Although I'm posting this on the morning of August 12, I actually finished this chapter last night. This is the longest one yet (roughly 4,500 words). It's not that impressive, but it's longer than anything I've written in what feels like forever, so I'm quite satisfied with it.
I'm really happy that I've taken this hobby up again, because it's one that I've found I enjoy quite a lot. There's just nothing quite like typing up your ideas and seeing them come to life on your computer screen. But that's enough about my love letter to writing.
The title of this chapter, of course, comes from a famous movie scene from the first Indiana Jones film. And I'll admit it, I never watched more than the first Indiana Jones film.
With that out of the way, enjoy Chapter 6 of Snowbound: Volume 1!
Although I had gotten the restaurant I'd wanted, and was glad to be spending time with Angelina, I'm not going to pretend like I had nothing to worry about on this date of sorts. (Was it even a date? Well, whatever, I'll say that it was).
There were two main worries I had, and those were cameras and poachers.
If I didn't take some back roads to get to the steak house, there was no question about it; I was going to be seen by a lot of people. If the meal was supposed to be just between me and Angelina, it would certainly feel like an invasion of our privacy if the news media watched us the whole time.
The cameras might have only been annoying, but poachers were far more dangerous. I knew that Lucario were very strong fighters, and their aura allowed them to sense a lot of different things that were hidden to the naked eye. However, I hadn't been able to hone either of those skills yet; nobody had taught me how. That, of course, made me even more vulnerable than I would have been already.
And I was already pretty vulnerable. Not only was I a Lucario, but I was also a former human, and had a different fur color than most Lucario. That was going to put an even larger target on my back.
I need to learn how to fight like a Lucario, I thought. If I could defend myself, that would go a long way towards making me feel just a little safer.
I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind right now, though. The fact was, while this was certainly an upscale steak house, there would be plenty of other witnesses. If a poacher should try and kidnap me, other people would see what was happening and put a stop to it, or at least be able to prosecute the poacher.
Therefore, I decided that it was unlikely that I'd be in too much danger tonight. Even so, you never knew, so I decided that I was going to take only the less populated roads as much as possible on my way to the restaurant. I knew my way around Gardenia well enough, having lived here my whole life, that it wouldn't be too much of an issue.
At 5:30, I gave my parents good-bye hugs and went out the door. After getting in my car, I made the twenty-minute drive to the steak house, which was closer to the downtown area of Pastoria City. It would have been only 15 minutes on the normal route, but, as stated above, I wasn't taking the normal route.
Even with the extra time, I had ten minutes to wait before our reservation. I spent them in my car, after turning the engine off. I looked around for Angelina, but there was no sign of her. That didn't mean that she wasn't there, but I did not know what her car looked like, or its license plate number.
Maybe that's something I should know, if she is to be my potential girlfriend.
I felt my heart flutter slightly. I wasn't sure if this qualified as a date, but it sure felt like it. Truth be told, I was rather nervous, because I'd never been on a date before.
Growing up, I'd always been fairly socially awkward. While I'd known Angelina since kindergarten (Gardenia was a small town, after all), I'd never had the courage to ask her, or any other girl, out. That of course had changed today.
At 6:00 PM, I got out of my car and walked into the restaurant as casually as I could. Even with my efforts to appear casual, I noticed that I was getting a few glances that looked rather greedy, and they sent chills down my spine.
Poachers? Probably not. More likely, they were just people who were surprised to see a white-furred Lucario out and about. Lucario with other fur colors besides blue are very rare, and thus weren't something you saw every day.
I noticed that Angelina was already there. She was blonde, with blue eyes and hair that went down the back of her neck in one long braid. She was a few inches shorter than me, but still taller than the average female. If I do say so myself, she was pretty good-looking, but I suppose that is rather subjective.
The atmosphere inside the restaurant was rather fancy. It was made to appear much like a wine cellar that you'd see in the wine country of the Kalos region, with bottles upon bottles of various different types of wines stacked on top of one another. There were supports in place to make sure that none of them fell down, which was definitely a good thing.
"So the rumors are true" Angelina said. It took me a few seconds to realize that that sentence was directed at me.
"What rumors?" I asked her, shrugging my shoulders. On some level, I knew that I was just playing around with her; I knew exactly what Angelina was talking about, and she knew that I knew.
"That you turned into a Lucario".
I nodded. "That did indeed happen. Don't worry, though, it's not contagious. If I should accidentally scratch you with one of my spikes, you're not going to turn into one as well".
Angelina furrowed her eyebrows. "Did I ever say that I was worried about that?"
I was going to respond, but, to this day, I don't know what I would have said. That's because the host came by and said that our table was ready. He did give me a judgy side-eye as we were making our way over to the table that had been reserved for us, so I knew he knew about my story.
