My heart pounded in a way I hadn't felt in a long time. This would be an epic battle for the ages.

The air mixed together in the most beautiful and volatile way imaginable. Cool air from Suicune wrapped around my left side. At the same time, warm air from Entei caused me to break into a sweat on my right. The most terrifying of the three, however, was the way my skin prickled at the electric current moving through the air from Raikou. My hairs stood on end at the voltage, preparing for the shock they were about to receive. Everything mixed together to create perfect tornado conditions, except for the fact that we were underground.

The ground rumbled again as Entei roared. With that final warning, the battle began.

My eyes lost track of the first opponent, Raikou, as it dashed around the field. It left a dazzling trail of energy behind its body. That trail was the only thing my eyes could keep up with. I knew in my mind I had to do something, lest I be a standing target for the Beasts. Or worse, dinner.

Then, the energy slammed full force into my chest. I was knocked off my feet to the dirt below. I couldn't breathe, and I was left coughing and sputtering for a second. I slowly peeled myself off of the ground and to my knees. In front of me was Raikou. It stared me down with a ferociousness I had only seen once before in the feral Mewtwo. Its fangs crackled with power, and it growled in a low tone. My hair stood up again, a warning sign of the coming lightning strike. I was done for.

I stared my fate down, trying to think of how to escape. If I moved too quickly, the beast would strike for sure. Instead, I slowly brought my hand to my belt, my fingers brushing each individual Poké Ball until I grasped the right one. I looked down but brought my eyes back up immediately when Raikou snarled at the action. He roared again. The sound was like thunder clapping right up against my ears.

Suddenly, an Umbreon charged at Raikou from the corner of my eye, knocking the electric type away momentarily. I jumped to my feet and sprinted across the floor to my savior. I heard the group leader shouting commands at the dark type as I passed.

"Thanks!" I shouted over the noise. He nodded to me and continued to fight.

It was time to join the fight now. Everyone else already had their partners out and in fighting stances. Some trainers were already recalling their first picks in exchange for their seconds or even thirds in a few unlucky cases. Moves flew through the air at the invisible target, hoping to at least glance Raikou. This would be a tough battle.

I began to think through the Pokémon I had on me at the moment. Charizard was a poor choice. He was at a disadvantage against two opponents, and his attacks had little effect on another. Instead, I opted to use him as a vehicle.

"Charizard," I shouted as I threw his ball to my side. My partner materialized next to me, awaiting my command with eagerness. "You won't be fighting this time unless you absolutely have to. I'm going to use the other five."

He looked crestfallen, but I ignored the bloodlust in his eyes. I was the trainer, and I knew what was best. I grabbed the next best in line from my belt, my Alakazam, and got to work. "Go, Alakazam!"

The psychic type emerged from her ball, looking into my eyes with patience. She was always the best behaved of my team. "Ala?" she asked. What is your command? is what I took it to mean.

"Start charging up Future Sight," I commanded. "Do not, under any circumstance, release it until I tell you to." She nodded with a hum, and her eyes closed. A purple aura similar to Mewtwo's surrounded her.

I thought for a split second to use Mewtwo, but then I decided against it. He was probably still grumpy. I skipped to the next ball from my belt and threw it to my feet. The rookie Miltank materialized next to me. "Miltank, use Rollout when Raikou charges by next."

"Mil!" she said eagerly.

Immediately, the Milk Cow Pokémon got to work revving up her attack. She spun wildly in a contained ball; a rapidly spinning globe about a fixed axis, threatening to let loose from its constraint at any moment. I crouched next to her, feeling the mud spray onto my skin. It caked my right side, but I didn't mind. As her trainer, I had to be her eyes. I watched, waited, for the electric type to charge by again.

I felt it before I saw it. The hairs on my right arm rose again as electricity streaked around me. The mud continued to flap against me, and I continued to ignore it. I had to watch for the moment when...

"Now!" I screamed. Raikou lined up in my sights, and Miltank flew forward at blinding speeds.

