Naruto: Johto Journeys

by KitsuneDragon

Naruto is a young trainer who wishes to become a Pokemon Master. With his trusty Cyndaquil by his side can he overcome the challenges he will face and make his dream a reality? Pairing: NarutoxHinata and SasukexSakura.

3. Chapter 3:Triumph and Loss

Naruto and Hinata were walking along Route 30, passing through the grass when Hinata spied something out of the corner of her eyes, Eevee looked at her trainer in confusion before looking at where Hinata was looking.

"Naruto-kun, c-could you wait for a while, I think I saw something in those bushes" the pale eyed girl said. Naruto and Cyndaquil looked at each other before shrugging.

"Sure, let's check it out" the blonde Uzumaki agreed. The two pre-teens and their Pokemon partners walked in the direction east of where they were going before they saw two trainers, one had a purple and white rat like Pokemon, known as Rattata and the other had a Pidgey. Both were grinning as they were fighting a defenseless little Caterpie. The bug type Pokemon was being double teamed as the two Pokemon used a continuous barrage of Tackle attacks sending it sprawling on the ground. It tried to use String Shot to defend itself when it had the chance, but when it tried to attack one, the other appeared and attacked it. Hinata and Naruto gaped in shock as they saw the boys, both around their age, doing such a cruel act.

'That's such a cruel thing to do to that Caterpie' Hinata glared at them before an afterthought followed, 'If I could catch the Caterpie, I could get a Butterfree to help with my contests'

"Naruto-kun, we have to help that Caterpie" she said. Naruto nodded and he and Cyndaquil along with Hinata and Eevee walked over to the two youngsters.

"OI, WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Naruto roared in anger. The two boys, both wearing similar outfits of a blue cap, yellow t-shirts and navy blue pants with blue sneakers turned to face the blonde and bluentte.

" I'm Tommy and this is my brother, Jimmy. Who are you guys?"

"That d-d-doesn't matter, now leave t-that p-poor Caterpie alone" Hinata ordered with anger in her eyes.

"Cynda cyndaquil quil!" Cyndaquil spoke as his back burst into flames to give his anger a physical form.

"Eevee vee!" Eevee cried out in anger towards the trainers.

"Why should we, this weak little Pokemon is used to train our own Pokemon"

"Yeah, but it's two on one, that's not fair!" the blonde trainer said.

"Life isn't fair" one of the two trainers yelled. "Now get out of the way" The Rattata was about to attack when Cyndaquil jumped in front of the bug type Pokemon and tackled the small rodent back. Eevee joined in also.

"Alright listen, w-we'll battle you, if you l-lose you leave C-C-Caterpie alone" Hinata said without stuttering. Naruto smirked, Hinata's confidence was already growing, her stuttering was almost nearly gone.

"And if we win?"

"That won't happen" Naruto growled as he and Hinata faced off against the two other trainers. The twins smirked and nodded to each other. The green caterpillar Pokemon lay there on the grass in surprise at seeing two humans defend it, especially the blue haired one.

"Alright, Rattata let's do this!"

"Crush them Pidgey!" The two Pokemon gave out battle cries as they faced off against Naruto's Cyndaquil and Hinata's Eevee.

"Cyndaquil, Eevee, let's do this!" Naruto and Hinata commanded.

"Vee!" the evolution Pokemon crouched low ready to battle.

"Quil" and the flames on Cyndaquil's back blazed to life.

"Pidgey use Tackle" Tommy yelled and the Tiny Bird Pokemon flew down aiming to strike Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil use Smokescreen!" Naruto yelled. Black plumes of smoke flew from Cyndaquil's mouth.

"Now Eevee use Tackle!" Hinata ordered. The brown and white furred creature nodded and then charged into the smoke and smacked into Pidgey sending both of them out of the ebony smoke cloud and both rolled on the ground.

"Use scratch Rattata!" the claws of the rat Pokemon slashed Eevee's face and sent her skidding backwards. "Now follow up with a Tackle attack" the purple and white rat charged forward towards Eevee.

"You use Tackle too Pidgey!" the dual type bird Pokemon flew towards Eevee.

"Cyndaquil, quick take the hit for Eevee!" Naruto yelled.

"NANI!" the three trainers yelled as they watched Cyndaquil jump in front of Eevee without regard for its own safety and took the Tackle attack from the Rattata. Cyndaquil flew away, over Eevee's head and managed to flip and land firmly on his feet.

"Naruto-kun w-w-why?"

"You're my friend Hinata-chan, and so is Eevee. Cyndaquil and I won't let you both get hurt" Naruto said with a smirk. "CYNDAQUIL...use Leer then use Tackle on both of them!" Cyndaquil glared at the Pidgey and Rattata as the two flinched, lowering their defense before Cyndaquil charged forward and slammed his body full force against the two Pokemon.

"Eevee you use Sand Attack to blind them before using Tackle as well!" Hinata said. Eevee nodded and then turned around and used its back feet to kick up sand into the eyes of the bird and rat Pokemon. Then Eevee used a full body tackle sending the Pidgey and Rattata to the ground. The two Pokemon fainted as a result. Naruto and Hinata took out their Pokedex-es and smiled as they watched on the screens as the blue experience point bars of their Pokemon increased. Cyndaquil and Eevee reached level 10.

"We did it!" and then in their cheering they changed to surprised looks as Cyndaquil's flames burned brighter and then small balls of flame flew out of his mouth and into the blue depths of the sky.

"W-W-Was that...?" as she watched Cyndaquil's back flames return to its usual intensity before being snuffed out.

"YATTA, CYNDAQUIL YOU LEARNED EMBER!" Naruto said as he grabbed his Pokemon and hugged it. Cyndaquil looked in awe as he saw the small balls of fire fly through the air upwards into the sky before being reduced to well...embers.

"CYNDAQUIIILLLL!" the fire type exclaimed in what could only be described as joy.

"You got lucky, we'll cream you two the next time we meet" the twins of Tommy and Jimmy declared.

"In your dreams" Naruto said as he stuck out his tongue at them. The two brothers fled the scene and Hinata and Eevee walked towards the badly damaged Pokemon. Caterpie shrunk away as Hinata knelt down, but then calmed as she began to pet it gently.

"Are you okay, little one?" she asked in a soothing voice. The little bug type stared up at her with large black eyes and gave what seemed to be a nod before nuzzling her neck causing the girl to giggle from the contact. Naruto and Cyndaquil smirked at the sight. Hinata then took out a Potion from her bag and sprayed it, healing the bug type.

"S-S-So, C-Caterpie, do you w-want to join my team?" she asked the bug type. The green worm Pokemon's eyes changed into upside down Us indicating it was smiling before jumping up and down in excitement.

"I'll t-take that as a y-yes" she said and then took out one of the four remaining Pokeballs in her bag and opened it, sucking in Caterpie as red energy. Her Pokedex beeped as she received Caterpie's data from it being caught.

Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. A Bug Type Pokemon. For protection, it releases a horrible stench from the antennae on its head to drive away enemies.

Hinata then scanned the Pokeball and found that Caterpie was at level 4.

"You'll be an excellent trainer for Caterpie, Hinata-chan" Naruto said as he helped her up. The bluenette nodded, as she blushed from the contact between her and Naruto.

"A-Arigato, Naruto-kun, n-now then let's g-go to Violet City" Hinata said. Naruto nodded as the two continued the trek through Route 30. The two trainers continued to walk through the grass, battling the trainers and wild Pokemon that crossed their path using their newly acquired Pokemon, namely Naruto's Pidgey and Hinata's Sentret and sometimes her Caterpie. Naruto also managed to catch a Rattata, Weedle, Caterpie, Spinarak and a Sentret, the two normal types being at level 5 and the bug types at level 4. The Sentret being sent to the PC box for Storage. He read their data as he caught them.

Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. A Normal Type Pokemon. It eats anything. Wherever food is available, it will settle down and produce offspring continuously.

Spinarak, the String Spit Pokemon. A Bug and Poison Type Pokemon. It lies still in the same pose for days in its web, waiting for its unsuspecting prey to wander close.

Weedle, the Weedle Pokemon. A Bug Type Pokemon. Its poison stinger is very powerful. Its bright-colored body is intended to warn off its enemies.

However he said they wouldn't be permanent members.

"Why not Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, her stuttering was slowly going away, apparently the few hours with Naruto was able to do a lot for that aspect of her personality.

"Because, Okaa-chan always told me I should have a balanced team and now my team is made of up of mostly normal types. I want better Pokemon, although Rattata, Sentret and Spinarak will be able to help me in the journey" Naruto explained. Hinata nodded in understanding, he wasn't being cruel or judgmental of his new team members, just thinking about the welfare of his team.

After that they arrived at the gate to Violet City.

"Well we finally made it, Ikuzo!" Naruto said. The two trainers and their main partners then walked through the gates to the first stepping stone of their journey.

Violet City

Upon entry, the two trainers and their starters looked around and noticed quite a number of people in the rather small town.

"Sugoi, that's a lot of people" Naruto said in awe.

"T-They a-are p-probably here to see the P-Pokemon Contest that w-w-will be here. It's two days from now, remember?" Hinata reminded her blonde travelling companion.

"Oh yeah" Naruto said. He then spotted the Pokemon Center and the two trainers walked towards it to heal their Pokemon. They entered the Pokemon Center and spotted a familiar raven haired woman behind the counter.

"Oi, Nurse Shizune!" Naruto called out. Shizune looked up from her computer behind her desk and looked confused.

"Umm, ohayo...do I know you?" Shizune asked.

"It's me, Naruto...and Hinata" he said pointing at the less timid girl. "You treated our Pokemon back in Cherrygrove, though I wonder how you got here so fast?" The raven haired nurse chuckled.

"Oh, you must mean my cousin. I'm the Violet City, Shizune. All of my cousins throughout the region all look alike" Shizune pulled out a photo of all her relatives, it was like a clone army of the raven haired Pokemon nurse when you looked at it. The only difference being the colour of the crosses on their nurse hats.

