A/N: "I want to be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause~ Pokemon! Ohhh you're my best friend, in a world we must defend!" Out of verse, but this is what inspired this story. I was reminiscing with my sister about the time we were kids because now she's moved out of our parents house and the person I've lived with my whole life is on her own... so we started singing a bunch of songs we know by heart because we were kids and absorbed everything, like Mulan "I'll make a man out of you", Fairly Odd Parents title opening song, and so on. We ended up singing Pokemon's first season opening song, most likely out of verse, but the point is, we sung the whole thing and I pretty much had this insane desire to write this out. Hope you all enjoy!

P.S: I was lazy, and took the whole beginning from my other story "Beyond the Veil". So if you've read that one, then it'll obviously be very familiar ^-^'

P.P.S: This starts at episode 282: In the Knicker of Time! Which is during Pokémon: Advanced that features Ash, Brock, May, and Max. I don't know how far I'll take this story, but for now, it's just for fun so try not to take things too seriously.

Key:

"Speech"
"Thoughts"
"Pokédex"
"Kurama/Kyuubi"
"Pokémon speech"

Sixteen year-old Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was frozen in shock. He had finally succeeded; he had brought Sasuke back to Konoha. Instead of being thanked by the village, and regain that peace that was lost so long ago, Naruto stood flabbergasted as the council exiled him.

Exiled.

Never to return to his home again.

He couldn't understand it. He had done everything they had asked, and this was what he was rewarded with. Tsunade-obaa tried her best to stop the banishment from going through, but the Council had the Daimyo's signed order to banish the blonde from the Village.

There was nothing she could do, and Naruto understood.

His friends were all angered by the news. None of them could believe that this was being allowed to happen, especially after everything he had done during Pein's invasion. Shikamaru had suggested Naruto display his Rinnengan, given to him by Pein himself at the end of their battle, just so that he could claim Clan protection and be allowed to stay in the Village, but Naruto wouldn't simply because if they could not accept him after all he had done since he graduated the Academy, then they never would. There was simply nothing more he could do to change the minds of close-minded people.

His friends had done their best to give him everything they possibly could for his life outside the village, promises to change the Village for the better, and once they were in power, bring him home. Naruto simply smiled at his friends when he heard that, happy he had found precious people who truly cared and loved him. He wouldn't turn against the Village for their idiocy; as much as he was heartbroken and angered over his banishment, he still believed it to be home, and he would never do anything to cause harm to it.

Naruto was to be banished out of the Village the day following the order, given time to take all of his possessions. His friends had gifted him with enough money to last some time, though he never did admit to anyone that the moment he had discovered his biological parents identities, he had gone to the Namikaze Manor and reclaimed all that was rightfully his. All the money his parents had left behind, all their scrolls, and all their weapons were sealed away on his person, hidden in plain sight inside the harmless looking tattoos that were painted over his body in the most beautiful way.
When the morning of his banishment had come, Naruto left with little fanfare. He had been escorted by ANBU early in the morning, the group seemed sympathetic to his plight and wished him well travels and good health.

With one last sorrowful glance at his home, Naruto left in a yellow flash to a seal he had placed outside of Inari's house in Wave, unknowingly shocking the group of ANBU that stared wide-eyed at the sight of the Yondaime's infamous jutsu.

After a year of traveling, Naruto had made a name for himself: The Fox Sage. With help from Kurama, Naruto had mastered Biju mode to perfection. His body could withstand the full brunt of Kurama's nine-tails for over an hour without seriously harming his body; an accomplishment like none before. The year had brought many changes in Naruto. No longer was he the naïve bright idiot he once was; the year had shown him the true atrocities of the world and it had hardened him. He became slightly colder, more calculated, and far stronger than he ever thought he could be before.

