Long ago, there was a land where the powers of earth and sea were given form. It was a beautiful land, filled with lush rainforests, grand forests, spacious seas, vast deserts and harmony between the forces of land, sea and air. But one day, two men of great greed turned the forces of sea and land against each other for their own gains. Torrential Rain fell from the heavens for days at a time, only to be followed by a complete dryness that comes with only the most severe of droughts. But the powers of the earth and sea proved too much for the two men who sought to profit from the fighting, and they lost control of the super-ancient beings. Despair washed over the land like the torrential rains and extreme sunlight which plagued the land, and just when all hope seemed lost… a great, green dragon, the personification of air appeared from the heavens and calmed the two great beasts, giving the creatures and people of the land balance and hope. The Being of Earth was called Groudon, the Being of the Sea was called Kyogre, and the Being of the Air was called Rayquaza. In the aftermath of these titan's conflict the people and creatures worked together to rebuild their world. The tale of these Super Ancient Beings was passed down through the generations until the story became legend, and legend became myth. And so man forgot the consequences of tampering with these beasts, and awakened Kyogre and Groudon again. Once again, their battle was marked by extreme rain and drought, switching too dramatically for the very fabric of nature to hold together. But the people did not lose hope, they thought that Rayquaza would appear, but it did not. Without any further options, the people left their lives in the hands of fate. What became of the people, and creatures whom lived in that land…? None remain who know… but the legend of Rayquaza lives on to this day, passed down by my family.

My name is Brendan, and it is a strange world I live in. Although nobody knows what happened to that mythical land, the creatures that lived there have been given a modern name. You would probably know them best as Pokemon. But unfortunately, Pokemon are something of a rarity in the modern age, and Pokemon trainers, the humans who battle alongside Pokemon are even rarer. I am one of the last. My clan used to be a great and powerful family which held great influence in world politics, but after years and years of erosion, it's just me, my mom and my dad. We lost the land we controlled, and we don't really care to reacquire it. We train so that we can make money to put bread on the table. Due to the rarity of Pokemon, some humans began to train themselves in the martial arts to fight, and through a long and grinding process, a new breed of fighter was born, the shinobi. Man has sharpened its ability to kill and gained the ability to even bend the elements to his will. My father was the first in our clan to become a ninja and a trainer at the same time, making him invaluable in a fight. Pokemon are more than a match for most ninjas, and his additional value as a shinobi has made him a hot item. He's a Mercenary, the best in the business, and I intend to follow in his footsteps. Recently he had taken up a new contract with the shinobi village in the Land of Fire, the village hidden in the leaves, called Konoha. That was why I was in the back of a moving truck sitting with the luggage, we were required to move inside the village walls.

I had grown used to the gentle rocking of the truck, and soon was dozing off to sleep. Just as my eyelids started to really droop, we stopped abruptly. I pushed myself up and stretched out my aching limbs as the door to the back of the truck was opened. I jumped out and saw my mother barking orders to her team of Vigoroths. "Brendan!" she shouted, "I want you to go upstairs and make sure that everything from your old room is now in this new room. Your father also got you a new clock be sure to set it, and he left you a package on your bed."

My first impression of my new abode was that it looked shabby. The entire building looked like it had the plumbing built on the outside. But on the inside it was nice enough, and sure enough, when I entered my room it was like I had never left the Land of Gemstones. I set the new clock I had, and looked around; this room might have even been a bit bigger than my old one. One pleasing new addition to the room was a full body mirror on the closet door, and I won't lie, I took a few moments to check myself out. I was wearing the cutting edge of both style and ninja tools. My pants were jet black made out a material that didn't shimmer in light, and while baggy enough to hide weapons wasn't baggy enough to restrict my movement. I had a black and red shirt which had a collar design resembling a pokeball around my neck. On my bed was a large box gift wrapped and begging to be torn open. The wrappings were dealt with in short order and inside I found some very handy items. First were a brand new pair of running shoes, which when turned on, erased a great deal of friction between the shoes and the ground below them, effectively doubling my top running speed. Next was a bright orange courier's bag with pockets for various kinds of medicines, pokeballs and ninja tools. The final thing in the box was a letter:

