DarkFoxKit: …. Why… tell me… why are you wearing that hideously bright orange jumpsuit?

ChuckTheEon: Really dude… It's worse than Naruto's.

Key2DestNE: Hey, don't diss the jumpsuit! *crosses his arms* It IS Naruto's jumpsuit, at least the original! Besides, I went to a convention last week, so there! ):P

DarkFoxKit: Are you wearing that because of the Gym theme that's going on in this chapter?

Key2DestNE: … *looks away* Maybe…

ChuckTheEon: I kinda wish you hadn't… *pulls out three matching Ninja Outfits with custom headbands* I had Comet make the headbands. The Ninja Outfits are fitted to make psychic attacks useless with my special mix. Now you don't get one!

Key2DestNE: *twitch* H-hmph, like I care! *looks away, a bit jealous*

DarkFoxKit: Guys, let's not fight now. Look, the readers are waiting. We should just get on with it, then try to explain a few things at the outro. Anyone going to do the disclaimer?

Key2DestNE: Why don't you let Mr. Special Ninja Outfit do it, since he's so special? *is sulking in a corner*

ChuckTheEon: Kit-n-Key don't own the Pokemon franchise. Neither do I. All we own is the plot, details, and some of the characters of this story. Now stop being a baby, I'll let you have the headband!

Chapter 9: Gym no Jutsu

The next morning, in the forest, Blue yawned, slowly standing up. "Ugh…What time is it? The sun's already up…" he muttered to himself, glancing up at the sun glaring high above him. "We'd better get moving then…" He walked over to a nearby cocoon of fabric and gently nudged it with his foot. "...Hey, Ash. Come on, get up!"

Ash groaned as he tried to snuggle deeper into his sleeping bag. "Go away… still sleepy…" He turned away from Blue, yawning. The elder boy rolled his eyes, walking away. Ten minutes later, the Gary look-alike walked over and stopped next to Ash. He groaned, still not opening his eyes. "Blue, just go aw-" SPLASH! "WAAAAAAAH!"

Ash jumped about three feet in the air, his sleeping bag and his shirt all wet. "WAAAAH! GARY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" He blinked slowly before glaring at the now laughing young man. "... BLUE! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Ugh… must you scream so early in the morning?" Storm the Pikachu grumbled from his place on the stump. "SOME people like their sleep!"

Blue finally managed to stop laughing enough to say, "It- it isn't morning anymore. But oh, was that hilarious!"

Ash glared, taking off his hat and wrung it out. "Well THANKS A LOT! Because of you I now have wet clothes! Do you know how hard it is to find clothes out here in the forest!?"

"Well you should've gotten up when I tried shaking you. Maybe you shouldn't have stayed up 'til three in the morning to look at your Pokedex!" Blue said, smirking.

Ash huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance. "I was TRYING to shuffle my team around so I can get them ready for the Gym! Geez."

"You can do that at a Pokemon Center, genius." Blue rolled his eyes, smirking. "Well, whatever- it gave me an excuse to cover you in water."

Ash glared at him, growling in annoyance. "I WOULD have Storm hit you with a Thunderbolt, but I don't want to risk getting shocked myself! Now I'm going to have to walk in this drenched shirt ALL DAY!"

Storm grumbled as he opened his eyes, stretching slowly. "Another day… another argument between them. I swear they're like brothers."

"I am NOT!" Ash growled in annoyance as he picked up the Pikachu. "Let's go! Blue, where's the Gym anyway? I don't even see a city here!"

The elder Oak rolled his eyes, pointing ahead. "We're almost there- stop your whining, I know your feet are tired but I'm NOT carrying you."

"I'm not tired, I'm just wondering why we haven't even seen a city yet. This is kind of strange, we're like in the middle of nowhere." Ash frowned, getting suspicious. "We're not… trapped in some ghostly illusion are we? Ghost types tends to do that with travelers…" Ash frowned- he didn't really trust Ghost types. Even Spooks, the talking Gastly, still creeps him out.

