Author's note: My apologies for taking so long, guys. The past couple of weeks have been quite shit and my mind's been all over the place. But I'm working through my backlog bit by bit!

Thanks to the following reviewers: Mkayemolina; PinkiePieParty122894; Fonix Fuego; babyvfan; Hardpointz; TheBeauty; Dr. Shade; Nellana; Hinata1020569; Nightstalker100; CrisStarTina

Warnings: Hm, nothing in specific I suppose

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto owns it. I also don't own Pokémon, that belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and The Pokémon Company.

I hope you'll like this next part!

Chapter 4

"First, we need to buy some Pokéballs and definitely stock up on Potions before we leave," Naruto decided. "My bag's still at home, but I have to fill it up still either way, so doing the shopping first will be easier."

Mimikyu squeaked in agreement, shuffling next to him. Naruto had asked him whether he wanted to go back into the Pokéball or whether he wanted to be carried, but Mimikyu seemed okay for now to just walk next to him and Naruto was fine with that. Honestly, it actually made him really giddy to have Mimikyu walking next to him, because that was just another reminder that finally their journey was about to start for real.

"We definitely shouldn't forget the tent," he continued, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Each town should have an inn or a hotel we can stay at, but we'll be spending a lot of time outside towns as well while we travel, so a tent will be handy to have."

Especially when it would start raining or when winter would arrive and bring snow with it. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in rain or snow and get ill. That would really suck.

So extra Potions, more Pokéballs, the tent, extra clothes, what else? Well, he would need to prepare some food as well just in case they couldn't find a place to eat or any berry trees. There should be enough places available where they could eat, but it would be stupid to waste all his money there when he could prepare his own food.

They stopped by the supermarket first and Mimikyu stayed close to him as they made their way through the aisles, picking up ten Potions and food. The Pokéballs could only be bought at the counter, because they were deemed too valuable to just be put on shelves for everyone to reach.

As they walked through the supermarket, Naruto considering what kind of food would be best to take with them on the road, he was hyper aware of the gazes burning into the back of his head. Most of the customers here knew him because they lived in the same town, so they were probably incredibly confused to see him walking around with a Pokémon now. Mimikyu didn't appear to be completely at ease underneath the bemused stares, because at one point he nearly made Naruto trip when he pressed himself against Naruto's legs.

Catching himself just in time by grabbing the edge of a shelf, Naruto looked down at Mimikyu, whose shadowy tendrils were nervously hovering across the blond's feet. "You want me to carry you?" he offered casually, shifting his basket from his left arm to his right. "Might be safer for you before someone accidentally hits you with their cart."

Normally people were careful in the supermarket with their carts, because Naruto wasn't the first one to take a Pokémon with him, but it might hurt Mimikyu's pride less if Naruto gave a good reason to carry him around. The small Pokémon was rather prideful, he'd noticed, and he wouldn't admit to feeling uncomfortable easily.

Mimikyu peered up at him, looking somewhat doubtful, but then his fake head bobbed twice in agreement. Naruto bent down low enough for Mimikyu to jump up and then the small Pokémon was clinging to his arm with his own shadowy appendages, looking around distrustfully.

The cashier looked rather dubiously at Mimikyu, but didn't say anything bad about him and helped Naruto get extra Pokéballs, so that was good enough for the blond. As long as they left Mimikyu alone, he couldn't care less what kind of looks the two of them were receiving.

Back home, Naruto started preparing food that they could take with them on the road, while Mimikyu explored the house, shuffling from one room to the other now that he was feeling better.

While the food was cooling off, Naruto hunted down the biggest backpack he had. It was a dark orange, almost brown, bag with multiple pockets both inside and outside of the bag. Initially it had belonged to his dad and for a brief moment, as he held it out in front of him, a memory rose up of his dad arriving home from his journey, the bag filled to the brim with souvenirs and Pokéballs. He had always been so excited, waiting at the front door for dad to get home, wondering what kind of beautiful or fun souvenirs he had brought with him this time or which Pokémon he had managed to befriend.

The soft sound of Mimikyu wandering somewhere in the room behind him shook him out of his reverie and he sighed inaudibly, placing the bag on his bed while he searched for the tent next.

One hour later saw Naruto pulling the door of his home shut for what would probably be the last time in quite a while. Pushing his arms through the straps of the backpack, he looked down at Mimikyu, who was patiently waiting next to him on the doorstep.

