…. What? I don't have any commentary this time.
Kurishimi was surprised to see Akuma that morning, and even more surprised to hear that he had battled Chad with the boy doing well enough for Akuma to complement him on it afterward. After pacifying her curiosity Akuma went to the video phone and exchange system where he spent a full hour talking to various people on the other line. Bulbasaur was taken to the critical treatment room for a long time. Chad waited outside the room until it got out. Other than a scar on its right side Bulbasaur was as good as new, but when it saw Akuma it kept its distance until it could retreat into the pokéball.
When Akuma was done with the phone he told them both that they were leaving Saffron city that day and they should say goodbye to the girl they'd been with. Chad was sad to leave, but Kurishimi went with him to cheer him up. Akuma left the Pokémon Center too, and said for them to be back within a few hours time.
When she heard that Chad and Kurishimi were leaving Saffron Julia became very sad, however Chad didn't specifically say goodbye either, which probably helped them both. Instead he told her to get better so he could battle her again in the future. She cheered up at that, and with a wave the friends parted. Kurishimi got traveling supplies at the local stores and Chad got some things of his own. After they decided they were ready the two headed back to meet with Akuma.
Akuma had gone in a separate direction from the other two. He went south toward the center of the city to the Silph Company headquarters. He spoke with the receptionist who called down a lady to meet him in a few minutes. They spoke for a few moments before Akuma handed her the pokéball containing the Houndour he'd caught a week ago. In return she handed him a small leather bag which he accepted. After he left, he too went back to meet up with the others. Akuma was the last to arrive, and the other two were in the middle of switching out their Pokémon for new ones. When they'd finished, Akuma picked up the trading case he'd keep at the center for safe keeping, as well as gotten a replacement party member for Houndour's former spot before the three left the Pokémon Center for the final time.
As thy walked through the streets, Akuma discovered that a lot of people recognized Kurishimi's face with many of them requesting a battle though she declined every one. "You've made a name for yourself in the city I see," he commented.
"I did really well in the battle area of the city. I even got an invitation to one of the tournaments they had and took second place."
"How many were entered in the tournament?"
"Only about fifty trainers total I believe. I didn't bother to count. Sadly, the ones I fought were below my skill level."
"But you didn't win either."
"The last battle was a two on two double battle. I had a bad matchup was all."
"What were you fighting?"
"It was my Vulpix and Skarmory against a Graveler and a ghost type called Duskull. It was a close fight anyway, and a good battle to boot so I'm not bothered by how it turned out."
When they left the southern gate they didn't bother putting on the family act since Chad had a license now. When they left Akuma also had the guards scan his seventh pokéball and made up a believable story about it being a delivery from a northern village. He even had some delivery papers as 'proof', though they still had to inspect the contents of the trading case he'd brought along. When they were outside the gate Chad released Ponyta, but Akuma stopped him before he could mount.
"This time, we won't be riding. We're walking to Vermillion City now. There's no rush."
"Can Ponyta walk with us anyway?"
"That won't be a problem."
Neither of them noticed Kurishimi silently slip Onix's pokéball back to her belt.
For the early part of their journey the three walked down the road in silence, noticing various Pokémon, but not stopping to catch any. Kurishimi almost went after a bulldog creature named Snubbull, but changed her mind after realizing she had a large number of normal types already. Chad seemed interested in a few as well, but made no move to capture any after noticing Akuma was still nearby. He was still set on raising a team that could beat his master some day. Akuma was scanning the area as if he was looking for something specific. He watched a tall, blue, humanoid duck named Golduck leap into a nearby lake, but didn't go after it despite showing mild interest. He paused to look at a group of steel floating spheres in the air with screws and magnets attached to their bodies named Magnemite, but soon moved on. Everyone was silently watching for something that grabbed their interest and didn't say a word, but as they passed under a low cliff things began to happen.
