Naruto: Johto Journeys
Chapter 28: The Grand Festival
"Pokemon" Normal speech
'Pokemon' Normal thoughts
"Pokemon" Pokemon that can talk
"Pokemon" Flashbacks
"Pokemon" Pokedex speech
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Pokemon. I do however, own this laptop and this story and NONE OF YOU CAN HAVE IT!
Indigo Plateau-Pokemon Centre/Registration Office
Hinata Hyuga
Age: 13
Birth Place: Saffron City, Kanto
Pokemon: Espeon, Togekiss, Lapras, Jumpluff, Butterfree, Nidoqueen
Sakura Haruno
Age: 13
Birth Place: Cherry Grove City, Johto
Pokemon: Meganium, Raichu, Ninetails, Wigglytuff, Azumarill, Porygon2
"Alright girls, your profiles have been registered into the Grand Festival's database. The Appeal Round will begin tomorrow at noon so you have the entire day off to prepare." The Nurse Shizune of the Indigo Plateau said to the two coordinators with a smile on her face. Sakura and Hinata reached out and took their contest passes and pocketed them before bowing politely to the older woman.
"Thank you, Nurse Shizune." The two girls said simultaneously.
"You're very welcome." Shizune replied before waving to the two teenagers. Meganium and Espeon smiled at their trainers when they saw the excited and ecstatic looks on their faces.
As the two walked away from the desk, Sakura began to add a skip to her step.
"Excited much?" Hinata asked with a giggled. Sakura nodded vigorously to her friend.
"Of course! Hinata after a whole year of going through this region, we finally made it here. This is the place where coordinators end up making a start to their careers. It's gonna be so epic! Isn't that right, Meganium?" Sakura gushed to the Grass-type Pokemon.
"Meg." The saurian Pokemon nodded deftly to its trainer as said trainer jumped up and down. The doors leading from the Pokemon Centre/Registration Office slid open as the two girls exited the building.
"Well well well, look who I found. Forehead girl." A voice called out to the pinkette. Both girls and their Pokemon turned to see Ino Yamanaka. Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi followed behind her along with their Pokemon. Shikamaru's Stantler acted as a mode of transportation it seemed because Chouji's Butterfree was resting atop the Normal-type's antlers and Ino's Sunflora was riding atop its back.
Ino greeted the two with a teasing grin. Sakura stuck her tongue out like any mature teenager would in response to being insulted.
"Shut up Ino-pig." Sakura said. The platinum blonde and pinkette gave each other their trademark grins that said that they were happy to see each other, but at the same time said that they would kick each other's asses in the Grand Festival.
The mark of true best friends.
"How troublesome. Ino, do you really have to get into a fight with Sakura so early in the day?" Shikamaru asked with trademark tone of boredom.
"Shikamaru, it's only eleven o' clock. It's not early at all." Chouji pointed out as he reached into the bag of potato chips he always seemed to have on hand.
"Chouji has a point, Shika. You are waaaay too lazy for your own good." Ino said as she wagged her finger at him.
"Still disciplining the troops I see." Hinata commented with a giggle. Ino turned back and blinked owlishly in the direction that her voice came from. Hinata gave a small wave to Ino when the platinum blonde spied her.
"Hinata-san, you made it too?!"
"You sound so surprised." Hinata deadpanned. Espeon's own violet eyes narrowed at the platinum blonde girl. Ino scratched the back of her head nervously.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I mean that I didn't expect to see you here with Sakura." Ino clarified. Hinata and Espeon kept their narrowed eyes set on the blonde and her Sunflora.
"So, are you ready for this? This is the big leagues so you can't expect to hold back anything. I had evolved Sunkern into Sunflora before we arrived here so that way I can handle the endurance levels needed for the Battle Rounds." Ino said. Sakura and Hinata nodded.
"Yup." Hinata stated.
"Same here and I also decided to evolve my Pokemon. I evolved Pika, Vulpix and Jigglypuff because now that they've leveled up enough to learn whatever moves they can learn naturally, I thought it would be time to give them that extra push to handle the Grand Festival."
Sunflora the Sun Pokemon. A Grass-type Pokemon and the evolved form of Sunkern. It converts sunlight into energy. In the darkness after sunset, it closes its petals and becomes still.
Raichu the Mouse Pokemon. An Electric-type Pokemon and the evolved form of Pikachu. If the electric pouches in its cheeks become fully charged, both ears will stand straight up.
Ninetails the Fox Pokemon. A Fire-type Pokemon and the evolved form of Vulpix. Some legends claim that each of its nine tails has its own unique type of special mystic power.
Wigglytuff the Balloon Pokemon. A Normal-type Pokemon and the evolved form of Jigglypuff. It has a very fine fur. Take care not to make it angry, or it may inflate steadily and hit with a body slam.
"Well if Pika is a Raichu now, I guess you can't call him Pika again, now can you?" Ino joked. Sakura scratched the side of her face in embarrassment, sticking her tongue out like she usually did.
"I guess so, but he's always gonna be my little Pika even if he is a big, strong Raichu now." Sakura replied. Ino nodded.
"What about you, Hinata? Have you evolved any of your Pokemon recently?"
"Actually, Ino-san...my Pokemon were all fully evolved before I even reached here." Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji looked at the formerly shy Pokemon trainer with raised eyebrows.
"Really?" Chouji asked. "I'm sorry, but Hinata you just don't seem to be the person who would be so willing to evolve your Pokemon."
"No apology necessary, Chouji-san. While your assumption would have been correct before, it's not that way anymore. Naruto-kun was able to coax me into doing it while we were traveling together."
"Well we saw you and Sakura duke it out in the Ecruteak City contest before coming here and I gotta say, you do seem pretty tough. Naruto's really rubbing off on you, huh?" Chouji said. Hinata smiled at the rotund boy and nodded.
"Mhmm. Naruto-kun does have a way of getting to people, after all, he helped me with my nervousness and my stuttering problem."
"Troublesome blonde."
"What was that about blondes?" Ino's eyes burned with female fury as she turned to face the lazy boy.
"Nothing." Shikamaru replied quickly as she glared at him. Ino's smirk of superiority made its way to her face.
"That's what I thought." She then turned back to Hinata and Sakura. "Well, guess I'll you girls for the Appeal Round and Hinata, congratulations on managing to tie down that wild Rapidash." Hinata and Espeon blinked in confusion while Meganium and Sakura chuckled at Ino's reference to a certain blonde Pokemon trainer. Hinata's eyes then widened as she caught on to who Ino was referring to and she looked at the grinning Ino.
"INO-SAAAN!" Hinata cried out, but the platinum blonde had chosen then to drag her friends and their Pokemon away before the pale eyed girl could even make a move to strangle her. Hinata blushed as she realized who the 'Rapidash' was that she was referring to was one Naruto Uzumaki and she kicked stone on the ground. "Ino-san is so mean." Hinata said with anime tears streaming from her eyes.
"Ummm...it's ummm okay?" Sakura said with an unsure tone as she patted the sobbing girl's head, a sweatdrop forming on the back of her head. Once Hinata recovered from Ino's teasing, the two girls and their starter Pokemon looked around the Grand Festival's grounds. The stadium where the final event was to take place looked very much like an American football stadium in terms of design and size.
"Wow, are so many people really going to be present to see this?" Hinata asked.
"Espe Espeon?" The Sun Pokemon turned to the pinkette and her Grass-type.
"So I would imagine, I mean this is the biggest event of the Pokemon Contest challenge so not only will there be many participants, but there will also be many spectators coming to see this. I bet there will be a chance of people coming in from other regions like Hoenn or Sinnoh. I'm not sure about Unova or Kalos though." Sakura said.
Hinata and Espeon looked at the pinkette with raised eyebrows. "I know of the Unova region, it's said to be the most industrialized Pokemon region due to rapid modernization. However I've never even heard of this Kalos region. What is it?"
"The Kalos region is a very new region. It's a very beautiful region from what I've read and it also has a lot of waterways made up of a vast network of rivers. Currently, it's undergoing investigation and they are saying that most likely by October, they would have finally investigated the entire region to update the Pokedex as there may be one hundred new Pokemon coming into existence. " Sakura explained.
"I see. So speaking of new Pokemon, what do you think will happen if we try to add a Hoenn region or Sinnoh region Pokemon to the Pokedex and it can't be registered?"
"Guess we'll just have to ask Professor Iruka if we can get an upgrade I guess." Sakura replied with a shrug. Hinata sighed at that and Espeon's ears flatted against its head.
"This completing the Pokedex schtick might take a while. There are 251 known Pokemon which make up the Pokedex in Kanto and Johto combined. Putting together the Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and now this Kalos region...I don't think there's ever going to be a truly complete Pokedex."
Their heads fell at that, sighing heavily. A period of silence passed between them, but it was quickly replaced by the sound of a ringing Pokegear. Hinata raised her wrist up to her head which was still dropped. She pressed the answer button.
"Hello." She greeted with a solemn tone.
"Oi, Hina-chan...hey you alright? You don't sound too good." Naruto's voice came through on the other end. Everyone's heads snapped up at the voice of the blonde trainer coming through. Hinata's eyes narrowed when she saw the sly looks she was getting from Sakura, Meganium and Espeon.
