This is probably my favorite chapter in the story so far. Up until now we've seen Akuma fight the occasional battle like it was just something to do, but this is the first time I had him fight at full strength from the best I could manage. Whenever I write a new chapter I have his team set to a certain way so I can't cheat and give him a better outcome by switching out who's available to fight. That being said, I couldn't have ended this chapter any better if I went back and rewrote the whole thing.

Akuma was about to come out of his element in a big way. After today he would have a wider range of people knowing about him and probably make himself less anonymous. It was unavoidable though if what he'd been told last night was correct. He needed more control and this was the best way for him to get any at the moment. He fingered one of the pokéballs on his chest and opened the door to the Saffron City gym building. Inside was a decorated hallway with amber colored marble pillars in line beside a red carpet that went down the middle of the hallway. Akuma stepped inside and closed the door behind him. His footsteps echoed hollowly with every step despite the apparent thickness of the carpet. The building seemed deserted, yet he walked onward to a door at the end of the hall.

When he'd reached the halfway point in the hall a person stepped from behind a pillar in front of him wearing a long white robe. "You are here to challenge Sabrina are you not?"

"I need the Saffron City gym badge," Akuma replied.

"Are you familiar with the psychic type Pokémon?"

"I am."

"If you require additional knowledge we can-"

"I know about psychic Pokémon," Akuma repeated.

"Very well," the other said with a hint of annoyance in their voice. Akuma couldn't tell whether they were male or female. "Come this way to Sabrina's battle area."

"If it's the door at the end of the room I don't think it will be hard to find my way there," Akuma told them.

"It is required that a challenger be escorted to Sabrina to make a challenge."

"As long as I get there quickly I don't mind."

The person led Akuma down the hall and opened the doors for him to step through. Akuma entered the battle area with the other person behind him. The arena was plain and non-distracting with a battleground illustrated on the floor in white. On the other side of the room was a large chair built like a throne at the top of a small number of stairs. On it sat a woman wearing a red button up coat at knee length with dark hair and a cold gaze that rivaled Akuma's.

"Lady Sabrina, you have a challenger," the escort said as they approached her. "He seems to be lacking in manners though so I hate to bother you with him, but you haven't had many opponents recently and he seems different than the usual trainers who come here."

"Is this his first time battling in a gym?" Sabrina asked with an icy tone as cold as her stare.

The escort looked back to Akuma who nodded his head. "Yes my lady," they replied turning back to her.

"I will not battle with inexperienced trainers. Remove him at once."

"You stupid gym leader trash," Akuma said with a scowl. His escort turned to look at him in shock. "You expect so little from someone and want so much. How do you know what experience I've had? You underestimate me too much for your own good."

The escort looked back at Sabrina with wide eyes. "I apologize Lady Sabrina. He doesn't know his place. I will remove him at once." The person removed a pokéball from inside the sleeves of their robe. "Come with me. I will escort you out of the building."

Akuma pulled off one of his own pokéballs in reply. "You will not."

"Lady Sabrina has ordered you to leave. I will not ask you again."

"I do not obey your 'Lady Sabrina' and I will not leave."

"Then you leave me no choice." His escort opened his pokéball releasing a fat yellow biped Pokémon with a long nose and sleepy eyes. "Drowzee, put this man to sleep so we can escort him from the building."

Akuma opened his own pokéball to place Scyther on the field. "Cut that Drowzee down," Akuma told it. Scyther sped toward Drowzee as Drowzee began waving its arms in a hypnotic pattern. "Evade," Akuma commanded. Scyther flew straight upwards avoiding Drowzee's hypnosis attack. "Divide to conquer." Akuma's Pokémon split into five Scythers which confused Drowzee.

"Spread your hypnosis across the lot of them!" the escort commanded.

Drowzee began waving its arms again, but the Scythers split off and flew erratically around the room. Drowzee couldn't keep track of any one while they flew because of Scyther's incredible speed.

"Cross split," Akuma said again.

The Scythers dove to the ground and flew toward Drowzee from five different directions. Before the escort could react, the Scythers each flew past Drowzee and swung a blade through it. Drowzee was knocked down after having taken the slash attack at full power. Seeing that Drowzee was no match for Scyther the escort recalled it into its pokéball and sent out a Pokémon with a gray body that appeared to be wearing a red headpiece and pants.

