(This is not, despite my earlier mistake, the first of two chapters today. Sorry for the confusion.)
"I never really realized how much easier this journey was than when we went the other way," Brock said with interest. "I mean, on our way south we were dodging away from things which happened last time which were bad, running into other things, and all that. As for the way back through... it's just been cake!"
"I agree," Ninetales said, flirting her tails. "Perhaps it's just that we've taken the main road, this time."
"That might be it," Ash agreed. He glanced overhead at the circling form of Noctowl. "Everything alright?"
"Rather," Noctowl said. He dipped his wings, flying a little lower. "I do believe we're about to arrive on the outskirts of Ecruteak."
"We made good time, then!" Misty said. "Right, what do we have to do here..."
"I can't think of anything," Ash admitted.
As it happened, though, something to do found them. As they entered the city proper, they were met by a familiar face.
"Oh, hi Sakura!" Ash said, recognizing her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Sakura told him. "The bells started ringing, so we knew you were coming."
"Which bells?" Misty asked. "You said there were a lot, as I remember."
"Yes, that's right," Sakura confirmed. "A lot of them started ringing. But one of them was that one which rings when someone worthy of Ho-Oh is approaching, and of course that means you."
Ash gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Right."
"Anyway," Sakura went on. "We have a rather unusual request to make. If you'd follow me to the hall?"
Ash looked among his companions, who shrugged, and turned back to her. "No problems here."
"Excellent," Sakura smiled.
"So, what did you want?" Ash asked, some minutes later.
Tamao cleared her throat. "We were wondering – we heard that you'd been seen with Suicune, and whether that meant-"
There was a flash, and Suicune emerged from her Fast Ball.
"...well, that answers that," Sumomo said faintly.
Suicune waved.
"Do you mess with us deliberately?" the girl asked plaintively, as her Vaporeon stretched on her lap.
"Not deliberately, no," Ash said, with a shrug. "It just kind of... happens..."
Koume tapped the table. "If I may. We were wondering whether we could request that one of your battles take place where we may observe it, since we have never seen the Beasts at battle first-hand before despite our extensive studies."
"The closest we've come is watching things on television," Satsuki said. "We missed catching that broadcast of you in the Whirl cup, though."
Dexter beeped. I could provide you the recordings.
"That would be nice," Sakura admitted.
For her part, Suicune frowned. "Hm... I wonder whether Entei's going to challenge you again soon. I might ask him. Or, if Raikou's willing to put his all into it this time, we might have that instead."
"She says she'll check," Ash translated. "Maybe we should all go to that clearing from last time, actually."
"That seems a fine idea," Tamao smiled.
Suicune loped into the basement of the Tin Tower.
"Hello, Suicune!" her brother said, looking up. "It's been a while."
"Sorry," she said, looking around. "I... where is everyone else?"
Entei frowned, one paw going to his chin. "Let me see... well, my double is handling a little matter up north in Almia, since I intend to challenge Ash again some time soon. His brother is headed down to Hoenn to speak with Rayquaza on a matter of some urgency – Lord Ho-Oh requested it – and your own double is of course handling her new duties."
Suicune nodded, then blinked. "And what of our brother?"
He sighed. "We've got no idea. He went off a couple of weeks ago talking about sign language, and seems to have vanished off the face of the earth."
Raikou turned the pages of the guide. "Hm... ah, I see! The gym relies on Ghosts? Well, that means I'll just have to make sure I brush up on my Dark-type attacks!"
He emitted a low, rumbling growl. "But how to make sure I'm up to snuff? Perhaps I should try and bite some trees!"
"He'll turn up," Suicune said with a shrug. "Eventually. Anyway, Ash is in town, and the Kimono Sisters were wondering if you'd be willing to challenge him without a race – to have just a battle."
Entei began to respond, then stopped. He stood, and paced in a circle. "He has that Pidgeot of his with him, right?"
"That's right," she confirmed.
"Right, so I can't outrun him, and as such it would come down to the battle anyway... very well, then."
Suicune smiled. "Excellent. Shall we head over there?"
"Lord Entei!" Koume said, bowing. "You honour us."
"It is not a problem," Entei stated. "As my sister has said before, your work is valuable and done well. We have no complaints."
He frowned, very slightly. "Except that the bell reporting our presence probably needs a muffler. We live here."
Ash translated.
