Chapter ten- Like-minded individuals

It was a few days later that Mason found himself walking down a dirt road with Ash, Misty and Brock. They had all left Cerulean city the day after Ash and Mason had gotten their gym badges, having chosen to stay the night in the Pokémon centre to get their Pokémon healed, and because it was already so late in the evening chose to stay the night and start the next leg of their journey in the morning.

That had been two days ago and Mason found himself growing more irritable and bored the longer they walked. Travelling like this was starting to really grate on his nerves. As much as he wanted to crack out his iPod and listen to his music he couldn't because that would get some odd looks from the rest of them and he didn't want to deal with the headache of answering their questions nor did he want to reveal that he was from another dimension.

Most nights he thought to himself about how he had even ended up in this world, and if he was the only one to do so, he thought long and hard on those facts. While initially he had been caught up in the fact that he was in the world that he had grown up loving from his childhood and just wanted to become a trainer. The more time passed the more those questions seemed to pop up to him. Had someone brought him here? Was it just a freak accident? Could he ever get home?

That last one kept him up at night, could he? Did he even want to? The fact was that his life hadn't been going that well before, shit happened and he didn't honestly want to deal with it all so maybe it was better if he didn't go back and just stayed here. It was why he had jumped at the chance to be a trainer it just felt right.

Mason tried to keep himself occupied in his thoughts as they walked down the road, before coming to a halt and being pulled from his thoughts by Ash of the… he'd actually forgotten how many times this was now.

"Um remind me again where we're going guys," Ash asked as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly as Pikachu gave a sigh from his shoulder.

Mason groaned, "for the umpteenth time Ash, we're going to Vermillion City", this had been the tenth time that Ash had asked that question and Mason was beginning to wonder if his mum had dropped him on his head as a kid.

Misty gave a dreamy sigh as he spoke, "I can't wait until we get there, Vermilion is a port town, famous for all the luxury cruise ships that pass through it, I'm just dying to see it all"

Ash groaned, "Misty we don't have time for sightseeing, not when there are badges to win," he said impatiently.

Brock cleared his throat to break up the argument before it got a chance to start, "there's also a gym in Vermillion city as well, and from what I've heard he's quite strong"

Mason nodded, "yeah, I've heard he's supposed to be this crazy military dude who packs a punch with electric Pokémon, that's just the challenge I'm looking forward to. I'm going to have to think up some different strategies to combat him as none of my Pokémon has a type advantage over electric types" he commented, having already thought a lot about Surge and his gym and just hot to combat his Raichu.

Ash was grinning like mad at the mention of the gym, "well what are we waiting for let's get going, I've got my third badge to win" he said and was about to run off when Mason caught him by his collar pulling him up short.

��Hold on Ash, we're still days away from Vermillion, and on top of that you haven't done any training since you left Pewter city, we can take these few days to train, you'll need them if you want to win your third badge" Mason commented wanting to get Ash back on track.

"We can train on the road, come in the faster we get there the sooner we can both get our badges" Ash argued back as he pulled himself free from Mason's grip and started running off.

Mason sighed as he Misty and Brock started walking after him, Mason shaking his head as they walked.

"Apparently I didn't kick his ass hard enough in our last battle, he's still not taking his training seriously," he commented to them both.

Brock gave Mason a side glance at the comment, "what do you mean? You and Ash battled?"

Misty giggles, "if you could even call that a battle, Mason mopped the floor with Ash's whole team back in Pewter City. Ash had been running his mouth about being a better trainer than Mason and Mason disagreed with Ash's lack of any seriousness as a Pokémon trainer, it ended with them battling and Mason taking down each of Ash's Pokémon in one on one battles with his own while still being careful not to seriously injured any of Ash's team" she recounted.

Mason nodded, "I was trying to get him to pull his head out of his ass and actually train his Pokémon as I do with mine on a daily basis. I thought I had got through to him, but apparently, I didn't do a good enough job"

Brock nodded in understanding, "I see… you're a good friend Mason, not many people would try to get through to a friend like that. But I have the feeling that it's going to take a lot more to make the message stick.

Mason nodded, "yeah, I just hope that I can get through to him sooner rather than later"

Time skip

It was two hours later that the group found themselves off the side of the dirt path. Both Misty and Brock split between watching the battle that Ash was having with a young trainer they had happened across on the road, and Mason who was taking the time while Ash was battling to get in some training sessions with his Pokémon while they waited.

As it currently stands, Spearow and Golbat we're challenging each other in midair combat, the two female flyers keeping the other on their toes up in the air.

While Scyther and Poliwhirl sparred in hand to hand combat. Mason was impressed by how hard Poliwhirl was going at Scyther pushing the Mantis Pokémon to really have to move to block his blows.

Mason suspected that Poliwhirl was taking his defeat at the hands of Gyarados as a personal front to his strength and wanted to become stronger to prevent it from happening again. Mason was taking full advantage of that and was pushing the tadpole Pokémon harder than he used to, to see about bringing out more of his strength.

As for Dratini Mason had the small blue dragon off to the side of the rest working on a new move for his arsenal one that Mason really wanted his partner to get down to give them an edge in battle, Dragonbreath, a second-generation move from Johto.

Now normally Dratini shouldn't have been able to learn the move, but Mason had a theory that it should be possible, after all, Dratini could already use Dragon Rage, it was basically the same thing, only instead of releasing the draconic energy in one huge fireball it would be released in a violet flamethrower. Dratini could already access the draconic energies now all he had to do was change how they came out.

"Again," Mason ordered as he stood off to the side watching his partner.

Dratini gave a nod as he began to gather small amounts of draconic energy, as per Mason's orders so that he could get the form down correctly before adding the power.

With the small amount of energy gathered Dratini began to mould it and with a cry went to release it, and just like it had the past five times the attack fizzled out the flames only flaring for a moment before dying out completely.

Mason sighed in frustration, they'd been at this only a couple of hours but each failure was really grating on his nerves, "it shouldn't be this hard to get it down, especially a weakened form of it, there's got to be something that we're missing" he sighed.

Brock nodded hearing him, "the theory is sound, I wish I could help, but I know very little about dragon Pokémon they aren't exactly common"

"But your other Pokémon seem to be doing well, they're really putting their all into their training" Misty commented smiling.

Mason nodded, "yeah," he said before shaking his head, "Alright you guys that's enough training, for now, we'll pick things up again later. It looks like Ash is just about done," he said as he held up his Pokéballs and recalled his Pokémon to rest.

Dratini came over to Mason and nudged his leg with his snout giving a little cry.

