Hello, hello! Welcome back to Path of the Maelstrom! I've been working on this chapter for quite some time, so as soon as i finished it I sent it out here. Probably not good policy, I should keep it a day or two longer to proofread but . . . nah. Whatever. Once again I want to remind readers that I am currently dealing with school and thus cannot update or even write frequently. Please bear with me, and try not to flood my inbox with PMs demanding i write. Urgency is no proper muse.
Shout out to Guestspirit who gave me a cool OC to use, I think you'll know who, who will be teaching Naruto a new trick or two. Enjoy the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo and Satoshi Tijiri do.
Naruto paused on the road, pondering his Poké Nav. He bit his lip, really wanting to head to the Safari Zone and perhaps finding a few new Pokémon. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to pass it and then head to Lavaridge when he wanted to go there in the first place. Resolved, Naruto put away the Poké Nav after memorizing the route and looked to Yasu.
"Detour buddy, let's go check out the Safari Zone. Won't it be great to have some more friends?" Naruto asked with a wide grin.
"Syl." Yasu answered simply, yet the sly look in his eyes made Naruto pout.
"There's no such thing as too many friends." Naruto grumbled. "And if Professor Sarutobi complains I . . . I'll just go on a region-wide trainer beat down game and earn so much money I can buy my own ranch!"
"Syl, Sylveon." Yasu appeased as if he had all faith in the childish dream of one who could dream so big and so lofty. Honestly, Yasu had to wonder if he was spending too much time with his human best friend.
Thankfully the Safari Zone was just outside of Lillycove and Naruto had a healthy stock of Poké balls to make use of. And Naruto was finding the trail a rather interesting place with so many active Pokémon. Yasu had to act as a buffer, snarling heatedly when one of the more aggressive Mightyena would stalk close to the duo. Naruto shivered as the trail pushed them further into the darker parts of the forest. He knew where they were— close to Mt. Pyre, the burial mound of Hoenn's Pokémon, for the trainers or owners who wanted to put their Pokémon to rest in hallowed grounds. Deep in the shadows of the trees he could see darker flashes like pure night making hints of itself known— Shuppets and Duskull flitting in the twilight made by the impenetrable canopy on either side of the man-made and maintained trail. It was the one piece of modern convenience in a forest that was almost medieval.
Naruto wouldn't mind exactly, catching a Shuppet or Duskull, but none ventured close and he ventured no further past the trail. Mt. Pyre was a place he'd never been too, for his parents hadn't many Pokémon that had died under their watch. Dad certainly had none, but mom had one eevee that died when she was sixteen from poisoning and had opted to cremate the creature. So Naruto felt no compunction to go—
A screech cut through the air and Naruto jumped a foot in the air letting loose a short, shrill scream of his own. Frightened, he whipped around and looked into the shadows but after that there was no sound. Naruto stilled, the realization impacting him. No sound. No quiet rustles, no faraway calls of Pokémon . . . nothing.
"Yasu . . . let's go." Naruto breathed, hand reaching down blindly groping for Yasu. He calmed slightly when Yasu wrapped his hand in a feeler but the overwhelming urgency he felt to get out of the range of Mt. Pyre was by no means abated. Naruto walked quickly, almost jogging but not quite and Yasu followed suit.
"Sylveon?" Yasu looked up at Naruto with concern and the blonde boy managed to muster up a shaky smile for his best friend.
"It's okay Yasu. Even if . . . whatever . . . made that noise gets close I know we can beat him. Or, you can. Or any of my Pokémon. Heh, I'd love to see them try and take on Kairi right?" Naruto chuckled, the sound less nervous and more genuine from the truth of that statement. Yasu smiled and chirped in agreement, and so the two friends continued on quickly.
"VUUUU!" The screech shattered the silence again and Naruto froze, the fear debilitating as his heart stopped. When it started again it pounded too fiercely against his chest, the deep throbbing further cementing Naruto's own fear and creating a cycle. Yasu bristled, looking left and right as he determined how close or far the sound was from their location.
"H-h-hi . . ." Naruto rasped, shaking.
"Veeon," Yasu growled threateningly as he moved closer to Naruto, the side of his body rubbing against Naruto's leg in an attempt to soothe the frightened trainer.
"H-h . . . Hige!" Naruto barked, grabbing the Mightyena's Poké ball and bringing out the Mightyena. Hige looked happily at Naruto, tongue lolling out of his mouth before he took in his trainer's frightened visage. Looking at Yasu, who explained the situation in low growls, had Hige baring his fangs too and covering Naruto's other flank.
"Let's go. Let's go." Naruto ordered in a low, controlled voice as he started jogging, eyes darting around. Hige and yasu kept pace, never looking away.
"VVVVVUUUULLL!" The screech brought Naruto to a screeching halt, the fear still sharp and heavy in his mouth like blood. However, the addition of a new letter to the screech had Naruto pausing, feverishly working to overcome his fear-frozen mind. He had heard . . . pain in that last screech. Had the screeching always been pained?
"Vul?" Naruto whispered. "Vul . . . You guys heard that too right?"
"Sylveon." Yasu nodded, Hige barking in short agreement.
"The only Pokémon on Route 121 are . . . uh . . . kecleon, shuppet, duskull, oddish and their evolution gloom, zigzagoon and their evolution linoone . . . poochyena and mightyena. None of those Pokémon make a 'vul' sound, whatever the hell 'vul' is." Naruto murmured to himself. Then he gasped, eyes popping open. "Vul. Vulpix. It sounds like it's in pain. Hige— can you find that Vulpix?"
Hige barked, looking closely into the dense shadows of the trees. Cautiously, he crossed over Naruto's feet and padded into the forest on Naruto's right. Pausing, Hige waited until Yasu and Naruto were right behind him to go further.
For Naruto, it was like going straight from day to evening with no sunset in between. Everything was under night's cast despite the strong sun pounding down from above on what was once a beautiful day. Here, in the dense dark forest that surrounded the island of Mt. Pyre Naruto found no respite from darkness. It was just dark, darker, and pitch black.
"Hige, Yasu, let's see if we can't get him to help us. Call out as loud as you can okay?" Naruto whispered, too afraid in the darkness to speak much higher.
Hige nodded, howling deeply just like he had been taught. Yasu reared back his head and screamed his species name for the heavens to hear.
They waited after the first call, ear cocked and eyes closed to better focus on their hearing. The call, before a screech and now a tattered wail sounded. "VUUULLL! VUULPIX!"
Yasu twitched his head, still looking for the source but Hige locked on immediately. His head jerked up and to the side slightly, eyes trained on the shadows on something only he can see. Barking, Hige ran forward.
"Wait! Hige!" Naruto called, bounding after the dog Pokémon with Yasu in tow. It was hard, because Hige completely melded into the shadows with his coat of grey and black, so often Hige would have to bark so that Yasu could at least guide Naruto. Naruto crashed through the foliage, pushing past stubborn brush that tore at his skin and stumbling over roots that would suddenly lift from the ground. Not to mention the various branches from which leaves kissed the ground, forcing him to lower his body and lengthen his stride. His training with Gai and Lee had kept him in a better condition than he'd ever been though so he could still breathe easily.
When Naruto was able to make out Hige's jewel like eyes in the dark he slowed, Yasu finally coming to a slow stop and Naruto followed suit. Hige sat in front of something, his body sheltering what Naruto assumed to be the Vulpix. He looked down to the ground by Hige's paws and saw auburn curls twitch out of the way, signifying his correct deduction.
"Alright Hige let me get a look at him." Naruto stated softly. Hige woofed quietly and moved without another thought, allowing Naruto to see the Vulpix. His heart jumped into his throat and he bit back a moan of sadness. The Vulpix was in bad shape. A short length of rope, about two feet long, was tied around the Vulpix's throat and attached to a pike in the ground. Naruto couldn't see much, but he caught glimpses of dark, almost wet fur around what he could see of the rope. The Vulpix's fur was full of burs, streaked with dirt, and there were even scratches and bites— possibly from Pokémon having thought the Vulpix an easy meal. Naruto's heart clenched at the four dirty, matted tails it had, signifying its youth. There was a cracked bowl with dirty water, as if that was some comfort for the creature but it let Naruto know that the Vulpix was an abandoned Pokémon rather than a wild one caught in a trap.
The Vulpix froze as soon as its large eyes locked on Naruto. It froze for just a second though, and then it shook with the force of its growls and snarls, practically spitting at Naruto.
Naruto slowly raised his hands and lowered to one knee. "It's alright. It's okay." He repeated it over and over again, establishing eye contact the entire time hoping that the Vulpix could perhaps allow him closer.
He got his answer when the Vulpix tried to flame him. The Ember attack was weak and small, fluttering little dying lights like from long exhausted coals that didn't even make it to Naruto's feet. "I won't hurt you. I promise. I know words don't mean anything to you right now but you have to let me help you." Naruto murmured, careful not to show any teeth and kept his body language as open as possible.
