This chapter is a tad uneventful for it mostly serves as set up for the next few chapters. It's also way longer than I planned, but oh well. Enjoy.

Chapter 37: Here There be Monsters Part 1

"Gold, seriously, where the heck are we going?" I asked for the hundredth time as I walked next to my friend along a mountain path.

"Look . . . I . . . I already told you: it's supposed to be a surprise," Gold replied.

"Come on, just tell me."

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

"Seriously, what is it? We walked past a waterfall and a cave system for crying out loud—what could possibly be on top of this plateau that could top that?" I asked persistently.

"You'll . . . you'll just have to wait and see," he answered nervously.

"All right, fine," I groaned impatiently.

My mind wandered as I continued to follow my friend, pondering over what he could've possibly found to surprise me. Unable to come up with anything, my thoughts diverted to something else.

Why is he doing this for me?

Gold was never the type to set up surprises or give gifts. I mean, he would occasionally do something for my birthday when we were little back in New Bark; but even then, that only happened once in a blue moon. Now he just randomly wants to do something nice for me as a surprise? This is strange, even for someone who's as strange as him. In fact, Gold has been acting strange around me ever since we went to Goldenrod. First he got me a Pokégear for my victory at the Goldenrod Contest Hall. Then there was the more than usual stuttering when I did something to embarrass him; the seemingly random compliments he gives me, the occasional odd looks he gives me, and now this?

Does he? I mean, could he really? Is he doing this . . . because . . . maybe . . . he likes me? I mean, we're friends and all, so I know he likes me . . . but . . . is it more than that?

It was then that I started to get really nervous and felt my fingers getting fidgety as I recalled the things that Drake told me the other night.

Does he really like me? Is he doing this because he cares about me? Could he love me?

These thoughts persisted in my head, such that I felt almost like I was zoning out. But I snapped out of it when I heard Gold say something.

"All right, we're here."

"Wait, what?"

I looked to my tall friend and saw that he was pointing to something in front of him. My gaze followed to where he indicated and saw something in front of me.

It looked like a tall arch that was painted to look like military camo. The two poles that grounded the arch were topped with flaming torches. Spanning the two poles was a sign that said "The Safari Zone".

I stood still and looked at the sign for a few moments before I felt myself light up with excitement.

"Oh my God, are you serious right now?!" I exclaimed, looking toward Gold. "The Safari Zone! The actual Safari Zone!"

Gold was clearly shocked by my response, for he cocked his eyebrow at me and said, "Wait, you knew about this place?"

"Only since I was five!" I replied gleefully. "I've always wanted to come here! Gold, how did you know?!"

"Well . . . I, eh . . . I didn't really—" he stuttered in response before I interrupted him by throwing my arms around him, giving him a hug.

"Oh, I don't care how you knew—this is awesome!" I exclaimed elatedly.

I couldn't believe it—I was at the Safari Zone! This place was something I've always wanted to go to ever since I was a kid. I can still remember the first time I saw an advertisement for the original Safari Zone in Kanto. The place looked amazing, filled to the brim with rare and interesting Pokémon. But when I was twelve, I learned that they were building a new one in Johto. I begged my mom to take me there, but we never got the chance. I had completely forgotten that it was supposed to be here in Cianwood, but now I'm here, and the best part was that I was here with Gold.

But with that in mind, I realized the awkwardness of my random hug and instantly felt embarrassed as my eyes met Gold's in a moment of silence.

I felt my cheeks flush and jerked away from him. "Oh . . . um, sorry about that . . . I just, uh, just can't believe you . . . you know . . . brought me here."

"Well, you're welcome. I'm glad you're happy. Come on—let's go in. I made a reservation and everything—we'll have the whole park to ourselves," said Gold as he gestured for me to follow him into the Safari Zone.

"Wow, really? All to ourselves? How did you manage that?" I asked as I followed Gold past the big gate.

