Origins, a Pokemon Platinum fanfic
By
PimpedOutToast
Chapter 1
New Beginnings
"…concludes our spcial program, "Let's Ask Professor Rowan"!" finished the narrator on the TV.
Lucas stretched and reached for his remote when suddenly the door to his room burst open, his friend Barry nearly removing it from its hinges.
"Gah!"
Lucas dropped the remote and stumbled a bit. He was a very timid young man, which led some to wonder how he and Barry could be such close friends.
"There you are!"
"Arceus Barry you nearly gave me a heart attack! How many times do I have to tell you to chill man?!"
Ignoring Lucas (as usual) Barry walked over and picked Lucas up from his position on the floor.
"Hey, did you just see the TV?"
Lucas was about to answer but got cut off.
"Sure you did! Hey, Professor Rowan's that really important guy who studies Pokemon, right? That means he must have lots and lots of pokemon! So if we ask him I bet he'd give us some pokemon!"
"Well I don't know about-!"
Barry dashed over to Lucas's PC.
"Oh hey is this a new pc?!"
"Yes it is…"
"Uh…where was I?" A wave of realization came over the boy. "OH right, right! We're going to go see Professor Rowan and get some pokemon."
"Wait, what? Barry, we can't just go barging into his lab and-!"
Barry shoved past Lucas.
"I'll be waiting outside. If you're late I'm fining you TEN MILLION!"
"But-what-Barry, wait!"
But it was too late, the boy was gone.
Lucas sighed.
"I swear he's going to do something stupid some day and it'll be the end of him…"
Lucas gathered up his belongings, having no choice but to go along with the insane idea lest his friend do something like this again.
He went down the stairs and his mother took notice.
"Lucas! Barry already left."
"He's always doing this kind of stuff mom."
"I don't know what it was about, but he sure was in a hurry!"
Lucas simply sighed and walked to the door, putting on his boots.
"Oh yes, Lucas!"
"What is it mom?"
"Don't go into the tall grass. Wild pokemon might attack you!"
"Got it, bye mom!"
He left the house and headed north, but was stopped by a neighbor.
"Barry apparently went home, got bored waiting for you."
"Okay, thanks."
Lucas sighed and went to his friend's home.
Just as he was about to knock on the door, Barry burst out and sent Lucas back onto his butt.
"Ow…"
"What was that about?!" Barry then noticed his friend. "Oh hey Lucas! I'm going to see Professor Rowan! You should come too, and quickly!"
He started off but suddenly turned back.
"Oh geez, forgot something!" he said as he ran back into the house.
Lucas sighed and followed the boy.
"…I'd better take my bag and journal too…."
Barry shoved all his things into a backpack.
Then he noticed Lucas.
"Oh hey Lucas! I'll be waiting on the road! It's a Ten million fine if you're late!"
With that he ran off once more, and Lucas followed with a sigh.
When he finally caught up Barry crossed his arms.
"Too slow!"
He then grabbed Lucas's arm.
"All right, let's get moving to Professor Rowan's lab!"
Barry started dragging Lucas to some tall grass, at which point Lucas started pulling against him.
"Hey are you nuts Barry? Wild Pokémon live in tall grass, we could get killed!"
"Trust me on this one, I've got an idea!"
Lucas rolled his eyes.
Most of Barry's ideas were bad ideas.
"What is it, Barry?" Lucas asked unenthused.
Barry crossed his arms again, pouting.
"Now listen; you know how wild pokemon jump out when you go into tall grass?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"So what you do is, you scoot over to the next patch of grass before any wild pokemon can appear!"
Lucas sighed.
"Barry of all your ideas this is possibly the craziest."
"Alright, here goes!"
Barry took some steps back and began to sprint.
"HOLD IT!" shouted someone from the opposite path.
Barry stumbled to a stop.
An older man with a moustache walked up to them.
"You two don't seem to have any pokemon between you."
"Nope!" said Barry.
"Then what is the meaning of going into the tall grass!?" asked the man with a harsh tone.
There was some silence before Barry turned to Lucas.
"Hey Lucas…This old guy…It's Professor Rowan, isn't it? What's he doing here?"
