Sinnoh's Heir

by kskandury

Lucas is a long-time resident of Twinleaf Town, a diligent son, and best friends with the speedy kid next door, Barry. But a series of tragedies propels him into his own Pokemon journey with a new girl in town, Dawn. As Lucas and his team grow stronger, a shadow grows alongside him, threatening to burn everything Lucas loves. Part of Brendan's Journey and A Hui Hou Kakao's universe

22. Chapter 22: Lost in an Eterna-ty

Not a lot of intro to this chapter. So, here you go! I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas and I hope you'll have a happy New Year, but with that said—here's the new chapter.

Chapter 22: Lost in an Eterna-ty

"You know what I have to do, Barry," Lucas growled, his arms twitching as his brow furrowed. "I'm not going to let this chance escape. A chance to make things… perfect."

"Lucas, that's not how this works. You know that. I can't let you do this."

"Fine then," Lucas smirked, "Give me an alternative."

"I can't give one right now!" Barry spat back in frustration, "But that doesn't make what you're doing right."

"There's no other way to fix what happened. I want to see her again, Barry. I didn't get to say goodbye. To either of them."

"Lucas," Barry said in a suspended moment of sympathy as the corners of mouth dropped and his face momentarily relaxed, "I know what that's like. I… wish I could. Everyday. But it's not supposed to happen. There are things we can do, things we have the power to do, but that doesn't mean they're the things that we should do. Nobody is meant to have that kind of power. Use your head, not your heart: they were sealed away for a reason, and your pain isn't the right reason to unleash that power."

"Hm, I'm way beyond reason, Barry. Ironic, I know, but the toughest branch snaps the hardest. Stop trying to fix this," Lucas calmly but angrily spoke back as he pulled a Pokeball from his bag, "But I can break you," he flared as the wind gusted across the rocky, shattered marble on the cold, misty mountaintop.

"We're… brothers," Barry said with a shattered expression before steeling his nerves and standing upright. "This isn't how we're supposed to do this. I don't want to do this," he said as he pulled out his own Pokeball.

"Don't worry. When I'm done, none of this will matter anyway," Lucas smiled. Both of them released their Pokeballs with a blinding white light that obscured the entire scene, throwing Lucas back into the blue tunnel as he fell through again. "I… this feels too real. Make it stop," Lucas thought, paralyzed and trembling as he kept flailing and falling endlessly through the same blue tunnel he'd grown familiar with. "This is that sleep paralysis/lucid dreaming thing, right? It's got to be. Come on, Lucas. Snap out of it. It's fake. Snap out of it!" he worriedly thought to himself as he tried to flail and kick his muscles into hopefully knocking him into real motion into the real world.

But he just deviated he trajectory down the tunnel and slammed into the blue wall again, phasing through into a translucent blue emptiness that suddenly faded into another scene. He was still falling, but now he could feel a cool wind on his face. He closed his eyes, for a moment, the panic subsided.

But only for a moment. He was throttled into a worried frenzy as the scene around him pierced through the blue with sudden clarity. He suddenly wasn't falling anymore. He was on the ground, a tough, muddy, rocky terrain on a steep cliffside in high, cloud-filled altitudes somewhere. He was standing upright, standing next to Dawn as a bright flash on the edge of his vision flashed. "Houndoom, Heat Wave!" a deep, growling voice thundered.

He didn't choose what happened next. He never chose anything in these visions, but this one felt… instinctive. A blinding red light seared its way toward her, melting and igniting things as it charged past, just as he threw himself onto her, squeezing her tightly in a protective embrace as his momentum threw both of them into over the ledge of the slope, falling again into an unsettling grayish opaqueness. He closed his eyes, shuddering in panic as he still held onto her, sheltering her from the debris flung by the missed attack and the incoming ground below them as much as he could.

"Lucas," she lightly said to him, as he flashed open his eyes from the panic. She seemed concerned, her expression giving her care and worry for him away as she called his name out again, this time shaking the entire scene and seemingly his mind's stability. "Lucas!"

Lucas slammed awake, every muscle in his body reflexively tightening with incredible strength as though he was convulsing while he was still in bed as his eyes flashed open "Lucas! Wake up!" a familiar voice said to him with the same tone of worry from his dream. "A-are you okay?" she stammered. He was clinging to Dawn. He'd thrown every appendage he could around her and seemed to try to seal her into his embrace. "Heh, you're, uh, holding a little… tightly," she managed to lightly gasp out before he quickly relaxed his grip and pushed himself off.

"I'm sorry, Dawn. Are you okay?" he apologized as he sat upright in an uncomfortably humid sweat as he heaved breaths rapidly. He sent his hand through his hair, feeling the heat exude from his forehead as moved the hair from in front of his face. He slammed his palm into the side of his bed as he grounded himself back in reality.

"I'm fine, Lucas. Another bad dream?"

"Another one, Yeah."

"Was it the same one?"

"No. Not really, it was just weird," he shrugged. "I'm sorry I woke you up," he apologized. "I don't know what's up with my mind tonight. This never happens."

"Don't apologize," she smiled, pushing his forehead, "It's not like you mean for it to happen, anyway," she wearily said. "Do you want a drink of water or something?"

"I'm fine now. I… don't even remember what it was about anymore," he yawned. Lucas took a quick look at the clock next to him. "It's 4 in the morning. You should get some sleep, Dawn," he said as he slowly pushed her back into bed, tucking her in.

"And you?" she mumbled as she closed her eyes.

"I don't think I can go back to sleep," he sighed, "not in a sweaty mess like this. We're going to head to Eterna Forest tomorrow, and we've also got to Arthur's house today, too. I think I'll start planning things out. We need to get moving soon," he said as he gently patted her before pulling the covers over her and rolling her off the bed. "Besides, you need your rest after that contest." Dawn didn't say anything as she drifted off quietly, her slow breathing the only sound left in the room as Lucas smiled, stretched, and moved off of the bed. "Hm," he sighed as he leaned over to kiss her cheek as she slept. "Hard to leave you when you look that adorable while you're sleeping, Dawn," he thought to himself before cracking his knuckles and marching to the bathroom.

He quietly brushed his teeth and stepped into the shower as he turned it to the coldest possible setting, the freezing torrent of water jarring him awake as he stiffened up from the chill before cooling his fiery mind off from the fright of the nightmare, leaning his head back against the tile wall. "I don't understand," he sighed, thinking out loud, "It's the same dream every time. The blue tunnel, a flash, I fall out, and that… man is there. Was he even there this time? Am I… forgetting or hallucinating?" Lucas tried recalling random bits and pieces of the dream as best he could, but nothing seemed to sink or settle anywhere in his memory. "He was wearing a grey… spacesuit? Was he Galactic? Where have I seen him before?" he sighed.

He walked out, dried up and stepped into some comfortable clothes as he looked at the mirror. Johanna always told him he looked a lot like his father. He never believed her, but at the time he was still fairly young, and he couldn't tell who he really looked like and neither could he care. But now, he could see she was right. He had his mother's eyes and hair, but his face was otherwise unmistakably his father's.

He combed his hair and walked out, pulling some notebook paper and a pen from his bag as he took a deep sigh, writing down and organizing everything he knew about Team Galactic, who was involved, where they were, and what he thought their motives could be. He made himself a cup of coffee in between his work, taking in the energizing, warm beverage as the sun began to rise outside, giving an igniting yellow tint to the room and the landscape.

"We've got a whole day in front of us," he sighed. "Should be plenty of time to get moving," he said as he did a quick run in his mind of all of the gyms he knew were in the Sinnoh circuit before realizing how much he truly didn't know. "I don't even know all of the type effectiveness rules," he thought, "I don't even know all the names of all the gym leaders. Tournaments, rules, play styles, regulations—Arceus I'm working in the fuckin' dark, here." He pulled the page to the side as he opened a fresh page, clicking his pen as he pulled out a laptop from his bag beside him, pulling up a swath of tabs on types, styles, strategies, and history, Pokemon team compositions and rarities, racking up his mind with as much information as he could.

He loved combat. He loved to fight. But, he knew this was one thing he was good at—studying. James always told him that a strong opponent can never beat a smart one, and Lucas took that advice with him everywhere he went. The sun began to move across the sky from behind the mountains as the clock began to edge on 10 o'clock. Lucas' pen still burned away at the paper as his eyes moved rapidly between the screen and the notebook, his hand transcribing and his mind organizing volumes of data as quickly as he could while he thanked himself for having a day with no schedule.

