Once again, the low hum of fluorescent lighting droned in Astra’s ears, the incessant buzz drilling into her thoughts without pause. She stared at the Pokecenter’s ceiling, deeply slouched into a creaky chair. She and May had entered the center what seemed to be hours ago and had deposited their pokemon for healing. Unfortunately, there had been a massive queue ahead of them, so they had been waiting for quite some time now.

The computers were all occupied by trainers doing mysterious tasks, click-clacking quietly in the background. The magazines provided had either been taken or featured the most tedious content Astra could imagine. How many humans could possibly care about how good someone's personal patch of grass looked? Apparently enough to make a twenty-page booklet every month. Pass.

Lacking anything better to do, Astra had begun criticizing humanity's poor lighting aesthetic. Couldn’t they have sprung for some nice, quiet candles instead? The flames would have been something to look at, and if nothing else some scented wax would have livened the place up a bit. The lights above continued to hum, uncaring of her steadily growing disdain.

Plagued by the ceaseless tedium, Astra sighed and slouched ever deeper into her chair. She was more ‘laying down’ than ‘sitting’ at this point; eventually she would fall off, but that was a problem for Future Astra.

Next to Astra, May tilted and swayed as she struggled to keep her head upright in the face of the very same nothing. Her eyes fluttered closed for a heartbeat, and she was halfway towards falling directly onto Astra before she abruptly shot upright, eyes wide. May blinked sleepily, then yawned and settled back. The cycle continued.

The lobby was otherwise mostly quiet, save for the buzzing of distant machinery and whatever small sounds came from the other trainers scattered about the floor. Someone coughed and turned a page in a book. Astra briefly considered getting up to peruse the small bookshelf, but she got the feeling that it wouldn’t be any less empty since the last time she looked. Instead, she just slid a little further off the chair and continued to gaze directly into a shaded light fixture.

...

This is really fucking boring, Astra thought.

An uncounted eternity later, a voice rang out from the front desk.

“Numbers 87 and 88!” a Nurse Joy called, “87 and 88!”

Hearing her number, Astra tried to sit up, lost her grip, and then slid fully off the chair and smacked her head against the seat on the way down. The future was now, and Astra cursed her past self for her clear lack of foresight as she stood up, rubbing the aching spot on her skull.

May, for her part, jerked to her feet so hard she went airborne for a quarter-second. “Bwuh?” she asked dumbly, before clutching at her head and swaying. “Ah, fuck, got up too fast,” she muttered.

Recovering quickly, the two trainers rushed up to the desk. Nurse Joy smiled at them as they came near. “Thank you for your patience,” she said, laying two trays of pokeballs on the counter. “Your pokemon have been restored to full health. We hope to see you again!”

“Nn.” May grunted, rubbing at her eyes. “Thanks.”

“Thank you,” Astra said, pocketing her balls. “Have a nice day!”

A blast of natural, uncooled wind hit the two trainers as they exited the Pokecenter. The city greeted them, sky still a bright blue. May yawned again, then lightly slapped herself on both cheeks. “Ugh,” she groaned, one foot plodding in front of the other. “Why were there so many people there today? That took forever!”

“Well, it is the middle of the day,” Astra reasoned, readjusting her robe. She made a note to retain better posture in the future—sliding down the chair had played havoc on her carefully wrapped clothes. “Maybe that’s just how things are, usually?”

“Damn,” May said, with a dour look. She pulled out her Pokedex, fiddling with it for a moment. “If all our trips there are gonna take that long, maybe I should get back to figuring out how to rig this thing to play games. Maybe I can beat my old Tetris score.”

“Tetris?” Astra asked.

“It’s a game where you gotta make lines out of four-piece blocks,” May explained, “I got really good at it back in... Unova, maybe? Kalos? They all kind of blur together after a point.”

“Huh.” A human puzzle game? Astra would have to look into that. If it could save her from that tedious hell, all the better. “Were you good at it?”

May smirked. “Good? I completely decimated a versus tournament once! Lost the trophy at some point, but whatever.”

“Oh wow!” Astra said, impressed. “Was it hard?”

“Nah, it was pretty easy.” May glanced to the side, lips pursed. “I, uh, had a lot of free time to practice, that year. Not much else to do when you’re just sittin’ around home all day,” she muttered.

“Oh,” Astra said, wincing at the reminder of May’s less than stellar social life. “I see.”

The two of them continued their aimless walk, Astra lacking anything to talk about and May looking past the horizon with a sort of detached melancholy. Glancing about, Astra searched for something to talk about. After a moment, she belatedly realized that she didn’t actually know where they were going.

“So!” she said, breaking the stillness, “What are we doing now?”

May didn’t respond, so Astra continued talking after a moment. “I’d say we could go celebrate, but we just ate, so...”

May sighed, coming to a halt. “...You know, I think I just wanna go wander around by myself.”

“Huh?” Astra asked, surprised. May wanted to split up? “Why?”

May scratched at her cheek and stared at the road ahead. “Eh, I just feel like being alone for a while. Besides, we’ve been basically attached at the hip since we’ve met.” She turned her head, a smirk crossing her features. “If I hang out with you much longer, I’ll be finding myself trying to plant a garden in my backyard and handing out berry soup to random ass neighborhood kids.”

“Maaay!” Astra whined. “I’m not that bad!” She crossed her arms and huffed. “I bet your soups wouldn’t taste very good anyway.”

May stuck her tongue out. “Nyeh,” she countered.

“But... yeah,” Astra continued, sending May a smile. “We have been stuck together pretty tight, haven’t we? I get it. I feel the same when Grandpa wants to monopolize my entire day with cooking or painting.”

“Painting?” May asked, raising an eyebrow. “He makes art?”

“Yeah,” Astra said, smiling. “Not that much, cause it’s hard to get the right pigments where we live, but he did draw an entire mural on our ceiling.”

“Huh. I’ve never really been into that kind of thing, but I guess that’s pretty cool.” May glanced around, shrugged, then turned down a side street. “Anyway, I’m off. See you later!”

“Wh- oh.” Astra blinked, watching May walk away. “Right. Enjoy your walk, I guess? I don’t even know what I’m gonna do now...”

“You’ll figure it out!” May called out, raising one hand in farewell. “See you back at the hotel!”

Astra let out a sigh as May faded from sight. She looked around, noting the various storefronts that lined the street. None of them looked particularly appealing to her at the moment. Well, there were a few clothing stores, but she didn’t think she had enough money to buy anything. She tapped her foot, pondering. What to do, what to do...

Well, she did have a new teammate to get up to speed, and a brand new well of power to stretch out. That ought to burn a few hours! With a grin and a slight skip to her step, Astra started walking. A moment later, she paused, then turned and started back toward the hotel.

She had a few things to pick up first.

The sun flashed in and out of view overhead, spraying dappled spots of light on the grass. The sound of leaves rustling in the wind echoed throughout the air as Astra ventured deeper into the forests beyond the outskirts of Rustboro City, passing by small hills and tiny brooks on her way.

