My mouth was probably wider than it had ever been in my entire life as I screamed my head off, terrified of the spiders that I could feel crawling all over my body.

According to Kai, there were lice around here, too.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore, but I opened my mouth and somehow screamed, long, loud, until my throat ached and was sore and dried out entirely.

June’s screaming tore through my eardrums.

Even Kai was calling out for help.

A scream escaped my throat one more time as I felt tiny legs running across my stomach. “HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP!!!!”

A strange cry rang out amongst the screams.

Before I could remember what the familiar noise was, “AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” A painful shock tore through my body.

Kai screamed as well, but I didn’t hear June.

My body twitched in pain and I laid against the web, drained of my energy.

“Galvantula?” June called.

“Galvantula!” I heard the familiar response of the electricity slinging spider.

The web shook as something moved across it.

My entire body was tingling from the feel of the bugs and a different kind of stunned, twitchy pain. Something walked by my head and I gasped when I saw the enormous spider walk by me.

“Galvantula!” Galvantula said happily, waving her creepy feeler looking appendages at June.

June laughed and sniffled. “Galvantula! I can’t believe you’re here! What are you doing here?”

Galvantula spoke to June.

“Oh, Galvantula! Thank you! You kept a cool head and handled everything perfectly! Now, I need you to free Gary and Kai and me by using your Slash attack!” June ordered.

Galvantula raised one of her appendages as it glowed white, and she swiped down at June, freeing her instantly from the strings wrapped around her.

June stood up carefully, stumbling around on the web, her foot getting stuck on the sticky surface every couple of steps. She fell at one point, landing next to Galvantula, and pulled her into a big hug. “Thank you, honey. You were wonderful! Now, please, help our friends.” She turned to Kai and I and pointed at us. “Go!”

Galvantula disappeared from view as she went to free Kai as June stood up, shaking her coat, pants legs, and hair, dead insects falling from her. I felt the web move as Galvantula walked over to me and raised her claw to Slash at me, too.

“Easy!” I screamed in fear, and closed my eyes.

“Galvantula!” She sliced away my webbing with one swipe.

I got to my feet immediately, frantically shaking out my clothes, running my hands through my hair, the dead insects falling from them, and only stopped when I was sure they were all out, although my skin continued to crawl as if insects were creeping all over every part of my body continuously. Rubbing my arms rapidly, I faced the spider Pokemon. “Galvantula. You saved us.”

“She was with Burgh, with your Galvantula, Kai,” June explained to her. “When Burgh attacked us, they knew they were outnumbered. Burgh tried to convince them to be with him, free of Poke Balls and humans. Galvantula told me that they both went along with Burgh, pretending to be on his side. They helped Burgh put us in this web, and then my Galvantula went back for us while your Galvantula was distracting him. Burgh has a really evil plan, but I don’t know what it is.”

I stared down at the enormous spider that had saved our lives as I continued to rub the goose bumps on my arms, trying to stop the creeping feeling running up and down on them.

“So, my Galvantula is okay, too?” Kai asked with hope.

“Galvantula!” Galvantula nodded.

“Yay!! I knew he’d be okay!” she cried joyously, and then she looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I wonder what’s gotten into Burgh. I knew he was a bit weird, but this sure is a surprise. Sur. Prise. Surprise.”

“Right now, I’m just really grateful that Galvantula shocked the web and killed all of those nasty things down there,” June pointed.

I gazed down, past the web, to the gray floor where a large collection of bugs had fallen through, fried from Galvantula’s attack.

“There’s nothing nasty about them,” Kai defended angrily. “They’re living beings, like you and I! Don’t speak down to them like that, or else I’ll be judging you. In fact, too late. You are hereby judged!” Kai crossed her arms.

I ignored her and turned back to Galvantula, still rubbing my arms. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Galvantula,” I managed to say as I looked into her many eyes, my heart pounding rapidly. “I can’t get across how grateful I am for you.”

“Galvantula!” Galvantula cried happily.

I stared at her, my heart beating faster than before. This Bug, saved my life, I thought. I couldn’t find the proper words to describe how I felt inside, and before I knew it, my hand was rising, reaching out for Galvantula, slowly.

