Whoops. Sorry for the late update, everyone.
The next day, hours after Team Venus had retrieved their trophy, Louis and company made their way to the field. Underneath the sakura tree, Roy and Lycanroc sat, with the boy strumming away on his guitar.
"Man, Roy really loves playing that, doesn't he?" said Incineroar.
"Most likely," replied Louis.
The calm breeze flowed past the individuals as they approached the familiar terrain. After Roy had finished his song, Lycanroc made happy growling sounds, which made Roy smile.
"I knew you'd like it," he said.
Then, familiar shadows caught the boy's attention. He raised his head and saw Louis and his Pokémon approaching.
"Oh, hey guys," called Roy.
The young adult waved to his friend. Soon, the party sat in the shadows of the sakura tree, with the occasional cherry blossom fluttering to the ground. Before speaking, Roy noticed an unfamiliar shape in his friend's grasp. After some time, he recognised what it was.
"Isn't that the trophy you won years ago?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Louis. "We got it out of the old gym before the place gets torn down."
"But I thought the gym was locked up."
"Suzuki unlocked it for us," clarified Louis. "We didn't break in."
Roy nodded, understanding everything.
"If you had told us you were going to do that, I could've gotten it out for you," a voice said.
Startled, Louis turned his head from side to side.
"Who said that?" the young adult wondered.
Roy drew his attention upward.
"Oh, that was just Inteleon," he answered. "He's been on my team for a few years now."
"Inteleon?"
Louis followed his friend's gaze, and on the branches of the tree was a light blue, chameleon-like Pokémon, that had a dark blue chest and backside legs. The frontside of its legs and feet were black, while it had a long tail.
It also had a thin and wavy yellow head crest, dark blue at the tip, which was connected to its back, appearing to look like a cape.
"Oh..." gasped Louis.
The Inteleon leapt off the branch and landed on its feet.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Louis," it said, bringing its hand out for a handshake.
Louis returned the favour and shook hands with the Pokémon.
"Pleasure to meet you too," the young adult replied.
"That's not the only new member of my team," added Roy.
Louis and Inteleon turned their attention to the boy.
"There's more?" inquired Louis.
The musician opened up his backpack and pulled out a device that Louis had never seen before.
"What's that?"
"See for yourself," Roy offered.
He handed the electronic to the young adult from Johto. As he inspected it, Louis caught a glimpse of a smudge on the screen.
He pulled up a portion of his jacket and rubbed the smudge off the screen. Then, suddenly, two eyes opened on the device. Arms popped out from the side as the main screen turned on, displaying a small mouth, smiling.
"Hey! That tickles!" the device spoke.
Then, Louis did something that nobody in the area expected him to do.
He screamed.
Without looking, the young adult tripped over Marowak's bone club, falling to the ground. However, adrenaline pumped throughout his body as he stood back up and ran away from the electronic that could speak.
"...was it something I said? Bzzt," the Rotom Dex said.
Staraptor rolled her eyes and groaned.
"I'll go get him," she said.
Staraptor then flapped her wings and flew into the air, keeping track of her trainer.
Elsewhere, Louis continued running in a panicked pace, multiple thoughts rushed through his brain. This, unfortunately, prevented him from paying attention to what was in front of him. Without realising, another figure appeared in his field of vision. As soon as he noticed the shape, it was too late for Louis to stop.
Both he and the figure crashed into one another, sending them both to the ground.
"Ow..." moaned Louis.
Louis stood up and rubbed his forehead. The other figure that he had run into was the Cinderace that he almost bumped into the previous day.
The young adult gasped and ran over to the Pokémon.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
As the young adult helped the Pokémon back onto its feet, the Cinderace spoke.
"Ugh, yeah. I was running too fast."
The Cinderace shook its head, regaining its senses. It took one small glimpse at the young adult, where it immediately recognised him.
"Hey...it's you!" it said.
Louis became confused.
"Wow, it's been a while since I've seen you," continued Cinderace.
