Even from a distance, the ethereal presence of the Pokemon of the North Wind was awe-inspiring.
Carefully concealed behind a large rock, Tia and Aidan watched as Eusine walked along the warm sands at the edge of Cianwood City, taking care not to startle Suicune as it sat on the sand.
After a moment of silence, Suicune looked up. Seeing Eusine approach, it stood up on all fours and softly growled, the noise coming out almost like a purr. Its head tilted questioningly.
Eusine gave a slight smile, and slowly reached out to Suicune. Suicune bowed its head, low enough for Eusine to stroke it once. Then it went on its way, its paws lapping against the water as it crossed the sea.
“It won’t be long now…” Eusine murmured. He turned around to see Tia and Aidan jog over to him.
“That was amazing,” Tia said breathlessly.
“It must know you so well,” Aidan added, “to let you so close to it!”
Eusine smiled to himself. “Suicune is following a familiar pattern,” he said instead, “From here, it will appear on several routes until it finally shows up at the base of the Tin Tower.”
“So we can stay ahead of the game and meet it at Tin Tower!” Tia said excitedly.
“Not exactly,” Eusine spoke up. “The Sages of Ecruteak are very… particular when it comes to who can enter Tin Tower. You’ll need to pass a test of character before they let you in.”
Tia nodded, reminded of the Dragon Master’s test she was compelled to take in Blackthorn City.
“If we explain our situation to the Sages,” Aidan said, “maybe they’ll be willing to test us.”
“What about you?” Tia asked Eusine.
Eusine gave her a lopsided smile. “The Sages know me well enough already – they won’t need to test me.”
The three Trainers continued to track Suicune until they returned to Ecruteak City. There, Tia and Aidan attempted to reason with the 3 Sages guarding the entrance to Tin Tower.
“We just want to observe Eusine as he battles Suicune,” Aidan said calmly.
The Sages were silent for a few moments. Then one of them spoke up. “It is true that Suicune’s presence is close,” he said, “and surprising that Eusine here is willing to vouch for you. Even so, the two of you must be tested.”
“We understand,” Tia said.
The Sage nodded. “If you are ready,” he said, pulling out a Poke Ball, “let’s begin.”
The battles were grueling – three Double Battles back to back with each Sage – but Tia and Aidan managed to defeat all three of them.
“We concede,” one of the Sages announced, bowing his head. “You both have proven yourselves worthy to enter the Tin Tower.”
Tia glanced over at Aidan and smiled, then saw Eusine walking toward them.
“The legends say that Suicune is the closest of the three Legendary Beasts to Ho-Oh,” Eusine said. “It could be that our battle with Suicune might inspire Ho-Oh to return here to Tin Tower.” He looked pointedly at Tia and Aidan. “Are you two ready for that possibility?”
Both Trainers nodded.
“All right,” Eusine said with finality. “Let’s meet here again tomorrow morning.”
A few hours before dawn broke, Eusine slipped out of the Pokemon Center. As he walked toward Tin Tower, he checked his Pokegear watch. 5:28 AM. He felt a little guilty for not waking up Tia and Aidan, but he had a gut feeling that Suicune had already arrived and was waiting for him.
His hunch was correct. When he arrived at the base of Tin Tower, the Sages were there waiting for him.
“Suicune has returned,” one Sage said.
“It is waiting for you,” another Sage added, “Waiting for a battle with a worthy Trainer to whom it can entrust itself!”
“Whether that Trainer is you,” the third Sage said, “is left to the both of you to discover.”
Eusine nodded solemnly, and continued on inside the Tower.
At the center of the Tower’s first floor, near the center support pillars, stood Suicune. It stared Eusine directly in the eyes, as if staring into his very soul, then let out a roar of challenge.
Eusine immediately pulled out a Poke Ball and threw it. “Go! Electrode!”
As Electrode appeared in a flash of red light, Eusine commanded, “Thunderbolt!”
A blast of electricity streaked through the air and hit Suicune head on. But Suicune merely shook it off. With a roar, it glowed brightly, forming a transparent wall in front of it that suddenly rushed toward Electrode and slammed into it, sending Electrode flying.
Eusine grimaced. Suicune had used Mirror Coat, meaning that Electrode had just received double the power of the Thunderbolt it just used.
Electrode spun around dizzily until it came to a stop, its eyes whirling around in confusion.
“Electrode, Return!” Electrode disappeared into its Poke Ball, then Eusine sent out another Pokemon. “Alakazam!”
When Alakazam appeared, Suicune had already readied its next attack. A swirling, neon purple beam shot out, heading directly toward Alakazam.
Eusine looked over at Suicune in alarm. “Psychic!” he shouted, hoping Alakazam’s attack was enough to fend off the incoming Extrasensory.