Mason arched an eyebrow. "You wanna stay out of your Pokéball hmm?" He asked taking a guess at what his partner wanted, the more he hung around his Pokémon the better he was getting at that.

Dratini gave a nod and Mason shrugged, "Alright then," he said before bending down to lift the small dragon up and placed him across his shoulders and the back of his neck with his head resting on Masons left shoulder.

"And I win!" Ash cried out as he fist-pumped the air, "and that's number ten!"

Mason, Misty and Brock began walking over, as Ash and the young trainer they met on the road started to shake hands.

"Wow Ash you're really strong, that was a great battle" the young trainer congratulated Ash.

"Well, I guess I was pretty good there," Ash smirked before he opened his jacket to flash the two badges he had, being about as subtle as a herd of Tauros in a china shop.

"Oh wow you have badges," the other trainer said excitedly.

"Oh you mean these~" Ash grinned.

Misty's eyes narrowed, "I think giving him those badges was a mistake"

"Hmm" Brock agreed with a sigh.

Mason nodded, "yeah now his ego has swollen to the size of a Snorlax, and he only properly won one of those badges"

"What'd you say!" Ash said turning on them having heard Mason's statement, "take that back, I won both my badges fair and square"

Mason snorted, "maybe the Cascade badge, but that was only because Misty didn't use her strongest Pokémon against you, or are you saying you think you could win against her Gyarados" he smirked as Ash gulped at the memory of the large sea serpent, "and let's not forget how you only have the Boulder badge because Brock gave you it after you "almost" won at his gym, and that was because of a faulty sprinkler system"

"And what about you," Ash said through gritted teeth, "last I checked we have the same badges and you didn't exactly win your second one outright, Misty only gave it to you because she was sorry for you"

Mason glared at Ash for that and was about to speak before Misty stepped forward with fire in her eyes, "I did not, I gave it to him because I recognised how skilled he was as a trainer, because he fought against Gyarados, my strongest Pokémon, and came out with a draw, and unlike some other trainers doesn't let the fact that he only has a couple of badges go right to his head!" Misty snapped making Ash flinch back.

"Now now that's enough you two," Brock said as he stepped in between them to keep a fight from breaking out, "we've been over this, that gym leaders have the last say in whoever gets their badges so there's no point in fighting over it" he said with a gentle tone trying to placate both sides.

Misty harrumphed and turned away, "I just don't like him judging my actions when he doesn't know what was going on in my head," she said with annoyance in her tone, but luckily she dropped the matter after that.

The young trainer who had been watching on had wide eyes, "oh cool, two trainers both with two badges, you both must be wicked strong, I bet the both of you could even beat AJ!"

"AJ?" Ash asked confused.

"Yeah, he lives just over there," the trainer explained as he pointed in a direction ahead of them, "he trains freshly caught wild Pokémon, and he's never lost a single match"

"Until now, he's never battled against a trainer like me!" Ash said pompously.

"What like you? A trainer with a massive head but a tiny brain" Mason snorted making Ash fall flat on his face.

Scene break

It was a little bit after they had left Ash's last battle behind and continued on in search of this AJ character, Mason sighed in slight annoyance as he remembered rewatching this episode in his weeks in Professor Oak's watcher's hut. He just knew that Ash was going to really get on his nerves.

It didn't take them long until they came across the rather impressive little set up that AJ had. Tall wooden walls fencing off the area with what looked to be a circus tent inside. And the sign read as he remembered.

A.J.'s GYM

UNDEFEATED!!

W/ 98 - L/ 00

NOTE: GYM NOT SANCTIONED BY THE POKEMON LEAGUE

Mason couldn't help but whistle softly, "Not bad, ninety-eight wins in a row, that's an impressive win streak. This guy obviously knows what he's doing" he commented knowing just how hard it was to build up a serious win streak like that, true most could do it in any of the games but after the number of times he'd been battling for real he'd realised just how much skill it took to pull it off.

Brock nodded, "indeed, I know some gym leaders who can't even maintain a streak like that at their own gyms" he agreed.

Ash snorted, "big deal, look at that, it's not even licenced by the Pokémon league, this is going to be easy"

Mason sighed, "don't be stupid Ash, just because the gym isn't sanctioned by the league doesn't mean this AJ isn't any good, it's a lot harder to get a gym sanctioned than you think" he commented having read up about the facts beforehand the day prior when he'd visited the Cerulean library to sate his curiosity.

Brock nodded again, "Mason's right Ash. In order to have a gym sanctioned by the league the prospective gym leader first has to prove themselves capable in battle, after that there are a number of written tests that need to be done by them, and this is all before the probationary period that usually lasts about six months where the gym leader has to meet a certain number of battles against challenging trainers in that time frame. A gym this far outside any major city would have a tough time meeting the numbers expected, though it looks like he still does well enough for himself." he explained.

"Alright," Ash sighed, "but I still say I'm going to beat him," he said not sounding the least bit intimidated.

Misty giggled, "I wouldn't be too sure about that, you may have won ten battles in a row but this guy has won almost ten times that"

"Big deal!" Ash snapped, "I go for quality, not quantity," he said as he glared at Misty only for Mason to smack him over the back of his head.

"Bullshit!" Mason snapped back at him, "the last ten trainers you battled have all been greenhorns. None of them were serious battlers. They were all weak, that's the only reason you're on a winning streak,"

Ash rounded on Mason, "Oh yeah, well I don't see you with any kind of win streak, so you're hardly one to talk!"

Mason scowled, "for your information Ash. Back before you caught up with me at Pewter, I had a nine trainer win streak running, and that only continued on when I got to Cerulean where I took on the Nugget Bridge challenge where I beat a further seventeen trainers giving me a twenty-six win streak which was only broken when I drew in my match against Misty, so I've had my own share of wins, far more than what you're currently at" he snapped back making Ash flinch back.

Misty giggled, "Aw go ahead and count your draw with me as a win, technically speaking you shouldn't really have faced Gyrados in our match seeing as he's so powerful, so it shouldn't really count as a loss since you did so well"

Mason just shrugged, "I'll think about it, and see if my win streaks continue" he decided before the sound of rustling bushes caught their attention.

Looking over they saw a young man coming out of the tree line. He had spiky green hair, wearing a black and red shirt and blue shorts, with a large backpack on his back. When he spotted them he grinned.

"Well, what do we have here, more victims" the young man grinned.

"I take it you are AJ?" Mason asked for clarity's sake.

AJ nodded, "that's my name, don't wear it out. So I take it you and the loudmouth here are here to challenge me to a battle."

