I gasped loudly while my Progress Wish tag flew off on its own, but how can that be possible!? It's not a full moon tonight!

"Les!" I yelled out and accidentally lost my stepping off the rock and fell into the mud "O-Ow..."

"Are you okay?!" Rodri asked. Les came down to check on me while my mind was on getting to my wish tag as fast as possible. I tried getting up, but whined in pain.

"You must've twisted your ankle" Les said. I shook my head and forced myself to hop to the cave my tag went into.

"My wish tag!" I fell in the mud again "It went in there!" Les looked up at the sky.

"The moon isn't full yet" I looked up at the blue sky, seeing the moon slightly there. It was only a half moon.

"I know, but it flew out!" He picked me up and looked towards the cave opening.

"Are you sure you should be quick to follow it like this?" I stopped and looked at him "Your talisman is only active under the full moon. You need to be cautious" I nodded, getting the point. I was so invested in progress that I forgotten it wasn't a full moon. Whatever is in that cave must've took the tag to get me to go in there... Is that the case? Or am I just reading too much into this?

"You're right" I sighed and took a deep breath "Let's take our time" I pointed at the cave "That way!" Les rolled his eyes at my enthusiasm before chuckling and let Rodri guide us into the cave.

It was dark, so he took out a bright flashlight and lit up a room with strange letterings on the walls "I can't believe this..." Rodri said "This opening just came out of nowhere..." he studied the text on the walls "The walls are badly damaged by erosion or something"

"No way..." I got Les to let go of me so I could limp over to look at the walls too "These letters... Look, Les! Haven't we seen these before?" Les nodded

"You have?" Rodri asked "These text are ancient and only a few people know how to read them. I can make out some letters, but everything else is unreadable. These are known as Unown letterings" He held his chin to carefully look for something that can be placed into a word "I can hardly make out anything. There shouldn't be a reason these text look like this. I need to take pictures to send to the lab" I pointed at the wall.

"But I can read it just fine" Rodri and Les stared at what I was looking at "Can't you see it?"

"I think your eyes are doing it again" Les said.

"My eyes?"

"Remember the pink sparkles only you can see underground?" I looked back at the text surprised. Really? Is it only me that can read these texts?

"Octavia! If you're able to read these text, you can help us discover what this place is faster!" Rodri smiled and searched his bag for a notebook to write in. I looked around the dark room, softly hearing singing somewhere above us.

"Do... you hear that?" I asked.

"Could you read what you're reading?" Rodri asked, not hearing me. He was too excited to get a discovery.

"Oh, yeah" I looked at the wall and read on a spot with the clearest letterings I could read with the flashlight "The... Universe... became... one" the letters started glowing all around us so brightly that a light wasn't needed. It showed off how huge the room was and how many other entrances there were.

"Hehe!" Something giggled. I froze and started shaking. That giggle... I recognized it.

"What was that?" Rodri asked. So he heard it too... it wasn't just me!

"L-Les..." I tugged on his sleeve and started crying. The boys immediately noticed my reaction. Rodri was the most shocked to see me this way and slowly looked over my head at the thing that was moving my hair in all directions.

"Via..." Les looked surprised as well at was behind me.

"T-They're touching me..." I slowly panicked while they laughed "They're laughing at me..."

"Hehe...." I sobbed loudly and made a run for it

"Leave me alone!!!"

"Wait!" Rodri shouted
"Via!" Les shouted after. I had no idea where I was going. The only light I had around me were the shining letters on the walls. I found myself running into many different entrances while the Unown followed me and sang and laughed around me like this was some kind of game!

I couldn't run correctly either because of my ankle. There were a few times when I tripped because of the pain, but continued to run until the letters in the room disappeared. I could no longer see anything around me and saw nothing but black. W-What have I done..?

"Bana... Can you see anything..?" I asked, regretting running away.

"Ban" Banette patted my arm to be alert. I looked up ahead to see some letters glowing in the dark. Feeling like I wasn't being followed anymore, I hurried towards the glowing letters and read what was in front of me.

"There is only one way to getting rid of the curse... and you cannot wish for it" I screamed above my lungs when the letters came out the wall and started surrounding me "What do you want from me?!" The little light that was shown was showing off my wish tag floating in place "You... You tricked me into coming here!" I snatched my tag back and stared at all the Unown surrounding me "why..?" The Unown started forming words for me to read out loud.