Vulpix just snarled, body slumping a little to the side making its head tilt too as it still tried to glare at him with one eye, the other slowly coming closer to the dirt. Its little paws scrabbled at him, not to get closer but to keep him away. His tails swayed slowly, barely twitching across the dirt. Naruto sucked in a breath, the dried blood at the base of the tails and the half-healed cuts on the paws that were now visible. A burning lump in his throat makes Naruto pause for a second. "Vulpix, you will die here if you don't let me help you. And you don't want to die, I know that. If you had wanted to die, you would never have screamed out for someone to help you. Please, Vulpix. Please let me help you."
Vulpix slowed his weakened thrashing, rust color eyes burning as it looked up at Naruto. Naruto never looked away, watching Vulpix's body still. When he counted to seventy-five seconds and Vulpix had not moved, Naruto took the opportunity to shuffle a few steps closer.
Those few steps closer were enough for Vulpix's weak Ember to actually hit his shoes. Naruto hissed out of reflex despite only a warm sensation occurring from the heat of his toughened shoes and a slight charcoal streak across the fabric. "Vulpix," Naruto entreated desperately. Vulpix only snarled as fiercely as it could, hackles raising only slightly to show teeth and a sliver of gums.
"Okay . . . okay, I can't let you die like this." Naruto decided under his breath. There was too much fight, too much spirit in this Vulpix. Moving back Naruto dropped his pack to the ground and rummaged through it, pushing aside Poké balls before finding the desired blue topped capsule. Pulling out the great ball Naruto bit his lip. Vulpix might be healed of its injuries but it would also need food and water, perhaps other things that he didn't even know . . . !
Pulling out the XTransciever Naruto quickly dialed the lab in Konoha and waited anxiously for someone to pick up. He hunkered down, crossed legged but his left hand tapped impatiently on his thigh as he waited. After five rings the Professor picked up and the smile he originally had wiped off quickly at Naruto's distressed appearance. "Naruto? What's wrong?"
"Professor, there's this Vulpix . . . I . . ." Naruto decided to show Sarutobi and tilted the XTrans so show him. After a few moments he brought the device around to see it again and saw the dark look on the Professor's face. Unbidden, tears started to push at the lower lids of Naruto's eyes, fighting to spill down the lashes. "I called because— I, I know that the PC does an automatic healing for any Pokémon that are caught, but he needs so much more and—"
"Naruto." Sarutobi interrupted, looking grave but he put on a reassuring for the distressed boy. "Catch him and he will be healed. Is he aggressive?"
"He's a fighter." Naruto replied, voice wobbling along with his smile as more tears pushed up. The smile faded as he worried about its anger. "W-will that he a prob—"
"It's okay, it just means we'll sedate him." Professor Sarutobi soothed. That still didn't seem to help the young boy, however.
"But that'll make him even more distrustful." Naruto muttered disheartened, face starting to crumple but he desperately staved that off. He was not going to go crybaby on Professor Sarutobi!
The Professor nodded to his point. "Yes, it will make things a tad more difficult. However, I think that by sedating him we can peacefully insert the IV he'll need, and while sleeping we'll place him back in his Poké ball. You can trade for him then and establish a connection."
"Okay. Thank you." Naruto breathed gratefully. He picked up the Great Ball and tossed it towards the Vulpix, watching it swallow the Pokémon in a white light and then fall to the ground, clicking instantly. Looks like Vulpix had all of its fight taken out of it early on with that double Ember, Naruto mused to himself sadly. "I caught him, he should be getting to you any moment now." Naruto informed Sarutobi.
"We'll take care of it Naruto." Sarutobi promised. Before logging off Sarutobi spared the boy a sympathetic look. "Naruto, call your mother. It's the first time you've seen an abused Pokémon right? Though I wish it were rarer, your mother has handled cases like this. She'll be able to help you."
"Okay. Thank you, Professor." Naruto whispered. Sarutobi logged off, leaving the screen blank as it offered more options. Naruto paused, looking to where the Vulpix had been, the spike in the ground and the rope still there. Hige and Yasu moved close to him, Yasu leaning against his shoulder and Hige pressing his side against Naruto's leg as he lay down. Naruto ran a hand through the thick mantle along Hige's back, and then nuzzled Yasu close to him, tears starting to drop.
"I'd never . . . I'd never even dream of hurting you. Any of you." Naruto mumbled, voice thick and starting to turn hoarse as the tears came faster. "I'd rather you guys turned on me, if I ever hurt you . . ."
Naruto couldn't handle it very well. He'd always been surrounded by people who cherished Pokémon. His father as the regional champion, his mother a Pokémon Ranger who depended on Pokémon to help them achieve their tasks . . . the countless families in Konoha who had lives and businesses that revolved around Pokémon— they wouldn't hurt Pokémon like someone had hurt that young Vulpix. As a matter of fact, he'd seen bratty children who hadn't appreciated their Pokémon taken to task by those same people the odd time or two such children had cropped up. They'd stopped it before it had gotten too far, but no one had done that for this Vulpix.
"I think I need to call mom." Naruto finally said after a minute of petting his Pokémon. Sniffling he wiped away the tears though more still came, and he called his mother.
She picked up on the third ring. "Naruto!" Kushina called his name happily. Her violet eyes widened when she took in the red cheeks and tears from Naruto who looked crushed. "Naruto." She said this time with trepidation.
"Mom." Naruto shuddered. "Someone tied a Vulpix up and left it to die mom. Who does that . . . ? That's so messed up." His voice cracked under the force of a sob, and more tears came out that had him clenching his eyes shut and rubbing his eyes furiously. "It's just a four-tails mom. It's still a baby!"
"Shh," Kushina hushed him, looking close to crying herself in the face of her son's tears. "I know honey, I wish you didn't have to see that . . . but at the same time, I am so glad it was you who found that Vulpix. You are good to your Pokémon and I am so proud of you for that. That Vulpix is going to be in good hands, should it choose to stay with you. Is it with the Professor, did you call him?"
"Yeah. It only had a bowl of dirty water, so Professor said he would sedate it and give the Vulpix an IV. It was aggressive— weak, but defiant until the end." Naruto chuckled shakily, wiping at his eyes once more. "Mom . . . I still don't understand."
"That's because I didn't try to explain it." Kushina sighed. "It's a sad fact of life Naruto that not everyone acts with common sense or even a shred of decency. They'll kick a Pichu and give it about a much thought as kicking a pebble. Or even worse, they'll kick a Pichu and be happy about it. Those are the worst Naruto. People who cause pain for their own pleasure. And as much as I wish you'd never have to meet someone like that or recognize a situation like that it's a silly wish because it's out there and you need to recognize it."
"How'd it get this far though? Why didn't he or she just give up the Vulpix normally, let it free? That person didn't have to go that far! Someone should have stopped this." Naruto almost whimpered, clearing his throat.
Kushina sighed, agreeing with his statement but knowing the harsh truth forced her to break that growing idea. "As nice as that it would be, it's just not possible. Like I said, some people don't operate with common decency or common sense. And there isn't much we can do. We can't just take people's Pokémon because we have a strong suspicion that they are abusing that animal. You need concrete evidence, and even then sometimes the Pokémon is still given back to the owner if the owner shows sufficient remorse because trainers are allowed a second chance on the rare occasion that perhaps the trainer was just going through a rough patch and normally isn't like that."
Naruto looked defeated. "So it's just no use." He mumbled.
"No," Kushina said strongly, her sharp tone making Naruto look up in surprise. "It is not a crime, nor is it useless, to alert authorities if you do believe so. Even with just a tip off, the authorities will investigate. If they find evidence then you just helped a Pokémon leave a bad situation and if they don't, hell, at least you tried baby and you know you did what you could. Now in the case of this Vulpix, you've saved it and now it has the chance to start anew in life. And that's the greatest gift you could have ever given it Naruto. Believe me."
Naruto said nothing, taking his mother's words to heart and feeling lighter. Kushina took a good look at Naruto and nodded in satisfaction when Naruto started to calm down, the flush fading from his face. "Now, get up and keep moving Naruto. It's the best thing you can do for everyone involved."
Naruto, Hige, and Yasu finally reach the small town that holds the Safari Zone. Well, it isn't even really a town. There's a Pok Center for weary travelers and a few provisions store for the trainer on the go, but that's about it. More accurately it's . . . an outpost maybe? Whatever.
Naruto, still a bit subdued about the Vulpix, hopes that the Safari Zone will significantly pick up his mood. Taking a deep breath, he looks down at his two companions. "Do you guys want to take a break, or keep going?"
Hige barked and looked straight forward, noise slightly pointed up. Yasu smiled and nodded to the Mightyena, so Naruto smirked and said, "I take that as a forward march?"
The trio walked on, following the signs and banners on the light posts that boasted the Safari Zone. A few people milled about, most trainers that looked fairly put out. Was the Safari Zone difficult or something?
