In this chapter, Chris is going to catch a Houndour. Since Houndour is normally only found in Kanto I figure I might as well include it now. I figure that Chris could use a fire type like that. Of course, Houndour can also be found in the Safari Zone in the remakes, but but anyways...I also intend to give Sarah a fire type that represents something destructive as befitting her personality...but not just yet.

Speaking of Sarah, she's going to catch a Pokemon too. It's that Aipom that she encountered earlier. After that, she's going to keep on heading to Mahogany Town.

Chapter 19: Houndoured

"Do you have to do your training at night? I hear that at night Pokemon like to go hunting..." noted Ned. Ghost Pokemon also tended to go outside at night. Seems it was easier to get the jump on people that way.

"I'll be fine." answered Chris. She had her Pokemon with her. What was the worst that could happen? She doubted that there were Legendary Pokemon in a small town like Azalea.

Besides, they had gone far from Azalea Town, since Chris wanted to rematch Bugsy. They could come running back if they ever got into trouble. Nurse Joy could surely heal their injured Pokemon like she always did.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of howling.

Ned started to feel rather nervous.

"What's this?" inquired Chris. It seemed that there were wild Pokemon nearby.

Shortly afterward, a wild Houndour appeared. Apparently, Ned was right when he said that aggressive wild Pokemon came out at night.

"Houndour..." said the fire Pokemon. He appeared to be looking for something, though Chris wasn't quite sure what.

Ned began to sweat. This was what he was afraid of.

"See what I mean, Chris?" asked Ned. That Pokemon didn't look exactly friendly.

As soon as the Houndour saw Chris, it began to bark.

Ned began to sweat harder.

Fortunately, it wasn't attacking her. Perhaps he was more bark than bite, though he did look rather scary. Not as scary as his evolution, but scary nonetheless.

Chris scanned the Houndour with her Pokedex. Might as well learn some information about the Pokemon before catching it. What type pf Pokemon could it possibly be?

"Houndour, the Dark Pokemon! Houndour typically hunts in packs, and has excellent teamwork skills!" exclaimed Chris.

This Houndour was male.

Chris noticed that for some strange reason this Houndour was not with his pack. That was unusual given what the Pokedex had to say about that particular Pokemon.

"Wait, where's the rest of your pack?" asked Chris. Was this a lone Houndour?

"Houndour..." murmured the Houndour. He was looking for them. Where were they? Maybe he should try howling at the moon. That ought to attract their attention.

"Well, since you're all alone...how about I challenge you with my Poliwag? If I win, you'll be coming with me." dared Chris.

Houndour noted that he did like a challenge...though he doubted that he would ever challenge the pack leader.

"Houndour!" exclaimed the dog Pokemon. Challenge accepted.

"You remind me of my Growlithe..." remarked Ned.

"Houndour?" asked Houndour. They were a rather similar Pokemon...though for some strange reason Growlithe were a lot more popular as pets.

"Go, Poliwag!" exclaimed Chris, tossing Poliwag's Pokeball.

"Poliwag!" shouted the water Pokemon as he appeared out of his Pokeball. He had been itching for a fight and now it looked like he was getting his chance.

Houndour noted that he might be in trouble. Poliwag happened to be a water type, and he happened to be a fire type.

However, he also realized that he wasn't just a fire type. He was also a dark type.

Unfortunately, dark types weren't super effective against water Pokemon, though they weren't ineffective against water types either.

"Wait...what's this about being a dark type?" questioned Chris.

"According to the Pokedex, dark types work best against psychic types. They're effective against ghost types too." noted Ned.

However, they were weak to fighting and bug types. Fortunately, Houndour's fire type cancelled his bug type weakness out, so he didn't have to worry as much about bug Pokemon shooting Signal Beams at him.

Chris noted that with different regions came different types of Pokemon.

"Poliwag, use Water Gun!" instructed Chris.

Poliwag nodded and pelted Houndour with a blast of water from his mouth. He had learned how to fire it quickly. That was something that he was proud of.

"Houndour!" exclaimed the fire Pokemon. Now he was soaking wet.

In retaliation, he took a bite into Poliwag.

"Poliwag!" exclaimed the water Pokemon. That hurt.

Fortunately, he didn't take too much damage.

Poliwag proceeded to use Bubble.

The bubble burst on the wild Houndour's face, much to his surprise. He jumped in alarm.

"Houndour!" exclaimed the fire Pokemon. Type disadvantages were a real pain. His pack had to choose their targets carefully because of that.

Houndour began to pant. He was feeling tired. Life would be easier for him if he fought against a grass or a psychic type. An Exeggcute would be a perfect opponent for him.

Chris tossed a Dusk Ball at the Houndour. She could thank Kurt for giving her one. How many different kinds of apricorns were there, anyway? They seemed to come in all sorts of different colors.

After a few seconds, Houndour was caught.

"Yes!" exclaimed Chris.

Now she could use it against Bugsy. That should make her life a lot easier, wouldn't it?