The man walked a bit off and turned his back and mumbled something to himself before turning back and walking over to the boys again.
"You two. You truly love pokemon do you?"
"Yes sir," replied Lucas.
"Me too, I love pokemon too!" exclaimed Barry.
"I will ask you once again: You two truly love pokemon, don't you?"
"What?! You can ask a hundred times, the answer will never change! Right Lucas?"
"Yeah!" agreed Lucas.
Rowan mused for a moment.
"A pair of reckless kids who foolishly try to enter tall grass without pokemon of their own? It worries me what people like that would do with pokemon."
Somewhat shocked and worried, Barry spoke up.
"Well…I uh…" He realized he was at fault. "Well then forget about me, but give a pokemon to my friend here! It was me who tried to go into the tall grass and all, he tried to stop me…"
Lucas was truly impressed.
"Barry…"
"How mature of you." Commented Rowan.
His expression then changed to a lighthearted smile.
"Very well then! I will entrust the two of you with pokemon!"
Barry's face lit up.
"I apologize for putting you through that exercise."
Barry was about to jump for joy when Rowan coughed.
"HOWEVER! You must promise me that you will NEVER recklessly endanger yourselves again."
"No sir, we won't." The boys said in unison.
"Now then…" He seemed to be looking for something but couldn't find it. "Nowhere…?"
"Professor Rowan!" a girl about the age of the two boys came running up to Rowan carrying a briefcase. "You left your briefcase at the lake!"
She noticed the two boys.
"Oh, is something wrong here?"
"Ah, there it is!" exclaimed the older man. "Nice work Dawn. What I was about to do was entrust these two with their own pokemon!"
Dawn was shocked.
"Pardon!? Those pokemon are hard to replace, are you sure about giving them away?"
Rowan nodded.
"Hm! We exist side by side with Pokemon. There comes a time when people should meet pokemon. There is a world that should be explored together. For them, today is that time. The place: right here."
Rowan took the briefcase and opened it, revealing 3 pokeballs.
"Go on! Choose a pokemon!"
"Lucas you can choose first," said Barry.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm practically a grown-up; I have to show some class here!"
Lucas chuckled and looked at the pokeballs.
"On your left is Turtwig, the grass type pokemon. In the middle is Chimchar, the fire type pokemon. On the right is Piplup, the water-type pokemon."
Lucas mulled it over but finally decided on Turtwig.
Lucas called the pokemon out and it let out a chirping noise.
Barry promptly shoved Lucas aside and grabbed the middle pokeball.
"Then I choose Chimchar!"
He called it out and Lucas noticed it matched his friend's personality perfectly, while his own turtwig was calm and seemed to take things at its own pace.
"Very well! Both of you have chosen a good pokemon it seems! Now listen well; the pokemon you have been entrusted with are unfamiliar with the world. In that regard they're much like you. As fellow newcomers to the world, I hope you'll do well together. If you have any trouble, come see me at my lab in Sandgem town. And now we'll be on our way. Come along Dawn."
The two headed off east.
"How do you like that? Professor Rowan's really nice." Noted Barry.
"Yeah."
"On TV he seems so stern and scary…"
Barry's face then lit up and he turned to Lucas.
"Hehe…Lucas, we've both got pokemon now!"
"Thank you Captain Obvious."
"Hehe, ouch man… But you know, there's only one thing to do right? A battle! You up for this?"
"Okay sure. Go Turtwig!"
"Go get em' Chimchar! Use scratch!"
"Withdraw Turtwig!"
The pokemon went into its shell and the attack glanced it.
"Tackle Turtwig!" The attack hit home and sent Chimchar reeling.
"Scratch again!" This one hit turtwig.
"Tackle Turtwig!"
This hit home and brought the pokemon down.
"Gah! No waaaayyy!"
Barry called his pokemon back and sighed.
"Oh well. Let's go home! I'm beat after that battle and so is my pokemon; we both need some rest."
"Alright. Come on Turtwig."
"Aren't you going to put it back in its pokeball?"
"I saw a documentary once about a study done by professor Elm in Johto; if you keep a pokemon with you outside of its pokeball it will like you more."
