Author's note: A bit later than I intended, but I at least managed to finish this chapter! We're finally hitting the fourth Gym, guys!

Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; Pen-Woman; Weebio; swordsmanwielder: leighd1314; Kalos

Warnings: Gym battle

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 chapter!

Chapter 21

Naruto accepted the ribbon and the envelope, eyeing the other man. "I didn't peg you for someone who judged this kind of contest," he said lightly, choosing to ignore Uchiha's comment.

"I am not," Uchiha replied easily. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't be less interested in them, but unfortunately the one who normally sits in the jury wasn't available today. For some reason they thought I would make for a good replacement."

"You seemed quite into the judging part, though," Tayuya remarked, approaching the two of them. She nodded at Naruto. "Congratulations on winning."

"Erm, thanks," he said, a bit awkwardly.

Sensing Mimikyu's curious gaze on the ribbon, he handed it over to his Pokémon. Shadowy tendrils wrapped around the glittery piece immediately, touching and tugging at it curiously as his pumpkin bowl lay forgotten to the side for now.

"Just because this isn't my sort of thing doesn't mean I don't take my job seriously," Uchiha said derisively before smirking once more. "Besides it's not every day you see a Mimikyu dressed so adorably."

Naruto felt like he should take offense to what Uchiha said, because it sounded dangerously close to a ridiculing tone, but somehow the dark haired man looked sincere even as he sounded amused.

Mimikyu, meanwhile, preened a bit, wriggling around on Naruto's lap as he held the ribbon in front of the neckline of his fake Pikachu costume.

"So did you change your ambition or did you join this contest as part of the Gym Challenge?" Uchiha questioned.

"The Gym Challenge," Naruto confirmed. "I didn't exactly expect this to be part of a Gym Challenge, but at least it was fun."

Haruno harrumphed before marching straight past them. He didn't spare her a glance, but did nod at Nohara when she smiled at him, walking off the stage.

"Well, I wish you good luck with the Gym," Uchiha said, dipping his head.

"Thanks. Erm, right, do you by any chance have a brother named Itachi?" Naruto blurted out curiously, recalling the other dark haired man he had met recently again.

Now that he got a better look at Uchiha's face, both men did resemble each other a lot, so they had to be brothers – or cousins at the very least, he supposed. But would cousins really resemble each other that well?

Uchiha blinked, appearing a bit taken aback. "I do," he said surprised. "How do you know?"

"Ah, I met him a little while ago," Naruto explained. "I thought he looked familiar, but I only made the link now when the Gym Leader introduced you."

"A little while ago?" Uchiha repeated, frowning lightly. Comprehension smoothed over his face. "You're the one whose Pokémon nearly got stolen?"

"Mimikyu, Mimikyu." Nasty people. Mimikyu's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah, they were after one of my Pokémon. Your brother mentioned that to you?"

"He sometimes talks about his cases, yes," Uchiha confirmed. "He's been working on this particular case for quite some time now, so he was happy with the breakthrough you gave him."

"Oh well, I'm glad I – could help?" Naruto said bemused.

He didn't think he had done anything outstanding, considering he had been cornered by those two men. It was only by chance – and their not so subtle battle – that outside help had even arrived.

"You're my newest challenger?"

Naruto couldn't help but twitch when a female voice rang unexpectedly close to his ear. He turned his head and Yamanaka, the Gym Leader, smiled at him, leaning slightly forwards as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"I am, yes," he confirmed.

Mimikyu paused his fiddling with the ribbon to regard her curiously, which made her smile widen a notch.

"Well, in that case whenever you're ready, you can come to the Gym. I'll be waiting for you!" she declared grinning and with a wink she left, waving at several people who enthusiastically greeted her.

"Good luck with the Gym. Make sure you're prepared. She's a Psychic specialist and for all that she might act airheaded, she's ruthless in a battle," Uchiha warned him.

"Thanks for the warning," Naruto smiled feebly.

