Kanto region…

Akira Jouda, or "A.J" for his friends, and his traveling companion, Jeanette Fisher, were making what they thought would be a quick stop in Matcha City. However, while buying some supplies at the Pokémart, they learned from the locals that a new Gym had been open recently, so he figured he could stop by and challenge it for his fourth badge before they departed.

The battle was currently underway, and he stood in front of the Gym Leader. He was a martial artist, a young man in his twenties named Kiyo, who specialized in Fighting-types. The match turned out to be slightly different from what he had faced in his previous Gym battles: the challenger had to fight three one-on-one bouts, best two out of three to win. Each had scored one victory, and now they were on the final round: A.J's Sandslash was facing Kiyo's Primeape, both of them in their last legs. The match was closely observed by an old man on a wheelchair who acted as the referee, some dojo students sitting on the stands, and on A.J's side, Jeanette, who silently rooted for him despite choosing not to challenge the gym herself.

"Sandslash, use Bulldoze!" the green-haired young man called.

"Slash!" The Ground-type Pokémon slammed both claws on the field hard, sending out a seismic wave at his foe.

"Jump and use Acrobatics!" the leader countered.

"Primeape!"

The Fighting-type crouched on his legs and leapt high, dodging the tremor. While in midair, a blue aura enveloped him, and he descended rolling forward until he landed on top of Sandslash, slamming an axe kick on his head that left him dazed.

"No!" A.J shouted.

"Now, use Ice Punch!" Kiyo called.

Primeape pulled back his left fist, charging it up with freezing energy. He then delivered a devastating uppercut at Sandslash, knocking him backwards a couple feet. However, he quickly rolled back to get back up, unwilling to yield that easily. It was glaringly obvious each one had only one more hit to deliver.

"Focus Punch!" Kiyo called.

"Fissure!" A.J countered.

It was all or nothing. Sandslash raised his claws and slammed them on the ground harder than before, sending out an energy wave that opened a crack on the floor, directly towards Primeape. Still charging his fist for the explosive punch, for a moment it seemed that the Fissure would get to him, but at the very last moment, right when the energy exploded under his feet, he jumped to dodge the attack and at Sandslash, delivering a right hook at the head. The porcupine-like Pokémon stumbled backwards a little as his eyes spun around, and he finally fell.

"Sandslash is unable to battle! Primeape is the winner! The third bout and the match go to the Gym Leader, Kiyo!" announced the old man.

"Drat," said A.J with a sigh, as he recalled his Pokémon. "Good job, buddy, now you've earned a good rest."

The Gym Leader followed, and after recalling his own, he approached to shake hands with the challenger.

"Nice battle. I'm impressed, your Pokémon managed to take our attacks a lot better than I expected."

"Well, for all the good that did to us, your attacks still demolished us," the challenger replied with modesty. "I think I should go back to train a little harder."

"If you're planning to come back for a rematch, I have something that might help you," said Kiyo. "Wait here for a bit."

Kiyo walked towards the back of the battle arena while A.J awaited, wondering what he could be up to. A couple minutes later, he came back with a Pokéball in hand. Seeing A.J's confused expression, the Gym Leader opened it to let out its occupant.

"Tyrogue!" The Pokémon slammed his small fists together.

"I trained this Tyrogue myself, so if you want, you can take him for a while as a sparring partner," Kiyo explained. "If you want to beat me, you'll need an opponent who knows my battling style. Study his moves, and then come back to challenge me."

"Are you sure?" A.J asked. "I mean, the offer is nice and all, but why would you help me beat you?"

"As a martial artist, I'm always striving to improve myself, and I prefer my opponents to be as strong as they can possibly be when they face me," said Kiyo. "To learn from them, and teach them something in return whenever I can. And perhaps my little friend here could learn something from you as well."

"Ty!" The small Fighting-type nodded enthusiastically.

The trainer couldn't help but smile: the Tyrogue looked like a very spirited Pokémon, and he liked that. After giving it some thought, he made his decision.

"Alright," he said accepting the ball and returning Tyrogue. "I'll be off to train then. In advance, thanks for the help."

Sealing the deal with a handshake A.J left with a new sparring partner and the promise to return for the rematch. He and his female friend then left the Gym with no hurry.

…

Back at the local Pokémon Center and while A.J's Pokémon were being healed, the two teenagers decided to sit at the lobby to take a rest themselves.

"I am so sorry, you were so close to the win," said Jeanette.

"Ah, it's okay," said A.J as he shrugged. "I just need to work harder next time."

"What do you plan to do now?" the girl asked.

A.J leaned back on his couch, folding his arms deep in thought. On the first bout, his Butterfree was able to defeat Hitmonlee, even though the latter surprised him with a Blaze Kick a couple of times. On the second, however, his Beedrill lost to Hitmonchan, who was pretty fast on his feet to dodge his aerial strikes, and the few that landed were met with devastating Counters. And then, there was Sandslash's final battle with Primeape. The two were more or less evenly matched in strength and endurance, but Primeape had an advantage in speed that he was quick to capitalize.

Nevertheless, despite the loss, he noticed many things. For starters, Kiyo's Pokémon favored close-range combat and contact moves, something that was normal for martial artists and Fighting-type specialists. In fact, their only notable weakness if one could call it such was that they lacked ranged attacks, something that they made up for by being rather nimble, quickly closing the distance with the opponent, and hurting like a truck with every hit. Not to mention they had a varied arsenal of moves of different types to make up for their lack of ranged options, especially against their natural weaknesses.

"I guess it's a good time to make some changes in the move arsenal," said A.J. "Think we could put to use that TM of yours?"

"Of course," Jeanette replied with a smile.

The day was about to end, so they waited until A.J was called to pick up his Pokémon and then went to the cafeteria to have dinner. Training could wait until the next morning. For now, they needed a good night's rest to recover from the defeat. Sure, it wasn't his first loss during his journey, but it was his first against a Gym Leader, so that gave him more motivation to improve himself.

The following morning…

After breakfast, A.J and Jeanette headed to a clearing in the outskirts of the city, so they could have enough room for training. While Sandslash did some warm-up by slashing and stabbing his claws against a large rock, Jeanette pulled her TM and plugged it in her cellphone. Opening the app, they searched for entries with moves Sandslash could learn, until A.J stopped on a specific one.

"Rollout, offensive Rock-type move. The user curls up its body on itself and rolls across the ground with great speed, increasing the power the more it keeps rolling. However, inexperienced users might not be able to control it and they might keep rolling nonstop and unaware of where they're going. Attack power is doubled if the user previously uses Defense Curl. Gym Leader Whitney from Goldenrod City has learned to use it as a defense able to deflect almost any attack."

On the last line of the entry, a few slide pictures appeared, showing a young woman with pink hair in short pigtails and dressed in white sports clothes. Said girl was directing a Miltank against various opponents, who seemingly tried to keep their distance and launch Fire, Water or Electric-type attacks, but Miltank's rolling body deflected them all and then steamrolled her opponents. A.J decided to make a note of that, although the real interest in the move came in something else.

"The problem during that fight was that Sandslash didn't manage to get close enough to deliver good hits," he observed while his Pokémon continued his warm-up. "And that Primeape was really fast, so he could easily hit and run before we could counter."

"Let me guess, you want to use Rollout to attack and to easily get closer?" the girl asked.

"You got it," said the green-haired young man. "And we can take advantage of Sandslash's quills for more damage."

"Slash!" The Ground-type Pokémon finished honing his claws and raised them, all set to begin the training.

"Alright, partner, we're gonna teach you Rollout. You ready?"

"Sandslash!" The Pokémon vigorously nodded.

First things first: Sandslash already had the inherent ability to curl into a ball and roll around. The key was getting enough speed to properly execute the Rollout attack. A.J pointed at a large rock about sixteen feet away and called for Sandslash to attack it by rolling. The Pokémon obliged, and jumped to curl and start rolling at it.

He crashed against the rock, but it didn't even budge, and he finally stopped rolling a few seconds later.

"Let's try again, a bit farther this time," A.J suggested.

Sandslash nodded, and walked away from the rock, going quite a few steps further to double the distance and get more momentum for the attack. He tried again, but the result was the same, the rock didn't budge. Still, they wouldn't give up, so they kept trying over and over, until Sandslash finally got the necessary speed, and with a devastating roll, the rock was demolished.

"Way to go, that's the stuff!" A.J cheered, and Jeanette smiled too.

"Slash!" Sandslash pumped his paws in pride at his progress.

The attack had been learned, but the next step would be more complicated: chasing the target while rolling. Needing a speedy opponent, Jeanette brought her Scizor for the job, while Sandslash and A.J got ready.

"Remember, Scizor, just dodge the attacks," the trainer instructed. "Move wherever you need, but do not fly too far away."

"Scizor!" The Bug/Steel-type nodded.

"We're ready," said A.J as he pointed forward. "Sandslash, use Rollout!"

Sandslash began rolling at Scizor, with the same speed and power he used to demolish the rock before. Scizor waited until the last moment to jump and dodge the attack. A.J called for Sandslash to roll to the right before charging again, but he overshot Scizor and crashed against a large tree, shaking it so hard the Pidgey inhabiting it flew away.

"Alright, that didn't go so good," said A.J. "We need to work on it."

The training continued for about one and a half hours. Sandslash's progress was slow, since he found it hard to change direction while rolling and depended on A.J's commands to know where he wanted to go. To complicate it even more, the more he sped up while rolling, the harder it was to make tight turns, and he was often forced to stop altogether to regain control and know where he was. In battle, that would be a problem as it would leave him vulnerable to attacks.

Deciding it was enough for the time being, trainers and Pokémon decided to take a snack break. It had been a good start, but they had to improve if they wanted to have a chance against Kiyo. Scizor and the Beedrill went flying to get some berries, while A.J pulled out some Pokémon cans and a small salt shaker to season them before handing them to Sandslash, who sniffed them and then happily devoured them.

"Your favorites," said A.J. "I'll give you more when we're done."

"Slash," replied Sandslash as he continued munching on them.

"You know, I could not help but notice something," Jeanette observed. "Your Sandslash only seems to enjoy only the food you give him for the most part. I tried to give him some before, but he refused."

"Hah, he's always been a bit of a picky eater," A.J chuckled. "You should have seen him when we first met, it was really hard to get something he liked. It didn't help that he didn't actually like me very much then."

"Is that so?" the girl asked. "I find that hard to believe. You two make a great team now."

