Last edited on: 2021/12/26


"I shall have to take your memories and emotions away."

In a pink flash on the lake, Lucas could see Mesprit floating. All of her gems glowed — the forehead gem glowing the brightest. A complete poker face was overlaid all over the lake guardian. Slowly, she began hovering towards the trembling boy.

At first, a fear-driven Lucas thought this was all an insane dream, and thus pinched his arm so hard to the point of bleeding.

Pain shot through his nerves as he yelped and grasped his wound in pain, but he then felt that his wound closed up and stopped bleeding in another flash of pink light. Looking back at Mesprit, her hand glowed pink and pointed at him before the light dissipated. He saw her face unchanging and emotionless, like those of serial killers he had once watched in some movies.

"This is no dream, human," Mesprit told Lucas as her cold stare locked unto his eyes. She continued floating steadily towards Lucas, speed unchanging. Telepathic voice unchanging too, Mesprit warned with a placid face, "Savour every bit of the moment."

This only spiked Lucas' senses to the point of adrenaline. He was finally going to snap at his intense emotions. With this, he shrieked an ear-piercing…

"UWARGH!"

Lucas quickly bolted towards the opposite direction, only to be blocked by an invisible wall. He desperately banged the barrier that blocked his exit.

"ARGH! LEMME-OUT-LEMME-OUT-LEMME-OUT! HELP ME!" Lucas screamed as he repeatedly hammered the screen. Pink ripples appeared with every bang.

"My psychic powers enhance the durability of my Trick Room." Lucas turned to face the lake guardian approaching him and leaned unto the wall. "No sound escapes these walls, and the barriers are close to indestructible. And while you have the upper hand in your speed, your fate is still intact; you cannot escape from me, human."

Shivering, Lucas cowered by the rippling barrier, but he still held on to his faith. Mesprit was indeed approaching at a rather slow pace, unsure to him if it was on purpose or just the effects of her Trick Room. She seemed a little far away from Lucas.

Soon, he felt as if he was drawn closer to Mesprit, like something was pushing him from behind. Now, Mesprit seemed to close in at a faster rate. This flustered Lucas, and he looked at all possible corners of the barrier.

To Lucas, the barrier was boxing in. forcing him to move forward despite leaning unto the barrier to keep his place. This became more unsettling for the boy, and tears welled up in his eyes as the thought of inevitable demise dawned in him. However, he chose not to give up just yet.

"You were a fool to think cowering farther away from me by the ends of this barrier could save you!" Mesprit declared.

"No! I'll get outta this stinking place!"

Lucas' eyes locked onto the water's edge. An idea pinged in him: if he could get out by diving underwater then swimming out, it'd be the ticket out of the cage. Though, he had no time to ascertain any chances of success for such escape, and he quickly dashed to the lakeside. He maintained a safe distance from Mesprit while running. Fortunately, the other side of the barrier hadn't closed in to the point where he couldn't escape by diving into the waters, but the barrier was still perpetually closing in to his dismay.

That's it!

Shutting his eyes, Lucas hastily jumped to the lake's waters, only to be met with a hard surface and a warped, thumping noise. He heard two more objects landing on the supposed surface.

Opening his eyes, he was only a few millimetres away from meeting headlong with Lake Verity. It's as if he was floating on the lake like a levitating magnemite.

"What the heck?!"

Mesprit scoffed. "You thought I could not foresee such an event? My Future Sight sees the nearest outcome. Your escape is futile!"

The pink pokémon continued drawing closer while Lucas rubbed his aching arms from the impact. Later, he felt that the barrier wall was pushing him closer to Mesprit yet again.

"I've been a good boy! It's all Barry's idea, so why's it me? Why's it always me?!"

"Foolish human." Mesprit raised her left arm, and her left hand began to glow a bright pink. "Are you giving up?"

Lucas shot up and pointed at Mesprit. "Never!" he shouted with a fearful face.

Mesprit hmphed. "Your face contradicts your choice, but so be it!" She drew closer, but maintained the same speed.

Lucas had one more ace up his sleeve: a pokémon battle. The thought of his first opponent being a legendary pokémon frightened him. Whether he won or lost against Mesprit, all that was in his mind was to survive.