A ruthless Gym Leader wasn't that surprising to be honest. Considering this was the fourth Gym, he foresaw that the upcoming battles would become harder and harder as his opponents were stronger than the previous ones.

But his team was becoming stronger with each day as well.

The Contest was apparently the only thing that stood between a Trainer and the actual Gym battle.

When Naruto returned to the Gym, the purple eyed woman pointed at a door to the right, informing him with a slight stutter that whenever he was ready, he could just enter through that door and challenge the Gym Leader.

He was surprised, having expected to have to battle at least one person before the Gym Leader herself; but it appeared that so far the gyms just really loved setting up challenges instead of regular battles. At least that kind of setup allowed him to start the actual Gym Battle with his Pokémon at full health.

Yamanaka was waiting for him at the other end of the battle field when he walked through the door. She had changed into a purple tank top, leaving part of her stomach bare, and a matching purple skirt with fishnets covering her legs. Around her slim waist a belt with four Pokéballs hung: three normal Pokéballs and one Great Ball. Her blonde hair was put up in a high ponytail with two locks framing her beautiful face.

The room itself was bare save for the couple of soft pink cushions placed haphazardly near the walls. The cushions were large enough for at least three people to sit on and looked incredibly out of place in the gym area. The walls themselves were painted a lilac colour; soft pink and purple hues seemed to be this Gym's theme.

Yamanaka waited until he took his place on the field before she spoke. "So once again, I'm Yamanaka Ino, the Gym Leader of this town. I specialise in Psychic Pokémon," she smiled. Her black eyeliner made her blue eyes stand out brightly. "I want to congratulate you once more with your contest victory. I can't remember if we ever had a Mimikyu winning before, but your Pokémon was quite adorable up there!"

"Thank you. Can you only challenge the Gym if you win the contest?" he asked curiously.

He was still reeling from the fact that Mimikyu had won the contest. To him Mimikyu had been the most adorable Pokémon, but he wasn't stupid either. Mimikyu's reputation was quite shitty, wholly undeserved as it was. It wouldn't have surprised him if they had ended up last, simply because other people wouldn't want to acknowledge that Mimikyu was cute and adorable too.

"Nah." She waved her hand dismissively. "Winning the contest isn't dependent on being able to challenge me. Participating is, however. I adore contests and it's a good way to estimate how creative a Trainer can be. After all, you have to be pretty creative with the costumes in order to have a chance at winning!"

He still didn't see a real correlation between the contests and the Gym battle, but whatever. He was here to win their fourth badge and that was exactly what they were going to do!

"I hope you know the rules by now," she continued; her smile turning sharp. "I have four Pokémon, but you are allowed to put in all six if some happen to faint. If your entire team faints, you'll have to re-enter the contest in order to challenge me again!"

Naruto dearly hoped they wouldn't have to do that. The contest setting really wasn't his type of environment at all, even though it had been amazing to finally see Mimikyu appreciated for who he was.

"If you manage to defeat all four of my Pokémon, you will get the badge," she finished and flipped her hair back before unlatching the first Pokéball from her belt. "Good luck!"

Her first Pokémon turned out to be a Gothita; the small Baby Pokémon nearly swallowed up by the large field. Gothita looked around, seemingly nervously, squeaking quietly as it hopped from one foot to the other.

Naruto breathed out slowly in relief. The first Pokémon was doable then; that was great. He would still be on his guard, but there were worse Psychic Pokémon to start with.

"Vulpix, come out!"

Mimikyu had the best type matchup for this particular Gym, with his Ghost Type, but Naruto had decided on his way here that he would call out Mimikyu for the last two Pokémon, depending on how many Yamanaka had. Mimikyu had grown more powerful, but that didn't mean Naruto was willing to test his stamina by letting him fight four Pokémon on his own. Vaporeon had his time to shine during the previous Gym and the Gym before that had had Water Types, leaving Vulpix unable to join the fight for two Gyms straight now. That was why Naruto decided to call on Vulpix first now.

