Last edited on: 2021/12/26
"H-hey, Barry!"
Oh yeah, Barry's a fricking mess! He's got scratches all over, messed-up hair, dirty clothes, and face-down on the ground. Fricking Barry! Lucas looked away from Barry and shut his eyes for a moment.
At least, he's not that jacked up like last time… Lucas was thinking about that one time Barry and Lucas nearly got sent to the hospital when they got chased by some bird pokémon. Dang, no way in heck was Lucas gonna do it again!
Lucas carefully rolled Barry around to check if he's not too jacked up in front.
"Don't even think of jump-scaring me, Barry!" Lucas quietly said while having a hard time rolling Barry over. "Always doing crazy stuff for this and that. I know you wanna be a policeman, but… you're just — shoot!" Lucas yelled and quickly got behind him. What the heck, Barry's hugging that crazy chatot!
Lucas' yell made Barry's eyes quickly open up, and Barry got up like a soldier in those TV cartoons.
"Barry, I'm behind you!"
"Shut up, I knew that!" Barry turned around to Lucas, and Barry still got his impatient face up.
"What the heck's going on? And tell me why's that chatot knocked out!"
"Nah. Nothing bad happened, honest!"
"So, you're telling me to chill when you're jacked up and hugging a KO'd chatot?" Dangit, why's he always downplaying stuff like this?!
"I'm serious. Everything's fine, and I'm fine!" Barry got one hand up and waved it down. "Fine, if you want me to make you believe me, then here!"
Barry slowly put the sleeping bird pokémon down to his side. He quickly stood up in front of Lucas. Looking at his best friend dead-straight in the eye, he clapped his hands in front of him, making Lucas jump.
"W-what the heck's that for, Barry?"
Barry made a finger-gun and smiled. "Watch me dance!"
Barry clapped once more and then began pulling something while shaking around. He clapped again, but he's now tapping his feet around. He clapped again, and then he mixed the pulling and the tapping together, with something like a hand-brushing dance step.
"Don't believe me yet, huh, Lucas? Well?!" After a small jump, he crossed his arms and made that finger-gun again.
That… was the creepiest dancing I've ever seen in my entire life. Lucas bit his lip. Crud, there were better dances he saw in school, and this one made him wanna puke!
"So? So?" Barry demanded.
"Alright, alright! I believe you, Barry."
Here it is: the perpetual butt-pull that protects him from all harm! Or whatever they say.
"You see? I'm just fine." Barry thumbs-upped and smiled. "Looks like your ears need some cleaning."
Lucas rolled his eyes at what Barry just said. "Well, you're fine, and that's great. Kinda."
"Yeah, that's it!" Barry heartily laughed after.
Thank God he's alright, 'cause I don't wanna imagine a Barry-gets-eaten-alive movie sequel to last time!
"That reminds me, Barry." Lucas pointed at the chatot. "Did you already give him or her a nickname?"
Barry got down to slowly pick his chatot up. "I'm guessing it's a 'he', and yeah, I did. Didn't you hear it a moment ago?"
Lucas tried to remember what Barry said, but it's no use. "Sorry, Barry, I didn't."
Barry slapped his forehead. "Dang, your ears need cleaning, Lucas. Can't believe you didn't catch my words, and they call you a future valeh-dick-what-now!" Barry put his tongue out and laughed.
Lucas groaned. "It's 'valedictorian', and I'll get them cleaned soon if you want, boss…"
"Anyways, I call him 'Chat' 'cause this critter likes to talk a lot, like you! Pretty neat, huh?"
If you think I talk a lot, then just what are you?
Lucas sighed. "I thought you nicknamed it after 'chatot'."
"Yeah, that too. I'm not really original in naming, but who cares?" Barry pumped his fist to Lucas. "We've got pokémon of our own!"
Oh yeah, they finally got what they wanted! "Heck yeah! We can battle our classmates and friends back home!" Lucas added and fist-bumped Barry.
"Oh, don't you dare forget our bet, Lucas!" Barry pointed at Lucas. "I'll be kicking your ass in a pokémon battle one day!"
Lucas laughed. There's no way Barry could best Lucas in a pokémon battle. With everything he'd study up for, there's no fricking way! "I got high grades in Battling, so it's you who's got zero chances of beating me, Barry!"
