Author's note: A shocking occurrence, I actually update this story earlier than Sunday! Am I finally straightening out my updating schedule? Who knows? I don't.

Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; Pen-Woman; swordsmanwielder; leighd1314; Weebio; SarahNThatcher; JaiJayce; Dangerdino

Warnings: Some suspense; smidgen of action

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 25

Naruto reared back, accidentally knocking his head against the boulder. Pain shot through and he hissed quietly, rubbing over the aching spot. His headache had finally abated; now it was back, damn it!

When he looked back up, he saw nothing. Carefully he turned his head and held his breath, but the weak glow of the luminous stones revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Had he just imagined that pair of eyes? But they had looked too real to have belonged to a dream. If they were real, though, how fast could this Pokémon move? Yes, he had looked away when he had smacked his head against the boulder, but his attention on the eyes hadn't been gone for that long.

Was it hiding somewhere in the shadows where the luminosity of the stones couldn't reach? Was it shy or was it binding its time to attack Naruto? If it had wanted to attack him, though, wouldn't it have done so already? It had managed to get close enough to Naruto for him to see its eyes when he woke up after all. So perhaps just shy then? A shy Pokémon was vastly preferable over a Pokémon wanting to hunt him down and attack him. Was it still nearby? It had to be a very fast Pokémon if it could hide itself this quickly.

Could he use the Pokédex again to try to figure out who the mysterious Pokémon was? It had worked with Zweilous, but then he had had an idea where to aim his Pokédex at, using the noise of Zweilous to track it down. This time he had absolutely no clue where to look. Was it somewhere above him? Was it hiding in a corner? Was it right behind the boulder? Or was it already gone? It had disappeared once he had woken up after all. Perhaps it had just been curious and he had startled it when he woke up?

The eerie sound of giggling echoed through the cavern, sending shivers down his spine. It didn't sound human at all; a Ghost Pokémon? The giggle would almost sound innocent, if it didn't echo in such a scary manner and if that didn't confirm that he wasn't alone after all. If it was a Ghost Pokémon, who could it be? A Sableye? The eyes hadn't appeared like gemstones, though, so that couldn't be it. Banette? No, Naruto doubted he would have been left alone if it was a Banette. They weren't exactly known for leaving people alone. Duskull? No, the eyes didn't look like those belonging those a Duskull. Shuppet? No, they preferred living in cities and other urban places, because they liked to feed on people's negative emotions. A deserted mountain wouldn't be able to feed one.

Misdreavus? They lived in caves, but they liked to frighten people by yanking or biting or shrieking at them. This Pokémon, while it was giggling in an eerie way, hadn't actually attacked Naruto so far. So no Misdreavus then? A Gengar perhaps? Their presence tended to cool down their surroundings, but given that the mountain was already cold of its own, that wasn't a good way to figure out the Pokémon's identity. It could be messing around with Naruto; they loved to scare people.

Biting down on his lip, he fished around in his bag for his Pokédex and used the next round of giggling to orientate the machine in that direction. If it had worked on Zweilous before, it should work this time as well, right? It was just as dark in this cavern as it had been before, so darkness shouldn't have any effect on the Pokédex doing its job. The Pokédex lit up and Naruto held his breath, awaiting the appearance of information.

What rolled across the screen next made Naruto frown.

'Pokémon unknown.'

What did it mean, Pokémon unknown? How could it be unknown if it was right here in the cavern? It couldn't be having trouble due to the darkness, because the Pokédex had been able to correctly identify Zweilous. How could it not tell him which Pokémon this was?

A sudden surge of courage had him standing up, letting his bag and his blanket drop to the floor. A short giggle, closer this time, and he quickly aimed his Pokédex in that direction, certain that now he had the screen perfectly lined up with the Pokémon. The air near him shifted as if the Pokémon was hovering in the air, which was … not very reassuring depending on who this Pokémon was. It could be a Bird Pokémon, but he had never heard one of those giggling, so it had to be a Ghost Pokémon.

'Unable to identify Pokémon.'

"What do you mean, you're unable to identify the Pokémon?" Naruto hissed frustrated, forgetting for a moment that talking might not be in his best interest now.

The air near him shifted once more and he stiffened; his grip around his Pokédex tightening. His breathing turned shallow when the Pokémon drifted closer to him, an odd low humming sound filling the air between them. As subtly as possible, Naruto turned around until he faced the luminous stones; the glow they gave off was anything but strong, but it should be enough to show at least the outline of the Pokémon.

