The Secret of MissingNo

By Mandy Nader

The young trainer marched triumphantly from the Viridian City Gym, proudly gazing at his eight Gym Badges, including the Earth Badge he had earned moments before. It had been a tough battle, but he had raised his Pokemon well. The shadowy Gym Leader had no choice but to award the green, leaf-shaped Badge to the victorious young boy.

"So, I'd imagine you're heading for the League, eh?" asked his father, one of the elite guards of the Gym. "Ready to battle the Elites?"

Jeremy smiled. "You bet I am! I might do a bit more training before I go... don't want to lose at Indigo."

His father nodded. "Smart strategy, son. I'd recommend training on Cinnabar. There's a lot of high-levelers there, lots of battle experience. Got your team all picked out?"

Jeremy pointed to the red and white spheres at his belt. "Graveler, Pidgeot, Hypno, Persian, Growlithe, and Venusaur. There were others I wanted to take but I can only choose six. I'm a little worried about fighting Dragon-types though... maybe I should teach one of mine an Ice move."

The guard patted his son's head fondly. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Give your mother and I a call as soon as you've become a victorious Pokemon Master!"

Jeremy glanced around the city streets anxiously. "I really wanted to say goodbye to my brother before I left... you know, the "great Professor" of the family. Maybe at least one of us can make something out of himself." He made this last comment with more than a touch of resentment in his voice.

"Now Jeremy," his father began, a serious note in his voice, "you know that what happened at Cinnabar wasn't your brother's fault. But the Boss still wasn't pleased. He needed someone to blame and Eric was technically the one in charge there. The Boss's temper sure isn't something to be toyed with, trust me on this."

"I know," sighed Jeremy. "But we haven't heard from him in ages... maybe I kinda... miss him a little." Suddenly he became defensive. "But don't you dare tell anyone I said that! I-"

His father nodded solemnly. "I ain't telling nobody."

After a few seconds, Jeremy's optimistic attitude returned. He was usually a very cheerful person, and never remained down for long. He sighed, readjusting his backpack on his shoulders. "Well, wish me luck. I'm off to train a bit, then I'm heading for the Plateau."

"Good luck." The elite guard saluted as the young boy marched off.

Jeremy walked away from the Gym, heading for the main street of town, when he suddenly tripped over a prone figure, wearing a dirty long coat and clutching a stained travel cup with both hands. The person appeared to be an older man, half-conscious and muttering to himself.

"Sorry," Jeremy mumbled. "I should've been watching where I was going."

"'s ok." slurred the figure. "Hey... kid?"

Jeremy looked down at the ragged-looking man lying on the ground. "Huh?" He was wondering what this crazy old fool could want from him.

"...Kid? Are you... in a hurrrry?" The man took a quick gulp of his beverage.

"Um... no." began Jeremy nervously. One false move and my Growlithe's gonna fry this dude, he thought, resting his hand on a Poke ball at his belt.

"Thhennn... lemmeshow you s-s-s-somethin...g." The man was obviously inebriated.

As if on cue, a wild caterpillar Pokemon, a Weedle, hopped out of the bushes.

"Watchhhh this," mumbled the figure, pulling a grime-covered Poke ball from his coat pocket. The old man threw the ball, and the small creature was instantly caught. "Course," the old man slurred, "you haveta use your own... Pokemon... ta weaken... the- the enemy."

Jeremy was unimpressed. "I know how to catch Pokemon," he snapped impatiently. "I'm on my way to the Indigo League!"

"You are?" asked the old man incredulously. Suddenly, his speech seemed to become much clearer. "You've already gotten all eight Gym Badges?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah... I just won the Earth Badge. I still have to train a little more, though." This old guy seemed strangely familiar, now that he was speaking normally.

"You're not stopping by Cinnabar Island, are you?" the stranger asked excitedly.

"Actually, that's where I was headed. Pidgeot was going to Fly me there after I pick up a few supplies."

Suddenly the stranger leapt to his feet, showing amazing agility for an old man. "Then you might really be able to help me!" he cried. "It's a long shot, but it's possible you could help me regain my lost dignity." Jeremy looked at him quizzically. "Don't you recognize me? Jer, it's me, Eric... your older brother!"

Jeremy's jaw dropped as the stranger pulled off a wrinkled mask and tossed off his long coat; his clothes were dirty, and his face hadn't been shaved in days, but there was no denying the man's true identity.

"But you- why did you- where...?"

"How else can I stay hidden from Giovanni? He'll never think to look here in Viridian, his home city, and he'll never suspect some crazy old man." He took a long drink of his coffee. "Ahhhh coffee. I don't know where I'd be without my glorious caffeine."

