It's a shorter chapter than usual, but I figured that this would be a good place to end it. The next one will be a longer chapter than usual, I promise. With that out of the way, let's get to it.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 201X - 11:15 PM
ROUTE 203, SINNOH
LOW TEMPERATURE: 61 DEGREES
Lucas hadn't expected that it would be this difficult to fall asleep.
He'd slept in a sleeping bag on a couple of occasions before. When he'd had a sleepover at day camp, they had slept in tents on the camp's grounds, and each camper had brought their sleeping bags with them.
However, this time, things were different. This time, Lucas was not surrounded by a tent. He was lying on the ground, completely exposed to the elements.
He was very grateful indeed that he wasn't being forced to share a sleeping bag. On several occasions, when he had been travelling with his family, he had had to share a bed with Jason, something he had not enjoyed at all, so it really felt good to have one of his own.
Even without someone to share the sleeping bag with, however, he was still lying on the cold, hard ground, something that was difficult to get comfortable on. He told himself that it would only be for one night, that, sometime tomorrow, they would reach Jubilife City, and then he'd be able to sleep in a bed once more.
Lucas supposed that the area was pretty enough. He was surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. They were right on the edge of a forest, and, while it was impossible to tell just what might be inside said forest, he was grateful that they didn't have any plans to enter it at the moment.
They were only a few miles away from Oreburgh City, and that scared him. Even though the city itself was no longer visible from here, the hills surrounding it were just barely possible to make out, even at night. Of course, it was probably much more difficult to see three adolescents in their sleeping bags from those hills, but one simply couldn't know.
After what felt like forever, Lucas was finally able to drift off to sleep. When he did, however, he sank into yet another dream.
He was standing in the middle of a meadow, and it was around midday. He was with Solanna and Andromeda, and they were laying a blanket down on the ground.
It was then that Lucas remembered what they were there for. They had decided to have a picnic lunch there in order to celebrate something. He didn't know what it was. All he did know was that it was a good day for whatever reason.
And it was a beautiful day, perhaps the most beautiful one he'd ever experienced in his life. That was saying something, since the weather in southern Sinnoh, where he lived, was generally quite pleasant during the summer.
Of course, it was quite hot, but there was a rainbow visible. At first, Lucas thought that there must have been a storm recently, but that made no sense, since the ground was completely dry. It was then that Lucas realized something.
The rainbow didn't look like a typical rainbow. Rather, it appeared almost like it was from a cartoon of some sort, with more solid blocks of color than anything. In a way, it looked even more amazing than one that came after a storm.
Did I mention the flowers? They were in a rainbow of colors as well, and they smelled absolutely heavenly.
Did I die and go to heaven?, Lucas wondered. Because this is what I imagine it might look like.
If so, he was pleasantly surprised. In life, he'd never believed in heaven, and it felt weird to actually be there. That said, if he had indeed been allowed to go through the pearly gates, he wasn't complaining; he quite liked being here.
They set out the blanket, and the three trainers sat down there. Orkun, Vinaka, Tai, Soko, and Aparri played in the meadow. It was clear to see that the Lucario was trying to catch one of the many butterflies that were in the air. And this saddened him, knowing that Orkun was engaged in an exercise of futility.
But then something else saddened him. The realization that Orkun was wasting his time was bad enough. This new realization was far worse.
This isn't real.
There was no way that a rainbow could look that fake. It looked like something that might be found on a children's TV show, like My Little Ponyta. If this was real, then he was Arceus.
Solanna opened the picnic basket. "Here you go" she said. "I brought sandwiches, sodas, chips, and a pie".
Indeed, everything looked delicious. The food definitely smelled like it was real. Baguette sandwiches, cans of lemon-lime and root beer, bags of potato chips, and a key lime pie definitely did not appear to be fake.
Lucas grabbed a sandwich. It was lettuce, tomato, pickles, and salami - his favorite type of sandwich. He didn't remember ever telling Solanna this, so it surprised him that she had thought to bring the exact kind of sandwich that he liked the most.
He bit into it, and…it tasted like nothing.
I mean, I know that this is only just a dream, but...nothing sandwiches? What the fuck is up with that?
The more he looked around, the more everything but the rainbow seemed to be real. He could feel the sun on his skin, the wind on his face...there was no way that he was imagining all of that. They just had to be real.
He couldn't be bothered to eat the rest of his sandwich without a swig of root beer. It just wasn't going to happen, so he grabbed the can and took a nice, long drink of it.
The root beer didn't taste like nothing. It tasted worse than nothing, like the disgusting pink liquid that doctors make kids take when they get sick.
