The Pokémon Wildcard

Chapter 4: Rocking the Gym and Dancing under the Moonlight

"…96…97…98…99…and 100!" said Naruto as he finally stopping swinging the Aura Blade held in his hands and reverted it to its card form, he heard the fluttering of wings above him before something dropped on his head, revealing to be a towel which he used to wipe the sweat off him. He looked up to smile fondly at the Pokémon flying above him "Thanks for the towel, Butterfree,"

"Free freeee!" the Bug/Flying Pokémon chirped happily as he flew around Naruto who suddenly felt a slight prick to the side and turned to smile sheepishly at the cause.

"And good work to you too Scyther, don't think I had forgotten about you either," said Pokémon scoffed in response, apparently he too had been practicing alongside the blonde trainer who had noticed that the second bug Pokémon has an interest in swordplay as he's always around whenever Naruto brings out the Aura Blade to engage him in a spar "Let's head back into camp to meet up with Leaf and the others,"

Receiving nods of affirmation from the two Bug Pokémon, Naruto finished drying up before taking his jacket which he had hung from a low tree branch to put it on before they began making their way back to the campsite, there he saw Leaf sitting on a tree log with a laptop on her lap and typing away with Pikachu and Bulbasaur watching with curiosity. They heard footsteps and looked up to see who it is and perked up.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu happily scampered over to plop himself on Naruto's shoulder with the blonde fondly smiling at the Lightning Mouse.

"Hey there, Pikachu!" Naruto playfully flicked the brim of the mouse's hat.

"Looks like you're done with your training," said Leaf.

"Yeah, was doing some calisthenics with Scyther to stay in shape especially we already had training on Moves proficiency yesterday,"

"Yeah, I could see the results of the training whenever you battled those Bug Trainers here in the Viridian Forest," said Leaf as she recalled the looks of disbelief on the trainers, given that Naruto was a 2-week-old Pokémon Trainer. Thanks to the training, Naruto's Caterpie evolved into Metapod then to a Butterfree which is currently sitting Naruto's head. The blonde went on to train the other Pokémon to learn new moves after having helped them master the ones they already know.

"How's your blog coming along?" asked Naruto, taking note of the laptop.

"I'm almost done setting up the site, thanks to your Pikachu helping recharge the battery. Though I think we should get a move on though, I'm sure we'll be able to arrive at Pewter City by noon," said Leaf after looking at the time on her PokéGear.

"Point taken, almost forgot that we're out of food since we've been in this forest for a while," Naruto returned the Pokémon excluding Pikachu into their Pokéballs before packing up and starting their trek through the Viridian Forest. Eventually, they exited from the forest onto the open road and later caught sight of a city in the distance with the PokéGear identifying the place to be Pewter City "Looks like we made it to Pewter City,"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Let's head over to the Pokémon Center to take care of our Pokémon and then figure what to do from there," said Leaf.

With that said, they entered the city and followed the directions to the Pokémon Center which apparently a tall tower then went inside to see many trainers and medical staffs moving about and taking part in various activities. Naruto and Leaf went over to the reception desk where they saw Nurse Joy standing behind it and approached her.

"Hello Nurse Joy, could you please help revitalize my Pokémon?" asked Naruto, having placed his Pokéballs in a tray with Pikachu hopping onto the table after giving his hat to his trainer, not wanting to lose it.

"Mine too please," Leaf presented her tray as well.

"I'll be pleased to do just that, Naruto and Leaf," said Nurse Joy with a smile.

Leaf blinked in confusion "You know of us?"

"Of course, the Joy of Viridian City who is my little sister told me about how the two of you helped protect the sick Pokémon from Team Rocket," Nurse Joy explained.

"We were just doing what was right," Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Which was very nice of you, by the way have you checked the poster behind you yet?" asked Joy before walking away to heal the Pokémon.

"Poster?" Naruto turned around and saw said poster on the wall then proceeded to read it "The Pokémon League Regional Championship, one must attain a Badge from a Gym Leader of a town or city through a Pokémon battle. In order to participate in the championship league; one must have accumulated eight official Gym Badges,"

"Looks like the rules haven't changed that much besides the increment of the age requirement to become a Pokémon Trainer," said Leaf.

