Austin sat in the computer chair during the evening, looking at the three badges he has managed to earned in his time here.

Three months. That's how long he's been here in this world and yet he could still clearly remember his biggest worry being school before this all happened. Now his biggest worry was who to use against Paul the next day.

Pikachu and Scyther were already decided to be in the battle as he spoke to the mantis Pokemon and he practically jumped at the chance to fight his old trainer with a dark look in his eyes, making Austin a bit wary but he felt that Scyther needed this and Pikachu was his strongest Pokemon at the moment being his starter, so he was a guarantee.

Now for the last one.

Raticate was a bit injured from Surge and was feeling down from her loss so he wasn't going to use her, in fact she was at Prof. Oak's in exchange for Scyther to take a small break. Fearow while he will be coming back soon was behind everyone else in terms of training so he was out. Bulbasaur was in the same boat as Raticate so he wasn't going to force the plant Pokemon into this.

Austin definitely wasn't going to use Charmander and Krabby for obvious reasons, especially with the last one being new to the team and considering Paul managed to beat AJ, Austin needed to be at his best.

"That leaves Butterfree,Clefairy Pidgeotto and Squirtle," Austin looked at their Pokeballs with Pikachu jumping on the desk curiously. "What do you think?"

"Chu." Pikachu gave a shrug not sure.

"Pidgeotto is strong, especially given what she did in Surge's Gym but Butterfree gives more versatility in a fight with his psychic abilities,"

Austin gave a small smile of his own before replacing it with a frown.

If he used Butterfree he would have two bug Pokemon on the team for Paul to use fire and flying against him if he had those and Austin knew that Paul had Grotle considering that was his starter unless that changed and AJ mentioned something about him having a Magmar.

It was because of Magmar that he was considering Squirtle, knowing that the turtle Pokemon had quite a few tricks up his nonexistent sleeves. But he lacked any real battle experience except for training.

Then again, he was the leader of the Squirtle Squad so he had to have been in some good fights.

Making up his mind, Austin sent Squirtle out causing him to yawn his sunglasses actually off for once, showing his red eyes. "Hey Squirtle, sorry to bother you but I want to know how you felt about a battle tomorrow?"

"Tle?" Squirtle immediately snapped his head up in attention at hearing that, an excited gleam in his eyes.

Austin chuckled at how Squirtle reacted before looking serious. "It's against Scyther's old trainer and he won't be like anyone we've ever faced," He said to the turtle making him go quiet, knowing Scyther's story as they talked a bit. "I haven't used you to fight except for when we caught Krabby so if you're not sure I won't force you-."

"Squirt!" Squirtle reached inside of his shell and put his sunglasses on with a determined look on his face. "Squirtle Squirt!"

Austin smiled at getting the gist of it.

"Thanks, I'll be counting on you." He said with Squirtle giving a fist pump in anticipation for his first trainer battle to show what he has to Austin.

With Squirtle now pumped up and ready, Austin looked back at the small notebook of combo's he's been writing down for everyone, attempting to think of what type of move to use against Paul

'I don't know what Pokémon Paul would use so there is no use in guess ' Austin thought ' Beside I'll do alright with making plans on the fly.'

Despite that though, Austin was extremely worried as he wasn't sure what to expect and from what he remembered, Paul was an extremely strong opponent.

Standing up, Austin returned Squirtle while Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder before they left the room to find the others. Austin stopped to step to the side when some other trainers passed by him.

Exiting into the main lobby, Austin smiled when he saw Yellow, Brock and Misty were doing their own thing.

Brock looked to be flirting with some of the girls before Zubat intervenes but he kept at it despite it, Misty was across the room from him looking through a small magazine while eating some food and Yellow was brushing Clefairy with a smile.

"Pika." Pikachu jumped off of Austin's shoulders and ran towards Yellow earning a chuckle from Austin

' Pikachu really has taken a liking to Yellow.' Austin thought contemplating his choices here.

He could either train or go talk with them.

After thinking about it, Austin smiled and walked over to Brock who was now paralyzed because of Zubat biting him, while the girl he was flirting with looked a bit dumbfounded. "You alright Brock?"

