CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Another whistle blew. Professor Birch said something into a megaphone, but the words jumbled together in Marco’s ears. And then Logan was pushing him forward toward the steps of the zip line.

Marco’s legs moved, but he didn’t feel like he was controlling them. He couldn’t control any of this. It felt like a bad dream, rolling forward all on its own.

A line was forming—one kid from each team. Marco fell in behind a fox-orange shirt. And then he was climbing.

When a cool breeze hit his face, he felt himself slowly waking up.

I’m on my own, he thought again. No Maddy, with her big imagination. No Logan, telling jokes to distract him. And no Nisha, with her clever inventions.

He could still picture Nisha’s face—how she looked when she realized the compass was broken. Like the sky was going to fall, he remembered. Except it didn’t.

He remembered how everyone had gathered around Nisha to tell her it was okay. And how she had somehow pulled herself up and kept going.

She faced her fears, thought Marco. I really hope I can too.

As he reached for the railing of the steps, something tickled his hand. He glanced down to see the big blue feather sticking out of his pocket, just behind the folded map.

I don’t have my friends, he thought, but I have a Cresselia feather.

“And your Focus Band!” he could almost hear Maddy saying.

So he clung tight to both and kept climbing.

“Just get up there, you big baby!”

The orange T-shirt in front of Marco wasn’t budging. Sam was glued to the stairs, with Stella hollering at him from down below.

“What’s wrong?” asked Marco.

Sam whirled around. “My legs won’t move,” he whispered. His freckled face was flushed with fear.

Marco hesitated for just a second before telling Sam the truth. “I know,” he said. “I’m scared too.” It felt good to say the words out loud again, even to a member of Team Fennekin. I sure hope he doesn’t use them against me someday, thought Marco. But the terrified look on Sam’s face made Marco think he probably wouldn’t.

“Do you want me to go first?” he asked. The words flew out of his mouth, and he instantly wished he could stuff them back in. Say no, say no, say no.

But Sam nodded.

Ugh. Marco took a deep breath, carefully passed Sam on the staircase, and climbed the last row of stairs to reach Professor Birch.

“Ah, Team Treecko,” said Professor Birch good-naturedly. “You’ll be the first team on the island today.”

Marco couldn’t respond. He’d just made the mistake of looking down over the rail. The ground was a long ways away. And the zip line tower across the water? Even farther away. Officer Jenny was a speck of white and blue, ready to greet anyone who survived the journey. She waved to Marco, but he couldn’t let go of the railing long enough to wave back.

“Let’s get you harnessed in,” said Professor Birch.

With buckles and straps around his chest, waist, and legs, Marco felt like he was wearing a straight jacket. His heart began thump, thump, thumping in his ears.

“Do you want me to hold your feather?” asked Professor Birch. “You don’t want to lose that—it’s a beauty. Could be from a great blue heron.”

“Huh?” Marco looked down and saw that he was clutching the feather for dear life. “Um, no. I’m good.”

“Alright,” said Professor Birch. “Then I’ll just release the tether here.” He explained what he was doing step by step, maybe because Marco had already scrunched his eyes shut.

As he felt the ground drop out from beneath him, he heard someone scream from far away. Is that me? he wondered with horror, clamping his mouth shut.

To fight the fear, he imagined his friends beside him—Maddy on his left and Logan on his right. He could picture Logan cracking jokes, one after the other. He felt himself slowly start to relax.

But wait, where was Nisha in this fantasy? Right behind us, Marco decided. She’s probably flying on something she invented herself.

He imagined his Focus Band glowing pink and orange, giving him strength. And the feather in his hand was from Cresselia—he knew for certain that it was. In fact, he imagined himself riding on the Pokémon’s back, its ring-like wings rising and falling with a magical rhythm. He could feel the cool wind on his face as Cresselia soared toward Crescent Isle.

Then suddenly, someone was calling his name. Marco fought to open his eyes, as if he’d been in a deep sleep. And there was Officer Jenny in front of him—waving from the platform on the island.

His harness hit something in the wire above, and after a bump, bump, bump, he slowed to a stop.

“Well, how was it?” asked Officer Jenny as she helped unbuckle his harness.

Marco couldn’t speak. But as he started down the steps on his wobbly legs, he couldn’t stop smiling.

When he found his footing, Marco started to explore the island. It was green and wooded, like much of Camp Pikachu. But for a moment, he couldn’t remember what he was looking for. Pokémon? Which ones?

The feather in his hand reminded him: Cresselia. There would be just one Pokémon to find here on Crescent Isle.

But for some reason, Marco wasn’t in a hurry to find it. He didn’t have a compass, at least not until Nisha got here.

He listened to the shrieks and squeals of other campers crossing the zip line, and knew that soon the island would be crawling with kids. But for now, he felt like the first man on the moon.

He walked along the edge of the island, away from the zip line toward a quiet, marshlike area. With each step, his feet sunk a little into the earth. Squish, squish, squish. Cool water seeped into one shoe, but Marco didn’t care.

It felt so quiet here, almost dreamlike. And then he saw it—a tall, majestic bird with a pinkish chest and deep blue feathers. It stood perfectly still at the water’s edge just a few yards away.

As Marco held his breath and watched, the bird turned its head slowly, as if to say hello. It took a few slow, graceful steps with its stork-like legs. And then, without warning, it crouched low and sprang into the air. Giant wings flapped and lifted the bird out of the water.

Marco shaded his eyes to watch the beautiful bird circle the marsh and then disappear into the morning sun.

“Marco!”

He turned back expecting to see Nisha rushing toward him. But it wasn’t Nisha at all. Maddy’s blonde pigtails bounced up and down as she ran along the wet ground.

“You did the zip line?” he said. “But I thought you were scared of the water!”

Maddy shrugged. “You were scared too,” she said. “But you did it anyway. And I didn’t want you to be by yourself. So I just closed my eyes and pretended I was flying over grass.”

Marco laughed. “I pretended on the way over, too,” he confessed. “Hey, did you see that bird that just flew away?”

She nodded. “Was it Cresselia?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.

He cocked his head and smiled. “I think it could have been.”

A crowd of kids hurried past, including Sam and Stella. They had their camera out, ready to be the first to capture a Pokémon. But Sam slowed down just enough to smile at Marco.

“Hey,” Marco heard Stella say as she passed. “They found the hidden item!”

Marco and Maddy looked at each other. “Did we?” Maddy asked.

Marco slid the map out of his pocket, careful not to disturb the Cresselia feather. And sure enough, the hidden item marked on Crescent Isle was feathers.

“We found the hidden item!” said Maddy. “And we already saw Cresselia too, right?”

“I think so,” said Marco. “We don’t have a picture to prove it yet, but we have something even better.”

He grinned as he handed her the feather. Then he held out the map in front of him, ready to lead the way.