THE POKENINJA, ADVENTURES OF THE MAELSTROM POKEMON

"Normal speech"

"Tailed Beast speech"

Pokémon attack names

'Inner thoughts'

"Translated Pokémon speech"

'Translated Pokémon thoughts'

[Pokédex Entry]

Chapter 32: Sky ain't the Limit

"Mienfoo, use Pound!" Ash called out a command, Mienfoo rushed towards Naruto who was in his Combo Mode to attack him. Naruto took to the defensive to deflect the incoming attacks with his forearms before jumping backwards whilst skidding along the ground.

"Alright then, my turn!" Naruto dashed forward quickly with his upper body low to the ground and fists clenched which hinted that he was about to use Close Combat.

"Mienfoo, use Detect to defend yourself!" by his command, Mienfoo's eyes glowed blue then began evading Naruto's assault of punches and kicks. Both jumped away to create some distance between and stared at each other intently before bowing their heads, signaling the end of their training battle.

"Quite an exquisite spar between the two of you," said Cilan, having been watching the battle alongside Iris.

Well, we need to be in shape for the next gym battle," Naruto pointed out as he reverted to his Polymorph Mode.

Ash nodded energetically "That's right, just a bit more and we'll be at Mistralton city,"

It's been about a week since Mienfoo joined Ash's team after the incident with the Pokémon Poacher whom they had handed over to Officer Jenny for arrest. The female fighting type was a bit awkward around her new peers with Oshawott trying to flirt with her which earned him a bonk in the head by an annoyed Naruto but the others welcomed her politely. Naruto would hang out with her so as to get her to relax around the others which she came to appreciate but things got a little tense between her and Servine, one of them don't seem to like it when the other spends time with Naruto more than necessary.

But like always, the journey wasn't without its mishaps. The group ended up wandering into the territory of Bouffalant which attacked them, leading the group scattered and trying to find their way back to each other. Naruto ended up with Iris, Axew, Servine, Mienfoo, Oshawott and Tepig albeit the latter two weren't exactly on good terms due to Oshawott swiping food from Tepig's bowl. Both halves of the group encountered a Nurse Joy who revealed to them that the Bouffalant wouldn't attack anyone with large curly hair since they'd believe they're one of them and so offered them curly wigs as disguises. Naruto had to put up with Kurama laughing at him for it until they had an encounter with a Bouffalant due to Oshawott and Tepig arguing again which led to Axew dropping his wig and getting attacked with Naruto having to rescue Axew and being very cross with the two Unovan starters. They came across an injured Bouffalant whom Iris and the others worked together to help it heal. The Bouffalant in gratitude helped them reunite with Ash and the others then guided them out of the territory.

Mienfoo had to admit that this misadventure of theirs was quite odd, but she can't say that it was boring compared to the time spent with her brother and the forest Pokémon. Plus, Naruto was a rather interesting Pokémon, at times acting more human like when he ate that strange human food more often than the Pokémon food which made her want to know him more…if only that annoying grass Pokémon stops butting in every time.

Everyone was snapped out of their thoughts by the sound of an engine from above which made them look up and see an airplane flying in the sky and performing various aerial maneuvers much to their awe.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" said Ash in amazement.

"I'll say, I've never seen anything like it!" Naruto was in agreement, having seen this kind of flying when Sai uses that ink bird of his.

"Seeing a plane here must mean that we're close to Mistralton city which has a large airfield," Cilan explained.

"Well what are we waiting for? Mistralton gym here we come!" said Ash with gusto.

After receiving directions from the city's residents, the group located the gym which was actually the airfield they saw earlier from the ledge which made them curious about the type of Pokémon that the gym leader uses. They were about to enter the gym when someone called out to them.

"Hey, are you here for a gym battle?" the group turned towards a boy who was looking at them questioningly.

"Uh, just me but yeah," said Ash.

"Then you'll have to join the line over there," the boy pointed over at said line consisting of Pokémon trainers much to their confusion.

"You mean that line?"

"That's right, you're looking at the morning group which means you'll be in the afternoon group,"

"Is this really the Mistralton Gym?" asked Iris confusedly.

"What's this about a morning group?" Ash was just as confused as Iris.

"Must be something new in the Gym menu," said Cilan thoughtfully.

"Might as well go over there and find out more," Naruto suggested.