Akuma looked up and saw a short, blue, toothy Pokémon looking down at them with energetic eyes and something in him snapped. He snatched a pokéball off his wrist and threw it to the ground to reveal a huge bird creature with a long beak and a red comb on its head. Akuma dropped the trading case and leapt on its back with a command to go after the small blue Pokémon. When the bird spread its wings it doubled in size before flying off after the fleeing Pokémon with Akuma on its back.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Chad asked, his mouth hanging open.
"That was a Fearow. I never knew Akuma had one though," Kurishimi said in equal shock.
"What about the Pokémon he was chasing?"
"I didn't get a good look, but I think it was a Totodile. As long as we aren't walking though, I'm getting one of those Magnemite back there," she said with a gleam in her eye. Kurishimi ran back to where the electric Pokémon were leaving Chad by himself.
Chad looked around and, realizing he'd been left alone with nobody to keep an eye on him, ran off the path toward another group of familiar Pokémon with Ponyta following behind.
As Fearow swooped over the rise, Akuma saw the short Pokémon running away toward a small lake not far off. Gaining air above the higher ground with another strong flap, Fearow sped forward to cut off the smaller creature's path. Akuma jumped off the large bird's back with a pokéball in hand as the smaller Pokémon fell backwards from trying to stop too fast.
"I finally found a Totodile," Akuma said with a wide grin. "How much fight do you have, I wonder?" In response the Totodile ran the other way. "Not much it seems. Cut it off, Fearow."
Fearow flew in front of Totodile again while Akuma watched. Again Totodile ran, and again Fearow cut it off. The two of them danced around in circles before Akuma put it back in its pokéball. Totodile froze in front of Akuma with the two of them locking eyes. Akuma's were piercing and cold, while Totodile's were paralyzed with fear. He knelt forward on one knee to look the Totodile in the eye, which was still afraid to move.
"You really are afraid aren't you?" he asked the little creature who couldn't respond. "Paralyzed with fear I see. You don't battle much I assume; you run away instead, am I right?" The little one began breathing more calmly, but still didn't move. Akuma grinned out of the corner of his mouth. "You know what? You're stronger than you think, and you could become even more powerful than you could imagine. If you'd like, I can show you how to do that. My original intention was to capture you without giving you a chance to fight back, but if you aren't willing to try to become stronger, I'll let you go." Now Totodile relaxed more and became interested in what he was saying. "Other Pokémon, like you, also fear battle. However there are some that met that challenge and became more powerful than their peers." With that, Akuma released Infernape and Gastly on either side of him. As was expected, Totodile panicked again at the sight of the larger Pokémon.
"This is Infernape. When he was a Chimchar he wouldn't battle at all. As time went by, he became one of the strongest fighters I have. My other friend is Gastly. It was a weaker creature of the tower it lived in and hid from both Pokémon and humans. It hasn't evolved since I first met it, but is still a reliable and trusted Pokémon. I know you can tell how strong it is. At its current level it could clean out the tower of all the strongest Pokémon from that time, but we haven't had a need to go back either. In fact, these two Pokémon were even weaker than you are right now back then. Imagine what you could become if you were willing to try." Totodile was staring up at Akuma's Pokémon with wide eyes for the longest time before it caught itself then looked back at the trainer. "So what do you think? Are you willing to try your best for yourself? I will help you all the while, as will my Pokémon." Akuma set down a pokéball in front of him and held out an open hand. "In the end, the choice is yours and yours alone. If you decline we will leave you in peace and not ask again. Either way, you must not regret your decision. I will probably not travel back through this route for quite some time, and there is no guarantee that you will not be captured by another trainer in the future as well. Unlike other trainers, I give you a choice. What would you decide upon?"
