Hey guys, TheDoctor1998 here with another chapter. Last time, we saw Cinder face off against Misty, and though it was her first time battling in a pool, she earned the Cascade Badge. In addition, she also discovered a little tidbit about herself that she might not be ready to share with others just yet. Now, on with the show!

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Cinder and the gang were walking along Route 5, heading towards Vermillion City. "So, do you guys want to go through Saffron City, use the Underground Path, or go through Route 24?"

Brock grabbed a map out of his pocket, having already anticipated the question. "Well, the Underground Path is usually closed for maintenance this time of year, so that one's out. We could go to Saffron, but we're bound to return there at some point anyway, so I think we should just use Route 24 to get to the end of Route 6."

"A touristic route that goes by the sea. I like it." Misty said simply, smiling. "There's not much to see on Route 6 anyways, it's just a flat road between Saffron and Vermillion."

"Route 24 it is." Cinder said, not minding going past Saffron City at all. With what she's heard about the Gym Leader there, it might be best for her to just skip that city for now.

"Hey, you there!" A random kid with red boots yelled at Cinder, running up to the gang. "I challenge you to a battle!" He smirked.

"Alright then." Cinder simply said, pulling out one of her Luxury Balls to start the battle.

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"Finish it with Tackle, Pidgeotto!" Cinder called out for her Pokémon.

The Flying Type obeyed, and rammed her body into the Rattata that she was fighting, knocking him out after the brief battle.

The kid who was fighting Cinder walked up to her after both trainers returned their Pokémon, offering to shake her hand. "You're a really great trainer." He said as the two shook their hands.

"Thanks." Cinder smiled at him. "You're pretty good too."

The boy blushed. "I bet you can even beat A.J.!"

Cinder tilted her head in curiosity. "Who's A.J.?"

"Yeah, he lives over there." The boy turned, pointing further down Route 5. "A.J. trains savage Pokémon and built his own Gym. He's never lost a single match!"

Cinder looked back at her companions. "Do you guys wanna see it?"

"Don't see why not." Brock answered. "It's on the way anyway, so it wouldn't even be a detour."

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After a few minutes of walking, the gang arrived at A.J.'s Gym, as the sign above the entrance said.

"Undefeated, 98 wins with 0 losses." Brock muttered, reading the sign out loud. "Impressive."

"At least it also says it's not sanctioned by the League." Misty said to her friends.

"Are you my next victims?" A fourth voice said, belonging to a bulky kid with green and black hair walking up to the faux Gym, a Sandshrew standing next to him.

"I'm guessing you're A.J.?" Cinder asked the newcomer.

"Yup, that's me." A.J. answered. "I take it you wanna challenge me?"

"Yeah, I was wondering how a trainer with "savage" Pokémon would battle." Cinder answered, silently asking what that whole deal was about.

"Ugh, that stupid rumor." A.J. groaned. "Look, I don't know what you've heard, but people think my Pokémon are savage because of my training. It's hard on them, and some say it's way too harsh, but I ain't asking them to do anything they don't wanna do."

"Shrew!" Sandshrew said, flexing his muscles.

"Can we see before the match?" Cinder asked A.J.

"If you want." He waved them over as the trio followed him into the main tent, handing his backpack over to his Butterfree.

"Now this is not too shabby at all." Misty said, glancing around the battlefield as they entered the tent.

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Meanwhile, a certain trio of criminals was observing the twerps that they've been stalking for at least a few weeks now, looking through their binoculars from the tree they were hiding in. "That Sandshrew is very tempting." Jessie said, having seen how more profound its muscles are compared to the ones at Mt. Moon.

"We should grab it." James concurred.

"Hmm, looks fat, you two gotta carry it." Meowth partially agreed.

"The outfit that that trainer's wearing is positively hideous." Jessie sneered.

"That shirt is so last century." James continued. "He'd fit in at a museum."