"Well, if you must know, apparently I'm, well . . . famous now. And the guy in charge treated me like a celebrity and said he was more than happy to reserve some time for us and—" Gold explained, but stopped when something caught his eye.

I looked to where he was looking and saw that the entire area outside the main building—where all the other attractions of the Safari Zone were—was filled with tons and tons of people.

"Wait . . . there weren't that many people here before—why are they all here?" Gold muttered before a short, fat man wearing a safari getup spotted us and speedily walked over to us.

"Aw, Gold, you finally made it!" the fat man proclaimed as he came up to shake Gold's hand.

"Baoba? W-why . . . why are all these people here? I thought I reserved time here," Gold stuttered as he looked at the mass of people that flooded all the attractions.

"Why, what do you mean? Of course there are a lot of people—I made out flyers that you were going to be making an appearance here today. They all came to see you."

"They what?!" Gold exclaimed like he was choking up.

"Yup, thanks to you, I'm seeing more customers than ever before. Isn't this great?" said Baoba.

"No, no, this isn't what I wanted. I just—" Gold tried to explain before I heard someone call out.

"Hey, look—there he is! It's Gold!"

Amongst all the gift shops and other various attractions, the crowd of Trainers and other visitors that occupied them all looked over to where we were.

"Oh my God, that's him!" one of them shouted.

"Whoa, they were right—he did show up!" another said, and then the whole menagerie of people began to chatter and close in towards us.

The starstruck crowd closed in, and I sensed that Gold was tensing up from all the attention. With Gold standing front in center, Baoba took advantage of the situation.

"Aw, yes, ladies and gentlemen, as owner of the Safari Zone, I'm pleased to introduce you all to our honored guest, Gold," Baoba said in a flashy showman manner.

"Honored . . . guest?" I muttered as I glanced to Gold, who looked petrified with fear as all the people encircled us and began to call out for his attention, saying things like:

"Wow, I can't believe it's really him!"

"He's the guy who fought Team Rocket and won!"

"And he won the Battle Tower tournament, too!"

"I heard he's friends with Katherine Wake!"

"Wow, really?!"

"I heard he's really strong, too!"

"Gold, what was it like fighting Team Rocket?"

"Come on, tell us!"

Trainer after Trainer crowded around us, asking nonstop for Gold to tell them about the things he's done. But he looked stone-cold, like he was being smothered. This was bad—I've seen him like this before at the Battle Tower. I wished that I could've seen it back then, but when I think back, I can remember the anxiety he must've felt when all those people were looking at him. But this time it looked even worse than before. It looked like Gold was going to have a panic attack!

Worried for my friend, I tried to get the all the Trainers to leave him alone. "Look . . . I know you all want to meet him . . . but please, he's—"

But all my efforts were in vain: Nothing I said could make the ravenous fans leave my friend alone. They continued to harass him, and I tried anything I could to get them to stop harassing him.

But amongst the chaos, a boy's voice declared over the crowd, "So, this is what constitutes as a Battle Tower champion now, huh? He doesn't look that tough."

The crowd was silenced, and they looked to where the voice came from. The mass of people then parted as boy with slick-combed black hair and a black leather jacket walked forward, his green eyes set on Gold. He was only a little shorter than Gold, but considering how tall Gold is, that wasn't that uncommon, and he carried himself in such a manner that seemed to project a massive ego—one that I soon learned he definitely possessed.

"I've been hearing how much of big shot you've become ever since you beat the Battle Tower, and quite frankly, I'm not impressed. My name is Chad—I was the previous Battle Tower champion, and I have to say it's pretty pathetic that some twerp with only four Badges was able to win. After I heard that you were going to show up here, I couldn't resist coming here to show you people that this guy isn't all he's cracked up to be."

"Hey, back off, kid! He doesn't want to fi—" I began in defense of my friend, who was too choked up.

"Be quiet, you twerp. I'm not leaving till I've had a fight with this showoff," Chad barked back at me.

