Time for a Pokemon AU! This should be interesting, so hopefully you guys all know Pokemon. If not, you should learn about it. Here we go!
Oh, and I don't own the Pokemon franchise, though that would be cool. They belong to Nintendo.
~Life's so short and it goes by fast, we'll never get it back~
Third Person POV
"I've assembled the four of you here because we all have a common goal in mind."
~
Three people stood before the grinning professor. The blond boy was glaring at the dark-haired boy beside him who was staring into space. The third was a pink-haired girl who was standing very properly, but sending the occasional glance at the dark-haired boy.
"Welcome, aspiring trainers!" the professor exclaimed, spreading his arms as he looked at them. "I'm Professor Birch, a researcher. You all are here for your starter Pokemon and your Pokedexes?"
The black-haired boy rolled his eyes. "No, just the Pokedex. I already have a Pokemon."
"I do too!" the blond exclaimed. "My guardian gave it to me! He said it's the child of my parents' Pokemon!"
Birch smiled awkwardly as he turned to the girl. "Do you already have a Pokemon too?"
She shook her head. "No, that's why I'm here!" Then she smiled. "And my name is Sakura."
"I'm Naruto!"
"Sasuke."
Birch nodded. "Nice to meet all of you! Naruto, Sasuke, do you want a Pokemon anyway? I'll give Sakura first choice, but I'd feel better if you all had one."
Naruto shrugged, a wide grin on his face. "Sure!" Sasuke didn't do anything except nod once.
"Great! Now please wait here while I go get the Pokemon and Pokedexes!" Birch walked off into a back room.
Once he was out of sight, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "I'm going to be the Champion!" he boasted. "Which means I'll be stronger than you!"
"Not likely," Sasuke scoffed. "I'm an Uchiha. So you stand no chance against me."
"Well Sakura? Who do you think would win?" Naruto turned to the pink-haired girl.
Sakura only hesitated briefly as she looked between the two boys. Then she smiled. "Sasuke is the best! Of course he'd win!"
Naruto looked stricken. "But-"
"I'm back!" Birch returned, this time wheeling a cart that had three Pokeballs on it and three rectangular devices. "Here are your Pokedexes!" He proceeded to hand each of the kids one of the boxes. "Now Sakura, you get first choice! This is Treecko, this is Torchic, and this is Mudkip. Choose wisely!" The professor indicated each Pokeball on the cart.
After a moment of thinking, Sakura reached out for the Pokeball with Mudkip inside. Naruto glared at Sasuke before rushing to grab the Pokeball with Treecko inside. Sasuke only shrugged as he took the last Pokeball and clipped it to his belt.
"Alright, now everybody has their Pokemon! Ready to set off on your journey?" Birch was about to continue when the door to the lab burst open and a person staggered inside, panting.
"Am- Am I too late?" the girl gasped, chest heaving. "Sorry, I got held up. Am I too late to receive a Pokedex?"
Birch frowned. "Are you Kiyomi? You are rather late." Then Birch grinned. "But not too late! I have a fourth Pokedex back here!" Then his disposition turned a bit gloomy. "I can't give you a Pokemon, though."
Kiyomi shrugged. "Not a problem, I have one." She looked at the other three people. "You guys live around here too, yes? Nice to meet you, I'm Kiyomi."
~
"We all want to take down Team Dawn."
~
"Sasuke, I challenge you to a battle!"
Sasuke sighed, before spinning to look at the yelling blond. "Naruto, you wouldn't stand a chance."
The blond was turning red from anger. "We'll see about that! Bring it!"
The two grabbed a Pokeball each, and got ready to fight. Further away, Kiyomi was fiddling with the Pokedex as Sakura watched curiously. But both looked up when Naruto started yelling, and Sakura ran over.
"Sasuke, you can do it!" Sakura cheered. Kiyomi followed at a more sedated pace, Pokedex still out.
Both boys threw their Pokeballs out at the same time, and in a flash of light two creatures appeared. Treecko and Torchic. Their new Pokemon.
Kiyomi, who was standing beside Sakura, looked up at the two Pokemon. "Sasuke is going to win," she muttered to Sakura. "Both Pokemon are at the same power level, considering they're new. Torchic has the type advantage, so it will win. Also, Sasuke seems to have some experience battling."
Just as she finished, Sasuke ordered the small bird to release an Ember attack. Treecko was unable to dodge in time and took the attack to the face. The lizard-like Pokemon staggered, then fell to the ground in defeat.
"And I win," Sasuke uttered, then recalled the Torchic and started walking away.
Naruto picked up his defeated Treecko, then glared at Sasuke. "I'll beat you next time! Just you wait!"
