As the trio burst through the doors of the Gym, they could hardly believe what they were seeing. Several of the buildings throughout the city seemed to be on fire, and people were running in every direction. As Red looked around for the source of this chaos, another screeching noise came from overhead. Red looked up, and let his jaw drop to the ground- he was looking at some sort of large, flying beast which appeared to be nothing but bones. It was flying overhead, launching streams of fire in random directions.
"Gah!" Red exclaimed as he took out his Pokédex and pointed it up at the airborne menace. "What is that?!"
"Missingno., the Data Pokémon," droned Red's Pokédex. "Missingno. in Aerodactyl Skeleton Form are very capable both in flight and in hunting. It is capable of learning a wide variety of attacks, and its type will constantly change to match another Pokémon in the area."
"Now then, that's not so good," came a weak voice from behind the trio. Harry had just emerged from his Gym, and was looking up weakly at the Missingno. "This is not the first time I've seen that Missingno., but I've never been able to take it on. It's always managed to overpower my team."
"Yeesh," remarked Red. "And that's not an easy feat with four Pokémon- that thing is only one!"
"So you see the problem here," replied Harry. "Missingno. can live for a very long time, you see- my guess is, that one used to hunt in this area before it became Fansfor City."
"Well, we gotta do something!" Orange declared. "We can't just let it keep on destroying stuff!"
"Yeah, Orange is right," nodded Violet. Red also nodded his agreement with this. With that, the trio took off after the Missingno.
As they caught up, Orange took out a Poké Ball and threw it. "I choose you, Fearow! Go get it!" he shouted as the Beak Pokémon emerged from its ball.
"Feeeeeaaaarooooowwwww!" cawed Fearow as it soared up to Missingno.'s level. The cawing caught Missingno.'s attention, and the Data Pokémon wheeled around in midair to face Fearow, screeching menacingly.
"Fearow! Take Down!" Orange commanded.
As Fearow streaked forward, Missingno. opened its skeletal mouth and unleashed a powerful Flamethrower from within. Fearow was able to dodge it, but just barely, and then the Normal/Flying-type slammed into its avian adversary.
"Good work, Fearow!" Orange cheered. "Now use Razor Wind!"
As Fearow started to flap its wings vigorously, Missingno. seemed to pull its body into a ball, looking about as spherical as an animated avian skeleton could possibly get itself to look. The wind didn't seem to affect it at all.
"That must be Missingno.'s Defense Curl!" exclaimed Violet.
"Fearow, try your Drill Peck!" called Orange.
As Fearow flew forward, Missingno. uncurled its body, and became cloaked in swirling water. Then, it too charged forward, and collided with Fearow head-on, Drill Peck and Waterfall each competing against each other. It concluded in a draw, however, as both Pokémon were blown back. Before Orange could make another command, however, its mouth once more, and this time, a thick plume of black smoke billowed out from within, engulfing the group. As the trio coughed (and in Red's case, felt around for Dodrio's Poké Ball), Fearow took it upon itself to blow away the SmokeScreen by flapping its powerful wings. Once the smoke had cleared, however, it appeared as though Missingno. had fled.
Red turned to face Violet and Orange. "I'm thinking the Pokémon Center right about now," he said.
"Best idea I've heard all day," stated Violet as the three of them ran off in the direction of the aforementioned building.
Mercifully, the Pokémon Center had been spared from Missingno.'s onslaught, and was still open. Once Red, Orange, and Violet had healed their Pokémon, they started to discuss the situation.
"OK, so let's think about this," Orange stated. "First, let's see what we know about this Missingno., aside from the fact it changes type on a whim. So far, we've seen it use Flamethrower, Defense Curl, Waterfall, and SmokeScreen. And that's very likely not all the moves it can use, either. But let's focus on that for now. What do we have that can withstand both Fire and Water moves?"
"Well, a Water-type would be the obvious answer," stated Red. "Though I think Charizard would find it easy enough to evade Waterfall."