It wasn't much later that he decided to look at some of the trending approaches to battling and attack strategies for his Pokemon when he stumbled across some news articles, spotting a name that he was learning to become familiar with: Brendan Maple. "Hm," he said as he read an article about the rising Hoenn trainer's string of victories through five gyms, "You don't see a name appear that often in the news…" he trailed as he clicked on a prominent article written by ONBS, one of his most trusted reporting organizations who gave the devotion to content and reality than gossip or opinion on a matter.

His fingers slid against the trackpad of the old laptop ran through the article, digesting every letter at lightning speed. "Brendan Maple, an eighteen-year-old trainer from Littleroot… beat Rock-Type, Fighting-Type, Electric-Type, Fire-Type, and Normal-Type gyms in under a year, a record time… clinched the win over his father, the new but famed Petalburg City gym leader Norman—this kid's serious." he paused. "He put down those eco-terrorists, saved his girl from a criminal kidnapping, and he's stackin' W's like pancakes… I might want to try something similar to what he's doing," he muttered lowly in a contemplative tone. He then kept reading, randomly muttering chunks aloud in the silence of the morning, "A diverse suite of strategies that grows with each gym. The most prominent Pokemon from his team is a…" he paused again and squinted, "A Gardevoir…" he trailed as he struggled to read the next part, "… she's capable of communicating verbally with humans, unlike other Psychics…a Fairy-Psychic—nope. Nope nope nope," he said with a flat tone. "Yeah, I'll have to get my wins my own way. He's him and I'm me, and I can't play nice with Fairy types," he said as he shook his head with a knowing smile as he kept reading through.

He realized quickly that there was something innate and earned about Brendan's skill. Between the versatility used against opponents and his refusal to depart from core strategies and basics, he was operating a lethal team of Pokemon that was shredding through Hoenn's gym circuit like a shaving razor. He clicked his pen halfway through, writing down everything he found important from the reported strategies and statistics that the Hoenn circuit released about the battles he had with their gym leaders. "That Gardevoir is lethal," he muttered to himself, "Most of the leaders don't have an effective counter ready, and even if they did, Brendan's knocking them out with other Pokemon…"

He kept scrolling through the article, occasionally checking the reference link for his released trainer statistics and comparing them to other trainers who lost to the gym leaders recently with various suits of Pokemon teams. "He's gonna be the champion," he muttered to himself as he zoned out of his cerebral analysis and for the first time that day tried to take in the details raw with the instincts for battle he'd honed over his entire life. "You heard it here first," he chuckled as he finished the last sentence of the article. "With the numbers and victories as they are, Brendan and his girlfriend May seem to be set on a powerful trajectory that would put them not only at the front of their respective arts but on the front of Hoenn's struggle against Team Aqua and Galactic."

"Hard at work, I see," a familiar voice gently spoke behind him as he felt warm arms embrace him from behind as she put her head on his shoulder, "You just never stop working, huh?" she said as she gazed at all of his papers placed out in front of him, nuzzling her cheek against his. "Let's see what you're working on…" she trailed as she looked at his writing as she picked up one of his papers, "Eight effective ways to delete fairy-types and ground-types. 1. Save Caesar for shitting on Fairy Types," she paused as she lowered her eyelids to give him a questioning look as Lucas returned a smirk while averting her gaze before she kept reading, "2. Ground types are too durable to hit with attackers—use Caesar to deliver big hits and Galahad to finish off weaker targets—sheesh, what's with all this stuff?"

"It's… how I can win. I'm not good enough on my own, er… I don't have the raw talent, unlike him," he said, gesturing to Brendan's name on the screen, "But if I can coach and chess my Pokemon through a battle, I'll be a menace on the battlefield."

"Well, I hate studying," she joked, "So what do you want to do today?"

"Hm… I was thinking just to train and try to get our strengths up for tomorrow's trek through Eterna and the battles and contests after that."

"No. No training," she said pressing herself up against him, "No reading," she said as she closed his laptop, "No studying," she smiled at him as she closed his books and unclicked his pen. There was a gentle glimmer in her blue eyes as Lucas felt the warm weight of her body press against him.

"Th-then what do you want to do?"

"I wanted to spend some time with you. Alone," she smiled as she pressed her head closer to his.

"Uh, no," Lucas said, shaking his head as he knocked himself out of her entrancing gaze. "You're making this hard for me," he apologetically said as he stroked her hair "but I know I've got to work today. Besides, we're going to Arthur's house for dinner tonight, and I want to make sure that I've got the best information on Galactic… and I know that my first job is as a trainer—I've got to stay on top of things if I want to become champion, right? I mean you saw Brendan—everyone's got their way of out-classing their competition… and this is mine."

"So you don't want to spend time with me?" she pouted, letting her expression argue for her.

Lucas nuzzled her a bit more: "After I finish this."

"No, now," she protested.

"You can't just say that," he laughed, "Give me some time—after lunch, I promise," he smiled.

"Fine. But I'm holding you to that promise," she said as she left his shoulder slowly, making her way over to the restroom.

Lucas chuckled to himself as he dragged the capped side of his pen across the paper, thinking to himself as he reoriented his thoughts to where he left off. "Oh right, type counters," he thought to himself as he began writing scribbling away in his book again, the soft scratching of the nib against the paper filling the air as the sound of the shower turned on.

"Lucas," Dawn prodded gently while she looked at a sleeping mess of a boy in front of her. His mouth was open, his cap was falling off, and he was sprawled like a dead bird all over his papers and work in front of him. "Lucas!" she said a little louder, jabbing her finger into his ribs as he bounced awake like a bullet from a gun.

"Gah! What the hell, Dawn?!" he exclaimed as he grabbed his side, "That actually hurt!"

"We have to go to Arthur's house, remember? Look outside," she said as she pointed to the darkening sky "It's almost six o'clock," she smiled, "You should get ready."

"Six? H-how long have I been sleeping?!" he asked, half-surprised, half horrified. "I swear I just closed my eyes for like five minutes!"

"Well, you woke up really early today. You worked for like a couple of hours after I came out of the shower and you were knocked out cold before lunch. Just like that. I didn't want to wake you up, though."

"Why? I needed to get up and work, anyway."

"No, you needed to get some sleep. If you fall asleep in the middle of something like that, it means it's unhealthy for you to stay awake any longer," she informed.

"Okay, mum," he deadpanned as he got up before she bopped him on the head.

"Hey!" he said as he batted her arm away, "You're getting very used to hitting me and stuff with no consequences," he argued.

"What're you going to do about it?"

"I will…" he trailed as he rose from his seat, the height difference between him and Dawn as his frame towered nearly a half a foot above her. "Take this from you," he smirked, pulling her phone out of her hand and holding it high above his head.

"Hey! Gimme that!" she demanded, jumping up to reach it although it was over a foot and a half out of reach at that point while Lucas waved it around, teasing her as he switched it from hand to hand just as she got close. "I said give it back!"

"I will, but you have to promise not to wake me up by jabbing me in the ribs," he offered as he still played with her.

"Fine, fine, fine," she quickly agreed, "Can I please have it back?"

"Alright," Lucas said, bringing the phone into her reach, although she wasn't completely sure if he was going to mess with her and pull it out of reach again, but he stuck to his word and returned it to her before turning to the bathroom to make a quick change of his clothes into something more fit for a dinner invitation.
Dawn made her own quick change of clothes not long after, and the strolled down the Pokemon Center's lobby together, collecting their Pokemon that Lucas left to heal the night before they walked outside.

Lucas removed the small, brown piece of parchment on which Arthur wrote down directions to his house while Lucas was still in the hospital. It was written in fine, cursive handwriting: perfect penmanship in the appearance and tracing of letters yet perfectly legible and functional as a writing method, unlike what Lucas had seen many kids his age do with cursive. "Who still uses parchment?" Dawn asked as she looked at the eccentric method of message delivery that Lucas held in his hands.

"Apparently, Arthur does. Some people just like the scratch of the pen's nib against parchment over paper. Besides, if you have a fountain pen, and I'm sure based on his handwriting on the note that he does, then that preference of writing medium is going to be more pronounced."

"How do you know about all this stuff," she asked, leaning on to him as she loved to do while she held his hand, gazing at the lively but not hustled atmosphere of Floaroma around her. She'd won her first contest here. She'd had her first kiss here. She became a whole new person by the time she'd walked into and out of the borders of this immensely floral, rich, and culturally vibrant town, and it ached in her as she realized she'd be leaving the next day.

"About what?" Lucas asked, as he traced her gaze around the town while she looked at the various, estates, cars, gates, and bodies of water and plants that lined the roads, streets, and brick avenues that spawned the town's luxurious residences and facilities.