Before Mason could respond Ash spoke up, "you bet we are and I'm going to be the one to end your winning streak"

AJ grinned, "perfect, but don't think this is going to be so easy, training Pokémon is my passion but beating little punks like you is my hobby, and one that I've gotten really good at" he said before snapping his fingers as the large wooden gates opened up and he began to lead them into his set up.

Mason was impressed with what he saw, the tent was much larger than he had first thought and in the clearing between it and the gate was a raised battle platform that looked to have taken some work to set up, with the four sets of steps set into the ground that lead up to the flattened earth.

"Nice setup," Mason commented as he looked around.

"Not too shabby at all" Misty agreed as she nodded.

"Indeed, a respectable set up that looks to be keeping in code with all the standards of an official league gym, I'm very impressed," Brock said as he looked over everything.

As they were looking around AJ took off his backpack and put it down, only for a very healthy and strong looking Butterfree to come flying over and pick up the heavy looking bag and start to fly back to the large tent with it.

"What's in the bag?" Ash asked curiously.

"Training weight for my hike along with all the wild Pokémon I just caught" AJ replied as he began to walk towards the raised platform.

Mason arched an eyebrow at the weights comment, apparently, he wasn't the only trainer who trained themselves as well as their Pokémon to be strong.

"Cool, can I see the Pokémon after our match?" Ash asked excited at the prospect of seeing more Pokémon.

"If you want," AJ replied in a casual tone not really caring much before he turned on the stage and looked down at them, "So which Pokémon are you going to choose for my ninety-ninth win~" he grinned.

"Ninety-Ninth?" Ash asked confused as Mason facepalmed, it took Ash just a couple of seconds too long to work out just was AJ was getting at before he realised what his words meant.

'Seriously how thick can he be?' Mason thought to himself as he watched Ash run up and onto the platform before he, Misty and Brock walked over to Ash's side of the arena to spectate in the match, "I'll take you on after you mop the floor with him" Mason called to AJ.

"What do you mean, I'm not going to lose!" Ash snapped back at him.

Mason sighed, "you just keep believing that Ash," he said pitying the naive fool for what was about to befall him.

AJ smirked, "you should listen to your friend kid, you may think your hot stuff but you're not playing in the Pokémon little leagues any more," he said before he cracked a bullwhip on the ground making Ash jump.

Mason blinked 'where did he even get that whip from?' He thought completely confused for a moment.

"After I win one hundred matches in a row, I'll start competing for badges" AJ declared with a grin as he gripped his whip tight in his hands.

"That means he's only two wins away," Brock said in realisation.

"And it means he's going to be extra psyched to win" Misty added.

Mason nodded, "which means Ash stands even less of a chance than I originally thought" he voiced with a smirk.

Ash seemed to grow at Mason's words before looking to AJ again, "ninety-eight wins and you still don't have a badge, that's tough luck AJ" he said before opening his jacket flashing his two badges, "I only have ten wins and I have two badges" he claimed and Mason could practically see Ash's nose growing longer.

AJ smirked, "did you buy those badges or steal em, either that or you competed in some loser gyms, where were they, failure city or whimpsvile"

Mason gulped as he felt heat flare up beside him at AJs words and looked to see both Brock and Misty with fires in their eyes, they were pissed.

"Hey Mason, when it's your turn to battle, clobber this guy" Brock requested.

"Pound him into the ground, no one disrespects my gym like that," Misty said passionately.

Mason chuckled and nodded while Ash just falls flat on his face before turning back to them.

"Hey what about me shouldn't you be telling me that!" Ash states getting more annoyed.

"Just hurry up and lose already so Mason can beat this guy, we already know you're not going to win," Misty says brushing Ash off.

Ash grits his teeth, "grrr I'll show you" he said before turning back to AJ, "let's get this started"

AJ smirked, "fine by me," he said as he pulled a Pokéball from his belt, "Sandshrew let's go" he called throwing his Pokéball out as the mouse Pokémon appeared from his Pokéball and onto the field.

Mason watched closely from the side his eyes looking over the small Pokémon, he could tell by looking that Sandshrew was well trained, he was slightly larger than what his Pokédex entry said about his species, instead of being two feet tall he looked a good half a foot taller and had a fair bit more bulk to him. AJs training methods were clearly working.

"A Sandshrew hm, this should be interesting," Ash grinned, clearly not noticing his opponents strength.

"Remember Ash, Sandshrew is a ground type, Pikachu's electrical attacks won't work on it" Misty reminded him.

"I know that so shut up, I don't need your help" Ash snapped.

"Says the guy who went up against a rock type gym with Pikachu as his only strategy" Mason countered smirking.

Ash growled as he turned back to the battle, "Pidgeotto I choose you" he yelled as he tossed his Pokéball out into the air as the large bird took to the sky.

"Well, at least he's using strategy this time" Misty sighed.

"Pidgeotto should have the advantage, being a flying type" Brock agreed.

"It won't matter," Mason stated plainly, "the difference in strength and training is too great"

And sure enough, as AJ cracked his whip again Sandshrew took off running at Pidgeotto as the bird took off higher into the air.

"Too bad your Sandshrew can't…." Ash began to say cocky before Sandshrew rolled up into a ball and bounced himself off the ground and launched himself up at Pidgeotto slamming against him with all his weight, "what!"

Pidgeotto crashed to the ground clearly hurt from the impact as Sandshrew landed back in position in front of AJ awaiting his next command.

"Wow," Misty said in awe, "wasn't expecting that"

Brock nodded, "Sandshrew is clearly well trained to be able to move on command like that"

"This battle was over before it even started" Mason states as he watches on.

"Finish it!" AJ orders as he cracked his whip again and Sandshrew moved to attack again.

Ash moved in a hurry to call back Pidgeotto before the attack could hit, before he called out his next choice, "Butterfree I choose you!" He called out as he tossed his next Pokéball, "use stun spore!"

Butterfree moves on command and began to let off the yellow dust over the battlefield as he moved towards Sandshrew.

"That won't work!" AJ said as he cracked his whip again and Sandshrew jumped up before diving towards the ground and began to dig disappearing into the earth to avoid the spores.

"And checkmate" Mason states as the stun spore ended and AJ cracked his whip again.

Sandshrew shot out of the ground and high into the air with speed as he launched up behind Butterfree catching him by surprise and in seconds had the butterfly pinned to the ground with his wings trapped.

"And that makes victory number ninety-nine" AJ declared with a grin as he struck his whip again and Sandshrew moved off the now exhausted Butterfree.

