49: Ash vs. AJ

"Oh!" Misty exclaimed as she looked over Brock's shoulder, standing with him and Ash outside the stadium. "I know... We know your next match!"

"Some guy," Ash said, shading his eyes from the setting sun as he looked back toward Misty before studying the board again. "Wait... He looks familiar."

"Of course he does," Misty snapped. "Remember losing against him before?"

"Wait... Oh!" Ash's eyes widened. "He had a sandshrew."

"AJ from the unofficial gym, right," Brock said with a nod. "He made it this far? Good for him. I guess he hasn't applied for running his own gym yet."

"No," Misty informed. Though she hadn't been to the recent meetings, she'd talked about them on the phone with Erika.

"Maybe he really will be a top trainer instead," Brock said with a grin.

"You guys are acting like I'm gonna lose for sure," Ash protested. "I'm still gonna win! I've gotten better since last time."

"Neither of us are denying that," Brock said. "But don't you think it's the same for AJ?"

Ash shrugged. They casually walked in the building toward the pokemon center area. Despite the dwindling crowds later in the day, Ash still found company easily as a few people recognized him. Ash greeted them and answered questions, including confirming that the pikachu that followed him was indeed the pikachu that had been in the observed battles. Pikachu hopped on Ash's shoulder to be sure to stay with him as people intermittently crowded around them.

"Hey Misty," an adolescent boy greeted from down the hall. "Oh, hey Brock too. And Ash, you're here."

"AJ!" Ash ran, accidentally pushing others as he dashed toward his upcoming opponent. "Are you ready for our match?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," AJ casually replied. "Guess you are too. You're looking way more put together."

"AJ, it's good to see you," Misty said as she and Brock caught up to Ash. "It's been a while. Are you still trying to become a gym leader?"

"Still trying," AJ said with a shrug. "I've caught another ground type, been training all my pokemon, found a town with a good location that doesn't already have a gym, worked and saved up some cash. There's a lot to it."

"Yeah." Misty's eyes widened as she thought of the steps involved. There was a lot she hadn't personally had to consider before gaining her status. "You're really organized with it all, though."

"Yeah, I'm trying," AJ said. "Of course, I'm here for both the status and possible cash prizes. Gotten pretty far now. Who knows, maybe I'll be a top trainer after all."

"Maybe! I'll be cheering for you!" Misty said.

"Misty, aren't you cheering for me?" Ash said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I'm cheering for the best trainer to win!" Misty shot back. "Not just your luck. If you're really better than AJ by now, you'll win."

"Yeah," AJ said, calmly nodding Ash's way. "May the best man win." As Pikachu jumped to the ground, AJ kneeled down to observe the pokemon. "This is the same pikachu I beat before, huh?" he said.

"Yeah! You were able to win back then, but we've really been training a lot," Ash said. "That's why we're winning now!"

"No." AJ shook his head. "I remember it," he said, looking back up at Ash.

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted its head at the boy observing it.

AJ glanced back at the pokemon, petting Pikachu's head, getting a positive call in response. He smiled before turning his attention back to Ash. "I mean, not saying you haven't trained it, but it was something different from a normal pikachu to start."

"You're actually far from the first to say that," Brock said. "I've seen what you're talking about myself."

"Yeah." AJ patted Pikachu's head once more before he stood. "How long did its previous trainer work with it?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu gasped in surprise at the boy's question.

"Huh?" Ash responded with his own surprise. "I'm Pikachu's only trainer," he declared. "Professor Oak gave it to me as a starting pokemon. He caught it and kept it on his ranch, he didn't train it. Pikachu didn't have another trainer before."

"I don't think that's right," AJ said. "That match it carried against that other Pallet trainer was impressive, but it wouldn't listen to you at times, huh?"

"Um. I mean, I changed my mind about some things because Pikachu wanted to battle more," Ash said. "That doesn't mean it wouldn't listen."

"Right, I've heard pokemon sometimes only want to listen to their original trainer," Misty said. "My mom and dad's pokemon wouldn't listen to me when I tried to train them when I was a kid. And if you remember, Charizard really didn't want to listen to you sometimes."

"That was just a phase. It's gotten better," Ash insisted, stepping forward.

"I guess so. Bulbasaur and Squirtle seem okay most of the time," Misty said with a shrug. "Ash has a lot of pokemon with previous trainers," she explained to AJ.

