“Quick Po, jump and hit it with Power Whip” I screamed. Po, the pink rolling blob, popped into the air and threw it’s tongue high above its body, and I watched with a smile as it began to glow neon green. Like lightning striking from the heavens, Po’s tongue came down on the Golem and sent it flying through the gym wall leaving all of us standing there with our ears ringing with the sound of thunder.
“Golem is unable to battle. The winner is Austin and Po the Lickilicky!” The judge screamed raising his flag. I ran towards Po and slammed into my big pink tub of jello. “Po you did it! You just earned us our first gym badge!” I said with tears creeping in the corner of my eyes. Po stood there in shock for about 10 seconds and then fell on his back and started rolling back and forth making ridiculous sounds and faces. “I love you too! Ya big weirdo!” I said to him trying to contain my laughter. “Here kid, here’s your Boulder Badge. Can’t believe we lost to a… You said this thing is a Lickilicky?” Flint questioned with disappointment and curiosity in his voice.
_________________________________________
One year ago, I was traveling the Australian scrub looking for endangered sub-species of echidnas. I was a doctorate student of biology conducting field research on the rare and unique species that makeup the Australian ecosystems. Ever since I was a kid, I had always had a soft spot for animals, especially the misunderstood and weird who no one liked or thought about. “Every animal is important, and no one should ever be left behind or forgotten” I would always tell my colleagues and professors.
On that dark and stormy evening, I was tracking some tagged echidnas and was going to check up on them for the first time in 6 months. “I hope those little fellas are doing all right. Hopefully they are in their shelters. Those clouds look mean” I said to myself as I was driving along. Right after I said that, I saw lightning strike and split a eucalyptus tree in half. Immedialety I pulled over and ran to the back of the van to grab a fire blanket and an extinguisher. Before I made it to the smoldering tree, I could already smell the burning eucalyptus and knew I had seconds before this quickly got out of hand.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
I desperately fought to put out any embers and flames that day, but the scrub was too dry. Like a tinderbox doused with gasoline, the fire engulfed everything in a matter of seconds. It came racing straight at me, and I felt the heat begin to singe my hairs almost immediately. No matter how much I used the extinguisher and blanket to fight back the flames it was too late. As a last ditch effort, I raced back to the van and began to drive. “Calling all rangers and emergency personnel. This is field researcher Austin. I am near the center of the Langwarrin Reserve and a fire has broken out caused by lightning strike” I called out over my radio. “Attempts to contain fire have failed, and it is spreading at dangerous speeds. All fire fighting personnel should head to my location as soon as possible before fire can cross the trail” I called out again, hoping someone was listening on the other end. I checked the location of animals I was supposed to find that day to see if any of them were in danger. Only two of the radio collared echidnas were in the area, a breeding pair who should have young in the area.
Without a second thought I took off for their last radio ping hoping I could make it in time. After 10 minutes of reckless breakneck speed driving through the scrubland, I got within 20M of them both. Over the small hill, I could see the angry red flames and the smell of burning eucalyptus tree filled my nostrils. Quickly, I grabbed my gear and got to work digging out their burrows. 2 hours later, covered in soot, dirt, and echidna piss I had 3 very pissy small animals in their travel cages and began driving back to the research facility. When we arrived, my professor came and took the echidnas from me and told me to go rest and get cleaned off. Finally, I got to shower and immediately climbed into bed.
When I closed my eyes, sleep and exhaustion immediately took me. “You have done more than enough for these animals. I have a new job for you!” I heard a voice telling me in my sleep. “Who are you?” I asked the voice. “Don’t worry about that now. What I need is someone who cares for those who no one else is willing to look after. My children are being neglected by these misunderstanding humans, but I see in your mind the love and compassion you have for all creatures. Will you come and help take care of these forgotten children?” The voice asked me softly. It almost felt like the voice was sadness itself and it pulled at my heartstrings to hear about these poor forgotten animals. “What would you need me to do?” I asked the voice. “Come to my world and help raise these children and show them that someone cares and they are deserving of love. That is all I ask. Anything and everything is up to you” the voice answered me. “All right, I am willing to go. All I ask is that you give me the knowledge I would need to take care of your children so they can grow and be healthy” I said with a smile on my face. “IT SHALL BE!!!” The voice echoed across the whole space and suddenly I remembered every bit of Pokèmon knowledge and fact possible. “Arceus is that you?” I called out, but suddenly there was a flash of white and everything stopped all at once…
What Pokèmon did you use that no one else would ever touch?
