Cosmic Fate - Part 1

In a world as wondrous and mysterious as our own, becoming fascinated by the things it contains and the marvels of it all is an effortless task. Just take the creatures that inhabit this world, for example, how can you not be amazed by the fearsome power of Tyranitar's sand storm, with the ability to erode entire rock structures, or be captivated by the charming looks of the elegant dancers known as Gardevoirs? Ever since I could remember, I had been obsessed with finding out how these creatures work: what makes them tick, or act in certain ways? Why is it that some are really friendly to us whilst others seem to shun us away? Granted, I knew I wasn't the only one with such an obsession, but that didn't dampen my passion. I loved them all, and perhaps weirdest of all, I wanted to, at least once, experience life from their point of view. As in, I wanted to become a Pokemon myself.

I knew that it could happen. Sure, most of the stories were just rumors and hearsay, scare stories and urban legend, but, when I was young, I had seen it myself. Someone who I knew, who became something else one day. That may have been the start of my fascination. To know that something like that would actually occur. They didn't know how, or why, it had happened, and yet, it had stuck with me ever since. Even now, as I looked over at the shelves of the store I tended, I wondered how the crystals mounted on the walls behaved. Why they caused some creatures, most completely unrelated, to advance to a different stage of development, while to most, they were simply pretty stones.

"Ah, is there anything here that catches your attention?"

"GACK!" I yelped in surprise, jumping back a bit, at which the smiley old man who had asked the question. It was a bit of an odd question for him to ask, considering he didn't even work here, but I decided to reply politely all the same.

"Oh, I'm just making sure all the displays are in order. I own this store, you see."

"Ahh, alright then. It's rather nice that you sell these actually, they're very hard to come by..." he eyeballed one of the stones on the display, a radiant yellow gem with a lightning bolt etched on the front of it, and then the price tag associated with it. He chuckled "...and the prices seem to match that!"

I nodded back, "They are! I'm proud to say that we've got the best selection for miles around. You won't find a better variety or price anywhere near here!" Despite my outward enthusiasm, though, I wasn't entirely eager for him to purchase the relic. Although I did own a good number of the artifacts, this was my last Thunderstone, and I was reluctant to let the last of any of them go.

The man set the stone back on the shelf, turning to scan the rest of the store. "I don't suppose you'd mind if I browsed, then?"

I shook my head, stepping back behind the counter. "Not at all. Please, take all the time you need!" As I sat down, I pulled out a small fragment of a different gem, placing it under a jeweler's microscope to inspect it closely. There had to be *some* difference between these and other, more mundane rocks, and I just had to find what it was.

This specific one was a fragment of Moon Stone, a rock that was known for causing evolution in Pokemon such as Clefairy and Munna, both Pokemon known to exhibit mysterious origins and abilities. Clefairy in particular had long been rumoured in legend to have come from a distant planet on a meteorite, of which fragments have since come off and become Moon Stones like the one I now examined. Truth be told, even examining this particular small example, the way that the layers of rock were arranged at the microscopic level did not look like anything that could be found on this planet. Interestingly enough, the patterns on this moon rock were very similar to the ones you'd find by looking at the other, elemental evolution stones, which led me to believe that perhaps their origin might be otherworldly as well. Of course, this was all just legend, there was no definitive proof for any of that, but still, the amount of evidence astounded me...

"What are you looking at there, sonny jim?"

I jumped backwards again at his sudden interruption, which made him chuckle again, much to my chagrin.

"My my, you shouldn't be so jumpy, you know! It'll do you no good. I just wanted to purchase this."

He placed a purple crystalline sphere on the counter, one that almost seemed to pulsate with life. I was just about to go through with the transaction when a realization dawned on me.

"Hold on, sir. Where did you find this gem in my store? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

The old man raised an eyebrow in surprise at this, wordless pointing to a shelf nearby the one where he had examined the yellow thunder stone before. I went to pick up the sphere but as soon as I touched it, an extremely strong static shock forced me to withdraw my touch. We both stared at the orb in silence for a while, until the man spoke up again.

"Maybe it's best if I leave this with you then. If you don't even recognize it then I'm sure it's no business of mine purchasing, at least not before you take a closer look at it, hoh hoh! Goodbye young man, it was a pleasure talking to you." He concluded, leaving before I even could say goodbye in return.

