There's a reason there was a huge gap in between updates. I've been halfway across the country. Fortunately I've been able to do a lot of writing and editing, so there might be another chapter up later today.

The trio of trainers was taken to a back room where two men were waiting for them. Between the two was a small table with three pokéballs resting on it. On each pokéball was an elemental symbol on the top half. Chad stepped up to the table and the two men congratulated him on his passing the Pokémon tests before introducing themselves.

"My name is Professor Samuel Oak," said the older man. "And this is Professor Elm from the Johto region. We raise Pokémon that are handed out to newly qualified Pokémon trainers such as yourself."

"Actually I've been training Pokémon for a little while already, but I just got my license," Chad admitted to the professor.

"Is that so? Well may I see what Pokémon you have then?"

Chad released all his Pokémon for the older man to look at. Oak carefully examined each of Chad's Pokémon and smiled when he came to Elekid. "This one is especially well cared for young man. I'm impressed that a new trainer could do so well."

"To be honest, that Elekid wasn't really mine. A man named Bill on Cerulean's cape gave it to me," Chad confessed.

"Did he now? Then that makes you even luckier, doesn't it? Well you still qualify to receive a basic starter Pokémon so feel free to take any one you want. There's a catch though: since you already have six Pokémon with you, you will need to put one into storage before you get a new Pokémon. Since I take care of most of the Pokémon trainers acquire on their journeys I will be happy to hold one for you."

Chad crouched down next to his six Pokémon to address them directly. "Okay guys, it sounds like one of you is going to get some R&R for a while. Do any of you want to take a break?" Rattata quickly stepped forward and Chad nodded in agreement. "Okay then, in you go Rattata," Chad told it as he returned it to the pokéball. He stood up and handed it to the professor then looked toward the three pokéballs on the table.

"Do you already know about the Kanto starter Pokémon?" Professor Elm asked him. Chad nodded so he continued talking. "The symbols on the pokéballs are a leaf for Bulbasaur, a flame for Charmander, and a drop of water for Squirtle. Go ahead and take whichever you want."

Without hesitation Chad grabbed the pokéball with the leaf symbol on it. "I'm interested in raising a Bulbasaur," he said confidently. He heard a sigh behind him and looked back at the girls. "You say something Kurishimi?"

"No, nothing," Kurishimi said with a tiny smile.

Chad was unconvinced but turned back to thank the professors. "How should I raise my Bulbasaur?"

"Your Bulbasaur is a grass type Pokémon so it can absorb nutrition with the bulb on its back," Oak told him. "It's a good idea to feed it regular Pokémon food every now and then of course too. Grass types are easy to train and most of the time are very mild mannered, but in a pinch they are also very reliable and Bulbasaur is an especially loyal creature. Some of the Bulbasaur I've given to trainers have been trained so well they even beat fire type Pokémon that they have a disadvantage against. To take care of Bulbasaur let it outside its pokéball when the sun is bright and let it get some fresh air. The rest should fall into place for you."

"Thank you again professors. I'll do my best to raise Bulbasaur correctly." Chad turned to face his other Pokémon and proceeded to open Bulbasaur's pokéball.

The little grass type appeared facing the other Pokémon and quietly looked them over. Elekid and Wooper greeted Bulbasaur by tackling it in a group hug. Bulbasaur was quiet and let them greet it in their own way then walked over to the other three. Sandshrew extended a hand to which Bulbasaur produced a vine from beneath its bulb and shook 'hands' with Sandshrew. Nidorino stared down at Bulbasaur and the two locked eyes for the longest time before Nidorino smiled and lightly touched its horn to Bulbasaur's forehead. Then Bulbasaur came to Ponyta who towered over it. Bulbasaur quickly became nervous at the sight of the flames on Ponyta's mane and tail, but Ponyta reared up playfully and brought its head down to Bulbasaur's level. Bulbasaur backed up nervously and Ponyta respectfully stepped back to give Bulbasaur some space.

