Why are you reading this? The chapter is down bellow! Also, send me some stones, I ran out of snacks for Torchic.
| Rio POV |
Breakfast ends the way it always does: with Torchic stealing scraps, May chugging the last of her coffee like she's about to challenge the Elite Four in one sitting , and Ralts psychically levitating the leftover crumbs into a neat pile.
She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "Alright, team. Time to move out. Route 104's waiting, and Rustboro's not gonna badge itself."
Torchic hops excitedly in place. Ralts clings shyly to my shoulder. I just yawn and crack my neck.
"Do you ever not look like you just crawled out of a forest fire?" May asks.
I respond with a thumbs-up and a wink.
Translation: "No."
We step out into the crisp morning air. Dew still clings to the grass, and the breeze carries the scent of pine, salt from the nearby ocean, and possibly… plot development.
Torchic sprints ahead, clearly eager to burn something. Ralts holds onto May like a plushie with anxiety issues. I fall into step behind them, hand holding the strange stone that I am still completely oblivious about —the Beastite.
I hadn't thought much about it lately. Been too busy nearly dying, punching dads, and falling off bunk beds. But now, out here on the road, it hums faintly against my paw. Like it's remembering something. Like it's waiting...
I glance down at it. The shard glints with otherworldly shimmer, catching the light in colours that don't exist on any paint wheel. I don't fully understand it. I don't think I'm supposed to. Eh, I'll figure it out in due time.
"Rio..." May says, noticing my gaze. "Where did you get that radioactive looking rock from..."
"The shiny rock shop, duh."
"I think I liked you more when I couldn't understand you..."
I open my mouth to answer. And that's when the sky cracks.
No. Not figuratively. Literally.
One second, it's a clear blue sky. The next—SSSSSCCRREEEEEHHHH
A jagged rift tears across the clouds, spiralling open like someone just ripped the fabric of reality in half and didn't bother stitching it back. Colours I don't have names for pulse within. Wind howls in reverse. The trees bend toward the thing. Torchic squawks and dives behind a bush. Ralts lets out a small whimper and presses her head into May's neck.
I stare. May stares. We all stare.
A pause.
"…So," May says slowly, "do we… check that out?"
Another pause.
I shake my head. Vehemently.
Torchic's already halfway back to town.
Ralts gives the tiniest of nods. "Bad. Very bad. Shouldn't be here."
"Okay," May says, backing away while still facing it like it's a particularly angry Ursaring. "So we're on the same page: ignore the tear in space-time and pretend this never happened."
Unanimous nodding.
We turn and keep walking.
Normal. Casual. Totally-not-ignoring-a-dimension-ripping-cosmic-anomaly levels of chill.
Behind us, the wormhole hisses. Something might move inside it. But none of us look back.
Nope.
Not today.
| Later… |
The wormhole is gone by the time we Reach the city. Not closed per se. Just… not there anymore.
May's sitting on the sofa, unpacking snacks. Torchic is trying to sneakily steal some food without May noticing.
I sit on a chair, staring at the Beastite in my paw.
It's still warm.
Ralts notices. She drifts over quietly, eyes locked onto it.
"You feel it too?" I ask.
She nods. Her fingers hover just above the shard. Then, ever so gently, she touches it.
FLASH.
For a split second, I'm somewhere else. A void. A battlefield. Blackness stretching endlessly beneath strange stars. A howl echoes through space. Something immense stirs—shackled and ancient.
Then it's gone.
Ralts stumbles back. I catch her before she falls. She clings to me, shaking slightly.
May, noticing our expressions, puts down her juice box. "You two okay?"
We both look at her. Then at each other.
Then say, in perfect mental sync:
"Definitely not."
| May POV |
"So let me get this straight," I say, rubbing my temples. "This weird shiny rock is connected to… Ultra Space? Whatever the heck that is?"
My dad nods from behind his screen, possibly pulling out whatever records he has on this. "The Ultra Space is an interdimensional realm—not unlike our own, but also completely alien to us."
"Uh-huh. And what does this red rock have anything to do with the portal?" I ask, holding up Rio to show him the stone. He flinches slightly, clearly not wanting me to touch it.
...Probably for the best.
"Fascinating," Dad mutters, zooming in on a scan. "I've never seen anything like it. It must originate from Ultra Space itself—maybe some sort of mineral... The data I got from your Pokédex shows a high saturation in Z-energy. Possibly what allowed the wormhole to open."
I sigh, slumping in my seat.
Should've paid more attention in class.This sounds like alien-speak to me…
Dad doesn't even glance away from his screen. "Z-energy is... hard to explain. Think of it like raw potential—energy drawn from a Pokémon's core essence, including their personality, training, type, and bonds, but amplified through certain channels. The stone you're holding—"
"—Rio's holding," I correct quickly. He tightens his grip as if on cue.
Dad hums. "Right, the stone Rio is holding might be acting as a sort of focus. A Z-stone, maybe."
I blink. "A what-now?"
"Z-stone. A term coined by researchers studying Ultra Beasts and their relationship to Ultra Space. Some of them exhibit strange behaviour around Z-energy. Occasionally, rare minerals or objects with unnatural resonance are found in proximity to wormholes. They're rare, and usually unstable, Z-stones, in particular, are theorized to be fragments shed by beings that dwell in Ultra Space—organic, mineral, or otherwise."
I glance at Rio. He's holding the stone like it's part of him. There's nothing unstable about him right now—just tense, like he's waiting for someone to take it away again.
"...So what, it's safe?" I ask.
Dad shrugs. "As safe as handling volatile interdimensional power can be."
"Super comforting, thanks."
Rio gives me a side-eye, then flicks his ears toward the window.
Out in the sky—just above the tree line—a shimmer ripples across the air like a heatwave.
We both freeze.
"...Dad?" I say slowly, not taking my eyes off it. "Is that a—?"
"Wormhole," he says grimly, now fully alert and typing furiously. "It's faint, but it's there. If you're seeing distortions already, that means your stone is resonating stronger than expected."
"Great. So now we're walking Ultra Space magnets."
"Don't go near it," he says, his voice sharp now. "Whatever you do, steer clear. If one of those things fully opens, it could pull anything nearby in. People. Pokémon. Worlds."
I gulp.
No pressure.
The shimmer pulses once more, then fades like nothing ever happened.
Rio slowly exhales. His paws are clenched so tight, his claws dig into his fur. Torchic flutters up onto the coffee table, tilting her head at the window like she's trying to figure out if breakfast is going to come out of that hole next.
"Definitely not," I mutter, standing up.
Ralts tugs gently on my sleeve, her big red eyes wide and searching. "Is it gone…?"
"Yeah," I say. "But it doesn't feel like the last of it."
Dad leans forward, suddenly thoughtful. "May, if you're serious about collecting badges, you're going to have to be even more careful. Something like that… it doesn't just happen. You might be connected to something bigger now."
I groan. "Why me?"
Rio snorts.
Ralts gently nudges my side with her tiny hand. "You're not alone."
I look at her.
Then Rio.
Then Torchic, who's pecking the screen for some reason.
I manage a small smile.
"Yeah," I say quietly. "I guess we're in this together."
Word Count: 1308
Now... How could I explain how a Lucario can fire off hollow purples?
MC: I'm going to be Gojo?!
Nah, too much work, stick to jumping people Itadori style.
MC: (╥﹏╥)