My sneakers, full of sand, crunched through sand while more sand surrounded my body, blown by the wind. My eyes were closed, sand in them as well. I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the sand out of them, but I was only making it worse, my eyes now watering and stinging. This was absolutely terrible.

June and I had been traveling through the Desert Resort for over a day since we had encountered the Skorupi. I was certain that we would have made it out of here a long time ago, and yet, here we were, tired and weak, the sun beaming high above us, creating sweltering heat that made our journey even more strenuous.

June wasn’t far away from me, her head down, lips shut tight, forcing her way ahead.

During our first night here, I couldn’t sleep very well, the strange feeling of being watched making the skin on my arms tingle. And yet, June and I were all alone in the desert. I kept telling myself I was just being silly, and yet there was this strange noise, and an unsettling feeling that something was out there. I stayed up while June slept, keeping watch, telling June that I just wanted to make sure no more Skorupi came around to attack us, or any other Pokemon who might want our food.

June thought this was a good idea, and offered to trade shifts every couple of hours, letting one of us sleep while the other kept watch.

This was an excellent idea to me, and I kept calm and nonchalant as I agreed with her plan.

We made it safely through the night, though we both felt extremely tired by the time the sun was up, shining brightly, on its way even higher into the sky as we set up a quick breakfast for our Pokemon and ourselves.

Our second night, also our first full day here, we did the same thing, one of us staying up for a couple of hours while the other slept, and taking turns. Nothing happened that night, but I had shivers that I feared were from more than just the temperature drop.

When we had fed our Pokemon earlier this morning, it wasn’t too bad outside, the sand being pushed around by the wind, but not tossed roughly like it was now.

The Pokemon were visibly bothered by the sand getting in their food, and weren’t very eager about eating in these conditions, but June and I instructed them to eat while they could as we tried to find our way out of here.

June’s Electivire got irritated and began to release bursts of electricity from his body, shocking random spots on the ground around him.

Magneton and Rotom made good use of the moment and tried to catch as much of the electricity as they could, eagerly devouring the Electric attacks.

June had tried to calm her Pokemon down, but he ended up shocking her in the process.

It was a long breakfast.

We hadn’t spoken much, mainly due to all of the sand flying around us. The silence was nice, in my opinion.

However, the journey was far from enjoyable. I had told June we wouldn’t be here much longer. I told her we’d be in Nimbasa City really soon, so we both decided not to take anymore breaks and head straight there. Once we had finished eating, we attempted to reach our destination. Hours later, the sandstorm had only gotten worse, and as far as I could tell, we might very well have been lost. Everything looked the same around us. Nothing but sand.

I wonder what Nimbasa City will be like? I wondered as I walked blindly into the sand. It had taken me a while of contemplation to come to the conclusion that I still wanted to continue my Pokemon journey. It was something I hadn’t fully made my mind up on for a while. After what had occurred in Castelia City, I really didn’t know what I should do with myself. But after all this time walking in the sand, in an environment that allowed for a bit more peace and quiet for a change, I could really begin to dwell on my life and what I’d been through so far, as well as the direction I wanted to take from here. I definitely knew that taking a shower was number one on my list of to-dos. It wasn’t until we had finished our breakfast this morning that I had decided to also go for my third badge at Nimbasa City.

I raised my head, feeling that the wind was dying down, the sand flying around in front of me like a billion, tiny gnats. I couldn’t see anything but more and more sand, and I let out a disappointed sigh, my eyes still stinging as I squinted angrily through them. Seriously? Still nothing? I thought with disappointment as I stopped walking. Did we take a wrong turn?

June stopped and turned to me, squinting hard.

Letting out an angry cry, I turned around in a complete circle. “Let’s just keep going!” I called out to her, and walked ahead.

June didn’t say a word, surprisingly. She just walked after me.

“What’s that?” I said, squinting at something dark in the distance.

June raised a hand to her forehead as she looked up.

As we got closer, I realized that the thing was hovering in the air, a strange noise coming from it. We both stopped several feet away and stared at the black creature that was floating several feet above the ground. It seemed to be holding something, and was making some kind of crying noise.

A Pokemon? I wondered, and pulled out my Pokedex.

