The sun was high in the cloudless, blue sky this afternoon.

Tightened security for the Interough Conference included a helicopter that hovered from above the stadium, its propellers whipping at the sky, and a couple of aircrafts that would fly by on occasion. Security guards also stood posted in the stands and by the exits.

A crowd of Trainers I was a part of stood in the middle of the stadium on dirt ground lined with silver, metallic material where the ground and the surrounding stands met. Some Trainers were talking excitedly, while others, like me, were looking around impatiently, boiling in the sun.

The stands were filled with loud discussion from spectators.

Everyone was awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.

When does this thing start? I wondered, sighing.

A low call grabbed my attention, as if someone was screaming out my name from a distance.

I looked through the crowd and the stands, trying to locate the source. My eyes stopped and I smiled, waving at June.

She was in the stands, on her feet, waving happily with both arms, yelling out to me things I couldn’t hear clearly.

Looking away from her, I suddenly remembered something that made my heart stop. Ella. Trixa. Ruko. Courtney, I thought, looking around. They must be in this huge crowd somewhere. But, where?

Before I could dwell on it any longer, a loud voice echoed through the stadium. “I only have one question for y’all!” the voice boomed over the speakers. “IS BROOKELANE… IN… THE HOUSE?!?!”

A fluttering sound was followed by a large shadow from the sky, making us all look up to see a huge bird fly over the roofless stadium. It called out loudly.

“Whoa! What’s that Pokemon?” I pulled out my Pokedex.

Mandibuzz. The Bone Vulture Pokemon and Vullaby’s evolved form. They decorate their bodies with bones in the form of a skirt and use bones they find to make a nest. They will stalk prey until the victim is unable to fight, and then swoop down to drag it back to their nest.

On the back of Mandibuzz, I could make out a figure.

“Shout out to New Tork City, y’all!!” the man shouted from on top of the Pokemon. “Represent Represeeeeent!! It’s President Cyn in the hooooooooouse!!”

“Mandibuzz!” Mandibuzz swooped down low, flying right over the heads of us Trainers, making us all duck low and cry out in fright. The bird soared high again and flew into a little balcony above the stands before sitting calmly.

The man climbed off of the bird and stood next to it, smiling down at us all. “Let’s hear it for the Interough Confereeeeeeeeeence!!!” he shouted into his microphone.

The entire stadium applauded like crazy, amped up by this man.

President Cyn was wearing gray jeans that had a shine to them, a white button up shirt inside of a dark blue blazer, and sunglasses. The man was bald and had a broad, pleasant smile on his dark brown face. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of all ages! And when I say all ages, I mean all ages! That man over there must be at least seventy years old! Whatchu doin’ surrounded by all these young children? Somebody, keep an eye on that man!! I’m kidding, I’m kidding, y’all! Ha ha!!”

Everyone started laughing and we all looked around, trying to spot an old man.

“Seriously though, folks, now is the time to light the Unova League flame with the oh so scrumptious looking Officer Jenny, representing Interough City!” President Cyn informed us.

An Officer Jenny stood at the top of the stadium in a concrete platform that stood next to a gigantic, golden and blue cauldron. She glared out in the direction of President Cyn.

“Just kidding! No disrespect! Don’t arrest me, now! I ain’t goin’ back!! Ha ha ha!!” President Cyn guffawed cheerfully.

People were laughing at the enthusiastic emcee, and even I snickered at his sense of humor, but Officer Jenny didn’t seem amused as she rolled her eyes, disgust on her face, and she raised a small torch to light the cauldron.

Almost instantly, the cauldron burst brightly with fire, and we all applauded the sight.

Several cries were heard, and right after, a numerous amount of Swanna suddenly appeared, flying from somewhere outside of the stadium, up into the air. They flew through the sky, following each other in a beautiful sight, calling out their names proudly. They were gone in seconds, leaving the stadium behind them.

“Now, before we get things started, let me just explain what’s gonna take place!” President Cyn said. “Before we jump into the qualifying rounds, we have to do the preliminary rounds, first! These preliminary matches will feature Trainers using only one Pokemon! You only get one shot! Do not miss this chance to blow, y’all!”

Everyone excitedly cheered, raring to go.

Just one-on-one, I thought solemnly. I need to use the top Pokemon I own, in that case.

“Now, if you’ll look at the screen up top, you’ll see all of your beautiful, and a couple of ugly, faces on the cards!” President Cyn pointed.