"There's also the fact that some Pokémon just don't have any weaknesses, like .4," Violet added.
"And Transforming into Missingno., that's sure to pose a challenge to it," said Red.
"...Wow, Orange," Violet said, blinking in surprise. "We just described half your team there, and... none of ours. Neither me nor Red have any Water-types, anything with no weaknesses, or anything with Transform. You, on the other hand, you have Q, .4, and A."
"No Water-types?" repeated Orange. "So, what type is Migraine, then?"
"Orange?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up," said Violet, though she still gave a small smile. "No, but you're right, Migraine is a Water-type. Still, I think it's safe to say you have a pretty good shot of taking down Missingno., Orange. What do you say?"
"Let's do this," grinned Orange as he promptly led the way through the doors and back out into the streets of Fansfor City.
The streets seemed eerily deserted. Red was watching the skies so intently that on more than one occasion he nearly walked right under a freeze arch.
"It's quiet," remarked Violet.
"Yeah," replied Orange, in a cautious tone. "Too quiet, if you ask me."
Then, as if on cue, an earsplitting screech came from behind the trio. Red, Orange, and Violet wheeled around simultaneously to spot the Missingno. diving right at them.
Orange assumed a combative stance, a Poké Ball in his right hand. "I got this!" he said to Red and Violet as he threw the ball. "I choose you, A!" he shouted as the Normal/Normal-type emerged from its spherical confines, but shrieked in terror at the sight of the oncoming Missingno.
"A, Hydro Pump attack now!" shouted Orange.
A gave a series of squeaking noises before a high-pressure stream of water from the entire front portion of its rectangular body, stopping Missingno. in its tracks. When A ceased its attack, however, it became clear that Missingno. hadn't taken much damage,
"Oh, geez," Red murmured. "I don't think Missingno. took any damage at all!"
"Remember, A isn't exactly good at offense," Violet reminded Red. "Its real strength is in its speed."
"A! Transform!" Orange hollered.
A gave a high-pitched squeal as its body glowed and drastically changed shape, and before Red knew it, he was seeing two Aerodactyl Skeleton Form Missingno. facing each other. Orange whipped out his Pokédex, presumably to pull up a list of attacks A could now use. Sure enough, Orange nodded at what he saw on the screen, then turned his attention back to the battle. "A, use your Flamethrower attack!" he shouted.
Both A and Missingno. simultaneously unleashed streams of fire from their skeletal maws, the Flamethrower attacks colliding in midair, cancelling each other out.
"Well, they're certainly evenly matched now," Red observed.
"A, now try Egg Bomb!" commanded Orange.
Missingno. screeched loudly as it charged forward, water swirling all around it, as A spewed three large white eggs from its mouth. Upon colliding with Missingno., the eggs exploded, disrupting the Data Pokémon's flight.
"All right, let's wrap this up!" Orange grinned. "Bone Club now!"
As A dove down after its adversary, Missingno. managed to take to the air once more, and spewed more black smoke from its mouth, engulfing the entire area with the SmokeScreen attack.
"Dodrio, Whirlwind!" Red coughed as he threw a Poké Ball. In a flash of light none of them could see, Dodrio materialized, and the next thing any of them knew, three forceful gusts of wind managed to blow all the smoke away. Unfortunately, Missingno. seemed to have escaped once more.
"Now what?" Orange muttered, frowning. "It seems like every time that Missingno. is about to be defeated, it makes its getaway by spraying SmokeScreen all over the place."
"Yeah, that'll be tricky," Red agreed. "But we gotta find a way around it. We-"
At that moment, however, a screeching sound could be heard several streets away. "This way!" Red exclaimed as he climbed onto his Dodrio's back. Dodrio instantly took off running in the direction Red indicated.
"Let's follow him, Vi," Orange stated as he sent out his Fearow. "I'll need that HM Mr. Ujif gave you."
