Thanks, guys, for your reviews! I appreciate them! In this chapter, you'll see something that is in the Pokemon Adventures manga. By the way, sorry for not updating sooner. I had school work to do… Enjoy this chapter!
Eevee Protection Program
"Hey, can anyone see in here?" asked/yelled Naruto once the trio was in the Granite Cave. Naruto kept slamming into the cave walls while Sasuke and Sakura stood in their places. Sakura took out Torchic's Pokeball and released him.
"Torchic, use Ember to light up the place," ordered Sakura. Once Torchic got the fire out, the cave became much brighter. Sasuke found a used piece of wood in the cave and used it as a torch.
"Thanks Sakura-chan!" said Naruto. Suddenly, Torchic's head perked up and it rushed deeper into the cave.
"Torchic, wait! Where're you going?" shouted Sakura, running after her Torchic.
"Sakura, don't be reckless," said Sasuke, and ran after his teammate. Naruto followed soon afterwards. Torchic ran ahead and the trio chased him. When Torchic stopped, Sakura could clearly see what he discovered. A wounded Eevee was lying on the cavern ground, breathing heavily.
"Oh no. Poor Eevee. What happened to it?" Sakura asked herself and she gently lifted the Evolution Pokemon. Sakura examined its wounds, and tried to help it as much as she could with her medical kit.
While she was looking Eevee over, she noticed something around its neck. She immediately recognized it as an everstone: a stone that kept a Pokemon from evolving. There was something else on the string around its neck. Sakura let out an audible gasp. Team Sound's emblem was around Eevee's neck as well.
"This Eevee belongs to Team Sound? What have they done to it?" Sakura thought. Naruto and Sasuke finally caught up with the pinkette and were both surprised at the wounded Eevee. Naruto, not knowing much about the Eevee, took out his Pokedex to analyze it.
Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Eevee has an unstable genetic makeup that suddenly mutates due to the environment in which it lives. Radiation from various stones causes this Pokémon to evolve.
"Wow, that's so cool! But what's Team Sound doing with that Eevee?" asked Naruto when he noticed the emblem around Eevee's neck.
"I don't know. But I do know it's not pretty," answered Sakura. Then, turning to the boys, she declared, "I'll take Eevee back to town, to the Pokemon Center. You two have enough light, right?" The two boys nodded. "Good. Sorry I can't help with your training guys. So, I'll see you back in town?"
"Sure, Sakura-chan!" answered Naruto.
"Just don't get yourself hurt," said a concerned Sasuke with a slight blush on his face. Sakura smiled and released her Skitty.
"I can take care of myself, Sasuke-kun. I'm not weak. See you later guys!" shouted Sakura and she carried Eevee and ran out with her own Pokemon.
"So, teme, ready to train?" asked a competitive Naruto as he took out his Pokeballs.
Sasuke released his own Pokemon and responded, "Hn, I was born ready." The two boys started to search for wild Pokemon to defeat. Sasuke and Naruto went separate ways. Sasuke had his torch, and Naruto had Vulpix to light the way.
Sakura had to fend off the wild Pokemon to get out of the cave. Once she was outside, she started running towards the Pokemon Center as fast as she could. Nurse Shizune cured Eevee in a jiffy, and returned it to Sakura.
"Did you wound your Eevee in battle? It was hurt pretty badly," said Nurse Shizune when she returned Eevee to Sakura.
"Um, it's not my Eevee. It was in the Granite Cave. My guess is that its trainer abandoned it," answered Sakura. She lifted Eevee and carried it in her arms.
"Oh, I see. Well, I hope it finds its trainer soon," said Nurse Shizune.
"I hope Eevee's trainer won't show up," Sakura thought as she walked to a room she rented in the center. There, she set Eevee on her bed and stroked its fur.
Eevee let out a small "vee" when Sakura petted it. Eevee's eyes showed fear at first, but it quickly got used to Sakura. She stayed with Eevee for the rest of the day, and kept thinking about Team Sound, and what Eevee had to do with them.
Later, Sakura took a nap, with Eevee by her side. Time passed quickly, and soon, the sun was setting, and night was spreading its darkness over the sky. The door to Sakura's room slammed open, and in came her teammates.
The pinkette jerked up and sleepily greeted her teammates. Eevee licked Sakura's face a couple of times to wake her up completely. When Sakura's eyes were wide open, she lifted Eevee and set it on her lap.
"So guys, how'd the training go?" asked Sakura as she petted Eevee.
Naruto grinned and Sasuke smiled slightly. As if on cue, two "new" Pokemon walked through the door. Sakura's eyes widened, and smiled.