I raised a hand and called in an attempt to get him to come back, dashing out from behind the counter and through but before I could catch him, he was already around the corner and out of sight. With a sigh, I walked back indoors, settling back down behind the counter and carefully looking at the stone. The man certainly had seemed eager to be rid of it, and my first instinct was to say that it had been stolen. A short phone call later, though, revealed no one reporting anything resembling the object had been reported missing. With such a unique and unusual appearance, I wondered if, in fact, the strange man just left it here as a donation to the store, or perhaps another customer had put it there, and he had just discovered it. Either way, it seemed to be mine now. With a request to the police to report if anyone did declare such an object missing, I carefully slipped on a pair of rubber gloves, reaching for the object once again.

This seemed to work, as now I could pick up the pearly sphere with ease. I turned around and opened the door to the storage room behind the counter with my free hand. This was not only where I kept stones which I had multiples of due to being very popular, such as the stones that triggered evolutions in Pokemon, but also where I kept precious items that were not for sale. Though I'm sure this new-found little gem was very precious indeed, I also thought considering its... shocking nature, it'd be best to keep it out of curious hands. I placed it on a anti-static rubber stand on a shelf, to avoid any future accidents, and then left the storage room, locking it behind me. Now that that was over, it was back to work.



I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Even as I put on a polite facade serving the day's customers, even watching some of them watch their partners grow to stronger forms right before their eyes, that stone was always nagging at the back of my mind, for reasons I couldn't explain. Even as I was walking home, all I could think about was how weird the old man was acting, and how the idea of leaving that thing back at the store was driving me nuts, even if it was under lock and key. It was almost as if it didn't want me to go away, but I knew that was crazy talk. I needed to get my head clear... and I knew just the way to do it.

As soon as I got home, I filled up the kettle and turned it on, thinking a cup of tea would set things straight again. As soon as the water was done boiling, I got a teabag and did the usual routine, pouring the water into the teapot after the bag was put in and then waiting for it to brew before pouring out a cup for myself. I took my tea black, so that was all I needed to do from there. It was just as I was about to press the cup to my lips, that my phone started ringing.

I jolted in surprise, almost spilling my tea before carefully setting it down, stepping across to the phone. Looking at who was calling me, I smiled. It had been a while since she had called, and I had been thinking of maybe giving her a ring today. Her name was Steph, we had met while I was fairly young, just a young child amazed at the Gardevoir who was also a trainer. I had seen her a bit before, while she was a human, but then, when I saw her after she had changed, my curiosity was piqued. I spoke with her whenever she came to town, and even after I left the city, we still traded letters or phone calls from time to time. I wouldn't call us terribly close, as friends go, but we were still good friends. I was amazed at that fact considering that the way she told it, I seemed to hold some sort of hero worship of her back then, but either way, I was glad to be friends with her.

Lifting the receiver, I smiled as I heard her voice. She sounded a little soft and reserved, but that was just the way she was. She wasn't a terribly expressive person over the phone. It seemed that she had something on her mind to talk to me, though. Like there was some reason she had called other than just to talk. It didn't take long after she had called for me to learn what.

"By the way, I don't want to pry but... Do you have a Dawn Stone on hand? I know you like to collect the evolutionary stones, but, well..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Steph! I've got so many of the evolution stones now that I'm more than willing to let a few go. Heck, if I wasn't I wouldn't have set up that shop in the first place."

"Wait, you've set up a shop now?" Oh, of course! She wouldn't have known, it had been at least six months since I had talked to her last, and I had only managed to sign the final lease papers on the store property four months ago.

"Yeah, and business is booming! Well, by the standards of only being four months into our first year. Desmond's Gemstone Emporium. With any luck I'll be able to break even in... never!"

We both laughed at that, it unfortunately being an exaggeration of a small truth. After going over the company's books I was probably looking at a break even point in year five, which while isn't overly bad, is still not really ideal, I only had so much of my own money and items to invest in the business after all.

"But yeah, definitely, I'll be able to get you a Dawn Stone easy peasy. In fact, why don't you swing by tomorrow? The business is right in the Lavaridge town centre, shouldn't be too far from Slateport if you just teleport over, right? I'll even do you a friends only 50% discount, does that sound cool to you?"

"That's fantastic! Really, Des, you're too kind. I'll see you tomorrow then, bye!"