"Et tu, Espeon?"
"Espe Espeon."
"You and your teasing." Hinata sighed before turning back to her Pokegear. "I'm fine Naruto-kun, just a bit bored. A bit tired too from walking around the Indigo Plateau."
"Indigo Plateau? Why are you here? Don't you have the Grand Festival to go to?"
"Naruto-kun, didn't you watch mine and Sakura-san's contest two days ago?" Hinata asked.
"I did. Really epic battle by the way. Too bad it ended in a tie, but damn that was a really good battle. Nidoqueen rocked! I bet you could have beaten Meganium and kicked Sakura-chan's ass if the buzzer hadn't gone off when it did." Naruto said with a small laugh. Hinata remained silent as she and Espeon glanced to the side as they saw Meganium and Sakura glaring at the Pokegear on Hinata's wrist with unrestrained hatred. "Hina-chan? Hello? It's kind of...Sakura-chan and Meganium are listening aren't they?"
Hinata nodded. "Yup."
"They want to kill me, don't they?"
"Most likely."
"Well, guess I have an actual reason to not come then. Hi Sakura-chan and Meganium."
"NARUTOOOOO!" Sakura roared into the Pokegear. Hinata quickly looked to Espeon and the Psychic-type saw its trainer's helpless look. With a nod, Espeon's eyes glowed blue and a powerful aura of psychic energy kept the angered pinkette and her equally angry Pokemon at bay as they hovered in the air. Hinata nodded in satisfaction to her Pokemon before turning back to the Pokegear.
"So, Naruto-kun back to what I was saying, if you had watched the contest before how come you didn't know that the Grand Festival was here at the Indigo Plateau?" Hinata asked with a small pout.
"Me and Typhlosion got a bit too excited from celebrating how you guys got your fifth ribbons that we ummm didn't hear the announcer people say where the Grand Festival would be. By the way, what time is this Grand Festival thing? Maybe Sasuke and I might be able to come." Naruto offered. Hinata smiled at the Pokegear as she marveled at her boyfriend's thoughtfulness.
"It starts at noon tomorrow and I would love it if you could come, Naruto-kun. Sakura-san will also appreciate Sasuke-san being there as well, but are you sure you can come? You both have a lot of training to cover for the Pokemon League Silver Conference Victory Tournament and neither of us want to be a bother and inhibit your training." Hinata said with a frown. Naruto remained silent at that.
"Three months is actually not a lot of time to train for something as big as the Pokemon League, but I mean...you're my girlfriend now. Stupid inner turmoil." Naruto muttered more to himself than to Hinata. The young Hyuga chuckled at the blonde's dialogue and shook her head.
"Well look, if you can make it, you can make it. If you can't, then you can't. I understand how important the Pokemon League is to both you boys and Sakura-san knows this as well. If neither of you can make it then it's fine...besides like you said...Sakura-san has an urge to kill you now." Hinata said with a joking tone of voice. Naruto laughed at that.
"Did I ever tell you that you are like THE best girlfriend ever?"
"No, but please do continue with the compliments." Hinata smiled.
"I really would, but I can't right now. Sasuke, Feraligatr and Typhlosion are getting a bit impatient waiting on me."
"Ok Naruto-kun. Good luck with your training."
"And you too with the contest stuff. I know you're gonna kick some major ass."
"Damn right." Hinata said as she took a line from Naruto's book.
"That's my girl. See ya."
"Bye Naruto-kun." Hinata closed her Pokegear to end the call. She then looked to the side and saw Sakura and Meganium still hovering in the air due to Espeon's telekinetic abilities. "Sakura-san, Naruto-kun said that he and Sasuke-san aren't sure, but they will try to make it to the Grand Festival tomorrow."
"Sasuke-kun's coming?!" Sakura asked with surprise.
"Well like I said they..."
"Hinata, Sasuke-kun's coming to watch ME?! I gotta find the right dress?! By Arceus, what should I wear, should I wear makeup, maybe I should use Ninetails since Sasuke-kun likes Fire-type Pokemon! HINATA WHAT SHOULD I DO?!" Sakura gripped her head as she began to have a mental breakdown. However, before she could continue on her verbal warpath, Meganium spun her around and slapped her across the face with its tail.
"Mega Meganium Meganium Meg!" Meganium shook its trainer vigorously for emphasis. Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled before nodding.
"You're right, I should just play it cool. I'm not a fangirl anymore, after all I fought with Sasuke-kun at ROOT HQ already and showed him how strong I am, there's no way he would care about anything else. Thanks for the talk and the slap Meganium, I needed it."
"Meg Mega." Meganium said with a wave of its front leg. The group then continued to explore the Indigo Plateau's contest area. There were many areas in which to shop for items such as Poke Ball seals, TMs, healing items and much more. The shopping plaza was composed of numerous towering pieces of infrastructure that could be called architectural marvels.
Sakura, Meganium, Hinata and Espeon gazed up at the shopping centres. They were equal to or possibly greater in size than the ones in Celadon City and Goldenrod City. Sakura and Hinata looked at each other. They quickly looked into their bags and pulled out their respective wallets and glanced through them.
A soft wind blew through the air as the bangs of their hair covered their eyes. The Pokemon looked at their trainers in confusion as they suddenly become extremely silent.
Tears flowed from her eyes as she held her leather money holding device tightly.
'I don't have enough money to shop as much as I'd like to!' She cried out in her mind. Hinata merely closed her wallet and returned it to her bag with a sigh of disappointment. You'd think a gym leader's daughter would have a lot of money on their person, turns out they don't.
"Espeon?" The Sun Pokemon asked its trainer.
"It's nothing Espeon, just that..." Hinata planted her face in her hands. "I don't have enough money!" The poor Hyuga began to sob alongside her pink haired friend. Meganium and Espeon stared at their sobbing trainers and glanced around, sweatdropping as they noticed the odd stares they and the two girls were getting from other passing trainers and their Pokemon.
Meganium and Espeon looked at each other before dropping their heads in shame and embarrassment for their trainers.
"Espeon."
"Meganium."
Humans indeed.
After the crying spell ended, and the girls had finally come to terms with the fact that they couldn't shop to their heart's content, they moved on to just browse through the shops themselves. The day flew by as they continued to window shop, reading through books that they picked up off the rack, trying on clothes without actually buying them and also taking a chance to play the Voltorb Flip Game which had become exceedingly popular since its inception in Goldenrod City.
Though, due to none of them being blessed with the amazing luck of the draw condition that Naruto Uzumaki seemed to be blessed and/or cursed with, they hadn't done very well at the game. As they exited the Game Corner building, they glanced up at the sky and saw the bright blue had been replaced with the mixture of red, orange, yellow and pink making the former expanse of blue appear as if it were burning. The dark purple clouds drifted lazily through the air as the sun's light began to hide itself behind the mountains.
"Well, it's getting late." Sakura stated. "I think it's time we head back to our rooms. We've slacked off enough for the day and so we should get up early tomorrow to get in that last minute training. The Grand Festival starts tomorrow at noon, remember."
"I remember, Sakura-san." Hinata smirked. "We better head back then. Let's go, Espeon." The Sun Pokemon nodded to its trainer and the two trainers and their Pokemon walked along the cobblestone pathways which snaked its way throughout the miniature city that was the Indigo Plateau. In a matter of minutes, the sun's light had already vanished leaving the sky dark. Silver stars dotted its image and the crescent moon cast its light down on the Indigo Plateau.
Hinata and Sakura and their Pokemon entered the Pokemon Centre/Registration Office as the doors automatically slid open for them as the sensors took notice of their approaching forms. The girls were then about to turn left and head to their booked rooms when Hinata felt an odd feeling. The feeling you got when someone was watching you.
Looking around, the pale eyed Hyuga glanced around the Pokemon Centre before she found the source of her odd feeling. Her eyes widened and her throat immediately began to feel dry. She then turned to Sakura and Meganium who were waiting on her.
"Hinata? Are you okay? You look kinda pale, and I mean paler than usual." Sakura said with look of worry in her emerald eyes.
"Meg Meganium Mega." Meganium agreed with its trainer as its golden eyes also held the same look of worry.
Hinata forced a smile, something that Espeon caught on to, its eyes narrowing when it did.
"I'm fine, Sakura-san. Don't worry. Just head back to your room with Meganium, you need to rest after all."
"Hinata..."
"Sakura." Hinata said with a firm tone of voice. Sakura's eyes widened at the tone and she couldn't even utter another word when she saw the fierce look Hinata was giving her. Hinata had even left out the -san honorific in her name. "I can handle myself, Sakura. Just head back to your room without me."
Sakura would have pressed on, but the look in Hinata's eyes told her to do otherwise. Sakura nodded.
"Fine, but you talk to me when whatever it is you got to do is over." Sakura said with an equally serious tone in her voice. Hinata didn't respond and simply turned and walked away, Espeon trailing behind her. Sakura bit her lip.
'What's gotten into her?' Sakura wondered before she head back to the room with Meganium.
Hinata glanced back and made sure Sakura and Meganium had vanished from view. Once their forms vanished around the corner to head to the rooming areas, she gave a curt nod to herself before walking over to a table which was stuck in the corner of the common area of the Pokemon Centre. She took a seat at the table, Espeon hopping up to sit beside here. At the table another person, the person who had caught her attention, was sitting.
