“Tympole evolved?” June asked, an excited look on her face.

“He evolved during the battle against Clay’s Stunfisk and Golurk,” I told her. “And then Pidove evolved later on. I explained this when we were leaving Driftveil City. You weren’t listening.”

“Pidove, too?” June gasped happily, her face lighting up even further. “Does he listen better, now?”

“Yes, June,” I sighed with exasperation. “You haven’t seen my Pokemon in a bit, huh?”

“Well, we all stormed out of Driftveil after beat you Clay, and our Pokemon have been in the Pokemon Center since we got here while we all were…” June lowered her eyes to the ground.

I glared down, my mind immediately focusing on Ella.

Last night, I had taken a long walk by myself outside. I had managed to hold back a wave of tears in front of June, several drips managing to escape my eyes, but alone, in the woods leading back to Chargestone Cave, I bawled on my knees, threw rocks, screamed into the sky, kicked trees, and threw a huge tantrum, feeling furious, depressed, alone, and completely worthless. Why would she go back to him after leaving him for cheating on her? I had thought furiously. Was I really that bad?

“You’ve been nothing but bad luck for me, Gary! I missed out on two badges, busted my leg, and got ditched on a date. Maybe us separating is a good thing.” Ella had claimed that was just a joke.

“Complete crap!” I had screamed in the woods that night, kicking at the ground furiously. I knew she had left for those reasons. And because girls are just stupid. She’s going back to her boyfriend who cheated on her, I thought angrily. I’d never do that to her! Why do girls always go back to the assholes? How come I can never find the right person for me? Why do I have to end up in this position? Maybe I’ll just go around slapping girls and demanding they go out with me and then hit on their best friends in front of them! “Is that what girls want?!” I cursed in a rage and made a raucous in the woods, Pokemon scurrying and flying away from my wrath as I stormed around.

The only thing that took my mind off of the pain in my heart over Ella was a different pain in my heart that I had been holding back until it finally burst free from its cage and took over me, gripping my heart in a freezing, tight grasp that froze me on the inside and made my body shiver, causing me more pain than anything else in my life ever had. Alone in the woods, I could take the time to think about something that had been bubbling up from deep down inside of me, and now, it had bubbled over the top and into the forefront of my mind. I was now thinking about June’s encounter with Fred, and I couldn’t help but wonder about my dad. If a friend of June’s could return from the dead to see her one last time out of love, where was my dad to do the same? Why hasn’t he come back to see me? Did Fred know my dad?

And then I wondered: What about Aly…? Did neither one of them care enough to return to comfort me after all this time when I had been suffering from their losses? These thoughts and countless others made me cry harder than I’d ever cried in my entire life, a helpless feeling dropping me to the ground effortlessly, and I laid there, soaking the soil underneath my face with my tears. All alone, with no one and nothing but myself and my honest emotions, I realized that the situation that had occurred between June and Fred made me feel jealous. Unwanted. Unloved. There was so little I understood, and so much I needed to know. So much I felt I was entitled to know! But all I was given was nothing but an endless supply of tears to give to the dirt.

The sky was still dark but was starting to light up as I walked back to the Pokemon Center, dim signs of daylight introducing a fresh morning I didn’t want to be given. I showered before going to bed at about six, and when I awoke several hours later, the look on June’s face told me that she didn’t have the best night’s sleep, either.

We didn’t say a word to each other for a couple of hours, but slowly, surely, we found ourselves having small talk, and eventually conversing like normal as we tried to move forward.

“So, let me see my little Tympole, now!” June was reaching her arms out towards me and pulling me from my dark, angry thoughts. “Come on, come on!”

“Alright,” I muttered, walking away from the Pokemon Center we stood in front of. “I guess I’ll send out everybody. I haven’t seen them in a bit, myself.” I threw all six Poke Balls to the ground.

“Tranquill!” Tranquill happily flapped his wings in the air.

“Daaaarmanitaan!” Darmanitan’s large fists punched at the ground.

“Elgyem!” Elgyem cried out to us.

“Coooottonee!” Cottonee said cheerfully.

“Toooooad!” Palpitoad gurgled.

“DRIIIIIILL!!” Excadrill shouted eagerly, raising his large claws into the air.

“Hey, guys! Take a look!” I pulled out the Quake Badge from the inside of my lightweight jacket I was wearing this surprisingly warm day. “I didn’t get the chance to let you guys know earlier, but our battle against Clay in Driftveil City paid off, and we won the Quake Badge! Badge number five! And, Pidove has evolved into Tranquill, and Tympole evolved into Palpitoad!”

