Author's Note: This is a fic based on a crazy legend that my friend and I came up for an RP we were in. I'm not going to reveal the nature of said legend here, but you will find out by the end of this chapter.

This is an original character fic. My two characters may seem kind of irritating at first (each for their own reasons), but I hope you can come to like them. They will shape up eventually, I promise. XD

By the way, this fic is not betaed, nor did I really put all my effort into it. I'm basically just trying to practice my writing, and improving on various areas where I'm, well, less than stellar. (For one thing, I tend to jump right into the plot of a fic a lot, so I tried to lengthen the buildup here. Maybe it got a little too long and boring, though... eh.) This chapter is far from amazing, but maybe I'll rewrite it someday so that it doesn't suck as much.

Well, anyway... that's it! Enjoy!

Blanket Disclaimer: Pokemon ≠ mine. I may include some canon characters at some point, and they ≠ mine, either. The original characters in this fic, however, are mine.

Fixed Star
Chapter 1 - Muliphein

---

Destiny, like a fixed star, can seem firm and absolute, moving only in relation to the rest of the universe. And like the universe itself, the concept of destiny is something that mere humans can only hope to comprehend. This is, of course, how it should be, and no human could possibly be able to change something they don't even understand...

---

Brushing dirty blond bangs out of his eyes, fifteen-year-old Kouta gazed up into the sky. "Looks like clear weather today," he said to the Mightyena by his side. "Let's get going, Kiba."

Hefting his sling-pack over his shoulder, the boy descended the marble steps and took one last look at the family mansion as he reached the ornate fountain in front. While taking in the large, white building, Kouta realized that his father was right: for someone who was living in the lap of luxury for his entire life, venturing out into the wild would be a very different experience. But after spending eight years at the Pokemon Academy, he was ready for a change, and Kouta was sure he'd be able to handle it on his own. Just him and his Pokemon.

Besides, if he didn't want to camp out, he could always spend the night at an upper-class hotel. Funds certainly would not be a problem!

Finally, Kouta turned around and sprinted the rest of the way towards the main gate, with Kiba at his heels.

---

Unfortunately, the novelty of the whole situation wore off not a mile down the road.

"It's all just trees and grass!" Kouta moaned. "If I had wanted to see this, I could've just taken a stroll through the gardens."

Kiba huffed in moderate agreement. But even for a captive-born dog, it was rather exhilarating to be out in the wile, taking in the sights and smells of nature.

Kouta glanced down at his Mightyena. "I'm not even finding any Pokemon. You're not scaring them off, are you?"

Kiba only looked up at his master, offended.

"Right... Hey, what's that?" Kouta turned quickly in the direction he had heard the sound, only to catch a glimpse of a brownish blur disappearing into the trees.

He stopped, staring at the spot in bewilderment. The Pokemon were being scared away! Somehow, Kouta found that very offensive. How dare they hide themselves from him! How else was he supposed to catch them!

"Grr... Oh, whatever!" Kouta threw his head back haughtily, his sandy hair tickling his forehead and neck. "I don't need any wild Pokemon! My Pokemon are so much better than they are, anyway!" Grumbling in frustration, he dug into his bag and pulled out an electronic device – the newest model of the PokeNav, complete with built-in GPS capabilities. He accessed the map function to double-check where he was and where he should be headed. "We're going west now, about two miles from Lilycove..." he mumbled as he continued to walk along the dirt road. "We're approaching Route 120, at which point we'll start going north, and..."

Kiba only walked by Kouta's side, paying more attention to the moist ground under his paws than what his master's musings.

"...It would probably be quicker if we cut through the tall grasses, but that's gross. Wouldn't you say, Kiba?" Kouta tucked his PokeNav away and readjusted his bag.

Not much further down the road, he noticed that the ground was steadily becoming more wet (moreover, his shoes were getting covered in mud!), and the air held the distinct smell of newly fallen rain. The weather was clear, however, and held no sign of rain in the near future, so Kouta paid it no mind. Surely he'd be fine until arriving in Fortree later that night, where they could find shelter at the Pokemon Center.

