Gary stretched his arms and legs, groaning and cracking bones.

June got out of the jeep next and held her arms as far back behind her as possible, letting out a relieved squeal with a big smile.

“Guys, I wish you both good luck on your journeys,” Prof. Cozmo grinned and nodded from behind the wheel. “Gary, you have a heavy load on your shoulders, but I believe in you. I can’t wait to see your matches at the Kanto League.”

“Thanks, Prof. Cozmo. I know I’ll get that Badge.”

“Yes. And be sure to call when, should, you find her,” the Trick Master said in a warm, but hard tone from the passenger seat.

“Absolutely! I promise!” Gary insisted.

“Take care, you t-!” Mr. Cozmo started from the back, beside his wife.

Several loud BANG! noises rang through the air.

Everyone turned to the Pokemon Center right by them as screams followed.

“Something’s happening in the Pokemon Center!” Gary exclaimed. And it sounds like they have weapons, he thought, and scooped up a Poke Ball. “Nosepass, come out!”

A thrown Poke Ball opened and sent out the Rock type.

“Use Stealth Rock outside of the city!”

A Poke Ball popped open and sent out a Solrock.

Solrock’s eyes glowed light blue and the Pokemon spun in a circle, crying out.

A light blue circle appeared on the ground outside of Pewter City, cut off and disappearing in some areas by the trees. Soon after, the glowing circle disappeared.

Solrock’s eyes stopped glowing and it stopped spinning, going silent.

Gary turned to see Prof. Cozmo standing, hunched over, still carrying his huge bag on his back, his cane in his hand. His eyes shot around, but when Gary looked, he saw nothing.

The Trick Master was outside of the jeep, slamming the door and looking around suspiciously.

Prof. Cozmo’s parents remained inside.

There was a distant but loud explosive sound followed by screams far away.

Suddenly, large, gray objects erupted from the ground, right where the blue circle had been previously. The stones encircled the city and stood still, the rumbles of their arrival fading away.

“Now use Gravity!” Prof. Cozmo commanded.

Solrock hummed in a light tone, and its eyes went entirely black! At once, its humming went a lot deeper, and Gary, June, and Prof. Cozmo’s parents all yelled out in strange voices.

“UUUUH-AAAAAAHH!!!” Gary was forced to his knees as an invisible, five hundred pound blanket dropped on top of him. Or at least, that was what it felt like. And his screaming came out muffled but loud, lowered and forced. He was barely able to remain on his knees as he forced his hands into the ground and struggled not to fall out completely flat. Breathing was somehow a struggle!

June was screaming as loudly as she could, though her voice was also distorted. She was sprawled out on her back, the side of her face against the ground.

Gary couldn’t see his Nosepass, but he could hear it calling out in a warped tone.

“Now locate them and bring them over here!” Prof. Cozmo grunted out.

Solrock’s voice came out deep.

Gary suddenly inhaled sharply and easily, no longer facing resistance, and actually fell onto his back in shock from the release. “OH!” His voice was back to its childish pitch!

June also screamed out in her repaired voice, more voices groaning and startled by the return of freedom.

Gary stood up and stared at Solrock who now had glowing blue eyes and was looking off into the distance.

Shouts and complaints drew nearer, and before long, several things came into view, outlined in blue and hovering in the air. Three men, four women, and another creature grimaced as they floated closer.

“Robbers,” Prof. Cozmo frowned.

“Hey, man, times are hard, okay?” a red haired woman whined. “With Silph Co. down and out, everyone’s doing it!”

“We just wanna take care of our Pokemon, man! Come on!” a bald man tried.

“Please don’t let us get arrested!” The only brown skinned male, who also seemed the youngest, perhaps just a teenager amongst the adults, had tear-filled eyes as he turned to Gary. “Brotha. Please! You can’t!”

Gary sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes before turning back to the thing with the humans.

Hypno. The Hypnosis Pokemon and the evolved form of Drowzee. Hypno can induce sleepiness on opponents in as little as three seconds. They favor the dreams of children, as the taste of their dreams are more pleasant.

The electronic doors to the Pokemon Center opened, and a brunette lady stepped out. She stared at the large group of people hovering and screamed. “There they are!! Somebodyyyy!!” She disappeared back inside.