After so long on human paths and in human cities, being totally surrounded by nature once more was making her feel nostalgic. If she kept her eyes forward, she could almost imagine that, in just a few yards, she would find a looming wooden gate with a Kirlia standing watch just inside, armed with a sharpened spear. Beyond him, another, more elderly Kirlia would be awaiting her with open arms, a gentle grin upon his face.

One look behind her would dispel that falsehood, where tall, gleaming spires of human make could be glimpsed through the greenery. It could be beautiful, in its own way, but a part of Astra wanted the illusion to remain, so she ignored it.

Astra paused upon reaching a large grassy clearing, and expanded her senses to their utmost. They had increased drastically since she had evolved, and this was her first time using them to their full capacity. Astra couldn’t measure how far they spread now, as she didn’t quite know the larger measurements humans used by heart yet. The range was large enough to tell if anyone was coming before it became an issue, and that was all she really needed.

Focusing, Astra did a sweep of the area and found, to her relief, no sign of any stray humans. She would have to keep an eye out, but for now this was as secluded as she was going to get without wandering too far away from the city. A good five to ten minute warning was all she would need, in the end.

Satisfied with her isolation, she dispelled her illusions and derobed, folding the cloth up and setting it to the side next to her bag. She clasped her hands above her head, now slightly more difficult due to the two new horns, and stretched, feeling her shoulders let out a few quiet pops. Twisting from side to side, she spun in place, watching as her skirt flared out.

Ceasing her rotation, Astra knelt into a half-crouch, then leapt forward and dashed across the clearing. She laughed as she went, each bound easily covering distances that her Ralts form would have struggled to match. Feeling a bit daring, she jumped and attempted to do a front-flip, but undershot and face-planted into the grass. Pushing herself up, she rubbed at her face and grinned. She would have to practice that, it seemed.

Turning over, Astra laid in the grass and stared at the sky overhead, basking in the afternoon light that she hadn’t felt in nearly a week. It felt good to be out of her robe, and she was tempted to just spend the remainder of the afternoon just enjoying this moment. Alas, she had practice to conduct. But it wasn’t like that couldn’t be fun as well! She grinned, remembering all the times she had telekinetically squirted berry juice into her Grandpa’s face.

Climbing to her feet, Astra examined the clearing she was in closely. It wasn’t too unusual, merely a large area composed of grass, dirt, and loose rocks, enclosed on all sides by thick, hearty trees. Astra strode along the edge of the grove, closely examining the space she had from every angle.

Completing the circle, she picked up a couple large rocks and returned to the center, setting them down as markers. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she focused, recalling what her Grandpa had once said about teleportation.

Remain centered. Keep your destination in mind: how it looks, where it is, how it feels. The clearer the image, the better the transition. Compare where you are, and where you will be. Keep it there! Maintain clarity.

And then, reach out—

Space is not empty

Light fills the void

From stars long dead

Merely look into the sky

And see the flames that traveled so far

Just to shine upon you

...

But to move from one place to another

Space must be twisted upon itself.

But if space contains all things

Then, where does it twist into?

...

That space, too, is not empty.

Pray that you never see the light of that sky.

And the shadows that dwell within it

A familiar, twisted feeling surrounded Astra for a split second, and for an instant she thought she heard... something, but then her feet returned to the grass as quickly as they had departed. To her side, a subdued clap rang through the clearing as the air rushed to fill the void she left behind.

Opening her eyes, Astra looked down, and grinned wildly as she saw her markers had moved several feet away. Or rather, she had moved away from them! She had done it, and on her first try, too! She shot a fist into the air, letting out a cheer.

She could teleport!

Grinning, Astra focused on another marker, farther away.

zwip-CLAP

“Gah!?” She gasped, stumbling as her teleport dropped her a foot above where she had meant to be. Waving her arms wildly, Astra jerked backwards, overbalanced, and fell on her ass.

“Ow...”

Rubbing the sore spot, Astra grumbled at her mistake. Alright, so doing it right once in ideal conditions did not a master make. That just meant she had to practice more. Standing back up, she observed the markers she had set, picked one, and began teleporting around the clearing in earnest.

One, two, three four five-six-seven—

It was then she was sharply reminded of the cost of the technique when a small headache abruptly blossomed into a full blown migraine. Clutching at her head, Astra stumbled toward her bags and fumbled around inside, retrieving the jar of Leppa berries she had harvested on Route 104. She picked the largest one, and bit through the fruits thick flesh, swallowing it whole. The spicy aftertaste wasn’t her favorite flavor, but the sweet, blissful relief it provided was well worth it.

The pain and fatigue still lingered, but the Leppa berries were in short supply. A bit of rest would take care of it, Astra decided. Plus, she didn’t really want to taste it again. Closing the jar, she set it beside her other things and sat against the tree. Looking at the boughs above her, Astra let out a sigh.

That was a really disappointing amount of teleports, she thought. All of them had been super short range, too. A pessimistic guess said that she wouldn’t be able to go very far at all before basically falling over. Her Grandpa had teleported both her and the Guard from Birch’s laboratory straight back home with only a bit of exhaustion to show for it! That had been amazing! Why couldn’t she do that?

She spent the next minute sulking at her own deficiency. When the remnants of the headache faded away, Astra sighed and stood back up. Maybe she was missing something about the move that made it less exhausting? Or maybe it just got easier over time. Well, there was really nothing for it but to keep training. Except, maybe that could be saved for later? She did have a few other things she wanted to do, and spending half of her time incapacitated with psychic fatigue would not be conducive to that. She’d just have to set a day aside for practicing teleportation, more than the scant few hours of daylight left would allow. Maybe when she had more than just the one jar of Leppa.

Flicking her wrist, Astra summoned Slakoth’s pokeball and the TM for Rock Tomb from her bag. She considered the disc for a moment. Was there a better way to use this? She mulled it over, but discarded the thought. It was a powerful utility move, and that was exactly what her newest teammate would need. If she didn’t use it here, she might never use it at all. Pointing the pokeball at the TM, she watched as light flared across its shining surface. The disc dulled and cracked like the last disc had, and soon enough she was left with a lump of useless plastic.

Stashing that away, Astra tossed the pokeball into the air, Slakoth emerging in a flash of light. The sluggish creature peered around the meadow, eyes meandering over the scattered stones before coming to rest upon his trainer. Slakoth tilted his head. His eyes were always sort of half-closed, but even still he managed to squint.

“Slaa...?”

“Hey Slakoth,” Astra said, smiling. She hadn’t had the chance to properly talk with her newest companion, aside from an uneventful meet-n-greet during breakfast. “Bet you don’t recognize me, huh? It’s still me! And look,” she exclaimed, twirling in place, “I evolved!”

A spark of recognition seemed to click into place behind Slakoth’s dull expression, and a dopey smile covered his face.

“Slaaa...!”

It was the most unenthusiastic-yet-genuine congratulations Astra had ever heard. This guy just could not muster up the willpower to do anything, could he? Well, Astra hoped he would put at least some effort into practice. She clapped her hands.

“Alright! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s the deal. You ate my food, so you have to repay me by fighting at my side! As long as you do so, I will keep feeding and housing you, and you’ll... uh.” Astra considered Slakoth for a moment. “You will never have to do much of anything else, and aside from training, can spend all your time loafing around.”

