Chapter 73: Meet Me in Lillycove
Before leaving Fortree City for the western coastal city of Lillycove, Lucas, Morgan and Skyler had dedicated a day to going to the Safari Zone, a special amusement park for catching rare and hard to find Pokemon. While Lucas was playing, he, Skyler and Morgan had discovered that Team Cosmic had broken into the park and was stealing Pokemon. They chased the grunts down to find that their latest secret stronghold was Mt. Pyre, the Pokemon cemetery and shrine. The three had tracked down the group with the intention of taking down Cosmic's Hoenn hold once and for all, but discovered the evil organization had another battle on their hands. Captain Rose—Lucas' ex-girlfriend Marcia—was being stopped by two Trainers guarding the sacred shrine at Mt. Pyre's peak, and Lucas and his friends were about to witness a terrifying battle between the three.
"I didn't get Rayquaza. The operation at New Mauville was discovered and shut down. The League knows we're here and the Boss had to bail me out when I got captured," Marcia was cagey and frantic. Lucas wasn't sure if his ex noticed his presence or simply didn't care. The Pokeball she held in her hand was shaking, "I didn't do what I did, burn the bridges I did to lose everything I worked for! I'll get those gems and show the Boss I am still in control. Between this and the last operation, I can still make this work!"
The taller man in red shook his head sadly, "It's like looking into a mirror of my own deluded ambition. If you choose to follow our paths then it's time you meet the same fate we did! Go Camelrupt!"
"Aye! I won't let history repeat itself again! Not in my lifetime! Sharpedo!"
"Magmortar! Rip them apart!" Marcia shrieked.
At the battle for the Snowpoint Temple in Sinnoh, Lucas had seen the lengths a battle can go when people with nothing left to lose and nothing to hold them back do battle. The damage was severe and the cost was high. The battle he witnessed before him was just as brutal. Though the rest of Cosmic stood back and watched their commanding officer do battle, the fight between Marcia and the two men was vicious. Marcia's stolen Magmortar was just powerful as the one Flint had in Sinnoh, and the Sharpedo and Camelrupt were just as strong as any Lucas had ever seen. The temple shook, the foundation threatened to crack, and grunts desperately leapt out of the way as streams of fire, ice, rock and dark energy blasted back and forth. As the Magmortar fell and Marcia summoned an Electrike, the other two men kept up the charge. The Sharpedo and Camelrupt worked in tandem, but the tattooed teen on the sidelines couldn't help but also note a sense of rivalry between the Pokemon, as though these two Trainers didn't always work so well together. The Sharpedo eventually fell to be replaced by a Golbat, and Marcia lost two more Pokemon as the ground and people around them got more and more damaged. But the teen girl refused to back down, her attacks became more and more vicious, and more and more reckless.
A Steelix, an Absol and finally a Hitmontop all fell to the two Trainers in blue and red. Though Marcia truly showed her skill as a Trainer, as well as the lengths she would go for a victory, she was no match for the clearly more experienced opponents. As the Hitmontop fell to the ground, Marcia sank to her own knees in defeat. She said nothing at first, her eyes haunted as she absorbed her failure. After a few moments her radio crackled, and numbly she reached for it and placed it by her ear. Her face twitched into a manic smile and she began to laugh, hollowly, inhumanly. She got up and motioned to her subordinates, who were waiting to see what would become of their broken leader, "Good news everyone. It's ready,"
The crowd of grunts murmured ominously, clearly understanding what Marcia was referring to. Her two opponents remained where they had stood since the beginning of the battle, blocking the entrance to the gray stone shrine, refusing to move and waiting for Marcia's next action. She gestured to her group to fall out and finally seemed to notice Lucas and his friends waiting for her, "Well hello Lucas. It looks like my bounty isn't high enough if you're still standing. But I guess that means that if you're here the Pokemon League is as well,"
"Yes. It does."
"Good." Marcia's smile twisted even further, and she glanced down at Lucas' neck and waist, where his Pokeballs were located. Her eyes looked less manic and desperate than they did during the battle, but there was still an unfamiliar darkness that put the teen boy on his highest guard, "I don't care about getting you back anymore, Lucas. Now all I care is about destroying you. Tell the League I'm ready for them. No more hiding, no more running away. The next time we meet it's going to be end. The end of you and the League. Team Cosmic Forever!"
