And, here's the new chapter, ladies and gents! This author is so sorry for her late, late, late updates. However, the new chapter's finally here! Enjoy reading, readers! =)
Wavering Emotions
"Sakura, come at me with all you got," challenged Tsunade. Sakura and Tsunade were already on Route 117, training right after breakfast.
"You got it, coach. Combusken, use Fire Spin. Eevee use Tackle!" commanded Sakura. Combusken blew out a spiraling column of fire at Gastrodon and Milotic while Eevee jumped into the spiral and tackled Milotic. Shortly after the Tackle, Combusken's Fire Spin managed to hit both Gastrodon and Milotic. However, since both of them are a little resistant to fire type attacks, they weren't hurt much.
"Good. Make sure your Eevee doesn't get burned by the Fire Spin, though. I'll show you something similar to your move. Milotic, use Aqua Tail, and Gastrodon, use Water Pulse," ordered Tsunade. Streams of water spiraled around Milotic's long tail and an orb of water started to form in front of Gastrodon's third eye. Then, Milotic flung her tail at Combusken and Eevee, sending the spiraling column of water towards them. At the same time, Gastrodon shot the water orb right into the spiraling stream of water. The Water Pulse attack hit Sakura's Pokemon first, then the Aqua Tail attack hit.
"Combusken and Eevee, why'd you two just stand there? You two know better," chastised Sakura. She started to walk towards her Pokemon, but Tsunade stopped her.
"Think of this as a contest battle, with some instructions, Sakura. Don't go to help your Pokemon unless they're knocked out," said Tsunade.
"Okay," replied Sakura.
Just before she called out an attack, Naruto's voice pierced through the air. "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Sakura quickly turned around, just to get tackled by Naruto.
"Ow, what's wrong?" asked Sakura, pushing Naruto off her and standing up.
Naruto pushed himself up and spoke frantically, "Sasuke's gone! I know he was still there when we woke up, but then, remember he said he wanted to be alone? Yeah, so you left to train, and I left to explore the town and cave some more, and when I came back, he was gone!"
"What? Wait, you're not doing this just to make me anxious are you?" asked a suspicious Sakura.
"I'm serious! He took his bag with him too! I'm pretty sure something else happened to him that we don't know about," said Naruto.
"He can't just leave us like this!" fumed Sakura.
"What do you think happened to him?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know. He was fine when I talked to him last night," answered Sakura.
"Don't worry too much, you two. Maybe he just wanted to train somewhere by himself," said Tsunade. "Don't freak out over something this small. If he wants to go his own way, let him. Don't make him stay if he doesn't want to."
" I don't want him to leave us though," mumbled Sakura.
"I'm sure he probably went somewhere to train. Don't stress yourself out over this," said Tsunade, patting Sakura's head. "Now, let's continue our training."
Sakura slapped her cheeks lightly a few times and shook her head to clear her mind. "Yes, coach! I'm ready now."
"Would you like to watch our match?" Tsunade asked Naruto.
"Um, sure," replied Naruto.
Sakura and Tsunade trained together for the rest of the day, with Naruto giving some suggestions for battle tactics whenever he could. The three of them took a lunch break at noon, and then continued their training in the afternoon.
At about five in the evening, Sakura and her Pokemon were completely worn out from the harsh training Tsunade gave them. The rosette was 100% confident that she would win the Verdanturf contest with the training Tsunade gave her. Naruto assured her that he would be there to watch her match, even if Sasuke couldn't make it.
Sakura and Naruto headed back to the Pokemon Center after parting with Tsunade. The two of them bought two cans of juice and relaxed in the center while they let their Pokemon run free in their room. "Naruto, you don't think Sasuke's abandoned us, do you?" Sakura nervously asked. "I want him to be there for this contest. I've been training like crazy for this day, and I really want to show off what I've learned."
