Bright and early the next morning, the friends left Cianwood Pokémon Centre.

"Right," Ash said, yawning. "Where now?"

"Well, there's a few things to do in the Whirl Islands," Misty pointed out. "Like the Whirl Cup. But I guess we don't have to get there straight away..."

"We could look around the Safari Zone," Brock suggested.

"Nah," Ash shrugged. "Don't really think that sounds all that exciting-"

Pikachu interrupted. "Look!"

They followed his gaze, towards a hill a little way outside Cianwood proper.

Ash blinked. "The heck? That's... is that Entei and Raikou?"

He glanced down at his belt. "Suicune? You have any idea-?"

The Fast Ball flashed and opened. "No, but I'll go ask."

With that, the Water-type went loping off towards the hill.

"I... guess we should follow?" Ash asked, to general agreement.


Some minutes later, Suicune came back with the explanation.

"They're here for different reasons," she clarified. "Entei's here because he's aware that you have a battle pending, Misty, and he's fine with being your Fire-type match. As for Raikou-" She shrugged. "It seems he wants a race. He informs me that, since I'm here, you've got no excuse at all."

Ash chuckled. "Wow, guess he's really eager for this... okay, give me a sec."

He got out Dexter. "Is Pidgeot available?"

She is indeed. Who else do you want?

"Well, I've got Pikachu and Lucario... lets go with Houndour and Quilava."

Confirmed. Please wait.

As he was sorting that out, Misty was rummaging through her Pokéballs. "Entei... okay, Fire-type, so that's easier, but he's also... right. Psyduck?"

Psyduck promptly emerged from his Pokéball. "Yes?"

"Your job is to make sure he doesn't use Sunny Day."

"Got it."


"Right!" Raikou said, as the humans arrived. "We all ready for this, then?"

Ash double-checked his team. "I think so!"

He then took Dexter out. "You're probably going to need to record the battle Misty's going to have with Entei, so I can't take you along."

Understood.

"Enough faffing around!" Raikou pronounced, prancing from paw to paw in his eagerness. "Let's dashed well GO already!"

"Okay, I get the idea!" Ash chuckled. He returned Suicune, to have her along just in case, and then sent out Pidgeot and swung aboard.

"Ready for this, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Yep!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked, and then lightning crackled out across Pidgeot's wings. "There we go. Thunder Armour up and running."

Raikou blinked, thrown. "What the hells is that?"

"It's me giving Pidgeot my Lightningrod ability, by using electrical charges to cancel out any attacks which hit her," Pikachu explained glibly.

"...oh," Raikou said. He then turned, facing back for a moment. "Right. Anyway. Let's go!"

He crouched, paws digging into the ground, and then shot off west and south towards the interior of Shikoku.

Pidgeot took off in a storm of wingbeats, and followed – accelerating rapidly.

"Well, now that they're out of the way," Entei said, nodding to Misty. "Shall we begin? I suggest the same rules as applied with my brother."

"Two Pokémon at a time for me, six total, and no capture," Misty reiterated. "Fine by me."

"Very well. Let us begin." Entei planted his paws in the ground. "Sunny Day!"

Psyduck raised his fore flippers. "Nope!" he said, eyes glowing for a moment.

Entei blinked, and looked upwards. The sun was, indeed, not glowing brighter – nor was it lending force to his attacks.

"How exactly are you doing that?" he asked, then leapt out of the way as Gyarados launched a Hydro Pump at him.

Snarling, he landed a little way down the hill and hit the next watery attack with a colossal blaze of flame in the form of a Fire Blast.

As the two attacks produced an instant cloud of steam, Misty lost sight of Entei for a moment. She closed one eye, focusing on Aura Sight, and managed to get a vague sense of where Entei was.

"Gyarados – left!" she instructed. "Water Pulse!"

Gyarados roared, firing off a Water Pulse into the steam, and was rewarded with the sight of Entei leaping over it – out of the steam cloud, back into clear air.

Eyes glowing, Psyduck picked up a globe of water from the attacks which had already spilled it all over the ground and used it to hit Entei with. The impact seemed more stinging than harmful, and Entei retaliated by running close in and launching off a Flamethrower.

Psyduck deflected it – though not without some difficulty – using a psychic shield, and added a Water Gun which Entei barely noticed.

