"Where are we headed?" Ash asked.

"For the third time." Jason said. "We are headed to Vermilion city."

"Oh. I guess I better practice getting strong enough to beat the vermilion city gym?"

"I would." Brock said. "The Vermilion city gym is run by lieutenant surge. He was in the Kanto military for a while, then left to become a gym leader. He's pretty brutal, and only sees Pokémon for the strength they provide."

"Sounds like a real piece of work." Jason said.

"I agree." Misty said. "I've never actually met him, but my sisters have, and they got some really creepy vibes from him."

"I'll beat him." Ash said. "I'll fight as many trainers as I can, and then I'll beat him."

The rest of the day was filled with trainer battle, after trainer battle for Ash, while the others just watched.

"Why aren't you battling any of the trainers?" Misty asked.

"I will fight the gym battles, and trainers who abuse, and abandon their Pokémon. I don't see the point in fighting a trainer who hasn't wronged a Pokémon. I think that this is the type of trainer I'm meant to be, one who protects weaker Pokémon and trainers from those who would hurt them."

"That's a good reason to fight." Brock said.

"I know right."

"So. How do you plan on handling those trainers?" Misty asked.

"My dad left a lot more than pokéball's in that case he gave me for my birthday. There was Torchic, who wants me to call him Johnny, the pokéball's, a rebreather, a grapple, some throwing knives, a sheath knife, some flares, fire starters, and bandolier."

"Why?" Misty asked.

"I don't know. I sent my brother an email about it, and he said that he got one when he started his Pokémon journey too."

"Is he overprotective or something?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he tried to have Dick wait another year before starting his Pokémon journey."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want team Rocket to catch us unaware."

"Who knew that Bruce Todd was paranoid."

"He does it to protect us."

The group walked till they heard Ash say. "Yes. Ten trainers. I've beaten ten trainers."

"Congratulations." Ash's opponent said. "Have you tried challenging A.J. Yet?"

"Who?" Ash asked.

"A.J. He's this really tough trainer down the road."

"I'll beat him." Ash said. "After all. I have two gym badges."

"Just because you have two gym badges doesn't mean anything Ash." Jason said.

"Let's go challenge him Jason."

"We can go see him I guess." Jason said.

"Yeah! Let's go."

The group walked down the path until they came to a fenced in area.

"This guy can't be that tough. He's not even an official gym." Ash said.

"He does have 98 wins." Misty said.

"Yup." A new voice said. "And when I have 100 wins, then I'll go take on the gyms around here, and then go make my gym official."

"Can we challenge you?" Ash asked pointing from Jason to himself.

"Sure. Not at the same time, but yeah."

"All right!" Ash yelled in delight."

"What's your name?" Brock asked.

"I'm A.J. I'm going to be the best trainer around here."

"You'll have to challenge me for that title." Ash said. "I'm going to be a Pokémon master."

"What about you?" A.J. Asked Jason.

"I'm traveling to better myself and protect Pokémon from abusive trainers that might abandon them." Jason said.

A.J. And Ash walked to the arena area and prepared to fight.

"Sandshrew go." A.J. Said.

"Pidgeotto go." Ash said.

A.J. Cracked his whip causing Sandshrew to dig underground.

"Dive." Ash called out.

A.J. Cracked his whip again, and Sandshrew burst from the ground, and hit Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto. Return." Ash said. "Butterfree. I choose you."

A.J. Cracked his whip again, and Sandshrew tackled Butterfree to the floor.

"No." Ash said.

"Ha. That's 99 wins." A.J. Said.

"Let's do two out of three." Ash begged.

"Come back when you are stronger."

Jason walked into the arena. "I don't like the fact that you use a whip to get your Pokémon to listen to you."

"Whys that?" A.J. Mocked.

"I got five of my Pokémon from a trainer who used a whip, he was abusive towards them."

"What did you do to him?"

"I sent him to jail. I wanted to hang him from a tree with his own whip to leave as warning what would happen to anyone who abused their Pokémon."

"Your like what, ten? You have some dark thoughts."

"When I was six, I broke a kid's foot for trying to kick a baby pidgey."

"You have issues."

"Only with abusive trainers. Are you going to use Sandshrew?"

"Yeah. He didn't get a good work out from your friend."

"Fine." Jason said, his face going stoic. "Riolu go."

"I am not Riolu." Riolu said putting his hand over his shoulder and a bone rush sword appearing behind him. "I am Ichigo Kurisaki, substitute soul reaper for the soul society."

"Does he always do that?" A.J. Asked.

"No." Jason sighed. "The other day he was Bell Cranel, and before that he was vegeta."

