"Out of my way, you stupid piece of Snorlax dung," Kamon snarled.

When he tried to run past, the Hoothoot darted in front of him. It perched on the ground on its single leg, and looked at him quizzically.

"This thing isn't going anywhere," Kamon said. "If it wants to get in my way, that's just fine." He turned to his Cyndaquil. "Theo, use Tackle!"

Theo darted out towards the Hoothoot. With a loud cry, he tackled the Hoothoot and knocked it back. Hoothoot dove into the air, and then responded with its own Tackle.

Without delay, Kamon ordered another Tackle. Cyndaquil charged the Hoothoot, but the bird flew into the air and evaded. The Hoothoot then responded with another Tackle of its own. Kamon wished it would do something a little more original.

"We don't have time for this," Kamon muttered. Based on Professor Elm's call, something seriously wrong had happened in New Bark Town. The professor had hung up before Kamon could learn anything else, and Kamon was now racing along Route 30, returning home as fast as he could.

The Hoothoot didn't seem to care about any of that though, and refused to move out of the way.

"Let's try a Leer!" Kamon cried. Theo glared at the Hoothoot and the bird was shaken. For a moment Kamon thought they could flee, but then Hoothoot delivered another Tackle.

"One more Tackle!" Kamon shouted. "And make this one count!" Theo did his job – the Tackle knocked Hoothoot straight into a tree. The owl Pokémon cried out feebly, and fainted.

"Finally," Kamon cried. "Now we can-" He was interrupted when his new Pokédex beeped loudly. Confused, Kamon opened it.

THEOGONY GREW TO LEVEL 10! THEOGONY LEARNED EMBER!

Kamon smiled. His fire type finally knew some fire moves. It had certainly taken long enough. It almost made all these senseless distractions worth it. It felt like wild Pokémon were jumping out at him every ten seconds, and he didn't have time to deal with them now.

"Come on, let's go." Kamon took off running, with Theo following behind him. Kamon privately thanked the old man from Cherrygrove City. These shoes were more useful than he would've thought, and they would help him reach New Bark Town faster.

Though he hated to admit it, Kamon was worried about what was going on in New Bark Town. His mother was there, as well as Professor Elm, Lyra and all his neighbours. If there was some kind of national disaster, he would've heard about it from Mr. Pokémon and Professor Oak. What if Team Rocket, or some other group like them, had returned and attacked New Bark Town? Professor Elm did keep some rare Pokémon on hand…

Kamon stopped running. All this panicking wasn't doing him any good. It would be better to take a moment to get all the facts before he rushed into New Bark Town unprepared.

Kamon fished around in his bag for his Pokégear. He pushed past the Pokémon egg that Mr. Pokémon had given him, and past Professor Oak's Pokédex. He pulled out the Pokégear and dialed Professor Elm's number.

After a few rings, the professor picked up. "H-hello?" he said shakily.

"Professor Elm, it's Kamon. What exactly is going on back there?"

"Oh, Kamon…" Professor Elm sounded twenty years older. "I just stepped away for a second… How could…?"

"How could what?" Kamon asked. "Professor, you need to tell me what's going on!"

"I don't… I don't understand…" Professor Elm said. It sounded like he was in shock.

"Listen to me, professor," Kamon said. "If you need my help, you have to tell me what-"

There was a faint click. The professor had hung up.

Now Kamon was getting worried. Professor Elm's panic was catching, and it was getting dark out. He'd have to stop to make camp soon, but he wanted to reach New Bark Town as soon as possible.

Kamon whistled and Theo scurried up to him.

"I can run faster than you," Kamon said. "So you'll have to get back in your Pokéball for this next part."

Theo gave a squeak that indicated that he didn't mind a break from all the running. Kamon returned Theo to his Pokéball. Then he took off running again. The Pokémon egg rattled in his backpack and it grew darker by the minute.

Soon Kamon had passed through the forest, and approached a large clearing. He kept running south, through the clearing. Suddenly the landscape changed up ahead, and he came to a stop.

A cliff loomed below him. It wasn't a steep cliff – probably not much taller than Kamon. It extended along the path, which Kamon saw continued far to the east. The cliff grew smaller on the east side, and the path continued around it.

"That detour might add another hour to the trip," Kamon said to himself. He stared down at the cliff. "I wonder if I could jump this?"

Some Pokémon trainers jumped small cliffs like this all the time. This one looked pretty steep though, and there was nobody around for miles if he hurt himself. He wondered if he should release Theo from its Pokéball, to see what the Cyndaquil thought. He immediately shook the idea off. What advice could a Pokémon possibly offer him?

"I can do this," Kamon said as he stared at the ledge. "It's not that steep, and it'll save me walking through more of the tall grass. Besides, Professor Elm needs me."

Kamon took a few deep breaths to ready himself. Then he took ten paces back, and turned to face the cliff.

"Here we go," he said. Feeling more nervous than he would've liked, Kamon ran towards the cliff. As he jumped off it, he gave a wordless gasp of surprise. Had this been such a good idea after all?

It hadn't. Kamon crashed to the ground with a loud cry. He landed on his back and the wind was knocked out of him.

"Ow," Kamon said. How had those other trainers made it look so easy? His bag was digging into his spine, and he twisted over to his side. As he moved, something in the bag made a soft crunch.

"Oh no," Kamon thought to himself. He quickly sat up and opened his bag. Had he broken something in his fall? What if his Pokégear was broken – he'd only just got it back from the repair shop. Or worse, what if it was the Pokédex? They didn't just hand those out anywhere!

Cursing himself for taking the dangerous shortcut, Kamon opened his bag. As he reached inside, he felt a sticky, syrupy liquid coat his hands. It felt like he was petting a Grimer.

Kamon had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He reached into the bag and pulled out a piece of eggshell.

He'd broken the Pokémon egg.