"So how do you two feel about evolving them?" asked Sakura when she saw the newly evolved Grovyle and Marshtomp.
"It feels great, Sakura-chan!" answered Naruto. Sasuke just "hn"-ed in reply. Sakura was amazed by the newly evolved Pokemon. She stared at them for a while, but went back to petting Eevee.
"Both of them are training so hard. I'll have to do the same if I want to keep up with them!" Sakura encouraged herself. Naruto and Sasuke both noticed the look on Sakura's face. It showed determination, but sadness as well.
"Sakura, don't misunderstand us," said Sasuke.
Naruto followed, "Yeah, Sakura-chan. We're not rubbing this in your face."
"No, no, guys. I'm not thinking along those lines. It's just that, I feel like I need a lot more training to catch up to you guys," said Sakura.
"Sakura, you're a coordinator. You should focus on your appeals and fights. You have more responsibilities as a coordinator than us," commented Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun…" thought Sakura and she stared at Sasuke for quite a while.
Naruto broke the silence by saying, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to sleep. G'night." Naruto jumped on his bed and immediately started snoring. Sakura and Sasuke anime sweatdropped when the blond fell asleep immediately.
"Sasuke-kun, maybe you should go to sleep too," said Sakura. Sasuke didn't say anything. Instead, he walked towards Sakura, and sat down on her bed next to her.
"I'm not sleeping yet if you aren't," replied Sasuke. Sakura blushed beet red, while Eevee gave a confused look when Sakura stopped stroking it.
"I don't need to sleep yet Sasuke-kun. I just woke up," said Sakura as she continued to pet Eevee. Sasuke then gently pushed Sakura on the bed, along with Eevee in her arms. Then, he covered them both up with a blanket. Eevee popped its face out from under the blanket and let out a confused, "Vee?"
Sakura, even though she just slept, closed her eyes, just to get Sasuke to sleep. A few minutes later, she got a little bit drowsy, and soon fell asleep. Sasuke, who was sitting on his own bed, watching her the whole time, laid down and slept for a while.
Later, at about midnight, Grovyle and Marshtomp woke up their trainers, like they were asked to. Then, the two boys headed out again, to Granite Cave, trying not to wake Sakura. Once they were in the cave, they released their remaining Pokemon and started to train together once again.
Meanwhile, with Sakura, Eevee slowly opened its eyes. Seeing that no one was in the room except Sakura and itself, Eevee nudged Sakura's head. Grumbling, Sakura woke up. When she was slightly awake, she didn't see anyone in the room. Then, she suddenly jerked up and looked around the room frantically.
"Where did those two go??" thought Sakura. She picked up Eevee and ran out of the room. Once she was outside the Pokemon Center, she searched the small island frantically.
"Search the Granite Cave!"suggested Inner Sakura. The real Sakura was already running towards the cave. She peeked into the opening, and saw attacks flying everywhere: Water Gun to Bullet Seed, Flamethrower to Fury Swipes, and Swift to Ember. Once she peeked in, she saw Sasuke and Naruto on different ledges attacking the Pokemon they saw.
"Wow… Those two sure are determined. Compared to them, I'm nothing," thought Sakura. Eevee, sensing Sakura's thoughts, licked her face to cheer her up a bit.
"Thanks Eevee. Come on, let's go back. I should leave them alone," said Sakura, as she walked back to the Pokemon Center. Little did she know that a certain Uchiha in the cave was watching her leave.
After Sakura was out of the boys' sight, Naruto blurted, "Hey, teme, wasn't that Sakura-chan?"
"Hn, how should I know, dobe?" Sasuke then ignored Naruto's shouts. Moments later, Sasuke's Sneasel and Grovyle sensed something. So did Naruto's Pokemon. All the Pokemon stopped their attacks.
Footsteps were heard, and a person was coming towards the boys. Sasuke and Naruto got ready to attack if the person was an enemy, but there was no need for that.
"Oh, I see there are trainers here," said the man. He had long, white, spiky hair, and looked older than Naruto's dad, but younger than Sarutobi.
"Who are you?" asked Sasuke.
"I'm not here to fight you. I was just running a small errand. The name's Jiraiya," he replied.
Sakura pretended to be asleep that night. She immediately noticed it when her teammates came back. Naruto came in and immediately plopped down on his bed and slept. Sasuke quietly shut the door and came in. Before he went to sleep, he stroked Sakura's hair for a while, and mumbled something. Only then did he go to sleep. Sakura, meanwhile, was blushing, hard.
