Naruto: Johto Journeys
Chapter 29: Don't Look Down on Me
"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 Grand Festival Stadium
"Aaaaand we're back folks! After a grueling first round of the Johto-Kanto Pokemon Grand Festival here in the Indigo Plateau, trainers have walked on and off the field to display their ingenuity and skill as trainers and coordinators and so far, every single one of them have shown these qualities. After all, you don't get five ribbons to reach this place by just sitting down and scratching your balls all day, do ya?!" Anko winked at the cameras."And now from these 270 coordinators that have come from all over the joint regions to take part, only sixty-four of them will proceed to this final round of this Appeal Round after which only 32 will move on to the Battle Round!"
Anko turned back to the judges table, the crowd itself was a myriad of sounds as they focused their eyes on the four below them and spoke to each other in hushed whispers. When the judges then looked between each other and nodded. They then directed their attention back to Anko and nodded to her. The purple haired announcer nodded back to the judges.
"And during that commercial break the judges had put the finishing touches on the sixty-four that they have chosen to be the ones to move on to the final round of the Appeal Section and now we're ready to display them on the screens!" Anko then touched her headset. "Ok guys, put the images on the screen."
One by one, members of the sixty-four who would move on appeared on the screen. Eight people per row which made for eight rows. When the images were shown on the screen the crowd jumped to their feet and clapped for the coordinators who made it through to the end.
Within the viewing area for coordinators, many of the two hundred and seventy were showing mixed emotions. Some were ecstatic, happy, sad, angry, surprised and many more. People failed and people succeeded.
"I...I can't believe it." Sakura murmured.
"Yeah." Sora added with a nod of agreement. The group of coordinators stared at the viewing screen which showed the sixty-four trainers who passed to the final round of the Appeal Round of the Pokemon Contest Grand Festival. Sakura, Hikari, Mai, Hinata, Ino, Sasame and Chouji all watched the screen in utter amazement. The brown haired Sora Yasuharu then broke out into a large grin and laughed excitedly.
"WE ALL MADE IT!" He whooped as he leaped into the air. Their images were spaced apart with one of them in each row. Sakura was in the first, Hikari in the second, Mai in the third, Hinata in the fourth, Ino in the fifth row, Sasame was in the sixth, Chouji was placed in the seventh row and Sora was shown to be present in the eighth and final row.
"Yeesh Sora-kun, I know you went last, but could you cut it a bit better next time? You're in the last row." Mai said with a glance in the boy's direction.
"Mah, Mah, don't fuss about it, Mai-san. I made it, that's what counts." Sora said as he placed his hands behind his head in a carefree manner. This resulted in him getting hit upside the head by the busty, brown haired girl.
"Idiot." Mai huffed.
"Chouji look at that. We both got in!" Ino squealed as she hugged the rotund trainer. Chouji casually ate his chips, but nodded with his platinum blonde friend before raising his hand to give her a thumbs up. Ino then turned her attention to see Sakura, Hinata and Hikari all jumping and hugging each other. Said blonde joined in on the fun of ecstatically embracing each other.
"We goooot in. We goooot in." Sakura and Ino sang as they leaped up and down like highschool girls who just saw a cute boy. Hinata had let go of Sora after their little hug-fest and saw Sasame sitting down by herself. The pale eyed girl walked up to her fellow coordinator.
"Sasame-san, you got in along with us? Why aren't you celebrating?"
"What reason is there to celebrate? We got through the first round, that's great, but there is still a second one. Until I win this thing, I'm not going to act like you people." Sasame said. Hinata frowned slightly.
"Sasame-san, any achievement is worth celebrating. I mean out of two hundred and seventy people, we were picked as members of the sixty-four to move on. You did really well." Hinata smiled. Sasame huffed and turned away.
"Your compliments don't make me happy at all." Sasame said with a blush of embarrassment. Hinata sweatdropped. The girl the was too tsundere for her own good.
After a few more minutes of celebrating and the cheering died down to wide smiles, Anko had the coordinators who failed to move on to the second round be escorted by the Uchiha Police officers present to either take seats in the stands reserved for them or out of the Grand Festival area for those who wished to return home.
"Now before we begin our second segment of the Appeal Round, we have a few words from our former Grand Festival winner, Tsunade Senju." Anko gestured to the busty blonde. Tsunade rose from her chair and took the microphone from Anko before turning to face the crowd, specifically the coordinators who didn't make it into the current second segment of the Grand Festival. A polite round of applause was given to her as she faced them. With a rough cough she cleared her throat and then brought the microphone near her lips to speak.
"Forgive me for being blunt, my fellow coordinators. I'm not going to sugarcoat it for all of you sitting there in the stands. You came here to the Grand Festival and didn't do well enough to make into the second segment of the Appeal Rounds. As a contest judge, I must base my decisions in an unbiased manner and give points to trainers based on skill and the ability to work well with their Pokemon." Tsunade's brown eyes looked over the coordinators in the crowd. "Sure you may not have made it past the first round of the Grand Festival, but look on the bright side! You all made it further than many other people in the region and in the world. You worked hard to reach where you are now. You journeyed from Contest Hall to Contest Hall looking for your way to earn the five ribbons needed to reach this place. You know you worked hard, you know you did your best, but you shouldn't let that get you down. As a gym leader I have suffered losses as well and as a Grand Festival former Champion I can tell you I know what it feels like to lose in this arena. When Deidara-san came up to challenge me for my title I was confident that I wouldn't lose. After all, I held it for many consecutive years, but in the end, his explosive style of battling brought my reign to an end and Deidara-san was made the new Grand Festival Champion. You all are young and have bright futures ahead of you. Don't let your losses get to you and just keep moving forward because...that's basically all you can do."
Tsunade turned and handed the microphone back to the purple haired announcer. As Tsunade walked back to her seat, the cameras focused their lenses on the coordinators in the crowd and saw them staring at the blonde with wide eyes. A few of them were on the verge of tears and some were actually in tears.
"THANK YOU, TSUNADE-SAMA!" Tsunade's eyes widened as she turned to see all the failed members of the two hundred and seventy that had remained standing up to clap for her and the words she told them. She gave them a smile and nodded to them.
"You got quite a fan base, Tsunade-sempai." Deidara chuckled. "Besides, you know I wouldn't have been able to beat you if you hadn't chosen to not use Katsuyu, your Gastrodon, on that day."
"True." Tsunade chuckled. "But truth be told, holding a champion title tends to get lonely. You're all alone when you're at the top and you end up doing things that you regret and will hurt the ones around you. I got tired of having to ignore friends and family because of a stupid thing such as maintaining status...but you deserved the win either way, Deidara-san. I did my best in that contest battle and you won." Tsunade replied.
"AND NOW WE RETURN TO THE CONTEST!" Anko exclaimed. "In this second round of the Appeal Round, coordinators are required to put on a full show. Rather than limiting yourself to the one move like in the last round, you will be allowed to perform a full string of moves like you all usually do in contests. Do your best coordinators and audience members please enjoy!"
Anko glanced down at the first name on her list and nodded.
"Alright, once more, the names are in alphabetical order! Chouji Akimichi, you're up!"
"Good luck Chouji!" Sora patted his fellow male on the back.
"Alright you big boned beast, give 'em hell!" Ino whooped.
"Thanks Ino." Chouji smiled back at the group as they wished him good luck.
"Do you best, Chouji-san!"
With that, Chouji walked out onto the field. The crowd clapped and whistled loudly as the rotund boy took the stage. Chouji gave a small wave to the crowd before settling in the centre of the Grand Festival arena and faced the judges.
"You may begin when you're ready." Mr. Pokemon said. Chouji nodded and retrieved a Poke Ball from his pocket. He pressed the centre button to enlarge it and tossed lightly in his hand before. The orb of red and white was sent skyward and in a flash of light the Pokemon emerged from its confines. The Pokemon was large brown furred bull of a Pokemon. Around its neck was a mane of darker brown hair and gray hair was also present on the tip of all three of its tails. One of its four black hooves scuffed the ground beneath it, its powerful leg muscles rippling beneath the thin fur and skin. Its muzzle was dark brown and three blue orbs were embedded in its forehead in a vertical straight line. The Bull Pokemon's large curved horns, which were shown to be lightly covered in what looked like battle-scars, enhanced its menacing appearance along with its piercing black eyes.
Tauros the Wild Bull Pokemon. A Normal-type Pokemon. They fight each other by locking horns. The herd's protector takes pride in its battle-scarred horns.
