There were quite a few Trainers gathered in the Training Ground to watch their match. Nearly all the girls were cheering for him, and it earned him the ire of a lot of boys who decided to cheer for Ash. 

"The match will be 2v2. Standard rules apply! Any questions?" Misty decided to take the Referee's position. 

"No." Aizen simply said. 

"Let's go!" Ash excitedly turned his hat around and plucked a Pokeball from his belt. 

"Let me do the Toss first!" Misty quickly took out her dex after she saw what Ash was doing. 

"No need! Go Bulbasaur!" Ash called out his Pokemon with complete confidence. 

"You idiot!" Misty screamed at him, but Aizen stopped her. 

"Misty," He called out and sternly looked at her, "No need to get worked up over this." 

The orange-haired girl felt embarrassed under his gaze. And took a deep breath before nodding to him.

Aizen looked at the Bulbasaur, who seemed pumped up for the battle, and smiled. Part of him really wanted to teach Ash a lesson by sending out Scyther and exploiting Type Advantage, but he decided to play around and test out his other Pokemon, all the while teaching Ash a lesson he would not forget. 

"Go, Lapras!" 

"Eeeeuuuuu!" 

The beautiful blue Pokemon sang the moment it materialised out of the bright light. 

"Ready for your first official battle, Lapras?" He gently smiled at his Pokémon. 

The answer he received was the frost that started forming on the ground where Lapras stood. The blue Pokemon was seriously looking at its opponent with its Ice energy leaking from its body.

"Bulbasaur vs Lapras. Start!" Misty raised her hand and called out. 

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!" Ash made the first move. 

"Freeze them. Freeze-Dry." Aizen calmly commanded. 

"Eeeeuu!" A wave of cold wind started revolving around Lapras, and suddenly it disappeared and appeared around Bulbasaur. 

All the Razor Leaf headed at Lapras were frozen in the air, and the poor grass Pokemon was caged inside large block of ice. 

The ice cracked and disappeared after a few seconds, and Bulbasaur shivered uncontrollably from the cold permeating in its body. 

Ash seemed surprised at the intensity of the attack, but then smiled in excitement and called for the next move. 

"Use Vine Whip!" 

"Freeze-Dry, again." Aizen smiled inwardly and called out. 

The result was the same as the last time, and when the ice cracked, Bulbasaur looked on the verge of collapsing. The cold was too much for it.

"Synthesis!" Ash seemed worried now and hurriedly commanded. 

Aizen allowed the Grass-Type Pokemon to recover its strength. It was not daytime anymore and the move did not fully heal it, and even if it was daytime, Aizen would have still allowed it to heal. 

"Bulbasaur, use Double-Edge!" 

The grass type Pokemon braved itself and charged recklessly to tackle Lapras. 

"Slide away..." Aizen smiled and commanded. 

By now, a good patch of ground was covered in frost, and Lapras easily slid away from the direction of Bulbasaur's attack. 

"Use Body Slam!" 

The painful cry of Bulbasaur resounded in the field when Lapras jumped at it and crushed it under its weight. 

"Bulbasaur, get up!" Ash called out to his Pokemon. 

"End this, Brine!" 

Aizen showed mercy and commanded. 

Being a Grass-Type, it was resistant to Water-Type moves, but it still fainted due to all the exhaustion it was suffering from. 

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle, Lapras wins the round." Misty happily called out the result. 

"Return!" Ash recalled his Pokemon and feverishly looked at Lapras. "It's strong!" He muttered.

"Call out your next Pokemon." Misty reminded him. 

"Want to have a go, buddy?" Ash smirked at the yellow mouse on his shoulder. 

"Pika pi!" Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and entered the field, sparking his cheeks threateningly. 

"Lapras vs Pikachu!" Misty raised her hand. "Start!" 

"Agility!" Ash called out. "And Iron Tail!" 

"Pika pi!" 

The yellow mouse started zigzagging on the field as it rushed at Lapras, and this it jumped in the air with its tail glowing white. 

"Confusion Ray!" Aizen called out!