"You're kidding, right?" A.J. Asked.

"No. I wish I were, but no."

"Are we going to fight or not?" Riolu asked.

"Yeah." A.J. Said cracking his whip.

"I see." Riolu said. "You are the hollow controlling that poor Sandshrew. Making it do your bidding. In order to save it, I have to kill you."

"Wait. What?" A.J. Gulped.

"Bankai." Riolu said creating a smaller blade than the one he had, and increased his speed before running right at A.J.

A.J. Cracked his whip, and Sandshrew jumped in Riolu's path.

Riolu tapped the base of his hilt against Sandshrew's head causing him to fall asleep.

"NO!" A.J. Yelled.

"Relax." Riolu said. "He's just asleep."

"But now you can attack him, and knock him out, and I'll have to wait for another trainer to come along so I can beat them."

"I don't want to kill this spirit. I want to destroy the hollow controlling him. Yield."

"No. I won't give up that easily."

Riolu ran towards A.J. And held his Zanpakutō at him. "I said yield."

"Control you're Pokémon or I'll..."

"Or you'll What?" Jason snarled darkly.

A.J. Gulped. "I-I'll do it for you."

"You really shouldn't have said that." Misty said.

"He's using an illegal Pokémon."

"How is Riolu illegal?" Brock asked.

"He's too strong."

"He is not." Misty said. "You're just jealous that you lost when you were so close to getting your 100th victory."

"Check his level." A.J. Spat.

Jason pointed his Pokédex at Riolu and scanned him.

"Riolu: the emanation Pokémon. Its body is lithe yet powerful. It can crest three mountains, and cross two canyons in one night. Currently at level 29."

"Whoa." Ash said.

"See. Your Pokémon is to strong." A.J. Complained.

"Shut up!" Riolu shouted. "Your voice is annoying, and you expect your Pokémon to win at the crack of a whip. You don't show them the respect they deserve and expect them to show you the respect you think you deserve. It makes me sick."

"Shut up you cheater."

"Walk away with what little dignity you have left." Jason said walking across the stage towards A.J.

"What if I don't want to?"

Jason cracked his knuckles. "We'll see how much respect Sandshrew has for a soprano."

A.J. Gulped again.

"There is one thing that you should know about Jason." Misty said. "If he sees you as an abusive trainer or a trainer who would abandon a Pokémon for any reason, you will have earned his wrath."

"But I don't abuse or abandon my Pokémon."

"You use a whip to get your Pokémon to listen to you. You and your Pokémon should be on the same page, your Pokémon should be able to act of their own accord, without fear of punishment."

"You don't know anything."

Jason's Pokémon burst from their Pokéball's and gathered around Jason.

"This is what kindness gets you."

A.J. Cracked his whip at Jason's Pokémon who began shrinking away from him. "Ha. Your Pokémon don't even..."

A.J. Was interrupted by Jason punching him in the nose causing his nose to gush blood. "Don't threaten my Pokémon ever again!"

"Sandshrew. Attack." A.J. Said through a broken nose.

Blitzle stepped in front of Sandshrew and began glowing. "You dare attack my trainer!"

"Your trainer attacked my trainer!" Sandshrew snapped.

"My trainer had his reasons."

"Then so do I."

The glowing stopped, and in Blitzle's place was a Zebstrika. "Go on. I dare you."

Sandshrew bounced into the air, and came down on Zebstrika, who snorted at him, and used head butt.

Sandshrew slashed at Blitz, and grinned when he drew blood.

Blitz blasted a bolt of electricity at Sandshrew's bloodied claws shocking him.

Sandshrew bit down on Blitz's leg.

Blitz used double kick, kicking Sandshrew in the face twice before kicking him off.

Sandshrew tackled Blitz attempting to knock him down, but Blitz turned around and kicked Sandshrew in the face with his back legs sending him over the edge of the platform.

"NO!" A.J. Yelled in pain, not physical pain, but the pain that one can only feel when they are powerless to stop a loved one from getting hurt.

"You actually care about Sandshrew, don't you?" Jason asked his voice changing from hardened steel to a calm stream.

"Yes." A.J. Cried out. He was my first Pokémon, and we vowed to never give up till we became the best Pokémon team."

"Then why did you crack your whip at my Pokémon? Why do you use a whip? It's such a cruel device."

"You train your Pokémon your way, and I'll train them my way."

Jason clenched his fists together cracking his knuckles. "More than half of my team was abused by people who think like that. It drives me crazy when I hear someone say that."

"Don't hit me again, and I'll show you how I train my Pokémon."

"What if we see it as being abusive?" Misty asked.