Of course, though. Everyone knows about it by now. It's been the number one trending story everywhere.
We sat down at the table, and I ordered my favorite beverage, which was root beer. Angelina ordered lemonade, and the waiter said he'd be back with a basket of bread. For whatever reason, since I'd become a Lucario, I'd been craving steak, so I was very glad we were at a restaurant specializing in that.
A nice big, juicy filet mignon sounds wonderful right about now, I thought to myself. And that's what I'm going to get.
"I asked you this before", Angelina said eventually, "but what is it like being a Lucario? Besides just the physical aspects".
I'd already told her how I felt hot, energetic, and hungry, but I tried to think of more things to say. We were in a public place, so I whispered my response to her.
Leaning in close to her ear, I said very quietly, "Well, it's really weird. I'm now the center of attention everywhere I go...which, admittedly, isn't too many places. This is actually the first time I've left the house since I transformed".
"Oh wow" she replied. "You must be pretty restless, having been cooped up inside for so long".
I nodded. "You bet".
The waiter came back with our bread basket and drinks, and then he asked for our orders. Each of us got filet mignon with a truffle cheese baked potato, and then he took our menus back.
By this time my mouth was watering like crazy, and I could barely keep it shut. There are many ways to endear yourself to a girl, but drooling all over the table on your first date, especially at a fancy restaurant like this one, isn't one of them.
The restaurant got more and more crowded every minute, so I knew I had to be careful about what I would say. Anything I said might be overheard by someone else, and I'll admit to sometimes being a person who struggles to use his "indoor voice". My parents had told me that it's always best to use the appropriate voice for the current situation, but sometimes I get just a little too excited.
For a few minutes, nothing of interest happened. We simply sipped our drinks, and I noticed a few unflattering glances towards me. As someone who usually hung back both in school and in life, always preferring to sit in the back of the class, this wasn't something I was used to. It definitely wasn't something I enjoyed.
And then something happened.
As Angelina was lifting her glass of lemonade up to her lips, she accidentally dropped it. Almost immediately, my heart stopped, but, in spite of being shocked, I was able to think quite clearly.
Using my lightning Lucario reflexes, I was able to grab it before it hit the ground. Unfortunately, I scratched Angelina slightly with the spike on the back of my paw.
"Sorry" I said, holding my paw up to my mouth like a child caught stealing from the cookie jar. "Didn't mean to scratch you right there".
Angelina pointed at herself, now sopping wet from the lemonade that had spilled all over her shirt. "Don't be. It's my own damn fault for being such a clumsy ass".
I was barely able to resist chuckling at that, but she grabbed a napkin and wiped the lemonade off of her clothes. I offered to ask the server, when he got back, for a bandage, but Angelina refused, saying that she could take care of it herself.
She appeared to be right; her wound wasn't bleeding too much, and was barely visible anymore even just a minute later.
I really hope I didn't accidentally transfer some aura to her as I scratched her. But why would that be a bad thing? After all, we ALL have aura, all human beings. It's just aura-sensing capabilities that are exclusive to Lucario.
We didn't talk too much for the next few minutes. I still couldn't believe that that had happened, and I desperately hoped that there were no adverse consequences from being scratched with a Lucario's hand spike.
The amount of looks I was getting had increased at least fivefold. Being a white-furred Lucario definitely attracted a lot of attention as was, but this was very much exacerbating the situation, to say the very least. I almost wanted to melt right through the floor from sheer embarrassment.
Of course, if I did melt through the floor, I wouldn't have gotten to enjoy the filet mignon, the truffle cheese baked potato, or the apple pie dessert I was thinking of getting. That was what kept me grounded and not running right out the door; that and the fact that doing the latter would create even more attention.
Soon enough, the waiter came back with both of our steaks and each of our baked potatoes, and Angelina and myself dug into the meal. It was just as good as I had expected, and just as good as the hefty price tag for the meal would have suggested.
My father will be okay with paying for this, I thought to myself. He's definitely excited that I'm on my first date...if you can even call it that.
Thus far, I figured that I'd rate the date a six out of ten. It was definitely awkward to go out as a Lucario, but the food at the steak house was pretty damn amazing. It had also been quite embarrassing to scratch Angelina on accident after she dropped the glass.
Why did you have to do that?, I practically yelled at myself. She could have caught it on her own. How sexist are you, Lucas?
"I don't know why", Angelina replied, "but I feel like I could eat a lot more than just this".
I looked down at my own steak, then at hers. I was usually a pretty fast eater, and half of my 16-ounce steak was already in my stomach. To my surprise, only a quarter of Angelina's steak remained on her plate.
"This steak isn't small in the slightest" I said. "I'll order dessert if you want. I'll order it for both of us".