"I'll wait until Pikachu and the others are healed up then I'll head for the gym here," said Naruto.

"In that case, we could use this chance to stock up on supplies as well as call our moms too," Leaf suggested.

"Good idea, apparently the Pokémon Center also has a store inbuilt,"

After a phone call with their mothers, the duo went to the shop and restocked on potions, Antidote, Paralyz Heal, and Awakening besides food for the journey thanks to the money earned from winning the Pokémon battles against the trainers back in the Viridian Forest. They went to pick up their Pokémon afterwards, they were walking along the street when a passerby handing out brochures gave one to them before continuing on his way. They read off the brochure to learn that the Pewter Museum of Science has reopened after its renovations.

"A museum huh…let's go check it out, this could help with my blog and we could learn a couple of things along the way," said Leaf thoughtfully.

"You're on to something there Leaf-chan, what do you think Pikachu?" asked Naruto.

Pikachu thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement "Pika pikachu,"

"In that case, let's go,"

The group followed the map printed on the brochure and soon arrived at their destination, paying an entry fee of 50 pokedollars each sans Pikachu to enter. They marveled at the exhibits which dated back to ancient times with the skeletal models of Pokémon like Aerodactly and Kabutops in display, Leaf was taking pictures and notes as they toured the place when they overheard two girls pass while gossiping about something.

"Did you hear, about Brock the Gym Leader? He's an amazing trainer who overwhelms anyone that tries to challenge him," said the girl.

"Amazing! Everyday trainers come to the Pewter City Gym to challenge him," said the girl's friend in admiration.

"The gym leader sounds strong, are you up for it Naruto?" asked Leaf with mild concern.

"My Pokémon and I have trained hard, battling Brock will tell us how far we're come and how long we have to go. I have confidence that we'll push through," said Naruto with determination, Pikachu felt the same way.

"Then I'll be rooting for you all the way," said Leaf, getting the blonde to smile at her.

They left the museum and followed the directions given to them till they arrived at the gym which seemed to be Rock themed before making their way inside through the large double doors. The interior was quite dark which it hard for them to see, they hardly took more than four steps when a spotlight turned on at the far end of the room and shone down on someone.

He is a young tanned boy who's probably about three years older than Naruto with spiky black and distinguishable squinty eyes. He wears a green vest which has four large pockets on the front over an orange short-sleeved t-shirt, along with brown pants held up by a black belt with a gold rectangular buckle, had attached brown belt pockets on either side, and a pair of blue-and-white sneakers.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked the boy.

"My name is Naruto U.N Ketchum from Pallet Town and I came here to challenge the Gym Leader to a battle to earn a badge. I take it that you're Brock then?" Naruto introduced himself.

"Is this your first match? For if it is, then it's far different from a regular Pokémon battle as there are special rules. Such an example being that we will use two Pokémon each, understood?" Brock explained.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "I understand well enough,"

"How long have you been on your journey?"

"About two weeks tops,"

"Your Pikachu is still at its cutest stage…," Pikachu blushed a bit at the gym leader's words "…it can't win," okay now that soured his mood.

"I suggest you don't go assuming that you know me, I came into this gym while fully aware of what it means to challenge a gym leader," said Naruto with a frown.

"Very well then, I have to answer to every challenge as a gym leader," Brock snapped his fingers as the walls opened up and two halves of a rock-themed arena slid into place in between Naruto and Brock while Leaf climbed up to the stands to watch the forthcoming battle. Both took their places and brought their Pokéballs for battle.

Music Start: Pokémon Black 2 · White 2 Super Music Complete OST; Battle! Gym Leader (Kanto)

"Let the match begin, Go Geodude!" Brock declared before throwing the Pokéball out into the field for it to open up in a bright flash of light and reveal a gray boulderlike Pokémon with bulging rocky eyebrows, trapezoidal brown eyes, a wide mouth, and a pair of muscular arms with five fingers.