"About… everything. It's like you know a whole bunch about stuff about all these things that nobody would expect you to know, but you do, and you're perfect explaining and sharing them with everyone else. I mean, I don't even know how a fountain pen works or how to write with it?"

Lucas just began chuckling at her statement, the low pitch of his laughter resonating in Dawn as she kept leaning herself on him. "What's so funny? I didn't say a joke or something."

"Dawn, what's the difference between body cream and body lotion?" he asked. Dawn took a moment to think: she tried to process his tone to see if this was a question he was genuinely looking for an answer for or if he was just asking to see if she knew.

"Easy, body cream is usually a moisturizing mixture for your skin that has a greater component of oil in the mixture, so it's usually a bit less runny and leaves super soft skin, but you also need a quite a bit because it's thick and doesn't really spread. Lotion is a more water-based than an oil-based mixture, so it's a bit runnier, it can dissolve special vitamins and nutrients for your skin, but it also feels super greasy when you put it on a hot day. So I'd say use body cream for that extra touch of moisture and healthy skin and lotion for more regular—"

"Okay, okay," Lucas interrupted, laughing again, "You get my point, right?"

"What point? You just asked me a question."

"Dawn, there is not a single man on Earth who could have answered that question on the fly. Because men's products are like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, body wash, toothpaste, lighter fluid, and gasoline in an all-in-one product. But you knew about that, and you were ready to go off on a full essay about the difference between a cream and a lotion. You know about some things really well, and I know about some things really well. You can't draw a line because the reasons we pick our subjects and the subjects we pick: they make us human, unique."

"That was a really beautiful way of putting it," Dawn said with a light squeeze of his hand as they traveled down a the meandering brick road back into the heart of town where they ate their dinner the night before.

"Yeah, but let's be honest, the things I like to know have proven to be a lot more useful for us so far," he joked, earning a flat, jokingly displeased look from Dawn.

The clacking of their shoes against the pathway continued on for only a few more minutes until they reached a considerable estate with a massive bordering tract of land. A beautiful green metal gate with the design of trees and grape vines blocked their entrance. As two guards stood at the entrance in a grey uniform. The beige estate with flat, multi-tiered mahogany-colored roofs looked over that section of the town from its perch on the hill while periphery buildings, guest houses, and facilities seemed placed like around like a crowd around a leader.

"Arthur lives… here?" Dawn asked, a gaping look of surprise on her face as she and Lucas stared at the massive expanse of buildings and estate before them in front of rolling green acres.

"I would have never expected this from a researcher, but… he could own a share in the plant. He could also be your average citizen from Floaroma," he chuckled as they approached a guard in front of the house in a jet black uniform, a badge with the name of the company that employed him, and a black police cap. He had a defined build and an authoritative, almost intimidating presence as he instantly locked eyes in their direction, walking over from his post at the gate at a reasonable pace.

"I'm sorry sir, you're not permitted to enter beyond this point," he said politely, though one hand was at his side where Lucas could tell he had a gun. "Please stand back," he said more firmly.

Dawn seemed to be in a mix between a puzzled and terrified look. "I understand," Lucas said as he halted himself and Dawn, raising the wrinkled piece of parchment in one hand. "I've got a note from Arthur," he explained, waving the note a bit for the guard to see he wasn't a threat, "We're both here on an invitation," he said as he thought for a moment about any other proofs he could summon to get entrance, "You can ask Arthur; he'll confirm the same. Just mention our names: Lucas and Dawn," he said, gesturing to himself and Dawn as he extended the note to the guard who cautiously picked it up, looked at the handwriting, gave a slight nod, and went back to his post where he picked up a small communication device and held it to his ear as the golden-orange sunset began to shift to hues of blues, violets, and pinks on the shadows and tufts of the clouds that dotted the crisp wintry sky.

Lucas couldn't really make out what the guard was saying, but he could hear his and Dawn's name being repeated a couple of times on both lines as the guard slowly walked back to them. "Thank you for complying, sir. You may proceed. Arthur told me to tell you to meet him in the hall of the main estate. Just walk straight up the path," he said, pointing up the hill that led to the perch of the estate, "And it's the first room inside. He'll receive you there," he guided, motioning for a guard in a toll booth to open the massive gates.

The gates opened quietly, opening their grand wings as Lucas and Dawn walked inside, slowly and in absolute awe as they marveled at the beauty around them. "I-I don't understand," Dawn began, taking in the feeling of her and Lucas' presence in this luxurious, pristine tract of paradise around them, "How is it that we keep running into people who can buy the world with a snap of their fingers?"

"Well, this is just Floaroma. Just the countryside and downtown of Floaroma, really. You've been to Littleroot; the rest of Sinnoh isn't like this. Each town… it has its own signature. Literally, the original governors of Sinnoh, when they first joined together to form the nation, wrote their signatures representing the towns and cities they led on our first national governing document."

"You really have a passion for Sinnoh, huh?" Dawn asked as she began to sense a pattern of thought.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Where you're born doesn't matter, but where you're made does. Whatever I am now, it was made here. Grown here."

"Well, I was born and raised in Kanto, but, I'm finding it just comfortable here in Sinnoh. Well, if I got used to the weather," she chuckled. "But Floaroma is living up to its name. This place is like a little Kalos in Sinnoh."

"Don't compare Kalos to Sinnoh," Lucas laughed as they reached the top of the hill, looking out onto the vast estate that lay before them.

They walked to the massive, mahogany door that loomed over them, dwarfing even Lucas' relatively tall frame as he rapped on the wood with the brass knock-knob on the front. "Just a moment, sir," a posh voice with a Galarian accent answered from inside, "I'll be there shortly." The door had a deep resounding thud and swish of air as it opened, sonorously deflecting the sound off the walls of the spacious hall inside. "Come in, sir," A man in a tuxedo said to the two, politely beckoning them in as he walked from the door he opened.

"Thank you," Dawn responded with a light smile as she and Lucas slowly made their way in. Lucas took off his jacket while Dawn removed hers right after, with both placing them over their right forearms.

"Please, make yourself comfortable here," the butler smiled at the two of them.

"Thank you, Mr…" Dawn trailed.

"You may address me as Mr. Diggs," he responded, "Now, if you'd like, I can bring you some refreshments, perhaps some tea, coffee, or mulled hot chocolate should warm you up nicely?"

"Oh, no thank you," Dawn sweetly replied, although any one of those drinks sounded like what she absolutely needed at the time. "I'll try them later," she promised herself, though she doubted she'd have to courage to ask.

"Alright, then," Mr. Diggs nodded, "Now, I have chores to attend to in the second dining hall and kitchen, so I'll be away for a short while, but you two can seat yourself here. I'm sure Arthur'll be here shortly," he addressed as he turned to the door, clicking the locks in place as the sound of metal against the woodwork rang out in the hall again before he went back inside to the east wing of the estate, down a red-carpeted hall with busts of several people lining the beige walls lighted with small chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

Lucas and Dawn sat next to each other, trying to walk with absolute deliberateness, accuracy, and precision in their movements in their attempt to fit in with the grandiose and spectacular arrangements around them. They sat on a satin sofa, exquisitely embroidered in gold around the creases as it sat on the dark, wood floor that reflected the golden-purple light that danced from the sunset sky outside through the gentle sparkle of glass that mixed with the steady yellow light from the massive candle-chandeliers above them in the center. It seemed to be something that was so classic, a room that adhered to the beauty of architecture and design that'd survived the test of time, yet a piece of expression that revealed into the future.

The entrance hall appeared to be one piece, but it was really two rooms seamlessly fused for one marvelous aesthetic. The dark-wood of the beginning portion of the hall seemed to give the quiet, homely and cozy appearance to guests while its high ceiling and expansive lengths gave a grandiose and expansive feeling that accommodated all of the furnishings, couches, and paintings that were hung in it to greet guests. Yet right ahead from a portion of the room based on highlighting the beauty of internal architecture in 4 closed walls were two massive glass doors that led a drawing-room that drew upon the breath of sunlight from it's massive glass hemisphere that formed its back wall as it faced the sunset. On its left and right walls were shelves of books with rich, dark colors and embroidered title texts on their spines that, though indiscernible, attracted Lucas' eye from all the way in the beginning portion of the room so far away. Inside the drawing room were arrangements of tables, writing materials splayed on a massive longitude-table that occupied the middle, easels and stands, and several splays of canvas paper-sized sheets of parchment.