The normal type collided with the Raikou in a thundering crash. I heard my Pokémon cry out as Raikou released a discharge of energy with a whimper at the sudden pain. Miltank rolled up once again into Rollout, aiming at me this time; our contingency plan for when a fight was going wrong. She would return, and I would shower her with potions and other healing items.

My poor Miltank never got the chance as an attack from a newcomer knocked her out cold. I felt my eyes widen, and a pathetic "No" escaped my lips. The fireball had come from seemingly nowhere. I snapped my focus to the fire type, Entei, in the back lines. It roared directly at me now, and I could see another ball of fire congregating in the back of his throat.

With no time to react, I leaped, head first, at the ground to my left. I tucked and rolled back to my feet as the fireball barely cleared me. The smell of burning hair accompanied a hot feeling on my right leg. I patted my calf down, extinguishing any blazes on the tiny hairs.

I pulled out Miltank's ball and recalled her. I had revives in my bag, but keeping my Pokémon in fighting condition was second to surviving right now. That idea pissed me off. Seriously, three legendaries of Johto stood in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to catch them because I had to worry about staying alive. Pathetic if you asked me.

All that meant, however, was that I had to find a way to turn the tide of the battle.

To my side, the exploration group held their own. Some appeared injured, but only one was knocked out clean on the ground. The body was protected by the wide circle of battling scientists, each of which still had their own Pokémon out in front of them. They were going strong now, despite their weak beginning earlier.

Suicune was mainly harassing this group, running circles around them while launching ice balls and jets of water. It didn't harm them. Their Pokémon were a different story, however, and Suicune took them down with ease. Like it was some sick game to the Beast. I was left to deal with the other two. I smiled at the thought.

A plan was formulating in my mind. If I could knock one of them out, I could shift my focus to the other to catch or defeat it. Or, the other way around worked too. Just so long as one of them was out of the picture, this battle was winnable. I knew I wouldn't be walking out of here with all three, so I settled for the idea of capturing one. Entei and his long-distance harassment made him the perfect target for today. I was angry at him, so it was time for a little payback.

Plus, my next Pokémon made for an interesting counter to Entei. "Lapras, you're up!"

The water type appeared from his ball. He cooed at me while tilting his head a little. Never a fantastic battler, Lapras had helped carry me across the seas and rivers of Kanto instead. But, when pushed, he was a force to be reckoned with.

"Lapras, Charizard and I are going to fly over to Entei and provide a distraction. That the opening to use Ice Beam," I explained to my ride Pokémon. I turned to Alakazam now. "Alakazam, unleash Future Sight when Lapras gets close enough. Give him an opening." The psychic type nodded.

"You can use us too," the group leader chimed in. His Umbreon crouched by his side with bristled fur. The man also pulled out another ball. "My Corsola knows all kinds of moves that are effective against Entei."

"Yeah, that would be great," I said, thinking of how to incorporate them into my plan. "You can fly on Charizard with me. He can take the extra weight. Release your Umbreon at the last moment to deal some extra damage. Corsola can surf over on Lapras."

We climbed on Charizard as discussed. My partner took to the air, soaring over the chaotic battle below. His ascent wasn't as graceful as it would be if only I were riding, but he flew nonetheless. Raikou was now distracted by the group Suicune had been bothering earlier. The scientists held their own against the two legendaries, but I could tell they were getting exhausted.

Lapras used Ice Beam on the ground to form the beginnings of a beautiful slalom. Corsola helped with its own smaller Ice Beam.

"By the way, I never learned your name," I admitted over the rushing wind in my ears.

"Richard," he shouted back.

"Nice to meet you, Richard. I'm Phoebe."

"I know, you're famous!"

Oh, right. That was still weird to me.

Upon approach, Entei turned its firepower on us. It blasted fireballs through the air at us while also focusing on Lapras and his lightning-fast approach. In response, Lapras simply course corrected away from the attack. The ground was starting to become a highway of ice.

Charizard bobbed and weaved through the attacks. I clung to the fire type with an iron grip. My arms hugged his neck with a tight enough grip that I wasn't thrown off but also loose enough so that he could breathe. Richard hugged me a bit too close for comfort, but I didn't try to shake the terrified man off. He jerked in closer when we took a particularly rough turn.

