Disclaimer
Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.
The image I am using was made by BlissfulGold on , and I am using it with their permission. Please check out their DeviantART page sometime.
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Author's Note
I had abandoned this fic, largely because of this chapter. I hated it. I hated writing it, and how it got needless complicated. The only reason I even eventually finished it was because my Beta-reader begged me to. The reason, I think, this chapter was so horrific to write was because I was trying to tie my own storytelling of my setting into that of the Naruto setting. I've been trying to stay true to both the Naruto Universe, and the one I've created. But this chapter has shown me I can't do that; and so, I won't. I'm not going to try and follow the Naruto cannon storyline in my own fic, beyond simple nods to it. I'll be following my own storyline now. As such, a major part of that will be adding more characters from the Pokémon series, and doing things that go strongly against the Naruto cannon. In fact, in this chapter, there will be two characters from the Pokémon games added. Also, from now on, if I include a character from the games, I might choose to use their Japanese names if I find it more fitting; if so, I'll leave a (*) mark on the name, with a note at the end of the chapter saying so.
On a side note, this chapter was originally twice as long; my beta reader convinced me to cut it roughly in half, so they could edit it in smaller chunks. Considering it was around 100 pages, doubles-spaced, that might also be part of the reason I hated writing it so much.
However, with all that said, I feel much better now that this arc will be coming to a close, and I think I'll be releasing more chapters faster from now on.
As for the new Pokémon generation, shoot, I think that's the second generation released before the end of this stupid arc of mine. Haha, man, I need to get in gear here. I got Sun the day they came out, and have beaten the game already; I loved it, and look forward to folding parts of it into my fic. For simplicity's sake, Pokémon from Gen 6 and 7 will both be from the Amegakure region.
Review Response
cherryblossom321: Well, happy birthday, friend, and consider this speedy update a gift from me, if you like. Thank you for staying loyal to my fic.
hinataellis: Keep reading to see how she's doing.
Shinigami Miroku: Oh, I have some misused homophones in my last chapter? Well, if remember any of them, please tell me; I'm trying to improve my editing abilities. After all, I am going into a teaching profession. Characterization is very important to me, so I'm glad when people say I do a good job with it.
Emmerlaus: I am glad you pushed me hard to finish it, too, dear Beta Reader. Rock Lee was a fun character to write, and I plan for him to reappear...not too soon, though. And I figured Sasuke was fairly tsundere, especially in earlier chapters, when, ironically, he had a more interesting character. It's unfortunate that a lot of his personality was forgotten or flipped as the story went on.
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The Hero's Pokemon thus far:
Sasuke Uchiha's
1. Bayushi, a male Eevee with a rare snowy white coat.
2. Togashi, a male Charmeleon
3. Akodo, a male Shinx
Naruto Uzamaki's
1. Kata, a male Riolu
2. Puck, a male Furret
3. Jet, a male Buizel
Sakura Haruno's
1. Waterlily, a female Marill
2. Jane, a female Mankey
3. Owlowiscious, a male Hoothoot
4. Hiccup, a male Goomy
Hinata Hyuga's
1. Rhapsody, a male Totodile
2. Waltz, a male Butterfree
3. Aria, a female Buneary
-0o0o0-
Pokémon Konoha
Chapter 16
Part 7
Kurama bounded across the snow, the stolen Pokéball clutched in his mouth as he raced between buildings and alleyways. However, the Golbat was getting closer and closer; it's movement was not hampered by the snow-covered ground.
Kurama rounded another corner, only to find a courtyard as deserted as the rest of the town. Where was everyone?! There was no time to think of what to do next, as the Golbat suddenly swooped down and stuck him hard with its wing. Kurama tumbled backwards, dropping the Pokéball, and rolled to his feet, gathering energy for another Dark Pulse-
SLASH!
A buzzing blur appeared out of nowhere, slashing Kurama across the chest; before the Zorua could recover, the Golbat hit him with an Air Cutter, blasting him into a snow bank, out cold.
"Finally, we got him!" Dosu rounded the corner, followed by Zaku. Octave, the Pokémon that had slashed Kurama, carefully picked up the stolen Pokéball in his scythes and handed it to his trainer. "Thank you, Octave."
Zaku knelt down and dug the unconscious Kurama out of the snow. "Looks like we'll be keeping this guy after all," he said. "Darn, we don't have a cage."
"It'd have been a hassle to lug one down here and back to the hotel anyway," Dosu pointed out. "He won't be unconscious long, so just have Beatbox Fly you back-"
KABOOM!
A volley of sky-blue orbs blasted Zaku in the chest, throwing him to the ground. Kurama was knocked out of his grasp and to the floor.
Dosu whipped around just to see a familiar white Eevee charge into Octave's chest in a Takedown attack. Two figures were standing nearby. "The twerps-!"
"Enough talk!" Sasuke shouted, calling out Togashi and Akodo. Next to him, Sakura released Jane and Owlowiscious. "Attack!"
Togashi was first, loosing a Flamethrower directly at Octave that laid him out cold in one hit. Beatbox dove angrily at Bayushi, but Waterlily hit him with Bubble Beam, distracting him long enough for Akodo to rush in and hit with Thunder Fang. The Golbat was down for the count. Meanwhile, Jane scrambled to pick up Kurama and jumped back to her trainer's side. By the time Zaku had struggled onto his hands and knees, he was greeted by the sight of his and Dosu's teams knocked out. "Uh-oh."
"Hands in the air!" Sasuke ordered. Next to him, Togashi growled, wisps of flame escaping his mouth.
"Heh, yeah right!" Dosu said, tossing the Pokéball he held at them.
Even as the ball flashed open, Sasuke shouted to attack. A Flamethrower, a Bubble Beam, and a Hidden Power attack all struck the new Pokémon as it materialized. However, even as this hurt the big, purple beast, it seemed more angered than fazed.
"Baritone, use Hyper Voice!" Dosu ordered, referring to his Exploud.
The Exploud screamed, sonic force firing out of its mouth. It hit Sasuke and Togashi both, lifting them off their feet and blasting them backwards. They crashed into a wall, then slumped to the ground limply.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried.
"Get her too!" Dosu shouted, pointing.
Sasuke's remaining Pokémon had other ideas, however. Screaming vengeance, Akodo and Bayushi both leapt to action, attacking with Thunder Fang and Hidden Power. The two managed to actually push the powerful Exploud back before it blasted them both with another Hyper Voice. This time, the attack was rushed and not as powerful; Akodo and Bayushi both struggled defiantly to their feet, wincing and breathing hard.
"Now Stomp them flat!" Dosu commanded.
"That's what you think!" Sakura shouted as her Hoothoot jumped in front of Baritone, eyes aglow. "Confuse Ray, Owlowiscious!"
There was a flash, and the Sound thugs and their Pokémon were caught in the hallucinations; Zaku seemed to be trapped in an invisible box, Dosu was covering his ears and cradling his head, whilst Baritone started smashing his face into a wall.
"Come on, they won't stay confused for long!" Sakura said, running to Sasuke's side. He was still not stirring. "Oh please wake up!" Sakura begged, pulling out Akodo and Togashi's Pokeballs and recalling them (Jane slung Bayushi over her shoulder, with Kurama over the other). However, Sasuke remained unconscious.
Sighing, Sakura grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it into the boy's face; that got him sputtering awake.
"What-what?!" Sasuke gasped, rubbing the back of his head. He was still only half-awake. "Uhhhh, everything hurts! What's going on?"
"Not now," Sakura ordered, putting one of his arms over her shoulder and hoisting the boy up. Supporting his weight, Sakura started down the nearest alleyway, her team following. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!"
-0o0o0-
Meanwhile, back at the Contest Hall...
-0o0o0-
"Sasuke's taking an awful long time back there," Naruto said, craning his head to try and sneak a look toward the backstage door. "I'm going to go check on him." He got up, carrying the egg case with him.
Kiba shrugged. "Suit yourself, but Hinata and Sakura are supposed to be up soon, so you'd better hurry.
Naruto made his way to the backstage, just as a match onstage ended; it'd be only a few minutes until Hinata and Sakura were up. He spotted Hinata, and made his way to her.
"Oh, h-hello Naruto," Hinata said, her voice full of her old stutter.
"You sound nervous," Naruto said bluntly, "is it the upcoming match?"
"A little," Hinata admitted. "But a-also, I can't find Sakura!"
"Eh?!
"Sasuke wanted to talk to her, and they both went out to the courtyard, I think," Hinata explained. "But that was over 15 minutes ago, and they never came back. Sakura even missed Ino's first battle, and she really wanted to see that."
"Did you check the courtyard for them?" Naruto asked.
Hinata nodded. "Yes, and I told one of the staff, too, but they can't seem to find her or Sasuke either!"
"This can't be good," Naruto said. "I'll go tell my mom and-"
Inside the case he was carrying, the egg wiggled; once...twice...three times! It kept on wiggling, and suddenly, a cracking noise came from it!
"I-It's hatching!" Naruto squeaked, his voice much higher than Hinata's all-of-a-sudden. Then a thought popped into his head. "Wait, we've gotta find Sakura! This is her egg; she's kill me if it hatches without her!"