Slakoth’s eyes lit up. “Koth!” he said, raising his head and giving her a very firm nod over the course of six seconds. Apparently promises of a perpetually lackadaisical lifestyle were right up his alley. Well, at least his demands were simple.

“Glad to see you agree!” Astra peered around the clearing and gestured at a fallen log. It flew over and embedded itself into the ground between her and Slakoth. “Now, attack this branch. Show me what you can do!”

Slakoth pushed at the ground below and climbed to his feet. He loped toward the log on all fours, his arms acting as a second pair of legs. As he reached the post, he lifted a paw and slashed across the bark. His claws raked through the wood with a dull crunch, leaving three deep gashes behind. Upon completing his attack, Slakoth proceeded to not bother resisting his own momentum and tumbled to the ground. He blinked, slowly.

“Slaaa...”

Astra stared at him. “Can you... do it again?” she asked.

“Slak.” Tired.

“Really?”

“Slakoth...”

“Ugh...” Astra rubbed at her forehead, exasperated. “You can’t just laze about when you’re actually fighting, you know,” she said, fixing him with a glare.

“Koth.”

“Hmph. At least your attack is pretty good,” Astra muttered, examining the damage to the post. “That would probably hurt a lot. Do you know anything else?” she asked, turning back to Slakoth. The TM had presumably taught him Rock Tomb, but Astra didn’t know what he could do naturally. So far it seemed to be ‘not much’, but it never hurt to check.

Slakoth pondered the question for a moment. Or fell asleep with his eyes open. It was hard to tell. But eventually he nodded and returned to his feet. Slakoth examined the post for a moment before he suddenly turned his head, focusing on something behind Astra.

“Sla!” he cried, pointing in alarm. Astra’s heart seized in her chest. They’d been discovered!?

She whirled around, psychic energy flaring in her hands as she beheld... nothing? She scanned the empty woods ahead of her fervently, searching for anything amiss. It was only the violent breaking of wood that drew her attention back to Slakoth. He gave her a lazy smile, a small chunk of splintered debris settling into the forest floor near the post.

Astra blinked, then scowled. “Slakoth! What were you thinking, tricking me like that!?” she demanded, the energy fading from her shaking hands. “You nearly—fuck, I got really scared there!”

Slakoth’s dopey smile faded into a puzzled frown. “Sla...?”

“Tch. You don’t even look sorry!” Astra fumed. “That was a pretty shitty prank, you get that? Don’t you ever pull that sort of thing again, especially when I’m exposed! You’re getting half portions next mealtime, and don’t argue!” she warned, halting Slakoth’s protest in advance. He slumped to the ground, despondent.

Astra held her glare for a moment more before something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning, she stared at the practice branch and the large chunk now ripped from its side. She blinked, eyeing the massive gouge. “Eh? Was this you?” she asked, looking back to Slakoth.

“...koth,” he said, muffled by the dirt his face was planted in.

“Huh. When did you do this? It looks a lot more effective than those scratches.” Astra mused. “Can you do it again?”

Slakoth hesitated. Astra furrowed her brow. “What’s the matter? Come on, if you did it once, you can do it again.” Slakoth still looked uncertain, so Astra decided to add a little bait. “If you do it well enough, I might cut back on your punishment~” she wheedled, voice veritably laced with sweetness.

She wouldn’t, of course. He had been really awful and deserved every bit of it. But he didn’t need to know that, right? In any case, that extra push seemed to decide it. Slakoth pushed himself off the ground, his hands dragging loosely against the dirt as he faced the branch once more. He stared at the log with lidded eyes.

Suddenly, Slakoth tilted his head and his eyes shot open, his gaze anchored to the forest beyond. “Sla!?” he said, slack jawed.

“A giant Oran berry!?” Astra exclaimed, whirling to look. “Where is—”

The sound of crunching wood once again interrupted her wild search. Confused, Astra turned back only to see another gaping hole in the branch. Slakoth was sitting on the grass, giving her another dull grin.

Astra’s eyes shifted from the new pile of wood scrap, to Slakoth, to the log and back again. For a moment anger flared in her heart, but then confusion drowned it out. Was the one punishment not enough? Why on earth did he pull another prank? Slakoth didn’t seem like the type to continually make jokes at the expense of those around him. That would take a lot of effort, and wouldn’t fit his demeanor of ‘eternally sleepy’.

Come to think of it, why did she fall for it in the first place? She had seen the entire clearing, and there weren’t any berry bushes to be found here. There was no reason to believe what he said had any hint of truth. She had just gotten fooled not even a minute ago, so why did she look?

“One more time,” Astra commanded. Slakoth groaned, but got to his feet once more. Astra stared intently at the scene. Nothing would distract her from looking straight at Slakoth and the log. Not some random observer, not food, not even—

“Sla!” Slakoth cried, pointing at the sky.

“A triple rainbow!?” Astra gasped. She had only ever seen single-arced ones after heavy rainstorms; doubles were relegated to mere stories. She had never even heard of a triple! Astra craned her head skyward, gleefully searching for multihued arcs of light in the heavens.

Crunch.

Astra twitched violently, then closed her eyes and sighed.

“I just got had again, didn’t I?”

“Slakoth.”

“Quiet, you,” she grumbled. Looking down, she was greeted a third time by Slakoth’s dull grin, and a third hole in the now rather unstable log. The third time she had asked him to attack, and the third time he had distracted her.

“You weren’t trying to prank me, were you?” Astra said, quietly. “You were doing what I told you to, and that’s just how it works. You distract someone, then hit them when they aren’t looking. Right?”

“Koth,” he said, a hint of reproach and vindication in his tone.

Astra sighed. “Alright, I guess I understand why you did that now. It was still pretty shitty!” she emphasized, “I don’t like fearing for my life, you know? But... you were just doing what I told you, and I didn’t see what that was until too late. I’m... sorry that I misunderstood. I’ll try to not jump to conclusions in the future.”

Slakoth tilted his head. “Sla...?”

Astra blinked. “Right. Uh, no, you’re not getting punished anymore.”

“Slak,” he pressed.

Astra rolled her eyes. “And you can have a little extra.”

“Slaaa!” he rejoiced, raising his arms to the sky.

Astra shook her head, watching him with a wry smile. “Alright, save the celebration for later,” she said with a clap of her hands. That log, ventilated as it was, could probably stand one more good blow before breaking down completely. “Right, let’s test out what the TM taught you. Slakoth, use Rock Tomb!”

Reinvigorated by the promise of generous helpings, Slakoth stood to attention. For a moment, he looked confused. A second passed, and Astra had just started to wonder if the TM had even worked when Slakoth’s eyes widened, and understanding finally dawned.

Slakoth’s arms jerked, and suddenly a thin, brown glow suffused across their surface. Raising them once again, Slakoth slammed his fists upon the ground, twin plumes of dust and dirt bursting into the air. The ground erupted, a quintet of needle like spears emerging from the stone. Every one of them pierced through the post, the raucous of splintering lumber signaling the reduction of his target into naught but firewood.

Astra whistled, observing the damage with a massive grin. The needles weren’t quite the spears that Roxanne's Geodude or Nosepass had shown, and there weren’t as many, about half, but their power and utility were still a force to be reckoned with.