"Cosmic Forever!" the grunts all shouted in unison. The fog that shrouded the top of Mt. Pyre parted as several Cosmic helicopters blew them away. The pack of grunts grabbed at the ropes that the choppers dropped and were pulled away.
"Shouldn't we do something to stop them?" Skyler asked as the choppers vanished from view.
"No. Marcia's right. The next time is the end. Team Cosmic has run out of places to hide. The next time we see each other will be the last time Cosmic strikes in Hoenn. Whatever she has planned will be big and dangerous, but we'll stop her. So I'm giving her this last bit of time, the last gift to my past," Lucas responded before slipping his hand into Skyler's.
"The past must be honored but never repeated," the man in red said solemnly.
"Just who are you guys, anyway? And what exactly did Cosmic want here?" Morgan asked, "We had assumed they were just using the mountain as a base of operations, but obviously there's something pretty valuable here,"
"That there is, lassie, and that is exactly why we stand here. To protect the treasure inside and atone for our own pasts," the stouter man in blue replied, "The name's Archie,"
"And I am Maxie," the other man added.
Morgan blinked incredulously, "No way! I've heard of you guys. You were the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma!"
"You mean the environmental terrorists that attacked Hoenn six years ago? Steven had told me about you guys. It seems to me you're are as bad news as Cosmic is!" Lucas snarled, "Even if you stopped Cosmic from getting the treasure in the shrine we'll stop you from getting it too!"
"Was," Maxie stated.
"Huh?"
"Aqua and Magma was as bad as Cosmic is," Maxie clarified, "Which is why we stand here. I assure you, neither one of us has any intention of taking the treasure. We aren't just protecting it from Cosmic, we protect it from anyone for the sake of all mankind,"
"Inside this shrine are the gems of the sea of the land, the Red and Blue Orbs," Archie explained, "'Tis true that six years ago we both led groups with two rival but equally stupid ambitions: to expand the sea or the land for what we thought was the sake of Pokemon. The shrine was originally protected by a family, but we stole the gems to awaken Groudon and Kyogre. We almost destroyed the world. If it wasn't for the sake of a couple of young Trainers, we probably would have. The last members of the family were old and had no heirs. After seeing what our stupidity had nearly cost us, both me an' Maxie agreed to take over their task, and when the man and woman died, we honored our word and have stood here ever since,"
"The Red and Blue Orbs, the gems from the legend," Skyler repeated softly, "That's why Marcia was so desperate to get them. She tried to capture Rayquaza in the Mirage Tower, but unable to get the dragon of the sky, she tried to go after the beasts of the sea and land instead,"
"Yes. But only a worthy Trainer may have them, and until we find someone worthy, no one will take the gems," Maxie stated.
"Don't worry, we don't have any plans to prove ourselves worthy for those gems today. We only came because we needed to make sure Cosmic didn't do anything, but after seeing you two in action I don't think I have to worry about that. I think it's time we moved on," Lucas stated.
"Well, if you ever change your mind you can always come back. We may protect this shrine but we're not cut off from the world. We've heard of your exploits, Lucas of Cherrygrove City. You might be worthy yet," Archie added with a smile.
The Trainer smiled back and motioned to his friends to leave. What he said was true. His intentions were not at the shrine. Though his plans for the day were to challenge the Safari Zone several more times, seeing how far Marcia had gone put things in perspective. There was a final battle ahead and two more Gym matches to face. Lucas would need to be at peak strength for both challenges. It was time to move forward.
When the three reached the bottom of Mt. Pyre and once more crossed the bridge they had told the gathered Pokemon League representatives what had happened and once more prepared for the road. Their next destination was Lillycove City, a coastal town home to the ferry that would get them to the next Gym in Mossdeep.
For weeks the three Trainers had mostly been inland and had almost forgotten the smell and sound of the sea. After so much time in the smoldering jungle humidity, the salty breezes were a welcome change. From thick forests and tangled underbrush, Route ? opened ahead to a massive metropolis. Skyscrapers, parks, an art museum and a massive department store, as well as home to the Master Class Pokemon Contests of Hoenn, Lillycove seemed to stretch on forever. Lucas had never set foot in the city before, nor had he even seen pictures of it, but he knew the layout almost as well as if he had lived there because of how well it described to him what now seemed a lifetime ago.
