Author's note: At least this time it isn't a full two months? *winces* And, erm, the chapter is longer? I'm really sorry, guys, for leaving you hanging for so long again. University's kicking my arse big time and that makes concentrating on this rather light hearted story harder than I thought it would be. But I'm not giving up! I hope you can forgive me for making you wait so long. All I can say is that I'm going to try my damn hardest to have the next one out sooner.

Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; Swordsmanwielder; babyvfan; rntobi; Elsyra; Pen-Woman; Nellana; JaiJayce; Iraheta 127

Warnings: Some light violence; sassiness; mentions of injuries

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

Here's to anyone still reading this: I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 8

He yelled in surprise and dove to the side, narrowly missing getting his cheek pierced by a sharp claw. Pidgeotto wasn't finished yet, however, pulling up immediately again to launch another attack.

This was so, so not good! Those claws would be able to do some big damage if they managed to hook into his skin and he wasn't close to any hospital.

"How about I give you a Berry?" Naruto called out, a bit desperate. "You want a Berry?"

Pidgeotto, however, merely screeched and flung himself down once more. Naruto scrambled out of the way, a wing nearly clipping him in the back of his head. Before Pidgeotto could whirl around and attack him once more, a plume of fire hit him straight in his belly, and his ensuing high pitched screech nearly blew Naruto's eardrums out.

Where had that fire – oh. Naruto's mouth dropped open when he saw Vulpix storming towards them, opening her mouth to launch another fireball. Her Ember attack seared Pidgeotto's right wing and the Bird Pokémon tumbled down, squawking before Vulpix slammed her body into him, her Quick Attack completely throwing him off balance.

Out of nowhere a Pokéball landed at Naruto's feet and when he whipped his head around, he saw Mimikyu shuffling towards him as quickly as he could, his shadowy appendages urgently pointing at the ball before he pointed at Pidgeotto.

Oh, right!

Shaking his head at his own stupidity, Naruto quickly snatched the Pokéball from the ground and threw it at Pidgeotto. Vulpix jumped to the side the second the ball hit Pidgeotto and Naruto watched with bated breath how the red light shot out of the Pokéball and enveloped Pidgeotto completely, swallowing him up. The ball fell down on the ground, bumping against some rocks and rocked back and forth as Pidgeotto struggled against his captivity.

The Pokéball rolled to the left. Then to the right. The left. The right. The left. The right and …

Click.

The noise of the Pokéball officially closing was almost inaudible, the sound of clattering water louder behind him, but to Naruto's ears, it was as loud as a thunderclap happening right above him. All three of them stared at the Pokéball in disbelief, watching it lie innocently still next to a rock. Mimikyu was the first one to break out of his stupor, jumping up and down, throwing his shadowy appendages in the air.

"Mimi, Mimikyu!" We did it!

"Vulpix!" Vulpix started preening as well; her tails fluffing up with pride as she sat up straight.

"We caught a Pokémon," Naruto muttered dazed, pressing his palm against his forehead. "We caught a Pidgeotto!" His voice rose towards the end as realisation fully dawned on him.

He had finally caught a new Pokémon! And this time he had actually caught one after his Pokémon had weakened him!

"This is so amazing!" he crowed and first hugged Mimikyu before he embraced Vulpix. "You were so cool! And Mimikyu, thank you so much for bringing me that Pokéball! I don't know what would have happened if you two hadn't shown up," he sighed relieved.

He'd probably be bearing quite some gruesome cuts by now, because Pidgeotto hadn't looked ready to give up any time soon. Thinking about the Pokémon's wild behaviour had him frowning and he slowly reached out to pick up the Pokéball, studying it. Why had Pidgeotto attacked him? He didn't think it was anywhere close to their breeding season, so he couldn't have accidentally come too close to a nest. As a matter of fact, he hadn't even known a Pidgeotto had been nearby until the Pokémon had attacked him without any form of provocation.

He wasn't so naïve as to think that all Pokémon were peaceful. If they were, there wouldn't be any need for facilities to rehabilitate them or keep them away from the general population. But in most cases a Pokémon tended to feel provoked. If such was the case for Pidgeotto, what had Naruto done to evoke such a reaction?

"Mimi?" Mimikyu regarded him curiously.

"Ah, it's nothing," Naruto smiled faintly and shook his head. "Just wondering why Pidgeotto chose to attack me out of nowhere. I don't think I did anything to provoke - "

A rustling noise had him instantly whipping around, staring at the same bush he'd been watching earlier before Pidgeotto had attacked him out of the blue. That was right, he had been trying to discover which Pokémon had been staring back at him before he had to dive out of the way.

"Hello?" he called out tentatively again. Next to him Mimikyu narrowed his eyes; his shadowy tendrils shuddering slightly.

Vulpix was attentive too, rising up and following Naruto closer to the edge of the creek.

For a long moment, he stood there in tense silence, pricking his ears, trying to catch anything that might sound like a Pokémon. Nothing rustled anymore, however, and he couldn't spot any eyes staring back at him from between the bushes. Whichever Pokémon it had been, it was gone by now or keeping itself exceptionally silent.

Was this strange Pokémon the reason why Pidgeotto had suddenly attacked him? Maybe Pidgeotto had spotted the strange Pokémon as well, had felt unnerved and perhaps had suspected Naruto of being the owner of said Pokémon? That was the only reason Naruto could think of why Pidgeotto would suddenly have attacked him.

"Come on, guys," Naruto eventually said and walked backwards away from the creek, still looking at the bush. Still nothing moved and he bit down on his lip, before turning around completely. "Let's go back to the tent and check how Pidgeotto's doing."

Pidgeotto was a bit sullen when Naruto called him out of his Pokéball, but at least he didn't try to attack Naruto again, which was all the blond trainer could ask for at this moment.

"Do you mind if I take a look at your wing and your belly?" Naruto asked cautiously, opening his bag. He sat in front of the tent; a small fire chasing away the darkness of the evening. He had considered taking care of Pidgeotto inside the tent, but had figured the Bird Pokémon might panic in such a small enclosed space and the last thing they needed was for Pidgeotto to lash out again.

Pidgeotto regarded him suspiciously; his dark eyes glinting as he took in how Naruto pulled out a Potion and some Berries from his bag.

"Your injuries don't look that bad, but it won't do to have you in pain until we reach the next town either," Naruto explained. "The next town will probably take us two or three more days to reach and keeping you in the Pokéball doesn't seem like a good idea either. If I had had a Heal Ball it would be different, but yeah."

Heal Balls were only sold in the big cities, considered to be on a higher level than regular Pokéballs and even Great Balls, so they weren't easy to get a hold of. They tended to be rather limited in stock as well, making it even more difficult to get your hands on them.

"Vulpix, Vulpix," Vulpix stated frankly, laying down on her belly with her chin resting on her front paws. Let him do it.

"Pidgeotto!" The Bird Pokémon threw her a foul look, which didn't impress her at all.

"Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix!" Your own fault!

"Okay, okay, we're not going to blame each other!" Naruto hastily intervened before it could erupt in a full out battle again. Even Mimikyu was gearing himself up to go, his dark eyes glittering as he shuffled closer; his stuffed head wobbling slightly from side to side. "We're a team now, okay? And as a team, we take care of each other. So Pidgeotto, what do you think? Can I spray some Potion on your burns or do you prefer waiting in the Pokéball until we reach a Pokécentre? That might take a little while, though," he added with an apologetic shrug.

Pidgeotto looked ready to snap, but then he flapped his wings and immediately winced.

"Mimikyu," was Mimikyu's rather unsympathetic retort. Not smart.

"Mimikyu," Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't aggravate him, please."

"Mimi, Mimi, Kyu." Telling the truth.

Vulpix snorted, hiding her grin between her paws.

Pidgeotto sniffed, but then tentatively hopped closer, holding out his wing. He turned his head resolutely away, though, refusing to even look at Naruto, but that was fine. The injuries weren't that awful, so it was probably mostly Pidgeotto's pride smarting at the moment. The blond trainer was certain that given a bit of time, Pidgeotto would warm up to them. The fact that he was still sticking around instead of trying to fly away – or well, hop away – was already telling for sure.

"All right, this might sting a bit and it's probably going to be cold, but hold on," Naruto warned him and carefully sprayed both the wing and his belly.

Pidgeotto squawked, ruffled his feathers rather violently, but stayed put nonetheless until Naruto had fully coated his injuries with the Potion.

Nodding to himself, Naruto stored the bottle back in his bag. "I think you'll be completely fine if you get a full night's rest. Have some Berries before you go to sleep; you must be hungry."

He gave Mimikyu and Vulpix each a Berry as well as reward for having done so well. Only when both Pokémon dug into their sweet did Pidgeotto start pecking away at his Berry as well, though he kept a sharp eye on the others.

Leaning back on his hands, Naruto considered the sight of his three Pokémon eating together and smiled. In spite of the strange Pokémon, this evening had been rather successful. After all, he finally caught his third Pokémon – and one that would even be able to help him in the second Gym! As a Flying Type Pidgeotto would have an advantage against Water Pokémon, which meant that with a bit of luck and some training, this would be one Gym Battle Vulpix could sit out on. As a Fire Type, Vulpix had the biggest disadvantage in the next gym and if Naruto could prevent her from getting hurt too severely, he would. He knew she wouldn't be happy about it, but there were still six other Gyms left where she could battle if she wanted.

A Water Gym, though? Mimikyu and Pidgeotto would have to take this one on their own.

Tomorrow they would start their training anew and with a third member, he was sure their training would even go better than before!

The next town was less than a day's travelling away when the clouds suddenly broke and rain started absolutely pouring down. Naruto was just barely on time with calling his Pokémon back in their Pokéballs and then he was running over the road, trying to spot anything – a shed, a cluster of trees together – that he could shelter in as protection against the rain.

Drops stung his skin and he had to shield his eyes with his hand in order not to get blinded by the rain. Of course it had to start raining right when there wasn't anything around to hide in! They should have stayed longer in the forest today; he could have found some shelter there! There was no point in trying to put up his tent; with how heavy the rain was pelting down, he wasn't sure whether the fabric would even hold.

He was running straight past a lake – hey, could that be the lake they had spotted on the map a few days ago? – when he spotted something in the corner of his eye, attracting his attention. He slowed down a bit, his breathing heavier now, and looked around, wondering what had caught his attention.

He was about to dismiss it, gearing up to start running again, but then something moved at the edge of the waterline and he walked towards it, slightly mystified. His mouth dropped open when he realised what exactly had attracted his attention. Or better said: who.

There, curled up in a tight ball, was a Vaporeon. The poor thing was shivering violently, hugging its tail, and practically radiating absolute misery. Naruto didn't understand why at first, because wasn't Vaporeon a Water Pokémon? Shouldn't they feel at home in the rain and near water? But when he squatted down, his stomach rolled when he saw why Vaporeon wasn't in its element. One of its hindlegs, the left one, laid crookedly across the ground, away from its body. It was bent in a way it definitely wasn't meant to be bent, which indicated that it was broken.

"Hey, what are you doing here on your own? Where's your trainer?" Naruto asked softly, looking around.

But no, he couldn't spot anyone else. There had to be a trainer nearby, though, because Vaporeon rarely lived in the wild. They were an evolution of Eevee; an evolution that could only be brought on by using a Water Stone on Eevee and Water Stones were very hard to find. The chances of an Eevee having found a Water Stone randomly and having decided to use it on itself were very slim. So where was this Vaporeon's trainer? And more importantly, who had hurt this Vaporeon so badly? Had it lost a battle? Again, though, where was its trainer then? Why would anyone leave a hurt Vaporeon behind? They might be a Water Pokémon, but water wasn't going to heal their injuries, especially not severe ones like broken bones!

"Where's your trainer, Vaporeon? Do you know where they are?" Naruto asked again, but Vaporeon merely let out a pathetic whimper that tugged painfully at his heart.

He couldn't just leave Vaporeon here, not with his leg broken and Arceus knew where its trainer was! Who knew how long it would take before the trainer came back? With its broken leg Vaporeon wouldn't even be able to defend itself against other Pokémon if they were to attack the poor thing!

Should he stay here, wait for the trainer to return? What if they didn't return, though? It was a thought which had him gnawing on his lip hard. It just didn't make any sense for a trainer to leave Vaporeon here if they were planning on returning. If they were seeking help, why not just put Vaporeon back in its Pokéball and go to a Pokécentre? That would make more sense than to just leave Vaporeon behind here. Yes, Vaporeon thrived near clear bodies of water and even though the pouring rain made the water look murky, Naruto could easily picture how beautiful the lake looked when the weather was nice. Again, though, an injured Vaporeon wouldn't be helped with just water.

He would have to take Vaporeon to a Pokécentre. There was no other option. He couldn't stay here for Arceus knew how long and risk getting ill himself and the longer Vaporeon remained here without any care, the higher the risk at complications would be. Vaporeon needed care urgently, because who knew how long he had been lying here already? Well, Naruto presumed he was male, because he thought Vaporeon tended to be mostly male.

That didn't matter now. What mattered was getting Vaporeon to a Pokécentre. But how? He couldn't transport him in a Pokéball because he wasn't Naruto's. Carrying him then? Naruto heaved a huge sigh. That looked to be his only option.

"Okay, erm, this isn't going to be easy, but I don't know any other solution," he started and shrugged off his backpack, rummaging through it to find a blanket. "This isn't going to be the most comfortable, but I'm going to wrap this blanket around you and immobilise your broken leg as much as possible and then … I'm going to carry you to a Pokécentre. Is that okay with you?"

Vaporeon's black eyes blinked up at him slowly which Naruto choose to interpret as permission.

"I'm going to be as gentle as possible, I promise," he murmured and carefully placed the blanket over Vaporeon.

That was the easiest part. The most difficult one was tilting him up to bring the blanket completely around him and wrap the broken leg in the blanket as much as he could to stabilise it. Clearly this was quite painful for Vaporeon, because the Pokémon whined and cried in pain, weakly trying to shuffle away but unable to do so with one of his legs useless.

"I know, I know," Naruto muttered, biting down on his lip hard. He hated hearing how much in pain Vaporeon had to be, but he didn't have any other option. Waiting for help to arrive would be a too dangerous gamble and that wasn't something he was willing to risk.

Finally the blanket was completely around Vaporeon and his leg was fully stabilised; the thickness of the cloth ensuring that his leg wouldn't move at all.

"Okay." Naruto inhaled deeply and swung his backpack back over his shoulder. "Again, I'm going to be as careful as possible, but the thing is – you're heavier than Mimikyu is, so erm, I can't just carry you in my arms. I think it's best if I basically carry you like a child?" He winced, the proposition sounding stupid even in his ears, but what else could he do?

If Pidgeotto had already evolved into Pidgeot and had learnt to fly, he could have placed Vaporeon on his back and could have transported him to the Pokécentre like that, but that wasn't possible now. Pidgeotto was barely bigger than Vaporeon so he wouldn't even be able to carry him if he had wanted to.

"Which means, erm, that I'm going to have you place your head on my shoulder and I really hope you won't bite me," Naruto nervously babbled as he brought his arms around Vaporeon, tilting him up.

Oh boy, Vaporeon definitely was a lot heavier than Mimikyu was. By a whole lot actually. He could already feel how heavy he was by just tilting him forwards. Vaporeon's inability to move around himself made him feel even heavier as he could do nothing but lay there slumped.

Somehow, Naruto had no idea how he had managed it, he succeeded in picking up Vaporeon and held him against his chest with one arm clasped around his back, feeling the spiky ridges of his spine, and the other braced underneath him; careful not to put too much pressure on his injured leg. Vaporeon whined loudly, but hooked his chin over Naruto's shoulder; breathing heavily.

"All right, here we go." His breathing already a bit strained, Naruto rose up on quaking legs and once he found his footing again he turned around and marched back to the road. He couldn't run, not with the heavy weight of Vaporeon pressed against him and taking heed of his injured leg, but he would try to walk as fast as possible.

Hopefully he would reach the Pokécentre before his arms would give out.

His feet burnt like hell, his legs felt wobbly, and his shoulders and arms ached so badly he feared he would never be able to move them in a normal way again. He was exhausted, so hungry it felt like his stomach was trying to eat itself, and he was completely soaked to the bone; a pounding headache like the cherry on top of a messed up day.

But they had made it. The next town. Most importantly: he had arrived at the Pokécentre.

The rain was still pouring down heavily when he stumbled into the brightly lit Pokécentre; the harsh T-lights doing absolutely nothing to improve his headache and he grimaced, feeling like a Hitmonlee was constantly kicking him in the head.

"Good evening, how can I – oh dear, you look absolutely soaked through!" Nurse Joy exclaimed in shock and hurried from behind her desk; Chansey quickly following her.

"I'm fine, Vaporeon needs your help," Naruto said, barely able to bring out the words, so numb did his lips feel after hours of walking through ice cold rain. His clothes were plastered against his body and he was grateful he had thought to keep his Pokémon safe in their Pokéballs.

"What's wrong with him? Why didn't you put him in his Pokéball?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"I found him on the side of the road," he explained. "I thought his trainer would be nearby but I couldn't find them and I didn't want to leave him behind. His left hindleg looks to be broken. Can you heal him?"

"Of course I can," she said and clucked her tongue. "A broken bone is nothing. Let me take him over from you so that you can get cleaned up. Chansey will get you a spare set of clothes. I can't believe you walked all the way in this awful weather!"

He smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't leave him behind," he repeated and went to hand over Vaporeon to her.

Vaporeon whimpered, however, and even as cold and numb as he currently was, Naruto could still feel his claws digging into his shoulder blade, making him wince. Vaporeon stuck his face in Naruto's neck, breathing heavier, and whined, rubbing his head back and forth, which created an odd sensation with how smooth his skin was.

