Hello.
I don't own Pokemon.
Please take drink, food, and rest breaks while reading this! Don't binge in one go! Please take care of yourself!
Enjoy!
Azelf. Mesprit. Uxie…. How could Team Galactic just steal them?! Lucas looked around at the still lake, as if the protector and legendary Pokémon of it wasn't gone. Scars remained from Team Galactic's assault on the lake, and while it wasn't as destroyed as how Dawn said Lake Valor was, it wasn't completely peaceful either.
Grass was scorched, rocks floated in the water, trees were cut down… all remnants of the Pokémon Battle between him and that Galactic Admin, Mars. He had tried his best to defend Mesprit, but still—he failed. The grunts had managed to cross the lake towards the cave in the middle, and had stolen the Pokémon.
The Legendary Pokémon of Emotions.
One of Sinnoh's Lake Trio.
The Guardian of Lake Verity.
And Lucas had failed it. Sure, Dawn hadn't faired much better, but she had arrived at the aftermath, not during the battle. He wasn't made for battling, Lucas grew up knowing this, studying Pokémon was what he was good at.
Dawn had appeared as he cornered Mars—if he couldn't defeat her with his Pokémon, then there was always his average strength—and had managed to defeat her. But it was too late even then. The thieves were already gone.
Then, she left at the professor's word, heading out to help Barry at Lake Acuity.
And Lucas stayed behind. Of course, his Pokémon team were all fainted, so he was basically defenceless. But, still, there should've been more he could've done.
"Come on, Lucas," said Professor Rowan, "we should get your Pokémon healed up. There's not much we can do now, I suppose."
There wasn't much else he could do but agree, so followed the professor away from the lake.
He tried hard to not think about how Mesprit suffered. And how loud it was.
"We hope to see you again!" Nurse Joy chimed, bowing respectfully as Lucas attached his Poké Balls back where they belonged. She was new, he noticed, as she still wore the BEARTIC WITH ME, I'M NEW! sticker on her nametag.
"Thanks," he said. One, two, three, four, five, and six… yup, all his team were there. He had increased his team since Veilstone, adding a Tangrowth, Milotic, and a Mothim that he had been raising and studying, specifically analysing Burmy's female and male evolutions.
The female Burmy he had offered to Dawn as a thank-you gift for helping him in Veilstone. She had been happy to accept her. And given how the Burmy wasn't in the PC (he'd checked), it seemed that she was battling.
That was good. She was adamant, after all, and loved battling.
Lucas left the Pokémon Centre, and headed down the road to where the Pokémon Lab was. A few kids were playing in the street, some doing imaginary Pokémon Battles; one of the kids was yelling, "Bidoof! Use Quick—oh! Hi, Lucas!"
He waved back at the group, who had all suddenly noticed him. Being the professor's assistant made him an instant favourite of Pokémon-loving kids. After all, although Professor Rowan wasn't an intimidating man, some little kids thought his moustache and sharp eyebrows made him scary. Lucas, being both shorter and younger, was less terrifying out of the two.
(It also doesn't help that he had babysat a few of them before for some weekend cash during slow times at the lab. And a few were in his little sister's class.)
Lucas was, by no means, a celebrity; but it was nice knowing that people recognised him. Even if those people, currently, were little kids.
The opponent to the imaginary Bidoof owner had their imaginary Clefairy use Close Combat and KO'd the Bidoof. Lucas quickly passed by as they started to argue that Clefairy couldn't learn Close Combat.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket, looking to see if there was any information about what was happening at Lake Acuity. None of his Pokémon knew Fly, but there were a few at the lab who did—and maybe he could convince the professor to let him take one to check up on the Dex Holders? His Alakazam didn't know long-distance Teleport, either.
There were no new notification on his phone. Of course. Although Barry generally blew up his phone with his nonstop texting in the Official* Best Sinnoh Dex Holders Group Chat (name curtesy of Barry and Dawn), he may have no signal at the lake. Or was too busy fighting to protect Uxie, or his life, or his team. And Dawn would be too busy mid-Fly to risk checking for texts, if she got signal in the sky.
*Not actually the official group chat.
Lucas scrolled through the previous messages, which consisted of mostly Barry and Dawn asking him questions about certain Pokémon (their weaknesses, mostly), selfies of their teams and their Gym Badges, Lucas congratulating them and asking them about their Dexes, and then the occasional Barry asking for directions to someplace.
He always responded in a professional capacity, of course. He was a professional. It didn't matter if they were around his age: they were Dex Holders, and he was just an assistant. Professional co-workers, in a sense. Of course, Lucas did consider both Dawn and Barry his friends (Barry had even been adamant on calling him that, as was Dawn), and while they didn't really see each other, having an unofficial chat with just the three of them was nice.
Opening the actual Official Sinnoh Dex Holder Group Chat (which was given out to all Dex Holders who completed five or more gyms, in order to get in contact with the professor very quickly, or to ask questions to other Dex Holders. Most people stopped the Gym Challenge after four gyms, so along with the Relic Badge, the challenger also got added to the group chat if they wanted. All of the Gym Leaders were there, as were the Elite Four, and the Champion; but Lucas didn't think Dawn and Barry knew that as really only he responded to messages in the chat, unless urgent. And that fact wasn't advertised. He also was fairly sure that mostly everyone besides from him muted the chat, as it wasn't necessary to interact with; and he was fairly sure there was another group chat for just the Gym Leaders, and the League) he found that there were still no new messages.
The last one was Dawn pointing out that there was a spelling error in the entry on Shinx, in which it was spelt like Shrinx. Lucas had quickly corrected it.
The news, though, they were talking about what was going on. A few headlines read about Team Galactic bombing Lake Valor, and warnings for people near the three lakes to stay inside and stay safe. But, there wasn't anything he didn't already know. He cursed under his breath and pocketed his phone, finally entering the lab.
"Ah!" greeted the professor from across the lab. A few interns were mingling about. "How are your Pokémon, Lucas?"
"They're fine. Have you gotten word from Dawn and Barry?" he said, walking over to him and standing in front of his desk.
Rowan shook his head, scratching at his moustache. "Not yet… but I do believe they're fairing well. Both are talented Trainers."
"That's true," he said. "But Team Galactic is very bad news! Look at what they've done to Lake Valor!"
"I'm worried about them, too," said the professor. "But, there's not much we can do—"
The start of his speech was cut off by a loud vibration in Lucas' pocket. It was his phone! Maybe someone had responded in the group chat? He grabbed it and, sure enough, Dawn had texted in the Official* chat.
"Uxie's been taken as well!" he exclaimed. "Barry's safe, though, if not a bit shaken up; he's gone to the Pokémon Centre to rest. She's heading to Team Galactic's HQ to get them back, though. She had to know that's suicidal!" He looked up at Rowan. "She can't take on all of Team Galactic by herself! We have to go there!"
"Lucas," said the professor, "Dawn's a Pokémon Trainer; we're Pokémon Researchers. I'm sure by now she has gotten the seventh gym badge. She's more than capable of taking care of herself against Team Galactic."
"She shouldn't do it alone," he stressed.
Rowan sighed. "By the time you got to wherever the HQ is, there won't be anything for you to do."
Veilstone, he thought. It's just in Veilstone. That's only a few hours flight away. Given how careful Pokémon have to Fly on Route 217 and 216, we should get there around the same time. We did well in that Double Battle against those grunts before.
"I could heal her Pokémon," he said, instead. "Help her get to a Pokémon Centre. Help get her out of there if she fails."
It wasn't much, but every little thing helped. Maybe she'll run out of the Potions? Maybe her Pokémon will faint, and Team Galactic won't let her leave? She shouldn't do this alone, regardless.
"Please, professor," he earnestly begged. "I couldn't keep Mesprit safe. But maybe I can help Dawn free them."
Somehow, Lucas always forgot how cold it was in the sky. He always forgot to pack gloves, although he always mentioned it after landing, but at least he remembered goggles this time. His ears were numb, and he scrunched his shoulders to try and warm them. Luckily, though, his scarf kept his neck warm.
Clutching tightly to the harness on the borrow Staraptor, he moved to use the ends of his white scarf to cover his fingers. At least his jacket was warm.
Down below, he could see the mountain range that contained Mt. Coronet. The tallest mountain of the range (that intimidated him from even this height), Staraptor wasn't actually permitted to fly over it, and was instead supposed to go over the highlands. That fit him quite fine. When he was younger, he had nightmares about falling off his Fly Pokémon and spearing himself on the pillars at the top.
Of course, that couldn't happen. Pokémon weren't allow over the tip for many reasons, and that was one of them. But, still, childhood fears laid deep.
He had been in the sky for a few hours now, behind schedule, having not convinced Rowan to let him leave. The Staraptor was one he said he was taking out of the lab to look closer at the flight feathers, and Rowan didn't even think about the fact that she was registered to Fly. He had two hours or so lag behind Dawn, but hopefully he would get there before she got hurt—or worse.
A form riding on a Togekiss heading in his direction was a surprise. Few people used Togekiss as their Fly Pokémon, as there were no feathers to clutch onto in case the harness slipped. Of course, Dawn didn't really care about safety all that much.
And it was Dawn on the Togekiss. He easily recognised her slate hair in the distance, along with her white and pink toque.
Her Togekiss slowed down, as did his Staraptor, and they hovered across from one another. Lucas took a moment to realise what was happening.
"What happened at the HQ?" he yelled over the wind.
"I freed the Lake Trio!" she yelled back.
He paused. "Oh! That's good! Are you hurt?"
"No!"
"That's also good! Where are you going?"
"Spear Pillar!" she yelled, gesturing to the mountain. "Cyrus is gonna try and destroy the world!"
Cyrus… he had read that name in the news. That was the leader of Team Galactic. And, of course, Lucas knew that destroying the world… well, there wasn't anything else to say but—
"That's bad! That's really bad!"
She nodded. "Yeah! I'm landing at the base of Mt. Coronet! Wanna help?"
"Absolutely!"
Early on, it was decided that Dawn would deal with Team Galactic grunts and Lucas would deal with wild Pokémon. Not that their repels didn't work, but because one of the dangers of battling in a cave (or mountain) was that wild Pokémon sometimes ambushed the Trainers midbattle.
As such, Lucas was sent to stop those Pokémon. Most of them were Zubats, so his Alakazam made quick work of them.
He had to admit, Dawn was a phenomenal Trainer. She was quick and alert, and seemed like she wanted to be more active in Pokémon Battles than what was allowed by law; always ready to step in and almost physically fight the opposing Pokémon and Trainer. Her Pokémon listened to her without doubt, and she managed to take down all of the grunts with barely any need for revives.
The professor was right, he thought, watching her battle, there really isn't anything for me to do. There wasn't any reason to worry, I suppose.
Eventually, the duo managed to reach the summit, somehow navigating the mountain without much hassle or getting lost. Lucas didn't know how they did it, he could never navigate the mountain without a map and over fifty repels. Dawn seemed a natural, leading them through very easily.
"The trick is," she said when he mentioned his thoughts, "is that the grunts are really leading the way. Just follow them, and they'll lead to the top. It's just video game logic."
Well, she wasn't wrong.
The summit was freezing cold, probably as cold—if not more—as the sky. Lucas really wished he had gloves. Snow covered the floor of the cave's mouth, blown in from the wind, and softly crunched under their boots; maybe people from some of the coldest places in Sinnoh, they would be at home in this snow land. But Lucas was from Sandgem, it boarded directly onto Route 220, and beyond that route was the sea. He didn't just dress for the cold for no reason, after all.
"Come on," Dawn said, one hand fingering her Poké Balls as they peered outside the cave's entrance.
"Yeah."
Spear Pillar was an ancient temple located at the top of Mt. Coronet, hidden in the clouds. Children learnt about it in school, and he spent even more learning about the temple because of the connection it had with the Pokémon dubbed the Creation Trio.
Dialga. Palkia. Arceus.
Time. Space. Creation.
At the foot of the temple were two Galactic grunts, waiting for them. Lucas knew how this was going to go, as did Dawn, and neither wasted time pulling out their Pokémon and drawing them into a battle. A Stunky and a Dustox vs Dawn's Empoleon and Lucas' Mothim.
A small flutter of harmless poisonous dust came from the Dustox's flapping wings as it registered that this was a battle. This dust was only harmless because it had been selectively bred down to something harmless to humans. It was more of an allergen than toxic. Similarly, with every beat of the Mothim's wings, harmless steel-coloured scales came loose and fluttered onto the ground. That was good, a Mothim who didn't shed scales was unhealthy.
Lucas called out an Air Slash against the Dustox as Dawn called for a Flash Cannon against the Stunky. Of course, the Dustox managed to put up a Protect before his attack could hit, rendering him useless. Her Flash Cannon managed to hit the Stunky at the same time, instantly throwing it back and into one of the ancient pillars—Lucas flinched at the damage—and fainting it.
Nice STAB with that move! But, the pillar…!
That was why it was illegal to battle in historical landmarks.
Without a slight hesitation, the grunt threw into battle their Glameow.
Lucas called for another Air Slash against the Dustox managing, finally, to faint the Bug type. Super effective moves worked wonders.
The poor grunt commanding the Pokémon barely managed to yell, "Slash!" before Dawn beat her to the punch, ordering for a Hydro Pump. The Empoleon was faster than the Glameow, which any child would know.
When in a competition of speed, generally—but not always—final evolutions beat first evolutions.
It didn't faint the Pokémon, but it did disorient it as it was blasted by a large amount of water. The grunt behind the Glameow covered his face with his arms as he, too, got soaked. Lucas took that as a chance and yelled for Energy Ball. When it struck, it struck true, and the Pokémon fell over.
The last Pokémon, a Croagunk, didn't last long against the Wormadam's Psychic. It only managed to Poison Jab at the Mothim as Energy Ball didn't faint it instantly, and Dawn had to switch out her Pokémon. The Wormadam recognised Lucas, though, and he was pleased to see that she was incredibly happy and healthy. Her leaf cloak was nice and bright.
After their defeat, there really wasn't much the grunts could do (besides from actually attacking them). They believed that their Bosses would defeat Dawn, and fled.
As if that could happen, Lucas thought. Not with the way I saw her battling. She took zero damage.
Barry showing up was a surprise, but a welcomed one. They could see Cyrus in front of the platform guarded by Mars and Jupitar, meddling with something he probably shouldn't, and doing something that would most likely end the world. In his hand, dangling down towards the ground, was a beautiful, shimmering, red linked chain.
Where were the Champion and Elite Four at a time like this?!
"Now… all will end," they heard him say clearly. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't looking at them, but Lucas knew he was speaking directly to Dawn. "And everything will begin once again. I will restart this world and craft it in my image. With this Red Chain—" he looked down at the dangling metal—"I will pry open a portal through worlds, through time, and I willcontrol the God and Master of Time itself."
"Stop!" Dawn cried, rushing forward. Mars lunged for her, grabbing her and pinning her down. Both Barry and Lucas ran over to her, trying to pry Mars off; Jupitar grabbed Barry and twisted his arm sharply behind his back, forcing him to the ground. "Don't do this! You don't know what you're doing! You'll kill us all!"
"Let us go!" Barry struggled against his holder, only for Jupitar to put him into a headlock, and confiscate his breathing.
A third, unseen figure, yanked onto Lucas' arm as he rushed to help them, pulling him away and strongly punching him in the solar plexus. His breath was stolen away from him, and Lucas was easily forced to the ground.
We're still teenagers, he blearily thought as he struggled to breathe. And these guys are adults. Dawn and Barry aren't necessarily muscular, so of course they would have the upper hand.
"Don't interfere with our plans!" the person pinning him growled. They had blue hair—this must be Saturn, the third Admin mentioned by Dawn on their trip to the base.
"Barry!" Lucas wheezed. "He can't breathe! You're killing him!"
Saturn smiled, and Jupitar's grip didn't lessen.
Both Dawn and Cyrus were too focused to notice the others.
"No, girl," Cyrus said, looking down at her. His voice was cold, and his eyes held nothing but apathy. Lucas would've shivered if his body wasn't busy trying to breathe. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
He held up the Red Chain and turned to face the platform. "Dialga. The Legendary Temporal Pokémon will come at my beck and call. I summon you, Dialga, to come to my side!" He struck the chain through the air like a whip behind him.
It was cruel, Lucas thought, that it seemed like Dialga actually heard Cyrus' prayer. That when everyone else tried to summon it, it didn't come, but when a madman hellbent on destroying the world does… it arrived via a small ball of blue light. The ball of light expanded and grew, and from no where, lightning struck it.
Or, Lucas realised, the lightning was coming from the ball.
(Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jupitar relax her grip on Barry, and loud hacking noises could be heard as he breathed. The boy seemed to slowly fall into near unconsciousness. This was bad.)
