I remember that when I first started writing this chapter I started in such a way that I thought would be really interesting, but I got stuck and couldn't get out of it. I deleted two pages of written material and started over.
It had been almost a week since arriving in Saffron City and Kurishimi was making a name for herself in the battle arena. Chad and Julia fought average battles but Kurishimi had racked up a winning streak nearing the Saffron record in the advanced arena. For the most part there were only casual battlers but every time she began to get bored someone appeared that would nearly end her streak which got her focused again. The three used the battle arena as a daily training ground and also a minor source of income. Kurishimi bought a strong and healthy Pinsir at the stalls while Chad traded in his t-shirt and shorts for a more rugged looking yet casual uniform similar to a forest ranger. Julia seemed to be saving her money as the other two had not noticed any changes in her appearance or Pokémon. However, she had discovered that the Pikachu she purchased earlier had a nasty mood which usually led to someone getting shocked in the end.
This afternoon the group was on their way to the battle arena again but had stopped by a restaurant to get lunch first. Kurishimi had planned to speak to Chad about how his Pokémon's personalities would affect battles, but she couldn't find time to speak because nearby Pokémon trainers that recognized her would always want an autograph or a chance to talk with her.
"That's the tenth person that's come up to me in the same hour," Kurishimi said with a badly disguised tone of disgust in her voice. "If they have so much time to socialize they should practice their techniques and get better by themselves."
"I think the pressure's getting to you Kurishimi," Julia said between mouthfuls of pasta. "Maybe you should take some time off from the arena."
"I can't. This is the best practice I've gotten in months. My younger Pokémon are learning real fast too. It's especially good for them. I wish I knew how to help Abra win more battles though. It hasn't won anything yet."
"You could always battle Chad's Nidorino again."
"Very funny Julia," Chad said dryly after he'd finished taking a drink.
"Just battling the same Pokémon over and over isn't good for training or experience though," Kurishimi told the other girl. "It becomes easier and easier after getting enough practice that the training is similar to walking for you and me. If there's no variety then we can't learn anything from it."
"And yet we have problems walking sometimes too," Chad noted as a six year old boy fell over while running across the room. "I get that the training becomes generally useless after a while, but you can still get taken by surprise and possibly learn something, right?"
"True, but it isn't enough to think about or mention. Better to find new people to practice with." Kurishimi heard approaching footsteps behind her and made a sour face. When they got closer she said, "This had better be important or I'm going to lose my temper."
The person behind her dropped a picture of Akuma on the table. "You know this person?"
"Yes, why?" Kurishimi's hand slid to a pokéball on her belt remembering the last time someone had asked her about Akuma.
"He's been hospitalized."
Akuma was lying in bed either asleep or unconscious, Kurishimi couldn't tell. She hoped he was unconscious because the burns and tears in his skin would have put him in extreme pain if he was to wake up soon.
Apparently Infernape had become separated from Akuma before he was injured and had found him and brought him back to Saffron City. His other Pokémon were equally beaten and were found lying in the immediate area from where Akuma had fallen. Infernape had replaced every one of Akuma's Pokémon into their pokéballs on its own since Akuma's crew had been equally damaged and had been put under intensive care at the nearby Pokémon Center. Infernape had remained with Akuma at all times and had told Kurishimi through Vaporeon that it had hidden Akuma's seventh pokéball as well as two more he had acquired after he left. Infernape had used the Pokémon trainer registry at the Pokémon Center to get Kurishimi's picture and sent someone out to look for her. One doctor suggested that Infernape get some rest in its pokéball, but Infernape changed his mind rather forcefully and hadn't seen the other man since.
Akuma's wounds suggested that he had been attacked by a wild and brutal Pokémon. Doctors guessed the attacks were electrical in nature, but were waiting for test results before deciding how to treat the burns. The fact that all of his Pokémon had been defeated suggested that it was an especially powerful species. He would survive, but his level of recovery was still unsure. Kurishimi had also been called to get information on who should be contacted concerning Akuma because there was no information found on him. Sadly she had no information on him to give, not even a hometown, so the group ended up leaving with more worries than assurance.
"How could you know nothing about him?" Julia asked the older girl. "You've been with him for so long."
"Akuma doesn't like to talk about himself. It took a long time before I even got a name out of him."
"Where did you guys meet at?" Chad asked her.
"In my hometown: Celadon City. It isn't far from Saffron City – less than a day's walk due west."
"Well don't keep us in suspense. How did you meet?" Julia pressed.
