This point is where I started getting lost in what makes up the world I'm writing about, mostly regarding the pokédex and some minor details on trainer permissions that are granted. I've got things sorted out in my head now, but couldn't clean this chapter up without having to do a significant rewrite.
That night the police spoke to the trainers in the Pokémon Center and especially Chad, Kurishimi, and the nurse. Chad told them about Akuma's assistance as well. The police waited for Akuma to return while they investigated the room where the majority of the action had taken place, but soon had to leave and took both now conscious Rockets away with them. When everything started to settle down Kurishimi looked around for Chad to ask him about what Akuma had mentioned. She found him sitting with a Rattata and Sandshrew in a treatment room which she presumed to be his.
"Are they okay?" she asked as she came closer.
Chad looked up at her. "They'll be fine. We were attacked by some other Rockets earlier. They got hurt pretty badly."
Kurishimi pulled a chair over. "So was I. Akuma had to help me out in the end, but I held my own until he got there."
"I didn't do too well. I lost almost everyone and only beat one Growlithe," Chad said looking back at his Pokémon. "Even then I had to catch a water Pokémon in the middle of the battle so I could fight back too."
"Hold on. You caught a wild Pokémon while you were in the middle of a battle? That's pretty impressive. Especially since you said you were outclassed by that much. What did you catch?"
"It was a spur of the moment decision. I might end up releasing it since it looked happy where it was. I've never seen it before."
"Do you have it with you? I'll take a look at it."
Chad pulled the pokéball from his belt and released the blue Pokémon between them. It shook its head and started bouncing up and down when it had fully emerged. Kurishimi pulled out her pokédex and scanned the Pokémon then read the data back to Chad.
"Wooper, the water fish Pokémon. This Pokémon lives in cold water. When it comes out to search for food at night it coats its body with a gooey toxic film. This Pokémon has elemental natures of both water and ground type Pokémon. Wooper grows quickly and is a good Pokémon for beginning trainers to catch." She closed her pokédex and put it back in her pocket. "Sounds like a good one Chad. I'd keep it."
"Do you think I should? It looked happy where it was before."
"Was it doing that too?" Kurishimi asked as Wooper ran laps around Rattata's bed while singing to itself.
"No. Actually it seemed pretty shy and nervous before."
"Probably happy to be away from the river for once I bet. Go ahead and keep it around. Akuma should have some ideas on how you can train it well. Speaking of which, he said he spoke to you about your training and told me to ask you about it while he was gone."
Chad told her what Akuma had said earlier. Kurishimi listened to the whole story and after Chad had finished she sat back in her chair and thought to herself. Chad kept silent while she did. Wooper kept running around the room until Chad got annoyed and returned it to its pokéball.
"I've never trained anyone," Kurishimi finally said. "I've only trained myself and been trained by Akuma. If that's what Akuma wants then I'll do it, but I want to see you train and battle your Pokémon before I figure out what I can teach you. I know about Rattata, Sandshrew, Wooper, and Ponyta. What other Pokémon do you have?"
"I have a Pidgey and a male Nidoran."
"Don't have any others?"
"I can only carry six on my belt at a time."
"I mean do you have any others in your assigned computer storage box?"
"What's that?"
"Oh, right. You haven't taken the exam for a registered license yet. When you get your Pokémon license you're allowed to get an account on the Pokémon storage system. It stores an unlimited number of Pokémon in a place of your choosing so you don't need to carry around more than six at a time. I've got a few Pokémon in storage and Akuma has an account too. You can also opt for the computer to keep track of your accomplishments in case someone is looking for a person with certain skills. While we're in Saffron I think we should set some time for you to take the exam."
"Sounds good, let's go."
"Not so fast hotshot. It's late and most of your Pokémon are wiped out. We both need to get some sleep soon."
"That's true. Okay, can I have something to study for the exam at least?"
"You'll get a study guide when you sign up. You'll just need to wait until then."
"I can get a head start though. What about your pokédex?"
"Not even if you traded me a Dragonair. Pokedexes are way too valuable."
"Then where do I get one to study with?"
"You can get a pokédex with information relative to the region you took your exam in if you get a good score on your exam. They're expensive to make so only a select few trainers can get any at the moment."
"What's the point of giving out all that information to people who got a high score to begin with?"
"Beats me but if the system isn't broke, don't fix it. I'm going to head off to bed now. You can either call it a night now or spend some more time with your Pokémon." Kurishimi left Chad for the resting area and Chad sat back down with his Pokémon. An hour later the nurse came in and found him asleep in his chair with Rattata off its bed and sleeping at his feet.
Akuma returned in the late morning and saw a new front door being installed while the remains of the old one were being cleaned up. He went in through the first opening he saw and found Kurishimi and Chad talking over his Nidoran. They didn't see him come in so he went to the phone service to make a quick call. He only took a couple minutes before joining the other two.
"Do you two have any plans for the day?" he asked when they noticed him.
"Chad and I are going to go to some trainer practice battles so I can figure out how to teach him. We're also going to get him registered for the trainer's exam so he can get his license."
"I've got someone coming to Saffron to meet with me later on," Akuma told them. "They'll be bringing you a software update for your pokédex so you'll have data on some of the more common Pokémon from the Hoenn region. It won't be a complete list, but I'm having trouble tracking down the full software update for it. I don't think it'll take too much longer, but you'll have something to tide you over in the meantime."
"Wayyyy over my head there," Chad said as he rubbed his head.