Dear Brendan,

I know that the last couple of years have been tough on you, and it's about to get worse but also better in so many ways. I trained so hard with you the past couple of weeks so that you would be on par with the next ninja academy graduates class. You are ready for your own adventure, in your desk are your official clan pokegloves and headband. The ninjas of this part of the world have metal headbands, we do not, so don't get any crazy ideas about using it in the same way they do, it marks you as a freelancer, a ninja for hire, and more importantly, as a Pokemon trainer. I know you don't have your own pokemon yet, but a friend of mine lives nearby, his name is Professor Birch. Find him and he'll give you your starting pokemon. I know you will make me proud…

Your Father,

Norman

I dropped the note and ran over to my desk, and sure enough, there was a pair of pokegloves with the same shade of orange as my bag and a black and red headband. I pulled the gloves on and tightened them to the perfect fit and then with shaking hands, folded the headband and tied it around my forehead, pushing my white head of hair out at a spiky angle in the back. I beamed at my reflection in the mirror and then strutted out the door of my room, down the stairs and into the living room.

My mother shouted, "Hey, Brendan, the news is at your father's new training facility in Konoha, he might be on TV!"

I ran over, but was disappointed when the reporter signed off and the program ended. "Bummer," I said glumly.

"I expect you'll find the professor's house directly east of ours. They're our neighbors you know," my mother said, dropping a hint.

I turned around in shock and exclaimed, "You knew that this was coming?"

"If you want to follow in the footsteps of your father, then you will have to travel far and wide across this world, you're old enough to handle it, and soon you'll have a pokemon of your own, so I trust you, but don't do anything reckless. Okay?"

I nodded and I left my house. I turned to my neighbors and walked over, and then into their house. A homely woman rushed to greet me at the door, "Oh, you must be Brendan, you have your father's eyes! And your mother's smile! Ahaha! My husband is off scrabbling in the grass somewhere outside of the walls of the village, probably in a training area his isn't supposed to be in, but he just can't be stopped. You should just wait for him here, it'll be easier that way! Say, May is upstairs, she's our daughter, and she's been just dying to meet a trainer her age, why don't you go see her?"

Before I could say yes, I found myself being pushed up the stairs by this extremely obnoxious woman. I stumbled through the threshold and into her room and heard the door slam behind me. May was slender, with long, brown bangs, cool blue eyes and an outfit that felt like the female counterpart to my own look. We looked each other up and down a few times and then May offered her hand, blushed and said, "So, uh, I'm May, and it's really nice to meet you. I've been really looking forward to meeting a trainer my age, but most people just want to be ninjas… look, I was really hoping that we could be friends… you know? Ohmygod, I just sounded like soooo silly. But enough about me, which pokemon did you pick?"

"I haven't got to yet, I haven't met your father yet. Do you know where he is?"

"You're kidding, oh man, he gets so caught up with observing pokemon that he would lose his own head if I wasn't usually there. Today he's supposed to be the nearest to the north entrance to the village, check the surrounding training areas."

"Thanks a lot," I said as I walked out of the door and eventually outside. With the knowledge of Professor Birch's whereabouts fresh in my mind I headed north until I came to the training areas. I wander aimlessly until I got to training area 3. There were three odd logs sticking out of the ground like punching posts but showed little to no wear as punching posts, it struck me as odd that they were there, but there was no sign of the professor. The nearby pond was shimmering and blue, and upon looking at it I realized my great thirst. After a quick jog to the edge I waded in a bit and then stuck my head into the cool refreshing water. Right as I was about to come up for air something hit me from behind, and I fell full into the pond. I grabbed the offending item and surfaced.

"HEY! You gotta help me out here!" I heard someone shout.

I looked up to see that a man was now balancing on the middle punching post. He was panicking because two pokemon were snapping at him as he stood on the post. It looked like the pokemon were a Poochyena and a Zigzagoon. He was a bit shorter than average height and round in shape, with familiar brown hair and blue eyes. He shouted, "Don't just stand and stare boy, I'm in dire need of help here! In my messanger bag, there are Pokescrolls! Use two of them now!"

I opened the bag and sure enough, there were three pokescrolls. Long ago, people used highly advanced machines called pokeballs to carry around pokemon, but those have been abandoned for the use of sealing jutsu and scrolls in modern times, they're easier to make. The first pokescroll was green, the second was red and the third was blue. I grabbed the blue and the red ones, jumped out of the pond, and with a flourish, unsealed the two scrolls and released the pokemon within. The scrolls wound back up and after the poof of smoke dissipated, two pokemon stood in front of me, a Mudkip and a Torchic. The scrolls listed the moves that they were currently capable of using. Mudkip knew Tackle and Growl and Torchic knew Scratch and Growl. So I shouted, "Mudkip, use tackle on the Poochyena and Torchic use scratch on the Zigzagoon!"