Fire didn't have any particular advantage against Psychic, but neither was it particularly weak against it either, like Fighting was. Riolu would have to sit out this Gym for now, but Naruto promised silently that he would get his chance later. Now Vulpix was back in action.

She looked particularly pleased with being the first one to be chosen; her whole demeanour chipper even as she studied Gothita warily. Gothita in turn stilled, returning the look evenly.

Yamanaka cooed, clasping her hands together. "Your Vulpix is such a cutie too! And is that a costume she's wearing?"

It was. Naruto had become so used to seeing Vulpix prancing around in the costume that Mimikyu had made for her back when they had first encountered her that most of the time he actually forgot she wore it. She only ever took it off when she cleaned herself, relying on Naruto to put it back on after she was finished. Initially Naruto had thought she only wore the costume to humour Mimikyu, but she actually seemed to like it, growing upset whenever Naruto had to remove it in order to clean it.

"Mimikyu made it for her," he explained and blinked when Yamanaka's eyes actually started to glitter.

"That is so adorable!" she exclaimed before ruthlessly tacking on, "Gothita, Hypnosis!"

Well, she certainly didn't play around. Naruto started to understand why Uchiha had warned him.

Vulpix fortunately managed to avoid the attack, remaining awake as Gothita let out a shrill cry in frustration. It stamped its little feet before casting another Hypnosis, which was again avoided by Vulpix, who seemed to take a lot of enjoyment in avoiding the attacks.

"Vulpix, use Incinerate!"

Vulpix spat out a flame immediately, aiming it straight at Gothita who yelled and ran away, but not before the fire managed to touch the right feeler on its head. That apparently pissed it off, making Gothita whirl around and throw its small arms out in fury. The air in front of it started to shimmer oddly before something wave-like shot towards Vulpix, hitting her straight in her chest. The attack surprised her, making her cry out as she stumbled backwards.

"Vulpix, you okay?" Naruto asked worriedly.

He thought the attack was something called Psyshock, but he couldn't be certain. He had no real experience with Psychic Type attacks, though he had seen some of those moves back in his hometown whenever a Psychic Pokémon would get into a spat with another one. Drowzee and Hypno especially could be quite vicious for some reason.

Vulpix straightened up, shaking out her fur. She growled, baring her teeth, before she opened her jaw widely. To Naruto's utter astonishment a sinister, bluish white flame was expelled from her throat and shot straight at Gothita. The Baby Pokémon was too slow to react and the bluish white flame hit it straight into its belly. Instantly a burn mark spread out across its belly and its arms, making it cry and whine as it waved its little arms around in panic.

"That's Will-O-Wisp," Naruto muttered dumbly.

This particular Fire attack wasn't as powerful as an Inferno or even a Flamethrower was, but it had as nasty effect that it left the target burnt from the start. Other Fire attacks might leave the target unscathed if they were lucky, but that wasn't the case for Will-O-Wisp. Once hit by that attack, you were burnt, simple as that. The longer the victim tried to battle, the worse the burn would become. Since when did Vulpix know this attack?

Vulpix, however, wasn't done surprising them all.

Before Gothita could recover or Yamanaka could think of calling the Baby Pokémon back, Vulpix sprang up in the air and opened her jaw once more. Instead of another Will-O-Wisp, though, this fire was an intense blast, glowing so brightly that even Naruto stumbled back a bit, his hand coming up to cover his eyes. The heat from the blast could be felt even where he stood and he winced when the intense blast hit Gothita straight on, engulfing it completely, making it shriek in pain. The fire only stopped when Vulpix closed her mouth and landed neatly on the ground again, watching Gothita run around, wailing in pain.

Flamethrower.

Vulpix knew Flamethrower.

When on earth had Vulpix learnt two new moves?! Especially that Flamethrower?! Had she used it during their training lately? He didn't think so. He thought he would remember a strong Fire attack like that one!

