Ch 30: Ninja Pokemon showdown
It was early in the morning in Fuchsia city and Lucy was up with Brock as they made their way to a secluded area of the city.
"It should be right around here." Lucy said as she placed her hand on a wall.
She took a deep breath and her eyes glowed blue with her hand.
The wall began to shake and slowly move up as a tall muscular woman wearing a guardian hood and jacket with an Arcanine standing behind her.
"Seeing as you were able to open the door, I assume you're a friend." The woman said.
"We are." Lucy said showing her hidden blades.
"Welcome then." The woman said as she and her Arcanine moved aside.
"So why are we here again?" Brock asked.
"Ash's hidden blades are broken, so I thought we could come down here and get the materials to make him some more and get him another stone. I wanted to surprise him after his gym battle." Lucy said.
"Oh that's nice of you." Brock said.
"It's not just that, I don't like the idea of Ash being unarmed for any longer than he needs to be. Especially with the traitor still around." Lucy said.
"Aye, the traitor. Clark informed us he was here right under our noses. I only with I could have been there to fight him too." The woman said.
She lead them into the main area where they saw a few other aura guardians around the area with their pokemon.
"Master we have a visitor." The woman guardian said.
Another guardian with a large Tyranitar beside him turned to them. He had dark skin with a shaved head and green eyes.
"Another guardian, what brings you to Fuchsia city?" He asked them.
"I'm friends with another guardian and we were in battle with the traitor yesterday." Lucy said.
"So you're the guardians Clark told us about." The master said.
"We are, and his hidden blades along with his mega evolution stone were broken in the fight. I was hoping we could get some materials to make him some new ones and a new stone." Lucy said.
"Oh, well I'm afraid we can't help you." The master said.
"What why not?" Lucy asked.
"The thing is we just finished training 3 new guardian recruits a few days ago and they all passed their final test in the Safari zone. We used up all of our materials and stones to make their hidden blades." The master said.
"Oh." Lucy said.
"Well, that means Ash could be in trouble." Brock said.
Lucy sighed.
"It does, it also means we have to wait until we get to the next city before we can get him more blades." Lucy said sweat dropping.
"I'm sorry we couldn't help your friend." The master said.
"It's alright, I'll think of something." Lucy said.
Later in the morning Ash was up with his Pokemon training.
Primeape was relentlessly attacking Pikachu, who easily avoided each of Primeape's attacks.
Despite his best efforts , Primeape was unable to hit Pikachu. He let his arms down and started panting heavily.
"Alright that was good Primeape, very good. Haunter your turn" Ash said.
Haunter came over and covered his claws in dark energy before furiously slashing them at Pikachu.
"Pika, Pika,Pika." Pikachu said as he avoided each strike. Despite missing Pikachu, Haunter was still moving with great speed and maneuverability.
After nearly 5 minutes Haunter stopped to catch his breath as Pikachu stood up right still looking fresh and new.
"Alright good endurance training you guys." Ash said.
Haunter slowly floated over to a tree Wartortle and Primeape were resting against.
"You guys have been training hard and you're ready for the gym battle today." Ash said.
"War."
"Ape."
"Haunt." They said.
"The gym leader is a poison type. That means none of you will be at a disadvantage. Still we can't be overconfident. I'm sure whoever the gym leader is, they'll put up quite a fight." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said nodding.
"Nevertheless, we can do this. We've trained hard and now we're going to perform hard." Ash said.
"War!"
"Ape!"
"Haunt!" They shouted back.
A few minutes later the group except Ash were at the pokemon center.
"They didn't have any hidden blades of evolution stones there!" Serena said sounding concerned. After what happened the day before she was already concerned for Ash's safety, now she found out that he might be completely unarmed for a long time.
He still had his martial arts, aura, and other abilities, but without his blades he would still be at a major disadvantage.
"I'm afraid so." Brock said.
"So what happens if Seir or another officer attacks us again before he can get another set?" Serena asked.