He had also changed physically. Being the runt of his entire generation, Naruto never really thought he would get very tall, even with all his exercise and eating habits, but nature proved him wrong. After the year had passed, Naruto stood at 6 feet tall with a leanly built body built for speed. He had allowed his hair to grow some, the style making him look like a younger and leaner Minato Namikaze with whiskered cheeks. He had also taken on to dressing more appropriately, nearly erasing orange from his attire all together. The only orange that was found on him was the deep orange sash that held his blade, Fox Fang. A beautiful sword that was made of the strongest and rarest of metals; one that could channel Kurama's chakra perfectly.

Kurama was both elated and downtrodden about the changes in her vessel. While she was glad Naruto was taking everything more seriously, she missed the innocence he once held closely to his heart. Sure, he still smiled and brought happiness to those on their worst of days, but it simply wasn't the same as it once was before. And she would forever blame Konoha for what they had done to her kit.

In their eleventh month of banishment, Naruto had taken sanctuary in Suna, welcomed with open arms by his friend, Gaara, the Kazekage. When word of Naruto's banishment became public knowledge, Suna and many other villages such as Wave had cut off all contact with Konoha, despising them for their actions against Naruto. Naruto had tried to stop them from doing so, but in the end there was nothing he could say or do that would change their minds. In the end, he supposed Konoha would simply have to suffer with fewer jobs to do, and work harder to maintain their economy. As a banished shinobi, there was little Naruto could do for his old home, at least little he could do publicly, and Naruto was never one to work in the shadows.

During his time in Suna, Naruto and Gaara had both drabbled in more complex fuuinjutsu, trying everything they could in order to discover new abilities of the vague art. Gaara had discovered that he had a rather natural talent in sealing, and with Naruto's help, became a very adept in the art of sealing in only a few months.

It was during an experimental fuuinjutsu seal, Naruto unconsciously released some of his chakra and accidentally activated the seal, blinding him with a bright white light before he felt as though his body were being squeezed through a tube, the sound of Gaara's concerned voice screaming his name before everything went black.

When Naruto woke up, he felt better than he had in years. His body was rejuvenated, and he could feel the childish stamina that was never-ending coursing through, waiting impatiently to be drained even in the slightest. His eyes open slowly, blinking viciously in order to regain the clarity he desired rather than the fogy vision he had. After a second or two, his vision cleared and he realized he was surrounded by tall forest trees, far to small in size and different in shape to ever be considered a part of the Konoha forest he grew up in. Taking in a deep whiff of air, he confirmed to himself that this was definitely not any place he had ever been to. After all, with Kurama's help, his body became more attuned to him, heightening his senses ten fold, and smell was the strongest sense, and something difficult to forget.

Moving his body, Naruto felt something off immediately. Looking down upon himself, he realized why.

He was Kurama.

From the red furry snout to the nine red-flaming tails stemming off from his body, he was in Kurama's form.

"Kurama? What happened to me!?" Naruto thought to the fox furiously, trying to figure out why his natural feeling body seemed to be in Kurama's image.

The fox in question stirred in the depths of his mind, the sewer like prison rippling as she stood shakily on her four paws, much as Naruto was in reality.

"Hmmmuhh?"the nine-tailed beast groaned out as she tried to get a hold on what happened to her vessel. Once her senses were clear, Kurama sent a slight pulse through his body with her chakra, getting a feel on what he was talking about. When the pulse came back to her, she was shocked at the transformation that occurred to his body before she took the memories of the smell he had taken in when he first woke up. Rather sheepishly she began, "Well kit...seems you got ourselves in a bit of a pickle."

"What do you mean, 'pickle'? The once blonde teenager asked.

"Well obviously you realize this isn't the forest surrounding Konoha..."

"Obviously. Now will you tell me where we are! Since you clearly know!"

"Watch you're tone, kit."Kurama warned her vessel with a slight growl, "Now let me continue. If memory serves me correctly, and it always does, we're in the surrounding forest near Petalburg City in the Hoenn region."she explained patiently.

"Petalburg City?...Hoenn Region...?" Naruto asked slowly, wondering where the heck they were.

"Yes. Now, try not to overreact when I tell you this: we are no longer in the Elemental Nations."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT!?"

