“Luna, Thunder Wave!”
A cascade of electrical energy shot from Luna and enveloped the surprised Raikou, binding and paralyzing it. The Raikou shuddered, trying to move its limbs, but to no avail. It let out a menacing growl.
All right, Tia thought, so far, so good. But for the love of all that is sane, please don’t use Roar-
Raikou let out a massive roar, causing all the nearby trees to shake violently. With that, Raikou quickly broke free from the Thunder Wave and rushed off, leaving a cloud of dust and electrical cascades in its wake.
Tia’s heart sank. “Not again…”
“Huh.” Aidan scratched the back of his head. “I guess trapping it just with Thunder Wave won’t work.”
“We’ll need a better trap move,” Tia said wearily, “Mean Look, maybe? Or Taunt, so it won’t Roar itself away.”
“But then, we take on the risk of Raikou defeating us entirely with attack moves,” Aidan pointed out.
“True,” Tia said, sighing.
They were interrupted by a shrill beeping noise. Tia slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out the Pokedex. Opening it up, she examined a bright red dot blinking at the edge of Route 36, where they had stationed themselves at.
“Looks like Entei’s on its way here,” Tia said.
Aidan groaned. “We are so not ready.”
As expected, Mira had come through with a useful update to the Pokedex, allowing a Trainer to track a Pokemon without requiring seen data. This made it easier for Tia and Aidan to track Raikou and Entei as they roamed around Johto.
This, however, also revealed just how often Raikou and Entei roamed the same areas. They each completed a whole circuit of Johto in just a few hours, sometimes even showing up on the same route. To prevent the nightmare of having to deal with both Raikou and Entei at the same time, Tia and Aidan had positioned themselves on routes where Raikou and Entei wouldn’t be together.
But that didn’t make the chase any easier, though.
The route immediately grew silent as Entei emerged, its paws thudding against the ground as it walked. The temperature increased several degrees. Tia and Aidan quickly hid behind a couple of trees, watching Entei as it wandered around.
Tia’s eyes widened in awe. Entei looked larger than life, surrounded by clouds of steam. It bent down to sniff the ground, then looked up to sniff the air. A rumbling noise flowed from its mouth, almost like a purr.
Tia looked around, and seeing no one else around, breathed a sigh of relief, thanking their previous selves for thinking ahead and convincing the local Trainers to stay away from Route 36 for a while.
She looked over at Aidan, and nodded. As Entei passed them, they emerged from the trees, crept behind it, and sent their Pokemon out.
Entei suddenly looked up and turned around.
“Tatra!” Aidan shouted, “Rock Tomb!”
The ground around Entei shook, and large boulders pushed up from the ground, trapping it.
“Luna, Thunder Wave!”
Electrical waves shot out and surrounded Entei, paralyzing its limbs and trapping it further.
Tia watched the battle, heart in her mouth. “Don’t use Roar… don’t use Roar…” she muttered.
Entei immediately roared, the noise shaking through the warm air. It struggled against the Thunder Wave, eventually throwing it off, then slammed itself against the Rock Tomb, loosening the boulders.
“Aidan!” Tia shouted.
Aidan pulled out another Poke Ball and threw it. “Honcho!”
A large Honchkrow appeared in a flash of red light. He let out a loud cry, flapping his wings.
“Mean Look!”
Honcho stared directly into Entei’s eyes, freezing Entei to the spot. Entei immediately stopped struggling.
“Tia!” Aidan called out.
“Right!” Tia pulled out a Legend Ball and threw it toward Entei.
A beam of electrical energy suddenly shot out, knocking the Legend Ball away. Tia gasped as she saw the Ball tumble to the ground with a clatter, and looked over to where the attack had come from. Her eyes widened in shock.
“Raikou?!”
It seemed that Raikou had retraced its steps and returned to Route 36 to join Entei in its battle.
With another massive roar, Entei freed itself and jumped next to Raikou. Both Pokemon glowed brightly, charging up powerful attacks.
“Luna!” Tia shouted, “Light Screen!”
The barrier went up just as a Thunderbolt and a Flamethrower slammed into them. Tia shuddered at the sheer power of the combined attacks.
When the attacks faded away, Tia and Aidan looked around to find Raikou and Entei stalking them in a circle, moving in opposite directions.
“W-what do we do now?” Tia stammered.
Aidan gulped, and after thinking a moment, sent out another Pokemon. “Blaze!” A shiny black Charizard appeared. At a nod from Aidan, Blaze took to the air. Raikou and Entei ignored him, focusing instead on the people and Pokemon on the ground.
When Raikou and Entei moved close to each other, Aidan shouted, “Fire Spin!”
Flames shot out and enveloped both Raikou and Entei in a fiery tornado. It was difficult to see through the flames, but it appeared as if both Pokemon were trapped.
Aidan looked over at Tia and nodded.
“Luna!” Tia shouted, “Thunder Wave!”
“Tatra, Rock Tomb!”
Within the flaming tornado, boulders appeared, and waves of electricity flowed, trapping the two Pokemon further.
“Honcho, Mean Look!”
Honcho stared through the apocalyptic flames, locking on to Raikou and Entei’s eyes and freezing them to the spot.
The air was filled with Raikou and Entei’s roars, but amid the fire, electricity, rocks, and psychic energy, they were unable to budge.
“Tatra!” Aidan shouted, “Earthquake!”
The ground beneath Raikou and Entei shook violently, causing both Pokemon to roar in pain and fall, still trapped within the firestorm.
After a few moments, there was silence.
“All right!” Tia said, “That ought to do it!” She picked up the Legend Ball that had fallen to the ground, and pulled out another one. She flung both Balls toward the elementally trapped Pokemon, and they disappeared with flashes of light.
Tia and Aidan waited for the flames and electricity to die down before they approached the Legend Balls on the ground. Tia picked both of them up, noticing one Ball was warm to the touch, and the other tingled with static.
She looked up at Aidan and their Pokemon, and smiled exhaustedly. “We did it!”
“It was little overkill,” Aidan remarked, “but we did it!”
“It was two Legendary Pokemon at the same time!” Tia replied, “Nothing would be overkill!”
When everything had settled down, Tia and Aidan sat down in the lobby of Violet City’s Pokemon Center, examining the data from the two Legend Balls:
Raikou
Level 70
Element Type: Electric
Average Electric Current: 650 kV
Capture Rate: 6.80
Entei
Level 70
Element Type: Fire
Maximum Temperature: 700°C
Capture Rate: 7.90
“Now all that’s left is Suicune,” Tia said.
“And Morty said it was more difficult to track,” Aidan replied.
Tia pulled out the Pokedex and examined Suicune’s entry, looking specifically at its nesting location. When the message “Area Unknown” flashed, she sighed and closed the Pokedex.
“Where do we even start?” she asked.
Aidan thought a moment, then nodded to himself. “I just happen to have a contact I can talk to, just for this situation.”
Tia blinked. “You do?”
“He’ll know exactly what to do,” Aidan said, “We’ll just need to convince him to help us.”