"Hey kid, you aren't planning on trying the Safari Zone anytime soon I hope?" A teenaged girl asked Naruto with dry humor, blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail and pink painted lips quirked in a wry grin.
"Yeah actually." Naruto replied, surprised the girl was talking to him. She was the kind of girl Kurama would flirt with, wearing makeup and snug jeans. Naruto wondered privately if she didn't have to take several breaks throughout a day's walk from the tight fit of those jeans. Surely they couldn't be comfortable?
The girl smirked and shook her head, blonde hair swinging like a pendulum in its high ponytail. "Sorry to burst your bubble but the Safari Zone is closed for renovations. They're creating new sections for a special event that's happening in another two months. They're bringing in Pokémon from other regions now, Unova and Sinnoh."
"Aw man, two months." Naruto grumbled, frowning deeply. Well there was no saving this day. "Thanks for telling me."
"No problem kid." The girl waved, walking away without another look. Shrugging, Naruto looked at Hige and Yasu and said, "Let's just keep moving. I just want to get to Lavaridge as soon as possible."
Both looking as downtrodden as their trainer, the trio trudged along out of the town, bypassing the Safari Zone which was currently blocked with a large gate, posters saying "Pardon our dust! We're building a wilder Safari!" plastered along it.
"Man this blows." Naruto muttered. "Okay . . . it'll take us another . . . week to get to Lavaridge. I've got to stock up on some food for us all, and then we can go."
Naruto walked into the Pokémon Store, quickly picking out his regular brands of Pokémon food, and then grabbing a few extra potions and antidotes. Once they were paid for, Naruto moved further up the block and entered the camping store. The camping store had lots of non-perishable items that would hold him over, and after that he went to the grocery and bought a dozen apples, snack bars, and indulged in a bag of chips. With that done, Naruto herded his group out of town and turned them onto Route 121. They'd cut through the forest once that route ended and go straight to route 119, pass the Desert Ruins and then finally get onto Route 112 heading straight to Lavaridge.
Naruto blew out a breath, walking down the path with Hige on his left and Yasu on his right. "Feeling a little lonely." Naruto mused to himself with a small smile, looking at his two four-legged friends. "Guys, how about adding to the party?"
He pulled out his Poké balls and called out some of the others. Hime, Aoi, Kazuki, Ran, Hige and Yasu now gathered around him. Pulling out Kairi on this small route path would be an endeavor in frustration, so he held back from that action. "You guys, I want to tell you something." Naruto started softly, smiling at Hime who turned her head away but slunk a little closer to him while lowering her snout. Putting a hand on the smooth hide, he rubbed back and forth in slow relaxing movements.
"A couple hours ago, we found a Vulpix tied up in the forest. He's gone through a lot, so I want you guys to always be on your best behavior when you're around him okay? I think you'll have an easier time of getting to know him than I will, but don't crowd him and don't pry okay?"
His Pokémon gave answers of agreement in their various calls, all looking at him with bright eyes. Naruto looks over them all, and picks out things he'll have to do over the course of the journey. Ran will want a good brushing at least every other day, and he wondered what else he could help train her in . . . she was the Pokémon he spent the least amount of time with, unfortunately. Naruto resolved to fix that, mentally placing Ran as his number one priority in bonding over the course of the journey. Hime would train in a few water attacks and he'd use her in his upcoming battle, judging her eagerness and competency in gym battles. Otherwise, she'd just be a contest Pokémon. Kazuki would probably just compete with Hige as the two were so fond of doing, judging the better in agility and speed. Aoi could perhaps help Hime in training the water jutsu, and would work on honing the attacks he learned recently at Muscle Island. Yasu . . . man, he really needed to find some TMs for Yasu.
"Well! Let's go!" Naruto cheered, scooping up Ran and marching forward. His Pokémon crowed and yowled, prancing and jostling around him. Already Kazuki had lightly butted his head into Hige's hindquarters and the two were off playing tag in the trees but still following the group.
"Hime, let's start working on an attack." Naruto offered. "Aoi, can you help her with Water Gun? Then when we stop for a break Hime, you'll work on wrap by wrapping your body around trees."
"Milotic." Hime seemed to sigh, head tilting upward and her eyes half-closed.
"A real haughty princess." Naruto mumbled in amusement, shaking his head as Aoi uses a weak Bubble to get Hime's attention. Looking down at the Skitty in his arms he grinned and cooed, "Ran~"
Ran mewled, rubbing her face into Naruto's chest. She hardly ever got to spend time with her trainer, and had yet to go on a grand adventure with him like Kazuki, Yasu or even the baby Yume had!
"How about it Ran, from now until Fortree you and I will stick together. Sounds fun?" Naruto asked, scratching her ears.
Ran nodded happily, the large pad of her tail thumping into Naruto's lower ribs and forcing the boy to bite his lip. The sensation kind of tickled.
A few hours later the group were settled down for lunch, on the intersection of route 120 and route 121. Naruto sprawled out on the grass, Ran slumbering atop his stomach after her meal. His other Pokémon were either eating or doing their own thing, Hime though having been told to practice Wrap was sulking as she encircled a tree trunk. Kazuki slumbered beneath a tree, Yasu and Hige curled up just behind Naruto and allowing the blonde to rest his head on the Slyveon's silky smooth side. Aoi tottered around idly, walking off his meal.
Naruto's XTrans rang, and one blue eye opened lazily to look at his bag. Inhaling deeply, Naruto started to shift, but Ran suddenly sprang off his stomach and ran to the bag, taking its handle in her mouth and dragging it over. Naruto smiled at her and scratched her ears with a soft coo, and then took out the device. Seeing his father's name on the screen he answered the call. "Hey dad!"
"Naruto," Minato greeted warmly, smiling widely as he took in the Slyveon pillow and the dark lump Hige made just behind Yasu. "Taking an afternoon nap?"
"We just had lunch." Naruto explained, coughing a little when Ran jumped back onto his stomach. "So what's up?"
Minato shook his head. "Nothing really. I'm here in La Rousse city, but I wanted to check up on you. Your mom called earlier and told me what happened."
"Oh," Naruto said softly. "About Vulpix?"
"Yeah." Minato answered just as quietly. "It was awful wasn't it? I'm sorry you had to see that, but the sad fact is that these situations happen far too often."
"Have you ever had to . . . confront a situation like that?" Naruto asked, a little uncomfortable thinking about it.
Minato nodded, a grim look on his face. "Yes. More than I'd like. My first time was when I was a trainer, a year older than you in fact. Instead of a Vulpix it was a Moewth and, unfortunately, though your mother and I found him alive we were still too late. I have been happily informed by Professor Sarutobi though that this is not the case with Vulpix and that he should have a full recovery. Another time, was a month before I became Champion. Some rich widow abusing the Pokémon of her late husband, taking out her frustration about the marriage on the poor thing. Authorities were able to take away her Pokémon and she had her trainer's license revoked, so that story at least had a happy ending."
"But not all of them had a happy ending?" Naruto assumed.
Minato gave him a commiserating look. "Life doesn't always come guaranteed with a happy ending my son."
Naruto sighed. "I know. I just . . . everyone loves Pokémon dad. At least that's what I thought."
"I know Naru. Just remember that the people you know cherish Pokémon as much as you do, and that these people who truly love Pokémon outnumber those who would harm Pokémon ten to one." Minato reminded him. "So where to now? I assume you'll be looking to fight Nagi now?"
"I'm skipping Fortree and heading to Lavaridge, actually." Naruto informed Minato. "I thought about doing that, but since I already had Aoi and Kairi with me I decided to take a detour of sorts. Besides, I heard your ero-sensei was hanging around there."
"Yeah? You wanted to visit Jiraiya-sensei's?" Minato chuckled. "He'll be happy to see you. I'll call him and say you're heading that way so he suddenly doesn't take another spur of the moment world tour or something crazy like that."
"Please do." Naruto laughed. "Okay, I think I've had a long enough break. Thanks for calling dad."
"Anytime Naruto. Bye." Minato hung up, and Naruto put away the device, rousing his Pokémon and ushering them back onto the road.
His Pokémon were once again walking all around him, and now that Naruto was actually passing by a few trainers on the way from Fortree or heading towards Lilycove he earned strange looks from nearly all of them. As a matter of fact, Naruto was quite surprised no one had yet challenged him to a battle because of all the Pokémon he had out— but then he figured it was for that exact reason, that no one challenged him to a battle.
"Hey you!"
Until now that is. Naruto turned around and faced a young woman with green hair, clad in orange and yellow, who smiled at him. He took in her confident stance and her eyes that were trained on Hime. "Yes?" he replied.
"That Milotic . . . she looks very strong. She's one of the larger ones that I've seen. You probably took good care of her as a Feebas, and trained her hard right?" The woman continued, before chuckling and ruffling her hair in a nervous gesture. "Sorry I'm interrogating you but I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Yaeko, nice to meet you!"
