Koga the Ninja Master

"Oh hey, you guys made it just in time!" Janine stood outside the Gym and waved at her friends as they made their approach. "Nobody else has entered the Gym yet so you'll be the first in line to battle my dad!"

"Well that's quite convenient, we don't have to wait!" Chloe smiled.

"Alright, I can't wait to earn my fifth Gym badge!" Ash exclaimed, his fists clenched from excitement!

"Pika pi!" Pikachu flicked his tail while copying his trainer's actions.

"Heh, not so fast." Janine waved her finger as a smirk began forming across her lips. "There's an obstacle within the Gym that you must venture through, I thought it better to warn you in advance rather than see you run face first into an invisible wall. You are my friend after all," Janine laughed.

"There's invisible walls in there?" Chloe questioned with a dubious look.

"Of course! My father fitted the Gym floor with an invisible maze in order to test a trainer's strength, a trainer can't always trust his vision and must rely upon other senses to help guide him!" Janine explained while turning her attention towards Brock and Chloe. "What he meant by that I'll leave it up to you, you two must come with me. There's another way reserved for staff and spectators, we must make sure he has no distractions."

"Or help?" Chloe questioned once more.

"Bingo!" Janine grinned. "It's a test fitted specifically for the challengers, meaning Ash!" Janine gave a quick glance towards Ash before taking Brock and Chloe's hands. "Come, let's leave him to his test! You'll be able to watch from the other side!"

"Whoa!" Brock was shocked at how Janine, who was both shorter and less muscularly built than he was, pulled him with seemingly little effort!

"I-I guess we'll see you on the other side, Ash!" Chloe nervously laughed as Janine dragged the two of them into the Gym.

"Good luck!" Brock and Chloe called out simultaneously as they disappeared into the Gym, leaving Ash to stare blankly at Pikachu.

"What do you think she meant by other senses?"

"Pika." Pikachu tilted his head before shrugging. "Pika pika!" He pointed eagerly towards the Gym as if to say 'There's only one way to find out!'.

"You're right, let's get in there and find out!" Ash raced through the doors and rather was greeted rather quickly by an invisible wall as he ran straight into it! Janine couldn't help but snicker as she watched from the other side, giving Ash a cute wave as he groaned out. "She could have told me it started right there..." He groaned as he stood barely a foot into the Gym itself!

"Pika..." The two rubbed their heads for a moment before stroking their chins while looking to the left and right. "How can we advance if we can't trust our eyes..." They could just feel along the wall but that could take all day given that it was a maze, they wouldn't know where they were going or better yet where they'd been! Ash closed his eyes and began concentrating on the area around him, sure enough the answer came to him as strangely enough he could sense a faint trail of something that passed through before him, he wasn't quite sure how to describe it as apart from being quite faint and almost unreadable to him there wasn't a smell or any other recognizable trait to it! Ash didn't say a word as he cautiously began to advance and much to his surprise he was actually making progress!

Janine and Koga smirked as their suspicions were confirmed and left no doubt in there mind about who he was. Brock and Chloe however watched with shocked expressions, Chloe's eyes were wide and Brock's jaw hung wide as they watched Ash flawlessly maneuver the invisible maze with his eyes closed! They tilted their heads while silently wondering just what was going on.

Ash was thinking the same thing as he found himself standing opposite from Koga as he opened his eyes, a quizzical expression crossed his face as he didn't quite get what just happened. "That was your trail wasn't it? What was it?"

"Pika?!" Pikachu tilted his head as he gave Ash a look, not understanding what he meant by that.

"It is not my place to tell you," Koga simply dismissed.

"But-" Koga raised his hand.

"All will be revealed in due time!"

"You sure this will work? This glass is super clear!" Janine exclaimed as she helped her father change the glass the previous night, purposefully rigging it to be much more difficult than usual. "What if is aura doesn't kick in?"

"It will, his aura levels aren't as high as some of the other Heroes but all of them have it in some capacity." Koga calmly stated. Just because there were others with stronger levels of aura didn't mean they were better though, Ash had other traits that they didn't! All of them had special traits that set them apart from one another. "In his moment of stress, his body should instinctively summon up just enough to pick up on my aura trail."

"Are we going to tell him about it?" Janine questioned.

"No. It's not our place to do so, he'll learn more about it when the time is right."

"Janine you mind being our referee?"

"Of course!" Janine gave a nod to her father as she took her position on the side of the battlefield.

