"Geez, can't this Crawford come up with a different joke?" April asked with disbelief. "I mean, who hasn't heard of the Gligar and the two Gyarados by the sea?"

"I haven't," Toby piped up.

"Because you only like knock-knock jokes, squirt."

"Stop calling me that!"

Before April could say anything else, there was a rhythmic knock on the front door.

"Summy's here!" Toby shouted.

"Indoor voice, young man," warned Mr. Montgomery.

Summer entered the kitchen with Starly. The day she started working at the Vientown Ranger Base, the Starly from the one-day internship tracked her down, wanting to be her Partner Pokémon. "Evening, guys."

"Hey, sweetheart," said Mrs. Montgomery. "How was work today?"

Summer thought for a moment. "Kind of... intense."

"What exactly do you mean by 'intense?'" asked April.

Earlier that day

"We should add a Pokémon knowledge column in the Tribune," said Crawford. "You definitely know more about Pokémon than anyone I've ever met."

Summer shrugged. "Eh, my parents would know more... and probably my big sister, too. In any case, the mass majority of things about Pokémon that I know of is from my family and from this show that's hosted by this Pokémon Professor who lives in Kanto."

Elaine looked up from the radio she was fixing. "Ooh, I know that show. The Professor video-phones to Gol—"

"Wait until you hear this!"

Elaine glared at Luana, who had just run into the break room. "Do you mind, Lu? I was talking."

"Whatever it is can wait, E." Luana turned to Summer and Crawford. "Something's happened that could turn into a proper mission. Now come on!"

Summer got up quickly. In the month that she'd been at Vien Town, she had only delivered the Vien Tribune's bi-weekly issues or patrolling the surrounding areas. The thought of going out on a mission that involved Pokémon was exciting!

Barlow waited for the other Rangers in the lobby. His Makuhita was looking even more pumped than usual. Summer guessed that even a Partner Pokémon could get excited about a potential proper mission. After all, you could feel the excitement from the Rangers.

"So what happened, Barlow?" asked Crawford.

"Woodward's concerned with the cave on Nabiki Beach. He says there have been mysterious sounds coming from there." Barlow turned to Summer. "Remember your one-day internship?"

Summer nodded.

"Well, the sounds coming from the barge that freaked out the Pokémon then are the same coming from Marine Cave. Crawford, you'll head up the investigation of the cave. Summer, you'll go, too, so you can see how we handle other types of missions."

Summer nodded again. But mentally, she was screaming with joy.

"There hasn't been much of a chance for a mission to actually be called a mission," said Crawford. "At least not since that Mantine mission or the one that happened on you and your friends' internship. Speaking of, has he mentioned anything exciting happening in Fiore in that latest letter?"

Summer patted her jacket pocket. Keith's last letter had come in two days ago and had been sent the week before. Summer had already memorized it.

Hey Summer

Well, not much has been happening; but last week, I got to explore the jungle nearby. Man, there's a lot of Bug-types here! Hey, is it just spider-like Pokémon you're scared of, or is it all of them?

That's all I have to say for now. Oh, except that the Summerland crew says hi.

Later!

Keith

It was amazing how Keith had so much to say when you talked face-to-face, but he was not a sparkling conversationalist when he wrote on paper.

"Pretty much the same as here," said Summer.

"So, almost nothing."

"Exactly."

"Star starly! Star star!" Starly sounded panicked.

"Dew! Dew budew budew!" Budew sounded just as freaked.

"What's up with you two?" Summer asked.

Starly flew ahead of Summer, and Budew jumped off Crawford's shoulder and followed it.

"Wait up!" Summer immediately followed the Pokémon.

"Yo! Why don't you wait up, Summer?" Crawford shouted, doing the same. The two Rangers quickly caught up with their Partner Pokémon. As they followed, a strange sound reached Summer's ears, and she stopped.

"You hear that?"

"The sounds from the barge, now coming from the cave; now let's go," Crawford said quickly, running after the Pokémon again. As the Pokémon kept going, both Summer and Crawford could hear the strange sound a little more loudly. To Summer, it was a kind of whirring sound with a hum that reminded her of a Psychic-type Pokémon's Psywave.

Starly and Budew kept running for a couple more minutes before stopping a few feet from the mouth of a cave; Summer had never seen it before.

"That Marine Cave?" Summer asked Crawford.

"Yup." Crawford picked up Budew, set it back on his shoulder, and then turned to Summer. "Hopefully whatever is making that weird sound will be easy enough to stop."

It didn't seem easy to Summer several minutes later. When they had entered the cave, the Rangers discovered that their usual Capturing didn't hold.

"This is too weird!" whined Summer after it happened a fourth time. "Why isn't the Capturing working?"

Crawford watched the Shellos he had failed to Capture keep walking dizzily. "Maybe the pulsing sounds in this cave have something to do with it. If it is, we'd better find the source of those sounds."

Starly, with Budew on its back, led the way for the Rangers while they dodged the dizzy and confused Pokémon. Summer frowned. 'I'm gonna kill whoever did this!'

The further in they went, the louder the sound got. And the closer it seemed to be getting, the dizzier Pokémon became. Starly and Budew kept leading the way. Summer wondered why the Partner Pokémon wasn't affected by the pulsing sounds.

"I'd guess that whatever is making the sounds doesn't affect Pokémon that weren't in close range," Crawford answered when Summer asked him. "Since it's coming from the cave, it's the Pokémon here that are mostly disoriented."

"Starly star!"

"Budew!"

The Starling and Bud Pokémon stopped and then gestured to a small ring of Pokémon, all of them reminding Summer of what happened on the one-day internship. Just like then, they were running around in a confused circle. But instead of surrounding a person, they surrounded an odd, red machine that was spinning on the top.

