The place is here, and the time is now, with the journey into the delves of insanity. Within the dark void, we shall see the promise of isolation ground it's hold within the human brain and why even silence can be a man's deepest terror.

Sinnoh region. A trainer foolishly and recklessly decides a shortcut through the forest is a rather enticing path. They need not focus their mind on the dangers of the world, for the trainer was a bold young teenager, and regarded his battle skills rather highly in case of an emergency. This young man was rather athletic, broad shoulders and a toned body to his name. His name is Lucas, we shall say.

Beyond the forest path of bold ambitions, the trail turned into one of plain dirt that cut through a wide open grassy field. The weather was rather bright and warm, the bright rays threatening to burn the young man's pale skin, while igniting him slowly through his bevy of winter clothes.

He walked down this dirt path with arrogance. He feared nothing at the moment besides fear itself. Fear did not wish to make it's presence yet.

Upon reaching the horizon in the distance, Lucas came across the industrial town of "Celestia", as a big billboard on the city outskirts labeled in bold. Puzzlement sinked in, for the name of "Celestia" was a rather unknown concept to him. His eyes drifted over to his wrist, where his Poketech sat. With his thumb, he pressed the red button beside the watch's screen a few times, wishing to bring up the map function. To his surprise, the wrist machine displayed a dreadful message of dastardly effect on the screen. "No signal - Unknown location."

Lucas was still a man of boldness, for he swiftly turned his attention to the town in front of him. The dirt road ceased to gon just around ten feet away where it transitioned into an asphalt road, gray sidewalks lining the edges. This paired with the electronic crosswalks, traffic lights, and parked cars gave the impression of a modernized town, a steep climb from the stature of other Sinnoh towns. Along with this was the empty seats of the streets gave an ominous lurking feel to the mind Lucas withheld. Lucas looked to his left, where a diner sat cheerfully under the gleaming sunlight. The sign above the entrance was of a crimson red, with the name "Jimmy's" printed upon it. The windows were glass and the door was held open by a wooden wedge beneath the frame.

Soon to be seen, the diner's interior was rather humble. A jazzy tune played from a jukebox against the wall in the back, directly across from the door. To his right were around five booths lining the walls, red in cushion color along with brown wooden tables to go with it. To the jukebox's right was a bathroom door of similar wood features. To his left was the long white counter, lined with red-cushioned bar stools. Lucas didn't seem to find it puzzling that the entire diner was barren of life whatsoever. Yet the jazz music of the jukebox continued to promote casualness as if it was the diner's happy hour. Lucas took a seat upon one of the bar stools, and looked behind the counter. A single door led to the kitchen, which seemed rather large from what he was able to see. A shelf on the wall had alcoholic beverages lined along it, a rare sight for a diner in Sinnoh. It was looking over the counter when he noticed the floor's style, a black and white chessboard style. Despite sitting down at the counter, Lucas still had yet to at least be spoken to by a cashier or waiter.

"Say, I noticed this town while coming up the road!" He called out, casually shifting about in his seat. "I was wondering what it had to offer, if anyone would be so kind to answer?" He added. Although his vainful utterings were met by an eerie silence, the jazz music still playing tauntingly about the place. The jukebox's garish and multicolored display mocked him to the core.

Lucas then sardonically called out to the silence. "Is this loud enough for you out here?" He referred to the jukebox's jazzy tune with this particular statement. "I mean, you can hear it, right?" Lucas then grinned, giving a chuckle in confusion at the silence. He rose, and climbed off the stool, strolling over to the taunting jukebox. He looked around it before grabbing the wretched machine with slight fury, dragging it away from the wall. He then reached his arm over the back of the machine, fiddling a knob when he found it on the machine's backside. The tantalizing jazz music went much lower in volume. Satisfied with the taunts reducing, the machine back against the wall.

"Kind of early for that music, isn't it?" Lucas casually shouted out. It was in vain, however, for still, silence remained prevalent.

Still puzzled in a sense, Lucas walked back to the counter and peered over, peering through the opened entrance to the kitchen. "You know, I noticed another town in the distance! What's the name of it?" He called out to the silence once more. There was no town in particular he noticed at all, for it was merely a ploy in order to coax some small talk out of the workers of this silent diner.

The frustration set in when Lucas was yet again met without a response. These disrespectful diner workers needed to see that they had a customer! What was this idiocy they expressed by not responding? How childish and immature! Lucas vaulted himself over the counter fairly easily via his athleticism, storming through the kitchen entrance.

The kitchen was a small room with humble kitchen elements. A stove sat humbly next to a stove in the corner, paired with various wood counters with kitchen tools. The knob on the stove was turned on, however, and naturally, Lucas went over to turn it off. The incompetence of these chefs was outstanding! Upon further investigation of the kitchen, Lucas came to a back door. He tried the rusty knob of the door, swinging the door to reveal the diner's small, grassy, backyard, covered in gleaming sunlight. An eerily empty backyard. "Hey! You got a customer out front! Hey! Customer here!" He shouted in vain, for there was still no answer. Lucas then turned and retrace his steps back to the diner's counter.