Hastily, Lucas went through his pockets for Munch's poké ball. To his dismay, he felt nothing but air in his pockets. He turned to the barrier he stood on and grabbed the nearby shrunken poké balls. He moved onto the solid ground to prepare himself.

Clicking both balls, he noticed one of the enlarged balls containing a green light around at the black equator. He dismissed the said ball, without a second thought, to be Munch's poké ball, while shrinking the other poké ball and returning it to his pocket

"A pokémon battle, hm? Worthless, but fine." Mesprit's other arm raised, as well as the other hand glowing a bright pink. "Come, human!"

Munch, I'm so sorry!

Wiping his face off of any sweat and teardrops, Lucas pointed his poké ball towards Mesprit. "Go, Munch!"

A streak of red light shot out from the poké ball, and Munch materialised quickly as the red light formed Munch's bodily shape. As Munch opened his drowsy eyes, his face suddenly contorted in fear upon facing Mesprit's battle form. Munch instinctively hid behind Lucas' legs.

"M-Munch! I get you're afraid, b-but now's the time for us to man up. Please!"

Whimpering, the munchlax faced Lucas with a frightened expression. To ease the pokémon's fears, Lucas knelt over and hugged him tight while tearing up.

"P-please, Munch… W-we can defeat M-Mesprit if we try! I know we can, so please, give it your best shot!"

"M-Munch?" the munchlax whimpered.

Despite being driven by fear, Lucas managed to flash a smile. "Y-yeah! And once we're done, you'll get to eat all the honey Barry and I have! Now, let's do this!"

Seemingly, Munch became motivated to fight and clenched both paws.

The pair huffed out air and faced Mesprit, readying her hands for combat. Munch then stood in front of Lucas and furrowed its eyelids. Lucas gritted his teeth in nervous anticipation. The barrier also paused closing in.

"Are you finished with your bonding moment, human? You shall taste a bitter defeat for showing me resistance."

"As if! I w-won't back down!"

"So be it." The ground under Mesprit began to form a swirling wind. "Come! I shall give you the honour of making your first move."

"A-alright! Munch, you ready?"

Munch nodded with gusto. Lucas shut his eyes and puffed out air. Recalling those battle videos he'd seen, he shouted, "Munch, use Metronome!"

Munch waggled both fingers, and it glowed a light blue.

"Tsk, a wise choice to—"

But Mesprit's telepathy was cut short as Munch suddenly collided with her at a great force. Munch landed flat on the ground.

"Kyuaa!" Mesprit's body was blown to the far end of the still barrier and crashed, causing some dust to shroud the area.

"Bullseye, an Extreme Speed! Great job, Munch, and keep going!"

The munchlax could only give a muffled reply as it struggled to rise. Once the dust cleared up, Mesprit was nowhere to be found. Lucas and Munch gasped in shock.

N-no way! She's blown all the way there! Where's she—

"Do not try my patience, human!"

Mesprit suddenly reappeared to Munch's right, and a sphere of purple light shone on her forehead as she slowly leaned her head backwards.

"D-Defense Curl, hurry!"

Fortunately, Munch managed to curl up and roll into a ball as Mesprit bashed her glowing forehead to Munch. The munchlax was sent rolling to the left side of the barrier and landed on its back as it collided with the barrier. Lucas could hear his pokémon groaning in pain; it was expected that a great deal of damage would be lashed out from a legendary pokémon, thus worrying Lucas.

"M-Munch! H-hang in there!"

"Resistance is futile!" Mesprit quickly disappeared from her spot.

Biting his lower lip, Lucas called out to Mesprit, "N-no fair! S-stop cheating, Mesprit!"

"Anything goes in a battle for your life, human!"

Lucas wanted to attend to Munch, but an unseen force seemed to keep him in place. Whether it was fear or not, he couldn't go to Munch. His munchlax was still on the ground and failed to stand, writhing slowly in pain.

"Behold. The power of a legendary pokémon."

Mesprit then reappeared to Munch's left, and her eyes glowed gold while her forehead gem shone brighter than before. As she began absorbing power, she formed a cross with her arms. A dark purple orb started forming behind the crossed arms.

Munch was dead-scared at what was to come and just remained bug-eyed and silent.