~
"It's time for them to be taken down."
~
"Oh hey Kiyomi, nice to see you," Sakura greeted the quiet girl as she approached the rest of the group. "We've been waiting for you." Beside Sakura, Naruto nodded enthusiastically. Sasuke didn't say anything, but nodded once at her.
Kiyomi took a seat at the table they were sitting around in the food court in Mauville. "Where's the Professor? I thought he said he was gonna meet us here. He's the one that called the meeting, after all."
"He can't make it," an unfamiliar voice said, and they all looked up. Standing lazily beside their table was a man with spiky silver hair and a mask that looked kind of out of place. There was a prominent scar over one eye, and the kids could see the Pokeballs lined on the man's belt. "Professor Birch sent me instead. I'm Kakashi Hatake."
"What did the Professor want?" Sakura asked curiously.
Kakashi shrugged. "Well, the region's facing a kind of... situation at the moment, and it was my job to take care of it. Birch recommended that you kids help me out."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this," he muttered shortly. "I have better things to be doing, so I'm out. Later." He started to get up out of his chair.
"This concerns Team Dawn," Kakashi said casually. Sasuke froze, then slowly slid back into his seat. The others tensed up.
By that point, after traveling for a while, all of them had had some encounter with the notorious crime syndicate. In fact, the last time they had all been together was when Team Dawn had kidnapped Naruto's Vulpix and the rest of them had helped him get the Pokemon back.
Kiyomi frowned at the mention of the group. "Who are you really?" she peered at Kakashi suspiciously. As far as she knew, not just any person had enough authority to be given such a mission, taking down an entire crime syndicate. And not just anyone was powerful enough either.
Kakashi winked. "I can't tell you, but I can say that I work for a certain organization that takes care of things like this." Kiyomi's frown deepened at the vague answer, but accepted it with a shrug.
"Now, are you four ready to help me?"
~
Four people stood in silence before Kakashi, looking at him with determination clear in their eyes. It had been a while since the four were rookie trainers just then starting out on their journey. Now they were experienced trainers, ready and willing to fight for their homeland.
Team Dawn had been steadily been gaining power over time, and their activities often clashed with those of the trainers. It was most often Naruto and Sasuke who got involved, as those two were the most proactive. They also both had powerful moral senses, and at least Naruto couldn't stand to see any evil-doing done anywhere near him.
Kiyomi and Sakura were more reserved, but when the boys got involved they always seemed to join in as well. Sakura really wasn't much of a fighter, but when she saw anyone attacking Sasuke she got intense. Kiyomi as well didn't really like fighting, but there was no way she was going to watch her friends fight without her.
By now, both Naruto and Sasuke had collected all eight badges from gyms across the region and were waiting to challenge the Elite Four, those four powerful trainers who were called the Kages of the region, along with the Champion. The fifth Kage.
Sakura wasn't going for the gym badges, and the reason for her traveling was to visit Pokemon Centers all across the region and learn as much as she could about healing. Her family ran the Pokemon center in Oldale Town, and it was her job to take over it when she was older.
Kiyomi was trying to be like her brother and become a Pokemon Professor, and her reason for journeying was to complete the Pokedex. Her brother Kaien had been transferred to the Unova region to work under Professor Juniper, and it was her dream to follow in his footsteps.
"Where is their base?" Sasuke asked, his hands unconsciously drifting over one of the Pokeballs on his belt. There was a certain Pokemon in there, a gift from his brother before Itachi ran off with the family fortune to join Team Dawn. Any mention of the event caused Sasuke to brood even more than normal, but the Pokemon was still close to his heart.
Kakashi turned and pointed to an area just a little bit aways from Mossdeep City, a small island in the middle of the ocean. "My informants tracked them to this island here. We're going to have to both swim and fly in, then attack on two different fronts."
"I'll swim in," Sakura said, thinking of his Swampert. "But I need someone strong to come with me."
"Actually," Kakashi corrected. "Sakura, I don't want you involved in the fighting. I would rather that you establish a base where we can periodically return to and get healed. You'll be our control center."
Sakura thought for a second, then nodded. "I can do that."
"Good," Kakashi continued. "Naruto, you're going to come with me and we're leading the frontal attack on their base. We'll keep the guards distracted while Kiyomi and Sasuke will sneak in from the sea and strike straight for the heart of the base. Aim for the highest ranking person in the base, you two. Any questions?"
Kiyomi and Sasuke exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. Sakura asked who she would go in with, and Kakashi pointed at Sasuke and Kiyomi, making Sakura flush in happiness. Naruto luckily didn't seem to be annoyed that he wasn't doing the more important mission. He was probably just glad he wouldn't be with Sasuke, and would also get to fight a lot.
