Aj was born on Cinnabar Island to a moderately wealthy couple. Aj's Mother was The General Manager of a popular tourist restraunt and his Father was a traveling businessman. With two super busy parents , even if they tried to give as much attention he needed, Aj was left to his own devices for chunks of time and like all young children Aj explored to fill his time.
One of Aj's favorite spots to explore was around the base of the Volcano on the Island, at times he even got to see the amazing Charizard that lived higher on the Volcano flying around. One day when Aj was hanging around the base of the Volcano an Older Gentleman showed up after the Charizard returned and asked the Eight year old Aj what he was doing near the Volcano. Aj not knowing who the man was explained he liked hanging around the base playing with the baby Fire-Types like the Growlithes and Magbies but his favorite reason to be there was to watch the awesome Charizard that lived there as well. After hearing his story the elder man introduced himself as the former Elite Four Member and current Cinnabar Gym leader Blaine. Aj surprised that the normally gruff gym leader was giving him the time of day since the last time they met was when Aj tried to watch a match at the gym and was kicked out with a swiftness, but not one to be discouraged by the past Aj asked Blaine if the Charizard was his. Blaine just got a misty look in his eye, smirked then turned and walked away without another word.
Two Years passed with Aj still hanging out at the Volcano seeing the Charizard but never Blaine again. After Aj's Tenth birthday he was depressed at the base of the Volcano and this happened to be the one day Blaine returned. Blaine now knowing of Aj knew what the day was and became curious why a kid who should be getting his starter and starting his journey would be so dejected looking, so Blaine asked the kid what was wrong. Aj startled from the absent minded petting he was giving his long time Growlithe friend looked at Blaine and spilled his guts that his parents dont want him travelling or to have a pokemon because they think he's irresponsible so Aj is forced to wait till he's Fourteen to get his Starter and begin his Journey. Blaine curious asked Aj what his trainer test score was and if possible the kid looked even more miserable and a mumbled perfect score was uttered and then Aj started crying and muttering about his missed chance for a Charmander from Professor Oak. This peaked Blaine's curiousity again so he asked the kid why he wanted a Charmander Starter and Aj just stopped crying, got red in the face and said he wanted one for a starter because Blaine had started with one and Aj said he wanted to be a Fire Type Master like Blaine. That startled Blaine because no one ever looked up to him and his proffered Type as this Ten Year old with a Growlithe still planted in his lap, so Blaine decided to go out on a limb and told the boy to follow him to the Gym.
After the two made it to the Gym Blaine broke down his offer to Aj. Since Blaine couldn't do anything about letting Aj travel that didn't mean The elder man couldn't take the boy on as a Gym Trainer till the lad turned Fourteen and no longer needed his parents permission to travel. This would allow Aj to have a team of six pokemon while still getting training and battle experience from travelling trainers, but the one caveat was that Aj would only get this position if Masaya would let him have one of her Charmanders which Blaine knew she had raised a batch to appropriate age recently. Aj hearing of his trial to become a trainer took it with a grin and promise to be back in a week.
It was bright and early the next morning that saw Aj at the base of the Volcano with climbing gear and six new Pokeballs and Pokedex from Blaine. Aj oblivious to the fact these gifts showed Blaine's acceptance of him as his apprentice looked up to Masaya's perch halfway up the Volcano with determination. The climb took Aj four long hours to reach the perch. The perch was more a deep cave tunneled into the Volcanos rock and as Aj lay outside trying to regain his breath he felt something touch his face and when he opened his eyes a Golden Charmander was looking right back at him. Aj sitting up took in the the cave entrance while giving the different colored Charmander the pets it was whining for when suddenly Masaya showed up at the entrance, nodded her head and disappeared right back inside. Aj taking it as approval showed Charmander a Pokeball from his belt and asked the lizard pokemon if he wanted to be his starter and partner? The Charmander answered with a squeal and touched the catch button on the ball. Aj made his way back down the Volcano and after touching down sprinted full speed to the Gym to begin his apprenticeship to his idol. After celebrating with Blaine , if you could call a guff good job you start tomorrow feeding my gym pokemon, the confrontation with his parents was definitely anything but. While they succeeded with not letting him travel they weren't pleased he still obtained a pokemon the only thing the made them let him keep Charmander was the fact Aj was technically a Gym Trainer, a paid job that provided the materials needed for him to care for the Mon. Aj went to bed devastated his parents didn't believe in his dream but that night laying with Gerra, his newly named Charmander, Aj promised that he'd find a way to prove them wrong and be a Master Fire-Type trainer and eventually surpassing his Master by being Champion.
Bright and early Aj and Gerra were at the Gym learning how to prep the food for all of Blaine's pokemon except a couple. After breakfast Aj would need to sit at the reception desk till Three in the afternoon taking challengers info for official gym battles. After Blaine's Battle hours were over Aj would be free to train in the Gym facilities or explore for the afternoon excpet for at Seven when Aj would need to feed Blaine's pokemon dinner. After a couple of weeks of his new busy schedule and beginning training Gerra Aj received a visit from an old friend, a Growlithe, the same Growlithe that Blaine found consoling him after his original plans fell thru. The Growlithe had missed Aj and as soon as he saw the Pokeballs on his belt all but demanded to be caught by Aj and the boy couldn't be happier to have Apollo, a nickname he gave the Growlithe years ago, with him and upping his team count to two. The Year passed quickly and when his Eleventh birthday came Aj was happy to be a Gym trainer with Two great poke partners. Blaine had given Aj the day off, so the lad decided to journey to where the Magmar hatchery was to see if he could add a third member to his team. Finding the Hatchery took a while but Aj found it and with came his new teammate a battle hungry little Magby Aj named Magnus.
The next Three years saw Aj and his Three Mon grow into a powerful group powerful enough with the evolutions of Gerra and Magnus that Blaine let Aj handle all Four or below badged trainers. But finally after Four years of studying, training, and battling Aj was prepared for his next step Travelling. With his years of work at the Gym Aj had saved a nice purse of cash to jump start his journey. Aj saved up enough for Two cross league teleports to assemble the Pokemon he hand picked for his Fire team. Before Aj left for Akala Island in Alola Blaine had a gift for him and Apollo, a Fire Stone. With how much training and battling Apollo had done the Growlithe had maxed out in his base form and now with a Fire Stone Aj could add one of his first fully evolved pokemon and the Boy and Pup couldn't be more thankful.
The Teleport and subsequent inter-region paperwork were thankfully both quick and painless and Aj was free to make his way to Wela Volcano park to capture two new teammates and hopefully meet a fellow Fire-Type enthusiast Kiawe. Wela Valcano Park was everything Aj could dream of for a perfect Fire Type habitat and just by walking in Aj found his first catch he wanted in Alola, an Alolan Cubone which in it's first stage was no different than a Kanto Cubone buts its Evolutions were way different. An Alolan Marowak is a Fire and Ghost Type a perfect duo Type to add to his squad. The Cubone came running to him looking for a fight and Gerra was willing to show the little dude what's up. The battle while short showed Cubone's will to fight and that was all Aj needed to catch him for the Team. After a quick stop at the Pokemon Center to get Cubone, now dubbed Volos, a check up before going to explore further for their last teammate to be found in Alola. Volos took to training and battling under Aj quickly leaving Aj to hope that he would evolve before they left Alola in a few weeks. It took a week of exploring for Aj and his team to find their last teammate in this region, a Turtonator. The Firey- She dragon took both Apollo and Magnus to wear down enough for Aj to catch her. With his team put together for now Aj went in search of Kiawe to trade training tips and maybe a good battle.
Aj finely found Kiawe a week later and exactly one week before he was scheduled to leave. Kiawe and Aj struck up a quick friendship that was easy to deepen when it came to their appreciation for Fire-Types. The Duo spent the week leading up to Aj's departure swapping tips and battling, and Kiawe even dragged the Kanto native to some local culture spots to help broaden his horizen. By the time Aj left for his next region that he would stay and compete in Volos evolved into a Alolan Marowak and The Female Tortanator, who Aj Named Pele, was bonded to the team nicely though she did like a food bribe to train. When Aj left Akala he felt ready to take his first league by storm.