Yamask. The Spirit Pokemon. It’s believed that these Pokemon are the spirits of a certain group of ancient people, and hold a mask shaped in the face of themselves when they were alive. They are often found crying while forever maintaining memories of their past life.

The Yamask turned around and gasped. Its face was covered in tears! I could see the back of the mask it was holding in its hands. “Yaaamask!” it screamed at us, and quickly flew away, disappearing into the desert.

June and I turned to each other, shocked looks on our faces.

I looked down at my Pokedex. “Was that info it just said, correct?” I asked June.

“I really hope not,” June said sadly. “That’s terrible! That poor Pokemon.”

I put my Pokedex away and looked around, rubbing my eyes some more. I couldn’t open them all the way. It hurt too much. My shoulders slumped. Defeat was beginning to weigh me down and tire me out as I began to feel like I was ready to collapse.

June kept her head down as the wind gave one really strong gust, blowing sand into our faces.

I stumbled backwards against the wind and sand. The wind died down quickly, now blowing very weakly. The mixture of heat and wind was confusing as the heat was wearing me out, but the wind wasn’t quite cooling me down, blowing hot air, but making the humidity slightly more bearable, all the while, the sand brushing up against me was drying my skin, making me tired and thirsty at all times, even after drinking water from my water bottle. My lips were dry and cracking, aching worse as time passed. I forced myself to continue. This has to end at some point, I told myself. This can’t just go on forever. It just can’t possibly keep going on like this.

June was moving slower than ever and wasn’t speaking a word.

I kept looking behind me to make sure she was there.

She always was. Her feet slid along the ground, too tired to walk properly.

I also took a glance around us on occasion to make sure we were still alone. We’re alone, I told myself. There’s nothing out here. What could be out here? Relax, Gary.

June said something behind me.

I turned to her and stopped walking, breathing hard through my nostrils. It almost seemed like it might be a good idea to lay down on top of the sand and take a nap. Anything to just take a quick rest and not move for a while, no matter how close to Nimbasa City we were. I mumbled something in the heat, but even I didn’t know what I was saying.

June had her hands in her eyes. She seemed to have sand in them, and she was grumbling as she tried to clear them.

Mumbling in my weariness, I continued to walk, the wind in the desert calming down, the sand settling on the ground. My eyes suddenly widened in shock and I rubbed at them with my hands. As my hands lowered, my eyes widened even further.

In the distance, there stood a girl! She was leaning forward, visibly tired, her feet not lifting an inch in the sand as she walked further ahead of us at a steady pace.

How didn’t I see her before? I questioned. Did June and I stumble off track, somehow? Where did she even come from?

Her hands gripped a black hood that sat on her head as it ruffled gently in the light breeze that started up, sand starting to once again cloud the air around us. She leaned forward into the wind, her light, black hoodie ruffling gently on her, but the girl was actually taking a couple of steps backwards against the gentle force that shouldn’t have been able to move much more than a leaf. When the wind finally eased down, she stood still, shaking her head, and then curled up a little bit, wrapping her arms around her body even tighter, rubbing her arms slowly, and lowered her head as she shakily stepped forward.

Is she okay? I asked myself. “June, look! There’s another person!” I shouted, pointing ahead at the girl.

“Huh?? I can’t see!” June cried in frustration, still rubbing her eyes. “Where?”

A flash of light blue eyes.

Pale, thin lips.

My eyes widened instantly and a stunned, low cry escaped my throat.

Her eyes widened in fear, and she turned around and ran away, dashing through the sand.

“WAIT!!” I took off after the girl, a burst of energy flowing throughout my entire body, reinvigorating me.

“Gary?!” June shouted in confusion.

“HEY!! WAIT A MINUTE!!”

She was very thin, and really fast, easily making the space between us widen greatly.

The wind began to pick up again, and a large swirl of sand billowed in front of me, hitting me in the face.

“Ouch!” I cursed angrily, rubbing at my face desperately, trying to clear my vision and keep my eyes on her.