All of the Pokemon, except for Elgyem, cheered joyously, talking with each other excitedly.

Elgyem silently looked up at the Badge for a moment, and then his eyes focused on Tranquill, who paid him no mind as he and Palpitoad were surrounded by my other Pokemon, celebrating.

Palpitoad turned to June and cried out happily, running over to her.

June cried out and backed up a few feet away from Palpitoad as he stopped in front of her and smiled.

“Hey, there!” June said happily, smiling.

Palpitoad jumped towards her.

June let out another cry and moved out of the way, Palpitoad dropping to the ground.

He looked up with a confused look at June.

“What was that for?” I asked angrily, crossing my arms.

“Nothing,” June said hesitantly.

“Why are you acting so weird around Palpitoad? You weren’t like this when he was a Tympole.”

“He’s very nice. Congratulations on evolving, Palpitoad,” June nodded, and she walked away, not taking her eyes off of him as she got behind me.

I turned swiftly to her, frowning. “June, what is wrong with you?”

Palpitoad stared at June with an unsure face.

“Gary, I’d really prefer not to touch that thing, if you don’t mind,” she whispered.

I gasped in shock at her words. “Excuse me?”

“Gary, please don’t make this into a big thing, okay?” she pleaded.

“You just told me you don’t want to touch my Palpitoad!” I said loudly.

Palpitoad cried out in shock.

My other five Pokemon had gone silent, watching us now.

“Gary!” June whined.

“Why would you say that?” I demanded.

June sighed, a flash of anger crossing her face as she glanced briefly at Palpitoad. “Since you’re going to make this a big stink, I just am not a fan of Ground types, okay?”

Palpitoad’s eyes widened as he gurgled sadly.

“Ground types? What do you mean? Are you afraid of them?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from her.

“No, I’m not,” June shook her head. “I just don’t like Ground types.”

“But what does that mean? Why are you saying this?”

“Because you asked! I don’t like Ground types. They can resist Electric moves, and I love Electric types, and they just… I just do not like them, okay! You hate Bugs, and I hate Ground Pokemon!”

Palpitoad let out a loud, long croak, and I turned around to see him sitting on the ground, wailing.

“Palpitoad!” I walked over to him and rubbed his back.

“You see what you did?” June shouted angrily at me.

“ME? No, YOU!”

“If you had just dropped it, or not been so loud, this wouldn’t be happening! Why can’t you just accept that I don’t like Ground types?”

“I thought you didn’t really have a problem with any types! You seemed to like my Baltoy just fine,” I reminded her. “And my Dugtrio, too. And Excadrill is part Ground, as well.”

“Cadrill!” Excadrill crossed his arms, glaring up at June.

June stared at Excadrill nervously before turning to me. “Baltoy is cute, but that doesn’t mean I like it! I’ve never touched any of your Ground types, have I? I don’t like Ground types! Why is this so hard to understand?”

“Because now I have a crying Pokemon and you’re being completely unapologetic about this!” I yelled at her.

“Excuse me, you’re Gary, aren’t you?” a kind voice called out.

June and I turned around to see Nurse Joy smiling at us, standing outside of the Pokemon Center.

Palpitoad stopped crying but began sniffling at the sound of Nurse Joy’s call.

“Yes, I’m Gary,” I told her.

“Oh, I’m so glad,” Nurse Joy said with a relieved voice. “You have an emergency phone call from Prof. Oak.”

A loud gasp escaped my throat, June also gasping out behind me.

Nurse Joy’s smile faded as she looked at us with wide eyes.

I swallowed and cleared my throat. “Excuse me, I-I didn’t hear you. Could you please repeat that?”

“Prof. Oak? The Kanto region Pokemon Professor? He’s on the phone and he wishes to speak to you!” Nurse Joy said to me. “He said it’s an emergency.”

Professor Oak? My head was spinning. No way. It can’t be. Impossible. This must be a trick. He can’t possibly know I’m in Unova.

June and I exchanged fearful glances before returning our stares to Nurse Joy.

How could he know? Prof. Juniper? Why did it take him so long to try to reach me? Was he calling the wrong Pokemon Centers, trying to find me? My battle with Clay! My eyes widened as I remembered that the battle I had with Clay was televised throughout Unova. Was it only Unova? Did someone from Unova who knows Prof. Oak, call him after seeing my battle with Clay? Did the person recognize me? How could they have? Did they record the battle and have Prof. Oak review it, not knowing that it would give away my location? Not knowing that the kid battling Clay was someone Prof. Oak was looking for?

“Gary?” Nurse Joy called out to me.