"I think I know which one you mean," Sumomo said, frowning. "But it's broken – it doesn't ring, even though the clapper strikes it."
"Not to you, maybe," Entei said. "We can all hear it quite well. It's too high pitched for human ears."
When that was explained, the sisters winced. "Sorry, lord Entei!" Koume said, blushing. "I'll be sure to prevent it disturbing you."
"It is no fault of yours," Entei dismissed. "Now... Ash Ketchum."
"I'm listening," Ash said.
"On account of your Pidgeot, I am well aware that I could not escape you. From my sister's tale, your Flying-type is able to fly any of us to exhaustion – and there is no clear route to run a sprint, here in the heart of Honshu. So I propose that we have our battle as a battle alone." Entei indicated the clearing with a sweep of his head. "Right here, as it happens."
"Sure!" Ash agreed. "Uh, should I only use five Pokémon?"
"Six will be fine," Entei replied. "You have ten minutes, if you need it."
"Okay, guys," Ash said, about ten seconds later. "Who do I use?"
He frowned. "I can see two important issues. Who's able to resist fire, and who can do a lot of damage..."
"Do I count?" Pikachu asked.
"Of course," Ash agreed with a smile. "But – okay. I'm not going to use either Suicune or Keldeo."
Keldeo's Pokéball burst open.
"Why not?" Keldeo asked, hurt. "I can help!"
"I know you can," Ash told him. "That's why I don't want to use you – it doesn't feel right, because you'd make it too easy."
Suicune released herself. "I agree with your logic, Ash. I'd fight if you ordered me to, but... I would feel uncomfortable fighting my brother like that."
"Which is another reason not to use you," Ash agreed. He smiled. "And thanks for your trust – that you'd do it if I asked, I mean."
She returned his smile.
"Uh... we're wasting that ten minutes, Ash," Pikachu pointed out.
"Right!" Ash said, more firmly. "Hmmm... okay, I've got a plan. Dexter?"
I'm listening.
"I'm going to want you to get Squirtle from Professor Oak," Ash explained. "And Houndour – he's with his family, I know, but I'd really prefer to have him."
Sent. Will you want Kingler as well?
Ash considered. "Him or Totodile... it's tricky..."
Who else are you using, then? Dexter asked.
"I'm using Pikachu, Squirtle, Quilava, Houndour, either Totodile or Kingler, and you," Ash told him.
Totodile burst out of his Pokéball. "Pick me! Pick me! I've got Hydro Pump, and Muddy Water, and-"
Quilava joined him. "And I've learned Rollout, so I can certainly help."
At that point, Dexter beeped. Got Squirtle and Houndour. What's your decision on Kingler?
As he spoke, the Water-type and the Fire-type emerged from their Pokéballs and looked around.
"This should be awesome!" Squirtle pronounced.
Ash looked around. "...when did I become completely surrounded by Pokémon?"
Suicune shuffled back a few steps to give him more room.
He thought a bit more, then confirmed his decision. "I'll use Totodile, I think. Right, Houndour? Dexter? Here's my plan..."
About eight minutes after Entei had given the time limit, Ash walked over to stand opposite him. "I'm ready," he said with a nod.
"Very good." Entei took a breath, and let it out. "Sister? Please ensure the spectators are safe – and so is the forest."
"I'll help with that," Misty volunteered. "Water types."
"Just so long as you don't use Rain Dance," Entei muttered. "Right. Three, two, one, now!"
Pikachu opened the battle with an earsplitting crack as he fired a Thunder straight at Entei. The Fire-type blurred into motion, mostly evading the bolt of incandescent lightning, and roared. "Sunny Day!"
The light clouds overhead vanished, pushed aside by the powerful weather-alteration attack, and Entei grinned when – for once – it wasn't immediately countered by a Rain Dance. "Finally!"
He spat a Fire Blast at Pikachu to celebrate.
Houndour jumped in the way, the flames bursting on his black fur and scarring the ground – some of it flowing into his Flash Fire. "Nope."
Pikachu fired another Thunder. This one went slightly wide, the heat in the air throwing off his aim slightly despite his best attempts, and Entei more easily dodged it.
Tracing, Dexter announced. Trace complete.
Houndour loped out of the way as Totodile opened fire with a blast of water, and approached Dexter. "Ready?"
Yes, Dexter agreed. Be gentle.