"Well, we weren't always like that," said A.J. "We actually got a rather rocky start, when he almost fell on me…"

…

About six months before getting my trainer license, I asked my dad to let me catch a Pokémon, one I could raise myself. He agreed on the condition I'd have to take care of it myself a hundred percent. Seemed fair enough, and how hard could it be?

We went to camp near Mt. Moon so I could catch a good Pokémon over there. While I didn't mind starting with a common one, like Pidgey or Rattata, if I could find something different it would've been better for me, and that seemed the best place to do so. Dad lent me his Machop, and so we walked close to the entrance cave.

"Machop?"

"What's wrong?" I asked. Then I heard a rumbling noise.

"Ma, machop!" He pointed above and I saw it.

Some boulders were falling off the mountain, straight to us. I jumped out of the way, but Machop stood firm and punched them, shattering them to pieces. However, among those falling rocks, there was something, or rather, someone else, and Machop ended up crashing it against the cave's wall. Something alive.

"Shrew… shrew!"

And that was when I first saw him. I could see he was angry at having been punched, but upon seeing him closer, I knew he'd be the perfect Pokémon for me.

"This is the one," I said. So without wasting any time, I commanded Machop to attack. "Cross Chop, quick!"

Machop then jumped at him with his arms crossed. Sandshrew curled up to shield himself and Machop sent him flying towards the mountain wall. He quickly uncurled and charged at us with a Fury Swipes barrage. Fortunately, Dad had trained Machop to guard against attacks without commands, and I just waited for a chance to deliver a counter.

"Now Seismic Toss!"

Machop then grabbed Sandshrew's and trapped him in a headlock, before jumping up and throwing him at the ground. I grabbed the Pokéball Dad had given me. Before throwing it, though, I could have sworn that he was glaring at me, but I didn't pay any attention. I just threw the ball and stood still until it stopped shaking.

At long last, I had my own Pokémon.

…

"Wow, now that is a fateful first encounter," said Jeanette as she glanced at her own starter, her Bellsprout. "So, he did not like you back then, I assume it was because he was not happy that you attacked him?"

"Nope, he wasn't." A.J chuckled again. "That was when I first realized, having my own Pokémon was only half of it. The other half… was earning his trust and friendship."

…

"C'mon, what's wrong? Why won't you eat anything?"

"Shrew," he told me as turned away.

"Listen, I was only allowed to keep you on the condition that I take care of you," I insisted. "At least try it, it can't be that bad."

I tried over and over again, but nothing worked; I never managed to get him to accept the food. My patience was running out, but even so, I knew I had to try everything. I made a deal with my parents and I had to keep my end in order to keep Sandshrew. The truth was, despite his initial attitude, I actually liked him and I wanted us to be partners.

Since regular Pokémon food didn't seem to work, I tried some fruit or berries, but he didn't like those either. I brought him an apple, and he sliced it to bits that he scattered all over the floor. I brought him an Oran Berry, and he threw it after giving the first bite. The Sitrus berries seemed to work… until he tried to spit them in my face.

"Hey, watch it!" I yelled angrily. "Why do you have to play so damn hard?"

"Shrew." He shrugged and looked away.

"Say… are you still mad for the punch Machop gave you? Or that we just plain attacked you?"

He didn't answer, but I had the feeling that was it. Especially since after that, whenever I approached him he would just curl up into a ball and refuse to talk to me.

It wasn't until almost a week after I caught him that I finally found something. While I was checking the shelf where my parents stored the spices for Pokémon food, I accidentally knocked over a vial full of a recently failed recipe my mom had made, and it spilled over the bowl of Pokémon food. I really don't know why she had kept it, since none of hers or Dad's Pokémon liked it.

"Ah, drat," I said as I picked it up. It spilled all over the food and there was no way to remove it. "Well, no point in keeping this around, to the trash."

The trash can was by the other side of the room, so I passed by Sandshrew while I was carrying it. Whatever it was, it actually picked the interest of his nostrils.

"Shrew? Sand, sandshrew."

"What? You want this?" I asked before I dropped it into the can. "Ah, you're not gonna like this, trust me."

"Shrew, sandshrew." He kept insisting outstretching his paws. I hesitated for a bit, but I figured there was nothing to lose.

I left the bowl on the floor and much to my surprise, he ate it all. By the time he was done there were no leftovers at all; he even licked the bowl for any that might have remained. Whatever that recipe had, it clearly satisfied him.

"Hmm, you've got a peculiar taste in food," I said. "Maybe that wasn't a failed recipe after all. Hopefully Mom didn't throw away those notes."

…

"And lucky for me she still had them," A.J finished his story. "There were a few crossed lines and all, but that special seasoning was all we needed."

"I had never heard of a Sandshrew being that picky with food," Jeanette chuckled. "But at least you won him over, right?"

"Yeah, who'd have guessed all I needed was a failed spice recipe?" said A.J. "After that, we finally began training together. When we started our journey, we decided to achieve one hundred victories in a row before we went to compete for Gym Badges. And we were this close to making it."

"Until you met Ash," said Jeanette.

"That's right." The green-haired boy nodded. "Even so, I don't feel bad for losing to him. There's no denying he's a good trainer, and outside of battles he's a very nice guy. That only makes me feel more motivated to do my best every time I have the chance to fight him."

"Given the way you talk about him, I am looking forward to the chance I can fight him myself sometime," said Jeanette.

"Sandslash," the Ground-type called out, once he finished eating his snacks.

A.J pulled out a pocket watch. It had a stopwatch function he often used for training and resting. "Well, I think that's enough rest for the time being. Ready to continue our training?"

They had a long way to go, but if they mastered Rollout, by the time of the rematch they would have an excellent way to move around the field fast and attack at the same time. All they needed to do was learning how to direct their course.

Two days later…

"Alright, Sandslash, one more time! Rock Tomb!"

"Slash!" Sandslash summoned several rocks he scattered all over the open field. The final test for their new move was at hand.

"Let's crush them all! Rollout!"

At A.J's command, Sandslash curled up and began rolling forward. He was aiming for a rather big rock, and quickly reduced it to gravel.

"Ninety degrees to the right!" A.J called, and Sandslash turned around describing an angle, crushing another boulder without slowing down one bit. "One eighty to the left!"

A.J continued repeating angled commands to get Sandslash to turn around, and in less than two minutes, just about every boulder on the field had been reduced to gravel. A.J called for a stop and Sandslash looked at the result of his work with a hint of pride.

"We did it, Sandslash. You got the hang of it pretty fast, I'd say," A.J congratulated him.

With Sandslash having full control of his new move, A.J decided to move on to the next step of their training. The time had come to study his opponent's fighting style and learn how to counteract it during the rematch. Taking the Pokéball Kiyo had given him, he let Tyrogue out to get started.

"Tyrogue!" The small Fighting-type clashed his fists and awaited instructions.

"Alright, little buddy, how about you begin showing us what you can do?" asked A.J.

Tyrogue glanced around, as if looking for something to show off his skills. Among the boulders Sandslash had used for Rollout practice there were still a few big chunks. Tyrogue lifted one of them and hurled it up into the air. While it was falling, he adopted a horseman stance while he readied his fists, coating them in a bright red glow.

"Tytytytytytyty!" he shouted as the rock fell in front of him, unleashing a barrage of punches, so fast that it almost looked like he had lots of arms, and his fists only looked like small blurs all over the place. Once he finished, the rock had been reduced to almost dust. Both teenagers had their eyes widened in awe, with A.J even whistling at the power display.

"I believe that was a Bullet Punch," said Jeanette as she recognized the move.

"Yeah. He might be small, but he certainly packs a punch." He smiled and nodded. "I'm gonna enjoy training with him. Time to practice melee combat."

A.J grabbed a Pokéball to let out Tyrogue's first opponent. One of his three Rattata had recently evolved, and he was pretty good at close-quarters fighting, so he figured he would be a good match to assess Tyrogue's abilities. The Fighting-type took a guard stance before his opponent, who clenched his teeth awaiting his trainer's orders.

"Alright, Tyrogue, defend yourself as you see fit. Raticate, you ready?"

"Raticate!"

"Start with Super Fang!"

Raticate's upper teeth lengthened as they were coated in a white light, and he charged to bite Tyrogue. The small Fighting-type simply waited until the last second and dodged by turning his body to a side. Raticate overshot him and turned around, charging again once, twice, thrice more, with the same result.

"Raticate, use Dig!" A.J called.

Raticate dove underground, while Tyrogue remained still, closing his eyes and waiting. A few seconds passed, and both A.J and Jeanette saw a few cracks coming out from behind Tyrogue, but just as soon Raticate jumped at him, Tyrogue simply glanced over the shoulder and stepped aside to avoid the attack. As he did that, he charged his left fist with orange energy, and punched Raticate right on the back.

"That was Brick Break," Jeanette observed, and A.J nodded as well. The more he saw him fight, the more impressed he became. Kiyo had certainly given him a good sparring partner.

With Raticate stunned by the blow, Tyrogue once again took the horseman stance as both of his fists turned red. The rodent was barely able to get back up and turn around to receive a rain of punches to the face and belly, ending with an uppercut that sent him falling on his back, unable to get back up. Tyrogue made a curt bow, as a sign of respect for his fallen opponent.

A.J approached to check Raticate out, and once he saw he'd be just fine, returned him to the Pokéball. He then glanced at Tyrogue.

"Good reflexes and strong punches," A.J observed. "You're pretty fast on your feet, to move and to attack."

Tyrogue nodded. Kiyo's battling style clearly shone: it was a strong and fast offensive that didn't leave the opponent any breathing room, and excellent dodging skills that would help against melee and ranged attacks, meaning it would be hard to keep him at bay once he closed in the distance. Perhaps the best way to defeat him was to beat him at his own game, so the key would be matching his attacks' strength and speed for an evenly matched fight, and take any possible opening for a decisive blow.

"Let's try it again. Sandslash, you're up!" he called to his first partner.

Sandslash clenched his claws, ready to face his new sparring partner. A.J watched closely, getting more and more pumped by the minute. No doubt it would be a very interesting training session.

A few days later…

The training sessions with Tyrogue paid off, and A.J had gotten a better grasp on Kiyo's fighting style. Another thing he noticed was that Tyrogue wasn't fond of starting with Bullet Punch on a whim: like the rest of Kiyo's other Pokémon, he liked to start a battle delivering the first strike and making it count. He made a note to remember that when he went for the rematch.

Deciding to put their current training to the test, A.J and Jeanette went to the local Battle Club. Since they had some extra cash they figured they could use some help to train new moves while they had some battles with their other Pokémon. A.J left Raticate to learn Zen Headbutt, as he figured a Psychic-type attack could come in handy, while Jeanette left her Beedrill to learn Giga Drain.

