Pokémon: Konoha Region

by Sand Fox

A remake of my original fanfic, Pokémon Konoha. Follow the journey of Pokemon trainers Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuga as they start their adventures and travel through the Konoha Region, aiming to become Pokémon Masters! This story is set in the Pokémon world, using characters from the Naruto Manga.

7. Chapter 7: Honor Thy Father

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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.

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Review Response

Shadowwolf1997: I am so glad everyone likes Kata's personality. In my first fic, he ultimately came across as very bland. Making him an overconfident showoff with a mouth, and the ability to speak, seems to have added a new dynamic to Naruto's crew. Translators on the team really make it easier to showcase everyone's personality. As for Hinata and Aria…well, I haven't got her whole team set in stone, but with Kata's new boisterous persona, I am not sure having someone for him to go goo-goo over works. Especially now, since GameFreak has re-vamped the Ralts-line to also be in the Human-Like egg group, which the Riolu-line is also part of. So far, I've been having Kata and Kikyo have some cute moments together, and I think they bounce off one another well. While I may add Aria (or an equivalent mon

Dylan Millwood: Yes, it seems just about everyone caught on that the chapter had a lot of Sonic 2006 references to it. Ironically, I never played the game, but I was going through some old Sonic comics while I was writing the chapter, and was struck with inspiration. Though while I am referencing the game for Espurr's story-arch, I do hope he develops as a character on his own, as he appears more. As for Espurr's failure to communicate, perhaps that's proof that Hinata is right and he's not mentally stable; crazy people often don't think they need to justify themselves, after all. Gin for the name for Espurr? Interesting; I'll put that in my list of notes/ideas.

Yes, I disliked Iris's annoying catchphrase.

The secene with Naruto, Kata, and Absol was difficult to write; dramatic scenes have to be done carefully, or they come across as narmy and overdone. I think I did well, but I probably could have improved it.

CRUDEN: Why, thank you. As I said above, I tried to make Absol have a dramatic, powerful scene, without making it overdone. Here's hoping her future appearances are equally well-received.

Irishwriter: Yes, I noticed that the system was intermittent about my posting my fic. It was very annoying. Hehe, yes, I did reference Sonic 06. Interesting that you mention Katsuki being the equivalent of Shadow…I had not thought about that, yet it fits, for the most part. Good eye.

FinchFlyingAce & Chrisplayz: Sorry about that. I am not sure why, but was giving my fic trouble. I had to delete the chapter and repost it. Hopefully, I won't have to do that this time.

Mason Oury: I love Naruto and Hinata together, but for now, they are 12 years old; too young for a serious relationship. If they age up in my fic, yes, they will likely get closer. Though I do plan on hinting that they grow found of one another and will get together in the future.

Guests: Everyone seemed to like Kata's boisterous nature, and just about everything about Absol. Glad you all liked the character-building moments. As for the ghost in the teapot, you'll learn more about it in this chapter. Espurr will appear in future chapter, though not as you expect him to. As for Kata's older brother…clearly, I have plans for him, so spoiling it for you now would defeat the whole point of keeping it secret, now wouldn't it? (Of course, specifically denying something is the same as confirming it, isn't it?)

Kakashi will appear; I'll keep his team secret until then. Though I will say that all of his teammates will be at least part-Electric-type. He is a member of the Elite Four, after all.

Thank you again for the idea of Midoriya using Wood Hammer.

Tops: Thank you for your kind words. The Espurr calling Hinata 'Princess' might have meaning, but it might not, and just be him giving her a nickname…or just be the product of an addled mind that confuses reality with fantasy.

Morgone: Welcome, new reader. I am glad you are liking my work, and hope you continue to enjoy it. You don't have to read my old fic to enjoy this one. Though if you choose to do so, feel free to post comments making fun of all the mistakes and bad writing I did. I acknowledge that my last fic took a bad turn after a while; if you can't laugh at your past mistakes, you'll just keep making them.

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The Hero's Pokémon & Accomplishments:

Naruto Uzumaki:

Team Members: Kubo (Froakie, male, Starter), Sora (Bagon, male), Kata (Riolu, male, Aura-trained)

Badges & Awards: None

Sasuke Uchiha:

Team Members: Bayushi (Eevee, male, Shiny), Togashi (Charmander, male, Starter), Akodo (Shinx, male)

Badges & Awards: None

Sakura Haruno:

Team Members: Ochako (Chikorita, female, Starter), Tetsu (Beldum, male*)

Badges & Awards: None

Hinata Hyuga:

Team Members: Kikyo (Ralts, female, Starter, Shiny), Midoriya (Chespin, male), Katsuki (Quilava, male, genetically altered)

Badges & Awards: None

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Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 7

Honor Thy Father

"Ugh, make the world stop spinning," Sakura bemoaned, nursing the hot cup of coffee before her.

"Still say there's no such thing as ghosts?" Sasuke asked in a self-satisfied way.

"Shut it," the girl snapped, too irritable and grumpy to care that she was talking to her crush. "I just had a bad night."

"Yeah, you and the rest of your team," Sasuke said. "Not to mention what happened to Naruto."

The group was sitting inside the major Teakgrove Pokécenter. That morning, only Sasuke and Hinata had been woken by their alarms. Sakura and Naruto had slept right through theirs, and in fact, were so soundly asleep that the others had to shake them roughly to get them to stir.

Naruto had an ugly bruise across his face, and his body ached for a poor night of rest. The boy didn't remember how he got it, but Kata quickly explained that Naruto had gotten up in the middle of the night, apparently sleepwalking, and had attempted to explore the house, only to fall over and hit his face. Luckily, he had stepped on Kata's tail in his walking slumber, and the Riolu managed to get Naruto back to bed. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of the story; he had never sleepwalked before, and for some reason, he remembered a very vivid dream, though he didn't share the details of it. But in the end, Naruto just shrugged and thanked Kata for keeping him safe.

Sakura, meanwhile, looked simply awful, with heavy bags under her eyes and her hair a total mess. Every one of her muscles ached as though they'd been given no rest. It wasn't just that she hadn't gotten any rest last night, but rather she had been utterly drained of all energy. Even stranger, the rest of her crew was the same way, bone-tired and devoid of energy, even though they'd all gotten a solid night's rest. In fact, Ochako had been so tired that she was unable to treat Naruto's bruise; Sakura had recalled her with the rest of her team for the rest of the journey to Teakgrove. Now, Sakura's Pokémon were being given an energy boost by the Pokécenter's staff while Naruto was tended to by Nurse Joy.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata sat together, a large pot of coffee on the table, from which Sakura had poured cup after cup, drinking it black. She normally didn't drink coffee, and when she did, she liked it sweet…but this morning, she was not her normal self.

"You know what's the cause of all this is? It's because of that Houndoomed teapot you had to take," Sasuke pressed on.

Sakura scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You and your whole team look like you've not slept in three days, and I'm the one being ridiculous?" Sasuke said, scowling. "It's bad karma. You disrespected the dead, and you're suffering for it."

Sakura glared at him. "I am not going to dignify that ridiculous theory with a response."

"Saying you're not going to respond to something is the same as responding to it," Sasuke pointed out.

As the two snipped back and forth at one another, Hinata sank down at her end of the table. She was shocked at Sakura's behavior; normally, the girl was so infatuated with Sasuke that she clung to his every word. Now, Hinata wouldn't be surprised is Sakura hauled off and punched him in the face. Clearly, a sleep deprived Sakura could be a real witch…with a capital 'B'.

Off in a corner, another group watched the three casually, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

The Sound Trio sat in the corner booth with Mizuki. Without their masks, they looked like an ordinary group of teens; the only thing that really stood out was that they were hanging out with an adult like Mizuki. Between them, Echoes added his own color-commentary to the situation, in the form of song.

"If you wanna be a Villain Number One
You have to chase a superhero on the run
Just follow my moves, and sneak around
Be careful not to make a sound-"

As if on cue, Kin set down her coffee mug, which clinked loudly against the table.

"Shh! No, don't touch that!" Echoes reprimanded, slapping her hand with his wing.

Before the Chatot could start the next verse, Kin casually grabbed his beak and smothered him.

"Things would probably be easier if your stupid bird didn't keep singing like that," Mizuki growled.

"He's doing what a Chatot does," Dosu replied evenly, reaching over and freeing Echoes from Kin, then allowing the bird to climb up on his shoulder. "No one's staring, and even if they were, who cares? We're just civilians enjoying a morning in the Pokécenter." He gave Echoes an affectionate scratch on the beak.

Mizuki scoffed derisively, but Zaku spoke up.

"The Pokéball tracker definitely indicates that one of them has the ball," he explained, looking at his handheld computer. "I can't tell which one, though."

"It doesn't matter," Dosu said. "For now, we'll just scope them out and wait. Eventually, an opportunity will present itself."

"That's easy for you to say; you're not the one who's failing to report to HQ!" Mizuki said hotly. "If you haven't forgotten, my days are numbered unless-!"

He was cut off by his phone ringing; caller ID listed the number as unregistered. Mizuki answered it; upon hearing who was on the other line, his face went pale. He gulped, nodding, and hung up.

"…that was HQ, telling me to contact them now," he said slowly, looking at the Sound Trio with pleading eyes.

Unsure as to what he expected them to do, the trio just followed him to their room at the center; this call was one they'd have to make in private.

-0o0o0-

Naruto left the doctor's office in good spirits, the bruise on his face completely gone.

"Man, aren't healing moves awesome?" Naruto said aloud, looking at his reflection in the coffeepot.

Sakura said something in agreement, though she was not paying much attention.

Naruto looked from her to Sasuke, and realized the two were pointedly ignoring one another. He turned to Hinata, who just shrugged her shoulders. Sighing, Naruto sat down and started talking to Hinata, hoping the others might join in, given time.

After a few minutes, Sakura's Pokénav rang. "Who could that be?" Sakura wondered aloud. She glanced at the device. "Huh? Prof. Tsunade?"

The others looked up. Hinata had a worried expression on her face, wondering if it had something to do with Katsuki.

Clearing her throat, Sakura set the Pokénav on the table where everyone could see the screen, took a deep breath to calm herself, and answered.

"Good morning, Sak- whoa, what happened to you?" Tsunade said, taken back by Sakura's disheveled appearance.

"Slept poorly," Sakura said, then quickly added, "So, what are you calling for?"

"I just wanted to give you an update on those smuggled Pokémon you and your friends helped rescue," Tsunade explained.

That got everyone's attention; they settled in, and Tsunade went on.

"Well, based on the information Sakura had sent me, it seems almost all the Pokémon that were being smuggled have been recovered. There's only one that's officially missing."

"Hinata's Quilava, right?" Naruto said.

Tsunade shook her head. "No. Officially, I issued an official statement that it was in the best interest of Katsuki's psychological health and development that he stay with Hinata." She noticed the look on Naruto's face. "What? Did you think I'd cover it up? That'd be more trouble than it's worth."

"No," Naruto said quickly. "I just thought…er, well, I'm surprised you have the authority to do that. I thought there were laws on dealing with smuggled Pokémon."

"There are, but they're much laxer than you'd think," Tsunade explained. "Pokémon are sapient beings; in theory, the laws that be are designed to protect their rights and dignities. They also naturally bond with humans, especially through dangerous trials. In those rare cases when a human saves a Pokémon from a smuggler and bonds with them, the two can be permitted to stay together, rather than having the Pokémon being transferred to the Konoha League authorities. Since I'm a Pokémon doctor, I can authorize such cases."

"Thank you," Hinata said gently.

"You're welcome," Tsunade responded automatically. "However, that wasn't what I was calling about. As I said, a single Pokémon is missing from the smuggler's list. A female Dewott."

Sasuke, who had positioned himself so that he was sitting behind the others, tensed up.

Sakura gasped. "Hey, that was one of the cases I read about while we were waiting for the police to arrive! Didn't the medical repost list her as having a unique ability? Oblivious, I think it was?"

"That seems to be the case," Tsunade nodded. "Anyway, I was just calling to ask if any of you knew anything about her? The police have been searching the site of the crash, but they've found nothing."

Sakura shook her head. "We couldn't find her either. Maybe her ball fell out before the van crashed?"

"Eyck, they might have to search all along the forest road. That could take days," Naruto pointed out, wincing.

"That doesn't worry me as much as the idea that an unexpecting trainer finds her," Tsunade said.

Sasuke looked up. "You think she's a dangerous Pokémon?"

