Our heroes have finally arrived in Kyotsu City. Ichigo plans to challenge the gym here so that he can win his sixth badge.

"Amazing!" Orihime said as she went around the city and was loving it. "I've heard so much about Kyotsu City. I can't believe I'm finally here. So Ichigo, are you all set to go to the gym?"

"You know I am." Ichigo said.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this excited for a gym battle." Rukia said.

"Of course I am. This is also my chance to meet Shunsui." Orihime said.

"Who?" Ichigo asked.

"Him." Orihime said as she held out a magazine of a man with him having long brown hair tied in a tail with facial hair. He also wore a white buttoned short sleeve shirt with black vest and jeans. "Shunsui is a famous fashion designer. His work is a way to connect with pokemon. He also happens to be the gym leader of the city."

"So this guy is the gym leader." Ichigo acknowledge the opponent he is about to face.

Pokémon!
It's a battle, win or lose
It's the friends you make, it's the road you choose
You've got the right stuff
So make your mind up
Find the courage inside of you
If you're strong you'll survive
And you'll keep your dream alive
Let the battle begin
Pokémon!
Be the best you can be
And find your destiny
It's the master plan
The power's in your hand
Pokémon!

(Ichigo's voice) A Darkened Fashion

All of them headed straight to the gym so Ichigo can have his battle. However, once they got there, the entire place looked busy as people were moving around fast.

"I wonder what all the hussle is about." Chad voice what everyone was thinking.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo heard someone and looked towards the front desk where he saw a familiar face. "Is there really no way to have a gym battle today?"

"I'm really sorry. I wish there was something I could do, but I'm afraid there isn't." The receptionist said.

"Dang it."

"Renji? Renji, is that you?" The man turned to face Ichigo and it revealed it really was their old friend Renji.

"Ichigo! I haven't seen you in a long time." Renji said.

"Yeah. It has been a while. So are you going for a gym battle here too?" Ichigo asked.

"I was, but apparently they aren't having any gym battles today." Renji said.

"What?! Are you serious?" Ichigo said.

"I'm afraid so." The receptionist said. "You see, we have a special event planned for today and I'm afraid there isn't any way to schedule a gym battle for today."

"Oh man." Ichigo moaned. Since they couldn't have a battle today, Ichigo decided he and the others should catch up with Renji.

"So Renji, how've you been?" Rukia asked.

"I've been doing great." Renji said. "I've come some way after I last saw you guys. I actually managed to get four badges."

"Four? I already have five." Ichigo said just to taunt Renji and it seemed to have worked.

"I've been doing well myself." Orihime said as she took out her case and showed her two star medals.

"Wow! Are those actual star medals from Pokemon Talent Star?" Renji said. "I've never seen them before. Anyway, I was hoping to get my fifth badge, but that's not going to happen today."

"Too bad. I wonder what the big event is." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, since we can't see a gym battle today, can we do some shopping?" Orihime said. "There's actually a store in the gym and I would love to have some of Shunsui's designs."

"I am a little curious as to how a gym leader designs clothes." Chad said.

"I suppose." Ichigo said though he has a feeling he's not going to enjoy it. All of them went to the upper levels of the building. Shunsui's clothing designs were a lot like pokemon patterns. Orihime and Rukia were loving it while the boys just hang back. "I can't believe I agreed to this."

"Not your fault. It can be hard to say no to girls." Renji said. Absol had a look around and spotted something Ichigo might like.

"Absol." Absol got his attention and saw a battlefield on a balcony outside and that gave him an idea.

"Renji, since we can't have a gym battle, how about you and I have an actual battle? I do like to see how far you came." Ichigo said.

"You're one. How about we make it a double battle?" Renji said.

"Sounds good to me." Ichigo said. The boys stepped outside and were ready to start the battle.

"Here are the two I'll be using. Let's go, Vigoroth and Ekans!" Renji said as he called out his two partners.

"Vigoroth!"

"Ekans!"

"His Slakoth evolved!" Chad said.

"It looks like it's filled with more energy than before." Ichigo said. "His other pokemon is an Ekans. In that case, I'll go with these two. Let's go!" Ichigo said as he tossed out two pokeballs and out came Solrock and Palpitoad.

"Solrock!"

"Palpitoad!"

"Solrock! I see you also got a Palpitoad too." Renji said. "Let's find out how tough both of them are. Ekans use Poison Sting and Vigoroth use Shadow Ball." Ekans shot out purple needles from its mouth and Vigoroth formed a dark orb and threw it.

"Both of you dodge it." Ichigo said and both of his pokemon moved out of the way. "Palpitoad use Mud Shot!"

"Dodge it, both of you!" Renji said.

"Palpitoad!" Palpitoad shot out some mud, but Vigoroth and Ekans was able to avoid the attacks.

"Vigoroth use Slash on Palpitoad and Ekans use Bite on Solrock." Renji said. Both of them did what Renji said. Vigoroth slashed against Palpitoad and Ekans bit against Solrock and did some damage.

"Palpitoad use Rock Smash and Solrock use Gyro Ball." Ichigo said. Both of them used their attacks and was able to land a clean hit on both opponents. Ekans and Vigoroth slid against the ground, but neither of them were giving up on this battle. Meanwhile, the girls continued to look at the clothes. As they were looking through the clothes, two women had their eyes on them.

"What do you think of those two?"

"I think they would be perfect."

"I know. Orihime, you would look great in all the talent stars if we can find some outfits that match your pokemon." Rukia said.

"You really think so?" Orihime asked and Rukia believed so. "Ichigo, what do you think?" That was they noticed the boys weren't around anymore.

