Chapter 24:

"Dexter, may I have the coords to the Fuchsia Gym?"

"The weird, ninja place?"

"Yep."

The Porygon beeped for a few seconds, and a map with its latitude and longitude was pulled up.

Domino nodded and teleported off with Ash. Kirlia took Misty and Brock off. She had a huge enough psychic reservoir after evolving that she wouldn't need the help of Mew anymore.

The four appeared in front of a large, slanted house built on a cliff soon after. Ash closed his eyes, and then pushed Domino to the ground, falling on top of her in the process. He yelled to Brock and Misty, "GET DOWN!"

A boomerang flew at them out of nowhere and swooped on top of their heads. Ash jumped up at flung an Aura Sphere at it, shattering it to pieces. Domino released a Psybeam toward the direction and blew a giant hole through the trees.

A girl was staring at them in shock, while clutching her shoulder which had been pierced by some splinters. Ash roared, "Why did you attack us, Janine!? That's not part of the test!"

A man landed next to Janine, whom Ash identified as Koga. "I'm sorry for my daughter's bluntness. She was just testing you. Nothing would have happened even if you stayed in place."

Ash's face softened. "Hello, Koga."
"I assume that you are here for my Soul Badge?"

"Yes." Ash pointed to Domino, "Both of us, actually."

"Okay, in that case, please come in, we can discuss the prerequisites."

"Prerequisites?" Domino asked.

"Yes. Each gym has its own test of character. Most is built into the fight, but mine is before. My test is of focus. I would be sitting in a room in the middle of the gym, which is a giant maze with traps. Each of the challengers must find their way through the maze without the use of Pokémon."

"Misty and Brock, you may come with me. Challengers, you may not smash through the walls, or teleport. Good luck." With that, a wave of smoke emerged at his feet. By it had cleared, he had disappeared and the door behind him opened, leading to what must be the maze.

Domino sniggered. "I bet there's a Pokémon hiding in this tile that can use Smokescreen."

A burst of psychic lifted the floor up, revealing a Koffing with smoke still oozing out of his pores. Seeing that he had been discovered, he scurried down a secret tunnel, which closed right after his entering.

"That's probably the tunnel Koga went in." Ash pointed.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You can call me Captain Ketchum." Ash winked and tipped his hat.

The Black Tulip smirked. "Ay, ay, Captain."

"This is so hard!" Domino whined.

Ash sighed. "We've been walking for thirty seconds. I bet you do this all the time at the Rocket base, and you're making me, a guy with no sense of direction, do the leading."

She giggled. "It's fun seeing you struggle. I want to see how you look during the times of your noviceness, if it's like what Misty and Brock said."

"And how do I look."

"Cute." Domino coughed and passed him to lead the way. "Follow me, Captain."

Ash stared at her backside. "Of course, Princess."

"Watch out, five o'clock."

Ash spun around, staff in hand, and swat a Voltorb out of the way. Domino flipped over in a handstand and pulse a Psybeam out at three shurikens that were flying at them.

Koga sighed from the control room, watching the cameras. "Why didn't you tell me they had super powers?"
Brock shrugged. "Won't matter anyways, unless you restrict them from using BOTH aura and psychic. Ash spars with an ancient Lucario over a thousand years old constantly, and Domino is as powerful as a regular Metagross."

"Plus, we already hinted that you have to ban destroying walls and teleporting. That's already a big enough favor." Misty reminded him.

Koga sank back into his chair. "Aya, let's up the challenge. Remember the mask."

"Got it." A shadow disappeared silently at the corner of the room.

Ash turned around, his eyes closed, and kicked at the ground. As if to have her face in close contact with his foot, a Venonat chose this moment to spring out of the ground. "Aura Sight is so convenient."

Domino was about to reply when a figure dropped from the roof and swung a blade at her. Her tulip staff appeared in her hand almost instantly and blocked the attack. Her assaulter slashed at her feet, and the blonde girl jumped over and at her, slamming her staff down. As it came down, the light of Cosmic Power washed over the gym. Her boosted Counter broke the sword and flung the ninja down, revealing her to be Aya.