Mudkip ran up, lowered its shoulder and knocked the unsuspecting Poochyena off its feet and Torchic jumped up and using its sharp talons, scratched the Zigzagoon. The Zigzagoon batted Torchic away with its tail and the Poochyena howled in rage. "Do it again guys!" I shouted.

Mudkip and Poochyena ran and collided, both taking damage, but the Poochyena whimpered and ran off into the forest. Torchic jumped up to scratch Zigzagoon, but it dodged, and then tackled Torchic. While they struggled on the ground I shouted, "Mudkip, help Torchic!"

Mudkip gathered speed, and then threw itself at the Zigzagoon, knocking it off Torchic. Torchic hopped to its feet and bristled in what must have been indignation. The Zigzagoon, looking at both of the pokemon I was using, realized it was outnumbered, and scampered off into the forest. Torchic's chest puffed out in pride and it chirped loudly and Mudkip jumped up and down and squeaked. They turned around to me and I nodded to them, and they started to wander around. The rotund man sat down on the log he had been perched on and wiped the sweat off his brow. He exhaled deeply and said, "Thank you for your help… oh, where are my manners, my name is Professor Birch. Who might you be?"

"Uh, my name is Brendan, my dad sent me looking for you."

"Oh ho? You are your father's son, you pulled that off with aplomb! Why don't we go back to my house, we can talk there."

"Sounds good, but how do I put these two back in the scrolls?"

"Oh, uh, unroll the scroll so that the seal is visible, push a bit of chakra into the seal and it'll take care of itself."

I did so and in two poofs of white smoke Mudkip and Torchic disappeared. The Professor and I walked back into the village proper, navigated the complex streets and eventually returned to his house. We were greeted by a table set up for tea, which I graciously accepted. "So," Birch coughed, "I should really thank you for the help back in the training ground… how about I let you have those two pokemon, Torchic and Mudkip?"

I could only nod I was so happy, Birch laughed and said, "You know… some trainers give their pokemon nicknames… would you like to nickname your pokemon?"

"I was thinking about that, I think I'll call Mudkip Mizu… and Torchic Ho."

"You're your father's son in so many ways. But I couldn't help but to notice that you're not the most experienced in fighting with pokemon. My kid May could teach you a lot I think. Will you meet up with her?"

"Uh, sure, I guess a few pointers can't hurt."

"Great, she should be around where we bumped into each other earlier, trying to catch those two pokemon who gave me so much trouble. Good luck!"

I stood up with a nod and left his house once again. This time because I knew where I was going I got there pretty fast. May was standing in the clearing, her two pokemon, a Treecko and a Wingull fighting against the Zigzagoon and Poochyena. She pulled two scrolls out of her bag and unfurled them with precise movements. They shot out and wrapped around the two wild pokemon tight. The two wild pokemon struggled for a few moments, but suddenly they stopped and with a poof of white smoke, the scrolls untangled themselves, revealing the full seals and the Kanji character for "seal" written in the middle. May whooped, flicked her wrists and the scrolls wound themselves.

"That was amazing!" I gushed, "I've never done anything like that! It must feel amazing!"

May laughed and scratched behind her head, "You think?" she asked, "I don't know, they weren't that high level… but you know what is a great feeling?" I waited with bated breath, "A pokemon battle, how about it Brendan? Me and you?"

I pulled the scrolls out and unsealed Mizu and Ho. "Bring it!"

May shouted, "Gully! Use Water gun on torchic! And Koa, use pound!"

"Mizu go for a tackle attack on that Wingull," I shouted, "And Ho, go for a scratch attack on Wingull too!"

Gully shot a beam of water in the general direction of Ho, but before he could lock on, Mizu slammed into him, knocking him off balance and thus missing Ho completely. Gully bounced on the ground and Ho was quick to jump on top of him and scratch. Gully blasted Ho off with a beam of water. Mizu looked to me for further orders, but May's Treecko punched Mizu right in the jaw. Mizu did a back flip but stayed on his feet.

