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Sometimes curiosity was a good thing. Other times, it killed you. At this time and place, Tia hoped it was the former.

What else could explain why she was surfing up and down an abandoned, ruined coastline, following up on crazy urban legends?

Actually, she was looking for any Water-type Pokemon to catch in the area, but no Pokemon seemed to be around. In fact, it seemed as if no Pokemon dared to live here – as if they were afraid of the creature she was looking for-

There. She finally admitted it to herself. Deep down, she knew she was really looking for the Glitch.

The Glitch. Also known as the Pokemon MissingNo. A Pokemon that had never developed correctly, and had the power to break down the barriers of reality if you were ever unlucky enough to encounter it. It looked like a heavy, concentrated mist, or like the static snow of an old television tuned to a dead channel, and had a cry reminiscent of a Nidoran.

Kit had told her the legend years ago, when the two of them were still kids, and she had never forgotten it. Kit had never told Tia whether she had actually seen MissingNo or not, but her advice was standard for the legend: pray you never encounter it, or else your reality will never be the same again. You could end up with multiples of the things in your pack, or the PC will stop working for you and only you. You could end up walking through solid walls, or even worse, the world would just implode on you and kill you.

Tia wasn’t sure she believed in all of that. But if the legend was true, it meant MissingNo was a Pokemon, and it could be caught.

She looked down at her Dewgong, which had stopped while Tia was lost in thought. “Let’s keep going, Emi.”

Emi made a questioning noise, and continued to Surf. They continued for another mile, until the coastline became misty.

“The forecast said it’d be sunny all day today,” Tia mused, “so this is unusual.” The mist gradually became thicker, and a strange noise began to fill her ears, like radio static.

Suddenly, the distinctive cry of a Nidoran sounded in the distance. Tia looked around frantically, trying to see where the cry had come from. She squinted her eyes as she looked through the mist, looking for that telltale bundle of static-

A large splash jolted Tia out of her thoughts. She looked over to see a Swimmer bobbing up and down in the ocean beside her and Emi.

“Hey there!” the Swimmer said, “You lost?”

“Uh… no.” Tia looked in front of her again, but the sky and sea were clear.

“Just wondering. I’ve seen you Surfing up and down the coast, and I wondered if you knew that New Cinnabar’s just a couple of leagues away! There’s nothing on the original Cinnabar Island except ruins and a lone Pokemon Center.” The Swimmer looked at her again. “Well, you don’t look like you’re lost, so I hope you find what you’re looking for!” The Swimmer turned around and swam away.

Tia shouted in frustration. She had been so close to seeing MissingNo and catching it. Who knew when or if it would show up again?

She sighed as she saw multiple Water-type Pokemon begin to show up along the coastline. She pulled out a Dive Ball and looked over at Emi. “Oh well. Let’s go get what we came here for,” she said, resigned. She refused to consider this a wasted trip.

Later, Tia arrived at New Cinnabar Island with a bag full of Dive Balls, and set up her workstation to record the capture data.

Tentacool x 10, Tentacruel x 5, Staryu x 5, Goldeen x 5
Levels 30-39
Gender: Male/Female
Encounter Area: Water
Average Capture Rate: 3.4

The whole time, Tia could not stop thinking about MissingNo. What would have happened if she had seen it and actually caught it?

Maybe it was for the best that she hadn’t. She wouldn’t have liked to have her reality come crashing down on her, after all.

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