659I Don't Own Naruto or Pokémon!
Bonds – Chapter 3
"Home sweet home, indeed," muttered Naruto softly to himself with a smile.
As Champion, Naruto had been to many places around the world and had lived in the most luxurious villas with the most gracious hosts, but none had ever made him feel quite at peace and cozy than his small family home. Perhaps he inherited it from his parents – who were both extremely wealthy, especially with his dad being the inventor of one of the most used technologies in the world – but he preferred a small and warm home. No halls of endless marble flooring or grand chandeliers could amount of his father's self-made hardwood flooring and his mom's favorite picture-decorated walls. Every trip up the stairs or through the living room was like reliving his wonderful childhood – looking at pictures his parents had carefully chosen and framed to preserve their precious moments.
A sudden vibration from his PokéNav broke Naruto from his thoughts, 'I was wondering when she'd text me.'
"Naru-nii?" Naruto closed his PokéNav and looked back at his baby sister, who was looking at him confused, "Why are you standing in the kitchen?"
The blond chuckled and ruffled Mito's hair, "I'm going to make you guys some ice cream."
"Really?" chirped the girl with a grin, "Awesome!"
Naruto released Glaceon and Miltank from their Pokéballs and smiled as they nuzzled against him. "Can you bring them outside to the patio, Mito? I'll meet you outside in a minute."
Mito giggled and picked up Glaceon into her arms and patted Miltank's head, "Sure thing! Follow me, guys!"
As soon as his sister was out of sight, Naruto opened his PokéNav again and smiled at the message. After living together for so long, it was a little weird making ice cream without her taking hours to decide which flavor she wanted. He was already missing her – a lot. He wanted to see her cute thinking expression when she tried to decide chocolate or vanilla, waffle-cone or a sundae and watch her lick the cold treat with a happy smile. 'Oh well, I'll see her in a month or so.'
"This is so good!" chirped Mito as she licked the heavenly cold treat. "It's perfectly made, Naru-nii!" Everyone, after a nice afternoon of playing with the Pokémon, enjoyed the nice weather and had a very nice dinner on the Namikaze Home's porch. The sun was starting to set and everyone decided to try some of Naruto's ice cream.
Naruto chuckled and patted his Glaceon and Miltank proudly, "The credit all goes to Yuki and Chichi." The ex-champion had spent weeks learning from a local dessert chef and spent even more time trying to teach his Pokémon to make ice cream, and he finally succeeded if his booming business were of any indication. His store, Sweet Ice, had become a Virbank City local success story and many tourists would drop by whenever they visited the city. And if Naruto had any humans to thank, they would be the casting directors who decided to film "Pokémon Princess Holiday" and make his store one of the big parts of the film. "They've gotten real good at making ice cream, and they managed to master five new flavors in the past month."
May was giddy as she snacked on her own cone, "The vanilla is just amazing!"
"I prefer the strawberry, but I have to say, the cone is wonderfully made as well." Brock smiled at Naruto and gave him an appraising nod, "Your pastry skill must be top-notch to make such crispy and layered cones."
"Thank you, Brock," Naruto replied with a sheepish smile, "I did practice a lot."
Kushina smiled at her son as she finished her own coconut flavored cone, but couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness. Naruto looked perfectly happy and content on the outside, but the fact that he decided to open an ice cream store only confirmed the loving mother's concern. His refusing to battle with other trainers was only one of Naruto's way to avoid the memories of that day; most of his way of dealing with his trauma was buried inside. Kushina was afraid that without some help, Naruto would have a very hard time. Her son making ice cream was only a way for him to distract himself – that Kushina was quite sure.
Minato seemed to know what his wife was thinking and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I think this is a very healthy way to deal with things." The father knew that Naruto was very much like him and Kushina in the way that he wanted to have a simple life. That may not have been the case when he was a teenager, but after so many years of fame, fortune and traveling, Minato was sure that Naruto just wanted to lead a normal life. "And he's always been a smart and strong boy; we don't have to worry about him."
Kushina kissed her husband's cheek, "I hope so."
"Here, girls," whispered Mito as she fed her Dratini and Charmander some ice cream, "Try some."