Lucas spat out the drink, and it got all over the blanket.
"Lucas! What are you doing?" Andromeda asked frantically. They knew that this wasn't the fun-loving Lucas Snow that they had gotten to know well.
"I'm done with this!" Lucas yelled. "If you think you can get away with making nothing sandwiches and worse-than-nothing root beer, I don't even want to know what the key lime pie tastes like!"
He turned around and ran into the meadow. He ran so far away that, when he finally turned around and looked for any signs of Solanna and Andromeda, there were none.
He was alone.
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 201X - 6:05 AM
ROUTE 203, SINNOH
HIGH TEMPERATURE: 82 DEGREES
Lucas woke up, not knowing whether to feel relieved or sad.
Perhaps relieved, because he hadn't really run away from a picnic he'd been having with the other two trainers. Perhaps sad, because it had been such a beautiful day, and it was a shame that it had been just a figment of his imagination.
He opened his eyes, and then he remembered where he was.
Lucas was lying in his sleeping bag as the sun was rising over the fields of Sinnoh. He remembered that this was Route 203, the route that led from Oreburgh City to Jubilife City. And he remembered just what had happened the previous day.
The young boy shivered when he thought of just how close the group had come to dying. If the rock slide had happened slightly differently, hit a few different places, it was very possible that they would not have been able to dig around it. They could still be down there, running out of air, food, and water.
No matter, he told himself. You need to stop caring, Lucas. What matters is that all of you are alive and well now, and you're going to keep this great journey going. So put a sock in it.
"Putting a sock in it" was easier said than done. Every time he tried to think about something else, his thoughts would go back to the mine. He was quite certain he had some kind of post-traumatic stress, but he didn't want to go and get it diagnosed. He didn't want to make his friends think something was wrong with him.
They already did. Thanks to his autism, they might have thought he was a freak of some sort. As much as he liked to think differently than that, it was very much possible that they saw him that way.
As much as Lucas wanted to get up and walk around, he didn't want to worry the others. There was absolutely no point in walking too far away from them, because then they'd just go looking for him. Besides, the way things were going, he would need friends to talk this over with. He needed friends to help him get over this.
Eventually, both Solanna and Andromeda woke up, thankfully without the aid of an alarm clock. Lucas found those extremely annoying at times, even though he had used one himself at home.
"Good morning, Solanna. Good morning, Andromeda" Lucas said, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible.
"Morning, Lucas" Andromeda said, sounding somewhat tired. "That was quite a day yesterday".
"About that…" the younger boy started saying, but then Solanna cut him off.
"We can't dwell on the past" the girl told both boys. "Let's just head to the next city and try to put that all behind us, because the past will eat you alive if you let it. Just let go, both of you".
Lucas both loved and hated what Solanna had said there. He loved it, because it could very well be a helpful tip for him in the future. He hated it, because he felt as though the girl was being dismissive of his feelings. That wasn't a good feeling at all.
"Let's get out of here" Andromeda suggested. "Honestly, the further away we get from Oreburgh City, the better I'll feel about the whole thing".
Neither of the other two saw any reason to argue with that, so they put their sleeping bags back in their backpacks and started walking once more.
It only took a couple of hours, at their pace, to reach the place they were looking for; the edge of Jubilife City. They'd crested a small hill, or, rather, what had seemed to be a small hill. After that, the area dropped down to reveal an enormous metropolis.
It was easily the largest city Lucas had ever seen, and nothing else even came close. According to Pokepedia, it was the largest city in Sinnoh, containing more than a million people. And, although it was difficult to describe such a large city as beautiful, Lucas couldn't think of a better word to describe what was spread out below him.
Three hundred feet below, in the midst of a forested valley, spread several miles of streets, buildings, and a few parks. There were also skyscrapers, reaching seventy or eighty stories above the ground. It really was quite amazing.
Lucas had been feeling quite tired when he'd made it to the top of the hill. Even though the sleeping bag had been very helpful during the night, and was likely to continue to be helpful in the future, the fact remained that it added more weight to a bag that was already fairly heavy. It wasn't helpful.
They kept walking, this time downhill, which was a welcome break from the uphill climb that they'd already had to get to the top. At first, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, other than the fact that they were going downhill rather than uphill this time.
And then…"Ouch!"
Lucas hadn't realized that he was stepping on something until that word had come out of its mouth. The voice was definitely male, which initially caused Lucas to think that he must have stepped on Andromeda's foot. It wouldn't be the first time; the younger boy was fairly clumsy.
After that, however, he realized that it couldn't have been Andromeda to say that, because the older boy didn't appear to be in pain at all.
