Surmount

by HDK315

Although they travel down a long, merciless road that has overwhelmed all but the very strongest to eventually throw in the towel, they do so with unrivaled resolve and convictions. This is the story of Ash Ketchum and his beloved family of Pokemon, and how they became the greatest of all time. Cover by Atenburgh.

43. Beneath the Veil of Where We Came From

"In battle, the Gym Leader's duty is to test the challenger." Eight year old Koga's posture was perfect as he sat at his desk, listening to his grandfather talk and taking notes when needed. "That is the purpose. Every victory at a Gym is a milestone for a trainer aiming for the Conference, and it must always feel like that to them, lest the prestige to the Gyms and Conference itself be disgraced."

"I hear that loud and clear, grandfather," Koga's voice was steady and polite, not pulling his eyes away from where his gaze belonged. "But a trainer requires eight badges to qualify for the Conference. That is eight 'tests', correct? Does such a number not risk devaluing what the badge means already?"

"Your interpretation is backwards," his grandfather spoke bluntly. "The number of Gyms required to be cleared is what maintains the prestige of the Conference itself. It is the greatest competition of the land, where only the best trainers of the Season are to take part. The task of acquiring eight badges is required to act as a boundary. It draws a line between trainers in the Conference and everybody else." he turned back to the monitor. "As for how the value of the badge remains intact, that is the burden of the Gym Leader. Every battle at every Gym is to be difficult and arduous for the challenger, and the feeling of importance should never decrease no matter how many times they step through those doors. A Gym Leader who does not succeed at that has failed in their duty to test everything the challenger has."

"No battle is acceptable unless it is hard. " Koga summarized.

"Among other things," his grandfather confirmed. "The Conference is sacred, and so are the Gyms connected to it. A Gym Leader must do whatever it takes to fulfill their duty, both within and outside of their walls. Anything that holds purpose is viable; there is no limit as long as it is productive to the battle's purpose. This system was not designed to be merciful, it was designed to guide and bring out the best. Now then, pay attention to this footage."

"Yes, grandfather." Koga folded his hands over his desk. After so long, he would finally be able to study direct footage of real life Gym battles that took place within Fuchsia. His sister was no present, as his grandfather believed they would be best off watching them separately, and interpreting them in isolation. They were an example for them to follow, after all.

And no matter what she took from it, he would always have to ensure that he was better. That he stayed ahead.

/

Koga's sister was barely recognizable the day she had returned home.

The way Aya had carried herself, the way she had spoken. The mere fact that she had embraced him, after seeing one another in person for the first time in years. Nothing was ever the same. Even well after she had come back, it was continuously apparent.

"She has been at it for a while, brother." The green-haired woman watched as young Janine continued to practice on the training grounds, Akira and a white haired woman currently coaching her through the exercises. "Even from here I can tell she's getting tired. Isn't it time to pull her in?"

The Gym Leader's paperwork lay in front of him on the table, and he waited until he had finished reading the second half of the page he was on before responding. "If you recall, sister, we regularly trained longer than this. Janine is not training if she is not learning to overcome fatigue." lifting his head, he watched Akira hand the somewhat panting girl a staff. She held it in her hands, staring at it wordlessly before a hard tap on the back reminded her to get started. "I showed you her recent results, correct?"

"They were miraculous for her age." she answered.

"On par with my own," he agreed. "They have been that way from the start. I see the potential to surpass me with the correct tools and guidance."

"Is that all you see?" Aya questioned.

"I do see her sweating, yes. It's as necessary for her as it was for us." Perhaps more so. His wife's absence was a tragedy on its own, but in this context, it also left a glaring hole in his daughter's upbringing. She would never have the motivation of a sibling to clash with, the way he did. She had all of the potential, talent and work ethic, everything except that one thing that needed to be made up for. Now that he stood in his grandfather's shoes, he realized just how vitally the mindset of a Gym Leader was applied. Even before receiving their licenses, he and Aya had been treated like challengers, just as the previous generations.

After all, nothing without purpose was off limits, and a test without purpose was not a test. A vision must always be had. He wa sin a position where his vision couldn't be the same as his grandfather's while still applying those same standards.

/

Ash Ketchum had an elevated view of the battlefield in front of him when he stood on the platform, mild but just enough. Standing on the opposite platform, Koga's masked gaze bore into him, and with sweaty fists and a quickened heart rate, the boy controlled his breath and awaited the beginning of his biggest battle to date.

Between challenger and Gym Leader was a ruined village ripped asunder by war. Above them was a starry night sky complete with a full moon that watched all present below, and to Ash's right were the stands containing their audience, along with Akira assuming his post.

"The Gym battle between Leader Koga and challenger Ash Ketchum will now commence." The aura of his voice was nothing like Koga's, but was still shouted with authority and finality. "Each party will use five Pokemon, with substitutions permitted on both sides. The battle will conclude when all participating Pokemon on either side are defeated, or if the challenger forfeits. At this time, the Gym Leader and challenger will select both of their first Pokemon in tandem."

Koga was already holding an enlarged Poke Ball immediately after Akira had finished talking, as though his hand had moved to and from his belt with instantaneous speed. Ash took a moment or two longer.

A five on five Gym battle. The last and only other time they had been in one was against Surge. Now that he was here, the reminder stung - he shouldn't be focusing on it. The other thing that stole his attention was Koga himself; he couldn't look at the man without seeing the mask he was wearing and feeling his breath catch itself. It was easier to look anywhere else, but then he would only feel the gaze that he knew was there.

He managed to inhale deeply before letting it out. His eyes pressed shut for a second or two, and his hand gripped his belt. He could feel the adrenaline in his system - very light. Enough to be more distracting than motivating. Thankfully, he had already decided who he was going to start with before leaving the lobby, which gave him one less thing to stress over.

The moment Valiant appeared in front of Ash, a Venomoth took form on the opposing side of the field. The Kirlia looked back at Ash, who nodded and said "ready?" to both his Pokemon and himself.

"BEGIN!"

Ash gave the first order as quickly as he could. "Thunderbolt!"

Valiant broke into a run, passing by the damaged huts before charging electricity into his hands.

"Energy Ball."

Taking aim, the Kirlia tossed the lightning streak at Venomoth, who formed an emerald sphere to launch in response. The Energy Ball easily absorbed the Thunderbolt and continued on to Valiant in a damaged state, forcing the young psychic to dodge.

With Shadowblood's mask covering his face, the image of Koga raising his hand to the sky looked as though it could be a museum painting. "Toxic Spikes!"

The moth's wings began to glow. Valiant braced himself for what he thought was an incoming barrage, but blinked when Venomoth fired the purple spikes not at him, but at the ground. The spikes dug into the soil and pulsed underneath, creating a faint but eerie glow.

"Shit…" Ash muttered to himself without thinking. Toxic Spikes was a trapping move that infected portions of the battlefield and turned them hazardous. It made perfect sense for a trainer like Koga to use it. "Valiant, look out for where the spikes are, they'll poison you!"

Valiant did not look back at his trainer, but still nodded while briefly directing his eyes to where Venomoth had fired the Toxic Spikes. It did not take long for both Ash and the Kirlia to process the disadvantage the move placed their team at. With Toxic Spikes, Koga and Venomoth could set traps in strategic areas and make moving around more difficult - or dangerous. The battle was only a minute in, but Ash could already feel an invisible force pushing down on his shoulders.

Koga's voice remained the same: Even, coolheaded, with just enough volume. All coupled with the sight of the mask, and its evil gaze. "Ailment Mix!"

It was a name familiar enough for Ash and Valiant to not even need to think of it. A multicolored stream of spores descended from Venomoth's wings, and the mighty, rapid flapping propelled them in a mixture of Stun Spore, Poison Powder, and Sleep Powder.

'So that's where Janine got it from.' The combination needed no introduction for Ash and anybody on his team, having been one of Janine and Ivysaur's go-tos from the moment he had first seen them use it, but this version was even more dangerous than that. Ivysaur couldn't learn Stun Spore, so his Ailment Mix and Concoction Barrage combos were always limited to mixing Sleep Powder and Poison Powder. A strong technique in its own right, but the thought of Koga having access to all three made Ash's shoulders even heavier.

Valiant remained in place, allowing the collection of ailments to wash over the psychic barrier that he had surrounded himself in.

And then Venomoth vanished back into Koga's Poke Ball.

Ash blinked dumbly. "What?" Ahead of him, Valiant dropped his barrier as the last of the Ailment Mix finished. Some of it lingered on the ground, but he quickly teleported back to Ash to avoid breathing it in. The psychic looked back to his trainer with an expression that mirrored the boy's confusion, before turning back to Koga with eyes narrowed in suspicious bemusement.

The round had only just started - Ash could barely even say it had started, and yet Koga was already substituting. What was the point? He wasn't given time to fully process it, because almost as soon as Venomoth disappeared, a new Pokemon appeared in his place.

A Haunter.

The large, purple ghost floated above the Gym Leader, hands twitching in midair. Haunter's traveled across the ruined village before landing on Ash and Valiant, granting the duo a full view of his unsettlingly blank expression. From her seat in the stands, Janine's legs shifted, and her expression wrinkled. Next to her, Aya's gaze was solely on Koga.

"A ghost…" for a moment, Lavender Tower appeared in Ash's mind, but he quickly pushed it away. "Valiant, you both have an advantage against each other. Your psychic moves should be very strong against him, but his ghost moves… they'll still be dangerous for you. Are you up for this?" Valiant didn't look back at Ash when he nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Haunter. "Alright… good luck buddy."

Valiant could feel the tension coming from his trainer behind him - the feeling that manifested almost the moment Haunter had appeared. As he began walking away from Ash to assume his position, his eyes didn't leave the poisonous ghost. His muscles felt a little bit strained themselves.

On the other side, Haunter lowered himself to float directly in front of Koga, who angled his head just enough to stare the ghost in the eye with his masked gaze - both equally unflinching.

"Remember your instructions." The Gym Leader ordered. The ghost nodded, and turned to float ahead to his starting position, not far from where Venomoth had infected the ground with Toxic Spikes.

Ash felt his palms becoming damp again, and clenched them, as though hoping doing so would keep them dry. It was just another ghost type, he needed to focus.

"BEGIN!"

The moment Akira gave the signal, Ash verbally jumped in. His instincts told him that they needed to go on the offense right away. "Psybeam, Valiant!"

Valiant took off running again, charging the rainbow colored beam and firing it at Haunter. The large ghost formed a Shadow Ball in his hand and tossed it at the Psybeam, easily breaking through it. Valiant avoided the ghostly sphere by rolling to the side before continuing to run at the same speed, having gotten more agile over time. Haunter braced himself as the Kirlia approached, but Valiant suddenly vanished from sight, teleporting behind the ghost with a Shadow Ball in his hands.

"Dark Pulse, behind you." Koga ordered calmly.

Haunter rotated his body with such fluidity that Ash and Valiant nearly forgot he had ever been facing the other direction at all, charging the Dark Pulse in his hands and firing it. The attack easily overpowered the Shadow Ball, and Valiant braced himself with crossed arms just before he was hit. He failed to suppress his pained yelp, and nearly fell over when the attack sent him sliding away, but his back collided with the wall of a hut before he could lose his footing, and he managed to remain standing.

"Phantom Force, hide."

Haunter engulfed himself in a purple rift and vanished from sight. As Valiant tensed in anticipation, Ash tried to scan the battlefield to figure out if the ghost was hiding behind anything. With all of the debris, damaged huts, and trees scattered throughout the battlefield, there were plenty of options for cover, especially when using a move that allowed the user to vanish and reappear elsewhere. Phantom Force was similar to Teleport in that regard, but from what Ash knew, the main difference was that the move was not instantaneous: Haunter could "hold" the move and remained vanished from sight for several seconds before reappearing. It wasn't actual teleportation, but rather using distortion to emulate teleportation.

And then they heard it.

A chattering noise sounded from somewhere on the battlefield, and Ash's thoughts froze in their tracks. He did not immediately identify or recognize the sound, but it skipped a beat in his heart, made his chest cold, and stiffened his body. He felt the tingling in his neck and spine before his brain registered what he was hearing.

In the stands, Aya quickly detected the shift in her niece's posture. "Janine, what's wrong?"

The purple-haired girl's hands were gripping the seat. The expression in her eyes trembled, but the rest of her body was as stiff as a rock. "That noise."

Valiant had halted as well. The chattering continued, and the young psychic continued looking around somewhat more frantically as memories forced their way into his mind.

They were forcing their way into Ash's as well. The terrified whispers and chatters of the ghost Pokemon in Lavender Tower - there was only one of them this time, but the noises haunter was making were identical.

The sounds of countless scared ghosts surrounding them, penetrating their ears with cries of confusion and fear. Caleb clinging to him, desperately shouting for his grandmother while staining his clothing with tears.

The Rockets and their Pokemon swarming them, trying to ascend the tower. The Iron-Masked Marauder in their faces, mocking them.

Yami getting sucked into the dark Poke Ball.

Tyranitar rampaging.

The tower collapsing in on itself.

"No," Muttering aloud to no one but himself, Ash wasn't sure where he was trying to look at or away from anymore. "Stop."

Haunter reappeared behind Valiant. Ash tried to say something, but his tongue wasn't moving fast enough - he hadn't fully gotten the first word out when Valiant turned around in realization. Rearing back, Haunter swung his fist forward and drove a Poison Jab into the young Kirlia's stomach. The air left Valiant's lungs, and the blow sent him tumbling away

"No!" Ash started. "Valiant, get-" The chattering resumed. Valiant rose to his feet with a hand clutching his burning belly while a ball of ghostly fire appeared in Haunter's other hand. Still chattering the same horrible noise, the ghost floated from side to side as Valiant tried to brace himself, before tossing the Will-O-Wisp. Trying to think straight, Valiant dodged the attack, and surrounded himself in a psychic barrier to deflect the Sludge Bomb that followed. It wasn't until he formed the barrier that he realized it was not at full strength. The glob of toxic waste collided with his shield, denting it, but Valiant strained himself to block the attack in full, squeezing his eyes and keeping his barrier intact as the purple sludge exploded on impact and scattered around him in droplets.

More chattering, and then Haunter vanished with Phantom Force. He reappeared much more quickly this time - his hand was coated in ghostly energy, sharpened like a blade. With Shadow Claw, he slashed at the Kirlia, carving through his shield with ease and cutting into his skin. Valiant cried out as the distortion entered his body, and a stinging wound formed on his side, leaking blood while he staggered back. His stomach was still burning from the poison jab, and some of the toxins were in his system, along with the ghostly energy that psychics were allergic to.

"Mgh-!" Janine's lips squeezed together. She tried to will the memory of the Pokemon skeleton out of her mind, but focusing on the battle only brought it back. Next to her, Aya seized the girl's hand and held it firmly. "Father planned this. He put a ghost on his team on purpose."

The Ace Trainer only nodded, head turning to look down at Koga, who unflinchingly stood at his post. 'There is never any shame in you, brother.'

A second Poison Jab was narrowly avoided by Valiant, who scrambled to dodge backwards as Haunter fired two more Will-O-Wisps. Ash tried to banish his thoughts as both orbs of ghostly fire missed their mark, burning against the dirt. "Psybeam, fight back!" Valiant fired the rainbow colored beam, but Haunter vanished from sight, and the attack passed through where he once was. The boy's face tensed as his gaze moved around the field. "Where'd he go…!" he almost jumped back when Haunter appeared right in front of him.

Initially, Haunter's face was blank and neutral, before suddenly shifting. Looking the boy in the eye, the ghost's expression turned pained and sickly, and a new lump formed in Ash's throat.

The ghost Pokemon suffering in the cages.

"G-Get out of my face." he tried to snarl. Haunter responded with more chattering.

Behind Haunter, Valiant was running to them. Ash could see him charging a blast of psychic energy, but didn't say anything to avoid alerting Haunter. Koga did it for him, however, and just as Valiant lunged to fire the Psyshock, Haunter turned and vanished again. Ash's instincts took over, yelping and flinching back as the Psyshock flew at him and smashed into the barrier, exploding not even a few feet in front of him. Shimmering was visible at and around the spot where the Psyshock had hit, but Ash's eyes were squeezed shut, shielded from the flash of light.

More chattering.

The noise entered Valiant's ears, and a bead of sweat formed on his face. He shivered for a second, and the ghostly presence he felt grew stronger when Haunter reappeared behind him, holding up an orb of intensely crackling, black energy.

"Hex."

Haunter lunged forward and drove the rippling sphere straight into Valiant's side. The impact was like an electric shock - the distortion penetrated Valiant's system, flowing through his body and feeding off of the toxins from the Poison Jab.

He screamed.

Ash watched as Valiant's body erupted in black sparks, and the coughing Kirlia doubled over, nearly sinking to his knees. Hex was a debilitating move not designed to knock an opponent out, but greatly weaken them. Using a disruptive form of distortion energy, the move fed off of status conditions that affected the target's system, shooting pain through any afflicted parts of the target's body. It was similar to Venoshock's effect on poisoned targets, but came from a different source. Its main, functional difference was that it ate away at the toxins (or other status affects) to strengthen itself, effectively reducing the amount of poison in the target's system while still increasing the pain. And when used on a afflicted psychic that was already vulnerable to the ghostly energy to begin with…

Valiant's hands grabbed his stomach. The distortion from Hex was gathering there, devouring the toxins to strengthen itself. His abdomen pulsed in displeasure, and his ears were once more greeted with the eerie chattering. Floating over the writhing Kirlia, Haunter made sure he was facing Ash's direction before his expression shifted, once taking on a pained, sickly look that the boy found himself staring right at.

"Urgh!" Ash looked away. The sounds, the looks, it was too much. But even as he turned his head, he knew he had to look back. He was a trainer, he couldn't take his eyes off of the battle. With a breath, he unclipped Valiant's ball and returned his gaze to him, pressing the button to recall his teammate.

The moment the red beam of light shot out of the sphere, however, Ash saw that something was different. An unsightly glow was coming from Haunter's eyes, decorating Valiant in a reddish-violet light that bathed his body. Whatever the light was, it wasn't just shining on him - it was coating him like a layer, and the red beam from the Poke Ball bounced off of it, as though it had hit an object.

As Valiant began catching his breath, still holding his stomach, Ash's face lost color.

From the stands, Janine took a breath. "Aunt Aya, is that…"

"Mean Look," the green-haired woman nodded. "Yes."

Nearby, Len sat still, voice and expression mostly even as his eyes fell on Ash. "He choked. He looked away from the battle and delayed his decision - and gave Haunter time to take it from him."

"I know," Janine's nose wrinkled, body growing stiffer. Ash had made a grave mistake. It was a Gym Leader's duty to take advantage of every mistake. Exploit every weakness. Use everything as a weapon, fight not just a challenger's Pokemon, but the challenger themselves. Nothing was off the table, but…

…

Her purple eyes forced themselves away from Ash's horrified expression, to Valiant. Now at Haunter's mercy, and her father's.

"Hex, again." Koga's firm voice shot across the battlefield, and Haunter formed a new sphere. All Ash could manage was calling Valiant's name, and his partner screamed louder than before. The black sparks shot through his body again, once more finding their way to his stomach. His abdomen pulsed, his muscles felt as though they would shut down, his mouth grew cold, and his throat heated up. The psychic collapsed, catching himself on one hand to stop himself from landing face first, and coughed into the dirt. Something trickled out of his mouth.

Haunter continued to chatter. Ash's surroundings changed. He was in the tower again, surrounded by gravestones. Koga stood across from him, the gaze of the serpent mask piercing through his body, and between them were Valiant and Haunter. The ghost's face was ill and strained.

"Your Pokemon is paying for his trainer's weak points, Ketchum." The Gym Leader's voice was sharp without apology. "Go on, order him. Another Hex."

"..." Ash could stare. "I… I…"

Haunter slammed a third orb of distortion into his prey's back. Valiant's piercing shriek was cut off by a fit of coughing. The pain in his stomach was unbearable. The ghostly energy assaulted his muscles, and his focus. His throat was…

The Kirlia's face turned unsightly. His body convulsed, his mouth forced its way open, and mucus splashed onto the dirt, mixed with some blood. It stained the area surrounding his lips, and he fell into the soil for a moment, trying to push himself up with both hands. Looking on, Ash clutched his own stomach, trying to fight off the bout of nausea that had blindsided him.

Aya's nose wrinkled. "He's torturing him."

Janine's eyes forced themselves away from Valiant, now fixing her strained gaze on Ash. The boy stood petrified. "Nothing… is off the table."