Blue frowned, pulling out what looked like a set of goggles. "...Hmm… doesn't look like it." He glanced around before lowering the goggles. "No, we're definitely walking to our destination. It's…. possible that the city's hidden again."

"... Again? You've been to Fuschia City before, Blue?" Ash asked before remembering that Blue was a former Kanto Champion. "O-oh right… Uh… what happened last time?"

Blue crossed his arms, shrugging. "Well they were a city, but the Gym Leader is a ninja, so he likes to be more creative with his gym and challengers, so he may have hidden his Gym around here instead of the city. Problem is, he keeps on changing the location…"

Ash frowned, growing a little worried. "W-wait, really?" Then he began to grin as the worry quickly faded away. "He's… a ninja!?"

"Yeah, he is." Blue said with a shrug. "Honestly, I think he's one of the more creative and tougher Gym Leaders I've faced, especially if you don't have a good Psychic or Ground type Pokemon."

Ash frowned… he didn't have any Psychic or Ground type, not counting the Mew that's currently a 'small device' in his backpack. That… might be trouble for him. "...I don't have ANY Psychic or Ground type Pokemon."

Blue frowned at that, crossing his arms in thought. "Hmm… you might want to have them learn Psychic or Ground type moves, then- find some way to counter his poison attacks. I can't give much more advice than that, though."

Ash sighed, frowning in thought. "Well, does what he train have any secondary typing? Like maybe half Bug or Grass?"

"Only his Venonat is half Bug, the rest are usually pure Poison." Blue said with a slowly growing frown.

Ash sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Well… I have a Rattata and Eevee that knows Dig… But I'm not sure if they're strong enough to take on Koga."

"Well you won't know until you try." Blue said with a shrug. "You might just win, after all!"

Ash nodded, giving an eager grin. "Right! I'll do my best!"

"Ugh, I hate being poisoned- that's why I surround myself with Pecha Berries." Storm commented on Ash's wet hat.

Ash blinked before swiping the Pikachu off his hat with a frown. "So THOSE are where all my Pecha Berries have gone! You little trickster!"

"You… never had any Pecha Berries Ash." Storm frowned, a little confused.

Ash grumbled, placing Storm back on his hat with a huff. "I KNOW I had some though… Ugh, I should've stocked up on Antidotes while I was in the last town!"

Blue then sighed and said, "Will you two stop bickering? We're here." He pointed at a large looking mansion in the middle of the woods. "That's the place, if I remember correctly."

Ash blinked slowly, surprised. "...Wait, so… he never changes the design of his Gym?" Then he paused, thinking. "...Well, if he did, it'd be impossible to tell the difference, I guess…"

"Well this isn't so bad- it's the interior you have to becareful of. Invisible walls and possibly traps and a maze, it's going to be hard to get to Koga." Blue warned the boy.

"I'll do whatever it takes then." Ash said determinedly. Besides, I've been through Memma's games- this can't be as bad as her's!

The two began walking in… Blue's eyes looked over to the side for a split second, noticing a Venonat watching them, but he didn't say anything about it as he continued to follow Ash into the Gym.

Ash began to look around suspiciously as they entered the Gym. "Alright… let's see… Ah- I know!" He grinned, pulling out a Poke Ball.

Storm perked up, looking at Ash curiously. "Isn't that Scorch's Cherish Ball?"

The boy grinned, shrugging. "Yep- she can help us with this, especially the glass walls part! You know- since it'll stop when hitting any object, even if it's clear?"

Blue smirked, nodding in thought. "Smart idea, I gotta say."

Ash nodded and released the shiny Charmander from her Cherish Ball. The golden Charmander smiled as she looked around. "What do you need me to do, Ash?"

"I want you to use Smokescreen around here, see if we can find any invisible walls." Ash said, and she nodded.

Scorch opened her mouth and shot out black smoke. The smoke went everywhere though, and it was too hard to see. Ash coughed, frowning. "O-okay, ma- *cough!* Maybe not! Ugh… c-can you try to direct it?"