"I think it's too late for that," a voice said from behind him; it was Kushina, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "Come on, let's get to another room quickly."
She shoved Naruto into a nearby dressing room, with Hinata meekly following behind, and slamming the door in face of the crowd that had been gathering as soon as they noticed the hatching egg.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
However, Hinata redirected his attention. "You better get it out of that case, now!" she said.
"Right!" Naruto fiddled with the case's lid, which seemed suddenly harder to open than a bank vault; Hinata had to help him. They finally opened it and got the egg out, which was now wiggling so much that Naruto nearly dropped it as he set it down on the dressing room table. The egg started to crack and shine, the light growing until it was blinding. And with that, it hatched!
As the light faded, Naruto took in a breath, not sure when he stopped breathing. However, as soon as he saw the Pokémon on the table, he let out a gargled sound of joy. "It's a Froakie!"
"Fffffr," the baby Pokémon gurgled, shivering slightly. He was a small blue-white frog-like Pokémon with a mane of white bubbles around his neck and back. He opened its large yellow eyes, first seeing Naruto's smiling face; it smiled back at him. "Froakie!"
"Another Pokémon from my homeland," Kushina mused quietly.
Naruto's brain started working again. "Hey, what are you doing here anyway?!" he demanded.
This startled the Froakie, who stumbled backwards.
"Oh, sorry about that, little guy," Naruto said sheepishly, helping him back to his feet.
Kushina helped sooth the baby as she explained herself. "I noticed you headed back here, and I wanted to find out what you were up to, so of course I followed, only to find out your egg was hatching!"
"Yeah, but that's not the problem!" Naruto said, letting the Froakie chew harmlessly on his finger, "It's Sakura! She and Sasuke have just vanished!"
"Sakura's missing? And Sasuke too?" Kushina asked. "Hmm, try calling Sakura's Pokénav."
Naruto did; no one answered, and Hinata reminded them that the Coordinators had been told before the show started to turn their phones and navs off.
"And odds are, she hasn't turned it back on," Kushina concluded.
"Should we start looking for them?" Naruto asked.
Kushina thought about it for a moment. "One person suddenly vanishing is one thing, but if Sakura and Sasuke are together, they're less likely to be in trouble. Still, I'll tell security to look for them, just in-case, though I'm sure everything's fine." She tried to smile reassuring at the children.
Hinata nodded, and thought of something else. "But what about Sakura's upcoming match with me? Do we put that on hold?"
Kushina shook her head. "I'm afraid we can't do that; if a Coordinator fails to show up on time, they're disqualified. We've already delayed the match for about five minutes already."
"B-But she worked so hard!" Hinata protested.
"I know, but that's the rules," Kushina said.
From the table, the Froakie, bored and restless, tried leaping away; Kushina caught him and put him back. "Something tells me you're going to be a handful."
As she got the baby Pokémon to behave, Naruto got up and started for the door. "Mom, I'm going to go look for Sakura and Sasuke!"
"Hey, hold it! Don't just do something because you feel like you need to take action!" Kushina ordered. She glanced at Hinata. "Uh, dear, could you go tell a stagehand to tell the judges I'm going to need a few minutes? I'll need to explain the situation to the security."
Hinata nodded and quickly left the room, getting the impression that Kushina really wanted to speak to her son privately.
"Okay Naruto, here me out," Kushina said. "I think I know what's going on with Sakura and Sasuke disappearing; I think Sakura's not appearing to let Hinata win."
"Eh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Think about it. Sakura knows how important this contest is for Hinata; how her father and family are watching. It must mean the world to Hinata that she do a good job," Kushina explained. "Personally, I don't think Sakura's got the heart to try and beat her."
"Maybe," Naruto said slowly, "but, then why is Sasuke also missing?"
Kushina chuckled a little. "Well, if Sakura was feeling down about having to face Hinata next, I think she'd have asked a friend what to do; in this case, it was Sasuke, who, of course, would say she should let Hinata win."
At this, Naruto balked. "No way, Mom! Sasuke'd never let me win at anything, no matter how important it was!"
"That's with you," Kushina said, "However, you forget something very important about Sasuke: underneath his cold, steely outer shell, he has a very emotional and sensitive heart. Especially when it comes to 'Daddy-issues;' you know, like the ones Hinata's got."
"You mean, behind all his pseudo-emo-goth style, Sasuke's really a big, emotional crybaby, right?" Naruto asked smartly.
"Pretty much." The two chucked, and Kushina went on. "Okay, so like I said, I really think Sakura's just hiding out to let Hinata win by default; if she just threw the match outright, Hinata would know the truth."
"And you think Sasuke's with her because he thinks it'd be the right thing to do," Naruto concluded. "Okay, maybe, but shouldn't we still go out looking for them to make sure?"
"I'll tell the security to do so, yes," Kushina said. "But, I think you should stay here."
"Why?!"
"Because, it would be very important for Hinata," Kushina explained.
When her son tilted his head in confusion, Kushina sighed, realizing her son had as much to learn about girls as she had to learn about boys when she was his age. "Uh, well, if you go now, Hinata will have none of her friends cheering her on-" Naruto started to open his mouth "-The dog boy doesn't count, he's only a part-time party member at best."
"...you play too many video games," Naruto sighed.
"Probably, but that's beside the point," Kushina said. "Think about it."
Frowning, Naruto mulled everything over in his head. "...Hinata really could use a friend right about now. I wanna make sure Sakura and Sasuke are alright, but if security's going to do that, maybe I should be there for Hinata."
"And this could make up for that time you guys left her at that doctor's office," Kushina added wickedly.
"Oh, that's way below the belt!" Naruto said, jumping up.
This shocked the Froakie, who had been sitting on the table, forgotten. He cried out and leapt into the air; luckily, Naruto was able to catch him.
"Oh, sorry again, little guy," he said sheepishly, doing his best to calm the baby Pokémon down. "Man, Sakura is so luckily to have a Pokémon like you! That Goomy was pretty cool, but I think you're cooler, personally."
The Froakie gave him a thankful croak
"Look Naruto, we better get going," Kushina said, putting her 'dex away. "Why don't you capture the little frog in that egg case's Pokéball and we can get back to the contest?"
"Yeah, you're right," Naruto said, having mixed feelings. He wanted to look for his friends, but his mom had made some good points. Sighing, he grabbed the spare Pokéball on the egg case and carefully captured the Froakie, who cooperated with the whole thing.
As the two made their way back to the stage, a thought occurred to Kushina. While the egg was supposed to be Sakura's, when it hatched, the Froakie had first seen Naruto, imprinting him. Kushina chuckled, foreseeing a lot of trouble and fun in the near future over this.
-0o0o0-
Meanwhile...
-0o0o0-
"Hey, is anybody there?!" Sakura shouted, pounding on the backdoor of a restaurant; unfortunately, it looked to be as abandoned as every other building on the block. After fleeing from the Sound Duo, Sakura attempted to call the cops, but her phone was missing, probably lost during the fight. Now she was dragging Sasuke, half-conscious, through the seemingly abandoned city looking for help, their teams following.
"No one's there, Sakura," Sasuke said, his words slightly slurred as he tried to stand by himself. "We've got no time; just break the door down and find a phone!"
"Wait, what-?" Sakura started, but Jane suddenly kicked the door in. Grunting in a satisfied way, the Mankey bowed and motioned for her trainer to enter.
"I'm sure the owner will forgive us later," Sakura said, helping Sasuke walk over the door's remains.
They were in the restaurant's kitchen; after helping Sasuke to a chair and setting Bayushi and Kurama on the counter beside him, Sakura and her Pokémon started looking for a phone.
"Come, they've got to have a phone somewhere!" she hissed, shoving aside pots and dishes as she scoured the kitchen counter. "Ah-ha!" Sakura spotted one hung up on the wall-
ZAP!
A bolt of electricity reduced the phone to broken bits, followed by cruel laughter.
"You almost got away!" The Sound Trio member Zaku stood outside the broken doorway, with both his Voltorb and Golbat. "Too bad Beatbox was able to find you and fly me over here, you might have actually been able to call for-"
"Enough talk! Attack!" Sakura screamed.
Jane moved first, leaping across the room to deliver a Karate Chop into Boombox's face- only receive a paralyzing electrical shock from the Voltorb's Static ability.
"Take out that pig-monkey out with Air Slash, Boombox!" Dosu shouted.
Flapping his now glowing wings, the Golbat fired a disk of swirling wind into Jane's face; the powerful super effective move knocked her out in one hit.
Before Zaku could celebrate, Waterlily bowled into Boombox with a head-on Rollout attack, only for Beatbox to blast her back with Thunderbolt. However, Owlowiscious intervened before the Marill was knocked out too, using Confusion to lift the still electrically-charged Voltorb and throw him into Boombox's gaping mouth. Just as the Hoothoot planned, the Golbat panicked and bit down, causing the Voltorb to Self-Destruct, blasting both Pokémon clean out of the building.