The staff continued going and slammed on the floor, breaking through a large hole. Aya bowed and sank back into the shadows. "Very well, contesters. You've passed my test."

Ash finished wrestling the Venonat and sent it flying off into the distance. He nudged Domino slightly to go forward. The Rocket Elite shook her head and pointed to the ground. The boy stared at what she's pointing to. "What? That's the hole you just made."

The blonde slapped him lightly for not getting her point. "Remember what Koga said. We can't teleport or smash through WALLS."

Ash looked at her blankly. "I don't get it."

She facepalmed, and used Psychic to throw Ash down the hole. "Just get in."

Ash landed with a burst of aura, and held his hand up to help her down. After this many months of being abused by her, he got immune, just like to Pikachu's Thunder.

Of course, not immune to her face though.

Domino looked at the wall and back at him expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Punch the thing."

"I still don't get it."

"He said we can't break through the wall, and the ground isn't part of the wall." She explained impatiently. "Therefore, we can just dig a tunnel to him."

"Ahh." He said with a look of realization. Ash raised his shirt up and scratched his biceps. "Like what you're seeing?"

"Believe it or not, you're ten now." She shot him a look. "Seriously dude, aura isn't omnipotent."

Ash pouted, and then lashed at the wall, as if to vent his frustration, with a Giga Impact.

"He's this way." Domino pointed in an opposite direction. Ash checked with Aura Sight, and sighed. "Fine. Force Palm!"

Misty winced. "How much will this be?"

Koga looked at the boy. "Probably thirty grand. Too bad we can't charge challengers for damages."

The redhead grinned. "Now you can. I specifically asked Lance to make the rule a thing before Ash challenged my gym. Don't worry. Domino is rich, and so will Ash be in the future."

The Fuchsia Gym Leader shot her a confused look. Brock sighed. "Just believe us. Don't question it."

"Now, aim a little to your left. There. This should be the last foot."

The couple used Rock Climb, smashing through the ground and flying up into the room on top of them, in the process knocking away the few throwing knives that were released at them.

Koga looked at them, and then back at his floor. "Please, don't use Earthquake during the battle. I don't want the gym to slide down the cliff… At least not before I become an Elite."

"What does that mean?"

"There are many different rankings of trainers. Maybe you've never heard of them because your path is so… unorthodox. Generally, there is the Champion, of course, to start the chain. Under that is Elites, then Masters, Veterans, Sr. Trainers, Jr. Trainers and the lowest rank, Rookie."
"Normally, one who first starts the Pokémon Journey is a Rookie. After earning four or more gym badges, they become the Jr. Trainers. If they were able to make it to Leagues and the Top Sixty-four in a League, they earn the rank of Sr. Trainers. If they become part of the Top Eight, and could fight with all six Pokémon, they become a Veteran. To be Masters, they must win a League in any regions, which is probably why there is a big gap between Veterans and Masters."

"Sometimes, becoming a Veteran would only require a few years, while becoming a Master may take up to decades. (A/N: Literally.) After that, if you were able to beat at least one of the Elite Four, you earn the title of Elite, however, don't get it confused with the job of the Elite Four. Same thing with Champion."

"Anyone who is a Veteran can apply for Gym Leaders, after completing a character test and defeating one of the Elite Four in tactics. There are others, more simplistic and fast ways of applying though, which I do not approve of." He shot Misty and Brock a look. "Currently, I am a Master. I won the Lily of the Valley Conference a decade ago. My goal is to become an Elite, so that I can apply for the Elite Four. I'll probably pass my job to Janine next year and have Aya help her while I go to Hoenn and battle one of their Elite Four whom I never got a chance to fight with."

Ash coughed and looked at the ground. "Well, we're sorry about your…"
He then stared in shock at the place he had popped out of, now as brand new as the other tiles on the floor. The giant hole disappeared. "What?"

"They're ninjas for a reason. We've dealt with Aura Guardians for a long time. An ancient samurai invented a special type of hat to turn off their radiation of life forces. Aya was wearing the hat when attacking you. Too bad she went for Domino instead of you, or else you might as least be surprised."

