AJ sent out his third Pokemon.

It was Sandshrew.

"Careful Pidgeotto." Austin said on the cautious side now. "Just because ground types don't affect flying doesn't mean he might not have anything that can hurt you."

Pidgeotto gave a nod as AJ smirked and cracked his whip.

Sandshrew moved without AJ saying anything.

'Right, he control's Sandshrew with a crack of his whip.' Austin thought as Sandshrew shot to the air in a ball.

"Quick Attack to dodge." Austin called out as Pidgeotto blurred to another part of the field as Sandshrew missed. "Now Steel Wing!"

AJ just cracked his whip again as Sandshrew landed and he uncurled as Pidgeotto shot in with her wings glowing. "Rock Slide!"

Austin's eyes widened. "Pidgeotto get out of there-." But he was too late as Sandshrew gave a cry and slammed his paws on the ground, the rocks shooting out and slamming into Pidgeotto knocking her out.

"I'll admit you're better than the other chumps that I face." AJ said with a smirk. "Usually they can never make it past my first Pokemon, but you're still a chump."

Giving a glare, Austin returned Pidgeotto. "You did a great job Pidgeotto, take a rest."

With that he sent Raticate back out who looked tired but still ready to fight.

'Hopefully Raticate can knock Sandshrew out so Pikachu won't have to face him.' Austin thought with a calculating look. 'Pikachu might stand a chance with Sword Strike, but he would still be at a disadvantage against the ground moves. Then there is Clefairy but he might be in trouble if sandshrew has a steel type move . '

AJ cracked his whip again as Sandshrew shot in, his arms glowing.

'Brick Break.' Austin thought remembering how Scyther used that move.

"Wait for it." Austin said seeing how Sandshrew was moving. "Wait… Now!"

"Quick Attack to jump over him and use Hyper Fang!" Austin ordered as Raticate barely dodged by using the speed to jump high into the air as Sandshrew slammed the Brick Break into the ground before she shot in, using her fangs to clamp onto the Sandshrew.

'Rattata's can break stone with their fangs, Raticates are probably overkill right now.' Austin thought as Sandshrew was doing everything, trying to get Raticate to let go.

"Now Sucker Punch!"

All Sandshrew saw was a blur before he was sent flying back, but he still got up.

"Attract-."

"Not this time!" AJ cracked his whip as Sandshrew dug into the ground.

"Follow with Burrow!" Austin ordered as Raticate dug as well and both of them were silent as they waited for their Pokemon to come out.

Finally after what seemed like forever, they both came out with Raticate hanging off of Sandshrew's tail with her fangs, only for Sandshrew to use that to his advantage and spin around, slamming Raticate against the ground causing her to cry out in pain, before a Brick Break slammed right across her face knocking her out.

Sandshrew landed on the ground a little worse for wear but still okay as Austin returned Raticate.

"Thank you for doing so well." Austin said to Raticate before looking down.

" Get ready for Angel's descent ."

Hearing Austin call out , AJ was on guard as a Clefairy showed up in the battlefield and immediately used defense curl to roll up into a pink ball .

Yellow immediately knew Austin's strategy while everyone was mostly confused .

AJ decided to go on the offensive before smacking his whip on the ground with more force than usual causing Sandshrew to kick sand up attempting to do Sand Tomb as the field began to swirl, but Clefairy in its ball form rolled and without looking it was dodging the rocks .

AJ looked at Austin who had an arrogant smirk on his face before he covered his mouth with his hands

What AJ didn't know was that Austin was taking advantage of Clefairy's incredible hearing to give commands to the fairy Pokémon without alerting anyone .

" Use fissure ." Hearing that One hit KO move being called upon , Austin immediately clapped his hands .

Clefairy in its ball form used Disarming Voice as a dust cloud was kicked up . With Clefairy being launched up high in the air .

AJ clicked his tongue as the fissure completely missed the air brone Clefairy . Who outstretched his hands and launched magical leaf .

This was the Angel's descent combo which Austin had been working on with yellow .

" Dodge ." AJ called out but magical leaf was a move that bypasses accuracy .

The dust cloud cleared revealing a knocked out sandshrew .

Clefairy curled into a ball as he landed safely on the ground .

AJ sent out his last pokemon .

A very muscular Pokémon. Its arms have exposed veins which express its phenomenal power, and it wears a belt to contain this power.

A machoke .

