Yondaime squinted.

"Damn." He muttered. "I doubt there's anything here so close to town. I need to go farther out into the woods. Much farther."

Meet Yondaime.

Brambles caught at his robes, and he impatiently brushed them away, stomping his way through the brush beneath the trees. His breath whistled harshly in his ears.

He wants to be a great Pokemon master.

A noise came to his ears, faint but unmistakable.

"Saaaasukeeee!"

A Pokemon! He pushed at the undergrowth impatiently. The first pokemon he'd encountered in these woods, and he was being held back by tree branches! He shoved them aside. The noise kept getting closer. Finally, only a small row of bushes stood between Yondaime and his goal. He cautiously parted them.

And there, squatting on the ground looking disgruntled, was his prize.

"Sasuke." It grunted. Yondaime eyed it. It eyed him back. He whipped out his pokedeck.

"What is it?" he asked it.

"A Sasuke." It answered.

"Don't get snarky." Warned Yondaime. It beeped at him. He gave it a shake and it shut off. He put it in his pocket and pulled out a pokeball.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm catching it."

The Sasuke spotted the ball. A low growl began in its throat.

"Saaaasuke." Yondaime backed away slowly. It followed his progress with its eyes until he was fully out of the clearing. He turned his back on the bushes at the entrance and swiftly made his way away from it, striking out in a new direction.

"I'm sure there must be better pokemon than that one in here." He muttered to himself. He made his way through the forest for the next hour without hearing so much as a bird call. Just when he was ready to give up, the trees suddenly gave way to grass and he found himself on the edge of a small lake.

"Wow." He whispered. Movement in the water caught his eye.

"Is it a pokemon?" he asked himself eagerly. He shaded his eyes with his hand and stared out over the water. Several minutes later he was rewarded. A pokemon surfaced near the shore.

"Iruka!" it said happily. Yondaime whipped out his pokedeck again.

"It's an Iruka." It told him.

"Yeah, but how's it do in battle?" He watched the Iruka out of the corner of his eye.

"Fair to middling, strength wise. It's very persistent in battle and very loyal."

"Sweet." He muttered. "Sounds like a perfect first pokemon."

He looked up to realize that the pokemon had gotten closer. He stilled himself, trying not to startle it.

"What's its disposition?" he whispered to the pokedeck.

"Usually shy. Be warned – it has a short temper."

Yondaime looked at the Iruka. "It looks pretty friendly." He objected.

The pokedeck managed to make its silence sound ominous.

The Iruka snuck closer. Yondaime held out his hand. The pokemon slipped even closer and sniffed at it.

"Iruka!" it chirruped. Its long mane slipped down into its eyes again. Yondaime grabbed a piece of twine from his pocket and tied the Iruka's mane into a tail. It looked surprised for a moment, then chirped happily. Yondaime slipped out his pokeball.

"Iruka?"

-…-

"Hey, Kazekage!" yelled Yondaime triumphantly. "I'm ready for that battle you've been wanting!"

"Well, well." Sneered Kazekage. "So you've finally managed to catch a pokemon."

"Yup. And it's gonna whup yours!"

Kazekage didn't bother to reply. He stepped away from Yondaime and took his place at one end of the battle area. Yondaime stepped into the other. He grabbed his pokeball.

"Iruka! I choose you!"

Iruka appeared in a puff of smoke. "Iruka!"

Kazekage snorted. "I choose you? You've only got one to choose from!"

He pulled out a pokeball that had been painted black.

"Out of all the many pokemon I have to choose from," he paused here to smirk. "I choose you, Gaara!"

A scary looking pokemon appeared.

"Gaara." It growled. Iruka blinked. Yondaime smirked.

"Iruka, att—"

"Gaara! Attack him with whirlwind of sand!"

Iruka tried to dodge, but Gaara's attack hit him square on. He reeled.

"Shake it off, Iruka!" shouted Yondaime. "We need to focus."

"Iruka!" Iruka whined, annoyed. He clearly did not feel he was the one with focus problems.

"Hit him with windmill!"

Iruka launched himself at Gaara, and Yondaime gasped in horror. The attack had landed, but Gaara had taken no damage! Kazekage laughed evilly.

"You fool! Gaara has an impenetrable defense! Now, Gaara, hit him with desert rage!"

Iruka again attempted to dodge but failed miserably. He lay on his side and groaned.

"You're not very good at dodging, are you?" Yondaime asked.

"Iruka." He confirmed.

Kazekage continued to laugh evilly at the other end of the field. Yondaime suddenly had an idea.

"Iruka! Was that the same type as the first attack?"

"Iruka!" he nodded. Yondaime smirked.

"This battle's over, Kazekage! Iruka, use your super happy love attack!"

Everything froze for a moment. Iruka stared over his shoulder at Yondaime.

"Iruka?"

Yondaime didn't have to speak pokemon to understand that look.

Kazekage burst out laughing. "That's the weakest attack in the Iruka's arsenal! It doesn't even inflict damage!"

He continued laughing as Iruka slumped. The pokemon looked up at Yondaime again.

"Just trust me, okay?" he whispered.

Iruka still seemed doubtful, but he turned back and steeled himself. Then he launched himself at Gaara.

When he reached him, he leapt on him—and gave him a big hug.

"Iruka!" he squealed. Gaara looked distressed at the PDA. Kazekage stopped laughing.

"Forget this idiocy! Gaara, finish him with desert coffin!"

But Gaara didn't move. Yondaime laughed knowingly.

"Don't you know anything about your own pokemon?" he asked. "Gaara uses rage attacks—a love attack renders him helpless!"

Kazekage slumped in defeat.

-ending music-

Authors note: Why? Because I can. I have a big epic plot worked out too. It'll be awesome. Meanwhile…does anyone know if the battle area has a special name? Field? Arena? Something, I'm sure…