Unfortunately, all battle arenas were occupied at the time, so in the meantime they'd have to make do watching the ongoing battles until there was someone available to fight with.

The pair recognized a familiar face: another of the Battle Dome tournament participants was in the middle of a battle. Otoshi, that was his name as they recalled, and he was using a Doduo against a Nidorina.

However, A.J's eyes widened when he recognized said Nidorina's trainer.

"Wait a minute… Mom?"

Jeanette looked at A.J, and then at Nidorina's trainer: she was a mature-looking woman whose long hair was the same shade of green as A.J's. She was focused on the battle at hand and hadn't noticed them, so they chose not to interrupt her, right when her Nidorina delivered a Double Kick at the two-headed bird, knocking it out cold.

"Doduo is unable to battle, Nidorina wins!" the referee declared as Otoshi recalled his Pokémon.

"Well done Doduo. Alright, it's all up to you now. Marowak, I choose you!"

"Marowak!" The bone Pokémon took a battle stance, staring down at his opponent.

"Begin!" the referee declared.

"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" Otoshi cried out. The bone Pokémon jumped back and threw his bone at Nidorina.

A.J's mother's eyes locked onto the bone, and she gave out a command of her own. "Nidorina, use Water Pulse, forty-five up and left!"

The Poison-type formed a water sphere in her mouth, and fired it at the incoming bone. The water splashed over the field and the bone fell to the ground harmlessly, leaving Marowak temporarily unarmed.

"Crunch, Nidorina!"

Nidorina charged head on against Marowak to try and sink her fangs on him, while the latter dodged and jumped backwards until he was able to retrieve his bone. Nidorina then proceeded to get up close and personal with her claws and tail, while Marowak used his bone to parry the strikes, occasionally jumping back to throw a Bonemerang, or spinning the bone to deflect a Water Pulse sphere thrown at him. The two were evenly matched for the most part, with none being able to land a solid hit to turn the tide in their favor.

No one would have expected what came next, however.

"The time has come, Marowak, let's do it!"

Marowak nodded, and clenched his left fist to charge it into electricity. However, instead of attacking Nidorina with it, he punched his own chest. Suddenly, he started giving of sparks, and a golden layer coated his upper body and arms.

"What is that?!" A.J and his mother asked in unison, eyes widened in both interest and shock at once.

"Is that…?" Jeanette's reaction, while no less surprised, was more thoughtful. As if she had seen something like that before.

"It's not yet complete, but this is the power that will give us victory in the Indigo League!" Otoshi said. "Marowak, Bone Club!"

Marowak charged at Nidorina and began delivering hit after hit. The strikes had gotten faster and stronger than before, giving off light sparks as Nidorina tried to parry them. Marowak was gaining on her, stepping forward with each strike and forcing Nidorina to the defensive.

"Nidorina, use Crunch!"

Nidorina bared her fangs as they coated in dark energy. She bit down her foe's arm, and her skin glowed purple as her ability was triggered. However, when the purple glow made contact with the golden energy, light sparks flew and both Pokémon were slightly knocked back, forcing Nidorina to let go of Marowak's arm.

"What just happened?" A.J's mother asked.

A.J and Jeanette asked themselves the same thing as they exchanged glances, but found no answer. Whatever that golden energy was, it seemed to have blocked Nidorina's Poison Point. Otoshi took advantage of their shock to keep up the assault, but as soon as Nidorina had the chance, she fired a Water Pulse and landed a lucky strike, causing Marowak to become confused.

"Nidorina, use Crunch on Marowak's tail!"

With Marowak still on a daze, Nidorina jumped behind him and bit on the tip of his tail, causing him to yelp in pain. Once again, Poison Point was triggered, but since the tail wasn't covered by that golden energy layer, it didn't protect him this time around. Marowak's uncovered skin took a purple tint as he began suffering the effects of poisoning.

"No, Marowak!"

"Nidorina, toss Marowak around!"

Still with her fangs sunk into Marowak's tail, Nidorina slammed the Ground-type one, two, three times before spinning him around and throwing him to the other side of the field. He got back up, apparently snapped out of the confusion.

"Water Pulse!"

"Bonemerang!"

Nidorina fired the water sphere while Marowak hurled his spinning bone against her. The bone hit the Poison-type right on the head, knocking her out cold, but the Water Pulse sphere also landed true, hitting Marowak in the chest. The damage from the poison took him out as well.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! Thus this battle ends in a draw!"

The two trainers returned their respective Pokémon and approached to the center to shake hands and congratulate each other.

"You surprised me, boy. You show a lot of promise for a rookie trainer," the woman said.

"It was an honor battling you, madam," Otoshi bowed respectfully. "I still have much to learn, but I promise you a rematch when we complete our training."

"I'll be looking forward to it." The woman nodded as Otoshi turned around and left the arena. A.J finally decided to approach her now that the battle was over.

"Mom! You were incredible!"

"Akira?" The woman turned around, and she beamed as she saw her son approaching. "Akira honey! How have you been?" she said as she caught him in a hug.

"Mom! You're gonna crush my ribs!" he complained, his voice a little strained from the pain. He loved her hugs, but sometimes she went a little overboard.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "But if you're here, that means you've finally started your Pokémon journey, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." A.J nodded. "Oh, by the way, I'd like you to meet someone. Jeanette, come closer."

The girl bowed politely as she smiled. "Pleased to meet you, madam. My name is Jeanette Fisher."

"Fisher? As in, from Crimson City's Fisher Clan?" the woman asked with interest, and Jeanette nodded. "The pleasure is mine, young lady. My name is Asuka Jouda."

"I'm surprised we found you here, Mom," said A.J. "You usually come over only when the League Conference is about to start."

"I felt like giving you and your father a little surprise," Asuka replied. "Well, since you two are here, would you be interested in a little spar with me?"

"You bet we are! And don't go easy on me just because we're family!" A.J pumped his fist in excitement.

"Oh, there's no way I'd ever do that. Show me what you've got, son!"

…

A few rounds later, A.J and Jeanette could see by themselves Asuka's real strength. While she did promise not to go easy on them, the younger trainers quickly took notice that the woman had given them a few free hits every once in a while. To their credit, though, Jeanette managed to catch her off guard by having her Bellsprout flip Asuka's Nidorino, and was very close to winning.

While they rested, the conversation eventually directed itself to the battle Asuka previously had with Otoshi. A.J and Jeanette mentioned he also had taken part in the Battle Dome Tournament, and if that strange golden power-up he had used was any indication, he'd be a more formidable opponent at the Indigo League.

"I'm curious, just what exactly did that Marowak do?" Asuka asked. "It seemed to be wearing a Key Stone instead of a Mega Stone, but as far as I know Marowak can't Mega Evolve."

"I might know something about it," said Jeanette. Mother and son glanced at her with interest, so she proceeded to elaborate. "Our family library has many stories about our founder, Utsubotto Fisher, and there are tales of him facing Pokémon capable of breaking their foes with the power of light and thunder. Several of them have become bedtime stories for our young, but every legend is usually based on real facts."

"Come to think about it, that Marowak used a Thunder Punch on itself," said Asuka, becoming thoughtful.

They would have continued their chat, had it not been for a voice calling through the club's speakers. "Miss Jeanette Fisher, we'd like to inform you that your Pokémon has successfully learned the move you requested. Please go see the tutor to pick it up."

"Well, that was faster than I expected," she said with a smile. "If you excuse me, I shall return soon."

A.J and Asuka nodded, and thus Jeanette left to pick up her Beedrill. The mother glanced at the female teenager with a certain interest as she walked away.

"What a charming young lady," said Asuka. "How did you guys meet?"

"I first saw her at the Battle Dome Tournament, but we didn't officially meet until after I won my third badge," said A.J. "You should have seen her, she managed to fight off a wild Beedrill all by herself."

Asuka couldn't help but notice her son's tone; she knew what he meant. "Not just a pretty girl, but also a tough one?" She winked. "Am I seeing you follow your father's footsteps?"

A.J looked away, but he couldn't hide the red tinge on his cheeks. His mother laughed a bit; like father like son, it seemed.

"Speaking of your father, how has he been? I haven't had the chance to stop by home yet."

"He's been fine," said A.J. "We've missed you a lot, but we managed to bear with it, training together. Or at least until I finally began my own journey."

"I can see you took your father's endurance training methods. Your Sandslash took many supereffective against my Cloyster before going down."

"Yeah, but we're training to improve on attack and movement speed. That cost us our fourth badge the last time." A.J clenched his fist. "We're gonna win the rematch, though."

"I'm certain you will." Asuka smiled. "Say, how about you tell me how your journey has been so far? I'm sure you've got plenty of stories to tell, and not just about that tournament you've mentioned."

"Well, I know that you and Dad have different training methods. As for me… I figured I needed a middle point between your approaches. So that's why I chose to stay home and train for a bit before I officially started the Gym challenge."

Asuka nodded. Sure enough, she and Jin had been rivals in their youth, in no small part because they had different training methods. Jin was more focused on building strength and endurance, and he preferred to stay in a place for a while to learn, while Asuka liked to stay on the move (that being the reason she still travelled often), favoring mostly speed and evasion over raw strength. She was glad that her son could find his own niche for his training.

"I figured that setting a goal for myself would help," A.J continued, "so I decided that I would get a hundred victories in a row before I started competing for gym badges. And you won't believe it; I was this close to making it."

"Let me guess, you made it to ninety-nine?"

"Yeah, that's right." A.J chuckled. "Still, I don't feel bad for losing, the guy who broke my streak is pretty good too. I still haven't won a battle against him, but that only drives me more to improve."

"That's good to know, son," said Asuka. "And since we're talking about improving, I have something for you that might help."

Asuka reached into her bag, and pulled out a round stone to hand it to her son. A.J studied it closely: it was white, with black and yellow streaks inside, much like the colors of a Beedrill. A.J immediately pulled out his Key Stone and compared them side to side, much to Asuka's surprise.

"It's a Beedrillite," the woman explained. "It can be used to Mega Evolve a Beedrill. Be warned, though, I was told Mega Evolution can be risky to pull off. You need to have a strong bond of trust and friendship with your Pokémon, but I'm sure you can make it."

"Yeah, but Jeanette has her own Key Stone and a Beedrill too," said A.J. "Everyone in the Battle Dome Tournament was given one."

