Cynthia heard a knock on her door the next morning; she rolled over in bed to look at the clock on the bedside table. It was noon.
Shit.
She jumped out of bed, still in her black pajamas, and ran to the door. She opened it to see Shiva standing there with Athena.
"Did you… just wake up?" he asked.
"Yeah, sorry! I'll just meet you there, okay?" She slammed the door shut in their faces. Shiva turned to Athena and shrugged, before heading downstairs to meet Brock, Ash and Auron.
"Hey, where's Cynthia?" Ash asked as Shiva and Athena got off the elevator.
"She just woke up," Shiva sighed. "She said she'll meet us there."
"Well, we may as well get some lunch first," Brock said.
"Yeah, good idea!" Ash said.
They walked around for a bit until they found a small sandwich place. They got their food and resumed walking to the Gym.
"This is really good!" Athena said.
"Yeah, it is!" Ash agreed, tearing off a small piece for Pikachu.
They finally arrived at the gym. It was painted gray, with two black staircases leading up to it. Its drab exterior clashed with the greenery surrounding it.
"Wow, it looks a lot different than the last time I was here," Ash said. "I wonder who the new Gym Leader is."
"New?"
"Yeah, the last time I was here, an old lady named Agatha was the temporary Gym Leader."
"Agatha?" Brock asked. "Didn't she used to be part of the Elite Four?"
"Yeah, she did."
"Well, let's find out who's in charge now," Shiva said, walking up the stairs and throwing open the door.
He was about to walk in when he heard the screech of tires behind him. He spun around and saw Cynthia, who jumped out of her black convertible.
"Sorry I'm so late," she said. "I overslept."
"Yeah, I know," Shiva laughed. "Thanks for coming to watch."
"Well, I still have almost a week here," she said. "I can spare a few minutes to watch you get a badge."
"Wow, you're pretty confident, huh, Shiva?" Ash said.
"This? This is going to be no problem."
Shiva took a step into the darkened room and felt along the wall for a light switch. Finding none, he called out Hanuman, whose fiery head cast flickering light over the walls.
"Hello? Anybody here?" Ash called out. There was no response.
"Well, the door was unlocked, so somebody has to be here," Brock said.
A number of purple lights appeared suddenly on the walls, casting an eerie glow around the large hall.
"Wait… those are…"
A large number of Lampent floated ominously by the walls, all staring at the group. Atop a balcony at the far end of the room stood a tall young woman, with silver hair and grey eyes.
"Are you the Leader of this Gym?" Shiva asked.
"Indeed," she said. She jumped from the balcony and floated slowly downward.
"Nice trick," Shiva smirked.
"I am Hitomi, the Leader of Viridian Gym. Do you wish to challenge me to a battle?"
"That's why I'm here."
"Very well," she said. "I will teach you the terrors of Ghost Pokémon."
"I'll referee," Cynthia said. "If you don't mind."
"You are the Champion of Sinnoh, are you not? It would be my honor if you refereed."
"Not at all," she said, walking to the side of the arena.
"This will be a three on three match," Hitomi said. "I will not substitute Pokémon."
Ash, Brock, Auron and Athena stood behind Shiva. Ash was practically shaking with anticipation.
"This is going to be so awesome," he whispered with excitement. Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"And begin!" Cynthia said.
"Come forth, Gengar!" she said. A Gengar materialized in the air behind her and floated to the center of the arena, taunting Shiva by sticking out its long tongue.
"You want to take this one, Auron?" Auron nodded and jumped into the Arena, landing right in front of Gengar.
"I will allow the challenger to make the first move," Hitomi said.
"You know what to do, Auron."
Auron jumped back, and the claws on his fingers became encased in long, sharp shadows. The shadow of the Hone Claws move quickly dissipated.
"You move without your trainer's commands," Hitomi said. "Interesting. Gengar, use Hypnosis."
Gengar pointed its arms at Auron, and black rings of energy emanated from it. Auron leapt to the side to dodge it, then rolled onto his feet and ran at Gengar without breaking stride. His right arm became engulfed in a dark aura, which took the form of a large Shadow Claw. Auron swiped at Gengar, who dodged to the side. Auron's other arm also became engulfed in a Shadow Claw, and he unleashed a flurry of swipes at Gengar, who managed to evade him until Auron swung at his feet. Gengar stumbled while floating in midair, and Auron effortlessly landed several powerful hits before his claws faded away. Gengar fell to the ground.
