Author's note: Pokemon talk in this chapter. what they are saying is in {}

******
"So Belle, what's your story?" The group were sitting in a little cafe in 
Kitsun City called The Golden Tauros. Ash had just finished telling his older 
sister about his Hoenn trip in great detail. She took a thoughtful sip of her 
coffee.
"Well, I started out with a Squirtle. After getting all of Kanto's badges and 
catching a few more Pokemon and having Bubbles(my Squirtle) fully evolve, I 
set off for Johto. I met Proffessor Elm, and he agreed to watch my Pokemon if 
I started fresh with a Johto starter. I chose Totodile and called him Squirt. 
I caught a few more Pokemon, became the Johto League Champion, and decided to 
settle down here. I found this place while running an errand for Prof. Elm. 
Been here ever since. Well, I did take a vacation to Hoenn. Very nice place, 
I might add. I keep in touch with Prof. Oak and Prof. Elm frenquently. Since 
I've been here, I've discovered a few new breeds of Pokemon and ancient ruins 
that tell of a legend none have ever heard of. Well, that's my story in a 
nutshell." She simply said, seeming pleased with herself. Ash,May,and Max 
just looked at her. Brock was staring out a window, hardly listening to a 
word anyone said. I feel terrible for not telling them my true past. I want 
to tell them privately. I'll tell them before we go to sleep, He decided. 
Belle grinned.
"You know Ash, there's a gym here. The gym leader's tough, though. She uses 
all kinds of Pokemon." Ash brightened up. 
"Bring it on!!! I'm ready!! I need a challenge!" He jumped at the suggestion. 
Belle stood up. 
"Alright, follow me." She started toward the door. All others followed, 
except Brock. May stopped. She walked back over to Brock and placed her hand 
on his shoulder causing him to jump.
"Brock are you alright? You seem kinda, well, troubled." She asked, her 
concern for him showing very clearly in her voice. Brock smiled weakly.
"Yeah. It's just...I'll tell you tonight." He said, standing and following 
the others out the door. May followed quickly. When they caught up with the 
others they had stopped in the city square in front of a humongous fountain. 
In the middle was a giant fox with nine tales. It had a long crest-like patch 
of fur sweeping back towards the back and ending right at the base of the 
tails. It was made of shineing black stone. Brock's heart jumped up to his 
throat and started pounding like crazy.Ash stood staring at it.
"Why is that Ninetales black?"
"Because that isn't a Ninetales. It looks similar, but totally different. 
It's called a Kyuubi. Acording to ancient text not only is it a Legendary 
Pokemon, but it founded this city. It's one of the species of Pokemon I 
discovered here." Belle explained proudly.

".....Well? Didn't you want to challenge the gym here?" Belle asked. Ash 
snapped put of his trance.
"Heck yeah! Bring it!" Belle smiled and turned right. The group followed her 
to a large building. Above the double doors there was a large sign that said 
"Kitsun Gym:All challenges welcome!" Belle pulled open the doors and they 
stepped into what looked like the worlds largest arena. Ash looked around.
"Where's the gym leader?" He asked. Belle grinned.
"Standing next to you. Where else would she be?" She laughed. Ash's mouth 
dropped open, making him look like a Magikarp.
"YOU?!! YOU'RE THE GYM LEADER??! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME??!!!" He yelled.
"Oh, come on! Now where's the fun in that? Why? You scared to fight me Soot?" 
Ash's face turned beet red at the mention of his old nickname.
"Fine! You're on!" Belle took her place at on end of the stadium, Ash stood 
at the other end, and May,Max,and Brock took a seat in the stands.

"Alright! This is an official gym battle. We will have a single battle with 
six Pokemon.A recalled Pokemon equals a fainted one." Belle declared. She 
tossed a Pokeball foward. In a flash of light a giant steel snake-like 
Pokemon came out. It seemed to be made of steel boulders linked together. A 
few had two spikes growing out of them. It's head was flat and it had an 
underbite with two fangs growing out of its bottom jaw. Ash reconized it as 
Steelix, the evolved form of Onix. He also knew that it was weak against 
fire. He pulled out one of his Pokeballs and tossed it. A red tortoise 
Pokemon came out, blowing steam out of his nose and the top of his shell. 
It's skin was red and around its neck and legs there was a thin grey stripe. 
Belle smirked.
"Torkoal use Flamethrower!" Ash yelled. Torkoal opened his mouth and a stream 
of fire erupted.
"Steelix dig!" Steelix obeyed with blinding speed. He reared up and then 
rammed into the floor, digging his way in. The Flamethrower missed by 
millimeters. Ash realized what she was planning to do.
"Torkoal use Iron Defense! Quick!" Torkoal pulled his head and legs into his 
shell just as Steelix came erupting beneath him.
"Steelix use Crunch to grab ahold of Torkoal and then use Dragonbreath." 
Belle ordered quickly and calmly. Steelix grabbed Torkoal with his mouth and 
bit down hard, cracking Torkoals shell ever so slightly. Torkoal yelled as he 
brought his head out of his shell. The Steelix inhaled deeply, and then 
exhaled bright green and yellow flames, then he put down Torkoal gently. 
Torkoal was unconscious. 

