Naruto: Johto Journeys

Chapter 32: Aftermath

"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

Hinata fell to her knees and hugged her unconscious and bleeding Pokemon tightly against her body. For an entire year, they fought, they trained, they struggled, they cried...they had come so far and in the end...it was all for naught. It was like a Smokescreen. Poof! Everything was gone.

Hinata wiped the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes before rising to her feet and placing Espeon back into her Poke Ball. When the string of red energy zipped back into the containment device, Hinata looked to Sora's grinning face as he stood in the middle between Deidara and Tsunade. Mr. Pokemon and Shizune were off to the side and all of them were smiling. Sora held the golden Ribbon Cup high into the air with his Ninetails sitting at his feet with a grin of its own.

The flashes of cameras and the deafening cheers of the crowd filled the air. Hinata smiled, happy for her friend...but quickly took off. She turned and began to walk away from the stadium floor. Her legs moved faster. Her walk was now a jog and that jog continued to escalate until finally she was running. She ran through the viewing area, racing past her friends as they attempted to meet her there and head her off.

"HINATA!" But she ignored their calls and continued to run. The tears fell freely this time and she continued to run, Espeon's Poke Ball clutched tightly in her hand still. She ran across the cobbestone streets, weaving through the alley ways and buildings before she finally began to tire. She bent over and clutched her knees, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

She looked around and found herself in the park area that she and Naruto had been in last night. She trudged over to one of the nearby trees and planted her hand against the trunk, her head bent low so her bangs shadowed her face. However, the shine of her tears was present for all to see.

"Kuso." She cursed, something that was completely not in her nature. Her flat palm curled inwards and she formed a fist. She swung her fist back and then slammed it against the bark harshly. "KUSO! KUSO! KUSO! KUSO!" She punched the tree with each curse, her hand bruised, cut and now bearing a few splinters from the hard bark.

Hinata slumped down to the ground and leaned back against the tree before looking up to the sky. She observed the flock of Pidgey that flew in the skies. The flock released their cries before turning their V-Formation and heading off to the east...the direction of the Kanto region. She stared in silence as the flock continued to fly until it vanished from view.

"Hina-chan!" The sound of one blonde trainer called out. "HINA-CHAN WHERE ARE...There you are!"

"N-Naruto-kun?" The dark haired girl looked up at her boyfriend as he ran up to her, Typhlosion tailing behind him.

"Hina-chan!" Naruto skidded on his knees as he ran towards her and then wrapped her in his arms as soon as he made contact with her. "Don't run off like that. Do you have any idea how worried I was for you?"

"Naruto-kun...I...I..." The tears pooled in her eyes once more before she gripped his orange vest and poured out her feelings. Naruto gave the teenage coordinator a look of surprise at the sudden break down, but then offered her a small, soft smile. He felt it all as she continued to shake, crying her eyes out to her beloved. All of her anger, sadness and frustration left with her tears.

"It's okay, Hina-chan. It's okay." He spoke with a soothing tone of voice. He stroked her head and hugged her that much tighter. He felt the girl beginning to calm down as her shaking was reduced to nothing. Her bawling became sniffles.

"I...I worked so hard."

"I know you did, but remember what I said...even if you did lose, I would always...always..." he stressed the word, "...be proud of you and what you have accomplished Hina-chan. Not many can make it to the finals on their first try and even though Sora won, you have to admit, you kicked major ass out there with Espeon."

Hinata released a choked laugh and her head shifted upwards. Her pale lavender eyes met the startling sapphire orbs of her boyfriend. She moved herself forwards and kissed him. Naruto's eyes widened, caught off-guard by the sudden display of affection, but he happily returned the kiss. Hinata then pulled away and laid her head against his chest.

"Thank you...for everything, Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

"It's no trouble, Hina-chan." Naruto grinned widely, bearing his trademark foxy grin. "Now how about we head back to meet the others. I'm sure they are just as worried about you as I was." The young coordinator nodded. Naruto climbed to his feet and offered his hand for Hinata to grab. She did so and was pulled to her feet by her boyfriend. The teenage trainers then walked back to the Pokemon Centre hand in hand.

As the duo arrived at the Pokemon Centre entrance, their eyes widened when they saw everyone had been in front of the doors waiting for them.