I was going to say something back, but then I saw Baoba once again take advantage of the situation as he stepped in between Gold and Chad and said, "Oh, isn't this exciting! Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we're going to have a fight between two Battle Tower champs!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd around us got really excited, and Gold looked around at all the people staring at him before he looked to Chad.

"Look . . . I'm sorry if I did anything to make you mad, but I just wanted—" Gold tried to say to Chad as Baoba took his arm.

"Here, come with me," Baoba urged. "We have an arena you two can fight in. Everyone follow me!"

As Gold was dragged away, I tried to keep up with him and begged Baoba to stop it, but I was shortly separated from him when the crowd of Trainers came between my friend and me.

I tried asking people to move so that I could get to Gold, but no one listened to me, and they wouldn't let me pass. They kept cheering on for a fight between the two Battle Tower champions.

It wasn't long before the entire park's occupants were standing around a standard issue Pokémon arena that was off to the side of the park. Chad and Gold were standing at opposite ends of the area, people hugging the edges of the field. I tried to stand on my toes to see what was happening, but due to my short stature, I couldn't see over the other people. Growing frustrated, I then tried desperately to look through the small holes in the crowd, and although difficult, I was able to make out my friend as he stood on his end of the arena.

His stance was rigid and tense, and his fingers were fidgeting by his sides. The look of distress filled his metallic yellow eyes as he stared at the opponent who so openly challenged him.

"Look . . . I, uh . . . um . . . can . . . can we just maybe do this some other time? I kinda wanted to—"

"Oh, what happened to the big, tough Trainer who fought Team Rocket? I was expecting someone with some real balls," Chad taunted in his jeering, arrogantly cocky voice.

"No, it's not that . . . I just—" Gold tried to explain, but he was quickly drowned out by the Trainers that began to chant, demanding a fight.

"Let's go, Gold—I want to see what you're made of," Chad demanded as he pulled out a Poké Ball and spun it on his index finger like a basketball.

This was bad: Gold never had issues with fighting when it was just a couple people watching. But I knew he couldn't stand being surrounded by all these prying eyes. I could see sweat beading down his forehead and his stance becoming more rigid as he froze from all the attention that was focused on him. He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Fearful of having a repeat of the Battle Tower, I tried to push my way through the crowd of Trainers to get Gold out of it. But the people refused to budge from their vantage point of the promised fight, and I couldn't get any closer.

The cheering of the crowd grew louder as their patience grew thin, and Gold seemed to be cracking under the pressure. I tried to call out to him, but I was drowned out by the crowd.

With the clearly evident stress mounting on my friend, I saw him hold his head low and clench his fists by his sides. He stood there for a few moments, and I noticed him biting his lip.

This was bad: he looks like he's about to collapse from all the attention. I have to do something—I have to help him!

I tried desperately to penetrate the mass of people in front of me, but my efforts were in vain. I could only watch as my only friend was harassed on all sides by the incessant chanting of the Trainers. But then, as I tried to find a way to reach Gold, something changed.

Through the crowd of people, I saw something in Gold shift. His clenched fists relaxed, his stance seemed to loosen, and an almost impish smirk appeared on his face as he looked up towards Chad. His eyes showed no sign of anxiety, and instead looked determined, almost in a scary way.

Gold snickered as he took on a stance that emanated bravado, something I've never seen him possess before. "You want a fight? Well, if you're so confident you can win"—Gold lifted his hand and did a gesture that beckoned Chad to do his worst—"then I'd like to see you try."

In response, the crowd erupted in excitement; their promised fight was going to unfold, as I stood bewildered by what Gold just said. This didn't make any sense; just a second ago he looked like he was about to fall to his knees . . . and now this? I knew Gold could be brave sometimes, but this wasn't like him at all. Something seemed off about him, like the air around him gave off a kind confidence I've never seen in him before.

"Perfect." Chad grinned as he cracked his neck, along with his knuckles; he reached to his belt and grabbed a Poké Ball that had a net pattern on it. He then released a Kabutops from the capsule.