"And Chouji sends out another massive Pokemon! His Tauros!"
"Wow...since when did Chouji have such a powerful set of Pokemon? First Mamoswine and now Tauros? Doesn't he still have his Caterpie?" Sakura asked. Ino nodded.
"Yeah, Chouji has been working really hard to get a strong set of Pokemon and learn ways to show them off. Everyone always assumes that light-weight Pokemon and beautiful looking Pokemon are the way to go in contests, but Chouji said how that he sees a lot of beauty in his own, heavy-weight Pokemon. Tauros and Mamoswine were caught as a way for him to show people that it doesn't matter how big the Pokemon is or how it looks, you can show it off if you know how to pull it off." Ino explained with a proud smile on her face. "As for his Caterpie, yeah he still has it. It's a Butterfree now and it's really strong. In fact, I'd guarantee he's going to use it as his Pokemon for the battle rounds."
With that, the focus switched back to Chouji. The chip eating Pokemon trainer looked at Tauros with a look of concentration, as if studying what he should do. After a few seconds, Chouji seemed to gain a look of realization.
"Tauros, let's kick things off with Strength!" Tauros released a loud moo as it reared up on its back legs. It then crashed them down with a great amount of force and the audience stared in awe as the arena floor cracked and split apart. Tauros then dug its horns into the ground and released four large pieces of rock that had jutted out of the cracked ground.
"Woah! In an impressive show of strength, no pun intended, Tauros has split apart the arena floor!" Anko spoke into her microphone. "And with four large pieces of rock now set aside, let's see what the young Akimichi boy has in store for us!"
"To crack this entire arena, that Tauros is extremely special." Shizune pointed out. Mr. Pokemon agreed with a nod.
"Yes. And that must mean it is gifted with one of the hidden abilities, Sheer Power." The elderly man spoke.
"Alright, Tauros, use Rock Slide!" Tauros charged forth and sent the rocks it had dug out of the ground and sent them skyward as it dug its horns underneath the large pieces of earth. The rocks soared high into the sky, so high that they almost cleared the entire height of the stadium.
"Now set those rocks on fire with Flamethrower and finish things with a midair Giga Impact!" Chouji commanded. Tauros aimed its muzzle skyward and released a massive burst of flame at its Rock Slide attack. The falling pieces of earth were engulfed in flame and the audience watched in awe as a Pokemon-made meteor shower descended to Tauros's location. As the rocks were falling, Tauros had run a few feet back before rearing up on its hind legs to kick off for the front charge. It picked up momentum and as it did, four lines of yellow-orange energy appeared around its body. A purple cloak of energy appeared afterwards.
With Giga Impact activated, Tauros made the leap and met the flaming Rock Slide attack head on. The audience and judges watched in fascination as there was a massive flash and Tauros plowed through the meteor storm leaving a flurry of tiny embers and shattered stone falling to earth, all of which was caught in the afterglow of Tauros's Giga Impact.
Tauros then landed on the destroyed arena floor and trotted next to Chouji. Tauros released a content moo as Chouji scratched its head.
"So...how'd I do?" Chouji asked.
The judges were all staring in utter awe at what just occurred before they shook their heads to get their thoughts together.
"Well, I must admit Chouji, that was spectacular. Never would I have thought to see such beauty in a falling meteor shower as it was being destroyed. Tell me though, where did you come up with such an appeal?" Tsunade asked. Chouji blushed at the compliments before scratching his cheek in embarrassment.
"No idea. It just came to me."
"Well then Chouji-san, that was explosively awesome!" Deidara exclaimed. "There was explosions in it so therefore, you are my new best friend! I've done a lot of explosive appeals back in the day, but never would I have thought to do it with a meteor shower kind of theme! Excellent, truly kicking things off with a Bang!"
"Beautiful job, Chouji-kun. The way you were able to utilize the cracked stage elements in order to use Rock Slide from your Strength attack shows a lot of ingenuity on your part. As for the meteor shower part, well let's just say, who doesn't love it when something gets set on fire?" Shizune chuckled as the audience released a loud roar of agreement with the nurse.
I mean come on, almost everything looks cooler when it gets set on fire! Fire Swords! Fire Shields! Moltres!
"I agree with Shizune-chan on this." Mr. Pokemon stated. "Everything looks a lot cooler when fire is involved, though that's just my opinion. Well done, Chouji-kun."
Chouji returned Tauros, but as he was running back he nearly tripped on the ground which made him realize something.
"Umm, sorry about the arena floor." He said scratching the back of his head.
"Don't worry about it." Anko said. She then snapped her fingers and everyone watched in awe as the stadium parted at the middle and another freshly made stage rose up from beneath it. "We've prepared for these kinds of things."
"What sorcery is this?" Chouji stared in amazement and received a sly wink from Anko causing him to walk back into the viewing area for coordinators. Anko chuckled before calling out the next contestant. Sections 'B', 'C', 'D' and 'E' flew by and it really showed just how much the competition had been cut off because it taken many hours to finish the entirety of the two hundred and seventy contestants, but now it took no more than half an hour for these contestants to go through their appeals. Upon reaching section 'F', other coordinators went forth and did their schedualed performances and then finally, Sasame's turn was up.
"We know you'll ace this, Sasame-san." Hinata, Sakura and Ino said with a smile. Sasame ignored them as she walked towards the arena, her brown eyes filled with determination. She reached into the pocket of her black skirt and took out her Poke Ball before jogging into the centre of the stage. She bowed respectfully to the judges before her.
"Sasame Fuuma, ladies and gentlemen!" Anko introduced the orange haired girl. Sasame enlarged her capturing device and tossed it skyward. The flash of white light appeared as it popped open and the light took on a physical form.
"GO, CLEFAIRY!" Sasame sent out her Fairy Pokemon and it began to hop and skip around. The audience 'aww-ed' when it winked at them cutely.
"And Sasame Fuuma starts her second Appeal segment with the Fairy Pokemon, Clefairy!" Anko spoke into her mic. "The stage is yours Sasame, so get to it!"
Sasame nodded and turned to her Clefairy.
"Alright Clefairy, use Ice Beam!" Clefairy raised its hands together and an orb of ice blue coloured energy swirled to life between its claws. When the orb reached its maximum energy input, it was then released in the form of a marvelous jagged beam of blue. A series of ice pillars were erected and stood tall, their images sparkling in the sunlight.
"Now ground pound and shatter the ice pillars with Meteor Mash!" Sasame ordered. Clefairy nodded and it leaped high into the air, its small wings fluttering to give it that little boost in height that it needed. It clenched its fist tightly and it became coated with multi-coloured energy and the audience watched in awe as a rainbow streak shot downwards before a mighty shockwave occurred. The shockwave raced out from the point of impact and the multi-coloured energy shot off of the ice pillars and made them glow with rainbow coloured lights.
And with that, the ice pillars shattered into tiny ice particles that sparkled in the light.
"Wooooow." Deidara, Mr. Pokemon and Tsunade stared in awe at the shiny lights.
"So pretty!" Shizune exclaimed and clasped her hands together like a little child.
If it's one thing that attracts the human eye, it's shiny things. Shiny things and fire.
"Excellent job!" Was the unanimous cry from the four judges. Sasame blushed as she watched the crowd doing 'The Wave' for her performance. Sure it was sparkly and bright, but was it actually that good? Her question was answered when the screens replayed her show and her own brown eyes widened.
'I...did that?' Sasame looked in awe at the rainbow coloured lights that reflected off of the ice on the screen.
"Truly amazing, Sasame-chan!" Mr. Pokemon clapped.
"Ditto." Was the agreement from Tsunade and Shizune.
"Like that ice, you shattered my mind with that. I look forward to see how well you may do should you make it to the battle round." Deidara said with a wink of his visible blue eye. Sasame nodded and headed back as she returned her Clefairy to its ball. Anko chuckled as she watched the orange haired girl run off.
"STOP CHEERING! DOESN'T MAKE ME HAPPY AT ALL, IDIOTS!" Sasame exclaimed with a blush of embarrassment. The audience sweatdropped at the girl. She was tsundere to the end.
"And with Sasame's performance we'll now go to the 'H' section seeing as how all coordinators whose last names began with 'G' were removed from the contest." Anko informed the audience. She pointed to the side of the arena that Sasame had just left through. "And so we begin our next contestant's performance. Sakura Haruno, you're up!"