Zaku stood frozen, looking at the hole where his two, now unconscious Pokémon, had once been. Gulping, he desperately felt at his belt for another Pokéball, though he had no other team members. "Uh-oh..."
"Good job, Sakura," Sasuke said, forcing himself onto his feet. "Let's take care of this punk before the other one shows up."
"Too late." The Sound Trio's leader appeared amidst the rubble that was once the backdoor of a restaurant, his Exploud right behind him. "I was only a few yards behind Zaku-" he glared at Zaku's unconscious Pokémon "-though you managed to take out his whole team in the short time it took me to catch up."
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for evil monologues; Owlowiscious, same as last time!" Sakura commanded.
"Hoot-!" Owlowiscious began, eyes starting to glow.
This time, however, that was all Baritone allowed, firing a powerful Hyper Voice. His attack caught both Owlowiscious and Waterlily, blasting both into the wall, knocking them out.
"Oh dear me, was that the last of your team?" Dosu asked smugly, glancing at each unconscious Pokémon in the room. He paused for a moment, as if waiting for Sasuke or Sakura would send a new teammate out. "Heh, I guess it was; now, how about you just surrender and do this the easy way?"
"Yeah, I got your surrender," Sasuke growled, grabbing his chair, "-Right here!" He chucked it at Dosu, only for Baritone to block it. Giving a primal cry of desperation, Sasuke threw himself at Baritone, beating against the powerful Pokémon ineffectively. "Run Sakura! Get help!"
Hesitating for only a moment, Sakura nodded and bolted for the building's front room- surely there'd be a phone there!
"Stop her!" Dosu shouted, but Baritone was already on it.
Slapping Sasuke to the side with a vicious backhand, the Exploud lunged across the room, grabbing Sakura by her long hair. Yanking her back, Baritone lifted the girl off her feet, dangling her painfully above the ground.
"Looks like we're going to do this the hard way," Dosu said threateningly, walking over. Behind him, Zaku pinned Sasuke to the ground with his arms behind his back.
Something caught Dosu's eye. "Wait a second," he said, reaching towards Sakura's belt, where Hiccup's Pokéball was still holstered, "you do still have a party member left."
"Don't you touch him!" Sakura growled, struggling midair.
"Ah, I bet it this must be that weird gooey Pokémon, right?" Dosu asked, plucking the Pokeball from her belt.
"Back off!" Sakura screamed, kicking Dosu in the face; there was a satisfying crunch as his nose broke.
He cried and fell back, the bandages covering his face becoming bloody, dropping Hiccup's Pokéball, which opened with a flash. Roaring in anger, Baritone pulled Sakura back into the counter, screaming at her face-
-Sakura, however, spotted something on the counter, and she was suddenly struck with inspiration. She lunged into action!
-0o0o0-
Back at the Contest Hall...
-0o0o0-
The crowd had been disappointed with Sakura's apparent withdrawal from the contest, but what shocked Naruto was Ino's reaction to the announcement: she actually swore and stomped her foot before realizing what she was doing...on live television. She quickly composed herself as the crowd had a good chuckle. After that, however, it seemed everyone had quickly forgotten about Sakura...everyone but Naruto and Hinata; she was obviously distracted even as Ino won against the other semi-finalist (Ino's Rosalia pitted against their Clefairy). All too soon, the final match was approaching...and still no word about Sakura or Sasuke!
"Hey, did you hear me?"
Naruto gasped as Kiba physically shook him out of his thoughts. "Oh shoot, sorry," the boy said quickly, shaking his head. "I was- I was just wondering if Sasuke and Sakura were okay."
"I thought your mom said Sakura withdrew because she was being nice to Sakura?"
"Yeah, that's what she said, but I can't help but worry it's something else," Naruto said, "something worse, maybe."
"The cops or security are checking up on the two, right? Then everything should be fine, right?"
Naruto nodded, not really sure, but Haku came back on stage to announce the final match, so Naruto pushed the subject out of his mind; he had other responsibilities to worry about right now.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, here we are at the final round of this tournament, Hinata Hyuga, and Ino Yamanaka!" Haku said proudly. "Now remember, both contestants may use two Pokémon for this round, though should a coordinator's points be reduced to zero, they still lose, even if they haven't sent out their second Pokémon; neither trainer may switch out." With that, he motioned for the two to send out their first Pokémon.
Hinata paused, then held out a Pokéball. "Waltz, I choose you!"
Ino tossed out a white, feather-themed Pokéball. "The stage is yours, Odette." A beautiful, swan-like Pokémon materialized, gracefully flying in a vertical figure-eight before landing in rest. Hinata recognized it as a Swanna.
At Haku's signal, the match started.
"Start things off with Sleep Power," Hinata ordered.
Her Butterfree flew upward, trailing blue powder from his wings.
"Counter with Defog, followed by Aerial Ace," Ino said calmly.
Odette dispersed the shimmering dust with a wing-flap, and then charged upward, arching up at the ceiling before diving beak-first into Waltz. The poor Butterfree was driven into the ground, while Odette circled around in the air, tauntingly.
"Blow her away with Whirlwind and get back in the air!"
"Don't let up. Use Air Slash!" Ino shouted.
As Waltz flapped his wings rapidly to stir up a wind, Odette crossed her glowing wings, firing a whirling blade of air; the attack just cut through Waltz's Whirlwind and was a direct hit, blasting Waltz up into the air. Not missing a beat, Odette dove at him with another Aerial Ace, and Waltz was knocked out cold.
"Waltz is unable to battle," Haku announced as Hinata recalled him. "The First Round goes to Ino Yamanaka and Odette." At the judges' panel, nearly a third of Hinata's points were deducted.
"Man, that was brutally one-sided," Kiba groaned as the crowd cheered.
"Yeah, but Hinata still has one Pokémon left," Naruto said. "She can still turn this around."
"Yeah, but Ino's got two," Kiba sighed.
Back on stage, Hinata hesitated, starting to breathe shallowly; however, she calmed again, her face becoming steely as she held out her second Pokéball. "Aria, it's up to you!"
As the Buneary materialized, Naruto wasn't sure what to think. Kiba noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Hinata's only used her Buneary in one battle," Naruto explained, "and that was one she struggled with; unless she's been doing some major training with my mom, she's going to be in trouble."
Back on stage, Aria skid across the icy battlefield, avoiding an Air Slash attack from Odette. "Let's stop Odette from attacking at all," Hinata instructed, "use Teeter Dance!"
"Neary!" Aria started hopping from one foot to the next, waving her arms around. Up in the air, Odette stopped preparing another attack, her body taking on a blue glow, and then she started mimicking Aria's silly dance. Of course, this meant she was no longer trying to stay airborne, and fell to the ground, only to get up and keep on doing Aria's dance.
"Swaaaaa!" Odette cried, looking at Ino for help.
"Try and shake it off, Odette," Ino said.
Hinata would not let them. "Now that we've got them where we want them, us Thunder Punch!"
Breaking out of her dance, Aria lunged after Odette, her fluffy ears generating electricity. With a fierce cry, she ear-punched the Swanna twice; once in the chest, and the next in the neck. The double super effective assault was too much, and Odette fell back, knocked out.
"Yeah! Way-to-go!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and down as Haku ruled the Swanna unable to battle. A chunk of Ino's points were deducted, both for Odette's quick knockout and for her being unable to think of way to escape the Teeter Dance. Now the two were nearly tied in points (though Hinata was still slightly behind).
However, if Ino was nervous, it didn't show. "Belle, you're up next," she said, calling out her Roselia.
When both Pokémon were in place, Haku signaled for them to start.
Hinata reacted first. "Bounce Aria!"
"Belle, blast her away with Petal Blizzard," Ino countered.
Aria leapt into the air just as Belle blasted a flurry of heart-shaped petals at her. The Buneary flew through the blizzard, covered in cuts, and delivered a magnificent flying kick right into her opponent's face.
-0o0o0-
Meanwhile...
-0o0o0-
Lots of things happened at once.
As Sakura was slammed into the counter, a knife was shaken out of its holder and clattered across the counter; she grabbed hold of it, though she wasn't going on stabbing the Exploud; that'd only make the Pokémon more angry and violent. So, she did the only thing she could to get free- she cut her hair.
Dosu hadn't been paying attention to that, however; Sakura's kick to his face had broken his nose and left him seeing stars for a few seconds. "Agh! 'Ou 'ittle viper!" Dosu said, unable to speak right with his broken nose, "I'll tear 'ou apart for 'dat!"
However, as Dosu got to his feet, there was something else happening. When Sakura kicked Dosu, he dropped Hiccup's Pokéball, letting the baby Pokémon out. The baby materialized just in time to see Baritone slam his mommy into the counter! Hiccup started to cry, but something else was rising with his anger and fear.
As soon as Sakura was free, she made a mad dash for Dosu, knowing it would only take a moment for Baritone to catch her again. However, as the Exploud reached for her, Hiccup gave a rage-filled squeal and fired a multi-colored blast right into Baritone's face, knocking him backwards.
"What the-?!" Dosu cried just as Sakura slammed into him.
The two fell to the floor. Sakura was up first, ripping one of Dosu's Pokéballs from his belt.
