Naruto was standing on a beach, with the sound of waves crashing in his ears. Strange creatures frolicked in the ocean before him. He stared wide-eyed in wonder as the sun began to rise over the water. What were they? Were they real? Or was this a dream?

"They are called Pokémon. Pokémon stands for Pocket Monsters. They are real, but that doesn't mean that this isn't a dream." a voice behind him said. He tried to turn his head but couldn't. He tried to turn around but it felt like he was glued in place. He squirm about, trying to break free of whatever bound him.

"The world you live in is about to change. The gods have finished their newest line of creations and are about to release them into your world." the voice continued undisturbed. "The very nature of chakra as you know it is about to change."

Naruto froze. The nature of chakra, changing? That sounded bad.

"Although you will retain the ability to use chakra, the jutsu you use have become significantly less powerful. However, by the time you wake up, your world will be inhabited by a thousand new species, each with their own special powers and abilities. You will be able to capture them and train them to fight alongside you in battle." The voice said. Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion. Jutsu were getting weaker, but they were getting some kind of weird pet monsters to fight with?

"Take heed, even though some may be friendly and help you with your goals, some are not so friendly and may attack you. You will have to take a stand and fight them in order to gain their trust. Also be aware that any Pokémon you capture and raise as your own will die if you die, as Pokémon are bound to their trainers by their souls. Pokémon are every bit as intelligent as humans are, so don't underestimate them, and please do not abuse them." the voice concluded. "Do you have any questions?"

"Uh, yeah. Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Satoshi Tajiri.(Satoshi Tajiri is Ash Ketchum, OK?) I was chosen to be the liaison between humans and the gods." the voice said. "At least, on the subject of Pokémon. I'm not going to tell you what your purpose in life is."

"Well, I don't need you to tell me what my purpose in life is! I'm gonna be the next Hokage! You think these new Pokémon are gonna stop me? I'm gonna capture every last one and use them to become the strongest ninja in the village!" Naruto said, squirming again.

"Catch all of them? That's really not a realistic or useful goal. Unless you want to become a Pokémon Professor that is. If I were you I'd focus on collecting a small group of strong Pokémon and training them to be even stronger. Then use them to take on special Pokémon trainers called Gym Leaders. If you win against them you'll get a badge as proof of your victory, as well as prize money, and a special gift TM. If you collect all of the badges you'll receive a map to a secret location where you'll find the Elite Trainers, defeat them and you'll earn the chance to face the Pokémon Champions. Defeat just one of them and you'll be a Pokémon Champion." Satoshi said. Naruto listened carefully, something he didn't usually do.

"Then I'll be the best?" Naruto asked.

"One of the best. If you want to be the very best, you'll have to defeat all of the Champions. Something nobody has done yet. We Champions haven't even figured out who the strongest among us is yet." Satoshi said. "Once we do, they'll be called the Pokémon Master."

"We?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, we. I'm one of the Champions." Satoshi said.

"…Uh, ok." Naruto said. "I thought you were a holy spirit or something."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Satoshi said, giggling like a fool. Naruto got the feeling Satoshi wasn't that much older than himself.

"How old are you?" Naruto asked.

"Fourteen, almost fifteen." Satoshi said. (Satoshi is anything other than ten?! Say it isn't so!)

"How do you and these other trainers already have Pokémon?" Naruto wondered.

"Some people were chosen by the gods to receive Pokémon early, so the world would be ready for them when they arrived. Most of these people are trainers, but some of them are Professors who research Pokémon, and some are people who produce products for use with Pokémon." Satoshi said. "I know it's a little unfair, but the only advantage we got was a bit more time to work with. When I first got Pikachu I had recently turned ten years old, and the Professor who gave it to me barely knew anything about it! I thought he seemed knowledgeable, and I suppose compared to me he was, but he didn't even know Pikachu was an evolved Pokémon! I spent the next four and a half years of my life training hard every day so I could become a Champion. Right now my goal is to become the Pokémon Master. I don't know what I'll do after that… Probably go home to tell my mom. Oh, and Professor Okido (Professor Oak.), of course… And Shigeru (Gary Mother Fucking Oak.) as well… Hm…"

"How come I can't see you?" Naruto complained.

"You tell me, this is your dream, remember? I was simply placed within it to inform you of the change. Which reminds me, I have a lot of other people to get to. Everyone in the world has to be told. Good thing the other trainers are helping me, huh? Still my list is pretty long… Has to all be done tonight, too…" Satoshi said. "Do you have any more questions? Anything pressing, that has to be answered right away? Everything else you can find out from books. You should find them in your home, along with everything you need to catch and raise Pokémon."

"Um… What do I do if one attacks me tomorrow, before I'm ready? Do I need equipment to catch it?" Naruto asked.

"Pokémon are to be caught inside of Pokéballs. Which like I said, should be in your home already. Along with medicine, tools for grooming, and battle items."Satoshi rattled off. "If you run out of Pokéballs or medicine, you can buy more stuff. If you don't have any Pokéballs on you then you can't catch Pokémon, but you can still befriend them. Keep them with you until you can catch them. Try not to start fights over who owns a specific Pokémon. Put a collar or something on it, if you have to."

"…Ok. That's doable." Naruto said. A thought occurred to him.

"If chakra is different now, then what's going to happen to the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Naruto asked.

"You mean the Tailed Beast? All of the Tailed Beasts are Legendary Pokémon now. Legendary or Mythical Pokémon are super-rare super-strong Pokémon that have divine power. There are the nine Tailed Beasts, as well as many other Legendaries." Satoshi said. "I can't be bothered to list all of them right now, but I can tell you about the Tailed Beasts."

"Ok." Naruto said. "I didn't know there were others besides the Fox."

"The Tailed Beasts are: the One-Tailed Tanuki, the Two-Tailed Cat, the Three-Tailed Turtle, the Four-Tailed Monkey, the Five-Tailed Dolphin-Horse, the Six-Tailed Slug, the Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle, the Eight-Tailed Octopus-Ox, and the Nine-Tailed Fox." Satoshi recited. "They also have names. In order they are: Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki, and Kurama. Each of them stronger than the one before it, making the Nine-Tails the strongest."

"Ok, thanks. And Satoshi?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Satoshi answered.

"If we ever meet in the real world, can we be friends?" Naruto asked, feeling slightly childish.

"Sure, why not?" Satoshi said. "I wish more people were upfront like you."

"Ha ha." Naruto laughed. "Thanks, Satoshi."

"You're welcome. Anything else you need before I go?" Satoshi asked.

"Nah." Naruto said. "I'll figure it out."

"Then I'll see you later." Satoshi said.

"Bye." Naruto said, as a feeling of grogginess took over him. He blinked several times, and sat up. Only to find himself staring into the eyes of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Kurama. (Oh, shit, man. Shit's about to get real now.)