"Well there is another option. It won't solve his mega evolution problem. But It will be better than nothing in a fight." Lucy said.
"What?" Serena asked.
"I could let him use my offhand blade for a while." Lucy said.
" What?" Brock said sounding concerned for Lucy.
"Really , you'd do that?" Serena said.
"Ash is my guardian brother, I have a duty to help him." Lucy said.
Moments later the doors opened and Ash walked in with his pokemon beside him.
"Morning guys." Ash said.
"Oh morning Ash." Serena said as she and the others sweat dropped.
"How did the warm up go?" Serena asked.
"It went good, my team is ready to battle." Ash said.
"Who are you going to use?" Brock asked.
"I'm using Wartortle, Primeape, and Haunter." Ash said.
"This will be Primeape and Haunter's first gym battles." Lucy said.
"It will , but they've had plenty of training and I know they can do it." Ash said.
"Well let's have some breakfast first before heading over there." Serena said.
"Good idea." Ash said before he got each of his pokemon some food.
"So Brock do you know anything about the gym leader?" Ash asked.
"I know the old gym leader was named Koga, but my dad told me he was recently promoted to the elite 4." Brock said.
"Really?" Serena asked.
"Yes, apparently Koga was a very skilled gym leader. Almost no one beat him in the last 2 years, so a lot of trainers avoided this gym for a while. Eventually Lance saw he was too good and invited him to try out for the elite four." Brock said.
"Interesting. I wonder who's running the gym now" Ash said.
After finishing breakfast the group made their way out of the urban area.
"The gym should be around here some where." Brock said as they moved through some trees.
As they moved further into the woods, Serena noticed a ravine ahead of them with a building beyond it.
"Hey what's that?" Serena said.
The group turned to see an old fashioned eastern style wooden mansion.
"Woah, it looks like a Ninja mansion."Ash said.
"That's it! It's the gym!" Brock said.
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, my dad took me here once." Brock said.
They slowly approached the mansion and crossed a bridge to the main entrance.
Ash opened the doors and they saw the interior was just like the outside. Wooden old fashioned eastern style.
"Hello." Ash said.
There was no response.
"Is anyone here?" Serena asked.
Moments later a black ball appeared in front of the group before it exploded and a smokescreen filled the air.
"What the hell?" Ash said as he started to cough.
He used his aura vision and saw someone through the smoke approach them moving swiftly.
Before he could reach them, Ash moved in closer and grabbed the figure's arm and locked him in an arm bar before hurling him into a wall.
When the smoke cleared they saw a teenager in a ninja outfit on the ground.
"Ouch" He said.
"Is that a Ninja?" Serena asked.
"Ehh, Ninjas. So overrated." Lucy said.
"Who are you?" Brock asked.
"I am Chuck! Ninja student!" He shouted.
"Ninja student?" Serena said sweat dropping.
"I'm just here to challenge the gym leader." Ash said.
"If you wish to challenge our gym leader you must make it through our ninja house of illusion. Only those worthy can possibly make it through." The ninja student said before trying to throw another smoke ball at the ground.
Before he could, Lucy grabbed his arm and twisted it against his joint, brining him to the ground.
"Don't do that again." Lucy said.
"Alright fine." He said before walking off.
"So we need to find out way through this fun house?" Serena said sweat dropping.
"Well we can do it." Ash said.
"I think I'll be sticking to aura vision for the duration." Lucy said as she took a deep breath and her eyes glowed blue.
The group maid their way across the hallway when they saw a dead end ahead of them.
"Shoot a dead end." Brock said.
"Pika." Pikachu said as he looked closer at the wall. He leapt off Ash's shoulder and walked over to the wall.
"What is it Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Pika." Pikachu said as he touched the wall. The wall started to move slightly.
"Huh?" The group said. Ash walked over and pushed on the door and it revolved, revealing another hallway beyond it.
"It was a trick door." Serena said.
"Figures, Ninjas." Lucy said.
