Whatever this 'Entei' was, one thing was clear. It was pissed.

Nuvema Town wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination from what Formaggio had seen, and with few people to its name at that, but already it seemed much of the town was engulfed by the flames. It felt...far too familiar to him in a way that caused his breath to hitch in his throat once the extent of the danger became obvious.

"This isn't good…." Professor Juniper muttered under her breath, stepping back as they watched the massive Pokemon sent a flurry of flames in what seemed to be random directions, "If it keeps up like this it will burn, the town and the forest to the ground, and we don't have any strong enough trainers to keep it back."

"Yeah no shit…." Formaggio said, "Doesn't anyone in this town have a gun or something you could use to kill it?" he asked, the three of them narrowly having the time to move away from the lab as it sent a fireball their way, crashing to the door and singeing the edges of Formaggio's clothes.

"You can't kill it!" Bianca replied, voice even more frantic than in her multitudes of apologetic tirades.

"It's a legendary deity, even if someone had a weapon like that it wouldn't work, not like it would be right to do so in the first place. Entei is likely distraught after being displaced so suddenly and in an unfamiliar place. If we had more water-type Pokemon or trainers we'd maybe have a chance of safely evacuating the town and diminishing damages until someone came but we don't have that luxury…" The Professor explained, biting her thumb and looking back to the research lab.

It wasn't another moment more before she was bolting back towards it, ducking her head to avoid a wave of heat the monster made, "Lady what the hell are you doing?!" he yelled after her.

"Get Bianca out of here! I need to make sure everyone gets out and we get out as much of our research as we can!" Professor Juniper yelled back to him, surprisingly athletic for her age, before disappearing into the lab that was surely not long for this world if this kept up.

"Stupid bitch…" he cursed under his breath and glanced back to Bianca who looked on the verge of a panic attack, "Ditching me with this kid while everything is going to hell…" a part of him, wanted to just bolt, hell to the kid and the professor and the whole damn town at this point. It wasn't his problem, it wasn't his world, and who knew where a safe place would even be in this mess.

"We need to go, g-go help her!" Bianca said, though if her shaking was any indication she was in nowhere near a good enough state to actually follow through on that. He didn't blame her for her fear, that was warranted given how this thing seemed dead set on burning everything up, and perhaps he should have been more panicked given this was his situation right before he'd ended up here. What he couldn't get behind was her idea of going in after someone he knew would be dead soon.

"Not you too blondie!" Formaggio said, grabbing her wrist, "We're leaving, that Professor is as good as ash by now and we'll be next if we don't get going!" he snapped at her.
Bianca tensed up as he touched her but didn't pull away trying to take a tentative step forward. But as she did, Entei sent a glare in their direction making Bianca flinch and nod. Not resisting now as Formaggio ran with her. A good thing too since he was just about ready to leave her to her fate.

Running into the forested region around the town, they found it seemed most of the population had decided to shelter there. He was right, it was a small town of what seemed to be 100 or so people and their Pokemon. Interestingly, he watched as a few of these creatures were keeping the fires at bay by spewing water from their mouths. It was strange to watch but gave him some ease that they'd be safe for now. His head was starting to hurt from all of the questions and stress that was piling up in his mind.

"Bianca!" a sharp voice cut through the nearby chaos and sounds of crying children as a balding man ran forward, "Where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I have been? What took you so long? Why weren't you in the house? And who is this man you're with? And-"

With how the man was talking it was fairly obvious he was Bianca's father and a jackass at that. Living in the mafia made one better at spotting bad people and what would look like some as just a worried parent, Formaggio could tell was more of a controlling and possessive one. Possibly worse if the way Bianca flinched at his scoldings was any indication, while a woman he assumed to be her mother watched in silent indifference.

His eye twitched. While he had a hard time dealing with teenagers, he had a soft spot in his hardened heart for kids, especially living in an area where so many were subjected to rotten home lives. He'd made it his personal mission a few times to...take care of the problems those kids dealt with, and while he was in no position to make this problem disappear right now, he could still make something happen.

So, even with the chaos going on, he approached the man like he would any of his other hits, casually, as if going to speak to a friend. "Now now, there's no need for that, we're all scared here." he said, a smile across his face that took more practice than one would expect to get just right. "I can answer one of those questions for her, I'm Formaggio. Now why don't we all just relax an-"

"Who the hell asked you!?" the man snapped back, "This is a family matter so keep your nose out of it!"

"Mr. Formaggio, it's okay really." Bianca tried to insist but he just upped his game.

"Funny, for something that should be a family issue you're sure making it loud enough for everyone to hear? You'd almost think you're trying to get the attention of the whole town since they're practically all here anyways. And besides, it ain't like it's worth digging in on blondie when I'm pretty sure she's not the one who set anything on fire unless I missed something. I could have, it's been a weird enough day." he replied, he could practically see the steam pouring from the man's ears.