Seeing as there weren't any more questions, Kakashi nodded and reached for a set of comms. "Alright. Here," he passed them each one of the small devices and helped them fit it into their ears. "We'll keep in touch using this. Ready?"
He was answered by four nods.
~
Kiyomi was walking through Lilycove City aimlessly, wandering in the general direction of the beach. She'd recently evolved a Water-type, and she knew that the Pokemon would want to spend some time in the ocean. It would be a well-deserved break for her entire team actually, they'd had a lot more battles in recent days and they were all tired.
When her foot came in contact with the soft sand she quickly scouted out a nearby rock to sit on, then reached to her belt for her five Pokeballs. A quick toss later and all of her team were standing on the sand before her.
The moment she sensed the sand beneath her body, the Milotic was off, splashing happily in the nearby surf. She was the Pokemon Kiyomi had just evolved, and had an exuberant personality. She had easily adjusted to her new body and was cavorting through the water, scales glittering.
The Houndoom on the other hand wasn't quite as pleased by the waves lapping nearby, and opted to settle on the warm ground beside Kiyomi. He was incredibly relaxed, and tended to fall asleep quite often, and his black fur quickly warmed in the sun.
With a screech, the Skarmory took to the skies. The free-spirited Pokemon wheeled in the air overhead and exchanged small talk with some Wingulls perched nearby, his silver wings sparkling in the sunlight.
The Blitzle Kaien had given Kiyomi, now evolved into a Zebstrika, simply stood still and raised his magnificent head into the breeze. Little crackles of lightning danced down the Pokemon's white mane as he stood there peacefully, relaxing in the sun.
Kiyomi's last Pokemon, and also her first, padded over and settled beside his trainer, leaning heavily against the girl's leg. The Absol rested his head on Kiyomi's lap and huffed, his red eyes only half open. Around his neck lay a necklace with a blue-white stone.
"Hey Fen," Kiyomi crooned, petting the Absol softly. Her partner sighed, nudging his horn into her stomach. Nearby the Houndoom, sensing that someone was being petted, clambered to his feet and meandered over, nudging Fen's head out of the way with his own horns. "Bren, chill. I have two hands, I can pet both of you."
"Kiyomi." When she heard her name, Kiyomi looked up. Sasuke stood nearby, his hands shoved in his pockets. "Let's battle."
The girl groaned, rolling her eyes. "Really Sasuke?" she commented, not making any move to rise. "No greeting or anything?"
Sasuke huffed. "I need to train before heading to Mossdeep to beat the gym there. I want your help, because Naruto is an idiot and Sakura is no help."
Kiyomi shrugged. "I don't know, I think they'd both end up surprising you." Sasuke only stared at her, so she heaved a sigh. "Fine, I'll help. What kind of battle do you want?"
"A double battle," Sasuke responded immediately. He'd heard that the Leader of the Mossdeep gym was actually two children who fought together, so he figured he'd better figure out how to fight with two Pokemon at once.
"Alright," Kiyomi nodded. She quickly recalled all her Pokemon into their Pokeballs, then stood a ways away from Sasuke. "You choose first, and you get first move."
Sasuke quickly agreed, and tossed two Pokeballs out. In a burst of light, his Nuzleaf and Zorua appeared. The brown leaf-headed Pokemon took a threatening stance and the black fox quickly flipped up and changed it's form into that of a Blaziken.
Kiyomi studied the two Pokemon for a minute, then reached down and pulled two balls off her belt. "Here, Mossdeep is a Psychic-type gym. I don't have any Psychic types, but these two are kind of close." She easily tossed them into the air, and two of her own Pokemon appeared.
First to appear was Fen the Absol, then next was the Milotic. "Fen and Salila, you two are up," she told the Pokemon. Then her attention shifted back to Sasuke. "They both know some Psychic moves, so are you ready?"
Sasuke didn't reply to her question, instead looking at Nuzleaf. "Nuzleaf, use Razor Leaf on Milotic." The Pokemon immediately swept it's arm out, sending a swarm of sharp leaves heading straight for Salila.
"Fen, use Detect," Kiyomi ordered. The white wolf-like Pokemon leapt in front of Salila without hesitation, eyes flashing. Then he pushed Salila out of the way just in time for the leaves to crash harmlessly into the ground.
Kiyomi wasn't done, however. "Salila, your turn. Use Twister." Salila whipped her tail in a quick rotation, and a small tornado grew out of it. The tornado gradually grew larger, traveling towards Sasuke's two Pokemon with surprising speed.
The attack made contact with both Pokemon, sweeping them easily into the air. As soon as it made contact with Zorua, the Pokemon's transformation was lost, and the small black fox was back.