Lucas and Dawn seemed to humble each other out of existence until they heard a familiar voice call from above them. Lucas quickly looked up to see Arthur waiving form the top of a spiral staircase almost two stories above, though there were easily three stories above him as well. He was certainly not dressed in clothing that Lucas had seen him in earlier, the simple, pristine lab coat and glasses were gone, and a styled suit and black tie were fitted on him perfectly in their place. "Lucas! Dawn!" he greeted from above, "How nice of you to come tonight! I'll be there in a moment, just wait, if you don't mind," he quickly said as he left the side of the railing he was speaking from, walking down a spiral staircase that went up in spiral squares instead of a pure curve, once again blending classic and modern concepts seamlessly.

The sound of footsteps seemed to reach the last flight of stairs as Arthur appeared from behind a pillar that supported the entire set of stairs as he rounded the final corner. "Ah, Lucas, Dawn! How good it is to see you two! I've hope you've been well—Dawn, my daughters would not let me miss your contest at all, and I'm glad they didn't: we're all absolutely stunned with you skill!" he complimented, shaking both of their hands exuberantly. "Oh, we've much to talk about and not much time. What say you to having a nice cup of tea to warm the appetite in the drawing-room first—perhaps with some hors d'ouvre—and I can introduce you to my wife and daughter before we head to dinner, huh?"

"That sounds awfully nice of you," Lucas thanked, "I really can't say how truly amazing it is to be in a… place like this," he somewhat sheepishly said as he thought of his simple, tiny home.

"I know what you're thinking—a researcher lives in a place like this? My family owned most of this land for generations before it was of any real value, but since my grandfather's time, it has skyrocketed. Just to be safe, though, I started the Valley Windworks after some breakthrough research I did about energy extraction in grad-school as a safer venture in case this real-estate bet didn't always work, but, after what happened the other day, I think that's a bit ironic," he shrugged. "But now that you're here, we can throw that behind us, yeah?"

"Right, but I think perhaps we should reserve some time to discuss, uh, matters," Lucas weakly hinted, not wanting to burn the warm and hearty greeting Arthur extended them by mentioning Galactic, but he didn't want the purpose of the occasion to go unfulfilled either.

"I see you're a man of business, Lucas," Arthur chuckled, "Right to the point. I suppose we will eventually come to it, I promise. I have collected some intelligence and I have quite the number of theories to posit. That drawing room is full of the musings and discussions of me and some logicians from Jubilife University nearby. We both wanted to pool resources to try to reveal more about Galactic and their motivations and havoc," he said, pointing to the drawing-room, "But let's not forget, you're not just here on business. I want to thank you two. I thought I lost Ana that day," he said with a bit of painful remorse, "But… you brought her back to me. You didn't just save me and Ana, you saved most of Sinnoh from suffering a crippling power surge and outage. You saved the research and life's work of many learned men and women. This is what I can offer as a small token of thanks," Arthur humbly said.

"It's not necessary, really, but I must say, some respite is appreciated after yesterday's contest," Dawn said as Arthur led the two to the drawing-room, where he walked to an intercom system built into the wall and asked the chef to prepare some small pieces of hors d'ouvre for the three. "I've got to ask, though," Dawn began, "Where's Ana?"

"Oh, she's at a winter recital for her class. She and her brother are singing carols and whatnot, so Clarisse went to watch them, but I stayed behind. Someone had to receive you two," he chuckled, "And don't tell Clarisse this, but I don't think that I'd have made it through the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I can't do recitals: Clarisse can, though, so I suppose I've been spared guilt for now."

Lucas perused through the papers and mappings on the table. Some maps had all of the attacks that Galactic had conducted in Sinnoh till then, and in other areas, there seemed to be a list of financial tracks of investment and income of the Galactic incorporation in Veilstone, trying to draw parallels between the sudden and vigorous financial expansion of the company and the emerging violence of the terrorist group. "Did you hear about what Galactic is doing in Oreburgh, then," Lucas somberly asked, pointing to a red pin placed on a map in the center of Oreburgh in a Sinnoh map of Galactic attacks.

"Yes," Arthur gravely nodded, turning to him. "We heard from news reports that the local news stations revealed that day, but for whatever reason, none of the major news networks would dare touch it. We think there's coercion or money going between Galactic and these news organizations, but we have only brains to speculate, not brawns to affirm," he said with a dejected look, "But, how did you come to know of what they did in Oreburgh?"

"I beat the gym leader there, and by then, I'd had my fair share of run-ins with these people. Twice in Jubilife… I, uh, eliminated one of them in Jubilife," he guiltily said as she shot an apologetic look at Dawn before continuing, "And the Oreburgh gym leader told me that Galactic was harvesting material that weakened some psychic Pokemon to the point of death and seemed to lie about its contents and use as they shipped it off. He, uh, also said his hands were tied and that there wasn't nearly enough evidence for any action."

"But," Dawn began, "It didn't sound like he was hiding anything. I think that… someone in the government, not a leader or person with enforcing authority like a gym leader, but unelected bureaucrats are behind this."

"Sinnoh has an honest and true government. I trust that even if they make poor decisions, they won't make decisions to the influence of some corporation or terrorist group," Lucas immediately defended, suddenly defensive about Sinnoh's image, "There's got to be another explanation for how they're getting away with these things."

"Perhaps, you're right, Lucas. I wish you were, but for now, Dawn's right, mid and high-level corruption and collusions are the best explanation for the publicly explicit but politically silent dealings of Galactic so far, but wherever they're getting to fund these operations, the corporation and the terrorists, they're smart about sharing no common links except for their names. There just… is nothing that remotely relates the two except the uptick in both of their activities and unprecedented expansion, but that could just be a pure coincidence."

"It may be a coincidence, but I think it's more than that. Team Rocket in Kanto needed to get their weapons from somewhere, and I think that this material the Galactic mining corporation is trying to move out of Veilstone might be a—"

"Weapon," all three said at once before a period of short silence followed.

"But why?" Lucas said out of the silence, "Why a weapon for psychic Pokemon in particular? Why not just bring Dark-Type Pokemon to do the job? And why keep it a secret?" Arthur asked.

"Hm," Lucas lightly laughed, "Every time we think we've got something, more holes just open up in the prosecution. We don't know anything about them that they probably are fine with us knowing," Lucas glumly sighed, throwing his hands on the drawing table.

"That's where you're wrong, Lucas. There's one thing you and Dawn should know that will give you an edge: it's the best finding that I can offer, but it should be something that changes how you deal with Galactic hereon," he prefaced while Lucas and Dawn brought their hands to their chin in a contemplative posture.

"What's that?" Lucas said as he walked up to the massive glass dome attachment that was the rear wall of the room as the evening colors finally gave way to blended hues of the dark violets of dusk outside.

"We think that Galactic is after some kind of force. Some kind of weapon, machine, or Pokemon—we don't exactly know what—but we think we know what this is supposed to do. Some of the attacks and raids they've done, they've gone and released a video about the intent of the attack and what their goal is for their operations."

"Like statements of intent?"

"Exactly. But they're very short, and they only really emphasize one thing: that they're not after people or individuals, even, just the 'methods and means to bring the impure spirit to an end as a new universe begins.' Lucas, we think they're trying to create a means that messes with entropy, something that can bring a chaotic pile of rubble back into its original form of stacked bricks. They want to reinitiate creation."

"Like… creation creation?" Dawn asked.

"Well, we don't know for sure. Their goals are vague. We don't even know what they mean by end the human spirit. And really, saying 'creation' might just be a metaphor, but we logged here," he said, "a list of possible motives of operations based on their attacks and their statements," Arthur said as he walked over to the table to pick up several sheets of paper with lists and tables. "Look here, this attack was a week ago, actually. Lucas, you were here, right?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah," Lucas and Dawn both replied together as they recollected the aggressive and horrifying attack they saw that day.

"They attacked Professor Rowan, you told me, and they tried to take his research on…"

"The evolution of Pokemon," Dawn filled in.

"Right, so they're clearly interested in some format about Pokemon, their genetics, maybe their origins and development. We don't know. But we know for a fact that Rowan's research contained some material that they deemed crucial to their goals. Look, here's my point—right now, we have enough pieces to know that we're working with a puzzle. We don't even have pieces to begin putting them together, really, but if we treat each instance like a piece, analyze it, and stop them at every turn, I think, Lucas and Dawn, what happened to me and Ana that day won't have to happen to anyone else in Sinnoh ever again."

"Alright," Lucas acquiesced, "What are we looking at so far?"

"Whatever it is they want, it needs a lot of energy to make. They also want something to do with the study of Pokemon evolutions, primordial origins, maybe. And finally, they're doing something with Psychic-Types… but that's all we know now. As I said, none of these pieces seem to fit anywhere, and they say nothing about the other but we know them to be true. It's a start."