"Hinata!" The group exclaimed before leaping at her. Naruto acted quickly and moved out of the way, but in doing so, let go of Hinata and let her feel the full force of having five teenage girls and one boy slam into her full force. Ino, Sakura, Mai, Hikari, Sasame and Sora all rose to their feet and Hinata lay on the ground trying to catch her breath as she had the air removed from her lungs.

"Hinata...why did you run off like that?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, we were really worried about you." Sakura added.

"How dare you make us worry like that!" Hikari exclaimed. Sasame didn't respond, but merely gave an indignant huff of annoyance. Hinata chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for that...I just..." She glanced up and turned to Sora. The spiky brown haired Grand Festival Champion gave her a sad smile.

"Hey...Hinata-san."

"Sora-san...I..." Hinata frowned as she glanced down at the ground. Sora's eyes widened as he noticed the lack of communication from his friend and his smile became a frown. "I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I know that you're my friend and I should be happy for you, that you became the Grand Festival Champion despite all that's happened and despite my own selfish desire to win. But...my Otou-sama he..."

"Hinata." A stern voice alerted the group to his presence. Everyone turned around and Hinata's eyes widened drastically as she saw the stoic, steely gaze of her father.

"Otou-sama!" Hinata clambered to her feet. She was about to continue to speak, but words refused to form. What could she say?

"Hiashi Hyuga?" Sasuke and Naruto raised their eyebrows in curiosity. "But why are you here?"

"I have come to declare the outcome of my wager with my eldest daughter." Hiashi replied.

"Wager?" Sakura asked. "What wager?"

"She didn't tell you?" The Hyuga patriarch asked. Hinata shook her head and her hands clenched into tight fists.

"Otou-sama, please! Please don't make me go!" Hinata cried out. "I don't want to be the Gym Leader, I don't want to go back to Saffron City just yet...I don't want to leave my friends." Her gaze settled primarily on Naruto. Hiashi's eyes narrowed as he saw said blonde stand protectively in front of his daughter.

"Explain what's going on." Naruto spoke with a demanding tone.

"This is a family matter, boy. Now remove yourself from here as I wish to discuss matters with my daughter alone."

"Not gonna happen." Naruto replied sternly. "Not until you or Hina-chan explains what the hell is going on. What does she mean she doesn't want to go? What is this wager you both had?"

"Naruto-kun..." The group of trainers watched as Hinata walked forward and stood beside her father. "On the day before the Grand Festival began, Otou-sama came here to the Indigo Plateau to take me to Saffron City to groom me to become his heir, to take over the task of being the Gym Leader and to become a Psychic-type Pokemon specialist as a result."

"Why? You made it to the Grand Festival and nearly made it to become the Champion had I not won. And even then, it was an extremely close match, I could have lost." Sora said.

"That is true, but Otou-sama is not one who sees Pokemon Contests as a suitable type of career that his eldest should partake in."

The coordinators present stared at the gym leader with stoic looks on their faces, but the twitches on their eyebrows showed that they were very much annoyed and angry by the Hyuga patriarch's opinion.

"And what did you say when he told you to go back with him?" Hikari asked, tapping her foot on the ground.

"I denied him." Hinata stated. "However, my father being the...demanding...person he is, would not accept that. He continued to down talk the one thing that I am proud of accomplishing by myself and saw it as nothing more than a popularity contest for trainers who couldn't cut it out to go to the Pokemon League. It was then that I snapped and made my wager to him."

She turned and looked to her father. "If I were to perform well in the Grand Festival and show him that I had grown as a person and as a Pokemon trainer throughout the course of the tournament, then he would let me be free to not pursue the task of being a gym leader and instead hand the title over to my imouto, Hanabi-chan. However, if I were to lose...well, I would be sent back and undergo immediate training in Saffron City at my home where I would then be groomed to become the next gym leader."

"Oi!" Naruto stamped his foot down harshly. "That's not fair! You can't force someone to be a gym leader!"

"It is Hyuga tradition for the eldest child of the gym leader to be the heir to the gym. My daughter is not one I would say who is to be a gym leader...but tradition and familial law dictates that she must be the next gym leader. I would not expect any of you to understand." Hiashi spoke with his emotionless tone of voice, his harsh stare causing the younger Pokemon trainers to all flinch at its intensity.

'This guy...' Naruto gritted his teeth. "Hyuga-sama...I apologize on behalf of my friends for outburst against your ways and family's traditions." Naruto's eyes suddenly gained fierce look. "But, I cannot let you take Hina-chan from me...from us. She is one of our precious friends and I will not stand for her being forced into doing something that she obviously will not be happy doing."