Naruto smiled. "Not at all, I'm always happy when one of my Pokémon are complimented. My Milotic Hime only evolved a short time ago. My name is Naruto, nice to meet you as well."
Yaeko smiled. "I only spoke up because, I have a Milotic myself. I was hoping that you'd agree to a battle with your Milotic."
Naruto pursed his lips and looked at Hime, who trained her eyes on the new trainer now with something akin to eagerness. "Well . . ."
"I know you said she was just evolved, but this could be a chance for you to see what she could be with more training." Yaeko enticed him. Naruto took note of her use of words and smirked.
"Like it's a sure thing your Milotic will win?" Naruto asked with a grin.
Yaeko smirked back. "Come on. I'll just use my Milotic, but I'll let you use two pokemon."
"You got yourself a deal!" Naruto yelled, and the two faced off on opposite ends.
Yaeko grinned widely and tossed out her Poké ball. "Go, Trident!"
Her Milotic appeared in front of her, tail loosely coiled in front of its body.
Naruto smirked and held his hand out in a gesture of invitation. "Field is yours, Hime."
Hime slowly moved in front of Naruto, her snout as ever tilted up in a subtle, snooty acknowledgement of her opponent.
"Hime use Wrap!" Naruto started off the battle. Hime shot forward, showcasing her speed as she zipped towards her opponent and leapt to Wrap around the other Milotic.
"Aqua Tail!" Yaeko responded. Her Milotic's fan-like tail was surrounded by a swirl of water that it whipped forwards toward Hime as she was mid-leap and couldn't dodge the attack. Hime took the Aqua Tail with a painful cry, flung to the side and hitting the ground hard.
"While she's down Trident, use Twister!" Yaeko ordered.
"Ah man!" Naruto groaned as the Milotic whipped itself until a tornado formed around it, and the Tornado made an unfaltering path towards Hime despite her trying to dodge it. Hime was sucked into the vortex. Naruto watched anxiously as the tornado stayed for a few moments, before Hime shot out and hit the ground so hard she created a furrow as she slid for a couple yards, and then shortly after the twister faded and Trident dropped down gracefully.
"Hime," Naruto muttered worriedly, looking at his injured Milotic. Hime shivered briefly, eyes opening just enough to glare at her foe. "Captivate!"
Hime made an approving sound, beginning the process to temporarily ensnare her foe as pink hearts erupted from her body and headed towards Trident. It made it so helpful that Trident had already been looking into her eyes with a passive interest that had annoyed the female Milotic.
The hearts struck true and Trident's body instantly loosened, eyes drooping in his loopy infatuation. Hime slowly rose, knowing the infatuation would give her some advantage now. She was determined not to lose!
Yaeko nodded approvingly. "A nice ploy. But it'll take more than that to stop Trident! Go, use Wrap!"
Naruto cursed, the infatuated Milotic would certainly heed a command that got him closer to his object of temporary affection. Trident moved forward at a fast rate, but not as fast as before with his mind hampered with Captivate. However, he had trained Hime even as a Feebas in agility. "Dodge it girl!"
Hime swung and twirled her body right under Trident's leap, Naruto jumping away to get out of the Milotic's way once Hime wasn't there to impede Trident's leap. "Now, use Water Gun!"
Hime spat out a pressurized stream of water that hit Trident righ tin his back, sending the Milotic down to the ground. Trident glared at the betrayal, though the attack helped him start battling against Captivate.
"Turn the tables and use Captivate Trident!" Yaeko yelled. Trident sent his own hearts to Hime, who was struck due to her being surprised by his quick recovery. Immediately she was stricken by a new infatuation for Trident and she weaved slightly.
"Snap out of it Hime!" Naruto cried.
"Too late, Trident use Water Pulse!" Yaeko finished. Trident moved forward as he prepared the attack, and when it hit Hime she was sent tumbling snout over tail, and when she finally stopped she was knocked out.
Naruto sighed, he knew it was unlikely Hime would win with her limited attack set so fresh from evolving but he really did not like losing. "Your Milotic is crazy strong. I see what you meant by what Hime could be."
"Right?" Yaeko nodded, patting Trident when the Milotic came back to her side. "So, bring out you final Pokémon."
"Hmm . . ." Naruto looked behind him to his crowd of creature friends, deciding who would take on the Milotic. Finally, he looked at his Absol. "Kazuki, it's show time."
The Absol perked up, this would be his first official battle, and the first with his trainer. Kazuki loped forward, taking his place in front of Naruto and had his eyes trained on the Milotic.
"So, let's start?" Yaeko assumed.
"Yeah!" Naruto laughed. "Kazuki, Quick Attack!"
Kazuki barked, and the blur of white that approached Trident and Yaeko struck them dumb with silence. Naruto smirked as the absol hit the Milotic directly, the Milotic crumpling like a leaf as he absorbed the full damage. He had trained Kazuki just as fiercely in speed and agility as he had Yasu before the evolution, and the many games of tag between his Absol and Mightyena meant that Kazuki was the second-fastest Pokémon he had.
"Trident!" Yaeko cried in astonishment. "Dragon Tail!"
"Dodge and Slash!" Naruto countered. Trident shot forward with his tail blazing with the powerful dragon attack, but Kazuki was too swift as he nimbly sidestepped the incoming tail and hit back with a remarkable slash that sent a scarlet trail on the side of Trident. Trident wailed with pain as he was sent back, and with a final whimper the Milotic was knocked out.
"Sorry if that was a little overkill at the end." Naruto apologized, wincing at the bleeding cut.
Yaeko returned her Pokémon and shook her head with a small smile. "No, it's a battle. Your Absol is really strong, and you won fair and square. Thanks for the battle kid."
"No, thank you. Hime's first defeat as a Milotic will definitely put a fire in her belly to grow strong." Naruto returned with a large smile. The two shook hands, exchanged their rewards, and then parted.
Naruto and his group reached the edge of route 121 by nightfall, and made camp in a cozy thicket, Naruto enmeshed in a pile of Pokémon who sought him out as both pillow and blanket, and who in turn became his pillow or blanket. Naruto didn't even need to pull out his tent, and instead slept in a warm pile of fur and scales, a wide smile plastered on his face in his sleep. Above the trees, the pitch black silhouette of Mt. Chimney sluggishly blew smoke into the sky in the distance.
It was early morning, and Naruto was only six hours away from Lavaridge, when another interesting event occurred. Naruto had put away everyone, and Yasu trotted loyally by his side. Naruto, spirits much improved after the productivity of the day before and the new fire in Hime's belly, was traipsing along and humming a song from the Blacklight band. He scrolled through his Pokedex, idly viewing all the Pokémon he'd come across so far and thinking about the Pokémon he would have liked to catch had the Safari Zone been up. Though he wasn't sure about the new Pokémon they were promising would come in, he knew the Safari Zone had several very interesting specimens. Girafarigs, Pikachus that he had yearned over for so long, Houndooms too! In front of him, Ran and Yasu playfully took snaps at each other's legs.
Yasu's head swiveled to the side facing the forest, and he growled threateningly. Naruto stopped and looked to the forest, eyes narrowed. "What is it buddy?"
Ran hissed, fur brstling just as Yasu tensed, body coiling aggressively. "Sylveon!"
Naruto watched the forest again, but a sound of breaking branches and the growls of a Pokémon made him look several feet ahead of them. A Houndoom broke from the trees in an agile leap. It looked up ahead at the trail for a split second, then just as quickly searched back. Once he caught sight of Naruto and Yasu he snarled viciously and padded two steps forward. Soon his trainer jumped out of the bushes as well, a Team Magma grunt carrying a bag filled with something.
"Hey!" The young man shouted upon seeing Naruto and Yasu. His angry expression changed though when he saw Naruto, and he smirked cruelly. "Hey, the Champion's kid. Think I'll send a message to daddy about sticking his nose where it doesn't belong!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds like you're itching for a fight. I'll be more than happy to oblige if that's the case." Naruto smirked, cracking his knuckles. Yasu leapt to the front, spoiling for a good fight.
"Go Houndoom! Use Smog!" The grunt yelled. The Houndoor barked, and then blew out a breath of poisonous gas headed straight for the young duo.
"Fairy Wind Yasu!" Naruto replied. Yasu took in a deep breath and then blew it out, the pure and sparkling air rushing towards the Houndoor and Grunt. The duo leaped to the sides to escape the noxious cloud but weren't out for the count.
"Houndoom go in and use Thunder Fang, sink in to that Sylveon!" The grunt ordered. His Houdoom's maws opened revealing very sharp teeth. Suddenly the front fangs, the longest of its teeth started to crackle with electricity, in a sense almost dripping with it. Houndoom started to run, and Naruto was shocked. It was so fast!