Something moved right in front of him, stirring the air.

The luminous stones showed nothing. No outline, no dark shape, not even the slightest hint as to which Pokémon was hovering right in front of him. It was as if nothing was there.

But something was. Its breathing was soft, almost inaudible, and its presence emitted a faint heat. Did Ghost Pokémon have body heat? He thought Mimikyu was warm, but he was a dual Type, so perhaps Mimikyu wasn't the best example for this. It had to be a Ghost Pokémon, though, because which other Type was able to blend in with the darkness so well that not even a faint glow showed its presence? Was it a Gengar after all? They tended to blend well with the shadows and could occasionally be found in caves. Perhaps Naruto had accidentally disturbed its nest? Was it possible that it had blended so well with the shadows that even the Pokédex with its high sensitivity couldn't discern its form?

"Gengar?" he questioned cautiously, knowing that this could very well be a bad idea.

Gengar were fickle creatures and at times took their pranks to the extreme. Him acknowledging Gengar – if it was a Gengar – might convince the Pokémon that it should start playing tricks again.

A curious 'mwrp?' noise followed his inquiry, which … did not sound like something a Gengar would utter. Unless it was really intent on misleading him, but what would be the point in that when it could simply play more cruel pranks on him? If it wasn't a Gengar, however, which Pokémon was it?

The Pokémon hummed to his right before the cave suddenly felt empty. Naruto couldn't exactly explain why he knew the Pokémon was gone when he hadn't even been able to see it leave. The cavern just felt deserted all of a sudden; the absence of the mysterious Pokémon tangible in the air. The tension Naruto hadn't even realised was present drained away and he would almost feel at ease if it weren't for the distant noise of Pokémon roaming around in the mountain.

He had no idea how long he had been asleep; was it day already or was it night again? Being inside the mountain he had no idea just how much time had passed; he would have to get a move on and find his way out of here before he would land into even bigger trouble.

Well, more trouble than almost being eaten by a Pokémon that was.

After picking up his blanket, he folded it up and stuffed it into his bag again. He heaved his backpack over his shoulder, turned around and was just in time to slap a hand across his mouth to stifle his scream when something loud and metallic fell on the ground, scaring the living daylights out of him.

The metallic object rolled towards him, bumping against his foot. He stepped back almost automatically, but the object followed him; the rolling noise ridiculously loud in the cavern. Or perhaps it was only too loud for his ears, worried as he was to attract the attention of other Pokémon. Sure, he had his Pokémon with him, but with no idea how long he would be stuck in this mountain, he needed to be careful with how many battles he ended up in.

He used his Pokédex to find out what the metallic object was, becoming curious when he identified it as a can. Canned fruit? Bemused, he bent down to pick it up and yeah, it was indeed canned fruit. The label wasn't even faded yet, which puzzled him even further. Cans weren't exactly natural to a mountain, so it had to have been left behind by someone who had entered the mountain before. Had it been recently left behind then? If it had been longer, the label should have been faded, right?

He held the Pokédex screen very closely to the can, turning the can around in his hand to search for the expiration date. He stilled when he found the date in fine print. Ten months ago. The expiration date was ten months ago. Given that it was canned food and the can wasn't dented or busted in any way, the food was still edible, but how was the label still legible if the expiration date was already ten months ago? Did it belong to someone who didn't keep track of the expiration dates?

Something else was dropped down right in front of him.

Immediately he moved his Pokédex around, but of course he couldn't see anything in the dim light. He knew that the strange Pokémon was back, though. He could feel its presence hovering in front of him. It let out another odd "Mwrp" noise, sounding like it was … encouraging him?

Getting quite weirded out by now, Naruto nonetheless heeded the encouragement and looked down, checking what the Pokémon had dropped in front of him. The can must be from the Pokémon as well, because why else would the can have rolled over the floor all of a sudden?

It was a backpack. A dark coloured backpack; its form lumpy with perhaps more cans stuffed inside it. Nobody would just leave their bag behind unless they were … dead.

He swallowed, staring down at the dark mass resting at his feet. Well, it wasn't as if he hadn't already found proof that people had died in this mountain. He had literally stepped on their bones by accident after he had fallen into that cavern. Somehow the abandoned backpack really drove that realisation through. He could lose his own life here. Either because he would get lethally attacked by a Pokémon or by starving to death if he never found his way out of the mountain.