Kurama winced and her ears twitched madly, "Great job at not overreacting..."she muttered softly, "That seal you were experimenting on reacted to the demonic chakra you release naturally and activated on it's own. While you weren't completely done with it, it was completed enough to send you through the summoning realm and into this different dimension. Don't worry though, it's not an unnatural occurrence, all the summon creatures and tailed-beasts do this from time to time."

Naruto calmed down some as she explained, "So you can take us back to the Elemental Nations?" he asked hopeful.

"No."

"What do you mean no?!"

"I mean that, no, I cannot take us back to the Elemental Nations."

"Because~?"

"Because even while I'm bound to you, you being human, it's impossible to use my dimension-hopping ability to take you back. I wouldn't be able to bring myself back either considering I am bound to your very human soul."

"So I'm stuck here as you!?" Naruto screamed in distraught, his nine red tails swishing around frantically.

"Not exactly. You can recreate the seal you used to bring you here to take you back, but seeing as you were just experimenting, I doubt you remember all that much from it, do you?"

The once blonde winced at that, knowing that he did in fact not remember much of the construction of the seal that caused him to come here before bowing his head in frustration, his fur rising ever so slightly.

"Damn..."

"Don't worry too much kit, this place is actually one of my favorite dimensions."Kurama's voice came in sounding quite excited.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You noticed what happened to your body right? Well, here you're known as a Ninetales, a fire type Pokémon. Now, before you go and interrupt me, let me tell you about this world and what Pokémon are.

"Unlike the Elemental Nations, this world is rather advanced in it's technology, all of which I'll implant into your memories rather than tell you outright, otherwise we'll be talking for days. To give you the basic run down, Pokémon are much like animals in the Elemental Nations, except that here they are of higher intelligence and in a way, are able to control certain elements, much like elemental jutsus. As a Fire-type Pokémon yourself, you'll be able to shoot out flaming embers as an ability, spin your body into a flaming wheel, and the like. Others, say a water-type, would be able to send out a jet of water, bubbles that are tougher than solid rocks, and more. There are different types of Pokémon, from the basic elemets, to ghost, psychic, and dark.

"This world is deeply dependent on Pokémon, as they are a major part of every day activities. Lightning-type Pokémon are used to power emergency generators, helpful in healing both humans and Pokémon alike, used as sources for produce such as honey, and much more. Another major part in this world is Pokémon battling, breeding, and contests. At the age of ten, a child is given the opportunity to go on what humans call their "Pokémon journey" where they can go out into the world and capture wild Pokémon, train them, and participate in gym battles, contests, and tournaments.

"Now, capturing Pokémon and training for battle isn't anything like what you're probably thinking of kit. Battling is basically a show of power, who is the better, stronger Pokémon. The battle ends when one of the Pokémon battling is knocked out cold, or unable to battle, and never has any legal battles ended in the death of a Pokémon.

"When a trainer captures a Pokémon, it's through what is known as a pokéball, yes, highly original, but it's basically a small hand-held ball that somehow, as I am unsure of the scientific means behind it, sucks a Pokémon inside and binds him or her to whoever threw the pokéball. Think of it as a storage seal, but for organic beings, though they are tuned to the brain-wave patterns found in Pokémon, so humans are unable to understand how it feels to be trapped in those things. Don't worry though, most Pokémon find them comfortable to stay in, though I hate it.

"Other than that, to go into further detail about what you are, I think I'll just give you all the information on the ninetales specie, but I will tell you that because I am sealed inside you, you're about twice as big as a normal Ninetales that stands at about three feet seven inches averagely, and colored differently seeing as they are either a golden white, or light purple, and you won't be able to use your chakra as you normally would. So no walking on water, climbing trees without thumbs, and so on. You'll be able to use your energy, Ninetale energy to activate a seal if you ever remake it, but for now, I think you should enjoy your time here. It's pretty peaceful compared to the Elemental Nations."

Naruto took everything she said slowly in, not wanting to become too overwhelmed and lose control of his new body. The instincts that were screaming in the back of his mind, even further beyond Kurama's voice was becoming a bit hard not to ignore. It wanted to run, be free, and claim territory, but Naruto needed to take stock of everything Kurama not only told him, but also implanted into his mind.