The five-foot prehistoric mantis creature landed on the ground and slid its claw-like blades past each other in a display of sparks, like how a swordsman would show off.

"You better watch yourself, Gold," Chad warned in his cocky voice. "This Kabutops was able to singlehandedly win my victory at the Battle Tower."

Gold responded to the display in a jeering manner, saying, "Oh, we've got a showoff, huh? If it's a show you want, then I'll give you one."

He then pulled out a Poké Ball of his own and tossed it into the air as the following flash of light released Gold's Nidorino, Duke, into the field.

Seeing the almost nonthreatening Pokémon being chosen to take on his imposing Kabutops, Chad almost burst into laughter. "What, you're going to fight me with that tiny thing? Ha, what a joke!"

Everyone in the crowd joined in Chad's laughter as they looked at the tiny Pokémon that Gold had chosen for the fight.

Duke looked around at the crowd, angry that he was being taunted. Gold, on the other hand, wasn't fazed by the laughter and kept his confident, almost cocky, smirk glued to his face. The crowd continued to laugh along with Chad, but they were all silenced when Gold swiftly pulled something from his bag and violently threw it toward Duke so that it stuck out of the ground next to him.

Duke jumped back a bit from Gold's abrupt action and exclaimed, "Whoa, what the hell, Gold?! You almost—" But he paused when he saw the object that Gold had thrown into the dirt next to him.

As everyone ceased their laughter, they all looked to the object as well. It was then that I saw that the object that jutted out of the ground was the Moon Stone that I had given Gold back at the beach. Wait, is he going to do what I think he's going to do?!

"What the hell is that thing?" Chad asked as everyone in the crowd thought the same thing.

"I said I'd give you a show, and now you've got one," Gold replied in a cocky voice that was very unlike him. "That right there is a Moon Stone."

"A what?" Chad said as Duke looked at the stone with awestruck eyes. Gold snickered.

"Just watch." He snapped his fingers and looked to the audience around him. "You wanted a fight? I'll give one you won't forget!" He whipped his head toward Duke and commanded, "Now!"

Duke grinned at Gold, for he knew exactly what his Trainer had in mind. He lifted one his front legs and eagerly placed his clawed foot on the Moon Stone.

Instantly, the stone shattered into hundreds of particles of glowing white light. I along with the crowd became awestruck by the sudden display of lights as an aura of air began to rapidly spin around Duke. The particles shone brightly as they also began to spin around the short Nidorino. The lights began to cling one-by-one to his skin until his entire body was covered with them, leaving no patch of skin untouched. His glowing body then gave off a hazy steam that flowed with the swirling mass of air that surrounded him as his body began to change, and he stood upright. His body grew to immense proportions: His tail lengthened and his hind legs thickened while his front ones grew into broad, powerful arms. His spiked back became more jagged, and the horn on his head grew into a mighty weapon. When the transformation ceased, Duke let out a deafening roar as the white glow subsided from his skin, revealing a monstrous seven-foot Nidoking.

"Hail to the king, baby," Duke muttered with his jagged, toothy maw as he flexed the muscles of his new body, setting his eyes on the Kabutops that was now dwarfed by his new size.

"What the hell?!" Chad practically shouted as the saurian creature stood ready to fight as its Trainer merely grinned devilishly in delight of what he heard.

"Your move, Chad," Gold said as he held his arms up to the sides and gestured in a way that said, Come at me.

The dumbfounded crowd of Trainers erupted from their silence and cheered for a fight as Chad regained his composure. Clenching his fist, Chad looked to his Kabutops.

Issuing his command with his hand, Chad exclaimed, "You're in for it now, Gold! Kabutops, use Aqua Jet and follow with Night Slash!"

Before the ancient insect could launch his attack, Gold instantly countered the incoming assault with an order of his own. "Earth Power, Duke!"

