Chapter 12:

The Moon Stone Project

Hue's Current Team: Douglas(Squirtle): Water Gun, Withdraw, Tackle, Bubble

Ace(Pidgey): Mud-Slap, Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind

Gumshoe(Growlithe): Odor Sleuth, Dig, Reversal, Flame Wheel

Egg: Sounds Can Be Heard Coming From Inside! It Will Hatch Soon!


"This can't happen now!" Hue said as he ran in front of Aura to show off the hatching egg.

"Aura, the egg! The egg!"

"I see it, Huey…" Aura said without looking at it, and continuing to head into Mt. Moon. "Just don't drop it, and it'll hatch no problem."

"Umm...hey guys…" Freddie called. "Wait up for us!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Hue noticed that Freddie, Karen, and Davon were all trailing a little behind.

"We'll wait for you once we get inside!" Aura called.

"About that…" Hue said as he continued to run at Aura's pace. "What exactly is it that you intend to do if we run into TNR?"

"Well, obviously I'm going to foil whatever the hell they're up to and then you can have Officer Jenny come and take them away."

Hue didn't know whether to be worried that Aura didn't seem to have an actual plan of action, or to be relieved that she wasn't going to kill anyone…

He had other things to worry about however…

Like his Egg, which was getting closer to hatching by the second…

Or maybe his strange trance that he was in right now, where he seemed to know details about everything he laid his eyes upon.

Almost like some sort of computer…

This really freaked him out, and he knew TNR would have answers…

Just as he was thinking of that, he noticed another thing out of the corner of his eye.

"Aura, lookout!" He yelled as he tackled her to the ground just in time to avoid being caught in a falling cage.

"H-hue…" She said, panting. "What... was that?...Your..."

"Well…" Freddie's voice rang out. "It seems like some kind of cage…"

Hue turned to notice that Freddie, Karen, and Davon had all been trapped in the cage.

"It's fine…" He said. "I'll just have Gumshoe dig you guys o-"

Before Hue could say 'out', the cage containing Freddie, Karen, and Davon was quickly pulled into the dark cave of Mt. Moon, leaving Hue and Aura alone.

"Hue….Your…" Aura said, still trying to catch her breath.

"We should go after them…" Hue said.

"Hue!" Aura raised her voice. "Your-"

"My eyes?" Hue guessed.

They were probably moving all over the place due to the weird trance,,,

"No you idiot! Your hand!"

"Gahhhh!" Hue quickly got up off of Aura. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" He said repeatedly. "Complete accident! I swear!"

"I know…" Aura said as she stood up and brushed some dirt off of her hakama. "Just….be more careful next time…" She said as she bit her nail and looked away.

"Right…." Hue nodded. "Now come on. We should focus on reuniting with the others. We can't let them get hurt on our account."

He turned and began to, carefully, walk into Mt. Moon's cave passageway.

Wait a minute…

What the hell did Aura mean by next time?

As Hue blushed and struggled to wrap his head around every single detail of everything that had just happened, Aura took out a pokeball.

Karakara's pokeball.

"Cuuuu…." Karakara said as the dark green Cubone was sent out. "Cubone…."

"Karakara…" Aura whispered. "TNR is here...We might be able to learn who their leader is if we can catch and trap one of their grunts here…"
"Bone!" Karakara saluted Aura.

"Hey Huey….?" Aura asked sweetly. "Would you mind holding my other pokeballs for me?"

"A little, yeah…" Hue replied honestly. "This egg is going to hatch soon. I want to be able to use it right away…"

"Fine…" Aura only handed Hue two of her pokeballs. "Purin will stay with me. You can take Fushi and Koko, but only for holding onto them. I'm not giving them to you as a gift or anything of that sort."

"So it's a little like when you borrowed Gumshoe, got it." Hue said as he accepted Aura's pokemon…

"Wait, why are you doing this?" He asked.

"To avoid any pokemon getting stolen." Aura shrugged. "Good luck Huey!" She chimed as she waved and ran ahead of him into the cave. "Save the others for me 'k?"

"Aura wait!" Hue tried to run after her, but he was way too tired for it. He didn't have the stamina that Aura seemed to have right now…

Hue sat on the cave floor.

TNR was definitely in here.

That's why they had that cage set up…

They were probably trying to trap Hue and Aura in it, what with every other sentence Aura said being about TNR, it wouldn't surprise Hue if they had figured out about his and Aura's plan to mess with them in Mt. Moon…

Here Hue was...alone in a dark cave…

And he had no idea where his friends might be…
Or...or did he?

"Gumshoe!" Hue called his Growlithe out.

"Growlithe!" Gumshoe barked.