"Sugoi...you all look so alike" Naruto and Hinata whispered.

"So then, how may I help you? Would you like me to heal your Pokemon?" she asked. Naruto and Hinata nodded before giving her Cyndaquil, Eevee and their other Pokemon that were in their Pokeballs. After a few seconds from putting the Pokemon in the healing machine, the Pokemon were back to full strength.

"There you go, all healed and ready to go and if you want to register for the contest, you can talk with me" Shizune said with a bow. Hinata's eyes widened at that.

"W-W-Well, Nurse Shizune, I want to j-join the contest" Hinata said as she poked her index fingers together.

"Hai, well just hand me your Trainer I.D card and your Pokedex" the nurse said with a smile. The bluish haired girl handed the items to the Pokemon healer before she put them in slots in the computer. Nurse Shizune typed on the computer before pressing one final button and then a green light flashed on the computer. Shizune removed the Trainer Card and the Pokedex from the computer and handed them both back to Hinata.

"Well then Ms. Hyuga, here you go. You are all signed up and registered as a Pokemon Coordinater." the raven haired nurse said.

"Arigato Nurse Shizune" the Hyuga said with a bow.

"Please visit us again, soon" she said as she waved goodbye to them.

After exiting the Pokemon Center, Naruto was suddenly pushed aside by a young trainer.

"Oi, watch where you're...woah" Naruto's eyes widened as the trainer paused allowing Naruto to get an eyeful of the young trainer's Rattata. The Pokemon was covered in bruises and dust and it was twitching from pain.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"That gym leader, he is a really tough one. He uses flying type Pokemon and he completely annihilated me" the trainer said.

"Wow, then I guess I'll have to train really hard then...but where?" the trainer pointed to a large wooden structure that looked like a traditional Japanese building. With a purple tiled roof to separate each floor of the tower.

"You can train there, in Sprout Tower, the monks there all use Bellsprout, and they allow you to battle all their trainers and if you make it to the top, they'll give you a Technical Move or TM for short" the trainer said.

"Sugoi...have you done it?" Naruto asked.

"I haven't been able to make it past the second floor, but I hear the move is very useful" the trainer said before rushing away to heal his Rattata.

"A-Are you r-r-really going to go t-to S-Sprout Tower?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded, determination in his icy blue eyes.

"Hai, if there's not much place to train for a gym battle than there" Naruto said, "Cyndaquil and Pidgey would have to be the ones to fight those monks though, that guy before told me how they all use Bellsprout"

"W-Well, Eevee and I h-have to train for the c-c-contest so I won't be able t-to accompany you to see you battle" the Hyuga said with downcast look, "Please don't be mad"

"I'm not mad, you have your things to do and I have mine. Now train hard and remember...you must always be confident and I'll be cheering for you in those stands" Naruto said with his trademark foxy grin displayed on his face. Hinata blushed, but nodded.

"A-And, I'll b-be cheering you on i-in your gym battle" Hinata said with a small smile. Naruto nodded and then waved to her as he walked towards the tower.

"Ja ne" he said and then he and Cyndaquil raced towards the towering structure while Hinata and Eevee went towards a small area they had spotted a while ago upon entering the city.

Sprout Tower

Naruto stood at the foot of the great piece of wooden infrastructure and could only gaze in awe at its height and bulk.

"Sugoi"

"Cynda" Trainer and Pokemon looked at each other.

"Let's go" Naruto said as he and Cyndaquil walked through the doors. Upon entering they saw the area looked like the inside of a dojo. Many wooden planks made up the floor and walls of the tower, but one huge pillar made up the support column of Sprout Tower. He saw it shifting from side to side and wondered what was going on. He walked up to a woman standing near the pillar.

"Excuse me, miss?" Naruto asked, "But what is going on that the pillar is shaking?"

"Oh" the woman said as she turned towards the blonde trainer, "The pillar is shaking from the intensity of whatever battles are taking place on the upper levels"

Naruto thanked the woman and left. Naruto then walked towards the first monk he saw and smiled.

"You there, I am Naruto Uzumaki and I challenge the Sprout Tower!" the blonde declared.

"CYNDAQUIIIL!" Cyndaquil's back flared to life as its flames burned in its combination of red and yellow flames. The monk was dressed in black robes with a blue sash stretching from his left shoulder and crossing across his chest to reach his right hip.

"Very well, I am Monk Tai. I am one of the many sages who act as a wall you must scale in order to fight our Elder. Come at me with all you have if you wish to assure victory, young trainer" Tai said as he drew a Pokeball from his robes.

"I choose you Cyndaquil" Naruto said and Cyndaquil ran from Naruto's side to stand in front of his trainer.

"Bellsprout, let's go" the monk threw his Pokeball and in a flash of white a Pokemon made up of a twisted brown stem, two leaves for arms and a yellow buttercup flower for a head formed. A Bellsprout. Naruto smirked.

"Cyndaquil use Tackle" Naruto said. Tai glared at the oncoming fire type.

"Bellsprout use Vine Whip" A green vine extended from Bellsprout's 'mouth' and lashed out at Cyndaquil.

"Dodge it, but keep going" Naruto called out. Cyndaquil quickly ran forward and skidded on his stomach to avoid the vine that sailed over his head before continuing to run and then slammed into Bellsprout's body.

"Now use Ember" Naruto commanded and Cyndaquil's flames grew in size and intensity before small fire balls flew from the Fire Mouse's maw and impacted with Bellsprout. The grass type was hit by the super effective move and knocked it out.

"Well done, but there are much more challenges to face" Tai said as he recalled his Bellsprout. Naruto nodded as he ran from Monk Tai.

'I just hope that previous challenger will acquire the ability to bond with his Pokemon...just like this young boy here, you will go far... Naruto Uzumaki' Tai thought. Naruto ran around the bend of the floor and was stopped as he saw another Monk.

"I am Monk Chow, prepare for battle" Chow said as he sent out a Bellsprout. Naruto wanted to use Cyndaquil again, but remember to use Pidgey, it was at level 7 and only needed a bit more experience before it could learn its Gust attack. Naruto plucked the Pokeball from his belt before hurling it.

"Pidgey, do it!" Naruto said as Pidgey appeared in a flash of white light. The normal/flying type let out a coo before taking to the air, flapping its powerful wings.

"Bellsprout use Growth"

"Pidgey use Tackle" Naruto commanded. Bellsprout glowed with a green aura surrounding its body as it took the head on attack that sent it skidding backwards. "Good job, Pidgey"

"Cooo" Pidgey said in satisfaction.

"Bellsprout, use Vine Whip" Chow told his Pokemon. The vine flew from Bellsprout's mouth and lashed through the air. Naruto's eyes widened, the attack was much faster and he noticed that when Pidgey was suddenly lying on the ground.

'It was much stronger and faster too...that Growth attack, must have something to do with it' Naruto thought as he whipped out his orange Pokedex and looked through it for the move.

Growth, a move that is used by Grass type Pokemon to increase the power of their grass type moves by raising their Special Attack. the Pokedex explained. Naruto nodded and then watched as Pidgey climbed to its feet.

"Right, Pidgey use Sand Attack to block Bellsprout's vision" Naruto commanded. Pidgey nodded before flapping its wings and kicked up a large amountof dust from the floor.

"Wow...we really need to clean this place" Chow said as he saw how much dust was kicked up.

"Now use Tackle!" Naruto said. The dual type bird flew through the smokescreen and slammed into Bellsprout sending it to the ground as it flew away from Bellsprout after impacting with the foe.

"Again, but this time, do a corkscrew with it" Naruto said. Pidgey immediately turned back around and then just as Naruto instructed, Pidgey began to spin like a drill and increased its power and speed with the corkscrew before slamming hard into the body of the Grass type Pokemon, sending to the ground unconscious. Naruto smiled as he watched the experience bar on his Pokedex move across the screen.

"Come on...just a little more, YATTA!" he screamed as Pidgey grew to level 8. He was however, stopped as Wong took out another Pokeball.

"Don't celebrate, just yet, Go Bellsprout!" the monk yelled. Naruto glared at the Grass Type.

"Alright, Pidgey, IKUZO!" Naruto yelled. Pidgey performed a Tackle attack.

"Dodge it and then use Vine Whip!" Chow commanded to his Pokemon. The Sprout Pokemon nodded before jumping to the side and whipped the flying type with a green vine from its mouth, however since Pidgey was partially Flying Type, it barely did any damage.

"Use Sand Attack!" Pidgey whipped up another sandstorm that clouded Bellsprout's vision.

"Kuso" Wong cursed, "Bellsprout use Vine Whip on the ground to launch yourself into the air" Wong commanded. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the grass type lash out on the ground with its Vine Whip and launched itself towards the ceiling.

"NANI!" Naruto cried out in surprise, Cyndaquil also watched in horror as Pidgey no longer had the advantage of flight.

"Now attack!" Wong said, however he never missed Naruto's smirk.

"You lose, you're in Pidgey's territory now" Naruto said. "Pidgey use Tackle, use the corkscrew maneuver, since that Bellsprout's in the air it can't dodge" Chow's slitted eyes would have widened if they could as he realized the mistake he made. Naruto was right, by putting Bellsprout in the air, he realized that his Pokemon would not be able to dodge unless it could fly and unfortunately for him...Bellsprout could not. Bellsprout had attacked with a Vine Whip, but Pidgey performed a barrel roll to avoid it before rushing forward, spinning in the air as it clashed with Bellsprout before performing a loop-the-loop and when it reached the peak of the loop, Pidgey dived downwards and slammed Bellsprout down into the ground.

"And we...win?" Naruto and Pidgey were surprised as they saw Bellsprout lying there, but twitching meaning it still had some fight in it.

"My Bellsprout will not lose" Monk Wong said with determination.

"Your Pokemon is defeated, stand down" Naruto said, "It's wounded, you should heal it"

"Not as long as Bellsprout is conscious" Naruto then looked at his Pokedex and saw what it had showed him on the screen.

