointed out at the gate.
"What do you say we go replay the match someplace else, huh?" he continued to plead.
"That A.J. sure is strong. I don't get it. How is he so good?" Brock commented to himself off to the side while tending to the fallen Wartortle. Meanwhile, A.J. ripped his arm from Ash's grip yet again and turned his back on him.
"One more chance..?"
"Come back when you grow up," the Pokémon Trainer finalized, walking down the wooden steps and disappearing inside his tent, leaving a deflated Ash on the ring.
"It's not fair..."
"Looks like you'll have to rethink the way you train," Brock said, a slight smile on his face as he approached Ash, Wartortle at his feet.
"What do you mean?" Before Brock could explain, they heard A.J. from inside the tent.
"You call that last match a fight?!" The three turned their heads towards the tent, and they heard the familiar crack of a whip. "It's time for some serious trainin'." Slowly sneaking up to the tent, Ash got down on his knees, and both him and Wartortle peeked in, trying their best to not be seen. But he gasped at what he saw.
The inside of the tent was filled to the brim with training equipment from what Ash could see, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the two Flying Pokémon in the air in front of a big sign that showed a whip cracking at a Poké Ball. A Beedrill and a Butterfree were sparring, with the Butterfree dodging Twineedle attacks from Beedrill back and forth. Continuing on, a cry of a Rattata brought Ash's eyes to one jumping through a flaming ring mounted high in the air while another of the same species was balancing on a big ball. The next scene he saw was high up on a diving board. Up there stood A.J.'s Sandshrew, but it was wearing some strange binding brace on its body. In fact, now that Ash looked, all of the Pokémon training in A.J.'s Gym were wearing them across their upper bodies. It reached its arms into the air and flipped before doing a graceful dive into the water. The Ground-type disappeared beneath the surface for only a second before leaping out beside its Trainer and spinning in place to get the water off it. A.J. didn't look thrilled about it, and snapped the whip in his hand inches away from the spinning Sandshrew. "Get back in the water!"
That was the final straw for Ash, and he pushed past the folds in the tent and quickly closed the distance between the two. "Knock it off!" Ash yelled, just in time for A.J. to look up and be taken off his feet by the younger boy's tackle. The two soared through the air before disappearing beneath the surface of the water behind A.J. Both of them coming up for air, A.J. glared at Ash, his green and black hair sticking to his face as Brock and Wartortle came in and stood at the pool's edge.
"Now what d'you want, a swimming match?"
"You're hurting Sandshrew!"
"Mind yer' own business!" A.J. snapped. "I don't need any amateurs teachin' me how to train Pokémon."
"You call that training?" Ash asked rhetorically, and then looked at Sandshrew, who had just unraveled itself now that it was dried off. "What's that? It looks like a straitjacket." Beside Sandshrew, Wartortle was also closely inspecting the device wrapped across Sandshrew's body.
"That's no straitjacket. It's a Strength Intensifier," A.J. answered as he pulled himself out of the water and sat on the edge.
"Who invented that thing?" Brock questioned.
"I did," the boy replied proudly. "It's my own secret weapon for unleashing a Pokémon's powers." Turning back to Sandshrew, his eyebrows clashed together and his voice changed to a more stern tone. "Sandshrew, back in the pool!" Sandshrew gave a hiccup of a reply, and then spun on its feet to climb up the ladder of the diving board.
"But Sandshrews are weakened by water!" Ash exclaimed, still swimming in the pool.
"I know that."
"You'll hurt it!"
A.J. ignored Ash and looked up at the top of the diving board where Sandshrew had finished climbing to the top. "Sandshrew, dive." Fearlessly, the Pokémon dove into the water, splashing in beside Ash and getting water over the Pokémon Trainer before diving out and spinning in place in a ball to dry itself off. "Good work," he told it as he stood back up.
"The water doesn't weaken your Sandshrew?" Brock asked. "That must have been how it was able to dive through Wartortle's Water Gun."
"'Yer lookin' at the only Sandshrew in the world that is strong enough to withstand water," A.J. said with pride. "Sandshrew, pick up 'yer pacing!" Reaching up, Sandshrew unlatched the device around its body from the back of its neck, and it clattered to the ground before curling itself into a ball. Rolling over, three Rattata also heard A.J.'s command and they stood in a triangle, bouncing Sandshrew between them with their noses like a game.
"Hey, wait! I thought you said pacing, not passing!" Ash exclaimed as the boy climbed out of the pool, and Brock stumbled in the air.