When Aj came to after the teleportation he was greeted by the sight of sleepy little Sandgem Town. The Town was a lot like Pallet from what he heard from Blaine and he was here like anyone would be in Pallet to meet the Professor of the Region. Professor Rowans Lab wasn't hard to find, what with it being the largest building in town and all, Aj knocked at the door and waited. An assistant opened the door and when hearing who he was brought Aj inside to meet the Professor. Professor Rowan was a gruff but kind man, as shown by him siging Aj up for the Sinnoh League and Upgrading the Young Mans pokedex with the Sinnoh Pokemon Info, the professor even gave him a location to search for a Chimchar by Celestic City.
Aj quickly left Sandgem town to make headyway to Jubilife to stock up on supplies then he blazed towards Oreburgh to get his First Badge. Oreburgh was everything Aj expected from and Mining and Rock Type City. After a quick stop at the Pokemon center to heal up the team Aj went to the Gym to get his battle with Roark. There were no other Trainers when Aj found the Gym so the teen held out hope he'd get his battle a.s.a.p. Roark was ready to go when Aj found him and since the teen was a former gym trainer for years Roark would use a 5 badge tier team for a Four on Four Battle. Roark started with a Graveller, Aj answered with Magnus, the Battle hungry Magmar eploded with fire after catching site of the Graveller. The battle took longer for Magnus than Aj would've expected with the Graveller being a terror with it's Rock Blast and Bulldoze but Magnus extinguished the Graveller with Fire and a mean Brick Break.
Roark's second choice shouldn't of suprised Aj but a Onix still didn't make him happy to see, but Aj needed to respond so he one of his newer teammates. Volos appeared doing his war dance and after the final air stroke of his club the battle started. Onix put up a stiff fight with the Rock Snake even swatting Volos out of his Shadow Sneak combos a few times, but Volos's burning determination wouldn't let him loose and he finally struck down the Onix with a Bone Club straight to it's skull. The Rock Type gym leader didn't hesistate to release his next Mon, an Armaldo. The Armaldo was tough with its quick take out of the tired out Volos. Aj thought carefully of his next mon choice and decided his other new teammate would be a explosive match up with the Rock/Bug type fossil pokemon. Pele emerged with a bellow of flame that even forced the Armaldo back from with it's heat. The Armaldo got a few good hits in but after it's first good hit Pele got fired up and after it's next couple of good hits Pele started firing back with a White hot Falmethrower and plenty of Dragon Breadthes. After a hot fight from both sides both pokemon fainted leaving Roark with One fighter and Aj with Two. The pokemon that Roark released was his Ace for this tier team a hot-blooded looking Rampardos and Aj picked his Starter to fight it. Gerra appeared much like Pele but his passionate fire seemed only to excite the Rampardos. The battle was fast paced with both Rampardos and Gerra repeatadely hitting eachother fast and hard and Aj's Starter was not coming out the victor of these engagements but when Aj thought Gerra would fall the Charmeleon dug deep and blinded all with a bright light. The Roar of his newly evolved Charizard made Aj shake with a explosive excitement and the blaze Gerra made was blue. Gerra had no problem finishing the Rampardos after his evolution. Roark was more than happy to give Aj the Coal Badge after a burning hot battle.
With Gerra now being able to fly Aj was able to speed up his Journey around Sinnoh. Aj made it to Eterna city three days after his battle with Roark and with his team healed up they made Gardenia's Grass Types ash, though Aj made sure his team didn't take it to far. Gardenia's Torterra was a bit of a menace but Apollo wouldn't be denied in his Gym debut. With his battle burned up Aj took a detour thru Mount Coronet to Celestic City to find his last team member till he got his limit up'd after competing in his first league and gathering all Eight of that League's badges, Chimchar.
The People of Celestic were a warm bunch with an elderly gentleman telling Aj of a small clan of Monferno a little north of Celestic by the edges of the moutain. Aj estatic of possibly getting an older member of the line moved to the clans usual site with haste though it ended up taking the teen a week to find the home. A canopy of tall trees made a perfect home for the Fire Monkeys and the Mountain being so close gave the clan plenty of opportunites to climb and train. As soon as Aj approached the home Two determined Monferno appeared before him blocking his entrance. It took some persuasion but Aj was able to convince them he wouldn't take anyone from the clan by force, with the promise the Two Monferno aggreed and Aj was introduced to the Clan. After his offer was annouced Aj stood and waited he almost lost hope till a strong looking Monferno jumped down opposite of him with a grin and motioned for a fight. Aj seeing his potential partner met it's happy fire with a burning passion for battle with Magnus. The two Fire Types battle hard with Magnus having to distance himself from the Monferno because it's acrobatic moves and hard Fighting Type hits while being fire proof made it the perfect counter to Magnus's preferred style of fighting. The Duos Firery battle lasted a while with neither willing to give up first and it was only ended with both on their knees panting that Aj asked Monferno if he's seen enough and the Monkey just threw Aj the same silly grin he gave when he first arrived and nodded. Aj was quick to through a pokeball to capture his final teammate for a while.
Aj with his new partner now christened with the name Sun quickly left the Clan's home to find a spot to summon Gerra to fly back to Celestic then he would walk to Veilstone for more team bonding time and to battle some hopefully stronger trainers. It took Two weeks to travel to Veilstone but Aj was happy because the time let his team bond more with eachother and get used to their new happy go lucky teammate in Sun. The team's training was also progressing nicely with Aj giving each the time and dedication they deserved and the team worked all the harder seeing their trainer give them his all. By the time they arrived at Veilstone the whole team was burning for a good fight. Maylene and her Fighting Types were a worthy foe for Aj's blazing hot team. A Five on Five which came down to both Trainers last pokemon and Gerra burning down a Machamp after a long hot fight. Maylene was even gracious enough to give Aj some training tips for Sun which Aj took whole heartedly. With the Cobal Badge Aj flew to Hearthome to take on Fatina leaving Crasher for later when he was more prepared.
Aj sadly arrived in Hearthome the same time that the city was holding their annual contest so he needed to wait a week for Fatina to be free to battle. Aj took this time to train his team needed more of it anyway especially if they were gonna be ready to take on Wake for their seventh badge. The week came and went quickly with Aj switching up his teams training from weakness resistance to anti-ghost in preparation for Fatina since Aj would take no chances when it came to his Gym Battles just like Blaine taught him, know your enemy and how to fight them with Fire. Fatina was a tough fight for Aj and her sneaky ghosts almost gave a couple of his team the run a round. Thankfully Volos came threw taking out Fatina's ace Mismagius and securing Aj's Fourth badge, The Relic Badge.
Aj knowing Canalave was next on his Gym list the now Fifteen year old decided to take a detour before to Iron Island to better familarize himself more with Steel Type pokemon. Aj flew to Jubilife first then walked the Two days it took to Canalave to catch a boat to the Island. The Fire Type Specialist spent a week on the Island battling several Steel Types namely Lairon, Mawile,and even a couple of Steelix and Aggron but Aj couldn't shake this feeling of being watched. The week Aj planned to stay on the Island proved Fruitful with his team getting much needed experience against Steel Types and Sun even evolved into an Infernape which meant Aj had an almost fully evolved team with Magnus needing a Magmarizer to evolve which was super expensive but Aj was saving up for one which Magnus knew and appreciated.
Before the boat to take him back arrived Aj was approached by a Metang. The Metang floated in front of Aj for a minute before a pokeball from Aj's pack floated out and sucked in the Metang before dinging signifying capture. Aj just stared dumbfounded as the pokeball disappeared to Blaine's Gym and didn't snap out of it till he made it back to the Pokemon Center In Canalave to call Blaine. After Blaine picked up Aj proceeded to beg for a Seventh slot for his team to carry Metang since it obviously wanted to come with him and Aj wanted to find out why, Blaine only agreed if Aj sent him Volos for a week because Agatha was visiting and Blaine wanted to show her a worthy Fire/Ghost type. Aj reluctantly agreed and called out Volos to explain the situation, Volos was open to the plan and Blaine even assured the Marowak he could train with his heavy hitters so he wouldn't loose out on good training this sealed the deal and Aj walked out of the Center to meet Metang. The Steel/Psychic type seemed pretty chill and beeped at Aj happily when released with this and knowing Metang didn't have enough finesse yet to communicate via telepathy till it evolved just assured Aj that he just became Fire Type Specialist with a non Fire Type Monster. This honestly didn't matter to Aj since having a powerful pokemon like a Metagross was only a plus for him and something Surge said when he visited Cinnabar a couple years ago with his Hypno from his Original team " Kid Everyone's got Monsters same Type or not" and this was what he must've meant. As Aj's first pokemon out of his Specialty the teen decided to name the Metang Paradox which he felt fit well for the friendly Iron Claw pokemon.