"Alright Ash the rules at my dojo are simple," Koga calmly explained, walking backwards as he took position on the opposite side of the battlefield. "We'll each utilize four Pokemon in a series of one on one battles, the battle will end as soon as one of us is no longer able to continue battling and only the challenger is permitted to switch their Pokemon. That okay with you?"

"You bet it is!" Ash exclaimed while flashing his opponent a bright and eager smile as he was raring to get moving! "Let's do this!"

Koga simply smirked as he whipped a Pokeball out of thin air before tossing it out onto the field!

"Tentacruel!" The large blue jellyfish cried out as it burst forth from the Pokeball!

"Huh, I'm surprised it took us this long to see a Tentacruel." Chloe spoke.

Ash eyed up Tentacruel and flashed a smirk of his own as he reached towards his belt. "Grovyle I choose you!"

"Grovyle I choose you!"

"Poison Jab!" The tip of Tentacruel's tentacles began glowing purple before lashing out at Grovyle from multiple directions making dodging a difficult task without some quick thinking!

"Grovyle use Agility then dodge it!"

"Grovyle!" Grovyle stretched out and nimbly avoided Tentacruel's tentacles resulting in some of them getting tangled up. Ash's eyes widened shortly before a small smirk formed across his lip.

"Grovyle run circles around Tentacruel before the attack wears off!"

"Gro!" Grovyle swiftly raced towards Tentacruel and ran circles around the jellyfish, Tentacruel rapidly turned around to try and keep a lock on Grovyle but failed to realize his own tentacles began wrapping themselves around each other resulting in him becoming tangled up in a pretzel formation!

"T-Tentacruel!" Tentacruel grunted as he struggled to break loose. Koga gritted his teeth, he could return Tentacruel under normal circumstances but it was forbidden during a Gym battle. Thankfully there was still one attack that was manageable!

"Leaf Blade!"

"Gro!" Grovyle slashed Tentacruel with his glowing arm blades!

"Sludge Wave!" Koga exclaimed with a throw of his arm.

"Sludge Wave?!" It was the first that Ash had heard of it so he assumed it must be a technique Koga picked up elsewhere! He didn't have to wait long to see the move in action though as a massive wave of sludge began forming in front of Tentacruel resulting in Grovyle forming a look of alarm!

"Gro!"

"Grovyle return, Gengar I choose you!"

"Gengar!" Gengar burst out and flashed his opponent a smirk.

"Use Psychic to send the wave back to Tentacruel!" It was a long shot as they didn't know exactly how strong Tentacruel was in comparison to Gengar but in theory if Poison type Pokemon were weak to Psychic attacks then surely that applied to Poison typed attacks as well?

Gengar's eyes ignited a bright blue with a similar shade of blue surrounding the wave of sludge a few moments later, the attack stopping a mere inch away from Gengar before finding itself launched backwards as the attack went straight back towards it's source!

"T-Tenta?!" Tentacruel hadn't become untangled yet leaving him wide open for the attack as it came crashing down on him! "Tenta..." As the sludge began fading away they could see Tentacruel laying in defeat before Koga resulting in Janine lifting her arm as she deemed it unfit for battle!

"Tentacruel is unable to continue, Gengar wins!"

Koga returned Tentacruel, his expression was hard to read as he calmly reached for another Pokeball. "Muk!"

"Muk!" The cry certainly sounded like a Muk however this one was significantly different than Ash's, there was an oily stench to him while his body appeared to be coated in a vast amount of colorful chemicals rather than sludge!

"I think that's an Alolan Muk," Chloe calmly stated with a brief tilt of her head. "I don't believe Muk has any other forms."

"Well we know how to deal with Muk!" A cocky expression spread across Ash's face as he threw his arm forward. "Psychic!"

"Ash no-!" Chloe cried out but it was too late. Gengar's eyes glowed blue as he initiated the attack however much to his and Ash's surprise, Muk remained motionless and unharmed!

"W-What?!"

"P-Pika pi?!" The two gasped, temporarily paralyzed from shock.

"Ash, Alolan Muk is part Dark!" Chloe called out while mentally facepalming.

"Dark Pulse!" Muk fired off a beam of black and purple circles at his opponent, blasting Gengar right out of the sky!

"G-Gengar!" Ash's brief moment of being cocky had cost him as Gengar came crashing down against the ground, swirls forming in his eyes as he went limp!

"Gengar is unable to continue, Muk wins!"

"Gengar I'm so sorry about this," Brock and Chloe smiled as it appeared that Ash would learn from his brief moment of having a cocky attitude and not blindly assume that all variations of Pokemon had the same typing as the ones he was familiar with!