“Gary! What’s going on?” June’s footsteps pounded into the sand after me.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!” I ran as fast as I could possibly run, peeking through my eyes through the sand in them, trying to clear them out with my hands. More sand continued to get into my eyes, making them hurt whether I rubbed at them or not. All the while, I refused to stop running, whether I could see or not, desperate to find that girl. My eyes were blurred from tears as they tried to flush the sand out of them, and I wiped away the tears in frustration, trying to see ahead of me. What?! I raged in my mind. Where is she?!

“Gary! What’s going on? Why are you running?” June called after me.

“MELISSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” I bellowed, cupping my hands around my mouth, ringing my throat dry with my scream. “MELISSAAAAA!!!!! IT’S GARYYYYYY!!!! WHERE ARE YOOOOOOOUUUUU?!?!” My eyes scanned the area, my feet kicking up even more sand both in front of, and behind me. There was nobody around. Anywhere.

“Gary! Hold on! Please!” June begged.

“PLEASE!! MELISSA!! WHERE ARE YOU??” I kept running, seeking, my heart hurting as it thumped in my chest. Though I was breathing hard, I refused to stop. I had found her.

She was here. Melissa was here, in the Desert Resort.

There was nothing in this world that was going to stop me now. Screaming, running, and ignoring June as if she didn’t exist, my legs continued to move. It didn’t take much longer before I was feeling winded, and my running slowed down to a jog. Where is she? I wondered, swallowing hard, my throat aching as I gasped for air, choking on sand, looking around in confusion and desperation.

Her light blue eyes flashed in my mind once again. Her small lips were pale and dry. Those eyes of hers met mine. Fright showed in them as they met mine, and they widened. She had seen me, and recognized me. Without a doubt. The instant she saw me, she ran away from me. But why?

June coughed from behind me as she stumbled up to me, out of breath. “Gary!” she choked out, grabbing my right shoulder. “Why did you do that? Why did you run away from me? Are you trying to get lost or something?! What’s wrong?”

I shook my shoulder from her grip and she cried out in surprise as her weary body dropped to the ground. Without turning around to make sure she was alright, my body got its second wind, and I was running into the desert again.

June called out after me.

My heart was beating fast for a different reason, now. I was no longer tired, feeling surprisingly full of energy. She’s out here. Melissa is out here, I told myself. Melissa is out here somewhere.

June’s voice rang out through the desert, and this time, I stopped running. It was as if a switch had turned on inside of my head. I turned around in a very slow circle, scanning the desert.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

June.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

Sand.

When I saw June the second time, laying in the sand on her knees, looking up at me with concern on her face as she squinted through the blowing sand, her hair blowing in the wind, my energy had left me. I froze and just kept my eyes on her. “June,” I said in a voice too low for anyone else but me to hear.

June didn’t move.

Slowly, struggling against the weight of mass exhaustion, I worked my way back over to her and dropped next to her on my knees.

“Gary, what happened? What did you see?” June whimpered to me desperately. “Tell me! Why did you run?”

My eyes were on the ground, still stinging from the sand in them, watering up from a sadness within me. “You didn’t see her, then.”

“See who? Who was it, Gary? I couldn’t see anyone at all!”

I nodded, feeling like an idiot.

“Who were you calling to, Gary?” June insisted, placing her hands on my shoulders.

I closed my eyes that continued shedding tears and leaned my head back, my face up at the sun.

“Gary! What’s wrong? Tell me!” She shook me lightly.

My eyes opened and I finally looked at her. “I think I’m losing my mind,” I croaked weakly, leaning against her hands and resting my head on her shoulder. “I just need to get out of this damn desert.”

June carefully pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back, and I leaned against her silently, tears sliding down my cheeks continuously and dripping quickly into the sand below.

*

It took me what felt like nearly an hour to pull myself together and stand back up, June asking me several times if I was alright. At first, I had only quietly nodded, desperately holding back my tears that fought against me to come out of my eyes before sipping from my quickly depleting bottle of water, but I didn’t move from where I stood.

June would patiently wait for a couple of minutes, sipping slowly from her own dwindling water bottle, before asking me if I was okay again.

