Chapter 63: An Old Friend
After almost two weeks stuck in the medical center bed, the doctor finally gave the go-ahead for release. While in Mauville City, Lucas had collapsed in the Gym lobby and discovered that a bite Gizmo had given him had become dangerously infected. The teen's tiny Eevee became racked with guilt and ran away from his Trainer. Against the advice of the doctors and Skyler, and his own better judgment, Luca ran after his Pokemon. The teen feared that Gizmo wanted to be released, but when Gizmo finally realized his Trainer didn't hold any anger for the injury, finally forgave himself and reestablished the close bond he had with Lucas. Skyler eventually dragged the sick young man back and when he returned he obeyed the doctor's orders without argument. Finally his leg was declared clear, his health approved and he could go back on the road and continue his Journey with his new best friend.
Though being in bed made the tattooed teen stir-crazy, he tried his best to use his time to plan out the next leg of his Journey. To the north of Mauville City were a series towns that led to various Pokemon training grounds, as well as the only way to get to the secluded city of Lavaridge Town and the town's Pokemon League Gym. On the other hand, going west would lead to Verdanturf Town and the Gym Lucas was forced to skip when the Rusturf Tunnel was closed months earlier.
According to the Hoenn Guide on Lucas' updated Pokevice, the Verdanturf Town Gym was the region's newest Gym, only being a few years old. The Gym Leader in Fortree City decided to close the Gym down in favor of using the city's resources and the Gym's flying type Trainers to build an airport and improve connections between Hoenn and the distant Unova region, and by extent, better connect the Pokemon League islands with the rest of the world. The guide's information about the replacement Gym in the new location was short and not helpful, and furthermore the Gym Leader was replaced only in the past year and even Steven's high-tech information had not caught up to the recent changes. It would still be several weeks before the updated guide would be released, and that was of no use to Lucas now. Still, he decided going to this Gym made the most sense as it would be less backtracking than going to Lavaridge first, and with his Championship status, he should have been able to face any unknowns without fear.
Skyler greeted Lucas at the checkout desk of the facility with a big bag of convenience store junk food. Because he had been at the doctor's and the antibiotics he was given affected his stomach, Lucas had been forced to eat nothing but bland hospital food during his stay. This had been the first time in two weeks he'd been able to handle anything salty and fried. He eagerly snatched his friend's present, "Dude I so love you right now,"
The teen nearly choked as he realized what he said, and his heart stopped as he waited for Skyler to react. The Dragon Tamer let out a deep happy laugh, "Boy, you're a cheap date. I'm sure all the girls loved that,"
"Heh, yeah, that's why I'm in such a happy, committed relationship now," Lucas joked, happy to shift out of the awkward situation. The two Trainers left the medical center and began walking to the outskirts of town, slowly returning to the teen's regular routine. Gizmo was once again on the tattooed boy's shoulder and his Mighyena Diablo kept pace just behind him, while the two humans walked and talked. As Lucas alternated between chips in his own mouth and ones to Gizmo, the teen Trainer explained his plan, "Since I missed the Gym the first time round I'm going to the Verdanturf first,"
"I was actually meaning to talk about that. I'm cool with Verdanturf first, after all, you're the one who needs the badges, not me, but when we head up north can we make a few stops at Meteor Falls and the desert?" Skyler asked. He seemed almost sheepish in his tone.
Lucas shrugged in reply, "I don't have a problem with it, why?"
"I was doing some research and those areas are said to be resting grounds for Rayquazza. I mean, I know you don't believe that it exists, but that is part of the reason I came all the way to Hoenn in the first place. I lied to Lance to be able to stay here, I don't want to squander this opportunity," the Dragon Tamer explained.
"Hey, I didn't say I didn't believe in Rayquazza, just that I heard it was a legend is all. And besides, you've been putting up with my dumb ass all this while as I've been getting towards my goal, it's no big deal to take a few detours for you. You can't possibly get me in as much trouble as I can get myself into," Lucas smirked.