“Galvantulaaaa!!” her appendages waved towards me nastily.

“Whoa!! Aaugh!” I screamed, stumbling backwards in fright. My leg got stuck on the web, and I fell through a large gap, screaming. My foot remained stuck on the web as I swung back and forth, dangling upside down, the blood rushing to my head, looking at the bug covered ground beneath me.

“Gary! Are you okay?” June called down to me.

“That’s what you get for being so rude to a Bug who just saved you,” Kai said snottily.

“Hey! I see a door!” I called up to the girls.

“A door?” June repeated.

“That’s right! It’s open! Maybe this is where Galvantula crawled in from! We might be able to get out of here!”

“How do we get down?” June asked.

“We can use-” Kai paused in the middle of her sentence. “My bag! It’s gone!”

There was a moment of silence before June screamed, “My bag is gone, too! Where is my bag? My Pokemon!”

Immediately, I reached for my belt, gasping soon after as I discovered that my Poke Balls weren’t attached to it.

“Galvantula! Galvantula!” Galvantula said.

“Galvantula says that Burgh took our Pokemon and our bags, too.”

“Can we figure out a way down from here and discuss this?” I asked, starting to feel lightheaded.

“Right! Galvantula, use String Shot!” June told her Pokemon.

Galvantula rocked the web as she squeezed through the hole and let herself down to the ground, sliding past me smoothly, a thin, white thread coming from her rear, attached to the web above her. She landed on the ground and looked up at us.

“YEEHAAAAA!” Kai slid down the rope quickly, landing on the ground with a cheerful grin.

June carefully hung onto the thread as she slid down, joining Kai.

I stared down at them. So many bugs, I thought fearfully as I looked at the ground full of dead insects. Even dead, insects terrified me. Insects in general were absolutely sickening, but I had to get down from here. I was starting to feel really sick from my head, to my throat, to my stomach. Reaching out for the thread, with a grunt, I pulled my foot free from the web and soon was right side up and sliding down, unable to slow down as I dropped fast towards the insects. A scream ripped from my throat and before I knew it, I had landed on the carcasses of dead bugs, several of them jumping into the air as my feet hit the floor. “Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!” I freaked out, jumping around frantically, brushing off my clothes with both of my hands, and I leaped through the door.

June, Kai, and Galvantula followed me, watching as I frantically wiped at my clothes.

I’m in desperate need of a shower, I told myself as I removed my jacket and shook it hard before slinging it over my shoulder. The temperature had risen the moment we got through the door. “Alright. Now, let’s get out of here.” I looked at where we were, but I only saw a stairway leading down.

The four of us looked at each other, and without another word, we tore down the stairs. We landed on the floor below and stopped in front of a door, barely visible in the dark, a set of stairs leading further down.

I wiped sweat from my forehead, feeling sweat slide down my chest, to my stomach, as I panted. This is a three story building, I remembered. Freedom is one flight away. “We’re almost out of here!” Quickly, I took a few steps down the stairs.

“Galvantula!” Galvantula ran past me swiftly by running along the wall and stopping on the stairs, turning around to face me, blocking my path.

“Hey! What are you doing?” I yelled in surprise, my heart beating in fear.

“Galvantula! Galvantula!”

“She says we can’t leave,” June interpreted.

“Why?” I cried out in a panicked voice, not taking my eyes off of Galvantula.

“This floor has something.” I turned around to see her open the door on the second floor.

I squinted hard as I saw light flood from the room.

We all took cautious steps inside.

“Galvantula!” Kai screamed.

“Galvantula!” A large spider leaped from the room and landed on Kai.

Kai laughed gleefully and hugged her Pokemon. “Here you are! You’re safe! You’re really safe!” Joyous tears ran down her face as she hugged her Pokemon tightly.

I couldn’t help but smile at the sight and I turned to June.

June had her eyes glued to the room.

I gasped as my attention focused on our surroundings.

The room’s moist, muggy, dirty feeling was heavy in the air. The interior looked like a science lab! It was all gray, several metal tables inside, a dry erase board on the wall with a series of numbers and strange words, some not even in English, written all over it with many smudges from a lot of erasing. Various kinds of electronic equipment were tossed about on the tables and floor. The tables were also covered with broken glass, liquids of differing colors, and papers with printed information on them which were also strewn about. I could see patches of material on the table, looking like something absolutely disgusting, like vomit, or perhaps pieces of chewed meat.