"It's not abusive. I train my Pokémon to withstand their natural weaknesses." A.J. said pointing them towards the tent.

The group made their way inside the tent to see all of A.J.'s Pokémon.

In the tent there was A.J.'s Sandshrew, a Butterfree, Beedrill, and Three Rattata.

"Now. Get in the pool." A.J. said to Sandshrew.

Sandshrew looked at the pool Nervously.

*CRACK* "I said to get into the pool." A.J. said cracking his whip.

"That's a great way to prove that you aren't an abusive trainer." Misty said.

"It's for Sandshrew's own good." A.J. said.

"RAAHHH!" Jason roared in rage before charging A.J. and tackling him into the pool.

"JASON!" Ash yelled.

Misty dove into the water. What she saw horrified her. Jason had A.J. In a chokehold and was pinning him to the bottom of the pool. Jason had a rebreather in his mouth and could stay underwater for up to three hours. She tapped him on the shoulder. The rage that she saw behind his eye was fear inducing. She swam to the edge of the pool and tossed a Pokéball into the water.

"Goldeen?"

Misty pointed at Jason, and Goldeen watched for a minute before pushing Jason towards the surface.

Brock and Ash.

The two friends watched as the water in the pool churned.

After three of the longest minutes of their life, the surface of the water broke, and They pulled whoever was on the surface out of the water.

Not long after Misty broke the surface with A.J. In her arms. She laid him on his back and began doing mouth to mouth. "Come on, breathe." Misty said before doing mouth to mouth a second time. "Breathe."

Misty looked at Jason and yelled. "Riolu! Get him out of here!"

Riolu bowed and said. "Yes goddess." Before pushing Jason towards the tents entrance.

"Breathe." Misty said After a third set of recovery breaths. "Breathe. Arceus damnit."

Outside.

"Why did you drown him?" Riolu asked kicking at Jason.

"You heard what he said." Jason said, sidestepping Riolu's kick.

"That forcing Sandshrew to swim was for Sandshrew's own good?"

"Yeah. He thinks that he knows what's best for his Pokémon but doesn't even take the time to think what will happen to them if he pushes them to hard."

"So naturally you want to kill him."

"No. I had a point I was trying to get across to him."

"And what was that?" Misty asked before smacking Jason in the face.

Jason steadied himself, calmed down so that he didn't strangle Misty, took a deep breath, and said. "Is he awake?"

"Yes. No thanks to you."

Jason pushed past Misty at an alarming speed and made his way into the tent.

Three minutes ago, in the tent.

A.J. Coughed up lung full of water.

"He's alive!" Brock said.

Misty got up and stormed out of the tent.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before A.J. Spoke up.

"Hey Ash?" A.J. Asked.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Why do you think Jason did that?"

"It was for your own good." Jason's mocking voice rang out through the tent.

"What?"

"That's what you told us about Sandshrew in the water isn't it?"

"That's different..."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!" Brock snapped. "Jason. Just because someone trains their Pokémon differently than you doesn't mean they're abusing their Pokémon."

"That's not what this is about. Sandshrew."

A.J.'s Sandshrew came to them. "Yes?"

"Do you like the way A.J. Trains you?"

"He pushes me to my limits, and sometimes past them, but he says that it's for my benefit."

"That's wasn't my question."

"I..."

"Do any of you like the way he trains you?" Jason asked the rest of A.J.'s Pokémon.

"He pushes us, but he takes care of us." His Beedrill said.

"He takes us to the Pokémon center when he pushes us to far and gives us the rest of the day to rest up before the next day." His Butterfree added.

"He makes sure that we are fed three times a day." His three Rattatta added in unison.

"Is he a good trainer?"

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our reason!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth that's right."

"Team Rocket!" Ash said.

"I'll handle this." Jason cracked his knuckles before walking out to the arena platform.

"Let me help you." A.J. Said. "I'll prove that I am a good trainer."

Jason nodded.

A.J. got up on shaky legs and walked with his arm on Jason's shoulder to the arena.

When they both got on the arena A.J. Shouted. "Let's go Sandshrew!" While Jason said. "Sahara. let's do this."

"Koffing." James said. "Use smokescreen."

"Ekans. Dig down and attack them from below."

"Sandshrew. Use dig, fight the Ekans."

"Sahara. Use sandstorm, follow it up with slash."

Koffing belched out thick clouds of black smoke leaving the field coated in darkness.

Sahara ran into the darkness and created a sandstorm that pelted both her and Koffing before slashing at Koffing.

"Sahara use sand tomb, follow it up with magnitude."

"You forget That Koffing levitates off the ground."