Scorch frowned. "Uh… well the purpose of a Smokescreen is to scatter all over the place so it makes it hard to see the enemy…"

"Ash *cough!* just forget it! *cough!* Just try trial and error!" Blue coughed as Ash sighed and returned Scorch to her Cherish ball.

When the smoke cleared, they saw a Venonat… staring at them. Ash, Storm and Blue blinked at the creature. "... Intruders… Come with me." it said before running off.

"H-hey, wait!" Ash frowned as he began to follow it.

"Wait Ash! It's leading you to a-" Blue tried to warn, but Ash tripped over something and got zapped by a Thundershock! "... trap…"

Storm jumped, seeing just what Ash tripped over. "Uh… Ash… you just tripped over a Voltorb!"

The boy yelped, glancing down in shock. "W-what the!?" He's right- it IS a Voltorb! But that Venonat said-

Blue grabbed the fallen Trainer and began running with him, "Move it! Voltorb are known to Selfdestruct with little provocation!"

"I know that! But where did that Venonat go!?" Ash yelled as they stopped in the middle of a room.

"A-Ash…" Storm groaned from the ground. "I think I hit something…"

Ash frowned as he put out his arms in front of him and felt a force there. "... This must be one of those invisible walls…"

Blue frowned as well before he froze, hearing something rolling behind him. "A-Ash, I think the Voltorb's on it's way- you'd better have a plan!"

"W-well, uh… we could… Ah! There's a door there, let's go!" Ash hurried into the door, Blue and Storm following him not wanting to face an angry Voltorb, and as soon as they did, shurikens were suddenly thrown at them! They re-acted quickly and ducked, barely dodging the shurikens that hit the wall! A young woman wearing a pink… suit… landed on the floor, smirking, "Born in darkness, living in darkness, such is the fate of a ninja."

"..." Ash blinked slowly. "...You're a ninja? You're wearing PINK- not exactly a ninja color. Seriously, just…. what? Why?"

"I don't need your fashion tips." She glared, crossing her arms. "But you two have invaded the ninja school." She kneeled down and petted the Venonat that was just behind her legs. "This Venonat told me two stupid people wandered in here."

Ash glared, grumbling out, "We're NOT stupid, we came here looking for-"

"And I'm afraid I can't let you leave until you defeat me in a battle." She smirked, crossing her arms a second time.

Blue frowned, "... This isn't Naruto, we don't have any chakra or ninja flashy moves to battle you with."

The girl, Ash, Venonat and Storm all did an anime fall! "BLUE!"

"What?" Blue shrugged. "I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Look, I meant in a Pokemon battle." the ninja girl grumbled in annoyance as she got back up. "It'll just be a one-on-one battle."

Ash stood up too and said, adjusting his hat. "Alright, fine, I'll battle you." He shrugged, grinning. "It'll be good training, at least!"

The girl smirked as she looked at her Venonat. "Go Venonat!" The little bug perked up, letting out a battle cry as it jumped forward.

Ash glared… A Bug and Poison type… who in his current team is able to take that? … Ash smirked. "Flutter, I choose you!" He pulled out a Poke Ball and sent out his Butterfree.

Blue blinked, before crossing his arms in thought. "...A Butterfree, eh?"

Ash nodded, giving a small grin. "Yeah, it's my only fully evolved Pokemon right now, admittedly…" The boy chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"It's been a while since I was able to battle with you, Ash." Flutter said, looking at his Trainer.

The ninja girl smirked, "Let's battle. Venonat, use Supersonic!"

The Venonat let out a screeching noise, but Flutter flew above it and avoided the attack. Ash nodded and said, "Flutter, use Stun Spore to paralyze it!"

The Butterfree then flew above the Venonat, beginning to let out some yellow dust from his wings. The Venonat tried to get out in time, but it was too late- it was paralyzed! The ninja girl gritted her teeth. "Hmm… not bad." She then smirked. "...Too bad, though."

Ash glared, not liking that smirk, a smirk on a ninja is deadly. "What?" he cautiously asked.