"Why don't you like ninjas?" Brock asked.
"They're just fakers who think they've got skills. Ever heard stories about Ninjas doing amazing things, assassinating people with stealth, agility and deadly precisions. All those legends were about aura guardians. But because we don't live in official history people assume those were ninjas. They weren't." Lucy said.
"Really?" Brock said.
"Yeah, Ninjas really didn't do much. They tried to fight samurai , but got their asses kicked." Lucy said.
The group walked through the trick door and into the next hallway.
That was when Lucy saw something ahead of them with her aura vision.
"Serena stop!" Lucy shouted.
Serena stopped where she stood as Lucy stepped forward and looked down at the floorboard.
"What's wrong Lucy?" Serena asked.
"This." Lucy said as she undid the floorboard revealing an angry looking Voltorb under it.
"Voltorb." It said sparking with electricity.
"Ahh!" Serena shouted as she backed away from it.
"They have these hidden under the floorboard to shock people." Lucy said.
"Why would they do that?" Brock asked.
"Ninjas." Lucy said.
"We'll have to be careful." Ash said as he took a deep breath and used his own aura vision. He too saw several Voltorbs below them.
"Stay close." Ash said. He took Serena's hand as Lucy took Brock's.
They guided them through the trapped floor.
Ash and Lucy carefully watched where they stepped, seeing the Voltorbs by their aura.
Eventually they made it past the Voltorbs.
"Alright we're clear." Lucy said.
"Hidden doors, Voltorbs in the ground. I wonder what they have next for us?" Serena said nervously.
"Well we made it past the first two obstacles. If we just stay vigilant and sharp." Brock started before he stopped when it looked like he smacked into something.
"Brock? What happened?" Ash asked.
Brock backed up and knocked on something in mid air making a sound.
"There's a glass wall here." Brock said.
"What?" Serena said.
Ash walked over and touched it too.
"Maybe we should go back." Serena said before she bumped into another glass wall behind them.
"Huh?" She said.
"How did they do that?" Brock asked.
"I don't know how we're going forward now." Serena said.
"I do." Lucy said as she let out her left hidden blade then walked up to the glass wall in front of them and smashed her blade into it.
The wall shattered revealing the rest of the hallway.
"Ok that's an option." Ash said sweat dropping.
They continued down the hallway when they began to notice the hallway begin to tilt.
"Is it just me, or is the room getting tilted?" Brock asked.
"It is tilted." Ash said.
"What is the point of this?" Serena asked.
"Something with confusing their enemies or something." Lucy said.
"Are there anymore Voltorbs in the floor?" Serena asked.
"No." Lucy said.
"Well then what's the threat?" Serena asked.
The others realized this too and walked across the hall with no problem.
"Geez that was easy." Ash said.
"What was the point of that?" Brock asked.
The group made it to the end of the hallway before reaching a doorway.
"Is this it, or another trap?" Brock asked.
"Only one way to know for sure." Ash said. He opened the door and saw a large dojo inside.
Standing in the center of the dojo were 2 ninja students. In the center was a girl who looked about 17 years old with violet hair done up in a spiky manner in the back. She too wore a ninja outfit only with a pink scarf cape behind her.
"She must be the gym leader." Ash said. He walked in with the others close behind.
"Welcome challengers, to the Fuchsia city gym. I am Janine , the new gym leader. You must have been skilled to have made it through our ninja house of traps." She said.
"Right." Lucy said sweat dropping.
"My name is Ash, and I'm here to challenge you." Ash said.
"Very well, we shall have a gym battle right away." Janine said.
Serena, Brock, and Lucy stood on one side of the room while two of the ninja students stood on the other. A third student acted as the ref in the center of the sideline.
"The battle between gym leader Janine and challenger Ash is about to begin. Each trainer is allowed 3 pokemon, only the challenger may substitute pokemon." The student said.
"Allow me to make the first move. Go Crobat!" Janine shouted as she threw a pokeball forward.