At first, he was concerned about this whole, capturing and battling business, but the information that his resident fox had gifted him with gave him the understanding that her explanation could not provide. The world he was in was dependent on Pokémon, and it was, in many cases, a mutually beneficial matter. Pokémon thrived under the care of humans and trainers alike, though even in a world like this, there were those who sought to take as much advantage from Pokémon as they could, even if it was cruel to the Pokémon.

He also learned of "Legendary" Pokémon, and wondered if this Mew, would be able to send him back to his home dimension with her many great abilities. Though he wondered if he would ever be able to locate her, seeing as she was more mischievous as a newborn kit, and enjoyed to play even at the cost of others sanity.

The new Ninetales sat there for about half an hour before he finally sorted through the newly given information and set out to take a view of the world he was in with his own eyes, at least until he realized the rumbling of his empty stomach.

"Should probably find some food before going any further, else wise I'll be too tired to do anything..." he thought to himself.

"You do that, Kit," Kurama said with a yawn, "I'll be taking a nap, only wake me up if you really need me."

"Sure thing, Kurama." Naruto agreed easily before sniffing the air with his snout, trying to find the nearest appealing food source. He moved around a bit, sniffing around when he smelled something sweet and headed toward it. When he found a berry tree, he wasn't excited, but pleased his stomach wouldn't be so empty. True, it wasn't ramen, but it would do.

When he finished, Naruto heard rustling in the bushes around him and saw raccoon looking creatures, the information he had been given had allowed him to immediately recognize them as zigzagoons.

"Hey, did you see that?" one said.

"Yeah! Let's go check it out!" said another.

Curiously, Naruto followed them, until one turned around spotting him and began to stare curiously.

"Uh...hi?" Naruto said softly with a slight tilt to his head.

"Hi ninetales! You're a ninetales, right?" the first asked hesitantly.

"Um, yeah?

"How come you're so huge?"

"Why are you red, I thought you were supposed to be golden?"

"Can you do something cool?"

"If I pull your tail, will you really curse me?"

Blinking a few times, Naruto tried to take stock of everything they asked, but was unable to answer before another asked a question.

"Hey, look! It's a taillow!"

"By itself?"

"Let's follow!"

"Bye ninetales!"

And just like that, they were gone, leaving behind a slightly bemused and confused red ninetales. Shaking his head at the excitable zigzagoons, Naruto turned and let his senses take over, wondering which direction he should go to when he heard a few voices. Realizing they were human voices, Naruto curiously stalked toward the sound and found himself watching between the trees, the beginnings of a Pokémon battle.

"Each trainer may use one Pokémon." said a squinty eyed, dark skinned teenager who stood between the two trainers who were to battle, a boy and girl, "The battle will be over when one in unable to continue."

"Okay!" both the trainers agreed with a visible nod.

"Mudkip!" the male trainer called out, ready to throw his pokéball, "let's go!" out of the pokéball, in an odd white light that manifested into the shape of a Mudkip, came the pokémon.

"Ready to go!" it said excitedly.

Naruto waited for the girl to call out her pokémon, but it was only after the referee reminded her that she threw her pokéball containing her Torchic. Even without knowing the girl, it was plain to see that she was horribly inexperienced. Her entire posture was lacking confidence, and her hesitation spoke volumes.

On the sidelines, Naruto noticed a black-haired boy wearing a hat with a Pikachu on his shoulder, as well as a smaller and younger boy with dark green hair and large glasses.

"And now begin!" the referee called out.

To be honest, it almost hurt watching the girl battle the odd boy who took to a Mudkip costume whilst in battle. She had no clue what her Pokémon could do, nor how to command it in battle. It was a very sad, and rather humiliating defeat for the girl, as the boy's Mudkip defeated her Torchic extremely easily. In the end, the boy thought the battle between the gym leader, who so happened to be the girls and the smallest boy's father, would be an easy defeat since his own daughter knew nothing of battling, something of which was easily seen as angering the green-haired boy.