"Please be the right one!" she prayed, pointing it at Baritone and activating it. The ball sent out a red beam, and recalled the Exploud. Laughing victoriously, Sakura hit the ball's safety lock, which would seal the ball shut until it was deactivated. The Pokéball shook and lit up as Baritone tried to struggle to escape on his own, but to no avail.
"'Ou jerk!" Dosu said, lunging at her-
-only to be blasted back by a volley of sky-blue orbs from the countertop.
"Vee!" It was Bayushi, who had regained consciousness and was looking vengeful.
Back toward the ruined doorway, Sasuke had managed to throw the shocked Zaku off. "Get him, Bayushi!"
The Eevee blasted the thug with another volley of Hidden Power, laying him out cold.
"Come on, let's go!" Sakura said, recalling her knocked out Pokémon (poor Hiccup was shivering terribly from the cold). "There's probably a phone in the front of this place. Sasuke, grab Kurama."
"Yeah," Sasuke said. He started to process everything that had happened, even as he picked up the still unconscious Zorua. They entered the front of the restaurant, only to find it was undeveloped, without a wooden floor, tables...or phone.
"Typical," Sakura sighed, "of all the places to try and find help, we chose the one that doesn't have a phone!"
"Yeah," Sasuke said, then abruptly added, "You cut your hair."
"What?" Sakura asked. She reached up and gave her locks a tug. "Right, I did." She almost chuckled. "I guess I wasn't really thinking back there, I just did it."
"Quick thinking," Sasuke simply said. "Pretty cool of you." Sakura blushed; for once, Sasuke didn't mind.
From Sakura's belt, Dosu's Pokéball wiggled as Baritone tried to escape again, and the two remembered what was happening. "Come on, we gotta find a phone or something!"
As the pair exited the building, Sasuke noted the restaurant's name, 'Tauros' Veggie Garden;" privately, he wondered if it had any relation to that vegetable salesman they encountered in Teal Town.
-0o0o0-
Dosu groaned, forcing himself to his feet. "Zaku," he called, "you dead?"
"I wish I was," his partner whined. "This is the second time that stupid Eevee attacked me today! Ouch, I think I've got a broken rib."
"Let's get out of here," Dosu said. "Forget about that stupid fox, we'll just take what we've got and make a run for it, before the cops show-" He felt his belt, and remembered what happened. "No! Nononono! Darn it, they stole Baritone -Again!"
Zaku winced. "Those dirty Pokémon thieves! Now we have to chase them down!"
"No!" Dosu said sternly. "If we don't get out of town fast, we're just asking to get caught!"
"But what about Baritone?" Zaku asked.
"Shut up, I'm thinking!" Dosu paused, then ran over to Beatbox, who was still knocked out outside the ruined restaurant. He pulled out a spray-on potion from his bag, and used it on the Golbat before shaking it awake. "Get up, you! We've gotta work fast!" He sent out Octave, and explained. "Okay, the twerps stole Baritone. Fly after them, and sneak attack them! One of you attack one of them, not their Pokémon, while the other one swoops in and grabs Baritone's ball! It'll be the metal-topped one; that's all I care about! Don't stay and fight or try to steal anything else! Just get back Baritone and fly back to the hotel!"
-0o0o0-
Sasuke, Sakura, and Bayushi raced down the street, Kurama in tow.
"Isn't anyone home?!" Sakura said in exasperation.
"Small town, big event with lots of important people in one spot; do the math," Sasuke grunted. "Come on, let's just head for the Contest Hall and-"
A certain giant of a man came into view, wearing his trademark Glalie mask. "There you two are! I've been looking all-" Wulfic then noticed how torn up and bruised the two were "-What happened!?"
Sasuke quickly explained the situation, skipping any unimportant details. "After Sakura stole the Exploud's ball and trapped him inside it, Bayushi knocked out the two thugs and we made a run for it to find help."
"Not bad, runts," Wulfic nodded, "but why didn't you tie them up or something?"
"With what? It's not like we have our backpacks with us," Sasuke pointed out.
"Right, well, good point" Wulfic said. He pulled his phone out. "Listen, after I call Haku I'll take you both back to the gym and-"
There was a sudden whirling sound. Wulfic shoved the kids away. "Get down!"
With that, a spinning blade of air crashing into Wulfic's face, shattering his mask.
Sasuke tried scrambling to his feet, but a concussive blast of red sound waves hit the ground between Sakura and him. The snow exploded, throwing the two away from each other.
Sasuke was facedown in the snow, his ears ringing; there was a commotion nearby, but he couldn't' tell what. Gritting his teeth, the boy forced himself up; a Golbat near Sakura, trying to throw Bayushi off, who had a death grip on one of his wings. The metal-topped Pokeball Sakura had taken from the Sound Trio's Leader was in its claws. A Kricketune flew down and slashed the Eevee, knocking him away.
"Hey!" Sasuke jumped up and tried to lunge after their attacks, but they were already flying off. He moved over to Bayushi and Sakura, who was getting up herself. "You okay?"
"Yeah, they just took the Pokéball I stole," Sakura explained, trying to shake away the ringing in her ears from the earlier attack. She checked on Bayushi, who was struggling to remain conscious. "Guess the Sound Trio stole their Pokémon back; kind of ironic."
"Send out Owlowiscious and we'll chase them down!" Sasuke said quickly, but Sakura shook her head.
"We can't. Mr. Wulfic's hurt."
She pointed at the big man, who had fallen to the ground and not gotten up.
Sakura checked him, finding a pluse. "He's really lucky. His mask took most of that attack, but he's got a bad cut across the side of his face, now. He'll still need medical attention, though. Sasuke, grab his phone and call- what's wrong?"
Sasuke was staring at the fallen man. "Oh Houndoom."
"What is it?"
"He's not who you think he is!"
Sakura titled her head. "What? You're not making any sense."
"Look, I recognize his face. He was in the files my dad sent me," Sasuke explained. "His real name's Zabuza Momochi and he's a wanted criminal, a murderer."
"You're kidding!"
Sasuke shook his head. "No, he was Gato's partner, but apparently he killed someone and fled custody. Only, it looked kinda suspicious to me and now I see he's working with Haku who's working against Gato, so I don't know why he'd be doing that if he was really working for Gato and-"
"Sasuke, calm down!" Sakura interrupted. "Remember, he's still hurt bad, and we need to get him help."
Slowly, Sasuke nodded his head. "Yeah...and he did save us." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "If Gato says he's a murderer, then maybe he's innocent of that." Sasuke shook his head. "What matters is that he got hurt saving us, so we owe him...and calling the cops or an ambulance will get him arrested."
Sakura gave him a strange look. "So what do you suggest we do?"
The boy picked up Zabuza's phone. "The only thing I can think of: call Aunty Kushina and tell her what's going on."
-0o0o0-
Back at the Contest Hall...
-0o0o0-
Aria cartwheeled to the left just in time to avoid a flurry of petals, landing on her feet. Belle had proven to be a frustrating opponent, skillfully keeping the distance between them, and never giving Aria the time she needed to pull off another Teeter Dance. So far, however, Aria's skillful dodging of Belle's attacks had earned Ino a few deductions from her score, and now Hinata was slightly ahead.
Belle fired another Petal Blizzard, and Aria mostly dodged, though she was lightly knocked by a few leaves.
"Aria, use Bounce to get close to her now," Hinata said, seeing an opening.
Laughing, Aria sailed through the air and landed right next to the Roselia, ears rolled up and ready to attack.
"Good, now...now use-" Hinata trailed off, pressing her hands to her temples.
"Neary?" Aria asked, glancing over her shoulder to see what was wrong; taking advantage of the moment, Belle viciously struck Aria across the face with her thorns, shoving her away. The Buneary angrily launched herself at her opponent, and the judges started to abduct points off of Hinata's score for her poor performance. The girl, however, didn't seem to notice, even after Haku asked if everything was alright.
"Oh no," Naruto muttered, down near the front row, "don't lose it now."
Next to him, Kiba asked him what was going on, but Naruto ignored him, instead checking the judges' stand. His mother had gotten very tense, and he could tell she was getting ready to jump up and intervene.
Naruto winced at the idea; if she did that, then Hinata would surely be disqualified. "Come on," he muttered quietly, "pull yourself together, Hinata."
Shockingly, Kushina's phone rang, and she answered it, more from surprise than anything, while Yanagi berated her. However, it only took a few seconds of her listening to whatever was being said before she suddenly slammed her fist down onto the table and shouted into the microphone, "Stop the match, now!"
Kitsune punctuated her mistress's command with a blast of fire that separated the two battling Pokémon.
That broke Hinata out of her fit; the poor girl even accidently fell backwards. Few people noticed, however, because Kushina very quickly jumped over the judges' table, up onto the stage, and yanked the microphone out from Haku's hands before he could ask what was going on, her Ninetales following her and pushing a tail to his mouth, shushing him.