Naruto patted Sakura's back. "Don't worry so much, Sakura. I don't think Sasuke would do that to us, or to you. It's an important day for you. If I remember correctly, the contest's tomorrow, isn't it?"
"Damn, you're right. Do you think I should keep training by myself? Do you think I'm ready?" Sakura asked, starting to panic slightly.
"Calm down, Sakura-chan. You've done enough training for today. Don't wear your Pokemon out too much. Heck, I'm the one who should be training! I need to toughen up for my next gym battle. If Sasuke's still out there training, then I'm really falling behind!" Naruto teased lightly, trying to cheer Sakura up.
Sakura giggled. "You're a good pal to have around, Naruto. Look, why don't you just go and train now? I'll be waiting here, in case either you or Sasuke-kun gets back. I'll also be playing with my Pokemon, so, it's fine," said Sakura. "Go find a place to train, ok?"
"Alright! I'll be heading out now, Sakura-chan. See you later!" Naruto then dashed out of the door as fast as possible.
Sakura walked to where her Pokemon were and crouched down. "I'm sure you guys will do well tomorrow. Combusken and Cherrim, you two are going to be awesome," praised Sakura. "Both of you trained so hard. We're definitely going to win tomorrow, aren't we?"Combusken, Cherrim, and Eevee all cheered in agreement. Cherrim even floated onto Combusken's head and settled there. "I should groom all of you now. It should at least cure my boredom," said Sakura as she took out a comb and some other Pokemon accessories.
After about three hours, Sakura had already groomed her three Pokemon as much as she could, and had eaten dinner. Naruto came in the Pokemon Center a while later, caked in dirt. "You already ate, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.
Sakura nodded. "So how'd your training go, Naruto? Good?" Sakura asked back.
"It was good. The next gym leader's going to be a fire type, so I'm toughening up Marshtomp mostly right now. He'll be pretty useful in the upcoming gym battle," replied Naruto.
"Be prepared for unexpected attacks from fire type Pokemon, Naruto. Train the others too," Sakura advised.
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to train them too. Don't worry. I'll definitely win the next battle!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Ok, good luck in advance, Naruto," said Sakura. "I'm going to go outside for a little bit of fresh air. I'll be back soon." Sakura then walked out the Pokemon Center and walked far from the center, onto the route. The rosette then took out Combusken's Pokeball and called him out. "Combusken, can you give me a little light here?"
Combusken nodded then released a small stream of fire from his beak. Sakura squeezed herself between a couple of trees and sat down on a mossy rock. All of a sudden, Sakura's surroundings were decorated with many dots of light. The beautiful sight left Sakura breathless. Volbeat and Illumise were flying around, lighting up the dark night.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sakura sighed. Combusken retreated his flame and nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Sasuke-kun, where are you? Where have you gone to?" wondered Sakura.
"Sasuke, you say? Well that boy is definitely a good fighter, don't you think, little girl?" asked a voice.
Sakura jumped to her feet and Combusken got into a fighting stance. "Who's there?" shouted Sakura.
A strong wind blew over the environment, making the trees dance. "Well hello there, I don't think we've met before. My name's Tayuya," introduced the stranger.
"You're a part of Team Sound, aren't you?" asked Sakura, suddenly alert.
"Bravo, little girl," said Tayuya. Sakura's hand inched toward her bag to call out more Pokemon. Tayuya stopped her. "You don't need to be so cautious, pinky- I mean, Sakura. I'm not here to do any harm."
"So why're you here?" Sakura asked.
"I'm just waiting for your beloved Sasuke," replied Tayuya.
"What does Sasuke-kun have to do with you guys?" spat Sakura. Her Combusken growled in disdain as well.
"Oh, don't tell me he didn't tell you and your other friend anything?" Tayuya said.
"What's there to tell?" Sakura growled.
"We gave Sasuke-kun an opportunity to join us," answered Tayuya. Sakura's eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion.
"Why are you telling me this? How do I know you're telling the truth?" Sakura questioned.
