The few days we spent in Slateport with Arietta went by much too quickly for my liking. We saw everything major there was to see and we soon had to move on to Mauville City, which was not only the next city over but the next city with a Gym. On our final day in Slateport, Arietta offered to accompany us to the Route 110 exit of the city so we wouldn't get lost. And while I was excited to move on to the next city, I also felt a sense of sadness. It meant parting ways with Arietta.

"Mauville is directly north of here," Arietta said, pointing to a spot on her PokéNav's map. "When you reach the fork in the route, take the right path and simply follow the route until you reach the city. You can't get turned around and it'll take three days at the most to get there."

"Thank you for all of your help, really," Wallace said.

"Yeah! I hope we can see you again," Winona added.

"I wish we could talk more, but I know you're busy with your job," I chimed in.

   "A working person can't afford to take a day off." Dad's words echoed in my mind and I tried to ignore them.

"The feeling's mutual. I enjoy talking with all of you, and it doesn't help that I need to go in tomorrow," Arietta said with a frown. Her eyes then lit up with a spark of inspiration. "I have an idea! Why don't you take this?" She took out a small notepad from her purse along with a pen and began scribbling something on one of the pages. She then tore the page away and held it out to us. Scrawled on the paper in what looked like a cross between cursive and uneven lines were two sets of numbers.

"Is that... your number?" I asked.

She nodded. "You know the Communicators they have installed in Pokémon Centers? Enter either of those numbers into one and it'll connect to the Communicators I have installed at home. The top number is for the house I have here, and the other is for Lilycove. Who knows? You might catch me at the right time and we can chat! Also, if you need some advice when it comes to evolving Pokémon or something in that sort of field, I might be able to help. I like to think I know a few things after being a Trainer for over five years."

This was the opportunity to end all opportunities. I could ask Arietta for battle advice! Before Wallace could take the paper, I practically snatched it from Arietta's grasp and stashed it in my bag. He took notice of my abrupt swiftness and I quickly came up with an excuse.

"My bag has more pockets. It'll be safer that way."

"That's... fine, as long as you don't lose it," he said unsurely.

"Then it's settled! If you have a problem or a question, feel free to call me. I might not always be able to answer though," Arietta said. "Good luck out there!" She waved goodbye and headed back towards the city.

"I think that's our cue to get going as well," Wallace said.

"I guess so," I muttered, still looking at Arietta's retreating form. I really didn't want to part ways with her but she had already made the decision for me. And besides, what did it matter? I could always call her if I wanted to talk. With a lingering feeling of sadness, I followed Wallace and left Slateport City behind.

The rest of the day passed without little issue. It consisted of mostly walking and admiring the scenery. Route 110 was another scenic forest path with water on one side of the trail, belonging to a large lake. Sadly it appeared that the natural beauty of the route was going to be spoiled within the next few years. Signs placed along the lake revealed that construction crews from Mauville were planning to build some sort of elevated bike path above the lake, similar to Kanto and Sinnoh's Cycling Roads.

When the sun began to approach the horizon, we set up camp a little ways off the route. Winona was more than happy to let Crimson light the campfire, a spectacle that caused me to move my sleeping bag to the very edge of the clearing we were in. I could take being cold over being next to a campfire any day, well under control or not.

"Are you sure you'll be okay over there?" Wallace asked. "The temperature's probably going to drop tonight."

"Yes, I'll be perfectly fine," I responded confidently in spite of the fact that I was already shivering from the cold. "A slight chill won't bother me."

Liar! Meteor chimed in.

I know! I said back.

"Okay, then. See you in the morning," Wallace said. I replied with a nod and proceeded to essentially seal myself inside the sleeping bag, tucking the folds of the open end under my head to create a cocoon of warmth. It was stuffy as all hell, but it got the job done. As long as I didn't end up eating my own frost-covered words, I was fine with it. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

—~*~—

Screaming, screaming, there was so much screaming. Screams of shock, screams of horror, and screams of agony. They came from both humans and Pokémon. It sounded like the horrific sounds were being torn from their throats, warping and breaking on their way out. The sound grew into a cacophony that threatened to shatter the eardrums of any who heard them.

I couldn't see where the screamers were. My vision was completely red. A deep veil of crimson that almost appeared to pulse with darker lines following every new wave of torment. I tried covering my ears in a vain attempt to block out the sounds, but I couldn't move. It wasn't the screams that terrified me, it was what they were crying about.