"Uh...w-who are you?" questioned Louis.
Louis took a closer inspection of the Pokémon before him. As he locked eyes with the creature, he noticed that the red eyes of said Pokémon reminded him of another creature that he met years ago.
Then, Louis slowly moved closer to the Cinderace.
"Wait...are you...Raboot?" he said.
Cinderace grinned.
"I used to be," it replied. "Now I'm Cinderace."
Now, it was Louis' turn to smile.
"Wow, you look amazing!" cheered Louis.
"Hehe, that's what happens when you evolve," replied Cinderace.
Then, before he could speak again, a sudden thought popped up in the subconscious of Louis.
"If you're here, then-"
"Cinderace!" someone called.
Both human and Pokémon jolted. They spun around to the voice. Louis began to smile again.
'Please tell me that's who I think it is,' the young adult thought.
Two figures appeared past the trees near the footpath. One of them was a Feraligatr with a pink bow on its head. The other figure was a female trainer.
There she was.
Tied up black hair with two white feathers sticking out, wearing a light-blue dress, with long, black sleeves, along with a black knee-length skirt, while also wearing jeans underneath.
Both figures met eye-contact with one another, causing their jaws to slightly drop.
"Taki?" said Louis.
"Louis?" responded Taki.
In the blink of an eye, both Louis and Taki ran to one another and wrapped their arms around one another, spinning around in joy.
"I can't believe you're here," said Taki.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Louis responded.
Then, the young adult turned to focus on the other Pokémon.
"Been a while, Feraligatr."
"You're telling me," replied Feraligatr. "I'm finally bigger than you."
"Haha, very funny," chuckled Louis.
"You better not bite me again," he added.
Louis was now skipping on the spot. He was clearly excited at seeing his friends again.
"Louis!" someone called from above.
The young adult gazed upward and spotted Staraptor flying down toward them. She then landed on a nearby branch. Before speaking to Louis, Staraptor saw Taki and her Pokémon beside him.
"Oh, hey Taki," she said. "I see you've finally reunited with Louis."
"You got that right," replied Taki.
As she looked the young adult in the eyes, Taki spotted that Louis was red in the face, and had sweat dripping from his forehead
"You look like you've walked a thousand miles," observed Taki.
"Y-yeah," stammered Louis.
"I just got scared by..." he paused. "By that...creepy, red, talking screen that Roy has."
Taki and her Pokémon turned to one another before the girl spoke.
"You mean the Rotom Dex?" she wondered.
"You were scared... by a Rotom Dex?!" she repeated
"If that's what it's called, yes."
Taki did her best not to crack up laughing. However, Feraligatr filled that role for her, as she burst into laughter.
"That's NOT funny!" exclaimed Louis.
"No, you're right," replied Feraligatr. "It's hilarious!"
Louis' face became more red, embarrassed. Then, Staraptor cleared her throat to get the reuniting parties' attention.
"If you guys are almost done, the others are waiting for us," she said.
"Oh, right," blurted Louis.
Soon, Louis and company began their way to the field. The light from the sun warmed their bodies. For a short time, nobody said a word, preoccupied with their personal thoughts. Eventually, Taki broke the silence.
"I'm guessing you've met Roy's new teammates?" she inquired.
"Uh-huh," answered Louis. "I met that...Rotom Dex thingamajig, and...I think Roy said its name was...Inteleon or something."
"No, that's right," reassured Taki. "I've told them all about you."
"You did?"
"I did."
Cinderace leaned into their conversation.
"Hey, Taki," she said. "Don't you have a few things to give Louis?"
"Oh?" said Louis.
Taki had to think back. What did she need to give him? Eventually, it clicked in for her.
"I almost forgot!" she exclaimed.
The girl reached into her pockets and brandished five separate Pokéballs. She handed them to Louis.
"I believe these belong to you."
Louis started wondering why Taki was giving him this amount of Pokéballs. After much thinking, Louis realised what they were.