A large purple bat came out with an angry expression and flew in front of Janine.
"A Crobat, this won't be easy. Alright I choose you Haunter!" Ash shouted.
Haunter came out and gave a very evil expression at Croat.
"Begin." The ref said.
"Crobat use bite!" Janine shouted.
Her Crobat quickly flew at Haunter with incredible speed.
"Haunter wait for him to get close, then use Shadow claw." Ash said. Haunter waited until Crobat opened his mouth then used his newfound speed and agility he and Ash had been working on. He moved out of Crobat's path just before Crobat could bite him.
As soon as he was past Crobat, he slashed his back with Shadow claw and sent him forward.
"Crobat, backflip into bite." Janine said.
Crobat quickly re-angled his wings and used the force of Haunter's shadow claw to move himself back up and at an arc behind Haunter before biting him.
"Haunt!" Haunter grunted.
"That's not good, dark type attacks are super effective against Ghost types." Brock said.
"Haunter can take it." Serena said.
"Haunter use Shadow ball." Ash said.
Haunter formed a ball of ghost energy in his mouth before launching it at Crobat.
"Crobat dodge and use Bite." Janine said. Her Crobat dodged the incoming Shadow ball easily.
That is when Janine realized perhaps he had dodged it a little too easily.
"Hold on." Janine said before she saw Haunter continued moving after he launched the attack.
"Crobat look out!" Janine shouted before Haunter brought his claws back up in a shadowy fist and smashed Crobat across his face, hurling him back.
"Yes, great job Crobat." Ash said.
"I see, Janine hasn't battled Ash before so she doesn't know how he battles. So she didn't think that he would have something other than just a simple attack planned and he used that to his advantage." Brock said.
"Way to go Haunter!" Serena shouted.
"We are not defeated yet. Crobat use Supersonic."
"Haunter Confuse ray." Ash said.
Crobat unleashed a piercing wail as Haunter's eyes glowed blue and he let out a ray of confusion . The two attacks met and cancelled each other out.
"Bite!" Janine shouted.
"Shadow ball!" Ash shouted. Crobat flew through the cancelled attacks right at Haunter as he formed a shadow ball. Just before he could launch it, Crobat bit him.
"Haunt" Haunter said grunting.
"Come on Haunter." Ash said.
"Pika, Pikachu!".
"Haunt, er!" Haunter shouted before blasting Crobat with Shadow ball at point blank range.
"Cro!" Crobat shouted as he hurled back and landed in front of Janine.
"Crobat is unable to battle." The ref said.
"Alright Haunter!" Ash shouted.
"Pika!".
"Haunt." Haunter said smiling as he breathed deeply.
"Alright he's got the lead." Serena said.
"Ash changed up his strategy a bit for this battle." Lucy said.
"That's probably a good thing. It's always a good idea to have more than one strategy in your arsenal." Brock said.
"Crobat return, you performed well. You and your pokemon are skilled Ash. But a Ninja is never truly defeated." Janine said as she took out another pokeball and threw it forward.
A large Weezing came out and floated in front of Janine.
"Weez." The pokemon said.
Serena and the others could smell a found scent coming from this pokemon and she felt like she was going to gag.
"Yuck, that pokemon smells horrible." Serena said covering her mouth and nose.
Ash could feel how tired Haunter was and knew he had done enough for the battle.
"Haunter return." Ash said as he returned Haunter to his pokeball.
"Alright time for your time to shine. I choose you Primeape!" Ash shouted.
Primeape came out and stood in an aggressive stance.
"Ape!" He shouted.
"Alright Primeape Weezing is a Poison type and you could get poisoned. Let's try not to take his attacks head on." Ash said.
Primeape didn't like that idea, but understood why Ash wanted him to do it. If Weezing's attacks made direct contact with him , he could be poisoned.
"Weezing let us begin with Smog." Janine said.
"Primeape use low sweep." Ash said.
Primeape swept low across the ground.