"That's to build up Sandshrew's endurance, speed, and its natural ability to roll around, not that I expect an amateur to know that," A.J. sneered.
"Why are you so tough on Sandshrew?"
"I have to be tough," the older boy responded. "But I ask no more of Sandshrew than I do of myself – the very best."
"But you aren't nearly as tough on any of your other Pokémon!"
"That's because Sandshrew is the first Pokémon I ever caught," A.J. replied, his hardened look softening slightly into a smile. "I will never ferget' that moment. We promised to do whatever it took to become the greatest Pokémon and Trainer of all time. Nothin' would stop us from reachin' our dream, no matter how difficult our path. Enduring fierce storms and raging winds. We've sacrificed everything to achieve our dream, and it was worth it. We're an unbeatable team!"
"What you're doing is wrong!" Ash stated sternly as A.J. crossed his arms and nodded at his monologue. "A great Trainer should make friends with his Pokémon!"
"Why should I listen to you?" A.J. argued back. Tired of going back and forth with the older boy, Ash looked past him at Brock, who was standing with his arms crossed and an expressionless face.
"Hey Brock, don't you have anything to say about this?" Ash asked.
"I do," Brock nodded, and A.J. stared at the older boy, but Brock only smiled slightly and looked at the Pokémon training in the tent. "Your Pokémon are all in great shape. What kind of Pokémon food do you give them?" The answer wasn't exactly what Ash was expecting, and he stumbled slightly with a groan at not being supported.
"My own recipe!" A.J. said, a full genuine smile appearing on his face almost looking foreign from the stern-looking boy. Him and Brock walked over to the side of the tent where there were cabinets and shelves built like a pantry area. Opening it up, he revealed rows and rows of glass jars of Pokémon food, but each one featured a label with a different Pokémon on the front of it. "To get the results I want, I have to carefully monitor the Pokémon diets. Of course, the recipe is secret."
"Oh, yeah, of course!" Brock responded. "You know, I mix my own food too." Ash stopped listening at this point, and only looked sadly at Sandshrew. It had put on the Strength Intensifier it had taken off earlier, and was standing over with a weight in each of its hands, pulling them up and down. Beside him, his newly-evolved Pokémon was watching with interest, and slowly picked up a smaller weight, and though it was able to do it, it was having much difficulty with both hands, let alone one. As it struggled with the weight, a bell like at a wrestling match rang once, and A.J. turned around from his conversation with Brock.
"Okay, you wimps get a fifteen minute break!" he called. Right away, his Pokémon all collapsed, panting from exhaustion. Their breathing was audible, even from the Bug Pokémon, and Ash's heart hurt as he scanned his brown eyes across them all. As A.J. began to walk away, Ash whipped his head around at him.
"Hey!
"Now what do you want?"
"Your Pokémon are totally wiped out!"
"You better believe it! In this gym, we live by the rule, 'No Pain, No Gain'." His black eyes flashed over to Wartortle. "But judging by your little stuffed Wartortle over there, you don't follow any rules."
"It's not a stuffed Wartortle! Take it back!" Ash spat, taking a defensive stance, and A.J. went to walk away. "Hey, did you hear me?! I said take it back!" Rushing up to the older Trainer, Ash swung his fist, but A.J. turned at the last moment, saw the fist being thrown, and raised an arm defensively out of instinct. Ash struck the boy's forearm, and the force from the punch sent them both into the pool once again. They resurfaced, and quickly grappled each other, sending water flying everywhere as Brock rushed up to the poolside and watched helplessly.
"You don't win Badges for being buddy-buddy with a Pokémon!"
"It's not a stuffed Wartortle!"
"Knock it off, you two!" Brock shouted, and getting down on his hands and knees and reaching out, he snatched the closest one to the poolside, which happened to be Ash. Grabbing him by the white collar of his jacket, he pulled him to the edge of the pool, and now that he could grab his traveling companion with both hands, hoisted him out of the pool and onto the concrete surrounding it. With them separated, A.J. was able to get out as well, and they both sat panting and glaring at each other.
"Why d'you keep hangin' around here? There must be other Trainers you can go bother," A.J. managed to gasp out.
"Yeah right..." the younger Trainer said back, his black hair dripping water droplets down his face from under his hat. The wrestler's bell rung twice, signifying that break time was over, and A.J. took a deep breath and stood back up.
