A/N: First thing first, if you haven't read "The Louhearst Expedition: Year One" then you might want to check it out before reading this story or you'll be horribly lost. Second, well, enjoy the first chapter of "The Louhearst Expedition: Year Two". It's still summer in the first few chapters, so yeah. Enjoy!
The Hall of Legends
"The victory goes to Justin McShan!"
The crowd cheered as the young man in the arena exited the field. He was moving on to the finals of the city tournament and was obviously in shock that he had made it that far. In the middle of the crowd, a tall man with light brown eyes and short black hair clapped for the young man as he finished his drink.
"What did I tell you, son?" the man started as he turned to the dark-haired teenager next to him. "This is just what we needed. I know it's not easy for you to live in a house full of girls all the time, Logan."
The young man nodded in agreement. "Thanks for bringing me to this tournament, Dad. Hey, which way are the bathrooms?"
"They're inside the building," the man replied. "Just walk in and you'll see the signs."
"Thanks, Dad. I'll be right back..."
The dark-haired boy made his way through the crowd and into the building overlooking the arena. He found the bathroom a few minutes later and headed straight for the sink. Logan knew that his habit of washing his hands for no reason was starting to get out of control, but ever since he had the cast taken off, he felt as if his hands could never become clean.
"Logan, watch out!"
"Don! Don!"
"It's been a long time, Martin. Don't worry about Meladeo. He's dead and you have bigger problems to deal with. I told you, I'd be back..."
"Logan Martin, is it? We meet at last. Son of Owen and Iris Martin, or better known to me by her maiden name, Iris Vella..."
"We've wasted enough time. Prepare to die, Logan Martin..."
The words ran through the young man's head as he began scrubbing his hands with intense ferocity. He began splashing water on his face as he reached for a Poké Ball.
"Maaaaawiiile!"
"I just need some company," Logan told her as they made their way out of the bathroom.
"Logan? Logan, is that you?"
He turned around to see a girl with dark green eyes approaching him. She had long, thick, black hair with a front fringe that ended just above her eyes, a slight tan, and two purple highlights on the left side of her fringe. In her hands were two drumsticks and on her right shoulder was a Plusle that seemed to be happy to see Logan's Mawile.
"No way!" Logan yelled in shock. "Roux?"
"The one and only!" the girl replied as she extended her arms. "I know you're not just gonna stand there and not give me a hug!"
He grinned as he wrapped his arms around his friend. When they both started to break free from one another, they suddenly found themselves gazing directly into the other person's eyes. The two Pokémon stared at their trainer's in confusion before Logan regained control of himself.
"So, uh..." he began. "Why are you in Viridian City?"
"My last stop on the tour was Viridian City," she explained. "I played here a few days ago before I went back to Vermilion. I came back because I suddenly remembered that you lived here, so I figured I can just chill with you until we get ready to go to the beach. Is that cool?"
"Totally," he said as they began walking down the hallway. "So, how was the concert?"
"Not good..."
"Why? Did you mess up the song or something?"
She grinned and shook her head. "Logan, I'm Floressa Roux. I don't mess up the song when I'm on stage. As a matter of fact, I never mess up any song that I play."
"So, what went wrong?"
"Daisy made me wear a mini dress on stage, but she forgot to tell me to put shorts on underneath. I must've flashed my underwear like a hundred times! At least, I knew why the crowd was cheering so loudly..."
They both began laughing as they reached the end of the hallway. However, the moment Logan turned the corner, he felt something slam hard into his face before he dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
"You should be more careful, cousin. I think you're bleeding..."
Logan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked up to see a tall, lean young man with long, neatly kept, dark blond hair, pale skin and cold grayish-blue eyes.
"Shane...Clarke?" Roux said curiously as she helped Logan up.
"Who else?" the blond boy spat. "Didn't think I'd run into you two losers here. What's the deal, Martin? Are you already cheating on your yokel girlfriend with Roux? Thought you'd at least wait until we were back at school."
"Nice to see you're a dark blond now," Logan remarked. "Why are you even here?"
"My father's on business and I decided to tag along," he explained. "You see, I'm turning sixteen soon and my mother decided to buy me a car. I was allowed to get my license early. You two wanna see?"
He reached for his wallet and opened it. Logan immediately noticed him pull out a picture of a girl with long, shiny dark hair and blond highlights. She had tan skin and cat-like green eyes. The girl was dressed in an extremely raunchy manner and was winking at the camera while she was in a very provocative pose.
"Looking at my girlfriend, Martin?" Shane taunted as he flashed the picture to Logan and Roux. "I don't blame you, considering the fact that Jewel is hotter than any girl you'll ever talk to. She didn't want me to show anyone this picture, but I'm sure she'll get over it and if not, I really don't care. Rolen said that he's gonna help me get her a modeling contract. You see, Roux, this is what a real woman looks like."
"Well," Roux replied. "Judging by this photo, it looks like Jewel finally ditched the Hello Skitty panties and upgraded to big girl underwear."