A ball of ghostly flame formed in Haunter's hand. He juggled it for a few moments as Valiant struggled on the ground, but the ghost's attention wasn't on the suffering Kirlia - he was looking at Ash, with the same ill expression that reminded the boy so much of the ghost types in the cage. Then he flung the Will-O-Wisp down onto the psychic, and Valiant wheezed as the fire traveled over his body. He could feel the attack scorching against him at first, but soon he could only barely feel it as the senses overwhelmed him. His vision turned blurry, and his thoughts scrambled to the point of almost going blank. He could barely even think about how much pain he was in.

Koga's snapping fingers were a dropping guillotine. "Shadow Ball."

Haunter rose higher into the air, holding up both hands as a bigger ball of ghostly aura formed and grew in between them. Rearing it back behind his head, he flung the Shadow Ball down with all of his strength, and Ash watched helplessly as the attack detonated against his friend, kicking up a cloud of dust from the dirt and soil in the explosion. Valiant's body bounced and rolled away from the cloud, and soon the young Kirlia lay still on his back, with black sparks rolling along his skin, some mucus and blood leaking from his slightly open mouth, and his eyes closed.

"Kirlia is unable to battle," Akira's voice was all he could hear. "Haunter wins!"

Ash stared at the motionless psychic, feeling his mind beginning to catch up. His first Pokemon in the match, gone without anything to show for it. And in the end he had just frozen up while…

"If this was life or death, your comrade would be dead right now." Koga's moving lips were not visible beneath the mask. "And you would be his killer."

Ash's eyes sharpened at that, the cold blood running through him turning warmer. But when he looked away from Valiant, his eyes found themselves on Haunter, floating in place in front of the Gym Leader. At first, the purple ghost's expression was blank, but as the young challenger's attention fell to him, his face slowly stretched into an almost cartoonish smile that put his teeth - and tongue - on full display. The boy's face strained.

"You have done things you once thought you couldn't have done, with the help of your team." Koga continued to speak. "You have said that in your own words. Knowing that, what is your foundation? How fragile is it?"

While recalling Valiant, something told Ash that multiple sets of eyes were finding their way to him, a reminder that his and Koga's battle was not a private one. "What do you mean?" As he replied, he returned the Kirlia's ball to his belt, and considered his remaining four options. The battle had turned into an uphill climb the moment it had started. He remembered what that felt like; the same thing had happened against Surge. And when it had, the hill had kept getting steeper and steeper until it was no longer possible to scale.

"How much do you think you've truly evolved?" the ninja leader sounded like he was simply repeating a question. "Strip yourself of everything else, and focus only on you."

'Everything else…' Ash repeated in his mind, but he didn't dwell. He was already down one, and losing sight of that would only make things worse. That was what Koga did, right? Confuse people?

"I already told you, Leader Koga." with a firm face, he took out his next ball. "I'm not worried about what other people think about me, I'm past that. It's my job to be my most important critic, and I'm satisfied."

"How satisfied?" The man's tone was as unchanging as the expression his mask wore. "A mountain's worth can be peeled back as easily as a curtain if it's superficial enough, because size does not equal depth. Who is strong to you?"

Ash's brow furrowed, and he almost let himself get sucked in. Whatever Koga was trying to do, he couldn't let his focus be averted from what counted. "We are strong."

Glaceon appeared in front of him next. Her eyes mildly narrowed to focus on Haunter, who's face seemed to turn sideways. She felt a tick of irritation, represented by the low growl escaping her throat.

"Glaceon," she heard her trainer from behind her. "Valiant's already been taken out. Koga set up a trap called Toxic Spikes ahead of you, so keep an eye out for it, and any more tricks, okay girl?"

The ice type nodded, fixing her focused glare ahead of her. For the longest time, she had known they were going into their most unpredictable fight yet. Hearing about Valiant stung her - with a spark of anger as well, but it also served to reinforce that point.

"BEGIN!"

"Advance and use Shadow Ball." Ash commanded. Glaceon's paws kicked off of the dirt, gaining speed as the ghostly orb appeared in her mouth. She fired at Haunter, who swerved away and formed a ball of fire in either hand. "Block them with Water Pulse!" Ash was already calling out to her as the ghost prepared to throw them. The concentrated sphere of water formed and shot from the ice type's mouth to intercept the Will-O-Wisp, and Glaceon then shot forward at full speed, leaping to strike her target with Iron Tail.

Haunter's hands curled into fists, now engulfed in flame. When Glaceon's strike collided with her opponent's Fire Punch, she felt the heat against her tail, but her momentum and strength remained mostly uncontested. The floating ghost was forced back, clutching the hand that had been struck while the ice type began forming another Shadow Ball to blast her staggered foe.

Then Haunter's expression changed without warning. At first it had resembled an understandable mild discomfort from the attack, but now he suddenly appeared miserable. Familiarly miserable…

Glaceon's eyes widened - the look on her opponent's face was just like the ghosts in the cage. She paused all movements, and the incomplete Shadow Ball hung in her mouth, initially stagnant before slowly shrinking.

"No Glaceon!" Ash tried to ignore the cold sensation pressing against his spine. "Don't let him distract you!" The opening had already been provided, and Haunter vanished with Phantom Force, retreating further back to Koga's side of the field. "Damnit…" With her opportunity wasted, Glaceon slapped her paw against the dirt with a loud grunt, allowing her Shadow Ball to dispel before snarling ahead. Then the chattering resumed, and her ears stood up. Ash's spine shivered once more.

"A team is a collection of individuals, Mr. Ketchum." Koga called out. "In battle, trainers are their own entity. Scatter, Haunter!"

"Scatter?" Ash repeated with a raised eyebrow. Then he saw Haunter raise his hands. A barrage of Toxic Spikes was fired into the ground a few feet away from him, and then he vanished and reappeared elsewhere, and the boy realized. "He's trying to spread traps through the field, Glaceon, stop him!"

The urgency in her trainer's voice drove Glaceon to pursue her target, but it was a goose chase - Haunter kept running away with Phantom Force, chattering away, and soon there were several spots in the village with sets of venomous spikes buried underneath. It was a big battlefield, but moving space was compromised.

Then Haunter vanished back into Koga's Poke Ball. Ash felt the same whiplash he had when Venomoth had been recalled with equal suddenness, but the confusion faded this time: Haunter had used Phantom Force several times at this point. He seemed pretty good at the move, but Koga was likely giving him time to rest so it wouldn't take his toll. The ghost type's absence initiated a wave of a relief as the chattering had stopped, but it was soon replaced with a subtle dread that prodded at his neck from behind. Haunter was still in the battle, and if they wanted to win, he would be coming back.

Glaceon was starting to make his way back to her trainer when the sound of another Poke Ball bursting open turned her around, seeing a Golbat come into view. More tension poked away at Ash. Recalling Haunter he could understand, but of all the Pokemon Koga could have sent out, why would he send a flying type after Glaceon? It was a bright red flag that put him further on edge. He signaled for Glaceon to come back to him while Koga spoke with the bat.

"Don't let your guard down, Glaceon." hands on his knees, Ash knelt forward a bit to speak with her. "He has to have a plan. We're pretty familiar with how a Golbat can fight, but we can't expect this one to be identical to Janine's; because he won't be. Pay attention to where you're going so you don't land in any of the Toxic Spikes." She nodded at him, and the look in her eyes was much more fiery than one would expect from her species - not icy at all. She turned around to assume her position just in time for Koga and Golbat to be ready as well.

"BEGIN!"

Golbat quickly bolted downward, flying just above the dirt in a straight shot for Glaceon. With a steel glare, she prepared to punt him in the face with Iron Tail when the bat suddenly let out a horrific shriek. Caught off guard, the ice type squeezed her eyes shut to combat the sudden bout of dizziness.

'Supersonic.' Ash's realization came on quickly as Golbat closed the distance and struck Glaceon in the face with Steel Wing. The blow left a bruise on her right cheek and sent her sliding backwards, but she stayed on her feet, digging paws into the dirt and shaking her head in hopes of regaining focus. Her opponent was retreating backwards, flying upwards over the roofs of the huts, and she quickly pursued him with a sprint. A stream of golden stars spat out of the flier's mouth, homing in on Glaceon.

He knew Swift couldn't be dodged conventionally, but they were not fighting on an open battlefield. "Glaceon, find cover!" His partner darted to the side, and the stars curved to follow after her. Performing a sharp turn around a hut, Glaceon caused the pursuing projectiles to strike the wall while she continued to run. Ash was satisfied for a moment, but then realized where she was headed. "Look out!"

Glaceon realized too: Up ahead was one of the traps Haunter had set with Toxic Spikes. Just before reaching it she turned again, heading in Golbat's direction.

"Ice Beam!"

"Heat Wave!"

Still running, Glaceon took aim at her aerial target and fired a blast of ice upwards. Golbat responded with a blast of scorching hot air - so hot it resembled a Wind Blast from Nebula carrying fire. The fiery air current easily intercepted the Ice Beam and stopped it in its tracks, but Glaceon kept running, passing underneath her opponent and rotating her body to slide backwards, coming to a stop and preparing to take aim again.

"Double Team, Golbat."

Before Glaceon could attack, Golbat split into several copies, all of which began shuffling with each other in midair. The ice type paused with her mouth half open when Koga suddenly called for a Supersonic. The shuffling stopped, and the clones disappeared as Golbat let out another horrible shriek, this one louder than the last. Glaceon wasn't caught off guard this time, but the sound was still disorienting, and rang in her ears like an invasive knife slipping through a crack. Her vision began to turn blurry, and she tried to fight against it, and make out her sight even and properly.

Thanks to the barrier, Ash was protected from the effects of Supersonic, but he could still hear it, and it sounded grating. There was something about the move that invaded the mind, forcefully triggering debilitating responses - it sounded much worse without the barrier - but even when protected from that awful effect the noise itself was displeasing on its own.

He wasn't surprised by Koga's next order. "Get in close with Heat Wave!" With Glaceon reeling from the Supersonic, the fire type move could leave her in poor shape with a direct hit. As expected, Koga was proving that type matchups were becoming easier to subvert at this stage.

"Come on Glaceon, get away!"

Golbat was coming in fast, intent on blasting her point blank, but Ash's words pushed Glaceon to hold onto whatever bearings she could and dodge to the side. The moment she started moving, Golbat changed tactics: Knowing he wouldn't be blasting her up close, he angled his body and fired the Heat Wave at her retreating form. Glaceon tried to speed up, but still felt the fiery attack against her rear, failing to hit her directly but still landing a partial blow. She yelped in displeasure at the burning, and for a moment or two he running slowed, but she fought through the pain to keep going.

Golbat gave chase, once more flying just above the ground to chase Glaceon through the village. Rearing back his wing, he formed a large blade of wind and flung it at his target.

"Evade and Swift!" At Ash's warning, Glaceon turned and nimbly dodged the Air Slash, sliding sideways through the dirt as the windy blade carved into a nearby hut. From the corner of her eye, she could see a Toxic Spikes trap nearby, keeping it in mind as she unleashed a barrage of golden stars from her mouth. Using a similar strategy to herself, Golbat turned and continued flying near the ground, leading the stars to hit a pile of debris instead. "Keep it up!" Glaceon kept chasing Golbat, continuing to fire the Swift which he avoided.

"Cross Poison." Koga was composed as ever as he continued to command the bat, who suddenly performed a high loop: Flying into the air over the pursuing Glaceon's head before coming back down behind her in a burst of speed, cloaked in Aerial Ace.

Heart quickening, Ash was already responding. "Turn with Iron Tail!" Golbat was charging faster than he'd moved up to this point, and both of his wings were covered in a venomous purple. The flier slashed at Glaceon, but she was whirling around, meeting the Cross Poison with a metallic tail lash. Golbat's attack failed to break through, but the bat had momentum on his side, having charged forward with great speed while Glaceon was in the midst of turning around mid-run. Pushing against her tail, Golbat kept flying forward with Aerial Ace, forcing Glaceon backwards through the dirt before she lost her balance and began to tumble.

Right towards a set of Toxic Spikes.

"Look out!" Ash felt the desperation blindsiding him. "Iron Tail!"

Seeing where she was about to land, Glaceon swung her tail down in midair, breaking her fall and striking the ground where the Toxic Spikes rested underneath. The poisonous spikes were unable to penetrate her metallic tail, and with some straining, the ice type balanced herself on the Iron Tail to prevent the rest of her body from falling onto the Toxic Spikes. With a strong push, she used her tail to jump off and to safety. While still in midair, she angled her body to fire an Ice Beam at Golbat's retreating form, but the flier evaded the attack and circled in midair, flying downward and using a nearby hut as cover before shooting out at Glaceon from the side.

"Keep running and use Swift!" Ash called out. Glaceon needed to get away from the trap.

She ran, with Golbat performing a sharp turn to chase after her. Turning around, she slid backwards and fired another golden barrage at him, and he answered with his own. The two Swifts collided and canceled each other out, but Golbat kept advancing, lashing out to strike her in the face with Steel Wing. She leapt to the side, leaving him to fly through the space that she once occupied, and spat out an Ice Beam. With a curving loop, he evaded the blast, which struck the wall of a small building nearby, coating part of it with ice. Golbat came down on the other side, behind the building, before darting further away at a diagonal angle, flying low and using some of the debris and trees as cover.

Ash clenched his fists. "Damnit… after him!"

The battlefield was deceptively versatile - it really was like the battlefield of a war, and now it felt like the match had devolved into a fast-paced round of cat and mouse. Even as Glaceon gave chase, Ash still felt a sting in his chest - a sensation that had not entirely gone away since Haunter had left, instead barely sticking around. Somehow he knew Koga's masked gaze was directed at him again, at least for a moment.

Glaceon fired a continuous Swift as she pursued Golbat throughout the battlefield. Most of the stars were avoided, either being outmaneuvered or colliding with an obstacle mid-flight. Golbat took a few minor hits that slowed him down, but with the aid of Double Team managed to stay ahead. Ash was tempted to call for Trailblaze, but the presence of the Toxic Spikes gave him pause at the thought of increasing his partner's speed.

Instead, a different plan came to his mind. Those trees and small houses were good for more than just providing cover and hiding spots. "Get higher up, girl!"

The ice type quickly understood the instructions. Continuing to follow after Golbat, she waited for one of the small houses to enter her path before leaping up onto its roof. Golbat responded by ascending higher into the air, but he was still easier to reach, and his wing was almost clipped by her Ice Beam. He responded with an Air Slash, which she swerved away from, still on the roof, leaving the blade of wind to carve a branch off of a nearby tree.

"Forge Wing and Agility!"

Golbat's wings turned to metal once more, but this time it wasn't all that happened: He used Heat Wave as well, which the metal wings absorbed to turn excruciatingly hot.

Ash barely had time to mentally comment to himself at how clever of a combo it was. "Look out!"

The bat blitzed forward, striking with his molten wings. Glaceon leapt off of the roof to avoid him, and her opponent flew far past her, before a sharp turn and angling down to pursue. Now she was the one running away, avoiding the barrage of stars that leapt his mouth. At Koga's orders, Golbat went high, raining down a rapid fire barrage of tiny Sludge Bombs onto the battlefield.

"Whirlwind!"

Once more, Golbat activated Agility, flying ahead in a burst of speed before dive bombing downward to fly low above the ground, now on a collision course with Glaceon. Before anything else could happen, he came to a stop and flapped his wings hard. The ice type's eyes widened as the strong gale slammed into her, taking her off of her feet despite her best efforts to fight against it. The wind pushed her through the air, and Ash realized too late what it was tossing her towards.

"Glaceon, stop yourself!"

Glaceon tried to recover, but could not in time, and landed on her side - right into the Toxic Spikes.

She felt it immediately: Landing hard in the dirty grass, something sharp and painful digging into her skin. Something burning. The poisonous spikes jabbed against her as she landed atop them, injecting their venom into her body. Ash cursed to himself; he didn't know how debilitating the poison was going to be, or how quickly.

"Forge Wing!" Koga wasted no time capitalizing on her pain, and neither did Golbat, who flew above her for just a moment before charging down another set of burning, metal wings. Ash called for his partner to look out, hoping to motivate her through it. Despite the painful trap, Glaceon managed to force herself up. She couldn't leave the spikey area in time, but lashed out with Iron Tail to block Golbat's sizzling strike. The hot metal wing grinded against her metal tail, and Glaceon quickly found her opponent's momentum pushing down on her, exacerbating the contact with the Toxic Spikes. Grinding her teeth through the pain, she briefly felt her knees beginning to shake, but straightened them with defiance as she tried to parry against the attack.

"You can do it, girl!" Ash cupped his hands to concentrate his volume towards her. "Focus Energy!"

Glaceon did her best to follow the order, struggling to concentrate Focus Energy into her Iron Tail, but Golbat continued to push down on her, increasing the pressure on the Toxic Spikes - and the pain. She needed to get out of there as quickly as she could, before too much poison was injected into her system. That knowledge served as motivating as she fought to concentrate the move while still resisting her opponent's attack. Her metal tail began blinking with light white, which progressively stabilized as her tail grew stronger and firmer.

Golbat found his pushing to no longer produce results as the resistance increased, and Glaceon's tail quickly turned unflinching. Then the tables turned, and the bat found himself being pushed back as the ice type parried him away. Glaceon wasted no time leaping away from the spikes and onto safe ground. Her paws were sore, and bleeding slightly. She found it stung to press them too much into the dirt.

"Great!" Ash called out in encouragement. "Now Frost Pulse!" Turning back to face Golbat, Glaceon formed a Water Pulse in her mouth and froze it over into a pulsing sphere of ice before firing it. For a brief moment, Golbat activated Agility once more, ramming into the Frost Pulse with Forge Wing to deflect the attack.

"Retreat!" Koga ordered.

Golbat quickly flew backwards before turning around entirely and fleeing his foe. Glaceon tried to chase after him, but grunted in pain as the wounds in her paws continued to sting. It didn't take Ash long to realize that she wasn't moving at her usual speed. She was still fast, but something was wrong.

With a tense face, he realized that her paws were cut open from the Toxic Spikes. They were probably burning wounds thanks to the toxins, and Koga and Golbat could capitalize on it at any minute.

'Exploit every weakness… we need to cover up ours.' "Glaceon! Spray your paws with Chilling Water!"

The ice type slowed to a stop. She was initially confused by her trainer's abrupt order, but as she raised her front paws and saw the lines of blood leaking from the cuts, she realized that Ash must have determined what had happened. Working quickly, she sprayed a weak stream of Chilling Water over her paws, aiming for the wounds. The wintry water splashed over her cold exterior and froze over the numbing cuts.

"Clever kid." Ruunia commented from the stands.

"No time for first aid," Koga remarked. "Advance with Double Team!" Golbat split into three, with one clone on either side, and flew towards Glaceon while gradually descending.

Ash didn't flinch. Two could play in this game. "Do the same, Glaceon!"

Glaceon split into three as well, charging for Golbat and his clones. Her back paws were still stinging, but she resisted the urge to slow down and focused on applying more pressure into her mostly mended front paws. With both parties on a collision course, the real Golbat spat out a liquid that Ash quickly recognized as Venoshock, but one of Glaceon's clones took the hit for her and disappeared on impact. Golbat shuffled with his clones as they rose back up to fly over Glaceon's head, but one of them was taken out by the Swift that she fired in pursuit.

"Keep up the pressure!" Ash called out. "Trailblaze!"

Allowing her remaining clone to disappear, Glaceon cloaked herself in the grassy aura and her running speed gradually increased. She continued firing Swift, taking out the remaining GOlbat clone and landing some small hits on the real one. He was slowing down, and stumbling in midair.

"Forge Wing with Agility!" Golbat performed a sharp turn, blazing forward and meeting Glaceon head on with the sizzling metal wing. She answered with Iron Tail, and grunted as she was almost pushed back, but this time she had enough momentum to combat him, and her strength began winning out. Golbat struck her tail with the other wing, however, now pushing back against her with both. She grit her teeth.

But Ash wasn't worried. 'We have this.' "Hyper Voice!"

Koga ordered for Golbat to pull back, but Glaceon was already letting out a powerful shout that struck him point-blank with a blast of shockwaves. She pulled back her tail as her opponent rolled in the air, trying to stay elevated.

Both Ash and Glacoen smelled blood. "Now! Super Tail!" The ice type lunged for foe while he was off balance, and drove the powered up Iron Tail straight into his face, violently punting him away. Golbat was sent flying before crashing into a wall of a small house, breaking off the wood he had struck and landing motionless in the grass.

