All of the smaller plants were mulch. Those ancient trees that once towered into the sky had been pierced and seared through to the point that they could no longer withstand their own weight. Dozens of massive trunks now laid on their sides, their branches scoured of leaves from the shock of their final impacts. Around them, the world was brown due to churned-up dirt, and the Pokémon that once lived in these woods fled as fast as they could.

  The sound of distant rumbling was the only thing that could be heard. Standing at the edge of the destruction, no one had the will to talk. Sam felt a tug in his chest when he saw an Ursaring desperately clutch a Teddiursa in its arms. It, like so many others, was running as fast as it could to escape the devastation.

  “This is horrible.”

  Next to Sam, Sammy’s voice was a whisper. No one else was able to speak until the sight fully settled in.

  “This wasn’t supposed to... This is so much worse,” Richard mumbled.

  Out of everyone here, his expression seemed to be the least distraught, but his widened eyes spoke of disbelief and bewilderment, instead.

  “This... We have to stop him! He’s not going to give up until he’s caught Celebi!” Ash turned to face everyone in the group. “It's up to us to do something! Come on, Pikachu! The more we wait, the more Pokémon he hurts!”

  Before anyone could stop him, Ash took off running—as Sam was learning he tended to do. Brock and Misty didn’t hesitate to chase after him, pulling out Pokéballs to ready their teams. Sammy’s expression hardened as he joined their chase. He released one of his Pokémon, and a red Charmeleon tore across the forest floor at his side.

  There was something ironic about using a Fire Type to save a forest, but Sam had technically done that once before.

  Richard spoke up.

  “This is my fault,” he said, his voice just barely above a whisper. “If I hadn’t tried to interfere...”

  Clenching his hands into fists, he shut his eyes. Sam wanted to say something, to find some way to comfort him, but Richard was already dashing off to join everyone else in the fight against the Iron-Masked Marauder.

  Sam could already hear the sounds of battles taking place just past the fallen trees.

  With Richard’s exit, Sam was left alone with Misdreavus—and Haunter in his shadow, of course. Darkness churned under feet, reflecting Haunter’s cold desire for revenge. A chill seemed to fill the air next to Misdreavus, but there was more cold than just that; so filled with destruction, this area was ripe with the feelings Ghost Types needed to spawn.

  “I can’t believe they all just... Ugh. So much for making a plan.” Sam rubbed his head while flicking his eyes about to gather as much information as he could. Already, he could pick out several paths to move forward. He knew that blindly running ahead was not where his team’s strength lay.

  “Remember what we discussed,” he said to his Pokémon. “Our only goal is to stop the Marauder’s Dark Balls. Leave the fighting to everyone else.”

  If they could prevent the Iron-Masked Marauder from catching Celebi, then they could prevent this from becoming worse. However, Sam had a feeling he could no longer rely on Richard. The other boy was far too distracted by his guilt.

  Meanwhile, Sam was used to pushing past negative feelings.

  He had his goal set, and he locked eyes with Misdreavus to exchange a single nod. She was determined to save as much of the forest as possible, and Sam was determined to finally obtain the solution to all of their problems.

  Finally, he took off after everyone else, but he did so by sticking to the shadows cast by the trunks of the fallen trees. With every step, the urgency of the situation carried him forward, and he ran in the opposite direction of every wild Pokémon attempting to flee the Iron-Masked Marauder’s rampage.

  A shout echoed out.

  “Onix! Tackle!”

  Tackle?

  It wasn’t a move Sam expected to hear, but an Onix was heavy enough that any full-body impact would be a devastating threat.

  Slipping past a fallen tree, Sam saw an Onix rear back with a roar. Then, he heard the sound of pressurized water being blasted out. He caught the sight of Brock and Misty desperately commanding their Pokémon to keep a horde at bay.

  Brock’s Onix knocked back a Pinsir that failed to grab it with its horns. A trio of Bellsprout then lashed out at its rocky body with their vines. Misty called for a Water Gun, and her Poliwhirl saw the three Grass Types be knocked down to give Onix the chance to escape. The Rock Type then roared once again, bringing up its tail in a swipe to knock back a small swarm of Beedrill and Ledian.

  The wild Pokémon they fought weren’t just wild Pokémon lashing out after the destruction of their homes. Each and every one of Brock and Misty’s opponents was possessed by a fury that had sunk deep into their eyes. There was a tint to them—a familiar one. Sam immediately recognized them as being under the influence of the Iron-Masked Marauder’s Dark Balls.

  “Sam!” Misty just barely managed to notice Sam as he snuck forward beneath a tree’s edge. “It’s the Iron-Masked Marauder! He’s not just destroying the forest! He’s catching every Pokémon he can!”

  Several Beedrill tried to fire Poison Sting needles at her Poliwhirl, but a Golbat, one that apparently belonged to Brock, managed to send the moves off course by furiously flapping its wings.