"Psht, you and your scientific documentary stuff. Later Lucas!"
The two parted ways and headed home.
Later that night Lucas walked over to the counter in the kitchen where his mother was doing the dishes.
"What's wrong Lucas?"
Lucas recapped the events.
"You're both lucky to have met Professor Rowan. Lucas, you should go see him and thank him properly for your pokemon tomorrow. Here, you should take these too!"
She handed him a shoebox.
"What're these mom?"
"Running shoes! They'll let you get to Sandgem town faster! They use compressed air to give you a boost!"
"Thanks mom! Come on Turtwig, let's get to bed."
The pokemon let out a noise and the two headed off to get ready for bed.
The next day Lucas and turtwig got ready to go and then headed out to Sandgem town.
Unfortunately he ran into Barry.
"Hey I had a great idea!"
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"You know that legend about a pokemon in the lake nearby?"
"Yeah, what about- Oh no. You're not seriously suggesting-!"
"You guessed it! Let's catch that pokemon! That'll make Professor Rowan happy. I'm sure of that!"
"You're crazy dude!"
"Ha! Me and you together, we've got nothing to fear!"
"Well…Okay I guess."
The two headed off to the lake and saw a man with blue hair looking out over it.
"The flowing time…The expanding space.. Cyrus is my name. Remember it. Until then, sleep while you can legendary pokemon of the lake bed…"
The man walked over to the boys.
"Allow me to pass. Step aside."
The two boys moved out of the way and he walked past them.
"Geez, what was that about? Weird guy…" commented Barry.
A strange noise then came from the lake.
"Did you hear that?! That was the legendary pokemon, it had to be! Let's catch it!"
Barry's expression turned to one of horror.
"Oh no! We don't have any pokeballs on us! You think the Professor would give us some if we asked him?"
"Maybe."
"Okay then! I'll race you!"
Barry ran off.
"That man is important."
Lucas turned and saw a figure in a gray trench coat that was frayed at the bottom, the tips of the frayed bits a faded gold. Underneath was a shirt that was striped black and red and black jeans with chains hanging from them and some parts of them red with black combat boots with gold lining.
"What?"
"Do not forget that man, he is important. Remember his face and his name."
"Wait, why?"
The man he was speaking to vanished in a gust of wind.
"Weird…"
Lucas hurried off to Sandgem.
When he arrived he was stopped by Dawn.
"Oh there you are! Please come with me!"
"Alright."
Lucas and turtwig followed Dawn.
"This is our research lab, let's-!"
Barry rushed out and ran into Lucas again.
"Ow… You need to stop this…"
"I'm out of here Lucas. See you later!"
With that the boy ran off.
"Geez…Will he ever get any manners?"
"Your friend sure seems to be really impatient."
"Yeah, that's just how he is. He's not really a bad guy deep down though."
"I'll take your word for it. Let's go inside."
The two entered the lab with Turtwig in tow.
"Well well, look who's here," said the professor as the two approached. "Lucas wasn't it? Let's have a look at your pokemon."
Turtwig walked over in front of Lucas.
It had a smile on its face.
"This pokemon seems happy. Entrusting you with that turtwig was no mistake it seems! When I first saw you two about to step into tall grass without pokemon, I was shocked. I was astounded by these foolhardy children. But now you've astounded me in an entirely different way. Already there is a bond growing between you and that pokemon! I feel privileged to have met you, and I'm sure turtwig feels the same."
Lucas picked up his turtwig and scratched its chin, prompting it to let out a happy noise.
"I'm so glad that you're kind towards pokemon! If you weren't I'd have to… Oh I just can't say it…" Said Dawn.
"Ehem! Let's move on to the main topic. I want you to gather information on all the pokemon in Sinnoh. For that, I entrust you with this pokedex. Will you help me?"
"Sure, why not? You gave me Turtwig; I'm more than happy to help."
Dawn pulled something out of her bag, a device just like the one Rowan had handed Lucas.
"I've got one too! The first pokemon I encountered was a Piplup! If you had chosen piplup we would have had the same pokemon…Anyways, I'm Dawn. I also help the professor add pages to the pokedex."