"Golbat is unable to battle, Glaceon wins!"

Ash beamed for a moment, relief shooting through his chest. This was not a repeat of their disaster with Surge. The feeling only lasted for a moment, though; he did his best to ignore the apprehension pushing against the back of his mind as Glaceon made her way back to him, but his hairs still tingled.

It didn't stop him from giving his friend a smile and a headpat - cold touch be darned - when she stopped in front of him. "Great fight, girl. How are your paws?" She turned around a raised her back paws for him to look at. As expected, they were cut, and so was her side where she landed in the Toxic Spikes. They weren't deep cuts, and the bruise on her face hadn't looked too bad either; she was no Tempest, but she was still very durable, something her species had a history of deceptively being. The real problem wouldn't be her wounds, but the poison that was now in her system. "How are you feeling?" She stood up straight and raised her head. He wasn't sure how badly poisoned she was, but the effects didn't seem to be showing - yet.

The sight of Golbat being sucked back into his Poke Ball returned the boy's attention to Koga, prompting Glaceon to turn around. The head of the crowned serpent was staring straight at them - at him. It felt like a sword twice his size was being held in front of his face, but Ash stood as firm as could, and the tightening of his fists helped him keep his face into an even glare.

"You did not have that posture after the previous round," Koga remarked. "You were prepared to curl up into a ball when your Kirlia was being decimated, but now that you've won the next round, your strength returns to you."

The sound of Glaceon quietly growling empowered Ash to raise his voice. "I won't make any excuses for the last fight. You're right, I let Valiant down, but that's not going to happen again."

"Is that so?" accompanied by the unchanging expression of the mask, Koga's voice was as concentrated as a sharpened dagger. "It is as I thought, your strength is superficial."

A second growl from Glaceon - this one noticeably louder and easier to hear as she sank into position. Ash felt that sensation tugging at the back of his mind again, and the look in his eyes briefly strained. "What does that mean?"

For a moment or two, Koga was silent. He did not move to select his next Poke Ball, nor did he even cross his arms. Then he spoke again.

"I do not know the greater details regarding you or your life," the Gym Leader said. "But broad strokes can tell a story." He was a great distance away, with an entire battlefield between them, and his face was completely hidden by Shadowblood's mask, but the gaze of a warrior found its way to Ash's juvenile eyes nevertheless. "You've been struggling since before the day you were given that Pokedex. Perhaps some of your most arduous days were even back at home, not on the road or in battle."

Ash stared back at him, willing himself to look Shadowblood in the eye from across an entire battlefield. "What does that have to do with today?"

"By asking that question, you have already shown me the dents in your armor." Koga replied. "You seek growth, Mr. Ketchum. An upbringing's worth of mediocrity breeds struggle. Struggle breeds doubt. Doubt breeds fear, and self-loathing. You are very familiar with all of these, are you not?"

Ash didn't say anything. From her seat in the stands, Janine stared down at him in concern, and her fingers tightened around her palms for a moment.

"I do not know what you had to go through before leaving Pallet Town," Koga continued. "But I am certain that it has caused such things. You don't feel them anymore, however, do you? Not normally, but how much stronger have you gotten, compared to how much stronger you feel? All it takes is for you to lose the feeling."

"Are you trying to say I haven't grown?" Ash felt something else surge through him. A spark. "Then what are me and my team doing with four badges? You only know half of what we had to go through to get here!"

"Broad strokes paint a picture, as I've already said." Koga's tone of voice was like a stone wall, as was his posture. "I warned you nine days ago back in my office, when you said that your team - your new family, was the source of your strength. In the end, they were what motivated you to rise beyond the boy you once were, I am sure."

Ash remembered Pewter. He remembered his wish to become a trainer who deserved Pikachu, Nebula and Valiant - and a trainer that they deserved themselves.

"So you fight, you train and you work as hard as you can." Koga said. "You and your friends are a strong team, but you, as an individual, have always gotten your strength from your team. From your success. You've been looked down on by others in the past, but have learned not to be held back by it. 'I've earned my own approval.', in your words. As long as you're sure of yourself, you are strong. You face me today because you have the confidence to do so. You stood against Sabrina because you knew you were strong enough to challenge her, that you were ready." now he crossed his arms. "But in the end, you still remember what it's like to be helpless. It haunts you. All it takes is something you know you can't handle."

Surge and his Raichu. The masked Rocket and his Feraligatr from Celadon. The Iron-Masked Marauder and his Tyranitar.

"You think you draw your strength from your team, or are they simply a crutch? A blanket to shelter you from the cold? If that's all you have, what happens if you lose them? What happens if your companions are no longer by your side? What happens when you are faced with something that you, as a group, are unable to handle? What happens if you are left feeling as helpless and powerless as you used to be?" One of Koga's hands lowered to his belt. "If such a thing is all it takes, then you are still the same scared kid from the past, merely protected by a suit of armor. Do you want me to expose how fragile that suit is? All structures collapse with their foundation. They cannot exist without them, just like you cannot exist as you are without yours."

His words didn't feel like Ash had been stabbed. Instead it felt like there was an opening in his skin, and something had crawled inside. "...I'm not."

"The burden of proof falls on you." Koga took out his next Poke Ball. "Otherwise, I will pick apart every paper thin piece of your exterior, until there is nothing left protecting you from my blade." he enlarged the Poke Ball and threw it.

'Don't be Haunter.' Ash thought to himself.

The Pokemon that emerged from the ball was a new combatant, and it took Ash a moment or two to recognize what it was: A Skuntank. They were native to Sinnoh and were infamous for spraying a horribly smelling fluid that not even they could handle.

Glaceon tensed her body in preparation, but Ash took out her Poke Ball. "Thanks, Glaceon, but I'm going to recall you for now." the ice type nodded in acceptance and vanished back into the sphere. A few moments later, Pikachu appeared in her place. The yellow mouse was quickly on all fours, identifying his surroundings (his attention stolen away for a moment by the moon and stars in the "sky" above) before focusing on Skuntank. "Hey, buddy. It's one to one right now. That's a Skuntank, they're part dark type and can shoot a very strong stench from their tails. Koga's set some traps around the battlefield with a move like Toxic Spikes, which is it exactly how it sounds. Be careful, okay?"

His starter nodded, posture stiffening more as his tail stood fully erect. Sparks came out of his cheeks, and soon after his tail began to flash, electricity glazing over it. On the other side, Skuntank assumed a neutral stance, but her face conveyed smug aggression, and the tip of her tail resting atop her head, slightly opening and closing a few times.

"BEGIN!"

"Start off with a Thunder Wave, Pikachu!"

Lightning sizzled through Pikachu's fur as he ran towards Skuntank, aiming his tail to fire the bolt.

"Dig." Pikachu flung the Thunder Wave in Skuntank's direction, but the purple skunk frantically burrowed into the dirt to avoid it before moving to the side underground. The upturned soil gave away where she was going. "Toxic Spikes!" Pikachu was ready to give chase, but Skuntank's tail suddenly stuck out from underneath the dirt. A barrage of purple spikes shot into the air out of the tail, descending into the dirt and grass and burying themselves underneath.

"Not again." Ash muttered. The more traps Koga set, the more dangerous and risky it would be for Pikachu and Glaceon to utilize their top speeds, and that would greatly limit both, especially Pikachu who wasn't as strong or durable. A new trail of upturned dirt began reforming, signaling Skuntank's retreat. She was probably going to spread more spikes. "After her!"

Pikachu gave chase. When he passed by the set of spikes she had just laid out, he briefly flinched from the horrible smell coming off of them, but kept running after her. An Electro ball formed at the tip of his tail, and he flung it at the spot she was underneath. The ball of lightning exploded against the dirt, and although she was cushioned from the impact, Skuntank still recoiled from the blast. Climbing out, she fired another set of Toxic Spikes, this time directly at Pikachu. He dodged to the side, leaving them to bury themselves into the dirt behind him.

"Double Team," Ash called out. "Then charge with Zap Tail."

"Smokescreen!"

Pikachu split into multiple copies of himself, but before he could close the distance between himself and his enemy, Skuntank opened her mouth and let loose a stream of thick, black smoke that expanded into a widespread, dark cloud that engulfed the surrounding area. Pikachu's clones began disappearing as he coughed, finding proper breathing to be a struggle inside the cloud. It was getting really hard to see ahead of him, too.

Ash felt the pressure on his shoulders pushing down again, but he didn't budge. "Climb the tree, Pikachu! It's to your left!"

Although the mouse's eyes were stinging from the smoke, the cloud hadn't settled in enough to block his view entirely. He could still make out the tree where Ash had said it was. As fast as he could, he ran towards it and climbed to the top, free from the black smoke and granting himself an overhead view.

"Burn it!" Koga commanded. Grinning, Skuntank turned towards the tree and fired a Flamethrower into the trunk, setting it ablaze. Pikachu got ready to jump off.

"Bounce off of her with Quick Attack, the Thunderbolt!"

Leaping off of the tree, Pikachu plummeted down at a diagonal angle, diving headfirst into Skuntank's side and momentarily knocking her off of her feet. Landing a few yards from her, his paws slid through the dirt while he turned to face her direction, cheeks sparking and eyes glaring. The smoke wasn't as thick anymore, but it still wasn't comfortable, so he leapt back a bit further before firing the Thunderbolt. The skunk responded with a Dark Pulse, the two attacks colliding and canceling each other out.

"Assassination: Fury Swipes!"

Pikachu braced himself for Skuntank to run towards him; his tail stood full erect and his eyes remained glued to her while she sunk into a battle stance. Suddenly, she vanished in a dark flash, and before either Ash or Pikachu could express their confusion, she reappeared in an identical flash, right next to him.

With her claws cloaked in dark energy, Skuntank assaulted Pikachu with a rapid onslaught of slashes. He cried out in startled pain before being knocked away, collecting dirt as he tumbled.

It looked like some form of teleportation, or something that resembled it like Phantom Force, and it didn't take Ash long to guess.

Pikachu pressed his forepaws into the dirt to push himself back to his feet. Skuntank's sudden combo had left his fur disheveled and dirty, and some of it was stained red from the cuts. Just as he turned to her, she was already advancing towards him, firing a Flamethrower that he avoided while retreating in the opposite direction. Just as abruptly, she vanished again with the same move, reappearing right in front of him with her tail raised and glowing a venomous purple. Before he could even let out a startled yelp, she had already struck him in the chest, punting him several feet back and sending him tumbling again.

From the stands, Janine kept her eyes on the action. "Aunt Aya, is that Sucker Punch?"

"Yes," Aya nodded at her niece, but did not look away from the battle. "It locks onto the opponent to blindside them with a sudden attack. It functions similarly to teleportation and other techniques like it, but it can only be used to "teleport" near a target, as it needs to lock onto an enemy to work. It's a tricky move to use, but perfect for your father's tastes. He's also worked to combine it with other moves, as he's doing here."

"It has a shortcoming, of course." Len commented from nearby. "The further away the target is, the harder it is to lock onto them. Pikachu might be fast enough to escape Skuntank's range, if he's tapping into his full speed. But Leader Koga has made that a risk of its own by setting Toxic Spikes throughout the field."

"Yes, he has…" Janine pressed her lips together. Ash and Pikachu's arsenal did have a potential solution to her father's apparent strategy, if they could only think to use it in time. But would her father have a counter for that too?

"Stay strong, Pikachu!" Ash encouraged as Skuntank's Poison Tail smacked him away. He knew Sucker Punch anywhere; he was a fan of Karen, after all. Teleport straight to them and strike them in a blind spot. To negate that, they would have to make it dangerous to get up close. "Use Counter Shield, forward!"

Fur sizzling with sparks, Pikachu faced Skuntank and ran towards her, giving himself momentum before flipping onto his back and sliding through the dirty grass. He fired Thunderbolt as he did so, creating a tornado of lightning coming from his body. Skuntank tried to leap out of the way, but some of the lightning still hit her as she dodged, causing her to recoil.

"Was that your best?" Koga retorted. "Trailblaze!"

Recovering from the shock, Skuntank cloaked herself in grassy energy and rushed forward. She charged right through the electricity from the Counter Shield, but the grass type move she was using cushioned her from the worst of the damage. Cutting through the lightning, she rammed headfirst into Pikachu's spinning form, knocking him away.

"Damn…" Ash grit his teeth. They could try Double Team, but Skuntank had already proven she could nullify that. He couldn't help but feel like they were out of alternatives - they were going to have to risk it. "Use Agility, watch out for the spikes!"

Pikachu caught himself on his tail, balancing his body after the hit from Trailblaze before breaking into a run, which quickly evolved into a sprint. Skuntank tried to lock onto him for another Sucker Punch, but after activating Agility, a burst of speed took him out of her range.

"Give chase with Trailblaze." Koga ordered.

Skuntank ran after Pikachu, once more cloaked in grassy aura. She wasn't nearly as fast, but as long as she could maintain Trailblaze, her speed would keep increasing. Ash wasn't sure how much of an increase she was able to handle, but she had an additional advantage due to not having to worry about the Toxic Spikes, being a poison type herself. Maneuvering around a hut, she tried to predict where Pikachu would be going, and fired a Dark Pulse towards his perceived path. He broke away and avoided it, and she continued to chase him, gradually getting faster.

"Keep running, Toxic Spikes!"

Still pursuing Pikachu, Skuntank's tail pointed upwards and launched a volley of Toxic Spikes into the air, landing in the ground behind her. After another moment or two, she repeated the action.

'He keeps using that move…' Ash watched Pikachu pass through where Skuntank had previously used Smokescreen. Despite being mostly cleared up, some of the smoke was still lingering. 'If this keeps up, half of the whole battlefield will be covered in poisonous spikes, or worse.'

The longer this chase continued, the more likely Pikachu would be to get caught in one of the traps, or have his speed or trajectory compromised by having to constantly avoid them. It also gave Skuntank more time to gain additional speed. They needed to strike back, but as long as she maintained Trailblaze electricity might not work as well.

"Use Swift!" Performing a sharp turn, Pikachu spat a barrage of golden stars out of his mouth. They homed in on Skuntank, who maneuvered to avoid them. Most of the projectiles struck walls or debris, but Ash told Pikachu to keep firing. "Get in close and strike with Iron Tail!"

"Poison Gas, keep moving!" At Koga's orders, Skuntank summoned a purple cloud of gas in Pikachu's direction. The mouse's eyes widened, and he scrambled to go around it, forcing him into a major detour.

"Keep using Swift, Pikachu!" Ash was sweating, but determined. No matter what Koga and Sunktank did, they needed to find a way through.

Pikachu could feel fatigue and soreness threatening to betray him as he continued firing the barrages of stars while trying to maintain as much of his full speed as he could, but did his best to push through it. With another sharp swerve, he found himself nearing Skuntank's trajectory. He needed to capitalize now. Stopping the Swift, he put all of his efforts into running as fast as he could, and cut in front of his opponent's path before blazing right towards her, now on a collision course. His tail turned to metal, and he swung at her as they met head on. She answered by slashing at him with a claw of pulsing dark energy.

Both combatants slammed into each other with their meeting attacks. Pikachu's superior speed carried him, pushing against Skuntank's attack and forcing her backwards, but she kept resisting, straining her claw against his tail.

Pikachu snarled through his grinding teeth, doing his best to overpower her, but he felt his control slipping soon, and then he was the one being pushed back. With a shove, Skuntank sent him tumbling away.

"Swift, now!" Hearing his trainer's call, Pikachu smacked his Iron Tail against the dirt, stopping his momentum and gaining balance in midair. He fired a quick burst of stars at Skuntank while she was still close, and the projectiles pelted her before she had a chance to properly respond. The energy from Trailblaze vanished. "Blast her, now!"

Acting as fast as he could, Pikachu formed an Electro Ball from his tail and flung it with all the force he could muster. Skuntank's eyes widened just before the impact, the explosion of sparks sent her tumbling away with static covering her fur. She came to a stop on her side, with a portion of her fur coat charred.

Closing his sweaty hands tight, Ash raised his voice further. "Now! Super Shock Rush!"

Pikachu's entire body blazed with lightning. Activating Agility, he charged for Skuntank like a missile of electricity.

The moment Pikachu began executing the move, Koga called out. "Foul Play!"

Ash froze in his tracks. If he knew Sucker Punch well, he knew Foul Play far better: It was Karen's favorite move. It turned the target's strength against them, rebounding their attack. The stronger the attack, the more effective it would be.

It was too late to tell Pikachu to stop - the mouse had closed the distance in a snap. Forcing herself to her feet, Skuntank held out her front paws and channeled dark energy into a sinister, blackish-purple barrier. Pikachu slammed into her immediately after, his sparks grinding against her shield. Both Pokemon immediately strained from the impact - Pikachu felt the barrier pushing against him, denying him access and trying to launch him back, and Skuntank equally felt the tremendous force that he had slammed into her with. She struggled to keep the barrier intact as he pushed her back, and grit her teeth in displeasure at the heat of the crackling sparks.

The collision was a point of no return: If Pikachu couldn't break through, all of the momentum and power behind his attack would be turned onto him. Ash didn't let himself choke.

"Come on buddy, keep going!"

The mouse could hear his trainer calling to him, and did everything he could to push back harder against Skuntank's resistance. On her hindlegs, the skunk fought to maintain her balance as her opponent threatened to bowl her over. She grinded her back paws against the soil in an effort to stay upright, and kept her Foul Play channeled.

Then Pikachu's attack stopped pushing her backwards. She was firmly upright now, but the electric type kept fighting back, straining against her barrier with everything he had.

Finally, with a lunge, she shoved forward and launched him away. It was like something had slammed into him; Pikachu's cry was sharp and loud as he was sent rocketing backwards with uncontrollable momentum. Ash called out to him, but the mouse was helpless. First he was flying backwards, then he was tumbling violently through the field, collecting dirty and loose grass onto his already messy and bloodied fur. Skunktank took a deep breath to try and regather herself before running after him.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out to his starter again as he finally came to a stop. "Are you okay?"

The young mouse was collapsed onto his stomach. Panting, he pressed his paws into the dirt, pushing hard against it to slowly lift himself up. His paws were shaking for a moment, but despite his pain and exhaustion, he managed to steady himself before continuing, rising to his knees before trying to get to his feet.

Skuntank was getting in range.

"Assassination: Night Slash!"

Skuntank vanished in a dark flash and reappeared right behind Pikachu's rising form. He was on one foot, in the process of lifting up the other as she raised her claw, sizzling with dark energy.

He didn't even see the attack coming.

The Night Slash cut into his back and pounded him headfirst into the dirt. Pikachu flipped onto his back and his head tilted to the side. There was no more movement after that.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Skuntank wins!"

Ash couldn't help his dejection as he observed the skunk standing over the fallen mouse. She had not come out of the fight unscathed, as evidenced by her burnt fur, but she seemed to be fully ready for another round. They had landed hits, but Koga and Skuntank had them outclassed the whole fight.

It wasn't for a lack of trying, though. He knew that for a fact, and pushed his disappointment aside while returning Pikachu to his Poke Ball. "Thanks for everything, buddy. You did great today." He reclipped the ball to his belt, and took a deep breath before looking to where he dreaded to look: Koga.

"You failed to take the lead in this war." The masked Gym Leader's voice was as firm and precise as ever.

Ash kept his face steel, not daring to let his opponent's gaze penetrate him for the umpteenth time. "I have three Pokemon left ready to battle, we're not even half beaten yet."

Koga unflinchingly crossed his arms while Skuntank made her way back to him. "And yet with the current trajectory, you will lose."

Ash's face twitched - just like that, it was as if his efforts to keep it away from him meant nothing. Instead of responding, he brought his hand back to his belt, and returned his focus to Skuntank.

Perhaps Pikachu's glass cannon attributes had made him a poor matchup for her; or perhaps that was just him finding an excuse. Either way, Koga was right. Before he knew it, they would run out of time to turn things around.

Glaceon, Phenom and Tempest. All three were much better at taking hits than Pikachu and Valiant - a clearly appreciated factor in this battle. After a moment or two, he decided on Phenom's Poke Ball, but before he could enlarge it, Koga spoke again.

"You're sending out your Tyrunt next if I'm not mistaken." the boy paused as the masked Gym Leader continued. In front of the poison Master, Skuntank was licking her paws like a cat. "That would mean your Kingler is the last one to be sent out."