One was a middle aged man with lightly tanned skin and had a lean build. His clothing consisted of a traditional Japanese set of loose fitting robes with a brown haori worn over the robes. He also wore a pair of black, open toed sandals. His black hair was long and extended to just below his shoulder blades, but his most eye capturing feature was the pale lavender eyes he had.
"Otou-sama." Hinata said with an emotionless tone of voice. She bowed her head in respect to her father. Hiashi Hyuga, Psychic-type Pokemon user and gym leader of the city of Saffron in Kanto. The man was a prodigy of a trainer
"Hinata." Hiashi's eyes narrowed as he looked at his daughter. A moment of silence passed between the father and daughter as Hiashi's hard stare watched her downcast form. "Raise your head. Look at your father in the eye when you are in front of him."
"Yes, Otou-sama." Hinata replied with an almost robotic tone of voice. "May I ask what Otou-sama is doing here?"
"Yes. Your mother saw you on the television and told me of how you are participating in this...Grand Festival." He spoke the words with disgust. "I am here to bring you back to Saffron City. I do not approve of your status as a coordinator. I allowed you to come here to Johto so that you may get rid of that foolish ambition to become a coordinator and I see that it has not left you. Your little Pokemon Contest dream is mere foolishness and as Hyuga, you cannot partake in this nonsense. My aim for you to take this journey here in Johto was to make sure you got rid of that pitiful attitude you had earlier. Always stuttering and being nervous, it was positively sickening...however, it appears that you may have grown a bit of backbone if you are willing to come this far. Your journey will end here."
"Excuse me?!" Hinata exclaimed. Her eyes widened at her father's proclamation.
"You heard me, daughter. Your foolish little escapade is getting out of hand. You are returning to Saffron City with me and you will be groomed for battle. Coordinators are weak trainers that only know how to brush their Pokemon's fur. No Hyuga, not even you...will be reduced to such a state."
Hinata and Espeon looked at each other and then back at the elder Hyuga.
"They are merely shows to appeal to a target audience. It does have the seriousness of true Pokemon usage such as the battling that comes with engaging in the Pokemon League challenge. I am a gym leader as well as my father before me. Your Uncle Hizashi had become a member of the Elite Four before your cousin Neji took his place. You must honour the Hyuga tradition and take your place in a position of power. No Grand Festival Champion will carry the weight that the status of Gym Leader of Elite Four member will have."
Hinata gritted her teeth as she listened to her father berate Pokemon Contests until she decided she finally had enough. She slammed her hands down on the table and rose from her chair, glaring harshly at her father's stoic gaze.
"Pokemon Contests are more than that, Otou-sama." Hinata said.
"Oh do enlighten me." Hiashi said with a sarcastic tone and a roll of his pale eyes.
"In a Pokemon Contest, a coordinator must take their Pokemon and utilize their moves in a particular fashion in order to catch the eye of the judges that oversee the contest procedure. Also, in case you haven't taken note of this, but there is a battle portion to these contests, Otou-sama."
Hiashi's eye twitched slightly, his teeth gritting as well. "Do not raise your voice against me, Hinata. You..."
"I may have been a stuttering wimp with a lack of confidence back in my earlier days, Otou-sama, but I am not that spineless girl anymore." Hiashi's eyes widened as he saw the icy glare his daughter sent his way. "I have grown a back bone, more than you think I have, and I will not allow you to belittle me, my Pokemon and the contests that I worked extremely hard to get past. You think a contest is all about brushing fur and wearing pretty dresses for the crowd? True it's something used for entertainment, but then that would mean you are also mocking the Pokemon League as well."
"You little..." Hiashi's eyes narrowed when Hinata interrupted him.
"You down talk every single contender for the Grand Festival and say they are weak. Otou-sama, in case you haven't noticed, Tsunade Senju, the GYM LEADER of Celadon City is a former Grand Festival Champion. Are you telling me that she is also weak?"
"She is my fellow Gym Leader, I wouldn't say she is weak, but her abilities are inhibited from having taken the time to engage in such a meaningless task such as contest participation."
Hinata's eyes narrowed, her fists clenched with rage. Espeon's eyes glowed with blue psychic energy as its rage was given a physical representation.
"You've always looked down on me. You look down on everything I do, on everything I've accomplished in this one year. I am your eldest daughter, do you hold any sort of compassion and pride for me?"
Hiashi remained silent.
"Otou-sama, if my words will not reach you...then maybe my actions will." Hinata snarled. Hiashi's eyes widened at the snarl his daughter directed at him, but he quickly returned to his harsh stare. His glare met her own as the tense atmosphere increased between them.
"You wish to engage in a battle with me, you little brat?"
Hinata gulped as she stared into her father's eyes. Her father was a gym leader and thus was one of the most powerful trainers in the combined regions of Kanto and Johto. He was a gym leader by the age of sixteen and had even proved to be much stronger than many a trainer when he denied them the ability to take part in Pokemon League after Pokemon League by wiping the floor with them.
She knew she was outclassed.
"No. I am not going to challenge you."
"Pfft. That is no surprise."
"Oh believe me, Otou-sama. I would challenge you here and now, but I have a Grand Festival Contest tomorrow at noon to partake in so I can't." Hinata retorted. "But, I will instead show you my growth and my strength in the Grand Festival. You will stay and you will watch as I tear through the competition. I will make you a wager, Otou-sama. I will go through this contest with you watching for the battle segments. If I am able to impress you, I am allowed to continue to be a coordinator."
"But if you lose then you are to immediately stop your foolish contests and you will become the new gym leader for Saffron City."
"I never wanted the position, Otou-sama. I am aware of how I am not suited for the gym leader position, even you have told me this, but if it will please you...I will go back with you to be the next gym leader of Saffron City." Hinata said. Hiashi nodded.
"Then we have an accord?" Hiashi asked.
"Yes and you must swear...swear by the honour of the name that is Hyuga, that you will give a fair judgement of my skills in the battle segment and not give a biased view simply because you want me to adhere to your wishes." Hinata answered with a stiff nod. Hiashi nodded stiffly in response.
"Very well."
The two Hyugas nodded to each other as they sealed their agreement.
"Goodnight, Otou-sama." She said before sliding out of her seat with Espeon. The Sun Pokemon and the teenage girl left to go to their rooms and Hiashi stared at his daughter's retreating back with narrowed eyes.
The Next Day- Grand Festival Stadium, Indigo Plateau
The sun shone brightly in the sky as the clock struck noon. Fireworks flash in the noon sky above them. The stands were filled to the brim with audience members who came from all over the regions of Kanto and Johto. Large screens were placed at strategic angles throughout the stadium to allow for the audience to view the stadium's grounds where the coordinators would perform. Cameras and lights filled the area and a Pokemon League sponsored blimp hovered above the stadium with a giant image of the Pokemon League's insignia emblazoned on the sides. A giant golden orange Pikachu which sat atop a golden Pokeball which had the words 'Pokemon League' etched into the middle of the Poke Ball.
Near the edge of the stadium grounds, a large table was placed. The Judges Table.
"HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HOW ARE WE ALL DOING TODAY?!"
A large round of cheers and applause was more than enough to answer Anko's question as she took to the centre of the stadium for the entrance ceremony.
"Great! Now then before we begin, we would like to thank our sponsors from the Pokemon League Association for allowing the Pokemon Contest challenge to become a reality. Years ago, the Pokemon Contest challenge never existed and trainers only had the option of aiming for the Pokemon League, but then one man came forward and made the idea for people who didn't want to challenge the Pokemon, to go for something else. He knew Pokemon were more than just creatures suited for the battlefield and he finally made that dream a reality when the Pokemon League approved his suggestions. So today, we welcome to the Judges Table, our celebrity guest judge, Mr. Pokemon!"
The crowd erupted into cheers when the judges, Deidara, Tsunade Senju, the Indigo Plateau Nurse Shizune and guest judge, Mr. Pokemon, walked out onto the stage. The judges took their seats and Mr. Pokemon headed for Anko where he took the microphone he was offered. Anko shook his hand and blushed lightly when he took the hand he was offered and kissed it.
"Sly old man." Anko muttered as she covered the microphone so no one heard it.
"I was a charmer in my old days, Anko-san. This old dog has got it though if that blush is anything to go by." He laughed and Anko stuck her tongue out in embarrassment. Mr. Pokemon chuckled before holding the microphone up to his mustache covered mouth. The gray haired man coughed slightly to clear his throat and gain the stadium's attention.
"Well this is truly a magnificent day today. I am truly thankful for the fact that trainers these days get to take part in events such as the Pokemon Contest Grand Festival. When I was younger, during the days when I used to travel the world, even meeting up with my old friend Hiruzen Sarutobi for lunch every now and then, I always knew that Pokemon were more than just amazing creatures to use in battles or to be studied for research purposes. They had beauty, they had toughness, they were smart, they were cute and they were cool. So it was after realizing that that I made the suggestion to the Pokemon League to create the Pokemon Contest challenge ten years ago. So it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the eleventh Pokemon Contest Grand Festival! ENJOY!" He clapped his hands as the audience did the same.
