The day had started out great. Isaac had recently won his eighth and final badge, and was now on his way to Victory Road. Not a single cloud obstructed the sky, allowing the sun to bath the land below in its warm light. The only sound that Isaac heard was the occasional rustling of leaves as a gentle breeze blew through the area. Isaac was thankful for this weather- he really didn't want to deal with rain when he was having such a great day. As an added bonus, the trees along Route 22 provided a great deal of shade, so the sun wasn't creating much of a glare on Isaac's glasses- another thing to be thankful for.
However, as Isaac made his way along Route 22, he felt a rising sense of uneasiness for some reason. Isaac began to take in his surroundings. There were no signs of Pokemon, but that wasn't too unusual- the Pokemon in this area tended to be rather quiet, likely due to the high Spearow population. Still, though, something was amiss-
Suddenly, multiple distressed cries filled the air and Pokemon began appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Rattata darted from one bush to another, a few rare Doduo ran around in circles before finally dashing away in a panic, and Isaac noticed a few Spearow taking flight off in the distance. This wasn't right. Trainers came through this area often, so these Pokemon couldn't be running from him. It was then that Isaac noted that it had suddenly gotten dark, as if it were about to storm. That settled it- something was definitely wrong. Isaac was just about to reach for one of the Pokeballs on his belt when all three burst open on their own. A Serperior appeared in front of Isaac, with a Heracross appearing on his left and Sandslash on his right. Isaac frowned. He had trained them better than this. He was just about to say something when he noticed yet another movement out of the corner of his eye...
And there it was. Standing before him was a Pokemon he had only heard of up until now- the legendary Pokemon, Entei. Could this be what had the Pokemon so spooked? Judging by the absolute stillness and their intense expressions, that seemed to be the case. Isaac then turned his attention to Entei. The creature was looking unblinkingly back at Isaac, its face expressionless. He was unsure how long they stood like that, but Isaac knew he would have to act soon. Clearly Entei had revealed itself to him for a reason, but it likely wouldn't wait for long. It would either turn and flee...or it would make the first move.
That simply wouldn't do.
"Heracross, Take Down!" Isaac barked, and the beetle Pokemon immediately jumped into action. It flew towards Entei as fast as it could, crying out in excitement as it did so. Isaac smiled. Good to know that Heracross shared his opinion of the situation. However, there was a slight problem- Entei was a Fire type Pokemon, and a powerful one at that. Unfortunately, two of the three Pokemon Isaac currently had on him were weak against Fire. As Heracross dodged a Flamethrower that Entei launched at it, Isaac regretted not bringing Houndoom and Quagsire with him- they would have made this entire situation easier. However, Isaac could still make this work.
"Sandslash, Swords Dance and then Dig," Isaac ordered, his attention still on the battle as he did so. Sandslash simply nodded and raised its claws, which began to glow as it did so. Soon after, it turned and quickly plunged into the ground, small debris scattering as it did so. Then, Isaac turned towards Serperior. "Growth," Isaac ordered. Serperior nodded, and was then surrounded with a green light. All the while, Heracross continued to dodge Entei's attacks, although Isaac knew it wouldn't be able to keep that up for much longer.
"Heracross!" Isaac called, and Heracross immediately turned and flew back towards its Trainer. Entei, of course, had other plans. It leaped into the air with a mighty roar, small flames gathering around its mouth as it did so- it was going to pin Heracross down with Fire Fang. However, Entei had made a big mistake.
"Mega Horn, NOW!" Isaac bellowed. Heracross turned to face Entei again, its horn aglow, then flew into Entei while slamming its horn into its body. Entei, caught in mid-leap, was sent spiraling back to the ground, but it managed to right itself and land on its feet. It was just about to fire another Flamethrower at Heracross when the ground below it burst open, Sandslash slamming itself into Entei from below. Entei unleashed a frustrated roar as it was once again sent into the air. Isaac wasn't about to let up, however.He happened to have five Ultra Balls on him- he only hoped it would be enough. Isaac quickly took the opportunity and tossed one of them at Entei. The ball burst open and Entei disappeared within, but it reemerged moments later, the ball exploding as it did so. It seemed as though it wasn't weak enough yet.
"Mega Horn again, Heracross!" he ordered, and Heracross launched itself at the legendary Pokemon once more. Unfortunately, the attack wouldn't land this time- Entei landed just before the attack connected, and as it did so, it opened its mouth wide and unleashed not fire, this time, but magma, along with smoke, which began to engulf the surrounding area. Isaac recognized the attack instantly- Lava Plume.