"It's a start," Dawn nodded.

"A start for us to unravel them. If I see these guys again, this time I'll make sure to keep one behind. Maybe we can squeeze something out of him," he almost angrily said as he looked at the emptiness of the big picture when it came to Galactic, cracking his knuckles as he balled them into a tight fist before he looked at Dawn's pleading, dissuading expression from the corner of his eye as he let go.

"Well, that covers matters for Galactic. What's more important than what we know so far is how we can know more. Lucas, you and I are some of the few people in Sinnoh who see this problem as our responsibility to fix, and—"

"No, no, wait," Lucas suddenly interrupted, recalling what the nurse at the Pokemon Center said to him the day before, "I know that some people think that… this is my job. That I should what I did in the lab that day again and hunt down Galactic until they're gone… but…"

"But?" Dawn and Arthur asked simultaneously.

"But… I can't afford it. I made a promise," he said with a quick glance at Dawn, "I'll erase them if they're in my field of view, but I'm not going to go looking for them," he sheepishly said before assuming his confidence again. "I'm sorry, and I know it's a bit self—"

"Don't be sorry. What you're asking for… it's fair," Arthur nodded. "You've already done what many a man in this country cannot out of sheer good will, and you have every right and reason to avoid any more conflict with these people. I understand," he nodded, "But note: these people are not ordinary. Not if, but when they appear in your field of vision, Lucas, deal with them carefully," he said as Mr. Diggs opened the door with a platter full of small slices of baguette bread with an olive oil, rosemary, and pesto-basil-based dip.

"As you asked for, sir," he said with a slight nod, "Shall I make preparations for dinner?"

Arthur gave a quick glance at the dusk sky and then his watch, "Oh, yes. Clarisse and the kids will be here soon, too," he smiled as he looked back up. Mr. Diggs once again nodded and left in the direction he came as Arthur turned back to Lucas and Dawn. "Well, I've told you everything I know, and vice versa, but what's important is that with this information, we can do the right thing with foresight instead of just improvising when it comes to these guys," he smiled. "Now, how about we—" Ding-dong! A bell sounded by the door Lucas and Dawn came from. Ding-dong. It sounded again. "Oh, it looks like they're here!" Arthur cheerfully said, opening the door from the drawing-room as he led Lucas and Dawn to the front door. "I'm coming, hold on, sheesh!" he called out.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. Arthur quickly sprang over to the door and opened it. Dong. The bell finished chiming as a young boy, maybe only a couple of years older than Ana was giggled outside next to his little sister. He smiled as he removed his finger from the doorbell.

"Arnold, you'll break the doorbell!" Arthur chided while Ana laughed. "Come in, you two. Where is mom?"

"Right here," a sweet voice chimed, rounding the corner of the house and into view. "I parked the car, that's all," she smiled. "I see these two have done something in the meantime?" she laughed, giving a smirk at her two kids. She was tall and black-haired, almost the same height as Arthur and Lucas. She quickly took notice of Dawn and Lucas next to Arthur. "Oh! I take it you're Dawn and Lucas?" she asked, "I'm Clarisse," she said shaking their hands. "This is—"

"Hi!" Ana said with a grin, running up and giving a small hug to Dawn as Dawn knelt down and gave a hug back.

Needless to say, dinner went smoothly, and it was exactly the kind of thing Lucas and Dawn missed so much: spending time with people. Wonderful scents of spices stuck to their clothes as the happy memories of the night flowed peacefully in their minds. The evergreen tree in the warm, carpeted living room by the fireplace was decorated in bright, appealing colors. Hot food on a cold night with a warm atmosphere—he hadn't felt this… at home for a while. A long while. He and Dawn thanked Arthur, making their way back out into the cold again as they trodded across the cold of the night, the stars sparkling in the sky as the lights of Floaroma popped out one by one.

"So, where are we headed now?" Dawn asked, bumping herself into Lucas' shoulder playfully.

"We've got our equipment, so I say we hit Eterna Forest now."

"Now? But it's so cold outside!" she complained.

"Oh no, we should be fine. I can set up a fire. We have Pokemon to protect us and warm the tent with, thank you Prometheus and Hazel, we have sleeping bags, and we have each other," he smiled, pulling her into him briefly. "But most importantly, we have time to move through the forest while most of the Pokemon are asleep and won't bother us if we don't make much of a noise or disturbance."

"I-I don't know. I think that maybe we should sleep this off and go through the forest when there's some light."

"Trust me on this one, Dawn, there is no such thing as night and day in that forest anyway. You'll never see where you're going: it's that dark," he chuckled, "Come on, it'll be fine," he said as they neared the border of Floaroma and Route 205, the large, flower-laden gate that greeted visitors now bidding them farewell as they finally left the paradisiacal city.

"I'll miss this place," she sighed happily as they walked onto the same route they took to get to Valley Windworks a few days ago, the trickling of the moonlit river beside the filling the night air with the soft smell of water and the gentle sound of splashing on the banks, the cool winter wind blowing over the shrubs and ferns lucky enough to reside in the loving embrace of the waterline's nutrients and wetness.

"It's beautiful, certainly," Lucas smiled, "The people here are nice, but… this place might be perfect, and that's its problem, I guess. Everything here has the price tag of perfection on it, and living here means you'll probably have to sell an arm and a leg."

"For most people, yeah," Dawn agreed as she felt her steps on the cushioning grass of the route, "But I think a Champion or Top Coordinator can afford to live here, right?" she suggested.

"On their individual income? I don't think so. You can buy a decent life here with that money, though," he said as he looked back.

"Hm," she nodded, "But how about together?"

"Together?"

"Mhm, a Champion and a Top Coordinator."

"Yeah, I suppose they could," he pleasantly smiled. "What a life that would be," he dreamily said as he gave a quick glance at her, "Unless of course, you're one of those people that wants to live in Sunnyshore or Snowpoint, then this ain't the life for you."

"What? They can't be better than Flo—"

"Heh, you have no idea," Lucas chuckled, "Sunnyshore and a Sinnoh summer go together like Snowpoint and the Sinnoh winter. They've got their specialties," he nodded.

"Well, we're going to go to both of them right?"

"Of course, you have contests, and I have gyms to beat, so yeah, we're going to eventually go to both of them," he smiled as they rounded a turn onto a wooden bridge.

The sound of the river beside them began to sound louder with the cries of Woopers in the stream squealing into the serenity of the moonlit night while the boards of the old but steady bridge sang a rhythmic thud with each of their steps as they went onto the opposite bank, facing a mountain rising to the right and a valley pass bordered by the mountain and a steep ledge to the right. There was a path they could take up the lower, and less harshly sloped side mountain, and since the valley pass route went around the mountain's base, they'd cover the distance quickly going on the mountainside but would also have to put in more effort for the climb.

"Which way do you want to go?" Lucas asked, pointing out both routes to Dawn. The grass that crowded the approach to both routes rustled in the heavy night gusts before settling until the next attack of wind came by as Dawn pondered her choice.

"We should… go up the mountain," she decided, stepping forward in the direction of the right path as Lucas quickly followed behind her. The wind slammed harder again—it wasn't consistent and it only came in short burst, but it had some strength to it. This time, it brought something more than force as Dawn's head suddenly perked up from the path ahead of her to lift her nose into the air, getting a few sniffs of the crisp, night air. "You smell that?" she asked Lucas with a happy glow. "It's… sweet. Like something delicious kind of sweet," she smiled.

"You're right," Lucas said with a smile that revealed he knew the source, "You want to try to guess what it is?"

"Mm…" she hummed, "Is it… a flower patch?" she said with an elevating pitch, seemingly second-guessing her own guess.

"No, no, but Combees make this from flowers," Lucas hinted as a grin crept onto his face as he watched her expression shine with realization.

"Honey!" she almost yelped with excitement. "Really? Where?" she quickly followed up, looking around the peaceful nature of the scenery around them to find something that would give off the sweet smell, although she had no idea what to expect she'd find.

"It's the trees over there," Lucas pointed in the direction of a patch of grass and some wooded deciduous trees that seemed to refuse to let their leaves go. "During the winter, some release their some sap from their stores onto their leaves to attract flying-type Pokemon and rodent Pokemon that feed off of the little droplets of sap and keep the tree free of pests."

"But… sap isn't honey, right?" she carefully objected.

