Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Twenty One

A Poisonous Opponent

"-Another match I won't be taking part in...-" Bulbasaur muttered. "-I get chased around by a nightmarish vine monster and continually denied the chance to battle. When did I fall from the star of the show to the team's butt monkey anyway?!-"

"-Well...you've kinda been at a disadvantage type wise...and you know how Ashley is about type matchups.-" Pippi said to him. Bulbasaur gave a 'hmph' in response and rolled his eyes.

After spending a day relaxing and staying the night in Fuschia City, Ashley was finally ready to challenge the gym leader Koga. Knowing she would be facing a poison pokemon trainer, Ashley prepared her team accordingly. The group was now outside the gym door, with Rina holding the doors open and waiting for Ashley to go inside.

"Ashley you can either go inside now or we can stand here all day!"

"You really don't have to hold the door open for me though...I can open it myself." Ashley smiled sweetly, trying to hide her intent.

"I'm not falling for that one!" Rina shot back. "You're going to throw the doors open like you always do, so I'm standing here until you go inside!"

"-Have to give her credit, she's got Ashley cornered this time." Bulbasaur admitted. Pippi nodded in agreement. "-By the way, how's that new attack coming?-"

"-I haven't had a chance to work on it since yesterday...-" Pippi shyly admitted, rubbing the back of her head with her paw.

"Is there a problem here, ladies?" Everyone was suddenly aware of a man in a purple, stereotypical ninja outfit and a red scarf was standing in the doorway of the gym next to Rina. No one heard or even saw him approaching the door.

"Ack!" Rina backed away from the door in a hurry. Without her holding it open, the door began to close. The ninja caught it though and held it open. "Where did you come from?!" Rina asked him in shock.

"From inside my gym, of course." He replied with a light shrug. "I would think that would be obvious..."

"So you must be the gym leader, Koga!" Ashley said.

"That is correct." Koga replied with a slight nod. "And if I'm not mistaken, you would be Ashley and Rina. I expected you two would show up here eventually. You've been causing quite the stir in the league, you know."

"We have?" Ashley and Rina asked in unison.

"-I didn't think they were all that special, aside from Rina's ability to understand pokemon.-" Bulbasaur said.

"You have. It is because of your efforts that the Grand Hunters have been becoming...less grand." Koga explained to them. "Another trainer has been dealing with Team Rocket. It seems these criminal groups are, understandably, not taking you seriously and thus paying the price for their overconfidence." Koga shrugged lightly.

"In any case, you did not come here to hear this. Please, come inside..." Koga beckoned for the two to follow him into the gym. Having met the gym leader, Ashley had no reason to dramatically throw the doors open and quietly followed Koga into the gym. Rina, Bulbasaur, and Pippi followed her inside as well, taking their usual seats on a bench to watch from the sidelines.

Koga was already on the other side of the gym by the time the girls were inside. He was positioned on the oopposite side of the gym's battlefield, which resembled the wooden floor of a dojo. The gym was relatively dark, lit by torches spread around the gym. Four torches along the side walls, two along the back. Ashley approached the battlefield, positioning herself in the trainer's square opposite Koga.

"The rules of this gym are like any other. We will be using four pokemon each." Koga explained to Ashley. With a flick of his wrist, he already had his first pokeball in hand. "Are you ready?"

"I've already beaten half the gyms in Kanto, you bet I'm ready!" Ashley called back. She quickly took a pokeball from her belt as well, holding it up and calling out her pokemon. "Haunter, you're up first! Go!" The pokeball opened up and released Ashleys ghost pokemon Haunter out onto the field.

"-Hmm...so this is a gym battle?-" Haunter thought aloud, grinning widely. She turned to Pippi and Rina and winked at them. "-I'll deal with you after, my pretty, and your little Pikachu too.-"

"I don't like Ashley's Haunter..." Rina thought, a shiver running down her spine.

"Indeed you have, but I'm more than just another gym leader. I am next in line to join the Elite Four." Koga held out his pokeball, releasing his pokemon without another word. A floating purple pokemon filled with poison gas appeared on the battlefield. It was a Koffing, looking more alert than the Koffing that Rina had faced when battling the Kanto Federation.

