Chapter 4: The Beast Trials

After a short conversation, Josh and Raikou were ready to do battle. "I think I will start things off with my Pidgeotto. Get going!" Josh announced as he released Pidgeotto from its Ball. Raikou immediately took to the offensive with a lightning-fast tackle. Both Josh and Pidgeotto lost track of the swift beast--until its attack connected. The speed of the attack left Josh in awe for a couple of seconds as Pidgeotto recovered from the hit. "Since Raikou is way too fast to follow, just focus on dodging those attacks. Pidgeotto, strike when Raikou drops its guard!"

Listening to its trainer's advice, the bird hovered in a defensive position, ready for Raikou's next assault. The saber-tooth beast launched another speedy attack, but Pidgeotto was ready for it, and just barely got out of the way. "Now!" Josh cried.

At that, Pidgeotto used one of its special abilities called Mirror Move. The ability lets it make an attack similar to the one its foe last made: a lightning-fast, air-piercing strike. But despite being in an awkward position, Raikou was able to get out of the way. By now, Raikou had caught on that using just brute force was not working. It then jumped up at Pidgeotto to attack again. But instead of ramming its body into its adversary, the beast leapt up with its eight-inch, super-sharp fangs wide open. This assault, too, failed to hit its mark.

Again, Josh called out to Pidgeotto, telling it to take advantage of Raikou's awkward position. This time, the bird used its own swift assault: a diving attack known as Aerial Ace. Though it was not very strong, it does not fail to hit its mark often. Raikou tried to get out of the way, but this time, luck was not on its side. Pidgeotto's sharp talons brushed Raikou's body, causing minor damage. Hardly phased by this, the beast jumped back up, fangs wide open again. The attack landed a direct hit on Pidgeotto's soft spot, and the bird came tumbling down, never to arise again in this battle.

"Wow," Josh said. "Brought down in one attack. The rest of my team better stay away from those fangs. It would be wiser to try and attack from a distance. Charmeleon, your turn!" He then sent the fiery lizard into battle to avenge his fallen comrade.

Raikou then reverted back to its old strategy of darting at its opponent at high speed. Charmeleon, unfortunately, was not nearly as agile as his avian comrade. The attack brushed the lizard's right side, but it could have been worse. It then counterattacked with a stream of flame launched from its mouth. Raikou jumped into the air in an effort to dodge the burst, but its lower-left foot got caught in the fire.

Landing from the jump, the Legend of Thunder began to change its strategy. It then stood defiantly in the center of the arena, charging up an electrical sphere. Josh yelled for his Pokémon. "Charmeleon, it's charging up its Spark attack, a powerful electrical tackle! Get out of the way, fast!"

Just after the large tiger began charging toward Charmeleon, the lizard ran well to the left of the attack. Raikou had missed again, and was wide open for a physical beating. Charmeleon, taking advantage of this, slashed Raikou's side with its claws, causing significant damage. When the fiery Pokémon attempted a multi-slash combo, Raikou bit straight into Charmeleon's left arm. It then threw the lizard high into the air, only to come back to the ground for a hard fall. This was too much for him to handle. Josh then recalled his Pokémon, only to send out the Water-type Poliwhirl. Raikou was confused by this.

"Why that Pokémon?" Raikou asked. Without even giving the water-type a chance to dodge, Raikou quickly built up a small electrical sphere around itself, then lunged at its target. Josh's Pokémon was hit so hard by the attack that it whizzed by his right side as it hit the wall behind its trainer. Poliwhirl was out.

"Time to get serious. I think Sudowoodo can fill in nicely!" he remarked as the tree-shaped rock Pokémon emerged into the fight. "Fight defensively!" he added.

For the fourth time in a row, Raikou launched a lightning-fast attack at its foe. But the rock-hard Rock-type resisted the Quick Attack and only received minor damage. "Mimic!" Josh commanded. Using its ability to imitate things, Sudowoodo copied Raikou's Spark attack. But that did Josh little good, as Raikou has few problems with electric attacks. The beast then tried to crush Sudowoodo with its fangs. The attack landed a hit, but it was not a very effective means of attack.

"Try tripping Raikou with a Low Kick!" Josh suggested.