Slowly, the lightning sliced through the blue light, through space itself, through time itself. Cutting a hole in the universe. Cyrus held out the Red Chain and Lucas watched as it surrounded the blue circle, encasing it, as the rift grew bright and nearly blinded everyone.
When Lucas opened his afterimage blinded eyes, he saw a tall blue and silver Pokémon regally standing in red chains. Looming over top of everyone. It could've so easily been terrifying, but something about this Pokémon wasn't; even in chains, Lucas couldn't help but see that this Pokémon wasn't one to be feared, but one to be revered.
"No…" Dawn softly bemoaned.
He had studied this Pokémon late into the evening, reading and rereading the Pokédex entries on it from the various eras of time. They were permanently imprinted in his brain and he, without trying to, recalled them all.
This Pokémon is revered as a deity in Hisuian legend. The birth of Dialga was what caused the vast river of time to begin flowing in our world.
It has the power to control time. It appears in Sinnoh-region myths as an ancient deity.
A Pokémon spoken of in legend. It is said that time began moving when Dialga was born.
And, of course, the recent edited Dex entry that Lucas wrote years ago (for the professor doesn't edit or update Dex entries, that's why there were assistants):
A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that time flows when Dialga's heart beats.
Granted, there wasn't much information about Dialga. But all that there was, Lucas knew. Legendary Dex entries generally only got updated with different words every few centuries and decades, so unlike other Pokémon who's entries contain paragraphs of knowledge, Dialga really only had those two sentences.
Everything else was lost to time. Or, he supposed, returned to time for Dialga, itself, was believed to be time incarnate. Such as Palkia was space incarnate.
The Red Chain tightly pinned the Legendary in place, and Dialga let out a vast roar.
This isn't right, Lucas thought. Pokémon shouldn't be treated like this—especially not Legendaries. You shouldn't chain up Pokémon and force them to work for you. Cyrus needs to be stopped.
It seemed that Dawn had a similar thought.
"You need to stop this!" she yelled at Cyrus. "You need to free Dialga before you destroy us all! Look at it, it's in pain! It's suffering!"
Cyrus didn't turn to her, merely fixing his gaze back on the powerful titan.
Dialga let out another roar, and suddenly different wavelengths of light escaped it, dyeing the sky in greens, reds, blues, and blacks. The sun disappeared. The moon disappeared. Weather stopped. This world, this dimension, was changing.
Then, suddenly, the colours faded. And the sky returned to blue.
Black destructive pulses of light escaped from the encage Pokémon, threatening to slice and rot everything it touched. These pulses of light broke the calmness of the blue sky, bringing along an echo of the other colours behind them. A deadly pattern.
"This is how I'll destroy the world," Cyrus said. "Once everything is gone, life will restart, and I can mold it into perfection."
"You're hurting Dialga!" Lucas cried out, surprised by his own outburst. "You need to free it!"
"You're insane!" Dawn added. "Don't you know that if time restarts, nothing will change?! You will be destroyed as well! Everything will be destroyed! We'll come back to this place once more! Nothing will change! You can't change time!"
Nor, should you.
"You're part of the reason I'll restart time," Cyrus calmly said, turning to look at Dawn. "You fight and cause strife. A world of perfection will have none of that. Can you feel time changing?" he asked, lifting his arms into the sky. "Only I can stop this. Everything you say has no effect on me. I told you once, girl, I destroyed my emotions."
Emotions. Mesprit.
I'm as helpless as I was to protect Mesprit. I couldn't do anything then, and I can't do anything now.
"This," Cyrus said, looking back at Dialga, "is the Pokémon who created Sinnoh. The Almighty Dialga."
With a clench of his hand, the Red Chain tightened even more.
Dialga screamed. And it was heard in the heads of everyone. GUGYUGUBAH!
This was the sound of the Legendary Pokémon, Lucas realised, something not anyone could hear. Although the researcher in him was excited at marking it down, the moral part of him hated the reason he heard it (the research part of him also hated the reason).
"This world cannot be molded into the world I seek!" Cyrus said, almost achieving the emotion of pride. "It's far easier to make a new world entirely than to…"
Lucas stopped listening to him, instead, he looked up at Dialga's red eyes, enraptured. There was so much intelligence in its eyes, so much wisdom, and knowledge. These were the eyes of time, he realised. They were the eyes that saw all of time at the same time, from a space outside of time, where time itself resided, and where the beating of time's heart dictated the flow of time.
These were the eyes of a god.
"…become a deity!"
Dialga Roared. And Lucas found himself surrounded by hexagons of light as a blast of pure blinding time came from the Pokémon. It didn't hurt him, in fact, he felt nothing as Saturn was blasted off him and into another pillar.
Lucas slowly got to his feet as his world erupted in light. All the colours of the rainbow assaulted his head, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright blue, bright violet, white—so much white! It sounded as if drums were pounding away in his head, beating like a heart. He wished for it to stop.
To everyone besides Lucas, it looked as if he became a star in the sky for one perfect second. Blue rays of light bounced off him, harmlessly disappearing, and he stumbled backwards, seemingly falling forever. Three of his Pokémon—the three newest—popped out of their Poké Balls, completely ready to take on the Legendary if needed be.
"Lucas!" he heard Dawn cry, somehow farther away than she was. He couldn't see her; all he could see was the bright lights and all he could feel was nothingness as whatever Dialga did to him took impact.
His head hit something hard, and he passed out.
The pounding fully disappeared as Lucas look up at the clear sky above him. That was good, there was no more black pulsing light of impending doom. Dawn must've freed herself from Jupitar, stopped Cyrus, and freed Dialga.
Good for her.
He couldn't hear the sound of a battle, nor the sound of anything, actually, and it was just then that he noticed that the pillars weren't spears. They were… pillars, and right beside him was the glorious statue of… an Avalugg? Across from it was the statue of a Braviary, and when he sat up, he saw that more and more of these different Pokémon statues lined the path to the entrance.
Most importantly, though, was that he was alone. No Team Galactic, no Dawn, no Barry, no Dialga. Just Lucas. Maybe they forgot him there in the middle of the mess? He wouldn't blame them; he wasn't hard to miss. Lucas pulled out his phone to see that he had no signal—
Duh, I'm on top of a mountain.
He quickly put it away and looked at this Pokétch. Sure, that didn't get signal or the internet, but it could connect to other Pokétchs in the area. And, surely, someone else would be around Mt. Coronet.
Ha, ha, nope. His map wasn't working, he couldn't find other Trainers, and his berry-checker, day-care checker, counter, and matchup checker apps weren't working. Everything else was fine, though. It was so weird, as his Pokétch was fine earlier.
But, well, that was another hour's problem.
Lucas was more focused on the fact that he wasn't on Spear Pillar. The place sure looked like Spear Pillar, the platform was the same, and so was the walkway, but it was in a much better condition.
Is someone playing a trick on me? Am I being gaslit to believe that Spear Pillar never existed?
"Ha, ha!" he said out-loud. "This's all very funny. But, I'm kinda sore and don't want to be made fun of today anymore than I have." His shoulders, now that he thought about it, were kinda stiff still.
His voice didn't echo, but it also wasn't responded to.
"I'm heading back to Sandgem, now!" he called to whoever may be listening. "I'm sure everyone's worried about me!"
Again, there was no response.
He grumbled and reached for his Poké Balls, only to realise that three were missing. They weren't in the area, and calling out to them didn't do anything. They, simply, weren't on Non-Spear Pillar.
"Oh, if someone stole my Pokémon, I'm gonna be so pissed!"
Lucas grabbed Staraptor's Poké Ball and summoned her. All of his Pokémon had been healed before they faced Cyrus, so she didn't do anything much except spread her wings. Her saddle and harness, as it was made to do, easily shrunk down with her and was extremely comfortable for her to wear. Lucas honestly thought she forgot she was wearing it sometimes.
"Alright," he said, grabbing onto the saddle and getting ready for Staraptor to Fly, "we're heading back to Sandgem Town, okay?"
Staraptor trilled in acknowledge before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky.
Looking down at the Coronet Highlands from the sky, Lucas realised that many things were missing. Generally to the direct east, he could see Hearthome, Solaceon way off, to the south-west he could see Oreburgh in the distance, and both Eterna and Celestic were to the northside of the mountain. What he saw was rock. And mountain. And more mountain. And more rocks.
No sign of civilisation anywhere.
This isn't good, he thought blankly. Am I no longer in Sinnoh? This doesn't look like Hoenn or Johto… but maybe this temple is actually the Sinjoh Ruins? Yeah, that makes sense. I must be in Johto.
No idea why someone would move me here, though. Doesn't look very ruined, to me….
Even without the sign of civilisation, Staraptor knew where to go. She took off towards the west, and Lucas continued to look down from the skies.
It really did look like Sinnoh, he had to admit. But, well, lots of places look like other places. He had gone with Professor Rowan to Hoenn for a conference there, and had been marvelled by how parts of it reminded him of Sinnoh. Of course, ignoring the lack of snow anywhere they went. And the hot temperature.
Maybe Johto just looked a lot like Sinnoh?
Unova and Kalos, he had heard, also seemed to be remarkably similar. There were a lot of videos about Unovans travelling to Kalos, and many of their escapades with the language barrier, Kalosian annoyance with travellers, and Lumisian attitude towards people in general; but some of the videos just consisted of people marvelling over how similar Kalos looked to Unova, in certain places. Same could be said for parts of Hoenn and Alola.
They passed over ruins that suspiciously looked like the ruins of Celestic Town. But, since he wasn't in Sinnoh, obviously, these must the Ruins of Alph that he heard about. It's funny, Lucas didn't think that these ruins were near a mountain, but well, he wasn't a Johtoan. To be fair, he barely looked at the Johtoan map, not having planned to come to this region for a while.
Guess all his plans went out the window.
It was mean of Dawn, Barry, and the professor to abandon him in the Sinjoh Ruins. He didn't think he'd done anything to upset them—especially not enough to move him to another region. Actually, now that he thought about it, where was the Sinjoh Ruins? Lucas had heard about it before, but he couldn't remember which region it was in. Obviously, it was somewhere between Sinnoh and Johto, but besides from that he was lost. Okay, maybe disobeying the professor and heading out to help Dawn would merit a punishment, but this was a bit much.
And Rowan wasn't the type of man to kidnap a child and move him to a new location.
Maybe this was the work of Team Galactic? Although, Lucas couldn't think of what they'd want with Professor Rowan's assistant. Sure, he knew a lot about the Dex and evolution, being taught by the professor and all, but Team Galactic didn't seem to care about the Dex. From what the news said—and from Cyrus' and Mars' own mouths—it seemed like Team Galactic were really just focused on destroying the world and turning back time.
As Lucas looked down from the heavens onto the ground below, a thought occurred to him: what if I travelled through time?
He then scoffed at the idea. Sure, time travel was possible—hypothetically—and sure, Dialga and Celebi both had the do with time. But Dialga was only the Pokémon of time, Celebi was the Pokémon of time travel. Lucas had never met or seen Celebi, and it wasn't even in the Sinnoh Dex, so it was a miracle that he knew of it at all. He only remembered it because Celebi's name reminded him of celery (time travelling celery was kinda hard to forget). It was, he believed—but don't quote him on this—native to Johto…
…the region he may be in. But, still, Lucas was fairly sure he would know if he travelled through time.
So, time travel was off the table.
If it had been Palkia that Team Galactic was trying to control, finding himself in the Sinjoh Ruins would make more sense. After all, Palkia was the Pokémon of space.
Because according to the Dex:
This Pokémon is feared as a deity in Hisuian legend. The birth of Palkia was what caused the walls of our world to disappear, creating a sky that spans for infinity.
It has the ability to distort space. It is described as a deity in Sinnoh-region mythology.
It is said to live in a gap in the spatial dimension parallel to ours. Palkia appears in mythology.
A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that space becomes more stable with Palkia's every breath.
Lucas had also updated that final entry. So what if he was a bit too verbose in his descriptions? Mentioning time and heart and space and breath felt right, and dramatic enough to show how powerful and revered these Pokémon should be. Besides, Rowan was fine with the entries.
Teleportation was also a possibility. Maybe his Alakazam Teleported him out of the ruins, but that didn't necessarily make sense. Alakazam was still in his Poké Ball, and Lucas didn't have the dry tongue and weird taste in his mouth he always got after Teleporting. It was a side-effect of using a Pokémon move on oneself. The flavour actually reminded him of aguav berries. Bitter.
Distortion, this could just be a dream. He had hit his head, right? The back of his head felt a little tender when he reached to touch it, but it didn't hurt. Oh, Arceus, did he have a concussion? No, he felt fine, not nauseous at all, and his balance was perfect.
Lucas counted down from one hundred quickly as well, and was able to do that fine.
So, he concluded once he reached zero, not a concussion, then. And it sure didn't feel like a dream. That didn't really reassure him as he still had no idea what was happening.
Lucas' stomach growled, and he reached into his bag and pulled out a muffin from his poffin case. He had bought it earlier from the Poké Mart while waiting for Nurse Joy to finish healing his Pokémon, but he wasn't hungry then.
He munched away at his muffin and went back to watching the ground below.
What happened after he passed out? It seemed like Dawn won against Cyrus, as it didn't seem like time restarted. And—wait. Time restarted. What if that's what happened at the temple? What if Dialga accidentally fixed Spear Pillar back to how it was before it was destroyed? Then Lucas would still be in Sinnoh!
Eating his muffin seemed to make him smarter. Did hunger make people more stupid? He knew it made people rasher and more impulsive, but oblivious as well? He would have to look into that back at Sandgem.
And, speaking of Sandgem… he had been on Staraptor for a few hours now, and should soon be approaching the town. Yet when he looked down, he couldn't even see the bright lights of Jubilife City. That was a staple of the return trip: cross Mt. Coronet and see Jubilife's lights about two hours in. Ten minutes later, and he would be at Sandgem.
If this was Sinnoh, it looked empty. No civilisation anywhere. Did Lucas hit his head hard enough that he blocked all civilisations from his sight? No, that was impossible. His mind couldn't just edit out an entire city or town.
Sometime definitely wasn't right.
He landed Staraptor in a clearing near where Sandgem should be but wasn't. One sweet poffin later, and she was back in her Poké Ball. His home town just wasn't there. In fact, there was nothing where the city was. And he knew that this was where Sandgem was, he had lived there for all fourteen years of his life.
The beach was where it was supposed to be. The forest was where it was supposed to be. Route 2 and Route 1 were there, but without signs and without Trainers. It was as if the city just… grew legs and walked away.
BUT CITIES COULDN'T JUST WALK AWAY!
Okay! Okay, calm down! Take a deep breath, and calm down. Surely something was missed? Lucas wiped at his eyes, squeezing them shut tight enough that white dots flashed in his vision. Slowly, one, two, three and… he opened his eyes to a town-less beach.
There had to be a logical explanation for this. Lucas was a Pokémon Researcher. He was Rowan's assistant. He could figure out the explanation. This was nothing compared to trying to understand how, and why, Snorunts evolved into either Glalie or Froslass. Lucas may not have that answer yet as to why only female Snorunts reacted to Dawn Stones, and neither did the professor, but genetics were much more complex than relocation.
Okay. Maybe the town was moved while he left? Maybe a Zoroark made an illusion that the entirety of Sandgem vanished. Except, Zoroark weren't native to Sinnoh! The only people to have a Zoroark were people who travelled outside the region! But, didn't the professor say that his colleague from Kanto was coming to visit Sinnoh? But Zoroark weren't native to Kanto either! But, maybe this colleague (what was his name…? It was a type of tree…. But that didn't help in the slightest. Oh! Oak, it was Oak) had Pokémon from outside of Kanto? Maybe he so happened to bring a Zoroark, and Rowan used it as a trick because Lucas took Staraptor to help Dawn?
No, Rowan wasn't that type of person. He would say something like, Getting attacked by Saturn and then DIALGA was punishment enough, and say, Lucas—you wouldn't have happened to got any more information about Dialga to add to the Dex, would you?
And Lucas would say, I did, Professor! Dialga makes a gugyugubah noise when in pain!
Rowan would probably say, Fascinating but disturbing that you know that! Quick, mark that down in the Dex!
And then, Lucas would mark the noise down in the Dex.
To be honest, Lucas thought that getting attacked by Saturn and then Dialga was punishment enough. Would he do it again? Absolutely. But he would be prepared next time—and maybe go and see if Maylene were offering self-defence or martial arts courses, first. If not her, then one of the Trainers in the gym? Or maybe they would know someone who was? Pokémon Battles were as much a physical sport as they were a mental one, after all.