Sakura watched Anko on the viewing screen with wide green eyes. She gulped a bit as she realized just how quickly she was going to the arena floor. She had expected some time before her turn since she assumed there would be people with the a last name starting with 'G', but it seemed as if the odds were against her this time in this particular situation. Sakura took a deep breath and calmed her nerves for what some people would have counted to have been the millionth time.
"We're rooting for you, Sakura-san." Hinata, Hikari and Sora patted her on the back. A good luck noogie was given to her from Ino to which she responded with a fist to the face.
"Bitch, that hurt!" Ino yelped as she grabbed her paining cheek as Sakura rubbed her noggin which was burning from the friction Ino's knuckles made with her scalp. "But seriously Sakura, do your best out there. We pass this and we get to take part in the REAL competition. The Battle Rounds."
Sakura nodded and gave her friends a thumbs up before racing out onto the arena floor. The crowd broke out into a large amounts of cheers and applause once more as Sakura took to the centre of the stage. She bowed in respect to the judges who nodded to her in acknowledgement.
"Begin when ready, Sakura-san." Shizune spoke gently to her. Sakura nodded and removed one of her six Poke Balls from her waist. She tapped its centre button to enlarge it and in a flash of white light, her second appeal Pokemon to the stage.
"Pika, I choose you!" The Electric-type Pokemon emerged, flipping gracefully before landing deftly on its feet.
"Pika?" Deidara blinked in confusion. "But...it's a Raichu. I understand that it was a Pikachu before, but wouldn't it be better to rename it?"
Sakura smiled as this was a question she had been expecting from people, namely her friends, but she had her response already planned out. "No matter what shape or form he is in, that doesn't change who he is. A Pokemon's nature and their personality doesn't change with their appearance, so why should I rename Pika. Sure it'll be confusing to many people, but...Pika is Pika and nothing will ever change that."
She rubbed the Raichu's head affectionately causing the Electric-type to press against her palm as she did so. The audience and judges smiled at the sight and in understanding of the pinkette's explanation.
"You really are a magnificent trainer, Sakura-san." Shizune spoke. "So if your Ecruteak City contest was anything to go by, I hope to see what Pika has in store for us this time. I have high expectations for it."
"So do I! THE EXPLOSIVE ELECTRICAL ENERGY IN ECRUTEAK CITY WAS OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAND!" Deidara exclaimed with pure joy." SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!"
Sakura smirked. "Challenge accepted. Let's do this, Pika."
Pika nodded. The evolved form of Pikachu crouched down and its muscles tensed as it awaited Sakura's orders.
"Use Thunder into the sky!" Everyone watched in awe as the orange coloured mouse clutched its yellow cheek pouches.
"RAAAAAAAAIIIICHUUUUUUUU!" The massive bolt of electricity rocketed from its body and shot into the clouds above. A tunnel shape was carved into the clouds above and then in a matter of second, the electricity dispersed and black cumulonimbus clouds gathered. The electricity sparked from the clouds above.
"Now call it down with Iron Tail!" Pika nodded and its tail shone with a silver light. It then shot its tail skyward to act as the highest point on the ground below. Using the law of magnetism, the positively charged Iron Tail drew forth the accumulation of negatively charged electrons that made up the Thunder attack. With a boom of thunder and a flash of blue, the lightning bolt struck forth at the speed of one hundredth of a second.
The audience, judges, Anko and the other coordinators who were watching from inside the arena's viewing room, covered their eyes as the flash of light generated by the bolt nearly blinded them. The light remained for a few seconds before the clouds above parted and the sun's rays shone down like a spotlight on the young Raichu. Pika was coated in blue electricity, the electrical charge being more concentrated on its tail. Its orange fur spiked upwards and its eyes shone with confidence as sparks of voltage sparked off of its person.
Pika then began to move its arms in a motion that was similar to the tai-chi fighting style and each time it fully stretched out its arms, controlled bolts of electricity flew out of its paws. When only a few more kiloWatts of electrical energy remained, Pika slammed both paws and its tail on the ground and a pulse of electricity flew forth.
The lights flickered and the cameras and other electronic devices that were caught in the pulse's range had lost their ability to work, but the crew for the Grand Festival made quick work to get their equipment back online.
Pika and Sakura bowed and the audience clapped and whistled for her and Pika.
"Amazing electrical control as always. It's said that if a group of Pikachu gather together they can generate thunderstorms, but here you have made a single Raichu do it on its own. This shows just how hard your Pokemon has worked to achieve the level of control over its electrical powers and the power those abilities possess. Well done Sakura and Pika." Tsunade clapped lightly.
"Amazing performance. You really brought the thunder with that performance, nicely done." Shizune spoke.
"I haven't seen any other Electric-type Pokemon show me such an explosive display of power. Pokemon contests are art, art is a bang and henceforth your Raichu, Pika, is art!" Deidara commented with a toothy grin.
"Remarkable Sakura-chan, simply remarkable." Mr. Pokemon said as he stroked his gray mustache.
"Thank you very much." Sakura replied as she and Pika bowed once more. In a stream of red energy, Pika returned to his ball and the pink haired coordinator was given another round of applause as she left the stage.
"And that was Sakura Haruno ladies and gentlemen! And now, coming up next is our favourite pale eyed wonder, put your hands together for the one...the only...Hinata Hyuga!" The crowd responded, though with noticeably less vigour than before.
'It seems that her little outburst against Mr. Pokemon is still fresh in their minds.' Tsunade thought as she glanced around.
'Get this over with, Hinata. You have disgraced the Hyuga name already by making an embarrassing spectacle of yourself by speaking out against Mr. Pokemon, one of the most renowned researchers in the world and creator of your little contest game...but once this is over and you are unable to hold up your end of the deal we made you WILL be coming back home!' Hiashi thought as he clenched his hands into fists.
Hinata walked out, ignoring the calls of her friends to tell her to her best and whatnot. As she made it into the centre of the stage, she glanced around at the crowd before turning to face Mr. Pokemon. The elderly man fidgeted a bit under the emotionless gaze of the teenage girl, but who wouldn't? Those pale coloured eyes seemed to stare into your very soul after all.
Hinata then walked up to Mr. Pokemon and bowed lowly. "I apologize for my actions and words earlier, Mr. Pokemon. It will not happen again I assure you and my apology is genuine, I swear on my family name."
Mr. Pokemon stared at the girl before him. 'Such maturity from a girl her age.' He thought. He then chuckled and shook his head. "Raise your head child, you were not in the wrong to lash out at me. After some thinking, I came to realize that you had every right to lash out at me. A person is judged by their family's background, yes...but sometimes that can lead to unwanted attention and having people set a higher bar for you. I should be the one apologizing."
Hinata raised her head and stared at the gray haired man with surprise before smiling softly at him.
"How about you give me a free pass into the Battle Rounds and we'll make it even." Hinata said with a joking tone. Mr. Pokemon laughed at that before patting the Hyuga girl's shoulder.
"You're going to do better than that to fool this old fox into doing that. Best of luck to you." Hinata nodded as she and Mr. Pokemon shook hands. The audience clapped as they watched the spectacle. Hiashi's eyes widened from his spot in the stands as he watched Hinata's walking form, her back facing him.
'Since...since when was she able to walk with such confidence?' He thought.
Hinata stood in the centre of the stage and took out her Poke Ball. "GO, JUMPLUFF!" The Grass/Flying-type Pokemon appeared and bounced around like a rubber ball before landing atop Hinata's head with a happy expression on its face.
"Jump Jump Jumpluff!" The Cottonweed Pokemon exclaimed. Jumpluff hadn't been let outside of its Poke Ball for quite a while so it felt extremely excited to be let out after so long. Hinata looked at Jumpluff and nodded to it. The red eyed puffball of a Pokemon nodded back to its trainer and leaped into the air, floating on the winds due to its light body before dropping down on the ground. The audience and judges all watched in extreme astonishment as the lightweight Pokemon actually caused the ground to crack slightly beneath its feet.
"Use Bounce!"
"JUUUMPLUUUUUFF!" The Cottonweed Pokemon pushed off of the ground and into the sky.
"And Jumpluff starts off with a very surprising show of physical strength as it cracks the ground beneath its feet before going through with a Bounce attack!" Anko spoke into the microphone. "Quite a display of how strong this little puffball is. For such a lightweight Pokemon, it's sure to be a heavy hitter for our young Hyuga!"