Everyone laughed as we all looked at the enormous screen high above him which displayed electronic cards, each one holding the face of a Trainer competing at the Interough Conference. The cards were then flipped to their red backs with black designs and shuffled rapidly on the screen.

“You’ll now see who you’ll be facing!”

The cards stopped shuffling and spread apart, flipping over. Each card was now attached to a second card.

I looked for my ugly mug, but I couldn’t see it at first.

Trainers were gasping and pointing as they found out who they were going to face, and then looked into the crowd to find their opponent.

“Ugh… There I go,” I muttered, staring at my crooked smile and distorted face. I wonder if I really look this bad to everyone else, too, I pondered for a second, and then I gasped. “No!” I saw who I was facing in the preliminaries. “No!” I shook my head in horror. “Not her…”

My opponent for the preliminary round in the Interough Conference was Courtney.

*

The phone rang for the fifth time, and finally, the blue on the screen I was staring at went away and was replaced with the face of my mother.

She squinted at me and then blinked repeatedly in shock. “Gary?”

“Hey, mom!” I smiled.

“What? I-Gary! Where are you? I haven’t heard from you in ages!”

“I’ve… just been a little busy,” I said lightly, looking away from her face for just a second.

“Are you alright?” she asked me with concern.

I nodded and smirked. “Never better, ha.”

“Where are you, Gary?” she insisted.

“I’m in Interough City, getting ready to compete in the Interough Conference.” I swallowed nervously.

“The what?”

“The Pokemon League in Unova...”

My mom stared at me coldly. “Oh,” was all she said.

“I won all eight Badges out here, and now, I’m going to win this thing,” I continued.

My mom pursed her lips together angrily. “Fine.”

We both just stared at each other, not saying a word.

I sighed. “I guess I just had a bit of time on my hands and thought I’d tell you about what’s been going on…”

“Okay,” she nodded solemnly. “Is that all?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“What else is there?” she asked me sternly.

I hesitated as I thought about the Village Of Dragons and what I had learned about my mother’s daughter from Marcus. A secret she was unaware of for so many years. “I love you, and I miss you, mom,” I told her, my heart beating rapidly as I said those words.

My mom stared at me seriously, but didn’t say anything back.

“That’s all, mom,” I whispered. My eyes began to sting, but I held back the tears.

She kept her hard eyes on me. “I love you, too, Gary.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and beamed happily.

My mom didn’t smile back. “What do you intend on doing once you’re done doing whatever it is you’re doing out there?”

“I haven’t figured that out, yet,” I admitted.

She took a deep breath and shakily released it. “Well, Gary, I know things haven’t always been great between us, okay? I know you think your mom’s crazy. I know we fight a lot, and I know I’m not the perfect mother in your eyes. But you’re very hardheaded and difficult to raise, you know. You never listen!”

I lowered my head and nodded. “I’m sorry, mom,” I muttered.

“No, you’re not sorry at all,” my mom scolded me. “That’s why you’re out in Unova right now. You’re just doing what you wanna do, like always.”

In a way, she was right. I was glad that I was out here in Unova, and if I could do it all over again, I was pretty sure I would in a second.

But, in a way, she was wrong. I knew I wasn’t the perfect child, and I had plenty of regrets about things I had done to my mother, both before and after I had become a Pokemon Trainer. Stuff that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I also knew that, if I could do this entire Pokemon journey thing over again, from back in Kanto, to this very date, I might try and convince Robin, Kiwi, and Aly, to pass up on the chance to become Pokemon Trainers. This was something I thought about every single day, without a doubt. The cost to be here in Unova today, just wasn’t fair. As much fun as it’s been, and as much as I’ve gotten to see and experience, I lost far too much. But, for Aly, I kept pressing on.

“Anyway, just know that, if you ever do decide to come home, you have a place to go,” my mom said. “Always.”

My mom’s words touched my heart in a way I didn’t recall having felt from her in years. Since before going on my Pokemon journey. It made me realize just how much this life I chose for myself had changed everything for me. “Thank you, mommy.”

She nodded at me.

“I’ll see you soon enough, okay?”

“Okay,” she spoke.

I inhaled deeply. “Bye, mom.”

“Bye,” she said simply.

I pressed the Esc button on the keyboard and the call disconnected. Now isn’t the time, I told myself. Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and walked away from the phone booth. I reached the door of the building I had spent the past couple of nights in and stepped outside. I smiled at the sight before me.

Sawk was throwing punches and kicks at Dugtrio’s heads, trying to land a hit as Dugtrio ducked the attacks, disappearing one head at a time underground rapidly.

