Chapter 8

The path soon brought Samantha to the base of the impressive Mount Moon. She had decided not to spend the night at the mountain's Pokémon Center, because she wanted to make better time. The darkness now made her slightly regret her decision, but she pressed onward regardless.

"Bulba…Bulbasaur!" yelled Bobby. Every time Samantha seemed to get two steps ahead of him, Bobby would panic. He cringed closely to the young girl's leg. One could determine that the rare Bulbasaur was afraid of the dark.

Samantha peered into the emptiness of the mountain's entrance. It looked intimidating, but she had a secret weapon. She bundled up her jacket and reached for her Poké Balls…

"Julie! Lianne! Come on out!"

The balls opened and shot out their beams of red light, as her Pikachu and new Jigglypuff were released from their confines.

"OK Julie! Give us some light!"

Julie charged up her electrical powers. Her cheeks lit up with an electrical glow, which easily increased visibility by 50 feet.

"Ok Lianne…lead the way."

"Jigglypuff!" replied Lianne as she dashed bravely into the cave, with Julie close behind. Bobby leaped into Samantha's arms shaking. She patted him on the head, giggling as she entered the dark cave.

The Jigglypuff obviously knew her way around the interior of the cave. What was assumed to be a 30-minute journey, became a 10-minute visit, as they reached Mt. Moon Square in no time at all.

"Julie, rest up."

"Chu!" Julie sighed as her cheeks dimmed down, making Bobby shake a little more.

"Great work Lianne! That was a nice shortcut! I knew I could count on you."

"Puff! Jigglypuff" Lianne replied with glee.

The shop atop the mountain had long since closed for the night. Julie and Lianne rested next to Samantha and her shivering Bulbasaur. Although the light from Julie's cheeks was gone, something else was brightening the otherwise dark Square.

"I wonder what that could be? Maybe another trainer…" Samantha trailed off. Her curiosity plagued her, as she got up for investigation.

She walked past the closed souvenir store, towards a little opening marked as the picnic area. Her eyes widened at the sight: A giant shiny, blue-green rock glowed before her very eyes.

"Hey guys, come look at this" she called over to her three Pokémon.

Lianne was the first to behold the sight. She seemed to smile in delight at the shiny blue-green rock. Julie seemed confused, that something could make more light than her on such a dark night. Bobby was a little bolder now that there was plenty of light to chase away the darkness. He tiptoed towards the rock for a closer look.

"Be careful Bobby!" Samantha warned.

As Bobby got to the base of the rock and began to sniff at it, a shadowy figure leapt down from atop the rock and smacked Bobby backwards towards his trainer.

"Clefairy!" it shouted with anger.

"OH WOW! A CLEFAIRY!" Samantha yelled out excitedly. She gripped a Poké Ball in hopes of adding it to her collection.

All of the sudden, several Clefairy came out from behind the shiny boulder, along with some Clefable. They all formed a circle around the rock, and began to dance. It was a pretty sight for any human to see. Samantha had forgotten all about attempting to catch the Clefairy as she watched the magnificent dance.

Bobby however, was not about to forgive the slap from the Clefairy as easily. He scraped his paws against the ground like a Spanish bull, and darted straight towards the Clefairy guilty of the attack.

"Clefairy?" it said in a confused manner.

Just as Bobby was about to land his TAKE DOWN attack, the Clefairy leapt aside. Bobby dove head first into the giant rock.

A large rumbling sound was heard. The Clefairy and Clefable fled in terror, all but the one Bobby tried to attack. Bobby shook his head clear, as the giant rock exploded into the night sky. Samantha leapt forward to catch her Bulbasaur, who was sent flying from the blast. Tiny little fragments of the shining stone rained down from the sky. Samantha rubbed Bobby's head, while she admired the sight.

One little fragment landed on the lone Clefairy, and it began to glow brilliantly. It started evolving right before Samantha's eyes. Samantha pulled out her Pokédex:

The Moon Stone.
This rare rock can cause certain kinds
of Pokémon to evolve on the spot.

"Whoa," Samantha said, "this could make me a fortune on E-Bay!"

The newly evolved Clefable jumped up and down with joy. It was happy to be a Clefable, after all.

Samantha's Pokémon were not happy at all. Bobby's head still hurt…and Julie and Lianne were scared of the raining rock.

One tiny piece of stone landed gently on the tip of Lianne's ear.

"Jiggly?" she said surprised.

Samantha's mouth opened wide as her Pokémon began to glow too. The metamorphosis stunned the young trainer, and her other Pokémon too. Soon, the glowing had stopped.

"Uh…Lianne?"

"Wigglytuff!" Lianne shouted happily.

Samantha rushed over to her friend, who had evolved into a Wigglytuff, and hugged her tightly. Julie joined in the group hug too. Samantha was so happy for Lianne, that she even shed some tears of happiness.

"Saur!" cried Bobby from a distance.

"Clefable!"

Samantha let go of Lianne and walked over to look at what Bobby and the Clefable were pointing at. The sign read:

Cerulean City: 2 Miles

Samantha called Julie and Lianne back to their respective Poké Balls and started walking in the direction which the sign pointed. She turned around with Bobby in her arms and waved a "Thank You" to the timid fairy Pokémon.

Clefable waved back, as Samantha and Bobby disappeared into the sunrise…