But both of Sasuke's Pokemon recovered easily, landing lightly on the ground after the tornado was gone. "Zorua, use Night Daze," Sasuke ordered.
Kiyomi's eyes widened as the Pokemon's eyes glowed purple, and a wave of darkness radiated from it's body. That was a high-level move that Kiyomi wasn't expecting from an unevolved Pokemon.
The black wave struck both her Pokemon, and while Fen shrugged it off easily Salila was more affected. The snake struggled to remain upright after the darkness was gone, and Kiyomi looked at her worriedly.
Fen quickly jumped over and leaned his body against Salila's supporting her. "Fen, use Quick Attack. Salila, use Rest."
While Fen raced towards Sasuke's Pokemon at breakneck speeds, Salila curled up on the ground and closed her eyes, her wounds slowly disappearing. Kiyomi nodded as Fen finished his attack and stood protectively in front of the snake Pokemon. This battle wasn't over yet.
~
Kiyomi was perched on Salila's back, the snake moving fluidly through the choppy waves of the ocean. Surfing beside her was Sasuke, standing stoically on the back of his Gyarados. They were racing quickly towards the island in the distance, the speck on the horizon steadily growing larger as they drew closer.
They had split from Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura a while ago, the two boys going to the island on the back of Kakashi's Magnezone and Sakura leaving Kiyomi and Sasuke to head on her own to the island and scout out a place she could set as their healing station. The attack on Team Dawn's base was commencing, and all of them sure hoped they had prepared well enough.
When Kiyomi and Sasuke reached the island, the sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side, as the island had a mountain reaching to the sky coming right out of its middle. Occasionally flashes of light or flying Pokemon could be seen as well.
"Ready?" Sasuke asked Kiyomi lowly, jumping down off of Gyarados' back and recalling the Pokemon. Kiyomi nodded, then did the same.
Together, they snuck towards a small hidden door in the side of the mountain. It was locked, and Kiyomi had to stop Sasuke from simply smashing it in his haste. "Be patient," she hissed, pulling a Pokeball from her belt. "If you go smashing everything, we'll get detected. Let me take care of it."
Sasuke reluctantly stepped back, and Kiyomi called out a new Pokemon he'd never seen her use before. It was a small sandy-colored mouse with sharp claws, and it chirped happily upon seeing Kiyomi.
"Hey Sandshrew," Kiyomi whispered. "Think you can carefully take care of this door?" The Pokemon clicked it's claws together, then set to work on dismantling the hinges of the door.
"I didn't know you had a Sandshrew," Sasuke commented as the Pokemon worked. The mouse was already through with one hinge, and was now trying to take the lock off the door.
Kiyomi shrugged. "He's new, and I haven't come up with a nickname yet. But he's a mischievous little thing with a bad habit of taking things apart. So I figured this was a good place to use his skills, because he isn't really a good fighter."
Sasuke nodded, and in that moment the door sagged towards the ground. Kiyomi stepped over and pushed it, and it swung inward. The two of them ducked through the entrance, and Kiyomi scooped up Sandshrew on her way through.
With the Pokemon clutched in front of her chest, Kiyomi led the way down the deserted hallway. Overhead, lights were flickering, which created a rather eerie atmosphere. There was a pressure in the air that made the hair on the back of Kiyomi's neck stand up, and in her arms Sandshrew was shivering.
"Which way?" Kiyomi whispered to Sasuke when they came upon an intersection. Sasuke was about to answer when Kiyomi cut him off. "And we're not splitting up. Not smart, trust me."
~
Kiyomi was crouched atop her Skarmory Ahio's back, holding on with her hands grabbing Ahio's steel-plated neck. They were gliding across the sky lazily, Kiyomi's eyes sweeping over the landscape below. Then her eyes locked on something strange.
Below, two people in wearing black-and-red uniforms were facing off with Naruto, and seemed to be about to start a Pokemon battle. Kiyomi tapped Ahio's neck, and the large bird screeched and wheeled down to the earth, landing a few paces away from the fighters.
Naruto and the goons all looked surprised at her arrival, but the goons soon had angry expressions on their plain faces. "Another one? Seriously?" one complained, turning to his comrade. "These people are just so annoying!"
"Kiya, good to see you," Naruto greeted, sending the girl a quick grin. Then it faded as he looked back at the goons. "These two creeps were harassing some trainers back in Lavaridge Town, and I came here to take a look."
"We weren't harassing those people," the second goon sneered. "We were simply trying to convince them to stop participating in Pokemon battles."
"By threatening them?" Naruto growled. "You said they'd regret it if they kept battling!"