Houndour's reply was a fanged grin. He concentrated, and Dark doubles of most of Ash's team appeared to either side of him.
Then, one by one, they kicked Dexter in the vector.
Entei fired off a Lava Plume as he slowed, boiling off the Hydro Pump Totodile was sending his way in the stream of intense flame.
Then a blur of orange and yellow hit him in the side.
"Ow," he said, not really very injured, and turned to see what had hit him.
The blur came in again, and hit his other flank this time. The impact was worse this time, and the blurred ball of fire bounced off, spun for a moment on the floor and shot off through the fire and flames surrounding him.
Entei's brow furrowed. He wasn't at all sure what that could mean...
Then something blue and pink and moving incredibly fast hit him in the chin at a slight upwards angle, knocking him clear out of his Lava Plume.
Crashing to the ground and rolling upright, he looked around.
"What?" he asked, blinking at the sight of Dexter. "Was that you?"
Dexter nodded. Justified plus Beat Up plus Zen Headbutt equals considerable stopping power.
Entei growled, smoke escaping his nostrils. He lunged forwards, paw reaching out to bat, and then a high speed ball of flame hit his wrist and knocked his paw off target.
He swiped at the hurtling missile with his other paw, and missed.
Dexter had vanished while he looked around, and he switched targets to Pikachu. That one, at least, was an easy target.
Pikachu caught Entei's little frown as he selected a new target.
He grinned, putting his arms out to either side, and began to charge electricity to his cheeks.
A lot of electricity, actually. But, rather than use it for a Volt Crash, he held it – unused, and ready to be used. For when-
Entei's paws dug in, and he leapt forwards. The speed of his charge meant that Quilava missed her latest attack run, and spun on past Entei's former position before beginning a fast, wide turn to come back in.
When he was about halfway between his starting position and Pikachu, Entei came under attack from Totodile. He unleashed a huge Fire Blast back down the oncoming Muddy Water, producing a bubbly explosion of steam and sending rapidly boiling water everywhere.
Pikachu flinched away from the force of the explosion, and relied on his electrical sense instead for where Entei was. He could feel the Fire-type Beast running from the tiny electrical currents in his nervous system – not very well, but easily enough to tell how close the Volcano Pokémon was getting.
In a very short space of time, Entei got close enough.
Pikachu opened matters with a crackling close-range Thunderbolt, slamming it into Entei as he charged, and dodged out of the way as two big grey paws tried to slap him into the ground.
The earth shook as Entei delivered his Bulldoze, barely missing Pikachu and making the spectators wobble slightly.
Totodile took advantage of Entei slowing down, and fired a Hydro Pump directly at Entei's flank. Though it was weakened by the Sunny Day, it still struck home hard, and Entei growled before shaking his mane. A series of small explosions erupted from it, filling the clearing in choking black ash and smoke.
Now unable to see Entei even if he'd been trying, Pikachu elected not to bother. He closed his eyes instead, relying on Aura Sight coupled with his electrical sense, and fired off another Thunderbolt at close range.
Entei snarled at the impact, returning his attention to Pikachu. "Incinerate!"
Pikachu's tail was clipped by the flame, despite his best efforts. He shifted it to Iron Tail briefly, extinguishing the smouldering tip, and kept running – the more trouble Entei had with him, the better.
"Let's see if this works..." Pikachu muttered. Lightning snapped around his tail, and he jumped onto Entei's back and slapped it home – delivering a burst of electricity which crackled around Entei's paws and fangs.
The Legendary shook his head, more startled than hurt, and shook Pikachu off. Turning in his own length, he slapped the Electric-type aside as he dropped through the air.
There was a crackle of discharging electricity, and Pikachu's cheeks flared brighter as they absorbed the electricity.
"Thanks," Pikachu grinned, skidding to a halt. "I wondered if you'd heard of Ion Deluge."
Entei replied to that with another Bulldoze. Pikachu jumped, avoiding the attack itself, and then spun out an Electroweb and threw it at Entei's forelegs to tangle them.
Another Incinerate flashed out, then a Heat Wave. The smoke whipped as Quilava passed through, delivering a glancing blow to Entei's flank as she did so, and then a very loud voice drew everyone's attention.
"This water of mine is icy cold! It's so cold that even the sun's blazing heat can't impact it!"
Entei blinked, thrown, and squinted through the clearing smoke. "...what... was that?"