"At least he doesn't look like he's trick-or-treating like you two." Meowth snarked, which immediately got him slapped out of the tree by James. "Meeeooowth!" The Normal Type yelled as he fell to the ground.

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Once the trio walked into the tent, they saw what kind of intense training A.J. made his Pokémon do. They saw the Butterfree from before sparring with a Beedrill, a trio of Rattata moving through an obstacle course with hoops of fire, and the Sandshrew from before jumping into a pool of water. All of the Pokémon were wearing some type of training harness, binding their head and limbs.

"This is where and how I train my Pokémon." A.J. said, watching as Sandshrew jumped out of the pool. "Get back in!" A.J. commanded, grabbing a whip from his belt and whacking the floor.

Cinder recognized what he was doing. "Are you training him to resist water?"

"Yup." A.J. smirked. "I found that exposing Pokémon to their weaknesses tends to allow them to resist them if you do it right."

Sandshrew jumped out again, flexing his muscles once more.

"What's that device on his body?" Brock asked, curious about the harnesses all of A.J.'s Pokémon were wearing.

"That's a strength intensifier." A.J. answered.

"Who invented that thing?" Brock continued.

"I did." A.J proudly stated. "It's my own secret weapon for unleashing a Pokémon's true potential." The boy then looked at his Pokémon. "Sandshrew, pick up the pace!"

"Shrew!" The Mouse Pokémon obeyed his trainer's command, and curled up in a ball, rolling towards the Rattata trio, who in turn started teaming up against him during their sparring match.

"Why are you being so hard on Sandshrew specifically?" Cinder couldn't help but ask.

"Because I have to be tough." He answered. "But I ask no more of Sandshrew than I do of myself, and I always respect whatever boundary he chooses." The boy then smiled. "But the real reason I'm so tough on him is because he's my starter, and I will never forget that moment we met." He started getting lost in his own memories, not even looking anywhere specifically anymore. "We promised each other to do whatever it took to become the greatest team of all time, and nothing would stop us from reaching our dream, no matter how difficult our path. Enduring the fiercest storms and raging winds, we've sacrificed everything to achieve our dream, and it's worth it! He and I are an unbeatable team!"

Cinder could appreciate that thought, understanding why he was so driven and why people thought of his Pokémon as savage. That kind of training and dedication was tough, sure, and some people would think of it as barbaric, but she also noticed that A.J. wasn't really hurting his Pokémon. Especially when he pushes himself just as hard.

"Your Pokémon are all in great shape." Brock couldn't help but comment, looking at the team. "What are you feeding them?"

"My own recipe. C'mon, I'll show ya." The trainer said, smiling as he directed them to the back of the tent, where a shelf full of Pokémon food stood, each jar having the picture of a different species of Pokémon. "To get the results I want, I have to carefully monitor my Pokémon's various diets. The recipe is secret, of course, so I hope you'll understand if I'm not ready to share it just yet."

"Oh yeah, of course, I mix my own food too." Brock nodded, knowing that some breeders like to keep a few things a secret.

Cinder simply watched through her Aura, noticing that Pikachu has moved next to Sandshrew. She started to giggle slightly when she saw Pikachu pick something up, straining to lift it as the Ground Type next to him was working on his own weights. "So what's with the whip?" The blind girl asked the other trainer.

"Simple discipline, to stop them from slacking off during training." A.J. said. "As well as some coded messages that my opponents won't be able to understand until it's too late. Don't worry though, I'll never hit my Pokémon with it. Unlike what those rumors say about me, I'm not some savage."

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Meanwhile, Team Rocket had snuck on the Gym grounds, hiding right outside the tent. "Insulated gloves?" Jessie asked her partner.

"Check." James said, holding said gloves.

"Big rubber ball?"

"Check, check, check-a-rooni!" Meowth said, rolling a red ball around big enough to fit all three of them in.

"Team Rocket will do what it has to do." Jessie started, beginning their new motto.