They approached the line and met one of the officials who proceeded to ask them questions "Do you have an appointment?"

"An appointment? I don't get it," said Ash.

"Mistralton gyms battles require appointments made ahead of time," the official looked down at his tablet "It seems like there's a spare slot in the afternoon group, would you like for me to write you in?"

"Uh, okay,"

"I'd like you to present your PokéDex for registration," Ash held out his PokéDex for the official to use a scanner on it and print out a card which he handed to the Kantonian trainer "Now please hang on to your appointment card for later,"

"Appointment card? I'm getting more confused by the minute," said Iris.

"But I'm also curious about the gym leader though," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"How do they handle this number of trainers? Is it that their Pokémon are really strong or that they have reserves of Pokémon to use for multiple battles?"

Cilan hummed in thought "When you put it that way, it piques my curiosity as well. My brothers and I always take our Pokémon to be healed at the center after every battle and sometimes having the next trainer to wait, I'm sure we'll get our answer when the gym leader shows up,"

At his words, the group heard an engine and looked to see the very same plane from before coming in for a landing as it slowed to a stop before them. The person emerged from the plane and took off the helmet, revealing to be a girl with long red hair as she approached them.

"Hi there, my name is Skyla and I'm the leader of the Mistralton Gym!" said the girl cheerfully "Now then, let's get these gym battles off the ground! Allow me to introduce my aces in the skies!"

Skyla threw out three PokéBalls into the air to call upon her Pokémon that landed on the ground to present themselves before everyone. Ash took out his PokéDex to scan the Pokémon.

[Swoobat. The Courting Pokémon and the evolved form of Woobat. It shakes its tail vigorously when it emits ultrasonic waves strong enough to reduce concrete to rubble]

[Unfezant. The Proud Pokémon and the evolved form of Tranquil. Males swing their head plumage to threaten opponents. The females' flying abilities surpass those of the males]

[Swanna. The White Bird Pokémon and the evolved form of Ducklet. Despite their elegant appearance, they can flap their wings strongly and fly for thousands of miles.]

"How interesting, Skyla shows off all of her Pokémon from the very start. Most gym leaders rarely do that in order to reduce predictability," said Cilan.

One of the trainers approached Skyla to challenge "Alright then, here are my Pokémon!" he threw his PokéBalls, revealing them to be a Zebstrika, Boldore and Emolga.

"So the trainer does the same thing too, could it be a Triple Battle?" asked Ash thoughtfully.

Naruto shrugged in response "Maybe…,"

"Alright, now let's begin with the Air Battle!" said Skyla.

The group blinked in confusion with Iris being vocal about it "Air Battle, what's that?"

Skyla simply closed her eyes for some time with every silently watching her, Naruto and co were wondering why she was standing there when she suddenly opened her eyes and smiled at the trainer.

"Well congratulations, you've won the Air Battle and for that you've earned a badge!" Skyla announced brightly, knocking certain viewers for a loop.

"Wait what?" Iris blinked in confusion.

"Surely, there has to be more to this…," said Cilan, not completely understanding what Skyla just did.

Ash approached the trainer who was leaving with his newly acquired gym badge "Hey wait, was that a gym battle?"

"Hold on, you mean you don't know of Air Battles?" asked the trainers.

"Air Battles, what are those?"

"I'm sorry, but you've lost the Air Battle. Better luck next time," said Skyla apologetically to a trainer, but the problem was that nothing happened from Ash's POV.

"But you guys didn't battle!" Ash complained.

"Yes they did, they battled in Skyla's mind,"

Naruto blinked in disbelief "Are you for real?"

Sure enough, Skyla continued to utilize the Air Battles against all trainers with some winning a badge and others being told to retry upon their loss. Naruto's eye twitched at each and every time she does this. it goes against everything he knows both in the Pokémon world and back home at the Elemental Nations, it's so lazy that he has no doubt that Rock Lee and Might Gai would be outraged by this and he wasn't the only one.

"Of all the ridiculous…I have to stop this now!" Cilan stomped towards Skyla who was walking towards her plane after having done her Air Battles with all of the trainers.

"Count me in!" Ash followed the aggravated gym leader.

"Skyla!" Cilan finally caught up with the female gym leader who was confused upon seeing him so agitated "I demand a FULL explanation about all this!"

Ash nodded in agreement "Yeah, those can't be called gym battles!"