He soon realized what it was. He'd stepped on a Machop that had been sitting there on Route 203.
"Watch where you're stepping next time!" the voice exclaimed.
Lucas looked down at the creature. With the tone of voice the Machop was using, he certainly sounded depressed. He didn't understand why the Machop was sad, but it was definitely something that he wanted to figure out.
"Apologize, Lucas" Solanna said firmly.
He saw no reason not to. "I'm sorry that I stepped on you. I wasn't looking where I was going".
"Oh, like that's an excuse. But it doesn't matter. Nobody cares about me. Nobody!"
That was a little extreme, Lucas thought. In his opinion, there was no reason to be that way.
"I care about you" Solanna said. "And, let me tell you, if you were hurt in some way, I would not be able to live with myself. I don't know who your original trainer was, but they must have been a real jerk".
"Oh, they were" Machop said tearfully. "By the way, my name's Bayon. Nice to meet you".
"Nice to meet you as well" Andromeda said. "Solanna, do you want to do the honors?"
The girl was clearly conflicted. She didn't want to catch a Pokemon that had just met them, and take it with them without their consent. At the same time...no, she couldn't think of a good reason, unless…
"Take me" Bayon said. "I'll come with you. It'll be great".
"Are you sure?" Lucas asked. "We're going on a journey".
"I wanted nothing more than to go on a journey" the Machop replied. "I'll go with you guys".
"Nice. Let's get a hotel somewhere, and then we can all introduce ourselves".
Solanna took out her Pokeball and caught Bayon. After that, they all walked into the city.
(Insert a horizontal line here)
At first, Lucas was struck by just how crowded this city was. He supposed that at least part of it was because he was autistic, but that supposition didn't make it any better. Every time a taxi whirred past, he had to cover his ears. It was so loud that he just couldn't cope with it any other way.
"There's no gym leader in Jubilife City" Andromeda said eventually. "Are you thinking that we'll just stay here for a while and train?"
"Not a bad idea" Solanna replied. "Besides, I really do think that we'll enjoy it here. There's so much to see in Jubilife City, and I've heard that the restaurants are absolutely divine.
Lucas, meanwhile, had been walking roughly twenty feet ahead of the other two, carrying Vinaka and Orkun with him in their Pokeballs. Both were currently stashed in his backpack, but, if necessary, he would be able to bring them out fairly easily. He wanted to be ready for any eventuality.
Suddenly, he felt someone grab onto his shoulders and pull him backwards away from the street. Seconds later, a public bus zoomed on past.
"LUCAS!" Solanna shrieked. Judging by the strength of the arms that were holding him back, the boy whose name had just been yelled could tell that it was Andromeda who was restraining him.
"What?" he asked, although he figured that he already knew.
"Were you not restrained just now", Andromeda began to explain, "that bus would have hit you. You need to pay more attention to your surroundings".
Lucas's heart, which until then had been beating at its normal pace, quickened dramatically. He realized, just then, that Andromeda had saved his life, even if it was a little jarring to suddenly be pulled backwards by one of your friends.
"Thanks" Lucas replied. "And sorry. I'll be more careful in the future".
"You almost died right there" Andromeda said. "Almost like when…".
He didn't want to remember the time he had gotten heat stroke and collapsed right in front of Andromeda. At this point, it had gone from a scary memory to an embarrassing one, one that he'd honestly rather have forgotten.
"Let's get away from here" Lucas said. "Let's find a place to have breakfast, while we get to know Bayon. Does that sound like a plan?"
After both Solanna and Andromeda confirmed that they liked the idea, they decided to start looking.
Yeah, I really liked writing that dream sequence there; I found it quite emotional, and there was definitely some drama as Lucas started to realize that it wasn't real.
One note about chapter count: I had initially thought that this was going to be about 40 chapters long. The more I think about it, however, the more convinced I become that it's likely to be closer to 50 chapters. I'm determined to finish it, though!
For the record, Bayon's name is pronounced "BYE-ON". It's not "BAY-ON".
Lucas: Orkun - Lucario: Aura Sphere, Laser Focus, Foresight, Quick Attack, Detect, Metal Claw, Counter, Feint (Level 11). Vinaka - Vulpix: Ember, Tail Whip, Roar (Level 7).
Andromeda: Tai - Turtwig: Tackle, Withdraw (Level 9). Soko - Shinx: Tackle, Leer, Charge, Baby-Doll Eyes (Level 12).
Solanna: Aparri - Charmander: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen (Level 15). Bayon - Machop: Low Kick, Leer, Focus Energy, Karate Chop (Level 8).