"Nice to meet you Dawn, I'm Lucas."
"I'll be happy to teach you things about pokemon given I've gotten a bit of a head start. Glad to meet you Lucas!"
The two left, Lucas after Dawn.
"Wait! Lucas!"
He turned to see Rowan with a floppy disk.
"Take this, it's TM27, Return. They're one-time use, but TMs can teach pokemon a new move."
"Thanks Professor."
The older man went back inside.
"I didn't know the Professor had TMs," commented Dawn. "Was he a trainer when he was young…?"
She shook her head and walked over to Lucas.
"Okay Lucas, I'll act as your mentor. I've got a bit more experience than you as a trainer and as the professor's assistant."
"Alright, can't argue with that logic."
"Follow me!"
Dawn led him to a nearby building.
"This building with the red roof is the Pokemon Center. It's the place that heals pokemon that have been hurt in battle! You can find one in most towns."
Lucas nodded and the two continued over.
"The building with the blue roof over here is the Poke mart. It's a shop where you can buy and sell items and medicine."
"Okay."
"Since you're a novice trainer you won't be able to buy many kinds of merchandise."
"Oh…"
"Don't let it bother you! Oh! Don't you need to let your family know you're going to be helping Professor Rowan with the pokedex?"
"Maybe."
"You may need to go far away, so I think you should let someone know!"
"Yeah, good point."
"Okay then. Guess I'll see you around!"
Lucas hurried back home though the short route between Twinleaf and Sandgem.
The next morning Lucas finished packing and headed back out, going past Sandgem and up onto the next route.
He had also received a Parcel from Barry's mother for the blonde, as he'd apparently run off before he could receive it.
As he trudged through tall grass he spotted Dawn, who also noticed him.
Suddenly a look of realization went across her face.
"Oh that's right, I still haven't shown you how to catch a pokemon yet! I'll demonstrate, so just watch me okay?"
Lucas nodded and watched intently as Dawn hunted down a pokemon.
Suddenly a bidoof appeared.
"Go Piplup! Use pound!"
The blue bird hit its foe and then Dawn threw a pokeball at it, capturing the creature.
Dawn giggled.
"See, isn't it neat?"
Lucas nodded, genuinely interested in how crazy technology was.
"Actually, it's better to lower your opponent's HP lower than I did; it's important to get the pokemon's HP as low as possible. This is because a healthy pokemon is more difficult to catch," she explained.
Lucas nodded.
"Yeah I can see that."
"Oh, and if you make them sleep or something then they're even easier to catch. Allll right, to get you started…"
Dawn reached into her bag and withdrew 5 empty pokeballs and handed them to Lucas.
"…I'll give you five empty pokeballs!"
"Thanks," replied Lucas.
Dawn nodded.
"If you have lots of pokemon with you, you'll be safer on long trips. Plus, it will be a lot more fun having your pokemon friends along! Oh! There was also a massive migration of Pokémon recently from other regions to Sinnoh, so you should take the chance and catch as many different types as you can to fill out your pokedex!"
"Really? Interesting, I wonder what caused it?"
She turned and began jogging away.
"Alright, I need to get going. Bye!"
"Later."
"This migration isn't something natural."
Lucas looked behind him and the man with the trenchcoat was standing and staring to the East, towards the mountain that towered over the region.
"A prophecy is coming to pass, young one. One that will change the world forever."
The man turned and walked over to Lucas, stopping next to him.
"And you, child, will be one of the most important parts of this prophecy."
The man continued walking into the grass.
"Wait, what-!"
When Lucas turned…the man was gone again.
A shiver went down his spine before he proceeded onward.
After walking for a short time he came across a gray bird with white markings.
He flipped open his pokedex:
"Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big." Said the device in a monotone voice.
"Alright, let's catch it. Go Turtwig! Tackle"
The Pokémon erupted from its storage device and rammed the bird.
The bird retaliated with the same sort of Tackle, barely scratching turtwig.
"Tackle again!"
The pattern repeated once more.
"Alright, time to catch it!"
Lucas drew a pokeball, threw it and watched as it shook a few times before clicking shut.
"Alright, first capture! Good going Turtwig!"