'So, that's why the others weren't in the lab when I came back,' he thought. "Taki was taking care of them."
Louis turned his attention to Taki, with a large smile.
"You can thank me later," said Taki.
Time passed as the party walked on, with Staraptor watching from above. Soon, Roy and the other Pokémon caught the approaching individuals in their view.
"Here comes Louis, and..." Roy paused.
The musician's eyes began to sparkle as an imaginary ring of flowers appeared in front of Taki. Soon, he began to blush. Inteleon placed a hand over its eyes and groaned. Eventually, the approaching party arrived and sat down alongside one another in the shade of the sakura tree.
"Sorry about that," apologised Louis.
"Eh...no problem," replied Roy, who had locked eyes with Taki.
Inteleon flicked the musician's ear.
"Ow!"
"In-tel!" said Inteleon.
Before Louis could translate, Roy's Rotom Dex suddenly appeared, startling the young adult again, and spoke.
"Inteleon said 'Pay attention' Bzzt," it translated.
Roy rubbed his ear.
"Right..." he said.
Louis became surprised, he certainly was not expecting the Rotom Dex to be able to translate Inteleon's words.
"Well, there goes one career possibility for me," joked Louis.
Everyone chuckled. Then, Roy had a passing question.
"So, what was the gym like when you went in last night?' he asked.
"It was...dated," said Louis. "The walls were cracked, it smelled like something was rotting inside and...dark."
"Obviously," snarked Roy.
"You didn't break in, did you?" asked Taki, raising an eyebrow.
"No, Suzuki let us in," answered Louis.
"Now, as I was saying..." he continued. "We went into the locker room to get our trophy, but...it was gone."
"Gone?" questioned Feraligatr.
"Or...so we thought. It turned out that it wasn't stolen. It was just taken out."
Then, the young adult grew silent.
"There was one another thing," he said.
"What?" asked Lycanroc.
Louis found himself unable to speak. Braixen noticed this and answered the question herself.
"Brai-xen Braix," she said.
"Braixen said 'We saw Azul'," translated Rotom Dex.
An imaginary stick of dynamite, full of shock and surprise, detonated in Roy's subconscious.
"Azul's back?!" he exclaimed.
"Uh-huh," confirmed Louis. "He seemed pretty...distant..."
Every single member of the group noticed Louis' hesitation with his answer.
"Is something wrong?" asked Inteleon.
"N-...no," answered Louis.
Lucario, however, could sense that the young adult was hiding something. However, he decided not to press him on it.
Suddenly, in the distance, a stream of fire launched into the air, startling the party.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Taki. "That was a big one."
Then, the sound of someone cheering echoed across the field.
"Any idea what that was?" asked Louis.
"Probably Suzuki training someone," answered Roy.
An imaginary lightbulb lit up above Roy's head.
"Hey, whaddya say we check it out?" he offered.
"Uh...sure, why not," replied Louis.
The gang stood up and made their way to the site of the mysterious explosion.
Occasionally, the sound of chirping bird Pokémon would meet their ears. Soon, they reached a metal fence and on the other side was a separate training field. There were two individuals, who were recognised by the party.
"Yep, that's Suzuki," said Roy.
"And Zack," added Louis.
On one side, Suzuki had his evolved Fletchinder, known as Talonflame now, in what appeared to be a battle stance, while Zack didn't have any Pokémon out yet.
Then, Zack retrieved a Pokéball from his pocket.
"Go! Charizard!" he yelled.
However, the Pokémon that was brought out to the field wasn't a Charizard. ...it was a Magikarp, flopping on the earth beneath it.
"Uh...oh..." he whimpered.
From afar, the gang watched on.
"He sent out a Magikarp by accident?" chuckled Marowak.
"How embarrassing," said Inteleon.
Witnessing this event, many theories and ideas shifted through Louis' gears of thought.
Thankfully, Suzuki, supportive as he was, allowed Zack to switch Pokémon. The trainee beamed the Magikarp back into the Pokéball and brought out his Charizard.
