Author's note: Well, the overwhelming response definitely convinced me to continue this story LOL Not entirely sure whether it'll be good throughout, but we'll find out I guess LOL I basically wrote the latter half of this chapter at midnight, so apologies if it's shit.

Thanks to the following reviewers: Guest; Sakura Lisel; Lisaaaal; Nellana; HaLo2401; dray-chan1; yasminpeltier123; PinkiePieParty122894; koromi123; Elsyra; bloddymoon; TheBeauty; Hardpointz; JaiJayce; Guest; Guest; Kilare T'suna; SarahNThatcher; Rosay Khann; babyvfan; narukeforever2639; TaleloveSenju2000

Welcome back to all my regular reviewers and welcome to the new ones! I hope you'll keep enjoying this story :)

Warnings: Naruto's pov; description of injuries; smidgen of angst; canon Pokémon violence

Extra note: Thirteen is the age in which people get their starter Pokémon in my story. I thought that age would make more sense than ten years old and it fits my idea better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto owns it. I also don't own Pokémon, that belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and The Pokémon Company.

I hope you'll like the second part!

Chapter 2

He almost missed it, distracted as he was by the searing pain in his arms, trying to figure out a way to get away from here without losing even more blood. His arms were already covered in various scratches and cuts, both shallow and deeper ones, and seeing his blood dripping down made him sick. Then there was the burn he'd suffered on his left shoulder when he'd been too slow to dive out of Talonflame's reach.

Distracted and in pain as he was, he still took notice of an odd shadow rapidly stretching towards the Sandslash'. Right when he opened his mouth, ready to question it, the shadow somehow reared up and attacked the Sandslash' from behind, making both the Pokémon and their trainers scream out in fright. One of the Sandslash' tried to cut through the shadow, but it was no use. The shadow merely retreated slightly for a moment before attacking them again, stretching high enough to even brush against the Talonflame's claws, who shrieked and flew away, ignoring his trainer calling out to it in panic.

The shadow prepared itself to rear up for a third time, but then the Sandslash' were called back in their Pokéballs and the boys rushed away, screaming in fear.

Naruto could only stand there stumped, the cuts on his arms burning, his shoulder aching something fierce, and watch the shadow retreat to the edge of the forest. For a couple of seconds, nothing moved, and the only sound was of leaves rustling in the wind and branches creaking slightly as they swayed back and forth.

Then a small Pokémon shuffled forwards slowly, almost tentatively, as if he or she was afraid of the reception they would receive. They remained in the shadows of the trees for a while, hovering there, staring back at him, and then they crept forwards once more, revealing themselves in the daylight.

"Oh, it's you," Naruto realised stupidly, his eyes landing on the drawn Pikachu face first before they caught onto the slitted eyes near where the stomach area would have been if it had been a real Pikachu.

But it wasn't a real Pikachu, because this was …

He blacked out before he could even see the little Mimikyu rushing towards him.

When he came to again, the first thing he noticed was a small shadow hovering nearby and his arms covered with several big leaves. They were clumsily wrapped around his arms, covering the cuts he realised quickly.

Looking up, he caught sight of the Mimikyu he'd seen earlier. The little Pokémon was swaying slightly from side to side and Naruto grew worried when he noticed various rips in the yellow cloth. Right behind Mimikyu was an unconscious Tyrogue, looking rather battered.

Putting two and two together, Naruto gasped softly, alarming Mimikyu who jumped in the air and whirled around in shock. "Did you protect me from that Tyrogue?" he questioned amazed.

Mimikyu shuffled hesitatingly towards him and nodded. "Mimi, Mimikyu, Mimikyu, Mimi!"

Naruto stared at the leaves around his arms and carefully removed one of them, noticing that he had stopped bleeding. There was a lot of dried blood he would need to wash off, but he didn't seem to be in any danger of bleeding out anymore.

"Were you also the one who wrapped these leaves around me?" he inquired, though it was an unnecessary question, considering there was no other Pokémon around bar the knocked out Tyrogue and there were no other people present either.

"Mimikyu!"

"Well, thank you," Naruto smiled and slowly sat up, hissing through gritted teeth when the burn on his shoulder tugged. He would definitely need to take a look at that when he got home. Speaking of going home …

Mimikyu straightened up when Naruto turned towards him. "You're the Mimikyu I gave the cloth to before, right?" He was pretty sure it was the same Mimikyu he had rescued before, but who knew how many Mimikyu's lived around these parts?