"Gengar is no longer able to battle!" Cynthia said.
"That was fast," Brock said.
Hitomi called Gengar back into its Pokéball, and pulled out another one. "Come forth, Mismagius!" A Mismagius appeared from the Pokéball, floating in midair.
"Magical Leaf!"
Mismagius began spinning like a top, crying out its own name. A flood of glowing green leaves shot out toward Auron, who jumped and rolled to avoid them. They followed him like missiles, and Auron was unable to dodge them, taking the full force of the attack. Rings of dark Aura energy immediately formed around Auron's wrists, and he fired off a quick Payback, scoring a direct hit on Mismagius, who was still slowing down from its spinning. Mismagius was knocked back, but quickly floated back to face Auron.
"Thunderbolt!"
Mismagius glowed yellow, and a bolt of lightning arced toward Auron. He used Dig to lower himself partway into the floor before getting hit.
"That's amazing," Brock said. "He's grounding himself so that he doesn't take damage from the attack."
The moment the electricity dissipated, Auron leapt into the air and brought his hands behind him, forming a dark, shadowy orb. He released the Shadow Ball at Mismagius.
"Use Double Team!"
Multiple copies of Mismagius fanned out in a circle around Auron; the Shadow Ball struck one and it dissipated.
"There's no way to escape now," Hitomi said. "Use Shadow Ball!"
Dark orbs began forming in front of each of the Mismagius copies.
"Oh no! He's going to get hit by all of them!" Ash cried.
Auron closed his eyes, and the black appendages beneath his ears rose softly. The moment before the Mismagius all released their Shadow Balls, he shot imperceptibly fast at one of them, combining Extremespeed and Shadow Claw into one move. The Mismagius, caught off guard, fell to the ground, all of the other Mismagius and their Shadow Balls dissipating.
"Mismagius is no longer able to battle!"
"Impressive," Hitomi said. "You saw through that very easily."
I read their Auras, Auron said. And my Hone Claws from before increased my accuracy.
"And you talk too. Interesting. However, you will not get past my last Pokémon." She drew her last Pokéball and threw it into the ring. A Cofagrigus appeared, its four arms waving menacingly.
"Use Will-O-Wisp."
Six light-blue flames appeared and danced around Cofagrigus' body, before shooting toward Auron like bullets. Auron quickly used Protect, and a defensive Aura shield caused the fireballs to dissipate harmlessly. He leapt into the air, Shadow Claw at the ready.
"Psychic."
Auron was suspended in midair, unable to move. His body was surrounded by a light purple glow.
"Oh no," Athena said.
Suddenly, Cofagrigus rose from the ground, surrounded by the same glow that Auron was.
"Woah, he used Psychic right back!" Ash said.
"Now it's just about whose attack is stronger," Brock said.
Auron and Cofagrigus stared each other down in midair. Minutes passed in total silence.
"I've never seen anything like this," Ash said.
Without warning, Cofagrigus plummeted to the ground. As it began to right itself, the purple light surrounding Auron faded, and he used Shadow Claw as he fell to the ground. Cofagrigus went spinning across the room into the wall behind Hitomi, collapsing to the ground.
"Cofagrigus is no longer able to battle!" Cynthia declared. "The winner is Auron!"
Shiva walked up to Auron and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nice job, buddy."
Thank you.
"That… was… awesome!" Ash yelled.
"Great job, Auron!" Athena called.
Hitomi walked up to Shiva. "You've trained your Lucario well."
Your Cofagrigus put up a good fight.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that before," Cynthia said. "That was incredible."
"As proof of your victory, trainer, I present you with this Shadow Badge." She handed Shiva a dark purple badge shaped like a claw.
"That's new," Ash said. "When I was here, I got the Earth Badge."
"That was the old Leader," Hitomi said. "After he left, my grandmother took over until I arrived here from Unova."
"Wait," Ash said. "You're Agatha's granddaughter?"
"Indeed."
"Thanks for the battle," Shiva said. "It was fun."
"Thank you for challenging me," she said. "Very few people come by anymore."
"So we've heard." Shiva pinned the badge to the strap on his bag, right above his Boulder Badge.
"See ya," Shiva said, turning to leave.
"Farewell."