May shouted, "Koa, use absorb on Mudkip, and Gully, keep up the water gun assault on Torchic!"

I shouted, "Ho, evade the Water gun and try to stop Treecko! Mizu, Tackle Treecko!"

Ho dashed over to scratch Treecko, but didn't make it in time, it used Absorb on Mizu, and Mizu took a super-effective hit. And to make matters worse, the Wingull hit Ho while her back was turned, landing another super effective hit. I panicked for a second, but then I calmed myself down, we could do this. I shouted, "We can do this guys, get up and let's try it again!"

Mizu's eyes flashed blue and Ho's flashed red. Their respective abilities Torrent and Flare turned on, and they both learned new moves. Their scrolls identified the new moves for Mizu as Mud slap and Water Gun while Ho learned Peck and Ember. "Ho use Ember on Treecko," I cried, "and Mizu, keep Wingull busy with a Water Gun of your own!"

Mizu sprayed the Wingull with a powerfull attack, sending the pokemon into a nearby punching post. Ho's chest puffed out and then blew out a cloud of sparks and flames directly at Treecko scoring a super effective hit. Treecko collapsed and both Mizu and Ho turned to face the Wingull. "Scratch! Tackle!" I shouted.

Mizu and Ho executed my orders perfectly, bringing May's Wingull down perfectly. I felt exhilarated. I had won. I grabbed both Mizu and Ho, hugged them close and whooped in exultation. "We did it! Hahaha!"

May brought her two pokemon back into their scrolls and said, "Yeah, well, I can see why my dad gave you those pokemon, you've only been with them a short while but they clearly adore you. Why don't we go back to my Dad's lab, it's near the hokage's office. Oh, and by putting your pokemon back in their scrolls, it heals them automatically. Let's go."

With a poof of smoke I had sealed Mizu and Ho away and I dashed off to catch up with May. She had running shoes too, so it was kind of hard to keep up with her, with the winding streets and alleys that make up Konoha. It was like she wanted to show me up or something. I grinned, there was a way to catch up to her that she wasn't aware of. I had studied ninjutsu, after all. I pushed chakra into my leg muscles to strengthen them and pushed off the ground hard, sending me flying into the air at a speed even May with her running shoes would have trouble matching. Two leaps later I was running with her neck and neck. She quirked an eyebrow at me and then leapt as I had. It was my turn to be shocked, May had studied ninjutsu too. In instants we were hurtling down the main street towards the Hokage building only to touch down at the exact same time at the front gate.

We were both panting and sweating, but nowhere near exhausted. May smiled and I grinned back stupidly. A bit to our left was a large building with a pokeball symbol on it. Neon lighting adorned the outside, identifying it as: Birch Pokemon Laboratory. Birch was waiting for us in the back of the main room. He and May whispered to each other for a moment and Birch's smile went from big to obscene. "It seems I was right trusting you with those pokemon. They seem to like you a great deal. I have a favor to ask you… I don't expect you to do complete this task any time soon. In fact, it may take a lifetime. This is a Pokedex… it records data on Pokemon as a trainer raises them… I would like you to try and collect data for me on every kind of pokemon in the Elemental Nations. Will you do it?"

This would be a great undertaking to finally know what kinds of pokemon evolve into what, where to find rare pokemon… and how they behave. This would be historic. A full pokedex hasn't been heard of since the days of the Legendary Professor Oak. I nodded my head, even if it did take a life time; it was worth devoting my life to. Birch handed me the high tech encyclopedia and I entered my name and let it scan my current pokescrolls. May pulled out my hand and gave me four pokescrolls and said, "You can use these to catch pokemon, I catch ones I think are cute. If you need more, then just stop by here or by our house, I can make them easy enough. I've heard that you can buy high quality ones from certain stands in the market, but you'd have to look very carefully."

"Thanks… I don't even know where I want to start… there are so many pokemon in this world!" I said.

"Out by the south end of town are certain bug types I'd like to know more about…" Birch said, "May won't catch them because she doesn't like bugs… why don't you try your hand at them? They're called Wurmple… and they can evolve into two different kinds of pokemon, Cascoon and Silcoon. From there they evolve into Beautifly and Dustox respectively. Beautifly works best in sunlight, and uses moves that heal party members and immobilize adversaries, while Dustox confounds and attacks enemies using the power of the moon. I'd like a more in depth analysis."