"Huh. Really." AJ paused before he continued. "Personally, I wouldn't ever take on a pokemon that was someone else's before. Some people even say only catching your own outside the first is trainer basics. I don't know if I'd go that far, but just know you can run into a lot of problems. What I'm talking about with Pikachu, it wasn't just that battle yesterday. I remember how it wandered around at my temporary gym setup and didn't go with you. It just wasn't attached at all, didn't seem too interested, and pokemon get attached quickly, you know."

"Pikachu's my pokemon!" Ash insisted.

"Yeah." AJ turned away. "No matter what, that's true, huh? How do you like your trainer, Pikachu?"

"Pika?" Pikachu turned to Ash after being directly addressed. He could be annoying sometimes with the trainer stuff, but he was overall caring and fun. He had actually taught Pikachu how to battle better as well, doing his theoretical job as an actual trainer as well. He was also extremely caring to his other pokemon. Pokemon in general were considered valuable by Ash, especially his team. He gave them all a chance, and didn't make them compete against each other. They battled and entered competitions like this, but were all just friends, humans and pokemon alike. "Pikachu!" Pikachu called happily up at Ash, hopping up on its trainers shoulders. Ash's eyes widened as he glanced to Pikachu before they smiled at each other.

AJ chuckled. "No matter what happened in the past, you can move on, huh?" he said, meeting Pikachu's eyes before he looked back toward Ash. "So, you gonna try and 3-0 me with this one like in that one match?"

"Pikachu," Pikachu called in an exasperated tone, inciting laughter from others around.

Ash hugged his pokemon. "I've got other good pokemon. I don't need to just rely on Pikachu," he said. "But maybe you'll get to see it in action, who knows."

"Yeah. We'll all see," AJ said, then turned to Misty. "You got a minute?" he said.

"Sure," Misty said.

"Don't tell him my strategy," Ash warned as Misty followed AJ back toward the outside.

"As if I even know what it is," Misty said as she wandered toward the tier and announcement board with AJ. They stood by the side while others meandered over to check it. "What's up?" Misty asked.

"You warned me to be careful last time we talked," AJ said. "I met your chairman yesterday and figured out why."

"Oh really?" Misty tried to fake amusement, but was instead unable to meet AJ's eyes. "Giovanni's here, then?" The fact shouldn't be that surprising. There were plenty who wanted to watch the league each year. Though gym leaders could be busy with challengers during the summer, plenty took time off to come. Even without taking time off, challenges often waned during this event as trainers also wanted to see the show they aspired to join. Giovanni being there was fairly typical of many in the region, especially trainers, and didn't mean much.

"Yeah. And there were some suspicious people around him, too," AJ said. Misty said nothing, and he shook his head. "I've heard him on TV, talking about how his Team Rocket is totally separate from the criminal group." AJ clenched his fists. "Just tell me, are they the same thing?"

"Yeah," Misty confirmed.

AJ swore, turning away and pacing before he walked back to Misty. "This is huge. Didn't realize the gym leader system was a criminal cover. Appreciate your heads up from before, but you mighta been that specific," he said after he calmed.

"A... A cover?" Misty stammered in her dismay, then shook her head, forming her hands into an 'X' in protest. "No, no! That's not it! Giovanni infiltrated us! It was before I became a gym leader myself... I guess he's been a gym leader and the chairman for a while, but we're not Team Rocket!"

"What percentage of gym leaders would you say are?" AJ asked.

"Uh..." Misty paused. Outside briefly falling for Aya's act, it was the first time she'd considered that anyone other than Giovanni might be. None of the gym leaders she'd met when journeying with Ash were, other than Giovanni, and of course Jessie, though she hardly counted. "Very low," Misty decided to say. "Maybe even limited to Viridian's gym, though I guess I can't be totally sure."

"But y'all have him running things anyway?" AJ said, shaking his head.

"I'm not happy about it either!" Misty insisted. "And I'm not the only one. I guess there's a lot of people that are just scared of him though."

"Maybe they should be, from other stories I've heard." AJ sighed, raising an eyebrow as he wrung his hands. "I was gonna try to apply for gym leader this fall. Maybe I should just forget it."

"No." Misty insisted. "If you still want to be one, you've done all this, now just go for it." She closed her eyes and sighed. "The meetings themselves don't have any criminal activity. You can just apply like things are normal. Besides," Misty continued, smirking as she turned and made eye contact with AJ. "Changes might be coming sooner than you think."