Naruto threw his Pokéball into the field as well to reveal his Pokémon being Butterfree, then he tightened his goggles with determination "Alright Butterfree, let's show them what we've got!"

"Free!" Butterfree looked ever ready for battle.

Brock quirked an eyebrow at this "Using a Bug/Flying type against a Rock/Ground type is a rookie mistake. Go Geodude, use Tackle Attack!" Geodude used its arms to launch itself towards Butterfree with great speed.

"Butterfree, fly straight up to dodge and then use String Shot!" Naruto quickly called out, Butterfree flapped his wings to quickly ascend to evade the incoming attack then spewed out sticky silk to wrap around his target to restrain it.

"That will not hold Geodude for long," said brock as Geodude was already in the process of tearing the bindings free.

"I know, but long enough to do this, use Stun Spore Butterfree!" said Naruto, surprising brock with the Bug Pokémon dispersing orange spores from his body onto Geodude who began to spasm a bit afterwards "Now use Tackle!" Butterfree now took to ramming into Geodude repetitively with the Rock Pokémon grunting at each impact.

"What's going on? Tackle shouldn't be affecting Geodude this much as a Normal type move," said Brock in confusion.

"That would be because of my Butterfree's Tinted Lens ability which enables him to use 'not very effective' moves to deal regular damage. Part of the reason why I choose Butterfree for battle," Naruto explained.

"So that's why, but I'm not done just yet. Geodude, use Rock Throw!" Brock commanded, Geodude scooped up nearby rocks and flung them towards Butterfree.

"Use Confusion to catch those rocks and send them right back, Butterfree!" Naruto quickly reacted, Butterfree's eyes glowed with purple psychic energy, then thrown rocks stopped in midair for a moment before flying straight back and pelting Geodude "It's over with this, use Gust!" Butterfree flapped his wings strongly to launch a powerful blast of air to send Geodude flying and slammed into a boulder where it collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Alright, way to go Naruto!" Leaf cheered happily at the blonde's victory when she heard a whine and looked to the side to see ten young children and noticed that they all bore a strong resemblance to Brock "Could they be related to Brock?"

"Return Geodude," Brock recalled the defeated Pokémon back into its Pokéball "You've certainly trained your Pokémon well, but let's see you can take on my last Pokémon! Go Onix!" he threw his second and last Pokéball out into the field to open and reveal what appears to be a Pokémon composed of a giant chain of gray boulders that becomes much smaller towards the tail and on the top of its head is a rocky spine, making it akin to a snake made of stones.

"Okay then, return Butterfree and good job," Naruto recalled the Bug Pokémon back into the Pokéball before glancing at Pikachu "It's your time to shine Pikachu, because I choose you!"

"Pika!" Pikachu handed his hat over to Naruto before leaping off his shoulder and running into the battlefield in anticipation.

Brock would have critiqued Naruto for his choice of Pokémon but the previous round already pointed out how unusual the blonde trainer is "Onix, use Tackle!" Onix lunged at Pikachu headfirst for a collision.

"Use Agility to keep away from Onix, Pikachu!" Naruto called out in alert; Pikachu took off with increasing speed as he evaded repeated Tackle attacks from Onix "Now use Electro Ball!" Pikachu launched off a boulder and formed a sphere of yellow electricity at the tip of his tail before firing it at Onix to inflict damage.

"Onix, use Rock Throw!" said Brock with the Rock type Pokémon slamming its tail into the ground and rocks flew out at Pikachu.

Naruto's mind raced for a solution "Use Agility once more then use Quick Attack on Onix!" Pikachu rushed forward, rapidly darting from left to right to evade the rock projectiles.

"Onix use Slam when Pikachu gets close enough!" Brock commanded, Onix nodded in affirmation and readied its tail for the attack.

"Dodge at the last minute and run up Onix's body and then use Iron Tail!" Pikachu timed his moment carefully then evaded the stone tail with a sidestep then ran up with his tail turning metallic before lashing out with a swipe to land a super effective hit, the momentum and move typing proved to be too much for Onix to bear as it collapsed to the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Alright, we won!" Naruto cheered with a fist pump and Pikachu jumped up and down happily before running back to Naruto and receiving his hat.