"To snatch that little Pikachu." James continued and finished, before frowning in thought. "Maybe we should go back to our old motto, this one doesn't feel right."

"Hey!" Meowth said, jumping on the ball. "How about a the-Meowth song? I can even do a little dance solo. Everyone loves musicals!"

"A song's no good." Jessie disagreed, watching as Meowth started walking and rolling the ball.

"I don't think a dance will work either." James said, giving his own to cents as Meowth switched to walking on just his arms.

"Here's a line you'll like."

"And what's that?"

"Choreography killed the cat." Jessie snarked.

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An alarm bell rang through the tent as the trainers were talking, and A.J. turned towards his Pokémon. "Okay you wimps, break time!"

At this, all six of A.J.'s Pokémon stopped what they were doing and simply panted, sweat rolling from their bodies as they removed their strength intensifiers and started drinking from several sources of water around the tent.

A.J. went on to collect the various apparatuses, intending to check for any damages and causing the trio to follow him, though he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Pikachu touch Sandshrew's strength enhancer, causing it to wrap around his limbs and head. As expected, the device was too much for the little guy, causing him to be forcefully wrapped in a ball.

Sandshrew also couldn't help but laugh a little, rolling up in a ball next to Pikachu to mock him good naturedly.

Unfortunately, Cinder stepped on a puddle of water she didn't notice before, causing her to slip. "Whoa whoa whoa!" As the girl lost her balance, she bumped into A.J., causing them both to fall into the pool.

At that moment, Team Rocket decided to enter the Gym with their… unique disguise. "I'm getting dizzy." Meowth complained, now questioning why he had this idea in the first place.

"Stop complaining, look for that Pikachu." James said, unwilling to admit he was also getting dizzy.

"Over there!" Jessie whispered, gesturing towards the two balled up Pokémon.

"What's that?" James couldn't help but ask, considering the lighting and the relatively tiny hole in the ball prevented the Rockets from getting a good look.

"I think that's Pikachu." Jessie said, gesturing towards Sandshrew.

"Yeah, that's it!" Meowth agreed. "Now hurry up, all that rolling made me nauseous."

James quickly grabbed Sandshrew, holding onto him with his rubber gloves, and put him into a sack with a sleeping agent in it. "Got it!"

"Let's go!" Jessie said, making the ball roll towards the entrance of the Gym.

"Hurry, I feel sick!" Meowth said, just about ready to puke if this goes on for much longer.

"Watch where you're going!" Jessie growled, bumping into the boys.

"This way, this way!" James said, doing his best to steer the ball.

"Take it easy!" Meowth complained, hoping to Arceus that this torture ends soon. Thankfully for him, that was the case, as the trio exited the Gym and ditched the ball as soon as they could. "Ah, my leg fell asleep!" Meowth said, struggling to hold onto his companions.

"I wish the rest of you would too!" James said, having enough of the complaining as he and Jessie ran away from the Gym.

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Meanwhile, back at the Gym, Cinder and A.J. were coughing up water after they left the pool. "Sorry, didn't see that puddle." Cinder said, waving a hand in front of her unresponsive eyes.

A.J., who'd been ready to blast off at the girl before, quickly figured out what she was saying. "No problem, happens to the best of us sometimes." Another alarm bell rang out, causing the boy to turn to his Pokémon again. "Time's up, back to work, all of ya!"

All of A.J.'s Pokémon immediately picked up the pace again, Butterfree and Beedrill sparring as if they didn't take a break to begin with, and the Rattata running around the obstacle course again.

A.J., however, couldn't help but notice something. "Hey, where's Sandshrew?" He bent down next to Pikachu, undoing the harness and freeing the little guy. "Pikachu, do you know where Sandshrew is?"

Pikachu shook his head. Last time he saw Sandshrew was when the Ground Type stood next to him as the strength enhancer wrapped itself around the Electric Type.

