Author's note: Happy New Year to all of you! Here I am with a new chapter :)
Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; JaiJayce; Pen-Woman
Warnings: Canon typical violence
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 it!
Chapter 37
"I'm Naruto," Naruto introduced himself and couldn't help but eye the room warily.
Unlike in the previous room if the electricity went down here, it shouldn't become pitch black here. Orochimaru shouldn't be able to pull off the same trick Yakushi had done, but Naruto couldn't find it in himself to trust the older man to play fair. If his assistant played dirty like that, who was to say that the actual Gym Leader would play according to the rules?
"Something wrong?" Orochimaru asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just wondering if the electricity in this room will go down too," Naruto answered neutrally.
"Ah, it happened again in the other room?" Orochimaru surmised. "Yes, the building is fairly odd, I have to admit. Fixing the electricity is high on our list once we find someone."
Naruto couldn't tell whether Orochimaru was truthfully innocent or not. It would surprise him if the Gym Leader wasn't aware of what his assistants did, but there was still that possibility either way. He would feel bad about being suspicious of the Gym Leader when the man hadn't done anything yet, but he still felt quite pissed off at what Yakushi had tried to do.
"Even if the electricity fails here as well, however," Orochimaru said and gestured at the windows, "we won't be troubled by the lack of light. It is not exactly a sunny day, but it should still provide enough light if necessary."
Naruto supposed he was right. It was a pretty overcast day, but even if the electricity just so 'happened' to fail here as well, the windows would still provide enough light that Orochimaru wouldn't be able to pull off a stunt like Yakushi.
"You ready to start our battle?" Orochimaru asked and walked onto the field, making his way to the circle opposite of Naruto.
"I'm ready," Naruto confirmed.
They could do this. He still felt rather shitty and probably would until he could rest for a couple of hours, but they could defeat this Gym. They had handled the previous five Gyms, they could handle this one as well, no problem. He had a full team of six while Orochimaru appeared to have four Pokémon; that should be doable.
"In that case, let us begin," Orochimaru smiled and threw his first Pokéball into the air.
A Sableye appeared, its sharp teeth visible when it opened its mouth to grin at Naruto. Its pale blue, gemstone-like eyes glittered mischievously and it tapped its claws together in apparent delight.
Naruto could choose Mimikyu for this battle as Sableye was quite weak against Fairy attacks, but he wanted to keep Mimikyu for the tougher Ghost Pokémon. His nature actually did make him more susceptible to Ghost attacks ironically enough, but the same was the case for Orochimaru's team. It might be best to first have someone else take on Sableye and keep Mimikyu for the tougher ones; that way others on his team had a chance to battle and Mimikyu wouldn't have tired himself out by the time the strongest Pokémon was put on the field. Of course Sableye was immune to Fighting attacks which meant that Lucario wouldn't have a chance to fight, but the others could fight without much issue.
Still feeling a bit vicious, he decided to go for Ninetales again, figuring brute force in the form of fire would work just as well as a Fairy attack would.
"Ninetales, you're up again," he called out and threw her Pokéball into the air. She hadn't sustained any injuries during her previous battle, so he didn't feel bad for putting her onto the field again.
Besides, judging by the way she ruffled her fur and the manner in which her eyes gleamed when she stared down Sableye, Naruto thought she was looking forwards to letting loose again. It had been quite a while, after all, since she last could really battle in a Gym.
"Sableye, use Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball as many times as needed," Orochimaru instructed, seemingly convinced of his victory already.
Naruto raised an eyebrow briefly, but didn't let himself be deterred by Orochimaru's apparent confidence. Let him underestimate Ninetales purely because she was a Fire Type; that would only come back to bite him in the arse, not Naruto's.
"Ninetales, you know the drill," Naruto told her as Sableye started forming a Shadow Ball. "Try to avoid as many attacks as you can and roast Sableye with your strongest Flamethrowers whenever you see an opening. Go all out if you want."
