Jason and the Fleece of Hoenn

Chapter 2Jason's Decision

Outside, the sun was setting and the evening cool was setting in. Jason lit the lamp on the table while Lucario served everyone their dinner. At first the last rays of the daylight coming in through the window outshone the lamplight, but gradually, as the sun pushed itself down across the horizon, the cabin was bathed in a dim, yellow glow.

They ate silently. In spite of all he had done that day, Jason had lost his appetite and could only eat half his food. Quil, who had been woken up for dinner, had noticed the subdued atmosphere and sat himself quietly, curling up at Jason's feet. After dinner, Jason went to his bed while Lucario, quite unusually, undertook the washing up, and then started the evening fire. He broke the silence.

"Before you came I wouldn't mind the cold of night, just like any other Pokémon. Since I had to keep you warm at night so you wouldn't freeze to death, I've ended up getting used to it too." He laughed ironically. "Now I'm going to have to get unused to it."

"What do you mean?" said Jason in a flat voice, while lying on his bed with Quil. He was patting him gently, giving and deriving comfort in what was going to be a difficult night. He knew his life was about to change, and by the way Lucario was acting, he wasn't sure it was going to be good. Lucario said that he had known this was coming. In that case, why hadn't he prepared Jason for the shock?

"Do you think I can let you go on your own? You're not ready yet. I was hoping you would have had at least another year, so that you would be stronger, and better trained."

"Lucario, I don't get anything you're saying."

"You're right, Jason. I'm avoiding what I have to say. Small talk isn't going to shield you from what you have to face. So where shall I start?"

Jason said the obvious thing, still in an expressionless monotone, "I think you better start from the beginning."

Lucario sighed and sat down on a chair next to the table. He sat facing Jason, but he stared blankly, as if being haunted by memories.

"Jason, I'm very glad you came to me. There are not many Pokémon who can speak with humans. When I discovered my ability, I felt like it had to be for some purpose. I'm glad and grateful that you've given me that purpose."

He paused to let the words sink in. Then he continued.

"On that day, a man arrived from Johto. You and Quil were with him."

"Johto?" exclaimed Jason. "That's miles away."

"Yes it is. You were a hatchling, maybe a year old. Quil was a newly hatched cyndaquil. The journey would have been difficult enough. But that's not all there was to it."

"So I came from Johto? Go on," said Jason, his tone no longer flat. He was interested now that the subject of his origins had finally been broached.

"What made it harder," Lucario went on, "was that you were being chased. The man brought you here to save your life."

"What the—!?" Jason sat up in bed. His life had been in danger? Wait—in that case, would he still be in danger?

"As a matter of fact, the journey was perilous for someone so young, and you are indeed lucky to have survived. Quil too. But you both survived, and here you are now." Lucario paused to think before he went on. "The man asked me to look after you, to raise you, and … to train you for your task when you return to Johto."

"What—?"

"Shush and let me finish first."

"OK," he said, but the questions kept pummelling his mind.

"Alright Jason, I'll get to the main point. The plan was, when you were old enough to challenge the king of Johto for the throne, you were to return."

"Challenge the king for the throne?" It made no sense. Jason couldn't believe it. He barely knew what a throne was.

"Yes. Apparently—and this is all I know about you—you're the rightful heir to the throne of Johto."

"So why am I in danger—oh wait, so if I'm meant to be the real king and … I'm meant to challenge the actual king, then … oh … basically the king wants me dead!"

"Yes, Jason. That's the reason for the secrecy about who you are and where you came from and why you're here. If anyone found out where you were and the news somehow got to the king, he would track you down and have you killed. That's why the letter said hardly anything, only what needed to be said, in case it fell into the wrong hands."

"So now you want me to go back to this … this murderous king? If I go back, I'm likely to get killed, right?" Jason got up out of bed and stepped over to Lucario, a look of horror in his face.

"No-one can make you go back, Jason." Lucario's expression was sombre, yet calm. "You can go back, you can stay here, or you can leave the forest and go anywhere you want."

"So then what? What does the note mean? What should I do?" Jason was shouting now. Quil had jumped off the bed and with a worried whimper, nuzzled up against Jason's leg.

Lucario took in a deep breath. He gestured Jason to sit down. Jason pulled the other chair over and sat down facing Lucario. Quil stood on his hind legs and placed his front paws and head on Jason's lap.