Hiashi didn't give any sort of response and merely listened to Naruto's words.

"You said that the wager was to allow Hina-chan to show how much she has grown as a trainer, to you that she is indeed strong and doesn't need to be a gym leader to prove it. You've seen her battles today, you've seen how hard she and her Espeon had fought in that arena. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, who so ever thinks that what was displayed in that arena was not strength and determination, the desire to be the best one can be...then they are fools."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed as she looked at her boyfriend's determined gaze.

'Idiot!' Everyone else thought. You don't just go and tell a gym leader that he is a fool! Not to mention when you do it in front of said gym leader's face and in front of his daughter nonetheless.

Hiashi stared at the blonde, his dark lavender eyes meeting Naruto's shining sapphire ones. The silence that filled the air was only broken by the whistling sounds of the winds as they moved through the atmosphere. Hiashi closed his eyes in what seemed to be contemplation. After a few moments of the seemingly never ending silence, Hiashi opened his eyes and looked at Hinata.

"You are correct to say that those who would not be capable of seeing the change in my daughter would be named fools. I am not one of those as I am her father. I have raised her with the intent of making her strong and so I made her training sessions with me very harsh, to live up to the legacy of the Hyuga clan. However, it seemed that my method of teaching did not get through to her and so I sent her here to the Johto region in hopes that the Academy would strengthen her, but then I heard she turned to the Pokemon Contest field." Hiashi's emotionless gaze became harsh and Hinata flinched.

"You were to become a strong trainer not a coordinator...but you are much too soft to become a gym leader. You showed such amazing brutality and great skill in your battles in the Pokemon Contest arena...why can you not do that back at home? I knew you had the potential, but you refused to unlock it in the battlefield at the gym."

"Otou-sama...you...you just placed so much on my shoulders. I did not believe I would be good at handling the pressure of being a gym leader."

"Then what would make you think then that you could handle the pressures of being a Grand Festival Champion?" Hiashi retorted. "You think that if you were to become the champion of this tournament that you could handle it? Were you not the one who told me that Pokemon Contests are not to be looked down upon? That they are equal to the amount of responsibility and strength that must be required of someone representing the battling areas of the Pokemon League?"

Hinata made no reply as her father's words registered in her mind. The brown haired man released a sigh.

"Hinata, I admit, you have grown exceptionally well over the past year. You have grown very strong, exceeding my expectations of you on the battlefield as shown by how you coordinated the attacks of your Espeon. Your affinity for Psychic-type Pokemon is very strong and I will even go so far as to say you could do well to handle one of my own Pokemon should it be given to you." Hinata's eyes widened at her father's words. "But tell me..."

"What?"

"Tell me...should you continue to follow the path of the coordinator...will you continue to put the amount of effort that you have shown to me, to show me that you were stronger and more disciplined than before? Will you continue to learn to become a great Pokemon trainer by using what you learn from Pokemon Contests because to me, it seems that gym battles are not going to be getting you anywhere."

"Yes." Hinata replied immediately. "I will work hard. I won, I lost, I smiled, I cried...with all of those victories and losses I have faced, Otou-sama, I know I can become a Pokemon trainer worthy of your praise. Please, just don't make me do something that I know I won't like to do. Being a gym leader is an honour, it is a privilege and I know the expectations that come with it...but it's not for me. I am not a hardcore battler like you or Naruto-kun or Sasuke-san..." She turned to the two younger boys as she saw them staring at her upon her mentioning their names. "...but I know I can do well as a coordinator."

Hiashi stared into the pale eyes of his eldest child. The determination and pleading were as clear as day to him and the Psychic-type specialist remembered seeing the same look in his brother's eyes, in his nephew's and even in his youngest daughter's. The stubbornness of a Hyuga was surely with her, that much he knew. Hiashi raised his hand and placed in on his daughter's head. Hinata's eyes widened, changing from determined to astonished.

"Otou...sama?"

"Hinata, I give you my permission to pursue the path of a Pokemon Coordinator. Continue to put as much effort as you can into the task of doing so and make your family...make me...proud. I will not accept anything less from my eldest child. Am I clear?" Hiashi spoke with a harsh gaze, but Hinata could see the glint of emotion in the elder Hyuga's face. She held back the tears of joy before nodding stiffly.

"Mhmm. I will! I'll make you proud, Otou-sama." Hiashi nodded in acknowledgement at his daughter's words before removing his hand from her head.