"So when are you going to start your journey, Mito?" asked Ash with a content smile, his rocky-road ice cream happily digesting, "And are you going to travel the Kanto Region first?"
"I'm going to start as soon as I can, and yep, I'm going to travel through Kanto." Mito looked happy, but her parents only looked worried, "I can't wait to see all the different places! I've read about all the festivals and Pokémon Gyms in all the different cities, and I think I want to go to Cerulean City the most and catch one of the water shows."
Misty smiled, "Well I will be waiting for you there!"
"Can't wait!" replied Mito.
"You know," started May, "You can travel with us, Mito." The Namikaze girl looked intrigued, "We're going around the Kanto Region now anyways. Ash is going through the Battle Frontier and I'm going to check out the contests." The brunette smiled, "Traveling is a lot more fun with a group of friends."
"I would love to," chirped Mito. "Gives me a chance to beat Ash!"
Ash smirked, "We'll see about that!"
Naruto finished cleaning up his ice cream equipment and sat down next to his sister around the patio table, "If you're going to travel through Kanto, remember to buy yourself a nice fishing rod and catch yourself a nice Magikarp. Gyarados is a perfect partner for both Charizard and Dragonite, and if you ever want to try your hand at double or triple battles, they would be the way to go." Mito nodded as many other listened in – it wasn't every day that a champion would give away advice. "Start training it as a Magikarp and it will be easier to control once it evolves, and you can have it battle against Dratini or Charmander to develop them all a little faster."
Mito jotted down some mental notes as Minato turned to his son, "So where are you going to go, Naruto?" Kushina gave her husband a look, "After staying here for a while."
Naruto shrugged, "I hired some people and their Pokémon to look after my store in Virbank, so I'm pretty much free."
Kushina gave her son a stern stare, "You're staying at home with us for a while! And if you're going to be traveling, you're going to be traveling with us!" Naruto chuckled sheepishly and nodded at his mother, "It's been a long time since you've been on a trip with me and your father, and you're going to come with us next month!"
"Where are you going?" asked Delia.
Kushina gave a small smile, "I was contacted by the National Pokémon Association a few weeks ago." Everyone turned to listen to the Master Coordinator, "They are hosting the next Grand Festival in the Kanto Region's Indigo Plateau and it happens to be the one hundredth anniversary of the Grand Festival." May already looked delighted at the thought, "They want to spice up the show since it is going to be broadcasted lives throughout all regions, so they asked if I wanted to be the special guest and give a performance that night."
"AND YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT?!" cried May loudly. "W-WE GET TO SEE YOU PERFORM?!"
Kushina giggled and nodded, "Yep. It's been a very long time, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve."
May grabbed Ash by the collar, "WE HAVE TO GO THERE!"
Ash tried to calm his friend down and nodded, "Sure, I want to go too. We have one month before that happens, so let's try to get everything done before then. I'm sure we can make it."
Minato held onto his wife's hand, but couldn't help but grunt. After more than two decades of marriage, his wife was still as beautiful as ever, and while he loved it, it would also mean that her old suitors will be trying to woo her again. He couldn't begin to voice his annoyance all those years back. Those god-forsaken male Pokémon Coordinators would always think themselves as God's gift to women and would hit on them despite their boyfriend standing right next to them. Especially that Wallace individual; Minato was close to punching the man in the face for trying to hug Kushina.
"Yes, you're coming with us, Naruto." As far as Minato was concerned, his son was far better a trainer than he ever was, and if Wallace ever tried anything again, he'd send his son to take care of him. That flamboyant artist wouldn't stand a chance against his son! "And bring your strongest team with you!"
Naruto scratched his head, "Umm, sure, dad."
Kushina giggled and kissed Minato's cheek, "You're cute."
"Okay, so we have to speed our way through the Battle Frontier," muttered Ash as he turned to May, Brock, Max and Mito. "That should really be possible, and even if we don't finish in time, we can always head over to Indigo Plateau when the time comes and continue after the festival."
May giggled, "And if I'm lucky enough, I can get five Kanto Ribbons in time so I can participate in the Grand Festival!"
"Hey, I want to try my hand at some Gyms, too." Mito had heard about all the stories of her brother beating Gym after Gym without losing once, and she wanted to see if she could do it as well. "I need some time to train, but I think we can stop at one Gym in the next month!" The grin on Mito's face only made Max blush and turn away.
