A/N: First off, let me just say wow, you guys are awesome. I didn't expect as much feedback as you guys gave me, and I have to say, ego-booster right there. One of my favorite authors even followed me, and I'm incredibly flattered, humbled, and proud that you guys like this story so much. Like, I don't think you guys understand, but thanks so much. I'm also surprised that so many people thought the Houndour was Gokudera since to me hellhound = Reborn, which makes me unsure of my choice of Pokemon for him (oops, mild spoilers, belated warning don't read!). When I made Tsuna's team, I was focused on making it balanced and matching personalities for each of them. Which, I now realize, put Gokudera in an awkward spot, as fire has already been covered, and Gokudera's Storm Flames degenerate which practically screams 'fire-type', and now what am I supposed to do? So I really hope you guys aren't disappointed in which Pokemon I chose for him, but I believe my other choices are rather more accurate. I will also shameless admit that I chose most of my favorite Pokemon for each character.

Anyways, please enjoy!

XxX

Life had gotten much more interesting once Reborn integrated himself into the Sawada household.

(Tsuna made conscious decisions to avoid the Houndour at all costs, to hide away from maliciously amused eyes and smirking fangs, to slip out of the room whenever Reborn made a move towards him.)

Nana, somehow, adapted quickly to having a Pokemon in the house. She'd bought snacks and treats, fed Reborn all the (intentionally) burnt scraps, and set up a corner with a small, comfortable bed. Tsuna didn't really understand how Nana reached the conclusion that the devil spawn ("Stop reading my mind, I didn't really mean that! Stop staring at me!") was a permanent fixture now, but somehow, Reborn was officially a part of the family. Tsuna bade farewell to his terror-free days.

Despite his difficulties, though, life proceeded as normal. Tsuna woke up every morning (with Reborn standing menacingly by his bed, eyes narrowed and condescending), ate breakfast (with Reborn stealing bits of sausage and then daring Tsuna do something about it, which he didn't), worked at the Poke Mart for a bit (with Reborn surprising him whenever he turned around, knocking over the Repels he just put on the shelf, and have to restart the process), ran errands around town (with Reborn dogging his steps, no pun intended), and generally doing what he did every day before Reborn appeared.

His days passed quickly, with a hint of fire here and there, and surprisingly, Tsuna fell into the same state of content he had before the Houndour made its appearance in his life. Thus, he really should have expected the next series of events in his life. Really, he should have.

But never it be said that Tsuna never hoped for the best, and he obliviously carried on doing what he had done for the past fifteen years of his life.

XxX

"You what me to what?!"

Nana hummed peacefully, checking the recent shipment of supplies that had come in. "Well, Tsu-chan, I need you to go to Mauville City again! We've got their shipment of Antidotes, so can you deliver it over there?" She gestured to a large box sitting on the counter.

Tsuna stared at it, and his heart shed sorrowful tears. Externally, he mustered a shaky smile. "Sure!"

Just as he hefted the giant box in his arms, Nana made another thoughtful noise. "Oh, and bring Reborn with you! He looks like he wants to go out to explore a bit, so go have fun! Take your time and spend some bonding time with him."

Tsuna turned his wide eyes to the Houndour, who only bared his sharp little teeth in a terrifying grin and huffed out a plume of smoke, making him look like a devil come from the deep depths of hell. Oh yes, Reborn would make sure that they would be spending some bonding time.

There was a deep, foreboding feeling in Tsuna's chest. It was well-founded.

Tsuna strapped the delivery box onto his bike again and steadied it before turning around to see Reborn sitting in the grass, yawning and pinning Tsuna with a lazy yet threatening eye.

"L-let's get going, then," Tsuna suggested. Reborn snorted, as if asking how dare you order me around you insignificant worm before turning to trot beside the bike as they headed out of Verdanturf.

They'd gotten to Mauville safely (if you considered the Houndour sitting by and laughing as a Poochyena chased Tsuna around enthusiastically) before Tsuna carried the box of Antidotes into the Poke Mart.

"Oh, it's you again. You've got the shipment, then?" the same clerk from Tsuna's last visit asked, eyebrows raised as he eyed Tsuna's disheveled appearance and the smug Houndour nipping at his heels. Tsuna let out a soul-weary sigh and plopped the box down.

"Yeah, here you go," Tsuna answered, rubbing at his aching arms. That box was heavy.

"Are you done with your deliveries?" the clerk asked after a bit of rubbing and stretching on Tsuna's part. Tsuna hummed in assent. "Perfect! I need this shipment brought to Dewford Town. I was hoping I wouldn't need to ship it there, and then you showed up!"

Tsuna's straightened in alarm. "I'm not a delivery ma- ow!"

Reborn had bitten him in the leg. Hard.

