Heart of Steel [Pokémon Fanfiction]

01| Unattainable Expectations

Nine years earlier...

The deep green stone in my hand glinted in the sunlight, casting an almost turquoise shadow through its translucent surface. I brushed the remaining soil off it, revealing more of its color. Out of all the rocks I had found so far that day, this one was probably the best quality. I grasped it with just my thumb and index finger and held it up to the sun. More light passed through the stone, illuminating its topaz bolt-shaped core. Just as I thought, a Thunder Stone. I smiled and slipped it into my bag. I then turned my attention to the other stones piled on the ground next to me, picking one up and examining it like I did the previous.

Searching for and collecting stones had always been a hobby of mine. Something about the way they looked intrigued me. A pretty fitting interest considering my last name was Stone.

After finding several chunks of limestone and a bit of marble, I dug out a very peculiar rock. It was unusually round, a perfect sphere in fact, maybe around the size of a large marble. I knew rocks could become naturally rounded depending on where they were found, but the problem with that was those kinds of rocks were found near rivers. I had dug this thing out of the ground near Meteor Falls, nowhere close to any water.

I passed the stone to my other hand, frowning when I saw the dust it left behind. It was covered in dirt. Without thinking I blew on the rock, immediately regretting it when the dust flew up into my face. I waved it away as best I could, closing my eyes against the stinging particles. At least the stuff was gone.

The stone was mostly see-through with a slight gray tint to it. There was also what resembled a bright orange flame suspended in the stone's center. The strangest thing about it was how it felt. Not like the texture, but it had an odd sort of energy to it, like some kind of aura. Perhaps Mom would know what it was? Instead of putting it in my bag, I slipped it into my pocket. It felt like it was too valuable to store with the other rocks I had found. I stood up, dusted the dirt from my pants, and headed back home.

I had lived in Rustboro City for most of my life, moving from Mossdeep when my dad had his job relocated. It was certainly no Mauville in terms of size, but it made up for that with the amount of people traveling here for work. In fact, the reason why my family moved here was because of said work. The largest business in Hoenn had their main headquarters relocated here, the business that had been run by my family for generations: the Devon Corporation.

The Devon Corporation was not only the biggest business in the region, but the most popular as well. Devon created Poké Balls, electronics, machinery, and everything in between. The amount of products manufactured and distributed rivaled that of Silph in Kanto while the profits made far outmatched them. It would be an understatement to say that the company was a tycoon. The company's building loomed over all the others, a monolith compared to everything else in the city.

As I passed by the Devon building, my pace quickened. I was always paranoid that Dad would be looking out his office window and might notice me. After all, I wasn't supposed to be out here in the first place.