Music End

Brock gaped in shock at the outcome before letting out a sigh of resignation and brought out his Pokéball to recall Onix "Onix, you did your best so return for a good rest," then he approached Naruto with Leaf walking up to him and the children following after her "You trained your Pokémon well and came up with ways to earn victory which I've hardly seen with other trainers since they would challenge me with Pokémon of type advantages,"

"I just try help my Pokémon to be the best I believe they can be, and I should also prove myself worthy of being their trainer," said Naruto.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu was in full agreement; the training was hard but results were worth the effort.

"Hearing that makes me glad to award you with the Boulder Badge," Brock reached into one of the brown belt pockets and held out a token which is a simple gray octagon.

Naruto took the badge gratefully "Thank you," he looked at the badge then tossed it into the air like a coin then catching it and held it out before him "Boulder Badge acquired!"

"Pi-pikachu!" Pikachu cheered with a victory sign.

"You finally got to do that pose," said Leaf playfully, recalling Naruto wanting to do a pose to look cool after a gym battle and had been practicing it with a coin.

"That's pretty cool," said one of the children.

"Thanks, so who are you kids? You kinda resemble Brock," said Naruto.

"They're my little brothers and sisters," said Brock with pride, Naruto and Leaf looked at them and couldn't help but blush at how it happened given that they had been told about the Pidgey and the Beedrill by their parents "What say we head on over to the Pokémon Center to heal the Pokémon, especially mine,"

"Sounds good to me," said Naruto with a shrug.

After escorting the kids back home, the group made their way to the center and had their Pokémon over to Nurse joy to take care of them. they went on to have dinner at the cafeteria and had a chat mainly around the care of their Pokémon and future aspirations.

"I see, so Naruto wants to be a Pokémon Master and Leaf wishes to be the best Pokémon Journalist…those are really admirable dreams," said Brock with a sad smile "To be honest with you two, it's actually my dream to become a Top Pokémon Breeder. But I had to take over the gym to support my brothers and sisters and make up for my absent parents,"

"A Pokémon Breeder, I get that feeling that you'll be really good at it," said Leaf thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we'll support your dream just like you support ours. You just need to hang in there and never give up on it," said Naruto.

Brock smiled in appreciation "Thanks you guys," Unknown to the trio was that someone else was eavesdropping on them and looked down to the ground as if in shame before walking away.

Later on, Naruto and Leaf were standing at the edge of the city, giving it one last look since it would be a long while till they pass through there once again.

"Well, time to get back on the road then," said Naruto.

"Yeah, according to Nurse Joy; the next gym is over at Cerulean City," said Leaf, they were just about to take a step when a voice called out to them.

"Hey, wait up!" they turned to see Brock running up to them while carrying a large blue backpack with a bedroll seen strapped to it at the top until he finally caught up.

"Brock, what are you doing out here?" asked Leaf confusedly.

"It turns out that my dad has been around the whole time but just that he was ashamed to show himself. He offered to watch over the kids so I could fulfill my dream where he failed at his, so I hope that you two wouldn't mind if I join you on your journey," Brock explained.

Naruto responded with a smile "No problems here, the more the merrier as they always say,"

"Thanks guys," said Brock gratefully, then he joined the duo to form a trio as they resumed the journey to their next destination.

As of now, the group were currently hiking up a dirt pathway into direction towards a large mountain which is tall enough to be seen clearly all the way from Pallet Town which Leaf was able to recall.

"You know, I'm wondering how Mt Moon got its name; I thought it related to a lover's tale since it sounded so romantic," said Leaf, she took a glance at Naruto with a pink tinge on her cheeks.

"Not really, I heard people say that a huge meteor crashed into the mountain back during the prehistoric times. They called the meteor the Moon Stone,"

"I read about that, the Moon Stone has the power to make certain Pokémon evolve," said Naruto.