He certainly noticed when Gyarados launched off a Hydro Pump, though. Entei was sent bouncing down the hill, rolled a couple of times, and only then came back upright.

Growling, he opened his mouth, and a globe of green energy formed as he charged a Solarbeam.


"How are you holding up, Pidgeot?" Ash asked, feeling her wings working away underneath him.

"This isn't too bad," Pidgeot admitted, rising slightly to clear a ridge. "I mean, it'd probably be easier if we were going along a valley rather than across several of them, but..."

She dove, gathering speed as they crossed a wider valley than usual, then pulled up again and cleared the ridge.

Ash pointed. "There – he's gone a bit to the left."

"Got him."


Jayden didn't know quite what to make of the situation.

As an Area Ranger, he was supposed to keep the area safe for Pokémon and prevent poachers... but it was hard to know whether this situation qualified. In fact, it was hard to know if his superiors had ever imagined it was possible.

First, there was the Raikou. It was running as fast as it could across the valley floor below his position... and clearly laughing. He could hear the booming laughter from here, sounding a lot like a roll of distant thunder.

Then there was the Pidgeot following it... which was, for whatever reason, sheathed in lightning as though it was cosplaying as a Zapdos or something.

As he watched, the Raikou leaped over the line of a ridge and pelted down the far side – still pursued by that Pidgeot.

It would probably be a good idea to check what was going on... especially as he spotted the human on the Pidgeot's back.


Still charging, Entei jumped over a tail sweep from Gyarados and used the backstroke to kick off from – gaining height and speed, and aiming directly for Psyduck.

Psyduck held up his flippers in a defensive position as Entei's Solarbeam fired.

The condensed solar energy splashed off his psionic shield, carving small furrows in the ground, and then Entei slammed his paws into the ground barely feet from Psyduck before batting him aside and following up with a nasty kick in the stomach.

As he coiled to spring after Psyduck, Gyarados hit him with another Hydro Pump. Entei's counter was swift and powerful – Eruption, turning the incoming water to steam and making the water-saturated soil hiss as it dried.

The fire attack lasted for several seconds, then slowly began to die down – with Entei nowhere to be seen in the circle of scorched ground.

Psyduck made a thwap sound as he hit the ground.

"Done," Entei said triumphantly, landing next to the Water-type just before Misty recalled him. "Now – Sunny Day!"

The sun blazed more brightly in the sky as the clouds around it shifted away, producing an area of supernaturally intense sunlight.

"Right," he said, somewhat mollified, and turned to Gyarados. "Solar-"

Politoed landed on his back with a Bounce, driving the air out of him with a whoof. "Rain Dance!" he said, clapping, before jumping free just ahead of a claw-swipe from Entei.

Entei got back to his feet, already feeling the drops of water landing on his fur from the Rain Dance.

Then a Bubblebeam pummelled his flank.

"You have got to be KIDDING!" Entei roared. "Right, that's it. Extremespeed!"

Kicking off with his back paws, he shot out of the way of a rain-boosted Hydro Pump which blew a sizeable crater in the ground.


Pidgeot rolled over on her left side, making a painfully tight turn to follow Raikou without having to go the long way around a mountain peak, and Ash and Pikachu clung on grimly.

As she righted herself and bore in, Raikou's tail crackled. He snapped off a Thunderbolt at them, which flowed into the Thunder Armour and dissipated.

"That is very useful," Pidgeot observed, then frowned. "Wait – I think he's slowing down!"

She slammed her wings to vertical, maximizing their area to brake, and her huge white wings-of-air copied the manoeuvre – resulting in a rippling crack as they shoved huge areas of air aside.

That slowed them down in a startlingly short amount of time, resulting in Ash jumping clear of his Flying-type in the same clearing Raikou stopped in.

"Well!" Raikou said, chortling. "That got the blood pounding, didn't it! Right, let's be at all this – come on!"

Ash returned Pidgeot, and sent out the rest of his prepared team – Heracross, Lucario, Quilava and Houndour.

Raikou looked back and forth between them, then jumped forwards.

Lucario stepped out in front to meet him, forming a Bone Rush staff in his paws. He swept it in front of Raikou's face with a swift motion, making the Electric-type check his advance slightly, then brought it in towards Raikou's cheek for a fast blow.

