“GGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The pain traveling through my body was excruciating. I could barely even feel my own arms, legs, neck, or face. My entire body was motioning through the sand on the ground on its own. My arms swung around in the air and smacked at the ground, my feet joining in kicking up more sand. I choked on the sand flowing around me, going into my throat. Saliva was also filling my mouth uncontrollably, but it hurt to swallow. Trying to spit it out of my mouth wasn’t working since I wasn’t in control of my body and I couldn’t turn my head to spit at the ground, so during my few successful hack ups, I ended up getting globs of my own saliva on my face, running down my cheeks and chin.

June sat far away from me, holding her hand wrapped in gauze. Kai had given June an icepack she had in her bag and applied an antibiotic ointment to her wound, also giving June some ibuprofen. June’s pain had ended after another ten minutes, and she had been quiet ever since, though tears continued to roll down her eyes.

“A sting from a tarantula hawk doesn’t last for very long!” Kai had explained to June, screaming over my pained cries as she went to take care of me. “Just be careful of that hand for the next few days. It’s gonna be very sensitive.” She turned to me. “As for you…”

“I’m dying!!” I screamed as I rolled on the ground, shivering hard, choking on my own drool and sand. “I can’t breathe! AAAAUUGGGHH!!!!!”

“Gary, please calm down,” Kai said calmly. “You’re gonna be just fine. You weren’t bitten that badly. Stop moving! You’re only gonna make it worse if you move like that!”

“Kill me!! Kill me now! Please! Get a gun and SHOOT ME!!!! Right in the head! Right in the-!” I begged Kai.

She held me down, trying hard to prevent me from moving. “Gary, your wound isn’t even that bad! Will you stop being such a baby? I already gave you an antidote for that kind of bite! If you just relax, you’ll be up in no time! You’re very lucky!”

I was crying hysterically, my neck burning and throbbing, feeling thick and heavy and like it was weighing me down. “Please!! June! Kai! Just kill me already!! I don’t wanna live anymore! I can’t take it!! I can’t take it anymore!!!”

Kai frowned and let out a sigh of frustration as she struggled to keep me still, growling.

It had been several hours of intense pain, sweat perspiring down my face continuously despite it being nearly winter. I had finally managed to relax and breathe a little easier, the back of my neck feeling slightly sore as I laid still on the ground, breathing quickly in short bursts, choking on the sand in the air, my heart beating fast, my eyes closed.

Kai was sitting next to me, talking about the spider that had bitten me. “-known as PhTx3. This is a calcium channel blocker that prevents calcium uptake, glutamate release, and glutamate uptake in the neural synapses. We got to the wound so fast, but if it had been a more serious bite, or if we hadn’t been able to act so quickly, such things as loss of muscle control, breathing issues, paralysis, asphyxiation, intense pain, and inflammation could have occurred. You see, the venom has an excitatory effect on the serotonin 5-HTF4 receptors of sensory nerves. This stimulation to the sensory nerves causes-”

I listened to her nonsensical jabbering quietly, not understanding most of what she was saying, and not fully convinced she even knew what she was talking about, herself.

*

I felt so warm and comfortable. “Mmmmm…” I said softly, and I nuzzled my face against something soft, gentle, warm, comforting, and familiar. A smile crept over my face and I let out a sigh of relief. I was back home, in bed. “Aahhh…” I sighed peacefully and buried my face in the pillow. “Home.” I reached my arms out to rub my smooth bed. My hands and arms scraped a rough surface beneath me. “Hey!” I cried out in surprise, opening my eyes.

“Cottoneeee!!” my pillow cried out in surprise.

“Whoa!” I pushed myself up and sat up in the sand I was laying on, staring at my pillow in shock as it floated up into the air.

No, it was a Cottonee!

Something poked its head through the sand and looked up at me. “Drilbur?”

Something landed on my left shoulder and let out a gentle cry.

“Aahhh!” I screamed as I fell back, the bird flapping its wings to stay in the air. “Pidove?”

Pidove landed on the ground and looked up at me.

“Sorry about that. You appeared out of nowhere!” I turned to see June looking at me, sitting on the ground. “Uh, hey!”

She smiled, still holding her hand.

I turned and saw Kai looking at me, sitting on the ground.

“I see you are finally feeling better,” Kai nodded with a smile. “You just needed to relax. Re. Lax. Relax.”

I sighed. “Yes. I suppose so.”

“’Kay bye!” Kai stood up and started walking away!

“Huh?” I exclaimed in shock. “What?”

Kai stopped and turned back to me. “I can’t hang around here anymore. I managed to take care of both of you, and June assisted me in feeding and healing all of the Pokemon you two own. I really was disappointed there weren’t more Bugs or Ghosts other than Rotom and Galvantula. I don’t know about us being friends, Gary. I mean, not one Bug or Ghost? Not cool. June, you really need to catch a lot more than just those two that you have. Now, I have to go back to Castelia to help those poor people and see what can be done about this bug swarm without harming any bugs or people, if possible. I left some things in your bags to help in your recovery process, but you’ll both be fine. I also checked both of you, as well as myself, for lice. We’re all clear. So, yeah, bye!” Kai took off, running towards Castelia City, and before long, she was out of sight.