Lucas was aghast; he knew where this was heading.

"No… Stop it! Mes! STOP!"

Mesprit seemed to ignore his cries of mercy, and Lucas was bawling out for mercy uncontrollably.

And at point blank, Mesprit released her attack as a burgundy beam shot out to Munch at point blank.


That's it? The battle's… over?

And Munch's done for the day. That attack's fricking powerful!

Lucas knelt down, and he couldn't fight back his tears. Why? It's done. Nothing's gonna save him from his punishment.

"Human. Call back your pokémon. Now."

Without changing his facial expression, he returned his Munch back to his poké ball and dropped it. Before it landed on the ground, he saw that his poké ball was glowing pink. It suddenly made itself small and then went inside his pocket.

"Human," she repeated. Suddenly, he felt the wall pushing him closer to her. She was just floating there, but he knew he's gonna end up near her in just a sec. "What will you do?" she asked.

What will I do?

She's asking what he should do? That one who just fricking wrecked Munch to bits without any mercy?

No, I can't have it like this!

Suddenly, he felt his body boiling with anger. What she did wasn't good. He also knew that he'd done nothing wrong to Mesprit, and it's all Barry's stupid, stupid genius plans! He quickly felt his hands needed to do something to her.

He was gonna beat her for doing that crazy thing to Munch, and she's gonna pay for it!

Gripping both hands hard, he had one last thing to do before he got the punishment he had.

"MESPRI—T!" He screamed with his 100% anger and ran towards her with his ready-to-punch fists. His teary eyes also didn't look at anything else but that pokémon in front of him.

"So, this is your answer?"

"SHUT UP!"

Oh, she's gonna get it. He didn't care if he was gonna hit a girl. That wasn't what anyone'd do to a pokémon. She's gonna get it, and he's gonna beat her down!

Just when he's gonna whack her down, he… passed through her? Oh no, oh no!

He crashed and bumped his head hard on the psychic barrier. When he got up, everything looked pretty weird, but he still knew she's in front of him.

But wait, something's painful… and it's like something's flowing on his head! He touched that part, and he quickly knew what it was.

"B-blood?"

Crud! It's getting fricking painful, and his head's like it's being thrown around places. Oh crud, he can't even stand up properly!

When he looked at her, even though it looked blurry, he saw her hand glow. Her arm swiped, and the pink light disappeared. Just after that, he felt the pain go away. His head's slowly cooling down, and he's slowly calming down. It's like everything's back to normal, but it still didn't change how he felt when he and she looked at each other.

Just like before, her expression never changed. He just lay back on the barrier and let himself be pushed forward.

"Human. Have you run out of ideas? You can speak with your mouth."

What the heck's he supposed to do, teleport like some psychic-type? Nothing's changed, and danger was just a few steps away.

"I'm all out, Miss Mesprit…"

"You sound defeated."

He weakly laughed. "Yeah. Thanks, Miss Obvious." Heh, at times like this, a good joke's the best way to keep it cool — "Urk!"

Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his neck before he got pulled by psychic to her. Dangit, it's just one pull of her arm, and he's quickly dragged to her like a doll. Heck, even the barrier boxed in till it was like those arcade close quarters. The two were tightly held in the remaining space.

She raised him up by the neck. "What? What did you call me?"

"No-no-no-no-no! I'm so sorry, Miss Mesprit! Please don't hurt me!"

"You called me 'Miss Obvious', am I right?"

He felt the psychic grip become tighter and tighter, dangit! He tried to escape but also said, "Y-yes! I was joking! I was rude to — aahck! Please forgive me! Please put me down! Aahck—!"

"That's what I should be hearing from you, human." She let him go. "Know your place."

Coughing and rubbing his throat to remove the pain, he looked back up to face the Lake Guardian. Though he couldn't see it, he knew that there's this weird kinda air around her. It's like it's telling him that this pokémon was way, way, way more powerful than him.

But what the heck could he do? Remain silent? No, he had to say sorry, even though it looked like a bad idea to talk. Maybe that'd change her mind.

"What's that, human? Speak up."

"I said… I'm very so… sorry… Miss… Mesprit…"

"For what?"

