Chapter 52: Skyler
After a rocky start Lucas was growing to enjoy the laid back comforts of Dewford Town. When he first arrived in town he had loathed every square inch of the place, a mood onset by a disastrous trip through Tentacool infested waters, then heightened by problems at the Pokemon Center. It wasn't until he faced the Gym Leader that both his temper exploded, as well as he learned to calm down a bit. Lucas met the town's Leader when Brawly had slammed into the Trainer with his surfboard after closing the Gym. Offended and infuriated, Lucas then challenged the Leader right on Dewford's beautiful beach. Their battle had been long and tough, and had forced the short-tempered teen to do some introspection, and the Trainer learned to respect, if not adopt, Brawly's zen philosophy of life and battle. While Lucas was still determined to get through the Hoenn League as quickly as possible, he decided spend a day exploring before moving on to the next challenge.
With three badges he was nearing the half-way point in this leg of his Journey. His next badge would be found in Mauville. While part of the reason he wished to breeze through the League was to get his next Championship and be one step closer to finally confronting his older brother John, the other reason was because he wanted to get to Lillycove City. Lillycove City was home to a Pokemon Coordinator named Ashley. Lucas had met Ashley almost a year earlier outside of Hearthome City, helping her against a group of Team Cosmic grunts that had attempted to steal her Pokemon. Lucas had become intensely infatuated with her, and even though she did not reciprocate his feelings, he still greatly looked forward to seeing her again.
Outside of the beach and the town center of the local cantina, Dewford Town's other main draw was the Granite Cave, a tunnel structure home to many kinds of unique Pokemon Lucas had not yet encountered. It was also here that Lucas would have another important encounter of a different kind. Hours of exploring lead him to capturing his own Makuhita, Meditite, Mawile and the mysterious Sableye. And as he continued to wander around the cave seeking rare items or any other important Pokemon he may have missed, he came across a Pokemon battle. A Trainer was battling a wild Lairon that had been disturbed from its feeding. Lucas watched in awe as the Trainer commanded his Pokemon to attack the Lairon. The Pokemon was a thing of beauty, a serpentine Dragonair that undulated and whipped around its opponent was a dancer's grace and power. But more than the Pokemon, Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of the Trainer.
Lucas was bisexual. And while he mostly was a connoisseur of the giggly and jiggly wonder that was the female body; lean, tall men with handsome faces and confident smiles activated the same part of the tattooed teen's brain that made him behave like a newborn giraffe: physically and verbally tripping over himself as he tried to express his feelings. The Trainer commanding the elegant Dragonair had spikey, sky blue hair, long angular face on a long, slim neck with the kind of, lean arms, legs and tight torso associated with a swimmer's body. He was dressed in a beige tank top with light gray shorts with cuffs on his arms that accentuated his best features. Awe and Lucas' attraction-based paralysis kept the teen where he stood, watching transfixed as the handsome Trainer gently praised his victorious Pokemon and then continued deeper into the cave. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Lucas realized his Eevee Gizmo was trying to get his attention, and that his heart was pounding in his chest.
Later that day Lucas stood in line at the crowded Pokemon Center in Dewford Town. After catching an Aron, the teen was ambushed by a Golbat that had poisoned and confused poor Gizmo. The small normal type twitched in his Trainer's arms as Lucas shifted his weight from one foot to another, tired from waiting in the Center's line for more than an hour. Other Trainers griped over the holdup, even on crowded days never having had to wait more than fifteen minutes to get their Pokemon checked out. Lucas was wondering what was wrong, and starting to get worried that it was taking so long to get his Eevee healed. As the tattooed teen concentrated on his Pokemon, a voice from behind snapped him back to attention, "Hey, is your Eevee okay?"
It was only the unmatched devotion and love for his Pokemon that prevented Lucas from dropping his wounded normal type onto the ground. When Lucas turned around to answer the stranger's question, he found himself face to face with the Trainer from Granite Cave. If from a distance the Trainer made Lucas' heart race, now seeing the young man close up made the poor teen nearly shut down. Up close Lucas could get a better look at the other teen's face: his angular cheekbones and thin chin, his narrow nose and almond-shaped, steel-gray eyes fill with concern and a confident, friendly smile. Lucas desperately tried to answer the young man's question, but at the moment, he had forgotten what words were and how they worked. His reply was nullified by the mixed blessing of the lights of the Center suddenly shutting off. A groan of frustration rippled through the Center.