"Gen...gar..." Gengar gave a thumbs up as he was returned to his Pokeball, not blaming Ash as he as in the dark about that as Ash was!

"Okay so if he's Poison/Dark then that means only one type will be super effective against him." Ash stroked his chin as he thought this through carefully. He still had Grovyle ready to battle but he needed to make his final two count as there was no telling what else Koga had in store! "Alright, I got it! Tauros, I choose you!"

"Moooo!" Tauros' hooves slammed against the ground as he burst from his Pokeball!

Brock and Chloe remained calm as they were already aware of Tauros' power level, Ash may not always be the brightest tool in the shed but he certainly wasn't an idiot! The Tauros he'd chosen to keep was strong enough to immediately come into the rotation and had some powerful moves to boot!

"Use Earthquake!"

"Mooo!" Tauros raised his front hooves and brought them crashing against the ground resulting in the Gym shaking around them as the battlefield began breaking apart, forming a large hole around Muk causing him to fall in as the walls began closing in, Muk soon found himself being squashed against the walls and cried out in pain before sliding on out of the trap! He was greatly damaged but not out for the count just yet!

"Disable!" Muk fired off a yellow beam of energy at Tauros and although no damage was dealt, Earthquake was disabled for a brief period of time.

Ash clenched his fist but remained calm as if he panicked this battle could end real fast and not in the way he desired! "Alright Tauros let's try Giga Impact!"

"Moooo!" Tauros lowered his head, a light purple/yellow aura began to surround his body as he raced across the field charging headfirst towards his opponent!

"Gunk Shot!" Tauros was much too fast however as before Muk could open his mouth, he found himself flung upwards!

"Muk!" The Pokemon splattered against the ceiling as he smacked against it, his body slowly peeled off before falling towards the ground to form a large colorful puddle with his swirly eyes on prime display in the center of it!

"Muk is unable to continue, Tauros wins!" Janine called out.

"Alright Tauros, way to go!" Ash cheered.

"Mooo!" Tauros cheerfully cried out.

Koga smirked lightly as he silently returned Muk before reaching for another Pokeball as he tossed it forward just as silently as before!

"Ariados!" A red arachnid with long yellow purple legs came bursting out. Ash quickly retrieved his Rotom Phone as he'd yet to encounter one prior to this.

"Ariados the Long Leg Pokemon, Ariados's feet are tipped with tiny hooked claws that enable it to scuttle on ceilings and vertical walls. This Pokemon constricts the foe with thin and strong silk webbing!"

"So it's a Bug type," Ash commented as he pocketed the Rotom Phone. He could easily handle this with Charizard but he had to keep things fair, he couldn't rely upon Charizard for every problem that came along as the others would feel cheated or left out!

"You think you can handle this one, Tauros?"

"Moooo!" Tauros gave a flick of his tails and a shake of his head which was good for Ash!

"Alright Tauros, use Giga Impact!"

"Moooo!"

"Electroweb!"

"Ari!" Ariados fired off a string of electrical webbing that quickly expanded to a full on electrical netting! The net landed on Tauros and quickly constrained the bull Pokemon resulting in him tripping as an electrical shock began flowing through his system!

"Moooo!"

"Stay strong Tauros, we believe in you!"

"Pika pi!"

"Use Thrash to break free of the netting!"

"Mooo!" Tauros began violently thrashing about, his horns soon poked a hole through the net and began ripping it apart!

"Poison Jab!"

"Aria!" Ariados raced across the field while raising up one of it's legs as a bright purple glow surrounded it, Ariados swiftly lashed out and struck Tauros before he could escape causing the bull to cry out in pain before swiftly going limp as swirls appeared in his eyes.

"Tauros is unable to continue, Ariados wins!" Janine raised her left arm as she made the call.

"Tauros return, you did great out there!" Ash praised the bull before fitting the ball back onto his belt as he reached for another Pokeball. "Alright it's your turn Kabutops, I choose you!"

"Kabu!" Kabutops clashed his scythes against one another as he burst from his Pokeball!

"Aria!"

"Poison Jab!"

"Night Slash!"

"Kabu!"

"Aria!" Ariados's front legs were raised and glowing bright purple while Kabutop's scythes were covered in a dark black-purple glow as the two Pokemon charged at one another. The two slashed out before coming to a pause with their backs to one another, both Pokemon remained completely still for a brief moment before Ariados dropped to his knees as swirls filled his eyes. All wasn't fully well however as Kabutops dropped to a knee while a purple tint could be seen spreading across his cheeks!

"Kabu..." Kabutops grunted out as the Poison began taking effect.