"No, but she could bring danger to whatever trainer finds her," Tsunade said. "All Pokéballs have tracking devices built into them. Upon examining the black balls used by Team Snake to smuggle the rescued Pokémon, we found they have a special tracker that allows the gang to trace the ball. We've seen this before in other Pokémon seized from Team Snake."

"Could you use the Pokéballs of the rescued Pokémon to track down Team Snake's hideout?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "We've tried it, but somehow, the signal can't be traced back to the source…yet," she added. "We're still hopeful our tech experts might think of something. Anyway, back to the subject of the Dewott. If a trainer should come across her and think she's been abandoned, they might decide to keep her…not realize her black Pokéball is a lightning rod for Team Snake."

"So they could be targeted by Team Snake," Sakura concluded. "Yeah, that could be very dangerous."

Tsunade shook her head. "Bah, I shouldn't be worrying you kids over this. It's not like you're in danger. You mentioned that Katsuki crushed the ball he was being smuggled in before catching himself in an Ultra Ball. There's no way Team Snake could be tracking you four."

"No, it's okay. This is really useful information," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, next time we raid a Team Snake smuggling operation, we'll be sure to free the Pokémon and crush the smuggler's balls," Naruto joked.

As the others laughed at Naruto's humor, Sasuke leaned away from the group, feeling himself breakout in a guilty sweat. In his lap, Bayushi noticed his master's shift of mood, and looked up at him questioningly. "Vee?"

Sasuke reached into his pocket, touching the ball he had stolen. The ball which a nation-spanning criminal organization could trace back to Sasuke and his friends.

"I have to tell them," Sasuke whispered to himself.

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…Elsewhere…

-0o0o0-

Mizuki stood before the vid-screen, the Sound Trio sitting on one of the bunks behind him. On the screen was Kabuto, a top-ranking member of Team Snake.

The white-haired, bespectacled man was sitting at his desk, leaning forward with his hands steepled together, so that the light reflecting on his glasses obscured his eyes. That alone was making Mizuki's knees shake as he hurriedly explained himself. Of course, Kabuto mused, the whole look was a practiced one, but subtle expressions were key to being really intimidating. And intimidation was key to controlling one's underlings when they were criminals.

"I've heard enough," Kabuto ordered, cutting Mizuki off. "Your pitiful excuses bore me. I don't care how you lost your cargo, or who you're trying to blame for it, or what you're willing to do to get it back. There's only one thing that's come out of your mouth this whole conversation that matters: You. Lost. The. Shipment. That is the only Houndoomed thing that matters…are we clear?"

Kabuto was careful to keep his tone coolly even. Calculated and unfeeling. The Boss had taught him that a truly powerful man should never had to raise his voice half an octave to command respect or fear.

"Yes- of course, Sir!" Mizuki said quickly. "But please-!"

"I've heard enough!" Kabuto repeated forcefully. His expression went from icy dispassion to outright murderous.

Mizuki gasped and stumbled backwards, hands held up defensively.

Inwardly, Kabuto rebuked himself. The Boss often accused Kabuto of having a cruel streak like no one he'd ever seen. He also warned Kabuto that it'd get the better of him one of these days if he didn't control it. Showing no outward signs of regret, Kabuto willed his persona back to icy and calculated. Letting someone's stupidity enrage you is still letting them control you, he reminded himself.

"You have failed," Kabuto said. "You failed utterly. Had you simply lost a common smuggler's shipment, I could extend the hand of forgiveness. After all, disposing of a subordinate for a simple mistake is inefficient. It prevents anyone from learning from the mistake, and decreases the moral and loyalty among the ranks. You see, Team Snake is not unreasonable, is it?"

"N-no, Sir!" Mizuki answered, scrambling to his knees.

"But we have a problem, Mizuki," Kabuto went on. "What you lost was not some common smuggler's shipment. Those Pokémon were champions from some of our most profitable fight clubs. Beyond that, they were some of our most successful experiments. You've cost us money, and worse yet, you've cost us research. And such losses cannot be forgiven."

Mizuki's mouth gaped as he tried to think of something to say that would get him out of this with his skin intact. Whimpering, he clasped his hands together and took the position of begging. "I swear, I'll make it up to you! I'll do anything!"

"You have no idea how often I've heard those words," Kabuto said, allowing a tone of boredom to slip into his voice. He leaned back, allowing his eyes to be seen behind his glasses. "However, you can have a chance to prove if you really are willing to live out that cliché. Maybe even prove yourself worthy of recognition."

Mizuki's face shifted to something between confused and grateful.

Kabuto allowed himself a small, wicked smile. "A unique opportunity has come up in Teakgrove Town, but we are currently out of place to take advantage of it." An image of a strikingly beautiful woman appeared on the screen. She had waist length silvery blue hair, and the confident ease of a model, with a figure that matched. "Do you know who Karen Blackworth is?" He directed the question not just at Mizuki, but the Sound Trio as well.

Mizuki shook his head, but Dosu spoke up. "She was the favorite for the Elite Four post when it opened up last year. She battled Itachi Uchiha for the position, 6 vs 6."

"And Itachi won," Kabuto said, cutting through the conversation. "Apparently, they hit it off, since the two started dating soon after Itachi joined the Elite Four, though it's not public knowledge. And from what our sources tell us, it's a whirlwind romance- Itachi's apparently formally introduced her to his family."

"Okay, but why is that important, sir?" Dosu asked. His tone was respectful, but he had none of Mizuki's fear towards Kabuto.

"Aside from her abilities as a top trainer, Karen is also a highly acclaimed Pokémon Coordinator, and has often served as a judge for contests. There is going to be a contest in Teakgrove Town soon, and she's set to make a surprise appearance as one of the judges. This was not known to even the contest organizers until a few days ago, and the information will not be made public."

Kabuto typed on his computer, and the screen changed, showing the current Konoha Elite Four lineup: Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha, and another individual (the fourth post was currently empty).

"Team Snake would love to get influence over the leadership of the Konoha League. However, they've proven to be careful and well-guarded. We've not found anything that could be used for blackmail or intimidation on any of them directly." Kabuto hit a button, and a red X crossed out the faces of the Elite Four members. "However, not all of their loved ones are so untouchable." Karen's picture reappeared, linked to a picture of Itachi. "As it turns out with so many young men, Itachi's vulnerability happens to be a pretty face. If we get to her, we can get to him."

"You want us to find dirt on her while she's in Teakgrove?" Mizuki suggested.

"No," Kabuto said grimly. "I want you to kidnap her. She is needed only to squeeze one favor out of Itachi. I have no use for extended blackmail."

Mizuki gagged. "Kidnap? But she's a contender for the Elite Four! We're just grunts!"

"There you go saying 'we' again," Dosu said, gratefully thinking that Kabuto hadn't said they'd even be involved in this impossible task.

"Yes, but unlike Itachi Uchiha, Karen Blackworth is not a member of the Elite Four," Kabuto pointed out. "That means she has no official security detail. Especially since she's in the area unofficially. Her protection is what she can privately provide."

"Such as her team of Elite-level Pokémon?" Zaku suggested carefully. "That's kind of an issue…Sir."

"Well, it's a good thing you don't need to battle her," Kabuto pointed out. "This is a kidnapping- don't play fair! Catch her unaware and don't give her the chance to call out her team." He smiled, re-steepling his hands. "You four are the only members of Team Snake in position to take advantage of the situation. For you, Mizuki, this is your chance to redeem yourself and save your sorry hide. For you three-" he turned to the Sound Trio "-this is your chance to earn recognition and prestige within the Team Snake; if you three succeed, you'll be greatly rewarded. Fail, and unlike Mizuki, you'll suffer no punishment, save what you might receive at the hands of the authorities."

Mizuki gulped while Dosu nodded. "That sounds fair," the boy said, sending a nasty look at Mizuki.

Kabuto smiled, appreciating the boy's blatant ruthlessness. "I've arranged for some special-" He hesitated, searching for the right word. "-equipment to be sent your way. I think you'll find this assignment far more plausible to accomplish with it."

"Th-thank you, Sir," Mizuki stammered. His phone alarm went off, indicating that he had to get back to his work at the Teakgrove Gym.

Kabuto dismissed him, and the man left the room. Once he was gone, Kabuto turned to the Sound Trio with a cruel grin.

"I have a special assignment for you three," he explained. "One Mizuki doesn't need to hear about."

Dosu grinned back at him. "…we're listening."

-0o0o0-

…Meanwhile…

-0o0o0-

The group had moved to the nearby park so that they could let their teams out to play (though Sakura's Pokémon seemed mostly interested in napping).

"Ya' know, I think Sasuke's on to something. This is just too weird," Naruto said as he glanced over at Ochako and Tetsu, both sleeping soundly while the other Pokémon played happily.

"Don't you start now," Sakura said in a testy voice.

"Come on! You've got to admit, it's kind of weird that both you and your team are all…" Naruto made a face and then hung his head, tongue hanging out as he snored loudly.

Sakura growled. "I don't snore!"

"Yeah well, it's still weird that you and your team, and only your team, had any trouble sleeping last night," Naruto insisted.

"And what about you and your sleep walking?" Sakura countered.

For some reason, Naruto glanced at Kata. But the moment was brief; then he just shrugged at Sakura. "It's not the same thing."

Hinata nodded. "Yeah. Whatever happened to you and your team only affected you and your team. No one else. It can't be coincidence. Perhaps you wouldn't mind me examining you with my Aura Sight?"

As the three of them continued to talk, Sasuke barely paid any attention. He looked around. They were in a more isolated grove of the park. No one else was around, giving them privacy and anonymity. Which, all things considered, was very good for what Sasuke had in mind. Reaching in his pocket to check on the stolen ball one last time, Sasuke steeled himself and got to his feet.

"Naruto, we need to talk," he said curtly, grabbing the other boy by the shoulder and dragging him to his feet. "Privately."

Not waiting for his confused friends' reactions, Sasuke lead Naruto away to another table.

"What's up, Sasuke? You kill someone and need help hiding the body?" Naruto asked playfully. "You're in luck! My uncle taught me how to get rid of one; first, we gotta haul it into a bathtub, slit the femoral arteries open diagonally, and then perform CPR on it. That way, we can pump as much blood out of it before it starts to coagulate. That's slow decomposition and decrease the stench, not to mention it's less messy when we dismember it-"

"Naruto, this is serious," Sasuke said, doing his best to mask how disturbed he was at Naruto's casual knowledge of corpse disposal.

Sighing, Sasuke just pulled the stolen Pokéball from his pocket and showed it to Naruto. "…now do you understand?"

Naruto stared at it for a moment before looking up at Sasuke. "Well…it is something illegal."

"That's all you can say?!" Sasuke demanded.

"No, I have a lot more to say!" Naruto retorted hotly. "Most of things that come to mind are kind of cliché though, like 'What were you thinking?', or 'Are you crazy?', or maybe 'You've doomed us all, you F*&K!ING Mudbray!'. Want me to go on?"

"…I'll admit, I've been an idiot," Sasuke conceded, privately wondering what a Mudbray was. "But if you let me explain-"

"Stop right there," Naruto said, picking up the black ball and grabbing Sasuke by the sleeve. "You're going to have to explain all this to the girls, too, so we might as well all hear it at once." He started dragging Sasuke back to the group.

"…I was hoping to talk to you first," Sasuke muttered.

A squeal of delight brought their argument to an end. Back at the table, Sakura excitedly held up her egg, which was not only wiggling, but also started to glow. She hastily pulled the egg out of its carrying case and set it on the table, all the while calling for the boys and everyone's team to come see it hatch.

"Looks like this'll have to wait," Naruto whispered quickly to Sasuke before running over and taking a seat. Sighing, Sasuke followed suit.

Ochako and Tetsu sat on either side of Sakura, watching the egg intently. It had stopped glowing, and the wiggling was becoming fainter. Still, they couldn't help but be too excited to think about how tired they felt.

Likewise, the others were also crowding in to watch the hatching. Togashi squeezed in next to Ochako, while Bayushi hopped into Sasuke's lap. Kikyo had teleported onto Hinata's backpack, and then helpfully floated Midoriya into their trainer's arms. Naruto gave special notice to Sora, since he was the youngest Pokémon present and a Dragon-type, so Naruto knew the hatching of this egg would be special to him; the boy picked the Bagon up and put him on the table, holding him just in case he got too excited and tried jumping in. Even Kata, who had only known them for a day, climbed onto the bench and peeked at the egg. He could feel the Aura surge that came from a new life, and he really wanted to see this.