The clerk furrowed his brows. "Oh, you don't deliver packages? I'd just assumed, since I've seen you twice now…"

Tsuna was quick to correct him. Or attempt to really. "No, I'm just- Reborn, that hurts, stop that!" he whined pathetically as the Houndour's little teeth dug even more into his skin. "Okay, yes, yes, I'll deliver your stuff!"

The tiny jaws clamped around his leg lessened, and Reborn growled in approval.

The clerk was just incredibly confused. "So will you deliver this package or not?"

Tsuna glanced down at Reborn, who threatened with his eyes, You say no, I'll run you all the way back to Verdanturf with flames licking at your heels and make your life living hell.

"I will!" Tsuna squeaked nervously, more concerned about the fact that Reborn would slit his throat in the middle of the night than the fact that he wasn't a deliveryman god damn it, and Reborn let go of his leg.

"Okay," the clerk drawled out uncertainly, looking like he was thinking twice about asking the weird kid with the weirder Houndour in front of him to deliver the package. He dug under the counter before drawing out a bag that Tsuna could fit in his backpack along with a small handful of coins and bills. "Here, the package, and here's the delivery money. It's enough, right? Because shipping is surprisingly expensive, and I'd rather avoid that and get you to do it."

Tsuna nodded frantically, stuffed the package into his backpack, much to the clerk's slightly scandalized look, and grabbed the money. "Kay, thanks bye!" Tsuna said, leaving before the clerk could give him any more things to deliver and before Reborn could threaten him into doing any more unnecessary things. And to get away from Reborn like he'd been trying to do for the past few weeks, but that was a quest doomed from the start.

When he reached his bike, he whirled around, pinned Reborn with a despairing look (the Pokemon looked incredibly smug) and asked hysterically, "Was that necessary? Why?"

Reborn merely laughed and started trotting towards Route 110. He cocked his head when Tsuna didn't follow and raised his black circle eyebrow thing expectantly (Tsuna wasn't quite sure what it was, but he figured that if Reborn really did have eyebrows, they'd add another aspect to Reborn's already sadistic personality).

Go have fun, Tsuna mocked his mom unhappily. Take your time and spend bonding time with him, she said. Yeah, we're gonna be spending a lot of time together now.

Reborn gave a cackling noise not unlike a Mightyena's terrifying laugh, and Tsuna was convinced that Reborn was born the wrong Pokemon. Wait, no, Reborn was exactly the right Pokemon.

Definitely a hound from hell.

XxX

"I'm going on the Cycling Road, Reborn!"

The Houndour might have been pushing him around until now, but Tsuna was not, not, biking through the lower path where anything could attack them. Especially since there could be Wingull flying around, and Tsuna might not have known a lot about Pokemon, but he knew for a fact, from Reborn's horrifying displays of his prowess with spitting Embers, that Houndour were fire Pokemon, and Wingull were water, and water beat fire. And as worried as he was about his own safety when the Houndour inevitably went down in a fight against a water-type and he was left useless with only his bike, backpack, and truthfully useless arms and legs as defense, he was even more worried about Reborn. Somewhere deep, deep inside, in the depths of his being somewhere, he was sure, Reborn cared about him (Tsuna refused to believe he was delusional), and Tsuna cared about Reborn, as terrifying as the Pokemon was, and he was not going to show up in Slateport City mauled to death.

So. Tsuna was not travelling the lower path. He was going via Cycling Road, and nothing Reborn had to say about that was going to change his mind.

But Reborn was displaying his sharp canines and huffing fire out his mouth and it was terrifying and- no, Tsuna was riding his bike through the Cycling Road and that was that, dammit.

Reborn sighed, which caused the embers in his mouth to blow out slightly ("Reborn, be careful, don't burn me please!") before relenting grudgingly. Baby steps, the Houndour thought sullenly. He couldn't push his human too fast. But later…

Tsuna fought a shiver that went down his spine and entered the entrance to the Cycling Road. As he paused at the counter, he blinked and realized that there was a problem.

Reborn didn't have a Pokeball.

Well, this was awkward.

"Reborn," Tsuna gulped pathetically at the Houndour, who merely gazed apathetically at the helpless and hapless human in front of him. "You're going to have to ride on my bike. They don't allow stray Pokemon on the Road."

The Houndour looked entirely unimpressed. Tsuna paused. His bike didn't have a basket Reborn could ride in, so the only option was…

"Can you…ride on my shoulder? Or back?" Tsuna asked haltingly. He held out his arms, hoping against all past evidence that Reborn wouldn't injure him somehow during this whole process. It turned out that past evidence trumped Tsuna's wishes, and by the time Reborn's back paws were balanced on the bicycle seat and front paws were digging painfully into Tsuna's shoulders, Tsuna had claw marks to prove that Reborn's bite was much, much worse than his bark. Not that Reborn usually barked. No, the noises that escaped from his maw were usually sounds of amusement at Tsuna's expense.