Lucas looked out at the sea, and to his surprise, he saw a boat drifting among the waves. They were close enough that he saw that it was a fair-sized one, holding about twenty or so people. It was an old style of boat, for sure, with sails and everything. Most boats nowadays were steam-engine run, or powered by Pokémon. Pokémon even pulled some, like Laprases who would have a Trainer ride on its shell, as was loved by the Pokémon; or Empoleons.
These boats seemed to be wind powered.
He watched from the shore, as the boat neared closely and threw down its anchor. Lucas could see that there was a man at the bow; a big burly man with a thick brown moustache that—
Holy Arceus, he looked almost identical to Professor Rowan. There were slight differences, so Lucas knew this wasn't the same man: his forehead was wider, his nose larger, his eyes sharper, his jaw boxier. He was also a few decades younger. What stood out to him was the classical black Galarian armour he wore, which seemed counterproductive to being on a boat.
"Thou there, young lad, standing on the beach in front of mine eyes donned in such a ridiculous abode!" said the man, and wow, his voice was intimidating. Even with the old-fashioned speech. "Is this land the one ye refer to by the name of Hisui!"
Hisui. The old name for Sinnoh before it was colonised? What?
Instead of asking that, Lucas managed, "Uh… who are you?"
"The destination we left in order to pursue a better life is by the name of the Kingdom of Galar," he said. "We have come searching across the sea and across the land for the land by the name of Hisui. Our hopes and dreams are to start a new life in a new land, far away from the troubles and toils of our mother nation. Now, I will ask ye again in hope that ye will answer me with concise information. Is this land the land by the name of Hisui?"
Oh no. Galar's no longer a kingdom, Lucas thought, internally screaming, and Sinnoh's no longer called Hisui! What in the name of Arceus is going on! Okay, okay, okay, gotta play it cool. Maybe these people are LARPing? In that case, I should play along.
(Or maybe, time travel was back on the table.)
"Ah, yup," he said, nodding. "I'm pretty sure this land is the land by the name of Hisui. Sure, why not? But don't quote me on that."
The people of the boat cheered and clapped when they heard. Lucas then spent the next half an hour helping everyone off the boat and onto the shore, having ditched his boots and rolled up his pants in order to wad through the water. From his count, there were about fifteen people aboard the boat, less than he thought.
"I thank you," said the lead man, "for helping us ashore. My name is Kamado, and here is my right hand, Beni." Kamado clapped his hand on the shoulder of a shorter man about his age with green hair. "What, may I ask as it is permitted, wouldst be your name, young lad?"
If time travel was back on the table, which Lucas wasn't completely sure it was, he didn't want to destroy time—or something—by simply saying his name. So, lie. And if time travel wasn't back on the table, then he could say that he was using his character's name. Genius.
"Rei," he said. "My name is Rei."
"Rei," Kamado echoed. "Once more, I thank thee for thy help."
And so, Lucas became Rei, and Rei helped, somewhat, with the development of the settlement of Jubilife.
Slowly, Lucas began believing that he was actually in the past. Jubilife Village (when no longer on the beach) was located where he knew Jubilife City would be, and he had remembered reading a story about one of the original creatures of Jubilife: a man name Kamado; legends said he renamed the region to Sinnoh, in the future. People had no recognition of his phone when he showed it, not even a why are you blowing the assimilation?! look of recognition. Just, plain curiosity. And wariness.
Lucas hid his phone away after that.
Everyone spoke in an old-fashioned way, and no one understood his metaphors. No one knew anything about Sinnoh until people claiming to be from the Diamond and Pearl Clans wandered into the village and introduced them to their religions.
Of course, there were no longer any more Diamond and Pearl Clans in Sinnoh. The Pearl Clan evolved into Snowpoint City and the Diamond Clan evolved into Solaceon Town, from what Lucas could remember from his readings. People claimed to be descendants, but the clans weren't active anymore.
Okay, so Lucas was starting to believe this whole time travel story. After all, he did get attacked by Dialga, and Dialga had lived in a separate dimension, so maybe Dialga opened a rift through time like it did to space to come to Spear Pillar? That was what he was going with, anyway.
So, time travel, huh? Lucas spent a couple of weeks leaning more and more into the idea, and about a month after arriving in Hisui, he started to actually believe it. Especially when he met Professor Laventon. That was the only moment he brought his phone out again, to take a selfie with the man. It died shortly after that.
Of course Lucas knew who Laventon was! He was the first document Pokémon Professor (in the Sinnoh region)! Lucas had read his Pokédex entries over and over again, always using them as the bare basis for his own updates to make sure he didn't miss any information. It was easy to not fanboy around the man as Laventon was absolutely not like how the stories said at all; he was always losing the Pokémon in care, and then Lucas had to go and find them, and he was very clumsy and not very reliable.
But, still, the first document Pokémon Professor. And Lucas managed to become his assistant as well! Don't get him wrong, he was first, and always, Professor Rowan's assistant but… well, what was that saying about Ponyta and gifts? He made sure to not tell him any information that Laventon didn't already know, or that Lucas hadn't seen in the field.
And speaking of that, Lucas joined the Galaxy Expedition Team. It was developed by Commander Kamado in order to protect the people, and to create some order. They needed the members, and well, it was the only way to stay as an assistant and to earn his keep in the village. Because this time was ruthless, if you didn't do something productive then you were exiled. He knew that would change, but man, they really sent people out to die.
Was the fact that the Galaxy Team sounded similar to Team Galactic unnerving? Absolutely. But, well, there wasn't a Cyrus here. And, although Kamado was intimidating, the man seemed to really care about the safety of everyone in Jubilife. He allowed Lucas to join the Security Corps—as the Galaxy Team only had four corps so far, Security, Agriculture, Construction, and Supply—and the red uniform was really comfortable.
Lucas taught himself to not judge the Galaxy Team because Team Galactic was inspired by their aesthetic. They had completely separate ideas and goals. The Galaxy Team was just trying to live their life and thrive in Hisui, Team Galactic had been trying to destroy the world.
It was about two months into his time travel escapades that another boat arrived at Prelude Beach (as it was dubbed). More people arrived, such as a hairdresser and a tailor and so people didn't need to sew their own clothes or cut their own hair with their knives and scissors anymore. And the Construction Corps and the Security Corps grew larger, with the majority of people joining the Security Corps. It made sense as the Security Corps did much more than just protect people. The huts on Prelude Beach they were living out of couldn't stay forever, and so having more people to make houses on that field nearby was good as well.
It was then that Lucas meet Cyllene.
Yeah, in that time Lucas hadn't been able to get over his nightmares of the world ending, of Cyrus—y'know—trying to kill everyone, of Team Galactic. And, then, here came Cyllene with a face that was basically Cyrus on a female body, and another cold attitude to match.
Except, Cyllene wasn't like Cyrus. She did have emotions and, most importantly, she did show them. Most of them were anger and frustration at the dangers of Pokémon and at how slow progress was once she implored the idea of a Survey Corps to Kamado, and he agreed to create it. They needed to know about the Pokémon in the areas, especially given how dangerous they were, and how people were getting attacked so much that the Medical Corps was made. She could be harsh and rude, but also kind when dealing with injured members, or young children. Cyllene was strict, but that was necessary.
She still frightened him, but most of his fear came from respect for her and not the lingering empty face of Cyrus burnt into his memory as he called upon Dialga. The Red Chain always dangling from his hand. And, well, it helped that she often wasn't mad at Lucas, as he was—not to brag—the most successful member of the Survey Corps.
(He was also the only member of the Survey Corps besides from Captain Cyllene—and Laventon, obviously—once Kamado approved his transfer. All the information about Pokémon in the Hisui Dex came from Lucas himself, as he was the only person researching Pokémon out in the field. Most of it was just names and rough sketches, currently.)
They were small but mighty. Well, they would be if Lucas actually used his powerful Pokémon and all his Pokémon knowledge. But since he didn't, the Survey Corps was the laughing stalk of Galaxy Team. That was fine with Lucas currently.
He became fantastic at crafting recipes, especially Poké Balls, as he spent time learning before he joined the Security Corps. He was taught by Anvin from Johto, where the idea of Poké Balls literally were just officially invented days before they went off to Hisui. No one besides from Lucas knew how to use them, and only those in the Supply Corps really were interested in learning how to craft them.
It was interesting to learn about the lost arts of crafting the drug-filled potions that would not be legal in Sinnoh. Lucas tried all he could to memorise every lost art and recipe for when he returned home. And he would be returning home. Dialga wouldn't send him back in time forever… right?
(Speaking of, he refrained from telling Irida and Adaman that their almighty Sinnoh was, in fact, two Pokémon. Not one. Palkia and Dialga. Lucas had actually met Dialga, could you believe that? Yeah! And he was sent back in time by said Pokémon! How fun!
To be fair, he hadn't actually spoken with Irida and Adaman outside from brief greetings once.)
And, speaking of Pokémon, no one knew about his own team. Here, people were wary and terrified of Pokémon, if Lucas just said hey I'm a random kid with four final evolution powerful Pokémon he would've been kicked out of the village right away. So, Clefable, Staraptor, Alakazam, and Infernape weren't going to be used by him anytime soon. Not until it's been long enough that having powerful Pokémon made sense. And, although his Pokémon were sad, they knew his reasons.
Their Poké Balls still hung from his belt, though. He would be stupid to not bring them along.
So, for Rei's team, he only had two Pokémon. A Pikachu who wasn't fond of battling and a Mime Jr. who really liked to sleep. That was fine. All his Pokémon liked each other, and that was really what mattered.
And now, it had been six months since Dialga threw him through time, and Lucas was no closer to getting home. They had established Jubilife Village on the field by Prelude Beach, and their huts had all been moved and disassembled except for one; the original base for the Galaxy Team, now a shed by the new dock. Buildings stood in three rows, a single bridge was built over the small river in the middle of the field, and the Construction Corps was working on building Galaxy Hall, as the blueprints called it, and more elaborate bridges. Lucas had his own quarters by the hall, in a row of three houses by the east gate.
He had been wanting to speak with Adaman for a while now, wanting to know what the Diamond Clan thought about time travel and such, but he hadn't been given the chance. The Survey Corps had only made it to the Obsidian Fieldlands, after all, and Adaman had mentioned once that they lived in the Crimson Mirelands. Near Lake Valor, were his exact words—which gave Lucas more of a location than simply the Mirelands, especially since their settlement was said to be the origin of Solaceon Town.
After all, no one used those terms anymore. Will use. No one in the modern era used those term anymore.
Tenses were hard when dealing with time travel.
Lucas couldn't exactly go and ride up to the Mirelands all willy-nilly like, he was trying to keep a pretty low profile as to not mess with time too much. Who knew how stable the timeline was? Which was exactly why he was refraining from mentioning that an easier, and cheaper, and more heart wrenching, way of evolving Haunter to Gengar was to simply trade the Pokémon with another Trainer rather than using a Linking Cord. It was said that the heartbreak of being traded away like an object thrown out in the trash, put too much stress on the Pokémon that it would evolve. Even assuring the Pokémon that the owner would get them back didn't stop the stress.
(Pokémon built up some kind of energy easily, which was why they could preform moves in exchange for more energy build up [Kukui, 2016, The Power Behind Pokémon Moves.]. This energy also allowed them to evolve, or so Professor Rowan believed and was trying to prove his hypothesis; the energy built up over time as the Pokémon grew older and used more moves, and the mass release of it evolved the Pokémon. Stress and emotions, such as love, also helped the build up of this energy. Now, the question was: what was this energy?
Another theory was that the PC itself was responsible for the evolution. Lucas wasn't a fan of that theory, truthfully, although it would make sense if Linking Cords were placed inside the PC.)
Of course, Lucas was fascinated by Linking Cords, and other items similar to it. How, in all the years that's passed, had this type of Pokémon evolution gone missing? When he returned, he definitely needed to tell Rowan about this discovery. The professor would be so thrilled! Lucas had been keeping notes, secretly, in the Pokédex that had been in his bag, and had had written speculations about Linking Cords on Gengar's entry. Since they worked on one trade-induced evolution, would it work on Kadabras as well?
Normally, Dex Holders were given an electronic Pokédex, but Lucas had a physical version because it was easier to make notes on. And, he liked the feel of reading an actual book verses looking at a screen, that was why he had gone to the Canalave Library before rather than look up online versions. It was also good if he was out studying Pokémon with Rowan, and they weren't able to charge their electronics.
He was never going to let anyone from Hisui look at his Dex. Ever. That would probably be the thing that destroyed time. Cyrus wasn't able to do it, but Lucas accidentally did when he showed someone his Sinnoh Pokédex!
Time destroyed by knowledge. Ironic, given that knowledge was achieved over time.
But, back to the matter at hand. Finding out how to return home.
There was always Celebi from Johto that Lucas could try and hunt down, but he didn't know enough about Celebi to know where to being looking. And he doubted that Staraptor could Fly all the way to Johto without boat-hopping (the act of Flying to over the ocean and then landing on the deck of a boat in order to rest their Pokémon, and then going and Flying to another boat to repeat the process until they arrived at their destination). And Lucas wasn't sure he could survive on a boat for weeks.
He had heard Laventon tell his tale of coming over from Galar over some potato mochi at the Wallflower and it didn't sound fun, at all.
Lucas could truthfully say that travelling through time was better than being stuck on a boat with over ten other people, in a cramp quarter, for weeks on end. Everyone begun to stink because they couldn't wash themselves, someone always smelt like vomit, and it was easy to get claustrophobic. At least Dialga was kind enough to make it instantaneous.
Or, at least made it feel instantaneous given that Dialga could control the speed of time.
So, Celebi was a maybe.
But, it would probably be better to go and find Dialga. Except, Lucas didn't know how to call Dialga. He could try and make a Red Chain like Cyrus; except he didn't want to hurt it and that seemed like that was all it did. And he also didn't know how to make a Red Chain. So, back to the original plan.
Getting to the Diamond Settlement.
Oh, the actual path was easy. Staraptor already knew the path to Lake Valor, as did he the path to Solaceon Town, so he would be fine actually getting there. The problem was that he would be gone for about a day, maybe two, as he didn't like Flying in the dark. And whenever the Survey Corps went on an excursion to the Obsidian Fieldlands, it was a requirement to return to camp before the dawn so that the Security Corps would know that he was still alive.
Unless, he supposed, he said he was going out in the night in order to study Ghost types. But, they would expect him by noon the next day, then.
And… well, an idea just popped into Lucas' head as he was sitting in Laventon's lab, going over and comparing notes about the difference between male and female Bidoofs (which Laventon couldn't see but Lucas knew was that female Bidoofs had fewer tail curls, among other things, but he wasn't going to say that unless it became pitiful).
"Hey, Professor Laventon?" he asked carefully.
Laventon looked up from the sketches that Lucas had given him the day before. "Hmm? Yes, my boy?"
"Do you believe that these 'almighty Sinnohs' could actually have existed?" It still felt weird to refer to Palkia and Dialga as 'Sinnoh', but he supposed it would be weird for anyone to call them by their true names here.
"Ah, Rei," he said, shaking his head exasperatedly, "I have told thee there be not a need to be so formal when speaking to myself. A simply 'thou' or 'thee' wouldst suffice and not be considered rude or abhorrent wherefore thou refer to my person."
Right. 'You' is the formal and plural version. Thou and thee are what I'm apparently supposed to use, and ye for 'you' as the subject.
"I understand. But thou still hasn't answered my question."
Laventon scratched at his stubble. "Well, thine answer to thy question wouldst be… before all and even before the Land of One Heaven and Earth upon which the Deep Shadow One dwells, I am a man of science. In the land of my family and birth, we have stories of two Pokæmons of great valor, courage, power, blade and buckler. To assume that this land has two Pokæmons upon which the world was created wouldst not be something so outrageous, but as something that could quite possibly be as truthful as science itself. I am not too knowledgeable in these almighty Sinnohs, and so I refrain from making any absolute decisions until myself become much more a learnt man than now."
That's a belated way to say, 'I don't know, I don't have enough information to make a decision', he thought. But, well, that's how everyone speaks.
"But," Lucas said, "the possibility of these Pokémon should be enough to warrant trying to make a Dex entry for them, right? I mean, if they are real, then shouldn't the legends and myths the two Clans have not be in the Dex, even without knowledge or a sketch of the actual Pokémon?"
Laventon looked at Lucas for a moment, as if he said something complete confounded. Then, he tapped a finger against his chin, saying, "I think that I understand what tis that thou art trying to explain. If I have extrapolated the words of thee correctly, thou art saying that even without definitive proof of the life and blood of the 'almighty Sinnoh', thou shalt make an entry for it?"
"I mean, yeah, that's about right," he said. "If mean, if these almighty Sinnohs are real, wouldn't not having a Dex entry be rude? I mean, they're Pokémon too, right? So, shouldn't they also be in the Pokédex?"
"And whither wouldst we receive the information to mark?"
