Well, it's been a while since I last updated. I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sakura, since it's her birthday (March 28th)! Please review after reading! Enjoy this chapter, and Happy Birthday, Sakura!

The Trick House

"Hey, look at that," said Naruto, pointing to a large group of people crowded around a crazily painted house.

"I wonder what's going on," said Sakura. "Hey, can we check it out? I'm a teensy bit curious."

"It might slow us down. Mauville City's not too far off now," reminded Sasuke.

"Yeah, but Sasuke-kun, aren't you curious at all?" asked Sakura teasingly.

"Sasuke-teme has no feelings at all, Sakura-chan. I think you should know that by now," teased Naruto. Sasuke just sighed and said nothing.

"I'm going to go see what's up. Come if you want. If you don't, then, wait here, please." Sakura skipped off to the huge crowd to figure out what the commotion was. Naruto tagged along, being the good friend he is.

"Hey, what's this all about?" Naruto asked a girl about their age.

"Oh, don't you know? This is the trick house. The person who're smart enough to figure out all the tricks inside the trick house will be declared the winner, and they will get a year's supply of Pokeblocks," replied the girl. "Are you two planning on entering?"

"We just found out about this place. I think I might enter this trick house competition. It sounds interesting," pondered Sakura.

"If you do that, we'll get to Mauville City even later than planned," said Sasuke, walking up to them.

"Oh, you followed us, Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"I can't leave you alone with Naruto. He may do something idiotic again," answered Sasuke.

"Hey, wait a second. I feel like I've seen you three before," mumbled the girl. "On TV, um… a… oh right! I saw you," the young girl pointed at Sakura, "at the Rustboro contest. As for you two, I heard that you defeated the Dewford gym leader."

"Yep, that's us! Dattebayo!" cheered Naruto.

"I was at the Rustboro contest. My name is Sakura Haruno. What's yours?" Sakura introduced herself.

"My name is TenTen. It's very nice to meet you Sakura," said TenTen, shaking Sakura's hand.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this emotionless guy here is Sasuke Uchiha. It's a pleasure to meet you!" greeted Naruto, shaking hands with TenTen as well. "Are you Chinese? You really look like one," stated Naruto.

"Well, I'm partially Chinese. My dad's Japanese, though," replied TenTen.

"I really like how you tie your hair into two buns. They really show that you're proud to look Chinese. I love the twin dragons on your shirt too. The designs are just… wow… The clothes you wear and your appearance really show off your Chinese heritage," commented Sakura.

"Thank you," said TenTen, blushing a little.

"Oh, hey, how did you know about our battle against the Dewford gym leader?" asked Naruto.

"Lee's one of my close friends. He tells me about the trainers he's faced. He said you and Sasuke worked together really well," answered TenTen.

"Well, not all the time," whispered Sakura.

"Guys, it looks like someone's emerging from beneath the stage," interrupted Sasuke.

"That must be the Trick Master," said TenTen.

"The Trick Master?" asked Naruto.

"He's the one who started this contest. I'm sure he'll explain everything you need to know," replied TenTen.

"Welcome everyone!" started the Trick Master. "I'm your host and creator of the Trick House Contest, the Trick Master! Behold my Trick House! It's full of the trickiest traps I've ever thought of! It will take both wisdom and wit to make it all the way through. Whoever gets past all of my traps and reaches the exit first is the winner! Don't forget the yummy surprise you're going to win: a year's supply of Pokeblocks! So, without further ado, it's trick time!" After his announcement, the Trick Master disappeared under the stage.

"We don't have to go in alone, do we?" asked Sakura.

"I don't think so. There's no rule stating that we have to go individually," replied TenTen.

"All right then! Let's go!" shouted Naruto, full of enthusiasm.

"Naruto and Sasuke, since you two work so well together, why don't you go together?" asked TenTen.

"What?! Me, go in that house with Sasuke-teme? No way! Not in a million years!" denied Naruto.

"Oh? From what I've heard from Lee, you two have pretty good teamwork," said TenTen.

"Sheesh… fine… let's just go, teme," said Naruto, defeated.

"Did you do that to purposely test their teamwork and will to work together?" asked Sakura.

"You got that right. Now, let's go too, Sakura," replied TenTen.

With Naruto and Sasuke

"Naruto, will you stop pushing?" complained Sasuke.

"Hey, I can't see a thing here, y'know!" retorted Naruto.

"Why did I ever agree to go with you?" mumbled Sasuke.

"I'm not happy either teme, so shut it!" yelled Naruto. A moment later, the blond crashed into a wall. "Ow… what's this? Hey, it's not dark anymore!"

"It looks like a maze. So, we have to get through this obstacle, huh? Hn, piece of cake," said Sasuke. He opened the first door and went in. Naruto followed the boy.

"Teme, you sure we're going the right way?" asked Naruto.

