2 Pyramid King and The Lustrous Orb

After shaking hands with Cynthia, Naruto walked over to where Cynthia's Garchomp was now standing at, even if it was a bit shakily, before taking out a small see through plastic bag from one of his pants pockets.

Naruto opened up the plastic and took out a berry. He then extended his left hand, which he was using to hold the berry towards Garchomp's mouth in a gesture for the dragon and ground type pokemon to take the offering.

"I am sorry for having my Dragonite poison you earlier. Here take this, it is a Pecha Berry. It will cure the discomfort and pain that was caused by the poison." Said Naruto in a kind voice. He did not enjoy making pokemon suffer. Not at all. It was the opposite actually, he completely opposed it.

Garchomp looked unsure on whether it was safe to take the berry or not as it was not used to accepting things from people other than Cynthia. So it looked back to its trainer for confirmation.

After receiving a small nod from the Sinnoh champion, who had seen the berry in Naruto's hand and knew what it was, Garchomp took the berry with one of its arms before devouring the whole berry in one bite.

Garchomp was fondly surprised when it found that the berry was sweet and rather delicious too. As a show of thanks, the Garchomp let out an approving "Gar" thus letting the trainer know somewhat of how it felt.

Before any other events could take place, all the people who were gathered at the Amity Square, quickly turned their heads upwards as they saw a huge shadow form on the ground which indicated that there must be something large flying in the skies above.

Upon looking, most people were unable to identify the giant flying object, that was shaped like a pyramid, but a certain few were. One such individual, who decided to voice his excitement, was Ash Ketchum.

"Hey Brock, look it is the Battle Pyramid!" Exclaimed Ash as he pointed a finger at airborne the battle facility which was headed in the direction of the east.

Brock did not get to reply though as Paul decided to rudely cut in.

"Wait a minute here! How would someone like you know about it?" Inquired Paul. Paul knew exactly what the Battle Pyramid was, his brother Reggie had failed to beat it after all. This facility's frontier symbol was the only one that Reggie did not have in his collection.

"Oh that is simple really. I challenged it before. Sure it took me three tries, but in the end I managed to beat it." Said Ash in a nonchalant manner.

"What! You beat it. Please, the chances of someone like you beating the Battle Pyramid is extremely slim if not near non-existent." Stated Paul. Paul was someone who was not going to believe just anything anyone said to him. His gigantic ego would not allow him to accept that someone who he had deemed 'unworthy' was able to accomplish such a task.

"But I did beat the Battle Pyramid. I did! I did! I did!" Retorted Ash

Most of the people who had heard this conversation instead of being impressed had large sweat drops due to Ash's childish antics.

What a way to make a first impression Ash.

A few minutes later, Naruto's Poke Nav's match call feature activated and his Poke Nav began to ring. Naruto saw that it was a call from Brandon and decided to pick it up.

"Hello Brandon. It is good to see you again."

"The same to you. I have arrived at our pre-determined meeting point for today. After I land the Battle Pyramid at a safe location, I as well as someone that is accompanying me will meet up with you at the nearest Pokemon Center."

"Alright Brandon, sounds good. I will see you there." Said Naruto as he ended the call and placed the Poke Nav back in one of his pockets.

He was about to head to the Pokemon Centre, both to heal his Dragonite and to meet Brandon, but he didn't get very far (2 steps) before he came face to face with one black haired pokemon trainer from Pallet Town.

"You know Brandon?" Asked a curious Ash.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow at the question. "Excuse me but do I know you?" Asked Naruto in response.

Ash had the decency to look sheepish and scratch the back of his head at this.

"Oh I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ash Ketchum and I am going to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master." Proclaimed Ash in a way that brought back some old memories of Naruto's.

'This guy here reminds me of myself when I was twelve years old, running around in my bright orange jumpsuit and shouting to all the people of The Village Hidden In The Leaves about how I was going to be the greatest Hokage the village had ever known,' Thought Naruto as he looked at the young Ash, who looked like he was ready to start bouncing up and down any moment now.

"Ok, well it is nice to meet you Ash. To answer your earlier question, yes I do know Pyramid King Brandon. He is actually one of my close friends, but if you don't mind… I really do have to get going now." Said Naruto

"Whoops! My bad" Replied Ash as he realized he was blocking Naruto's path and quickly moved out of the way before walking behind and following after Naruto along with his friends Brock and Dawn, his rival Paul as well as The Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia who also had to get her Garchomp healed.