“Nice work, Slakoth,” Astra said, her newest companion basking in the praise. “This should really help pin things down! Now we just need to string all these together... hm.” Summoning her other two pokeballs, Astra tossed them into the air. A flash of light later, Treecko and Marill stood side by side in front of her.

“Hey guys!” Astra greeted as they peered around the clearing. “I know we just fought a gym battle, but I wanted to bring Slakoth up to speed as quickly as possible. To do that, I need a bit of help. So! Who wants to spar first?”

Treecko blinked, taking in his master’s new appearance with curious eyes. To his side, Marill froze at the same sight, tail twitching sporadically. “Tree,” he congratulated, giving Astra a thumbs-up.

“Aheh...” Astra scratched the back of her head, grinning. “Thank you, but that wasn’t an answer... eh?” Astra paused, noticing Marill had gone oddly still. “Is something wrong, Marill?”

“Riii!!” she squealed, darting up to Astra with delighted, bouncy steps. She peered up at her trainer with wide eyes, grabbing and pulling down one of Astra’s skirt ruffles. “Mar mar,” she said, poking and prodding at it, before draping it over her head. Marill met Astra’s bemused gaze, eyes sparkling. “Maaaa!”

“Stop that!” Astra chided, snatching her flap back despite Marill’s disappointed whine. “Honestly! You can’t just go pulling at me like that. I don’t care how excited you are, my skirt is not headwear!”

Marill’s cheeks puffed out. “Marill ril!” she huffed, walking back the way she came.

Astra rolled her eyes. “Yes yes, I’m sure your evolution will be even prettier than mine. Thank you too. Now does anyone want to answer my actual question? We’re burning daylight, and I really want to get Slakoth ready to fight.”

She waved at Slakoth. Treecko and Marill turn to examine their newest partner in combat. Slakoth, for his part, had laid down and fallen asleep in the past five minutes. A soft snore wafted through the clearing. Treecko and Marill turned back to Astra, visibly unimpressed.

Astra sighed, rubbing at her forehead. “Son of a bitch.”

Astra hummed to herself as she sprayed more potion onto yet another of Marill’s scrapes. To her side Treecko and Slakoth, both already bandaged, had gotten into a minor competition over who could achieve the most comfortable sleeping position. Slakoth was currently winning in her mind, but only because Treecko was cheating by using his tail as a chair.

As Astra patched over another wound, she reflected on the fights that had caused them. Slakoth had performed better and worse than she had expected. Better, in that Slakoth was surprisingly comfortable with Astra telepathically communicating commands as concepts and sharing her field of view. Possibly because he didn’t have to spend energy on translating what she meant into what he should do. In addition, Slakoth was indeed strong, and when his attacks connected they did so with a startling finality.

Astra peered into the branches of a tree. “Were you aiming for that?” she asked, trying to see through the dense foliage. Next to her, Slakoth just shrugged. Marill was rolling around nearby, howling with laughter.

Up above, Treecko’s legs flailed wildly as he attempted to extract himself from a hole in the trunk. Muffled screaming could faintly be heard from the ground.

“You’d probably be a nightmare to the Rebound teams back home if you put the effort in,” Astra mused as she psychically tugged at Treecko. “Though I suspect the concept of effort would itself be a nightmare to you.”

“Slak,” he agreed.

“Well don’t just say it!”

“Koth!”

“Ugh. Let me just—there! Hey Treecko, you okay? ...Yeah, I know she’s laughing, but that’s no reason to—wait no no don’t—”

Treecko proceeded to hock a Bullet Seed into Marill’s open mouth. Laughter was replaced by violent gagging, swiftly followed by enraged screaming.

Astra sighed, rubbing at her forehead. “Son of a bitch.”

Worse in that... well, he was just so slow! Though he understood her commands well enough, oftentimes he was too sluggish in carrying them out to be effective. Even when he did, he tired so easily that he often needed a good six seconds of rest between actions, just to regain enough energy to move! Dodging was out of the question and her usual rockstorm practice had failed utterly.

What was it that May had said before? Slakoth’s next form was more energetic? Astra longed to see that day, because as of now, well...

It left a lot to be desired.

“Rock Tomb!” Astra called, focusing on a charging Marill.

“Sla... koth!” Slakoth bellowed, his fists slamming into the ground below. Brown energy pulsed, and a cluster of rocky needles burst from the rock and pinned Marill in place. Her rotund body insulated her from the worst of her momentum, but she still cried out as the spikes pricked at her belly.

“Alright!” Astra cheered. “Now, give her all you’ve got!”

Groaning softly, Slakoth staggered forward at a leisurely pace.

Astra gaped at him. “Wh—we don’t have time for you to loaf around, move faster!” she urged, eyeing how Marill had begun twisting herself free of her prison. “Come on, she’s almost—!”

The sound of crumbling rock and a shrill cry interrupted her, and a speeding blue sphere impacted Slakoth’s torso with a vengeance.

“—out,” Astra finished, watching Slakoth tumble backwards. She sighed. “Son of a bitch.”

Astra had learned a lot from the training, but most of it was merely a confirmation of what she already suspected. Slakoth was very slow, but very strong. Rock Tomb worked well enough to nullify his disadvantage, as long as his foe wasn’t too far away or too strong to be held down. His forced distraction trick would allow him to get in a few crucial blows, and if all else failed he had an absolutely terrifying throwing arm. Maybe she should look into a projectile for him to carry into battle.

A whine broke Astra out of her thoughts, and she realized she had stopped part way through her bandaging Marill. The blue pokemon pouted at her, wriggling in impatience.

“Sorry,” Astra said, finishing the patch. She did a last once over, then gave Marill a thumbs up. “Alright, you’re good to go!”

“Mar!” Marill chirped, then wandered off to bother the two layabouts across the clearing.

Astra watched the ensuing scuffle, smiling. They had all done well, today. The Stone badge rested soundly in a little slot on her Trainer ID, and her goal, once so distant, seemed more attainable than ever. She couldn’t have done it without any of them. Even Slakoth, as little as he had done, had been the deciding factor between failure and victory.

They had all earned a little time for fun, in her opinion. Astra checked her pokedex for the time, and found it to be half past four. Grinning, she summoned her pack and laid out an assortment of berries and fish. A quick psychic ping—much gentler than what she had done to that poor cashier in Petalburg—and all eyes snapped towards her.

“Hey guys!” she called, “It’s...” she paused for a moment. It was too early for dinner, yet too late for lunch. So this was... a memory flashed. “It’s time for linner!” she finished, grinning. Thank you, Billy!

All three of her minions perked up, and then it was a mad dash to get to their food first. Treecko was the winner, darting over before Slakoth had even gotten himself off the ground. Marill came shortly afterwards, with Slakoth bringing up a surprisingly not so distant third. Apparently the lazy bum could actually move, if there was food involved. They descended on their respective portions with a ravenous vigor; Slakoth joyfully devouring his extra handful of Oran berries.