"Trust me, I know exactly…" Sasuke crashed into a dead end before he could finish his sentence.

"Yeah… you know exactly where you're going," said Naruto sarcastically. He walked off on his own, trying to figure out a path. (AN: I wanted to change it so that for once, it's Sasuke who's the stupid one. XD)

With Sakura and TenTen

"I'm pretty sure we're lost," commented Sakura. She and TenTen have been circling the maze for what seemed like days.

"Yeah… we've been walking for too long. Hm, I guess I'll have to crash the walls," said TenTen, calmly.

"Isn't that against the rules?" asked Sakura.

"The Trick Master just said we have to go through his obstacles and figure out his tricks. He didn't say anything about how we can get through his obstacles," replied TenTen, taking out a Pokeball. "Okay Cloyster, come on out!" The huge oyster-like Pokemon emerged from TenTen's Pokeball, first with is shells closed, but opened them a few seconds later. Sakura pulled out her Pokedex to analyze the Pokemon.

Cloyster, the Bivalve Pokemon. Cloyster is capable of swimming in the sea. It does so by swallowing water, then jetting it out toward the rear. This Pokemon shoots spikes from its shell using the same system.

"Woah, cool," breathed Sakura.

"Cloyster, knock down the walls with your Spike Cannon!" commanded TenTen. Sakura braced herself for the attack. Cloyster closed its shell and glowed white. Then, it fired multiple white spikes toward the wall TenTen was pointing at. Soon, the wall was knocked down, and surprisingly, Sakura and TenTen found that they were free from the maze.

"Wow, nice thinking, TenTen," praised Sakura.

"If you can't use logic, then you'll have to use force," said TenTen, winking. She returned Cloyster to its Pokeball. The two girls started to run off when the Trick Master suddenly appeared.

"Is it possible that one group has made it out of the maze already?" asked the Trick Master to himself. He continued, "You're amazing! I'm impressed!" Then he started laughing like a maniac.

"Is he always like this?" asked Sakura.

"I guess so," replied TenTen. Before the girls could go anywhere further, a hidden door on the maze wall started to swing open. Sakura and TenTen jogged right around the corner of the maze to see Naruto and Sasuke walking out of the door.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, you made it!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Took you two long enough," said TenTen.

"Sakura-chan, you should've seen Sasuke stumble around the maze like an idiot!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Che, I wasn't the only one," retorted Sasuke.

"Well, at least I was the one who found the way out, dattebayo!" boasted Naruto.

"Only because of your Marshtomp," stated Sasuke.

"Oh, you used Marshtomp's radar-like fin to help search for the way out, Naruto? For once, I say nice thinking," complimented Sakura.

Naruto grinned goofily and said, "Thanks, Sakura-chan. How did you and TenTen get through?"

"Well," Sakura started.

TenTen finished, "I used my Cloyster to knock down the walls, as you can clearly see behind us." TenTen motioned to the destroyed maze wall behind them. Sasuke raised his eyebrows and Naruto was staring, agape.

"Is that even allowed in this stupid game?" asked Sasuke.

"The Trick Master didn't say how we can get through the maze now, did he?" replied TenTen, smirking.

"Che, fine," said Sasuke.

"What do we do now?" asked Naruto.

"We go on to whatever obstacle's next. Let's go, Sakura," said TenTen, running off in one direction. Sakura followed close behind.

"Do you think we can follow them, teme?" asked Naruto.

"Do whatever you like, dobe," replied Sasuke.

Naruto twitched, but kept his cool for once. The blond ran off after Sakura and TenTen. Sasuke sighed and followed Naruto.

Naruto and Sasuke found TenTen and Sakura walking along two rows of logs, crossing a huge river. Before the two boys could catch up to them, they spotted the Trick Master appear suddenly on a log beside TenTen's. He told them something, jumped around, laughed hysterically, and fell into the river because the log broke. Naruto reminded himself not to become too excited on those logs. The girls were walking further. Naruto snapped back to reality and saw Sasuke on one of the logs as well. He was right behind Sakura. Naruto ran towards his friends and balanced himself on one of the logs.

He tried to catch up with the other three, and was doing a good job at it too. He almost lost his balance once, but quickly got back on track. Once he caught up with his other friends, TenTen asked, "So why did you two follow us?"

"I don't want one or two of my friends to lose their way and be lost somewhere in this house. If we go together, then we may be able to solve things better, "replied Naruto.

"Hm, alright. Watch your step, okay? I tripped and almost fell into the river, if I didn't use my weapons to drag myself back up. It won't be pretty to fall into that river. The rapids seem to be strong," stated TenTen.

"Okay… thanks for the heads up," replied Naruto. As they continued walking, they heard a scream. Naruto quickly turned around and saw that the log Sakura and Sasuke were walking on split. "Sakura-chan! Sasuke!" Naruto screamed.