He recalled his Pokémon and took the two to the Pokémon center before heading onward.
He soon came across a young boy who ran over to Lucas once he'd spotted him.
"We're both trainers! Let's battle!"
Lucas nodded.
"Alright, sure I guess. Go, Starly!"
"Go starly! Use quick attack!"
The bird flew at Lucas's and hit it in a blur.
"Starly, use tackle attack!"
The pokemon threw itself at its foe and impacted, dealing some damage
The two traded blows as such before the other boy's Starly finally fell.
"Too strong! Too strong!" panicked the trainer as he recalled his pokemon.
After some more walking he came across a girl, who also approached him on sight.
"I've been training my Pokémon hard, let's battle!"
Lucas nodded.
"Go bidoof!"
"Go Starly, use Quick attack"
The bird impacted the small beaver-like Pokémon.
"Bidoof, use growl!"
The Pokémon let out a low growl, prompting Starly to flutter back some"
"Starly, use quick attack again!"
The bidoof went down.
The girl called her Pokémon back and had a concerned look on her face.
"What's wrong?" asked Lucas.
"Well that was my only Pokémon, and I don't have any Revives."
"Oh…"
Lucas understood what this meant; it was dangerous to go into tall grass without Pokémon, and since she couldn't heal hers she was pretty much stuck there.
"I guess I could stick with you until you can get to a Pokémon center; how far is the next town from here?"
"You'd do that? Thank you! It's just a short walk north."
The two started walking.
"What's your name by the way?" asked the girl.
"I'm Lucas, from Twinleaf town."
"I'm Natalie, I'm from Jubilife, right up the road."
Lucas and Natalie headed north until they reached Jubilife.
As he went up the steps Lucas saw Dawn running his way.
"Hi Lucas," She greeted. "Are you catching pokemon?"
"So far I've only caught one."
She noticed Natalie.
"Um, who's this?"
"Oh this is Natalie, I battled her but left her only Pokémon fainted, so I decided to help her get here so she could get it healed."
"How kind of you!" she turned to Natalie "Um…I think you'd feel a lot safer if you caught more. Like when you need to travel to distant places. That goes for you too, Lucas."
They both nodded.
"I'll try to do that," said Lucas.
"That was my plan, then I ran into Lucas."
Natalie let out a small sheepish laugh.
"Oh I know! Don't you think it's better to know more about Pokémon, Lucas?" asked Dawn.
"Sure it is," replied Lucas.
"I know just the place! Come on!"
Dawn grabbed his wrist and pulled, causing Lucas to almost trip.
"Follow me!"
Lucas did so and the two went forward some before Dawn stopped and released him, pointing to a man behind a lamp post.
"That man…what's he doing?"
He darted across the street to an adjacent lamp and was going to dart back before Dawn stopped him.
"Um.. sir, what are you doing?"
"WHAAAAT!? How did you know?! How did you unmask me as a member of the international Police!?"
The man was flabbergasted.
"Huh? I beg your pardon? I was just making conversation…"
The man regained his composure and cupped his hand in his chin.
"Heh…You claim you were simply making conversation do you? But! I know better not to believe that, no no no! You recognized right away that I was someone extrodinary!"
The man put on a confident grin.
"That is why you spoke to me, is it not? Your power of observation is fearsome! Quite admirable you are!"
He crossed his arms.
"Now that my cover has been blown, let me introduce myself! I am a globe-trotting elite of the International Police. My name…."
He paused and looked away in thought.
"No… I shall only inform you of my code name. My code name, it is Looker. It is what they call me. Incedentally is the saying "Don't be a thief" familiar to you?"
"Yeah of course," replied Lucas.
"Yes, that is correct, taking things that belong to others is wrong. Unfortunately there are those who do not heed those words… and those who take the most precious thing of all: life itself. That is why I am here in Sinnoh; I am tracking a wanted man from Hoenn. Tell me…"
He pulled up a picture of a man with brown hair cut short in a green t-shirt with vivid green eyes.
"Have you seen this individual?"
"Sorry, I haven't" said Lucas.
Dawn shook her head.
"Nope, never before in my life."
Natalie also shook her head.