"Gothita, come back!" Yamanaka demanded, aiming the Pokéball at Gothita.

With one last shriek of pain, the red light enveloped the small Pokémon and took it away.

"Well, if this had been a contest, I'd say your Vulpix would have received at least a nine for effort," she smiled faintly.

Vulpix looked almost smug as she basically skipped back to Naruto, her six tails swishing back and forth energetically.

"You were awesome out there," Naruto managed to get out once he'd recovered from his shock a bit. "When did you learn those two new moves? I've never seen you use them before!"

"Vulpix, Vulpix, Vulpix. Vulpix!" Tried a few times. Succeeded now!

She definitely did succeed, that was for sure.

Still a bit thrown off guard, it took him a moment before he bent down and patted her head. "You did really well," he assured her, making her perk up and butt her head against his hand. "Rest now, all right?"

With a soft chirp, she let the red light of the Pokéball envelop her.

Yamanaka's second Pokémon turned out to be an Espeon. After sparing a few seconds to wonder whether he would encounter the rest of Eevee's other evolutions in the remaining Gyms, he called for Toxtricity. This one was a gamble, considering Psychic was a weakness of Toxtricity, but it wasn't as bad as Ground was and Naruto wanted to find out how Toxtricity would manage in a Gym battle scene.

He got his answer shortly afterwards.

Perhaps Toxtricity's level was higher than that of Espeon, but he didn't let her Psychic Typing drag him down. He easily sidestepped the Confusion, Swift and Psybeam she threw at him, looking almost like he was taunting her with how casually he stepped or ducked away each time.

His Spark attack knocked her paws from underneath her and his Toxic attack made her retch, shaking her head rapidly. Before she could recover, he slammed her down to the ground hard with another Spark; the lightening so fierce it created a crater into the right wall when it bounced off.

Espeon didn't get back up again after that.

"You did really well!" Naruto complimented Toxtricity when the Pokémon sauntered over to him, not even deigning his passed out opponent another glance.

Toxtricity hissed, sounding almost put out. No real challenge. That's a Psychic Type? He scoffed.

Naruto smiled, even as he grew nervous when Yamanaka narrowed her eyes at hearing the sneering comment. "Perhaps the next Gyms will offer a bigger challenge," he murmured, unwilling to let the Gym Leader hear him.

Toxtricity hissed, swishing his tail. They better do.

Naruto honestly had to take a moment after he called Toxtricity back in his Pokéball. He knew that Toxtricity wasn't weak at all, but he hadn't actually expected him to do so well against a Psychic Type. Was the difference between their levels that great that Espeon had barely offered any challenge? Or had Naruto misjudged Toxtricity's level? If so, it really was a miracle that Toxtricity actually obeyed him.

"Ready for the third opponent?" Yamanaka called out. At his nod, she called out her third Pokémon, the one housed in her Great Ball.

The red light revealed a Hypno, who immediately held up its pendulum. Naruto couldn't help but tense up. Ever since he had been little, Hypno had freaked him out slightly. He figured it had to do with the intense look each of them carried or the way that pendulum would eerily start swinging back and forth whenever they encountered a human or a Pokémon. Tales of Hypno stealing children away in the dead of the night were widespread and to be quite frank, Naruto preferred grappling with a pissed off Gyarados than hanging out with a Hypno. The way those black eyes stared at him … He shivered. Even Gengar looked less terrifying and that one was a Ghost Pokémon with its own share of horror stories!

"Mimikyu, your time to shine," Naruto muttered and threw his own Pokéball in the air.

Mimikyu showed up with a little cry, sizing up Hypno carefully. Hypno for its part started humming lowly, making the hairs in Naruto's neck rise up. So damn creepy!

"Hypno, use Poison Gas!"

