Topaz worked her pencil, thinking about the story. She had heard it before, but didn't remember a whole lot of it. She resumed scratching the pencil against the paper.

She quietly talked to herself as she read over her paper:

"Latias and Latios, they are the two Eon Pokemon that appear in the city of Altomare when it is being endangered. Latias, a female dragon with red wings and a red and white body, is the smaller of the two, but she has more defence than offense. Latios, her polar opposite, has blue wings and a blue and white body, and more offense than defence. They both reside in a place called the Secret Garden, where they are safe from humans.

"The legend in the Altomare books state that once an old couple found a boy and girl on a shoreline, unconscious. They took the two children in and cared for them, raising them until they were at least twelve years old. But one day, a peircing black cloud rained down crystals that turned everything that they touched to darkness. A crystal was about to hit the old couple when the two children floated into the sky and shapeshifted, revealing themselves to be Latios and Latias, the two Eon Pokemon. They called down their brothers and sisters and they all joined, creating a ball known only as Luster Purge, that destroyed the cloud.

"The Latias and Latios floated to the couple, and created a small jewel, known only as the Soul Dew. The couple kept it in the Secret Garden forever. And that's the legend of Latias and Latios."

"Okay class, time to hand in your papers!" the teacher said. Topaz frowned as she adjusted her cape, the one she always had with her. She said that her mother Clair wore one the same as hers and she wanted to follow in her mom's footsteps.

"Wait," Topaz said as the teacher collected her paper. He looked at her with peircing green eyes and asked, "What?"

"I wasn't finished."

He sighed and handed the paper back to her, only to see Topaz write her name on it. He fumed and collected the paper once more.

After class, Topaz sat with her best friend, Alyssa. "Did you get in?" she asked.

"Into what?"

"In the contest, silly. I know you wrote a paper for it."

Topaz frowned once more. "But I thought that was just a homework assignment."

"No, you get to go to the Tour de' Altomare if you win the contest. 1 out of 8 people."

"I think I'll like Altomare."

"You can't be so sure that you'll win."

Topaz conversed with Alyssa, then went home to daydream about Latias and Latios.

Morning came, eventually, and the golden sun peeked through the trees. Topaz headed out for school after some Frosted Flakes and plopped down in her seat eagerly.

"And the winner for this class is...Topaz Robinson. Congrats, Topaz," he said like he didn't even care. "Your paper was the most creative and accurate. You win. The time to go is, well, tomorrow at 10:00, and the ferry will arrive shortly to pick you up."

Topaz literally danced in her desk; after a detention threat from her teacher, she stopped immediately.

Topaz burst through the door at home. "I GET TO GO TO ALTOMARE!" she screamed to her big brother Aaron. He rolled his eyes. "Don't explode your Electrode."

Topaz rolled her eyes and ran up to her room, daydreaming of what Altomare would be like...