"You have no right to speak to me like that young man, especially not about my daughter! You are not her father!" he continued on, and in a brief glance at Bianca, Formaggio noticed just how anxious she was becoming, somehow worse than when the literal beast spewing fire had glared at them.

"No but I'm also smart enough to notice that now isn't the best time to be ranting and raving to a kid who is clearly pretty damn shaken up already. Jesus Christ man, you should be comforting her or something, isn't that what parents are supposed to do with shit like this?"

"Who the hell are you to show up out of nowhere giving me this crap? I've never seen you in this town before and you show up in the middle of a disaster with my daughter and you're expecting me to just take your advice?"

"Considering I just got her ass out of that mess when that Professor lady ran into the burning lab I'd hope I can at least defend her a bit!" Formaggio shot back.

"The Professor did what?" a new voice said as a boy around Bianca's age came running up. He was a bit taller than Formaggio and with dark hair and a blue jacket. What caught his attention though were the red glasses that sat on his face. They reminded him far too much of a certain 'friend' back home. He was rushing in from the town, helping one of the laboratory assistants over who seemed to be barely clinging onto consciousness.

"Cheren!" Bianca called out running over to him as another person helped take the assistant off the teen's hands. "Where were you? Are you okay?" she asked, eyes wide in concern as she dusted off some ash that had attached itself to his jacket.

It didn't take a genius to figure out they were friends and rather than deal with Bianca's father anymore he turned to the two teens instead. Though not before tripping the older man when he tried to chase after his daughter.

"I had been heading to the lab when the Entei appeared, I hung back as I suspected some people from the lab would be more concerned with saving their research than themselves. Unfortunately, I was right. I was only able to help them out before some of the buildings began to collapse. If the professor isn't out yet, her and anyone else…." Cheren explained, trailing on as another roar shot through the air.

"Shit...I told her it was stupid…" Formaggio grunted in response, crossing his arms as he looked to the rising smoke from the town. Why was he starting to feel bad? It wasn't like he knew her, not like he cared.

"And who are you?" the boy, Cheren, asked as he looked at him.

"He's, he's Formaggio...it's a long story." Bianca replied, looking past Cheren and to the flames herself, "Cheren, there, there has to be a way to help her out, and get them out without upsetting Entei anymore."

"It's more difficult than if any other fire type were attacking. Entei already is known to have shaky relations with humans and its fires can burn much hotter than normal fires. No one in town is a strong enough trainer...I mean we could try talking with it."

"Talk? With that thing?" Formaggio asked as if to prove his point there was a loud crash nearby.

"Yes. As a legendary it has human-like intelligence, if we could find a way to explain things to it, we could maybe calm it down but that is assuming someone could get close enough to do so." The more the boy spoke the more Formaggio wondered if he was related to Juniper, they seemed to have the same analytical attitude and problem solving he'd seen in her.

"The Professor could probably talk to it...but we don't even, even know if she's okay ooooh I don't even want to think about it!" Bianca replied, still shaking as Cheren put a hand on her shoulder and solemnly sighed.

Formaggio shoved his hands into his pockets, it wasn't his problem, this wasn't his problem, they weren't his problem. But dammit the look of hopelessness and worry that the kids were displaying was starting to chew away at him. Long ago, before he'd joined the mafia he'd been called a bleeding heart for falling for every little sob story a kid gave him. And for whatever reason, this situation was starting to claw out that part of him he'd thought he'd left long behind. "Fuck it." he finally said, catching the attention of the kids.

"Wait what are you- You can't just go running in there! Do you have any Pokemon?" Cheren asked as he watched Formaggio begin walking back towards the town. Footsteps hesitant even as he acted.

"Nope but clearly no one in this town of softies and one asshole is going to get their ass moving so I guess I gotta be the one to step in." he replied, "No promises I won't do some looting on my way back though," he added before running on ahead.

"Didn't you call the professor stupid for running in like that! You'll get hurt!" Bianca yelled at him but he was already too far away.

If the professor was as smart as she was, even if it was a long shot she was his best chance at getting home. Letting her burn to death wouldn't exactly make that easier.

Professor Juniper had long planned to have some more powerful Pokemon on hand in the event of an incident just like this, the kind that could very nearly end Nuvema Town for good if it hadn't already. But she never seemed to have the memory to do so, always focussing on taking care of the next batch of new trainers as well as her research. It was certainly biting her in her ass now as the laboratory was almost completely engulfed in flames, carrying one of her injured assistants, a young woman named Ashley, with some help from her Minnicino.

For whatever reason the sprinkler system hadn't gone off properly, only dousing a few areas of the building, which was, grant it, enough for her to start finding a way out of the mess. On the arm that wasn't helping move Ashley, she had a bag with her laptop and most important research documents, as well as the Pokeballs of the pokemon who were physically in the building including the two starters, meant for Bianca and Cheren. She thought of using Oshawott, the water Pokemon to handle some of the flames but as the pokemon was only level 5 it wouldn't have access to any water-type moves yet.

