Battle, The Out-of-Control Articuno

Entei ran through the blizzard at great speed, and he was expected to reach the forest near home soon.

Suddenly, an [Ice Beam] shot down from the sky, aimed directly at the running Entei.

Entei reacted swiftly, twisting aside like a phantom to dodge it. As if it had eyes, the beam brushed past him and struck the rock beneath his feet from before he had dodged. In an instant, the rock seemed to have been enchanted, turning into a block of ice-covered stone.

Yan Yang looked uneasily at the frozen rock, a little shaken. If Entei had not dodged in time just now, he on Entei's back would have ended up exactly like that rock.

Being turned into an ice sculpture probably did not feel very good.

Entei was somewhat angry. He raised his head and stared at the culprit in the sky—Articuno.

Yan Yang also looked up, observing this Legendary Ice-type Pokémon.

Articuno was ice-blue all over, with beautiful blue feathers and legendary plumage said to be formed from ice and snow. Three dark-blue diamond-shaped feathers formed a crest atop its head, while behind it trailed a banner-like tail longer than its body.

It hovered in the sky with its wings spread. Its red eyes stared fixedly at Entei and Yan Yang below, carrying what seemed to be malicious intent.

"Articuno (Hostile)

Gender: None, female-leaning

Type: Ice / Flying

Level: 90 (max)

Ability: Pressure; Snow Cloak (raises evasion in snow)

Item: Control Silver Ring (an item that affects the bearer's mind, used to control Pokémon; may also cause a Pokémon to lose control)

Moves: Omitted

Status: Out of control, extremely dangerous.

Evaluation: Articuno, hailed as the Ice God. Legend says that when the three Legendary birds are angered at the same time, a great disaster will occur."

So it's the strongest Articuno, Yan Yang thought to himself.

Just as the Entei beneath him was the strongest of all Entei, the Articuno before him was the strongest among its kind, renowned as the Ice God.

Meanwhile, their Entei seemed to have nothing but the derisive title of Sole God.

The other Entei and Articuno were not all that strong. Those were genuine Tier 2 Gods, while someone like Dad could at least be considered a Tier 1.5 God.

But this Articuno was not in good condition right now. It actually had a human-made control device on it. There was no need to think about who had done this—some group of humans with a death wish. Thinking carefully, in this region, the only ones who would pull something like this were probably villainous organizations like Team Rocket.

After all, who without some real skill would dare set their sights on a Legendary Pokémon?

The rough story was probably that they had wanted to control Articuno, but things had gone against their wishes. They had failed to control it, yet had still driven it out of control. Articuno then escaped human captivity, somehow traveled from the Kanto Region to the Johto Region, and came to this forest to go berserk.

A classic storyline instantly played out in Yan Yang's mind.

"Articuno, why are you attacking us?" Entei demanded loudly.

Articuno did not respond. Right in front of Entei, it fired another Ice Beam.

"You're asking for it!" Entei dodged the move again and angrily prepared to fight.

Any problems between Pokémon could be resolved through battle. The winner had the final say, even among Legendary Pokémon.

"Little Sun, hold on tight to me. Don't let go, all right?" Entei had no time to find a chance to hide Yan Yang, so he decided to let him stay on his back. That would prevent Articuno from turning its attention toward Yan Yang while Entei was not nearby to protect him, causing a tragedy.

Besides, Entei was completely confident that he would never allow the child on his back to be hit.

"Got it, Dad." Yan Yang gripped Entei's mane tightly and pressed himself even closer against him.

He knew he could not fall off and hold Entei back.

This was how things stood now.

Within this forest still engulfed by the blizzard, two powerful forces had gathered and faced each other in opposition. On one side stood the King of Flames—Entei—upon the snow, his body seemingly wreathed in an eternal blaze. On the other was the King of Ice and Snow—Articuno—flying in the sky, surrounded by a biting, frigid aura.