Raikou replied by opening his jaws, and then slammed them shut on the Bone Rush staff – smashing it to pieces.

"That's a new one on me," Lucario admitted, forming two more staffs, and then Raikou pounced on him with a Wild Charge.

Lucario dropped the staffs and set his feet in the ground, digging long furrows as Raikou pushed him bodily backwards. He took handfuls of Raikou's shaggy mane and gripped as hard as he could – and managed to hold him in place. The electricity was nasty, but Lucario could – with difficulty – handle it.

On Ash's side of the field, there was a flash as Suicune emerged to watch.

"Flame Wheel!" Quilava announced, balling up and flashing into fire. She plunged into Raikou's flank, stinging him and making him snap off a Thunderbolt at her – a Thunderbolt which went nowhere except at Pikachu, whose Lightningrod absorbed it with a crackle.

Heracross got in on the act next, charging and ramming home a Focus Punch into Raikou's other side – the force of the blow making both him and Lucario skid a few more inches to the side.

Then Houndour contributed.

"Hey," he barked, drawing Raikou's attention.

The Electric-type blinked, still trying to push Lucario backwards. "Yeah?"

Houndour's teeth gleamed in the morning light. "Beat Up."

Raikou had just enough time to work out what was about to happen before shadowy doubles of Keldeo, Lucario, Suicune, Heracross, Pidgeot, Quilava, Pikachu and Houndour himself all appeared and started hitting him from every direction at once.


Entei slammed his paws into Politoed's side, knocking him off-balance, and followed up with a nasty Bite attack. He had to stop at that point to dodge out of the way of a potent Aqua Tail, but finished off by using a Lava Plume to blow Politoed skywards and out of the battle.

By now the battle area was starting to resemble a miniature recreation of the legendary battles between Groudon and Kyogre, with water everywhere, perpetual rain and the odd residual cone from a small volcanic eruption.

Panting a little, Entei jumped at Gyarados as he used another powerful Water-type attack, running just ahead of the Hydro Pump and stamping home with both forepaws on Gyarados' neck to send the Atrocious Pokémon collapsing backwards – down but not out.

Entei prepared to use another Bite, but got hit by a Psychic attack before he could – one which pushed him off Gyarados' neck and allowed the Water-type to get up again.

"What now?" he asked, whirling, and saw the Starmie. "Right!"

He roared again, using Eruption as a place to hide from any immediate Water-type moves that might be aimed at him, and used Sunny Day again.

It didn't work.

Leaping out of the firestorm, he noticed that Starmie's gem was pulsing in time with the crackles of thunder in the clouds overhead.

"Do all of your Pokémon know Rain Dance?" he asked, exasperated, and pounced at Starmie ready to Bite.

Starmie's five fore arms all sprayed water at him at once, forcing him to dodge with care around the streams.


"You're sure?"

Jayden nodded. "Yes, sir. A human on a Pidgeot chasing a Raikou, right in the middle of Shikoku."

"Damn poachers." The gruff Top Ranger sighed. "Well done for getting here so fast. Is that a capture?"

Jayden shook his head. "No, this is my partner," he explained, patting the head of the Staraptor he hed been riding. "She evolved only a few days ago."

"Right, that explains it." The Top Ranger sighed again. "Well, it can't be helped. I'll call in everyone on local patrol – you go ahead and identify the location. Oh – what's your score with that Styler?"

"A rank, sir."

"Right. You might have to be the one to calm down the Raikou, then... okay, off you go."

Jayden nodded, sprinting to Staraptor and leaping to her back. Wings already spread, the burly Flying-type was airborne within seconds.


Entei burst through a Water Pulse, squinting as the Water-type attack hit him, and managed to clip Starmie's arms with his swiping paw. The impact sent Starmie spinning backwards and down, and Entei capitalized on that by leaping forward and getting a grip with both paws.

Starmie gave him another soaking, following it up with a Thunderbolt for good measure as Entei hurled it to the ground. This earned an irritated snarl and a Bite attack, knocking it out.

Then Gyarados slammed home an Aqua Tail.

Entei flew through the air, bounced, rolled over three times and skidded to a halt. He managed to dodge the next blast of water, and started on his new plan.