"That means, when it's used in the light, it's not even affected! It's still just as wet as ever, and that's what it means to have a Torrent of dedication!"
Pikachu shrugged. "You kind of tune it out after a while." He then fired another Electroweb, and this one hit home more easily now that Entei was distracted.
Snarling, Entei rounded on the Electric-type. "That's it! No more surprises! You-"
"Super Destructor Waterfall!"
Squirtle arrived.
Entei was surprised.
When the Fire-type finally fought free of the Electroweb ensnaring his paws, he was about a hundred metres past the end of the clearing and still being pushed by Squirtle's huge Water attack.
He retaliated with the only thing he could really do under the circumstances. Opening his mouth, he quickly charged a Solarbeam – paws scrabbling to avoid being pushed still further – and fired it through the torrent at Squirtle.
Rainbow light went scattering everywhere as the water refracted the light from the Solarbeam into crazy patterns. Much of it was wasted, playing over the trees and going into the air in a light show visible from the Tin Tower, but enough hit Squirtle that he had to abandon the attack.
Panting, the Water-type starter sent himself soaring into the air with a spiralling Hydro Pump, before being hit by a second Solarbeam as he started to come back down for an attack.
The moment after Entei finished firing the attack, Quilava's Rollout hit him in the jaw.
"Ow!" he yelped, and looked around for the pesky Fire-type. For several seconds, only flashes of fire caught his eye through the thick ground cover, and then she darted out of one – moving faster still – and bounced off his back before vanishing again.
Entei came to a conclusion. If she was using the forest as cover...
Then he just had to get rid of the forest.
Fortunately, the local Pokémon had basically abandoned the area as unsafe when the fight started.
"Lava Plume!"
Even more fortunately, there was a particularly skilled Water-type user on hand, along with two unengaged Legendary Water-types.
That patch of the forest, however, was pretty much doomed. The intense heat blasted out across an area of ground twenty feet in radius, burning away the ground cover in seconds.
Quilava was blown through the air by the pillow of overpressure. She bounced off one of the surviving trees outside the blast zone, wobbled, and came back in – straight into the path of a Bulldoze.
The Kimono Sisters held up their hands in reflex against the sudden dry heat – then winced at the sound of soaked branches exploding.
"Is this safe?" Tamao asked, as Totodile waddled across the clearing to get a bead on Entei once more. "Quite apart from anything else, Lord Entei seems... upset..."
"I assure you, it is fine," Suicune said. "My brother is often full of praise afterwards for battles he finds infuriating in the heat of the moment."
Punctuating her words, there was another roar of frustration from Entei's side of the battlefield. The smoke hid the reason for a moment, but then it became evident that Houndour had just intercepted a Fire Blast aimed at Pikachu and negated it completely.
"What was that you said?" Sumomo asked. "We can't understand you."
"...oh, my apologies," Suicune apologized. She glanced over at Misty. "Can you help, please? I'm afraid I'm getting used to this whole translation business very quickly..."
"Come here!" Entei snapped, paws slamming down just behind Houndour's dodging form.
"Not seeing the advantage for me, there," Houndour replied, turning a right-angle and barely avoiding a Bite attack. He went back on himself, got in under Entei's body, and kicked out at a knee as Entei tried to turn and target him.
Entei staggered, barely avoiding tripping over as he found himself suddenly supporting himself on his two right legs, and Houndour slipped out of the danger zone again.
The bigger Fire-type whirled to follow, and then got interrupted by a Zap Cannon from back over by the clearing. He spotted it in time to dodge, and it shot bare inches over the top of his mane with a hum of static.
Another Fire Blast went shooting off towards the Electric-type, and he blurred out of the way with Agility before it exploded. A moment later, Totodile arrived and began firing a steady stream of Bubblebeam across the gap between them. The heat of the sun reduced the potency of the attack, but some of the white bubbles still started to burst on Entei's flank before he got moving again.
"Beat Up!" Houndour announced. Just in case Entei was starting to get comfortable with the situation.
As the illusionary doubles closed in, Entei slammed his paws on the ground. "Right! Lava Plume!"
Dexter, curving in for another Zen Headbutt, was sent flying into the air by the force of the firey blast. All of Houndour's shadow-clones vanished as well, blown away before they could land a hit, and Houndour himself was only technically unharmed.