"Let the battle commence! Koffing, attack with Thunderbolt!"

"Haunter, use Hypnosis! Try to get it before it can attack!"

Haunter focused waves of psychic energy on Koffing, using the attack to try and hypnotize the poison pokemon into falling asleep. Electricity began to charge around Koffing's body as it prepared to attack, but it was already beginning to feel drowsy and drop to the floor. Koffing managed to concentrate long enough to fire the attack, blasting Haunter with a bolt of electricity before falling asleep. Haunter easily endured the attack though.

"Ok, we're off to a good start now." Ashley said to herself. "Haunter, burn it with a Will-o-Wisp attack!" Haunter held out one of her clawed hands toward Koffing. A ghostly, purple flame formed around her hand which she then fired in a ball toward Koffing. The ghostly flame zigzagged through the air slowly until it reached its target, engulfing Koffing in a fire that inflicted no damage on it but immediately caused a burn.

"Now to go on the offense. Use Night Shade!" Haunter grinned and raised both her hands above her. An illusionary image grew around her, creating the appearance of a giant, transparent Haunter. The image cast a dark shadow over Koffing. Even while asleep, Koffing felt the chill from the shadow cast over it and felt itself weakening from the technique. Even so, it didn't appear to be waking up yet.

"Still asleep, huh? Lucky break for me then!" Ashley thought, smirking to herself. "Haunter, keep it up with another Night Shade attack!" Haunter maintained the enlarged illusionary Haunter. The shadow over Koffing faded briefly but another was quickly cast over it, sending another chill through Koffing's body. Koffing woke up and shook off the sleep, slowly rising into the air in an exhausted state. The burn and the repeated night shades had already worn it down quite a bit.

"The only status effect Koffing can inflict, short of a lucky Thunderbolt, is poison." Koga thought to himself, grimacing at his lack of options. "Poison won't work. I suppose we should just try Thunderbolt again..."

"Koffing, attack quickly with Thunderbolt!" Electricity charged around Koffing's body as it prepared to attack. Bolts of electricity fired out of the pores on Koffing's body, forming into a single bolt that arced across the gym and struck Haunter. Haunter staggered back slightly as the bolt hit her and electricity coursed through her body, but quickly shook it off.

"-Shocking.-" Haunter said to Koffing. Koffing rolled its eyes at the lame joke.

"Haunter, finish this one with Shadow Punch!" Haunter curled her right hand into a fist and struck out at the air. Koffing recoiled, as if Haunter had actually punched it. Koffing dropped out of the air, falling to the ground as it was knocked unconscious. Koga sighed as he recalled his pokemon.

"Seems this was a poor match for my Koffing." Koga muttered. With a motion too quick to follow, he switched Koffing's pokeball with another one from his belt. "I commend you on gaining an early footing, but my next pokemon may make it difficult for you to maintain it." Holding out the pokeball he grabbed, Koga released his next pokemon. The pokemon that appeared on the battlefield looked to be nothing more than a very large pile of sludge with eyes, hands, and a mouth.

"Eww...what is that thing?" Ashley wondered, taking out her pokedex to quickly scan it.

"Muk, the Sludge pokemon. Thickly covered with a filthy, vile sludge. It is so toxic, even its footprints contain poison."

"Huh? Who even writes these things?" Ashley wondered, staring at her pokedex screen in disbelief. "'Thickly covered with a filthy, vile sludge'? Thats not even a complete sentence!" Ashley looked up from her pokedex, looking across the gym at Muk again as she put it away. "Doesn't look like it even has footprints either..."

"That thing just looks like a really big Grimer..." Rina commented, blinking. "I mean, its obviously evolved from it, but don't evolved pokemon usually vary more from their previous forms?"

"-What do you mean? Its clearly just a Grimer that fell into a vat of sludge.-" Bulbasaur said, snickering to himself.

"-If it could hear you two, you'd probably be hurting its feelings...-" Pippi said to the two, rolling her eyes.