Ash's nose wrinkled bitterly before enlarging the capsule and releasing Phenom. The dinosaur raised his head out of the white light and gave a greeting call before stomping in place. His ready-for-war attitude kept Ash on track.

"They're in the lead right now, Phenom." he explained. "Pikachu and Valiant have been taken out, but we have a knockout too. There are Toxic Spikes spread throughout the battlefield, and…" he hissed to himself a bit. "Something tells me there's gonna be more." Phenom growled.

He waited to see if Koga was going to keep Skuntank out before giving the Tyrunt any further instructions. A dreadful anticipation passed over him when the Gym Leader recalled the skunk and took out another Poke Ball.

'Don't be Haunter.'

It was Haunter.

The moment the purple ghost appeared, he looked right at Ash across the battlefield, and his face twisted into a sickly, agonized expression. Ash looked away as quickly as he could, back to Phenom.

"Listen, Haunter has a bunch of tricks up his sleeves. He can use Toxic Spikes like I said, and he also knows a move called Hex that can hurt you really badly if you're poisoned among other things." Phenom nodded, before slowly advancing to his starting position. Ash watched him go for a moment, before calling out again. "Wait!"

The dinosaur stopped mid step and looked back at his trainer, but Ash gestured for him to come to him again, looking the Tyrunt in the eye. Phenom's gaze was bright with fire, contrasting how adorable the rest of his face was. It was a reminder of the hatchling who had grown up.

"Haunter…" Ash started. "He makes faces that remind me of those ghosts we saw being tortured in the cage. And noises like the panicking ghosts from Lavender. Try… try not to get distracted, okay? Keep it out of your head, no sympathy." Phenom nodded again, and when he turned back to Haunter, Ash caught a glimpse of his expression: It was more fiery than ever. The boy's eyes fell on the ghost, who's face shifted and morphed into one of a suffering creature desperately wishing to be saved. It made Ash's skin crawl, and turn cold as ice as his hairs stood up. He tried to warm that cold feeling with the fire he willed into his eyes, mimicking Phenom's inner blaze.

'No sympathy.'

"BEGIN!"

Phenom made a run for it, spitting Rock Blast at Haunter as he advanced. The ghost dodged the barrage of rocks before floating back, raising himself into the air out of the Tyrunt's reach. He formed multiple Will-O-Wisps, juggling the ghostly fireballs in his hands like a circus performer. His face was still the same pained, sickly expression attempting to permanently carve its way into Ash's brain. Phenom's face twitched for a moment when Haunter began fearfully chattering, bad memories surfacing. He growled, as though forcing them away before letting loose another barrage of rocks. Haunter avoided the upwards Rock Blast with a swerve to the side before rapidly tossing the Will-O-Wisps down to the dinosaur one by one. The Tyrunt braced himself against the flames - his resistance to fire rendered the assault almost inconsequential, but Haunter was capitalizing.

Vanishing from sight with Phantom Force, the large, purple ghost reappeared behind Phenom with a fist of ice. Ash called out a warning, but turning to face his attacker simply rewarded the young dragon with a punch to the face rather than the back of the head. The force wasn't able to knock the Tyrunt off of his feet - although it came close - but he staggered away ungracefully while his opponent backed up to regain distance.

A Shadow Ball formed at the tip of Haunter's fingers, enlarging in size as Phenom recovered. Saliva dripped from the poisonous ghost's tongue as it hung out of his open mouth, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Ash waited for Haunter to rear his hand back and prepare to throw the ghostly sphere before saying anything.

"Catch it with Crunch!"

Haunter positioned himself over the roof of a house and tossed the ball of distortion Phenom's way. The Tyrunt kept his eye on the projectile and ran towards it with an open mouth. Dark energy extended from his jaws, and with a lunge he caught the Shadow Ball, clenching down on it as tightly as he could with his teeth. Used properly, dark type energy was known to devour ghostly energy, and although Phenom felt the force of the attack, his Crunch ate away at the Shadow Ball as he continued to bind it in his jaw grip as hard as he could, forcing Haunter's attack to evaporate between his teeth.

Haunter had descended behind the house once Phenom had finished successfully destroying the Shadow Ball. The Tyrunt resumed running in the direction of that house, but as he got closer, the poisonous ghost suddenly emerged from the wall. He was making a new face this time, one of shocked horror, but Ash reminded himself it was all a facade, ignoring the prickling in his skin.

"Don't let him get to you, Phenom. Keep fighting!"

"Yes indeed." Koga raised his voice. "Use Taunt!"

Ash's heart skipped a beat. "No, don't look at him!"

Phenom was already staring into the ghost's eyes, however. They glowed a deep velvet as his face twisted into an insufferable, mocking smirk. The dinosaur's expression contorted, and his gaze turned into one of piercing rage. Adrenaline shot through his body as he sprinted forward faster than ever, letting loose a forceful roar.

"Phenom, calm down!" Ash knew it didn't matter. Taunt was a move that messed with the target's emotions - forcibly bringing out anger and aggression to make them act irrationally. As a Tyrunt, Phenom was especially susceptible to such a move.

And Ash had just told him to fight with "no sympathy".

Phenom blindly rushed Haunter to attack him with Crunch, but Haunter seamlessly slipped back through the wall he was sticking out of, and the Tyrunt crashed face first. He was only dazed for a moment, but Haunter reappeared at his side, charging Ice Punch through his fist.

"Back off, Phenom! Avoid it!" His attempted command was fruitless. The moment Haunter appeared, Phenom completely disregarded the ghost's icy fist and lunged for him. Haunter swerved around the dinosaur to avoid the third Crunch and drove his Ice Punch into Phenom's side. The Tyrunt yelped as the attack knocked him off of his feet, and Haunter backed away while progressively rising into the air, about as high as the rooftops of the village houses. As he created distance between himself and the dragon, his face returned to its sickly expression, and the fearful chattering resumed. The moment Phenom picked himself back up and opened his eyes, his eyes flashed with the same trance-like anger induced by Taunt, and he sent another roar Haunter's way. His feet stomped against the dirt as though he was flailing and expecting the very ground under him to shatter like glass.

"Damn it…" Ash muttered. His hairs stood up at the sound of Haunter's voice. Of all the Pokemon on his team, maybe even including Tempest, Phenom was the most vulnerable to a manipulative move that drew out anger from a target. Though a poison specialist, a genius like Koga unsurprisingly was likely to be aware of a Tyrunt's violent temper. "Phenom, you need to calm down!"

It was like the dinosaur was deaf.

"My…" Ruunia commented from her seat, momentarily taken aback by the bloodlusted tantrum. "He really wasn't exaggerating about that species."

"Haze!" Koga's voice boomed.

Haunter's mouth stretched open wider than Ash thought possible. A stream of thick, blue clouds emerged, aimed down at the Tyrunt, spreading out as they approached the ground and engulfing the dragon. Phenom's form was obscured as he growled in discomfort. Haze was an ice type move, and the clouds were cold. The temperature around him was dropping abruptly, and that discomfort quickly turned into frustration, heightening his anger with another roar. Wanting to get out of the Haze just as much as he wanted to rip the ghost to shreds, the dinosaur charged through, but Haunter was already long gone when he emerged through the other side of the clouds. Using Phantom Force, the purple ghost had transported himself to another section of the battlefield, burrowing more Toxic Spikes into the ground at Koga's instruction.

While looking around, Phenom finally caught sight of his opponent, fury renewed as he bolted in Haunter's direction. The ghost's eyes briefly glowed velvet again as his tongue held out of his mouth, forming a Shadow Ball between his hands. Charging the ghostly projectile with both hands created a bigger sphere than usual, which he reared back and hurled the rapidly advancing Tyrunt's way. Phenom responded with a Dragon Pulse.

The two attacks collided, and the distortion and draconic energy scattered while they detonated against each other, kicking up a forceful wind in all directions that carried the lingering particles further.

"Phenom!" Ash called out. "You need to get back!" the force in his voice increased, but Phenom didn't respond. He was too angry, as though his feral, ancient instincts had totally taken hold. Just as Koga wanted.

…

"You're sending out your Tyrunt next if I'm not mistaken."

…

'Just as he wanted'. Koga had predicted which Pokemon he would bring to the battle from the start. Somehow, he knew Phenom would be the next Pokemon he sent out, in the specific moment that he did. And just when Ash had urged Phenom not to be deterred by Haunter mimicking the distressed ghosts they had encountered, and to fight hard no matter what, that was when Taunt had come into play.

…

The boy clenched his fists. "Bastard…" his whisper was so quiet even he could barely hear it.

A moment later, Haunter positioned himself closer to the ground, eyes locked with Phenom, who made no effort to avert his gaze. Lowering his head, the dragon kept his eyes on his prey and charged.

"Confuse Ray, follow up with Night Shade."

Haunter's eyes pulsed. The flash emanating from them was debilitating and nauseating to look at, and Phenom got the full dose. Lightheadedness disrupted his balance mid run, and the blurred, slanting vision in his eyes made it worse. He tried coming to a stop, but his balance failed him as he did, and he collapsed to his knees after tripping.

Ash glared ahead, fists still tightened. He knew what was coming next.

Haunter floated gradually closer to the Tyrunt's position, and his eyes flashed again, but this time the aura was eerie with distortion, and his gaze was a deep purple. Phenom's vision was still blurred and unfocused, until he was abruptly blindsided by a mirage. In his current state, his mind would not allow him to process what he was seeing, but it was something terrifying, sending his fight or flight response into overdrive. Blurry vision and dizziness be damned, the young dragon's eyes shot as widely open as they physically could, and his spine freezing shriek transitioned into a murderous roar. He forced himself to stand, and fired a Dragon Pulse - but it wasn't aimed anywhere near Haunter. Instead it crashed into a house, toppling the wall it detonated against.

"No…" It dawned on Ash just how much the control had slipped away from him. Haunter was charging a Shadow Ball between both hands, sending chills down Ash's back with more of the fearful chattering, and Phenom was flailing his feet against the dirt before smacking his snout into the ground. "Phenom, you have to stop!" if his friend could hear him, he could not tell.

Haunter threw the Shadow Ball. With Phenom reeling from the successive Confuse Ray and Night Shade, he made no effort to defend against the attack. The ghostly projectile detonated against his body, sending him back with a wail.

And he landed in the Toxic Spikes.

Haunter resumed chattering. Floating backwards, he phased through a wall in one of the houses, his trembling phase slowly disappearing the further in he went. Just before it completely left Ash's view, the ghost let out a blood curdling shriek. The noise echoed across the battlefield and made the boy want to jump out of his skin. As if on instinct, his eyes darted to the floor at his feet.

…

The chattering continued. For a moment, Ash told himself that if he looked anywhere other than the floor, he would be back in the tower. Or if he saw Haunter's face, he would be back in front of that cage with Connie, cornered by Caesar.

…Cornered by Caesar…

…

His fists clenched harder for a moment, before releasing his grip on himself. His fingers dangled next to his sides, and he dared to look up. His eyes were met with the ceiling disguised as the night sky - disguised so convincingly that when he wasn't reminding himself, he thought that he was under a beautiful cluster of stars surrounding a shining moon. It was a much more calming sight than the literal warzone the battlefield was emulating.

'That's right…' Ash's nose wrinkled. 'Haven't I been through this before? I told myself when we fought Caesar that I was done running away. And now…'

He lowered his head, staring straight out to the other side where Koga was watching him. The Gym Leader's masked gaze was glued to his form - the eyes of the crowned serpent that was Shadowblood's face. It made the young rookie's nose twitch.

The chattering, the faces, Taunt, Confuse Ray, Night Shade. This whole fight was psychological. He and Phenom were being taken advantage of. Even long before the battle had started, Len had been sent to spy on him and Tempest at the Safari Zone.

…

Everything was a mind game.

Haunter appeared directly ahead of Koga. He was looking at Ash too. The purple ghosts eyes were trembling with emotion. His large hands reached up to grab the corners of his mouth and stretch it, as though trying to make his lips longer. Even as he did, though, the look in his eyes remained the same. The sight skipped another beat in Ash's heart, and then Haunter's head slowly turned to Phenom.

Tyrunt were resistant to poison, so landing in the Toxic Spikes wasn't immediately bad news, but from the angle he was facing, Ash was having a hard time getting a look at his face. As the dinosaur picked himself up, something in Ash's gut told him that something was different, like the impact from the Shadow Ball had knocked Phenom out of a trance. He was rising slowly, but was it because he was injured, or was his mind still fuzzy from the Confuse Ray and Night Shade?

He was calmer though. Not as angry. And that realization quickened Ash's blood.

"Right," he muttered to himself. "This isn't what I want. It's not who I am anymore." he raised his voice again, not just loud, but also sharper. "Phenom!"

The Tyrunt was fully on his feet again. He was bruised, but not injured. The poison had only just entered his system, but his resistance would help combat it. And this time, he responded to his trainer's call. When he looked back to Ash, the boy saw the daze in the dragon's eyes, but much of the malice seemed to be gone, like he was starting to snap out of it. Ash wouldn't let that regress.

"Stop ignoring me." Ash's tone was firm. Focused. Concentrated. "I'm your trainer. Focus on what I'm saying to you. Now."

Phenom could make out Ash's voice. There was a strong, sobering demand in his trainer's words as the young dinosaur scanned his surroundings for Haunter, and found the ghost slowly approaching him. It was like all of the muscles in his body tensed at the sight of the enemy.

"Breath, Phenom." Ash kept the urgency out of his voice. "Remember Ruunia? Try to stay calm."

Air flowed from the Tyrunt's nostrils. His eyes narrowed, just barely enough to be noticeable. His knees bent, and he quietly growled for a second or two before the noise faded away.

'If we go right for them, Koga could use another Taunt or Confuse Ray.' With that in mind, Ash called out. "Phenom, run to the side, around Haunter!"

Phenom's face twitched. Haunter was right there ahead of him. He could charge straight towards him right now and sink his fangs into that ghost once and for all!

…

He breathed again, and turned to the side, starting with a jog that turned to a sprint in ana attempt to circle the ghost.

"Surround yourself with Haze!" Koga commanded.

Haunter's lips curved mischievously as he formed another stream of icy clouds. This time, however, he aimed the Haze downwards. The clouds rose up from the ground and enshrouded him, rendering him totally invisible as they began to slowly spread in all directions.

"Par-" Ash stopped himself. He had been about to say "Part the clouds with Hyper Voice!" but Koga had to be predicting that. If Phenom had gotten rid of the clouds to expose Haunter, the ghost would have already vanished at that point. "Keep running, Phenom! Watch out for the spikes ahead of you!"

So Phenom ignored the Haze, continuing on his current trajectory and maneuvering around two nearby traps of Toxic Spikes. Haunter reappeared several feet away, behind the Tyrunt at diagonal angle - just enough to be out of a sight. There was a Shadow Ball in his hand, not as big as the previous couple, most likely only charged up with one hand instead of two. Ash waited for Haunter's hand to rear back for the throw before calling out. "Turn around, punt it back with Iron Tail!"

Phenom skidded to a stop while rotating his body. He saw the ghostly projectile flying towards him, and his eyes barely widened. With a growl, he swung his metallic tail into the incoming Shadow Ball. The impact was felt, but the steel type move rendered it mostly painless and even as Haunter's attack sizzled against him, the Iron Tail was durable and resisted it. Phenom continued to push and sent the orb flying back to its sender. Haunter raced forward in his direction, avoiding the Shadow Ball and clenching his left fist to charge an Ice Punch.

Ash thought quickly. "Sprint towards him with Rock Blast!"

Phenom kicked off the dirt and dashed straight for the approaching ghost as fast as he could. With the two on a rapid collision course, Haunter was given barely any time at all to dodge the barrage of rocks flying from the Tyrunt's mouth, getting painfully clipped in the side and disrupting his movement. The Ice Punch faded away and the purple ghost strangely almost fell out of the air, shaking his body to stop his descent.

Ash glared. Haunter was stunned. They were ending this now. "Psychic Fangs!"

Phenom kept running. His mouth opened as wide as it was able, and his teeth pulsed with psychic energy that extended from them like an extra set of jaws. He lunged forward.

And bit down hard.

The Psychic Fangs dug into Haunter's spectral form without relent. One of the worst shrieks Ash had ever heard ripped from the poison ghost's mouth - as a poison type, he had a weakness to Psychic moves even as a ghost, and it was all backed up by the power of Phenom's incredible biting strength. Haunter tried to flail in the Tyrunt's grip, but was soon dragged into the dirt, the psychic empowered jaws remaining locked into him as Phenom continued to squeeze and bind, sending the energy pulsing through his victim's body.

"Haunter, Hex!"

Haunter heard the order, and managed to raise his hand, but the agony shooting through him made it difficult to form the crackling sphere of distortion. More than once, the energy would blink on and off, unable to be maintained before he finally formed a proper one and thrust it into Phenom. The Tyrunt recoiled from the attack, and his grip forcibly loosened but he did not let go. The weakened grip allowed Haunter to better resist, however, and the ghost began struggling to pull back in the opposite direction, trying to rip himself free in the direction of the house close by.

"Don't let go, Phenom!" Ash encouraged.

"Keep fighting back!" If Koga was worried about Haunter's chances, his voice wasn't showing it, remaining as commanding as ever.

Haunter had slightly less difficulty forming the second Hex, hitting Phenom point blank once more. The Tyrunt's jaw almost open, but he kept his grip, as weakened as it was. Haunter managed to move towards the house, but he couldn't free himself from the dragon's grip, instead dragging Phenom with him. Even with the grip loosened, the Psychic Fangs were still painful.

'Damnit, we should have used Crunch.' Ash realized. It may have been harder for Haunter to form a ghost type move while trapped in a dark type attack, compared to a psychic type move. "Pull harder, Phenom! Don't let him reach the wall!"

It was almost like Ash's words were additional juice for his friend. Even as Haunter pulled as hard as he could, the dragging stopped as Phenom tightened his jaw once more. The house was right there.

"Lick!" Koga raised his voice. Not a moment too soon, Haunter's large tongue slapped across the side of Phenom's face. The Tyrunt only froze for a second or two, but it was enough: Haunter resumed dragging him, and when the ghost passed through the wall, the dragon's snout bumped into it, forcing to release his hold.

Ash had to admit it was a clever strategy, and a good way to take advantage of Haunter's ability to pass through walls. He was frustrated for a second or two before gathering himself. Even if Haunter had escaped defeat, there was no way he was unscathed after that.

The boy's heart quickened when he saw the ghost emerge from the other side of the house, limping in midair. More vulnerable than ever.

"Phenom, he's weak! Go around and take him out!"

The Tyrunt had already picked himself up. Stamping his feet, he ran around the house to the other side, eyes pulsing when he saw the vulnerable position Haunter was in. The Psychic Fangs had left him badly wounded, and the sight onl;y served to encourage the dinosaur further as he prepared to charge.

"Confuse Ray!" Koga boomed.

"Close your eyes, don't stop!" Ash called out longer than before.

Haunter's eyes shined with the same debilitating flash as before, and while sprinting towards him, Phenom squeezed his eyes shut just in time. Even then, he still felt the effects, discomfort pulsing through his head, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He kept running, swinging a Dragon Tail with a loud grunt and sending the ghost tumbling away.

"Now Dragon Pulse!"

Haunter was trying to pick himself up when Phenom took aim. The Tyrunt's mouth opened wide, a small orb of rainbow energy forming in his jaws before expanding to twice, and then multiple times its size. The dragon lunged forward and fired the blast of draconic energy, one of the biggest he had formed to date. When Haunter lifted his head to see the attack barreling towards him, his eyes expanded, his face decorated with horror.

This time, it was no act.

The Dragon Pulse exploded against Haunter in a direct hit, and he lost consciousness too quickly to properly cry out in pain. The force sent him flying backwards, his limp form passing through a house before landing on the ground and tumbling through the dirt, before coming to a motionless stop.

"Haunter is unable to battle," Akira spoke with the same authority as usual, but Ash did not process his words right away. "Tyrunt wins!"

When Haunter disappeared into Koga's Poke Ball, the boy felt a tightness in his chest subside, and his shoulders became far less heavy. The exhale that left his mouth was involuntary, but he welcomed it as it seemed to loosen his body even more. A split second sensation of relief that felt as rejuvenating as a glass of water, or stepping into an air conditioned house when it was scorching hot outside.

From her seat at the stands, Janine felt a similar release in tension, although a small amount of it returned to her as she went through everything in her mind "It's over. That part, anyway."