She purred in agreement and jumped gracefully into the air to avoid the first Shadow Ball of Sableye. The second and third ones she literally smacked away with her tails. Sableye did manage to rank her flank with his second Shadow Claw, but her Flamethrower got it off guard and it squawked when it was hit fully in its belly. It hissed spitefully and its Shadow Ball was bigger this time when it threw it straight at Ninetales. The size of it didn't bother Ninetales; she simply kept jumping out of the way or sidestepping, barely allowing Sableye a chance to hit her.
"You got Sableye where you want it, Ninetales!" Naruto called out excitedly when he noticed Sableye's speed dropping down significantly.
Sableye was moving almost sluggish now; some smoke still lingering from where it had been burnt by Ninetales' attacks. It was almost dragging its feet now; its shoulders more hunched and there was nothing left of the mischievous glint in its gem-like eyes.
"Ninetales, go for one last Flamethrower!"
"You think that's a smart move?" Orochimaru suddenly spoke up idly.
"What?" Naruto was taken aback by the smirk on the older man's face but before he could call Ninetales back, Orochimaru lifted his hand.
"Sableye, Power Gem now."
Wait, Power Gem, wasn't that a …
The ray of light hit Ninetales straight into her chest, making her squeal in pain and flinch. Before she could make a full retreat, Sableye launched three more Power Gems at her, which hit her straight in her chest. All of a sudden Sableye didn't look that weak or slow anymore and Naruto realised with growing dread that this might have been Orochimaru's plan from the start. Make him and Ninetales believe that they had been whitling down Sableye with each Fire attack when in reality Sableye had just been biding its time, awaiting the moment Ninetales was vulnerable enough to hit it with a move she was extremely weak to: a Ground Type move.
Shit!
"Ninetales, come back," Naruto decided when she was too disoriented to evade the fifth Power Gem.
This one had her sagging through her legs; her tails drooping low for the first time since she had evolved. If this would go on, she would actually faint and Naruto didn't want to drive her to that point.
He held out her Pokéball, ready to call her back and let someone else take over, but she growled, taking him off guard.
"Ninetales, you're too injured," he urged and aimed her Pokéball again at her. "You already did a good job at weakening Sableye, let someone else take over now."
She only growled harder in response and surprisingly sprightly given her injuries, she dived to the left to evade the red beam of her Pokéball.
"Not a really good sign if your Pokémon are disobeying you at this level," Orochimaru said amused. "Sableye, one more Power Gem should do it. Put Ninetales out of its misery, shall we?"
Sableye's snicker sounded as if stones were being grinded together and it raised its arms, preparing one last Power Gem. Before it could start forming the attack, however, Ninetales jumped into the air to both Naruto's and Orochimaru's shock, opened her jaw wide and released a stream of fire so intense and large that Naruto could feel the heat all the way to where he stood. The intense fire engulfed Sableye completely, making it screech in the sort of agony that couldn't be faked. Its gem-like stones seemed to melt behind the wall of flames, but before the fire could take it down completely, Orochimaru abruptly called it back.
Ninetales meanwhile had landed back on the floor and on shaky legs she walked over to Naruto, a proud and defiant look in her eyes in spite of her injuries.
"Was that Inferno?" Naruto asked faintly; the sight of the flames seemingly burnt onto his own retinas.
He knew he should scold her for not listening and for putting herself at risk like that, but he was still too overwhelmed from the sight of the Inferno attack. He hadn't even known she knew how to perform that attack!
She mewled quietly, bunting his stomach gently. 'Tried it couple of times. Succeeded now.'
Well yes, she clearly had succeeded. Even Orochimaru's smirk had disappeared; a look of reluctant admiration briefly passing over his pale face.
"You should have listened to me," Naruto said, gathering his wits again. "Sableye could have seriously hurt you!"
"Ninetales, Ninetales!" Didn't, won instead!
Naruto sighed quietly and patted her head when she rested tiredly against him. He would have a talk with her about her stubbornness later on; now it was time for her to rest.
"Get some rest now, all right?" he told her quietly and gave her some scritches behind her ear. "We'll go to the Pokécentre once we're finished here."
She sighed and closed her eyes, allowing the red beam of her Pokéball to finally envelop her.
"Yamask, your turn now," Orochimaru said; his face unreadable.
"Toxtricity, you're up," Naruto decided after debating about it and threw his Pokéball.
