1.Ash's Story (Part 2: Johto)

Chapter 36: Crystal Heart

When we passed through the gate leading into the Ruins of Alph, the air changed before anyone spoke.

The stone paths ahead should have felt old and quiet, but instead the ruins glittered with a cold light that didn't belong there. Grass had hardened into pale crystal, and flowers turned transparent petal by petal. Eevee sniffed one beside Lillie. "It still smells alive. I don't like this crystal."

Ethan stopped so suddenly that Aibo nearly bumped into his leg. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Look over here!" Kris called.

She knelt beside a patch of flowers, but she didn't touch them. The stems were half green and half crystal, trapped between life and something sharp and unnatural. Megaree stood close to Kris, tense and worried, while Archy sniffed the ground and growled at the crystalline scent.

Two Natu hopped across the broken stones nearby. One stared at the flowers. The other stared at a cracked wall carved with Unown symbols.

Natu's feathers lifted uneasily. "The letters woke up. Someone's feelings are making the stones change, and something is wrong."

Lillie's eyes widened. "The Natu are warning us."

Kris looked up immediately. "What are they saying?"

"They say the symbols are awake," I answered. "And something is wrong with the feelings here."

The second Natu hopped closer to Kris's notebook and pecked gently at a sketch of the ruins layout. Kris traced the route it had marked.

"You want me to follow the symbols?" Kris asked softly.

Natu gave a sharp little nod.

A sudden pulse of red light flashed from deeper inside the ruins. The air twisted, and a wave of unseen power rolled across the ground. The two Natu cried out as the Unown symbols on the wall glowed.

Power burst from the symbols, hidden inside letters and shapes instead of coming from one clear attacker.

Move Dex Updated — Shared National Record: Ash and Lillie

Hidden Power — Normal Type. A unique attack that varies in type depending on the Pokémon using it.

The first Natu stumbled toward me. I caught it carefully before it fell into the spreading crystal.

It was lighter than I expected, but its whole body trembled like it had been staring at too many futures at once. Its eyes didn't focus on my face right away. They kept shifting from the wall to the tower, then to a distant house, as if every direction held a different piece of the same warning.

Natu's wings tucked close. "I can still see scattered pieces."

"Then come with us," I said.

The Natu willingly touched the Poké Ball in my hand, and the capture clicked quickly.

Pokédex Entry Updated — Shared National Record: Ash and Lillie

Natu — Tiny Bird Pokémon — Psychic/Flying Type. Because its wings aren't yet fully grown, it has to hop to get around. It is always staring at something.

The second Natu stayed beside Kris, refusing to leave her notebook. It tapped one symbol, then another, then hopped to the side where Kris had written the names of the ruin chambers. Kris followed each tap with her pencil, and a rough path began to form on the page.

"You're scared, but you're still trying to show us where this is coming from," Kris murmured.

Natu ruffled its tiny wings. "She listens to me and writes down what I show her. She never grabs at the ruins."