Against Ash? (35)

"These guys mean business." I say surprised. Looking over at the training grounds, the gang and I saw heaps of trainers practising for the contest.

In some ways, the Pokemon contest is more popular than actual Pokemon battles. It's a staple in at least half of the regions but isn't as influential like battling it out normally.

I guess being able to be seen on TV is a big appeal to people. Being a trainer is quite daunting and complex after all. It's not to say Pokemon contests aren't difficult, but battling is much more fleshed out and common.

"You guys ready to go?" Dawn asks her Pokemon excitedly. Piplup and Buneary started to dance around us in joy, seemingly reflecting their trainers feelings.

Wondering around isn't my thing and neither is it Ash's. So I want to battle him to see where my progress stands with my Pokemon.

It will be interesting as he has quite the upfront battle style which I somewhat lack. It's not to say that I can't be aggressive, but if I see an opportunity to set up a move then I will.

"Ash let's have a battle!" I ask out of nowhere. Ash hearing this starts to get excited. I've been meaning to have a battle with him, but haven't asked at all till now.

"Sure Aichi, let's battle now!" He says hastily. Ash dragging me to the battle grounds, gets his Pikachu to help him out.

"We'll see you guys later!" I shout, waving back at Brock and Dawn. The two of them not minding this, start to head off and start shopping.

We just arrived at Jubilife City and the contest will be happening in a few days. So while Dawn and Brock went shopping for a much needed restock of our things.

"Let's do a two on two Ash." I ask him as I wanted my new Pokemon to get some battle experience. "My new Pokemon haven't battled an experienced trainer yet." I add in the end.

"Sure, I won't go easy on them." Ash responds with a grin. Walking through the city, we backtracked a little and found an empty battle ground which was near the corner of the city.

"Who ever loses needs to pay for lunch, also you can attack first!" I playfully say as I make my way to my side of the battlefield.

"You're on!" Ash responds as he did the same. Now in position, we both sent out our first Pokemon.

"You got this Aipom!"

Aipom hearing that it was his turn, gets off Ash's shoulder and runs onto the battle field. Taking out my Pokeball, I sent out Turtwig.

"Turt turtwig!" Turtwig shouts showing its confidence. Ash getting the first move starts his attack off.

"Aipom use [Focus Punch]!" Ash shouts. Aipom focusing fighting energy on his tail, starts to run up to Turtwig.

"Use [Razor Leaf] then prepare a [Leafage]." I instantly shouted seeing the incoming Aipom. Turtwig uses [Razor Leaf] as Aipom starts to dodge it. Aipom not able to dodge all the moves gets hit, but still powers through.

Turtwig now with a [Leafage] ready, runs up to Aipom and attacks each other with their moves.

*Boom*

The impact creating a small shockwave, sends Turtwig a few steps away. Aipom who came out in the winning side of the duel, recovers instantly.

"[Double Hit] let's go!" Ash shouts seeing his Pokemon already on his toes. Looking at Turtwig just about getting up I start to get nervous.

"[Withdraw] then use [Leafage]." I command. Turtwig quickly envelops itself in a blue hue, with Aipom now in front ready to attack.

*Pow*Pow*

Aipom strikes Turtwig twice with the latter being able to tank the hits. Turtwig now with his [Leafage] ready, hits Aipom.

*Boom*

Aipom getting hit, is sent a few steps away.

"Create some distance with [Razor Leaf]!" I shout excitedly. This battle is ending up to be very exhilarating. Ash seeing Turtwig prepare an attack quickly responds.

"Aipom dodge using your tail!" Ash shouts. With the [Razor Leaf] heading Aipom's way, it uses its tail to propel itself to the side. "Great! Now use [Focus Punch] Aipom!" Ash says right away.

"Turtwig, use [Leafage] on the ground!"

Turtwig not questioning my decisions immediately uses [Leafage]. With Aipom still a decent distance away, Turtwig is able to hit the ground and create a dust cloud, effectively cloaking itself.

"Ai?" Aipom shouts confused after punching through the dust cloud. Seeing that Ash didn't have any vision of his Pokemon now, I told Turtwig to strike.

"Turtwig [Synthesis]." I say relieved. Turtwig being in the other side of the dust cloud, heals itself up.

"[Focus Punch]!" I hear Ash shout. Before I could react though, Turtwig gets hit by a speeding Aipom out of no where.

*Smack!*

Turtwig getting sent back to my side, gets swirls in its eyes.

'Well damn.' I thought to myself. It seems like I wasn't paying attention on Aipom and focused on Turtwig. A rookie mistake as it I'm still a new trainer.

My Pokemon could be extremely strong and have loads of combos, but I need more experience.

"Good try Turtwig!" I happily told him as I returned him to his Pokeball. Turtwig did quite amazing that battle. He followed my instructions and didn't panic, which is very good.

I might need to teach him on how to make his own decisions. Like how Aipom in the end there ran up to Turtwig without any commands, it was like he knew he found an opening.

In the heat of battle, anyone could make mistakes. Especially when your making split second decisions, it's not easy picking the right move every time.

"Let's go Chimchar." I call out as I send out my next Pokemon.

*Ztzszszzzz*

"Char chimchar!" The fire monkey shouts in excitement. Now with the chance to battle, Chimchar starts to get fired up.

"Let's end this quick, use [Ember] then follow it up with a [Power-Up Punch]." I tell Chimchar.

*Crackle*

"Aipom use [Focus Punch]!" I hear Ash shout. Aipom charging at Chimchar, barely gets hit by ember when trying to dodge. Chimchar seeing Aipom off balance, rushes off to beat hit opponent.

Aipom regaining itself right before Chimchar got close, goes to hit Chimchar. The hit though misses as Chimchar dodges to the left and hits Aipom.

*Boom*

Aipom getting send back, faints with Ash returning it back to its Pokeball.

"Those were nice moves Chimchar!" Ash calls out as he sends out his next Pokemon. "Let's go Starly!" Ash shots. Now that Aipom is out, I tell Chimchar to play a little defensive.

"Okay Starly use [Wing Attack]!"

Starly getting a hue of light blue on its wings, starts to fly up and dive towards Chimchar.

"Chimchar get ready to doge and use [Thunder Punch] to hit Starly to the ground." I quickly tell him. Chimchar waiting patiently, charges up a [Thunder Punch] as Starly dives down at him.

"Wait no!" Ash shouts seeing Chimchar's hand. Starly now about to hit Chimchar, misses as it feels itself getting punched to the ground.

*Boom!*

"Roughen it up." I tell Chimchar. Not letting up, Chimchar quickly finishes off Starly and wins the battle.

Ash seeing this, smiles and returns Starly to its Pokeball. Also returning Chimchar back to his Pokeball, I made my way next to Ash.

"That was an amazing battle." He said with a wide grin. "Your Pokemon listen to you quite well." He adds at the end making my laugh inwardly. I still remember watching him get bullied by his own Charizard.

"Yours did amazing as well, I bet if you used Pikachu you would of won!" I complemented him while scratching Pikachu's chin.

"Chaaa!" Pikachu growls out with a satisfied look.

()()()

[A/N: Why some of y'all complaining about how the chapters aren't creative when MC travels to Jubilife. There's only so much to write about on the way to Jubilife City bruh, have you seen the anime? Team rocket takes up 70% of the episode]