Phillip sighed again as he finished off the last known trainers on the route. Maybe leveling his Pokemon to the gym's max level was a bad idea. Then again, he wouldn't have beaten the gyms he has already, so there's that.
Funny thing happened just before leave Cerulean City. Some guy was freaking out over some robber stealing something called a TM for him. Funny thing was, the robber was right behind the man's house. After beating up, as in Pokemon Battling, the robber, Phillip went back to the man to give the TM back. However, the man had already given up on finding it and allow Phillip to keep the machine.
Anyway, Phillip was walking around on the new route when he heard some talking. Due to his ability, he had no choice but to overhear it.
" I beat you could even beat A.J!"
" A.J?"
" Yeah, he lives over there! A.J trains savage Pokemon. He built his own gym." Phillip looked over the sound to see a kid pointing a little farther down the route as he stood next to...
" Oh, god," Phillip said as he placed a palm over his face. Ash must have gotten a bigger head than needed.
Anyway, the kid continued. " He hasn't lost a single match." Phillip didn't want to hear Ash's monologue; so he continued down the route to where the kid was pointing to.
_Scene Change_
Phillip found a wooden fortress that surrounded a carnival tent. Above the wooden gate was a sign that said:
A.J.'s Gym. Undefeated!
W: 98/L:0
Note: Gym not sanctioned by Pokemon League
Phillip looked at with a stoic face, betraying nothing.
He would have opened the door himself when he heard familiar voices behind him. He turned around to see Ash, Misty, and Brock walking up to the gate.
Ash saw him once and run up to him. " Well, good to see you again." Phillip nodded his way and stared back up to the board. Ash followed his line of sight.
" Look at that!" Ash said aloud. " This gym isn't even licensed by the Pokemon League." A smug tone from the boy came to being. " Undefeated. Big deal! I can beat him."
" Don't get a big head after getting two badges of the eight," Phillip told him, but it just went through one ear and out the other.
" 98 wins in a row." Misty exclaimed. " You might have won ten battles, but he has won almost ten times than you have."
" I go for quality, not quantity!" Ash quickly retaliated.
Some footsteps were heard and the owner asked, " Are you my next victim?" the group looked to their right to see the person in question.
The boy- yes, boy- wore blue shorts hat hadn't even reached his knees, a short-sleeved shirt with black at the bottom half of it and the sleeves and orange the rest of the way. He had green hair and an expression that of a smug victor. He carried a blue backpack along with him.
" You must be the wild Pokemon trainer." Ash said with a clenched fist near his chin.
A.J. hmphed. " That's my job, but beating chumps like you is my hobby." Phillip couldn't locate the whereabouts of that accent, which was odd to him. He could usually do so without much trouble.
A called pulled him from his thoughts. " Are you with them?"
Phillip had a hand out to stop A.J.'s question. " Not really. They came when I got here for the challenge."
The smug grin came back to form on A.J.'s face. " Well then, I hope your ready to lose."
The gate opened and the whole tent was exposed, showing the white body while the top was still circus -colored. A stadium was found just behind the gate that had four stair cases, one on each side going up the square.
" Wow," Ash complimented.
Misty agreed, somewhat. " Now this is not too shabby at all."
A.J. laid his backpack onto the ground and a Butterfree came by to pick it up. It then flew over to the tent.
Ash just seemed to notice. " What's in the backpack?"
A.J. turned to them. " The wild Pokemon I just caught. There's a whole bunch more in the tent, and then some."
Ash got bumped for some reason or other. " Can I see them after the match?"
A.J. walked up the staircase. " If you want." He spun to them with that grin again. " So, which Pokemon are you gonna choose for my 99th win?" Ash mumbled something before gaining a fierce as he ran over to to climb the stairs.
Once up on stage, Ash tried taunting his opponent. " I'm afraid you're gonna have to change your sign after this match. You'll be formerly undefeated."
A.J. just grabbed a whip from nowhere, took by the handle and the fall, and pulled, saying, " You might think your hot stuff, kid, but you're not playing in the Pokemon Little League anymore!" A.J. slapped the whip in front of Ash, causing Ash to leap back in surprise. The whip went back into A.J.'s hand.
A.J. continued. " When I get 100 wins in a row, I'll start competing for badges." Phillip heard some mumbling from Misty and Brock about the 100 win thing, but didn't pay much mind.