The only person who didn't seem thrilled at what was transpiring was Katsuki; the dark Quilava was just sitting nearby, doing his best not to draw any attention to himself. However, every few seconds, he'd steal a glance at the rest of the group, turning away quickly so no one else might notice.

Finally, after a minute or two, the egg grew still. A minute later, it remained still. Without waiting for an invitation, Naruto reached across the table and touched it, checking the temperature.

"It's still warm," he announced, pulling his hand back. "It's not going to hatch yet, but it will really soon! By the end of the day, at latest, and probably within the next hour or two!"

Sakura was about to ask him how he could know that, but remembered that Naruto had mentioned that his mother was a Pokémon breeder. He had grown up around baby Pokémon, and was technically the group's expert on the subject. Rather than argue, Sakura just nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem," Naruto said happily. Then he cleared his throat, doing his best to look serious and somber. "But there's something serious we have to talk about." He looked over at Sasuke and handed the black Pokéball back to him. "Sasuke has something to tell us-"

-Thud!-

Something fluffy and white fell onto the table from the treetops above. After half a second of surprise, Naruto realized that the fluffy thing was a Pachirisu!

"Su!" the cute Pokémon said, trying to shake off the shock it had from falling. It turned to the various trainers and waved. "Pachirisu!"

"IT'S A RAT!" Sakura screamed, grabbing her egg and pulling it away from the Pachirisu like she was afraid it might try to eat it.

"Quit your screaming! It's just a Pachirisu!" Naruto shouted.

However, instead of calming down, Sakura grabbed her backpack and waved it threateningly at the Pachirisu, trying to scare it off. "Shoo! Shoo! Go away, vermin!"

Rather than scaring it, Sakura's action offended the Electric-type. "Pa-chiri-SU!" It released a small Discharge, shocking everyone at the table. While they were still reeling from the attack, the Pachirisu hissed and prepared to leap after Sakura-

-only to feel a powerful grip on the back of its neck; the Pachirisu turned to come face-to-face with one very angry Quilava. Having stayed away from the rest of the group, Katsuki had not been shocked by the Pachirisu.

The Electric-type squealed in terror, Sparking up to try and get away.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Katsuki just heaved up and threw the Pachirisu into the air before following up with a Flamethrower that blasted it away. "QUILAVA!"

"Good job, Katsuki," Sakura grunted, glaring at the Pachirisu as it fell somewhere in the tree line and disappeared. "Stupid electric rat!"

"It was just a little Pachirisu; what was the big deal?!" Naruto demanded, patting down Hinata's hair, which was standing on end from the shock. "It didn't even attack us until you started trying to scare it off!"

"Y-yeah! Besides, it was cute," Hinata added. She considered pointing out that one of them might have wanted to catch it, but she doubted that. Even if it was cute, Hinata knew there were probably a dozen other Electric-rodent Pokémon, most of which were likely more useful. It's not like they had found a Pikachu.

"There's nothing cute about an electric rat," Sakura spat angrily. "Pachirisu, Pikachu, Jolteon, Mareep- You can keep them all! Electric-types are just revolting, as far as I'm concerned!"

Akodo gasped in horror, eyes wide. Ochako jumped over to him and patted him on the head, looking up at her trainer with pitiful eyes.

"…almost all Electric-types are revolting, present company excepted," Sakura said carefully.

"How can you say that?" Naruto protested. "Sasuke has Akodo, and a few days ago we saw Kiba's Yamper. Neither of them made you freak out!"

"I'm not afraid of them! I just don't like them-" She looked at Akodo, and added, "I mean I don't like Electric-types as a rule of thumb. I like you a lot, Akodo."

The Shinx puffed out his chest proudly.

"And besides, it's not like either of them sprang out and surprised me when we first me!" Sakura pointed out. "I wouldn't mind any Pokemon that knows how to behave. But aside from Akodo, I haven't encountered a single Electric-type that wasn't a horrible little ball of electrical evil! Every single Pikachu, Pusle, Minun, Blitzle, and every other Electric-type I had to care for when studying under Tsunade has shocked me! They're all dangerous! Especially the ones everyone says are cute, like Pikachu or Mareep!"

The others looked at Sakura like she was crazy for a minute.

Then Sasuke snapped his fingers. "This is about that one-time during career day when we were eight, right? When I brought Uncle Obito to class, because he's the Konoha Champion."

"Hey, I remember that!" Naruto said. "When Sakura was petting your uncle's Pikachu, a book fell over and slammed on his tail, so he shocked her so bad she lit up like a flashlight!" Naruto paused, noticing Sakura giving him a death glare that burned right through him. "Uh, I mean, it wasn't funny at all! You were crying so bad, and then the school had to send everyone home because of all the trouble. It must have been a traumatic experience!"

"Oh shut it," Sakura said darkly. "And that isn't the reason anyway!" She turned away, catching the eye of both Ochako and Tetsu, who were looking at her with both sympathy and worry.

The girl sighed. No point in being secretive, right? Especially considering all the things they learned about Hinata and her family yesterday.

"…okay, so maybe that contributed a little bit to my opinion on Electric-types," Sakura admitted slowly, with her arms stubbornly crossed. "But that was just the last nail in the coffin." She sighed. "This is so embarrassing. When I six, my parents took me to a petting zoo; the kind with all the cute Pokémon kids see on TV. You know the type?"

"Uh, yeah, I know what you mean, though I've never been to one of those myself," Naruto said. "I mean, my mother's Pokémon Breeder, so I grew up surrounded by baby Pokémon. Not to mention, my extended family always had neat Pokémon to show off whenever they visited. Everyday life was like a petting zoo for me."

"Why am I not surprised you'd have some weird experience like that?" Sakura asked rhetorically. "For me, it was really nice. My parents took me to see Tauros, Miltank, Nidorans, Growlithe, and a bunch of other Pokémon. Everything was great…until we came to the Mareep enclosure. You see, somehow, a Pikachu or some other small Electric-rodent had gotten loose from its enclosure and ended up right in the middle of the Mareep herd. And when Mareep find a source of electricity, they mob it and absorb as much power as they can…which can result in their wool getting overcharged and releasing lightning bolts upon touch. And I was right in the middle of it when that happened!" She winced at the memory. "Before my parents realized what had happened, the Mareep had started crowding around the stray Pikachu, dragging me along with them. I got shocked so many times my hair was standing on end and fried! It was so bad that my mother had to chop most of it off! By the time she was finished, my hair was shorter than Naruto's! People kept mistaking me for a boy!"

"Oh, how awful!" Hinata said sympathetically.

"Did your parents sue the petting zoo?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"…yes, they did," Sakura said with a cold, icy tone. "And yes, they won. Not that it matters. It was a horrible experience for me. Before that, I thought Mareep were cute, gentle Pokémon. Now, they're my least favorite, followed by all those Electric-rat Pika-clones."

"Ah, don't be that way!" Naruto protested. "One bad experience shouldn't paint your opinion of all-"

Sakura leveled a glare at the boy that silenced him.

"…on the other hand, it's none of my business!" he said diplomatically, backing away with his hands held up defensively.

Sasuke considered what they had learned. "First the event with the Mareep, and then the encounter with Sparky-" Sasuke referred to Obito's Pikachu by name "-…I can see how that might affect your view of things." Still, he made a show of reaching over and stroking Akodo affectionately on the back.

Sakura scoffed. "It's not like I let my dislike for Electric-types affect my judgement. I treat Akodo with the same dignity and respect as I do any Pokémon. It's part of my creed as Pokémon Doctor (in-training). I just don't plan on ever catching one. There's nothing wrong with that! Besides," she added, reaching over and scratching Akodo behind the ear, "I have no issue petting Akodo."

The Shinx glowed at all the attention he was getting. Nearby, Bayushi fumed with jealousy.

"Of course, that's also because the cute little kitten hasn't gone off and shocked me for no good reason. Isn't that right, precious?" Sakura said in a babytalk tone.

Akodo glowered and pushed her hand away, offended at being called 'cute' or 'little'. He was mighty! Mighty and fierce!

Sasuke sighed, putting a hand up for the others. "Look, I have something important to tell everyone. Now, I've been interrupted twice- first the egg, and then the drama with the Pachirisu. If I have your attention now, can we please get back to that?"

No sooner had the sentence left Sasuke's mouth did Sakura's Pokénav started ringing. Sakura looked at it in surprise, and then at Sasuke, who was leveling a terrible glare at her. Briefly, she considered answering it just to spite him, but decided against it.

"…I'll call them back," she said, putting the device away.

"Good. It probably wasn't important anyway," Sasuke grunted.

-0o0o0-

…At the Teakgrove Pokécenter…

-0o0o0-

Nurse Joy looked at her phone in frustration. No answer. She tried calling again, but it went immediately to the girl's voicemail.

"Did you get them?" her assistant asked, poking his head out of the hallway.

"Unfortunately, it seems they're busy," Nurse Joy sighed, hanging up. "We'll just have to wait for them to come back."

The assistant winced. "You sure about that? If it were up to me-" he looked back into the room Sakura and the others were sharing "-I'd be callin' the cops by now."

Everything in the room- the bunkbed, the desk, the lamps, and even the rug that had been in the middle of the floor, was now sticking to the wall, as if someone had been tampering with gravity. On a vertical coffee table was an antique tea set, with hot tea steaming in the pot and in the freshly poured cups. And yet, not a drop had fallen to the floor, even though the set, like the rest of the furniture, was perpendicular to the floor.

"Okay, maybe I wouldn't call the cops," Nurse Joy's assistant admitted. "But I'd definitely think we should look up an exorcist…or possibly a psychic detective."

-0o0o0-

…Back at the park…

-0o0o0-

The four sat in silence at the park table, Naruto and Sasuke on one side, Hinata and Sakura on the other, and their Pokémon surrounding them. Sasuke had set the stolen Pokéball down in the center of them, which had been the cause for the awkward silence.

"…as you can see, there's a reason why the Dewott is missing," Sasuke finally said.

"You mean you stole it!" Sakura said, getting to her feet.

Sasuke winced, but didn't argue. "…yes, yes I did."

Sakura looked like she was about to explode with anger. "How could you do something so stupid!? Isn't your father a policeman? Did you think about the danger you put us all in?!"

"Calm down and I can explain-" Sasuke said, forcing his voice to remain even.

Sakura, however, cut him off. "What's there to explain? You stole a Pokémon! There's no excuse for that!"

Sasuke rose to his feet and shouted something back to her, but Naruto didn't pay that much attention, as he jumped up after his friend and moved so that he could grab him if things escalated. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed Hinata had moved closer to Sakura, hands raised to try and calm her down. However, Naruto saw the glow of Aura on them, and realized that Hinata was prepared to make Sakura settle down, the same way he was getting ready to tackle Sasuke if need be. His respect for the quiet girl went up a notch.

All of a sudden, Ochako jumped up onto the table, waving her leaf and releasing clouds of jasmine and tea scents.

Sakura gasped and quieted down, and across from her, Sasuke did the same. It wasn't simply the calming effect of Ochako's Aromatherapy, however. Sakura was shocked that her Pokémon thought it necessary to step in like that.

"Good girl," Naruto said, giving the Chikorita a thumbs-up as everyone sat back down.

Taking a few moments to let the relaxing scents wash over them, the humans calmed down. Letting out a deep breath, Sakura spoke up.

"Sorry for losing my temper like that. I realize I've been short-tempered all morning. I'm sorry for making things so difficult for you." She directed the last part towards her own team. Ochako smiled gently and patted Sakura on the shoulder, while Tetsu floated up and rubbed against her cheek…not exactly comforting, considering his body was hard metal, but Sakura appreciated the gesture.

"You didn't sleep well, and then you had that Electric-squirrel scare and shock you," Hinata pointed out gently. After a moment's hesitation, she added, "But a bad day doesn't always excuse bad behavior. Thank you for apologizing."

"…I have some explaining and apologizing to do myself," Sasuke admitted.

"Shinx!" Akodo said, jumping up and puffing his chest out.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry I made you keep quiet about this," Sasuke said gently, scratching Akodo's ear affectionately. He turned to the others and explained. "Akodo saw me grab the ball and put it in my pocket. He kept quiet because I'm his trainer, but I know it bothered him."

"Why'd you steal it in the first place?" Sakura asked.

