The Fuchsia Gym was enormous.
It had many different sections and far too many buildings — a sprawling, labyrinthine maze of a place.
The group followed behind Koga through winding corridor after winding corridor.
Ash was doing his best to hold back a complaint:
— Okay, yes, this is very ninja.
— But living in a place like this has to be a massive pain.
— If you weren't already familiar with the layout, you would absolutely get lost.
They twisted and turned, doubling back and looping around, until they finally arrived at their destination.
It was a structure tucked away at the rear of the Gym — relatively secluded and self-contained.
Calling it a standard battle arena would have been generous. It looked more like an enormous wooden house, ancient and slightly decrepit, its structure gone just a little soft with age.
The dark timber had deepened to a rich, brooding hue under years of weathering. Some of the mortise joints appeared to have loosened slightly at the connections. The whole thing breathed a fragile, time-worn quality — the kind that suggested it had stood for a very long time and might not stand for that much longer.
Ash had a vague, creeping feeling about this.
...This gym arena doesn't look great.
Just like the Cerulean Gym, special battlefield conditions existed within official Gym battles too.
...The League was remarkably permissive about that sort of thing.
Certain Gyms were admittedly brutal in their difficulty — but Trainers always had the option of bypassing the hard ones and challenging the simpler ones instead.
It was just that the harder the Gym, the more prestigious the Badge it awarded.
Koga pushed open the creaking wooden door.
The interior turned out to be considerably more spacious than it appeared from outside.
But the light was almost nonexistent. Only a few thin shafts of sunlight slanted in through narrow ventilation slits set high in the walls, carving pale columns through air thick with floating dust.
The room smelled of old wood, dry earth, and something else — that particular, almost imperceptible scent that belongs only to very old buildings.
"This is the place," Koga's voice echoed through the hollow space.
"Ash, I know which Pokémon you carry: Pikachu, Pidgeot, Charizard, Gyarados, and... Misdreavus."
Even in the near-darkness, he could read Ash's expression clearly — that was one of the ninja's cultivated abilities: [Low-Light Vision]. A skill earned through years of grueling practice.
Not that it compared to the mental perception of Psychic ability, or the life-sensing reach of Aura. But it was his.
"The rules for this Gym battle are as follows: both sides will use two Pokémon each. Victory is determined by the usual condition — a Pokémon losing the ability to battle — but there is one additional rule."
Koga paused.
He raised a hand and pointed up at the rafters overhead — and at the wooden plank walls surrounding them.
"If the force of a move is powerful enough to cause this building to collapse, the challenge is likewise considered a failure."
There was an unspoken implication in that statement: theoretically, the Gym's side could also engineer a challenger's defeat by deliberately destroying the building themselves.
Ash registered this. That was absolutely a sudden variable he'd need to be ready for during the battle.
In practice, the Gym's side wouldn't be making that their primary strategy. But the possibility existed, and a Gym battle that ignored possible variables wasn't a real Gym battle.
Ash swept his gaze around the room — over the load-bearing pillars, the seemingly fragile walls — his expression thoughtful.
"Understood, Mr. Koga."
"This is a test of how a Trainer controls the power of their Pokémon during intense battle — minimizing collateral damage to the surrounding environment, and especially to the structure itself. Is that correct?"
Different Gyms had different defining philosophies.
The Fuchsia Gym was a ninja Gym. Naturally, it valued combat that was quiet, controlled, and precise — leaving as small a footprint as possible.
This was the exact opposite of every Gym battle Ash had fought before.
Pewter Gym, Cerulean Gym, Vermilion Gym, Celadon Gym, Saffron Gym... none of them had placed any restriction on how much raw force a challenger's Pokémon could exert.
Fuchsia Gym tested precision and technique — not the philosophy of "throw enough power at it and something will work."
Koga gave a slight nod. A rare expression that approached something like genuine approval crossed his face.
"Correct."
"Pushing a Pokémon's moves to their maximum power is the foundation. That is expected of any serious Trainer."
"But true mastery lies in knowing when to hold back, and how to control."
"Destruction born of uncontrolled force is not proof of strength. It is proof of insufficient mastery."
"Especially in complex environments — inside cities, within buildings — that capacity for control is everything."
For a ninja, most missions were infiltration operations. Adapting to harsh or confined environments while leaving absolutely no trace was the bread and butter of the profession.
The climb up the mountain had tested environmental adaptability.
This fight inside the building would test the ability to minimize environmental damage.
"I've got it!" Ash's thoughts snapped into sharp clarity.
"Charizard's flames run too hot — they'd set the wood alight in seconds."
"Gyarados is too massive — there's no room to maneuver properly in here."
"Pidgeot needs open air to fly — without it, his speed advantage disappears entirely."
"...So that means it's down to you two!"
It was almost as if they'd read his mind before he'd finished thinking it.
The small, nimble Electric Mouse and the lovely purple-hued Misdreavus materialized in front of Ash simultaneously.
Those were the only two Pokémon Ash could realistically use here.
Pikachu's cheek pouches crackled with faint electric light as he surveyed the dim surroundings with sharp, wary eyes.