"That went better than I expected it would," Elm commented. "I expected Bulbasaur to either attack or run out of fear with Ponyta, but your Bulbasaur seems to be exceptionally calm. That'll make it a good battler if it can keep a level head when things get tight."

Finally Bulbasaur turned around to look at Chad. It walked over to him and sat down a foot away. Chad crouched down to get a better look at Bulbasaur and rubbed its head. "It's nice to meet you, Bulbasaur. I hope we make a good team."

Bulbasaur made a comfortable growl and used its vine to rub Chad's head in the same way. Chad stood up and returned his Pokémon to their pokéballs. "Hey Kurishimi, do we have to go meet Akuma somewhere today?"

"He went Pokémon hunting outside the city yesterday and won't be back until he gets what he wants so we don't have plans for a while. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to let him know I passed my test is all."

"Excuse me," Professor Oak cut in, "but that name sounds familiar. You said your friend's name was Akuma?"

"That's right," Kurishimi confirmed, "but calling him a friend sounds a little too friendly I would think."

"That name sounds awfully familiar. Have you heard it before, Elm?"

"Yes, but I can't place where exactly," Professor Elm said after a moment of thought. "Maybe it'll come to me later."

"We should go Chad. You and Bulbasaur need to train together," Kurishimi told him.

"You're right. Bye professors, and thanks again."

The trio walked outside and saw a late afternoon sun with a cloudless sky. The breeze felt nice and after the events of the day Chad felt very proud of himself.

"Hey Kurishimi, can we go back to the battle areas again? I want to try to get enough money for a Cubone today," Chad asked.

"Absolutely. I'd like to try some battles myself," she replied with a nod.

And so, for the rest of the day the trio exercised their Pokémon in the battle zones throughout Saffron City. Despite Kurishimi's guesses Chad and Julia did not have a rematch, but fought very balanced battles against multiple other combatants. There was a nearby Pokémon Center too so the Pokémon were always in top form and ready for battle provided they weren't too worn out.

At the end of the day Chad had 5 wins and 2 losses, Julia, who was more excited about her battles, racked up 6 wins and 1 loss, while Kurishimi had 4 battles and won them all. Chad used Bulbasaur in one battle which it won fairly easily, but since it was a new fighter that was all it could handle for the day. When they were done Chad counted his winnings and found he had enough to purchase a Cubone so they went back to the stall vendors to buy one.

Kurishimi picked out a healthy Cubone which Chad quickly bought, but just seconds after he put it back in its pokéball after introducing himself, the pokéball vanished with a flash.

"What happened? Where did Cubone's pokéball go to?" he asked in a panic.

"Cubone was your seventh Pokémon so it was transferred to the storage system. Kurishimi explained. "Whenever you catch, buy, or in any way acquire a new Pokémon, and you set your trainer account to do so, it gets automatically transferred to your holding account. It'll be safe there until you contact whoever is holding your Pokémon and ask them to switch out one of your current Pokémon for one in storage."

"That's disappointing," Chad said dejectedly. "I wish I could carry more Pokémon with me than just six."

"But if you had more Pokémon it might be real tough to take care of them all," Julia told him. "Six Pokémon is the most suitable number for trainers to manage. I can't imagine anyone being able to take care of seven Pokémon at a time, much less be allowed to. Hey, are you okay Kurishimi?"

Kurishimi's mind had drifted back to Akuma and his seventh pokéball. She'd been staring blankly at nothing and hadn't noticed. "Yeah I'm fine. I just spaced out for a minute."

"Thinking of your 'teacher'?" Julia asked with a giggle.

"Yeah I was. How did you- Wait, what? No! I mean, yes I was, but not in that way. I mean… okay I'm just digging myself into a deeper hole now I think."

Julia laughed at Kurishimi's embarrassment. "That was quite the innocent reaction, girl. Are you sure about your answer?"

"Quiet you! You don't know how I feel about him! I mean, ARGH!"