Ash smirked. " 98 wins and you still don't have a badge? That's tough luck, A.J.. I have 10 wins and I've won two Pokemon Badges." Ash pulled back one side of his jacket to show the two badges pinned to it.
" Did you buy those badges or did you steal them? Either that or you competed in some loser gyms. Where were they, Failure City or Wimpsville?" A.J. taunted. However, it didn't hit the correct target. The taunt actually affected the two gym leaders behind Ash. Phillip chuckled as the two yelled at Ash to win, in a slightly more violent way.
" Let's get started then." A.J. said as he threw the first Pokeball. " Sandshrew, go!" Ash took the appearance easy, but retaliated rather harshly when Misty and Brock tried giving hints, believing he knew what he was doing. With this, he summoned Pidgeotto.
A.J. brought his whip down on his stage and Sandshrew rushed forward. Ash called for Pidgeotto to dive down for an attack. Phillip watched with mild interest as Sandshrew curled into a ball up as the whip hit the stage once more and somehow managed to find the flying Pokemon for a tackle. The bird hit the ground with a thud and Sandshrew ran forward for the finishing blow. Ash was wise enough to change Pokemon from Pidgeotto into Butterfree.
Butterfree tried using Stun Spore, but Sandshrew dug into the ground to avoid the attack. Butterfree searched around when Sandshrew vanished, but the wait was short-lived. With another crack of A.J's whip, Sandshrew jumped out of the ground with a great bound and was able to pin Butterfree to the floor.
Phillip walked over to the losing side to see Ash trying to pull Pikachu from the edge of the stage to finish the battle. Phillip used his fingers as levers to pry Ash's hands off. Pikachu scampered off behind Misty.
Ash's rage turned to him. " What's the big idea-" Phillip walked past Ash with a determined look.
A.J. grinned from the other side. " And you'll be number 100."
Phillip waved the words by. " Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Not much interest in winning this to be honest."
" Alright then. Go, Sandshrew!" Sandshrew was brought back out.
" Charmeleon, break 'em." Said Pokemon came into vision with a roar.
With the crack of the whip, Sandshrew rushed forward. Phillip snapped his fingers at the same time and Charmeleon released a Smokescreen that covered the entire field. A.J. called out to for his Pokemon while Phillip simply snapped his fingers again. A ball of smoke shot out from the top of the Smokescreen. It was high in the air before it vanished to reveal Charmeleon within. Phillip gave the final snap and Charmeleon sent down the barrage of Embers. Phillip jumped to side to avoid the blast zone, but A.J. wasn't as ready. When the Embers hit the smoke, the explosion sent A.J. flying into a tree.
As the explosion passed, it revealed Sandshrew on the ground, swirls replacing it's eyes.
The scoreboard changed from the 99 win streak to W:99 and L: 1.
A.J. looked up to the ring and rubbed the back of his head. " Ah, man. I guess I'm gonna have to train even harder."
" Maybe, maybe not," Phillip stated. " Anyway, I won. And I would like to see what's in your tent."
A.J sighed. " Alright, alright. Come on, you four." The group crowded around at the entrance just before A.J. opened the entrance.
Inside was a weird choice in fashion. There was a logo held high in the air that showed a Pokeball being whipped. Inside was flaming hoops, balls, platforms with ladders to get to the top, and a pool with a diving board. Rattatas were using the balls and the flaming hoops while a Butterfree and a wasp like Pokemon with two stingers as arms and one stinger on it's backside.
Phillip flinched at the new addition, remembering bad memories of wasps as a kid, but this did nothing to stop him from the scan.
Beedrill: the-
As usual, Phillip closed the Dex before it could tell the entire story of the bug.
A.J. led them closer in before turning to them with a grin and his arms spread wide. " What 'cha think?"
Phillip crossed his arms. " People from where I was born would call you a slaver, not a trainer, from that sign alone."
A.J. shrugged. " I couldn't care less on what they would think. This is how I train."
" And I couldn't care how you train until the Pokemon get hurt. As long as you don't go too far, I'm fine."
Ash noticed something around the Butterfree and Beedrill. " What's that? It looks like a straight jacket."
" That ain't no straight jacket." A.J. told them. " It's a strength intensifier."
Brock asked, " Who invented that thing?"
A.J. smirked before pointing to himself. " I did. It's my secret weapon for unleashing a Pokemon's powers." A.J. brought out his Sandshrew, strapped on of the devices to it, before telling the Pokemon to get into the water. Ash didn't agree and tackled A.J. into the pool.