"Anyways!" Koga bounced back from the destruction of his floor immediately. "Now that both of you had passed my test, you may proceed to the battling. Who's first?"
Ash shrugged. "Princesses first."

Domino giggled and stepped forward. "I guess we're battling in this room?"

"Yes. It's small, but part of the point. It is a challenge of deceit and evasiveness, not raw power." Koga nodded and then added as a thought came to mind. "No, you may not battle yourselves or blow this room up."

He then coughed. "Or other options of destroying it."

Janine stood at the corner of the room and became this match's referee. "This battle is between Koga of Fuchsia Gym and Domino of Viridian. Each is allowed three Pokémon, and the last one with Pokémon still standing is victorious!"
"Switches are allowed. Ring outs are anywhere out of this room. Destruction of terrain is not. May the best trainer win!"

"Go, Venomoth!" The Poison Moth burst out of his Pokéball and did a dance in the air, before disappearing from the room.

"In that case, let's make it a Bug vs. Bug battle. Shedinja!" The Shed Pokémon emerged for a second, and then immediately disappeared with a Feint Attack.

Koga smirked. "Not a good idea to have a test of patience with ninjas. We're trained to do that."

Domino shrugged. "He's a Ghost, which should explain itself."

"It really doesn't." Ash interrupted.

"Use your brain." She shot back immediately.

(One eternity later)

"How can this get longer than the Celadon battle?" Domino groaned, holding her head.

Koga smirked. "Looks like someone is losing her patience…"

Ash spoke up. "Princess, why aren't you using your ability to sense psychic pulses?"

"You think I haven't thought of that!?" Domino glared at him. "Koga must have trainer his Pokémon to somehow contain their brain waves with some sort of anti-coding."

"Doesn't Miracle Eye counter that?"

Domino blinked. "Uhhh…"

Ash gave a triumphant laugh. "Miss Smarty-Pants got beat by a Doughnut."

"Glad we both agreed on the Doughnut part." Domino retaliated, and her eyes wavered in pink soon after.

A psychic pulse was sent to her Pokémon. "Shedinja! Create a Double Team of yourself and send it to the upper right corner of the room from my perspective."

'Shedinja' emerged from his hiding spot and charged at the place Domino had given. A sudden layer of Toxic Spikes appeared, and Poison Powder engulfed the Double Team. He was then pierced by a Venoshock, the three attacks having been planned and laid almost seconds after the other.

The Double Team popped, and Koga blinked in confusion. Within a second, he realized that he had been discovered. Acting quickly, he commanded. "Venomoth, Gust to blow the Powder across the room."

Domino silently complimented the man at such good tactics, no doubt coming from a Master level trainer. The trainers she had beaten before was at max, Sr. Trainer. However, he had forgotten one minor detail.

"Shedinja has Wonder Guard. He doesn't take any damage except for super-effective moves."

"I know." Venomoth started to dance, using Sunny Day.

The Black Tulip had no idea what he was doing, but she knew it would be a bad idea to have him finish. "Shedinja, Shadow Sneak!"

Koga smirked. "Exactly what I wanted. Energy Ball! Use the Sunny Day to power it!"

Venomoth released a modified ball of red, glowing energy taken from the sun's power. It went straight into the cloud of poison. Before it impacted, Ash had a sudden realization of what the Master was planning.

The ball lit up on fire as it entered the cloud, and the entire room was set ablaze by the explosion, with Shedinja being in the dead center of the modified Fire Type attack.

Domino screamed, "NO! Shedinja, wake up! Please!"

The stunned Pokémon was still too in shock at the super effective move, and stayed in place for Venomoth to hit him with an Aerial Ace, then a Thief attack. Shedinja crashed out of the fog of fire, unconscious.

Domino rushed to the side of her Pokémon and picked him up. Ash tossed her a Burn Heal, which she applied on her Shed Pokémon. After she was done, the blonde glared at Koga. "I thought you said we can't destroy the room?"
The Gym Leader pointed. "Do you see any burn marks?"

She looked around to find the wall unscorched. Even the door, which was made of paper, didn't have a single hole. She stared at him disbelievingly. "How did you do that?"