"You may go." Hinata didn't need to be told twice as she rushed towards Naruto and leaped into his arms. Naruto laughed with his girlfriend and twirled her around. Suddenly, the two were dogpiled by the other coordinators. Sasuke watched the group with a roll of his eyes and saw Naruto's hand waving in the air.

"Oi, teme! A little help here!"

"Dobe." The Uchiha muttered under his breath before gripping his rival's outstretched hand and pulled him free of the entanglement of humans. Naruto gasped as he finally got air and grinned toothily.

"Thanks man."

"Hn."

"Boy." Naruto and Sasuke turned at the stern voice of the brown haired Hyuga. They looked at each other and then back at Hiashi before pointing at themselves. Hiashi shook his head at Sasuke but made a 'come hither' motion for Naruto. The blue eyed trainer nodded and walked straight towards his girlfriend's father, not a stumble or a falter in his stride. Naruto stopped right in front of the pale eyed man and nodded to him.

"Hyuga-sama."

"What is your name boy?" Hiashi asked.

"Naruto, Hyuga-sama. Naruto Uzumaki, League contender for this year's Pokemon League Kanto-Johto Silver Conference Victory Tournament."

"Uzumaki? Kushina's boy?" Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Hyuga-sama."

"Well then, Uzumaki-san...what is your relationship with my daughter? You two seem oddly...close." Hiashi spoke. Naruto suddenly felt a chill race down his spine as the man's icy glare suddenly intensified. Naruto gulped audibly. "That gulp was nowhere near loud enough, boy. Now tell me, what are you to Hinata?"

"I am her friend and was a surrogate teacher to her in the beginning. I taught her almost everything she knows regarding how to properly battle Pokemon." Hiashi raised an eyebrow with an impressed look on his face. "And over the past year...I have found that I have fallen for your daughter, Hyuga-sama."

"I see." Hiashi's impressed look returned to cold and calculating. "And what of her feelings for you?"

"She reciprocates them, Hyuga-sama. She has agreed to be my girlfriend." A toothy grin spread across Naruto's face, but that quickly vanished as he saw said girlfriend's father's eyes narrow in annoyance. Naruto coughed awkwardly as Hiashi silently stared at him. The cheers and laughs of his friends were merely white noise as he focused all of his attention on the gym leader.

"Allow me to extend a hand of congratulations then." Hiashi said as he extended a hand. Naruto's eyes widened. Hiashi was accepting him? Naruto held out his hand, but quickly let out a harsh, but heavily restrained, yelp of pain as Hiashi's hand tightly gripped his own. Naruto could practically hear the bones creaking beneath his skin. For a thin looking guy, Hiashi was by no means weak physically. Naruto's hand was the test subject showing just how true the statement was.

"Hyuga-sama, ummm you're squeezing a bit too...ouch." Hiashi's grip tightened even more.

"I am allowing my daughter independence. As her travel companion I place my full trust in you to watch over her and keep her safe. I am also tasking you with the responsibility to make sure that she does not do anything stupid and get herself into any trouble. She may have been a disgrace in the beginning, but she has proven herself capable of holding the Hyuga name and thus I wish for her to succeed in her endeavors. You, young Uzumaki, as her boyfriend...will do everything you can to ensure that is carried out." Hiashi's eyes seemed to glow with power and Naruto sweated bullets as he felt what could have been killing intent. "As her father now, I am to immediately disapprove of any and all boys who would aim to woo my daughter. However, it seems I am too late for that so I will go along with this relationship...but do anything to hurt my daughter, my heir and my eldest child...and not even Mount Silver will be high enough nor will the depths of the seas in the Hoenn region be deep enough for you to hide from as you will not escape my wrath. My Pokemon will also aid in the hunt should this come about."

"Understood, Hyuga-sama." Naruto squeaked in fear. Hiashi and Naruto stared into each other's eyes. Naruto's conviction to uphold his end of the bargain was present, but the pain from having his hand being crushed was getting to him. Hiashi smirked in amusement at the fear the boy was showing before releasing the blonde's hand.

"Good, so we an accord." Hiashi said. The Psychic-type trainer snapped his fingers and in a flash of light, an Abra appeared on his shoulder via Teleport. "Give my regards to Kushina-san for me." Naruto nodded and then watched as the Abra glowed with white light and the gym leader and Pokemon vanished as the Abra used Teleport once more.