"Now use Sunny Day!" She commanded. Jumpluff's body released a flash of light and suddenly the sun's rays intensified. Jumpluff's body continued to shine however as sunlight appeared to reach out to the dual type Pokemon. Jumpluff landed on the ground like a dainty little fairy as it floated on the soft wind currents. As soon as it touched down, Jumpluff then directed all three of its cotton spore attachments upwards.
"Use Solarbeam and then Giga Drain!" Hinata ordered. Jumpluff quickly finished gaining the solar energy needed to activate its attack and a bright beam of yellow and white energy flew forth from the cotton spore atop its head. As the Solarbeam attack rocketed towards the expanse of blue above, the two cotton spores of either side of its body released identical streams of red and green energy, the Giga Drain attack. The streams of energy then swirled around the Solarbeam and a beautiful array of colour appeared before everyone's eyes. The Giga Drain streams formed a double helix around the straight beam of solar energy and as soon as the Giga Drain streams collided at the top of the Solarbeam attack an explosion of light and colour occurred.
Sparkles and flashes of light made it appear as if fireworks had gone off in the middle of the day. The audience released "Oooo's" and "Ahhhhh's" of amazement and their eyes sparkled with delight. Some of the children in the audience reached their hands to the sky, trying to grasp at the pretty lights above.
When the lights died down, Jumpluff, true to its name, jumped atop Hinata's head and gave a cute smile as it bowed along with Hinata. The young Hyuga was met with silence that quickly changed into applause and high pitched whistles. Tsunade, Deidara, Mr. Pokemon and Shizune gave the girl a standing ovation and Anko was squealing in amazement.
"You should look into going into fireworks making!" Anko spoke. "We could use you during the ending ceremony of the Grand Festival." The audience laughed Anko's joke. "Now if the judges would be so kind as to give their evaluations of Miss Hyuga's performance." Said judges nodded their heads before sitting back down in their seats.
"Hinata, I myself am a lover of Grass-type Pokemon and so I am a bit biased when I say that I truly adored that performance. Never have I been able to see such a young talent show off a Grass-type in the manner that you have. Your friend, Sakura Haruno, has yet to show off that powerful Meganium of hers, but until that moment comes, you have truly shown the best performance with a Grass-type Pokemon. Congratulations to you Jumpluff and Hinata." Tsunade said with a warm smile. Jumpluff's blue body turned a shade of red as it blushed at Tsunade's kind words of praise while Hinata laughed at her Pokemon's reaction.
"Truly spectacular. A fireworks-like display is truly the best way to show off the art that is found within explosions! Amazing work!" Deidara whooped as he hyperactively pumped his fist into the air and then gave the teenager a double thumbs up.
"You are too kind, Deidara-san." Hinata murmured as she poked her index fingers together, her nervous persona returning for that brief moment.
"Simply remarkable, Hinata-san. Great work." Shizune commented. Hinata nodded and Jumpluff released a cry of happiness. All eyes then focused on Mr. Pokemon. The gray haired man stroked his mustache for a short while as he looked over Hinata and Jumpluff. His eyes then became upside-down Us to show that he was smiling.
"I look forward to seeing you in the Battle Rounds, Hinata Hyuga." Hinata stared in shock at the elderly man, her eyes steadily widening and her hands covered her mouth in order to stifle the squeal she would have released from her throat. Mr. Pokemon chuckled at the teenager before nodding to her. Hinata hugged her Jumpluff as they raced across the stage to go back to the viewing area.
"You did really well, Jumpluff! I'm so proud of you." The Cottonweed Pokemon gave a nod of thanks before a beam of crimson energy met its body. Jumpluff was returned to its Poke Ball and the pale eyed girl placed the ball back in her pocket. The blue-black haired girl then began to walk as Hinata looked to the stands and stared at her father's eyes. Both pairs of pale eyes met, but Hinata saw the message in his gaze.
'You may have passed your little popularity contest bit, daughter...but pretty tricks will not impress me to the extent that you desire. Show me your strength in battle, only then will I see if you have what it takes to impress me.' Hiashi thought.
'I will show you that I am stronger than you think, Otou-sama.' And with that Hinata ran back into the viewing area room. With Hinata's turn over the competitors went on and off the stage. One performance was where a Marill juggled ice spheres it made with Ice Beam by using Water Gun. Another appeal act showed an Umbreon use a controlled energy release for Dark Pulse as its golden rings shone on its body. The performances were all of a very high standard and it was obvious just how high the stakes were in this contest.
Anko grinned cheekily as she twirled her microphone in her hands.
"Well this contest is turning to be much more fun than I anticipated, wouldn't you say folks?" The crowd clapped in agreement with the purple haired beauty. Her brown eyes then glanced down at the list in her hands as she drew it out from between her cleavage, an action that caused many a male to get a nosebleed.
"Now without further ado, our next performance in the 'N' section is your favourite panty flasher, Hikari Nonaka!" Anko yelled and the entirety of the male population stood up at that and pumped their fists in the air, hearts in their eyes and nosebleeds present. The young blue haired woman walked out onto the stage with a heavy blush of embarrassment.
"PANTIES! PANTIES! PANTIES!" The crowd chanted. Even Deidara and Mr. Pokemon were joining their fellow males in the chant.
"SHUT UP!" Hikari shouted at the crowd as she tugged her skirt down in an effort to make sure NO ONE saw her blue and white coloured undergarments...again.
"You look like you're going to be a favourite in this contest, neh Hikari-chan?" Anko teased, sticking her tongue out of her mouth. Hikari huffed and looked to Tsunade and Shizune for help, but the two judges could only shrug their shoulders. There was nothing they could do against an army of perverted males. Hikari fidgeted under the lecherous gazes of her newly formed fan base, but quickly made sure to ignore them as she enlarged the blue coloured Poke Ball she held in her hand.
"I choose you, Steelix!" Hikari tossed the Great Ball sky high and with a loud 'pop' sound, the blue and white light that was released began to twist and shape into a large form. Steelix emerged with a mighty roar, its body glistened in the sunlight. It slithered around before lowering its head down to Hikari's level. The young woman rubbed her Steel/Ground-type's head and the audience watched as the ferocious looking Pokemon began to show a more compassionate side by nuzzling its trainer.
"A Steelix? Not a Pokemon you'd usually see from a female trainer outside of Tenten-san." Tsunade spoke.
"Well this will be a treat. Let's see how well she has trained that Steelix." Mr. Pokemon muttered.
Hikari looked to the Iron Snake Pokemon and it nodded before moving into position.
"Alright use Sandstorm!" Steelix's body began to rotate rapidly and a large twister of sand formed out of seemingly nowhere as the wind picked up the loose bits of earthen particles. Sands, dust, clay, all of it swirled around in a circular motion and soon a large brown tornado of the earth based elements came to life. It was a rather large Sandstorm attack as it completely engulfed Steelix's form and obscured it from view.
The massive dust storm created by Steelix was massive and Anko held down her own skirt to prevent it from flying up.
"And Hikari Nonaka displays her Steelix's Sandstorm attack, but sadly, it seems that Hikari-chan is playing very unfairly as she is now holding her skirt down to prevent it from flying up. Looks like there's no second episode of the Panty Flashing guys!" Anko informed the audience. A chorus of disappointed groans were heard from the audience members who wished to see her striped undergarments once more. Said coordinator was busy clutching her skirt, as Anko had said, to give the purple haired woman the middle finger as a response so a blush of embarrassment and a harsh glare was what she had to settle with.
"Now turn it into glass with Dragonbreath!" Steelix released a deafening roar from within the Sandstorm and its eyes seemed to glow with power. Its massive jaws opened widely before a torrent of emerald flames burst forth and the Dragonbreath attack began to heat up the sand particles within the Sandstorm. The Sandstorm soon began to slow down in rotation speed and take on a green and red tint, the redness being from the heat being generated by the Dragonbreath attack. Soon the Iron Snake Pokemon was shown standing inside the hollow tower of green tinted glass, steam rising from the tower as the winds cooled the heated glass. The red eyed behemoth of a Pokemon growled and its body shone like silver as the light reflected off the glass tower and off of Steelix's body and made it seem as if Steelix were some sort of deity.
"Now shatter it with Flash Cannon!" Hikari commanded. Steelix opened its maw once more and lines of energy swirled into the blackness that was the inside of its mouth. A large silver orb of energy came to life and with a roar, Steelix fired the orb downwards and the glass tower shattered apart in an epic explosion of silver, black and red. Sparkles of light drifted through the air and vanished into nothingness.