Run! Just run! I shouted in my head. Screw it. Collect your Pokemon and get out of town! My entire body was shaking on the ground as my eyes were stuck on Nurse Joy’s face.

“Prof. Oak is waiting on the phone for you, right now,” Nurse Joy smiled. “He said he has something very important to tell you involving your Pokemon and your friends.”

“What?” I climbed quickly to my shaky feet. “My Pokemon? My friends! Charizard, Porygon-Z, and the others! Kiwi? Robin? What’s happened to them?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Nurse Joy said kindly. “That’s what the professor wants to speak with you about.”

I had no choice. I had to go speak to Prof. Oak. I returned my six Pokemon to their Poke Balls, all of them looking up at me, confused by what was going on, Palpitoad also looking at me in confusion, but still sniffling from June’s hurtful words, his eyes still watering.

Nurse Joy led the way into the building, June following behind me.

My heart thumped strongly as Nurse Joy pointed towards a computer at the front of the counter she stands behind, Audino standing by it. I walked over to Audino and around the desk, staring at the screen of the computer.

In thin, large font, in black letters, the word HOLD was blinking on a blue screen. Prof. Oak is here, I thought fearfully. He’s right there, on the other end of the line. I stared at the phone receiver sitting next to the charger of the phone. I should run, I thought. But I can’t. My Pokemon. My friends. I have to find out what’s happened to them. But, what if this is a trick? What if I get arrested as soon as the professor knows it’s me? I could be sealing my fate! I can’t answer this phone. I can’t! My shaky hand reached out for the receiver. Don’t, Gary! Don’t do it! I gripped the receiver and squeezed it tightly in my hand, raising it to my right ear. No, Gary, this is your last chance. Just get out of here, man! My left hand reached out to the ENTER button on the keyboard, and I shakily, slowly, pressed it.

The blue screen gave way to a stern face that tore into my heart like a dagger, and I nearly dropped the receiver, gripping it even tighter instead.

Prof. Oak glared at me silently, the inside of his lab visible behind him.

I shook in place, wishing I were in a bathroom due to the different feelings maneuvering throughout the inside of my body.

“Gary, it’s been a while,” Prof. Oak nodded solemnly.

“Professor,” I whispered shakily in fear.

“You look like you’ve been traveling,” Prof. Oak stated. “The dirty, beaten, worn out face of a young traveler is what I see.”

I could only manage to nod, having no idea of how to respond to him, until suddenly, the words exploded from within me. “Sir!! I’m so glad you’re okay! I-I was so, so worried! About you, my mom, my Pokemon! I’m so sorry! None of this was supposed to happen. Everything just spiraled out of control!”

Prof. Oak raised a hand, silencing me, and then his hand slowly lowered. “How have you been, my boy?”

“Worried sick!” I shouted at him, my eyes tearing up. “Sir, how are my Pokemon? You have information on my friends? What’s going on? Is my mommy alright?”

Prof. Oak stared at me solemnly for a moment.

I was too afraid to say anything, waiting for him to answer me.

“Your mother is doing fine,” Prof. Oak finally answered. “She hasn’t spoken to me since you left, and was enraged, understandably. She has secluded herself in her house and wants nothing to do with anyone. She doesn’t trust anybody at all and won’t even speak to Ms. Say. I can understand her feelings right now, and it’s best to just keep her to herself for now. I will be sure to let her know you’re alright. Right now, she is acting as if she doesn’t care where you are or what happens to you, so it would be best that you not contact her at the moment. Just remember that she does love you and is just hurt due to what occurred when you were last here. Give her time, and please, stay in contact with us both.”

“Thank you, Professor,” I smiled gratefully, sighing in relief. “Tell her I love her. Please. Tell her I’m so sorry for everything. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I feel so sick to my stomach. Things went too far. I had no control over this.”

Prof. Oak nodded solemnly. “Professor Juniper informed me that she had met you a few months ago.”

“Huh? She did?” I gasped in surprise.

Prof. Oak nodded again.

“So, you’ve known all this time? You’ve known I’ve been in Unova?”

“Yes. I was quite upset after your Porygon-Z attacked me,” he said firmly. “I had no clue as to where you had gone. Charizard came back several hours later, and Porygon-Z returned a week later.”

“Charizard’s back? Oh, my goodness! YES! He made it back to you! Porygon-Z, too! But, it took it a week? Why a week?”

“How am I to know, Gary? One day, I was reviewing the latest information that my grandson had sent me on some new research that he has been working on for many months, and the next thing I knew, my computer crashed,” the professor said, his eyebrows narrowing further. “When I rebooted my computer, all of my very important research I’ve been working on and advancing on since before the day you were born had been rewritten in some cryptic code I have yet solve, and Gary’s data had been erased and filled with various images of you, your girlfriend Judy, and a Porygon-Z!!!!” Prof. Oak’s face was red and he was breathing heavily, rage on his face.