"Your hesitation will cost you! Muk, Shadow Punch!" Muk raised one of its large hands and punched at the air, much like Haunter had just done to Koffing. Haunter was knocked back and nearly hit the ground, struck by Muk's punch even though she wasn't anywhere near it. She shook the attack off and resumed floating low over the ground. She was looking pretty exhausted now after just one punch due to her battle with Koffing.

"Haunter, quick! Put it to sleep with Hypnosis!" Ashley called out to it. "I wasn't expecting this one to have a ghost attack. Haunter looks like she barely survived it, but we'll make a comeback while its asleep!" Haunter focused psychic energies on Muk, her eyes appearing like swirling spirals to the poison pokemon. Muk's eyes slowly closed, quietly drifting off to sleep.

"Ok, now! Use Will-o-Wisp!" Ashley ordered.

"-I'm starting to notice these organized battles involve using the same techniques over and over.-" Haunter said to herself with a sigh. She held out her hand toward Muk and released a purple, ghostly flame. The flame hit Muk, seemingly catching it on fire and inflicting a burn onto its sludge body in the form of a small, continually burning flame. Muk's eyes shot open quickly when the burn was inflicted.

"Awake already!? What a light sleeper!" Ashley thought.

"Muk, finish this. Shadow Punch!" Muk punched at the air with its opposite hand this time, struggling a bit with the attack due to its burn. The punch connected with Haunter from a distance, sending the ghost pokemon sprawling to the ground and knocking her out. Ashley was quick to recall her, suffering her first loss in the match.

"Ok, Haunter couldn't beat it, but its at least burned." Ashley thought. She placed Haunter's pokeball on her belt and took another one in her hand. "Jolteon, you can take it from here! Go!" Ashley held up the pokeball and released her pokemon, sending out the electric-type Jolteon onto the battlefield. Jolteon growled as he emerged from his pokeball, bristling his fur.

"-Ok, lets do this!-" Jolteon said with a determined expression.

"Jolteon, attack Muk with Thunderbolt!" Jolteon charged electricity in his fur, preparing to attack, then fired the gathered electricity in a single bolt of lightning. The bolt raced through the air and struck the pile of sludge, sending electricity coursing through it. Muk groaned in pain, but the pokemon's appearance made it hard to tell what kind of an effect it had on the poison pokemon. Regardless, Koga didn't look worried.

"Muk, ancient ninja technique! Toxic!" Koga called out. Muk seemingly flung a piece of its own body at Jolteon, hitting the electric pokemon with a vile substance that seeped into his skin to cause poison. The piece of sludge Muk threw then slithered across the floor, reforming into Muk's body.

"Eww...even more gross...and thats supposed to be an ancient ninja technique?" Ashley quickly shook her head. "Nevermind! Jolteon, attack Muk with Thunderbolt again!"

Jolteon quickly charged electricity to attack again. After the first round of attacks, Jolteon hadn't even moved an inch. Jolteon took a few steps forward this time, tensing his muscles as he fired off a bolt of electricity. This time, he would be ready to dodge whatever Muk threw back. The electricity arced through the air and struck the poison sludge pokemon. Muk groaned as electricity shot through him, though again it hardly looked harmed at all.

"Muk, Rest now!" Koga called out. Muk closed its eyes and drifted off to sleep almost instantly. Its energy was completely restored and the small flame that was continually inflicting harm on it went out as well to leave Muk in perfect health.

"It knows Rest? Thats not good..." Ashley thought. "Jolteon might not be able to handle this. I need to be able to hit hard and not give Muk the chance to just keep sleeping while poison damages my own pokemon...wait! I think I know who to use!!"

"Jolteon, thats enough for now! Return!" Jolteon shot a confused glance at Ashley, surprised that she would already be recalling him. Jolteon was returned to his pokeball and Ashley quickly swapped it for another one from her belt.

"Poliwhirl, go!" The pokeball opened in Ashley's hand, releasing Poliwhirl out onto the gym's battlefield. Poliwhirl reached up and adjusted his hat when he materialized. The hat was worn rather loosely on his now much larger head.