Ash touched her on the shoulder. "The Poison Powder he used was flammable, in fact most poison is. Since Venomoth is already Poison Type, he can control the fog very well."
The boy looked at Koga in the eye. "Since he used Sunny Day to charge Energy Ball, it turned the energy into Fire Type, which is super effective toward Shedinja, breaking though his Wonder Guard."
"It wouldn't have as much effect. It definitely wouldn't stun him if you hadn't ordered Shedinja to charge into the middle. However, he made it out so it seems like you must make a move, or else something else bad would happen. Since you failed to take in the environment, you were successfully lured in by him, which is something anyone without much experience would do."

A serious glint appeared in Ash's eyes that Domino hadn't seen in a long time. "The trap hadn't been set after you noticed. A Master level wouldn't be that late in his actions. Therefore, it must have been before."

"This takes me into my next point. You shouldn't ever underestimate a trainer, even if they just started off. Never ever." Ash squeezed her hand in comfort, but his words kept flowing out. "If you had suspected Koga of scheming when you first noticed the Poison Powder instead of mocking him of not knowing about Wonder Guard, Shedinja might not even be hurt."

"Lastly, know your Pokémon. Once your opponent gets passed the Wonder Guard ability, it is relatively easy to drain Shedinja's little health."

Koga looked at the two and spoke to Domino. "He is right. I can see that you have extremely powerful Pokémon, but your tactics and maneuvers are still quite bland. Normally, I don't make my battles this hard. However, the gym leaders before me had made this Gym Challenge way too easy for you. I feel that it's my job to actually teach you something."

"Your skill is quite impressive, though to get to the top without relying only on your Pokémon's strength, you must reach a higher level than your current, what seems like, Sr. Trainer level."

Domino lowered her head. She thought back on the experiences in the past. Most of the time with Team Rocket, she had decided to rely on herself, her trusty tulip and her martial arts training. She had never actually established a relationship with any Pokémon, except for Giovanni's Persian. She also didn't have as much experience with Pokémon battling as she made it out to be. After all, being Giovanni's daughter had its perks, like cutting through a giant chunk of preparatory training, which never bit until now.

As a result, Pokémon battling tactic had never been her strong suit. Even after meeting Ash, all she was doing was crushing everything in her path with the sole strength of her Pokémon, first using Mew to gather all of the powerful Pokémon, and then using them to rush through gyms.

Consequently, she ended up having no definite style of her own, which showed as a harsh drawback in a battle with someone Koga's level. She breathed out a deep breath, and then looked up with a look of fire.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. May we continue?"

He nodded. "Very well. I wouldn't expect any less. Remember, this is my main team, not just normal gym Pokémon."

The Poison Trainer then looked to Ash. "You seem like you have a lot of experience and confidence, and you saw through my last battle right away. Have you been to any Leagues?"

Ash chuckled. "Not necessarily in the strictest sense. But trust me, I have a lot of experience with battling."

"Then I look forward to battling you, young man. For now, Miss Domino, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are."

A steady gaze settled in Domino's eyes, and she pointed. "Kirlia!"

"Gengar!" Koga smirked. "I still don't get why you young trainers like to yell the Pokémon you're sending out. Don't you know I can just use that to choose his? It's probably because of that Pokémon Origin anime Cleavon made."

"Everyone else does it." The Shadow Pokémon landed in front of Kirlia, and Domino thought fast. If he could beat her Shedinja without even type advantage, one with it would be a lot harder.

"Psychic Terrain." She ordered. "Use your teleportation to your advantage."

"Gengar, get in a corner and repeatedly use Dark Pulse." The Ghost duly did so. Since the attack travels outward, and covered the whole room, Kirlia was forced out of her hiding spot and was bombarded by the Dark attack.

"Did Mew teach you Hyperspace Hole yet?"

"Yes."

"Use that, and then wait for the gap to send a substitute over to Gengar. Charge up in the process."

A pink pulse emerged in front of Kirlia, and a wormhole appeared in the middle of the room, eating away the Dark Pulses. Her substitute jumped in, the same time she use Feint Attack to hide herself.

