Poker Chips And Scary Woods
Part 4
Here's the fourth installment. Hope you guys enjoy it. And sorry for the wait.
Tsunade sighed as she walked away from three Sound grunts she had tied to a tree, and ignored their cries for mercy. She had gotten all the information she needed and left them at the mercy of the Pokemon that inhabited the Forest of Death. Apparently, they were poaching ghost-type Pokemon. She had no sympathy for them. Nawaki, her Leafeon, followed close behind. A few hours of torment would do them some good. At least until the police got them or their buddies rescued them.
As she navigated the dense forest, she kept her eyes peeled for anybody on her side. So far, she had come across two groups of police officers and a Pokemon Ranger with some trainers. They were coping rather well. In large enough groups, she did not have to worry about them. She was far more concentrated on finding any straggling trainers, especially the younger ones.
After several minutes of walking, she spotted a flickering orange light moving ahead and to the left of her. Intrigued, she shifted course to catch up with it. And when she did catch up, she found that the light was coming for a Chameleon's tail that was being followed by two kids, an Espeon, an Absol, and an Umbreon.
"Hello kids," she greeted, making the kids jump.
"L-Lady Tsunade," the pink-haired squeaked with a bow.
The black-haired boy just stared at her.
"Are you looking for the trail out of here?" Tsunade asked.
"No," the boy said, looking away. "We're looking for Naruto, Naruko and Hinata."
The gym leader grimaced slightly at the memory of the blonde brats. These had to be some of their little friends.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. It's better for you two to get out of here as soon as you can. This situation is way over your heads."
"But…" the girl gulped. "But Naruto and Naruko lost their Umbreon and Absol… And they're terrified of ghosts."
'They have a phobia of ghosts?' Tsunade blinked. 'And they came in here?'
When they had been traveling in the large, well-lit posse, the ghost-types had stayed away. And all the chaos from the ambush was also keeping them away. But if they got far enough to a quieter place… they would definitely approached by something.
"Okay," Tsunade sighed. "Let's go find your friends and then get you out of this stupid forest."
With the two younger trainers under her wing, they continued on, following Umbreon and Absol who were desperately sniffing around for their lost trainers. There was no conversation as they traveled. The children were terrified. She could feel it. Every sound, every unknown flash of light, had them flinching. Tsunade could not really blame them.
"So, what are your names?" she asked.
"I'm Sakura Haruno," the girl answered.
"Sasuke Uchiha," the boy replied with a grunt.
'An Uchiha… of course.'
The boy resembled most of the Uchiha she had met over the years. They all had serious, pale faces and black eyes. And the majority of them were uptight arrogant snobs. Very, very, very few of them were lax and friendly. The only ones that could match the Uchiha's size, influence, wealth, and attitude was the sprawling Hyuga family.
"What're your goals?"
"I just want to help my Sasuke," Sakura replied. "And win the Star Grand Festival, and maybe the Waves Conference."
The gym leader rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I just want to beat my brother's gym so that I can get my family's respect," Sasuke answered.
"I see… hmmm," Tsunade crossed her arms. 'So he's Itachi's brother and he hasn't heard that Itachi is a member of the Elite Four now. I let him figure it out by himself.'
Itachi Uchiha was an undeniable skilled trainer and was surely the pride of the Uchiha family. But he was a very hard person to understand. Tsunade had only met him a few times, and his red eyes and unsmiling face left a clear impression of him in her mind. His wife, Renko, on the other hand was the complete opposite. Always cheerful and acting immature. How Itachi fell for her is beyond her.
"How'd you two know those blonde twins?"
"We were in the same class," Sasuke muttered in reply.
"They are the class clowns and pranksters," Sakura sighed. "How they managed to get their licenses, I don't know."
"What about their parents?"
"It's just them and their mother, Ms. Kushina," Sasuke said.
"And their father?" Tsunade wondered.
"There wasn't one," Sasuke answered. "Just don't dis their mother behind her back or they will badly humiliate you in public."
"Like at the police station?" Tsunade ground her teeth.
"Worse…" the kids shivered.
That immediately stopped Tsunade from asking any more questions.
The three of them just followed the Umbreon and Absol as they followed their noses. The dark-type monsters kept sniffing around and sniffing around, sometimes losing the scent for several minutes before finding it again. Moreover, the scent trail that they followed just led them deeper into the pitch-black forest.
'Yeesh,' Tsunade sighed. 'Just how far did these brats run?'