“Oh, no…” I whispered, lowering my head but not taking my eyes from the professor.

“Oh, yes!” Prof. Oak continued furiously. “It didn’t take me long to realize what had happened, and after screaming and shaking my computer, your Porygon-Z sure enough appeared!”

“I don’t know what to say. That’s terrible! I’m really sorry!” My heart was beating in fear. I had never seen Prof. Oak this angry. But at the same time, I struggled to hold back a smile, the fear of Prof. Oak mixing in with the excitement in my heart at the news of my Charizard and Porygon-Z, both safe with him, mixing in with how funny I found it that Porygon-Z had done that to Prof. Oak’s work, though I’d never admit it to him. What Porygon-Z had done was seriously wrong, but it was kind of amusing, and I knew it wasn’t trying to be mean to the professor. It was just playing, like an innocent child splashing in the mud and then running through the just cleaned house.

Prof. Oak closed his eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, for undoubtedly five minutes, before his cold eyes opened. “Anyway,” he continued in a clearly forced, calmer tone as he spoke slower to me. “I explained the situation to Prof. Juniper, leaving out… certain… details of how and why you left, and basically said you were in a tight spot at your mother’s house. I told her you managed to run away and to not let you know I knew where you were. I said I’d reveal my knowledge of your whereabouts when the time was right. She agreed to this.”

So that’s why she never mentioned me to Trixa or Ella, I thought to myself, nodding to Prof. Oak. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Professor,” I told him, wiping at my eyes. “Please, my other Pokemon, and my friends. How is everyone else?”

“Well, that’s where things get a little more complicated,” Prof. Oak said, his voice lowering gravely. “The good news is, Drifloon, Kingdra, and Noctowl are all back here with me. Drifloon and Kingdra are doing alright, but Noctowl is still in a bit of rough shape. It should be fine in time, but for now, it needs rest.”

“Thank goodness for that!” I smiled.

“Robin has gotten a lot better and right now, is only in need of a cane,” Prof. Oak said to me.

“That’s excellent!”

“Yes, and Kiwi is also well, though still paralyzed from the waist down.”

“Has there been any update for her as far as if she’ll ever walk again?”

“The reports back from the doctors haven’t been very promising. Her parents are holding on strong to hope, but I can see that it is wearing them out.”

“I hope she walks again, but even if she doesn’t, I just want her to be okay,” I said determinedly. “That’s my only real concern.”

“Mhm,” Prof. Oak nodded. “Yes, well, now for the bad, and rather strange, news.”

“Tell me!” I shouted urgently, desperately.

Prof Oak’s eyes burned into mine. “I don’t know how to say this, but it seems-”

A loud noise from outside rang out in the distance.

The screen on the computer went black.

“WHOA!” I screamed in shock, backing away from the computer. “PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR!! WHAT HAPPENED?!” I looked up in shock at June and Nurse Joy, who were looking around in confusion. “My call! It’s dead! What happened?!” I shrieked, and I looked back down at the screen.

“I think something happened outside,” Nurse Joy said with concern. “We should take a look.”

My phone call! I thought desperately as I replayed Prof. Oak’s final words in my head. It seems what?! June and Nurse Joy ran out of the building, and I dropped the receiver and ran after them.

Another loud explosion from closer to us made us jump and we turned around, but couldn’t see anything. June and I followed Nurse Joy as she ran down the block and around the corner. She stopped with a gasp and pointed into the sky. “What’s going on?”

June and I looked up to see a thick cloud of smoke billowing into the air from a distance.

“Hey! What’s the big deal?” a voice yelled angrily.

We turned to see a short teenager in black sweatpants and an orange muscle shirt, his large muscles on his stocky body revealed, a blue bandana tied around his forehead. He looked up into the sky and gasped.

“Glenn, something’s happening!” Nurse Joy called out to the young man.

“It sounded like an explosion!” Glenn said to her.

“We should call the fire department or the police!” June suggested.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

A loud roar echoed from far away.

“You guys do that! I’m gonna go and see what’s causing all of this!” Glenn ran across the street, right in front of a car driving by, barely missing him as the horn honked at him, but the car didn’t slow down. “BAH!” Glenn waved his hand behind him and kept running.

“What is he thinking?” June uttered.

“We can’t leave him alone! Nurse Joy, June, you guys call for help,” I said to them. “I’m going after that guy.”