"…for starters, I don't consider it real stealing when you steal from thieves," Sasuke said. "Since Naruto said he wanted to catch the Quilava (and Hinata ended up catching him), I figured it was fair for me to grab one too. And besides…I really wanted a Dewott."

Sakura scoffed. "You could have just told us. We didn't have a problem with Naruto wanting to get the Quilava…or Hinata actually catching him, for that matter!"

"I get that now, but at the time, I wasn't thinking about it!" Sasuke admitted. "With Katsuki, he escaped from his ball and smashed it. No one owned him anymore. Besides, I guess I thought it'd look shallow or something, grabbing a smuggler's 'mon just because I could…not that I look any better now. Afterwards, I realized I was being stupid, but I didn't want to own up to it and tell you guys."

Hinata spoke up. "No one wants to admit when they've done something wrong or foolish, especially to their friends. But you ultimately did."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Only because I realized that this-" he motioned roughly at the black Pokéball in the middle of the table "-could be tracked. I've put us all in danger!"

"So you prioritized our safety over your pride. That's a good thing, you know," Naruto pointed out. He put a reassuring arm on Sasuke's shoulder. "It's like my mom always says, 'kids are supposed to do stupid things.' Of course, she normally says that after tanning my hide for my latest mess-up, but that's beside the point! You just wanted to be like your dad. Everyone can understand that! I wanted Kata because of my dad's cool-as-hell Lucario!"

Kata crossed his arms and scoffed. "[You say that, but you were really awestruck by my undeniable awesomeness!]"

"Wait, what?!" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked at her. "How's that a surprise? I told you yesterday that my dad's got a Lucario who can talk-"

"The part about Sasuke's father, idiot," Sakura said flatly.

Naruto slapped his forehead. "Oh, you don't know? Mr. Uchiha's got a Samurott, and the funny thing is he rescued it from a poacher!" Naruto laughed and slapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "Guess Junior wants to follow in Daddy's footsteps, eh?"

Bayushi hopped over and bit one of Naruto's fingers.

"…I avoided mentioning that part," Sasuke said, doing his best to contain the slight blush of embarrassment that had spread across his face.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to follow in a parents' footsteps," Hinata said.

"Yeah, so you have an Oedipus complex, no big deal," Naruto joked, careful to keep his fingers out of Bayushi's reach.

Sakura groaned. "An Oedipus complex is when you want the exclusive love of your mother, to the point of wishing to remove your father from the picture. It has nothing to do with wanting to be like your father, you Dunsparce!"

Naruto paused. "…I've heard it both ways."

"No you haven't," Sakura sighed.

Sasuke cleared his throat and indicated towards the black ball on the table. "Can we get back to the point? We have a Dewott in this ball, and we have to get her out of it and into one that isn't a tracking device for a criminal organization." He pulled out the Net Ball he had won in the Pokéball lotto. "Good thing I have one specially designed to catch Water-types." Sasuke reached for the black Pokéball.

"Wait, that's your plan? Let her out, smash the black ball, and catch her?" Naruto asked. "But what if she doesn't want to be caught?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "He's right. Katsuki wasn't exactly cooperative. This Dewott might be the same."

"If that's the case, I'll just have to battle and catch her like any other Pokémon," Sasuke said, glancing at the members of his team.

Bayushi nodded firmly and Akodo puffed up his chest. Togashi, however, looked thoughtful, though he didn't disagree with his trainer.

Hinata glance over at Katsuki, who had gone off to sulk away from the group. "…maybe Katsuki could tell something about her…if he met her before, that is. I mean…"

She hesitated, and then spoke directly to the Quilava. "Katsuki, wh-when you were forced to fight for Team Snake, did you ever come across a female Dewott?"

Katsuki looked at his trainer and seemed to mull over her question before nodding reluctantly.

"Can you tell us anything about her that might be helpful?" Hinata asked gently.

Katsuki scoffed and considered telling her that he only fought her; he could just say he never talked to the Dewott. It's not like he really cared. Then he paused, looking at Kikyo and then Kata; one of them would be translating for him. To the Quilava, it was a weird experience…his last human handlers hardly even gave him orders. They just threw him in the ring with his opponent and made them fight. Otherwise, Katsuki couldn't really think of humans wanting to talk to him before meeting Hinata. Now, he was with a group that valued what their Pokémon had to say. It wasn't just the ones they could understand; Katsuki had noticed that the humans regularly included everyone in their conversations, even when Kata or Kikyo weren't translating. They liked talking to each other.

Letting out a deep breath, Katsuki grunted what he knew.

Kata listened, and then smiled mischievously.

"[Hehe, the Edge-Mister considered lying for a second. I could feel it in his Aura, but then he changed his mind,]" Kata said, earning him a threatening growl from the Quilava. "[Ah, come on, Girlfriend! Everyone else is sharing their feelings! You should too.]"

Katsuki started advancing on the Riolu, who just puffed out his chest and grinned. Surprisingly, Kikyo stepped between them. …Stop provoking him! His thoughts and feelings are private, and you should know better than you disrespect that privacy… she said to Kata.

The Riolu deflated, his ego punctured, while Katsuki just turned and stalked away.

"[…anyway, Katsuki says the Dewott he knew wasn't like everyone else in 'the clink']" Kata said, finger-quoting the last word. He looked over at Katsuki. "[Seriously, 'the clink'? You use prison slang?]"

The Quilava angrily shouted that it was a Houndoomed prison!

"[Okay, okay, don't be such a drama queen,]" Kata sighed. "[Anyway, Katsuki says, 'she was born like the rest of them, in captivity…but she knew her daddy. He hadn't always been in a captive of Team Snake. They had stolen him from his trainer.' According to Katsuki, her father taught her about the outside world, their family history, and stuff like that.]"

Sasuke nodded. "I've heard of the Pokémon species like the Oshawott-line passing down fighting techniques and traditions from generation to generation. A few Pokémon professors have theorized that they could even have their own family histories."

Katsuki growled something at this. Kata translated.

"[Edgy says, 'Yeah, yeah, that's fascinating, human. Anyway, she'd prattle on for hours about how great her family was, or how she'd escape with them and live happily ever after, or stupid junk like that.' He didn't say 'junk', but I'm too much of a gentleman to repeat the word he used.]" Kata laughed and looked over at Kikyo, winking.

She giggled, while Katsuki growled something that was apparently very vulgar, based on the other Pokémon's reactions. Kata just laughed and asked the Quilava if he had anything else to say. The Quilava growled something short which caused Kata's expression to turn sad. "[Her daddy died a while back (Katsuki isn't sure how long; it's hard to tell time when you never see the sky). After that, the Dewott became a lot more determined to break her and her brother out.]"

"She has a brother?" Sasuke asked.

Kata turned to ask Katsuki, who shouted that he heard the question just fine, then gave the Riolu an answer to translate.

"[Edge-mister says yeah, she does, but he doesn't know much about it. He only fought with her or heard her talking to someone else when they were in their cages.]"

Sasuke sighed. Considering all of what they had learned, it sounded like the Dewott wouldn't be cooperative.

Naruto voiced Sasuke's thoughts. "Sounds like you've got your work cut out for ya'," he said teasingly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder playfully. "Still think you can just make her join up with you?"

Sasuke reached up and crushed the hand Naruto had put on his shoulder in a vice grip. "I'll just have to catch her the old-fashioned way, which is what I was planning."

The blond boy squeaked in pain and pulled away.

"Hmm, maybe not," Sakura said, looking thoughtful.

Everyone looked to the girl.

"If you can get her to listen, maybe you can convince the Dewott that staying with you is the best way for her to find her family. A Pokémon can't exactly turn on a PC and check where each Oshawott clan is, or take the bus to the nearest one," Sakura pointed out.

Sasuke nodded. "True. But how do we get her to even listen?"

Sakura turned to her Chikorita. "Have Ochako calm her down with Aromatherapy as soon as you let her out. That should settle her down.

Sasuke smiled. "Clever girl. Let's do this."

Sakura blushed at Sasuke's praise, and Hinata privately thought that everything was returning to normal.

With everyone in position, Sasuke turned off the safety lock on the ball and released the Dewott. As she materialized, Ochako showered her with a cloud of relaxing scent.

The Dewott appeared surprisingly calm, even considering Aromatherapy's effect. She remained standing in place, slowly looking around and taking in her surroundings.

Sasuke let out small chuckle. Considering Katsuki's altered appearance, he had wondered if the Dewott would also look unique. However, Sasuke couldn't see anything unusual about her. He had at least been expecting her to be larger than average, but from what he could tell, the Dewott was somewhat small by her species' standard. She didn't look frail or weak, though. Her small frame was tight and firm with the streamlined muscles of an athlete and gymnast. Light scars could be seen across her body, though Sasuke could tell the injuries that caused them had been carefully treated and healed by professionals.

Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts when he realized the Dewott was sizing him up. She was carefully looking over in each the new humans and Pokémon around her, as if assessing their threat level, making no sudden moves. Finally, her gaze landed on Katsuki and hardened. Her paw casually drifted to her scalchop; Katsuki noticed and ignited his flame vents.

"Hold it." Sasuke said, keeping his voice calm and low. "We're not here to hurt you, or make you fight. Look…" He held up her black ball, and then set it in front of her. "Go on…smash it. Free yourself."

The Dewott carefully looked at each human, trying to detect the trap.

Then, a flash of movement. The Dewott stood with her scalchop drawn and extended for a Razor Shell attack; the black Pokéball was split in two. She looked at its remains, a rising, liberating flood of emotions filling her. Her breaths started to shake as her whole body struggled to contain the exultation consuming her.

"See? We mean you no harm," Sasuke said, holding out a hand in a gesture of peace.

Kikyo, however, wasn't so sure. She looked at Ochako, sending her a private telepathic message. …I sense excitement in her, but also fear and cunning. We should play it safe, my friend…

The Chikorita gave her a worried glance. Ochako disliked the idea of drugging someone into compliance; Aromatherapy was supposed to be used for medical aid. Using it this way seemed…manipulative. However, the Ralts gave her a serious look, and Ochako relented, releasing a wave of relaxing perfume from her leaf.

Sakura looked at Ochako in surprised and asked her why she used Aromatherapy again, but the Chikorita didn't notice. She was too shocked at the expression on the Dewott as she took a deep breath of the calming scent. Instead of relaxing, the Dewott's eyes hardened and her stance tensed.

A second later, and there was a flash of movement, a cry of pain, and Sasuke was reeling backwards, hands over his face as blood flowed between his fingertips.

The Aromatherapy attack hadn't calmed the Dewott. It couldn't. No pheromone-based attack could affect a Pokémon with the Oblivious ability. Sakura and everyone else had forgotten that this Dewott had been genetically altered, just like Katsuki.

There was an explosion of movement- Sakura ran towards Sasuke, Hinata had stumbled backwards in shock, while Naruto, Akodo and Bayushi all lunged at the Dewott, who rocketed away with Aqua Jet.

She didn't even look back at the scene as she made her get away; it wasn't like she cared one way or another for them. The Dewott just wanted to find her brother and-

Something slimy wrapped around her leg and yanked her backwards, and the Dewott found herself crashing into the ground. Kubo had jumped after her and lassoed her with his tongue. The Froakie landed and started reeling her in.

"DEW!" the Dewott hissed, unsheathing a scalchop and preparing to chop at Kubo's tongue.

Suddenly, Kata was there, delivering a flying kick to her gut and slapping the blade away. "[Savedyourtongue!]" the Riolu shouted quickly at Kubo. He landed on his other foot and swept the Dewott's scalchop out of her reach with his tail, all in one smooth motion.

Kubo shouted for Kata to look out, but it was too late. Wasting no time, the Dewott pulled out her second scalchop and slashed Kata on the back while he was still facing the Froakie. As he fell over in surprise, the Dewott slipped her foot out of Kubo's grasp and jumped after her fallen scalchop. She grabbed it, rolled, and got to her feet with both blades drawn. Katsuki was lunging towards her, rocketing himself forwards by blasting fire from his hands behind him. The Quilava roared and slammed a Fire Punch at the Dewott, who just scoffed and blocked it with her scalchops. Even so, the sheer force of the explosive attack, combined with Katsuki's weight being thrown behind it, was enough to force the Dewott to roll backwards in order to avoid being knocked over.

