As the call connected he placed it on speaker phone "Hi Ash what can I do for you?"
"Hi Professor Oak. I am at the Cerulean Gym now and there's a big issue. I was denied a battle with the leader three days ago by the receptionist because, and I quote 'their shows are more important than a silly battle' so I was told to come back today, which I did. Now they're denying me a battle because, and again I quote 'we like, cannot be bothered'. Can you let Blue and Lance know please that a sanctioned gym leader is refusing to do the job they're paid for?"
"That's very disappointing Ash" Sam said as the three ladies paled "I'll ring my son now and inform him we need the Cerulean Gym leaders replacing. This will mean that you'll have to come back another day though Ash when we get a replacement in, we are obliged by law to give them a week to pack up and move out of the building"
"That's fine professor" Ash said "I was planning on returning this way anyway. I'm going to head to Vermillion and then come back this way to have a look in the Power Plant on my way to Lavender. Can you let me know when there's someone here?"
"Will do Ash" Sam said hanging up.
Looking over at them he smirked "well, that's that. Sorry Pikachu, it doesn't look like you'll be battling here today" he said as he walked back down the corridor to the entrance. The sisters caught up to him there just outside the entrance doors. Behind them all the employees of the building also followed them out wanting to know what the shouting was all about.
"Like, what the hell? What have you done that for?" the blonde said.
"Yeah, like we would have battled you tomorrow." The Pinkette piped up.
"This is like our home" The Bluenette finished.
"No" Ash said smiling "this was your home until you decided to take the piss out of me. I warned your receptionist the other day about the league and what they would do if they found out that you weren't doing what you were paid to do. Evidently you either ignored it or she never told you. That's not on me. I feel absolutely no guilt about this."
"What's going on?" A voice asked from behind Ash "what are you doing here?" it asked accusingly.
"Misty!" Ash said cheerily as a crowd had gathered wondering what was going on "Are you here to see my gym battle? Sadly, I'm afraid you're too late. The gym leaders have just been evicted from this building by the league" gasps rang out through the crowd.
"What do you mean?" Misty asked. Turning to the leaders "what the hell have you three done this time?"
"Like, you can't speak to us like that runt" the Bluenette said.
"Shut up" Misty said silencing them "what did you do to get our family evicted from this building?"
"Well Misty" Ash said interrupting her tirade "I take it these three are your sisters?" receiving a nod he continued "Well it all started on Sunday when your receptionist told me that their shows are more important than the gym battles they are paid to do and that I will have to come back at their convenience to have a battle. When I arrived today the receptionist again was a bitch but I let that slide as I wanted to get the battle over with and leave. When I arrived at the battle ground your sisters refused having a battle because 'we like, can't be bothered'. A clear abuse of power as they knew I would need their badge. What they didn't know though is that Professor Oak is not only a good friend of mine but also my sponsor. His son is the League Champion, the man who oversees all the gyms in Kanto. Professor Oak was less than impressed. He has informed his son of what's happened and your sisters have a week to vacate the premises. That's about the end of it."
"You got my family evicted?" Misty said.
"No, your family got themselves evicted. It was quite clear that this wasn't the first time they've pulled this crap. I was just unfortunate enough to be the wrong person they pulled it with. Now I have to be going. See you all around someday" Ash said as he went to leave. Immediately his instincts kicked in again as he ducked an object and swept the legs of the person who attacked him shoving their face into the ground. "haven't we already been in this position before Red? With the exact same outcome"
"What's going on here?" a voice said as the crowd parted revealing Officer Jenny with a few of her colleagues.
"Hello Officer" Ash said cheerily "you've arrived just in time to make an arrest. This is the second time this lady has attacked me with that mallet over there. Last time I let her go with a warning. This time I'm not letting it slide."
"The bastard has got my family evicted" Misty said from the floor "I'll kill him."
"Ooooh a death threat in front of an officer?" Ash said "Seems like it's not only your sisters who need to learn to keep their mouths shut is it?"
Seeing no other alternative Jenny handcuffed Misty and had one of her officers collect her and take her away while she got the statement from Ash. Learning what happened to the sisters had Jenny shaking her head. Looking at them she said "I warned you three about this in the past. The League is a multi-million-dollar enterprise. And the gyms are their pride and joy. Did you really think you'd be able to do this forever?"
"You knew about this?" Ash said incredulously.
"Of course, I did" Jenny said "Who do you think reported them to the league in the first place? This is my city to run, and if I don't do my job then I can easily be replaced. I'm damn good at my job Mr Ketchum and I take an enormous amount of pride in what I do. And I gave them enough warnings to change their stance. They've had at least eighteen months now to save up money from their shows to move it to another building and still keep the gym operational. While they have my sympathies about being evicted they also have my pity that they didn't listen. I do not like feeling like I've been taken advantage of. Now, all of you, move on."
At that the crowd dispersed "You too Mr Ketchum. I will be in touch with Professor Oak about the next gym leader. Hopefully, we can make Cerulean Gym a place to be proud of. Here's my pokegear number. Call me if you need me." Turning to the still shocked sisters she said "I suggest you begin packing. Your mother and father would be deeply ashamed of you if they were still alive."
Walking back to the centre Ash picked up his things, sent his mum a quick email about what had happened and made his way out of the City. Walking along Route 5 Ash wondered just what would happen next. His entire journey so far had been unbelievably eventful. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he happened upon a signpost that said "AJ's Gym" with a little dirt path behind it. Curious Ash walked down it only to find a trainer running the opposite way.
"Don't go that way. AJ will demolish you" as the trainer sped off. How very strange. Walking for another few minutes a building with a makeshift battlefield came into view and wondering just what was going on Ash wandered and had a look around. Walking around the corner he saw a massive area marked out with lines. It was clearly a battlefield and looking at the side of the battlefield he noticed a scoreboard that said 99 wins, 0 losses.
"Are you my 100th win?" a voice said from behind him. Turning around he saw it was a boy with green hair, a few years older than himself with a Sandshrew at his side. "Judging by the rat on your shoulders this should be easy."
"Carry on and I'll be your first loss" Ash said unconcerned "I take it you're AJ then?"
"My reputation precedes me I see" the boy said "yeah, I'm AJ. If you're not here to battle, then I suggest you clear off."
Laughing Ash shook his head "I was simply here to see what the fuss was about. Looking at you now, I'm still wondering the same thing"
Furiously AJ said "you wont be so cocky when I kick your arse. Let's go to the battlefield. This may be an unsanctioned match but I will very much enjoy beating you and your rat"
Taking out Dexter he asked "Dexter, how many battles have I been in so far?"
It bleeped to life and said "Trainer Ash Ketchum, 87 sanctioned battles, 0 losses. Unsanctioned battles 48, 47 wins 1 loss"
"That loss was against a gym leader who asked me to battle one of his Elites after I had already beat him. At that point I had only had Pikachu around 6-7 weeks and I beat him in a normal battle. So he sent out a Golem" Ash said smirking. "you've clearly been training for some time now given you have 99 wins. The fact you've not moved from here tells me that you're scared to do so."
"Enough talking" AJ said removing a whip from his belt. Cracking it he shouted "Sandshrew Defence Curl into Tackle."
"You know what to do Pikachu" Ash said. Leaping forward with a Quick Attack Pikachu waited until Sandshrew was close before twisting and striking it with an Iron Tail sending it flying into the wall. "Was that it?" Ash asked rhetorically "after all that bluster, your Pokémon is out in one hit?"
"Grrr Sandshrew get up" he said cracking the whip which was really starting to irritate Ash. Sandshrew stumbled to its feet looking over at AJ clearly worried about whatever the whip represented. Cracking it again he shouted "Dig Sandshrew" as it disappeared below ground.
"Same attack pattern as yesterday Pikachu" Ash said receiving a nod as Pikachu hunched down to the ground. Thirty seconds later Pikachu noticed the stones around him start to shake and prepared to take the hit. Launching Pikachu into the air Sandshrew's move hit making AJ cheer "game over."
"Not quite" Ash said stopping the cheering as Pikachu twisted in mid-air and send Sandshrew flying back into the ground with an Iron Tail where it impacted the ground with such force it made a crater. "Now that's game over" Ash said
"This is not over" AJ shouted cracking his whip repeatedly "Sandshrew you better get up or there will be no food for you" amazingly the beat up Sandshrew managed to haul itself onto its feet. Battered and bruised it signalled it wanted to fight again. Shaking his head in sympathy Ash said "light him up Pikachu. Put it out of its misery" as Pikachu sent a Thunderbolt at it knocking it out.
"How the hell did an electric attack work on a ground type? You cheating bastard! I knew you were cheating" AJ said as he charged forward flinging the whip at Ash. Using his aura strength Ash caught the whip with his left hand and pulled sending AJ flying towards him and with his right hand punched him in mid air knocking him out. Sighing Ash plucked the poke ball off AJ's belt and returned the knocked out Sandshrew. "Stay here Pikachu, if he wakes up knock him back out. I'm going to check out that building, something about that whip and his attitude sets me off."
Walking over to the building Ash opened the door and walked through the house. At the back he walked into a gym area where clearly exhausted Pokémon all around him frantically began to run around. "stop" Ash shouted causing the panic to halt "I am not AJ. I am here to see if I can help. Now I need one of you to tell me what's going on here" immediately chatter started until Ash put his hand up "One at a time". An Eevee walked out of its hiding place and stood in front of Ash. Pointing Dexter at it it bleeped "Eevee, Pokedex number 133, The Evolution Pokémon, Its genetic code is irregular. This Pokémon is female. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from elemental stones"
"Ok, talk" Ash said to the Eevee. Listening to its story he looked around and received many nods. Sighing he knew that he would have to get help with this. "Ok, I'm in over my head here. I'm going to have to call my sponsor and then possibly Officer Jenny to take you all to safety. Depending on what he says you may all be freed so you have until I get off the phone to decide what you want to do"
Walking over to the door Ash rang Sam and told him what had happened. Unfortunately, as AJ didn't have a Pokédex, he was unable to ban him. He could however put a sanction on him from ever competing in a league due to Pokémon abuse.
"Sadly Ash, you're the only one who can talk to Pokémon" Sam said "And while you may know the truth there is no way of knowing if you're telling the truth. It's your word against his. It's a shame. AJ could also still obtain a Pokémon illegally. Take pictures and call Jenny. I think it's best to let the law handle this one."
Nodding Ash called Jenny up "you again Ketchum" Jenny said "what problem is there now?". She soon sobered up when she heard what happened "let me track your GPS and I'll be there as soon as possible" hanging up Ash went back to the Pokémon and asked them to follow him. Walking over to Pikachu he noticed a lump forming on AJ's head "He moved" Pikachu said. Shrugging his shoulders, he called out Sandshrew who still looked battered. Explaining what was said they all agreed to want to be freed. Recalling the rest into their Pokéballs Eevee began twittering away talking very fast as she dodged the beam. Stopping she asked Ash the question that she was clearly leading up to.
"No, I'm sorry Eevee but I already have my team picked out" Ash said apologetically. Walking away Eevee sadly curled up on the ground. Seeing this Ash sighed "let me make a call." Taking out his Pokégear he rang his mum.
"Hi Mum" Ash began "we have a situation here". Explaining what had happened his mum immediately clocked onto what Ash was thinking and agreed.
Walking over to Eevee he said "I have a solution but you need to decide before Jenny gets here. As I said I don't want an Eevee as my team has already been picked. My mother however would love for you to become part of her growing family. A few days ago, she adopted a Cleffa from me who I saved from an evil team in Mt Moon who did experiments on her. Once Cleffa is healed though my mum will be taking her back to where she grew up to release her so she will be alone again. I'm proposing that I capture you with the understanding that at the next Pokémon centre I transfer you to my mother. We need to move quickly here though as if Jenny gets here and you're still owned by AJ then I can't do anything and you will be released with the rest of his Pokémon. So, what do you say?"
Immediately Eevee tackled Ash and shouted "Yes!"
Making Eevees Pokéball large Ash pressed the button until it turned blue. Pointing it at Eevee, it lit her up for a good ten seconds. Finally, the light stopped, and the ball cracked open at the hinges. Shoving it into his pocket he took out his own Pokéball and threw it at Eevee capturing her. Deciding to scan her later he waited for Jenny to get there and minutes later she arrived in her van. Loading the still unconscious AJ onto the van she took the bag of Pokéballs off him and received his statement. Thanking Ash, she hopped back up into her van and sped off. Making sure she had actually gone Ash called Eevee back out.
"All safe Eevee. Now I'm not going to sugar-coat this. I will be training you until we reach Vermillion. I don't want to leave my mother with a Pokémon that can't defend her so until then I'll do my best to teach you as many new moves as I can. We have around three weeks to cram as much as we can in. Pikachu and I will be training right alongside you and we will fill you in on our journey so far but be warned, it's not all been happiness and rainbows. Let's see what moves you have so far."
Pointing Dexter at her it bleeped to life "This Eevee has a Naughty Nature and knows the moves Tackle, Sand Attack, Bite, Growl and Dig"
"Ok, a good solid base and we can work with that. You have a lot of similarities with Pikachu. Your nature is really good as well and by the time we give you back to my mother we will have learned a few more moves and strengthened your body. As I said it won't be easy, but I will never withhold food as a punishment. We don't punish in this family. We admit we were lacking, understand why and then move on being mindful of the lessons learned. Above all though we have fun doing it. Now, lets go. We have a badge to collect. Oh, and Eevee, welcome to the family"
Eevee cried in thanks and relief. Ash let her finish before placing her on his left shoulder. The right shoulder was Pikachu's spot, and always would be.