Voice over the Glade

Paul continued his daily routine, which are jogging, training his pokemons, and studying, until the set date for his and his friends' celebration arrived.

It was a sunny day, thus Paul felt wearing adventurer clothes. So, he wore a beige safari hat, with matching olive-green polo and camo shorts. He finished his outfit with a pair of thick leather boots and a brown leather belt.

Paul, along with his parents, directly went to the Crimson Breeding House, where the quartet agreed to meet at 10:00 a.m., along with their respective parents. Though, only those who aren't busy was able to attend. Steven came along with Mrs. Stone, Amber with Mr. Rose, while Jake brought both his mom and dad.

Mary and Joseph took over guiding the parents of the other three, while Paul was the one who toured his friends over their breeding house. It was a fun event, where the red head and his companions scoured over the entire breeding grounds. Being familiar with the pokemons present, Paul was able to stop here and there to talk and play with the local pokemons in the breeding house.

After a wonderful lunch, where Mary was able to cook Paul's friends' requests which made his three companions cheer in delight, the red head invited them to visit a glade in the forest nearby.

"I have this great place nearby. It's a clearing in the forest, where a lake could be found. I found it accidentally when I got lost in the forest, doing my daily morning runs." Paul introduced to his friends, as he shared his memory of his favorite place in the Rustboro Forest.

Knowing that his friends are listening, he continued, "There are wild pokemons there though, but most are peaceful as it's considered a place of truce for them, being the place for water source and all."

"So… are you guys interested?" Paul asked his friends, his brows raised in an arc.

"Definitely! The place sounds awesome, Paul." A certain blue head excitedly exclaimed.

"Sure! I wanted to see some water pokemons too. I hope there are beautiful ones though." The only girl thoughtfully added.

"Is it a good spot for sleeping?" A blonde curiously asked.

Paul laughed, already knowing the respective concerns of his friends, and that they would certainly agree.

Based on what he knows about his friends, Paul concludes that Steven is certainly interested in exploring and travelling. Amber, on the other hand, loves to meet adorable, beautiful, and cute pokemons. Meanwhile, Jake, is only interested on the following: food, sleeping, food-like pokemons, and a newly cultivated interest, cooking.

"Yes, it is." Paul answered Jake before continuing, "Well, if you guys are interested. Come and follow me."

This was also another reason on why Paul wore outdoor clothes, besides the nice weather. He had planned this since morning, wanting to share to his friends a place, his favorite one, where he thought was beautiful and calming.

After convincing his parents and his friends' parents for taking his friends on his favorite place on the forest, which his parents certainly know, they only agreed with the condition of being followed by Gengar and Alakazam. The quartet made their way towards the 'place' that Paul mentioned with two pokemons in tow, along with their respective ones, with the said red head leading the way.

Twenty minutes later, they eventually came out into a lush green space, with a small sized lake almost measuring up 3 hectares. Thankfully, the pokemons near Rustboro City are low-leveled, with the City Police taking measures on preventing high-leveled pokemons on staying near the vicinity of the city.

They went towards a small slope with a tree, where the location was looking over the lake and the greenery. As Paul earlier stated, it was a wonderful and calming place, with a beautiful view of the lake and the glade.

"It's beautiful here." Amber whispered, her eyes raking over the scenery.

"It really is." Steven replied, hearing the pink head's comment, while looking over at Paul, wondering how he was able to luckily find this place.

"Wow, a tree and a view. Now, this is what I call a good spot." Jake remarked, as he directly went to the tree; trying to find a good spot for taking a nap, his pokemon on tow.

The three followed Jake as they leaned on the tree, looking over the scenery below.

"It really is peaceful here." Steven observed, as he watched the pokemons drink water from the lake.

"Not to mention the cute pokemons! Sadly, there are only few water types" Amber added, looking over the Lotads and its kin, sparse Mudkips, Magikarps, Feebas, and other pokemons local to the Rustboro Forest.

Jake didn't respond as he was already dozing off, Cherubi found in his embrace.

"I'm glad you liked it here. I got quite lucky to come across this clearing." Paul stated while petting both Eevee and Ditto on Eevee form.

They stayed in the glade for an hour, talking about random things while watching the scenery. Though, a certain blonde was excluded from the conversation as he was currently sleeping.

Just as they were planning to go back, a loud noise came from the south, the direction from Petalburg Woods.

"Roar~!!!"

A pokemon loudly bemoaned, scaring flying-type pokemons as they scurried of the trees from further south.

"What was that?" Steven asked, being quite shocked.

"I guess that it was from an Ursaring. Based on the direction of the roar, I estimate that there was a disturbance on Petalburg Woods nearby, as it is our neighboring forest." Paul concluded, his friends looking at him with questioning gazes, including a blonde who awoke from his sleep because of a certain roar.

"What? I know my stuff." The red head huffed, obviously affronted at their stares.

The other three looked at each other, smiling wryly. Obviously, they ought to consider it normal. This is Paul they're talking about.

Oblivious to the knowing gazes of his friends, Paul reminded as he stood up, "We should leave. There might be pokemons from the Petalburg woods coming to our direction. It would be a dangerous case if we got stuck here and was surrounded with highly leveled pokemons."

Jake, Steven, and Amber immediately followed suit, as they also stood up and fixed their respective clothes.

As Paul was attempting to lead out his friends from the clearing, he stopped dead in his track as he heard a sobbing voice.

'Help…' It called out.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked, putting a hand on Paul's shoulder as he saw the latter's pale face.

Paul was removed out of his stupor as his blue haired friend was looking at him, worried.

The other two, Jake and Amber, looked over, also concerned regarding their friend's seemingly shocked face.

"Did you hear it? I think I heard a voice." Paul whispered, asking his friends in a low tone.

"Hmm? I haven't heard anything though." Jake immediately replied.

"Me either." Amber added, still looking concerned.

"Maybe you just overheard something." Steven comforted as Paul shook his head before replying.

"No. I'm sure I heard it. I trust my senses. I actually think it was asking for help. It's scary though, as it asked in a sobbingly chill tone." Paul shuddered, rubbing his arms as he remembered the tone of the voice.

'Help…'

"There! A voice? Can't you hear it?" Paul asked a little loudly while looking around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

His friends also shook their heads, ultimately not hearing the so called "voice" that he was hearing.

Paul tried to think hard as he thought of the possible reasons why only he, could hear it. Then, a moment of realization came upon the red head as he remembered what he was. He is a Psychic, albeit a starter one.

"Do you think it was telepathy?" Paul asked his friends, his face attached with a surprised expression.