And with that, she hung up. I originally thought talking to my old friend managed to take that stupid orb out of my mind, except just then, after hanging up, I started thinking about it again. I sighed and hung up the phone on my end, picking back up the cup of tea I'd made before and taking a sip, now lukewarm from having been left to stand for a good few minutes.



The following morning, I was still unable to keep that orb out of my mind. The thing clung onto my curiosity, forbidding me from forgetting it. I left for the store earlier than usual, setting everything for any customer that might come today. Besides, my friend was visiting for the first time in months, and I wanted it to look nice for her when she visited. Due to my early arrival, though, I found myself with a spare hour before the store was set to open. Carefully slipping on a pair of gloves, I decided to make use of the time to examine the orb from yesterday. Very cautiously, I slid the small stone under a microscope on the desk, carefully examining its dark surface.

As I looked at it, I slowly noticed something beneath the surface of the gem, glimmering and shifting. It looked almost as though there was something within producing its own light, from some unknown source. As tempting as it was to open the gem, and see what it was inside, I knew I'd probably never see anything like this again, so I didn't want to risk damaging it irreparably. As I glanced up, I saw the clock ticking toward opening, and a pale white face with green hair smiling from the other side of the window. With a grin, I stood and unlocked the door. Immediately thereafter I was full on glomped by Steph, sending us both crashing down to the floor.

"Hey, come on, what was that for?"

"For not seeing me in months, silly! Besides, I can't help myself, they don't call us the embrace Pokemon for nothing!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, she'd made her point. After we'd helped ourselves up, I led Steph behind the counter, and to the door the storage room where I had just been studying the orb moments ago. I opened it up, and let her in, where she was instantly taken aback by the amount of stones I had managed to amass.

"Good lord Dez, you could probably evolve every Pokemon in the land with the amount of stones you have here! Where did you get all of these?"

I laughed nervously for some reason, all of my stock had been acquired through perfectly legal means, but I could understand why anyone would be suspicious. I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Well, you know, you start collecting very young, and the numbers build up. I figure I might as well make something of it one day, and this is what I'm making of it!"

"Well, it's very impressive in any case... aha, I believe I've found what I'm looking for!" she said, having stumbled upon the box full of dawn stones. There were only two Pokemon which evolved using that stone, so my stock of those were always higher than I'd have liked, it was nice to see that one would actually go.

"So then, tell me, what's the occasion?" I asked, knowing that more likely than not, that Dawn stone was for a soon-to-evolve Kirlia, the evolution form that came before Gardevoir.

"Well, as I'm sure you can guess, this stone is for a male Kirlia. Sari, my partner, actually has a little brother who's due to evolve soon, but he wanted to become a Gallade rather than a Gardevoir, so Sari asked me to track down a Dawn stone for her to make it happen." she explained, picking up one of the stones in the box and examining it, knowing that her holding it wouldn't expend its powers.

"Aha, of course, that explains it. Well then, you can have it for 3000 Poké."

"3000!?" she replied, sounding surprised. "Is that including the discount!?"

"Uh, yeah! Those things are expensive! The only reason their original price is 6000 at all is because I have a ton of them sitting around and I've got to lower the stock. Believe me, I'm barely breaking even on those bad boys."

She raised a non-existent eyebrow at me, but seemed willing to pay for it all the same. She handed over the money and placed the stone in the bag she had brought with her.

I shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, It's just that I'm barely keeping this place open, y'know?"

She nodded in understanding. "It's alright. I was just a little surprised, that's all." Floating an inch or two up off the floor, she peeked up over my shoulder toward the counter. "If you don't mind me asking, what was that you were looking at?"

Stepping to the side as she floated back to the floor I carefully pulled the stone out, showing it to her. "Someone left this here yesterday. I've been trying to puzzle out what it is. You ever seen anything like it?"

Kneeling down beside it, she looked carefully, slowly starting to nod. "Actually... I think I might've."

My gaze shot up at her as soon as she said that. On reflection, I shouldn't have been so surprised, if anything, she was likely to be the one person I knew who even had a chance at recognizing what it was, but regardless, it came as a surprise. I had to be sure I'd heard her correctly.

"Seriously? Are you sure? I've been researching gemstones in this world for a long time and I've never seen anything remotely like this orb. Where have you seen it before?"

At this, she bowed her head down and rested it in her hand, as if in contemplation, trying to recall a feint and long lost memory.