"Time's up. Back 'ta work, all of 'ya," A.J. called, and immediately all of his Pokémon picked themselves up and continued on their workout routine. Ash and A.J. both looked at Sandshrew, who had unraveled itself from a ball and gave one last chuckle at Ash's Wartortle on its back before going back to its own weight-lifting. "What's your Wartortle doin'?" The pair walked up to Wartortle, and it was wiggling back and forth on its back. Somehow, it had gotten a Strength Intensifier on its body, and it was strapped across its chest, connected to its arms, legs and neck, but it couldn't curl itself into a ball like Sandshrew because of its hard shell, so it had fallen backwards and was now rocking back and forth struggling to get the device off it.
"Oh, Wartortle!" Ash cried, kneeling down and trying to pull the device off Wartortle, but it wouldn't budge. "It's no use."
"Here, let me see," A.J. offered, kneeling down beside Ash. Helping Wartortle onto its feet, A.J. pressed a button on the bigger ring around the Water-type's neck, like Sandshrew had done earlier, and the device fell to the ground as the Turtle Pokémon let out a cry of relief.
"Wartortle! You're okay!" Ash said with relief, bringing the Water Pokémon into an embrace. Eyebrows pulling together, Ash stood back up and glared at A.J. "Hey, Wartortle could have gotten really hurt!"
"It isn't my fault it's a wimp. It shouldn't be touching things that isn't its, neither. Like Trainer like Pokémon."
"The way you treat your Pokémon, I'm surprised they all haven't run away!" Ash argued.
"My Pokémon and I have been together for a long time."
"Yeah, I know," Ash replied with a smug look. "But when your Pokémon see how well Wartortle and I get along, they're gonna think, 'I deserve better, I'll find a Trainer who treats me like Ash treats Wartortle'! In fact..." A smile spread on Ash's face as he turned away from A.J. and to his Pokémon. "You've all had enough of A.J. and how he pushes you around, haven't you? Well, you don't have to put up with it anymore, because now you can come with me!" He looked around at the other Pokémon and raised his hand high into the air. "Anyone who's coming with me, raise your hand!" A.J. only crossed his arms and looked on in annoyance, while his other Pokémon simply ignored Ash, walking or fluttering past him with their noses in the air. "Just raise your hand! Get 'em up there!" Brock only looked on with an eyebrow cocked, knowing Ash was making a fool of himself.
"You see what happens when you try and start a mutiny in my gym?" A.J. exclaimed, getting close to Ash's face. "My Pokémon are all loyal."
Ash flinched back, a new light shimmering in his eyes as he looked down at Sandshrew, standing next to its Trainer. "How could they possibly pick him over me..."
"A.J. is tough, but he cares deeply for his Pokémon," Brock told Ash. The boy looked away from Brock, and his eyes looked at every single one of A.J.'s Pokémon, working hard to be stronger with his help, and then back at A.J. "A.J.," Brock spoke up, stepping forward with a smile. "I was the Gym Leader of the Pewter Gym before I decided to go out on my own Pokémon journey. As a former Gym Leader, I would be honored to be your one hundredth challenger." Ash gasped, and A.J. smiled back at the Pokémon Breeder and nodded.
"I would be honored to battle you, too," he replied, and after Ash recalled Wartortle into its Poké Ball, the three walked out of the gym and onto the arena, this time with Brock taking the battlefield instead of Ash. With a crack of his whip, Sandshrew stepped forward, having taken off its Strength Intensifier for the battle. "Our one hundredth challenger is a former Gym Leader. It's like a challenge in and of itself to tell us whether we're ready to start collecting Badges."
"One hundred..." Ash muttered, the three digit number now becoming apparent as he looked up at the electronic scoreboard. Looking down at Ash, A.J. gave the dark-haired Trainer a smile.
"That's right. As Sandshrew an' I vowed." Ash stared at him for a bit, a realization clicking in his head, and the Pallet Town native smiled back and nodded.
"Good luck."
"But don't think I'm going to go easy on you, A.J.," Brock told him, pulling out a Poké Ball and rearing his arm back. "Onix, go!" The red and white sphere bounced off the flat dirt arena, and opened after settling. A giant wave of white energy shot into the air, and as the Poké Ball soared back to Brock, the light faded into the Rock Snake Pokémon, the Rock-type letting out a loud roar as it appeared. But neither Sandshrew nor A.J. were intimidated, and A.J. only pulled at the leather of his whip.
"Sandshrew, go!" he cried, snapping it against the ground, and Sandshrew bounded forward.
"Onix, Tackle attack!"
"Iwwaaaarrrrrr!" The Rock and Ground Pokémon gave a bone-shattering roar before lunging forward like a giant snake. But a quick leap from Sandshrew ensured that the attack would miss.