“EVERYBODY FREEZE!! RIGHT THERE! HANDS UP!! POKEMON DOWN!!”

Everybody who wasn’t under control of Solrock turned with a start.

“Officer Jenny! Here they-!” Prof. Cozmo smiled, approaching her.

“I SAID EVERYBODY FREEZE!!” Officer Jenny was backed up by ten or more officers, all of who appeared out of nowhere.

In several seconds, the entire area was full of beautiful female officers in high heels and miniskirts, as well as a few male officers in pants and shoes. All had their guns drawn, ready to fire.

*

“Life in prison...” Gary shook his head. “That’s... life!”

“Well, with a crime sheet as long as theirs and in under twenty-four hours??” Prof. Cozmo said.

His parents shook their heads.

“Kids these days...” Mr. Cozmo muttered sadly.

“Oh...” Mrs. Cozmo whimpered shakily, covering half of her face with one hand.

“Robbing stores using Hypno’s Psychic powers to manipulate cashiers into thinking they’re receiving large bills when they were receiving sheets of looseleaf so they could get real money as change,” Prof. Cozmo said thoughtfully. “Teleporting on the fly from town to town to escape. Psychic Pokemon are not to be used for such wildly dangerous crimes. The penalty is steep because the dangers are honestly endless! Psychic types basically control our very reality!”

“If the penalties weren’t so steep, scaring criminals from even thinking of trying such things, this world would be in pieces,” the Trick Master added. “They do have a chance to get out on parole... in fifty years...”

Gary nodded. “I get it.” But he couldn’t get the kid’s pleas out of his mind. “It was never about caring for their Pokemon.”

“It could have, but crime can be an addictive drug,” the Trick Master told him. “How far and long you think you can get away with things. And they were battling against store security Ghost Pokemon. Once you get away with something like that, sometimes you just wonder what else can you do!”

Gary lowered his eyes and nodded again. “Personally, I’m about tired of the police...” Gary sighed.

June laughed lightly.

“I see you stayin’ outta trouble my nigga,” a voice came from closeby.

Everyone turned to see who had spoken.

After seeing him clearly, Gary and June stared stunned.

Ish towered over everyone, holding his capsule with his Bonsly Egg inside, his huge gray backpack on his back. His face was bruised, puffy, and looked painful. He wore a light, blue and black jacket over a black T-shirt. His feet stood in dark blue sneakers with black bottoms. Matching those were blue jeans with a black stripe on the outside of each leg.

Something creeped along his back and rested on his right shoulder. The muscular Salandit!

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop! Something was making its way noisily over, and as everyone looked behind Ish, including Ish himself, the thing fell to the floor.

June gasped loudly and stood from her seat.

Prof. Cozmo’s parents uttered their surprise.

Prof. Cozmo and the Trick Master also were startled by the fall.

Ish ran over to the horse that was on fire.

“Nurse Joy!” Gary stood up, smiling.

“You okay, Ponyta?” Ish knelt beside the Pokemon as Nurse Joy also got beside it, and they both helped it up to its feet.

Neither got burned by the blazing horse, the fire all around them.

“Hmm...” Gary pulled out his Pokedex.

Ponyta. The Fire Horse Pokemon. These creatures are powerful runners and outstanding jumpers, able to clear famous heights like the Eiffel Tower and Ayers Rock in a single leap. Their hooves are harder than diamonds.

“Is it okay?” Gary asked, noting to himself that it didn’t seem as strong in person as the Pokedex was claiming.

“This one was just born only two weeks ago,” Ish explained. “I brought him here so Nurse Joy could just check up on him. They’re pretty weak at birth but through hard work are just as strong as the Pokedex said.”

“Oh, I see.” Gary held his breath right after speaking as Nurse Joy looked up with her blue eyes, right at him. He inhaled and smiled big for her. “Hi, Nurse Joy!” he said with delight. “You’re looking amazing, as always!” He approached her, hypnotized. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Gary, from-” The rumble could have happened hours ago for all Gary knew. It wasn’t the fact that the building was quaking for who knows how long, but the fact Nurse Joy was looking at the ceiling in fright that silenced Gary and caused him to realize something was going on. He looked to his side to see Hitmonchan! “Hitmonchan?”