"Gumshoe, I need you to search for Aura…" Hue said. He knew what she had told him earlier.

To focus on saving the others, but she was acting too reckless with these guys, and Hue was 110% certain that she was in the most danger.

Gumshoe tilted his head.

"Growlithe?" He asked.

"Oh right...you need her scent…" Hue said to himself as he took out Koko's pokeball.

Gumshoe sniffed it and then shook his head.

"Did she really-?" Hue asked.

He sniffed the pokeball…

It was definitely not Aura's scent. She seemed to have covered her pokeballs in Potion spray. The overwhelming medicinal smell was masking any others.

She did not want him to follow her.

"Oh...oh no…" Hue said as he held out his hand.

"I feel so wrong about this but, smell this, Gumshoe...And find the matching scent that isn't me."

"Growl….Lithe! Lithe!" Gumshoe jumped up after smelling Hue's hand and began to head into the cave, with Hue following close behind.


"So….This sucks…" Karen said as she sat in a corner of the cage that she, Freddie, and Davon were all trapped in.

"I suppose I should let us out…" Davon shrugged. "Machop! Please, assist!" He called as he brushed his gelled hair back and sent is Machop out.

"Ma-chop."

"Karate Chop, the bars please." Davon said.

"Chop Chop!" Machop nodded before it gave a karate chop and broke some bars of the cage.

"Ohhh, bravo…" A gruff man's voice said sarcastically from the darkness. "You broke through the cage…"

"I don't care for your sarcastic attitude…" Freddie said. "This prank isn't a very funny one. You had us scared for a bit there…"
"Well, maybe you were scared." Karen rolled her eyes, clearly only just annoyed at everything that was going on.

"Hey!" She shouted in the general direction of where the man's voice had come from. "You from TNR?"

"From it?" The man's voice asked in a laugh. "I founded it. In any case...you minor players can just stay put. Don't worry. You aren't in any danger...This is simply a test that I've devised to gauge how far Subject 4 has come."

"Subject 4?" Freddie asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means…" The man's voice replied. "The 4th subject in our experiments during our earliest stages of development as a criminal syndicate. Now...I have some urgent business I need to take care of. You kids just hang tight here. Wouldn't want to...fall…"

The man chuckled as his voice faded.

"What did he mean by fall?" Davon asked.

"Magnemite!" Karen sent out her Magnemite

"Ghastly!" Freddie sent out his Ghastly.

"Check out how high up we are." Karen said to Magnemite.

"Same to you buddy." Freddie told his Ghastly.

Both the pokemon gave as much of a nod as they could and crept through the cage opening.

They then descended down into the darkness.


"Good job, Purin…" Aura said as she praised her Jigglypuff for lulling some TNR members to sleep. "Now it's time to find out what they're doing here…."

"Jigglypuff!" Purin saluted.

"Cuuuu!" Karakara called for Aura, pointing at one of the grunts.

"Morren…." Aura muttered.

"Wake him up, Purin."

"Jiggly!"

After being hit with a Wake-Up Slap, Morren woke up.

"Gahhh!" He screamed.

"Who tied me up like this?" He asked as he struggled to get free.

"I did." Aura said as Karakara whacked Morren's face with her bone.

"Y-you!" Morren's eyes went wide. "You were with him in the Museum!"

"Yep." Aura said. "And you weren't completely honest with him back in the museum. were you?" Her eyes were shooting fierce daggers.

"I...I couldn't be found out!" Morren said. "I...I want to challenge the league, and they won't accept anyone with a criminal record! But...I...I need to work for them! I do!"

"No you don't." Aura said, showing no mercy as Karakara whacked Morren with her bone again.

"Tell me what TNR is doing here."

"We're...here for...the…" Morren was wheezing in between each word he said. "Moon...Stone...Project."

"Moon Stone Project?" Aura asked. "You will tell me about it."

Morren was busy catching his breath.

"Tell me!" Aura yelled as Karakara brought her bone down on Morren one more time.

"Agh!" Morren wailed in pain. "No...no more, please!" He choked out before beginning to wheeze again.

"Wait." Aura turned her head towards the direction she had run into this area from. "Someone's coming…"

"Morren…" A gruff man's voice said from the darkness. "You will not tell a word of the Moon Stone Project to our visitor. She's been very naughty, putting so many of my worker ants to sleep…"

"That's fine…" Aura said. "You can tell me about the project yourself…I take it you're spearheading this operation?"

"While in a sense, I guess that's true…" The man's voice said from the shadows. "This operation is but a speck of cautious analysis compared to what I have planned...Miss Aura Jones."