He thought it would be best to be on his way, especially after the humiliating defeat, until he noticed that the green-haired boy divert from his friends and follow the excentric boy his sister just fought. With a small sigh, and his overwhelming sense of providing protection to such a young kit, Naruto followed the boy as he collected sweet orange colored berries that would attract the Zigzagoons to him and away from the boy that sought desperately to capture one.

Of course, being as young as he was, he didn't understand just how many Zigzagoons there were until they all surrounded him. Just as he was about to interfere, the others in his little traveling group found him and the hat-wearing boy's Pikachu thunder-bolted the Zigzagoons away from the boy, to which his sister dropped down to her knees in front of him, checking if he had any injuries.

"Hey! Why'd you attack us!"

"Yeah! We just wanted the berries!"

"Grrrrr!"

Naruto could see that this was no longer about not getting the berries, but because they had interrupted their meal. When the Zigzagoons wouldn't leave them alone and were closing in on them, Naruto jumped out of the shadows of the forest trees and stalked forward, his nine tails swishing behind him.

"Enough!" he screamed to the Zigzagoons.

"Woah! That's a Ninetales!?" the green-haired boy asked with wide eyes, even behind his large glasses.

"That's not like any Ninetales I've ever seen."

"Follow me!" Naruto said to the Zigzagoons, running into the forest, knowing the little raccoon creatures were following him into the forest, and more importantly, back to the berry tree that he had eaten from earlier. There were more of the same trees surounding that area, and they were all of the same berry that the boy had offered, or rather teased them, with. Using his body to slam into the side of a couple of trees, Naruto forced some of the berries to fall and allow the Zigzagoons to enjoy their feast.

"Wow," said the boy carrying the Pikachu, "Thanks, Ninetales."

Naruto turned and sat on his hind-legs in front of them, appearing taller than he already was. "No problem." he said, though he knew that from what Kurama had given them was that all they heard was him say "Ninetales" in various uses of the syllables.

"Oh wow! A Ninetales!" Now that voice, Naruto recognized immediately. It was that strange boy, who was still donning a Zigzagoon full body costume. In a flash, he change into a complete Ninetales outfit and dropped onto all fours, repeating "Ninetales" over and over again. Naruto looked at him strangely, and if he were human, his eyebrow would be raised and a sweatdrop would be found on his head.

"Uhh, Nikoli?" the squinty-eyed boy began.

Deciding to amuse the boy, Naruto replied with a small hello and nod of his head, getting the feeling that the strange trainer was introducing to himself.

"Hmm, yes?" the boy, Nikoli, answered to the teen.

"Where did you learn to speak Ninetales!?" the green-haired boy asked extremely curiously, "I've never read anything like that in any of my books!"

Nikoli stood up and said, "You don't need to use words to communicate with Pokémon, Max." he answered, "You just need to speak from in here." he motioned to his heart and Naruto found himself tilting his head slightly. Considering the fact that he could understand them as clear as he could see the sky, he wondered if other Pokémon couldn't understand them completely...and relied on instinct and their senses to understand what their trainers or humans were meaning to say.

"He's right," the squinty-eyed boy agreed, "say what's in your heart."

"Let me see, we have to learn these crazy attacks while speaking with our hearts?" the sadly inexperienced girl asked.

"Then the Pokémon will understand what we say!" Max, the small green-haired boy said as though he had an epiphany.

"Right! I'll show you what I mean." Nikoli said before turning to one of the Zigzagoons, "Hey, Zigzagoon, how about we battle?"

The closest Zigzagoon agreed immediately, and the battle between Nikoli's Mudkip and the wild Zigzagoon was rather interesting to watch. All the while Naruto sat near Max, the troublesome little kit who he felt remind him of Sakura, so engrossed in books and believing she knew everything there was to know about the world because of them. So naive and in need of protection.

When the battle was over, Mudkip had defeated the wild Zigzagoon and were about to celebrate their victory when a metal clamp surrounded the little water-type creature, and an electric net shot out at him. Naruto heart the net come toward him immediately, but also realized it was poorly aimed and instead of hitting him, it would have hit Max if he hadn't flung him away with one of his tails, getting caught in the net as a consequence.

