Li Gang Arrived Late

Qing Mu froze on the spot.

What the hell was going on?

Wasn't this a Master Ball that could capture any Pokémon? Why hadn't it worked?

Had they been scammed? That didn't make sense either. How would those people dare deceive them? Weren't they afraid of retaliation?

Neil spoke up beside him. "There's nothing wrong with this Master Ball. We tested it—it really can forcibly capture any Pokémon."

Qing Mu looked at Neil, his expression seeming to ask, "Then why was it knocked away?"

Neil looked at Entei, who had crushed the Master Ball beneath one paw, his mind racing.

"Maybe this isn't a wild Entei? Maybe it's already been captured?"

Qing Mu said, "That's impossible."

Legendary Pokémon were not so easily captured. And if it had been captured, wouldn't its Trainer treasure it and keep it safely hidden away? How could they possibly let it out? Were they really not afraid it would seek revenge or simply run away?

Even a Master Ball could not bind a Pokémon's thoughts.

Rather than believe that, Qing Mu would sooner believe that the Master Ball had suddenly malfunctioned and been knocked away.

Qing Mu found that possibility hard to accept.

But Entei had no intention of giving him an answer. He was about to teach him a lesson instead.

Well, well. I ignored you, and you still tried to ambush my big brother? You need to be punished.

Flames gathered in Entei's mouth before he unleashed a Sacred Fire at everyone on the other side.

Qing Mu's group and their Pokémon all began to suffer. The sensation of flames spreading across their bodies could not have felt pleasant.

Qing Mu could barely endure it, while the others howled in agony, their cries grating on the ears.

Entei would not burn them to death. Bound by certain rules, Pokémon generally tried not to kill humans.

Even Raikou, who loved making empty threats, would at most electrocute someone half to death.

As always, human affairs were for humans to handle. Only when humans could not handle them would they step in.

Entei still had some trust in the Johto League. At the very least, what they did was fairly agreeable to him.

The Sacred Fire also burned away that annoying Interference Device.

The restricting feeling around him vanished, and Raikou regained his strength. He wanted to give those people another Thunder, but Entei stopped him.

Entei had already hit them hard enough. If Raikou carelessly struck them with Thunder, wouldn't he kill them all?

Raikou had only wanted to scare them, but they were in too much pain from the flames to care about anything else. It seemed he had scared them for nothing.

Suicune thought, Yeah, right. You just wanted to follow up with Thunder. As if I don't know you.

Raikou looked disdainfully at the people still being burned and said, "I told you humans were mostly no good. Pokémon should break free from human restraints and declare war on humanity, so Pokémon can live freely on their own."

Suicune shook his head helplessly. Raikou's prejudice against certain humans ran too deep. It was not entirely his fault—some people had brought it upon themselves—but that idea was far too extreme.

Humans and Pokémon had coexisted for countless generations. Yet this guy actually wanted to start a war between them. He deserved a beating.

Suicune immediately swiped a claw across Raikou's face.

Raikou realized that he had gone too far and did not dodge, merely begging for mercy softly.

The local Pokémon came forward one after another to express their gratitude.

The badly injured Nidoking lowered his head and bent over in a bow.

Entei and the others nodded in acknowledgment.

Entei also treated the injured Pokémon.

The Pokémon whose wounds had recovered found it unbelievable. Though they had not fully healed, they could now live normally without much trouble. Perhaps they would be completely recovered by tomorrow.

Everyone became even more grateful.

Entei had not expected these Pokémon to repay him. This was simply the mission of the three of them.

"You should leave first. A lot of people will be coming here soon," Entei said sternly.

The Pokémon naturally did not disobey him. Besides, they were already afraid of humans, so they left one by one, planning to return after some time had passed.

Only the Legendary Beasts, Qing Mu's group, and their Pokémon remained at the scene.

Perhaps deciding that the punishment had been enough, Entei withdrew the Sacred Fire.

The underlings felt as if a great burden had been lifted, but there was now far more fear in their eyes as they looked at the Legendary Beasts.

Qing Mu still glared at them furiously.

He had never expected to fail so thoroughly. As the Fifth Leader of the Dark Hunters, he had truly capsized in a gutter this time.

He should have been more cautious.

Naturally, Entei and the others paid him no attention. Losers were not worth acknowledging.

Yet Qing Mu did not seem panicked at all, as though he had no idea what sort of situation he was in.

After only a short wait, the League people finally arrived late.

It always seemed to be like this. Just like in a movie, the protagonist finished off all the bad guys before the police arrived, leaving them to clean up the mess.

In truth, the League had moved quickly. They had rushed over as soon as they received the order, but judging from the outcome, they had indeed arrived one step too late again.

Li Gang led a group of people in surrounding Qing Mu and his men.

Wang Yan was there too. Seeing the Legendary Beasts, he went forward to greet them.

Entei had only seen him not long ago and did not particularly want to acknowledge him now.

Suicune and Raikou still remembered this former Brave of the Rainbow somewhat, so they let out a cry in response.

But now that humans had arrived, there was no need for them to remain here.

Before Li Gang could thank them, the Legendary Beasts left together.

Li Gang had just finished dealing with the situation when he turned around and found that the Legendary Beasts had already vanished.

He felt somewhat regretful. After all, they were Legendary Pokémon, beings many people would never get a glimpse of in their entire lives. He himself had only seen them once before.

Still, he had seen them this time, so it was not much of a loss.

But Wang Yan had actually managed to speak with them.

The status of a prospective Brave of the Rainbow was truly enviable.

"Wang Yan, did those three Legendary Pokémon tell you anything?"

"Huh? No. Do you still think I'm the Brave of the Rainbow? It was already good enough that they responded to me. How could I expect them to tell me anything?" Wang Yan looked utterly baffled.

Li Gang said, "...Looks like we still haven't earned the trust of the Legendary Pokémon this time."

"You've got some nerve saying that. You only came after they had finished taking care of everything. How could the Legendary Pokémon trust you? We should be grateful they didn't think we were completely useless," Wang Yan said sarcastically.

Li Gang said, "..."

Fine. It really had been their failure.

Once everything had been dealt with, Li Gang took the criminals away.

Only after everyone had left did the local Pokémon become lively again.

So much had happened today. They would certainly have plenty to talk about with their friends later.

Meanwhile, the three Legendary Beasts each had their own thoughts.

The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

Sensing that something was off, Suicune tried to ease the mood. "Come to think of it, the three of us haven't gathered together in a long time."

Raikou nodded. The last time the three of them had acted together seemed to have been six or seven years ago.

Suicune was one thing—he had met Raikou over the years—but he truly had not seen Entei for six or seven years.

Now that he looked at him, Entei had changed quite a bit. He was no longer the reckless, impulsive brute he had once been, just like Raikou.

Raikou was also curious about what Entei had been doing all these years. They were all supposed to be wandering about, so they should have run into one another eventually. Why had he never encountered Entei?

The Johto Region was only so big. They should not have gone without meeting, right?

Entei fell silent.

He did not want to tell Raikou about Yan Yang. He was afraid Raikou might cause trouble for Yan Yang, or have some other thoughts.

Though Raikou would not stoop to bullying a human child, Entei still did not want to tell him.

Suicune knew some of the situation. He could understand some of Entei's concerns, but there was no need to keep hiding it forever. Raikou would find out sooner or later, so it would be better to tell him now.

So he decided to break the stalemate himself.

"Little brother, aren't you going to introduce Yan Yang to your second brother?"

Entei sighed. "Ah... I still couldn't avoid it."