Hey guys, I know it's been a long time since the last update. I know this is two weeks later than I said it would be. To be brief, work has kept me busy and too tired to really do much about it (or even have enough time to), but I'm going to try to be better about updating in the future. So yeah. Thank you readers for being so loyal and dedicated to reading Hoenn Chronicles, even after that hiatus! On with Chapter 21: Looking Ahead

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Jack's POV

I think you all could tell that I wasn't looking forward to this. If I beat the bloody mutt, then that psychotic psychic would be allowed to have his way with me. And - let's face it - I didn't exactly want to be covered in burns if I lost to Houndour, either. It was almost better when Alexa was still under mind control...

Hey, that wasn't such a bad idea.

"Go, Jack! Use pound!"

Oh, right, I was supposed to battle. Sigh. And, unfortunately enough, Houndour tackled me before I could even start to move. Did I mention how much that hurt when the pokémon's head wears a skull on the outside? Not the sort of thing you want ramming head-first into your gut.

And, wouldn't you know it, the mutt decided to try torching me as well. I'm just lucky that I wasn't drunk this time so that I'd actually be fast enough to dodge it. It was a little closer than I would have liked though, considering that I felt the heat of Houndour's flamethrower against my back even if the flames didn't touch me. Trust me when I say the heat alone was enough to be painful. I had to admit one thing though; the mutt had been trained well under the team rocket bitch.

Time to try the technique I didn't get to use on him last time.

I took in a deep breath then, seeing Houndour trying to run around me. Hah, I wasn't drunk this time. The little bastard wouldn't get me that easily! I waited for him to get in front of me before finally firing the bullet seed, but there was something that was more than a bloody pain in the ass about Houndour; the attack went right through him before more and more appeared.

The little bastard had used double team on me. And, much to my dismay, I didn't have any way of getting rid of it. It meant that... I was saved!

I was saved from a fate worse than death; Salvation awaited if Houndour made me faint! That way, I wouldn't have to get beaten up to within an inch of my life by that bloody Girlia! ... Did I say Girlia? I meant Kirlia. Really. I did. What, you don't believe me? Fine, you're right, I meant Girlia. The pokémon is in a skirt, for Mew's sake!

What, I'm getting off track? It's not my fault Houndour hasn't-

WHAM. Oops, I guess I spoke too soon. I saw that the circle of mutts was still around me though, meaning that he had gone back to his bloody double team attack. I got hit again though, something that confused the crap out of me when I saw nothing behind me. There was no way he could have gotten a chance to go back to his circle...

Not to mention his bloody attack was really beginning to hurt me. These attacks didn't do as much damage as the flames but I was really starting to feel it, you know?

And yet, somehow, I completely forgot about the attack that could have ended this a long time ago. My cousin taught it to me before Trunk caught me, he's better at it than me but if I could do it just right...

At this point I was numbing out Alexa's yelling, mainly because she was absolutely no help at all. The damned mutt was still hitting me, giving me one hell of a head ache. Finally, he stopped attacking me (and stayed in one spot, he finally stopped using that illusion attack as well) to stare at me, frowning a little before he spoke, "Please fight back. I would feel terrible if I won when you haven't even made the effort to fight."

Why that insulting son of an Arcanine! "What do you think I've been doing this entire time, you damned mutt?" Finally, I had the chance to take a blade of grass from the field around us. This guy just made the mistake of pissing me off, ladies and gentlemen. It's a rare sight, I know. It's probably not going to happen again but you never know.

Right, right. Anyway, I took the blade of grass to my lips and began to blow. And, thankfully enough, it worked; rather than a shrill sound like a human would make when doing the same thing, a sweet melody left and began to fill the air. And, within a few seconds, Houndour had fallen asleep. Seemed like Greg and Girlia did too... Did I go and call him Girlia again? Oh, suck it up. I'm allowed to call him that in my own damned head aren't I?

"Go, pokéball!" Oh right, we were still battling. Alexa seemed really sleepy when I looked back to see her throwing the red and white ball at Houndour. Had it really been that effective? Hah. I'd have to take up Jirachi's offer to contact my cousin later just so that I could brag. No one here would appreciate the bragging anyway...

The ball shook once and kept making noises. Twice. Three times. Ding. It was done. Alexa had officially caught the mutt. I finally put down the blade of grass only to hear the human collapsing behind me. Oops, it looked like my Grasswhistle had been a little bit too powerful. Well, when in Kanto...

With that, I found the most comfortable spot I could under the tree closest to Greg and Girlia, sitting against the trunk before drifting off myself. It had been a hard battle, so I needed rest. That and if I was asleep there was almost no chance of Alexa throwing me into Girlia's wrath...

Ha ha ha, very funny, I don't care if I deserve it. I'm still going to avoid it like the plague.

