Chapter 11: Meeting AJ. Taking Ash as a Disciple - Part 1
Because Ash wanted to go to Vermilion City to challenge the Gym and get a badge, Brock and the others accompanied him, heading towards Vermilion City.
The group arrived at a small town. A passerby trainer in the town saw Meowth and Pikachu near Brock's and Ash's feet and asked, "Excuse me, are you trainers? Let's have a battle!"
"Alright! Where do we battle?" Ash, walking ahead of Brock, replied excitedly. Brock watched as Ash and the passerby trainer ran off together to battle.
Brock then looked at Misty and Daisy beside him and asked calmly, "Misty, Daisy. Let's sit down and rest here for a bit!"
Misty replied, "Okay!" and found a place to sit down and rest.
"Brock, shouldn't we call Ash to rest before battling? He must be tired after walking so much," Daisy asked with concern.
"Daisy, don't worry about Ash. When he hears the word 'battle,' he gets so excited he could skip sleeping," Brock explained. Hearing Brock's explanation, Daisy also found a place to sit down and rest.
Seeing Misty and Daisy both sitting down to rest, Brock also found a clean rock and sat down.
_Should I really trust what Bell said?_ Brock sat there thinking blankly. _In my previous life, I read novels where the system killed the host and took their place; it's not unheard of. As the saying goes, 'One must not harbor intentions to harm others, but one must harbor defenses against being harmed.' I still need to be on guard! After all, I've lived in this world for 12 years now, I have feelings, and I've enjoyed having a family. I don't even know who the enemy is! I only know he's very strong. No matter how strong the enemy is, I must become stronger than him! I'll kill anyone who wants to harm me! Although my current strength is still weak._ (The system could not hear Brock's thoughts).
"Brock? Brock? Brock, what are you thinking about? We should get going now." Daisy stood in front of Brock, gently touching his arm to wake him.
"Oh, Daisy, what did you just say?" Brock asked, coming back to reality.
Misty walked over. "Brock, my sister was waking you up to ask if we should get back on the road!"
"Oh, Misty, Daisy, let's go find Ash, then we'll head out together!" Brock replied.
Brock, Misty, and Daisy found Ash. They saw him showing two badges to those passerby trainers, saying something Brock couldn't quite hear. Brock called out to Ash, "Ash! We need to get going! Stop chatting over there!"
"Brock, wait a sec! I'll be right there!" Ash replied after hearing Brock. Ash said to the trainers, "Sorry, I have to go now, can't chat anymore! Let's talk next time!" After saying goodbye to the trainers, Ash ran over to Brock's side.
"Brock! Can I go somewhere nearby to battle someone? That person lives just outside this town, and it's kind of on our way," Ash asked Brock, Misty, and Daisy excitedly.
"No way! That'll take too much time! I want to get to Vermilion City quickly and board the luxury liner!" Misty refused. (Translator's Note: Luxury Liner refers to the S.S. Anne).
Just as Brock heard Ash's request, a "Ding!" sounded in his mind. Brock checked inside his mind and saw a new mission had appeared. He looked at the mission details:
_Side Quest 1 detected: Accept Ash as a disciple._
_Reward: 500 Points._
"Ash, you can go. But I have one condition. If you agree to it, we'll go check it out with you," Brock said to Ash. Simultaneously, he thought, _Ash, a mission just came up to take you as a disciple. If you agree to my condition, my condition will be that you become my apprentice! That way, the mission will be completed so easily. These 500 points are practically free!_
"Brock! Whatever your condition is, I don't agree! And whether you agree to let me go or not, I'm still going to battle that person!" Ash stated firmly.
Hearing Ash's response snapped Brock out of his fantasy. Brock said awkwardly to Ash, "Alright! Ash, I agree to let you go. What's that person's name? And why are you so determined to battle them?" At the same time, he thought, _Ash actually didn't fall for that?_
"His name is AJ! I heard from people here that AJ is really strong! He's already got 98 consecutive wins! That's why I want to challenge him!" Ash replied.
