A/N: Okay, so I finished writing this story a looong time ago. Like last year kind of long. It's just a story that I'm hoping to make into a small one-shot comic someday. Enjoy.

Disclaimer - I do not own Pokemon (c) Gamefreak/Nintendo

Dia smiled contentedly as he held onto his mother's hand as they walked through the Sandgem Town Annual Festival. In his other hand was a big glob of cotton candy that had recently born a ginormous bite mark on it. Though he was soon to turn nine, it was still nice to amble past the crowded booths selling various wares with the warm reassurance of his mother's palm in his own. Speaking of parents, he knew that Pearl would've already arrived at the meeting place with his own father several minutes prior to the designated meeting time. This fueled his need to get there as soon as possible as he tugged on his mother's hand.

His mother chuckled at his eagerness, "You're unexpectedly active today, Dia."

The boy gave her a matter-of-fact look that could've only been learned through the means of Pearl. "It's because Pearl and his dad will be there by now. We don't want to keep them waiting, right?"

Laughing once more, the young mother agreed with her son on that fact. When it came to those two, like father like son, they were both impatient. Hearing the chatter of many children, she could only watch as they stampeded towards them in a rush. Through the confusion, she lost her grip on her child's hand; and when the herd of kids cleared, he was gone. She looked around, calling her son's name, but no one replied. Thinking for a moment, she continued towards the meeting spot, knowing that those two would better the odds.

Elsewhere, Dia finally extracted himself from the group of children, hiding himself under the table the table of an unpopular booth. Catching his breath, he began to think about how he was going to get back to his mother, not really knowing where he was now. Hearing the movement of someone else, the boy turned his head softly to the right, seeing as a girl about his own age crouched down into the shadows.

"Um, hello?" at his voice, the girl flinched back, only to relax when she realized it was just another child.

"Greetings, commoner," she said in a dignified voice. "I am not concealing myself under this confectioner's stand because someone is in pursuit of my person. I… was just… searching for a satisfactory location to shield my eyes from the brilliant lights of this entertainment event for a moment."

Commoner? Dia looked at the girl, who as it seemed in the dim surroundings was very proud of her explanation. "Well, okay then, uh, missy. Erm, do you know how to get to the beach from here? I was separated from my mom, and now I'm lost."

"You are asking for my assistance?" she looked rather surprised at his question, pondering it for a moment. "Well, I suppose it will do me no harm to lead one in similar age to myself to a rather conspicuous area."

She raised the table cloth, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear. When she assured herself that it was, she beckoned to Dia, and they both returned to the cheery air of the festival. She held out her hand to him, "I presume that this is what commoner children do when they are going somewhere. It would be a shame if I did not do the same."

Taking her hand, Dia was glad to see that he still held his cotton candy. Noticing the girl eyeing the sugary food curiously, he offered it to her. "You should try some. It's really great, and it melts in your mouth, too!"

Melt? She looked at it reluctantly before deciding. Opening her mouth, she took a bite, smiling happily as its scrumptious form disappeared on her tongue. Gasping, she licked her lips. "That was wonderful~!"

"Aw, come on! This game is such a rip off!" the two kids turned around to see others slightly older than them stalk away from a showy-looking game stand. Several brightly-colored balloons were placed in random places on a cork board. The manager of the stand spotted Dia and the little miss and grinned widely. "Hey, there! Wanna try your might at hitting the balloons."

"This gentlemen, if he can be dubbed so, most likely wishes to con us out of all our money as he did the other commoners before. Do you agree?" she whispered urgently to him. Dia frowned as he took a few moments to consider her words. Finally, he nodded his head, making a move to guide the girl away from the booth but was stopped short by a meaty hand that grabbed his wrist.

"Come on, kid. The prizes are some very special Pokemon eggs which could grow to be just the partner you're looking for!" he leered down at them menacingly, his eyes showing greed. Just as he was about to tug on Dia's arm again, a stick whacked him on the arm, making him lose his grip. "What the…who're you?"

A young man, probably just two or three years older than them, grinned cockily at the adult. The pole turned out to be a cue stick as they saw him rest it against his shoulder. Goggles adorned his capped head, and everything about him seemed to scream: "misfit." After a moment of posing coolly, his voice was revealed to have an accent that was obviously not from this region, "Just an ordinary festival-goer who believes that those Pokemon eggs are not in the best of hands."