Aura's normally piercing eyes suddenly became fearful.

"Y-you...know my name?"

"Of course I do." The man's voice said confidently. "You're an important piece on the game board you are. After all...You are his sister…That insufferable little...I'm glad I had him taken care of."

This man...he was talking about her brother!

"You know who killed him?" Aura's eyes went back to their piercing mode. "Who did you send to do it? Who?"

"Oh, if only you knew!" The man's voice said, almost giddily. "I'll tell you what...you become Champion, little lady, and I'll tell you exactly who killed your big brother!"

The man let out a bellowing laugh.

"Now… unfortunately… I'm going to have to knock you out. Please return both your pokemon so that I may take Morren without any unnecessary interference."

"I'd like to see you try." Aura said.

Those were her last words before she lost consciousness.

As Hue was following Gumshoe down the cave, he noticed an imposing man dressed up in a very fancy white dress suit, carrying a bound TNR member in one arm.

"Morren?" Hue accidentally let his thoughts escape his head.

The man looked down at him.

"Growl Growl!" Gumshoe started to bark at the man, rather furiously. He continued to bark throughout Hue's entire conversation with the man.

At least, Hue thought he did. The cave was still rather dark, and Hue couldn't make out anything about the man's face other than perhaps the fact that there were no visible wrinkles on it.

"Yes...this boy's name is Morren." The man said. "Would you like him? I'll give him to you. You're my favorite after all."

"F-favorite?" Hue raised an eyebrow confused. "I'm...not sure I understand sir…I'm your favorite...what exactly?"

The man laughed.

"Tell me, Hubert...what's your favorite chess piece?"

"I'm a...chess piece?" Hue asked. "And how do you...no nevermind...I know how you know my name…You're the leader of TNR aren't you?"

"Well, quite an excellent job Hubert." The man said condescendingly.

"Stop calling me that…" Hue said. "You act as if we're on a first name basis or something. I thought I was a chess piece."

"I never said you were." The man laughed. "You assumed that yourself. No...the game I'm playing is a bit different from simple chess...It's much more...complex. And you're my favorite player, Hubert. The competition I am most interested in...So take him as a gift."
The man dumped Morren into Hue's arms.

"Oh and by the way…" The man said as he left. "That egg of yours...It's a pokemon that isn't found in Kanto, so good luck obtaining data on it once it hatches...Eh...I suppose I can help."

Before Hue, who was already reacting faster than normal, could react, the man snatched his pokedex away, and after fiddling with it, he handed it back. "There. I know you like to battle based on pokedex entries. It'll work on all pokemon now. Not just pokemon found here in Kanto."

The man gave a sigh. "Now I've got to leave. There aren't any other major players that I need to talk to here…"

"Wait...wait!" Hue called after him. "What was in those shots that I was given eight years ago?"

"Something that I'm surprised hasn't killed you yet." The man's silhouette said as he waved goodbye and exited the cave. "I'll tell you if you can become Champion, little lad."

"Growwwwllll…." Gumshoe growled as the man left.

"Thanks Gumshoe…" Hue said. "I guess that man is definitely an enemy…"


"Sir?" The man received a call on his phone.

"She's left again. She isn't in the designated area for her."

"Such defiance…" The man sighed. "She'll have to return eventually. I just had a talk with the other major players. They'll definitely draw her back there when the time comes. In the meantime, just keep observing Subject 4, and report the results of the Moon Stone Project."

"As you say sir."

The man closed his phone and sighed.

He hated when opposing players tried to make power plays…


"Aura!" Hue called as he ran up to a collapsed Aura on the ground, with both Karakara and Purin collapsed beside her.

"Aura?" Hue picked her up in place of Morren or his Egg.

He put his head to where her heart was.

"Oh phew…" He sighed relieved. "She's alright, Gumshoe...check Purin and Karakara…"

"Unnhhh…" Aura moaned as she opened her eyes.

"Hey, partner…" Hue said in as soft a voice as he could.

"Huey?" Aura asked in a bit of a daze. She seemed legitimately confused with whether he was there or not.

"Yeah, it's me…" He said. "What happened?"

"Ugh...Moon Stone Project…" Aura said, still tired. "Find out what it is...And stop it...I...I need to rest…" She said before closing her eyes again.

"You do that, buddy." Hue said, just relieved she was okay.

"Gumshoe…" Hue said. "You take care of Aura, Karakara, and Purin. I'll have Morren explain this crap to me while I search for the others. You know my scent, so find me once everyone is feeling better."

Hue took some potions and berries out of his backpack. "The berries are for everyone. The potions are for any wounds that the pokemon might have."