"Attention, everyone, we have a serious emergency that needs to be taken care of immediately!" she announced, holding up her hand for everyone to stop when people started getting up out of their seats. "Remain in your seats, there is no danger. Please stay calm while it is being dealt with. Miss Lisia Uchiha will entertain you with her partner Ali in the meantime." Kushina shot Lisia a look that made it clear she would not be argued with, and then grabbed Haku by the front of his shirt. "And you're coming with me! Oh-" she glanced at Hinata and Ino "you two, please follow me to the backstage." With that, she dragged the helpless Gym Leader offstage, who could only give an undignified squeak in protest. Kitsune quickly gathered up the girls, taking them backstage.
"What the heck was that was that about?" Kiba asked. He wasn't the only one, however. Lots of people were muttering amongst themselves about what was going on, even as Lisia called out her Altaria and attempted to distract them with a show.
"I'm gonna go find out," Naruto said, jumping out of his seat.
"Hey, she said stay seated!" Kiba called and Naruto quickly made his way to the backstage, trying to evade security.
"Yeah, well, she's my mother," Naruto said quietly to himself. "I'm expected to not listen."
Just as he got in, Naruto was nearly trampled as Kushina and Kitsune marched past him, Haku meekly following her.
"Mom, what's-?
"-going on?" she interrupted. "It's Sasuke and Sakura, they've been attacked- stop!" she added, shoving her hand over his mouth as he opened it. "They're safe now, but things got complicated; I don't have time to explain to you, but Haku and I have to go take care of it! Stay here, and don't you dare try and follow me!"
"Uh, sure," Naruto squeaked, all protests withering under a glare he knew all too well meant she would not be argued with.
"Good boy," Kushina said, taking a moment to ruffle her son's hair. "Now, I shoved Hinata and the other girl into separate dressing rooms so I could have a private talk with Haku here." She pointed to the room Hinata was in. "I think Hinata could use a friend right about now." Naruto nodded.
Kushina marched out the side-door, with Haku following. "Uh, you two know each other? he asked sheepishly.
Kushina ignored him, apologizing to Kitsune as she recalled her and pulled out another Pokéball, calling out a very large purple and black bat-like Pokémon Naruto recognized as his mother's favored form of transport, Komori, a Noivern.
"What is that?!" Haku shrieked, jumping back.
"Stop asking stupid questions and get on," Kushina said, shoving him on the Noivern's back, and getting on it herself. "This whole mess is your fault!"
Unfortunately, she was in such a hurry that neither trainer noticed a Pokéball fall from Haku's belt as they took off, left behind in the snow.
By that time, Naruto had already entered Hinata's dressing room. "Hey, how're you feeling?"
Hinata barely spared him a glance. "Uh, fine, Naruto."
"You don't look fine," Naruto said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You sure everything's alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed from-" She stopped, crying out like she had grabbed something hot. Hinata cupped her head, rocking back and forth.
"Hinata! Hinata!" Naruto shouted, grabbing her tight; he wasn't sure if he should try and shake her out of it or let the fit pass.
And just like that, Hinata straightened up, acting like she had just woken up from a bad dream.
"Hinata, what just happened? You were having a fit!"
There was a strange look in the girl's eyes, one of both fear and clarity, perhaps. Hinata took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "I- I think something bad is happening, right now!"
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, "Did you like, get a vision or something?"
Hinata nodded. "Something; it was like I was looking through someone else's eyes! I saw the Sound Trio girl...in Kushina's room at the hotel!"
"You serious?!" Naruto jumped back.
She nodded. "It felt weird, but I'm sure it's real!"
Naruto leapt to his feet, helping Hinata up. "Come on, we better check it out!"
Hinata paused. "Should we call your mother and tell her?"
"She's already busy, and it sounded like a real emergency involving Sasuke and Sakura," Naruto said, "She said they weren't in danger, but she might have been just saying that. Why else would she be in such a hurry?" He opened the door and rushed out without looking. "If those Sound Trio losers are raiding my mother's room, they're probably trying to steal Kurama and Sonata, so we better hurry and-!"
Naruto ran into someone and fell over, sending his Pokéballs scattering.
"What the-?" Naruto saw who he ran into. "Inari! What are you doing here?"
The boy tried to glare at Naruto, but he looked childish. "I was bored just watching that lady doing tricks with her Pokémon; battles at least are cool-looking. And Grandpa fell asleep and started drooling on me! I saw you sneak back here and wanted to see what you were doing."
"Whatever," Naruto said, quickly getting to his feet and snatching his Pokéballs up. "Look, we don't have time for you being a crybaby right now-"
"I'm not a crybaby!"
Naruto ignored him and went on. "-We've got to stop bad people from doing bad things!"
He helped Hinata put on her snow jacket and shoes, and the two ran out the side-door.
Inari watched them go, glaring. After a few seconds, he marched to the door, opened it, and shouted "I am not a crybaby!" after them, but they were both too far away to hear.
Fuming, Inari was about to close the door when something caught his eye: a Pokéball that looked like it was carved from ice, left behind on the steps.
Inari picked it up, thinking it must have been one of the ones Naruto dropped. "Huh, that loser can't even keep track of his balls," the boy muttered bitterly. He thought about chucking it in a random direction, but dropped the idea. "Stupid! I'll show him who's a crybaby!" he said, running off after the two. "Yeah, he'll be missing his stupid Pokémon and I'll have it and show him!"
-0o0o0-
Meanwhile, back at the Hotel...
-0o0o0-
When Dosu and Zaku arrived on the hotel's roof, Kin was less than happy. "What took you two so long?" she demanded, arms crossed. She then noticed they didn't have the cute little black fox with them. "Hey, where's the other fox?!"
"He got away," Dosu snapped, "we ran into the Haruno Twerp and her boyfriend, and they wrecked everything."
Kin swore. "We better get out of here, like now! Before the cops find us!"
"Not yet," Dosu ordered, "The Twerps grabbed Baritone's ball and ran off with it. We sent Beatbox and Octave to steal it back; they'll be here soon."
"B-B-But what about the cops?" Kin stammered. "We've got a huge haul; we can't risk-"
"We're not leaving until I get Baritone back!" Dosu roared.
That shut Kin up. The trio waited in uneasy silence for a few minutes before Beatbox and Octave flew into view.
"Good work!" Dosu praised, taking his Pokéball back at long last. He recalled Octave while Zaku did the same to Beatbox, then turned to Kin. "Now we can go!"
"Finally!" The three loaded up into the balloon, and took off.
Kin smiled at the yellow fox Pokémon through the containment cage's clear window. "Well, it looks like I'm your new mommy now, cutie-pie."
The fox responded by shooting a blast of flame at the window.
Kin laughed. "I think I will call you Flarity."
"Hey, who says you're keeping her?" Zaku asked indignantly. "If anything, me or Dosu should get her...if we don't give her to the Boss."
"You two idiots lost the black one and nearly ruined the mission. Do you want to explain how that happened to the Boss?" Kin said bluntly. "I'm the only one of us that hasn't botched anything today!"
"That wasn't our fault, you selfish witch!" Zaku shouted.
"Can it!" Dosu ordered. "We'll decide what to do with the fox later. The way I see it, we can all share her; she'll make a good team mascot. And that way, we'll never have to tell the Boss our embarrassing little mishap...that happened mostly because Zaku let himself be blasted out of a window by a baby Pokémon."
Zaku nodded stupidly at first, then realized what Dosu said. "Hey!"
The trio started to squabble, failing to notice what was happening down on the ground.
Naruto stopped running, looking up at the balloon. "What the heck is that doing here?" He noticed the figures piloting it. "It's the Sound Trio, just like you said, Hinata!"
Hinata spotted a cage under Kin's arm. "That's a cage; they're kidnapping a Pokémon!"
"It's Sonata; who else would they be stealing!?" Naruto said. He reached for a Pokéball from his belt, but stopped. "Shoot; none of my Pokémon can take that balloon down!"
"...we don't need to take it down," Hinata said thoughtfully. "We just need to get Sonata back." She pulled out a Pokéball. "Waltz, I know you're still tired from your battle, but we need your help!"
Hinata tossed the ball high, and her Butterfree materialized, shaking his head and shivering. He felt sore and weak, and it was cold; what could his trainer want from him in this condition?
Hinata pointed at the Sound Trio's balloon. "Waltz, they've got Sonata. You need to stop them! Use Whirlwind to stop them from flying away!"
"Freeeeeeeee!" Watlz flapped his wings, sending a continuous gale of wind at the Trio's balloon. The craft lurched in the air, shaking the Trio out of their argument.
"What's happening?" Dosu shouted as they were suddenly ripped off-course. He looked in the direction of the wind. "It's the Twerps!" He pulled out Octave's Pokéball. "I'm getting tired of this-!"
CRASH!
The balloon collided into the side of the hotel, knocking its passengers off their feet.
"We're losing control!" Zaku shouted, grabbing hold of the controls, "If we don't do something soon, we'll crash!"
However, Kin didn't notice or care about that; she had accidently dropped the containment cage over the side. Now their prize was falling to her doom! "No! Flarity!"
Hinata saw the cage falling, too. "Watlz, catch her!"