Before either of us could act, another loud explosion occurred, tossing materials and dust through the air at us. We covered our faces, screaming out.

Glenn shouted from a distance.

I squinted through the dirt and debris flying through the air and pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose.

Nurse Joy coughed hard.

“Whoa!” I said through my shirt. “It’s a Golurk!”

“GOOOOOLURK!” The large Pokemon was in the air, its hands and legs already pulled into its body, and an enormous yellow and white beam blew from a hole in one of its arms where its hand usually would be found, exploding a building only mere feet away from the three of us.

The force threw us all back easily and I fell facedown, sliding on my hands on the concrete street. Groaning from the stinging pain on my hands, I struggled up to my feet and shook my hands hard, trying to will away the pain. “June! Nurse Joy!” I screamed out to them, my face free of my shirt.

They both were several feet away, collapsed on the ground in a heap.

A groan behind me made me turn around, and I saw Glenn standing up, holding his head, his eyes closed.

“Glenn, we need to help Nurse Joy and June!” I called out to him.

More explosions surrounded us as Golurk flew around with no pattern, as if it had no control over its movements, and it continued attacking, its body spinning as it used Gyro Ball recklessly, smashing through buildings, filling the air with filth, wood, concrete, glass, and terror as people started to run out of buildings in a panic.

“STAY INSIDE!” Glenn shouted at them all.

Some people returned to the buildings at Glenn’s order, but others ignored him, running as fast as they could down the street.

Why does this Golurk look different? I wondered briefly, staring at it. Something about the Pokemon was just slightly off, but I couldn’t explain what it was at the moment.

“LUUUURK!!” Golurk dove down to the ground before flying back up, and another Hyper Beam hit the street, rocking the ground underneath my feet and sending me flying.

I gasped as my back slammed into the concrete, my landing softened by my backpack beneath me, but my body still twitched in pain, my back arching up as a shock ran through it. “Damn it!” I growled. “Augh!” I rolled over onto my stomach and got on all fours, desperate to get back to my feet.

The street now had a humongous hole in it, cracks reaching out from it, breaking into the sidewalks. Buildings were burning or had huge chunks taken out of them, and those were the lucky ones. A few spots that once contained buildings were now grounded entirely.

“GOLURK!!” Golurk roared, and it fired another Hyper Beam over several buildings. After a few seconds, the beam landed, blowing up something else far away.

“Let’s move it!” I screamed out to Glenn as people ran around us in fear, screaming.

Glenn looked at me and shook his head with a determined glare.

I closed my eyes as dirt got into them, but I forced them back open, although it stung to do so. “We have to get help!”

“I can stop that thing! I have Pokemon!” he smiled, covering his eyes with one large, meaty hand.

“Glenn, wait!” I called, reaching out to him.

Glenn ran up to Golurk and grabbed a Poke Ball from his waist. “Throh, let’s go!”

“Throh!” a short, muscular Pokemon shouted, and it tightened the belt around its waist.

“Throh, use your Body Slam on that Golurk, before it attacks again!” Glenn ordered.

Golurk fired another tremendous Hyper Beam several feet away at the street where several people were running away in terror, and the street blew up around them in a bright flash.

I heard shrill screams as I closed my eyes, stumbling backwards, trying hard not to fall over. A pair of screams made me look behind me to find that June and Nurse Joy were both on their feet, screaming in each other’s arms.

Nurse Joy had her back to the latest explosion that had occurred, her eyes closed tightly as her dress ruffled in the wind of the attack as June held the nurse in her arms, staring after Golurk with a scared, yet serious look on her face.

“Throh!” Throh leaped into the air and… its body went through Golurk! Throh cried out in shock and slammed to the ground behind Golurk.

“Yo, what is this?” Glenn shouted angrily.

“Glenn, Body Slam is a Normal type move!” I called out to him. “It won’t hurt a Ghost type like Golurk!”

Glenn growled angrily. “Fine! Superpower will take care of this!”

Throh stood up and flexed its muscles, making them bulge out of control and push against its judogi. It leaped at Golurk and swung a fist at the back of its head, but flew right through the Ghost type, Throh’s eyes bulging out as it dropped to the ground in front its opponent.

“That’s not gonna work! Fighting moves won’t hurt a Ghost, either, Glenn!” I screamed impatiently.

“Oh, yeah? Well, what do you got?” he demanded, turning to me with a sneer.

“GOLURK!!!” Golurk looked down at Throh, who was getting back to its feet, and the hole in its arm glowed brightly as it prepared to fire a blast at the Pokemon.

“Throh?” Throh said, turning around and looking up at Golurk in shock.