Charizard was napping in the grass, his humongous stomach heaving as June’s Pikachu slept peacefully on it.

Galvantula was hanging from a string of web that was attached to the underside of Magnezone as it carried her around happily.

Lanturn and Vaporeon were swimming through a nearby pond together.

Darmanitan was flexing his muscles while Seismitoad told him something eagerly, Manectric staring at Darmanitan flex as she laid in the grass lazily.

Porygon-Z and Rotom were the same old chums they’d always been, Porygon-Z spinning around Rotom in circles from top to bottom while Rotom spun in place with a big smile, letting loose some electricity from around its body that almost touched Porygon-Z.

Electivire was playing with Blitzle, shocking him with Thunderbolt, and then Blitzle would try and shock him back with Discharge. Both Pokemon had Motor Drive, so each shock only made them increase in Speed and made it harder to catch each other.

Ampharos watched the two Pokemon play together with a smile, sitting next to June under a tree, June also watching her Electivire behave now.

June turned to me as I approached her. “How’d the call go?”

“Better than I thought,” I admitted.

“That’s wonderful!” she smiled.

“I suppose. But, now, it’s only an hour away from my battle with Courtney.”

June’s face went serious. “Gary, did you notice who else was on that screen when the battles were being chosen?”

“Not really, to be honest.”

“Ella was there, for one thing.”

“Yeah, no surprise. I was looking for Ella and the others in the crowd, but when I saw Courtney as my opponent, I kind of forgot about the others.”

June nodded. “Ruko is facing Trixa.”

“What? Are you serious?”

June nodded again. “I saw it.”

“I guess Trixa’s out, then,” I muttered.

June smiled. “Don’t be mean, Gary. She got her eight Badges, just like you did. And even faster. She might just surprise you.”

“I’m more concerned with my match with Courtney, to be honest.”

“How do you feel?”

I turned to the Pokemon around us and watched them all in their peaceful state. They’re all so carefree, gentle, and… Beautiful… I acknowledged. How truly beautiful this all is. Right here. Right now. Amazing how battle ready they can become, and how dangerous that power can be. I turned to June and smiled determinedly. “This battle can’t come soon enough for me.”

*

“The third round battle is ready to go!” President Cyn declared loudly through the speakers. “Today we have Courtney from LaRousse City, all the way in Hoenn, and Gary from Pallet Town, way out in Kanto! Both Trainers have come a long way just to be sent home in the preliminaries. They better send out the best Pokemon they’ve got, because this… is… IT!”

My cap was facing forward, blocking the sun which was shining directly on me as I glared under the heat at Courtney.

Courtney, her hand no longer in its black splint, but now in a pink cast, was glaring right back at me. She looked good in her white dress that reached down to her knees, her feet in baby blue sandals and a pink sun hat on her head, a red bow wrapped around it. She was dressed to impress. “It figures it’d be you I’d have to face in the preliminaries,” she sneered at me.

I didn’t say anything back.

“Sorry to have to send you home so early, Sugar Lumps.”

I kept quiet.

A helicopter high over the stadium kept watch on the area, the noise from its propellers competing with the cheering crowd.

The engine from an aircraft was heard frequently as it flew by before another one would appear.

The referee stood off to the side in an outfit of black slacks, black shoes, and a collared, black shirt with a black tie with red stripes. He raised a hand in the air. “Trainers! Begin!” His hand came down strongly.

“Sceptile, let’s go, now!”

“Charizard, I choose you!”

“Sceptiiiiile!” Sceptile cried.

Charizard landed on the ground and roared, an amazing, thick blast of fire coming out from his jaws.

“Woooooooo!! Things are starting off blazing hot as Gary uses a Charizard to take on a Sceptile!” President Cyn stated.

That thing has taken down a Charizard before, I noted. Even back when it was just a Treeko. I remember that. I know it can more than make up for any type disadvantages, for sure. “Charizard, Flamethrower!” I shouted.

“Sceptile, Agility!” Courtney reacted.

Sceptile was incredible with its Speed, zipping away from Charizard’s oncoming flames with ease.

“Agility!” Courtney repeated determinedly.

Sceptile picked up even more Speed as it ran circles around Charizard.

Charizard tried to blast the Grass type, but he wasn’t able to catch it.

She’s going with Speed, I thought. She must be crazy if she thinks that’s gonna beat us. “Scary Face!”

Charizard roared and made the most furious face he could.

Sceptile froze, facing Charizard, a look of terror on its face as its Speed was cut down to size.

“Sceptile, I said to use Agility! What are you doing?” Courtney screamed.