"We live in the Kanto region," Kurishimi started before Akuma had a chance to explain. "There are other regions with unique Pokémon to each. So far we know of our neighbor, the Johto region, and the islands of Hoenn and Sinnoh. We also recently found a group of islands to the south of Kanto known as the sevii island cluster I think, but they're still geographically classified as being in the Kanto region. My pokédex came with info on the Kanto and Johto Pokémon and Akuma helped me get data for most of the Sinnoh Pokémon. The Hoenn region update is difficult to get here, but he's working on getting those for me too."
"You two can do your own thing then. I have something of my own to take care of," Akuma spoke again when she'd finished. "I'll keep my eyes out for anything of relevance to either of you and meet you here when I'm done which could be from whenever we need a break to late night or tomorrow morning for all I know."
After Akuma left, Chad and Kurishimi worked with Nidoran for a while until it got tired so they gave it a rest while they tried to find the exam center. They walked around town aimlessly for ten minutes before remembering the map they had bought the day before. They got to the exam center in fifteen minutes more and Chad signed up for the test on the following day. They gave him a testing booklet which Kurishimi would have him read until test day, then went out to explore the city. They checked the map and found that a number of training areas were nearby so they made their way to those for some entertainment. Like Akuma had done, Kurishimi got to know Chad's battling expertise by having him describe combatants, their Pokémon, and battle styles. If a Pokémon lasted long enough in a battle Chad would also try figuring out its strengths and weaknesses in how he thought it had been trained.
The battle areas were set up so that newer trainers wouldn't be outmatched by long time veterans. Kurishimi stopped to watch a few of the experienced battlers but moved on before long. They made their way to the place where most newer trainers were fighting and Chad stepped into one of the rings on Kurishimi's suggestion. A girl who seemed to be about the same age as he was joined him and the judge made it an official match. Kurishimi got permission from the judge to stand behind Chad and offer advice on the condition that she let him fight the battle himself.
"How long have you been training?" the girl asked him.
"Almost one month," Chad replied. "This is the first time I've left my hometown though. What about you?"
"Not much more than a week. I've stayed in Saffron for the most part myself. How many Pokémon should we use?"
"I've got a full crew of six so whatever you decide is okay with me."
"Two on two then with no time limit?"
"I can do that. Ready when you are."
As they took their corners Kurishimi spoke to Chad quickly. "Whatever Pokémon you decide to use make sure your second one has a supportive type advantage. You can't switch between Pokémon in these kinds of battles without forfeiting a fighter so think things through and be careful."
Chad nodded and threw out a pokéball at the same time his opponent did. Rattata was fighting for Chad's side while a purple Pokémon with three stubby head spikes appeared as his opponent. Chad looked back to Kurishimi for help.
"It's Tyrogue, a fighting type. It's young but tough so be careful."
On command Tyrogue leapt forward and tackled Rattata back toward Chad. When it stepped back to repeat the move, Chad ordered a quick attack and Rattata rammed into Tyrogue pushing it back to its original position. At the same time both trainers ordered a tackle and both Pokémon crashed into each other and started trying to push the other back. At first Rattata was gaining more ground, then Tyrogue got a better hold with its arms and pushed harder. As Rattata was pushed towards the edge of the battle area Kurishimi told him, "This isn't a sumo competition Chad. Attack it!"
Chad looked for a way to attack without giving his opponent an opening, but Rattata didn't know any suitable attacks. Then he remembered that Pokémon battles included a bit of judo and saw what appeared to be an opening. He had Rattata jump backwards and Tyrogue fell forward having lost its grip and then its balance when it tried to recover. Rattata went on the offensive again with another quick attack leading into a bite and Tyrogue fell down in defeat. The girl recalled Tyrogue and now sent out a blue turtle with a red and yellow shell that stood erect on its back legs.
"Be careful Chad, that's a Squirtle," Kurishimi told him. "It's a water type and very easy to use. You'll need to be careful to win this one. It won't be easy to beat."
Chad took the initiative this time with a tail whip trying to appeal with its cuteness to lower Squirtle's defenses.
"Come on Squirtle, it's just trying to confuse you," the other girl was saying. Use your water gun on it!"
Squirtle fired a stream of water at Rattata and the little rat barely managed to avoid it. Rattata closed the distance with a quick attack but before it could strike, Squirtle fired another water gun that blasted it backward. Rattata was badly wounded, but still able to battle so everyone but Kurishimi was surprised when Chad called Rattata back into its pokéball.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked. "You can't switch Pokémon in the middle of our battle!"
"Rattata's done," Chad told her. "I don't want it to get hurt more than it has to."
The judge acknowledged the girl as the winner and Chad sent out his second Pokémon, Elekid. Kurishimi smiled appreciatively but the girl was confused.
"What is that thing?"
"It's called an Elekid," Chad told her. "I got it a few days ago from someone who lived north of Cerulean that couldn't take care of all his Pokémon, so he let me take one for myself."
"Who would have that many Pokémon and not use the storage system?" she asked in confusion again.
"He lived in a large building near the beach. I think his name was Bill. My teacher had a delivery for him so we stopped by and he let me take one with him." At the mention of Bill's name the girl, the judge, Kurishimi, and the rest of the crowd became eerily silent. "Did I say something wrong?" Chad asked, now feeling very nervous.
"You got that Elekid from Bill?" Kurishimi asked after finding her voice again.
"Yeah, why? What's wrong?"
"Bill is one of the most famous people in Pokémon trainer history. He invented and maintains the Pokémon PC storage system that I told you about. He's a Pokémon trainer celebrity."
Chad let the words sink in, and then it hit him. He'd been with one of the most famous people in the world and didn't even know it. What's more he was now carrying one of his Pokémon. Then Chad really flipped out; or rather, he passed out.
"Does this mean I win by default?" he heard the girl ask before he lost consciousness.