"You must be scheduled for the afternoon, how about you wait until then for our chat? You have no idea how busy I am!" Skyla completely blew them off with a smile, getting into the cockpit of her plane and took off before they could say anything.

"I don't want to battle like that, it won't feel right," Ash complained.

"I'd be mad at you if you accepted 'Air Battle' from her," said Naruto in irritation.

"I refuse to accept such a style of battling, this goes against everything as a gym leader!" said Cilan in anger.

"You kids don't sound too happy," a voice spoke up from behind, getting everyone to turn around to an elderly man with greying hair tied to a short ponytail and leaning slightly on a wooden cane.

"Who are you?" asked Iris.

"I happen to be Skyla's grandfather, the name's Miles. I have a clue as to why you're so upset, why don't you come inside and I'll explain it all to you," said the man now known as Miles.

The group followed Miles into the building and sat down at a table where Miles began to talk to them "I used to be the previous gym leader for the Mistralton City gym for years until my time for retirement came. Afterwards, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of starting my cargo business,"

"But what we'd like to know is if you're okay with how your granddaughter battles?" asked Ash.

Miles sighed "In the past, Skyla used to take her gym battles very seriously. Her skills were so well-known that trainers from all over the Unova region. However, the influx of trainers had made her so busy that she couldn't spare any time for her love of flying, this led to the creation of 'Air Battles' so she could handle her challengers efficiently and have time for herself,"

"Even so, that's still no excuse!" said Cilan angrily.

"That's exactly what I told her, her response was that nobody complained and simply accepted it, then she commented about actual battles being old-fashioned. Perhaps, you're better off going to another gym,"

"No way, I want to battle this gym but with a true battle. I want to face the Skyla before all this Air Battle nonsense. She'll be the third gym leader who specializes in Flying type Pokémon," said Ash with determination.

"You mean you faced two other gym leaders like Skyla before coming to Unova?" asked Iris.

"Yeah, I faced Falkner while I was in Johto and Winona in Hoenn,"

"I've heard of them, those two are experts when it comes to Flying types," said Miles, his business having him travel to other regions in the past.

"You're right about that, the battles against them were tough but I was able to win in the end and learned a lot from them. I'm sure they'll get mad if they find out what Skyla is doing right now,"

"An obvious reaction, I may not own a flying type but I still won't condone her actions, this is a blatant disrespect to all gym leaders,"

"Not just gym leaders but as a Pokémon trainer Cilan," said Naruto with a frown "If she keeps this farce up then what's the point of having a Pokémon gym? I've met many gym leaders who took their jobs very seriously and I respect them for that. Seeing Skyla do this doesn't respect them well at all,"

"Yeah, the battles were hard but it showed us just how much stronger we could be!" said Pikachu.

"So, what's the plan then?" asked Iris.

"Isn't it obvious? Challenge Skyla into a gym battle and prove to her that her Air Battles aren't as great as she thinks they are!" said Ash with determination.

Naruto smirked at his partner's declaration "Couldn't have said it better myself, Ash!"

Later on, everyone waited at the entrance for Skyla's return from her and sure enough, they saw her plane coming in to land on the runway and said person exited from the cockpit to approach them.

"Alright, is everyone ready for some Air Battles?" asked Skyla with the trainers cheering in agreement. Ash then approached her "Oh, you're the one from earlier,"

"Yeah, sorry about before. My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, you see I came to the Unova region to take part in its league and so far I have won five badges so far," Ash brought out his badge case to show the gym badges that he had won, amazing the other trainers "Then I heard about your gym and how you use flying types which reminded me of the other gym leaders that use flying types just like you,"

"Really, there are others that use flying type Pokémon like I do?" asked Skyla, surprised.

"That's right, there's Falkner from Johto and Winona from Hoenn. Those two were amazing in battle with their Pokémon when I faced them. That's why I want to face you in a battle too,"

Skyla hummed in thought "You did come a long way from Kanto and showed to be strong given the number of badges you have right now. But it might not be fair to the other trainers that were there before you," she turned to the group of trainers "Would you mind letting him battle me?"

"Sure, I don't mind,"

"He must be strong to be able to earn those badges,"

"I wanna see how a trainer from Kanto battles,"

"I'm willing to give up my slot to watch,"

The trainers were actually willing to let Ash face her earlier before them.