Iron Tail hit Lapras, but the blue Pokemon preserved and answered with a malevolent Ray of purple light that gave no time to Pikachu to get away. 

"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. 

The jolt of thunder briefly hit Lapras, but then the result of Confusion Ray showed itself. 

"Pikachu!!!" Ash worriedly shouted when he saw his Pikachu crying out madly and randomly attacking the field with Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt. It was as if the yellow mouse was hallucinating. 

"Let's finish it. Sheer Cold!" 

"Eeeeuuuu!!" 

A bright blue light surrounded lapras as it concentrated all of its Ice Energy, and then a chilling wave of absolute-zero wind spread all around Lapras. 

Everyone in the field started shivering in the cold, and Pikachu had it worst. The blue energy froze its senses and the poor mouse fell on the ground, not moving at all. 

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Lapras wins!" Misty called out the result. "The winner of the Match is Aizen!" 

"Pikachu!!" Ash came running in the field and crouched near his pokemon before picking it up in his arm. 

To his relief, he found Pikachu unharmed, and it seemed to be only unconscious. 

"You should get him checked by Nurse Joy. The cold energy has entered its system, and it needs some good rest." Aizen advised. 

The young boy nodded his head and rushed inside the Center.

"And you said that it was a mock battle." Leaf approached him and grinned. 

"It was." Aizen smiled at her before approaching Lapras who was being showered in praise by Anira. 

"You were awesome, Lapras!" Leaf joined her friend and hugged the blue Pokemon. 

"Eeeeuuu!" 

Aizen lovingly patted its head. 

"You were brilliant." He praised him some more. 

Flabebe and Pichu were already playing on its shell, and Aizen let Lapras stay out to be with them. 

"All your Pokemon are in great shape." Brock approached their team and complimented. "Can I share some notes on what you feed them?" 

"Sure." Aizen smiled at him. "Let's talk over some coffee." 

Anira and Leaf stayed with the Pokemon, and Misty followed Aizen and Brock inside the lounge of the Pokemon Center. 

They ended up talking for over an hour about different Pokemon food. 

Brock was shocked when he learned that Aizen was Professor Grisha's grandson. She was famous all over the world for her research in Pokemon Biology, and in turn Pokemon health. She came up with a lot of recipes of PokeFood that were now used in the food industry to prepare some special food for every type of Pokemon. 

The dark-haired boy, like anyone else who dreamed of becoming a famous Pokemon Breeder, idolised Professor Grisha Orayen and her work. 

"Thank you!" Brock gratefully said after he finished taking some notes. 

"No worries." Aizen liked the character of the boy who was a couple of years older than him. He could feel it that Brock would make a really good Pokemon Breeder. His passion was real, and he was not shy of working hard and taking advice from others. 

"So where are you headed next?" 

"We are leaving in the morning for Lavender Town to take on the Ghost-Type Gym." Aizen answered. "What about you?"

"We are heading there as well." Brock smiled at him. "Ash has wasted enough time here, challenging people recklessly for duels after he lost the Fighting Pokemon Tournament. We are behind our schedule thanks to that." 

"He already has four Badges, and there are still nine months before Pokemon League starts." Misty frowned. 

"The way he is right now, he can not win the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth badges." Brock shook his head. "After Lavender Town, I will help him train his Pokemon for a month or two." 

Aizen and Misty understandably nodded to his words. 

"Hey!" 

The three of them looked at the entrance of the lobby and saw Ash coming over with Pikachu nestling on his shoulder. 

"How's Pikachu?" Brock asked. 

"Perfect!" Ash smiled at him. "I was really worried, but he was fine and needed some charge to get back all its energy." 

"Pika pi!" 

"And thanks for the match! I will get you next time when I and Pikachu get stronger!" 

Aizen nodded to his words with a smile. 

"So where are you headed next?"

The question ceased Misty's smile and she sighed. 

"Lavender Town." Aizen told him. 

"Let's go together!" 

Aizen glanced at Misty and saw her glaring at him for informing Ash. But there was nothing to be done now. He couldn't just lie after telling Brock where they were headed. 

"Sure."

How bad could it really be to let Ash tag along for the journey to the next town?