The sun was blazing this afternoon, no friendlier to endure in the middle of a hot beach.

“I could do for a nap,” June brought up. “Do we really need to move right after lunch?”

“What are we gonna do all day? You all had breakfast, I woke up and we had a match with Nosepass and Rotom, then Ralts and Lanturn, and we all ate lunch. Do you wanna just take the day off here? If so, be my guest. I, on the other hand, have a League to get to.”

“You have weeks, Gary! All I’m saying is we could have let our food settle.”

How about settling your mouth? Gary thought, rolling his eyes. His eyes landed on something ahead in the sand. He couldn’t make it out and didn’t look away as he got closer. Once right above it, he knew it was something alive. Or something that once was.

He knelt down by the little gray thing that was possibly a foot long and could have been a worm. It had a black pattern on its side like a lightning bolt, blue fins around its body. It was some kind of fish. It looked dried out and even dead.

“Gary? What you starin’ at?” June asked casually, stopping on the other side of the fish.

“I think it’s a Pokemon. I don’t think it’s doing well. I bet it’s a Water type and it ended up out of the water somehow.”

Barboach. The Whiskers Pokemon. Its body is covered in slime to protect them from bacteria and slip away from predators. Its whiskers provide a radar for finding food. If left out of water, this Water and Ground type will dry up and weaken.

“I knew it! Water and Ground. Interesting.” Gary scooped up the Pokemon carefully in both hands. “I hope it’s not too late.” He ran to the water and dipped the fish in it, keeping his hands underneath it.

The water moved, swaying, carrying the Barboach only to the end of Gary’s cupped right hand.

The Water type didn’t react.

“Damn...” Gary sighed. He slowly moved his hands from under the deceased Barboach and placed his hands in the sand to dry, watching the little Pokemon be carried with the water and sink. “I knew it...” He stood up and brushed his hands off on his jeans. Shaking his head, he turned to June. “It’s too-” Gary paused, seeing June. His heart sped up its beating. “June?”

June was several feet from Gary, both of her hands covering her mouth, looking ahead at the path they were going along.

Gary noticed that she was standing by something in the sand that she wasn’t looking at, but he couldn’t quite make out what it was from where he stood. Then, he turned around, faster than he intended. “No...” Gary whispered, and he took a shaky step closer to June, feeling highly uncomfortable. “It can’t be.” He took in the sight of multiple, tiny objects littered throughout the beach.

The one by June was a Barboach.

A couple more further away were also Barboach.

Gary feared the worst as he stepped past June and walked through the sand, taking in the spread out, dried out bodies all over the beach. He went as far as his heart would allow him before it was enough and he just stood in the middle of the wild mess surrounding them. “What is this?”

“How?” June cried softly. “How is this possible? All of these Water types out of water? Why?”

“Maybe some kind of accident?”

“All of them?? There’s gotta be over a hundred out here, Gary! And all practically overnight?! We went through here yesterday! There wasn’t a single one out here!”

“I mean, maybe something big was feeding through here and splashed them out here.”

“There’s no way...” June said hesitantly. “I want to believe that, but...”

“Why only Barboach, right?”

June shook her head. “It’s not that. There’s also other Pokemon I can see aren’t Barboach. But the majority definitely are.”

“But, why?”

“I just think Barboach, maybe, was the least likely to make it back to the water compared to some other Pokemon. Like the Pokedex said, they could have just dried out and weakened the easiest. ”

“We should go get April. She may know what this is,” Gary suggested.

June stared at him for a couple of seconds and then nodded. “Good idea, Gary.” She started to turn in the direction of April’s, but did a double take ahead instead.

Gary was already staring at something far ahead glimmering brightly. It almost hurt just to stare at it. “What is that shining?”

“The sun?” June questioned, squinting.

“Or the source of all this.” Gary walked, careful of his steps as he came towards the distant, bright thing. What if it’s her? Sparking. Using her... “Electric attacks”? His eyes went from the ground containing so many dead Barboach to the glinting object and back and he maneuvered through the bodies, jogging, skipping, hopping about.