"Ariados is unable to continue, dad-er Master Koga please send out your final Pokemon!"

Koga remained completely calm as he silently returned Ariados however one than whipping out another Pokeball from thin air, he whistled resulting in the same purple bat Pokemon that saved them the previous day descending from the dojo's roof!

"Crobat!"

"Whoa, is that Golbat's evolution?!" Koga smirked at Ash's words as the boy retrieved his Rotom Phone once more.

"Crobat the Bat Pokemon, both of its legs have turned into wings. Without a sound Crobat flies swiftly toward its prey and sinks its fangs into the nape of its target's neck!"

"Bit late for a spooky entry, don't you think?" Chloe sarcastically asked the Rotom Phone.

'So Rock type attacks will still come in handy,' Ash inwardly spoke before throwing out an arm. "Alright Kabutops use Ancient Power!"

A large silvery orb began forming within Kabutops mouth before it blasting off as he fired it out! The orb flew soared through the air, striking against one of Crobat's wings and temporarily knocking the bat from the sky! Crobat swiftly returned to his previous height however one of his wings was fluttering at a much slower pace than it was previously!

"Giga Drain!"

"Cro!" True to the dex entry, Crobat swiftly flew towards Kabutops and sank his fangs into his neck! A grew glow surrounded the two, obscuring the view as Crobat drained Kabutops of his strength!

"K-Kabutops..." Kabutops breathed heavily as he began to feel exhausted however he was determined to continue regardless as he knew Ash relied on him and he still felt he owed it to him for attempting to eat him alongside all the other prehistoric Pokemon beneath Mt. Moon!

"Kabutops, you good to continue?"

"Kabu!" Kabutops gave him a swift nod.

"Then use Hyper Beam!" He knew Kabutops preferred going down fighting so might as well do it with style! Kabutops lunged forward as the familiar beam of yellow-orange energy fired out from his mouth and moved out across the field before exploding against Crobat! Both of Crobat's left wings now matched his right wing, flapping at a much slower speed which overall slowed his movement!

"Air Cutter!" Multiple light blue blades of energy flew from Crobat's wings as he flapped them about, the blades fired towards Kabutops before piercing the prehistoric Pokemon's body as he was taken out!

"K-Kabutops..." Kabutops crashed head first against the battlefield as swirls filled his eyes.

"Kabutops is unable to continue, Crobat wins! Ash please send out your next Pokemon!" Janine excitedly exclaimed.

"You did great out there Kabutops, take a long rest." Ash returned Kabutops to his ball, fitting it back upon his belt while reaching out for the ball containing Grovyle. "It's all up to you Grovyle, I choose you!"

"Grovyle!"

"Cro!" The two Pokemon locked eyes and gave a respectful nod as they knew the final result of the battle laid upon their shoulders!

"Poison Fang!"

"Cro!" Crobat's fangs glowed a bright purple as he lunged towards Grovyle!

"Dodge with Agility!"

"Gro!" Grovyle nimbly avoided the attack as Crobat bit the empty air where he once stood!

"Leaf Blade the lower right wing!"

"Gro!" Grovyle slashed Crobat's lower ring wing with his arm blade, crippling Crobat's movement speed. Koga's eye lightly twitched but he retained his calm persona.

"Air Cutter!"

"Cro!" The blue energy blades reappeared however they were launched off at a much slower speed then before and thanks to Grovyle's enhanced Speed courtesy of Agility, he was able to swiftly maneuver around and dodge the attack!

"Slam!"

"Gro!" Grovyle threw himself up into the air before slamming against Crobat! The bat's eyes widened as he was slammed against the ground in a rather painful fashion! Grovyle lifted himself off Crobat as the two hit the ground revealing the bat had fallen unconscious, swirls filled the creatures eyes as his limp form laid sprawled across the ground!

"C-Crobat..."

"Crobat is unable to continue which means that-Ash wins?! Ash won!" Janine excitedly exclaimed, leaping up for joy despite having watched her father lose! Koga shook his head lightly at the sight however a smirk remained upon his face to show he didn't hold it against his daughter for that action.

"Gro!" Grovyle gasped out from surprise as Ash pulled him in for a hug.

"You did it Grovyle, way to go!"

"Pika pi!"

"Thanks to you we're only three badges away from gaining entry to the Indigo League!" Ash exclaimed with a bright smile.

"G-Grovyle..." Grovyle tried to keep his usual cool attack as he turned away from him however a smirk did cross his lips. Ash let go of his Pokemon in order to face Koga as the ninja Gym Leader made his approach however before either of them could speak a bright blue light began shining out of the corner of their eyes!