A sixteen year old Kurishimi was walking in downtown Celadon looking in every direction as if searching for someone. It was hardly necessary to look around however as this part of the city was all but abandoned. Only the poorest and most desperate people lived in this area. And only the toughest and most cruel Pokémon came out of the alleys to attack someone invading their area. Kurishimi had fought a number of Pokémon ranging from Drowzee to Meowth to Voltorb. Her Eevee and Vulpix were getting exhausted from the constant battling but they kept going.
Finally Kurishimi found what she had been looking for. Her friend's Oddish was unsuccessfully hiding near a pile of garbage. She ran over and knelt down beside it with her Pokémon following.
"Hey Oddish, you shouldn't have wandered off like that. It's dangerous here and Lisa is worried about you," she told the little Pokémon. "I'll take you back now, come on."
Oddish nodded and jumped into her arms. Kurishimi looked around for trouble and started running back to the safer part of the city. She passed a few Pokémon that she had fought earlier who were still licking their wounds and realized it would have been worth it to catch a few when she had the chance. It wasn't a good time now sadly, so she kept running. As her surroundings became more beautiful she smiled as she ran, knowing she was finally safe.
Suddenly she felt herself run into something and couldn't move. She tried backing up, but in vain. She looked around and discovered she'd been caught in the web of a bug type spider Pokémon called Spinarak that had strung its web between the buildings. Eevee and Vulpix had gotten caught as well. Kurishimi panicked and began looking for a way out, but she couldn't even reach her pokéballs. She thought about getting Oddish out at least, but Oddish was pressed between her and the web. She pulled on the web to try tearing it down, but it was too strong. Unfortunately it also attracted the Spinarak that had created the web and it started climbing at her from the side of one of the buildings. Kurishimi screamed as the bug drew closer and her mind went completely blank. She thrashed in the web but only became more tangled. The Spinarak's jaws were opening and closing in anticipation as the vibrations in the web reached it. When it was a few feet away she closed her eyes and hoped it would be over soon.
"Shoot it down!"
Kurishimi heard a whoosh and felt an intense heat blow past her. Her arm dropped to her side, suddenly free from the web's trappings. She opened her eyes and saw the web burning where the Spinarak had just been. There was also a large hole in the web that had allowed her arm to fall away. She used her now free hand to tear the sticky net off her body.
"Rain of fire!"
Again the voice sounded and as it had announced, embers began to fall around her as if the clouds had begun to rain fire. She became more afraid and remembered her Pokémon were both stuck in the web. She dropped the Oddish to the opposite side of the web and pulled out her Eevee followed by Vulpix. Vulpix burned away more of the web when it could and the group ran through to the safe side. Kurishimi turned around to see what had happened and saw a Pokémon that was definitely not native to Celadon City attacking the Spinarak.
The new Pokémon looked like a lizard with a duck's beak that was standing upright and seemed to be made of fire. It had scales on its arms and a thin fiery tail. It was standing at four feet tall and mercilessly attacking Spinarak with fire attacks from its mouth.
"Strike twenty three!"
The other Pokémon struck the Spinarak with an iron tail upon command from someone that was still unseen. The Spinarak went flying into the air before a blue-green colored pokéball with a black pattern shot toward it from somewhere behind the fire Pokémon, connecting at the top of the flight arc. The bug was pulled inside instantly and the capture light vanished before the pokéball hit the ground.
Kurishimi's jaw dropped at the one-sided battle she had witnessed. Her Pokémon stared with equal disbelief as someone appeared from behind the fire Pokémon to pick up the thrown pokéball. It was a young male not much older than Kurishimi. He wore a dark jacket that had seen a lot of use and had a venomous look in his eyes as well as a sour frown of disgust that gave Kurishimi the impression he wasn't a cheery individual. He snatched the pokéball up and turned back to his Pokémon. Kurishimi was expecting him to congratulate it, but that wasn't the case.
The other trainer slapped his Pokémon in the face and yelled at it. "I told you to use a thin flamethrower, not burn down the entire neighborhood, Magmar! You keep up this overkill and I'm tossing you out!"
The Magmar began to roar at its trainer and threw a punch, but the other grabbed its fist and twisted it back so Magmar was leaning to the side, then punched it in the face, knocking it to the ground. "No more acting on your own like that unless I tell you to. Get back in your pokéball." The Magmar disappeared into the pokéball with a scowl on its face.
Kurishimi was in shock again, but for new reasons. It was appalling that any trainer would treat their Pokémon like he was. He started walking in her direction causing Eevee to hide behind her leg while Oddish cringed in her arms. Kurishimi also felt exposed and chewed her lip nervously. He walked past her and didn't pause, but did slow down to speak a few lines.
