"Ari."

"Ari."

I peeled open my poor battered eyelids.

Two faces were staring down at me. There was Cameron, and a woman in nurse's uniform...

Cameron let out a big breath he'd been holding. "They're awake," he said. "You had us worried for a while, Ari."

I tried to lift my head and flashing stars hit me again as pain bit into my forehead. "Ow," I said and scowled, which made it worse.

"You had a fall," the nurse said. "You fell on something hard that cut right through your mask and into your forehead. It's only a flesh wound, though – it'll hurt for a bit, but you'll be fine."

I frowned. Something didn't seem quite right about this recount of events. Was something in the wrong order here...?

"Rest up for a day or so," Cam told me. "Theo and I are going back to the mainland, but the nurses here will take care of you." He pointed at my phone, which was lying undamaged on my bedside table. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Cameron left. I could see Theo outside the ward, the top of his head visible above the window sill. He jumped up every now and then, trying to catch sight of me. I waved.

It got very boring very soon afterwards. My bag, pokeballs, and cat were safe with me in the ward, but kitty was napping underneath the bed and a poor source of entertainment.

I extracted the charred notebook from my bag, wincing as blood rushed to my forehead when I leaned down. There were disappointingly few words which could be made out through the thick cover of black and brown char. The pages were completely burnt away and holey in places.

'Pr- 092' There it was again! I gasped as I glimpsed the number in the corner of one of the loose leaves. I examined the page in more detail. 'H—d scientist -l—granted -, discov- -2 - -apable of ind- -ou-.' This was hopeless. It was unintelligible.

I turned the page.

'Password - - -asis ta-: 100102'

I raised my eyebrow. That was my birthday. 10th January 2002. Weird. Then again it was probably a coincidence. For all I knew it probably meant '100 102' or like, 100 = 10^2.

I closed the charred notebook and reached out for my phone instead. Maybe I should post some photos of it online and let the conspiracy theories run. Then I thought of the shady figures in Comet Cave and decided I'd better keep the jewels for myself.

I passed a comfortable enough night in the rest house, though the food was shocking.

I felt a lot better in the morning, and the pain in my forehead was already starting to die down. A nurse changed the dressing and said the stitches were looking good.

I was discharged after breakfast, and luckily for me and my stitches, the lame wisp of breeze could barely lift a leaf off the ground, let alone whip up any ocean waves, so the trip back to Belbeach was calm.

I bumped into Kellyn on the main street. I let my eyes flick to the left, but not quickly enough to miss him turning his gaze awkwardly in the opposite direction.

We kind of just stood there in the middle of the footpath, purposefully looking past each other's shoulders, and festered in silence for a few moments.

"Hey Ari," Kellyn said eventually, first to break the silence and forfeit his contention in the cold shoulder war.

"Hi Kellyn," I replied equally as coolly.

"Does your head hurt?" he asked. "We have some great painkilling cream in the rest room." He gestured vaguely in the direction of HQ.

"Not really," I replied. "Cameron took me to the doctor's already, it's all looked after." Ouch! I smirked as Kellyn cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Did you find anything interesting at the mine?" he tried again.

"Got a tour, it was pretty sick," I said, perking up. "We went down into the tunnels." Kellyn's shoulders stiffened. He didn't like that. Well, so what? He surely wouldn't have the audacity to suggest he could tell me what to do and what not to do now.

"Sounds like you had a good time," Kellyn said stiffly. "I suppose you're going to challenge the gym now?"

Again I felt that gnawing feeling in my stomach. Maybe I was getting ulcers from the radiation. Maybe it was just that crushing disappointment again.

"Yep," I said. "I've got a super OP Tracton so I should be fine."

Kellyn nodded. "I think you will be. You're my child after all..."

I sniffed in disgust. He always managed to turn everything back to be about himself.

"Well, I'm headed to a meeting down town, so I guess I'll see you around, Ari."