She rose to her feet and was about to Aqua Jet away, but a stream of green fire cut her off from behind. Togashi had moved in, loosing a Dragon Breath attack. The Dewott pulled away from the fire, and found herself surrounded. Kata, Kubo, Katsuki, and Togashi had positioned themselves to cut her off at every turn. Gritting her teeth, the Dewott extended her scalchops, aiming one towards Kata and another at Togashi, always turning and moving so that she could watch all of them. Otherwise, she remained definitely silent, measuring her options.

Beyond the ring of Pokémon, Naruto had chased after them, shouting instructions; it had been his idea for the four of them to get on all sides of the Dewott and surround her. Next to him, Hinata and Kikyo watched the brawl thoughtfully. Hinata had instructed her Ralts to grab hold of the Dewott if she tried getting away with Aqua Jet, but otherwise to stay out of the fight. They should be trying to calm the Dewott down, not ganging up on her.

Sakura, meanwhile, had propped Sasuke up and was having Ochako heal the pair of slashes that crisscrossed his face. It was ironic, in a way, that the boy who had been hoping to catch the Dewott was unable to participate in the battle.

Kata spoke up, using his normal voice, rather than Aura speech. "[Look, all we want to do is talk! If you just calm down, we don't have to fight.]"

The Dewott was about to tell Kata where he could shove his suggestion when something heavy and metal slammed into the side of her head with a resounding gong. Tetsu, whom everyone had forgotten about, had seen an opportunity and took it, hitting her with a solid Take Down attack.

The hit had left the Dewott on the floor, twitching, with her eyes rolling and unfocused.

Kata started to ask the Beldum what he was doing, but Tetsu wasn't done yet. It was then that they noticed Sasuke's Net Ball in the Beldum's grasp. Without a moment's hesitation, Tetsu hit it against the fallen Dewott, and the ball absorbed her. Tetsu released the ball, which wiggled three times before clicking shut.

Everyone, Pokémon and human alike, looked from the Net Ball to Tetsu.

"[I'M HELPING,]" he cheered in his inorganic, robotic voice.

As Naruto quickly knelt down to press the lock on the ball, Sakura let out a small laugh. "Well…that was…unexpected."

Sasuke just groaned. They hadn't solved anything.

-0o0o0-

…A little while later, at the Teakgrove Pokécenter…

-0o0o0-

It had been decided that the next time Sasuke tried talking with the Dewott- no, with his Dewott -that they should be inside, with the doors shut and the windows blocked. That way, at least she'd have to think of a way to escape before just running off. Hopefully, Sasuke could at least talk to her for a few seconds. Also, Naruto suggested that they have all their Pokémon surrounding her, and have Ochako and Kubo tie her up as soon as she materialized.

"I don't know about that, Naruto. That might make her feel threatened and want to run even more," Sakura argued.

"What do you suggest?" Sasuke asked as they walked up to the Pokécenter.

"Maybe we should give her room and make her feel comfortable? Have our team on the other side of the room, and not in a position to attack her?" she suggested.

Sasuke scoffed, looking at his reflection in the glass door. Even though Ochako was able to heal the slashes the Dewott had inflicted on his face, there were still a pair of light lines where the cuts had been made that wouldn't disappear for a few days. "…easy for you to say, when you weren't the one attacked by her." Still, privately, Sasuke had to admit that Sakura had a point.

The automated doors opened, and the center's Nurse Joy ran over to them quickly. "Excuse me, but I've been calling you for the last half-hour!"

Sakura winced. "Oh, I'm sorry! I noticed the call, but we were in the middle of something important, and I forgot to call you back! It isn't an emergency, is it?"

"Well, yes and no," Nurse Joy admitted. "It's just that…I was calling to ask if you had any Psychic or Ghost-types in your party that you left behind in your room."

"Uh," Sakura said, taken back by the strange question. She looked over at Tetsu and then Kikyo. "We have two Psychics, but both were with us, and no one on the team has a Ghost-type. Why? What's this about?"

"Oh dear," the Nurse Joy sighed. "You see, all the furniture in your room seemed to have been glued to the wall!

"What?" Naruto gasped.

"It's a common prank for mischievous Ghost-types and the rare Psychic-type," Nurse Joy said, her tone indicating that she'd seen it before. "Though normally, it's only a single chair or table. I assumed a Pokémon was to blame, but I wanted to know if it was a wild one or possibly one you owned. I didn't want to call Pokémon Control to come hunting for a Ghost-type if it had an owner."

"That was very thoughtful, but we don't have any Pokémon that would have done that," Hinata said.

Suddenly, Sakura snapped her fingers. "The Espurr!"

"Huh?" Nurse Joy asked.

"We ran into a crazy Espurr that started following us the other day; he's probably the one behind this," Sakura explained.

Sasuke added, in a mean tone, "None of us own him, so call Pokémon Control and have them take the little nutcase away."

Nurse Joy thanked them and said she'd take care of that. She also gave told them they could have a new set of rooms if they didn't feel safe in the old ones, and then went back to her work. Clearly, she was too busy to spare anymore time on a problem that she considered solved.

"Hey, I wanted to catch that Espurr!" Naruto said angrily.

"Then go ahead. Nurse Joy didn't tell us we couldn't go back to our old room," Sasuke pointed out. He started walking towards it. "I'm not leaving my stuff unguarded!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we should at least check it out!" He started walking forward and then paused, turning back to Kata. "Uh, if it is the crazy Espurr from the future, maybe you should be back in your Pokéball, just in case?"

"[Why? You think the Psycho-of-Future-Yet-to-Come might go crazy again?]" Kata asked playfully. Still, he didn't argue when Naruto recalled him to his Quick Ball.

To their ironic surprise, the room looked perfectly normal, with everything that should be on the floor on the floor, and nothing on the wall that didn't belong there.

"…this is the right room, right?" Naruto asked, talking to no one in particular.

"Yes, look, there's my tea set," Sakura said, pointing towards the table.

She started to walk forward, but Sasuke put out an arm to stop her. "Everything's out of place. The bunks have been moved, and so have the tables," he said, pointing at indentations in the carpet where the furniture had been before. "And your tea set was put away when we left."

"So the Espurr moved stuff around," Sakura said. "But tried putting it back before he left. I guess he got bored with his prank."

"…if he left," Sasuke said ominously. "Be on guard. He could be here…waiting."

To emphasize his point, Sasuke motioned for each of his 'mons to sweep the room as he walked in, pausing with each step to look around.

Sakura groaned, but Sasuke had a point. The whole group ended up spending the next few minutes searching the room. Aside from looking for the crazy Espurr, Sasuke also pointed out that they should check to see if anything was missing.

"Heh, looks like your plans to deal with your Dewott have been put off yet again, Sasuke," Naruto said with a chuckle.

Sasuke growled in annoyance.

Naruto then noticed that Hinata was not helping in the search. Instead, she was watching Kikyo, who had her hands folded together as she concentrated, eyes glowing with lavender power. After a few seconds, the Ralts stopped and looked at her trainer, shaking her head.

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

"I asked Kikyo to see if she could detect any Psychic-types nearby," Hinata explained. "Aside from Tetsu, she didn't detect any others in the room, or even in the rest of the Pokécenter."

"So you're saying it wasn't the Espurr-of-Future-Yet-to-Come?" Naruto said.

"It just means he ran off," Sakura pointed out. "He probably got bored waiting for us, or maybe he decided someone else was a danger to whatever future he thinks he's from."

Hinata shook her head. "If he had been in our room, messing with the furniture like Nurse Joy described, it would have left a Psychic residue. Kikyo and I might only be Aura Guardians-in-training, but both of us know how to detect that. So, unless that Espurr knows how to hide his Psychic presence, we can assume he wasn't the one messing with our room."

"Then what was?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke, who had been listening, spoke it. "Nurse Joy mentioned a Ghost Pokémon could be the culprit…and we just spent the night in a known haunt."

Hinata winced. "I'm still struggling with learning how to detect Ghost-types. When I was training with my father, sometimes I could find them…but most of the time they could sneak right past me."

A moment of silence followed. Naruto spoke up.

"You know, I think Nurse Joy had the right idea…let's grab out stuff and move to a different room, just to be safe!"

Before anyone could stop him, Naruto had grabbed his bag and was halfway out the door.

"Naruto's right! It's, uh, impractical to stay here," Sakura said. "Not because I think there's a Ghost after us. I mean…we have to deal with your Dewott, Sasuke. Maybe we can find a room with less windows."

Sakura started to put her tea set away, but suddenly it floated into the air. Sakura cried out in terror for a moment before realizing that it was just Kikyo helping her pack.

Sasuke watched the girl with a judgmental gaze. "…you just don't want to admit that it's possible that I'm right about you being haunted," he said bluntly.

However, no one was paying attention to him, instead hurriedly gathering their stuff and leaving.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and just picked up his backpack; he hadn't unpacked anything from it when they arrived, so he could walk out at his leisure. As he watched Sakura leave, with Ochako helping to carry her tea set, a though occurred to him.

"Bayushi, Akodo, do me a favor and keep an eye on that old teapot. Once we're settled in our new room, be sure to not let it out of your sight," Sasuke said, kneeling and whispering to his Pokémon.

Akodo puffed out his chest proudly at the idea of being given a special mission, while Bayushi nodded and hurried off to get next to Sakura, snuggling up to her while watching his target. Sasuke then noticed Togashi was waiting for his orders.

"We still have to deal with my Dewott," Sasuke pointed out. "Of all my team, I think you're the most likely to convince her to join us…and the one I can trust to keep her from doing anything dangerous."

"Charmander," Togashi said solemnly, nodding.

Smiling lightly at his Pokémon's professionalism, Sasuke got up and joined the others. Sakura was talking to someone at the front desk to get them a new room. Bayushi had managed to hitch a ride on the girl's shoulder, rubbing against her and acting cute, while Akodo was sitting on his haunches a few feet away and openly staring at the tea set's carrying case, not paying attention to anything else. The Shinx wasn't even blinking, so focused as he was on his task. Sasuke made a mental note that next time he needed something done subtly, Akodo wasn't the one to ask.

Sasuke then slipped next to Naruto, who was at the back of the group. "Hey, if that crazy Espurr isn't the problem, there's no reason to keep Kata in his ball," he pointed out, trying to sound casual.

"Eh? Oh, you're right," Naruto said. He then looked at Sasuke suspiciously. "But why would you care about that?"

Sasuke considered the question for a second, and shrugged. "I was just stating the obvious."

Naruto looked at Sasuke like he knew Sasuke was planning something, but he still called out his Riolu.

There were no guest rooms at the Pokécenter without windows, but Sakura had managed to secure a room with only a single small one. As soon as the group had set down their stuff, Sasuke wasted no time, moving over to a dresser and ordering Naruto to help him move it in front of said window. Kata offered to help, but it was really a two-person job, so instead the Riolu hopped on the bed next to Kikyo and started talking.

Getting an idea, Sakura pulled her egg out of its carrying case and put it on a pillow on her bed, wrapping it up warm. She asked Ochako and Tetsu to keep an eye on it and went to work, going through her stuff.

Once Naruto and Sasuke were finished moving the dresser, they turned to see Sakura was setting up her tea set on the coffee table.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Making tea," Sakura said simply. She was looking through the types of tea she had with her, selecting one. "I'll need to order some hot water." She got up and started for the door.

"We can see you're making tea; what we want to know is why," Naruto pointed out. "We kind of have something more important to deal with!"

Sakura shrugged. "I know, Sasuke's Dewott. But that's why I'm making tea! I think she'll believe we're her friends if we start off by having a nice hot cup ready for her."

"You think offering her tea will make her act nice?" Naruto asked, his tone disbelieving.

"I think it's a good idea," Hinata said softly.

Sasuke just sighed and told Sakura to be quick about it. He was getting tired of all these interruptions. Sasuke sat down on his new bed, pulled out his Dewott's Net Ball, and contemplated it.

As they waited for Sakura to finish her task, Kata looked over at Hinata. "[So, you have trouble detecting Ghost-types?]"

The question surprised Hinata. "You heard that?"

Kata nodded. "[A Pokémon can still be aware of what's going on outside their ball, if they're paying attention. I overheard you talking about it.]"

A bit embarrassed, Hinata nodded. "Y-yes…it is a weak point for me…which is really embarrassing, because Ghost detection is a beginner's technique."

"[So? You can also sense Psychic-type powers, and that's not something I even knew you could do with Aura,]" Kata pointed out. "[It's like Sensei always says: 'If you are too busy seeking the talents of others, your own lay forgotten, Little Grasshopper.' Don't sell yourself short.]"