"Poliwhirl, set up a downpour with Rain Dance while Muk's still asleep!" Poliwhirl nodded and pumped his fists in a sort of dance. Dark rain clouds began to gather near the gym's ceiling and a downpour soon started. The rain hitting Poliwhirl's body seemed to invigorate him, and he found himself continuing to dance for no real reason. With the rain falling around it now, Muk began to slowly open its eyes.

"Poliwag hardly seems like he changed at all when he evolved..." Rina thought, casting a curious glance toward Pippi. "Pippi doesn't seem as childish now though...I wonder if thats because Pichu is a baby pokemon, and so evolving would mean she isn't a baby anymore, or because she can control her electricity now?"

"Muk, inflict it with a deadly poison! Toxic!"

"Poliwhirl, don't give Muk the chance! Put it to sleep with Hypnosis!"

Muk raised its hand back to throw a blob of poison at Poliwhirl, but its hand drooped down with Muk seemingly frozen in place. Poliwhirl moved with incredible speed to attack before Muk could, sending out hypnotic waves at Muk while the spiral on his chest spun around. Muk fell asleep very quickly, without getting a chance to attack.

"Ok, now we've got that Muk right where we want it!" Ashley declared, smirking lightly. "Poliwhirl, attack with Waterfall now!" Poliwhirl slammed his fists together, his eyes seemingly smiling. He took off running toward Muk, as if to tackle it, and a veil of water formed around his body. Poliwhirl charged straight through Muk, seemingly carving a path through the poison pokemon although it quickly pulled itself back together even while asleep.

"Now, use Body Slam and follow it up with Water Gun!" Poliwhirl slid to a stop and did a backflip into the air, accidentally dropping his hat to the ground in the process. He flipped around to land stomach-first on top of Muk, flattening the poison pokemon and spreading much of its body away from Poliwhirl and toward Koga's side of the gym.

Poliwhirl quickly got back up after hitting the ground and turned to face Muk again, firing a quick burst of water at the sleeping poison pokemon. Muk staggered back slightly in its sleep, being pushed back another foot. Muk opened its eyes and blinked then, waking up from its deep sleep.

"Poliwhirl could most definitely finish Muk before it can use Rest." Koga thought to himself. "However, it may be able to use Poison Gas and still get the attack off as its being knocked out..."

"Muk, surround it in a cloud of gas! Poison Gas!"

"Poliwhirl, attack with Waterfall again!"

Muk began releasing a poisonous gas from its body as Poliwhirl charged toward it, plowing into Muk with a veil of water surrounding Poliwhirl's body. The force of the impact pushed Muk back this time, rather than running through it, and knocked Muk out almost instantly. However, Muk's body still released enough gas to inflict poison on Poliwhirl as he breathed it in.

"Another loss on my part, but not without poisoning two of her pokemon." Koga thought to himself as he recalled Muk. "I will use Golbat next. Golbat shall wear down her Poliwhirl and Jolteon slowly, evading their attacks while poison continues to wear them down."

The indoor rainstorm ended soon after the final blow had been dealt. Poliwhirl immediately grabbed his hat as well, though he quickly threw it away in disgust as he rain had soaked his hat and it had become covered in sludge as well. The hat landed on the other side of the gym, near Ashley, sounding like a wet sponge when it hit the floor.

"Umm...we'll get you a new one later, Poliwhirl..." Ashley said to Poliwhirl. She didn't dare try to touch the hat.

"-Looks like that annoying Poliwag can actually do something beside putting everything to sleep now. Go figure.-" Bulbasaur commented dryly. "

"Golbat, go and let us seize the opportunity at hand!" Koga called out, releasing his pokemon from the pokeball he had in hand. Golbat appeared on the battlefield only a few feet away from Poliwhirl.

"Golbat...ok, lets try setting up Rain Dance again. Poliwhirl should be able to handle it easily after that!" Ashley thought. "Poliwhirl, use Rain Dance!" Poliwhirl nodded and danced around the field, causing dark rain clouds to form over the gym and another downpour soon started.