Brock smiled, "I'm sure we can organize a schedule that can fit all these things."
"That sounds great!" The Namikaze girl giggled, "This is going to be really fun!"
Ash smiled back, "Traveling with friends is always fun."
That brought a thought to Mito's mind and she looked over at her brother. "Hey Naru-nii, did you ever travel with anyone?" She had heard almost all her brother's stories from her parents, but none had really mentioned anything about any traveling partners. It would be quite interesting to know if he had any help on his journey. "Did you meet anyone on your journey?"
Naruto smiled at the thought and nodded, "Yes, I did." The younger trainers all turned their attention to Naruto again, "I only had one traveling partner, and we traveled together for six years."
"That long?!" cried Mito, "How come I've never met him?"
"Not him, Mito." Minato smiled and patted his daughter's head, "She was a girl."
"Yeah, but I didn't know you both traveled together for so long," muttered Kushina a little surprised. "I knew you two traveled around Kanto and Johto, and I thought it ended there." Her son had always been a bit of an airhead when it came to calling his parents and telling them his location, but Kushina was shocked to know that her son's traveling companion had accompanied him for so long. "I thought she went back to Sinnoh and competed in the Sinnoh League the same time you did the Indigo League."
"She did go back to Sinnoh, but we met up again after the competitions." Naruto rested back fully on his chair before he continued, "The Indigo League only took a week, and I still needed some Pokémon from the Hoenn Region back then, so we decided to meet in Hoenn. We traveled through Hoenn, Unova and Kalos before we decided to part. I had to come back to challenge the Elite Four and she was doing the same in Sinnoh."
"Wait," added in Max, "What do you mean she was doing the same in Sinnoh?"
Naruto sighed with a chuckle, "She challenged the Sinnoh Elite Four the same time I did the Kanto and Johto." He couldn't help but laugh at the others' surprise, "When we travel, we always use the Gyms in the Region to track our progress, and we got badges from all the Gyms. She originated from Sinnoh and decided to compete with her badges in the Sinnoh League." He smiled at the memory of her battles, "She won quite easily, if I remember correctly." Naruto saw that Max was starting to see the truth, "We were both fourteen by then, and we decided to take two years to train before we challenge the Elite Four in our respective regions. And after our journey, I came back to battle our Elite Four while she challenged Sinnoh's."
"So…what happened?" asked Ash, "Did she win?"
Naruto smirked and nodded, "Yeah, she did."
"Wait," started Brock, "S-She beat the Sinnoh Elite Four?"
"Yeah."
"B-But that would mean…" stuttered out Misty as Naruto's smirk grew.
"SHE'S CYNTHIA, THE SINNOH REGION CHAMPION!" cried Max as loud as he could as he jumped to his feet. May, Misty and Mito were all in shock as Max heaved rapidly, "YOU TWO WERE TRAVELING PARTNERS?!"
Naruto brushed his fingers through his hair with a laugh, "Yeah, I'm really surprised that no one really knows about us – I mean, I sat in the coach viewing area when Cynthia was battling in the Sinnoh League, and she was right next to me when I competed on Indigo Plateau. And we would usually challenge the Gyms together, so most of the Gym Leaders in all the regions we visited should know." The shocked and awed looks on the young trainers faces were missed by Naruto as he continued, "We even conducted an interview together! Sure, we weren't champions back then, but I was certain that some reporter or journalist would discover the old footage and broadcast it."
Minato chuckled as Kushina interrupted her son with a sigh, "You should really be grateful for being so lucky, young man."
"Wait!" cried Mito, "Go back to the part where you traveled with Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion!" The girl lightly punched her brother's arm with a small pout, "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I honestly thought you knew, sis."
"No, I didn't!" The young redhead was hopping up and down as she looked at her brother, "I can't believe you know one of my idols so well! How come you didn't bring her home?! I really want to meet her!" Mito had always looked up to powerful female trainers, especially the ones who received world-wide recognition. Cynthia was probably her favorite female trainer, narrowly beating out Diantha, the Kalos Region Champion. "When's the next time you'll see her?!"
Naruto chuckled, "Not sure," he muttered while thinking, 'In about a month.'
