Looking back I think this part of the story is fairly dull. Wounding a character is all fine and good until you realize they need time to recover. Then comes the filler arcs that make us all hate Naruto more. And don't go fan-flaming me about that line; you know it's true.

"You're friends with a gym leader?" Chad almost yelled while Julia's mouth hung open.

"That's right. She gave me my first Pokémon and taught me long before I left the city. I also got my first gym badge from her, but I still think she took it easy on me."

"I couldn't go all out without dangerously hurting your Pokémon Kurishimi, we both know that."

"You held back too much though."

"If you won I would think that's obvious."

"Back up ladies, I'm still in shock here," Chad interrupted, though he was more careful with his volume this time. "You can't just bring up such a fact and leave it at that."

"Well what more is there to say? You just know what she does now. How is that so different?"

"Kurishimi, you have to remember that other people aren't used to the idea of anyone being casual friends with someone of my status. Allow me to explain, Chad. One of my understudies is friends with Kurishimi's parents. We've been friends for years and she got used to the idea of being friends with a gym leader. Kurishimi if, try to consider someone being friends with an elite Pokémon master you'll get the idea."

"That's a bit more unbelievable."

"Though not much different when you think about it long enough."

"Maybe, but I'll decide later."

Erika turned her attention back to Chad and Julia. "So you two are Pokémon trainers as well, correct? May I see your Pokémon?"

"Yeah! I have six with me right now," Chad said. He took two pokéballs from his belt but hesitated before opening them. "Wait a moment, Akuma told me once that I shouldn't show someone my Pokémon in advance if I plan to beat them someday. You're a gym leader so…"

"Are you planning to battle me sometime soon?"

"No."

"Do you have more than six Pokémon?"

"Yes."

"It's fine then. The Pokémon you use to battle me in the future may very well be different than the ones you're using right now. I'm only curious to see what kind of trainer you are by looking at your Pokémon."

Convinced there was nothing wrong, Chad released Cubone, Nidorino, and Sandshrew for inspection. He explained that Cubone was a purchased Pokémon, Nidorino was newly evolved, and Sandshrew was one of his oldest friends. He thought the variety might help Erika get the best opinion.

"Cubone is putting on the tough guy act I see. Was it like this when you bought it from the vendor?"

"Yeah. It doesn't like to fight a lot unless its opponent looks tough."

"How well do you and Nidorino get along?"

"Surprisingly well. I thought it would act differently after evolving, but there wasn't too much change."

"What can you tell me about Sandshrew?"

"It was one of my first captures and I'd thought it was a rebel like Cubone, but I now think it's actually just very lazy. It's probably the toughest Pokémon I have but it doesn't battle very often because that's not its thing. I'm still happy to have it with me however."

"Very interesting. I wonder what kind of Pokémon trainer you'll become in the future."

"Wasn't learning that fact the point of seeing my Pokémon?"

"Yes, but your talents aren't as prominent as I thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you don't have any talent, it's just hard for me to pinpoint your best strengths is all."

"See anything at all you recognize?" Kurishimi asked her friend.

"I'm only guessing, but he might have a major talent that a lot of powerful trainers in the past have had. Again, I'm only guessing so I don't want to say what it is in case I'm wrong. What Pokémon did you choose when you got your trainer's license?"

"A Bulbasaur."

"Huh… if you don't mind could you let me know on occasion how you and Bulbasaur are? I'd like to know how you'll turn out."

"Um, I guess so. Oh, incoming down the hall. Back inside everyone," Chad told his Pokémon as a few of the staff came down the hall in their direction. His Pokémon quickly disappeared inside their pokéballs as instructed. One of the doctors went into Akuma's room.

"Hey Chad," Kurishimi said thoughtfully, "I think you should have a practice battle against Erika. I bet she could teach you a lot of things."

"Uh, I'll pass. She'd slaughter me."

"Oh come now. I'll play nice," Erika said with an unconvincingly innocent smile.

"I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't."

"I'll ask Akuma then since you're unsure."

Chad was about to protest then decided it was probably better to see what Akuma said. Erika went into Akuma's room then came back out.

"He thinks it's a good idea too."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He gave a wink for yes. By the way, he wants to see you Kurishimi."

"How could you tell?"

"He whispered it. Better hurry."