"Why'd he do that? Weezing can float?" Serena asked.
It was then they noticed Primeape was moving below the incoming cloud of poison gas.
"I see, he's avoiding the smog. Brilliant." Lucy said.
"Assurance." Ash said. When Primeape was directly below Weezing his eyes turned black before he leapt up at Weezing with a glowing fist.
"Knock him down with Sludge bomb." Janine said.
Weezing lowed his mouths just in time to unleash a large clod of poison that smashed right into Primeape and exploded, hurling Primeape back at the ground.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted.
"Stay strong Primeape , recover!" Ash shouted. Primeape landed on his feet and sprung himself back up at Weezing even faster, smashing Weezing's larger face with Assurance.
"Weez!" Weezing shouted as they were hurled back.
"Looks like that Weezing can react fast." Brock said.
"True, but Ash still got his move in." Lucy said.
"Primeape, is he poisoned?" Serena asked sounding concerned. He felt Primeape's condition through their aura connection and felt no poison.
"Whew, that was close. Alright Primeape use rage." Ash said. Primeape focused his anger and frustration together.
"I see what you are doing, we won't fall for it. Weezing use Smokescreen." Janine said.
Weezing opened his mouths and unleashed a ball of smoke that burst into a thick cloud that nearly blinded Primeape.
"Perfect, now Weezing use Belch." Janine said.
Weezing flew down into the smoke and got closer to Primeape.
"Primeape, use all your senses together. Find him." Ash said.
Primeape focused all his senses with Ash's help. It wasn't easy , but he was able to ignore his anger and frustration and focus on what was around him.
Weezing was about to open his mouth and unleash his powerful poison attack.
Just before he could, Primeape reached out and grabbed his mouth, holding it closed.
"Oh no." Janine said as Weezing Sweat dropped.
"Thrash!" Ash shouted. Primeape smiled as he could now do what he loved most.
"Ape!" He shouted as he unleashed a bezerking furry on Weezing. The poison pokemon was hurled back out of the smoke.
Primeape sprinted after him ready to continue using Thrash.
"He wants to fight up close, we'll make him pay. Weezing use explosion." Janine said.
"Oh no Primeape stop!" Ash shouted.
"Pika!" pikachu screamed.
Primeape tried to stop himself, but his momentum drove him forward and into Weezing moments before he exploded.
"Primeape!" Ash shouted. When the smoke cleared, both pokemon were unconscious.
"Primeape and Weezing are unable to battle." The ref said.
"Weezing return." Janine said.
"Primeape return, you did very good." Ash said.
"You've beaten two of my pokemon. Now you face my strongest. Venomoth!" Janine shouted.
A large violet Moth like pokemon came out.
"What is that?" Serena said opening her pokedex.
"The dust-like scales covering its wings are color coded to indicate the kinds of poison it has. It has a short life span, and appears to be the evolved form of a Venonat."
"I choose you Wartortle!" Ash said as Wartortle came out and stood in front of Ash.
"Venomoth use Signal beam!" Janine said.
"Wartortle use Rapid spin." Ash said. Wartortle got into his shell and quickly rolled across the battlefield avoiding the Signal beam as it hit the ground around him.
He then flew through the air right at Venomoth.
"Venomoth use Psychic!".
Venomoth's eyes glowed violet as he caught Wartortle in mid air with Psychic energy.
"Wartortle use Water pulse!" Ash shouted. Wartortle came out of his shell and blasted Venomoth across his body with a burst of water. Venomoth let him go and Wartortle wall towards the ground.
"Venomoth use Zen Headbutt!" Janine shouted. While Wartortle was still falling, Venomoth quickly flew down and smashed into Wartortle before he could go into his shell.
"Wartortle roll on the ground." Ash said. Before he could hit the ground, Wartortle got back into his shell and rolled across the ground in his shell.
After doing so he sprang out of his shell.
"Venomoth use Sleep powder."
"Ven!" Venomoth shouted as he flapped his wings and let out cloud of green powder.