The next morning, once they all got out of bed, Naruto announced, "Alright! Sasuke-teme, ready to go to the gym?" Sasuke "hn"-ed in reply.
"Geez, teme, you never can be happy, can you?" asked Naruto.
"Let's just go, Naruto. You want to get to another town fast, don't you?" asked Sakura.
"Yeah, Sakura-chan! I get'cha. Let's go!" shouted Naruto. The trio walked out the Pokemon Center, with Naruto in the lead.
They hadn't walked far, when they spotted someone searching for something. Naruto ran up to that person and asked, "Hey, you looking for something?"
The girl turned around. Sasuke and Sakura immediately tensed, and felt like running away. Naruto, who didn't know a thing, stood in place.
"Yes, I'm looking for my Pokemon. I think it ran away," replied Karin. (AN: Yes, it's KARIN!) She set her sights on Sasuke and immediately ran towards him, pushing poor Naruto to the ground.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun! Long time no see!" squealed the red head. Sakura twitched and went in front of Sasuke, acting as a barrier between him and Karin.
"What's up with you, billboard brow?" asked Karin mockingly. Then, her eyes traveled to the Eevee in Sakura's arms. It was trembling a lot. Sakura noticed it right away, and hugged Eevee tighter.
"There you are, Eevee," said Karin in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Come here." Eevee just burrowed its face into Sakura's chest in response. Karin twitched and grabbed Eevee by its tail.
"Hey, leave Eevee alone!" protected Sakura, slapping Karin's hand away and smoothing out Eevee's tail.
"And who made you Eevee's trainer, Pinky?" mocked Karin.
"You're the idiot red head who left Eevee in the state she is," snapped Sakura.
"Humph, that little critter's useful sometimes, but not all the time." Then, Karin grinned maliciously. "Let me show you exactly what I mean." The red head then pulled out a small pack from her bag. She fished out a stone from that package.
"It's a water stone. What's she up to?" thought Sasuke. He didn't like what Karin was going to do.
"Now, Eevee, booster!" Karin pointed the water stone towards Eevee, and suddenly it began to glow. A few seconds later, it changed into a Vaporeon, and glared at Sakura. Vaporeon used its tail to slap Sakura in the face, and once Sakura let go of it, Vaporeon let out a strong Water Gun attack at Sakura.
"Ha ha ha ha! Now do you see? This Eevee was designed to react to certain stones. Using nano-technology, we have made Eevee ours," explained Karin. Then, Vaporeon suddenly reverted back to Eevee. Eevee, realizing what it had done, rushed to Sakura's side in concern.
"What the heck was that all about?!" shouted Naruto, who was really pissed.
"This Eevee will react to these stones." Karin held up the pack of stones. "And once I don't need it in its evolved form anymore, I can make it change back to the useless Eevee it is. This water stone will make Eevee change into a Vaporeon. The fire stone will make it change into a Flareon. The leaf stone will change it into a Leafeon. This thunder stone will change Eevee into a Jolteon."
Karin pulled out a sun stone and a moon stone and continued, "We've modified this sun stone to make Eevee change into an Espeon, and also modified this moon stone to change Eevee into an Umbreon. And finally, this special stone, a piece of rock taken from the Ice Rock in Route 217 of the Sinnoh Region, can get Eevee to evolve into a Glaceon."
"You…. How could your 'organization' do something like this?!" shouted Naruto, suddenly getting very angry.
"Hmph, you naïve boy. You just don't get it. Pokemon are weapons. We use them to for our own benefits. Why else would they exist in this world?" rambled Karin.
"You're the naïve one!" retaliated Naruto. "You go on about Pokemon being weapons, but you're the one who's not opening your eyes! Pokemon are our companions, not weapons!"
"Hah! You can't deny that Pokemon are made to be used, little baka," retorted Karin.
"Why you…" growled Naruto. Suddenly, Sakura's arm stopped Naruto from pouncing on Karin. "Sakura-chan?" asked the blond boy.
"Leave this red head to me, Naruto," offered Sakura. "I'll show her what Pokemon can really do."
"Please, pinky. As if you can defeat me. You look so weak, I bet all you do is cry," insulted Karin. Sakura grew angrier by the minute, and took out one of her Pokeballs.
"Let's settle this right here, right now," said Sakura, trembling with anger. "If you lose, you will release Eevee, and let her do as she wishes."
"And if you lose, pinky, all the Pokemon you own will belong to me. Deal?" asked Karin.
