The rest of the evening passed by as it normally did for the group, especially when Brock and Misty joined Austin and Yellow at the table.

"So we have the choice of either heading to Saffron City or Celadon after the battle with Paul." Austin said looking over the map with the others.

"Hey Ash, I know you're strong but can we skip the Saffron Gym for a bit?" Brock asked a bit nervously.

"Is this about Sabrina?" Austin asked earning a nod from Brock.

"I agree with Brock, I've heard some pretty scary things about Sabrina." Misty said a bit fearfully.

Austin's brow raised.

This was new.

"Like what?" Yellow asked, beating Austin to the question. "Sabrina is a Gym Leader right?"

Brock gave another nod. "That's right, and she's a Psychic Type Trainer but she is one of the brutal ones, beating Surge by a mile," He said making Yellow's eyes widened. "Not even Dark-Types are safe from her Pokemon."

That caught Austin off guard. "Hold up, I thought Dark-Types were immune to Psychic Attacks."

"They are, but Sabrina found a way around that by having one of her Pokemon using Psychic to lift a part of the field and bash it into the Dark Pokemon." Misty explained making Pikachu pale at the thought of battling someone like that.

"As long as she doesn't turn people into dolls we're fine." Austin muttered under his breath while giving a now nervous laugh.

"I wasn't planning on challenging her yet anyways, you just made that resolve stronger." Austin said really not looking forward to when he would have to.

Maybe he can save Sabrina for last?

Somehow he didn't think he would be able to, knowing his luck.

"Now Celadon on the other hand has a more manageable Gym Leader, although Erika is still pretty strong." Austin said trying to change the conversation.

"And you have the main advantage as most of your Pokemon can beat Grass-Types." Misty said making Austin grin.

"Plus Celadon City has quite a few places we should visit like the Department Store, they have some pretty good trainer items we wouldn't be able to get anywhere else," Brock commented flipping through the book. "Along with a Salon for Pokemon and a Game Corner."

"A Salon? That sounds amazing." Misty had a bit of a dreamy look just imagining that.

Austin however froze at the thought of the Game Corner.

Was that one of Team Rocket's hideouts in this world or was he worrying for nothing?

It would probably be a good idea to stay clear of that place for the time being.

Instead he placed a grin on his face. "Now I can't wait."

Around One-Fifty in the Afternoon, Austin slowly walked towards Diglett's Cave with a determined look on his face, the others trailing behind him.

Paul was already waiting there, his eyes closed while he stood with his hands in his pockets until they got closer. "You're early." He commented opening his eyes to see Austin looking serious.

"So are you." Austin returned earning a light grunt from Paul. "You ready?"

"Let's get this over with." Paul commented walking to his side of the field.

"Good luck Ash." Yellow told him walking off to the side.

Misty followed but not before giving Ash a few words herself. "Make sure to beat him."

Austin grinned in response, the only person staying was Brock who walked to the middle of the field to act as the referee, to avoid this battle from getting out of hand.

"This will be a Three-On-Three Match between Ash and Paul with no time limit, best two out of three wins. Switching out is an automatic forfeit," Brock shouted across the field, the wind blowing the dust into the air between the two trainers while using the rules that were used in the League Matches. "You may begin whenever you're ready."

"Chu." Pikachu glared at Paul, his cheeks sparking before Austin placed a gentle hand on his head.

"Don't worry Pikachu you'll get in this battle, but someone else has some unfinished business with him." Austin said taking out his first Pokemon.

Paul wasted no time. "Nidorino, Stand By For Battle!" He called out, sending a four-legged purple poison type Pokemon out with venomous spikes on its back, giving a cry as it pawed the ground with a vicious smirk.

"Scyther take the field!" Austin sent the Mantis Pokemon out surprising Paul who recognized the bug Pokemon.

"Hmph, so that's what happened to him." Paul commented while Scyther glared daggers at him. "You actually took that weakling in?"

"Scyther is no weakling and we'll prove it." Austin told him with Scyther giving a cry of agreement.

"We'll see." Paul didn't sound to convinced, but he wasn't going to let his guard down for one moment. "Poison Sting."

Nidorino shot a barrage of purple needles at the Scyther tensed.

"Dodge with Sword Dance." Austin ordered as Scyther smirked and began to dance, dodging the needles while his attack was increasing.

Paul didn't look too worried as the first attack was to test the type of battler that Austin was. "Disable."

Nidorino's eyes glowed blue, paralyzing Scyther preventing him from doing that while Austin was caught off guard. 'That was an Egg Move, but how-?'

' Oh yeah ! his brother Reggie is a breeder .' Austin thought while cursing as he actually forgot about that and that meant that any number of Paul's Pokemon could know some good Egg Moves.

"One Sword Dance is good," Austin grinned while giving out the next order. "Use Agility followed by Aerial Ace."

Scyther became a blur of white energy while he shot at the Nidorino before Paul made his next move.

"Mud-Slap."

Once more Austin was caught off guard when the ground practically exploded with mud that slammed into Scyther, knocking him back. "That's impossible, Mud-Slap doesn't look like that." He muttered not sure what was going on.

"Do you seriously not know what just happened?" Paul asked with a raised brow while Scyther was trying to wipe the Mud-Slap. "How did you make it this far?"

Austin just glared while Paul sighed.

"There's a reason I challenged you to battle in front of Diglett's Cave, the surrounding terrain makes any Ground or Rock Type moves a lot stronger," Paul explained while Austin finally noted how the area seemed to have changed quite a bit since Paul used the Mud-Slap. "It's a simple Field Advantage."

'Field Advantage?' Austin thought his eyes widening when he remembered some various times his Pokemon were strong in certain locations.

When they were lost, Bulbasaur showed a lot of strength in the forests along with Squirtle and Krabby being stronger on the beach. Plus Pikachu was able to fight a lot more effectively inside of Surge's Gym with all the electricity surging around him.

In fact, Austin could remember some other times when it happened now that he could think about it.

AJ's Arena made his Rhyhorn, Primeape and Sandshrew stronger and didn't Zubat's Supersonic seem stronger inside of Mt. Moon with how it echoed around them?

All of those times and he never noticed it?!

It just shows how much he still has left to learn about Pokémon battling, this isn't a turn based game , this is real life battling where the mechanics are much complicated.