Kiyomi shrugged. "That does sound like harassment," she commented. "So, you two are against Pokemon battling?"
The goons nodded rapidly. "Correct!" one said. "Pokemon battling is the wrong way to solve disputes, as it's often used for. We want a world of peace, where Pokemon and people live in harmony without this cruel relationship binding us together!"
"And yet," Kiyomi raised an eyebrow. "You carry Pokeballs like the rest of us. That kind of implies that you're up for a fight, doesn't it?"
"That's what I was saying!" Naruto exploded. "They're just lousy hypocrites! Probably no different from those stupid Team Plasma people we heard about from the Unova region!"
Kiyomi frowned. She knew a good bit about the Team Plasma incidents that had happened a few years ago, as her brother had somehow gotten involved in the first one. He was fine, but had stayed far out of the fray during the second incident.
Meanwhile, the goons were arguing with Naruto. "We're nothing like those Team Plasma losers!" one disagreed, curling his hands into a fist. "They were weak and had no strong leadership! Our team is strong, and our admins are the very best trainers around! They could beat you two into dust with no sweat!"
Naruto continued arguing, but Kiyomi felt a chill travel down her spine. Those two goons had basically just revealed that they were part of an organized crime group. The Hoenn region was still trying to recover from the devastation that had occurred when Team Magma and Team Aqua had feuded, and ended up reviving two incredibly destructive legendary Pokemon. The region couldn't deal with another incident like that.
Without another word, Kiyomi spun around and jumped back atop Ahio, ignoring Naruto's attempts to speak to her. She knew he could deal with this situation, even if it escalated. He was strong enough for sure. Right now, her job was to inform Professor Birch and Kakashi about what she'd learned. They needed to know as soon as possible.
~
Slow clapping echoed through the hallway, and both Kiyomi and Sasuke spun around to see where it was coming from. But there wasn't anyone. That's when a voice spoke, and they learned that the noise was coming from a speaker set high on the wall beside them.
"Congratulations on avoiding the security system for so long," the voice said cheerfully. "But no longer. Go down the corridor to the right, and you'll come upon a large room. We'll meet you there, and we can resolve this situation. Though if you're too chicken, then you better leave right now!" The voice cut off with a click.
Sasuke balled his fists. "Let's go," he said shortly, turning and stalking down the hallway on the right.
"Whoa, hold up there," Kiyomi grabbed his arm before he got too far away. "I know our job is to take down the admins here, but it's probably a trap. We need to be careful, and not just rush headlong into places we're invited." Then she smirked. "Really, you're acting almost like Naruto."
Sasuke stiffened, and withdrew his arm from Kiyomi's grip as if he'd been burned. "Fine," he spat. "We'll take it slow. But we have to go there."
"Gotta prove you're not a chicken, huh?" Kiyomi teased, but she fell in step beside Sasuke anyways. Together they walked down the hallway, traveling cautiously in case there were any traps. There weren't, but it never hurts to be careful. They also learned that the signal from their comms was being jammed, so both of them slid the devices out and into their pockets.
Soon they came upon a door, and after a moment of staring at it, Sasuke reached out and pulled it open. Inside was a huge empty room, the only thing in there was a Pokemon battle ring at the center.
Sasuke was the first to move, striding purposefully to the center of the room. He took a spot at the end of the ring, then stopped and crossed his arms defiantly. Kiyomi scanned the room before hesitantly taking the spot beside him.
The moment she stepped inside the trainers box, a rumbling could be heard. Then the ground beneath the two of them shot up in two segments, leaving each of them on a different platform.
The ground rose up with them as well until they were each standing in front of a smaller ring, then the two moved away from each other. When the movements were over, Sasuke and Kiyomi were twenty feet in the air and separated by about the same distance.
They exchanged concerned glances, then two people appeared out of thin air, one across from each of them. Sasuke's eyes widened when he recognized the person across from him, though Kiyomi was less fortunate.
"Itachi...." Sasuke growled, seeing his brother dressed in the black-and-red uniform of Team Dawn. The elder Uchiha brother stared apathetically at his fuming younger brother, but didn't respond.
Kiyomi studied the person across from her and was surprised to see it was a person whose face was covered in a swirling orange mask. He- she assumed the person was male- wore the long black cloak with red clouds that signified a Team Dawn admin, as did Itachi. This wasn't an opponent to be underestimated.
"Welcome!" the orange-masked man cheered, his voice oddly cheerful and childish. "Sasuke and Kiyomi, correct? We've been expecting you, sneaky intruders!"
"Sasuke," Itachi said in a bland voice devoid of any emotion. "It's been some time, little brother."
