AN: This story isn't going to be like my other stories. My other stories I had planned to end with twenty, maybe thirty chapters or more. But this story? It's going to be short, ten chapters in length. And, as the name implies, this will be the 'what if's of PokeFalls.
If you don't understand what that means, you will soon enough.
Oh, and I almost forgot... well... it's a secret! :3
Enjoy!
"Things aren't like this," he kept repeating. "It shouldn't be this way." As if he had access to some other plane of existence, some parallel, "right" universe, and had sensed that our time had somehow been put out of joint. Such was his vehemence that I found myself believing him, believing, for example, in the possibility of that other life in which Vina had never left and we were making our lives together, all three of us, ascending together to the stars. Then he shook his head, and the spell broke. He opened his eyes, grinning ruefully. As if he knew his thoughts had infected mine. As if he knew his power. "Better get on with it," he said. "Make do with what there is."
(Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet)
Chapter 1: Only Child
"Ready to go on your own journey, Naruto-chan?" Nagato asked, taking extra care to keep his voice leveled and soothing.
"H-Hai..." Naruto muttered, nervously fidgeting around as if something horrific would happen any second.
"Don't worry, Naruto-chan. You'll do fine out there, make a few friends along the way..." Nagato stated, taking a moment to look at his only nephew's attire: A red wool, long-sleeved sweater, despite the fact that it was summer and the temperature was in the high eighties to mid nineties on a good day, black pants, black shoes, a dark blue backpack, and the hat that he himself wore in his youth.
The heavy sweater in this blistering heat wasn't his main concern though. No, what really had Nagato worried was Naruto's personality...
He was extremely shy, the very definition of a social introvert. He lacked any sort of confidence in himself whatsoever, something that Nagato tried to remedy but ending with usually bad results.
"Hey, Naruto-chan." Nagato called out. "I have a little gift for you, something that I received when I was a little bit older than you."
"W-What i-is it?" Naruto asked hesitantly, wincing reflexively as his uncle reached behind his back...
"Here." Naruto opened his eyes, surprised when he saw a strange leather-bound book with a golden six-fingered hand. "It's a little book that your other uncle Yahiko, your aunt Konan and I worked on when we were younger. They have the first two books and I was given the third. And now I'm giving it to you."
"R-Really?" Naruto questioned, his uncle nodding his head in response.
"I'm not sure if these things are still out there, but on our journey we encountered all sorts of strange things that were neither Pokemon nor human. I thought you might enjoy reading about them, maybe even go searching for the creatures and then some." Nagato stated.
"T-T-Thank you, Uncle Nagato!" Naruto exclaimed, the faintest traces of a smile on his face, which in turn caused Nagato to smile.
"Yeah... Now go on, time for you to start your adventure!" Nagato exclaimed.
"H-Hai! Goodbye, Uncle Nagato!" Naruto said, turning and waving as he began to run away from his uncle... From the house he grew up in...
From the only form of safety he ever knew.
...
Naruto slumped back against a tree, having gotten far enough away so that his uncle wouldn't get suspicious. He curled his knees up to his chest, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
Who was he kidding? He wasn't ready to go on a journey. He wasn't ready to go out into the world...
He was doomed to fail, to disappoint everyone...
The blond glanced down at the journal, still clutched in his hands tightly. He didn't know why, but he felt drawn to it, like he was supposed to have the book, use it...
The tears began to freely fall down from his eyes, splashing the golden six-fingered hand with a '3' in the center.
'I can't do it...'
...
"Why are you crying?" Naruto perked up, hearing a familiar, yet strange voice call out to him. Turning to his right, he found an... oddly dressed man. He stood at the same height as the blond, maybe even a little bit taller, and most of his features were hidden behind the red hood he had pulled up, on top of which he wore a black trench coat, black jeans, and black shoes.
"W-Who are y-you?" Naruto asked, panicking as his mind created various scenarios that could play out with this mysterious man.
"I'm just a traveler." the mysterious man stated. "So why are you crying?"
"I-I... I'm a failure, a loser... I..." Naruto stammered, crying even harder as his thoughts became vocal.
"Well that's just ridiculous. How can you believe that?" the mysterious man questioned.