Yelping, he bounced across the smoke-strewn ground and skidded to a halt.
One of Entei's paws slammed down just in front of his head. He tried to roll out of the way, but a second paw landed the other side.
"Anything to say?" Entei asked, smirking through the ash-clouds his Lava Plume had produced.
"Yes, actually," Houndour replied. "Bet you can't beat us without using another status move."
Entei blinked, not having expected that. "...that's it?"
"I'm not sure what you're having trouble with here," Houndour admitted, one eye on the slowly clearing ash clouds. "It's a simple challenge. No more status moves. Or are you not confident that you, a Legendary, can beat us?"
Entei shook his head. "No, I just-"
He frowned. "Wait a moment! You're stalling!"
A paw slapped Houndour into unconsciousness.
Entei whirled towards the clearing, which he was just about able to see through the smoke hanging in the air, and leaped to the side to avoid a crackling, electrified Brine shot from Totodile and Pikachu together.
"Clever!" he admitted, and charged forwards again. He sent a Heat Wave spearing back down the next Water attack – a Hydro Pump – and grunted as a Thunderbolt skirled over his forelegs, then arrived at the two Pokémon before they could attack again.
Pikachu was his first target. He sent a Bulldoze Pikachu's way, knocking him backwards into a tree with a soft crunch of scorched moss and a pained squeak, then rounded on Totodile and fired another Solarbeam.
That close, Totodile couldn't manage any tricks to dodge. He tried, firing a Muddy Water, but was knocked out by the time the green-yellow light of the attack faded.
Once that had ended, Entei turned back to Pikachu – coming to his feet covered in mud and ash. "A good battle, but not quite enough," he said.
Pikachu's cheeks sparked, trying to force electricity through the grime.
He scowled, concentrating, and his orange-yellow cheeks switched back to red as he pulled his Light Ball out of his voltage wells.
Lightning crackled around it, then stabbed forwards and cloaked Entei's body.
Entei tried to move, and couldn't. "Thunder Wave? A nice improvisation."
He spat an Ember, blowing Pikachu back into the tree and knocking the Light Ball out of his hands. Then the lightning intensified, locking him in place.
Pikachu panted as he pushed himself back up again, feeling absolutely exhausted.
Despite that, though, he couldn't keep the smirk off his face.
"Why are you-" Entei asked.
Pikachu pointed up.
Dexter used Giga Impact.
"Whoa!" Ash said, as the blast of the impact sent a wave of ash and twigs flying in all directions.
Closing his eyes to avoid getting anything in them, he took the Fast Ball he'd readied, and ran forwards. As soon as he saw the glow of fiery Aura which marked Entei, he sent the 'ball forwards with a fast overhand throw.
It hit Entei with a soft thud, opened up, and sucked him in in a flash of light.
Wobble.
Ash's run slowed, as he arrived at the crater where Entei had been, and glanced around to spot his Pokémon.
Wobble.
There was Totodile, already stirring – must have been only just hit hard enough to knock out.
Wobble.
Pikachu was lying against the base of a tree, and appeared to actually be conscious – though barely. And Ash had seen the Fire-types and Squirtle go down, so that only left Dexter.
The Fast Ball twitched one more time, then stopped. Ash knelt down, and picked it up.
It was... a strange feeling. It somehow felt different than when he'd caught Suicune, in terms of achievement... probably because he'd already caught her, and so the idea he could catch one of the Beasts of Johto wasn't so shocking.
Of course, it could just be that when he caught Suicune there was an emergency literally two minutes later.
"Well done!" Suicune said, pacing up behind him. "That was quite the battle. I noticed he's been practicing – did you notice the Bulldoze?"
"Yeah, it seemed like he was using it a lot – aha!" Ash said, reaching down. "Here we are. Nice work, Dexter!"
Gravity is a harsh mistress, Dexter said indistinctly as Ash picked up his projector. Did you get him?
"Yeah," Ash agreed. He looked around. "Uh... we might have a problem, I think the forest is actually on fire..."
The next few minutes were a confused mess, with Misty using her entire team to extinguish the fire while Suicune kept it contained and Keldeo jumped in and out getting the Pokémon to safety.
Once that was done, though, Ash walked back over to the astonished Kimono Sisters.
"...wow," Koume said, not for the first time. "That was..."
"It's one thing to think, in the abstract, of one of the Beasts being caught," Sakura said. "But if that's what it's actually like..."