"But we're not here for a family reunion!" the masked man chirped, spinning in a circle on his square of earth. "We're here to fight! At least," he calmed down for a minute. "That's why I assume you're here?"
Kiyomi dipped her head once, choosing not to respond verbally.
The masked man threw his hands up in the air. "Awesome! I'm Tobi, so let's fight!" He reached into a pocket of his cloak and withdrew a Pokeball.
"A Team Dawn admin who wants to fight? Doesn't that go against your beliefs?" Kiyomi commented, though she wasn't too serious. In her experience, Team Dawn people tended to ignore that, or at least expected it to apply to everyone besides themselves.
"You can't win without conflict!" Tobi shrugged nonchalantly. "But once we get that Pokemon, then we won't need to fight anymore!"
'That Pokemon?' Kiyomi thought, her hands drifting towards her belt where her Pokemon waited in their Pokeballs. 'That doesn't sound too good.'
"Here we go!" Tobi tossed the sphere in his hand onto the field, and in a flash of light a Pokemon appeared. There weren't any rules stated like there were in normal battles, but Kiyomi knew the general idea. Use any Pokemon at your disposal, and fight until you have nothing left.
Tobi's first Pokemon was Sableye, the gem-eyed purple Pokemon standing patiently in it's spot. After a quick check Kiyomi saw that it didn't have a Mega Stone, for which she was both grateful and apprehensive. She could easily see the glinting stone set in a bracelet on Tobi's wrist, which meant he was saving his mega evolution for a later Pokemon.
It's not like Kiyomi didn't have a Mega Stone of her own, all four of her friends did. They were a gift from Professor Birch, along with one Mega Stone each. So far Kiyomi had only had to use it twice, but she got the feeling that this battle would require the use of it another time.
"Well?" Tobi called across the battlefield, pulling Kiyomi from her thoughts. "Aren't you going to call a Pokemon as well? Or are you forfeiting?"
Kiyomi shook her head, then reached to her belt. After a moment of deliberation, she chose a sphere and tossed it to the field. Another flash of light and a canine Pokemon leapt forth, standing in front of her calmly.
"Bren, let's go," Kiyomi told her Pokemon, and the Houndoom growled lowly. Sableye hissed in response, but the dog wasn't fazed. "Start with Flamethrower."
Bren took a deep breath, then breathed out a stream of bright orange flames straight at Sableye. Tobi clicked his fingers, then Sableye melted into shadows, effectively dodging the attack.
When he sensed that his target was gone, Bren cut off the flames, looking around cautiously. Then his shadow moved, and Sableye reared out of it and swiped with it's claws, catching Bren in the side. The Houndoom yelped as he was flung to the side of the platform, skidding along the ground for a moment. Bren ended up dangerously close to the cliff, but caught himself before he want over.
"Are you okay?" Kiyomi called, and was answered by a bark. "Good. Then use Howl, followed by Fire Fang!"
Bren lifted his head to the sky and howled, the eerie sound echoing throughout the entire room. Even though she was expecting it, a tendril of fear wormed it's way down Kiyomi's spine. A natural reaction to a sound that seemed like it came from death itself.
Across from her, Tobi shivered. "Creepy," he shuddered. "But hey! Sableye, let's use Power Gem! Protect yourself!"
The Sableye brought it's hands together, and a sparkling light formed there. Then it shot out, the shining beam heading straight for the Houndoom. Bren howled, this time in pain, and was launched off the earthy platform by the beam. The flames in the dog's mouth immediately died out.
"No!" Kiyomi's eyes were wide as Bren flew over the side. A few seconds later, a red streak of light shot up and streamed back into the Pokeball that was Bren's. The Houndoom was down.
Kiyomi clenched her jaw, then reached for another Pokeball. She couldn't give up now.
~
"I'm telling you, I'm going to be the Champion! No doubt about it!" Naruto was boasting, grinning recklessly. "Those Kages don't stand a chance against me! Not even the Hokage, Lady Tsunade!"
"There's no way you can beat her!" Sakura protested, crossing her arms as her eyes glinted dangerously. "Lady Tsunade is the Champion, and has been for a while ever since she beat the last Champion! She's both the greatest medic and one of the strongest trainers in the world, you don't have a chance!"
"You couldn't even beat the Kazekage, and he's the weakest of the Elite Four," Sasuke commented frankly. "They're out of your league, so just give up."
"Hey, Gaara's pretty strong," Kiyomi defended, taking a sip of her drink. They were again seating around a table in Mauville City, which seemed to be Kakashi's favored meeting place. And he was late again, so they'd taken to discussing Pokemon. "Don't think he's weak, even if he trains Ground-types."
