Bolt looked up at his Legendary idol. Who'd of thought? Raikou looked back at him, crouching at the edge of the tree line. "Look carefully. Do you see the wall?"
True to his word and map, a large building dominated the clearing with dense trees ringing it. Bolt scanned the side, spotting the damaged side fairly quickly. "There," Bolt whispered back. "It looks like there's a tarp over the hole. ...And Surf was right. Three guards."
Raikou narrowed his eyes. "You're right. You know what we're doing?"
Bolt nodded. "Yes."
"You know this will be dangerous."
"Yes."
"You can always back out."
"Never."
The Thunder Pokemon turned to look at him. "You're very loyal, Bolt. I like that."
The Jolteon blushed and glanced away. Getting a compliment like that from, say, Inferno or Splash was one thing. Getting a compliment like that from the Great Raikou, the Legendary Thunder Pokemon, was another.
Raikou looked back to the building. "Right. Get on. Be my lightning bolts."
Bolt felt like running 100 miles as he bent down. This was literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Riding a Legendary? Oh boy!
Bolt hopped up into the blanket of thunderclouds on Raikou's back. They crackled and sparked as he landed. Between the electricity, being the firing squad of the Great Raikou, and the super-soft and comfortable clouds that he was sitting on, Bolt didn't think he would ever want to be anywhere else. Ever. Even if he was riding right into an impossibly dangerous situation. Even if it was only once. Even if it might be the last time he ever-
No. Don't think about that now.
Bolt shook his head vigorously. "Whenever you're ready."
"Good." Raikou stood up, causing the clouds to swirl a bit. Bolt took a moment to get used to the sensation, then emitted a small discharge.
"GO!"
Raikou literally bolted forward, briefly turning into lightning as he blasted towards the building. Bolt crouched low, both to keep his balance and to hide amongst the clouds. As they neared the building, Raikou roared angrily. Even knowing that the Legendary was his friend, Bolt couldn't help being severely intimidated and awe-inspired.
His roar attracted the attention of practically everyone within a 10-mile radius. Bolt, blending in almost perfectly with Raikou's fur, summoned as much electricity as he could, getting ready for rapid-fire attacks. The three men near the tarp were the first to overcome their shock, reaching for their pockets.
"Poke Balls!" Bolt called, just loud enough to be heard by the Legendary. "Just focus on running and dodging! I'll fire back!" Raikou said nothing, only increasing his speed. Anchoring himself and aiming carefully, Bolt let loose with Thunder, striking all three men with three blasts. It wouldn't kill them, but it would definitely make them think twice about messing with the Legendaries. As more men ran in, Bolt fired more and more Thunders, almost every one hitting its mark. He hoped that they were drawing enough attention to let the rest of the Clan in. He let four more Thunders fly. He was almost firing constantly! Whenever he struck one down, two more black-clad men seemed to take their place!
Before long, a Poke Ball zinged through the air. Raikou easily avoided it, but Bolt was on edge. He was doing his best, but there were too many! "Ok, Bolt," he thought to himself as he fired more electricity. "Don't just do this for the Great Raikou. Do it for the clan!" The thought gave him renewed vigor, firing Thunder with a new energy. "FOR RAIKOU, ENTEI, AND SUICUNE! FOR THE FATE OF THE WORLD! FOR THE CLAN!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I watched in fascination as Raikou practically flew by with Bolt clinging bravely to his back. Thunder was striking everywhere. I glanced back to the damaged wall, then to Surf, Inferno, Espeon, and Umbreon, then back to the wall. Any time now...
Clover and Snow made a break for it, running from the cover of the trees to the corner of the building.
"There they are," I said quietly. "On my count." Everyone in the current group tensed, ready to run. Snow peeked around the corner both ways before nudging Clover around the opposite side. She looked right at us, raised her tail, and waved it three times.
"Three..." Snow followed Clover around the corner.
"Two..." A man that was running toward the wall suddenly fell on his face as his ankles were bound with vines.
"One..." Raikou and Bolt disapeared around the back of the complex.
"Go! Go! Go!" I shouted. Inferno was the first to run, followed by Espeon and Umbreon. Surf paused until I ran as well, making sure everyone was together. We only had a few seconds to reach the wall.
Just as we entered the shadow of the building, I noticed one of the masked men coming around the corner. Fortunately, so did Snow and Clover. A small patch of ice appeared right in front of him as he ran, causing him to slip and fall violently. I winced as he smashed his head on the ground. He looked at us in dull confusion.
