It brought back memories of years past, when we would sit on the same beach and watch the sky. We would usually talk about Pokemon, and she would help me map out the ideal battle team. As the sun dropped lower and the waves lapped at its brilliant corona, Heather and I stood again. She faced me, and I felt my heart in my throat. “Neil,” she started in her soft voice, “last week was your birthday, right?” I nodded my approval but was unable to speak.

A week ago, my birthday was spent on the desolate, frostbitten Seafoam Islands. It was hard for me to think about it without feeling a wince of pain about Hunter. I remembered my “birthday party.” Tech smuggled a cupcake in a watertight package into his backpack, and he and Hunter, Alan, proudly presented it to me. That was the fondest memory I had of us together. Alan and Jack tried to light the candle, but the harsh winds blew it out for me. We all laughed, smiled, and sang. It was a good time in a forbidding place… Heather drew me back out of my memories.

“I never stopped hoping you would come back,” she said, dwindling her words toward the end. “I have a present for you,” she told me. “I’ve kept it for a year, in case I ever saw you again…”

“Heather…,” I tried to interject. She didn’t need to give me anything. Just being with her was enough. She reached into her pocket and took out a small, wrapped box. It was about the size of a large ring case, and I somewhat reluctantly tore into it. I lifted the flap of the cardboard box and inside was an object about the size and shape of a golf ball. I pulled it out and looked at it. “Alright!” I exclaimed. “A Great Ball! I was out of ‘em. Thanks!” I closed my fist around the smooth metal ball, and felt the two black crests near the top.

“Open it, you dork,” she chided. She winked at me, and I was instantly shamed. Laughing softly, I pressed the release button once and it expanded to about the size of a softball. Holding my breath, I hurled it to the sand fifteen feet away. A violent flash of crimson light illuminated the lush sands, and quickly materialized into a Pokemon. I caught my breath. I couldn’t believe it. I quickly turned to Heather with a look of shock on my face.

“Heather… after all this time, you remembered…” I said, still stunned.

“Happy birthday, Neil,” she whispered. I looked back at my new warrior. At four feet tall and weighing over six hundred pounds, this Pokemon wasn’t found in nature. Heather had bought it from a trader, or had traded one of her own Pokemon…

The last rays of the sun shone dully off its immense rock scales. It remained still for a moment, then stretched its short arms and legs. It turned to its left, allowing the radiant sun to profile its reptilian head, centered on its round, boulder-like body. I was staring at my new Golem! I leaned in close to Heather as the sky grew dark.

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