The gang was now on their way to Vermilion City. While on Route 6, a Pokemon with a reddish-brown pelt stepped out of the grass.
"That's a Vulpix." Brock noted.
Ash looked at it on the Pokedex.
"Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. At the time of birth, it has just one tail. The tail splits from it's tip as it grows older."
'That would be a nice Pokemon to have.' Ash thought.
He removed a Poke Ball from his belt and pointed it at Vulpix.
"Buizel, you're going to help me catch this Vulpix."
Buizel was ecstatic to get a opportunity to battle.
"Buizel, use Water Gun!" Buizel released a spiral of blue water from his mouth at Vulpix.
Vulpix outmaneuvered the Water Gun for a few seconds, but eventually the attack found it's target. Vulpix was weakened by the attack and ready to be captured.
"Go Poke Ball!" Ash yelled.
The Poke Ball hit Vulpix on the head and sucked it inside.
"I caught a Vulpix!" He exclaimed.
"Bui!" Buizel cheered.
After capturing Vulpix, Ash decided this would be a good time to train his Clefable and Sandshrew.
Before he could start though, Misty tugged on his jacket.
"I'd like to know how you shape-shifted into a dragon back at the Cerulean gym."
"Oh that." Ash remarked. "I've always had that ability. It's gotten me out of some real sticky situations over the years."
Ash then battled five trainers and Clefable enjoyed it. Ash was currently battling another trainer's Rattata.
"Clefable, Mega Punch!" He ordered.
Clefable's attack knocked Rattata out.
"You're a tough trainer." The Rattata's trainer said. "You should challenge A.J."
"Who's that?" Ash asked.
"Well..." The trainer went on to tell him that A.J. was a savage trainer and operated his own gym down the road.
"Let's find A.J." Ash suggested.
To their surprise, finding A.J's gym was a breeze.
"I'm impressed." Ash complimented the gym.
"Yeah, and it's not even a official gym." Brock said.
"Who goes there?" A voice demanded.
It was a boy with dark green hair and there was a Sandshrew behind him.
"You're A.J., huh?" Ash asked.
"That's right." A.J. said. "Did you come here to challenge me?"
"Yeah." Ash nodded.
"Great. This will be my 100th win." A.J. said, gesturing to the gum sign. The number 99 was on it to show how many trainers had been defeated.
A.J. led Ash to their battlefield.
"This will be a one on one battle." A.J. said. "Go Sandshrew!"
His Sandshrew walked onto the battlefield.
"Pikachu, come on out!" Ash released Pikachu from his Poke Ball.
"What is he thinking?" Misty asked. Electric type Pokemon are weak to Ground type Pokemon.
"You forget. His Pikachu knows a Grass type attack." Brock reminded her of the time Grass Knot was used during his first gym battle.
"Oh yeah." Misty realized what he said was true.
"Sandshrew, Dig!" A.J. commanded.
Sandshrew tunneled underneath the ground.
"Pikachu, run across the battlefield to avoid Sandshrew's attack." Pikachu ran all over the battlefield, so Sandshrew's attack would miss.
"Return to the surface." A.J. said. Sandshrew emerged from the hole he dug, but his attack missed.
"Iron Tail." Ash said.
A metallic silver tail struck Sandshrew head on. A.J. gasped; he's never seen anything like this. Sandshrew was starting to become exhausted.
"Quick, use Tackle." A.J. instructed.
"Iron Tail one more time." Ash said.
Tackle and Iron Tail collided, but Pikachu was too strong for Sandshrew and Sandshrew fainted. Ash won the battle.
When the battle ended A.J picked Sandshrew up.
"Are you okay?" A.J. asked. Sandshrew nodded.
"I have to admit, that was amazing." A.J said. "I wasn't expecting a electric type Pokemon to beat my Sandshrew."
"Yeah, it's a shame that you didn't win 100 battles." Ash replied.
"Don't worry about it." A.J brushed what Ash said off. "I'll battle another trainer to obtain it."
"Can we see your other Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"Sure." A.J. smiled. He led them into a big tent.
Inside the tent were a few Pokemon and what resembled some form of training gear. Sandshrew climbed up a ladder and dived into the pool.
"This is where I train my Pokemon." A.J. explained.
He then saw Sandshrew get out of the pool. A whip struck the ground.
"Get back into the pool."
Ash saw a trio of Rattata jumping through three flaming hoops and a Butterfree and Beedrill carrying some heavy equipment.
"Wow A.J." Ash said. "You train your Pokemon well."
"Thanks Ash." A.J. had a smile on his face. "I was expecting you to say that my training is harsh. A lot of trainers do."
"I'm not like the other trainers. How you train your Pokemon is none of my concern." A.J was happy with Ash and bumped fists with him to show that they were now friends.
Just then a alarm clock started to ring and A.J told all the Pokemon to take a break.
Outside Sandshrew was taking a break when a bag appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it. It was Meowth; Team Rocket observed Sandshrew's battles and wanted to give it to their boss.
Back in the tent A.J and Ash were going over battle strategies when A.J noticed Sandshrew hadn't returned.
"Where's Sandshrew?" He asked.
"Maybe he went outside to take a breather." Brock suggested.
They were about to leave the tent to check when they heard screams from outside. They ran out immediately and saw Sandshrew escaping from Team Rocket. Sandshrew scratched a hole in the bag with his claws and tackled Team Rocket to flee from them.
"Hey what's the big idea?" A.J. demanded.
"Team Rocket." Ash's eyes became reptilian. "They're Pokemon thieves."
"Oh yeah?" A.J. stated. "Well they're not taking my Pokemon. Come on Sandshrew let's take them on."
"You want a fight." Jessie said. "You'll get one."
Jessie and James released Ekans and Koffing. Meowth jumped out of the balloon to join the battle.
"Ekans, Bite!" Jessie ordered.
"Koffing, Sludge!" James instructed.
"Try my Fury Swipes." Meowth said.
In ball form Sandshrew rolled around and easily dodged Ekans and Koffing's attacks while turning into a toy for Meowth to play with.
"Meowth, this isn't playtime!" Jessie shouted.
Meowth snapped out of his trance and tried to bite down on Sandshrew, but it's hard body broke Meowth's teeth.
"Fissure!" A.J. shouted.
The ground started to shake and struck Ekans, Koffing and Meowth. Meowth was petrified.
"I forfeit the battle!" Meowth, Ekans and Koffing ran away together.
"Come back here!" Jessie and James shouted, running after them.
A.J. won the battle and now had 100 victories under his belt.
He thanked the group for their help.
"What are your plans now?" Ash asked.
"My plan is to obtain gym badges." A.J informed them. "And someday we'll have a rematch."
He and Ash shook each other's hands.
"I'll be waiting for that day."
The gang said goodbye to A.J and walked off.