"Well then, if you won't accept mercy, I will not give it" Naruto said, "Pidgey do it"

"Pidgey nodded before flapping its wings furiously as a large whirlwind formed.

"GUST ATTACK!" Naruto roared and Pidgey let out a loud screech before a brown dust tornado formed and flew towards Bellsprout. The Flying type move was super effective and sent Bellsprout flying through the air and into a wall knocking it out. Naruto, Cyndaquil and Pidgey cheered for their victory.

"You did great, Pidgey" Pidgey's eyes became upside down Us as it cooed in thanks for the compliment. Naruto the returned the Tiny Bird Pokemon, now at level 9, to its Pokeball. Naruto then left the sobbing monk and as he neared the steps to the second floor he found a Paralyze Heal and then put in his bag before climbing the steps. At each floor, Naruto used Cyndaquil and Pidgey, but mostly Pidgey to defeat the Bellsprout in the tower. He then started to use his other Pokemon.

As he reached the last floor, his Cyndaquil had grown to level 13 and learned Quick Attack, Pidgey was at level 12, Spinarak was at level 8, Rattata at level 7 and both Caterpie and Weedle had achieved level 7, thus they had both evolved into Metapod and Kakuna respectively. Their data being registered in the Pokedex as they were registered as being caught.

Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokemon. A Bug Type Pokemon. Although it is a cocoon, it can move a little. It can extend its poison barb if it is attacked.

Metapod, the Cocoon Pokemon. A Bug Type Pokemon. Inside the shell, it is soft and weak as it prepares to evolve. It stays motionless in the shell.

He had also found many useful items within the tower, such as a few Paralyze Heals, one Burn Heal, an Antidote and one Escape Rope. With Pidgey on his shoulder and Cyndaquil by his side, Naruto strode towards the final challenge of the Sprout Tower.

"Alright you two, let's do this" Naruto said as he walked up the stairs to the last floor of the tower. As Naruto and his partners entered the last floor's room, they heard the sounds of battle and looked to see someone already their fighting the Elder of Sprout Tower. Naruto immediately recognized him as the raven haired Sasuke Uchiha.

"Totodile, use Bite" Sasuke commanded. The Big Jaw Pokemon immediately opened its wide jaws, exposing its sharp teeth before they clamped down on the stem like neck of the monk's Bellsprout.

"Now throw it into the air before shooting it down with a Water Gun!" the Uchiha said, and the attack was issued. Totodile smiled as he held the grass type Pokemon in his jaws before slamming Bellsprout down on the floor before throwing it sky high.

"Tototototdiiiile!" Totodile then released a blast of pressurized water that hit the grass type and sent it plummeting back to earth before slamming onto the ground unconscious.

"We win, now give me that Technical Move" Sasuke demanded as he walked up towards the monk with his water type starter. The monk sighed.

"You have battled well, young one. But you show no compassion towards your Pokemon and as a result...you will lose one day to one who has achieved strength through belief and compassion towards their Pokemon" Elder Li said before handing Sasuke a small disc. Sasuke then turned, holding the T.M in his hand before spotting Naruto.

Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other, along with Totodile and Cyndaquil.

"Dobe" Sasuke muttered.

"Teme, still upset about that loss earlier?" Naruto smirked. Sasuke scoffed.

"That was a fluke, I've caught a few strong Pokemon and now I'm going to crush that gym leader." Sasuke said, 'Then I can get started in trying to find...HIM'

"We'll see" and the two rivals parted ways as Sasuke used an Escape Rope to leave Sprout Tower. Naruto walked up to the final monk and bowed.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, I challenge you for the Technical Move!" Naruto declared.

"CYNDA!" Cyndaquil cried out as his back flared up.

"Cooo Cooo" Pidgey cried out as the Tiny Bird began to flap its wings and glare at the elder in a menacing fashion. The elder monk nodded.

"I am Elder Li, the head monk of Sprout Tower. Let me just heal my Pokemon and then we can begin" Elder Li said. After using a couple of Revives and Potions, the elder was ready to battle.

"Now young one, show me if you have what it takes to defeat the Sprout Tower" Li said as he drew a Pokeball.

"GO BELLSPROUT!" Elder Li cried out. In a flash of white light, Bellsprout appeared on the floor.

"PIDGEY LET'S DO THIS!" Naruto cried out. The flying type took to the skies as it glared down at Bellsprout.

"Bellsprout use Growth then follow up with Vine Whip!" the elder commanded. Bellsprout was surrounded by a glowing green aura before a vine shot forth from its flowery mouth. The green whip lashed out, but Pidgey had the sense to dodge the attack.

"Now Pidgey use Gust!" Naruto yelled.

"Pidgeeeeey!" Pidgeu rapidly began to flap its wings and then a whirlwind formed before a miniature wind tornado spun into life. The attack rocketed towards Bellsprout and sucked it into the wind vortex before it stopped and Bellsprout fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well done, Bellsprout. Return!" A red beam returned Bellsprout to its Pokeball before the elder drew another one.

"Go Hoothoot!" the elder said. A small brown owl with two black markings above its large, round, brown eyes that could only be assumed to be eyebrows and standing on one foot that seemed to be continuously alternating with a second hidden foot formed.

"Nani, I thought, the Sprout Tower only used Bellsprout?" Naruto asked. Li smirked

"I am the elder, I am allowed diversification in my team" the elder explained, "Hoothoot, Peck attack!"

The owl like Pokemon flew towards Pidgey, its beak poised to strike.

"Pidgey dodge and then use Tackle attack!" Naruto said. Pidgey quickly performed a loop-the-loop and avoided the attack before soaring towards Hoothoot.

'Gotcha' the monk thought, "Hoothoot dodge the Tackle and then use Peck" Hoothoot then copied Naruto's evasive maneuver before slamming its beak down on Pidgey's back sending the other flying type to the ground. Pidgey quickly recovered though, thus it was able to take back to the skies and glared at the owl.

'That's a dirty trick, he copied me' Naruto thought. "Pidgey Tackle attack!" Pidgey, this time, managed to score a hit and sent Hoothoot into the wall.

"Now attack with with Gust, then follow up with a corkscrew Tackle Attack!" Naruto cried out. At the mention of the 'corkscrew' Li became intrigued as to what that was and merely observed as Pidgey flapped its wings furiously as the tornado of wind formed once more and struck at Hoothoot sending it spiraling upwards and then plummeted to the ground. Then just before Hoothoot was about to touch down on the ground, Pidgey dove down like a hawk on its prey before spinning, its speed and power increasing from the momentum.

Elder Li's eyes were able to slightly widen as he saw the made up move. Pidgey scored a powerful blow with the Tackle attack and Hoothoot slammed into the wall unconscious. Naruto watched his Pokedex screen and smiled as Pidgey achieved level 13. Then as he saw Pidgey returning to him, Pidgey's speed was increased as it unconsciously performed its recently learned Quick Attack.

"Alright, you learned Quick attack!" Naruto cheered for his Tiny Bird Pokemon. Pidgey smiled and cooed upon hearing it had learned a helpful move.

"Excellent job, there Naruto. That improvised Tackle attack really caught me by surprise" Li said. Naruto grinned his foxy grin. "But you haven't won yet. Ikuzo BELLSPROUT!"

"You'll just lose like last time, Pidgey return." a red beam of light came from Pidgey's Pokeball and returned it to its confines.

"Alright Cyndaquil, let's do this" Naruto said. Cyndaquil ran up to the front lines and its back blazed to life as flames danced across it.

"Alright Cyndaquil, start things off with Ember!" Naruto commanded. Cyndaquil nodded.

"Cyndaquiiiil!" Cyndaquil's back flames grew more intensifying before the male fire mouse Pokemon released a barrage of small fireballs from his mouth.

"Bellsprout use Vine Whip to knock down that Ember attack!" Li said. Naruto and Cyndaquil looked shocked as Bellsprout's vine lashed out and cleaved the fireballs in half turning them into mere...embers. However, the Vine Whipe continued to move and then struck out against Cyndaquil, whipping it across its face. Cyndaquil growled in anger.

"CYNDAQUIL USE TACKLE!" Cyndaquil charged forward and managed to score a hit, but Bellsprout merely skidded a few feet backwards instead of falling.

"Bellsprout use Growth and then use Vine Whip!" Li shouted. The Vine Whip lashed out and then wrapped itself around Cyndaquil's neck. Bellsprout lifted the fire mouse into the air and then slammed him down on the ground causing the floor to crack slightly. Cyndaquil slowly climbed back onto his feet, a large bruise formed on his thigh where he took most of the impact from that Vine Whip.

"Cyndaquil use Smokescreen and then use Ember!" Naruto commanded. Cyndaquil released a column of smoke from his mouth causing a black fog to shroud Bellsprout and Elder Li's vision of the fire type. Then multiple fireballs flew from its depths and collided with the grass type. A super effective hit that had Bellsprout barely standing.

"Bellsprout use your Vine Whip to blow away the Smokescreen!" Li said. Bellsprout nodded and then whipped out the green vine and began to spin it like a fan before blowing away the smoke.

"Use Quick Attack!" a blur of blue, red and yellow rocketed towards Bellsprout and struck home causing the Grass Type to skid backwards.

"Now use Quick Attack again!" Naruto said. Cyndaquil complied and unleashed a barrage of Quick Attacks.

"Bellsprout, quick lay out your Vine Whip on the ground" Li commanded. Bellsprout did as such for as Cyndaquil charged forwards for another blow, he tripped on the vine and lost his balance. "Now wrap it around him and slam Cyndaquil into the ground!"

The Vine Whip attack wrapped itself around Cyndaquil's neck and then carried Cyndaquil high into the air before bringing him down onto the ground. Then he was swung into a wall, then the opposite wall before being repeatedly slammed onto the floor.

"Finish it Bellsprout!" Elder Li announced. The Grass Type nodded before flinging Cyndaquil into the air and then jumped and flipped before bringing down the green whip that sent Cyndaquil down onto the wooden floor with a resounding SLAM! Naruto watched with wide blue eyes as he saw his partner fall to the ground.