Ash quickly returned Butterfree before turning to grab Pikachu, "come on you have to go help your friend" he said only for Pikachu to grab the edge of the arena leaving Ash to try to pull Pikachu in by his tail.

Mason, Misty and Brock all wisely took several steps back just in time for Pikachu to let out a powerful electric attack shocking Ash badly as he fell to the ground twitching.

Mason sighed, "what an idiot," he said before looking to Dratini who was still perched over his shoulders, "ready to win buddy?"

Dratini gave a confirmed cry making Mason smirk as he walked forward and up the steps before turning and using the bottom of his boot pushed Ash me twitching form off the platform, "let me show you how it's done" he told him before looking to AJ and Sandshrew, "ready for a real battle?"

AJ smirked, "you bet, once we beat you we'll have our hundredth win and can finally start competing for real"

Mason smirked, "sorry to say but your winning streak is about to be broken, Dratini ready for battle," he said as Dratini gave a cry and threw himself off Mason's shoulders and out onto the field.

Misty blinked, "Mason why aren't you using Poliwhirl, he'd have an advantage in this fight"

Mason nodded, "I could, but Dratini wants to fight, besides, it's only fair I face his partner with my own"

AJ grinned, "good eye, Sandshrew was my first Pokemon, he's been with me from the start, I'm assuming it's the same with you and Dratini?"

Mason nodded, "yep, I hatched him myself, he's been with me from the start of it all, so it only seems fitting"

AJ nodded, "that it does, and it will make our hundredth win all the sweeter, Sandshrew go Fury swipes!" he ordered as he cracked his whip.

Sandshrew threw himself forward with his claws raised ready to attack as he got closer to Dratini.

Mason smirked, "Dratini use Twister knock it back!" He ordered.

Dratini gave a cry as his draconic aura enveloped his body and the winds began to pick up and lashed out the rapidly approaching Sandshrew.

Sandshrew slowed still trying to advance as he was pummeled by the draconic winds, his clawed feet digging into the ground to keep it from being pushed back by the winds and kept pushing forward much to Mason's shock.

"Ha it's going to take a lot more than some winds to stop us, Sandshrew go!" AJ ordered grinning confidently.

Mason mentally cursed as Sandshrew got within striking range, "Dratini use Agility to dodge!" He ordered quickly.

Just as Sandshrew claw came down Dratini cut of his attack and blurred away from the mouse Pokémon putting some distance between them as Mason began to strategise, this battle wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

"Push the attack Sandshrew, Slash let's go" AJ ordered as he cracked his whip.

Sandshrew instantly took off again his claws lengthening and began to glow with power as he moved in for the attack.

"Dodge again with Agility and attack back with Dragon Rage!" Mason ordered

Once again Dratini blurred out of the range of Sandshrews claws just barely in time and the second he stopped moving he reared his head back and channelled his draconic energy into his maw and let out a speedy Dragon Rage with all the power of a fully charged one, all the training the last few days had really paid off.

"Dig to dodge!" AJ ordered with a crack of his whip making Sandshrew instantly dive underground as the Dragon Rage missed.

"Dratini, use Dragon Rage down the hole!" Mason ordered thinking strategically.

Dratini nodded moving to the hole as he prepares to fire again.

"As if we'd let that happen, Sandshrew, Earthquake!" AJ ordered loudly as he cracked his whip again.

Mason's eyes widened as did the others when suddenly the entire area began to shake causing Dratini to misfire the Dragon Rage and hit the ground knocking the small dragon back.

"Dratini!" Mason said in worry his eyes wide.

But it wasn't over yet as AJ cracked his whip again as Sandshrew burst from the ground from below where Dratini landed claws out as he delivered a powerful blow to the small dragon making it cry out.

Mason clenched his fists tightly as he heard the pained cry of his partner, "Dratini, use Wrap, don't let him dig again!" He ordered, his eyes focused, doing his best to keep his mind clear and calm.

Dratini obeyed and threw himself at Sandshrew his body wrapping around the mouse Pokémon and squeezing.

"That won't hold us, Sandshrew break out of it and use Slash!" AJ ordered as he cracked his whip again.

Sandshrew instantly obeyed as he began to flex his arms to break the wrap he was in.

Mason instantly cursed in his head, "Dratini, Dragon Rage point blank!" He ordered thinking quickly, he needed to gain some ground or this would be over before they even had a chance.

Dratini obeyed and thanks to all of the training he was able to gather the draconic energies just in time and was about to fire just as Sandshrew broke free, it was in that moment that something happened and instead of a ball of draconic flames that came out it was a powerful stream of them that burst forth and caught Sandshrew full in the face blasting the two Pokémon apart.

Both trainers eyes were wide at the sudden attack, Mason was instantly trying to work out what happened, 'that wasn't Dragon Rage, that was Dragonbreath, but how, why did it happen this time, could it be purposefully weakening the draconic energy before was what was causing it not to work' he thought to himself.

"We're not done yet, it will take more than whatever that was to beat us," AJ said as he cracked his whip and Sandshrew got back to his feet, albeit a little worse for wear after taking the powerful blast of draconic fire to the face, "Go Sandshrew use Slash again!" AJ orders his whip cracked the ground.

Sandshrew took off with speed rolling into a ball and shot towards Dratini who was still recovering from the explosive attack.

Mason cursed, "Dratini, use Dragonbreath, full power!" He ordered hoping Dratini could pull off the attack a second time.

Dratini looked up just as Sandshrew threw itself into the air and unfurled coming at Dratini with his claws out ready to attack. He reacted instantly to Mason's orders and gathering up as much draconic energy as he could in his maw and released it with a cry as a stream of violet flames erupted from Dratinis mouth.

Sandshrew's eyes widened as he saw the flames come roaring at him but the crack of AJs whip caught his attention, "use dig to dodge!"

Sandshrew immediately changes his aim and shot down to the ground disappearing under the ground to evade the flames, but Mason was prepared.

"Keep the flames going and aim for the hole!" Mason ordered much to AJs horror.

"No!" AJ yelled in shock, but it was too late.

The violet flames washed down the hole like water down a sink drain, flooding the tunnel Sandshrew had dug in an effort to escape the flames and they just kept coming.

The next second the ground shook and three meters away from the hole the ground cracked and in a geyser of violet flames, Sandshrew erupted from the ground with a cry forced from the ground by the strength of the flames and launched into the air.

"Sandshrew!" AJ yelled in worry.

"Finish it, Dragon Rage!" Mason ordered knowing he had to end this now before Sandshrew could reach the ground and AJ could use Sandshrews more powerful moves, he knew that he knew Fissure and he didn't want to give them the chance when Sandshrew was in a prime position to use it now.