"HELP!" a sudden scream interrupted the trio's conversation, they looked at each other then ran quickly in direction of the scream. There they saw a man dressed as a professor curled up on the ground and batlike Pokémon were flying around him angrily, Naruto brought out his Pokédex to scan.

Zubat, The Bat Pokémon. Zubat avoids sunlight because exposure causes it to become unhealthy. During the daytime, it stays in caves or under the eaves of old houses, sleeping while hanging upside down.

"As much as I would like to wonder why they're doing the opposite, we need to help that man. Pikachu use Thundershock to scare the Zubat away!" Naruto commanded, Pikachu immediately leapt off his head with cheeks sparking before unleashing a blast of electricity to make the Zubat fly back into the cave, leaving the man alone for them to check on.

"Are you okay sir?" asked Leaf with concern.

The man dusted off his clothes "I'm fine, thank you very much brave Pokémon Trainers! I am in your debt,"

"No need for that, we just did what anyone else would have done. My name is Naruto U.N Ketchum and this is my buddy Pikachu, She's Leaf and he's Brock," Naruto introduced himself and his friends.

"I am Seymour the scientist, it is an utmost pleasure to meet you all," said the now named Seymour.

"Same here, but could you tell us why the Zubat were attacking you in broad daylight?" asked Brock.

"I can do better and show you the reason, follow me," Seymour walked into the cave the Zubat went through earlier with the others following him only to be surprised to see that inside was lit up with electric powered lights strung along the ceilings of the cave.

"What's with the lights?" asked Leaf.

"As you could see, somebody had strung these lights through the whole cave but the Pokémon need the dark and this rapid change in the environment is confusing them," Seymour explained.

"Which was probably why the Zubat left the cave and attacked you," said Brock thoughtfully.

Seymour nodded then gestured to the Pokémon residing in the cave "See there, those Paras are planting their mushrooms everywhere and the Sandshrew are getting dried up by the hot lights,"

Naruto noticed one of the Sandshrew near him panting and was saddened, so he took out a bowl from his backpack and filled it with water from his canteen before placing close to the Pokémon who wasted no time in drinking it all up. Leaf smiled fondly at the blonde's action before turning to speak to Seymour.

"Did you try to take the lights down?" asked Leaf.

Seymour nodded in affirmation "Yes I did but the troublemakers kept replacing them,"

"But what reason would they be here for?"

"I fear it's because of the Moon Stone,"

"The Moon Stone? We were just talking about it on our way here," said Brock.

"I believe so, for the Moon Stone is so much more than what everyone knows. I always believed that Pokémon came from outer space and arrived here with the Moon Stone as their spacecraft, and these greedy troublemakers want to steal it from the Pokémon for themselves!"

"Sounds like an original theory," said Leaf with a sweatdrop.

Naruto listened in as he tended to the Sandshrew "Hope you're feeling better now," he gently patted the Sandshrew's head as it sighed in contentment, then they heard yet another cry and this one came from a Pokémon. Naruto shot up to his feet and ran down the tunnel with Pikachu following after him.

"Naruto, wait up!" Leaf took off after with Brock and Seymour close behind.

Naruto skidded around the corner and narrowed his eyes upon seeing Meowth from Team Rocket looming over a frightened Pokémon which he identified to be a Clefairy quivering in fear with a stone shard held in its hands.

"Now fork over that Moon Stone and no one gets hurt," Meowth was about to take another step when Naruto stood in between them and glared at the cat Pokémon with Leaf frowning once she caught up with Naruto

"You again, what are you doing here?" asked Leaf.

"A talking Meowth?" Brock was rather surprised at a Pokémon capable of human speech.

"Don't bother, this Meowth is a member of Team Rocket and they're nothing but trouble,"

"Then prepare for trouble," Jessie appeared next to Meowth with a pickaxe in hand.

James soon joined while holding a shovel "And make it double,"

"To defend the w-"

Naruto stopped them "Okay, let me stop you right there. We already heard your dumb anthem once and that is enough for us,"

"Pika pika," Pikachu crossed his arms and nodded in agreement, making the trio glare at them.