"Screw school and their damn grades! I wanna see you eat your heart out when I beat you, Lucas!" Suddenly, Barry scratched his head. "Uh, maybe not now. In the future, yeah!"
Huh, now this was something; Barry's hung back for a sec. Well, maybe it's a sign that Lucas and Barry shouldn't be dawdling around any longer.
But then, he's not gonna lose to Barry in a pokémon battle. No way that's gonna happen in a million years!
"Oh yeah, Barry," Lucas called him out, "I think it's best if you return Chat to your poké ball. Poor guy's done in for the day." Looking at Barry's chatot, it didn't look like it's gonna wake up anytime soon. Yep, it's KO'd by Barry real good.
"Shoot!" Barry quickly checked his pockets. "I forgot I didn't capture Chat yet! Thanks for reminding me, Lucas!"
Lucas sighed. Oh boy, Lucas guessed he got too caught up fighting that he forgot.
Well, it's understandable. He did pick a fight with his chatot.
One thing that bugged Lucas was why Barry was hugging his chatot. Maybe his chatot and Barry brokered some sorta peace treaty after fighting? Then after that, maybe they both got knocked out 'cause they got pooped to the bone. Huh, with Barry's spunky spirit, that could've happened.
A moment passed after Barry went through his pockets without any mercy at all, but he's careful not to disturb the chatot he's carrying. Barry finally got a small poké ball from his pocket, but he looked kinda disappointed.
"This sucks, though," Barry commented and pouted.
"Why?"
"I just lost my other poké ball, dangit!" Barry snapped his fingers. "I think it's somewhere out there in the woods. Just a sec, Lucas, I'll go get it."
"Nope! You're not going there yet." When Barry tried to run, Lucas quickly held his arm tightly.
"Yeowch!"
"Woah!" Lucas let go. Dang, was that really too tight?
Barry grumbled. "What the heck, man!"
"Barry, I thought you said everything's fine!"
"Okay, I lied. I'm 99% fine, happy?"
"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry for hurting you, boss…" Lucas apologised.
In an attempt to alleviate the pain, Barry blew his arm.
"And why are you stopping me? I'm just gonna get my other poké ball!"
"Don't be stupid, Barry! Don't just go away without capturing it. It might run off."
"Hey, I—" Barry stopped and took a quick look at the chatot in his arms. He continued, "think you're right."
Lucas cheered in his head. Heck yeah! I just proved him wrong, eat that!
"Fine, you win! I was gonna do it before you said so anyways." Barry furrowed his brows at Lucas.
Liar!
Barry got his poké ball and clicked it, making it grow big. He put the button in front of the chatot's head. "I think it goes something like… this!"
He slowly pressed the button to the dark head of his pokémon. The poké ball flew open, and Chat became something like what Munch became before being sucked into Barry's poké ball. Like Lucas' experience, the poké ball didn't wiggle or twitch. It just clicked.
"Phew!" Barry and Lucas gasped after crossing their fingers.
"Heck YEAH!" Barry screamed in pure delight and raised his poké ball. Laughing, he voiced out, "I caught a chatot! I'm the best!"
Lucas chuckled at his friend and clapped his hands. "Congrats, Barry!"
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Barry shrunk his poké ball and hid it in his pocket, "I have to find my lost poké ball. Money doesn't grow on trees, so you better not lose stuff like me, Lucas. Later, Lucas!"
Barry impatiently ran towards the area he previously escaped to.
"Hey, don't fight any wild pokémon, you hear me?" Lucas warned and waved him off.
"Hah! You think I would…?" With that, he was gone.
"I definitely think you would, Boss Barry," Lucas joked, but nobody seemed to've heard him. "And now, it's just me again…"
While lying down, Lucas quietly watched the clear waters of Lake Verity and spotted a small school of magikarp swimming about. They swam like they had no head, which made Lucas quietly laugh. The magikarps swimming created some ripples to slush by the banks, making a soft sound that's a kinda nice sound pair to the rustling of the trees.
Dang, this afternoon summer sun's kinda hot too, but a breeze blew past him. Well, maybe that helped.
Man, this was the life. Without the loud, incessant bleating from his friend, he could enjoy almost anything he wanted to. All he did was just close his eyes and probably take a short nap.