"You sure you want a Pokemon like that? He's probably aggressive." asked Ned. He recalled the time that Chris had caught a Gastly even though it terrified him. They just had different tastes in Pokemon.

Chris sent out Houndour from his Pokeball.

"Let's see if he's vicious as you claim..." stated Chris.

Chris patted Houndour on the head.

Houndour began to pant. That felt surprisingly nice. Why didn't the other Houndours ever think of that?

Then again, they focused more on hunting than personal pleasure.

She then scratched behind Houndour's ear.

Houndour licked her in the face.

"Huh. I guess he's not so fierce after all." noted Ned. Perhaps he shouldn't judge a book by its cover...unless there was a skull on crossbones on the book along with a message saying that the book should never be opened.

"Yeah...I think that Gastly that I caught in the Pokemon Tower was scarier" remarked Chris. Ned was a lot more frightened by Gastly than she was.

Still, she got the feeling that Houndour wasn't a bad fighter and that he would be useful for her.

Meanwhile...

After making their way through the Ilex Forest, Jake and Lucy encountered Sarah.

Lucy in particularly enjoyed the scenery, though she was a bit dismayed that the trees were being used to make charcoal. Too much tree cutting was hazardous to the environment.

There was a reason that she liked grass Pokemon, though for some strange reason her Venusaur was also a poison type.

Her Clefairy was looking forward to going to Goldenrod City. She heard that there was a famous celebrity living there. Her name was Morgiana.

"Sarah? Is that you?" inquired Lucy.

"Clefairy?" questioned Lucy's Clefairy. Was Sarah looking for something? Despite her kleptomaniac tendencies, she had not taken anything from her, so she wasn't sure what she was looking for.

Sarah nodded.

Jake noticed that Sarah wasn't wearing her hat.

"What happened to your hat?" asked Jake.

"A wild Pokemon stole it..." explained Sarah, rubbing her bare head.

"I know how that feels..." answered the boy. He still remembered his meeting with his Mankey, who was now a Primeape.

"Maybe you need something to lure it out?" questioned the girl.

Sarah reached into her bag and pulled out a banana.

"Hmm..." said Sarah.

She decided to set the banana on the ground to see if Aipom would appear.

The ape Pokemon did.

A wide smile formed on its face as it noticed the banana.

"Aipom!" exclaimed the ape Pokemon. Nothing like a tasty snack while swinging from vines.

Happily, the Aipom munched on the banana, leaving the banana peel on the ground.

However, it began to wonder why there was a banana in the floor. This wasn't a jungle, was it?

Suddenly, Sarah tossed a Pokeball at the ape Pokemon.

Aipom's eyes widened in surprise. It looked like this was a trap.

However, it was already too late. The Pokeball opened up and it was sucked inside.

In the process, Aipom dropped the hat that she was wearing on its head.

Sarah then quickly put on her hat.

"That feels so much better..." remarked Sarah.

After a brief struggle, the Pokeball dinged.

"Hmm?" questioned the pink-haired girl.

Sarah decided to scan Aipom with her Pokedex. She simply wanted her hat back, but this was a nice added bonus.

"Aipom, the Long Tail Pokemon! Aipom's tail ends with a hand-like appendage that can be used to grab onto tree branches! However, its actual hands are rather clumsy!" exclaimed the Pokedex.

"Reminds me a bit of myself..." answered Sarah. Only in her case, it was her legs that were clumsy.

Perhaps it would be best for her new Aipom not to hold onto anything for her...unless, of course, she was using the hand that was on her tail.

"You sure have been catching a lot of Pokemon..." noted Lucy.

Sarah nodded. Fortunately, she had access to Bill's PC. Speaking of which, she heard that his family lived in Goldenrod City.

Since she got her hat back, she decided to head back to Goldenrod City. It was time for her to resume her trip to Mahogany Town.

After seeing Sarah off, Lucy and Jake noticed that there was a Pokemon Daycare nearby.

Perhaps visiting it would be rather interesting.

They decided to go inside and check it out.

Meanwhile...

Since Chris had lost last time, she decided to make adjustments to her Pokemon team. Chances are she would do better that way.

Fortunately, Nurse Joy had managed to heal her new Houndour and her Poliwag rather quickly.

"Take care now! Although, I'm starting to wonder if I should have a Pokemon Center that's next to a gym...I always seem to have to work overtime..." noted Nurse Joy.

Well, she was being paid. That was what mattered, right?

Since her Pokemon were in top condition, Chris decided it was time to enter the gym again.

"Are you here for a rematch?" asked Bugsy. For some strange reason whenever trainers lost they always seemed to lose to his Scyther, not to his Kakuna or Metapod.

Well, they were Butterfree and Beedrill now.

Chris nodded.

"Go, Butterfree!" exclaimed the bug Pokemon trainer.

Bugsy sent out Butterfree.

"Butterfree!" shouted the butterfly Pokemon, flying around the gym.

Chris sent out Houndour.

"Houndour!" exclaimed Houndour.

"Butterfree, use Confusion!" instructed Bugsy.

Butterfree used Confusion.