"CYNDAQUIL!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards the fire type. The flames on his back had disappeared due to the pain and Cyndaquil was covered in dust and bruises.

"Cyndaquil, are you okay? Come on buddy, get up" Naruto pleaded. Cyndaquil lay there motionless before one of the fire type's legs twitched. Cyndaquil tilted his head and smiled at Naruto.

"Cynda Cynda CyndaCynda Cyndaquil" Naruto smirked, he knew Cyndaquil was saying how that he wasn't done yet.

"I know that, but I mean look at you. You're badly hurt" Naruto said. Cyndaquil got a defiant look on his face before, slowly, but surely standing on his feet.

"QUIL!" Cyndaquil's flames burst from his back and the fire type was still ready to fight.

"You're right, as long as you're up, WE CAN'T GIVE UP!" Naruto said. Cyndaquil nodded before being enveloped in a white light.

"CYNDAQUUUIIIIILLL!" Li, Bellsprout and especially Naruto looked on in awe as Cyndaquil's form suddenly began to change. Cyndaquil grew taller and noticeably longer. When the light died down, Naruto no longer saw a Cyndaquil. In Cyndaquil's place was a longer and taller version of the fire mouse Pokemon. Its top half was the same navy blue colour, just a shade lighter while its bottom half was still the same tan/cream colour. Its eyes were no longer curved slits, but now large eyes that opened to reveal the crimson iris within that seemed to burn like the two flames on its rear and head.

"QUILAVA!" the evolved form of Cyndaquil yelled out. Naruto's Pokedex beeped as he looked at the newly acquired information on his evolved partner.

Quilava, the Volcano Pokemon. A Fire Type Pokemon and the evolved form of Cyndaquil. This Pokémon is fully covered by nonflammable fur. It can withstand any kind of fire attack.

"Alright, you evolved Cyndaquil...I mean Quilava" Naruto said with happiness. Quilava smirked.

"Quil"

"Now let's kick this Bellsprout's ass, use Quick Attack!" Naruto commanded and then with what seemed to be even faster speed, Quilava disappeared as a red and yellow blur before appearing in front of Bellsprout and tackled it.

"Now finished it with an Ember Attack!" Naruto yelled. Quilava's fire on its head blazed before Quilava released a barrage of fireballs from his mouth. The attack caused a small explosion upon contact with Bellsprout and the Pokemon was knocked unconscious.

"YATTA, WE WON!" Naruto said as he hugged his fire type. Quilava smiled.

"Quil Quilava" Elder Li smiled as he returned Bellsprout to its Pokeball.

"You have done well, young Naruto" Li said as he walked up to the two. Naruto and Quilava stood up before facing the taller man. "As a reward for defeating Sprout Tower and also because I feel you deserve this, I give you the TM" Li handed Naruto a small disc just like he did Sasuke. Naruto looked at it. It was a pale white disc with an engraving on it.

"TM70-Flash" Naruto read.

"Hai, this move will allow your Pokemon to see in the darkest of places by emitting a bright light" Li explained. Naruto bowed.

"Arigato"

"You're most welcome" Li said returning the bow and watched Naruto leave using the Escape Rope.

Outside Sprout Tower

Naruto and Quilava appeared outside of Sprout Tower and then looked at the sky. The sun had already set and it was night time. The only source of light being the stars, the moon and the flames on Quilava's body.

"Hmmm, seems we were in there longer than we thought" Naruto said.

"Quil Quilava Quilav Lava" Naruto looked at his partner as he spoke before sweat dropping.

"You do know, I can't understand you right?" Quilava crimson eyes narrowed at his trainer and sweat dropped also. Then the two turned as they heard the sound of running feet. They saw Hinata running towards them with a worried look on her face.

"Oi, Hinata-chan" Naruto called out. Hinata panted slightly along with Eevee as they ran towards the blonde and the Volcano Pokemon.

"Naruto-kun, y-y-you're alright" Hinata said with a small smile, "I-I-I though s-something t-terrible had h-happened to you s-since you didn't c-c-come out"

"Nah, I'm fine, I creamed all of them, though they got stronger on the way to the top" Naruto explained. Hinata then looked around with a worried expression before looking at Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-where's Cyndaquil?" Hinata asked.

"Vee?" Eevee was also worried for the safety of her Pokemon friend. Naruto smiled and then pointed at Quilava.

"Quil" was all the evolved Pokemon said. Hinata's and Eevee's eyes widened.

"You m-mean that...?"

"Hai, Cyndaquil evolved, he's Quilava now" Naruto said with a foxy grin.

"W-W-Well then c-congratualtions" Hinata said with a smile.

"Arigato, Hinata-chan. So how was your training?" he asked as the four began to walk towards the Pokemon Center.

"It was alright. I-I trained with Sentret and Eevee. I also trained Caterpie, b-but i-it was hard for it since it only knows T-Tackle and String Shot, but I made it w-work" Hinata said. "I also bought some Ball Capsules and S-Seals for the Contest" Naruto nodded, there was a period of silence in the group as they entered the Pokemon Center and waved to Nurse Shizune.

"Umm Nurse Shizune, do you have a two bedroom room we cold stay in?" Naruto asked. Nurse Shizune looked at them and smiled.

"I think so, let me check" Shizune looked at the computer and typed a few keys. "Oh, you're in luck we have one room like that left, straight down hall to the back, second door on the left"

"Arigato" Naruto and Hinata said.

"Quil/Vee" Quilava and Eevee said their cried in thanks as they followed their trainers. Quilava was walking alongside Naruto when Eevee tried to touch Quilava's fire, but when the evolution Pokemon tried to do so, Quilava quickly retracted the flames so as to not burn the normal type.

"Okay, here it is" Naruto said as he opened the door. The room was rather basic. Two small beds, a carpet covered floor, one large window through which you could see the moon hanging there in the sky to bask the city in its silvery glory. There was also a bathroom.

"Well, N-N-Naruto-kun, we should change and s-s-sleep. Y-You have a g-gym b-battle t-tomorrow" Hinata stuttered. Naruto nodded.

"You're right" Naruto said as he saw Hinata retrieve her pyjamas. Then Hinata went into the bathroom and changed into a her pajamas which was made of purple cotton with scattered pictures of Umbreon and Espeon with little hearts on it. Naruto had changed also which was just a white t-shirt and a pair of orange sleeping shorts. The two then went to bed, Eevee and Quilava lying down on the beds that their trainers were sleeping on.

"Goodnight Hinata-chan" Naruto said as he flicked the light off.

"G-G-Goodnight, Naruto-kun and good luck t-tomorrow" Hinata said

"Arigato Hinata-chan and you're stuttering's going down...your voice sounds a lot cuter when you don't stutter" Naruto said with a small blush. The darkness obscuring it and Hinata was extremely thankful for the lack of light because her entire face was red with the blood rushing to her face as she blushed.

The Next Day

Early the next morning, Naruto and Quilava had trained by battling the wild Pokemon on Route 30. Naruto was able to train Quilava to reach level 16 by the time Hinata had woken up. He had left a note telling her where he was so that when she woke up to come and get him. After the morning training, Naruto healed Quilava before the four finally walked over to the nearby gym. Naruto, Quilava, Hinata and Eevee stood outside the doors that led to the Violet City Gym. It was a regular traditional Japanese styled building, but looked more like a dojo. There was no roof because the Gym Leader here used Flying Type Pokemon.

"A-Are you ready, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto gave a thumbs up to his travelling companion.

"Of course, Hinata-chan. Don't worry Quilava and I are gonna beat this guy" Naruto said and then the group walked through the doors to the gym. Inside it was rather spacious. The room was a bit bigger than the large rooms that made up the Sprout Tower's floors, which were pretty big. As Naruto and Quilava took a few steps, there was the sound of footsteps and the group turned to see a rather old man with long white hair. He wore a white shirt beneath a sky blue vest, a pair of dark blue pants that looked like what samurais wore and a pair of white socks and sandals.

"Konichiwa, challenger. I am Shinno (A/N: The antagonist from Naruto Shippuden Movie 2: Bonds). Gym Leader of Violet City"

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, I have come here to defeat you and get a gym badge from you" Naruto declared pointing at the gym leader. Shinno nodded and then clapped his hands. A young red haired girl who looked to be at least ten years old, ran up to Shinno. She was dressed in a similar outfit to the gym leader except her vest and pants were a light shade of purple.

"Amaru, we have another challenger"

"Hai, Shinno-sama" the young girl, identified as Amaru said. The girl ran to the side of the gym and drew from her vest two flags, one was red, to represent the Gym Leader, and the other was green, to represent the challenger.

"Alright" Amaru said, "This is a two-on-two match between Shinno-sama, Gym Leader of Violet City and...uh...what's your name?" Amaru asked with a nervous chuckle. Everyone sweat dropped at the girl's question, Shinno face palmed himself as he shook his head.

'Oh Amaru, this is embarrassing' the Gym Leader thought.

"Naruto Uzumaki from New Bark Town" the blonde replied with narrowed eyes.

"Hai, so a two-on-two match between Shinno-sama and Naruto Uzumaki from New Bark Town. Only the challenger will be allowed to use substitutions during this battle. The use of items is also allowed." Amaru explained. The red haired girl looked back and forth between the two trainer and then brought down the red flag in a chopping motion.

"HAIJIME!"

"Alright, Pidgey, Ikuzo!" both trainers yelled. Naruto and Shinno's Pidgeys looked at each other ready for an aerial battle.

"Ah, so you have also, well mine is stronger" Shinno said, "Pidgey use Tackle" the foe's Tiny Bird Pokemon flew towards Naruto and struck it with speed Naruto couldn't believe.

"Sugoi, that's fast" Naruto said.

"Pidgey, quick, dodge it and then use Sand Attack" Naruto yelled. The blonde's Pidgey nodded before performing a barrel roll to avoid Shinno's Pokemon and then flapped its wings to kick a large amount of sand.