"...huh? Eeeeeevvvvees?" he slurred. Clover hopped over the man, and vines followed her, binding the man's wrists, ankles, and mouth.
"There," Clover said, satisfied with her work. "And he's tied to the ground, too, so he can't go anywhere." She turned to Snow, who peeked around the corner. "Nice job with the ice. Perfect hit."
Snow nodded. "Good. Let's keep going." With that, they turned and disapeared around the corner.
As I let out a sigh of relief, thundering paw steps caught my attention. "They're coming back around! Go! Inside!" I pushed everyone with my nose, shoving them under the tarp. When I was sure everyone was under safely, I dove in as well, aided by Surf dragging me and Espeon pulling me in with telekinesis.
"Next time, come with us," Surf scolded. I just rolled my eyes at him.
"It's my job as leader to put my Clan's safety above my own, and to make sure that all of you are safe before hiding myself. What if one of you had tripped? Who would be there to help you?" Now it was Surf's turn to roll his eyes.
Umbreon scowled. "Let's just go." So, we went. I insisted on going first. Surf gave me a look. I went first anyway. The sounds of shouting, roaring, and Thunder played behind me as I hopped over the lip of the giant hole in the wall. Inside the building was like being in a completely different world. Everything was clean. Smooth. Sterile. It gave me the creeps. To be honest, I was always relieved when I saw damage from Entei's attacks. It gave me something to look for, a defining mark. The rest of the Eevees slipped in after me, one by one. No one said anything. It was like we had to stay silent in this cold place.
Finally, I managed to whisper orders. "Espeon, Umbreon. From what Raikou told us, the Legendaries are being kept in that direction," I said, flicking my tail to the right. "It would stand to reason that they wouldn't want them near the important things, so you two should probably go left."
Umbreon nodded. "Got it." He and Espeon turned and raced off around the corner, until all I could hear of them was their paw steps. I turned to Surf and Inferno. "Ready?"
Inferno tried to look confident, but failed miserably. "Whenever you're ready, Splash."
I turned and ran to the right, not giving anyone any time to turn back. The Legendaries need our help. Now, it was our job to save them.
Hearing the reassuring paw steps of my clanmates behind me, I plowed ahead, diving around corners, through hallways, and past rooms. Just as I was sure we were running in circles, Inferno tripped and fell down a flight of stairs.
"Inferno!" I called, running quickly but carefully after him with Surf at my side. The Flareon was sprawled out on the stone floor, moaning quietly. As we reached him, a small tremor ran through the ground. "Are you ok?" I asked quietly.
He grunted and rolled over. "...think so... Just hit my head. Ow..."
I started licking the bump on his head, when Surf tapped me with his tail. "Um... Splash?"
"What?" I asked quietly.
"We're not alone in here. Look." I turned away from Inferno to see three giant cages with bars made of.... I wasn't quite sure what. One was empty. The other two were definitely not. Each had a single Poke Ball wedged in between two reinforced metal plates, with thousands more in a chute above it. A tube aimed Poke Balls at the current one between the plates.
As I watched, there was a bright flash of light in one of the cages. I caught a brief glimpse of blue fur before another Poke Ball was shot out of the tube, hit the captive Legendary, and trapped him inside again.
I watched in horror. "This is terrible!" Surf nodded sadly without looking away, while Inferno could only stare. We had to do something. I looked carefully at the bars. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be merely metal bars with either a major amount of water or electricity flowing through them.
"Guys," I said seriously. "We have to get them out of there. I'll absorb the water on the bars of Entei's cage, I'm guessing. Surf, find a way to stop the electricity. Inferno, melt the bars once they're exposed."
"Got it."
"On it."
I ran up to the water pumping bars. It didn't take much to make them burst open, a mere tail slap. Inferno shrieked and ran. It took a bit of effort, but I managed to get to the breech and insinuate myself in, absorbing the water as it pounded on my back. After what seemed like an eternity, the water stopped coming. I felt very... bloated.
There was a short zap, a yelp, and Suicune's bars stopped buzzing with electricity. "SURF!?" I called worriedly.
"I'm fine," his voice said from around a corner. "I just got a short shock when I pulled the wires."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Ok. Good."
Inferno marched up to the cages, all traces of fear from the water gone. "Out of the way! Inferno comin' through!" He stepped up to the bars, took a deep breath, and blasted them with fire. It actually took quite a bit of effort to get them to melt, but I have to give it to him for determination. Once finished he took a step back, panting. "That's good," he huffed. "Start on Suicune. I'll do Entei in a minute."