"All I know about Johto is this. It seems that the king—the current king—is cruel to his people. I could have tried to find out more, but I didn't want to raise suspicion by asking questions. In any case, this letter means that the people want you, their rightful king, to come back and reclaim your throne. You are their only hope. It's up to you whether you let them down, or do your best to help them."

"You're just trying to make me feel guilty," Jason replied.

"I'm merely telling you the facts that I know. You can feel about them as you wish."

Jason sighed and thought for a moment.

"So what if I go back and the king kills me. The people will be no better off, only I'll be dead," he concluded.

"If you go back secretly, the king won't know. You'll have the people on your side. You'll have your Pokémon. I'll come with you. The odds might not be against you. At least not necessarily."

Jason got up off the chair and started walking around the room. Quil, who was forced off his lap, whimpered and followed him. Thoughts spun around his head. For so long he had wanted to know who he was, where he had come from, and now that it was revealed to him, his immediate reaction was to wish that he had never asked. The revelation he had been longing for had finally come, but it had come with a price: either put his life at risk—some pretty serious risk by the sound of it—or run away from the truth.

Round and round the thoughts raced around his mind, and round and round the room he paced. Why was he like this? Why couldn't he accept the facts just as they were and not have them disturb him like this? They were the facts he wanted to know. Why did they make him feel so … so … he didn't even have a word for the feeling. It was the first time in his life that he ever experienced such inner turmoil.

Quil finally got tired of following Jason around and hopped in front of him. Buff who all the while had been sitting in her corner quietly after dinner flapped her wings and floated over. Only Lucario remained where he was, sitting still, continuing to stare with the same blank expression.

Although Jason couldn't bear the weight of his own feelings, he found he could bear seeing his Pokémon like this even less. He knew that he was upsetting them. Although they heard the conversation, they surely didn't understand much of it. They were only upset by Jason's reaction. Jason forced himself to stop. He squatted down and embraced his Pokémon friends—no, his Pokémon family—one with each arm.

To his surprise, hugging them and feeling their love for him in return helped more than all the senseless pacing and worrying to calm his mind and settle his heart. He collected himself and spoke once again.

"When do I have to decide?"

"It's up to you," Lucario replied. "But remember what the letter said. The people are suffering. Your people. The longer you wait, the more they suffer."

"If I go, you said I wasn't ready for it. I don't feel ready for something like that. I'm just a fifteen year old boy. I don't know anything about kings."

"Jason, you're coming up with reasons not to go," Lucario said flatly. For a moment, Jason thought that Lucario was telling him off. Then, for the first time all evening, Lucario smiled. "I'm glad."

That response perplexed Jason. He had the distinct sense that Lucario wanted him to go. After all, this was why Lucario had been training him all these years. Lucario was even willing to go with him, to fight at his side. So then why would Lucario be glad if Jason came up with a reason not to go?

Finally Jason said, "I don't get it."

Lucario took his time in answering. Jason waited. Quil took the opportunity to lick Jason's face, which almost made him smile. Almost. The turmoil in his heart was still overpowering every other emotion.

When Lucario finally spoke, he sounded warm and caring, like he did at times he wanted Jason to know that what he was saying was for Jason's best.

"Jason, it's time to end the conversation for the day. It's been a hard day for all of us. You should go to bed. I won't say anything more except this. Why does what you have found out trouble you? Why are you coming up with reasons not to go?"

"But—" Jason started to object, but Lucario stood up and raised a stubby, black finger. "Goodnight," he said. He went over and checked the fire, then shut the curtains and curled himself on his own mat to sleep.

Jason knew there was no point in arguing. He went outside to pee behind a tree. He squirted hard to try to ease his frustration. He came back inside, yanked his clothes off untidily, and slumped into his bed. Quil gripped his mat with his teeth, pulled it away from its usual spot near the fire, and dragged it next to Jason's bed, where he promptly curled up and lay down. When Quil noticed Buff approaching with her head cocked pleadingly to one side, he moved over to the edge of the mat to make room for her. She lay down next to him and soon they were both asleep.

The Pokémon's gentle breathing told Jason that he was the last to fall asleep. There was too much to make sense of in one night. He wasn't being pressured into rushing his decision, so at least he felt good about that. The main thought he pondered was Lucario's last question. Why did finding out who he really was make him feel so bad? Why did coming up with reasons not to go feel like it should make him feel better, yet did not really make him feel better at all?