"Growlllithe!" Gumshoe barked affectionately as he dragged Aura by her hakama and put her and her pokemon all together in a safe little alcove of the cavern.


"So..basically the moonstone can make certain pokemon evolve…" Morren explained nervously as Hue led him through the cave. "But...uh...before I say any more...are these handcuffs really necessary? They're a little tight…"

"They're one size fits all." Hue said. "I was told so by the police department. Since you're a minor, you might be able to get parol pretty quickly so long as you don't work for TNR or any other criminal organization ever again."

"But...I'm a sucky trainer and I really need the money…"

"Oh for the love of, I'll train you if I have to." Hue said, not entirely wanting it to be the case. "My egg has almost hatched and it ought to be a good starting opponent for you. Now come on...more about The Moon Stone Project!"

"R-right…" Morren said, adjusting his way too large glasses.

"Because some pokemon can evolve by coming into contact with the moonstone...TNR has been building a massive Super Moon Stone that should be able to cause any pokemon at all to evolve regardless of their species."

"That's...atrocious…" Hue said. "Do you understand the genetic deformities that might occur if something like that happens? You could destroy the entire ecosystem! A new pokemon might get created! A new type! New diseases might form! This is a really unsafe project!"

Just as Hue said 'unsafe'...

A Magnemite and a Ghastly dropped down from above.

"Magnemite!" Magnimite floated around Hue.

"Ghassstlyyyy…" Ghastly also floated around Hue.

"Are you Karen's and Freddie's?" Hue asked, surprised.

"Sir Hue Swanson?" Davon's voice called. "Is that you I hear?"

"Davon!" Hue tilted his head upwards.

That's when he noticed that there was a stalactite hanging from the cave ceiling that was significantly bigger than the others….Was that really a stalactite or-?

"Hang on!" Hue yelled. "Fushi is going to get you guys down from there!"

Hue sent out Aura's Bulbasaur.

"Saur?" Fushi asked, looking around for Aura.

"Sorry, Fushi. It's me…" Hue said.

"Saurrrrr…" Fushi groaned, upset that he wasn't getting to battle.

"Fushi, Aura's and my friends are trapped up there. We could really use your Vine Whip to help them get down…"

"Saur!" Fushi nodded.

The first one down was Freddie.

"Oh...oh thank-"

He looked around. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"Not my girlfriend, and she's back a ways, resting with Gumshoe and a few of her pokemon."

"Whoa…" A tired voice said.

"Count your Torchics before they hatch, Huey…" Aura said as she walked along the wall of the cave, being led by Gumshoe.

Karakara and Purin seemed to be in their pokeballs.

"Bulba!" Fushi's eyes lit up upon seeing his trainer, and he managed to bring Karen, and Davon down at the same time.

"Good job, Fushi!" Aura said, clearly still tired.

"So...You've probably figured it out by now…" Morren told Hue.

"Yep...The Super Moon Stone...It's that stalactite that's so much larger than the others, right?"

"Yes…" Morren nodded. "But...I don't know how to stop it from falling to the ground. Once it touches down, every pokemon within a five mile radius of Mt. Moon will be forced to evolve.

"Clefairy!"

"Clefairy!"

"Clefairy!"

Three Clefairy, one after another, jumped up each and touched the large rock, evolving in the process. Hue noticed that some dust fell from the large stone every time the Clefairy touched it and evolved...

"Clefable…"

"Clefable…"

"Clefable…"

"Did we just see three rare pokemon evolve into three rarer pokemon in a row?" Freddie asked in disbelief.

"Shut up Freddie, and pay attention to the Super Moon Stone…" Aura said pointing.

"She's right." Hue agreed. "It got smaller as the Clefairy evolved…"

"So what does that mean?" Davon asked.

"It means…" Hue said, getting a glint in his eye.

"It means that it's breakable!" He yelled.

"Go! Douglas! Ace! Koko!"

Hue sent out all the pokemon he had on him.

"Squirtle!" Douglas yelled.

"Pid-gey!" Ace cooed.

"Beeeedrillllll." Koko buzzed as she switched places with Gumshoe at Aura's side.

"Purin!" Aura smiled as she sent out her Jigglypuff.

"And Karakara!" She said as she sent out her Cubone.

"Charmeleon!" Freddie smiled as he sent out his own pokemon to help Ghastly out.

"You join in too, Wartortle!" Davon called as he sent out a Wartortle.

"Bulbasaur!" Karen sent out her Bulbasaur.

Everyone looked at Morren.

"Wh-what?" Morren asked.

"Send it out." Hue said. "I know you have it."

"G-Golbat!" Morren said as he threw a pokeball and out popped a Golbat.