"So what? Ya saying ya want to try this?"

"Of course!" he returned the man's leer, placing down several coins on the wooden stand. "Give me those darts."

"Tch, my game ain't called the Dart Challenger fer nothin'. I'd like to see you…" Pop! The man almost fell to the ground in surprise as a balloon was popped from a dart that had whizzed by his ear. He grumbled as he glared at the bright plastic of the formerly inflated balloon. "Lucky shot. I'd like to see you try agai…" Pop!

And that's how it went for several minutes as the two kids watched in awe. This teen hit the mark every time, popping each balloon in repetition until the entire board was littered with hanging pieces of brightly-colored plastic scraps. The man was now on the brink of tears as he realized that his entire stock of real Pokemon eggs would be going to this irritating brat.

"Ju…just take em!" he cried moodily as he raced out of the booth like a little baby. The boy laughed in triumph as he leapt over the counter to get to the display stand. Dia and the young girl continued to stare at him, moving closer until they were resting their hands and chins on the wood. Continuing to chuckle rather evilly, he called out a Pokemon from its ball. Their eyes almost bulged out of their heads as they saw a creature they had never seen before.

"Let's get going, Explotaro," he giggled. "Super serious gal will want to get these to the lab ASAP."

As he turned around, he finally noticed the wide-eyed stares of the small children. Taking a moment to think, he grabbed two Pokemon eggs from the wrack, one green and beige and the other red, orange, and white. Dia and the girl gasped as he held the eggs out to them.

"For us?" Dia quavered, finally finding his voice.

"You guys were smart enough to know a conman when you saw him," he smiled. "I suppose that deserves some kind of an award. By the looks of these things, they'll be hatching pretty soon, and I don't think there are any other kids here who could take care of them as well as you two."

"But, sir," the miss protested reluctantly. "We've only just met…"

"So?" the teen just grinned widely. "I'm a great judge of character."

The kids breathed in wonder as they received these sudden gifts, warm from the living creatures inside that would soon come into this world. Still smiling, the teen brushed a finger under his nose happily. Suddenly a voice cried out through the sounds of the festival, "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DAMN PERVERT?"

"Eep," the teen squeaked, freezing in place. He hurriedly gathered the rest of the eggs in his arms and made to leave. "That gal seems to have found my latest pra…er…experiment. I'd better get going. Hopefully, I'll see you two again."

He turned, only to be stopped by a small hand that suddenly gripped his shirt. Dia looked up at the boy, trying to figure out why he had just done such an impulsive thing that would usually be placed with Pearl. Surprisingly, the teen waited patiently for what would be said. Feeling a surprising amount of confidence surge through him, Dia smiled, "Thanks, mister."

The teen smirked, "Nothing to it." And with those words, he left. The two children stood silently, hugging their Pokemon eggs close to themselves. After what seemed like an eternally awkward time, the girl spoke, "Commoner, I believe that with the numerous events that have transpired, I have neglected to ask you one simple thing."

"And what would that be, missy?"

"What is your name?"

Dia froze, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. The question was so simple, and it hadn't even come up during their time together. "It's…"

"Miss….!" The fireworks drowned out the interrupting voice. In a matter of seconds, the girl was whisked away by a frantic-looking gentleman. Over the noisy light show, Dia couldn't hear a word of what the man was saying to her. It might be her Grandpa who was scolding her for wandering away. And without any word to him, the girl left with the man, only giving him one last look before they disappeared.

Moments later, Dia's mom, Pearl, and Pearl's dad had rushed up to him, asking if he was alright as relief settled onto each of her faces. However, Dia barely registered their words as that one image of the girl's metallic eyes, which had been filled with a mixture of various emotions. His thoughts were interrupted immediately as a sting of pain flashed onto his cheek from where Pearl had hit him after Dia's mom had completed her suffocating Ursaring hug. It was then that the dark haired boy stared into his friend's orange eyes.

"What do ya think you were doing, getting lost like that?" Pearl yelled at his blue-eyed companion over the booming sound of the lightshow, moving his hand away to getter a firmer grip on a sizable something in his arms.

"You have a Pokemon egg, too, Pearl?" Dia asked in the lapse between the explosions, completely ignoring the original question. Taken aback, Pearl, as well as the two adults, took a few seconds to respond as more sparks went up into the sky.

