Pokemon: Alexandrite & Topaz

Chapter 23: Department Store

"Vulpix! Don't touch that!" Kimyona shouted but it was too late. Vulpix was in full contact with the Fire Stone. Hikaru and Sentoki came over to see what all the noise. Kimyona pointed at Vulpix and said "Vulpix, she touched the Fire Stone I got for Growlithe."

"Are you sure? Vulpix hasn't evolved into Ninetales," Sentoki said. Vulpix got bored of playing with the stone and resumed training Charizard.

"Yes, I'm positive. I was telling Growlithe how I was using the Fire Stone to evolve it and I saw Vulpix playing with it."

"Maybe it's because..." Hikaru began saying.

"Hmm? You know something about this?" Sentoki asked. Hikaru shook her head in return.

"Well since Vulpix didn't evolve then maybe it can still work," Hikaru suggested. She picked up the stone and gave it to Kimyona. Kimyona took it and gave it to Growlithe. Growlithe began shining and got bigger. After the shining dimmed down, it was obvious that Growlithe had evolved into Arcanine.

"Wow. That's the first time I've seen evolution by stones," Kimyona said after a long day of training with Arcanine. Sentoki nodded in return.

"Where did Hikaru go this time?" He said when they got to their room in the Pokemon Center.

"She said she was making a phone call," Kimyona replied back.

In the lobby, Hikaru made a video call to Professor Oak.

"Hikaru! It's been awhile since I've seen you. How're you doing? Where are you at right now?" Professor Oak said through the phone.

"Fine. We're in Celadon City," Hikaru answered.

"Celadon? I heard there was a fire there. Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine. We were the ones who put it out. My Charmeleon even evolved in the process."

"It did, did it? That's remarkable. So what brings you to call?"

"Well Kimyona bought a Fire Stone and Vulpix made contact with it."

"Oh, congratulations. You have a Ninetales now along with your Charizard."

"No. I don't. Vulpix didn't evolve."

"It didn't? That's impossible. Vulpix's only way of evolving is through evolutionary stones. Upon contact, the evolution should happen no matter what."

"I was thinking and I figured it was because Vulpix isn't from here."

"From here? Oh, it came with you from the future?"

"That's right. If Vulpix is like this then my other Pokemon should be too. I realized that my only Pokemon that evolved was Charizard."

"So Pokemon can only evolve if they're in their own time period. That theory would be an amazing breakthrough in Pokemon evolution!"

"Professor, I don't think this is the time for this. I really need to go back to my time."

"Sorry, you're right. I heard from Yellow that you met Celebi but it wouldn't take you back."

"Yeah. It said that my time journey here isn't finished yet."

"Well the only thing you can do right now is trust Celebi. The other Pokedex Holders will help you too. And another thing, did you tell Sentoki and Kimyona about this?"

"...Not yet."

"You should. They could be a lot of help to you. Well anyways, I have to go now. Good luck." With that, Professor Oak hung up. Hikaru sighed and collapsed on the floor.

"What am I gonna do, Pichu?" Pichu patted her head for encouragement when Sentoki came.

"What's with you?" he asked. She shrugged in return. "Well we better get go to the room. Kimyona's getting worried."

'She worries too much,' Hikaru thought as she got up.

"So there's something I want to ask you about," Sentoki said as they left the lobby. He thought about the conversation he overheard with Hikaru and Yellow.

"Back when we were with Yellow, I heard your conversation with her."

"H-how much did you hear?" Hikaru started to tense up.

"All of it."

'Crap,' She thought. She had to tell him a lot sooner than she thought she would. Before she could reply, Kimyona found them and dragged them back to their room. They had a gym battle with Erika the next day.

"We're talking about this later," Sentoki whispered in Hikaru's ear as they entered their room with the unknowing Kimyona.

'I'm screwed,' Hikaru thought and looked at Pichu for encouragement. He simply patted her on the head. That night, Hikaru was thinking of a ways she could explain to Sentoki and Kimyona about everything.