Problems At Demon City
Part 01
Sequel to 'Two For Two'. Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata arrive at Demon City for a Contest, but an earthquake unleashes a chain of events and an 'Ancient' secret emerges from deep beneath the city and wreaks havoc.
A/N: I'm gonna use some game logic and cartoon logic. If you don't understand, I'll explain. In the Pokémon games, you are able to fit an entire bike inside your tiny backpack along with all your other things. In the Pokémon anime series, well… where do they put their chairs, tables, cookware, tableware, sleeping bags, and tents? In their tiny bags! YES! That's where!
Naruto grumbled and grinded his teeth as he studied the map he had picked up in the last town they were at in the low light of the campfire.
'I can't find this trail on here, argh!' He flipped the map and tilted his head. 'Am I reading it wrong?!'
He was trying to figure out how much longer they would have to go before they reach the next town. It was almost two weeks since his and his sister's birthday. Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata were currently camping for the night as they were on their way to the next town.
The party had ended nicely with Minato proposing to Kushina. Konohamaru and his posse had slept over again. The next day, they woke up to find that Jason, Eva, and Lance had left before dawn. Jason left three sets of dog tags for Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata, and a note thanking Kushina for the hospitality. Later that day, Saito and Jackson left. The day after that, Luna, her son Pip, and Leo the bodyguard bid them farewell and headed back to the Teak Region. Hinata went home to get her things ready and came back later in the evening. Then next morning, after breakfast, the trio headed out again to continue their journey.
Two days after leaving Konoha Town, during a rainstorm, they came across an Illumise dancing in the rain while they searched for some shelter, which they found under a tree with an almost impenetrable canopy. Once they realized that the rain was not going to stop anytime soon, Naruko suggested that they set up camp using their tents this time. As they set up the tents, the dancing Illumise still failed to notice them. After their dinner of instant ramen, potato chips, and water (inside the tents), Hinata decided that she wanted that Illumise. Grabbing a few empty Pokeballs, she exited the tent that she and Naruko shared, and walked toward the oblivious bug-type. Using her Riolu, Duke, she battled the wild Pokémon. The Illumise made Hinata work hard. After three broken Pokeballs and an exhausted Riolu, the Illumise was hers. She named it Flutter. Almost immediately after picking up the Pokeball from the muddy floor, it teleported away.
They arrived to Kunai Town right as the town's harvest festival was starting. There was a mini-battle tournament and a mock-contest. Naruto and Naruko signed up for the battles and Hinata joined the contest. A police officer refereed the tournament while the town's Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and Mayor judged the contest. The final match was Naruto against Naruko, and this time Naruko won, with her Turtwig. Hinata used her Lopunny in the appeals round and her newly acquired Illumise held its own and got her the win. For prizes, Naruko received a set of Pokémon vitamin supplements and Hinata got a Pokemon egg which had red squares and blue triangles all over. Luckily she still had the incubator where she once had Duke's egg, and placed it in there.
They left the next day with their destination being Waterfall Town, for Hinata's contest. A little after lunch, they were attacked by a large group of Shroomish. They fended off the wild Pokemon and Naruto caught one on a whim. It was male and he named it Brawler because even after being captured, it still wanted to fight. And this little grass-type was giving him more trouble than Witchy. He would pick a fight any and every wild and tamed Pokémon it saw. It's teammates, and Naruko and Hinata's Pokémon were no exception. It also had a habit of getting out by itself from its Pokeball, which irritated Naruto to no end.
They arrived at Waterfall town just in time for Hinata's Contest. With a day to spare. While training her Pokémon trying to make a decision on which to use, Spray the Prinplup evolved into Empoleon. It also learned a new move, Aqua Jet. The sudden evolution of her starter helped her make her choice. She borrowed Flo the Luvdisc from Naruto for the appeals round and used Spray for the battle round. Thanks to Flo, Hinata made it to the second round. She made it to the final match, but that's where her luck ended. Her final opponent, a blond-haired blue-eyed boy named Jaune, used a Charizard. While she had the type advantage, the fire-type overpowered the Empoleon in a display of speed, maneuverability, and sheer power. With a close range Blast Burn, it defeated Spray. It was while the boy was receiving the ribbon that Naruto, Hinata, and Naruko caught a glimpse of what looked like dog tags dangling from his neck and also on the grey-eyed black-haired girl with him. Before they could go and ask them about the dog tags, they disappeared. The next day, as they set out to continue their jouney, they passed the train station and saw the boy and girl from the contest boarding a train. Looking at their own dog tags, they knew they would see them again and started running, but not without Naruto obtaining a map from the police kiosk.