The glow vanished and something moved in place of the light. The thing was alive! It was rising!

Gary came to a stop, his heart throbbing from excitement, fear, adrenaline. It’s her... Gary realized. The monster Pokemon!

The thing moved around, seeming to maybe face him.

Gary took a step back.

“Gary, who is that?” June was right behind him.

He grabbed a Poke Ball, inhaled deeply, and let out a shout as he ran for the thing. His shout became louder, possibly a roar, fury coming over him.

The thing didn’t move from its spot.

It seemed like more things popped up around the original one.

“BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!!!!” He pulled back his arm to send out his Pokemon as he got ever closer. Ready for revenge. Ready to end all of this confusion for good. He then came to a stop, trembling, his eyes wide.

The thing was hunched over in glasses, just barely matching in height with Gary, holding onto a brown, wooden cane. A white lab coat was worn over a black T-shirt that hung over brown slacks, black boots on the feet. A huge black backpack was being carried, an arm in each strap.

A pair of old people were also there.

A man had on brown pants, a buttoned up black shirt tucked into them under a thin, light brown jacket, standing in very dark shoes. He also wore glasses that matched the first person.

The final person was a woman with a white skirt, a black blouse tucked in, and dark blue shoes.

A Solrock floated close by the three people.

The first old man’s eyes were already wide, but they widened, and a smile came over his face. “You! Gary! Yes! Gary!” He breathed a sigh of relief. “You sure gave me a fright. What brings you here?”

“Prof. Cozmo??” Gary and June gasped.

“So good to see you both!” Mr. Cozmo said enthusiastically.

Mrs. Cozmo grinned and nodded.

Prof. Cozmo gave out a few hard coughs.

“Professor! I can’t believe this! We were on our way to Pewter City to get my final Badge, and we wound up on this!” Gary held out his arms at his surroundings. “What’s going on here?”

Prof. Cozmo’s happy face faded to sadness. “It’s why I’m here, in fact.”

“What do you mean?” June burst out before Gary could.

“I’m studying this phenomenon myself,” Prof. Cozmo told her.

“Really? You’re here because of this?” Gary asked.

Prof. Cozmo nodded.

“Oh...” Gary answered.

“But, how could you know this was happening?? We’ve been here for a whole day and this only just occurred!”

“This only just occurred for you. This is no new happening. I’m here studying this event as I’ve no answer for it yet. My research takes me all over the world trying to uncover many mysteries in the Pokemon world. I came from studying meteors fallen into the Earth’s crust, to digging even deeper. And sometimes digging less!” Prof. Cozmo laughed.

His parents joined in.

Barely a smile came from June and Gary as they turned to each other, not getting it.

“Well, we were on our way back to April’s, the Gym Leader on this beach,” Gary told Prof. Cozmo. “We wanted to ask her if she knew anything about this.”

“That’s a great idea,” the professor nodded, keeping his smile. “A resident of these lands oughta know something about it.”

“She’s a bit away from here. Let’s head over. I can’t stand being around so much death,” June commented.

“Then heading over there sounds like a grand idea,” Mrs. Cozmo agreed.

Gary led the way, heading back, once again, to the Gym Leader. Just my luck, in a way, Gary considered. A horrible reason to be going back, but on the plus side, I get to see April again. I wonder what she’s wearing today. Some nice, tight jeans? A button up I can angle myself to peek through and see what else she’s wearing? Perhaps a nice little miniskirt? He approached the house of April sooner than he had expected and stopped at the front door of the wooden house.

“Wait...” June uttered softly. “What??”

Gary smiled, clearing his throat, and he raised a fist. He gently rapped on the door once. Twice. Thrice.

The door swung open and a strong wind forced its way out, slamming into Gary’s body, a bright light blinding him.

He screamed and covered his face as he stumbled back, swatting in front of himself.

“GARY!” a voice screamed, sounding a lot like June’s to Gary.

Gary dug into his eyes for a moment before attempting to see again. Squinting through the fading light, he looked at April’s house and then gasped.