I knew I didn’t want to find out what it was, and I backed up a couple of steps.

“What is all of this?” June whispered. “What went on in here?”

“Looks boring to me,” Kai commented. “But, look!” She ran towards the corner to her left and picked up a familiar bag. “I found my bag!” She opened it as June cried out in excitement and ran after Kai.

June bent down and dug through a much larger bag next to Kai. “My stuff! My Pokemon! It’s all in here!”

That’s when I spotted the bag next to June’s. “That one’s mine!” I ran to it and opened it, recognizing the contents immediately. “But where are my Poke Balls?” I put my jacket in the bag, zipped it closed, and stood up, slinging it over my shoulder, and three items rolled from underneath the bag. “Poke Balls! Yes!” I picked up the three Poke Balls and held them out. “If there’s anything in here, come on out!”

A white beam fired from the three Poke Balls.

“Coooottonee!”

“Drilbur!”

“Pidooove!”

“You guys are safe, too!” My eyes watered happily.

My three Pokemon leaped at me excitedly and I held onto them all, glad to have them in my arms.

“Oh, this is just wonderful! We have all of our Pokemon,” June said cheerfully.

My eyes widened as I remembered the situation we were in. “Right,” I said seriously, letting go of my Pokemon. “You guys, come back.” I returned my three Pokemon and turned to June, Kai, and their Galvantula.

June was holding out a Poke Ball, returning her Galvantula back.

Kai was also returning her Galvantula to his Poke Ball.

“We have our Pokemon safe and sound. Let’s get out of here,” I insisted.

They both nodded, and we ran back to the stairway.

I took one last glance at the lab before turning around and running downstairs.

We burst through the door on the landing and gazed around at the dark room we had been in when we entered this building. It looked exactly the same as when we had left it. Trees and filthy furniture littered the place, several consistent dripping noises heard from several places at once in the distance. Small, barely noticeable blotches of different colors on the ground and trees, the air disgustingly thick, heavy, and warm.

“Wow!” Kai exclaimed, walking away from us to look at something. She approached a tree trunk. “Is this a Southern Giant Darner?”

“Kai, we have to get out of here!” I whispered, though, with all the noise we had made, it didn’t really make any sense to try to be quiet now.

“But, this is an Austrophlebia Costalis, a species of the dragonfly family! They’re supposed to be found only in Australia! I can’t believe Burgh has one of these!”

It was when I felt the bug fly by my ear with a loud buzz that I ran, desperate to get away from this place once and for all.

June gasped. “Kai!” June begged.

“June, move it!” I shouted, turning my head back, but not stopping to run.

Kai was still moving closer to the tree, and June was looking back and forth between us. She grabbed Kai’s arm and gave her a pull, but Kai yanked her arm back and scowled angrily at June before turning back to the tree to get a better view of some stupid bug.

“Kai! What is wrong with you?” June wailed out. With a desperate cry, she ran away from Kai, leaving her to stop in front of the tree and reach out slowly towards it.

I faced forward again, leaping over chairs, swinging my arms at vines, ducking under branches, kicking dirt and rocks out of my way, sweating profusely, breathing heavily.

“The door!” June gasped, several feet behind me.

I tried to see my way ahead through the jumble of junk in my path, and finally, I saw it. “An exit!” I ran even faster, reaching the door after a little more of the intense, terrifying run, and grabbed the handle.

June was still a distance away, running as fast as she could to reach me.

I had no idea where Kai was right now.

June finally caught me and grabbed onto my shoulder, coughing hard, and she swallowed before coughing some more. “Kai,” she choked out.

“Forget her,” I said strongly.

June turned to me, a look of horror on her face.

“I don’t want to just ditch her, but she made her choice. We can’t die over her stupidity. We’ll get to the police and help her. Now, let’s just get out of here!” I opened the door and we ran outside, the cool air scooping up our bodies instantly.

We both ran forward several feet before stopping, hands on our knees, inhaling the sweet, light, crisp, cold air underneath the night sky.