Firstly, he punched up another Sunny Day. This time, it stuck, and Gyarados' attacks became much less dangerous as a result.

That wasn't enough, though – Solarbeam wouldn't be that much better against Gyarados than a Fire attack would be. So he selected a spot where he'd already blasted off the topsoil and sprinted towards it – ducking one Water pulse and leaping over another Aqua Tail before delivering a both-paws blow into the exposed bedrock – cracking it with the force of the blow.

Then he roared, and used Eruption. Less powerful now than at the start of the fight, it still blew the weakened rocks into the air in a miniature volcanic blast.

Quick as a flash, Entei jumped into the air after the largest of the rocks. He batted it with a paw as he reached it, adjusting its tumble, and then kicked it as hard as possible directly at Gyarados.

That did it. The half-ton rock was more than enough to finish Gyarados off, and he collapsed.

As Entei landed, he looked around in puzzlement.

"That was only four..."

A drop of water landed on his muzzle.

"Oh, what now!?" he asked, spinning on two feet, and saw Kingdra in one of the deeper puddles formed by the earlier battle – even now growing in the gathering rain.

A pair of yellow eyes flashed at him from next to the puddle, and then a large glob of water narrowly missed his face.

Ignoring Kabuto, Entei lunged forwards to attack Kingdra – paws sending up splats of mud as he boosted forwards with Extremespeed.


Lucario grunted as he pushed hard – pushing Raikou slowly backwards, now the Beat Up had weakened him.

Raikou delivered another electrical attack into Lucario, struggling, but it wasn't enough to break the grip of the tough Fighting-type. And as he tried, Heracross and Quilava were ramming home some nasty blows of their own on his sides.

"Just a bit more..." Houndour said, watching as Lucario slowly bent Raikou's posture upwards – until his front paws left the ground entirely. "And – now!"

Slipping in underfoot, he avoided being stomped on and kicked Raikou's left knee. "Foul Play!"

The blow finally overbalanced Raikou, sending him crashing to the ground with Lucario on top of him.

Using one paw to keep Raikou on the defensive, Lucario raised his other and formed a Bone Rush staff in it.

"Stop!"

Startled, Lucario froze. So did Raikou, as did the other Pokémon in the clearing.

Suicune strode forwards. "Brother! This is unacceptable!"

Raikou blinked. "I don't know what you could possibly-"

"Don't try that on me, brother!" Suicune shook her head, mane whipping in the wind. "I know you can fight better than this! A lot better! You wouldn't have let yourself be caught and held like that if you were fighting normally!"

Lucario looked hurt. "I thought I had something to do with it..."

"No, you misunderstand," Suicune told him in an aside. "Raikou is too smart to be caught like that in the first place, and certainly to just keep trying to bull through. He didn't use hit-and-run nearly as much as he should have, and he should have aimed to eliminate Pikachu first."

She turned a suspicious eye back to Raikou."And you didn't run nearly as far as I know you can... you were throwing the fight, weren't you?"

Raikou blushed. Actually blushed. "Er... hrm, now you speak of it..."

"Raikou!"

"So what if I was?" he asked, defensively. "Dash it all, I-"

"She's got a point, Raikou," Ash contributed. "I mean – I don't really mind catching Legendary Pokémon if they offer to let me, and catching Suicune the way I did was a really great moment, but... to say it'll be a fight and then throw it? That doesn't feel right to me..."

"...blast," Raikou muttered. "Can I get a do-over?"

"I suspect you'll have to come back later," Suicune suggested. "And make sure you mean it next time."

Grumbling, Raikou nodded. "Fine. Now, can you get this beastly weight off my chest?"

Lucario duly stepped off.

Snorting, Raikou rolled to his front and stood. "Well, that's me told... and I would have gotten away with it were it not for my meddling sister..."

"And don't you forget it," Suicune said, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, then," Raikou went on. "I'll find some way to show I mean it, and then we'll bally well do it properly!"

"I look forward to it," Ash said. "Wonder how Misty's doing, though-"

There was a crashing sound, as two humans – one male and one female – with Capture Stylers ready on their arms came through the foliage at the edge of the clearing. "Stop, thief!"

"Pokémon rangers!"