Halting his Whirlwind, the Butterfree swooped after the falling cage. By some miracle, he caught it. However, Waltz was too tired to carry it; flapping as hard as he could, the Butterfree managed to slow its fall like a parachute, so that both he and the cage fell to the ground mostly unharmed.
As Hinata and Naruto rushed to the cage, up in the air, the Trio had managed to regain control of their balloon.
"It looks like the envelope and engine are undamaged," Zaku said. "We can still fly!"
"But we lost Flarity!" Kin cried. "Those dirty Pokémon thieves stole her!"
"Well, we stole her first," Zaku pointed out, "and this point, we should just get out of here!"
Much to his surprise, Dosu was the one to object to that. "No! I refuse to be beaten by pair of children again!"
"Don't be stupid!" Zaku shouted back. "The Pink Twerp must have already called the cops on us! And they could have a way to chase after us even if we fly off now! Let's cut our losses and make off with what we've stolen as is!"
"You fly off!" Dosu snapped. He grabbed Beatbox's Pokeball from Zaku's belt and called the Golbat out. "Kin, we'll jump down, teach those Twerps a lesson, and retake Flarity! Then," he added as Zaku opened his mouth to object, "We'll use Decibel's Teleport to get back in the balloon, which you'll be flying as far away from here as you can, Zaku! We'll make our getaway and reclaim our mascot!"
"Let's do it!" Kin shouted, grabbing hold of one of Beatbox's legs.
"But Beatbox's is already exhausted! He's knocked out twice today already," Zaku protested as Dosu grabbed the Golbat's other leg.
"Yeah? Well, he's working overtime today!" Dosu said smugly; with that, the two jumped.
Beatbox flapped his wings franticly, slowing their fall to a safe, slow speed.
"Ah-ha!" The duo landed in a pose. Beatbox fell backwards, weakly begging to be returned to his nice, warm ball. "You're going to regret crossing us this time!" Dosu shouted, pulling out two Pokéballs.
"Do you guys ever give up?!" Naruto said, stepping in front of the cage (which he couldn't open without a key). "Screw it, I don't even want to hear your dumb motto this time! Let's rumble!" He called out every Pokémon he had.
"You did well, Watlz," Hinata whispered, recalling the Butterfree, and sending out Rhapsody and Aria. "Leave the rest to us!"
Across the field, Dosu called out both Octave and Baritone. Kin sent out Diva, but Dosu stopped her before she sent out Decibel. "We'll need her to escape! Don't risk her getting knocked out before that!"
Naruto eyed Dosu's Exploud; it was the first time he had seen it. "That Exploud looks strong, but tired; everyone, hit it-"
"Froakie?" a small voice croaked. It was the Froakie from Sakura's egg.
"Oh shoot!" In his excitement, Naruto had accidently called the baby Froakie out as well.
"Baritone, hit them with Hyper Voice!"
"Scatter!" Naruto shouted, turning around and grabbing Sonata's cage; he rolled off to the side, saying sorry as he heard the poor Fennekin banged around inside.
Everyone made to move out of the attack's way...except for the Froakie, who was too shocked at this new, cold environment to realize what was going on.
Luckily, Kata realized what was happening, too. "Riolu!" He dive-tackled the Froakie, dragging him down just in time to avoid the sonic blast.
Octave flew toward the two prone Pokémon, only to be blasted back by Rhapsody's Water Gun. Kata ordered the Froakie to hop back to Naruto and leapt into action, knocking out the weakened Kricketune with a Quick Attack and rushing toward Baritone.
"Go guys!" Naruto shouted from the sidelines; he quickly scooped up the Froakie, wrapping him in his arms.
That was the only warning Diva had before Puck brust out from the snow beneath her, slamming his head into her chin in a direct Dig attack. Behind the Furret, Jet zoomed out of the tunnel, winking as he blew an Attract-laced kiss at her.
"Got ya'! Teamwork!" Naruto cheered.
Far from impressed with Jet's Casanova routine, Diva just hissed scornfully. "Maw-wile!" Her steel jaws lit up with electricity as she clamped down on the Buizel with Thunder Fang. She ground down on Jet, trapping him in her grip as Puck Slammed into her, with little effect.
"Knock that stupid Furret away, Diva," Kin said, "Use Payback!"
With a snarl, the Mawile slammed her jaws (with Jet still held between them in a death-grip) into Puck, knocking him away. With a heave, she lifted her jaws up high, aiming to slam them down at the downed Furret.
"Help Aria; Bounce in and use Thunder Punch!" Hinata commanded.
Aria leapt into the air and jump-kicked the Mawile in the face. Diva staggered back, taking a blind swing at the Buneary, who ducked under the attack and delivered a Thunder Punch right into her gut.
Diva's grip on Jet to slacked enough for him to burst free.
"Jet, use Aqua Jet!" Naruto commanded.
Twisting mid-air, Jet shot at Diva in a rocket of water, tackling her down; she was out cold.
"Darn it, no fair fighting three-on-one!" Kin cried.
Next to her, Dosu swore; he had been concentrating on Baritone fighting with Kata and Rhapsody, who were annoyingly flanking and attacking from opposite sides. "Baritone, ignore the pests take those three out with Hyper Voice!"
The Exploud turned obeyed its trainer, even ignoring as Rhapsody clamped down on his arm, and sent a blast of sonic force at the three Pokémon ganging up on Diva.
Jet used Aqua Jet to dodge the attack, but Aria and Puck were not so lucky. Both took the blast full on, flying backwards, knocked out.
"Got 'em!" Dosu said.
"You idiot, you hit Diva!" Kin hissed, punching him as she recalled her Pokémon.
The Exploud started to breathe in for another attack; Kata jumped up onto his back and hit him with a Force Palm, while Jet landed a Aqua Jet right in his face.
"Thunder Fang!" Dosu shouted.
Rhapsody had released his bite so he could chomp onto the Exploud's face, and Jet's fins took on a sharp glean as he prepared to Slash his enemy; both were caught in the Exploud's huge mouth, who produced to chomp down and electrocute the pair.
Desperately, Kata hit Baritone again. Grunting, the Exploud spat out both Water-Pokémon (now unconscious) and reached behind his back, throwing the much smaller Pokémon off him. The Riolu flipped up onto his feet, taking a defiant stance.
"You're down to one Pokémon, and its way weaker than my Baritone," Dosu said tauntingly. "Hand over the fox, and we'll be on our way. Refuse, and I swear we'll make you regret crossing us."
Baritone punctuated his trainer's threat with a growl.
Naruto gulped, looking at where he left Sonata in her cage. "Hinata," he said quietly, "Get Sonata out of that cage and run. Do it!" He dropped the Froakie and turned back to Dosu. "Houndoom you, jerk! Kata, dash around with Quick Attack and get back on his back!"
"Idiot," Dosu grunted. "Baritone, blast him! Hyper Voice!"
While Kata and Naruto distracted Dosu and Kin, Hinata attempted to free Sonata, but the cage required a key. "Come on!" she shouted, slamming a rock at the clear door; it barely left a scratch. Next to her, the Froakie imitated her, pounding on the box as Hinata did, with just as much success.
"Na-na! You can't hit me or Kata, stupid!" Naruto had jumped into the fray, dodging sonic blasts with his Riolu. Now Dosu and Kin stopped caring about the Fennekin, wanting to blast the annoying brat.
Hinata fruitlessly pounded on the lock while Sonata tried blasting it with fire from her side.
"What the heck?!" It was the boy, Inari; he had fallen to his knees in shock at the battle going on before him. "This is nuts!"
"What are you doing here?" Hinata demanded.
"Naruto dropped his Pokeball and-" Inari saw Naruto barely dodge a Hyper Voice that blasted a snow bank apart. "They're trying to kill him!"
"You have one of his Pokémon?" Hinata gasped, "Send it out to help him!"
Weakly, the boy dropped the ball, not sure what would happen. It was then that Hinata realized that all of Naruto's were already accounted for, and the ball Inari had looked like it was made of ice. With a flash, it opened, and out materialized...a Glaceon.
"That's...Kristoff?" Hinata said, confused.
The Glaceon looked around, confused and wanting to know why he was here.
"P-Pochi?" Inari stuttered.
The Glaceon turned to Inari; his eyes narrowed and his hissed hatefully at the boy. However, another blast from the battlefield broke the tension between them.
"Kristoff, I don't know why you're here, but please help us," Hinata begged. She pointed at Sonata in the cage. "Help us get her out of here, and save Naruto!"
Casting one last hateful look at Inari, the Glaceon nodded; he barked something at Sonata, and started blasting the clear door with Aurora Beam. Sonata followed suit, sending a steady stream of flame at it from inside. As hot and cold collided, the clear material started to warp, and then crack, before fully shattering. Sonata was free!
On the battlefield, Naruto slipped in the ice just as Baritone fired a Hyper Voice at him. "Uh-oh."
"Riolu!" Kata cried, leaping in front of his trainer, body aglow with aura as he braced himself with Endure. The Hyper Voice attack struck the Riolu, blasting the snow around him in all directions. His legs shaking, Kata turned to his trainer, giving him a thumbs up before falling to his knees in exhaustion.
"You're awesome, buddy," was all Naruto could think to say.