Several people in the area stopped walking as they saw June and I come bursting out from the strange building. A couple of people snickered at us while others pointed and muttered, the rest just silently watching.

“We made it out of there!” June breathed hard.

“We need to find the police, or Nurse Joy,” I told her, standing up straight.

June nodded.

“Are you two kids alright?” a lady called out to us.

We both turned to her.

The woman wore a dark blue dress and a light blue bandana on her head, her feet in white shoes. A scared look was on her face. “You kids look a mess! What were you doing in that old, abandoned building? Do you need help?”

“We need the police!” I called out to her. “That building isn’t abandoned! Our friend is trapped in there with Burgh!”

The entire crowd of people gasped loudly. Their muttering got louder after my last sentence.

“Did you just say Burgh?” the lady asked, squinting at us in shock.

I nodded.

“Burgh is in there and he has our friend! Please, somebody call the police!” June pleaded.

Nobody pulled out a phone. They just stared at us, looks of confusion and fear on their faces.

“Do you mean to say that Burgh is alive? Are you absolutely certain it was him?” The lady’s voice quivered as she spoke now.

“Yes! It was him! Who cares who it was? Somebody, call the police!! Our friend is in danger!!” I screamed.

A few people pulled out their cell phones at my plea and began to make phone calls. It hadn’t even been ten seconds since the phones were raised to their ears before I heard the sirens. The people holding their phones turned around in confusion as lights flashed from the tops of two police cars that pulled up in front of us.

The doors opened and I spotted the long leg that came from the car, attached to a black shoe, but not the usual high heel all Officer Jennys wore.

Officer Jenny? I thought in my head, somehow mesmerized by her already despite the horrific situation that was going on.

The next thing I saw was a different colored outfit. It wasn’t the usual blue, but instead, was a tan color. She moved from the car.

Officer Jenny? I repeated in shock. No. This can’t possibly be her.

Her hair wasn’t blue. It was closer to a turquoise color and was cut very short to her head.

Another officer came out of the car, looking exactly like the first woman.

Two more officers, identical to the other women, stepped out from the second car.

All of the officers spotted June and I and immediately walked over to us.

“Are you kids okay?” one of the officers asked, kneeling down to us. “We got a phone call about a disturbance in the area. Screams were reported. What happened to you?”

“Officer Jenny, it’s Burgh!” June said quickly.

This is an Officer Jenny?? Despite the horror overflowing my body from my escape of Burgh’s building, I found myself completely stunned by how different and, quite frankly, unattractive, she looked compared to the Officer Jennys in Kanto and other regions!

“Burgh?” another Officer Jenny asked, staring at June in surprise.

“Yes, or whoever it is in there,” June nodded quickly. “We went in there for a battle, but-”

“The Gym here has been abandoned,” another of the Officer Jennys informed us. “It’s been inactive for years. Nobody’s seen Burgh since-”

A loud cry rang out, making everyone gasp and turn around.

What was that? I wondered, looking around. That was when I spotted him.

There stood a man, looking up into the sky, wearing sunglasses and a black trench coat reaching so far down that it scraped the ground, covering his feet. He was hunched over, the hump of his back reaching over his head, and wider than his entire body. It looked like he was carrying a dome on his back.

This isn’t good at all, I instantly knew, shaking my head at the man. I looked up to where he was looking. “Burgh!” I pointed at the top of the Gym building.

Burgh was standing on top of the building, on the roof that hung loosely, an easy entryway into the building through the hole that wasn’t covered by the hanging roof. He let out an inhuman screech of some kind, and leaped from the top of the building, his cut up cape lifting behind him, giving him the appearance of a spider or some kind of multi-legged creature.

The people in the area screamed when they spotted Burgh, and shrieked even louder when he leaped from the roof.

Burgh landed in front of us and stood up straight. He brushed back his hair, leaving it sitting behind his ears, revealing his sickly face, showing that he was smiling, his lips closed.

“Where’s Kai?” June let out in a terrified voice.

“Burgh?? Is that really you?” an Officer Jenny asked, taking a step back, her face getting pale.

The other officers just looked at Burgh in disbelief.