Byron was pretty free when Aj finally showed up to the Canalave Gym so his battle went off without anymore delay. Byron pulled out all the stops for Aj's overhwelming fire power with skill only gained from steeping yourself within your chosen type completely something Aj greatly respected. Paradox even got to battle since it came to be a full Six on Six fight. The battle ended like a lot of Aj's battles with Gerra roaring in victory and domination. After Byron gave Aj the Mine Badge he offered one token The Metang line don't accept any trainer like most Psychics they look for someone worthy. Aj tucked that tidbit away and left with more fire burning and a stronger determination than ever.
After waiting for confirmation that his carry limit was uped and a quick phone call to Blaine later to get Volos back Aj was set to fly to Snowpoint City. The Journey by Air took three days for Aj and Gerra to reach Snowpoint and just in time to miss the massive blizzard that blew thru the day after they arrived. After a good night of rest in the Pokemon Center and study of Candice's Team and fighting style Aj was confident to challenge Candice since he wanted to head to the coastal marsh area of Pastoria City to train hard for Crasher Wake. Candice was pleasant to meet and showed she was no slouch of a trainer in their battle but Aj's burning hot team wouldn't be stopped. After the battle that saw all the Ice and Snow that usually decorated the Gym thawed or evaporated Aj was ready to head to Pastoria to prepare for his hardest fight yet with his Specialties natural nemesis.
Gerra was ready to fly the next day already tired of the cold which Aj could agree with so the duo started the Four day flight trip early the next morning. Pastoria was everything Aj envisioned it would be when he finally laid eyes on the laid back coastal town. The trainer wasted in no time over the next week finding all strong wild Water Types to battle not to mention battling all trainers with high level water types he could find. The week slowly trudge by for Aj and his team as the endless battles and weakness resisatnce training wearing them all down, so the trainer decided a one day break was needed before the Gym so the whole team was fit and ready to rain hellfire down on Crasher's Water Types. When they finally did challenge the Gym the battle went exactly how Aj thought, Crasher and him going blow for blow neither gaining the advantage till they were both on their last pokemon Volos vs. Floatzel with Aj's Ghost sneaking it's way around the field never giving the Floatzel a free shot while wearing the water weasel down till it was ash. Sealing the win for Aj over his hardest challenge yet leaving Volkner and his shocking electric types.
Aj spent another week in Pastoria hanging around the Gym getting a couple of more training battles against Wake to help his team against their biggest weakness. The week proved well spent in Aj's opinion with his team already looking much more natural at battling Water Types. Aj decided to walk to Sunyshore since it was only a three day walk to the City and Aj wanted to give his team a couple of days of at the Resort that was in between the two cities. The Resort was a wonderful idea with Aj's whole team relaxing and resting for the three days Aj paid for all of them to stay. Paradox even enjoyed himself especially in the hot tub. After the Teams vacation the whole crew was prepared to earn their last badge and begin prepping to sweep the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Sunyshore was a hot modern city built in some rocky coastal hills. Aj enjoyed the sites of the city for a day before challenging the Gym. Volkner was as shocking a battler as his pokemon were with their Moves. Aj matched the Shock with an Overwhelming Burn leaving all Volkner's pokemon singed and sealing his eighth Sinnoh gym victory and earning him The Beacon Badge. Now with Three months before the Conference it was time for Aj to buckle down and train him and his Team's butts off and the teen knew exactly where to do it after gaining access for defeating all Eight first tier gyms an island that had high level wild pokemon and only trainers who've gained all eight badges were allowed there. The only downside Aj saw from spending his time in the Survival area of this Island was running into some of his potential conference opponents but the rewarding training grounds were too much to ignore so he went.
The Survival Zone was all Aj hoped for and more. The wide variety of biomes offered many different types of strong fully evolved pokemon for Aj's team to train against giving each member a chance to work on their skills. Paradox even evolved within the first month of Aj arriving stoking the teens fire for the Conference. Aj only encountered a half dozen other Eight badge trainers which he was fine with since he limited each battle to only One on One to keep as many tricks in his bag as possible. When Aj had a month left before the Conference he got a call from Blaine he'd been waiting for since he beat Volkner, The Cinnabar gym leader had acquired a Magmarizer for Aj with the prize money the lad received for getting all Eight badges for a league and other savings the boy had ready for the evolutionary item. Magnus was thrilled to finally evolve to his final form and with a quick process Magnus tranformed. Magnus the Magmortar somehow burned even hotter than he did as a firery Magmar and his flames showed the change being a more intense heat with a pale orengish-red showing his status as a high-tier specimen of the Magmortar line. Blaine as a foremost expert of the Magmortar line explained to Aj that Magmortar's flames pale as they age for multiple reasons number one was to show how hot their fire is to eachother and two to attract mates since only the Strongest a.k.a. the hottest could mate. Blaine even told Aj that if he trains Magnus hard enough he may unlock the hottest of flames, Blue Fire but Blaine couldn't be sure since the fire is notoriously hard to obtain with only a few Fire-type masters in history reaching that peak.
Gerra and Magnus both seemed very interessted in Blue Fire and before they could go exhausting themselves by spewing flames hoping to conjure it Aj reminded them that like all their goals steps will be taken to for them to reach that level but for now with Magnus finally evolved it was time to get back to the grindstone to be ready to Burn the competition at the Conference to the ground. Training, Battling, and more Training is what filled the last month for Aj and his team before the conference and the Trainer was beyond pleased with his teams progress and believed they would perform well at the conference. Since he needed to take the boat from Sunyshore to reach Lily of the Valley island Aj decided to teleport just outside the city on Route 222 with Paradox. The teleport was perfect from Paradox so Aj made it to the ferry on it's inagural ride of the season with about Thirty of what Aj suspect of about a hundred and fifty particapants. The Champions village was quite something to see when the ferry arrived two hours later. Each contestant was put up in a huge apartment that had enough room in the main room to house a full team of giants so after checking in to the competitors booth for the tournament Aj toured the sale stalls then retreated to his apartment to wait out the time till his first battle in four days.
The days passed and before he knew it Aj was at the main stadium for the opening ceremony and no sooner than the ceremony ended did Aj end up battling on the Grass field against Twelve year old second year trainer. The younger trainer was well versed in tactics but when met with Apollo's overwhelming speed all his tactics faltered and Aj left the Arena with a win with Apollo taking out all three of his opponents. Aj stomping his competition lasted till the semi final match where Aj met a familar face, Alice a Water-Type specialist from Pastoria who battled Aj a couple of times in his build up to battling Crasher Wake. Seeing her here as his opponent fired up Aj to a new level and he made a crucial move for his team, he swapped Pele with Paradox. The Battle was back and forth till Alice's Ace a Milotic took out Gerra and Aj shocked everyone who expected Pele to arrive but they got Paradox instead. Everyone was flabbergasted that the Fire Type specialist who seemed determined to conquer the Conference with overwhelming fire power had the Psuedo-Legendary Steel/Psychic Type even Alice was shocked never thinking Aj had a Metagross up his sleeve. Paradox with his Psychic-link with Aj, something they perfected for battle after Paradox evolved and developed enough for the technique, decimated the Milotic that had no answer for the Psuedo-Legendary.