Ash recalled Torkoal and Belle recalled Steelix. Ash was thorughly confused.
"Why? That counts as a fainted Pokemon."
"I know. I like to keep my opponents guessing."Belle explained. Ash gritted 
his teeth. Belle sent out another Pokemon. It was a large, red furred camel-
like Pokemon with two rocky volcanic-looking humps on it's back. On each side 
of it there were three electric blue rings. It looked like it was about to 
fall asleep, because it's eyes were unfocused and half-closed. Max looked at 
it.
"Wow. She's good. I don't know if Ash'll win. Torkoal was't even able to 
touch Steelix." 
Ash growled.
"Corphish, I choose you!" Ash threw another Pokeball. Corphish stared at his 
opponent. He looked like a lobster, with a red shell and a pale underbelly. 
He also had three pairs of scuttlers and two large pincers with very short 
arms attached to it's head. 
"Corphish, be VERY careful. You may have a type advantge but that Camerupt is 
strong." Ash said. Corphish nodded his head, which had three pointed spikes 
on it. 
"Corphish, use Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. Corphish opened both of his 
pincers and a bright stream of bubbles exploded out of them. 
"Camerupt, force it back with Flamethrower." Belle said, still calm. Camerupt 
opened his mouth and a stream of fire came roaring out. The two attacks 
collided in mid-air, pushing against each other. Beads of sweat started 
forming on Corphish's head from the force of power he was putting into 
Bubblebeam.
{I can't keep this up much longer! This Camerupt is strong!} Corphish 
grunted. Ash blinked confusedly. He could've sworn he just heard Corphish 
talk. 
{Come on! You can do it! Just a little longer!} Pikachu encoraged. Suddenly 
Camerupt's Flamethrower shrank and withered, and the Bubblebeam hit him 
square in the face. Camerupt staggered backward. 
"Corphish use Crabhammer!" Ash yelled. Corphish's claws glowed bright white 
and he charged toward Camerupt.
"Camerupt use Protect!" Camerupt surrounded himself in a green dome. 
Corphish's Crabhammer bounced off of it.
"Keep on using Crabhammer! Protect can't last forever!" Corphish nodded."Use 
Protect for as long as you can." Belle calmly said. Corphish kept hammering 
away at Camerupt. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Camerupt was protecting himself well, but 
the sheild was fading. WHAM! Corphish's Crabhammer roke through and connected 
with Camerupt's head, knocking him out. Belle recalled Camerupt, while Ash 
recalled Corphish. 
"Take  a rest pal. You deserve it."

Suddenly, one of Ash's Pokeballs opened and a purple monkey with a large grin 
appeared.
"Aipom! Do you want to fight?" Ash asked. Aipom nodded and walked foward, her 
tail with a three-fingered glove at the end waving back and forth. Belle 
tossed a Pokeball foward.
"Go for it Snair!" A small pig pokemon appeared, holding two drumstick in 
it's paws. It's fur was black with a large mettalic grey belly. It wagged a 
fan-like tail back and forth. Ash took out his PokeDex.
"Snair, the Drum Pig Pokemon. It uses its drum-like belly to attack. In the 
wild they get together and perform, trying to see who has the best 
rythem.Recently discovered by up-and-coming researcher Belle Ketchum. " 
"Alright Aipom, use Iron Tail!" Aipom's tail hardened and glowed with a 
mettalic sheen. Then she launched herself at Snair.
"Snair use Bump!" Snair sucked in his stomach. A split-second before the Iron 
Tail hit it's mark, Snair exhaled at belly bumped Aipom. The Iron Tail didn't 
leave a scratch.
"Aipom, Fury Swipes!" Aipom's face started turning red, and it frowned. Then 
it launched herself at Snair nails already swiping the air.
"Snair, use Harden!" Snair tensed his mucles and stiffened his fur. Aipom's 
Fury Swipes were hitting, but they weren't as effective as they should have 
been. Aipom bounced back a few steps.
"Snair use Drumroll!" Snair grinned and curled up in a ball. Then he launched 
himself at Aipom. While he was rolling his drumsticks started beating against 
his belly, making a drumroll. 
"Aipom, quick! Use Double Team!" Aipom focused, and soon hundreds of 
illusional Aipom appeared. 
"That was close! Too close." Ash muttered. Snair stopped rolling and the 
drumming subsided. 
"Ok Snair, now's the time. First use Soundproof then use Perish Song." Belle 
said confedently. Snair's ears curled inward, blocking all sound. Then he 
started to drum, ever so slowly, the universal funeral march. Something in 
Aipom's brain snapped, and Aipom became incredibly depressed. Then, just like 
that, Aipom fainted. Ash recalled Aipom with an angry sigh. 


The battle is half-over, but it's just getting heated up.

***********
FINALLY, that chapter is over. Took me forever to write it and I can't feel 
my fingers. The next chapter will conclude the battle and (most likly) how 
Brock tells his friends about his past.
Once again, I don't own pokemon. I DO OWN : Belle,Kyuubi,Snair and all things 
relating to him,and Kitsun Gym
Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: blacktigrislilly5593@yahoo.com