After about the tenth time of her asking me, my answer, “Once we get to Nimbasa, I’ll be okay,” seemed to promote a small amount of energy in me, and I took my first step forward. I saw her, I thought to myself, my body already feeling ready to drop once again. I saw Melissa. Melissa’s face was all I could see in my mind as I stumbled through the sand, tripping and nearly falling down a time or two. She looked tired, I think. It was only a quick glimpse I got of her, but something in her face just didn’t look right. Maybe she was tired from traveling through the desert, too, I considered. Maybe June and I look just like her. But, where did she go? Why did my stupid eyes have to get blinded by sand while I was chasing her? I saw her! How did she get away so fast? That was definitely my sister. I know that was Melissa! I can’t believe this! After well over three years, I’ve located her. But why is she in Unova? And why did she run away from me when she saw me? Was that really her? In this sand, wind, and intense heat, can I honestly say that I wasn’t hallucinating and that I really did see my long lost sister? Couldn’t it have been some other girl with blue eyes and thin lips? Aren’t there millions of people on this planet that have blue freaking eyes and tiny damn lips?!

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Her blue eyes had widened once they saw me, and her thin lips had parted in a shocked gasp. Those eyes of hers, flashing in fear once she recognized me…

No way, I thought, shaking my head. That was her.

I suddenly remembered Ashley Ein from the Pokemon League in Kanto. She was a competitor when I was there, and she looked so much like my sister, Melissa. At one point, I had sincerely believed that Ashley was actually Melissa, or something. She wasn’t, and accepting this broke me down and just about destroyed any hopes I had of finding my sister alive.

But what I had just seen was entirely different. As much as I had believed that Ashley looked like Melissa, when I had seen this girl in the desert just now, there was no comparison. Ashley didn’t even come close to what I had just seen, even with my eyes distorted by sand and tears. That girl I had seen in the desert was Melissa. She absolutely had to be. I felt it in my heart, despite me usually believing that such sayings were stupid and made no real sense. That had to be her, I thought sadly, tearfully. But even if it was her, what does it matter if she magically disappeared all of a sudden? If it wasn’t her, it was just a hallucination or something. Either way, she’s gone now, so it means absolutely nothing. This fact stung me deep, and I sniffled sadly as my vision blurred from behind tears.

June screamed in fear from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts, making me jump.

“June!” I turned around, wiping my eyes quickly, fearing the worst. Fearing she had seen something terrifying. Fearing she was in danger from someone or something. “June?”

June was on the ground, facedown. She looked up and shook her head. “Ouch! What did I trip over?”

She tripped, I thought, letting out a sigh of relief, trying to calm down my beating heart as I turned away from her.

“Gary!” June called.

“What?” I said impatiently, turning around.

“Look what I found!” She was on her knees, digging through the sand.

“June, are you serious right now?” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “June, I wanna get out of here! I don’t feel like playing in the freaking sand right now.”

“Gary, I’m telling you, this is something! Come here!” She was wiping at the sand, pushing it aside, digging through it, her eyes wide with excitement. “This is beautiful! My gosh, we could be rich!”

“Rich?” My attention was now fully grabbed. “What are you talking about?” I jogged over to her and stared down at some sort of a mask with a simple face on it that looked very familiar.

The mask sat on top of a large box with blue and yellow stripes on it.

June continued to dig around the box, and I could see flashes of gold on it, glimmering brightly.

I gasped, kneeling down. “What is this?”

“Help me!”

I dug around the box with June and spotted more gold on the box, making me dig even faster around it as I tried to free it from the sand. “It looks like one of those coffins from, like, from pyramids or something!”

“Or a treasure chest! Out here, in a sandy place like this, I wouldn’t be too surprised! Well, maybe a little,” June giggled. “I mean, we are in a desert. Who knows what kinds of surprises are hidden out here, just waiting to be dug up!”

I dug my hand further into the sand, and my fingers slammed into something hard. “Ow!”

“Huh?” June looked up at me.

“I hit something!” Too much sand was blocking my view, so I dug through it, careful not to hit the hard object. “Maybe I found something else!”

“Really? Dig it up!” June exclaimed, and continued digging up her treasure.

“This looks like your thing!” I said excitedly, digging even faster. “I think we found two of them!”

It wasn’t too long before June unearthed her find and gasped. “Look at this!” she gasped.