"You're right, but at some point, the people in Floaroma found out that slathering some sweet goodies on these trees would attract more Pokemon to their area and keep some of the Flying-type and rodent Pokemon out of their gardens and homes and near these trees instead. They need flowers and colors, not nectars and honey, so they train massive colonies of Combees and slather excess honey on these trees. You should see them train the Combees: it's pretty adorable," he chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, their trainers are farmhands and they give little signals and instructions on which flowers to take nectar from and which flowers to leave alone like the Combees are little preschoolers. When they get something right, they give them a little nibble of Pokemon food and the Combee hive learns to work together to collect nectar and make honey."

"Ooo, I want to get one as a pe—"

"Shh," Lucas abruptly interrupted, holding his finger up, "You hear that," he said pointing to where the sweet smell was coming from, "That's the sound of the Pokemon inside. I think we should be quiet unless we want to pick a fight with a—"

"BiDOOF!" a low, echoing voice said as a beaver the size of a basketball jumped out of the nearby ferns and shrubs bordering the sweet-smelling trees. With its distinct brown coat and laughably protruding buck teeth, the unmistakably dorky-looking Beaver Pokemon stared them both down aggressively. "BiiiDOOF!" It yelled again, hopping closer to them as each took a cautious step back.

"Alright buddy, we don't want to pick a fight. For your sake. Now back off, shoo," Lucas said, waving his arms in the Pokemon's opposite direction. "Off you go," he said again with the hand motions.

"Aw, Lucas, I think he wants to catch him," Dawn almost pitifully said.

"What? No, don't you know what happens?"

"What?" Dawn said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"You can't catch a Bidoof or 10 years bad luck."

"Nonsense, Look at him, does he look like he'll bring you bad luck?" she said stepping a little closer and removing an empty Pokeball from her belt.

"Well, no champions or coordinators carry around a Bidoof, I'm just saying," he added.

The Bidoof suddenly lunged at Dawn, its teeth flaring a blistering white as they exuded a hot glow that reddened at various places in its incisors, opening its mouth wide as it came down on Dawn to bite. Lucas' hand was even quicker: in an almost instinctive motion, he flicked open Caesar's Pokeball, launching out the blue Pokemon into battle. Caesar quickly took an assessment of the situation in a moment and fired a Bubble Attack at the Beaver Pokemon midair while Dawn was still in shock and remained frozen while she processed what was going on.

The Bidoof at Caesar's attack right in the middle of its leap, slamming into the ground headfirst as its trajectory was cut short and its attack bit into the dirt instead. Lucas raised his hand for Caesar to stop as the Bidoof slowly got up from the ground, clearly shaken and uneasy from the fall. It shuddered a bit, let its front foot cave in, but finally decided to slowly walk back from where it came, never looking at either trainer. Lucas quickly recalled Caesar and looked at the paralyzed Dawn, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently shaking her back into her senses with a warm, reassuring smile. "If we were doing this during the day, there'd be twice as many of those things," he laughed. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm," she nodded, half-confidently.

"Hey, it'll be fine," he chuckled, wrapping his arm around and squeezing her in a brief hug. "Now you know why people think they're bad luck. They look like the nerd from cartoons, but they attack like they've got the power of Arceus in them or something, really weird creatures," he mused.

"Guess I found that out the hard way," Dawn laughed along as she admired the bluish-white tint that softly reflected off of the brown and gray outgrowths of rock and dirt in the pale Sinnohan moonlight as they approached a small flight of stairs that elevated walkers onto a trail and pathway that ran along the lower slopes of the mountain beside the small valley below them. It took them a full minute to reach the top of the flight, but the railings and evenness of the steps made the climb doable and relatively painless for the two as the feeling of dirt, gravel, and rocks crunching under their boots began to fill their peaceful silence.

They had only climbed a little bit upon to the ledge when there was a man who suddenly appeared to them, walking from a secluded side of the bridge. "Um, can I—"

"Listen, kid, there's a mountain here, I'm dressed for a hike. Let's do this," he firmly said.

"Uh," Lucas faltered, a bit uncomfortable.

"A Pokemon battle, kid, do I have to spell it out for ya? Go, Geodude!" he laughed as he threw out his standard Pokeball, releasing a spherical rock Pokemon with little arms coming out of its sides as it levitated off of the ground, throwing punches in the air.

"I've fought one of these before," Lucas thought, "This won't be that tough." "Alright, go Caesar!" he roared as he threw out his own Pokeball with a bright smile, "Let's do this, buddy. Start off with Bubblebeam!"

"Marv, use Rock Throw!" the mysterious hiker said. The Geodude seemed to materialize a rock as it forced its hands together, a brown, tough mass the same color as it forming right in front before it hurled it like a baseball in Caesar's direction.

"Ah shit, Caesar duck for that one!" Lucas called out. He'd noticed that the throw was aimed for the head but would easily miss if Caesar could just dip his head, but the Penguin Pokemon wasn't exactly the most nimble or agile and didn't really have any contracting or flexible vertebrae and took the slamming rock straight to its prized beak and crown, shattering the rock into fragments as it fell back into the gravel.

"Ooo," Dawn cringed quietly behind him. It may have not been a super-effective attack as Caesar got back onto his feet right away, but it definitely took some air and wind out of the little Pokemon as the sound of the attack crackled in the crisp air.

"Alright! Marv, again!" the hiker said as the Geodude charged up another attack while Caesar was still a bit dazed from the sudden blow.

"Any time now, buddy," Lucas said, giving an urgent glance to Caesar. "Any time now," he said again as Caesar regathered his senses and popped off a jet stream of bubbles with intense velocity, the stream lapping up Geodude and his forming attack in an instant, shattering his forming rock attack and slamming him into the ground. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as the Geodude slammed into the dirt. It shuddered, used its arms to prop itself up as Lucas once again worried that it would battle standing on its hands like Roark's Geodude did until it finally gave in and collapsed.

"Okay, that was a good round! Another!" the hiker enthusiastically said, retrieving his fallen Pokemon only to throw out yet another.

"I mean, do we, uh, need to?" Lucas half-protested, still not willing to battle on the night-hours.

"Yes of course you do. You can't run away from trainer battles," the hiker heartily laughed.

"Wow, this is awkward," Lucas thought to himself, "Well, better get this over with as fast as I can, then."

"Marcy, out you go!" the hiker announced as he released yet another Geodude from one of his Pokeballs.

"Another Geodude? Really?" Lucas shrugged. "Stay in for this one, Caesar," he calmly said, quickly analyzing a way to preemptively dodge an incoming Rock-Throw from the Geodude.

"Ha, Marcy, use Harden!" the hiker emphatically said, sure that his move would win the match.

"Um…" Lucas trailed as he didn't understand why the hiker would try to have his Pokemon defend against physical moves when he knew that Caesar had special super-effective attacks in his arsenal. "Just go with Bubblebeam again," Lucas plainly said.

The Geodude's focus made the gaps in her rock covering grow in size, creating a larger, sturdier appearance as though she was ready to tank the fire of an incoming aircraft.

But alas, she needed to tank Caesar's Bubblebeam and the attack simply washed through her defense like it wasn't there as it weathered through her health almost instantly, leaving a drenched, fainted Pokemon just like the Geodude before her.

"Interesting," the man nodded, "I didn't think that you'd get through the Harden move," he said as he rubbed his chin. "Well then, for the final Pokemon!" he announced, "Mark! You're up," he said as he threw out yet another Geodude.

"Alright, use Bubblebeam," Lucas dully said with a sigh, not even paying attention to what the hiker said as his Prinplup doled out another jet of bubbles and water that knocked the little Pokemon back onto the floor until the trainer finally recalled it. "We're done, right? No more Geodudes, please. It's not fair to them," he politely interjected before the hiker could pull out another Pokeball.

"Oh! What a refreshing battle that was. I have no more Pokemon, so I'll just get back to hiking!" he cheerfully said as he simply passed in front of them back onto a trail that led into and up the rocky formations and mountain on their left.

"Well, that was surprising, wasn't it?" Dawn chuckled after the hiker had left as Lucas recalled Caesar.

"I have no idea why he had three Geodudes. And I have no idea why he thought using them all against Caesar would somehow bring a different outcome," he chuckled back as they proceeded forward onto the trail. The rocky path they traversed on slowly sloped downwards, trying to meet at level with the valley on their right before another flight of stairs carried them to a much higher region of the mountain where they quickly traversed the distance needed overlooking the entire route and forest ahead. Though the gap to the forest seemed nonexistent, Lucas and Dawn carefully traversed the bridge and series of ledges across various high points of the rock formations until they had finally crossed through the trail, walking back onto the grass at sea level next to a small house placed in the corner of a massive rock formation, peacefully puffing smoke from their chimney.

