[1] The Daughter of Nurse Joy

The Unbeatable A.J

The gang was walking along the road to Vermilion City where Cora will get her next badge. Somehow, they got separated from Ash and his friends. Cora didn't really need to worry about them since Brock is with them. On the way, a few trainers had asked Cora for a battle, so far, she had defeated fourteen and was on her fifteenth one.

"Finish it with Tackle, Gail!" Cora called out.

Gail quickly did as she was told and defeated the Rattata with ease. Cora gave an encouraging smile as she and her young opponent shook hands.

"You're a really good Pokémon trainer." the boy complimented, making Cora flush a little.

"Ah, thanks. You were a good opponent." she replied with a smile, making the boy's cheeks redden slightly at the sight.

"I bet you can even beat A.J!" The boy declared.

Cora tilted her head curiously to the side. "A.J?" She repeated, knowing who A.J is.

"Yeah, he lives over there," the boy turned to point behind him. "A.J trains savage Pokémon. He built his own gym! He's never lost a single match." the boy continued.

"His own gym? Savage Pokémon? I think I'd like to see this...gym." Cora frowned and turned to the others, "What do you guys think?"

Alain shrugged, "Why not?"

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The gang arrived in front of a building with tall wood walls and the bold sign that read 'A.J's Gym'. Right next to it was a scoreboard which read '98 wins 0 losses'.

"What kind of guy keeps a record of how many wins he has?" Cora asked.

"The arrogant kind I guess." Alain replied.

"I have to agree with you there." Cora said.

"I don't like anyone who thinks of any Pokémon as 'savage'." Mairin stated.

"Are you my next victim?" A fifth voice sounded, making the four turn to a bulky kid with red shoes, blue shorts, a black and red collared shirt, and weird green and black hair that reminded Cora a little of a Pidgey. He was carrying a blue backpack over his shoulders.

"Are you A.J?" Cora asked.

"Yeah, that's me." A.J replied, "Are you here to challenge me?"

"Yes, I'm Cora Joy." Cora introduced herself.

A.J grinned, "Great, this will be my 99th win." He pointed at the sign which they had already seen. "Follow me."

AJ led them to a battlefield.

"This will be a one-on-one match." A.J replied and released his Pokémon, "Go Sandshrew!"

"Sandshrew!" Sandshrew squeaked.

"Jackal, let's go!" Cora released Jackal the Shiny Lucario and he jumped in front of her.

"Sandshrew, use Dig!" A.J ordered.

Sandshrew dug a hole into the ground.

"Jackal, Dragon Pulse into the hole!" Cora countered.

A multicolored, dragon-shaped aura formed around each of Jackal's hands. Then he put his hands together, firing a multicolored dragon-shaped beam of energy and threw it into the hole.

"Sandshrew, quick, get out of there!" A.J panicked.

Sandshrew was blasted out of the hole by the impact of the attack.

"Sandshrew!" A.J shouted out in worry. Sandshrew was panting as it stood up, "Sandshrew, are you okay?"

Sandshrew nodded at his trainer.