Ash blinked, completely thrown. "Pardon?"

"Kellyn, handle the Raikou!" the girl added. "I'll stop this poacher from attacking with any of his stolen Pokémon!"

Kellyn nodded, activating his Styler.

Raikou frowned at the spinning disc as it circled him, occasionally emitting flashes of light. "This seems rather peculiar."

"I'm not a poacher!" Ash said hotly. "I'm a Pokémon trainer, and Raikou challenged me!"

"That's the stupidest excuse I've heard in a long time," the girl said, unfazed.

Lucario sighed. "This could take some time to sort out."


A loud explosion rippled the pool water.

Entei landed by the side of the miniature lake, and batted at the mud running down near one eye.

His opponent faced him, fins flapping steadily to keep him in position in the water.

Entei frowned, looking closer. That wasn't just to keep him in place...

With a roar, he pounced forwards again – and used a Lava Plume from below, to boot, to blast Kingdra into the air and interrupt his Dragon Dance.

When he reached the now-airborne Kingdra, Entei had no illusions about it now being an easy fight – which was fortunate, since Kingdra had no intention of giving him one.

The Water-type opened this round of hostilities with a Waterfall, which quickly extinguished the remains of the Lava Plume and knocked Entei about from the force of the water.

Entei reacted to that by grabbing on to Kingdra's nearest fin with his paws, dragging him along for the ride as Entei came in to land on the other side of the pool and finally getting him clear of the water.

Though that meant Kingdra was now at a disadvantage – being on land – it wasn't the end of him by a long shot. As he started using more Water attacks to get some breathing room to use to return to the water, Entei was forced to step back somewhat before pouncing again to deliver another Stomp.

The two of them were actually at something of a stalemate. None of Entei's attacks were really potent enough to damage Kingdra – his fire speciality in particular was at a huge disadvantage – and the only thing he had which stood much of a chance, Solarbeam, ideally required it not to be raining.

But of course it was raining.

That line of thought led Entei somewhere. Was it Kingdra who was maintaining the weather?

To test that, he fired off another Sunny Day, watching Kingdra closely.

The Dragon-type didn't use any moves beyond the ones he'd already been doing – Water Gun, Bubblebeam, and the occasional nasty Flail if Entei got too close – but the rain clouds rolled straight back in after the few seconds of clearer skies.

Right.

Entei spun, loping around the lake for his new objective – Kabuto.

Kabuto saw him coming, gave a worried click, and fired a barrage of Mud Shots.

Closing his eyes, Entei bulled through them and slammed his paws down on the Rock/Water type.

The impact drove Kabuto several inches into the mud.

As Entei lifted his paw to check on his handiwork, he got an Ancientpower to the face.

"Ow! Right, that-" Entei bit off the rest of the sentence, and Stomped Kabuto again before turning back to Kingdra.

As he loped back over, he fired off a Sunny Day. This time, for a wonder, it wasn't cancelled out or overridden.

"Now, as I was saying," Entei said, green light gathering in his mouth. "Solarbeam!"

The blaze of green energy splashed across Kingdra's skin, doing less damage than it would have done to another Water-type due to the Dragon typing – but still clearly hurting.

Kingdra's reply to this was to spit off a stream of Dragonbreath at Entei, who dodged handily and retaliated with another Solarbeam.

That finally knocked Kingdra out.

Panting heavily, Entei turned to look at Misty. "I take it this means I-"

He stopped, as a drop of water landed on his nose.

Incredulously, he looked up into the sky, and saw that the clouds were gathering again.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding."

He turned back to the lake shore, where the crater he'd left Kabuto was. "Right. Time to-"

The mud erupted upwards.


"Right," said the girl, Kate. "So, let's go over this again."

"Sure," Ash nodded.

"You're a Pokémon trainer."

Ash indicated his Pokémon and Pokéballs. "I'm pretty sure I am."

"Despite how Pokémon trainers are only allowed six Pokémon," Kellyn went on.

"Actually..." Ash shrugged. "It's more like six per battle. I only use six in any one battle, but I keep more than six on me."

The two Rangers exchanged glances, then nodded dubiously.

"Okay," Kate said, pursing her lips. "We'll take that bit on trust for now. So, you're a Pokémon trainer. And you've got... among others, a Pidgeot, a Heracross, a Lucario, and a Suicune."