"For… earlier… Disturbing you… Also… please… forgive Barry…"

She hmphed. "Very well. Both of your transgressions are forgiven. Although, I shall be more merciful with you for being respectful from this point."

This made him a bit more happy, but the pain's still going on in his throat. He thought that this could be his chance to get away scot free.

"D-does that… mean…?"

"No." Oh what the heck, she could read minds like an open book. Hiding anything or trying to plan anything against her when she's around looked very impossible. "I believe you know what happens next, human."

He felt weak. His time has come, or whatever the heck those movies said.

In just how many hours, his mom, Barry, and all the people in Twinleaf might be figuring out something happening to Lucas. He still knew that consequences had to happen to him, but he's still scared for it to happen, even though that's what's been taught to him for a very long time. He just needed to know: was there a fricking way outta this?

No… I don't wanna go…

"It's so… fast…" he said while coughing a bit.

"Ah, your throat. Please forgive my forgetfulness." A pink light shone on his entire neck, and he felt that his throat's fixing itself. There's even this weird coolness inside, like he's eaten some ice-cool candy. "You were saying? You needn't thank me."

Clearing his throat like a gentleman, Lucas said, "I said that this is so fast. Who knew that my life's coming to a dead end—"

"Hold it right there, human. I've never ever stated that I would be taking you to the afterlife. Do not be too extreme. I mentioned that—"

"E-excuse me, Miss Mesprit, but please let me finish," he cut and looked away. "I don't think you see what I see. I knew that you'd be taking away my memories and emotions… What I meant's that my entire life is… well… 'cause of those two. So, please…"

It's like his mind's become crystal clear. For some reason, he felt that he could take on the world. He looked back at her while fighting his tears back.

"Just take away my emotions."

Dad once said that emotions can sometimes be a reason why heck-a important choices weren't made. That's a long time ago, but all of his dad's words were close to his heart. Even though he didn't really understand much of those stuff he said now, and even though he didn't know what'd happen after pretty much making a choice, he guessed that poofing emotions away was better than both memories and emotions going bye-bye.

Back to her, her face changed a bit, like how one'd make if they lost a video game.

"Y-you… Human, just what are you thinking…?" He told her what's on his mind, and her eyes sharpened. "You do realise that your emotions are as needed as breathing."

"I know. B-but wait. You said you were gonna take them in the first place, along with my memories. I-I don't get why you wanna tell me that I have to keep my emotions now…"

"K-kyaugh!" She quickly faced back. He could see her shivering, and her tails were being folded tightly. This wasn't what he's expecting from the Lake Guardian.

He slowly got near her. "Miss Mesprit? Are you alright?" No answer. He called out again, "Um, Miss Mesprit? I hope you're—"

"QUIET!"

Her eyes were glowing as she quickly floated to him. A strong psychic force wrapped around his body, like how a rope's tying him up. C-crud, her voice even stricter than before.

"Listen to me, human. I shall still take both away. Tell me, are you ready?"

Just what did she want, first of all? Remove his memories only? His emotions only? Or both? Or… none at all? No, the last one's bull! Dangit, he needed time to think even though he's 'tied up' by her. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to cool his head.

"Human, answer me! My patience is dwindling!"

"Y-yes. I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. 100% sure."

"Very well. I'll—"

"Um. Miss Mesprit?"

"What is it?"

"Please, as a last favour as a friend of yours — if I still am, just give me the power to protect my mom and my friends."

She paused for a moment, but she nodded right after. "Very well. Now, I shall be taking both your memories and emotions."

"A-alright, Miss Mesprit. But please, can you answer one last question? Just one, please?"

"What is it now?"

"Is… is this really it? Can't you be a bit nicer to me?"

"Do not make me repeat myself. You missed your chance when I asked you that question earlier."

He frowned. "Y-yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for asking too much."

"Do not fret. I said that I was going to 'be merciful' with you."

"Okay, Miss Mesprit. I really, really thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"You're welcome. Now, let the erasure of the mind begin. Everything after this will be normal, with a few exceptions. Think of it as a rebirth."

"Rebirth? Like, I'm gonna be a new Lucas?"

"Yes. Now, please close your eyes."