“I have Palpitoad!” I said, lifting up his Poke Ball in my hand. That’s when I heard sirens in the distance. “Hey, you guys hear that?” I exclaimed happily.

“It doesn’t know what it’s doing!” June burst out suddenly.

“Huh?” I turned to her.

“Throh, get out of the way!” Glenn screamed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!

CRAAAAAAASSSSSHHHHH!!!!!

Several screams rang out from all directions as Golurk attacked again, the force from the attack tossing me back as if I weighed nothing. My eyes remained closed as I trembled weakly on the ground.

“GOLUUUURK!” Golurk roared, and my eyes shot open.

“No,” I choked out, coughing on the dirty air around me. I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose again and gripped my Poke Ball tightly in my hand. Huh? I looked down at my hand that had Palpitoad’s Poke Ball, but it was empty! “Palpitoad!” I looked around for his Poke Ball, finally spotting it far behind me. Do I have time to get it? I asked myself. Should I choose another Pokemon? I turned back to Golurk, who fired another blast into the sky, and then another one, all while its body jerked from side to side, going to the left for a second and then abruptly zipping to the right, repeatedly.

Golurk looked down at me as it ascended rapidly into the air, and I fearfully kept my eyes on it, reaching for another Poke Ball.

How is it able to use Hyper Beam so many times, consecutively? I thought in fear. That move uses up the user’s energy. They need time to recover for a moment after an attack like that! How is it still going?

The sound of sirens sounded far away, while I could have sworn there were other sirens ringing from much closer by.

The police? An ambulance? I thought hopefully. Hurry up, you guys! We don’t have much more time!

“THROH!” I heard a familiar yell, and I turned my head quickly to see Glenn on the ground on his stomach, one arm holding him up, his head glaring ahead. “THROOOOH!”

I looked in the direction he was looking in and saw Throh on its back.

The sirens continued to cry out, sounding closer than ever.

We need to hold this thing off with something! I need to send out a Pokemon! My mind frantically tried to remember the Pokemon I owned, but it was frozen in panic. Just grab something! I shouted in my head desperately, and I grabbed a random Poke Ball as Golurk zipped back towards the ground. “GO!”

“Tranquill!” Tranquill cawed.

“Gust attack! Clear this air!” I yelled, and spit out a mouth full of crap from the air.

“Quuuuiiiiiiiillll!!” Tranquill flapped his wings, blowing away the dirty air, clearing it quickly.

“GOLURK!” Golurk fired another blast at Tranquill.

“Tranquill, keep out of the way!” I urged him.

“QUILL! Tranquill!” Tranquill ducked under the first blast, flew around the second one, and soared above a third blast.

A police car sped around the corner and drove towards us, accompanied by two ambulances.

“The police are here!” I pointed excitedly. “We’re saved!”

The three Hyper Beams that Golurk had fired at Tranquill flew through the street, one crashing into the building down the block, the other two smashing into the police car and ambulances, causing them to explode into one gigantic, fiery ball.

Screams were heard from all around me, feet pounding the pavement from blocks away, heard clear from where I laid.

All hope of survival burned right before my eyes as I shook in horror on the ground. “No…” I whispered shakily in defeat.

“Gary, Tranquill can’t keep that up!” I heard June shout.

Paralyzed from shock that the help we needed had just been destroyed, it took me a moment before I could move to look and see June still holding a weeping Nurse Joy, her hands covering her face as her head was buried against June’s shoulder.

“June, what’s wrong with that thing?” I called out to her helplessly.

“I don’t know! It’s out of control!” June’s eyes never left the rampant Pokemon.

“Why?!”

She suddenly screamed, pointing into the sky.

I looked up to see yet another Hyper Beam fire from Golurk and head for Tranquill, who was trying to avoid it, but it was too obvious that this Hyper Beam was aimed perfectly as it soared for Tranquill.

“Tranquill!” I reached out to him with his Poke Ball, trying to return him, but the red beam from the Poke Ball couldn’t reach my bird. He was just too high in the air.

“THROH!”

Something brown flipped through the air fast and it landed right in front of the Hyper Beam!

The Hyper Beam slammed powerfully into the object and was immediately reflected, flying back at Golurk! The Normal attack flew through Golurk and smashed the ground beneath it, further wrecking the street and tossing up concrete and debris into the air.

“Tranquill, help us out!” I called out to him as I watched the object that had protected him, drop to the ground heavily, right in front of Glenn.

Tranquill used Gust, clearing the air in seconds as Golurk flew haphazardly away from us, crashing into a building in the distance.

“What’s this thing?” Glenn asked, touching the object on the ground.