The house was gone!! There was nothing but the sandy ground in its place!

“Wait, what, what???” Gary stammered.

A sigh came from behind Gary. “Trick Master, seriously? You, too? What possibly brings you here??” Prof. Cozmo asked with exasperation.

Gary looked back at the professor.

“Why, mystery, of course! Where there is confusion, where things are not solved, there is the Trick Master, especially when I cannot resolve!” Someone then laughed a lunatic’s laugh.

Gary turned and screamed, dropping unintentionally to the ground.

Behind him stood a man just over Gary’s height, his smile almost the size of his giant yellow bowtie. His vest was a checkered red and black and was worn over a blue shirt. He stood in white pants and black shoes.

“Trick Master??” Gary stared in disbelief.

“Got you!” the Trick Master laughed hysterically.

Gary didn’t understand, not even able to speak about what just happened.

Prof. Cozmo sighed. “This isn’t the time, Trick Master! We’re on to a very important case! While you were performing your tricks, I’m sure you noticed the dead Pokemon around here.”

The Trick Master stopped laughing immediately and his face went serious. “Of course I did,” he spoke softly.

“What are you doing here?” Mrs. Cozmo asked him.

“I’m tracking down the creature we all are aware of. I’ve heard word she is in this area,” he answered. “Near Pewter. I just came from there.”

“Do you think she’s responsible for this... slaughter?” Mr. Cozmo asked.

“Impossible,” the Trick Master said sternly.

No one said a word after this.

The Trick Master shook his head. “There’s no way.”

“Why do you say that, though?” Gary wasn’t sure if he would say anything, but he eventually decided to at least let that one out.

“It’s not her style.”

Everyone else waited for someone else to speak.

“She doesn’t attack Pokemon. She’s only after people,” the Trick Master went on coldly.

“That isn’t true!” Gary openly argued. “She’s attacked me and my Pokemon before! Just yesterday, even!”

“You’ve met her again?” Prof. Cozmo approached Gary.

The Trick Master moved quicker, bumping Prof. Cozmo aside and grasping Gary’s shoulders. “Boy, have you met her?! I know you met her, but again???” He shook Gary roughly.

“Hey, wait!” Gary pleaded.

“Did you meet the creature again?! ANSWER ME!!!” The Trick Master rocked Gary roughly, wildy, angrily!

The three Cozmos and June made their way over to the Trick Master to wrestle him off of Gary and Gary tried to back out of his grasp.

The Trick Master was breathing angrily and tiredly once him and Gary were finally separated. He swallowed dryly. “I’m sorry, Gary. You understand how important this is to us.”

Gary nodded, but he didn’t like what had just occurred between them. “She can speak English,” he let out while trying to decide if he should even admit this now.

The Trick Master’s mouth was open a bit, his lips moving as if speaking words, but nothing was heard.

Prof. Cozmo’s parents looked to each other, stunned.

Motionless, Solrock hovered silently behind them, not having any reaction to the news.

Prof. Cozmo looked the most shocked, his mouth the widest, and he adjusted his glasses. Then he turned to June. “And did you hear her speak?”

June swallowed and opened her mouth.

“June still has the same reaction to her voice. She didn’t hear anything,” Gary spoke for her.

Prof. Cozmo and his parents turned to each other and then back to June. “So...” The professor went quiet, shaking his head as it lowered. “What? What does this mean?”

June shook her head, her mouth hanging open as if she wanted to add something.

“I used the Master Ball. She destroyed it. I’m sorry.” Gary pulled some attention away from his friend and then went silent, awaiting the response to this.

The heat was strong, but a sudden gust just happened to suddenly blow from the ocean.

Everyone felt this force, planting themselves strongly against it.

The Trick Master’s eyes were focused on Gary.

The Cozmos had shocked faces for the young boy.

June had her own eyes lowered.

The wind finally died off.

Their positions didn’t change.

“Gary, how did she destroy a Master Ball?” The Trick Master’s voice was rising. He took a step towards the boy, making him jump.

Gary swallowed. “I used it, but she just... blew it up! There was nothing I could do!”