I stared at an enormous coffin she had dug up, colored yellow, blue, and gold. “Oh, man!” I whispered in amazement. “That’s incredible!”

“Come on! You have one, too!” June crawled around her box and quickly swiped her hands through the sand to uncover more of my find.

I joined her in the excavation.

It was a short time later before we stopped, giving up from exhaustion but having dug up enough of my object to know it was a matching coffin!

“Gary, I think we’ve found the motherload!” June’s voice shook from excitement and perhaps nervousness.

“There could be more around here,” I realized.

“Yeah, but can we even carry these things? Are they empty?” June grabbed the side of the coffin, trying to find the opening, pulling on it. “It won’t budge.” She grunted, groaned, and cried out angrily as she pulled, tugged, pushed, and kicked the coffin. “Hmm, maybe yours will open.”

“I’ll try.” I felt around the coffin, trying to find a latch or something to grab to try and open it. After a couple of minutes of feeling around it, I breathed a tired sigh and sat on it. “You know, there’s probably a dead body in here now that I think about it.” I smiled sinisterly.

June gasped and backed away. “You mean, you really think it’s a coffin?”

“Well, I know that some of the Egyptians were buried in coffins of gold, right? Although, I think some of the coffins were just filled with gold, too. I could be wrong about that, though.”

June backed away from the coffin. “I was hoping for gold, without the inclusion of a dead body.”

“Well, these things won’t budge, so we can’t carry them. Our best bet is to tell the authorities when we get out of here.”

“Right, well, let’s find the way out already,” June said, running both of her hands through her hair.

We both looked around.

“Do you remember what direction we were going in?” I asked her.

“I was hoping you knew,” June answered nervously.

Something wrapped around my body tightly.

June and I both gasped at the same time. I turned to see that the middle of her body was wrapped in white gauze.

“What’s-?” June cried, staring at me with wide, shocked eyes.

We were both pulled backwards, off of our feet, and more gauze wrapped around June’s body.

I looked down and saw that my body was being wrapped up tightly in gauze, too! “What is this?”

The last thing I saw before my entire body was bound tightly, as I was lifted high into the air and turned around, pulled down to the ground, were the coffins, both now wide open, nothing but blackness inside of them. Four shadowy arms reached out from the sides of the coffins, two on each side. The coffins were now outlined in a black, shadowy color.

My entire body was wrapped, my mouth forced shut, my body strongly squeezed tight, blinded, and I was slammed onto a solid surface, a loud slamming noise following my collision. I groaned, about the only noise I could make.

There was no sound but the light howl of the wind outside.

Nothing moved.

Where am I? What happened? I wondered. I struggled, grunting, trying to free myself from the bandages, but I was too tired, weak, and thirsty to fight for long. It was hard to breathe, and the material of my wrappings were itchy. I laid still, trying to inhale as much air as possible.

It seemed as if a couple of hours had passed as I laid still, helpless, weak, constrained, the bandages tightening around me. June, I thought. She’s in this same predicament, trapped like me. Trapped by some kind of monster. Or maybe this is a Pokemon!

More time passed, though I couldn’t tell how much or how fast or slow it was going by. How long will I be here?

My heart was beating in a panic as more time continued on, fear pumping through my body, my head throbbing from the pain of the ever tightening holdings. Why am I here? What did I do? What is this thing I’m in? It seemed like I was using a lot of my energy just to breathe at this point. Something’s going on, I realized as my struggles to breathe were meaning less and less. My heart pounded in my chest, feeling as if it were beating inside of my head as well, and I could hear it. It didn’t feel as though oxygen was making its way into my lungs at all anymore, and I struggled again, desperate to free myself. I was no longer able to inhale, though I struggled hard to do so. No! No! No! I thought, trying to open my mouth, giving my all to inhale through anything! I’m dying! I’m dying! I’m going to die in here! I thrust my body as hard as I could as my body began to freak out, desperate for air to get inside of me. Desperate to keep me alive!

Suddenly, the coffin I was in rocked hard, and a loud cry echoed from inside of the coffin, rattling my eardrums, and was followed by a second, similar cry from nearby.

