Chapter 34: The Wild Pokemon Trainer
Something occurred to me as I was updating Ash's Pokemon. The majority of Ash's Pokemon are Male, I don't know why. The way I chose it is that if the anime didn't give them a gender then I would flip a coin. I don't know, maybe I am overthinking things.
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The group continued walking until they reached a building that was at the crossing point between Route 24 and 25. The building was just a makeshift tent with a dirt stadium, and on top, there was a sign that held his record.
Wins: 99 Losses: 1
"Well he wasn't lying I guess," Ash said, "But knowing him he probably sent one of his cheerleaders to lose against AJ so he could get the advantage."
As they got to the entrance they all heard a voice approaching, "Are you my next victim?" a young man with green hair wearing a red and black shirt and a backpack approached.
"You must be the wild Pokémon trainer," Brock said noticing he whistled for a Beedrill to come out of the tent.
"Huh! That's the job. But beating chumps is my hobby." Aj said as he handed his bag to his Pokemon, "Which one of you is ready to lose?"
"Big words, hope you can back them up," Ash said as he approached Pikachu jumped off his shoulder.
As AJ leads them inside and as the door opens Yellow asked, "What was in that bag you gave your Beedrill?"
AJ didn't even turn around as he answered, "Just some more Pokemon. I need to have a good variety, there are more in the tent."
Yellow got excited at that thought, "Can we see them after the battle," to which AJ just shrugged.
"If you want," as both he and Ash stepped on opposite sides of the stadium, "How does 3 on 3 sound to you?"
"Fine by me," Ash said as he pulled out Spearow's Pokeball, who was just one step away from evolving.
AJ called over his Beedrill who brought 2 Pokeballs, one of which was his as AJ returned him.
"Let's get started, then. Beedrill, go!" Aj sent out the same Beedrill that brought him the Pokeballs. Misty on the sides shook before hiding behind Brock.
"Right, Spearow your up," Ash sent out his bird.
"Spearow!" Spearow Yelled out as he stretched his wings looking bored since he hasn't had a good fight for a while.
"Hey this guy has nearly 100 wins, are you going to let him beat you and claim the 100th win?" Ash said, motivating Spearow.
"Not bad but it won't be enough, Beedrill Poison Jab" AJ yelled out as he pulled out a whip and used the sound to command his Pokemon.
Beedrill's hand needles began glowing purple as it dashed forward at the small bird.
"Quick dodge with Quick attack then counter with Tailwind," Ash commanded as Spearow took to the side and dashed towards Beedrill then disappeared behind the bee and swung his tail causing the wind to push Beedrill to the ground.
"What, Quick Pursuit," AJ commanded with the crack of his whip.
Yellow was on the side and was scared by the crack as she also went to hide behind Brock.
"Brace yourself then Assurance," Spearow put his wings out in front of him as the Bee tackled him then used the momentum from the attack along with the doubled power from Assurance's effect to bash into the bee sending it falling.
"Now finish it, Peck" Ash commanded as AJ tried to get Beedrill to get up with the sound of his whip.
Beedrill managed to get up but couldn't get out of the way as Spearow stabbed it in the back with his beak.
AJ returns his Beedrill, "Not bad most chumps can't even beat my first Pokemon but it is not over, Growlithe your up."
'So he is using Pokemon from his Red and Blue counterpart, wonder if he has a Charmander,' Ash thought before he shook his head and focused.
"Flame wheel now," AJ cracked his whip as his dog started spinning.
The flame hit Sperow, sending him back, "Spearow gets some height then Double team."
"You're not the first to try that strategy, thankfully we prepared for this, Growlithe Ember Wheel [Ember + Flame Wheel]" Aj commanded.
Growlithe started spinning and got into the middle of the Spearow clones and then started spinning like a top making countless embers fly everywhere hitting every clone including the original Spearow.
"Spearow! Can you keep going?" Ash asked and Spearow nodded.
On the side Brock was impressed by AJ, "He has a Combo move, impressive no wonder he won so many times."
Yellow was looking worried at Ash and Spearow, "Brock do you think Spearow can win?"
Brock shook his head, "I don't know, they are both skilled but Spearow was already damaged before he fought Growlithe, but I do think Spearow is stronger."
"Alright then Quick attack into Assurance," Ash commanded as Spearow dashed forward and pushed into the Dog pushing him back.
"Growlithe Flame Wheel and finish that bird off," AJ commanded with the crack from his whip.
"Spearow counter with Steel wing" Ash commanded as Spearow's wings turned silver and he dashed forward.
The two attacks clashed at the middle causing sparks to fly out, normally Steel Wing would not be good to use against a fire type, but he wasn't aiming to damage Growlithe with it.
As Spearow started to get pushed back he started glowing a bright light and grew in size before revealing that he had evolved, and the Pokedex updated.
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[Fearow (M)]
[Ability: Technician, hidden ability Sniper.]
[Current moves: Aerial Ace, Double team, Assurance, Steel wing, Tailwind, Quick attack, Drill Run, Drill Peck, Mirror Move, Dual Wingbeat]
[Alpha Mutation]
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'Not bad at all, even got manga Fearow's Bread and Butter move Mirror Move.' Ash thought as Fearow began Pushing Growlithe back.
Ash smiled, "Well then finish this with Drill Run," Fearow Pushed the Growlith back with his wings then threw his body beak first spinning, and due to Pokemon logic that made it Ground type.