"Golbat, show them the despair of confusion! Confuse Ray!" A small, white orb of light formed before Golbat, which it then fired at Poliwhirl. The orb spiralled through the air and orbitted around Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl watched the light, finding itself strangely attracted to it. Poliwhirl began to feel dizzy as it tried to follow the light and was rather confused by the time it disappeared.

"Well as long as Poliwhirl doesn't hurt itself instead of attacking, he should be able to hit Golbat without any chance of it dodging." Ashley thought. "Poliwhirl, attack Golbat with Waterfall!" Poliwhirl seemed to ignore Ashley completely winding up and spinning into a punch aimed at nothing. The force with which Poliwhirl made the attack threw him to the floor, hard.

"Figures..." Ashley thought.

"Golbat, now! Confuse the opponent further with Double Team!" Golbat focused briefly and then split off into multiple images of itself. The images surrounded Poliwhirl, who was already suffering from confusion when he looked up to see several Golbat looking down at him.

"-So many...pretty birdies...-" Poliwhirl mumbled, looking up at the Golbat as he slowly climbed back onto his feet.

"This is ridiculous! He's just waiting out that poison while keeping my pokemon from attacking!" Ashley thought, narrowing her eyes. "I need to hit with an attack and make it count. If Poliwhirl can put it to sleep with Hypnosis, then I can try to get as many attacks in as possible while its asleep at least..."

"Poliwhirl, attack Golbat with Hypnosis!" Poliwhirl looked about briefly, trying to decide which Golbat to attack. He eventually tried to hypnotize one of them into falling asleep, but the attack had no effect. Poliwhirl had chosen the wrong target.

"Golbat, the opponent's guard is down. Now is the time to attack! Wing Attack!" The images disappeared as Golbat dove toward Poliwhirl to attack, flying past him with its wings outstretched and held stiff. Golbat struck Poliwhirl from the side, causing him to almost tip over, then flapped its wings to pull away.

"Now, Golbat, follow up with Double Team again!"

"Poliwhirl, try Hypnosis again, now!"

Golbat hovered in the air while it focused briefly, but was too slow in executing the technique. Poliwhirl, still feeling energetic from the rain hitting its body, quickly turned on Golbat and began emitting hypnotic waves to interrupt it. Golbat felt its gaze drawn toward the spiral on Poliwhirl's chest, feeling more and more drowsy as it watched the pattern spin until eventually Golbat dropped to the ground and fell asleep.

"Ok! Now we've got it!" Ashley called out triumphantly. "Poliwhirl, attack Golbat with Waterfall!" Poliwhirl regained his focus completely now, shaking off his confusion. A veil of water formed around his body and then he tackled into the sleeping Golbat, landing a powerful blow that sent Golbat rolling across the floor several feet. When Poliwhirl stopped and stood up, Ashley noticed he was panting quite heavily. The poison was taking a heavy toll on him due to the drawn out battle.

"Poliwhirl's not going to last much longer, better make this last attack count!" Ashley thought. "Poliwhirl, attack with Waterfall again!" Water quickly surrounded Poliwhirl's body again, flowing like a torrent from front to back. Poliwhirl charged into his sleeping opponent in one final attack, hitting Golbat with a strong and watery tackle attack.

Golbat was sent rolling back again from Poliwhirl's attack, landing sprawled out on the floor of the gym. It slowly began to open its eyes and sat up weakly. The rain had finally stopped again by then as well, though it hardly mattered. Poliwhirl suddenly collapsed to his knees, taking several deep breaths before collapsing onto its face and falling unconscious from exhaustion.

"Poliwhirl...you fought well for your first real battle." Ashley thought, recalling the water pokemon. She looked down to her belt to pick out another pokeball, but as she did a white glow caught her attention. She looked up and saw the glow surrounding Koga's Golbat as it finished evolving. The glow faded, revealing a four-winged, purple bat pokemon with a smaller mouth than its previous form.

"Well done, Crobat. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you evolved to your final form." Koga said to his pokemon.