-At the Pokemon Center-

After entering the Pokemon Centre, Naruto headed over to the counter where Nurse Joy was seated before handing his injured and fatigued Dragonite over into the nurse's care.

Naruto then wandered around the Pokemon Centre for about 5 minutes or so before he was able to spot Brandon, who Naruto was mildly surprised to find out was currently with the owner of Kanto Battle Frontier, Scott. The two of them were both wearing their usual attires (Author note : Think of the outfits that Brandon and Scott wear during The Advanced Battle Series and The Battle Frontier Series)

"Well Scott, this is a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting you to be with Brandon. Not that I am not happy to see you though." Said Naruto, the last sentence being said to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion.

"Well Naruto, it is nice to see you as well. What do you say we all head over to the Pokemon Centre's cafeteria. We can begin our discussion there." Suggested Scott. It was always nice to talk and grab a bite to eat at the same time.

"Sure, that sounds like a fine idea to me. What do you say Brandon?" Asked Naruto as he glanced over at the head of the Battle Pyramid.

Brandon's only response was a simple "Hn", (does that response remind you of anyone) which Naruto and Scott did not mind at all and instead took off for the cafeteria.

-At the Cafeteria-

Naruto, Brandon and Scott were seated at a rectangular shaped table that was light green in color. Each one of them had a plate of food with them but had opted not to eat just yet, choosing to focus on what they were talking about first as they had decided that their food could wait for a while.

It was not going to get up and run away after all.

Nope, no chance of something like that happening. At least unless it was affected by some radioactive wave that caused it to mutate or if it magically learned how to grow a set of legs.

"So Brandon, were you able to learn anything new about the Lustrous Orb or the writings on the tablet that was found alongside of it." Asked Naruto, getting right down to business.

"I have had no such luck I am afraid. I have not come across anything like this before so I am able to understand why you were having difficulties in deciphering what was engraved on the tablet-" This was all Brandon managed to say before he heard a feminine voice ask him and his friends a question.

"Excuse me. Do you mind if we join you three?" Asked the feminine voice.

Naruto turned around to see who had asked the question, only to find out that it was Cynthia, who was also with Ash, Brock, Dawn and surprisingly Paul.

"No not at all. Please…take a seat." Replied Naruto as he gestured towards one of the empty seats at the table. 'This is going to be a nuisance. I can feel it already.'

Cynthia took a seat on the right of Naruto, while Ash took a seat on the left of Naruto. Paul sat next to Ash, Brock sat next to Brandon and Dawn sat next to Scott. Once everyone was settled down, Cynthia decided to start up the conversation which had been interrupted all but a few moments ago.

"Well gentlemen, I was walking by when I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and how you were talking about the Lustrous Orb. And I was wondering if this Lustrous Orb is the same one, which the researchers in Celestic Town have been searching the Celestic Ruins for several months now but were unable to locate it. Care to shed some light on this matter?" Asked Cynthia but the three (Naruto, Scott and Brandon) could tell by… the look that she was currently giving them that they were going to spill… now.

Yep, Naruto's intuition had been spot on.

"I suppose that there would be no point in hiding anything from you. So I am not going to beat around the bush here. Instead I am going to get straight to the point." Said Naruto as he let out a deep a sigh before placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on the back of both of his wrists.

"About approximately 3 months ago, I was able to locate the Lustrous Orb. When I found it though, it was alongside what I presumed to be an ancient tablet at that time. However, no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to decipher what was written on the tablet." Said Naruto as he showed Cynthia a photo of the writings that were on the tablet. The others (Paul, Ash, Dawn and Brock) tried to lean in to get a closer look at the picture.

Though the four of them had little to no knowledge in this area, they still wanted to sate their curiosity. Who wouldn't for that matter?

"I have never seen such a type of writing… what is it?" Asked Cynthia in bewilderment as she was sure that she had not come across a writing of this nature before… ever.

"I am not sure myself. I have spent over 5 years in the area of researching things like ancient tablets and ruins but have yet to encounter such a… special case like this one.

I am sure you are able to deduce that due to this, the chances of me understanding this language and writings are very, very slim and the chances me being able to figure out what they are trying to say are even lower.