Sudowoodo just stood still. Raikou charged at the Pokémon again, right into its trap. Sudowoodo extended its left leg to try and trip Raikou, but it turned around and ran the other way, preparing for the next assault.

"I see this isn't going to work," Josh muttered to himself. Raikou then let out an ear-deafening roar, summoning a rainstorm to the arena. Sudowoodo, being a Rock-type, didn't particularly like the rain. The beast began charging towards Sudowoodo again, enveloped in a ball of electricity.

"Raikou, if my Pokémon's going down, you're paying a price! Self Destruct!"

The Pokémon then blew itself up, creating a large explosion. Raikou was close to the center of the blast, and thus received considerable damage. Sudowoodo then collapsed, and was promptly recalled by its trainer.

"Manectric, I'm counting on you! We haven't lost in a while, and we're not going to start now! Go!" Josh yelled as he brought his final Pokémon into battle.

Raikou was simply amused at the appearance of Manectric. "So this is it. We shall see exactly how well you know it."

"Have a taste of your own medicine! Manectric, Spark attack!"

Manectric surrounded itself in a ball of electricity and charged at Raikou. The beast almost effortlessly dodged the attack, then returned fire with a Spark attack of its own. The attack hit hard. It was not the electrical part of the attack that hurt Manectric, but instead the force of the tackle. The smaller four-legged Pokémon was slammed into the wall by the sheer force of the charging beast. Josh then yelled for his Pokémon out of concern that it was taking an unusually long time to recover. Raikou, once again, took advantage of this by launching another lightning tackle. Manectric was able to get out of the way of this one. Josh's electric Pokémon prepared to launch a counterattack, when its trainer thought of something.

"Manectric, try to track its movements by picking up on its scent!" he suggested.

And indeed, the Pokémon picked up on Raikou's scent. This would greatly improve the accuracy of Manectric's future attacks, as well as reduce the accuracy of those of Raikou. For some time, they charged at and bit each other, back and forth. Eventually, one of Raikou's vicious Spark attacks slammed Manectric into the wall again. It was clearly running out of energy.

"I honor your valiant effort, Josh, but this ends here," Raikou told Josh. The beast then rushed into the center of the arena, and let out another thunder-like roar. The roar summoned a thundercloud, ready to strike Manectric with a lightning bolt. Josh's Pokémon looked ready to dodge the attack, when...

"Manectric, don't!" Josh yelled out. "Take the Thunder attack! Just trust me!"

Bracing itself for the worst, Manectric let Raikou's Thunder attack connect. But something unexpected happened. Manectric did not faint; instead, its life force increased from being hit by the massive lightning bolt. Raikou then disbanded the thunderclouds, causing the rainfall to end.

"What's going on?" Aravan asked. Raikou had stopped attacking the wounded Manectric. Impressed at Josh knowing that Manectric would absorb the Thunder attack, Raikou honored Josh's creativity.

"That was what I was looking for, Josh. I wanted to see if you could use your Pokémon to the fullest extent by not only considering your first instincts or the instincts of your Pokémon, but also thinking outside the box. Not just any trainer would let their Manectric or similar electric Pokémon take such a vicious lightning attack only to have them absorb the electricity, actually increasing the Pokémon's life force. The point of this test was not to see if you could defeat me in a battle. It is impossible for the unaided man to defeat me, even with the most powerful ordinary Pokémon. But Josh, you have proven yourself beyond an ordinary man. Recall your Manectric and come over here. Climb on my back, Raikou Rider, and watch your friends' trials against the other Beasts of legend."

Josh then recalled his Manectric, but was still hesitant to approach the Legend of Thunder. "Really? You want me to jump on?"

"Come here and do it. I know that you've dreamed of it, and have always wanted to do it. After your fellow destined get their chance to prove themselves, you can ride like the wind, as fast as you want."

At that, Josh let out a joyful scream. As he ran across the ruins of the tower, Raikou sat down on its hind legs; that way, it would be easier for Josh to scurry up onto the beast's back. Upon reaching Raikou, Josh did exactly that. He could barely contain the joy in his heart. After all, he was in control of a legendary Pokémon; furthermore, in control of his favorite Pokémon. The beast stood up, then walked to the back of the chamber, where Entei and Suicune were awaiting their challengers.