This was the part that Lucas was leading up to. "Why, who else but the Clans?!" He could see Laventon begin to deny his request, but Lucas had years of practice with Rowan (ignoring that the last time he tried to convince the man, he failed, and then got thrown back in time while defying him), so he knew how to sway a professor. "Look, Professor Laventon, just think about it. Not only would the Clans have more information about Pokémon we could mark down in the Dex, but we could learn more from the natives of the region! There's no one else who knows the Pokémon of a region better besides from the people born there!"
And yes, Lucas was including himself as a native to Sinnoh, or Hisui, as it was.
"Tis will be dangerous," Laventon said. "Travelling through the land towards the two settlements wouldst make not for an easy voyage. More and more dangerous Pokæmon live in the Crimson Mirelands and the Alabaster Icelands, many of them worthy of the title of nightmare creatures upon which flood and threaten the mind and sanity of myself. Froslass, herself, is enough of a terror upon my waking and non-waking mind, and if she shall also be found here in Hisui… I tremble thinking about my fate."
Lucas refrained from mentioning that he knew someone who used a Froslass. She called her Madame, in respect for the Froslass had once been a woman. As much as Lucas loved Pokémon—and he loved Pokémon—Ghost types were one of his least favourites because most of them used to be humans, once. He felt sad for them, for they had to die to become Pokémon.
When he was younger, he had heard about a Pokémon called a Yamask which was native to Unova. It was a Ghost type, but it was a Pokémon that had once been human. The mask that it carried around was a cast of its face, and as they contained and remembered every memory of their life, they would look at their mask—at who they used to be—and cry.
Lucas would cry as well, thinking about it. He felt sorry for them. And also terrified of them, terrified of becoming a Yamask. It was a living hell.
Ghost types, he genuinely believed, were the type to be pitied. And feared the most.
Like, Drifloon, for example, a Pokémon native to Sinnoh and to the Obsidian Fieldlands. They tried to carry away young children to the afterlife, and were said to be human souls as well!
108 souls—108 human souls—formed into a Spiritomb! 108 people unable to pass onto the afterlife, to forever live their life as a Pokémon. Lucas only had one soul; he couldn't imagine being mixed together with 107 other ones. Did the Spiritomb work as a single mind, with all the souls blended together into one being, or was it like a turn system? One soul taking the lead at a time, taking turns in controlling the body?
It was interesting, additionally, that only female Snorunts evolved into a Froslass when introduced to a Dawn Stone. That brought up many questions; such as, how did an Ice type turn into a Ghost type? Did the act of giving the Snorunt a Dawn Stone kill the Snorunt, and the spirit of a woman inhabited the body and changed its form? Did the energy from the Pokémon mix with the Dawn Stone in a different way that the Snorunt evolved different? Was the Dawn Stone the woman's spirit in a physical form? Did giving the stone to the Snorunt allow for the spirit to mingle with the body and, without killing her, bring about a Froslass? Did the energy from the evolving Snorunt mix with the woman soul using the energy from the Dawn Stone as a catalyst to form into a Froslass? Was the idea that Froslass were the souls of women actually true, anyway? And that didn't even begin the discussion on how a spirit remained after death. Or why only a woman's spirit made a Froslass. Did spirits have different DNA sequences that effected the Pokémon (did spirits have DNA)? Was a female Snorunt's energy different than male's? But that didn't make sense as female Snorunts could also evolve into a Glalie. But it also would make sense if that were why the Dawn Stone only effected female Snorunts.
But, why did Snorunts only evolve into a Froslass if other Pokémon use a Dawn Stone to evolve, as well? Why didn't a Kirlia turn into a Ghost type when given a Dawn Stone, a female Kirlia to a Froslass and a male Snorunt to a Gallade? They're already changing their species, and adding a type, why not go the full yard and completely change? Did that mean the stone didn't kill the Pokémon for the spirit to inhabit, if Kirlia remained alive? Or did the fact that Kirlias were a PsychicandFairy type, and not a simple Icetype, effect the process? And it was interesting how a female Snorunt, when introduced to a Dawn Stone, evolved into a Froslass, but a male Kirlia evolved into a Gallade when introduced to the same stone. And no other Pokémon were effected.
Why was that? Maybe gender didn't play a major role to who the stone effects as both Pokémon genders were effected, but why only these species. And why the singular gender of those species? The opposite gender if you would. Was the energy from different types different? It didn't look different, but maybe it was. Maybe each Pokémon species had their own unique energy. But, well, this was a digression.
There were so many questions about Pokémon evolution, and not even Rowan knew all the answers.
But, that was why they researched.
"If people stopped learning because it was dangerous," Lucas said, "then no one would know anything. And, wasn't it dangerous just coming to Hisui in the first place? At least on land you can't drown. Why would y—thou come here if not to face danger and learn side by side with it?"
Laventon couldn't disagree with his points. "But to risk something as unnecessary as a youthful demise… thou could very well end up as a Ghost Pokæmon, thyself. No doubt, the Captain shan't agree to this idea, as much as it may pain thy heart and thy soul."
"You haven't even asked her, yet," Lucas said. "Shoot, sorry, thou."
"There's not a need to disturb such a busy woman!" Laventon said quickly. "We shall continue on about our ways, Rei."
"You're Magikarping out on me, aren't you?" A sly smile grew on his face.
"Thy words art always mysterious, my boy. I shan't be a Magikarp for my being is one of the human race."
"It means that you're being a coward."
Laventon looked at Lucas, almost with a full face of betrayal. "I shan't be called a coward! I come from the land of bravery and boldness and honour and pride! I have come across the deadly sea to this land, and thou call me a coward! Tis not a cowardly move to know when to retreat, and when to stay safe."
"But talking to the captain isn't the same as facing an Alpha in battle," Lucas said. And oh boy, he could talk about Alphas all day. "Or sailing across the ocean. She's just human, like you—like me."
"Like thou," Laventon corrected. "Like myself. But, I have agree with thee. Captain Cyllene is a strong, independent woman, and I have the upmost respect for her and her work. Nay, I have more than just the upmost respect. But, she is busy, and I shan't interrupt her hard work."
Lucas cocked an eyebrow at the lame excuse. "It sounds like thou don't want to have a completed Dex… given how thou won't consider adding two simple Pokémon to it." Four, actually, but he wasn't sure that Laventon knew of the existence of Arceus and Giratina yet. He would, in the future, as there were entries about them in his words. "One for the Diamond Clan, one for the Pearl Clan."
"I shall think that the idea that the 'false' Sinnoh being a further part of the index shan't be an idea that both Clans will adore."
Well, he's not wrong. The second Clan they go to probably won't be pleased about the 'false' Sinnoh being in the Dex, and lying to them was probably not something that Laventon could do. They could split up and go their own ways, Laventon to the Pearl Settlement and Lucas to the Diamond Settlement, but Laventon—not to mention Cyllene—would never agree to that.
Lucas only really needed the information about Dialga, though. Maybe the Diamond Clan knew something that his era didn't. Sorry, Pearl Clan, but Palkia's not important to this story.
"That's a bridge we'll cross when we get to it."
"Pardon myself, my boy?"
"Uh, we'll worry about their reactions later."
In the end, Lucas managed to convince Laventon to go and propose his idea to Cyllene. She instantly shot it down. According to her, Lucas wasn't a high enough member to go to the Icelands. It was 'too dangerous' for him.
He was a star rank one, which wasn't high enough to be allowed in the Mirelands. Additionally, Cyllene denied any idea of going to the Icelands because he needed to be a star rank five. If he got to star rank two, then maybe he would be permitted to head the Mirelands.
"For ye to leave this village upon the premise to not return for weeks on end, if not altogether," she said, "then this land must be more stable and safer for us beings who live here. Alas, the village is not in such a condition as to deem your travels allowed, and so, I must deny your proposal and request that you focus your studies and admissions on the continued survival of Jubilife; and of the surveying and observing the Pokæmon life of the Obsidian Fieldlands. Besides from myself and the good professor, Rei, thou art the only member of the Survey Corps."
It, well, it wasn't ideal. But she did have a point. Laventon was crucial to the understanding of the Pokémon of the region, in order for the people here to live safer lives he needed to understand and categorise the Pokémon. No use going everywhere if people didn't know to avoid getting licked by Haunters lest they wither away, day by day, until they die. And no one really was working on the Dex besides from the three of them, and Cyllene didn't go out into the field.
Lucas just didn't like the idea that he'd have to wait even longer to get home. Of course, he could leave Jubilife and go off on his own—maybe the Ginkgo Guild would accept him?—but living in Jubilife, helping out Professor Laventon, was safer. And easier. Lucas did want to get home, he truly did, but he really had no idea how.
And he was only fourteen. He was still a kid. These things happened to adults, not teenagers. He shouldn't have to lie to everyone he cared about in Hisui about who he really was; he shouldn't have to worry about preserving the timeline, or trying to find a way to move through time. Could he even go back to the future? Was that possible? What if it was only possible to move backwards in time.
No. He couldn't think like that. He needed to think positively. Lucas was going to return home. He would. And maybe it'll take a year, or so, but that was fine. That was fine because he would get home eventually. Rowan and his family should be looking for him, if not Dawn and Barry—and they'd know that Dialga had something to do with his disappearance. They'd know he travelled through time.
Maybe if Dawn saved Dialga, it would reward her by bringing him back to the future. Bringing her friend back.
(But, if that were true, then wouldn't he be home now? Six months later?)
One year.
Lucas had been in Hisui for one year. And he was no where closer to getting home.
His Infernape tried to comfort him as he laid on his futon, staring up at the wooden ceiling, as the calendar on his wall marked that it had been a year. Pikachu was sleeping on his chest, so he wasn't moving. Clefable was looking out the window, at the rising sun which had once been where the moon was. In the corner of his room, Alakazam was watching him, quietly. Mime Jr. was sleeping by the foot of his bed. And Staraptor was nested on his dresser, in a large nest of natural material that Lucas had collected for her.
He was fifteen now. His birthday was a few weeks ago, but no one knew that. For a celebration, Lucas didn't do anything besides buy himself a cake-lure base and made a pathetic pecha cake from the berries he bought from a passing Gingko Guild merchant he couldn't remember the name of. He didn't even have candles.
Did everyone back home think he was dead? Did they think it was their fault? There were only two people to blame, Lucas himself, and Cyrus. Were they even still looking for him? Of course they were, his father, his grandfather, and his sister must be worried sick about him! Not to mention that Lucas didn't know how Rowan functioned without him, always leaving his briefcases in places and never knowing where he put anything.
Actually, now that he thought about it, that was similar to how Laventon was. Was that a Pokémon Professor trait? Absentmindedness? Hopefully when Lucas became a professor, he won't start losing objects and Pokémon.
The plan for the celebration of his one-year anniversary of arriving in Hisui was to catch a male Starly for Laventon to study. They had a female Starly from a few weeks ago to study, but now they needed a male to compare. After that, Lucas would have to catch a large Starly male and female, and then a small Starly male and female, in order to try and find the average stats for them.
Hopefully, he wouldn't get wacked by their wings again. The last time that happened, he could barely put much weight on his shin for a week; the bruise had even kept pulsing when his leg was elevated. Of course, it was his fault; Starly were very timid creatures, and when he startled one it would whip out its wings in surprise. So, if he was too close… wack!
"Come on, guys," he sighed, "we gotta get up."
As predicated, none of his Pokémon wanted to move. Neither did he, but he did so anyway. First, he picked up Pikachu, getting lightly zapped by static electricity in the process before he placed him on the floor. Infernape lifted his head from where it was lying on Lucas's leg, sitting back, as the only human in the room stood and stretched.
"Good morning," he greeted the room. "I guess."
Lucas' pajamas simply consisted of the long sleeve red shirt he arrived in, and a pair of black trousers he bought from Anthe. His Survey Corps uniform, which was identical to his Security Corps uniform except blue, was hanging down from the hook on his wall. Lucas actually had three uniforms, and he would cycle through them while the others were being clean.
He really didn't want to start on how people dealt with hygiene now.
Staraptor looked up at him as he reached over her for his freshly clean uniform. She nestled back down when he made no moves to move her.
The only thing he kept wearing with his uniform was his red flat cap that managed to stay on his head when he traversed time. There was no mandatory headwear, so he was free to wear his clothing from the future. As much as it pained him, Lucas didn't wear his future boots as people would commit on them and the Galaxy Team gave him his own shoes. And with those, socks weren't needed.
He freshened up outside quickly, using a backdoor that led to the small grassy hill, before returning inside. Lucas grabbed some food he made last night for his Pokémons' breakfast and gave it to them. Once they were finished, he placed his hands on his hips.
"Alright guys," he said, "you know the drill."
That they did. One year into his Hisuian life and they knew that before he could step out onto Floaro Main Street (named after one of the older members of the Construction Corps), they needed to go back into their Poké Balls. Luckily for Lucas, no one noticed that four of his six Poké Balls were made of a different material than acorns, and no one asked him if they were filled with Pokémon at all. Given as he never used any one beside from Pikachu and Mime Jr., he believed everyone thought they were empty.
Ready to face day three-hundred and sixty-five in Hisui, Lucas opened his door and stepped out. The street was as busy as it always was, Anthe and Edith waited outside their respective neighbouring shops that had been built by the Construction Corps for a few months now. There were still a few key places that needed to be built; houses were rowed in the village streets, there was an official training ground where Captain Zisu could always be found, there was a pasture where the Survey Corps' caught Pokémon was by the built east gate, and the store and craftworks were built.
What was missing was the majority of the farm, which was being worked on by the Construction Corps and the Agriculture Corps, and finishing Galaxy Hall. Because most the farm wasn't made, the Security Corps actually had the job of leaving the village and hunting for food. It was mostly a lot of Magikarp from Prelude Beach, as well as Starly and Bidoof as those lived close to the village and were easy to hunt.
Lucas preferred studying Pokémon to hunting them.
There was only one field that was functioning as a farm, and it was mostly growing potatoes brought over from Galar since they had a lot of calories and people could survive mostly on them. Beni also made delicious potato mochi with them.
He munched on a boiled potato he cooked last night as he passed by Yoshimi and Charma exiting the big redbrick building. The two red-clad Security Corps members nodded to him in greeting, and Lucas did to both women as well. Bagin was standing by the west second-floor staircase as always, trying to skim money from those who wanted to increase bag space.
Lucas finished his breakfast by the bulletin board outside of Cyllene's office. Well, it was the official room of the Survey Corps, but since Lucas spent most of his time in the building in Laventon's lab, it was basically her office. Nothing new was on the bulletin board, Yeo still had her notice that said when the Survey Corps finished with their entry on Kricketot, to show her.
Probably not going to happen for a while, Lucas mused sadly. It's been a year, and we only have the complete entries on Bidoof and Wurmple. And that only happened because Laventon accidentally brought in a female and a male Wurmple into the village on his shoulder without noticing. I can't exactly write up the Kricketot entry by myself—I mean, I could—but without a Kricketot to at least pretend I used to study, it would be a mess.
Maybe next year.
Lucas swallowed the last bite of his boiled potato, brushed any crumbs off his uniform, and stepped through the door to Cyllene's office. "Good morning, Captain."
"Good morrow, Rei," she said, plainly. "Thou art to the destination of the Obsidian Fieldlands with the good professor this morrow, if I may be so bold to remember. To continue the perilous journey of discovery of Starly. Professor Laventon is to be placed in his laboratory at this right minute."
"Thank you, ma'am. I'll head right over to him."
"Face death and persevere, Rei," Cyllene said, turning back to the papers covering her desk. Her Abra watched Lucas head through the closed side door to the lab, as it always did. Abras were known for the telepathy, so Lucas was fairly sure that Abra knew he came from the future.
His thoughts certainly reflected that very much.
"Ah! Good morrow, Rei!" Laventon loudly greeted as Lucas closed the door behind him. He was sitting on the brown couch in his lab, which wasn't in a state of despair and mess only because of Lucas. There were many bookshelves lining the west wall, books crammed by cheek and jowl that he had actually recognised and read before.
On one of Laventon's blackboard was his messy Galarian writing, which Lucas could barely read, about his observations towards the biology of Starly. A diagram of the respiratory system of a Starly was pinned onto the board, having been copied out of one of the Pokémon books Laventon had from Unova.
"Morning, Professor…."
"The tone of thy voice, my boy, makes me to believe that thou dost not feel well." He frowned. "Wherefore why?"
Lucas sat down in his chair (which was just the spare chair always leaning against the wall) as Laventon took a sip of something hot. Most likely tea, as he claimed to enjoy drinking that. "I'm fine, Professor."
"Hmm." Laventon put his mug down on the kotatsu table, which had a neat stack of books and papers on top. "Thy tongue holds as much sting as a Bug type," he said. "Lying and bartering thyself to the Deep Shadow One does not fit man with as much virtue as thyself. Thou know that thou shalt steal mine ears if thou most desires so."