The only thing left for Aj to do after wining against his Type's nemesis was win the whole damn tournament. Aj's final opponent was a trainer named Cynthia in the final, the girl was a generalist and a Sinnoh native meaning she had unpredictability and the crowd in her favor but Aj would burn through any challenges and his fire refused to be put out now. The battle went to the very last pokemon for each of them Garchomp for Cynthia and Gerra in his pitch black glory for Aj. The Ground Dragon and Fire Psuedo-dragon went at eachother with a ferocity and fire that wanted only one thing, Domination of the other. Gerra and Aj had to dig deep to defeat the Grachomp but when Gerra released a ponit blank, white hot, flamthrower right into Garchomp's face toppling the dragon and all Aj could do was scream then run and hug Gerra.
The reward ceremony was everything Aj could hope for. Making friends with Cynthia, who was already planning her strategy to topple the Sinnoh league next season, and Alice who won her third place match against the other semi-finalist. Receiving his First-place trophy with his name already inscribed took everything from Aj not to cry from complete joy, he also received his winning check for Fifty-thousand dollars and an invite to challenge the Sinnoh Elite-Four in a week. Aj took the week, let his pokemon rest, then decided he would challenge the Elite-Four. Aaron was the First Elite of the challenge, being a Bug-Type specialist did Aaron no favors against Aj and even though he had some tricks that kept it close Aj still came out Two pokemon ahead. Bertha proved a much tougher opponent with her Ground-Types and met Aj's Unstoppable Fire with Umoving Ground defeating Gerra with her last pokemon. Aj was gracious in his defeat and denied taking Aaron's position in the Elite Four to return home to Kanto.
Aj had a massive welcome home from the Cinnabar Community who were thrilled that a son of Cinnabar conquered another league and beat an Elite Four member and came close to doing so to another. Aj's parents were also estatic for him and Aj let them even though they always put down his Trainer ambitons but he guessed better late than never. The real congrats he wanted came later when Blaine asked him to come by the gym. The older man without his sunglasses looked at Aj standing with his Conference Trophy and grinned at him with a stray tear and gave Aj a "Well Done Kid". Aj couldn't help a stray tear himself and put down his trophy to wrap Blaine in a hug and responded "All thanks to you". Since the Kanto seaon was midway through and Aj was too late to Sign Up he had Blaine reactivate him as a Gym Trainer. This aloud Aj to keep training and battling till the next Kanto season. Aj did take a couple of trips during this lull one to Johto and one to Hoenn to fill his two open carry spots since he got an extra one for being classified as an Elite Trainer now. In Johto Aj visited Cianwood City and their newly opened Safari Zone. After a couple of hours searching Aj found what he wanted a Female Houndor. The Little Lady was actual very shy but as soon as Aj gave her some treats she perked up and agreed to go with Aj letting him catch her. Aj spent a few more days in Cianwood introducing Ruby the Houndour to the rest of the team. Apollo was very intersted in their new teammate and Ruby seemed very responsive to his playful spirit.
When Aj made it to Hoenn he was in love with the Tropical region reminding him of home and it had so many wonderful Fire-Types. Aj decided to catch a couple of extra members to keep at the Gym so he got a Numel and Slugma which would be perfect for low tier gym matches. When Aj was heading to his destination Fiorina he found a couple of Spinda ganging up on a Torkoal and Aj couldn't leave the poor guy so he chased the Spinda away, but the Torkoal didn't want to leave Aj so the teen caught the sweet little guy. In the Jagged peaks of Fiorina Aj found what he was looking for a small Dragon clan made up of Shelgon, a few Bagon and a couple of Slamance. Aj decided to do something stupid then, he approached the Clan. The Salamance roared their displeasure so Aj had to release his team to keep the peace. The Clan looked weary and ready to run in the face of several powerful looking Pokemon so Aj soothed their worries and called out his offer to join his team freely and he would not bother them after even if none accepted. A lone Shelgon approached and nodded it's want to join him. Aj slowly reached for a empty ball and crouched offering it to the Shelgon the armored dragon bumped its head to the capture button causing it to be sucked in and captured. Aj recalled his team till Gerra was left to fly him home to Cinnabar. The Multi day journey let him and his team time to get to know their newest member more, the female Shelgon Aj coined Dracia. Dracia was enamoured with Gerra for one simple fact, he could fly, flying was an obsession for the Bagon and Shelgon stages of the line and it's why the line had the highest rate of reaching its final stage in the wild for a Dragon Type. With a short flight to satisfy her Aj returned to heading home on Gerra.
Cinnabar was exactly as he left it so Aj buckled down to ride out the last month of the season training his main nine and battling with his three gym pokemon against weaker challengers, The tougher Challengers got Ruby ,now a Houndoom, and Dracia. Time flew and before Aj knew it the Indigo and Silver Conferences ended and with their end a new season could begin. Aj plotted his course he would be speed running the gyms this season then spliting his time training on Mount Silver and Mount Ember. Aj ended up spending the first month of the season getting Ruby and Dracia up to snuff before tackling the Gym Leaders and their real teams. It only took Gerra a day for them to fly to Pewter seemed the Fire Dragon was fired up for a good fight with Brock and his team of formidable Rock Types. Brock was ecstatic when a Regional Conference Champion showed up to battle him instead of the usual newbies he gets. Ruby and Dracia both battled to get more experience against high level opponents and both did well taking out a pokemon each before falling. Sun made quick work of most of Brocks other pokemon with only his Golem putting a stop to Sun's incineration of their team but quickly fell to Magnus in turn.
Cerulean came next and Aj didn't shy away this time like he did with Crasher Wake since he was ready this time and had no doubt. Brock did Aj the unintended favor of letting the other leaders know the Fire Protege of Blaine was on a Warpath. Cerulean was a lovely coastal city though in Aj's humble opinion Cinnabar was a hotter location. The Gym was exactly as Aj was told Three Platforms, two small ones for the Trainers and one large one for the battling pokmon. Aj knew his team would struggle but they would burn through this challenge like any other. Violet as the oldest and best battler of the three so was elected to be his opponent. Aj went with a similar startegy as Pewter both Ruby and Dracia battled first. Ruby put up a wonderful fight but wasn't able to finish her opponent but Dracia picked up the slack though and finished Violet's first pick and knocked out her second before fainting from exhaustion. With it back at even ground Aj sent out Volos who fared well taking out the next two of Violet's before getting knocked out by her second to last pick. Pele finished up the battle after Volos took his well earned rest knocking out both of Violet's final two pokemon. Vermilion called to him next and he was hungry for his battle against Surge. Surge was a Milestone for Aj as the only Gym leader who visited Blaine he played a role shaping Aj into who he was as a trainer even giving him tips and advice anytime they met when Surge visited.
Vermilion was everything Surge told him it was and more. The beautiful coastline flowed wonderfully into the city giving it a wonderful view from the hill Aj was on. The walk through the city to the Pokemon Center was also surprisingly nice as the streets were clean and clearly labelled making navigating easy. The Next Day Aj was infront of the Gym ready to face an old mentor. Surge just laughed when he saw Aj enter and annouce if it was finally time for a real battle. Aj just nodded with a smile and announced that there were no babies here. Surge was Aj's toughest oponent in Kanto yet with them going pokemon for pokemon with only Magnus and Surge's Electrivire left. Magnus battled his natural nemesis with more Firery glee than usual and Aj needing to rein him in several times but eventually Magnus was able to torch Electrivire for Aj's win. On top of his badge Surge also gave Aj a ticket for the S.S. Anne since it was that time of year for their Annual trainer cruise. The Cruise was three weeks long traveling from Vemilion to Cinnabar then to Pallet with it finally returning to Vermillion to round up the trip. The Main Event was a dual Tournament one for First and second year trainers and another for the more experienced trainers, both always had a rare egg or pokemon for first prize and solid prizes for Second thru Fourth. Aj figured with their intense training and fast pace through the Gyms his pokemon could use a working Vacation so he took the ticket and went.
Aj returned to Vermillion Three weeks later richer in cash and a pokemon egg. The egg he won was a brown color and Aj was not told what would hatch from it so he was excited to raise whatever came out. With the Cruise done with Aj and his team could keep moving to the Gyms and next on Aj's Burn list was Celadon. Celadon was a rich city thanks to it's Game Corner and Department Store these also added many tourists to the city helping spread the wealth. The Cleadon Gym itself was home to the Grass Queen Erika. Much like with Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four Erika could not hold up to Aj's burning onslaught. Ruby and Dracia both shined showing their growth by taking out two opponents a piece leaving Apollo to clean up shop. After stopping at the Department store to get some TM's and training supplements for his team Aj left to walk the short distance to Saffron City.