  “Go!” Brock yelled. “Help them!”

  Sam replied with a nod even though he knew Brock couldn’t see him. With those two distracting this section of the horde, he managed to sneak ahead thanks to Misdreavus helping him stay hidden with a Night Shade’s cloak.

  The Iron-Masked Marauder isn’t just a poacher. He’s worse than that. He’s a monster.

  The only other person Sam truly hated this much was probably Petrel.

  The sheer size of the fallen trees meant they cast enough shade to let Sam stay hidden as long as he stuck next to their bark. The wild Pokémon he passed, the ones not running away, seemed to be patrolling to find someone, anyone, they could hurt. Horribly, they seemed to be solely motivated by the malicious energy suffused into them by the Iron-Masked Marauder’s Dark Balls.

  Sam knew why Brock and Misty were struggling so much—they hadn’t been calling for their best moves. As aggressive as these Pokémon were, they were still just wild Pokémon. In other words, victims. They didn’t want to hurt them in a full-force fight.

  Yet, in whatever manner those Dark Balls worked, each and every one of these wild Pokémon was fueled by a rage. It was some kind of mix of Ghost and Dark Type-like energy that was forcing these Pokémon to act as if they were constantly experiencing their very worst days. The boost was similar to the buff of a non-Ghost Type’s Curse. Their strength was maximized, but instead of needing to slow themselves to control that energy, it ran rampant through them, infuriating them and causing them to lash out.

  It was cruel, but the Iron-Masked Marauder didn’t care. All of this was just to lure out Celebi.

  His motivations were plain and simple; he was someone who only cared about his own greed.

  The pattern in which the trees had fallen gave Sam a path to follow. He could trace the order of the destruction by moving from shattered stump to shattered stump. With Misdreavus’s help, he was able to remain unseen by the hordes of wild Pokémon. Unfortunately, this area was filled with so much pain that Haunter was unable to sense anything out.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  But following the pattern worked, and Sam quickly found his targets. Hiding behind a spider web of fallen, barren branches, he was able to spy on what was going on in the middle of a clearing.

  Within a square bounded by four fallen trees, Ash, Sammy, and Richard stood off in front of the Iron-Masked Marauder himself.

  In the center, their Pokémon sparked and burned with embers in threat, but they weren’t exactly in a position to approach. The Iron-Masked Marauder stood at the top of one of those fallen trunks, and he was defended by his Scizor, Sneasel, and Tyranitar as well as a horde of growling Pokémon that all faced where the trio of boys stood.

  And, of course, Celebi floated above them.

  “It doesn’t matter how many Dark Balls I have. It only matters if I want to keep the Pokémon,” the Marauder said with a mocking grin. “Catch and release—just like fishing! Every Pokémon gets to share in their effects, and the forest becomes that much worse off for it!”

  The teeth exposed by his grin were far too white. His position at the top of the trunk felt purposeful. He stood there as if to make a point, as if to really nail home just how much he thought everyone else was beneath him.

  On the ground, Ash looked like he was ready to explode out of anger, but Sammy held him back by keeping an arm out. As it stood, they were far too outnumbered to fight without risking Celebi. However, Sammy didn’t seem pleased by his own decision, and Richard—

  Richard didn’t seem to be thinking right now.

  The young version of Sam’s grandfather stared at the Marauder, his expression unreadable. Sam could immediately tell that he’d only be able to rely on himself and his Pokémon for this.

  “Celebi!” The Iron-Masked Marauder yelled, throwing his arms out to his sides to take on a commanding posture. He failed to notice Sam creeping around the backs of the fallen trees. “Give up now, and all of this can stop! My Dark Balls’ effects will eventually wear off, but not if I keep catching them!”

  “And~” The poacher leaned forward, his voice taking on a sing-song nature, and Sam somehow hated the man even more. “Every moment you don’t join us is another moment Tyranitar can do this: Hyper Beam!”

  Right away, the attack shot out, and the world briefly turned white. The move sailed over the heads of everyone here to hit a far-off tree, and the deafening sound of ancient wood cracking filled the air before silencing itself in a final thud.

  “Wait too long, and this forest will be gone, but all of this can be stopped if you give yourself up! Don’t flee. Don’t fight. Join me, and all your beloved people and Pokémon will stay safe!”

  And then he cackled. Because why wouldn’t he cackle? Sam couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at the Marauder’s overdramatic monologue as he positioned himself behind and beneath the poacher’s fallen tree.

  From the other side, Ash and the rest continued to shout insults and denials at the man, but there was a subtle sense of despair to their words. Through that alone, Sam could tell that Celebi was close to taking the Marauder’s bait.

  “Help me,” he whispered.