“Keep it up, Charizard!”

Charizard roared again and bared his teeth.

Sceptile took a couple of steps back.

“Sceptile! Damn it! Then use Screech!”

“Now use Flamethrower!” I insisted.

Sceptile was still faster, using Screech to deafen Charizard.

I screamed and covered my ears as Charizard roared uncomfortably and covered his ears. My fingers were in my ears after the attack ended as I tried to stop the ringing, shaking my head.

“Toxic attack!” I heard Courtney.

My eyes bulged in shock. “NO! Charizard, dodge!”

Sceptile had already spewed the purple liquid from its mouth before I finished speaking and while Charizard was still shaking off the Screech.

Charizard’s eyes opened and he stumbled backwards in shock as the liquid hit his face. He roared weakly as his face flushed purple.

“Too easy,” Courtney commented. “Hidden Power!”

I gasped. Sceptile’s Hidden Power is Rock! I recalled. That’s how it beat the other Charizard! With Hidden Power!

Sceptile’s body glowed bright green as it cupped its hands and formed a green-yellow orb between them.

“Charizard, you need to focus!” I said strongly, removing my fingers from my ears.

Sceptile tossed the attack at Charizard.

“Dodge and attack with Fire Blast! Now!”

Charizard grunted and flapped his wings weakly, getting himself into air. He attacked with Fire Blast, sending out the odd shaped attack. He couldn’t ascend far enough, and Sceptile’s Hidden Power caught him in the stomach. He roared as he fell on his back on the ground.

Sceptile screamed as it was hit by the Fire Blast. It dropped to its knees, groaning painfully.

“Now use Night Slash!” Courtney told her Pokemon.

“Sceeept!” Sceptile got to its feet and charged at Charizard. The leaves on its arms glowed white, ready to attack. “Tiiiile!” Sceptile fell to its knees as its body was covered in flames!

“A Burn!” Courtney gasped. She glared at me. “Leech Seed!”

Charizard sat up, grunting as the Poison suffered him.

Sceptile opened its mouth and a seed slowly emerged from its throat, glowing bright green. The seed flew out at Charizard and landed on his head.

Charizard closed his eyes as the seed opened and several vines sprouted, wrapping around his body, and he roared as his health started to get sapped.

“There won’t be any draws in this match, Sugar,” Courtney leered at me. “We’re winning this one without any doubt!”

“Not if I can help it,” I muttered angrily.

Charizard struggled to his feet, and suddenly, his wings broadened widely. He roared loud enough to lower the noise of the crowd in the stadium, demanding attention.

Courtney and Sceptile looked up in shock at Charizard.

His body suddenly became outlined in red, and his tail flame erupted even brighter and more powerfully.

Oh, no, I thought worriedly.

Courtney smiled. “You’re just about done here.”

Charizard winced in pain, suffering from his Poisoning and the Leech Seed.

“All this way for nothing.” Courtney shook her head. “Poor Charizard is down to its last bit of strength since its Blaze Ability is on. Allow us to end the poor lizard’s suffering. Hidden Power, now!”

Sceptile charged up its Hidden Power. “Sceeeeeeeept!”

No, I thought, trying to keep calm. Don’t panic. Relax. This can’t end like this. If Charizard has Blaze Ability, it not only means his health is low, but that he’s at his maximum potential, too… My eyes tightened as I stared at my Pokemon trembling weakly in place, watching his opponent prepare to defeat him with its next attack. Charizard...

Charizard. The Flame Pokemon. This is Charmeleon’s final stage. A prideful Pokemon, it searches the world seeking the most powerful opponents to battle. This Pokemon’s flames, at their max, are said to be able to melt anything.

Trixa looked up from her Pokedex and up at Charizard in amazement.

My eyes squinted in realization as I remembered what Trixa’s Pokedex had said about Charizard the last time I had seen her. And that means… I lowered my eyes to his incredible tail flame.

Sceptile tossed Hidden Power at Charizard.

“We’ll use the most powerful move!” I paused for a second. “Blast Burn!”

Charizard’s tail flame grew so large, it was nearly as high as Charizard himself, which startled me and I fell backwards. The heat from the flame was unbearable, especially on this already steaming day! Charizard’s eyes were literally on fire! He opened his mouth and roared louder than ever before as the Hidden Power got closer.

“DO IIIIIT!!!” I bellowed.

Fire billowed out from Charizard’s jaws and collided with Hidden Power.

The ball of energy was swept over and the fire headed for Sceptile.