Sakura thought deeply for a while and clenched her Pokeball tightly. Then, she raised her head and replied, "Deal." In her head, Sakura was chanting, "Please don't let me down guys. I can't bear to lose you two. But I can't let Eevee be tortured any more either. I believe in you guys, please work with me!"
"So we can only use two Pokemon each, ok?" said Karin. Then, she released her first Pokemon. "Go, Linoone!" A raccoon-like Pokemon came out of Karin's Pokeball. Sakura took our her Pokedex to analyze the Linoone first.
Linoone, the Rushing Pokemon. Linoone always runs full speed and only in straight lines. If facing an obstacle, it makes a right-angle turn to evade it. This Pokémon is very challenged by gently curving roads.
"Alright, Skitty, take the stage!" yelled Sakura. The cat-like Pokemon came out of the Pokemon with grace and landed lightly, making a grand entrance.
"So you're a coordinator, huh? That's funny. 'Cuz the last time I checked, you trash couldn't even beat a rookie trainer!" taunted Karin.
That pissed Sakura off real bad. "You leave us coordinators out of this! My best friend's a coordinator, and I bet she can kick your sorry butt anytime, like what I'm about to do right now!" yelled the enraged pinkette.
"Whatever, pinky. Linoone, use dig!" Linoone dug a hole in the ground and disappeared in it, and attacked Skitty from below.
The kitten Pokemon rebounded in the air, and spun downwards with an Iron Tail attack without Sakura's commands. It hit Linoone right on the head. Both Pokemon slid backwards, and prepared to attack again.
"Linoone, use Odor Sleuth, and Headbutt!" Linoone charged towards Skitty after using its Odor Sleuth attack.
"Skitty, jump now!" Skitty jumped high in the air, causing Linoone to miss. "Now use bite attack!" The pink Pokemon bit Linoone's back, causing it to yelp in pain.
Skitty hung on tight, even with Linoone's thrashing. A while later, Skitty let go, leaving the Linoone panting. "Now Skitty, finish it! Assist!" Skitty then unleashed a powerful Ember attack at Linoone, burning it for a while, then causing it to faint.
"Linoone isn't able to battle anymore, so Skitty wins!" cheered Naruto.
"It's not over yet pinky. Come on out, Glalie!" A large Pokemon, which was only a face, appeared. Sakura used her Pokedex to analyze the Glalie as well.
Glalie, the Face Pokemon. Glalie has a body made of rock, which it hardens with an armor of ice. This Pokémon has the ability to freeze moisture in the atmosphere into any shape it desires.
"Yikes. I'd better be careful of this one," thought Sakura as she prepared to give Skitty its command. "Skitty use Doubleslap!" The Kitten Pokemon ran towards Glalie, but before it could attack, Glalie used Ice Beam.
Skitty flew back from the impact, but rebounded. "Glalie, use hail!" ordered Karin. Suddenly, it started to hail. Skitty was hurt by the hail, and was trying to resist the impact of the hail.
"Skitty, sing!" Skitty then started to sing, but unfortunately, Glalie managed to not hear Skitty's song.
"Glalie, finish it off! Aurora Beam!" Glalie fired its attack towards Skitty, and the kitten Pokemon immediately got knocked out. Sakura recalled Skitty to its Pokeball and praised it for doing a good job before taking out Torchic.
"Torchic, please win this one for me," prayed Sakura. Then, she shouted, "Go Torchic, on stage!" Once Torchic appeared, Sakura continued to give her command, "Use Ember!"
"Glalie, dodge it!" The fire just barely touched Glalie. Now it was gearing up to use an Ice Beam attack. Then, it fired.
Torchic quickly didged the beam. "Use Double Team!" commanded Sakura. Torchic quickly created replicas of himself, and rand around to confuse Glalie. "Now use Ember again!" All of the Torchics fired at Glalie, and the fire finally hit it. Unfortunately, Glalie wasn't badly burned.
Karin shouted, "Glalie, use Ice Ball!" Glalie then hit Torchic with its Ice Ball attack. Before Torchic could get up, Glalie shot an Aurura Beam at him.
"It's over. I win," said Karin, smirking.
Sakura's face fell. She was worried about both Torchic and Eevee. Eevee was going to have to go with this girl again, and her Pokemon were also going to have to follow. She cast a look at the place where Torchic was, which was enveloped in smoke. She held back her tears and shouted, "Torchic! Torchic, please get up! I'm counting on you! Please!" Tears were now streaming down Sakura's face.
"Sakura-chan," whispered Naruto.
"Sakura. Why did you have to accept the challenge for one Eevee?" thought Sasuke, starting to feel sorry for Sakura.