Though my eyes were closed, wrapped in the wraps, I could just barely manage to see that there was some kind of light from somewhere, and at once, the coffin I was in moved, and I was thrown around, landing on a softer surface. Struggling with the last of my breath as I could feel myself losing consciousness, confused about what was going on now, I could feel my energy returning to me, slowly, but surely, and with the last cry I could utter from my throat, my body stretched out and I broke free! “AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” I inhaled loudly, sandy air getting inside of my nose and mouth. On my hands and knees, I choked on the sandy air, coughing hard and spitting, but took another deep gulp of air, swallowing sand. I turned to my right as I noticed a large object moving, and realized something was on the ground, wrapped in bandages! “June?” I croaked weakly, still gasping hard.

The thing inside of the cocoon looking object burst free, and June was on her back, inhaling hard on her first breath, and then rolling onto her knees, choking on the sandy air she had breathed in.

“June!” I crawled over to her. “June! Are you okay?”

She continued to cough hard, spitting and choking, hacking up something from in her throat and spitting a glob of spit in the sand.

I rubbed her back and turned around to the coffins. My eyes widened in horror as I backed away from June.

June looked at me and then turned behind her. She let out a scream. “They are Pokemon!”

The two coffins were no longer on the ground, but instead were floating in the air. The strange mask at the top of the coffins now contained a pair of terrifying red eyes underneath them. They weren’t looking at us, but were focused on something to their right. Before I could turn to see what they were looking at, a ball of fire flew at one of the coffins suspended in the air, forcing it back.

“Look at that Pokemon!” June pointed.

“What is it?” I held out my Pokedex at the Pokemon before us.

Cofagrigus. The Coffin Pokemon. This is Yamask’s evolved form. Long ago, this Pokemon would guard coffins by posing as coffins and then wrapping would-be robbers up in gauze. The robbers would be held captive inside of Cofagrigus and drained of their life, leaving them as mummies.

Darumaka. The Zen Charm Pokemon. Similar to a tumbler doll, it cannot be knocked over when it sleeps. This Pokemon can be completely uncontrollable and excited when the flame inside of its body burns.

That’s why that mask on Cofagrigus looks familiar, I thought, my eyes widening in recognition as I watched the three Pokemon. It’s like the mask that my Pokedex showed me when I scanned Yamask earlier.

Darumaka let out a continuous little chatter from its mouth and attacked one of the Cofagrigus again, hitting it with Flare Blitz.

Cofagrigus cried out weakly, dropping to the ground with a grunt.

Darumaka landed on the ground, grunting from the pain it received from the recoil damage of Flare Blitz.

The other Cofagrigus attacked Darumaka by cupping all four of its hands, a black ball forming between them before it launched Shadow Ball attack at Darumaka.

Darumaka was forced back through the sand, its feet firmly planted, one hand down, the other in the air. It let out a determined cry and used Flare Blitz again, dropping the second Cofagrigus, wincing again from suffering the recoil damage.

The two Cofagrigus got up shakily, pained, and fled from Darumaka, disappearing into the whirling sands.

Darumaka turned to June and I and let out an eager cry. It ran and circled around us rapidly, just a red blur trapping June and I where we stood.

“He’s really full of energy, isn’t he?” June said with a weary smile.

“It, er, he, saved our lives,” I commented. “Darumaka!” I knelt down. “Can you calm down for a second? I want to thank you.”

Darumaka kept on running, circling us, kicking up sand in my face.

I wiped at my face and watched the red ball of energy.

“Darumaka, I wanted to thank you for saving June and I!” I called out to him. “You saved our lives! We really appreciate your help!”

Darumaka finally stopped running and looked me in my face curiously.

“Yes, Darumaka,” June added. “Thank you so much.” She knelt down to Darumaka. “You were just amazing, fighting those two on your own like that. We can’t thank you enough!”

Darumaka took us both by surprise as he leaped at June, tackling her hard, knocking her onto her back. He leaped on June’s chest as she laid on her back in the sand, groaning in pain.

“What’d you do that for?” I demanded, standing up and staring at Darumaka in shock.

“He wasn’t trying to be mean,” June moaned, her eyes closed tightly. “Just another consequence of that energy your Pokedex was telling us about.”