Suicune stepped forward. "Aravan, it is your turn. Prove that you can handle the powers of Suicune."

"I think it would be best to save my stronger Pokémon for the end of the battle," Aravan noted from Josh's battle. "That's what Josh did, and it worked for him; perhaps it will work for me. Eevee, let's go!" To open up the battle with Suicune, Aravan sent out his Eevee and nearly commanded it to use a Take Down attack, but saw a huge spray of water headed towards the squirrel Pokémon from Suicune's mouth. The attack just barely missed.

"Eevee, just focus on dodging those water attacks...and use Swift in-between!" Aravan commanded. Seeing an opportunity to attack, Eevee whipped its tail behind its back, producing several star-shaped, heat-seeking shapes that homed in on Suicune. Though the attack hardly phased the blue cheetah-like beast, it was making progress. Suicune, not falling for the same tactic twice, pretended to charge up another Hydro Pump blast, but instead generated a potent gust of wind. This lifted the light Eevee up into the air, throwing off its balance as well as causing damage. While Aravan's Pokémon was still recovering its balance, Suicune fired an arctic, white beam at Eevee. Luckily, the target managed to stumble out of the way. Recovering its balance, Eevee launched another Swift attack. This time, the attack was deflected by another one of Suicune's watery blasts. The pressure of the blast sent Eevee flying high into the wall. Upon landing, the Pokémon looked lifeless.

Aravan recalled Eevee, replacing it with the earth-based Vibrava. Vibrava also possessed dragonlike qualities, including the ability to resist many elemental attacks, including water. Ice, however, wasn't one of them. Being both dragonlike and earth-based, if Vibrava even were to be brushed by one of Suicune's arctic beams, it would certainly fall.

"Vibrava, this is pretty much going to be touch and go. Dragonbreath!" Aravan told his Pokémon. Suicune attempted to deflect the attack with an Ice Beam. Though the two attacks contacted each other, they simply passed each other by, hitting their targets almost simultaneously. Vibrava became encased in a large block of solid ice, while the shock of the breath stiffened Suicune's muscles, limiting the beast's mobility for the remainder of the battle.

Suicune noted Aravan's strategy and commended him for it. "You, like Josh, think outside the box. You may have lost an ally, but you put an even bigger dent in one of my big strengths. Perhaps you are stronger than I thought."

Aravan knew the compliment was a sign that he'd have to blow it terribly to fail now. Using a similar strategy, he sent his Tropius into battle with the expectation of launching only one attack.

"Tropius, Magical Leaf!"

Several leaf blades were fired from the dinosaur-like Pokémon's sides. Suicune fired yet another Ice Beam at it, causing it to drop; however, because of the arcing pattern of Tropius' attack, Suicune could neither dodge nor deflect it. Yet again, Aravan had sacrificed one of his Pokémon to inflict significant damage on Suicune. Next, he sent out his Houndour.

"I can see what you are doing. You're going to try to make another hit-and-run attack. That will not work a third time," Suicune defiantly commented as it shot another Hydro Pump blast toward the new adversary. Houndour ducked out of the way, then turned nearly invisible.

"Faint Attack!" Aravan yelled.

Houndour planned to strike Suicune under cover. It made no attempt to dodge the attack, but instead, shot another Ice Beam out of the crystal on its head. Houndour's attack landed a blow, but so did Suicune's. Despite Houndour being a fire-type, Suicune's attack was so powerful that like Vibrava, it too became encased in ice.

Aravan, nervous about what Suicune was thinking of his battle strategy, sent out Croconaw. He then crossed his fingers for the rest of the battle. Suicune continued to fire Ice Beams relentlessly, but Croconaw kept getting out of their way. The two continued to exchange volleys of biting attacks and Ice Beams. Eventually, one of the attacks threw Croconaw off guard, and Suicune lifted it into the air with a huge updraft. It then shot an Ice Beam straight at the center of Croconaw's body. The midair attack connected perfectly. The Pokémon didn't freeze solid, but it was out for the count. Aravan recalled his last Pokémon, and fell to the ground in disappointment.