"Heracross, Endure! Sandslash, Dig!" he called, but he knew it was likely futile, at least for Heracross. At that range, Heracross wouldn't have the time to brace itself for anything, let alone a stream of lava. Sure enough, Heracross took the attack head on, the attack slamming into Heracross and exploding upon impact. Heracross was sent flying backwards and came to a stop on the ground right in front of Isaac and Serperior, covered in burns. Heracross gave a small sound of apology as Isaac recalled it. Isaac glanced over at Entei, who was now surrounded by smoke and the remains of the lava from its attack, its face still expressionless. Isaac didn't see any sign of Sandslash, so he assumed it had at least made it underground. As if reading his thoughts, the ground beside him burst open to reveal Sandslash, though it appeared to have taken some damage from the attack. While it looked like it was still able to battle, Isaac wanted to wrap this up as soon as possible- he didn't think they would be able to last much longer, and Heracross had wounds to treat.
"Alright, Serperior, you're up!" Isaac said, and Serperior instantly lunged toward Entei. Isaac had been expecting Entei to retaliate with Flamethrower, as usual, but that was not the case. Instead, it growled as black ripples came from its body. As the waves reached Serperior, it stopped, and began backing away slowly. Entei had used Roar, and it seemed to be working.
"Serperior, it's just trying to intimidate you!" Isaac called desperately. Of course, he could just send Serperior back out if it returned, but the fact that Entei was using Roar could only mean one thing- it was weakening, and it was going to attempt to flee. The slightest delay, even sending out another Pokemon, would be just the opportunity Entei needed.
"Sandslash, Dig one more time!" it commanded, and Sandslash barreled into the ground again. As it did so, Serperior thankfully managed to shake off Entei's Roar and continued towards it. Before Entei could react, it flung itself towards it with a loud cry. It slammed into Entei and managed to Wrap itself around Entei, squeezing Entei as tight as it could. It wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
As it had done before, the ground below Entei burst open as Sandslash emerged. Serperior began to release its grip on Entei as the attack connected, but Entei had no intention of letting it get away. Entei clamped down on Serperior's tail with a Fire Fang attack as it went through the air, then with a quick movement tossed Serperior in the direction of some nearby trees. Unable to stop itself, Serperior slammed into one of the trees, sumping down onto the ground. With a triumphant roar, Entei faced the now defenseless Pokemon and prepared to finish it with a Flamethrower, the flames already gathering.
"Sandslash, Rollout!" Isaac cried, but Sandslash had already rolled into a ball and propelled itself towards Entei. The attack nearly connected with Entei's face, which would have seriously injured it had it connected, but that was not the intention. Sandslash had ample protection from the majority of the attack while rolled up, though it would still take damage. The attack propelled Sandslash towards Serperior, but it managed to uncurl and stop itself with its claws before colliding with its comrade.
"Now, Serperior! Mega Drain!" Isaac ordered. Serperior raised itself up, surrounding itself with a green light as it did so. This time, though, a smaller beam came from it and attached itself to Entei, surrounding it in a green light as well. Entei flinched as Serperior's body glowed brightly, its wounds slowly healing.
"Sandslash, Magnitude!" Isaac called, taking an Ultra Ball from his belt. This was his chance to end it.
A brown light surrounded Sandslash's claws, then Sandslash slammed them into the ground. Entei attempted to move, but was still being held down by Serperior's Mega Drain, though that ceased once the attacked reached it. That was the side effect of Magnitude- it hit anything that happened to be nearby, friend or foe. Serperior was knocked backwards once again smacking into the tree, though not as hard as when Entei had thrown it. The effects of Mega Drain had kept it from fainting, but it would likely be unable to continue the battle.
Entei was not so lucky. Once the attack ceased, it had been able to move again, but it was already too late- the attack was moving much to fast for it to escape. Just before the attack connected, Entei looked over at Isaac. The eyes of both Trainer and Pokemon connected briefly, sending a chill down Isaac spine for some reason. Isaac shook the feeling off quickly, however, and threw the Ultra Ball while he had the chance. The ball connected, opening and sucking Entei inside. The ball fell to the ground, and everything went silent as the ball rocked back and forth once...twice...three times...