However, I am not one to give up easily. So I contacted one of my close friends, who I also knew had a vast experience in this field and paid him a visit. I asked him for his help regarding this about a month ago. That man was none other than the Pyramid King, Brandon. We had decided to meet up today to discuss his progress on the matter but as you can see, he himself has not been successful." Explained Naruto before turning his gaze towards Cynthia to see what her reaction would be.

"But even so that still does not explain how you were able to locate the Lustrous Orb faster than Celestic Town's Research Team. They have been searching for at least half a year prior to today for the orb." Questioned Cynthia as she narrowed her eyes slightly and focused on his facial expressions so as to be able to detect any form of deceit.

If this man thought he was going to be able to fool her than he was wrong… dead wrong.

"Perhaps the Research Team would have been able to get their hands on the orb, if it had been in the Celestic Ruins in the first place. Now I am not sure if it was moved or not, but when I had found the Lustrous Orb… it was not at the location which you said it should be at." Replied Naruto unfazed by Cynthia's piercing and intoxicating not to mention gorgeous (bad Naruto) gaze.

"What did you want the Lustrous Orb for anyway?" Asked Cynthia. This question was on the minds of several others at the table as well so it was no surprise when all eyes turned towards Naruto.

"I merely desired to study the orb to learn more about the legendary pokemon Palkia. I am sure you already know this but, the Lustrous Orb is said to be related to Palkia and also has the ability to increase said pokemon's powers. I have no ill intentions if that is what you are thinking." Replied Naruto in an emotionless voice quite similar to that of one Itachi Uchiha, which caught the others off guard for a brief second. Just a brief second. They went back to normal after that.

'The main reason I took it though, is because if I didn't then Team Galactic, who I know for a fact have been eying the Orb for some time now, would have jumped at the opportunity to get their hands on it. That is something that I cannot allow to occur. Although, I am not sure what those twits (Team Galactic) are planning just yet, I cannot let their plan succeed… no matter the cost.

Or the results will not be pretty. Oh yes you can bet on that. It won't be pretty at all.' Thought Naruto darkly as he knew that such people had to be dealt with at the earliest time possible, they were good for nothing troublemakers. These people who called themselves Team Galactic just rubbed Naruto in the wrong. He felt like they were somewhat like that bastard Obito (when he had lost his way course).

"Then I guess there is nothing that can be done. Naruto Namikaze, I on behalf of the Celestic Town Research Team and my grandmother, Professor Carolina am humbly requesting you to enter a negotiation with us for what you will want in exchange for the Lustrous Orb. If it is money that you desire, then we will pay you whatever sum of cash you request in exchange for the Lustrous Orb.

This orb is very vital for the research we are conducting and thus are willing to pay you a hefty sum of it." Said Cynthia, being completely frank. There was no reason to sugarcoat or candy coat subjects like this. It was pointless.

All the occupants of the table went silent for a moment. Whatever they were expecting Cynthia to say… it was not this. The silence in the cafeteria was so great, that if it occurred in a forest instead, you could hear the sound crickets chirping without any difficulty at all

Their reverie was broken by the chuckling of the person that the statement was directed at.

Naruto let out a few soft chuckles before cocking his head back and placing his arms behind his head.

"Cynthia, do you honestly think so lowly of me. You wound me!" Exclaimed Naruto as he clutched his chest in mock hurt. "I am not someone who craves after wealth. If I was such a person then I could have sold the Lustrous Orb to tons of people who would pay millions for it in the black market.

Though, it has become increasingly evident to me that the Lustrous Orb really means a great deal to you as well as several others in Celestic Town. In that case, my reply to you is simple.

Take it. I will not charge you a single cent. I have no need of the money that you offer. Nor am I trying to insult you by doing something like this. But if giving you the Lustrous Orb makes you happy, then by all means it is yours from today." Continued Naruto as if it was no big deal at all.

"Brandon, you did bring the Lustrous Orb along with you when you flew here in the Battle Pyramid did you not?" Asked Naruto.

"Yes I did. I will hand it to you later tonight." Replied Brandon.

Cynthia was rendered speechless. This man was willing to hand over the Lustrous Orb to her just like that? But that was not the main reason she was speechless, that was caused by the way this man had phrased his words. Would he simply go that far just to make her happy?

The mere thought of something like that happening made her insides all funny and gave her a funny feeling as well. What was this feeling? She had no idea. She had never felt like this before. Cynthia decided that maybe she should befriend this man, he certainly seemed serious about his statement earlier.