The relevant Pokémon nodded amicably.

"How did you get a Lucario?" Kellyn asked. "Riolu are a protected species-"

"The nobles of the Lucario Kingdom determined that Ash was worthy to receive a Riolu egg," Lucario stated evenly. "Rest assured, I was most certainly not poached, and were Ash to do that I'd hit him until he stopped."

Ash chuckled nervously. "I can't tell if you're joking..."

The next thing Lucario said was not translated for the benefit of the Rangers. "Given how often you get possessed... no, I am not joking."

"Wise precaution," Pikachu agreed.

"Fair enough," Ash admitted.

"Well – I guess," Kate admitted. "I mean, I heard Riolu and Lucario were really noble and brave – but couldn't you just be brainwashed?"

That made Kellyn chuckle.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Oh – sorry, just – the image of trying to brainwash a Lucario," Kellyn explained, sniggering. "I got this image of one of those Dim Sun guys running a brainwashing machine, and then suddenly a Lucario fist punches through the side of the machine and rips it apart."

That made Kate chuckle too.

"Okay, so maybe not the brainwashing thing isn't so..." she shrugged. "But still – what about Suicune? I mean, the heck? You've got a Legendary?"

One of the balls at Ash's waist flashed and opened.

"He's got two right here!" Keldeo said brightly.

Ash winced. "That's not actually helping..."

"...oops." Keldeo winced. "Sorry..."

The two Rangers were too busy staring back and forth between Keldeo and Suicune to comment.

"...you've got two Legendaries right there..." Kate said weakly. "How?"

Keldeo answered that one, speaking firmly. "Ash did me a great service, so I'm following him and battling for him for a year or so. I've learned a lot myself, actually!"

He glanced over at Suicune. "As for her – she and her brothers are challenging Ash. If he beats them, he catches them – with their blessing."

Kellyn blinked. "Uh... brothers?"

Raikou cleared his throat. "Am I still allowed in this conversation!? It's about me, after all!"

"They can't understand you," Ash pointed out to him.

That statement didn't seem to help the Rangers get back on an even footing.

"Okay, so you can understand Pokémon too..." Kate said, shaking her head. "I'm starting to wonder if we missed a briefing."

"No, probably just the radio," Ash shrugged. "I got interviewed earlier this year, it came out then."

"That explains it," Kellyn said gratefully. "We recently transferred here from Almia. Guess we must have just missed a lot of the news..."

After a moment's pause, Kate clapped her hands together. "Right. So – Raikou," she said, addressing him directly. "He says you challenged him. Is that correct?"

Raikou nodded firmly. "I should say so! I'll get that bally Volt Crash move if it's the last thing I do..."

Pikachu blinked. "Wait, is that why you were going to-"

"It's the best Electric move I've ever seen!" Raikou rhapsodised. "I really, really want it!"

"I'm flattered. I think."

"And the chase started outside the Ranger area?" Kate asked.

"Well, it started about a mile outside Cianwood Pokémon Centre," Ash said. "Does that count?"

"It's probably fine," Kellyn shrugged. "Okay, Kate, looks like this was a false alarm."

He fixed Ash with a look. "But don't pull some stunt like this again!"

"Never fear!" Ash said, chuckling. "Not after-"

There was a sudden windstorm of air as two Staraptor and a Braviary swept down to land in the clearing.

"Pokémon Rangers!"

Kate squinted up. "The heck? Jayden? What are you three – we were on top of this!"

Pikachu sighed. "Here we go again."


Entei regarded his final opponent for several more seconds, a growl rumbling in the back of his throat.

"...Misty," that opponent said, after a moment more of silence. "I am glad for how you treated a poor, time-displaced fossil like me."

With that, Kabutops darted in, wicked scythes flashing.

Entei jumped back, blasting fire at Kabutops – to little effect – and then got hit by rocks in both sides of his chest.

Surprised, he backed away further, and watched more closely this time as Kabutops came in.

The scythes glowed faintly-

Entei jumped to his right, looking left, and saw what was going on. Kabutops was using Stone Edge to throw chunks of rock from his earlier impromptu Rock attack at Entei himself, using the Slash attacks as cover.