Well, when you put it like that….
Over time, Lucas had gotten better at using the 'correct' subject and object pronouns in sentences. Most people let him use 'you' fine without complaining so long as he remembered to use 'ye' as well, or else a sentence like, "I tell you" sounded like "Me tell you" to them. When he thought about it like that, it made sense why people kept correcting him.
"It had been a year since I arrived in Hisui," Lucas said. "And… well, it's been a year since ye arrived as well. Truth be told, Professor, coming to Hisui was never my idea. It wasn't my plan. Back home, I had a good life—and I'm not saying that I have a bad life here! It's just… I miss home. Thou understand?"
Laventon nodded. "Thou liveth in the one place where thy words are universally known in our hearts. I miss my home, as well. But, these words thou say about not having Hisui be thy destination is new. Thou hast not mentioned such ideas to myself prior be. Dost thou plan on returning to thy nation of birth?"
"I… yes. It has been my plan to return home. Eventually. I don't know how, I don't know when, but that has been my goal. I'm not hating on thee, Professor!" Lucas quickly added at Laventon's melancholy look. "I love helping you—thee with the Pokédex, I do! But…"
"Thou hast a home somewhere across the sea," he finished for him. "And thou hast a desire to return home. I understand, Rei. I do. And, if thou require mine insight and knowledge, thou only need to ask myself. To clarify any dæmons or such that liveth inside thy head, let my voice say: thou art welcomed with open arms and hearts to stay here in Jubilife Village for as long as time will allow thee. I shall always accept thy help, Rei."
Lucas had known that, but hearing it made him feel better. If only Laventon had said 'Lucas' instead of 'Rei', he could almost imagine that the man would actually allow him to help for as long until he left. As if Laventon wouldn't be upset when he found out that Lucas lied about everything.
He will never find out, he vowed.
"Thank you," Lucas said, wiping at his eye. "Er, thank thee. I didn't mean to get all sappy on thee, sorry."
"Feel not to apologise to myself for expressing thy feelings, my boy," Laventon said. "But, we do have work to do, correct? Let us explore the Obsidian Fieldlands and travel with the Security Corps towards forth to whither our prize lay!"
The look of Cyllene's stamp on the edge of Starly's Dex entry added the finishing touches to it. Lucas' sketches (more like traces from his Dex) of both the female and male Starly sat in the middle of the page, and Laventon's handwriting was neat and informative. Cyllene took the entry in order to copy down the information, without the drawing, onto the printing press in her office.
This was not the time for spelling errors, as she would mass-produce the entry for all the members of the Security Corps. And currently, that was eighteen people—nearly half of the current population of Jubilife. Most of the people in Jubilife worked for the Galaxy Expedition Team, those who didn't had a job or purpose doing something else—such as tailoring, hairdressing, etc.
With both Bidoof and Starly done, there was one last Pokémon in the Obsidian Fieldlands that lived the closest to Jubilife Village.
Shinx.
Now, Lucas already knew all there was to know about Shinx. So he knew that facing one could possibly blind him if it sensed danger. Catching one wouldn't be easy as they had a decent sense of smell and eyesight, and would try to attack him if they saw him.
Fighting when blind wasn't easy.
Stealth would be important for this. Lucas managed to get to the tall grass without alerting the Shinx to his whereabouts, a Bidoof happily followed him down Aspiration Hill, but he would deal with that later. Looking at the Shinx with a worried expression on his face, and standing as if he was ready to punch the Pokémon, was a member of the Security Corps, Ren. He was in charge of guarding the bridge to Deertrack Path so that no under levelled member accidently got lost there, and killed.
The Shinx, Lucas saw from the grass, was female. She was young, only about two years old, he'd guess, and proud as could be. Ren saw Lucas and gestured for him to head back to the camp, eyes not leaving the Pokémon.
Lucas never actually understood why Ren didn't catch the Shinx himself if he was so worried about it. Obviously, if he didn't then he wasn't worried. Maybe he was just worried for Lucas' safety? No, that wasn't it. He probably just got there before the Shinx did, and always waited for her to leave at the end of the day. Ren didn't even have a Pokémon working with him, but that was common.
Strange fellow.
Slowly, and quietly, Lucas grabbed an empty Poké Ball from his pouch. It was one he made, and thanks to his spare time, he felt like he had perfected (in his opinion) crafting Poké Balls. Of course, this made him wonder how a Master Ball was made, though. Or Quick Balls. Poké Balls had never really interested him before, but now he was curious about how they worked. Lucas knew about Pokémon shrinking, and that was something that he tried to study and learn as how can a creature just shrink their size and mass?! Had to do with their energy, didn't it?There wasn't a Pokémon Professor who specialised in that, how Pokémon shrunk, that he heard of—there were professors, Cedric Juniper from Unova and Sycamore from Kalos, who did touch about Pokémon biology and change, but Lucas hadn't seen books of theirs about shrinking.
Then again, some of Sycamore's books weren't translated yet. Then. Whatever.
The point was that a Pokémon's ability to shrink was important in the function of a Poké Ball.
Lucas unlatched the metal clasp of the ball, careful to see if the Shinx noticed him yet. She hadn't. Slowly, he moved towards the edge of the grass, where he was able to be hid behind a grey rock from her view. His fingers graced over the hole at the top of the Poké Ball where the excess energy from catching a Pokémon would escape.
He winded his arm back to throw just like he reminded Dawn and Barry over a year ago, and let the ball fly. It struck true to the Shinx's left shoulder blade and he heard her surprised yelp as she was sucked into the ball. Now, he did as all Pokémon Trainers did when catching Pokémon, and held his breath, waiting.
The Poké Ball jumped into the air as he knew the Shinx was fighting inside. When it landed harshly against the ground, it cracked opened, and the Shinx jumped free! She ran a bit away from where the ball landed before turning and growling in Lucas' direction.
Well, guess we gotta fight.
He grabbed Pikachu's ball and tossed him out into the field, gaining the attention of the Shinx. There wasn't anything Pikachu could do without fainting, or killing, the poor young Pokémon. Lucas looked through his pack and grabbed out another Poké Ball as the Shinx's fur lit up brightly and Pikachu wavered, obviously not enjoying the prospect of battling.
Before Shinx could attack the over-levelled Pikachu (although, not too over-levelled), Lucas tossed an empty Poké Ball at her. It smacked her in the forehead before opening fully and sucking her inside. This time, when it landed on the ground, it only jump a few feet off the ground before settling down nicely. A blast of energy escaped through the top of the Poké Ball as the Shinx submitted her will.
"Nice," he said, picking up her Poké Ball and putting it in his Pokémon section of his pouch.
Ren, who had watched the entire short-lived battle, stared at him with wide eyes. "Thou… thou managed to capture such a ferocious beast so easily and without any strife! How could it be that thou possess the skills in order to tame such a monster?! Didst thou fear not the deadly lightning, the thunder, that the Shinx could call down from the heavens?"
"I did," he said. "But, how can I know how to defend myself against Electric types without catching them to study?"
"Tis a grand idea for myself to purchase a warding charm to gain as much courage as to face living lightning," Ren muttered to himself. "Lest my body freeze from power. And to maybe tame one of those wild beasts as well… to protect myself as thou did thyself. Nay…."
Sensing that the conversation was over, Lucas headed back up Aspiration Hill and towards the camp. He had spent most of the morning on the trip over to the Obsidian Fieldlands, and so by the time he actually caught the Shinx, it was nearing late afternoon. His plan was to head a little to the east of the camp, to where a small pack of Shinx could be found.
For the rest of the afternoon, he would sit on the ledge of a rock looming over the field, and watch the Shinxes be. He would sketch his caught Shinx, and write down what he observed and knew to be true about the species. Then, when the sky started to darken, he would pack up and head to the camp, and once he was there, Laventon and him would be escorted back by Netta and Kew, the two Security Corps members who escorted them there.
On the way back, Laventon and him would talk about their observations, and he would hand over his Dex. In the morning, back in the lab, Lucas would get his Dex back, along with Laventon's thoughts about his observations. They would head out to the pastures to study the female Shinx more, and after days of doing this and their Dex about female Shinxes were nearly complete, they would head out to the Fieldlands to catch a male Shinx.
And it would repeat.
By the end of one-two months, the Dex entry on Shinxes would have Cyllene's stamp of approval. Lucas knew all of this because after a year of living in Jubilife, there was finally a proper routine to everything.
It was as it should be.
Professor Laventon was leaving for four months.
He had given no warning besides from two weeks before his departure, but he was heading out to visit a colleague of his who mentioned something about regional variants that could possibly be in Hisui. How they knew about Hisuian regional variants was up in the air, but the professor was leaving, and Lucas had no idea what he was going to do for four months.
The Survey Corps couldn't just shut down for four months without the professor. Cyllene would never let that happen. So, they would still be working. But, maybe Lucas could use this to his benefit.
Here was his plan he spent two weeks working on while watching Buizels from the distance instead of working:
Step 1) Head out to the Obsidian Fieldlands with the Security Corps as normal.
Step 2) Tell them he'll be out in the wilds for a few days, no more than three, as he's searching for more information on Drifloons—and try to bore them with details so they won't ask exactly what he's doing.
Step 3) Take Staraptor to the Crimson Mirelands and speak with Adaman about Dialga.
Step 4) Return back the next day, and pretend that he couldn't catch a Drifloon—but he did manage to observe some!
Step 5) Figure out what to do with knowledge/lack of knowledge from the Diamond Clan.
It was completely foolproof. Almost. First, he needed Cyllene's permission to observe Drifloons, which would be hard to obtain. But, Lucas could probably protest his case as he had shown that he was strong enough to be star rank one; and Drifloons were native to the Obsidian Fieldlands. He could handle it.
When Laventon went to Prelude Beach to take a boat away, Lucas, Cyllene, and Kamado all went to wave him off. It was a sad moment since the man was leaving, but the prospect of his plan kept him from feeling too down.
"Goodbye!" Laventon called as the boat left. "I shall return in six score and seven days!"
Lucas waved largely above his head. "See you soon, professor! Have a safe trip! Bon Voyage!"
And then the man was gone. His boat disappearing into the horizon, to return in four months and a week, according to his own words.
And everyone went back to work, as usual.
It only took one day after Laventon left for Lucas to put his plan into motion. Did it occur to him that he was going against the wishes of two Pokémon Professors (with Rowan not wanting him to help Dawn and Laventon not wanting him to head to the Mirelands)? Yes, it did. But, Lucas rationalised, the only thing worse than what happened when he disobeyed Rowan would be death, so he would take his chances.
Especially if it got him home.
He wanted to say goodbye to Laventon and everyone properly, so whatever he learnt from the Diamond Clan, he promised himself, he would wait to use until four months have passed.
All that he needed to do now was convince Cyllene that he should focus on Drifloons.
Surprisingly enough, it didn't take much convincing for her to agree. Drifloons, according to some Security Corps members, had been drifting close to the camps, so Lucas finding out more about them would be helpful in defending against them.
And to think he had a whole speech prepared to persuade her.
It was just before noon when they arrived at the Fieldlands, and Lucas informed Charma—the member who was keeping watch at the camp—that he would be back in three days, at most. Then, he took off down aways away from the camp, near where he could clearly see an Alpha Rapidash in the distance, and brought out Staraptor.
"Alright," he said as she stretched out her wings, "we're going to head to Solaceon Town. I know it's not there right now, but there should be a small village around where it is. If you can't land, then we can simply land at Lake Valor. Okay?"
Staraptor trilled in agreement.
Lucas checked her saddle and harness and saw that all was well and good (he had removed it from her when he knew he was not going to be using her, and only placed it back on her that morning). Then, he climbed onto her back and Staraptor spread her wings to Fly.
The Crimson Mirelands looked orange from the sky, which may be how it got its name. It was very clearly the Great Marsh, as he could see where Pastoria would be in the distance. As Solaceon Town wasn't as far as Veilstone, it only took about an hour and a half to Fly there. With such a short distance, Lucas told everyone he was going for three days in case something happened, and he needed to stay longer.
And he needed a believable timeframe to research Drifloons.
He could see lit torches leaning up a dirt road and urged Staraptor to land by a rock cliff. Going to the Diamond Settlement as a member of the Survey Corps wasn't probably the best idea as the Diamond Clan and Jubilife Village were neutral.
Not allies, just staying out of each other's ways.
But going in as Rei, a civilian, would probably be fine. Which was why he brought along his dark blue and blue modern jacket with him. Folding up his Survey Corps jacket and replacing it with his modern jacket was easy, especially since it fit nicely in his bag. Sure, he would still be wearing blue, the colour of the Survey Corps, but so were the Diamond Clan. Maybe he should've worn a kimono top from Anthe, but he didn't want to spend his money on clothing when he had a perfectly good jacket.
The shirt he wore as a part of his Survey Corps uniform was plain white, so he didn't need to worry about the Diamond Clan thinking he was a part of the Pearl Clan if it was, for instance, pink or lilac.
Lucas fixed his flat cap back on his head before calling Staraptor into her Poké Ball and heading to follow the torches. Although it wasn't nearing dusk, Lucas knew he couldn't stay too long if he wanted to leave before dark. Hopefully, he could get his information from Adaman before it went dark, so he could try and Fly back to the Obsidian Fieldlands. If not, then hopefully they would be willing to shelter him for the night, but he wasn't hinging on that.
A guard stood at the top of the hill, standing in the light of one of the torches.
"A strange presence hath arrived here at this mighty village," he commented on seeing Lucas. "Few non-native to these tents would venture up this hill and towards us. What may be your name and your purpose to be here?"
"Rei. I'm here to see Adaman," Lucas said. "Is your Leader here?"
The guard narrowed his eyes before moving to scan his body, looking for… something. Obviously, he found it because he scoffed, "I see that ye belong to the people of Jubilife, the foreigners of the Galaxy Team. Nay, don't lie to me. Time shalt tell the truth regardless of poisoned trickery."
"Um, where I live is unrelated to me being here. But, why do you—ye—think that?"
"The containers of horrid entrapment that laid on your waist." The guard gestured to where Lucas' Poké Balls were. "No one besides from those foreigners here on our soil would use such an inhumane contraption."
"Ah, I see…. Would that be a problem?"
"Tis not a rule, nay," said the guard. "But before I allow ye to enter our land, ye shall be vouched by another. Ye informed of desire to speak with Adaman, he shall be fetched. Messis!" He called to the Diamond Clan member standing not far from the giant protruding stone in the middle of the settlement. "Fetch Adaman for myself! He hath a visitor from outside!"
Messis looked at the guard, then at Lucas, shrugged, and headed to wherever Adaman was stashed. His hood on his head made him look more elongated than what was considered natural.
A few minutes later, Messis and Adaman could be seen in the distance across the settlement, heading directly towards the south gate. The man looked exactly how Lucas remembered the one time he saw him, a tall man with mostly blue-dyed blond hair tied up behind his head in a ponytail. He wore what Lucas had seen in history books as the symbol of the Clan Leader, a thick metal non-complete choker with a large stone. It was a diamond, and Lucas had a feeling that Irida's was going to be a pearl. In additional to this choker, Adaman's robes were larger and styled different than everyone else's, a brighter blue rather the indigo of the Diamond Clan.
"Tis be my visitor?" Adaman asked, gesturing to Lucas.
At the guard's nod, he said, "I thank thee deeply, Prima, for keeping watch, and I thank thee Messis for alerting me. Now, what might be your name, traveller?"
"Rei," Lucas said.
"And whither do ye come, Rei?"
"Jubilife Village—but I'm not here on their behalf, Leader Adaman!" he quickly assured. "The Commander doesn't even know I'm here. I'm here to talk to ye about Di—almighty Sinnoh."
Adaman raised his eyebrows at that. He turned to Prima. "Thou shalt let him pass."
Then, to Lucas, "Come, we shall talk in my tent."
"Thou hast travelled quite a distance to speak with me," Adaman said once they were inside his tent. It was larger than the others in the settlement, grander and more distinctive for the Clan Leader. Inside was cozy, and Adaman sat down on the cushion on the floor by the low table, gesturing for Lucas to sit across from him. On the far wall was a shrine with ancient writing Lucas couldn't read, along with two portraits of ginger men.
Actually, now that he looked at them, Lucas was quite sure they were the same man. But it was also hard to tell with just the portraits.
When he sat down on the offered thin cushion, he said, "Yeah. It took a few hours."
"Hours? The trek ye would have taken takes days at the minimum! Weeks at the maximum!"
"Oh, yes, I meant days… not hours. But, enough about my travels, I want to talk to you about your almighty Sinnoh—would it be fine if I write down your words?" Lucas reached for his Sinnoh Pokédex from his bag, and slowly grabbed it and a pen.
