--though Blaine was thankfully not present at his gym at the time of the eruption, early reports have suggested a death toll in the hundreds. Rescue workers and early responders are canvassing Cinnabar Island in hopes of finding any survivors--



Oak turned off his radio and sighed. Disaster. The whole of Cinnabar Island, destroyed at the whim of an erupting volcano. What worried him the most was that Kanto's young Champion, that red-haired kid, had spent so much time on the island within the past few days...



And was no longer answering his calls.



A loud rap on the door snapped him out of his thoughts of despair. "Hey, Prof.!" a sharp voice called out. "It's Churro! We've gotta talk to you!"



Oak's eyes grew wide. Churro had survived? He'd heard the Charmeleon had moved to Cinnabar Island after inheriting a real fixer-upper of a mansion from some dead relative or another, but how had Churro gotten out of the eruption alive?



Oak didn't wait for one of his aides to open the door. He stood up, dashed across the room faster than anyone his age had a right to move, and threw open the door. "Churro? What on -- AIIIYEEEE!"



Standing on his doorstep was Churro, a Ditto, and some form of unsightly glitchy serpentine mess that was coiled around them and looking very self-conscious of itself.



Oak took several steps backward, eyeing the thing with no small measure of alarm. "I, ah... is that thing with you?"



I have a name, the glitch creature said. I'd prefer not to use it, but it is a name. May we come in?



The professor was not at all sure whether this was a good idea or not, but he felt it rude to refuse. "C... c... come in," he stammered.



---



"So let me get this straight," Professor Oak said. "Team Rocket is behind the killer space jellyfish?"



No, Asmodeus said, the killer space jellyfish are behind Team Rocket. Even their leader fears them.



"And these space jellyfish just... swallowed up Red, then destroyed Cinnabar Island under the guise of a volcanic eruption?"



"Yep," Churro growled. "Just when I'd almost gotten rid of the burglar infestation, too."



Oak held his head in his hands. "I... I'm going to need some time to process this." He peered through his fingers at Asmodeus. "And you're quite sure that thing isn't evil?"



"You know, not all Outsiders are evil jerks," the Ditto said.



Yes, some of us are merely chaotic neutral jerks, Asmodeus joked, nudging Troll Ditto.



"Hey!" the Ditto argued. "I didn't mean any harm! I just wanted to play with the pretty birdie!"



"Let's get back on track here," Churro said. "Red specifically enchanted that Pokedex so that whoever receives it next becomes the next Host of the Voices. We need to get it to its next holder. Any ideas as to who?"



Professor Oak turned the battered dex over and over in his hands. It didn't seem enchanted, and the Voices weren't reacting to him any. Was it because he was too old to start on a journey? Or were they waiting for someone in particular?



"Well..." he said carefully. "There is this young doctor in New Bark Town..."