A.J. started looking around the tent. "Sandshrew, where are you buddy?!" The trainer started panicking a bit. "Guys, emergency! Sandshrew's missing!"

The Pokémon immediately stopped what they were doing, and started looking around. They may be dedicated to their training, but even they knew that there were more important things.

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Further down Route 5, the Team Rocket trio finally slowed down. "Those clowns will never catch up with us." Jessie panted.

"I'm exhausted." James panted, still carrying "Pikachu" in his bag. "You take the bag now for a change."

"But a real gentleman always carries the bag." Jessie said semi-flirtatiously.

"Well, as you know, I'm no gentleman!" James exclaimed, pushing the bag in Jessie's arms.

Before Jessie could come up with a reply, the "Pikachu" managed to shake off the sleeping agent and jumped out, and ended up falling on Meowth tail first.

"Shrew!" Sandshrew screeched, his tail now being bitten by the now semi-conscious Meowth. Ashamed as he was to admit it, the Ground Type let instinct take over and went underground, dragging the Normal Type along with him.

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Back at the Gym, all the humans and Pokémon were busy looking around for Sandshrew. "Oh Sandshrew, where did you go?" A.J. muttered to himself, worried out of his mind.

As if Arceus himself decided to grant his wish, Sandshrew suddenly burst through the floor next to A.J. "Shrew!" The Ground Type yelled out, starting to calm down at the sight of his trainer. Especially now that that annoyance finally got off of his tail.

"Sandshrew!" The trainer yelled out, hugging the Ground Type tightly as the rest of his Pokémon surrounded him.

"A.J. and his Pokémon sure are happy now that Sandshrew's back." Misty said, smiling at the sight of the tough trainer truly caring for his Pokémon.

"A.J. is tough, but he cares deeply for his Pokémon." Brock said, agreeing with the redhead.

Suddenly, Pikachu jumped on Cinder's shoulder. "Pikapi!" He said urgently, pointing at Meowth.

Cinder glanced over to where he was pointing, and recognized a now familiar Aura. "Meowth!" She said, already grabbing at one of her Luxury Balls.

"Then it must've been Team Rocket who'd kidnapped Sandshrew!" Brock exclaimed, putting two and two together.

Cinder growled and grabbed the unconscious Pokémon by the tail, lifting him up and shaking him around. "Wake up you annoying alley cat!" And just as he woke up, Cinder threw him away, dodging his attempt to scratch at her face.

"Hey!" The Scratch Cat said, falling on his butt. "Where am I?! What's going on?!" The criminal Pokémon glanced around, seeing the faces of several angry humans and Pokémon around him. "How am I gonna get outta this mess?" He whimpered.

"Prepare for trouble." One of his partners said, just outside the Gym.

"Make that double." The other partner said, standing next to the first.

"Ugh, there's the rest of the stooges." Cinder muttered.

Meowth glanced over, smiling. "Use the old motto!"

"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie started.

"To unite all people within our nation." James continued.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love." Both said, deciding to alter their motto slightly. "To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" The intruding Pokémon finished, joining his teammates.

"That felt great." Jessie smiled at her partners. "We don't even need a theme song."

"It's a classic." James agreed.

"So these are the creeps who kidnapped Sandshrew?!" A.J. demanded, flames of hate in his eyes.

"Just an unfortunate mixup." Jessie said calmly.

"We've got no interest in your second-rate Sandshrew." James continued.

"Second-rate?!" The tough trainer yelled indignantly.

"The only Pokémon we want is that overpowered Pikachu." Jessie said, pointing at the Electric Type.

"You can keep your wimps, Team Rocket has no use for those." James waved him off.

"Wimps?!" A.J. glared. "Nobody insults my Pokémon and gets away with it. Let's step outside."

"Now this I gotta see." Cinder said, already guessing how this is going to end.