“Hmm. Oh,” I said thoughtfully. A smile crept over my face. “Well, then how about we put that energy to the test?” I grabbed a Poke Ball and backed up several feet.

Darumaka turned to me, standing on June.

“Go!” I yelled, throwing my Poke Ball.

“Drilbur!” Drilbur exclaimed.

Darumaka looked at Drilbur and slowly stepped off of June.

“Darumaka, I’ve got to capture a cool Pokemon like you! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!” I said with a raised fist, an eager, energetic surge running throughout my body.

Darumaka leaped in the air excitedly, seeming to like the idea. At once, Darumaka flew into Drilbur, knocking him over with Flare Blitz.

“Driiiiiiiil!” Dirlbur screamed in pain as he was forced back through the sand.

Darumaka bent over painfully from the recoil damage.

“Drilbur, I want you to use your Dig attack!” I ordered.

Drilbur dug underground immediately as Darumaka tried to hit him with Incinerate, which missed. Drilbur appeared underneath Darumaka from the sand, punching him with an uppercut.

Darumaka stumbled back, but seemed just fine otherwise.

“He’s tough!” I smiled. “Even with a Ground move that he’s weak to, from a Ground type like Drilbur, in the middle of a Sandstorm, Darumaka is still standing.”

“Your Drilbur has Sand Force Ability, right?” June asked, sitting up and watching the battle.

“That’s right. It boosts Ground, Rock, and Steel moves in the middle of a Sandstorm. Drilbur, use your Earthquake this time!”

Darumaka moved quickly, hitting Drilbur with a fiery fist in the stomach as he leaped into the air to attempt Earthquake.

“Drilbur, get back up! We can end this all!” I shouted.

Drilbur groaned as he forced himself back up.

Darumaka flew at Drilbur with another Flare Blitz, sending my Pokemon flying through the air.

“Drilbur!” I screamed as he flew right over my head and into the sand a few feet away.

“Dril…” Drilbur groaned and he remained on his back.

My eyes widened in shock. “No way! My Drilbur!” I gasped. With a growl, I returned him to his Poke Ball and turned around to Darumaka, who was jumping up and down in the air, seeming just fine and ready for more.

“Alright.” I smiled, pleased with Darumaka’s strength and energy, and looked down at Pidove’s Poke Ball, and then shook my head. “Cottonee, go! Use Stun Spore!”

“Coooottoneeee!” In a flash, he showered Darumaka in a golden powder as he Paralyzed him.

Darumaka groaned and twitched in pain, but suddenly, his body was coated in flames as he flew at Cottonee with Flare Blitz.

“COOOOOOOTTTONEE!!” Cottonee wailed as he bounced along the sand, stopping just an inch from my feet.

“Cottonee??” I called out to him as I bent over to pick him up.

Cottonee didn’t say a word, his eyes closed.

“That was a bad type match up, I guess,” I admitted. “Come on back. And thanks.” I returned Cottonee to his Poke Ball.

Darumaka was punching at the air, hopping eagerly, looking as if he hadn’t suffered any damage from our battling, nor the two Cofagrigas, at all!

I have no other choice, I knew as I grabbed an empty Poke Ball. That thing is mine! “Poke Ball, I choose you!” I threw it hard and watched as the Poke Ball neared Darumaka.

Darumaka did a backflip, kicking away the Poke Ball!

I caught it in my hand and glared at the hyperactive Pokemon. “Fine! Pidove, you’re up!” I screamed angrily as I threw his Poke Ball.

“Piiiiiidove!” Pidove flew from his Poke Ball.

“Pidove, use Quick Attack! Go!”

Pidove flashed white as he vanished and then reappeared, flying directly into Darumaka.

Darumaka was taken by surprise by the speed of Pidove’s attack and slid in the sand on his back, staying there for a moment before leaping back up to his feet.

“Again! Do it!”

Pidove flew into Darumaka once again.

Darumaka shivered a little bit as he got back up. He looked up at Pidove and then bent over, holding his body as the Paralysis kicked in.

“End this one with Air Cutter, Pidove!”

Pidove flapped his wings, flying higher into the air to attack.

I waited eagerly.

