Rigel woke up the next morning still thinking about the stone. It was just so beautiful, so mysterious, and so out of place. "I wonder what the Tarazed and Aludra would think about that rock." he said to himself. "I need to show them." With this thought in mind, he stood up from his bed, said goodbye to his parents, walked out of the burrow, and started towards a large tree not far from his home.

"Tarazed!" Rigel shouted up into the tree. "Tarazed are you awake?"

After a few seconds there was a rustling in the leaves of the tree, and a small bird came out onto one of the branches. "What? Huh... I am now. What is it Rigel?" the bird said sleepily.

"I found the coolest thing yesterday, you need to see it." Rigel said back, unable to hold back his excitement. "I'm going to show Aludra too, it's great."

"What kind of cool thing?" said the bird. "I'm curious."

"You'll see when I show it to you." Rigel said with a grin. "But I need to get Aludra too."

"Well alright." said Tarazed as he flew off the branch. "Let's go then."

Rigel and Tarazed traveled through the forest, stopping occasionally to pick berries for breakfast, until they came out of the trees into a clearing. The clearing was a large bare patch of earth with many cracked and scorched boulders along with smaller rocks scattered about.

"If I know Aludra, then she'll be here." Rigel said as he walked through the field of boulders. "Just have to listen." Soon he heard the sounds of stone being impacted by something hard. This was a sure sign that Aludra was around. "What did I tell you Tarazed, I knew she was here."

Soon he found the boulder the sounds were coming from, and walked around it to find his second friend, a bipedal creature with yellow fur that stood around twice as tall as him, repeatedly kicking the stone with flames coming from her leg.

Upon seeing Rigel and Tarazed, Aludra stopped striking the boulder and turned to greet them. "Hey Rigel, hey Tarry. What's up?"

"The sky." Tarazed responded, looking slightly annoyed. "And it's Tarazed, not Tarry."

"Whatever." Aludra said back. "As long as you know I'm talking to you, then who cares?"

Tarazed was about to say something, but Rigel interrupted before he got the chance. "Aludra, I found something yesterday, and you really need to see it."

"What is it?" said Aludra.

"Don't bother asking." Tarazed said. "He wouldn't tell me, he said he wants us to see it for ourselves."

"Keeping secrets Rigel?" Aludra asked. "I can't say I like secrets. Anyway, I'm supposed to be training right now, but I guess I could go see it. Lead the way."

"Shouldn't you tell your dad you are leaving first?" Rigel asked her. "You don't want to get in trouble do you?"

"I'll be fine." Aludra said. "I'm old enough that I shouldn't need to tell him."

"Oh really?" said a deep voice from above. Aludra quickly looked up to see her father standing on top of one of the boulders with a frown on his face. "Aludra, you are growing up, but you are still just a little Riolu, and you shouldn't be going off without telling me."

"Sorry dad, can I please go with them to see what they want to show me?" Aludra said to her father.

After a few seconds, a smile appeared on her father's face as he spoke. "You can go." he said. "But make sure you get back before dark."

"Alright dad, see you later." said Aludra as she walked towards the woods with the others. "I'll catch up on my training later."

Rigel, Tarazed, and Aludra had been friends for as long as any of them could remember. They were all born in this forest, and had spent their whole lives in it. They would often play together for hours, running or flying around the trees until they were all too tired to continue. "I'm telling you guys, this thing is awesome."Rigel said to his friends.

"We know." said Aludra."You've only told us about a thousand times. Where is this thing anyway?"

"Right over there." Rigel said upon seeing the stone ahead. "Come on." The stone looked just as it did the day before, with it's complex patterns and crude steps, towering over everything around it. "This is it" Rigel said with great excitement. "Isn't it just incredible?"

The three friends stood looking at the stone for several seconds before anyone said anything. "A rock?" Aludra said. "You dragged us all this way for a rock?"

"It's not just a rock." Rigel replied. "Look at it, it's more than just a rock."

"Uuh, Rigel." said Tarazed. "It's a rock."

"Yes, it's a rock!" Rigel said, starting to feel a little angry at his friends for what they were saying. "That's not the point, the point is that there is something about this rock!"

"It doesn't look very special to me." said Tarazed. "Are you alright Rigel?"

Rigel couldn't believe his friends weren't feeling what he was feeling, that strange attraction to the stone, that sense of peace when around it. "Alright guys." Rigel said with a sigh. "Sorry for wasting your time. Want to just play or something?"

"Sure, that sounds good." said Tarazed as he flapped his wings and took off. "Catch me if you can!"

Rigel and Aludra ran after Tarazed at full speed to try and catch him, with nobody noticing the large yellow eyes watching them from the trees.