“No. I am not Burgh,” Burgh smiled demonically, flashing crooked, yellow teeth, some of which were missing, others seeming inhumanly sharp.

“Then, who are you?” an officer asked in a voice that seemed to be attempting to come out strong, but was shaky, squeaky, and cracked.

Several of the bystanders had run away by now, but a few stayed, looking too terrified to move.

“I once was known by this Burgh name. This human name,” Burgh spoke, his voice low, but strong. His eyes dull, yet alive with an internal energy. “I am no longer this human. I am, an insect. Far greater than a human being. Lord over all insects. Lord over all life forms!”

“Uh. Wh-Huh?” Officer Jenny stammered in confusion.

“The insect species has been around since the very beginning of time, long before man was even a thought,” Burgh said, taking a strong step towards us.

June, me, and the Officer Jennys took a step back, the small crowd crying out.

“To this day, surviving the destruction of the dinosaurs, the continuous attacks on the planet we live on from natural occurrences such as earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes, and existing to now in a technological world, insects have proven to be unstoppable and indestructible!” Burgh continued. “Humans, with all their knowledge, and all their fancy gizmos, are still a dying species, and once annihilated, once all animal life is cleared out of existence, I ask you: Who will be left standing? Indeed, the insects.”

He is far crazier than Kai suspected, I thought, looking at him, slightly amused, but more so fearful. He’s completely insane.

“Okay, Burgh, or whatever you want to call yourself,” an Officer Jenny said, taking a few steps up to Burgh. “How about you come with us?”

Burgh let out an sharp yell and waved an arm.

The officer stepped back nervously, the crowd shouting out again.

“You humans prove useful in your freewill,” Burgh growled, his eyes seeming to grow darker. “You are weak, pitiful, and disposable, but you have a brain unlike any other species on this planet. This is why, a mergence is necessary. A combination in human and insect species. The ultimate creation that will last for all eternity!”

The crowd muttered amongst each other. I even heard a camera snap as a picture was taken, the flash going off.

Burgh growled at the flash, the crowd gasping and backing up, terror in their eyes.

“We are going to ask you all to put away your cameras as we take control of this situation!” an officer ordered as she walked towards the spectators.

“The project has already been accomplished,” Burgh said in his low voice, grabbing all of our attention. “I’ve successfully merged the human and insect species together. It was years of experimentation with the parasite known as Ophiocordyceps Sinesis, or, perhaps more commonly referred to as the Tochukaso parasite. Nothing worked at first. I couldn’t get the possession process the parasite is so well known for to work as required in humans. During my time, deep in research, I went to the Kanto region to seek out an object of interest. This object was merely rumored to exist, but I was desperate. If it did exist, I just knew that it would be the key I was missing to unlock the success of my experiment. The object was connected in some unknown way to a mythological Pokemon from that region. Low and behold, I found the object. Somehow, through my years in the Kanto region, desperately searching, gathering clues about its location, going both far and wide, high and low, through sea, land, and all else that got in my way, doing the unthinkable, the unimaginable, and the impossible in my quest, I actually found it. I took it back with me to Unova, and my research proved a complete success. And it was all thanks to what I found in Kanto. A gene which has the power to drive one, berserk. And now.” Burgh reached inside of his cape.

“Burgh! Freeze!” an Officer Jenny insisted. “Don’t move!”

Three of the officers pulled out their guns and pointed them at Burgh.

The fourth officer was radioing for backup.

The crowd screamed, a couple of people running, a few people peeking out from the doors of stores and other buildings, many people holding out their phones to record everything.

Burgh froze, a small smile on his face.

“Slowly place your hands in the air! Slowly!” one of the police officers yelled.

“Oh, but of course,” Burgh said slyly.

A loud, shrill screech like nothing I’d ever heard, rang out.

Everyone turned around to the source.

To my immense shock, it was coming from the man in the sunglasses and enormous lump on his back! The man’s mouth was open wide, screaming up at the sky, screeching a loud shout that sounded like nothing from this planet. He lowered his head and raised an arm. The sight of his arm caused everyone to scream for their lives. It was all white, crooked, long, misshapen, and had no hand. His arm ended, instead, in a large, white pincer! He swiped at his sunglasses, and the sight we all saw next raised more shouts of horror and panic, one of the officers even dropping her gun in shock, her mouth hanging open. The man’s eyes were entirely white, and bulged out from his head! He bared his teeth, which were all brown and incredibly tiny and dagger-like, and then he reached with both of his white, stalk-like arms, removing his jacket with his pincers.