It wasn't looking good, she could admit that much as she was rocked by a coughing fit, her Cinccino looking up at her in concern. The smoke inhalation was getting to her and she couldn't imagine lasting long in this situation. But if she knew right, she was getting them close to the exit after having to go deeper into the lab to ensure everyone was out. As she'd only found the one person (and thankfully no bodies) she'd have to hope everyone else had gotten out by now.

Her foot kicked into a piece of the ceiling that had fallen down, sending her and her charge falling to the ground in a painful sounding thump. She groaned as she recovered from the landing, Cinniccino running to her side and nuzzling her head into her trainer's. Professor Juniper pat her head, "I'm okay really I think….I think I just need a minute…" she replied, interrupted by a worse sounding fit of coughs as her chest began to burn. Her head was throbbing and she was starting to feel dizzier the longer she stayed still but she couldn't bring her body to move to get up again. With great effort, she pulled her body towards the wall, using it to try and sit up as her assistant fell into coughs as well. "We'll get out I promise." she tried to sound encouraging, like the upbeat professor she usually was. But it was getting harder and harder with every moment to actually believe that.

She didn't have the strength to keep struggling through the building and especially not to carry someone else along at the same time when she was sure she'd be passing out soon. It pained her to make the decision but she felt as if she didn't have a choice at this point. Pulling her bag off and passing it to her partner, "Hurry, get out of here, I'm not going to make it but you should be able-" she was broken up by coughs, "You should be able to find a way out of here, go, please." she insisted as the small Pokemon began its yips of protest. "No don't, it won't do any good for you to die here. Please, you need to get the other pokemon out, and my research." she pleaded as the edges of her vision were darkening, she couldn't hold on much longer.

"Hey lady!" she weakly turned her head to the sound of the voice to see the Faller from before trudging through the hallway towards her, she was almost ready to believe he was a figment of her imagination, "We weren't done talking you know that. But we can get to that once you get outta here, those two brats are worried sick about you."

Two brats...he must mean Cheren and Bianca, at least that meant they were okay. "No, I...I don't have the strength, take Ashley and Ciniccino, I won't make it."

He paused as if he was genuinely thinking of the idea. "Listen it'd have been a hell of a lot easier if I didn't come after you at all. But for whatever reason I decided I'd do a good deed so don't go making me regret it alright Professor." he said, "Not when I still have so many questions about this weird-ass place."

Looking up at him, she didn't see the face of a heroic person, someone who'd always step in to do this kind of thing, a selfless person. The face she saw was instead that of a man who wished he was literally anywhere else in the world. Which made her wonder why he'd even bothered. For whatever reason, she couldn't help but chuckle as she was hit with the proverbial second wind.

This had to have been his stupidest idea since stealing from a capo when he was a teen. No one had made him go running back into the burning Lab while the rest of the town was looking like hell on earth. No one expected him to nearly lose a foot when the giant monster called Entei spotted him and started chasing him. And no one expected him to force his way through a window of the lab to find the Professor and her half-dead assistant.

His heart was racing in his chest and thumping in his ears as he helped the woman up, the grey creature beside her, another Pokemon he guessed, watching him closely and with concern as he got her to her feet again, "Weren't you saying before I was too trusting in thinking people, people were good." she coughed, thankfully finding the energy to stand without his help.

"Yeah lady well this isn't me being 'good' this is me making sure I get some answers and you seem to have at least a few more brain cells than everyone else in this town." he chuckled, bending down to check the assistant the professor had called Ashley, she was down for the count meaning he'd have to carry her….great. He wished now, even more, that he had Little Feet, if he could shrink them down it would make things far easier. What would also make things easier would be abandoning the assistant and making a run for it with the Professor. But he was well aware that someone like her would never go for the idea and arguing would just waste time they didn't have. So after making sure Juniper could walk with as little help from him as possible, he hoisted her assistant onto his shoulders, grateful for once his Capo, his boss, had made the team keep in shape.

"Whatever the reason, thank you." she smiled, clearly struggling to move but doing so anyway as she followed the stranger turned savior.

"Hah, well don't go getting all sappy on me yet Professor. I still haven't gotten us outta this mess yet." he replied, the sudden shaking of the building reminding him of the beast that waited for them outside. He really was crazy for deciding to do this, wasn't he?

By some miracle, he began to see light in their path that didn't seem to be the result of the flickering flames all around them. It gave him the pep in his step he needed to hurry up and end this nightmare, a sentiment the professor seemed to share as they passed through the hole created by another one of the monster's blasts into fresher air. His head was feeling airy and his chest was burning. Fate was having some time picking on him with fire wasn't it, at least he'd avoided getting burned up until this point.

