"Akuma," Kurishimi said through gritted teeth, "if this doesn't work I owe you a beating."
"Not in front of the gate guard, dearie," Akuma told her as they drew closer to the man at the desk halfway between the doors.
The man looked up and saw the approaching duo with Chad being pulled along by Kurishimi. He looked back at his computer then stood to acknowledge the three. "Welcome to Saffron City. What is your business here?"
Akuma spoke for the group. "We're a Pokémon trainer family passing through. This is my wife and son." Kurishimi twitched behind him as he said 'wife'.
"You all have Pokémon then?"
"Yes. I and my wife have six and my son is carrying five."
"I'll need to run your Pokémon IDs to make sure they are registered to you all and check your trainer licenses as well."
Akuma put his pokéballs on the counter and Kurishimi undid her belt, leaving her Pokémon attached, and placed it on the counter as well. Akuma pulled out a card from a vest pocket and gave it to the guard who scanned it and the pokéballs. After checking each one the guard returned Akuma's belongings to him. Kurishimi placed her pokédex on the counter and the guard's eyes widened. He looked back and forth between Kurishimi and the pokédex before picking it up with a trembling hand and opened it carefully, then scanned her pokéballs while watching the screen of her dex. He then returned them to her. "I'm impressed," he said; his hand still shaking as he returned the pokédex to her.
"Thanks, I got lucky," she replied with a wide grin on her face. "Chad? It's your turn now."
Chad walked up to the desk and placed a total of six pokéballs on the counter. Akuma's eyes narrowed as he knew he'd checked when they left Cerulean as to how many Pokémon Chad had on him. Chad must've acquired a new one before they'd arrived. "I thought you had five Pokémon?" he asked.
"I did, but I caught one today when you two weren't looking," Chad said with a wink.
"What did you get… honey?" Kurishimi asked with a slight pause as she remembered the act they'd had to put on to get through the gates without much trouble.
"I honestly have no idea!" Chad said with an embarrassed laugh. I saw it in the stream and decided to catch it." Akuma noticed how well the boy phrased his responses so they would understand him and not make things more complicated with the gate guard. "I was going to ask you earlier, but forgot about it."
"That's fine. Go ahead and scan them all," Akuma told the guard.
"I'll need your trainer ID number first sonny," the guard told Chad.
"Oh, about that," Kurishimi jumped in. "He just helps us catch Pokémon. He isn't a certified Pokémon trainer yet. We let him catch Pokémon for us and we raise them. Then when he takes the Pokémon trainer's test and gets his license we can identify which Pokémon he caught himself and we'll let him use those too. Part of the reason for our visit today is to let him take the test actually."
"That's an unusual plan. Do you think it'll work?"
"He'll have to earn them back," Akuma explained. "Of course we won't just give him a full crew and expect him to do well. We're going to make sure the Pokémon are in good hands which is part of the reason he carries these with him most of the time."
"Well it sounds like you know what you're doing. Did you catch all of these Pokémon yourself, son?"
"All of them but my Ponyta. My big brother gave it to me so I could protect myself from other Pokémon before my Mom and Dad let me start practicing."
"Strange family," the guard said quietly as he checked the pokéball IDs. When he was satisfied he returned them to Chad and dismissed the group.
"That went almost too well," Kurishimi whispered.
"Speak for yourself, my mouth hurts from smiling so much," Akuma groaned while he rubbed his cheek. "Assuming the guard scanned all our pokéballs correctly, we just need to make it through the detector before the doors and we're all set."
The pokéball detector was a simple gate at either end of the building that checked pokéballs going in or out, depending on which doors they were set up in front of, to identify pokéballs containing Pokémon not scanned by gate guards. To avoid confusion, only one person could walk through at a time and two guards stood by each side in case something took a turn for the worse. Chad walked through first and the alarm stayed silent. Kurishimi went through and the same happened. She turned to look at Akuma and saw him looking back at a line of people.
"You coming, hon?"
Akuma looked back like he'd forgotten. "Oh, sorry. I thought I saw someone familiar."
Kurishimi opened her mouth to speak, but as Akuma passed through the sensor the alarm sounded. Akuma stepped back startled and looked at the nearby sensors to see if anyone else had set it off. The other people passing through had stopped to look over at him. Since no one was going through he tried again and the alarm sounded once more. A guard stepped toward him, but Akuma ignored the authorative figure and started rifling through his pockets for other sensitive materials that might set off the alarm. After checking his outer pockets he reached inside his vest and stopped.
"Oh, that thing. Go on ahead without me you two. I'll catch up in a few minutes. Find a nearby map and let me know where the nearest Pokémon Center is so we can crash for the night." He ignored the guard again who intended to escort him back to the gate guard they'd talked to earlier and walked on ahead with the other man behind him.
