You thought I would continue the Tranchant thing at the end of last chapter, but you thought wrong muhahahahahahaha!

In all seriousness, here's an interlude continuing Chris and Lisa's story. I should probably say that I only envision them having around ten chapters dedicated to them across the story. It may not seem like it now, but they are crucial to the plot, so remember them.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen: The LPC

Per Rowan's request, Lisa and I went to where his note told us to go. The location turned out to be an abandoned building near the school. Yes, it was as shady as it sounded. Under any other circumstances, I would be incredibly cautious and would probably have brought a weapon, but Rowan was the one who sent me and surely a renowned Pokemon professor wouldn't be affiliated with criminal activity. At least, that's what I kept convincing myself… Maybe I should have brought a weapon.

In any case, Lisa and I were waiting for the "operative" that Rowan said would be meeting us. I puzzled over what they might look like. Given all the secrecy surrounding this organization, I assumed they'd be heavily cloaked, so I supposed their appearance didn't matter. Lisa looked over to me.

"What do you think the organization will be like?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Not sure. All I know is what Rowan told us. That we're supposed to be participating in efforts to protect the Legendaries." I replied.

"But I wonder why the Legendaries would need an organization like this. Do they really have to deal with threats that often?" Lisa asked. I shrugged again.

"I assume it's a precaution. You never know when some group might just spring up out of nowhere." I replied. Lisa nodded.

"I guess that's fair." She said. Neither of us said anything for a few moments. Apparently tired of the silence, Lisa tried to revive the conversation. "Man, I just can't wait! All our lives we've dreamed of this, and now we'll finally get the chance to fulfill that dream!" She said, barely containing her excitement. I laughed, finding her eagerness adorable.

"I can't wait either. This operative can't get here fast enough." I replied. Just then, I heard rustling outside. Both of us snapped our heads in the direction of the noise. Was it a Pokemon? No, the source let out a rather loud "Fuck!", so it must have been human.

"Who's there?" I yelled, some aggression in my voice. Surprisingly enough, the voice replied.

"Why are you acting like I'm gonna hurt you? Look, if you two are Chris and Lisa then you have nothing to worry about. Apparently, I'm supposed to meet you two here. Do I have the right people?" A rather calm and casual voice asked. Cautiously, I said yes.

The source of the voice immediately leapt through one of the broken windows. He was obviously from Kanto or Johto, judging by the skin tone. He also had short, spiky silver hair and clothing far too casual for this supposedly important meeting. He was quite scrawny though, and it didn't look like he had a weapon, so I calmed down. He looked at us and donned a friendly grin, his eyelids half closed.

"Hey there! Name's Damian. I'm the guy that's supposed to meet you. Sorry I ran late, but Lugia insisted on dropping me off outside of the city, so that no one would see us. Which I know is complete bullshit might I add, since all Legendaries can make themselves selectively invisible. He was probably just fucking with me as usual." Damian greeted, mini rant aside. Wait… did he say Lugia!? Surely he must be joking, right.

"Wait… Lugia?" Lisa asked, catching on as well. Damian nodded.

"Yeah, I'm his partner, Pretty cool, huh? Most Legendaries have one of us." He replied. Lisa and I stayed silent, out of pure astonishment, but also the hope that Damian would provide an explanation for all of this. "Oh, I should probably explain myself, shouldn't I?" Damian said, rubbing the back of his head. We nodded, urging him to continue.

"Ok, so basically, most Legendaries choose human partners to represent them, and sometimes also for companionship. Being a god can get a bit lonely I guess. They also assist the Legendary they are chosen by in various tasks. I am Lugia's chosen human, and since Lugia is a pretty minor Legendary all things considered, they usually call me up to recruit new people for the LPC. It's not like we have much else to do usually." Damian explained.

I was ecstatic to hear new information about the Legendaries, information that not even my Legendaries Studies course covered. Was Rowan aware of this? He must be, seeing as he had connections to the LPC. Does that mean there are other things about the Legendaries that can only be known to the LPC? I sure hoped so.

"Well now that that's out of the way, why don't we get on with it? I'm excited to proceed!" Lisa said, capturing our excitement perfectly.

"Not so fast, my dude and dudette. I'm about to give you your first assignment, but you're gonna need a little debriefing." Damian said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badly folded, crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it and smoothed out its wrinkles, then read it silently before speaking.

"Ok, so we got these two new teams out in Hoenn that are causing a bit of a problem. They call themselves Team Magma and Team Aqua, and they want to control Groudon or Kyogre, respectively. Magma thinks the world needs more land and Aqua thinks it needs more ocean, so they want to use their respective Legendaries to make their desires so. Your job is to work with other members of the LPC to stop their efforts." Damian said. Lisa and I gave each other confused looks.

"You're already throwing us into the thick of it?" I asked.

"What? Can't take it? The LPC is a demanding organization, kid. You're gonna have to step up to the plate." Damian chastised. I put up my hands in defense.

"Th-That's not w-what I meant!" I stuttered out. Damian just laughed and slapped my shoulder.

"I'm just fucking with you, dude. Lighten up." He said. I merely looked away in embarrassment. Damian continued. "Anyways, it shouldn't be too hard. Some of the LPC's best guys are on the job too. Besides, this should be a great experience for you get to go to Hoenn, battle some bad guys, and possibly even meet up with Groudon, Kyogre, and maybe even Rayquaza. That's more than I usually get to do." He said, in a moderately envious manner. He pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to us. "This has the address of the LPC Sinnoh headquarters. They want you there first thing in the morning tomorrow." He turned around and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked. Damian put up a hand, but didn't turn around.

"Heading home. Not much of a point sticking around this joint." He replied, continuing to walk. But suddenly he stopped and turned his head to look at me. "Say… Chris, can I ask you something. I've had something on my mind lately." He said. I was taken aback by this request. Why would he want to ask me something?

"Wh-What is it?" I asked. He grinned at me.

"If you were offered immortality, would you take it?" He simply asked. Disregarding the weirdness of the question, I delivered my response.

"Yes. No question about it." I said. Damian simply chuckled.

"Wrong answer, kid. Things get boring after a while." And just like that, he left without another word, leaving Lisa and I more confused than ever.

We looked at each other, holding our gaze for a long time. Thoughts of all the adventures we were about to have flooded through our minds. This was the culmination of all of our fascination and gratitude for the Legendaries. We didn't know what was in store for the future, but we did know one thing.

It was going to be the best experience of our lives.