Mimikyu nodded slowly, appearing nervous for some reason.

"Do you want to come home with me? It looks like you need to repair your costume and you might need a Potion too," Naruto commented, frowning slightly. "Are you badly hurt?"

Mimikyu's fake head wobbled back and forth, but Naruto was still in too much pain to be able to figure out what that meant. "Well, come on then. We both can use something to fix us up," he smiled weakly and stood up.

The cuts and the slashes definitely tugged uncomfortably when he rose up, but he would have to deal with it until he got home. As long as he didn't start bleeding again, he would be fine. He had taken a couple of steps already when he realised that he couldn't hear Mimikyu following him and he turned his head, looking at the Pokémon questioningly.

"Aren't you coming with me? My place isn't that far away, I promise. We're not close to a centre," he bit down on his lip, "but I've got enough Potions at home to take care of you. I also should still have enough cloth and thread to repair your costume."

Mimikyu still looked uncertain, but then he started shuffling closer to the blond, some dark shadows briefly peeking through the rips in his costume. His fake head looked rather busted as well, Naruto noticed, hanging to the right as if some stuffing had been removed from it.

Turning around fully, Naruto opened his arms invitingly. "You want me to pick you up and carry you? I don't want you to be in too much pain."

Especially when tackling a Tyrogue couldn't have been that easy. They were stubborn Pokémon and quite sturdy, so it must have taken Mimikyu some time to take him down. Mimikyu could have easily left him behind, because he hadn't been obligated to stay with Naruto after he lost consciousness, but he hadn't. Instead he had remained with him and had even defended him from a vicious Tyrogue, so the least Naruto could do was carry him so that he wouldn't be in more pain than he already was.

Mimikyu shuddered oddly and seemed to be hesitating for some reason. The small slits in the belly area looked down at the shadowy tendrils he was trying to hide underneath his costume and Mimikyu hung his head, appearing ashamed.

Naruto was confused, not really understanding why Mimikyu was so worried about his shadowy parts. They were a part of him, so why did he seem so embarrassed about them? He supposed Mimikyu could just follow him, but the little Pokémon didn't look that steady on his feet and he didn't want him fainting from pain.

An idea hit him when he glanced down at the jacket he'd wrapped around his waist earlier. He'd been walking for quite some time already by the time he'd started feeling too warm and so he'd wrapped his jacket around his waist instead to cool off a bit. If he had kept the jacket on, then perhaps the cuts on his arms wouldn't have been this bad, but nothing that could be done about that now. His jacket gave him a good idea now, though, and he hastily unwrapped it and held it out to Mimikyu.

"I can carry you into this if you want? Might be a bit warm, but that way you won't hurt yourself by walking," Naruto offered. "That is, if you want to go with me, of course." Maybe Mimikyu just preferred to go to his own home, that would make sense. Naruto could still leave some Potions and cloth behind, though, if –

He blinked when Mimikyu quickly jumped onto his jacket and had to adjust his hold when the unexpected weight made him stagger slightly. A pair of small eyes glanced at him before they quickly ducked down and Mimikyu buried himself as deeply into the jacket as possible.

Smiling softly, ignoring the smarting pain in the cuts on his arms, Naruto started walking home. "All right, let's get ourselves fixed, hm?"

Because they both were quite the sorry sight, with Mimikyu's costume ripped in several places and his own arms cut and lacerated. But the Sandslash' and Talonflame were gone and Naruto doubted those boys would be back any time soon, so he still counted this as a win for them!

He took care of Mimikyu first, remembering how upset the Pokémon had been when his cloth had been ruined the previous time. After spraying a Potion on the tears and rips in the cloth to make sure that the attacks hadn't done worse, he hunted down the yellow cloth, crayons and some thread to give the stuff to Mimikyu. He didn't think the crayons were needed, but perhaps Mimikyu preferred making an entirely new costume instead?

He left Mimikyu with the supplies and with a bowl of curry he heated up. It had been made last night, so it wasn't that old yet and it was the best he could do when he was almost out of food. He really should think about buying groceries sooner instead of always waiting at the last minute, but oh well.

The bathroom was his next stop where he first washed off the blood, grimacing when the cold water made the cuts sting again. There was some faint blood welling up again, but another bout of keeping them underneath the water helped him stem the blood again. It took him a bit to remember where he had put the bandages, because for all the time he spent around Pokémon, getting actually hurt by them rarely occurred, so he hadn't had the need for bandages in quite a while now.

He found the first aid kit stuffed in the last drawer of a cabinet he kept next to the shower and spent some time covering the worst cuts with bandages. The ones which were shallow he didn't bother putting bandages on, because there was no point to that. The burn on his shoulder was not as bad as he feared it would be and he slathered some cream over it, clenching his jaw when the pain worsened for a couple of seconds. He would need to find a rather loose shirt so that he wouldn't aggravate the burn.

After finishing changing into the loosest clothes he had without risking them falling off, he went back downstairs and was just in time to see Mimikyu staring at something on one of the shelves next to the window. Naruto followed his gaze and wrinkled his nose when he realised what had captured Mimikyu's attention.

Ignoring the object, he went over to the small Pokémon, who turned around and gazed at him curiously. The supplies he'd given him before were left on the ground, but Mimikyu's costume was no longer ripped in several places, so he had made good use of the supplies, the blond noted approvingly. Good thing he hadn't thrown out that stuff.

"You still hungry?" he asked when he noticed how clean the bowl was. Man, Mimikyu must have worked up quite the appetite after attacking so many Pokémon, which made sense of course.

"Mimikyu?" Mimikyu looked questioningly around, turning around on his spot as if searching for something.

"You okay?" Naruto tilted his head to the left, confused. What was Mimikyu doing?

He was startled when Mimikyu suddenly lurched himself up onto the shelf, the wood groaning in protest, but Mimikyu ignored it and shuffled towards the object that had caught his attention before. A shadowy arm slithered out from underneath his costume and pointed at the ball first before waving haphazardly around, while Mimikyu uttered confused noises.

Biting back a sigh, Naruto looked at the object he'd been ignoring for several years now, but which he still couldn't bring himself to remove from the shelf. It was a customised Pokéball, the top half a bright orange when it should have been any of the regular colours like red or blue. He had saved for it for years when he'd been a kid, eager to customise the ball exactly to his liking.

Two months before his thirteenth birthday, he'd saved enough money from all the chores he'd been doing throughout the years to buy a customised ball. Not only was the top orange, but right above the lock system the words 'Best Friend' had been engraved. He'd been so proud when the artist had handed him his personalised Pokéball …

Now, whenever he looked at it, he was filled with disappointment and regret and so he had ignored the sight of it ever since that disastrous day. Trust Mimikyu to find the one thing he hadn't been supposed to find.

Not that it was the Pokémon's fault, of course. He should have removed it from the shelf if he hadn't wanted any uncomfortable questions about it, but for all the disappointment it had given him, he had never managed to convince himself to throw it out either.

"Mimikyu?" Mimikyu looked inquiringly at him.

Naruto smiled wryly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I got that Pokéball for my first Pokémon four years ago."

Immediately Mimikyu started looking around, as if expecting the Pokémon in question to show up now.

"There's nobody here," Naruto told him sombrely, which made Mimikyu stare at him confused. "They apparently didn't have enough Pokémon during the year I turned thirteen and I didn't get any Pokémon then. Guess that's what happens when you're the last one on the list." He smiled bitterly.

"Mimikyu?" Mimikyu still didn't seem to understand why there wasn't any Pokémon here.

"You can only get a starter Pokémon in the year you turn thirteen." Naruto shrugged stiffly and looked away from the ball. "Because I missed out on one that year, I couldn't start my journey, so I never got one and well, yeah. Here I am."

It still stung that the only reason why he hadn't been able to start his journey like all the others was because they hadn't checked the lists thoroughly and had neglected to do a proper count. He'd been the only one left out and he could still remember the snickering of some of the girls and the boys when they realised that he was the only one who hadn't got a starter Pokémon that year.

Four years later still it was a hard pill to swallow that he would never get to use his special Pokéball, all because some people couldn't count. Sure, he lived surrounded by all kinds of Pokémon and most of them were friendly enough to help him out with something if he required aid, but he didn't have the type of bond with them like he had hoped to have with his own team. Seeing all his year mates return to their town every once in a while and show off their team – sometimes ever changing, sometimes remaining fixed even several years later – hurt quite a bit still, he wasn't going to lie.