Eventually exhaustion got the better of him, and he fell into a fitful sleep.

- – — – -

The next morning, Lucario told Jason that he didn't have to train that day. He wanted Jason to have time to think. So after breakfast, Jason went to one of his favourite spots in the forest, cleared a bit of space on the ground, and sat down with Quil and Buff and tried to piece his life together. A caterpie started crawling around them. Jason didn't mind it really, but Buff sent it off. She understood that Jason did not want to be disturbed.

He was the "heir to the throne". What did that mean? Obviously it didn't mean he could waltz in and instantly become a ruler of a kingdom. There was someone else ruling.

How did being a king work anyway? He hardly even knew anything about the ruler of Kanto, the country where he lived. Did people automatically do what he said? If the king of Johto was cruel, like Lucario said, why would people bother to obey someone they didn't like? Jason thought about it and the only thing he could work out was that there must be some people who were willing to make other people do what the king wants, people who were strong enough. That means that the king couldn't be cruel to everyone. He just had to be kind to enough strong people whom he could use to control everyone else.

He stopped his train of thought. Why was he bothering to think about all that anyway? He still had to decide whether to stay or go. Then he remembered Lucario's final question to him last night. Why did Jason want to make reasons not to go? Were his reasons just excuses? No, going would mean risking his life. It wasn't a matter of making up excuses. But then, wasn't not wanting to risk his life a good enough reason? He thought it should be, but for some reason, it didn't satisfy him. There was something about himself that he was failing to understand, something that Lucario was hinting at last night but didn't want to give Jason the answer.

He wasn't getting anywhere. He stroked Quil for comfort. That made him think. Quil was someone—well he was a Pokémon, but to Jason, he was someone, someone very special, someone who had always been with him as long as he could remember. Now Quil obeyed him, even though Jason didn't need anyone strong to force Quil to obey him. Similarly, Jason obeyed Lucario. Sure, Lucario was stronger and could force Jason, but he never did—except a few times, when he was a young kid and was being naughty. Why did that work? Why would people obey someone without the need to be forced, while in Johto, as far as he could figure out, the people had to be forced?

There he went again, his mind drifting to the people of Johto, when instead he was trying to think about himself and whether he should go or stay. Why did he care about them? Lucario said they were his people, as if he owned them or something. But he knew nothing about them. He didn't even know one person from Johto—well, apart from himself, now that he knew that's where he was from. It was all so confusing. Lucario was supposed to have gotten him ready for this, but here he was, feeling unprepared and like the least suitable person for the job.

Maybe more information might help him, like more about his background, more about that bad king and the people who were suffering. But then, he was pretty sure that Lucario told him everything he knew. There was no other information. Jason had to decide based on what he knew now, and that was that.

Or was it? Yesterday, when he saw Mrs Green, she said nothing to him when he asked her about his origin. But she never said that she didn't know, only that if she did know, she was keeping it secret. Did that mean that now that the secret was out, she would tell him what she knew about him? He had to ask her. He had to at least try, or he would be sitting here wondering what he should do forever.

Jason jumped up excitedly. He ran back to the cabin with Quil and Buff in tow. He raced inside to see if Lucario was there, and found him sitting at the table, his face slumped in his front paws.

"Lucario, what's wrong?" he cried out.

Lucario looked up. He looked miserable.

"Jason, have I failed you?" he said. "I thought I prepared you for this day, but now that it's come …"

Jason didn't know how to answer. He was grateful to Lucario for everything he had done for him. He felt that Lucario hadn't prepared him, at least not properly, for the shock, but he knew that telling him that would wound him. Instead, Jason said, "I'm going into town."

Buff, who by then had entered with Quil, cooed excitedly on hearing that.

"No," Jason turned to her and said. "Buff, you have to stay here with Quil this time. I have to do this alone."

- – — – -

Jason ran as far and as fast as his legs could take him until he was out of breath. He walked the rest of the way. As he walked the old familiar streets and went past the houses and shops he had passed so often, he wondered, if he decided to go, whether he would miss them. His whole way of life would come to an end and be replaced with the unknown. A pang of sorrow assailed him. It was a new experience, and not a pleasant one. How much more would this decision cost him?