I nearly vomited at the sight of the man’s body underneath his coat.

He wore no clothes. His entire body was a milky white. He was hunched over, carrying some kind of white, mushroom-looking sack on his back. The man bent all the way over, getting on all fours, and let out another insane scream at us.

That looks so familiar, I realized in disgust, my stomach churning, my heart thumping frantically. What is that?

“Say hello to one of the lucky few who shall eternally live on, forever!” Burgh screamed in celebration. “One of the immortals! Seeing this experiment, this LIFE of mine in action, lets me know that it is indeed safe to begin the experiments on myself! THIS is what I want to be! What I am!” Burgh laughed like a maniac as he pulled out a syringe with an enormous needle from his cape.

BANG!

A gunshot rang out, and Burgh dropped the needle, covering his face, screaming in pain as he stumbled back, bending over.

The syringe smashed to the ground and a gray liquid spilled out onto the ground.

The crowd screamed at the sound of the gun firing.

The creature screamed and leaped, taking down two of the Officer Jennys as they shrieked.

One of the Officer Jennys ran towards Burgh while the last officer who had dropped her gun, stood frozen, looking from Burgh to her partners as the creature that had attacked them began slashing at their faces with his pincers while they begged for help, trying to push the monster off of them, their guns having been knocked out of their grasp.

As the officer who shot Burgh approached him, Burgh turned around, nearly his entire face coated in his own blood from the bullet he had surprisingly survived, a furious sneer on his face, and he flung his hand in her direction.

Something flew from Burgh’s hand and landed on her face.

Officer Jenny screamed as several tiny creatures covered her face. She dropped her gun and swiped at the bugs frantically, backing away from Burgh.

Burgh reached into his cloak again and pulled out a remote control this time. “You’ve ruined EVERYTHING!” Burgh raged. He pressed one of the few buttons on the box.

Nothing happened.

CRASH!!!!!

June, me, the crowd, and the remaining Officer Jenny turned with a scream towards the sound to see that the rooftop of Burgh’s building was now smashed on the ground.

The two Officer Jennys called out helplessly.

I turned as the monster on them continued to rip their blood spilling faces apart, now digging his little teeth into one of their faces, seeming to suck on it.

Wait, I thought. That thing. That monster! It looks like…

June’s shrill scream grabbed my attention and I turned to see her looking up at the roof, a loud buzzing getting louder by the second from somewhere.

I turned to the building again and stumbled back, my eyes widening until it hurt.

The loud buzzing noises were coming from the open roof of the building as an endless amount of bugs flew out from within it, rising into the sky like a huge, black cloud, practically disappearing into the night sky. The bugs spread apart almost instantly and dove down upon the city as flightless bugs crawled from the top of the building and rapidly crawled their way down to the ground.

I looked around as everybody ran as fast as they could, screaming as loud as possible, running into each other, the buildings, or down the street in a panic. Some people stepped out of their buildings in amazement, but once the swarm reached them, they were screaming and running back inside, leading the bugs in with them.

The monster attacking the officers was still sucking the blood from one of their faces, slashing at their now silent bodies.

Parasect! I screamed in my head. That monster looks like some kind of a mutated Parasect! I didn’t have long to think about this.

Burgh stepped up to June and I, making us both gasp out.

He was now holding one of the officers’ guns in his hand, his face flowing down heavily with blood. “I worked so hard for that serum,” Burgh growled. “You all, shall pay!!” He bared his disgusting teeth as he raised the gun and pointed it at me.

I held my breath, staring at the dark hole of the barrel with petrified eyes.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” A loud scream was heard right before a large creature flew into Burgh, hitting him in the face, the gun flying from his hand.

The individual stood up and smiled at June and I. “You know, Burgh’s really not so kawaii after all,” Kai said, shaking her head.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” June shrieked and swatted away a huge wasp looking bug on the back of her hand, the insect as long as her hand itself. June held her hand close to her and continued hollering in pain. “IT BUUUUUURRRRRRNS!!!!!! A big bee just STUNG ME!!”