"I didn't even know Golbat COULD evolve!" Ashley thought, looking confused. "Does this mean my Golbat could end up evolving again?" She then wondered. "But...but what pokemon do I use against it? Jolteon is already poisoned, so he'll just use that to wear my pokemon down again. Golbat can't be poisoned, though, and his Crobat is already weakened. I think Golbat can handle this!"

Ashley smirked to herself as she took Golbat's pokeball from her belt. "Evolved or not, I've got this in the bag now!" She thought. "Golbat, go!" Ashley held out the pokeball and released Golbat. The green skinned bat pokemon was about to turn to her and stick out his tongue, as usual, but stopped himself when he saw Crobat. The two poison bat pokemon stared each other down, flapping their wings rapidly to stay airborn.

"-Win against me, you cannot. Evolved, I am, and you are not.-" Koga's Crobat said to Golbat.

"-BAH! I don't need to evolve to beat you!-" Golbat shot back.

"Golbat, confuse Crobat with Confuse Ray!"

"Not if we strike first! Crobat, Confuse Ray!"

Crobat easily beat Golbat to the punch, firing off a ball of light before Golbat could even finish forming its own. The ball of light distracted Golbat from attacking, drawing his attention as it circled around him. Golbat tried following the ball of light, but eventually found itself growing dizzy and confused by the light's movement.

"Now, Crobat! Strike it down with Air Cutter!" Crobat stopped flapping its upper set of wings briefly to bring them together and fire a v-shaped blade of air at Ashley's Golbat. Golbat staggered back in the air as the blade sliced across its face and was then knocked to the ground, landing on his back. Golbat shook it off and tried to focus as he stood up, still suffering from confusion.

"In retrospect, trying to use Confuse Ray was pointless on a pokemon already weakened that much anyway..." Ashley thought, wincing. "Ok then, lets try to finish it with an Air Cutter!"

Golbat managed to focus on his opponent clearly enough to make the attack, bringing its wings together to force air between them and pulling them apart again to fire an air blade at Crobat. The blade sliced across the front of Crobat's body, knocking it to the ground in the same way Crobat's did to Golbat. Crobat laid still for a moment and Ashley thought for sure she had won, but the weakened pokemon soon peeled itself off the floor of the gym and used its wings to prop itself up.

"No way! I thought for sure that would finish it off!" Ashley cried out in surprise. "Golbat, quick! Use another Air Cutter!" Golbat quickly brought its wings together, having no trouble focusing now that the confusion had worn off, and fired another Air Cutter at Crobat.

"Crobat, evade with Double Team!" Crobat pushed off the floor and flapped its wings very rapidly to hover. Four more images of itself appeared, with one disappearing as Golbat's attack sliced through it. The remaining images surrounded Golbat.

"Now, attack from behind with Bite!" All but one image, the one directly behind Golbat, disappeared as Crobat moved in to attack. Golbat didn't even have time to react before Crobat's fangs had sunk into the back of its head. Golbat cried out sharply and struggled to pull itself free, hopping around on the ground while Crobat held strong and followed Golbat's movements.

"Damn it..." Ashley growled under her breath. "Golbat, try to shake it off with Wing Attack!"

"A hot-headed attack like that won't work." Koga thought to himself, shaking his head. "Crobat, evade it and strike back with your own Wing Attack!"

Crobat let go of Golbat as he tried to strike Crobat with a Wing Attack, backing up just out of range of Golbat's attack. Crobat then swooped down and hit Golbat from the side with both its upper wings simultaneously to hit Golbat hard. Golbat was sent sprawling onto the floor and for a moment looked like he had been knocked out. He quickly gathered his remaining strength before Ashley could recall him and pushed himself back onto his feet with his wings.

"Ashley, calm down! You're not going to beat Crobat if you just attack blindly!" Rina yelled at her, standing up from the bench.

"-You know, if she had just used me, it wouldn't have come to this.-" Bulbasaur muttered. "-Coulda Leech Seeded every one of 'em and just used Koga's own tactics against him...-"

"-Wouldn't Crobat's attacks be more effective against you though?-" Bulbasaur gave a 'hmph' and made a shrugging motion with his front legs, but didn't respond to Pippi's question. Not that she was expecting an answer.