"Grrrrr…"

Okay, maybe he spoke too soon.

If the Entei looked large from a distance, it practically dwarfed him now that it was inches away from both he and the Professor. Eyes practically boring into his very soul, sending a shiver down Formaggio's spine despite the increasing heat. He tilted his head to look at the professor since she clearly knew more about this shit than he did. But any energy spurt she'd gotten looked about ready to wear out from how she was swaying and Formaggio didn't feel far behind. The exhaustion, stress, and settling PTSD from not only now but before he woke up in this world threatening to make him snap.

And in a way, snap he did as he sat the assistant down on the ground behind him, Juniper following to the ground after before he straightened right back up. He wasn't a tall man, but much like a cat backed into a corner, he puffed himself out, tossing his arms up as he addressed the monster that seemed so dead set on making his afterlife, second life, whatever as much of a hell as his first. He remembered something that kid Cheren said, that this thing could understand human speech, but the professor was in no condition to do so herself. Well, if he was good at one thing it was talking shit, "Listen you big fire cat thing!" he snapped, waving his hand at its face. "So you wake up in a strange place and that sucks yeah? Well, big fucking deal! I was here first and I'll tell you one thing I bet I had it way worse than some freaky ass fire monster!"

Formaggio half expected it to bite his head off right there and he'd have no way to stop it, it wasn't like he had his stand and even if he did it would be useless in this situation. Hell, that would just mean the rest of the team was right when they'd believed him to be the weakest of the group and even now he couldn't fall back on them. Was this just going to be his fate? To burn to death again? If so then this really was hell.

But instead, the creature took a step back, smoke still puffing from its half-opened mouth as it simply looked at him. As if it was thinking if killing him would really be worth it. He took its pause and ran with it, taking another step forward himself. "Yeah that's right, I'm not running from you. So you think just because you were dealt a shit hand you can go on a rampage. Well guess what you can't and pretty soon someone or another will be here to kick your ass. Might not be me, hell I'm fairly sure I'm already screwed, aren't I? But you'd best hurry up and roast me before that somebody does arrive." the words were filled with his frustrations. Of course, he felt furious as well, like he could tear the ground around him apart in anger as to how his life had ended up being such a mess only for it to get somehow worse just when he thought that death was finally knocking.

Then Formaggio saw it, only for the briefest moment as Entei glared down at him, but he saw what was a clear recognition of his words in the creature's eyes. Sure, cats and dogs recognized human speech, knew their names, and when they were told no. But this was far more than that, this was understanding and comprehension, and Formaggio was struck with the feeling that he was talking to a creature above his understanding. Perhaps that was where the 'legendary' title came from.

It was looking in those eyes that nearly made all of his bravado drain up in an instant. Feeling like it was judging every step, every drop of blood he'd spilled. It was enough to make him gulp nervously and take a step back, only encouraged to keep himself from running as he felt the little grey and white creature the professor had been with hide behind his leg. He was reminded that while he had no reason to stay and die for these strangers and creatures, running wouldn't mean much either as it would kill him either way. So he took a step forward instead, making Entei take a step back as it looked him over. Formaggio was shaking, and never before had he missed his stand as much as he did now. But he'd survived without his stand before, and he would do his best to survive now. In fact, even if it was futile he was raising his fist to attempt to attack, at least to say he went down fighting. But abruptly, Entei shut it's mouth in a puff of smoke with a final growl before backing up, and running off, fire puffing and dissipating with each jump it gave as it ran somewhere else that he couldn't care to worry about.

With the threat gone (and the fires gone out almost immediately, strange but he didn't even notice at first), his body gave out, leaving him to fall back onto his ass as the adrenaline quickly drained. Leaning back on the scorched grass and looking up at the sky. Take that universe.

"Not how I would have done it, but you did it." Professor Juniper chuckled from behind him, stopped by a rough coughing fit that sounded almost as bad as his chain smoking senior back home. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me I just didn't need you dying. I still have questions for you." Formaggio said as he tossed his arm over his face. "But first, I don't suppose there's a bar nearby I can spend a few hours at?"

"Not for a good few towns over."

"Fuck….."

Ahhh here we go and since I have a bad memory I forgot to mention last time this fic is being illustrated. Each Chapter has an image attached you can check out at my deviant art (thelastunicorninoz))

As for reviews thanks y'all a million!

DeathlyJazzHands55 Formaggio Currently does not have his stand! But I think you figured that out if you read this XD

Jajo Camello Thanks its been on my mind a while since I hopped into the nuzlocke community. I work on a full comic based nuzlocke and wanted a simpler project to do alongside and I love these characters sooo I am gonna do my best to keep em in character I really hope it works out I am basing it on a few other fics I've read before given that we don't have much canon content for them

NightHatty Thank you!