"I've never heard of that before," I said, "I'd like to see that, it's a done deal. But I should go show my Dad first. Where is his training center?"

"Right next to the Ninja Training Academy," May said, "East of here, it's the big complex, you can't miss it."

"Right," I said, "I'll catch up with you guys later!"

I walked out of the lab, adjusted my bag, and took off east. Sooner than I thought, I saw a big complex a couple streets away and I had arrived at the Academy. A bunch of kids a bit younger than me were all celebrating with their parents, they had apparently just graduated from school. One kid didn't look so happy, and he noticeably didn't have a ninja headband on. He looked absolutely heart-broken. He was wearing and all orange outfit with blue highlights, and had goggles on his head, keeping back his spiky blonde hair. I patted him on the shoulder and said, "I'm sure you'll make it next year buddy, just try hard and you can do anything."

He glared at me and said, "This is the third time I've tried and I really wanted it this time. Besides, you're no ninja. What do you know?"

I twitched with anger, but shoved it down, the kid was sad and lashing out, not my fault, I should be the better person and let it go… so I did. And I said, "I'm actually an official merc-nin, my headband is different from the ones you ninjas wear, but no different symbolically. I know my fair share."

"He's right you know…" said a new voice. This guy had long turquoise hair that hung around his head and judging from his attire, he was a teacher, "My name is Mizuki… I actually know something that can help Naruto with his current problem, Mr. Merc-nin. Leave him to me."

Something was off about that guy, but I didn't say anything, and let him lead Naruto off. I would later regret that action. But I didn't know how much of a creep Mizuki was… I thought he was an odd teacher who meant well. I soon noticed the Dojo that was inside the complex with a picture of my father above the door. I entered and there he was, standing in the middle of the empty dojo. He was absently checking and rechecking several things around his new training space, the punching dummies, and pokescroll targets. "Um… Dad?" I asked.

He turned around surprised and said, "Oh, Brendan… I didn't expect you for a while. I expect you met with Professor Birch. Which pokemon did you choose?"

"I got Mudkip and Torchic. I'm a mercenary for our clan now… and I have this pokedex thing to do… but I'm not really sure where to go from here. I mean I've dreamt of this day for so long… I'm kind of lost as to my next step."

He smiled and shook his head, "I understand, I was the same way once upon a time. Well, I would prefer you to take missions and earn some money… but in order to do that, you need to get the proper certification. In the neighboring academy building a woman named Roxanne is a powerful pokemon trainer who has been identified as a test of sorts for new trainers. We'll call her a Leader. There are Eight Leaders throughout the Elemental Nations, each one has a special badge which identifies up and coming trainers as certain ranks based on how many badges they have.

"Right now… you'd be considered less than a Novice, you have absolutely no badges. But if you beat Roxanne, you are known as an official novice trainer. Novices are allowed to take on low level missions. If you get another badge, you are called an apprentice trainer. Next comes Disciple. At Disciple, a trainer can take on C Rank missions by themselves. Once you get another bad you become an Adept equivalent to the ninja rank Chunin, capable of leading a team of mercenaries on C rank missions and taking B rank missions. What do you become after getting five badges? I'll tell you once you get four."

"So I should take on Roxanne?"

"No, no, no, you should go and catch some more pokemon, and train them a bit. Learn different strategies and try to apply them in a battle…"

My father stopped in mid sentence and looked to the person who had opened the door. He was average-height, with sloppy green hair, and sickly thin. As I looked at him, I realized he had bags under his eyes and his breathing was raspy. He met my eyes for no longer than a second and then promptly looked away. I stepped to the side and he walked up to my father, coughed and then said, "Um, So I came by when you said to… you know… to catch my first pokemon…"

My father nodded, "Yes, Wally, this is my son Ruby… he'll show you the ropes, and I'll lend you this Zigzagoon."

Wally caught the pokescroll my father passed him and then looked shyly over to me. I patted him on the back and said, "Well then… let's get a move on!"