"Damn it! How am I supposed to fulfill my destiny now? How am I supposed to use Suicune's power if I cannot clear its test for me first? It is not possible! I did everything according to plan, and the plan was the best I could come up with...Why, Suicune! Why!"

Suicune, noticing Aravan's sorrow, walked over to where he was laying on the ground, and comforted him. "Aravan, do not despair. You tried your hardest and used your Pokémon as a team, not as individuals. That was a very good last-ditch effort made by your Croconaw. Here. Let me revive him. Send out all your Pokémon."

Suicune's crystal gave off an intense blue glow as a blue light surrounded Aravan. He promptly did as he was told. The blue light refreshed the life force of all his Pokémon, and even Aravan himself felt refreshed.

"What! All of a sudden I feel refreshed!" Aravan noted aloud. "Like I just woke up from a good night's sleep!"

"The crystal on my forehead is filled with healing energies stemming from water, as well as an icy essence that can chill foes to the bone. And..."

"What else?"

"Aravan, you did not fail. In fact, you did better than I expected you to do. Had you not used Vibrava's attack to reduce my agility, you would never have done as well as you did. That was what I was looking for. Now, Aravan. Come here, climb atop my back, and accept your destiny as the new Suicune Rider. We'll cheer Ace on together."

As Aravan began to recall his Pokémon, Houndour and Croconaw started glowing a bright color. Aravan let out an excteful "Oh my god!" as he realized his Pokémon had evolved into Houndoom and Feraligatr. After evolution, Suicune walked toward the newly-evolved Pokémon. Aravan jumped off Suicune to take part in a group hug, then remounted Suicune and recalled his Pokémon.

Ace ran up to the altar and yelled, "Entei, I challenge you!"

"Very well."

"I'll counter speed with speed! Ninjask, go! Raise your attack power!"

Ninjask turned invisible to Entei, then used a techinque called Swords Dance. This gave the ninja-like bug enough offensive power to crack through Entei's stubborn defenses. Entei did nothing but fire incredible bursts of flame from its gaping mouth. Ninjask avoided them one at a time and continued to raise its offensive power. Eventually, it accumulated enough attack power to deal significant damage. Ninjask tried to read Entei's moves, but they were too fast to follow. Eventually, Ninjask took the offensive with a slashing attack. This hit Entei's weak point, but also left it open to a close-range Flamethrower attack. Entei wasted no time taking the bug out.

Faced with a dilemma, Ace then tried battling with his Scyther, the only Pokémon left with him that could deal significant damage to the beast; all of his remaining Pokémon were fire-types. Rushing into battle without thinking, Ace told Scyther to launch a combination attack with its scythe-like arms. It could only get one hit in before Entei incinerated it with fiery breath.

All three of Ace's remaining Pokémon, Quilava, Ponyta, and Growlithe, used similar tactics to battle with Entei: a direct assault. With only fire Pokémon at his disposal, it was about the only thing he could do. But brute force alone would not work against such a physically strong Pokémon. Entei simply outmuscled the remainder of Ace's team. The beast then gave Ace a brief lecture about respecting others.

"Your battling style shows it clearly, Ace. Though you are the destined Rider of Entei, I cannot allow you to command me."

"But...why, Entei?"

"In everything you do, you think about what it will benefit you. You always want to show off. Through your battle style, which is a straightforward assault, all you demonstrate is a need to show off your power. When you have a new attitude towards your Pokémon, as well as your future as an Entei Rider, come see me. Then and only then shall we meet again. Begone, Ace!"

"But--" With that, Ace ran up to Entei in an effort to plead with the almost seven-foot-tall lion. It then began charging up a flame blast from its mouth, aimed directly at Ace. Josh then intervened. "Ace, get the hell away from Entei!"

Ace just remained silent. Josh jumped off Raikou's back, grabbed Ace, and got him out of the way of Entei's flaming breath. "Raikou, can I let Ace on your back for a little while?"

Raikou, also peeved with Ace's behavior, responded to Josh, "I don't really care, just get him out of here until his attitude changes."

Josh then turned his attention toward Ace. "Ace, you are not welcome here right now." He then remounted Raikou. "Climb up here with me. We need to get you out of here." At that, Ace, Raikou, and Josh left the sacred chamber and the tower, withSuicune and Aravan not far behind.