"He turned that around pretty well," Len replied, watching Phenom make his way back to his trainer. "I worry how things could have gone if Haunter was not dealt with as soon as possible."

Ash took a moment to look past Phenom's approaching form, and towards Koga. The sight of the mask - and the knowledge of the poison Master's piercing stare - still stood his hairs up, but Haunter's absence felt like one less sword being pointed at him. Looking away from the Gym Leader, the boy grinned at his dinosaur partner and patted his head. Phenom closed his eyes for a moment, allowing Ash to rub him. The Tyrunt appeared to be breathing harder than before, but he was hardly on his last legs.

"How are you feeling?" Ash quickly addressed the most important factor. "Is the poison doing anything to you?"

Phenom stood upright and raised his head. Although not in his best shape, he clearly could have been worse, and offered his trainer a confident snarl.

"That's good," Ash nodded back in approval. "Do you think you're up for another round?" The fact that Phenom waited for a moment before nodding was more assuring than if he had simply said yes right away - his partner had actually thought about it, before still deciding that he was ready to fight. "Sounds good, get ready then." The young dragon turned around, but didn't go too far yet, simply taking several steps forward before crouching and baring his teeth in Koga's direction.

The score was an even 2-2 now, and the battle was five on five. So much had happened, and that knowledge sunk in even further when Ash realized how much was left for them to do - the battle was not even close to being over. It weighed on him for a moment, but he dared to look at the masked Gym Leader directly, as the ninja Master took out his next Poke Ball.

Pikachu was gone. Valiant was gone. Phenom and Glaceon were poisoned, and the battlefield was filled with Toxic Spikes just waiting to make it worse. The boy's brow furrowed, and he willed himself to glare straight at his opponent.

"Stay out of our heads, Koga. You're not allowed in there."

He was expecting a response, and the fact that he got none unsettled him, but only for a moment or two. He stood straight and his expression evened out in anticipation for their next opponent.

Koga threw the Poke Ball a fairly good distance. The orb burst open, and for a moment, Ash was confused. That confusion turned to surprise as the boy progressively registered what the Gym Leader's fifth team member was.

Out of the Poke Ball emerged a large mass of purple sludge, complete with hands and eyes. A horrible stench came from his body (although the barrier would keep it contained, and the battlefield itself was far from small), and the grass he rested on top of quickly died, the grass around him also wilting. In front of Ash, Phenom blinked, uncharacteristically taken aback by his new opponent.

Ash bit his tongue. Of all the Pokemon he had expected Koga to use, the poison Master had sent one of the few to elude his expectations. A Muk.

Muk were among the most notorious species in Kanto, because they were literally living biohazards. They thrived off of pollution, gathering in the most uninhabitable of abandoned areas. Their pre-evolved form, Grimer, were known for gathering in masses, yet were not easy to seek out due to the nature of the places they lived. Their presence often signaled a hazardous area that was best avoided for multiple reasons beyond just their presence alone. As far as Ash knew, Muk themselves were fairly rare nowadays, but were known for how dangerous they were. Just coming in contact with them was a horror story in the making.

Phenom pressed his lips together as he eyed the Muk cautiously. Even from this distance, Muk was clearly bigger than him, but it was the nature of his appearance, not simply his size that gave the young dragon pause. And as the sludge Pokemo's eyes landed on him, Muk's face formed into a deep, hostile glare. Even for Phenom, the expression looked scary coming from a Pokemon that looked like that, and Ash himself felt his heart jump inside of his chest.

"Phenom," Ash regathered himself, knowing that he didn't have time to be caught up in the surprise. Whether any of them liked it or not, they would have to find a way to defeat this thing. "Are you still up for this?" This time, Phenom waited two moments to respond, but still nodded. "Okay… that's called a Muk. Its very body is basically a deadly weapon. I don't think you should bite it, even with Psychic Fangs. It's going to be very strong and durable, and even though you're resistant to poison, its toxins should still be avoided the best we possibly can. Thankfully, it should hopefully be slow, at least compared to you. Muk aren't known for their speed. Are you ready?"

The Tyrunt nodded. He didn't growl this time, but he did shoot air out of his nostrils like a gun. Muk continued to glare at him and Ash - Phenom returned the glare with one of his own, and Ash was left wondering what he would rather look at: Muk's murderous face, or Koga wearing Shadowblood's mask.

"BEGIN!"

Phenom did not immediately rush his opponent, nor did Ash encourage him too. The dinosaur kept his eyes fixed on Muk, cautiously approaching him at a slow pace. As he moved, he went out of his way to put force into his steps, stomping into the ground while gradually closing the distance between them. The large sludge Pokemon remained stationary, not making any efforts to move at even a slow pace, staring the young dragon down with a repulsed gaze.

Ash combed his thoughts while carefully watching his partner. Although the psychic energy of Psychic Fangs would certainly be effective against Muk, he wasn't comfortable with Phenom potentially giving himself a mouth full of sludge, and did not know enough about the Grimer line's biology in general. He did know that Muk were supposed to give off an atrocious stench, which could serve as a distraction all on its own if the sludge creature weaponized it properly; and it was clear to Ash that Leader Koga would find a way to weaponize anything.

"Poison Gas," Koga broke the silence. "And scatter Toxic Spikes!"

Muk's frightening scowl deepened before he belched a cloud of toxins out of his mouth. Phenom paused as the gas advanced towards him, and his nostrils twitched. His face began involuntarily scrunching at how the Poison Gas smelled, and when he backed away a few steps, that almost felt involuntary as well. Muk remained stationary - after spitting out the disgusting cloud, the thick, purple sludge making up his body churned, and something told Ash he would be holding in his food if he witnessed it up close. Spikes of identical color poked out of his sludgy body on nearly all sides, and with an upwards thrust he sent them scattering about the surrounding area.

"Shit," Ash muttered before he could stop himself. "It's alright, Phenom! Part the Poison Gas with Hyper Voice!"

Phenom made a squeezing motion with his face, trying to keep his nose closed. With a lunge, he let out the loudest shout he was capable of producing, sending a blast of shockwaves into the venomous cloud. The Poison Gas was fairly large in size, but did not put up much resistance against the Hyper Voice, breaking up in all directions and fading away.

Muk had finished using Toxic Spikes, leaving more infected spots and traps on the battlefield than there already were. The sludge Pokemon still had not moved from his starting spot, and likely would not until he was prompted. And if they didn't prompt him soon, Koga would continue taking advantage - the slow paced caution that they showed had given him and Muk a chance to spread more spikes, and the knowledge of that was like an alarm clock waking Ash up.

'If we don't move in now, he'll keep spreading more spikes and worsening things for us. But he's probably doing that to make us come to him on his own terms.' Ash felt his shoulders regaining their weight from before. It seemed that as long as this match continued, the Gym Leader would never stop finding ways to pressure them.

"We gotta go for it, Phenom!" the boy called out. "Watch out for the spikes, and move in with Rock Blast!"

Keeping his face tightly clenched, Phenom sped up into a jog. As he came in closer, he opened his mouth again to fire the barrage of rocks. Muk stayed in his position, crossing his arms in front of his body. The sludge making up his body turned hard and almost solid, and the large poison type only mildly winced as the projectiles shattered against him.

"Keep firing," Ash called out. "Get in closer!" As commanded, Phenom continued his approach. The disgusting odor coming off of Muk's body was reaching his nose, prompting his instincts to tell him not to get any closer, but he did his best to ignore them, still firing the Rock Blast to barely any effect.

Ash could tell the attack wasn't doing much, and it unfortunately did not surprise him. He had rarely seen a Muk in battle before, as not many trainers had them (even those who fully recognized the potential of the species weren't likely to pursue one), but he knew their thick sludge body made them tanks. That same body of sludge discouraged him from making use of Tyrunt's most consistent asset: His jaws. Thankfully, there were other ways to commit their offense.

"Switch to Earth Power!"

Phenom quickly ceased the Rock Blast and struck the ground beneath him, sending a wave of energy rippling rapidly towards Muk, who stayed in his defensive stance. The attack exploded against him, sending him sliding backwards, and Phenom was sure he saw droplet's of sludge scattering. This time, Muk's reaction was visible, recoiling from the impact and letting out an ugly wail.

As always, Koga's tone of voice remained almost the same. "Dark Pulse!"

The moment Muk recovered, he raised his large, left hand, pulsing with dark energy that the sludge Pokemon closed his hand around into a fist. The poison type struck the ground with great force, sending a dark shockwave in Phenom's direction, and the Tyrunt quickly leapt out of the way.

"Another one," Koga ordered. "Charge him this time!"

'Charge him…?' Ash repeated in his thoughts. As far as he knew, Muk weren't very fast Pokemon, and the thought gave him a bad feeling. He knew that Koga had a solution to that problem just before seeing it for himself.

Muk's body changed. Instead of turning more solid like before, the mass of sludge became more liquified, like a giant, sentient puddle forming the shape of a creature. The way Muk moved in this form almost reminded Ash of Tempest using Surf, even leaving behind a toxic trail - and it was moving faster than he ever could have predicted from a member of the species. Phenom recoiled in surprise, but still managed to evade the second Dark Pulse - Muk's right arm turned more solid again and sent another shockwave towards the dinosaur as he charged him, but Phenom defiantly leapt above Muk's head and landed behind him. The sludge monstrosity turned around at one hundred and eighty degrees to face him again as the rest of his body turned to normal. Renewing his repulsed scowl, Muk opened his mouth - which stretched disturbingly wide - and spat out a fast moving glob of mud, a Mud Shot. Phenom narrowly avoided it, but the projectile came so close to grazing him that he could still feel it passing by.

Ash watched the exchange. 'That was Acid Armor, of course!' A move that, when properly utilized, was supposed to liquefy the user's body - Janine's Tentacruel had been progressively learning it over the course of their travels together. It was blatantly effective for a Pokemon whose body was literal sludge, and naturally a useful means of mending Muk's speed problem.

He thought quickly, wanting to come up with something before Koga and Muk attacked again. Earth Power had worked pretty well, but they needed to find a way to down Muk, and hit him with the ground type move again while he was off balance. Stomp could work pretty well if Phenom could hit him hard enough. Acid Armor would be a good counter against that, though - liquefying Muk's body would undermine the physical impact - but the moment Ash thought of that contingency, the moment he came up with a solution.

"Phenom, knock him over with Stomp, right on the head! If he uses Acid Armor again, blast him with Hyper Voice!" The Tyrunt nodded, almost blowing air from his nostrils, but managing to hold back because of the smell. As Muk stared him down, the young dragon rushed him, leaping in the air over him aiming downwards with his foot. Either his body weight and brute strength would knock Muk off balance, or the shockwaves of Hyper Voice will.

"Toxic Spikes: Armor!" Koga waited until the very moment Phenom was preparing to jump to call out the order.

Muk's sludge body turned hard and solid again, but this time, something far more frightening and shocking happened. His exterior completely changed shape - his body turned sharp, the hardened, outer sludge morphing into purple spikes that seemingly covered every corner of him, including his head. Phenom came down with his foot, and Muk responded with a violent lunge, driving his forehead directly into the bottom of the foot that his attacker was stomping on him with. The two collided, and the spikey forehead pierced the skin of Phenom's foot, digging deep into the inside. The downward force of Phenom's Stomp, Muk's strength, and the durability of the hardened spikes all worked to penetrate the dinosaur's foot, stabbing into it like a blade made of solid poison. A moment later, the impact forced Muk to recoil backwards with a grunt, a spot of red dripping from his forehead. The blood had not come from him.

Phenom shrieked. A hole had been cut into his foot, leaking blood, and burning from the toxins that had forced their way inside. He landed on his other foot, but quickly gave out, collapsing onto his side as tears struggled to leak from his eyes, some managing to get through.

"Ph-Phenom!?" Ash stared at Muk's form with more shock than he had ever felt throughout the entire Gym battle thus far. The sludge creature had just… literally turned his body into a mass of toxic spikes. Even his arms!

"Scatter!" Koga's voice boomed. When Muk spread his arms out wide, he looked bigger than ever. The spikes rocketed off of his body in all directions until his appearance returned to normal, spreading even more Toxic Spikes throughout the surrounding area. The moment he was finished, Koga was already ordering again. "Now pin him!"

Phenom was still on the ground when Muk made his next move. Stretching himself to his full height, the sludge monstrosity loomed over the young dragon and pounced on him, holding him down and completely covering him with his toxic body. Phenom tried to fight back, but the pressure was too great, and he became progressively covered until he was entirely obscured trapped underneath Muk.

"Damnit…!" Ash was fairly familiar with this. It was a common tactic employed by Muk and Grimer. Common because it was effective. "Phenom, Psychic Fangs! Hyper Voice! Get him off of you!"

He wasn't sure if his partner could hear him or not. If he could not, Ash could only hope that Phenom still knew what to do to fight back. Dragon Pulse was out of the question; although it may produce the force necessary to get Muk off of him, Phenom would also be blasting himself point blank, and would probably be badly injured or maybe even knocked out.

Underneath Muk's body, Phenom desperately wanted to breath, but was not granted any air to take in. Only sludge, and a massive amount of pressure. He could vaguely hear his trainer's voice calling out to him, but he could not make out any of the words. What had he said? Something about…

On instinct, the teeth in his jaws momentarily flashed with psychic energy, only to fizzle out immediately. Phenom tried again, holding onto the Psychic Fangs for just a second or two longer, and Muk winced for that brief second or two, feeling the psychic energy pulsing against him. Phenom felt the strength in his muscles slipping away from him, and for a moment he thought he might pass out, but his urges kicked into overdrive, desperately trying to fight back against his assailant. The psychic energy flashed through his jaws again and again before Muk groaned and even somewhat wailed. The strength of the sludge Pokemon's hold began to slightly lessen.

Ash's heart quickened as he saw part of Muk's body beginning to lift up, and Phenom was barely visible now. Almost as soon as he came into view, he once more began to disappear underneath the sludge, failing to push Muk off of him and quickly finding himself overpowered. He still wasn't totally obscured anymore, however.

"That's it, Phenom!" the boy called out, trying to stay composed. "Use Hyper Voice! Give it everything you can!"

Phenom struggled. The pressure Muk was applying on top of him was too great. He couldn't get the move out. Snarling, he pushed up as hard as he could, doing everything in his power to force his opponent off of him. It was painful, he could feel his muscles burning against his own effort, and Muk would barely budge.

Finally, he lifted the sludge Pokemon up just enough and cried out as best as he was able too. His shout produced a blast of shockwaves that smashed into Muk point blank. The poison type's eyes widened as a chunk of sludge was dislodged from his body, and he was forced backwards with a pained snarl. Standing in place, Muk held his side, recoiling from the attack.

But Phenom was in worse shape. Barely on his knees, the Tyrunt sucked in all of the air he could manage, panting desperately as his body ached from head to toe.

Muk recovered first.

"Toxic Spikes: Brick Break!"

The glare on Muk's face tightened. Koga's partner reared his arm back, clenching his fist, and although most of his body remained in its normal state, the sludge of the arm hardened and turned to spikes. His now spiky fist pulsed with the orange glow of Brick Break, and he swung.

Phenom was barely on his feet when the punch struck him in the face. Carried by the power of Brick Break and Muk's general brute strength, the hardened spikes smashed through his exterior. His feet left the ground, flying back before tumbling through the dirt just as quickly. Coming to a stop, he lay on his back with bloodied holes and lingering sludge on the side of his face where Muk had punched him, and his head tilted to the side, jaw slightly open and eyes closed.

"Tyrunt is unable to battle," Akira announced. "Muk wins!"

Janine's mouth hung open for a second or two, but she quickly noticed and closed it, hoping that nobody saw. "That Muk literally morphed his whole body into spikes… I had no idea that was possible!"

"Oh it's possible, alright." Aya answered next to her. "It's a combination of Harden and Toxic Spikes, but it requires proper usage of Acid Armor as well. It's extremely lethal, great for defense and deadly for offense, but it's also very complex and requires a lot of skill." As they looked on, Phenom disappeared into his Poke Ball. "The Muk on your father's main team is very good at it. I doubt this Muk is capable of the same crazy combos that your father's main Muk can pull off, but the fact he can even use the technique at all is impressive."

As Phenom vanished from the battlefield, Janine's purple eyes fell onto Muk, who was making his way back to her father. Nobody in the known Pokemon training world was as innovative with Toxic Spikes as Leader Koga Kyo. That was well documented, to say nothing about the rest of his arsenal outside of that one move alone. She knew she had not seen nearly every technique in her father's playbook, and this was a burning reminder of that.

"You did really well, Phenom…" Ash was disappointed in himself when his voice seemed to trail off. He was so taken aback that it was a struggle to even address his fallen teammate.

Clipping then Tyrunt's Poke Ball back to his belt, Ash's hand moved to Tempest's ball, and then to Glaceon's. From here on out, it was just them. Keeping his hand in place, he lifted his head and scanned the battlefield. Koga was on the other side, with Muk having stopped several feet away from him. Some noteworthy damage had been done to the battlefield over the course of the match - not that it was easy to tell, given it had already been a destroyed village right from the start - but the biggest difference sank his heart.

Over half the battlefield had to be infested with Toxic Spikes at this point. The hyperbolic worst case scenario was probably two thirds. Not anything even resembling a problem for Koga's exclusively poison typed lineup. It was a problem designed just for him and his friends.

"And with that, your expression has shifted for the umpteenth time." Koga's voice called out from behind Shadowblood's mask. "Has processing this current situation finally shrunk you back down into your true self, Ash Ketchum?"

The boy's nose felt like a lump of pollen had just been shoved up one of his nostrils, and wrinkled accordingly. "Okay, what do you think I am thinking?"

"You have two Pokemon left, and I have three. The battlegrounds have become nigh uninhabitable, specifically for your teammates, but none of the Toxic Spikes traps will be a problem for my team. The numbers and the playing field have all been turned against you, and you've lost the only member of your team with a natural resistance to poison. There is nothing left for you to cling to, because you've broken your last thread. If you had brought your Staravia to this battle, her flight would give you one last means of avoiding the spikes, but without her, you are stuck on the ground."

The hand that wasn't on Ash's belt closed into a fist. It was like a reflex from being touched; he could feel Koga's gaze inside of him. Scanning his organs. Maybe even picking out what he wanted to remove first.

"What makes you think I didn't bring Nebula?" the boy replied.

"I have heard countless more convincing bluffs, boy." Koga's voice was still static and unchanging even as he retorted. "Why not send her out and prove me wrong?"

Ash's expression tightened, but he did his best to hide it, even though it was probably too late to do so. It was clear to him, now. Koga had been reading him like a book ever since the first time Haunter was sent out early on into the battle. He had gotten inside of his head, and seen every thought that needed to be seen. He had planned from the start for things to end up like this. In comparison, what success had he had reading Koga?

"Mr. Ketchum," still from underneath the mask, the Gym Leader's gaze passed through the battlefield and straight into his challenger. "Retreat is a vital tool in war, so long as it is applied in the correct scenarios. Saving half your army is better than dooming them to the fate of the defeated half." Several feet in front of his trainer, Muk continued to stare at Ash as well. "You can see the result of this battle just as much as I can, but it is not too late to make the tactical decision. All you need to do is step off of the platform and skip the formalities."

His words dug their way into Ash's body just as much as his gaze did. Crawling inside of him, swimming in his blood, poking at his heart, and tugging on the inner flesh. It didn't matter where the boy looked - the sight of the battlefield, Leader Koga, and Muk were all a reminder of where this match was headed, and he could feel every pair of eyes from the stands uncompromisingly on him.

…

… "Why… am I thinking like this?" he muttered to himself, too quietly for anyone to hear.

Why did he always backslide? He told himself dozens of times that he would stop worrying about Gary, but how long had it taken for him to truly follow his own advice? Until Celadon? When Tempest evolved against Caesar, he said that he would stop running away, and yet here he was, listening to Koga telling him to surrender.

"If such a thing is all it takes, then you are still the same scared kid from the past, merely protected by a suit of armor."

Koga had said it multiple rounds ago. Koga, who had been reading him like a book from almost the very moment the match had started. Maybe even back when they first spoke together in the Gym Leader's office. He had not grown stronger, or improved in any substantial way. He had just found things to hide behind, to help him create a facade that would obscure his real self. The veil of where he came from.