The side of the backpack became indented out of nowhere and the bag was shoved more insistingly against his legs. If this Pokémon was Gengar, it was being rather thoughtful towards a stranger. Firmly ignoring the fact that he was touching something that had belonged to someone that was now very likely dead, Naruto bent down once more to investigate the bag's content. There were some Super Potions, which he took out and stored into his own backpack. Potions weren't at risk of expiring, so he could still use these when necessary. Some more canned fruit, which he also dumped in his bag; a couple of plastic boxes filled with what might have been curry at one point, but of which he didn't dare to lift the lids from. The bottles with water were ignored as well after he opened one of them and the smell wasn't exactly pleasant. He discarded them to the side and rummaged through the rest of the items.

There was one novel, but it had been drenched in water at some point, making half of the pages stick together and most letters illegible. The torch at the bottom found its way into his own backpack and after a short bout of hesitation, he grabbed his own torch and clicked on the button. Even with the brighter beam of the torch, he still couldn't catch a glimpse of the mysterious Pokémon, which he had sort of expected by now, but he still was a bit disappointed.

Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto rose up and asked, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but if you aren't Gengar, could you lift up the strap of that bag or move it in another way?"

He didn't think that every Gengar was inherently bad, but it was a fact that they were more likely to play cruel pranks on humans instead of helping them out. This might be a whole elaborate prank after all, in which Gengar was just lulling him into a false sense of safety, but he doubted that was the case. He didn't expect Gengar would have the patience to pull off such a long prank.

Nothing moved for several long seconds and right as Naruto started to suspect that it was Gengar after all, the left strap of the bag wiggled back and forth as if a child was tugging at it playfully. He breathed out quietly in relief. So it wasn't a Gengar after all. That still didn't give him any other clue as to who it actually was, but this was something.

"All right, thanks for helping out," he smiled, figuring it couldn't hurt to be friendly towards this mysterious Pokémon.

While it still hadn't shown itself – and was seemingly refusing to do so, considering it had been visible before – it also hadn't done anything so far to hurt Naruto, bar startling him with some noises. Even that might have been on accident, considering how helpful it had been so far.

The Pokémon uttered a chirp like sound and then disappeared once more, leaving Naruto alone in the cavern.

"Guess it's time to move on," he muttered to himself and adjusted his bag on his back.

He would have to eat soon, but he wanted to make some progress first. Keeping his torch aimed at the ground, he walked over to the two entrances he had spotted before he had fallen asleep. Standing in front of them, he picked up the noise of running water in the corridor to his right. Following the sound of water was probably going to be his best bet for now, so he set out, walking into the corridor. This one was relatively broad, but obviously hadn't seen a living presence in a while, judging by the abandoned cobwebs clinging to the ceiling. It ended up being a short one and he walked into a room that connected several corridors with each other.

From one corridor on his left a Graveler suddenly came rumbling towards him and he hastily threw Vaporeon's Pokéball in the air. One Water Pulse from a fast Vaporeon sent Graveler crashing into the wall, which cracked underneath its weight, making the mountain rumble in protest. The wall splintered further, splitting apart as it reached the junction with the ceiling, sending bits and pieces of stone to the ground. Naruto and Vaporeon ran into the corridor straight across from them and didn't stop until they entered another cave. How many damn caves did this mountain have?!

Panting, he called Vaporeon back into his Pokéball and took a moment to look around. There was only one more exit and the cavern itself wasn't that big. As his torch slipped from one side to the other, something glistened in the corner to his left, attracting his attention. Curiosity peaked, he approached the glimmering object and bent down; his mouth dropping open in surprise when he realised what it was.

A Fire Stone.

He had only seen a Fire Stone once before, in the professor's lab where all the various Evolution Stones were displayed in a glass cabinet. Depending on the kind, they could be quite rare and almost impossible to find. If found in nature, you were allowed to take one with you, so Naruto picked it up and studied the orange reddish colour in the torch's beam. It felt smooth and cold to the touch, with a couple of sharp edges. Vulpix had to use a Fire Stone in order to evolve and he glanced down at his belt where Vulpix' Pokéball was clipped onto. He bit down on his lip before pulling his bag to his front and putting the stone inside one of its pockets.

Once they were out of this mountain and in a place where they could safely relax, he would show the stone to Vulpix and give her the choice. If she decided to evolve, that would be nice; if she refused that would be fine as well. She would have the option at least.