Lucas still showed no emotion besides puzzlement. He was still much too arrogant and stubborn of a teen to let the premise of fear or concern set in upon him. He vaulted himself back over the counter and sat himself in the same stool he had used prior. He picked up the small menu laid on the counter, reading it as he began to speak aloud once more in his puzzlement. "Hash browns. Coffee. Black coffee preferably." He looked up for a brief moment to desperately shout once more. "Hey! Got a customer out front!" Lucas then vaulted himself over the counter once more, sloppily throwing the pointless menu onto the ground. He poked his head into the kitchen. "Hash browns... Black coffee..." He mumbled to himself, I sign of one stem of sanity being snapped. He stood in front of the kitchen door, his eyes scanning the diner's empty booths and chairs with haste. Behind him, with a skin-crawling creak to make Lucas swiftly turn to notice, the door began to swing back and forth, rather slowly in it's subtle, dreadful, manner.

For the first time in the stubborn teen's trip to Celestia, we see more than puzzlement reveal itself upon his face. What is seen is not concern, not anger, not fear. What supplants him is irritation on his facial features, especially his eyes, which seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. The irritation is not acute on the rest of his body language, but it is there. Lucas vaulted himself over the counter once more. He checked one of the pockets of his jacket for any sort of items... A pack of mints. Crumpled, and empty, however, a useless prospect. He removed his hat to showcase his short and messy black hair, sweat accumulated from being encased under it for such a long amount of time. He stuffed the sweaty hat into his pocket before sitting down on the stool once more. He ran his fingers through his hair, in an attempt to smooth out it's unevenness. He took a long moment to let the possibility of a person answering his desperate cries to formulate.

The jukebox suddenly ceased to play it's taunting jazzy tune. The sudden cessation of noise brings the dreadful, deafening, silence of the diner to a more obvious setting. Startled, Lucas darted his vision to the jukebox in the back of the room with a turn of his head. He stared at the machine for a few moments before he looked forward again. On the shelf with the alcoholic beverages, a shelf clock sat at the end of the bottle line, faced sideways and painted a vibrant navy blue in color. Strange that this place resorted to a shelf clock rather than a wall clock. Lucas climbed back over the counter in a casual way, turning the clock so it faced forwards towards the diner seating. He checked the time afterwards. A quarter to six in the morning. Lucas turned to climb over the counter once more, but the bag upon his back grazed across the wooden shelf, knocking over the little clock. Lucas crouched down and picked up the humble clock. The glass face was broken from it's skydive off the shelf. Lucas put the oracle clock down on the counter. And with that, Lucas climbed over the counter once more and sat in his stool.

Lucas tapped his fingers upon the counter in a nervous staccato on the counter top. The silence now begins to instill nerve-racking oppression onto the teenager. In an afterthought, Lucas dug his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out some money. He astonishingly observed it in his hand a few moments before quickly searching the other pockets of his black jeans, as if he had found a gold mine. Nothing more was found. Lucas hesitantly rubbed his bare chin while staring into the blank space behind the counter. He felt the need to speak, however, and attempt to murder the silence where it stood, for the silence was soon to murder him in turn. "Cash customer here. A hungry cash customer!" He rubbed his face once more. "I got two Pokedollars and eighty-five in Pokecoins." With this statement, he gave the currency a look of thoughtfulness, with a dash of curiousness. "Two Pokedollars and eighty-five in Pokecoins, Sinnoh money." He then stopped his rant and looked off behind his back, towards the entrance in puzzling nervousness. "Sinnoh money." He mumbled, tossing the money roughly down on the counter surface as if to remind himself it was. "Sure... Sinnoh money."

The notion that he may indeed be insane came across him, but he assumed this diner in particular was simply very strange. He looked at the shattered clock on the counter once more, then to the still-swinging eerie door leading to the kitchen, then to the taunting jukebox machine in the back that was now silent, and finally back at the money he had thrown down upon the counter surface. "Well, we got this much settled - I am a resident of Sinnoh." His voice raised, as if to get the attention of someone. "There's a little question about my identity that may concern you - But I'm not even sure who I am." Lucas gave a sigh after the statement. Lucas held the money to the air. "But I've got two Pokedollars and eight-five Pokecoins - And I'm hungry! - That much is established!" In a rage, weary of the silence, he slammed both his palms on the counter viciously, causing the salt shakers and condiment bottles to rattle in response. "I've got two Pokedollars and eighty-five Pokecoins and I'm hungry!" He stopped dead at this moment, listening to... Nothing, nothing at all. He was listening to the silence that enveloped him. He began to prefer when the jazzy tune of the jukebox teased him.

Lucas followed his own path to the front door and leaned within it, looking outside. The single asphalt road went straight north, through this silent town. All without the single sign of traffic, Pokemon, people, or anything for that matter! Lucas began to rant in agony. "I'm going to wake up soon! - I'm going to awake soon, I know of it! - I wish - No, I yearn for a noise, or something to wake me up!"

Lucas laughed part of his sanity away. "A little noise please!" He yelled to the air at the top of his lungs. Not a sound in response. Another insane chuckle followed, with hysterical singing. "Yes, sir, that's my baby! No sir, don't mean maybe! Yes sir, she's my baby!" Lucas chuckled a few moments, which turned into hysterical sobbing as he turned, walking back towards one of the diner booths. He slumped within the closest one to the door.

He buried his face within his hands, letting the tears run rampant, his hands rubbing his eyes and massaging his temples, as if trying to force some type of connective link out of his fingers… some reassurance of his very existence, some knowledge of why silence could be so terrifying.

To be continued?