"Yasu move—" Yasu was already running even before he finished saying his name, but it was a close call. The Houndoom was nearly as fast as the Sylveon, and the Houndoom was also persistent. When he missed he just turned his upper body sharply on his front paws, his lower half swinging aorun in midair and nearly overturning the Houndoom. He tried three more times to get to Yasu, each time a close call.
"Yasu get some distance and use Swift!" Naruto cried. Yasu leapt back and spat out a hasty swift that the Houndoom avoided but it did cause him to dance away slightly.
"Houndoom use Inferno!" The Magma grunt cried. The Houndoom's mouth opened and a column of fire erupted from the canine Pokémon. Yasu nimbly danced away from the heat, growling at the Houndoom.
"Kid, you're a real pain." The Magma grunt growled at Naruto.
"Oh such a shame, and here I was thinking only good things about your Pokémon." Naruto grinned, but his confidence was false. Since when did grunts have Pokémon this good?! Or did this particular grunt hit the jackpot?
"Your false bravado is admirable, but this game ends here. Let's go!" The Magma grunt threw out another Pokeball, revealing a Camerupt.
Naruto snorted. "Hey now, two on one is definitely unfair!" Just as he was about to put Ran in the game, a new voice made itself known.
"The kid's right! So how about I step in. Go, Chrome!" A purple Pokémon zipped right by Naruto and fluttered in the air just above Yasu, his face twisted in a horrifying grimace that actually made the Camerupt flinch.
"I call that, Scary Leer." The young man that stepped up by Naruto had an easy grin on his face, but his eyes were hard and dead on the Magma grunt. The boy was several years older than Naruto, looking about sixteen, with dirty blonde close cropped hair and hazel eyes. Rolling back his shoulders and bringing attention to the eye-catching turquoise hoodie he wore, the boy pointed at himself. "My name's Gale. I'll be this young man's partner for the battle."
"Wha—?!" The Magma grunt spluttered. "That's not fair!"
"Oh, and you calling out another Pokémon is?" Gale scoffed. "Poison Ray, Chrome, on the Houndoom stat!"
Naruto, breaking out of his surprise orders Yasu. "Yasu use Swift on the Camerupt!"
Chrome the Crobat flew forward at an astonishingly fast rate, its eyes glowing purple as a flash of bright light covers it, forcing the Houndoom to close its eyes. Chrome's wings glow hot purple and it slashed forward, the poison attack hitting the Houndoom and making it howl as it buckled.
Yasu spat out a shower of stars in the Swift attack that hit the lumbering Camerupt who stumbled but looked more dopey than hurt.
"Don't falter you mutt!" The grunt snarled. "Crush that damn thing! Camerupt burn that Sylveon to a crisp!"
"Not so fast, Acrobatic Cutter!" Gale returns cheerfully, hands in his pockets. Chrome shoots forward in a blue of movement that nimbly circles and flips around both the Houndoom and the Camerupt, its glowing wings sharp and cutting as it attacks both Pokémon.
"Argh!" The grunt screamed. Returning his two Pokémon he called out a Swellow that immediately dug its claws into his shoulders. As he was carried away he cried, "You'll regret getting in Team Magma's way you brats!"
Naruto and Gale looked up at the swiftly disappearing figure, both wondering what just happened. Naruto sighed. "He's one of the stupider grunts I've met. Hey, thanks for helping me out there."
Gale chuckled sheepishly. "Well it's not necessary. I saw you had plenty of Pokémon but . . . I just wanted to teach that guy a lesson about the proper code of conduct for battles."
"My name is Naruto by the way, sorry for the late introduction." Naruto introduced himself, holding out a hand. Gale smiled and shook it.
"Nice to meet you Naruto. As you know my name is Gale and this is my partner Chrome." Gale gestured to the Crobat that had now flown back to them and had settled on Yasu's back. Yasu looks over his shoulder at the Crobat and smiled, extending a feeler from his bow to greet the new Pokémon. Crobat waved a couple wings back. Ran pouted up at the Crobat who was taking Yasu's attention. Angry, she sprinted towards Naruto and jumped up to tap her ball, disappearing inside.
"Ran." Naruto sighed. "Don't worry about it, she's just jealous they're getting along so fast." Naruto assured Gale, who sent him a questioning look.
"What friendly guys, eh?" Gale noted. Naruto laughed, nodding his head.
"Hey you said partner. Are you, by any chance, a Ranger?" Naruto asked Gale.
"I'm apprenticed under one. I'm working with the Rangers but I hope to one day become a Frontier Brain!" Gale cheerfully described.
"Cool! My mom's a Ranger, that's why I asked." Naruto offered. "Her name is Kushina Uzumaki."
"Whoa, Uzumaki-san is your mother?!" Gale laughed, eyes wide in amazement. "I've only seen her once, but her and her Samurott Umi are super fierce."
"Believe me I know." Naruto joked. "So what brings you out here to Lavaridge?"
"Oh, I'm just here on a little vacation really." Gale answered. "The hot springs here are awesome, and some good old fresh mountain air is always great. Well, the days when Mt. Chimney isn't making ash fall."
"Yeah. I'm here to take on the Gym leader." Naruto told Gale.
"Cool! I hear the Gym Leader is pretty fierce. She's starting to train up a replacement though, I hear her cousin Tayuya might take over. You might just be battling her." Gale informed Naruto. "Well hey, you want to go to the town together with me?"
"Sure!" Naruto smiled enthusiastically. "Besides, I want to ask you all about your combo moves."
"Oh those." Gale chuckled. The two started walking and after a couple of minutes Gale starts to explain. "Well I don't know, being a Ranger you only have the one Pokémon and with all your focus and energy spent on that one Pokémon you start thinking about new and crazy ways to strengthen them. Of course, my combo moves haven't really caught fire with other Rangers but they do acknowledge the strategic advantage of them."
"I know what you mean. I mean," Naruto corrected to explain. "I'll use code words for my Pokémon that they'll know to use a certain move. And my Kirlia who I use for contests, she's becoming popular for her mix of Psychic and Magical Leaf. I call it Magical Leaves and she creates shapes out of the leaves with them."
"Yeah! See that sounds so awesome." Gale congratulated, looking pumped up now that someone seemed to share the same idea as him. And, I'll be honest I haven't tried the whole code words for attacks thing. What do you do?"
"Well like in my first Gym Battle I told Yasu to play chase, which basically meant to be swift and agile, ducking hits and agitating the opponent." Naruto replied.
Gale nodded. "That's cool. My combos are mixtures of two attacks, obviously— like Acrobatic Cutter? It's just Acrobatics but the natural slash factor of the attack is amplified when I add in Air Cutter. Scary Leer was as explained before a combination of Scary Face and Leer that serves to be twice as effective of shaking up most opponents. There's plenty of others too, since I added a few TM moves for Chrome."
"Like?" Naruto prodded.
Gale rubbed his chin, grimacing a little at the prickly stubble. "Well like . . . Acrobatic Shock. A combination of the two attacks Acrobatics and Venoshock. Then there's Sonic Astonishment, a combination of—"
"Astonish the Ghost-type move and Supersonic." Naruto finished, and Gale grinned at the boy.
"Yup." Gale said simply.
"That sounds so cool. Hey, do you think you could help me come up with a couple of combo moves? Like, with Yasu for example. Then that could help give me a foundation for making up other combo moves for my other Pokémon."
"You know what, since you've been such an avid listener I'll do you one better!" Gale proposed, stopping in his tracks. "I'll teach Yasu and one of the Pokémon you're using in your battle!"
"Really?! Sweet!" Naruto crowed.
"Alright, let's go into the forest a little further and find a space to train." Gale suggested. The two stepped off of the path and walked further into the brightly lit forest, bug Pokémon and other small critters scurrying away from the intruders. After twenty minutes they found a good spot with a log that they could sit on or set their stuff by.
"Okay!" Gale clapped his hands together. "So we've got Yasu and . . . your next Pokémon?"
Naruto looked around. The space was far too small and closed in for Kairi, so . . . "Aoi, come out!" He called out his Azumarill, who bounced in place like a boxer before a fight.
"Oh water Pokémon, someone's done their homework." Gale pointed out humorously. "Okay— Aoi, right? And Yasu, front and center."
Chrome fluttered off of Yasu and flew to Gale, perching on the blonde's head. Yasu and Aoi strolled up to the front, facing Gale.
"Okay. Let's look at Yasu first." Gale took out his Pokedex, a customized black and blue with a design that told Naruto he didn't get it from Hoenn.
"That's a new design." Naruto commented. Gale looked at his Pokedex and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement.
"Oh, I'm from Kanto originally." Gale replied. He scanned the Sylveon and hummed. "Wow, you're really high level Yasu. Isn't this your first journey Naruto?"
"Yeah, but he was with me for two years prior." Naruto replied.
"Far out." Gale cocked his head to the side, perusing the list of attacks the Pokémon knew. "Does he know any moves from a TM?"