Hypno still hummed even as it raised its arms and released a toxic wave, the purple cloud drifting over to Mimikyu. Mimikyu abruptly threw himself down onto the ground, letting his fake head fold double, covering the peepholes in his costume. Naruto didn't understand why at first until he released the purple cloud passed straight over Mimikyu. The stuffing in its fake head turned out to be a great barrier between the peepholes for his eyes and the toxic cloud, ensuring that it couldn't affect him.

As soon as the cloud dissipated, Mimikyu shot back up; his fake head wobbling back and forth.

"Mimikyu, use Shadow Ball!" Naruto wasn't going to give Hypno any chances. Shadow Ball was one of the most powerful attacks Mimikyu was capable of using so far and he planned on letting that attack be the main reason why they would end up defeating the Gym.

Hypno jumped out of the way, letting the Shadow Ball harmlessly crash into the wall behind its Trainer. Mimikyu used Shadow Sneak next, but the shadows barely managed to rear up behind Hypno or the Pokémon ran away again, sending a Psybeam straight at Mimikyu.

While Mimikyu had grown faster these past months, he wasn't fast enough yet to jump out of the way completely and he squealed in surprise when the Psybeam hit him straight in the collar of his costume. His fake head ended up lopsided and Mimikyu growled in anger, launching another Shadow Ball at Hypno.

"Hypno, Zen Headbutt," Yamanaka called out calmly.

Almost faster than the eye could see, Hypno charged straight at Mimikyu; a shockwave of pure psychic power hitting Mimikyu first before Hypno's head did, sending Mimikyu flying through the air. Mimikyu flew straight past Naruto, who dived after him, catching him before he could smack into the wall.

"Mimikyu, you okay?" Naruto demanded worriedly; his concern increasing when Mimikyu's eyes appeared dazed.

"Mimi," Mimikyu muttered. Fine.

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to call Mimikyu back and put Toxtricity on the field again, but Mimikyu slipped out of his grasp and rushed unto the field again. His Dazzling Gleam caught Hypno clearly off guard, making the Pokémon stand there and blink dazedly. Mimikyu took advantage of its distracted state and let out a sharp angry cry, before lobbing a large Shadow Ball straight at Hypno.

This time Hypno was too late to duck away and the attack hit him full on, making him choke as he staggered backwards; his pendulum swinging wildly back and forth. Mimikyu didn't give him a chance to recuperate and threw another Shadow Ball at him, bigger than the previous one. This one hit Hypno straight in its head and it fell down with a heavy thud. It twitched, making a valiant effort to get back up, but Shadow Sneak kept him firmly tied to the ground and after a long, drawn out struggle, one shadow rose up and smacked Hypno square in its face.

That knocked out the Pokémon completely.

"Huh, so not only cute, but quite the fighter as well, huh?" Yamanaka smiled bemused and Hypno returned to its Great Ball.

"Mimikyu, are you feeling okay enough to take on the last Pokémon?" Naruto questioned, biting on his lower lip.

He didn't like how dazed Mimikyu had looked after that Zen Headbutt, but Mimikyu looked at him determinedly now; his shadows dancing erratically around him.

"Mimi! Mimikyu!" I'm okay! Let me fight!

"All right, but if at any point you need rest, you tell me," Naruto urged. "Someone else will take over for you then."

"Mimikyu!" Mimikyu insisted stubbornly. I'm fine!

"It's been a while since I had to call for my last Pokémon," Yamanaka grinned.

Naruto decided he didn't particularly like the way she looked at him now. Calculating and sharp, her look was almost bloodthirsty as she threw her last Pokéball into the air.

"Kadabra, it's time to play!"

Kadabra appeared, holding its one spoon in the air – before promptly disappearing, using Teleport.

Naruto barely covered his groan behind his hand. This was going to be a long battle.

AN2: Naruto's Pokémon can be quite vindictive and don't like losing, obviously. Also am I the only one who got pissed off every time that little shit of an Abra would teleport before you could capture them? Screw you, Abra and your stupid Teleport!

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.