"Do you remember the day you first saw me, Dez? Back in the market at Slateport, by the stall that belonged to the old man with the Croagunk?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" I replied, chuckling a bit. "I'm not gonna lie, I remember thinking you were the prettiest being I had ever laid my eyes upon."

She blushed a bit at that and chuckled. "Oh, please Dez, you're such a tease! Anyways, as I was saying, back then, at that stall, I remember almost every single item that old man had on display. Places like that..." she paused momentarily, reflecting "...they're not the sort of places you forget easily, if you know what I mean."

"Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I've never even been to that stall since then and I still remember a lot of it. So then, I'm guessing what you're about to say is that this orb is one of the items the old man had out?"

"Well, actually, no." she said rather bluntly, which took me aback. I wondered if that wasn't where she had seen it, why had she mentioned the old man's stall at all. Before I could even ponder the answer, she told me herself. "You see, I found out that day that the old man was looking for something. Something he kept claiming would be the "pinnacle of his collection", something he had only ever seen in photographs and heard about in urban myths. He then pulled out a picture of this thing and showed it to me. It was..."

"...this, wasn't it?" I concluded for her, pointing at the lustrous stone, at which she slowly nodded in confirmation.

I looked at the object slowly, spinning it about in my fingers carefully. "Really? It looks so.... Ordinary, I guess." I paused for a moment, setting it back down, and then pondered a bit more. "Relatively speaking, I mean. I'd like to know what this is, but... On the other hand, I don't think I'd want to just jump out and let that guy know that I had this." I chuckled uncomfortably. "He's a little.... off, and I might want to hang onto this for a while. It seems pretty interesting."

She nodded in reply. "I'll see if I can find anything about it, and be sure and let you know if I do!" She turned for a moment, as if she was about to leave, then turned back with a smile. "Oh! I almost forgot to mention. You're still interested in finding some Moon stones, right? There's going to be a bit of a meteor shower in two days, and I've heard that some moon stones will be dropping off at Mt Chimney."

"Mt Chimney?" I got disheartened when I heard her mention that name. Mt Chimney was a mountain range normally accessible to the public, but the cable car that took people to the top had been out of comission for a while now, which meant I wouldn't be able to go collect any samples or get the best view of the shower.

"I know what you're thinking Dez, and don't worry, I have a plan." She grinned and gestured towards herself with her arms. "I can teleport you there!"

"Really? You can do that?" I grinned back happily.

"Well, duh! I didn't turn into a Gardevoir just to do things the normal human way, did I? But, it depends on whether you'd still be up for it or not. Are you still up for doing it?"

"Of course! That'd be a nice trip." Indeed, Moon stones were one of the most popular, yet difficult to obtain, artifacts I could offer. If I could find a few more, then I'd be set for quite a bit in terms of store stock.

"I'll stop by here then!" She said with a nod, gracefully striding out of the store before vanishing with a twirl, and a flash of violet light. I grinned as I saw her teleport away. Someday, maybe, I'd be able to do the same.



The next two days passed without much of note happening. Footfall on the store was not amazing, but it wasn't below average either. The orb still called for my attention every now and then, but further examinations were inconclusive. Before I knew it, Steph was back through the shop's front door, just as I was crouched behind the counter rifling through a storage cupboard.

"Hey Dez! Are you ready to come see the meteor shower?"

"In a bit!" I called out to her "Just trying to find something... aha! There it is." I said victoriously, having found my spare stock of travel display cases. I uses these to store stones I found out in the field, to keep them in mint condition for potential buyers. I thought if I was to be collecting moon stones it'd be a good idea to bring some along with me.

Just before I went to put them into my bag, I took another look at the orb on the stand. It was exactly where I had left it, though I don't know why that should have been a big deal as there was no reason for it to move on its own. Thinking that maybe I could find some clues to its origin in the rocks from the meteor shower, I decided go over to it and pocket it, being sure to insulate it in a synthetic cloth wrapping first. I then went back to the counter and the empty cases. Carefully lifting the cases and slipping them into my pack, I stood from behind the counter. "Alright! Ready to go!"

She grinned back. "Alright! I don't think I've ever teleported you before, so this might feel a little strange." Her grin took on a mischievous look as she held out her hand. "Just hold on, and we'll be there before you know it!"