So we navigated the village's complex streets towards the south gate. The main gate was impressive, to say the least. The giant green doors stood at least 25 yards tall, the only entrance through the 25 foot thick stone wall that surrounded the entire village and training areas. We walked out and into the surrounding forest. I picked a grassy path and with a carefree swagger sauntered down it, Wally trailing behind. After maybe fifteen minutes we reached a clearing with tall grass, a great place to find wild pokemon. I waded in and Wally followed a bit too closely for my own comfort. Then it happened, two wild Wurmple jumped out of the grass to attack. The story goes that in ancient times, pokemon being raised by trainers would talk to wild pokemon about how much better their lives were with people, and wild pokemon became jealous. Wild pokemon supposedly attack people so that a trainer might find them strong and take them in. The two wurmples in front of me certainly looked ready to fight.

"Let's Rock and Roll, Ho!" I shouted as I released my pokemon, "Ember!"

Ho puffed up her chest and shot out a cloud of sparks and fire, hitting both the Wurmples dead on. Ember was super effective, but the two Wurmples stood back up and launched a simultaneous Poison Sting attack. Ho got hit by both and I could see that she was poisoned. But these two Wurmples had spunk; there was a glint in their eyes. I reached to my belt and grabbed two pokescrolls. I opened the packaging seal, and remembering May's precise movements, flicked my wrists and then swung my arms out and then in. The scrolls did the rest. The paper shot out and encased both pokemon in paper, and in instants, white smoke poofed out, confirming the capture. I recalled Ho and if all went according to plan, and then one would evolve into Cascoon and the other Silkcoon. I would nickname them then. I turned around to Wally and he had stars in his eyes. He had clasped his hands together and said, "That was…. Awesome!"

"Well, now you try," I said.

He gulped, nodded and then took three steps forward. A Wild Ralts appeared! Wally looked back at me and said, "Right, um… Go! Zigzagoon!"

In a poof of smoke, my father's Zigzagoon dashed out into the battlefield. Wally shouted, "Tackle attack!"

Zigzagoon… zig-zagged and then rammed into the wild Ralts. Ralts fell back onto it's butt and growled in displeasure. Wally recalled Zigzagoon and then said, "Okay, Pokescroll time!"

Wally lamely opened the scroll, and shot it out at the Ralts… and missed. The Ralts looked over at the scroll curiously. It brought its face close to it, but then backed away, and tried to touch it with its toe. The scroll shot to life and entangled the Ralts. After a good thirty seconds of struggle, the Ralts was caught. Tears shone in Wally's eyes. "Brendan… I did it! I really caught a pokemon!"

I wasn't sure if that counted in any way shape or form, but I didn't feel like bursting his bubble, so I nodded and said, "You sure did. Let's go back to the gym."

Wally led the way all the way back to my father's dojo. He triumphantly thanked my dad and handed him back his Zigzagoon. Then he marched out of the dojo without as much as a look back. "Good for him," my father said.

"So, you said I should train some… where?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard to beat pokemon on pokemon battles, but those are rare nowadays. But repetition is just as important. Go find a secluded spot in the forest and have your pokemon go through courses of action against an imaginary enemy."

"Right. I'll work on that," I said as I turned around to leave.

I left the main city part of the village and headed into the training areas. I found a small clearing in some dense forest and set to work. My Wurmples could use a very limited move set: Tackle, String Shot, and Poison Sting. Due to their small body sizes Tackle didn't do much damage, and the very nature of poison sting makes it a move which does little damage. But String Shot's string was strong, durable and very sticky. That was when an idea came to me. The Wurmples would attach themselves to my wrists and use string shot to shoot webbing. While not Spiderman caliber webbing, it was definitely good enough to slow down something big and scary, or fast and small. So then I began training them to feel the flick of my wrist which told them to shoot, and I trained myself to aim. By the time I felt confident, it was already well past nightfall. I looked up and it was at least midnight. I was nearly exhausted.

I jumped up and into the trees so I could speedily get back to my house and my waiting bed. But after about five minutes of travelling, I heard a scream nearby. Someone was in pain! I turned and headed directly towards the noise, arriving in seconds. Naruto, Mizuki and another Konoha ninja were all standing in a clearing. But something was wrong. The third man was pinned up against a nearby cabin by kunai, but he had a Konoha Hitite, he was a Konoha ninja! Mizuki then said, "As you know, ten years ago, this village was attacked by the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit, but the Fourth Hokage beat the beast. You know this, but what you don't know is about the Special village law created the next day!"

"I've never heard of any special law…" Naruto said to himself.

"It's no wonder, see the law is that nobody in the village is allowed to tell you how the Fourth beat the Nine Tailed Fox. He gave it a human form. Naruto! You are the Nine Tailed Fox! The very same one who killed Iruka's Parents."