"Misty, let's just agree to let Ash go. It'll still take a long time to get to Vermilion City anyway. We're not in that much of a hurry," Daisy said to Misty after hearing Ash.
"Alright! Since Sister Daisy said so... Ash, we agree to let you go, but we'll go watch with you," Misty conceded, still grumbling slightly.
Brock, Ash, Misty, and Daisy went to the outskirts of the town. They saw a huge tent surrounded by walls and a large gate. A signboard hung on the gate, reading: "98 Consecutive Wins."
Ash looked at the tent and the signboard and said, "So this is where AJ lives! I wonder what the person with 98 consecutive wins is like!" Just as Ash finished speaking, a boy with green hair, wearing a red short-sleeved shirt walked over.
The boy looked at Brock's group and asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
Ash replied, "You must be AJ! My name is Ash! I'm here to challenge you!"
Hearing Ash, AJ said, "Then come on in!" AJ turned and went through the gate. Brock and the other three followed him inside. Behind the tent, there was a yard containing a battlefield. AJ walked onto the battlefield and said to Ash, "So you're here to be the stepping stone for my 99th consecutive win! After I get my 100th win, I'll set out on my journey to collect badges!"
"So you haven't even gotten any badges yet! Look, I already have two badges!" Ash said proudly, showing his badges.
AJ looked at Ash's badges and said jealously, "The Gyms that gave you those two badges must have been really weak ones. Which cities were those two weak Gyms in?"
Hearing AJ's words, Misty said angrily to Ash, "Ash, beat him!"
Meanwhile, Daisy heard AJ and thought, _Brock was right. My Cerulean Gym really is weak. Even someone who doesn't know where it is calls it weak... How should I get stronger? Maybe ask Brock... but I don't know how to bring it up._
Brock heard AJ's comment and thought with disdain, looking at AJ, _Country bumpkin! My Pewter Gym actually has some fame in the Kanto region, and you don't even know that?_
On the battlefield, AJ took out a Poké Ball, released a Sandshrew, and said, "Let the duel begin!"
Seeing the Sandshrew on the field, Misty advised Ash, "Sandshrew is a Ground-type! Your Pikachu's electric attacks won't have any effect on it!"
Hearing Misty, Ash replied, "I know!" Then he took out a Poké Ball. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!" A Pidgeotto appeared on the battlefield.
"Sandshrew!" "Pidgeotto!" "Attack!" AJ and Ash commanded simultaneously.
Hearing AJ, Sandshrew curled into a ball, leaped up, and attacked Pidgeotto. Meanwhile, hearing Ash, Pidgeotto folded its wings and dove down from the sky to attack Sandshrew.
Misty watched their Pokémon and commented, "Shouldn't the Flying-type have the advantage?" Just as she finished speaking, Sandshrew and Pidgeotto collided. As a result, Pidgeotto was defeated by Sandshrew in one hit.
Seeing Pidgeotto lying on the ground, AJ ordered his Sandshrew, "Sandshrew, finish it off!"
Hearing AJ, Ash quickly took out Pidgeotto's Poké Ball and recalled it.
Brock watched the battle between Ash and AJ. Realizing he couldn't gauge AJ's level, he entered his mindscape and asked Bell, "Bell, doesn't your function list include 'Inspect'? Can it check the levels of trainers and Pokémon?"
"Host, yes it can," Bell replied.
"Then how do I use it?" Brock asked.
"Just enter the mindscape, focus on the Pokémon or trainer, and activate 'Inspect' to see their data," Bell answered.
"Isn't that the same procedure as inspecting a Pokémon?" Brock asked.
"Yes! The Inspect function is used the same way regardless of what you want to inspect," Bell confirmed.
Brock came out of his mindscape and saw that Ash had recalled Pidgeotto and sent out Butterfree. Now on the battlefield, it was Sandshrew versus Butterfree.