"Just Toxic for now. I've got a couple of others but just gave everyone who could learn it Toxic." Naruto answered.
"Sweet, sweet . . . okay. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of a combo move using Iron Tail and Tail Whip— Iron Whip you know? Just, once, twice, thrice if you can manage it hit the opponent with the iron tail. For another you could use . . . oh! Swift Wind. Use Swift and then use Fairy Wind to increase the speed of the attack, or the spread of it even. It might even be possible to combine Toxic and Draining Kiss, you know line your lips with the toxin and make it into a Toxic Kiss."
"That's great!" Naruto gasped. "Yasu, you want to start working on Iron Whip now?"
"Syl!" Yasu cheered, running back to Naruto. Gale looked over at the two bouncing around, and laughed lightly.
"Okay . . . Aoi." Gale scanned the Pokémon and scanned the list of attacks. "You know quite a few don't you? Okay . . ."
"Anything good?" Naruto asked, seeing the look on Gale's face.
"It's just that water moves have so much versatility, so it's fun thinking up combos for them."
"Chrome's got some water combos?" Naruto asked dubiously.
Gale shook his head, looking embarrassed. "No it's just . . . kind of a thing I do when I'm bored. I see people's Pokémon and think up combos they could do. Okay so Aoi. You could do something like . . . You know Azumarill can be taught Iron Tail so long as you have a Pokémon that can teach them? So if he learns Iron Tail, Iron Whip can most certainly apply. Aqua Tail combined with Tail Whip, makes Aqua Whip and you can hold on to that attack even longer than you can Iron Whip and it'll be a much more versatile attack. You could combine Water Sport with any number of attacks, so— Rollout Sport, would be pretty awesome."
"Wow, you really do like water combos!" Naruto laughed.
"Like I said, water is just so versatile!" Gale laughed with Naruto. "So, I think trying to learn Aqua Whip before your battle would be great. Try this out— take today to get a feel for the new moves and then tomorrow your gym battle may commence!"
Naruto could instantly tell when he was close to Lavaridge— anyone could, really. Mt. Chimney always churned out thick, dark smoke that billowed up towards the sky, and on some days ash would fall lightly from the sky. This was one of those days, he surmised dryly, as he covered his nose and mouth with a napkin. He had returned his Pokémon into their capsules, and wrapped one of his extra shirts around Yasu's snout as well. Oh, he knew Pokémon had a hardier body than humans did and could take the ash around Mt. Chimney with little problem but he still did it anyway for his own peace of mind.
Perhaps morbidly, the ash fall of Lavardige reminded him of a creepy horror movie he watched a year ago before leaving home, when his parents hadn't been home to change the channel. Speaking of his family, he'd have to call them as soon as he entered the Pokémon Center. Naruto bypassed the old wooden sign welcoming all to Lavaridge, the sign only a couple years younger than the town itself.
On his right side Gale and Chrome both had cloth masks fixed to their faces. "On some days," Gale suddenly spoke up. "When the ash fall is particularly bad and inhibits their way of life they'll send out a special 'Aerosol Squad.' Basically some Pidgeotto's and Swellow's to keep the large amounts of ash away from the town. It's about 85% effective, so they say. They just only bring the Pokémon out on really bad days because, as you can imagine, that gets exhausting."
"I'll bet." Naruto murmured. "So, what will you do now? I'm heading straight to the gym."
"Um . . . the hot springs can wait. I'm eager to see you battle actually." Gale admitted with a laugh. "Then from here, it's on to A-B-C Islands to meet up with my mentor."
They walk to the Gym, a spiral tower that is visible above every other building. It slightly resembles Mt. Chimney. Naruto opened the door and walked in, Gale and Chrome traipsing behind. Naruto looks around the hall he enters, and at the end of it is a set of large double doors, no doubt leading to the gym field. Naruto and company head towards the doors and knock on it.
"Hello?" Naruto called loudly, giving the door four sharp raps. "I'd like to battle the gym leader!"
A grinding, cranking sound starts a minute after he speaks, and the two boys jump back form the door where the sounds originate from. Suddenly the door opens, and from the crack a deep red light shines forth. As the doors open wider, the beam of light grows as well, starting to flicker and shift, creating undulating shadows upon the floor.
The doors are fully open, revealing a room of stone. Stone walls, of varying shades of brown make up the walls, and large torches are fixed to the wall, and upon the ceiling warm lights, slightly dimmed to provide slightly better illumination. At the end of the field, stands two young women. One Naruto knows, the Gym Leader Asuna. The other, smaller and looking slightly younger is probably Tayuya.
"Welcome to the Lavaridge Gym!" Flannery steps forward with a welcoming wave. Her slightly baggy jeans drag on the floor at her heels despite a scarf tying it around her hips, and her midriff baring top makes Naruto slightly envious of how cool she must be in the very warm room. She pauses, looking closely at Naruto. "Hey you look really familiar . . ."
"I'd hope so the number of times you ended up babysitting me Asuna." Naruto laughed sheepishly.
Asuna's eyes lit up and she started walking forward, much to Tatyuya's dismay as the younger redhead scowled fiercely. "Naruto! Whoa it's been so long! That's right, I nearly forgot you were going to start your journey this year. How's Kurama? And your mother and father?"
"Kurama is still allowing the idiot duo to give him headaches. Mom is working now, and Dad is fine too. But, there's a bit of trouble in the region now . . ." Naruto explained, returning the hug Asuna gives him.
Asuna nodded grimly. "I'd hoped Team Magma and Team Aqua had just left the region totally. But, enough serious talk! Did I hear you say something about battling young man?"
"You did." Naruto affirmed.
Asuna pouted. "Oh, so you don't want to just visit me?"
"Can we get to the battling now?!" Tayuya bursts out, scowling even more fiercely when Naruto and Asuna turn to stare at her. The embarrassment of her blurted exclamation makes her harsher as she speared the supposed culprit for her error with a ferocious glare. "Not like he'll even win anyway."
Naruto scoffed, challenging the girl with a glare of his own. "You talk real big don't you? I believe I'm here to battle the Gym Leader, not the Gym Freeloader."
Tayuya roared. "What did you just say you little sh—"
"Tayuya!" Asuna snaps, making the girl growl as she snaps her mouth closed with a click of her teeth.
"Whoa, someone needs chill." Gale whispered to Chrome, who made a strange scratchy sound in agreement.
Asuna sighs, a beleaguered expression on her face. "The both of you are hot-heads. Maybe it will be best to let you battle Tayuya for your Gym Challenge. She's quite good you know, I've trained her up quite a bit."
Naruto eyed Tayuya who, judging by her evil grin and hot glare trained on him, enjoyed the idea far too much. "Well, if it's your word who am I to say otherwise?"
Asuna smiles brightly. "Wonderful! I'm so glad you'll go along with it. I'll be the referee for this match then."
"Sounds good to me." Naruto agreed, smiling at Tayuya who merely glared and scoffed in a disgusted manner before taking up her position. Naruto sighed, taking up his own place as Gale and Chrome moved up to the stands. Yasu sat beside Naruto, who fingered his Poké balls.
Asuna stood off to the sidelines, and held up a hand. "This is a battle between Trainee-leader Tayuya and trainer Naruto—" Asuna broke off, looking curiously to Naruto. "Did your parents ever work out that last name thing?"
"Ugh." Naruto groaned and shook his head, making Asuna laugh.
"Oh boy. Well, the battle between trainee-leader Tayuya and trainer Naruto Uzumaki will now begin. The Trainee-leader will use three Pokémon and is not allowed substitutions while the trainer can use all six at his disposal and use substitutions. The battle will now begin!" Asuna's hand slashes down like a flag, and Tayuya is off like a shot.
"Go! Meg!" Tayuya's first Pokémon is familiar to Naruto.
"You gave her Meg?" Naruto asked Flannery, throwing out his first Pokémon. "We've got work to do Aoi!"
"Azumarill!" Aoi shouts challengingly, smirking confidently.
"You think type advantage is going to help you?!" Tayuya shouted. "Meg, use Smog!"
The Slugma opened her mouth and spewed out a thick dark cloud that moves toward Aoi. Meg was no longer visible.
Naruto frowned. "Aoi, use Water Sport." Aoi shoots streams of water into the air above them, the water becoming vapor that adds weight to each breath everyone takes.
Tayuya growls at the clever tactic. So he reduced the effectiveness of fire-type moves, that still leaves me with a few other things! "Meg, use Rock Throw!"
From the cloud of smoke, giant rocks are hurled towards Aoi, who dodges them without command form his trainer. After all, what sane Pokémon would just wait for something like that to hit them?!
"Aoi try and disperse that cloud with Water Gun!" Naruto commanded. Aio shot a condensed stream of water from his mouth into the cloud. Though no sounds of pain sounded, meaning it missed the Slugma, the cloud was starting to thin out now.