June and I turned to each other.

“I guess she’s gone,” June said.

I sighed and looked down to my Pokemon. “Drilbur, Cottonee, Pidove. You guys okay?”

They all cried out happily to me.

“I’m glad you all are safe,” I smiled. Looking around me, I stood up. “Where are we?”

“The Desert Resort,” June said, standing as well. “Kai said it’s the Desert Resort.”

Taking the Town Map out of my pocket, my eyes scanned for the location on it, finally spotting it. “I see it. It’s between Castelia City and Nimbasa City.”

“The wind has eased up,” June noted. “Kai said it gets really bad further up ahead.”

I let out a sigh as I put the Town Map away and rubbed my arms from the surprisingly cold air around us. “Hey, where’s my jacket?”

“There.” She pointed a few feet away, deeper into the desert.

“It’s chilly out here right now,” I said as I walked over to my coat, which was on top of my bag, and put it on.

“The desert cools down at night.”

I gripped my arms tightly and stared ahead into the sand.

“You okay, Gary?” June asked softly.

My body was itching and shaking, my mind reliving the horrible experience I had just managed to survive in Castelia City. Burgh, I thought.

His face flashed in my mind, covered in flowing blood from the bullet he took.

I saw the man whose body resembled a Parasect fused with a human, attacking the Officer Jennys.

The bugs that flew from Burgh’s building, chasing after the people in Castelia City, buzzing everywhere, touching me, made me run my hands around my arms frantically, trying get the feeling off of me.

My heart picked up its pace as I fearfully, painfully, remembered the young girl, no older than eight, attacked by a swarm of bees as she tried to run away, her entire body covered by them as she screamed for her mom, and a terrible shiver effortlessly ripped through me.

I remembered June, Kai, and I, trapped in that web in the building Burgh occupied, while countless insects crawled all over our bodies.

My eyes closed tightly as my mind was taken over by memories from Castelia City. I jumped and looked up in surprise as something touched my shoulder.

“Gary, it’s okay. It’s over, now,” June told me, her hand on my shoulder, looking into my eyes.

I looked away from her, to the ground, and just shook my head. It’s not that simple, I thought to myself as the young girl in my mind was covered by the raging swarm of bees, her screams ringing through my eardrums, crystal clear, even louder now as a memory than when I had heard her scream in person.

“We’ll be okay, Gary,” June said in a low, comforting voice. “We’re out of there. I’m sure everything will be okay in Castelia.”

Her words didn’t help me at all. They were empty and unconfirmed, meaning nothing to me. Now what? I wondered as I looked ahead. Where do we go from here? My mind wouldn’t let up, continuing to terrify me with memories of Castelia City.

Burgh bursting from his cocoon as Kai got closer to it.

Burgh’s sunken, sun deprived, decrepit face.

The syringe that smashed on the ground, leaking its gray serum.

My knees gave in and I dropped down next to my bag, wrapped it up into my arms, holding it tight against my face, and closed my eyes, trembling, wishing the horrific memories would stop.

A strange cry reached my ears from somewhere close by. I opened my eyes and before I could react, something leaped from the sand. Screaming, I leaped to my feet as some kind of animal reached for my face with two small, sharp points.

I raised my bag up to protect myself, and the creature flew into it.

A sharp claw grabbed at the top of the bag, and the little monster scurried to the top.

A Pokemon? I thought, gaping at it in shock.

It looked like a scorpion, only its front claws were sharp, pointed needles and the tail was the claw!

June cried out in fear.

The creature kept its eyes on me and raised its stingers towards me.

Before I could react, something large flew at the scorpion and knocked it off of my bag. June’s bag? I realized, and turned to her.

June was wide eyed as she looked down at her bag that covered the Pokemon. “That is so scary,” she said shakily.

I turned back to her bag. “Where’d it go?”

“Drilbur!” Drilbur stepped past my legs cautiously, looking at the bag.

“Drilbur, dig that thing out from under June’s bag!” I ordered.

“Drilbur!” Drilbur dug underground.

We all waited.

Me.

June.

Cottonee.

Pidove.

Our eyes were all on June’s bag as we waited for Drilbur to reappear.

Finally, the sand split apart, and Drilbur dug his way up. “Drilbur,” he said, shaking his head.

“It got away?” I asked, disappointed.

Drilbur looked down, sad, and nodded.

Sighing, I shook my head.

“Drilbur. Dril, bur,” Dril said sadly, lowering his head further.

“That thing was a Skorupi,” June informed me. “Right now, I think the last thing you need to be running into are Bug types, Gary.”

“A Bug?” I let out a disgusted moan and rubbed my arms as my body was overcome with the feeling of crawling insects. With a sigh, I knelt down and pat Drilbur’s head, smiling. “Don’t be down. I’m sorry, Drilbur. I’m just a little bit stressed out right now. I’m not mad at you at all. Thanks for going after that Skorupi for me.”

“Drilbur!” Drilbur smiled up at me.

I turned to June and opened my mouth to say something to her.

“I threw my bag at the thing,” she muttered moodily, looking away from me.