"All right, this is it, Mimikyu," Naruto said and took a deep breath. "Now our journey starts for real."

"Mimikyu!" Mimikyu cheered and did a funny little wiggle, making the blond smile.

"I was thinking," Naruto started as they following the long winding path to the woods, "I don't know what your move range is, so how about we test it out?"

"Mimi?" How?

"Well, we need someone sturdy who can take your hits, so what do you say we ask Onix whether he wants to help us figure out what your move set is?"

"Mimikyu?" Mimikyu turned around confused, looking towards the town and Naruto understood the confusion instantly.

"Hehe, no, not that Onix," he clarified and rubbed the back of his neck. "This is an Onix I helped out some time ago when he got into an altercation with a Steelix. He's pretty nice, lives near that sandy area. I think he might want to help us out. So, what do you say? You want to try out your moves on him?"

Mimikyu was clearly apprehensive, his fake tail twitching as if he was nervously waving his shadowy appendage back and forth. Still, after a short moment of hesitation, Mimikyu nodded.

"All right, let's go find him!" Naruto said enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air.

They found Onix slumbering near an abandoned cave. His eyes opened the second they came within ten feet of him, but he relaxed once he recognised Naruto.

"Hey there, Onix, how are you doing?" Naruto greeted him cheerfully, stopping just a couple of feet away from the large Pokémon.

Mimikyu halted right next to him and stared suspiciously at the Rock Snake Pokémon.

Onix yawned and a rumbling sound filled the air when he slowly rose up, stretching his long body. He released an approving low growl, nodding his head happily.

"Good to hear Steelix isn't bothering you again," Naruto grinned.

The cracks in Onix' body had been rather terrible and it had taken him and Tsunade a full month before they had managed to help Onix heal enough that he wouldn't be bothered anymore by the cracks. When one looked very closely, they would still be able to spot a very thin line running down the third boulder as evidence of the fight.

"I actually have a question for you," he went on and Onix made an inquisitive noise, turning around to face him fully. "You see, I've finally become a Pokémon Trainer and Mimikyu here is my partner. I was wondering if Mimikyu could test out some of his attacks on you, to see what kind of moves he knows so far?"

Onix cocked his head backwards before his gaze switched to Mimikyu, who tensed up, but didn't run away or tried to attack. Both Pokémon seemed to be assessing the other one and it was kind of ridiculous to see a small Pokémon like Mimikyu being nearly dwarfed by the sheer size of Onix.

"You're one of the very few sturdy Pokémon I know," Naruto continued and dropped his bag onto the ground, zipping it open. "Even so, I've got Potions with me and there's an Oran Berry tree not far away from here, so if the attacks do hit harder, I can treat you. If you don't want to, that's more than fine, though," he hastened to reassure the large Pokémon. "I don't want you to feel pressured; I just don't know many who can take a hit like you."

Onix considered his question; his tail idly moving back and forth, stirring up dust. Mimikyu in the meantime stood completely still as if he had turned into a statue. Naruto felt a little bit guilty about that, but well, how else were they going to find out which moves Mimikyu knew already? The fact that he had been able to take down a Tyrogue meant Naruto couldn't let him practice on anyone else save for Onix, unless he was planning on actually capturing the Pokémon in question. Onix at least was sturdy enough to take several hits without any damage.

He supposed he could try to track down a Rhyhorn, but they were quite reclusive and their travel patterns were so irregular he wouldn't know where to find them now.

"Onix," Onix agreed with a guttural sound, spreading himself out across the ground so that Mimikyu would have an easier time hitting him.

"Thanks, Onix!" Naruto sighed relieved, clasping his hands together. "You're really helping me out here. This won't take long, I promise. I even got some extra curry for you, the one you like the most."

At the mention of the curry, Onix' eyes started to glitter in excitement and if he was a Cat like Pokémon, no doubt he would have started purring by now. During his recovery, Naruto had plied him with his homemade curry, because his injuries had been too severe for him to move and they definitely hadn't wanted him to starve to death.

"All right, Mimikyu, whenever you're ready, you can show your first move," Naruto smiled encouragingly at his partner.

Mimikyu looked at him cautiously, but when he received another nod, he shuffled closer to Onix, who just regarded him lazily. He probably didn't consider Mimikyu a real threat, given how strong his body was, but Mimikyu being Naruto's partner made him a non-threat in Onix' eyes as well. Even though Onix wasn't officially Naruto's Pokémon, they had built somewhat of a bond in the month the blond had been taking care of him and Onix knew he would never intentionally hurt him.