"You haven't seen him all day, have you?" Tayuya's question struck Sakura like lightening. The rosette was suddenly bloated with emotions- fear, suspicion, anger, and most of all, fear. "Hit a nerve, did I?" Tayuya's voice snapped Sakura out of her thoughts.
"Shut up!" shouted Sakura. "Combusken, Fire Spin!" Combusken, sharing the emotions Sakura held, fired a powerful Fire Spin attack at the other girl. Tayuya expertly dodged the attack and flew away, grinning, using her Chatot. Sakura stood rigidly, breathing heavily. Combusken ran to her side and put its arm around her shoulder to comfort her. "Sasuke-kun, you didn't really consider joining them, did you?" whispered the rosette.
"Sakura-chan, wake up, wake up! Today's the day of your contest!" yelled Naruto, enthusiastically, shaking the girl awake.
Sakura peeked at her friend from under her blanket. "I'm not in the mood to perform today, Naruto," mumbled Sakura. "Go away."
Naruto's jaw literally dropped. "Sakura-chan, what're you saying? Today's the day of the contest! You've been training like crazy for today! What happened to your motivation? I even woke up extra early today!"
"My motivation…where did it go? Right, it vanished last night," thought the rosette. To Naruto, she replied, "I just don't feel like doing anything right now, Naruto, okay?"
"I can't let you lie here for the rest of the day, Sakura-chan. You need to participate in this contest! There's no backing out! I'm going to drag you there if I have to," declared Naruto.
"Try me," challenged Sakura.
Naruto sighed heavily and mumbled, "You asked for it." He tore the blanket from Sakura's grasp and yanked her off the bed. Then, he grabbed her clothes, which were neatly folded on her bag, and shoved them in her hands. He then turned her around and pushed her in the bathroom. "Now, change quickly, and we'll run to the contest hall," said Naruto, and shut the door.
Sakura stared blankly at her clothes. "What's wrong with me? Why am I so…de-motivated just because Sasuke-kun's not here? Sasuke-kun… are you really going to join Team Sound? Sasuke-kun, I wanted you to see how much I've trained, and how much I've grown with Tsunade-sama's training in this short period of time. How can you leave us now, Sasuke-kun?"
Naruto knocked the door frantically. "Sakura-chan, hurry up! Or else, I'm going to drag you to the contest hall in your pajamas!"
"At least Naruto's still cheering for me. At least I still have him." Sakura then slapped herself with one hand. "I can't let him down. I can't let anyone else down. I have to go to that contest. I will participate in the contest today." Regaining her optimism, Sakura swiftly changed into her shirt and skirt and came out of the bathroom.
"Finally, you're done!" sighed Naruto. The blond shoved Sakura's bag in her hands and dashed out the Pokemon Center, dragging her along behind him.
"Naruto, this is my contest, not your gym battle! Slow down!" shouted Sakura.
"Even if this isn't my battle, it's important to you, Sakura-chan!" replied Naruto.
Once they reached the contest hall, Sakura quickly ran to the waiting room and slumped down on the sofa. "Just in time," she sighed. A few seconds later, Tsunami made her introductory remarks and introduced the first contestant. The appeals went on, and soon, it was Sakura's turn. The rosette pulled out Combusken and Cherrim's Pokeballs. "Okay, guys. Let's do this," she whispered.
Once Sakura was called on, she ran on stage from behind the drawn curtains. "Combusken and Cherrim, take the stage!" cried Sakura. Her two Pokemon materialized in front of her as flower petals showered down on them.
As Sakura was about to shout a command, her mind flashed back to last night's events and lost focus for a while. Combusken and Cherrim looked back at their trainer and waited for her command. Sakura was staring blankly at the ground, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Oh dear, is our contestant having a bad case of stage fright?" Tsunami asked.