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure she'd be delighted if you gave it to her as a gift." Asuka winked at him again. "Besides, I've always told you, you should be nice to a girl you like."

A.J blushed again, but did give it some thought. He knew his parents had been rivals on the battlefield, but according to Asuka, Jin always harbored a crush on her since the first time she wiped the floor with him. About that, Jin later would say "we Jouda men have always had a thing for strong women". Maybe it was in the blood, as A.J himself liked Jeanette, despite having known her for just a few weeks.

Still, the dilemma wasn't as easy. On the one hand, he was lucky enough that his mother had found a compatible Mega Stone for one of his Pokémon, which would definitely be a major boost to his team's firepower. On the other hand, Jeanette could make use of it too, and he'd feel bad keeping it to himself.

His train of thought was interrupted by Jeanette's arrival, and the girl asked Asuka if she wanted to have another sparring match to test her Beedrill's newly learned move. The woman gladly accepted, though not before giving her son one last glance and a wink. The two took their positions on the battlefield, as Asuka brought out a Fearow to battle against Jeanette's Beedrill.

As the battle went on, A.J glanced at the Key Stone and Beedrillite once again. He was still split on whether he should keep the latter to himself or give it to Jeanette. Then again, if what his mother had said about Mega Evolution was true, maybe neither was ready to use it yet. He could discuss it with her later.

A bit later…

After bidding goodbye to Asuka, the two teenagers went back to open field to get some more training. Along the way, A.J showed Jeanette the Beedrillite and asked her if she'd like to have it, but she politely refused.

"I appreciate it, but it was a gift from your mother," she stated. "It should be yours."

A.J felt tempted to tell her that it was his mother who suggested him that he gave it to her, but ultimately decided not to. Seeing that she wouldn't accept it as a gift, he tried something else.

"Look, I don't mind if we share it," he said, "We both have a Beedrill, so maybe you can have it every once in a while, if only to learn how to use Mega Evolution?"

"A.J, while I appreciate the gesture, I do not think either of us is ready to use Mega Evolution yet," she pointed. "I have done my share of research about it, and believe me, it is not an easy feat to achieve, let alone as we are now."

"If you say so. Anyway, if you ever want to borrow it, just know that I'm willing to share it with you, okay?"

Jeanette sighed. "Alright. But only until I find a Mega Stone of my own. It is better to win with your own strength after all."

"Deal," A.J concluded.

In any case, Mega Evolution or not, the training was going well. With Raticate having mastered Zen Headbutt, and Sandslash being able to use Rollout to go wherever he wanted with A.J's instructions, they went back to train on melee combat with Tyrogue's help, though never leaving aside the endurance part. A.J himself had gone to practice some climbing with Sandslash, even convincing Jeanette to join them in the climb of a rocky hill to get a better place to practice battles.

"Let me help you," said A.J as he outstretched a hand for her to grab.

Jeanette had to get herself some lighter clothes for climbing, since her kimono would make said activity pretty hard. She didn't mind, though she did feel a little weird to be wearing shorts, blouse and hiking boots. A.J said they looked nice on her, so she decided to put up with it.

"So, how was it?"

"My hands hurt just a little bit, but it was not too bad." She moved her fingers a little, trying to shake off the pain.

"Don't worry, the first time's always the worst," said A.J. "Or that's what my dad said the day he first took me for a survival trip to make me stronger."

"Survival trip?" Jeanette tilted her head.

"A nicer way to say we walk forever and starve ourselves to almost death." A.J chuckled a bit. "Just kidding; it's not that bad, but it was a little bit rough. The first time I almost collapsed, actually."

"That sounds like your father was harsh on his training," said Jeanette.

"Well, he always says you have to be harsh, but never ask of others more than you ask of yourself," he replied.

"Hmm… so what did you do in that 'survival trip' of yours?" the girl asked with interest.

A.J smiled, knowing she was in for another entertaining tale.

…

It was when I had just turned thirteen. It wasn't the first time we went together for camping, but it was the first time we did something unusual. It wasn't just about going fishing, lighting the campfire to sing and tell horror tales around it at night.

That day we went walking through steep terrain, crossing rivers by wading through the stream, and climbing rocky hills, only stopping for lunch or to attend our needs. In fact, in the last two stretches, dad had us all tying ropes around our waists and his Pokémon's, so we weren't dragged by the river's current, and save ourselves if we fell during the climb when it became vertical. Two times, that rope saved me from a thirty-foot fall.

But at long last, after a long and hard climb, we reached the top of the hill, right on time to watch the sunset.

"C'mon, son, you can do this. Just a little bit more, you're almost here!"

I could barely feel my fingers, and despite the pants I was wearing, I swore I had scrapped my knees a little against the rocks. But it was just a few more inches to reach the top. When I felt I was about to fall again, Dad extended his hand. I gazed into his eyes and building up the last bit of strength, I grabbed it, and he helped me climb that last step. I felt so relieved to have my feet back on firm ground again.

"Good job, Akira," he said, and the rest of his Pokémon celebrated along with us. I couldn't do anything but drop myself on my rear.

"Oof, I'm beat," I said trying to catch my breath.

"It was all worth it. Look over there."

I turned around to see where he pointed. Truth to be told, after that trip, seeing the sunset behind the mountains from that hill made it all worth it in the end. It was a good reward, and somehow made it very symbolic for us to get to that place.

"Well, I'm not complaining, but… any other reason why we came here, Dad? I mean, it's a nice sunset and all, but…"

"I'm glad you asked, son. Actually, I wanted you to experience something firsthand. Many people believe that Pokémon training is just about trainers telling their Pokémon what to do. I on the other hand, prefer training with them."

"Training with them?"

"Think of it this way: it's not fair that a trainer submits their Pokémon to some training they're not willing to go through themselves. If they have to suffer, shed blood, sweat and tears to become stronger, then so do I. It helps me understand them better, to know what they feel, and it encourages them to become even better." He turned around towards his team. "Isn't that right, you guys?"

The whole team, formed by Rhydon, Machoke, Electabuzz, Kangaskhan, Nidoking and Onix, vigorously nodded. It was kind of weird to see them, they were bruised and tired, and even then they were all happy. As if being all together had made the journey easier for them all. That was when I understood what Dad meant to teach me.

"I see." I glanced at the sunset again, and I couldn't help but smile. "Can we come for another trip like this sometime?"

"Whenever you want, son," Dad said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "And maybe you'd like to come alone, once you become a trainer."

…

"I see what he was aiming at," said Jeanette. "Training with your Pokémon always makes it more interesting."

"You must know a lot about that, don't you?" said A.J, and the girl just smiled. "That's why having you as a training partner makes it even better. That way we can learn from each other."

"I am flattered." Jeanette looked at her hands. "Alright, as soon as my hands stop hurting, what plans do you have for training today?"

"There's plenty of room here for training battles with all of our Pokémon at once," A.J observed. "Let's take a break to eat something and then we can get started."

A few snacks and half an hour later, with their energies replenished after the tough climb, the pair let all their Pokémon out to get them to fight amongst each other. They were just going for some light exercises, for they just wanted to try out their moves and find different ways to use them.

However, there was one particular member who found something else to do. Or rather, an opponent he couldn't fight through his conventional means.

"Rogue, tyrogue!"

"Sprout, sprout, bellsprout."

Until then, Tyrogue had had sparring matches against all of A.J and Jeanette's Pokémon, having beaten them all at least once. All but one of them: Bellsprout.

Despite Tyrogue's lightning-fast fists, Bellsprout only had to twist her body sideways or backwards to dodge his punches. Furthermore, on occasion she would use her leaf arms to grab his fist when he missed a particularly strong blow, and tossed him over her shoulder (if she had shoulders), slamming him on the floor. Tyrogue didn't let up and charged again, but the result was the same: he didn't get a single hit in, and ended up either lying on his back or slamming headfirst into the ground.

"There, that's enough," said A.J, once Bellsprout had thrown Tyrogue for the twelfth time. "Well, looks like you found your match, didn't you?"

"Rogue?" the small Fighting-type said, as if wondering what had hit him.

"Hey, Jeanette, where did you teach your Bellsprout that?" asked A.J with interest. "If I'm not mistaken, weren't those martial arts move, like judo throws or something?"

"Aikido, actually," said the girl. "It is a way to compensate for Bellsprout's lack of size and strength. Aikido uses your opponent's strength against them, and relies more on throws and grapples as opposed to punches or kicks."

"Cool." A.J smiled, thinking that they could adopt something like that for themselves.

"Rogue, rogue, tyrogue!"

At the moment, Tyrogue began talking to Bellsprout. For a moment, the trainers thought he was angry for losing, but Bellsprout nodded as if she was answering questions. Next, the plant approached her trainer and talked to her. Jeanette nodded once she got the message.

"You can understand her?" A.J asked.

"Not quite, it is more about… empathy, so to speak," Jeanette explained. "But I think Bellsprout is trying to tell me that Tyrogue wants to learn how to fight against an opponent like her. Is that right?"

"Sprout." The plant confirmed it with a nod.

"Well, do you have any ideas?" asked A.J, and Jeanette became thoughtful.

"Aikido requires that you have your feet firm on the ground. Perhaps an attack that shakes the ground under the opponent's feet could help, or alternately, something that can knock them into the air."

A.J thought about it. The first option seemed the most viable, since Tyrogue was effectively a ground fighter. Plus, he had Sandslash to teach him Bulldoze, the exact kind of attack he needed to face an opponent like Bellsprout. He was starting to form a new training plan in his head.

"Okay, Tyrogue, you ready to learn some new moves with us?" the green-haired boy asked.

"Rogue!" Tyrogue slammed his fists together as he nodded. He was more than ready to get started.

At the time Sandslash was having his sparring session against Scizor, so the trainers called them out to stop for a bit. Once they explained their plans, A.J instructed Sandslash to give a demonstration on the move Bulldoze for Tyrogue to follow. The porcupine stood side by side with the Fighting-type and raised both paws as he focused.

"Alright. Sandslash, show him how it's done, Bulldoze!"

"Sand… SLASH!"

Sandslash slammed both of his claws on the ground, causing a small tremor that shook Tyrogue, but he managed to stay on his feet. Sandslash turned around and explained to Tyrogue what he had done, and the Fighting-type nodded as he got the message, taking a stance of his own and raising his small fists the same way.

"Ty… ROGUE!"

Following Sandslash's movements, Tyrogue punched the ground in the same fashion, but he didn't cause any tremor. Instead, he just buried both fists and had to pull them back out. Undeterred, he tried again, but the result was the same, until Sandslash gestured him to stop, and explained to him what he was doing wrong. Namely, that he was probably used to hitting hard, and in order to get the move right he had to hold back his strength just a bit. Hit the ground hard enough, but not too hard.