Her eyes remained glowing, and now, her gems started shining. Her hands made two bright balls when she slowly came closer to his head. Meanwhile, Lucas sat Indian style and closed his eyes to remember all those wacky stuff that happened in his life. Well, he had to be thankful and all that.

Really, it's been a very fast life he'd been enjoying with his rollercoaster of emotions and memories. Thanks be to God, he got saved from any dangerous stuff that nearly happened to him, especially those crazy adventures with Barry in this lake. He started saying his sorries to everyone he knew in his head, hoping that maybe it'd reach them through some divine thingamajig.

Dang, it's scary and fun that everything's gonna change in just a snap of a finger.

I'm gonna be reborn into a Lucas version two. That's… kinda cool. He smiled at that thought.

"And, Miss Mesprit," he muttered, "I actually thought you're cool and kinda cute. But I guess that's not who you really are. Sorry if I'm being mean or something… Thanks for being my friend even if it's a short time, too. Meeting a legendary pokémon's one heck of a ride." She stayed silent when he said it.

He could hear a whirring psychic sound come near his ears. He guessed that it's the orbs from her hands. Huh, it also sounded like some SFX from a video game.

Well, a new boring life without any emotion's coming to town. Thank you, God, for this wonderful life, and I pray that the new one's gonna be okay.

The whirring psychic sounds became louder. All he had to do now's play the waiting game until everything completed itself.

Waiting, huh…

The whirring psychic sound didn't seem to become any louder or quieter. Maybe it's already happening, yeah!

He tried remembering some of his childhood memories a long, long time ago. He laughed a bit when he remembered one memory.

Oh yeah, there's that one time I accidentally spilled some water on Dad's papers. That's, like, when I was not yet in school. Dang, Dad laughed while Mom got mad. I really thought it'd be Dad getting mad, but it's the other way around. Heh, Dad. Just remembering his late dad made him sad.

Now, he remembered when he got that fricking news. He hated that it's stuck in him: the news of his dad's… passing. Tried as hard as he did, he just couldn't let it go.

He remembered that evening when he snuck past bedtime and saw that man-in-black from the International Organisation of Health broke to his mom the news of his dad's passing. He hid behind the stairs when it happened. Remembering it word by word from his mom; while his dad was on a medical mission in Africa, a terrorist group attacked the hospital he was working in. His dad was caught in the gunfire, and he got cremated by the funeral dudes after he went back to the United Regions. He could feel his sadness piling up 'cause he remembered the last time he saw his face in Hearthome City.

N-no… I thought I've gotten over it. I gotta stay calm… Happy memories, c'mon, happy memories!

Trying hard, he remembered another funny memory. Now this included that airhead genius. He and Barry once put a lotta sugar in the cafeteria's soup pot. All of his schoolmates and teachers who had soup as their lunch exploded!

Heh heh! They looked pretty pissed, too!

They're never caught, but the feeling that they went on stealth mode and got a good look at their faces was epic! Both of them laughed and wheezed like tomorrow never came. Heck, Dawn got kinda weirded out by them.

Man, that was a blast. We were ninjas! That stupid cafeteria boy got the boot, and they even put the blame on some bully's mr. mime for—

Wait a minute.

He could feel like nothing's happening, and that psychic sound's still there. He's able to recall his memories, and he could still feel happy and sad, too! Maybe she wasn't even erasing anything in the first place.

This was getting nuts. Was he getting ripped off by a legendary pokémon? Oh, or maybe this was another fricking test!

His eyes flew open, but he couldn't believe what he saw: a shivering Mesprit. Her eyes stopped glowing, and she's even crying in front of him. The orbs were there, but she's not doing anything but cry!

"K-kyauu…" she cried.

"M-Miss Mesprit? Mes? You okay?"

"Why… why?" Her voice sounded lighter than her strict-as-heck one.

"Huh?"

"Why're you so… determined? Why're you so different from before…? Why? Why?"

"I-I'm sorry… What?"

"Luh… Lukey…! P-please… forgive me, L-Lukey…!"

Lucas was heck-a confused. First, she's like some kinda judge. Now, she's turning back to the Mes he knew. Wait, he's still gotta be careful.

"Mes, I hope you're just—"

"KYUKI—I!"

She called back her orbs and flew herself towards Lucas.


Anon Omega: Right about now.