Under the volts of electricity, Naruto cringed and felt his muscles spasm before tightening painfully, locking themselves into place before he felt himself buckle under the pain. It wasn't enough to knock him out, Sasuke's Chidori was far more painful, but enough to make him groan in pain and paralyze him from moving or attacking his would-be-kidnappers.

The net was strung back, with Naruto inside, to a cat-esque air balloon.

"Haha, we caught Mudkip, and a rare Ninetales~!" The trio sang happily.

"Hey!" Nikoli screamed at them, "Who do you think you are!?"

"Prepare for trouble, I know who I am." The woman began.

"And make it double with your Nickerbocker scam." The man continued.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now with your exposed knees or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dat's wright!"

Naruto was downright laughing his head off when they finished. He couldn't believe that they had a whole little song dedicated to specifically introducing themselves! It was just hysterical!

"Heys!" the Meowth screamed down at him, "What are ya laughin' at?!"

"You guys!" Naruto managed out.

Meowth got a red tick mark on his head, but crossed his arms ad said, "Well, it don't matter anyways! You is stuck dere and we are gonna take ya to da boss!"

"Hey!" Nikoli screamed, "Give me back my Mudkip!"

"And let go of Ninetales!" Max screamed as well.

"Pikapi!"

"Not today." Jessie said with a smirk on her face.

"Pikachu!" the hat-wearing boy said, "Thunderbolt them now!"

Pikachu jumped off his trainers shoulder and began his thunderbolt attack, but considering that the clamp that was around Mudkip was made of metal, as was his net, they too would be caught in the attack.

Remembering what Kurama had said about his abilities, Naruto let his body swell with energy before he roared at the net, his breath becoming a powerful jet of flames. He continued furiously until the net melted through from his attack and jumped to grab Mudkip just as Pikachu was about to finish his attack.

"Oh no you don't!" James said before Meowth pressed a button and before Naruto reached Mudkip he was grabbed by an even larger metal clasp, tightening around his middle too tightly.

Pikachu finished his attack, but the Meowth pressed another button and a satellite looking thing came from the bottom of the weaved basket, how, he didn't know and didn't particularly question, but the satellite was able to absorb and repel the lightning attack back down to the ground.

"What!" the people down below exclaimed.

"How's that feel?" Jessie mocked.

Before anyone could say anymore, Naruto had enough of being captured. Turning his head to face his would-be-caputurers, Naruto felt energy swell inside him before he opened his mouth slightly and let the energy go. In the back of his mind, he knew that he had used the attack called Hyper Beam. When the attack hit the balloon, the controls on their clasps malfunctioned and released Naruto and Mudkip, unfortunately, they were still pretty far up from the ground.

Naruto, using his tails to project him toward the Mudkip, clasped his teeth around it's neck and would take most of the landing impact, since his larger body would be able to withstand it.

"Hey! No fair!" Team Rocket screamed, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again~!" as they were expelled into the sky, traveling so far they became nothing more than a glittering spark in the sky.

The impact on the ground caused a bit more pain than Naruto had been expecting, but thankfully, the Mudkip was unharmed.

"Thank you." The Mudkip said sincerely.

"No problem, I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Mudkip!" Nikoli exclaimed, rushing to his Pokémon, "I'm so glad you're okay! Thank you Ninetales."

Naruto walked over to the boy and lowered his head, allowing the kid to touch his head more easily rather than at the six-foot height he normally stood at.

"Wow, that was amazing Ninetales!"

"Ash is right, Ninetales, you were great!" Max exclaimed with a wide grin.

Naruto nodded to them too before walking to Max and nudging his head toward him, letting the smaller boy pet his head. In the back of his mind, he could hear Kurama chuckle softly, as though to say "I told you so" for making fun of her due to the fact she enjoyed to be pet by human hands.