A.J. surfaced first. " Now what do you want, a swimming match?!"
" You're going to hurt Sandshrew." Ash retorted. Phillip sighed and jumped in to pulled the two out.
When both were out, Phillip pushed their head together. " Stuff it, you two. Everyone has a different method of training."
" That isn't training! He's hurting his own Pokemon!" Ash retorted.
A.J. answered this with a simple call. " Sandshrew, dive!"
Sandshrew followed the order and jumped off the diving board. It hit the pool with a small splash and stayed under for a little more than 10 seconds before jumping out. It landed with a spin to rid itself of the water. It quickly returned to it's feet however.
A.J. smiled down on it. " Good work."
" The water doesn't weaken your Sandshrew?" Brock asked.
A.J.'s smile grew wider. " You're looking at the only Sandshrew in the world that is strong enough to withstand water." He turned back to the Pokemon. " Sandshrew, pick up your pacing!"
Sandshrew curled up into a ball. Three Rattata came up and started passing the curled-up Pokemon between each other.
Ash opened his mouth to speak, but Phillip sealed him off. " That is an interesting way of training."
A.J kept his smile. " You know it. With this way of doing things, I'll win every challenge."
" You lost to me." A.J. went to sulk in the corner at what Phillip said.
Ash finally got to speak. " Why are you so tough on Sandshrew?!"
" I have to be tough," A.J answered, " but I ask no more from Sandshrew than I do of myself: the very best."
" But you're not nearly as tough on your other Pokemon!" Ash protested.
" That's because Sandshrew was the first Pokemon I ever caught," A.J told them. He then told them about the expectation of each other: to become the best Pokemon trainer of all time, despite how rough the road would be.
Ash told A.J that he should try being friends with the Pokemon, but A.J didn't listen to him. Ash turned to Brock, who asked A.J what food the Pokemon ate to stay in shape. A.J took three of them to see the cabinets.
Phillip stayed behind to watched the Pokemon. The Butterfree and Beedrill just kept on sparring. Well, more like Beedrill would thrust a spear forward and Butterfree would dodge to the side. The Rattatas were moving through a make-shift obstacle course made from the platforms and hoops. He turned his head over to look at Sandshrew and Pikachu. Sandshrew was lifting two weights, one for each hand. Pikachu admired the work before turning to one of the weights and tried picking it up. Pikachu got it to it's neck before falling backwards. Phillip laughed at the scene.
Suddenly, a bell was hear and all the Pokemon laid down immediately. A.J walked by and shouted. " Alright! You wimps get a 15 minute break!" The Pokemon all started panting loudly. Ash reacted harshly and called A.J out on the fact. A.J. told him the gym lived by the rule " no pain, no gain" and called Pikachu stuffed. Ash ran over and threw a punch, causing the two to fall back into the water.
Phillip pulled the two out once more and smashed their heads together. " Seriously, if this becomes a habit between you two, I'll have to remove some of the remain brain cells in your head."
Behind him, he heard Misty whisper, " You say that as if Ash had any brain cells to begin with."
Just as sudden as the last, the bell rung. A.J. yelled for the Pokemon to get back to work and they followed without question. Phillip let the two go as soon as the Pokemon were going " working out".
A.J took that time to look around. " Where's Sandshrew?" He looked over to where the Pokemon was last seen to find Pikachu curled into a ball. " That's weird. What's your Pikachu doing?"
Ash walked over calling the Pokemon's name before rubbing over it's body to find the reason for the ball form. He found one of the strength intensifiers wrapped around Pikachu's frame a yanked on it to no avail. A.J unclasped the lock of the device and Pikachu came back to his original form.
Once it's face was seen, A.J asked if it had seen Sandshrew, but Pikachu shook it's head. Ash said something about Sandshrew leaving and A.J tried defending himself against, but Phillip wasn't quite listening. He was already looking around for where ever Sandshrew had gone. His first movement was towards the platforms.
Black's voice growled from Phillip's mind as Phillip himself walked around the first platform. " Tell those two to stop yelling. I can hear it from here!"
Phillip smirked before responding. I'm not surprised at that, seeing as my hears are connected to my mind.
Lightning took that time to do his own speaking. " Nevertheless, please ask them to cease the bickering. It will not help them find the rat any faster."
