The Legend of Thunder!: Difference between revisions

Skarmory begins with {{m|Fury Attack}} while Typhlosion responds with {{m|Flamethrower}}. Steelix counters with {{m|Sandstorm}}, stopping the Flamethrower and causing Typhlosion severe difficulty. Given Jimmy's words of encouragement, Typhlosion begins to make its way over to Steelix, but is hit by Skarmory's {{m|Steel Wing}}.

With Typhlosion defeated, Attila sends electricity from the crystal to further weaken Raikou. After seeing Raikou in more excruciating pain, Marina and Little Miss enter the battle. Steelix goes to use {{m|Bite}}, but Little Miss uses {{m|Perish Song}}. While Skarmory and Steelix are incapacitated by pain, Attila returns his attention to Raikou. Jimmy sends out Beedrill, who destroys the mecha's claws with Pin Missile. With no means to capture Raikou, Attila orders a retreat. After creating a smokescreen, Team Rocket escapes.

Raikou turns to go, but Jimmy calls after it, as it is in pain and they can help it. Raikou hits Jimmy with an electric bolt, throwing him back. Jimmy gets back up again, narrowly missing another attack. The two stare each other down, until Jimmy makes a step forward. Raikou sends forward another Electric attack, which is countered by a blast of flame from Typhlosion. Jimmy assures Raikou that they want to help it, promising that it can trust him. Raikou then collapses.

Back at the Pokémon Center, [[Professor Elm]] tells Marina that there is a danger that Raikou will become withdrawn and depressed and not heal properly because it is in captivity. Marina decides that singing it a song may help, and while Professor Elm admits that that isn't a bad idea, he tells her that the important thing is to set it free as soon as it is healed. News of Raikou spreads, but {{TP|Joy|Chansey}} guards the door so that only Jimmy is watching as Nurse Joy treats the [[legendary Pokémon]]. Meanwhile, Team Rocket work on repairing their machine.

That evening, as Raikou sleeps, Marina gets Jimmy to cheer up. However, a man comes in demanding to see Raikou. Marina becomes enamored with him and asks his name, but then [[Officer Jenny]] leads another man to them. The first man is [[Eusine|Eugene]] and the second is [[Kudo]], and they appear to know each other. Marina is more interested in Eugene's cape, which Eugene informs her no one is permitted to touch.

Eugene explains that Raikou is a legendary Pokémon, making it unique and extraordinary. While it cannot be captured, man has always tried to capture that that they cannot possess. As Raikou can control thunder and lightning, the envious feel that capturing it will allow them to control its power, and so men have always hunted Raikou. Because of this, Raikou does not trust humans. Kudo says that Raikou thinks that all humans are the same, but Jimmy believes that it can sense who its friends and enemies are.

Attila says that they are just adding to their collection like any other Trainer, but Jimmy disagrees telling them to fight Raikou fairly. Hun states that their goals are too big to be hindered by anything as noble as fairness. When Jimmy tells them that what they are doing is wrong, Attila says that they are acting like all Pokémon Trainers, but Jimmy tells them that they don't know Pokémon Trainers at all. "When we battle, we have respect for each other. When we battle, it's to learn and get better. When ''we'' battle, it's for the love of the contest, and not to steal the powers of a noble and legendary creature." Jimmy tells Team Rocket that he will not let them take Raikou.

As the Raikou jumps into battle, he is hit by the crystal's electricity. But before anyone can release a Pokémon, Steelix uses {{m|Rock Throw}} on Jimmy and Marina. One large rock is heading straight for them, yet before they are hit, a beam from off-screen destroys it. Looking to where the beam came from, they see a {{p|Meganium}} with... FabuLance? No, it's "FabuVinny," their childhood friend Vincent, who has come to save them. Vincent orders Meganium to use {{m|SolarBeam}}, but it barely leaves a mark on Steelix, who retaliates with {{m|Crunch}}, followed by {{m|Iron Tail}} and Rock Throw. Eugene goes to save them, but the falling Rock Throw prevents him from doing so.