Naruto gulped and held his pained hand. He looked up and saw Hinata standing in front of him, the grin still present on her face. She then blinked in confusion when she saw him cradling his hand.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked. Naruto chuckled nervously as he painfully flexed his hand to get the blood flowing back into it.

"Your father's a very scary person, Hina-chan." Naruto said. "Should we run into him again, be sure to hide me."

Everyone sweatdropped as they saw the pale complexion that represented the blonde's fear of the Saffron City gym leader. Ah, fathers...they have the best job in the world. Torturing and threatening their daughters' boyfriends...not necessarily in that order.

"Well, seeing as how everything's all fine and dandy now..." Ino started, "...let's celebrate. Hinata getting to stay with us and to having a Champion stand before us." Sora blushed in embarrassment as everyone turned to him. Mai smirked and gripped his arm, his blush intensifying as said limb was held captive by her impressive bust.

"Come on, Sora-kun. Why don't we go to that place you had taken me." Mai suggested. Sora nodded and grinned toothily.

"There had better be ramen there or else I'm gonna be pissed."

The members of the group that knew of their blonde friend's addiction rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Dobe." Sasuke muttered.

The celebrations were lively at the Indigo Plateau. Apparently, due to the Grand Festival being over and Sora now a recognized Pokemon Grand Festival Champion, he had been personally taken with his friends by Tsunade, Deidara, Mr. Pokemon and the Indigo Plateau's Nurse Shizune, to the most high end restaurant.

Restaurant Le Wow.

It was a branch that had begun expansion into the other regions throughout the world having begun in Lumiose City in the Kalos Region. The food was certainly top notch as shown by how quickly Naruto and Sora were downing their meals. The other customers were in awe at how much the rather skinny looking boys could put away. Laughter filled the air along with many a toast from the Contest Judges. Audience members and former Grand Festival coordinators alike chatted amongst each other, and some of the bolder teenagers had decided to try and make some passes at the two finalists.

Unfortunately, Mai Shiranui and Naruto Uzumaki did not take those passes at their partners very maturely and proceeded to threaten said flirtatious bastards and bitches. In the end, there was a very wide area of space between the table that the protagonist group and their Pokemon occupied in correspondence to the rest of the restaurant.

'Well someone's overprotective.' Everyone thought as they saw Mai and Naruto glancing at the other customers with dangerous glints in their eyes. Naruto's Typhlosion and Mai's Pidgeot circled the table like bouncers preventing people who weren't on the list from getting into a club. It was quite an amusing sight. Time flew by quickly, after all, time flies when you're having fun.

The blue of the afternoon sky had been replaced with the fiery appearance of the evening as the sun began to set, it's light being lost behind the towering Mount Silver. The trainers then began to depart from the restaurant while the contest judges remained behind to supervise the remainder of the party.

"That was fun." Sora sighed in content as he patted his full stomach. The others nodded in agreement.

"I never thought I would have such gourmet ramen in my life." Naruto added.

"Dude, you ate like thirty of those things!" Hikari exclaimed. "Where do you put it all?"

"In my stomach." Naruto replied. Hikari sweatdropped and flicked the younger trainer on his forehead.

"Don't be a smartass, Naruto."

"Better than being a dumbass." He retorted. "Besides, life's way more fun when one is a smartass."

"Can't disagree there." Akatsuchi agreed with the blonde. As the group headed back to the Pokemon Centre, the usually quiet Sasame spoke.

"So...what do we do now?" The orange haired coordinator asked. The others turned to her in confusion.

"Eh?"

"The Grand Festival is over, Sora is the winner and we've had our day long celebration." Sasame listed, raising a finger for each item. "Now that everything is over and done with...what do we do now?"

There was a period of silence as the other Pokemon trainers bowed their heads in thought. Naruto, Sasuke and Akatsuchi wisely remained silent. This was an issue for the coordinators, not the trainers.

"Well, since I'm the new Grand Festival Champion I actually have to go through the task of going to battle Deidara-sama." Sora said. "I'll be training all that time and well...yeah, that's pretty much it."

"When is the battle?" Mai asked.

"After the Pokemon League." Sora replied. "So I have a lot of time to train. If you want, you can come with me, Mai-chan." Mai's eyes widened and a blush formed on her face, nervously poking her index fingers together like a certain female Hyuga used to do.

"Just me?" She asked. Sora's blue eyes widened and he scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh.

"Well umm not just me. Hikari-san and Sasame-san can come too if they want."