Max slumped down on his chair, "Wow, I can't believe two of the youngest Champions in the world actually travelled together for so long. You two must have some crazy training schedule or something, right?" The boy had stars in his eyes at the prospect, "So you have some sort of super-secret to become super strong or something?" Ash and the others looked excited at that, "I mean, you both became Champions and outclassed so many people when you're so young!"
"Not really secrets, but we did always battle each other and get better that way." Naruto smiled at the reminder of all his battles with her, "In all my travels, Cynthia is probably the hardest challenge I had to face. Her battling strategy is unlike anyone else I've seen and she has real passion about Pokémon. Her prowess in battle lies not only in the strength of her Pokémon, but in their bond as well." He chuckled, "I haven't battled her in a long time, but her Garchomp isn't something to be taken lightly at all."
Ash grinned, "I'm going to travel in Sinnoh after the Battle Frontier. Maybe I'll have the chance to meet Cynthia and challenge her to a battle."
Naruto nodded with a smile, "Then you better start training a Dragon Type or a strong Ice Type."
Mito scooted closer to her brother, "When did you meet Cynthia, Naru-nii?"
"We met in the Johto Region when I we were around eleven years old, ten years ago." The others were once again surprised at how long the two champions had known each other. "I…well, I wasn't exactly a polite young man back then and I was quite arrogant." Kushina and Minato chuckled at the reminder, "Cynthia and I got into quite the bad start and ended up battling out of spite."
Flashback on
"Again!" ordered a young man sternly, "Do not stop until you destroy that boulder!"
A Charmeleon growled as he rushed toward the towering boulder with his claws extended with a searing red glow. The Dragon Claws sliced into the boulder like a hot knife through better, chipping away the large rock with each strike. Sounds of screeching rocks made the teenager cringe a little, but he felt powerful as his Pokémon tear away at their surroundings. And he could only smirk as his Charmeleon roared before he stabbed his claws deep into the boulder, blasting it into pieces at once. He had his own smirk on his face that reflected the one on his trainer, and held his claws out proudly as they flared with power and heat.
"Good job, Amaterasu." The trainer brushed his long blond hair back and fixed his short ponytail, but his front bangs were still spiky and uncontrollable. "We're done today with Dragon Claw," he said proudly as he patted his Pokémon's head, smirking as his flame flared with pride. "But I want to do more before lunch, so let's start Fire Blast early today."
The climate of the Johto Region was colder than Kanto, but the trainer had gotten used to it quickly. He had truly grown to enjoy the wild of the Sinnoh Region – they have much larger natural obstacles that were suitable for powerful attacks. Instead of simple trees and small boulders, Amaterasu could use towering and wide small mountains to train. The wild Pokémon were also a lot more diverse in their own way, and were nice opponents for his Pokémon, though only a few of them were worth catching – a Larvitar and a Sneasel. They needed much more training before they could even compare to Amaterasu, but they had clear potential. So overall, his visit to Johto before he continue to the Indigo League was a very successful decision.
"Fire Blast at the boulder near the river!" An inferno blasted from the Fire Pokémon's jaws as he roared with power and it tore through – incinerating – the short grass as it morphed into an all-consuming firestorm that enveloped the boulder. A shroud of steam blasted from the impact point instantly as the water around the boulder were instantly evaporated, and the trainer watched in anticipation as the steam settled, revealing a half melted stone that was a fraction the size as it was before. "Good, but we have to work until we melt the entire boulder!" Amaterasu blasted the next boulder, but instead of melting, it was less sturdy and blasted to pieces.
"Do you mind?!" cried a sudden voice from behind.
The blond turned around and saw a girl staring at him, looking a little angry and annoyed as she flicked her long blond hair behind her. She looked to be around his age – ten or eleven – and was really quite pretty, but the stern glare on her face was pretty annoying. She arched an eyebrow, crossed her arms and leaned on one side, looking at him as if he was a bug.
"No, I don't." He turned around and ignored her, "Keep going, Amaterasu!"
"Hey, stop that!" The girl stomped her feet angrily, "We're having our own training session over there and you're disturbing the peace!"
"What do you need peace for, bitching?"
"What did you say?"