I nervously took her hand as her eyes began to shimmer. She spun swiftly around me, dragging me about in a tight circle, before vanishing. For an instant, I thought I had been left behind, but by the time I realized I could still feel myself holding her hand, I was wrenched along after her. It felt like I was holding onto the side of a train or jet as it suddenly jolted to full speed, like my arm was going to be yanked out of its socket. An instant later, though, it stopped, as I tumbled to the ground from out-of-control momentum, beneath a dark sky, grass and sand meeting me as I tumbled to a stop.

"Are you okay?" Steph asked quickly as she knelt by my side. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Just a little unexpected. That's all." I shook my head in an attempt to get rid of the disorientation and 'reset' my viewpoint. Once my vision had focused again, the sight I was greeted with was unbelieveable: I was standing right atop the peak of Mt Chimney! I could see my whole city from where I was standing, everything from the local Pokemon gym to the old men bathing in the hot springs. To be honest I probably saw a bit too much there...

"Hey, Dez, come over here! I can see the whole of Slateport from this side." Steph called out to me, standing at the other side of the peak. I hurried over to join her and marvelled at the sight of it, the ports full of docked ships and cargo, and the market as bustling as I'd remembered it all those years ago.

"You know, watching the ocean like this reminds me how long it's been since I've been swimming. I should really go with Sari one of these days."

"Oh, that reminds me, how is he doing? I haven't seen him in ages." I queried, referring to her Gardevoir. Though now it was more like they were connected on deep spiritual level which I could never understand. I certainly couldn't think of any two friends closer than the two of them.

"He's absolutely swell, in fact right now he's visiting his parents, since he hasn't seen them in a while. Sort of like how I'm seeing you now." She smiled at me and put a hand on my shoulder, then pulling me into a hug, much to my surprise.

"That was... unexpected." I replied, matter-of-factly, hugging back all the same.

"Gah, I'm sorry, I can't help it! The Gardevoir traits must really be rubbing off on me. We are the Embrace Pokémon, after all!" she chuckled and let go, turning her gaze to the sky.

"Hey, the sun has pretty much set now. The shower will be starting soon."

"Doesn't look like it yet, though." I mused as I leaned back. "Unless it- Oh!" I started suddenly, jolting almost straight back up to my feet. "I think I saw one!"

She laughed lightly, nodding in agreement. "I told you it'd start soon, didn't I?" As we watched, the sky slowly began to light with soft streaks of color, the pale light of the moon and stars contrasting to the brightness of the nearby shower.

"It's really right on top of us, isn't it?" I asked, mostly to myself. "It looks like there sure are a lot of them, too. I've never seen a shower quite like this!"

She nodded silently, her eyes following the traces of the falling stars. After a few minutes of silence, she tapped my shoulder. "Look at that one!" She called silently, gesturing to one of the brighter trails. As I watched it, it turned from faint white, to a bright, vast crimson, landing on the side of the mountain with a small plume of dust.

I grinned at the sight, catching myself for a moment as I looked back up at the sky. "Are you sure that it's safe for us to be here? I mean, I don't want to be hit by one of those."

She chuckled. "Don't worry. They're small, and it's very unlikely any will hit us. Even if they do, I can shield us."

I sighed, the wish for being able to use those sorts of abilities rising in me again. After a few moments, I spoke up. "What's it like? To be able to use those sorts of powers, I mean."

She chuckled. "I suppose it's hard for me to explain. To me, it's just something I do, you know? Like if I was to ask you what it's like breathing." A moment later, as if she detected the question I was about to ask, she quickly added, "Not that I don't breathe, of course! That would be a bit unusual, even for me."

I nodded, laughing with her for a moment as another meteor fell into the mountainside. Still, she could probably tell that her answer hadn't really satisfied my interest or curiosity. For the first time since I had arrived here, I decided to sit down at the cliffside, and let my legs dangle off the edge. Steph came and joined me, sitting by my side.

"You still want to be a Pokemon, don't you?"

I was just about to protest that wasn't what I was thinking about, but then I realized that she, just by her very nature, would easily be able to see I was lying. She saw right through me. I turned to face her and explain myself, she deserved the truth.