"That's better," said Zack.
As everyone was watching, Taki spotted a nearby picnic table, and it had a large book resting on it. Moving away from the group, Taki approached the book. She picked it up and inspected the front and back to see if it had a name on it.
Nothing.
"Hey guys!" she called.
The party's attention was interrupted by the girl's voice. They approached her, with the book in hand.
"What's up?" asked Incineroar.
"I found this," answered Taki. "Do any of you know who owns it?"
Roy shook his head.
"Never seen anyone with a book like that here."
"Me neither," said Louis.
"Maybe I should take this to lost property," offered Taki.
"Well, does it have a name on it?" asked Braixen.
"Not on the front or back."
"What about on the inside?" suggested Lucario.
"Oh...didn't think about that," said Taki.
Taki placed fingers on the cover of the book and opened it up. She didn't see a name written inside, but what she did see made her eyes sparkle.
"Oh...my...gosh..." she gasped.
"What is it?" asked Louis.
Taki flipped over the book and showed the inside contents of the book.
"Look at this!" she said.
The rest of the party had the same reaction as the girl. On the paper were multiple sketches of Pokémon, some of which seemed familiar.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Roy. "Those look so cool!"
"No kidding!" said Staraptor. "Whoever drew these must be a great artist."
Taki flicked through more pages, each one leaving the gang in awestruck silence. Unbeknownst to them, a series of footsteps approached the party.
"Ah, there's my book," a voice said.
Every member of the group drew their attention away from the sketchbook and saw a boy moving toward them.
He had dark green, ear-length hair parted at the centre, wearing a green short-sleeved shirt, dark red shorts, along with purple and bright orange shoes. A salmon-coloured headband drawing the focus of the group
"Been looking all over for it," the boy said.
Something about this person seemed familiar to Louis and Taki, but for some reason, they couldn't figure out what.
The boy with the pink headband noticed that the large gathering was viewing his artwork.
"Do you like them?" he asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Did you draw every one of these?" asked Roy.
"Uh-huh," answered the boy. "Been sketching people and Pokémon ever since I was a kid. My Dad taught me."
"Since he was a kid..." muttered Louis.
"His Dad taught him..." mumbled Taki.
Suddenly, memories of their time adventuring through Johto returned to them. They recalled a similar event involving a young boy, who was great at sketching Pokémon...and had a similar...set of clothing.
Invisible exclamation marks popped into existence above the two individuals.
"Tracey Sketchit?!" they exclaimed.
A bit startled, the boy turned his attention to the two young adults.
"Huh?" he said.
Louis leaned in closer to the boy, with a smile on his face, pointing at himself.
"Do you remember me?" he asked. "I'm Louis Serrano!"
Taki leaned in closer as well.
"And I'm Taki, remember?" she inquired.
The boy's pupils shrunk as he recalled distant memories.
"Louis? Taki?" he blurted.
Both individuals nodded in reply.
Tracey couldn't believe his eyes. The two people that he had met when he was about eight years old were now standing before him once again. Then, the three humans began to laugh amongst one another and wrapped their arms around one another.
Feraligatr moved toward the individual as Roy and the other Pokémon watched on, confused.
"Uh...what's going on?" wondered Roy.
Tracey and the others were unaware of Feraligatr's presence. Eventually, she spoke.
"Fe-ral."
Tracey turned his head and saw the large, blue, alligator-like Pokémon, catching a glimpse of the pink bow on its head.
"Is that...?"
"The Totodile that travelled alongside us? Yes," answered Taki.
"Wow!" Tracey exclaimed as he approached Feraligatr.
"I can't believe how big you've grown."
"Fe-raligatr," she said, chuckling afterwards.
Roy raised his hand, drawing the small group's attention.
"You three know this guy?" he asked.
"Yeah," answered Taki. "You remember how we mentioned the kid who drew sketches of people and Pokémon?"
"Yeah?"