Suddenly, a flash of white appeared amongst the smoke. The obscuring smoke then cleared to show a glowing Torchic. It started to grow while glowing. When it stopped growing, the glowing white also left, and now, instead of a Torchic, was a newly evolved combusken.
Sakura looked at Combusken through her tear stained eyes. She wiped her tears away and smiled.
"Sakura-chan's Torchic…" Naruto started to say.
"Evolved," finished Sasuke. He used his Pokedex to analyze Combusken.
Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokemon. Combusken toughens up its legs and thighs by running through fields and mountains. This Pokémon's legs possess both speed and power, enabling it to dole out ten kicks in one second.
"Impossible! Your Torchic's supposed to be knocked out! Why?!" cried a very angry Karin.
"Sakura-chan's feelings coincided with Torchic's. A trainer and her Pokemon are one for now. Sakura-chan's determination of protecting Eevee added to that bond. Now this is what I call the Will of Fire!" shouted Naruto.
"Hn, even this idiot knows what bonds mean. Sakura, keep on fighting," encouraged Sasuke. In his mind, Sasuke was thinking, "Who knew that dobe could explain something like this?"
"Grr, glalie, use Ice Beam!" yelled Karin. Glalie fired another Ice Beam, but Combusken, using his strong, new legs, jumped high in the air.
"Go for it, Combusken! Double Kick!" As Combusken came back down, he prepared to do a double kick attack to Glalie. Combusken's accuracy was right on the mark, and it hurt Glalie badly.
"Alright, now use Flamethrower before it fights back!" Combusken let out a much stronger fire attack towards Glalie, burning it pretty badly.
"Intensify it, Combusken!" ordered Sakura, and Combusken let out a larger stream of fire. Then, he stopped, and gave Glalie another dose of its Double Kick, making it fly backwards and smash into a tree.
"Glalie, come on, get up you worthless Pokemon!" ordered Karin. Unfortunately for her, Glalie was already knocked out.
"Sakura-chan wins! Dattebayo!" shouted Naruto, jumping up and down.
"Eevee, you're free now," said a very cheerful Sakura. The pinkette walked over to Karin and picked up the bag of stones she dropped. Sakura threw the bag away.
"Sakura, are you gonna leave Eevee like this?" asked Sasuke.
"Yeah, Eevee can do whatever she wants now," replied Sakura. "Let's go guys. Combusken, return." Sakura returned her newly evolved Combusken to its Pokeball, and was about to walk away, when she felt a slight pawing at her foot.
The pinkette turned around and looked down. Eevee was there, with the bag of stones in its mouth, and was pawing at Sakura's legs.
"Eevee, do you … want to join me?" asked Sakura. Eevee nodded enthusiastically, and handed Sakura the bag of stones.
"It seems like if Eevee loves a trainer, and wants him to use the stones, it will not only boost Eevee's power, but will also not hurt her," explained Sasuke. "Sakura, I think you'd better take Eevee with you. It seems very attached to you."
"Eevee, are you sure?" asked Sakura. Eevee nodded her head again. Sakura smiled and took out a Pokeball. "Alright then. Pokeball, go!" The Pokeball captured Eevee, and moved around for a second, then it stopped. Sakura picked up the Pokeball and called out Eevee again. The Evolution Pokemon was smiling her head off. She jumped into Sakura's arms and snuggled into her neck.
The pinkette turned to Karin, who was yelling insults at Glalie. Sakura walked towards her and punched her in the face. Karin went flying into another tree.
"What the…?! Who do you think you…" Karin was then interrupted by Sakura.
"No wonder Eevee doesn't like you. You yell at your Pokemon too much, and it seems like you only have eyes on winning. Let me tell you this. Pokemon aren't machines for battle. They have feelings too. So you'd better start treating your Pokemon better," said Sakura.
Karin returned Glalie to its Pokeball, swore under her breath, and walked away.
"Sakura-chan! That was a great battle! Your Combusken rocks! Dattebayo!" congratulated Naruto.
Sakura smiled and replied, "Thanks, Naruto." She giggled a bit and continued, "Now, I have Eevee, and a newly evolved Combusken. I'm so happy!"
Sakura, then, absentmindedly ran towards the two boys and hugged them both. Sasuke blushed a bit, and returned her hug, while Naruto was grinning and blushing.
Sakura let go of them a while later and smiled again. "Well, come on guys, let's go! You wanna get to the gym, right?" Sakura returned Eevee and Combusken to their Pokeballs and started running with Naruto and Sasuke to watch their newest gym battle.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review! The target is now 8 reviews for this chapter! Review, review, review! Thank you!