Shane's face turned a bright red as he put the picture back in his wallet. "You losers are going to pay for what you did on Cinnabar Island. The Soul Snakes are an official club now and we're open to anyone who hates Logan Martin. I already know a couple of first years who will be joining us and there are some others that are coming as well. Our treasurer is Lulu, our secretary is Mari, our head of security is Tinett, our vice-president is Rolen, our first lady is Jewel, and our president is yours truly..."
"Now you guys are 'official' jerks," Logan stated. "Look, Clarke, if you're looking for a fight, just say it."
Shane grinned and shoved Logan roughly. "I use Seviper and you use Zangoose. Sound like a plan, loser?"
"Definitely..."
"How many times do I have to tell you to quit acting so...inelegantly around the...lesser folk, Shane?"
A man with cold grayish-blue eyes and neatly kept light brown hair approached the teenagers. His skin was pale and his build was tall and lean. He had on an expensive black suit and a look of superiority on his face. Logan immediately tensed up as Samuel Clarke grinned.
"Logan Martin and Floressa Roux," the man started. "Well, this is certainly a surprise."
"Not a good one..." Logan muttered under his breath.
"I heard about what happened at the Abandoned Mansion on Cinnabar Island," the man said. "Such a tragedy..."
Logan balled his fists, but suddenly relaxed as he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his father stepping in front of him. "It's been a long time, Samuel."
"It has, Owen," the older Clarke replied.
"Don't tell me you two are brothers," Logan remarked.
"No," Samuel replied. "But, we were close enough to have been. Isn't that right, Owen?"
"Dad, what is he talking about?"
Owen Martin glanced down at his son before facing Samuel. "We used to hang out when we were at Louhearst, but that's all in the past. Listen, Samuel, I know what you're up to with the Soul Destroyers and I'm warning you right now. Stay away from my son or else..."
"Hmm..." Samuel muttered. "Well then, it's time for us to leave. Come, Shane." He glanced at Logan. "We will meet again.."
"Later, losers!" Shane snarled as he followed his father.
The two Clarkes made their way down the hallway and headed out of the exit. "Thanks for getting rid of him," Logan said. "This is my friend, Floressa Roux. She's the one who taught me how to write with my left hand."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Martin," Roux greeted.
"The pleasure's all mine," Owen replied. "Listen, Logan, I'm going to head home. Are you staying?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you there. It's cool if Roux stays, right? I mean, I know Z.K. is already there and Jett's coming, but-"
"It's fine with me, but what do you think your mother-"
"I don't care what she thinks!" Logan snapped. He took a deep breath. "Sorry, Dad, I guess I just overreacted."
"It's fine, son. Come on, Mawile, I'll buy you some ice cream." Mawile jumped on Owen's shoulder and to his surprise, Roux's Plusle did the same. "You can come, too, if it's okay with your trainer."
"It's fine," Roux answered. "You be good for Mr. Martin, okay, Rundra."
"Plu!"
Owen made his way to the exit and the second he walked out of the door, Roux grabbed Logan's hand. "Come on," she said. "I have something I wanna show you..."
Logan and Roux arrived at a small metal door at the back of the training building. Roux immediately pushed open the door and led Logan in. It was a large, dead-end hallway with several portraits of trainers and their Pokémon hanging up on the walls.
"Daisy showed this room to me," Roux explained. "It's called the Hall of Legends. They have them all over in buildings across the world. The most powerful trainers are placed here as a dedication for the love they share with their Pokémon."
"You so read that off a plaque," Logan told her.
Roux grinned and shrugged her shoulders as she led Logan further down the hall. "Maybe I did." They stopped at a portrait of a large man with short red hair and a large smile on his face. By his side was a Ludicolo who had the same happy expression. "You probably can guess who this is..."
"Dean Horace..."
Roux nodded her head as Logan stared at the portrait. "There's something else I want to show you..."
She grabbed his hand and led him to the last portrait. It was of a tall, elegant woman with long, messy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. In her lap was a Flareon who carried the same determined appearance as its trainer. Logan's eyes widened as he stared at the name on the bottom of the woman's portrait.
"Liana Martin..." he muttered. "Liana Martin...That's the name of my grandmother on my dad's side. She looks like the woman in the pictures my dad used to show me, but she died before I was born. I never knew she was a legendary trainer."
"I know that you're upset at the fact that everyone on your mom's side of the family is either a jerk, a psychopath, or a combination of both, so I guess it's kinda refreshing to know that your dad's side of the family totally rocks."
Logan smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you for bringing me here, Roux. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Anything for a friend. Come on, let's go. I still have a song to work on..."
This chapter was pretty short, but I kinda wanted to start off with something slow, but important and as some of you probably guessed, we'll be learning about Logan's father and his paternal family in this story as well as Owen Martin's history with Samuel Clarke. Roux appeared and of course, Shane came and punched Logan in the face. XD Feel free to go to the forum and discuss the story.
Later!