Kurishimi hurried quietly into Akuma's room then ran out a moment later with a paper in her hand. "I need to run to the Pokémon Center to pick up a Pokémon for him. I'll be back soon, stay here." She released Abra onto the floor. "Abra, teleport me to a nearby Pokémon Center." Abra's eyes flashed once before the two of them disappeared.

"I see the girl's got some new tricks," Erika said to no one. "Shall we head outside, Chad?" she said with another smile.

"Ugh. I know I'm going to regret this," Chad said as he walked down the hall.

"Don't worry, I won't use my strongest Pokémon to fight," Erika told Chad when they were outside. "I'll play gentle to see how good you are first."

"That's what Kurishimi said right before creaming me with her weakest Pokémon. Chad said as Julia suppressed a laugh. "And you aren't helping me either," he said with a glare at the other girl.

"I didn't say anything," Julia said casually after looking away.

"I'm still here Chad. Focus on the battle," Erika told him.

Chad turned back toward the older girl. "Right. I'll do my best." Both trainers threw a pokéball at the same time. Erika revealed a green Pokémon shaped much like a bell with a mouth on the underside. On its sides were two large leaves, and on its top side was a brown hook. Its eyes were small and wide – almost comically so. Chad's choice was Nidorino.

"Weepinbell, use growth," Erika told her Pokémon. The grass Pokémon grew slightly in size and seemed to be suddenly stronger.

"Nidorino, don't attack yet. Use focus energy and be ready to evade." Nidorino nodded and calmly prepared itself to attack.

"Weepinbell, use vine whip please." Weepinbell's hook suddenly stretched out a great distance, becoming as flexible as a piece of rope. It whipped the vine toward Nidorino horizontally across the ground.

"Jump quickly!" Chad called. Nidorino jumped the vine and landed closer to Weepinbell. "Tackle it now!" Nidorino ran at its opponent who was still retracting the vine and knocked it out of the air. It looked like it was unable to balance well on the ground so Chad had Nidorino tackle it again. "Great work Nidorino! Now use double kick!" Nidorino jumped over Weepinbell and kicked it back into the air with its hind legs.

"Stun spore attack," Erika commanded. Weepinbell released a cloud of spores from its mouth at Nidorino. The cloud was impossible to evade and Nidorino took the spore blast in full. Some spores stuck to it causing pain and paralysis.

"Nidorino, use your horn attack!" Nidorino ran shakily toward Weepinbell but fell to the ground before it had closed half the distance.

"Vine whip again now." Weepinbell once again lashed out at Nidorino with its vine, slapping it back. Nidorino was healthy enough to battle, but clearly unable to fight effectively so Chad returned it to its pokéball.

This time Chad sent out Bulbasaur. Julia was surprised that he was attacking with such an inexperienced fighter against a gym leader, but she held her tongue and kept watching. "Bulbasaur, charge that Weepinbell with your tackle attack!" Bulbasaur ran toward Weepinbell who tried to disrupt Bulbasaur with a vertical vine whip. Bulbasaur dodged left and right as the whip slapped the ground until Weepinbell used another horizontal attack which Bulbasaur jumped over. "It's a clear shot. Use vine whip! Chad yelled excitedly. Bulbasaur produced two vines from beneath its bulb that shot toward Weepinbell who was still trying to retract its own vine before moving. The vines struck Weepinbell in the face, knocking it to the ground.

Erika returned Weepinbell to its pokéball and sent out her next Pokémon. This one was a tangle of blue vines with two red shoes and two eyes peering out from inside. "That's a lumpy Pokémon," Chad said to himself.

"Constrict his Bulbasaur, Tangela," Erika commanded. Her Pokémon grabbed Bulbasaur with a number of its vines and began to squeeze tightly.

"Bulbasaur, use your growl!" Chad called out. Bulbasaur was gripped too tightly to effectively do so, but it did produce a weak growl attack.

"Vine whip toss then." Tangela whipped Bulbasaur into the air in a small arc, still holding it with its vines. Bulbasaur came back down forcefully into the ground behind Tangela with a crash. "Oopsie. Maybe that was a little too strong," Erika said nervously with a tiny laugh. She was right, because Bulbasaur wasn't able to fight anymore.

Chad substituted Bulbasaur for Cubone next. "Cubone, headbutt attack!" Cubone lunged toward Tangela and hit it with full force. Erika's Pokémon fell back and lost its balance. "Now use bone club!" Cubone began smacking Tangela repeatedly in the face with its bone. It was damaging, but it looked funny at the same time. Julia was laughing on the sidelines, which got Erika and Chad laughing too. Cubone and Tangela looked at their trainers as if they'd lost their minds.