"Yeah, more than you can know. There was a reason why I went up to you looking starstruck that day. I hate to be one of those guys who seems ungrateful for what he has, all the wonderful benefits that come with being human and everything, but all the same, how can you not fall in love with them? They're our treasured companions, they see us through thick and thin, heck, our whole society would be vastly different were it not for them. I hold a deep admiration for every single one of them. I truly do..." I trailed off, watching the progressing light show in the sky. "...seems a bit silly, doesn't it? Obsessive, even."

At this, she shook her head "No, I understand completely. Don't forget, it was my curiosity as to what being a Gardevoir was like that ultimately triggered the change for me. From what I learned of the few other people it has happened to in recorded history, it was a similar deep admiration and curiosity that triggered it for them. I mean, with all the wonderful thing you see Pokemon do and at the same time the fearsome power you see some of them boast, surely it's impossible not to admire them for what they are, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, of course! That's how I've always felt." I nodded in agreement, happy that at least someone understood what I meant. I turned back to face the distance and then lied on my back, watching the meteor shower unfold further in the sky, with the amount passing by starting to dwindle slightly.

"You know..." Steph intervened "...they say if you wish upon a falling star, your wish will come true." I laughed at that one.

"You believe that old tale? I always thought you'd have more chance finding a Jirachi." I retorted, referring to a old legend of a Pokemon that was said to wake up every 1000 years and granted wishes written on the wish tags on its body. Having said that though, I still looked up at the stars in wonder. At the next meteor fall I saw, I closed my eyes, and silently, I made my wish.

"Who knows, maybe your wish will come true, with all these meteors falling about at least one of them is bound not to be a dud!" she joked, pointing to another one that landed in the mountainside. Funnily enough, it was the one I had just made my wish upon.

"Hehe, yeah, maybe so."

Watching the shards fall from the sky with less and less frequency, I stood, and turned to her. "I'm going to go take a look at those that landed around here. Hopefully we'll find something interesting, more than just the Moon Stones!"

She nodded, standing as well, and stepping over behind me. "I'll come with you, then! Not much more for me to do up here anymore, is there?"

With a chuckle, we began to head down the mountain, slowly scrambling down the rocks toward some of the streams of smoke marking the location of the meteors embedded in the side of the slope. I kept the location of the stone I had made my wish with in mind, even as we methodically headed down to one after another.

None of them were very interesting, though. Other than one of them having the crystalline formation of a Moon stone, and the difficulties of placing it in the container despite its glowing heat. In the end, I found myself turning to Steph once again, letting her levitate the stone into the box. I admit this only helped me feel a little more jealous of her powers, and yet, there's nothing I could do.

As we made our way down to the final meteorite, the one I had wished on, though, my heart lurched. The stone was like no other that I had seen. Its surface was a deep violet, and strangely smooth, with a deep inner shine sparkling and glowing in the starlight, and almost instantly, I recognized what it looked like.

"Steph, doesn't that look just like the-"

"Stone you showed me earlier, yeah." She finished for me, confirming it. "But it's so much larger than the one you have."

I nodded, stepping forward and lowering my hand toward it. To my surprise, there was no sensation of heat coming from it as there had been with the others, but remembering the shock I received from the smaller stone, I decided not to touch it.

"Steph, do you think you could teleport us along with this stone?" I asked cautiously, looking at the three-foot-wide sphere, grimacing as I thought of the weight.

"Gee, I don't know. Let's see if we can roll it back up to the top so we can go back from a flat surface, that might make it easier. I'm quite frail, so you'll have to do the leg work. I can lift it off the ground a bit if that helps at..."

"No, no, that won't be necessary. I'll bring it up." I interrupted, not wanting to feel like I was useless once again. I tentatively reached out a finger to touch the stone, to see if it had that same static quality which the smaller one had. Finding that wasn't the case, I went about dislodging the stone from its stuck position and started pushing it up the side of the hill. The whole time Steph looked at me, with a gaze of concern. I knew she could read my emotions like an open book, but even if she couldn't, my own expression gave me away.

"It's eating away at you, you know. Even more than you realize." she uttered, just as I made the final push over the edge to reach the top again. I remained silent and I rolled the sphere onwards until we reached the centre of the top, then finally stopped for a breather. Steph, being her usual, cheery self, came over and put a hand on my shoulder, trying to perk me up.

"Come on now, we had a good day today! Imagine all the mysteries you can uncover once you can study this back at home? This is the biggest rock of its kind either of us have ever seen and you're just standing there all mopey. What's with that?"

I let out a deep sigh of disappointment. Maybe she didn't understand after all...