"AMARU, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CLEAN THIS PLACE!" Shinno yelled. Amaru sweat dropped.

"Uh...whoops"

The sand clouded Shinno's and his Pidgey's vision before a small silhouette formed in the sand cloud formed.

"TACKLE ATTACK!" Naruto yelled and then Shinno's Pidgey was struck in the chest by Naruto's own flying type that sent the Pidgey careening through the air.

"Now follow up with Gust"

"Pidgeeey!" The flying type began to flap its wings furiously and the tornado of wind formed. The vortex flew towards Shinno's Pidgey who was sucked up into the tornado. Shinno watched as his Pokemon was sent into the Gust tornado, but merely smirked.

"Why are you smirking?" Naruto asked.

"Because, I'm actually having fun in this, Pidgey use Gust" Shinno said.

"NANI?" Naruto cried out. Hinata, Eevee and Quilava watched from the sidelines as a tornado formed within Naruto's Gust causing it to disperse and allow Shinno's attack to continue through and suck in Naruto's Pidgey. Naruto watched as his own flying type was swirled around in the spiraling wind circulation system before being launched into the wall of the gym. Pidgey slid to the ground, hurt, but not fainted.

"Come on Pidgey, get up" Naruto called out. Pidgey nodded and manged to stand on its feet, however...

"Pidgey, QUICK ATTACK!" Shinno cried out and then his Pidgey dove down like an eagle on a poor piece of meat and then struck forth sending Pidgey to the ground.

"Turn around and strike again" Shinno commanded. The foe Pidgey nodded before circling back and knocking back Naruto's Pokemon to the ground as it continued to try an stand on its own two feet. Naruto gritted his teeth, his mind racing as he watched his Pokemon being continuously batted the ground, then a brain storm occured.

"That's it" Naruto whispered to himself, he then waited for Shinno's Pidgey to circle around and dive down. 'Wait for iiiit, Wait for iiit, NOW!" he thought.

"PIDGEY, QUICK ATTACK!" Shinno yelled.

"SAND ATTACK!"

"NANI?" Shinno watched as sand was kicked up and blinded his Pokemon.

"Pidgey use Tackle and use the corkscrew" Naruto yelled. Pidgey and nodded and spun making itself look like a brown and white feathery drill that slammed into Shinno's Pokemon.

"Now follow up with Quick Attack!" Naruto cried out.

"PIDGEEEY!" Pidgey screeched before flying forth, leaving a trail of white and brown behind it as it sped towards Shinno's Pidgey and struck home sending the Gym Leader's Pokemon into the wall.

"Now finish it with Gust and Quick Attack once more" Naruto's Pokemon kicked up a wind vortex that sucked in Shinno's Pidgey before Naruto's Pidgey dove into the tornado and slammed into Shinno's Pokemon. The Flying type Gym Leader watched in shock as his Pokemon was knocked out of the battle and into a wall by Naruto's own. Naruto's Pidgey panted and gave a smirk before landing on the ground to rest.

"You did well, Pidgey" Shinno said as he returned the downed Pokemon to its ball in a beam of red light.

"Yatta, good job Pidgey" Naruto said. His Pokemon's level increased, growing to level 14.

"Job well done, Naruto...however, can you beat my last and strongest Pokemon?" Shinno asked with a smirk. He took out a Pokemon and pressed the center button causing it to increase in size.

"Let's finish this" Shinno said as he threw the ball into the air.

'What is it?' the two trainers and their Pokemon thought. Pidgey glared at the Pokeball ready to fight once more, the ball opened and in a flash of white light the Pokemon formed. Pidgey's eyes widened as it saw...

"PIDGEOTTOOOO!" the Pokemon cried. The larger flying type had a cream coloured feathery underside as well as same coloured feathers on its face and lower wings areas. Red feet that had three long, sharp talons that looked like it could rip flesh from bone. Brown feathers covered most of its back, head and upper wing areas. Atop its head, plumage made of long red feather stretched from its head to its mid back and alternating red and cream colours made its tail feathers. Black feathers cupped its face and a single red beak, pointed and snapped at Pidgey. Beady black eyes, glared at the shorter flying type.

"A P-P-Pidgeotto...but that's Pidgey's e-e-evolved form" Hinata said with wide eyes.

"Hahaha, you'll never win with this Pokemon on my side" Shinno said with a large grin.

'We'll see about that' Naruto growled in his mind, "PIDGEY QUICK ATTACK!"

The Tiny Bird Pokemon flinched from the call and shook its head. The Intimidation ability finally wearing off before Pidgey glared and took off with tremendous speed.

"Pidgeotto, Tackle it" Shinno said with a bored look. Pidgeotto nodded and with a screech it flew towards Pidgey and knocked it to the ground with a powerful full body tackle. Pidgey plummeted to the ground.

"Now use Gust" Shinno commanded.

"TTOTTOTTOTTOOOOOO!" Pidgeotto cried as it flapped its wings. Powerful winds swirled into one entity, forming a tornado. However, this one was much larger than one Pidgey could ever make even if it tried its hardest. The tornado swallowed Naruto's Pidgey and then the tornado dispersed showing Pidgey hovering in the air for a while before Pidgeotto performed a Quick Attack sending the flying type t the ground. Naruto watched as his Pokemon fell before running out onto the field and catching it in his arms.

"Cooo" Pidgey moaned in pain.

"Don't worry little guy, you did great" Naruto said with a soft smile, "You take a nice long rest" Naruto took out Pidgey's Pokeball and returned it with a beam of red light into the sphere of red and white.

"Alright, Quilava, let's go" Naruto said.

"QUILAVVAA!" The fur on Quilava's head and rear ignited before bursting into flames as it was ready to fight.

"Ah, I see...a Quilava. Quite a rare Pokemon, however...you cannot defeat my Pidgeotto" Shinno said.

"Quilava..."

"Pidgeotto..."

"QUICK ATTACK!" Both Gym Leader and Challenger commanded. Both Pokemon took off leaving behind trails of colour at the speed they moved at, colliding with one another as they battled for dominance.

"Quilava use Smokescreen to cloud Pidgeotto's vision and then use Ember!" Naruto said. Quilava nodded before a cloud of smoke flew from the flames on its head and blocked Pidgeotto.

"You fool Pidgeotto has the ability Keen Eye, you cannot stop it from finding you" Shinno reminded his challenger before Pidgeotto flew through the smoke using Quick Attack and struck Quilava. Quilava flipped in mid air and landed on his feet.

"Ember" Naruto called out. Quilava's flames burned brightly before expelling small orange fireballs from his mouth. Pidgeotto dodged the all.

"Now use Gust!" Shinno said. Naruto watched as his fire type partner was engulfed by a tornado of wind and then thrown away into the wall of the gym. Quilava slid down the wooden wall and managed to remain upright. However, Pidgeotto used Quick Attack on the downed Pokemon sending Quilava skyward.

"Come on Quilava, don't quit on me!" Narto yelled as he saw Pidgeotto about flap its wings for another Gust attack. Then Naruto remembered something that his mother had told him.

Flashback

A young five year old Naruto was going camping in the nearby grassy area of Route 29 with his mother.

"Okaa-chan, let's set up a fire...it's getting dark" the chibi looking Naruto said with a scared look in his eyes. He ran over to the red haired woman and clutched her leg looking around for anything spooky.

"It's okay, Naru-chan. Kyuubi" Kushina called the Ninetails and then using the small amount of firewood she collected, had Kyuubi use a low powered flamethrower attack to light the sticks turning it into a roaring campfire.

"Sugoi, Okaa-chan, I want a Pokemon like Kyuubi!" Naruto said with a foxy grin. Kushina chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. The wind then blew and the fire's flames climbed higher which caused Naruto to stare in wonder.

"Okaa-chan, how come the wind made the fire bigger?" he asked tilting his head to the side cutely.

"Well Naru-chan, fire burns this thing in the air called Oxygen. The wind blows the air towards the fire and therefore it brings more oxygen to the fire and causes more oxygen to be burnt. Thus the fire gets bigger. Understand?" she asked at the end of her explanation. Naruto looked at the fire and nodded slightly.

"Hai...sorta" Kushina chuckled and ruffled the blonde boy's hair.

"You're such a smart boy"

End Flashback

Naruto's eyes came back into focus as he watched Quilava manage to hit a Tackle attack on his foe before it could use Gust.

"Pidgeotto use Roost!" Shinno said. Pidgeotto nodded before being surrounded by a sky blue aura, its wounds healed before it looked completely healed.

"Quilava, come over here for a Potion" Naruto said as he reached into his bag and pulled out the item. He sprayed Quilava with the Potion and thus healed his Pokemon.

"Right, well looks like we're evenly matched" Shinno said. Naruto smirked.

"No we're not, because I'm going to win, QUILAVA EMBER!" Quilava used the multiple fireballs to hit Pidgeotto burning it. Pidgeotto suspended itself in the air however it suddenly caught aflame before the flames vanished.

'Alright, it's under the burn status' Naruto thought. "Quilava use Quick Attack"

"You use Quick Attack too, Pidgeotto!' Shinno said. The two Pokemon collided with each other and Shinno and Naruto smirked, both for different reasons. Pidgeotto once caught caught afire as the burn status affected it.

"It's over, Pidgeotto use Gust. At its close range your Quilava will be down for the count"

"Naruto-kun" Hinata whispered as she watched her friend grit his teeth, but to her curiosity she saw a smirk find itself on the blonde's face.

"Alright, now...Quilava use Ember on the Gust attack!" Naruto yelled.

"Nani?" was what the entire room yelled out. Hinata, Amaru, Eevee and Shinno watched it awe as the tornado formed by gust was suddenly hit with the multitude of fiery orbs. The gust attack suddenly caught on fire and due to its proximity to the attack, Pidgeotto was sucked into the flaming vortex.

"You fool, your Quilava will be hurt also, even if it is a fire type!" Shinno said.