"That would be fine," Adaman said. "Shall I make you some tea, Rei?"
"Yes, please."
As the man stood to make tea from the small kitchen, he said, "It's strange that someone from the Galaxy Team would hath come to speak with myself about almighty Sinnoh. I have thought that none of you hast taken a desire to learn."
"Well, I'm a researcher," Lucas said. "And I'm interested in almighty Sinnoh."
Adaman turned to him as he put the kettle onto the stove. "Have ye spoken to Irida and the Pearl Clan as of this time?"
"No." He shook his head. "I've only come to you."
"Ah, well, ye have made the better choice. Their false Sinnoh is not one that a researcher would be fascinated in learning about. What do ye wish to learn about almighty Sinnoh?"
Lucas opened his Dex to the entry on Dialga, making sure that it was position on his lap so that Adaman couldn't see. He looked down at the drawing of the Pokémon and, only then, realised that they had coloured Dialga's eyes wrong. They were completely red, not white with red irises.
"Well," he said, "I would like to know everything."
Here was the tale of Dialga according to the Diamond Clan:
At the beginning of the universe, almighty Sinnoh was created. At the first beating of almighty Sinnoh's heart at its birth, time began to move forward. The world was created, Hisui was created, and as such, people were as well. Almighty Sinnoh watched over all of its people at the same time, through time, at the future and the past and the present.
"Sway not into sorrow. Sway not into wrath. Offer only companionship to those around you. Sway not into sorrow. Sway not into wrath. Sway not almighty Sinnoh into sorrow. Wherefore time's eternal flow shalt cease," Adaman recited. "Tis be a saying said for years in the Diamond Clan, from the very mind and teaching's of almighty Sinnoh."
The first Leader of the Diamond Clan apparently met Dialga right where the settlement was located. In respect for the Pokémon they believed created the universe, the settlement was built, and the Diamond Clan began to worship Dialga, thinking that it was Arceus. Or, at least, that was what Lucas believed happened.
They had gotten into wars throughout the thousands of years since the Meeting; all with the Pearl Clan, who's Leader most likely met Palkia instead.
To think, thousands of years of conflict over a misunderstanding. That instead of a single Sinnoh, there were three of them—or four, if Giratina was counted, although not much was known about the Pokémon besides from its name and the barest description. Though, to be fair, more was known about Giratina than Arceus.
All in all, there wasn't much information that Adaman knew about Dialga. And when Lucas asked, Adaman was adamant that all the information about almighty Sinnoh had been told to him. The story of the origin of the Diamond Clan was interesting, and he wrote it all down, but it wasn't what he wanted to know.
What he wanted to know was about Dialga. Specifically, what it has to do with time.
"The truth about the power of almighty Sinnoh," Adaman said, "is known not to us. Time is Its domain, that much is knowledge—the universe is Its child—but how, or why, It doth do what It desires is not for mortals to know."
"So, you have no idea."
Adaman blinked. "Nay, the only one who doth utterly understands almighty Sinnoh is almighty Sinnoh. Although, those of the clan shan't understand that this truth is not something to cower from."
"Oh…" Lucas sighed, closing his Sinnoh Dex. "Thank you for your information, and your tea, Leader Adaman—"
"Nay, thou shalt simply address me as Adaman. And 'thou' itself is fine."
"…Adaman," he said carefully. "Right. Okay. Well, does the Diamond Clan have any ideas about Di—almighty Sinnoh's power? I mean, the ability to 'make' time, or control it at least, would be something that thy people have thought about, right? Maybe the ability to… I dunno… travel through time has come up in discussion?"
Finishing drinking his tea, now having gotten cold, Adaman thought for a moment. "Thou say the wildest things, Rei," he said with a friendly smile. "Truthfully, my people hath thought about that before in the past, but whatever knowledge or agreement came to light is lost to the domain of almighty Sinnoh. If thou most desire it, thou can speak to the elders of the clan; if I have missed something, they shalt know it."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Yes. In additions to our talks, I have a question for thee: whither art thou spent the time of the evening and night? Whither art thou to sleep? A camp, which would be the most ingenious answer to my question, is what I would assume thou would live."
"Ah… the camp I had," he lied, "I tore down when I left."
"Hmm, that shan't do. This land is dangerous at night, and thou shan't sleep out where the Pokæmon can easily slaughter and maim thee."
"…Are thou offering for me to stay here at the Diamond Settlement?" Lucas blinked up at Adaman, double-checking in case he didn't fully understand his verboseness.
A nod was his answer.
"I have to say," Lucas admitted, "thou're a lot more magnanimous than I thought. I know I wouldn't be so kind to a complete stranger who arrived in my home, asking questions about who I worship. Well, thy generational saying tells to be 'kind and friends' with everyone," he mumbled under his breath.
"But, okay, I'll take thee up on your offer to house me for the night."
Adaman nodded once more. "Truly wonder-filled! I shall explain the decision to Peren, he shall show thee whither thee shalt stay."
"Sweet! And, in the meantime, I would love to speak with the elders to see what they know."
To put it bluntly: the elders knew nothing. That was to say, they knew what Adaman knew and now what Lucas knew. At least Alman had the decency to look apologetic about his lack of knowledge, the others simply brushed off his in-depth questions.
So, Lucas really knew nothing more than what he already knew before arriving. This really was all for nothing. No one had really thought about moving through time to the future or the past, and so Lucas was stuck. Briefly he wondered what they would do if he told them he was from the future, but quickly brushed that idea off.
Peren, a member who also wore an elongated hood, showed him to where he was staying. It was an older tent, having only barely been cleaned and fixed, and he was informed that it was the visitor's quarters. They didn't have visitors often. That was fine with Lucas, as it made him think that no one would interrupt his nightly rituals.
There was a small campfire in front of his tent, along with a few stumps to sit on. As it wasn't night, and if it was then the light from the fire would've been sufficient, Lucas took out his Hisui Dex and worked on the entry for Drifloons. He drew a sketch of one from memory, then took out his Sinnoh Dex and quickly copied the photo.
As he saw Adaman approach, he quickly slipped his Sinnoh Dex into his bag.
"How art thou?" he asked, stopping near where the smoke from the fire was blowing.
"I'm fine," Lucas said. "Thou don't need to worry about me, I'm perfectly fine. Given that I hadn't expected shelter over my head tonight, I'm better than fine."
"All is well. If thou still hast any questions, feel free and allowed to ask any person here in the clan."
Lucas wasn't going to. "I'll be sure to do that!"
"I—what is that object on thy lap?" Adaman asked just as he was getting ready to leave. He peered at Lucas' writing. "Drifloons? I have heard about them from Mai, once or thrice."
Closing his Dex, Lucas said, "This's my Pokédex. It's where we catalogue Pokémon in Hisui, and write down information we learn about them. I'm currently working on the Drifloon entry."
"Catalogue… Pokæmon?" Adaman asked. "Wherefore ye do such a thing?"
"Well, in order to know more," he said. "More about Pokémon in general, more about how to protect ourselves from them. Take your pick of reasons."
"Most bizarre," he muttered. "Much the same with those contraptions on thy waist. Trapping a Pokæmon against their will is cruel."
As much as he wanted to say that it wasn't, Lucas didn't want to start a whole ethics debate with a man from over three centuries in the past. But, for the record, Poké Balls helped Pokémon as well—and wasn't a prison. Some Pokémon didn't even like being out of their Poké Balls, too scared and anxious of the world.
Truth be told, Lucas wasn't up for any sort of conversation at the moment. Contemplative silence was something he yearned for right now. He had basically been told that he was stuck in the past, so if Lucas wasn't up for more discussion, he felt like he deserved peace.
"Well, I'll take your ideas into consideration," Lucas said. He yawned and faked stretching. "Woo! Boy, am I tired; I think I'll head to bed early. I'll leave in the morning when dawn comes, so if I don't see you in the morning, good night, goodbye, and thank you."
"I shall allow thee to take thy rest now," Adaman said as Lucas stood. "If I don't see thee additionally in the new morrow, I bid thee farewell and you're welcome. Sleep well, Rei."
"You too…."
With that, the Clan Leader turned and left. Lucas put out the campfire in front of his tent as no one else was there, and then he stepped inside. His Pokémon were happy to stretch outside of their balls, even if it was in such a smaller place than his quarters. Tomorrow, before he left, he would be sure to properly exercise his Pokémon.
There wasn't a futon in the tent, in fact there was a bunk bed. Finally, after a year he was finally sleeping on an elevated bed—much like his old bed back home. Lucas took the top bunk and sat back against the wooden headboard, his jacket and shoes discarded. He brought out his Sinnoh Dex, his Hisui one lying beside him, and he looked through the notes he wrote about Dialga. Evening sun tricked in from the opened window, the covers pulled away. As he read the conclusion he wrote under Adaman's words, no idea about time travel, he felt his heart clench.
He really was suck in time, wasn't he?
There really wasn't anything he could do, was there? He didn't know how to get in hold of Dialga, and even if he did there's no guarantee that he'd get back to his era. Or that Dialga would even know to put him in the future, and not the past. No, it'd know; he saw intelligence in those eyes. But still, who's to say that Dialga could even control where in time he went? What if he landed back another three hundred years? What would he do then? Would preserving the timeline even matter then? What if he landed in the future by six hundred years? Three hundred years into his future?
Maybe he should just stop hoping about getting home and accept his reality. Hadn't he done that already? Every day when he went to work at the Survey Corps, wasn't he just accepting his reality? Why hold onto such childish nonsense as returning home, to Sandgem, to the Pokémon Lab, to his dad, his granddad, his sister, Professor Rowan, Dawn, Barry… to Sinnoh. And wasn't that ironic, that people kept mentioning Sinnoh all the time, but it wasn't the Sinnoh he knew.
It wasn't his Sinnoh. It was the Pokémon they worshipped as Gods. Distortion, Lucas respected the myths and their power—but he didn't worship them! Not even back home, and certainly not now.
Maybe Lucas should just start over. Should reintroduce himself as Rei, should allow people to know about his full team, should show Laventon his Sinnoh Pokédex. It was completed, excluding the Legendaries; the only reason Dex Holder were asked to complete theirs and not get a completed one was so that they could learn more about Pokémon. His contained the information all of their Dexes had. Would have. Will have?
Had Professor Rowan gotten a new assistant yet? Had Dawn and Barry complete the Pokémon League, did Cynthia get dethroned as the Champion? She would probably stay as the Champion until her successor became an adult, as per the laws prohibiting a child from being the most politically powerful person in the region. But, how much has changed in the year? And, wow, he really had been gone a year, hadn't he? Lucas knew he had, and it had hit him hard on the day of, but remembering that was something else.
Maybe Lucas should just give up on his old life, and embrace Hisui fully. Embrace Rei fully.
No.
No!
He couldn't think like that! Thinking like that meant that all his had accomplished back home—all his friends, his family, his Pokémon—all of that was for nothing! Thinking like that was the equivalent of giving up, of giving in, and Lucas couldn't do that. He was the assistant to the Pokémon Professor of Sinnoh! He had been apart of the team that tried to free Dialga from Cyrus (albeit, for a short time, and he failed doing so)! People in the streets of Sandgem knew who he was!
Lucas couldn't give up. There just had to be another answer. A different answer. There was always an answer he just needed to think about this from a different angle, that's all. He was a Pokémon Researcher; he could do this.
Thinking was something he excelled at, he would say.
Lucas fell asleep an hour after sunset, two hours into trying to devise a new plan.
The shining red tumblestone smashed into bits from the attack of Infernape. He looked down at the pieces of rock and chattered happily, pleased with his work. Infernape stepped away from the rock, allowing his Trainer to get close and pick through them.
"This one's good," Lucas said. He picked a large piece of tumblestone, holding it in his hand and rubbing the smooth crystalline surface with his thumb. "This one's a bit bigger, but I think we can cut it down to size, huh?"
Infernape clapped his blue hands together, jumping and hollering in agreement.
"You did good, buddy," he said, reaching out to stroke the white fur under his Pokémon's chin. "I think we can make a bunch of good Poké Balls from these."
The flame on Infernape's head danced in the wind as the Pokémon happily watched his Trainer put the broken tumblestone into a small compartment in his bag. A few smaller pieces of the stone still remained on the ground, not of any use to him. Lucas had woken up at dawn, as he was accustomed too, and Adaman had managed to catch him before he left. After their farewells, Lucas took off down the hill, leaving the settlement behind.
There were Gravelers happily rolling around the hill, and Lucas barely managed to avoid getting seen by them. Now, he and his Pokémon stood by a river, right in a small cleaning hidden behind a small plateau. Infernape was his final Pokémon to exercise, and so he had a mock battle between him and Clefable (which was hard to do by one's self), and the loser was waddling on the top of the water, doing whatever Clefables did in their space time. Lucas thought she was trying to dance.
One of Clefable's large ears twitched as Lucas turned to her, and she let out two squeaks. It was a warning system they had devised months before, when he had been sneakily taking his Pokémon out to exercise back at Jubilife Village. Clefable would listen for any sort of oncoming people or Pokémon and if she heard any she would let them know, Lucas would then recall his Pokémon before they were seen.
This noise she made, a double speak, told Lucas that it was a Pokémon arriving.
"Alright," he said, quietly, moving to crouch behind the rock the tumblestone used to be apart of. "Come on, guys." He pulled the empty Poké Balls off his belt and recalled both the respective Pokémons, then he grabbed Staraptor's although he kept the latch latched. She hadn't actually been exercised, as he didn't want her tired out.
It would be a stupid move for him to attempt to Fly right when a Pokémon was nearing, so he cursed himself for not leaving sooner. Lucas would need to wait for it to leave in order to safely Fly. The ripe smell of the bog behind him distracted him for a moment before he heard the loud footsteps of an, undoubtable, Alpha Pokémon.
Then, he heard the croaking. To the unknown ear, it would simply sound like laughter; and maybe it was, maybe it was some sort of cruel tactic to deceive and horrify their prey. After all, what kind of predator laughs at prey? The kind who was successful enough to become cocky. The kind who's very touch poisoned.
The kind who could kill with a single scratch.
Behind the large rock protecting Lucas, towering over eight feet tall, was an Alpha Toxicroak.
He deepened his breathing, going as far as to cover his mouth and nose with his hand. Lucas rarely worked with Toxicroaks back in the lab, only Rowan dealt with them directly as they were extremely dangerous. Most Poison types were, which was why Lucas only observed from a safe distance holding onto the antidote to any and all of their toxins.
Scratch Ghost types as the most feared type, Poison was worse. At least with Ghost types, you could mostly harmlessly pass through their bodies, but with some Poison types, a touch meant certain, painful death.
The good news was that Lucas had the recipe for the antidote of Toxicroak toxin memorised by heart (and written in his Sinnoh Dex). It was simple: one drop of toxin, three cups water, one tablespoon of grass off a Torterra's shell, two teaspoons of Tangela vines, half a tablespoon Lolium temulentum, one cup Elymus repens, four cups Allium medicina (medicinal leeks), two cups pecha berries, one cup lum berries, and half a cup sitrus berries. Just boil that for two days straight, let it cool off, drain liquid into a syringe, and inject directly into the bloodstream (boil for an hour and cool if antidote was stored before injection).
The bad news was that Lucas didn't have most of the ingredients, and also not two days to brew it. He, for obvious reasons, didn't have an antidote prepared on him.
It only then occurred to him that no one knew he was there. The Diamond Clan thought he left, and no one from Jubilife Village knew he wasn't off studying Ghost types. If he made a single sound, a single noise to draw the attention of the Pokémon, then he was screwed. Antidotes didn't exist in this time, there were no cure for toxins that a Pokémon could take out in the field. If the Alpha Toxicroak attacked any of his Pokémon then he was screwed.
Of course, putting them back in their Poké Balls paused the poisoning effects temporarily (excluding Pikachu and Mime Jr.). But Lucas wasn't the type to use his Pokémon as cannon fodder.
If only he had a Steel type on him….
Oh, who was he kidding? Lucas couldn't win against an Alpha. Sure, he was decent Trainer and able to catch more Pokémon than people of this time (although he didn't), this was because Lucas' Pokémon mostly were already trained and powerful. Pikachu sometimes still didn't listen to him unless his other Pokémon were out of their balls, and Mime Jr. would rather sleep or spend time with children than do much of anything else.
If they were his only Pokémon, then Lucas would be screwed. But, luckily, they weren't.
Even if he used Alakazam, he didn't know if that would be enough to stop an Alpha. Catching a young Shinx was completely different than battling an Alpha Toxicroak. And Lucas would need to be careful, and to stay away in case any virulent toxins that dripped from its claws sprayed around midbattle and struck him.