Hitmonchan was also looking around, his right arm extended in the air as if ready to strike Gary’s face!

Gary didn’t have time to think on this any longer, screams from both inside the building and outside grabbing his attention. An earthquake?? he feared.

A huge explosion erupted, the building rocking wildly afterwards and shouts and shrieks increasing from inside and out of the Pokemon Center.

“What’s going on?” the Trick Master shouted, rage on his face.

“Is this an earthquake?” Prof. Cozmo questioned, one hand gripping his cane, the other on a strap of his bag, struggling not to fall over.

“Shit!” Ish held out a Poke Ball and returned Ponyta to it before running to the front doors and out of them once they opened for him.

“ISH!” Gary ran after him.

“GARY! WAIT! NO!” June called.

“GARY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING??” the Trick Master boomed.

“Gary, come back!!” the professor insisted with him.

His parents were also begging with their son.

Gary got through the doors and froze at what he was seeing besides the small group of people running in fear.

Something flew high in the air, and at the same time, something at the ground level seemed to explode!

Gary screamed and raised a hand feebly, watching as more clouded air joined what was already there, and something shot high into the sky.

Ish clutched his Bonsly Egg’s capsule as he glared into the skies as things bounced high and other things blew up at the ground level mostly, sometimes eruptions occurring in the air.

“ISH! WE NEED TO GET BACK INSIDE!!” Gary yelled.

Ish didn’t budge, but he did wrap his arms tighter around his Egg. He then looked to Gary, a hardened look on his face, and nodded. The two boys turned to run back inside.

An object about a foot shorter than the two landed right in front of them, also being right in front of the doors to the Pokemon Center.

There, the Trick Master, Prof. Cozmo, and Hitmonchan wore horrified faces as they stared at the suddenly landed subject.

There was no time to take in the thing as it rolled straight for Gary and Ish!

“UUUGH!!”

“AAUUUGHH!!”

Ish slammed into Gary, toppling the Pallet Town Trainer, and then leaped to get away himself!

The thing rolled right by them, barely missing them.

“Ish!” Gary sat up. “You-!”

“We have to evacuate the Pokemon Center!” Ish interrupted. “No one is safe in Pewter, period!”

Gary looked to the two men at the building. “Where’s June?”

“I asked her to keep an eye on my parents and Solrock,” Prof. Cozmo explained. “I don’t understand why these Golem are here.”

A loud crash made them all turn to see a house come down.

“There’s supposed to be grooves dug at the sides of mountains to detour them away from cities. Most mountainous locations by cities and towns have them as a precaution,” Ish told them.

“Yeah, and they work. So why isn’t it now?” Prof. Cozmo spoke. “There’s a pack of them here!”

Another powerful blast came from further away.

“That’s the direction of the museum!” Prof. Cozmo gasped.

Another one went off and Gary fell. He wasn’t able to get back up. He found out after the ground stopped moving, it was his own body trembling and making him unable to stand.

Sirens from far away were sounding off as help started to arrive, commands being given from different positions in Pewter City.

But where are they for us? This is right in front of the Pokemon Center! Gary screamed in his head. Surely they’d wanna get here immediately!

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHH!!!!

Gary just barely spotted something fall through the roof of the Pokemon Center, pieces of the roof continuing to fall apart inside.

Screams from inside grabbed at Gary’s heart. “JUNE!”

“MOMMY!! DADDY!! NOT AGAIN!!” Prof. Cozmo shot into the building, sliding between the doors before they fully opened.

“Are we even safe in there?” Ish brought up.

“No.” Gary ran inside anyway, Hitmonchan following.

Prof. Cozmo was there with his Solrock, both of them facing a standing Golem.

June and Mr. Cozmo were huddled together by a chair, Mrs. Cozmo nowhere in sight.

“Goleeeeem!!” Golem pulled itself inside of its shell.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

Destroying the electronic doors, something came charging straight through with ease! Another Golem!! This one kept going, stomping forward on its two feet with a roar and slamming right into the other Golem right as it started to roll towards Prof. Cozmo.