The two were sizing each other up, as though a war between Legendary Pokémon could erupt at any moment.

Given Articuno's earlier underhanded attack, Entei chose to strike first. A scorching fireball tore through the air, speeding straight toward Articuno. Articuno lightly flapped its wings, whipping up a cold gale that instantly froze the fireball and sent it flying back.

Entei nimbly dodged his own attack. The two exchanged blows, each wanting to defeat the other, neither willing to let the matter rest.

Watching the two Pokémon trade attacks, Yan Yang was terrified. He was truly afraid that an attack from the other side would hit him. Though humans in the Pokémon world were highly resistant to Pokémon attacks, and some could even endure Take Down or Iron Head head-on, they still had to know when they could not take it.

You only had one life. If you could not endure it, that was it.

However, Entei was deliberately protecting him, so Yan Yang was not caught in the crossfire. Still, when certain moves occasionally grazed past him, it was quite thrilling.

Yan Yang was wondering where the Control Silver Ring that had caused Articuno to lose control was. He had been staring at Articuno for so long—how had he failed to find it?

This could not go on. Entei was strong, but his opponent was not weak either, and it could fly. Entei's moves would be even harder to land, not to mention that he also had to worry about whether Yan Yang on his back might be hit and dodge from time to time. His stamina would be drained even faster.

Yan Yang was worried. How could they break this deadlock?

Time passed, and the battle between the two grew increasingly fierce. Entei continuously unleashed waves of fire at Articuno, while Articuno retaliated with hail.

In an instant, flames and ice crystals intertwined throughout the forest, creating an extremely spectacular battle scene.

The battle continued. The surrounding trees were either scorched or frozen, leaving devastation everywhere, yet neither showed any intention of stopping.

Entei did not know what was wrong with Articuno. No matter what he said, it would not answer him and only kept attacking like a madman. Did it think that just because it was called Articuno, it could get excited whenever it wanted?

As a Legendary Pokémon, it was indeed possible to lose control. Though Entei had a bad temper as well, after all these years he had learned to control himself and would not easily fall into a crazed, uncontrollable state. Otherwise, unimaginable disasters could occur.

Yes. Just imagine a Legendary Pokémon going berserk—it would wreak havoc everywhere and cause a massive disaster.

Entei felt a bit contemptuous toward this Articuno's boss. It was already this old and still going berserk everywhere. More importantly, why wasn't it going berserk on its own turf? What was it doing coming here to lose its mind? Was it seriously asking for a beating?

The more Entei thought about it, the angrier he became. How had he run into such bad luck? His attacks grew rougher, the flames gathering in his mouth burned fiercer, and he gradually gained the upper hand in the battle.

Of course, perhaps that was because Articuno fought too recklessly, making its moves easy to read.

Just as Entei dodged an [Ice Beam] and circled behind Articuno, Yan Yang spotted a silver ring at the base of Articuno's tail.

"Dad, there's a ring at the base of Articuno's tail. That should be what's causing Articuno to lose control," Yan Yang said after Entei dodged another attack.

Entei looked up at his words and noticed the ring as well. "I see it. But it's difficult for my attacks to reach that ring. We need to find a way to bring Articuno down first."

"Dad, do you want to let me direct you? I might have an idea."

"Hm? All right, I trust you." Entei found it a little hard to believe. Human commands could indeed sometimes draw out more of a Pokémon's strength, but Yan Yang was so young. Could he really command a battle? This was no ordinary fight.

Still, out of trust in his child, Entei agreed to his request. He did not mind being directed in battle by his own son.

Even if Yan Yang made a mistake, he could find a way to make it look like no mistake had been made.

"Thanks, Dad. I definitely won't let you down. We'll bring that dumb bird in the sky down right away. Since it attacked us, we have to teach it a lesson."

Yan Yang brimmed with confidence. This time, he truly looked like a beast-taming warrior.

Can't find the book by its title? Try searching for the author—it may have simply been renamed!