“You know,” Astra started, swallowing her portion of Magikarp, “We haven’t really done anything together, have we? I mean, there was all this training, but that’s, you know,” Astra waved a hand in the air. “Serious stuff. So! I was thinking that we could play a few games while we have the time!”

Treecko perked up, setting down his food. “Treecko?” he asked, laser focused.

Astra grinned. “Yes, like Rebound, among a few other things.”

Marill glanced between her trainer and her teammate, confused. “Mar?”

“Oh don’t worry, Rebound’s real easy to understand.” Astra reassured. “I’ll tell you what to do. Who knows?” She grinned mischievously. “Maybe you’ll be better than Treecko?”

Marill shot to her feet, eyes blazing. “Marill mar!”

Treecko stared at her, eyes narrowed. “Ko,” he scoffed.

“That’s the spirit!” Astra cheered. She rubbed her hands together, smiling. “Now, here's how we’re going to do it...”

A ball had been retrieved, a rectangular ovoid field had been marked out, and Treecko and Marill stared intently at each other from opposing sides. Astra stepped up to midfield, glowing with power. Around them, walls of psychic energy materialized, boxing them in with a ceiling to top it off. Astra grinned, making a few tweaks to the barrier’s size, making it cross a good two-thirds of the clearing. She hadn’t been sure she could pull that part off. Evolution was the gift that just kept on giving.

“Alright!” Astra announced. “I want a clean game! No pings, flashes, illusions...” Astra paused, noticing the confused looks on her minions faces. “Okay I guess that doesn’t really apply to you two,” she muttered, rubbing at her chin. “Uh. Well, just. Don’t intentionally harm or disable your opponent! First to seven wins, the goal is the far wall behind your opponent! Are you ready?”

“Tree!”

“Mar!”

“And have you decided what you want if you win?” Astra asked.

Both Pokemon blinked, not having considered it.

“...Mar,” Marill said after a moment. A fire lit in her eye, and she stared at Astra with visible determination. “Marill mar!”

“Power? Ah, so you were inspired by my evolution, huh? And after the incident with Steven— hm.” Astra considered the request, then nodded. “I can do that, I think. If you win, I’ll do my best to find you a cool TM! That should do the trick, yeah?”

“Mar!” Marill cheered, pumping a fist. Her tail wagged through the air, excitedly. “Riii~” she sang in anticipation.

Astra smiled at her, then turned to Treecko. “Now, did you decide on a prize?”

“Tree...” Treecko looked hesitant, then... blushed? “Tree.. Treecko.” He said, looking away and fidgeting.

Astra blinked. “You want to spend more time with me?” she asked, touched. “I guess all these new additions to our team have you feeling a bit left out, huh?” Astra smiled. “I’d love to! We can spend a few hours this week doing whatever you want, how does that sound?”

Treecko nodded happily, and Marill burst out laughing. “Marill mar!” she chortled, pointing at a bristling Treecko. “Mar!”

“Hey!” Astra barked, fixing Marill with a glare. “There’s nothing shameful with wanting to spend time with me! If you have a problem with it, you can keep it to yourself. Now apologize!”

Marill puffed up, but a flash of guilt flashed over her face at Astra’s words. Rubbing her arm, she glanced away, before visibly forcing herself to look a glowering Treecko in the eye.

“Marill.” she said, her voice soft and regretful. “Rill marill.”

Treecko eyed her, then gave a single nod. “Tree.”

You’d enjoy it too.

Marill rolled her eyes, looking away. “...Rill.” she admitted, after a moment.

Maybe.

Treecko smirked. Astra watched them, nodding in satisfaction. “Hm. Glad that’s settled. Now, who’s ready for some Rebound?” Two cries of agreement reached her ears, and Astra grinned.

“Good!” The ball in Astra’s hand began to levitate into the air, spinning in place. She grinned, and pointed to the sky. “We begin on three! One, two—” Her arm dropped, now directed at a very surprised Treecko. “You. Think fast!”

Astra pushed, and the ball shot forward. A half second later, the air popped as she teleported herself outside of the field. Treecko was paralyzed with shock for a moment, but recovered in time to whirl around, his tail slamming the ball across the field toward Marill.

Astra tracked the ball intently. Treecko’s speed advantage made him Astra’s favoured contender for victory, but Marill’s sheer will to succeed could turn the tide if she applied it right. This wasn’t any ordinary ball game, after all. She wondered which one would figure out the trick first.

A smirk on her face and eyes glued to the ball, Marill readied herself as it soared across the midpoint. Marill took a running leap, letting out a battle cry as she swung her tail around, the blue sphere on the end hurtling toward the oncoming ball with enormous force. The two balls completely ruined the moment by, in the slimmest of margins, failing to touch at all.

Marill landed on her face, and the ball unceremoniously bounced off the far goal.

“Point to Treecko!” Astra announced. The ball was enveloped in purple and made its way back to the middle.

Treecko folded his arms and leaned back, smirking. Marill pushed herself up and leveled a deathly glare, furious.

“Mar...” she growled. Treecko merely stared at her, eyes lidded.

“Don’t worry Marill!” Astra said, giving her a thumbs up. “You’ve got this! And nice shot, Treecko!” she added when Treecko gave her a side eye. The two contestants returned to their original places, and Astra began to count down. “Three, two, one, ball’s free!”

The ball twisted and turned in midair, and this time Marill was ready. She turned left, then spun right with all her might, her tail rocketing out as if to tear itself free. They collided in an intense, violent confluence and ball instantly reversed course at twice its original speed, carving a great arc in the air as it scraped along the shimmering violet ceiling.

Treecko squawked and raced after it, but even a last second leap of desperation only brought him half as high as his target. The ball flew into his goal with a muted thud, before a purple field sprang into existence and carted it off to midfield. Treecko slumped.

“Point to Marill!” Astra announced. “Score tied!”

“Mar!” Marill cheered, sending a smug grin towards Treecko.

Treecko glared, but there was a glint in his eye that Astra recognized. Oho, he had an idea, did he? Astra grinned. Things were about to get interesting.

The ball spun, the players returned to their starting positions, and once more the ball was flung. Treecko’s tail slammed it hard, and it spun off to the side, bouncing off the wall and bypassing Marill entirely. Or it would, had she been staying still. Marill met the ball halfway to her goal and jumped, blocking the ball with her stomach. The sphere bounced off and went skyward, leaving just enough time for Marill to set up the perfect serve. Tail met sphere, and once more the ball rocketed down the field. Marill waved it goodbye, giving Treecko a cheeky grin.

Treecko eyed the ball, watching as it soared far out of reach overhead. He smirked, puffed out his cheeks, and then he spat a single, golden seed into the sky. The seed struck the ball and it shot upward and smacked against the ceiling. The ball fell, and Treecko met it with all the fury he could muster.

Marill, having settled back in anticipation of her victory, stumbled to her feet with a shrill cry of surprise, far, far too late to stop the ball speeding past her and into the goal. It bounced off, and she could only gape at it. She turned back to Treecko slowly, frustration and a hint of calculation burning bright in her eyes.

“Point to Treecko,” Astra announced, grinning madly at his maneuver. It wasn’t as efficient as just blocking it with a psychic field, but it worked wonderfully nevertheless. She sent Treecko a mental nod of approval, pride and excitement radiating in return. “Clever. Let’s see if Marill can match it.”