"No, Quilava has non-flammable fur covering its entire body" Naruto said with a foxy grin. Shinno's eyes widened.

"Then...then that means..." Naruto's smile grew larger as he saw Shinno's scared face and nodded.

"Hai...your Pidgeotto will be the one going down in flames" the fire tornado engulfed both Pidgeotto and Quilava before the oxygen that made the tornado burned up and then it vanished revealing a perfectly normal Quilava and a smoking Pidgeotto falling to the ground. Pidegotto fell to the ground, but Quilava made sure to have it land on his back. Burning it was pain enough, having the Pokemon land on the unforgiving floor seemed cruel.

"Quil Quilava Quil" Quilava said to Shinno before resting the bird pokemon at Shinno's feet and then ran towards Naruto happily. Naruto smiled as he walked up to Shinno.

"Well I'm getting old, I guess this new generation is better than mine was" Shinno said with a smirk and held out his hand for Naruto to shake. Naruto did and then watched as Shinno reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a shining silver badge. It was silver in colour and looked like a pair of silvery wings.

"This is the Zephyr Badge, your proof your triumph over me" Shinno said as he handed to Naruto, "It is yours" Naruto trembled as he took the badge. Hinata looked worriedly at the trembling blond before seeing his head shoot up and a foxy grin plastered on his face.

"Argiato. Hinata-chan look I did it. I won!" he exclaimed to the girl. Hinata nodded with a smile.

"Hai, g-good job, N-Naruto-kun" she said.

"Oh also, Naruto take this" Shinno said handing Naruto a small disc. "This is TM 51, Roost. This move is used by Flying types and heals them when their injured, you could teach it to that Pidgey of yours"

"Arigato, Shinno-san" Naruto said with a bow. Shinno smiled and nodded as he watched the two trainers walk away before turning to Amaru.

"Amaru now listen to me, you saw how much sand was kicked up for that Sand Attack" Shinno growled before pulling a broom out of nowhere and thrusted it into Amaru's hands. The red haired girl got the message and began to sweep. "And you keep sweeping until there is not one speck of dust left"

"You know, I could sue you for child labour" Amaru said.

"But you won't"

"I'll call child services!"

Outside the Gym

"Well Hinata-chan, I won my first badge, looks like it's time for your first contest tomorrow" Naruto said. Hinata nodded.

"H-Hai, b-but, I'm r-really nervous. I-I'm not sure if E-Eevee and I will w-w-win it" Hinata said. Naruto sighed and then stopped before grabbing Hinata by her shoulder and forcefully turning her to face him.

"Hinata-chan, look at me" he said. Hinata looked up into his ice blue eyes, her blush rising due to proximity between their faces. "You will win, and if you don't there is no problem, you can just try again at the next contest. You're a beginner Coordinator, so if you lose it's no big deal, you can try again in the next contest and remember what I told you. Keep confident and I'll be cheering for you in the stands"

The blonde smiled at the girl who blushed before nodding.

"Y-You're right, I-I'll do my best"

"That's the spirit, now let's see some of those moves you came up for Eevee" Naruto said. Hinata nodded.

The Next Day

The large amount of people who were came to Violet City to see the contest seemed to have increased as Naruto and Hinata shoved their way to front desk to register Hinata.

"Quilava and I will be in the stands, do your best okay?" Naruto said.

"Hai" Hinata said with a small smile. Hinata had gotten her dress for the competition and was ready for the contest.

"Matteo, Naruto-kun?" she called out. The blonde turned and looked at Hinata who was fidgeting.

"Umm...w-w-would it be alright if I u-used Qu-Quilava for the f-first part of the contest?" she asked. Naruto nodded and smirked.

"Of course" he said as he bent down to Quilava. "Now do exactly as she says, okay buddy?" Quilava nodded with a smile.

"Quil" and then Naruto left.

"Well, well, Hinata, you're here" Hinata turned at the sound of a familiar voice. The blue haired girl turned to see the pink haired girl that was Sakura Haruno.

"Oh, S-Sakura-chan. How are you?" Hinata said.

"I'm fine, I just registered, Chikorita is ready, aren't you?"

"Chiko Chiko" the leaf Pokemon said with a smile.

"So, which Pokemon are you using?" Sakura asked. Hinata pointed down and Sakura looked to see the lovable little Pokemon that was Eevee and the fiery Quilava

"Awww, Eevee is such a cute little guy" she then saw the Eevee glare at her, "Girl?" she asked and then saw Eevee's face brighten up. "Well good luck to you and Eevee, by the way where's Naruto, Sasuke-kun is going to watch in the stands. You have no idea how much begging it for me to get him to stay and watch"

"I have an idea" Hinata said with a smirk, "Naruto-kun is i-in the s-stands, he's lending me Quilava for the a-appeal part of the C-Contest"

"I see" Sakura said with a nod,"How is the blonde baka doing anyway?"

"He w-won his f-first Gym B-Battle against Sh-Shino-san yesterday and got the Zephyr Badge" Hinata said.

"Sugoi, Naruto actually got his badge. Sasuke-kun got his badge the day before" Sakura said, then they heard a voice over the intercom.

"Will all coordinators please get ready for the Contest" the voice said.

"Well see ya" Sakura said. Hinata nodded before going to the changing room.

Violet City Contest Stage

The crowd was roaring in anticipation as the stage lights focused on a single person who walked up to the front of the stage.

"OHAYO VIOLET CITTYYYY!" the person cried, the announcer was a woman with purple hair that was put up into a spiky kind of pony tail. She had black eyes and wore a black tank top with an Ekans on the front along with a purple miniskirt. A long black trench coat was worn over everything including her black high hell shoes. This was Anko Mitarashi, the annoying yet surprisingly attractive contest announcer.

"Damn these shoes" she muttered as she covered the mic, "I should have worn my combat boots"

"Anyways, welcome one and all to the Violet City Pokemon Contest. Today we have our three judges: the first is Ms. Tsunade, the Gym Leader of Celadon City in the Kanto Region, one of the Legendary Sannin and a former Grand Festival Winner"

"I look forward to seeing the potential here today" the busty blonde said with a smile.

"Next is Deidara, our current Grand Festival Champion"

"Pokemon Contests are like Art, it's a BANG!" the blonde man said as he brushed aside the blonde hair that covered his left eye only for it to come back to that spot.

"And Violet City's very own Nurse Shizune"

"I hope to see a good performance from each one of you worthy Coordinators" the nurse said with a bow.

"Now let's see our first contestant, Ino Yamanaka from New Bark Town" the platinum blonde girl smiled to crowd, she was wearing a flowing purple dress that she had held up so that she wouldn't trip.

"Alright, Sunkern, show them how it's done" Ino said as she threw the Ball Capsuled Pokeball. Sunkern flew out in a flash of light as the Seal on the capsule activated allowing Sunkern to be covered with many pink petals.

"Sunkern use Growth" Ino said and then Sunkern glowed with a green aura to enhance a beauty never seen before performing a front flip and landing on the stage. Then just before the petals vanished, Ino commanded her Sunkern to use Mega Drain. The tornado of red energy swirled into the sky, taking the pink petals into the energy vortex as the Mega Drain changed from red to green (A/N: That's what happened in the anime, don't question it)

"Good thing, I had Shikamaru give me this TM, SUNKERN USE SUNNY DAY!" Sunkern nodded and then a bright light, like that of the sun glowed around Sunkern as the Seed Pokemon was engulfed by the Mega Drain allowing the energy tornado to appear to glow before dispersing into sparkles and as the remaining petals from the seal scattered over the audience along with the sparkles, Sunkern used Grasswhistle thus appealing to the judges' and the audience's sense of hearing. Ino and Sunkern then took a bow.

"Excellent use of the Sunny Day and Mega Drain" Tsunade said.

"That was a BANG, so pretty" Deidara said as he clapped his hands together.

"Such a beautiful combination and that Grasswhistle was divine" Shizune said with a light clap.

Ino left the stage as the next few competitors came on, there was one with a Ninetails jumping through its own Fire Spin and a Gyarados that performed Dragon Dance while spewing out the flames of a Dragon Rage and mixed it with a Thunderbolt attack.

"Alright, next is Sakura Haruno" Anko announced. The pink haired trainer ran onto the stage wearing a pink and red blouse with a white skirt that ended past her knees. Naruto clapped for her rather loudly, although he seemed to have toned it down to what he would have normally done after realizing how stupid he would look screaming his lungs out. Sakura looked through the crowd, rather nervous. She had spotted Sasuke, sitting in his seat as if he didn't care, but the light clapping he was doing made it feel as if he did.

"Alright, Chikorita, Spotlight" Sakura shouted as she threw the ball. Chikorita appeared in a flash of white light surrounded by colourful flowers of red, blue and yellow.

"Alright Chikorita first use Razor Leaf and juggle them with Vine Whip" Sakura demanded. Chikorita nodded and the leaf on its head released a number of razor sharp emerald green leaves before the knobs on the leaf Pokemon's neck released two long vines that whipped at the leaves, keeping them then aloft in the air. The crowed clapped, knowing it took great hand-vine coordination to commit such a feat.

"Now use Poisonpowder and then Safeguard" Sakura said. Chikorita nodded before waving its leaf and a purple powder surrounded it before a soft green glow originated from the center of the cloud of poison. The crowd gazed in awe at the beauty from Chikorita's combo.

"Now Chikorita use Razor Leaf to scatter the cloud" Sakura said before Chikorita did as commanded, sending out leaves that glowed from the safeguard that sent a trail of Poison Powder throughout the air in brilliant display of beauty and coolness.

Sakur and Chikorita bowed.

"What a wonderful use of Grass Type Pokemon's moves, but..." Tsunade got up and took out a Pokeball and threw it into the air. A large lavender moth with large blue eyes came out of the ball in a flash of white light.

"You might want to get rid of the poisonpowder" Tsunade said as she had Venemoth use Whirlwind to blow the powder out the large window. The crowd chuckled as they saw Sakura laugh nervously.

