I was tired of running into wild encounters so I affixed the Cleanse Tag to my Pokémon. My Pokémon looked sad with it around its neck because the tag dragged on the ground in front of it. Sometimes it would trip over it. It was a large tag. It was a small Pokémon. I haven't decided which one it was yet.
"Durbal," it said. That was not its name because there is no known Pokémon named Durbal. But if there is one in Generation IX, I take credit for it.
"I know you're unhappy," I said. "But this is just how it has to be right now. Things will change."
The woman who sold me the Cleanse Tag was very strange. She had one good eye and one good tooth, but that wasn't strange. It isn't strange to have eye problems or missing teeth. What was strange was that she kept screaming: "Watch out for lizard bones."
I said, "What's a lizard? Is that some kind of Pokémon?"
"You'll see," she said, and she cackled.
I wasn't sure what that meant. I still am not sure to this day. Which is the same day. I had never heard of a lizard before, and I wasn't sure if its bones were dangerous, or what.
"Do you know what a lizard is?" I asked the Pokémon whose name wasn't Durbal.
"Ledbred," it said, sadly pulling at the tag around its neck as though it wanted it off. Ledbred wasn't its name either. I still don't know what Pokémon it is.
"Well, we need to get to a Pokémon Center as soon as possible, otherwise we might run the risk of wiping," I said to the Pokémon. "And that's why I need you to keep that Cleanse Tag on."
With that, it tore it off. It looked very happy that it had accomplished this. That's when the lizard bones swarmed us, and everything faded to white.