"Not again!" the Trainer in front of Lucas roared.
"This has happened before? I only just got to Dewford Town so I wouldn't know," the blue-haired Trainer now addressed the frustrated man in front of Lucas, much to the teen's relief.
"At least three times a day since I got here. And I've been in Dewford Town for almost a week now. The generators will kick on in a second, but every time it happens the Pokemon Center has to reset a bunch of systems, immediately check on the critical condition Pokemon and it slows the line down even worse," the Trainer explained irritably.
Just as the irritated Trainer said, the lights flickered back on a minute later. An announcement came on over the crackling PA system, "Attention Trainers. We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to the blackout certain systems vital to the health and welfare of your Pokemon must be reset before additional treatment can be administered. I am afraid wait times for seeing the nurse will be extended by an additional fifteen minutes,"
Now distracted by a new problem, Lucas finally rediscovered his power of speech, "Wait a second, I do remember hearing an announcement like that yesterday when I first checked into the Center's lodgings. It took a long time to get everything settled, but no where near as badly as today,"
"I guess it's like a traffic jam, every time things get backed up it take longer because in addition to everyone already here having to wait, new people come in as well," the blue-haired Trainer thought aloud.
"Yeah, but it's gotten so bad that some of my friends have been relying on the medicines you get from Pokemarts instead of going to the Center," the Trainer ahead of Lucas continued.
"That's a dangerous thing to do. The medicines are good if you're stuck on the road or in a real pinch, but they aren't a substitute for care from a trained professional," the blue-haired Trainer said seriously. Once again he looked down at the shivering Eevee in Lucas' arms, "But if we're going to be stuck in line for over an hour, it might not be such a bad idea to use an antidote on that Pokemon just to be on the safe side,"
The handsome Trainer reached into his bag and pulled out the anti-poison spray Lucas had run out of. He spritzed Gizmo several times before the Eevee stopped trembling, shook his head and opened his eyes. The taller Trainer patted the Pokemon gently on the head and smiled kindly at Lucas. The tattooed teen screamed at himself for acting like a bonehead and stammered out, "Th-thanks a lot,"
"Not a problem. I'm Skyler, by the way," the blue-haired Trainer offered out his hand in greeting, "It seems like we're going to be line buddies for a while so we might as well get to be on a first-name basis,"
"My name's Lucas," the teen blurted in response. It could have gone far worse because after touching the other man's hand he had momentarily forgotten what his name actually was.
"So what are you doing in Dewford Town, Lucas?" Skyler seemed oblivious of Lucas' awkwardness or simply chose to ignore it, and the two of them continued to talk as the line crept forward.
"I just got my badge. I'm here in Hoenn trying to get the Championship," While Lucas was originally incredibly nervous around the sexy Trainer, he was quickly being put at ease around Skyler. He wasn't just attractive, he seemed like a genuinely friendly and kind guy.
"I take it that means you're not originally from Hoenn?"
"Nah, I just came from Sinnoh recently, but I'm originally from Johto,"
"No way! I'm from Johto too! Where from?"
"Cherrygrove City,"
"I'm from Blackthorn City," Skyler replied, "I'm actually in Hoenn because I want to catch some rare dragon types. I'm trying to see if I can catch the legendary Rayquazza. I heard a rumor that the Granite Cave actually linked to some old ruins where Rayquazza might be, but that proved to be a bust,"
As the two Trainers continued to talk about Training and Pokemon, they completely failed to realize they had finally made it to the front of the line, "Welcome to the Pokemon Center, how may we help your Pokemon today?"
Though the nurse tried her best to be cheerful, she couldn't mask the worn look on her face. Her complexion was ashen and there were circles under her eyes. Clearly the blackouts were causing a tremendous strain. Lucas returned Gizmo to his Pokeball and handed his team over to the nurse, "Man, it looks like things are really bad in here. What's even causing the Center's blackouts?"
