Can Pokemon Into Naruto? 22 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Anthony Maxwell

Can Pokemon into Naruto?

Chapter 22

-VB-

Phantumps. 

They looked like stereotypical ghosts, if with a simplistic plant theme. 

They were also the first pokemon that I had to take care of that had a unique physiology. Or should I say metaphysiology? 

“Alright, give me a final twirl.”

The girl Phantump, obviously liking the attention I was giving it, did as I asked and spun around. 

I hummed as I looked for any irregularities, though my only reference so far were other Phantumps I helped bring to life. I noted that there was nothing wrong with this one; it had just enough leaves to not be considered empty, the wooden mask/helmet/head wasn’t too dry or too wet, the ghostly body possessed enough definition to be easily distinguishable from the environment, and the body didn’t disperse easily when I poked at her. 

“Done!” I said and the Phantump raised its arms along with me. “You’re clean, healthy, and cute.”

It “giggled.” 

By giggling, it sounded like someone was being tickle-tortured. 

“Alright, next!” I said and gave the Phantump in front of me a head pat. It giggled again before letting the next Phantump to step up.

“How are you not flinching at the sounds?”

I glanced over to the chief, Xinujang, and shrugged. “It’s what they sound like. I just … go along with it.”

“... But how? You don’t even shiver.”

He looked haggard. 

News had gotten out that, yes, the mad healer had gone and done something almost sacrilegious and brought ghosts to life. Whatever good will I may have earned almost got tarnished for that, but there were enough villagers willing to overlook it all.

Xinujang offered to follow me around on behalf of the other villagers who weren’t so trusting of me. 

The man was not having a good time, though. 

He was with me, and we were surrounded by nearly half of the pokemons I have created so far: all of my personal companion mons and all of the Phantumps. 

The beedrills haven’t visited since the last of them got their rewards of fresh meat, sake, candies, and headpats. 

Which also meant that Xinujang, who was following me around, was also surrounded by ghost pokemons, and the chief of the superstitious villagers was also superstitious enough that he was shivering constantly in fear.

And the Phantumps could sense that.

But they were nice mons. They didn’t try to scare him. Much.

They were, however, baby pokemons. They were very curious, so a few of them were floating around the chief, tugging and pulling at his hair, clothes, and fingers. 

“They’re just curious. And loud. And maybe souls of dead children. I don’t know,” I shrugged as I went onto examine the next Phantump.

“... What?” he asked stiltedly. “Souls of what?”

“They don’t make children-like giggles and laughs because they want to mess with people. They do that because they, uh, might actually be that. Phantumps are like that. I think.”

Pokemon lore could be contradictory at times. Vague. Mysterious. Not a lot of it was set in stone, either. One regional pokedex entry version might say “maybe” and another version might say “definitely,” but if there was a maybe and a definitely next to each other pointing to the same fact, then things get factually inconsistent, doesn’t it? 

That was part of the reason why I was doing these examinations. I wanted to establish a baseline (even if I couldn’t exactly record their weight, temperature, or other vital signs because ghost pokemons lacked them). Appearance was the best I could go off on.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him.

“That is something to worry about, Karu!” he whined.

“They don’t want your soul or revenge. Or anything stupid like that. In fact, they are very helpful mons, you know? When they offer you the leaves from their heads, keep it. It’s medicine.”

“But you already make medicine without needing g-ghosts!” 

“They eventually get so big that they appear like trees, too. They’ll be wonderfully silent guardians. Imagine the forest coming to life if bandits try to settle around here. Or even ninjas.”

That got him to shut up.

“Alright. Hands. Push,” I said to the Phantump in front of me, and the boy (I think) squealed as he played push with me. 

Hmm. I couldn’t tell if he was stronger or weaker than any other Phantumps. I guessed that they all had similar baseline stats or something? Must be. 

“You mean like how the beedrills changed?”

“Yup,” I hummed. “And give me a twirl!”

The Phantump pouted and shook his head. 

“Why not?”

It squealed, which sounded like a dying pig. 

“Eh? What does that have to do with being girly? Looking good is something everyone wants. You don’t want to look cool on one side only to look stupid on the other side, right?”

The Phantump grumbled before it slowly gave me exactly one spin.

I chuckled. “Well, you look healthy,” I said as I gave it a head pat. “Alright, ne-.”

“Chic!” 

I paused and looked to the side where the rest of my companion mons were. 

“Sup, Cleo?” I asked, and Cleo, to my surprise, looked angrily at me and thumped her feet. I paused and then looked up. 

Oh. The sun was setting. 

“Sorry, sorry,” I chuckled as I got up. “It’s time for lunch, isn’t it?” I turned to the Phantumps, and wondered if I should continue after eating. 

Well… I already had enough data. 

“Alright, my Phanboys and girls. You can go back to the forest if you want! I’ll make sure to come around or call for you if I need you lot. And don’t be shy about offering the villagers your leaves, yes? Oh, chief, can you tell the villagers what the leaves are for and only if they come directly from the Phantumps?”

“I will, but I don’t think most of the villagers will like these … Phantumps wandering around the village.”

I snorted. “Yeah, well, what are they going to do about it? It’s not like exorcism works on these guys.”

“... It doesn’t?”

I paused.

It … shouldn’t, right? Ghost pokemons were living creatures, not truly 100% ghosts. 

Right? 

Hmm.

‘… Let’s just hope no one tries it.’

-VB-

A merchant would run away that night after a pair of Phantumps scared him half to death. 

Rumors, once again, would swirl about this village.

By the time summer was starting to come to an end, the jito knew about the village and its ghosts. The Hidden Village in Leaf also knew about the village, though they suspected that it was some foul play from missing-nin or rival ninja villages. 

And so, they dispatched a genin ninja team to investigate the matter.