I don't own anything related to Pokémon. Not the little creatures themselves (no matter how much I would like one), or the characters of the anime. Nintendo and their affiliates do.
This is probably the saddest thing I have ever written. I found myself tearing up a bit just writing it. If this doesn't touch you, then shame on you.
Episode III
Truth and Tears
After Brock found Spectre Dan's International Police badge in his cloak, Dan knew his cover as a travelling magician was blown.
"The Chief is going to have my head on a silver platter," lamented Dan as he took back his badge.
"We'll talk about this in a minute. I've got to report this."
"Agent Spectre calling HQ, come in HQ," Dan spoke into his communicator watch, "Hello, Chief? Spectre. We have a situation."
"What kind of situation?" a weary voice answered back. The watch had a direct line to International Police Headquarters.
"They found out."
"WHAT?"
"Relax, Chief, we knew this was going to happen."
"But this soon? NO! Down, Fang!"
"Growlithe!"
"Hello, Fang. Now Chief, about the situation…"
"Okay, okay."
The Chief sighed before continuing.
"Let's just continue with the mission. If these kids have had contact with Team Galactic, we need to know what kind."
"And I also need to stick to them like glue, in case they run into Galactic again, right?"
"Right. If the file on this Ketchum kid is right, then his knack for throwing monkey wrenches in the operations of criminal groups will be an asset."
"Since this is the kid who helped Agent Draco take out Team Aqua and Team Magma in Hoenn, then that shouldn't be a problem."
"Remember, Lance also said that the kid was stubborn as a Tauros, so be careful not to get him into too much trouble. We don't want a repeat of -"
"I know, Chief. It still haunts me. Bye, Chief"
"Growl!"
"And good-bye to you too, Fang."
Dan hung up, shaking off memories. He didn't need to be reminded of THAT, not now.
"Okay, so know you know everything," said Dan as he finished telling Ash, Dawn, and Brock about the mission.
"The International Police want ME watched?" asked Ash, shocked.
"They're just trying to cover all the bases."
"I still don't like it. Using a kid to help flush out a criminal organization?" said Brock, "It just sounds wrong."
"I don't like it anymore than you do," said Dan, "This is dangerous work. Not everyone can do it."
"Is that why you keep this?" asked Dawn, holding out a picture.
"Where did that come from?" asked Ash.
"It fell out of a pocket in his badge," said Dawn
It was a picture of a Golem. It was wearing a green skullcap, and was standing triumphantly next to an equally happy Dan. As soon as Dan saw it, tears came to his eyes.
"What's wrong?" asked Dawn
"This was Hal, my Golem," said Dan sadly
"Was?"
Dan sighed and began to tell them about Hal…
He was one of the first Pokémon I caught. I named him Hal, after a fictional character who had tremendous willpower. My Hal was just as stubborn. He was very physically strong, and he knew it. And, when he evolved fully into a Golem, he was much stronger. One time, on this very lake, on the opposite shore, Blaze and I were skipping stones. Then, Hal picked up a stone and threw it. It cleared the lake in two skips, hit that rock on the shore there, ricocheted, arced up, and embedded itself about an inch into the tree that Registeel is leaning against right now. You can still see the hole, and I bet you Fire Stone that the rock is still there.
Not only was Hal extremely strong, but he could also take a big amount of damage. One time, he grabbed a bomb before it went off and let it explode against himself, to lessen the power of the blast, you know? Well, the explosion barely scratches him! I asked if he was okay, and he said, in the most serious voice possible, "I'm fine. How are you?" PRICELESS! What a joker he could be, and without even trying!
But, the best thing about Hal was that he was the most loyal soul I ever knew. Right from the beginning, he always kept every promise he ever made. He always thought about others before himself. And, he always made sure I was all right before going back into battle. I loved how much he cared.
Ironically, it was his best quality that caused is downfall.
We were stopping a mad scientist who called himself Dr. Omega. Real whack-job. He had made some kind of machine that would rip through dimensions so that he could reach Arceus, the Original One. Like, I said, whack-job.
Anyway, I had shut down his machine, and the lair was collapsing. As I ran for the door, a piece of debris the size of Darkwing fell on me, crushing my leg. I couldn't move. But, that wasn't the worst part. I thought I had shut down the machine, but it suddenly came back online and overloaded. It was shooting beams of energy everywhere. One of the beams hit Dr. Omega, vaporizing his chest and killing him instantly.
Then Hal rushes in front of me. He just stands there with his back to me for a minute, as if protecting me…
Then, one of the beams hit him.
He went down, and landed on his face in the dirt.
Spook used his psychic powers to stabilize the ceiling, so at least rubble wasn't coming down. Blaze and Darkwing smashed the machine, so the beams stopped coming. Meanwhile, I prayed that Hal was all right. I mean, why wouldn't he be? He had shrugged off bombs before. His hide was extremely tough. Finally, Static and Blaze lifted the rubble off of me. Then, they slowly rolled Hal over, and my worst fears were confirmed.
The beam had shattered his head to pieces.
I had seen one of my best friends die before my very eyes.
Later, Spook told me that, before the mission, he and Hal met a Xatu. Xatu can see the future and that one saw how the mission would end.
"Being of Rock, your end shall come within the next few days. It shall come in the form of a light that is bright as the sun."
Hal knew! He knew what he was getting into. He knew he wouldn't make it. He saw the machine go haywire and he knew that the beams would kill him. But, he leapt to his usual defensive stand anyway. He was so loyal that he would have died for me, and he did. He knew that he would not survive and he didn't care. All he wanted to do in life was to protect people.
And he did.
To his last breath.
As Spectre Dan finished his story, he was crying heavily. Ash, Dawn, and Brock had tears in their eyes too. All the Pokémon, who had been eating breakfast, wept as well, even the fire types and the rock types. Wild Pokémon who had come upon the site and stayed to listen to the story shed tears as well.
They all cried together.
They cried for a Pokémon who was the most loyal soul they had ever heard of or known.
They cried for Hal, who made his life about helping others.
Who gave his life to protect another.
Who died a hero.
On a finishing note, for those of you who caught it, yes, the Growlithe is a nod to the original Get Smart series. For those of you who don't know, then let me explain: In the first and second seasons, Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) was accompanied on several missions by Agent K-13, a dog named Fang. Fang was poorly trained, a giant coward, and was probably asthmatic. But, Max loved him anyway. Also, remember that bit where Dan interrupts the Chief; that will come up later.