The ball was set loose once more. It started much the same, if prolonged. Marill and Treecko sending the thoroughly battered ball streaking back and forth across the field. Treecko halted another high pass from Marill and sent it spinning back, and this was apparently just what Marill was waiting for. She rusheed over and smacked the returning ball with her tail, but as it soared over midfield she suddenly curled into a sphere and rolled sideways at great speed. Coming to a halt, she set her sights on the ball and began to swell.

Treecko, focusing more on the ball than his opponent, came to a skidding halt in its path and prepared to swing. He was then completely flabbergasted when a condensed beam of water abruptly knocked the ball off course, sending it zig-zagging around him into the wall and ricocheting directly into the goal.

“Point to Marill, with a classic midfield redirect!” Astra cheered. “Scores tied, two to each. Now you guys are really getting it.” She pumped a fist, grinning excitedly. “This is the excitement I wanted to see! The Kirlia back home used to pull such dirty tricks. It’s good to see you two get into the spirit of things!”

Treecko and Marill look at Astra for a moment, then stared at one another. A smirk was shared, and an accord made.

“Tree.”

“Rill.”

No more holding back.

“Round five!” Astra swiped a hand through the air, and the ball shot off once more. “Let’s go!”

And then the arena was filled with the sound of sport. Flashes of light shot through the air, streams of water burst from unexpected angles, desperate saves and heroic pitches were performed and failed in equal measure. Through it all, Astra stood to the side and watched.

It was regretful, she mused, that she couldn’t play for a round or two. She had played against Treecko in the village but there hadn’t been a need for barriers then, surrounded by rock as they had been. Out here she wouldn’t be able to keep these barriers up and play a decent game. Evolving had just let her put up the barriers in the first place, and every time the ball struck it drained just a bit more of her power.

But that was okay. This was helping Treecko and Marill improve, and though she couldn’t add another ball the novelty of non-psychic strategies was doing well to keep her interested. It still didn’t match the sheer intensity the games back home could reach.

Astra tried to refocus on the game, but as she served another ball she found thoughts of home intruding once more. The guard would surely have made a snide comment on that nearly botched save. Her grandpa would have nodded sagely and offered advice from afar. The other Ralts would have let out ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s in concert with every play.

But they couldn’t. They weren’t here. They were at home, miles and miles away. There was a sudden, quiet ache in her heart. There hadn’t been a day of her life where anyone she knew had been more than a short walk away. But the world had turned out to be so much bigger than she had thought, and now they were so far apart. What were they doing now? She wished she could see it.

Astra twitched as her barrier flickered, thoughts derailed by yet another goal scored by Marill. She wiped her now damp eyes with her arm and grinned at her pokemon. She couldn’t get bogged down in gloom-town while there was a game to play! She spun up the ball again and let it fly, watching the resultant chaos.

Eventually the thirteenth game came upon them. The score was tied at 6-6 and the next ‘mon to score would win the game. Astra had thought that Treecko might come out on top, but type advantage turned out to be a non-factor when they weren’t directly attacking each other. Marill was really giving it her all to compete with Treecko’s sheer speed. She supposed a final tiebreaker was appropriately dramatic for such an intense showing.

Treecko and Marill stared each other down as Astra moved the ball into place. Treecko crouched down, ready to leap in whatever direction the ball flew. Marill’s tail twisted around her body, prepared to unleash all of her might in a single blow.

“Final round!” Astra called. The ball spun in the air, and Astra added a little flair by making the glow more pronounced. The ball turned purple and violet and sparkly and quite suddenly looked as if she pulled a star-laden dusk sky out of thin air and shoved it into a sphere. The effects would vanish pretty much immediately after she threw it, but it was appropriately dramatic as fuck, as May would say.

“Are! You! Ready!?” Astra yelled. Two voices roar in affirmative, and she grins. “Alright! Winner take all! Now, let’s GO!”

The ball streaked forward, psychic energy trailing behind it like a comet tail. Marill twisted, roaring as she extended her tail to its full length—

A furred arm shot out of the tall grass and grabbed the ball, stopping it dead. Marill fell over with a squawk. Astra and Treecko blinked, utterly baffled.

A head poked out. Slakoth looked around, then at the ball in his hand. He smiled.

“Slakoth!”

He stood up in a process best described as arduous, then directed his grin at everyone present.

“Wh—Slakoth?” Astra asked, incredulous. “How did you get in there? My barrier should have—” she stopped, spotting a pile of dirt along one of the edges. “Did you dig your way inside?”

He nodded. “Koth!”

“I... okay? But why?” she asked. “You kind of interrupted the tie-breaker game.”

Slakoth grinned again, and raised the ball up. “Koth!”

Astra blinked. He wanted to try? “Well, that’s fine, but maybe not right now? It’s kind of a bad time—”

“Slaaaaa—” he said, drawing the ball back.

“— And you’re doing it anyway, please don’t—”

“Koth!”

He threw the ball. It zipped past Treecko’s face in a flash and smashed headlong into the barrier. Astra yelped and clutched at her head as her construct flared white. There was a dull pop and the barrier winked out. At the impact site, the ball slowly floated to the ground in tatters.

“Treecko!?” Treecko exclaimed, rushing over. He held up a piece of the ball and let out a disappointed sigh, shooting Slakoth a disgruntled look. Marill took one look at the scraps Treecko was holding and let out a choked screech, then promptly rounded on Slakoth and tackled him to the ground.

Astra rubbed at her temples and raised a hand. Marill, currently in the process of wiring her tail around Slakoth’s neck, protested fitfully as she was enveloped by purple and dragged away. Slakoth, unsurprisingly, didn’t seem too bothered by the attempt.

“Well,” Astra started, giving him a stern look. “I hope you enjoyed your pitch, ‘cause you ruined the only ball I had.”

Slakoth grinned. “Slak!”

“No dinner.”

“SLAAAAK!?”

The game ended in a tie, to the disappointment of all involved.

They played a few other games after that. One in which Treecko and Marill tried to see how far Slakoth could throw each of them. Treecko liked to assist his momentum by leaping off of tree branches as they passed, while Marill tended to have Slakoth toss her underhanded so she could roll for long distances. There had also been a few rounds of tag, which had rapidly devolved into ‘catch-the-filthy-cheating-teleporter’.

But, as with all things, time moved on. The sky’s hue had shifted to its darker colors, and purple had begun showing at the edges. Astra recalled her trio to their homes and packed up what errant materials had been left out. She hummed as she tucked newly emptied jars away, rearranging things so the full ones were nearer to the top. There were distressingly few of them. She’d have to restock sometime soon.

Her hand brushed against something hard, and she paused. Setting the rest of her things inside, she reached in and pulled the object out. Astra stared at it. A delicately carved wooden box stared back, a complex latch sealing it shut against the outside world.

A moment passed, and Astra hesitated. Then she sat the box on the grass and unlatched it. Inside was a bundle of brown cloth covering a sphere. Even through the cloth, it seemed to pulse in a dark, abyssal glow. She gently unravelled the tight weave, and underneath it all was a sphere of pure midnight, six inches across. Though smooth to the touch, a third of the surface area seemed shattered, and streaks of throbbing purple veins speared through the center in a tapering double helix.