After they left the tower, Raikou and Suicune ran towards where Josh parked his car. Upon arrival, Josh and Ace jumped off Raikou's back. Josh started up his car, then told Ace to drive it back to the campus. Ace pleaded again. "Josh, why can't I ride Raikou with you?"

"Someone has to drive my car back to the college. Besides, Raikou doesn't particularly like you riding on its back. I can see the dissent on its face. Just get the car back to the campus parking lot. Aravan and I will follow you on our Pokémon."

"All right. Fine."

With that, Ace drove back to the college. Aravan and Josh rode their Pokémon to the left and right of the car, respectively. It took little time to get back to the main lot; the tower was not far from the college. After Ace parked Josh's car and returned his keys, Josh and Ace had a chat about the destined Entei Rider's misbehavior that morning.

"Our Pokémon history professor will wonder why we didn't show up for class today. Class is already over, so I'm going to try and get him."

Several minutes later, Josh walked into the Ancient Pokémon History room, finding there an impatient professor. "I didn't see you in class today, nor your buddies Aravan and Ace. Where were you this afternoon?"

Josh responded, "Sir, I can explain everything. Just come to the front of the building. There, everything will make sense. Actions will speak louder than my words.

The professor warned Josh, "OK Josh, but this had better be good, or I'm deducting ten percentage points from your research paper."

Josh replied, "You can make all the threats you want. Just follow me to the entrance of the building." With that, he ran out of the room, trying to get there in time to mount Raikou before the professor arrived. He hustled down the hallways for a couple of minutes before making it to the exit and scurrying atop Raikou's back. Aravan waited patiently astride Suicune, while Ace stood between the two of them, feeling sorry for himself.

The professor made it to the door a couple of minutes later. After opening the door and witnessing two of his students riding legendary Pokémon, he was taken completely aback, and asked Aravan, "Where...did you find those Pokémon! Their existence has not been reported outside of legend! Is this just a scam or something?

Aravan was insulted at the professor's denial. "Does this look real to you! Suicune, use Gust now!" Suicune reared up a little bit, then the wind briefly changed from a calm south breeze to a vicious northwest gust of 45 miles per hour. This gust was sustained for several seconds before dying down to the southerly breeze that was going on before.

The professor was shocked, yet astonished at witnessing the reincarnation of the north wind. "So it is true that Suicune has control over the local winds. But that doesn't explain you, Josh. What about Raikou?"

Josh became delighted at the doubt of the professor. "Glad to," he smartly answered. "Raikou, use Thunder!" The beast rushed past a nearby tree, and a storm came up in seconds. It then let out another ear-deafening, thunder-like roar, and the tree was immediately struck by lightning. The storm then subsided as quickly as it came in.

The professor was so shocked at the demonstrations that he left the area for his classroom. He was speechless; he even forgot to ask Ace his reasons for skipping class. "Now that that's over with, I'd like to have a conversation about your attitude today, Ace. Aravan, I'd like to show you a huge field I found the other day; it's one that would be perfect for practicing your beast-riding skills. But until then, just have fun riding Suicune around the edges of the campus grounds."

"I will do that," Aravan replied. "C'mon, Suicune, let's go!" With that, Suicune started to run off at a good pace; about the same pace it ran on the way to the campus from the tower. Josh, meanwhile, stayed atop Raikou's back to keep Ace's attention.

"What did Entei say to you, Ace?" he asked.

"Entei said that I am a selfish person who cares about no one but himself and people of interest to him. He said that is not the attitude the Entei Rider should have."

"That makes our discussion a lot shorter. All I can say now is you have to pitch that attitude of yours. It's going to get you nowhere. One way to help fix the attitude is treating your Pokémon with a little more respect in battle. You just sent them all into a world of hurt; quite a bit more hurt than was necessary. Think about them. Think about others...and stop thinking about your damn self. Becoming a Beast Rider isn't about you; it's about Pokémon and mankind as a whole. I'm going to ride with Aravan. Think about what happened today and how you can do things differently next time. Goodbye. Raikou, let's run! Go, go, go!"

With that, Raikou and Josh chased off after Aravan.