If Celadon was consider large then Saffron was absolutely massive, though the main attraction here was Silph Co. who owned many of the Warehouses and Factories around the area. The Saffron Gym was what Aj wanted though and after a night of rest at the Pokemon Center he was ready to tackle Sabrina and her Psychics. The Gym was completely free even though it was a third of the way threw the season at this point so Aj got his battle within minutes. Sabrina was an atractive girl the same age as Aj but he couldn't let those thoughts cloud his so he burned them away for now. Ruby started out as usual and faired well taking out Sabrina's first before getting taken out after dealing damage to her second, they would need to work on her Dark type moves after this. Then Dracia came out but she faired poorly with the Psychic never letting her have a free movement, then something amazing happened Dracia got so mad that she Evolved into a Salamence and proceeded to fly circles around the Psychic knockingit and its two bretheren out before Dracia fainted. Volos had a cake walk with the last two members of Sabrina's team. Even her famous Alakazam couldn't pin down Volos before it was too late. Sabrina was a little saddened by her loss to Aj but the lad reminded her that she is young and still growing into her position but that she also needed to bond with her Pokemon more to strenthen it so losses like this will turn into victories.
Aj left a couple days later on Dracia bound for Fuchsia City. The trip south took them Two days and Dracia was a rocket in the air even with Aj on her back adding weight the dragon didn't seem to notice. Fuchsia was a warm older style town with the architecture to back up that claim. The Gym even had an older Dojo style exterior but the interior was as state of the art as the rest of the Kanto Gyms. Koga turned out to be a wily opponent using his Poison type pokemon to their max potential driving Aj to win with only one standing pokemon left and even then Gerra was badly poisoned and weakened from Koga's Starter, an Arbok. After a couple of days in Fuchsia to recover Aj decided to head to Viridian to face Giovanni for his Seventh Badge.
Aj arrived in the city and immediately sought out the Gym. The Guards at the door almost gave Aj trouble for not having Seven badges but someone came out and said Giovanni said he was aloud, so Aj blazed past the idiots to his battle. Giovanni was every bit the Earthshaker the media liked to protray him as with his teams mastery over their element. Sun and Gerra both came in clutch with Sun taking down Giovanni's Rhyperior and Gerra burning his Nidoking to ash. Aj could tell Giovanni was not pleased to loose to Blaine's protege while using his real team but he was beat fair and square so he was SOL. Aj left for Cinnabar as soon as his team was healed leaving the unnerving Giovanni behind. At a pit stop in Pallet Town Aj's egg hatched and out came an adorable Eevee. The little Normal Fox quickly attached itself to Aj and the Teen just went with it. Aj carried Eevee on Gerra's back the last day of the trip so they could settle at home for a while.
Aj got back to the Island and slept in his room at the Gym. Aj spent a week lounging around the Gym training his team on and off, giving them time to relax at home for bit but Blaine impatience got the better of him and at the end of the week ,on Aj's birthday of all days, came an asked Aj if they were gonna do this. Aj just smirked at his mentor and said back you better have Burn Heal! Blaine just laughed and lead him to the field. The Mentor and Students battle would be different from normal each of Aj's chosen six would face Blaine's six in a series of One on One fights. Aj decided his original Six would see him through here. Apollo started first and fought Blaine's own Arcanine Rush, the pair blitzed through the Gym going toe to toe till Apollo pulled ahead and knocked out Rush. Magnus was next again against Blaine's own Magmortar Magma. The Magmortar's were absolutely develish in their fight but again Magnus was able to pull ahead just barely too defeat Magma while still standing himself. Volos and Pele both did real well against Blaine's Typhlosion and Rapidash defeating them with relative ease compared to Apollo and Magnus's fights. Aj was surprised when Blaine released his Combusken Skyfire against Sun but quickly schooled himself, ready for his and Sun's test. Skyfire lived up to his name reaching the ceiling with his jumps and falling for maximum impact with his fire kicks but Sun matched his mobility with agility using his reflexes and flexebility to avoid most of Skyfire's comet kicks. Sun was eventually able to pin Skyfire from jumping away and swiftly exploded on the fellow Fighting/Fire type sealing the round in his favor. Now it was time for the Grand Finale Starter vs Starter, Charizard vs Charizard, Parent vs Child, Masaya vs Gerra to see if they've finally surpassed their forebearers of fire. Masaya came threw the open roof and roared her Authority, Gerra came out his ball with an equally loud roar of challenge. The two Charizards pelted eachother with everything they had from punches to bites to claws evry weapon was used but neither were gaining the upperhand till apperently Gerra had enough and unlocked new level of heat. This new level came with changes and Gerra unlocked something special, Blue Fire, even his tail flame changed to blue to reflect his new level. With his new fire Gerra was finally able to break the stalemate with his mother and win ending the battle as an absolute win for Aj. After Blaine recalled Masaya to her ball the Mentor and Student met in the middle and hugged with Baline telling Aj how proud he was of him and Aj crying happy tears joyous that on his birthday he finally surpassed his mentor.
With the fact cemented to himself that he was the foremost Fire-type master in Kanto it was time to take the Indigo Conference by Fire Storm. Aj fell back on his plan to travel to Mount Silver and Mount Ember to train during the Four Month lead up to the Conference Tournament. Aj was even able to get a support slot for his Eevee so Aj could bring the little guy with since he didn't plan the Fox for battling for now since he needed to focus on his main Nine battlers. First Aj decided to train at Mount Silver since the Johto league season was also happening so he could hit up Blackthorn City and Challenge Clair before he left for Mount Ember.
Aj spent his Two Months on Mount Silver battling the Elements, Wild Pokemon, and Trainers. The Mountain was everything Aj hoped for in an intense training grounds the peak offered a tough climate for his pokemon and himself making Aj spend Two weeks up there Training. Aj even caught a new friend a Quilava that had been kicked out of its pack for trying to take over leadership, he would be added to Aj's other Gym Pokemon. As the time wore down on their time on Mount Silver Aj had his first run in with Moltres. The Fire Bird Legendary just flew down to wear Aj and his team were training on the peak and screeched a challenge. Gerra would not let a challenge go unanswered either so the Charizard battled the legendary bird till the bird knocked him down. Each of Aj's team took a shot at Moltres and everyone one of them were put down but they each left something for Moltres to remeber them by and by the end of his teammates the Fire Legendary looked much worse for wear and left Aj with a last look of respect before flying off. Aj healed up his team in the base camp he made in a little cave on the peak. The team took the defeat hard but Aj corrected them showing how amazing they were for almost taking down a Legendary that could take on thousands of regular pokemon at once with ease, they perked up after that and Aj's promise of challenging Clair in Blackthorn at the end of the week.
Gerra was healed up enough after two days to fly them to Blackthorn. The vibe of the City was similar to Fuchsia in its older style of Architecture but lacked the warmth of the Kanto city. Aj spent the night in the Pokemon Center giving his team the treatment and rest they needed before they fought Clair. When the team was ready Aj was on fire and his energy quickly trickled into his team stoking their own flames. Aj decided Dracia, Pele and Gerra would be his show stoppers here wanting to show of his skills with the Dragon Type. Clair was surprised but pleased to see him come and challenge her. The battle was firing on all cylinders with Pele starting things with a bang. Clair's first choice had no answer for Aj's Fire Turtle and her second couldn't much more than force a double knockout. Dracia impressed Clair and she joked he was dual mastering in Fire and Dragon Types and Aj just laughed saying his heart was owned by fire and all his pokemon reflected that. Dracia was more than up to prove it too with Aj's She-Dragon burning down Clair's third and executing a self sacrifing attack to take out Clair's Dragonair. Gerra was blazing when he entered the field and smoked out Clair's Fifth pokemon, Gerra had a problem for a while against Claire's Kingdra but after Aj spotted a weakness they were quick to exploit giving Gerra and Aj the win. With a Nineth Badge Aj was ready to head Mount Ember and finish his training.