As the Kabutops propelled itself toward the Nidoking with a jet of water, Duke roared as the ground around him began to crack and fissure as heat boiled up through it. Then, lifting his massive arms up, he smashed the ground, and a wave of molten earth shot out towards the Kabutops, putting a stop to its assault. With molten earth erupting from the ground on which it stood, the ancient bug was smashed backwards and fell onto its back.

Dust filled the air from the dirt that was thrown up from the attack, and the crowd grew quiet as they watched intently for the next move. I too was practically silent, for I had no idea how Gold knew about Earth Power, and that Duke could do that, let alone how it worked. This wasn't like Gold at all; he never acted like this before.

Angered that it was so easily outdone, I saw the Kabutops quickly shoot up to its feet and hiss in a low, clicking gurgle. Chad was about to issue his next order, but Gold cut him off and proclaimed, "Now, use Mega Horn!"

With lightning-fast reflexes, Duke kicked off into a charge, his horn glowing intensely. The massive beast's feet made loud thuds as it raced across the dirt, parting the dust around him as he came in to strike the prehistoric insect. The bug was quick on his feet, though, and easily sidestepped out of the way of the rampaging beast. But Duke was too smart to fall for the fake-out, and just before he rushed past the Kabutops, he turned to the side to sweep his thick, powerful tail around and took out the bug's legs.

With the mantis creature's back landing on the ground, Duke pivoted on his feet to face the bug as he slashed his mighty horn down like a sword. The Kabutops caught the attack with its two blades, and sparks flew from the impact.

"Kabutops, get out of there!" Chad ordered frantically as his Pokémon struggled to keep the Nidoking's horn at bay.

But try as it might, the bug couldn't risk moving, or else it might slip up and let the attack past his defenses.

With the Kabutops practically immobilized, Gold snickered as he said, "Good. Now Duke, while he can't move, use Sludge!"

Listening to his order, Duke opened his maw, and I saw toxic sludge ooze from his mouth, covering the bug in toxins. In a desperate attempt to avoid the poison, the Kabutops used Aqua Jet to slide out from under the Nidoking, but his efforts were in vain, for the sludge had already leeched into his skin.

It was then that I realized this was all part of Gold's plan. None of his attacks were meant to hurt the Kabutops at all. It all made sense: He must've known that that the Pokémon was too fast for Duke to ever really land a direct hit, so he waited till he was close enough to poison him! As I pieced together Gold's plan, I wondered how he could've figured this all out so fast.

As I pondered in bewilderment, I watched as Duke wiped the ooze from his mouth and readied for another attack. Gold looked onto his opponent like he knew victory was already his.

"Kabutops, hurry and use Night Slash!" Chad ordered in slightly panicky tone.

With that, the bug zoomed toward the Nidoking, claws ready to make the beast into a shredded mesh.

"Now turn around, Duke!" Gold ordered with lightning-fast reflexes.

I was instantly confused by the bizarre instructions Gold gave to his Pokémon, thinking that he should be trying to avoid the attack. But as the Kabutops came in for the attack and Duke showed his back to the attacker, it all became clear to me. The spikes on his back!

Chad and his Pokémon soon realized this as well, but it was too late. The Kabutops was moving too speedily and couldn't stop itself: it crashed into the spike trap. Several of the spines penetrated the bug's hide, and more poison seeped into its body.

"Kabutops!" Chad called out as his Pokémon recoiled back from the Nidoking's toxic spikes.

Duke turned around to face his opponent as Gold grinned with confidence. Poison ran through the ancient bug's body as its legs became shaky and it struggled to stand.

"Kabutops, hang in there!"

"Now, Duke, finish it with Mega Horn!"

Duke's horn glowed once more, and he charged toward the bug.

"Kabutops, move!" Chad commanded, scared, but his Pokémon was too slow from the poison.