Toxtricity's Poison attacks wouldn't do anything, but his Electric moves should be powerful enough to take on Yamask hopefully. If not, Naruto could still put in Vaporeon or Pidgeot; he wanted to keep Mimikyu for the last two Pokémon if possible.
Toxtricity rolled his shoulders when he exited the Pokéball, studying Yamask carefully. Yamask was floating idly in the air, holding its mask in its small tail-like appendage. Its large, red eyes were focused on Toxtricity and it lifted its shadowy, tendril-like arms in the air, while it bobbed up and down.
Naruto spared a brief moment wondering what kind of human this Yamask had been before it had died, but cast that thought away just as quickly as it had appeared. There was no point in wondering about something like that; it would only make him uncomfortable and it definitely wouldn't help him during the battle.
"Toxtricity, Poison attacks won't do anything to Yamask, so keep it to your Electric attacks only," Naruto instructed and Toxtricity swished his tail as a sign he understood. "Try to get Yamask paralysed if possible, if not, just go for Spark and Discharge." He paused, considered Toxtricity's moves and added in a whisper, "Or Overdrive if you can."
It was a move Toxtricity had used a couple of times before during training. He hadn't used it during an actual battle yet, but if he was capable of using it during training, he should be able to use it now as well. Even a Ghost-type like Yamask wouldn't be able to simply shake off such a powerful attack.
Yamask took Toxtricity by surprise with an Astonish, but Toxtricity managed to avoid the Will-O-Wisp it shot at him next, which was good because a burn from that move would be a hindrance throughout the rest of the battle.
Yamask dodged the Spark and nearly got hit by a Shock Wave before it threw a large Shadow Ball at Toxtricity. Naruto had to duck when the Shadow Ball shot straight past Toxtricity; the move slammed against the wall behind Naruto, tearing some of its plaster away. Naruto swallowed as the fragments of plaster fluttered towards the ground. Right, best not getting hit by a Shadow Ball; he didn't want to find out how that would feel exactly.
What followed was a flurry of attacks; an exchange of both Electric and Ghost type moves that had Naruto ducking occasionally and Orochimaru stepping to the side every time a Spark missed its mark and nearly scorched him. Yamask seemed evenly matched with Toxtricity, which meant it was higher levelled than Naruto had anticipated. That wasn't necessarily bad, because for all that the fight was dragging on longer than Ninetales' battle had, it looked like Toxtricity was enjoying himself immensely. He stalked Yamask all across the room, never giving the Pokémon a chance to melt away in the shadowy corners. He avoided the Shadow Balls, but let the occasional Astonish through if he really couldn't duck or hide from it.
When Toxtricity's Discharge hit Yamask's Shadow Ball mid-air, it caused a minor explosion which threw Toxtricity to Naruto's side and smacked Yamask onto Orochimaru's half again.
Seeing Yamask clearly disoriented while Toxtricity had already scrambled up again, Naruto quickly lurched forwards and muttered to Toxtricity, "Distract Yamask with a Poison Jab. Aim it somewhere near Yamask and once it's distracted, hit it with your strongest Overdrive."
While Yamask had been following Toxtricity's pace, this time it was clear that the battle was dragging on a bit too long for the smaller Pokémon. It might be faking its exhaustion again, of course, because who was to say that Orochimaru wouldn't pull the same trick twice? But Yamask was definitely more affected by the explosion than Toxtricity was, which meant this was their best chance.
Toxtricity grunted in agreement and shot forwards, launching a Poison Jab at Yamask's right. Yamask moaned lowly in confusion, flinching almost instinctively before it grew puzzled as it realised which attack Toxtricity had just used.
"A Poison attack?" Orochimaru asked amused and shook his head derisively. "That's not going to do anything at – "
The sound of a guitar being twanged was incredibly loud, echoing through the entire room. Its vibrations made the walls tremble and the windows cracked in several places, the one closest to Toxtricity simply shattering apart, showering the floor and the ground outside with shards of glass. Naruto covered his ears with his hands because even to him the harsh sound was almost painful and across from him he saw Orochimaru doing the same.