"Sorry, I haven't either…"
Looker frowned.
"Be aware, he is a very dangerous man, especially you miss," Looker said, looking at Dawn. "If you see him contact the local authorities, they will in turn contact me and then I will come running and put him under arrest, because that is the duty of a member of the International Police! "
He looked away again.
"Also, there have been people in these parts stealing pokemon! I have been on the lookout for those arousing my suspicion. Incedentally you are trainers yes? Perhaps you can make use of this?"
He handed Lucas a device.
"That Versus Recorder, it is a nifty device for recording a match. Perhaps you can use it to hone your skills by reviewing your battles, yes? I obtained it myself because it is quite popular these days. But myself, I do not pokemon battling very often. It will be in better hands with you."
"Thanks-!"
"Also I have a request: if you see me again do not talk to me, for I am on duty."
"Okay I-!"
"Actually yes, yes you may speak to me, you must. Not because I am lonely, no, no! You must inform me of bad guys! You must inform me of any happenings!"
With that the man darted off at a brisk pace.
"…Working for the International Police must be hard," commented Dawn.
"…Yeah," replied Lucas.
Natalie nodded in agreement as well.
"Oh, right I guess this is where we part ways. Thanks again Lucas!"
Natalie waved and headed to the Pokémon center.
"No problem, bye."
Dawn dragged Lucas to a nearby building.
"Here it is, the Pokemon Trainer's School. The name says it all!"
Lucas nodded.
"I'll have to check it out."
"Oh, right, I saw your friend Barry go in earlier."
"Good, I have a parcel for him."
"He might still be in there studying," noted Dawn. "Okay, bye now!"
"Bye Dawn."
Dawn ran off south and Lucas headed into the school.
He noticed Barry taking notes from a chalkboard.
Lucas walked up behind him and coughed.
The boy spun around.
"Hey Lucas, did you come to study too? I went ahead and memorized EVERYTHING that was on the blackboard! After all, it's a trainer's job to make sure their precious Pokémon aren't hurt in battle, right?"
"Yeah of course," replied Lucas.
"So what brings you?"
"I've got this for you, your mom sent it," replied Lucas, handing him the box.
Barry tore into it.
"Score! It's a town map!"
His look of excitement was then replaced with one of confusion.
"Huh? Why are there two in here? Geez, I like it a lot but I don't need two."
Barry handed Lucas the other handheld device.
"Here, you take one!"
"Thanks Barry."
Lucas opened it up and powered it on; it showed a stylized map of the region.
"Hm...Well according to this, Oreburgh City is where I should be going next. There's a gym, so it'd be perfect for raising the Pokémon I just caught."
He closed the device and turned to Lucas.
"Welp, I'm on the road to becoming the greatest trainer of all time! See you around!"
The boy darted off at his usual speed.
Lucas decided to battle a couple of the students in the school before heading to the Pokémon center and then going north, where he ran into a portly man in a suit.
"You there! You call yourself a Pokémon trainer and yet you have no Poketch?"
"No what?"
"The Pokémon watch, or Poketch for short! You are a rare case indeed! You see…"
The man took a proud stance.
"I invented, and now produce, Poketches. Not only that, I'm now conducting a promotional campaign! All you have to do is find the 3 clowns in this fine city, and then answer their questions to receive a free poketch!"
Lucas decided to take up this challenge and gathered the 3 cupons before returning to the man and getting his promised Poketch.
Lucas then headed to the Pokémon Center to heal up his team and ran into Natalie again.
"Oh hey, you're still in town?"
"Yeah, just got one of these things," he said, holding up the wristwatch.
"Oh a poketch! I have one of those too!"
She held up her wrist, her device a dark pink.
"Cool. So what's next for you?"
"I was thinking that maybe your friend had a point," she half-skipped over to lucas and stood next to him. "Sooo I decided I'm going to travel with you if that's okay!"
"Sure, why not?"
Lucas healed his team and then headed to the mart, stocking up on potions and other items before heading North-East with his new friend and traveling companion.
"So the Interpol is after me. Hmph."
The human leaned back on his chair looking out the window at the one called Looker.