Now both Chad and Julia were laughing as Kurishimi's face turned a light shade of pink. "You aren't really helping yourself anymore Kurishimi," Chad said when he found his voice.

Kurishimi turned away and pretended to examine the Pokémon at the stall again. "Why don't you tell us about your crush Julia?"

Julia's laughter stopped abruptly. "W-What crush? What makes you think I have one?"

Easily distracted from Kurishimi's embarrassment by Julia's evasiveness, Chad turned his attention toward her instead. "What's this? Do I hear a hint of nervousness in the young lady's tone? Methinks she has a secret to tell."

"No I don't. I never said I liked a boy."

"Well at least we've established that you don't have a crush on a girl. That's a good thing."

"Of course he's a boy! He's certainly not girlish at all!"

"So there is one after all I see."

Behind Chad's back Kurishimi pointed a finger at him for Julia to see. "Gee, I wonder if I know the unfortunate guy."

Now it was Julia's face that turned a light shade of red. "I don't see why you would think I would know the answer to that question," she said more carefully. "Anyway, who do you like Chad?"

"No one that I know of, but you're not getting off that easily," Chad told the poor girl. "Now tell us about him. Does he have any Pokémon too?"

"I don't wanna!" Julia wailed. "Just let it go already!"

Chad and Kurishimi both laughed, but she was laughing more at Chad's cluelessness about the whole thing.

"Okay Julia, I'm done. It's getting late; do you think we should get dinner soon? I'm hungry," he asked Kurishimi.

"Sure. I saw a good looking place on our way here. It'll be a good change from the standard Pokémon Center's rations. Let's go eat."

Night was coming quickly. Akuma released Misdreavus and Scyther on either side of him then held Dodrio's pokéball in hand.

"As soon as the sun disappears on the horizon we'll hear the pack howls again," he told them. "Let me know right where they are."

He raised his binoculars and scanned the western Saffron plains for his target. Last night he'd only heard the Houndour from a distance and even with Dodrio's help he hadn't been able to even catch up to the group before dawn, much less see them. He checked the sun's position again and saw no more than a twinkle above the forest.

"Give me an exact location Misdreavus," he told his ghost partner.

Misdreavus stared forward at the expected location waiting for the cry of the pack. Scyther was twitching in anticipation as it anxiously awaited its partner's signal. The moment the sun's last rays disappeared, the howls from the pack sounded. Instantly Misdreavus screeched and looked west by southwest. As Scyther bolted down the road Akuma opened Dodrio's pokéball and recalled Misdreavus to its own. He spurred Dodrio onward after Scyther. The three followed Misdreavus' direction until they heard the howls again and shifted their stride toward the south. Minutes later they heard the howls again, much closer, and quickly found the pack.

On command from Akuma, Scyther charged the Houndour, cutting through the pack. Three Houndour fell to the attack and the rest were quick to use a combined flamethrower in Scyther's direction. Akuma provided cover by sweeping past the pack while Dodrio struck at each one with a damaging peck. Now the pack split their attention to Akuma while a handful of Houndour kept their focus on Scyther. Dodrio couldn't avoid the attacks so Akuma put it back in its pokéball while it ran. He fell to the ground and dropped another ball while he rolled forward. Immediately the Houndour trained their flamethrowers on him. Akuma threw another ball yelling, "Protection please!" and Metagross immediately put up a light screen defense that shielded them from the fire attacks.

Not even pausing to catch his breath Akuma yelled over the noise, "Give Scyther an opening!" Two more Houndour were tossed into the air from a dig attack caused by the three headed mole Pokémon named Dugtrio which Akuma had dropped off earlier. As they flew up helplessly Scyther appeared again, cutting through both with its blades. When the Houndour were distracted by the double strike Metagross dropped the light screen and loosed its hyper beam into the center of the pack. Dogs flew through the air in all directions. Akuma grabbed two empty pokéballs from the pouch on his side and threw them at two of the more seriously wounded Houndour. Both were right on target, but as the pokéballs closed shut the free members of the pack turned their flamethrowers on the pokéballs attempting to help their members break free. Metagross, Scyther, Dugtrio, and a newly released Misdreavus protected the pokéballs as best they could while the capture devices tried to contain the less fortunate two. When the pokéballs made their signature pinging noise the rest of the Houndour backed off knowing that there was nothing more they could do. Akuma walked into the center carefully and picked up the pokéballs. When he turned to leave however an evolved Houndour, a Houndoom, blocked his path.