It's only a week till Lucas would go back to school, so he had to make the remaining days of his vacation worth it: he should kick back, relax, and enjoy the quiet life.
Then again, a lot of attack waves from wild pokémon and meeting the very Lake Guardian were really unexpected. Dang, meeting Mes was really great! He really wanted to brag about it in school. Oh boy, he'd be popular in school for making friends with a legendary pokémon! Yeah, that's gonna be epic.
But then, he remembered his pinky-promise. Mes was gonna be heck-a mad at Lucas, he didn't wanna see her angry and creepy side! Oh boy, maybe this was what those secret spies felt when they'd find out cool secrets with even more secret rules. Maybe one day they'll all know about Lucas and Mes. Just maybe…
Well, at least he's able to catch a wild pokémon and make friends with his new poké-partner. Maybe he could use the other poké-ball on Mes, too! Nah, that'd probably be bad. He didn't know why, but something's telling him deep down that capturing Mes wasn't the best idea right now. Maybe that's Mes doing that wacky psychic stuff.
"Hm, I don't wanna nap. What to do, what to do…"
Oh yeah, he could hang out with Mes! That Barry's probably gonna take a lifetime to find his lost poké ball. Lucas did pinky-promise to Mes, but Lucas felt that maybe Mes might've been mad from that previous scuffle with Barry. Dangit, if Barry only thought about that in the first place.
Well, it looked like Lucas was gonna be covering for Barry's sorry butt, again.
But why… am I getting this nagging feeling not to go Mes… Lucas shook his head. Nah, it's just me; she'd take a joke, so she'll be okay with us!
Lucas arrived in the flowerbed area. Even though he's been there just a few moments ago, it's like he's returned after quite a while. The breeze around him blew quite stronger.
A voice cried out from somewhere. Huh, Mes might be playing invisible. Suddenly, he felt her psychic thingamajig fill his head. "Oh, Mes! What's up?"
"'What's up'?"
"Yeah, 'what's up'! It's kinda like a 'how are—'"
"You dare greet me, the Lake Guardian Mesprit, with a 'what's up'?" Woah-woah-woah, what the heck? Her voice sounded different. Heck, the wind's kinda becoming stronger. "Have you no respect towards me, human? Do you take me lightly?"
"H-huh?"
"You forget your place. You should have known better when you set foot into this spot. Look around you, now." S-scary! Just what happened to his cheerful and happy friend?
He looked around his surroundings out of fright and saw weird pinkish waves, even right above him! It's like it's boxing him around, and that didn't look good!
This looks like Trick Room, but…
"M-Mes? H-hey, quit messing around. Why are you—"
"You even have the nerve to address me casually. Such impudence!" Lucas swore that the ground was shaking a bit, o-or maybe it's just him. "Also, use your mind to speak when we are communicating."
"B-but I—"
"Your thoughts. Now."
Yes, Mes — Miss Mesprit!
"How could you? How dare you mock my status? Insolent human…"
Lucas couldn't believe it. Why was she doing this? What'd he ever do to her? Well, all he did was prank her, but it was an accident. Plus, it's her fault for snatching the spicy chocolate away from him. Thinking about it really hard, he got his answer: Barry's stupid act. Oh boy, oh boy!
Miss Mesprit wasn't joking at all. She was dead serious, and he was gonna get it.
"It appears that you finally got it."
Shoot, I forgot she can read my mind too!
"Indeed, I can. There is no escape when you are around me, human," she clarified. "Try and hide your thoughts, but I will expose your ill-will. Run away, and I will hunt you down to the ends of the world."
I-I'm not bad! I'm—
"Let me finish, human. Do not interrupt me."
All Lucas could do was gulp in the face of doom.
"You, along with your disrespectful human friend, have been amassing disorder into my domain through the years till now. Disorder! Do you think that I would just turn a blind eye towards that?"
Please lemme explain! It wasn't my fault. It was that stupid—
"Quiet!" The boy froze and quickly shut up. "I need no explanation for this. Your foolish friend attempted to summon me through unmannerly methods. Shouting my name? Holding a hostage in an attempt to draw me out of my dwelling? How foolish! The only way out of this is to feel the wrath of my judgement!"
No! Please! I swear, this is just a huge misunder—
"Enough!" the voice boomed in his mind.