"I'll have you know that our motto is worth hearing!" said Jessie in anger.

"About as worthwhile as a lame 10 second TV commercial, how about you get out of here before you cause anymore problems," Leaf scoffed in response.

"Not until we acquire the Moon Stone to power up our Pokémon," James retorted.

"Then we'll just force you out," Naruto took out Pokéball and readied it then turned to Leaf "Get Clefairy and the professor to safety while Brock and I deal with these guys,"

"Okay Naruto, be careful you two," Leaf beckoned the Clefairy and Seymour to follow her out of the cave as Naruto and Brock faced Team Rocket.

"Ready or not, go Ekans/Koffing!" Jessie and James threw their Pokéballs to call on their Pokémon.

"Let's go, Scyther!" Naruto threw his Pokéball to call on the Mantis Pokémon who stood at the ready with his blades.

"Here we go!" Brock threw his Pokéball to reveal a Zubat, mildly surprising Naruto.

"Since when did you catch a Zubat?" asked Naruto.

"It was right before we entered the cave,"

"Alright then, let's get down to business,"

"Koffing, Smog attack!" James commanded with Koffing expelling dark gas from its body towards Scyther and Zubat.

"Scyther, flap your wings quickly to blow the smog away then use a combo of Quick Attack and Slash!" Naruto called out, Scyther complied and vibrated his wings to blow the smog back then flew forward at highspeed and slashed at Koffing with one of his blades.

"Ekans use Tackle on Zubat!" said Jessie with Ekans lunging at Zubat.

"Zubat use Astonish and then use Wing Attack!" Brock commanded, Zubat let out a loud screech which slammed into Ekans, stopping it before smacking the snake Pokémon away with its wings.

"Koffing use Sludge attack on Scyther!" said James, Koffing spewed a blob of toxic sludge at it target.

"Use Double Team and follow it up with Quick Attack!" Naruto quickly reacted, Scyther immediately created copies of himself and hid amongst them with the sludge attack missing completely. Koffing looked around in confusion but was blindsided by the real Scyther's attack to be sent crashing into the cave wall and fainting.

Jessie growled at this "This is not over! Ekans, use Wrap!"

"Zubat, use Supersonic!" Zubat let out a screech which caused Ekans to begin moving around in a drunken manner much to Jessie's chagrin as it wasn't listening to her commands "Now finish it with Wing Attack!" Zubat swooped it and struck Ekans with its wings to knock it out. Jessie and James recalled their Pokémon and ran away from victorious duo.

"Another score for the good guys!" said Naruto, exchanging a high-five with Brock.

"That's the power of teamwork…but I feel like we're missing something," said Brock.

"Now that you mention it…we forgot about Meowth!"

"He must have snuck off after the others while we were battling!"

"Then we gotta move now!" Naruto and Pikachu and Brock ran out of the cave in the direction they saw Leaf and the others go through. They had just exited when they heard a scream and looked up to see Meowth flying in the opposite direction and went on ahead to locate the group near a river to see a vindictive Leaf and her Rattata sitting next to her "I guess Meowth was in over his head,"

Leaf smiled smugly "That's one way to say it,"

"I think we should take a small break after everything that happened, especially since it's getting rather late," Brock suggested.

"Sounds good to me," said Naruto. The group settled down for the meantime, Naruto reached into his bag and took out a container full of Pokémon food then he noticed that Brock also has Pokémon food with him as well "You make Pokémon food too?"

"Yeah, it's my very own recipe which I've been constantly improving upon. I guess the same goes for you," said Brock feeding a pellet to Zubat who was perched on his shoulder.

Naruto was feeding Scyther as well "It's actually a recipe from my mom, she taught me how to cook since she herself runs a restaurant back home so I received two cookbooks with one for humans and the other for Pokémon,"

"Hope you don't mind if I took a look at them,"

"No problem,"

Then the group heard a rumble from underground and something emerged, revealing it to be a Sandshrew which then went over to Naruto and began nuzzle against him rather fondly. Leaf was confused at first but then had an idea of why.