There were no traces of lies in his statement as well, which added to her belief that he was 100% truthful about what he had just said. She felt that he would make a good friend to her and she was certain that there was one way or two that she could help him out in the future… being a champion had its perks after all.

"Well now that, that matter has been settled, how about we discuss something a little… less serious" Suggested Scott trying to lighten the mood.

"Naruto, I would like to ask you a question if you do not mind?" Spoke Brock.

"Well technically you just did. But go ahead I will let you ask another." Replied Naruto as he waved a hand in the air.

"During your battle with Cynthia earlier, your Dragonite used Dig, which I am sure that its species is incapable of learning. So how did it use Dig exactly?" Asked Brock. Brock was one of the few people who had noticed this. He did not point that out in the heat of the battle but had chosen to confront Naruto about it himself, which he was doing right now.

'Earth Release: Hiding Like A Mole Technique is awesome that is how. I am really lucky that I 'borrowed' Kakashi sensei's scroll which had all the 1000 techniques that he had copied in his lifetime. And the best part is I only made a copy so he never noticed, but I can't tell them that, now can I? What should I say instead?' Thought Naruto as he contemplated all the options he had on the table.

"I am awesome that's why." Declared Naruto, getting face faults from all the members of the audience, except Cynthia and Brandon who sweat dropped, even Paul upon hearing this face faulted. Chuckling, Naruto continued, " The technique my Dragonite used was not Dig, well not entirely at least. It was a bastardized version of Dig. You see, I am the type of person who does not wait for things to happen.

I am a person who makes things happen. Using some 'skills' that I had learnt in the past, I was able to teach Dragonite how to move underground safely. Sure it took us 6 weeks of effort and not all of my pokemon can use the bastardized version of Dig, but it is still an accomplishment in my book." Informed Naruto proudly as he puffed out his chest.

When Naruto had finished his explanation everyone's jaws, except for Brandon's and Scott's who already knew the blonde well enough to expect him to do something like this, had dropped.

'What is this guy? What he has just done is not short of the word magnificent. Could he be this gifted?' Thought Cynthia and Paul at the same time.

Ash just seemed to become more eager to challenge this guy and Dawn… well she currently was looking at Naruto with stars in her eyes. Dawn's actions greatly irked Cynthia but the Sinnoh champion could not figure out why.

"Hey Scott, how exactly do you and Brandon know Naruto?" Asked Ash. The interests of all the other occupants at the table were piqued by this.

"Well to answer your question, Naruto was travelling around some ruins sometime around 2 years ago when he first met Brandon and challenged him to a battle." Said Scott.

"What was the result?" It was Paul who asked this question.

"I was hammered. It was a full 6 on 6 pokemon battle. He thrashed me soundly and won the battle 6-2. It was one of the biggest losses in my whole journey as a pokemon trainer." Said Brandon, not ashamed in the slightest as deep down he knew that there was not much that he could have done that day. Perhaps he could have narrowed Naruto's margin of victory slightly but there was no way he could have emerged victorious in that tussle.

"After the battle, I contacted Scott and told him about this trainer that had easily bested me in battle. Later, we arranged a meeting with him and soon after, the three of us became good friends. We learned that despite being a strong trainer, Naruto was someone who liked to keep a low profile." Continued Brandon

"But then why did he challenge Cynthia?" Asked Brock as for the second that that day, all eyes turned towards Naruto.

"As I said to Cynthia earlier today, I am taking part in the Sinnoh League this year so this was a way to make a name for myself before the time of the tournament." Replied Naruto truthfully. Lying about something as little as this would serve no purpose.

"So you battled Cynthia did you? I am sure it was a great battle" Said Scott as more of a statement than a question.

"Well it is not that big of a surprise when you look at the type of person Naruto is." Said Brandon, who knew that what Scott said was more than likely to be true.

"The battle was amazing, Naruto used some really good strategies and combos to win. Dawn even thinks that he would make a great coordinator if he tried." Praised a cheery Ash.

"I bet Naruto here challenged her to a full battle where he used his Latios-" Any further words Scott was going to say were stuck in his throat when Naruto quickly stood up and brought his right hand to cover Scott's mouth.

'Why did Scott have to open his big trap.' Groaned Naruto inwardly as he prepared for the onslaught of questions that he was sure were going to come anytime now.

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

"You have a Latios!" Half said half shouted all the people at the table except Scott and Brandon.