"It's not just the Pokemon Center, it's the whole island. The blackouts affect all of Dewford Town but the Pokemon Center and the human medical center down the road have the hardest time dealing with it. It's not just these lines, we're doing everything in our power to make sure the Pokemon here in critical condition don't get affected. We have the generators but they won't last much longer. All these power surges eventually fry them, and we have no idea when new generators from the mainland will get here," the nurse confessed.
"Oh man, that's horrible. If this keeps up Pokemon and people could genuinely get hurt by this," Lucas realized sadly.
"Excuse me, nurse, do you think there's anything we can do about it?" Skyler asked.
The haggard nurse thought for a moment, "I have no idea, maybe if you talk to the mayor you could get somewhere. Not that we have so far..."
"Well, it can't hurt to try," Skyler stated, "What do you say, Lucas, you in?"
Lucas, of course, was entirely for the idea of getting to the bottom of the island's blackouts. The teen cared tremendously for Pokemon, and had the other Trainer not suggested it, he would have gone and investigated for himself, but Skyler suggesting the two work together caught the boy uncomfortably off guard, "You mean do this together?"
"Absolutely. I can tell you're as worried about this as I am. I saw how concerned you look in line, and two heads are better than one," Skyler added thoughtfully, "Unless you're one of those guys who works better by himself. If that's the case, don't let me cramp your style,"
"No! No! I'm all about team effort!" Lucas replied over-eagerly. He cleared his throat and readjusted his tone, "If what the nurse is saying is true and the mayor is being evasive about the situation we could try to play both sides and get to the bottom of this,"
"Thank you so much, you two," the nurse said gratefully as she handed Lucas' team back, "If we can stop these blackouts it'll mean the world to the people and Pokemon here,"
The mayor's home wasn't far for the island's main cantina, and was totally unremarkable from the rest of the city's houses. Lucas tried his best not to act awkwardly around Skyler, but failed miserably as he tripped and faceplanted on the steps of the mayor's porch. He immediately tried to redeem himself by banging loudly on the mayor's door. The man who answered seemed more like a hippy than a politician, with long graying hair and a floral Hawaiian shirt but his attitude changed quickly when Skyler started talking, "Hi there, we wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the city's blackouts,"
The man scowled and threatened to close the door. Only Lucas shoving his steel-toed boots into the doorjamb stopped him, "Are you a couple of reporters?"
"Nope, just some concerned travelers," Skyler continued in his friendly, open manner.
"The situation is being handled!" the mayor said nervously. He was now desperately trying to shove Lucas' shoe out of the way so he could close the door.
"Listen! These blackouts are seriously affecting the Pokemon Center. If they keep up then the Center's generators are going to blow and until they get replaced a bunch of people—and Pokemon—could get seriously hurt. If you know something about it, you better start talking!" Lucas snarled.
"I'm done talking!" Normally it would take heaven and earth to move Lucas and his densely muscled body out of the way, but a surprise body-check from the mayor caught the teen off guard and he went flying off the porch, giving the politician a chance to finally slam the door in the Trainers' faces.
"Well, that went well," Lucas quipped sarcastically.
"You alright?" Skyler winced as he watched the other teen brush sand off of his vest and hair.
"Oh, I'm fine. Pissed off, but fine. But that guy is going to get it. I'm going to give him an enema with that stupid shirt of his," Lucas snarled as he looked back to the mayor's door. Much to his surprise, Skyler helped pull him to his feet. The tattooed teen managed to croak out a squeaking, "Thank you,"
"That nurse wasn't kidding about not getting an answer out of that guy. Confronting him was, unfortunately, the only part of this plan I thought out. Any ideas on what to do next?"
Before Lucas could answer a familiar feminine voice chirped from behind the Mohawk-bearing Trainer, "Ah Lucas, there you are! Finally ready to give me my interview?"
The reporter Gabby and her cameraman Ty stood on the edge of the sandy road, beaming a triumphant smile. Lucas rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "This is just perfect,"
"Wow, who are they?" Skyler said with some surprise as the woman came charging towards Lucas in her hectic, over-the-top manner.