"Burn the web next time. Use your Pokémon if you get in trouble. That's what you're supposed to do."
Kurishimi let him pass while keeping her eyes to the ground. She could have let him walk away. Instead she turned around quickly and called to his back, "Am I also supposed to beat my Pokémon?"
He stopped and turned halfway around to make eye contact with her. His expression hadn't changed one bit since he first appeared. She felt like he could see into her. "You treat your Pokémon however you feel they deserve to be treated. I treat my Pokémon exactly how they deserve. Don't let your sense of morality or supposed kindness get in the way. They won't get anything done for you."
"But what benefits are there for treating your Magmar like it's worthless?"
"It gets the job done. I don't need to justify myself in your eyes either, so quit spouting your self-righteous speech of love and perfection." With that he turned and walked away once more leaving Kurishimi and her Pokémon with their amazement.
"He didn't leave a very good impression did he?" Chad commented when Kurishimi was done.
"No he didn't. But he did give me a lot of stuff to think about concerning how I did my training. I didn't go as far as he insisted, but I was more determined than I had been to make my Pokémon tougher and stronger. We got stricter and worked much harder. We trained until we were too exhausted to walk home. Sometimes we'd push ourselves farther than that as well and a few times that produced some amazing results."
"What about the other times?"
"We passed out and woke up a few hours later."
"I don't think I'm ready for that level of intensity," Julia said with a nervous smile.
"Neither were we, but we did it anyway. We were miserable at first since we had practiced for not much more than a half hour everyday then suddenly upped the training by a few hours worth. We should have paced ourselves more. Anyway, I'm getting away from the main point. Even when he was just a nameless stranger with a bad attitude Akuma helped me out a lot. If I hadn't met him I would probably still be training in my backyard waiting for some sign that we were ready to face the world."
"How did you two meet a second time?" Julia pressed.
"A story for another day. Let's head to the arenas. Maybe some battling will put us in better moods."
"So true. Nothing like beating up small animals to make ourselves feel better," Chad joked.
"I want to know when you two will finish up your battle. It's still undecided as to who won."
"I don't think I could battle Chad again. We're friends now."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Chad asked Julia.
"I can't battle my friend, it doesn't seem right."
"You'd better stop making friends then because sometimes you have to battle people you know," Kurishimi told her.
"Have you ever fought anyone you know?" Julia asked skeptically.
"Yes I have. A lot of times I've fought people I know and even best friends."
"I assume they were all friendly battles like our double battle from before?" Chad thought out loud.
"…Yeah, for the most part they were," Kurishimi said hesitantly.
Julia and Chad looked at each other quietly and no one said anything more until they got to the arenas. Kurishimi started to look around for people she hadn't battled yet when she heard a voice calling out to her. She scanned the crowd until she saw a woman making her way toward her position. The other lady was wearing more formal clothing and had short dark hair. Kurishimi instantly recognized her and ran over.
"What are you doing here, and in the battle area of all places?" Kurishimi asked after giving her friend a hug.
"I was bored in Celadon so I came to see if there was anyone I could fight in Saffron. Don't worry; I left Mary in charge until I get back. I didn't think you'd be here though."
"Akuma said this was our next stop after Cerulean. I got the cascade badge from the gym leader there by the way."
"That's great! Have you tried the Saffron gym leader yet?"
"No, Akuma says the leader here is too tough for me right now."
"Oh, that's a shame. Speaking of Akuma, where is the creep?"
"Lying in a hospital bed in a half dead state," Chad said from behind Kurishimi who felt a twinge of pain when she was reminded of the picture of her beaten mentor.
"What happened to him?" The other girl asked sympathetically after seeing the painful cringe her friend displayed.
"We don't know. His Infernape brought him into the city last night from somewhere," Chad explained.
"He's been unconscious ever since he was brought in." Kurishimi said when she found her voice again. "Infernape has been watching over him nonstop."
"That's not good. Can I see him? I might be able to help."
"We just came from there. Yeah, we'll show you where he is."
Back in the hospital Kurishimi took her friend to Akuma's room. Infernape was reluctant to let them in at first but eventually relented. A doctor told them that they'd been in contact with the Pokémon Center where Akuma's Pokémon were resting and learned that all were indeed suffering from a high level of damage from electricity based attacks. The strangest thing was that all Pokémon and Akuma were attacked by the same Pokémon and not a group. The Pokémon itself was still unknown however as the pattern of damage done wasn't consistent with any native species.