"Dive underground! Then go back up!" the Rock-type Trainer instructed as Onix crashed into the ground, and the ground shook as Onix made contact, but the dust that was brought up from it gave cover for Onix to dive into the ground, leaving a large hole where it was. A.J. cracked his whip against the ground, and Sandshrew jumped high into the air, curling into a ball and spinning like a basket ball. The ground cracked in front of Brock, and Onix crumbled through the arena, shooting up like a rock geyser at Sandshrew. "Bind it, Onix, now!"
Soundlessly, Onix wrapped its body around Sandshrew, similarly to how it had wrapped Ash's Squirtle back in their Gym battle. But with Sandshrew still curled into a ball, all it had to do was spin itself, and it slid easily out of the Rock-type's grip like it was covered in butter. Uncurling itself, Sandshrew came down and stuck out its foot, striking Onix in the face and knocking the massive Pokémon to the ground. "It's so strong!" Ash exclaimed, his eyes widening. Even he had trouble with Brock's Onix.
A.J. raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, another strike of his whip echoed in the fenced in area. "Finish it! Sandshrew, Fissure strike!" Bouncing high into the air like a rubber ball, Sandshrew uncurled and gave a loud cry as it raised both of its hands. Lightning flashed behind it, and Ash and Brock looked on in shock with their mouths open as Sandshrew fell forward and held its hand out as it fell. Slowly, it started to rotate its body, spinning faster and faster as gravity pushed it towards the earth. "Go, Sandshrew! Drill to the ground 'til it splits!" A.J. commanded, punching the air in front of him.
Finally, the Mouse Pokémon hit the ground, striking the middle of the arena just near Onix, who was picking itself up. At first, it stayed there for a moment like an arrow that was fired straight down, and at first, Ash thought that nothing had happened. But then suddenly, the ground cracked away from Sandshrew's finger, and a single crack extended out on both sides of Sandshrew, reaching far past it and even splitting the earth past A.J. and Brock, and even reaching past Ash. The whole ground moved in two different directions, and Ash and Brock let out a loud cry as a chasm opened up on the battlefield, swallowing the massive Onix inside it and lodging it inside.
"Onix!" Brock cried, once the shifting of the ground had stopped, and looked inside the split ground. Inside, Onix was knocked out and unable to move. Letting out a sigh of defeat, Brock held Onix's Poké Ball forward and recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball.
"We did it, Sandshrew!" A.J. cried loudly. "We finally reached victory number one hundred!" Both Trainer and Pokémon raised their arms into the air, and the scoreboard changed from 99 to 100. To Ash's surprise, tears fell from both of their eyes, and A.J. looked beyond elated as he looked down tearfully at his Pokémon. "Today, all our sacrifices and hard work have finally paid off." He knelt down and embraced the Ground-type Pokémon. "Now we can finally start winnin' our Badges." Though he had lost, Brock looked on with a smile on his face, and as did Ash. Now it was clear how much A.J. cared about his Pokémon.
o 0 o
The gates shut behind them loudly with a wooden groan, and the scoreboard high above them showed a light green '100' one last time before the power was shut down. A backpack sitting firmly on A.J.'s shoulders, he smiled at them with Sandshrew by his side. "When I return here, I'm gonna be... the number one Pokémon Master."
"Why don't you come along with us?" Ash offered, holding onto the straps of his own backpack, and A.J. shook his head.
"Thanks, but... Sandshrew and I have our own path that we must follow," he answered, and to Ash's surprise, held out his hand for the younger boy to shake. A determined smile appeared on Ash's face, wiping away the quick look of shock, and he looked in A.J.'s eyes.
"Someday, we'll meet again at the big Pokémon League competition," he promised.
"Okay, but next time you better be in shape, 'cause I only wanna beat expert Trainers."
"That's a deal," Ash concluded, and gave one last shake before A.J. pulled his hand away and turned.
"So long," he said, and both him and Sandshrew waved at the pair before walking off.
"Looks like you found another rival," Brock stated as they both watched the Pokémon Trainer and his Pokémon walk away.
"A.J., I'm not gonna lose next time!" Ash called before the boy could get out of hearing range, and then added more quietly, "I'll train hard to become the greatest Pokémon Master in the world, following my own path."
-end-
Ash:
Party:
Wartortle (Poké Ball)
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun
Pidgey (Poké Ball)
Moves: Gust, Sand-Attack, Whirlwind
Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Brock:
Party:
Onix (Poké Ball)
Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig
Geodude (Poké Ball)
Moves: Seismic Toss
Zubat (Poké Ball)
Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic
