"Pichu!" 

The little yellow mouse playfully sent a shock at the two Nidoran that were teaming up on him. 

Aizen and Misty smiled as they watched the three play. After four days of journeying, they were just a few miles away from the Aero Town. And the two younger girls were happily skipping ahead playing their own game. 

Leaf had been happy since day she received the Staryu Egg from Daisy. Luckily, they found a portable Incubator being sold at the Cerulean PokeMart. It was a not an Infinite Incubator, but a Limited Incubator which could be used to hatch around 5 to 6 Eggs. 

The price scared Leaf, but Aizen asked her not to fret over it. Though expensive, the Incubators were quite useful and durable as well. They protected Eggs from harm, and also decreased the hatching period by two to three times. 

The hazel-eyed girl was holding the Incubator in the carrier vest that she was wearing. She looked like a mom that would always keep her baby with her.

"Preee!" 

Everyone looked up in the sky where Pidgeotto was flying. The bird signalled to them about some disturbance ahead. 

"What happened?" Misty asked. 

"Someone is having a battle on the road ahead of us." Aizen informed her. 

The two Nidoran and Pichu stopped playing and obediently walked behind their Trainers. 

Anira and Leaf allowed Aizen and Misty to catch up, and together, they travelled for nearly two miles before coming across a Trainer and his Primeape against a wild Arbok. 

All of them curiously watched the battle unfold for several minutes. The Trainer was not issuing a lot of commands and mostly allowed his Primape to battle on its pace. 

"Why is he not just finishing off the Arbok?" Leaf frowned at the Primeape that had been playing around with the Arbok for the last few minutes. 

The wild Pokemon already looked beat, but the fighting monkey did not allow it to catch its breath nor did it allow it to faint. 

"I am not sure, but it seems that the Primeape is testing Arbok's limits." Aizen curiously looked at the Trainer that had green hair and looked to be around 14 years old. He was also holding a Whip in his right hand as he watched the battle. "Must be the intention of its Trainer, since Primeape and Arbok would not show any mercy if they come across each other in the wild." 

The girls were growing agitated at the battle, they wanted it to end now. And Misty looked almost ready to scream at the Trainer. 

*Shinnnnkktt*

The Trainer used his Whip to cut the air, resulting in a sharp sound. 

Primeape suddenly lunged at the tired Arbok and performed a Cross Chop on it. The snake Pokemon finally earned himself a rest as it fainted. 

The Trainer then fished out a Pokeball from inside his Jacket and threw it at the purple snake, capturing it successfully. 

"Finally." Leaf sighed in relief. 

"Do you guys want to challenge me?" The green-haired boy suddenly turned to look at the four of them, acknowledging their presence for the first time in nearly half an hour. 

"We were just passing by and decided to watch the battle." Aizen shook his head. "I am Aizen." He approached the boy and drew his hand forward. 

"AJ." The green-haired boy shook his hand and gave his nickname. "What Pokemon is that?" He curiously asked as he looked at the sleeping Rinko who had his face nuzzling in Aizen's neck. 

"This is my Eevee. He's a Shiny, and that is why his coat is Silver and Grey." 

The boys eyes suddenly showed some excitement and unabashedly observed the Pokemon. 

"I have never seen a Shiny Pokemon before..." He muttered but kept looking at the Eevee. 

"They are extremely rare, so it is not surprising." Aizen chuckled at his words. 

"You are lucky..." AJ bitterly said but he was smiling. His eyes than noticed the small Pokemon on Leaf's head. 

"Bebe..." The small fairy greeted him. 

"Wow..." This time he took out his Pokedex and tried to scan the Pokemon, but found no results. 

"It's not native to Kanto or Johto." Misty smiled at the boy. "Flabebe is a Fairy Pokemon." 

"This is my first time seeing a Fairy Pokemon..." The green haired boy whispered. His Primeape was standing by his side, curiously looking at the little Fairy Pokemon just like its Trainer. "I am sorry." He suddenly grew a little embarrassed. "I am AJ." He introduced himself to the the girls. 

"Misty."

"Leaf, and this is my friend Anira." 

The two girls introduced themselves. 

"Why were you playing around with Arbok?" The hazel-eyed girl curiously asked. 

"I was just testing its limits. I train my Pokemon really hard, and so only the resilient ones have a place on my Team." He proudly said and his Primeape flexed its muscular arms. "I have started my Journey after training my Pokemon for a year, and I plan on winning this year's Indigo Conference!" 

Aizen and the girls only smiled at his words. 

"What about you guys?" 

"I am just traveling with my friends." Misty replied. "Leaf and Aizen are going for the Indigo Conference, and Anira is accompanying her brother on his journey." 

"Let's have a match!" AJ pointed his finger at Aizen and challenged him. 

"No." 

"Why?" The green-haired boy frowned at straightforward refusal of Aizen. 

"We have to reach Aero Town before the sun sets. Maybe next time?" 

AJ nodded with a smile.

"You are going to challenge the Aero Gym?" 

"Yes. Have you already won the Might Badge?" Leaf asked. 

"No, Aero Gym will be the Eigth Gym that I challenge. I want the Gym Leader to not go easy on me." AJ smiled and answered. 

"Why?" Misty asked. 

"My Father is the Gym Leader of Aero Town." He revealed to the surprise of the four of them. "And I want to beat him when he is not holding back." 

"Gym Leaders always hold back. Even if you are a League Champion of another League, the Gym Leader would only Test you and not battle you to win." Misty pointed out.

"I know." He regretfully sighed. "But I can, at least, have my match at the maximum difficulty." He smiled at them and recalled his Primape in the Pokeball. "You guys go ahead. And if you meet a Trainer with Pikachu in the Town, claiming to become a Pokemon Master, smash him!" He grinned. 

"Trainer with a Pikachu?" Leaf curiously asked. "Ash?" 

"You know him?" AJ surprised asked. 

"Yes. We are from the same Town." 

AJ nodded to her words. 

"We participated the Aero Town Fighting Tournament three days ago. I won against him in the Final, winning a Tyrogue, and completing my 100 match win-streak. And since that day, he has been challenging every Trainer that comes to the Town to prove something to himself." 

"That's an impressive Streak." Aizen commented. 

"Thanks!" AJ smiled. "But it's been broken now by my Father. He challenged me after the Tournament to humble me down a bit..." He grumbled. 

They couldn't help but laugh at his words. 

"Has Ash won the Might Badge?" Leaf curiously asked. 

"Yup. He managed to win it on his first attempt a week ago. He isn't so bad." He chuckled and then waved his hand as he started walking in the direction of Cerulean City. "It was good to see you guys!"

"You too!" 

"So Ash is in the Aero Town." Misty giggled when she saw the frown on Leaf's face. "Excited to battle against him?" She teasingly asked. 

"No." Leaf shook her head and smiled at the orange-haired girl. "But I want to see if he has learned anything in these two months. Besides, I won't be the one he would challenge first." She giggled as she glanced at the violet-eyed Prince. 

Aizen sighed at her words. 

"I have a hunch that we will have some hectic days ahead of us." Anira forebodingly spoke as they walked toward Aero Town.

Leaf and Misty giggled at her words, but Aizen looked at the back of his sister and sighed in his heart. He knew that whenever Anira had such premonitions, they always had truth behind them. All he hoped for was that it won't be somehthing that can't be dealt with.