"It's just business," Akuma told it, but the Houndoom didn't move. Akuma locked his eyes with the pack leader and stared it down with an equal glare for over a minute. Seeing that the Houndoom would not back down, Akuma sent out Dodrio and Infernape to stand with his other Pokémon. "I'll make you a deal," he told his opponent, "I will release one Houndour if you battle me. If you win I'll release the other Houndour as well and leave you to your business. If I win, you come with me in the first Houndour's place. I will leave behind one Pokémon to train with a single Houndour of your choosing until it evolves and can take over. Either way one Houndour goes free, and I won't bother your pack any more. What's more you will be the one to choose which Pokémon you battle, though I will still give commands as necessary."

With the odds in its favor Houndoom was willing to accept, but was very cautious about who it chose to battle knowing full well how skilled Akuma was when using multiple Pokémon. It was unlikely that he was unskilled in single battles as well. After scanning his visible Pokémon Houndoom pointed its muzzle toward Misdreavus. Akuma nodded to his Pokémon and Misdreavus came forward.

"What Houndour will take your place in the event you may lose?"

Houndoom growled at the obvious lack of confidence, but Akuma said nothing. It looked at one other Houndour finally to acknowledge it then fired a surprise flamethrower at Misdreavus.

Misdreavus was cooked by Houndoom's attack without an opportunity to evade. "Get rid of that attack," Akuma said. After the flamethrower subsided, Misdreavus blew a ghostly wisp toward Houndoom. The wisp encircled Houndoom's head and vanished. "Now taunt it and remove the threat." Misdreavus emitted a short screech and Houndoom started attacking Misdreavus furiously with various attacks. "Vanish!" Akuma yelled. Misdreavus disappeared.

"That was weird. I wonder what I did wrong," Akuma said to himself as Houndoom spread its ember attack around the area. "Oh well, better not try it again. Misdreavus, reappear at 3.5 and share the pain." Misdreavus appeared above and beside Houndoom and used pain split. As with Espeon, it became healthier as its opponent became weaker until they were at the same health level. "Shock it." Misdreavus struck Houndoom with an astonish attack. The hit must have struck a sensitive spot because Houndoom didn't strike back immediately. "Now electrify it." Misdreavus unleashed an electric shock wave on Houndoom immediately. "Go to position Samson and show me your shadow ball strike." Misdreavus vanished again as Houndoom used a flamethrower. Houndoom spun around nervously looking for where the 'Samson' position was. "Anytime you're ready Misdreavus." Misdreavus appeared below Houndoom in between its legs. It formed a fast shadow ball and launched Houndoom into the air. Houndoom had a long fall back to the ground and landed painfully on the hard ground. Akuma commanded a screech attack that bored into Houndoom's skull. As Misdreavus screamed, Akuma produced a black and green pokéball with an orange band from inside his vest and threw it at Houndoom. Misdreavus cut its screeching as Houndoom was sucked inside. Houndoom fought the Pokémon containment for a long time and put up a great fight as was evidenced by the way the pokéball rattled extra hard.