"Very well, they have agreed so let's get this battle going!"

"Alright then, these are my Pokémon! Let's go guys!" Ash threw a PokéBall into the air as it opened up to reveal Tranquil then Naruto and Pikachu went to stand next to her, revealing to be Ash's chosen three for the battle.

Skyla looked at them thoughtfully "Sorry, but it looks like you've lost this Air Battle,"

Ash scowled at her "What do you mean by that?"

"You could use that Ninetails of yours against my Swoobat, but its attacks won't be able to contend with its aerial mobility, you could use your Tranquil which is a Flying type but it hasn't evolved yet, so it all comes down to you relying on your Pikachu who will eventually tire out and you end up losing,"

"What did she say!?" said Tranquil, feeling rather offended.

"She's just using her imagination instead of the real thing!" Pikachu was just as annoyed.

"Don't underestimate us, we're stronger than you think!" said Naruto, surprising Skyla with his ability to speak.

"You can't be too sure about that statement until you've proven by facing me in an actual Pokémon battle," Ash insisted.

"There's no point to prove that I'm strong when I know I am,"

"Then grant me pleasure to witness this strength of yours in full display," Cilan spoke up "As a fellow gym leader from Straiton City, I would like to witness your battle prowess,"

"Oh you're a gym leader too?" asked Skyla.

Miles added "Indeed he is, I too would like to see your Swanna spread her wings once more as it has been too long since the last time I saw,"

Seeing how insistent everyone was, Skyla let out a sigh "Alright then, I'll battle you for real but only to prove my point that Air Battles are the way to go,"

Ash grinned "Finally, a real gym battle!"

Naruto turned to his fellow Pokémon "Alright you guys, time to show her what we're made of," Pikachu and Tranquil nodded in affirmation.

Later on, everyone was inside the gym with the roofs opening up above them. The young trainers were seated at the stands, Iris and Cilan were at the sides as Ash and Skyla stood at opposite ends of the battlefield with Miles acting as the referee of the match.

"We will now begin the gym battle between Skyla the gym leader and Ash the challenger. This will be a three-on-three match and the battle will be over when all three Pokémon on either side are unable to continue. In addition, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon," said Miles acting as the referee "Now, battle begin!"

Music Start: Pokémon Black and White OST; Battle Gym Leader

"Alright Swoobat, take off!" Skyla tossed her PokéBall into the air, calling on the first of her flying type Pokémon to hover in the air, waiting for her command.

"Tokala, I choose you!" Ash called out, making Naruto leap into the field and stood at the ready.

"I wonder how they're going contend against Skyla and her Pokémon?" asked Iris.

"So far, they've proven to be able to rise to the occasion. No doubt they can do it again," said Cilan, watching the battle with seriousness.

"Let's test things out with Crush Claw!" Ash called out, Naruto dashed forward quickly and leapt towards Swoobat with claws glowing with energy.

Skyla smiled at this and responded "Dodge it and then use Air Cutter!" Swoobat waited at the last moment to quickly fly backwards, making Naruto miss with his attack then flapped its wings rapidly to launch sharpened blades of wind towards the fox.

"Quick, use Substitute to dodge then use Crush Claw again!" Ash commanded, Naruto got hit by the attack and puffed into smoke, revealing a sliced up wooden log in his place. Naruto reappeared behind Swoobat as he literally smacked it to the ground hard and landed afterwards.

"Swoobat, get up and use Gust!" Swoobat got back to the air and flapped its wings to unleash a strong gust of wind, Naruto had to dig his claws into the ground to avoid getting blown back which was exactly what Skyla was aiming "Now Swoobat, use Air Cutter!" the Pokémon immediately launched a barrage of sharpened blades of wind towards.

Ash saw the situation and reacted accordingly "Tokala use Return to deflect the Air Cutter!" hearing the command, Naruto's body began radiating a white aura which broke off to take on the forms of kunai before he willed them to intercept the incoming projectiles, cancelling each other out. He gave Ash a subtle nod who understood what's going on "Tokala, return!"

"Roger that," Naruto ran back to Ash and stood next to him.

"Why did Ash call Naruto back, surely he hasn't forgotten to use hi-," Iris's mouth was muffled by Cilan's hand.

"Now now Iris, we can't talk about 'that' in the open," said Cilan intently.