Naruto was about to go and help his friends, but Sasuke already got things under control. He grabbed Sakura's waist, held her tightly against him, and threw out a Pokeball. Grovyle came out, quickly grabbed Sasuke and Sakura and jumped to the log Naruto and TenTen were on.

"I never knew Grovyle could do something like that," thought Naruto. "Sasuke must have trained it really well. Even though I train with him almost all the time, I still don't know much about how he raises his Pokemon."

"Sasuke-kun, thank you," said Sakura.

Sasuke didn't reply. He just returned Grovyle to its Pokeball and kept walking. Sakura sighed, shrugged, and walked behind him. TenTen was a little surprised at the fall, but she quickly got back on track. Naruto was deep in thought about Grovyle being able to carry two people at once and being able to jump in mid-air.

Once they were all on the other side, the Trick Master popped up again, and led them to another room: one full of ropes.

"Come on guys, let's go!" encouraged Naruto. Before anyone could stop him, he already grabbed onto a rope and started to swing to the other side. Of course, his bad luck kicked in at once. The rope started to stretch out, and Naruto was about to hit a wall, when he quickly called out his Staravia, let go of the rope, and flew back to his friends.

"You know it's stupid to do something rash in this Trick House, Naruto," chided Sakura.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I just can't wait to get to the finish line," apologized Naruto.

The Trick Master appeared again, out of the blue. He explained, "The key to the rope swing is to choose your ropes carefully! If you don't…" That man tried to swing to the other side, but ended up crashing into a wall. He continued, "Your rope would stretch out and you and this wall could become very close!" The Trick Master then slid down to the bottom, where it was filled with water.

"Alright! I won't make the same mistake twice," stated Naruto.

All of them started pulling on ropes to make sure they were stable ones. Once they were all sure they had some stable ropes, they swung to the other side. Thankfully, all of them arrived in one piece.

"I'm curious," started Sakura.

"About what?" asked TenTen.

"I wonder if the Trick Master let us use our Pokemon in this competition. I mean, wouldn't that count as cheating? We could've easily gotten here with Naruto's Staravia, or another flying Pokemon. We got out of that maze because of you Cloyster. Do any other people do that?" asked Sakura.

"I think of those actions as 'using your head and finding an easier way out of this mess'. Besides, that Trick Master is too cheerful to say anything," replied TenTen.

"Okay…" trailed Sakura.

"Well, let's move on, guys!" said Naruto. All of them ran off to the next room.

Once they got there, they saw another room full of hanging ropes. The Trick Master appeared and explained the trick to them, "This next challenge is the famous rope climb! The object is to climb all the way up and choose the right box. Careful what you choose!" The Trick Master started climbing one rope, and suddenly got hit repeatedly by a hammer when he opened the box at the top. He continued, "Or it could all go to your head! You goof up this trick, and you'll be hitting the floor real quick!" At that moment, he crashed to the ground.

"Okay! Let's go up this one guys!" shouted Naruto. The blond had already started climbing the rope before anyone could protest.

"Hn, do whatever you want, dobe. I'm choosing this one," said Sasuke, climbing up a different rope.

"Wanna watch them crash to the ground, Sakura?" asked TenTen.

"Sure," replied Sakura. The two girls stood in place, not climbing up any ropes. Soon enough, Naruto's rope was snipped off by a pair of mechanical scissors and Sasuke endured too many hits to the head with a hammer.

"I don't see the point in completing the tricks in this room," said Sakura.

"I agree. Let's just move on to the next room," stated TenTen.

"Hey, guys! Wait for us!" shouted Naruto, scampering after Sakura and TenTen.

When the four of them got to the next room, all they saw were people falling and dust in the air. "What's going on here?" asked Naruto.

"Glad you asked," answered the Trick Master, appearing out of nowhere, once again. "It's time for the… pit traps! A word of caution. Step lightly or AHHH!" The Trick Master fell into a huge hole while talking. The four young teens crowded around the hole to check on the Trick Master.

"Do you think he's lonely and needs some attention?" asked Sakura.

"Could be. I've never seen anyone so hyped up," answered TenTen. She glanced at Naruto and said, "I take that back. Maybe I have."

"Alright! I'm absolutely sure that the right path is this way!" declared Naruto, pointing.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Sasuke.

"Trust me, I know exactly where I'm AHH!" Naruto fell face first into a hole.

"You were saying?" taunted Sasuke.

"Shut up, teme," retorted Naruto.

After a lot of falling into holes and climbing back up, the four young teens finally got to the next room. "I thought I'd never get out of there," complained Sakura.

"Thank God we did," said Naruto.

"What's next?" asked Sasuke. He searched around the room for the tricks that were set up, but couldn't find any.