Everyone sweatdropped and planted their faces in their hands. Sora tilted his head in confusion as he saw the simultaneous reaction performed by both trainer and Pokemon.

"What?" He asked innocently. "Was it something I said?" The group's sweatdrops grew ever bigger. Hikari and Sasame sighed before walking up and slapping Sora upside the head.

"Go with Mai by yourself. I actually plan to travel to Kanto for a while." Sasame said.

"And I have an aunt in the Sinnoh region who I promised to visit after the Grand Festival." Hikari added.

"Oh well, more fun for me and Mai-chan." Sora then turned to Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru. "So what about you three?"

"We'll be heading back home." Ino said. "Shikamaru's too lazy to go beyond the set point of the Grand Festival and Chouji and I got a call from our parents saying they are going to make a congratulatory dinner for us tomorrow."

"That sounds really nice." Sakura said. "I bet they are very proud of you guys...and Shikamaru." Shikamaru sighed in annoyance at Sakura's words.

"Troublesome pinky." He muttered quietly so that no one could hear him. Sora then turned to Naruto and Sasuke and offered his hand out to them.

"Naruto-san, Sasuke-san, it was an honour to meet you both and your friends, girlfriend in your case, Naruto-san." Sora sent a sly wink at the blonde who smirked in return. Sasuke quickly shook the brown haired boy's hand out of courtesy. Naruto did the same, but it was a more friendly one.

"Same to you. It's to see Hina-chan met some good people here at the Grand Festival. Hikari-san, Sasame-san, thank you for watching her."

"Naruto-kun, stop talking like that!" Hinata flicked her boyfriend's ear making him wince. "I'm not a child." She turned away with a huff causing everyone to snicker at the formerly shy girl's attitude. Naruto held his reddening ear as the blood rushed to the stricken area. He then gave a nervous laugh to his girlfriend before once again turning back to Sora.

"Well, if you're ever going to show up in three months time to look at the Pokemon League tournament you know who to cheer for." Naruto grinned. Sora bore a matching grin.

"Of course...I'll root for Sasuke-san." Naruto's eyes widened in utter astonishment before he scowled as he saw Sora beginning to laugh at him.

"You should have seen your face!" Sora pointed in amusement at Naruto. The blonde growled and cracked his knuckles to prepare to punch his newest friend's face in, but was quickly held back by Typhlosion. The Volcano Pokemon's red eyes stared at its trainer and said trainer relented as Sora began to calm down.

"But really though, Naruto-san, good luck in the Silver Conference. You've got three months of practice left and it's already been about three days. You've got a lot of time, but it'll go by..." Sora snapped his fingers. "...just like that."

"We know." Naruto patted his partner Pokemon on the head. "That's why we're going to train like hell and then go kick major ass. Ain't that right Typhlosion."

"Ty." The Fire-type Pokemon nodded stiffly.

And with that, the group headed to the Pokemon Centre to get some shut eye as it was a lot to do the next day. The human traffic to get out of the Indigo Plateau due to the Grand Festival being over was most likely going to be murder and Sasuke and Naruto had their training to do. Yup, definitely a lot to do.

Toho Falls- Inner Caverns- ROOT Base

The two Legendary Pokemon of the Sky and Sea continued to lay within their Sleep Powder induced slumber. Three times every day, a few Grass-type Pokemon owned by the grunt members of the dark organization would sprinkle the emerald coloured powder over the two Pokemon to keep them unconscious. After all, having two super powered titans awake before the plan to attack the Pokemon League would definitely cause trouble for ROOT.

Nagato stood in front of the two large Steelix steel infused containment cells. He observed the rise and fall of the bodies of his two greatest weapons. With Ho-oh's unstoppable flames bolstered by the raging winds of Lugia's attacks there would widespread devastation when he chose to strike against his target area. The Pokemon League would know true fear. They would fear the name ROOT.

They will know Pain.

Nagato's violet eyes gained a malicious glint in them before he heard the sound of the doors opening behind him. Turning around, the leader of ROOT looked to see his three children entering.

"What do you three want?"

"Otou-sama..." Wallace paused in his speech as he noticed the harsh gaze of his father. He quickly stepped back and allowed his older sisters to do the talking. The red and blue haired twins patted their younger brother's shoulders before focusing entirely on their father and leader.

"Otou-sama, please do not glare at your son like that." Sapphire said. Nagato looked at his daughter with the same harsh gaze, but then blinked and it revealed that there were bags under his eyes. The tiredness was evident in the red haired man's expression.