"Guess you won't share details there," AJ said.

Misty giggled. "Things are changing all the time. I guess that's as much as I should say."

"Fair enough." AJ nodded at Misty. "Thanks for all the info. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe."

"I'll see you when you go against Ash, anyway. Good luck!" Misty said, waving back to the boy as he left.

AJ awoke early to prepare for the match against the boy who insisted that his obviously previously trained powerful pikachu had never had a trainer before. Well, there might be various reasons he didn't know, like the trainer had released the pokemon. That pikachu certainly seemed beyond the level that any trainer with a mere year's experience could have given it. At the same time, it didn't have the discipline that seemed to go with that power, which could possibly be because Ash wasn't its original trainer.

All of AJ's pokemon were disciplined, caught and raised by him and him alone. On this day of their six round of battles, he found an unoccupied area, a little difficult during the league, though made easier by how early he was up. There, he got all the pokemon out and give them a pep talk, plus any last minute care. It was simple to determine which pokemon he'd use as well. Of course, his two ground types were a given. Pikachu might be able to defeat them as it had that golem, but they'd give the electric type more trouble. For the third pokemon, AJ was going with Mankey. Beedrill had its strengths, but could be zapped by Pikachu and was also weak to the three flying types. The most powerful of his three rattata was strong for the species but weak compared to many other species, though it would be fine for filling his last slot in the next round, with the full battles.

"Y'all should get ready," AJ goaded the three pokemon he'd chosen. "This guy might've seemed like a joke before, but he's not now." AJ shook his head, then got the pokemon started on the morning exercises.

Their match was in the mid-morning, so he made sure they all rested afterward as well, taking them to the nurse to be looked over one more time, just in case. After getting back the pokemon in their pokeballs, AJ jogged around the main venue, where all the day's battles took place, before entering. He took the time to watch the matches before him. Even knowing he could end up going up against one of them if he kept going, thoughts of the coming battle kept coming to mind until it was finally time to start the match for real.

AJ took his place first, then saw Ash running to take his own. The pikachu was at his feet of course. AJ had seen several of their matches by now, hearing the announcement that it didn't have a pokeball each time. The younger boy took time to wave along his way. He really was young, AJ noted. Back when he was about to be win 99 in AJ's streak, it was hardly believable that Ash was even old enough to be a trainer at all. Besides the demeanor, the kid had looked like his mom was about to yell at him to take a bath and comb his hair.

But no, this kid was no joke. Even if not having had the opportunity to see the previous battles, everyone in the top 16 was a trainer to be taken seriously. Even so, winning against the trainer of the powerful pikachu was possible, and he was ready to give it his best. When given the signal, AJ threw out the pokeball he'd been holding onto the past few hours. "Dugtrio, get ready!" he said, then whipped the ground to get its further alert as it appeared.

To his surprise, Ash threw out a pokeball as well. "Go, Bulbasaur!" he said. As the named pokemon appeared and called out, he gave an order. "Bulbasaur, razor leaf!"

"Dugtrio, dig!" AJ whipped the ground as he spoke. Dugtrio easily dodged Bulbasaur's attack while disappearing beneath the earth.

"Bulbasaur! Watch out! Vine whip the ground!" Ash gave his pokemon an order that would possibly take too long to follow.

"Bulba, saur!" Bulbasaur called, indeed pulling off the attack, hitting the ground in front of it before its opponent appeared. Dugtrio was tangled in the vines just as it surfaced, blocking Ash's pokemon itself from taking a direct hit. At the same time, Dugtrio was trapped, unable to escape the attack. Bulbasaur continued attacking the ground itself without needing the order, and Dugtrio struggled just to get a sort of foothold for any attacks and it was intermittently hit.

AJ grimaced as he held up the pokeball. With this particular strategy landed, there wasn't much point in embarrassing himself or discomforting his pokemon further. "Dugtrio, return," he said, pressing the button to allow it to do so. The choice of the next pokemon was obvious. "Go, Mankey."

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur called aggressively as the fighting type appeared from the pokeball and leapt in front of it.

"Mankey, use low kick," AJ said while whipping in the rhythm that they had associated with the move. Mankey kicked the pokemon that was already down low, then danced in victory as the other pokemon called out in frustration. "Nice! Again!" AJ repeated the rhythm.