Another space hole opened in front of the Ghost Type, and 'Kirlia' came out.

"Torment! We can't have her use that move again!"

Gengar flashed with black energy, and it flashed over the Substitute, which was not absorbed and had no effect on her.

"What?" Koga blinked, then immediately realized Domino's plan. "Quick! Protect."

The Shadow Pokémon's Protect screen came at the nick of time and deflected a Future Sight that Kirlia had took the last moments to charge.

Koga complimented. "Now that was a good strategy. It would've hit, but my use of Torment to identify the Substitute was completely lucky."

"It didn't hit you though." Domino sulked. "Kirlia, Magical Leaf."

A swarm of leaves filled the room. Koga remarked, "Interesting choice. Gengar, lay some Smog around you, and use its disturbance to see if you are getting sneaked up on." Gengar followed his trainer's order and released a poisonous cloud. "Then wait until the distraction is over, and…"
A small voice had started to penetrate the cloud in which Gengar was staying. It was quiet to start with, but got louder as Koga finished his directions. The Poison Leader blinked. "Gengar! Cover your ears."
"Too late." Domino smirked. Kirlia finished playing the Perish Song, and Gengar looked back at his master.

Koga thought quickly. "Haze."

An Ice type energy rushed over Gengar's head, and started to sink in to remove the song's effects.

The Rocket Elite muttered something under her breath, and a purple beam rushed out to hit the Ghost the second after Haze took effect, but before Gengar was able to regain control of his body after the Haze move refreshed his mind.

The Destiny Bond started with a small purple dot on Gengar's chest, which extended to become a chain within seconds that wrapped around the Shadow Pokémon.

Domino didn't bother using psychic to communicate to Kirlia. "Hide for the next minute. The battle's going to end in a tie."

Kirlia blinked away in a flash of pink, disguised by her leaf storm. Koga smirked. "That was very impressive indeed. The strategy of taking down a Pokémon who is potentially stronger than you by using Perish Song and Destiny Bond to end in a tie is very interesting."

"Using Magical Leaf was crucial to your strategy as well. It allowed for Kirlia to be camouflaged and made me think to naturally defend. This bought her enough time to use Perish Song. What I admired the most was your second preparation, in case Perish Song fails, like it did with my Haze."

Koga looked at his watch, which told him that the minute is about gone. He then looked back at the girl. "But there is a few mistakes. For example, don't hide against the master of ninjas."

He waved to Kirlia, on the roof. "And the second mistake… Gengar! Use your ability!"

A pulse of purple washed through his Ghost Type. When it faded, Domino's Destiny Bond was terminated. At almost the same time, Kirlia fell down from her hiding spot, unconscious from the Perish Song.

The blonde stared in shock. "Why didn't Gengar faint?"

Ash sighed. "Gengar has Cursed Body, which allows him to disable a move used on the Pokémon. I'm guessing he used it on the Destiny Bond, and waited until the last second to point out so that Kirlia would have no chance to retaliate. That's why he wasted time by complimenting you in the middle of battle, to make sure you don't remember."

"It's a battle of wits." He finished.

Koga chuckled. "Very well, Ash. What would you've done?"
"I'll show you after this." Ash smirked.

"Indeed, I still have a gym battle to finish." He turned back to Domino. "You ready?"

Domino was silent. Never had she suffered a defeat this bad. She left a lot of her powerful Pokémon at Oak's ranch, thinking that she wouldn't need them.

Boy was she wrong.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"You can start whenever. I'm letting Gengar stay in since he took almost no damage."

Domino reached up to her head and pulled Zorua down. "Do you want to try?"

The Tricky Fox nodded. "I won't disappoint, mama."

"Of course you won't." She pat her Pokémon and pointed. "Now let's show Koga a true battle."
Zorua hopped into the room, and immediately changed to a Vaporean. Her eyes flashed as she released a Dark Pulse, which was blocked by his Protect. She fired a torrent of water into the room with Hydro Pump, and used Agility to dodge a Focus Blast. Gengar looked at the rising water levels and shrugged. "I'm a Ghost."