"Water gun!" Ash shouted.
"War!" Wartortle shouted as he blasted the incoming cloud of powder with his jet of water. The water carried the powder back, hitting Venomoth.
"Aqua tail!" Ash shouted. While Venomoth was still being hit by the Water gun, Wartortle leapt up and smashed his water covered tail across Venomoth's face.
"Venomoth use Psychic!". Venomoth's eyes glowed violet as he caught Wartortle then quickly hurled him into the ground before he could respond.
"Good now finish him with Zen Headbutt!" Janine shouted.
"Wartortle Skull bash!" Ash shouted. Wartortle aimed himself at Venomoth and then propelled himself up at Venomoth as hard as he could. Everyone watched closely as the two pokemon clashed. Despite all the power Venomoth had put behind his attack, Wartortle overpowered him and hurled him back.
Venomoth flew backwards then slammed into the wall. He then fell to the ground with swirly eyes.
"Venomoth is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger." The ref said.
"Yes we did it Wartortle!" Ash shouted.
"War!".
"Yes they won!" Serena shouted.
"Venomoth return. You fought the best you could." Janine said before she walked over to Ash.
"You have bested me trainer. Thus earned this." Janine said as she took out a scroll. She opened it and revealed a heart shaped badge.
"So Janine your dad is in the elite four." Ash said.
"Indeed , he was elevated earlier this year. Why?" Janine said.
"I'm trying to make it into the elite four as well." Ash said.
"Really, well I was more than impressed with your pokemon and your battle style. If I see my father again I'll mention you." Janine said.
Later that night Ash was at the pokemon center with the others as Nurse Joy looked at his pokemon.
"Great work out there Ash. You and your pokemon were awesome" Brock said.
"Thanks Brock, this is badge 5. I just need 3 more before the Indigo league." Ash said before turning to Lucy.
"So should we head down to the local guild?" Ash asked.
Lucy sweat dropped.
"That's the thing Ash, Brock and I went down there earlier, and well they're out of hidden blades and stones." Lucy said.
"What!?" Ash said.
"Pika!".
Ash gave a concerned look.
"This isn't good, I don't have another stone and now I have no blades." Ash said.
"Well I had an idea, until we find you more blades, I could give you one of mine. It's better than nothing." Lucy said.
Ash took a deep breath.
"Thank you Lucy, but no thank you. Those are your blades, I won't risk your safety by taking one." Ash said.
Serena took Ash's hand.
"Ash please do this, I want you to be safer." Serena said.
"I know Serena, but it's now right. Those are your blades Lucy, I won't take one from you, even temporarily." Ash said.
Brock let out a breath of relief.
"Ash, this is serious you." Serena started.
"Serena, I know I'm more vulnerable, but I'm more than helpless without my blades. " Ash said.
"He's right, he's still an aura guardian." Brock said.
"Besides I've got you guys around too." Ash said.
"So you're not sending me off next time." Serena said.
"Yes." Ash said.
Serena took a deep breath.
"Alright fine, let's just try to lay low from the team rocket stuff for a while until then." Serena said.
"Alright sounds like a deal." Ash said.
Serena came forward and gave Ash a short kiss.
"So now that Ash has his gym badge where are we going to next. Saffron city is still controlled by team rocket." Brock said.
"Well there's always Cinnabar island." Ash said.
"Does that pass by the Seafoam islands?" Serena asked.
"Yes it's on the way." Ash said.
"Perfect, because I found out this morning that's where my next showcase will be." Serena said.
"Alright that sounds like a plan. Our next destination is the Seafoam islands." Ash said.
Author's note :
Yeah a bit shorter and the first bit was maybe unnecessary, but the chapter served its purpose
Like I said Ash wouldn't get his new blades right away
So yeah the group will be heading to the Seafoam islands next instead of Saffron city. It will be a few chapters before they get there.
Rest assured they will return to Saffron after Cinnabar island.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask.