Author's note: What's a Pokémon story without some mystery, hm, guys?
Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; Pen-Woman; Sebastian07; swordsmanwielder; Weebio; Kalos; leighd1314; rntobi; Guest; SarahNThatcher; Cadmarcad; lara5170
Warnings: Mystery
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 this one!
Chapter 19
A soft pink ceiling greeted him when he opened his eyes. It puzzled him and he stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out why he was looking at a ceiling and why it was pink. His tent wasn't pink. He was also lying on something that felt far too soft to be his sleeping bag.
He started to sit up, but had to halt when his stomach protested; the ache forcing him back down. The strain in his abdomen felt like he had done a hundred push-ups straight after each other. He waited a moment, clenching and unfurling his fingers before making a second attempt at sitting up. He managed it this time, dragging himself up until he was leaning against the headrest of a … bed?
Completely bewildered, he looked around, taking note of the peach coloured walls, the single window which looked out at grass fenced off by a row of round bushes and a strange machine that was regularly beeping right next to his bed. The machine was connected to some wires which stuck to his wrist and to his chest.
Where on earth was he?
Right as he started removing the wires from his chest, the door opened, revealing Tsunade of all people.
"You're awake!" she exclaimed in relief for some reason and rushed over to him. "How are you feeling?"
"A bit of a sore stomach, but I'm okay," Naruto answered bemused. "What happened? Where are my Pokémon?" he asked when he realised his belt with the Pokéballs wasn't anywhere near him. He glanced around again, settling slightly when he noticed his bag in the corner of the room. "Where am I?"
"You're at the Pokécentre. Your Pokémon refused to come out of their Pokéballs, so they are still in your bag," she answered. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she sat carefully down on the bed. "What do you remember?"
"Remember?" Should he remember something important? Something that had led to him ending up in a Pokécentre somehow?
He and his team had stopped to train on their way to the new town. The training had gone like usual until Riolu and Mimikyu had started arguing, right? Right. The argument had blown into a near fight and then Riolu had run off. Naruto had gone straight after him and then …
Blue eyes widened and his hands shot down to his stomach. His stomach which had been a gaping hole because –
"Tyranitar stabbed me?!" he blurted out in shock.
"That appeared to be the case," Tsunade said, her mouth pinched. "You lost a lot of blood."
"How did I end up here?" Because the last thing he could recall was Tyranitar throwing him into the air and bleeding out on that hill. There hadn't been anyone nearby, so how had he been found on time?
"That is where things get interesting," a vaguely familiar male voice piped up.
To Naruto's surprise, Uchiha stood in the doorway. He inclined his head when he caught Naruto staring at him.
"It's good to see you conscious again," Uchiha smiled faintly, but the corners of his eyes were tight.
"Hello," Naruto said slowly, thrown off guard by the man's unexpected presence.
What was he doing here? The last time Naruto had seen him, he'd been dealing with those guys who had tried to abduct Riolu. Why would he be here in a Pokécentre of all places?
"I was part of the team tasked with tracking down Tyranitar," Uchiha explained and walked further into the room, pausing behind the bed. "I apologise profusely that we didn't manage to subdue him before he found you and your team."
Naruto shrugged awkwardly. "It's not fault. Did Tyranitar change course? Chiyo-san told me which direction to stay away from and I followed that advice, but …"
"He did change course suddenly, yes," Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead. "We were close when we suddenly heard him change direction and run away. By the way we tracked him down, you'd already been injured."
"Did any of my Pokémon get hurt?" he demanded worriedly. Tyranitar had been focusing on Riolu before Naruto had thrown himself between them, but with him having lost consciousness, there had been nothing to stop Tyranitar from finishing his rampage.
"Nothing but a couple of scares," Uchiha spoke and rested his hands on the railing of the bed. "We were actually wondering whether you could convince your team to tell us what happened."
"What do you mean?" Naruto frowned.
"When we found you, Tyranitar was already out for the count and you were – being healed by a Blissey," Tsunade answered, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I don't have a Blissey," was all Naruto could say in response.
It was perhaps a rather inane answer, but it was all he could think to say. He didn't have a Blissey, so how could a Blissey have been healing him?
"I didn't know Blissey were native to this area," he muttered, more so to himself, but the others easily overheard him.
"They aren't," Uchiha denied and tapped his fingers against the railing. "Which makes it highly curious how one managed to find you on time before you bled out."
"That is why we need your team to tell us what happened right before we found you," Tsunade took over again. "They were all with you when we found you, but they have refused to speak to us."
"They found me and Riolu?" Naruto was surprised.
He had left the rest of his team behind when he had started chasing Riolu and while he hadn't kept tracked of the distance, he was pretty certain he and Riolu had run quite a lot.
"They did. We have reason to believe that they were actually the ones who managed to subdue Tyranitar," Uchiha said to his shock.
"But Tyranitar was way stronger than them!" Naruto exclaimed.
He wasn't downplaying his Pokémon's strengths, but given Tyranitar's status and his high level, it should have been impossible for his Pokémon to battle him on equal terms, let alone defeat him!
"If they worked together, it would still be surprising, but not impossible," Tsunade mused. "Your Mimikyu was taught a Fairy move, you've got Vaporeon whose Type Tyranitar is also weak against and Riolu in theory had the biggest advantage, considering his Fighting Nature. If they all banded together – it's not completely unheard of that lower levelled Pokémon can still manage to win from stronger opponents."
"This is all just speculation so far, however," Uchiha interjected. "To really know what happened with Tyranitar and how Blissey came to your aid, we need to talk to your Pokémon."
"Guys, you can come out now," Naruto called out, not yet trusting his stomach enough to actually get out of bed. He'd try again later, once his head wasn't ringing with everything he'd been told so far.
Tyranitar having been beaten by his team? A Blissey who had managed to heal him until Tsunade and the others had found him? That all sounded so surreal!
Six beams of red light instantly filled the room as if his Pokémon had been waiting for his cue. Pidgeotto screeched, stretching out his large wings before flying over to Naruto, landing on the headrest next to him, affectionately butting his head against Naruto's temple. Toxtricity was more casual in his approach to the bed, but his eyes were sharp and his frill was faintly glowing. He threw a suspicious look at both Uchiha and Tsunade before coming to stand right next to the bed. Riolu was actually tearing up as he hastily jumped on top of the bed, barely avoiding Naruto's legs. The Baby Pokémon instantly grabbed his left leg through the blanket, holding it firmly but gently.
Vaporeon released a series of excited chirps before halting next to Toxtricity, resting his head on the edge of the mattress, closing his eyes in delight when Naruto patted his head gently. Vulpix tittered before elegantly jumping onto the bed as well, performing something close to kneading the blankets with her front paws as her tails were raised high in the air. Mimikyu was the last to approach; shuffling as quickly as he could. His eyes were visibly tearing up and it was a testament to how frightened he must have been by Naruto's state, because he didn't even glower at Tsunade when she knelt down to pick him up, depositing him gently next to Naruto.
The second Mimikyu was on the bed, he crawled onto Naruto's chest, neatly avoiding his stomach by clutching his Trainer's neck with his shadowy tendrils. The shadows felt slightly cool, but not uncomfortable and Naruto uttered shushing noises as he did his best to comfort all his Pokémon.
"Hey, I'm okay, I'm okay! No need to cry, come on!"
"Mimi, Mimi, Mimikyu, Mimi!" Thought we lost you!
"Riolu!" Was scary!
Vaporeon chirped mournfully. Don't want to see you again like that.
Well, that was a sentiment Naruto could wholeheartedly agree with. He didn't exactly fancy being gored by any Pokémon ever again, let alone an out of control Tyranitar!
"Can you tell me what happened after Tyranitar attacked me?" Naruto asked, wincing when a shudder rippled through every single one of his Pokémon. Even Toxtricity looked incredibly unsettled; his cool mask slipping every few seconds.
His team shared a look with each other.
"Mimikyu." Don't really know.
Naruto frowned, exchanging a look with Tsunade and Uchiha. "How come? Didn't you find me?"
"Pidgeotto!" We did!
Toxtricity started to hiss, sounding somewhat agitated. Something led us to you. Bleeding when we found you.
"Something?" Uchiha echoed, tilting his head to the left. "Did you catch a glimpse of it?"
"Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix!" Saw nothing at all!
"Then how come you found me?" Naruto questioned confused.
Vaporeon mewled. Something invisible led us.
Something invisible? Naruto was truly lost now. How could something invisible lead his Pokémon to his location? How would they have even known how to follow it?
"Was it a Pokémon?" Uchiha questioned; his forehead creasing with a frown.
"You ever heard of a Pokémon turning invisible?" Tsunade shot back sceptically, but Vaporeon's titter stumped them all.
Yes, invisible Pokémon!
"You're certain the Pokémon just wasn't incredibly small?" Uchiha pressed on.
Toxtricity hissed, sounding quite annoyed, Yes, very certain. Not small, but unseen!
"How did you know how to follow it?" Naruto inquired mystified.
There were Pokémon who could fully turn invisible? What kind of Pokémon could that have been? None of the ones he knew – and he was quite proud to state that he knew a lot of Pokémon! – were capable of turning themselves invisible. Why would this Pokémon even have felt the need to remain invisible?
"Wait, can't a Gengar hide his presence?" he wondered aloud.
Mimikyu shook his head, however, the floppy stuffy part of his costume bouncing back and forth. "Mimi." No Gengar.
He didn't come forth with any real explanation as to why he was sure it wasn't a Gengar, but given Mimikyu's less than pleasant experiences with that particular Ghost Pokémon, Naruto supposed Mimikyu had developed some sort of extra sense for them.
"Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto." Sometimes outline visible.
"And this Pokémon – it brought you straight to your Trainer?" Uchiha questioned thoughtfully.
"Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix!" Yes and we beat Tyranitar!
Vulpix was almost vibrating with excitement as she came up higher on the bed to nudge Mimikyu's back. "Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix!" Mimikyu so cool! Brought Tyranitar down with new move!
She then turned towards Riolu, whose ears had started drooping, and prodded his paw with hers. "Vulpix, Vulpix!" Riolu helped!
Vaporeon helped too, Toxtricity hissed, making the Water Pokémon turn bashful and almost liquidly for a moment.
"Riolu, Riolu, Riolu," Riolu admitted shyly. Rest helped too.
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully. "A combined attack of six protective Pokémon, three with a Type advantage, would have made it hard even for a Tyranitar."
Naruto spent a moment feeling quite chuffed at how strong his team obviously already was – how many Pokémon could take on a raging Tyranitar at least thirty levels above them?! – before he focused on the next question.
"And Blissey? Where did Blissey come from?"
His Pokémon all shared another look before each of them shrugged helplessly.
"Mimi, Mimikyu, Mimi." Just appeared out of nowhere.
"Riolu, Riolu, Riolu?" Maybe that unseen Pokémon helped?
Toxtricity grunted, leaning against the wall. Could be.
A Pokémon that had the ability to turn invisible for a long time and somehow could summon other Pokémon? Naruto experienced an odd mixture of awe and apprehension. If such a Pokémon truly did exist, then he should count his lucky stars that somehow he had ended up on the good side of it! If he just thought about all the mayhem this mysterious Pokémon could start with its ability to turn invisible and command other Pokémon … Frankly, that was quite the terrifying thought to have.
"This is your field of expertise, Professor," Uchiha said calmly. "Have you ever heard of a Pokémon who can both turn invisible and seems to have some sort of command over others?"
Tsunade slowly shook her head, biting down on her lower lip. "Honestly, I cannot claim to know every Pokémon, not when there are still new species being discovered every year. As far as I know there isn't any Pokémon known with those abilities."
She tapped her chin. "If this Pokémon is a new species, though, well, it'll be quite difficult to gather intel about it, if it can truly hide itself in that manner."
"I'll have to report this," Uchiha murmured. His dark eyes lightened up slightly when he looked at Naruto. "In the meantime, I suppose for now it's safe to assume that whoever this Pokémon is, it did not mean you any harm."