The group of Magnemite Kurishimi had gone after hadn't noticed her pass by earlier. All of them were asleep, but they started to wake up when a loud rumble grew from the ground under them. They looked around frantically for a cause and began to spread out until the ground exploded out from under them with Kurishimi's Onix roaring as it emerged. Kurishimi herself was clinging to Onix's horn all the while, yelling in excitement at the rush. A couple Magnemite were tossed around by the destructive force while others floated around in a panic. When Onix had torn its tail from underground it slapped a large rock toward a small group of Magnemite as a rock throw attack at Kurishimi's command. The rock crashed against a sturdy Magnemite in the center who didn't budge when the rock, which was four times its size, slammed into it and fell away. Kurishimi grinned from atop Onix's head, knowing which one she wanted.
She opened a pokéball which placed Ekans on the ground between her and Onix. After pointing out her target she instructed it to use a leer before lunging in for a bite. The Magnemite was caught in Ekans' jaws and tossed around until it became dizzy, but the other Magnemite from the group quickly came to help. Ekans was electrocuted by a thundershock attack from all directions. The resulting strike knocked it out quickly and quietly. Kurishimi shook her head in self-disapproval for forgetting about the other Pokémon in the area before attempting a capture. Though Onix was the best Pokémon to battle a large group of Magnemite with, she instead sent out her recently acquired Pinsir to do battle, opting to use Onix for protection until there was little choice otherwise.
Seeing as Pinsir was a purchased Pokémon instead of a capture, Kurishimi and Pinsir had practiced working together by using the Saffron tournaments to develop their trust in each other until they were able to work together well. Kurishimi first had Pinsir lunge for the Magnemite to attack with vicegrip. Pinsir's giant horns clamped shut over the still stunned Magnemite and began to squeeze hard, crushing the helpless Pokémon's tiny body with incredible power. Again the rest of the Magnemite used their electric attacks on Pinsir, but Pinsir shrugged off the blows and began slamming Magnemite into the ground while swinging it wildly as Ekans had earlier. The electric attacks continued, but Pinsir showed no signs of fatigue as it tossed Magnemite up into the air as a seismic toss attack. When Magnemite hit the ground, Pinsir used its small arms for a brutal brick break strike.
While this was going on, Kurishimi had Onix use its tail to slam the attacking Magnemites away to give Pinsir protection as it attacked. Realizing Onix needed help, Kurishimi sent out a third Pokémon, Grimer this time, to keep the attacks at bay. Its tough sludge composed body was an effective shield against the electrical attacks. Additionally, it was able to use a disable attack to cripple many Magnemite from using repeated thundershock attacks without Kurishimi needing to command it to do so.
As the brick break attack struck home Kurishimi launched a pokéball toward the downed Magnemite, who was so beat up it couldn't even manage a twitch. It was instantly sucked inside the pokéball and based on its severely weakened status Kurishimi assumed an easy capture, but the remaining Magnemite turned their attacks toward the pokéball itself instead of the defending and attacking Pokémon. Onix, Grimer, and Pinsir began to defend the pokéball by playing bodyguard and taking the attacks head-on. Unable to take the electric strikes herself, Kurishimi gave commands as best she could to her Pokémon until, as expected, the pokéball gave the confirmation ping. Expecting to take a moment to breathe and relax, Kurishimi and her Pokémon were instead assaulted by even more attacks from the Magnemite ranging from thundershocks and sonicbooms to a special technique called lock on that ensured some Magnemite a guaranteed hit on the prize pokéball in attempts to free their comrade. Pinsir and Grimer were replaced into their pokéballs while Onix wrapped its body around Kurishimi and the pokéball so she could get to it without being hurt too badly. Upon grabbing the pokéball, Kurishimi began climbing up her Onix toward her position at the horn while Onix tried to escape from the attacking Magnemite. When she was in place, Onix once again dug underground to escape.