Meanwhile, Raikou has collapsed from the electric attacks that the crystal has been hitting it with. Attila then activates the capture bubble, which causes extreme pain to Raikou upon contact. Typhlosion blasts the bubble with flame, which concerns Hun, who explains that the system is only designed to absorb electricity—it doesn't know how to handle any other form of energy. As Typhlosion begins to push the bubble back, Little Miss and Meganium join in with {{m|Psybeam}} and SolarBeam. Steelix tries to use Iron Tail to knock everyone out of the way, but the capture bubble explodes. Attila quickly grabs Raikou and puts it into the cargo hold. Team Rocket fly off, but with Marina trapped inside with Raikou!

Vincent panics while Jimmy thinks of what to do now. Eugene tells him that the first rule of any rescue operation is to remain calm. Jimmy then gets the idea to contact Marina using Vincent's [[Pokégear]]. They call her and have a brief, frantic exchange of words before Attila breaks Marina's Pokégear. Eugene suggests that they use the call log data to locate where Marina was when the call was made.

Meanwhile, the crystal has been reactivated, which Raikou notices. Having seen the dark clouds reappear, Eugene, Jimmy, and Vincent head toward the crystal as well. When they arrive, Vincent demands to see Marina, who is tied up but otherwise all right. Jimmy tells them to let Marina and Raikou go, but Eugene realizes that they don't have Raikou since the crystal has been activated. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning hits the crystal, and it seems that Raikou is fighting the battle from outside of the crystal's range. Raikou is stronger than ever, but that also means that the group is right in the line of fire.

The group wonders why Raikou risked battling face-to-face when it had been attacking from above beforehand. Jimmy realizes that Raikou does not just protect Electric-type Pokémon; it protects its friends, and considers the group to be so. Although they cannot control the crystal anymore, Team Rocket is still around. The reason for this appears when Raikou attacks them—the electricity is still drawn to the crystal, which sends a powerful blast back. Hun explains that if the control panel is destroyed, the crystal is now running on "auto-destruct," which means that its power is now twice as focused. The crystal homes in on Raikou, and then turns black. Its electric hooks sink into Raikou and pull it inwards. The more Raikou resists, the stronger the pull. The less Raikou resists, the easier the capture. As such, Raikou is soon trapped.

With Raikou drained of its electricity, Eugene says that their only hope is the "all or nothing" plan. They would have to break the field open, grab Raikou, and then get out before the explosion, but whoever goes in might never come out. After a moment of deep comsideration, but Typhlosion makes the decision to do it. As Typhlosion runs forward, so do Little Miss and Meganium. Skarmory and Steelix attack, but Eugene sends out {{p|Alakazam}} to provide enough of a distraction to let the other Pokémon past. Typhlosion uses {{m|Flame Wheel}} on the field, while Meganium uses {{m|Light Screen}}.

Attila then sends his {{p|Muk}} into the battle to use {{m|Sludge Bomb}}. Little Miss counters with Psybeam, but is hit by Skarmory's wing. Skarmory then flies up to avoid Alakazam's Psybeam. While this is going on, Meganium and Typhlosion begin to drain energy from the crystal's force field. Raikou wakes up, meaning that it will be able to flee on its own if they are successful. This would give the other Pokémon enough time to get away.

Hun orders Steelix to use Crunch on the Trainers, but Jimmy tells the Pokémon to concentrate on saving Raikou. As Muk bombards Meganium with Sludge Bomb and Skarmory jabs Typhlosion with Fury Attack, Steelix goes after Jimmy, who has run to the edge of a cliff. Jimmy provokes Steelix by saying that it couldn't Crunch a potato chip and is rescued from the attack by Beedrill, leaving Steelix to fall into the river below. With Misdreavus and Alakazam keeping Skarmory and Muk in check with Psybeam, Typhlosion and Meganium have nearly broken the field. Steelix suddenly bursts from the ground and prepares to Crunch Typhlosion and Meganium, but Jimmy, Marina, and Vincent stand to defend their Pokémon. Eugene tells them to get out of the way, but Raikou breaks the field with a powerful electric attack that knocks Steelix back. As the crystal cracks, Hun and Attila realize that the ultimate system has met the ultimate Pokémon. They then run away, leaving becoming legends for another day.