"I'm sure you have more than just Golbat…" Hue said. "Send out another one."

"..." Morren didn't call its name but he sent out a Charmander.

"Alright…" Hue said. "If we have all our pokemon attack it at the same time...The stones it breaks into should only affect pokemon that evolve with a Moon Stone anyway."

"And...If not?" Morren asked.

"If not, you may or may not have a Crobat on your hands…" Hue said.

"Dammit Hue, this isn't the time to joke around!" Freddie said.

Hue took a huge breath.

He was either about to foil a plan, or speed it along. Hopefully the former.

"Is everyone ready?"
Hue asked.

"Ready." Davon said as he gelled his hair back.

"Ready." Karen said with a nod.

"Ready." Freddie gulped.

"R-ready…" Morren timidly said.

"Aura?" Hue asked as he looked over his right shoulder to where Aura was before only to see she wasn't there any more.

Suddenly he felt something cold and warm at the same time on his left hand.

He quickly turned to see Aura standing there with a confident smile on her face.

"You even need to ask?" She joked before her face adopted the same serious look as everyone else. "Ready when you are."

"Alright…" Hue took another breath. "NOW!"

"Douglas, Bubble!"

"Wartortle, Water Pulse!"

"Magnemite, Shockwave!"

"Golbat, Supersonic!"

"Charmeleon! Flame Burst!"

"Ace! Mud-Slap!"

"Karakara, Purin, Perish Song and Sing!"

"Gumshoe, Reversal!"

"Bulbasaur! Vine Whip!"

"You use Vine Whip too Fushi!"

"Ghastly, Night Shade!"

"Charmander, Ember!"

"Koko, Fury Attack!"

"Machop, Rock Tomb!"

All the attacks hit the giant rock at around the same time.

"It's not quite enough!" Karen called.

"We need just a little more power!" Davon agreed.

Aura's grip on Hue's hand tightened.

Was she praying for something?

"We can do it…." She said.

"I believe we can do it, Huey…" She said calmly. "We can break this rock into a million tiny pieces! If anyone can do it, we can!"

"Aura…" Was all Hue was able to say. He really wanted to praise her, but he was just too happy to do it. She never gave up, not even when she was up against impossible odds...Maybe that's why Hue had allowed her to travel with him on such short notice. She had the ability to pursue past her limits, and that was something Hue really admired. It made him feel like they really could break this giant rock!

Yeah! They could!

"We can!' He managed to choke out.

"Now come on everyone!" Aura yelled in an inspiring tone.

Hue felt unease in his right hand…

The egg in the incubator...It was…

"Let's all finish this!" She yelled as she raised the hand she was holding Hue's with.

All of a sudden the glass on the Egg's incubator broke…

The egg itself began to glow…

So this is how pokemon hatch…

It started to take shape…

It looked almost like...a toddler in a white dress.

It had green bowl-cut hair and a round pink horn…

"Raaaalllllllltssssss" The new pokemon yawned.

As it did, strange vocal waves hit the giant rock.

"Clefairy?"

"Clefairy?" Some clefairy began to surround the rock as well, and all at the same time began wagging their fingers.

"Clefaiiirrrrrr-y!" They all cheered as a whole barrage of pokemon moves hit the rock.

The giant stone then exploded with a big 'Ka-Boom!', revealing the moonlit sky outside the cave.

As small specks of MoonStone fell to the ground, everyone returned their pokemon, and Hue and Aura both fell to the cave floor, and just sat there.

"I think the egg hatched…" Hue said, as some Clefairy ran to catch the Moon Stone dust to evolve into Clefable under the full moon in the starry night sky. "We should probably also heal our pokemon at a pokemon center…"

"Yeah…" Aura said as she let go of Hue's hand. She looked a little disappointed.

"But…" Hue put his hand back on Aura's. "We can stay here for a little while longer. We need to rest, remember?"

"Awww, ewww, handholding?" Freddie asked. "I thought you said you weren't-"

"Shut-up Freddie…" Aura sighed with a smile.

"We aren't." Hue sighed. "We're just resting."


Outside of Mt. Moon, the man in the white dress suit noticed the giant explosion.

"Sir…" A grunt reported to him. "The mission was a failure sir. Subject 4 did exactly as you predicted sir, and blew up the Super Moon Stone…"

"Of course he did…" The man said as he sat down and pulled out a board with the map of the Kanto region on it.

He moved some markers clearly meant to represent Hue and Aura to Cerulean City.

"Now we let the other players play….We'll be ready for when they inevitably track us down again." He moved a TNR Grunt to a small town on the map labeled Lavender Town.

"Oh yes, We'll be ready…."