It couldn't have, not when it had led his Pokémon to him and when it had somehow summoned a Blissey to heal him. But to think that this Pokémon could be hanging around everywhere, without anyone the wiser … It was a bit unsettling, he had to admit.
He could only hope that this Pokémon was really as benevolent as it had acted towards him.
His unwanted fight with Tyranitar had one handy consequence: the nearest Pokécentre was coincidentally the one in the town he and his team had been aiming for.
After having rested for one more day, doing some light exercises to get his body used to moving again, Naruto left the Pokécentre early the next morning, taking in the new town. The amount of trees and flowers still in bloom in spite of the time of the year would make people assume that this town hosted a Grass Gym or even a Bug Gym. Everywhere he looked he saw well-kept trees lining the roads and dotting the gardens of the houses. Pretty, wonderful smelling flowers in all sorts of colours bloomed in planters in between the trees or formed rows around square grass fields. Even the houses were pretty with their pastel colours!
"This town is supposed to house a Psychic Gym?" he muttered, slowly making his way down the street.
This early in the morning, the place was already bustling with people filling the streets, going to their work or going to school. All kinds of Pokémon meandered around, some of them happily following little kids on their way to class, while others like Machoke were helping out with lifting heavy stuff for a new building they were constructing. Butterfree flitted from tree to tree and from flower to flower, squeaking gently. A group of Hoppip leisurely drifted through the air, unbothered by the cold, as they let the currents take them to wherever the wind blew.
The Gym was right in the middle of the town with an actual plaza containing two water fountains. Each water fountain was depicted with a Gardevoir, who held a Kirlia by one hand and a jug decorated with carved flowers in the other. Water poured out of the jugs in a steady flow; the sound soothing even with the background of the town's lively noises.
The Gym itself was painted a deep pink almost red, which yeah, did seem to be the colour regularly associated with Psychic Types. The colour wasn't really expected after seeing so many soft pastel colours and an abundance of flowers and trees, but Naruto reminded himself that the looks of a town or city didn't necessarily have anything to do with the Gym Type.
"All right, let's give the fourth Gym a try!" he said, pumping himself up before striding purposefully over to the entrance of the Gym.
His team had actually managed to defeat a Tyranitar – surely they were ready enough to try on this Gym?
The glass doors automatically opened for him, completely soundless, and he blinked when even more flowers drowned him in their scents when he walked into the entrance hall. All right, so perhaps this Gym Leader was just really fond of flowers? They were pretty, he had to give them that.
A beautiful, dark haired woman was seated behind a desk, writing something down in a thick notebook. Purple eyes flickered up at him when he paused in front of the desk and a delicate pink blush coloured the woman's cheeks next when he greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning, I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader!" he said cheerfully.
He had a good feeling about this Gym for sure! Not even those pesky nervous butterflies still flitting about in his stomach could make him give in to the nerves!
"O-oh, th-that's won-wonderful," the woman stuttered, promptly reddening even further.
Hm, was she perhaps seated very closely to a heater? That would explain why she was getting steadily redder and redder.
He jerked his thumb at the white door to his right. "Should I just go through that door then?" All his Pokémon had received an extra check-up just to be sure and he'd stocked up on some Potions just in case. They couldn't get any more ready than this!
"Oh, erm, n-not yet," the woman stammered, fiddling nervously with her fingers.
"The Gym Leader isn't ready yet?" he asked, trying to spot a clock to check the time.
He wasn't that terribly early, was he? He was pretty sure it had already been half past eight when he had left the Pokécentre.
"W-well, be-before you can b-battle her, y-you n-need t-to p-perform a-a ch-challenge first," she explained, reddening even further.
"Oh? What kind of challenge?" Naruto asked intrigued. Did he first have to defeat other Gym Trainers? If so, he was really glad that he had stocked up on Potions then!
"O-o-one of y-your Po-Pokémon ha-have to – to comp-compete in a B-Beauty or a – a Cu-Cuteness C-Contest."
His Pokémon had to do what now?
AN2: Can anyone guess already who this Gym Leader is? Also a certain someone will show up again in the next chapter :D
Did any of you ever enter any of these Contests? I did it a couple of times. In all those years, I think I only won a few times or so LOL
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.