He scoffed, "Oh you heard me." He turned to face the girl and returned her steeled gaze, "You do not come and demand anything from me, and if you're not happy about it, well that's too bad for you."
"You better shut up before I make you."
He smirked, "And how are you going to do that?"
The girl smirked and fell into a challenging pose, looking quite confident. For the first time, Naruto turned to face the girl, who was honestly very pretty wearing a pair of formfitting jeans, a simple blue shirt and a white hoodle, especially with the row of Pokéballs strapped to her glittery belt. "I will kick your ass, Pokémon Battle or otherwise!" She reached for a Pokéball and threw it in front of her, "Gabite, battle dance!" The dragon Pokémon growled as she stared down at Naruto, her fins and glowing with power.
"A Gabite, huh?" he muttered as Amaterasu stood in front of him, returning the glare to the Dragon Type. "Quite a rare Pokémon in these parts; they are usually found in the Sinnoh Region."
The girl smiled, "Yes, we're from the Sinnoh Region."
Well I'm from the Kanto Region, and it's time to teach you a lesson, Sinnoh Girl.
The girl scoffed, "Boys are the same everywhere; I've been putting macho boys like you in your places since I was a child."
He smirked as Amaterasu flared the flame on his tail, "We'll see."
Flashback end
Another vibration from his PokéNav made Naruto stop and turn his attention away from the group. Without letting the others peak over his shoulder, he checked the new message with a small smile on his face. He had expected her to text him often, but not about such menial things. He quickly replied her question of: where is the can opener?
"So who won in the end?" asked Mito urgently as Naruto paused. "Naru-nii!"
Naruto put his device away and shrugged, "Honestly, we couldn't decide. Her Gabite was very strong, just as strong as Amaterasu back then. We continued to battle off and on again for the entire day, healing and healing our Pokémon. In the end we just called it a tie and went to the Pokémon Centre."
Flashback on
The clearing looked like a molten wasteland and the river was nearly blocked by the burning debris that resulted from the long battle. The sunlight had disappeared hours ago, and now the only contributing light source were the burning patches of grass and the several trees that were nearly burnt to ash. Soft growling could still be heard as the Charmeleon and Gabite stared down each other, both refusing to admit defeat after such a long commitment. They were both shaking from exhaustion and there were wounds all over their bodies, but the intensity of their eyes didn't waver. They looked as determined to win as they did hours ago, just as their trainers.
"We have to wrap this up now," said the young man calmly, "The fires may be out, but we caused too much damage and the local authorities should be coming soon."
The girl nodded in agreement, "Fine. How about one last attack to end things?" He nodded. Blue stared into gray as the nightly wind blew their blonde hair from their eyes.
'GIGA IMPACT!"
Upon impact, another shockwave blasted through the area, instantly blowing out the remaining fires, but also knocking the two trainers to the ground. In the darkness, the debris finally settled and silence reigned. For a short while, the only things the trainers heard were their own breath and the sound of their Pokémon weakly limping back toward them. Amaterasu fell into his trainer's arms and rested, just as Gabite did to hers.
"Hey, Kanto boy," started the girl, breaking the silence, "What's your name?"
"Isn't polite to give your own name first before asking someone else theirs?"
"Oh just answer me, you jerk!"
He couldn't help but smile as he wrapped his arms around his Charmeleon, "My name is Naruto Namikaze, from Pallet Town."
"I am Cynthia Carolina, from Celestic Town."
"You're really good, Cynthia," said Naruto with a sigh, "I've been through all of the Kanto Region and I defeated every single Gym without a single loss or draw. You are the first person to give me such a hard challenge since the start of my journey."
She gave a small laugh, "What a coincidence. You are also the strongest trainer I've come across so far, and I came all the way from Sinnoh." Cynthia kissed her Gabite's head and held her close, "I guess Pokémon battles isn't as boring as I had thought. But don't get me wrong; you may be strong, but the next time we battle, I will be the winner."
"That's wishful thinking," he simply replied. "I don't lose to anyone."
"You boys are always so arrogant," she muttered, "So pathetic."
Naruto scoffed and stood up with a groan, "Whatever, let's get out of here." He walked over to Cynthia with Amaterasu walking next to him, "We don't want to be caught doing this much damage; the last thing we need is to get detained in this city. I still have to finish my training here." He offered his hand to the girl, "And both our Pokémon need to visit the Pokémon Centre."
