It was just after sunset when family members gathered in the courtyard. On the ground, there were lying posters, pictures and figurines representing Ernesto de la Cruz, which the adults had taken out of Miguel's base… not a Secret Base anymore. On one side of the pile of items stood Miguel, still holding the Pokedex and family photo in his hands. On the other side, in front of him, his relatives gathered with disbelief and anger written all over their faces. The boy knew that an unpleasant conversation was afoot; he didn't want Eevee to take part in it, so he recalled him into the Pokeball.

"What is all this? You keep secrets from your own family?" Abuelita asked reproachfully.

"It's all that time he spends on the town…" tio Berto sighed.

"…fills his head with crazy fantasies!" tia Gloria accompanied him.

"It's not a fantasy!" Miguel objected. He wentup to his father and handed him the photograph, pointing at Shiny Dratini. "That man was Ernesto de la Cruz! The greatest Pokemon master of all time!"

"We've never known anything about this man," said Papa, a little disoriented, looking at the picture. "But whoever he was, he still abandoned his family. This is no future for my son," he finished firmly.

"But Papa, you said my family would guide me! Well, de la Cruz is my family! I'm supposed to become a trainer!"

"Never!" Abuelita strictly forbade, and Snubbull, standing next to her, growled. "That man made Pokemon training a curse! I will not allow it!"

"But being a trainer isn't actually a bad thing…" the boy tried to explain them, but Mama interrupted him in cautionary voice:

"Miguel."

"You will listen to your family. No more nonsense with training," Papa persisted.

The elders were so self-righteous that they didn't even want to hear Miguel out. Yet, he wasn't about to give up easily.

"…During the journey trainers can learn many things about the world…"

"End of argument."

"…and about Pokemon. Just listen…" Miguel turned the Pokedex on and aimed it at Snubbull. However, before the device managed to sound even one word, Abuelita ripped it from the boy's hand and, with one strong press, turned it off.

"You want to end up like that man? Forgotten? Left off your family's ofrenda?" she asked, pointing at the photograph.

"I don't care if I'm on some stupid ofrenda!" Miguel shouted angrily.

The whole family let out a loud gasp. No one had ever insulted their beliefs!

Abuelita's face hardened. She raised her hand with the Pokedex…

"No!" Miguel cried.

"Mama!" called Papa, trying to stop her… but it was too late! The woman slammed the Pokedex against the ground with all her might!

Miguel was watching disbelievingly and hopelessly as his beloved device turned into the wreckage. All his efforts – long hours devoted to repairing, money spent on replacement parts – went down the drain!

"There. No Pokedex, no demoralization," Abuelita said, relieved, and her face softened. "Come. You'll feel better after you eat with your family."

But Miguel's heart was broken into pieces – just like his Pokedex – and none of the food could repair that.

"I don't wanna be in this family!" he cried with tears in his eyes. He snatched the photograph from Papa and – before anybody could react – stormed out in the street. He heard his father's voice calling him but didn't stop; at this moment the only thing that mattered for him was participation in the Pokemon competition.

...

After a couple of minutes, he arrived at Trainers Plaza. There was more activity going on than usual; a few trainers were fighting sparring matches, and several others were training with their Pokemon. An excited mass of people was watching them, from time to time giving a glance at a nearby platform, completely plastered with competition posters. A woman with a long list in her hand was standing on it and talking with some hyped up boy. After a while, she wrote something into the list, and the kid walked away from her and joined practicing trainers; Miguel guessed it was a registration point.

"I wanna fight in the plaza. Like de la Cruz! Can I sign up?" he asked frantically, rushing up to the woman.

"Of course. Your Pokedex, please."

"M-my Pokedex?"

"This is an official tournament organized by the Pokemon League. As in the case of a battle for a badge, your Pokedex is required for registration," she explained politely. "You don't have one?"

"I-I lo-lo…ummm," he started to stutter, not knowing what to answer. It was not as if he would admit he didn't have a Pokedex!

"You lost your Pokedex? I'm sorry but in this case I can't sign you up. However, we start in about 40 minutes so if by that time you find it, I'll put you on the list," she said kindly, and then she came up to another concerned person.

Miguel felt despair overwhelming him. If only Abuelita hadn't destroyed his Pokedex!

For a while he thought it was the end of dreaming about participation – and generally about training - but then suddenly an idea occurred to him! What if he borrows a Pokedex from somebody and appears under his name? After the competition he would explain the situation and - in case of winning – maybe even receive a new Pokedex…?

He felt hope getting into him again and without thinking came up to some boy around the same age.

"Excuse me, do you maybe have a Pokedex?"

"No."

Perhaps he should firstly make sure that the person owns this device? Hence he sought out some teenager standing on the sidelines, looking through the Pokedex.

"Excuse me, could you please lend me your Pokedex for tonight?"

"You must be kidding!" he spat. Undeterred, Miguel found another boy with Pokedex.

"I'm sorry, I need Pokedex, will you please…"

"Get away from my son!" a large scary-looking man interrupted him.

Nobody wanted to help, and time was running out. Besides, why would anyone want to lend him Pokedex and, alongside this, get into trouble? Now his plan seemed stupid to him.

Heartbroken and helpless, he headed over to a nearby statue showing de la Cruz mounting Dragonite. The man beamed with pride and self-confidence – something that Miguel was lacking at the moment.

