"Cough, cough!"
"Excuse me, may I interrupt?" Alex asked politely. "Are you three quite finished?"
The instant they heard his voice, the Team Rocket trio's eyes ignited with burning hatred, like predators locking onto fresh meat.
"Stinky brat! We've been waiting for you!" Jessie snarled, cracking her whip with a vicious **SNAP!** The leather hissed through the air as she glared daggers at him. "I'm going to whip you until you can't stand straight!"
Alex raised an eyebrow. He had zero interest in being on the receiving end of a whip. *Now, if the roles were reversed… and maybe with a few extra toys… that would be a completely different story.*
"As soon as I walked in, I saw you three beating him," he said calmly.
Meowth shrugged, not even bothering to deny it. "You're not wrong. We were whipping him."
"Mainly because this guy totally deserves it," James added, cracking his own whip for emphasis. "His mouth is pure venom. Even after he beat us, he kept mocking us, saying we're completely useless!"
As proud members of Team Rocket, they couldn't let that slide. Since they couldn't win a fair Pokémon battle, they had switched to "other methods." Honor? They didn't need it.
"I think he was right, actually…" Alex said with a straight face.
The trio's faces twisted in pure rage. Jessie's whip lashed out again, striking AJ harder.
"Hmph! You're too despicable—always using dirty tricks!" the bound Trainer growled. "If you've got guts, fight me in a real Pokémon battle!"
"Hehehe, we're Team Rocket," James laughed darkly. "We're the bad guys. Being despicable is kind of our whole thing."
Meowth said nothing—just kept whipping.
Misty rolled her eyes, utterly speechless at their logic.
"All right, since you're all here," Jessie hissed, "hand over your Pokémon—especially that Pikachu!"
She cracked her whip against the ground with a sharp **CRACK!** and released Ekans. "Ekans, go!"
"Pikachu, be careful!" Alex called.
After facing the trio so many times, he knew that as long as they didn't pull out another ridiculous robot, Pikachu could handle them easily.
"Ekans, Poison Sting!"
Sharp purple needles shot forward.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
**Zzzzzzt—BOOM!**
Pikachu's body flared with electricity. A thick, dazzling bolt of lightning erupted and smashed straight through the Poison Sting attack. The needles disintegrated on contact, while the Thunderbolt kept going and slammed into Ekans at full force.
Ekans was two levels lower than Pikachu and had to contend with the Light Ball boosting its power even further. One hit was all it took. The snake Pokémon collapsed, eyes spinning, completely unable to battle.
AJ's eyes widened in approval.
"Koffing, Sludge Attack!" James tossed his whip aside and sent out his Pokémon. A thick glob of purple sludge flew toward Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge and then Iron Tail!"
The little mouse blurred aside with effortless speed, closed the gap in a flash, and leapt high. Its tail glowed bright silver as it smashed down onto Koffing's head with a deafening **BANG!**
Koffing was sent flying and fainted instantly.
One final Thunderbolt from Pikachu sent the entire Team Rocket trio blasting off again in their usual dramatic fashion.
After rescuing Beast Tamer AJ and chasing off the Rockets, the Trainer immediately challenged Alex.
"I saw how strong your Pikachu is. Care for a battle?"
AJ walked over to the win-streak sign, flipped it from ninety-eight to ninety-nine, and explained that the trio had just been his latest victims. "Once I hit one hundred straight wins, I'm heading out to collect Gym Badges. I only challenge the top-tier gyms. As for that ridiculously weak Cerulean Gym next door… I wouldn't even take a free badge from them!"
"What a big mouth…" Alex muttered.
"Ridiculously weak?"
"Wouldn't even take a free badge?"
Misty's blood instantly boiled. She could handle people insulting her, but hearing her home gym trashed like that made her see red.
"Mainly because my Pokémon are just that strong," AJ boasted, arms crossed. "Take my Sandshrew, for example. It's weak to Water-types, but after my special training it doesn't fear water at all. Its skin is harder than steel now—type advantages mean nothing here!"
"You're a reverse-attribute master too?" Alex asked, eyeing both the Trainer and his Sandshrew.
To show off, AJ cracked his whip twice and pointed at the training pool. "Get in there and practice!"
Sandshrew slipped on its training gear and dove straight into the water without hesitation. A moment later it leapt back out, completely dry and unfazed.
"See? My Sandshrew isn't scared of water at all," AJ declared, full of smug confidence. "The Water-type Cerulean Gym is at best a third- or fourth-rate gym. There's no pressure at all—I'm too lazy to even go!"
Misty's gaze turned sharp enough to cut glass. If looks could kill, AJ would already be dead a hundred times over.
**Ding! New mission triggered: Uphold the name of a Reverse-Type Master—show AJ what a true Reverse-Type Master looks like!**
**Mission Reward: Intermediate Rare Candy × 3**
"So you're saying my Cerulean Gym…" After those few days spent with the Cerulean Sisters, Alex had developed a genuine fondness for them. The four sisters each had their own charm, and they had all been incredibly warm and welcoming to him during his stay.
After hearing Misty recount everything that had happened on their journey together, the sisters' affection for Alex had skyrocketed. He already considered himself part of the Cerulean Gym family—it was only a matter of time.
Defending his own people's gym wasn't too much to ask, right?
"Is it possible that you can't beat the Cerulean Gym?" Alex asked, patting Misty's delicate hand reassuringly. These matters could be left to him.
"Can't beat it?" AJ paused for a second, then sneered. "Are you kidding me? I can't beat the Cerulean Gym? Then my ninety-nine consecutive wins here are just child's play!"
"I'm from the Cerulean Gym," Alex said calmly. "You can battle me and see for yourself if the Cerulean Gym is really as weak as you claim."
Misty suddenly looked at Alex, her peach-blossom eyes shimmering with a watery sheen of joy and gratitude.
(End of Chapter 23)