Shadowy arms quickly slipped out, turning into something that resembled claws, and dragged down one of Onix' boulders when they made contact. It was the move Scratch, but as suspected Mimikyu barely left any damage, not even a chip.

That hadn't escaped Mimikyu's attention either and for some reason that seemed to make the Pokémon slightly irate, because his next attack followed quickly and with more confidence, his shadowy arm rapidly stretching out across the ground, underneath Onix and rearing up behind him before it hit him harshly.

This time Onix shuddered and while there was still no evidence left, this attack clearly had left an impression. Shadow Sneak, Naruto concluded, replaying the scene in his mind. It was the same attack Mimikyu had used on Sandslash and Talonflame and it must be one of his stronger ones.

Still, even with Onix' reaction, Mimikyu didn't appear satisfied, and this time Naruto gasped when a shadowy blob was suddenly shot at Onix, whose eyes widened. The Pokémon was just quick enough to hurl himself out of the way, leaving the blob to harmlessly hit a tree.

"You know Shadow Ball?" Naruto asked stumped, gaping at Mimikyu.

Mimikyu turned around to face him and preened, chirping, "Kyu!"

His light demeanour was a sharp contrast to his irate disposition of just a few seconds earlier and some shadowy tendrils briefly peeked from underneath the cloth. "Mimi, Mimikyu, Kyu?" Did I do good?

"You did wonderful," Naruto said, shaking himself out of his shock. Shadow Ball wasn't a move he had expected Mimikyu to know already given that he couldn't have been born with it.

Just how long had he been on his own before he found Naruto?

"Onix, you okay, man?" Naruto inquired.

Onix definitely hadn't expected Mimikyu to know Shadow Ball either and while Naruto wasn't sure whether it would have done a lot of damage to the boulder Pokémon, clearly he hadn't wanted to take a chance on it either, having ducked out of the way as soon as Mimikyu had launched it.

The large Pokémon grunted, shaking his head slightly, before lowering himself back to the ground, throwing Mimikyu a reluctant impressive look. Mimikyu puffed out his chest, looking pleased with himself, and in spite of the surprise, Naruto smiled, pretty proud of his partner for being this strong already. Who knew how many more amazing moves Mimikyu would learn once they started training for real?

"Thanks for helping us out, I really appreciate it," Naruto said, offering Onix a box of curry. "Dig in, you definitely deserve it!"

Onix released a pleased grunt, attacking the box almost instantly.

Turning back to his own Pokémon, Naruto grinned, "Come on, I want to see just how deep your Scratches hit on wood!"

Mimikyu chirped, obviously a lot more excited now that his first training session had been a success.

They trained for several more hours with Naruto testing how quick Mimikyu could be as well. Speed wasn't everything, but it might definitely come in handy at some point if the opponent was slower.

The sun was slowly starting to set by the time they stopped for the day. A sense of exhilaration clung to the both of them as Naruto set up the tent and Mimikyu went searching for some Berries that they could use to turn into stew with fruit.

"The first gym is actually in the first town we'll come across," Naruto noted surprised as he studied the map while eating his stew.

"Mimi?" His partner looked up briefly from his own bowl, his small eyes flickering to the Pokédex displaying the region's map.

"I'm pretty sure that's a gym dealing with Grass Pokémon," Naruto mused, tapping his spoon against his mouth. "It's on the other side of the forest, so if we just keep walking west, we should get there in a couple of days, I think."

"Mimi." Mimikyu nodded in agreement before digging into his dinner again.

"We might have to consider adding a member to our team by then," Naruto said, logging out of the map. At Mimikyu's curious gaze, he elaborated, "I don't know how many Pokémon this gym will have. I doubt the Gym Leader will have more than three, but there's no use in trying to bank on that. If we have another member, then you can rest on time so you won't get too drained. It's never good to fight continuously, after all."

"Mimikyu!" Mimikyu protested. I can do it!

He smiled faintly. "I know you can do it, but I don't want you to be in danger of getting hurt too much. Besides, since they adjusted the rules a few years ago, Double Battles can be done as well and for that we would need a third member in our team at the very least."

"Kyu," Mimikyu petulantly agreed.