Lucas let out a sigh of defeat, "Gabby, Ty, meet my new friend Skyler. Skyler, meet my stalkers. How did you find me anyway?"
"Oh Lucas, it wasn't hard. It was obvious that you'd be heading to Dewford Town since the Rusturf Tunnel was still closed. And you didn't exactly make yourself inconspicuous with that display on the beach yesterday," Gabby teased, "So where would you prefer we do the interview? Sit down at a restaurant? Doing it here is fine, too,"
A sudden, brilliant idea struck the teen, "Actually, I think I might have a bigger story for you than just me. For the past few days there have been some really terrible rolling blackouts affecting the entire island. We tried to ask the mayor about it and he shoved me off his porch and slammed the door in our faces,"
"Is that so?" Gabby's eyes glinted greedily, "This might be related to the tunnel closure in Rustboro..."
"Could be," Lucas encouraged.
His idea couldn't have worked better than if he had planned it from the very beginning. Within seconds the hounding journalist was pounding on the mayor's door, and shoving a microphone in his face when he answered, "Hi, I'm Gabby from Hoenn Today. I'd like to get your statement about the Dewford Town blackouts and the cover up surrounding them. Is it true you refused to comment on the situation to a Pokemon League representative?!"
"P-pokemon League representative? What are you talking about?" The mayor began sweating profusely.
"Didn't you recognize him? This is Lucas, the current Champion of the Sinnoh League, making him an official representative of the Pokemon League. By refusing to answer his questions you were effectively refusing to cooperate with the League, which is of course highly suspicious. What exactly are you trying to hide?" Gabby continued to badger in her chipper tone.
"Is that true?" The mayor blurted. Lucas pulled out the gold badge with the word 'Champion' and waved it in front of the man with a smile. Skyler looked over at the badge himself and mouthed 'wow' to his new companion. The mayor bit his lip, slumped his shoulders and finally opened the door with a grunt, "All right, I'll tell you what's going on—but off the record," he raised his finger warningly to the reporter and waved the group in.
"How come you didn't bring that up before?" Skyler whispered to Lucas as the went into the man's house.
Lucas felt himself blush not just from being close to Skyler again, but from genuinely feeling foolish, "Honestly, I didn't know I could do that. I guess membership has its perks,"
The mayor invited the group to sit down and began explaining the problem, "Because Dewford Town is so small we don't have our own power plant. Instead, all our power comes from buried cables that connect through the mainland to here. For the past couple of weeks or so we've noticed that the cables have been destroyed. We've had teams constantly out fixing them, but after a day or so the cables just get destroyed again,"
"So you're saying that Dewford Town is being sabotaged?!" Gabby asked excitedly.
The mayor shook his head, "That's what we thought at first as well. That this was a prank or the result of someone's grudge—especially after the second time we had to repair the cables. So we had a group doing surveillance to see if we could catch the culprit. It turns out it wasn't a person, it was a Pokemon,"
"What!" Gabby gasped. A murmur of disbelief echoed through the room. Another overwhelming feeling of deja vu washed over Lucas. He had encountered a situation like this before. He only hoped that what he assumed was happening was just him overreacting.
"That's not the worst part. We had our Gym Leader Brawly go after the Pokemon and chase it away. And he did. But the next time the cables were torn into, it was done by an entirely different set of Pokemon,"
"Could it be that the cables are somehow bothering the Pokemon? Were they installed recently?" Gabby continued.
"No. Those cables are over thirty years old and most of the Pokemon around here are fighting and rock types, electricity was never an issue, even when the cables were first installed. Something is causing the Pokemon to act out and attack the power lines and we can't figure out what or how. Lucas, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, but if you really were sent by the Pokemon League the people of Dewford Town really need your help. We need you to find out what's causing the Pokemon's behavior," the mayor asked the teen seriously.
"I'll do it. Even if you didn't want me to I'd still want to help," Lucas nodded, "So where are the cables being damaged?"
"Deep in Granite Cave,"