A.J and Jeanette just stared at the two Pokémon. That would probably take a while to teach.

…

It took him about two hours to get it right, but Tyrogue had finally found the right hitting strength to properly use Bulldoze. When he tried again to battle Bellsprout, the tremors helped immobilize her and gave him a small window to get some punches in, thus finally scoring a win against the plant.

The next step was to learn a support move, so now he was being coached by Jeanette and her Scizor.

"Now, the key to learn Double Team is to get the right speed," Jeanette explained to Tyrogue, her Scizor standing next to her. "If you move too fast or too slow, you won't be able to create the afterimage. Scizor here will demonstrate."

Scizor nodded and quickly began moving around, leaving his mirage doppelgangers all around them for Tyrogue to see. They vanished shortly afterwards, and the real Scizor returned to his starting position.

"Do you see now?" Jeanette continued. "You have proved to be very fast on your feet, so you need to find the right speed to create the clones. Now try it yourself."

"Ty!" Tyrogue nodded and stood up, ready for his first go.

He sidestepped fast like he had seen Scizor do it, but no clone appeared. He tried again in the opposite direction, but failed again. And again, and again, until Jeanette signaled him to stop.

"You are doing it too fast. Try going a bit slower," Jeanette suggested. Tyrogue tried to slow down, but he seemingly went to the other extreme: now he was going too slow to create a clone. "I have an idea. Try to pick up the pace with each step until you find the right speed. Ready? Go!"

Following Jeanette's suggestion, Tyrogue began sidestepping left and right, going just a little bit faster each time. Slowly but surely he picked up the pace, going a little bit faster each time. About half a minute later, he managed to create a transparent clone that flickered for a couple of seconds before vanishing completely.

"There!" Jeanette raised her hand to get him to stop. "Do it again, the same way as you did just now."

Once again, Tyrogue sidestepped, creating a clone for a second that quickly vanished. Jeanette nodded in approval: that meant he was getting closer.

"Well done. The right speed to pull off a perfect Double Team is just a bit higher than what you just did. Start from there and find it."

Tyrogue nodded and continued his training. Slowly but surely, his clones seemed to last a little bit more each time he moved, and in less than a couple hours, he succeeded in creating one that lasted long enough to be useful. With a bit more of practice, he would be able to move between them to hide and create moving clones to confuse the opponent even more.

…

As the sun was setting, Tyrogue and Sandslash had engaged in one last sparring match before the day ended. Tyrogue was unleashing his Bullet Punch barrage, while Sandslash used his paws coated in Poison Jab to try and deflect the blows. While the bruises evidenced he hadn't managed to block the attack entirely, he looked much better than he would if he had taken all the punches directly.

"Alright, that's enough, both of you," A.J announced. "Well done, Sandslash. Your Poison Jab can work for defense as much as attack. You can take a break now."

"Sandslash!" Sandslash nodded and A.J returned him to his ball for the time being. The trainer then glanced at Tyrogue.

"And you Tyrogue, I'm impressed with how fast you pick up the moves we've been teaching you. Kiyo has trained you well if you're such a quick learner."

"Tyrogue!" The small Fighting-type slammed his fists together and nodded happily. He seemed very proud of his progress, and he had the right to be.

"I take it you've enjoyed training with us? Yeah, I bet there were things you never expected, like those throws Bellsprout used on you."

Tyrogue burrowed his brow slightly. Getting slammed by the plant wasn't particularly funny, even if it helped him learn. A.J just chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, there's no shame in that. She's just like you: makes use of what she has in the best way she can. She doesn't have your punching power, so she instead uses the opponent's to her advantage. And it works for you too, because it helped you learn a flaw in your own style, right?"

"Rogue." Tyrogue nodded again.

"Maybe you'd like to learn to do that too?" A.J asked. "I know you're strong, but you might find yourself facing an opponent bigger and stronger than you. That's a trick that might come in handy for those times, you know. I'm sure Jeanette and Bellsprout will be glad to teach you."

"Rogue, Tyrogue!"

A.J smiled again. He appreciated the Pokémon's enthusiasm in training. He had a lot of fighting spirit, a clear desire to learn and he showed no fear for any opponent or challenge he had in front of him. In a way, he was a lot like them: he was aware of his limits, but always did his best to find ways to overcome them, and willingly took anything he could for himself from his teammates and rivals. That was how A.J had developed his fighting style, starting from how he took a bit of each of his parents' methods for himself.

A.J had enjoyed teaching him as much as he helped with his own training, and suddenly, he started to get an idea.

"Say Tyrogue, this might sound weird, but… would you like to help me in the rematch?" A.J asked.

"Rogue?" Tyrogue tilted his head.

"Think about it: that way you can show Kiyo what you've learned with us. What do you say?"

Tyrogue looked away slightly. A.J couldn't tell whether he liked or not the idea, so he quickly added: "Hey, it's okay, it was just a thought. It's not like I'm gonna force you to do something you don't want to."

A.J could tell from his expression that, while the Pokémon didn't seem fully on board with the idea of facing his trainer, he wasn't adverse to it either. He probably wanted to test himself and show Kiyo what he had learned from training with A.J. The trainer however decided not to put any pressure on him. There was still time left before the rematch, and if Tyrogue didn't feel like it, he would just find another way.

One week later…

The day had come. A.J and Jeanette walked through the doors of the Matcha City Gym, ready for the rematch. The green-haired boy took a deep breath as he approached the Gym Leader, who seemed to be expecting him.

"So you finally returned," said Kiyo with a smile. "I must say, you came back a bit later than I expected."

"I felt like doing a few more days of training," A.J replied.

"Well, let's see if they've paid off." Kiyo glanced at the old man on the wheelchair next to him. "Master Hamm, if you please, can you be the referee for this match as well?"

"Do I have another choice?" the old man replied in a faux-grumpy voice.

Once they were back on the arena, trainer, Gym Leader and referee took their positions. There weren't any students on the stands that day, so it was only Jeanette there to cheer for A.J. The old man announced the rules.

"The rematch between the challenger, Akira Jouda, and the Gym Leader Kiyo will begin now. The match will consist of three one-on-one bouts with no substitutions, and the challenger must win two out of three to earn the badge. The challenger gets the first turn."

"Alright, it's time." A.J threw his first Pokéball. "Go Raticate!"

"Raticate!" The Normal-type rodent clasped his bared teeth, ready to fight.

A.J noticed that Kiyo arched an eyebrow as he saw his chosen Pokémon. A Normal-type seemed an odd choice in a Fighting-type Gym at first glance, but he wanted to take a different approach, another strategy.

"Alright, here's my first choice. Go Hitmonlee!"

"Lee, lee, hitmonlee!" The kicking Pokémon showed off his skills by performing some high left kicks, ending with a roundhouse right kick to land on a guard stance.

The old man raised his hand. "Ready? FIGHT!"

"Hitmonlee, start with Vacuum Wave!" Kiyo ordered.

A.J almost gasped in shock as he saw Hitmonlee spin on one leg and then thrust his palms forward, sending out a compressed air blast at Raticate. The attack was fast and quickly stunned him, leaving him wide open.

"Now, Double Kick!" Kiyo shouted.

With a quick dash, Hitmonlee got up close with Raticate and unleashed a barrage of rapid fire kicks all over the rat Pokémon, sending him backwards with a direct one to the stomach, knocking the air out of him. However, Raticate quickly got back up and glared at his foe.

A.J narrowed his eyes at Hitmonlee, and spared a glance at Kiyo. It seemed that he wasn't the only one to set up a different strategy for the rematch. Vacuum Wave was a mid-ranged attack and it managed to throw them off for a bit, but thankfully their endurance training meant it would take more than a couple of supereffective hits to finish Raticate off.

"Now, Blaze Kick!"

"Lee!" Hitmonlee quickly rushed at Raticate, his right foot flaring up in red before bursting into flames for a roundhouse kick.

"Go underground Raticate, use Dig!"

Once recovered of the initial assault, Raticate quickly dove into the floor and burrowed his way underground, dodging the Blaze Kick. The flames barely grazed his tail as he made his escape, but otherwise caused no harm.

"Pay attention to the ground, Hitmonlee!"

"Hitmonlee…"

The kicking Pokémon closed his eyes and listened. A.J guessed that he was probably trying to feel the ground's vibrations to predict where Raticate would come out. That would matter little, however, since there was more than one way to attack from underground.

"Pull him down!" A.J yelled.

A few cracks appeared right between Hitmonlee's feet. Before he could jump away, Raticate burst out with his fangs in the ready and bit Hitmonlee's leg, dragging him down and leaving him buried up to the armpits. As he tried to push himself back up, Hitmonlee all of a sudden tensed and groaned in pain. A.J smiled; he had instructed Raticate to chew down on his opponent's legs during the training sessions.

After a while, Raticate came out of the entry hole and turned around to face the helpless Hitmonlee.

"Zen Headbutt!"

"Rat!" Raticate's head began to glow blue and he charged at the still struggling Hitmonlee, delivering a supereffective hit right in the middle of his eyes. The rat bounced back and landed, ready for another go.

"Way to go, Raticate, again!" A.J called.

A.J's Raticate then prepared for another Zen Headbutt. Another blow like that could easily turn the tide of the battle to the trainer's favor, but Kiyo quickly reacted to it.

"Use Vacuum Wave on the ground!"

To free himself from the hole, Hitmonlee slammed his palms on the ground around him and the wave quickly widened the hole, propelling him upwards right when Raticate came for another Zen Headbutt. Kiyo quickly used the jump's momentum to launch a counterattack.

"Blaze Kick!"

"Hitmon… LEE!" Hitmonlee raised his right leg and it quickly caught on fire, ready to deliver a flaming axe kick from the air, but A.J was already onto it, ready with a counter of his own.

"Bite his leg with Super Fang!"

Instead of trying to dodge, Raticate jumped at Hitmonlee with his teeth ready, sinking them on Hitmonlee's flaming leg and putting up with the heat. Hitmonlee winced in pain, and the momentary shock gave A.J a chance to press on.

"Slam him around and then throw him away!"

Clenching his teeth even harder, Raticate pulled Hitmonlee over his head and slammed him on the ground face first, and then again on his back. Next, the rat Pokémon began spinning to build momentum and then let go of his leg to send him flying. Hitmonlee however managed to spin in the air and land safely.

"Super Fang!"