"This is him."
"Oh, sweet!" cheered Roy.
Then, the three reuniting humans continued their conversation.
"Tracey, what are you doing here?" asked Louis.
"I was sent here by Professor Oak," answered Tracey.
"Professor Oak?" questioned Taki.
"Yep. He's the Kanto region's leading professor. I help him out in his lab."
"Huh, neat," said Louis.
Before Tracey spoke again, he suddenly had a brilliant, and imaginative plan.
"Hey, I got an idea," the boy said.
"What is it?" asked Louis, curiously.
The boy with the headband opened up his sketchbook, turned to a blank page and pulled a pencil out of his pocket.
"Could you two and your Pokémon stand over there?" he requested.
Both individuals happily nodded. They gestured for their Pokémon to join them. Before Tracey began drawing, he brought his attention to Roy and his Pokémon.
"You guys wanna join in?" he asked.
"Nah, this is between you three," Roy declined. "Name's Roy, by the way."
"I'm Tracey."
Pencil flicked across parchment, as Tracey's keen eyes surveyed his new picture's subjects. Occasionally, he peered up from the page, finalizing details while absent-mindedly biting the flattened end of his pencil.
Soon, he finished erasing out the unnecessary lines on the paper and completed his sketch.
"There we go, all done."
Roy had the honour of witnessing the final product first. He whistled in amazement.
Tracey flipped the book over, showing the completed drawing to Louis, Taki, and their Pokémon. A sketch, a near as could be to a photo, shone from the page, the likenesses exact.
"Wow!" the group exclaimed as one.
As they were gazing upon the paper, Louis easily noticed that Incineroar was flexing. He spun to the fire-wrestler Pokémon, raising an eyebrow while grinning.
"Seriously?" he said.
"Oh come on, how could I resist?" Incineroar replied.
Both human and Pokémon chuckled.
"Way better than I thought it would be," said Cinderace.
As the day went on, even with the occasional moments spent in class, all reuniting parties were happy to see one another.
Later that evening, over the dim of portable droning generators, loud and burly construction workers, newly arrived by sea earlier in the day, placed a barricade around the academy's old Pokémon Gym. Lucario watched on from afar, aware of what was going to happen.
The aura Pokémon sighed, unhappy of what was to come.
"So...they're about to tear the thing down?" a voice said.
"Probably getting ready for tomorrow," Lucario answered.
A little surprised, Lucario turned on the spot to see a Frogadier sitting on a nearby rock, watching the unfolding events.
"That's a shame," it said. "That place brought a lot of memories."
"Agreed."
"I mean, I watched my brother win the academy tournament years ago," added Frogadier.
The aura Pokémon became a bit confused.
"Brother?" he said.
Almost immediately, distant flashbacks played in Lucario's mind, regarding Team Venus' victory. He recalled seeing Azul jumping over to a second Froakie who was approaching.
The Pokémon snapped back to reality.
"You're Azul's sister?"
The Frogadier locked eyes with Lucario.
"You know him?" it asked.
"Yeah, I was the Riolu who battled alongside him."
Nearby, a jackhammer roared to life, its tip biting into the foundations of the old gym.
"Oh yeah, I remember you," said Frogadier.
Lucario grinned.
"I take it you're aware of Azul being back?"
"Actually, I've known for a short time," Frogadier revealed.
"...what?"
A construction worker was heard telling the others to keep the noise down, aware of the students taking up temporary residence on campus.
"How long has he been back?" inquired Lucario.
"About three weeks," replied Frogadier.
Then, it was as if an imaginary sparkler was lit and started fizzing in Lucario's subconscious.
'You have got to be kidding me,' he thought.
"Honestly, I'm surprised he came back at all," said Frogadier.
"What are you talking about?"
Then, Frogadier became a little surprised.
"Wait, you don't know what happened years ago?" she asked
"What happened years ago?" Lucario responded.
Meanwhile, outside the dorms, Louis, Taki and Tracey sat near the entryway, continuing their conversation from earlier.