He took the time to rest when he walked out of yet another corridor only to end up on some sort of cliff. He had no idea whether that was the right term, but the ledge looked out over one of the biggest caves he had found so far and it was high enough that he could sit down without attracting the attention of any of the Pokémon roaming below him. Even with that reassurance he pressed himself against the wall so that he wouldn't be visible even if a Pokémon happened to look up.

As he ate of the curry he had prepared before he had made his way up the mountain, he listened to the noise of two Golem fighting below him; the noise of growls and stone cracking almost overpowering the squabbling of some Teddiursa. Naruto would be surprised that the Teddiursa weren't scared of the Golem, but the hulking form of an Ursaring near some rocks explained why they weren't afraid. Even Pokémon as hard-headed as Golem would think twice about angering a protective Ursaring.

The swooping forms of some Zubat and Gligar attacking each other in the air had Naruto flinching, but as quickly as they had flown into the cave, just as fast did they leave it again; Gligar intent on chasing Zubat down. He was lucky this time that they hadn't seen him, but he would have to be careful. While they might not necessarily be quite powerful, they could alert other Pokémon to his presence and then things could become quite ugly.

As soon as he was finished eating, he crept back into the corridor, only straightening up once he was certain he couldn't be spotted from the lower floor. He retraced his steps to the previous corridor and chose the second one on the left this time, perking up when the sound of water grew stronger. Hopefully that meant he was going up and following the water would lead him to a way outside. It sounded like water gushing down; a waterfall perhaps?

Right as he was about to walk out of the corridor and into another one a Steelix of all Pokémon rumbled past, ripping through the mountain floor. The corridor crumpled around the sheer size of the Steel Pokémon and Naruto yelped when the walls started collapsing, jagged pieces of rock tumbling down and crashing into the ground. He whirled around and rushed back, pushing his body to the limits to escape the corridor before it could collapse around him. Just before the walls crashed down on him, he dove into another corridor.

His breath was slammed out of him when he ended up sprawled against the ground and he had to take a minute to recover, blinking up into the darkness. His torch had rolled a bit further down the corridor and he sat up with a groan, rubbing his ribs. Well, that was one way he could no longer use, damn it. He really hoped that hadn't been the only way out. As long as the Steelix stayed away from him, though, he supposed he should count himself lucky. He wasn't exactly certain whether Vulpix would be able to stand up against a Steelix.

Standing up, he rubbed briskly over his arms; worry brewing in the pit of his stomach when he registered how low the temperature had dropped. Did this mean that evening had already fallen? Or was he somehow not making his way up but actually down instead?

"Just a little bit of luck, is that too much to ask?" he mumbled darkly and snatched his torch from the ground.

Directing the beam in front of him, he stood still for a moment, tilting his head back. Perhaps it was because he had been walking for what most likely already had been hours, but exhaustion suddenly covered him like a heavy blanket, making his knees almost buckle underneath its weight. He needed to rest. He needed to find the safest place he could find in this mountain, rest and try to escape this mountain again when he woke up.

He remembered passing a small cavern on his way to this particular corridor. He had only peeked into it briefly, but it had been rather small, appearing as if it had been hacked out by a Pokémon a long time ago. There hadn't been any Pokémon nearby, so that might be the safest place to rest.

Decision made, he forced his body to turn around and trudge back, ignoring the way the mountain rumbled and shook around him as Pokémon in nearby corridors ended up in squabbles. He hoped they wouldn't cause the corridors to collapse; with how tired he was, he honestly had no idea whether he would be able to outrun a possible collapse.

The small cave was still completely deserted and he quickly entered it, looking around. It was just tall enough for him to stand up straight and big enough to set up a tent. Setting up his tent felt like a risky move, but there was a boulder right next to the entrance. Could he maybe push the boulder to block the entrance and keep himself safe like that? It might work; it was basically his only option to get some decent rest at the very least.

Resting the torch on the ground, he walked around the boulder and tried to push it, but it barely moved. He threw all his weight behind it, bracing his shoulder against it and while his breath escaped him in a grunt, all the boulder did was wiggle slightly.

"Seriously?" he hissed in dismay. Couldn't just one thing go his way for once?!

He needed help. That was clear. If he wanted a chance at being able to rest without worrying he would be flattened in his sleep, that boulder would have to get in front of the entrance.