And the toxin of wild Toxicroaks were even more potent than those of bred and 'domesticated' Toxicroaks. Over the years, many Poison Pokémon had been bred so that their toxins were, somewhat, less fatal to humans. Here, while these wild Toxicroaks weren't even from bred and released ones, these were weapons of murder. No wonder the people of Jubilife feared Pokémon, Lucas began to as well just within the year. Of course, fourteen years of living with peaceful Pokémon wasn't going to be overrode by one year of living with dangerous ones, but Lucas truly knew how terrifying they were. It put everything into perspective.
Especially knowing that even after losing the battle, the Pokémon wouldn't just run away. Lucas would be the next target. After all, that was why people here used Pokémon in the first place. In order to draw the attention of the attacker, and to get away and recall the Pokémon from the safe distance, or to defeat the opponent.
Lucas, first and foremost, was a Researcher. Not a Trainer. He had called himself such before as he had been acting like a Trainer, but he wasn't one. Not officially.
The Toxicroak let out another loud croak, seemingly closer now than it had been before. Lucas stared at the shadow around the rock, at the looming silhouette, and only kept his eyes open so that he could keep track of the monster.
What was strange, he noticed, was that there weren't any Croagunks in the area. A gaggle of first evolution Pokémon followed most Alphas—the Alpha Rapidash back in the Fieldlands was surrounded by Ponyta, for example—but this Alpha seemed alone. Strange. Especially considering how Croagunks were native to the Mirelands. Lucas had certainly seen some from the sky on his way over.
Then he heard it.
Although the sound of a Toxicroak's croaking was remarkably similar to that of a Croagunk's, there were differences. The Toxicroak's cry was a higher pitch, and sounded like it was only a repeat of a few trilling notes, while the Croagunk's cry sounded closer to a child laughing and gurgling water. It was distinct in that way, and also why many people loved the Pokémon; with its gurgling laugher and its comedic face, what wasn't there to love about Croagunk?
Perhaps, the fact that they evolved into Toxicroak.
The gurgling croak seemed to come from Lucas' right, while the Alpha Toxicroak seemed to be more to his left. Slowly, he turned his head to look straight into the golden yellow eyes of a Croagunk.
Oh no!
She laughed at him again, curling her black and orange fingers into a fist and snitching on him to the Alpha. In addition to being a complete snitch, she launched a Mud Bomb at him, barely managing to miss him as he bolted out of the way and away from his protection.
The loud roaring croak let him know that he was caught even before he lifted his head and saw the Alpha's red glowing eyes.
"Oh, shit," Lucas whispered as the Toxicroak leaned over him. Before the Pokémon could make any moves, he scuffled away from him and managed to get to his feet. The ledge to the river was behind him and Lucas was trying to remember if Toxicroaks could swim. He didn't think so….
The ground beneath him began to steam up beneath his feet and Lucas rolled out of the way, barely managing to avoid the Earth Power as the ground erupted. His left ankle wasn't tucked in close enough to his body as Lucas gasp in pain as the steam tried to boil his skin through his pants. Luckily, he managed to get to his feet again. A quick glance told him that the steam had ripped a large hole through the fabric.
Another Mud Boom was thrown at him, and Lucas wasn't able to dodge it. It struck true to his chest and knocked him down onto the ground, his breath stolen away in a manner that reminded him of Saturn. The ground beneath him began to steam up once more and he panicked, rolling quickly away from it and, unknowingly, towards the Alpha.
The Toxicroak laughed and raised his large blue hand over Lucas' horrified face. The boy quickly tried to back away from the Pokémon, who only laughed again and prepared to lunge. He could barely catch his breath but still managed to dodge out of the way of the attack, landing awkwardly on his right shoulder and crying out in stifled pain.
Something lightly scratched at his pantleg, not deep enough that he didn't even think it drew blood, but still close enough that when pain erupted from it, he knew the culprit. Of course he knew, as the red claw of the Toxicroak was only mere inches away from where his foot had used to be.
Either Arceus really hated him, or that Toxicroak just had unnaturally great aiming skills. How else could he explain how it managed to touch him right where the hole was!
Lucas collapsed. He cried out and moved to grasp at his injury, only to disturb his shoulder and to hiss out. A few tears streaked down his cheeks as he watched the Toxicroak laugh at him. Once. Again. There wasn't even any time to check to see how badly his injury was as he felt the fire in his leg slowly climb towards his knee. His eyes burned.
Beneath him the ground seemed to steam once more, and Lucas dragged his limp leg away. He wasn't fast enough. As the ground erupted, so did Lucas as he was flung into the air away from the Pokémon.
The last thing he heard through the daze and fire of pain before he smashed down onto the river, was the echoing laugh of the Toxicroak. Already knowing that its prey was as good as dead.
He wasn't dead.
That was the first thing Lucas realised upon waking up.
He was also wet, which was the second thing realised.
The third was that his pain had lessened significantly for having been touched by a Toxicroak's toxin.
Lucas opened his eyes and saw small little droplets of water floating around his body. He weakly reached up to touch one and laughed as it simply bounced away from his fingers. Ha, ha… Life Dew….
Just out of the corner of his hazy eyes he could see Clefable sitting down beside him, her eyes closed as she consistently preformed the move. Lucas' subconscious knew that eventually she would tire out and would be unable to preform it, but his conscious state didn't realise that yet.
The rest of his Pokémon were also out of the balls, as well. Staraptor was standing by his feet, her back to him as she watched with sharp eyes for dangers. Mime Jr. was curled against his side, sleeping. Pikachu was sitting down beside Clefable, eating a cheri berry he must've stolen from his bag. Infernape was standing behind Clefable, protecting the Pokémon that was healing Lucas. And Alakazam was by his head, facing towards the river and at the Alpha Toxicroak that was watching them from the distance.
"Oh, hey, guys…" Lucas sluggishly said. "How's you doing…?"
Clefable opened her eyes at Lucas' voice, evidently unable to make another Life Dew. The multitude of water droplets in the air slowly, one by one, disappeared. All of his Pokémon turned to look at him and Lucas laughed happily.
All at the same time, his team began to lecture him although Lucas understood not a word. His head hurt too much to think too much about what his Pokémon were saying.
"I gots it… I gots it…" he said. "Hmmmmmm… what happened?" The last thing he could remember was being attacked by the Toxicroak—a fact that would have made his heart race, if it weren't already semi-racing from the toxin, and then calmed by the Life Dew—and then being thrown in the river.
Alakazam cried, keeping one of his spoons in the air as the Pokémon got Lucas' attention.
"…Oh…? You saved me…? From the nasty water…?"
The Pokémon nodded.
"…Nice! …I think I'ma take a quick nap real quick… don't wait up…." Lucas closed his eyes, and then opened them a second later when his Pokémon nearly deafened him with their anxious cries. "Alright… alright… I'm up…."
Slowly, Lucas forced himself to sit up and then immediately doubled down in laughter. "My leg," he said inhaling between laughs, "really hurts!" He was also really thirsty, but that was probably a side-effect from either the toxin or Life Dew. Healing Pokémon moves used on humans tended to lead to dehydration and starvation.
"…I should go back…" he said, once his laughter faded. He spotted something red out of the corner of his eyes and reached out, grasping his flat cap and fixing it back on his head. "My hat! …Should head back to Jubilife… prob worries about us. Y'know?"
His Pokémon, in fact, did know.
Lucas moved his ankle and gasped loudly as pain flared up from it. Which was strange, as his leg from the knee down felt completely numb. He could move it still, but didn't feel the movement.
"Nope…! Not something that! I need to an antidote…. But to get one we have to make one… and… we have to get back… but I need to stand…. Ha… ha…."
While their owner was too busy debating the pros and cons of standing vs just lying there to die, his Pokémon were actually trying to save his life.
Infernape took command, being the oldest Pokémon there and his Ace. He instructed Pikachu and Mime Jr., who had just woken up, to pack up the berries and supplies they spilt out. Although they grumbled about cleaning up their mess, they did do as told. After all, they were the youngest ones there, and the bottom of the hierarchy—if there was one.
Without being told, Staraptor already knew her job. She would Fly Lucas back to Jubilife Village in order for someone to help their moronic owner. Infernape made sure she knew that Staraptor was to land outside the gates, just a little out of the ways of the gate keeper's sight.
Clefable had done enough help, Infernape told her, and so she simply needed to rest. With a thankful squeak, she returned to her Poké Ball still on Lucas' waist.
Once Pikachu and Mime Jr. cleaned up their mess and closed the bag, Infernape told them their jobs. All of them knew that Lucas wanted to protect them, and him, from the wariness of Jubilife, and so only they could alert the humans of their owner's plight. It was up to them, Infernape said, to get the attention of the gate keeper while the rest of them remained into their Poké Balls. Neither were too excited about having a job to do, but they agreed to do it.
After all, it was for Lucas' sake.
"…But… I like sleeping!" Lucas said, defending the pros of lying there to die. "I could just take a nap! It would hurt less…."
Alakazam did his job as he did while Lucas was floating in the river. He used his psychic abilities to lift his owner into the air, startling the boy, and brought him over to Staraptor. Very carefully, he placed him down and Lucas reached out to grab the saddle and harness.
"Oh…! Thanks, Ala… Alaka… Ala…."
Knowing he wouldn't be able to finish his name, Alakazam simply cried in welcome. He went back into his Poké Ball, as did the three other Pokémon. Lucas grabbed onto the harness as Staraptor lifted her wings, readying to Fly.
"If it pass out," Lucas said quietly, "please catch me…."
The effects of Life Dew was already beginning to wane, and he could really start to feel the toxin in his blood begin to seep into his muscles and organs of his body. He was lucky. If the injury were more than just a slight superficial scratch on the first layer of skin, he would probably already be dead.
Staraptor cawed out in assurance. Her talons were strong enough to carry large, burly Pokémon; a boy like Lucas would be easy for her to carry if he fell off. Although, if he remembered to wrap the strap of the harness around his wrist, then there would be no problem.
For a minute or so, Staraptor waited for the signal. When it was evident that Lucas wasn't going to give it, she cawed out again. The boy startled from his thoughts of pain.
"Oh…! Oh. Yeah, Fly…!"
That was all she needed before Staraptor took to the skies in a speed that would definitely make her lose her license to Fly. But, those laws weren't in effect here, and she had a good damn reason for her speed.
It was up to her now.
"…luck blessed him that he lived…"
"…mon did this type of affliction? He said…"
"…son types living in the Fieldlands. Only Dustox and the Zubat line…"
"…he might know, he hath said what doth be needed for the ingredients…"
"Without a fault in mine eye and my knowledge," said a clear strong voice that he recognised. "Tis the toxin of a Toxicroak. Back in my land of the Kingdom of Galar, we have these Pokæmon too. Fellows who hath kill with a single swipe, deadly on all accounts."
"Yes, thou art correct. but lower thy voice if thou wilt please it so," said a softer voice. "The patient is stirring. Leave us be for patient confidentiality. Anise shalt fetch you when he is well."
Slowly, Lucas opened his eyes one at a time. Staring down at him was the brown wooden ceiling of the Galaxy Hall, still in construction. Faintly, if he listened, he could hear the sound of workers outside.
It would be so much easier if they just used Pokémon… he mused to himself. Machokes love helping out….
A face peered down at him. Small, round, with pink eyes and hair. Pesselle, the Captain of the Medical Corps.
"Ah, thou art awake!" she greeted softly. "How dost thou feel? Pain, suffering, fatigue?"
Lucas' mouth was dry, so it took him a moment to work his tongue free. His mouth tasted terrible. "Thirsty?"
"Ah, of course." Pesselle grabbed a glass of water from the small table beside the ward's bed. As Lucas took it and tried not to choke as he swallowed it, she said, "Thou gave us all a scare, when thou hast be found by Ress, unconscious and sickly. Thy Pikachu alerted him. What hast happened to thee if I may ask?"
Lowering his empty glass, Lucas licked his lips in thought. "Well… I was out looking for Drifloons when I was… attacked? I don't know, I don't remember much." That was a lie.
"Hmm. Well," she said, "thou cannot help thy state. The Commander has recognised thine injuries as those that belong to a poisonous Toxicroak. As did I. Thou art lucky to still be alive."
Yeah, I know that.
"How am I still alive?" he asked. "Did ye have an antidote on hand?"
Pesselle shook her head. "Nay. Thou tried to supply the instructions for myself, as thou believe I do not known it. Thou hast been comatose for three days."
"I… what? I just spat out some ingredients and you believed me? I don't remember this."
"Tis not something to be alarmed about; thou was filled with deadly ailment. Yet, thou knew that it was a Toxicroak that inflicted thee, and I have learnt prior that recipe for salvation from the toxin. We had used the virulent toxin that remained on thy leg for the antidote if thou wished to know. But, thou art alive! That is what matters. Art thou sore or fatigued?"
Lucas wiggled his fingers and toes, then his shoulders and ankles. "I feel kinda numb… everywhere. A side-effect?" Pesselle nodded. "Uh, well, yeah, I guess. I am a bit tired, and my leg's a little sore. I'm also kinda hungry. I've been out for three days, you said?"
"Yes."
"Huh. Where're my Pokémon?"
"Thy Captain has taken them into her care, for now. Both Commander Kamado and Captain Cyllene were terrible worried about thy health; thou art the first of us to be stricken with poisonous pestilence."
"Right… sorry 'bout that. Where's my bag?"
"In a small container which lives beneath the stand to thy right," Pesselle said. "If thou art worried about all of thine items, fret not. We have not touch anything once removed from thy person. Thine uniform and shoes shalt also be found there, if thy pleased."
Lucas looked down at the thin gown that was really just two sheets tied together. His patient gown, he supposed.
"But, if thou art tired then thou shalt sleep. I shall ask Cea to get thee some food. If the pain gets stronger, let us know."
Lucas couldn't really find any fault in her plan. "Okay. Thank you, Captain Pesselle."
"Have a good rest, Rei," she said softly. "We shall get thee some food." Pesselle moved to the other side of the room, careful to make sure that the brown wooden partition gave him privacy.
He grabbed his bag from where it was lying in the container she said it would be. Lucas dumped all the contents on his bed, right where his right leg used to be before he moved it. Although it was a mess, everything was there; three potions he had crafted, five small pouches of grit dust he had collected, ten acorns, eleven chunks of tumblestone, three chunks of iron, four medicinal leeks, a vivichoke he harvested (which Laventon had a habit of calling morning-dew buds), ten Poké Balls he had crafted, ten oran berries, three pinap berries, one cheri berry, his Hisui Pokédex, his Sinnoh Pokédex, his poffin case, a boiled potato in a bag, and his waterskin.
All of the items that he brought with him from Sinnoh, he had hidden in the storage box in his house. Contingency plans, and all.
Lucas placed everything back in his bag right where it belonged. He placed the bag back in the container with his uniform and shoes, then he laid down on the bed and closed his eyes.
He was forced into bedrest for a week and a half, to make sure the toxin completely left his system. During that time both Cyllene and Kamado came to speak with him.
She was his first visitor. In addition to giving Lucas back his Pokémon, she lectured him about safety in the wilds. About how the next time he got gravely injured, he would definitely not be as lucky. The only reason he was still alive was because of how fast his wounds were treated, if he were out in the wild for much longer then he would have died.
When she had gotten to the point where her lecture was dozing the still-injured boy to sleep, Cyllene finished her points quickly, and then left. Lucas knew that she was concerned about him that much because he was the only field member of the Survey Corps.
Kamado came to speak with him the third day of his hospitalisation. His speech was short, only consisting of three points.
Point one: He was lucky that the Toxicroak didn't scratch him deeper, and killed him.
Point two: It was obvious that his lack of physical training caused Lucas to get injured. Even after having trained under Zisu for two months, his skills wasn't up to a survivable level. He would resume training with the Security Corps, as a member of the Survey Corps, under Zisu until Laventon returned.
Point three: How, in his right mind, did he find a Toxicroak? In the Obsidian Fieldlands? Where!?
"Ah," Lucas said in response to that. "I'm pretty sure there're no Toxicroaks in the Fieldlands."
"Then, pray tell, where didst thou discover one?"
"Ah," Lucas said again. "I… can't remember?"
The look Kamado shot him was something between absolute frustration and absolute disappointment. It was a look Lucas had seen many times on Professor Rowan in the past (future?), especially when an intern damaged something. He was immune at this point.
Lucas looked away, anyway. "I… I'm sorry for worrying people. It wasn't my intention. But, I managed to record a lot of information about Drifloons…?"
"To seek knowledge over one's own life is only a gambit a foolish man would take," Kamado said. "Life is primary to everything. Even primary to knowledge and advancement."
"…I understand. And I won't do something like that again."
"People face death and fail," Kamado said bluntly, "thou art lucky that thou didst not fail. Keep up thy strength, Rei, and don't tempt the wickedness of death once again."
Then, he left.
