"Are you sure this is the right way?" Ash looked confused; he was sure he'd come this way before. The group noted that the ground was less black here; more sandy coloured. They figured less mining occurred at this side of Dark Mount; so the ground wasn't coloured by the coal dust.

"We came down Dark Mount via the path, not the cave; so we must be going towards Praxus."

"Airachnid, do you need to be so rude?" Misty sounded slightly annoyed; it was her job to annoy Ash!

"No, I don't; but Ash asked a stupid question, so I gave him a flippant answer."

"Guys! Do you hear that?" Brock thought he heard two people squabbling about something or other.

"It sounds like a battle is going on." Black Airachnia was trying to work out where it was coming from. Everyone could hear shouts coming from a clearing in the woods. They all ran towards the clearing and saw a black and gold mech fighting with a white and black one. The mostly black one was fighting with what looked like large throwing stars and the mostly white one was fighting using nunchakus.

"Cool! Robo-Ninjas!" Max exclaimed.

"I'm not sure they should be fighting though…" May looked worried; those star-like weapons looked sharp.

"I'll see if they can hear us May." Brock turned to the Transformers who were fighting.

"Hey! What caused you to fight?" The two mechs stopped fighting and looked at the boy who was shouting at them.

"What did you tell them to stop for?" Airachnid looked disappointedly at Brock.

"They weren't fighting. They were practising." Black Airachnia told the rest of the group.

"If that is practise; then I'd hate to see a real fight!" Misty was even more in awe now.

"I used to be able to do things like that." Airachnid stared at Lockdown.

"You? Really? No way!" Airachnid still looked incredulously at him; but when she saw how serious he looked, she got the impression he was telling the truth.

"Lockdown speaks the truth." Everyone looked around at a white and gold mech who stepped out from behind where the two others were fighting.

"Master Yoketron!" Lockdown knelt down and Airachnid gave him another incredulous look. That ruffian actually bows before someone? I guess he's not as rough as I thought…

"Good to see you remember our master." The black and gold mech sounded annoyed with Lockdown for some reason.

"Hey, what's up Locky?" The white and black mech seemed relatively pleased to see him.

"Nice to see you too Prowl." Lockdown spoke first to the black and gold mech; then to the white and black mech.

"And nothing much is up Jazz."

"What's this I've been hearing about your attempts at wooing a femme then?" Lockdown went silent; Jazz knew just how to annoy him.

"That is not open for discussion!"

"If you want to know, I'll tell you about it later." Black Airachnia whispered to Dawn.

"So instead of completing your cyber-ninja training, you went gallivanting after some femme?" Prowl couldn't seem to believe it either.

"I told you why I left for a while; I wanted to explore the region a little, the finding a femme just kind of happened…"

"Completing your Cyber-Ninja training should have been more important. You could have travelled this region, or any others, afterwards." Yoketron spoke in a voice that you couldn't really argue with.

"Can I not continue my training where I left off?" Lockdown hoped so; it did take him a long time to get up to the level he was at.

"I believe your skills will have gotten rather rusty due to the length of time you've been away. So the best course of action would be to begin your training again."

"No! There's got to be something I could do!"

"I have an idea."

"Do tell us Jazz." Lockdown looked annoyed with him for mentioning the girlfriend thing earlier.

"You could battle Master Yoketron to decide your 'fate'." Jazz wiggled two of his fingers near his head when he said fate.

"What do you mean?" Lockdown looked confused.

"Well, if you win; you continue your training where you left off. But if Master Yoketron wins; then you'll have to begin your training again, from the start."

"That sounds fair enough." Lockdown hoped Yoketron agreed; Yoketron didn't really like violence, and so wouldn't have a very violent Pokémon.

"I also agree to these terms. Would you like to battle alongside me, Prowl and Jazz?"

"It would be an honour, sir." Prowl bowed before standing beside his master.

"I don't mind, master." Jazz walked up next to the other two.

"Do I have to challenge all of you by myself?"

"No. You are permitted to choose two allies to fight alongside you."

"Fine. Black Airachnia, Airachnid come and help me."

"I'm not helping if this is one of those ninja fights." Airachnid looked cross with him for suggesting this.

"You could have a Pokémon battle instead." Ash suggested.

"If this means that your chosen allies can fight alongside you in a fair battle; then I see no problem with it." Yoketron sounded pleased; he didn't really want to fight either of the femmes.

"Fine I'll battle alongside you." Airachnid went and stood next to Lockdown.

"I'll help you too." Black Airachnia also stood beside Lockdown.

"Can I referee?" Ash sounded excited.

"Of course you may." Yoketron answered politely.

"All of you; take your places!" Ash called happily. Misty, May, Max, Brock and Dawn sat down near the edge of the clearing; so there was space for the battle. Yoketron, Jazz and Prowl stood at one side of the clearing, Lockdown, Black Airachnia and Airachnid stood at the other; with Ash standing opposite Brock and in the middle of the two trios of battlers.

XxX

"Right, this battle will be three on three and it will be over when all three Pokémon on one team can no longer battle. Choose your Pokémon!" Ash was still very excited.

"Fine then! Mightyena go!" Lockdown chose a large Pokémon that looked like a wolf.

"Dustox let's go!" Black Airachnia used a moth like Pokémon.

"Ariados go!" Airachnid sent out a red spider Pokémon.

"Chatot, ready to rock?" Jazz chose a small brightly coloured bird Pokémon whose head looked like a musical note.

"Ninjask, I choose you!" Prowl sent out his dragonfly like Pokémon.

"Go Musharna." Yoketron sent out a purple Pokémon that floated in the air. Ash checked it on his Pokédex.

"Musharna, the Drowsing Pokémon. With the mist from its forehead, it can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten."

"Alright then! Let the battle begin!" Ash shouted excitedly.