"I... I don't know," Violet said uncertainly as she handed the disc to Orange.
"Don't worry, I'll have Fearow keep close to the ground," Orange assured her. "No worse than riding a Rapidash, I promise."
Violet said nothing, but seemed a little more at ease with this idea as Orange proceeded to make use of the HM.
"Dodrio! Tri Attack!" Red shouted.
"Do dri o!" cawed the three heads as they fired off a glowing triangle, which Missingno. was able to evade by diving and swooping in midair. Red grunted in exasperation, when a voice sounded from behind him.
"I got this, Red!" came the shout. Red wheeled around and spotted Orange and Violet, on Fearow's back, soaring right at him, Fearow no more than four feet off the ground. As Fearow allowed its riders to dismount, Orange withdrew the Normal/Flying-type and threw another Poké Ball. ".4, it's your turn!" Orange shouted as the Pokémaniac-type emerged from the ball, gibbering excitedly.
Missingno. glared down at its diminutive adversary with what appeared to be bare eye sockets, screeching unpleasantly. Then, as its body became cloaked in swirling water, Missingno. dove at .4.
".4! TM28!" Orange ordered.
.4 zipped forward, gibbering gleefully as it flew circles around Missingno., exploding three times in rapid succession. Each blast was in very close proximity to Missingno., and very clearly caused damage.
"Well, that's more like it," Red nodded.
"Now use Dragon Rage, .4!" commanded Orange.
"Eeeeee hee hee hee hee!" cackled .4 as a brilliant blue stream of flame was launched from its body. Missingno. tried to evade, but was hit by the move nonetheless, and it screeched loudly as the move made contact. Then, it dove down at .4 suddenly, striking it with one of the bones on the end of one of its wings. .4 was sent flying by the Bone Club attack, but it was able to regain its composure fairly easily.
"Good job, .4!" Orange said encouragingly. "Agility! Then use your Wing Attack!"
.4 zipped forwards, once again flying circles around Missingno., little more than a diminutive purple blur. Then, the aforementioned diminutive purple blur suddenly sprouted a pair of purple, blocky wings, and slammed into Missingno. with them, sending the Data Pokémon crashing to the ground.
"Don't give it a chance to do anything!" Orange warned .4. "Go for a TM28 attack!"
As .4 dove down, Missingno. opened its mouth, but the Caffeine Pokémon let off a sudden explosion just as the smoke started to leak out of Missingno.'s mouth, and the SmokeScreen was interrupted. Knowing its usual escape tactic wouldn't work this time, Missingno. changed strategies at the speed of light, and instead fired off a trio of large eggs from its mouth. .4 shrieked as the eggs exploded around it, and Missingno. seized this chance to take flight once more, not bothering to cloak its getaway with SmokeScreen. However, the Egg Bomb attack had knocked .4 out.
"Missingno. is weakening!" Violet exclaimed. "Wow, is that thing powerful or what?" she added, smiling slightly in spite of the severity of the situation.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Orange agreed, taking note of Violet's apparent admiration of Missingno.'s tenacity and power. "OK, though, we gotta move," he added as he produced a pair of Poké Balls. He withdrew .4 into one, while sending Fearow back out of the other. Red got back on Dodrio's back, and Orange and Violet climbed onto Fearow. The bird-like Pokémon then took off, with Fearow flying low, and Dodrio running, both of them headed in the direction in which they saw Missingno. fly.
Not long afterwards, they located Missingno. once more. This time, the skeletal menace was flying circles around an extremely tall skyscraper, screeching in a threatening manner.
"Mew damn it, that's Plish Co. Headquarters!" exclaimed Orange. "They produce Poké Balls and all sorts of things for trainers! Fearow, up!"
"Orange..." murmured Violet.
"Vi, just hold on to me tightly," Orange said to her. "Trust me. You'll be OK."