"I'm burning!"

"Oh Arceus, why won't it go out?"

"It hurts it hurts it hurts!"

They were burning, all of them were. I had never felt more helpless. I couldn't move, couldn't react, couldn't help. And when I finally saw what was making them scream, I understood fully. Its black and red form, its exposed magma-like blood flowing thick and viscous, the scent of smoke and sickly death hanging about it like a shroud... I couldn't forget it if I tried.

The Pokémon from my vision loomed over me, its teeth-rimmed maw was stretched into what looked like a maniacal grin. The symphony of agony around me grew in a deafening crescendo, and all I could think to do was join in.

I awoke with a jolt, my eyes instantly going wide and my body stiffening. I hardly had time to process that I was awake before I reflexively clamped my hands over my mouth to muffle the screams I was two seconds away from emitting. Gasping and choking, I struggled to hold back the sounds that tried their best to explode out from my throat.

Calm down, you were dreaming! You're awake now and everything is fine! It's okay, you're okay! I frantically thought to calm myself. My heart eventually ceased its attempts to escape my ribcage and my screams faded into deep, shuddering breaths.

What was that? I'd had nightmares before, some of which made me never want to sleep again. But waking up on the brink of screaming was something entirely new. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I wondered what could have caused it, and I almost immediately had an answer. The one thing I could link it to was the vision I had in Granite Cave. The screaming people, the Pokémon, they were all the same.

I sighed heavily, burying my face in my hands. Days later, and the vision was still haunting me. Why was it always so hard to forget something you actually want to be forgotten? I then became aware of the cold air that had slowly began seeping into my haven of warmth.

With a bit of a struggle, I rolled onto my front and peered out of the opening in the sleeping bag. I was greeted with the mostly dark scenery with the smallest glimmers of sunlight glinting off the dew-dappled grass. From the looks of it, it was nearing dawn and I was the only one awake.

I debated whether I should try to sleep more and came to a conclusion more quickly than I had expected. Getting back to sleep was something I was in no hurry to do. Instead, I crossed my arms and propped my chin up on them, content to observe the forest. I could stand to be short an hour or two of rest today.

As sunlight gradually seeped into the clearing, my mind began to wander and I became lost in my thoughts. I thought about Mom and wondered how she was coping with my sudden disappearance, I thought about Arietta and what I would ask her if I got a chance to call her, and I thought about what I was going to do in the upcoming days. It was nice having some time to myself to think.

At one point, my mind drifted to thoughts of Dad and what he thought of me. I must have appeared contemptible in his eyes. Running away, abandoning my family and my future, all based on something I thought I was meant to do. By doing that, I singlehandedly destroyed the legacy built around the Stone name. I had ruined everything.

I felt my throat begin to close up and the corners of my eyes stung with encroaching tears. Don't you dare cry! I roughly rubbed my eyes before the hateful droplets could spill from them. Being over-emotional was the last way I wanted to start off my morning. I'm a disgrace, aren't I? A complete and utter mess, I asked myself, almost expecting for Meteor to chime in with his own opinion. Surprisingly, he didn't. This is what I get for having my own thoughts, I suppose.

I sighed and tried to think of something else to get my mind off of that depressing subject. Naturally, my thoughts went to my next Gym battle. Meteor and Silvette could probably handle it just fine but keeping Wallace's comment in mind, how long could I go without catching another Pokémon? None of the Pokémon on this route interested me at all.

The flow of my thoughts were suddenly cut off by a rush of dizziness that scrambled them into a slurry of disjointed syllables. I gritted my teeth against the slight pain it caused and my hand flew up to clutch at my right temple, as if it would relieve the sickening spinning. It was then when what could only be described as a finger made of ice painfully dragged its way up my spine, sending waves of molecular ice through me. Right when it reached the nape of my neck, my vision abruptly went black.

Like a switch being flipped, I could see again and was immediately struck with confusion. I was running through a dense forest, the trees around me pitching and shifting as I navigated the thick foliage. I could hear movement in front of me and I caught a flash of sky blue through the trees ahead.

"Combusken, wait up!" Winona's voice cried. "Don't leave me behind!"

"Come back here, the both of you! We're getting ourselves lost!" I glanced to my side to see Wallace running alongside me, his face bearing an expression of worry. I wanted to ask him why we were chasing Winona but my throat was too dry for me to talk. A bright flash of white intertwined with lines of red flashed before my eyes and the scenery changed.

