Hitch, Sparky, and Arven arrived at the payphone near the beach and saw a pair of zebras. They seemed to be a mother and daughter, and they both had pink manes with purple streaks. Hitch vaguely recognised them.

"You're Izzy's friends, right?" he asked. "Mariama and Skye?"

"That's right!" exclaimed Skye, the younger one.

"What's your emergency?"

"We found a dolphin washed up on the beach," said Mariama, the older one. "I know this isn't what you usually deal with, but we didn't know who else to call."

Hitch put on a confident smile. "Don't worry. I'm good with all sorts of critters."

The group charged down the slope to the beach. The dolphin laying on the sand was bright blue, with wavy, white lines along its sides. Its eyes were shut, and its blowhole expanded and contracted as it struggled to breathe.

"That's a Finizen," said Arven.

Mariama gasped. "He can talk?"

"Long story short, unicorn magic," Hitch said quickly. He rushed to the Finizen's side and tried to push it towards the shoreline, but it wouldn't budge. Arven joined in, but it was too heavy for both of them. The gentle tide splashed Arven with water; he reflexively jumped backwards, then fell flat onto his face. Again. "Any help here?"

Arven got back up, and he, Mariama, and Skye joined in. Together, they were about to push the Finizen onto its side, when it wordlessly squeaked in pain.

"I'm no expert, but I don't think we should roll it over," said Arven.

"If this Finizen is anything like a normal dolphin, it's already being crushed under the weight of its own organs," Mariama agreed. "Laying it on its back would only kill it faster."

"I have an idea!" exclaimed Skye. She rubbed her hooves against the sand.

"What are you doing?" Hitch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Digging for water. I think we need to keep it wet so it doesn't get sunburn."

Sparky flew to Skye's side and joined in. He giggled when she accidentally kicked sand into his face, and after a few seconds, they had dug up a small well of seawater. Skye used her front hooves to splash the Finizen with it.

"We should cover it with a tarp to shade it," said Mariama. "I'll go get help."

Meanwhile, in the Brighthouse's living room, Pipp was combing her hair. She'd left her phone unlocked on the coffee table, so while she was distracted, Penny gently reached out with a ribbon and touched the screen. She tried to swipe left to see the rest of the homepage, but nothing happened. Then, she tapped the icon for what looked like a camera app. Nothing happened.

Once Pipp had finished combing her hair, she turned around and screamed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Um, sorry," Penny mumbled, pulling her ribbon away. "Your phone's not working."

Pipp gasped in horror and picked up her phone. She swiped through her homepage with her hoof and sighed in relief. "Yes it does!"

"Well it didn't for me..."

Pipp looked between her phone, her hooves, and Penny for a moment. "Oh, I think I know what the problem is! These touch screens are designed for hooves, so they're not sensitive enough to detect your tentacle thingies!"

"So... the same reason you can't use a DS stylus on a Switch?"

"A what?"

Penny shook her head. "Never mind. Anyway, sorry for touching your phone. I lost mine when I got here, and I miss it... and my Switch."

Pipps eye's widened, and she started to hover. "You know what that means... let's go on a shopping trip~! Zephyr Heights has loads of phone stores. I'm sure we'll find at least one that you can use!"

"But I don't have any mon—"

"No problem! I do!"

Penny followed Pipp out of the door. She looked at the Marestream parked nearby.

"We're not gonna use that," said Pipp. "I have no idea how to fly that thing — and I wouldn't trust Zipp to. I know a shortcut!" She explained together trees to Penny, and they headed towards the town square.

Once they got there, Pipp was about to step into the together tree, when Izzy emerged from it. They bumped into each-other face-first.

"Oops!" exclaimed Izzy. She was followed by Misty, her Spewpa, a Pawmot, and... Nemona. She glared at Penny, who tried to hide behind Pipp.

"Where're you going?" Izzy asked Pipp.

"We were gonna go on a shopping trip in Zephyr Heights," Pipp replied, gesturing towards Penny. "I didn't realise you'd be back so soon! Did you find the Deerling's herd?"

"Well... sorta," Misty mumbled.

"We'll tell you more later," said Izzy.

Just then, Mariama came running up to them. "Izzy! Am I glad to see you!" she panted. "I found a beached dolphin — apparently it's called a Finizen — and I was hoping you could make a tarp to cover it with."

"Right on it!" exclaimed Izzy.

Penny and Nemona both stared at Mariama.

"Is this another Poké-problem?" Izzy asked. They both looked at her and nodded, but Penny was careful not to make eye contact with her.

"Can I go to the beach?" asked Penny.