"Bulbasaur, sleep powder! Chill him out!" Ash suggested.

AJ had to groan as Ash's grass type's technique was again perfectly timed, the cloud of powder hitting his fighting type right as Mankey tried to land the kick. It did, half-heartedly, before jumping back and rubbing its eyes. It was too late, it drooped, falling asleep. "Bulba, saur," Bulbasaur called, smiling in victory.

AJ returned the sleeping pokemon without comment before the referee made the call. Mankey wasn't one for a nap, it was out. Now there was only one pokemon left that he could use. "Sandslash! You're last!" he said, then whipped the ground, getting his pokemon alert to the situation.

"Bulbasaur, vine whip!" Ash ordered.

Did he think AJ would let Sandslash fall into the same trap as Dugtrio? "Slash!" AJ shouted. Sandslash rushed forward, claws raised, dodging the attack. It then hit Bulbasaur, knocking it over.

"Bulbasaur?" Ash questioned his pokemon, which didn't respond. As the referee made the call, he returned it, then threw out the next pokeball. "Squirtle, go!" Ash shouted. Again with the type advantage, except there was no option after Sandslash to depend on. "Squirtle, bubble beam!" Ash ordered.

"Slash!" AJ repeated the last order. This time, his pokemon had more trouble dodging the opponent's attacks, heavily affected by the stream of bubbles. Squirtle then repeated the attack, the repeated hits from the barrage of foamy misty causing Sandslash to drag. AJ gripped his whip tighter as he realized they were about to lose. There was only one option left. This move needed to land perfectly, but this was the battle for the perfectly timed attacks of the opponent, so maybe Sandslash would pick up some spare luck. "Sandslash, fissure!"

Sandslash raised its arms before smashing them to the ground, partially missing a third bubble beam attack as it ducked, though still cringed as various bubbles popped on it. However, Sandslash did open the ground, perfectly capturing Squirtle. The water type pokemon called out several times in surprise from out of sight beneath the ground before it quieted. The referee gave Ash the direction to return his pokemon, as this move, when it hit, was a sure knock out.

"Squirtle, return!" Ash said, bringing the pokemon back into its pokeball. "Go, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu energetically called as it took its place on the battlefield. Since it had acquired some fans, the audience cheered out.

He was really using this one up against Sandslash? AJ's order was delayed just a moment in his surprise, but he soon gave it. "Sandslash, dig!" he said. That was the obvious move to win against this one.

"Pikachu, quick attack!" Ash followed.

Ah, so that was it. Pikachu launched itself forward at a lightning speed, hitting Sandslash just as it was about to hide underground as part of its dig technique. AJ's pokemon fell over, face forward in the ground. The crowd cheered even louder now, some shouts for Pikachu itself heard through the roar.

Poor Sandslash. AJ again didn't wait for the call before he brought his pokemon back into its pokeball. Ash ran onto the field, picking up his pokemon as he gave his own praise. "We did it, Pikachu! Great job!" he said. "And it was an all first stage evolution team... Who cares about evolving, huh?"

First stage evolution team? Oh, actually, it had been, in addition to being at least two that had been confirmed to be previously trained by others, though likely that also applied to all three. AJ chuckled, making his own way across the field. "Good job, Ash," he said as he approached his opponent. "And Pikachu," he added, nodding to the pokemon. "You've grown a lot. I'd be interested in what kind of trainer - what kind of team y'all make from here on out." AJ then gave a brief shrug to himself. "I always thought I should catch pokemon myself, be their first trainer, so they'd only ever listen to me. But there's a lot of pokemon out there that already had a trainer. Maybe it's worth training one myself one day."

"Pika?" Pikachu's ears picked up. "Pikachu!" it called out happily, jumping from Ash's arms to AJ's, trying to give the older boy a sort of hug as well.

AJ shuddered in surprise, his eyebrows raising, though he still managed to catch the pokemon. He petted Pikachu's head as the crowd called out in delight at the pokemon's sweet gesture toward its opponent trainer. "Pikachu? You're still my pokemon, right?" Ash said.

"Pikachu, pikapi." Pikachu hopped back down to the ground, standing next to Ash as its answer. The two trainers shook hands as a gesture to end the battle.

"Good luck with the top 8," AJ said. "I'll be watching," he added before they cleared the area, making way for the next match.

Next chapter: Ash vs. Ritchie