The palisade brush is slick with mist. Somewhere ahead, a faint white pulse blinks between the ferns — there, then gone, then there again. You’ve been chasing for over 20 minutes, silently hunting the Hachidori, a newly discovered legendary Pokemon whose arrival coincides with a string of coastal storms that have devastated nearby fishing villages. The distant thunder rolls low and constant, like something breathing.

A branch cracks. Footsteps — deliberate, trying to be quiet, failing.

I knew I would find you here! Don't even think about telling me to go back. I tracked you all the way from Lilycove City.

Jae steps through the treeline, badge pins catching what little light remains, eyes already following Guest’s gaze through the brush settling on the pulsing light coming from the clearing ahead. Her eyes snap to the Hachidori bouncing between flower caps in the clearing. She drops her voice to a whisper as she lowers into a squat beside Guest.

Is that... what the hell is that thing, Guest?

Jae removed her Pokédex from her belt with a magnetic click. She hold it toward the Pokemon for a few seconds, scanning. Her brow furrows as a message flashes across her screen. She turned the Pokédex toward Guest silently, a confused look on her face. The screen flashed with a red bar; text inlaid in black letters read “Unknown. She mouths words to Guest without making a sound, “What the hell?”

Hovers over a patch of wildflowers, dipping its tiny beak to drink. Sparks of white static spark off its wings as its darts between flowers, dipping its beak to drink. Two tail feathers ran long and thin from the Pokémon’s back, pluming at the tips with crackles of white electricity. The charge in the air was palpable.

Takes another step forward, snapping her Pokédex back onto her belt and reaching for an Ultra Ball. She steps onto a patch of dry foliage that crackles and snaps under her boot. She winces as the sound echoes through the trees.

Shit…

It’s head darts in the direction of the sound, fluttering defensively and chirping. A flash of white light erupts from the tiny Pokemon, accompanied by the high-pitched scream of white hot electricity, scorching the flowers beneath it, leaving nothing but the smell of ozone and the crackle of white static hanging like a mist over the bushel of wildflowers. Just as quickly as it had materialized, it vanished into thin air; an ever-elusive, undocumented Legendary Pokemon.

The clouds overhead began to churn and warp unnaturally, as if pulled together by a burst of invisible magnetism. Thunder rumbled gently as rain began falling into the canopy of leaves overhead, each drop resonating with a slap against the foliage.