"And the stage is yours, Anko-san." Mr. Pokemon gave a tip of his hat as the purple haired woman took back her microphone.
"And that is Mr. Pokemon folks! Now today in our eleventh Pokemon Contest Grand Festival there are people who have come from the far-off regions of Hoenn and Sinnoh to compete so we may be seeing a couple of unseen Pokemon in today's Grand Festival. There are two hundred and seventy participants today taking part in this competition so without further ado, I welcome our competitors!" The audience broke out into loud noise once more as the two hundred and seventy participants walked out from the entrance area and stood before the audience.
They were arranged in alphabetical order so Hinata and Sakura were near to each other with Ino hanging all the way in the back. It sucked to have a name starting with 'Y' sometimes. To the surprise of Hinata and Sakura, Chouji Akimichi had been taking part in the Grand Festival as well, but it was a welcomed surprise as there was somebody else among the throng that they knew.
Hinata glanced around and spied the few rivals she had made in her travels. Sora Yasuharu was near to Ino in the back. Hikari Nonaka, the older girl Hinata had met in the Goldenrod City contest, was also shown to be present. Mai Shiranui, the brown haired, busty girl who took on Sora in the Ecruteak Contest was also present.
'Seems Sora and Mai were able to rush through to get their fifth ribbons in that short time period. Impressive.' Hinata thought. Her orange haired rival, Sasame Fuuma, also stood amongst the many coordinators. Hinata noticed that Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori were not present in the line up.
A shame, she thought, they were very challenging opponents.
She then directed her attention to the stadium stands. She watched her father sitting with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He wasn't even paying attention to the contest!
'But then again, he's probably only going to pay attention when the battle segment reaches.' She deduced. Her father was a battler and it was only common knowledge that a battler would only be interested in battles.
She then returned her attention back to Anko when the purple haired woman told them it was time to get off the field except for the first contestant. She gave one last glance back at her father's bored visage, her eyes narrowing as she did.
'I'll show you, Otou-sama. I'll show you just how good I am...and hopefully I'll be able to earn your respect this time.' She thought as her gaze softened.
Grand Festival Stadium Floor
"Well ladies and gentlemen, the final hurdle for all young trainers to become a Grand Festival champion and earn the Ribbon Cup will now begin!" Anko exclaimed as she went on to explain the Appeal Round's rules and design. "The Appeal Round is to be divided up into two segments. This current segment is a preliminary round where contestants must be able to show off their Pokemon using only ONE move. No more, no less. Only sixty four out of the two hundred and seventy will be allowed to move on to the next part of the Appeal Round which will be a full on appeal segment for the coordinators to take part in. When the second Appeal Round is over, only thirty two of those sixty four who made it past the first segment will be allowed to go into the Battle Round."
Mutterings were heard amongst the crowd and the coordinators within the viewing area on the inside were all fidgeting. Some of the more confident and reserved members remained unfazed, but a hint of surprise was present in their eyes as they realized just how harsh this competition would be.
"And with that, we begin our preliminary Appeal Around with the first coordinator. From New Bark Town, Johto, Chouji Akimichi!" Anko announced. The crowd clapped and cheered as an image of the rotund boy's profile appeared on the screens.
'An Akimichi huh? And it's Chouza's boy at that. I didn't think he'd be in this.' Hiashi thought as he looked down at the stadium grounds.
"KNOCK 'EM DEAD CHOUJI!" Ino whooped for her friend as he made his way out of the coordinator viewing area.
"Good luck, Chouji-san!" Hinata and Sakura said. Chouji gave his friends a thumbs up and he stood in the centre of the field. Despite the serious atmosphere of the Grand Festival contest, it was allowed for casual clothing to be worn so Chouji was dressed in his regular garb which consisted of a pair of dark blue pants, a yellow t-shirt with the kanji for 'Food' on the front in red which was worn underneath a green, short sleeved jacket, and a pair of dark blue sneakers.
"Mamoswine, GO!" Chouji yelled as he tossed the Poke Ball skyward.
Mamoswine the Twin Tusk Pokemon. An Ice/Ground-type Pokemon and the evolved form of Piloswine. A frozen MAMOSWINE was dug from ice dating back 10,000 years. This Pokémon has been around a long, long, long time.
"MAMOOOO!" The Twin Tusk Pokemon slammed its right foreleg down and the ground shook from the impact as the Pokemon displayed its strength.
"And Chouji starts the contest off with his Mamoswine! Now Chouji must display his Pokemon's appeal in only one move and there are no do-overs, no retries and no oopsies!"
Chouji nodded to his literal mammoth of a Pokemon.
"Alright Mamoswine, use Hail!" The clouds above the open ceiling stadium grew dark and accumulated together. Mamoswine released a cry to the heavens and then the hail began to fall. Luckily for the Pokemon League blimp it was weather resistant to prepare for these kinds of conditions.
"And Chouji shows off his Pokemon's ability to control the weather by summoning forth a hailstorm from the heavens! However, that's not what we are focusing our attention on! Look at how fast Mamoswine is moving! Snow Cloak sure is showing its strong points in this appeal round!" All the judges and the audience members watched as Mamoswine was evading ever single hail stone. Not a single ice particle made contact with the fur of the Twin Tusk Pokemon. In fact, the cameras had to use their slow motion vision aspect in order to prove to the audience that what they were seeing was in fact real and not fiction.
Due to the its ability, Snow Cloak, the evasiveness of Mamoswine increases whenever in the presence of a hailstorm.
"Alright, Mamoswine, cut it off now!" Chouji ordered. The Twin Tusk Pokemon nodded and it released a loud "MAMOOOSWINE!" to the skies and the dark clouds vanished to show the blue sky and the yellow sun once more.
"An impressive start." Tsunade said with a clap.
"Indeed. Chouji Akimichi you are starting things off with a bang for sure." Deidara gave the rotund boy a double thumbs up.
Nurse Shizune smiled at Chouji. "You did an amazing job to show off your Mamoswine. Indeed it is difficult to show off such a heavy weight Pokemon, but you utilized the Hail attack and Mamoswine's Snow Cloak ability in such a marvelous way. Well done, Chouji-kun."
Mr. Pokemon smiled at Chouji. "It's nice to see young people, especially boys, taking part in these kinds of events. Everyone always assumes that contests are for those of the female persuasion so it warms my heart to see that you are confident in your masculinity and still show off your Pokemon here today. An impressive first performance, Chouji."
Chouji and Mamoswine nodded to the judges and Anko before walking off with the cheers and applause of the audience following behind them.
Hiashi Hyuga raised an eyebrow.
'Hmmm. Seems these contests are much more than what they seem. It does take quite a bit of intelligence to utilize a Pokemon's abilities in a manner that would impress others. But still, they are a waste of time. Hinata WILL come back to Saffron.' Hiashi thought with a harsh stare.
"And now for next coordinator..." Anko then began to run through the names of the remainder of the two hundred and sixty-nine coordinators. A Pichu showed off with a powerful Thunderbolt. A Seaking had created a personal water tank by using Waterfall. A Rapidash generated a firestorm from its body. Pineco, Foretress, Voltorb and Electrode showed off their explosive powers by using Self-Destruct and Explosion attacks.
"Alright, now it's time for another contestant. The fiery orange haired teen we all know and love. Come to the stage, Sasame Fuuma!" The orange haired girl sped forth onto the stadium floor and bowed before hurling a Poke Ball into the air.
"And wasting no time, Sasame send forth her Pokemon!" Anko announced. The Poke Ball opened out and a flash of white signaled the coming of the next contending creature. An Ariados landed on the ground and the giant insect of Pokemon scuttled around a bit. Sasame then raised a finger to the judges asking for them to spare a minute for her.
They nodded to tell her it was okay. Sasame nodded and then ran back inside before coming back out a minute later with a few targets attached to wooden poles of varying heights. Some of the personnel helped her with carrying the targets. Sasame then planted the targets she had into the ground before directing the people helping her on where to place the targets.
"And it seems that Sasame has some target practice arranged for her Pokemon!"
"Alright Ariados, let's go! Jump into the air and use the Pin Missile maneuver, just like we practiced!" Sasame exclaimed. The Poison/Ghost type complied and leaped into the air. All eyes followed the orange and black striped Pokemon and they watched as the Pokemon fired off a series of glowing white needles from the spinneret.
Two missiles flew off through the air in each direction and nailed four of the targets simultaneously, hitting the bullseye with ease. Then a few more rounds followed.
"Uh Oh, it looks Sasame's Ariados may have misfired on this one!" Anko pointed out as she saw some of the Pin Missile needles about to overshoot their targets.
"NOW!" Sasame exclaimed. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw Ariados fire off Pin Missile needles at the ones that Anko pointed out would misfire and the new missiles clashed against the 'misfired' ones and their trajectory was changed and the new needles also bounced off and flew through the air. In the end, the needles all hit their intended targets...in the bullseye.
The stage was silent as they watched Ariados flip in midair and land on the ground. Sasame and Ariados bowed before the audience, but when they rose up, they began to grow a bit nervous when they saw there was no sound coming from anyone.
"Ummm...ta da?" She said with an unsure tone.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Anko yelled gripping her hair.
"Truly an amazing performance! A unique approach on the use of Pin Missile. Never have I seen such a move." Tsunade said.
"THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!" Deidara exclaimed as he held his tightened fists close to his chest, anime tears streaming from his eyes.
"Impressive beyond words." Were the comments given from Shizune and Mr. Pokemon. Sasame and Ariados bowed once more as the crowd cheered and applauded for them.
"And that was Sasame Fuuma and her amazingly accurate Ariados! Let's hear another round for the little lady!" Anko exclaimed. The cheers and applause grew louder and Sasame blushed at the praise as she walked off in a hurry with Ariados behind her. When Sasame returned to the viewing room for the coordinators, she was met with the smiling face of her rival, Hinata Hyuga.
"That was spectacular, Sasame-san!" Hinata exclaimed.
"Sh-Shut up! It's not like I was doing it for your approval." Sasame said with a light blush dusting her cheeks.
"Oh, no need to be tsundere Sasame." Sakura said.
"Yeah." Ino came up this time. "That was really cool how you altered those needles' trajectories by using the others and even then you managed to get the ones that had been used for said altering to hit the bullseye. You must have practiced like hell to get that down."
"Well...yeah. About three months."
"Well your hard work certainly paid off, Sasame-san. You are an impressive rival." Hinata said.
"Stop complimenting me so you'll throw me off of my game!" Sasame exclaimed with her arms waving wildly in the air. Hinata, Sakura and Ino giggled at the orange haired coordinator. She was totally being tsundere. "Now you better make sure you get through this so I can beat you in the battle rounds."
Hinata nodded to Sasame as she and her Ariados walked away.
"Geez, this competition is intense." Sakura muttered. "First Chouji starts off with that amazing show of how his Mamoswine, despite its large size, was able to have such a high level of agility and now Sasame makes that Pin Missile target maneuver like she's been doing it her whole life."
"I know what you mean." Ino agreed. "It's a whole different world out here, girls. But that's why we have to kick ass like nobody's business when we get on that stadium floor."
"Ino-san, you're so confident. How can you do that?" Hinata asked. Ino blinked in surprise at Hinata's comment before she laughed.
"I'm not confident at all. I'm scared out of panties actually." Ino said without any shame causing Sakura and Hinata to look around in hopes that no one else outside of them had heard it. When they saw no one looking, they reverted their attention back to the platinum blonde.
"Really? But...you're all smiles and optimism." Sakura said.
"True." Ino replied with a nod, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "But despite my fear, I guess I am a bit confident. Iget my confidence from my mother. Tou-san always told me Okaa-chan was a bit of a overconfident girl when she was my age." Ino chuckled.
"But how can you feel like that? How you be like that when you know someone out there in the stands may be judging you and your abilities as a trainer and coordinator? There may be consequences to your actions." Hinata said as her mind brought up the image of her father.
"Because..." Ino started with a serious look in her sky blue orbs. "...I know how hard I worked to reach where I am. I didn't wander around the region for a whole year to not do my best. I know I did my best and I know I'm going to do my best when I get out there on the stadium floor. So what if people are judging me in the audience. Those people are just asses who can't even begin to imagine what we coordinators go through when we step onto the floor. We have cameras and eyes watching our every move and it puts a lot of pressure on us. If they can't understand that and the fact that we coordinators went through a lot, putting our blood, sweat and tears into making it this far, then I say screw them. I know I did well and I know I'm a good coordinator and no one will make me think and/or say otherwise."
Hinata and Sakura stared at the blonde in awe.
"Wow." Sakura uttered.
"That was just..." Hinata nodded her head before slapping her face a couple of times. "Thank you for the speech, Ino-san. I was beginning to get jittery and doubt myself, but your words just hit me."
"Yeah Ino. So after I kick your ass in this and you give up as a coordinator, you should go for motivational speaking." Sakura joked. Ino rolled her eyes.
"Ha Ha, Sakura. You're hilarious." She grabbed Sakura in a choke hold and noogied her pink head of hair. "Like hell I'm gonna give up, even if I do lose to you, which I won't."
After a while of watching a few performances, it was now time for the 'H' section of the competitors to go onto the stage. During the time waiting for a certain pinkette's name to come up, Sora and Hikari had made themselves known and acquainted themselves with Ino and Chouji. The group then began to chat up each other as the time and the contestants flew by like a Rapidash using Agility. A few more performances passed by and then came her name.
"Her fiery spirit is just as fearsome as her fiery attitude. Sakura Haruno! Come on out!" Anko's voice was heard throughout the stadium. Sakura gulped and shook her head to get rid of her anxiety.
"Kick their asses." Ino said.
"Good luck, Sakura-san!" The rest of the group cheered for the green eyed trainer. Sakura nodded and then walked out towards the field. She squinted as she left the dimmer setting of the interior of the stadium and the bright rays of the golden sun entered her eyes. The cheers and claps of the people in the stands brought back her mild anxiety and she felt the calculating and judging eyes of all the people that watched her as she set herself in the centre of the stage.
Ino's words filled her head and she gained a confident and determined look on her face. She took out a Poke Ball and spun it on her finger before grabbing it tightly.
'Let's do this.' She tossed the Poke Ball high into the air. In a flash of white light, Sakura's Azumarill landed on the ground after doing a series a flips in the air.
"Zu Zu Azumarill." Azumarill flexed its stubby arms in a way to show it was ready.
"Sakura Haruno, our lovely pinkette, has decided to start her Grand Festival day with her cute Azumarill! The stage is yours Sakura." Anko pointed her mic at the green eyed girl. Sakura nodded before looking at the judges with a cute smile.
"Judges." She stated. The audience and the judges themselves were caught quite a bit off guard when the girl turned her attention to them.
"Yes, little lady?" Mr. Pokemon answered on their behalf. Sakura turned to the aged man and pointed at him and dragged her hand across the air at the rest of the judges.
"Just off the top of your head, name your favourite Pokemon." She said.
"Sakura has just asked the judges to name their favourite Pokemon off the tops of their heads. Just what is this pink haired upstart up to?" Anko asked more to herself than to the audience.
"Umm off the top of my head?" Tsunade tapped her chin. "That would be a Gastrodon from the Sinnoh region."
"Deidara-san?" Sakura turned to Deidara as he jumped up.
"Oh Oh, an Electrode! SPONTANEOUS EXPLOSION FOR THE WIN!" Everyone sweatdropped at the hyperactive blonde before nodding.
"Mine would be a Blastoise." Shizune said.
"Pikachu for me." Was Mr. Pokemon's response.
Sakura nodded and then turned to Azumarill. "Alright, Azumarill. You know what to do, make those bubbles in the shapes of those Pokemon."
"Zu Zu." Azumarill rubbed its fingerless hands together and cracked its neck with sharp twists of its head.
"Now let's go, Bubblebeam!" Azumarill heeded its trainer's orders and blew out a flurry of bubbles. Everyone stared as the bubbles stuck to each other and in a matter of minutes, they all began to take shape. In ten minutes, three bubble Pokemon were created.
"Your Electrode, Blastoise and Pikachu. Sorry, Tsunade-sama, but Azumarill never practiced a Gastrodon before." Sakura said sticking her tongue out in embarrassment. Tsunade head dropped at that.
"But...my Gastrodon..." Tsunade had a dark cloud hanging over her head causing everyone to sweatdrop.
'Is she sulking?' They thought.
"Well guys, with the absence of Tsunade-san's Gastrodon request, Sakura has had her Azumarill use Bubblebeam to make the properties of the bubbles more viscous and sticky on the surface so that they would stick together and hold. It takes amazing control and ingenuity to pull this off, so let's give a hand to Sakura Haruno and her Azumarill!"
"I LOVE MY ELECTRODE!" Deidara said with tears of joy in his eyes.
"Quite an impressive feat, Sakura-chan." Shizune said with her hand on her face. "Blastoise is so cute."
'Blastoise...cute? Can those even exist in the same sentence?' Sakura thought.
"And my Pikachu came out really well. Your bubble art sure is amazing." Mr. Pokemon said.
"Thank you and Tsunade-sama, I'm reaaaally sorry." Sakura said with a deep bow towards the still sulking blonde.
"My...Gastrodon..."
Anko laughed nervously, "Well ummm while Tsunade-sam tries to overcome her ummm...loss, I guess the word would be, please give another round of applause to Sakura Haruno and her artisitic Azumarill!"
Sakura skipped away from the stage and into the interior once more with Azumarill following behind her, blowing kisses to all of her cheering fans.
Sakura walked in and bowed to her waiting friends with Azumarill.
"Nicely done." Was the comment given to her by Ino, Chouji and Sora.
"I sure hope Tsunade-sama recovers from her loss. So mean, Sakura-san." Hikari teased the pinkette.
"Hikari, don't be mean." Sakura pouted causing Hikari to chuckle at the new friend.
"Great job, Sakura-san." Hinata said.
"Yeah. Your turn's gonna be next Hinata-san." Sakura said as she clapped the formerly shy girl on the shoulders. Hinata's eyes widened and she suddenly flashed into a corner and huddled into a ball, rocking back and forth. Sakura and Azumarill sweatdropped at the dark haired girl before turning around to see the rest of her friend glaring at her or giving her disapproving looks.
"Sakura-san, you scared Hinata-san." Sora said.
"Ummm whoops."