Sakura shook her head to maintain her thoughts and focused on her appeal. "Combusken, Fire Spin," commanded Sakura. Combusken bent back and breathed a spiraling column of fire straight up in the air. "Cherrim, use Magical Leaf while hopping up on Combusken's Fire Spin!"
The smaller Pokemon first hopped on Combusken's head, then dove in the spiraling column of fire. As Cherrim hopped its way up the column, it released glowing petals. The Fire Spin attack complimented the glowing column of leaves. Once Cherrim got to the top of the column, the Fire Spin and Magical Leaf combination left the crowd staring in awe.
Sakura was staring at her appeal as well. Suddenly, her mind floated back to Sasuke. She frantically searched for him among the audience. Where was he? Has he gone to Team Sound? He couldn't have! At the same time, Combusken and Cherrim felt Sakura's pessimism and got out of sync with each other. The column of fire became too strong and burned the leaves. Cherrim lost balance and toppled down to the ground. On instinct, Combusken quickly stopped its Fire Spin attack and rushed to catch Cherrim.
"Are you alright, Sakura?" asked Tsunami. Sakura just nodded slowly. Her thoughts got the better of her, and her performance. The rosette's eyes filled with tears as she returned Combusken and Cherrim to their Pokeballs and ran off stage.
Sakura sat, dejected, in the waiting room as other appeals went on. She stared at Combusken and Cherrim's Pokeballs and talked to them. "I'm sorry, guys. I couldn't focus on the appeal. I'm so sorry I let both of you down," Sakura silently cried. Huge drops of tears rolled down her cheeks as she sniffled. Moments later, Tsunami announced the people who were qualified to go on to the second round. Sakura paid attention to the monitor as faces started appearing. Eight contestants were qualified to go on to the next round, and she was not one of them.
Sakura hung her head. "Well, I guess it should be expected," mumbled the rosette. She put away Combusken and Cherrim's Pokeballs and stood up. Sakura then trotted out of the room.
Once she was outside the waiting room, she was literally tackled by Naruto. "Ouch, Naruto, what was that for?" complained Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, what happened to you out there?" asked Naruto. "You didn't get past the first round too! This isn't like you, Sakura-chan! You trained like crazy for this contest!"
"Yes, yes, Naruto, but I guess today just wasn't my day," lied Sakura. "I know I shouldn't be lying to Naruto right now. I shouldn't have let him down either. I let Naruto down, I let my Pokemon down, and I let myself down. What kind of coordinator am I?"
"Sakura-chan, there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Naruto said.
"Um, everything's fine, Naruto. You don't need to worry," assured Sakura.
"I don't think so, Sakura-chan," replied Naruto. "You know you can tell me anything. I'm always here for you, Sakura-chan."
Sakura sighed. "That's Naruto- always by a friend's side." The rosette admitted, "Ok, there is something wrong."
"I knew it," said the blond. "So, care to tell me the story when we get back to the Pokemon Center?" Sakura simply nodded.
Sakura and Naruto sat on their respective beds as the rosette told the blond about her encounter with Tayuya the night before. After telling the story, Naruto exploded. "That idiot must be crazy!" the blond yelled.
"Calm down, Naruto. We don't even know for sure if Sasuke-kun really went to them," said Sakura.
"He's crazy to even consider it!" replied Naruto. "No wonder you were so off today, Sakura-chan."
The rosette nodded. "Yeah, so now you know the reason."
"That bastard have better not gone to them. If he did, I'm going to drag him back to reality," promised Naruto.
"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see," Sakura stated. "We still have the rest of the day. Do you want to train with me? That should keep both of us busy for the day."
Naruto grinned and gave Sakura a thumbs up, suddenly returning to his cheerful self. "Sure, Sakura-chan! Plus, maybe that bastard Sasuke will show up sometime soon."
Okay, I'm done! Now, if this chapter seems a little shorter, then I'm sorry, but I hope all of you still enjoyed it! Please review, review, review! Stay tuned for the next chapter!