Pulling back, Naruto sat down by Max while Ash and Nikolu spoke to each other, when he caught his name, and Nikoli nodding to Ash, he wondered what they had been talking about. He had zoned out from the petting that he didn't really hear their conversation.

"Hey Ninetales, would you like to battle with me?" Ash asked with a hopeful and excited grin on his face.

"Woah, Kit." came Kurama's voice, "If you agree, then lose, you'll be CAPTURED by this trainer and become his Pokémon. You do remember what that means right?"

"Course I do!" Naruto exclaimed slightly insulted, "But...this sounds interesting. And you said to enjoy my time here...maybe I can see what all this stuff is about? Besides, with what you gave me through our link, I would be able to break the Pokémon bond if I ever needed to. Heck, maybe they can even help me find a way to get back!"

"You really think these kids will be able to help you?"

"Well...they could possibly be of some help...if not, then this is going to be considered my vacation. Kami knows I should take one with everything I've been doing since banishment. And it's not as though I'm not going to be training, Ash would help me in that regard. And there's no way I'm going to be caught by Max's sister. She needs way more experience to be able to handle me."

"Well, as long as you know what you're doing, Kit. Fine by me."

Knowing that Kurama was once again asleep in the back of his mind, Naruto nodded at the young trainer and walked a bit of a ways from him, standing directly in his path in a battle-ready pose.

"Alright! Ready Pikachu?" Ash asked as Pikachu nodded and jumped out in front of him, already in a battle-ready position.

"Alright, Pikachu, quick attack!" Ash commanded. The little yellow mouse ran at great speeds, but nothing that Naruto was unable to see, immediately, Naruto copies the attack with his own and both of them meet head on, the collision causing both of them to be forced back, both bearing the beginnings of some bruising, though Naruto was far better off.

"Alright Pikachu, use your thunder bolt attack!"

Pikachu immediately sent out a bolt of lightning, but Naruto focused around his body and it glowed slightly green, signifying he had used Protect upon himself. Before Pikachu had the chance to attack once more, Naruto used Flame Wheel on Pikachu, heading straight toward the mouse pokemon.

"Pikachu dodge and use thunder bolt again!"

Knowing his attack had missed, Naruto leapt out of the way just in time to dodge the thunderbolt attack and charge at the Pikachu, his tail ends glowing iron before slamming down on Pikachu, sending him down to the ground harshly.

"Pikachu!" Ash screamed worriedly for his partner.

"I'm okay, Ash!" Pikachu said to his trainer.

"Alright, now use tackle!" Ash continued strongly.

Pikachu rushed at him, and unlike the last few times, was able to get a direct hit in, sending him to the end of the small clearing, bearing a bit more scratches than before. Standing up, Naruto sent out a burst of flame toward the Pikachu, knowing that it wouldn't hurt the mouse Pokémon as it would to humans in his world; burning them up to a crisp.

"Dodge it with Quick attack!"

The Pikachu sped around the attack and landed another hit on Naruto, though this time he had his tail latch onto the electric-type pokémon before he managed to get away and sent him flying back to his trainer, the Pikachu's eyes becoming swirls and it was clear he was out for the count.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed cradling his partner, "You did great, buddy." he praised as Pikachu regained a clear mind.

"Wow, Ninetales is super powerful!" Max gushed excitedly.

"Thanks for the battle, Ninetales." Ash said as Pikachu as able to stand up.

"You're really strong!" Pikachu said to Naruto with a nod.

"Thanks, I've been training my whole life for battle." Naruto said to the mouse Pokémon.

"So you've had a trainer before?"

"No, I've never been captured, but I think it might be interesting to have a trainer."

"Well Ash is the best Pokémon trainer ever! He really cares about us and helps us get better at battling. Maybe you should ask him to capture you?" Pikachu said, hoping that Ninetales would agree to becoming a part of Ash's team. It would definitely be interesting to have such a strong member on the Team.

"You know, Ash, this Ninetales isn't like any other I've ever seen." Brock commented as Ninetales and Pikachu seemed to be having a conversation.

"You're right, Brock. It's coloring is off, even for a shiny, and it's twice as large as normal." Ash agreed looking at the powerful Pokémon. "Maybe Dexter has some information on it."