"Not cool, Sakura. So mean." Hikari said as she crossed her arms beneath her ample bosom. Sakura muttered another 'whoops' only to find herself assaulted by the unforgiving noogie courtesy of her best friend.
"Sakura, don't make Hinata nervous!" Ino cried out as she knuckles dug deeply into the pinkette's scalp.
"AGH, IT BURNS!" Sakura cried out from the pain caused by the friction. Chouji just sat and ate his chips, shaking his head.
'Shikamaru's still at the Pokemon Centre sleeping or watching the clouds, but if he were here I guess he would say 'Troublesome' right about now.' Chouji thought with reference to his best friend.
As Hinata was consoled in her corner of alone-ness and Sakura was set apart from the group in order to prevent another incident, another round of contestants had gone in and out of the stadium.
"She's been a Dark Horse since she arrived onto the Pokemon Contest map. You know her, you love her, say hello to your favourite pale eyed coordinator, HINATA HYUGA!" Anko announced. Hinata froze and the group surrounding her watched as her eyes widened. She gulped the saliva down her throat as it suddenly grew dry.
Hikari Nonaka then drew her hand back and slapped it right across the nervous Hyuga's face. Everyone who had glimpsed at the spectacle stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths as the sound echoed through the viewing room.
"OWWWWW!" Hinata hissed as she rubbed her slightly red cheek. Her anxiety replaced with pain, Hinata's eyes lightly teared up as she looked at the blue haired woman. "Hikari-saaaan, why'd you hit me?!"
"To get you out of your funk. Now get up and get out there." Hikari smiled at the young teenager. "I know you'll do well. You're one of the few people out there who managed to give me a challenge. Remember back in Goldenrod City, you fought a really good match with me. Now I want to fight you again in this Grand Festival and I can't do that if you don't get past this Appeal Round. Now get out there."
Hinata gulped once more and shook her head. She wiped away the tears of pain caused by Hikari's slap and nodded. She rose to her feet and ran out.
"GOOD LUCK!" Was simultaneous cry from her friends. Hinata glanced back at them with a smile before looking ahead at the light at the end of the tunnel. 'Naruto-kun...please...watch me.'
As she ran out onto the stadium floor, her eyes flickered across the stands and the people who sat in them. Her eyes then zeroed in on her fathers attentive gaze and her pale eyes met his. She skidded to a stop in the centre of the stadium, her eyes still focused on her father's before she nodded to him.
'Challenge accepted.' She thought before taking out her Poke Ball. She tossed it into the air and the red and white spheroid popped open and a white flash of light flew forth from its interior. The light twisted and swirled as it began to take shape.
"Laaaaaapras!" The Transport Pokemon released its cry to the heavens as it took to the stage.
"And Hinata shows us another new Pokemon in her arsenal! She always used to use her Espeon which was previously an Eevee in Goldenrod City's contest. Then two days ago in the Ecruteak City contest she pulled off a tied win with her fellow Coordinator, Sakura Haruno, when she used her Togekiss and Nidoqueen for the Appeal and Battle Rounds, respectively. With her Lapras now on the field, let's see how Hinata does with this intelligent species of Pokemon."
'A Lapras? Quite a rare Pokemon.' Hiashi commented as he watched his daughter's Pokemon.
Hinata took a deep breath as she calmed her nerves and then looked to Lapras.
"Alright Lapras, use Surf!" Lapras nodded and then water burst forth from its body as if it were performing an Aqua Jet. The water then turned into a large column before it raced outwards in the form of a giant tidal wave that took the form of a circular pulse. The audience began to scream and panic as the giant pulse of water neared them, but then they watched in awe as the circular wave retreated back towards Lapras and then released itself. The process continued until the audience and the judges were now watching the spectacle before them as Lapras suddenly began to generate its own tidal patterns.
"How is this happening?!" Anko yelled into her microphone. "Lapras is shooting forth the waves from Surf and then recalling it back towards it body!"
"It's actually very simple." Hinata spoke. "Look at Lapras's body. As you can see, Lapras is constantly releasing and recalling the waters as if generating its own tidal wave patterns of swash and backwash. This is possible by using Surf and having Lapras stay in contact with the waters. Its Water Absorb ability is what is allowing it to constantly recall the waves and generate the backwash. Then by countering it with another, larger Surf attack, the swash returns, only much larger."
A round of applause came forth from the judges as they looked at Lapras continue to generate bigger and bigger tidal waves and recall them.
"Amazing." Was the comment from Tsunade.
"You're an amazing girl, you know that? I have seen many a Water-type user. I have seen many people with Pokemon who have Water Absorb as an ability, but damn. Your mind is just an explosion of artistic ways to make your Pokemon shine. I know this contest requires you to use only one move for this one round in this preliminary Appeal, but I just hoped to see more moves from you. Dark Horse indeed, Hinata." Deidara clapped.
"Amazing prowess in utilizing your Pokemon's abilities. Like Chouji-kun before you, you really know how to highlight your Pokemon not only with a move, but also with their natural abilities." Shizune smiled.
"You make this old man proud, Hinata-san." Mr. Pokemon said and Hinata smiled.
"Let's hear another round of applause for Hinata Hyuga and her hydro based appeal round brought about by the amazing Transport Pokemon, Lapras!" The crowd broke into a rapid array of whoops, cheers, claps and wolf whistles. Hinata blushed as she heard the wolf whistles. However, before she was about to walk off, Mr. Pokemon gave a her glance that told her to wait.
"Ummm, pardon me, miss...you say your name is Hyuga, correct?" Hinata and the audience all turned to Mr. Pokemon as he began to speak.
"That's right." Hinata said with a nod as she turned to Lapras and told it to stop with the moves. The Transport Pokemon nodded and absorbed the Surf attack back into its body and the stadium floor was as dry as the day it was made. She then took out the Poke Ball and returned Lapras to it in a flash of red energy.
"Your father is Hiashi Hyuga and your uncle and cousin are Hizashi and Neji, correct?" Hinata's eyes narrowed at the man. People in the crowd who had failed to recognize her name was Hyuga and her relations to the aforementioned people now did and suddenly comments ranging from, "Who are those people?" to "What the hell? How could I not notice her name was Hyuga?!" were heard throughout the stadium.
"And what if I am?"
"I'm not making anything of it, Hinata-san. I am quite impressed with your show, quite amazing from the battle oriented family of the Hyuga. I expect great things from you." Mr. Pokemon said with a gentle smile. However, the reaction he got in return was not what anyone was expecting.
"If you start to make expectations of me simply because I am my father's child and the niece and cousin of the former and current members of the Elite Four, respectively, then I suggest you retract them. I am my own person, Mr. Pokemon." Hinata said with a harsh glare. Mr. Pokemon's eyes widened. Anko's eyes widened. In fact, everyone who was listening to the radio broadcast and watching the television version of the show, all had widened eyes. Some even had their jaws agape.
Hiashi watched his daughter, no longer with a stoic face, but with an interested one. A tugging feeling was felt on the man's mouth muscles as it transfigured his lips in order to generate a smirk.
Hinata sharply turned on her heel and walked off of the centre of the stadium. The stadium itself was in silence as all eyes followed the pale eyed girl as she went to the coordinator's viewing room. Anko glanced around at the cameras.
"Ummm uh, well...that was Hinata Hyuga everybody. The next coordinator is Yuki Hajime!" Anko spoke quickly. However, due to the surprise still present on everyone elses faces and their minds currently still replaying the scene, only a few thousand of the much greater amount of people had clapped for their next Appeal Round contender.
Hinata took a shaky breath as she entered the viewing room and glanced up to see everyone, including her friends, watching her with stupefied gazes.
"What?" She asked. Everyone flinched at her sudden act of speaking which broke the wall of silence. Most turned away from her, whistling innocently as if they weren't staring. Her group of friends then approached her cautiously.
"Hey, Hinata-san! Great job out there!" Sora said with a toothy grin. Hinata smiled at the brown haired boy that reminded so very much of her Pokemon League contending boyfriend.
"Thank you, Sora-san. It means a lot."
"Hey ummm Hinata, we know you did great. In fact, I'm not afraid to say it was practically phenomenal." Hikari said.
"But..." Hinata started for her friend.
"But...what you said out there, when Mr. Pokemon brought up your name being Hyuga...do you want to talk about what it is that's going on?" The older woman asked. Hinata's face twitched and she took a deep breath before sitting herself down on the cushy chairs. Her friends sat next to her or in front of her on the couches that lay directly across from her.
"Well since Hikari-san is in the 'N' section, I guess I can explain to you all what it is while we wait." Hinata said. She then looked around at all the people who were suddenly staring at her with odd looks. Sakura and Ino caught wind of them and rose up to their feet.
"OI! STOP STARING AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" They roared. The people who were called out on staring shrunk away in embarrassment and headed away from the group. Soon, they were completely isolated from the rest of the coordinators. With that in mind, Hinata was able to tell her story without anybody eavesdropping. Besides if they did, Sakura and Ino would pummel them. Feminine fury and all that.