But much to his surprise, Confusion didn't hurt Houndour at all.

Houndour looked at Butterfree with confusion. Why exactly did Butterfree try to use a psychic type move on him of all Pokemon?

It seemed that dark types were invulnerable to psychic type attacks.

"Well, this is rather convenient for me, isn't it?" remarked Chris.

Bugsy noted that he might be in trouble. Unfortunately, Butterfree did not use bug types, so he couldn't do super effective damage towards Houndour.

"Houndour, use Ember!" instructed Chris.

Houndour nodded and used Ember on Butterfree. Naturally, it was super effective.

"Butterfree!" exclaimed the butterfly Pokemon. Even without his pack, Houndour was not a weak opponent.

Butterfree tried to use Tackle, but Houndour was too quick. He did a lot of running back when he was in the wild, so he had rather decent reflexes.

Chris instructed Houndour to use Ember again.

Butterfree fainted.

"Butterfree..." murmured the bug Pokemon. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to do well. She was up against a fire type and she was a bug type.

Bugsy sighed. Round one went to Chris.

Still, things would be worse if his Metapod hadn't evolved recently, so he was thankful for that.

It was time to send out Beedrill.

"Go, Beedrill!" exclaimed Bugsy.

"Beedrill!" shouted the bee Pokemon.

"Ready, Houndour?" asked Chris.

Houndour nodded. He defeated one of Bugsy's Pokemon, so he was under the impression that he could take on another.

"Beedrill, use Poison Sting!" instructed Bugsy.

Beedrill nodded and lunged towards Houndour with her stinger. Maybe some venom would allow Bugsy to turn the battle around.

However, Houndour dodged it and he bit into Beedrill.

"Beedrill!" exclaimed the bee Pokemon.

He then followed with an Ember attack, burning Beedrill.

However, Beedrill hit Houndour with Fury Attack.

"Houndour!" exclaimed the fire Pokemon. That was one angry Beedrill.

Shortly afterwards, Beedrill fainted from the burn.

"Beedrill..." murmured the bee Pokemon. Was Scyther going to be enough to take down all three of Chris's Pokemon?

With Beedrill out of the picture, Bugsy sent out his last Pokemon.

That Pokemon of course was his Scyther.

"Scyther!" exclaimed the mantis Pokemon. It looked like Butterfree and Beedrill had both failed.

"Round 2 with Scyther, eh? Let's see if I do better this time..." noted Chris.

Of course, since she had a fire type, she probably WOULD do better.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Scyther was too fast for Houndour. He was moving too fast for Houndour to see...and it was rather difficult to hit an opponent if they weren't visible.

Scyther struck Houndour with U-Turn before he could react.

Unfortunately, it seemed that dark types were vulnerable to bug types. However, Houndour's fire typing helped counter that.

Even so, that U-Turn packed a wallop.

"Use Fury Cutter!" instructed Bugsy.

Scyther cut into Houndour viciously.

Houndour fainted. It looked like taking on three bug Pokemon was too much for him.

"Dang...fortunately, I think I may have come up with a solution to dealing with Scyther..." noted Chris.

"What solution is that?" asked Ned.

Chris withdrew her fainted Pokemon and sent out Shellder.

"Shellder!" exclaimed the water Pokemon.

Bugsy wondered what Chris was up to.

He decided to have Scyther use Fury Cutter on Shellder.

However, Shellder blocked it with her shell.

"Scyther?" inquired the bug Pokemon.

"I figured I needed a good defense to get past Scyther..." noted Chris.

"Shielder!" exclaimed Chris's Shellder. Thank goodness for her sturdy shell. Personally she wondered how strong her shell would be once she became a Cloyster.

Eventually, Scyther started to tire.

"Scyther..." muttered the mantis Pokemon. Such an ironclad Pokemon.

Now it was Chris's opportunity to fight back.

"Shellder, use Icicle Spear!" exclaimed Chris.

Shellder nodded and launched Icicle Spears at Scyther.

Scyther was frozen solid.

"Scy...ther." said the frozen bug Pokemon. It looked like his opponent wanted him to chill out...literally. His teeth were chattering.

Bugsy noted that this fight might not turn out so well for him this time. Now that Scyther was frozen, there was nothing stopping Shelder from attacking him.

Now that Scyther was safely frozen, Chris decided that now would be a good time for her to go on the offensive.

Chris had Shellder use Brine on Scyther.

Scyther collapsed on the ground.

"Congratulations. Here is your Hive Badge." said Bugsy.

Chris happily accepted the Hive Badge. Now it was time to head to Goldenrod City.

"Score!" exclaimed Chris.

"I guess we better get going..." noted Ned.

Chris nodded. She wanted to get her third badge.

Together, the two of them set off to Goldenrod City.

It looks like Chris managed to obtain the Hive Badge. Now it is time to go to Goldenrod City so that they can get their next badge. Whitney is a strong Gym Leader, much like most of the Gym Leaders in Johto. On the lighter side, she only has two Pokemon...

In the next chapter, Lucy and Jake are going to stop by the Pokemon Daycare...