Mount Ember was everything Aj hoped for in a perfect training ground for his Fire Types, here he felt they would fully entrench fire in their hearts and be able to explode on their opponents like the Volcano that was part of Mount Embers range. The first month passed quickly with Aj and his team perfecting techniques and making them as intense as any burn. Magnus even joined Gerra in unlocking Blue Fire after a blistering hot battle with a Magmortar that was so pale it was almost white with an orange tint. Magnus body fire also switched to blue like Gerra's Tail Flame providing the Magmortar with an stark contrast in appearance then its fellows.
It was two weeks after when Moltres showed up again and the team was prepared this time. Gerra started off first again for this fight and had such hot start that Aj thought he'd take out the legendary himself but Moltres floored that thought with several well placed counter strikes which took the heat out of Gerra's motor but Gerra proved why he was Aj longest tenured and strongest fighter with a retaliation of his own that left Moltres with a nasty gash on its chest. As the cycle repeated and all the members saw the damage Gerra had done they showed Moltres it picked a much harder fight this time. Aj saved Magnus for last because with his recent ascent and a new combo they've been working on Aj beleived he could burn through the ceiling that Moltres represented. Magnus lived up to the hype Aj placed on him and terrorized Moltres with a combo of teleport and his Blue Fire Attacks until eventually Moltres collapsed exhausted. Aj seeing the white flag Moltres was waving thanked and recalled Magnus then proceeded to heal up the Legendary the best he could with the Revive and Full restore he had. The Moltres healed up quickly and peered into Aj's eyes as if searching for something when it found it the Bird reached back with it's beak plucked a wing then gave it to Aj. The Trainer was speechless as he took the feather in his hands, it looked to be made of fire but it was only warm in his hands and he felt Moltres intent, Balance, he was a small part of what balanced the lengends and the ordinary, a responsibility to bear for all time. When Aj left two weeks later for the Conference it was with his Feather tied securely to a necklace around the Teens neck.
After a pit stop at Cinnabar to show Blaine the Feather and explain its origin, Blaine was astonished to see a genuine Moltres Feather but was burned when he tried to touch it. With Blaine Mystified and a good night sleep Aj left for Indigo Plateau and the Conference he was going too Torch. At check-in Aj found out that the Competitors would share a house but thankfully as a Gym Leader Blaine had his own and Aj was allowed to stay there with Blaine joining him on the day the Conference officially starts. Blaine arrived just as Aj was leaving to attend the opening ceremony and they agreed to talk later. Aj had to wait till it was almost dark for his match that day but Sun made quick work of his three opponents so at least he was out of the stadium quick afterwords. A lot of the Tournament played out similar results for Aj with him only needing One or Two teammates per match. The Finals was a bit harder but Aj's opponenet hit Paradox as Aj's fourth choice and flamed out. Aj's second Conference win was just as sweet as his first especially for the fact Lance himself presented Aj his trophy.
Things quickly soured after the Conference with extremist groups of trainers taking over the Unovan and Kalosian Governments. With his Elite Challenge indefinitely postponed till this mess was sorted Aj made a tough choice, he joined Ace. Ace was the Leagues main military unit with operatives that could incapacitate or kill hostiles. Aj didn't make this decision lightly but with Cinnabar a prime location to invade to gain a foothold near Kanto and Johto mainland he refused to not give his home every defense. Aj went through Ace's three month hellish program honing him and his team into more than just battlers but something darker. With his prowess as a trainer and his dedication to protecting people Aj quickly rose to Captain after the first couple of excursions he fended off the coast of Fuchsia. He quickly requested to be deployed to Cinnabar with an Ace platoon. The Upper Brass agreed Cinnabar was to Valuable a location not to reinforce and having a Son of the City leading the Ace's there would boost civilian and soldier morale. Aj would spend the next year and a half fending off several different sized incursions on Cinnabar till one night a month after his Eighteenth Birthday he was woken up by Paradox who urged him to go to the Shore. Aj found the Largest incursion force thrown at Cinnabar yet with Twenty Ships carrying about a hundred enemy trainers apiece closing into the shore, Aj wouldn't give them the chance. Gerra, Dracia and Paradox took to the Skies pelting the ships with everything they had. Ruby and Volos provided anti-psychic assistance as best they could while Apollo, Magnus, Pele, and Sun started unleashing Hellfire on the ships beginning to land. The battle got so explosive that it alerted Blaine and the Ace's to join. Sadly the defenders were being slowly pushed up the shore so Aj needed to call for reinforcements , thankfully Moltres answered his call and lit up the remaining boats freeing up Aj's aerial combantants to assist repelling the startled attackers. With a renewed defensive push thanks to the moral Moltres provided allowed Aj's team and Comrades to push back the attackers till they sailed away with their tails between their legs.
With the Successful defense of Cinnabar Aj received another promotion to Major and the nickname ' The Arsenal of Cinnabar' a joke about all his fire power. As a Major Aj was asked to be part of the retalatory force to deploy against Kalos as Unova will be attacked by Hoenn and Sinnoh forces since they've also been attacked. Aj opted in then spent sixth months tracking down and exterminating extremists, the Kalos contigent they were working with had a detailed list of the Extremist leaders, tracking them down was the hard part. Aj also took this chance to gather more exotic fire types to expand his family a pair of Litleo's and a Fletchling to start then a Heatmor later on. Aj spent an additional Sixth Months in Kalos after the Extremists were dealt to help train up the First few classes of Kalos's Ace Program meaning the the teen spent his Nineteenth Birthday in Kalos. One thing did happen on his birthday, as a thank you for his hard work for Kalos's benefit one of the Ace Instructors he was working with named Mary gave him a Fennekin Kit born from the Delphox on her team, the second best birthday present he was ever given.
After the first couple of Classes graduated from the Program Aj returned home to Kanto with a Hero's wlecome waiting for him on his home Island of Cinnabar, Amusingly chants of 'The Arsenal' even followed him down the streets. Ace even went as far to promote him again to Lieutenant Colonel, more of an honorary rank since Aj would not be re-enlisting but they made sure to let him know he'd have Colonel waiting for him if he wanted to come back. Aj was mixed on his experience with Ace because on one hand he needed to protect his people but the cost to himself was higher than he hoped and he just wanted to put it behind him, closing that chapter of his life. One sad bit of news was that he wouldn't be able to challenge the Elite Four till the the new season ended since they needed to get the Conference back up and running after operating on war protocol for nearly three years.
Since he was already the Indigo Conference and he wanted to travel again Aj decided to head to Hoenn since their league was also re-opening and Aj wanted to experience more of the Region. Aj took his time enjoying the Tropical region that was Hoenn, he even spent a while searching for a Torchic and found one from a small group living in the tunnels of Mount Chimney. The Gym leaders were good but could only push him to use two or three of his explosive Fire Types per battle. The Ever Grande Conference was also a cake with Aj winning the Final with Two Pokemon. Aj decided not to battle the Hoenn Elite Four though, even if he really wanted to fight Drake, The now Twenty year old man didn't want to give away any of his secrets to the Kanto Elite Four who he knew would be watching him intently.
Aj returned to Cinnabar with little fanfare and began preparations for his Elite Challenge. Aj even returned to Mount Ember for a week to challenge Moltres again. The Fire Legendary accepted his challenge like the past two times but uped the heat for this battle truly giving Aj's team a hot challenge. When they left Mount Ember for Indigo Plateau Aj was bruning up with anticipation of his dream coming true.
Aj was elected to challenge the Elites after this Season's Conference Champ, which was fine by him. His fellow Challenger made it to Will's second to last pokemon but stalled out and fell and with his failure Aj was ready to explode to center stage tomorrow. Will fought hard but found Ruby, Paradox, and Volos more than enough to handle sealing Aj's First win. Koga being elected to the Elite Four after Agatha was forced to retire during the war showed his own growth against Aj pushing the Younger trainer to his Fourth Pokemon Magnus. Bruno proved tough but Dracia, Sun, and Apollo pulled through in the end. Karen proved tricky catching Aj off guard multiple times with her teams disappearing acts, but in the end Pele in his Fourth slot for this battle got tired of being harassed by Karen's Umbreon snuffing out the Dark foxes fire with some perfect flame placement.