The ninja chuckled, crossing her arms. "Too bad you got the wrong one." Ash's eyes widened, just as the Venonat disappeared with a poof of smoke!

"... Substitution." Blue clarified, having seen the move used before.

"Venonat use Psybeam!" the ninja girl commanded.

The purple bug jumped behind Flutter and shot out a colorful beam of Psychic energy at the Butterfree's back! It nearly knocked to the ground before he righted himself.

"Hey! You little sneak!" Flutter glared in annoyance. "How'd you get behind me?!" The Venonat merely began to laugh, making him twitch. "Why you…!"

"Calm down Flutter! … Watch the Venonat…" Ash said, trying to keep calm himself. Flutter glared, keeping his red eyes on the Venonat. If Ash remembered correctly… Flutter's ability Compound Eyes would come in handy here. "Now use Tackle!"

The Butterfree charged at the Venonat, but flew over the fake Substitute and hit the real one that was behind it!

The ninja girl's eyes widened in shock. "W-wha!?" Then she frowned, narrowing her eyes. "...Nice hit- but it'll take more than that to faze me! Use Stun Spore!"

"Take this you stupid winged bug!" Venonat yelled as it shook its fur, spreading yellow spores at the Butterfree.

"I don't think so, Flutter, use Gust to blow away the Stun Spore!" Ash quickly commanded.

"Oh, gladly!" Flutter flapped his wings as hard as he could, blowing away the yellow dust as well as causing a super effective damage to the Venonat.

The Venonat fainted as it couldn't take it anymore. Ash smiled, crossing his arms confidently. "Look like we won."

Suddenly, a Voltorb came rolling into the room and exploded before anyone could react, leaving a thick cloud of smoke. A deep voice spoke behind the ninja girl, "You've got a lot to learn, Aya."

The ninja girl, known as Aya, turned, her eyes wide. "B-Brother Koga!"

As the smoke cleared, a man wearing a ninja outfit stood there, looking at Ia sternly. "...Ia, you shouldn't have blatantly attacked this Trainer."

"I am sorry brother, but they have intruded here." Ia said, bowing her head.

Ash looked at Koga, frowning in thought. "... Koga… So I take it you're the Gym Leader?"

Blue looked at Koga, the older ninja was looking at him too… as if recognizing him. But Koga didn't say anything to him- instead he turned to Ash and answered, "That I am, young one."

"That's good, because I came here to battle you and earn a Soul Badge." Ash said calmly, knowing ninjas can be dangerous especially if you make them mad.

The man frowned, looking down at Ash thoughtfully. "...I suppose so." He then smirked, crossing his arms. "You DID defeat my sister, after all- so now this is a term of honor."

Ash nodded, giving a small smile. "Thank you."

Koga and Ash stood on each end of the battlefield, Koga showed Ash the Soul Badge, which looked like a pink heart with a line. "You will receive this Soul Badge if you can defeat me in battle."

Ash nodded, clenching his fist in determination. "I got it."

"Then we shall battle a two-on-two battle. My first choice is Venonat!" Koga threw out another Venonat as Ash made his choice.

"...I'm still using Flutter!" Ash looked at the Venonat Koga just released. "... That one looks stronger than the one your sister used."

The ninja nodded, smirking. "That's right- so don't grow cocky simply because you defeated my sister." And at that moment, Venonat suddenly began to glow! "It's had a lot more experience…" Then it suddenly got bigger and grew wings… it evolved into Venomoth!

"I've finally evolved and I will defeat you!" The Venomoth said to the Butterfree.

Flutter glared. "Hmph, don't think I'll be so easy to defeat you little moth."

Ash frowned at that, growing slightly worried. …Koga's clearly an experienced Trainer then- he was able to evolve Venonat almost at will! We hadn't even started the battle! It's just like with that Oshawott's trainer, when Oshawott evolved during the battle at will!

"Ash! Focus!" Blue shouted, trying to get the boy's attention.