"My bad"

"No worries my dear, for your beauty and that of your Pokemon's attack made it all like a bomb waiting to blow and when you brought out that combination of Safeguard and Poisonpoweder, the bomb blew with a BANG! Job well done!" Sakura blushed at Deidara's comment.

"Arigato, Deidara-san"

"Such a beautiful display by Chikorita, I hope to see more of it" Shizune said. Sakura bowed and left the stage with her starter.

"Alright, the next coordinator, originally from Saffron City, but moved here to Johto with her Uncle and cousin here's HINATA HYUGA!"

"YEAH ALRIGHT HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto whooped as he saw the girl run out on stage. Any further words caught in his throat however, as he saw Hinata wearing a rather form fitting dress. Her breasts were a C-cup which was rather large for a twelve year old and the sparkling navy blue dress had slight shades of violet mixed within it to bring out her pale lavender eyes. She also wore a pair of black high heel shoes. She blushed as she heard someone wolf whistle at her.

"A-Alright, Quilava I Choose you" Hinata said as loudly as she could. The Pokeball flew into the air and opened up in a torrent of blue flames. Quilava jumped out and front flipped, igniting his own flames that mixed to form a pale white shroud of fire around him. Quilava then spun and landed as the flames scattered upon his landing.

"Sugoi, such a dramatic entrance" Shizune commented.

"That Quilava looks like a battle Pokemon, but it's rather good at this contest" Anko added her two cents.

'Alright, just like I came up' Hinata thought. "Quilava use Quick Attack in a circle, then use Smokescreen" Hinata commanded. Quilaba nodded before running around in a circle while releasing smoke from the flames on his head and rear. The smoke began to swirl as Quilava ran faster and faster to create an ebony vortex.

"Now Quilava jump into the cloud and use Ember!" Hinata said.

"QUILAVA!" the Volcano Pokemon cried out before running for a bit more and then jumping into the vortex and then releasing the multiple balls of flame. The wind generated from the vortex suddenly burst into flames as well as causing the Smokescreen tornado to do so as well. Then Quilava continued to run in a circle with Quick Attack before jumping into the air.

"Now use Ember again!" Quilava complied to Hinata's command and then fired a storm of tiny orange fireballs from its mouth that crashed into the fire tornado that caused it to expand and disperse causing a large amount of red, orange and yellow flames to surround the area where Quilava now stood. Hinata and Quilava bowed and Naruto cheered louder than anyone else, which made Hinata blush at the support she was receiving from her crush. The crowd's cheers astounded even the judges for they never heard such a loud round of applause.

"That is just...amazing, such skill in the use of fire manipulation. The only trainer I know who was able to do that was Fugaku Uchiha and his eldest son Itachi" Tsunade said. Sasuke, who was sitting in the crowd, twitched slightly at the names, his teeth gritted together. The Uchiha stood to his feet before leaving the arena.

"Excellent job, Ms. Hyuga. Your fiery end was like my art, it ended with a BANG!" Deidara commented.

"Excellent job, I hope to see more"Nurse Shizune said. Hinata bowed and left with Quilava.

Backstage

The many coordinators were resting in the back. Hinata sighed in relief as it was over.

"Hinata, that was amazing" Sakura and Ino said as they ran up to her.

"A-A-Arigato, Sakura, Ino" Hinata replied.

"Where did you get that Quilava anyway?" Ino asked.

"Naruto lent it to her, it was that weak little Cyndaquil, but look how strong it got in that short amount of time" Sakura said, "He must have been training for a long time"

"H-Hai, Naruto-kun takes v-v-very good care of his Pokemon" Hinata said.

"HINATA-CHAN THAT WAS AMAZING!" the blonde in question yelled out as he hugged the timid girl. Hinata couldn't take it and fainted, the pressure of the contest and the idea of Naruto hugging her caused her to faint.

"AGH, Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled as the girl fell limp. Quilava and Eevee chuckled at the sight.

"Naruto, is this really your Quilava?" Ino and Sakura asked. Naruto blinked.

"Uh, yeah why?"

"Because it's really good, aren't you doing battles though?" Ino asked.

"Arigato, and yes I am, but Hinata-chan wanted to use him for the appeal since Eevee doesn't know much appeal moves" he explained petting the furry Evolution Pokemon on the head.

"But she's going to use her in the battle section" Naruto added.

"Attention, the chosen for the battling part of the contest have been chosen. The images of the chosen will be shown on the screen" Anko announced as the screen mentioned slid down from a compartment in the ceiling. The pictures of Ino and Sakura showed along with five other coordinators and finally Hinata's.

Hinata had then recovered as soon as she saw her picture.

"Oh, Hinata-chan, look you made it" Naruto said pointing at the screen. Hinata then looked and saw the pictures and saw she was in the Battle segment, she made it. The pictures then scrambled to show that Hinata was facing up against a red haired girl by the name of Sasame Fuuma.

"I...I did it" she said with a smile and then saw she saw Naruto smiling at her before ensnaring her in a one armed hug. As a result, Hinata blushed extremely before fainting once more.

"AGH HINATA-CHAN!"

Battle Segment- Violet City Contest Stage

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE IT'S TIME FOR THE BATTLE SEGMENT OF THIS COURSE!" Anko shouted, causing the crowd to get hyped up. The first few battles were between Ino and a raven haired girl called Akira, Ino had won. Sakura had faced off against her opponent and barely managed to win had time not run out for her Pokemon was about to faint and she had only a sliver more points than her opponent.

"Next is Sasame Fuuma vs. Hinata Hyuga!" Anko yelled. The two coordinators jumped onto the stage.

"Alright, let's go Clefairy" Sasame yelled. The small pink coloured Fairy Pokemon appeared onto the field, its three claw like fingers twitching left and right.

"E-E-Eevee, do your best!" Hinata managed to cry out, her nervousness was starting to kick in again.

"Hinata-chan, don't get nervous. I know you can do this!" Naruto yelled from his seat. Hinata smiled and nodded before a look of confidence crossed her face.

"AND LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" Anko yelled as the five minute time limit began to count down.

"Clefairy, Pound!" Sasame yelled. Clefairy ran towards the Evolution Pokemon and brought down its hand.

"Eevee, dodge it and then use Sand Attack to blind it!" Hinata commanded. Eevee quickly rolled to the side and dodged causing some of Sasame's points to decrease. Then a small cloud of sand was kicked up into Clefairy's face, getting some of the sand particles into the Pokemon's eyes.

"Now use Tackle"

"VEE!" Eevee rocketed forwards and crashed into Clefairy's equally small body sending the Fairy Pokemon flying backwards. Some more of Sasame's points went down.

"Kuso...Clefairy use Pound again!" the Fairy Pokemon repeated the move, but as Eevee was about to dodge, Sasame smirked.

"Quick, rotate and use Defense Curl to build up momentum and then use Doubleslap!" Sasame told her Pokemon. Clefariy quickly rolled into a ball and rolled along the stadium floor before jumping into the air and descending upon Eevee. Eevee managed to jump back from the initial attack, but Doubleslap allowed more than one strike so Clefairy quickly moved forward and slapped Eevee twice in the face and then twice more. One more Doubleslap followed up making a total of four attacks.

"Now use Pound, UPPERCUT IT!" Sasame yelled making her own uppercut movement. Clefairy slammed a Pound attack to Eevee's chin that sent the Evolution Pokemon soaring through the air. Eyes closed in pain from the attack. Hinata watched in shock as both her Pokemon and her points went down, her points nearly three quarters gone while Sasame had only lost a little more than a quarter. Hinata's eyes rapidly moved side to side as she tried think of a plan before she watched Naruto. His blue eyes watching her pale lavender ones. Then the idea struck her.

"Eevee flip in the air and then use Tackle!" Eevee's eyes snapped open before flipping in the air, causing some of Sasame's points to go down since her attack made Eevee look good. Then the brown and white furred Pokemon went forwards with a blur of speed.

"Run around Clefairy and use Sand Attack while doing so!" Hinata yelled. Eevee nodded and before literally running circles around the Fairy Pokemon while kicking up a multitude of sand. The sand began to swirl and twist forming a miniature sand twister and Sasame had finally lost a bit more than half her points. Clefairy's vision was obscured and the sand was buffeting the pink Pokemon causing more and more of Sasame's points to go down een if it was only by small amounts. Two minutes were left on the clock.

"Nani, CLEAFAIRY!" Sasame watched as Eevee continued the tornado of dust.

"Now Eevee use Tackle!" Hinata yelled. Eevee nodded before rushing into the epicenter of the tornado and crashing full force against the body of Clefairy sending the Fairy Pokemon through the air and onto the ground. Clefairy continue to roll on the ground from the powerful Tackle attack before stopping at the feet of its trainer. Swirls in its eyes indicating it had fainted.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, HINAYA HYUGA, THE ALREADY ASSUMED, DARK HORSE OF THIS CONTEST HAS PULLED OFF AN AMAZING VICTORY AGAINST SASAME FUUMA!" Anko screamed into her microphone. The crowd clapped and cheered. Hinata looked at the hundreds of people and gave a small smile and wave as her signature blush lit up her face.

"An exciting battle, a Dark Horse is indeed what you are. That Sand Attack tornado was very original" Tsunade said with a nod.

"It went out with BANG!" Deidara said with a smile.

"We hope to see more of your hidden skill in your next battle" Nurse Shizune of Violet City spoke with a small bow and smirk. Hinata nodded with a smile before she and Eevee ran off the stage.

The next battle was about to begin, having won her battle, Hinata was about to battle her second opponent in the semi-finals. The pink haired, green eyed girl that was Sakura Haruno. Hinata gulped as she walked onto the stage with Eevee. Sakura stood with her Chikorita, ready for a fight.

"ALRIGHT THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE VIOLET CITY POKEMON CONTEST!" the crowd cheered as the vibrant announcer that is Anko Mitarashi bounded back onto the stage.