"Oh, look how cozy that looks," Dawn remarked with both glee and a bit of longingness. "Can we take a break soon? I'm a little tired," she pleaded softly as they trudged through the thick grass and undergrowth that preceded the entrance to the dark patch of expansive green up ahead.

"Just a little longer, Dawn," Lucas reassured as they sliced through some more bushes and coverings, the soil beneath their feet quickly changing from tough, hostile gravel to a soft, healthy soil as the smell of pines and dense woods of ferns and greens filled the air with a sharp, crisp freshness. They'd only taken a few more steps until yet another patterned sound of shuffling came from the bushes around them, freezing them both as they drew their Pokeballs, preparing for a hostile attacker from any direction.

"These wild Pokemon were supposed to be sleeping, right?" Dawn asked as she mocked Lucas.

"Oh come on, that was a perfectly reasonable assumption," Lucas quickly defended. "Try to see what Pokemon might be—"

"Aaah!" Dawn yelped as Lucas quickly turned to her direction in a flash to see her hands on her cheeks as she knelt down to get a direct line of sight on a little, purple and brown Pokemon that stared back at her with focused black eyes. "It's so cute!" she squealed with joy as the gelatinous-looking Pokemon with a moist, membranous covering, a neon yellow border around its body, a white underbody, and pink shell-like formation on its back that blended in with the rest of its pink skin and fimbriae-like protrusions on its head crept forward like an Ekans but without twisting or slithering.

"Holy shit, that's a Shellos," Lucas whispered to her as he pulled up his Pokedex to learn more about it. "It says in here that it… evolves into a GASTRODON!" he whispered loudly to her, trying to convey his shock without scaring the Pokemon into a fight or brawl. "Wow, this guy can put up a fight, too," he continued, "It also says… beware of pushing strongly on its soft body as it causes a mysterious purple fluid to come out… yuck," he said with a slight tinge of disgust as the Shellos shot a menacing look at him in an instant. "Hey, wait a minute, I don't mean any harm," Lucas said as he put his arms up, moving back.

"Oh look, now you made it mad!" Dawn said with a bit of playful annoyance. "Did Lucas make you mad? He probably did, that meanie," she said in a child's voice to the little Pokemon. "Do you want to join my team? We can beat him together," she offered as she extended an empty Pokeball to the Pokemon.

"Wow, just throw me under the bus like that, huh?" he smiled with an eyebrow raised.

The Shellos hopped back, contracting partially into its shell but never fully retreating or striking. "You want a battle first, huh?" Dawn asked. "Okay, that's no problem!" she chuckled as she threw out Margaret's Pokeball. "We need to get her on our team, Margaret, so don't go all out on her," she advised her Pokemon, knowing that Margaret would have already been familiar with the whole induction process.

"Hm, alright," Dawn muttered slightly, assessing the properties of the Pokemon in front of her, "What type did you say it was again, Lucas?" she asked, throwing her head in his direction momentarily before returning her focus to the battlefield.

"Uh, water and ground," he replied with a quick glance at the Pokedex. "No type advantages here."

"Good, then we'll start off with Calm Mind, Margaret," she enthusiastically said, "Get yourself ready, Margaret." Margaret gave a slight nod, closed her eyes, and moved several inches off the ground and into the air. A bluish pink aura began to slowly coat hear from her head down as her legs folded cross, her arms resting straight on her knees.

"She's got a slightly different aura every time she does that move, you know," Lucas remarked.

"Sh!" Dawn quickly shot back quietly, "She's trying to concentrate."

"Lucas threw his eyebrows and hands up as he backed off of the battle quietly, letting Dawn do her work her own way.

The aura around Margaret began to pulse and grow brighter, her senses clearly spiking as her special attack and special defense capabilities rose, a new advantage in battling creeping out of her. Until she suddenly hit the ground, coughing, gasping and struggling to stay upright before collapsing again.

Dawn jumped back almost instinctively for a moment before rushing to Margaret's side when she began to feel incredibly uneasy and sick as well, backing away again as she, like Margaret before her, heaved for air. Margaret's aura had completely dissipated, and though she was on her feet, her eyes were reddened and she was breathing with tremendous difficulty returned to her original state before her Calm Mind raised her awareness and alertness.

"Lucas," Dawn managed between heavy breaths, "What in the hell was—"

"This thing knows Clear Smog," Lucas said with a shocked gasp. "The shocking toxicity of the gas causes acute pain that damages the target and removes all power changes," he read from his Pokedex as he scanned the Pokemon, "It completely negated the effects of that Calm Mind!"

"A clever little one, aren't you?" Dawn smiled, "We're gonna be a great team," she said with new energy and determination, "I know it."

Lucas quietly watched with a bit of happiness from the side. He wanted to take part in the battle himself. He wanted to take part in every battle he saw, but now, more than ever, he knew that it was important that Dawn fight this battle herself. She needed to convince a Shellos that strong about her abilities as a trainer by herself—his involvement would only confuse and scare it into aggressive attacking or cause it to run away.

The Shellos then retreated a bit into its shell-like structure, the spikes on its shells firing a bit higher and seemingly glossing over with a newer, harder coat of material. "Hmph, Harden, huh? Margaret, use Confusion!" Dawn confidently said.

Margaret, who was standing up, fluid and ready to dodge and weave for attacks suddenly froze stiff in her place, staring down the black, yellow-fluorescent-ringed eyes of the Shellos in front of her, a dead, piercing gaze. The Shellos was clearly giving in, a dreadful dizziness coming over the Sea-Slug Pokemon as it wavered and slanted heavily to the left, moving its body in haphazard but fluid motions as it struggled to maintain its focus and balance all while Margaret extended her crushing psychic attack deep into its mind, scrambling its thoughts completely.

"Great job, Margaret!" Dawn nodded with excitement. Margaret resumed her previous attack position, moving her focus off of the Shellos' mind, but the Shellos still seemed dazed, awake and conscious but wholly unable to direct its actions and control what it was doing.

"It's confused," Lucas and Dawn said at the same time with a smile. The Shellos inched forward a bit, building up a charge of water in its mouth into a sphere, pointing it directly in Margaret's direction.

"Roll left and dodge this one, Margaret," Dawn advised, trying to get Margaret behind the cover of a small rock before the attack would hit, though she knew that water and grass attacks could often break through rocks to meet their targets.

The attack didn't come at all. The completely dazed and confused little Shellos fired the water gun attack directly into the ground in front of itself, eating the brunt of the splash damage created by the water-type attack, and though it wasn't effective, it only exacerbated its confused and weak state as it slouched over and lay on the ground a bit before getting back into a somewhat upright position. "Now's my chance," Dawn said to herself as she pulled an empty Pokeball from her belt, throwing it at the Shellos.

The red and white ball bounced off of the little Pokemon, activating a red beam that converted the Pokemon into an energy form that was transported into the ball as it fell to the ground. It sat upright in the grass, the night sky's moon lightly glinting off of its smooth, red surface. One shake. Two shakes.

The ball shattered into a powdery set of energy and fragments as the Shellos popped out, shaking itself and firing off a Mud-Slap immediately at Margaret before the Meditite or Dawn could even react. The brown, watery sludge slammed into Margaret, splashing the earthy muck-ball into her eyes.

Margaret began using her extrasensory input to orient herself and find her target, but with her vision gone and Hazel completely ineffective against the Shellos, Dawn knew that she was on her last legs and out of options. "Come on, Dawn, think quickly. Lucas is watching," she frantically thought to herself as she resorted to her best option, but certainly not her favorite. "Margaret, I need you to hit one more Confusion attack. Do your best. Just try," she calmly instructed, knowing full well that the attack might miss the target. Dawn pulled out another fresh Pokeball, waiting until Margaret suddenly froze again, locking onto to target what psychic energy she could feel coming from Shellos just when Dawn threw the Pokeball before the Shellos could react or fire back at the attack.

The ball fell on the ground, absorbing the Shellos into its interior again. One shake. Two shakes. "Come on, come on, I can't count on one more shot," Dawn worriedly thought as her hands went to her face, her expression intense and anxious as Lucas smiled playfully at her complete immersion in the process. Three shakes. CLICK. The ball shut. The Shellos was caught.

"I… I—"

"Caught it," Lucas finished proudly. "You did it, Dawn," he happily said as he walked to her side again, picking up the captured Shellos' Pokeball along the way and placing it gently in her hands. "What are you going to name it?"

"Hm… I don't know. Margaret, you read this thing's mind during that Confusion attack, right?"

Margaret nodded.

"So, uh," Dawn awkwardly started, "Would it be weird if I named, uh, it Verna? Or is it a-?"

