After we met with Arietta on Route 113, we parted ways and made it to Fallarbor Town a day later where we were severely underwhelmed by what we found. Uninspired tan and orange architecture, a lack in citizens, and anything interesting in general made Fallarbor and Dewford quite alike. It wasn't the hidden gem of a town we were hoping to see after having to walk through a route of eternally falling ash. We quickly moved on to Route 114, and were now taking a break from walking.

   "So what you're saying is, Meteor Falls is the best place in Hoenn?" Wallace asked jokingly. Route 114 was connected to Meteor Falls and that meant we were going to go through them at some point.

   "Yes, it is!" I replied excitedly. "The cave waterfalls are breathtaking, and you can never find enough quality limestone samples. It's like they're practically begging to be found and examined!" I had been singing the falls' praises the entire day. To say I was excited to see my old stone excavating site was an understatement.

   "You are the only person I've ever met that gets so hyped over limestone of all things. Are you sure you don't actually want to be a geologist instead of a Trainer?" Wallace chuckled, shaking his head. If he was trying to tease me, he was doing a horrible job. What he said did cause me to stop my rambling and think for a moment. He had a point there.

With how I used to spend every moment of my free time researching and hunting for rocks, it would have seemed strange if I hadn't thought about going farther with it. If dad had let me choose what I wanted to do in life from the start, I would have pursued a career in geology. But then I thought of the four Poké Balls in my bag. If my thought was reality, none of this could've happened.

   "Not a chance, I wouldn't give up being a Trainer for anything," I said. I watched as Meteor playfully sparred with Wallace's Marshtomp. Yesterday, Mudkip had evolved thanks to a little help from me. I was glad to see that my friends' teams were making progress. "Speaking of which, you said you used to be a Coordinator. Do you mind if I ask why you decided to stop?" I hoped Wallace would say yes, since I was genuinely curious.

   "I was waiting for when you were gonna ask," Wallace said, smirking. "Prepare for a story worthy of its own novel! Back when I first left home, I already knew what I wanted to do in life. I'd seen other Coordinators showing off their Pokémon in Contest Spectaculars, and I wanted to be in the limelight like them. I set off with my team and started training and competing.

   "For the first few months, things were a little bumpy because of how precise your Pokémon's moves have to be when showing them off, but I soon got the hang of it. By the time I turned thirteen, I had won four ribbons and was so close to being eligible for Hoenn's Grand Festival. I was also a pretty well-known Coordinator at that point, so I had more than a few fans. It was more than I could have ever hoped for and I was loving it!" His smile then slowly faded. "It was when I was competing for my fifth and final ribbon when I... made a mistake.

   "I always used Marshtomp for Performance Rounds, and we had practiced a routine where he would use Dig and then jump out of the hole while using Water Gun. I was envisioning a geyser when I came up with the idea.

"But there was a catch to this performance. Marshtomp would use Water Gun while simultaneously spinning, giving it a Whirlpool effect without it actually being Whirlpool. The problem was Marshtomp tended to become dizzy while doing this, so I told him he didn't have to spin if he didn't think he could handle it. And, well, he chose to spin, and the obvious happened. Marshtomp got dizzy, Water Gun backfired, and I was completely soaked from head to foot in the process. To top it all off, Marshtomp fainted from dizziness in a puddle of mud."

I stared at Wallace, my eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. To have your hopes and dreams washed away in an instant was something I couldn't imagine, much less imagine happening.

   Wallace sighed, smiling in spite of the obvious sadness in his eyes. "I had failed Performance Rounds before, but never that badly. To put it simply, I was mortified." He exhaled a short, nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Standing there, sopping wet in front of hundreds of people... An experience like that sticks with you for years. After that day, I dropped off the face of Hoenn. I went home to Sootopolis and wallowed in self-pity for almost two years until I got back on my feet."

   "How did you do it?" I asked.

   "I told myself to move on, that it was never too late to turn over a new leaf and start over." He shrugged. "Instead of letting that memory plague me, I used it as a stepping stone of sorts to help me better myself. Sorta like a base to rebuild myself and my self-esteem. Do you get it?"

   "I guess so," I replied carefully. "Like learning from your mistakes."

   "Exactly." He smiled. "Looking back on it, I hate how selfish I was for only thinking of myself and my reputation as a Coordinator. Even if my Pokémon wanted to keep competing, I was too busy caring about my own feelings to consider them. At least they seem happier battling full-time now. I can at least take solace in that fact alone." He shook his head. "Winona wanted to get into Contests, but I convinced her to just be a Trainer. She doesn't need to get wrapped up in that mess."

   In time I had gotten to know Wallace, I never would have expected him to be so philosophical. It made me see him in a new light. "Perhaps it was for the best fate treated you like that. If you hadn't stopped competing, I wouldn't have met you and Winona."

