Battle begins

They continued to make their way through the cave at a steady pace. Now that the heat was no longer a concern, the ladies began to relax again and started chatting with each other. Elesa held onto Rex's hand while occasionally caressing it affectionately with her thumb.

Rex smiled silently and enjoyed holding her hand. Monica and Jessica rolled their eyes and winked at each other before skipping forward to escape the almost visibly pink atmosphere clinging to the cave causing them to feel uncomfortable.

they soon reached a larger area that connected to a much smoother tunnel that was wider than the rest. from within, a strong red glow pulsated in a rhythmic pattern. thankfully, Arcanine was controlling the temperature, since otherwise, it would have been a bit troublesome for the three girls to sustain.

Rex turned to the twins who were curiously sizing up the entrance with their big watery eyes.

"Monica, you will have a week starting today to capture Moltres, fail and you will not get another chance. Is that understood?" asked Rex in a deep baritone voice, causing even their chests to rumble slightly like a drum being banged repeatedly by a hammer. Like Jumanji playing in their chests.

Monica jumped slightly before nodding meekly, a spark of resolve only becoming clear in her gaze as she made her way through the tunnel and eventually focusing upon the bird atop the cliff looking down at them with a solemn expression.

POP!

Arcanine silently appeared again before laying next to Rex who had already made his way off to the side with Elesa leaving Monica and Jessica standing there silently.

(Listen fire chicken, for the next week, this little girl will try to capture you, fight as hard as you can, succeed and you will be rewarded, fail and, well, you know what happens. Let the odds be forever in your favour.) Arcanine's teasing voice could only be heard by Moltres, and as it landed in its ears, it caused the bird's eyes to twitch vigorously.

'As if I have a choice, you practically holding me captive. Hell, I can barely even use my flames with you here, yet you expect me to battle? Am I a joke to you?' Moltres thought to itself, it felt like crying from the injustice. it was quietly sleeping in its cave away from everyone. Why then was it disturbed? it couldn't even fight, it couldn't even use its flames. It was like its brother had betrayed it; the flames it could always control left its side.

Naturally, Arcanine after recovering had improved to such an extent that he couldn't even be comparable to his previous self. As it turns out, Arcanine gets stronger from every loss, it's like a hidden condition. Apparently, the previous holders of this legacy were notorious for running all over the world chasing after defeat. That's right, defeat, they yearned for it, because with every loss they got qualitatively stronger proportionate to the gap between their opponent. A glorified masochist if you will.

And seeing how Umbra was on another scale, the boost Arcanine got was insane. So, he could now control all the fire in the surrounding among other things, meaning, all fire type attacks were not only ineffective but also served as free attacks he could redirect towards his opponents. Suppressing them in an infernal cage of eternal suffering.

Moltres had no way of ever escaping, he was forced to dance upon Arcanine's palm like a puppet on strings. As a being who lived off fire, the life and death of Moltres were no longer in his hands, but in Arcanine's, the dog who can turn into a rainbow dragon of catastrophe.

Monica looked at her future companion and a fire burned inside of her like a raging inferno only seen in the depths of hell itself. Her eyes seemed to glow with battle intent as she clutched the ball in her hand. all fear escaped from her mind. Jessica smiled at this. after all, this was Monica's so call special ability, she wouldn't care about anything and give it her all.

Rex had never seen her Pokémon before, so he was curious about what Monica had in store for him. Elesa looked to her left only to see a figure resting his chin on his hand, sitting comfortably atop a boulder, occasionally stroking Arcanines fur. She just stared blankly at him, no thoughts running through her mind apart from the trust she had in him. she made her way over and gracefully sat right next to him before wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder while focusing on the twins in front of them.

Monica finally threw out her Pokeball.

Bang!

BOOM!

Emboar came out with a stomping tantrum, his feet created massive craters, cracks running up the side of the walls before causing parts of the ceiling to crack and fall.

Rex frowned slightly and slowly extended his hand out and the boulders stopped in mid-air. This caught Emboar's attention, but when his eyes met Rex's, a deep fear suddenly settled in his very soul. A pair of massive eyes appeared in the dark expanse of his psyche and a single word echoed in his mind.

'Behave'

That single word sent shivers down his spine. His tantrum immediately stopped causing Monica and Jessica to open their eyes wide in shock.

"W-What happened Mon? your Pokémon has never been this docile!" Jessica exclaimed with an incredulous expression on her face. Yet her attention didn't remain on the massive beast that was as quiet as a lamb but drifted towards the distant image of a man atop a boulder, winking at her as his slightly sharp white canine teeth peeked out from the slight parting of his lips.

'Truly a man of mystery.' She thought to herself.