The Golem soared through the air and hit against the side of the building, crashing through it and landing outside. An explosion followed, tearing down more of the wall.

Screams came out from the building as debris and dust flowed everywhere.

“Goleeem!” The new Golem went into its shell and followed the other Golem, rolling out of the building.

Pulling his shirt over his mouth and nose, Gary turned, squinting as he looked around.

Prof. Cozmo was running over to his father. “Dad! Where’s mom at?”

“I told her to run when Golem landed. She’s okay,” he assured his son, and pulled him into a tight hug.

“June!”

“Gary!”

They both ran to each other, holding onto one another’s arms.

“You’re alright?” he asked her.

She coughed a little. “I’m fine. But that Golem! Where did...?” She suddenly blinked and a confused look came over her face as she looked around.

“Where is it? They both went out!”

“Yo! Gary! You guys alright in here?”

Gary looked at the hole in the side of the building to see Ish and the Trick Master peering in. He pulled his shirt from his face. “Ish! Hey, where are the Pokemon? What’s going on out there?!”

“Everything’s okay! Aurora is here, now!”

“Aurora?!” Gary immediately ran to join him, his heart pounding powerfully now, and his body began to shake out of nowhere.

“Yeah, look! She’s over there!” Ish pointed.

Gary was stunned as he saw her.

Aurora. Tall as ever and standing in brown pants and black sneakers, a white sweater on for this cold day, she stood in front of a Golem, her hand on its body. She rubbed it with a sweet smile.

Wow... Gary thought. I’ve never seen a smile like... that from her... She looks so kind... All Gary could recall was how cold Aurora always was with him.

Golem smiled and then went inside of its shell. It rolled away from her, disappearing into the trees.

Aurora turned and gazed in Gary’s direction.

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Uh... Uh oh, he thought, unsure of what to do with himself now that he was sure he’d been seen.

“So that’s her, huh?” Gary heard June say.

“Honey, you’re alright!”

“Sweetheart, I’m here!”

Gary looked over to see the married Cozmos hugging each other. “Mrs. Cozmo!”

She smiled in tears at her husband. “I’m so grateful you’re okay, Raizoh.” She pulled him in even closer.

“It’s so dangerous for you to have come out.” Mr. Cozmo sniffled against his wife.

Prof. Cozmo adjusted his glasses as he watched them, a pair of tears coming down his eyes.

“OH, NO! EVERYBODYYYYY!!!” June suddenly bellowed.

With a jump and a collective gasp, everyone looked to see a glowing light. It sat on the ground, circular, and a voice came from it. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! An explosion sent a powerful wind that sent everyone back either stumbling or flying briefly.

Groans were heavy in the air, including from Gary. Breathing hard, he sat up and opened his eyes.

The air had a kind of gray fog to it. Misty.

Gary coughed hard a few times, hunched over, he looked around him.

Ish, June, Hitmonchan, Salandit, the Trick Master, and the Cozmos were all sprawled out.

Some people who weren’t in the blast area were peeking out from around or inside of the Pokemon Center and nearby buildings.

Gary looked back to where the explosion occurred and squinted, getting to his feet.

Where the bright light had blown up, there was a gaping hole. It was expanded a great distance, and possibly just as deep.

Gary swallowed and then coughed out again. “What...?”

Then, something fell right inside of the hole! The thing landed far, far below and remained, a giant, motionless ball.

“A Golem!” Gary exclaimed.

A distant eruption of noise made Gary look as something soared through the clearing air. The ball hit the ground and continued to tumble and eventually slid right into the hole as well, slamming into the other Golem. The two just rolled against the walls and each other for a little while before eventually stopping.

“Gary, what’s happening?”

Gary saw that June had gotten up, but was still sitting.

Others were arising, standing, recovering from the incident they had withstood. They all seemed like they were relatively okay except for Prof. Cozmo.

He had a horrified look on his face as he stared at the hole.

There was another powerful blast of noise that sounded very close. Everyone turned in the same direction to see yet another big ball flying. This one wasn’t high up, mere feet above the ground.

And headed straight for Aurora!

She gasped, freezing up entirely, an ugly look of fear and disbelief on her pretty face. “Fuck!”

