Chapter 56: The Lucas Fan Club
After a torturous trip surfing the southern coast of Hoenn, Lucas and Skyler finally arrived at the Pokemon Center in Slateport City. Shortly after arrival, Lance, the legendary dragon Trainer from Johto and Kanto came to the Center searching for none other than Skyler. It was then that Lucas had learned that his newest friend and secret object of his affection was Lance's cousin, and that the boy had broken Clan law by leaving Blackthorn City without their permission. With a little begging and appealing to the brotherly affection Lance had for the boy, Skyler was able to convince his cousin to allow him to keep traveling with Lucas, promising to return home after facing the Elite Four. After Lance left, the two Trainers went back to their rooms to rest. The two were so exhausted they slept through the afternoon all the way to mid morning the next day.
Lucas awoke first, his early rising habit steadily maintaining itself from his time as Trainer. As Skyler continued to sleep, the tattooed teen thought about what he wanted to do for the day. While Slateport didn't have a Gym, the trip to Mauville by foot would take at least a week, being the city was one of the few landlocked towns in the region, and this would be the last opportunity to see a city for a while. And now that he knew as soon as he faced the Elite Four Skyler would leave, getting all the badges as soon as possible just didn't seem as important. The Trainer flipped through the guidebook on his Pokevice while Diablo sat at his foot and Gizmo feigned interest in one of the Center's potted plants several feet away. Ever since the Eevee bit his Trainer while under the influence of a mind-altering device, Lucas' very first Pokemon seemed terrified of getting close to him again.
Skyler came yawning out of his room, his tank top twisted from sleeping in it and his spiky hair even spikier from being disheveled. With a still half-asleep grunt he plopped next to Lucas on the Pokemon Center's couch, "So what are we planning today?"
Suddenly Diablo got up from the floor and leapt onto Lucas lap. He caused Lucas to yelp in pain and Skyler to almost fall off the couch. He then turned to the blue-haired Trainer and growled. Lucas let out his own growl of annoyance as he tried to shove the heavy Pokemon off of his lap, "Bad Diablo! Get off!" but despite his best efforts the Mightyena could not be moved.
"Your Pokemon doesn't seem to like me very much..." Skyler said cautiously. The dark type continued to growl but allowed the human to remain on the couch, with his own body firmly wedged between Skyler and Lucas.
Lucas rolled his eyes in defeat, scratched the Pokemon's head and answered Skyler's question, "Well at first I thought we could check out the museum but apparently it only covers oceanic stuff. And while fish and stuff are okay I'd much rather it had some fossils,"
"Well, I guess that love explains this tattoo," Skyler smirked and tapped on the bare flesh of Lucas' right arm. The man's touch seemed to send a shock down Lucas' spine and he gasped slightly beside himself. He prayed in that moment Skyler didn't notice. Thankfully he seemed much more interested in the item in Lucas hand. He gently pulled the device from the other boy's hand and looked it over, "This is that Pokevice thing you did the commercial for, right? I saw you use it yesterday, too. It does seem pretty cool. I might have to get one for myself. I mean, if you endorse it, it has to be pretty good, right?"
"Yeah, the Pokevice is damn useful. I'm definitely glad I have it, but God, that stupid commercial. I look like such a tool in it," Lucas groaned and thudded his head back on the top edge of the couch.
"Honestly it's not as bad as you think it is. I thought you still looked like a badass in it," Skyler smiled and handed the red and white electronic back to his friend.
After they had some breakfast, the two Trainers finally settled on their itinerary for the day. They first stopped at the Battle Tent and tried out the challenge of battling other Trainers with rented Pokemon. Lucas got fairly far in, but lost against a guy who had a Poliwhirl when all of Luca's Pokemon had water weaknesses. They had lunch at one of the beach places that specialized in hot dogs and french fries and their last stop of the day was the large international market. They decided to visit it last so they could kill two birds with one stone. They'd be able to check out all the international goods while at the same time could restock and prepare for the trip out the next day.
While Lucas certainly wasn't a big shopper, even he could appreciate the size and scale of the large, outdoor market located just off the ports. It had goods not just from the various Pokemon regions: MooMoo Milk fresh from Johto, the beautiful crystal he first saw in Hearthome City, gemstones mined from Mt. Moon, but the market had items from around the world as well. Exotic spices from India, fine leather from Italy, American junk food delicacies like Pop Tarts. Seeing all the things for sale and hearing the voices of hagglers bargaining for good deals made Lucas think about how much fun his mother would have exploring the stands. Shopping with his mother was one of the few recent good memories he had of home. Yet he found that his homesickness didn't seem as drastic with Skyler nearby to joke with him and point out some of the more odd things available for sale. As the two wandered through the booths, Diablo stayed in step behind his Trainer while Gizmo lingered behind. At least three times that day Lucas tried to encourage his first Pokemon to take back his rightful place on Lucas' shoulder or head, but the Eevee still refused to stay within touching distance. This was beginning to frustrate the teen beyond imagination. Gizmo was his buddy, his most loyal friend. The tiny Pokemon putting the wedge between the two of them was beginning to greatly worry the Trainer, as well as wonder if their relationship was completely damaged. His greatest fear was that Gizmo would no longer want to be Lucas' Pokemon.