"Just give *twitch* me a minute." Brock managed to get out, his foot twitching.

"Maybe you should stop for the day." Austin suggested knowing that Brock would bounce back from this in no time.

Brock's only answer was a twitch.

"... Zubat I think you might've overdid it." Austin looked at the bat who looked a bit nervous, thinking she might've done that too.

Both were caught off guard when another girl passed and Brock was suddenly on his feet. "Hello there, the sun may be setting but it only magnifies your beauty-." Zubat was suddenly on him, making him fall over. "Just like the sunset, fleeting."

Deciding that he should probably walk away, knowing that Zubat would keep Brock in line, Austin walked over towards Misty to see what she was up to. 'Come to think of it, I haven't really interacted with Misty as much as the others.' Austin couldn't help but think while he did so.

He'll have to fix that.

"Hey Misty, what are you reading?" Austin asked in a cheerful tone, sitting down while Misty looked up in surprise as she didn't hear him approach.

"Just a fashion magazine you wouldn't be interested." Misty commented, turning the page as she looked back at it. "What about you, did you figure out what you're going to do with Paul?"

"I made a plan from what I know so far, the rest depends on the Pokemon he uses." Austin answered with a nod before seeing a page on the magazine showing a familiar person. "Hey isn't that Loreli of the Elite Four?"

"Yeah and one of the best water-type specialists in the world." Misty said with a smile while looking at her idol.

Austin raised a brow. "I could've sworn she was an Ice-Type specialist."

"S-She specializes in both," Misty gave a glare her temper showing. "She's still one of the strongest."

"I never said she wasn't," Austin said with a chuckle. "It would be cool to battle her someday."

Misty gave Austin a look. "Ash, she's a member of the Elite Four, you're not that strong." She reminded him.

"Yeah, I didn't say I was, I said someday." Austin defended himself, but he had a bit of a smile on his face. "Besides don't tell me you don't dream of surpassing her in being a Water Specialist."

Misty looked away not even answering that but Austin could see the smile she had at the thought.

"Chu." Austin looked over to see Pikachu playing with Clefairy while Yellow seemed to be drawing in her notebook.

"I'm going to let Butterfree and Pidgeotto out so they can fly around before it gets too dark." Austin voiced when he got up.

"That's a good idea, they love flying around," Misty commented with a smile before looking at her Pokemon as they slept alongside Oddish .

Once he let the two flyers out or stretch their wings, Austin approached Yellow to see that she made a pretty decent drawing of Pikachu and Clefy playing. "Hey Ash," Yellow greeted with a friendly wave at hearing him approach. "Anything I can do?"

"Just saying hi," Austin sat next to her looking at the drawing. "That's pretty neat."

Yellow smiled, her cheeks reddening a bit. "T-Thanks," She said placing the drawing down. "I've been practicing quite a bit."

"It really shows." Austin commented, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Chu." Pikachu hopped into Austin's lap followed by Clefairy jumping into Yellows.

Yellow just smiled and rubbed Clefairy's head while Austin scratched beneath Pikachu's chin both of them were content just being with their Pokemon.

"You're worried about the battle with Paul aren't you?" Yellow asked after a few moments, surprising Austin.

"How did you-?"

"Pikachu told me," Yellow answered reminding Austin that she can communicate with Pokemon. "He's worried about you."

"I'm fine, just not sure of how the battle will play out." Austin said knowing that it could go either way because he didn't know any of Paul's Pokemon and it was the same for Paul himself.

"You'll do fine," Yellow told him without any doubt. "You're a strong trainer."

"Pika Pi." Pikachu spoke up, agreeing with Yellow, earning a laugh from Austin.

"You're right, thanks." He said to both of them.

" Hey Ash."

"Hm?" Austin looked back at her curiously.

"Do you think after your match against Paul we can have a small spar?" Yellow asked curiously. "I want to have Oddish gain a bit more experience."

"Sure thing I'll use either Krabby or Charmander," Austin agreed thinking on it. "They still need to battle more as well."

Yellow raised a brow thinking that Austin would most likely use Krabby as he has a habit of using Pokemon with disadvantages in most of his battles.

They actually work out a lot better than one expected because of that his opponents let their guard down in the process.