   "I had a feeling you would say that, Stevie." And with that one sentence, the mood was ruined.

   "You're dredging up that nickname?" I sighed.

   "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I had earned the right as your friend to call you that, after spilling my life story to you and all," Wallace said. "Would you prefer it if I called you Mr. Stone?"

   I flinched when I heard my last name being spoken like that. The way he had said it reminded me of how Dad's employees addressed him. "Definitely not, please don't call me that. Ever." I shook my head and looked away, not wanting my friend to see the semi-disgusted expression that had taken over my face. I don't deserve to be called that in the slightest.

A moment later I glanced back and saw Wallace looking equal parts hurt and concerned, and it made my heart sink. I really hated being a buzzkill, especially after he had told me so much.

"I... don't mind the name Stevie," I cautiously said, trying to lighten the mood. "With all that you've done for me, you've more than earned the right."

   "Oh, really? What a privilege." Wallace acted like he was mad but I could tell from the smirk he had that he was lying. He eventually gave up on pretending and things became lighthearted again. "But with what you said earlier, you do have a point. If we hadn't ever met, you wouldn't have told me when Marshtomp was going to evolve."

   "That Spinda looked like it would give a lot of Experience. It was a lucky guess," I said.

   "You seem to be having a lot of those lately."

   "What can I say? I have a sense for that sort of thing." I was obviously lying. It wasn't a lucky "guess," it was another one of those weird visions I had been getting recently. Along with Marshtomp evolving, knowing that a Trainer wanted to challenge Winona, and warning Wallace about a wild Numel moments before it tried to attack him and Marshtomp were but a few I had experienced in the days we'd been traveling.

   "It is strange that your guesses are always right..." Wallace stared at me quizzically. He seemed to be working through something in his mind and he was completely silent until he asked, "Have you always been like this?"

   "Huh? What do you mean?" I replied. "Have I always been good at guessing?"

   "Something along those lines."

   Once again, I had to stop and think. All that I could think of when it came to guessing future events before I began having the visions were the sickening twists that would knot my insides before a situation would turn sour. And like with the visions, there was no explanation for why they happened. Mom would simply say I had a good intuition while Dad didn't seem to notice or acknowledge it, but that wasn't the same as the visions, right? "Why do you ask?"

   "I was just wondering. Stuff like this is intriguing to me."

   "Well, if anything new develops I'll let you know," I said. "Where did Winona go off to?" She wasn't sitting by Wallace nor was she with our Pokémon.

   "I don't know. She was here a minute or two ago," Wallace said with concern. "Winnie, where are you?" he called out.

   "I'm up here!" Winona's voice drifted down from above us. She had climbed up the tree we were sitting under and had situated herself between a fork in the branches. She was nearly fifteen feet off the ground and looked like a very odd bird Pokémon with how she was almost perched in the tree. I was surprised that she was able to get up there because of the lack of low branches to climb.

   "Winnie, what are you doing? You'll hurt yourself if you fall!" Wallace gasped.

   "I wanted to see where the route path leads. I read in a traveling book once that treetops are good lookout points. I'm good, don't worry!" Winona reassured him. "Besides, when have I ever fallen out of a tree?"

   "More times than I can count..." he huffed under his breath. When he saw that he couldn't possibly reach her without having to climb the tree himself, he seemed to admit defeat and said, "Just be careful, okay?"

   "Yep! I'll be down in a sec!" she replied cheerily.

   "Meteor can catch her if anything happens," I said as I watched Winona start to climb down. "If he can pull me and a Cyndaquil up from a precipice, he can reach Winona if she falls. She looks like she knows what she's doing anyways."

   Wallace crossed his arms. "I don't want her falling in the first place. I promised father that I would take care of her when she left home and it would kill me if something happened now."

   I opened my mouth to respond but my words were cut off by a surge of dizziness that crashed down on me like a tidal wave, resulting in a slight gasp escaping me. No, not right now! I groaned inwardly as the familiar chill assaulted me next. This was occurring more and more and it was beginning to seriously irritate me with how often it happened. All I could do now was close my eyes and wait for the impending vision.

   This time, it didn't last for more than a minute. I was still watching Winona climb down the tree, looking perfectly confident. But then her foot slipped. Her foothold faltering caused her hands to follow suit, and her eyes widened. Her expression instantly morphed into one of shock and fear. She began falling, her hands grasping at branches that didn't exist. I clenched my eyes shut at the last second, shielding my eyes as well as my psyche from her impact.

   I opened my eyes once I knew it was over, feeling utterly sickened by what I had witnessed. Winona, the vibrant, lively girl I had known for nearly two months now had presumably died in front of me. It took all of my composure to not be sick right there and then, I was so disgusted. I could dimly hear Wallace asking if I felt okay, but I wasn't paying attention to him. My focus was on Winona. The vision couldn't be right this time. Thankfully, she was fine... for the moment. Please don't let it be real, please don't!