Yamask wasn't prepared for the attack at all and with a loud, shrill shriek it tightened its hold around its mask and sagged down; its red eyes rolling back in its sockets.
Orochimaru called Yamask back before the Ghost Pokémon could hit the floor. "Setting up a distraction, smart," he muttered and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Clearly I made a mistake underestimating you."
"That's always a dangerous thing to do," Naruto told him lightly and called Toxtricity back.
"Well, this is certainly more interesting than most of the battles I've had recently," Orochimaru said offhandedly and selected his third ball, which was an Ultraball.
A trapezoidal stone with a crack running down the middle appeared next and Naruto spent a couple of seconds confused before swirling purple fog slowly started to pour out of the stone. It formed a rather large cloud around the stone; green orbs containing yellow centres swirled around the edges. Green, crescent shaped eyes opened somewhere in the middle of the cloud and a jagged mouth opened next. It hissed viciously, spitting in Naruto's direction.
Was that a Spiritomb? Naruto had only seen it on pictures before, sent by other people to Professor Tsunade. It was a Pokémon that was quite hard to find in the wild, usually holing up somewhere near ruins. It was said that it was a composition of more than a hundred souls, tied to the stone in question. Every soul was said to be wicked and vicious, which was why they had been tied to the stone in order to contain their mischief. Not exactly a Pokémon you wanted to encounter during the night.
Naruto thought that Tsunade had mentioned Spiritomb was particularly weak to Fairy moves, but he wasn't certain. Well, he had been keeping Mimikyu for the last two Pokémon. He might as well find out now whether he remembered Tsunade's information correctly.
Mimikyu appeared with a short cry, waving his shadowy tendrils around. His appearance had Spiritomb wildly dancing around, spitting and making an odd sort of heckling sound.
"Mimikyu, don't give Spiritomb a chance to hit you," Naruto warned him. Spiritomb might be quite weak to Fairy moves, but it was also a Ghost type, meaning that its attacks would hit Mimikyu severely as well.
"Mimi!" Won't!
"Try to avoid its attacks as much as possible," Naruto began to instruct but yelped when a Shadow Sneak suddenly raced across the floor, almost hitting Mimikyu.
Okay, so, Spiritomb clearly didn't have any patience. That was fine.
"Hit it with your strongest Dazzling Gleams," Naruto whispered before Mimikyu had to shuffle further onto the field to avoid a Confuse Ray.
Obviously Orochimaru was hoping to win by taking them by surprise, but if somebody was going to be taken by surprise, it was going to be Spiritomb and its Trainer! Would Orochimaru expect a Mimikyu knowing Dazzling Gleam?
Naruto grinned satisfied when the first Dazzling Gleam brightened up the room significantly, making Spiritomb squeal and curl into itself. Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise, but Naruto didn't give him time to rethink his strategy.
"Mimikyu, throw as many Dazzling Gleams as you can!" he called out, balling his fists.
"Kyu!"
Without letting up or giving Spiritomb a chance to recover, Mimikyu shot one Dazzling Gleam after the next one, hitting Spiritomb full on. The glitter of the attack became so bright at one point that Naruto had to shield his eyes. Spiritomb shrieked in dismay, lashed out with its fog like head, but Mimikyu simply jumped backwards, slapped Spiritomb with a Shadow Sneak and slammed one last Dazzling Gleam onto the incapacitated Pokémon for good measure.
Spiritomb hadn't stood a chance at all.
"You did amazing, Mimikyu!" Naruto crowed and clapped his hands as Spiritomb was returned to its Ultraball. "You ready for the last Pokémon?"
Mimikyu raised his shadowy arms in the air. "KYU!" YES!
"It's been a while since I was last driven to use my last Pokémon," Orochimaru remarked and almost nonchalantly he called up his last Pokémon, looking quite unbothered even though he was down to just one Pokémon anymore.
Naruto realised quickly why he was completely unbothered still.
Because his last Pokémon was a Gengar. A Gengar which loomed ominously over Mimikyu with a sinister grin on its face.
Well, shit. This wasn't going to be fun.
AN2: I love Gengar, but man, he can be a tricky bastard when he's not on your team.
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.