Phillip mused on. Where would Sandshrew go. I could tell it was loyal to A.J, so I doubt it would up and leave.
At that second, Sandshrew jumped from a self-made hole in the ground, carrying a stunned Meowth on it's stubby tail. It basically uppercutted Ash, knocking him out as well. This left two unconscious creatures on the floor as A.J hugged his once missing Pokemon.
Gabriel chuckled. " Speak of the devil and he shall appear."
Ash awoke fast and say the Pokemon surrounding A.J, all giving happy smiles at him and Sandshrew. Ash wanted to known why the Pokemon chose A.J over himself.
Brock shed his wisdom down onto Ash. " A.J. is tough, but, as you can see, he cares deeply for his Pokemon."Ash's thought's on A.J changed at that.
Pikachu, however, moved those thoughts to Meowth. Ash, Misty, and Brock recognized the Meowth as the one from Team Rocket and tried waking it up to see if they were the ones that took Sandshrew. Ash yelled from it to wake up.
It was effective, but resulted it Ash getting some new scratch marks on his face.
Ash let go due to the pain, letting Meowth go. However, Meowth landed in front of two dangerous parties: Phillip, Ash, Misty, and Brock with all their Pokemon and A.J's entire gym.
Unfortunately, the beating was postponed when that catchphrase came calling.
Prepare for trouble!
Make that double!
Phillip sighed before turning his head to the entrance to see Jessie and James standing there. " You know, if your trying for a stealth operation, you're not doing a good job at it."
Meowth started to speak, but was forced to jump to the side as Phillip's Pokeball bounced off the tiles he once was. " Will you stop doing that?!"
Phillip caught the ball with easy as it returned. " Nope. Get use to it."
Meowth growled but turned to his team. " Forget the motto! Let's grab Pikachu and scram!"
" So, these are the creeps that kidnapped my Sandshrew?!" A.J asked/yelled.
Jessie waved a finger at him. " That was an unfortunate mix-up."
" We have no interest in your second-rate Sandshrew." James told A.J., casing the boy to see red.
Jessie continued. " The only Pokemon we want is Pikachu"
" You can keep all those other wimps." Jame's taunt brought about more rage from A.J. Ash was ready to step in, but A.J held him back and challenged Team Rocket.
" Count me in." Phillip told him.
A.J shook his head. " They insulted my gym. They will pay, but at my hand only."
Phillip didn't listen. " 2 on 2. This way, fair's fair."
" Are you listening to me?!"
Phillip turned to the seething A.J. " I did, but I'm going to this anyway."
_Scene Change_
Phillip stared down the stadium to Team Rocket as A.J yelled that Sandshrew would win the 100th win.
James and Jessie brought out Koffing and Ekans while Phillip summoned out Pidgeotto. All four Pokemon jolted down the stadium towards each other. Sandshrew weaved through Ekans and Koffing's attacks, cause Koffing to fly off and Ekans to drill into the ground. Pidgeotto clashed together with Koffing when it came back while Ekans tried binding Sandshrew, who had curled into a ball.
Ekans' grip slipped and Sandshrew flew into the air before coming back down to kick Ekans unconscious. Koffing wasn't able to stand up to Pidgeotto's vast amount of Gusts, sending it ground unconscious.
When Sandshrew landed, Meowth got onto the battle field, but for wrong reasons. The cat began messing around with the ball form of Sandshrew for a while before Jessie called him out for "pussy-footing around". With that, Meowth bite down upon Sandshrew and broke his teeth.
This is too easy, Phillip thought. Why is this too easy?
That didn't seem to matter, however, as Sandshrew fell from the sky in a spinning fashion and hit the ground hard enough to split the entire stadium in half. The ground outside of the stadium wasn't left untouched either, cracking for another couple feet for the new fissure.
Team Rocket was able to get themselves out of the mess, only to run out of the gym with Meowth's tail between his legs.
A.J screamed in victory as the numbers changed to 100 wins and 1 loss. Him and Sandshrew hugged once more for finally achieving their dream, even if they had to lose one to get there. Even Ash was happy to see the two share the tender moment.
Unfortunately, Phillip could tell this was where they were to part. So, without a sound, Phillip out of the entrance and carried on his way down the route.
Sorry of the wait! My mind was too focused on school and homework to care about this for awhile, and when I gained enough room to try again, my parents took me camping.
Anyway, thanks for the support and, as always, constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.
Let the rants begin!