"What's goin-Grovyle?!"

"Grovyle!" Grovyle cried as it appeared that beating Crobat was the final hurdle necessary to trigger his evolution! The long leaf atop his head shed away as he doubled in height and grew a bulkier physique! The two small leaves that made his tail burst into a large bush of spiked leaves while the blades that ran across his arm fully grew out and matched the rest of his body as his skin changed to a lighter green tone with a majority of the red coloring molting save for his chin and a small stripe on his stomach! Long sharp claws extended from his feet as he stretched out his arms and cried out his newly obtained name! "Sceptile!"

"Whoa you look awesome, Sceptile!"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu chimed out in agreement. Sceptile blushed lightly from his trainer's compliment before flexing his arms once more.

"Scep!" He cried, placing his twig back into his mouth as he flashed the two a smirk.

"Sceptile the Forest Pokemon, the leaves growing on Sceptile's body are very sharp edged. This Pokemon is very agile, it leaps all over the branches of trees and jumps on its foe from above or behind!"

"Man that sounds awesome, I'm psyched to see what moves you've gained!"

Koga smirked at the pair's excitement before briefly interrupting them as he extended his arm towards Ash. "It pains me to interrupt moments such as this but I've got to prepare for the next challenger," He opened the palm of his hand to showcase a fuchsia heart shaped badge! "This is the Soul Badge take it and wear it honorably as you continue your journey, it was an honor meeting you Ash." Koga bowed.

"Yeah, it was a great honor!" Janine spoke with a bright smile before quickly bowing as Koga gently nudged her arm! "I hope our paths cross again someday!"

"I hope they do too," Ash politely bowed as he accepted the badge before quickly turning towards his Pokemon. "We just got the Soul Badge!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Sceptile!" Pikachu posed atop Ash's shoulder while Sceptile leaned up against Ash's back and flashed a light smirk, retaining his cool guy act while the three inwardly had similar thoughts as they couldn't wait to see what Pokemon and adventures awaited them as their journey continued!

Later that night Koga walked through the dojo as he finished his usual nightly patrol of the city grounds, heading towards his sleeping quarters as was tradition. He did a quick double take however upon spotting a panel of the wall slashed open, clearly somebody with great stealth abilities had broken in as they didn't even set off his traps! Koga raced forward as his heart began racing, wondering which of his documents they'd stolen while also questioning how they knew he even had it! A curse escaped his lip as he saw it was the copy of an prophecy a rather kind man gave to him during his adventures within the Kalos region many many moons ago, it had been sliced clean in half with the only part remaining showcasing the three Dragon Heroes as Rayquaza, Reshiram and Zekrom could be seen fully intact. Whoever had done that clearly didn't care about the other regions, if Koga had to suspect they were after information on the Johto Legendary Pokemon. Thankfully the Orange Island prophecy laid in tact, the culprit likely wasn't aware of that one meaning he wasn't aligned with the Shadowy One!

"Who could have done this?!" Janine raced into the room upon her father's shout, ninja shuriken's at the ready before lowering them with a disappointed expression.

"Aw man, I'll never get to use these!" She pouted.

Shadows rose up atop a Saffron City skyscraper as Dusknoir appeared, the Ghost lifted up his arm and incomprehensibly muttered as a ghastly purple portal opened before him as the Masked Man stepped out, the torn prophecy within the palm of his hands!

"With the information this prophecy yields I shall create my own hero, the world will tremble once I control the oceans! I'll force the other Heroes to fall in line or else they risk seeing their precious region and friends perish beneath the vast ocean forever!" The Masked Man turned his mask towards the direction of Silph Co tower where a meeting of Giovanni, Ezekiel, Cyrus and Lysandre could be seen playing out on a large television planted upon it. "Only one obstacle truly remains, the Master Ball... oh they have no idea how right their suspicions were, you never should have advertised you were making that, you just painted a target on your back and this is an easy opportunity to take you out and take over, Giovanni your time is up!" The Masked Man threw a knife at a Giovanni poster pinned to the nearby wall, striking it right between the eyes! "Team Rocket's reign will soon be over, all will tremble before the mere mention of Neo Team Rocket!"

So yeah, Ash does have aura but it's not going to be brought up much. I found it necessarily for a specific movie that'll be played out eventually, given the Emerald Hero has little ties with Mew it felt forced having him be a focus for it, so he'll just be playing a supporting role alongside May for that while Ash and Chloe get the spotlight.

And apologies that updates aren't as frequent, I just get very lazy and depressed around this time of year heheh.