"Forget that he just evolved, you and Flutter can take him on!" Storm cried out loudly, knowing what was going through the Trainer's mind.

Ash blinked before glaring, his fist clenching. "We're not going to let this distract us. Flutter, use Tackle!"

The Butterfree nodded, instantly flying towards the Venomoth as quick as it could. Koga smirked, though. "Venomoth… you know what to do- use Stun Spore."

"Fly up and use Gust!" Ash yelled.

Flutter shot up higher and quickly fluttered his wings to create a strong gust of wind to blow back the Stun Spore, but the Stun Spore was too strong and pushed through, hitting Flutter and paralyzing him!

Koga smirked, nodding to himself. "Good… Now use Sleep Powder!" Blue frowned, seeming a little troubled by this. "And don't forget to do it as we practiced."

"Flutter! Come on, shake it off!" Ash yelled, trying to get his Butterfree to move.

"Well this is just playing dirty now." Flutter growled, trying to move.

Venomoth seemed to smirk as well, flying above it's opponent. "We're ninja, foolish Pokemon. We're MEANT to play dirty!"

Ash knew Flutter was in trouble when he saw the Sleep Powder coming at him. "Flutter, return!" He quickly returned the paralyzed Butterfree, taking out another Poke Ball. Ah… maybe Scorch?

"Wait Ashy! … Why don't you try that little Zorua? You should take her out for a spin… you know, use ninja tricks against ninjas, this IS a ninja gym after all." Ash heard Mew's voice in his head.

"But Memma, Trixie is a Dark type… and I haven't trained her much yet… is that a good idea?" Ash mentally asked her.

Mew mentally giggled. "Yes, of course~ It'd be super fun, too- wouldn't you agreee~?"

Ash sighed before taking Trixie's Poke Ball and tossing it. "Alright then, go Trixie!" he released the Zorua, which… looked like a Charmander.

Blue and Storm blinked, Storm looking more confused, "Huh? He said Trixie, but why did Scorch come out?"

"So, a Fire type huh?" Koga said, looking at the golden Charmander. "Venomoth, use Stun Spore."

Ash glared, narrowing his eyes. "Trixie, use Snarl!" The 'Charmander' gave a mischievous smirk as she began growling and dark sound waves hit the spore, causing them to scatter.

"Odd… A Charmander shouldn't be able to use Snarl." Koga frowned, crossing his arms. "...How did you do that?"

Ash smirked, "This is no ordinary Charmander." Just when he was about to give an order for the next move, there was a sudden explosion in the walls! "Wah!?"

The smoke cleared… revealing… a familiar face that Ash dreaded to see after his first encounter… the mysterious trainer… with the Dewott beside him.

The trainer smirked, crossing his arms. "Well, well, well. I didn't expect to see YOU here… Blue Oak. What are you doing here? I thought you weren't a Trainer anymore- or did you forget your precious lesson since our last meeting?"

Blue glared, as if recognizing him. "What do you want, Dustin? I haven't seen you since Red kicked your and Giovanni's butt three years ago."

The Trainer, apparently named Dustin, merely smirked, crossing his arms. "Oh, come on- you didn't think I'd just give up so easily, now did you? No…" He glanced over at Koga. "I'm here for one thing, and one thing only."

Koga glared, his fist clenching "... And what's that? You tore down my gym's walls and come to demand something from me- you have no honor."

Ash gulped- he remembered this boy alright, but the boy, Dustin, probably thinks he doesn't remember, so he kept quiet. Storm quickly ran over to Ash's side as if to protect him in case Dustin decides to attack them again.

Dustin merely laughed, crossing his arms. "Simple, old man. I want…. your badge." Time seemed to freeze, as everyone else blinked.

"Wait a minute!" Ash yelled, running beside Koga, and Blue and Storm quickly followed him, both knowing how dangerous Dustin can be. "... What reason do you have for taking a Gym Leader's badge?" He's part of Team Rocket, so why does he need a Gym Leader's badge for?