Dratini didn't waste a beat, gathering the draconic energies once more he took aim and let the fireball fly true, Sandshrew had no way to dodge and the impact shook the air as it landed and from the smoke Sandshrew plummeted to the ground like a rock crashing down flat on its front his eyes closed showing he was down for the count.

AJ looked like someone had just gut-punched him for a few seconds before he sprinted out into the battlefield, "Sandshrew!"

Mason for his part felt his shoulders slump as he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, that match had been one of the toughest yet, 'I really need to step up our training, possibly start coming up with some combination moves, the second I reach Vermillion city I'm going out battling and then hitting the stores for technical machines I need to teach Dratini some more moves' he thought to himself before walking out into the field and kneeling down at Dratinis side and rubbing the small dragons head, "well-done partner, that was a great match, I knew you had it in you" he praised the small dragon who gave a pleased cry in response.

Both Misty and Brock came up onto the platform Misty carrying Mason's bag to him while Brock went to AJ already getting medical supplies out of his bag to see to Sandshrew.

Mason quickly saw to treating Dratini's wounds with some potions making sure his partner was okay and that there weren't any adverse effects from the attacks he had taken.

Once he was sure that Dratini was fine he let the small dragon rest on his shoulders again before he approached Brock and AJ, who was now cradling a fully healed Sandshrew with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry buddy, I let us down, all our hard work, gone because I screwed up" AJ apologises as he hugged Sandshrew who was hugging his trainer back mourning the death of their ninety-ninth win streak.

Mason couldn't help but feel a little bad for him, the guy had been training his butt off to get those wins and it showed with just how massively overpowered his Sandshrew was, Mason was amazed that he hasn't evolved into a Sanslash with how much training it had probably undergone. He knew that Dratini was nowhere near evolving given how notoriously hard it was to level his species up in the games he bet it was the same here as well.

"Hey AJ," Mason said as he held his hand out to him, "that was a great match, you're one hell of a trainer, and your Sandshrew is incredibly powerful, you should be proud of yourself"

AJ looked at him and sighed taking his hand, "thanks, but it still doesn't change the fact that I lost, all our hard work down the drain just like that" he sighed.

Mason shook his head, "it shouldn't matter, ninety-nine is an incredible win streak all on its own, you're already plenty ready for the gym challenges, in fact I was hoping that you'd be able to give me some tips on how to train my Pokémon, since you've obviously been at this and know what you're doing far better than I do"

AJ looked taken aback, "R-Really, you'd actually want to learn from me after you just beat me," he asked confused.

Mason nodded, "of course, I'm always willing to learn, and it's not as if it was a complete blowout, you made me work for that win so you're obviously doing something right. If you want my advice you should just forget about your loss to me, and put your win streak off until your next battle to decide, if you lose that then it should count, everyone has an off day"

Ash jumped in at this, "does that mean I should hold onto my win streak too?" He asked hopefully

Mason snorted, "Oh hell no, you got flattened and then used to mop the battlefield, your win streak is dead and buried," he said prompting Ash to hang his head as a storm cloud rained over him.

AJ seemed to ponder Mason's suggestion and looked to his partner, "what do ya say, buddy, wanna call this match an off day and we try again for our hundredth tomorrow?"

Sandshrew nodded his head vigorously, clearly agreeing with the suggestion, making AJ smirk.

"Well I guess that settles it then, our win streak is still alive, this just means we'll have to train extra hard until the next battle comes" AJ proclaimed as Sandshrew gave a cry of agreement.

"In fact, let's go get started," AJ states before looking to Mason, "you said you wanted some tips on how to train, come on in and see for yourself how we do things at this gym" he smirked before starting to walk towards the tent.

Mason nodded and looked to the others, "you guys wanna come?"

Misty smiled, "sure thing, should be interesting" she chirped happily.

Brock smirked, "of course, I'm really interested in how to find out about how AJ sees to his Pokemon's dietary needs"

Ash frowned, "why so he can rub my nose in the fact that he beat me"

Mason rolled his eyes as he turned and started towards the tent also as Misty and Brock followed him, "How about so you can see how important actually training your Pokémon is in order to become stronger" he called back as they entered the tent.

Getting inside Mason was pleasantly surprised to see the impressive set up that AJ had set up, a huge pool next to a weight area. He could see the benefits of having both, swimming was great for building up stamina and endurance while the weights would help to build a Pokemon's physical strength, two key aspects to work on, and Mason knew that the pool could also be used in other ways.

As if to prove his point, the sound of AJs whip cracked through the air making the trio focus on him, at the same time that Ash finally decided to come in.

Up above the pool on the ten-meter tall diving board, Sandshrew stood in his strength gear before throwing himself off the platform and performing a mid-air somersault before splashing down into the water.

Mason gave an impresses whistle as he walked over to the pool and AJ, "water resistance training, impressive, I've only read about it and never actually seen it in practice"

AJ smirked, "Thanks, you're looking at the only Sandshrew in these parts that is completely immune to water" he claimed as Sandshrew burst from the water and began to spin rapidly to dry off, "no resting back in the water!" AJ ordered as he cracked his whip again.

"This doesn't look like training at all, to me it just looks like you're being cruel to Sandshrew" Ash claimed, scowling at the sight of Sandshrew diving back into the pool again.

AJ snorted, "And what would you know about my Pokémon or our training, judging by how easily I beat you before. You barely, if ever, train them properly at all, that's no way to be a Pokémon trainer"

Mason snorted, "save your breath AJ, I've been trying to drill that into Ash's head since nearly the moment I met him, he won't listen, though I do have to say that the whip is a bit much on your part though, a little overkill" he smirked.

AJ chuckled, "what can I say I'm passionate" he agreed as he gestured to his other Pokémon.

A trio of Ratata was training by using Tackle attacks on a medicine ball as they passed it back and forth, while up in the air a Butterfree and Beedrill were sparing obviously going through well-practised movements at a fast pace.

Mason nodded just as he heard a splash and Sandshrew came up from the water again spinning once more to dry himself off.

"Impressive, very impressive indeed" Mason nodded as Dratini gave a cry from his shoulder making Mason smirk, "Hey AJ, do you mind if I let my Pokémon out to train with yours, I've only been able to get a little training in today while Ash was getting his win streak"

AJ smirked, "sure thing, the more the merrier"

Mason nodded as he took his Pokéballs off his belt and tossed them up into the air, "come on out guys!"