"That's the mistake that will cost you."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Sahara to bury Koffing before using magnitude."

"No. Koffing use explosion."

"Sahara! Dig!"

There was an explosion that caused Jason and A.J. To fall to the ground, when they got back to their feet, try saw the smokescreen was gone, and Koffing was knocked out with Sahara getting to her feet.

"Sahara! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She said. "I had already buried Koffing under sand tomb, so that took the brunt of the explosion."

"Good job."

Underground.

Sandshrew chased Ekans through the underground.

"You'll never catch me." Ekans hissed.

"I don't have to. You'll come to me."

"Sssso confident in your abilitiessss?"

"Why don't you come see for yourself."

Ekans bit down on Sandshrew only to break his teeth.

"What have you done to me?"

"I hardened my shell to the point that it's nearly indestructible."

"I'll kill you."

"Yeah. No." Sandshrew said before. "Fury swipes."

Ekans was batted from side to side then knocked out with mud shot. Sandshrew grabbed Ekans and was dragging him out of the tunnel when there was an explosion that knocked them off their feet and buried them.

Above ground.

"I'll take care of ya." Meowth said stepping out from behind Jessie.

Jason looked at his Dex. "Sahara. Use sunny day. Make the sun as bright as you can."

Sahara looked at the sun and increased the heat of the sun.

"Now use sandstorm again, but make it nearly impossible to see, and use double team."

Within minutes the arena was covered in sand, and Meowth could be heard coughing and sputtering sand.

"Now. Use dig."

Underground.

Sahara made her way through the dirt and was on her way up when she had an evil idea. "Hey Sandshrew."

"What?"

"First off. Is there a reason why you are down here, and not up there?"

"That explosion caught me off guard and dazed me."

"Okay. Do you want to help me best team Rocket?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Above ground.

"Where'd she go?" Meowth asked.

The ground in front of Meowth exploded knocking Meowth back.

A ball rolled up to Meowth before Meowth kicked it away.

A second ball rolled up to Meowth, but this one unrolled to show Sandshrew. The first ball rolled back and unrolled to show Sahara.

"Uh Oh. I tink I'm in to deep." Meowth said before the Sandshrew both used scratch sending him over into Jessie and James.

"You two don't have any more Pokémon, that means that you are out." A.J. Said.

"We'll be back twerps." Jessie said over her shoulder as they ran.

A.J. Turned to Jason and held out his hand. "Thank you for showing me that there's a better way to train Pokémon Jason."

Jason shook his hand and said. "I'm sorry I nearly drowned you."

"He was practically dead!" Misty yelled. "In fact, he should be sleeping after that, not having a Pokémon battle!"

"Don't worry Misty. I'll rest up." A.J. Promised.

"As for you..."

Jason's Dex rang, interrupting Misty.

"This is Jason."

"J-J-Jason." Charlie's weak voice came over the speaker. "H-Help." Then static.

"CHARLIE!" Jason yelled.

AN: so. Some of you may be thinking that I am letting Jason get away with attempted murder. No, I just decided to end here as a cliffhanger. I don't know about you, but I never liked A.J. In the animé, he wasn't necessarily a bad trainer, but I see him as being more of an abusive trainer than others in the animé. I had Jason Attack, and nearly drown his as Jason from the Comics. If you haven't read the earlier comics where Jason Todd is Robin here's a breakdown. Jason was abandoned on the street at six years old. Batman found him three years later trying to steal the wheels of the bat mobile so he could sell them for food. Bruce took him to a reform school where he lasted six months before Bruce took him in. Bruce trainer him for six months, and took him out as Robin, Jason was brutal and ruthless. He would chase criminals to the top of buildings, and push them off, then he would cry crocodile tears and tell batman that he tried to save them. After a While Batman had him sit out because he was too violent. During this time, Jason found out about his real mother, and eventually found her. She said that she wanted to get to know him. She made him feel wanted then betrayed him to the Joker, who beat him to bear death with a crowbar, and left an explosive in the room, and locked the door. Even though Jason's mother betrayed him, he still told her to hide, and covered the bomb with his body. Batman buries Jason's body, and depending on where you read from there, Jason was either taken by Ra's al ghul to attempt to give Bruce his son back, Talia al ghul took Jason so she could raise him to be loyal to her, or Jason crawled out of the grave. He was later resurrected with the Lazarus pit, and trained to kill Batman, and Joker, and he became one of the most lethal characters without superpowers in the DC universe. So, basing this version of Jason off of the comics, Jason will grow more aggressive, and violent, but I plan on directing his aggression towards those who would abuse, abandon, and neglect their Pokémon

.