Charizard turned down into a nosedive now, aiming directly for Entei. Richard screamed behind me in a particularly girly manner. He squeezed me so hard, I thought my ribs might break.

"Wait for my signal, then use Flamethrower," I commanded Charizard. He growled in response.

I could see the fire foaming out of Entei's mouth as if saying "I dare you to try it." It charged up the molten hot move as we began our approach.

Wait for it... We got closer.

Wait for it... The fire in Entei's mouth was spilling over now.

Wait... I felt the heat explode out of its mouth.

"Now!"

The second the jets of fire met, I knew we were in trouble. Charizard was getting pushed back by the raw power of the confrontation. I knew we didn't have as much time as I needed when I felt us getting pushed back faster and faster.

I spared a glance below. Lapras was not even close to being in place yet. He was still moving like greased lightning down the track, but there were still several meters between him and Entei. Too far for me to even consider having Lapras attack.

Something black dropped to my left, and I heard Richard shout out orders. "Umbreon, Dark Pulse."

The black and yellow creature zipped across the ground unnoticed by Entei; it was too busy trying to roast us alive. Umbreon snuck right up on Entei before opening its mouth and letting out a beam of unholy darkness. Waves pulsed out, hitting Entei individually. The Legendary did it's best to ignore the attack, but it was finally forced to ignore us for a moment and deal with the nuisance. Charizard zoomed forward at the sudden release of pressure on him.

The ignorance on the Beast's part gave me the perfect opportunity. "Alakazam, now!"

A purple shock wave moved across the battlefield. It passed over our hovering location, leaving us unharmed. The blow landed on Entei, and it screamed out in pain as the psychic energy washed over its savage mind.

At that moment, Lapras finished his track. It ended with a curl up, allowing the water type and his companion passage into the air. Upon hitting the ramp, I saw Lapras and Corsola charge up blue spheres in their mouths. In its moment of weakness, Entei didn't see the attack coming.

Time slowed as the two gracefully arched overhead. Lapras spun midair like a dancer to face Entei. He let the attack fly, and so did Corsola. The cold shocked Entei out of the daze he had been placed into by Alakazam. It roared until it came to a frozen halt, encased in a thick layer of ice.

I ordered Charizard to land, and he did. Still a few feet above the ground, I jumped the rest of the way down, tucking and rolling out of the descent. Time was of the essence since I knew that an ice type attack wouldn't hold the powerful fire type forever.

My legs burned as I ran. I was in shape from my journey, but I was no runner. The fact that I could see the ice melting from here kept me going at my insane pace. It had only been a few seconds and Entei was already breaking free.

I pulled out an Ultra Ball and chucked it with all of my might at the encased Pokémon. My own strength surprised me, and my arm hurt a little bit after I brought it back to my side.

The ball hit the frozen mass, cracking open and sucking the Beast inside. It fell to the ground and shook once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then, as I waited eagerly to see stars, I felt pain blossom in my right side. I went tumbling to the ground, dirt kicking up around me. Everything hurt as I laid there. I sucked in air, trying to recover my lost breath. I forced myself to try to look up to see the ball, but sharp claws found their way around my neck. Over me, a hazy image of Raikou snarled a warning down at me. Its electric energy sent a powerful voltage through my body.

I convulsed, almost throwing up at the feeling. I coughed, and bile rose up my throat. I choked it down, revolted by the disgusting taste. My ears rang, and everything that happened around me continued in muffled tones. Pokémon cried, humans shouted, and chaos ruled over it all.

I guessed by the hazy fire overhead that Entei had broken free. My head fell back to hit the ground as I realized that I had failed. I stared up at the furious electric Beast and came to a terrible conclusion: I was going to die.

I didn't have one of those moments where your life flashes before your eyes. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to focus on anything because of the electricity flowing through me. It kept my mind in a constant haze, dulling my sense almost to completion. Raikou pushed down with his paw, crushing my windpipe. I wheezed and sputtered, and my hands clawed at the tremendous force that held me to the ground. Eventually, my mind began to fade, and my vision worsened, giving way to red and then to black.