"Blaze Kick!"

Raticate and Hitmonlee charged forward with glowing teeth and burning legs respectively. Raticate jumped and ducked to dodge the flaming kicks, at the same time trying to sink his teeth on Hitmonlee. The latter used his hands to keep Raticate's teeth away to try and land his kicks. A.J however noticed that Hitmonlee's attacks had slowed down a bit, so he had Raticate keep up the pressure even further.

Suddenly though, luck tipped to Hitmonlee's favor when he managed to push Raticate with a point-blank Vacuum Wave at his face, and then delivered an axe Blaze Kick right on his head, causing the rat Pokémon to burst into flames.

Unfortunately for Hitmonlee and Kiyo, Raticate's eyes turned red, signaling the activation of Guts, and A.J was quick to capitalize on it.

"Quick Attack!"

"Vacuum Wave!"

As Raticate charged leaving a white trail behind, Hitmonlee thrust his palms forward to send out another burst of air to keep his opponent at bay. The rat Pokémon didn't let up and charged again, forcing the kicking Pokémon to keep alternating palm thrusts to keep him away as he stepped backwards, and it was then that the bites on Hitmonlee's legs took their toll. He stepped too hard on one and winced in pain, giving Raticate the window to ram him in the stomach, landing on the other side. However, the burn status flaring up prevented him from attacking again and gave Hitmonlee a bit of breathing room.

Hitmonlee's legs had bite marks all over, but the right one seemed more damaged. Maybe he could have Raticate get close for another Super Fang, or better, a Zen Headbutt.

"Hitmonlee, use Bulk Up!" Kiyo called.

"Mon… LEE!" Hitmonlee glowed with a red aura and flexed his arms, briefly turning them as well as his torso and legs from skinny to muscular, powering up his attack and defense. Once back to normal, Hitmonlee glared at Raticate as he took his guard stance again.

"Zen Headbutt!" A.J cried out, and Raticate charged with his head glowing in psychic energy.

"Vacuum Wave, rapid fire!"

Once again, instead of releasing a single burst of air, Hitmonlee began releasing short ones by alternating palm thrusts, only this time he was doing them at a much faster rate and thanks to the previous boost they were more powerful. While he couldn't stop the Zen Headbutt, he managed to halve its power and spare himself from the worst, plus he managed to push Raticate away.

"Now, Double Kick!"

Ready for another round of rapid-fire kicks, Hitmonlee charged at the still stunned Raticate, whose burn flared up again, much to A.J's worry.

"Use Dig and escape!" A.J shouted.

Raticate quickly dived underground once more, escaping from the kick barrage. Hitmonlee glanced around, while Kiyo wouldn't fall for the same trick.

"Jump around the field, Hitmonlee, don't stand still!"

"Lee! Lee! Lee!" Using his left leg, Hitmonlee sprang up and began jumping all over the field. If Raticate tried to pull him back into the ground again, he would be hard-pressed to catch him off-guard.

"Raticate, get back out using Quick Attack!" A.J shouted.

"RAT!" The Normal-type burst out of the ground leaving a white trail behind, pretty far away from Hitmonlee, and jumped so high he almost reached the Gym's ceiling. However, Kiyo quickly caught on that the move wasn't meant to be an attack: it was meant to build momentum for the real one.

"Zen Headbutt!"

Raticate charged down like a blue meteor right at Hitmonlee, and Kiyo couldn't do anything but counter with an attack of his own and hope for the best.

"Flying Blaze Kick, full power!"

Hitmonlee set ablaze his right leg and sprang up with the left one, leaving a fiery trail behind. Blaze Kick met Zen Headbutt, and the colliding attacks exploded in flames and smoke, sending both Pokémon flying backwards back on the field. By some miracle they both landed upright, but then Raticate's burn flared up again and he slumped on the floor, unable to get back up. Three seconds later, Hitmonlee fell to his knee and collapsed too.

"The challenger's Pokémon fell first. This round is for the Gym Leader!" declared the old man.

"Aw, drat." A.J recalled his Raticate. "Well done, Raticate, now take a rest."

"After such a close match, I could be happy with a tie," said Kiyo. "I'm impressed, your Raticate fought pretty well even with a type disadvantage."

A.J smiled at the compliment, and while he was a bit upset at losing the first round, at least it helped him see a few things. On his first match Hitmonlee (he was almost sure it was the same) hadn't used Vacuum Wave, so he had to assume that even if Kiyo would use the same Pokémon as before, he probably had changed their moveset to catch him off-guard. The trainer glanced at his female companion, who had remained silent all the while, but hadn't missed a second of the battle. She gave him a knowing glance, as if to say "It has just begun, you can still win" and they both shared a nod.

"Since he lost the round, the challenger chooses first now!" declared the old man.

"Here we go! Sandslash, you're up!"

"Slash!" The Ground-type clashed his paws, ready to fight.

Kiyo, on the other hand, brought out a familiar opponent. "Go Primeape!"

"Primeape!" The pig-monkey hybrid appeared on the field, and by his reaction upon seeing Sandslash, it was the same from before. Sandslash seemed happy to see him as well.

A.J glanced at both Pokémon on the field. Kiyo had switched the order of the last two Pokémon to throw him off a bit more. If he wasn't careful the second bout would be a repeat of the final in the previous match. Losing wasn't an option this time.

"Ready? FIGHT!"

"Begin with Fissure, Sandslash!" A.J called.

Sandslash stabbed both claws on the floor hard, sending out the crack below Primeape's feet. The Gym Leader seemed surprised; that was a rather odd starting move, as if trying to call back to his previous defeat, but A.J knew what he was doing now. He just counted on Kiyo to do what he expected.

"Jump and Acrobatics!" Kiyo called, and Primeape jumped to dodge the Fissure and come down with a spinning axe kick over Sandslash's head. Just like A.J expected.

"Guard with Poison Jab, then counter!" A.J called.

"Slash!"

Sandslash crouched slightly and coated both his paws in purple toxic energy just in time to cover his head, shielding it from the incoming axe kick. He managed to cushion the impact with his hind legs, and quickly pushed Primeape back, leaving him wide open for a diagonal upwards slash just as he landed.

"Keep it up, Sandslash!"

"Counter with Ice Punch, Primeape!"

Poisoned claws met freezing fists. A.J watched with satisfaction how Sandslash was able keep up with Primeape's attack speed this time around, even managing to force him into the defensive and jump backwards to take some distance before countering. Neither had been able to land a solid blow during the exchange.

"Focus Punch!" Kiyo called.

"Quick, Sandslash, Bulldoze!"

Focus Punch was a powerful move, but the charging time was a major handicap, so Primeape had to jump away to charge it up safely. However, this time he hadn't been able to get far enough, and the Ground-type was able to send his attack. The seismic wave disrupted the floor below Primeape's feet and interrupted the charge, leaving him stunned and open for another attack.

"Rock Tomb!"

"Sand!" Sandslash slammed his paws hard on the floor, summoning a stone barricade around Primeape to trap him. The stones shackled his arms and left him unable to move or try to break them to escape, with only half his face visible.

"Sandslash, Poison Jab from above!"

Sandslash rushed at his defenseless foe, his right claw glowing purple. The Ground-type jumped and delivered the strike right on top of Primeape's head. A.J's face morphed into a grin as he saw Primeape's face taking a purple tint, but it quickly faded as he saw the vein popping on his temple, and his eyes turning red in anger.

"PRIII… MEAPE!" The Fighting-type yelled at the top of his lungs and violently shook his arms, shattering his stone shackles to pieces. A.J didn't realize what had happened until Kiyo shouted his next command.

"Ice Punch!" The next thing they knew was that an icy fist punched Sandslash in the stomach and knocked the air out of him. The porcupine was sent flying and rolled in midair to right himself and land safely.

"Bulldoze!" A.J cried out. Sandslash was ready to send out his seismic wave, but it wouldn't do him any good.

"Earthquake!" Kiyo countered.

Both Pokémon slammed their upper limbs on the ground to send their respective tremor attacks. However, Primeape's Earthquake swallowed Sandslash's Bulldoze almost immediately, and it shook the nearby area, almost knocking Jeanette off her seat, while Kiyo and Master Hamm remained unfazed. Primeape only stopped when the poison acted up, but by then he had done a number on Sandslash.

"Rock Tomb, now!" A.J called.

"Focus Punch!" Kiyo replied.

For a moment, it seemed like Sandslash would be able to trap Primeape again, but the pig monkey delivered a single punch that shattered the rock wall. A.J noticed that Primeape didn't charge the attack before delivering it.

"How did that happen?" asked A.J.

"Focus Punch usually takes a while to charge, but I've trained Primeape to use it faster at the cost of reduced power," Kiyo explained. "But that's not much of an issue with the previous power boost."

"What power boost? I don't…"

"A.J!" Jeanette called. "That Primeape must have Anger Point as its ability!"

"What?!" A.J gasped, and then he understood.

Anger Point boosted attack power to the maximum when the user received a critical hit, which A.J guessed had happened when Sandslash delivered that Poison Jab to the head. Furthermore, that Earthquake attack meant Sandslash couldn't try to go underground to escape without suffering massive damage. He could try to stall for time to let the poison do its job, but Kiyo wouldn't let him do that. Then again, he still had one more card to play. It was time to use it.

"Ready Primeape, use Ice Punch!" Kiyo shouted.

"Sandslash, Rollout!" A.J countered.

Sandslash curled himself into a ball to start rolling over the ground. Kiyo was briefly taken off guard by the fact A.J's Pokémon had managed to break the four-move limit, but quickly recomposed himself.

"Primeape, dodge!" Kiyo called. Despite feeling the effects of the poison, Primeape jumped to the left side to dodge the initial attack. A.J however wasn't done yet with it.

"Two seventy to the right!" A.J shouted.

Following A.J's command, Sandslash kept speeding up as he made the tight turn to the right, coming too fast for Primeape to dodge again and rolling over him. As soon as he felt his attack had hit, Sandslash stopped rolling and turned around to face his foe again. Primeape glared at him, only to feel the poison's weakening effects again.

"Primeape, use Earthquake once more!" Kiyo ordered. Primeape was ready to send out another tremor across the arena, but A.J wasn't going to let him do it.

"Rollout, as fast as you can!"

To gain more momentum, Sandslash jumped up before curling, and that gave him a faster running start as he rolled towards Primeape. It worked: Sandslash was able to hit Primeape before he could slam the ground with his fists, and that encouraged A.J to press on with the attack.