The crowd was in awe and were barely able to keep their faces from looking completely ridiculous. Hikari and Steelix then turned to the judges as they watched in awe at the spectacular performance. They even rose from their chairs to give the young blue haired woman a standing ovation, an action that made her blush from the praise.
The judges sat themselves down and smiled at Hikari.
"BAM! That was awesome!" Deidara clapped. "Cutting it a little close there by putting a Steel-type in the presence of extreme heat, but you pulled it off. Risks are sometimes worth taking and that one was well worth it. Nicely done, Hikari-san."
"I concur with my fellow judge, Hikari-chan. Though...tis a shame your panties were not revealed for a second time." Mr. Pokemon mumbled causing Hikari to blush and clutch her skirt out of instinct. Mr. Pokemon soon found his head meeting the judges table from a powerful blow via Shizune's punch.
"Pardon Mr. Pokemon's perverted nature. A splendid performance, Hikari-san." Shizune clapped lightly for the coordinator and the Iron Snake Pokemon.
"A wonderful display from such a marvelous Pokemon and her coordinator. You are truly worthy of being in this competition, Hikari Nonaka." Tsunade said with a smile, however that smile soon became a frown. "However...that stunt you pulled with Flash Cannon was dangerous. Despite Steelix being a very durable Pokemon, exposing it to such close proximity with the blast of its attack could have damaged it. Also as Deidara-san pointed out earlier, you used Dragonbreath to heat your Sandstorm and put it in quite a situation as Steel-types are not fond of extreme heat. Keep in mind the repercussions of your actions, Hikari-san."
Hikari nodded her head as she noted the serious look in Tsunade's brown eyes. Tsunade Senju was very fearsome when she wanted to be.
"Thank you for your words, judges." Hikari
Oh Hikari-chan...you fool. Seeing the bowing girl, the purple haired announcer saw her chance and with her opportunity staring her right in the face, she struck like an Arbok on the hunt.
"PANTY FLASH!" Hikari's eyes widened as she glanced back to see Anko kneeling down behind her, arms reaching the sky as she performed the act of displaying Hikari's blue and white striped panties to the world...again. Red filled her face and her vision as she quickly spun around.
"KYAAAAA!" She screamed like a little girl and released a roundhouse kick to the purple haired woman's head, but Anko merely rolled out of the way and sped off to hide behind Tsunade.
The screens were soon filled with images of the young sixteen year old's panty revealing scene and the audience broke out into a much larger amount of applause and cheers, some of which were accompanied by wolf whistles.
Hikari's body trembled, a vein bulging on her forehead and her eyes shut tight. She raised a fist and her eyes snapped open to reveal them burning with the fires of anime feminine fury.
"Steelix...sic her." She growled out. The Iron Snake Pokemon released roar and complied with its trainers orders. Its swift tail bent around the judges table and wrapped itself around Anko's legs and brought her in front of Hikari. Steelix shook the young woman furiously and Anko was now dangling upside down in the air with swirls in her eyes from being dizzied.
"And now for my revenge." Hikari rubbed her hands together in anticipation before gripping Anko's skirt. "And boom goes the dynamite." Hikari tugged downwards forcefully and Anko's brown eyes widened as she suddenly felt a draft. Looking at her dark violet skirt she found that it was now by her knees and her black lacy underwear was showing. With a cry of surprise from everyone in the audience and from the victim herself, Anko Mitarashi was shown in her panties.
Steelix rested the woman down and Anko huffed as she dragged her skirt up from her knees, but paused in her action before turning her ass to the crowd.
FINISH HIM!
"Look all you want people, but don't touch!" She shouted with absolutely no shame in her voice. The audience all had wide eyes and agape mouths. Every single straight male, bi-sexual person and lesbian female immediately had their heads knocked back from the force of their nosebleeds, children had their eyes covered and cheers of excitement were heard throughout the air.
WINNER ANKO MITARASH! FATALITY!
"THIS IS THE BEST GRAND FESTIVAL EVER!" Deidara and Mr. Pokemon cheered. Tsunade and Shizune shook their heads, but the smiles of amusement on their faces betrayed their 'mature' actions.
Anko grinned at Hikari as she fully pulled up her skirt. "When you're as sexy as me, you don't have shame. Better luck next time, Hikari-chan."
Hikari growled at Anko, her face red with rage as she fumed before rushing off while returning her Steelix to its ball. When she reached the viewing room, every single one of the sixty-three remaining coordinators focused their eyes on her with either extremely red blushes and nosebleeds or forced grins in order to conceal the fact that they were actually going to break out into fits of laughter.
"Say anything and I will send my Steelix after your asses." She growled. The other coordinators were now pale with fright and they edged away from Hikari. The young woman sat in a corner by herself and planted her face in her hands. She would have sat with her friends, but she couldn't handle them right now. Especially Sora, the only one with enough balls to actually make a joke about her situation and act perverted at the same time.
Damn that brown haired bastard.
When the audience and judges had calmed down, the blood was cleaned up from numerous nosebleeds and Anko was no longer the person filling everyone's thoughts, the Grand Festival continued. The energy of excitement filled the stadium once more and it seemed as if it had actually increased due to the Hikari and Anko panty flashing episode and every single female coordinator that wore skirt that had stepped out onto the stage was expected to have their skirts fly up...but it seemed that was not the case and the excitement died down to its original level.
Soon they had reached the 'S' section of the remaining competitors and the busty Mai Shiranui was the first to take the stage.
The brown haired girl smoothed out her clothes which consisted of a dark red shirt worn underneath a pink jacket and a pair of white short pants and red and white sneakers. She then took out a blue Poke Ball, a Great Ball and twirled it around before tossing it into the air.
"Go Crobat!" The evolved form of Golbat emerged in a flash of blue and white light and its red and yellow eyes focused on its trainer as it prepared to usher out the commands it would be given.
"Mai Shiranui shows off her remarkable Crobat. Crobat are a species of Pokemon that have been known to evolve from their Golbat forms when shown extreme care, love and compassion from their trainers and thus begin to show the same courtesy towards their trainers. This shows that Mai is quite the trainer to be able to carry out the evolution of a former Golbat!" Anko informed the audience. "Let's see how things play out with her."
"Alright Crobat, let's go! Air Slash with your lower wings and Cross Poison with the upper wings!" Mai commanded. "Shuriken combo!"
Crobat nodded a and reared back its four wings. The upper two glowed with a sickly purple aura while the lower wings became encased in swirling wind currents. With a cry of effort, Crobat forcefully brought its wings forward and a large X-shaped cross of violet energy spun through the air along with two arcs of pressurized wind. The Air Slash and Cross Poison flew with each other through the air and the judges raised their eyebrows with curiosity as they saw the Air Slash attacks fuse with the Cross Poison and soon, a six-pointed star-shaped fusion attack of Poison-type and Flying-type was born.
"Now knock it around by using Steel Wing! Use your maximum speed to keep pace with it!" Mai ordered. Crobat flew up into the air and then arched backwards to perform a loop-de-loop. The speed at which it performed the move was impressive and even made sure to impress the judges for as it reached the highest point of the loop-de-loop, it vanished.
Everyone blinked their eyes in astonishment, some rubbing their eyes and pinching themselves to make sure that what they had seen was real and that Crobat hadn't just disappeared from their field of vision. However, that became the least of their thoughts as the shuriken combo that Mai had ordered her Pokemon to make began bouncing around in the air, as if struck by an invisible force. Flashes of silver were seen and the clang of what sounded like steel against an object was heard by all.
"Now finish it with Poison Fang!" Crobat sped forth, a sonic boom forming behind it as it flapped its wings as hard as it could. The purple bat-like Pokemon opened its maw and the teeth became sharp and glowed with violet poison based energy. The massive fangs of poisonous energy clamped down on the shuriken made of Cross Poison and Air Slash and the attack combo vanished from view in a small explosion of energy and wind that created a small violet whirlwind.
Mai smiled as Crobat flew back to her side and petted it. "Good job."
Crobat smiled, its yellow and red eyes becoming upside down Us to show its happiness before it settled atop the brown haired girl's head.
"And Mai Shiranui and Crobat show a dazzling performance! Put your hands together for these two!" Anko yelled out as the audience complied with her command. "Now let's see what our judges have to say about her performance!"
The former Grand Festival champion smiled at Mai, "You are truly a gifted trainer, Mai Shiranui. To be able to cross over moves like Cross Poison and Air Slash in that manner is nothing short of phenomenal. The way you showed off your Crobat's power by knocking it around with Steel Wing was quite a treat and not to mention its speed is far above that of any Crobat that I've ever seen. Astounding performance."