"B-Because... I..." Naruto started. "I don't even have a Pokemon... a-and I can't do anything right..."
"I see..." the mysterious man mumbled, reaching into his jacket and pulling out two Poke Balls. "Here." he said, tossing the two items at Naruto, who fumbled a little before catching them.
"W-What-" "Come with me." Naruto was cut off when the mysterious man called out in an authoritative tone.
"Where a-are we going?" Naruto asked.
"You said you didn't have a Pokemon. Well... let's change that." the mysterious man replied. "Time for you to catch your own Pokemon."
...
"Seedot!" a small, brown Pokemon that resembled an acorn strafed to the left, dodging the Wing Attack from an incoming Zubat.
"Quick! While it's dazed, use Confuse Ray!" the mysterious man exclaimed, coaching Naruto with what attacks his own Zubat could do.
"H-Hai! Use Confuse Ray!" Naruto exclaimed, the Zubat's form being enveloped in a dark purple energy that quickly shot out and struck the Seedot, the Grass-type Pokemon releasing a crying as it was hit.
"Now, tell Kuro to use Air Cutter!"
"K-Kuro, u-use Air Cutter!" Naruto commanded, the Zubat flapping its wings and causing a strong gust with light blue 'S' shaped energy in it to fly and slash at the Seedot.
"Seedoooooooot!" the Seedot cried out, dropping to the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Here's your chance! Use a Poke Ball!" the mysterious man called out.
"G-Go Poke Ball!" Naruto yelled, tossing out a Poke Ball at the fallen Seedot, the latter disappearing in a flash of red light when the device made contact with it.
The Poke Ball shook a few times before a 'Ding!' sound was heard.
"I... I caught a Pokemon!" Naruto exclaimed, running towards his Poke Ball and scooping up the spherical item.
"Congratulations." the mysterious man said. "You did it."
"Y-You helped me..." Naruto stated, hearing a small chuckle come from the mysterious man as he shook his head.
"No, I just lent you one of my Pokemon and told you its move set. The rest was all your doing." the mysterious man stated, taking back his Poke Ball from Naruto.
"T-This is a big deal! No one has been this helpful to me other than my uncle!" Naruto said, bowing to the mysterious man. "I can't thank you enough!"
"I just wanted to help out." the mysterious man said, shrugging his shoulders.
"W-Well... I-Is there anything I can do in return? I'm in your debt." Naruto asked.
"Actually, there is something you can do for me..." the mysterious man stated, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "But you have to promise me first that you won't back out of it."
"H-Hai! I promise! And an U-Uzumaki never breaks their promise!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Then here's what I want you to do..." the mysterious man started. "I want you to have confidence."
...
"W... What?"
"I want you to have confidence." the mysterious man stated. "I can tell you're bound for great things, but you lack confidence. So I want you to have confidence in not only your Pokemon, but in yourself as well. If you can do that, then we're even."
"R-Really...?" Naruto questioned. "I... I'll do it! I-I can do that!"
"Great! Now, as much as I would like to stick around, I have to get going." the mysterious man stated, waving to Naruto as he walked away.
"W... Wait!" Naruto called out, causing the mysterious man to stop. "I... I don't even know your name!"
"My name is... Sanji. Sanji Kagedai." the mysterious man, now identified as Sanji, stated.
"Arigatou, Sanji-san!"
...
"Come on out!" Naruto exclaimed, pressing the button on his Poke Ball and releasing the newly caught Seedot.
"Seedot Seed!" the Seedot exclaimed, looking around in confusion before looking up at its new Trainer.
"H... Hi there! My name is Naruto..." Naruto stated. "Can... Can I give you a name?"
"Seedot!" the Seedot nodded its head, clearly enthusiastic about the idea.
"Hmm... How about..." Naruto started. "Sanji?"
...
'Sanji' took one last glance at Naruto as he happily interacted with his new Pokemon, causing a small smile to form on his hidden face.
"Looks like I've done some good for him..." 'Sanji' mumbled, pulling out a strange device that resembled a remote with a single button and an antenna before pressing the button, a green circular portal opening up in front of him seconds later.
"Onto the next one."
Chapter End