Lucas knew that people died. Within the year, there had been four deaths of Security Corps members from Pokémon, and not to mention the other deaths from a few older members of Jubilife, or from a young child not long after he arrived by boat. There was a cemetery. Had the thought occurred to him that he could die? No, not really. He had survived facing Cyrus, had survived facing Dialga itself, and now had survived Toxicroak toxin.
But, if it weren't for his Pokémon, he would be dead. He would've died simply from drowning in the river. A mundane death for a time-traveller.
The truth about the dangers of Pokémon wasn't new to him now. But it really only hit him then. How mortal and vulnerable these people were. If any of the Magikarp that swam at Prelude Beach evolved into a Gyarados, all it would take would be a single Surf for the entire village to drown.
Although, the chance of a wild Magikarp evolving into a Gyarados was slim, but possible. Lucas made a note for himself to go and check out the local Magikarp school, and catch any who seemed close to evolving. He would release them somewhere in the Fieldlands, if not brought for food. Distortion, he could probably have a fish tank in his home if he wanted.
Lucas sighed, looking up at the rich brown wooden ceiling. He really messed up, didn't he? Not only did he not learn anything that could help him get home, but he also nearly died in the process. Now he had nothing to go on. For almost an entire year, he had the idea of meeting Adaman to keep him going. The idea that maybe he would know something helpful. Now…
Now, he was back to square one.
He may as well call it square zero with how much information he knew. There was no plan, there wasn't anything he could do. This was his life now.
How pathetic, he thought bitterly, I couldn't even defend Mesprit properly. I couldn't fend for myself against Saturn. I could help Dialga. I can't even find a way to get home. What use am I? I can't do anything right; I couldn't even return to Jubilife correctly. I just had to go and mess around in a region I know is dangerous, a region I was warned about being dangerous.
Lucas shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts.
I'm tired, he decided. I need to stop thinking like that. Be sorry for myself when I'm no longer hospitalised. Besides, when I'm out of here I'll be training with Captain Zisu… again…. His muscles ached from phantom pains. Oh, joy…. But maybe she'll teach me that fighting style I didn't have enough time to learn.
It sucks to be benched. But maybe I'll learning something helpful. Maybe someone in Jubilife might know something about Dialga and time….
Rolling onto his side, he pulled his blanket up to his chin.
…Who am I kidding? There's no chance of that happening.
The training method of Zisu was not something Lucas missed when he transferred. It was rigorous and made all of his muscles into Heavy Balls. His head hurt after his first training session, though that was more to do with trying to figure out how to Agile and Strong moves worked.
Sacrificing power for speed and an extra move? Sacrificing speed for power and a later move? These moves wouldn't be legal in Pokémon Battles nowadays. No wonder if went out of use. However useful and powerful it was now (and it was powerful, Lucas had easily mastered the art of using an Agile move and then a Strong move to KO the opposing Pokémon), there was no wonder it died off in the future. When Pokémon Battles gained the turn-system, Agile and Strong moves would have stopped being used.
However, he made sure to journal down what he learnt. Just in case there really were no records of this type of fighting. Lucas knew that Infernape would love this type of fighting, it's own style was something remarkable to look at—like dancing—but this would take it to the whole new level.
When he was finally no longer being subtly babysat by the Security Corps, he would be sure to train his whole team to learn this style. So far, only Pikachu and Mime Jr. knew how to preform these styles. He just had to wait until Laventon returned, and then everything would go back to normal.
Lucas would pretend to not know the rudimentary basics of Pokémon that even children were taught. He would write down the barest facts about Pokémon for Laventon, get rewarded for his efforts, and then he would try and figure out a way home. Next day, rinse and repeat.
Eventually, something different would happen. Something would change. Lucas had to believe that would happen, or else… he wouldn't know what to do. This hope was the only thing keeping him going even as his muscles tired and screamed at him as Zisu told them "Once more". It kept him from returning to Not-Spear Pillar and screaming up at the sky in anger and frustration and pain. It kept him sane.
Lucas didn't think that there was a Hope Pokémon, but if there was one then it was doing him wonders.
Six score and five days since he left, Professor Laventon returned to Hisui. He wasn't alone, which was a surprise, and what was even more of a surprise was that he brought back Pokémon. When Lucas arrived at his lab and saw three Starters on the floor, along with the professor who he hadn't known returned, he was surprised.
"What you got there?" he asked, looking down at the Pokémon.
"Ah, a book," said Laventon, looking at the book in his hand. "Quite a fine one indeed! Good morrow, Rei! I see that thou hast seen my new Pokæmon that I have brought back with me."
Lucas knelt to look down at the brown and white ball of feathers. "Right… I can see that. Um, what kind of Pokémon are these?"
Is that a green feather bowtie?
"That one by thy hands," said Laventon, "she doth be a Rowlet. My companion gifted her to myself when I have went to the Colonial Islands of Alola. I was told that she wouldst evolve different here in Hisui than in her motherland."
A regional variant? From a Pokémon not born in the region? Lucas thought, looking down at the Rowlet. Fascinating. How does that work? Is it something to do with the air and Pokémon from the region?
Unaware of his assistants thoughts, Laventon continued speaking. "To thy right there dost be a Cyndaquil from the Nation of Johto. He doth hath a similar experience as the Rowlet, I was told. And to thy left dost be a Oshawatt from the Nation of Unova."
"Let me guess, also a regional variant?"
"Thou art correct, my boy."
Lucas looked up from the three curious little Pokémon and towards the professor. "I'm glad you're back," he said. "How was your trip?"
"Ah, travelling on a voyage by ship is not something enjoyable for myself," he said. "It hath been better than previous, as no more than five beings were there. The lands, themselves, were beautiful—a perfect painting everywhere I looked. Pokæmon of all types and lives thrived there, as I remembered so. Truly, my boy, if thou hast a chance to voyage to these lands, only a fool shalt deny."
Well, Lucas had heard that Alola was a vacationer's dream spot. Stunning islands, beautiful sunsets, tropical temperatures…. And Johto and Unova had nothing to scoff at either. Johto was full of lush forests, caves, lakes and history; and Unova was filled with metropolises, cities filled with vibrant life, stunning bridges, rivers, and beautiful landscapes.
"Noted," he said. "But, what are thou planning to do with the Pokémon. Just study them? And how is it that they are able to evolve differently in the regions?"
Laventon lightly reached out and stroked the snoot of the Cyndaquil. "In my homeland of Our Majesty's Galar, we have these regional variants as well. My colleagues and I have spoken about these difference in Pokæmon in our lands. We shall study these Pokæmon, evolve them, and see how they differ from the study notes my colleagues hath given to myself."
"So, it's the exact same as everything else?"
"Yes, my boy. It is. Everything shall return to how it was before my voyage."
Lucas nodded, satisfied. "Good. And, Professor Laventon?"
"Yes?"
"It's good to have you back."
"Thank you, Rei. I certainly agree with thee—being here in Hisui is much more desirable than on the perilous seas. I have returned home, me thinks."
The Rowlet in front of Lucas bonked his face against Lucas' hands, and he reached out to scratch his feathery head. He looked down at the young Pokémon.
Home…. Guess you've also been removed from yours, huh? Hisui is your new home, but…
Am I really okay for it to be mine?
It was the middle of the night when the earthquake occurred.
All of his Pokémon cuddled around him shot away as Lucas lurch to his feet, blinking sleep from his eyes and looking around, frantic. Mime Jr. slept on as Staraptor chirped and flapped her wings in agitation, as Pikachu grumbled and hid under the covers of the futon, and as Infernape clapped and cried in surprise.
"Shh, shh, shh," Lucas hushed, trying to calm his panicked Pokémon. He, too, was alarmed, but he stifled his terror to calm his Pokémon. When the earthquake ended, he grabbed their Poké Balls and recalled them. Without putting on shoes, he bolted to the door and flung it open.
Simultaneously, as he was thinking: Was that Earthquake? The Geodude and Onix line lives in the Obsidian Fieldlands—did one of them decide to attack? But more Pokémon than just them can learn it, Infernape knows it as well! But it wasn't him. Who could be attacking the village? Would I be able to do something about it?
Yes, I could. Infernape's a Fighting type.
He was also thinking: Distortion, what's going on?!
Many other villagers in Jubilife also took to leaving their homes to see the commotion. People lit torches and fire to see in the night. Lucas couldn't hear any shouts or noises of battle, nor did the night Gatekeepers shout warnings.
The ground shook again. Aftershocks! Definitely not the move Earthquake, then! So, we're not under attack, that's good!
Lucas fell to his knees, clutching onto the dirt road as people shrieked and screamed as the earth beneath their feet danced and rumbled. Around him, he heard the sound of buildings shaking, breaking, and collapsing. His eyes shut as he waited for the ground to still, and after an unknown amount of time, it did.
Slowly, he opened his eyes to see that the row of stores across Floaro Main Street had collapsed. No one was hurt, he didn't think as he saw all the residents of the buildings in front of the mess, in shock. Someone was crying, someone was screaming, and Canala Bridge was down.
The doors to Galaxy Hall was thrown open and Kamado marched out, still wearing his pajamas. Which, unlike Lucas, were just nice black robes.
"What hast happened here?!" he demanded but stopping when he saw the state of the south side of Floaro Main Street. "An earthquake, no doubt, as this land decided to test our mettle once more…. Be not alarmed!" he called out, his voice carrying across the entire settlement. "This is not the work of a Pokæmon, but the ground itself!"
"With your eyes!" cried Dagero of the photography studio, pointing towards the north. "Look upon the mountain!"
Lucas ran over to the man and skited to a stop beside him, looking where he was pointing. Mt. Coronet loomed in the distance, as it always did. Above the mountain was…
Oh no.
Oh no, no.
Oh no, no, no, no!
There was a rift. A crack through space and time, through dimensions. Hovering above the top of Mt. Coronet, where Lucas knew Non-Spear Pillar was. It looked like that split second before Dialga appeared, way back in the future when Cyrus held the Red Chain in his hand. The space around it was unforgettable; reds, greens, blues, and blacks surrounded the rift.
Absolutely beautiful.
Absolutely terrifying.
If it wasn't for the fact that Lucas was frozen in place, his breath stolen in a fashion familiar to how Saturn did, he would've called upon Staraptor and flown up there. But, he couldn't. He was too afraid of what he might find.
Lucas wasn't Dawn. He couldn't fight and protect anyone. He couldn't even save himself from getting attacked by Dialga. He couldn't even save Mesprit.
The rift remained high above the mountain, unmoving. Although, there would be the occasional crackle of light from it. Everyone in Jubilife Village remained transfixed on it, holding their breaths and seeing if this was the end of it all. Lucas never recalled reading about this when he learnt about Hisui, about the rift in the sky which brought along doom and death.
Was this the price of his meddling in time? Of him being here? Was Arceus going to erase him from existence and reset time? Should he just offer himself up to the rift, let it be over with to keep these people alive? Should he stay back and do nothing? Was Dialga coming for him?
No one in Jubilife said a word. No one moved once their eyes saw it. They remained like that for the entire night, terrified.
The next few days, Lucas decided to work more with training Pikachu, as a way to avoid thinking about the space-time rift, as people had begun to call it. He had read that exercise helped improve people's moods, and although he didn't know if that was true, battling was a form of exercise. Besides, Pikachu wasn't the best at battling, still, and unless Lucas wanted to use his old team, he needed to train more.
And if he needed to go to Non-Spear Pillar and fight someone like Cyrus, it would be better to have a team that can completely battle. That was his plan; train up Pikachu and Mime Jr., then head to Non-Spear Pillar to find out what was happening?! He was a Researcher, after all, so he would do what he did best.
Research. Not jump to conclusions. Hypothesise and analyse, not pray to Arceus and cry.
As such, he found himself at the training grounds. Zisu allowed him to work without any assistance in one of the smaller corner arena, where a row of straw-filled dummies laid. If any of the two crimson-clad Security Corps members there thought anything of him being there, no one said a thing. But, Lucas wasn't expecting commentary as training—regardless of one's corps—was necessary. Especially after seeing the space-time rift.
And Cyllene didn't like his idea of training out in the Obsidian Fieldlands, like how Pokémon Trainers in Sinnoh did. It was how Lucas trained up his team as well, going off into the wilds—even as far as Eterna Forest, if he wasn't following the professor. If a Trainer was so brazen as to challenge Professor Rowan, then he would have Lucas fight in his stead.
It happened more than one might think.
To be honest, there weren't many Security Corps members there as well. And there really hadn't been once they were taught how to Tepig-tie a Pokémon, and how to wrangle a Feraligatr (although neither Pokémon were present in Hisui, nor in Sinnoh). Lucas could probably count on both hands, every person that had a Pokémon.
Him, Cyllene, Kamado, Charma (who he had heard deserted while he was off in the Crimson Mirelands), Beni (possibly as he had seen a Kirlia by the Wallflower late at night once), Dorian the South Gatekeeper, Bosley of the Construction Corps, Keaka of the Security Corps, and a few others who Lucas rarely talked to.
To be honest, Lucas wasn't even certain that Zisu had a Pokémon she used to battle.
"Okay, Pikachu," Lucas said, looking down at the fluffy rat who sat by his feet. "You see this target in front of you, I want you to attack it using Quick Attack."
Pikachu turned to him and blinked.
"Yeah, I know you don't like fighting, but we gotta train. Otherwise, when you do fight, you'll get hurt."
He crossed his little arms in an imitation of how he'd seen Lucas look before.
"Come on, Pikachu, use Quick Attack! You were training fine with Captain Zisu—I know you can use Agile and Strong moves."
Pikachu cried something, almost as if he were muttering in annoyance. And people said that Pokémon weren't intelligent….
"Look," Lucas crouched down behind his Pokémon, "we need to do this. If you want to get stronger and become a Raichu, then you need to battle. You need to train! Pokémon were made for this, you've seen Mime Jr. and Infernape in battle before, haven't you? How come you don't like battling, Pikachu?"
Pikachu stood and moved to waddle away from the arena on his little legs. Quickly, Lucas scooped him up.
"Come on," he said. "Just attack the dummy a few times, sharpen your claws and teeth, and when I'm satisfied, we'll head back to our place."
His ears perked when Lucas said 'dummy', looking as if he was finally agreeing.
"Alright!" Lucas smiled. He put down his rat. "Just use Quick Attack on the dummy in front of you, and—"
There was a reason Pokémon Trainers stood far away during a battle. Why they never faced a battling Pokémon. Why they trained. And the reason for why they did such things was simple: getting attacked by a Pokémon move hurt, and unless said Pokémon trained and learned how to aim… even the Trainers could become targets.
Words are used when commanding Pokémon so that the creature knows what attack to use. But, unless the Pokémon is taught what move corresponds with what attack, saying Slash could easily cause the Pokémon to use Double Kick, instead. This was why there were official names given to Pokémon moves, so that when someone traded their Pokémon they didn't need to reteach them or learn the different names.
Lucas rarely used Pikachu in battle. This was because he respected the Pokémon's decision to just be a houserat instead. Yes, Pikachu had trained under Zisu, but the Captain never actually had the Pokémon use their moves in training. As such, one could call this incident an accident.
Or, given how intelligent Pikachu was, one could say it was on purpose
Regardless of how one described it, Lucas was still struck by Thunder Shock.
His plan would have to wait.
Lucas was confined to bedrest for three days, until his heartrate evened out and Pesselle no longer had to worry about him dying from cardiac arrest. Then, he would be fine returning to the field. Until then, he was to remain in his home once he was released from the Medical Corps.
Admittedly, he was pretty tired. Pikachu seemed truly devastated at attacking Lucas, but he told him it was fine; not like his other Pokémon hadn't done that when he begun training them as well. Or when he was working with Rowan. Oh, the stories he could tell…!
For the three days of bedrest, he mostly slept. The only times he woke up was when one of the members of the Medical Corps (either Tomma or Cea) came to check his heartrate and provide him a potion safe for human consumption. Cyllene came to visit him on the second day, assuring him that he didn't need to rush to get better—that he could take as long as he needed to heal. Laventon gave him a traditional Galarian soup for him to eat in order to get better, it was just a Starly noodle soup.
Pesselle came to visit him on the third day, taking note of his heartrate. When she deemed him healthy enough to continue his work, she left to head back to the hall. Lucas make quick work of changing into his Survey Corps uniform, as he had taken a bath earlier that morning without anyone knowing given that he was basically on medical house arrest.
Then, he left his house and came upon Dawn, standing by the Wallflower in jean shorts and a white tee.
Hope you enjoyed!
This will have a second chapter, but it will take me some time to write it as a) I need to finish the ending of LA first and b) it's gonna be a fairly long chapter, I believe.
Also, I have a lot of feelings about Pokemon evolutions (specifically stone evolutions), in case you didn't know.