"I think that's the same Sandshrew you gave water to, Naruto," said Leaf.

Naruto looked at the Sandshrew who was nodding to the statement "I think you're right; I wonder what it's doing here?"

"My guess is that it has taken a liking to you since you were so nice to it," said Brock thoughtfully.

"It goes to show how much of a kind Pokémon trainer you are," said Seymour.

"Scyther scy," Scyther was in agreement, Naruto has shown to be strong and kind to himself and his fellow Pokémon.

"Well this calls for a commemorative picture," Leaf reached into her backpack and took out a digital camera, then she snapped a picture before noticing Pikachu sitting on a rock and having a conversation with the Clefairy "How cute, I'll take a picture of this too,"

"How nice, it makes me wonder what it is they're talking about," said Seymour.

Pikachu suddenly stood up and waved to them "Pikapi!"

"What's up Pikachu?" asked Naruto.

Clefairy hopped off the stone and away with Pikachu pointing at the fairy Pokémon "Pikachu!" then he followed after it.

"Seems like Clefairy wants to show us something since Pikachu's telling us to follow," said Naruto, packing up his things and returning Scyther into his Pokéball with the rest following suit then going after the two Pokémon and Sandshrew stuck close to Naruto.

The group made their way through the forested part of the area as the sun went down and the night began, they emerged into a small clearing to discover another cave with its entrance hidden by vegetation and went through it. They didn't walk for very long as they emerged in an open area where the full moon could be seen clearly above and at the center is a large rock as black as the night sky with numerous smaller shards littered around it.

"It's the core of the Moon Stone," said Seymour in wonder.

"I never would have thought that I would see anything like this," said Brock.

"This is what it means to go on a Pokémon journey; learn about things few would be lucky enough to by just staying at home," said Leaf, taking pictures with her camera.

"Hey guys, Clefairy is doing something," said Naruto, everyone looked to see Clefairy placed the stone shard amongst the others. The shards and the giant Moon Stone glowed in resonance, soon they saw more Clefairy gather around the Moon Stone and began to dance around it.

"What do you suppose they're doing?" asked Brock curiously.

Seymour thoughtfully came up with a theory "It seems to me like the Clefairy worship the Moon Stone like a deity which would have to do with them collecting its shards which had broken off when it crashed into the mountain, and another evidence is that it's a full moon tonight,"

"I'm guessing that Clefairy had invited us to watch the ceremony," Leaf realized what was going on now.

"Well before we can enjoy the show…Pikachu, use Thunder Wave behind us!" said Naruto with a frown, Pikachu immediately spun around and fired jolts of electricity at the cave's exit.

"Gyaaaaaah!" there were screams and someone tumbled out to reveal to the group who were very familiar with.

"Team Rocket again?" said Brock in annoyance.

"I figured these three are too stubborn to call it quits so I had to keep an eye out should they try to follow us since we were with Clefairy," said Naruto, but the truth of the matter was that he had been using his Aura to sense his surroundings and noted that they were spying on them.

"How…did…you…know?" Jessie muttered through the paralysis.

Naruto simply smiled "That's for me to know and for you never to find out,"

After tying Team Rocket up with ropes and put to sleep with Butterfree's Sleep Powder, the group sat down and watched as the Clefairy continued to dance around the giant Moon Stone. Then smaller shards hovered into the air and floated over to different Clefairy who touched them delicately and lit up in a bright light before revealing themselves taller and changed. Naruto brought out his Pokédex to scan.

Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. The moonlight that it stores in the wings on its back apparently gives it the ability to float in midair

Clefable, the evolved form of Clefairy. Clefable moves by skipping lightly as if it were flying using its wings. Its bouncy step lets it even walk on water. It is known to take strolls on lakes on quiet, moonlit nights

"And it also counts as a ritual for the Moon Stone chooses who will evolve and who won't, I am learning so much from this single encounter!" said Seymour excitedly.

"Same here, I'm really glad that I joined up on this journey," said Brock.

"We all are," said Naruto with Pikachu curling up on his lap and falling asleep with the rest soon following suit.