"See ya," I said coolly.

We parted before the ice between us could freeze-weather the nice buildings beside us.

I felt myself warming back up as the rising sun beat down on me. Kitty kept lying down for a luxurious sunbathe.

The Belbeach City gym was located at the top of a big set of steps which I wheezed walking up. But it was only a slight wheezing – I seemed to be getting fitter.

The automatic doors closed behind me with a hiss.

"Welcome!" said the gym guy, looking up brightly from his computer. The cheery customer service voice didn't sound fake. Maybe the sun made everyone happy here.

I held out my ID for scanning, and the gym guy handed me a complementary fresh water. Nice. I headed past the elaborately sculpted water features and down to an underground pool. Two pools, actually, one for people and one for pokemon training.

"Hello youngster!" a fisherman accosted me as I made my way to the pool side. "Would you like some fried Magikarp to supplement your training?"

I screwed up my brow. "Uhh..."

"Wrong answer!" he yelled, cutting me off. "If you don't want to do business, then we battle!"

The fisherman opened the little bucket next to his rod, brought out a Tubjaw and threw it into the training pond. He reclined in his folding chair. I closed my eyes and let the Rochfale flashbacks roll.

"Go, kitty," I said, and kitty took its position by the side of the pool.

"Kitty, use Leaf Blade!" I instructed. Kitty's vine whip had been upgraded recently as its body strengthened. It even moved ahead of Tubjaw, but we were a good ten levels ahead. I scratched the back of my neck guiltily as the fish was mercilessly hacked up by kitty's tail.

The fisherman didn't seem fussed. "Go, Brailip!" he called cheerily, flinging another fish from his bucket into the pool.

The fish, which had the appearance of a brain with a giant pair of lips, was also subsequently diced up by Leaf Blade before having a chance to attack.

"Good fight!" the fisherman said, hooting with laughter, fishing out his wallet.

I considered the fainted pokemon in the pond. "Uhh..." I gestured.

The fisherman laughed lazily and hauled himself out of the chair to go retrieve them. "It's all good, mate. I'm frying my pokemon for dinner later anyway."

"Okay..." I laughed awkwardly and backed away with an expression of consternation on my face. I reached down to pat kitty on the back. I imagined tossing up kitty's leaves in a stir fry.

The rest of the trainers in the gym were normal at least, and just as easy to beat. Cocaran and Sand Tomb were still a problem, but we had such OP moves by now I could KO a Cocaran without fielding any attacks.

"What's Cali going to think of me now?" wailed a pretty swimmer after I ripped through her team.

"Cali?"

"The gym leader," the swimmer said with a sniffle. "She's so cool..." The swimmer was blushing. I realised she had a crush on Cali.

I made my way through the sliding door at the far end of the pool complex. At the far end of the well-lit back room was a dark and pretty girl in a blue bikini, squatting in front of what looked like a giant snail with a sandstone shell. She was stroking its slimy body and speaking to it gently.

I cleared my throat. The girl's head and the snail's eyes swivelled round to face me in unison.

"Hi," I said.

"Welcome!" the girl said with a warm smile, standing up straight. "I'm Cali, you must be here to challenge me! Well, come meet my Sableau. This is one of the stars of my team."

I walked over and gingerly patted the snail. Its body was less slimy and more just really smooth, like plastic. I relaxed.

"Cool, huh? It's tougher than your usual sea snails, and more agile as well. Well, I might as well tell you a bit more about myself. I'm a lifesaver when I'm not here. Ten years ago, I was saved myself by a pokemon. The power plant explosion created a huge tsunami which sucked me out to sea. The coastal precinct was wrecked that day – I am lucky to be alive."

Shocking. The explosion had been so big as to cause an earthquake? That didn't sound like an above-ground detonation...

"I fight harder now because I'm totally connected to my pokemon. So come on – see if you can beat us!"