As Lucas was thumbing through a bin containing CDs of Nordic Death Metal, he heard some shrill shrieking behind him. He whirled around to see if anyone was in trouble only to find himself face to face with four teenage girls staring at him with wide eyes.
"Oh my God I told you it was really him!"
"He's so much hotter in person!"
"Look, he really travels with that Eevee Gizmo! That's so adorable I just want to cry!"
"Those tattoos are so sexy!"
"Uh, can I help you girls?" Lucas finally asked as he tried to comprehend the gaggle of attractive young women closing in on him.
"He talked to me! He actually talked to me! I think I might just die of happiness!" One of the girls he addressed seemed on the verge of hyperventilation.
Her friend raised a hand to try to calm her down and then addressed Lucas directly, "OMG I am so sorry about Lisha, you just have to understand that this is, like, the biggest thing that's ever happened to us. You being here," Lucas continued to stare at them in total confusion. Seeing the boy's lost expression, the self appointed leader girl continued to explain, "See, we are the official unofficial Lucas fan club, part of the chapter of the International Pokemon Fan Club!"
"Come again?" Lucas understood the words individually, but somehow all together everything just stopped making sense. Even increasingly distant Gizmo got closer to his Trainer and Skyler came over from a few booths down where he had stocked up on Japanese snacks.
"What's going on here, Lucas?" Skyler asked curiously. The mob of girls spread out to surround the other Trainer as well.
"Uh! Even his friend is super hot! Why do hot people always hang out with other hot people? That's like totally unfair! It's too overwhelming!"
"I can honestly tell you I don't have the slightest idea..." Lucas replied to his companion.
The leader girl went on, "Ugh we are being like total fangirls, aren't we? Okay, a few months ago when we saw the Sinnoh Championship match we saw you win against that Dawn girl and we thought you were the hottest, most amazing Trainer ever. Defeating a Champion with an Eevee? And all those other cool Pokemon you have! And did we mention we also think you are super hot?"
Lucas smirked, "You did, but I don't mind you repeating it,"
"So we decided to form a fan club for you!" the leader girl continued.
"We're your biggest fans!" One of the other girls squealed. The four reached into their bags and pulled out Pokevices and posters and magazines with pictures of Lucas and Gizmo on them.
"I ran out and got my Pokevice as soon as I saw your commercial, Lucas," the girl called Lisha seemed to recover and held out a pink and purple version of Lucas' Pokevice, "Would you please sign it?"
"Oh, of course!" The gears were finally connecting in Lucas' head but it still seemed super surreal. These totally cute, gorgeous teen girls were all fawning over him. He got his share of admirers at school for being he community bad boy, but nothing like the quantity he was dealing with now. He was surprised at well he was handling himself.
"And will you sign my magazine and poster?"
"Could I get a picture with you?"
"Actually, could we all get a picture with you, nobody at school will believe we all met you like this!"
"Look Lucas, I'm starting to get tattoos, just like you!" another of the girls turned her back to him and lifted the tails of her shirt to expose an Eevee tattoo on the small of her back, "See? I got one of Gizmo because he's so adorable!"
Lucas' Mightyena had been watching the fangasming girls for several minutes to the side with Gizmo when he suddenly stood in front of his Trainer and growled at the young women. For a moment the girls were all taken aback. The teen looked to his Pokemon in shock, "Diablo! What is your malfunction, man! You have been going rabid dog on everyone these past few days! Sorry about this, girls," The Trainer recalled the snarling dark type and the girls returned to their squealing.
"Can we pet Gizmo?"
"Do you have your other Pokemon with you too? Gizmo's cute but my favorite was your Gyrados!"
"I actually started being a Trainer because of you, Lucas. My mom was totally against it for the longest time but after seeing you do it I was determined to not let her stop me!" The girls continued to bombard the Mohawk-bearing teen with questions and comments and requests, and Lucas did his best to accommodate. But the attention was starting to get more than a little overwhelming, and his embarrassment threatened to overtake him.
That was when Skyler dove into the throng of female attention and pulled his friend back out, "Girls, Lucas appreciates your support but we need to get going now. After all, he's doing the Gym Challenge here now and if you keep this up we'll never be able to get to the next town,"
The girls suddenly seemed aware of their behavior and pulled back. Each apologized, kissed the Trainer on the cheek and wished him goodbye and good luck. When the last of the girls left, Lucas let out a relieved sigh and picked up the startled Gizmo whose fur was sticking out at odd ends from being petted so much. For the first time in the past few days, the tiny Pokemon didn't seem to object. The teen turned to his friend, "That was certainly a new experience for me. It wasn't so long ago that when I'd come a town that the only people mobbing me were the police,"
"I don't believe that's the first time a group of girls mobbed you," Skyler teased.