Sceptile’s eyes widened in fear, matching its Trainer’s, and both screamed helplessly as Sceptile was covered by the fire!

The flames died down after the longest minute ever.

Charizard groaned and fell weakly to his knees, and then to his claws, gripping at the ground. He raised his head and squinted weakly at Sceptile, ready to give in.

Sceptile was on its knees, panting hard at Charizard, but not beaten.

Both Pokemon shivered painfully, and both Pokemon fell forward.

There was silence in the stadium, everybody watching.

Charizard was barely up, pushing himself up with one arm, his chin scraping the ground.

Sceptile was on the ground, facedown.

“Sceptile is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner of this battle! This round goes to Gary!” the referee waved in my direction.

The crowd had lost their minds, cheering and celebrating.

“Now that was something serious!! Oh, my word!! This is why I’m not a Pokemon Trainer! All those moves and stuff to remember, and all these crazy battle combinations and styles and stuff! I’d have a heart attack, man! I think I need one of them Nurse Joys to get over here and help a brotha out! I can barely handle commentating!”

Charizard then fell down, knocked out. The red glow around his body went away, and his tail flame shrunk down to a dangerously minimal size.

I ignored Courtney who was screaming as if the Loch Ness Monster had just landed on top of her, and I ran to my Charizard.

The Leech Seed vanished from his body. His face was still flushed purple.

“Charizard,” I whispered near his head. “You’re the best Pokemon in the whole world, buddy. Thank you.” I returned him to his Poke Ball and looked up at Courtney, standing up. “Whoa!”

Courtney had already returned Sceptile and had just bolted right past me.

I saw the tears on her face at the last second before she ran by. I felt bad for about a second, but then, I couldn’t help smiling and laughing a little bit as I waved at the cheering crowd. I looked around for June, who I hadn’t looked for when I had entered the stadium to battle Courtney.

She was nowhere in sight.

She must have left the stands and is on her way to greet me now, I thought. “Thank you!” I called out to the crowd, and I ran towards the exit.

The inside of the building was a relief to be inside of. It was so nice and cool, and almost completely empty aside from a few receptionists who were standing behind the counters and a few other people wandering about.

“Man, what a rush,” I whispered to myself, smiling at the ground. I looked up and waited for June. It was weird, but I was actually excited to be greeted by her. As annoying and crazy as she was, she’s still like one of my best friends, and I’d kind of gotten used to her behavior.

The stadium was starting to empty out, tons of people running by me to get to their desired locations, like to watch whatever other matches hadn’t finished yet.

A few girls giggled and pointed or waved at me as they ran by, and I shyly smiled and waved back.

Some guys also spotted me and nodded with approval, and I smiled at them proudly, nodding back.

What a great day! I thought, and bounced on my toes, feeling so good about my win. But where’s June? I don’t want to miss her, but my Charizard needs some medical attention right now. I kept watch on a clock that was hanging on the wall, sitting down in a bench after about ten minutes. When another five minutes had passed, the stadium now emptying out slowly, I began to get worried. Where’s June? I need to help my Poisoned Charizard! Where could she be? Didn’t she stick around for my match? I remembered the last time June had disappeared on me on the day of a League match back in Kanto because it was my birthday. She, my mom, my aunt, my grandma, Robin, his parents, and Prof. Oak had surprised me in my room after the battle had ended. But my birthday wasn’t for almost another month. Maybe she’s at our room, waiting to surprise me for my victory over Courtney? I considered. Hmm. I stood up and looked around one more time before leaving the building to find a Pokemon Center.

*

“Alright, people, this is President Cyn coming at chu like a sneeze, live!” President Cyn was saying. “We have the screen with the cards showing our Trainers who have made it to the qualifying rounds! These battles will be two-on-two battles, folks! Substitutions are allowed! We have truly upped the ante, huh?”

I stood in the stands with everyone else, Trainer and spectator alike, and looked around at people laughing, but I couldn’t see June anywhere. She wasn’t in our room, and when I had searched the grounds of Interough City, I had no luck, either. I was really concerned, now.

June had completed vanished!

I regretted being so caught up in my battle with Courtney that I hadn’t once looked into the stands for June. Not even when I had first walked out onto the battlefield. I hope nothing happened to her, I thought fearfully as the cards on the screen shuffled.

The cards spread apart and then flipped over, attached to the card of the person to be battled.

I nervously scanned the board, trying to find my face. My mouth dropped and I started to choke.

Ella’s amazing face smiled out next to mine.

Ella was who I would be facing tomorrow.

