Chapter 11

Luke followed Lucy into a nearby patch of trees. They followed the path between the trees until they came to a clearing. The clearing was a perfect circle rimmed with trees. A small cliff was overlooking a pond below. Lucy took a few steps and sat down on the cliff, and Luke follow suit.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Luke questioned.

Lucy ran a hand through her hair and fixed her ponytail before responding. "How is it that you're so good at strategizing?"

That's not the real reason she wanted me here, but I'll play along. For now…

"I really don't know," Luke replied, "I don't think I got it from my mom, maybe I inherited it from my dad." Lucy simply nodded.

A silence ensued. "So… How'd you figure out about this place?" Luke asked.

"Well, I used to live in Castelia City with my mom and dad. Every now and then he met some friends here so he took mom and me with him. Mom showed me this spot because she used to go here when she was little," Lucy explained.

"That's pretty cool," Luke commented. Lucy sighed and absently traced random shapes in the grass.

"Did you… ever know your real parents?" It was then Luke realized where the conversation was going.

"I knew my mom, but my dad's never been around. He left my mom a month before I was born…" Luke responded. His voice displayed no hint of emotion whatsoever, but it was clear what he felt when he turned away for a second.

"I never knew any of my parents… My real ones abandoned me once I was born. My adoptive parents in Castelia told me that when I turned thirteen about two years ago."

Then it hit Luke. This is what she wanted to talk about, this is what seemed off. She just needs someone to share this with, because she feels like people don't understand her or know what it's like. I can't exactly feel what she feels, but I know part of it.

Then another wave of silence hit; this one twice as long as the last. Luke looked over to see Lucy's body racked with sobs. He felt a wave of some kind of feeling go through him. Sympathy? Sadness? I'm not sure what I'm feeling exactly…

Whatever it was he felt, Luke felt compelled to do something about it. And he did. Slowly he wrapped his arms around the crying girl and gave her a hug. They sat there like that until she stopped crying. Then came more silence. I have no idea what the heck I just did that for… Lucy interrupted Luke's thoughts by wordlessly grabbing Luke's arms and setting them by his side. She stood up and sent him a small appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Luke." That was all Lucy said, then she left.

Luke sighed and sat in the grass as he watched the clouds go by. That was... awkward to say the least.

*MOMENTS LATER*

After making a quick stop by the Pokémon Center and grabbing a quick bite to eat, Luke was on his way to the next badge city: Virbank. Luke snatched his badge case from his pocket and opened it up to see the two badges he had. He looked at them with a sense of pride because he knew his Pokémon had worked hard for these badges. He gazed at them for a second longer and then pocketed the badge case, and began the journey to Virbank City.

*LATER THAT DAY*

Luke reached Virbank City in almost no time at all. As soon as he hit the city's roads he headed straight to the complex to train. It didn't take long for Luke to feel satisfied with his Pokémon's performance. After a few minutes of perfecting technique, power, etc. Luke and his Pokémon sat down to eat. As they were eating on the outskirts of Viridian, an elderly man walked towards the trio and sat down on the nearby bench.

The elderly man picked up the conversation immediately. "What's your name, son?" the man questioned.

It took Luke a few moments to register that he was the one being asked the question. "Oh, it's Luke, sir."

The man smiled warmly and nodded. "My name's Jamie, it's nice to meet ya, kid."

Luke shifted his position on the ground and reached into his bag upon hearing a buzzing noise. After a few moments Luke pulled out an X-transceiver from his bag. He answered the call.

"Is that you Nathan?" Luke questioned.

From the other end the dark haired trainer smirked. "You bet it is! So, what've you been up to?"

Luke shrugged. "I've been training hard; gonna earn my third badge tomorrow."

Nathan flashed him a thumbs up. "Well, good luck with that battle, Luke, I'll see you around!" Nathan hung up soon after.

Luke put the X-transceiver back into his bag. He then looked back at Jamie with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to interrupt."

Jamie waved him off. "It's quite alright. So you have a fancy new X-transceiver as well? Ah, I remember back in the old days we had to use real phones, no video like they have today… Those were the good ole days… Anyway, you're thinking about challenging the gym? If so, I'll tell you this: it's a ground gym. Good luck, Luke, and have a nice day!"

With that, Jamie walked away and waved. Luke waved back and soon Jamie was out of sight. Next to him he heard Oshawott and Rufflet's cries.

"Yeah, I'm tired, too." Luke replied. He stood up. "Well, we're good on training for today, guys. Let's go chill out, alright?" The Pokémon trainer received happy cheers in response.