In four flashes, Poliwhirl, Scyther, Spearow And Golbat all appeared looking around them before focusing on Mason as he put Dratini down to join them.

Now it was AJs turn to whistle, "Wow, that's a strong-looking team you have, already with two of them evolved I can already see them becoming a real powerhouse team when they're all evolved"

"Thanks," Mason nodded, "mind if we have Spearow and Golbat in a trio with your Butterfree for some air combat, Scyther can probably spar against your Beedrill and Poliwhirl and Dratini could do with some pool time"

AJ nodded, "sounds like a plan to me," he said before giving a whistle to get his Pokemon's attention and started to partner them all up.

Time skip

It was over the next half an hour that both Mason and AJ watched their Pokémon train together, Brock and Misty had even had their own Pokémon join in, though they had refrained from releasing Gyarados and Onix respectively, given how large both of them where.

Misty's water Pokémon were in the pool with Poliwhirl and Dratini alternating between swimming drills and water combat. While Brock's Geodude was training with AJ's Rattatas knocking the medicine ball between them from one to another with Tackle, and his Zubat had joined Butterfree, Golbat and Spearow who were sparing above, it had turned into a real event for them all, except for one in particular.

Ash was just standing over to the side of it all with a frown on his face as he watched everything, AJ in particular as he kept cracking his whip and giving out orders.

This had been happening since it all started and Mason was getting sick of his sulking and decided to do something about it. Just as the bell rang to signal the break he walked over and gave Ash a smack across the back of his head.

"Owe! What was that for!" Ash snapped at Mason with a scowl.

"For being a stupid idiot," Mason snapped back, "you've been standing in that one spot for the past half an hour glaring at AJ and for what, because he's being hard on his Pokémon while he's training them, grow up Ash. This is what being a trainer is all about. There's a time and place to have fun with your Pokémon, but if you want that to be all the time you shouldn't have signed up for the gym challenge because unless you're going to train you stand no chance of winning the Indigo league just by making friends with your Pokémon and never training them"

"So what! You want me to work my Pokémon every day and run them into the ground until their exhausted," he said gesturing to all the Pokémon who were on the ground exhausted from their training, "their my friends, not tools just for battles" Ash snapped back.

"If that's how you see it you should just quit now, your not cut out to be a Pokémon trainer" AJ commented hearing Ash's little declaration, "just because I push my Pokémon hard doesn't mean I don't care about them, it's because we both have a dream to be the best, and in order to achieve that for us both I have to push my Pokémon or we'll never achieve our dreams"

Ash didn't look as though he had heard anything after AJs comment about him not being cut out to be a Pokémon trainer, as he glared at AJ with his fists balled down by his sides as if he was ready to take a swing.

Luckily any fight was prevented when Brock came over with his hands up in a placating gesture to defuse the situation, "Alright that's enough, no need to start a fight" he said gently before looking to AJ, "AJ I've been meaning to ask you about the food you feed your Pokémon, I'm an aspiring Pokémon breeder and I was curious…" he began to say.

AJ smirked, "say no more Brock," he said and gestured for him to follow.

Both Mason and Brock followed AJ over to a set of cupboards which AJ opened to reveal a number of Pokémon food containers with various type labels on their fronts to show what's food is in which.

"Impressive, you have a wide range of Pokémon foods here, I'm assuming that their all your own blends?" Brock inquired.

AJ nodded, "of course, in order to get the most out of my Pokémon's training I have to carefully monitor their diets so that they get all the nutrients they need as well as keeping them happy with the flavour of their meals, Sandshrew likes his chow nice and spicy, while my Rattata like their chow sweet, and Butterfree prefers something a bit sweet but hates anything spicy, Beedrill loves anything spicy but like Sandshrew has to have it moist so it's not too dry" he explained, "I keep a small plot out the back for growing berries to mix in with the various chow mixes for flavour and add in the other ingredients to help develop certain attributes, speed, attack and the like…"

Mason nodded along as he listened alongside Brock, mentally taking notes for when Brock would be walking him through making his own Pokémon food again, and what followed was an in-depth lecture from AJ on how he personally prepared each of his Pokemon's food by hand with certain goals in mind for their training. Mason found it quite fascinating as it wasn't really an aspect the games or the anime had gotten much into and he could see how beneficial it would be, how he could tailor his Pokemon's training with the right balance of nutrients and berry mix to get the flavour the Pokémon preferred.

He knew already where the tastes were coming from, his Pokémon natures, another thing the anime never really touched on but figured it would be a part of the Pokémon world, he'd have to do some testing to work out just what each of his teams natures were, judging by what flavours they preferred and disliked, seeing as how the Pokédex didn't give that information.

They finished just in time as they heard the bell ringing again, signalling that break time was over.

"Alright, break times over" AJ announced as he cracked his whip again, "back to work, come on" AJ ordered his Pokémon as they all began to get up from where they had laid down to relax.

Mason's Pokemon all looked to him and he nodded back to them, "time to get back to work" they all nodded back to him.

Ash frowned seeing all of the Pokémon getting back up even though they all looked completely exhausted. He looked to Mason and AJ scowling, "they need longer to rest, they're still tired" he claimed not noticing the scowls that he got from both trainers Pokémon as they returned to their training.

Mason sighed and shook his head, "they've had time to catch their breath, my team is used to longer training sessions than just that"

"And my Pokémon are no pushovers either…" AJ said before looking over to where he last saw Sandshrew only to frown when he saw Pikachu curled up in a ball, "what's your Pikachu think it's doing?"

Ash looked over his eyes wide as he ran over to Pikachu, "Pikachu are you okay" he said as he knelt down to try and help his partner uncurl only to fail.

AJ frowned as he walked over and knelt down, "give him here" he said taking the curled up electric mouse and with a couple of clicks Pikachu sprang back up with a sigh of relief as Ash took his Pokémon back.

AJ looked at the device and frowned, "This is Sandshrews" he said before standing up and looking around not seeing any sign of his buddy. He looked back to Pikachu, "Pikachu do you know where Sandshrew is?"

Pikachu looked to AJ and shook his head sadly in a negative and AJs frown deepened as he turned away, "Sandshrew where are you, buddy!" He called out but got no response, "Sandshrew!"

Ash seemed to smirk triumphantly, "maybe he ran away" he suggested getting AJs attention.

"Say what?" AJ asked with a scowl as he balled his fists at the mere suggestion that his partner would abandon him.

"Given how you treat your Pokémon I'm surprised…"Ash continued to say only to be cut short by a right hook to his jaw that sent him sprawling and right into the pool with a splash, Pikachu jumping free at the last second to not get wet, only the punch didn't come from AJ.