Minato walked through the dense forest. He had lost sight of Akiko almost two hours ago when they were ambushed once again. However, by that time, Minato and his Pokemon had had it. It was a struggle, but Minato managed to knock the Grunts unconscious. After the battle, it was only Minato and Kyuubi, his Ninetales, since the Raichu ran for it and slumped against a tree and rested his legs with the golden fox doing the same.
He had his Ninetales try and convince a very friendly, wild Volbeat to way for them in exchange for some of the berries Minato had in his bag. And it took the deal.
'Where the heck did Akiko go?' Minato grumbled.
Minato and Kyuubi had been following the cheerful bug-type for over an hour when he heard and explosion in the distance. There was a battle going on. He reach into what remained of his tattered bag, and pulled out his berry pouch and handed it to the Volbeat before taking off in a sprint with the Ninetales behind him.
There, in a clearing up ahead, a cloud of smoke dissipating. He called out his Venusaur. When the dust settled enough, he could see four Sound Grunts and who they were battling. His jaw dropped and his face paled.
'What are they doing here,' he panicked as he picked up the pace.
Michael and Rose led a line of Team Sound grunts that were handcuffed to a chain through the dark forest. They had their Pokemon teams help with the guarding as they traveled down the trail. Michael took the rear while Rose took the front. Michael carried a bag filled with the grunts' Pokeballs.
The two trainers had stumbled upon the grunts while they were covering a large truck with a camouflaged mesh. After a REALLY brief and pointless battle, they found some chains and handcuffs in a supply box and used them to make chain gang. The truck was full of delicate computers and recorded files and data on something. Michael had his Feraligatr and Empoleon push the truck to a nearby clearing before setting it ablaze while Rose copied all the recording, data, files, and anything else into a memory chip to give to the police. Afterward, she had her Meganium destroy the computers.
"Hey, Michael!" she called the boy.
"What?!" he asked.
"I see some cops up ahead," she informed.
It was not long before they met up with a group of police officers that were escorting a group of stranded trainers back to the city.
"What do we have here?" a police officer said when he spotted the two trainers leading the chain gang of fifteen grunts.
"Some criminals that need to be booked," Michael informed.
"Lieutenant Uchiha," Rose ran to the lead cop.
"Yes?" the black-eyed cop wondered.
"This is some information I copied from their computers, so here." She handed the man the chip. "It has the reasons why they're out here and what they want."
"Thank you," Shiro Uchiha bowed politely as he shoved the tiny memory chip into his pocket. "I'll give it to Officer Jenny later."
"How many trainers are still in there?" the boy asked looking back down the trail.
"Five," a young cop replied. "Plus the Gym Leader and the League Champion."
"I wouldn't worry about it," the Uchiha muttered. "Tsunade knows the forest like the back of her hand. She'll lead them out."
"I sure hope so…"
Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata, more so the twins, struggled to keep their teeth from chattering as they, Cherry, Sunset, Duke, and the Raichu crept towards the moaning sounds.
'Maybe it's not a ghost… Maybe it's an injured person… We have to see… Right?' Naruto thought.
However, the closer they got, the more it sounded like it was a ghost. Or a lot of ghosts instead of a person. Then the trainers poked their heads through a wall of tall bushes to find a clearing where the light of a nicely full moon illuminated everything. And it was choked with a cloud of ghost-type Pokemon.
There were Shuppets, Duskulls, Misdreavus, and Gastlys. The floating Pokemon swirled and moaned around a lonely purple shape at the far side of the clearing. Naruto and Naruko started to shake and slowly edged backwards dragging Hinata with them, hoping to escape notice, but their efforts were in vain. Maybe it was the light produced by the Raichu's Flash, or perhaps ghost-types could really smell and taste fear, but one spotted them and the rest of the swarm turned and rushed at them.
Hinata, Naruko, and Naruto fell back and curled themselves into balls with their minds going blank because of fear.
The ghosts were trying to get them.
There were flashes of heat around them. And there were bursts of electricity that made their hair stand on end. And then there was an icy cold feeling before a smacking sounds. But they did not feel any pain… and the ghost-types never got them… and then it got very quiet.
Uncurling slowly, Naruko, Naruto, and Hinata peered around to find that all the ghost Pokemon had disappeared. Some nearby leaves were singed, there was a good-sized portion of the bush completely frozen over, and there were fresh lightning scars on three of the trees. Doke, Sunset, Cherry, and the Raichu were panting, holding defensive positions all around the trainers.
"Thanks," they muttered, embarrassed at their panic.