The other man in the clearing shouted, "STOP IT!"

Mizuki continued, "You have been lied to by EVERYONE! The Hokage you adore, all the villagers, even Iruka here, secretly HATES YOU! NOBODY WILL EVER ACCEPT YOU! AND NOW… I'm going to kill you."

I stealthily released my two wurmples and they assumed the position. Mizuki drew a gigantic Ninja Star, and made it start to spin. I tried to stop its motion but it cut through Wurmple's webbing. Mizuki tossed the star at Naruto, but the third man, Iruka, stopped it with his own body. "Oh, God…" I said, in complete shock, what was going on here?

Even Pokemon trainers like me understood to fear Tailed Beasts. The only way to stand up to them was extreme training or a Legendary Pokemon. But this kid, Naruto, he wasn't a monster. I knew it, I knew it because pokemon flee before Tailed Beasts, and my pokemon weren't going anywhere. By the time I snapped back into reality, Iruka was crying over Naruto, whether in pain or some kind of emotional realization, I didn't know, but he was already in critical condition. I did the only thing my conscience would allow, I saw Iruka pull the shuriken out of his own back and hurl it at Mizuki. I aimed the next round of String shots at Mizuki's feet, immobilizing him. But Mizuki caught the shuriken in mid flight.

He turned around and saw me, cut his feet free and threw both his shuriken at me, pinning my hands next to the nearby trees. I screamed in pain, luckily my Wurmples were on the inside of my arms, and were thus free to use, "Poison Sting!" I cried.

Hundreds of Senbon-like structures shot out and made Mizuki move farther away from me. He sneered and said, "I'll take care of you two later, all that matters now is killing Naruto."

He dashed off into the forest. Iruka jumped up and freed me from the shuriken. My Wurmples dropped off my arms and looked up at me, they looked close to tears. "I'm okay guys… We'll get stronger and then next time, I'm confident we'll do better."

They bounced up and down and then sprayed string shots into the air, eventually covering themselves. "What are they doing?" Iruka asked.

"Evolving," I said, and despite the serious pain in my hands, I smiled. The webbing began to glow and eventually formed into a Silcoon and Cascoon. "Alright… Silcoon, from here on out, you get the name of the Shinto goddess of the sun, Ameterasu and Cascoon, you shall be her reflection, Tsukuyomi the moon."

I recalled them into their pokescrolls and turned to Iruka, "Take care of Naruto, I know that isn't a tailed beast. He's been misunderstood…"

Then I collapsed and drifted into unconsciousness. I woke up in my room, with perfectly healed hands. I shot up to a sitting position to see my mother sitting at the edge of my bed. She walked over and slapped me upside the head, and then screamed, "I told you NOT TO DO ANYTHING RECKLESS!"

I flinched, covered my head with my hands and said, "It couldn't be helped, I had to get involved, they were gonna kill Naruto."

"Like father like son," sighed Professor Birch, whom I hadn't noticed, he was standing with May, who looked concerned and a lady in a pink nursing outfit with pink hair. Birch pointed to the lady in pink and said, "This is Nurse Joy, she's your clan's personal doctor and pokemon doctor, she healed those hands of yours perfectly."

"Thank you very much," I said with a bow of my head.

She smiled and said, "The best thanks I could get would be for you to not try to get crucified by shuriken… next time, dodge."

"I'll keep that in mind," bitch, I thought, like I didn't try.

"I'm sure he tried…" said May, "that Mizuki scumbag was a Chunin, he must have anticipated Brendan's movements."

I had to stop myself from communicating my agreement. "But on the plus side, I think I'm ready to fight Roxanne!" I said.

"We'll see about that…" My father entered the room, but the person speaking was the woman in tow behind him. She had dark hair with great volume and a pink bow. She was wearing a schoolgirl's uniform with pink stockings as well. "I'm Roxanne, and I'll make some time for you the day after tomorrow at the Ninja Academy at 9 am sharp… more than enough time for you to be back in tip-top shape."

"I'll be there," I said with a grin. I was one step closer to being great like my father.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Trainer Card Color: Green

Name: Brendan

Pokemon:
Mizu – Mudkip
Ho – Torchic
Tsukuyomi – Cascoon
Ameterasu – Silcoon

Badges:
NONE