"Ow!"

I felt a feeling similar to a pinprick by my right thigh. I ignored it at first, but then it happened again, this time even stronger. I felt around my leg for what might be causing it, thinking maybe some small bug Pokemon had gotten caught in my jeans or something, but the only thing I found was the orb in my pocket. I took it out and held it in my hand, at which point it flew straight out of it on its own and shot up to a mid-air floating position a few metres in front of me, where it stayed. I could imagine my expression was something similar to what Steph's looked like now: A mixture of awe, confusion and a hint of fear.

"Uh, Dez? Did that thing just, you know, shoot up by itself and start floating in mid air?" she asked, leaning in slightly to get a closer look, but not daring to approach any further.

"I believe the technical term is yes." I replied, not even bothering to get a closer look at it. We stood there mesmerized for a couple of minutes as the orb did next to nothing at all, until the sound of an unearthly cry filled our ears.

I winced, the force of the sound alone driving me back and away from the glowing crystal. I stood, mouth agape, frozen in terror as I glanced around wildly, searching for the source of the sound. The sky, however, remained unmarked by shadow or cloud, and from atop the mountain, I could see nothing ascending the slopes. Whatever was uttering the call was nowhere to be seen. Yet, I knew exactly what had attracted its attention. Grabbing one of the empty containers in my pack, I leaped into the air, pouncing onto the stone and wrestling it to the ground. It struggled as though it was alive, and at this point, I wasn't even sure whether it was. It lifted me back into the air, another cry, much louder this time, echoing through our ears. I couldn't even bring myself to describe it in human words, it was simply that ethereal.

It shrieked, as though it was right next to me, shrieking directly in my ear. Following the noise, though, the orb fell to the ground, taking me with it, hitting the ground with a painful crunch as the box crumpled under the impact of the fall. Carefully standing, I winced and turned pale as I saw the injury on my chest, shards of the box having sliced away my shirt and skin, a large bruise marking the center from where the orb had hit, the orb itself held suspended by a combination of the painful dent, sticky blood, and the burning electrical force it emitted.

"Oh-ohhh. M-my." I stammered, unable to form a more coherent statement beyond a simple cry of dismay, my mind dazed as Steph darted to my side, hands glowing a soft blue-green as fields of energy formed over the cuts, keeping me from losing more blood.

"Are you alright?" She yelled in dismay, face panicked as her gaze darted back and forth over my injuries. Grimacing, I nodded in reply.

"Been better, but I think I'm going to be alright." I said carefully, reaching down with my hand and resting it on the orb. It burned to touch, both on my chest and on my fingers, but I hesitated to remove it, the electrical force surging through it feeling like the attraction of a bandage to skin. With a grimace, I yanked it away.

To my surprise, I realized it pulled away easily. Still stinging in my hand, but the sensation of clinging in my chest vanished. As I opened my hand though, rather than falling to the ground, it hovered in the air for a moment before jolting back into place on my chest where it was a moment before, another sharp cry sounding through the air as it did so.

The sound pounded like a hammer into my body as the crystal clung to my skin once again, the burning, clinging pain surging into me once more. This time though, when I tried to remove it again, it wouldn't budge.

"Dez, look!"

What Steph was talking about was the larger version of the sphere in my chest, the one which had rolled up from the side of the mountain. A small crack was forming at the top of it, a crack which was expanding faster than I could keep track of. Eventually, the sphere split open entirely and a gooey red and teal substance started oozing out of it. It came out slowly, understandable seeing as the stuff looked so viscous. After a few seconds of this, however, it stopped itself.

"Is this goop alive as well!?" Steph exclaimed, unable to make sense of any of it. My gaze remained fixated on the bizarre substance coming out of the sphere, and I wondered what it might do next. But a moment thereafter, I got my answer as the substance lurched towards me and Steph.

"LOOK OUT!"

I pushed Steph out of harm's way before the stuff could hit her, and I got splattered by it. Releasing my grip on the sphere, I rapidly scraped and swiped at the ooze, suddenly lifeless again as it fell easily to the ground, still leaving colorful stains along my clothes and skin. "S-steph! Get us out of here!" I cried out in panic, backing away from the once-again still meteor and ooze. Steph quickly grabbed my hand and I felt the familiar sensation of being wrenched by the hand returned as she teleported us to safety.