"What the heck is that thing?" asked Summer.

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, the sound is coming from it." Crawford stared at the machine, then at the Pokémon. "That machine just might be what is making the Pokémon behave like this."

"Then let's stop it," Summer said. She started for the red machine, but Crawford put his hand out. Summer glared at him. "What?!"

"I don't know how we'd be able to stop it," Crawford still stared at the machine. "I think we should go further into the cave, see if there's any Pokémon that's not being affected by this thing." He turned to his Budew and Summer's Starly. "You two keep leading the way and see if any Pokémon are acting normally; point them out."

Starly said something to Budew in Pokémon. Budew answered with a nod. Then Starly landed on the ground, and Budew jumped onto its back. Starly took off again, flying slowly so it and Budew could search along with their Rangers.

Everyone searched for several minutes, going deeper and deeper into Marine Cave. Summer wondered just what kind of Pokémon they'd be able to use and how exactly would it be able to help. And what if there wasn't a Pokémon in here that the sounds weren't affecting?

"I think this Gastrodon will do."

Summer looked to where Crawford was looking at. A West Sea Gastrodon was some feet away. Summer walked up to take a closer look. Its eyes were wide open, but light snoring sounds were coming from it.

"Must not affect Pokémon that are asleep," guessed Summer. She checked her Styler screen to see what its moves were. "Body Slam... Hidden Power... Mud Bomb... Water Pulse..."

"All of those might work," said Crawford. "Let's hope the Capture holds this time." He moved his Styler around and around until the light turned white.

The pink and brown Pokémon snorted as it woke with a start. It looked at the Rangers and yawned.

"Capture complete," Crawford grinned. "Hey Gastrodon, we need some help from you. Follow us."

"Tro." The Gastrodon got up and followed.

"All right..." Crawford stared at his Styler screen, contemplating on what attack Gastrodon should use.

"It might be best to use Body Slam first," Summer spoke up. "A Gastrodon's Body Slam can be pretty powerful, even if it does only weigh sixty-six pounds."

Crawford looked at the red machine, still surrounded by the group of Pokémon. "It can jump when it uses that move... that'll help to avoid these Pokémon. Gastrodon, use Body Slam on that machine."

"Rodon!" the Gastrodon jumped into the air and landed on the machine. It toppled over, Gastrodon still on top. A few of the Pokémon scattered, but the rest remained.

Summer listened for the pulsing sound, and it was still there. 'Well, that didn't work.'

"Now use Water Pulse!" yelled Crawford.

'Because the water might shorten out the circuits,' Summer thought as Gastrodon used its attack.

There was a crackling sound from the red machine as the Water Pulse hit. The top stopped spinning, and then the whole machine fell apart. And the best part, the humming, pulsing sound was gone. The group of Pokémon surrounding the machine blinked a few times, then noticed the Rangers. They all said something in Pokémon and went in different directions of the cave.

"Yeah!!" Summer and Crawford cheered as did their Partner's.

Crawford examined the broken red machine. "This dumb thing really was the cause of all this. This just proves it looks pretty shady."

"Do we take it back to the Base for analysis? I bet Elaine would love to see how it worked."

"Yeah, she will," Crawford grinned. "Come on; help me lift this thing."

Summer went to the other side of Crawford and started to lift a side of the machine.

"One... two... lift!"

The Rangers grunted as they tried to lift the machine at the same time.

"LIFT!" Summer strained. They grunted again.

"Set... it... down..." groaned Crawford.

Once the machine was safely back down, Summer did an arm stretch. "Man, that's heavy! I don't think the two of us can even budge it."

Crawford punched a few buttons on his Styler. "I'll call the Base so they can get Big Bertha to help us move this."

Big Bertha was a resident of Vientown who was THE strongest person in the area, possibly in all of Almia. Summer offered to head back toward town if Big Bertha started to come, and she could show Bertha the way to Marine Cave.

"All right, I'll wait for her here."

A couple of hours later, everyone was still waiting for Crawford and Big Bertha at the Ranger Base. Summer had told the others what had happened.

"I don't like what happened with the Pokémon, but I do like the idea of analyzing that machine," said Elaine.

"That's what I said!" Summer said.

"Out of the way; heavy machinery coming through!"

Crawford burst through the Base doors, with the parts of the red machine over Big Bertha's head.

"I have no idea why you two couldn't lift this doohickey; it seems perfectly light to me," Big Bertha said in her booming voice.

"I have no idea how you carried that thing all by yourself, Bertha," said Crawford incredulously.

"Seriously?" Summer and Luana said at the same time.

"I knew you were really strong, Bertha, but this is... something else," said Barlow.

"Why, thank you," Big Bertha smiled. "Well, if that's all you need, I should be headed back home."

The Base members all said their farewells.

"Can I take this thing apart now?" Elaine asked, eyes shining with anticipation. "I really need to analyze it to see what's making it hurt the Pokémon."

"Actually, I'm afraid you can't do that just yet, Elaine," said Barlow. "It's best to have it examined thoroughly before you take it apart."

Elaine shrugged. "Okay then, I'll examine it first."

Barlow scratched his head. "Well, I already called Professor Hastings to come over and do the examining. He's much better equipped than anyone else to do it."

"How long do we have to wait for him?" Luana asked.

"It'll be a few days. The Professor's all the way in the Fiore region, handling business there."

Elaine made a whining noise. "I have to wait to dismantle that?!" She looked at the machine longingly and pouted.

"Most of that does sound intense," Mrs. Montgomery said. "Those poor Pokémon..."

"At least they're safe now," said April. "Man, I hope I never encounter those machines. I'd hate to see if they would affect our Pokémon. I ever find whoever did it, I'll beat them to a pulp!"

"You and me both, Sister."

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Word count: 2065