  Misdreavus grimaced, but she still nodded. Her Confusion helped him climb with a telekinetic boost, but she lacked the control to make that use pain-free.

  Sam didn’t care. His sole target was the Marauder above him. Everyone was so focused on the continuing stand-off and Celebi’s actions that he had free reign to come up from behind.

  So he climbed, one handhold at a time, fingers digging into the uneven bark to pull himself up. He was not athletic. He was not as flexible as Annihilape. He had no Pokémon that could carry him through the sky, but more than anything else, he was fueled by the need to return to his team and help Misdreavus. The only way he could do that was by reaching the Iron-Masked Marauder and “saving” Celebi’s life.

  “So. What’ll it be?” the Marauder asked, confidence dripping from his voice. “More pain, or is this it? Do you finally recognize that it’s time for you to give up?”

  Ahead of Sam, the Marauder plucked a Dark Ball from a band of them he kept at his waist, and he held it out as if to taunt the Legendary Pokémon.

  It was actually kind of funny.

  Sam hadn’t even realized he had come up with the same plan as Mismagius until after he had made it.

  Celebi seemed to have accepted defeat, and even with the shouts of the boys trying to convince it to stay back, it started to drift up toward the Marauder, lamenting that it had no other choice. The Marauder himself saw that and grinned, and Celebi’s incoming presence meant he had no reason to turn around.

  “Oh, and Celebi?” he said. “Make sure they can’t interfere.”

  As Sam finally pulled himself up onto the very top of the trunk, he caught sight of the pained expression on Celebi’s face as it waved an arm. Massive roots left the forest’s floor to trap the Pokémon in the center. Pikachu, Charmeleon, and Jolteon became pinned by the forest itself.

  Below, Sammy cried out in despair, sounding as if he had just been stabbed.

  “Good. Good!” The Iron-Masked Marauder laughed once more. “Now come here. Let me catch you, and we can put all of this behind us.”

  Finally, Celebi moved to finish floating over, but it paused when it saw Sam stand up.

  The Iron-Masked Marauder turned around too late.

  “Behind you!”

  Sam’s sudden shout completely caught the man off-guard, and the crack of his foot smashing into the tree’s bark was the shot that started it all off.

  Sam lunged, bringing his arms out to latch around the Marauder, and he slammed his full body weight into the Marauder’s stomach to send the man to the ground.

  The impact saw the Marauder exhale in pain, and he lacked the air in him to give the horde of Pokémon any command.

  “Now, Misdreavus!” Sam yelled.

  From where she’d been waiting, she rushed over with Shadow Sneak and popped out just to tear away the Marauder’s belt with a use of Confusion. In a mirror to what happened to Sam to start this whole situation, every Dark Ball at the Marauder’s waist was ripped away from him, and Misdreavus went on to use that same Shadow Sneak to take off and disappear into the still-remaining, nearby woods.

  “You—!” The man struggled to get out from under Sam, and Sam flailed and squirmed and swung his arms like a Primeape to try to overwhelm the Marauder for as long as possible. “Get them!”

  The poacher’s shout saw every Pokémon in the clearing finally attack.

  However, though Ash and everyone else had their primary Pokémon pinned, Sam had bought them just enough time to release the rest of their teams. With numbers no longer so weighed against them, they now had a fighting chance.

  All the while, Celebi looked on in horror.

  But Sam didn’t pay attention.

  The battle taking place was probably epic, but that wasn’t where his focus needed to be right now.

  “You’re just an annoying twerp! Get off of me! And stop! Swinging! Your! Arms!”

  “Never!”

  Sam wasn’t a fighter, but he knew how to be annoying. He couldn’t exactly do much to hurt this guy, but he could at least do whatever he needed to distract him for as long as he could.

  His hands smacked into the Marauder’s arms, chest, and head. Each impact hurt, especially when they hit the Marauder’s armored vest and dumb yellow mask.

  At one point, one of his swings saw his wrist smash into one of the man’s red lenses. It sent a sharp pain into his hand, but it let him catch sight of the absolutely infuriated expression underneath.

  Finally, with a roar, the Marauder managed to throw him off. Sam slid, but he didn’t fall off the tree thanks to Haunter’s help stabilizing him with a grabbing shadow.

  “You kids... don’t even realize how annoying you are! How big of a thorn you’ve been in my side all this time!” The Marauder pushed to his feet, arms hanging while he stared at Sam, breathing heavily. “You don’t even know how much work I put into this! The places I had to go, the people I had to threaten! All just to find and catch Celebi, and yet—!”

  He froze and slowly brought his gaze down to his hand. A cruel smile crept onto his face, and Sam followed where the man was looking.

  Though Misdreavus had disappeared alongside his belt, the Iron-Masked Marauder still had one Dark Ball left. It was the very same one he had used to taunt Celebi just seconds before.