The Trick Master popped up again. "Hello! You have now reached the end of the Trick House contest! Unfortunately, a few other people have already made it before you did. Thanks for trying though!" He ran away, laughing like a maniac.

TenTen sighed and said, "Oh well, we tried."

"It was fun, somehow," stated Sakura.

"I say it was a waste of time," complained Sasuke.

"Oh, come on, Sasuke-kun. It wasn't that bad," said Sakura.

"Yeah, teme! Lighten up!" encouraged Naruto.

"Where're you three heading for next? Mauville City?" asked TenTen.

"Yep! I'm going to participate in the Escargot Cup, and these two are going to challenge the leader," replied Sakura.

"Oh, I see. I'm heading to Mauville City too. I'm going to go meet an old friend of mine. We talked and decided that we would meet in Mauville, since his Pokemon's at the day care there. We haven't seen each other in a while. I can't wait to see him again!" squealed TenTen.

"Is he your boyfriend?" asked Naruto, innocently.

"NO! H-He's just an old f-friend!" stammered TenTen.

"Right… Anyway, why don't you come with us, TenTen?" invited Sakura.

"Sure, if you guys don't think I'm some kind of burden or anything," said TenTen.

"We don't mind! Right, teme?" asked Naruto, nudging Sasuke with his elbow.

"Hn, whatever," replied Sasuke.

"Just take that as a yes," suggested Sakura.

"Um, okay. Oh, and by the way, Sakura, I'm going to be participating in the Escargot Cup too," said TenTen. Sakura's eyes widened first, then she smiled.

"Glad to hear that, TenTen. I can't wait to battle you!" said Sakura.

"Me too. Let's hope we can both make it to the second round," replied TenTen.

"So you're a coordinator?" asked Naruto.

"Well, let's just say that I'm entering this contest just for fun. The truth is, I'm really into battles. Contests have a battle round too, so I want to check it out by entering the Escargot Cup." She continued, "Oh, and I know another person who's participating. You may or may not know her."

"Who? Is she famous?" asked Sakura.

"Well, sort of. She's a tough trainer, but she's just a rookie coordinator. She's also my old friend's cousin," answered TenTen.

"Oh, who?" asked Sakura, again.

"She's one of the gym leaders of Mosdeep City, Hinata Hyuuga," replied TenTen.

"Wait, Hyuuga? The name of the family who have run the Mosdeep Gym for God knows how long?" asked Naruto.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you know some general knowledge, Naruto. Yes, Hyuuga. My old friend is Neji Hyuuga. He and his cousin, Hinata, are the gym leaders of Mosdeep City. They work well together. I've seen them battle together, and they're strong!" explained TenTen.

"Wow, so that Hinata Hyuuga's going to be in the Escargot Cup? She's going to be tough to beat, I'm sure," said Sakura.

"Hinata's not very confident of herself, but from what I've seen, she's a tough gym leader. She's also going to be with Neji at Mauville. Naruto, Sasuke, maybe you two can ask them a thing or two. After all, you two are going to have to battle them for the Mind Badge," suggested TenTen.

"I can't wait to meet the Hyuugas! I'm going to challenge them to a battle in Mauville! Dattebayo!" shouted Naruto.

"Hold your horses, Naruto. We have to get to Mauville City first," said Sakura. She switched to the map application on her Poketch and started giving directions. "Okay. Mauville City's not far off now. We're almost there. We just need to go straight, then turn right."

"Okay! Let's move!" shouted Naruto. The four of them dashed towards Mauville City, excited for the events that awaits them.

Yay, I'm done with this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I stayed up until 11 P.M typing this chapter! Well, at least I updated! Can you guys please check out the poll I have on my profile too? It's asking whether Hinata, TenTen, Ino, or Karin should go on to the final round.

Let me explain a few things. Hinata's one of the gym leaders of Mosdeep City. She's a toughie, but she's still in-training when it comes to contests. She and her cousin, Neji, don't get along very well. Even so, they work well together. Plus, Hinata has been training with her father, who used to be one of the gym leaders of Mosdeep City as well.

TenTen's a tough girl. She loves her weapons, especially her kunais, and keeps them with her on her journey. She's not a big fan of contests, but she loves battling. TenTen's just entering the Escargot Cup to see how contests work. She looks forward to the battling rounds.

Ino has been Sakura's best friend for a long time. Ino headed off on her journey before Sakura did, so she has one or two more contest ribbons than Sakura does. She is sometimes overconfident and that either ends up as either an advantage or disadvantage for her.

Karin is an elite member of Team Sound. She doesn't like contests, but, like TenTen, she likes to battle. Her main reason for entering the Escargot Cup is to get back at Sakura for beating her back at Dewford Town. She has gained a few more Pokemon in her team, so she's going to be a tough rival for Sakura!

Okay, so that's basically it. Please review, review, review, and vote on my poll, or tell me your vote in your reviews!