"Nice shot," Kid cheered. "Hey Dosu, I got an idea! Make Baritone Stomp them into the ground for all the trouble they caused us!"
Dosu smiled at the sound of that. "You heard the lady, Baritone! Stomp. Them. FLAT!"
"No you don't!" Hinata shouted; her words were punctuated with Sonata hitting Baritone with a Flamethrower and Kristoff firing an Aurora Beam. The Froakie also spat a Bubble attack, but his aim was bad.
"Hinata, I told you to take Sonata and run," Naruto said, helping Kata to his feet.
"We're not running!" Hinata spat back, jumping to the side to avoid a sonic blast.
"You people are worse than roaches!" Dosu screamed. Kristoff landed another Aurora Beam attack. "Baritone, take that Ice-Type out with Bulldoze!"
Giving a roar, Baritone stomped his foot down, creating a shockwave of upturned earth that painfully knocked the Glaceon off his feet.
"Finish it wish Hyper Voice!" The Exploud sent a blast of sonic energy at Kristoff.
"Pochi!" Without warning, Inari shoved the Glaceon away from the blast, but took the full force of it himself. The little boy was lifted off his feet and thrown across the snow, rolling several feet before stopping; he didn't stir.
"Inari!" Hinata rushed to check on the boy while Sonata sent another Flamethrower at Baritone.
"You monsters!" Naruto cried.
"Maybe we are," Dosu said, "But who cares? Baritone, use Hyper Voice again! Take the girl out, and then her boyfriend!"
"No!" Naruto ran to try and stop them, but slipped.
The sound-based attack zoomed at Hinata, who too busy trying to drag Inari out of the way to escape, when suddenly, Kristoff jumped in front of them, his body covered in a mirror gleam. The Hyper Voice hit him, blasting him into the air even as it was bounced back at Baritone by the Mirror Coat.
The sonic blast its user...but instead of causing damage, the sound waves just dissipated harmlessly.
"Ha! What a waste!" Dosu said tauntingly. "Baritone's got the Soundproof ability, so that that all for nothing-!"
"Riolu!" Kata leapt at Baritone, landing a Force Palm on his forehead; the beast staggered back, and finally fell down, knocked out.
Dosu stood with his mouth hanging open.
"If at first you don't succeed, hit it again and again until you do," Naruto said. "Now, you're gonna pay for what you did to Inari and all our Pokémon! Get 'em, Kata!"
"Get us out of here, Kin!" Dosu screamed, returning Baritone as the Riolu ran at them. Kin called out Decibel, but by the time she Teleported them away, Kata had already landed on Dosu and was punching him in the jaw. The pair disappeared, leaving Kata behind, who screamed in frustration.
"You cowards!" Naruto shouted.
"Forget them, and help me," Hinata said. She held up Inari, who stirred slightly.
"Oh!" Naruto ran to them. "How is he?"
"I don't know if we can move him," Hinata admitted. "He might have some broken bones or something. I think it'd be better to call for help."
Naruto agreed, pulling out his Pokénav. He noticed Kristoff nearby. "Yeah, we better call Haku too...and my mom." He sighed. Life seemed to be way too messy as of late.
-0o0o0-
Later, in Haku's office...
-0o0o0-
Inari was mostly okay; none of his bones were broken, and aside from having to stay in the hospital for the night so the doctors could keep an eye on him, everything was fine.
Naruto and Hinata, however, found out that lots of things happened soon after they left the contest hall. First, Mayor Gato had gotten up while everyone was waiting and tried to give a big speech about how irresponsible Haku had been for abandoning the contest without giving an explanation, only for several Pokémon League officers to enter in with a warrant for Gato's arrest. As it turned out, Sasuke's father had done some digging, and found someone who confessed to being paid by Gato to alter evidence during the investigation of Kaiza's death. The case was now being reopened; with the hidden gold mine the officers found under his hotel, and the confessions from his goons that Gato had worked with the Sound Trio to sabotage Haku's tunnel project, and things were not looking good for the now former mayor.
Kushina also was finally able to explain why she had rushed off from the contest, dragging Haku behind her. After hearing about Zabuza's real identity from Sasuke, Kushina had guessed that Haku must have known his real identity, and was going to force him to explain himself. With the arrival of the League officers, things took a turn and Zabuza was taken into custody, though he was much more cooperative than expected.
Now Kushina and the kids were in Haku's office, as he explained himself.
"Zabuza had been a family friend, and after mother and father died, he started taking care of me. We lived in the Kirigakure region at the time, far away from my grandfather," Haku said. "Zabuza had been on the hiding out in his home country after Gato betrayed him; you see, Zabuza has done many criminal things, but when Gato found out there was gold in these mountains, he framed Zabuza for murder so he wouldn't have to share it. Of course, I knew about his past, and the two of us wanted to get back at Gato, one way or another! Eventually, we hatched a plan. Because Grandfather Yanagi was a member of the Elite Four, it was easy for me to sign up to be a Gym Leader here in Konoha. Zabuza contacted some old friends and created his Wulfric identity, and the two of us made our way to Winterborn! Using my new authority as Gym Leader, I was able to restart the new tunnel project, which we planned to go right through Gato's precious gold mine and expose him!"
Kushina snorted. "Seems like a lot of work for revenge."
"Zabuza hates a backstabber, and so do I," Haku responded. "And now, thanks to you guys, we finally got our revenge!"
"Yeah, but isn't Zabuza now going to go to prison?" Sakura asked, "He's still a wanted man with a long list of offenses."
Sasuke spoke up. "Most of his crimes are stuff he's already paid for...or the charges were dropped. He was wanted for a murder he didn't commit...something that's sure to come out now. Chances are, Zabuza will be a free man."
"And he'll stay that way," Haku said, "because now he's working for a Gym Leader and not a smalltime hood."
"If no-one presses charges against you for helping conceal his identity," Kushina pointed out.
"I only did it because I knew he was innocent," Haku said, a halo practically forming over his head. "I'm sure the court will be understanding. But, let's put that aside and get back to you guys!" He turned to Naruto and his friends.
"Right, there's still the contest!" Naruto said, jumping up.
"I already know I was disqualified," Sakura said, a bit sad.
"Was the contest ever even finished? With the town's mayor being arrested, and the Gym Leader's assistant suddenly reveled to be a wanted criminal, along with everything else, I'd think the contest would just be forgotten," Sasuke pointed out.
"Yeah," Naruto said, turning to Hinata, "So maybe if we run you back to the contest hall, you could still-"
"Sorry, but my grandfather took over after Mayor Gato was arrested," Haku interjected. "With Hinata nowhere to be found, he named Ino the winner by default and said the contest was over, so everyone could head home."
"That's anticlimactic an end," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "And everyone was making such a big deal about it."
"After everyone learns what happened, I think people will understand," Haku said.
Hinata sighed quietly. "It's okay; I left the hall, just like Sakura, so I was disqualified anyway."
"But you were doing so well!" Naruto protested.
"There's no use crying over spilt milk," his mother reminded him.
Haku shrugged. "Even so, after all you've done for me, I you've all earned something." He smiled, and with a flourish, produced two Snowflake badges, holding out to the girls. "For your heroic actions in fighting the Sound Trio, even at the cost of giving up your first coordination contest, I grant both of you the Snowflake badge," the Gym Leader, adding, "I'd give it to the guys too, but they already won them the old fashioned way."
"Alright!" Sakura cheered, picking one up. Next to her, Hinata took the other with a soft thank you. At Naruto's urging, they both did a victory pose (which Kushina snapped a shot of with her Pokénav).
Haku opened his desk and pulled out three TM cartridges. "And as a gift to all of you, I also wish to give you all a TM. The League provides me with a small number each month to gift to particularly talented or interesting trainers, so I'm afraid I don't have much of a selection; I gave my last Ice Beam TM to Naruto. The only ones I have left are two Ice Punches and Ice Fang."
"They're awesome. I'm calling dips on Ice Fang," Sasuke said.
They all thanked the Gym Leader.
"Please, let me finish," Haku said, holding up his hands. "Now, seeing as I already gave Naruto a TM earlier for his fantastic victory earlier, and he's already earned his Snowflake badge, it seems he still needs a gift." He pulled out a shiny black Pokéball with a golden band along the middle. "This is a Luxury Ball; it's much more comfortable than a normal Pokéball, and as such, most Pokémon are much more likely to let you catch them with it."
"Thanks!" Naruto bowed and took the ball.
"With all you've done for me (whether or not you realized it) this is the least I could do," Haku said.
Naruto gasped. "Hey, Haku, what about Inari and Kristoff?"
"Oh. Right." Haku went sheepish. "This is certainly an awkward situation. Kristoff is still healing at the Pokémon Center. But, when he's feeling better, I plan on meeting with Inari and his family and resolving this issue."
"What exactly do you mean by 'resolving' anyway?" Sakura asked. Kushina nodded, curious.
"Well, I think the two should have closure, of course," Haku explained. "Let Inari tell Kristoff he's sorry, of course. And...if Kristoff wants to go back to his original trainer, I'll...allow it. However," he added quickly, "if such as thing happens, I will demand that Kristoff retains the name Kristoff! I refuse for such a lovely and elegant Pokémon to bare a name like 'Pochi.' It's simply undignified!"