"One eighty to the left!" the trainer called. Sandslash did a U-turn and headed back in the opposite direction. They just needed to wait until the Ground-type was in the right position. "Ninety to the left!"

Said and done; Sandslash turned to the left and headed straight to Primeape. Since Sandslash couldn't see where he was going, he had to rely on his trainer to direct him around the field. A.J mentally thanked his mother for the idea of using angles as a way for Sandslash to know how much he had to turn around. He managed to hit twice in a row, and the second hit was stronger than the first, plus the poison was still in effect.

Primeape weakened with each strike, and to top it off each few passing seconds the poison would drain more of his health. A.J noticed that the Gym Leader bit his lower lip and clenched his fists, trying to think something, until he finally shouted an order.

"Primeape, use Focus Punch on the ground, quick!"

Right when Sandslash was coming at him at full speed, Primeape half-charged a Focus Punch and aimed it to the ground in front of him. The blow ended up making a crater that forced the rolling Sandslash to go up in the air, leaving him wide open for a counterattack.

"Ice Punch!" Kiyo shouted.

"Pri… MEAPE!" The icy punch connected on the falling Sandslash, sending him backwards. By a mix of his endurance training and some kind of miracle, he managed to get back up, ready for another go.

"Very smart of you, using Rollout in such an effective way. Reminds me of Whitney, by the way," said Kiyo. "But I know a few ways to counter it myself."

"It doesn't mean we're going to lose now," A.J replied.

Knowing that they were on their last legs, trainer and Gym Leader decided it was time to end the round. The next attack would determine the result.

"Sandslash, Rollout!"

"Primeape, Focus Punch at full power!"

While Primeape began charging his fist for the decisive blow, Sandslash followed suit by jumping backwards to take some distance and build momentum. Primeape's fist glowed with the full charge while Sandslash approached like a living steamroller ready to squash him flat. Primeape endured the poison's effect as he prepared to deliver the punch…

"Three sixty to the right, Sandslash!" A.J shouted.

Rather than charging head on, though, A.J waited until Sandslash was just close enough to get Primeape to miss the Focus Punch. Not only that: the sudden turn also helped him gain more speed and when he returned, the poison acted again and left Primeape defenseless against the incoming attack. The Fighting-type was sent flying through the air and fell on his back, his eyes spinning and letting out a tired and pained groan.

"Primeape is unable to battle, Sandslash wins!" declared Master Hamm. "This bout goes to the challenger!"

"Sandslash, stop!" A.J called to get him to stop rolling around. Sandslash grinded to a halt and turned around to see his foe had fallen, and he nodded in satisfaction, happy to have beaten him this time around.

"Well done, Primeape, now take a rest." Kiyo recalled his Pokémon, and then glanced at A.J. "Once again, I'm impressed, Akira. I see you've worked hard to find ways to overcome my Pokémon's fighting style."

"It was a close call, but at least it worked," the challenger replied.

"Well, this is the decider. You ready for the final round?" the Gym Leader asked as he took his last Pokéball.

"As ready as I'll ever be." A.J returned Sandslash and silently congratulated him for a job well done. He then spared a glance to Jeanette, whose expression had become more excited over the course of the match. They smiled at each other and the boy quickly turned back to the battlefield before grabbing his last Pokéball.

"Hitmonchan, you're next!" Kiyo called. The last one as A.J expected, but if Hitmonlee and Primeape had new tricks up their sleeves, Hitmonchan was bound to do the same.

"It's time. Go Tyrogue!"

"Rogue, tyrogue!" The small Fighting-type faced his evolved counterpart, slamming his fists together.

"Chan?" Hitmonchan widened his eyes, as if recognizing Tyrogue as an old training buddy. Kiyo quickly caught on as well.

"Wait, is that…?"

"The same Tyrogue you lent me for training? Yeah, it's him alright." A.J nodded. While he had let Tyrogue think about it, the day before he finally asked whether he wanted to help him or not, and much to his delight, he accepted. And now he was looking forward to show what he had learned.

"Well, this is unexpected." Kiyo smiled. "But then again, I never said you couldn't use him to fight me, did I?"

"The final round begins now!" Master Hamm announced. "Ready? FIGHT!"

By mere chance, both trainers yelled the same command, at the exact same time. "BULLET PUNCH!"

Tyrogue and Hitmonchan charged at each other and met in the middle of the field, unleashing a barrage of furious punches on each other. For a while it looked like they were evenly matched, but after a few seconds it became clear that Tyrogue's smaller size gave him a slight advantage, making him a smaller target and letting him dodge and land more punches than Hitmonchan. He didn't come out unscathed, though: when he landed a hook to the liver, Hitmonchan countered with a left uppercut that sent him flying.

"Brick Break as we practiced!" A.J ordered.

Tyrogue took a horseman stance and charged both his fists in orange energy before rushing at Hitmonchan. Without a command, Hitmonchan took a guard stance, and A.J knew he was going for a Counter, as he did in their previous encounter. He was taking high chances with this move, but if it worked, it would pay off greatly.

Tyrogue sent a right punch to Hitmonchan's face, which he blocked as predicted. However, right when he channeled the energy to his fist for the Counter punch, Tyrogue landed his left fist to his stomach and knocked the air out of him, interrupting the counterattack.

"Bullet Punch!" A.J shouted.

Tyrogue quickly unleashed the rapid fire punches on every inch of Hitmonchan he could get to: to the face, chest, stomach, arms, and ended with a right uppercut that sent the boxing Pokémon to fall on his back. He quickly got back up, and rubbed his pained jaw before taking his guard stance again.

"Well, that was pretty smart," Kiyo admitted. "You usually protect your face before the rest of your body. We need to work on that. Hitmonchan, Thunder Punch!"

"Dodge, Tyrogue!" A.J countered.

"Rogue!"

As Hitmonchan tried to hit Tyrogue with his fists charged in electricity, the latter ducked and jumped to evade the punches. Once again, his smaller size made him a harder target, and even though Hitmonchan had fast punches, Tyrogue could easily see them coming thanks to having sparred with him before.

Seeing that he wasn't doing any good, Kiyo changed his approach. "Hitmonchan, use Feint!"

"Chan, chan!" Hitmonchan lowered his stance and began weaving his body around aggressively as he approached, making a figure eight as he did. The smaller Fighting-type tried to follow him, but Hitmonchan approached too fast and before he realized it, a left uppercut sent him flying upwards.

"Thunder Punch!" Kiyo called.

"Hitmon… CHAN!" Hitmonchan pulled his right fist backwards and it crackled with electricity, delivering a hook right when Tyrogue was falling, knocking him to the other side of the field.

"Once again, Feint!"

Like before, Hitmonchan began approaching Tyrogue fast in a zigzag pattern. Not knowing where the punch would come from, A.J decided not to take any chances.

"Get out of there, Tyrogue, Double Team!"

Right when Hitmonchan was about to reach Tyrogue, his punch phased through him, fizzling him out. He then glanced around and saw that many copies of Tyrogue had appeared all over the field. Kiyo spared a glance at A.J, and he replied with a smile.

"Well, since you said you wanted him to learn from us, we taught him a few tricks," the green-haired trainer said, and then glanced at his female companion, who nodded and smiled. Once he had won, he made a note to properly thank her for helping them with that part of the training.

Tyrogue continued to move around leaving more and more clones in his trail, while Hitmonchan stood still, looking around for the real one to no avail. Kiyo for his part seemed unsure as to what to do, until he decided to take action.

"Move with Feint and use Thunder Punch until you find the real one!"

"Hitmonchan!"

Hitmonchan charged both of his fists with electricity, and began to flash step from one clone to the next to deliver a punch. The first one was a miss, and so was the second, but Hitmonchan moved fast and in a few seconds he fizzled out half the clones. Tyrogue tried to create a few more to compensate, but Hitmonchan got a lucky blow and found the real one, and Kiyo quickly capitalized on it.

"Bullet Punch, don't let him get away!"

Hitmonchan quickly unleashed a flurry of punches on Tyrogue, ending with a right hook to his face. The smaller Pokémon quickly jumped back on his feet and rubbed his cheek before clashing his fists together, signaling that he was ready for more.

"I see Tyrogue is a spirited as ever," said Kiyo.

A.J grinned. "You should have seen him during training. You were right, he's a pretty good sparring partner. I felt that we could teach him a few tricks as thanks for his help."

"Then let me show you my appreciation as it's due. Hitmonchan, use Feint again and Thunder Punch!"

Like before, Hitmonchan began moving around fast around the field, trying to confuse Tyrogue as to when and where he would attack from. A.J however still had one last card to play, but he had to risk it when Hitmonchan was closing in on Tyrogue.

"Bulldoze!" A.J shouted.

Just when Hitmonchan was about to get into range, Tyrogue slammed his fists to shake the ground. While it didn't stop Hitmonchan from attacking, it disrupted his footwork for a couple of seconds, delaying the Thunder Punch long enough for them to see it coming.

"Dodge and flip him over!" A.J called.

Just when Hitmonchan threw the electric punch, Tyrogue ducked and got under Hitmonchan's extended limb, carefully grabbing the non-electrified forearm. Using Hitmonchan's own momentum, Tyrogue pulled him over the shoulder and flipped him over his back, slamming him on the hard ground. A.J spared a glance to Jeanette, who smiled with pride; she and Bellsprout had taught him that after all.

"Hitmonchan, are you alright?" Kiyo asked. Hitmonchan rubbed his back, but stared back at Tyrogue in defiance. "Good, now let's keep up, Bullet Punch!"

"Tyrogue, you know what to do!"

Hitmonchan once again charged with the rapid fire punches, only this time Tyrogue didn't try to counter them with his own, instead choosing to just dodge them. Just when Hitmonchan was about to deliver the final one, Tyrogue ducked and grabbed his arm again, flipping him over with another throw. The pattern repeated again with another Thunder Punch.

"Tyrogue, Double Team once more!" A.J called, and Tyrogue summoned his clones.

"Hitmonchan, hold still," Kiyo warned him. "We can't risk it out yet."

As Hitmonchan stood firm on the center of the field, Tyrogue continued to run around creating clones all over. A.J felt that he knew what they were doing: they would wait for them to attack and then reply with a Counter punch. It was risky, but if he could land a good blow this time around, he could end the match with a victory.

"Tyrogue, Brick Break!"