Eventually he came to the apothecary. He tried to settle his anxiety and stepped inside. Mr Green was behind the counter.

"Mr Green," Jason said urgently, "is Mrs Green here?"

"Why yes, Jason," the grey-haired Mr Green replied. "She's in the back room. What's the matter?"

"Is that you again Jason?" came a voice from inside. "Back again so soon?"

"Please, I need to talk to her," he pleaded. He attempted to settle his feelings but he failed. Admit it or not, he was desperate.

Mrs Green stepped into the main part of the shop. When she saw Jason's face, she stopped in her tracks. The expression in her face told Jason that she realized this was no regular visit.

"I remember Doc Brown had asked you to take him some salveyo ointment," she said to her husband. He nodded knowingly, picked a jar off the shelf and went out. Mrs Green closed the door behind him and beckoned Jason into the back room.

The smell of the back room was stronger than the main part of the shop. It was a smaller room, with a couple of benches where the Greens prepared their medications, along with more shelves stacked with empty bottles, and many half-filled ones with all sorts of substances. There were tools scattered about the benches, and two seats where they could sit while they worked. She offered Jason one of the seats while she sat on the other one facing him.

She didn't waste time. She could read Jason's face.

"So you've found out who you are." It wasn't even a question. She knew.

"Mrs Green, I have a terrible decision to make." He started trembling.

"Come here, dear," she said.

She reached and took his arms, pulling him towards her. Jason blindly let her take him and embrace him in her arms. It was a strange sensation, one he had never recalled experiencing before. But it was soothing. It was something he needed even though he had not known it. She caressed his head, running her fingers between his locks, and he soon stopped shaking. When he had calmed down, she put him back in the other seat.

"Now tell me about your decision, and why it's so terrible."

Jason licked his lips, wondering where to start. He decided to start from the beginning.

"I'm the heir to the throne of Johto."

She looked at him admiringly. He stared back. He hadn't expected that response.

"Of course no one told me that," she said. "Like I said yesterday, everything has been kept secret to protect you. But I figured it out."

"How did you know?" Jason asked.

"The day you came, you were wrapped in a blanket. The blanket was finely hand-crafted, and made of the finest mareep wool I had ever seen. Only someone in Johto, and from a well-to-do family, would ever have afforded something like that."

Jason nodded.

"That didn't necessarily mean you were a prince, my boy," she added. "But over the next few weeks, news arrived from Johto of an uprising. A relative of yours killed your family, the king and queen and your elder sister. According to first reports, there were no survivors, but then there was a rumour that someone in your family had survived. So when you arrived out of the blue, evidently from Johto, and your identity a secret, I put two and two together. Someone had saved you and escaped."

Jason's mouth opened wide. Mrs Green had known all along. And she knew things that Lucario didn't. He was right to come here after all.

"The cyndaquil you were with …"

Jason gasped. She knew about Quil too?

"I told Lucario never to let it be seen by anyone. I didn't even let my children see it. What ever happened to it?"

Lucario had never allowed Jason to bring him into town or to even mention him. As far as everyone in town knew, Jason's only Pokémon was Buff.

"I still have him," he replied. "A couple of years ago he grew into another shape, but I don't know what it's called."

"So he's a quilava now? That's wonderful. I bet he's strong."

"A quilava? I never knew what he was called. Yes, he's a wonderful Pokémon, but Lucario never explained why he should be kept secret."

"Just like the blanket, cyndaquil are rare and expensive Pokémon in Johto, and hardly ever seen anywhere else. If anyone saw it, and the news got back to that murderous king …"

"Mrs Green," said Jason, "I need to learn as much as you know about Johto."

Mrs Green sighed and shook her head wistfully.

"I'm going to miss you, my dear, dear boy. I've had fourteen wonderful years watching you grow up, like you were my third child."

"But Mrs Green, how did you know what I have to decide … and what makes you think I'll decide to go?"

"News from Johto comes slowly, but it comes. The people there are being ruled badly. I suppose they've asked you to come back and reclaim the throne."

Jason couldn't believe it. How did she work it all out?

"I knew this time would come," she continued, "and I knew that you would go. You're a good boy, Jason, and that's all the reason why I'm going to miss you more. Lucario did a wonderful job raising you. At first I had my doubts of course—a Pokémon raising a human child—but he surprised everyone."

"Mrs Green, please tell me, how do you know that I'll decide to go? I can't decide, I really can't."