“GARY!” The Trick Master advanced on him.

Gary took one step back, gripping his Poke Ball he still had in hand.

Prof. Cozmo moved slowly in his old age, but he held out his cane and held back the Trick Master from the chest.

The Trick Master grunted but stopped, glaring at Gary. He let out a growl.

“If we were any more capable, we wouldn’t have put a child to the task, now would we?” Prof. Cozmo brought up angrily.

The Trick Master’s face softened and he nodded. “I apologize, Gary.” He stepped back and lowered his head.

The cane went down.

“This is all beyond us,” Mrs. Cozmo said.

Mr. Cozmo nodded.

“That’s right, mom,” Prof. Cozmo added. “What this thing is might not even be a Pokemon. Fact is, she can speak English.” He looked at June.

June cringed and looked down.

“While this is not unheard of of a Pokemon, the rarity of it, and for a thing whose species we have yet to confirm, muddies the picture at least just a little.”

June refused to look at the man and kept silent.

Prof. Cozmo faced Gary. “So the Master Ball stood no chance of capturing her?”

Gary shook his head. “I can’t be sure. She destroyed it too soon. She didn’t go in it.”

“So she responded by attacking it. That level of aggression could still prove she is a Pokemon. But to stop a Master Ball could argue she in fact isn’t!”

“So we’re right where we started...” the Trick Master said lowly.

“That’s right, and that’s okay,” Prof. Cozmo told him.

The Trick Master looked away, closing his eyes.

“I’ve failed, I know,” Gary told them both. “Can I help in any other way? I want to catch this thing!”

Prof. Cozmo turned to Gary. “You’re doing just fine. But what you need to do is keep in better contact with me. I shouldn’t only now be finding out about these things you’ve just told me.”

Gary lowered his head and nodded strongly. Damn it, he thought. I screwed up there.

“We need to know everything, as you know it. Not on coincidental meetups,” the Trick Master said sternly.

“I understand,” Gary nodded to him.

“And understand that the Barboach incident here wasn’t the doing of her, either. She doesn’t attack Pokemon unless provoked. Unless they get in the way of her ultimate goal.”

Now everyone was staring at the Trick Master.

“And... what is her ultimate goal?” Prof. Cozmo asked him.

“I wouldn’t know all of that,” the Trick Master admitted, and then sighed. “If any of us did, we might even have her by now.”

An awkward aura took in the six people and Solrock, keeping them all quiet.

So what is she after? Gary wondered in the silence. What is her goal? If we could figure that out, we might learn what she even is.

The hair atop the creature reached out and connected with Melissa’s face.

She screamed at the top of her lungs as her body was lit by the blue lightning, and her body jumped.

One thing I do know, she’s a murderer, Gary thought bitterly. Of my sister. And I wanna know why.

A noise came from somewhere. It was low and croaky.

Everyone looked around at once.

“Did anyone hear that?” the Trick Master questioned, looking around suspiciously.

“It was-” June started.

“Whoa!” Gary moved only a few feet before falling to his knees.

“Gary?” June and the others turned to the fallen boy.

Gary reached out for something and then stopped, pulling back his hands. He then looked to June. “It’s alive!” He took off his backpack and went through it. “I have a Potion left!” He held up the bottle and aimed it at Barboach. “Huh??” Gary’s shoulder was pulled back and he looked up in shock at Prof. Cozmo.

A sad look was on the man’s face and he shook his head. “That won’t do a thing. It needs a real doctor in this condition, Gary.” He closed his eyes and shook his head again. “I’m so sorry.”

The Barboach squeaked weakly.

Gary stared down at the poor thing, his eyes slowly tearing. “B-b-b-b-” Gary couldn’t even speak properly.

“He’s right...” June agreed, shocking Gary as he looked at her in disbelief. “The spray could even startle her and do more harm before actually healing, Gary.”