"No, I'll go!" Nemona shouted.

"How about both of you come with me?" Mariama suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," said the Pawmot.

Penny and Nemona sighed in unison. They and Pawmot followed Mariama back to the beach, while Pipp, Misty, the Spewpa, and Izzy headed back to the Brighthouse.

"...And that's how the girls fought the Roaring Moon," Hitch said to Skye. Then, he noticed that Mariama had returned with an entourage of Pokémon, including one he'd never seen before. He looked towards them and said, "What's up?"

"Izzy's making a tarp," said Mariama. "She'll be back soon, but some of your... unusual friends wanted to join me."

"Unusual?" asked the orange Pokémon.

Sparky breathed green fire onto a nearby pebble, which turned into a tiny bucket. He used it to scoop up some water, then flew over the Finizen and tipped water onto it.

Then, Hitch noticed Nemona glare at Arven, who was digging another hole. "Oh, great. He's here, too," she groaned.

"Now's not the time to argue!" Hitch said. He introduced everyone to Mariama and Skye, and in turn Nemona introduced him to Pawmot.

Hitch tilted his head. "His name is his species?" Pawmot nodded in response.

"Most trainers don't name their Pokémon," said Nemona. "Some do. Either way, they don't mind." She shrugged.

Hitch tilted his head. "I dunno, that seems kinda weird. It'd be like if my parents just called me 'Earth Pony' instead of giving me a name."

Hitch felt something tap his back leg. He turned around to see Penny standing behind him.

"What can we do?" she asked.

"For now? Try to stop the Finizen from drying out."

Penny ran towards the shoreline and tried to scoop up some water with her ribbons, but it was no use. They couldn't form a cup-shape, so the water fell straight out.

Meanwhile, Pawmot's paws glowed as he stepped towards the Finizen, but Nemona jumped in front of him. "Revival Blessing won't help it get back in the water," she said firmly.

Nemona ran towards the Finizen's tail fluke and grabbed it with her claws, trying to pull it towards the shoreline.

"Don't do that!" she heard Arven shout. "You'll only hurt it more!"

"Oh, of course you think I'm going to hurt it! I'm only trying to help!" she shouted back. She let go of the fluke and leaped towards Arven, preparing to swipe at him.

"STOP!" Penny shouted. She stepped in-between them, with a pink glow emanating from her ribbons. Nemona and Arven seemed to relax.

Hitch, who had been watching the scene play out from a distance, stepped towards them. "What just happened?" he asked.

"I know Sylveon can calm others down, but I don't know how I just did that," said Penny. "It just... happened, like a reflex."

"Really? That's a pretty cool power."

"You sound like my dad trying to be down with the kids," Penny muttered.

Nemona took a step towards Arven. "Look, I'm sorry for nearly getting your hurt earlier. I was just enjoying the battle so much, I got carried away!"

"I get you," Arven replied. "You've had more practice with this whole 'being a Pokémon' thing than me. It's just... I feel like a stranger in this body." He gestured to his chest.

Penny stepped closer to him. "Sorry if I came off as insensitive earlier. I, um, just didn't understand how you felt. That's all."

The trio hugged each other; Nemona and Arven with their arms, and Penny with her lower pair of ribbons. Hitch didn't want to interrupt; he just smiled.

"Anyway, we've got a Finizen to rescue!" exclaimed Nemona as she stepped back.

Everyone worked together to dig a pair of trenches underneath the Finizen's flippers that led to the shoreline. Eventually, Izzy returned, levitating a patchwork quilt that seemed to be made of bits of fabric she'd found in the Brighthouse's basement.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed as she unfolded it. With Nemona, Sparky, and Arven's help, they draped it over the Finizen.

"Shouldn't it be wet?" asked Mariama.

"You could've told me that!" exclaimed Izzy. Sparky flew over to the sea to refill his bucket, then tipped it onto the quilt, but it only covered a small patch.

"I have an idea," said Nemona. "How about I ready up an Ice Punch, then Arven shatters the ice with his bone club? In this weather, it'll melt and turn into water pretty much instantly."

"I'm not sure that's gonna work..." said Hitch.

"Only one way to find out!" exclaimed Nemona.

To Hitch's surprise, her plan worked. She had to repeat the process several times, and complained about how sore her hands were earlier, but soon the tarp was soaked through and through. In a few hours, the tide would rise and fill up the trenches, sweeping the Finizen back into the sea.

"Well done, team!" exclaimed Hitch, and everyone else cheered. Then, he muttered to himself: "We should really get around to telling the whole town about Pokémon..."

Author's Note

Illustration by me.