Unable to move fast enough, Duke crashed into the bug and slashed his horn across the bug's body, knocking him across the field. Tumbling to a halt, the bug tried to lift its head off the ground, but collapsed from the poison and gave in to defeat.

Chad was shocked by the turn of events—he was effortlessly defeated by someone who he thought was nothing more than a weakling with only four Badges.

As he returned his fainted Pokémon, the crowd looked to him, wondering what he was going to say. But he didn't say a thing, and merely left with a cloud of shame and defeat hanging above him. I felt a slight hint of joy in seeing that cocky bastard walk away in defeat. But I was even more excited at what my supposedly shy friend just pulled off.

"That was incredible!" I heard Baoba cheer as he walked past the crowd and made his way up to Gold. "What a show, what a show! Nothing but the best from the kid who fought Team Rocket! Ladies and gentlemen, only here at the Safari Zone can you find entertainment like this!" The short man then grabbed Gold's hand and lifted it into the air. "Let's hear it for Gold!"

As the crowd cheered his name, I saw something different in Gold. All that confidence I saw earlier was gone, and the look of anxiety was in his eyes as he stared at all the people that cheered for him.

Wait, what happened to him? He loved the crowd a second ago, but now he's like this again? Maybe he was more focused on the fight and kind of forgot about all the people?

"And now, for a small fee, you can all have an autograph from this prestigious Trainer," Baoba announced, being the obvious salesmen that he was.

"W-wait, what?" Gold stuttered before all the Trainers closed in on him. "No, wait! I . . . I just . . . I just . . . just hold on a second!" he panicked.

He then turned to Baoba and said, "Look, I just wanted to go on the Safari . . . please, can I just be left alone?"

The Trainers crowding around Gold, Baoba looked to him and said, "What? Oh right, of course." He then announced to the crowd, "Sorry, folks, Gold won't be signing anything now. But instead, he'll be enjoying our one-of-a-kind safari for the time being, where the prized Larvitar is out for capture, may I remind you all. For now, please enjoy our many other attractions, as autographs will be available later. Now then, let's give the man some privacy—come on now." Baoba then began to lead the crowd of Trainers away.

"Wait, that's not what I . . . wanted . . ." Gold stuttered as the man walked away, taking the crowd with him.

He then sighed and held his head low.

With the crowd leaving, I hastily made my way to Gold and said, "Gold, that was incredible! How did you do that?!"

Gold looked to me and stuttered, "I, uh . . . I just kinda did it . . . I guess. I wasn't really thinking—I just did it."

"But you were so bold and excited—I thought you hated crowds? I was worried that you were going to be all stressed from the attention."

"Well, I don't like crowds . . . but . . . I just didn't feel that stressed-out this time, and I guess I just went with it," Gold tried to explain as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, I don't care how you did it—that was awesome! And so were you, Duke." I looked to the former runt that now towered over the both of us.

"Thanks," Duke replied as he blushed from the praise.

"I didn't think you were going to make him evolve until later, but that was quite the show you did," I said to Gold.

"Well, I . . . I just thought if Chad was going to show off . . . and talk all that crap . . . then, well . . . maybe I should too, heh," Gold responded timidly.

I laughed a little at his response as I thought about how my friend is always filled with surprises. I guess Gold had a change of character back there, but I liked this new him. Maybe I should've seen this coming; he's always been doing brave things, so I guess he just got over another one of his fears.

"Well, I think you should practice your autograph, then." I snickered.

"Heh, yeah . . . I guess so," Gold mumbled.

"Sweet, my Trainer's famous now," Duke boasted.

"Yeah . . . famous," Gold muttered unenthusiastically.

"Well, now that that's over with, I guess we can go on the safari now," I suggested.

"Oh, um, sure." Gold smiled timidly.

With that, I heard Duke snicker in his new deep voice, and I saw Gold look to him in a scolding manner, like he knew what he was laughing about and didn't like it.

I giggled, even though I didn't know what they were bickering about, and said, "Well, come on—let's go."