"Well, as you all know, my family name is Hyuga." She started her story on that note. "I was born in Saffron City and my grandfather, the father of my father and uncle, was a strict teacher of tradition and whatnot. It is tradition for the eldest child of the Hyuga generations to become the new gym leader when they come of age. My father, Hiashi Otou-sama, became the gym leader at the mere age of sixteen as he was a prodigy during his time. When Otou-sama became a gym leader, Hizashi Oji-sama was allowed to move on and do what he wished. Oji-sama moved to Ecruteak where he met his wife and together they had their child, Neji nii-san, my cousin. I was born one year after Neji and I was also the first born of my family. When I started to learn about Pokemon, Otou-sama taught me how to use Psychic-type Pokemon as I was to become the next gym leader. However...I never really had an affinity for Pokemon battling."
"Really? You?!" Hikari said with a puzzled look on her face.
"But you wipe the floor with people in your contests." Sora said. "You kick major ass."
Hinata smiled softly. "Yeah, but that's because I had Naruto-kun teaching me a bit when we were traveling. Naruto-kun was teaching me how to battle whenever we got the chance."
"Naruto? Teach?" Ino asked with a bewildered expression.
"Actually Ino, Naruto's not that bad of a trainer. He's very good." Sakura said.
I'm guessing Naruto-kun is a good friend or your boyfriend." Hikari guessed. Hinata smiled and nodded.
"He's both." She said with pride.
"Look, you girls can discuss relationship stuff later." Sora said. "Hinata-san, what is it that made you so angry with Mr. Pokemon?"
Hinata nodded to Sora before she resumed her story. "Anyway, because I had didn't have an affinity for actual Pokemon battling back then, Otou-sama used to force me into harsh training schedules. I was expected to be the best, to be the epitome of the Hyuga's battling skills and hopefully be a prodigy like my Otou-sama. When I turned eight, Hizashi Oji-sama had been recognized as a member of the Elite Four and became its starting member as a Psychic-type master. Neji nii-san was shown to be a prodigy unlike myself so by the age of thirteen, he had become incredibly strong and defeated Oji-sama and took his place as the new member of the Elite Four. With all these kind of important figures surrounding me, I knew that people would start to judge me and expect much from me simply because of who my relatives are. I want to be recognized for what I can do and I can accomplished, not for what Neji nii-san, Hizashi Oji-sama and Otou-sama have done and accomplished." Hinata sighed. "I guess that when Mr. Pokemon brought up that he expected great things from me just because he recognized my name was Hyuga, I kind of snapped. I should probably apologize to him."
There was a period of silence between the group of coordinators before Ino looked at the dark haired girl with a hard stare. "In my opinion, you have every right to be angry at the man then."
"Huh?" Was the response from the pale eyed girl. Hikari nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I mean, you are you and no one else. Sure your name is Hyuga, but that doesn't change the fact that just because your name is from a distinguished family in Kanto you shouldn't be expected of too much nor should you be judged on a higher scale because of it."
Hinata nodded and a smile came to her face. "Thank you."
"No problem." Sora said before he roughly pulled Hinata into a one armed hug. "Besides, angry minds cloud a person's judgement. No way in hell am I gonna fight against a clouded judgement driven Hinata-san!"
With her little burden being lifted off of her chest, Hinata was feeling a lot better. Sometimes it helped just having some people to talk to. The group then turned their attention to the screens located around the viewing room to watch the other coordinators do their bits. Eventually, they finally reached the 'N' section of the alphabetical order of coordinators.
"Hikari Nonaka is our next contestant! Put your hands together for the blue haired beauty!" Anko's voice rang out through the stadium and the viewing area. Hikari nodded as she gripped her Poke Ball when she took it out.
"Well, I guess that's me. Time to bring the heat, wish me luck guys."
"Good luck!" Was the simultaneous reply from all of them as Hikari ran out of the viewing area. She squinted as she was bombarded by the harsh sunlight, but quickly adjusted to it. She ran to the centre of the stage and bowed respectfully to the judges and guest judge. Hikari then clutched her Poke Ball tightly and tossed it into the air.
"Come out, Fearow!" In a flash of white light, the evolved form of Spearow took to the skies. It harshly unfurled its wings and a mighty gust of wind flew forth as it did so. Unfortunately for Anko and Hikari, and fortunately for the males and females who were watching, the winds generated an updraft that sent their respective skirts skyward and revealed their undergarments to the world.
Anko, being Anko, had no shame in the act while Hikari was now blushing as much as an embarrassed Hinata Hyuga.
"And with a blue and white striped panty revealing start, Hikari sends out her Fearow!" Hikari covered her face and held her skirt down in embarrassment as the crowd gave off a various array whoops, laughs and cheers. Cries of pain were mixed into the myriad of noises from people being hit over the head for their perverted thinking.
Tsunade and Shizune were laughing while Deidara and Mr. Pokemon had a line of blood dripping from their noses.
"Panties are a bang." Deidara muttered to himself, a wide grin present on the Grand Festival Champion's face. When the crowd and everyone else calmed themselves down, the young woman proceeded with her Pokemon's one move display.
"Alright, Fearow use Razor Wind!" The crowd watched in awe as Fearow's hovering form flew a bit bit higher into the air. Air currents swirled around its body and then outlined its wings. The audience clapped and cheered as the winds expanded in size so that a giant bird made out of wind replaced the Fearow. Fearow's eyes then released a shine within the wind storm of charged up winds before unfurling its wings. The mighty Razor Wind attack flew forth as numerous tornadoes of razor sharp winds sprung to life and formed a circular wall of tornadoes around the brown coloured bird.
The tornadoes moved around in the same circular pattern around their user before Fearow dropped down to the ground and the tornadoes then disrupted themselves and exploded outwards as bursts of wind. Again though, Hikari failed to realize that her Fearow's routine had triggered another episode of panty showing.
"KYAAAA!" Hikari shrieked as she held down her pink coloured miniskirt.
"And with another skirt rising wind storm, Hikari has finished her Fearow's one move routine with an amazing Razor Wind!" Anko exclaimed into her microphone. The crowd went wild.
"Quite entertaining. Though, do you have some sort of problem with keeping your skirt down?" Tsunade asked with a teasing grin. Hikari buried herself in her Fearow's feathers. The rival species of Pidgeot sweatdropped at its trainer.
"Fear Row?"
"Well I for one, I am quite grateful for that performance. Panties are a bang!" Deidara whooped, only to find his head smashed down into the table harshly as Shizune and Tsunade slammed their fists against the back of his skull.
"I concur with Deidara-san!"
WHAM!
Mr. Pokemon was met with the same fate as Deidara.
"Amazing performance, Hikari-chan. I hope you make another performance as great as that one." Shizune said with the trademark smile that all Shizunes had. Hikari nodded and thanked her judges, sweatdropping a bit as she saw the blood leaking from the wounded skulls of Mr. Pokemon and Deidara.
"Are they gonna be ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, they're men. They have thick skulls." Tsunade said as she waved her hand in a nonchalant manner.
And with that, Hikari went back to the coordinator viewing area. With a flood of compliments from her friends, Hikari blushed when she saw the blushing face of Sora.
"What?"
"Blue and white are my new favourite colours." He answered with a goofy smile on his face as he recalled the colour of the young woman's panties. The teenager was then found bleeding on the floor as the fists of Ino and Sakura impacted with his skull.
"ERO-SORA!" They roared as they continued to pummel him.
"NOT THE FACE!" Sora exclaimed as he shielded his self-proclaimed money maker.
Once Sora recovered from his beating and Hikari recovered from her embarrassment, other trainers flew by. They then took notice of Mai Shiranui from the Ecruteak City contest. She had chosen to send out her Pidgeot which showed off its accuracy by striking down numerous frisbees that were thrown into the air with its Air Slash attack...while blindfolded.
"It's like it's a ninja or something!" Sora exclaimed as he watched the busty brown haired girl return to the viewing area. Mai winked at the brown haired boy.
"I do what I can." She replied. "So that's the end of the 'S' section with my name. You and that Yamanaka girl are going to be going last then."
"I have a name." Ino muttered.
"I know and isn't it Yamanaka?" Mai asked with a confused tilt of her head.
"Well yeah, but I mean I have a first name. It's Ino."
"Ummm...ok." Ino fumed at the other girl's uncaring tone of voice. "Well good luck, Sora-kun, Ino-san." Mai then wandered off to go use the bathroom.
"So...Sora-kun is it?" Sakura asked as she waggled her eyebrows at the Ninetails user. Sora blinked in confusion at the pinkette's tone of voice until her caught notice of her wiggling pinky finger. His blue eyes widened and a blush came to his tanned face.
"NO! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Sora said waving his hands in front of himself before making an X-shape with his arms. And for the rest of the competition as the letters went from 'T' to 'X', Sora was forced to endure the teasing of him liking Mai and vice versa. Poor boy, he was foaming at the mouth when the teasing reached the level of making innuendos.
"I think we broke him." Hikari frowned as she poked the spasming boy.
"And that was the last competitor for the 'X' category. Xavier Xigbar! Now for the final two competitors who make up the 'Y' category. Ino Yamanaka, you're up!" Anko announced. Ino's eyes widened and Sora suddenly sprang up to his feet.
"Last two coordinators?! Are you serious?!" Sora exclaimed. "I have to go last?! Damn you for being named Yamanaka."