Wobbling to their feet, the trio dusted themselves off and glanced around. They did not see any ghosts. But that did not mean that they were really gone. Ghost-type Pokemon were tricky like that. They could hide in the shadows, and even inside solid objects, like boulders and trees, and then pop out without warning.
They stumbled into the clearing, where there would be less places for the ghosts Pokemon to hide. With how open the clearing was, it surely was a good place to wait and to be found. The Forest of Death was so dense that any clearing would be on a map.
Naruko and Hinata stayed closer to the edge while Naruto walked towards the center of it with the four Pokemon in tow.
"This clearing…"
Fallen, splintered trees and broken branches were scattered all over the clearing. It seemed like there was a very fierce battle there earlier and knocked down a good number of trees. There were some frozen patches of grass and some still warm burned logs.
"…Whoa…"
A sad moan made Naruto and Naruko jump, almost out of their skins, and turn around.
The purple shape that the ghost Pokemon had been focused on before was still there. It was a balloon. Or at least it looked like a balloon. When it spun around… he saw that it had a face.
"Huh?!" Naruto jumped back a bit. "A Pokemon?!"
"What the heck is that?" Naruko wondered as she and Hinata approached.
"Don't know," Naruto answered, reaching for his Pokedex to figure out what it was. "But it sure is funky."
"Uh-huh," Hinata agreed.
The Pokedex identified it as a Drifloon. It was stuck in a makeshift natural cage made of branches. It seemed that whatever battle happened there earlier had knocked a tree against another, causing its branches to intertwine, trapping the purple balloon as it tried to get away.
"Poor guy…" Naruto said as he walked towards the leaning tree. "Let me help you."
"Be careful Naruto," Naruko warned.
"I will, I will," Naruto grumbled as he started climbing. "Get the Pokemon to distract it with talking to it, while I free it."
"Alright," the blonde girl sigh, looking down at the four Pokemon. "You heard the man, get to it."
With the two Vulpix, the Riolu and the Raichu in full conversation with the Drifloon, Naruto got to work, while Naruko and Hinata watched. He had to use his knife to cut the thicker branches since the thinner ones snapped is easily. It's string-like arms had gotten tangled around some of the branches, so he had to untangle them.
Snapping one last branch, Naruto slid down and joined his companions.
"You did it Naruto," Hinata rushed and hugged him.
"Well, well, well… ain't this sweet."
Naruko reacted to the new voices by immediately unleashing Lady Luna, Lucky, Sherman, and Gloss.
:You see, you're fine,: Cherry snorted at the balloon Pokemon. :So stop panicking.:
:What happened here?: Sunset asked as she looked around.
:Some humans in purple and grey came by and had their Pokemon attack us,: the Drifloon cried. :They started catching many of my friends and I tried to escape.:
:You were trapped by the falling tree?: Duke said.
:Yeah, a large purple Pokemon with a big mouth and round ears knocked the tree down with an Uproar,: the balloon's voice was shaky.
:What were those ghost Pokemon doing?: the Raichu asked as it kept its eyes on Naruto's progress. :Because it sounded like they were laughing.:
:They were,: the Drifloon whimpered and sniffed as Naruto snapped off the last branch. :They were laughing at me for being stuck and unable to do anything!:
:Bullies!: Sunset and Duke said.
:You're free now,: the Raichu waved her little brown paws. :Look!:
"You did it Naruto."
"Well, well, well…" a dark voice chuckled. "Ain't this sweet."
Three others chuckled as well.
In a flash of white light, Sunset's four teammates appeared and they looked at four humans on the left side of the clearing. They were wearing purple pants and grey shirts, just like the balloon had mentioned. They also had some Pokemon out with them. There were four Whismurs, a Sandslash, a Golbat, a Skuntank, and a Zangoose.
"Who're you?" Naruto asked.
"None your business, brat," the lead man said. "Now hand over your Pokemon and anything of value, and there won't be any trouble."
"What if we say no?" Naruko said with her usual grin. "Because if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get."
:Stupid girl,: the Zangoose cackled. :She doesn't know what she's getting herself into.:
:Don't call Naruko, Stupid!: Gloss retorted.
:So the bitch has a name, big whoop,: the red and white Pokemon shrugged. :But at least I'm going to have fun with you since you're a female and all.:
:Go ahead and try, you fleabag,: the Glameow hissed. :You won't even make it past Luna.:
:Why you little…:
The Zangoose charged her, but was intercepted and knocked back by Lady Luna's Brick Break, causing a cloud of dust to pop up. The sudden cover gave Naruto and Hinata the chance to unleash their Pokemon. When the dust settle, a Metagross, a Lopunny, a Kirlia, a Gabite, a Chansey, a Pikachu, a Vibrava, and a Croagunk joined Naruko's Pokemon.