"Hypnosis!" A pink beam shot of his eyes. Zorua changed into a mirror. The pink beam was reflected back by her Mirror Move and hit Gengar instead.

"Sleep Talk!" Gengar released a wave of Ghost Type energy at Zorua, despite being asleep.

The Dark Type pounced forward for a Dream Eater. She hit Gengar as he stuck out his tongue to Lick her. Zorua was sent back, paralyzed, as her attack woke the Ghost up.

"Sh*t!"

Koga smirked. "Use the paralysis to your advantage. Curse, then Hex!"

A dark glow appeared over Zorua, and the extra-boosted force sent her crashing into the water. Gengar waited, and she didn't seem to come up. Koga looked to Domino in question, and she nodded. "Zorua's still conscious."

"In that case, she must want you to go down there." He commanded. "Thunder!"

Gengar released a massive electric attack that reached the water. A yellow light flashed through the small pool the Dark type had created. After a while, Zorua floated up with her eyes closed.

Koga looked to Domino. "I guess…"

A massive BANG sounded as he looked back to find Gengar tackled to the wall. A hole closed around him, as Zorua used Black Hole Eclipse. She smirked. "Phantom Force is so useful sometimes."

Gengar fell out of space a while later and hit the ground with a thud. Koga walked over and checked on his Pokémon, finding him to be unconscious. He nodded his approval. "Very good. The use of the water to distract and mislead, and striking when a Pokémon isn't paying attention. Now that, THAT is good tactic."

"Thanks." Domino thanked him and looked at her loyal Pokémon. Zorua was panting and favoring one leg, consequence of being hit by the Hex attack. "Do you want to keep going? It's fine if you want to come back."

The Dark Type shook her head. "No, it's fine. I said already I wouldn't disappoint."

Koga sent out Venomoth for the second battle with Zorua. Before the Moth could disappeared like the first battle, Zorua let out a cry and turned into a Wailmer, filling up the room and instantly squashing the Bug against the wall.

(A/N: I know that's not how Disguise works, but just bear with me.)

Venomoth was dazed at the sudden change, and didn't flop back up for a few seconds. Using the precious seconds, Zorua changed back and leapt to the right of him and fired an X-Scissor, which hit him, who then used Bug Buzz to get away and an U-turn to sneak attack her back.

Zorua flashed and changed to a Joltik, the Bug energy rushing over her. She shook as the Curse took its toll on her. Sweat dripped down her neck. She wiped it off on her shoulder, making her look up to see her opponent perched on a beam on the roof. The Fox said, "You're nothing without wings."

Venomoth zoomed down and exchanged a Signal Beam with her Shadow Ball. He said sarcastically, "Thank you for pointing that out."

A light suddenly flashed in Domino's head at what Zorua said. She grinned as a plan formed in her head. She sent a psychic pulse over to her Dark type, and Zorua rolled away from the explosion and looked up to face the Poison Moth who glided over her.

"Let me ask you something. How do you fly?" Zorua looked up and used Shadow Claw to block an Acrobatics.

"By flapping my wings?" The reply came in the form of a question.

Zorua smirked. "No, that's wrong. Let me show you why."

She winced as Curse bit deep into her again, and knew that she had to end this battle fast before her health ran out. She turned into a Venomoth and used Attract. Koga shouted, "Lay down Stun Spore and ingested some of it as stimulation. Don't let her get to you."

Pikachu pouted slightly as he saw Zorua flirting with another Pokémon. Of course, he became happy again when he saw her used Overheat on him.

The Fire attack completely burn through the spores in a second, and Venomoth dodged with relative ease, since Zorua was never trained in Fire type moves for too much.

Koga raised an eyebrow, not sure of what she's doing. He decided to regard her previous attack as a distraction and asked his Pokémon to strike back with a Silver Wind.

Both he and his Pokémon dropped their jaws at what was happening in the next second. The Poison Moth flapped his wings, but nothing came out. At the same time, his began to use up his previous momentum and started to drop straight the ground, wings useless.