But Koga hadn't fallen for that facade. He was too smart for that. He was even smart enough to see that Ash had been fooling himself. This whole time… had he been trying to warn him? To get him to stop lying to himself and accept who he was? Who he always was? Was this all simply a wake up call, to help him find his way back to reality? That had to be it. Koga was doing him a favor, trying to get him to understand. It was harsh, but it was a lot better than simply standing back and allowing him to continue lying to himself like this. Why was he even here? His teammates didn't deserve to be a crutch, or just some shield for him to fall back on. They were supposed to be a family, and this whole time he had been selfishly using them to make himself feel better? How did he even deserve four badges, let alone a fifth?

…

His eyes moved to the floor just beneath the platform. Would it really make him feel better?

He stared for a couple moments longer before lifting his gaze back to the masked Gym Leader. Koga was silent now, waiting to see what the young rookie would say. Or what he would do.

"..." For a moment, Ash held his tongue before getting the words out, his face despondent but solemn. "Leader Koga… are you saying I really am still the same person I was four months ago?"

"Currently, you are." A fist of ice clenched inside Ash's stomach when Koga replied. "A piece of you is still trapped there. As I said before, the rest of this battle would simply be a formality, but you still have a chance to fold your hand. Accept your failure and start learning for real."

The hand near Ash's belt loosened as he looked back at the floor by the platform. It would end once he stepped off, and maybe that's what he needed to do to truly be honest with himself.

…

…

"...No."

Koga's arms crossed, and something told Ash he would have looked bigger had he been right in front of him. "Excuse me?"

"..." Some of the downcast in Ash's eyes lingered, but most of it was pushed away when he lifted his head, making sure his gaze on the Gym Leader was as fixed as it could be. "This battle hasn't been decided yet."

Firmly, his hand slid between Glaceon and Tempest's Poke Balls. After a moment or two, it curled around Tempest's ball. So much of the battlefield was compromised by the spikes, but Tempest was not a speed based battler like Glaceon was, not to mention his Shell Armor could hopefully provide some additional protection from the spikes. Between the two of them, he likely had the best chance in the current environment.

…

Just as his hand began to tug on the ball to pull it off, he stopped himself. A new thought occurred to him, and for another moment or two, his arm was entirely still. Then it moved to Glaceon's ball, and unclipped it.

"I told you you weren't allowed in my head." Across the battlefield, Ash's flashing eyes stared straight into Koga's masked face, and for once, his hairs did not stand up. "You can read me, manipulate me, and try to break me all you want, but you don't know me. I know me. I promised myself I would stop thinking and behaving this way, and I meant that. I'm proud of how much my team has helped me to get through that, because they're as much a part of me as the clothes on my back. Don't you dare say they don't count!" Glaceon's Poke Ball enlarged in his hand. "I told you I earned my own approval, and I don't need yours! All I need is your damn badge."

Glaceon appeared in front of him. Despite her previous bout with Golbat, she tilted her head up to signal her return, before angling it back to him in a greeting bark. The grin on her face fueled the fire inside of him, but it wasn't a raging one - just steady and crackling, exactly what he needed.

"Be careful, Glaceon. The whole field might as well be filled with Toxic Spikes at this point, but I have an idea."

Koga removed Muk's ball from his belt and recalled the sludge Pokemon. Ash knew his departure would only mean that they would be dealing with him later, but he pushed down that apprehension. There were still two more apart from him.

He was sure something changed in the poison Master's voice when he took out another ball, but it was frustratingly difficult to tell exactly how. But he wouldn't focus on that either - the first priority was eliminating whichever Pokemon he sent back out now. It would be either Skuntank or Venomoth.

"You can use your words, boy," the masked man enlarged the capsule in his hand. "But they aren't any more substantial than anything else you have. That's what their worth depends on. Are you that sure of the person you are today?"

"I'm not repeating myself for you," Ash almost growled. "I've been playing your games too long as it is."

"Then show me who that person is," Koga raised his voice. "Defeat me! Either earn my badge, or your biggest loss yet!" He threw the ball, and Skuntank appeared.

Understanding formed on Ash's face at the sight of the skunk. Given the way she had fought against Pikachu, she had an especially suitable advantage over them in these conditions. Unless his plan worked.

"BEGIN!"

"Glaceon," Ash started. "Spray your back paws, just in case." They had not had the chance to mend them before, and although she had been in her ball for a while, he wanted to make sure going into the battle.

As Glaceon did just that, Skuntank was already stalking towards her, head lowered with her tail tip opening up like a firearm.

"Smokescreen!"

The large skunk picked up speed just as Glaceon finished spraying herself. Opening her mouth, she spat out the cloud of smoke, obscuring the area between her and Glaceon and heading the ice type's way.

"Hyper Voice!"

Growling for a moment, Glaceon lunged for the black cloud and shouted a blast of shockwaves from her mouth. The blast punctured the cloud and forced it to part in half. She continued running through the opening, maneuvering around a set of spikes in the process. Instead of continuing to meet her head on, Skuntank leapt backwards and spat out a second cloud, covering even more of the immediate area in smoke. Coming to a stop, Glaceon launched a second Hyper Voice to combat it.

"Assassination: Fury Swipes!"

In a dark flash, Skuntank vanished and reappeared just behind Glaceon at the side. The moment she appeared, she bombarded her opponent with a rapid-fire series of slashes from her claws, glowing in dark energy. The attack had trouble truly penetrating Glaceon's skin, but still left superficial cuts obscured by her snowy fur. She attempted to follow up with a Poison Tail, lifting her tail off of her head and covering it with toxins before taking a swing, but Glaceon parried her strike with an Iron Tail. The two attacks pressed against each other for a few moments, but Skuntank was wincing in displeasure at the much harder exterior of her opponent's metallic tail, and soon gave out as Glaceon pushed her back.

"Venoshock!" Koga called out.

The very moment Skuntank repositioned herself, the tip of her tail returned to its usual position atop her head, and opened up to spray out a horrifically smelling liquid. Glaceon could feel her nostrils burning as she narrowly avoided the attack, leaping to the side, but before she could do anything else, Skuntank had vanished again, reappearing right at her blind spot and striking her in the face with Poison Tail.

Glaceon's head forcibly turned sideways from the blow, and instantly received a face full of dirt as she tumbled into the air. Ash immediately saw where she was about to land.

"Iron Tail on the ground!" Recovering as fast as she could, Glaceon swung her tail down onto the ground, and the Toxic Spikes she had almost fallen on top of. The metal layer protected her as she positioned herself upright and prepared to leap off to a safer area.

"Flamethrower!" Just as Glaceon was landing, Skuntank opened her mouth and gathered fire in her jaws before releasing it a few moments later in an impressive blast. Glaceon's reaction was automatic, gathering water in her own mouth and launching a charged Water Pulse right after the Flamethrower was fired. The two attacks met, and Skuntank's was successfully doused, leaving behind a cloud of steam.

'Glaceon was already poisoned.' Ash reminded himself as both combatants took a step back to regroup. Getting socked with Poison Tail may have made it worse. It was only a matter of time before the effects started showing. Resting was not much of an option, and if it had been, Skuntank's skill set gave her the tools she needed to not allow it. 'We'll drive them back, first.' "Glaceon, approach with Swift!"

Glaceon jogged in her opponent's direction, spitting out the stream of stars. Skuntank leapt back to avoid them, and although some of them hit the nearby tree or the wall of a house, about half still managed home in on her. Turning around, she activated Trailblaze and sprinted away, gaining speed while wrapped in the grassy aura. The direction she was heading in was infested with Toxic Spikes; following her at a reasonable speed would be impossible.

Normally.

"After her, Glaceon! Freeze the spikes to make a path!"

Glaceon nodded, keeping her eyes on Skuntank. She sped up her jog just a little bit before firing an Ice Beam into the ground ahead of her, maintaining it as long as she could to spread it to as many of the spikes as possible. The ice froze over the purple spikes, and when she ran through, protected her.

"Keep it up, girl!" Ash raised his voice. "Freeze all of the spikes in your path!"

Glaceon began to speed it up, spreading as much ice as she was able throughout the field. The purple spikes were left trapped under a layer of ice that prevented them from digging into their target, and as an ice type, she had no trouble traversing the frozen sections. All of a sudden, the battlefield didn't seem so uninhabitable.

Moving around would only be half the battle, however.

"Come in with Flamethrower!" Koga called. Up ahead, Skuntank performed a sharp u-turn, now racing back in Glaceon's direction at a greater speed than she had been at when retreating, thanks to Trailblaze. She fired another stream of flames at her ice type.

'You're not the only one with a rebound move up your sleeve.' Ash cupped his hands over his mouth. "Mirror Coat!"

Instead of running away from the fire, Glaceon lunged towards the Flamethrower, and her body shone with a reflective glow that encased her exterior. The blast struck her, and she could feel the uncomfortable heat on her body as the attack fought against her shield. Remaining upright, she grit her teeth and tried to push back. With her efforts, her body's glow intensified.

Not too long after, she overcame the offense and successfully rebounded the blast of fire back where it came from. Skuntank leapt to the side, breaking her forward course to narrowly avoid the counterattack, and without even catching her breath, Glaceon bolted towards her, coating her tail in metal.

"Foul Play!"

Glaceon swung Iron Tail at Skuntank's face, but instead collided with the dark barrier that extended from her target's forepaws. To her frustration, her offense was immediately let with resistance as the shield refused to budge. She pushed against it as hard as she could, but Skuntank stood firm, growling back at her ice type assailant. Finally, with a lunge, Skuntank repelled the attack, sending Glaceon tumbling backwards. Using her tail, Glaceon flipped herself into the air and formed a Frost Pulse in her mouth. Before Skuntank could react, the frozen Water Pulse was let loose and smashed her in the face, now sending her tumbling back.

"Keep attacking," Ash pressed. "Iron Tail again!"

The moment she landed, Glaceon charged. Freezing a set of Toxic Spikes in her path along the way, she closed in on Skuntank, who had just come to a stop trying to pick herself up, and swung her tail again. This time, Skuntank was not ready to block her, and was struck hard in the ribs, sending her back again. Glaceon began to give chase, but her opponent fired a frantic Swift to cut her out. Leaping backwards, Glaceon was nearly struck by the golden projectiles, but managed to intercept them with a Swift of her own before charging after her opponent again.

"Forward, Poison Gas!"

Snarling for a second or two, Skuntank kicked off off the ground, sending herself on a collision course with Glaceon. Her tail opened up and sent out a purple cloud. Trying to skid to a stop, Glaceon used Hyper Voice, barely parting the cloud of toxic gas before she could collide with it - but it was too close, and she still breathed some of it in. As she did, the ice type gagged at the horrific stench it carried.

Ash watched her recoil from the smell. "Don't drop your guard, Glaceon!"

But Skuntank was already acting. Opening her mouth, she charged another Flamethrower and fired it with all of the force she could produce. This time, Glaceon was not prepared to intercept it, and was struck with a direct hit. The ice type screamed as the blast of fire collided with her. The heat was excruciating, and the superficial cuts opened up as the flames burned against them.

Glaceon staggered back while the Flamethrower subsided. The attack had left behind charred spots that polluted her beautiful fur, and with a stumble she coughed into the grass at her feet. In a dark flash, Skuntank used Sucker Punch to teleport right next to her, channeling the ominous energy through her Poison Tail to strike Glaceon in the face. Ash's partner was taken off of her feet from the blow, landing on her back before bouncing onto her side. With a burst of adrenaline, she caught herself with an imperfect Iron Tail, managing to prop herself back onto all fours and turning head to face Skuntank.

As she did, Glaceon briefly saw double. For what could not have been more than three or so seconds, her vision turned blurry and unfocused, and she felt an almost tranquilizing weakness in her muscles. Blinking hard, she realized the poison was working its way, and clenched her face in an effort to fight against it. Her vision returned to normal, and her buckling knees straightened themselves, although her legs still shook for a moment. Ahead of her, Skuntank was catching her breath. Predictably, it did not take as long for the venomous quadruped to recuperate, and she sank back into a stance.

Ash squinted his eyes to get a better look at Glaceon. Between the damage she had sustained and the poison that had already been working its way through her in the fight with Golbat, she was losing her strength. It added to the pressure he was feeling, but seeing her raising her chin brought a small smile to his lips despite everything.

They couldn't stall or try to buy themselves time, not with her approaching her last legs. If anything, that might be something Koga would try, complete with potentially going for one final killing blow should the chance present itself. They needed to rush in, but Skuntank had too many options. And getting in close would just invite another chance for her to exploit her stench…

Unless…

"Glaceon!" Ash kept his eye on the skunk, who was clearly readying herself for whatever Glaceon's next move would be. "Back to me, and fast! Don't go in a straight line."

Glaceon turned and ran, and Skuntank did not need to wait for Koga's orders to give chase. The ice type soon found that summoning her full speed was more difficult than normal, more of a strain. She pushed harder, and summoned Trailblaze to better propel herself with Skuntank in pursuit. No doubt the skunk would go for a Flamethrower or Sucker Punch if she could get in range, but at Ash's orders, Glaceon made sure her path was not a straight shot - she performed turns around houses and rubble to force Skuntank to prioritize keeping up with her over taking aim.

"Good…" Ash muttered to himself. Had Glaceon remained stationary, she would have been leaving herself open when he gave his next order. If she could just pull it off while on the move… "Spray your nose with Chilling Water!"

Glaceon only blinked once or twice before realizing with a grin what her trainer was getting at. Lifting her chin, she gently sprayed the cold water upwards and allowed it to splash onto her face. It compromised her vision for a moment, but Ash's section of the field lacked most of the spiky traps, which made it somewhat safer. Patches of ice formed around her nostrils, and her nose began to feel somewhat stuffy. It wouldn't be a perfect solution - and it did bring a little bit of discomfort as well - but it would hopefully make Skuntank's atrocious stench a bit more bearable.

"Now turn!" Ash shouted. "You know what to do!"

At least momentarily, the adrenaline pumping through the ice type overrode the poison's effort to weaken her body and spirit. Performing a sharp turn, she pushed ahead as closely to her full speed as she could manage. It was harder to maintain the momentum of Trailblaze in this state, but she was able to put in the effort.

Ash was not too surprised when Koga called for Skuntank to retreat in the other direction. The Poison Gas trick might not work as well this time now that her nose was closed, and Ash realized (perhaps a moment too late) that Glaceon's sprinting would likely be compromised in the long run as well - not just because of the poison in her system, but because of the ice making it more of a challenge to breathe through her nose. They would need to catch them quick.

Thankfully, just as he had said, Glaceon did know what to do. The moment Skuntank took a wide turn around a house (a clever tactic for cover), the ice type spat out a stream of golden stars. Skuntank turned her head and saw them coming, trying to perform another turn around another house to avoid getting it. Opening her mouth again, Glaceon sucked in as much air as she could before doing her best to speed herself up further. The distance between her and her target was decreasing, but if she gave in at any moment, she would be left in the dust - and most likely vulnerable to an attack.

Skuntank lifted her tail off of her head, trying to position the tip directly behind her. As she did, she spat out a quick stream of Flamethrower to melt the ice in her path. Though the Toxic Spikes were freed from their prison, most of them were either weakened or even eliminated entirely, so Glaceon continued her pursuit with only the minimal caution that was necessary. Looking back at the ice type just long enough to try and take more proper aim, Skuntank opened the tip of her tail, and after some charging, shot out a volley of thick, purple sludge. The Sludge Bomb splashed to the ground as Glaceon avoided it. There was a horrific odor coming from the sludge, and Glaceon briefly feared how she would have reacted without the ice around her nose. Even with it, it was a bad smell, but she did not allow herself to falter, and kept on running, firing another Swift, which her opponent had a harder time avoiding. A couple of stars managed to clip Skuntank in the side, stumbling her for a split second and slowing her pace.

Glaceon was closing in, but Ash knew that also meant they needed to go for it now, otherwise Koga would seize the opportunity to change tactics and beat them to the punch. "Do it, girl! Hyper Voice!"

With one final push, Glaceon brought herself within just a few feet of her opponent before attempting the attack. As she tried to gather her breath, however, she felt her adrenaline waning, the discomfort and weakness in her system renewed, and Skuntank began to pull away. It was also harder to let loose the shout when she also had to catch her breath. Her eyes flashed, and she wasn't sure if it was out of frustration or stubbornness. Whichever one it was helped her to produce the Hyper Voice.

It was only about half as strong as her usual usage of the move, but it got Skuntank off of her feet. Tripping mid sprint, Koga's partner found herself tumbling wildly through the dirt, collecting soil and grass in her fur as Glaceon ran past her. The ice type tried to turn around while skidding to a stop, but the exertion caught up to her, and she felt more exhausted than ever. Struggling to replenish her lungs with air, her vision became blurry again, and this time straightening it out was more of a fight, squeezing her eyes shut for a brief moment.

"Assassination: Poison Tail!"

Picking herself off the ground, Skuntank's fur was a disheveled mess of filth. Her body ached as she also tried to find her breath, before locking her eyes onto her victim. Activating Sucker Punch, she teleported herself to Glaceon, channeling the dark energy through her Poison Tail and swinging hard.

Glaceon's eyes pierced nothing in particular. Reflexively summoning all of the strength and drive that she could, the ice type did a backflip as the deadly tail aimed for her face. Skuntank's strike hit nothing but air, and Glaceon traveled over her before landing on the other side on all fours, sliding backwards just a bit with her knees bent, and her head lowered, doing her best to growl.

"She…" Ash's heart did a flip. "She dodged the Sucker Punch! GLACEON!" He could already see his friend raising her tail, but he encouraged her anyway. "Put her down with Super Tail!"

Focus Energy flowed through her Iron Tail and amplified its power. With a strained face, Glaceon abruptly found the strength boost slipping away from her for a brief moment. The poison was still fighting to shut her body down, and she began seeing double again, the dizziness returning. With a rapid bark, she fought to hold herself together and dove for Skuntank, swinging the tail as hard as her state - and her stubbornness - would allow.

Skuntank turned around in time to intercept her attack with Foul Play. The powered up Iron Tail smashed against the dark barrier, and Glaceon immediately grinded into it, clenching her teeth harder than she ever imagined she could as she desperately pushed, and pushed, and pushed to break through the dangerous shield. Skuntank nearly recoiled from the force, but dug her hindlegs into the dirt, snarling in her ice type opponent's face as she fought to maintain the barrier. The struggle continued with dark energy crackling and sizzling where the Super Tail continued to fight against the Foul Play.

Glaceon could feel a strong force pushing back against her, trying to launch her away. Her face squeezed with uncomfortable effort as her body seemingly tried to fail her. She wasn't sure what she was running on at this point; between the poison spreading in her system and the struggle to break through Skuntank's ominous counter, the latter was the only thing she could coherently think about. She almost felt herself slipping as her tail threatened to give out. She would stiffen it and maintain the stalemate, only for the shaking to come back a few moments later. In front of her, Skuntank's face was leaking sweat, her opponent's refusal to give in forcing her to do the same. Both combatants were a prisoner to the other's tenacity.

The barrier began to crack. The sizzling grew louder, but Glaceon was feeling weaker. She tried squeezing her eyes shut again, as though hoping that would help. She couldn't tell if it did.

More cracks formed on the barrier. Skuntank felt her strength waning, her efforts to hold the Foul Play together growing increasingly desperate.

More cracks.

More mutual exhaustion.

…

The barrier broke.

The Super Tail carved its way through in a final shove. Thanks to Foul Play taking the brunt of the punishment, Skuntank wasn't hit with the full force of the blow, but she was still sent rolling back, flopping onto her stomach in a hard, uncomfortable landing. As the skunk tried to pick herself up on somewhat shaky legs, Glaceon staggered back, bringing a paw to her forehead as her gaze traveled downward. The dizziness was coming back, and the feeling of weakness was only getting worse.

"Finish her!" Koga hollered. "Flamethrower!" Skuntank continued to rise, trying to gather the flames in her mouth.

"One more Super Tail, Glaceon!" Ash called out, trying to sound louder than Koga. "You can do this!"

His voice was faint to her ears. A bit difficult to make out, but she processed it. Struggling to steady herself, Glaceon bared her teeth, lifting her tail up once more. It pulsed with the glow of Focus Energy, but quickly began to flicker. Maintaining the move felt nigh impossible, the metallic sheen of Iron Tail was forming more slowly than usual as well. Even if she could form the move, it wouldn't be at full strength.

But it would have to be enough.

With a desperate bark, Glaceon lunged after Skuntank. The skunk had just finished rising on all fours, and the fire was in her opening jaws. She leaned forward to spit the Flamethrower into her assailant.

Glaceon swung. She felt the heat from the Flamethrower.