Hinata chuckled lightly and thanked the Riolu.

Kata nodded. "[Hey, you know, I know how to use Foresight! Sensei taught it to me as part of my Aura training. Maybe I can help you learn about ghost bustin', and maybe you can help me practice some of the stuff you know? I certainly wouldn't mind an excuse to spend time with you two.]" He looked over at Kikyo, causing the Ralts to blush.

Naruto, who had been listening, butted in. "Hey, since when does a Pokémon get to decide how they spend their time without even asking their trainer?"

"[Since the Pokémon is so much smarter than the trainer,]" Kata said back, sticking his tongue out.

"Come 'er, you little punk," Naruto growled, putting Kata in a chokehold.

The Riolu struggled for a few seconds in his trainer's grip; Naruto was surprisingly strong for a human his age, and clearly knew how to handle himself in a fight. Still, Kata was much stronger than the average human. After a few seconds, the Riolu managed to take control of the grapple and throw his trainer onto his back, just as Sakura walked in with a pot of hot water.

"Stop roughhousing, you idiots," the girl said without missing a beat, sitting down at the table and getting to work making the tea.

"He started it," Naruto said immaturely, looking up at Kata.

"[And I'll finish it! As soon as I get this guy off me!]" the Riolu choaked; Kubo had jumped in to aid his trainer, and now he and Kata were wrestling one another for dominance, while Sora watched and cheered.

After overpowering his opponent, Kubo shot out his tongue. In an instant, he had hogtied Kata and pushed his face down into the bed. "Froakie!" Kubo demanded in a threatening voice.

"[Bite me!]" Kata spat definitely.

The Froakie responded by tightening his grip, drawing a cry of pain from his foe.

"[Ouch! That shoulder's still tender, you jerk! Ouch-ouch! Fine! I give! Uncle, uncle! You win!]" Kata shouted desperately.

Satisfied, Kubo released him.

Naruto got to his feet and gave both of his Pokémon an appreciative pat on the back. "Not bad," he said to both of them.

"[You're not too bad yourself…for an Aura-less human,]" Kata said with a challenging smile.

"Thanks. I learned from my grandfather," Naruto explained. He laughed and turned to Hinata. "Hey, I was just playing. You can train with Kata whenever you like!"

"Why, thank you," Hinata said. Technically, she hadn't accepted Kata's offer in the first place, but she wasn't offended that they assumed she would. After all, there was no reason not to, and it was very thoughtful of Kata to offer.

Hinata looked over at Kikyo, who in turn was still looking at Kata and blushing. The girl smiled, and decided they'd definitely take Kata up on his offer.

There was a gentle tug on her sleeve, and Hinata turned to see Midoriya.

"Chespi-chespin?" he asked, looking up at her with big eyes. He pointed at Kikyo and Kata and then looked imploringly at his trainer. "Chespin?"

Kikyo translated. …Midoriya would like to know if he can join us, too…

Hinata smiled gently. "Of course. Uh, but remember that not everyone can learn Aura arts…I'm not sure how useful this training would be for you."

"Chespin!" Midoriya said happily.

…That's okay. I just wanted to see it up close… Kikyo translated.

Hinata looked over at Katsuki, who was curled up and pretending to be asleep, ignoring everything around him. She considered asking him if he wanted to join as well, but based on the Quilava's attitude, she doubted if he'd accept. Instead, she just reached over and petted him.

Katsuki tensed at her unexpected touch, his eyes flying open. All at once, he swung around and flashed his teeth. Hinata gasped and pulled her hand back. As quickly as he had gotten aggressive, Quilava froze in place, looking almost apologetic. Before anything else could be said, he curled back up, covering his face.

Midoriya had moved between them, hands raised in a peaceful gesture as he tried talking to Katsuki, who just curled up tighter and said nothing. Kikyo gently patted Hinata, casting a sad look at the black-furred Quilava.

Sighing, Hinata made a mental note to avoid surprising Katsuki. She had to remember that he was aggressive and paranoid. Many abuse victims do not like being touched unexpectedly.

Behind her, Kata scoffed at Katsuki's behavior. The Riolu had instinctively drawn on his Aura as soon as Katsuki got aggressive, but it seemed like there'd be no trouble. Briefly, Kata used his Aura-vision to read the Quilava's mood just in case.

Katsuki's Aura was filled with anger, self-loathing, fear, and shame, though nothing was being projected outward. He didn't even seem to have irritation at Midoriya as the Chespin tried talking to him.

A small telepathic pinch pulled Kata's attention to Kikyo; the Ralts put her hands on her hips and silently rebuked him for invading Katsuki's privacy…again.

Kata let out a chuckle and looked around innocently. Eyes aglow with Aura, the Riolu briefly scanned the room, just to needle Kikyo- after all, what was the point of being able to detect emotions if you didn't use it to find out what people were really thinking? Ignoring the stream of telepathic messages telling him to stop, Kata's gaze briefly landed on Sakura, who was almost finished preparing tea in the pot she had acquired from the Palewood Estate. Eyes widening, Kata staggered back a bit, before leaning over to Kikyo with a flirty smile and whispering something to her.

The Ralts put her hands to her mouth and looked at Kata, as if asking if he was sure.

The Riolu nodded.

Hinata, who had been watching the exchange, laughed gently. "What is it?"

Kikyo hesitated for a moment. …It's a secret… she said ominously, before looking over at Tetsu.

The Beldum's one eye widened and then relaxed. Then he floated over to Sakura's backpack and started fiddling with her stuff, sorting through her Pokéballs and potions for some reason.

Before Hinata could ask what was going on, Sakura announced that the tea was ready, and everyone's attention was back on Sasuke and his problem.

At Sakura's suggestion, Sasuke and his crew sat at the table. Everyone else crowded on the bunks. This would give the Dewott plenty of room, but they could also jump in if something went wrong. With the door locked and the window blocked, it wasn't like she could escape, anyway. Sasuke looked to make sure everyone was ready, and called his Dewott out, letting her materialize at the far end of the table.

"…Dewott!" She pulled back, taking in a quick gasp before freezing, not recognizing where she was. All at once, she started looking for the quickest exit.

"Let's talk," Sasuke said.

"Dewott," his Dewott spat, motioning accusingly at the dark-haired boy.

"[She says last time you said you wanted to talk, she got sneak-attacked and caught,]" Kata translated. He noticed the Dewott looking at him in bewilderment. "[Oh right! I forgot to tell you, but I can talk to the humans and translate. My name's Kata, by the way. Remember it!]"

The Dewott set her expression to a neutral one, looking over at Sasuke with a very slight glare.

"I didn't catch you, the floating ball barring did," Sasuke said, motioning towards Beldum.

The Steel-type gleefully gave a mechanical cheer that he was a good helper.

The Dewott looked at Sasuke with an expression that made it clear she didn't consider his excuse satisfactory.

Inwardly, Sasuke groaned. Not only had Tetsu not helped solve any of their problems with the Dewott; he had inadvertently created a rift of trust between them. It seemed that no good deed went unpunished.

"Will it hurt for you to listen to what we have to say?" Sasuke asked. He sat down at the low table. "Here, let's…" He looked over at Sakura, who motioned for him to keep going. "…let's have tea together."

This shocked the Dewott enough to do a double take. She looked at the pretty porcelain cups and saucers, all laid out neatly, and almost smiled. "…Dew…wott-wott," she muttered, sitting down.

"[She says she's never had tea before,]" Kata explained.

Once Sasuke and all his Pokémon were seated at the table, the boy realized that his Dewott was waiting for him to pour the tea. He quickly did so, careful not to spill. The Dewott smiled at this, then carefully considered everything on the table, which was all new to her. She looked at the person who was technically her trainer, and waited for him to explain.

Sakura cleared her throat and pointed this out to Sasuke when he tried talking again. Sighing, the boy pointed at the sugar cup and said the Dewott could use it to sweeten her tea if she liked. He then put two scoops in Bayushi's tea.

The Dewott considered those on the opposite end of the table. The human was considering what he wanted to say next, completely ignoring his cup of tea. Meanwhile, the Eevee gleefully lapped up his cup, while the Charmander carefully ran a finger across the rim of his twice before taking a small sip. Like his trainer, Togashi disliked the sweet taste and preferred his tea black. Strangest of all, however, was the Shinx, who seemed to be ignoring everything and instead was staring at the teapot, barely blinking.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke finally began. "These are my Pokémon. Bayushi was given to me by my brother when I was ten. Togashi is my starter, and Akodo is the first Pokémon I caught." Upon saying the Shinx's name, Sasuke reached over from under the table and tapped him on the leg, telling him to stop staring.

The Dewott listened, not sure where this was going, but she kind of liked how a human was talking to her for a change, rather than at her. Before this, humans had only barked orders at her, like to stop crying, to get back in her cage, or to fight harder (or else). This human, Sasuke, seemed to want to earn her cooperation…which was nice.

She tasted her tea, which was flavorful but bitter, and decided to add some sugar. The Dewott giggled at the action, which was so mundane but something she had never gotten to do: flavor her food to her liking. Four big scoops of sugar, and the Dewott found the tea very pleasant.

"Uh-oh, looks like she's got a sweet tooth, Sasuke," Naruto called out teasingly. "That's one thing you won't have in common."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back to the Dewott, pulling out his Pokédex. He hesitated for a moment, then opened it.

"…I also used to have a Houndour named Shiba," Sasuke said, using his 'dex to pull up a picture of the species.

Naruto suddenly became very somber and respectful, and the others realized the situation was serious.

"When I was ten, he was kidnapped," Sasuke explained slowly. "My father, who is a policeman, said that he had been taken by Team Snake. He also promised that he'd find Shiba…that was two years ago." Sasuke sighed. "Even so, I still hope…I still plan on finding Shiba."

The Dewott looked at Sasuke very carefully. His story was very interesting to her, to say the least.

On the bunkbeds, Sakura had to bite down on her knuckle to keep herself from jumping into the conversation. The one time she had brought up his pet Houndour, back when they first met on their journey, Sasuke had bitterly shut the conversation down. He was not the type of person who shared his private pains with others…even with friends who had saved his life, Sakura noted. It was an enormous act of sincerity for Sasuke to do so with his Dewott.

Sakura looked over at the other sitting nearby her. Naruto's usual boisterous demeanor had vanished. He was quiet and respectful, carefully watching the situation. Hinata had taken hold of Kikyo, whom Sakura suspected was telepathically telling the girl of the emotions the conversation had brought out.

Back with Sasuke, the dark-haired boy motioned at Katsuki. "According to him, your father had a trainer, before Team Snake stole you. Katsuki says your father taught you many things, like about the outside world and your family's history."

The Dewott looked over at the Quilava and stuck her tongue out at him, but then turned to Sasuke and nodded.

Sasuke went on. "You also have a little brother, right? One that is still in Team Snake's clutches?"

The Dewott tensed, but nodded.

"We have a lot in common," Sasuke said. "Team Snake took members of our families from us…and we're both going to get them back."

At this, the Dewott smiled. "Wott!"

"Went I first found you, I wanted to catch you because you're a Dewott, and my father has one of your line. I admire my father greatly, and want to honor him," Sasuke explained bluntly. "…you can understand that?"

The Dewott nodded.

"But now that I know your story, I am glad our paths crossed," Sasuke explained. His face darkened. "I hate Team Snake, and I think you do, too."

At this, the Dewott growled in agreement.

"I promise, we will find your brother, and we'll find Shiba," Sasuke said, leaning back and looking at each of his Pokémon. "We'll have justice…and righteous vengeance!"

Akodo jumped up on the table and Sparked electricity in agreement, while Bayushi told him to not be so dramatic. Togashi crossed his arms and nodded solemnly, remaining supportive but subdued.

The Dewott smiled and climbed up onto the table, putting her hands together and doing a respectful half-bow to Sasuke, her trainer. "Dew-wott"

"[I will fight for you, my trainer,]" Kata translated.

Sasuke smiled and returned her bow.

Naruto laughed. "You know, for someone who hates drama, you can be really dramatic, Sasuke."

"I honor my family, and the families of my friends" Sasuke said darkly.

While everyone introduced themselves to the newest member of Sasuke's team, Katsuki scoffed and looked away. He had never liked the Dewott…when they were imprisoned, she was always full of hope that she'd get out and be happy. A hope no one else had.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. I made the tea," Sakura said. She was the last person who needed introducing.