I looked through the stands, trying to see if I could spot Ella, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. Is she just not here? I wondered. Damn it. I have to battle Ella. Why am I battling all of the people I know, so soon?

*

The sky was as dark as it could possibly get as I headed back to my building. I had been searching for June all night long and had no luck in finding her. In fact, I hadn’t found anybody I knew. I didn’t see Courtney, or Trixa, or Ruko, or Ella. I had searched everywhere I could access in Interough City, but with no luck. It just didn’t make any sense. June wouldn’t just leave me like this, I knew. Maybe something bad happened to her. Should I call the police? Would she purposely leave me like this…? She did leave me before… I shook my head, refusing to dwell back on that memory from Kanto. That wasn’t even the same kind of situation, I scolded myself. This is entirely different.

The building I was seeking loomed ahead.

I approached it quickly, hoping that maybe June was in our room. Where else could she be at around eleven at night? What gives? I opened the building door and gasped as my body froze, staring at who was inside.

“Gary!” Ella gasped.

“Ella,” I said.

We stared at each other awkwardly, looking each other over before Ella finally smiled at me.

“Gary, how’ve you been?”

I shrugged casually. “Nothing new. You?”

She nodded quickly. “I’m doing okay.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before looking down and away.

“I broke up with Marc again, ha…” Ella said softly.

I breathed in and nodded once. “Oh… Sorry,” I muttered.

She shook her head. “It’s fine. Just…” She sighed. “Just a waste of time I’ll never get back.” She smiled strongly at me, hiding her obvious pain.

I focused on her face. “Ella, I’m really sorry about what happened last time with-”

She grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly. “Shush. It’s okay. I know Trixa can be a pain,” she snickered. Her smile then faded. “I just don’t like that you put your hands on her.”

“I know it looked bad, Ella. I understand that. It was just… kind of… a really bad reflex… I didn’t mean to do that to her. I understand if you don’t believe me. Trust me, I feel like crap about it. I want to apologize to her for it.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet her. She beat Ruko, you know.”

“SHE BEAT WHAT?!?!” I bellowed.

“Don’t yell,” Ella said uncomfortably, taking a step back, letting go of me.

I took several deep breaths, staring at Ella with wide eyes.

“I said that Trixa beat Ruko,” Ella repeated.

“That’s impossible!!” I shouted.

Ella smiled. “I saw the match myself. She used her Simisage against Ruko’s Reuniclus. It was actually a very good, and close, battle.”

I didn’t believe a word Ella was telling me. It was simply not possible that Trixa beat Ruko!! I never beat Ruko!!

Then again, I told myself, you never beat Trixa, either. The one time you two battled, you lost.

That was due to Pidove’s bad memory! I argued.

A loss is a loss, I retorted myself.

Grrrr! I growled silently.

“I went down to the battlefield to congratulate Trixa, and Ruko said that Trixa’s style of battling had impressed him so much, he regrets battling the way he does,” Ella continued. “He said he feels horrible now that he ever traded away his Pokemon just for powerful ones instead of raising his Pokemon with love and care. He said he shouldn’t have treated them that way, and that Trixa really cares about her Pokemon, like he said he should have. He said he was stupid to so blindly and willingly use moves others were telling him to use instead of figuring out his own unique strategies.”

My mouth was wide open, not believing what I was hearing. Everything I had yelled at Ruko only just now sunk in? I thought. After he loses to freaking Trixa?!

Ella shrugged. “He seems like a nice guy. Or girl. Whatever.” She laughed. “Weird.”

“Yeah…” I smiled slightly. “Anyway.”

“Yeah… Umm… I guess you and I are battling next.” She stared at me blankly.

I slowly nodded.

She held out her hand to me. “Good luck, okay? We’ve both come really far, so let’s make sure we give this our all.” She smiled at me, hypnotizing me.

I smiled back, unable to fight it, and I grabbed her smooth hand gently. “You bet. I’m here to win, and that means defeating you, Trixa, and everybody here.”

“That’s the spirit! Same here, Gary.”

“Good luck.”

We released each other’s hand.

She cocked her head at me. “Say, where’s June?”

“Uuuuh… She went out for a walk. I dunno where, really. If you see her, tell her I’m looking for her…”

Ella giggled. “Okay. You two make the cutest couple. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow, Gary!” She strolled away from me.

“We’re not…” I sighed. My eyes went down to her curvy bottom and hips in her blue denim shorts for a moment as she walked away. “Whatever…” I waved her off and entered the building. As I climbed the stairs, I began to think. What was Ella doing here, anyway? Is she staying in this building, too? I stopped in front of the door marked Y and opened it with my key. “June!”