I looked at Suicune's trap, intimidated. A quick glance at Surf brought his words from earlier back to me. Just be your normal diplomatic and respectful self, and you'll be fine. I didn't feel too confident, but I had to. Inferno was obviously scared. I needed to show him that it would be ok.
I hopped over the red-hot remnants of the bars, stepped up to the trap, and thought. I could feel the other two's eyes on me. Don't mess this up. I took another deep breath and blasted the trap with Blizzard, hoping that Suicune's next escape would shatter the ice.
Needless to say, I was right.
The move itself weakened the metal. The ice froze and expanded the weak spots. The escaping Legendary pushed it past its limit. Suicune emerged with a furious but triumphant roar. He almost ran me over. Thankfully, he realized I was there and stopped short.
He huffed angrily. "Who are you?"
Be diplomatic. "Splash, Great Suicune. I'm with the Great Raikou." I kept my gaze down.
He calmed down a bit at the mention of Raikou's name. "Oh?"
I nodded, moving my eyes up a bit. "Yes, sir. He's outside with one of my clanmates as we speak."
The Aurora Pokemon looked down at me, right in the eye. He looked worried, but calm and serious. "Then there isn't much time. Free Entei."
I gave Inferno a look. He turned around with a tiny yelp, then torched the trap with Flamethrower. As before, it didn't take much before Entei exploded out of the trap in a fiery inferno. Unlike Suicune, however, Entei didn't stop before barreling out of the cage, missing Inferno by inches. In a blur of motion, Suicune leaped over me and the melted bars, ran in front of Entei, and slammed him in the shoulder. The two stumbled for a bit before regaining their footing and staring each other down.
Entei growled. "What?"
Suicune narrowed his eyes back. "Just because I couldn't see what was happening doesn't mean I don't know what happened. Do you want to draw more attention?" He was perfectly calm but dead serious.
Entei relaxed slightly. "...Fine. Who are they?"
Suicune looked at me, clearly comfortable with having me around. It felt good. "This is Splash. She's with me. The others are with her."
Entei did not look impressed, but he seemed like he would tolerate us for now. "...Ok. And Raikou?"
"Outside with another Eevee," Suicune responded easily.
Inferno stepped toward the pair. "Yeah, um... maybe we should get out of here? You know, get away before my best friend gets captured?" I gave him a silencing look. He ignored it.
Suicune gave him a stern look as well, but lead off of him anyway. "He has a point. We should go."
I did a quick head count. "Surf, Inferno, Bolt, Espeon, Umbreon, Snow, Clover... Raikou, Entei, and Suicune." Yep. All present. In fact, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Bolt, Surf, and Inferno were talking closely. Suicune stood up to his full height and beckoned to me.
Upon running over to them, Suicune bent down again to accommodate my height. "We decided to give you four a thank-you gift of sorts."
Bolt and Inferno were bouncing with excitement. "Great Raikou and Entei switched our moves!" Bolt exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Inferno finished. "Now I know Discharge and Bolt can use Lava Plume! Totally useful in a double battle!"
Bolt continued. "Yeah! Like you and Surf using Surf together to heal each other!"
"Neat!" I smiled back. It was true, that would be useful.
Surf trotted up to me. "Great Suicune gave me a new move as well. He said he'd never be able to use it, so..."
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
"Dive. The Great Suicune can walk on water, so I'd imagine it would be a bit difficult to swim underwater."
Suicune turned towards us. "Indeed. But, for you, Splash..." Surf looked at the Legendary, took his cue, and padded over to Bolt and Inferno.
Inferno piped up as he approached. "What'd you get rid of?"
"Hydro Pump. It misses most of the time anyway."
"Oh..."
Suicune watched Surf for a moment before continuing. "For you, I have something better than moves to use in battle." He paused for a moment, and I leaned forward a bit, curious and eager. "...First off, know that us three will come whenever you need us. You saved us. We'll be at your side when you're in danger as well."
"Thank you," I said gratefully.
"But... I wanted to give you luck."
"Luck?" I asked in confusion.
"Yes. I can tell you have small Eevees on your mind at times..." How did he know? "So I'll give you luck with a future generation. With all of your Clan."
I was at a loss for words. Could they even do that? Apparently so. But even so, how did this work? Did it-
"Don't think too hard," Suicune said with a sly smile. "And just some advice?"
I was at a loss for words once again.
"Solve this dispute between Bolt and Umbreon. And let Snow keep her secrets." With that, all 3 raced off, Entei without a backward glance, Raikou with a grin and a wink aimed at Bolt, and Suicune with a gleam in his deep blue eyes as he looked at me.
What?
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