"Medicham, meditate then use bide," the escort told his Pokémon. Medicham floated above the ground with its arms crossed and closed its eyes.

"Scyther, power up and prepare to strike," Akuma told Scyther. The Scythers landed on the ground and swung their blades in a swords dance then took a fighting stance as they used focus energy. As the battlefield took a temporary moment of quiet Medicham could be seen building up power as it used bide. "Hold your ground Scyther," Akuma commanded his impatient Pokémon. Soon Medicham released a blast of power in a sphere around it, but since Scyther had not yet attacked and bide required the user being attacked to work the move failed. "Finishing move."

"Mind reader and fire punch!" the escort commanded.

As each Scyther charged Medicham with incredible speed Medicham leapt up with a burning fist. It turned toward one of the Scythers and punched it hard. The copies disappeared as the punch struck the real one, but Scyther ignored the pain as best it could and continued the attack. It used an upward slicing X-scissor attack that hurt Medicham as badly as it had been struck by the fire punch.

"Press the attack. Arial strike," Akuma told Scyther.

Scyther was winded, but followed commands as it leapt into the air once more. It created a swirling ball of wind between its blades and flung it toward Medicham who had still not gotten up again and was an easy target. The air cutter attack tossed it like a rag doll across the gym floor.

"Get up Medicham! Don't quit!" the escort urged. But Medicham was already unconscious. The escort returned Medicham to its pokéball and produced yet another combatant. This time it was a Pokémon that was obviously female. It had long golden hair, a red dress with gold trim, and purple skin. Akuma hadn't seen it before, but working off what he'd fought so far he assumed it was another psychic type Pokémon.

"More double vision Scyther," he told his Pokémon who managed six copies this time. "Mix it up." Scyther started running circles around its opponent making it harder to target the real one.

"Jynx, spread your powder snow to slow it down." the escort said. The psychic Pokémon loosed a flurry at the running Scythers. Since Scyther was running in a constant direction the snow easily hit it. Even though it didn't do sufficient damage to bring down the copies like Medicham's fire punch had, it slowed Scyther's speed considerably. "Well done, now use a perish song." Jynx sung a haunting tune and the Scythers looked toward Akuma for instruction as they continued to run. Akuma pulled out a stopwatch from a vest pocket and started the clock.

"Touch of darkness," he said as he studied the clock. Scyther closed the distance as Jynx continued to sing and struck with a night slash. The escort ordered another powder snow and Jynx blasted a group of fake Scythers as it continued its song. "Simplicity," Akuma said, still not looking up from the stopwatch. Scyther repeated the previous maneuver, but this time used a normal slash attack. Immediately Akuma pulled Scyther back into its pokéball and put it back on its hook. The escort showed a look of victory, but it turned to shock when Jynx collapsed.

"How could you tell when Jynx's perish song would take effect?" the escort asked.

"Experience; which is something you and your Pokémon apparently lack," Akuma said as he pulled another pokéball from his chest strap.

"Enough," Sabrina said before the escort could respond. "I will fight him. He does not appear to be unskilled." She stood from her chair and walked down the stairs to the battlefield. Akuma in turn took the opposite side keeping his eyes locked with hers the entire time he moved. The escort took position as a referee on the sidelines.

"A two Pokémon battle with no time limit," the escort announced. "Each side may switch between Pokémon whenever they wish, but no more than two may be used. Are the trainers in agreement?" Sabrina nodded her head once as Akuma switched out the pokéball in his hand. "Begin the battle!"

Sabrina and Akuma threw their pokéballs at the same time. Akuma revealed a dark blue Pokémon with wispy flowing hair that floated in the air and wore a shining red necklace. It eyes were yellow with red irises and the ends of its hair also ended in red highlights. The Pokémon consisted of not much more than a single head with a small neck. Sabrina's Pokémon had much more presence than Akuma's had. Hers was a yellow humanoid Pokémon with fox-like features. Its torso was colored light brown and the lower half of the body turned into a bushy tail near the end. In its right hand it held a large spoon and its head was decorated with a red star.

"The first battle will be between Sabrina's Kadabra and Akuma's Misdreavus. Begin!"