Mason stood a few feet from where Ash had been his fist balled as he glared at the water as Ash came up, "shut your damn mouth Ketchum, you have no bloody clue what you are talking about" Mason spoke with venom in his tone, he was absolutely sick of Ash's bullshit, "you think a Pokémon would abandon their trainer just because they're hard on them in training? Do you think my Pokémon will abandon me just because I push them to be better than they already are so that they can become stronger? Grow the hell up you idiot, if your too stupid to see what's right in front of you then AJs was right, you should quit being a Pokémon trainer because you clearly down get it" he said before gesturing to all of AJs Pokémon who were looking just as worries as their trainer, "AJ is a trainer, just like you, just like me. The only difference between you and him is that he trains his Pokémon, pushing them to their limit every time. Not out of cruelty, but because he cares for them just as any trainer does for their Pokémon. If you can't see that, you're more of a moron than I thought, and clearly not cut out to be a Pokémon trainer."

Ash just floated in the water not sure whether to be shocked or angry over Mason punching him and what he was saying, his ears were ringing and his jaw hurt like hell though.

Mason turned away from Ash to see both Misty and Brock giving him concerned looked but he didn't say anything before looking to AJ, "let's find Sandshrew" he told him before whistling to his Pokémon as they all came to him, "spread out and search around the area, Sandshrew is missing, find him" he ordered.

His Pokémon all nodded and quickly took off to begin searching being joined by AJs Pokémon a couple of seconds later.

Mason clenched his fists, he had completely forgotten about Team Rockets fudged up attempt to steal Pikachu and swiping Sandshrew instead, he had been so distracted by AJs Pokéfood talk and trying to learn all he could that it had completely slipped his mind, he should have been more alert and put a stop to it before it happened and now those three idiots had gotten one over on them and he didn't know what made him feel worse, that it happened, or the fact that those three clowns did it while he was there to stop them with prior knowledge of what they would do, he felt like such an idiot.

Mistaking his silence for concerns for Sandshrews well being Misty came up to Mason and put her hand on his shoulder, he looked to her and she gave him a small smile, "We should go help with the search too" she said as Brock came up as well remaining silent but nodded in agreement.

Mason smiled back and nodded, "Alright come on" he said and started to the door of the three of them plus AJ left to split up and search, leaving Ash to climb his way out of the pool on his own, a bruise already starting to form on his jaw from where Mason had slugged him, but what Mason had said to him began to rattle around his head as his ears rang from the punch still and he lay down at the side of the pool looking up at the ceiling of the tent a frown on his face as he became lost in thought.

Scene break

It was a good ten minutes into the search for Sandshrew, Mason knew that Sandshrew would come back on his own, but he was hoping to find Team Rocket before then and redeem himself for not stopping this before it happened.

As they are searching, Misty approaches Mason, a look of concern on her face, "did you really have to do that back there with Ash, I know he can be a thick-headed idiot at times but did you have to punch him?" She asked.

Mason looked to her at the question before looking away and sighing, in truth the punch had only been half about Ash's stupidity, the other half had been about himself allowing this to happen, it shouldn't have happened not with him there, that had been the tipping point for him. That and Ash actually having the gall to say what he did and for what he knew Ash would have and still might do when they got back, trying to convince AJs Pokémon to come with him and abandon AJ like he was convinced Sandshrew had.

"I'm not going to apologise for it, Ash was way out of line saying what he was," Mason stated, "there's only so much of his stupidity that I can take in one day and he's being exceptionally stupid today. Training Pokémon is part of, if not all, that being a Pokémon trainer is all about. It's in the bloody name for Mew's sake, Ash needs to grow up and catch himself on or it's his Pokémon that are going to be the ones to suffer for their trainer's stupidity"

Misty sighed, "I know that, and I know you mean well, but look at it from Ash's perspective. To him it's someone trying to tell him what to do and how to be a Pokémon trainer, he wants to become strong himself, everyone has their own style, and he'll learn in his own time and in his own way"

"But that's just the thing Misty, he isn't, he may want to be strong but he's doing nothing to actually become strong. He's not training his Pokémon, he's not strategising, he's running around with his head up his ass and thinks this is all just some game and that everything will go his way if he just plays nice with his Pokémon, and it's that very fact that pissing me off" Mason frowned, "he has the same number of badges as me, and he's only properly earned one of them, he's catching Pokémon but not training them, he's just skating by on luck and bullshit, while others like me are actually training to get where we are. And to top it all off he has the balls to actually gloat about his "accomplishments" in the presence of someone who actually had to work and not bullshit his way through…" he said before throwing his hands in the air, "can you blame me for being pissed off, sooner or later he's going to crash and burn. It'll be his Pokémon to suffer for his stupidity"

Misty listened to Mason's rant concerned. She understood how he felt, but she could tell there was more than just the irritation of seeing Ash get by on luck, and she thought she had figured it out in the last part of his rant. She smiled, "you're doing it so that Ash's Pokémon have a better trainer and so that they won't get hurt because of Ash, and so that Ash won't feel bad when he sees his Pokémon get hurt?" She voiced her suspicions.

Mason remained silent for a moment, frowning. In a way it was partly true, "yes to the first part," he replied, "but I couldn't care less about Ash's feelings on the matter, his Pokémon need a proper trainer who will actually train them, he may as well just be keeping them as glorified pets otherwise" he said before looking around and sighing, "come on let's head back, see if the others have found anything"

Time skip

When they arrived back at the tent, everyone else had already returned, and AJ looked to them as they came in, "Anything?" he asked with a look of hope only for that look to fall when he saw they didn't have Sandshrew with them.

"Nothing and we walked straight for a good ten minutes searching with no signs, we were hoping you guys would have had more luck," Mason said with a sigh.

Inwardly he knew it was only a matter of time until Sandshrew turned up, bursting through the ground with Meowth with him, but he couldn't shake the worry that he had inside him that was beginning to sink in, what if his presence had changed something, what if Sandshrew didn't come back this time.

Lucky for Mason he didn't have to dwell on those thoughts for long as several feet in front of AJ began to crack and bulge the next moment before Sandshrew burst out of the tiled floor and threw himself into AJs arms.

"Sandshrew!" AJ said in surprise and relief as he hugged the Pokémon tightly as his other Pokémon began to crowd around to welcome the missing Pokémon back.

Mason let out a sigh of relief that his presence hadn't changed things this time, and he glanced over to Ash seeing as the other trainer had been quiet this whole time.