It was cool to the touch, just shy of freezing, and Astra felt uneasy just holding it. This was the Ancestor’s orb, and her grandfather had entrusted it to her as an emergency measure. Supposedly it would increase one’s power magnificently, though she didn’t exactly know how. Kind of an odd oversight on her grandpa’s part, now that she thought of it. He apparently had no trouble with the thing, but others... hadn’t. In her insatiable curiosity, Astra herself had done the lightest probe inside that same night and it had shown her a vision of... something. A meeting in a hollow log. The smell of wet grass and thumps of muted raindrops. The details faded in and out of her recollection, like mist or fog.

But it was the same type of vision as the one she had witnessed when she evolved. She knew that the more powerful Kirlia in the village could receive premonitions of the immediate future, albeit rarely, but none of them had ever said anything about weird fog visions and they certainly didn’t say anything about suddenly being able to read! Not to mention that she had been a Ralts at the time.

So, clearly the visions and the orb were connected, somehow. A problem, because anyone she could talk to about it were either miles away or... gone. And so the question remained: What were these visions, and why was she receiving them? Answers were nowhere to be found.

And so, one path remained. Attempt to trigger one on her own, and see if it provided any new information. It had happened twice so far on accident, she reasoned, so it should be easy to trigger it on purpose. The lack of clarity on the earlier ones could be forgiven—the first time she had been completely blindsided, and the second she had been busy evolving. Evolving again was... probably not going to happen anytime soon, but she could replicate the first occurrence easily enough. This time, she would be prepared.

It still took Astra a few moments to work up the courage to actually follow through on her internal declaration. Her power skittered over the surface, and she had to take a deep breath to stop her hands from trembling. Swallowing her fear, Astra closed her eyes and reached out, breaching the surface of the orb.

A moment passed. Then two. Astra cracked an eye open, peeking around for signs of sepia and fog. She blinked as reality failed to vanish into mist. Nothing happened? No vision? Why?

She bit her lip, staring down at the shadowy sphere. The purple veins within seemed to throb in the fading afternoon light. The tendril of power she had extended into the surface prodded hesitantly at the darkness. The orb’s dark light pulsed, as if it were eager, or even desperate to be called upon.

But no visions. Hm. It seemed there really weren’t any answers here. Was there something she was missing? Maybe if she pushed deeper into the core she could find the trigger to whatever it was that gave her those visions. But that was almost certainly a bad idea; she was already examining it far too closely to be comfortable already, and that was almost literally just scratching the surface. Who knew what could happen if she just... dove in. Nothing good, she suspected. For now, this was a dead end. Disappointing.

Astra began to pull out, but stopped as a thought struck her. This orb had been gifted as an emergency measure, hadn’t it? If she ever found herself in a supremely difficult situation, her Grandpa had wanted her to have one last failsafe. That said, she still didn’t really know how to use it, and she wondered again as to the strange omission of that particular bit of information. Nevertheless, if she flailed about blindly there was the risk of just making the situation worse.

So, Astra figured, she should probably figure out how to use it before she accidentally exacerbated whatever disaster made her bring it out in the first place. The ‘how’ was still a bit sketchy. She was already prodding around inside of the thing, but she didn’t feel any stronger. Perhaps trying to actively pull on the substance inside would do the trick.

Astra looked around at the deserted clearing and let out a breath. Alright. Maybe she should test it. A little bit. Just to be safe. Striding back to the center of the clearing, Astra examined the treeline. Best to get a baseline first, she decided, and hitting a tree with an attack would be a good a test as any. Raising a hand, psychic energy began to coalesce in her palm. Instinct guided her power, and a swirling lavender sphere of pure mental force sprang into existence. Setting her sights on a tree, Astra exhaled, then pushed.

The sphere shot forward, shooting through the air in a soundless flash. It hit the tree and exploded in a massive pink and violet wave of force. A great boom resounded through the forest, and the tree crashed to the ground, the entirety of its trunk reduced to splinters.

Astra let out a low whistle, eyes wide. Wow. She was pretty strong now! She let out a bark of laughter and glanced at her hand, flexing it. She grinned. With her power, her teleportation, and not to forget her Pokemon, Astra was having a hard time imagining what she would even need to use the orb for in the first place. Still, prudence demanded her to at least figure out how to work it.

Right. Time to do this. Steadying her hand, Astra began collecting energy into her palm once more. At the same time, the tendril inside the Ancestor’s orb reached out and gently tugged at—

Power.

Astra gasped as a veritable torrent of sheer, unrestrained power rushed into her body. A purple mist so dark as to nearly be pure black surged across her coat, dying it in streaks of obsidian. A sense of euphoria filled her, and Astra knees buckled at the sensation of so much energy filling her veins near to bursting. She laughed. It was a wild, gasping and manic thing, and the very air seemed to darken as ever more energy was drawn from the orb and into Astra’s psychic attack. The lavender bubble rippled as a stream of dark energy flowed into its center, and it quickly became a deep, dark purple, doubling, then tripling in size.

Astra ran a free hand through her hair, crimson eyes bulging. This was her power...? Was this what her Ancestor was capable of? The world took on a strange clarity, every line sharp and every color dulled. This was... incredible. It felt like she could fight the whole world and win without a scratch. If she had been able to do this from the start, she would have wiped the floor with Steven, not to mention Norman!

Steven, that odd pokemon trainer that had decimated her and May only a few days ago. Norman, Mays father and the jerk of a Gym Leader who had denied Astra even the chance to fight. The bubbling ecstasy curdled as the two names drifted into her thoughts.

“Not good enough, is that right, Norman?” Astra muttered, irritation creeping into her tone. “I’d like to see you try this on for size! I bet you couldn’t just ignore me now! Stopping me from saving my home, dragging May all over the world...” She seethed. “How dare you... how dare you do that to everyone I care about!”

Dark power coursed through her soul. Astra’s attack swelled, eclipsing her in height and digging a hole into the dirt.

“And Steven,” she spat, glaring sightlessly into nothing. “Making fools out of the both of us, beating down on a couple new trainers with your overpowered pokemon. Then rubbing your stupid moral superiority into our faces. Did that feel good? Did it!? I bet you couldn't talk to me like that now!”

The attack rumbled as it expanded yet further, Astra failing to notice as light faded from the clearing. Her heart thumped wildly, and her teeth grit together in pure rage. “Nobody in the entire world would dare talk to me like that, now! Forcing us to hide in the forest, forcing me to hide who I am, making me live in fear every moment of the day. How dare they!?”

“They need to pay,” Astra ground out, arm shaking as the sheer mass of power strained her to her limits. Her eyes glowed crimson. “They all need to pay!”

The sphere shook violently, towering over Astra as the energy within twisted and swirled erratically.

“THEY SHOULD ALL—”

Astra pulled her arm back.

“JUST—”

Her hand formed a fist, swelling with dark power.

“DIE.”

Her arm shot forward, and the obsidian ball flew, carving a great trench as it went.