I hardly need to describe to you how the battle went down. Sableau was a ground-water type. A crowd had amassed by the entrance to the room, watching Cali and her ripped abs as she pranced around with orders for her pokemon.

"Sableau, fall back!" Cali called with a gesture of her muscly arm. A collective 'ooh' rose from the crowd. "Go, Cararalm!" From the side of the room scuttled a large sandy crab with plants growing from its shell.

Cali folded her arms and stared towards the door, tapping a foot on the ground. The fishermen and swimmers cleared their throats awkwardly and retreated en masse, examining the air conditioning unit on the wall with sudden interest.

"All right Cararalm, use Curse!" Cali said.

"Kitty, use Leaf Blade," I countered.

Despite the crab's raised defense, kitty's tail slashed a deep gash in its shell and whipped up a cloud of sandy debris.

"Wooh, this is the hardest I've had to fight in a long time!" Cali whooped, her face lit up with exertion.

Kitty lunged forward for another attack... and stopped dead in its tracks as if it had hit a wall.

"...Kitty?" I said, my voice quavering slightly.

Mrrrrrrow! Kitty's eyes were empty and stared straight ahead. The grassy fur on its back started to stand up. I closed my eyes in horror.

"What's going on?!" Cali's voice cut through to me. "Cararalm, what's wrong?"

I opened my eyes again to see Cali bent down, trying frantically to get a response from either Cararalm or Sableau. I barely reacted as kitty started to glow the familiar green. It was like a routine by now.

"Another attack," I said, my hand resting on Tracton's pokeball. "You should lock down the gym."

Cali looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Attack? What's going on?"

Before I had the chance to explain, a thunderous rumble ripped through the air and an enormous jolt threw both of us off our feet, and knocked our paralysed pokemon on their sides.

"Earthquake!" someone shouted from outside. "Get under the tables!"

I was getting a weird sense of deja vu for some reason. The fishermen and swimmers started scrambling for the tables by the bar, while Cali dragged me into a nearby storage shed and underneath a heavy steel table. The ground continued to shake around us.

Cali's face was screwed up into a worried frown as she tried to draw her pokemon back into their balls, but they refused the order.

Finally, a tremendous boom cracked through the air and Cali shrieked, grabbing onto me by instinct. I tried to remove her hands. I was being crushed by those guns.

Then, the sirens started. A big whooping and wailing sound which could be heard even underground here in the gym.

"The evacuation sirens," Cali said, her face hardening into business mode. She let go of me. "Take this badge. That was my last pokemon; you were going to win. You need to get out of Belbeach, now!"

I gripped the badge, and Cali ducked out from under the table and started directing the evacuation from the gym in the sudden cessation of the tremors.

I grabbed onto my kitty's legs and started to pull. I couldn't leave without my kitty! "Come on," I begged. It didn't respond. I got out a pokeball and tried to suck it in. It didn't respond.

"Ari, come on! You need to get out!" Cali shouted, waving. "The pokemon will be fine in there." She didn't look convinced.

I had no choice but to follow the crush up the stairs and out of the gym. As people clambered into their cars to join the gridlock which was already forming on the main street, I looked around and took stock.

I gasped. Over there in the distance – on the power plant island! A huge plume of debris was rising into the air. The sirens now beat my eardrums to shreds. I was standing right underneath one of the speakers. Great.

"Ari!" I swore I could hear someone calling my name. "Ari!"

I turned my head in a full circle. I saw Kellyn but it couldn't have been him. I kept going. The watermelon salesman? No, he was moving away from me...

"ARI!" Kellyn hollered again. So, it was him. I rolled my eyes. I ran over to Kellyn.

"You need to get out of town, now!" Kellyn said to me, the awkwardness gone in the panic. "That's the tsunami warning siren. There's been another explosion at the power plant!"

"B- but!" For once I was lost for words. "But the reactor wasn't even running! It's been shut for ten years!"