"Sorry, my children. I've just been...very busy."

"Otou-sama, we know that you have been very busy. It's the reason we came down here." Ruby spoke. "We're worried about you."

"I'm fine Ruby, really I am. It's just a lot to take care of. The plans, the battle strategies, managing Kurt..." Nagato rubbed his eyes before shaking his head to rid it of whatever tiredness he felt. "I can't afford to fall asleep or do any form of rest. I can't stop now, not when I'm so close. Not when Konan-chan is soon to be within arm's reach."

"Otou-sama, we know you want to save Kaa-chan as soon as possible." Wallace said. "But you can't do that when you're exhausted."

"I'm not..."

"Otou-sama, you haven't slept ever since we brought Kurt into our custody." The blue haired boy frowned. "Please, take it easy. You'll burn yourself out by the time the three months are over and then we will have to leader to carry out the plan to get Celebi."

Nagato looked at his son and two daughters. The twins shared the same concerned looks on their faces as their brother. The violet eyed man sighed as he ran a hand through his long red hair and nodded in defeat. His children grinned widely before rushing over to him. Ruby and Sapphire patted him on the back as they walked on either side of him while Wallace pulled him by his hands carefully.

The family of four trekked through the base towards the Leader's quarters. The two elder siblings turned away as their brother helped strip their tired father of his bothersome suit which left the older man in nothing but his undershirt, boxers and socks. The blue haired boy laid his father down on the bed and Sapphire and Ruby leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"We're very proud of how hard you're working to bring back Kaa-chan, Otou-sama." They spoke simultaneously. Nagato nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Don't worry you three. When this is all over..." Nagato yawned. "...we can stop this. ROOT can be disbanded once more and the five us will be together again. The way we were meant to be. Maybe you'll even get the chance to see Yahiko this time."

The three admins of ROOT nodded with grins on their faces. "We look forward to it, Otou-sama." Nagato then turned on his side and closed his eyes. In under a minute, the leader of ROOT had already been sent to the land of dreams. When they saw their tired parent asleep, their grins changed to frowns.

"He's been running himself ragged." Ruby stated.

"Yeah, but it's for good reason. Like he said, he has to oversee everything that happens here and not to mention we're his kids. He has to look over us too." Sapphire added.

"You think it'll really happen?" Wallace asked. Ruby and Sapphire raised their eyebrows in confusion at their little brother.

"What will happen, otouto?"

"Will capturing Celebi really be able to open a door in time? Will we really be able to get Kaa-chan to come back to life?" Wallace asked. "It's just that I'm really scared now that we're nearing the end."

"Yeah. There are so many unknown variables involved in this plan." Sapphire agreed with her fellow blue-nette. "Time travel isn't exactly a solid science. Not to mention we don't know if Celebi will even obey us when we capture it."

"Stop!" Ruby exclaimed. Her eyes widened as she glanced at her father, but sighed in relief when she saw he didn't even stir from her outburst. "Listen you two, now is not the time to be second guessing Otou-sama. We've gone through too much. We've infected Pokemon with that special ability inhibitor virus as test subjects so that we could end up catching the two most powerful Pokemon to ever be found in the Johto region. We swindled from people. We stole money and Pokemon, we kidnapped people...we risked far too much to stop now. Otou-sama has risked far too much to stop now."

Tears formed in the eldest twin's eyes. "Just because you guys are scared because of how things may not work out doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Why can't you all just trust Otou-sama, trust in what he's done to try and bring Kaa-chan back!" The red haired admin fell to her knees and tears fell from her eyes. Sapphire and Wallace turned to each other and then back to Ruby, their eyes wide in shock. It seemed the pressures of everything in her life had finally caught up to her. Wallace and Sapphire said nothing, but merely walked towards their eldest sibling and knelt down beside her and they did the only thing they could do.

They hugged their sobbing sister and consoled her.

'Three months.' Wallace thought as he glanced at his family. 'Everything will be fine in three months. Ruby Nee-chan, Sapphire Nee-chan...we will have Kaa-chan back with us.'

The blue haired boy's hands tightened into fists as a determined look appeared in his blue eyes. 'I swear it.'

Mount Silver- Peak

Mount Silver.

The highest mountain in any of the known regions. Snow covered the entirety of the massive piece of rock formed by plate tectonics (or possibly formed by a certain Drought using Legendary) and so when sunlight reflected off of the white substance it gave the mountain the appearance that it was indeed silver. Hence its name.