Iris realized what he meant and felt embarrassed at what she almost did "…sorry,"

Back in the battle, Skyla smirked at them "It seems like you're trying to change things up but it won't matter in the end,"

Ash frowned in response "We'll see about that, Tranquil I choose you!" he tossed his PokéBall into the air to call on his Pokémon.

"Ready!" Tranquil chirped.

"Alright, Tranquil use Air Cutter!" Tranquil flapped her wings rapidly to launch blades of wind towards her opponent.

"Swoobat, you use Air Cutter too!" Skyla commanded, Swoobat responded in kind which resulted in both attacks cancelling each other out "Now use Gust!" the Pokémon went on to unleash a strong gust of wind.

"Use Gust too, Tranquil!" said Ash, Tranquil obeyed and again both attacks cancelled each other out "Alright, get in close and use Wing Blade!" Tranquil flew towards Swoobat with her wings wrapped with sharpened winds for a close range attack.

"Sounds like a new move to me, but we aren't going to let it hit us. Swoobat, take off!" said Skyla. Swoobat flew off with Tranquil in pursuit, the two flying types engaged each other high in the air with one trying to land an attack while the other was avoiding the attack the best it could.

Ash watched the aerial fight carefully and soon noticed that Swoobat was starting to tire which was when he made his move "Tranquil use Quick Attack and then use Gale Talons!" hearing Ash's command, Tranquil switched attacks as she charged at Swoobat with great speed and a long trail of white energy behind her, she lashed out with her talons that were wrapped with wind to collide with her target, sending them both plummeting to the ground and throwing up a cloud of dust. The dust cloud soon dissipates to reveal Tranquil standing nearby with her wings folded and Swoobat in a small crater with swirls in its eyes, signaling its defeat.

"Swoobat is unable to battle, Tranquil wins!" Miles announced, making the crew cheer excitedly.

"Nicely done, the Gale Talons was perfect!" said Naruto happily.

Tranquil beamed "I'm glad that I was able to finally use it in battle,"

"Alright, they got their first win!" said Iris.

Cilan nodded in agreement "I see, Ash have Tokala go first to wear Swoobat down then switched out with Tranquil to use her speed defeat it, all the while concealing their trump card till the right moment,"

"And I almost blabbed it out,"

"So, what do you think Skyla? Still think that things are going your way?" asked Ash.

"It was a battle between two flying types and Swoobat was at a disadvantage in its second battle, believe it or not the unexpected never happens," said Skyla confidently.

"She still thinks she'll win," said Ash with a frown.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," said Naruto with determination.

"Time for you to take off, Unfezant!" Skyla threw her second PokéBall into the air to call on her next Pokémon which is the evolved form of Tranquil.

"Stay frosty Ash, things are gonna get tricky from this point," Naruto spoke up.

"Gotcha, Tranquil use Quick Attack!" Ash called out, Tranquil immediately flew at Unfezant at highspeed with white light trailing behind her.

"Alright Unfezant, take to the sky and don't let Tranquil hit you!" Skyla called out, Unfezant complied to the order and flew away, darting from side to side to evade Tranquil's attacks which she found rather frustrating and continued trying to land a hit on her opponent "Dive to the ground and then ascend quickly!"

Unfezant dove towards the ground with Tranquil close behind, it waited until the last moment to quickly pull up into the air, making Tranquil panic at the sudden maneuver and struggle to recover. Skyla smiled confidently at this "Now use Air Slash!"

"Tranquil, keep using Quick Attack and get away!" Ash called out urgently. Unfezant flapped his wings to launch sharpened discs of wind down at Tranquil who flew low to the ground and took evasive action to avoid getting hit before pulling up to the air, successfully escaping the barrage but panted heavily from action.

"That was too close," said Iris in relief.

"Missing that Quick Attack really made things difficult for Ash and Tranquil is exhausted from the previous battle," said Cilan with concern.

"I won't miss this time, no more surprises from you!" said Skyla smugly.

Ash and the others were angered by Skyla, none more than Tranquil. Seeing how the gym leader looked down on her trainer and friends, after all that hardwork and struggles they had gone through to get to this point only for this human to downplay…she won't stand for this!

Ash was about to call Tranquil back when Naruto noticed something and spoke up "Ash wait, something's happening to Tranquil!"