And with that, Gold returned his new Nidoking, and we both made our way to the main attraction. There was a large pavilion we had to walk through in order to get to the enclosure with all the Pokémon. We meet some of the workers in there who gave us a couple of safari balls in case we wanted to catch anything, even though we told them we had no interest in doing that. We only wanted to explore.

With the balls in hand, we left the building and entered the enclosure. What I found on the outside was breathtaking.

It was a massive, lush green stretch of land that went on for as far as I could see. In the center there was a large mound of earth that looked like a small-scale version of a mountain. Surrounding the mountain were various types of environments, everything from swamps to grasslands and even rainforests. Scattered across the landscape were very tall lookout posts that I could only guess were used for searching for Pokémon. The park encompassed the entire plateau, and I could even see the edge of the cliff run around the whole park. Off to the east side of the plateau I could see the city of Cianwood and the beach that encircled the bay.

As I stepped forward to take in the entire landscape, I exclaimed, "Whoa! This place is incredible!"

I couldn't help myself—I wanted to explore all of it. So I brusquely tore off into the vast landscape to see what I could find, with Gold right behind. The place was unbelievable: Herds of Pokémon that I've never seen before roamed the landscape. Extravagant colorful trees from foreign lands filled the manmade forests, and flocks of flying Pokémon inhabited them. Behind every corner was something incredible to see.

I felt hours go by in the blink of an eye as I dragged Gold high and low to see everything. I couldn't be happier—just me and my best friend alone together as we searched for the next thing to astonish us. Being my favorite geek, Gold was able to point out a lot of Pokémon from Hoenn and Sinnoh to me.

One of the funniest things we saw was a creature called a Slaking. The way it just lay around on the ground, too lazy to do anything else, just seemed to crack me up. Later, when Gold and I happened upon a river, we saw tons of beautiful fish. Some of fish reminded me of butterflies, while others reminded me of eels. With something new at every turn, I felt like I was losing track of everything I'd seen.

This is definitely the best surprise Gold has ever done for me. I felt like I was ten again, and Gold and I were on one of our made-up adventures we would go on back in New Bark. Only this time the fantastical lands we came up with were actually around us. I couldn't stop exploring everything in sight; I didn't care about the mud or the dirt that may have gotten on my clothes—I wanted to see everything! And Gold was more than happy to do whatever I asked of him.

This was just perfect. I've never had more fun in my life, and I got to do it all with Gold.

As we moved on towards the east side of the park, Gold asked, "Hey, Lyra, you wanna take a break? I'm kinda tired."

"Sure. I think I see a nice spot to sit over by the cliff edge," I replied as I pointed to a spot that was close to one of the lookout towers.

"All right then," Gold responded in agreement as we walked over to the tower. It had a downed tree next to it that functioned as a perfect spot to sit.

As we sat down, I took a moment to look at the sky and saw the sun was about halfway between sunset and midday. I checked my Pokégear's clock, and it said that four hours had passed, when it felt like only one.

"So, Gold, you think we can still find that Larvitar? Do you know what it looks like? You think we can find it in the swamp, or maybe the grassland?"

Gold shrugged. "Beats me."

"Oh, come on, you nerd—you have to know something," I teased.

"I'm nerd for anime and sci-fi. I may know a little here and there, but rare Pokémon are not my forte. Besides, I've never heard of the thing until today."

"But that guy made such a huge fuss about it. I bet it's like some sort of dragon thing with razor-sharp teeth."

"Look, he's just some salesman desperate to get people to come here. It's not a big deal if we can't find it."

"Oh yeah, about that: I'm sorry that Baoba put you through all that."

"You don't need to apologize. I should've seen it coming, anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Oh well." I shrugged. "In any case, I guess we won't find everything, but I'm just happy you took me here. This place is better than anything I could have hoped for."

"Oh . . . well . . . I'm glad you're happy," Gold replied timidly.

"No, really—I'm so happy you thought of this," I insisted.