Now, here they are, a few day later, camping. And Naruto is trying to make sense of the map. Naruko was asleep with her Glameow, Gloss, curled up next to her and Hinata was brushing and cleaning her Lopunny, Heart. When Hinata was done she turned to Naruto after hearing him grumble for the past half-hour.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"The route we're on isn't on here."
She got up and went to sit next to him and took the map.
"Hmmm…" Hinata studied the map. "No wonder you can't find it. This map is outdated and over twenty years old."
"Oh." Naruto dropped his head in embarrassment.
"Why not use your Pokenav?" she suggested. "It comes with a map."
"I've kinda forgot mine… at home," he bashfully responded as her rubbed the back of his head.
Hinata giggled and got up. "I'll check in mine."
As she searched her bag, Naruto looked up at the night sky. Even with not a single cloud in the sky, he could still smell the rain the distance, thanks to the light breeze. The sound of a Pokenav turning on made him look at Hinata again.
"It says here that we'll be at Demon City tomorrow," she muttered while studying the map on the small screen.
"Alright," Naruto nodded. "We'll stop there and get you your fourth ribbon and after that is Orchestra City for my seventh badge."
"Yeah," Hinata agreed. "Now let's get some sleep…"
The next morning they stood upon a grassy hill staring in awe at the grandeur of Demon City. It was located a few hundred yards from the edge of a ravine that led into a canyon. The sunlight reflected beautifully off the windows of the tall brick buildings. At the edge of the city, nearest to the canyon was a large white building with a gigantic dome structure connected to it. All throughout the city there were temples. And the unmistakable Contest Hall could be seen at the other side of the city.
"So this Demon City, huh?" Naruto asked then threw and impressed whistle.
"Yep," Naruko responded looking at her Pokenav. "It says here that it got that name because of an event that happened here a little over a thousand years ago." She continued reading. "There are seventeen temples all over the city and the most visited is the Fire Temple."
"What's that building over there?" Hinata pointed at the white one.
"Some sort of research lab," Naruko muttered.
"Does it say what kind of research they…" Naruto cut himself off when he looked down and saw Han scratching himself nonstop. "Han, what's wrong?"
Concerned, Naruto picked up the Pikachu and examined him while he kept scratching. And as if things were not bad enough, Gloss and Duke were also desperately scratching themselves, making Naruko and Hinata pick them up with concern.
"Huh, what's this?" Naruto gasped when he brushed back Han's yellow fur and found his skin irritated, due to the scratching, and covered in purple spots
"What the heck!" Naruko exclaimed when she found the same thing under her Glameow's gray fur.
"Oh my… this looks bad," Hinata muttered when she examined her Riolu.
Holding their Pokémon tight in their arms, they sprinted down the path, intent on reaching a Pokémon Center as quickly as possible.
Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata anxiously fidgeted as they stood at the front counter of the Pokémon Center waiting for Nurse Joy. It had been nerve-wracking to wait their turn as their Pokémon kept scratching. It got to the point where Naruko was tapping her fingers on the counter in a fast, rhythmic pace that it might poke hole through it.
Nurse Joy soon returned from taking a trainer's injure Kricketune to one of the healing chambers.
"Next in line please," she said and the trio put their Pokémon onto the counter. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Our Pokémon won't stop scratching," Naruto explained.
"Okay, just place your critters on the gurney and I'll go give them a look over," Nurse Joy nodded as her Chansey assistant brought a gurney over. "If you'd like, I could also give the rest of your teams a checkup."
They sat their scratching Pokémon on the gurney and their Pokeballs on trays. Then the Chansey pushed the gurney to the back with Nurse Joy behind carrying the trays.
"I'll be back later with the results," she said right before the doors shut behind her.
'Please don't let it be serious…' they thought repeatedly as they headed toward the dining area, because the run was fueled by pure adrenaline and they were now completely drained and hungry.
Twenty minutes later, after downing a whole lot of food, they went back to the front counter just as Nurse Joy and her Chansey returned from the back with their Pokémon.
"All finished," Nurse Joy chirped as she set the trays with the Pokeballs on the counter and the Chansey pushed the gurney in front of them with Han, Gloss, and Duke… and they were still scratching as if their lives depended on it. "There was never anything to really worry about. It's just a strong reaction to a Pokerus infection, that all."
"A Pokerus infection?" Naruko repeated with her tilted.
"What's that?" Hinata asked.
"It a pretty harmless condition and most Pokemon that contract Pokerus don't suffer any side-effects," Nurse Joy replied. "Once the Pokerus is gone, your Pokemon will never contract it again. Next in line, please."