Naruto silently cursed Scott once more in his mind. Scott and Brandon were two of the few people who Naruto had trusted enough to disclose information like this to, but he really wished the man, who was probably in his thirties, hadn't just said that.

Now he would have to answer the other's questions. Sure Naruto thought that it was high time he made a name for himself, but he was not so fond of all of his secrets coming out just yet. He needed to have a few aces up his sleeve for crying out loud. No shinobi would let all of their cards be seen by their opponents. It was a recipe for certain death. Well not death in this 'new world', due to its much more peaceful nature compared to the Elemental Nations, but you get the idea.

At least their group was the only one in the cafeteria at the time. This way no one else knew about Naruto's involvement with the Lustrous Orb or the fact that he had a Latios in his possession.

*BOOM*

Fortunately or unfortunately for Naruto, in the next few seconds there was an explosion in the Pokemon Centre and smoke quickly started to spread and fill the building. Hastily making it out of the Pokemon Centre, although the group of people (Naruto and the others) did have to endure a coughing fit along the way, their eyes scanned the nearby premise as they searched for the cause of the explosion once they were outside.

After a while, they spotted the people who had been the reason for the explosion in the first place.

There in their Meowth shaped hot air balloon were Jessie, James and Meowth.

Jessie was wearing a white tank top that had a large 'R' on it, indicating that she was a member of Team Rocket, and a black undershirt. She was also wearing a short white skirt that reached the top of her knees as well as a pair of black knee socks that went up all the way to the top of her calves. And to top it off, she was sporting a pair of round shaped green colored earrings.

James, like Jessie, was wearing a white shirt with a large 'R' on it indicating that he too was a member of the notorious Team Rocket. He was also wearing a pair of black gloves and a black undershirt. His lower body attire consisted of a pair of long white pants and a pair of black boots.

And Meowth… well Meowth looked like any other Meowth as it was not wearing any accessories or anything else that was special or worth mentioning.

Upon closer inspection, Naruto was able to spot something he really did not like. Attached to the bottom of the hot air balloon carriage was a cage, but that was not what set Naruto off.

What set the blonde off was the fact that inside the cage were pokemon, pokemon that these goons had probably poached. His Dragonite and Cynthia's Garchomp were also amongst the group of stolen pokemon.

'Cynthia's Garchomp and my Dragonite are probably still quite tired from the earlier battle, thus making them easier to catch.' Thought Naruto grimly.

As fate would have it, things did not get much easier. A random trainer had ordered his pokemon to attack and had managed to break the wires that were keeping the cage attached to the hot air balloon in an attempt to save all the pokemon.

It was an attempt gone wrong.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose; he felt a major headache coming on as he saw the wires slowly snapping one by one. Once all of them gave way, the cage holding the Pokemon would come crashing down and if the pokemon were still inside of the cage at the time it collided with the ground then the impact would cause them to be injured.

Severely injured.

And there was no way in hell Naruto would let that happen. He had to come up with a plan to get those innocent pokemon out of this mess.

He had to come up with one fast too.

Then it hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. His Latios, that was the answer. He might have to reveal one of his legendary pokemon but it was something that had to be done for the wellbeing of many other pokemon.

"Latios, Espeon, I need your assistance." Called out Naruto as he let out some of his strongest allies.

Latios was a bird like, dragon and physic pokemon. It had an aerodynamic body. The lower half of its body was blue with jet plane wings and fin like feet. It had a red triangular marking on its chest. It had white and blue arms that could be tucked into its body. The upper half of its body was white. It had triangular ears and a blue face with a white pentagon in the middle.

Espeon was a quadruped, mammalian pokemon with two pairs of slender legs and dainty paws. It was covered in fine, lilac fur. Its ears were large, and it had a pair of purple eyes with white pupils. There were tufts of fur near its eyes, and it had a small, red gem embedded in its forehead. It also had a thin, forked tail.

'So he really does have a Latios after all.' Thought Cynthia as she laid her eyes on the dragon and psychic type legendary from Hoenn.

Dawn had taken out her Pokedex and scanned Naruto's newly revealed Latios. "Latios, the eon pokemon. Latios has the ability to make others see an image of what it has seen or imagines in its head. This pokemon is intelligent and understands human speech very well. By tucking in its wings and forelimbs, it can fly faster than a jet." Said the mechanical voice of the Pokedex.