With a determined shout, the shell was struck. Actually, the hard shell of Golem was penetrated! Something was holding Golem in the air, Golem maybe a foot away from taking Aurora’s head off, just by having jabbed through the hide of the Golem. “Kabutops.” With a big grunt and a swift swing, a Kabutops waved the scythes it had in Golem and tossed it into the hole with the other Golem. Its scythes lowered as it looked at Aurora.

Aurora’s face softened into a smirk and she closed her eyes, lowering her head. She snickered, shaking her head.

Kabutops didn’t move.

Kabutops raised one scythe and brought it down swiftly upon Mankey.

A spot on the ground was covered in Mankey’s blood so fast.

Kabutops raised its scythe in the air. It was dripping in blood.

Gary’s breathing became funny and his chest hurt. He coughed.

Kabutops moved like lightning and sliced at Primeape.

Primeape screamed out and actually cowered, trying to protect himself.

More blood than the last time splashed the Gym floor.

Not only was Kabutops’ scythe covered in it, but parts of its body, as well.

Gary swallowed.

Kabutops’ eyes moved to his and stayed there.

Does it know? They both must remember me. It’s been almost a year, but, they must... Without even realizing it, Gary rubbed his hand hard into his right eye. There it goes again. Not now! he insisted.

“Seems one of the Golem may not have survived its Explosion like the others,” Aurora suddenly spoke out.

“The others?” the Trick Master asked, stepping towards her.

“All the Golem going off in the area right now are using Explosion. It tends to kill most Pokemon, but Golem are so powerful, they can resist dynamite, so an Explosion attack ain’t shit to them,” Ish told him.

Aurora nodded, eyeing Ish. “Yes. In fact, many Golem will just travel by use of Explosion. It’s still a dangerous thing but when you’re built like Golem, it’s usually fine. Anyway, it seems one didn’t get it right. Left this huge crater which has made our work just a little bit easier by capturing these remaining guys.”

“I don’t understand how they got here to start with.” Ish shook his head. “And why are they wildin’ out?”

“When you’re made of such tough stuff, the fun and games can be deadly,” Aurora said in a low voice.

“Whoa whoa whoa now. Hold up.” Ish raised his hands and blinked rapidly. “You’re telling me that these Golem ended up here by accident and are just playing around right now??”

“I need to investigate why our blockades didn’t keep them out of the city, but, yes, these guys mean no harm. I can calm them down and get them back home easily. The problem is keeping them out. If the protective measures aren’t working, this could end up a lot worse than it already is. We don’t have the largest police or fire force in Pewter City. Aid is on its way from other places as we speak.”

“It wasn’t a Golem...”

“Huh?” Aurora looked with everyone else at the young voice that spoke.

Prof. Cozmo was the last one to turn, his face still frozen in horror.

June trembled on the ground. She was already eyeing Prof. Cozmo. “And you know that, don’t you?”

Tears began to roll down his cheeks. “You... heard...”

June nodded. “I heard Solrock’s voice. Solrock was who used Explosion.”

Everyone gasped.

“Solrock?” Gary burst out. “But, why?”

Prof. Cozmo groaned, getting to his feet. His backpack seemed like it was an issue for him to carry, but he refused to release it and ran to June, even leaving his cane behind. He fell upon her, grabbing her shoulders for balance, his face getting wetter by the second. “June! Tell me!! Please tell me what happened!!” he pleaded hysterically, giving her a wild shake. “Why would my Pokemon do this??! What did he say?? What did you hear??!”

June was crying with the professor. “This has to stop.”

Prof. Cozmo froze, gripping June even tighter.

She winced from the grasp. “I hope I’m enough for you. And them.”

“What?”

“I love you.” June lowered her head, bursting into tears. “I love them.” She kept crying hard, slumping her shoulders.

Prof. Cozmo let go of her and covered his face, dropping to his knees. His fingers dug into his face and he let out a loud, wild, pained wail that echoed throughout the entire city, overtaking explosions that happened to go off at the same time from elsewhere, along with sirens of police, ambulances, fire trucks, and the people shrieking in terror.

*

Elekid was snoozing on his back with headphones on.