“Oh! Hi, Gary!” June said quickly, turning to me with a start.

“What are you doing here? In the dark!” I flipped on the light switch and blinked rapidly, adjusting my eyes to the light.

June squinted at me from her bed. “Cut them off!” she complained. Her eyes were red and her cheeks had wet streaks on them.

The TV was also on, a commercial for Poke Balls playing, the volume on low.

“June, are you crying?” I closed the door and walked over to her.

June sniffled and turned away from me. “I’m okay, Gary. I mean it.”

I sat next to her on her bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “June, what happened to you? Where were you?”

“Nothing happened, Gary. I just had to take a phone call. But everything’s okay. Just a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

“A phone call?” I inquired. “What happened? Was it from your parents?”

“Gary, don’t worry about it. Everything’s okay!” she insisted.

“It can’t be if you’re crying, June. Tell me what happened. Please!”

She shook her head. “It’s not even a big deal. She wiped her eyes and smiled, but didn’t look at me. “I was just surprised by what I’d heard… I needed some time to myself to think about things.” She looked to me with care. “I’m sorry if I worried you, Gary.”

“I was worried, June! I’ve been looking for you all day!” I exclaimed. “And I’m still worried about you!”

She smiled a little wider. “You’re sweet. Don’t worry. It’s not anything serious.”

“Then why can’t you tell me?”

June lowered her eyes.

The TV screen grabbed our eyes as it went completely gray, making a low, static noise.

June and I exchanged glances and then turned back to the TV.

I stood up and walked over to the screen slowly, cautiously, one step at a time. I stopped in front of the TV that sat on a dark brown table and touched the top of it. A bzzzzzzt noise made me jump and pull my hand back.

The screen now displayed someone is a huge white parka, the hood lined with black fur and pulled down over their face. A metallic cane was in this person’s hand as he or she stood in the middle of a blizzard, snow covering every inch of the ground and mountains in the area, more snow falling down heavily and blowing around harshly.

“Team Solace?” June whispered fearfully.

I pressed the volume button on the TV to raise it higher.

The wind blowing around this person was now louder than before.

“The time is almost here,” the voice spoke. This wasn’t the usual, distorted voice that came out from these kinds of messages. This time, the voice came out clear and untouched. This was the voice of a female.

I squinted at the screen. “Wait…” I murmured.

“This message is being broadcasted through the entire planet Earth, as it involves each and every one of you,” the familiar voice continued. “The judgment promised about three years ago, to this day, has not been forgotten, and it will come to pass in the coming days. The ultimate judgment, the final judgment, that can only be delivered from the one, true, God, shall be brought upon the face of this planet, and all those who have proven to be the filth of this land, the actual evil infiltrating the air, will be eradicated justly.”

There’s no way, I thought, shaking my head. It can’t be.

“We have come very far in our goal, and I am pleased that so many of you have chosen the right way,” she continued. “Unfortunately, the numbers of those on the true path are not as they should be, but all the better! The less people around, the more victorious for us, the righteous, to enjoy the spoils of the results of the planet after it has been cleansed.” This female’s hands reached up and grabbed the hood blocking her face. “Take one look at the future. The ruler of this planet so many of you will not know for much longer. The face of God!” She pulled off her hood.

June and I shrieked as loud as possible.

“Gary!!” June screamed. “NO!”

I fell to the floor and looked into a face I wouldn’t have ever expected. I stared into a face I refused to believe I was seeing. I held my stomach gently and swallowed hard, repeatedly, fearing I was on the verge of throwing up.

The leader of Team Solace…

…WAS KIWI!

It just can’t be, I thought, terrified, as I stared into the face of my lifelong friend. There’s no way. That can’t actually be Kiwi.

Kiwi glared out from the TV screen, squinting through the snow blowing in her face, not saying a word.

BZZZZZZZZTTT!!!! The screen went gray again before returning to a comedy I recognized as Patnaz.

I stared at the show in shock as the audience for the show in the TV laughed at something the characters were saying. Kiwi, I thought. Kiwi. Kiwi?! I shook my head frantically and scrambled on my hands and knees to the door.

“We interrupt this program for very important, breaking news,” I heard from the TV.

I pulled myself up by the doorknob, my mouth hanging open, refusing to close, and I opened the door. My head turned back to the TV screen to see a woman in a sleeveless, gray shirt that fit her really tightly, showing off her busty top.

