[ POV Change ]

" The match shall now begin!" Janine declared.

"Buzzer Ace!" Austin yelled.

Ninjask shot at high speeds toward Venomoth.

"Use Double Team, Venomoth!" Koga ordered.

The moth Pokemon immediately split into multiple images of itself and surrounded Ninjask who used the flaps of his wings to create a screeching noise.

Venomoth's copies disappeared leaving behind only one which became the Ninja Pokemon's target.

"Now use Psychic," Koga said calmly as he folded his hands in his sleeves.

" Protocol Alpha."

Venomoth shot a blast of psychic waves at Ninjask's copies.

As psychic waves tore through the copies, Koga found himself frowning when he saw the entire battlefield cleared of Ninjasks.

It was clear that Ninjask had already switched around positions with its copies before Venomoth could focus on where it went.

" Venomoth, use Quiver Dance."

As Koga called out his next move, Austin shouted out," Now !"

The ground suddenly cracked open as Ninjask shot out like a bullet.

This was protocol Alpha, use double team then hide underground with dig. Use Powerup moves until Austin gives them the command to attack.

Venomoth couldn't react as Ninjask's head embedded itself into the abdomen.

Venomoth was thrown backyards as the poison gym leader told Venomoth to go in for another Psychic attack to throw itself back at Ninjask Venomoth split itself into multiple copies that flew all around Ninjask.

A normal pokemon would be extremely confused by the tactic but Ninjask carefully studied its opponent to see which one of the copies will move first. The second one from the right seemed to move a split second before the rest, and Ninjask knew that was its target. It would make sure to keep its eyes on that one.

" Flash Scissors!" Austin called out as Ninjask's body lit up like a lamp in the dark.

Out of all the copies of Venomoth, only one had a shadow. While Venomoth was stunned by the sudden flash, Ninjask shot out like a bullet toward Venomoth.

" Venomoth, use Psychic Trap."

' Psychic Trap?'

Turning mid-air Ninjask dodged psychic waves.

Venomoth reared his head back as psychic energy formed into a horn on his head as he executed Zen Headbutt.

Ninjask's claws glowed light blue and it swipes them in an 'X'-like fashion, firing an 'X'-shaped light blue mass of energy at the Venomoth's Zen Headbutt.

Venomoth's Zen Headbutt clashed with Ninjask's X scissors.

The stalemate lasted for a few seconds as Ninjask emerged as the victor.

"Use Psychic to dodge, Venomoth!" Koga ordered but Ninjask's speed was too much as his X scissor hit right at Venomoth's face.

"Venomoth, are you able to battle, still?" Koga asked.

"Moooth," it muttered weakly.

"I see," Koga replied before returning. "Take a nice hard rest, friend. You battled well."

"Venomoth is unable to battle! The winner is Ninjask!" Janine announced.

At Janine's words, Ninjask turned to Austin who immediately released what Ninjask wanted.

Austin shook his head vigorously but Ninjask hit him with puppy eyes.

" Fine."

Ninjask raised a claw in victory as he turned to the confused Koga and did a T pose.

Everyone was even more confused as Ninjask trusted his abdomen forward while bringing down his claws as Austin yelled out.

" Ooh, yeaaaah !"

Austin was reduced to a blushing mess as he wanted to bury himself 6 feet under when everyone turned to him.

Austin regretted showing Wartortle and Ninjask his dance moves when he accidentally did Vector's dance which, for some reason Ninjask liked.

" Quite the energetic duo. You might have been able to defeat Venomoth in battle, but you have yet to see my strongest Pokemon. It has recently evolved due to all the training we have been through. Are you prepared?" Koga asked.

"We're ready!" Austin confirmed.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu added from the side.

"Very well. Crobat! I choose you!" Koga called as released his final Pokemon.

"A Crobat? What's that?" Yellow wondered aloud.

Crobat was revealed to be a dark purple, bat-like Pokemon. It had two large wings at the top, and its feet served as smaller wings. It had yellow eyes and its teeth were visible.

Yellow immediately took out her Pokedex to scan the new Pokemon in curiosity.

"Crobat, the bat Pokemon and the evolved form of Golbat. It flies so swiftly and silently that no one can notice it even when nearby," the Pokedex reported.

"I wasn't aware a Golbat could evolve," Yellow muttered to herself.

"Crobat! Use Confuse Ray!" Koga called.

"Dodge with Aerial Ace !" Austin hollered.