Kurishimi's friend was all business when she spoke to the doctor and asked him for a written document on Akuma's exact physical condition. Chad guessed that she might be a nurse in her own city or at least have a moderate medical background.
When she had finished reviewing Akuma's condition she produced two pokéballs and released them beside Akuma's bed. First was a short Pokémon with a green leafy body and two arms. It had two flowers on its arms in place of hands, one red and the other blue. The second Pokémon was colored a light blue with small red stripes. It had a yellow suction cup on its head and a long flowing tail similar to a wind chime. It floated in the air at about head level.
"Roselia, use your aromatherapy on this person. Chimecho, use heal bell."
The smaller grass Pokémon reached out with its arms and a visible odor wafted through the air towards Akuma. The other sang a single note causing sound waves to spread throughout the room. Everyone who heard it but the trainer became amazingly calm at the sound of the tiny Pokémon's voice. The sound waves and sweet scent washed over Akuma and some of his wounds began to vanish while others lessened in intensity. The attacks, if they were attacks, continued for a moment before being ordered to stop.
The group waited silently for any signs from Akuma for a long while. The doctor started to leave but the girl stopped him and said to wait so he stayed. After a few minutes more Akuma's eyes squinted open slowly. He blinked a few times and tried to look around, and then felt the pain as the burnt skin on his neck rubbed against itself. He clenched his teeth and instinctively brought an arm up to his neck which caused even more pain. He writhed in bed as the pain increased and the doctor rushed over to hold him down while calling for help. His mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. Infernape also tried to stop Akuma from moving and spoke quickly, but Akuma couldn't hear either one.
"Roselia, Chimecho, again!" the girl commanded quickly. Again the two Pokémon used their healing abilities on Akuma who calmed down and lay on his side while breathing heavily. Julia rushed out of the room with Chad following her while the doctor explained things to Akuma. Finally they let him go and asked what happened. Akuma stared at nothing for a long while then looked toward Kurishimi by moving only his eyes. Very slowly and carefully he held out a hand as if he wanted something. Kurishimi pulled out different things on her person that she thought he wanted until he took her pokédex. Akuma brought his arm back down and did a slow search with two fingers. Once or twice his eyes shut tightly when he moved too fast, but continued after a momentary pause. When he set it down Kurishimi picked it back up and saw what looked like a yellow tiger with a mask and storm clouds on its back. She pressed the audio playback button to let everyone hear the information at the same time.
"Raikou, the thunder Pokémon of the legendary beast trio. Raikou embodies the speed of lightning and is said to have descended to earth on a bolt of lightning. This rough Pokémon stores energy in its body, then sweeps across the land while shooting off electricity. As it races across the land it barks a cry that sounds like crashing thunder. The roars of this Pokémon send shock waves shuddering through the air and shake the ground as if lightning bolts had come crashing down."
Kurishimi looked at Akuma in disbelief. "You fought this thing?" Akuma managed half a nod. "Did you know what it was?" Akuma stared back at her. "Give me one wink for a yes, two for no." Akuma winked twice. "Why did you try fighting something like this? Legendary Pokémon even look legendary from a distance." Akuma narrowed his eyes at her. "Right, tough question. Okay, was this the Pokémon you were going out to get?" Two winks. "Did you get the one you wanted?" One wink. "Am I annoying you yet?" Two winks. "Okay, I'll keep talking then." Two more winks made Kurishimi leave the room with her friend to find Chad and Julia while the doctor rushed out to find a way to treat Akuma now that the source of his wounds were confirmed.
"Every time I see him he looks so familiar," her friend said after they left the room."
Chad and Julia were sitting a few feet away on a couch in the hall. Julia looked pretty shaken and Chad was sitting uncomfortably beside her.
"He'll be fine now," Kurishimi told the two. "He's resting, and should make a full recovery."
"Couldn't your friend's Pokémon help him get better faster?"
Kurishimi shook her head. "No, they aren't miracle workers. The healing should've helped a lot though, but it's a good thing he didn't wake up when the wounds were worse or he'd still be in pain. Oh, I haven't introduced you yet. These are two friends I met a week ago. This is Chad, a newer Pokémon trainer like me that's going to learn from Akuma and me, while the girl is Julia, a local to Saffron City." Julia, who hadn't said anything up until now gave a weak smile and nodded. She was still obviously disturbed. "Chad and Julia, this is an old friend of my family. Her name is Erika, and she's the gym leader of Celadon City."