The trek was mostly uneventful, and the boy and his Pokemon were only about a mile away from their destination as the sun was beginning to set. However, Kouta discovered to his dismay that he couldn't avoid the grass any longer – there was a large patch of tall grass that he would have to go through in order to reach Fortree City.

Kouta cursed softly and quickly ticked off on his fingers as he reviewed which Pokemon he had with him. "Beatrice, Typhoon, Harvey... dammit, do I have no Pokemon with me who know Cut?" He stole a glance at the tall, forboding grass, and groaned. It would have been fine if it was just grass, but due to the apparent recent rainfall, the grass was wet. "My clothes are going to get ruined," Kouta sighed, but he accepted his fate and made his way into the grass.

Stomping his way through the grasses, Kouta was not at all surprised to find the experience less than pleasant. "This is ridiculous, Kiba," he complained. "My clothes are getting all wet and revolting, and my hair is certainly a mess, and I'm still not coming across any wild Pokemon! They never ran away from me at school..." He stopped and took another glance at the map on his PokeNav. "I can't believe there are no other routes to Fortree. Who was the genius who decided that there didn't need to be a road cleared here?" He frowned, then glanced up at the sun gradually falling lower in the clear sky. "We are headed north, right? Hopefully we'll get out of this disgusting grass soon."

He continued walking forward, his eyes on the map, until he ran into something and nearly lost his balance.

"Kak!"

"Wh-what was that!" Kouta looked down to see a red zig-zag pattern, which then appeared to jump and run away. It didn't take long for it to click in his head, "That's a Kecleon! Kiba, after it! Use Swagger!"

The Mightyena jumped forward, blocking the path of the zig-zag. After a moment of staring it down, the zig-zag pattern seemed to stagger, and in its place appeared a green lizard-like creature, stumbling clumsily. The Kecleon seemed to somewhat gain its balance, and then scratched at Kiba's face, who winced slightly in pain.

"Shake it off, Kiba!" Kouta called after it encouragingly. "Use Bite now!"

Obligingly, Kiba closed its jaws upon the Kecleon. The wild Pokemon cried out in protest and, once released, stumbled backwards. It shook its head slightly and, apparently coming back to its senses, began to run in the other direction. Kiba followed in hot pursuit, not wanting to lose its opponent.

Kouta stood rooted to the ground for a moment before realizing that he was quickly losing sight of the two Pokemon in the tall grasses. "Wa– wait, Kiba!" he called after them, running in the direction he had seen them headed. He wasn't so much worried about losing track of Kiba – he'd find his way back to Kouta, surely – but he didn't want to pass up the chance of catching the only wild Pokemon he had come across so far!

He continued running straight, though he realized that the Pokemon had probably veered into another direction at some point. He looked right and left as he ran, hoping to catch a glance of at least one of the Pokemon he was pursuing.

Therefore, he didn't even have a chance to register what was right in front of him before running into it, head on.

"Ow!" cried the girl as she was knocked to the ground. She looked at Kouta with teary eyes as she sat up on the ground. "That hurt, you know."

Kouta glanced over her quickly as he stood up, brushing off his muddy knees. She had brown hair that reached about mid-back and curled at the ends; after being slightly mussed from the impact, she tried to brush it out of her face, repositioning her hairpins. But judging from the rags she was wearing, and the weak-looking Sunkern held in her arms, the girl wasn't anyone worth his time. "You shouldn't have been in the way," he snapped as he tried to find his bearings. "Damn... Out of my way, peasant girl!" He blatantly disregarded her, running off into another direction to search for his Pokemon.

The girl's Sunkern, however, was not pleased. Hopping out of its trainer's arms, it bounced after Kouta, shouting angrily. "Kern!"

"Wait! Summer!" Rubbing away her tears, the girl stood up quickly and chased after it. "Summer, please come back here!"

---

After some running, Kouta managed to find his Mightyena, sitting in the grass and looking quite unpleased. He slowed to a stop next to the black dog and sighed. "Don't tell me. It got away."

Kiba only made a growling noise in his throat as an affirmative.

Sighing again, Kouta sat on the ground next to Kiba and took out his map. "Well, let's at least try to find out where we've gotten ourselves, now. I think we've ended a little ways northeast, so..."