Her tail smacked Skuntank in the face just as the blast started leaving her mouth. A small portion of the flames painfully found their way to Glaceon, but the rest was deflected to the side as Skuntank's head was forcibly turned from the blow. Both of her right legs lifted off of the ground, and she landed on her side before rolling onto her back.

The blurriness in Glaceon's vision worsened, and even as she fought to even it out, she was no longer able to do so completely. She thought she could see Skuntank attempting to lift herself up, but she couldn't tell. Nothing was coherent…

She barely felt her own legs giving out. The world began to turn, and she felt a painful impact with the dirt. Her mouth was open, barely enough for her tongue to be visible (but not sticking out), and the drool leaking from her lips froze over against her fur. A few feet from her, Skuntank's raised head fell back against the dirt, and her eyes closed.

Akira spent a moment scanning the two fallen combatants, waiting for either of them to get up. When both remained still, he raised his arms. "Both Skuntank and Glaceon are unable to battle. This round is a draw!"

Ash allowed the tension in his shoulders to release in a moment, along with the breath from his nose. After recalling Glaceon, he looked down at her Pokemon, remaining wordless for a moment.

"You dodged a Sucker Punch and broke through Foul Play, all while holding yourself together when poisoned. You're incredible, girl." Pikachu had his work cut out for him if he wanted to impress her, not that Ash remotely thought it was impossible.

Returning the ball to his belt, Ash took out Tempest's capsule and enlarged it. Before throwing the ball, he looked back to Koga, who had recalled Skuntank and took out his next Poke Ball. It was down to Venomoth and Muk now.

"I could afford a draw more than you," at this point, Ash wasn't sure if it was possible to break the Gym Leader's coolheaded tone. "That was your last chance to even things out."

Ash's face twitched, but it was barely visible. He stared back at Koga, and found he wasn't as tense as he should be. Koga wasn't going to throw him off anymore. Just let the words pass by and focus on the battle. No distractions.

He looked back at Tempest's ball. Regardless of what Koga said, this would be his last chance. Glaceon had done plenty, and there was nothing to be disappointed about. Now, it was time to finish the job.

Koga tossed his ball first. The sphere burst open in midair, and Venomoth's form emerged out of the light, hovering in front of the ninja Master several feet above his head.

A Pokemon that can fly. Whether Ash liked it or not, Koga had correctly guessed his lineup, and knew that Tempest, not Nebula, was the last remaining member. Tempest was perfectly capable of battling fliers, but those matchups did not play to his strengths. And Muk would be waiting for them as well.

Ash's heart was quickening, but he did not tense up. He wouldn't let himself. Because nobody on this team - and certainly not himself - had traveled nearly from one end of Kanto to the other and struggled this much today just for it to end in a loss. He wouldn't accept it, and he wouldn't need to.

Tempest appeared in front of him. The Kingler's head moved to one side of the battlefield, and then the other, taking it all in. He was caught off guard by the landscape, and arguably even more so when he looked up at the ceiling that made him swear that they were outside in the middle of the night, but his body stirred with excitement all the same. He greeted Venomoth and Koga with a steady gaze and rapidly clicking pincers - a sound that had long since become synonymous with him.

"This is the last stretch, Tempest." Ash informed the crab, who looked back at him with an understanding nod and a brief but sincere smile, before returning his focus to their opponents. "You are the last one left. Koga has Venomoth and a Muk. A bunch of traps have been set all over the battlefield with Toxic Spikes, but Glaceon's frozen a decent chunk of them." He paused for a second, his voice turning slightly more solemn. "I know you're probably excited about having an uphill battle," the shift in Tempest's posture seemed to be his way of saying yes. "But we need to channel that the right way. Koga and his team have done some pretty crazy things today, and I know they haven't run out. They're very good at getting under our skin too. Keep all of those stakes out of your mind and focus only on winning, alright?"

Tempest looked back at Ash, making sure to keep eye contact. It took Ash a moment to describe the rush he felt. It was all setting in, the final hour of their biggest match yet, and for a moment or two, he experienced a share in that excitement. Like he was receiving a brief, fleeting taste of how it felt to be like the Kingler.

And it was an understanding that he decided would be needed.

"BEGIN!"

Venomoth took his time, flying slow enough to convince someone he was going on a light, midair stroll rather than fighting in a high stakes battle. Tempest leered at him, deciding not to advance much faster himself for the time being. The large crab did his best to survey the field of battle without taking his attention off of the poisonous moth, keeping mind of where the Toxic Spikes were in particular.

"Toxic Spikes." As if on cue, Koga finally issued an order. Spread them in every safe area you can." Venomoth's flight began to speed up. Positioning himself just above the roof of one of the houses, he fired a stream of spikes down into an open area before moving on to a new area by a nearby tree.

'He's pressuring us into coming to him.' It wasn't hard for Ash to realize what the poison Master's angle was. Setting things up so they had to come to him, lest the playing field became even worse off for them than it already was. "Tempest, go after him, but brace yourself." They needed to strike a balance between caution and charging in for a hyper offensive. Tempest was really good at the latter, but had also proven that he was capable of exercising restraint when necessary.

Tempest transferred into a jog, pincers open and ready. As he drew closer, Venomoth stopped moving around, hovering in wait. With a sneer, Tempest aimed his pincer like a gun and fired a Bubble Beam, which Venomoth avoided with a downward swerve to the side, now flying in the Kingler's direction. The moth formed a large Energy Ball, and fired it straight down after positioning himself directly above his water type opponent.

Tempest had more than one means of defending against a grass type move. He could deflect it with Metal Claw, or intercept it with Ice Beam, Frost Pulse or Frozen Bullets. He chose to remain in place, assuming a defensive stance while covering his body in Iron Defense. The Energy Ball exploded against him to no effect, completely nullified.

"Move to the side, and Scald!"

Tempest leapt to the side as Ash instructed, rotating his body as he did to keep his aim on Venomoth. From both of his pincers, he shot streams of boiling water that the moth maneuvered around. Neither combatant stayed in one place, with Tempest moving backwards, continuing to angle himself so that he was always facing his target, even as Venomoth moved down and back up while trying to circle around him.

"Landmine!" Koga called out. Ash wasn't sure what that entailed, but he also wasn't surprised when Venomoth fired down a series of Toxic Spikes, which landed just a few feet away from Tempest. The Kingler's eyes squinted as he began backing away. Something was different about them…

"Wait a minute…" Ash muttered to himself. Landmines were explosives. Did that mean-

Suddenly, the spikes seemed to burst open, almost like they were exploding. An eruption of spores came out of the ground where they were, and with widening eyes, Ash quickly realized what they were: Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder. Venomoth had combined Toxic Spikes with Ailment Mix. And they had exploded right in front of Tempest, for the large crab to breathe in.

"Get back now, Tempest!" The Kingler's eyes were as wide as his trainers when he scurried away as fast as he could, although he moved backwards, not daring to take his eyes off of Venomoth. While retreating, he fired Water Gun from both pincers into the cloud of spores, washing away whatever he could for extra protection.

"Just how many variations of Toxic Spikes does he use?" Ash quietly blurted out loud. There was the conventional usage of the move, which Koga had spent the entire match relentlessly abusing. Muk had somehow managed to morph his body into spikes, both to protect himself, fire out of him, and to combine with a punching move like Brick Break for incredible damage. And now Venomoth was literally storing spores inside of the spikes and having them explode out. It was bad enough having the field itself covered in these traps, but if this version of the move took over the battlefield, Tempest wouldn't be able to avoid breathing them in. He'd have poison in his system, Stun Spore slowing him down, and Sleep Powder tranquilizing him.

"Supersonic!" Hovering above Tempest at a diagonal angle, Venomoth released a horrific noise that stabbed and hammered at Tempest's ears. Trying not to clutch his head, the crab briefly saw double, but the abrupt headache was far more persistent. "Ailment Mix: Silver Wind!"

With Tempest still reeling from the noisy assault, Venomoth flapped his wings and generated a gale of shiny, sparkling wind that he fired towards Tempest in a manner similar to Wind Blast. Ash did not need to wait and see to know that the wind would be carrying a mixture of all three spores along with it - an offensive move backed up by the potential to inflict multiple status ailments.

"Iron Defense, Tempest!" Encasing himself in a metallic glow once more, Tempest resumed his defensive stance, allowing the wind to slam into him. Much like the Energy Ball, the Silver Wind was essentially nullified, inflicting no damage on him whatsoever. But when the attack subsided, the Kingler's body was covered in multicolored spores, albeit protected by the metallic coating. "Wash off with Liquidation!"

Even as Tempest dropped the Iron Defense, he surrounded his body with water, holding his breath and closing his eyes in hopes of ensuring no entry point for the spores decorating his outer shell. With a surge and a twirl, he washed away just about all of the spores, and then took aim at Venomoth again with a deep scowl.

Before he could fire, Ash called out to him. "Move around with Surf." Summoning the pillar of water beneath him, Tempest rode on it like a wave. Venomoth fired a barrage of Sludge Bomb, but Tempest dodged to the side with impressive speed, passing over a set of Toxic Spikes in the process. "Now jump for him with Scald!"

The Kingler changed directions to charge straight for Venomoth. Balancing on the wave, the water type used his momentum to launch himself into the air, not as high as Venomoth was, but closer to him than when he was stuck on the ground. A blast of boiling water sprayed from his pincer and struck the poison moth in a direct hit. Venomoth cried out in pain from the overwhelming heat, and the force of the blast knocked him out of the air. As Tempest landed, Venomoth caught himself a little bit above the ground, but was still reeling from the intense heat. Ceasing the opportunity, the river crab aimed his pincer at him again, and fired a series of Frozen Bullets that pelted against him and knocked him to the ground.

"Razor Shell, keep going!"

Summoning Surf once more, Tempest rushed forward, charging the water blade through his other pincer to strike Venomoth while he was vulnerable. Trying to force himself into the air, Venomoth let out another Supersonic. Clenching his eyes shut, Tempest felt the discomfort pulsing through his head, and the wave he was riding collapsed, leaving him tumbling into the now soaked grass.

"Landmine," Koga announced. "Surround him with them!"

Ash called for Tempest to get out of there, but his friend was still recovering from the Supersonic. Above the Kingler's head, Venomoth fired a series of spore filled Toxic Spikes into the ground, forming a triangle that Tempest was trapped in the middle of. The spikes burst open, and Ash's partner found himself engulfed in a cloud of ailments.

"Not like this," Ash stayed calm. "Tempest, Counter Shield!"

It might have been the adrenaline that allowed Tempest to force himself to his feet so quickly. He summoned Surf beneath, but this time instead of standing on it, he flopped onto his back and began spinning as fast as he could. Both of his pincers extended upwards at a diagonal angle, and fired Scald with as much force as he could muster, creating a vortex of boiling water that began washing away the cloud.

Beneath his mask, Koga raised a curious eyebrow. "Energy Ball!" Narrowly avoiding the water, Venomoth formed another emerald orb and fired it into the vortex. The grass type projectile carved its way through the water and painfully struck Tempest in the side of his head. He bounced on his bottom when colliding with the dirt, but managed to land upright after that, skidding backwards, but still reeling from the attack and fighting to keep his balance. Venomoth was flying after him in pursuit. "Ailment Mix: Silver Wind!"

With Tempest still staggering, Venomoth unleashed another Ailment Mix, carried by the force of Silver Wind. Instinctively, Tempest crossed his pincers in front of him with Metal Claw. The attack inflicted no damage when it struck the metal pincers, but some of the spores found their way through.

"Now use Giga Drain!"

Venomoth closed the distance between himself and Tempest and summoned an eerily glowing vine, tethering itself to Tempest's head and pulsing disturbingly. Energy began to flow across the vine and into Venomoth.

Ash still stayed calm. "You can fight it, Tempest! Remember Gary's Weepinbell."

Tempest tried to lift his pincers. It was a strain, and both appendages shook in the air, the point where they seemed to be vibrating as they progressively rose above the ground. With a loud grunt, he managed to take hold of the ominous vine, and squeezed it. Ice began to form, cutting off the flow of energy and freezing the vine over. With vigor, Tempest yanked the vine off of him and lunged for his opponent, charging up a Crabhammer and using Surf as a launch pad. He swung the glowing pincer with his strongest punch, and Venomoth swerved to avoid it, but was still struck in the left wing. Gasping, the poisonous moth staggered back in midair, seemingly wide open for a final blow.

Tempest was about to go for it, but Venomoth fired another Silver Wind, once again combined with Ailment Mix. The wind was not at full strength, with it being more difficult for him to properly flap his left wing, but the ailments were as strong as ever, and Tempest only had time to brace himself with his pincers in front of his face, breathing them in.

"Keep it up, big guy!" Ash encouraged. "Liquidation!"

For a brief moment, Tempest could feel the combination of spores entering his system, but fought to power through it, surrounding himself in water. With a battle cry, he charged through the mixture of spores and smashed Venomoth in the face. Koga's partner was sent flying back, rolling through the dirt before coming to a stop on his side, where he lay still.

"Venomoth is unable to battle!" Akira announced. "Kingler wins!"

Tempest thrust his pincers into the air, gurgling at his victory before turning to make his way back to Ash. Behind him, Venomoth disappeared back into Koga's Poke Ball.

Ash's heart thumped against his chest. One more. That was all that was left.

Tempest stopped several feet in front of him, and nodded, as if already knowing that Ash was going to ask how he was feeling.

"Good," Ash nodded back. "We're almost there." Tempest grinned enthusiastically before turning back to Koga with an aggressive leer.

Just one more. They only needed to win this one last fight.

"We're ready when you are, Koga!" Ash called out, watching his opponent take out his last Poke Ball. "We didn't just come to win the Soul Badge, we're going to take it from you by force!"

A small grin was obscured by Shadowblood's Mask.

Muk appeared on the other side of the battlefield. Rising at full height, he glowered at Tempest with hideous disdain, and as if a button had been pressed, the Kingler's gaze narrowed more dangerously than ever, pointing one of his open pincers at the sludge Pokemon as though the barrel of a gun were extending out of it.

Ash took a moment to breathe, keeping his rushing blood under control. "Listen up real quick," Tempest did not look back, but Ash knew that he had his attention. "Koga's Muk can cover his body in Toxic Spikes. It's pretty gross when you think about it, but it's very lethal. He took out Phenom by hitting him in the face with a spiked Brick Break. He's very strong and durable, and he can use Acid Armor to liquify his body and move faster than normal. Be ready for anything." Bubbles formed in Tempest's mouth, and Ash waited for Akira to give the signal.

This would end one powerhouse to another.

"BEGIN!"

"Get in there right away!" Ash instructed. "Start using Bubble Beam the moment you're in range!"

"Use your Toxic Spikes." Koga refuted coldly.

Tempest broke into a run, not summoning Surf yet, and instead moving as fast as he was able to on his legs. After closing in some of the distance, he pointed his pincers outward and blasted out the barrage of glowing bubbles, while still running forward.

Muk assumed a defensive stance, hardening his body into a mass of poisonous spikes. He growled in displeasure as the bubbles hammered against him, and responded by extending his arms out and firing the Toxic Spikes from his body like a machine gun. The spikes collided with the bubbles and broke through them, continuing onward towards Tempest. Keeping his cool, the Kingler came to a stop and assumed his own defensive stance, protecting himself from the volley of poisonous spikes with two Metal Claws. Midway through his own assault, Muk stopped firing the spikes, leaving his body an odd mixture of its normal shape and spiky form, and turned his lower half into liquid. With Acid Armor, the large poison type rushed forward with the same speeds he had used against Phenom, readying a spiked Brick Break.

Ash held his clenched fists in front of his chest. "Crabhammer!"

Losing his metal coating, Tempest propelled himself with a short burst of Surf, rearing back his favored pincer as it glowed a beautiful ocean blue. He and Muk both threw their punches at the same time, with as much force as either of them were capable of producing. Shockwaves created a small gale of wind surrounding them as the pincer and spiked fist smashed against one another, and Ash could hear the collision all the way from his position.

The sound sent an odd rush of ecstasy through the boy. "Get back and hit him with Scald, then Liquidation!"

Muk was forming a Dark Pulse in his other hand. He swung downwards to strike Tempest with the shockwave, but Tempest used Surf again, propelling himself backwards and narrowly avoiding the attack. As he landed and came to a stop, he fired a forceful blast of boiling water that slammed into Muk's stomach. The sludge Pokemon grunted in discomfort, and was almost pushed back a tiny bit, but managed to remain firm and upright after a moment of resistance. Raising once pincer above his head and extending the other one outward, Tempest assumed a fight stance and surrounded himself in surging water, ready to charge forward and smash the toxic monstrosity to a pulp.

Muk spread his hands out. Yellow sparks began forming across the sludge before erupting into violent lightning. Bringing his hands together, Koga's partner fired a strong Thunderbolt into his unsuspecting target. The attack hit Tempest head on, taking advantage of the water surrounding him and completely bathing his body in electricity as he cried out in agony.

"Toxic Spikes: Thunder Punch!"

With Tempest doubled over from the surprise electric attack, Muk moved in for the follow up, covering his fist in Toxic Spikes while charging even more electricity through them. With a hostile growl, he swung at Tempest, violently smashing him in the stomach. The Toxic Spikes, strengthened by harden, stabbed against the Kingler's strong outer shell, threatening to pierce through it, and the lightning scorched it. All air briefly left Tempest's lungs when he was sent flying back, smashing into the wall of a house, which crumbled on impact.

"Electric type moves," Ash told himself. "I know it takes more than that to put you away, Tempest! Get up!"

He was right. Soon after collapsing into the dirty grass, Tempest's eyes flared with bolstered aggression, picking himself off the ground and glowering at his attacker while Muk moved in for another strike. The Kingler dodged the second Thunder Punch, allowing Muk's spiked fist to crush the damage wall behind him, and raised his pincer. Protected by Metal Claw, he threw a punch into the side of his opponent's spiked head, which resembled a very strong helmet. Muk's head whipped to the side, and for a moment he almost reached up to clutch it, before swinging back with a third Thunder Punch. Tempest shielded himself with Iron Defense, and when the spiky, electrical fist smashed into him, he felt the vibration and staggered back. With a roar, he aimed a Crabhammer at Muk's midsection, burying the punch as deep into his opponent's stomach as he could manage while Muk wheezed from the impact.

The sludge Pokemon tactically allowed himself to stagger backwards, creating a little bit of space between them before striking with a spiked Brick Break. Tempest met the attack with Metal Claw, but the fighting type move punctured the steel type coating, and the water type recoiled backwards, his pincer sore. Muk lunged forward again and buried an electrical punch into the river crab's forehead, flipping him backwards and almost onto his stomach. Tempest caught himself with his pincers, but the still sore one compromised his balance.

Muk charged a second Thunderbolt through his hands, but Tempest dodged backwards, narrowly avoiding the blast of lightning and stumbling away upon landing on his feet. He nearly fell over but kept himself upright before aiming his pincer forward. A volley of Frozen bullets rapidly exited the appendage, bombarding the poison type's face.

"That Muk is actually outbrawling Tempest…" Ash said to himself. Tempest, who had gone up against Caesar's Zangoose and won. An idea quickly came to him. "Tempest, move around with Surf!"

Summoning another wave, Tempest turned away from Muk and sped to the side, leaving a trail of water in his wake and passing over more of the set Toxic Spikes. Muk tried to give chase with Acid Armor, but was still not as fast.

Ash nodded. "Circle him!"

Tempest prepared to take a sharp turn. At Koga's orders, Muk charged another Dark Pulse, sending another wave of dark energy after the water type. Tempest narrowly managed to avoid it, turning again as he passed Muk. The sludge Pokemon tried to pursue him, but Tempest's Surf was faster, and he managed to position himself behind Muk just before his wave collapsed.

"Mud Shot!" Tempest aimed his favored pincer and fired the rapidly moving glob of mud at Muk's back. The poison type could not fully turn around in time, and ended up getting blasted in the side, causing him to wail. "River Brawl!"

Tempest made a run for Muk, surrounding himself in water with Liquidation again. The poison type's body hardened with spikes once more, and the Kingler, undeterred, assaulted him with a rapid series of blows. His pincers pounded against the sturdy spikes shielding Muk's body, and although Tempest snarled in discomfort, he forced himself to keep pushing through, doubling down on his efforts. He was punching too fast for his opponent to respond, and his strike's became increasingly effective as the slikes covering Muk broke and the poison type was gradually overwhelmed.

