First time seeing Ash battle.

An: Merry christmas everyone. it's currently 12am on the dot here in Australia as of writing this edit. have a good night or day wherever you are :)

Rex was unaware of Elesa's newest addition but would probably cry from laughter if he knew what Zapdos was thinking. Boy was he in for a shock.

Currently, Rex was going about 60kmph down the road that led towards Celadon city where his next gym badge was. Training for his Pokémon was still in full swing. But now it wasn't so much about physical exercise as it was about perfecting their moves and control over their energy.

Naturally, muscle heads like Machamp were the exception. The brute continued to push his body to the absolute limit. The reason Rex was going so slow was that there was no longer any rush. He wanted to explore this world and take in every possible scenery and every possible experience. It wasn't every day that someone was given the chance to live again. He needed to take a step back and appreciate what was around him.

He had been way too focused on training and the issue with that evil collector dude that he forgot what was important. He would still train hard, but he didn't need to dampen his mood over it constantly.

So, with that thought in mind, he rode at a slow speed and enjoyed his time. Up ahead, he noticed a big group of people off to the side of the road. When he looked over, he saw someone he didn't think he would see. Ash and his crew.

With his interest peaked, he parked over to the side and walked over to the group. There were about 20 people forming a wide circle and, in the middle, Ash and another trainer were battling.

Misty and Brock instantly recognised him and showed differing emotions on their faces. Misty had determination with a hint of awe on her face while Brock had an awkward smile on his. After all, they didn't exactly start on the right foot. Rex didn't seem to care for it and stood beside them.

"Who's he fighting?" he asked without looking at them.

"Who do you mean Rex?" they both said at the same time.

"Ash of course. Who is he fighting?" He repeated himself while folding his arms over his chest.

"You know Ash?" Brock asked questioningly.

"Yeah, I was Professor Oak's assistant for 4 months. So I saw the knucklehead on several occasions. Did he grow up a little or is he still as reckless and idiotic as always?" he asked half rhetorically since he knew the answer already.

Brock showed a helpless smile and the question and sighed. "He is still as idiotic as I the first time I met him."

"He's also just as reckless" Misty chimed in with an annoyed expression. Rex remembered the episode where he stole her bike. He was sure she was referring to that.

"I see. What about his battling, is it any good?" he asked

"Well… it's circumstantial. Sometimes he has these moments of pure genius but most of the time he's a dunce. It's really hard to tell if he's any good. But he has a lot of potential, and he loves his Pokémon." Said Brock confidently.

"Is that so, I couldn't have guessed," Rex responded with a frown.

'What do you mean?" asked brock with a puzzled expression.

"Well, look at the Pokémon he's using. A squirtle. It has an amazing third evolution. Yet I fail to spot it. all I see is a small turtle with a lot of potential being hindered by his trainer's uselessness." He critiqued harshly.

Brock and Misty frowned at his words. "You don't have to evolve your Pokémon in order for them to be powerful you know?" said Misty angrily.

"If that was the case then why do Pokémon evolve at all in the first place? If they can achieve what their future evolutions could, then wouldn't that make it redundant? The reason Pokémon evolve is to become STRONGER. All Ash is doing is ruining their future. Such a waste." He said before focusing on their battle.

"Who's the other guy?" he asked.

Brock was snapped out of his thoughts by Rex and looked at Ash's opponent. "Some guy called Josh. He's currently using his Ace, Magmortar." Brock explained.

"I see. Thank you." Rex responded and stayed silent.

"Let's go Squirtle use bubblebeam!" Squirtle reacted quickly and sent a jet of water infused with bubbles at the Magmortar.

"Magmortar use flamethrower!" Magmortar reacted just as quickly and sent tongues of flames which clashed with the bubblebeam creating a cloud of steam that descended onto the field.

"Good now use Screech!" Magmortar sent jarring soundwaves into the cloud of steam which hit Squirtle head on making it shout.

"There! Now use bulldoze!" Magmortar stomped its foot on the ground causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear before the ground began to tremble.

"Dammit, Squirtle, use withdraw!" Ash said quickly. Squirtle reacted just in time and tucked itself into its shell and avoided taking any damage. The steam by now had been blown away by the wind revealing a shocking scene.

Magmortar was standing right in front of Squirtle with a wide smile on his face.

"We already had your general location from your Pokémon's scream after we used screech. All I did was use bulldoze to mask Magmortar's steps. Now, use thunderbolt!" Magmortar charged a massive thunderbolt in one of his hands. Ash was panicking.

"Squirtle use Dig!" Squirtle didn't hesitate and dug into the ground barely dodging the move. But Josh only smiled. "Use earthquake and then rock tomb!" Magmortar stomped his foot down again and this time even more severe trembling could be felt before Squirtle was blasted out of the ground. And then he raised his arms and boulders began to descend from the sky.

"Josh has won," said Rex. Misty and Brock were surprised by his verdict. They could clearly see that Squirtle was still conscious.

"Rex, Squirtle is still conscious…" said Brock with a puzzled expression.

"No foresight Brock, this is why you lost. You're too basic of a trainer. Look and see. I can't be bothered explaining it to you." He said dismissively.

Squirtle could barely get up as the rocks were coming down on his head. "Squirtle use iron defence!" yelled Ash. Squirtle tucked himself into his shell and turned silver. But the attack never came. The boulders descended around him. Ash was wondering if Magmortar had missed.

But Josh smiled, "Game over! Use thunderbolt!" he yelled while punching the air.

"Squirtle dodge!" Ash yelled. But he suddenly realised why the rocks didn't hit him. They were used to cut off all routes of escape. With nowhere to run Squirtle was directly hit with the thunderbolt and smashed into the massive boulder behind him. When the dust settled the result was clear for all to see. Squirtle was knocked out.

A man came forwards and pointed his hand in Josh's direction. "The winner is Josh!" the small crowd cheered but Brock and Misty had their mouths wide open as they turned their heads stiffly to stare at Rex's figure as he sped off on his bike.