"NOW YOUR FIRST SEMI-FINAL BATTLE BETWEEN SAKURA HARUNO AND HINATA HYUGA!" Hinata smiled and waved while Sakura gave a cheeky grin and performed a pirouette. Naruto was looking back and forth, torn between his crush and his travel partner as to which person he should cheer for.

"NOW LET THE BATTLE BEGIN, THERE ARE FIVE MINUTES ON THE CLOCK!" Anko yelled before the battle began.

"Alright, Chikorita let's start things off with Razor Leaf!" Sakura cried out. Chikorita nodded before whipping the leaf on its head and many leafy projectiles flew from it towards Eevee.

'Naruto-kun's watching me...I can't let him and most importantly Eevee, down. I'll do my best to beat Sakura' the bluenette thought.

"Eevee, quick dodge it and use Tackle!" Hinata yelled. Eevee quickly rolled out of the way before rushing forth to strike Chikorita.

"Chikorita use Growl"

"CHIKOOO!" the yell echoed throughout the stadium and caused Eevee to cringe slightly due to its volume and lower its attack. The Tackle attack still struck home and sent the grass type backwards and some of Sakura's points to go down.

"Use Tackle and strike at Chikorita's legs!" Hinata yelled. The aim of this was to cause Chikorita to lose its balance and thus have Eevee be able to easily take down the Leaf Pokemon once it was accomplished.

"Chikorita, jump and then use Poison Powder and Razor Leaf!" Sakura commanded. Chikorita nodded before jumping high into the air. Eevee stopped to watch in awe at the height the small Pokemon had achieved. Then the stomata of Chikorita's leaf opened and a purple powder envelope it before Chikorita used Razor Leaf. The poison covered projectiles flew towards Eevee. Hinata's points decreased by one quarter as Eevee was struck by the razor sharp leaves.

Eevee panted as she was struck by the attack and then began to cringe as her fur was coated with tiny dots of violet dust.

"Oh no, Eevee's been poisoned" Hinata realized before seeing Chikorita charge in as the Leaf Pokemon used Tackle attack. Eevee was sent flying through the air and crashed onto the ground with devastating force.

"Please Eevee, don't give up!" Hinata yelled out as loud as she could. Eevee stood on its paws and cringed once more as the poison affected its body.

"Chikorita, use Tackle again!" Sakura commanded. Chikorita charged forwards and Eevee could only cringe in pain as the poison continued to affect its movements.

"Eevee, quick get underneath Chikorita's body" Hinata said. Eevee crouched and then managed to slide beneath Chikorita's body. "Now use Tackle to send it upwards"

Eevee slammed a powerful skull bash like Tackle that sent Chikorita flying.

"Ahhh, Chikorita!" Sakura watched as her starter was sent flying before Hinata had Eevee jump into the air to meet it.

"Now slam it down with your tail!" Eevee complied.

"EEEE...VEEEEEEE!" the Normal type struck he Grass type and sent it to the ground creating a dust cloud as Eevee landed on its feet. Panting, but standing. The dust cloud cleared and Chikorita was bruised and covered in dust, its red eyes staring into Eevee's brown ones.

"THIRTY SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!" Anko told the audience.

"EEVEE USE TACKLE!"

"YOU USE TACKLE TOO CHIKORITA!"

Both Pokemon crashed into each other with powerful full body attacks.

"TEN SECONDS!"

"USE RAZOR LEAF!" Sakura said.

"DODGE AND USE SAND ATTACK WITH A TACKLE!" Hinata retorted

Eevee was struck by some of the many leaves, but plowed through to crash into the Grass Type's body.

"TIME'S UP!" a loud blaring sound filled the arena as both Pokemon stood their panting. The two competitors and the audience looked at the screen and gasped as they saw the results. Both looked like they had the same amount of points, but apparently Sakura had a few more than the pale eyed girl and Hinata's eyes could only stare in shock.

"AND THE WINNER IS SAKURA HARUNO!"

"What an amazing battle, it kept me on edge" the Grass type Gym Leader commented.

"It ended with a BANG!" the blonde Grand Festival winner said.

"It seems our Dark Horse lost, personally I wanted Hinata to win...but all is fair in Pokemon and War" Shizune said.

'All that effort...all that training and I...failed' Hinata's head dropped before she picked up Eevee from the field and walked away.

"HINATA-CHAN!" "QUUILLAVA!" Naruto and Quilava called from the stands, but the blue-black haired girl made no movement whatsoever to answer her blonde crush and Eevee made the same sign to the fire type.

Backstage

Hinata sat on a couch in the backstage room, having healed Eevee with the Healing Machine that was provided. The brown and cream coloured Pokemon looked just as glum as her trainer.

"It's not your fault, Eevee" Hinata told the Evolution Pokemon, "It's mine...I'm too weak, I not fit to be a co-ordinator, let alone a Pokemon trainer"

"Eevee Veevee Eevee!" Eevee told her trainer.

"Eevee's right you know" a voice said. Hinata and Eevee both turned to see the blonde trainer and his fire type partner.

"Quilava Quilquil lava" Quilava spoke.

"Hinata-chan, you did the best you could out there. That's what your and my Pokemon are telling you"

"But...N-N-Naruto-kun...I-I-I..." she flinched as Natuto rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Hinata-chan, all successes are brought up from failures. That's what my Okaa-chan always used to tell me. She was a great trainer back in the day, I always thought she was the best female trainer there was, but I now realize what Okaa-chan meant. Only by losing can one hope to achieve winning"

"I-I-I d-don't understand" the pale looking girl said.

"Okay...it's like my Pokemon battles. Having been on the brink of losing, I learn how to improvise and come up with different strategies to defeat my opponents. The same could be said for your contests. By losing, you can develop the determination to become stronger and to make better appeals" Naruto explained.

"Oh" was all Hinata could say before standing up, "A-Arigato, N-Naruto-kun"

"No problem" the blonde said, Quilava and Eevee both smiled at seeing Hinata regain a bit of the light that once shone in her eyes.

"Sugoi, I never knew you were such an orator, Naruto" a familiar voice said. Naruto, Hinata, Eevee and Quilaba all turned to see Sakura standing there with her Chikorita.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a small blush.

"He's right, Hinata. Don't fret, everyone loses. It was your first contest as well as mine. It was by sheer luck that I was able to beat you by that sliver" Sakura said as she and Chikorita walked towards the fellow trainers and Pokemon.

"A-Arigato, Sakura" Hinata said with a small bow. Sakura smiled before she walked towards Naruto and whispered in his ear.

"Listen Naruto, I'm not going to EVER go out with you...but that doesn't mean you can't find love with someone else" Sakura glanced between him and Hinata. This act confused Naruto as Sakura said her last few words.

"Treat her right" and the pinkette left.

'I will never understand girls' Naruto blinked.

Violet City Contest- Final Round

"NOW SUNKERN USE GRASSWHISTLE AND FOLLOW UP WITH MEGA DRAIN!" Ino yelled. Sakura's emerald eyes widened as she watched her Chikorita fall asleep before having its remaining energy ripped from its body. Swirls replaced the starter Pokemon's eyes as it fainted.

"AND INO YAMANAKA IS THE WINNER!" Anko yelled. Ino and Sunkern walked up to Sakura and Chikorita, giving each other hand shakes. Well Sakura and Ino did, Chikorita and Sunkern just exchanged nods due to Sunkern's lack of hands.

"So, still feeling glum?" Naruto asked as he watched Ino receive the violet coloured ribbon that was attached to the golden emblem of the Pokemon Contests. Hinata shook her head as she clapped for the platinum blonde girl.

"N-No, I-I just have to not give up and keep t-trying...Just like you, N-Naruto-kun" she said with a small blush. Naruto chuckled and flashed his foxy grin, scratching his head like he always did when he was embarrassed.

The Next Day

The crowd that had come to see the contest had immediately fled the vicinity of Violet City and Sakura and Sasuke having left early. Naruto grumbled about having not being able to fight his rival and sat with Hinata as they had their breakfast. Quilava and Eevee were having their Pokemon food.

"So, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he gulped down the last of his breakfast ramen.

"Hai?"

"Where do we go to next? What's the nearest gym town?" Naruto asked. Hinata opened her guide book before scanning through the pages.

"W-W-Well...the n-nearest one is in E-Ecruteak C-City, but Nurse Shizune s-said that there is some k-kind of o-obstruction in the way on R-Route 36 blocking the way so that l-leaves A-Azalea Town" Hinata replied.

"Ooookay, then let's go" Naruto said before grabbing his backpack. He and Quilava then ran out the door of the Pokemon Center, the blonde and his fire type partner smiled at each other before pausing as they heard two sets of footsteps. The two looked in front of them and froze before glaring at the figures, but the glare was directed at one individual alone.

Having paused, Hinata saw Naruto and Quilava, whose flames were now blazing on his non-flammable fur, staring in front of them. Their bodies blocking the figures that Naruto an Quilava were looking at.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Vee?"

The female trainer and Pokemon then looked to see two familiar faces. A Spinarak rested atop the head of one while a Growlithe sat beside the second.

"Well, well if it isn't the dobe?" the obnoxious male voice that Naruto hated oh so much, said before the face turned to look at Hinata and a lecherous grin spread across the boy's face.

"Hinata-chan, still hanging out with the dobe?" Naruto growled as he continued to stare, along with Quilava at the trainer before him.

"Ohayo, Hinata-san, Naruto-san" the voice of the second figure said with a bow, adjusting the dark shades.

"O-O-Ohayo, Shino-kun...and" she froze, her sentence stopped midway as Naruto released a name like it was venom. His blue eyes staring into the beady black ones of his second rival.

"Kiba"

(A/N: That's chapter three, hope you guys liked it. Now then the next chapter is the journey to Azalea Town. Naruto and Kiba get into a small brawl. Naruto and Hinata get a little surprise from Professor Iruka and upon reaching Azalea Town, they realize something is going on. Just who are the strange people in black with red 'R's on their chests? Next time of Naruto: Johto Journeys, Chapter 4: The ROOT of all Evil. Please review-K.D)