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Surprisingly, Team Rocket agreed to the faceoff, standing opposite to A.J. on the battlefield. "You've insulted our Gym, so now I'm gonna teach you a lesson with my 99th win!"

"Good luck!" Cinder waved. "Not like you're gonna need it with these bozos."

A.J. simply nodded to her.

"Your small talk will cost you big time. Ekans, go!" Jessie said, releasing her Poison Type.

"Your turn Koffing!" James said, also releasing his Poison Type.

"Sandshrew, go!" A.J. said, pointing at the Poison Types and cracking his whip.

Sandshrew, recognizing the exact command due to the way the whip cracked, immediately started using Defense Curl and Rollout.

"Ekans, Bind it now!" Jessie commanded.

The Snake Pokémon did as his mistress said, and immediately started wrapping around the Ground Type. Unfortunately, Mouse Pokémon was simply too strong and managed to get out. Somehow, he also managed to grab the Poison Type and tie him up in a knot.

"Koffing, Sludge!" James commanded.

"Koffing!" The Poison Gas Pokémon yelled as he spewed his black sludge at the Ground Type. However, at a crack of the whip, Sandshrew started using Rollout again, causing the Poison Type attack to bounce harmlessly off of his skin as he smacked Koffing down.

"Meowth, don't just stand there! Do something!" The blue haired criminal yelled as his partner.

"Stop pussyfooting around!" Jessie agreed, also wanting their third Pokémon to do something useful.

"Just Biting my time!" Meowth punned, dark energy flowing around his mouth as he bit into Sandshrew. Only to scream in pain, holding his mouth. "The moment of tooth!"

A.J. cracked his whip again, noticing all three Pokémon standing right next to the criminals. Or rolling on the ground, in the case of Koffing. "Finish it with Fissure!"

"Shrew!" Sandshrew yelled, slamming into the ground with his full force, causing the ground to shake and split open right below the criminal Pokémon. All the Pokémon fell into this newly created ravine, which quickly slammed shut on the three of them.

"Urgh." Meowth said, using what little strength he had left to dig himself out of this hole. "That's it, I forfeit the match." He groaned.

"Same here!" The human Rockets agreed, returning their Pokémon and picking up Meowth as they ran away.

"Victory number 99!" A.J. cheered before glancing back at Cinder. "So, wanna make it 100?"

Cinder smirked. "I think you're gonna have to try harder than that to keep your winning streak."

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"I hope you won't take it easy on me for my 100th victory just because we're friends." A.J. smirked, standing opposite to Cinder on the battlefield.

The blind girl grinned back. "Only if you do the same for me for your first loss."

"Let's get started, you already know who I'm gonna use." A.J. said, cracking his whip and summoning Sandshrew.

"Clefairy, come out my friend!" Cinder yelled, throwing the Luxury Ball containing her Fairy Type. As the Fairy Pokémon gave a twirl, Cinder called out to her. "Watch out for whenever Sandshrew uses Fissure. If you see him do that, do whatever you need to do to dodge."

"Why is she so concerned about Fissure?" Misty asked Brock. "I mean, yeah, it's a powerful move, but is it really that dangerous?"

"Fissure is one of those moves that instantly knocks out whatever Pokémon it hits, regardless of how strong they are." Brock said seriously. "Moves like that are usually hard to hit, unless the user is so powerful compared to the opponent that it doesn't matter what kind of move it attacks with anyway."

A.J. cracked his whip, both signaling that the match has started, and commanding Sandshrew to attack with Rollout.

"Minimize!" Cinder called, right before the Ground Type hit.

Doing as ordered, the Fairy Type used the move as commanded, and shrunk to the size of a hand, causing Sandshrew to fly right over her.

"Dig!" A.J. ordered, again with a crack of the whip.

"Shrew!" Sandshrew nodded, and immediately went underground, trying to make sure not to miss this time.

"Sing into the hole!" Cinder grinned.

"Oh no!" A.J. panicked. "Get out of there Sandshrew!"