"Well, I'm glad you're up for it," Skyler's response was surprisingly genuine and after his statement the two Trainers became quiet. As Lucas and his friend walked west towards Route 117 and Verdanturf Town the shorter teen had worried their conversation just had petered out. But as the two walked in the warm morning beneath the tropic sun, he realized they had simply fallen into a comfortable, easy silence, the kind of quiet that existed not because of awkwardness, but because people were so at ease around each other. This route was less hot than the sweltering trip from Slateport as the small fast moving creeks created a steady breeze that lessened the affects of the staunch humidity.
As they made their way down the path, greeting some fellow Trainers and having some casual battles to talk to new people and earn some more money for supplies, Lucas and Skyler stumbled across the Hoenn Region's Daycare Center. Daycare Centers served two purposes: it gave Trainers a chance to improve Pokemon without having to do the training themselves, and it gave a chance to breed Pokemon. In Sinnoh Lucas had used a similar facility to breed Gizmo and his Espeon partner Donna to produce a quantity of Eevee eggs. Seeing the Daycare, Lucas got a similar idea for his other Pokemon, "Let's stop here for a while, Skyler. I want to bring out my Gyrados Franky and his Milotic girlfriend Bernadette,"
As a Magikarp, Franky had been the very first Pokemon Lucas had ever caught in the wild. Though most people regarded the species as a nuisance, Lucas treated the first capture with pure enthusiasm, and his love and respect for his Pokemon turned the Magikarp into one of the most sweet tempered Gyrados in history, and had become a powerhouse mainstay of Lucas' Sinnoh team. While in Mt. Coronet Lucas had located a wild Milotic that had known his Pokemon and had captured her so they would be together. Now at the Daycare, he could give his Pokemon the time together that they deserved. But as he went into the facility he ran into someone he wasn't expecting, "Funny to meet you here, Rooster Boy,"
He knew that teased black hair, those Scene-meet-Emo clothes, perpetually pouting lips and snide attitude anywhere, "Morgan?"
Skyler stepped beside his friend and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Skyler. Are you one of Lucas' ex girlfriends?"
Morgan started laughing and Lucas snorted, "She wishes. No, this is Morgan, she's a dark type Trainer from Cherrygrove, just like me. We met in Sinnoh fighting over a Pokemon. I guess you could call her my friend,"
"I wouldn't use as strong of a word as 'friend', but yeah, me and Rooster Boy go way back. I guess you could call us rivals," Morgan smirked.
"Quit calling me Rooster Boy! I hate it!" Lucas snarled.
"Which is precisely why I continue to do so," Morgan replied before her attention turned to the Pokemon trailing Lucas. Her attitude immediately shifted from snark to sweetness, "Ohmigosh! That must be that Poochyena you told me was causing all the trouble in Oldale Town,"
"Yeah he is-" Lucas' response fell on deaf ears as the dark type Trainer bent down and started smothering the wolf-like Pokemon with affection.
"Oh, aren't you just the biggest smooshy faced baby! Yes you are! Who's a handsome boy? You're a handsome boy!" as Morgan baby talked to the Mightyena, the Pokemon responded with happy barks and wagging of his tail.
This time it was Skyler who let out a yell of surprise, "How the hell did you do that? Anyone else who gets near Diablo ends up snarled at. He growls at me all the time!"
Morgan brushed herself off and pushed some of her wild hair out of her eyes, "Easy. Two reasons. One is I'm a dark type Trainer, I wouldn't be much of one if I couldn't handle a Mightyena. Two, Diablo growls at anyone who gets close to Lucas or seems like he might like him because he's jealous. I can't actually stand Lucas so he doesn't view me as a threat to the relationship with his Trainer,"
"Well, that certainly explains why he's constantly snarling at me or shoving himself between me and Lucas whenever we sit down. Especially since it started when we decided to travel together," Skyler thought aloud.
"It's funny that we would run into each other like this again. I mean, I know we're both in Hoenn, but still, it's a big region. I assume you're on your way to the next Gym right?" Morgan thankfully changed the subject.
"Yeah, I just wanted to stop here to breed some Pokemon. While traveling I ran into Franky's old girlfriend, a Milotic. I figured they'd want some time together," Lucas explained.