Cynthia stared at Naruto for a brief while before she accepted his hand, "Fine, but as soon as we get more training done, we're going to finish this battle and decide a victor."
Naruto smirked and nodded, "You got it.
Flashback end
"And after that, we basically travelled together."
Brock chuckled, "Man, you two must have argued even more than Ash and Misty." The two mentioned teenagers smirked at each other in amusement.
Naruto chuckled, "We didn't argue that much, but we did have a battle almost every single day. As much as I enjoyed winning back then, it was very nice to have someone just as good to battle against. While training together, Amaterasu and her Gabite grew much strong than before, and soon they both evolved into Charizard and Garchomp. I guess you can say that without her as a traveling partner, my Pokémon wouldn't be as strong as they are now." He looked over at the clearing where his Pokémon rested and smiled when he made out the light coming from Amaterasu's tail, "Our secret, if it could even be known as a secret, would be that two rivals who travel together for such a long time would make each other stronger."
Kushina smiled, "Well, you lucked out with Cynthia."
"I really did." Naruto smiled back at his mother, catching the knowing smile on her face.
"Where is Cynthia now?" asked Mito curiously, "Is she in Sinnoh?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, she has her duties as the Champion to carry out. But she's not that busy – champions don't really have much to do at most times except for the Elite Four challenging them for the title. So she mainly travels around the world, meeting new Pokémon and training new teams."
Ash smiled, "Man, if she really is so good, I can't wait to challenge her myself!"
Max chuckled, "Ash, I think you'll get your butt kicked."
Naruto snickered along with the others, but then felt his PokéNav vibrate again, but instead of a message, it was a call. "Excuse me, I got to take this." He stood and walked over to the main road his house faced, no catching the smirk on his mother's face as she whispered something into his father's ear – no doubt that she told her husband of her most recent discovers of her son's love life. "Hey, you miss me?"
"Of course I miss you," came a soft and affectionate voice from the other side of the call, "You have no idea how quiet it is at home without you."
Naruto turned around casually and saw that he was out of earshot, "I miss you too, beautiful. But I must say that I'm having a great time here; Mito's really grown up a lot and I've really missed my family and friends here."
"Well that's good for you, but I'm bored as hell over here. It sucks that Lucian challenged me again! If he didn't that I could've went with you."
"You know, I was just telling the others about you." Naruto smiled softly, "They actually don't know that we travelled together for so long, and Mito was so excited when she found out that I know you. I think when you meet her, she'd ask you for an autograph." He looked over at Mito, who was playing with her Charmander and Dratini, "She really idolizes you, the great Sinnoh Region Champion, Cynthia."
"I can't wait to meet her and your parents," she replied with a voice that practically made Naruto see her smile, "We've been together for a long time now, and I think it's time to tell them about us. God knows we've stalled it for too long."
"I'm not stalling; it just slips my mind." Naruto leaned against his parent's fence, "But I would like you to meet them as well. I'm sure they'll love you."
"I'll come meet you when I'm finished with the battle, so around a month's time." Every time an Elite Four member challenges the Champion, it would become a nation event of that region. The largest stadium would be used and tickets would be sold all around the region, so it would at least take a month's time. "My grandparents will be busy, but I'll bring my sister with me." It was perhaps another secret that was hidden in plain sight. Cynthia's little sister actually lived in the Unova Region; she moved there to pursue her career as a supermodel and as a Pokémon Trainer. Elesa Carolina, the Gym Leader and supermodel, was actually Cynthia's younger sister. "I think she has some performance next month in Kanto, so it works out."
"I think it's the Kanto Grand Festival next month, my mother is participating in it was well."
"Really?!" Cynthia asked, "Wow, now I really want to come. I've always been a fan of your mother's."
"I'll have the Cynthia's Special ready for you, chilled and all."
Cynthia giggled, "I love you, Naruto."
Naruto could only smile, "I love you, too, Cynthia."
The End!
Okay, that's the third chapter of Bonds. I hope you all like the pairing of this story – Cynthia is a personal favorite of mine.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! XD I'LL UPDATE FASTER WITH MORE REVIEWS!