"Poor Suicune, getting beaten up like that by Mega Sceptile!"
Protected by Ash's Aura and Pikachu, Dawn had slowly recovered from the cold. She looked up and saw Mega Sceptile using its Dragon Tail to whip the vine-bound Suicune. The sight of such a pitiful scene made her feel a surge of compassion.
"It can't be helped! Even though it's been defeated by Mega Sceptile, its impressive stamina means it hasn't completely lost its will to fight!" Ash said, also feeling a bit of a headache looking at Suicune being relentlessly thrashed by Frenzy Plant and Dragon Tail. A Legendary Pokémon's stamina was no joke. Suicune was taking this much punishment and still had strength left. He knew this from the anger in Suicune's eyes.
"Whoo!"
A proud Legendary Pokémon, it had not only lost but was now being beaten up, a complete disgrace to its species. Its arrogant pride made it hold onto its last bit of consciousness, glaring at the slightly smirking Mega Sceptile as if to remember its face forever.
"Chaa!"
This look instantly fired up Mega Sceptile. Oh, you're glaring at me? You're glaring at me, are you? Its tail swung with more force, intentionally striking Suicune's face. The violence was so much that Dawn couldn't bear to watch.
"Huh... what's this..." Just then, Dawn looked down and realized that her legs had been clamped between a pair of strong thighs, and a hand was also "messing around" on them.
"Ah!" A powerful force suddenly surged from Dawn, pushing Ash away. She hugged herself, timidly shouting, "When... when did you...?"
"Ahem!" Ash immediately put on a serious face. "Did you forget about the Blizzard? You fainted, so I used my Aura to keep you warm!" But the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Because of her slowness, he had managed to get away with it.
"Huh... I guess so!" Dawn hugged herself, looking at Ash warily while trying to remember what had happened. She only vaguely remembered being pulled into Ash's arms and held tightly because of the terrifying cold of the Blizzard, and then briefly losing consciousness. When she woke up, she saw Suicune being beaten, and only then did she notice the feeling on her legs.
"That's not right! Then how do you explain what you were doing just now?!"
"What was I doing?" Ash said, feigning ignorance.
"You know, that!"
"What is that?"
"Hmph... I'm not talking to you anymore!" Seeing the smile on his face, Dawn realized he was just being a rascal and turned her head away in fake anger. She mumbled to herself that as a girl, she couldn't possibly say it out loud.
"Come on, come on!" Ash said, seeing that he had teased her enough. He went to her side and gently straightened her body.
"Spit it out!" Dawn pouted, waiting for a reasonable explanation.
"Well, you woke up, so I was checking to see if your body temperature was normal. I checked your face and hands, and the only part left to check was your exposed legs!" Ash said, shamelessly talking nonsense with a straight face. With nearly 20 years of experience in making things up, he gave a "plausible" explanation.
"Fine... but I'm keeping a tab on you!" Although his explanation sounded reasonable, she didn't believe a word of it. After all, he had a record. She could only vent her frustration with this harmless threat and glared at him.
Ash didn't mind. He looked back at Suicune, which was still being beaten up by Mega Sceptile. Seeing that it was on the verge of losing consciousness, he quickly signaled Mega Sceptile to stop.
"Chaa!" Knowing its job was done, Mega Sceptile obediently leaned against the cave wall, twig in mouth, watching its trainer. It also took the chance to catch up with its old friend, Pikachu.
"Ugh, Master Balls are so expensive!" He looked at the 10,000-gold-coin Master Ball on the exchange screen and decided to use a 50-gold-coin Great Ball instead. As for the huge price difference, the system shop simply said, "Master Balls force capture a Pokémon." This explanation was all he needed.
With nearly 10,000 gold coins saved up, he wasn't going to use a Master Ball on this "fishing net Pokémon." A 50-gold-coin Great Ball was enough.
"Go!" He pretended to take a Great Ball from his bag and threw it at Suicune's head. The dazed Suicune was instantly sucked into the ball as a red light. The ball shook a few times, and then Suicune popped back out. Before it could celebrate, it saw another black-and-gold Great Ball flying towards it.
And so it went. Suicune would turn into a red light, pop back out a second later, and another Great Ball would follow... turning into a red light... One, two, three... twenty balls.
Suicune: ...
By the 21st ball, Suicune looked at the trainer, who had the aura of Lord Ho-Oh, with a complicated expression. Is this really the human Lord Ho-Oh approves of? Why is he tormenting me like this? First, I get beaten up, and now, even in my weakened state, I'm being repeatedly tortured by these Poké Balls. Doesn't he know this takes a lot of energy?
Fine. Suicune's eyes looked thoughtful as it stared into the distance. When Ash threw the 21st Great Ball, it no longer resisted. The ball flashed three times, and the red light went out.
"Yes! I finally caught Suicune!" He gestured to the now-devolved Sceptile, the nearby Pikachu, and the overjoyed Dawn.
"Chaa!"
"Pika!"
Sceptile calmly nodded with its twig in its mouth, and Pikachu happily held up a finger in a victory pose.
"Yay! Congratulations, Ash!" Dawn also forgot what had just happened and gave Ash a high-five. A Legendary Pokémon had been caught, and she had witnessed it herself. She was incredibly happy.
But then...
"Ash, how are you so patient? You've thrown all these Great Balls on the ground!" Dawn said, looking at the discarded Poké Balls. If it had been her, she would have given up out of impatience.
"It's nothing!" Ash said with a casual smile. As a player of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, he had wasted at least a hundred Great Balls trying to catch the three Legendary birds. He had never succeeded, and it made him so mad that he quit the game.
After a brief exchange, he walked over, picked up the Great Ball with Suicune in it, praised Sceptile, and returned it to its ball. Then he grabbed Dawn's hand and left with Pikachu.
"Ash, why are you here..."
On the way back, they ran into a young Nurse Joy, who was riding on a Drifloon with a little girl named Mai. They looked at the two trainers who had disappeared from the Pokémon Center in disbelief. Before Ash and Dawn could answer, the little Nurse Joy shuddered and immediately told Drifloon to fly low to the ground.
"Ash, is Mai...?" The smart Dawn immediately guessed what was happening and covered her mouth in surprise.
"Let's just go back!" Ash said, grabbing his forehead. He ignored the young Nurse Joy for now and rushed back to the Pokémon Center with Dawn.
"Whoa..." Accompanied by Drifloon, Mai entered the cave and saw the mess left behind by the battle, as well as the discarded Great Balls near the pool. The clever Mai instantly understood what had happened. The hope she had in her heart was gone.
She let out a wail and burst into tears. Her good friend, Suicune, was gone!
"Waaaah!" The pink, sweet-smelling Mai, led by Drifloon, flew out of the dark cave and rushed to the Pokémon Center.