I hesitated, closing my mouth. “I was about to thank you, June,” I said, a slightly upset tone in my voice.

“No, you weren’t,” she muttered.

“I was, too!” I said angrily, standing up.

“Whatever,” she said, crossing her arms.

I grit my teeth hard, trying not to argue with her. After all, she did save me from that Skorupi, and I know that I did intend on thanking her. “Thank you for saving me, June. I sincerely appreciate it.”

“Yeah, say it now that I mention it,” June said, turning her back on me.

Maybe she’s just stressed out after all the crap in Castelia, I told myself quickly, trying hard not to blow up on her.

My Pokemon were all looking at us now.

I forced a smile and held out their Poke Balls. “Thanks for all the support, you guys. For now, you can come on back.” I returned my Pokemon to their Poke Balls and turned to June.

She was already looking at me, an uncertain look on her face.

“June, I really mean it, okay? I was going to thank you before you spoke up so quickly. I, uh, well, I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything. I’m sorry.”

June stared at me silently, her lips pursed tight.

I stared back uncomfortably, not wanting to look at her for too long a time while not saying anything.

The wind blew at us suddenly, blowing around sand and cooling the area down even further.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and dug my hands into my jacket pockets.

June’s red hair flew into her eyes, and she reached up to fix it, pushing it behind her ears. “I’m sorry, too.”

It was all she said, but it made the difference.

“Well, after what’s happened, I have to admit that I’m not too keen on continuing this stupid journey anymore, but for now, let’s get to civilization and think this all over,” I suggested.

“Yeah, let’s find a place where I can take a shower,” June shuddered.

“Agreed.”

“So, are we going to Nimbasa City, then?”

“No other place to go to from here.”

June clapped excitedly and let out a thrilled squeal from her throat.

“What?” I asked.

“Nimbasa City! I really want to go there!” June said, smiling.

Seeing her smile brought a kind of relief to my body. Like a breath of fresh air after drowning in the madness we’d just survived.

“I really, really want to visit! It’s home to my second favorite Gym Leader, Elesa, the Electric type Gym Leader and famous model! I truly idolize that woman.”

“Electric types, huh?” I smiled a little bit. “And a model…” I began wondering what she could look like as visions of beautiful women swam through my head.

We both turned around and stared ahead through the swirling sand in our faces. There was nothing but it for miles away. A cactus sat by itself several feet from us.

“We could easily get lost out there,” June said nervously. “I don’t know if we should go this way.”

“We have no other place to go from here,” I said impatiently. “I’m not going back to Castelia.”

“I’m not saying we should go back there, but it’s just really dangerous going through this kind of environment!” June cried. “You saw that Skorupi. If you had gotten stung, where would I have taken you?”

“Sure as Hell not Castelia City!” I exclaimed.

“Gary, of course I would have had to try!” June shouted.

I stared at her in shock. “Are you serious right now?”

“Yes! Why would I be joking at a time like this?”

“June, that city is full of freaking insects and stuff! We cannot go back there under any circumstance. Ever!”

“I don’t know how to get to Nimbasa City from here! I can’t carry you who knows how long through the desert, blindly! Obviously, Castelia is not too far in the direction Kai ran in. The situation could be under control by now! It’s been a while.”

“They have a total epidemic going on there right now, June,” I argued, tired of this discussion already and yet wanting to get the point across that she better not ever try taking me back to Castelia with her no matter what the situation was.

“Yes, and that’s why it’d be a better idea to take you there, where they are caring for already injured people, and not drag you through the desert!”

I knew in my heart that June was right, but to admit that made shivers run all throughout my body. On the other hand, I wholeheartedly felt that she was wrong, as well. All I could think about were the bugs that were possibly still terrorizing the city. “Listen,” I sighed. “Let’s just be careful and get to Nimbasa City right now. Let’s not worry about a worst case scenario. We’ve been through enough.”

June swallowed, nodding slowly.

A strong breeze blew through the area, tossing around sand, June and I struggling through the rough terrain as we moved forward, our heads down against the sand and wind, leaving Castelia City even further behind us with each step.

It had been a short while of walking before I stopped and looked up, still squinting as the wind seemed to be lessening up.

June had stopped walking and turned back to look at me. “What?”

I looked ahead at the seemingly endless miles of sand ahead of us, and then I looked behind me at the stretch of sand and the cactus far away, before looking to my right and left side.

“Gary? What’s wrong?”

I turned back to her. “Nothing. Let’s just keep moving.”

June kept her eyes on me, not following at first as I walked past her, but I heard her footsteps follow me shortly afterwards.

I didn’t tell her what was wrong because I was sure it was nothing. It was just a feeling.

A premonition, if that’s the right word.

I didn’t tell June what was wrong because it was unnecessary, silly, and unfounded.

After all the things we had gone through, June didn’t need to have any more concerns added onto her.

And neither did I, for that matter.

Besides, I had just taken a careful look around.

Nobody was around.

Nobody was watching us.

There was no reason to feel like we were being followed.

As the wind picked up, howling and blowing against us as we struggled through, sand covering us up.

My feeling.

My premonition.

My unnecessary, silly, and unfounded concern.

Returned.