"You have been blessed and cursed" I read, then they changed to new words "the blessing will keep you from suffering more..?" They changed again "If you want to get rid of the curse, you must understand who your demon is" they surrounded me again "Understand who my demon is..? Is that really necessary to get rid of it? If you're just here to help me, give me more information" my feet floated off the ground "w-whoa! Hey! Put me down-" my surroundings were as bright as day and I fell onto some grass "Ow!" I looked around, seeing that I was outside, but it wasn't anywhere I recognize "Where did they end up taking me?"

I stood up and winced at the pain on my ankle "I need to go to the Pokémon center..." I took out my phone to call Les, hoping he'll get reception in those ruins. He picked up almost immediately.

"Via!" Les answered.

"Les!" I held my heart, relieved "You won't believe what just happened to me!"

"Are you alright?" I sighed.

"Yes"

"That's good... It's Octavia. She's alright" he told someone.

"Octavia!" Rodri spoke "What happened?! I'm so glad you're okay!" I told them what happened with the Unown, but not what they spelled out for me "This is amazing! A true discovery! We need to go back to those ruins and explore more- Huh? Where did the entrance go? It disappeared?" He sounded confused.

"It disappeared like how it appeared in the first place, it seems" Les said.

"Are you sure it was over there?" One of his brothers asked "There was nothing there earlier this morning" I can feel the head scratching. It seemed like a confusing situation if the entrance that suddenly appeared had disappeared the same way.

"The Unown teleported me outside. I don't know where I am" I said and looked around "Let me check my map" I checked the map on my Pokétch and blinked confused.

"What's wrong?" Les asked when I was taking too long to answer.

"I think I'm by Veilstone city"

"...all the way over there? That's a two weeks walk. Should I take a bus or something?"

"Yes?" Why is he asking me something like that? I don't want to wait two weeks just for him to catch up! I don't even know why I was taken here! "I'll be traveling to Veilstone on my own to look for Platina. By the way, those Unown were the reason why my tag flew off. It's like they planned to do this" there was a short silence "Hello?"

"Hey, Octavia" Rodri spoke.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I... You have no idea how glad I am to know you're okay" his voice sounded a bit sad "I was baffled to see you like that. Leslie told me you were scared of Pokémon and is why you ended up crying. I had no idea..."

"How could you had known? That mysterious entrance was blocked off so we wouldn't have known if there were Pokémon there, especially Unown" I started following my Poketch map to get to the city "I'm sure you were pretty shocked, huh?"

"Yeah... I can see why you avoided Pokémon battles as much as you did. You think you'll be okay on your own?"

"Of course! I'm not totally hopeless without Les" I chuckled "Though I rely on him for certain things, I think I'll be fine"

"I'll make sure he gets on the earliest bus to Veilstone!" I smiled "Listen... I think you found yourself a good guy"

"Hm?"

"He let me use his phone so he can't hear us" oh? "While we were on the walk to the ruins, we were talking. I was telling him about our lives back in the resort and stuff" I scratched my cheek. So he knows I almost attempted murder multiple times on him and even threw hot candle wax on his work uniform. He was a prick and my anger issues were through the roof all the time if I wasn't calm. I often only had two emotions during those times.

"I'm sure he wasn't really surprised" I said.

"No... He was telling me about how you ended up traveling together even when he dislikes rich people... whatever that meant. He told me about what you did with the money and stuff"

"Right"

"From how hard you worked, I would had never guessed that you were a CEO's daughter"

"That didn't mean much. I had nothing back then"

"R-Right... Anyway. I wanted to say that he told me the reason why you traveled together" did he? Did he tell a different reason then what he told my father? "I could tell he was enchanted by you" I blinked confused as I stared at the city "He really goes out of his way to take care of you. Like starting with how you didn't eat much in the beginning of the journey but he encouraged you to eat more so you can travel easier. He holds you back when you make an outburst and I'm pretty sure he's the only one who can do that. I'm bigger than him and I can't even do that" he nervously laughed "What I'm trying to say out of all this... I'm glad you're doing well. It was nice seeing you again. I promise I'll be better" I smiled and nodded, even if he couldn't see me.

"It was nice seeing you too, Rodri. Take care of yourself, or else" I sang, feeling like he flinched.

"Yes ma'am" I chuckled.