Ninjask obeyed but the Confuse Ray shot out of Crobat at such speed and such an angle that Ninjask wasn't able to dodge in time.

Ninjask was enveloped in the light and it raised its claw in an attempt to block out the light. Once the ray died down, Ninjask had a dazed expression on its face with swirly eyes. It was confused!

"Endure" Austin called out.

"Use Mega Drain," Koga ordered calmly.

Crobat's eyes began to glow as they stared straight at Ninjask in the eyes. Blue energy began to envelop Ninjask, and it began to yell in pain as its energy was depleted.

" Baton Pass," Austin called as Ninjask's body released orbs of light as it went back into its Pokeball while Shedninja appeared on the battlefield.

"A wise decision, young man," Koga noted," A ghost Pokemon. An interesting choice, indeed."

" Shadow Ball."

Shedninja screeched, making everyone but Austin jump, and then started forming a black orb in front of his halo before shooting it at Crobat.

"Dodge it, Crobat," Koga said.

Crobat seemed to disappear into the air as it suddenly appeared in a different spot because it moved so fast. If Austin didn't know better, he would have thought Crobat had teleported.

"Fast !" Austin thought in surprise.

"Use Confuse Ray, again, Crobat," Koga ordered.

" Confuse Ray !" Austin called.

Both Pokemon shot out a bright ray which collided in midair but due to Shedninja's stat buffs with baton pass. Shedninja's confused ray won out as it hit Crobat.

Crobat's eyes spiraled in confusion.

" Will-o'-wisp."

A ring of Blueish flames circled Shedninja before hitting Crobat's body which had snapped out of confusion.

"Use Poison Fang!" Koga yelled.

Crobat immediately appeared in front of Shedninja due to its speed and bit down on the ghost Pokemon.

Even though Shedninja was immune to the attack, Koga was betting on Austin letting his guard down when the effect of burn generated, the heat would affect Shedninja near it.

"Shadow Sneak!" Austin shouted as he saw through Koga's plan.

Shedninja's body shot downward as it merged into the shadow before reappearing behind Crobat.

"Use Shadow Ball" Austin called.

Shedninja screamed once more forming a black glowing orb and struck Crobat at point-blank range. There was an explosion, and Crobat was sent flying backward, but it wasn't down yet.

"Not bad, young man. I will make sure not to make the same mistake twice, though," Koga commented.

" Shadow Ball."

" Dodge it and use Wing Attack!" Koga countered.

Crobat easily dodged the Shadow Ball. The ghostly energy missed its target by a long shot. It again seemed to teleport because it was moving so fast. Shedninja was fast as well, but Crobat's speed was on a whole different level.

Austin knew that Koga must have focused the training a lot on Crobat's speed for it to be this fast.

Crobat appeared again in front of Shedninja and gave it a harsh slap with its wings, but its wings went through Shedninja.

"Use Double Team!" Koga ordered next.

Crobat split into several copies of itself. All of the copies then began to move throughout the room very quickly. It was easier to tell which Pokemon was the real one when Venomoth had used it because it was slower, but Crobat was so fast, that Austin and Shedninja couldn't make heads or tails of which one was moving first. They were in a tough situation.

"Use Aerial Ace," said Koga.

It appeared as if all of the Crobat were zooming toward Shedninja at an incredible speed as they closed in.

"Sneaky Mind Reader!" Austin yelled as Shedninja's halo glowed white before Shedninja used Shadow Sneak to disappear into the shadows.

"Your skills don't match your badge level, if only I could battle you with my more powerful pokemon," Koga said as he looked at Austin.

"Hyper beam!"

Austin yelled out causing Koga to yell out.

" Endure!"

A beam of white light broke through the ground sniping Crobat in midair.

Koga couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at his young opponent.

Austin's strategy of using Mind-reader and Hyperbeam together impressed Koga. Mind Reader allowed Shedninja to not miss its next move which was followed by a powerful move like Hyperbeam which was stronger due to the earlier use of Baton Pass.

Crobat struggled to get up and managed to not get knocked out with endure but Koga was forgetting one thing.

( ~ Fwossh ~ )

A layer of flames washed over Crobat as the burn of Will-o'-wisp took effect as it fell to the ground and didn't get up.

"I can't believe it. Crobat was beaten," Janine said.

Koga and Janine then went over to Austin before bowing to him.

"It is a testament to your skill, you have defeated both me and my daughter. This Soul Badge is rightfully yours," Koga said before presenting a pink heart-shaped badge to Austin.