"Now Meg, Body Slam!" Tayuya shouted. Naruto flinched, startled when the commad was given but nothing hurled itself out of the smoke. Unless . . . his eyes widened as he looked above and saw Meg hurtling towards Aoi.
"Dodge Aoi!" Naruto cried, but Aoi wasn't fast enough and so was hit with the full force of Body Slam, slamming face first into the ground as Meg sat upon his back. "Try Tail Whip!"
Aoi growled, a muffled sound with his face still in the dirt, but his tail was long enough to whip itself into a frenzy and beat whatever part of Meg it could, making the Slugma whine in discomfort and skitter off of Aoi. Aoi's back free of weight allowed him to stand up, glaring at Meg.
"Aoi, use Rollout!" Naruto called, knowing that Slugma wouldn't be fast enough to dodge. Aoi immediately curled up and shot of towards Meg.
"Flamethrower Meg!" Tayuya called, hoping to hurt the Azumarill enough to break it out of its Rollout.
"Right!" Naruto called sharply. Tayuya watched in shock as Aoi rolled to the right and avoided the flamethrower just as his trainer commanded, and then wheeled around to still hit Meg. Meg was flung backwards and Aoi uncurled with a triumphant snort. "Now use Bubble Beam!"
"Hit it with Flamethrower Meg!" Tayuya retaliated, angrier than ever. The flamethrower and bubble beam collided head on, but Tayuya forgot that fire attacks were weakened by the Water Sport from before, and so both attacks exploded, the forec whipping at everyone's clothes.
"Capitalize and use Water Gun Aoi!" Naruto urged. Aoi remembered where the Slugma had been, and so quickly shot a Water Gun in that direction. Slugma was sent careening out of the explosion's cloud of smoke and sent crashing to the ground, severely weakened by the strong attack.
"Meg!" Tayuya called worriedly. "Urgh, you little—!"
"What did I say about your language?!" Asuna snapped from the sidelines, making Tayuya flinch.
"Flamethrower!" Tayuya called instead of replying to Asuna. Meg sent out as strong a flamethrower as she could but it was ineffective not only because of Water Sport but because Aoi dodged the attack with ease.
"Let's try something new Aoi, go in for a Tackle!" Naruto called. Aoi nodded curtly, surging forwards towards the panting Slugma.
"Stupid! Going for a full frontal, I'll teach you about taking me lightly!" Tayuya spat. "Meg Body Slam!"
Meg narrowed his eyes and made a noise of affirmation, hurling himself forward towards the rapidly approaching Azumarill.
"Aqua Whip Aoi!" Naruto's called attack confused Tayuya.
"Hey idiot that's not a real move!" Tayuya taunted, but her eyes were watchful as she saw Aoi turn on a dime and present his backend to Meg. The perceived insult infuriated her, but the next action startled her.
A ribbon of water swirled around Aoi's tail, and then one end of the ribbon curled tiself around the bulb at the end while the other stretched out and unfurled. Aoi whipped his tail to the side and the water followed, lengthening into a whip that smacked against Meg's face. Meg was flung back mid Body Slam and thus hit the ground so hard it cracked underneath her. Aoi didn't stop, cracking the Aqua Whip on Meg's body three more times before stopping. The water disappeared, and Meg was knocked out.
Asuna raised the arm that was in Naruto's direction. "Slugma is unable to battle, Azumarill wins!"
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fists just as his Azumarill did. "Oh man, I'm so glad Aqua Whip worked Aoi!"
"Are you telling me you just came up with that?!" Tayuya exclaimed, recalling Meg and patting the capsule reassuringly.
"No, I've been working on it since yesterday." Naruto mumbled sheepishly.
"In other words you just came up with it!" Tayuya growls, fingernails dinging into her palms as her fists tightened.
"Tayuya . . ." Asuna warned the hot-tempered girl but her call went unheeded, as did the caution in her tone.
"Let's see how you handle Torque!" Tayuya snaps, calling out her next Pokémon, a Torkoal. The large orange and black tortoise Pokémon appealed to Naruto, being of such an awesome coloration, but he wondered how the Pokémon fared in battle.
"Aoi, you ready?" Naruto called. Aoi nodded, bouncing on his toes. "Let's do this then! Aoi use Bubble Beam!"
"Withdraw!" Tayuya called, and the Torkal quickly huddled into his shell as the bubbles hit the hard black shell. The damage was not as great as it would have been had Aoi hit an skin, but Naruto was content to know that at least a small amount of damage was done.
Naruto huffed, but acknowledged the clever ploy. "Let's see how tough that shell is! Aoi use Rollout!"
"Counter with Rapid Spin!" Tayuya calls. Torque starts to spin, his shell increasing in speed as he spins straight for Aoi, the rolled up mouse and the spinning tortoise coming at each other. When they finally clash, Torque's shell stays strong while it is Aoi who is sent crashing back into the ground.
"Whoa, Aoi!" Naruto gasped. "Man, that's a super tough shell!"
"Of course! I've trained my Torkoal to use Iron Defense automatically upon being called out!" Tayuya snarls, happy to see Naruto stumble. "Torque, use Smog!"
Naruto growled as Torque exhaled the thick black smoke and the field was once again covered completely. "Aoi, use Water Gun on the cloud just like last time!"
Aoi was just about to, when they clearly heard Tayuya's gleeful call of "Overheat!"
Naruto gaped. "Abort, abort, use Defense Curl and Aqua Ring!"
Aoi quickly curled into a ball and its defense rose, while at the same time calling moisture from the air around him and forming rings of water to surround his body. Just as he finished, the powerful flames of Overheat washed over him. Naruto leapt back from the field, the intense heat too much for him and he flung his arms up over his face. His heart leapt into his throat— that was a direct, most likely critical, hit! He could only hope the natural resistance to fire-type attacks water types like Aoi had would hold the Pokémon.
When the heat finally died away, Naruto opened his eyes and lowered his arms. He gasped, gaping at the furrow the attack made in the ground, one that stretched from Torkaol to the edge of the field where Aoi lay panting and bruised, probably burnt, the furrow giving off waves of heat and looking almost melted.
"Aoi!" Naruto called worriedly.
"Your opponent is weak Torque, use Flamethrower!" Tayuya called.
"Aoi try and roll out of the way!" Naruto called. Aoi didn't really roll so much as flop over to his side but he managed to avoid the flames. "Good Aoi! Use Rain Dance!"
"Oh no you don't Torque Rapid Spin!" Tayuya ordered, and her Torkoal was quick to obey orders.
"Dodge it Aoi!" Naruto called. Aoi had gained a bit of his breath back and dodged this attack much easier. Torkaol hit the wall and ended up on his back, the tortoise wiggling and trying to flip onto his back. "Now's your chance, use Aqua Whip!"
Aoi once more called for the the ribbon of water and whipped his tail up, down, and in circles to crack the water whip against Torkaol who cried out painfully with each hit.
"Torque use Flamethrower to spin yourself!" Tayuya cried out, wincing with each hit the Torkoal took. Torkaol turned his head to the side and used Flamethrower, the force of the attack causing him to start spinning slowly but steadily. Aoi leapt back and hopped over each stream of fire until he was safely away from the flames. Torkoal, thanks to the spinning, was now able to tip onto his side and scrabble back onto all fours.
"Water Dance Aoi!" Naruto told the Azumarill firmly. Aoi chirped in assent and began to dance, the attack taking effect and creating even more water. Naruto sighed in relief. With the addition of Water Sport, Fire-attacks were at best ineffective while Aoi's water attacks were improved.
"Torque, come on and use Sludge Bomb!" Tayuya rallied.
"The hell?!" Naruto squawked. "Dodge it Aoi!"
Aoi dodged the first attack Torque spat out, but the Torkoal was persistent and continued to pepper the ground with Sludge Bombs. Aoi continued to dodge them with ease and grace . . . right up until his left foot got caught in the furrow created earlier by Torque's Overheat. Aoi stumbled, and Torque took the opportunity. Head tipping back and then shooting forward, Torque spat out a glob of poison that hit Aoi straight in his belly. The flinch confirmed to Naruto then that Aoi was poisoned.
"Aoi! Use Water Gun!" Naruto called.
"Withdraw Torque!" Tayuya shouted. The Torkoal withdrew quickly, and was sent skidding across the ground by the attack.
"So what if your water attacks are even stronger now, Torque still had Iron Defense going on!" Tayuya taunted Naruto.
"Not for long!" Naruto promised. "Aoi cover that shell in Toxic!"
Aoi smirked and released a thick stream of purple liquid from his mouth, angling his head this way and that to cover the entire shell in the thick, almost gunk-like toxin.
"No!" Tayuya groaned, seeing Torque's shell start to tremble. Of course he'd be poisoned with all that Toxic being used. "Torque come out and use Overheat one last time!"
"Tor . . ." Torque wheezed, but he came out of his shell and stood trembling.