They looked to see that Tranquil's body started to glow and was engulfed in blue energy which soon dissipated to reveal in a new form similar to Skyla's Unfezant except that she doesn't possess the red plume.

"Tranquil's evolved into Unfezant!" Ash took out his PokéDex to scan his newly evolved Pokémon.

[Unfezant, the Proud Pokémon. Female Unfezant's flying skills surpass that of male Unfezant]

"It looks like Skyla's Air Battle didn't take Ash's Tranquil evolving into Unfezant into account," said Cilan, seeing Skyla's momentary look of disbelief before snapping into focus.

"It looks like you also learnt a new move too, let's do this Unfezant!" Ash declared.

"Right!" Ash's Unfezant chirped in affirmation.

"We'll see about that, Unfezant use Air Slash!" Skyla called out, her Unfezant flapping his wings to launch a barrage of bladed discs of wind at the opponent.

"Unfezant, you use Gale Talons to knock them away!" Ash's Unfezant obeyed his command, wrapping her talons with wind before rapidly kicking the incoming projectiles away from her "Now use Air Cutter!" she flapped her wings quickly to retaliate with a barrage of blades of wind towards her opponent with her attack being much stronger and faster than before.

"Dodge it Unfezant, then use Aerial Ace!" Skyla's Unfezant took off, frantically avoiding the attacks before locking onto Ash's Unfezant and flying at her with great speed.

Ash knew full well that Aerial Ace is a move that never misses, luckily he knows a way to defend against such moves "Unfezant, spin while using Gust for a countershield!" Unfezant immediately complied with her trainer's command and started spinning quickly with her wings spread out, creating a tornado around her, Skyla's Unfezant was shocked by this and tried to get away but ended up getting caught in the tornado.

"Unfezant, get out of there!" Skyla called out worriedly, her Unfezant tried to do so but couldn't break free.

Ash smirked at this "Alright Unfezant, time to use your new move…Aerial Ace!"

Inside the tornado, Ash's Unfezant locked-on to Skyla's Unfezant and flew whilst using the air current of the tornado to increase her speed to slam into her target, knocking him out of the tornado and crashing to the ground with said tornado dissipating without her sustaining it. Everyone looked to see Skyla's Unfezant knocked out on the ground.

"Skyla's Unfezant is unable to battle, therefore Ash's Unfezant is the winner!" Miles announced, the crowd were going crazy at this point, seeing how this battle was going. This was way different and better compared to the Air Battles!

"Alright, that's two in a row. Way to go Unfezant!" said Ash happily.

"I wasn't going to let myself lose to her!" said Unfezant proudly with Naruto translating for her.

"I must have jinxed myself by saying no more surprises only to be surprised by this," said Skyla recalling her Pokémon into its PokéBall before bringing out her third to last PokéBall "But now it's time for me to turn it all around with my flying ace Swanna, now take off!" she threw her PokéBall to call on her last but strongest flying type Pokémon.

"Guess it's my turn, right?" asked Pikachu eagerly.

"Actually, let me have a go at her," said Naruto.

"Huh, but why?" asked Ash, both he and Pikachu feeling a bit confused.

"Skyla claimed that Ash would rely on Pikachu for the entirety of the gym battle, I intend to show her that we can still win this battle without Pikachu needing to use a single bolt of electricity. Plus I haven't exactly gone all out yet," Naruto explained, making them realize and smile at what he was hinting.

"Alright then, show them what you can really do," said Pikachu.

"Okay Unfezant return, you were amazing," Ash recalled Unfezant back to her PokéBall "Time for you to go back in, Tokala!"

"I'm on it!" Naruto leapt back into the battlefield and stood at the ready.

"Looks like Naruto wants to wrap this battle up," said Cilan.

"Skyla has no idea," said Iris gleefully, making sure not to reveal anything this time.

"Still trying that strategy of wearing down my Pokémon and switching out to take them down with a newer Pokémon, that won't happen twice," said Skyla with narrowed eyes.

Ash smiled in response "Then it's a good thing I'm not using that strategy this time. Tokala, use Accel Claw!" Naruto used Extremespeed to rush towards Swanna at speeds that made it appear like he had teleported and attacked Swanna with a Crush Claw, landing a strong hit.

"Swanna, hang in there and use Bubblebeam!" Swanna heard her trainer's command and recovered in midair before opening her beak to spew bubbles towards Naruto.

