Let's get right too it, CitW 21 review starts now!
Mmm, cinnamon rolls.
Now, I liked the part with Sakura and Inner Sakura. We obviously see that she has the right idea, but her objections are based off of old facts and incorrect beliefs. Inner Sakura is right, but Sakura isn't quite ready to change her world outlook just yet. Not that I can blame her, she's still a kid, and the idea that she would have been lied to by the adults about something like this is probably uncomfortable. And if we were looking at Naruto from the start of his journey, Naruto probably would have been crowing about the Champion being his dad, but Sakura doesn't seem to have realized just how much Naruto has matured. He's spent more than a year traveling on his own at this point and been in a number of dangerous situations that have forced him to grow up. And honestly, I can't really blame her for not realizing how much Naruto has grown, because during their time together since the Safari Zone, Naruto has been running around trying and failing to keep Kitsune under control. To the outside observer, Naruto still looks like the foolish kid who couldn't control his Pokemon back in Shinobi Town, and it isn't hard to translate that immaturity to other aspects of his personality.
Yes, there is something wrong with the fact that Sasuke can eat tomatoes like apples but won't touch cinnamon rolls. That's just weird.
Looking at the conversation between Aquarius and Eve, it's obvious that Aquarius is a showman at heart. And while Aquarius doesn't have the same prejudices and mindsets of human men on Uzu, Aquarius does seem to have pretty firm ideas on how Pokemon should act. And from his "Contests aren't stupid!" comment, I imagine this isn't the first time he's had some other Pokemon criticize him partaking in Contests. Living with five teams of hardcore, manly battling Pokemon (six, actually, since Ken-Ichi's Pokemon are boarded there), he's probably been made fun of for taking part in such a "girly" practice instead of battling.
Once again, we're shown that Kitsune is still very much a child, who wants nothing more than to see her mommy. Which is a feeling people can get behind, I suppose, but her general attitude is still off putting enough that I would be just as inclined to send her to Sarutobi's lab as keep her on the team. Now, it's clear that Naruto cares about his Pokemon, since he comes out and is immediately concerned about Kitsune crying, but honestly, he's got options now that he didn't have when he was having this same problem with Demon. Before, he had to get Demon to listen to him because he didn't have anyone to take his place. But now, he's got plenty of Pokemon to train instead. If Kyuumaru's lecture doesn't have her shaped up by the end of this story, I can't think of much reason to keep Kitsune around. She's hurting his team effectiveness, keeping her out with him means that she'll keep trying to run away and now she clearly knows how to pull it off right, and if he wants the prestige/honor/uniqueness of training a completely foreign Pokemon, he's got the choice between a Joltik, Tympole, or Litwick. Yes, Kitsune is a pure Dark type, something he doesn't have since Shadow is gone, and his other Gen V Pokemon are redundant types compared to the rest of his team (Bolt, Typhoon, and Demon), but I'd rather have a little redundancy and have a Pokemon that will listen than one that doesn't. And it's not like the Uzumaki Clan has any issue with redundancy, being almost exclusively Water Trainers. Maybe it's just me, though, and others like Kitsune or I'm missing something obvious.
I'm wondering what Eve will look like when she evolves as well. Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, and Espeon have the most striking difference, and Leafeon doesn't have much difference at all, but I'm thinking Leafeon would fit Eve pretty well. It would help Naruto on the Grass front, since his only other Grass type is Shitake, who is difficult to control at the best of times, and I think it would be the easiest evolution. If we go by Shadow, happiness evolution takes months to do, and by all accounts Evolution Stones are expensive, and the Ice Rock is way up north in yet another country. The Moss Rock is easily accessible and I think it would fit Eve fairly well. But that's for the future.
I'm inclined to agree with Arashi about Bolt. They're cutesy and fragile, and even high level Pikachu (I'm looking at you, Red) go down easy to Earthquake.
Ginsu is probably another Pokemon Kyuumaru's never seen before, despite saying he's seen all the Pokemon on the continent. During his travels, fossil reanimation tech wouldn't have been available, Demon Country would have still been sealed, and Aerodactyl isn't one of the fossil Pokemon found on Uzu. He's getting all sorts of surprises here lately.
I do feel a little sorry for Akane. The Blue Scarf gets her hopes up that she'll have someone to talk about Contests with, and then Naruto tells her that he doesn't, which clearly disappoints her. She probably doesn't have many people to talk with her interests about, given that her cousins and uncle are all Trainers, and Arashi is clearly not interested in them. The rest of the family is probably of a similar mindset.
Kenjiro's reaction to Naruto's team is pretty much what I expected. Eve, Vee, and Kitsune can be excused because they are still pretty new, and Bolt isn't all that impressive because Kenjiro has no doubt taken down hundreds of Electric types over his tenure as Uzu Gym Leader. And again, they're all of the cute/tame Pokemon variety. None of them look very intimidating, and none of them are fully evolved, but Naruto is still young, so Kenjiro can give him the benefit of the doubt, especially with his last two Pokemon. Ginsu and Demon, however, are both fully evolved, physically intimidating, and known to be powerful. Kenjiro knows how strong fossil Pokemon can be, and Kyuumaru proves the strength of Ninetails. However, it's clear why Kenjiro wants to see Typhoon. Evolving a Magikarp and training a Gyarados is a mark of pride for Uzumaki men, and seeing how strong Typhoon is would go a long way towards proving Naruto in Kenjiro's eyes. It would at least make him a lot more sure about giving Naruto an Omanyte.
Vee having Anticipation as an ability is interesting, but it makes sense, given his encounter with the Munna in the Safari Zone while he was still an egg. Of course, it makes me wonder if Ino could become a Dream World Ability inducer/breeder, since she has three Munna (though I recall her planning to give one to each of her parents, but I could be wrong). Depending on the ability, it could create some interesting effects for her Contest routines. Failing that, I imagine there's plenty of people who would pay good money to have a Pokemon with an unusual ability, like a Cyndaquil with Flash Fire.
I did like that Eve was the first one to jump in to protect Vee from the Machop. It was a nice touch, though I am a little curious as to how both Eve and Uzu-chan reacted faster than Senkou. He's higher level than any of them, and Jolteon has the 7th highest speed of any Pokemon, and the number 1, 3, and 4 spots are all occupied by Deoxys forms.
All in all, a good chapter. Keep up the good work, and I don't suppose you've given any more thought to that rumored "Ten Adventures Naruto Missed" fic? Gamebrain and I got in a discussion last night, and we want to see some Gaara action.
MrRigger