Now understanding, he jumped up when Kabutops swiped this time, and the rocks passed underneath him.

Kabutops had an answer for that too, though. He simply launched himself into the air like a very literal heat-seeking missile – slamming home a powerful Aqua Jet.

Air came whooshing out of Entei's lungs, and he snarled before kicking off, landing well clear, and starting the laborious process of charging a Solarbeam.

Kabutops landed thigh-deep in the water. He spun, spotted the charging Solarbeam, and ran forwards.

Fortunately for Entei, the inconveniently deep water slowed Kabutops' progress. The Grass-type move finished charging just as Kabutops made it out of the water, and Entei immediately fired it.

Pivoting on one foot, Kabutops whipped his left scythe towards the beam of energy. It hit, flashing energy off in all directions, but was clearly still making a major impact on the Rock/Water type.

Kabutops stumbled, sped up again, and then kicked off hard – going up into the air, away from the direction of the Solarbeam. Entei tried to retarget it, then gave up and let it dissipate.

Just as he did, Kabutops reoriented himself in mid-air and cloaked himself in water. "Dive!" he announced, and came crashing down on Entei in a sixty-degree angle dive powered by jets of water from the rear of his exoskeleton.

Mud and dirt fountained up.


"Kabutops?" Misty called, squinting through the drumming rain.

Then, out of the mist, a silhouette appeared.

"I win," Entei said, walking closer. "And... I think I would like to lie down now."

His left foreleg missed a step, and he slumped over on one side before starting to snore.


Ash, his Pokémon, and Raikou – now aided by Kate and Kellyn – had to explain the situation to the three newly-arrived Rangers all over again.

They skipped some of the more inconsequential details (the radio programme), explored others anew (surprisingly few of the Rangers had heard that the Beasts of Johto were siblings) and were almost done when the Top Ranger for Shikoku turned up with four more Area Rangers.

By the time that was over, everyone was quite thoroughly sick of talking about it. Raikou went off in a huff, muttering about 'busybodies' taking the fun out of the whole business, and Ash climbed back aboard Pidgeot for an escorted flight back to Cianwood.


"And don't do it again!" Kellyn called, waving, as his befriended Fearow pulled up and away from them at the border of the reserve.

"I won't!" Ash called back.

"You will," Pikachu pointed out. "Maybe not on purpose, but you will..."

Pidgeot banked smoothly, lowering her altitude back towards their start location earlier in the day.

"Oh, look!" she said, as she shed speed. "There's the others! And quite a lot of dirty water flowing down that small valley... and several scorch marks."

"Guess Misty's done with her battle, then," Ash said, then jumped off as Pidgeot alighted.

"Hey, Ash!" Brock hailed, looking up from where he was cooking some brunch. "How did it go?"

Ash shrugged. "Not great. Raikou was trying to throw the fight, which kind of isn't-"

"Yeah," Brock agreed, filling in the conversation space as Ash looked for the words. "It's not what you were after."

"Right," Ash confirmed. "And then the Pokémon Rangers for the area showed up, calling me a Poacher."

He sighed. "We had to explain the whole thing. Three times."

Brock winced.

"How did Misty do?" Ash asked, more cheerfully.

"Well, I think it's actually a draw," Brock told him. "Entei knocked out her team, but then fainted."

"Whoa..." Ash grinned. "Nice work, Misty!" he called.

A faint "Thanks!" came from over a small rise.

"Oh, yeah, her Kabuto evolved, too," Brock added.

"I'll have to congratulate him too," Ash decided with a smile. "Those sausages smell great!"

Lucario emerged from his Pokéball as Ash contemplated the meal. "Ash? Do you have a moment?"

"Oh – sure," Ash agreed.

He followed Lucario a dozen or so metres away.

"What is it, Lucario?" he asked, once they were somewhere a little more private.

"It's just – did you recognize that first male Ranger? Kellyn?"

Ash frowned. "Now you mention it... yeah, I did run into him before! Up in Sinnoh, back when-"

He blinked. "Oh, right. Back when we first met."

"That is correct," Lucario nodded. "I remember he helped rescue me, as well as you."