"Use Return to take out that Bubblebeam and then use Shadow Clones!" Ash called out, Naruto immediately complied with his body emitting a white aura which created kunai constructs before launching them at the bubbles, effectively popping each and every one of them then created several copies of himself to charge alongside him to attack Swanna.

"I believe we can thin out these numbers, Swanna use Hurricane!" Skyla called out, Swanna's wings glowed white as she flapped them to create a large hurricane which pulled Naruto and his clones into it "Well, that's one down…,"

Ash smirked "Don't count Tokala out just yet!"

No sooner Ash said those words that a bolt of lightning in the shape of an arrow shot out of the hurricane and struck Swanna, making the Pokémon cry out in pain much to Skyla's shock. The hurricane died down to reveal Naruto having changed into his Raiden Mode which is a saber-toothed tiger-like Pokémon with white fur and blue stripes shaped like lightning bolts, a large black mala beads is worn around the neck with the largest in the middle inscribed with a kanji meaning thunder on it.

Cilan smiled "So they finally use it,"

"Go for it!" Iris cheered.

"W-What just happened, your Ninetails can transform?" asked Skyla in disbelief.

"Tokala is not a Ninetails but a whole different Pokémon as you can see. Alright Tokala, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, Naruto concentrated his power and fired a blast of lightning towards his target.

Skyla quickly reacted "Swanna, use Aqua Ring!" Swanna encircled herself with multiple rings of water right before the Thunderbolt hit, everyone were surprised to see that the attack didn't inflict any damage.

"I don't understand, why didn't Thunderbolt damage Swanna?" asked Iris.

"I'm confused as well, I know Aqua Ring heals the user so I'm just as confused as you are," said Cilan.

Ash frowned at what happened "Let's try this again Tokala, use Lightning Arrow!"

Naruto roared as his stripes glowed with yellow electricity concentrated on his back and took on the shape of a bow, he then used his prehensile tail to pull back on the bowstring to conjure a lightning bolt "Fire!" he let it loose as the projectile shot forward but it too was nullified by the Aqua Ring "Why isn't it working?"

Skyla grinned at the dumbfounded looks and spoke up "That was a nice try but I learned how to do this when I first started as a gym leader. I studied all of my grampa's old videos and he used this move back in the day, the way I used it just now. And because we mastered this move, I didn't have to worry about your Pikachu once you call him and apparently the same goes for your other Pokémon too,"

Naruto frowned at first but then he smiled confidently "If that's the case, we'll just have to switch things up!"

Ash nodded in agreement "Alright Tokala, go for it!"

"Gale Mode!" Naruto's body glowed brightly as he transformed into an orange-coloured raptorial bird with blue tribalistic markings around the eyes, wings and body, then he let out a loud screech which send waves of sound around him.

"It can become a flying type too?" asked Skyla.

"That's right, Tokala use Air Cutter!" Ash called out, Naruto flapped his glowing white wings to launch a barrage of blue crescent shaped blades at his opponent.

"Swanna take off!" said Skyla shot up to the sky, evading the projectiles from Naruto "Now use Bubblebeam!"

"Tokala, use Agility!" Naruto put on a sharp increase in his speed and was evading the bubbles with growing ease, making it hard for Swanna to aim her attacks at him "His Speed Boost ability has already kicked in,"

"Hold on Swanna and use Hurricane!" Skyla commanded with Swanna flapping her wings to create the Hurricane to capture Naruto.

"Tokala, use Mirror Move!" Ash reacted accordingly, Naruto focused on Swanna's movements intently and proceeded to mimic her movements perfectly to form his own hurricane, resulting in both attacks canceling each other out "Alright, now use Wing Blade!" Naruto flew towards Swanna with his wings enshrouded in sharpened winds.

"Ascend quickly and dodge it!" Swanna rose to the sky with Naruto in pursuit but the later was quickly catching up but then Skyla smirked "Don't go thinking that we're trying to fly away, Swanna circle around and then use Brave Bird!" Swanna suddenly pulled back to get behind Naruto as she shrouded herself in a red fiery aura which changed to blue before attacking Naruto who barely reacted in time to deflect the attack with his Wing Blade "Use Brave Bird one more time!"

"Fly high, Tokala!" Ash called out.