I was now standing at a crossroads of sorts with Wallace. "They went this way, I know it," I heard myself saying though I had no idea what I was talking about. I turned towards the right path and chose to follow it.

"Okay, I trust you," Wallace said.

We ran for a minute longer until we burst from the forest into a clearing where we almost crashed into Winona and Combusken.

"Winnie, why did you and Combusken run off?" Wallace demanded, sounding out of breath. She didn't respond. The young Trainer and her Pokémon were facing away from us, staring at something in the center of the clearing. Before I could see what they were looking at, my surroundings blurred before fading away completely.

The next thing I knew I was back in reality. Or, what I assumed was reality. What had just happened? It was like I had fallen back asleep. Except this dream, if it actually was a dream, felt far too real. And I couldn't write off the dizziness I felt right before I fell "asleep." This wasn't time I felt that way. There was no denying it, I had felt the exact same way before I had the vision in Granite Cave. In some way, these events were connected. No, that can't be it. I have to be overthinking this, I have to.

Wallace and Winona woke up eventually and after having a quick breakfast, we cleaned up the campsite and headed back out onto the route for another day of walking. The weather was great and the sky was clear and sunny like usual, but I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it.

Everything felt dreary to me. The memory of both dreams and my thoughts of Dad lingered in my mind, dying my surroundings and mood in general a drab shade of gray. Wallace noticed that I was hanging back a few steps and slowed his pace to let me catch up with him. Winona remained a step or two ahead of us and didn't seem to care that we were behind.

"Are you feeling okay? You look tired," Wallace said. Once again, he hit the nail right on the head. Knowing how persistent he could be, I surrendered an answer to him.

"Yes, a little. I didn't sleep too well last night."

"Bad dream?" Wallace asked. I gave him a nod in reply. He was scarily accurate when it came to this kind of stuff. "Do you remember what it was about?" I was about to say I didn't when Meteor suddenly chimed in.

Why don't you tell him?

What did I say about—?

Yeah, I know, 'Don't do it!' But seriously, I didn't need to read your mind to know how you were going to respond. I know how you are, and you were going to lie! You said you would try to be more open with your feelings now, especially to me, and you're not doing it. I didn't know you had a nightmare until I read your mind.

The key word here is 'try,' I said. I would try to be more open. It's something I'm not used to, okay? There was no use in trying to fight Meteor. I had said I would and I didn't want to go back on my word any more than I already had. With reluctance, I said, "Everything was red. Deep, deep red and there were people screaming in pain. I saw the shadow of some colossal Pokémon, and then I woke up." From my description, I made it seem a lot tamer than it actually was. It still appeared to bother Wallace nonetheless.

"Really? That sounds unsettling. Do you know what could have caused it?"

"I... have some idea. I'm sure that if I try to forget about it, it won't happen again." I paused. "Hey, Wallace?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow. "... Thank you. For asking, I mean. I'm glad you care," I finished.

"Sure, it's no problem," Wallace replied with a smile.

See? That wasn't so hard now, was it? Meteor said somewhat smugly.

You were right, I admitted. But you don't need to rub it in.

If you want more friends, maybe you should try opening up to the ones you already have. It'll get you used to talking to others. Like a certain someone likes to say in their arguments, it's only, oh, I don't know... logical!

That 'certain someone' sounds like somebody I know, I said, smirking.

Yeah, I wonder who? Meteor responded.

We continued walking until midday and we stopped to have lunch. Because of how warm it was, we thought it would be best to sit somewhere cloaked in shade. For late April, it was already pretty warm out during the day. We let all of our Pokémon out, fed them, and let them run around to get acquainted with each other.

At one point during our break, Silvette convinced Meteor to let her ride on top of his head. It was pretty funny to me to see him doing something like that. And before I knew it, Mudkip and Winona's Wingull had joined her.

How could it have come to this? Meteor complained, looking at me like it was the end of the world. I've become a taxi!

"That's what you get for being so nice. You're learning the ways of the passive pushover," I said, smiling. I was in a much better mood now after talking with Wallace. I guess Meteor really was right.

You shouldn't be taking pride in that... he said in a deadpan tone.

"Oh, it isn't always bad. You get used to it." I said nonchalantly.

...