Before Austin could say anything , Machoke used scary face freezing Clefairy from turing into a ball .

" Clefairy , Snape out of it ."

Austin's calls were not heard as Machoke immediately form a ball of purple sluge and threw it at Clefairy .

Knowing that it was a poison type move , Austin immediately called back Clefairy , losing another pokemon .

"Thank you for doing so well." Austin said to Clefairy before looking down. "You ready buddy?"

"Chu." Pikachu looked a little unsure as Austin winced, seeing how Pikachu while he battled for Austin quite a bit he wasn't as dedicated as he became after fighting Surge in Canon.

"Pikachu I know that Machoke is strong but if you don't battle then everything the others did in this fight would've been for nothing." Austin said causing Pikachu to stop and think as he remembered how hard the others fought, even Fearow fought with his all despite not listening to Austin.

Getting a determined look, Pikachu ran out to the field as his cheeks began sparking, ready to fight.

"I hope Ash knows what he's doing." Misty said a little concerned because she didn't want to see Pikachu injured.

"He probably has a strategy ready to make a comeback." Brock said giving a nod as he remembered how Austin always found a way to surprise people in a fight.

"But I don't get it." Yellow said tilting her head as they watched Pikachu and Machoke staring each other down. "AJ has nearly a hundred wins while Ash has almost fifty, shouldn't AJ be the stronger one here?"

"Normally yes but AJ said he has a lot of Pokemon, so he most likely switches in each battle." Brock said to Yellow seeing how she asked that. "While Ash is using the same team he's had for awhile. It's basically Quality vs Quantity here, so despite having more wins, AJ is evenly matched with Ash because of how many Pokemon he uses in battling."

AJ finally had enough of the glaring match and cracked his whip causing Machoke to move quickly.

Pikachu responded with a Quick Attack to move around Machoke who was attempting to use Toxic to catch Pikachu and poison him.

'Okay I need to be creative.' Austin thought as he tried to look for an opening.

Pikachu kept moving , dodging each purple sluge ball before Austin gave an order.

"Keep on the move and use Iron tail whenever you see an opening."

Pikachu gave a nod and shot in, hitting Machoke with an Iron tail before retreating as he tried to do a Brick Break, using his speed to his advantage.

AJ gritted his teeth as this happened a few more times before smacking his whip on the ground with more force than usual causing Machoke to kick sand up attempting to blind Pikachu , a wave of sand and rocks formed as a result of Machoke , one of rocks ending catching Pikachu as he got his foot stuck.

With that done, Machoke used dynamic punch caused Pikachu to cry out in pain as he was sent rolling before a machoke launched Toxic at Pikachu .

"Block with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail glowed and caught the ball of poisonous sludge before he swung with all his strength causing Machoke to be hit and poisoned .

Austin's eyes widened as a red aura erupted from Machoke .

' Guts ! '

"Enough." AJ said finally giving out a vocal order. "Close Combat!"

Austin's eyes widened as Machoke ran at extremely high speeds towards Pikachu . "Pikachu avoid that at all costs!" He shouted knowing it was the power behind the move.

Pikachu had a hard time following that with his foot stuck but he barely got out of the rock and tried to dove out of the way but couldn't keep dodging as Machoke executed his egg move .

Pikachu landed by Austin's feet, too exhausted to go on.

AJ smirked. "And that's that." He said straightening his whip as Machoke had a smug look.

Austin knelt down and picked Pikachu up, surprised that he lost.

He hasn't lost since Mt. Moon against Arianna and here he lost to AJ-.

"Hey is Pikachu alright?" Yellow asked as everyone ran up, breaking Austin out of his thoughts .

"He'll be fine after some rest, won't you buddy?" Austin asked as Pikachu opened his eyes and gave a nod.

Yellow looked worried for him but she gave a nod, knowing that even if she offered Austin wouldn't have her heal Pikachu unless it was bad.While they were in Cerulean City, Brock and Austin spoke with her about keeping her abilities a secret, especially considering what would happen if Team Rocket found out about them.So with Misty around, until they decided she was trustworthy she wouldn't be able to use them unless it was an emergency.Although she was confused when Austin didn't look too concerned about Misty knowing.Misty and Brock went to say something but AJ walked up to them with a thoughtful look before he gave a nod. "Not bad for a chump." He finally said before gesturing to his tent. "Now y'all wanted to see my Pokemon right?"

The others gave a nod as Austin sighed before grinning. "Sure why not?"