Sasuke shrugged. "When I get a bit stronger I could take him."
Kiyomi scoffed, but didn't respond. Gaara was an old friend of hers, and she knew first-hand how strong he was. The red-head definitely deserved his appointment to the Elite Four, even if people seemed to underestimate him easily.
"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi's cheerful voice spoke. He walked up casually, a hand raised in greeting. The masked man dragged a chair up to their table and sat down easily. "So what're you talking about?"
"How I'm going to be the Champion!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
"How Naruto's a loser," Sasuke said at the same time. Naruto whirled around and put his face right in Sasuke's, but before they could start arguing Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt and pulled him back into his seat.
"Alright, settle down," Kakashi said, wincing sheepishly at their antics. They were creating a bit of a scene. "I've got news on Team Dawn, but how are you all progressing with your goals?"
"Six badges!" Naruto cheered, quickly pulling out his badge case and showing the six shiny badges nestled inside.
Sasuke snorted. "Seven," he showed his own case. "Just Sootopolis left."
"How was it?" Kiyomi asked Sasuke curiously, speaking of his Mossdeep challenge. She was thinking back to their training battle on Lilycove's beach. It had ended in a defeat for her, not surprisingly. But she'd certainly given Sasuke a good fight.
"Good," Sasuke replied. "Battling with you proved to be more helpful than I'd expected."
"That's good," Kiyomi responded, taking another sip of her drink. This cafe had some very delicious juice drinks. She got one every time she came.
"Anyway, on to my news..." Kakashi started, and they all instantly settled and listened closely.
~
Kiyomi was panting. This was easily the hardest fight she'd ever been in, and she'd faced Gaara for crying out loud! Tobi's Pokemon were just on another level. She hadn't checked in a while, but she was sure Sasuke was having an equally difficult time against his brother.
So far, of her six Pokemon, four had been defeated. After Bren, Ahio, Seaiga the Zebstrika, and Salila had all been subsequently defeated, at the cost of only three of Tobi's Pokemon. Sableye had been defeated by Salila, but the Milotic was then taken down by a Spiritomb. The demonic Pokemon then also took down Seaiga, then Ahio had managed to defeat both it and the Chandelure that followed, but her weakened bird was easily beaten by Tobi's Golurk. He's obviously got a thing for Ghost types, as she noticed.
So Kiyomi then had no choice but to use Fenrir. The Absol was her ace in the hole, her partner who she trusted beyond belief, the strongest Pokemon on her team. She did have one other Pokemon, but her little Sandshrew wasn't ready nor strong enough to face Tobi and his team.
Fen stood proudly on the field, his head raised high and his horn shining dangerously. Across the field loomed the giant earth golem that was Golurk. A strange creaking noise came from the Pokemon's body.
"Fen, Night Slash," Kiyomi commanded. The Absol crouched, then with a quick move slashed his glowing purple horn at Golurk's body. Golurk dropped to one knee with a groan. Super effective moves are great.
Fen moved again without a command, using another purple slash on Golurk. This time the golem collapsed completely to the ground, and was turned into a red streak of light as it was re-summoned into it's Pokeball in defeat.
"Whoa!" Tobi cried, replacing the red sphere in his cloak. "Scary Pokemon! But you can't beat my next friend!"
Kiyomi tensed up in preparation for his next choice, but before Tobi could do anything a crash made them turn their heads. Down below Kakashi and Naruto appeared through a hole that it seemed Naruto's Poliwrath made. They looked around briefly, then looked up and finally saw what was taking place above them.
Kiyomi looked over at Sasuke and saw that he was crouched on the ground and breathing hard. Across from him Itachi looked winded, but not nearly as much as his younger brother did. On their battlefield were two Pokemon that appeared equally as tired as their trainers. Sasuke's Blaziken and Itachi's Zoroark.
"Sasuke! Kiyomi!" Naruto shouted, sounding tired but worried. Kakashi's eyes also appeared concerned, then he looked behind them as Sakura appeared.
But Sakura wasn't alone. Two more figures came with her. One a male with striking red hair, and the other an older woman with a busty figure. The Kazekage Gaara and the Champion Tsunade, also called the Hokage.
Tobi fake-screamed when he saw the new arrivals. "Aw man!" he sounded like he was pouting beneath his mask. "If those two are here then it's not any more fun. Itachi, let's be off!"
Itachi nodded wordlessly, and the two disappeared just as they'd came. Gone into thin air. The earthen platforms rumbled back to the ground, leaving Kiyomi and Sasuke on the floor still panting.
Sakura rushed over to Sasuke first, preparing the first aid supplies she'd gathered for both Pokemon and people. The others were close behind, but Kakashi first went over to Kiyomi and helped her walk to Sakura. The stress of the intense battles was wearing on both of them.