Misdreavus let out a cheerful "Mai mai~" — and as a Ghost-type Pokémon, she seemed utterly at home in this dark, complex environment. It suited her far better than it suited anyone else in the room.
When measured against Fuchsia Gym's Poison-types, Ghost-types were frankly the more natural fit for this kind of arena.
This was also, incidentally, the fundamental reason Koga could never beat Agatha.
The abilities that a ninja spent years grinding through brutal training to develop were things many Ghost-type Pokémon simply possessed as baseline instincts.
Koga loved hiding in shadows. But that was a skill he had to earn.
For Gengar, slipping through shadows wasn't a technique — it was just what Gengar did.
Koga could use darkness to conceal his presence.
Gengar could actually move through it.
This was part of why the ninja profession had never spread and proliferated the way the Martial Artist tradition had.
...Times change.
Koga said nothing more.
His hands came together in front of his chest, forming a rapid sequence of seals — the [Tiger Seal].
(Tiger — Hare — Rat / Dragon — Ox — Snake / Sheep / Boar — Dog)
As the final seal was completed, two muffled pops sounded at his sides, and twin clouds of white smoke billowed outward.
— In reality, the hand seals were completely meaningless. Pure misdirection.
The gestures drew the opponent's attention while two Poké Balls painted matte black were quietly rolled to either side — specially modified to detonate with a burst of smoke on release.
It was all theatrical sleight of hand. A trick of the trade.
There was nothing to be done about it — ninjas in this world had no convenient, versatile power like chakra to draw on.
The smoke cleared.
The two Pokémon who had served as proctors during Ash's mountain ascent — Volcarona and Ariados — were now revealed, standing revealed as Koga's chosen fighters.
They floated and crouched in perfect silence — one in the air, one pressed flat against the floor. Their compound eyes gleamed faintly in the dimness, clearly long accustomed to combat in exactly this kind of environment.
They had been specifically trained to suit the ninja's methods.
But the more telling detail was this: the fact that Koga had chosen these two particular Pokémon meant he had made his preparations the moment Ash started climbing the mountain.
Volcarona and Ariados had followed Ash every step of the way up. They understood him far better than any Pokémon that hadn't.
— This was one of the ninja's essential skills.
— Intelligence gathering!!
For a grand master of the ninja arts, deploying this kind of strategy against a rookie Trainer might have seemed excessive.
But the moment Koga reminded himself that Ash was the Rainbow Hero personally chosen by Ho-Oh — chosen so deeply that Ho-Oh would personally follow him — he felt entirely justified in the level of seriousness he was bringing.
That kind of regard warranted nothing less.
"Battle — begin."
The instant those words fell, Koga's figure swayed slightly backward — like a drop of ink absorbed into shadow — and vanished entirely into the dark, his presence suppressed to almost nothing.
— Another of the ninja's essential skills.
— Presence Concealment!!
"!!" A chill shot through Ash.
This battle wasn't just testing the Pokémon — it was testing the Trainer himself, forcing him to navigate and outmaneuver a human opponent within this complex, confined space.
He had mentally prepared for this. And yet — watching Koga simply vanish in front of his eyes was still deeply unsettling.
— You're a person!!
— You're not a Ghost-type Pokémon!!
— How are you doing this?!
Okay, logically Ash knew this was just optical concealment — a visual technique that created the illusion of disappearance by breaking line of sight. He knew that. And yet he still found it genuinely impressive.
No wonder people said that being targeted by Koga meant it was basically already over.
The professional skill on display here was beyond anything Ash had anticipated.
"Partner — Mengmeng — stay sharp!"
Ash dropped his voice low, his eyes going cold and focused.
"Mr. Koga and his Pokémon are masters of stealth and ambush!"
"Let's give everything we've got — and fight on our terms!"
As he spoke, Ash drew a long, slow breath.
The power of Aura began to stir within him — rising quietly, like a tide coming in.
Not summoned for a direct strike. Instead, it spread outward like invisible ripples on water, deepening the connection he held with Pikachu and Misdreavus ahead of him.
Aura was useful for exactly this — it was woven into all living things, and communication through it was effortless.
— Pikachu felt his senses sharpen to a razor's edge, the electrical current flowing through his body becoming smoother and more responsive than ever.
— Misdreavus felt her Ghost-type energy resonate in a strange, beautiful harmony with Ash's will — his every tactical intention becoming something she could read clearly, instantly, without words.
"Pika!" Pikachu pressed his body low to the ground, his cheek pouches charged and primed.
"Mai!" Misdreavus became even more ethereal — and in one smooth backward drift, her translucent form melted directly through the wooden plank wall behind her and disappeared entirely.
In this environment, her ability to pass through solid matter was an unrivaled advantage.
Yes, this was a ninja's chosen battlefield.
But Misdreavus — a Ghost-type — stood to gain more here than almost anyone else.
In the dimness of the old wooden house, the battle opened without a sound.
— Outside —
Beyond the wooden building.
Brock, Misty, Aya, and Janine stood side by side, peering in through the deliberate gaps in the boards or the cleaner panes of glass — catching whatever fragmented glimpses of the battle within they could manage.
This battle had no surveillance feed.
