Tor, Ella, and Audino had done a good job unpacking and were sitting on the shore watching Tor spin playfully in the whirlpools offshore. On the way back, Adriano and Alto had done a quick lap in the sky to see if there was anything else of interest nearby. Aside from the empty house, there was nothing of note except for a small cave located on the other side of the rock the luggage was on. After Adriano called the others around and had Tor and Alto move everyone and everything into the cave, he was surprised with the result.

It was a small and cozy place, with a softer sand floor than the rocky beaches outside. A little exploring deeper in revealed that it was relatively shallow. Fortunately, Tor could barely squeeze through the entrance before the cave widened to a size almost twice as large as the old hut. With a tent set up at one side and a sleeping spot for Tor in the opening to stop anything from getting in, the small campfire in the center was more than enough to keep everything warm.

As night fell, Adriano got everyone to gather around the fire after dinner. From the blocked entrance, Tor stretched his neck out to join the group, but started to fall asleep. Adriano mixed the last of the berries and dried Basculin with some vegetables into a soup above the fire. ‘I need to go fishing tomorrow, and Ella needs fresh berries or vegetables….’ Serving everyone, he sat back and enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere. ‘As wonderful as Pokemon battling is, nothing can beat just relaxing. Even Audino isn’t nagging at me.’ Soon after, everyone went to bed and the fire slowly dwindled to embers.

Over the next few days, Adriano spent most of his time fishing on Tor or searching with Alto and Ella for food she was able to eat. Fortunately, they discovered a tasty root vegetable that grew on the tops of some of the sea stacks, so that problem was solved. Fishing was less fruitful, for every caught Basculin there were ten Frillish or Jellicent that had to be thrown back. But they managed, and the date they set to return to the Golden Island drew closer and closer.

-

“…ext week is the beginning of the Pokemon league season! To every aspiring Champion listening, don’t forget to pick up your starter Pokemon at the nearest Pokemon research lab. We’re rooting for you! In other news, it is forecasted to be a hot spring, with heat waves sweeping through Icarus and Occupleid city. Several experts are also warning of a possible tidal wave in the next month coming in from the east. Nimbasa city is holding an opening ceremony for the new battle subway that was completed last month. Entertainment expert Eliza says it is sure to ‘Shock and Dazzle’. More concerningly, a new radical group calling itself ‘Team Plasma’ has started appearing in rural areas throughout Unova. Here to talk about it is gym leader Bryce himself! Bryce, what are your thoughts on….”

Adriano turned the radio off and stretched. He had taken to moving his deck chair to the top of the spire and watching the sun rise. It was peaceful, and he got surprisingly good signal. But, if the expert’s predictions were correct, it was about time to get on back. Picking up his chair and radio, he hiked down the stairs and around until he reached the cave. Clapping his hands, he woke up everyone who wasn’t already awake and set them to the task of breaking down the camp. Once everything had been sorted and strapped to Tor, the group set off back to Golden Island.

Three days later, and the weather had grown so bad he had to put Audino and Ella back into their pokeballs so they wouldn’t get washed overboard. Alto was flying far above to lead Tor in the right direction, and Adriano had made sure to put all the important stuff in one bag he strapped to his chest. Most of the bulky stuff was food and fresh water, and all the important things were mainly his pokeballs and pokedex, as well as his gym badges and money. His radio was in a water-proof bag with the pokedex, and he had a good grip on his hat.

Tor plunged through another wave, and the water washed right over Adriano, leaving him sputtering for a moment before another wave came down. Firming his grip on the ropes, he scanned ahead, looking for the island.

‘There!’

Through a gap in the waves ahead Adriano caught a glimpse of the island in the distance before it was covered up once more. Crashing through the new wave, Tor redirected himself slightly before continuing to draw closer to land.

As Tor pulled them onto the pitted beach, Adriano jumped off and called Alto, before returning Tor to his pokeball.

“Alto, fly me around the island.”

Pulling out his fishing rod and attaching a pokeball to the line, Adriano face twisted into a greedy smile. ‘No one’s gonna miss a few Pokemon after a natural disaster.’ Urging Alto to fly faster, he scanned the ground for anything worth catching. ‘There’s those Miltank again, one of them would make a nice addition to my collection. And their milk sells for a lot!’ Casting the ball towards one of the Miltanks that had been trapped under a fallen tree, the poor Pokemon had no choice but to accept its fate.