"EH?"

"Well, whaddaya know?"

"Dia, honey, where did you get that?"

"This booth," he simply replied, returning to what he had been talking about it before. "Did your Dad give it to you, Pearl?"

"Huh?" a flash of yellow went off into the night. "Yeah, he presented it to me just before your mother came to tell us you were missing."

"Well, we're all together now aren't we?" Dia quipped lightly, smiling brightly as the memory of the girl's first taste of cotton candy passed briefly through his mind.

"Yeah," Pearl agreed, giving him a toothy grin as they stood facing each other, holding what could possibly change their lives forever.

"Hey, the finale's about to start," Pearl's dad interjected as he pushed his cuff back over his watch. "It'd be a shame if you both missed it."

And so with their respective parent's hands on their shoulders, Dia and Pearl watched as dozens of brilliant dazzles reached to the heavens to share the room with the stars. At first unnoticed, cracks began to form at the center of each egg, but as a glow began to emit through them, all eyes looked down. From Dia's egg came a dark-green furred Pokemon with a rather round belly and stumpy appendages that used its first moment to lick its hatcher on his bruised cheek with it coarse pink tongue. Pearl's held a flying type with some various-colored plumage that it preened at carefully, trying to get the remains of the egg goop off its feathers.

In the following sequences of events, the two boys received many congratulatory remarks and hugs. After getting over the initial shock, they announced what their partners' names would be. They even talked to the infant Pokemon, easily bonding to the point of many funny gestures and natural laughter as the last of the fireworks went off.

Elsewhere, in the safe confines of the gardens of her luxurious home, the dignified girl sat comfortably on an elegant bench as she held onto her Pokemon egg as firmly and gingerly as possible. Even the amazing display in the sky couldn't keep something from bothering her. What is your name? Some embarrassment brushed at her cheeks as her unanswered question stuck with the memory of that boy's deep blue, caring eyes. She was brought to her senses as she felt the egg's temperature rise suddenly as it split jaggedly in the middle.

"Miss Pla – " Her butler's call was stopped short as they both witnessed the birth of a Pokemon. Once the light that had come receded, they were both awe struck by the four-legged creature in front of them. At first, it sat on its lanky legs, its head curled carefully around its creamy body, the warm flames of its mane and tail flowing gently in the breeze. And then it stirred, coal black eyes blinking open to stare curiously into the girl's lighter gaze.

It whinnied happily, standing up unsteadily at a little over a foot of the girl's height. As it nuzzled her good-naturedly, the girl could barely breathe as a soaring glee overtook her as she wrapped her arms around the Pokemon's neck. A few feet away, her butler sighed as he watched, overjoyed that his young mistress had experienced such a wonderful thing.

"Gold," Crys walked up to her fellow Dexholder, a look of concern on her face. "Two of the Pokemon eggs are missing."

"Ah, well," the Hatcher replied, relieved that she had stopped yelling at him for pranking her. "I gave them to some kids."

"YOU WHAT!"

"Did I stutter?" he grinned, unable to stop himself.

"Ugh, why did you do that?" she raved, considering the idea of doing him bodily harm.

"I had a feeling they'd need them when they get older," he replied, smoothly. "I could tell that they were good kids."

Crys paused, "…Are you serious?"

"That isn't my style, but I guess now's a good time for you to believe me," Gold said, only a small trace of humor in his voice.

The corners of her mouth twitched as she felt a small blush fall across her cheeks. In an attempt to hide it, she punched her friend in the arm, "Yeah, well, we'd better get these eggs to the Professors." She gestured the items in their Pokemons' arms.

"Whatever you say, Su. Per. Se. Ri. Ous. Gal," he breathed the words down her neck in a flirting tone, causing her blush to return at full force as he raced away in the direction of Prof. Rowan's lab.

The Capturer took a few seconds to gather her bearings, "g…GOLD!"

Yards away, in the center of the festival at a fountain depicting a raging Gyarados and a graceful Milotic, Dia turned his head to the direction of the shout. He sat on the stone, his new Munchlax (as Pearl's father had noted) seated on his right and Pearl on his left with his Chatot perched on his head. Recalling all that had happened tonight, he couldn't help but smile. It had all been so unexpected. Unexpected meetings indeed.

A/N: I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think! And point out my spelling/grammar mistakes (be specific, please).