Angelina nodded and then went back to eating her steak. I noticed how she devoured it very quickly, her face quite close to the plate, in a way that would not be befitting of someone eating at a fancy restaurant.
Almost like...an animal.
I mean, humans are animals too. But I mean a wild animal, not a human.
Soon, she was done with the steak, and had moved onto her baked potato. She scarfed that food item down just as quickly as she'd practically inhaled the steak.
I'd seen Angelina eat before, in the school cafeteria. At least that I had seen, she had never eaten this much food this quickly. And yet I could see the hunger in her eyes as she was almost done with the potato before I'd even started it.
My potato was delicious, but the whole time I was eating it, I couldn't stop thinking about the implications of just how hungry Angelina was. If my theory was right...well, I didn't want to think about it.
Eventually, the waiter came back and took away our plates. By now we'd both finished eating, and he asked us if we wanted dessert. Both of us ordered a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream, which the waiter said would be at our table shortly.
"When did you start being so hungry?" I asked her. I tried not to sound rude as I was saying this, but I knew that it was very much possible it came out as insensitive. "If you don't mind me asking, of course" I added, trying to recover from it a little.
"I don't know. Just a few minutes ago".
I felt my heart skip a beat. Just because she just started being hungry a few minutes ago might not mean what you think it means.
But maybe it does.
The waiter came back with our slices of apple pie, but I couldn't bring myself to take a bite of mine. Not with the way Angelina was looking at my slice with an expression of hunger.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. I thought I knew what was wrong, but I didn't want to be the one to say it out loud.
"I hate to ask this, but...could I have your dessert too?"
Normally, this would have been an unthinkable thing to ask me; I'd always say no. However, I really was starting to suspect my theory was correct, and, if so, I knew how much Angelina would be suffering if she didn't have it.
"Sure" I replied. "You can. Are you really that hungry, though? You had bread, lemonade, steak, and a baked potato, and now you want two pieces of apple pie?"
She nodded, with an expression on her face that spoke of absolute guilt, so much guilt that there couldn't possibly be any more no matter what.
"Okay then". I pushed my dessert plate over to her side of the table, and she started greedily eating both slices of pie.
To say that this was alarming to watch would be an understatement. However, I told myself not to jump to conclusions right away. It could be that, or it could have been something completely different. Even so...that was a lot of food.
I watched how she ate, much like a dog and not like a human at all. If I had gotten stares for being a white-furred Lucario before, now Angelina was getting just as many stares for the way she devoured her dessert. Part of me felt guilty for being glad the spotlight was off of me, at least temporarily.
"All right" she said, once she was finished with both slices of apple pie. "Are you going to pay the tab?"
I nodded. "Technically, my father is. We're having them charge it to his credit card. Don't worry; you won't have to pay a thing".
"Thanks" she replied. "And sorry for eating your pie too. Do you want me to stay here and order some for you?"
I shook my head. "Really, it's fine. I can get ice cream or something at home. I just...want you to be happy".
As soon as I'd said the last sentence, I regretted it. It made it sound like I was already considering Angelina my girlfriend, when it was only the first date. Oh, how crushes can really impact the way you see the world.
"All right" she said. "I'll see you soon, Lucas. You're really nice, you know that?"
I could practically feel myself blush at her saying that. Eventually, I waved good-bye at her retreating form as she left the restaurant. I then got up from my chair, told the waiter my father's credit card information (which I'd memorized months ago) and left to go to my car.
The drive home was uneventful, but there were several times during it that I nearly crashed the car, when I was so distracted by what I'd seen at the restaurant. Namely, the way Angelina had eaten like a pig.
Or a Lucario.
Okay, perhaps the drive back wasn't so uneventful after all. I did eventually get home, and I turned on the TV in order to catch the latest news about the case of the transforming teenager. Okay, that wasn't the official name of the case, and I hadn't seen it used anywhere, but, when you think about it, it does sound fitting, doesn't it?
In any case, I turned to CNN and then Vulpix News. I paused on the latter, waiting for them to get past footage of another blizzard in Snowpoint City (which was apparently far more severe than they usually were at this time of year, and had practically shut the whole city down).
Okay...there's definitely something going on here. Did the spirit invading my dreams the other night have anything to do with this?
A couple weeks ago, if you'd asked me if spirits existed, I would have told you absolutely not. I certainly didn't believe in them, at any rate. But in a world where humans could turn into Pokemon, it was certainly possible that spirits had an impact on the world. You just couldn't rule anything out anymore.
Vulpix News was running a segment about me and Angelina at dinner together. My stomach dropped as soon as I saw the way she was eating, because it was so ghastly. Angelina was seventeen years old, and surely past her growth spurt by now. That kind of hunger just wasn't natural.