Lance waited for him on the field the day of their battle red cape billowing dramatically and all. Aj in is Lieutenant Colonel Ace uniform complete with his favorite black bucket hat appeared underwhelming visual wise. The battle turned out to be everything but underwhelming according to the crowd. Slamence was Lance's first pick so Aj brought out his own speedster, Apollo. Apollo was Aj's fastest land based pokemon and out manuevered Salamence's long range fire and pelting it back with his own, the long hours of praticing such combat against Gerra and Dracia came to Aj's mind. Eventually the Salamence grew tired of the cat and mouse game and swooped down for a close range move, it's mistake, Apollo launched an Extreme Charge (Extreme Speed/ Wild Charge) right into it's blind side with a pace it couldn't track. The move may have gassed Apollo for a second but Salamence was off far worse taking massive damage and being Paralyzed hampering it's movements. Apollo recovered before Salamence could get back in the air and re launched himself into an Extreme Speed and latching onto Salamence's neck with a Thunder Fang. The Salamence tried to claw and scratch itself free but Apollo wasn't having it refusing to let go of it's neck or the technique pumping electricity into it till the beast was unconcious.
Lance was quick to recall his Salamence after seeing it's condition when Apollo released it. Apollo was gassed further and taken some nasty gashes from Salamence's wild claw attacks so he wouldn't last long against their next opponent. Lance's choice of Gyrados further reinforced that thought to Aj, so he gave Apollo his last orders "Bring The Sun Out". The command was a last resort for Apollo and others of Aj's team against water pokemon and they were to conserve energy, launch a Sunny Day, and fire a Solar Beam all while dodging attacks, this exit strategy worked best for Apollo because of his base speed and reflexes. The plan worked for the most part but Apollo was only able to clip Gyrados with Solar Beam while taking a Dragon Pulse for his opening knocking him out. Aj knowing he needed maneuverability brought forth Volos. Volos engaged in his own form of Cat and Mouse with Gyrados, appearing in and out of Shadow Sneak portals to hit it with Thunderbolts. The Gyrados tried to fight back with Crunches and Dark Pulse and even managed a few hits but Volos held strong and knocked the behemoth out. A Garchomp came next and it's speed was easily enough to fight back against Volos who landed a few good hits and even managed to Burn it with a Will-O-Wisp before going down.
Magnus was Aj's pick to fire back at the Dragon/Ground type. The Garchomp tried exploting it's Ground typing early with a liberal use of Earthquake to start things off, it was very shocked when Magnus just teleported into it's safe epicenter and lit it up with a Blue Flamethrower. The surprise point blank attack singed the Garchomps back scales and dorsal fin black giving Magnus an oportunity to teleport to it's front and blast it again, Aj swore he could hear Magnus give out a low chuckle. The Burnt but not out Garchomp though was pissed and attacked Magnus back with every trick in it's book, from appearing out of holes in the ground to whipping up a sandstorm and dive bombing from above. Eventually it was a dirty, beaten Magnus that came out on top. Lance didn't take much time picking his next battler, Dragonite. Magnus had it in him for one more attack so Aj freed him to do as his burning heart wanted, go down in a blaze of glory. The dual Flamethrowers Magnus released from his cannons were enough to pin the Dragonite in the Air for Ten seconds before Magnus keeled over passed out. Th Dragonite sadly didn't look to take much damage from Magnus flaming end but it's the raw red Aj saw on some of it's body that would be the real irritant.
Sun was selected to face Dragonite and put an end to it before it even really got started. Sun had two things going in his favor Agility ,which would allow the Infernape to close the gap quickly and strike when the Dragonite came down from the Air for one of it's own. His other was his Strength, as part Fighting Type Sun already had great natural strength and Aj incorporated it into his Training to use and expand it's potential this lead the way for Aj's Style of Counter Attack for long range opponents for his Close range fighters, pelt them while dodging their attacks, get them close, then grab on and don't let go till their Knocked out as shown by Apollo against Salamence. Since Sun didn't have the bulk to pin down his opponent Aj taught Sun Submission, Submission is a Fighting Move that lets a Pokemon who uses it to grab onto an opponent with enhanced strength and lock them in a head lock, to further enhance the move Aj taught Sun to keep hold of the head with one Enhanced Arm and rain down Elemental Punches with the other in combo move known to them as "Ground and Pound". It was a little trickier to get Lance to call for a close range attack since he knew what kind of pokemon Infernape were but a well placed "opening" had him right where Aj wanted him. Sun played his part perfectly and struck like a flash fire, Ground and Pound lived up to it's name with Sun choking the giant Dragonite and raining down vicious Thunder Punches. The Dragonite proved its metal though when it forced it's way out of the combo and back in the air but looking thoroughly roughed up. The battle returned to the two pokemon trying to pin the other down with long range attacks trying to find the opening to close into win this fight. One of Sun's flamethrowers was able to cripple one of Dragonite's wings for the rest of the battle allowing them and their Opponents to end this in one final tussle. Sun and Dragonite clashed in an exchange of Flare Blitz and Giga Impact causing a explosion in the process. When the smoke cleared it revealed a double knockout of Sun and Dragonite.
Aj and Lance released their second to last pokemon at the sametime. Pele and an Altaria appeared with opening calls of challenge as was usual. Pele started out slow but Aj knew that his She-Dragon would heat up the more the Altaria's defense kept strong. The Altaria was a master of usings it's cotton like wings as an ultimate defense, the wings having evolved over years of living in several different climates adpated to keep out the worst of every element making the Altaria a staple defensive dragon pokemon with only Goodra having a stouter defense. What nature didn't have in mind was an enraged Turtanator with fire so hot it wouldn't be denied. In the end Lance went for a sacrificial play of perish song which slowly drained both pokemon of energy till they passed out, leaving both trainers with only one pokemon left.
Gerra and Lance's Charizard appeared almost simultaneously and before they roared their arrival as was usual their heads snapped to eachother which proceeded to give what could only be two apex predators calling eachother out. Gerra was looking even more fired up than Aj had ever seen him and he felt the energy from his starter light up inside himself and he knew it was on. Gerra and Lance's Charizard flew straight at eachother engaging in aerial combat mixed with fire attacks. Aj and Lance saw six Charizard presses this match. A Charizard Press was an event that occured whenever Two Charizards fight in the wild or in Trainer battles, it consisted of One Charizard getting the upper hand in an Aerial duel then flying them both straight into the ground with the one who had the upper hand in the air pinning the other to the ground while spewing flames point blank. There were two options for the Charizard that lost advantage in the air, it would either have to disengage during the forced plunge or escpae from the pin on the ground otherwise it would need to concede defeat. The Six Presses that happened in the battle were all initiated by Gerra gaining the upper hand, the first two saw Gerra get reversed on right before hitting the ground and forcing Aj's starter to escape the pin. Gerra learned quickly and after winning the next three presses weakend Lance's Charizard to the Point the Champion was forced to return his Charizard or risk serious injury to it's already battered state conceding the Championship to Aj.
Aj couldn't believe it, he did it, he won the Champions seat, he surpassed his Mentor in the last way that he could overwhelming Aj with Pride and Happiness. The Battle being televised made the already well known Aj into a superstar overnight leaving Aj uncomfortable with all the attention. Little did any of them know even before Aj won his title a sinister plan was underway in the shadows of Kanto.
The first month of Aj's inaugural season was the best with the rest going straight down hill. A massive Crime Network called Team Rocket seemingly came out of the nowhere to start causing trouble all over the region. Will was already assigned to visiting many affected sights and gaining info for the League. Aj even had Paradox stationed at Mount Moon to watch for trouble after attacks on Diglet Cave and the Range near Fuchsia by Team Rocket. Paradox sent Aj a Psychic message two weeks later saying Team Rocket had set up a temporary base in the Mountain and were trying to lure Trainers to them by tampering with the Direction markers in the paths. Paradox thankfully changed back the signs and Psychically persuade others from journeying too deep till Aj could arrive. The Fire Champion was quick to mobilize after receiving Paradox's message, leaving with Lance and a Squad of Thirty Aces an hour after the alert. Since Paradox had prevented them from getting hostages Team Rocket was trying to quickly pull off what they came to do which let Aj, Lance and team neak up on them with Paradox's help guiding and masking their presence. The Suprise Attack went off perfectly with League forces capturing all Fifty Grunts and the Executive Proton.