“Glenn, what is that?” I stumbled over to him, my body sore and weak.

“I don’t know,” Glenn groaned as he climbed to his feet. He bent over to lift it, but it didn’t budge from the ground. Groaning hard, he lifted the object up and stared at it, breathing hard as he struggled to hold it up. “But Throh flung it to save your Tranquill.”

We both turned to Throh, who was motionless on his back.

“Throh! Hey!” Glenn ran over to his Pokemon.

“He took the Hyper Beam when it was reflected back!” June told us, sitting on the ground with Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy with her head in June’s lap, not moving, appearing unconscious. “He was caught in the explosion!”

“Is Nurse Joy okay?” I asked June loudly.

“She fainted! We-!”

“LUUURK!” Golurk shouted as it flew past June and Nurse Joy in a zigzag pattern, just barely colliding with the two girls.

June screamed as she pulled Nurse Joy even tighter into her arms, ducking her own head.

Golurk straightened up again and roared loudly, and then it flew at me! Its body stopped close to me, hovering over me, several feet in the air, the hot air blowing against me from underneath its body, making me squint up at the colossal Pokemon.

My eyes widened as I looked at its sturdy form. I see it now, I realized.

Golurk raised both arms into the air, swinging them around wildly.

I know why it looks a little different, I thought.

It pointed one of its arms directly at my face, and it charged up for another Hyper Beam.

“GLEEEEEEEEENN!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The beam fired.

“YAAAAH!” Something appeared next to me, and the Hyper Beam bounced off of the being, flying through Golurk and disappearing into the sky.

“GLEN!” I gasped in amazement.

“FOR THROOOOOOOOOH!!!” Glenn took a strong leap into the air and pulled his arms behind his head, holding the object Throh had thrown to save my Tranquill. “TAKE THIS!!” He slammed the object onto Golurk’s chest.

“GOOOOOOLUUUUUUURRRRRRRK!!!” Golurk’s voice bellowed. Its voice echoed strongly throughout the wrecked town.

Glenn desperately hung on to the object he had slammed onto Golurk’s chest as it stuck there. He looked down at the ground below, crying out in fear, his eyes wide.

Golurk gently lowered itself to the ground as its legs and hands appeared from its body. It reached out and carefully grabbed Glenn, placing him softly on the ground.

Glenn looked up at Golurk in shock. “Yo, give me that back!” he barked. “I was gonna use that plate to beat you down!” He jumped to grab the plate that was now stuck on Golurk’s chest, but Golurk raised a large hand to cover it.

“Glenn, don’t do that!” June’s voice reached us from where she sat, cradling Nurse Joy. “That was it! That was what was wrong with Golurk. It needed that seal. Without it, it was going nuts!”

“What? You’re not making any sense!” Glenn snapped at her.

“Maybe this can help, then,” I suggested, pulling out my Pokedex.

Golurk. The Automaton Pokemon. This is Golett’s evolved stage. This Pokemon was created by an ancient society of people to protect them. The power inside of its body is contained by a seal on its chest. Removal of this seal causes this Pokemon to lose complete control of itself.

Glenn backed away from Golurk with a shocked cry.

More sirens continued to call out, sounding as if they were on the next block over.

“But…” Glenn stumbled away from Golurk. He dropped down next to his Throh, who remained still on his back.

He hadn’t moved at all.

“THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” Glenn shouted to the skies, and dropped his head against his Pokemon’s body, sobbing loudly. “Not my Throh! Please! Throoooh!!” He gripped his Pokemon tightly in his hands, crying painfully.

Oh, no, I thought sadly, my eyes swelling with tears, and I closed them, lowering my head. Was this really all just a freak accident? Golurk’s seal fell off, and now, because of that… I opened my eyes and looked around at the destruction around me.

The burning buildings, the destroyed buildings, the blown up street, the torn apart sidewalks, the sirens and screams surrounding me.

Nurse Joy remained passed out in June’s lap as June kept her eyes on Throh before looking to me, looking on the verge of breaking down.

Three police cars screeched as they turned the corner and drove at us quickly, accompanied by five ambulances.

Golurk turned to the oncoming cars, but didn’t move, staring silently.

Glenn’s cries filled my head and I closed my eyes, dropped to my knees, and sighed in exhaustion.

*

I frowned at the Town Map in my hands as I walked beside June.

Neither of us had said a word since leaving the destroyed town behind and had decided to find the next place where I could fight for my next Badge.

My eyes were on the Town Map, but I hadn’t actually been searching for the next location. My mind was filled with too many thoughts. The last time I had genuinely used the map was when I had found our location on it and found the direction to Mistralton City. Knowing that there was no way we were going there, I headed through a different path, but I hadn’t checked exactly where it would lead to. That wasn’t my main concern.