Which meant no one outside knew exactly what was happening.
"My brother is... being very serious about this," Aya said quietly, arms folded, her expression grave.
She could feel it — the sharp, refined killing intent in the air, and Koga's absolute, undivided focus. The kind he kept nothing back from.
For a grandmaster of the ninja arts like Koga to apply himself this fully to a battle — Aya found herself growing more and more genuinely curious about what exactly made this Trainer called Ash so remarkable.
Unfortunately, the intelligence Aya had been able to gather on Ash was limited to his publicly known profile. From that, he read as a supremely gifted young prodigy highly regarded by Professor Oak.
But if all he were was a supremely gifted prodigy, that would earn Koga's approval — not his serious respect. Those were two very different things.
Which meant Ash had a hidden side to him. That was what Koga was truly responding to.
— It's a shame Big Brother won't say a word about it...
Aya felt mildly exasperated at the thought.
Janine, standing beside Aya, wasn't thinking nearly as deeply about any of that.
Her attention was fixed almost entirely on the battle unfolding inside the building. Those sharp eyes of hers — so much like her father's — stayed locked on the faint, shifting figures visible through the gaps:
"Mm. Father didn't just deploy the well-coordinated duo of Volcarona and Ariados — he also activated Shadow Submersion."
"He has already judged Ash as a worthy opponent. One deserving of full seriousness."
At that thought, Janine quietly stoked the fire within herself.
She wanted to surpass her father Koga. That was a goal of staggering difficulty.
But it hadn't occurred to her that her father might come to regard some other young person as equally worthy of his serious attention.
A small, quiet prickle of something like defiance rose in Janine's chest.
— Before I defeat Father.
— Let me defeat you first.
— ASH!!
Janine had, in that moment, silently declared Ash her rival.
Not that anyone else knew what was going on in that cool, composed head of hers.
Brock had his arms crossed, a slight furrow between his brows.
Even those perpetually narrowed eyes of his were showing a trace of worry: "In a restrictive environment like this, against Mr. Koga who specializes in concealment and control... Ash is genuinely going to have a rough time."
"His Pokémon are powerful, yes. But controlling destructive force — that is precisely the dimension that young Trainers most often overlook, and the hardest standard to consistently meet."
Honestly? Brock wasn't great at this himself.
Rock-type Pokémon were, as a rule, large. Large in body, large in presence, large in the noise and chaos they created when they moved.
The same applied to most Ground-types — with only a handful of exceptions.
When Brock found himself in situations like this, his overwhelming strategy was avoidance. Don't commit to a full battle unless there's no alternative.
He'd done what he could to shore up his weaknesses over the years. But a patched weakness would never outshine a genuine strength.
After Brock voiced his concerns, Misty quietly shook her head.
Her yellow ponytail swayed with the motion.
Her gaze didn't waver from the figure inside — hazy, indistinct through the gap, but impossible to mistake in its conviction.
Misty's voice was absolutely certain:
"No! I believe in Ash!"
"He's going to be fine!"
She paused — and then the certainty in her tone deepened into something that left no room for argument:
"He's been through so much on this journey already."
"He's always learning. Always growing!"
"I can feel it — he already understands how to reach that deep harmony with his Pokémon, how to find the path to victory even when everything is against him!"
"He's going to win this!"
They hadn't been traveling together all that long. But Misty believed in Ash.
Why?
No particular reason.
Perhaps it had started from the very first time they met. Perhaps from that moment, Ash had already won Misty over somehow.
And every mile of the journey since had only deepened it.
Was Ash someone worth trusting?
Based on everything so far — absolutely yes.
He was a genuinely reliable companion.
Misty's unwavering faith, like a stone dropped into a still lake, sent ripples moving through the other three.
(w) Brock: ....You two aren't... are you?
(ω) Aya: ...The heart of a maiden is always poetry~~~
Janine: So this is what true, deep friendship looks like!!
One could only say — Brock and Aya were already corrupted adults.
Janine, still in the pure territory of youth, had not gone anywhere remotely inappropriate with that thought.
Not that Brock or Janine added anything more out loud.
Sometimes saying too much just killed the mood.
Aya and Brock exchanged a single sideways glance.
→_→ Aya: Are you a third wheel?
←_← Brock: ...I'm starting to think I might be...
Don't ask how they managed an entire conversation with just their eyes.
Those who understand, understand.
Ridiculous.
---
Author's Note:
(The following is a free bonus from the author — no charge.)
[Character Sheet] — Koga · Assassin
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Strength: C | Endurance: C | Agility: B | Mana: C | Luck: C | Noble Phantasm: B
Class Skill:
Presence Concealment B
Extremely difficult to detect or locate before an attack is launched. In environments with a special "Shadow" element, this effect is further enhanced.
Individual Skills:
Throwing (Short Blades) B
The skill of launching small tools as projectiles with precision. Capable of accurately throwing shuriken, kunai, and other ninja implements — typically coated with potent poisons.
Territory Creation B
Capable of rapidly converting any surrounding environment into a trap-laden "Ninja Mansion (Shinobi Yashiki)" — dramatically enhancing the user's natural advantages on their chosen ground.
____
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