"Anyway," he shook his head, forcing the bad memories away, "it's getting late and the weather forecast said it's going to rain soon, so how about you rest here for the night? I can take you back in the morning if you want."

"Mimi, Mimikyu!" Mimikyu wiggled excitedly, performing a little jump even and making Naruto smile in spite of the bad memories which had been brought to the front of his mind again.

"All right, let me go see if I still have that small bed that I used to nurse that Clefairy back to health," he muttered to himself, going back upstairs. "Then I need to eat something as well." His stomach was starting to cramp slightly now that he was paying attention to it, but that could wait a bit longer.

He was pretty sure he'd stashed that small bed in the storage room when Clefairy had left, so unless he had somehow moved it to a random place in the meantime, it should still be there. He flicked the light on first when he entered the room, because it was steadily growing darker outside with the dark grey clouds gathering threateningly. Seemed like the weather forecast was right then. It definitely wouldn't be a good idea to send Mimikyu out in that storm. Sure, Pokémon living in the wild were used to dealing with storms, but Mimikyu was still healing from the fights he'd taken on to help Naruto, so the longer he could rest the better.

"Aha!" He found the bed stored behind a small tower of boxes and managed to pick it up without pushing the tower over.

The bed itself had a wooden frame and looked similar to that of a bed meant for people, but it had an extra soft pillow with a zipper on one side. If necessary, some of the stuffing could be removed to make the pillow flatter, but he would leave that up to Mimikyu to decide as not every Pokémon liked flat pillows.

"Here you go," he announced when he got back downstairs, placing the bed next to the heater. He had run the heater earlier this morning to test it out and check for any signs that it might break down soon. It was still early September, so it wasn't that cold yet, but he'd learnt the hard way that it was better to check the heating system early on before it would actually grow cold enough to need it every day.

"If the pillow is too soft, you can open up the zipper on this side here," he pointed at the side in question, "and you can remove some of the stuffing then, no problem. You can get settled in while I get myself some food; I'll be back soon with some water as well."

He left Mimikyu to inspect the bed thoroughly – the Pokémon seemed particularly fascinated by the softness of the pillow – and made a beeline for the kitchen to heat up some of the remaining curry, making a mental note to go grocery shopping tomorrow. He only had some cereals left and that was not enough to get him through tomorrow, let alone the rest of the week.

He made another detour to the living room to drop off a bowl with water for Mimikyu, who was happily wriggling around on the pillow, his shadowy arms patting along the surface of it, and returned to the kitchen just in time for his curry to finish heating up.

Leaning back against the kitchen counter, he started eating his dinner and listened to the rain hitting the windows, gradually picking up speed until he had to close the window he'd left ajar earlier when the wind made it rattle too much. Some Bidoof scurried past his gate, followed by a couple of Zigzagoon as they hurried to find shelter against the storm which was starting to come down really hard now.

After doing the dishes, he considered sitting down on the couch with a book as it was barely seven, but to be honest today's events had drained him rather hard and while the medicine was definitely starting to work, his arms were still aching slightly, and so the decision to go to bed was easily made. Sleep would do him well and in the morning he would bring Mimikyu back to his own home once the storm had subsided.

Mimikyu's head shot up when Naruto leant half through the door opening. "Hey, I'm going to bed now, because I can use the rest. I've left some food in a bowl for you in the kitchen. It's rather dry," he said apologetically, "but it's the only thing I still have left in the house. Good night, Mimikyu."

Mimikyu chirped and he looked so happy curled up right in the middle of the cushion that it had Naruto smiling again, happy himself that he could help out the little Pokémon in his own way.

After locking the front door, he flipped off the remaining lights and walked upstairs in the dark, counting each step automatically now even when he didn't need it anymore. He spent just enough time brushing his teeth and cleaning his face before exchanging his clothes for his most comfortable pyjamas and sank down in his bed with a long drawn out sigh.

The sound of the rain hitting both the windows and the roof panes was easily lulling him to sleep and his eyes became heavier and heavier until they finally slipped close for the last time and he sank into a deep sleep.

It was the unexpected sensation of his mattrass being indented as something walked on it that had Naruto jerking awake, dazed and confused even as he quickly sat up and clicked on the small lamp on his nightstand.

