Taking the lead, Takeshi led both Satoshi and Shinji to the Pokemon centers training grounds. The local nurse Joi was more than happy to allow the mock battle after learning the TM disk they had implanted was a beta move.

It also helped that it was Takeshi who asked. Over the years his constant chasing after women had subsided, though he still appreciated the fairer sex. Now a days, he focused almost solely on his work. Throw in his distinguished looks and mix it with intelligence your own business and you've got a recipe for a prime catch.

"This will be a 1 v 1 battle. The winner will be decided when either trainers Pokemon can no longer battle. Any questions?"With Shuu, Hikari, Haruka, and nurse Joi watching, he waited for any objection. After a few quiet moments with no response from either trainer, he held his hand up and threw it down swiftly. "Alright, battle BEGIN!"

Without hesitation, Shinji grabbed a green and black pokeball from his belt and tossed it up with his signature battle cry. "Torterra, standby for battle."

"Inferial, I choose you!" Satoshi was quick to grab an orange pokeball in response. From a white light emerged a serpent Pokemon none of the other trainers had ever seen.

Hikari was the first to pull out her pokedex and was unsurprised to see the Pokemon was in its final form. What did surprise her though was the creepy description the robotic voice read.

"Inferial, the electric-fire serpent. Legend says, these Pokemon are the vengeful reincarnation of the snakes slaughtered in the fifth century on the island of serpents. Their tails act as a conductor for natural static to build up into 5000v of electricity. At the same time, they produce a pepper spray like gas which can be ignited using a quick click of their tongue. Able to control both electric and fire is why this Pokemon is known as the hell serpent."

Shinji seemed to have heard the pokedex and nodded towards his Pokemon in silent encouragement. Torterra was the only one who knew just how nervous he actually was. Obviously he was a master at hiding his apprehension, but the continental Pokemon knew his trainer well.

The last time Shinji and Satoshi faced off in battle was at the Lilly if the valley conference when he was still a kid; and it had been a humiliating loss. "Are you ready for this Shinji?" Satoshi voice brought him back to reality and he gave a low grunt in response. "I've been waiting for this rematch!"

"Hmpf." Not wanting to waste his time talking to the pathetic idiot, Shinji immediately called out his first move. "Torterra, use grass knot."

"Inferial, dodge and use pyre vapor!" Torterra wasted no time in raising up his front legs. Slamming them into the ground, he focused the vibrations and poured energy into it until six slick and sharp vines sprouted from the ground.

Somehow, the little red snake was able to another through them and dive into the ground. Before Shinji had a chance to tell his pokemon to stop his move, Torterra cried out in pain and released his vines himself.

Shinji watched in aggravation as what looked like liquid lava shot from the ground and dissolved into an orange cloud of mist. A stray breeze sent some of the mist toward Shinji and when it touched him, he nearly cried out himself.

The vapor felt like millions of fire ants were biting him simultaneously. It hurt like hell but he knew Torterra could take it. "Shake it off and use grass knot. Hold that thing in place and follow up with earthquake."

"Crap, Inferial let it catch you then use up in smoke!" Knowing getting hit with Torterras earthquake would be bad for him, Satoshi quickly thought up the strategy.

As the giant vines grabbed hold of the red snake, it lit up its body with an electrifying golden hue. The light traveled down the vines and up Torterras legs. The crackle of high voltage could be heard and Shinji realized too late what was happening.

But even when he noticed that his pokemon was unable to move he was basically helpless. Neither of them were preparedfor what happened next.

A crimson cloud of gas covered the area. It smelled horrible, like you were breathing in fumes at a siratcha factory. Up in smoke was a newly designed devastating move that made your lungs feel like they're filled with fire while making your skin blister from toxins that felt like flames. Torterra was hit full force and Shinji started to worry. "Quick, get away while he's paralyzed and use dig."

Satoshis next command sent Shinji into a frenzy. He couldn't lose, not again. "Stop it and use Terrene Spore."

Fighting through the pain, Torterra stomped forward and made a giant slab of stone appear, knocking the snake back and effectively destroying any chance it had at getting away.

"Oh no, Inferial! Are you okay?" The red snake shook its head in frustration before nodding to its trainer with a glint of determination in its eyes. Satoshi grinned widely and pumped his fist in the air. "Right. Things just got serious, use paralyze pulse!"

"Protect yourself with stone edge and follow up with grass knot!"

Like before, Torterra stomped the ground, this time creating a barrage of boulders that hit the snake in a dozen different places. Before it had a chance to recover, it was entrapped in the sharp vines of grass knot. "Inferial!"