I froze. Just then, I had felt something strange. It was hard to explain. Whenever Meteor spoke to me, I could feel a sort of energy flowing through me. It was the sensation you got whenever you knew you weren't alone yet you couldn't see the person, only much more soothing and comforting. For a split-second, I had felt a second presence.

I looked around and saw something tan with hints of red vanish into the undergrowth behind Combusken, who was busy playing with Wingull. Combusken heard the sound of disturbed leaves and turned to see what it was. She saw the thing as well.

"Hya ya!" the Fire-type squawked loudly, catching everyone else's attentions.

"Combusken, what's wrong?" Winona asked. Without so much as a modicum of acknowledgement, Combusken tore a hole through the bushes with her talons and vanished into the forest, much to everyone's shock.

"What did—?" Wallace began to say.

"Combusken, wait!" Winona cried, cutting her brother off. She bolted after her Pokémon, leaving the rest of us behind.

"W-Winnie!" Wallace gasped. "Come on, we have to go after her," he told me. "Starmie, watch the others, okay?" The Water Pokémon's ruby core blinked several times, showing that it understood its Trainer's request, after which he left the clearing. Unlike him however, I wasn't so keen on leaving my partners with the other Pokémon. I quickly recalled Meteor and Silvette and followed Wallace.

I was able to catch up to Wallace in a surprisingly short amount of time. He seemed to be waiting for me. We exchanged a quick glance and pursued Winona and Combusken.

As we proceeded deeper into the trees, I started theorizing about what Combusken and I had seen. It was most likely a Pokémon, a Psychic-type from the presence I had sensed when I was talking with Meteor earlier. I asked for his opinion and he had the same assumption. I knew better than to ask Wallace. We both needed to save our breath for running.

The forest soon became more complex and dense, small clusters of trees being replaced with those that were more tightly-packed and thick patches of flower-laden bushes. I was deaf to the loud crashing Wallace and I created as we continued to tear our way through each bush or low-hanging canopy that stood in our way, the only sound I could hear was the thudding of my heart.

A few seconds later, I began to feel a strange sensation. With every step I took, it became more intense. I had no idea why, but this whole area felt so familiar to me. I tripped over a root and managed to regain my balance, my momentum violently pitching me forwards into an unsteady run. I was now starting to feel uneasy. Why was I feeling this way? It was almost like... déjà vu. It was then when I saw a flash of sky blue farther ahead.

"Combusken, wait up! Don't leave me behind!" I heard Winona yell.

"Come back here, the both of you!" Wallace yelled from beside me. "We're getting ourselves lost!"

No, I have to be imagining this, I thought. There's no way what I'm thinking is true.

We came to a fork in the rough trail we were following. The left side continued farther into the forest while the right side was but a hastily hacked away route in the shrubbery. It was like it had been ripped to shreds by sharp claws... or talons. Something told me to go right and trusting my instincts, I chose to follow that path. "They went this way, I know it," I said.

"Okay, I trust you," Wallace replied in agreement.

That brief exchange replayed itself over and over in my mind. It sounded familiar, it sounded so familiar. It then all clicked together. I had seen these events previously. The path I took, the words I heard... This feeling of déjà vu wasn't fake, it was real. I remembered what I had seen that morning, what I had "dreamt." It was all the same. I couldn't write it off as some freak-of-nature coincidence, it was impossible. That wasn't a dream, it was a vision.

   Somehow, I had seen the future.

   There was no other possible explanation for it. I nearly stopped running when I realized this. But how could that be? How could I have known what was going to happen, much less see what would take place? Sadly, this wasn't the time to be thinking about something like that. I was ten steps away from collapsing from exhaustion, and Wallace didn't look like he could keep up the pace for much longer either. We had to find Winona and Combusken now.

Finally, we caught up to Winona, almost crashing into her. We were standing on the edge of a small clearing, the same one from my vision. Winona was holding Combusken close to her and even from where I was standing, I could see that they were both out of breath. It wasn't hard to see why, all four of us were exhausted.

"Winnie, why did you and Combusken run off?" Wallace demanded, his stern tone being somewhat diminished by his struggle to regain his breath. Winona cast Wallace a tired look and with a slightly trembling hand, she pointed to something in the center of the clearing. This was the point where my vision had ended, so I didn't know what we were going to find.

Placed in the clearing's center was what I first thought was a large glowing box. Upon closer inspection, the box was comprised of five slabs of pure light, each tinted a barely noticeable shade of blue. I could just make out the silhouette of some kind of Pokémon within this box. It seemed that the Pokémon was trying to protect itself.