  “Aha. I win,” he said.

  Before Sam could react, the man had already snapped himself around to throw the ball right at where Celebi was flying.

  The Legendary Pokémon wasn’t moving. It hadn’t been paying attention to the tussle going on up top. Sam had already “stopped” the main bad guy, but Celebi’s friends, the very same boys that had first rescued it and ensured it could heal, were all fighting at the bottom, so that was where all its attention laid.

  For that reason, Celebi didn’t know the Marauder had escaped, and it didn’t know there was a ball flying right toward its head. Sam had nothing he could do to stop this. Ultimately, even with Richard’s foreknowledge, everything they’d done had failed.

  But he wasn’t alone here. Misdreavus might have flown off, but one Pokémon was still with him. Haunter was fast, and he belonged to an eight-star team. Catching up to a flying Pokéball was simple for him, especially since he could move through all patches of darkness.

  So, Sam watched as his own shadow stretched out, curving right toward where that Dark Ball was flying through the air. However, Haunter didn’t know Shadow Sneak and couldn’t make his own shadows. At a certain point, the darkness snapped, and that launched him out.

  Yet, that was intentional as the elastic reaction gave him the final burst of speed needed to reach his target. He didn’t quite have the time to perfectly follow the path of the Dark Ball, but he could fling himself ahead of it.

  Haunter shoved Celebi out of the way.

  “No!”

  Sam looked on in horror. Though Haunter had saved Celebi, he had done so by sacrificing himself instead. The Dark Ball hit his side and opened up in a flash of deep purple light, and though Haunter was already a caught Pokémon, this was a poacher’s Pokéball.

  The sphere sucked him up, and it landed in a groove in the tree’s bark, echoing out with a horrible click.

  “Tch. Not what I wanted, but a Haunter can help, too.”

  The Iron-Masked Marauder was between Sam and that Dark Ball. Sam had no way to reach it first, and Celebi was no help, too overwhelmed and aghast at everything going on to do anything but observe.

  But as it turned out, Sam didn’t need to do anything. The Iron-Masked Marauder didn’t even get to take a single step forward before the Dark Ball shook and opened up.

  Ghost Types couldn’t be trapped, after all. The Dark Ball broke in two, and then something else exploded out.

  It hit Sam, then, exactly what he’d been having Haunter do over the course of the past week. Haunter had been protecting him, but more than that, Haunter had been dedicating himself to making sure he would go unseen. Not once had Haunter properly left the shadows. Every waking moment had been spent in hiding—and as a Ghost Type, he hadn’t exactly needed to sleep. Haunter had pushed himself to his limits to remain unknown, and he’d constantly been extending his senses to detect, scare, and ward off any aggressive wild Pokémon.

  While what he’d done was not as intense as soloing an entire tournament, he had subjected himself to a constant trial over the past few days.

  Thus, when suffused by the energy of a Dark Ball, that was the final push he needed to evolve.

  “No. You kids... You don’t even realize what you’ve done, do you?”

  The Iron-Masked Marauder took a shaky step back.

  “The Dark Balls. They turn Pokémon evil. But they also keep evil Pokémon under control.”

  When the ball had broken open, it had broken open. So, there was nothing to limit the maliciousness of this creature, and red eyes flicked both the Marauder’s and Sam’s way.

  In the air above the trunk’s branches, a newly evolved Pokémon let the space around him fill with shadows. He was no longer just a face and two floating hands but a Pokémon with a proper body. A Pokémon that was a proper Ghost.

  He had limbs. He had a smile. He had greatly increased power. His darkness writhed around him, and his grin threatened to split him in two.

  Haunter had evolved inside the Dark Ball, so Sam had not seen his transformation. Sam wasn’t even sure if Haunter knew he had evolved because he was assuredly not in control. Right now, he might have been a Gengar, but the energy was overwhelming. It controlled him—possessed him. Not a single ounce of recognition crossed over his face.

  Gengar looked on with a barely suppressed desire to cause pain, and the Iron-Masked Marauder immediately turned tail and ran. He slid off the side of the trunk to dart into the woods, and when Gengar’s cruel gaze turned to Sam, he found himself having no choice but to do the same.

  Thus, the two of them disappeared into the darkened woods, and Gengar didn’t wait to give chase.

  Sam’s Team:

  Approximate Team Strength: 5 Stars

  (Ghost / Poison Type, Male, Naive Nature +Spe/-SpD)

  Abilities: n/a

  Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Confuse Ray, Spite, Mean Look, Hex, Shadow Punch, Night Shade, Acid Spray, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater, Nightmare, Curse

  (Ghost Type, Female, Hasty Nature +Spe/-Def)

  Pokéball: Friend Ball

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Growl, Psywave, Astonish, Confusion, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak

  Pokémon included in this chapter:

  Beedrill

  huge thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.