"I think that caffeine has gone to your head," remarked Jeremy. "You're acting totally insane."

"Now hear me out. If you could do me this little favor, I'd be eternally grateful."

"What is it you want?" asked Jeremy, arching an eyebrow. "And what does it have to do with me?"

"I guess I'd better start at the beginning. Back on Cinnabar Island, a few years ago, we were trying to clone a Mew. You know, of course, that a group of scientists did succeed in that endeavor, and created Mewtwo. But there were a lot of unsuccessful experiments before they did."

The young Professor got a far-off look in his eyes as he continued his story. "I was the head researcher in the original cloning experiments. We were actually making progress when the unthinkable happened. Two of our experiments escaped."

"Escaped?" asked Jeremy. "What were they?"

"Unfinished Pokemon. Glitches," he said, sadly shaking his head. "When Giovanni heard that these mistakes had gotten loose, his fury couldn't be contained. He blew up like an Electrode. And vowed that the person responsible would be severely dealt with." The Professor shuddered. "We tried to catch the Glitches, but we never found them. I think you need to Surf along the coast, but none of our scientists had a Surfing Pokemon on their person. By the time someone thought to transfer one from their PC, Giovanni had already found out our mistake and sent in his guards. If my Kadabra hadn't Teleported me out of there, they would have caught me..." He took another sip of coffee before continuing. "The Boss will have my neck if I dare show myself, even now. Ever since then, I've been hiding out. keeping hidden in the shadows whenever I can, and trying to find a skilled trainer to recapture those mistake Pokemon for me. I don't have any other option. not until those Glitches are caught. Maybe if I bring them back to the Boss, he'll give me my job back... or at least stop hunting me like some common criminal."

"These Glitch things you're talking about... what do these things look like, anyway?" asked Jeremy. "Do they look like Mew, or Mewtwo?"

"That's the strangest part. One of them didn't have an actual 'body' as such; we were going to work on physical body development after its abilities were perfected. Some sailors have reported seeing something glowing on the coasts of Cinnabar, late at night. They say it looks like a backwards-L shape. That might be the first of our missing Glitches."

"So these things just look like scrambles?"

"Not the other one. The more powerful of the two looks like a ghost."

"Gastly? Or Haunter?"

"Neither. Not Gengar either... or any other Ghost Pokemon." Professor Stone sighed, taking another drink of his coffee. "I've not seen it myself, but there are numerous reports that the East coast of Cinnabar is haunted by a ghostly apparition, unlike any Pokemon ever seen before. Shrouded in a thick mist, it lurks silently in the darkness and..."

"As interesting as this is," interrupted Jeremy impatiently, "what does it have to do with me?"

Professor Stone reached into the pocket of his tattered overcoat and pulled out the grimy Poke ball he had caught the Weedle in. Pushing the center button, he released the caterpillar into the shrubbery and handed the ball to Jeremy.

"It may not look impressive, but you're holding the pinnacle of Poke Ball technology in your hand. This is a Master Ball, one of only a few left in the private sector. We had tons of them back in the Cinnabar Lab, but now Giovanni keeps a tight rein on these things, so they're really hard to come by. You can instantly catch any Pokemon with this."

"Any Pokemon?" asked Jeremy incredulously. "Wow."

Stone smiled. "They gave me this with my diploma when I graduated from the Institute... huh, it seems like forever since then. I've always kept it as a kind of good luck charm. Anyway, I'm entrusting this to you now. Use it if you see one of those Glitches while you're training on Cinnabar. Ordinarily I'd never ask someone else to finish my duty, but as I said before, I don't have a choice in the matter."

Jeremy turned the Master Ball over in his hands. It looked like it had originally been a pinkish-purple color, but was now so covered in filth that its surface lacked any sort of shine. Hard to believe something so dirty could be so rare and valuable.

"Well, I'll try..." the young trainer began. "But no promises."

Professor Stone nodded, putting his disguise back on. "I know you'll try your best, that's just the kind of person you are. I wish I had some way to thank you... ah yes!" Reaching into his coat pocket again, the Professor pulled out something that looked like a shiny red pendant and handed it to his younger brother.

"What's this?" asked Jeremy. It was a large reddish-orange translucent crystal, shaped like a ball of flame.

"Fire Stone," grinned the Professor. "I found it about a month ago, but didn't know what to do with it in my present state. I overheard that you're training a Growlithe. This'll make it evolve into Arcanine... whenever you're ready to evolve it."

"Gee, thanks," said Jeremy, placing the pendant around his neck. "I'll Fly straight home if I catch one of those Glitch things."

"Good luck," said the Professor, resuming his position on the ground. "And good luck at Indigo too... little brother."

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