"Why'd the sensor go off?" Chad wondered out loud. He put up all six of his pokéballs didn't he?"
"I think I know what happened," Kurishimi said quietly. "I'll let you know later perhaps. Let's go do what… Daddy… asked us to do."
Chad laughed to himself at her pained words and let her lead him out into the city leaving Akuma behind.
"I heard the alarm, what went wrong?" the guard asked as Akuma approached the desk again.
"Forgot one of them," Akuma replied, not bothering to appear friendly or courteous this time. He pulled out his seventh pokéball from his vest interior and placed it on the counter with a loud and heavy thud despite how gently he'd set it down. The guard raised an eyebrow at him as he saw the blood red colored pokéball the other had placed in front of him.
"What is that?"
"Something you shouldn't open."
"Are you carrying seven Pokémon with you?"
"This one is too dangerous to leave in the computer storage. It's also too dangerous to use, which is why I don't consider it a Pokémon I have on my team."
"The Pokémon trainer rules clearly state that a trainer shouldn't have more than six Pokémon in their lineup at any given time unless the Pokémon storage and transfer system is down or if the person has special privileges and you have no pokédex."
"I am aware of the situation, but my employer has spoken with the league authorities and I have been allowed to keep this one on my person at all times regardless of what the rules in Kanto, Johto, or any other region might have. This is a rare exception."
"Do you have any proof? Who is your employer?"
Akuma reached into his vest again. As he did the guard who had followed him grabbed his shoulder. Akuma slapped his hand away in annoyance and pulled out a card from somewhere to give to the gate guard. The man took it and read it over, then froze as his eyes passed over the information. He looked up at Akuma who only stared back with his trademark glare. He set the card down and rapidly typed on his computer keyboard as he searched the files for something specific. Soon he stopped and looked at what he'd found briefly before handing the card back to Akuma. Unlike Kurishimi's pokédex which brought fear in the form of respect, the new card had produced a look of absolute terror on the guard's face. Akuma picked up the pokéball again and held it out for the guard to authorize, which he hastily did.
"I thought you were-," the guard began.
"I know what you thought. It's what everybody thinks. Or at least what everybody's been told."
"When did you come back?"
"We never left. And we'd prefer it very much to stay that way if you get my meaning."
"Y-Yes sir, you can count on me. And those other two aren't really your family I assume?"
"They're baggage; the useful kind, but baggage all the same. And they are unaware as well."
There was a tense silence as neither of them said a word. "Enjoy your stay in Saffron City," the guard finally managed to get out.
"As best I can," Akuma said as he stuffed the ball back into his vest and walked away quickly.
The gate guard slumped down into his chair with a heavy sigh. "First I see a pokédex holder and now one of them. Two greats in a row, I never would've seen that coming."
"What was that all about?" the door guard asked, having never seen what Akuma had handed to the gate guard.
The gate guard turned his monitor toward the other to show him what was on screen. The door guard snapped his head up to look at Akuma, who by now had disappeared. "That young man?"
"Yeah, I think we've seen just about everything there is to see at this job."
After Chad had gotten over the initial shock at the size of Saffron City that came with stepping out onto its streets he ran to the nearest shop to explore. Kurishimi followed him with the intention to ask for directions to the nearest Pokémon center, but ended up getting caught up in the merchandise as well. They left the store with less cash than when they had entered, but Kurishimi remembered to ask directions before they left. When they came out they saw Akuma emerge from Saffron's gate and immediately joined him.
"I can't leave you two alone for ten minutes, can I?" Akuma said as he saw the bags the two were carrying. "Please tell me you picked up food of some sort."
"We did," Kurishimi responded. "And we also got both directions to the nearest Pokémon Center and a map of the city. There's one just a couple blocks down the road on this street."
"We'll go there. I still haven't decided where we're going to go after we leave so we might stay a couple days. There's a lot we can do here in the meantime. Let's move." Akuma walked down the road to the east with the other two following behind him as was the norm.
When they reached the Center they found that unlike Cerulean which was nearly bare in Pokémon trainers, this one had quite a few people inside. Some were in line to heal their Pokémon, some were resting and talking on the waiting benches, some were in conversation on the videophones, and others could be seen going to and from the various rooms. Akuma had Chad get in line since his Pokémon had been more badly wounded, then had Kurishimi follow him over to the videophones. Akuma took a corner seat and Kurishimi sat in the spot next to him. When there were a lot of people around, Akuma had Kurishimi sit next to him to decrease the chances of people hearing his conversations. Kurishimi called her parents each time to speak with them and to talk with Pokémon she sent them that she didn't carry with her. She didn't know who Akuma spoke with, but she respected his privacy enough to not listen in on his conversations. All she knew for sure was that his team lineup changed every time he made a call. After Akuma had finished his call he tapped her once on each shoulder as he left to let her know he was done. When Kurishimi had finished her own call she got in line to get her Pokémon healed as well. Since Chad had finished checking in his Pokémon Akuma led him into a separate room for a talk.