"Stop!" The voice came so clearly to my ears. Like a ringing bell on a silent church morning.

I opened my eyes and found Raikou looking over his shoulder for the source of the plea. He had lifted his paw just enough that I could take a much-needed breath. I looked up at the ceiling, thankful for the ability to breathe again. I sucked in as much air as quick as I could. I seriously never thought I would be thankful for the ability to breathe.

The weight on the rest of my body lifted too. Raikou padded away from me and toward the newcomer. I sat up out of curiosity too and saw a most surprising sight.

Akemi.

No, wait, not Akemi. I squinted in the darkness to get a better view. The torches hanging on the walls did little to improve my view of the center of the room.

The scientists took this opportunity to shuffle toward the exit. They recalled their Pokémon in a flurry of red lights and sprinted as if their lives depended on it. Richard jogged over to them, ready to help coordinate their emergency exit. I should have been doing something similar, but instead, I sat and watched the show.

The Beasts circled the woman, whoever she was, tightening their formation with each rotation around her.

Charizard swooped down to me. He held his tail out for me to grab hold of. He helped me to my feet, then guided my way onto his back. I fell easily onto his slumped shoulders, and we flew to the group of scientists on the far side of the room.

"Who is that?" I asked after climbing down off of Charizard. I didn't date risk performing my signature jump like I normally did. I would have fallen on my ass for sure.

"We don't know," Richard whispered back. "She pushed through our escape group, insisting that 'there is nothing to fear.'"

The air was eerily silent, I noticed. The group kept looking over their shoulders at the stairs leading up into the sunlight, back to the lady, and back to the stairs. Something about this woman was captivating and kept us all in place despite the fact that we had a free run home. With the light behind us now, I was able to finally get a good look at the woman.

She was an older copy of Akemi. She had the same round yet slim face, the same black hair pulled sleekly into a bun, the same eye shape and color, and the same skin tone. The oddest thing about her, however, was not her striking resemblance to Akemi, it was her long red kimono—a traditional garment worn during ceremonies in Johto.

The scarlet silk flowed to the ground, swirling around her as she danced. She walked slowly, flicking her rainbow-colored fans above her head as she moved. A pink Pokémon—an Espeon, I realized—mimicked her motions. The two spun together in sync and flicked their respective fans and tails as one.

The Beasts were now standing still. They, too, were a captivated audience. They swayed with her every movement. If the dancer moved right, they swayed right. Left, they swayed left. They crouched as she bent down to the ground, and they raised their heads to the ceiling when she waved her hands over her head.

"Ho-Oh, might ruler of the air," she chanted, breaking the silence. "Call your servants home."

The roaring started again. Entei, Raikou, and Suicune rose to their feet. They looked at us, snarled once more, then bolted directly at us. We coward as they charged past our huddled mass and up the exit stairs. We slowly checked our surroundings before straightening up again.

The woman still faced the opened wall of the Ruins. She knelt with her head bowed. Her fans sat unfolded next to her. Espeon sat in a similar fashion as well.

I strode over to her. I could hear her mumbling something, a prayer probably, as I got closer.

"What you just did was amazing, " I complimented.

Nothing. She continued to mumble.

"Thank you," she finally said. Her voice was like silk. She rose to her feet and faced me. Espeon disappeared into red light, and I noticed a Poké Ball tucked into her sleeve. She offered me her dainty hand. "Phoebe, I presume?"

I shook it. "Yeah," I replied in a daze. "Wait, how did you know?"

She chuckled. "You're quite famous, you know?"

I raised my eyebrow. She was hiding something with that laugh of hers. "I'm not that famous. It made sense for the scientists to recognize me, but not some random lady."

"You're right," she admitted simply. "Wow, Akemi wasn't kidding about your sense of intuition when she told me all about you."

It clicked. The similarities between this lady and my best friend, the Espeon, and the fact that she knew who I was from Akemi herself.