"I'm sorry Chad, but that really killed the moment for me. I think we should stop here for the day," Erika said after she could manage to talk again.

"I agree. That was plenty for me. We're definitely done now." The two trainers put their Pokémon back into their balls while Julia was still trying to recover.

"You seem to have an interesting battle style, Chad," Erika told him when she'd calmed down completely. There wasn't even a hint at the outburst of laughter she'd displayed earlier. "I see that you focus a lot on fast attacks, but you need to think about your defense as well. Remember that your opponent can go on the offensive at any time without any hints before doing so."

"Okay, I'll try to remember that next time," Chad said with a determined nod. "Now it's Julia's turn to fight you."

Up to this point Julia had been giggling periodically, but now her eyes had widened in shock. "Oh no way, not me! My Pokémon wouldn't last more than a few minutes!"

"I think I said something similar back in the hospital? Come on, test yourself!"

"I'm going to go see if Kurishimi's back instead," Julia said before half running toward the hospital.

"Do you tease her like that often?" Erika asked the younger boy.

"I only do when she's being a bother… but she seems to act that way quite often now that I think about it. I suppose if you're here to see Kurishimi we'll have to wait near Akuma's room for her to come back anyway."

Back in Akuma's room Kurishimi had reappeared by his bed. The doctors were gone to prepare for his treatment, leaving the two of them alone.

"How's the pain?" Kurishimi asked him when he turned his head toward the sound of her footsteps.

"I can somewhat talk again it seems," Akuma replied quietly. "Did you get her for me?"

"Yeah, I've got her pokéball right here," Kurishimi said as she showed him a pokéball with an uncommon design. "Can she help treat you too?"

"No, I just want her company. Please, open her pokéball for me."

Kurishimi pressed the release button, unveiling a short pink Pokémon with dark brown ears. It was under a foot tall and shaped like a star with a hair curl on its head. When it saw Akuma on the bed, it showed a worried look and jumped up beside him. Akuma put an arm around the tiny Pokémon with surprising gentleness. "Hi Cleffa, I'm glad you're here," he told the tiny creature. Cleffa gently touched a hand to a burn on Akuma's face. "I'll be fine. It's a nasty burn, but it'll pass in time." Akuma looked toward Infernape who had been sitting in the corner since Akuma had first calmed down. "Infernape, I'll be fine now. Get some sleep; you've earned it." Infernape smiled through exhaustion before immediately nodding off. "He's been awake ever since he first found me I believe," Akuma explained to Kurishimi. "He's completely reached the limit."

Kurishimi pulled up a chair beside his bed. "So tell me, what exactly happened to you out there? I've never met a Raikou, but I can tell a tough opponent when I see them. Seeing it in person you must've realized it was a legendary Pokémon or within that area of power. Why did you start a battle with such a beast?"

"I haven't seen one before now either, and to be honest I didn't even know what it was until I heard the information from your pokédex. I've seen stronger Pokémon too and I guessed it was strong so I wanted to try my hand at a new capture. I underestimated its power unfortunately and was overconfident. I got too excited I suppose."

"Wait, back up a moment. Since when do you of all people get overconfident and underestimate your opponent? If I recall our history together I believe it was you who told me that I should always try overestimating an enemy."

"Like I said, I was - Ouch! Watch that burn please, Cleffa. I got too excited and caught up in the thought of battling. For the most part it tried to evade me which made me think I was its superior, but when it stopped running and turned to fight me properly I got beaten down severely. I made a big mistake right from the start."

"Even so you kept on fighting and you started the battle to begin with despite the obvious power difference. Can you explain that much to me?"

Akuma was silent for a moment. Cleffa and Kurishimi looked at him waiting for him to continue the story. He seemed to be thinking hard about the subject before answering. Finally he said, "Check the hallway, and close the door." Kurishimi looked toward the door but saw no one. Still she rose up and looked out into an empty hallway before closing the door. "Now close the window and curtains." Kurishimi continued to close up the room under Akuma's direction. She even looked inside the bathroom and dimmed the lights. Finally after turning on the TV loud enough so no one could hear them, Akuma allowed her to sit down again.

"So what's the big deal?"

Akuma took a long breath before beginning his story. "Have you ever heard of the Pokémon, Rayquaza?"