Wetness squeezed through Gary’s shut eyelids and he lowered his head. He felt the professor’s hand fall off his shoulder. What even caused all this?! Gary screamed in his head. We have one alive... There’s hope, isn’t there?! Gary opened his eyes and narrowed his eyebrows with determination. His Potion hit the ground. Quickly, he dug in his pocket and came out with a Poke Ball. It increased in size the second he hit the button in the middle.

“Gary, wait!” Prof. Cozmo insisted.

His parents gasped, watching.

“Gary!” June cried.

Gary extended his arm and gently bumped the Barboach with the Poke Ball.

Barboach opened her eyes and blinked very, very slowly before a red beam covered her entire body and she was pulled inside of the Poke Ball.

The red light on the front shined.

PING!

At once, the Poke Ball was glowing brightly and soon, completely vanished.

Gary tightened his empty fist.

“You’ve likely killed it!”

Gary turned sharply.

“That was a big mistake, Gary!” Prof. Cozmo went on. His face was angry.

“He could have saved her,” the Trick Master said softly, staring at the sanded ground.

Gary nodded at the Trick Master and continued nodding as he looked to Prof. Cozmo. “She’s with the professor! Prof. Oak! He’s the greatest mind on Pokemon in the world! That’s the best that could possibly be done for her!”

“Fool! The...” Prof. Cozmo took a breath. “The stress of the transfer-!”

“It was the best decision.” The Trick Master kept his eyes down. “Whether it saves her or not is irrelevant. Gary did the best he could.”

Mr. Cozmo wrapped an arm around his son. He spoke in tones too low for anyone else to hear.

Mrs. Cozmo moved closer and rubbed her son’s back.

“The disruption of the sand isn’t natural,” the Trick Master said.

Everyone looked down at the sand. It looked afflicted by something, but it wasn’t all that noticeable. Had the Trick Master not said anything, it wouldn’t even have been spotted.

“What do you mean by that?” June questioned.

“That the cause of death of these Pokemon, it isn’t natural. They had no reason to wind up on this beach. And their current state was intentional.”

Everyone was staring at the Trick Master.

“She didn’t do it, but something else did. Intentionally. Someone.”

“But to what purpose?” Prof. Cozmo demanded.

“I don’t know that.”

“Then how can we rule her out? We don’t even know her own purpose. How can we claim she is innocent in this?”

“It’s my private theory that she isn’t out to harm Pokemon.”

“So she’s after people, only?”

The Trick Master didn’t speak.

“If we don’t have an absolute answer, we can’t ignore possible ones, Trick Master.”

The Trick Master nodded. “I understand. I just have my own theories. I’m open to any possibilities. I’m just also trying to narrow down a possible answer. I don’t see enough evidence, based on her history, that this was her doing.”

Gary stood up. “I’ll do better to keep you guys updated next time on anything I learn and the next time I meet her. I’m sorry for not doing so earlier. But for now, I need to get to Pewter City and see if Barboach is okay. So, if there’s nothing else I can do here, I’m off.”

The Trick Master, Prof. Cozmo and his parents, and Solrock were eyeing Gary.

“Would you like a shortcut there, then?” Prof. Cozmo asked.

“A shortcut?” Gary questioned him.

Mr. and Mrs. Cozmo smiled at their son.

The Trick Master looked at the professor and tried hiding a smirk, looking up into the sunny, heated sky.

Prof. Cozmo grabbed the right strap of his bag.

A Beep! Beep! went off.

The water roared and swirled and rushed about.

Gary’s eyes were wide watching this.

June gasped, stepping backwards several feet.

The Trick Master, Solrock, Prof. Cozmo, and his parents remained where they were, watching.

Something huge and white rose out of the water. A submarine?? Perhaps!! As it landed on the sandy beach, the white vessel was transforming! Wheels appeared underneath it, the shape of the machine changing and becoming smaller but still huge. The restructured object sat still, glimmering underneath the sun. It was now a large, white jeep!

“How many Badges do you have, now?” Prof. Cozmo smiled at Gary.

Gary stared back blankly.

Suddenly, Gary smiled back.

“In less than twenty-four hours I’ll have all eight!”

Gary’s right eye started to twitch.