Margaret shook her head before Dawn could finish the second part.

"Alright, Verna it is, then. Thank you, Margaret, I'm sure you and Hazel can meet Verna once she's all healed up, okay?" she assured as she recalled the little Meditite.

Dawn stored both Pokeballs in the side pocket her bag before she slung the strap over her shoulder before turning to Lucas with a bright smile. "What's the pretty grin for?" he asked, grinning back at her.

"We both have three Pokemon now…" she suggestively trailed.

"Oh, you want a battle?" he smirked back.

"You want a battle too, don't you?" she pressed, knowing his tendency to want to battle very well at this point.

"Oh you bet I do, but," he said a bit sadly, looking at the height of the moon and the forest path around them, "I'm not sure this is the best time or place. Maybe tomorrow…?" he asked as he led the tone of the end of his sentence up sharply.

"I'm holding you accountable to that, Lukey," she giggled as she pushed his chest playfully.

"My goodness Dawn that was terrible," he laughed as Dawn trekked on into the forest ahead of him as he followed behind, kicking rocks haphazardly on the trial, "I mean, my name's already two syllables: why would you make a weird nickname like that?" he asked as he wrapped an arm endearingly around her, pulling suddenly backward into him as she let out a little yelp in surprise before realizing she was fine as she felt herself bump into him.

It didn't take too long for them to finally trek far enough into the route where they were at Eterna Forest's entrance. The expanse of the dense, evergreen forest spanned out right in front of them. To their left and right, the route seemed completely visible, bright and full of colorful vibrancy, but beyond the dark green pine needles and wood in front of them, there seemed an intense, mysterious presence.

"A-are you sure we have to go through here?" Dawn somewhat nervously asked, looking at a wooden sign that gave multiple warnings. "That sign says that people died here before. Can't we just take another way around?"

"Dawn, stupid people find a way to get themselves killed all the time, but that doesn't mean anything for us," Lucas reassured, "Besides, we have a map and compass, and in the worst case, I can send out Galahad to scout the route ahead of us." Lucas popped the Raptor Pokemon's Pokeball as he sent the creature into the air in front of them, allowing for the bird's keen night-vision and agility to scout and scan the area directly in front of them before circling back to them occasionally. Lucas and Dawn also quickly learned to let Hazel and Prometheus out of their Pokeballs as well, using the Monferno and the Charmleon's tail-flames to provide some illumination in the dark trail.

"How do you know where we're, uh, headed?" Dawn asked with a bit of worry in her voice as she tucked her arms closer to her body, her forearms slightly raised.

"There's only one path ahead of us for now, so we can't exactly get lost, even if we wanted," Lucas laughed back.

"Not reassuring," she pouted, but she didn't say much after as they trudged on into the dark. But after a while of trudging through the forest's patchy moonlit path, even through the thick fir canopy, she decided it was worth asking one more question. "What's on the other side of this forest?"

"Eterna City, remember?"

"What's in Eterna?" she asked further as they approached a large meander in the path that curved back into the direction they came from and a fork in the path further along the meander, slowing both of their enthusiasm to progress any further into the thick woods.

"A lot of things, really. First and foremost: I have to beat Gardenia's gym and get that badge, but it's also the oldest modern settlement in Sinnoh. There's a mix of architecture from before and after Galarian conquest. You can know the history of Sinnoh with one picture of that town. Or so they said in our history books: I've never been there myself, so I wouldn't know," he shrugged with a sheepish smile. "You want to take a break," he said, putting his hands on his knees as he stooped over to catch his breath.

"Hm, it's about damn time," she sighed, out of breath alongside him. "I'm not even sure if I can set up a tent right now."

"Have a rest. I'll do it," he kindly said with a smirk hidden by the darkness, placing a hand on her shoulder. She returned his smile with an exhausted but appreciative look as she took a seat on a fallen log not far from the path.

Lucas simply reached into his bag, pulled out a small cube, pressed a button, and threw it out squarely onto a small open patch of short grass in front of him, not far from the path but certainly free from the commotion of a passersby. The box popped, releasing white energy the same way Pokeballs did, but instead of a Pokemon popping out, a fully set-up tent, staked in and firmly anchored in the ground, took shape on the ground.

Dawn stood up from her resting spot, gaping. "That was it? Why didn't you tell me?" she said, throwing her hands up in confusion.

"I did tell you. Way back on the night you stayed over at my house, I told you that this porta-box could carry a tent like a Pokeball carries a Pokemon, remember?" he laughed as he opened the flap to throw his backpack inside.

"No, I don't," Dawn shrugged as she threw her items in not long after. "But more importantly, I'm hungry," she said with pitiful eyes, knowing neither of them could get rest just yet.

"Well, you're high-maintenance girl, aren't you?" he chuckled as he beckoned Prometheus and Hazel, who were still on the side of the path.

"Excuse me, I'm what now?" Dawn sternly said with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, you know I'm joking, Dawn," he smiled half-nervously before giving her a small kiss. "Lay down for a bit, maybe set your sleeping bag up. Hazel, Prometheus, and I will get a fire and dinner ready in no time," he promised.

"Alright," she nodded as she opened the tent flap before turning around, "Don't… go anywhere, okay? It's kind of… creepy here," she requested before she slipped inside.

"You got it, Dawn," he affirmed before flattening his lips and widening his eyes as he amusedly thought to himself. "Wait till she finds out about some of the stories about Eterna Forest. Especially the Old Chateau."

Not long after Lucas set up the fire, the two finished dinner, cleaned up their supplies for the next day, and made a quick change of clothes before Lucas went and got some more wood to throw in the fire. "You're not going to put it out?" Dawn asked as she slid over her shirt as she walked out.

"Nope, it'll attract the bug-types around here and burn 'em to a crisp while we sleep," he proudly said.

"Gee, how sweet," she replied with a bland expression as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you want all the creepy crawlies to share the sleeping bag with you I can arrange for that," he joked back.

"Stop that!" she shuddered as she pictured what he said, "Ugh, now I feel all uncomfortable," she said with a hint of disgust.

They both sat down on their sleeping bags, which they placed above the smooth polyester floor of the blue tent. "Well, that's why I have the fire outside, so you won't actually feel uncomfortable," he smiled. "Say, have you heard that this forest is haunted?"

"H-haunted?" she asked with a tone of abject fear. "No."

"Well, legend has it that the Old Chateau near the other end of the forest has an old man who died here when a traveler on this path robbed and killed him, so they say he draws in weary travelers at night for a rest in his Chateau and kills them before they can escape," Lucas said in a devious voice.

Dawn's look of fear persisted, her mouth gaping before she noticed a slight look of amusement in Lucas' face when her expression shifted to complete annoyance. "Quit trying to scare me, ya liar!" she pouted as she threw a pillow at him, which he caught and gently placed back on her sleeping bag.

"I'm not trying to!" he protested back as he slid inside his sleeping bag's cover. "Well, I am, I won't lie," he said from inside, "but what I said was true. There is an Old Chateau, and the legend is true."

"No, it's not. It's just a legend," she shot back, "There is no creepy murderer old man around here," she said back, although the unsureness in her voice betrayed her real expression.

"Well, if you say so, it must be true," he laughed from inside. "We're gonna see it on the way out of the forest tomorrow, just so you know."

"We'll see it in the day when I won't be scared," she assured.

"But, what if we were walking along the forest," he said as he walked two fingers along Dawn's side as she slept, "and we ran into the old man?"

"Then," she said, turning around on her other side to face him, grabbing both his hands and pulling herself closer, "You're going to protect me."

"Yeah," he breathlessly said, "You've got me under a spell," he happily sighed.

"You're mine," she stated in a deep, mock-menacing tone before she giggled with bright eyes.

"I certainly am," Lucas nodded as he closed his eyes before giving her a kiss on the cheek, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two drifted off not long after a bit more banter, but even in his sleep, Lucas' thoughts were no different than when he was wide awake. The gym battle. His dreams-his dream to become champion, his dreams that revealed things he didn't want to know every time he closed its eyes—all of it was woven into a bright tapestry with colors that both beckoned his eyes and blinded them all at once. Sleep was tormenting for him.

If it wasn't obvious, the next chapter is about Eterna City and the next Gym Battle he'll face up, but for those of you who remember, a lot actually happens in this part of the game that helps spurn the overall plot as well, so I hope y'all will come back for the next chapter (which I'll drop over the next month). As usual, anything you've got to say good or bad, happy or sad, I'll be glad to hear over PMs or reviews and I'll give you feedback or fixes for what you've said. Cheers!