"Suicune was... different," Ash admitted. "The first part of that one was a chase – which went hundreds of miles."
"It did," Suicune agreed. "And it tired me out, quite a bit."
She nodded towards Ash. "Perhaps we should see what my brother has to say."
"Good idea," Ash agreed, and opened the Fast Ball.
Entei promptly slumped to the floor, and began to snore.
"We might need to head to the Pokémon centre first," Pikachu suggested. "I wouldn't mind that, either..."
It turned out to take about half an hour for the various Pokémon to be healed up. Entei caused quite a stir, but the sight of Suicune calmly standing to Ash's side helped to reassure the Joy that this was all above-board and legitimate.
That done, Ash sent out Entei again. This time, he was significantly less unconscious.
"How are you-" Ash began, a little concerned.
Entei shook his head. "I should have known, after last time," he said, with a chuckle. "I really should. But... well, we agreed on the rules. I have no complaints."
"Good," Ash said, glad there were no hard feelings. "Oh, did Suicune tell you what I told her?"
"About your rule that we may leave whenever we wish?" Entei nodded agreement. "Most accommodating of you."
He frowned. "Hm. Now... what gym badges do you yet lack?"
Ash blinked. "Pardon?"
"It's a simple question," Entei said patiently. "What gym badges haven't you won yet?"
"No, I understood, it just seems-" Ash broke off, shaking his head.
Pikachu spoke up. "We haven't got the Glacier or Rising Badges yet."
"I see," Entei said, considering. "Well, both of those are tempting...
"A Legendary Fire-type in the Ice gym?" Pikachu asked.
Ash shrugged. "Keldeo had trouble in the Steel gym, though that was because of a Psychic-type and then a Mega-evolution."
"True."
Entei considered. "Well, I suppose we shall see nearer the time."
"I guess," Ash agreed. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Suicune's already got a training regimen, and she discussed adding formal Aura training to it while you were being healed – for translating, and stuff. Do you want that too?"
He shrugged. "I mean, to go with the other things you need work on."
Entei's tail lashed. "Like what?" he asked, tilting his head on one side.
"Well." Ash started ticking off the points. "You seemed fine one-on-one, maybe two-on-one, but you were having trouble managing more than that at one time. So first off would be working on how to avoid that problem."
Entei grumbled a bit, but had to admit it was true. That was how Ash's six had beaten him, after all – keeping him from focusing in on any one of them for too long. "How do you suggest we work on it?"
Ash shrugged. "Practice, really. Plus it helps the others get experience at fighting a single powerful opponent."
Pikachu grinned. "I like the sound of this."
"Yeah, but I'm also going to let him and Suicune go after you at some point," Ash replied without missing a beat. "Got to give you more dodge training, after all..."
"Slavedriver."
"I got punched in the chest by a Lucario last night!" Ash protested. "I do it to myself too!"
Pikachu was unconvinced.
"Anyway," Ash went on, turning back to the bemused Entei. "There was one other major issue – handling Water-types when you can't be the one to enforce the weather."
"I admit, Water-types are a problem," Entei nodded. He shot a glance over towards Misty, currently discussing Vaporeons with Sumomo. "Especially when they use Rain Dance..."
"I've got a couple of ideas on that front," Ash said. "First... there's a move called Energy Ball? Ninetales knows it. Not sure if you could, but it can't hurt to try."
"If it worked, it would be a great help," Entei admitted. "Anything else?"
"Trying to get you an Electric attack, like Thunder Fang," Ash shrugged. "That or a stronger neutral-typed attack – something like Shadow Ball, I can probably teach you that one. Oh, and – if you go for the Aura training – there's always Aura Sphere."
Entei considered. "I see you've given this a lot of thought."
Ash waved a hand. "A bit. But a lot of it's kind of similar to what I've done with either Suicune or with my other Fire-types."
"I'll be glad for the help, then," Entei decided.
Suicune released herself, and gave her brother a smug look. "Told you."
"Yes, yes, you don't have to rub it in," Entei admitted. "I admit it. You were completely right."
Suicune beamed.
"But don't expect me to say it again," he muttered.
"That was a pleasant experience," Tamao said, as they waved the friends off towards the east and Mahogany Town. "The Lord Entei did seem happier than he was during the fight..."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "I wonder if that means Ash will be using him to fight gyms?"