"It's using Reflect," Wallace observed.

...

I felt the second presence for a moment before it left. There was no doubt about it, that creature was a Psychic-type Pokémon. I had a feeling that if any of us tried to approach it, it would run. I decided to try to reach out to it, not physically, but telepathically.

You're a Psychic Pokémon, yes? Are you trying to talk to me? I asked cautiously, trying my best to keep my tone calm.

...

The presence returned again, lingering for a minute longer before pulling away. It almost seemed like it was afraid.

Can you hear me? I can't hear you.

..?

"Steven, what are you doing?" Wallace asked. From his and Winona's perspectives, I looked like I was having an intense staring contest with the light cube.

"I'm trying to speak to it. If I can get it to talk, perhaps it'll show itself. We might as well find out what it is after chasing it all the way out here," I said, glancing at my friends out of the corner of my eye. It's okay, you don't need to be afraid if you are, I continued gently. I began taking small steps into the clearing, drawing closer to the cube. A high-pitched whine emitted from within it, akin to a frightened child crying out.

I won't hurt you, I promise. An old memory of some Pokémon documentary about Professor Birch tending to a horde of wild Whismur in Rusturf Tunnel surfaced from the depths of my mind. I remembered that the professor had said that when approaching a scared Pokémon, it was best that you showed them that your hands were empty before folding them behind your back to let them know that you meant them no harm. You were then supposed to lower yourself down to their eye-level if you were taller than them to make them feel less intimidated.

I carefully followed these steps while continuing to tell it that I wasn't a threat. The shimmering light of the cube was almost blinding up close and I tried my best not to flinch away from it.

...

Finally, the light faded and I could now see the Pokémon, its head tilted up at me to compensate for the few inches that separated our lines of sight. It was a tan being that had a rounded head and body with two flat arm-like protrusions that stuck out from its body. A spike was placed on top of its head and the bottom of its body, giving it the appearance of a spinning top. It had a circular red marking on its body and a similar-looking mark on its head that outlined what seemed to be its eyes, which were shut. I also noticed the black scuff marks and dents that covered the Pokémon, and I felt my heart clench. Something bad had happened to this Pokémon.

"Is that a Baltoy?" I heard Winona ask. "I thought they could only be found north of Mauville." The Baltoy flinched when it heard Winona speak and backed away a foot or two, spinning like the top it resembled as it moved.

"Winnie, please be quiet!" Wallace hissed, trying not to make his tone sound too harsh. I silently thanked him and spoke to Baltoy once again.

She doesn't want to hurt you, none of us do. If you can, tell me what happened to you and I can try to help, I said.

... ..?

Baltoy spun in place several times, as if it was puzzled. Was I getting through to it?

I don't know what you have gone through, but I have a feeling it wasn't anything good, and I fully understand why you wouldn't want to trust anyone. But you can trust me. I wouldn't dare purposefully hurt any Pokémon, I can promise you that, I almost begged, giving the Pokémon the most sincere look I could. There was nothing else I could do. It was up to Baltoy to decided whether it wanted to believe me or not.

...

Nervously, Baltoy approached me. When it was within my reach, I carefully removed one of my hands from behind my back and held it out to the Pokémon.

..!

The Psychic-type lurched back and sped towards the treeline on the opposite side of the clearing where it half-hid itself in the bushes. I looked to see its attention fixated on me. I couldn't help but feel sad for it. I knew this would happen, but I wasn't angry. It wasn't Baltoy's fault that it had run, it was mine. I was too rash and I had scared it away.

...

It seemed to gaze at me for a moment longer before disappearing into the forest entirely. With a heavy heart, I stood up and walked back over to my friends.

"I'm sorry if I scared it away, I didn't mean to!" Winona apologized.

"It's okay, Winona. It's my fault that it ran," I responded. I cast the space behind me a sorrowful glance, half-hoping that Baltoy had returned. It hadn't and I knew this. Its presence had left me the second it was out of sight.

"At the very least, you tried," Wallace said somewhat somberly. He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me an understanding half-smile. "If it didn't want your help then so be it."

"No, I think it did want help. It was just too scared to ask for it," I said.

Throughout the rest of the day, I found myself wishing that my odd vision of the future had revealed more of it to me. If it had, I may have altered my actions. I could have helped Baltoy. But that would be impossible. No one could change the future, not that easily.