They had laugh before Kushina clapped her hands. "Okay kids, let's head on back to the Pokémon center and discuss what we're going to do next."
"That remind me," Haku suddenly said. "I've been meaning to ask you: what is your relationship with these kids anyway?" He looked at each of them, stopping with Naruto. "Are you, like, an older sister to one of them?"
Kushina could only laugh, very, very smugly.
-0o0o0-
Once they were back in the Pokémon center, Kushina explained a bit more. "I just realized something: pretty soon, those officers will want to interview you kids; normally, I wouldn't mind that, but they've already interviewed me and I'm pretty sure they'd notice if two people both had the last name 'Uzumaki', and could easily figure out we're related. And with the News people still prowling around, you can bet they'd find out you're my son too. Then they'll they're going want to find out who your father is, and we'd never have anymore privacy after that!"
"That would suck!" Naruto said.
Sakura leaned close to Sasuke and whispered, "So, I guess Naruto's family's really likes their privacy? I mean, really likes it? Especially his dad."
"You could say that," Sasuke said cryptically.
In the center of the room, Kitsune lovely snuggled with Kurama and Sonata, who were gleefully telling her all about their wonderful and scary adventure (this was the fifth time, but Kitsune didn't mind).
Watching them got Naruto thinking. "Hey Sakura, in all the excitement, I forgot! Your egg hatched!" He launched into an explanation as to what happened, letting the Froakie out at the end. "And you see, he's a shiny! Go on, buddy. Say hello to your mommy!"
The Froakie looked up at Sakura with wide eyes, tilting his head to the side. After a moment, he hopped over into Naruto's lap. "Froakie!"
"No, go to her, little buddy! Not me!"
Rather than being upset, Sakura just chuckled and pulled out her Pokédex. "So that's a Froakie, eh? If that's the shiny coloration, what's does it normally look like?"
The 'dex pinged to life and showed a picture of a Froakie that was a light blue rather than blue-white. "Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokémon. Froakie secrets flexible bubbles from its chest and back, which can reduce damage it would otherwise take when attacked, or be used as a sticky snare. Beneath its happy-go-lucky hair, it keeps a watchful eye on its surroundings."
"He likes you," Sakura noted, putting her Pokédex away. "I guess its because you were the first thing he saw when he hatched."
"That, and Naruto and Kata saved him when he was accidently sent out against Baritone," Hinata added.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that, or for him to imprint me! Don't be mad at me!" Naruto pleaded.
Sakura was quiet for a moment. "...you keep him."
"Eh?"
"You can keep him," Sakura said. "After all, you did help with him while he was an egg, and you helped save the day."
"Yeah, well you did that too," Naruto said, then added, "And you cut your hair to do it!"
"That sounds like a pretty cool thing to do, I must admit," Kushina said.
"Yeah, but he likes you already," Sakura insisted. "Besides, you seem to know a lot about his species."
"Yeah, well, my dad's starter was a Froakie," Naruto admitted, scratching the Froakie on the back of his head.
"We considered getting you one for your starter," Kushina admitted, "But, we agreed a Riolu would be more low-key."
"Your father?" Sakura asked, "But, I thought Kushina was from the Amegakure...unless, your dad was too?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nah, Dad's a Konoha native; Grandpa Jiraiya, however, spent a few years there, and came back with a few kids he took in, including my Uncle Yahiko; Yahiko and Jiraiya both had a Froakie, so when my dad started his journey, it only made sense for him to be given one as his starter too, even if he's not from there."
"And now, it looks like you're adding one to your team, too. Looks like we've got a new family tradition," Kushina pointed out, chuckling.
"Thanks Sakura!" Naruto said, giving her a hug.
"No problem," Sakura responded, looking over at Sasuke.
He nodded at her, and smiled ever so lightly.
"So, what are you going to name your new Pokémon?" Kushina asked.
Naruto stopped, thinking for a few minutes. "How does Kubo sound?"
His Froakie nodded. "Froa-kie, Froakie!"
"Okay, Kubo it is!" Naruto said, patting the newest member of his team on the head.
Kushina nodded, getting up. "Yes, and that reminds me." She held out a stylish red Pokéball with black indentations on both sides.
"What kind of Pokéball is that?" Sakura asked.
"It's a Cherish Ball," Naruto said. "It's kind of like a Luxury Ball, but they're really hard to find; people normally only keep really rare Pokémon in them."
"That's right," Kushina said, "this is a Cherish Ball; Sonata's, incidentally." She smiled at her son. "You know, I was planning on letting you have Sonata; I wanted you to have a Pokémon from my homeland, after all. However, after all that's happened, I've changed my mind."
Kitsune and the fox cubs looked up, watching their trainer carefully.
Kushina went on. "I think you would have been a great trainer for Sonata, really. But, I've also taken a liking to both your new friends." She ruffled both girls' heads affectionately. "Which is why I am giving Sonata to Hinata."
Hinata became very still, holding her breath.
"Hinata, when you experienced your vision earlier, it was likely because your own innate psychic powers (which there's no denying you have, now) linked with Sonata. You see, the Fennekin line eventually evolve into Psychic-types themselves, and have some innate psychic powers even before evolving. Sonata's powers must have reached out to the nearest person who could help her when she was in trouble. And after all I've seen you do, after all the growing up you've gone through this last week, I've really come to respect you, and I think you'd make a great trainer for little Sonata here."
Hinata breathed in, turning a bright shade of red.
"Now don't try and argue," Naruto said, smiling proudly. "When my mother's made her mind, there's nothing that can change it...except when Dad gently reasons with her."
Slowly, carefully, Hinata picked up the Cherish Ball, and turned to Sonata. "D-Do you want to be my Pokémon.
"Fen!" Sonata cheered. Of course!
"Perfect!" Kushina laughed. "Besides, I'm going to give Kurama to Naruto anyway-"
"NINE!" Kitsune roared, spitting out a flame and wrapping her tails around her precious, precious baby. All Kurama could to is blush at his mother's over protectiveness.
"I'm joking, Kitsune," Kushina said, "...for now, at least." She turned to Sakura. "You're not jealous, are you?"
Sakura shook her head. "Why would I be? My baby Waterlily evolved, and I got the most adorable squishy baby Goomy in the world!"
Kushina smiled. "Good. But, how about I do you a favor and fix up your hair a bit? Right now, it's pretty uneven and messy looking. I mostly only trim Pokémon, but I can handle human haircuts just fine; it's a mom thing."
"Oh, uh, sure! That'll save me a trip to the barber shop," Sakura joked.
"Good, and after that, I can finally explain what I was saying," Kushina said. "About how I think it would best if you got out of here before those officers come looking for you!"
"It'll save time," Sasuke pointed out. "But, how do you propose we do that, Aunty?"
Kushina smiled and held up two Pokéballs. "How do you feel about flying?"
-0o0o0-
A little while later...
-0o0o0-
"This is amazing!" Sasuke shouted, loving the cold air against his face.
He was on the back of Kushina's Noivern, Komori, with Sakura behind him, holding on tight.
Flying next to them, Naruto and Hinata were riding another Pokémon of Kushina's; this one was a female Salamence named Yuno. Naruto was enjoying the ride as much as, if not more than, Sasuke.
Hinata, simply put, was not. Being up so high was terrifying in itself, but when riding a Pokémon, every time they hitched up or a gale blasted them, Hinata was sure she was going to slip off and fall!
Kushina had lent them the two Pokémon to ride to the next town, where the kids could then send the Pokémon back to their owner by the Pokémon Center's PC.
"Come guys, let's have a race!" Naruto shouted across at Sasuke and Sakura.
"Let's not!" Hinata said, gripping tight to Naruto, with her eyes firmly clamped shut. "Oh, don't look down, don't look down," she kept repeating.
"Don't worry, Hinata. My mother does this all the time!" Naruto reassured her. "She used to take me up into the air when I was a baby to help rock me to sleep! You're perfectly safe!"
Yuno growled a way that was supposed to be reassuring, Hinata couldn't help but flinch slightly. She couldn't help it; Salamence were intimidating Pokémon!
Naruto smiled and patted Yuno on the neck (he couldn't reach her head), seeming to understand her. "Yeah, Yuno, you are the best Pokémon to fly on. The rides way smoother because Salamence barely have to flap their wings to stay airborne."
"Y-yes, that's kind of nice," Hinata had to admit.
"I am so adding one of these guys to my team, first chance I get!" Sasuke vowed.
He had Komori to do a barrel roll, causing Sakura to scream, and then laugh. "AHHH-ahaha, hey, that was kind of fun!" the girl admitted, feeling her heart skip.
"Please don't do that," Hinata squeaked softly to Naruto.
"Don't worry, it's okay if you're afraid," he said back, smiling big, "we don't have do any fancy flying if you don't want to."
Hinata smiled back a little. "M-Maybe after I've gotten used to it, we can try something."
Yuno roared in approval, already wanting to take them for a summersault.