She stared out firmly from the screen, a picture of Kiwi on the upper left side of the screen.

It was a screenshot from the video that had displayed of Kiwi in the blizzard when she had removed her hood.

“It’s being reported that every TV station and radio station in the world was interrupted just now and that a terrifying message from Team Solace-” the lady spoke.

I ran from the room and down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the building.

“Gary!” I heard June call to me from upstairs.

I ignored her and ran several feet away from the building before I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air. My arms wrapped around a tree trunk and my mouth fell open even wider as I tried to throw up. I hated throwing up, but it was the only thing that made sense to do right now. I coughed, hacked, and tried to lurch up anything that would come up, but only air would flow out. Things were crawling down my face and I frantically slapped at my cheeks, wiping off a wet substance. I stared my hands and saw a clear liquid. Blinking, I realized that I was crying. I whimpered, staring at the grassy ground beneath me as more tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped directly from my eyes. Not Kiwi… I shook my head. Of all people, not her… There’s no way. Not her. Please, not her… I heard someone running, the footsteps getting closer to me.

“Gary.” June’s voice sounded scared. “Gary!” She grabbed my shoulder.

I flinched in her hold and pulled away, turning to her with constantly streaming eyes. I sobbed as I stared into her mournful eyes.

She shook her head and joined me on her knees. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I don’t understand… I can’t believe it…”

“How…?” was all I could manage to utter.

June looked down and shook her head. “I knew something was up when she told us to go to Unova. She’s here, herself.” She looked at me. “She wanted us to come here, Gary.”

“Why? It doesn’t make any sense. None of this does! She was kidnapped! Was she dropped off here in Unova? Who kidnapped her? Team Solace? How long has she been running the group? Why is she running the group? What the fu-?” I heard a powerful noise from above, and before I could look up, a strong burst of wind caused June and I to close our eyes and hang on to each other.

Something landed heavily on the ground, and the wind died.

“How about we head out to the Giant Chasm ourselves and find out the answers to those questions about our friend, man?” a voice insisted.

June looked up, up, up, and gasped, her mouth almost dropping to the floor, her eyes nearly taking up the size of her entire head. She started trembling.

I turned around and stared at the dark green skin on the legs of a tall creature. My eyes traveled up the scaly, cream colored belly, chest, and neck, the rest of its skin still dark green, up to the small, outstretched wings, the insides of which were a shade of purple. I stopped at its face, but the Shiny Dragonite wasn’t what was the biggest shock.

It was the young boy on the back of the Shiny Pokemon that was the attention-grabber. Dressed in a black T-shirt and dark blue jean shorts, a dark blue backpack on his back, his legs wrapped around the neck of the Dragonite, revealing his white sneakers, he gave me a small smile that was evidently forced, and yet sincere enough.

I exhaled a strong burst of breath as I looked into the young kid’s face.

“You coming or what?” he winked at me. “We haven’t got much time to waste, if you ask me.”

“Robin…” I whispered in awe.

“I assume you still have your Charizard, right?” he asked me. “Or do I have to burden Dame Hydraen with your weight?”

“I-I-I-I-I-I have him!” I stuttered.

“Then we have to go! Send him out and follow us!” He smiled broadly. “I know the way to Giant Chasm. I’ll explain everything along the way. Let’s go, Dame Hydraen!”

The Shiny Dragonite nodded at Robin, and in the next instant, flew into the sky, forcing June and I to cry out and close our eyes, turning against the sudden blast of air that hit us.

I squinted against the wind that was blowing into my eyes, causing them to tear up. “Robin!”

“Robin!” June gasped.

I knew what had to be done in that instant, and pulled Charizard’s Poke Ball from my waist and held it out. “Get out!”

Charizard was sent out, and he stretched out his wings and roared before turning to me.

I walked over to him and climbed onto his back. My arms wrapped tightly around his neck and I clutched my legs around his large back. “June, let’s go! We have to follow him! We have to stop Kiwi!”

June inhaled loudly, shakily, and Charizard grunted and leaned forward as June’s weight was applied to his back.

“Charizard!” I pointed into the sky. “Follow that Dragonite! Move!”

Charizard roared and flapped his wings. In the next second, he flew into the sky, taking off after Dragonite, determined to keep up with the Pokemon.

It was me.

Charizard.

June.

Robin.

And a Shiny Dragonite.

All of us determined to find one person.

And stop an evil force terrorizing the world.

How this would all end was beyond any of our comprehension.

But one way or another.

Soon enough.

It would.