Lucas was trying to catch his breath real hard, and his feet felt frozen. He finally gave up to Miss Mesprit's anger. She was literally dead serious about the punishment. He felt his sweat was running cold, and he's slowly losing his mind.
B-but, he's not gonna give up! He's gotta stay strong 'cause that's what real men do!
He tried to look around the boxed Trick Room and even beyond it for Mesprit, but he just couldn't find her. M-maybe she's really going invisible. Dangit, Barry! I hope you're gonna get it next time! He's gonna owe Lucas big time!
"Give it up. Yield your struggles to me. You will not find me. It is useless."
It's… no use? He wanted to cry and bawl out his feelings.
Lucas shook his head. No! I won't cry!
He remembered that that's what weak people do: succumb to their defeat. Real men don't cry and run away! Even if he's a kid in front of a lotta people, he's not gonna be defeated! He'd already grown out of his pants! He had to be strong!
Miss Mesprit just hmphed. "Earlier, you stated that you were not afraid of me, but from what I can tell, you feel otherwise."
Lucas gulped. Maybe now he should just continue listening to her without any weird or crazy distractions. One thing's for sure that he's listening to her attentively, like listening to those principals in school.
Just remember, be strong!
"Very good. You are giving your undivided attention to me — something your friend lacks, but I digress," Miss Mesprit commented. "Now, as part of my judgement, I require you to answer me truthfully, human. If I catch you lying or adding unnecessary comments to your words, I shall see a punishment that fits you well. Am I clear, human?"
Yes, Miss Mesprit, Lucas replied with enough bravery in his heart. I could do this! He clapped his hands once and puffed out air.
Lucas remembered. Even though he's in a heck-a bad situation, or when he's being 'backed into a corner' or something, a strong person shouldn't wuss out just 'cause they're unlucky. They should know what to do! His parents and video games told him, so he knew they're right.
"Excellent. Now, onto my question:
Are you still afraid of me?
I am giving you a minute and a half to think. If you are brave enough to answer before your time is up, then be my guest. I will not judge your thoughts and ideas during that time span," she said.
Suddenly, Lucas felt like he could breathe normally and that he could move around well. Just when he did, he dropped on his knees and hands. He quickly sat up in a comfy position and dusted his hands. Maybe she's giving Lucas a boost!
Alright! At least I could think straight now… Wait, what am I relaxing for? I'm on a dang trial! Crud-crud-crud-crud…! Lucas shook his head and slapped his cheeks lightly. Okay, chill, Lucas. Chill… He puffed out some air and kept on saying 'focus' so he could make his mind clear. This worked in exams, and it's gonna work in real life! Now, I gotta think this over well.
If Lucas straight-up said 'yes', it looked like the wisest thing to do. Problem is, he'd be called a coward by Miss Mesprit for completely taking back his words. On the other hand, if Lucas answered with a 'no', that'd mean Lucas would be caught red-handed: he'd be lying in front of the legit Lake Guardian!
Dangit, this was a heck-a tough choice to make, but no. He had to keep it cool, like one of his cool teachers!
Looking at it, it's really only two choices: either he's gonna lie and then get punished, or he's gonna answer truthfully but then be called a coward and be stuck with the dang shame for taking his words back from a legendary pokémon!
W-wait, there's another one, too: give up.
No-no-no-no-no-no-no… Not calming at all! Argh! He grabbed his hair with both hands and knelt down.
W-was this the end? Was he gonna let up and call it a day by just saying 'I give up'?
N-no! Epic people don't give up, Lucas! He quickly threw away the choice of giving up. So, think! If I choose either 'yes' or 'no', I'll lose by being a life-long coward or through Miss Mesprit's punishment? Is that really it? Isn't there another way besides giving up?
"Grah!" Lucas angrily groaned.
This sucks! This sucks! This stupid 'test' sucks!
He punched the ground while saying bad stuff about the 'test' he's given by Miss Mesprit.
Wait, 'test'?
T-'test'? Test, test, test, test… Lucas repeatedly mumbled those words in his mind.
Test, test, test, test…
Test…?
Test!
And that's when it pinged in him. Lucas quickly got up now that he's found another choice. "Ah, that's it!"
I think… this might just be the answer!