I had wanted to heal my Tranquill and leave my other Pokemon at the Pokemon Center for the night so they could eat and to be certain that Tranquill was alright, but besides the power being dead at the Pokemon Center, there was far too much commotion and panic going on, and the area was deemed unsafe and needed to be evacuated.

When Nurse Joy had finally come to, she did a quick check up on my Tranquill and told me that he was in fine shape and really only needed a little rest.

Glenn went with his Throh, driven by ambulance, to a nearby town for help. Throh was in a lot of pain and probably wouldn’t be able to do any kind of fighting for a long time, but he was alive and would recover, which brought Glenn over the edge in happy tears.

Golurk was going to be released into the wild after an investigation was done to understand how the seal came off in the first place.

“They just don’t come off like that,” a male officer had told me. “These things are on tight, to prevent situations like this from occurring. It’s almost as if it was forced off, intentionally.”

This was what troubled me the most about the entire ordeal.

“It’s almost as if it was forced off.”

My eyebrows narrowed angrily.

“Intentionally.”

I gripped the Town Map in my hands angrily and then crumbled it up. Growling, I shoved it into my pocket.

“Gary?” June asked me softly.

“Yeah,” I said, sighing, trying to calm down.

“Do you want me to hold the map?”

“Whatever.” I pulled it out and tossed the paper ball at her.

She dropped it to the ground and sighed, stopping.

I stopped, too. “Hey, I didn’t mean to throw it, June. I’m-”

There was a clearing in the woods several feet ahead of us.

I squinted my eyes at movements up ahead.

“It’s okay, Gary,” June said, bending over to pick up the Town Map. “I-”

“Sh!” I shushed her quickly, waving my hand at her frantically.

“Huh?” she said.

I could hear noises and scuffling from the movements in the clearing. Voices?

“Gary?” June spoke.

Why won’t she shut up? I thought angrily, waving my hands frantically at her.

One figure stood up and stared at me, dressed in dark clothing, the setting sun shining weakly on the group.

June got closer to me, spotting what was ahead of us, now silent.

I could see other figures on the ground, doing something, moving around wildly.

“Hey!” I called out to them.

Two more figures stood up, and I heard the shrill scream of a girl. The three dark clothed figures ran away into the woods like shadows, vanishing.

“HEY! Get back here! What are you doing?” I ran into the clearing, stopping in front of the girl who was on her side, screaming, her voice echoing into the darkening woods.

“What the hell were they doing to her?” June shouted in disgust, stepping past the girl, glaring into the woods after the three individuals. She turned and kneeled down next to the girl. “Honey, are you alright? Please, tell me what happened to you?”

The girl cowered away from June, curling up into a ball, shivering hard, her face full of fear. The girl was wearing tattered, black sneakers, filthy purple jeans, and a black hoodie. Her head was covered in a black, tight stocking cap, completely covering any sign of hair. She pulled her hood down over her head, covering her face. June reached out to the girl, but the girl backed away from her, letting out a whimper, and bumped into my legs. She screamed out and turned to me with a start.

Our eyes met.

Her light blue eyes widened. Her small lips parted as she let out a small, repetitive cry. Her skin was so pale, with small, red veins and red spots visible on her face. She screamed again and climbed to her feet, stumbling backwards and tripping to the ground over June, who was still crouching behind her. Screeching out, she fell and then scrambled away, shrieking at the top of her lungs as she got back to her feet and turned away from us, taking off into the woods.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” I bellowed as loud as I possibly could, and I leaped over June, running after the girl as fast as possible, my arms outstretched. I caught her easily and gripped her shoulders tightly.

She wailed out in pain and collapsed easily.

“Melissa!” I shouted, and fell to my knees with her. “Melissa!”

“Oh, my gosh!” June gasped, mortified. “Gary, are you sure?!”

“It’s Melissa!” I barked, not taking my eyes off of her.

Melissa covered her face with her hands and started to cry, curling up into a ball at my knees.

I scooped my sister up and pulled her into my arms, holding her carefully, tightly. “Melissa. It’s okay, now. I’m here. Your little brother, Gary, is here now. It’s okay. Everything is finally okay, Melissa.” I didn’t take my eyes off of her, my tears dripping onto her hoodie as I held her close to me in disbelief.

June was breathily noisily, shakily, watching us.

Melissa continued to cry shrilly, her voice louder than ever, a howl of sorts, her hands shoved aggressively into her face.

I continued to cry with my sister, promising to never let her go.

Ever again.