Akuma approached the shaking pokéball and knelt down beside it. Knowing full well that Houndoom could hear him he spoke to it. "This is one of the toughest pokéballs made at this point in time. You're going to need to do better than that. Show me you're the toughest Houndoom in this region. Now fight harder!" The light had been slowly dimming until now, but with Akuma's words the light shone brighter again as Houndoom regained confidence. "Still not enough to win, Houndoom. All you need to do is break free and defeat my Misdreavus. You have the advantage and you're losing. You need to get stronger if you are going to be free. Your pack is counting on you as well." A grinding sound could be heard from within the pokéball as the advanced containment features reached their limits. At this rate the pokéball wouldn't just release Houndoom, it would shatter if it broke free. Akuma smiled at the effort of the Pokémon. If it got out, Houndoom would be the first Pokémon he knew of that had broken out of this pokéball type, but once again the light began to dim. "What's wrong? Is that all you've got?" The light continued to fade. "Are you weak?" It still faded. "So that's it then. You give up." The light disappeared entirely and the pokéball pinged confirmation.

Akuma stayed for a few more seconds then took the ball in his hand. He stared at it as if he could see the Houndoom inside, then pocketed it and returned Misdreavus to its pokéball. He looked back toward his other Pokémon and replaced all but Infernape.

"Alright monkey man, you're going to stay behind and train with the Houndour until it's ready to evolve. After you finish training it, join me and the others in Saffron City. I'll wait for you at the Pokémon Center we lodged in when we first got here. See you there." Akuma released Dodrio and got on. Before he could leave Infernape grabbed his arm. "What is it?" Infernape motioned to the Houndour pack that was growling at him. "Can't take them on your own?" Infernape replied with a stare that said 'You dummy'. Akuma remembered he still had two Houndour on his person. He pulled out one of the quick balls he'd used and released Houndour back into the pack. When it appeared, the flash was not of a white light, but a light neon blue which symbolized that the Pokémon was no longer bound to the trainer who owned that pokéball. "Alright Houndour, you're free again. Help out my Infernape if you want. He's training your new leader."

Akuma spurred Dodrio away from the pack and headed back toward Saffron. He had ventured far away from the normal routes people traveled on to find the Houndour pack and had almost made it halfway to Mt. Moon. He came into a hilly region and saw that the sky was getting darker even though the sun had long since set and a thunderstorm was closing in. Judging by the clouds it was going to be an undoubtedly strong one.

Dodrio's sad face looked back at its rider and chirped mournfully. "Don't worry about him. Infernape's lasted a blizzard by himself before. A rainstorm shouldn't be that bad." It cooed sadly again. "Have a little faith in Infernape. You should've seen what we did in Hoenn together. Come on now; let's try to get through as much of the area as we can before the storm gets too bad. I really hate water."

Dodrio ran onward again into the hills. Akuma checked a compass occasionally to be sure they were still heading in the right direction. Suddenly the storm hit them heavily. It was a torrential downpour that the two of them couldn't even see through. Akuma thought about using Dugtrio to make shelter for them in the side of a hill, but Dugtrio would be weakened by the rain and the shelter would be muddy and unstable. Their only choice was to keep running through the rain. They couldn't outrun it so Akuma steered Dodrio into the storm to get to the tail end quickly. The further they got into it, the more Akuma began to realize the irregularity of the storm. Lightning struck the ground and moved along as if it was carving out boundary lines for territory. The storm clouds were thick and so heavy Akuma couldn't see past the first layer. As they drew closer to the interior the lightning increased in frequency and very nearly struck Dodrio numerous times.

Akuma released Misdreavus and sent it through the clouds. "Look for a Pokémon that might be causing this weather," he told it. Misdreavus returned soon after and reported nothing. Akuma quickly put it back in the pokéball.

When the two of them came over the next hill Akuma saw another irregularity. There were pillars of lightning circling a particular part of the storm. Unlike the rest of the lightning though, this lightning was lancing upward into the clouds. Akuma steered Dodrio toward the pillars and soon he saw the source.

There was a yellow Pokémon resembling a tiger that wore a white mask and had a cape on its back that was creating the storm. The clouds were rolling off the cape and into the sky. Akuma watched the Pokémon run before smiling to himself. "Hey Dodrio, move to intercept. I want to test myself against that Pokémon."