He got up and went over to a nearby bookshelf, browsing its contents before pulling out a book he thought would amuse him.
'I still haven't figured out my reason to live. As it stands I simply am. Perhaps that is all there is to live, simply living? Or perhaps we all have a part in some grand scheme of the cosmos? I'm sure if I read enough I'll find my answer eventually.'
His eyes flashed a glowing green for a moment as he opened the book and began reading.
He'd escaped from Hoenn wounded in both body and spirit, but they had both mended relatively quickly. However, the mewtwo had become a great deal more introspective and less one-track minded.
He sipped his coffee as he read the book, absorbing the knowledge within.
Lucas ran into Barry nearly as soon as he left the city.
"Hey Lucas, have you gotten any tougher?"
Charlie looked over Lucas's shoulder and saw Natalie and put on a sly expression and a grin.
"Maybe you have, you've got a fangirl now!"
"She's just a friend you crazy person you. I think the real question is how about you," Lucas asked with a smirk. "Have you gotten any stronger?"
"Do you even need to ask? Of course! C'mon, I'll show you! Go, Starly!"
"Go Turtwig! Tackle!"
The attack hit something important and took out the Starly in one hit.
"Go, Chimchar!"
"Go Starly, use tackle!"
The Pokémon hit its foe.
"Chimchar, use scratch!"
The two traded blows until Chimchar finally fell.
"Argh! That's not the end, I'm going to become the world's toughest trainer and you know it! The first thing to do is take on the Oreburgh City gym! I'm gonna toughen up for that, totally!"
Lucas sighed as his friend ran off again.
"He's certainly…. Lively!" commented Natalie.
"He's an alright guy, don't let his teasing back there fool you."
Natalie nodded and the two decided to explore the route a bit.
Lucas wanted to see what kind of Pokémon he could find due to the migration.
Lucas got lucky and managed to snab an Abra, and Natalie added a Cubone to her team.
Upon entering the nearby cave however, he was gifted with a Hidden Machine by a friendly hiker, Rock Smash.
After reaching the city a boy led him to the gym…where Barry awaited.
"What's up Barry? Thought you were going to challenge the leader."
"I would, but he's in the mines right now. You want to fight him? You'll have to go find him."
Lucas shrugged and healed his team before heading north instead; he still wanted to catch more Pokémon not only to fill the pokedex but to complete his team and have more Pokémon with him as per Dawn's recommendation.
Out of the few he caught (A Phanphy, a Meowth and a Machop) only the Machop made its way onto his team.
He ran to the Pokémon center with his traveling companion.
"You go on ahead," said Natalie "I'm gonna relax here for a bit; I'm not really used to walking that much, especially in the mountains."
Lucas shrugged.
"Alright. See you later then."
He headed south to the mines and after some trainer battles he finally met the gym leader, Roark, and the man ran back to the gym after demonstrating the power of the HM Lucas had been given.
After healing his team once more he headed to the gym, heading up to Roark.
"Greetings! I'm Rorark, the Oreburgh city gym leader. I'm but one trainer who proudly decided to walk with rock type Pokémon! As gym leader, I need to see your potential as a trainer, and I'll need to see the toughness of the Pokémon that battle with you! Go, Geodude!"
"Go Machop! Use Karate Chop!"
The attack hit hard.
"Geodude, use rock throw!"
The attack hit machop but was a glancing blow at most.
"Use Low kick Machop!"
This brought down the geodude.
"Go, Craniados!"
"Go Machop, karate chop!"
The attack hit very hard.
"Use headbutt Craniados!"
This hit Machop hard, but the Pokémon endured.
"Karate Chop, again!"
Craniados went down.
"Go Onix!"
"Go, Turtwig! Use Razor Leaf!"
Onix hit the ground hard.
"This is embarrassing… I went and lost to a trainer who didn't have a single gym badge… Buuuut that's tough, you're strong I'm weak, that's all there is to it. Here's your badge."
The leader gave Lucas his first gym badge, the coal badge.
"Alright! My first badge!"
Lucas pinned the item onto his coat and headed off to the Pokémon center, as the sun was going down.
After meeting up with Natalie they checked out rooms for the night.
END CHAPTER I