Ino chuckled at the blue eyed boy before flicking his forehead. "Tough luck, Sora-chan." She teased before running out. As she ran into the centre of the stage, she did a little twirl for femininity's sake. She pressed the centre button of her Poke Ball so it was enlarged before tossing it upwards.
"To the stage, Smoochum!" In a flash of white light, the tiny Ice/Psychic-type Pokemon appeared in front of its trainer. "Alright, show off your cuteness with Fake Tears!"
Everyone in the stadium and everyone who was watching the Grand Festival on television suddenly felt like their hearts were breaking when they saw Smoochum clasp its fingerless hands together. Its already large eyes expanded to twice their normal size. Its large lips quivered and then...then came the tears.
"OH MY ARCEUS! THE CUTENESS, IT'S SO UNBEARABLE!" Mr. Pokemon exclaimed.
"Smoooochum." The large tears fell from its eyes as the eyes then began to wobble by some unknown force.
"It's so...so adorable, yet I can't help but feel my heart ache for the Pokemon." Tsunade said.
Deidara couldn't hold it in anymore and broke down into tears as he ran out of his chair. He scooped Smoochum into his arms and hugged it.
"The crying is too much! WE LOVE YOU SMOOCHUM!" Deidara sobbed. Ino sweatdropped as she looked around at all the audience members and saw them all either aww-ing or crying.
'Maybe I overdid it a bit.' She thought as she scratched her cheek.
Hiashi Hyuga sat in his seat as he observed everyone else and sweatdropped, his eye twitching in annoyance. 'Idiots. Getting so worked up over a stupid Smoochum's Fake Tears attack. If they can't handle a mere Smoochum, I hardly doubt they'd have been able to handle a two year old Hanabi.' Hiashi shuddered as he remembered the Puppy Dog Eyes she used on him in her earlier years. Damn wobbly eyes, how the hell do they do that?!
"And with that, Ino ends her performance!" Anko exclaimed. The audience blew their noses loudly as they waved goodbye to the adorable Kiss Pokemon. Ino and Smoochum looked at each other and sweatdropped.
"I think you went on Overkill back there Smoochum."
"Smoochum." The pre-evolution of Jynx agreed with a nervous smile on its face. Sora then passed by Ino as he knew it would be his turn next.
"Sora...are you...were you crying?" She resisted the urge to laugh when she saw his reddened eyes.
"No! I just started sweating through my eyes when your Smoochum did that Fake Tears attack." Sora said as he wiped away the 'eye sweat'. Sora then ran out onto the stadium floor. When the audience, judges and Anko regained their bearings, Anko cleared her throat and raised her microphone.
"And our final contestant for the first segement of the Appeal Round! I give you, Sora Yasuharu!" Anko pointed at the spiky brown haired boy. The blue eyed coordinator wiped away the last of his tears/eye sweat. Sora then tossed his Poke Ball into the air.
"GO, ARCANINE!" The Legendary Pokemon came out of its ball and stomped its paws on the ground as it landed beside its trainer. The Fire-type released a burst of flame from its jaws as show of power and readiness to compete in the Grand Festival for its trainer.
"And it looks like Sora and his Arcanine are both fired up for this Appeal Round. Sora is the last competitor for the first segment in the Appeal Round so let's see if he can end things on a high note!" Anko challenged Sora's determined look. The determination burned that much brighter in his deep blue eyes and Sora then nodded to the evolved form of Growlithe.
"Alright Arcanine, Extremespeed! Show these people just how fast you can go by running around this entire stadium!" Arcanine nodded and then its legs tensed up as it crouched down. Sora then raised a hand to tell his Pokemon to wait. Sora took out a stopwatch from his pocket.
"And it seems that Sora will be timing his Pokemon as it is about to use Extremespeed to run around this ENTIRE stadium! If the judges are impressed when they finish running through all two hundred and seventy coordinators, Sora just may be one of those sixty-four who will make it to the second segment! Whenever you're ready, Sora!" Anko said to the boy. The teenager nodded his head before turning to Arcanine.
"Ready." Arcanine crouched even lower to the ground.
"Set." The Legendary Pokemon's muscles tensed even more as Sora raised his thumb.
"GO!" Sora planted his thumb down on the button on his stopwatch and suddenly there was a blast of wind and a cloud of dust as Arcanine took off. A streak of wind was all that was left of Arcanine. The audience released cries and screams of surprise as they felt a rushing wind pass through their stands. Everyone's eyes flashed left and right as they tried to see where the hell Arcanine had run off to.
Sora then clicked his stopwatch as a dust cloud burst forth from Arcanine returning to its trainer's side. The Legendary Pokemon bent down to have it head scratched.
"Good job, Arcanine."
"Arc!" The Legendary Pokemon barked as its chest puffed out in pride. The screens around the stadium then flashed to show the image of Arcanine running through every single tier in the stands by using its super slow-motion capabities and Sora then held his stopwatch up to Anko.
"By our cameras showing the proof that Arcanine had indeed run through this entire stadium, Sora has clocked his Pokemon in at an impressive time of three mintues and twenty three second! What an impressive show of speed from Arcanine!" The applause was deafening from the crowd. The judges clapped as well.
"Very impressive. This stadium is a very large one and big enough to give one of the American football stadiums in America a run for their money. To run through it all using Extremespeed in only three minutes is beyond impressive, it's phenomenal." Tsuande said with a nod of approval.
"Way to end things with a bang, Sora!" Deidara exclaimed with a grin.
Shizune nodded to the young boy. "Yes Sora-kun. You have truly raised your Arcanine well. Arcanine is quite a powerful Pokemon and though most coordinators know its fire abilities are stellar, people tend to forget that Arcanine is also sleek and is mainly built for speed to go with the power it possesses. An excellent way to show off your Arcanine. Very well done."
"You surely have ended things on a high note, Sora." Mr. Pokemon clapped lightly for the young teenager. "You are an expemplary Pokemon Coordinator. Hopefully after we judge you all, you may be one of the sixty-four to move on to the second segment of the Appeal Round."
Sora nodded and grinned widely at the praise. Arcanine's chest swelled with pride and the Legendary Pokemon swished its head as if it were saying, 'Bitch, I'm Fabulous!'
Anko then faced the audience as they clapped and cheered for Sora and Arcanine. "And that concludes the first segment of the Appeal Round. From the two hundred and seventy coordinators, only sixty-four lucky and talented trainers will be able to move on to the second segement of the Appeal Rounds! Now, let's hear who will make it to the final round of Appeals...right after a message from our sponsors!"
(A/N: Alright, I'm done. Probably one of the longest chapters in this story that I've made in a long time. So that begins the Grand Festival. I have taken the anime's take on the Kanto Grand Festival regarding design and rulings. Now out of these two hundred and seventy, only sixty-four will proceed to the second segment of the Grand Festival's Appeal Round. Then from those sixty-four, the number will be cut in half as thirty-two will proceed to the Battle Rounds.
With her father watching her every move from this point onwards, how will Hinata fair in the Grand Festival? Will she come out a champion or will she be forced to go back home to Saffron City to become a gym leader against her own will? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of Naruto: Johto Journeys, Chapter 29: Don't Look Down on Me)
Pokedex: Seen-177
Caught-107
Character Bio: Wallace
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Blue
About: Wallace is one of three children of Nagato and Konan, and younger brother to his twin sisters Ruby and Sapphire. He was born in early April and took an immediate liking to Water-type Pokemon as he was growing up. Due to Nagato being the leader of ROOT, Wallace was made an admin in the ROOT organization at an early age, the youngest admin in all of ROOT's history before and after Danzo's reign, alongside his siblings and was given his first Pokemon, a Squirtle. He is a very flirty kind of boy, but that is only to make for the fact that due to living with two older twin sisters, he didn't really have much of a social life with the opposite sex as he wished to avoid as much 'girlfriend' teasing as possible. Not to mention all he had to go by with respect to female interaction was the television movies he used to watch. Wallace is a very protective person towards her family and he is always willing to follow Nagato's orders. He holds his father in high regard and he loves and respects both his sisters. Since he was the last child that Konan gave birth to, a birth which resulted in her death, Wallace blamed himself for the loss. Despite being told otherwise, he still found a piece of himself was always going to be responsible for the loss of Konan. He was very adamant in joining the Project Time Travel plan Nagato had made in order to bring her back. He is a very skilled trainer and coordinator and with her Squirtle now a fully evolved Blastoise, he is an even more deadly force among ROOT agents than he was before.
Naruto's Team:
Typhlosion(Male)
Pidgeot(Male)
Heracross(Male)
Quagsire(Female)
Amphoros(Female)
Dragonair(Female)
Hinata's Team:
Espeon (Female)
Butterfree(Female)
Nidoqueen(Female)
Jumpluff(Female)
Lapras(Male)
Togekiss(Male)
Sasuke's Team:
Feraligatr(Male)
Sneasel(Male)
Gengar(Male)
Rapidash(Female)
Red Gyarados(Male)
Rhydon(Male)
Sakura's Team:
Meganium(Female)
Azumarill(Female)
Porygon2(No Gender)
Wigglytuff(Male)
Ninetails(Female)
Raichu/Pika(Male)
Akatsuchi's Team:
Golem(Male)
Steelix(Male)
Sudowoodo(Male)
Crobat(Female)