The tree vanished. The tree behind it vanished. The boulder behind them ceased to exist. A straight line through the forest, twice as wide as Astra was tall, evaporated into nothing. The sphere vanished into the distance, and Astra fell to her knees, exhausted. The dark mist faded, her skin returned to its natural white and she stared at the rift in the earth, wide eyed.

There was a terrible, ghastly silence. And then, there was light.

A gargantuan black pillar erupted in the distance. It stretched high, high into the sky, parting the clouds and splitting the horizon in half. The wind picked up, then blasted through the clearing in a hellish gale, whipping stones through the air and tearing branches from trees. A low, all-consuming rumble shook the earth, and Astra fell over as the ground trembled beneath her.

Astra huddled on the ground, eyes shut tight and cradling her head in her arms as the world ended around her.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the earth ceased to quake and the winds quieted. She sat there for a while, terror freezing her in place. Shaking, Astra uncurled and sat up, twitching.

In front of her, a massive gouge in the earth tunneled into the horizon. She couldn’t see the end of it, as a giant pileup of felled trees blocked the path. All around her, the formerly serene clearing was now littered with branches and leaves.

In the distance, a siren began to wail. Astra’s breath quickened, fear and panic overtaking her mind. Jerking around, she stumbled at the unexpected weight of the Ancestor’s orb still clutched in her hand. She shrieked and dropped it, scrambling backwards. She stared at it, before another wail sounded through the air, closer.

Glancing at the gouge, she looked into the sky and recoiled in horror. Above the explosion site, a small patch of sky had turned from a vibrant blue to a sickly shade of yellow, as if the pillar of black had scarred the heavens themselves. Choking back a sob, Astra rushed forward and snatched the orb up, touching as little of it as she could.

Her bag had been surprisingly untouched, and Astra quickly dumped the orb into its box with the cloth and slammed it shut. Shoving the box into her bag, she summoned her robe and had it wrap itself around her as quick as she could muster. Jamming her hat on her head, Astra teleported away, just as a multitude of mental signatures entered the edges of her radius.

Her panic fueled teleport took her all the way to the city’s outskirts, and a few more tactical bursts took her straight to a deserted alleyway outside the hotel she and May had visited with a raging headache. Nearly sprinting, she brushed past all the people panicking in the lobby, fumbled with the key, then burst into the room.

The room was dark and empty. May’s pack lay next to the bed with its owner nowhere to be found. Dropping her bag next to May’s, Astra dove under the covers of the bed and pulled them tight. She lay there, shaking, eyes narrowed into pinpricks. It was dark, and the blanket muffled the sirens still wailing outside.

Astra curled into a shivering ball and clutched at her face, breath hitching.

And then, with nothing left to distract her from what she had done, Astra began to cry.

Twenty minutes later, muffled footsteps pounded the carpet outside. Muttered cursing as another set of keys were fumbled. The door opened.

“Fuck fuck where—” May said, panicked. A pause. The shuffling of feet. Hesitation, then the rustling of cloth. Light flooded her sanctuary, and Astra buried her face deeper into a stolen pillow. An exhale, relief and worry in the same breath. “There you are.” A pause. Then, awkwardly, “You okay?”

Astra sniffled, curling deeper into the mattress. No. No she was not.

“Right.” Another pause. “It was the, uh, giant explosion thing, yeah? Lot of people getting worked up over it, and all. Kind of a crazy lightshow, from where I was. Heh. Um.” Silence. “You weren’t anywhere near that, right?”

Near it? Astra almost laughed. She caused it! But words alone could not convey what she had felt there. Hatred, wrath, rage. A darkness so overwhelming that she had never noticed when it usurped her mind. A power so unearthly that it scarred the sky. How could she explain any of that?

“It was scary,” Astra whispered, hugging the pillow. “It was really scary...”

A sigh. “Yeah. Yeah it was, wasn’t it?” A creak, and then suddenly May was under the covers, sitting next to Astra. Blue eyes met red, and May grinned sadly. “Hey. Got room in here for one more?”

Astra blinked, hiccuped, then abandoned the pillow and latched onto May, shuddering uncontrollably. “Woah—hey!” May yelped, leaning away. Astra didn’t care and pulled May closer, burying her face into May’s side and holding on for dear life.

“Erk,” May croaked, tense as a bowstring. Slowly, hesitantly, she relaxed, wrapping an arm around Astra. “Um. There, there?” she asked, awkwardly patting Astra on the back.

May’s fumbling attempt at comfort did more to lift Astra’s spirit than all of the past twenty minutes of isolation combined. Astra snorted. “You’re really bad at this,” she muttered, wiping her tears on a sleeve.

“Oh, well fuck you too,” May muttered back, and she sounded so put out that Astra couldn’t help but laugh.

There was another silence, but more comfortable. “I’m sorry,” Astra said, finally.

“It’s fine,” May reassured. “Big fuckoff explosion blows up a quarter of the forest outside town, anyone’d be scared. Though, uh.” May glanced around at the small bubble under the hotel blankets. “It’s kind of boring in here. If you want, we could order a movie or something.” She paused, wrinkling her nose. “Maybe after a shower.”

Astra tilted her head. “A movie?” she asked, waveringly.

“Yeah! A new Datney one came out recently, and I was kind of interested. It’s called Treasure Galaxy, and it’s about—”

“No, no, I mean, what’s a movie?”

May paused. Opened her mouth. Closed it. A look of grim determination crossed her features. “Tomorrow I am going to rent the entire King of the Amulet trilogy and we are going to binge the fuck out of it.”

“Okay?”

“Go take a shower, I’ll figure the movie out.”

Astra took a shower. May ordered a movie. Astra left the bathroom, once again covered in towels, to see May sprawled across the bed, an entire Poochyena having made her lap a seat. Her Torchic had decided to make Poochyena a perch in turn. Lotad was off to the side, staring at them. A small water stain on the floor showed that a brief but unsuccessful experiment with Tentacool had taken place.

“Yo.” May raised a hand in greeting. “Get yours out. It’s fuckin’ sleepover central today. You know,” she added at Astra’s curious look, “Since I suck ass at hugging, apparently.”

Astra rolled her eyes, but soon enough Treecko staked a claim on her lap and Marill settled next to Lotad. Slakoth decided that the most comfortable spot was ‘nearly falling off the bed’ and she couldn’t be bothered to care. May hit a button on a small rectangular device—a remote—and the TV hanging across from the bed flared to life. And then Astra’s entire world narrowed down to an impossible display of light and sound.

It was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It was like her Grandpa’s paintings, only alive. It was like a shadow play, but loud. The Smith’s fire show was the only one that came close, but even that could not compare to the sheer breadth of color and majesty. It was art, it was music, it was acting. It was all of them at once and then more and it was the most majestic thing she had ever seen.

In the movie, a young boy traveled to the heavens in search of treasure. But Astra, in this moment, surrounded by friends, found one of her own. He raced amongst brilliant swirls of starlight and the glittering sparks were all reflected in Astra’s eyes that night.

Some time later, May grunted. “That robot is fucking annoying.”

Astra hummed in agreement, her earlier fears buried under sheer awe. The robot was really fucking annoying.