"That's a good idea, Feebas are really valuable, especially in Hoenn. In this region contest ribbon are even more valued then Gym badges. People travel from city to city just to participate. Milotic are highly valued because of their inherent Beauty levels, and Feebas are extremely rare," Morgan then added, "Seems like you did all sorts of things since we split ways. Stopped Cosmic, became Champion. Looks like you've even picked up a travel buddy. That seems really unlike you, what is he, your boyfriend or something?"
Lucas felt his stomach drop and his face pale. Morgan had only been teasing, but she unfortunately said the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time. He glanced over to Skyler in cold-blooded fear, waiting to see what the Dragon Tamer would say or do. Would he be insulted? Angry? Or worst of all, would he think it was nothing but a big joke? For weeks Lucas had been unable to say anything, had no way to confirm whether or not Skyler was interested in men. The tattooed punk was just finally getting to the point where he could have a normal conversation with the handsome Trainer without his voice cracking or his feet finding every misplaced rock. He was yet to make any attempt of anything resembling a come-on. And now Morgan, and her astounding ability to say the most snide thing possible had opened Pandora's Box. Thankfully, Skyler finally broke the tension, "Wait a second, I think I recognize you. I didn't realize it at first because your hair was different then. More pulled back. But you were in Blackthorn City for a while,"
"Well, I was Champion for a year so I faced Claire for a badge-"
"No, it was more than that, you trained with Lance. I remember because that was back when Sil-"
"That was a long time ago!" Suddenly it was Morgan who became agitated, "Sorry Rooster Boy, we're just standing here talking and you have business in the Daycare Center. We can catch up in Verdanturf,"
Lucas nodded wordlessly as the black haired Trainer stepped aside to let him pass into the Daycare. Skyler followed his friend as he took care of his business. The silence between them no longer felt light and easy, and was once again tense and awkward, and Lucas couldn't even face him as he focused on the PC and getting Franky and Bernadette from the Sinnoh system. He handed the two Pokemon over to the Daycare man and left to find Morgan waiting for them.
"H-hey Skyler," Lucas finally croaked out.
"Yeah?"
"I can't find my Trainer ID, can you please go into the Daycare and see if I dropped it? I'll look around out here,"
"Oh sure Lucas, of course, you don't want to lose an ID, it's far too valuable," Skyler smiled and walked back into the building to help his friend.
Lucas walked up to Morgan and gently but firmly, pulled her off to the side, "Don't joke like that anymore. Not about Skyler,"
"Jeez, if we can't hurl insults at each other we really won't have any kind of relationship," Morgan said dryly. But her tone softened when she saw the serious, pleading look in Lucas' eyes, "Wait, you mean...Lucas are you gay?"
Lucas shook his head slightly, "Bi, mostly girls, but I really, really like Skyler. More than I've liked anyone, I think. But I can't...I can't...just don't joke like that. He doesn't know,"
"Why not? He doesn't strike me as some kind of closed-minded meat head who will go screaming for the hills just because a dude likes him,"
"I just have a really hard time around people I'm attracted to. It's stupid and I'm a moron but I can't talk to anyone I find genuinely attractive. For as much of a badass as I try to make myself out to be, I can never make the first move, okay?" Lucas hissed through gritted teeth. He knew his face was bright red and he was humiliated that he was telling this stuff to Morgan of all people. He hoped he could appeal to her better nature. It was rare and hardly seen, but he knew she had one.
Rather than the hard-edged glower or sarcastic smirk that was always plastered to her face, her expression was almost...compassionate, "Okay, gay jokes are off the table. I don't want to make things awkward for you. Believe it or not but I am aware of how difficult relationships can be. But I'm still calling you Rooster Boy," she added with her more traditional smirk.
"I'm so sorry Lucas, I couldn't find it," Skyler came out of the Daycare and jogged over to the two Cherrygrove Trainers.
"No worries bro, Morgan found it," Lucas said quietly, his nervousness around Skyler still not totally dissipated, "Let's head back on the road, we're not too far from Verdanturf now,"