Nurse Joy blinked and her mouth parted slightly before comprehension crossed her face. "Looks like Vaporeon got a bit attached to you," she said softly. "Okay, slight change of plans then. You'll follow me to one of the rooms where you can put him down on the bed and Chansey will go look for some clothes for you."

"Is he going to be fine?" Naruto asked worriedly as he hurried after the nurse, who brought him past the desk and through a white door.

They entered a long corridor which had doors on each side. Each door was numbered and some stood ajar, showing either an empty bed or a snoozing Pokémon. One of the rooms held a Noctowl, who had its wing wrapped up in gauze.

"He will be," she replied confidently. "The poor thing is just in shock and in pain. It's natural that he latched on to you. You said you couldn't find his trainer?"

"No, I waited for a bit, but nobody showed up and I never encountered them either on the way here," he answered, furrowing his eyebrows. It didn't feel right that during all those hours he had been on the road, never once had he encountered the trainer of Vaporeon.

Where on earth were they?

"I'll have Chansey talking with Vaporeon once he feels better," Nurse Joy murmured and opened a door to her left. "You can place him down on the bed. You did well to stabilise his leg. You have experience with taking care of Pokémon?"

"Erm, well, back in my hometown I sometimes nursed Pokémon back to health and helped out the professor," he admitted. "I'm not a professional, though."

"Well, for a non-professional, you did a good job," she smiled. "Go on, Chansey will give you some clothes and give you a hot meal. I daresay you need it after being so long on the road in this type of weather."

Well, he wasn't going to decline dry clothes and warm food!

He ended up staying the night in the Pokécentre and had his Pokémon checked by Nurse Joy in the morning.

"How is Vaporeon doing?" he asked concerned. It had been difficult to fall asleep last night, because exhausted as he had been, his mind had kept turning to Vaporeon and the mystery of where his trainer could be.

"Doing a bit better," Nurse Joy reassured him and returned his Pokéballs. "He'll need a couple more days, though, to fully get back to health. A broken bone isn't nothing after all. Are you going to stick around?"

He nodded. "I'm going to challenge the Gym here and if it's not too much trouble, I want to hang around until I'm sure Vaporeon is going to be okay."

"Some trainers can learn a thing of two from you," she smiled. "Chansey is going to try talking with Vaporeon today, see if he feels up to speaking. Good luck with your Gym Battle."

"Thank you," he grinned and left the Pokécentre, taking a deep breath once he was outside.

The rain had stopped somewhere during the night, but its fresh scent still lingered and he spent a moment just standing there, breathing in the cold, fresh air. His shoulders and arms were still aching from carrying around Vaporeon for so long, but his legs no longer felt like wet noodles and his headache had abated. His Pokémon were back to full health as well and now that they were finally in the new town, it was time to face their second Gym.

Just like the previous time, nerves started to fill him up the closer he got to the Gym, but he was determined to ignore them and not let himself be overwhelmed by them. They had managed to defeat the first Gym just fine and this time they were already a team of three. Even with Vulpix not being able to battle today, he still had Mimikyu and he had the advantage of a Flying Type in the form of Pidgeotto, who had definitely warmed up to them during their training sessions.

He was as ready as he was ever going to be and there was no point in pushing it off longer.

The second gym was to the east of the town and it had large windows, showing dark blue floors inside and something that looked like waterfalls?

Swallowing nervously, Naruto steeled himself and walked to the entrance. The doors swished open quietly and his footsteps echoed through the large room when he entered the Gym.

A lanky man with half long white hair, purple eyes and a sharp grin was awaiting him in front of a closed door.

"So you're a new Gym Challenger, huh?" the man smirked, resting a hand on his hip. He was dressed in a black tank top and purple shorts.

"Yes, I am. I'm here to challenge the Gym." Naruto stuck out his chin a bit, refusing to let himself be cowed by the confident smirk on the man's face.

"I can use some good entertainment." The man's smirk widened as he threw out his arms. "The name's Suigetsu, I'm the Gym Leader here. Welcome."

AN2: Apparently Vaporeon weighs 29 kilos, who knew? The things you find out when you look up things for fics, it's amazing, really.

Tying in to that, question time! What's your favourite Eeveelution(s)? If you have one/them, that is. Mine are Umbreon and Espeon. I really like their designs.

I hope this chapter wasn't too bad! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

Now I'm off to bed, because once again I'm a fucking idiot. See you all 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.