Venomoth had apparently never been in a similar situation. He struggled uncontrollably in his downward descent, deaf to Koga's calls. He hit the ground inevitably after free falling for a few seconds. Zorua changed out of her Venomoth form and into a Snorlax, before Heavy Slamming the Bug less than three percent of her weight into the ground.

The wooden floor creaked ominously at her weight, which was added on by momentum of the previous few seconds of falling.

Zorua changed back to her Tricky Fox form, and stepped off an unconscious Venomoth.

Koga recalled his Pokémon and turned to the girl. "Woah! You have to explain that."

Domino smirked. "According to what I had learned before in a very top-notch program, a flying Pokémon flies due to Bernoulli's Principle. It states that when they press their wings down, air soars past the wings. However, what allows them to fly isn't the motion of pressing down."

"There is a certain bent in the wings so that the top is more curved than the bottom. Air will break in two currents when it hit the leading edge of the wing. The air will try to 'get back together' at the same time, but the top air must be faster because it is traveling a greater distance due to the curved surface."

"This allows the top to be less dense, which lowers the pressure. The bottom air will have more pressure to push up than the top, which makes a Pokémon fly up. This concept is also used in planes, which the Left Sisters invented when watching Pidgey."

"When I use Overheat, I was able to balance the top air flow with the bottom air flow's pressure due to the heat. Overheat isn't the most powerful attack, but definitely releases a lot of heat."

Koga smiled, and it grew to a grin. "I think I've done my job of educating you to find your own style, Miss Domino. You've proven to me great knowledge of Pokémon, despite your first mistakes, your great bond between your Pokémon and the great training methods you have that allowed them to be this powerful."

"This is the team I used ten years ago to win the Lily of the Valley Conference, and they've been training rigorously ever since. Very impressive, especially for a girl who just started her journey."

He paused. "Even as a Rocket Elite."

Domino was taken back as her identity was revealed, but Koga waved his hands to signal peace. "Now don't freak out. I don't want my gym destroyed. Are you really shocked though? Unlike the other gym leaders, I am a Master, and I have so much networking around the regions that hearing about you is not really stunning."

"Besides, Lance did come to me after his encounter with you and vented for hours. I guess that's what I get for being his cousin."

"Surprised that something this big wasn't involved in the Rocket reports?" He chuckled when he saw her face. "We never tried to conceal it, but it never came up."

He dismissed the topic as fast as he mentioned it. "But anyways, enough about me. Back to you. Here's your reward for showing me your immense skill: Soul Badge."

"Wait!" Domino looked at him. "The battle isn't over yet."

Koga pointed. Zorua shook, and fell over from the Curse hitting one last time, draining her of her remaining health. "Take care of her. She's a very loyal and strong Pokémon."

"But… I lost." Domino said confused, and sad. She leant into Ash slightly. "Why are you still giving me the badge?"

Koga laughed. "You're mistaken about this impression that a challenger must beat a gym leader to win the badge. If a challenger did beat a gym leader, it is required by League rules to give the badge. However, a badge can be given by a gym leader if he or she decided that the challenger had passed the test of character."

"My test isn't of deceit or patience, but of improvisation. Your last maneuver with Zorua cancelling out the air pressure is very impressive, which earned you the badge."

Domino, for the first time, bowed to someone who was not Giovanni. "Thank you, Koga. Thank you for the lesson."

A/N: I just want to say, their pet names for each other are SOOO cute.

Hmm… A battle where Domino struggled with. She actually did learn something from this battle, instead of crushing through. Ash's battle would come in the next chapter. Tell me if you want more of these types than straight on destruction. For Movie chapters, there will definitely be more of these.

Also, who's the strongest Pokémon on Domino's team besides Mew? Not Dragonite, not Tentacruel, not Shedinja, but Zorua. Why? 'Cause I said so. I am not making Zorua evolve, just like I'm not making Pikachu evolve, because she's too cute in her form. She's actually in my opinion the cutest Pokémon yet.

Remember that Fairy Type would not be created until Gen VI, which is Kalos. Therefore right now, Kirlia is pure Psychic, therefore resistant to Poison.

A reminder of the poll on my profile page. Be sure to vote.

Remember to review.