"Earthquake now!" Shinji thought he had won but as the dust began to blow away he saw the look on Satoshis face and knew. I really have turned into a shit trainer haven't I?

"Too late..." With his signature fist pump, Satoshi grinned a toothy smile and served the final blow. "Paralyze smoke combo!"

Shinji should have recalled Torterra and accepted his loss without taking the hit. He would grow to wish he had done just that. The combination name was fairly self explanatory. While still wrapped up in the vines, Inferial let out another of its shocking electric attacks followed immediately by one of those horrid burning red gas clouds.

Shinji wasnt angry as his loyal Pokemon looked at him with guilt evident on his face. As the continental beast fell to the ground, his trainer closed his eyes, taking a moment to accept the loss.

"Torterra is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Satoshi." Takeshi stepped on the field as Shinji silently returned his now burnt Pokemon. Nurse Joi ran onto the field and collected both of the trainers pokeballs. Turning to all three men with a bow, she promised to heal both pokemon to their full health and left to inside the Pokemon center.

"Man that's was awesome!" Oblivious to Shinjis obvious distain, Satoshi attempted to have a friendly conversation. "You've gotten even stronger since the last time we battled."

Met with only a growl, Takeshi decided to jump in and deescellate the situation before it turned ugly.

"That move seemed to work ok. But I couldn't gather much data with the moveset you used."

"I didn't have a chance to upgrade his base moveset aside from switching out leaf tornado." He wasn't making excuses for his loss. He was just telling the truth. Honestly, it was already decided in the back of his mind that he would change up the base moves when he accepted the beta move.

"That makes sense. Maybe add another grass type move and get rid of stone edge."

"I'll consider it." With a bow, Shinji turned to leave. Well, tried to leave. Satoshi however, decided to ignore the obvious signals and attempted again to start a conversation, which the older trainer shut down instantly.

"So you're just starting your journey here huh? You're gonna love it! The people are a little weird but other than that it's a really pretty place to travel."

"If you're done bothering me now, I'm leaving." Without waiting for any other words to be said, Shinji walked off. By the time he reached the edge of the property, he heard a sweet voice calling him.

"Shinji wait!" Cursing himself internally for forgetting she had been watching, Shinji ignored his bruised ego and stopped walking, giving her time to catch up. "I, um... You were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?"

"Isnt it basically expected of me by now?" He said with a cheeky tone.

Hikari blushed and looked down. "Right. So... do you think we'll run into each other again?"

Looking back towards where he had just walked away from, Shinji watched as Shuu mercilessly flirted with Hikari brown haired traveling companion and smirked. "Based on my cousins perverted thoughts about your friend, I'm pretty sure we will."

"Good." He obviously wasn't expecting that to be her reaction so she just giggled and softly placed her hand on his arm. "You're a really great trainer Shinji. Probably one of the best in the world."

Letting go of his arm, Hikari turned away and signed before continuing. "I like that you always teach me things. Even if you're being a jerk when you're teaching me."

"I'm not a jerk, you just don't like to pay attention."

"Ha ha, very funny." The sarcasm between the two probably would've seemed hostile had there been anyone around to pay attention to them. But they both knew it was all in good nature.

Some might even call it playful banter. But like all good things, this too came to an abrupt end as Shinji grew serious. Looking back to the group of trainers still gathered at the training field, Shinji shook his head and let out a frustrated huff.

"Listen, I know you don't get why I can't stand the guy, but I gotta get out of here." She didn't need him to say who he was talking about. Hikari knew he meant Satoshi, and he was right. She didn't understand it. But it wasn't the time to press it. "I can't stand to be around him for too long."

"Its fine. I'll go tell Shuu to hurry up." She began to jog over to where Haruka and his green haired cousin were, now being obnoxious with their flirting, but stopped halfway there. Turning back with a wide smile, Hikari waved like an idiot and blurted out. "Don't stay away too long Shinji."

XxX

Hey monsters!

So, what did you think? Did you expect Shinji to win this one??

So my goal in this story us to portray Shinji as a man on the verge of breaking down. He is in a rut, aka a losing streak.

He has basically lost all of his confidence when it cones to battling since losing to Shirona.

He is on the verge if giving up on his dream and this journey is his last chance to prove to himself he deserves to continue.

Losing to Satoshi is going to lead to a pre midlife crisis. Buckle up guys, it's gonna get messy fast lol. The fun stuff starts next chapter which will be updated next week sometime.

The image at the beginning of the chapter us Inferial. I found it on Google but couldn't find the artist. It just kept sending me to Pinterest and I don't know how to reverse Google image search. If you know the artists name lmk so I can credit them please.

Anyway, until next time monsters!!!