"Just try to catch me!" Naruto challenged as he rose to the air, pulling away from Swanna who was trying to keep up but having trouble due to Naruto's Speed Boost ability. Both Pokémon tousled in the air, one trying to land a hit and the other playing hard to get. Naruto dove towards the ground and flew low with Swanna close behind.

"Come on Swanna, keep on flying!" said Skyla determinedly.

"Time for a new combo Tokala, use Agility and Wing Blade for Sonic Strike!" Ash called out.

"Okay!" Naruto combined the two moves and then it looked like time slowed down from his point of view. From the outside, Naruto suddenly disappeared from view and the next thing anyone knew was that he had already attacked Swanna, seemingly slashing right through her as she crashed to the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Swanna is unable to battle and that means Tokala wins, that also means the winner is the challenger Ash!" Miles declared, making the crowd cheer like crazy as the battle had been keeping them on edge from start to finish, making them want to take part in such battles.

Music End

"We did it, Tokala!" said Ash happily.

Pikachu jumped to his trainer's shoulder to cheer with him "We won!"

Naruto swooped down to the ground whilst shifting to his Polymorph form to land before them with a grin "Expect nothing less from me!"

Skyla brought out the PokéBall to call Swanna back "Return Swanna, that was an amazing aerial battle and you were great," she looked at Ash who was celebrating his victory with his Pokémon.

"I knew they'd win!" said Iris happily.

Cilan nodded in agreement "The taste of victory is always sweet; Ash and his Pokémon were brilliant!"


Later in the day, Ash and co were standing with Skyla and Miles at the entrance of the gym.

"I must admit that the battle was the most fun I've ever had in a very long time, from now on, no more Air Battles for me!" Skyla finally admitted to the group much to their relief.

"You really mean it?" Ash asked to make sure.

"I've never faced a trainer and his Pokémon that would be able to battle so hard that I wasn't able to knock out even one of his, I've learned my lesson,"

"From one gym leader to another, I am relieved to hear that," said Cilan with a smile.

"I'm sorry I worried you grampa," Skyla turned to Miles to apologize.

Miles smiled in response "I just glad that you're finally gaining a fresh start with a new battle style, perhaps you should set up a proper schedule so you can have time to fly and battle trainers,"

"Sure thing gramps, should have done that a long time ago," Skyla admitted then she presented the badge to Ash "Here's your Jet badge, you've more than earned it,"

"Thanks Skyla," Ash took the badge to see that it was shaped like a stylized feather with a soaring bird at the bottom "We've got the Jet badge!" he struck a pose with Pikachu doing a victory sign.

"Yeah, believe it!" said Naruto with a foxy grin.

"So, where will you be going to next?" asked Skyla.

Ash hummed in thought at the question "Actually, I haven't decided yet,"

"Then how about Icirrus city? It's the closest city with a Pokémon gym there,"

"Then that will be our next stop, just two more badges and we'll be set for the league," said Naruto with an excited grin.

"You got that right!" said Pikachu cheerfully.

From behind a tree, someone was watching the group especially Naruto with eyes full of interest before fully concealing their presence.


This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Ash and co finally arrive at Mistralton city for his next gym badge and went in search of the gym leader. However, they learnt something disturbing when meeting with the gym leader; she seems to refuse regular gym battles in place of Air Battles where she visualizes the battles in her mind and decides whether they win or lose. Ash as well as the others found this battle style to be rather lazy and unsuitable for any Pokémon gym that even her grandfather disapproves of it. After managing to persuade Skyla into an actual battle by challenging her Air Battle System, Ash along with Naruto and the other Pokémon took her own with Tranquil evolving in the midst of battle and eventually won in spite of Skyla having predicted that that she would win. After earning the Jet badge the right way and Skyla having learnt her lesson, the group were informed of another gym located in Icirrus city which would be their next stop in acquiring their next gym badge for the Pokémon league.

I'm sure you guys were expecting that Cilan faces Skyla first but I figured that Ash would be more persuasive given that he faced two other gym leaders that specializes in flying type Pokémon in his past journeys. Plus, let's be real; Cilan's battle felt painful to watch despite his good intentions but I hope to make up with this battle. Anyways, the next chapter would be about the Clubsplosion arc. I would like to ask if you want Naruto to take part or that Ash uses his other fighting type Pokémon (NOT SCRAGGY!) like Mienfoo or…'you know who'? Be sure to read and review like always.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out and staying alive.