"Dustox use Gust on Ninjask!" Dustox flapped her wings and blew a small typhoon at Ninjask.

"Ninjask dodge; then use Swords Dance!" Ninjask swooped out of the typhoon's way; and it blew itself out after it missed the intended target. A sword that appeared to be made of light appeared in Ninjask's claw and Ninjask began to wave it around in a sort of dance.

"Mightyena use Swagger on Ninjask!" Mightyena walked towards Ninjask with a swagger in his step and Ninjask's attack went up even further. But Ninjask was now seeing stars swirling around his head in confusion.

"Chatot, Mirror Move on Mightyena!" Chatot walked along with a sort of swagger in his step as he walked towards Mightyena. Mightyena's attack went up a bit and Mightyena could see stars swirling around his head in confusion too.

"Ariados use Leech Life on Musharna!" Ariados scuttled forward and then sunk her teeth into one of Musharna's front paws. Musharna cried out in pain as health was drained from her.

"Musharna use Psywave on Ariados." Musharna sent a wave of psychic energy at Ariados; and at that range, there was no way it could miss. Ariados was flung backwards with the waves of energy. Ariados managed to stand up; but was clearly badly hurt by the psychic powers.

"Dustox use Psybeam on Ninjask!" A rainbow coloured beam of light shot out of Dustox's eyes at Ninjask. Ninjask may have been confused, but he quickly flew out of the way; due to the Speed Boost ability that he had.

"Chatot use Mirror Move on Dustox!" Chatot shot a beam of rainbow coloured light from his mouth and it knocked Dustox back with the force of the hit.

"Musharna use Zen Headbutt on Dustox." Musharna's head began to glow with an eerie light and she charged at Dustox. The collision knocked Dustox high into the air and Dustox fell down to the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"No! Dustox return." Black Airachnia thought Dustox was stronger than that.

"Ariados use Fury Swipes on Chatot!" Ariados scuttled forward and slashed one of her front claws over Chatot then the other. Once. Twice. Three times. Chatot squawked in pain.

"Mightyena use Assurance on Chatot!" A black fist that seemed to be made of shadows appeared beside Mightyena and this fist flung itself at Chatot. The blow knocked him out.

"Aw man! Chatot return." Jazz hoped that Mightyena would hit himself but the confusion didn't seem to be affecting him.

"Ninjask use Fury Swipes on Mightyena!" Ninjask fluttered forward and swung his claws; completely missing Mightyena. However, a couple of the five sets of swipes hit the intended target.

"How did that miss? Fury Swipes has a really good hit ratio." Max looked confusedly at the others; hoping one of them could explain.

"I think it must be something to do with the fact Ninjask is confused. Maybe he thought Mightyena was there." Brock explained.

"Ariados use Leech Life on Musharna!" Ariados bit her teeth into Musharna's paw again. Musharna shook Ariados hard with her paw and quickly flung Ariados off.

"Mightyena use Crunch on Ninjask!" Mightyena bit his teeth down hard on to Ninjask's back. Ninjask collapsed from the damage he had taken.

"Ninjask return." Prowl sounded disappointed.

"Are you sure you can win this battle, Master?" Prowl spoke quietly; so Lockdown didn't hear him.

"I believe so Prowl. Musharna may only know psychic type moves but she is very strong and Lockdown will slip up at some point." Yoketron answered Prowl and turned to his Pokémon.

"Musharna use Psybeam on Ariados." Musharna fired a beam of rainbow coloured light at Ariados; who shielded her eyes against it, but collapsed from the damage she had taken.

"Ariados return. You better be ready to finish your ninja training; since I don't think that Musharna can beat Mightyena." Airachnid said a little too loudly.

"Mightyena will win this! Mightyena use Bite!" Mightyena sunk his teeth into one of Musharna's paws. She managed to throw him off but she didn't appear to have much health left.

"Musharna use Moonlight." Moonbeams suddenly shone down on to the battlefield and Musharna. Musharna absorbed the moonbeams and her health was slowly going back up.

"No way! I almost beat you! Grr… Mightyena use Assurance!" A shadowy fist appeared in the air and prepared to swing. However, the fist didn't swing at Musharna; it collided with Mightyena and threw him sideways. When Mightyena hit the ground, he had swirls in his eyes.

"No!"

"Mightyena is unable to battle! The winners are Yoketron, Prowl and Jazz!" Ash called out happily.

"Are you ok Mightyena?" Mightyena sat up and looked at his master apologetically as if it was his fault.

"A ninja should always be aware of anything that could do them harm; including, in Mightyena's case, confusion. You have forgotten some of your lessons and will have to begin your ninja training again." Yoketron explained to Lockdown.

"Guess you were right. I do need to relearn this stuff!" Lockdown looked at Mightyena, who had now brightened up a little after seeing his master happier.

"You will have to return to the dojo in Praxus."

"Hey! That's where we are going! Can we come to the dojo with you?" Ash sounded excited; he hadn't been to a dojo in a long while!

"I don't see a problem with that, unless you're coming to mock me…" Lockdown seemed convinced that's what they'd do.

"Why would we do that?" Misty sounded annoyed.

"You scared away that Quintesson for us and saved our Pokémon. Why would we tease you when you are stronger in battle than we are?" What Dawn was saying made sense.

"Are you coming with us as well?" May asked Prowl and Jazz.

"No." Prowl told them, folding his arms.

"I've got other things I need to be doing in Polyhex." Jazz told them. Jazz and Prowl walked off towards the Mountain slope.

"Well, no point standing around here all day; Praxus isn't that far away." Yoketron started to walk off towards Praxus.

"So let's get a move on!" Max ran on ahead and the others had to jog to keep up with him.

AN: The two mechs being trained by Yoketron are TFA Prowl and Jazz.