Sapphire set on the sweeping grasses of the route, her partners Beldum and Torchic gathered around her. She'd obtained Torchic from Professor Birch not too long ago, however the Beldum she had found years back. It had been washed ashore just west of Petalburg City, she'd tried to find its trainer countless times, but she'd never even gotten a hint as to who had originally trained the little thing.

Its shiny silver body gleamed in the sunlight as they rested. Sapphire was not on a journey, she was not taking on the League Challenge - she was simply travelling to see Wally in Verdanturf Town - currently she sat amongst the large trees of Petalburg Woods. Looking into the crimson eye of the little Beldum, Sapphire wondered again who the Pokémon had belonged to.

"If only you could speak little one. Then we could find your original trainer, but I don't know whether I could give you up so easily now. We're partners now." Sapphire smiled, hugging the Pokémon, she brought Torchic into the hug as well to ensure he didn't feel left out.


The little Beldum lay on Sapphire's pillow; she was fast asleep with Torchic in her arms. The little Pokémon remembered bits and pieces of its past, but with the intake of new information the old had been booted out sadly. He did remember a trainer with silver hair and eyes to match. Beldum also remembered an island far east of here. It floated upwards slowly, making no noise as it hovered across the room to the window. Using its psychic abilities, it opened the window and floated out, looking back sadly to the sleeping girl.


"Mum, mum have you seen Beldum?" Sapphire hurtled downstairs, her hair a mess and poor little Torchic hopping to keep up.

"No, isn't he in your room?" Her mother looked up from her breakfast to see Sapphire's panicked expression.

"No, I woke up and the window was open but Beldum wasn't there! I swear I didn't open the window last night!" Sapphire pulled on her shoes, having already dressed at top speed. "I have to go find him!" Without another word or even a goodbye, she pulled open the front door and ran out of it.


Beldum hovered across the landscape, it had moved all night, now it could see the east coast of mainland Hoenn, there were many islands past that point. Its red eye focussed on a northern island with a space station located on it.


"Sapphire!" The girl looked over her shoulder to see her mother tossing her a PokéBall at her. "Take Swellow, he'll be faster than you walking to find Beldum." Sapphire caught the PokéBall and released the blue bird.

The bird launched them into the sky quicker than Sapphire had been expecting. "Whenever I mention Beldum's original trainer it looks over to the east, come on Swellow!"

Swellow - sensing Sapphire's desperation to find Beldum - picked up speed, gliding like an arrow through the skies.

"Do you see him Torchic?" Sapphire asked the little chic Pokémon in her arms. Torchic was focussed on something that was glimmering in the bright morning sunlight. He chirped his call to the Swellow, directing the larger bird towards the small gleaming something.


Beldum looked down into the swirling waters it passed over. They triggered half-obscured memories. Seeing the Pokémon swimming just below the surface seemed like something it had gazed upon many a time before.

It was close to the island now, just a few more moments and it would be crossing over the beaches of the island, but where to go from there?


Swellow flapped its wings to gain more speed, it passed over Mauville City in a flash and aimed for a small island east from Lilycove City. Sapphire was clinging to its back tightly, she'd nearly lost grip several times but was determined to keep her grip firm so they would not waste time.

Sapphire watched as Lilycove passed below them. She was growing short of breath; she was not used to being this high up or moving this fast so catching breaths was becoming increasingly difficult.


Beldum floated over the sands, gazing around itself to try and find something which triggered memories. Its single-eyed gaze fell upon a house seated apart from the others. It hovered towards it and peered through a window, it could see movement within the house.


Swellow was speeding across the sea now; Mossdeep was closing in ahead of them. Sapphire's head was spinning now, her lungs screamed at her to take a breath which could not be taken. But the journey would be over soon enough.

Swellow altered its wing slightly, holding them a little closer to its body so it dived down through the sky towards the island. Sapphire's hair flew away from her face, her face frozen in a silent scream.


The door opened, Beldum gazed at the silver-haired man who was staring in shock back at him. "Beldum?" He stepped forward. The little excited Pokémon zoomed towards him, colliding with his chest.