"This is true. I definitely had my share of fans back home, up to and including the daughter of the principal of my high school. I was a dumbass and did a lot of stupid things with a gang which is part of the reason I got thrown out of school, the daughter thing didn't help, so the people into bad boys definitely let me know they were interested. But that's the first time I've had girls come up to be because of being a Pokemon Trainer. Groupies are new to me. I'm not sure how to react," While Lucas was laughing, a sting of reality set in, "I'm not really sure how to react to any of it. People hounding me for interviews, people wanting me to endorse products, now a fan club of girls who think I'm hot and want to date me because I won a few Pokemon battles?"
"Well, that's part of what it means to be a Champion. Lance had to do a lot of those things, too. That, plus, whenever something went wrong in Kanto or Johto he'd be the first one they'd call," Skyler replied. Lucas paid for a couple of CDs and glanced over a few more booths as the afternoon started turning to evening.
"Yeah, but that wasn't the reason why I became Champion. That isn't why I wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer. Those girls were really fine, but they know only what they know about me from magazines and stuff. And I only agreed to do that stupid commercial for the Pokevice because I felt bad that I ended up with Steven's house for free,"
"Huh?" Skyler cocked his head. They were finished with the market now and went back to the beach one more time. It wasn't hard
"Long story, I'll tell you some other time," Lucas explained, "I admit, I want to be a Champion of four regions, but I'm not doing it for fame and fortune. That's my brother's M.O., not mine,"
"Then why are you doing it?"
Lucas turned to his companion and smiled, "That's right, I never did tell the whole complicated story of my life, did I?"
"No, but that's okay because it wasn't like I was very forthcoming with the whole 'I'm a fugitive of one of the most powerful Pokemon families that ever existed' thing. I figured you became a Trainer because you are insanely in love with Pokemon. Didn't seem like that needed an explanation," Skyler doodled little symbols in the sand as the sound of the waves hit the beach.
"Remember how you said you thought I must be someone special? Well, I'm not. You might joke about being a fugitive. I actually am. Like I said, I used to run with a gang and do really stupid things. I was a criminal. I mean, it wasn't my fault. At least, not entirely my fault. I might have been the one doing the shit, but I was only doing it because of my brother John," Lucas admitted. In all the times the two Trainers have talked in the few days they've known each other, the gritty details of his past was only second to confessing he was attracted to Skyler of things the Trainer didn't want to talk about.
"Wait, John. You mean that guy who became Champion of Sinnoh, Johto and Kanto about a decade back? Lance was still part of the Elite Four back then," Skyler asked.
Lucas nodded, "All my life my brother John was the perfect one. Good at everything, liked by everyone, could do know wrong. I, on the other hand, couldn't do a single thing right. Then, despite the fact that this is a guy who never once in his life before his tenth birthday showed even the slightest, and I mean slightest, interest in Pokemon, decided he was going to be a Trainer. Even though Pokemon were something I have loved my entire life. My family thought I was worthless, my school thought I was worthless, my town thought I was worthless and I thought I was worthless. So I acted like I was worthless until I did something that could get my ass in jail, again, and got shipped off to of all people, my brother,"
"You've been to jail?!" Skyler said with some surprise.
Hearing the shock in his voice stung Lucas a little, "Well, Juvey, actually, but you get my drift. I found Gizmo abandoned and met Professor Oak and they turned it around for me. And so I made a deal with my brother, not unlike your deal with Lance, to become Champion of four leagues to his three and then I'm going to battle him. Finally show my family and the world that John's not perfect and I'm not worthless. That's why I don't give a flying eff about commercials or interviews,"
Skyler nodded, his face serious again. And there were several minutes where he didn't speak. Lucas waited silently as well. Waiting for Skyler to change his mind and not travel with him anymore, to get angry about traveling with a former criminal. He braced himself for the worse as Skyler spoke, "Wow. Hearing somebody else's problems really puts your own in perspective. I mean, having to do deal the Clan's stupid rules suck, but Lance and my sister have always been pretty nice to me, even with their little rivalry. But you're wrong about one thing. All that stuff does make you pretty special. I can't think of anyone so determined to turn their life around and achieve their goals like you have,"
"Thanks," Lucas felt an overwhelming sense of relief and calm, happy on so many levels that Skyler didn't hate him.
"All and all I think all that stuff makes you admire me even more. I might have to track those girls down and see if they'll give me an application to the Lucas Fan Club," Skyler joked.
"Asshole," Lucas snorted in reply, playfully punching his new friend in the arm.