After debating for a moment, he took two of his Pokéballs, releasing his Pokémon. Lucario and Toxtricity showed up quickly, looking around curiously before they fixed their gaze on Naruto.

"Hey guys, I want to set up the tent here so we can rest and have something to eat, but before we can do that, we need to push that boulder in front of the entrance," Naruto explained, gesturing at the boulder. "Think you can help me with that?"

They weren't exactly built like a Machoke or even a Machamp, but if all three of them pushed together, they might have enough strength to push the boulder to the side.

'No problem,' Lucario's voice echoed calmly in Naruto's mind while Toxtricity hissed his agreement.

Lucario came to stand on Naruto's right while Toxtricity took his place at the other side. Together they started pushing; Lucario and Toxtricity putting all their power into their arms while Naruto braced his shoulder against the stone once more. It took some effort and a lot of silent cursing on Naruto's part, but finally the boulder gave way under their combined strength and started rolling slowly in front of the entrance. It moved with a grinding noise, stone sliding across gritty rocky underground and Naruto was left sweaty and panting by the time the boulder slipped in front of the entrance, blocking them off from the corridor.

Done, Toxtricity hissed; his tail swishing back and forth as he stepped back.

Lucario looked around himself; the appendages on his head twitching. 'It's cold,' he remarked, sounding very disapproving as if the cold temperature of the mountain was offending him.

Naruto would laugh at that if he wasn't feeling so sore and tired right now. "Yeah, we're not exactly lucky with the temperature right now," he muttered and ran a hand through his hair. "Not much we can do about that. Best if you two get back into your Pokéballs before you get too cold."

Trainer cold too, Toxtricity pointed out; his tail swishing back and forth even more forcefully.

"I'll be fine," Naruto waved away his concern.

Toxtricity made an odd clicking noise and as if that was their cue, the rest of his Pokémon abruptly left their Pokéballs too. The small cave was filled with several beams of red light, each one transforming in the rest of his team.

"Mimi, Mimikyu, Mimi?" So cold, sleeping together?

"Vulpix, Vulpix!" Good idea!

"Not a good idea!" Naruto hastened to say. "You all should go back in your Pokéballs, you'll be warm in there!"

Pidgeotto ruffled his feathers. "Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto." Trainer doesn't have Pokéball.

"I'll be fine," Naruto insisted, but unfortunately his team turned out to be incredibly stubborn, absolutely refusing to get back into their Pokéballs even when Naruto aimed the balls at them.

After a long back and forth at the end of which it looked like Mimikyu was actually going to start to cry, Naruto gave in with a heavy sigh.

"Fine, you can all stay, but if you get too cold, you need to get back into your Pokéball," he said firmly.

They all nodded obediently, but Naruto couldn't help but wonder how sincere their agreement actually was.

After setting up the tent, Naruto divided some canned fruit amongst them, using his torch as their only source of light. If they had some wood, Vulpix could use one of her attacks to lit a fire, but they would have to make do with what they had. What they had was a small cavern with its entrance blocked and freezing temperatures.

Once they were finished, they all crawled into the tent. It was a tight fit, but they somehow managed to fit inside of it. Naruto laid down on his back in his sleeping bag with Mimikyu resting on his chest, his stuffed head slumped across Naruto's shoulder, and Vulpix curled up on his stomach. Vaporeon laid across his thighs while Pidgeotto rested in the upper right corner near Naruto's head. Toxtricity and Lucario, Naruto's biggest Pokémon, laid down on either side of him, bracketing him and the others. Mimikyu laid in the sleeping bag, while Vulpix, Vaporeon and Toxtricity shared one blanket, while Lucario covered himself and the remaining part of Vaporeon that had been left uncovered. Pidgeotto had made a nest out of Naruto's jacket, easily falling asleep on top of it.

Surrounded by his Pokémon like this, even with the background noise of Pokémon lumbering around in the corridors, Naruto found himself relaxing against his will. The heat of his team seeped through the layers of his clothes and the sleeping bag, making him drowsy.

Listening to the even breathing of his Pokémon, Naruto fell asleep, cocooned in their warmth.

AN2: I hope you guys are prepared for however long this story is going to take :') Because oh boy, this story might turn out quite long.

How many of you who play the games have a fixed team? It's something I started thinking about after looking at my team in Violet LOL My team has changed very little since the start even after nearly completely the Pokédex, but I tend to get attached to my team so I am unlikely to change it often 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.