Tyrogue jumped with his fists glowing orange at Hitmonchan. Having learned from the previous attempt, he kept one fist up guarding his face and the other his torso, and it paid off: Tyrogue sent one punch to his face and the other to his stomach. Hitmonchan then glowed with the Counter aura and pulled back his right fist. This had to be the decisive blow…

… And it missed. Just by an inch, but it left wide open for Tyrogue to grab his arm and flip him over his shoulder yet again. A.J called for another Brick Break before he could get back up, and Tyrogue jumped on Hitmonchan and punched him in the stomach, knocking the last air out of him. The boxing Pokémon let out one last groan and spread his arms on the floor. The match was over.

"Hitmonchan is unable to battle! Tyrogue is the winner! Victory is for the challenger, Akira Jouda!"

"Yes! We did it!" A.J pumped his fist in triumph.

"Tyrogue!" the small Fighting-type cried as he raised his fists in victory. But then, much to everyone's surprise, he started to glow in a white light.

As Tyrogue began to change shape and grow in size, everyone present, Kiyo, A.J, Master Hamm, and even Jeanette, who had stood up to go and congratulate A.J stared at what happened. Tyrogue's head became pointed and bigger, his arms longer and thinner, as well as his legs, and a tail that resembled a third leg popped out of his backside. Once the light faded away, Tyrogue was no more: instead, there was his evolved form.

"Top, top! Hitmontop!" the newly evolved Pokémon announced.

"Wow. That last battle must have been intense enough for him," said Kiyo. "I'm impressed, not only you won, you made him evolve. And I never taught him those throwing moves myself, that was pretty smart of you."

"Actually, that was her." A.J pointed at Jeanette. "Tyrogue was doing some sparring with her Bellsprout, and we figured he could learn a trick or two from her."

"We have some martial arts knowledge in my family," Jeanette explained. "I actually taught my Bellsprout some aikido techniques, since she more often than not has to fight opponents who surpass her in strength and size."

"I see." Kiyo nodded. "Well, in any case, Master Hamm?"

"Here it is, kid!" The old man pulled out something from his pocket and threw it at Kiyo. The Gym Leader caught it and presented it to A.J. It was designed like a black hand with a thin white outline, positioned for a karate chop.

"Young Akira, you've proved yourself a worthy opponent, and I'm proud to hand you my first Martial Badge. Congratulations."

"Thanks." The trainer took the badge and looked at it with pride, and then glanced at Hitmontop. "Well, I assume you'd like me to return him now that the training is over, right?"

"Actually… I think you should keep him for a while longer," Kiyo suggested. "Remember what I said on our first match? I gave you Tyrogue for training hoping that it would help both of you become stronger, and I was right. After this match, I feel he could benefit even more from training with you."

"Are you sure? He's been a great sparring partner and all, but I wouldn't like to take him away."

"Tell you what: you can keep him until after the Indigo League. Getting started with a Gym really takes up a lot of my time for training, and any experience you can help him gain would certainly be helpful."

"Well, if he has no objections?" A.J glanced at Hitmontop.

"Top, top!" Just like when he was Tyrogue, he clashed his fists together and nodded.

"Well, there's your answer. I'm sure he'll prove an asset to your team."

Pocketing his newly earned badge, A.J shook hands with Kiyo, both of them promising each other to grow even stronger and learn more.

A couple days later…

After all that training and a great victory, A.J and Jeanette decided to take a day off. They spent the night at the Pokémon Center and after a good night's rest, their next destination would be Cinnabar Island.

While Jeanette went to get them their ferry tickets, A.J had stayed at the Pokémon Center to pick up their Pokémon and phone home. The green-haired boy decided to exchange a couple of his Pokémon, and he was about to receive the new ones shortly.

"All done," he said as he showed the ball on the screen to confirm. "Thanks Dad."

"Anytime," the man replied. "By the way, about that girl you mentioned, when will you introduce her to me? I'm dying to meet her."

"Soon, I hope." A.J smiled. "Maybe the next time I stop by home I can convince her to come along."

"I'll be waiting for it. Well, I need to go back to work. Don't forget to call when you get to Cinnabar."

"Will do, Dad. See ya!"

Ending the call, the green-haired trainer turned over his chair and walked up to Nurse Joy's desk to wait for his Pokéballs and Jeanette's to be delivered. For a moment, he had considered telling his dad that his mom was on her way to pay a visit, but he chose not to ruin the surprise. He'd be really happy when he saw her.

A few minutes later, he saw Jeanette entering the Pokémon Center along with her Bellsprout. She immediately spotted him and approached him with a smile on her face. A smile that seemed to be more charming every time he saw it.

"The ferry to Cinnabar will be departing in three hours," she said as she handed him his ticket.

"Thanks," he said. "Any particular reason to choose Cinnabar, of all places?"

"My parents have always said I should take breaks to act like a normal teenager," she said. "I believe that indulging myself in going to a touristic destination sounds good, and since there is a Gym, we both can advance in our Pokémon journeys."

"Have you been there before?" A.J asked with interest.

"Quite a few times," she admitted. "Actually, we have a summer house over there."

"That's cool. So then, we'll be resting in Cinnabar a couple of days before challenging the Gym?"

"If that is okay for you." Jeanette smiled again.

A.J smiled back. Yeah, after all that training, he definitely could use a break, and Cinnabar sounded as good as a destination like any other place. Plus, he hadn't gone to the beach in a very long time.

Suddenly, though, he couldn't help but get the mental image of Jeanette wearing a swimsuit and standing in front of the sea, smiling and waving at him. The vision left him in a daze for a bit.

"A.J? Hey, A.J." The hand moving in front of him pulled him back from his trance. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, nothing," he said trying to hide his flustered expression with a big grin.

Jeanette tilted her head and burrowed her brow slightly, as if not buying it, but she finally shrugged. The boy wondered why he thought of that all of a sudden. Then again, he couldn't help it: Jeanette was really beautiful, and while her usual kimono attire highlighted her unique attractiveness, he couldn't deny he liked what lied underneath. He had gotten an eyeful when they trained under that waterfall after all.

Luckily for him, a sudden uproar in the Pokémon Center's lobby derailed his train of thought. Since they still had to wait, they went to check out, and it turned out there was a small crowd of trainers watching the TV. Maybe something big was on.

"Hey, what's up?" A.J asked to one of the onlookers.

"The finals of a Tag Tournament in Fuchsia!" she answered. "It's on fire, check it out!"

A.J and Jeanette glanced at the TV. It was a live broadcast of an intense battle, and when the camera zoomed on the trainers, A.J and Jeanette quickly recognized one of the two pairs.

"Well, if it isn't Ash." A.J smiled as he saw his friendly rival. "And the other, isn't that the guy who won at the Battle Dome?"

"Indeed it is." Jeanette nodded, watching them closely when the camera zoomed on them, noticing something very peculiar about them. "You know, I did not notice before, but... they seem to look a lot alike."

A.J glanced at his companion and then at the TV again. Save for a few superficial differences, like skin tone, eye color and Ash having marks on the cheeks that Red lacked, he did notice a passing resemblance between them. The hats they wore seemed to reinforce it, and if he didn't know better, they could almost pass for siblings or close relatives.

Leaving that aside, though, the ongoing battle was fierce: Red and Ash commanded a Charmeleon, and a green Pokémon A.J quickly assumed as the evolved form of the Grass-type (Snivy, if he recalled correctly) Ash had used in their last encounter back at Crimson City. The other two were using a Blastoise, and a green quadruped turtle with trees growing on its back.

"Twenty-five to the green turtle crushing them!" One of the onlookers pulled out the bills for a bet.

"Make that fifty!" said another.

"I don't know, the one named Ash won with that Pikachu when he had everything against him."

"Meh, that was dumb luck, he can't pull a trick like that this time," the first one replied.

A.J took a bit of offense at that comment. "Take that back."

"Excuse me?"

"I said take that back," A.J repeated. "I know the guy myself, his victories aren't dumb luck."

"Oh yeah? Is he a friend of yours?" The other guy folded his arms and gave a smug smirk.

A.J nodded with pride. "As a matter of fact, he is, and a pretty good trainer too. I haven't been able to beat him once, and he could probably kick your butt just as easily. Maybe even more."

"Is that so? Then why don't you put your money where your mouth is? How much do you wanna bet?"

"How about five hundred?"

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Jeanette who offered the amount. A.J and everyone else glanced at her, with "are you kidding me?" faces, but the girl remained calm and simply pulled out the bills out of her bag.

"Do not worry, A.J. I have you covered," she said before glancing at the guy who made the initial bet. "Well, do you accept?"

"Hah! Shame on you, kid, having your girlfriend cover for you!" the guy replied. "You better get her something to make up for the loss later!"

A.J didn't know whether he should clarify that Jeanette wasn't his girlfriend (not that he was adverse to the idea), or tell her that she shouldn't gamble her own money like that, but when he saw her determined expression, it sealed the deal.

"You're on!"

A.J set his eyes on the TV and clenched his fists. Since it would be a while before the ferry departed, staying to watch that battle and root for his friend didn't seem a bad way to kill time.

The Blastoise was quickly knocked out of the match, but the other turtle (later identified as Torterra) gave Ash's Servine (as the evolution was called) and Red's Charmeleon a lot of trouble, tanking their punishment and dishing out a lot in return. The other guy A.J had betted with was already celebrating that he was going to earn five hundred bucks out of it.

"C'mon, Ash. Don't let me down now, buddy," A.J muttered.

"Haha, there's no way they're getting out of that!" the other guy laughed in his face.

And it looked like it would be so… until Ash did the unthinkable. He told Red that he had to evolve his Charmeleon to win. The collective reaction was pretty much a "WHAAAAAAAAT?!" from everyone watching the match, and the people in the stadium seemed to agree. Everyone was shocked at the sheer ridiculousness.

But not as shocked as they would be when, reluctantly following Ash's advice, Red tried to give his Pokémon a rousing speech. A pretty bad one, admittedly, but somehow it worked. Red's Charmeleon evolved on the spot, and using its newly learned Heat Wave, claimed victory for them.

"No. Freaking. Way." The guy's jaw drop was priceless.

"Told ya." A.J smirked with satisfaction.

"That's crazy! He just got lucky again!" the guy yelled.

"You are not trying to make excuses to not to pay the bet, are you?" Jeanette asked, prompting the guy to honor his word and reluctantly hand over the money to A.J.

The boy unceremoniously pocketed it, and he told Jeanette to get out of there. He'd probably use those earnings to buy her something nice later.

Everybody had their own battling style, and in Ash's case, it seemed to involve bringing out surprises all over the place. Crazy as they seemed, if they worked for him, he had to prepare himself. The next time they met on the battlefield he had to be ready to not to lose to him again.

FIN.