"All those Pokemon aren't going to save you," the man behind the lead one said.
"So you plan on resisting, huh?" the leader said again. "I guess this is where you brat die! Boomer, Hyper Voice! Spiker, Slash!"
"Hyper Voice!" the other three men commanded the other three Whismurs.
"Vampire, use Mean Look on that Drifloon, then use Air Cutter!"
"Stinker, Flamethrower on that Metagross!"
"Zingy, Ice Beam on the ground-types!"
:Here they come!: Torpedo said with anticipation.
"Dodge 'em!" the trio ordered.
The Pokemon did as told, but the saw blade-shaped projectiles of the Golbat's Air Cutter still managed to make contact with Cherry, cutting the Soothe Bell's ribbon off her. In midair, the bell it self got hit by another airy projectile, slicing it open.
:…My bell…: Cherry cried. :You'll pay for that!:
In a rage, the bright red Vulpix used Ember, knocking out two of the Whismurs. Soon the tiny flaming pieces became one long stream of fire, knocking out the other two.
"Cherry, you learned Flamethrower!" Naruto praised.
On one side of the clearing Gloss and the Zangoose were at a standoff. The white and red normal-type had managed to fend off Sahara, Torpedo and Sherman.
:Didn't I say that we were going to have some fun,: the Zingy grinned.
:Bring it, sicko!: Gloss glared.
They charged at each other, exchanging blow after blow. It was not long before the Zangoose got behind the Glameow and pinned her to the ground, as a grin appeared on his face. A look of pure terror was on the cat's face.
:Now kitty, the real fun beg—:
The Zangoose was cut off by being clotheslined with a Hammerarm from the Ursaring.
:Stay away from my teammate!: Lady Luna roared, then literally used Roar, causing the Zangoose to go back into its Pokeball.
The man released the Zangoose again.
Duke dodged and attack from the Golbat, only to be picked up by his neck by one of the bad guys.
"The boss will definitely give us a bonus if we bring him a rare Pokemon like you…"
:Let him go!: Han slammed the man's wrist with a powerful Iron Tail, making him release Duke.
"OW—" the man clutched his wrist. "Damn rat!"
Then he was hit in the stomach by Cherry's Headbutt, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.
Another bad human tried to grab the Riolu. Duke ducked and dived out of the man's reach. When its pursuer slipped and fell on his face, the Riolu took a look around. The man that had grabbed him a minute ago was on the floor holding his gut. Duke turned around and saw the man that chased him getting back to his feet with a hand on his face before chasing him again. The little blue canine ran towards the first ally it saw. And that was Naruko. The blonde girl saw man coming and kicked him in the groin, making him sing soprano like Jiraiya.
"Luna," Naruko called her Ursaring. "Put him in a bear hug and don't let go."
:Yes ma'am,: the big bear nodded and grabbed the man as he fell onto his knees and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"Sherman, pin the other guy on the floor with your body but don't crush him," Naruko ordered the Hippowdon.
:Okay.:
The large ground-type walked over the man that had grabbed Duke and gently lowered itself onto him.
As the Golbat flew in close to Bite the Lopunny, Heart timed it right and used Thunderpunch. However, it was not enough to beat it. It took a combination of Han's Thunderbolt, Sahara's Dragonbreath, and Kunoichi's Hidden Power to finally take the Golbat down.
It took another powerful combined assault to defeat the Skuntank. Reaper's Brick Break, Blue's Metal Claw, Gloss's Shadow Claw, and Torpedo's Take Down did the trick.
The Zangoose was defeated by a simple Double-slap from Mari.
"Damn brats!" the lead bad human growled. "Spiker! Use Slash on the boy!"
:Okay boss!: the Sandslash laughed as it ran in Naruto's direction.
Two things happened next. Firstly, as the spiky ground-type got closer to the blonde boy, an orange beam shot out from the forest and collided with it, sending it flying against a tree. The Sandslash fell to the ground unconscious with spiral on its eyes. Secondly, a blonde man ran out of the trees and punched the second man straight in the face. The bad man fell on his ass grabbing his bleeding nose, just to be wrapped in a Vine Whip and lifted of the ground. The Raichu ran towards the new person joyfully and climbed onto his shoulder as a Venusaur and a Ninetales came up behind him.
:Minato!: the Raichu squeaked as it rubbed its cheek against the man's. :I'm so glad to see you.:
"What the…" the last bad guy panicked as he returned the Sandslash to its Pokeball. "Where'd that Hyper Beam come from?"