The Magnemite however, did not give up that easily. They followed Kurishimi down the escape hole in pursuit, firing off attacks ahead of them all the way. Kurishimi clung to her Onix, taking cover behind the horn as they ran. Two attacks managed to strike Kurishimi despite the added coverage in addition to the darkness of the cave, but she still protected the pokéball as best she could. Finally when Onix burst from the earth Kurishimi dropped to the ground immediately. She released Vaporeon to fire its water gun down the hole toward the approaching Magnemite swarm. The attack bought her some time to catch her breath and return Onix to the pokéball as well, until Vaporeon's water gun began to lose its strength. When Vaporeon told Kurishimi her water gun was going to start losing effectiveness soon, Kurishimi ran away by a few yards until she was almost out of range of the pokéball's recall beam before returning her friend. Moving quickly, Kurishimi climbed into a nearby group of rocks and lay down to hide. Realizing the Magnemite would still come for her, she released her Skarmory to perch on the rock she was hiding behind just before the pursuing Magnemite emerged from the hole, hoping it would make them look elsewhere for her.
It seemed like ages before Skarmory gave Kurishimi the all-clear to come out from hiding. When she looked around there was no sign of the Magnemite from before. She climbed onto Skarmory's back and had it carry her over to where she'd left Akuma and Chad. When she found Chad he wasn't the same as when she'd left him. His clothes were all dirty, his hair a mess, and he had a high number of bruises as if he'd been in a fist fight.
"Just what happened to you, boy?" she asked him.
Chad gave a wide grin as he replied. "I kinda tried to catch a feisty Pokémon that was tougher than the last one of its species I saw. I got beat up and pretty much mauled, but I still caught it!"
"What did you catch? Can I see it?"
Chad waved a finger back and forth. "Nuh uh, no telling. Besides, it got transferred to storage right after I caught it anyway. I want to try raising this Pokémon on my own too; without a teacher to guide me."
"Based on your condition after trying to catch it are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I know I look like a mess, but I'll be fine, trust me. And if I can handle this one I should be able to improve myself by a lot."
"Okay, if you say so. Has Akuma shown up yet?"
"I haven't seen him now that you mention it. You think he's alright?"
"He shouldn't have taken this long to capture that Totodile, assuming that's what Pokémon it was."
"Why did he go after it like that anyway? It was very out of character for him."
"Akuma's been wanting a strong water Pokémon for the longest time, but there's a problem he has which doesn't allow him to capture water Pokémon easily. He's hydrophobic, meaning he can't be around water where water Pokémon types prefer to live. The chances of capturing a water Pokémon on land is slim to none. He's been trying to get his hands on a Totodile especially. I don't know if he likes the Pokémon or what, but it's like his dream to capture that Pokémon in particular. That's why he chased it so anxiously when he spotted it. I'm hoping he'll be able to capture it, but he shouldn't be gone this long."
Before Chad could reply a shadow passed over them both as Fearow reappeared from above the cliff carrying Akuma on its back. Fearow hovered down to the ground gently as its flapping wings whipped up a strong gust of air toward the other two travelers. When it landed Akuma returned it inside the pokéball and walked over. Kurishimi was about to ask where he'd been but stopped when she saw the Totodile hanging onto his left shoulder like an accessory.
"Totodile is joining our group on its own," Akuma said before the others could ask. "It is still a wild Pokémon, so keep your empty pokéballs away from it if you could please. No one will be allowed to capture it, no questions asked. Understand?"
Kurishimi and Chad both nodded. The Totodile's face was as emotionless as Akuma was while it looked at them, but at least it didn't appear quite as cruel. Akuma began walking down the road again while the other two followed him, but stopped after a moment to look back.
"Chad, next time you try catching a wild Pokémon, use your Pokémon to fight instead of your fists. You'll have an easier time of it."
Chad and Kurishimi stared back at him with wide eyes then broke out into laughter while Akuma and Totodile looked on.
"Since when do you crack jokes like that?" Kurishimi asked when she was able. Chad was still busy laughing while Totodile appeared confused.
"If you'd prefer I didn't say anything at all I will refrain myself next time. Let's go," Akuma told her before walking away.
"I didn't mean it like that. Hey wait up, Akuma!"