Shizune was the next to speak. "Quite the amazing show by you today, Mai-san. While everything was amazing, I was most impressed by your Crobat's show of speed. Unless I believe I am starting to experience hearing problems with age, I actually think I heard a sonic boom before your Crobat did that Poison Fang attack."
"You heard correctly." Mai said with a nod of her head. "I have had Crobat train very hard to make its speed the way it is now. I've even gone so far as to have it fly with weights attached and by weights I mean tying rocks of suitable weights to its wings in order to strengthen them." Everyone sweatdropped at that.
'That's a bit much isn't it?' They all thought.
"A bit over the top, I know, but the results speak for themselves when I say I am pleased with them." Mai said with a shrug.
The audience and the judges had to agree with her there.
"NANANANANANANANANANA NANANANANANANANANANA NANANANANA CROBAAAAT!" Deidara sang his comment to the tune of a certain animated cartoon involving a bat-themed superhero. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Deidara pumped his fist in the air to show his approval of Crobat's performance.
"In the words of an old cartoon I watched in my younger days..." Mr. Pokemon cleared his throat. "HOLY SONIC BOOM CROBAT! THAT WAS AMAZING!"
Crobat and Mai smiled widely at the judges as everyone laughed at Mr. Pokemon's and Deidara's comments. Mai returned Crobat to its ball and bowed to her superiors before returning to the viewing area.
Mai blinked in confusion as she heard approaching footsteps before being tackled to the ground by Ino and Sakura.
"Too cool!" They exclaimed.
"Never would I have thought to see a Crobat look so positively awesome out there on the contest arena!" Sakura spoke. Mai chuckled as she was pulled to her feet by the platinum blonde and pinkette.
"Mai-san, you gotta show me that training regiment for your Crobat! I want one just like it!" Ino hopped up and down. Mai tapped her chin in mock thought.
"Hmmm, I don't know...it's pretty strict."
"Pleeeeeease." Ino begged before her blue eyes widened and her lower lip quivered. Mai laughed at the Puppy Dog Eyes that Ino was giving her.
"After the Grand Festival is over, sure." Mai smiled. This responed earned a "YATTA!" of happiness from the young Yamanaka. She then glanced around as she noticed one female lacking. "Where's Hikari-san?"
The three girls then pointed in the direction of the corner of the viewing room where Hikari was still sitting by her lonesome and avoiding the looks that people were still giving her due to her last performance. The bluenette caught Mai's gaze and gave her a smile and thumbs up to display her approval. Mai grinned widely only for her eyes to widen in surprise as she felt her shoulders being gripped harshly.
"THAT WAS AWESOME, MAI-SAN!" Sora yelled as the boy grabbed his fellow brunette's shoulders and shook her back and forth. When the shaking stopped, Mai shook her head a bit to rid herself of the dizziness she was experiencing and found her brown eyes meeting the blue ones of Sora Yasuharu.
"Mai-san, you really gotta show me how you did that Shuriken Combo thing. That was just Legen-wait for it...and you better hope you're not lactos intolerant because the next syllable of this word is DARY! That's right it was LEGENDARY!" Sora threw his arms up in the air and waved them around like a little kid as he expressed his awe at the young girl's performance.
"We should give those two some alone time, neh?" Hinata whispered. Ino and Sakura giggled at the Hyuga's words and nodded as they walked away from the scene, but made sure to keep their eyes fixated on them as they sat down. Chouji and Sasame were sitting next to each other, also watching the scene before them unfold. Chouji offered them some chips which they accepted. They needed some snacks for the show after all.
Mai's blush increased in intensity with each compliment Sora fired at her until she began to feel dizzy from all the blood rushing to her head.
"Hey, you alright there Mai-san?" Sora asked with a concerned look on his face. "Your face is kinda red." Mai shook her head and forced down her blush so that her skin retained its original colour.
"Nah, I'm good. Just a bit hot out there on the aerna floor, the sun is quite intense out there." Sora nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah, not to mention that Hinata's Jumpluff used Sunny Day earlier so there may be some lingering effects. But enough about that, that performance of yours. You were on fire like a Moltres." Mai smiled and looked to the side, brushing back a lock of hair in embarrassment.
"Mah Mah, that was nothing spectacular." She spoke with a tinge of pink dusting her cheeks. "Not like Sakura-san, Hikari-san or Hinata-san. Besides I'm sure you'll do much better than me, Sora-kun." Mai smiled at the blue eyed boy. Sora shook his head in disagreement to Mai's words.
"You sell yourself much too short and seem to place me in a much higher position than you should. You did really great out there, don't ever tell yourself otherwise or I'll have you eat those words." Sora said with a joking tone of voice. Mai watched the boy as if he had grown a second head before smiling at him.
"That sounds like you're challenging me." Mai said with a raised eyebrow and a sly smirk. Sora chuckled as he placed his hands behind his head.
"Maybe I am. Can't resist a strong trainer to be my rival after all...but seeing as we're on the topic of challenges, why not make it official?" Sora said. Mai's brown eyes bore a look of confusion and she tilted her head to express it even more.
"Official?" She asked. Sora nodded stiffly.
"Mhmm. Seeing as how I am a badass and all, I'm obviously going to make it to the Battle Rounds." Mai rolled her eyes at Sora's cockiness. "And from the judges reactions, you're going to make it there too as one of the remaining thirty-two. So here's the thing, if you and I come across each other in the battle round and have to fight each other, I get to take you out for a meal later that day."
"Wh-What?" Mai asked with a blush on her face. Sora gave her a goofy grin.
"But the catch is...you're going to be the one paying." Mai's fantasy of being on a perfect date was suddenly shattered and her eyes narrowed at the blue eyed boy.
"You eat a lot don't you?" She asked. Sora's grin expanded at that.
"I might."
"Hmmm, fine, but if I win, you're paying for the dinner AND for dessert as well." Sora nodded. "And..." His eyes gained a perplexed look when he saw Mai continue her wager's parameters, but this time she seemed a bit nervous. She tapped her foot on the ground and twirled a lock of hair around her finger.
"And?" Sora urged her to continued.
"And...you call me Mai-chan. No -san honourific." Mai muttered with an embarrassed look on her face. Sora watched the girl before him with a surprised look on his face for a while before nodding.
"You got yourself a deal, but I warn you...I'm not going to go easy on you. I like my wallet WITH money in it." He laughed. Mai looked at Sora with a bit of surprise at how he readily accepted her wager, but then laughed at his follow up comment.
"So do I, and I wouldn't expect anything less of you. This is the Grand Festival, we're going to go all out with this." Mai said with a fire of determination burning in her eyes. Sora's blue orbs mimicked that fire.
Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Sasame and Chouji grinned and released stifled laughs at the two. They would make an interesting pair.
As the group of coordinators continued to chat, and Hikari finally decided to move out of her corner and back to chatting with her friends and then turned her attention on the current topic, which was Sora Yasuharu and Mai Shiranui. While the girls made their comments, Chouji had run out of chips and went to his bag to get more. During this time, more coordinators moved in and out of the stadium and soon...the final rounds were upon them as they reached the section 'Y'.
"Ino Yamanaka is our next performer!" Anko exclaimed. "Put your hands together for the blone firecracker we all know and love!"
Ino ran out on stage and thanked the others for their cries of encouragement and came to a stop in the centre. She gave her customary bow of respect to the judges and then took out a Poke Ball with a heart made of stylized dots on its pink upper half, a Love Ball.
"To the stage, Teddiursa!" In a flash of white and pink light, the tiny bear-looking Pokemon appeared, did a pirouette in midair before landing on the ground and patted its chest with confidence.
"Teddi Teddiursa!"
"And Ino Yamanaka sends out her Teddiursa for her Appeal Round's second segment! Does she plan another Fake Tears plot like she did with her Smoochum or is it something even MORE diabolical?!" Ino and Teddiursa sweatdropped as they watched the judges suddenly cower behind their table.
"Not the tears again!" Mr. Pokemon said as he clapped his hands above his head as if to beg for forgiveness. "We beg of you!"
Ino scratched her cheek and laughed nervously. "It's not a Fake Tears, my Teddiursa doesn't even know that move actually."
"Then carry on." The elderly man spoke with a happy tone causing Ino to sweatdrop at how quickly the four older people had recovered from their previous acts of groveling. Ino cleared her throat and looked at Teddiursa. The bear Pokemon nodded to its trainer and shifted into a ready stance.