"Disable," Sabrina immediately told Kadabra. Kadabra's eyes flashed and Misdreavus became immobilized.

"Electric blast," Akuma countered. Misdreavus released an unavoidable shock wave attack across the battlefield toward Kadabra.

"Teleport," Sabrina ordered. Kadabra vanished before the shock wave struck and reappeared in front of Misdreavus bypassing the attack altogether. "Use psybeam." Kadabra released colored rings of light from its eyes at Misdreavus who was still pinned down by the disable attack. The attack struck home causing Misdreavus to flinch in pain as the psychic waves attacked its ghost body from the inside.

"Lock it down Misdreavus," Akuma said with no worry apparent in his voice despite Misdreavus taking such a strong attack. Misdreavus glared at Kadabra with a mean look attack preventing Kadabra from escaping. With both Pokémon immobile they were completely vulnerable. Kadabra couldn't teleport away and since Misdreavus was already affected by the disable attack, vanishing into the air like most ghost Pokémon do would be pointless since it would still be in the same spot. "Now give it a dizzy spell." Misdreavus' body flashed with a confuse ray leaving Kadabra dazed.

"Kadabra, use psybeam again," Sabrina commanded. Kadabra obeyed, but the psybeam attack went wide and left it wide open for Misdreavus to hit.

"Essence blast," Akuma said. Misdreavus' necklace began to glow and a dark mass of energy appeared in front of it in the form of a shadow ball attack. "Release at full power," Akuma said confidently.

"Kadabra, use reflect!" Sabrina called to her Pokémon, now realizing the danger it was in. Kadabra created a barrier in front of it in preparation to block the attack. When Misdreavus had built up enough energy it sent the shadow ball flying toward Kadabra. The ball passed through the defensive barrier Kadabra had set up and knocked it halfway across the battleground. As Kadabra flew, Akuma noticed Misdreavus become less tense.

"Wrong move," Akuma told his opponent. "Shadow ball isn't a physical strike. It's a long distance attack."

"Kadabra has not yet learned light screen. It was all we had available to us," Sabrina said. "It doesn't matter though, Kadabra can still battle and win. Use recover." As Kadabra got on its feet again the wounds on its body began to fade away.

"Shock it Misdreavus!" Akuma snapped almost before Sabrina had finished speaking. Misdreavus charged Kadabra and slammed into it with an astonish attack. The strike shocked Kadabra into halting its recovery as well as surprising Sabrina. Before she could recover as well Akuma said "Finish it quickly. Blast it hard and fast." Misdreavus created another shadow ball once more and fired it before it was at full strength. Though it wasn't as powerful as the first one had been, it still knocked Kadabra unconscious.

"How could you move?" Sabrina nearly yelled at Akuma. "We had you held down by disable!"

"When shadow ball first struck it broke the hold Kadabra had over Misdreavus," Akuma explained. "I noticed, but waited for the right moment to have Misdreavus move again."

"Apparently I misjudged you," Sabrina admitted as Kadabra was returned to its pokéball.

"Join the club," Akuma replied with an almost joking tone.

"I'll have to use a more active Pokémon it seems." Sabrina released another Pokémon with the appearance of a cat that wore a red gem in its forehead and purple-pink fur covering its body.

"Oh not an Espeon," Akuma groaned. "I hate fighting those things."

"Bad experience?"

"You could say that. It was a memorable fight to say the least." In truth Akuma's last battle against an Espeon had lasted for over twenty minutes and in the end there was no winner since Espeon's trainer had collapsed from the strain of using a psychic Pokemon. "Let's just get this over with," he said.

"Espeon, use future sight," Sabrina instructed. Espeon raised its forked tail into the air and looked very tense, but sat back down after a minute appearing to have done nothing.

"Not a bad strategy," Akuma said in approval. "I know what future sight does though, so I can predict as well."

"You'll forgive me if I try anyway," Sabrina replied. "Assault Misdreavus with your psychic attacks." Espeon's body glowed with a light blue aura and Misdreavus glowed soon after. Misdreavus began to be tossed around the room as Espeon willed, having been trapped in the attack and unable to escape.

"Misdreavus, share the pain," Akuma called out. Misdreavus began to get healthier as Espeon suddenly grew weak until both Pokémon were equally exhausted by use of the pain split attack Misdreavus had used.