Before the Ground Type could do so, Clefairy jumped into the hole and started singing, multicolored music notes flying out of the hole. Sandshrew did manage to get above ground again, but he unfortunately fell asleep immediately.

"Double Slap the crap out of him!" Cinder grinned.

"Fairy." Clefairy jumped out of the hole, nodded to her trainer as she grew back to her original size, and smacked the sleeping Sandshrew over and over again, right in the face.

"C'mon Sandshrew, wake up!" A.J. desperately called, fortunately managing to awaken his Pokémon. "Great job bud! Use Rollout!"

"Shrew!" Sandshrew, having had enough of the Fairy Type, rolled up into a ball and started rolling right into her.

"Clefairy!" Clefairy screamed in pain, not being used to fighting against opponents this strong yet, yet being unwilling to give up.

"Metronome! Do whatever you think is best!" Cinder called, trying her hand at relying on a bit of luck this time around.

"Clefairy, Clefairy." Clefairy chanted, wiggling her fingers and building up the chaotic energies that this move creates. Suddenly, at its peak, the chaos caused Clefairy's eyes to glow blue, and a small wave of psionic energy struck at Sandshrew, who immediately stopped using Rollout.

"Alright, that's Disable!" Cinder cheered, knowing that Sandshrew wouldn't be able to use Rollout for a while now.

A.J. growled, knowing that he had few options now. Clefairy would just use Sing again if Sandshrew went underground, and Rollout wasn't an option at all at the moment. So, he decided to go for a latch ditch effort. "Sandshrew, get as close as you can and use Fissure!"

Sandshrew did as told, and jumped in the air, preparing to use the same move he used against those kidnappers from before. This time, however, his opponent was prepared, and dodged via Minimize before using one final series of Double Slaps, knocking the Ground Type out.

"Sandshrew!" A.J. yelled, ending the battle and running towards his Pokémon. "You okay buddy?"

"Shrew." Sandshrew nodded, barely being able to move, but strangely proud at losing against such an opponent.

"Great job Clefairy." Cinder smiled, hugging her Fairy Type.

"Fairy." Clefairy breathed, sitting down now that she doesn't have to fight against such a strong opponent anymore.

"I must say, you're a good battler Cinder." A.J. smirked, his joy at battling overshadowing the bitter sting of defeat at his would-be 100th victory.

"Thanks." Cinder smiled, shaking the other trainer's hand. "Sorry you didn't get your final win."

"It's okay." A.J. waved her off. "I'll just battle someone else to earn it. At least my first loss was to a new pal."

Cinder simply blinked before giving a soft smile. "Yeah, a new pal."

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Later, after cleaning up at the battlefield and making sure the Pokémon were good, Cinder and her friends were standing in front of the Gym opposite to A.J., who's also updated his scoreboard to include his victory against Team Rocket and his loss against Cinder, making the score 99 to 1.

"I hope I'll be able to get a rematch at the League." A.J. laughed amiably. "Just have to get that final win before I head out, ya know?"

"Then I hope you'll get your last win soon." Cinder smiled sincerely.

"Oh, I know we'll battle again some day, just you wait Cinder." The trainer said, waving at the group. "See you there!"

"It's a deal!" Cinder waved, walking away with her friends, continuing their trek towards Vermilion City.

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Pokémon Seen: 33

Pokémon Caught: 10

Cinder's Pokémon: Pikachu (M), Butterfree (M), Beedrill (F), Pidgeotto (F), Clefairy (F)

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And that's a wrap. Cinder fought against A.J., and unlike her canon counterpart, she actually managed to score a win with her Clefairy and some luck.

I decided that Clefairy hadn't had enough of a spotlight as Cinder's Pokémon yet, so I thought I might as well use her instead of Butterfree in this episode. Also, as A.J. wasn't actually hurting his Pokémon, I saw no reason for hostility between the trainers.

TheDoctor1998 here, signing out.