Ponyta hobbled beside Ish, trying to walk properly.

Ish moved slowly with the Pokemon, one hand on Ponyta’s side.

On Ish’s other side was a little Poliwag who was also struggling to walk, tripping constantly.

When this would happen, Ish would kneel down and help her up and the trio would keep trying.

Salandit was on his hind legs in front of them, walking backwards and motioning towards himself with his front legs.

Gary and June sat with the Bonsly Egg capsule between them, watching Ish work with his Pokemon.

“Amazing a complete jerk can be so...” June hesitated. “...not... a complete jerk.” She looked over to Ish’s Clefairy who sat the furthest from everyone, his sad eyes on the moon in the night sky.

“He isn’t that bad,” Gary insisted, smiling at her. “Look at him and Poliwag. She always puts him to sleep accidentally with her Hypnosis, and ends up waking him up with Double Slap, and it’s all good. They have a great bond.”

“I was hoping his face injuries were the result of something a little less sweet.” June rolled her eyes, not looking back, her face sad. “My so-called abilities acted up again.”

“What do you mean?”

“When the Golem were attacking. When that one Golem popped up and started attacking the one in the Pokemon Center. I was trying to tell you about it and I realized, I couldn’t even tell the thing’s gender.” She inhaled deeply.

“I really think you were badly stressed out. I know you don’t see it that way, but, like-”

“I mean, I...” June interrupted before pausing for a second. “I thought I...” Her eyes closed and she sighed. “Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. Like, puberty or something, and it’s screwing with my ability.”

Gary’s mouth opened, and he froze. I don’t know what to say to that, he thought uncomfortably. “Maybe... June, I’m sorry this is happening.”

She only nodded.

“But you were able to hear Solrock, at least...”

June’s head fell down. “Poor Prof. Cozmo... He’s had that Pokemon since he was a child.”

“I hope he takes some time off of work after his meeting in Johto. He can’t just work away the pain like that.”

June didn’t add anything to the conversation.

“At least the Pokemon Center is running.” He stared at the building several feet away being worked on by a construction team.

The pink P was gone, along with more than half of the roof.

June’s eyes lit up as she raised her head. “Gary.”

Gary waited. “Yes?”

“Gary, I have a question I’d like to ask you about your Pokemon.”

He stared at her. “What question, June?” His heart was going off rapidly now, nervously.

“It doesn’t have to be now, in case you intend to use him for your Gym battle against Aurora. But, I wanted to ask you if, at some point soon, if possible, you and I could do a trade?”

“Trade our Pokemon??” Gary was shocked at this question. “Like, for, trades? To trade??”

June nodded firmly, not even cracking a smile at Gary’s reaction.

“But, who??”

“I’ve been thinking this over for a while now. I know who I want from you, and what I’d like you to do with the one I’ll give in return. It’s up to you, but you’d be doing me such a big favor.” She leaned in closer to Gary. “Please.”

Gary’s eyes were huge. “June.”

She opened her mouth.

“Aaaayyyy...”

Both June and Gary turned sharply, leaning away from each other, and saw Ish with a huge grin, watching them with his Pokemon.

He nodded with approval. “Maaaah nigga. Don’t let me interrupt. Come on, guys. We intruding on true love.”

“HEY!” Gary leaped to his feet. “WAIT! You don’t understand!”

“Trust me my nigga, I understand.” Ish scooped up his Poliwag with one arm, grabbing the Bonsly Egg capsule in the other, and he and Ponyta turned away. Together, they slowly walked off.

Salandit got on all fours and slithered after them.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, maybe. Y’all do what ch’all do. Peace and goodnight! You’ll be in my prayers tonight!”

“SHE ISN’T MY GIRLFRIEEEEND!!” Gary yelled after him.

“Myyyyyy nigga!” Ish didn’t turn back.

“ISH!” Getting angry, he started to run to catch his friend, but he was stopped as his hand was grabbed and he nearly fell, bent over as his arm was tugged. “June!”

“Enough with the games, Gary. We have more serious things to discuss,” she said seriously.

Gary sighed as he looked after Ish. “Right.” He sat down beside her again. “So. What’s your offer?”