It was at this time that the last of the wires had given way and the cage began to descend towards the ground. However, Naruto was not… that worried at least. This was because at least now he had a way to stop this.

"Alright Latios, Espeon, I want both of you to use Psychic and stop the cage from falling."

Latios' and Espeon's eyes began to glow light blue, and the cage became outlined in a similar colored light, before it came to a halt in mid-air.

"Now bring the cage down slowly and gently." Instructed Naruto

Latios and Espeon then slowly brought the cage downwards and placed it in front of where Naruto was currently standing.

'Phew! That was good thinking on my part if I do say so myself.' Thought Naruto as he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

'Now to teach these three a lesson.' Thought Naruto as he looked at the trio, whose emotions were quite easy to read right now. Naruto knew they were angered and seething that their plan had been foiled but at the same time they were also frightened of what was to come.

"Latios, use Luster Purge, Espeon, use Hyper Beam."

Latios opened its mouth and white sparkles formed and gathered in front of it, forming together into a pink ball of energy. Latios then fired a massive pink beam from the ball at the trio of pokemon thieves.

At the same time, Espeon gathered energy before shooting out a yellow-orange beam from its mouth at the hot air balloon.

These two attacks sent Jessie, James and Meowth airborne.

"Every time we get so close to succeeding, something like this always happens." Said Jessie while clenching her fists.

"Will you stop stating the obvious already!" Pointed out James. This had happened to them many times before after all.

"It looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again." Exclaimed Jessie, James and Meowth in unison as the three of them continued flying away, their voices becoming less and less audible, until they were nothing but a speck in the sky.

The trainers including Naruto and Cynthia, then all rushed over to check on their pokemon. Once they were satisfied, the two champion level trainers returned their Dragonite and Garchomp respectively to their own poke balls.

Naruto then walked back to where his Latios and Espeon, were, along with the rest of the group but suddenly paused when he was halfway there.

"Is there something that you want from me?" Said Naruto to no one in particular. He didn't even bother looking behind him.

"Yes, I want to know the source of your strength. How are you so strong? You are able to keep a calm head no matter the situation. On top of that, you are able to come up with strategies to combat tough situations in the blink of an eye.

Your pokemon's strength no laughing matter either, as proven by your Dragonite, Latios and Espeon. So how did you do it? How did you gain so much power? Some secret training method perhaps? What is your secret?" Replied / Asked a certain purple haired trainer from Veilstone City.

Naruto could not help but compare this guy to one Sasuke Uchiha. The two of them sure had / shared quite a number of similarities. They both had a brooding like exterior, they were both cold and calculating, they both desired power above anything else, although Naruto knew Sasuke's craving in that area was much worse than this.

Furthermore, the two of them were both in over their heads, filled with arrogance. The two of them seemed to take things for granted and think that there were shortcuts to obtain their goals. If Naruto's observation of this guy based on how he had acted throughout the day was reasonably accurate, then there was a high possibility that this guy had a thirty-foot-long pole stuck up his ass.

Unbeknownst to the members of the group (Cynthia, Paul, Ash, Dawn and Brock), Naruto was someone who may have seemed to be laid back and calm but underneath was a person who, due to his past life as a shinobi, knew that it was vital to stay alert and keep your guard up at all times.

Sure, the Naruto of old was not much of a calculating and sharp shinobi, but then again after coming to this 'new world' and reminiscing about the past, he learned that there were many areas of being a ninja which he had not taken seriously that could have made a big difference in some of the major events that took place in his previous life.

With that in mind, Naruto Namikaze made it a point to re-learn all the 'boring and uncool' stuff that some people and friends had thought him in the past, then use them to his advantage in this world.

Naruto did not like to admit it at first but these 'tips' had proven to be really useful to Naruto time and time again. It had also helped Naruto progress as a trainer much faster. Naruto wished that he could turn back the clock and stop himself from neglecting these dull (but necessary) teachings. So, Naruto would not be too surprised if this purple haired teenager turned out to have a pair of Sharingan eyes. He sure acted like an Uchiha that was for sure.

"You really are a funny one you know. Not many people would just simply go and give out their secrets just like that." Remarked Naruto, inwardly enjoying the fact that he had riled up the boy in front of him.

"How about something like this, why don't you tell me about what your belief on pokemon's strength is and I will tell you mine. That way you can compare the differences between both of our beliefs. As it is, there are not many people out there that have the same belief on pokemon that I do." Stated Naruto offhandedly.