Peering through heavy eyes, he realised it wasn't even ten p.m. yet and completely confused by now, he turned his attention to the one who'd woken him up in the first place. Mimikyu was hovering right next to Naruto's knee and –

Was holding the Pokéball in his shadowy hands.

"Erm, why do you have that, Mimikyu?" Naruto asked slowly, rubbing his eyes quickly. Was he still asleep somehow? There were no Hypno nearby, though, so it couldn't be a weird dream. A quick pinch in his side let him know that, ouch, he was definitely awake.

"Mimikyu, Mimikyu, Mimi!" Mimikyu cried out and dropped the Pokéball on the bed in front of him. He then pointed one of his shadowy tendrils at the ball, then at himself and then at Naruto, repeating the gestures several times, all while looking somehow both hopeful and anxious.

"You want to … be in the Pokéball?" Naruto questioned mystified. Was it because it wasn't a regular Pokéball that Mimikyu had grown interested in it? He must have seen several types of Pokéballs by now, given the wide variety trainers could choose from nowadays.

"Mimi, Mimikyu, Mimi!" Mimikyu said, more insistingly now, and again pointed at the ball, back at him and then at Naruto. He picked up the ball and threw it in the air. It landed on the floor this time and the lock automatically engaged, opening the ball, and Mimikyu jumped down, right in front of it, as if he … was coming out of the Pokéball.

Heart thudding madly, Naruto leant forwards, sitting on his knees. "You want to be my Pokémon?" It was so silly, that thought, because why would Mimikyu want to be his Pokémon when there were actual official trainers out there, trainers who had their own starter Pokémon, who hadn't failed the simplest task of starting their journey with one and …

"Mimikyu!" Mimikyu cried out enthusiastically, pointing once more at the ball, him and Naruto, creating a circle in the air this time as if he wanted to say, "You and me, together!"

As the blond considered the possibility, mulling it over again and again, his mouth became dry when he realised it was possible. It was possible for him and Mimikyu to form a team and start their own journey.

Yes, the rules stated that you could only get a starter Pokémon in the year you turned thirteen – but nowhere did it say that you couldn't start your journey with a non-starter Pokémon. Nor was it forbidden to start your journey at a later age than thirteen.

He could actually be a trainer. Him and Mimikyu – they could be a team together!

"Mimi – Mimikyu?" Mimikyu looked apprehensive now, shuffling back and forth in that weird ashamed way again and apprehensiveness quickly made way for worry. His fake head was starting to droop down, his earlier enthusiasm and happiness waning, until Naruto snatched up the ball and stumbled out of his bed, holding the ball in front of him.

The ball he'd customised years ago, the ball he'd wanted to use on his very first friend …

"Mimikyu? You want to be my Pokémon?" he asked hopefully, his arm vaguely trembling with the rush of emotions that were sweeping over him.

Mimikyu shuddered once, twice, and then that red light – the light he'd only been able to witness for years, but never had the chance to experience for himself on this side of the light – poured out of the Pokéball, enveloped Mimikyu and pulled him inside the ball.

The lock mechanism clicked quietly in the silent room, signifying a successful catch.

Blood rushing loudly in his ears, heat rushing through his veins, Naruto licked his lips and his fingers tightened around the cold metal of the ball for a moment before he held it out in front of him again and his voice rang out in his bedroom, "Mimikyu, I choose you!"

Not even a second later, the ball unclasped again and out came Mimikyu, the red light filling the room and even though the light wasn't bright at all, the back of his eyes still stung when Mimikyu appeared with a cry and turned around to a face him with a battle ready pose.

He and Mimikyu were a team now. He couldn't wait for their journey to unfold!

AN2: Don't ask me how long this is going to be, I have no idea, I'm a victim of my own mind. Talking about victims, can anyone tell me what on earth the purpose of a Beast Ball is when its catch rate is shit? Even a Premier Ball seems more useful. (Seriously, though, what's the deal with a Beast Ball?)

Anyways, yes, second part done, more to come! I've got a couple of names in mind already for the Gym Leaders and the Elite 4 (yes, we're working with those in the story, not with Semi-finals and Finals, let me have my nostalgia) but who would you want to see show up? Let me know in the comments and maybe you're lucky and they'll show up ^^

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.