"That's for me to know and you to never learn." Dustin said, still with a smirk on his face. "Now give me that badge and nobody gets hurt… much. After all, don't you have to challenge the Gym Leader to gain it~? Well, I'm doing just that!"

Storm's cheeks sparked, "Never thought we'd have to deal with this guy again…"

"Who's this creep with the Dewott?" Trixie frowned, not liking how the boy's smirk was not only mischievous but sinister too.

Blue frowned and turned to Koga, Ash and Aya, "This boy may look young, but he is a very powerful, skilled and dangerous Trainer. Taking him alone would be unwise."

Koga nodded, "I agree, we must join forces for now to defeat him Go Venomoth!"

"Go Trixie!" Ash yelled, letting the Zorua-disguised-Charmander battle alongside Venomoth.

"Go Venonat!" Aya released her Venonat to join them.

"Go Eevee!" Blue released his Eevee too, all four Pokemon looking battle ready against Dustin.

"Please, this is too much. You really think that you can overwhelm me with such powerless Pokemon? You are sadly mistaken! Blue, I have been in intense training since you last saw me three years ago, so intense it makes even the toughest of Trainers cry and weep like weaklings." Dustin smirked as if the whole situation was laughable itself. He eyed the four Pokemon. "Look at them… three out of four aren't even evolved."

"Do you want me to take them out, sir?" his Dewott asked, ready to attack at the given word his Trainer would say.

"Not yet. Lets humor them for a minute." Dustin said, smirk growing a bit more sadistic.

Ash gritted his teeth as he began to sweat. Dustin… I was really hoping we wouldn't meet again until my Pokemon were stronger… but I guess there's no time for that. We need to work together if we hope to keep him from stealing the badge for whatever reason… And I know it's not going to be a good one. But even with the help of a Gym Leader, his sister and even Blue… I don't know if we'll be able to take him on!

To be Continued…

Key2DestNE: *is still sulking about not having anything about the new ninja outfits other than the headband.* ...Well then… you guys like it? Was it ninja-y enough for you all? Because APPARENTLY I can't do a good ninja impression!

DarkFoxKit: Well, now then, I don't want to hear complaints that the 'episodes are out of order'. The plot of the anime will now be taking a backseat- it'll still go on, but don't expect it to be the main thing going on anymore, so the 'episodes' will not be in any specific order- it's only if it benefits the area and plot Ash and Blue are going to, that we will do the 'episode' then. And as you can see, guess WHO returns here? If you hadn't read the ending to the original Child of Mew, you probably have no idea so you should do that first.

ChuckTheEon: You can also see that the game is actually going to be mentioned more than you thought. And this chapter, it was the moving of the gym into the forest- which wasn't like that in the game. I am, however a bit skeptic about how they heal pokemon… Herbs? That seems ninja-y but I don't think they do at this gym. Since, after all, it would probably have to be grass type…. I'm rambling again aren't I?

Key2DestNE: Yes, yes you are. *Ahem!* ANYWAYS, we did well this time- hopefully, at least- and we've got plenty more where that came from!

DarkFoxKit: We may have missed something since it's been a while since we read the chapter. So if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask me or Key. Chuck is… well he doesn't know EVERYTHING here, just the later chapters, but you can ask him too if you want.

ChuckTheEon: I usually recall more… All I know is that you GUYS STILL WON'T TELL ME THE SECRET! I know I ramble, but I keep secrets like a safe locked in another safe that has been somehow put into a page of a 1,300 page diary with a lock on it thrown into a small chinese puzzle box and then a pirate chest that is left at the bottom of the ocean! And THEN I-

Key2DestNE: Alright, alright, we get it Chuck! *sigh* Look, we'll tell you later- but not during the AN! … *smiles sheepishly at the camera* Sorry 'bout that guys- please, read and review while we catch this guy up to speed, okay?

ChuckTheEon: Anybody want my spare Ninja Outfit? Key isn't using it, after all.

Key2DestNE: … *twitch* WHY YOU LITTLE-! GIMME THAT OUTFIT! *pounces Chuck, making the camera break*