"I know!" Kellyn yelled. "We don't know what happened. But whatever it was, a wave is coming, and we need to get everyone out!"

"Wait," I wailed. "Can you help me? My Metalynx is not responding to me, it's still in the gym."

"What?!" Kellyn screwed up his face. I realised he didn't know about the corrupt stylus. But he reacted quickly. "Here, take these – they're bound to capture it or I'll sue the manufacturer!"

I took the balls. They had little 'M's printed on the seal.

"Hurry up!" Kellyn said again. "Get out, head west, to higher ground!"

I rushed back to the gym. "What are you doing?!" Cali gasped.

"Here, take these," I wheezed from the running, and passed her two of Kellyn's balls. "These will capture your pokemon."

Cali let out her breath in relief. "Thank you, Ari."

We headed back down to the basement together. I held out the ball towards kitty, and it was sucked in immediately. Awesome.

I didn't wait for Cali this time. I ducked out of the gym and joined the crush heading out of town. On foot, I was faster than everyone in their cars. Eventually I couldn't run anymore and I let Tracton out of its ball, collapsing onto its back with a colossal wheeze.

"Keep going," I gasped to it. It leaned over with its antenna and touched my belly. My stitch disappeared. Nice.

I kept stealing glances towards the island – nope, the spectre wasn't disappearing. In fact, the cloud was getting bigger. The water was already starting to retreat from the beach to the east.

"Hey, Ari!" Cameron waved at me from the dock, where workers from the island were getting off the packed little boat. I caught sight of Stan, the mine manager, and the receptionist, holding onto each other. So they were a couple. I thought of Stan's crush on Solana. Awkward.

"Ari," Cameron said again, coming up to me. "You should head out west to Vinoville. You'll be safe there. I already sent Theo. Here, take this ferry ticket."

"Thanks," I said. Cameron nodded.

"What about you guys?" I asked, gesturing around.

"We'll head south to Rochfale Pass, there's space for more people there. No problem. Don't worry about us – keep yourself safe. Look out for Theo if you see him."

I gripped the ticket in my hand and headed across the sand flats to the lagoon on the other side. I could see the luxury cruise ferry looming in the distance like a gleaming symbol of excess.

My M ball was shaking. I took it out of my bag. I could hear growling and yowling from inside. I punted it into the air and kitty exploded out, hissing. It saw me and came over to rub its head against my hand. We were out of range of the stylus then, I realised with relief.

I packed the ball away carefully.

Roar... Hiss...! My neck snapped up like flash frozen steel hit with a sledgehammer. A Gyarados had risen from the fringes of the lagoon and was towering over me. People at the dock behind me started to scream.

The Gyarados was glowing green, its empty, soulless eyes staring me down. Kitty started to hiss at it, trying to weave between my legs. I quickly pointed my pokepod at the wild pokemon – Nuclear-water type. There it was again!

Well, I already knew that steel type was super effective against Nuclear. But what about other types? Leaf Blade would be a bad test because it was already strong against water... I let the horse out of its ball.

"Go pyrite!" I ordered, as the screams intensified behind me. "Use Headbutt!"

Super effective!

The Gyarados had attempted to douse pyrite with some green gunk but nothing happened. I guessed it was a poisoning move.

"Pyrite, use mud slap!" I ordered again. This time, Gyarados hit first with a green ray of light – Gamma Ray, my pokepod told me – and it did trivial damage on pyrite.

Mud Slap also turned out to be super effective. Could it be... Was it even possible that Nuclear was weak against everything? I wasn't even worried about winning by this point, though it must've looked pretty terrifying from the dock.

Pyrite wore down the Gyarados with Headbutt and it sank back down into the deeps, the water turning green around it as it slithered away.

The crowd at the dock, not knowing quite how to react, started clapping. I let the sunlight glint off my three badges. I sucked pyrite back into its ball and made my way over to join the queue waiting for the ferry.