"Look." Rukia said. She pointed out the window and saw Ichigo and Renji having a battle. "Figures those two would be at it."

"So how about we go watch?" Orihime asked and Rukia agreed.

"Excuse me." Both of them turned around to see the women that have been watching them. "We would very much like it if you two could come with us." Both of them were curious on what this was about.

….

"What am I going to do?" A man said as he was in a backroom. He was trying to figure out some sort of problem he has.

"Excuse me, sir. I believe we might have found the answer to our problem." Rukia and Orihime entered the room and they were quite surprised at who they saw. Standing in the room was Shunsui with a Shiftry, with it's long leaves indicating it's a male.

"Shunsui!" Rukia said.

"Wow! I can't believe we're actually meeting him!" Orihime said.

"It's nice to meet the two of you." Shunsui said.

"Shiftry!"

"Yes. These two will do nicely." Shunsui said.

"Nicely for what?" Rukia asked. Shunsui gave a gentle and friendly smile, but neither of them were sure to like this.

….

The Battle

"Vigoroth use Slash." Renji said as he and Ichigo continued the battle each other. Vigoroth slashed against Palpitoad and pushed Palpitoad back.

"Solrock, hold Vigoroth down with Confusion." Ichigo said.

"Solrock." Solrock used the power of its mind and was holding Vigoroth down.

"Now use Hydro Pump Palpitoad." Ichigo said. Palpitoad unleashed the blast of water and blasted Vigoroth with Vigoroth taken down.

"Oh man." Renji complained and brought Vigoroth back in its pokeball.

"That's one down and one to go." Ichigo said.

"Ekans, get ready for a real battle." Renji said as Ekans got all set. However, before they could continue, they heard people cheering. They looked down to the ground and saw people gathering by a runway. "What's going on?"

"Let's put the battle on hold and go check it out." Ichigo said. All of them agreed and went down to the ground. It looked like everyone was excited for something to start. All of them pushed through and made it to the front. "Excuse me, but what's going on?"

"You don't know? It's Shunsui's fashion show."

"This must have been the big event." Chad said.

"And it looks like it's about to start." Renji said. All the lights came on and shined on the stage for the show to start. Models came walking in on the stage featuring new outfits and they all resembled pokemon.

"The girls would love to see this." Ichigo said.

"Where are Rukia and Orihime?" Chad said.

"They're not here?" Renji said as they looked around for them.

"Now the designs of Milotic and Chimeco." Two other models came on the stage. The shorter one wore the Milotic design with red sleeves and a scaly blue skirt with a creamy colored top. The taller one wore a strapless white dress with the bottom red and had a slit with the collar around her neck that was yellow.

"Absol!" Absol called out and all of them looked on the stage and all of them were shocked.

"Orihime?!" Ichigo said.

"Rukia?!" Chad said. Both the girls were the models and they both seemed pretty nervous.

"Hey guys." Rukia said.

"What are you two doing?" Ichigo asked.

"The real models couldn't make it. So Shunsui asked the both of us to step in." Orihime said. Soon the lights went off and focused at the beginning of the runway to show Shunsui was standing there.

"Thank you all for attending." Shunsui said. "As you know, pokemon is a great inspiration to all of us. That's where I designed my clothes. However, the true showing of them can be in battle."

"Battle?" Ichigo said. Shunsui and his workers looked around the audience and one spotted Renji.

"That one. The one with the red hair and tattoos." Shunsui looked down to the audience and spotted him.

"You, sir! Please come up." Shunsui said as he pointed to Renji and Renji was surprised. Renji obliged and went on the stage to face Shunsui. "I would greatly appreciate it if you have a battle with me and if you win, I'll reward you with a badge."

"Really?! You're on!" Renji said.

"Good. Let's use just one pokemon." Shunsui said as he took out a pokeball. "Shifty, let's go my old friend."

"Shiftry!"

"Shiftry is a dark-type, but also a grass-type." Renji said as he reached for one of his pokeballs. "I know who to use. Ekans, let's go!"

"Ekans!"

"Let's win this. Poison Sting." Renji said and Ekans shot out the poison needles.

"Dodge it." Shunsui said and Shiftry jumped into the air.

"It's so fast!" Renji said. "Don't let it escape. Give it a taste of your Poison Tail." Ekans' tail glowed purple and jumped up to attack Shiftry, but Shiftry was dodging each of Ekans' attacks

"Shiftry use Leaf Blade." Shunsui said. The leaves on Shiftry glowed and sharpened. It slashed against Ekans and knocked it down.

"Ekans, are you okay?" Renji asked and Ekans was able to get back up. "Try using Dig." Ekans jumped into the air and was about to dig through the ground.

"No you don't. Shiftry use Leaf Tornado." Shunsui said.

"Shiftry!" Shiftry flapped his arms and created a powerful tornado with leaves in it and blasted Ekans. Ekans already took some damage from its earlier battle and because of that Ekans lost the match.

"Ekans!" Renji said as he went to make sure Ekans wasn't hurt.

"Renji lost!" Rukia said as the audience cheered for Shunsui. Shunsui looked down to the audience and spotted Ichigo.

"I understand you came for a gym battle as well. I'll see you tomorrow." Shunsui said and kept walking and Ichigo could feel how strong Shunsui was.

"Absol, we're going to have one heck of a battle." Ichigo said.

"Absol."

Now that he's got a glimpse of Shunsui's power, Ichigo must find a way for him to defeat him and that Shiftry if he hopes to win that sixth badge. Will he prevail? Only time will tell. So stay tune for next time.

To Be Continued….