"It would seem that there may be some conflicting points in my training you," he started after they had sat down. "Every time you catch a new Pokémon you need to adjust your training and battle strategies to fight more efficiently. Since I want the playing field to be fair I can't help you in your tactics and training anymore."
"Am I on my own until the deadline then?" Chad asked with a worried look.
"No, I've got other plans. Akashi will help you with Pokémon training and I'll help you learn how to battle effectively. I'll ask her to assist you as well and we'll get something worked out. Worst case scenario, I push the deadline ahead by a week."
"How will I train if we're going to be in the city for a while?"
"This is the largest city in Kanto. There's obviously going to be some areas to practice in. Tomorrow I'll look around and see if I can find you any. I think we're all going to be busy for a while in a city of this size. Just stay alert and don't get taken advantage of."
"Bad city?"
"All cities can be if you look hard enough. Even Viridian and Pallet have their dark secrets."
"Never heard of them."
"They're small compared to Cerulean. I wouldn't expect you to. Big cities are the most problematic though. Do you have any Pokémon with you at the moment?"
"Just Elekid, why?"
"It's best to keep a couple Pokémon on hand as a good fall back plan in case anything unexpected should happen, especially in places like this. Pokémon Centers are great targets for thieves since a large variety of wounded Pokémon are gathered in one area at once. If I wanted to steal Pokémon, I'd start by targeting a Pokémon Center."
"I guess you're right about that, but all my other Pokémon were wounded in the battle against the man in black."
"The man from Team Rocket. A perfect example of the thieves I just told you about. In a town this large I expect they have a strong presence here too." As Akuma finished speaking the lights in the room went off. "I really, really hope that's a normal blackout," he said to the darkness.
The golden light of sunset was shining through the glass doors at the front of the center so the two walked in that direction. Most trainers in that room followed them and they found that the power had also been cut in the lobby. Kurishimi ran over to the group when she saw them. Akuma noticed that only three pokéballs remained on her belt clips.
"Is the power out in the other rooms too?" she asked.
"Black as the middle of the night," Akuma replied. "I'm going to see if it's just this building. Wait here." He went to the doors, but they didn't open automatically. He pushed then pulled before giving up and looked down the street from indoors anyway. "The power is still on elsewhere," he reported. "Akashi, check on the pokéballs with the nurses and make sure none are missing. Boy, come with me. We'll check on the wounded Pokémon not in their pokéballs."
"Feel free to call me by name at anytime, Akuma," Chad said as they rushed into the back rooms.
Fortunately most to all of the interior doors weren't power based so Akuma and Chad had full access to the back rooms of the hospital. Chad checked some of them, but Akuma continued his pace down the hall until Chad stopped searching and instead just started trying to keep up with him.
"Why aren't you checking the rooms for Pokémon like you said?" Chad called ahead to his mentor.
"Pokémon who cannot receive treatment through their pokéballs are kept in intensive care and recovery. We only need to check on two rooms."
"Why did you send Kurishimi to the pokéball storage then? Won't there be more Pokémon to steal if this is a raid?"
"Normal thieves will try to steal pokéballs and hope that what they get away with will have valuable Pokémon within. Regular thieves Akashi can handle on her own. If this is a step up form the norm and more organized criminals are involved they'll go straight for the intensive care Pokémon hoping to find Pokémon worth stealing. Those kinds want Pokémon that are either rare or worth a lot of money and if they get away with any that aren't it would be a waste of effort. Akashi's Pokémon were wounded too badly today to fight again so soon. Team Rocket members are usually very strong and their Pokémon are equally dangerous as you noticed. They set the standards for other criminals to compare themselves too. I wouldn't trust anyone to battle them and win very easily."
"Then why did you want me to come with you?" Chad wailed, as the distance between them started closing up.
"If there's more than one enemy to deal with I may need help securing the injured Pokémon in the room at the time."
Akuma stopped in front of a door labeled for recovery and put his ear up to it to listen. He made a face after a few seconds and muttered, "I wish I had Gastly with me right now."
"A ghost Pokémon?" Chad asked.
Akuma hushed him with a finger and stepped back from the doors. He unclipped two pokéballs from his chest strap and hid one behind his back. "I hear movement inside," he whispered. "Keep them from seeing your pokéball until I call for your help. Protect the wounded Pokémon inside while I take care of them."
Chad nodded then put a hand to his belt to check Elekid's pokéball as Akuma peeked in the room. He held up two fingers then pushed it open and stepped inside casually. Chad saw two men dressed in the same black clothing he'd seen earlier that day loading a Pokémon into a truck that had backed through the wall leaving no wall left to speak of.
"I told you someone would come if the power was cut!" one of the men told the other.