The water surrounding Tempest finally collapsed. Despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to hold Liquidation together any longer. Recovering as fast as he could, Muk took a swing while his water type opponent was catching his breath, and Tempest brought up a pincer to intercept the punch. There was more force behind Muk's blow, forcing the pincer back as Tempest winced in pain, staggering a few feet back. Muk responded by backing away as well, charging another Thunderbolt through his hands.

"Avoid it!" Ash yelled. Despite his stress, a small grin had stretched across his lips. Tempest dodged the bolt, which continued on to strike a tree, setting the trunk on fire and lighting up the surrounding grass.

"Use Poison Gas!" Koga announced. Just before Tempest had finished evading the Thunderbolt, Muk was approaching him again, spitting out the ominous cloud in the direction the water type had dodged.

"Iron Defense, protect yourself!" With little time to avoid the cloud of gas, it was the best option. Tempest may have already had poison in his system as it is, not just from Muk's previous attacks but Venomoth as well.

Tempest cloaked himself in a strong, metallic glow as the poisonous cloud passed through him, shielding himself from the toxins. Muk stayed on the offensive, liquefying the bottom half of his body with Acid Armor to rush the river crab and smashing him with Brick Break. The fighting type move dented Tempest's defenses and knocked him onto his back, collecting dirt on his shell as he slid away. Muk stopped in place, forming more Toxic Spikes across his body. When he extended his arms out, Ash realized he was getting ready to fire them.

Last time, the spikes had broken through Bubble Beam. They were obviously reinforced by Harden, which made them even more dangerous than they already were, especially as projectiles. Thankfully, they also had a more durable variation of Bubble Beam. "Frozen Bullets!"

Once more, Muk fired the Toxic Spikes from his body like a machine gun. Tempest responded with the frozen Bubble Beam. When the two volleys met halfway, the icy exterior of Tempest's attack faired better than the standard Bubble Beam had, and the two attacks canceled each other out in a stalemate. As Muk began to fire the last of his spikes, the bottom half of his body turned to liquid again, charging for Tempest once more. He raised an arm, which crackled with lightning.

A new idea passed through Ash's mind. "Ice Beam, freeze his lower half!"

Sneering spitefully, Tempest fired the blast of ice into the bottom portion of Muk's body - the one that was liquified. Part of it began to freeze over, causing Muk to lurch forward as his movements were halted, seemingly locked in place. The sludge Pokemon strained to free himself, and the ice began to break, but Tempest had already closed in, charging a Crabhammer. With a shout, he socked Muk in the face, forcing him back, and then raised his other pincer, coated in metal. Muk kept channeling electricity through his arm and swung in retaliation. The Metal Claw and Thunder Punch collided against each other, sending sparks flying in all directions with the accompanying shockwave. Evenly matched, the two pulled away staggering back before locking eyes again.

Both took a moment to catch their breath, and then Tempest grinned. He could feel a tugging weakness in his body, but he wouldn't give into the poison yet. It would have to do much worse to get him to stop. Across from him, Muk was also beginning to breathe hard, but the sludge Pokemon managed to find his bearings as well.

Ash's fingers dug into his palm. He had never experienced this combination of anxiety and exhilaration before. His face flushed, but he kept his thoughts under control. As long as they still had a badge to win, they would always be under control.

"River Brawl!"

Surrounding himself in more water, Tempest unleashed another flurry of rapid-fire punches. Nuk responded in kind, the two brutes brawled. Fists and pincers collided one after another, but Tempest was attacking faster, forcing Muk back with repeated strikes to the face, chest and stomach. He fought to ignore the pain as his punches smashed into the seemingly rock-hard spikes in Muk's body, cuts forming on his pincers and making each blow sting.

Suddenly, Muk's bottom half turned to liquid again, and with increased speed he dodged backwards, leaving Tempest to strike nothing but air. As his pincer overextended uselessly, Muk was charging another Thunderbolt.

"Iron Defense!" Ash shouted hurriedly. Tempest transitioned into his defensive stance as quickly as he could, but Muk was already firing, the attempt at Iron Defense was imperfect when the lightning struck him. Although it managed to cushion the blow, Tempest's pained groan transferred into a yellow as the heat of the electricity burned into him. When it stopped, the sparks were dancing along the surface of his outer shell, and he tried to keep Iron Defense up when Muklunged forward and buried his fist into his stomach.

The Kingler felt the air get knocked out of him again when he was sent away by the blow, landing on his back with a thud. Ahead of him, Muk was taking another breath, which gave Tempest time to force himself back to his feet. The aches in his body begged him not to, but he made no effort to listen to them.

As he stood up in full, his vision turned blurry and slanted. Muk was starting to split into two, and there was a strange lightheaded feeling. In defiance Tempest squeezed his eyes closed for a moment or two before reopening them, almost willing his vision to return to normal. Muk's body was fully covered in spikes again, and both Tempest and Ash knew what those extended arms meant.

Muk fired the Toxic Spikes. They were coming out a little bit more slowly than before; still fast, but enough to be noticeable. With some effort, Tempest raised both his pincers, each with Metal Claw, and blocked the assault. He felt the force as the hardened spikes hammered against him, but in the end they all bounced off the surface of his pincers. Suddenly, Muk changed tactics. Although he had not finished depleting all of his ammunition, he instead raised his hand, forming another Dark Pulse to smash into the ground.

"Jump over it with Surf!" Ash called out. "Attack with Frost Pulse!"

It took longer for Muk to form this Dark Pulse, and Ash quickly realized it was because he was putting extra power into it. When he slammed the ominous orb into the ground, the shockwave that erupted out from under him was noticeably bigger than the previous ones. Tempest saw the difference too, and his eyes tightened. He formed the wave of water beneath his feet and rode it on a collision course with the Dark Pulse. Just as they approached, he allowed the wave to collapse, launching himself off of the water and a bit higher into the air than he was normally able to manage. Water Pulse formed in his pincer, freezing over into a big sphere of solid ice that he hurled downwards at Muk. The sludge Pokemon braced himself for impact, holding his hardening arms in front of his face and taking the hit. The Frost Pulse burst open upon impact, leaking cold mist. Muk was sent back with a grunt but managed to stay upright as Tempest landed several feet from his side.

Muk was shaking off the last attack when a new dizzy spell hit, and this time Tempest had to reach up and clutch his head, blinking instinctively. Ash saw his water type partner stumble and quickly knew what was happening.

"Hang in there, big guy! We're almost there, you just need to knock him out!"

'Just need to knock him out.' echoed through Tempest's ears. He scrunched his face, almost forcing his eyes to glare forward. His vision still did not completely even out right away - the image of Muk was shaking a bit, and Tempest growled at the fact, as though doing so would help fight against it.

"Thunderbolt!" Koga could see the Kingler's struggle, and he was going to make it cost him.

"Mud Shot!" Ash immediately responded.

Despite his compromised balance and vision, Tempest pointed his barely shaking pincer straight at Muk. The large poison type was raising his hands, channeling more lightning through them. The image was shaky, rapidly blinking into a double on and off. It was a fight just to tell where his opponent was aiming, and exactly how he needed to fire the Mud Shot in order to intercept it.

The large crab snarled, and foamy bubbles formed across his mouth. He was going to get this right, whether the poison in his system liked it or not. He was going to finish this battle, whether anything Muk threw at him liked it or not!

Muk fired the bolt, and Tempest, after a split second more of effort, responded with the Mud Shot.

They collided, and the mud cut through the lightning. Muk tried to avoid it, but was shot in the arm while moving to the side. He recoiled with another one of his hideous growls, pausing for a brief few seconds to try and recover from the pain. It was the perfect opportunity to move it, but Tempest was feeling nauseous. He pushed it away, but the feeling of weakness accompanying it proved far more stubborn. His body did not feel at full strength anymore.

Muk recovered, eyes blazing with more disdain than ever. At Koga's command, more Toxic Spikes began forming all over his body.

"Keep pushing forward, Tempest!" Ash's voice pierced through his friend's struggle to concentrate. "I believe in you, Counter Shield! CHARGE HIM!"

Steam exited Tempest's open pincers as his gaze flared, as though he were trying to melt Muk with a heat vision. Fighting against all of the pain and threat of numbness in his body, he leapt forward with a roar and summoned a Surf beneath his back. Twirling around, he fired boiling water from both of his pincers, creating a new vortex as the wave carried him forward, and right to Muk.

He collided with the sludge Pokemon's spiky body, and the impact hurt. He could feel the spikes digging into him, trying to puncture him, and perhaps even succeeding. But Muk could also feel Tempest's bulky form and extremely hard shell crashing into him on a wave as the tornado of Scald burned against him. He was covered in the heated water when Tempest came to a stop - the river crab staggered and nearly collapsed onto his face when landing on his feet, but managed to remain standing. With a loud grunt, he spun around and fired an Ice Beam into Muk's soaked body. Hot clashed with cold as the two extreme sensations exacerbated one another at Muk's expense. Koga's partner was still covered all over with hardened, Toxic Spikes, and yet he still seemed vulnerable to an assault.

Ash's heart hammered. His smile may have strained his cheeks for a split second or two if it weren't for the adrenaline pumping through him. "Come on, River Brawl!"

Tempest felt that weakness returning to him, coming from somewhere on the inside of his body. He did not care. With all of the willpower he had constantly proven himself to be capable of - and a great deal more, as well - he surrounded himself in the strongest surge of Liquidation he could possibly form, and attacked. The first punch hit Muk clean in the face, and Tempest could not suppress his own grunt as the already sore and wounded pincer grinded against the spikes. It did not stop him from throwing a second. Or a third. The fourth was blocked, and the fifth was met with a punch and return.

The Kingler pounded away against Muk without relent, but the poison type was striking back, summoning all of the defiance he could to force Tempest back. One spiked punch nailed Tempest in the face, and he almost fell back, losing his armor of water, but he rebounded and barely managed to hold the Liquidation together. It was a strain to keep it up for this long, but Tempest simply responded to that with even more defiance. His attacks grew faster. The pain of each strike grew worse, but he kept on striking. The spikes covering Muk dented, broke, and chipped off as Tempest continued to wail on him.

Muk tried to speed up his own assault, but Tempest was speeding up faster. Moments later, Muk was slowing down. He struggled to lift his fists, but Tempest kept on pounding away, going for less defended spots where the spikes had been broken off. His opponent recoiled, staggered, and slumped, overtaken by the flurry of blows. It would not stop. The sludge powerhouse was defenseless.

The water surrounding Tempest collapsed in a sudden splash. He had kept it up for as long as he could, but he wasn't able to hold the move together anymore. He was out of breath, and feeling weaker than ever.

But the moment Liquidation began to fail him, Ash's voice filled his ears.

"CRABHAMMER!"

Tempest sucked in whatever air he could. He wasn't sure how much he got, but he hardly cared. Standing over Muk's semi-fallen but still conscious form, he raised his pincer again, struggling to channel the ocean blue energy. It flickered on and off like a damaged light, trying to will itself away.

Tempest's will was stronger. The weakness in his body begged him not to throw another punch, let alone charge up another move, but the energy pulsed through his pincer. He roared louder than he should have been able to in his current state, and lunged forward again, rearing the pincer back, and then he swung.

The Carbhammer smashed into Muk's cheek, destroying the last of the spikes remaining on his head. The poison type struggled to stay upright, and the pincer grinded against his defiant, hardened face.

Then his arms fully slumped. His head whipped back and he collapsed. Tempest staggered forward, about to eat a face full of polluted soil, but stopped himself with his other pincer. He remained that way for several seconds: Barely standing, and only propped up by a shaking appendage pressed against the ground. With one last push, he brought himself back to his feet, staggering back this time, but managing to stay upright. He panted over and over, desperate to claim the relief of air.

His gasps slowed, his breath gradually growing a little bit more under control. He stayed a still, next to the unconscious body of his fallen opponent. The pincer that he had dealt the final blow with slowly began to rise above his head, until it was extended to height.

"Muk is unable to battle," Akira's voice sounded louder than usual. Every word felt like a sentence. "Kingler wins!"

The world stopped when he pointed his arm to Ash.

"The victor of this battle is the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Ash wasn't poisoned. He wasn't exhausted, or battered with bruises and cuts. But his arms were as shaky as Tempest's when his hands delicately found his cheeks. He wasn't sure if he was trying to talk or not, but a lump had formed in his throat nonetheless, and his eyes blinked faster for a second or two.

He nearly tried to run right out there, onto the field, but the ground was still infested with Toxic Spikes, and the barrier was still up to ensure that nobody entered the dangerous environment. There was an easy solution, however…

He took out Tempest's Poke Ball as fast as he could, nearly dropping it. The beam of red light sucked the Kingler back into the sphere, but it quickly burst back open as he hit the button, spawning the river crab right next to him. Bewildered, Tempest started to look around, but stopped in surprise when his trainer flung his arms around him.

Battle scarred or not, the water type's outer shell was hard. For some reason, just the silent, mental notion of that had Ash smiling further, blinking back the thankfully short-lived tears.

"We didn't just win another badge, Tempest.." the boy said, trying to keep his voice under control "We- that was a Master we just beat."

Tempest was still as Ash continued to hug him, processing the human boy's words. After a few moments, he lifted his pincers, and as gently as he could, wrapped them around his trainer.

The duo didn't stay that way for too long; some noise from the stands caught their attention. Separating, they saw the audience of clan members standing in their seats, clapping.

Ash's chest fluttered at the sight, but his attention quickly turned back to Tempest when he saw his friend stumble for a moment. "Are you okay, pal?" The Kingler grinned weakly, sinking into a sitting position before he could involuntarily lose his footing. With a trembling grin, Ash took out his ball once more. "Rest well, you'll be in the Center soon."

The river crab's large form disappeared into the capsule, and Ash wondered if he had been staring at it longer than he realized - when he finally did reclip it to his belt, Koga was approaching him.

The Gym Leader's mask was off, finally giving Ash a view of his face for the first time since right before the battle had started. The boy could have sworn to have detected hints of a grin somewhere on the edges of his lips.

"How are you feeling, Ketchum?"

Breathing through his nose, Ash did his best to suppress any potential snorts. "I… I won, that's how I feel right now." his cheeks took on the slightest shade of pink for a moment. It was far and away the most arduous leg of his travels, but now… "So much has happened since I left Saffron, and it… it's just great having something tangible to show for it."

"Hmm…" Koga's hand fished into his pocket. "Well there's no point delaying it any longer. Trials and tribulations are at the core of every ambition, but you have passed this one, with flying colors I feel obligated to add." Ash's heart skipped a beat when the Soul Badge came into view. It was the tiny, irreplaceable object that represented the past several weeks, and now it was being pressed into his palm, with a little bit more pressure than he was prepared for. "Anybody who sees you with this will not understand what it took, but the result will speak for itself."

Ash's hand gently closed around the badge. He felt his eyes growing wet again, but was proud of himself for managing to keep it in. Even out of happiness, he wasn't in the mood to cry, nor did he feel the need too.

"That was my duty, so it comes first." Koga continued, pulling a new object out of his pocket. It was a round object, protectively wrapped, and just making out the shape was a reminder and a signal to the boy. "You fulfilled the conditions I laid out for you nine days ago, both in the Safari Zone and here. As credit for that, this TM contains my personal favorite move: Toxic Spikes. You are free to use it in whatever manner crosses your mind, and I encourage you to consider even the stranger ideas that may come to you."

"Thank you," Ash nodded. Taking the TM in his hand immediately brought his mind back to the battle they had just fought. It felt odd, yet even more cathartic to actually be holding it right in front of him. He didn't think anyone on his team was currently capable of learning it, but… "I'll be sure to hold onto it; and I'll definitely remember." He took a moment to dig through his backpack and put his prizes in their respective cases. He lingered a bit longer when putting away the Soul Badge.

Five slots were filled now. His journey to the full eight was officially more than halfway over. That was more surreal than anything else, even the fact that he was nearly on the other side of the Region from where he had first started.

"We will be taking a break for now," Koga waited for Ash to be back on his feet before resuming. "The battlefield needs to be reset, and I imagine you want to transfer your team to the Center before watching my daughter's match. Tell her to be ready in an hour, I will need to prepare myself."

"Right," the boy nodded, before lightly bowing his head. "Thank you again, Leader Koga. It's… been an honor."

Koga's hand was reaching for something again, and although his face still carried its same aura, his lips were a little bit stretched as Ash lifted his head back up and looked him in the eye. "I reciprocate, Mr. Ketchum. You've proven yourself to be a true prodigy today; I feel privileged it was done under my roof. Truth be told, I don't believe I've seen a case quite like you." He pulled out something else.

It was a decoration hanging off of a violet necklace. More specifically, a baby blue jewel in the shape of a serpent's head, although it totally lacked the malign of Shadowblood's mask.

"Take the Soul Badge as proof of your professional victory today," Koga's tone of voice was different. Still firm, but different. He held the necklace out. "And if you would be willing, take this Charm of Maya as proof of my personal acknowledgement."

Ash stared at the gem. When he went to grab it he did his best to be as gentle as possible, and held it closer to get a better look. It was actually quite beautiful. Carefully, he wrapped the necklace around his neck, and as though drawn like a magnet, his eyes moved down to watch the charm hang in front of his chest.

He was without tension when he went to the stands. Most of the audience was beginning to file out until it was time for Janine's match - he received more than a few compliments and pats on the shoulder when walking past them. It was almost overwhelming, but it wasn't.

He knew what it was like to be overwhelmed. This wasn't it. And with some hope, that feeling would have a much harder time presenting itself to him ever again.

Len's hands gently clapped twice. "You had me worried more than once, you know. Congratulations; I hope you understand how big a deal this is."

The younger boy lightly chuckled. "I'd like to think I do. It was even tougher than it looked, trust me."

"Well aware," Aya's tone carried approval. "You were amazing out there."

"Yes…" Janine's voice brought Ash's attention to her. The girl's eyes contained an awed glisten, staring at the charm around his neck. "You were."

It was not close to over. There were still three more Gyms he needed to clear. His loss to Surge still loomed in the background, and the Conference and Indigo Plateau towered over all just as much as ever.

But today would hold him over for quite some time.

/

The sky above the dense trees of Viridian Forest was a deep black. Admelia the Misdreavus had no idea how far she had traveled, nor was she certain or even holding an educated guess as to where she was. It had simply been like following a trail. It had taken her here, and now it was leading her through this vegetation. The sounds and nighttime chatter were a reminder of the unfamiliar environment, but a few particular noises roused suspicion that she was getting close.

"There, Big Net! That's the third one this past hour, right!?"

Just as the lodges came into view, Admelia whirled around, seeming three human children in odd uniforms. Two boys carrying nets, and behind them was a girl.

The Bug Catcher Leader stepped forward. "Yes, it certainly is, and about a dozen since last night." the girl stared at her, and soon they were locking eyes. At first it was mere curiosity as usual, on Admelia's part, but the longer they looked, the more her instincts spoke to her. Assuring her that she was allowed to be at least somewhat calm. "Another ghost seeking asylum. You must have been drawn here like the others, correct?"

Admelia blinked slowly, and then gradually nodded. It had taken some time to realize it, but there was distortion here. Something that called to her, and now that she was here, it was feeling so similar to the tower. Almost like another home…

… But could a home truly be replaced? As she tried to put thought into it, the proper term felt like… shelter. Safety. Protection.

Still curious, Ademlia floated closer to the Bug Catcher Leader. She locked eyes with her again, this time right in front of her face. The girl's expression was strained with thought. Around them, a breeze kicked up, and as if out of nowhere, the temperature had dropped.

The boys shivered. She did not. She knew the feeling. And she felt the presence.

"The master of this forest is watching you, little ghost." The leader's voice had almost turned monotone halfway through the statement. "I know you are looking for a place to hide. Help may be found here, but…"

The hairs on the girl's skin began to stand up, but her expression and tranquility remained the same. Raising her arm, she reached out for Admelia, and rested the tip of her index finger on the young ghost's nose.

Then her eyes widened, even as the rest of her face remained static.

"Kimberly."

"I hear you." she responded.

"There are outside forces who threaten this domain. These arrivals signal we may be next. They have already struck elsewhere."

Kimberly's stomach fluttered. Danger was on their doorstep, enough to elicit even his concern. "What do we need to do?"

"For now we make use of them. Any threats will be punished on arrival. It will always be safe here."

"Of course it will be." Kimberly's voice spoke past Ademlia, taking in the message.

Apprehension tugged at the back of her neck, but it was merely a feeling and nothing more. Disaster would not find success in Viridian Forest.

This forest was the property of only one being.