At the peak of the mountain, a lone figure sat. The figure gave off a grunt of annoyance. The tone of the voice was deep which indicated the figure was a male, either that or a very deep voiced female, but it was most likely the former. The figure reached into the pocket of the large white cloak he wore, said cloak being decorated with red flames at the end of the short sleeves and the hem.

The figure looked at the red Pokedex in his hands. It was a first generation Pokedex, one of the first ever created by Professor Sarutobi thirty years ago. On the Pokedex's screen, the image of a pink mouse-like Pokemon was present and the figure glanced around the snow covered peak of Mount Silver before seeing a flash of yellow cross his vision.

The flash of yellow hopped atop his shoulder and nuzzled his hood covered face.

"Pika Pi." The Mouse Pokemon cried out. The figure smirked and patted the Electric-type on its head.

"Hey Pikachu. So did you manage to find it?" The figure asked. Pikachu shook its head with a frown.

"Pi Pikachu Pi Pika."

"Hmm so you couldn't find it either huh? You're right though, all this snow really messes up your senses, but we can't doubt the Pokedex. It says that the Mirage Pokemon was last seen here. I've been traveling for years looking for this elusive Pokemon." There was a period of silence as the figure and his Pokemon looked around the snow covered peak of the massive mountain. The howling winds caused the figure's cloak to billow and his rodent of a partner to sneeze.

The figure turned to his partner Pokemon. "Hey Pikachu, do you think it was the right decision? To do this instead of being with my family? It's been twelve years after all...by Arceus, I haven't even seen any of them ever since the boy turned one year old."

"Pika Pikachu Pi Pi Pi." The Mouse Pokemon replied.

"You're right as always, buddy. She did say she'd support my quest and I did all I could. I mean, I sent her the money all the time to help support herself and Naruto. Not to mention I gave him that Eevee not too long ago...though I doubt he'd ever remember me by now. ROOT was still sending out agents to look for me, even after all that time I stopped Danzo thirty years ago." The figure then stroked Pikachu behind the ears and the Electric-type released a small squeak of content.

The figure then stopped when he looked over the large area that was Route 28. He reached into his cloak's pocket and pulled a first generation Pokegear. It was covered in scratches and dirt marks and not to mention that the reception was horrible at the top of the snow covered mountain and all the application cards had been rendered almost useless due to the age of the machine. However, the clock and map cards still worked well...shame the phone wouldn't work.

"I'm guessing it's almost that time for the Pokemon League again. Three month again it seems." The hooded figure smirked and patted his partner Pokemon on the head. "So, what do you think buddy? You think he'll be fine?"

"PIKA!" The hooded figure grinned at his Pokemon's response.

"Yeah, he'll definitely kick major ass. He's my son after all." The man chuckled before glancing back down at his Pokedex with the image of the pink, blue eyed Pokemon still present on the screen.

"Now then..." The man's expression grew serious. "...where have you run off to this time, Mew?"

Pokedex: Seen-179

Caught-109

Character Bio: Neji Hyuga

Eye Colour: Pale Lavender

Hair Colour: Brown

About: Neji is the cousin of Hinata, so of Hizashi and nephew of Hiashi. Neji is a very gifted Pokemon trainer who decided to follow in his father and uncle's footsteps to specialize in Psychic-type Pokemon. Unlike his younger cousin, Neji's prowess in battle far exceeded Hiashi and Hizashi's expectations. When he turned twelve, Neji went on his Pokemon journey where he eventually met up with Rock Lee and Tenten, the current gym leaders of Cianwood City and Olivine City respectively. Together, the three underwent training with Fighting-type Master, Maito Gai, a current member of the Elite Four. After moving on from his training with the Elite Four member, Neji went back to training with his father and ended up defeating him in battle. With his father being an Elite Four member, Neji's victory allowed for the Pokemon League to recognize Neji as a high level trainer and granted him the title of Psychic-type Pokemon Master of the joint region of Kanto and Johto. Being only thirteen, this made Neji the youngest trainer ever to join the Elite Four. Minato Namikaze's becoming the Pokemon League Champion at the age of twelve is the only known piece of information that bests Neji's. Due to is age however, his father must continuously supervise Neji during every match in the Elite Four challenge that occurs after every Silver Conference Victory Tournament and must endure harsh levels of training each day.

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)