   "Ahh!" I heard Winona cry out, and I felt my face drain of whatever color it had left. Her foot had slipped. But to my relief, she got ahold of another foothold in the bark. Although partially shaken, she flashed Wallace and me a smile. "That was close!" she said with a nervous laugh. "That would've hurt if I fell."

   "Oh Arceus, Winnie! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Wallace cried, his face ashen. He looked absolutely terrified, and I was, too.

   "I'm going as fast as I can, okay? I thought you didn't want me to fall," she retorted with a sigh before continuing her descent. She now had about nine feet left to climb down and was making progress. I momentarily let myself relax, but I realized that I shouldn't have when I heard her gasp.

Her hold had slipped again. And this time, she was unable to correct her mistake.

She toppled backwards, her arms pin-wheeling wildly. Her expression was the same one she had in my vision, and she was too shocked to scream. It was only a matter of seconds until she hit the ground.

   No! This isn't going to happen! I swiftly moved under where Winona was supposed to land and held out my arms in some hope of cushioning her fall. A second later she slammed into me, knocking us both to the ground. One minute I was looking at her, the next I had a nice view of the dirt beneath us. Her fall was cushioned, but not in the way I expected.

   "Y-you caught me?" Winona gasped, her voice coming out as little more than a quiet stutter. "Thank you..." She carefully stood up and with a little help from her, I was able to get to my knees. My entire front was covered in a thin layer of tan dust that stung my eyes worse than the falling ash had on Route 113.

   "You're not hurt?" I spluttered, wiping the dust and dirt from my hands and face. While I was able to remain mostly calm on the outside, on the inside I was freaking out. I was able to save Winona, I had actually changed her future!

   "My right shoulder kinda hurts, but other than that I'm fine. Thank you for catching me, really," Winona said graciously though she was still clearly in shock. I gave her a weak thumbs-up from my spot on the ground in response.

   "Winnie, you're all right!" Wallace practically appeared out of nowhere from behind me and enveloped his sister in a hug. It looked like he was squeezing the life out of her, but the gesture was heartfelt all the same. I was shocked to see that he was actually tearing up a little. "Don't you dare ever do something like that ever again! You might've hurt yourself!"

Not wanting to interrupt them, I stayed silent. While Wallace was half-talking, half-sobbing to Winona, I sensed Meteor's presence beside me, and I turned to face him. He stared down at me, his gaze narrowed in both anger and concern. We didn't say anything for a few moments until he broke the silence.

   You feeling okay? I'm guessing Winona isn't the heaviest of people, but taking an impact like that probably isn't too good for you.

   "My arms are probably bruised," I replied. Wallace and Winona weren't listening, I had no reason to have my words be telepathic. I pressed my fingers against each of my forearms to see how they felt and I winced when they responded with dull aches, signs of bruises in the making. While painful, it didn't feel like they were broken or even fractured. "It doesn't seem like they're broken or anything. I'll have to thank Arceus for that."

   Clearly! Still, you could've called me earlier, y'know, Meteor sighed.

   "I don't think you could have gotten here in three seconds," I replied doubtfully, my expression mirroring my tone.

   Your hands are still healing! You might've irritated the burns or something.

   "'Or something?'" I arched an eyebrow. The pain I normally would've felt from touching something with my palms had all but faded by now. All they really needed to do now was heal.

   How should I know? I'm not a doctor!

   Since when had Meteor become so protective of me? He always had been but now his constant words of worry were beginning to be a little... excessive. I waited for him to respond, but he wouldn't stop staring at me.

"I know you're a Psychic-type, but I also know you can't learn Teleport," I tried to joke. He didn't look like he appreciated my attempt at humor. Hating the awkward silence, I tried again. "Besides, it's not every day I get to play hero, so give me the benefit of the doubt!" That one got him to break. His response sounded like a sigh combined with a defeated "Tch."

   Your glorious, dust-covered five minutes of fame! the Steel-Psychic-type laughed dryly, rolling his eyes. I was relieved to hear his normal, sarcastic tone, but it lasted for only a minute when the foreign brand of seriousness took over it again. And this time, we're not gonna dismiss what happened.

   "Pardon?" I asked.

   Right before Winona fell, your presence cut out. He threw his arms out to his sides in a straight line for emphasis. Completely gone. For, like, a minute. This has been happening a lot recently. Strangely, it all started when we got lost in Granite Cave. In fact, it was the exact same thing. You even seemed just as sickened then as you did when our connection was reestablished after what happened today. Negative emotions are more powerful than positive ones, sadly.

I pursed my lips. I knew that fact all too well. You don't need to tell me that... I thought.