The next morning, everyone had woken up and went to rinse off back at the river before heading for the exit leading out of the mountain not to mention that he had also called Officer Jenny to pick up Team Rocket as well, the Clefairy and Clefable had also come to see them off.

"Just this is it, Seymour," said Naruto.

"What will you be doing from here?" asked Leaf.

"Well I'll be staying since it's been my lifelong dream to learn about them and the Moon Stone so that one day, I'll be able to go to space with them," said Seymour.

"Be sure to send us a postcard when you do," said Brock with a smile.

Naruto turned to leave when he felt something tug at the bottom of his pants with the same for Leaf's socks, both looked down to see Sandshrew and Clefairy holding on and that wasn't all as three Clefable approached with a Moon Stone each for Naruto, Brock and Leaf.

"Seems like they want to give those Moon Stones to you and those two want to come along, normally I would be against capture but they're the ones that made the choice," said Seymour.

"Then I can do nothing more than say thanks…" Naruto took the Moon Stone and placed it in his backpack before turning to Sandshrew "…and welcome to the team," he took out a Pokéball and tapped its head with it, the Pokéball shook three times before signaling a successful capture and heard the same sound for Leaf then the Pokédex beeped.

Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. Sandshrew burrows and lives underground. If threatened, it curls itself up into a ball for protection. This Sandshrew is male with the ability Sand Veil. Moves: Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Rollout

"We need to get going Seymour, hope to see you one day," said Naruto.

"And I wish you all a fruitful journey," said Seymour.

The group bade the professor and fairy Pokémon farewell as they left Mt Moon and were now making headway for Cerulean City and to Naruto's second gym to earn his next badge. It didn't take long for them to reach a crossroads, with a signpost pointing the different directions of each route, of particular importance to them; the path towards Cerulean City.

"I guess we're headed the right way with where the sign is pointing," Brock noticed something else "And there's something else scribbled there"

"What's it say?" asked Leaf curiously.

"It says; 'Gary was here. Naruto is a loser'," both Naruto and Leaf let out a groan at who wrote it "Something tells me you two know who wrote this,"

"Understatement of the year Brock, we'll tell you about it while we're walking," Naruto replied with a deadpanned expression.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto and Leaf finally arrived at Pewter City after two weeks of training within the Viridian Forest. Naruto went on the Brock the Rock type Gym leader and emerged victorious to earn the Boulder Badge thanks to his Butterfree and Pikachu along with his battle strategies. With Brock joining after his long absent father took on the role of the Gym Leader, the group headed out to Mt Moon where they rescued a professor and dealt with Team Rocket's scheme before bearing witness to a ceremony of the Clefairy, then they finally left the mountain with new Pokémon in addition and received Moon Stones as a reward with their next stop being Cerulean city.

I forgot to note that the Pokémon moveset is increased to eight in this fanfic, I'm also open for suggestions of card combinations similar to the Sleights from Kingdom Hearts Re Chain Of Memories as I already developed a few but open to more ideas so be sure PM me if you could come up with a few good ones. Naruto can also teach Pokémon new moves thanks to anime version of the Pokédex being a true encyclopedia compared to the game version. A little titbit is that some of Naruto's future Pokémon would put on accessories just like Ash's Squirtle and Krokoodile, and Dawn's Buneary.

Naruto's Team
=Pikachu [Ability: Static] (Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Thundershock, Agility, Iron Tail, Thunder Wave)
=CaterpieButterfree [Ability: Tinted Lens] (Moves: Tackle, String Shot, Bug Bite, Gust, Confusion, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder)
=Pidgeotto [Ability: Big Pecks] (Moves: Tackle, Gust, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Twister)
=Scyther [Ability: Swarm] (Moves: Vacuum Wave, Quick Attack, Leer, Focus Energy, Pursuit, Slash, Double Team)
=Sandshrew [Ability: Sand Veil] (Moves: Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Rollout)

Leaf's Team
=Bulbasaur
=Rattata
=Clefairy
=?
=?

Brock's Team
=Onix
=Geodude
=Zubat

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out.