He was interrupted from his thoughts as the grass a little ways from Kouta's feet began to rustle. "What's that? Is it back?" He stood back up as a grin began to form on his face. "Get ready, Kiba, I think something's–"

"Kern!" A yellow blur pelted itself at Kouta and collided with his shin, then fell to the ground by his foot.

Disdainfully, Kouta nudged the Sunkern with his sneaker lightly. "Do I know you?"

The little Pokemon scowled, then ferociously bit at Kouta's shoelace.

Kouta tried to shake it off, which only resulted in his shoelace being untied. "Why, you little–"

"Leave Summer alone!"

Kouta looked in the direction of the voice and saw the girl that he had run into earlier. He frowned, then retorted, "Look who's talking! I did nothing, your little fiend of a Sunkern just attacked me out of nowhere!"

"Don't call her a fiend!" The girl swiftly scooped her Pokemon back up and glared at Kouta. "You're awfully rude, you know. You didn't even apologize after knocking me over!"

Kouta only sniffed haughtily, refusing to look the girl in the eyes. "As if you're deserving of an apology from me. You were in the way."

The girl scowled back at him, and it looked like she was going to cry again. "I was just minding my own business, but you came out of nowhere and knocked me over! I think you just weren't watching where you were going!"

"Of course I was!" Kouta insisted, refusing to admit that he was in the wrong.

"I'm only asking for an apology!"

Kouta glared straight at the girl now. "I do not apologize to boorish girls like you!"

The girl said nothing then, only turned away as the tears began to fall.

He watched her with pointed disinterest, waiting for her to face him properly again. After a minute or two, he turned back to his PokeNav and continued as if the girl had never appeared before him. He mumbled under his breath to Kiba, "Now, let's see, I want to get out of this awful grass as soon as possible, so..."

"You can go that way."

Kouta looked again at the girl, who was still facing away from him but pointing towards the east. "Oh really?"

The girl's light brown hair swung slightly as she nodded. "I think the grass clears up about thirty meters that way. Then you can go around it to get to Fortree, though it's a longer route."

He studied her back carefully as he took in what she said. "And where are you headed?"

"I just came from Fortree, so I'm going to whatever's next, I guess."

"Lilycove?"

"I guess."

"It's either you are or you aren't, stupid girl!"

She turned to face Kouta again, still scowling. "Stop insulting me like that, you don't even know me!"

"As if I'd want to know you," Kouta answered, tucking the device away. "Well, I'll be off now. Let's hope we never meet again."

Kouta headed off in the direction he had been pointed, but he didn't get far when he realized that he was being followed. Without looking over his shoulder, he asked, "Why are you following me?"

"I want an apology."

"I said I wasn't going to give you one."

"Then I'm going to follow you until you do."

He turned to face her as he stepped out of the grass into a clearing. "Don't you have somewhere else to be headed, peasant girl?"

"I can wait," she said, holding her Sunkern firmly in her arms.

Kouta stared her down for a moment before snorting and turning away. "What an irritating girl."

"You're one to talk," the girl muttered.

Laughing slightly, Kouta spun on his heel to face the girl again. "Oh no, that's where you're wrong. Everything I say and do is entirely justified, so therefore you have no right to be irritated by it. If you have a problem with that, then too bad, but get used to it."

She looked at him quizzically. "Justified by whom?"

"Me, naturally."

"You're so full of yourself."

"Shouldn't I be?" he grinned. "After all, you're just a mere peasant, and I'm–"

Kouta was interrupted by a sudden rustling in the trees, and he looked behind him to see what it was. The girl also peered around Kouta curiously.

There was silence for a moment before there was a sort of glittering disformation in the air, and out of the trees appeared a small pink creature floating in midair.

"Meww?"

The Pokemon glided towards the two gently, spinning above their heads while giggling. Both trainers stared at it in awe, only half believing that the sight before them was actually real.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the Mew vanished into the clear blue sky.

A heavy silence fell between the two as they registered exactly what they had seen.

The girl was the first to speak. "Um, was that...?"