Might it be supernatural, then?
"Jim, what's the latest update on Lucas Enfield, the young man who transformed into a Lucario yesterday? What's he up to?"
"Well", the other reporter, evidently named Jim, replied, "just less than an hour ago, he was seen at Le Resto-Grill in downtown Pastoria City, eating dinner with a teenage girl. Why he would have been foolish enough to leave the house in this form is beyond me, but I can't read his mind".
"Any information on who this girl might be?"
"The girl has been identified as Angelina Sarah Hawley, who has been attending school with Mr. Enfield since kindergarten. It appears that they may have been on a date when this footage was taken".
I felt my blood boil at that last sentence. In my own opinion, it was journalistic malpractice to give away information that was both personal and not a threat to public safety if it remained under wraps. I certainly didn't think it necessary to talk so much about my private life to the public.
"Oh, so Lucas Enfield has gotten himself a girlfriend in spite of all of this?" asked the other reporter, who was female. "How lucky of him".
I turned off the TV. If I watched too much more of the news segments on me, I might die of embarrassment, or else go insane with the amount of anger I was harboring right now. For the sake of my own life and mental health, I decided that I didn't need to see any more.
It was then that the phone rang. I sprang up off of the couch like the clown inside a jack-in-the-box and made my way over to the phone as quickly as I could without upsetting any of the chairs at the kitchen table.
The call was from my mother. "Is this Lucas?" she asked me.
"Yeah" I replied. "How's it going?" That was a phrase I often used to continue a conversation.
"Pretty well. Your father and I went out to dinner myself. We'll be back at about ten. How was your date?"
I felt my face turn red once more. It's one thing when a stranger calls it a date, but it's quite another when your own mother does the same.
"It was kind of weird. I'd never been on a date before. All in all, I'd say it went okay, but there is one more thing I want to tell you". I told her the story of how Angelina was eating so greedily and had asked for my slice of apple pie out of hunger.
"Hmmm. That's definitely worrisome" my mother told me. "But, like you said, it could just be nothing. We'll have to wait and see".
That was one of the things I least liked to do; wait and see. I liked to know my fate in a hurry, thank you very much. I wasn't too keen on having to wait to find out what was going on, and if Angelina was indeed going to transform into a Lucario.
"Yeah" I replied. "And it's all over the news now. Perhaps I shouldn't leave the house again".
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Eventually, my mother replied with, "I don't think I'd go that far. Perhaps you shouldn't frequent such public places anymore, but I see no reason why you shouldn't go out every now and then. You might as well go live in a prison underground somewhere".
You might as well go live in a prison underground somewhere.
I don't know why, but that line really resonated with me. While I'm not a huge risk-taker, I definitely wanted to be able to live my life and not let whatever evil force had turned me into a Lucario take that away from me. That would be letting them win, and I certainly didn't want to let them win.
"All right, then. I'll probably head to bed before you get back, today was quite a day".
"Okay then. Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning".
I nodded. Then, remembering that my mother couldn't see me nod, I added, "We'll figure this out. And, eventually, life will go back to normal". I honestly said that last line to convince myself of it more than my mother, but it worked for its intended purpose. It was as if the more I said it, the more I could make myself believe it. Fake it 'till you make it, that's what they say.
My mother sighed, a sign I saw as ominous. "See you in the morning, Lucas".
I then hung up. Even though I'd gotten to go out on a date with Angelina at a nice restaurant, today, as a whole, hadn't been a good day. All I wanted was to go to bed soon and put today behind me.
First, though, I wanted the dessert that had been taken away from me. I went over to the freezer and made myself a large bowl of vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, we had no apple pie, so I had to make do with what we had.
Against my own better judgment, I turned the TV back on. Almost immediately, I wished I hadn't.
Since I hadn't changed the channel before I'd turned the TV off last time, it was still on Vulpix News. A horrible scene was taking place on the screen before me, one that was like a car crash. It was horrible, but no matter what, you just couldn't look away.
A house was engulfed in flames, and various water-type Pokemon, as well as human firefighters, had been dispatched to that address to put the fire out. Based on the fact that the house was right next to the beach, I deduced that it was probably in the Sunyshore City area. It was just a gut feeling I had, but, in my experience, gut feelings tend to work out.
It can't be an attack from a poacher, now, can it be?
As much as I didn't want to believe it, my gut was telling me the opposite. That this attack had been motivated by a desire to capture a white-furred Lucario, and that I had been the intended target. The house in the news coverage even looked a lot like my house, too, same color and size and everything else.
I didn't know who or where this house was. I didn't know who the arsonist was. But I did know one thing.
From here on out, I would have to constantly be on my guard, no matter what.