"Well . . . I did this for you, you know . . . because, well . . . you're my best friend . . . and I'd do anything for you." Gold then paused and looked away from me for a moment before he looked back and stuttered, "Lyra . . . there's . . . there's something . . . I want to tell you."

Perplexed by his tone shift, I looked into his golden eyes and replied, "You do? What is it?"

Timidly, Gold scratched the back of his neck. "Well . . . I, uh . . . I, eh . . ." He paused as his eyes looked into mine, and I could see that whatever he wanted to say was trying his will. "Lyra . . . I . . . did this all for you . . . because I wanted to show how much it meant to me that you're my friend . . . but that's not the whole reason. . . . Lyra . . . I . . . I think that I'm . . . that I . . . I, uh . . ."

Wait . . . is he . . . is he? Is he going to say that . . . ? Is he going to say that he . . . that he . . . that he . . . ?

My heart began to flutter at the thought of what I imagined Gold was going to say.

Gold gulped. "Lyra . . . I . . . I think you're incredible . . . and that you're the most talented girl I know . . . and I'd give anything to see you smile, and, well . . . I . . . I wanted you to know that . . . I'm . . . that I'm . . . that I'm . . .that I'm in lo—" But before he could finish, something happened.

What felt like my moment of truth was abruptly interrupted when a low, terrible rumble echoed across the land. Then, suddenly, the thunderous boom of what sounded like an explosion rang out across the sky, and the ground on which we stood shook, causing me to lose my balance and fall off the log I was sitting on.

"Lyra!" Gold exclaimed as he caught me before I could hit the ground; the earth beneath our feet continued to quake.

"What's happening?!" I exclaimed as I looked around while Gold tried to stand me up, but struggled on the ever-shifting ground.

When the shaking ceased, Gold was able to stand me up straight. Scared by what just happened, I looked to Gold for comfort and asked, "What . . . what the heck just happened?"

"A-an earthquake maybe?" Gold tried to explain, but he wasn't sure.

"But what was that sound? It sounded like it came from the beach." I looked to the east edge of the plateau.

Before Gold could respond, I felt the wind starting to rush past me toward the plateau's edge. Bits of debris flew across the air and zoomed over the edge, down towards the bay.

"Gold, I'm scared—what's going on? Why is the wind doing this?" I quivered as I came close to him and grabbed onto his sweatshirt's sleeve.

"I . . . I don't know," Gold said as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Then we began to hear loud, rumbling thuds coming from where the beach should be, like something massive was walking and making the ground quake with each step it took.

"What . . . what is that? What's making that noise? What the hell is going on?!" I panicked as I squeezed Gold's arm, small tremors ringing out from each thud.

"There must be something on the beach causing this," Gold responded with fear in his tone.

Something was on the beach causing this to happen? What the hell is going on down there?

It was then that I remembered the lookout tower that was next to us. Determined to see what was happening down at the beach, I let go of Gold and rushed over to the tower, quickly starting to climb the ladder that led to the top.

"Lyra, wait! There was just an earthquake—you shouldn't be climbing that!" Gold yelled, but I didn't listen.

As I climbed the metal rungs, the wind picked up and became a ravenous gale as clouds began to come together over the island, blotting out the sun. When I reached the top, I stepped onto the platform to look past the plateau's edge and see the bay. What I saw was unlike anything I'd ever seen before in my life. On the north end of the beach, opposite the city, was a massive, churning mass of wind and sand. It was like a sandstorm that was engulfing most of the beach, slowly moving toward the city.

"W-wh-what the hell is that?"

An earthquake has hit Cianwood, and a sandstorm rages on their beaches, all the while the walls in Gold's mind are breaking down. A Crisis in Cianwood is about to unfold.

Also poor Gold, he just wanted to confess to his love and what did he get? One of the second most stressful moments of his life, and after all of that he finally had the courage to tell Lyra the truth, but was interrupted by a freaking earthquake.