Naruto and Naruko scowled, and they and Hinata grabbed their Pokeballs and Pokémon, and headed to the videophone connected to the transfer machine. They did not completely believe what Nurse Joy had said, because this seemed like an airhead them. They sought the opinion and advice of somebody they trusted.
"Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up," Naruko muttered as she stood next to Naruto and their Pokémon kept on desperately scratching themselves.
"Professor Sarutobi's lab, how can I…" Ebisu paused the moment he noticed the blonde twins on the other side of the line, and adjusted his sunglasses. He turned to Hinata and greeted her politely "Good morning Miss Hyuga," then turned to Naruto and Naruko, "Now what do you two want?"
"Is the Old Man there?" Naruto asked. "We need to ask him something."
The lab assistant eyed them for a bit then nodded. "I will see if he's available."
When Ebisu disappeared, the trio went back to fidgeting as the screen showed the dull, undecorated, plain white walls of the lab. A few minutes later Professor Sarutobi appeared and settled himself in the chair in front of the video screen with pipe in hand. He seemed to be in a good mood and that relaxed the trio a bit.
"Good afternoon you three! So what is it that you need to ask me?"
"Old Man, is Pokerus dangerous?" Naruto asked after waving him hello. "Nurse Joy said it isn't but…"
"Why do you guys want to know about Pokerus?" the professor wondered with a curious look.
They placed their Pokémon in front of the screen for the professor to see.
"It's making them so itchy," Naruko said with worry.
"Hmmm…" Professor Sarutobi placed his hand against his chin in thought. "That's really unusual. Pokémon that have contracted Pokerus don't normally suffer any negative side-effects. And those few that do don't experience anything severe."
"Is there any medicine or ointment that we could use?" Hinata asked.
"I'm afraid not," the old man shook his head. "Because Pokerus never hurts the Pokémon, no company or research group has bothered with it. But don't worry, once the Pokerus has run its course, your Pokemon will never contract it again."
"Man, that suck," Naruto muttered under his breath.
"If you'd like, you could send them over and I could try a few tricks," Sarutobi suggested with a shrug. "And while they're here, I might as well collect data for possible future cases."
The trio hesitated for a bit before agreeing. They put their scratching Pokémon back into their Pokeballs and sent them to the lab.
"Okay, Pokémon received," Professor Sarutobi said, reaching off-screen to remove the Pokeballs from the transport machine. "Now which Pokémon would you like me to send you?"
The trio thought about it for a bit. "Well…"
They were interrupted with the ground began to buck and heave, knocking them to the floor. People screamed in panic, the windows shattered, and items falling from shelves. The lights, and the videophone screen, flickered before completely going out, leaving the Pokémon Center in almost complete darkness. And just as suddenly as it began, it ended.
Naruto was the first to get up and helped Naruko and Hinata to their feet. Once up, the blinked at the mess in the room.
It was Naruko who broke the silence. "Holy crap! That was an earthquake!"
"No duh, sis…"
Trainer & Pokémon Listing Time (shinies are underlined)
If you haven't guessed who Hinata's opponent at the Waterfall Town contest was and who the boy's companion was, then I'll tell by adding then to this list.
Naruto Uzumaki: Vulpix-Cherry, Pikachu-Han, Luvdisc-Flo, Umbreon-Shadow, Vibrava-Sahara, Croagunk-Reaper, Haunter-Witchy, Blissey-Mari, Drifloon-Floater, Scizor-Shinobi, Abra-Eclipse, Totodile-Gator, Shroomish-Brawler
Naruko Uzumaki: Vulpix-Sunset, Glamoew-Gloss, Gyarados-Serpent, Ursaring-Lady Luna, Hippowdon-Sherman, Absol-Rixie, Steelix-Edilean, Camerupt-Lucky, Venomoth-Sarina, Electrike-Yui, Grimer-Biohazard, Turtwig-Grove
Hinata Hyuga: Empoleon-Spray, Registeel-Knives, Gardevoir-Kunoichi, Riolu-Duke, Lopunny-Heart, Gabite-Torpedo, Metagross-Blue, Skitty-Riku, Clefairy-Raindrop, Pachirisu-Isadora, Illumise-Flutter
Jaune Arc: Charizard-Solar, Corsola-Coral, Roserade-Bloom, Grumpig-Pearl, Eevee-Deck, Garchomp-Predator
Ruby Rose: Torterra-Lucy, Arcanine-Zwei, Sharpedo-Ripper, Gallade-Guardian, Scyther-Crimson, Eevee-Mimi
Some characters from some of my other favorite series will make an appearance, and they will help our traveling trio. Also, Neji, Tenten, and Lee will show up later. Several Pokémon will evolve and each member of our trio catches a fossil Pokémon.
Please Review and I'll get back to you