"Very well. I belief that a trainer's main concern of his pokemon should be their strength in battle. I strongly dislike weak pokemon and have no qualms about releasing my pokemon if they do not meet my expectations. To this effect, I always check new captures with my Pokedex to learn what moves they know and I train all the pokemon that I do keep harshly to make them strong.

In my opinion bonding with pokemon would only turn them into slackers. As such I will not hesitate to scold my pokemon for losing to opponents that I feel that they could have beaten. After all, to me pokemon that do not deliver are simply dead weight and a hindrance." Said Paul, not fazed at all by how harsh and cruel that he has just sounded.

'Yup, this guy is definitely like Sasuke.' Thought Naruto, the remainder of his doubts put to rest by the way the younger brother of Reggie had just spoken.

Naruto turned his head to his left for a moment as he gained a faraway look in his eyes. At that moment a small breeze of wind brushed against his face and hair. Naruto then closed his eyes for a brief moment before he decided to give his reply to Paul.

"Paul, your way of thinking is the exact opposite of my own. Let me tell you of the first lesson that one of my teachers (Kakashi) thought me. Every trainer is educated and is told to follow a set of rules in the pokemon world. It is also a known fact that a lot of trainers decide to go by the book completely as they believe that, that is the right way to go.

But that is not what my teacher believed in. Oh no, not at all. Do you know what my teacher taught me? He said that: 'In this world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.'

From the very day that you capture a pokemon, that pokemon becomes your friend and comrade. You are that pokemon's leader and thus are the one responsible for its well-being.

It is your job to guide and protect that pokemon. When a battle is lost it is not the pokemon who are at fault, it is the trainer. When someone has something precious that he / she wants to protect, it is then that, that person becomes truly strong. A true victory can only be achieved when you obtain it along with your pokemon, not by yourself.

When you support your pokemon, then they will support you. Through this a bond of trust is formed. When that bond is formed, every pokemon will go over the edge and give it a 110% for every battle. Without this bond of trust, many things that I have done with my pokemon would not have been even remotely possible in the first place.

For instance, if my Dragonite did not trust me, then we would have definitely lost the battle to Cynthia's Garchomp. If you remember correctly, there was one point during the battle when Cynthia asked her Garchomp to use Giga Impact. In response I told my Dragonite to use Protect.

Dragonite, who had gone through the strenuous battle and had a grasp of its opponents' strength, undoubtedly already knew that the Protect would not be enough to stop the Giga impact. However, despite all of that, it still obeyed my command.

Do you know why? This is because my Dragonite believed in me and had faith in me. Should Dragonite have hesitated even in the slightest, then defeat would have been certain and unavoidable.

A trainer must always treat their pokemon with love and affection. This will not make a pokemon a slacker as you believe. On the contrary, this will fuel a pokemon's drive to repay its trainer for the kindness that he / she has shown it.

Take a moment and think here. Pokemon are just like humans. They want to be loved and accepted. A little bit of care and acknowledgement will go a really long way, believe me I know this better than anyone.

Pokemon do not desire to simply be used for their abilities. How would you feel if you were merely a weapon for others to use and discard whenever you wish. You would feel lonely and empty inside that's how.

Paul know this and know this well, until you can become one with your pokemon and treat them as equals, as your family, then you will never be able to gain the power that you seek. The sooner you understand this, the better it will be for you." Explained Naruto, imparting some of the words of wisdom that Kakashi Hatake and Haku Yuki had passed on to him when he just became a shinobi.

Paul took a few minutes to process what he had just been told. This guy seemed to have the same mind-set as Ash, not something that Paul agreed with. No matter whose mouth it came from.

"Then prove to me that your ideals are so much better than mine. Battle me and show me the true extent of your strength. Only then will I give consideration to your words." Spoke Paul with conviction and determination in his voice.

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he looked into Paul's eyes. It seemed that his guy was really serious about battling him.

Oh this was going to be fun.

Naruto was going to enjoy giving this guy a wakeup call.

"If this is what it takes… then so be it. If only to show you that your way of thinking is flawed then I will do battle with you. Name the conditions of the battle Paul."

"It will be a full six on six battle, pokemon exchanges allowed. The battle will be over when either one of the trainers pokemon are all unable to battle. Now then, do you accept my challenge Naruto?" Asked Paul.

"Indeed I do."

End Chapter