"Great-great grandfather… What am I supposed to do?"

Under the statue was written de la Cruz's motto: 'Seize Your Moment!'. Miguel felt that his ancestor would advise him to never give up a dream.

He took out the family photo from his pocket. For a while he was gazing at Shiny Dratini, and then he turned his eyes on the stone Dragonite. Something started to dawn on him…

Shiny Dragonite wasn't the only part of de la Cruz's uniqueness. He had one more extraordinary something…

Miguel already knew where he'd get a Pokedex.

...

He crossed Santa Cecilia Panteon's gate. It was the one day of the year the cemetery wasn't deserted and plunged into darkness, quite the opposite. It seemed almost magical; illuminated by thousands of candles, filled with the scent of an even larger quantity of marigolds.

Of course, it was full of townspeople too. They were standing over graves of their loved ones, talking to them, or about them, leaving gifts to them. Their presence was very inconvenient for Miguel since he didn't want to get noticed. Therefore he was flitting between tombstones, trying to choose the most shaded pathways, dipping more and more into the cemetery area…

Finally, he arrived at his destination - de la Cruz's mausoleum!

It was a white, stately structure, placed on a small rise in the center of the cemetery. There was a white sarcophagus inside, and on the wall nearest to it, opposite the entrance, hung a large portrait showing de la Cruz's face. Under the painting, along the entire wall, was located a wide floating shelf, on which were exhibited countless cups and medals, Pokeballs in which formerly de la Cruz kept his Pokemon… and what Miguel came for – de la Cruz's Pokedex.

He had never seen any Pokedex like this. It was wholly white, with a glass case. Despite the passage of time – it was after all over 100 years old! – stayed in perfect condition; in Miguel's view, it looked even better than all these modern fancy Pokedexes.

It was similar in construction to the one fixed by Miguel; both belonged to the same classic model with a rectangular, openable case. They must have been produced around the same time. Therefore, Miguel supposed they had approximate embedded electronics. By a happy coincidence, recently he acquainted himself well with the functioning of this electronics. And in that case… he could a bit tampering with the white Pokedex.

"I don't need to erase all data, just like last time," he thought, looking through the mausoleum's window at the Pokedex. "It will be enough if I change the owner's data… and after the tournament I restore the real details…"

He scaled the building's windowsill and pushed the glass. Of course, the window was locked; nobody unauthorized had access to the mausoleum. The lock didn't very look solid but if he simply tried to break it, somebody would surely hear him…

Suddenly, holiday fireworks appeared in the sky. This was his chance!

At the point of explosion he forced the window open! Then he made sure nobody heard him… and slipped into the mausoleum!

Silence and dimness prevailed inside. The ambiance was peaceful, but also lofty, giving the impression as if time stood still. Miguel held his breath, awestruck.

He took a few unsteady steps toward the Pokedex. Under his shoes marigold petals rustled, since the floor was showered with them. The device was located so high that in order to reach it, he had to climb onto the sarcophagus. He ran his hand over the Pokedex, wiping away dust. In the glass case he saw his reflection, looking back at him in disbelief.

"Senor de la Cruz?" he turned hesitantly to the portrait. "Please don't be mad. I'm Miguel, your great-great grandson... I need to borrow this."

With his heart pounding, he took the Pokedex in his hand.

"Our family thinks being a trainer is a curse. None of them understand, but I know you would have. You would've told me to follow my heart. To seize my moment!"

He got down from the sarcophagus and stood upright opposite the portrait, feeling a surge of self-confidence.

"So if it's all right with you, I'm gonna battle in the plaza, just like you did!"

He pushed the activation button. In one moment the device lit up so brightly as if, despite the passage of time, it didn't lose any power. At the same time, marigold petals around Miguel flickered and slightly floated.

Miguel looked around, surprised. What had just happened?

Suddenly, a flashlight shone inside the mausoleum!

"The Pokedex! It's gone!"

"Somebody stole de la Cruz's Pokedex!"

"The window's broken, look!" sounded concerned voices. A frightened Miguel hid against the wall, not wanting to be noticed.

Then, he heard a key turning in the mausoleum's door and a groundskeeper came inside with a flashlight!

"Alright, who's in there?" the man started walking toward Miguel. The boy instantly turned the Pokedex off and put it on the floor.

"I... I'm sorry! It's not what it looks like! De la Cruz is my..."

…but the groundkeeper walked straight through Miguel, without noticing him!

"There's nobody here!" he said.

Miguel felt he was getting faint. What happened to him? He looked at his body and saw that he was slightly transparent! Could he possibly have become a ghost?

More and more people started entering the mausoleum. None of them noticed Miguel. The boy fell into a panic and ran out of the building. He rushed headlong, passing people and sometimes running through them, wanting to be as far from the cursed mausoleum as possible. Then, he heard Mama's voice! His parents were searching for him!

"Miguel! Come home!"

He rushed towards them hoping they'll help him escape from this nightmare. He reached out his hands to embrace them… and ran through them too! He stumbled and fell into an open grave.

For a while he got woozy, then he heard a woman's voice above him.

"Dios mio! Little boy, are you okay?" she reached out her hand wearing a long glove. Miguel took it and she pulled him out from the grave.

"Thanks, I…" he started talking, but his voice lurched when he looked at her face.

She wasn't a normal woman. She was a skeleton!