Reeling in his newest addition, Adriano checked the worsening storm and prepared to command Alto to fly above the clouds. Before the words could leave his mouth, a black flash on the ground caught his attention. Hooking the pole through a loop on his satchel, Adriano dangled from Alto unsteadily for a moment before retrieving his binoculars. Scanning the ground, he was unable to spot any disturbances. Apart from, of course, all the debris being blown around.

Moving his gaze up from the ground, it was in a tangle of long grass and broken branches that he spotted the shape of a small foxlike Pokemon.

“Get a little closer Alto. Right above the center of this clearing.”

Storing away the binoculars securely, Adriano prepped his line with a new pokeball, heaving it back and casting into the wind, allowing it to curve neatly around the largest branch and startle the unknown Pokemon. Pulling back, Adriano frowned as he reeled in the line and found the pokeball limp and sparking, the front scored with a set of claw marks.

“Alright then, you’ve left me no choice Pokemon!”

Pulling the irreparable junk off his rod, Adriano grit his teeth and attached a precious quick ball. Few Pokemon that lived on Golden Island were this fast, and the few that were tended to all be valuable and highly sought after. ‘Maybe I can finally catch myself an Eevee. Yeah right, like I would ever keep a Pokemon that would net me that much money.’

Biting his lip, Adriano cast his line once more, the wind blowing in a different direction this time, but it was still enough to hit the Pokemon a second time. This time, the ball closed properly, and Adriano could faintly make out a flashing red light.

“Gotcha!”

Jerking the line for all it was worth, Adriano snapped the pokeball back towards him and Alto. ‘Wait a sec, why is the light still flashing…?’ With a pop, the quick ball opened in midair, revealing a very startled grey fox with a red tuft of hair on its forehead. In the brief few seconds it was airborne, it locked its piercing blue eyes onto Adriano before falling back to earth, where it proceeded to run inland.

“After it Alto!”

Swooping just above the trees, Adriano tucked his legs up to avoid being hit and carefully tracked the mysterious Pokemon. Spotting it panting under a rocky overhang, Adriano quickly tugged Alto’s legs, signaling to bring him in close. Spotting its pursuers, the agile Pokemon darted into the cave behind it. Adriano quickly untangled himself from Alto’s claws and shouted into the mouth of the cave.

“You’ve got nowhere to run mystery Pokemon! Give up now!”

He listened closely but could hear nothing over the lashing of the palm trees. Peering deeply into the darkness of the cave, Adriano couldn’t see anything but darkness. Fumbling around in his bag for a flashlight he was pretty sure he brought with him, he heard a low roar. Abandoning his attempts at finding a light source, he instead focused on the rumble that only grew in intensity, coming from the abyss in front of him.

A pair of eyes gleamed in the darkness, and a cautious step backwards turned into a full-blown retreat as a Golurk charged out into the open.

“Protect me!”

Adriano hastily directed Alto and the Pokemon swooped in front of the rocky giant and scratched it with her claws. Adriano kept running as Alto dive-bombed the attacker but after a few more steps, the threatening roar cut out entirely.

A quick glance over his shoulder had Adriano halt his steps and turn to face the situation with confusion. The threatening Golurk had vanished and had been replaced with the Pokemon from earlier, dangling in Alto’s claws as it flailed ineffectively. Grumbling as he approached the mystery Pokemon, Adriano dug an old pokedex out of his pocket and whacked it against his leg a few times before it flickered and turned on.

“Let’s see what we have here… Zoura? An illusion Pokemon. Well, that would explain the Golurk.”

Snapping the pokedex shut and pulling out a pokeball, Adriano shrugged.

“You put up a good fight little guy, but it’s game over.”

The Zoura renewed its struggle as the pokeball approached it, but Alto held firm and the desperate Pokemon was finally captured. Adriano watched it intently before letting out a sigh of relief when it flashed white.

“That was much harder than it needed to be. Let’s go Alto, looks like the main storm is about to hit.”

With a cry, Alto latched onto Adriano’s shoulders and dragged him into the sky, disappearing above the clouds as Golden Island was drowned in water and lightning.