There was a blast of energy and a loud boom as both psionic waves collided with each other. Both Suicune and Alakazam stared at each other, each pushing their attack forward, until there was a loud crackle and both attacks absorbed each other in a massive bomb blast.
Eusine shielded his eyes, and when the light from the blast faded, he could see both Alakazam and Suicune, still standing, with Alakazam taking deep breaths to recover.
Then, Suicune stepped forward, slowly at first, then much quicker, with a powerful attack charging from its mouth. A moment later, it fired a Hydro Pump at Alakazam.
“Alakazam, dodge it!” Eusine called out.
Alakazam quickly disappeared and reappeared, dodging the Hydro Pump multiple times until it appeared in midair, right above Suicune.
“Psychic!” Eusine shouted.
The psionic beam slammed into Suicune, stunning it as Alakazam landed on the ground nearby.
“All right, Alakazam, use Hypnosis!”
Alakazam stared into Suicune’s eyes, sending out psychic signals to lull Suicune to sleep. For a moment, it looked like it had worked, as Suicune closed its eyes. But Suicune’s eyes suddenly opened, and it immediately fired an Aurora Beam directly into Alakazam’s face, half freezing the Pokemon into a block of ice.
Suicune let out a roar and shook itself off, and Eusine could see it breathing heavily. It wouldn’t be long before Suicune burned out entirely, and he hoped his remaining Pokemon would last until then.
“Alakazam, Return!”
Eusine returned Alakazam’s Poke Ball to his belt, and pulled out a third Poke Ball. He stared at it for a moment, then sent it out.
“Haunter!” With a flick of its tongue and a cackle, Haunter appeared in a flash of red light.
“Dark Pulse!” Eusine shouted, just as Suicune breathed a thick mist out of its mouth.
Haunter immediately disappeared into the mist. Eusine looked around as the mist got thicker and the room got darker, but couldn’t see anything.
Suddenly, a bright, violet light flashed from the far side of the room as Haunter reappeared behind Suicune and fired a Dark Pulse into its back.
Suicune roared and staggered, almost falling to the ground, but righted itself at the last minute. It opened its mouth to charge up one final attack.
“Haunter, Shadow Ball!” Eusine called out.
Before Suicune could fire its attack, Haunter let out a bone-chilling cackle and fired a Shadow Ball into Suicune’s face, knocking it over and neutralizing its attack. There was an agonizing moment, as Suicune struggled to stay on its feet, and it turned to face Eusine with its soul-searching gaze. It gave a slow nod, then collapsed to the ground.
Without stopping to think, Eusine pulled out the prototype Legend Ball Tia had given him, and threw it toward Suicune with all his strength. The Ball bounced against Suicune’s head and opened, gathering Suicune inside with a flash of light.
Eusine watched with bated breath as the Legend Ball wobbled once, twice, a third time… then stopped.
As if he was in a daze, Eusine approached the Legend Ball and picked it up. The Ball felt cold through his pristine white gloves, then slowly grew warm. Eusine stared at the Ball for a long moment, closed his eyes, then opened them again, a victorious smile on his face.
There was suddenly a loud ruckus near the entrance of the Tin Tower, startling Eusine out of his reverie. He looked over at the door as it rattled and slid open to reveal Tia, huffing and puffing… and looking very exasperated.
“Is it all over?” she asked shrilly, stomping over to Eusine with Aidan following behind.
“Tia…” Aidan said warningly.
Eusine nodded calmly, holding up the Legend Ball containing Suicune.
Tia let out a groan. “I can’t believe this! Why didn’t you wake us up?”
Aidan sighed and put his hands on Tia’s shoulders. “Calm down,” he said hastily, “I’m sure he didn’t mean to leave us out. He was probably eager to have his moment with Suicune.” He glanced over at Eusine. “Right?”
Eusine chuckled. “You could say that.”
“And what a moment it was,” one of the Sages murmured, still awestruck.
“We have never seen a battle that intense,” another Sage added.
“You two were truly amazing,” the third Sage said.
Tia looked at all three of them in exasperation. “I wish I could’ve seen it,” she said glumly.
Once Tia’s mood improved, she set up her workstation and Eusine handed over Suicune’s Legend Ball for analysis.
Suicune
Level 70
Element Type: Water
Lowest Temperature: -30°C
Capture Rate: 3.05
Tia opened up the Pokedex and viewed Suicune’s completed entry, nodding to herself. Then she closed the Pokedex and unplugged Suicune’s Legend Ball from her workstation. She handed the Ball back to Eusine almost reverently.
“That’s just about everything we need,” she said. “Thank you for all your help, Eusine.”
Eusine shook his head. “Thank you,” he replied, “for helping me to be a Trainer Suicune can respect.”