Violet gulped, and though she was shaking, she wrapped her arms tightly around Orange as Fearow ascended.
"Go! Q!" Orange called as he held up yet another Poké Ball, this one releasing Orange's starter into the open.
"Kyuuuuuu," sang Q in its usual melodic tone of voice.
At the sound of Q's voice, Missingno. took its attention off the skyscraper and focused on Q instead. Screeching, Missingno. fired off several Egg Bombs from its mouth.
"Q, use your BubbleBeam attack!" Orange ordered.
"Kyuuuu," replied Q as a barrage of bubbles flew forward from its body, causing the Egg Bombs to explode in midair. Missingno. screeched again as the bubbles collided with it, then suddenly streaked forward and struck the Deep Sea Pokémon with one of its wings
"Of course," sighed Red. "Now it's using the moves Water-types don't resist- Egg Bomb and Bone Club."
"Drio," remarked one of Dodrio's heads, seemingly in agreement with Red's observation.
"Q, Headbutt!" commanded Orange.
Q flew forward, slamming into Missingno. with great force. Missingno. started to fall, spinning uncontrollably, but with a great flap of its wings, managed to take to the skies once again. This time, however, it didn't even bother with SmokeScreen, but instead just took off, figuring it had better come back once Orange was gone.
"No you don't!" Orange exclaimed. "Q! Fearow! After it!"
The chase was on. With Violet holding tightly onto Orange the entire time, Fearow and Q flew after Missingno., following it as it wove between tall buildings, flew across streets, soared above and beneath the pair of bridges spanning across the city, and did all manner of aerial maneuvers to try and lose its pursuers. After a while, however, it somehow managed to get itself cornered by Fearow and Q, up against the front of Fansfor Gym.
"We got it now!" Orange exclaimed triumphantly as Red and Dodrio caught up. "Q, use your Confusion attack!"
"Kyuuuuuuu," sang Q as it unleashed a ray of blue light, which struck Missingno. hard... and then, at long last, the skeleton shakily wobbled in place before collapsing to the ground.
"Oh my Mew," gasped Harry as he cautiously approached the unconscious Missingno. "You... You actually defeated it? Now then, Orange, was it? You... I think you ought to catch it, Orange."
"And a sensible thought it is," agreed Orange. "Catching the Missingno. would definitely ensure the safety of this city... but I don't want to catch it."
"What?" exclaimed Harry, Red, and Violet simultaneously. Even Fearow squawked in surprise.
"That's right," Orange nodded as he turned to Violet. "I want you to catch it, Vi. I saw you admiring its power, and I know it'll be a good addition to your team."
For a moment, Violet said nothing. Then, she gave Orange a kiss, and smiled at him. "You're so sweet," she said. "But you weakened it, Orange, you got the right to catch it if you want to."
"Exactly- it's my decision," Orange replied. "And I decided that you get to catch it. This isn't like if someone weakens a Shellder with their Weezing, and then another trainer throws their Poké Ball first, I'm giving you permission here. Go for it, Vi."
"I'd recommend doing it quickly, it could come to at any moment," Red added.
"Right," grinned Violet as she produced the necessary red and white sphere from her fanny pack, pressed the white button in the center to bring it to its full size, then threw it. "Poké Ball, go!" she shouted.
The sphere struck the Missingno.'s skull, and its entire skeletal form was converted into transparent red energy and sucked inside. The ball then snapped shut and fell to the ground, where it wobbled... Once... Twice... Three times...
And then, the ball stopped moving, and emitted a single low-pitched ping.
"All right," Violet smirked as she picked up the Poké Ball. "I caught a Missingno.!"
"Congrats, Vi," grinned Orange.
"Yeah," added Red.
"I think I even have a perfect nickname for it," Violet added. "I like the sound of Skelefly, what do you guys think.