"Dewott," Sasuke's Dewott said, thanking her and saying it was delicious.

Sakura smiled and looked up at Sasuke. "You know, you still need to name her."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I've been thinking about that for a few days, and after hearing her story from Katsuki, I found the perfect name for her-"

"Dewott!" the Dewott said, holding up her hand. She motioned for Kata to come over and translate while she explained.

"[She says she already has a name,]" Kata said. "[A name given to her by her father- wait, really? Cool!]"

The Dewott smiled and explained, and Kata translated.

"[She says, 'My name is Hitomi, and Hitomi means me!']" Kata exclaimed.

Next to him, Hitomi pulled out her scalchops with a flourish and performed a series of slashes, finishing with a dramatic bow.

"I've never heard of a Pokémon being given a human name," Sakura said, looking fascinated.

"[I had one, remember? Sensei gave it to me,]" Kata protested.

Sakura blushed, looking embarrassed and not sure how to explain herself. "Uh, well, that's different. See, uh, you can talk," she stammered awkwardly. Sighing, she just shut up.

Hitomi spoke. Kata translated.

"[Remember, her father had a trainer, and he remembered his life before he was stolen. He gave his children names, so they'd always have something that belonged to them. Something no one could ever take. Something that proved they had a destiny to live their lives outside their prison!]" Kata looked at Hitomi, who nodded, turning back to their trainers. "[Hitomi was named after her father's trainer; it was his final tribute to her.]"

"Ah, that's so sweet," Sakura cooed.

Sasuke nodded reverently. "You are Hitomi…and Hitomi means you," Sasuke said, mirroring Hitomi's proclamation.

The other members of Sasuke's team moved around Hitomi. Akodo seemed to be sizing her up, but also looking admiringly at her; after all, she seemed to have a sense of honor, making her a kindred spirit to the Shinx. Bayushi just smiled and tried working his charm on her. Since she was the first female member of the team, Bayushi was already calculating on how to use his cuteness to twist her around his little paw. Finally, Togashi remained mature and stoic, greeting Hitomi and shaking her paw without getting overly emotional.

Sakura, who had been watching Sasuke and his team get acquainted, noticed wiggling movement on the bed next to her. She turned, and sure enough, her egg had started to wiggle and glow again. "Ohmygosh! Guys, look!" she cried, jumping to her feet.

Naruto got close and looked at the egg, counting how many seconds between each time it glowed or wiggled. "Eeyep," he announced after a short while, "This baby's coming! Clear a spot!"

The bed was cleared in a heartbeat, leaving only Sakura and Ochako sitting next to the egg, with Tetsu floating above them, still holding the Pokéball he had been playing with.

Katsuki, who had still been pretending to be asleep, had been unceremoniously shoved off the bed when it was cleared. He growled hatefully, but no one was paying any attention to him, so focused on the egg as they were. Huffing, the Quilava just folded his arms and leaned against the wall, fuming silently. Angry as he was, he had better sense than to cause trouble in the middle of an egg hatching.

The rest of the group crowded around the bed's edge, eager to finally see the new life be born. In particular, Sasuke noticed that Hitomi had climbed up on the edge of the bunk and watched with an ecstatic expression, biting her lower lip and shaking with delight. Allowing himself a small chuckle, Sasuke guessed that because Hitomi had a close relationship with her baby brother, she might have a love of babies in general.

Back on the table, a tendril of purple ectoplasm leaked out from the teapot, forming a pool at its base. Cautiously, the puddle of ectoplasmic tea rose up, forming a ghostly head. It looked at the group; everyone was paying attention to that egg. Even the Quilava who was sulking away from the group had his eyes glued in their direction. Now would be a perfect time for some hardcore pranking!

The ghost eyed the wiggling egg, laid out all comfortable on a pillow, and smiled wickedly. If it could just tap that pillow without anyone noticing, oh, what a fun trick that would be!

Suppressing a wicked laugh, the ghost slinked down and subtly stretched down to the floor and across the room, nothing more than a thin tendril of ectoplasm, no more noticeable than a thread.

Slowly, cautiously, it got closer and glower, arriving at the bed. Just a few more inches, and it'd reach its goal! No one would know what happened-!

SLAM!

A flash of light, then pain, followed very quickly by heat, and suddenly, the ghost found itself forced into a solid form, coagulated back on the table in ooze-shape. It tried struggling up, but something was pinning it down. The ghost turned to see what had happened.

Katsuki and Kata both stood on the table. The Riolu's eyes glowed with the power of Foresight, while Katsuki knelt on the ghost, pinning it with a burning first.

"[Got ya!]" Kata said with a smile, wiggling a finger at the ghost.

Roaring in desperation, the ghost drew on its liquid form, first expanding then shrinking down to throw Katsuki off balance before withdrawing into its teapot. It then suddenly shot out and screamed. The table shook threateningly as it started to float upwards-

-only for a scalchop, cloaked in umbral energy, to fly right through the ghost, shattering its concentration. The table dropped back to the floor. From her perch on the bunk, Hitomi smirked, arm still extended from throwing her Night Slash-charged scalchop, which was now stuck in the wall behind them.

Before any of the humans could react, there was an explosion of activity.

The ghost tried recovering, only to be struck by a Flamethrower from Togashi-

-then by a salvo of Dazzling Gleam from Kikyo-

-and then not one, but two Dragon Rages from Sora-

-followed by Bayushi rushing in and slashing with his tail, using Mimic to copy Night Slash, with Akodo striking in tandem with Bite-

-and then Midoriya jumped in, slamming a Wood Hammer right in the ghost's middle.

Gurgling in pain, the ghost collapsed onto the table with a splash. It tried sinking through the table, but it was still rendered solid by Kata's Foresight.

"[Give up?]" Kata asked playfully.

In response, the ghost weakly lifted itself up and shaped its liquid body into a hand, flipping Kata off with its last ounce of strength.

Tetsu suddenly flew in, once again surprising his foe with a full-on Take Down attack, followed up with the Beldum flipping over and slamming his mechanical arm into the puddle of ectoplasm that was the ghost, hitting it with Sakura's Pokéball, which he was still holding. The ball opened and pulled in the ghost, absorbing not only it, but also the teapot and tea set with it, before closing and pinging shut without so much as a wiggle.

"Beldum!" Tetsu cheered, which translated to, "[I'M HELPING!]"

"[Yeah!]" Kata screamed, doing a backflip, landing, and high-fiving Tetsu. "[Bustin' makes me feel good!]" the Riolu sang, flossing in time to the rhythm of his song. Behind him, Tetsu mimicked the inane dance as best as a floating ball-and-socket could.

"What the Houndoom is going on?!" Sakura screamed. Near her, the other humans looked equally freaked out at what had just happened.

Kata stumbled backwards onto his rump. "[Oh shoot! Uh, I can explain!]" he managed to stammer. His eyes grew wide, and he pointed. "[But later! Right now, the egg-!]"

Just as Kata had said, the egg started to crack.

Everyone scrambled back along the edge of the bed, save Katsuki, who stayed on the table and crossed his arms. Midoriya, noticing this, turned around and reached for him. Katsuki started to growl at the Chespin to leave him alone, only for Kikyo to suddenly Teleport between then, take them both by the hand, and Teleport again. They were now on the corning of the bed; before either could say anything, Kikyo shushed them, pointing toward the egg.

It glowed with brilliant light as the egg cracked open. The light faded, and there was what would best be described as an ooze-dragon-slug-baby-thing among the shards of eggshell.

"Goomy!" the baby gurgled, yawning deeply.

"Oooooh, hello, my little darling!" Sakura cooed, picking up the slug-dragon and hugging her close.

"Goooo," the baby cooed back, snuggling her surrogate mother.

"What is that?" Hinata whispered, leaning near Naruto (she had learned that Naruto was the group's expert on unusual Pokémon).

"It's a Goomy!" Naruto explained excitedly, taking out his Pokédex.

"Goomy, the Soft Tissue Pokémon," it explained, pinging to life. "Goomy's body is mostly water, and it has a soft, slimy membrane that causes attacks to slide off. Because of this, Goomy are in serious danger if they dry out, and live in damp, shady places. Goomy are often considered the weakest Dragon-type, though technically, such a distinction belongs to Noibat."

"It doesn't seem very nice to call any Pokémon the weakest of its kind," Hinata said, looking up.

Sakura had set her darling baby down, and was letting the rest of her team introduce themselves.

"Chi, Chikorita!" Ochako said, waving her leaf at the Goomy and showering it with a Sweet Scent cloud.

The perfume tickled the baby's nose, causing her to sneeze, releasing a flurry of bubbles. The Goomy then laughed, blowing out more bubbles.

Tetsu gasped, floating down to eye-level and looking at the Goomy in fascination.

The baby stared right back at him, staying very quiet.

"Bel?"

"Gooo!" the Goomy giggled, blowing a flurry of harmless bubbles in his face.

"Bel-belll!" Tetsu laugh, his voice like the tole of a bell.

"Oh, you are such a sweet, baby girl," Sakura sighed, giving her precious baby another hug. "Yes you are, my little…Mina."

Naruto let out a small laugh. "Ah, you already have a name picked out for her?"

Sakura nodded, giving Mina a kiss on the forehead. "Of course; I've been thinking about what to name her ever since Tsunade gave her to me. I had a boy's name picked out too, just in case my Pokénav's medical scanner was mistaken when it said she'd be a girl." She turned her attention back to her Goomy. "But it wasn't mistaken, was it, my little gooey-baby? Nope, you're a precious, adorable, wonderful baby girl! Yes to you are!" She snuggled Mina close, not caring that she was getting slime all over herself.

Ochako gently pulled on Sakura's arm, and the girl relented, setting Mina down. Ochako lovely wrapped her Vine Whip around the baby, giving her big hug. Tetsu joined in, careful not to pinch the baby's tender flesh with his metal body.

"Hey, can I pet her?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded. "Of course. Everyone can, as long as you don't tire the baby out too much."

"Hehe, thanks!" Naruto laughed, patting the gooey baby on the head.

As he pulled his hand back, Sakura noticed it wasn't covered with as much mucus as it should have been. "Hmm, Mina might be a bit dehydrated," she noted.

"We got you covered," Naruto said with a wink before turning to Kubo. "Buddy?"

"Froakie," Kubo croaked, conjuring an Aqua Sphere. Instead of throwing it, however, the Froakie held the ball of swirling water towards Mina.

The baby Goomy looked at the pretty sphere for a few moments, spellbound, before Ochako decided to help by poking the water ball with her vine to show Mina that it was water.

"Gooo," she cheered, crawling close and slipping the water up; it took only a few seconds before the whole sphere was gone.

"Froakie-froakie," Kubo said, smiling as he made a second water ball for the child, and then a third after she sucked up that one.

"Ah, you were really thirsty, weren't you?" Sakura sighed, giving her baby a gentle scratch on the head. She could already feel the Goomy's skin moistening.

Once Mina had quenched her thirst, she started exploring the others around her. Sora eagerly came over and tried hugging the fellow Dragon-type tight, only for her to slip up out of his hug and land on his face. Undaunted, the Bagon tried again…and again, and again, and again.

"At least we know they'll get along," Naruto mused. Sora, covered head-to-toe in slime, laughed happily as Mina crawled onto his back and suddenly jumped over to Bayushi.

The Eevee flinched as the gooey creature approached him, finally rushing up Sasuke's arm and onto his shoulder, fur puffed out. Mina, not understanding why Bayushi would do this, screwed up her face and took in a breath, obviously about to cry. Akodo stepped up, rubbing against her and purring loudly. The Goomy calmed instantly, giggling at the furry kitty loving on her. The Shinx, meanwhile, shot Bayushi a mocking look, even as he got drenched in mucus.

"Be nice, Bayushi," Sakura reproached.

Hitomi had moved over, scratching the baby on the chin and patting her head. Unlike the other Pokémon, she wasn't nervous at all, so Sasuke assumed she must have had some prior experience with babies. The Dewott gave Mina a gentle kiss on the forehead, and then pulled out one of her scalchops, playfully knocking it on her knee like it was a rattle. Once Mina showed interested in it, Hitomi allowed her to look at it, and even chew it a little (though she was careful to hold onto the scalchop and only let the baby handle the dull end). All in all, Hitomi looked very satisfied with herself and how things were going.

As Kata started playing pattycake with Mina, using Aura to light up his paws to make it extra special, Kikyo noticed Katsuki hovering off in the back. After a moment, the Ralts realized that he was hiding, even as he watched the others with burning interest.