Oh yeah, it made sense! Lucas now realised that the question could just be a test from Miss Mesprit. Maybe it's a legendary pokémon thing to give tests to different people they met, like in video games. He also thought that maybe this 'test' was to show that there could be another way to answer her question! It's a long shot, but what other choices did he have? He didn't wanna lie or get embarrassed real bad!
Also, time's his enemy now. If it's a 'yes' or a 'no' kinda question, Lucas didn't have enough time to make sure of it. He's gotta follow his guts!
Heck, maybe Mes was just making a hardcore-level kinda game! So, she thinks she can just joke around and push me around like that? Well, watch out, Mes!
"Your time is up!" Mes' voice echoed inside Lucas' head, making him jump a little. "Judging by your look, it appears that you have finally come up with your answer. How confident of you, and it's charming if I were to comment."
Lucas could only keep a straight face around himself. This time around, he's determined.
"I am done waiting. Answer my question, human."
Taking a nice and deep breath, he readied himself to answer. He looked to the centre of the lake through the distorted barrier, since that's where she might pop up, and he answered,
"This is just one, big, stupid baloney of a test."
Up to that point, Lucas put up his determined face, but he felt that the 'boost' he'd been given quickly went away.
"Right?" Lucas shamefully replied and weakly chuckled.
And… it's quiet?
Wait, the wind's weird. It's slowly becoming stronger. Dangit, it's blowing so strongly that his poké balls flew outta his pockets! Lucas quickly got them and held them tight in his pocket, but the wind's not stopping!
Oh crud, he just found out: he's screwed.
Uh oh.
Uh oh!
CRUD-I'M-SCREWED-THAT-WASN'T-SUPPOSED-TO-HAPPEN-NO-NO-NO! Crud, it's like his sweat could fill up a humongous dam in a lotta countries!
The trees in the Trick Room were really swaying around like it's in a storm! Suddenly, Miss Mesprit's gone in his head, again.
"Is that your answer, human?" she asked, her voice wasn't changing at all. Dangit, just why?!
Lucas couldn't even answer like a normal guy. "I-I m-mean t-that I t-think—"
"Is. That. Your. Answer?"
"Y-yes, i-it's my—"
"Thoughts, human."
Y-yes…
"Answer me firmly!"
YES! Is that what 'cha wanted?! That's my answer, jeez. Just go ahead and punish me already! he yelled in his mind, and he shut his eyes.
"No."
Opening his eyes, he looked to the centre of the lake through the Trick Room with a confused look. Wait, whaddaya mean—
"When I saw your determined face, I decided to be more lenient. But, just what happened to your courage?"
Uh oh.
"Yes, 'uh oh'. I was really expecting a solid answer from a determined human. But this is just asinine and disrespectful."
Um, a-su-nine, Miss Mesprit?
"Very, very stupid, like what you did."
Lucas gulped loudly and wiped his sweat. I'm… sorry, Miss Mesprit?
"Do you think you could escape my wrath with just a simple 'sorry'? Do you really think it's that easy?" Her strict-like-a-teacher voice only made things more awkward and scarier for Lucas. Dangit, just what could he do but shut the heck up? "My, my. How completely wrong you are, you know?"
Lucas couldn't help it. His eyes were tearing up quicker than ever, but he used his little bravery to fight them back.
He knelt down on the ground. He had to look for her. He fricking had to look for her! But no, it's useless. If she's invisible, then how the heck could he find her?!
Where…? Where is she?! WHERE?
The voice seemed to ignore Lucas and continued talking. "I did say that I would punish you, but I figured that this form of disrespect deserves something worse — worse than at least sending you back home, or giving a sermon for a few minutes, or even make you water all the berries around here. Oh, for the last part, I am giving you a detailed, marked map and a watering device for that."
Aw shoot! I just had to push my luck, DANGIT!
"NO!" Lucas suddenly shouted. "B-but, I r-refuse!" He fought back his stuttering and fears, but it's too strong!
"Saying no in the face of imminent defeat? Such pride and bravery. Commendable, really, but do you think that that would change anything significant?"
Lucas was gonna break down from this fricking bad situation. "I-I… I'm… s-suh-sorr—y… Muh… M-Miss M-Meh-Mespr—it…"
"Unfortunately, for such a disrespectful act," the wind suddenly stopped,
"I shall have to take your memories and emotions away."