“Actually, it was a-” Kai explained to June.

“LATER!!!” June shouted angrily. “GAAAHHHHHH!!!!! IT STINGS SO BADLYYY!!!!!!”

I began to freak out and closed my mouth and eyes tightly as I swatted spastically at the bugs surrounding my body, buzzing in my ear, flying into my face. I felt a pull on my wrist and I ran with the pull, keeping my eyes closed.

“Like I was trying to tell you, June, it’s a Tarantula Hawk!” Kai shouted from in front of me. “They’re spider wasps that hunt tarantulas to use as food for their larvae. It’s considered one of the all time most painful insect stings in the world.”

“I can see why you stupid little-!!” June blew up from close by.

“Where are we going?” I shouted over June, squinting over at Kai.

“Out of Castelia!” Kai answered.

“What about June?!”

“She’ll be fine! This can be easily treated! Trust me!”

The three of us ran through a crowd of people running in all different kinds of directions. There was screaming, the sound of breaking glass, and I’m pretty sure I even heard a gunshot or two. Several times, I witnessed people banging on the doors of shops and tall businesses and apartment buildings, and most of those times, the doors were held closed by people inside, afraid to let the person or people outside, in. The person begging to get inside was always screaming in pain from the attacks they were receiving from the bugs.

One child was running by herself, screaming for her mommy, but collapsed to the ground very quickly, letting out a scream I knew I’d never forget for as long as I lived, a swarm of large bees covering her body in seconds.

I closed my eyes, unable to take anymore of this, tears now starting to cloud my vision.

“Alright! Hang tight, you guys!” Kai encouraged us.

June continued to scream, louder than before.

I tried forcing the image of that little girl out of my head, desperate to forget her scream. She must have been about six, I thought against my will, tears forcing their way through my eyelids.

I felt more bugs slamming into my face and I pursed my lips even tighter, feeling them in my ears, making me shake my head furiously.

Kai stopped running. “Okay, everything should be fine, now! It’s a bit sandy, but I think you’ll prefer the Desert Resort to Castelia City right now.”

I squinted through my eyes at Kai. “Huh? Oh!” We were in a desert!

“AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!” June’s cry was painful to even hear. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through.

“Don’t worry about that, June,” Kai said casually. “I’ll fix you right up.”

The wind blew in my face, sand swirling around me. I couldn’t believe it. We had made it out of Castelia City and were now in some kind of desert! What did she say this place was called? I wondered as Kai dug through her bag, June on the ground, holding her hand, crying loudly.

Suddenly, a painful pinch in my neck caused a loud gasp to escape my throat. I inhaled as deeply as I could, pulling sand into my mouth and throat. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!” I grabbed the back of my back and felt something furry. I gripped it and pulled, tossing it to the ground in front of me.

A big spider stood there and ran away from us, back in the direction we came from.

“Oh, my, that’s not good,” Kai said, shaking her head as she watched the spider run off.

Fire. Pure fire was on the back of my neck where the spider had bitten me. I had never felt anything this painful in my entire life. Nothing was comparable to the sensation now flowing throughout my body. I dropped to the ground, twitching in pain, screaming, feeling a lack of control over my own body’s movements.

“That’s Phoneutria, more commonly referred to as the Brazilian wandering spider, armed spiders, or, as they say in Portugese, ‘armadeiras,’ and also referred to as the banana spider. Not to be confused with the golden silk-”

“Kai, I will actually kill you if you don’t shut up!!!!” I bellowed, my teeth gritted so tightly they were bound to crack under the pressure at any second.

“Rude,” Kai said indignantly. “But, I suppose I do understand your short temper right now. The Brazilian wandering spider is known as the most venomous spider to date, and it is also known to give the most painful bite of any insect in the world, with quite the symptoms. Sym. Ptoms. Symptoms. Symp. Toms. Symptoms. Sympt. Oms. Symptoms.”

June and I were in the middle of the desert.

Screaming in agony from the worst pain we’d ever gone through in our entire lives.

On the verge of death.

With Kai.