Meteor then tilted his body to the side a little, like he was trying to imitate somebody arching their eyebrow. Do you think I can't sense your presence? Same with Orbit's. We Psychic-types are naturally linked like that while our link is Trainer-to-Pokémon. And what you said in Lavaridge about seeing the future hasn't left my mind, because earlier that day, we lost connection again. That means us losing connection and your visions are linked. You need to tell me all you know about your visions right now!

   Though I was reluctant, I quickly gave in when the thought of the promise I made to Meteor crossed my mind. When I finished explaining, Meteor's eyes were as wide as they could be.

   I can't believe this! You're legitimately seeing the future! he gasped, astonished.

   I frowned. "Did you think I was lying?"

   No, of course not. It's just that it's weird a person would have psychic abilities, let alone premonition like you seem to have.

   "So what would that make me? Clairvoyant?" I asked, half-joking.

   "Actually, the correct term is prescient. And for someone who likes to keep things to himself, you sure like to talk loudly about said things." I didn't have to look to see who had spoken but I did so regardless.

   "Wallace, I-I thought you and Winona wouldn't be listening," I stuttered. Did he hear everything?

   "Again, you weren't too quiet going about it." He definitely heard the whole conversation. "I didn't think you'd lie to me," he said, looking disappointed.

   "Isn't grandma a preh-she-int?" Winona echoed the term her brother had relayed, stumbling over its pronunciation. Her shock had worn off by then and she looked to be back to her normal self. Wallace shushed her and waited for me to answer. I did so, obviously confused.

   "I don't know what you're talking about! What is a 'prescient?'"

   "Someone that has knowledge of events before they happen. Sort of like a fortune-teller, except with less crystal balls and a lot more accuracy. It usually takes the form of visions or extremely strong, instinctive feelings," he explained.

   I was baffled at his explanation. Humans couldn't possess psychic abilities, it didn't make any logical sense! "How is that even possible?"

   "Sabrina from Kanto's Saffron City is a psychic, and a famous one at that. She doesn't exactly keep her abilities a secret. She supposedly loves showing them off to people. Teleporting, telekinesis, telepathy, premonitions... She's a jack of all trades when it comes to psychics. She's not the only one. The Gym Leader Olympia from Kalos supposedly crafted the interior of her Gym to reflect her powers of telekinesis and levitation."

   That's not possible. My mind tried to rationalize what he was saying but I stopped it and forced the thought away. I couldn't think like that. If I wanted any hope of understanding this, I would have to keep my mind open to the concept as ludicrous as it sounded. And if Pokémon could do it, why couldn't people? "Okay, so humans possessing psychic abilities isn't false. I'll try to believe that. But how can you be so sure I'm on their spectrum?"

   "A prescient tends to have a natural knack for guessing correctly. In other words, I guess you could say these people usually have very accurate intuitions." He paused long enough for me to absorb what he was insinuating before continuing with, "And that makes sense. Prescient and intuitive are synonymous."

   That was when it fully clicked. Those strong gut feelings I would constantly experience weren't purely instinctual, and while instinct played a part in them, they were beyond that. They were too accurate whenever they would occur. I knew Dad would be disappointed with me no matter what, I knew Valerie and her followers were bad the moment I saw them, I knew something was wrong with Granite Cave. This sense of knowing was merely a weaker form of prescience. But how did Wallace know all of this? I didn't even need to ask him as it seemed my expression asked it for me.

   "Abilities like this tend to run in families like physical or personality traits. And like Winnie said, our grandmother is a prescient. On our father's side, prescience is passed on for two generations before skipping two. Our grandmother as well as our great-uncle has it, and apparently their grandparents were like that too. As far back as our family history is known, the ability has been passed on."

   "So if you're saying that if it's genetic, then someone in my family is, or was a prescient?" I asked. "That can't be true. Neither of my parents have ever mentioned anything about psychic abilities running in my family."

   "Was it ever mentioned that any of your family members had a Psychic-type as their closest partner Pokémon?" Wallace asked. "Psychics tend to be drawn to each other, species aside."

   At that, Meteor and I exchanged glances. "No. As far as I know, I'm the first Stone to have become a Trainer," I said.

   "Then I don't know what to tell you," Wallace said with a shrug. "Either it works differently in your family's case, or someone wanted to keep it a secret. Not everyone would be happy with having an ability like that."

   "I guess you're right," I sighed. I knew if Mom had any knowledge of this, she would have told me a while ago. That meant Dad most likely knew about prescience in our family. If so, he chose to keep it hidden.

I felt anger begin to rise within me with that realization. Why would he hide something like that? Certainly it would have been smarter to inform me of this possibility so I could be prepared for it in the future. Did he think it would interfere with what he wanted me to do? Would it have caused me to neglect my studies in pursuit of learning about this psychic power I apparently had? Of course it would have. Because Arceus forbid I have second thoughts when it came to my life.

His authority rules over all else, I thought snidely. Because Dad knows best.