Bringing out his Pokédex, Ash positioned the camera at Naruto and waited for Dex to state information on the Pokémon. "Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon. Ninetales are highly intelligent and understand human language. They are told to be wayward and even vengeful. Ninetales are considered to be rare, and even said to live up to one thousand years. Many legends and myths are entwined around them, one of which states that Ninetales were born when nine saints were united and reincarnated as this Pokémon."

"Well, it didn't say anything about it's coloring or being larger than normal, but it is a Ninetales. Maybe you can call Professor Oak and see if he has any information on how this can happen in the wild." Brock suggested after listening to the Pokédex.

"Good idea, Brock." Ash said while putting his Pokédex away.

Just as they finished, Ninetales walked up to Ash with Pikachu on his back and nudged at his hand. Honestly, it really sucked not being able to talk to them as he did to other Pokémon. All this charade-speak was really annoying.

"Huh, what is it, Ninetales?" Ash asked looking curiously at the pair.

"Ash, I think Ninetales want you to capture it even though you lost the battle!" Max said excitedly.

Ash looked extremely excited at that and said, "Do you really want to be a part of the Team, Ninetales?" with a wide grin on his face.

Naruto, knowing they wouldn't understand otherwise, nodded his head in a silent 'yes'.

"Alright!" Ash brought out a pokéball and pressed it against Naruto's muzzel, and immediately, once the feeling overcame him, he knew he did not want to spend any time in that dratted thing. Kurama was right, to some it would feel comfortable, but to Naruto, who needed to move, it was unbearable. Just as soon as he felt the bond form, Naruto forced himself out of the Pokéball, shaking his body slightly to rid the feeling of being so tightly sealed.

"You don't want to stay in the pokéball, Ninetales?" Ash asked looking at the six-foot fox pokémon.

Shaking his head, Naruto sat on his hind-legs and nodded once more. "That, was NOT a good experience." He said even though he knew that they wouldn't understand.

"That's alright, Pikachu doesn't like to be in there either." Ash said.

"Yeah, I don't. It's too...constricting, right?"

"Definitely."

"Well, welcome to the Team! You're going to have a blast with us! Promise!"Pikachu said excitedly, one paw held up as he promised. Naruto couldn't help but think that the pose was funny, but refrained from laughing and simply gave the Pokémon equivalent of a smile.

"Good to be here. I'm sure it'll be an adventure." Naruto said with genuine excitement.

"Alright! Let's get going! We need to get to Rustboro City as fast as possible for our very first real Gym Battle!" Ash said excitedly, his entire body posed in excitement.

"It was great meeting you, Nikoli." Brock said to the Naturalist Pokémon trainer.

"You as well! I'm off to Petalburg City now that I have a Zigzagoon to fight with. Good luck in Rustboro you guys, maybe we'll see each other again!" Nikoli said with a smile.

"Yeah, then we can have a Pokémon battle!" Ash said

"Looking forward to it! Farewell my fellow Knickerbockers! Ash, Brock!" the trainer said as he walked back down the path toward Petalburg City.

"Bye!" The traveling group all said. Once they began their way to Rustboro City, Naruto had to wonder himself just what would happen whilst he lived the life of a Pokémon. Unable to use chakra to take his human form, and unable to communicate proficiently with his trainer and his friends, he wasn't sure what life would be like. What he did know was that this kid, Ash, had a good heart and even if they couldn't help him get back to the Elemental Nations, it would be an interesting time here.

Of course, Naruto didn't know that he had just been partnered with this dimension's "Chosen One" and get dragged along his adventures.

A/N: And so begins Naruto's life as a Pokémon! Yay~ I'm a sucker for these sorts of fanfictions, so I decided to write up one myself after the inspiration my sister gave me. Hope you enjoyed it, and if not, well, that's fine and sorry for wasting however long it took you to read this chapter. Regardless, I'm continuing this story, but I'll also have to work on my other stories, which I have been sadly neglecting... anyway, bye for now!