"Skelefly... I like it," nodded Orange. Then, Orange turned to face Harry. "Alright," he said. "So, we're just gonna head back to the Pokémon Center to heal our Pokémon, then we'll be back so you and I can have our batt-"
"Wait a minute," Harry said, shaking his head. "I don't think that's necessary." As he said this, he approached Orange, a Mental Badge in one hand, and a pink Technical Machine in the other.
"Wait, what?" Orange said. "But we didn't battle."
"We don't need to," stated Harry. "Do you realize that what you just did is what I've been trying to do for ages without success? I told you, Orange, my Pokémon were never able to take that Missingno. down, whereas you got it done. Strictly speaking, Pokémon League regulations dictate that badges are to be handed out to those the Gym Leader deems worthy. While a battle is indeed the usual way to determine this, the rules allow for Gym Leaders to give out badges at their discretion to those they feel deserve them, even if a battle was not fought."
"Well, I guess if you're sure," Orange said, though his eagerness to take the badge and TM in any case was barely contained.
"I'm positive," Harry insisted, practically forcing the objects into Orange's hands.
"Well, can't argue with that," grinned Orange. "All right, then! That's five badges for each of us... now what?"
"Well, there's a Gym in Nodacel City," Harry stated.
"Been there," Red replied.
"You could try the Ruceelna Gym to the north," Harry continued.
"Beaten it," Orange said.
"What about Miliovern Gym to the south?" asked Harry.
"Done that," Violet stated.
"Well... there is a Pokémon Gym in Chufisa City," Harry said hesitantly. "Now, then, I must warn you, it might not be easy to get there. Snorlax have been known to come down from the mountains and are notorious for somehow managing to block the roads leading there. You three think you'll be able to handle it if need be?"
"Yeah," grinned Orange. "We've encountered one of those living roadblocks before. I think we'll manage."
After saying their good-byes, the trio headed off to the Fansfor City Pokémon Center. As the sun was setting, they decided they ought to have themselves some dinner. This time, they all shared an extra-large even number salad as they discussed the day's events.
"That was pretty lucky, Orange, you not having to battle for your badge," Red said to Orange.
"Yeah," Orange grinned. "I mean, I know I should feel like I should have battled for it, but... I kinda don't," he admitted, grinning even wider. "So, five badges each now, huh? Feels pretty good!"
"Yeah, we're more than halfway there," added Violet. "Three more, and we'll be able to compete in the Pokémon League!"
"Yeah," grinned Orange. Then, he turned to face Red. "Er... What about you, Red?" he asked. "I mean, once we get to Bincanar Island, you'll probably stay there for answers, or go home if you can, right?"
Red was silent for a moment as he thought about this. "Actually," he said, "I'm not so sure I want to leave anymore. I mean, sure, some of the Pokémon freak me out a little bit, and I'm still not entirely used to certain other aspects of this place, but... I really am enjoying myself here," he smiled. "I'm traveling around, catching and training Pokémon like I always wanted to, and I'm even traveling with good friends." Orange and Violet both smiled at this. "I mean, sure, once we get there, you bet I'll be getting some answers, but if it turns out it's possible to get me back to Kanto, I won't be going back. Not right away, anyway. I'd kinda like to compete in the Pokémon League here, at the very least."
"That's what I was hoping to hear," Orange nodded approvingly, grinning happily. "I for one am loving this, the three of us traveling together like this."
"Yeah, same here," Violet agreed.
Once they had finished their dinner, the trio retrieved their fully healed Pokémon from the nurse, and spent the remainder of the evening just relaxing in the center. Violet was tempted to try and get to know her newest Pokémon, but they were all in agreement that to avoid panic, Skelefly shouldn't be sent out in Fansfor City at the moment. Eventually, they all went to the room they had reserved for the night. As Red climbed into bed, he placed a pair of earplugs in his ears. By now, it had become a habit- he was now doing it with barely any conscious thought. He drifted peacefully off to sleep, the earplugs shielding his eardrums from the usual cacophony that was Orange's thunderous snoring.