"Rina's right...I kinda lost focus after that Air Cutter failed to knock it out." Ashley thought. She glanced over at Rina, smiling and nodding to her. "Thanks...I guess I got carried away there." Rina sat back down at the bench and Ashley turned her attention back to the battle. "Ok, Golbat, ready? We're going to make this last attack count!"

"-Bah! I'm more than ready! Watch this!-" Golbat's body began to glow as Koga's pokemon had earlier. His legs formed into a second pair of wings and several other minor changes seemed to occur to his body as well. When the glow faded, Golbat's new form as a fully evolved Crobat was revealed and began flapping his wings to hover just off the ground. Unlike Koga's Crobat, Ashley's was pink.

"Crobat, quickly! Attack with Air Cutter!" Koga, being trained as a ninja, was not one to let a vulnerbility in his opponent's defense slip by. Ashley's newly evolved Crobat barely had time to adjust to its new body before Koga's Crobat fired off another Air Cutter at it. There was no time to dodge and Ashley's pokemon took the attack head on, getting knocked back onto the floor. This time, her pokemon didn't show any sign of getting back up.

"He evolved but didn't even get the chance to attack!" Ashley cried out in dismay. "That hardly seems fair somehow..." Ashley took out a pokeball and recalled her fainted Crobat. She now only had one pokemon left, and quickly switched Crobat's pokeball for Jolteon's.

"Ok, I've got one pokemon left. Jolteon hasn't taken any attacks, but he has been poisoned. I need to take down Crobat as quickly as possible so I can focus on Koga's final pokemon..." Ashley thought over her options, but it didn't take her long to come up with a solution. "Ok, Jolteon! lets finish this quickly! Go!" She called out as she released Jolteon onto the battlefield again.

"Jolteon, attack Crobat with Quick Attack!" Jolteon was barely out of his pokeball when Ashley ordered the attack, but he pulled it off without any hesitation. Jolteon shot across the battlefield in a blur of movement, striking Crobat with a quick blow and pushing past it. Koga's Crobat spiralled downward and hit the floor. This time there was no question as to whether or not Crobat was still conscious and so Koga recalled it almost as soon as it landed.

"So it seems it has come down to this." Koga took his final pokeball in hand. "Weezing!" Koga held out the pokeball and pressed in the button on the front of it. The pokeball split open and released a red beam that materialized into what looked like two Koffing fused together with larger eyes and mouths. A third, faceless ball was connected to each of them by a pair of stick-like protrusions.

"-Well! Looks like Ashley will have to try again later.-" Bulbasaur snickered. "-Jolteon's already poisoned, and the poison will only get stronger. Maybe next time she'll give me a shot at it!-"

"-I can't believe you're rooting against your own trainer!-" Pippi growled at him.

"-When have I ever rooted for her? We don't exactly see eye to eye.-" Bulbasaur replied with a shrug. "-I'm the only reason she's challenging gyms in the first place but I haven't fought in a gym match since Lt. Surge!-"

"You've been at a bit of a type disadvantage since then too though." Rina reminded him. "And Ashley is pretty set on having the type advantage in battle..."

"Ok, this is the last one Jolteon! Lets not hold anything back, attack Weezing with Shadow Ball now!"

"Weezing, hide under a smokescreen to evade their attacks!"

Jolteon began forming a shadowy ball of energy while Weezing spewed out a thick black smoke around it. Jolteon fired the attack quickly, before the smoke could cover Weezing entirely. Both Weezing and the Shadowball attack disappeared under the smoke, but the sound of the Shadowball's impact followed by a pained cry from Weezing made the results clear.

"Ok, follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Ashley called out. "Then move out of the way with Quick Attack!" Jolteon fired off a bolt of electricity into the cloud of smoke, and then quickly followed it up by darting several feet forward on an angle with Quick Attack. A bright flash could be made out within the smoke when the Thunderbolt attack connected with Weezing, striking its target despite the cover.