Growlithe got hit with the Beak so hard that if this was the Manga he would have died, but instead it got launched out of the ring and hit the fence.
"Growlithe come back" AJ returned his fire dog and pulled out his last Pokeball, the one he had on him at the beginning, "Not bad hardly anyone Pushes me back this hard but your Pokemon is weak."
He threw his Pokeball revealing his trusty Sandshrew, "Sandshrew use Slash" AJ commands.
"That move was so good I just have to steal it, Mirror Move" Fearow copied Slash and dashed forward.
The two Pokemon clashed with each other as they both tried to get the better of the other though Fearow had the advantage due to stab.
Fearow looked tired but still slashed the Sandshrew, "Fearow can you keep going?"
"Fe-Fearow!" Fearow screamed at Ash, seemingly angry that he would even suggest leaving before giving him the best grind a bird could give.
"Alright let's see this to the end!"
"Admirable, but it isn't enough, Sandshrew Rapid Tomb, [Rapid spin + Rock Tomb]" AJ commanded.
Sandshrew Began throwing large rocks at Fearow then goes into a ball and dashes towards Fearow, using the bumping into the flying rocks to gain speed as he approached.
Fearow managed to dodge most of the Rocks but the Sandshrew hit him directly, then it started rolling back and hit him from the back. Fearow was barely still up.
"Let's end, Drill Peck"
"Continue your attack"
The two Pokemon dashed forward and clashed with each other in the middle causing part of the dirt stadium to break and a dust cloud to form. After a few seconds, the two Pokemon are in the middle still standing until Sandshrew fell, then Fearow raised his wing before also falling over.
They both returned their Pokemon and approached each other, and AJ put his hand out, "Congratulations you beat me, seems I still have to keep training."
Ash took the handshake and responded, "Thanks but don't worry about it, between you and me you gave me more trouble than the Cerulean Gym did" Ash said saying the second part out of Misty's earshot.
"Congratulations Ash" Yellow approached, also holding Pikachu who jumped back onto his shoulder, "You won, but will Fearow be alright?" Yellow asked, looking worried.
"He'll be fine, he just needs some rest," Ash said holding up his Pokeball.
Yellow calmed down since she knew that if things got really bad he could help Fearow.
"Now Y'all wanted to see my Pokemon?" AJ asked.
Yellow was excited to see more Pokemon, Brock and Misty wanted to see how AJ trained his Pokemon, it was obvious they wanted to go, "Yeah let's go then."
As AJ led them inside they saw the large training course along with all of his Pokemon had a harness they were wearing. There were 3 Rattata and a Butterfree training, all of his other Pokemon were not able to train or in the case of the Pokemon, he brought in, hadn't trained them at all.
"This is how you train them?" Brock asked seeing AJ's Pokemon train.
"Yep, I don't hold anything back because I want them to become Strong" AJ responded.
Ash was always curious about something so he had a good look at the strength intensifiers, "These look like a modified version of the Macho brace, the one Bruno of the Elite 4 released."
Hearing this, Yellow was confused but Brock and Misty looked surprised, "The Macho brace, but wasn't that taken off the shelves because people saw it as cruel, barbaric, and just overkill for Pokemon." Misty called out.
"You both know your stuff, yes the original was seen as not suitable for Pokemon use, but I modified them so that my Pokemon could get all the benefits with none of the downsides," AJ said proudly.
"Your Pokémon are all in great shape." Brock said, "What kind of Pokémon food do you give them?"
"My own recipe." AJ said proudly, "Come on, I'll show you.'' He led Brock to a cabinet with all kinds of different Pokemon foods. "To get the results I want, I have to carefully monitor the Pokémon diets. Of course, the recipe is secret."
"Oh, yeah, of course. You know, I mix my own Pokemon food too." Brock and AJ started sharing some notes about Pokemon food.
Meanwhile, Ash was looking somewhere else, "Hey Pikachu," he called out right before Pikachu trapped himself in the Macho Brace, and he came running over.
"Pika?" Pikachu approached, wondering why he was called over before Ash pointed to a Bush.
"Use Thunderbolt on that Bush" Ash told Pikachu. Pikachu was confused but did it anyway, when the electricity hit the bush a certain trio went blasting off again, "Out of sight out of mind."
Ash went back to the group while Pikachu was wondering how Ash knew they were there.
"So why did you build your Gym out here?" Misty asked.
"I made a goal to get 100 wins before I start collecting badges," AJ revealed, "That is why I made a gym and trained my Pokemon so hard."
Yellow was looking at the whip and wanted to ask something for a while, "Why do you use a whip for your Pokemon."
AJ looked at his whip and realized how it may be taken the wrong way, "Wait no, I don't hit my Pokemon, I would never, I just use the sound to help motivate them."
Yellow was about to talk again before Brock put his hand on her shoulder, "Yellow, everyone trains their Pokemon differently, but what matters is that he isn't pushing them to do too much his Pokemon look healthy and Happy to train."
Yellow seemed to want to keep asking questions but decided not to.
"It's already dark, we should try to get back to town," Misty said.
"You won't make it on foot, how about Y'all stay here for the night." AJ offered.
"We don't want to be an inconvenience" Brock answered.
"It's fine if you all stay the night."
Brock wanted to refuse again, so Ash stepped in, "Alright if it is not too much of a bother we'd love to."