"Ok, then let's go."

*AFTER TWO HOURS OF ROAMING*

Hours later, Luke and his Pokémon wearily sat down at a Pokémon Center table. They had looked around Virbank City for an hour, then trained for another, and were utterly tired. They rented a room in the Pokémon Center for the night, and as soon as they had the chance, they dozed off with thoughts of the upcoming Gym Battle in mind.

*THE NEXT DAY*

Luke and his team were excited about the Gym Battle; they were going to get their third badge! As they walked into the gym, they saw a bald older man with liver spots all over across the battlefield. He wore a white dress shirt, brown trousers, a golden brown sweater, and dark brown dress shoes. He looked at Luke with wise hazel eyes.

"Hello there, Luke," the man said with a small smile.

Luke was a bit surprised; he didn't know it would be him.

"I guess I should've figured out it was you, Jamie," Luke responded.

Jamie shrugged. "Perhaps you should have. Well, are you ready to take me on? If so, I do a single battle and give you the choice of 1, 2, or 3 Pokémon each."

Luke pondered that for a moment. Should he just get it over with and do a one on one using Oshawott? Or should he do two on two just in case? After a minute of deciding, Luke reached his conclusion.

"I'll go with one on one, Jamie." Luke tossed a Poke Ball onto the battlefield, but not what Jamie expected. Out appeared Rufflet.

"So you chose Rufflet, eh? Okay then, Drilbur, it's your turn."

Out of the Poke Ball appeared a brown mole Pokémon with a white snout and claws. It had blue markings across its body. Luke gulped; it was time for the Gym Battle.

"Drilbur, use Metal Claw!" Drilbur's claws turned metallic and shiny as the mole Pokémon ran at Rufflet.

"Dodge!" Luke called.

Rufflet leapt away before Drilbur could hit, bit the mole Pokémon jumped up and nailed the eaglet. Rufflet hit the ground, but easily got up again. Drilbur went in for another Metal Claw but Rufflet blocked it with Peck. As the two moves clashed, Rufflet slammed its wing into Drilbur's side on Luke's orders, and then knocked it away with Fury Attack.

"Don't give up, Drilbur, use Fury Swipes!" Jamie instructed.

"Counter it with Wing Attack!"

The two moves met, one a glowing claw, the other a glowing wing. The two struggled to gain the advantage; that is until Drilbur used its free claw to nail Rufflet with Fury Swipes. Two more swipes sent Rufflet skidding backwards. Rufflet wasn't given time to recover, however, as Drilbur careened into the eaglet with a Rapid Spin attack. Rufflet managed to hold Drilbur in place though, and when it lost momentum Rufflet smacked it feet away with Fury Attack.

"Nice, Rufflet, you remembered the strategy!" Luke praised. "Now hold on a bit longer, we can do this."

Rufflet nodded determinedly. Despite the willingness to continue on, Rufflet was starting to get tired, and so was Drilbur. The next few good attacks that connected were going to be the last ones.

"Rufflet, use Hone Claws."

"Drilbur, don't let them do it, use Metal Claw!" Jamie countered. Drilbur raised his gleaming claws at Rufflet and swiped, nailing the eaglet Pokémon (luckily after finishing Hone Claws). On Luke's command, Rufflet took to the air.

Drilbur seemed to smirk and without thought leapt up at Rufflet preparing to use Fury Swipes. Right as the claw was about to hit, Drilbur began falling and crashed to the ground.

'So he figured out how high Drilbur can jump, eh? Well, he has to come and attack Drilbur at some point, so I'll wait'. Jamie thought.

Luke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he had to act fast.

"Rufflet, swoop down with a Wing Attack!"

The eaglet Pokémon swooped down upon Drilbur with surprising speed with its wings spread. Right when Rufflet was going to careen into Drilbur, Drilbur used Rapid Spin and threw off Rufflet's angle! Rufflet went crashing to the ground and rolled a few feet. Rufflet shook it off and took to the air again; he knew Luke needed time to think.

"Clever of you, Jamie," Luke opined.

Jamie nodded. "You're not half bad a strategist either, kid."

Luke sighed, just what was he supposed to do now?

Alright, I'm wrapping it up. I know this chapter's a short one, but I feel like I should stop it here. I haven't updated in forever either. _ So I hope I still have readers and that you guys are enjoying the ff. *Possible silence and/or cricket chirps*

Luke's Pokémon:

Dewott – Level 18 – Razor Shell, Water Gun, Tackle, Water Sport.

Rufflet – Level 18 – Wing Attack, Fury Attack, Hone Claws, Peck.