"You're her older sister," I said. I felt dumb for not getting it earlier.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." Her sleeve swished around as she spun her finger around in the air.

"Oh my gosh, she told you about what was happening here, didn't she?"

"Not quite," the kimono girl said with a coy smile painted on her face. "Sure, she called me, but Ho-Oh told me to come here."

Whatever you say, lady, I thought to myself. Mom always told me not to mess with crazy.

She glided away to the exit, her garment leaving a trail in the dust. I turned to follow, but something kept me anchored in place. I had the feeling of being watched, and I spun in place to look behind me. Sure enough, a pair of glowing red eyes watched my movements from the shadows.

I called out Charizard and waited. The form melted out of the shadows, revealing itself. Entei stood in front of me. It stared down at me with its head held high. It was impossible for it to be here, but it made sense in a way. These creatures weren't natural, so I would believe that it could sneak back in here without me noticing. Or, had it even left?

Charizard hunched his head down and unfurled his wings. Flames spewed out of the corners of his mouth threateningly. I pulled out other Poké Balls, ones belonging to Alakazam and Lapras. We had taken this monster once before, we could do it again.

In response, Entei still just looked down at me without emotion. It huffed out a puff of smoke and did nothing else. This was not the same creature I had faced down moments ago.

"Child, that means it wants to go with you. You have proven yourself worthy." I turned to see Akemi's sister sitting at the bottom of the staircase. I couldn't see her expression, but I could just tell that she was amused.

I turned back to Entei and pulled out a Poké Ball. I gently tossed it at the Beast and waited. He collapsed into red energy, and gravity pulled the ball down. It shook once...

Twice...

Three times...

...and then it clicked, jetting stars into the air.

I picked up the ball, then ran over to the steps to meet up with the woman. "What did you say your name was?" I asked.

"Asami," she answered.

"Alright, Asami, let's get back up there. I have a feeling Akemi will want to see the both of us."

"Oh, I know she'll be happy to see you," Asami mused.

That sounded cryptic, what did she mean?

When we got above ground, the first thing I noticed was the temperature. It was frigid compared to earlier, even if it probably wasn't less than forty or fifty degrees. However, it certainly wasn't eighty like earlier. Looks like the hair-brained theory relating the events at the Ruins to the weather was right. Props to the crazy scientist that came up with that one. The sun hurt my eyes. It might have been setting, but that didn't stop the light from hitting my now sensitive eyes in just the right way. Were we seriously down there for that long?

"Phoebe!" I heard Akemi shout to my right. She limped over to me as quickly as she could on crutches. She tossed down the metal assistants and threw herself at me. We embraced in a hug for a moment. "I'm so glad you're alright," she said into my shoulder.

She pulled away and continued. "The radios made it sound so horrible! The Legendary Beasts, they were trapped?"

I nodded and added an "Mhmm" before letting her continue.

"They said that Raikou killed you? What happened?" She held onto my shoulders, looking into my eyes.

"He was trying to." I rubbed my neck as I spoke. It still hurt. Plus, my entire body ached from the rest of the events that had transpired. "He almost did, but your sister showed up at the right time."

"Yeah, she's got a habit of doing that," Akemi said slyly. We both looked over to Asami, who in turn returned a smile and a wave before continuing her conversation with the research team that was harassing her at the moment. "You'll get to know her better. My plan was to take you to my hometown of Ecruteak City next."

"Sounds good, I could use some down time right about now," I sighed. I almost relaxed so much that the Poké Ball in my right hand almost toppled out. I jumped, remembering that I had to tell her that. "By the way, your sister helped me catch this."

I didn't let the Beast out—that would cause another panic—but I explained what it was to Akemi. She looked at me with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. "You are so going to have to show it to me on our way to Ecruteak."

"Deal," I said. The exhaustion was starting to hit. "But first, I need to lie down."

With that, I limped my way to the house. I felt an arm wrap around mine, and I looked to my side to see Akemi limping along next to me. We exchanged a tired yet content look as we marched arm in arm to the main research house.