"So what happened?" Kakashi asked as Sakura was finishing up with Sasuke and his Pokemon. "When we finally cleared the forces outside, we come in to see you two in the middle of a battle with two admins?"
"We were exploring when that masked man, Tobi, told us to come here," Kiyomi relayed, having sat down on the ground and was leaning against Gaara's shoulder. The two were childhood friends, with Gaara originally being from Littleroot Town with the rest of them, but his family eventually moved away. When the two met again a few years later, they picked up their friendship pretty easily.
"The masked man you were fighting?" Kakashi confirmed, and Kiyomi nodded. "You seemed to be struggling a bit."
"I was," Kiyomi admitted. "He was easily one of the most powerful people I've ever faced."
Gaara raised a thin eyebrow. "And since you've faced me, that's high praise indeed."
"Yeah," Kiyomi chuckled, winking at her friend. "I think he could give you a run for your money." Gaara snorted.
"Sasuke... that was your brother, wasn't it?" Sakura asked cautiously after Gaara and Kiyomi stopped talking. She was hesitant to bring up the subject considering Sasuke's touchiness, but they all needed to know.
Sasuke was silent for a minute, then he nodded slightly. Kakashi sensed that Sasuke didn't want to talk about that, so he switched topics. Kind of.
"Alright, so we cleared one base," he started, drawing all their attention. "But both admins escaped. So we've still got a ways to go before Team Dawn is defeated completely."
Tsunade spoke up for the first time. "But we can do it," her arms were crossed. The Champion may have had a reputation for being a person who tended to drink a bit more than the average person, but there wasn't a hint of drunkenness in her manner. She was dead serious. "It will take time, for sure, but we don't have a choice. Otherwise we'll have a real problem on our hands."
"That is true," Gaara agreed. "But you five have the support of the Elite Four and the Champion, as well as the International Police." Kakashi winced.
"Ah," Kiyomi drawled, looking at Kakashi victoriously. "So that's where you work. Finally, the mystery is resolved." Kakashi smiled sheepishly, but didn't respond.
Sasuke and Sakura understood what they were talking about and smirked, but Naruto did not. "What's the International Police?" he asked in confusion. The two Kages and Kakashi sighed while Sakura and Kiyomi laughed. Even Sasuke had a larger smirk than normal on his face. "What? I'm really confused, guys!"
~
The four teens stood on one of the tree platforms that made up the city of Fortree. It was later in the afternoon, and the sun was well on it's way to setting, and the sky was beginning to turn the reddish pink color of a beautiful sunset.
Naruto was leaning on the fence that prevented people from going over the edge and Sakura stood beside him. Sasuke was leaning on the wall of the building behind them, while Kiyomi was relaxing on her back on the wooden floor, staring up at the sky.
The silence was broken by Sakura asking a question. "... This will all be worth it in the end, right?" she asked quietly, looking out across the forest. Lights were just beginning to flicker on in the other tree houses, creating quite the scene against the darkening forest. "All this fighting we do?"
Naruto grinned. "Yeah, 'course!" he said, his beaming smile infectious. "Life is always worth it!"
"Before Alice got to Wonderland she had to fall," Kiyomi quoted quietly.
All three other people looked at her with varying degrees of confusion on their face. "Kiya, what does that mean?" Naruto asked curiously. They'd all heard a lot of her quotes before, but this was a new one.
Kiyomi shrugged as well as she could while laying on her back. "It's from a story. A girl goes to a magical place by falling down a rabbit hole, in short."
"So it means that hardship comes before reward," Sasuke correctly guessed. Kiyomi nodded, but didn't say anything more.
Sakura sighed. Above them, the sky was fully red and pink, though there were hints of purple around the edges. "Well, good. Because if it's worth it in the end, then it's worth it now."
Kiyomi huffed out a laugh. "Wise words," she sat up. "Wise words indeed."
The four of them were quiet after that, watching as the sky slowly changed colors as the sun went down. The air slowly chilled, and then a spring breeze made them collectively shiver with the coolness.
"Alright, time to head in," Kiyomi commented. "'Night y'all."
"Night."
~
~The world we knew, it was so simple then. Me and you thought it would never end. Oh what I wouldn't do to get back to the world we knew~
Oh, and it's freaking eleven at night where I am and I haven't done my physics homework or my psychology vocab. Y'all better appreciate this update, because I almost put it off for another day.
Also, if there's anything you want to see in a bonus chapter, tell me!! Like a scene you want played out, something explaining anything you're confused at, stuff involving shipping, etc. Please, it would be really cool!