"So...have you gone on any more adventures since meeting us?" inquired Taki.
"Actually, yes," answered Tracey. "Many months ago, before I began assisting Professor Oak, I travelled around the Orange Islands with my friend Ash, his Pikachu, and my other friend, Misty."
"Wait, you travelled around the Orange Islands? Your home?" blurted Taki.
"Who's Ash?" wondered Louis.
"Yeah," Tracey responded, answering Taki's question.
"I was also keeping my eyes open to see how many Pokémon I could sketch," he clarified.
The party could then overhear the construction going on from afar. Both trainers from Johto were aware of what was happening. Then, they returned to their conversation.
"So, how long are you going to be here?" asked Louis.
"Only a few days," answered Tracey. "Professor Oak sent me here to get some more information about this place."
The party's conversation, and concentration, broke momentarily with the echoing breaking of the gym.
"Oh," said Louis. "Ok."
The young adult began recalling Tracey's earlier artwork, but also the moment where he witnessed Zack sending out the wrong Pokémon. This gave Louis a lightbulb moment.
"Since you're here, I just got a pretty cool idea," he said.
"Really? What?" asked Taki, curiously.
Before Louis could answer, the sound of rustling grass met the group's eardrums. They all turned their heads to where the sounds were originating from. It was Lucario, and to Louis, he appeared to have a lot on his mind.
He stopped before the trio and drew his attention to Louis.
"Hey Louis, you got a minute?" the Pokémon requested.
The young adult blinked twice.
"Uh...yeah, sure," he accepted.
He then stood up and stepped over to his teammate. Before departing, Louis turned to his human friends.
"Excuse me for a moment," he said.
They continued until out of earshot before Lucario stopped. Eventually, Louis spoke.
"So...what's up?" he asked.
Lucario took a deep breath, calming himself before speaking.
"I'm gonna be straight with you," the Pokémon said.
"Something happened between you and Azul years ago, didn't it?" he asked.
The young adult was taken aback by his companion's question. It felt as if a thousand pins and needles jabbed into Louis' body. He hesitated but eventually answered.
"Y-...you know?"
Lucario nodded.
"I had a feeling when we reunited with him, but I wasn't entirely sure," he revealed.
"But, just a few minutes ago, I ran into Azul's sister. She told me about what happened...and now I know my suspicions were true."
The young adult had a hard time processing this new information. Small droplets of sweat began running down his forehead.
"...what did she tell you?" inquired Louis.
"She told me how..." Lucario paused. "...years ago, after you two were in a sparring match inside the old gym, and lost, Azul became quite...no, very upset. So much so that he gave up battling and left."
The truth of the words found a cold spot within Louis, startling him.
"Was that why you didn't come back to the academy for a while?" asked Lucario.
There was no point in hiding it. Louis took in a deep breath and spoke.
"...yes," he answered, begrudgingly. "I think...no, definitely believe it was my fault for what happened. I mean, it affected me so much that..."
Louis paused.
"What?" said Lucario.
"...I quit."
Lucario became shocked at Louis' answer. He couldn't believe that his trainer, the human who had selected them on their first day together, would end up quitting.
"...why didn't you tell us this before?" asked Lucario, cautiously.
Louis gazed to the ground, hesitating to answer.
"Well?"
"I wanted to, but...I was too scared of what you would all say," answered Louis.
After taking a moment to process everything, Lucario nodded. Before he began to make his way back to the dorms, Louis placed a hand on Lucario's shoulder.
"Lucario, look..." he began.
"When the appropriate time comes, I'll tell everyone."
The aura Pokémon listened on.
"But for now...just keep this between us."
Holy moly! That was a big chapter. First, Louis reunited with Taki, Feraligatr, and Cinderace, while the pair reunited with their old friend, Tracey Sketchit, and finally, now we know the situation between Louis and Azul years ago. This could get interesting.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
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Thanks again. See you next time