Jason was starting to get worked up again. This time he was almost starting to panic. He couldn't figure it out. Lucario was talking as if Jason would go, and when Jason doubted, Lucario became sadder than he had ever seen him. And now Mrs Green was even more confident than Lucario that Jason would decide to go. He couldn't stand it. It was like other people were making his decision for him. Jason had half a mind to choose not to go deliberately!

"Jason, dear, tell me about the problem."

"The problem is that Lucario wants me to risk my life to go and help people that I don't even know. I could die. I really could die doing this!"

By now Jason was shouting, but Mrs Green remained calm. She was like an anchor in a stormy sea.

"I'm not ready to go," he went on. "Lucario even said that I haven't trained enough! I'm too young. I don't want to leave this place. I like it here."

There. He said his piece. All the reasons he could think of not going. Surely she would agree with him that at least one of those reasons was good enough.

After a pause, she replied, "Jason, why does not going trouble you so much?"

Again, Jason was stunned. Although it wasn't exactly the same words, the meaning of her question was the same as what Lucario had put to him last night. Perhaps, though, Mrs Green's question was the right one. Of course there were things about leaving that bothered him. Leaving behind the enjoyable life he was used to, risking his life for people he had never met. But it was not going that also troubled him. Something started to make sense. That's why none of his reasons for staying would satisfy him. For the first time since Lucario asked him to read the letter, he felt better—still troubled, but less burdened somehow.

"What are you thinking?" said Mrs Green. He must have been silent for longer than he had realized.

"I … I've been coming up with reasons not to go because I'm scared. But … but I haven't been thinking properly about reasons why I should go."

"Do you understand why you should go, Jason?"

Jason took a deep breath. He started trembling again. He wondered if he should ask for another hug, but somehow he knew that this time it wouldn't help.

"The people need me. They're my people. I don't mean like I own them, but … like … It's like my Pokémon. I tell them what to do and they do it, but I don't force them to do it. I tell them to do what's best for them, and they believe that what I'm telling them to do is what's best for them." He didn't think he was explaining it properly, but it was the best he could come up with. His brain was too much a jumble of thoughts and emotions. "Does that make sense?" he finally asked.

"It's called love, Jason," she explained. "And trust. And responsibility. You act responsibly towards your Pokémon, and to them it means you love them. That makes them able to trust you, and because they trust you, they express their love for you by obeying you."

Jason was astounded. If only Lucario had put it that way. "How do you know all that?"

"I've been a wife and a mother, and a mother of sorts to you too. I know about love and trust and responsibility. The king of Johto only loves himself. He doesn't love his people. But you'll be a king that loves his people, and they'll love you in return."

"But how do you know that for sure? I mean about me?" Jason couldn't figure out how Mrs Green could understand him better than he knew himself.

"Because I've watched you grow up, and I've watched what you've become. Like I told you, you're a good boy. And Lucario has helped you by bringing you up to learn trust and responsibility."

Jason couldn't believe it but he was beginning to feel better. This time he was sure that a terrible weight had been lifted from him, the weight of having to make an impossible decision. In its place he felt another weight, a weight of responsibility that was costly, but one which he was bound to bear. In some ways the new weight seemed heavier. Yes, it would cost him the life he had grown to love, and, if worse came to worst, it might even cost him his life altogether. But in another way, the new weight was bearable. It made him worthwhile, like he meant something to somebody. He had a purpose. In contrast, staying behind would be a lighter weight, but one that was horrible. To live with it, he would … again words failed him, but opting out of his responsibility would make him less than the person he had been so far. He wasn't sure he could live with himself.

Jason made his decision.

"You were right, Mrs Green," he told her. "I have to go."

She smiled, but then raised a questioning eyebrow. Jason understood her meaning.

"No, I don't have to go. I want to go. I'll save my people."

This time Mrs Green stood up, stepped over to Jason and took his arms in hers. He stood up, and they embraced again, but this time he was not a scared child needing comfort. This time he was a brave warrior being bid farewell. He was wrong about Lucario. Lucario hadn't left him unprepared after all; he had trained him well. Jason was ready to fulfil his responsibility and to be the king that his people needed.

"Come back again before you leave," said Mrs Green. "I'll have some things ready for you. After that … I'm old, I doubt I'll ever see you again. Go, and be a good king."