"You should be more worried about what's going to happen to you and your buddies here," Minato panted as he walked towards the man
The man got desperate and grabbed Naruto, putting a knife to the boy's neck. Naruto's face paled.
"Back off or I'll slit his throat," the grunt ordered.
"Big brother/Naruto," Naruko and Hinata whispered in shock.
The girls' Pokemon glared at the man hold Naruto hostage. Naruto's Pokemon had their eyes trained on the knife.
In a blur, a tall red Pokemon appeared behind the criminal and slipped one of it pincers around the man's head. The grunt turned his head to look at it in the face. The Scizor's yellow eyes said it all.
"Let the boy go or lose your head."
The man dropped the knife to the grassy floor and released Naruto, which fell to his knees in fear. The red Pokemon lowered its arm and right as Minato rushed in to punch the man and the girls dragged Naruto away from the bad man, an Umbreon Tackled the Sound grunt in the gut and an Absol sweeped the man's feet off the floor. Soon the dark-types ran to the blonde kids. Minato picked up the knife a put it in his pocket.
Gym Leader Tsunade entered the clearing followed by Sasuke and Sakura.
"Well, Minato… What the hell happened here?"
Trainer & Pokemon Listing Time (Gym Leaders & Trainers)
Shinobi City
Kakashi: Feraligatr-Rapids, Granbull-Pakkun, Ditto-Morpheus, Cacturne-Needles, Lucario-Ninja, Arcanine-Hound
Yamato: Torterra-Oak, Blastoise-Cascade, Ludicolo-Pineapple
Storm City
Asuma: Infernape-Blazer, Pidgeot-Ace, Staraptor-Scout, Ambipom-Iris, Primeape-Wrath, Chatot-Robin
Mizuki: Altaria-Cloud. Crobat-Shuriken, Medicham-Momo, Skarmory-Sword
Oasis Town
Kurenai: Meganium-Lily, Lopunny-Cotton, Illumise-Lady, Jynx-Sheva, Leafeon-Annabel, Xatu-Karen
Karui: Wigglytuff-Tuffy, Chimecho-Belle, Salamence-Juliet, Raticate-Ann, Spinda-Junie, Steelix-Lucille
Hive City
Gen: Ariados-Itsy, Beedrill-Guard, Venomoth-Dusty, Dustox-Domino, Drapion-Wrecker
Fuu: Meganium-Rosie, Yanmega-Drone, Ninjask-Cutter, Shedinja-Sneak, Lapras-Aqua, Pinsir-Crusher, Castform-Weather
Desert City
Gaara: Linoone-Coon, Whiscash-Catfish, Flygon-Cloak, Sandslash-Speedy, Hippowdon-Dozer, Probopass-Gourd
Kankuro: Torterra-Stage, Gliscor-Puppet, Cradily-Leafy, Wormadam (TC)-Carnival
Temari: Meganium-Violet, Scizor-Scythe, Armaldo-Shredder, Wormadam (SC)-Sandy
Matsuri: Empoleon-Emperor, Linoone-Bandit, Quagsire-Marsh, Lavitar-Liana
Baki: Cacturne-Stealth, Swampert-Bog, Steelix-Destroyer, Aggron-Armor, Skarmory-Dagger, Claydol-Guardian
Icecap Town
Zabuza: Delibird-Assassin, Walrein-Shipwreck, Glalie-Tracker, Weavile-Grim, Mamoswine-Big, Glaceon-Freezer
Haku: Glaceon-Aurora, Cloyster-Pearl, Lopunny-Cottontail, Abomasnow-Yeti, Kingdra-Draco, Froslass-Yumiko
Onsen Town
Jiraiya: Swampert-Rover, Quagsire-Bayou, Poliwrath-Frog, Politoed-Toad, Toxicroak-Hermit, Crawdaunt-Crawfish (who doesn't love crawfish)
Green City
Tsunade: Sceptile-Leaf, Nidoqueen-Hime, Gastrodon (Pink)-Slug, Magcargo-Lava, Sudowoodo-Faker, Rhyperior-Defender, Blissey-Nurse, Leafeon-Nawaki
Shizune: Meganium-Wildflower, Spoink-Ton-Ton, Chansey-Valentine, Delcatty-Feline, Beautifly-June, Pidgeot-Wing
Finally done. It's barely early May, and we're already getting summer temperatures here in my hometown. And yes. The Hyper Beam was shot by the wild Scizor.
Please leave your reviews.