Darumaka looked up at Pidove, preparing for the attack.

Pidove let out a determined cry.

Nothing happened.

“Piii?” Pidove cried weakly.

“He… Forgot…” June said, drooping her head.

“PIDOVE!!!” I raged. “I said to use Air Cutter! Quick Attack! Come on!”

Darumaka’s body was coated in flames and he soared towards Pidove.

Pidove let out a terrified cry. At once, Pidove shook his head and cried out strongly as he soared at Darumaka.

“Pidove! Wait!” I called out to him.

“He only remembers Quick Attack right now and that’s the move you told him to do just now!” June informed me.

“He’s gonna get knocked out!” I yelled.

Both Pokemon collided into each other.

Pidove tumbled backwards through the air, finally landing in the sand facedown.

Darumaka slid for a few seconds on his stomach before stopping. He twitched in pain from the recoil damage and remained still.

“Poke Ball, go!” I shouted, and threw it at Darumaka.

Darumaka’s eyes opened and he forced himself to his feet, his eyes on the Poke Ball as it neared him.

How can he still fight? I asked myself in frustration as I grit my teeth hard.

Darumaka suddenly dropped to his knees and the Poke Ball hit him, sucking him inside.

The Poke Ball fell to the ground, the center of it glowing red as it shook.

Pidove shook his head and shakily managed to sit up as he watched the Poke Ball shaking on the ground.

June took a couple of steps forward, eyeing the shaking Poke Ball.

My arms shook as I kept my eyes on the Poke Ball that continued to shake on the ground.

PING!

The red light faded to white.

“I caught him!” I cheered as I ran towards the Poke Ball and picked it up, holding it up to the sky. “I captured Darumaka!”

June clapped, smiling. “Congratulations, Gary! A Darumaka!”

“And a damn well tough one, at that! This is great! What energy he has. I’m so excited about this.”

“I’m just really happy we were freed from those Cofagrigus,” June sighed. “I couldn’t even tell they were Pokemon at first. I feel rather embarrassed about that.”

I thought about her words. “Well, I know you can read Pokemon and everything, but it isn’t a flawless talent. I mean, you still can’t read Porygon-Z, and you had a lot of trouble reading Tera’s Pokemon back in Viridian City.”

June looked down sadly.

“Don’t be down about it, June,” I said, walking over to her. “You just need to work on it. You’re only fifteen. You have so much time to master your ability to read Pokemon. You’re doing great. You read Daramaka.”

“That’s true.” June looked at my Poke Ball.

“You know, I’ve seen you read Pokemon,” I told June as I placed one hand on her shoulder. “You usually look them right in the eyes. Remember when we saw that Ditto on our way to Pallet Town? The one disguised as all those Legendary Pokemon? You walked right up to it and looked it in the eyes. But before that, you were fooled by its transformations. So before the Cofagrigus showed their faces, you just couldn’t see into their eyes. Maybe that’s what it is.”

June looked up at me and smiled. “When I had touched the Cofagrigas, when I thought they were coffins, I felt something. A feeling I only get from touching a Pokemon. I just, I don’t know exactly. I guess I ignored it or something. I can’t explain it.” June sighed, managing a small laugh. “I’m so confused by this all. The Cofagrigus were so well disguised, it threw me off, and I didn’t even trust my instincts about them.”

I smiled back at her before turning around, gazing up ahead. “We’re all tired, traveling through this damn sandstorm, June. It’s no wonder you couldn’t think straight. Let’s get these guys to a Pokemon Center already and we can get that long awaited shower. We can’t possibly be that far from Nimbasa City at this point.”

“I sure hope not. I am absolutely filthy!” June said in disgust.

“Pidooove!” Pidove said, and he flew into the air, landing on my left shoulder.

“Ready?” I asked him.

Pidove nodded.

“Let’s go,” I nodded back.

It was night as we continued to trek through the desert, the cold, chilly air cooling me down, giving me some level of relief after such a difficult day.

We were inside of those Cofagrigus for hours, I realized, my heart beating fast again. The sun was out when we ran into those things. Now, it’s dark out. At least we’re safe. And almost at Nimbasa City.

We’ve just got to be.