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Houndour's POV

When I woke up, I saw a barren wasteland around me; the place where Sister and I grew up. It seemed like, when I had fallen asleep, I had been captured. It looked like, this time, I had lost to the grass type pokémon, Jack. Something in me began to burn... Something, unfortunately, that was all too familiar. It was shame.

I was ashamed that I lost to him; I knew I had a type advantage. I was winning that battle. And yet, somehow - no, not somehow. He used a technique called Grasswhistle, a technique unique to grass type pokémon. Any other who tried would only get a shrill noise. What really surprised me was that he didn't use it sooner, even though he could have... Was he toying with me?

No. He would have made the battle last longer and he wouldn't have gotten caught in my Double Team and Faint Attacks. But, at the same time... Even past all of my shame, I was glad that I lost.

I didn't know why, but things just felt... Brighter. I was no longer working for that horrible organization Team Rocket. Former master... She wasn't my master anymore. Thanks to the efforts of my newly found comrades, the human girl was finally free. And, I was now able - no, required, to serve under her in order to atone for all I had done. That last one didn't sound like freedom to me, but the feeling that I wasn't oppressed... It was almost comforting.

Yes, comforting. The word was something I hadn't used ever since Sister and I were captured by our former master. It was before Sister became dark. Before we began doing horrible things. Before...

I was ejected from my pokéball then. A startled yelp left me when I hit the tiled floor of the Pokémon Center, shaking off the impact before I blinked and looked around. It was night-time now; the sky outside of the windows was really dark. Jack was still sleeping (right beside the unconscious Kirlia, surprisingly. Didn't those two dislike each other?), but the humans seemed wide awake. Alexa smiled at me then, nodding as she crouched down to pet me, "Glad to see that at least one of you is awake. I didn't think Jack could even use Grasswhistle... Or Bullet Seed for that matter. When did he learn those?"

"Probably before you got him, Alexa. He pulled off Bullet Seed while we were trying to save you the first time too," I blinked when the white haired boy... Greg, spoke. Jack's trainer never knew that her pokémon could use those techniques? Was that... My fault?

"Houndour, why're you staring off into space? We're going to start training for a gym leader tomorrow!" I shook my head and looked back up at her, wondering just what she was talking about. A gym leader? I knew what a lot of humans were talking about in most terms (being part of an organization packed to the rim with sadists had to have some advantages), but I didn't recall ever hearing of a 'gym leader.' I would end up figuring it out soon enough, granted, but that event wouldn't happen until the next morning, "Try and get some more rest now, if you can. Greg and I are going to battle so that we can see how ready you are to take on the gym leader, okay?"

Even in my confusion I nodded and began to smile. Finally, I spotted Mudkip, looking out the window nearest to me (how I missed her before, I'll probably never know). I went over to her then, seeing that the humans had lost interest in talking to us. Mudkip just turned to me and smiled when I walked up to her and sat down, finally opening her mouth to say something, "I'm really glad that you're staying with us. I need at least one other intelligent pokémon to talk to."

"What do you mean by that?" I was confused when she said that, causing her to stare at me before she began to laugh. What was so funny? I had to ask, "Did I say something funny?"

"Well... Kirlia isn't exactly safe to talk to anymore, and Jack is... Jack. Other than you getting drunk one time, I really see you as someone I can just talk to casually without worrying about it being turned against me."

"Thank you, I guess," I was still confused but I couldn't help but smile anyway. She smiled even wider then, which of course made my head spin. Why? I didn't know. However, before I could think of anything more a loud yawn left me, my mouth being covered rather suddenly by Mudkip's paw. I almost bit down without thinking but stopped myself; I didn't want to hurt her! I didn't want to hurt any of them anymore, "Hm?"

"We should go to sleep now, Houndour. It's going to be a long day tomorrow if your trainer is going to try and take on a gym leader," I nodded and followed the water pokémon back to the room where Alexa and Greg were lodging for the night; it was funny to see that they were both already asleep, Jack and Kirlia no where in sight. I assumed that they had already returned to their pokéballs, and that meant I would have the opportunity to finally ask Mudkip something.

"Uhm... Exactly what is a Gym Leader anyway?"

Mudkip stared at me for a split second before she answered, "You don't know what a gym leader is? I suppose you really do have a lot to learn..."

I really didn't know why I couldn't understand Mudkip, but somehow I had the feeling that her opinion of me just dropped a little bit... That wasn't a good thing, was it?

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Yeah, I know. My Hiatus was longer than expected and the update wasn't that great. I can't apologize enough for it, but really I can't give you an excuse other than writer's block. I'm glad I was able to choke this out though, giving myself something to start from and such. But yeah, thank you readers for staying so loyal and I hope that I'll be able to bring the next update to you all soon!