Austin shot up his eyes widening as one possibility just came to him.

Was Surge a part of Team Rocket in this reality?! Along with Koga and Sabrina?

He forgot all about that part from the Manga with all of the surprises that happened.

"Ash? You alright?" Brock asked as Austin quickly sat up in his thoughts.

"I am. I just thought about a combo for Pikachu." Austin lied-well it wasn't actually a lie as he did think of one earlier but he didn't want to share what he was fearing.

"Chu?" Pikachu looked curious.

"I'll show you later." Austin promised the electric type.

The next day, Austin was back to training, although now he had Raticate and Pidgeotto with him as Scyther and Butterfree were sent back to Prof. Oak for him to check up on as well as to continue their training individually while he focused on the two he has with him now.

Raticate was still working on Ice Beam as well as showing that she managed to master Thunderbolt while she was at the Ranch.

But she and Pikachu were competing on how fast they could go with Dig, causing quite a few holes that had to be covered up by the end of the training session.

Pidgeotto cawed as she flew overhead, happy to be around the others again as well as being introduced to Charmander and Squirtle in the process.

Austin couldn't really think of much besides the Thunder Armor to teach her, so he figured Agility would be a good move for her to know.

"You ready?" Austin asked as Pikachu was on top of Pidgeotto, already explaining the idea, although it was more of a theory to his Pokemon at the moment.

Pidgeotto gave a cry in confirmation while Pikachu got ready.

"Alright, we're going to start slow with Thundershock mostly to build up your resistance to electric attacks up." Austin explained and after a moment, Pikachu began to give small sparks to Pidgeotto, covering her in electricity.

It only took seven seconds before Pidgeotto cried out causing Pikachu to stop.

"Chu?" Pikachu looked worried only for Pidgeotto to shake her head showing she wanted to continue.

"Don't push yourself too hard." Austin said to her with a frown. "I want you to take it slow, not injure yourself badly with this."

Pidgeotto gave a nod, agreeing to that as it looked like Austin and Pikachu to an extent wouldn't budge at that.

"So in order to learn Thunder Punch, you have to focus energy into your fist." Brock explained as Charmander was next to Graveler, the evolved Rock Pokemon showing how to build up the electricity, Squirtle was off to the side practicing Mud Sport as Graveler showed him earlier. "Once you feel the energy you have to focus on it being electricity but you have to know how it feels first so you might want Pikachu to do a small shock later to give Charmander an idea."

Austin gave a nod, listening to that as he watched the Thunder Punch on Graveler's fist, showing a lot more power than what was in the Breeding Competition, light up.

"Brock, thanks." Austin said while Charmander was attempting to focus.

"It's no problem Ash," Brock told him, flashing a grin. "If anything I have to admire the number of techniques you're teaching your team to cover their weaknesses. I might have to look into some of your combinations myself."

Austin gave a sheepish chuckle at that before seeing Pikachu and Pidgeotto still working on the Thunder Armor, this time Pidgeotto lasted for ten seconds before having to rest after an hour of working on it.

"Just think, pretty soon you can have Fearow back working on that." Brock said causing Austin to remember how Fearow's wing got broken.

"If I was fast enough to dodge that Rock Blast then Fearow wouldn't have been injured like that to begin with." Austin muttered causing Brock to frown, considering something.

"Hey Ash, come here." Brock said sitting down, motioning for Austin to do the same.

Austin blinked before doing so as Brock seemed to be putting on a serious face at this moment.

"Have you ever tried exercising before?" Brock asked curiously, his closed eyes seemingly searching for something.

"Just a few push-ups every now and then," Austin replied thinking back to his life before the Pokemon world. "Why?"

"I'm a bit out of shape myself, do you mind helping me out by being a spotter?" Brock asked, although his tone could tell Austin that Brock had something else in mind. "And in return I could do the same for you?"

"A bit out of shape? You exercised a lot?" Austin asked and Brock's face twitched a bit at the unintended jab.

"You know how Gym Leaders protect the city or town where they reside at?" Brock asked earning a nod from Austin. "To do so we have to know how to defend ourselves and follow rigorous training so we know how to fight."

That made Austin's eyes widen as he realized that he could learn how to defend himself, he was traveling with two Gym Leaders afterall.

Brock could see that he caught his interest. "I could talk with Misty a bit to see if we could help both you and Yellow learn how to defend yourselves without your Pokemon but we have to see if you can keep the exercising up," He explained to the trainer. "You don't have to answer me now, but the offer is open for whenever you need it."

"I don't have to think about it," Austin said his tone holding no second thoughts. "If it helps me in avoiding my friends from getting injured because they were protecting me then I'm all for it."

Brock gave a nod a little pleased with how Austin took to that. "Alright, we'll start off easy for now, just ten push-ups and sit-ups followed by a small run after some stretches," He said to Austin, both of them standing up. "Over the next few days we'll slowly add to them."

"Got it." Austin said.