After Securing the criminals in cells the questioning could start. Proton refused to talk and had some strong Mental Barriers crafted by a gifted Psychic, those would take a while for Paradox to break, so they kept Proton in Maximum Security. The Grunts weren't well informed and all they gathered from them was that there were a couple of big attacks that were going to happen in the coming months. Two weeks later Paradox broke Proton's Barriers and they would get blood chilling news, The S.S. Anne had a bomb on it set to explode in Twelve Hours. Aj wasted no time so again with Lance and all the Flying, Psychic Aces teleported onto the S.S. Anne which had already descended into chaos thanks to Team Rocket. Aj quickly had Apollo running threw corridors to gather straglers to the life boats or free rescue pokemon. Paradox and Dracia were on evacuation duty moving people to the mainland as fast as possible. Aj was busy with battling Ariana while Lance kept others of them, Ariana wasn't a skilled battler but her drugged up pokemon fought with a darkness. Soon the ship was evacuated but Ariana got away leaving League forces the Hundred abandoned Grunts to deal with. The League was quick to rescue the criminals off the ship and get off themselves off before it blew, sinking the once beloved Cruise ship.
Things got quiet on Team Rockets end for a good portion of the rest of the season, but the Orginisation reappeared with a bang about two months before the Conference was set to begin. The Strike had several prongs attacking several important targets. The First and most important Target was Silph Co. Headquarters in the heart of Saffron. The two secondary targets were the Game Corner and the Mentor of the current Champion and foremost scientific expert on Pokemon Cloning, Blaine. Now the League needed to respond. With information coming in that both Blaine and the looted Merchandise and Pokemon from the Game Corner were already transported to Silph where the Criminals are held up with Executives Ariana and Petrel calling the shots. Knowing they had hostages and powerful Psychics guarding them Aj made the call for all Aces with a Dark Type to follow him and Ruby to sneak in and rescue the hostages before the main Assault to regain Silph could begin. Thankfully Team Rocket made the call to keep all the Hostages in one place, The Cafeteria, so after clearing out all the Guards and Psychics Paradox could begin transferring them out. With the Hostages out Silph was free for the League to free it from Rocket Occupation. It took Twelve hours of scraping and brawling threw the building before Aj and Lance could battle and capture the Executives. League forces even found the Pokemon and Merch from the Game Corner but no Blaine, this worried Aj but he knew the old man was tough as nails.
Ariana and Petrel had similar mental barriers as Proton did so Aj knew Paradox would need a bit to break into their heads which was fine with Aj he had his own lead in the form of coded messages to the Executives from their boss the champion just had to decode them first. By the time Paradox had broke threw the Barriers Aj had only decoded one word 'Viridian', Ariana and Petrel enlightened them more giving up Giovanni and his Number Two Archer as the main leaders of Team Rocket they also went on to share that Blaine was transported to Viridian just before Aj and Lance confronted the Executives.
Viridian was evacuated the next day for the Assault on the Gym. Giovanni hoped to stall Aj with a video of some Grunts beating Blaine, but this only enraged the Champion to do something drastic he started by himself. In the dead of night Aj snuck out of his sleeping tent with Ruby covered in Dark energy to sneak past Giovanni's survailence and Psychic watchmen. The Champion quickly navigated the under ground base ,hidden beneath the Gym, to the cells where he hoped Blaine was kept. Arceus smiled on Aj this day and he was able to free Blaine and get him out thanks to Paradox. While Blaine was teleported out with Paradox to give the signal to begin Aj started the party early with a with a demonstration of why he was known as the Arsenal. By the time the Assault team broke threw the main Gym doors Aj had already destroyed the lower base and walk away from a set of stairs with explosions going of at the bottom. Giovanni was shocked his underground base was already broken into and his only response was to retaliate. Aj was free to give the Crime Boss all Nine of his Team's attention in an effort to pay him back for what he did to Blaine, Aj was free to do this because Lance was handling Archer and wouldn't let him escape. Giovanni hadn't improved his skills as a battler since the last time they fought but he got an equalizer in the drugs he hopped his pokemon up on making them battle crazed with zero self preservation. It was a hard fight but with the edge his team had gained since the last time they were here Giovanni could still do little to stop himself from being captured along with Archer, thus putting an end to Team Rockets terror.
It took three months for things to get back to somewhat normality. Will took over the Viridian Gym for now till a new leader could be chosen. Aj and Lance were hailed as the two saviours of Kanto, more fame Aj honestly didn't want. Not all was well though, Doctors had said Blaine will probably be bed ridden for the rest of his life because of the injuries he sustained from Team Rocket. Aj was riddled with guilt about Blaine's condition and his Parents who ran to Sinnoh when Team Rocket started their exploits decided to stay there for good leaving Aj with only Blaine left of his Human Family. After The Conference was over and Blaine was well enough to be transported back to Cinnabar Aj made a decision, he would step down as Champion and take over the Cinnabar Gym like he always planned just a little ahead of schedule. When Aj announced it to the rest of the Elite they wondered why and Aj knew so would the public and they deserved an explanation which he gave. The story Aj told first the Elite then the Public was the truth, Aj had wanted the Champion title because the man who let him live his dream wanted Aj to surpass him and now that Aj had surpassed his Master and said Master was unable to keep his Gym Running Aj would take it over like he always planned to do just a little earlier than expected. The Elite and Majority of the Public understood where Aj was coming from, The Arsenal wouldn't let the Legacy his Mentor Built with what he added to it die with someone else taking over the Gym.
With his official resignation done before the Press, Lance was happy to confirm Aj's take over of the Cinnabar Gym to the reporters after the Fire Master was done. When Aj arrived home on the Island he had some plans with what to do with the place. First he bought the old Pokemansion and the Hundred Acre field that seperated it and the Gym. Next Aj had all the pokemon inside the Mansion reloacted and tore the Building down for a new House for him and Blaine while setting up Structures for his pokemon to stay in. Aj settled into being Gym leader nicely and with his whole team happy to be home on Cinnabar, Aj was content and Lance stopping by every few months to battle was nice as well. After a few years though Blaine passed away in his sleep with Aj by his bedside trying to stem the tears. The Funeral was attended by many people even Professor Oak came to pay his respects something Aj appreciated. After Aj gave his Eulogy of Blaine he bumped into her, Mary his friend from Kalos. Mary gave her condolences to Aj and they began to chat, she told him there were to many bad memories in Kalos and she came to Kanto first to see him then to figure out her next step. Aj offered her the option to stay with him and help out at his Gym till she firgured out what her next move was which Mary accepted quickly. Aj did not grow more dense as he got older except when it came to girls and after a few months of staying with him and throwing herself at him Mary finally had enough and told Aj she wanted to be his Girlfriend. Aj imitating a fish just said ok and they went on their first date that night, the one date led to several more and within Two years Aj popped Mary the question, she immediately said yes and jumped into his arms smooching him. Their wedding was treated like an event of the Century with headlines like 'The Arsenal and his Kalosian Love' on all sorts of tabloids and magazines but the couple did their best to ignore it. Aj and Mary got married under the cave Gerra had made his home on the Volcano and when his trainer kissed his bride the Shiny Charizard let out a wonderous Blue Flame Pyro show to celebrate.
Aj would spend the rest of his life as the Leader of the strongest gym of Kanto with numerous challengers coming to battle him every season. He would find the most rewarding part of being a Gym leader not on the field but off it teaching and guiding young, hungry trainers and seeing them perform well in the Conference using what he taught them. Aj and Mary also had a wonderful relationship leading to Four beautiful children in order of Birth came Alex, Sabine, Victoria and Blaine. His Children were his pried and joy. When they started their journeys he took each one up to Gerra and Dracia's cave to receive their starter their choice of Charmander or Bagon. To his and Gerra's secret pride all four of his children chose a Charmander as their first partner just like their old man. Aj lived to the ripe old age of Ninety-Six passing peacefully in his sleep leaving a country in mourning for a National Hero and Idol.