"If not, he'll be using Lord Entei along with Lady Suicune to help fight evil," Sumomo predicted. "Remember? They mentioned that-"
"The Lugia, yes," Sakura agreed. "That sounded... worrying. Shadow Pokémon..."
"Indeed," Satsuki noted. "Especially if they were able to corrupt so powerful a Pokémon as the Lady Lugia. We should keep a look out – and warn others."
"Uh..." Koume said, pointing. "Sisters?"
The four other Kimono Sisters looked around, following her pointing finger.
"Is that... Lord Raikou?" Satsuki asked. "Why is he wearing a scarf?"
"I'm more confused about the bundle of signs on his back," Sakura admitted.
Morty opened the door. "Welcome, challll..." He blinked, swallowed, and started again. "Raikou?"
"Did you just say-" came a voice from behind him. There was the sound of someone moving quite quickly, and then Eusine appeared behind Morty at the door. "Morty? What's Raikou doing outside your gym?"
"I wish I knew," Morty admitted.
While they had been talking, Raikou was juggling signs about in his pack. Finally finding the one he was after, he held it up.
"Apparently challenging your gym," Eusine read. "Is that a thing?"
"So it would seem," Morty agreed, stepping back to let Raikou in. "Whitney sent me a whiny email about him last week..."
"Are you ready for this, young man?" the examiner asked.
Max nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Right. This will be an oral exam to test your knowledge of Pokémon, Pokémon types and the way they interact. There will be written questions, but you are expected to explain your reasoning out loud – simply giving an answer will not earn many points." The examiner picked up his deck of question cards. "First question. You're facing a Poliwrath. Which of these is the best choice?"
Max glanced over the three options. "Mudkip's neutral defensively and doesn't normally get any good offensive moves. Combusken has a few Flying-type moves, but the weakness to Water-type moves is too much of a problem, so the best choice is Taillow. If the Combusken has Speed Boost, though, it should be able to gain the advantage by way of sheer speed. But, all else being equal – Taillow."
"Good," the examiner said, making a note. "Second. Which of these three Pokémon is the best choice against Mudkip?
"Roselia," Max said promptly. He was about to continue, but the examiner frowned.
"What?" the young Maple asked.
"That's not what I have on the card..."
"Then the card's wrong," Max said boldly. "Roselia's a Grass-type which resists Water and which also has an advantage over it. Plusle has an advantage, but they're not resistant to Water-type attacks and are actually weak against the Ground-type attacks that Mudkip learn early – even Roselia's Poison typing doesn't give it that weakness, because the Grass compensates for it. As for Torchic, that's a terrible choice because Fire is weak to Water."
The examiner wrote down a few lines of notes. "I can see I need to make a phone call... anyway, next question. Which of these evolves into Grovyle?"
"Treecko," Max answered without even looking at the card.
"Good. Which of these Pokémon is the best to battle Kirlia?"
"Any of them except Combusken," Max said. He pointed to Graveler, then to Togetic. "Both of these are equal-type match ups – Togetic has Fairy and Flying-type moves which do normal damage, the same for Graveler and its Rock and Ground moves, and neither has a weakness. Combusken's weak to Psychic."
He shrugged. "Graveler versus Kirlia would take less time, though."
The examiner nodded along with the logic, and then caught sight of the answer on the card. "What the – who printed these?"
"Let me guess," Max said with a sigh. "It says Combusken."
The examiner wrote something on the back of the card and shook his head. "Sorry about this, kid. Give me a minute..."
Max watched as the examiner went though the cards, occasionally dropping one on the floor with a muttered comment. "The heck? Seviper doesn't evolve from anything..."
"Should I be worried?" he asked.
"Oh, don't worry, we're still using these ones," the examiner said with a shrug. "I'm just going to write down all the ways an eight year old is smarter than the question setters..."
AN:
That poor forest.
Dexter copied Justified off Keldeo, by the way. Sure he wasn't in the fight, but he was nearby.
Raikou's guide, by the way, is one of the works of Prima. (It's this kind of thing which is taking up an increasing amount of her time, and leading to her wanting to retire from her E4 job.)
Incidentally, the cards-thing is based on Pokémon Trainer's Choice, which was often misleading and on several occasions out-and-out wrong.
(This is not, despite my earlier mistake, the first of two chapters today. Sorry for the confusion.)