"Alright Teddiursa, let's start things off with Double Team and then Faint Attack!" Teddiura complied with its trainer's command and bent its legs, the muscles tensing visibly underneath its soft fur. Teddiursa then took off and the Little Bear Pokemon suddenly vanished from view and reappeared in the air. It vanished again and appeared on the far-off railing of the stands. The process continued as Teddiursa used Faint Attack to move about the arena's area.
"In an amazing show of skill and speed, Teddiursa and its numerous clones produced by Double Team, are navigating their way around the ENTIRE arena area using only Faint Attack! I'm getting dizzy just trying to keep track of the little guy!" Anko gripped her head as she truly was getting dizzy from looking back at forth between the areas where Teddiursa appeared and disappeared.
"Now let's go with Brick Break!" Ino ordered. The Teddiursa clones and the original all raised their paws as they shone with white energy and used their Faint Attacks to strike at the centre of the arena floor and too onlookers it looked as if a storm of white flashes descended upon the stage. However, before the last two Teddiursa were to attack, Ino spoke.
"Now use Thunderpunch and Fire Punch!" One Teddiursa held up its Brick Break paw and it became engulfed in red-orange flames while the original's became coated in golden electricity.
"TEEEEDDI!" The Little Bear Pokemon cried out in effort before slamming down its fists and a small tower of red-orange flame erupted from the point of impact and it became coated with a storm of electricity to form an electric-fire combo. The fire and electricity died down and Ino smiled as she gestured to Teddiursa. The pre-evolved form of Ursaring bowed to the audience that 'aww-ed' from the Pokemon's cuteness before breaking out into applause.
The judges looked at the Little Bear Pokemon and its trainer for a few moments before nodding their heads.
"A pretty performance. The lights generated from the glowing after-images of Brick Break added a nice glowing effect to the already bright tower of fire and electricity you made to finish the show. However, despite it being a good performance, good may not cut it in my opinion Miss Yamanaka. A Teddiursa is cute and very versatile due to being a Normal-type, but you need to remember that Teddiursa can do much more because of it." Tsunade explained. Ino bit her lip at that.
"An explosive ending with that fire tower and the electric pulse that raced around it was very cool. It was a bang to see Teddiursa's small frame being used to its advantage as you used Faint Attack along with it in order to aid in its travel around the arena. Nicely done." Deidara clapped lightly for his fellow blonde.
"Both Deidara-san and Tsunade-san have very good points, but I'm going to have to lean more towards Tsunade-san's words. Like she said, Teddiursa is a Normal-type so I expected much more flashy moves to be coming from it. Maybe if you decided to have it be an Ursaring I may have gotten that 'wow' factor. It was great, extremely great, but not spectacular." Ino nodded her head in understanding. She really did understand, but damn it really sent a pang to her chest.
"Then it seems we have a tie." Mr. Pokemon spoke. "Shizune and Tsunade have their opinions and Deidara and I have mine and I lean more towards Deidara's when I say you have performed well Miss Yamanaka. Showing off a young Pokemon is very difficult to do in some cases and your Teddiursa is a good example of that. Because of that, it shows how good you are as a coordinator and also how good your Teddiursa is at working alongside you to carry out its moves. Well done." Mr. Pokemon clapped.
"And that's the word of the judges for today for Miss Ino Yamanaka!" Anko exclaimed with a clap. Ino and Teddiursa smiled as they bowed to the audience and the judges before heading back to the viewing area and gave a high five to a passing Sora Yasuharu as he ran out onto the stage.
"And our final act of the second segment of the Indigo Plateau Grand Festival, Sora Yasuharu!" Anko announced and extended her arm to point at the brown haired boy. Sora waved and grinned at the crowd, blowing a few kisses here and there to show his confidence. Sora turned to the judges and bowed to them respectfully.
"I'll make sure to end with a bang, 'kay Deidara-sama?" Sora spoke with a grin. Deidara chuckled and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.
"I do hope so. Now show us what you got kid." The blonde said. The blue eyed coordinator nodded to the current Grand Festival champion before reaching into his pocket and tapped the Poke Ball's centre button to enlarge it. He tossed the Poke Ball sky high and the red and white spheroid opened to reveal the flash of white energy contained within it. The energy swirled and twisted before it took on the shape of the Pokemon it was supposed to be.
"Haunt Haunter Haunt!" The Gas Pokemon cried out. Haunter, the evolved form of Gastly, hovered next to its trainer as its pink tongue lolled out of its mouth.
"Sora shows us his Haunter! Will this Ghost/Poison-type Pokemon be Sora's ticket to the Battle Rounds?! Let's find out!" Anko yelled into her microphone.
Sora's blue eyes gained a serious look as he walked up to Anko. "May I borrow the microphone, Mitarashi-san?"
Anko blinked in confusion. "Why?"
"Just a precaution." He stated. Anko nodded as she noticed the serious look in the brown haired boy's eyes and handed him the mic. He raised it to his lips and cleared his throat. "Now before I begin, judges, fellow coordinators, members of the audience...I have trained with my Haunter ever since I was young and ever since it was a Gastly. Because of how strong our bond is, and I cannot stress this enough when I say this, the action I am about to have my Pokemon undergo should NOT be copied in any shape or form unless you have been closely bonded with your Ghost-type Pokemon." .
"What are you going to do boy?" Mr. Pokemon asked with interest. Sora handed the microphone back to Anko and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He turned to the purple coloured Pokemon and nodded to it.
"Ready Haunter?" Sora asked. Haunter nodded and gave its trainer a thumbs up. And with that, Haunter suddenly became a cloud of purple vapour and entered Sora's body. The audience and judges all watched with wide eyes and gaping mouths as Sora's body shuddered. The purple vapour continued to enter his body and when it was all gone, Sora's body became still. He was hunched over and still standing, but his blue eyes were gone, now completely white and his body was still.
"Sora Yasuharu had seemed to absorbed Haunter into his body! What the hell is he thinking?!" Anko exclaimed.
"I'm thinking that my trainer has enough faith in me to allow me to possess his body."
Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Sora's body rise up. Blue irises were no longer present and instead they were replaced with the beady black ones found in the Haunter species. Sora's tongue lolled out of his mouth much like the Gas Pokemon's and he began to look over himself, stretching out his body.
"What the...What the hell?!" Tsunade spoke. "Haunter?"
"Yes, that's me." Haunter spoke. Though it was Sora's voice that was heard the fact that it was the Pokemon doing the talking was quite remarkable.
"H-How is this possible?" Mr. Pokemon asked.
"Like Sora said earlier, my bond with him is very strong and thus he trusts me to allow complete control of body and mind to be handed over to me until this contest round is over." Haunter grinned toothily before flexing his flesh and blood body. "Man, I forgot what it was like to have a flesh and blood body."
He then raised Sora's hands and clenched them into fists before unclenching them and the powers of shadow condensed to form a Shadow Ball attack. The Shadow Ball then burst apart.
"Due to my form taking refuge in Sora's body, the energy of a Pokemon that allows us to utilize the elements to perform moves has been transferred into Sora's body and so I am able to show off my skills while in his body. The body will not be harmed so long as I do not will it to be harmed and like I've said before, Sora trust me and I am his Pokemon meant to serve him whenever he needs me so you have nothing to worry about." Haunter explained. "I am a Haunter and my attacks are Psychic, Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball. You guys will know which attacks are which as I assume you humans are smart enough to at least know the attack without it being yelled out to you all when trainers give their Pokemon commands."
Haunter cracked his trainer's tense joints before nodding while sticking his tongue out like a trademark Haunter, but also had a bit of the grin of the blue eyed boy infused into the expression. "For the time being, just be H-Sora. Now if you excuse me, I have a contest round to win so that I can get my trainer into the Battle Rounds."
The audience and judges were in silence as they watched as H-Sora's body performed feats one thought would be impossible. First, H-Sora summoned forth dark energy that swirled around his body before he released a powerful aura of golden electricity. With a cry of effort, H-Sora's body released a gold and black pulse of energy and lightning. However, the pulse was stopped cold as Haunter-Sora's eyes glowed with blue light, the sign of using telekinetic abilities. The black and yellow energy then swirled around H-Sora's body like an Arbok.
The audience then watched in awe as H-Sora held the energy of darkness and electricity in his left hand, its form sparking as it hovered in his palm and was encased in a blue outline of energy due to the telekinetic attack currently being used. Raising his free right hand, H-Sora then called upon the shadows and a glob of shadow energy form in the possessed boy's palm.