"How about this: we're a team together, so your input about new members is important too," Naruto said and crossed his legs, putting his Pokédex back into his bag. "Are there any Pokémon that you really don't like? That you prefer not being on our team, I mean."

He knew a lot of Trainers aimed to have every Pokémon in their team eventually, but what was the point in doing that if Mimikyu wouldn't feel happy with some of them? As the very first Pokémon in Naruto's team, he was allowed to have a say in this. Nothing would be gained from having Pokémon on their team who might make Mimikyu feel uncomfortable or sad.

Mimikyu hummed thoughtfully before he suddenly pulled a funny face with one shadow forming a big tongue and the rest of his shadows making him large and roundish with four small limbs sticking out. He then made an odd noise as if he was imitating someone sticking out his tongue.

"No Gengar?" Naruto guessed cautiously.

The shadows instantly retreated and Mimikyu nodded furiously. "Mimikyu!" Bad!

Naruto was just in time to hide a grimace, having an inkling as to why Mimikyu would consider Gengar bad. "All right, no Gengar then," he decided. They were notoriously hard to deal with, anyways, so capturing one could be quite literally a nightmare. "Anyone else?"

Mimikyu shrugged, looking unbothered.

All right, so as long as it wasn't Gengar, anyone else was welcome. Good to know.

"Hey, Mimikyu, what do you think of this new Pokédex entry that I wrote for you?"

Evening had fallen and everything was cloaked in darkness now; the forest alive with Pokémon who thrived at night. Some Noctowl were softly hooting in a tree nearby and the impish giggling of Impidimps could be heard somewhere in the distance.

Naruto and Mimikyu had both settled down in the tent itself now, a small lamp the only source of light between them. Mimikyu had been kneading his pillow, an air of contentment hanging over him, while Naruto had crawled into his sleeping bag, drafting entries. He hadn't forgotten Tsunade's promise to adjust Mimikyu's Pokédex entry and he saw no reason why he should wait any longer with that when he could send her the draft through digitally.

"Kyu?" What?

Naruto cleared his throat and sat up straight, holding the paper out in front of him. "While Mimikyu can be considered shy, they are also very brave Pokémon who will help those in need. Their cloth protects them from the sunlight, as they are sensitive to that." He looked questioningly at Mimikyu. "I know it sounds a bit rough still, but I think the Professor might be able to do something with this. What do you – oof!"

The paper floated to the ground when Naruto lost his grip on it, having to use both hands to steady himself when Mimikyu tackled him around his waist. Startled, he looked down and was surprised to see thin, shadowy arms coming from underneath the yellow cloth to hug him.

"Mimi, Mimikyu!" I love it!

Chuckling, the young man hugged Mimikyu back. "Well, I'm glad you like your new entry," he said pleased and rummaged through his bag, keeping one hand on Mimikyu's back, to retrieve his Pokédex. "Let me type it in and send it to the Professor so that she can finally give you the entry you deserve."

Honestly, the person responsible for the original bad entry should perhaps actually be around Mimikyu for a while instead of listening to rumours. Then they would know just how far off the mark they had been with their version.

[Message Sent]

"See?" Naruto turned the screen to Mimikyu so he could read the confirmation as well. "I sent the entry to the Professor. She'll change your entry soon, I promise."

"Mimi!" Mimikyu thanked him happily before slithering off his lap and back onto his pillow.

"All right," Naruto covered a yawn with his hand, "let's catch some sleep now. Maybe tomorrow we'll be able to find our new team member."

And if not, well, he was certain they would have fun regardless.

The cold, barely there touch on his exposed wrist was what woke him up and he blinked, seeing nothing but darkness, because it was still night, of course.

"Mimikyu, what - " That same cold touch covered now his mouth, silencing him at once and Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, sleepy and thoroughly confused now.

He turned his head towards Mimikyu, wondering whether the small Pokémon was having a nightmare and his body was acting on its own, when he heard it.

Footsteps shuffling close to the tent.

AN2: Ooooh, whoever or whatever could that be, hm? Guesses are welcome! I hope you liked the chapter :)

Small question: for anyone who has bought the expansion pass for Sword and Shield - can you just make do with one pass for one of the games or do the types of Pokémon differ even in this expansion region? Like do you need to buy a pass for both games to literally catch them all or would just one game be enough? Can't figure it out, so why no create a question corner here?

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.