The woman standing at the counter eyed the Pokemon-human duo mistrustfully. Tsuna merely smiled back painfully and pedaled out the building.

XxX

It turned out that, even if Reborn didn't have a Pokeball, he was still mistaken for being Tsuna's Pokemon. And when a person was found to have a Pokemon, he or she was usually asked to a battle by other people with Pokemon.

Unfortunately, Tsuna was most definitely not a trainer. Didn't stop the battle challenges.

"Hey, can we have a battle?" a Triathlete asked, but Tsuna merely shook his head frantically.

"Sorry, he's not mine!" Tsuna replied and winced when Reborn's hot breath washed over his neck. He was surprised he hadn't smelt burning hair yet.

"Oh…well, okay then."

He went through conversations similar to this until the end of the Road was in sight. Unfortunately, there was another Triathlete, who grinned and stopped right in front of Tsuna, forcing the teen to stop as well.

"Hey, wanna battle?" the trainer asked, bouncing a Pokeball in her hand.

"N-" Tsuna stared before he felt the warm presence behind him disappear and a little black hound trotting to stand in front of his bike. "Reborn!"

"Perfect! Alright, prepare to face my Magnemite!" the trainer said excitedly and threw the Pokeball in front of her. A Magnemite appeared, and it screeched upon seeing the Houndour. It sparked before shooting lightning towards Reborn.

Tsuna's breath caught in his throat as the situation slipped out of his hands and into the lands of uncontrollable. Fortunately, Reborn knew to dodge and blew an Ember right into the Magnemite's face. The fire caught the Magnemite's side, and it cried in panic before sparking all over its body. It shot a Sonic Boom at Reborn. The Houndour managed to escape the blunt of the attack before fire coated his fangs, and he leapt at the enemy. More fire flashed, and Tsuna clenched his eyes shut, hoping to whatever deity was out there that Reborn wouldn't faint, and nearly had a heart attack when he heard the sound of metal on metal screeching through the air. The battle was over before Tsuna even knew what happened.

"Well, congratulations, kid," the Triathlete said, bemused that the trainer in front of her didn't seem to command his Pokemon at all. "Huh, I guess I underestimated you."

And with his wallet heavier and claws digging into his shoulders again, Tsuna decided that if Reborn was officially a devil sent to make his life hell.

Tsuna sped out of the Cycling Road with something akin to the taste of freedom on his tongue and made it to Slateport without further incident. Reborn was smug the whole way, the bastard.

XxX

It turned out that there was a boat leaving for Dewford that very evening and would reach the small town the next morning. Tsuna mulled over the aspect of perhaps just waiting for the next ship because he'd had enough stress for the day, thank you very much, but no, of course, Reborn merely turned a beady eye on the brunet and Tsuna decided that, yes, he'll go tonight and get this hellish nightmare over with, please.

As he trudged through sand to get to the ship that was commandeered by a man named Mr. Briney, he discovered many things.

One, he loved the beach. The warm sand beneath his toes after he took off his shoes, the bright blue sky above him with the sun shining merrily down on the waves of golden sand, the soft lull of the ocean crashing against the shore, and the soft cries of Wingull and Pelipper made him think he should shed his human skin, spread his wings, and fly. It was amazing. Tsuna could wax poetry to the beach all day.

Second, Reborn hated the beach. And large bodies of water in general. The Pokemon was more Krabby-like than usual, snarling and bristling whenever a spray of water reached his pitch dark coat.

Tsuna reveled in the irony that Reborn was the one who had made him accept this errand, and now, it was payback time.

Or not so much, he discovered when Reborn practically corralled him onto the boat and glared mulishly at the ocean when the ship set sail. If Reborn had to suffer the ocean, then apparently Tsuna had to suffer the Houndour's ire as well.

Tsuna settled down in his room and sighed through his nose when the Houndour settled on the foot of his bead, gave him a look that said if you dare kick me in your sleep you're going to regret it for the rest of your life, and promptly fell asleep, beady eyes still open (who does that, that was creepy as fuck) and comical bubble blowing from his nose.

Needless to say, Tsuna slept restlessly for the rest of the night, feet drawn up and arms pulling at his knees in an attempt to not disturb Reborn at all.

Thus, when they reached shore the next day, Reborn was very well rested, and Tsuna was not. Tsuna couldn't wait for this adventure to be over.

But his adventure was far from over, he would discover later, and in fact, had only just begun.

XxX

A/N: But it turned out you guys didn't meet Gokudera anyways in this chapter, which makes my whole note at the top of the chapter somewhat out of place, but oh well. It'll apply sometime in the future.

Sincerely yours,

haplessgrapefrut