"And I'm sorry for traumatizing you. I wasn't in the best place at the time when I did all those to you" the phone made a weird noise before Les spoke.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Hang in there and don't cause trouble" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't talk to me like a kid!" I sighed and pouted, thinking about when Rodri said that Les was enchanted. What kind of bullshit is that? "Just get here as soon"

"Got it" I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Sheesh! Why did Les tell him all that? He's going to think we're a couple!" I blushed "As if Les ever thinks of me that way" he's only being a good friend. I'm sure any girl would be lucky to have him as a partner.

I held my heart starting to hurt. I blend down, squeezing my chest "Why does it hurt?"

"Hey, excuse me!" A girls voice spoke. I looked up to see a girl in work out clothes and wraps around her fists, coming over to me. I stood up, feeling the pain going away when I put my attention on her "Are you okay?" She came up to me.

"I'm okay" I patted my chest "Just a bit heart burn, I think" she looked concerned "I'm fine! Really"

"Are you sure?" I nodded "That's good then. Are you from around here?"

"No, I'm traveling to find my sister. Perhaps you can help me?" I told her my business while on this journey.

"Wow! What a big moment that I'm getting to meet a sister of a famous pop idol!" She gasped "I listen to her songs while I work out! You look a lot like her!" She shook my hands "My name is Maylene!"

"I'm Octavia" I smiled at her excitement.

"I'm sorry if I can't be any help to you" she bowed to me "As much as I love Dawn's music, I don't have any information on the matter. Working out keeps me busy often, so I don't hear the news or read on the forums online" I nodded.

"It's okay. I'll keep trying. Thank you for your time" I limped away.

"Hold on. Is your leg okay?"

"I twisted it earlier in some mud" I showed off how dirty I was "I'm going to look for a Pokémon center. Mind if you guide me there?"

"Yeah! Totally!" She kneeled in front of me.

"Huh?"

"Get on my back! I'll take you there! Sorry if I'm a bit sweaty! I was on a run earlier"

"Are you sure..? I may be heavy"

"No sweat! I'm stronger than I look!" I nodded and carefully got on her back. She picked me up with ease "Wow! It's like you don't weigh a thing!" She laughed "Let's go!" I chuckled as she hurried through the city to take me to the Pokémon center.

My leg was examined and later was told that it wasn't a serious injury and nothing was broken, which relieved me "Thank goodness" I sighed, limping in the lobby after I was seen.

"That's good news" Maylene smiled, coming over to me "I'm sure you'll be better in no time! You know what will help? Some heat!"

"Heat?"

"Yeah! Like how you put ice on your wound? Heat relaxes the muscles!"

"Oh! That's what you meant. I use to always go to a hot springs after a work out with my friend, Bebe"

"So you know Bebe! That makes us friends too!" She wrapped her arm around my shoulder "If you worked out with her, I'm sure you know how to fight?"

"Well, only for self defense. It's been awhile though. I think I lost some muscle"

"How long are you in town for?"

"My friend is coming from Solaceon Town. I don't know how long it'll take him to get here" she nodded.

"How about I train yah?" I faced her, confused "You might have lost your touch, but it's always good to get back into shape!"

"Oh, you don't have to" I played with my hands "I don't want to bother you or anything" she waved her hands.

"It's no problem! You're a friend of Bebe! that's my cousin, by the way! And it's so cool that I got the chance to meet a celebrity's sister! It'll be my pleasure!"

"Well... in that case, how much do I owe you?"

"I teach kick boxing classes every other day. I'm also a gym leader of this city-" I flinched and moved away a bit "hm? What's wrong?"

"You're not going to ask me to battle you... right?" She looked confused "Sorry... I just have Gardenia and Fantina ask me to battle them and I'm not very fond of battles" she laughed out loud.

"Oh! They must see some potential in you then! If you didn't say anything, I wouldn't have! But now I'm curious!" Dammit... why did I open my big mouth? "No worries. I was just going to say that I do gym battles on the days I don't have classes. If I don't have a battle do to, I just work out by myself. I can offer private lessons, but that is sort of costly"

"That's fine. I need something to do something while waiting for my friend. Aside from asking about my sister, working out sounds fun!" Maylene clapped excitedly.

"Yay! I can finally get a workout buddy! There aren't many ladies in the gym" she took my hands excitedly "but we shouldn't rush into things with your ankle the way that it is. Let me show you to a friend of mine who is a massage therapist" a message therapist..? I wonder if...

"Okay" I smiled "Maylene, thanks for helping me out. I look forward to working out with you!" She smiled happily and carried me through the city to meet with her friend.