"Going down fighting huh?" Naruto remarked. "Aoi, use Bubble Beam!"
It takes some time for Torkoal to Overheat. But Bubble Beam is as easy as breathing to Aoi, who spits it out in a rapid fire pace. Torque is hit dead on, and he wobbles unsteadily before hitting the ground with an unpleasant thump. Aoi hits the ground only a minute later.
"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! Trainers, change Pokémon!" Asuna calls, arms straightening out in a sign of a draw.
"Alright, last one. I'm counting on you." Tayuya murmured to the Poké ball. She turned burning eyes to Naruto. "You're going down Porcupine Head!"
"Oh name calling, that's so mature." Naruto scoffed. "He picked up a capsule and called out his last Pokémon. "Show me what you've got Hime!"
Tayuya and Naruto call out their Pokémon at the same time. Hime the Milotic was regal and slightly haughty as always, but the steel in her eyes showed that she was nowhere near as delicate as she looked. Tayuya's Pokémon however, made Naruto's breath catch in his throat.
It was a Vulpix. There were slight differences, this one was clean and a more brown than red like the Vulpix Naruto rescued. But still, the reminder hurt Naruto slightly.
"Vivi use Ember!" Tayuya ordered. Vivi the Vulpix did not hesitate, and spat out the glowing embers towards Hime who looked unimpressed.
"Dodge Hime." Naruto called, and suppressed a chuckle when Hime did an exaggerated but beautiful twisting motion that brought attention to her tail and swinging locks, uncoiling to her same position as earlier. "Don't get cocky Hime." Naruto warned, and he was pleased to note that the censure in his voice reached Hime as she didn't tilt her head quite as high as before— even though she still looked haughty. "Now use Water Gun."
"Dodge it." Tayuya snapped, nodding in approval when Vivi flipped over the Water Gun and looked just as unimpressed as Hime did. The Milotic narrowed her eyes, finding no excuse for the little fluff ball to be as cold as her. He got to look at her, whereas she had to look at his little wimpy body. The nerve of him!
"Hime use Dismarming Voice." Naruto ordered, and Hime relaxed at the order given. Her mouth opened and a sweet, lilting sound came from her mouth slow and soothing, like the cool water of a brook.
Vivi flinched, hunkering close to the ground and whimpering. Tayuya grit her teeth and yelled to snap the Pokémon out of its stupor. "Vivi come on! She's just wailing, snap out of it and use Payback!"
"Keep up that pretty voice Hime." Naruto crooned, smiling when Hime sung even louder.
Vivi whimpered, scratching at his ears and struggling to obey his trainer. Finally he howled out, startling Hime and making her voice falter for a few seconds. Those seconds were critical to Vivi, who was cloaked in the dark power of Payback and hurtled forward toward Hime. Hime narrowed her eyes at the insult she took from Vivi's actions. When Vivi leaped to tackle her bodily, she swung her midsection out of the way and spun, her tail whipping out and the fan like appendage hitting Vivi in the face with a sharp, shocking 'SMACK!'
"Ooh, that had to hurt!" Naruto hissed. "Hime, really . . . Okay use Wrap!"
Hime ducked forward and slithered towards Vivi who was drunkenly stumbling around from the very hard smack. She zipped forward and wrapped her body around Vivi, squeezing tight. Vivi howled and yipped, wiggling back and forth. Hime squeezed even tighter.
"Hime, don't go overboard." Naruto cautioned her, wary of the vicious energy Hime had in each of her attacks.
"Vivi, use Will-o-wisp!" Tayuya cried. Vivi's tails were engulfed in blue flames and he swung them wildly, hitting Hime and creating burns where the tails touched. Hime squeaked and then wailed, unwrapping herself.
"Hime, calm yourself." Naruto cautioned, knowing that Hime wasn't yet accustomed to the sort of serious pains battles could bring. "Use Refresh."
Hime hissed but cast the move on herself, her burns disappearing and her bearing returning to her. "Use Water Gun Hime!"
"Dodge it Vivi!" Tayuya called, and the Vulpix leapt into the air to avoid the stream of water.
"He's mid-air Hime, use it again!" Naruto called. Hime spat the water out towards the fox Pokémon and snorted when it hit directly, the Vulpix crashing to the ground. "Now use Wrap one more time!"
Hime darted forward and caught the still dazed Vulpix in a strangling bind, squeezing tightly. "Toxic Hime!" Naruto cried.
Hime opened her mouth over Vivi and spit out a glob of poison that soaked into the Vulpix's fur, and by the sudden flinch and tremble the Vulpix made Tayuya knew he was poisoned. "Fall back Him." Naruto called softly. Hime released Vulpix and returned to post herself in front of her trainer, looking disdainful and yet slightly curious at the same time. She really was a haughty princess.
"Damn you! Vivi use Fire Spin!" Tayuya yelled. Vivi blew out a column of fire that quickly grew into a vortex of flames, one that headed straight for Hime at an incredible speed. Hime wasn't quite up to par with speed in her body, something Naruto was still working on with her, so even as he ordered her to dodge he wasn't certain. Hime was caught by the vortex and sucked in, then tossed back out a few moments later with fresh new burns as the Fire Spin puttered out.
"Don't let her escape, use Ember!" Tayuya barked.
"Dodge and use Aqua Tail!" Naruto called. Hime hissed furiously, slipping past the embers and heading straight for Vivi. Her tail was encased in a swirling ribbing of water and she twisted to slam her fam-like tail down on Vivi like you would a bug swatter on a fly. Vivi was flattened, and for good measure Hime did it twice more.
"That's enough Hime!" Naruto called. Hime hesitated, but laid one more light smack on Vivi's skull and then skulked back to Naruto who was giving her a disapproving stare.
"When I say stop, you stop." Naruto murmured in admonishment and Hime deflated. Luckily Asuna nor Tayuya heard his scolding of Hime, as the older woman was observing the fuming Tayuya worriedly.
"Vulpix is unable to battle! Naruto wins the battle!" Asuna declared. Naruto stopped glaring at Hime and smiled at the victory, noticing with amusement as Hime quickly hid a look of relief under her haughty veneer once more. Tayuya cursed and refused to cross the field to meet Naruto in the middle for a hand shake.
Naruto frowned, lowering his hand. "You're a sore loser huh?"
"I shouldn't have been beat by some snot-nosed punk like you!" Tayuya snapped, recalling Vivi and clutching the capsule to her chest.
"Well you were, so get over it and have some sportsmanship." Naruto snapped. Tayuya was about to retort when Asuna stepped in.
"Alright that's enough. You both said your piece in the battle." Asuna told them severely. Tayuya scoffed and turned away while Naruto rolled his eyes. Sighing Asuna just went about her duty. "I present to you the Heat Badge. You've earned it with a great battle. Congratulations, Naruto."
"Thanks Asuna." Clutching the badge, Naruto spared a grim look to Tayuya. He hesitated or a moment, before deciding to just dive in. "Good battle Tayuya."
Tayuya glared at him from the corner of her eye, before looking to Asuna. After a brief moment her eyes drop and she muttered so quietly it's barely heard, "You too."
Whether or not she was sincere didn't really matter to Naruto, who just took her words with a smile and good grace. "Well, I better take these Pokémon to the Center . . ."
"Well wait a moment, before you go." Asuna said, making him pause. "While you're waiting for your Pokémon to heal how about you come back and we can have lunch together? My treat."
Naruto grinned. "Sure! Hey Gale, you good for that?"
"Lunch sounds fantastic right about now." Gale agreed, his Crobat fluttering happily.
"Okay!" Asuna cheered. "You two head to the Pokémon Center and I'll start lunch!"
Naruto and Gale bid them goodbye, leaving Tayuya and Asuna in the room.
Tayuya abruptly walked to the doors. "I have to heal my Pokémon too."
Asuna grinned, happy that Tayuya couldn't see her or else the girl would explode with her temper. "That's a good idea Tayuya. Just hurry back quickly so you can help me."
"You got it." Was the girl's last words as she exited the room, leaving the doors partially opened. Asuna giggled lightly, taking a look around the room and sighing. "I know the guys are going to give me funny looks again. Tayuya always goes overboard." She sighed, before pausing at the sound of footsteps.
"Oh Tayuya? Why aren't you going to the center?" Asuna asked, not bothering to turn around. There's no silence, just a scuffle of feet as they stop on the floor. "Tayuya?"
"Tackle." The voice was male, deep, and not Tayuya. Asuna whirled around, but whatever Pokémon the person had summoned tackled her. She fell to the floor where her head rebounded off the stone with a sickening crack, and then everything went black.
Who attacked Asuna?! What's going to happen to her?! With another shiny badge under Naruto's belt, our hero has no idea what just occurred but he will soon enough. It'll be up to him and his friends to rescue Asuna! Stay tuned for the next chapter of Path of the Maelstrom!
Love,
Bloody Mad~3