"Yeah, I think it was..." Suddenly, Kouta realized something that made the situation all the worse for him. He tore his eyes away from the spot where Mew had vanished, and fixed his stare onto the girl. No way... her? How utterly appalling!

It didn't seem as if the girl understood the magnitude of what had just happened, though. She turned to him, smiling cheerfully. "Wow, wasn't that amazing? That was really Mew!" Her eyes glittered with childish wonder.

Kouta merely snorted and turned away without a word. Maybe if I just leave and pretend that that didn't happen, it'll be okay. He hadn't taken two steps, though, before a loud crack! resounded through the skies.

He hadn't taken three steps when it suddenly began to pour.

He cursed softly under his breath. Of all the luck...

"Um..." The girl tried to get his attention, but he ignored her. "Um, we need to get..." The girl then grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the grasses. "Please follow me! We need to take shelter!"

Kouta groaned, but obediently followed, with Kiba in hot pursuit. After all, if he didn't go with her, the storm would probably become a hurricane.

They ran a while, the grass whipping their faces as they passed, and down a rocky ledge when they came upon an opening in the stone formation along the path – apparently the opening to a cave. The girl crouched down to enter and gestured for Kouta to do the same. But he didn't, scowling up at the stone walls in disgust. "This? What kind of shelter is this?"

He looked down again and the girl was gone, along with his Mightyena. Sighing, Kouta crouched down and crawled into the cave, grumbling in frustration. "Kiba, you're going to get it for forcing me to follow you into this vulgar, primitive..."

Kouta then saw that the inside wasn't as small as it had seemed, and not as dirty as he had expected (but still very much so).

The girl he had run into smiled at him shyly while wringing out her hazelnut-colored hair. "The weather changed so suddenly, didn't it? It's a good thing my Secret Base was nearby. Closer than a Pokemon Center, anyway," she said.

Sniffing indignantly, Kouta replied, "I'd rather be out there than in this dump."

Frowning, and with tears glistening in her eyes, the girl turned away. What a baby, crying about everything. Why did I have to get stuck with her? Kouta sat down on a small pink cushion and took another look around the base. Indeed, there really wasn't that much in the way of aesthetic appeal; a poster here, a doll there, but that was pretty much it. "Do you like looking at brown all the time or something?" he asked casually.

The girl turned to him again, tears threatening to fall. "I can't spend all my money on decorations, you know!" she pouted.

"Oh come on, they're dirt cheap!"

"Well unlike you, I don't have that much money to spare!" She turned away again as she began to cry. "Ohh, I should have just left you out there..."

Kouta was silent. "Well, be glad you didn't," he muttered.

The girl didn't turn to look at him, only sat on the ground cradling her Sunkern. "And why is that?"

"You don't even know that?" Kouta frowned. "Jeez, I knew peasant education was far from decent, but–"

"Just tell me," she said quietly, peering at him from over her shoulder.

He shot her a nasty look. "Don't interrupt me, peasant girl."

"My name isn't 'peasant girl,' it's Seika!"

"...Seika. Okay. Well..." He paused, trying to think of the simplest way to explain it, so that even an uneducated peasant would understand. "You know what they say about those who see Mew?"

Seika nodded slowly, turning to face Kouta. "That whoever Mew shows itself to is destined for happiness."

"That's when Mew shows itself to a single individual," Kouta elaborated. "However..."

Seika looked at him curiously, wondering why he had trailed off. "Yes?"

Kouta scowled, rubbing his temples gently. "If... if Mew, origin of all, shows itself to a pair of people, that means that the couple is destined to be happy together..."

The girl frowned slightly. "Meaning..."

With a sigh, Kouta directed his gaze towards Seika's, looking her straight in the eye. "That means that you," he pointed towards her, "and I," then pointed to himself, "are... betrothed."

Quick note: I think the first few chapters will be in Kouta's POV – this one and the next one will be, at least. I'll probably be changing to a neutral POV eventually, or at least switching between chapters, it depends. Anyway, the point is that as I'm sure you've noticed, Kouta is very stuck-up and judgmental at this point. So, when he says that Seika is wearing rags... he doesn't mean that literally. XD She's wearing, like, clothes from a discount department store. Kouta just has high expectations is all.