The Call of the Void (part 1)

A Crossover Written by Someone Who Has Zero Knowledge of Either Naruto or Pokémon

It is the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. With Madara and her boyfriend Akatsuki slain at the hands of Naruto's uncontrollable nine-tailed fox spirit inside him, he thinks it would totally be something to party over. He invites Sasuke, that pink-haired girl, and his sensei over to his reconstructed Hidden Leaf Village for a soiree.

"Yeah, man. You should've seen it! That fox spirit totally took over my bod and just tore up the place. Madara was like, 'Oh, hell no!', but the fox was all, 'Yeah, that's right! I've got more tails to deal with, so I'll deal with you instead!' or something more witty, I forget," Naruto told to the village leader over some virgin sake. "At least I think it was like that. I don't remember if spirits can talk at all."

Sasuke suddenly jolted himself in a realization that he had something urgent to tell Naruto. "Hey pal, rival, whatever, I suddenly realized something I had something urgent to tell you! Meet me in the dojo house after nightfall, when nobody else is around. Okay?"

"After nightfall? What's that, like morning?" Naruto said pretending to be drunk.

"No… I mean, like, late at night. I don't know. We have clocks somewhere around, right? I've got something important to teach you, and it isn't how to read the time!"

And so, when everyone had a hearty celebration for the victory of that one ninja-on-ninja war, after night felled itself, Naruto snuck out of his straw mat on the ground and used his ninja skills to creep into the dojo all stealthy-like. But that didn't really matter, because it was well light and Sasuke was just standing there in the middle of the room.

"All right, guy. Listen up. During that Great War and all, I was actually visited by my brother Itachi's ghost. It was difficult for me to take in at first, but he felt that he had way too much unfinished business, so his spirit wasn't allowed into Ninja Heaven just yet," Sasuke said in an unnecessary whisper. "Apparently, he has a lot more to tell me, and I believe much of it relates to you, Naruto."

"You don't say, Sasuke," said Naruto. "Quite honestly, Sasuke, I'm not surprised, being the main guy of all that's been taking place lately," Naruto also said. "Sasuke."

"Okay, I get it already! We're familiar with our names! Anyway, look. He told me that he has the secret to take control of that foxy thang all up in your bod. Here, let me teach you."

Sasuke and Naruto sparred all the way through the night, but never made a sound as to wake up the nearby villagers because they were also ninjas. If you were a blind spectator for their training, you would probably fall asleep, too. Anyway, before the break of dawn, Naruto totally harnessed the power to control his fox demon.

The next day, Naruto and Sasuke woke up late because they were training all night for what could've amounted to a month's worth of filler episodes.

"I can't wait to try out my new superpowers!" screamed Naruto toward the sun as he stretched out of his straw mat on the floor. "Boy, Sasuke is going to regret teaching me this trick! He's going to be full of envy!" At this point, the sun has heard enough of Naruto screaming to himself.

Later that afternoon, Naruto met up with his sensei with the mask on his face over at the dojo. "Naruto," he said, through his mask, "even though the Fourth Great Ninja War is over, your training will never be, for it is the way of the ninja. You must train for all your life, or else you will pay the price. The ninja price."

"Hah!" said Naruto in his head. "What this fool doesn't know is that I can finally wield the fox spirit inside me. I can take him out any day of the lunar year!"

"All right, Naruto. Today, I will start your training on a new technique. One you should've probably knew by now before the whole ninja war mess. Anyway, let's begin. First, start by put…"

"HIIIIYAAAH!" Naruto screamed with all his ninja might as he summoned up the fox demon within him. "NINETAILS, I CHOOSE YOU!"

Immediately, bursting forth out of Naruto's bod came Ninetails. Naruto's sensei's eyes widened with astonishment and confusion. "NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?"

"Feel the power of my fox spirit, sensei! Soon, the student shall become the master! Mwahahah!"

"No, Naruto! I mean, Jesus Christ, that isn't even the same fox spirit that was buried inside you! Look at it! For one, it looks a little more palatable to the eyes, and it's constantly muttering its own name over and over!" exclaimed his sensei, probably getting his mask dirty with his spitting of astonishment and confusion.

Naruto was taken aback. "W-what is that thing? I don't understand… Sasuke taught me those words, and…"

"SASUKE? What does Sasuke have anything to do with this? Unlike you, he doesn't even have a demon spirit lodged up his-"

Suddenly, Sasuke jumped through the window and into the dojo, confronting both their sensei and Naruto.

Naruto stood there for a moment, still unable to take in what he just took out, or whatever. "Sasuke! Explain this to me! What did I just do?"

"Ha ha, silly Naruto! That isn't your fox spirit you summoned there. Well, not exactly…"

"Ninetails, Ninetails!" said Ninetails, feeling out of place. "Ninetails?"

"I don't get it! At least it doesn't look horribly ugly, I'll give you that."

"Follow me into the forest, Naruto. I've got a lot more to tell you about my brother Itachi."

And so, Naruto, Sasuke, and Ninetails hopped through the trees of the forest. They had to move fast, Sasuke had someplace to go to all urgent-like. Also, that sensei and the dojo were never heard from again.

Naruto stopped in his tracks. "Sasuke, I'm not going to follow you anymore until you tell me what's going on!"

Sasuke, deeply moved by Naruto's passion for the situation, turned around and revealed, "There were other things my brother's ghost told me. You see, Naruto…"

"Dude, stop saying my name all the time. I'm the only one here besides this fox thing following me."

"… my brother was a Pokémon trainer."

"Come again?"

"He trained Pokémon. That's what Pokémon trainers do. It's in the name."

"Oh."

"That fox that you summoned just now is called Ninetails. It's also in the name."

"I see where this is going."

"What? You do? Anyway, Naruto…"

"Dude, quit it with that already!"

"… Ninetails is a type of Pokémon. There's hundreds of Pokémon out there in the wild, but since we've been growing up as ninjas, we never encounter them because our Hidden Leaf Village was too hidden from them. There's, like, a Pokémon for any regular animal, and sometimes even inanimate objects. There's at least 900 known species of these things by now, and you only have one of them."

"Uh, isn't that a bit overwhelming?" Naruto asked in the next episode.

Sasuke gave a reluctant sigh. "We don't have much time. According to my Pokédex, we should find some exclusive Pokémon over in the Dokkoh region. Let's move!" Sasuke quickly began jumping across more trees, because this is the preferred method of ninja travel.

In about a week and two fillers later, the ninja duo and their unaffectionately unnamed Ninetails arrived in the Dokkoh region. It has some forests, a volcanic mountain, a bay on the west side, and all of its cities are named after German words and are constantly under construction for some reason. It isn't exactly one of Sasuke's favorite regions.

"Okay, okay, we've finally made it! Please, tell me already, why have we come this far?" Naruto said in a pant as he finally touched the ground for the first time since he last left the village. "What is it that is so important here that you totally did not want to tell me when we were, you know, standing or something? Sasuke, tell me! What are these Pokémon things you speak of? Are they lesser spirits or something? What else was it that your brother said to you?"

Sasuke turned around and said, "So many questions… In due time, Naruto…"

"Freaking stop it with that already!"

"…in due time…"

Naruto and Pokémon © Asia

Scenario and story are © by me. Reproduction in any shape or form is prohibited unless you submit all of the following: Form NCR-17b, written consent to my actual mailing address, as opposed to the one you send to electronically on the computer monitor, a passport, and three days of uninhibited use of your step-father's recently paid for credit card.