"Yeah, you're right." Ash nodded. "I wonder if it's just that-"

"Ash, you misunderstand my concern. Why is he down here in Johto – or, rather, a Ranger in Shikoku? In the other timeline, he was much further north even two years later than this." Lucario shook his head. "I'm worried that we might have changed something for the worse – somehow stirred things around."

Ash frowned. "I don't know, I'm afraid. I guess... maybe it's just that Hunter J was sighted further south, and now she's in prison – they just don't need to keep so much of an eye on the Almia reserve especially, without her around."

"It is possible, I suppose," Lucario admitted, frowning. "But it seems... well, it seems we should keep a look out for other such changes."

"I agree with you there," Ash nodded fervently. "Pidgeot's been making flights up to Sinnoh when she has the time to spare, but no sign of Galactic yet."

Lucario nodded. "That sets my mind at rest, a little."


"A truly marvellous battle," Entei pronounced, once revived and dosed with brunch. "Misty, if it was mine to decide, I'd say yes. I remember Malcom, and this battle was every bit as entertaining as that one!"

He bowed once, low, and then turned to Ash.

"We will, of course, meet again."

With that he spun, to face the mainland, and set off at a ground-eating lope.

"Hey," Brock said, frowning. "Something just occurred to me. How did Entei and Raikou get from Honshu to Shikoku?"

"I can answer that," Suicune said. "They ran over the water, of course – just like I do."

Brock blinked. "But... you're Water-type. Entei is Fire-type."

Suicune shrugged. "So?"


"Arceus?" Sir Aaron asked.

Yes?

"I can't help but think that you've having trouble deciding on a stable difficulty curve for this game."

Guilty, Arceus admitted. I've been trying a few things, but for some reason I just can't seem to get something coherent together.

"Yeah, and the dragon gang is getting a bit uppity," Aaron reported. "After how much fun the big battle in Illusio was, Cragspur was a letdown."

Fair point, Arceus admitted. A Gigalith wasn't much of a challenge.

"Viperia was worse," he went on. "A Croagunk is not an appropriate finisher challenge, not really."

There was subdued muttering from the heavens.

"And as for the Dark-type kingdom..."

All right, all right, I get the point. I could have done something a bit more impressive with Dark-type than a Zorua and a Zoroark.

"Exactly my point," Sir Aaron nodded. He jumped, caught the lip of the next ledge, and hauled himself up onto the battle zone of Avia itself. "So, anyway, my hope is that you put a bit more effort into this one."

Uh... Arceus sounded a bit embarrassed. Tell me. How do a Rufflet and a Braviary sound?

Sir Aaron sighed.

Okay, okay! I'll rewrite it – just give me a second.

"Thanks." The Aura Guardian turned, to watch the three Dragons as they ascended the cliff.

By floating.

"How are you doing that?" he asked, blinking.

Palkia grinned. "I'm creating a zone of negative gravity around myself!"

"I'm a Ghost," Giratina pointed out. "And I'm using my Orb to remain in Origin Form."

"And Dialga?"

The Steel-type shrugged. "It takes time to fall."

"That doesn't-" Sir Aaron stopped, blinked, and shook his head. "Okay, I don't care enough."

With the softness of a thistledown, two very large dragons landed on either side of him. (Giratina floated overhead.)

"Okay, Arceus," he went on. "Let's see this challenge."

...and done!

A man with a very impressive helmet came strutting up to them.

"Hi!" he said, smiling. "Welcome to Avia! I'm Masamune, and I will be defeating you today!"

Palkia sniggered. "He's not as good at the voice as I am."

Sir Aaron gave the Water-type dragon a quelling look.

"Let's see this, then," Giratina suggested. "What have you got?"

"Pidgeot?" Dialga asked. "Staraptor?"

Masamune spread his arms. "Attack!"

Sir Aaron blinked, peering off into the distance. "Uh... guys? Is it me, or is that... Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Dragonite, Ho-Oh, Salamence, Rayquaza, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus and Yvetal?"

Palkia squinted. "You missed Lugia. Behind Zapdos."

"Oh, there we are," Sir Aaron agreed, a little airily. "Glad that's cleared up. Arceus? The heck?"

You said they were stir crazy, Arceus pointed out. Enjoy!


AN:

Misunderstandings, eh?

I was wondering which of the Beasts to do next, so I went with both.

Poor Entei - weather effects, and all that...