"And now for a little mixing!" H-Sora yelled as he slammed his hands together. A flash of black, gold and dark violet encompassed Sora's hands before he spread them apart, his eyes glowing brighter as he continued to employ his Psychic attack. When the hands were fully separated there was now a large spheroid that was about the same size as a basketball, but it was split up into three layers. The outer layer was composed of the purple-black shadow energy of Shadow Ball , the second layer was the inky blackness of the Dark Pulse attack and the core of it all was the golden electricity of Thunderbolt. Acting as a line of differentiation, as well as a binding agent for the triple layered sphere, the bright blue lines from the Psychic attack were shown to be present around each layer.
"Ta Da!" H-Sora exclaimed with a toothy grin before launching the sphere into the air with a Psychic attack. Snapping his fingers when it was at a suitable height, everyone's eyes moved from H-Sora to the exploding sphere and watched in awe as a large explosion of shadow and darkness expanded outwards followed by numerous pulses of electricity.
"And now my time in this body is over. Hope you guys enjoyed the show, I'll be here all week!" H-Sora joked. Sora's body then began to shake and shudder once more and his eyes became pure white again. The dark purple vapour began to seep through his pores and out his ears, nose and mouth before it all condensed into one area. Haunter had been reformed.
"Haunter Haunter Haunt Haunt!" Haunter performed a bow and the audience was in utter shock at the spectacle that had occurred before them. Sora shook his head and blinked his eyes, the pure white sclera becoming filled with the blue irises that was to become his trademark.
"Ugh, geez Haunter could you calm down with the energy usage, I feel kinda tired from that." Sora said. Haunter rubbed the back of its head with one of its floating hands and laughed nervously.
"Haunt Haunter."
"I'll take that as an apology." Sora said. "So what did you think? First you've ever seen a human perform Pokemon moves right? So is that the bang you were lookin' for Deidara-sama?"
"Oh my freakin' Arceus. Sora...you are possibly the greatest showstopper ever in the history of Grand Festivals! GOD DAMN IT, FUCK EVERY PROTOCOL, YOU'RE GOING TO THE BATTLE ROUNDS!" Deidara exclaimed.
The proclamation made Sora and Haunter have wide eyes.
"Wh-What?!" The audience broke out into cheer and applause as they registered everything that had just happened. Sora's performance was spectacular and plus he got a standing ovation from the entire stadium. Never has this happened this early into the Grand Festival's procedures. Usually an arena wide standing ovation came about at the end when the new Ribbon Cup winner was announced, but for it to happen in the second segment of the Appeal Rounds was literally unheard of.
"Sora, like my fellow judge, I too believe what you have just shown is truly the embodiment of a trainer's trust in their Pokemon. You have raised that Haunter ever since it was a Gastly and so it's obvious to see your Pokemon has a strong bond with you, but to put that much faith in your Pokemon so as to have it possess your body...that is just heartstoppingly amazing. You are definitely going to the Battle Rounds." Tsunade clapped for Sora. The blue eyed boy began to tear up as he heard not one, but two judges say they guaranteed his spot in the Battle Rounds.
"Sora my boy, you have shown great courage and great skill in training a Haunter to perform what you just did." Mr. Pokemon spoke. "I too will gurantee your position into the Battle Rounds."
"Might as well say you're going to the Battle Rounds as well, Sora-san. You're moving up in this contest Sora-san. Hopefully your battle skills are as great as your appeals. Thank you for joining this year's Grand Festival." Shizune clapped for Sora and Haunter. Sora gulped audibly as he looked at the four judges and his legs began to feel weak, but the Gas Pokemon quickly solidified its hands and grabbed its trainer to support him.
"Haunter Haunt Haunt."
"Sorry, just a bit overwhelmed. Thanks buddy, you got me into the Battle Rounds, I can't thank you enough." Haunter gave a bashful look to its trainer before licking his face. "Ugh, gross!" Sora laughed.
"And ladies and gentlemen with that performance by Sora Yasuharu and his Haunter being forever etched into our minds, it's time we show you your final thirty-two coordinators who will be moving on into the Battle Rounds!" Anko exclaimed. The audience watched as the screens suddenly began to fill up with four rows of eight pictures of the coordinaotrs chosen. Sora was shown to be the very first person in the very first row, followed by one Mai Shiranui. Many more coordinatiors filled the spots in the second row. The third row contained Chouji's, Ino's and Hikari's images while the last row showed Sakura and Hinata's images.
"And with that, it's time to shuffle the coordinators to determine who battles whom in tomorrow's Battle Rounds!" The rows all pooled together like a deck of cards and the then separated back into the four rows of eight.
The audience and judges continued to clap and cheer for Sora and Haunter and all the other coordinators as they stepped out onto the arena and joined Sora on centre stage. Anko ran in front of the camera and grinned widely before pointing at the screens around the arena. The images of the thirty-two contestants for the final frontier of the Grand Festival were about to show themselves and as they did, Anko spoke.
"And with that folks, the second segment of the Appeal Rounds ends! And also the day will also be coming to a close as the sun literally sets on our Indigo Plateau's eleventh Grand Festival! Tomorrow at eight o' clock sharp, the Battle Rounds will begin. Now before we close off, an explanation of the Battle Rounds. The Battle Rounds are composed of four brackets made up of the eight coordinators, labelled Bracket A, B, C and D. The winner of the respective brackets will move on to the semi-finals where the top four will challenge each other to see who makes it to the finals to take on the Ribbon Cup!" Anko explained. The image of the golden Ribbon Cup was shown on the screen and many eyes glittered with awe as they stared at the trophy.
"Aaaaand your first match of the next day will begin with..." Anko and everyone else looked at the screens and the crowd broke out into applause as they saw their first competitors, but to others it was a complete shock to them.
"Woah." Sora muttered with a hiss.
"Damn." Sakura and Hinata cursed.
"AND TOMORROW THESE TWO TITANS WILL START OFF THE BATTLE TO SEE WHO BECOMES THE NEXT RIBBON CUP CHAMP! CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIRST TWO COMBATANTS, INO YAMANAKA AND CHOUJI AKIMICHI!"
Ino and Chouji stared in awe at the screens and then looked to each other as if the world was beginning to end.
'Shit.'
(A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. I was hoping for the Grand Festival to finish in three chapters, but at this rate it seems I may need a fourth one to complete it before I move on to the Pokemon League Silver Conference Victory Tournament. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. It's a lot of fun to actually come up with these ways to show off a Pokemon, but I am always going to be a battler so this is where my prowess as a Pokemon player since the early days of Red, Yellow and Blue versions will come into play.
The next chapter begins with the battle between two best friends. Chouji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka. With friendship hurdles to cross who will be the first to break through the wall that prevents them from crushing each other? How will Shikamaru deal with this? Will it be troublesome as always? If he does say that, he's gonna get one hell of a headache from Ino's nagging lol. Well, you'll see all this and more in the next exciting chapter of Naruto: Johto Journeys, Chapter 30: Rising through the Ranks)
Pokedex: Seen-178
Caught-108
Character Bio: Hiashi Hyuga
Eye Colour: Pale Lavender
Hair Colour: Black
About: Hiashi Hyuga is the father of Hinata Hyuga and Hanabi Hyuga, elder twin brother to Elite Four member Hizashi Hyuga and the gym leader of Saffron City. Due to the family's tradition of having the eldest child run the gym, the Hyugas had extreme expectations for Hiashi due to him being the eldest twin brother. Hiashi proved to meet and even surpass the expectations his father, the former gym leader, had set for him and due to his immense skill and power as a Pokemon trainer prodigy, Hiashi was given the honour of being one of the youngest gym leaders at the age of 16. Hiashi is a very powerful Pokemon Trainer, having prevented many a trainer from earning his Marsh Badge. Few trainers have ever bested him, these include Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Mikoto Uchiha and A. Hiashi inherited the Hyuga's 'tough-love' attitude that they tend to show their children, especially towards his eldest daughter whom he expected to take over the gym after him. However, he disapproved of his daughter's dream to become a Coordinator and despised her shy, timid nature. As a result, he sent her to Johto at the New Bark Town Trainer Academy to break her out of it. While he does come across as an asshole, he is a reasonable man as he was willing to make a bet with Hinata to make her come back to Saffron City should she fail to impress him in the Grand Festival. So far, he has shown mild interest, but it will take more than some fancy parlour tricks to impress the mighty head of the Hyuga family.
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)