Ash seemed to be looking at AJ with a pained look as if realising how big of an idiot he'd been, he glanced to Mason only to see him looking before turning his gaze away in shame.

Mason smirked, 'finally realised it did you, well at least you didn't make yourself out to be as big of an idiot like you did in the anime. Guess my punch was good for something' Mason internally mused to himself before looking down at the unconscious form of Meowth and scowled.

"So that's what happened," Mason said aloud getting everyone's attention as they looked to him and the unconscious cat Pokémon.

��Wake up you little shit!" Mason snapped before drawing back his foot and kicking Meowth with the toe of his steel-toed boot and launching the feline into the pool with a splash.

The boot connected Meowth woke up with a yelp before he found himself airborne and landing in the pool spluttering as he tried to keep himself afloat and swim for the edge of the pool.

By the time he reached it he looked up to find himself surrounded by everyone, Pokémon included, all looking down at him angrily.

"So that's what happened to Sandshrew, Team Rocket must have tried to kidnap him," Misty said angrily.

"Team Rocket?" AJ asked for clarification his fists balled in anger at the thought of anyone stealing away his buddy.

"It's just as it sounds, a criminal organisation who steals strong Pokémon and use them to commit other crimes, Meowth here is the mascot of a certain team of them that we've run into in the past" Mason explained.

Meowth bristles at the comment, "I ain't no stinking mascot!" He snapped as he climbed out of the pool before flinching back at all the angry glares he was receiving.

"So where's the rest of your pathetic group, where there's a stink there's usually something rotten nearby," Mason asked with disgust.

As if speaking about them made them appear, the voices of Jessie and James came from the doorway.

"Prepare for trouble", "make that double"

Everyone turned to look to the doorway and sure enough there the two members of Team Rocket stood.

"To protect the world from devastation, "to unite all people within our nation" they began to recite.

Mason scowled, "oh give it a rest you idiots, no one cares," he said cutting them off and making them fall flat on their faces at the sudden interruption.

"How rude!" Jessie screeched indignantly.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners boy" James scowled

Mason snorted, "I'm an orphan so no, now do everyone a favour and just get lost"

"Hold up a minute," AJ said stepping forward, "are these lot the crooks who tried kidnapping my Sandshrew"

Jessie snorted, "that was an unfortunate mix up," she said waving her finger.

"We have no interest in your second rate Sandshrew, we only seek rare and powerful Pokémon, of which your Sandshrew is neither" James scoffed

"Second rate!" AJ snapped his fists clenched at his sides at the insult.

"The only two Pokémon here that we care about are Pikachu and Dratini, you can keep all those other wimps" Jessie smirked.

"Wimps are they!" AJ scowled his jaw clenched.

Mason watched and hid a half-smirk, as much as he would have liked to stop Team Rocket beforehand and dealt with them himself, he was actually looking forward to seeing what was about to happen now, Team Rocket had just messed with the wrong trainer.

"If you want a battle…" Ash said as he stepped forward ready to fight only to be blocked by AJ.

"Hold on Ash, let me handle them" AJ declared, "no one insults my Pokémon and gets away with it," he declared angrily as he glared at the Team Rocket trio, "let's step outside"

Time skip

What followed after that, had left a smirk on Masons face for the remainder of the evening, after watching AJ thoroughly thrash those clowns and then watch as they proceeded to run away after being scared shitless by Sandshrew practically destroyed the clearing with a Fissure attack during the battle.

Mason could only shake his head as he stood on the edge of the chasm looking down into the darkness and whistles in appreciation, "man I'm glad you didn't get a chance to use that against me in our match" he commented as he took a step back from the edge.

Mason couldn't help but look at Sandshrew with a little bit of fear, the fact that something so small could wield so much power was frightening, and Mason was reminded just how powerful some Pokémon could be.

AJ smirked, "yeah maybe our match would have turned out differently, but I guess we'll never know, especially now with this being my hundredth win" he grinned.

Mason nodded, "congrats about that by the way, I suppose you'll be heading out now then"

AJ grinned, "you bet, expect to see me at the indigo plateau, we'll have those eight badges in no time" he boasted.

Mason nodded, "I have no doubt, I'll be looking forward to our battle when the time comes," he said holding his hand out and AJ took it.

"Same, don't think you'll win next time though," AJ smirked before breaking away to head inside to pack.

Mason watched him go before turning back to the chasm and smirked, yes that would be a battle he would definitely be looking forward to when the time came.

Time skip

After parting ways with AJ outside of his gym, the four were on the road once again, they had been walking for the last mile in a silence that had settled over them, mostly due to Ash who had been walking with his head down since they parted with AJ.

They had just passed a crossroads when Ash finally spoke up.

"Mason" Ash spoke, she word sounding strained, "look I want to say I'm sorry for the way I acted back at AJs gym" he explained, "and how I've been acting before that, shirking your advice on training my Pokémon and not taking things as seriously as you do"

As Ash spoke they all stopped to listen to him as he apologised. Both Misty and Brock smiled knowing that this was difficult for Ash to say but pleased to see he was actually seeing reason.

Mason for his part simply nodded and urged Ash to continued, seeing that the other trainer wasn't done.

Ash swallowed, "after seeing how strong AJs Sandshrew was, because of how AJ trained him properly…. I…. I want to ask if you could help me. I know I don't know as much as you do about Pokémon training, but I want to learn, I want to become the best and I understand now that it won't happen if I don't train my Pokémon at every opportunity, I know I don't have any right to ask this if you especially after how I've been acting but…" he began to continue only for Mason to raise his hand to stop him.

"Alright," Mason spoke giving as a hard glare, "I'll help you, Ash, if you want to finally turn yourself into a good Pokémon trainer then I'll gladly help. But that's only if you're serious, I won't help you if you don't take this seriously and give it your all, understand"

Ash gulped and nodded, "I am and I do," he said before bowing, "thank you"

Mason nodded and let out a sigh, "we'll start your training tomorrow on the road so that we're not held up, I'll need that long to think about where to start you off" he said as they began walking again.

"We can help too" Misty offered as they walked, "we weren't gym leaders for nothing you know"

Brock nodded, "yeah, part of being a gym leader is about passing on knowledge to trainers who want to learn, so we'll be able to help out where needed too"

Ash smiled, "Thanks you guys, he said and they could tell that he meant it.

Mason remained silent as they continued to walk his smile fading somewhat as they did. He was happy that it appeared that he had finally gotten through to Ash, this was certainly what he wanted, but he suspected that just like the last time it wouldn't last, only time would tell.