He found his arms wrapping around the metallic Pokémon. He had assumed the worst when h had found no trace of the Pokémon, but that was years ago now. Where had this Pokémon been all this time?

A Swellow landed carefully on the beach, a half-conscious girl flew off its back and crashed into a large sand dune. Beldum flies towards the girl, nudging her gently.

"Miss?" The silver-haired man hops down onto the beach and approaches the girl in the sand. "Hello, are you alright?" He crouched at her side and tapped her face gently to wake her from her semi-doze.

"Yeah," She gasped in large amounts of air. "Thank you for asking…" She pushed herself up, brushing some of the sand from herself.

"What were you doing? That Swellow was flying far too fast."

Beldum hovered in front of her, its red eye scanning her face to check that she was alright. Her breathing was slowing steadily. She grabbed the Beldum out of the air and clutched it close. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She whispered to it. "I was searching for this Beldum before anything happened to it."

"Looking for this Beldum?" He blinked surprised. "What is this Beldum to you?"

"Huh? Beldum is my partner, I found him years ago but no matter how hard I searched I couldn't find his trainer." Sapphire blinked slowly, wondering why he cared so much about this Pokémon he had only just met. Slowly something clicked in her mind. "Are you the original trainer of this Beldum?" She stared deep into the silver eyes of the man.

"Yes, I, Metagross and this Beldum was travelling from Dewford to Rustboro when we got separated with Beldum due to an electrical storm. I searched all around that area for Beldum; may I ask where you found him?"

"East of Petalburg, I asked around Petalburg then moved to Rustboro to ask around. But after weeks of asking around, I didn't know what to do but take the Pokémon in and look after it. But I guess now that it's found its way back to you I should head off home." She smiled at the stranger and turned to Beldum. "You take care of yourself." She hugged it once more, looser this time. Upon releasing the Beldum, Sapphire held her hand out to the stranger. "I suppose I don't need to tell you to take good care of Beldum. But allow me to introduce myself. I am Sapphire from Littleroot Town."

He took her hand and shook it firmly. "Steven Stone. I would like to thank you for taking such good care of Beldum. For a novice trainer you seem to understand the needs of a complex Steel-type Pokémon, and for that I admire you, not just any old trainer could have taken such good care of Beldum for so long. Which gets me thinking. Would you mind looking after Beldum for a little while longer? Perhaps you could take it around Hoenn on a journey. It seems very attached to you and I would like to see such a partnership grow."

Sapphire blinked as she let go of his hand. "I couldn't, Beldum belongs back with you…"

"This Beldum is very rare; you will probably never see such a Beldum again in your lifetime. Please understand that I do not make this offer lightly." He detached a PokéBall from his belt and held it out. "Please take this, it's Beldum's PokéBall. Take it and travel around Hoenn with a partner who will never let you down. I insist."

Sapphire hesitated, but upon seeing the resolution within his eyes, she took the ball from his palm, attaching it to her belt alongside Swellow's and Torchic's. "Thank you Mr Stone…"

"Steven."

"Thank you Mr Steven." She murmured a half-smile on her face as she stared dumbfounded at the Beldum he had given her. This was amazing!


SelasVictoria: 'I won't say I'm in love' from Hercules? That song is perfect! I do like a spot of OriginShipping but in moderation, some people write Wallace in a way that it makes it hard to read, but then a lot of people seem to dislike Wallace and I - even to this day - cannot figure it out, he's such an amazing character! I have plans for Chapter 50 which shows both the highs and lows of life, although I need to get a few things sorted out in my head before I start writing it, plus we still have Chapter 49 to get through XD! And don't worry about savage beasts, if they're yours I'm sure they'll be less rabid xD! -Iris

verecund: Hello! waves merrily Don't worry about the gap in reviews! The main thing is that you've been reading! And there's no need for you to worry about me forcing myself to write! I am physically incapable of forcing myself to write, i have tried in the past and it just doesn't work. Thank you for calling my work grand though! I never thought of it that way xD. I too have larger projects i push aside ot write these oneshots xD I can't help it I just have too much fun writing these! Thank you for your review! -Iris