"Weezing, strike back with the ninja art of Flamethrower!" A cone of flames erupted from the smoke, quickly dispersing the cloud. Weezing aimed its attack where it thought Jolteon was, compensating for Jolteon's quick attack. However, the technique still missed Jolteon by a foot. Jolteon could feel the heat from the attack as it passed by next to him.

"I'm almost positive thats not a ninja technique either..." Ashley thought. She turned her attention to Weezing, observing the effects her previous attacks had on it now that she could finally see. Weezing was panting a bit, looking worse off than Jolteon was in spite of the poison. "Weezing is looking pretty weak...one more Thunderbolt attack should finish it."

"Weezing, attack now with Sludge! The poison will finish Jolteon!"

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt one last time!"

Weezing's largest head spat out a blob of sludge at Jolteon, which the electric pokemon made no attempt to evade while powering up for his own attack. Jolteon shook it off and quickly fired back with a bolt of electricity, striking Weezing with a powerful Thunderbolt attack that dropped it to the ground. Weezing lifted up an inch from the ground, as if it were going to get back up, but then dropped again.

"Alright! We did it Jolteon!" Ashley gave an enthusiastic cheer, but Jolteon couldn't find the strength to. While he had endured the battle until the end, he was still out of his pokeball for the poison to continue taking effect and drain the last of his strength. Jolteon collapsed onto his side.

"Oh...sorry Jolteon..." Ashley said remorsefully, quickly recalling him into his pokeball. "I didn't notice how weak the poison left you..." Koga, likewise, recalled his defeated Weezing.

"That was a pretty close call, Ashley..." Rina said to her. "If that last Thunderbolt didn't end it..."

"Yeah, I know..." Ashley replied, looking to Rina briefly as she spoke. When she looked back across the gym, Koga was already standing right in front of her. "EEK!" Ashley cried out in surprise, falling back. "HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!"

"Ninja technique." Koga replied simply, then held out his hand toward her. He was holding a TM and the Soul Badge in his hand. "Though it was a close match, you have proven your worth. Therefore, I confer upon you the Soul Badge." Ashley reached out and took the two items from Koga's hand.

"Now, I must go and restore my pokemon as the day is still young. I wish you both the best of luck on your joruney. Koga took a small black ball in hand and tossed it to the ground. A puff of smoke surrounded Koga, and he was gone when it cleared. Ashley, Rina, Bulbasaur, and Pippi all stared in confusion at the spot where Koga had just been standing.

"I'd say ninja can't do that...but...seeing him disappear like that without any explanation makes it hard to deny..." Ashley said in a bewildered tone.

"Maybe thats what they want us to believe? That ninja can't really teleport or split into multiple images like a pokemon using Double Team?" Rina suggested without really putting much thought into it.

"I don't think we should think too much on this..." Ashley looked down at the Soul Badge in her hand. "All that really matters is I have the Soul Badge now, so that leaves only three gyms to go!"

"Right! Way to go Ashley!" Rina said to her. "But, we should really go now so you can get your pokemon looked after."

"-I still say I should have fought in this match...-" Bulbasaur grumbled. "-Sleep! Paralysis! Leech Seed! I'd show that 'ninja' a thing or two about 'wearing the opponent down'!-"

"-Sure you would...-" Pippi replied dryly, rolling her eyes. "-You'd have lost as soon as Crobat came out and you know it...-"

The group left the gym, closing the door behind them. Once they were gone, Koga stepped out of the shadows.

"We ninjas have many secrets..."

Author's Notes: First generation gave us a ninja, a psychic, an american soldier, and a leader of a criminal organization for gym leaders. What happened since then anyway? Now the best we have are martial artists and miners? On another note, those same four gym leaders were ALL villains in the manga. Side effect of sticking out?

Maybe the fifth generation will give us an aura master/user for a fighting gym. I think thats the best we could really hope for now though.

On an unrelated note, the site's new format bugs me. This shall take some getting used to for sure. I was rather comfortable with separate "Document" and "Story" links and a menu bar on the side. I'll get used to it I guess but...eh...