"Espeon, set Misdreavus up for the future sight." Espeon dropped Misdreavus onto the ground appearing to give it a chance to recover, but Misdreavus was immediately assaulted by a psychic blast that came from nowhere as future sight struck. Akuma could only watch and wait while his Pokémon took high levels of damage and could not be recalled into its pokéball. When the attack finished Misdreavus was shown to be incapacitated. Akuma recalled Misdreavus into its pokéball.

"Been a while since any of my Pokémon fainted, but to be fair it's also been a long time since Misdreavus has fought."

"What do you think your chances of winning are now?" Sabrina asked him.

Akuma looked carefully at her Espeon. It was sitting up tall and proud and seemed in perfect physical condition. However it was breathing heavily and its tail was drooping which showed signs of exhaustion. He thought through the Pokémon he'd brought with him and went over what attacks he knew Espeon to have without special training. "Well assuming you've trained Espeon by normal standards I'd say my chances are pretty good."

"Do you have a Pokémon that could withstand a beating of that degree that destroyed your Misdreavus?"

"Yes, but I don't need to use them." Akuma pulled a yellow colored pokéball with black trim from his strap. "The way I figure, I can beat Espeon with my weakest combat Pokémon that I have on me."

"That's a bold statement. Will you be able to back up those words?"

"Just watch me win," Akuma said with confidence and a smirk as he tossed his pokéball forward. After the flash of light cleared Sabrina stared at the Pokémon Akuma claimed would defeat her Espeon. It was a purple Pokémon with eyes like diamonds and a red gem in its stomach. It stood less than two feet high and had sharp claws on its hands as well as a wide toothy grin. When it appeared it started bouncing up and down while waving its arms wildly and made sounds like it was laughing. "Okay Sableye, stop the theatrics and get ready to make the first move," Akuma said with a sigh. Sableye ran out toward Espeon but after a short distance it tripped and fell. Sableye crashed face first into the ground and lay there without moving. Akuma put a hand to his forehead and shook his head. "So much for being energetic," he muttered under his breath.

"Your win seems to have passed away. Espeon, tackle it back to its trainer," Sabrina commanded. Espeon charged the diminutive Pokémon at high speed, but before it could connect, Sableye jumped up and slashed its claws across Espeon's face. Espeon veered away and started rubbing its face with a front paw. "What just happened here?" Sabrina said in shock once more.

"Sableye used a fake out attack. It always strikes first and stops other Pokémon from using their first attack against it," Akuma explained. "Now continue the attack with your night shade." Sableye growled and black energy beams flew from its eyes and hit Espeon. The damage wasn't critical, but still hurt.

"Espeon, fire a psybeam at Sableye," Sabrina commanded. Espeon fired a psybeam from its eyes in much the same way Kadabra had, but Sableye didn't even flinch at the attack. "Try a tackle attack now." Espeon ran at Sableye again but passed through it as if Sableye wasn't there. "What's going on? I thought you said that was your weakest Pokémon?" she asked Akuma.

"I did, and it is. But you've forgotten to think of what types it could be. Sableye is a dark type Pokémon which negates any psychic attacks you'll try on it. Its second type is ghost which ignores most physical moves. Unless you've given Espeon special training it can't touch Sableye."

"There is still one option I haven't tried yet. Espeon, use your sand attack to reduce Sableye's accuracy." Espeon turned its back to Sableye and started kicking up dirt and dust toward Sableye. Akuma watched and waited until Espeon had finished. "If Sableye can't attack or be attacked then this match is a draw. We will need to use another Pokémon to end the battle," Sabrina stated confidently.

"Sableye, attack Espeon with whatever you've got until it falls," Akuma ordered. Sableye leapt at Espeon and started clawing at it with a direct hit every time. Before Sabrina could ask, Akuma explained what was happening. "Sableye has a trait called 'keen eye' that keeps its accuracy at peak performance. You can't beat Sableye with Espeon. For your Pokémon's health you should give in."

Sabrina's face paled as Espeon took hit after hit from Sableye without even trying to fight back. She opened her mouth many times to give another command, but they were all useless against her opponent. Finally she held out a pokéball and pulled Espeon back inside. "I… concede defeat," she said in a dejected voice.