Kikyo hesitated, and then opened herself up to the Quilava, feeling his surface feelings: …fascination…wonder…apprehension…fear…

…You know, you can say hello… Kikyo suggested to Katsuki, giving him a sympathetic look.

The Quilava looked at her as though she had suggested he should hug a bomb. Katsuki pulled away from her, shaking his head vigorously.

Unfortunately, this caught Mina's attention, and the baby Goomy starts crawling over, gurgling and cooing at Katsuki.

For a second, Katsuki stood frozen in terror, unsure what to do. He was about to bolt away when Midoriya suddenly stumbled between him and the baby. Mina gasped for a moment, but then her baby's attention span refocused itself on the Chespin. In a few moments she was crawling on his back and playfully nibbling on his head-spines (which were soft when not flexed). Katsuki turned to where Midoriya had stumbled from; Kata smiled at him, giving him a subtle thumbs-up. The Riolu had shoved Midoriya between them.

Without another word, Katsuki rushed under the bed and curled up in a ball, ignoring everything else.

"…what was that about?" Naruto whispered to Kata. Nearby, Hinata was torn between attending to Katsuki or helping Midoriya (Mina was starting to bite down hard).

"[Girlfriend was terrified; you don't need to read his mind to see that,]" Kata explained. "[With all his issues, 'becha he thinks he'd break the baby, or somehow 'taint' her if he so much as looks at her.]" He scoffed. "[I might want to punch Edge-mister's face in sometimes, but I don't want to torture the guy…]" Kata paused, and then added, "[…much.]"

As the group continued to dote on the baby (and Katsuki continued to hide under the bed), the Pokéball containing the mysterious ghost lay on the table, locked and forgotten.

-0o0o0-

…Dinnertime, outside Teakgrove Pokécenter…

-0o0o0-

Sakura turned the ghost's Pokéball over in her hand.

The group, minus Sasuke, was sitting down to a peaceful, simple dinner outside the Pokécenter, while Kata explained what had happened with the ghost. Sasuke, meanwhile, had gone to call his father and explain how he had come into possession of the missing Dewott. That had been over an hour ago.

"So," Sakura said after Kata had finished, "You detected the ghost in my teapot just as Sasuke was about to deal with Hitomi. However, instead of telling anyone, you whispered it to Kikyo, who then telepathically warned the other Pokémon."

Kata, who had a shoveled a mouthful of food in his mouth, nodded. After a few seconds of chewing, he swallowed and spoke. "[Yeah, didn't want to bother you. Sasuke had been trying to talk to his new girl all day; it seemed cruel to interrupt him.]"

"So instead, you thought it was a good idea to let evil ghost sculk around near us…near my precious, vulnerable egg?" Sakura asked, her tone dangerous.

Kata shrugged nonchalantly. "[Eeyep, that about sums it up.]"

"Don't you try and get hard on him," Naruto said, cutting in. "That Polteageist has been with us ever since you took that teapot! And besides," he added, motioning to their teams, "our Pokémon handled it as soon as it tried something!" Naruto looked over at Kikyo. "Good job getting everyone prepared."

Kikyo blushed.

"[Everyone except Hitomi,]" Kata pointed out, turning to the Dewott. "[Kikyo didn't telepathically talk to her; she was kind of busy having a heart-to-heart with Sasuke. Hitomi reacted all on her own, 'cause she's got a warrior's reflexes!]" He reached over and gave her fistbump. "[That was wicked cool, throwing your blade right through it when it tried lifting up the table!]"

Hitomi gave an exaggerated laugh and hid her face behind her scalchop like it was a fan, doing a terrible job of pretending to be modest.

Sakura looked over at Naruto. "Wait, you called this thing a Pol-tea-something?"

"Polteageist," Naruto explained, pulling out his Pokédex.

"Polteageist, the Black Tea Pokémon," it chimed, pinging to life. "Polteageist's body is made from a unique combination of tea leaves that is incredibly tasty, and it can brew more of itself in the teapot it possesses. As such, this Pokémon is prized among tea enthusiasts and upper-class hotels. However, as with most Ghost-types, Polteagiest has a mischievous and even cruel side. It will usually only allow trainers it trusts to drink its tea; otherwise, it will curse the liquid so that it leaves the drinker with chills."

"Pol-tea-giest?" Sakura said slowly. "Ouch, that's one of the most painful Poké-puns I've heard…my father would love it."

"Hmm, you made us all tea yesterday, and none of us got sick," Naruto mused, looking at the info on his 'dex. "Considering it's been pranking us since you found it, I guess it just didn't want to blow its cover."

Akodo looked up from his meal and hissed in agreement. Apparently, he already hated the Polteagiest.

"Ah, it can learn Strength Sap," Naruto said. "It must have used that on you and your team last night, Sakura. And then used Poltergeist on the furniture to pull its prank."

Sakura cut him off. "It's called Polteagiest, and it can use the move Poltergeist? Urg! If I wasn't planning on getting rid of it already, I would have just because of all the stupid puns!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty punny- wait, what?!"

Sakura scoffed. "Its last prank was trying to attack my egg as it was hatching. Before that, it drained me and my team of almost all our energy! I don't care what anyone says. It's evil, I hate it, and I want it gone!"

The ball in her hand wiggled in protest.

Sakura glared at it. "You're lucky I don't jus throw you in the trash compactor, you little devil."

"Don't say things like that," Hinata protested. "It's only following its nature as a Ghost-type."

Sakura opened her mouth, but Hinata continued.

"You can dislike a Pokémon and want to trade it away, but there's no need to be cruel and threaten it. After all, to it, you had stolen its teapot."

Sakura sighed, nodding. "Fine…wait, trade it away? I was just going to send it to Tsunade and ask her to keep it."

"If you're not going to use it, might as well trade it," Naruto said. "Polteageist are very rare! Who know what someone will be willing to trade for it!"

Sakura considered it for a moment before nodding. "Okay…good idea."

They talked and nibbled on their meal for a few more minutes before Sasuke finally joined them, with a very stoic look on his face.

"So…how did it go?" Sakura asked, trying to be playful.

Sasuke responded by grunting and absentmindedly reaching over and stroking Bayushi. After a few seconds of everyone else staring at him, he realized staying silent was not an option.

"So, I explained everything to Father," Sasuke said slowly. "He…was understanding. He was never one to think that the law needed to be obeyed to the letter…as long as no one got hurt." He noticed the look on Sakura's face. "Not every policeman thinks that manmade law is sycophant."

"Sasuke, stop making up words just to sound smart," Naruto piped in.

Sasuke ignored him and went on. "Anyway, Father said that he understood why I would want to rescue a Dewott, and that he was flattered I was trying hard to follow in his footsteps. He also told me I didn't need to feel obligated to do so, just because Itachi broke his heart and opened a 'sissy shop where they sell frilly little drinks and have tea parties'." Sasuke's expression made it clear he shared his father's view of Itachi's career path. "Father told me that talking to Hitomi and earning her respect was the right thing to do, and he'd use his resources to help us find her brother, since it is an honorable endeavor worthy of an Uchiha. However," Sasuke added, deflating a little, "Father was disappointed that I had snuck around, rather than being honest with you…and for not calling him and telling him my intentions as soon as I found Hitomi. 'Sneaking around, going behind your friends' backs, and not owning up to your actions is not something a man does,' he said. And my actions also put all of you in danger; considering we already crossed paths with Team Snake, Father pointed out that they are certain to have us in their crosshairs now."

"You didn't know they could track that ball," Sakura said; unlike this morning, she was feeling much more sympathetic towards Sasuke.

Sasuke scoffed. "Ignorance is no excuse. If I had been upfront with all of you, this wouldn't have happened anyway. As such, Father decided that a price must be paid…my stipend for the month has been revoked."

The others winced.

"Ouch, that's pretty harsh," Naruto said. "I mean, yeah, you broke the law, so the punishment should be harsh, but how're you going to pay for anything? Pokécenter rooms are free, but they aren't always available. Then there's food, supplies, and everything else to consider!"

"I'll either have to make do with roughing it in the wilderness…or ask you three for help," Sasuke explained. "That was the point of the punishment, Father explained. Since I took my friends for granted, I'll have to spend the month depending on you three for support. Either by convincing you to lone me some of your stipend, or by accepting whatever charity you give me." The proud youth deflated. "Either way, it will be a very…humbling month."

Naruto let out a big belly laugh. "Hahaha! Your old man's right! Okay, I take it back! That wasn't a harsh punishment. It's perfect!"

Sasuke glowered at him. "Bite me."

Sakura put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "First off, watch your language; you have to set a good example!" She pointed over to Mina, who was sleeping peacefully on the table near them, having started to nap once Sakura was done feeding her. "And two, if you're going to need our help, you should remember that you'll win more Bug-types with honey than vinegar. Here, how about I buy you dinner, seeing as you'll be needing it?"

Sasuke sighed, but smiled. "…how could I refuse?"

After Sasuke had made his order, he and Sakura sat back down with the group. Naruto explained their idea for Sakura to trade the Polteagiest away, which Sasuke approved of.

"Oh, also Sasuke, you mentioned wanting to find Hitomi's brother," Sakura said. "And your father said that he'd help in any way he could?"

"Of course," Sasuke responded, picking up his drink.

"Then why not just ask him to check the Pokémon we saved from those smugglers?" Sakura asked. "After all, Katsuki and Hitomi were from the same group, and they were held together. Wouldn't the odds be that Hitomi's baby brother is also there?"

Sasuke was so surprised by this that choked on his drink. "Wait- what?! But, you only mentioned one Dewott on the list!"

"Well, I didn't memorize it," Sakura pointed out. "I only glanced at some of the interesting ones; besides, maybe her brother's an Oshawott. She did say he's younger than her."

Before Sasuke could say anything more, Hitomi jumped in, speaking up excitedly.

Kata translated. "[Hitomi says that he's not a Dewott or an Oshawott. He took after their mother, who died soon after he was hatched.]"

"Oh, well that's means it's even more likely that he's one of the Pokémon we rescued," Sakura said. Though she had said the truth about not memorizing the list, she was sure she would have noticed two Pokémon of the same line on it.

"You should call your dad back when you're finished eating and tell him!" Naruto said, patting Sasuke on the back.

The dark boy nodded, looking over at Hitomi. Her expression was one of utter delight. Part of Sasuke was very pleased at the thought of being able to reunite her with her brother so easily…while another part dreaded what would happen if turned out Hitomi's brother was not among those they had saved. Sasuke feared that getting her hopes up just to dash them would crush the Dewott. Sasuke pushed the thought away. They would save him, and all would be well!

Sasuke remembered the other little thing his father had ordered of him. The boy groaned just thinking about it.

"…there's something else," Sasuke said slowly.

The others turned and listened.

He sighed. "My brother, Itachi; do you know him?"

"Of course. He's the newest member of the Elite Four. You've mentioned him, and even if you didn't, he's very famous," Sakura said.

Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Well, his girlfriend, Karen Blackworth, is in Teakgrove for the next few days; apparently, she's helping judge some stupid contest or something," Sasuke explained.

At the mention of her name, Sakura's eyes lit up. "Oh, Karen the Dark-type specialist? Oh whoa! She's so cool! I was rooting for her when she fought your brother for membership in the Elite Four last season!" Sakura blushed when she realized what she just admitted, but Sasuke didn't look offended, so she went on. "Uh, and you said she'll be judging the contest? That's awesome! I was planning on entering! Maybe I'll get to meet her if I win!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You'll get to meet her anyway. Father ordered me to visit her; it seems Itachi's already proposed. She's his fiancé now." Sasuke said the last bit like the words were toxic.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Sakura said, her eyes fluttering. "How long have they been dating?"

"Four months, tops," Sasuke explained. "Oh, it's wonderful. Two young romantics in a whirlwind relationship. Being in the same room as those sickening sweethearts is enough to give you a cavity."

Naruto laughed. "Ah, come on. I've met her when she visited your family; she's not that bad."

Sasuke snorted. "You don't have to have her for a sister-in-law. Before she and Itachi got together, he was a cool, collected individual who's only eccentricity was a love of teashops. Now, I can feel Itachi's manliness dropping every day. I swear, I think he had on nail polish last time I saw him."

Sakura spoke up. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Your brother can date whoever he likes." Then she added, in a much giddier voice, "-and you're so going to introduce us to Karen when you go visit her!"