As they entered the city and headed towards the Pokemon Center, the teen Trainer was washed over by a sense of nostalgia. Once she was all he could think about, even after her rejection, and after meeting Skyler he had forgotten about her almost entirely. But after coming to this city, her city, the thoughts of her came flooding back. The thoughts of a Pokemon Coordinator named Ashley. He had met her when she and her friends were attacked by Team Cosmic outside Hearthome City. Lucas had become smitten with her almost immediately, and in his typical fashion made a total ass of himself, stumbling verbally and physically around her. In spite of his crushed-based stupidity, he had built the courage to reveal his feelings towards her, ones she kindly but decidedly rejected. Their friendship was sealed with a Pokemon Egg and a secret promise he made to himself: that one day he'd see her again. But after having met and fallen for Skyler, he wondered if seeing her again even mattered anymore.
Morgan had left the two to wander as she rested in the Pokemon Center, but Skyler almost immediately noticed how quiet Lucas was, "Is something the matter?"
"That's hard to answer. I'm not exactly sure," Lucas said thoughtfully. Before leaving the Center Lucas had the urge to reshuffle his team to more closely resemble the one from his Sinnoh travels. Gizmo was again on his shoulder and Stella and Franky were once more on his team, "How did I end up here?"
Lucas paid little attention to where he was walking when he went out exploring with Skyler, but when his partner brought up how oddly he was acting, he realized he had ended up in front of the Master Class hall. The next scheduled competition would be the next day, but plenty of people were going in and out of the hall as potential contestants, tourists and fans of specific coordinators darted to their business. The tattooed teen shook his head at his own spaciness and turned away from the building when a familiar voice shot through him like a dart, "Lucas, is that you?"
The teen turned around to face the girl who had spoken to him. Memory blended with reality as he took in the sight of the girl from her past. Shorter than him with a heart-shaped face, small nose and curvy body. She had shapely legs, a soft femininity to her that went beyond merely her physical appearance and sparkling blue eyes framed by medium brown hair that went down to her chin, "Ashley..."
"It is you, Lucas! It's been such a long time! It's so good to see you," Ashley came up to the Trainer and gave him a warm embrace, "I've been following your progress since you left Sinnoh. I'm so happy that things have been going so well for you. I take it you're on your way to the next Gym in Mossdeep?"
"Yeah, that's right, but I knew that I had to pass through Lillycove to get the Mossdeep ferry," before Lucas could realize what he was saying, "I knew it meant I'd have the chance to see you again,"
"I'm so glad I get to see you again," Ashley let go of the teen slowly.
"Ahem!" Skyler interrupted.
Lucas realized how rude he was being and introduced his new crush to his old one, "Ashley, this is my partner Skyler,"
"How wonderful to meet you. It's great to see Lucas not traveling alone for a change. I take it you two are staying at the Pokemon Center while you're in Lillycove, right?" Ashley replied, taking Skyler's hand warmly. The older teen responded tersely, his usual easy-going attitude seemingly vanished.
"Yeah, with my other traveling buddy Morgan. She's at the Center now," Lucas explained.
"Well then go and get her. As long as you're here I insist you stay at my house. My parents are out of town on business again and there's plenty of room. I'm going to show you the best the city has to offer and make you all a huge Lillycove dinner! I won't take no for an answer."
Strange feelings started bubbling up in Lucas' chest and once more he thought before speaking and replied, "We'd love to,"
The three went to the Pokemon Center to pick Morgan up. Morgan's reaction to Ashley was less hostile than Skyler's, but her thoughts of the Coordinator were hard to read. As Ashley gave her personal tour of the city she grew up in, Morgan asked lots of questions about the differences between Contests and competitive battles and how Ashley fit between both worlds. The Coordinator was also something of a local celebrity, being recognized at almost every store and even had her picture at the government building. Instead of a Gym Journey, Ashley had gone on the contest circuit almost immediately at age ten. Lucas had known the story from when he first met the girl in Sinnoh. She had competed at the Hearthome Super Contest and had ranked in one of the competitions. Though Morgan wasn't convinced to enter into contests herself, she grew to respect the art and challenge of raising and training Pokemon to show off their skills besides battle prowess with demonstrations of grace, coordination and intelligence.
Skyler remained quiet, and unusually sullen throughout the day, and his mood failed to improve as the Coordinator led the three back to her home. Being a teenager closer to Lucas' age than the other two Trainers, she still lived with her parents, but her quarters in her home were expansive, and clearly remodeled to give as much comfort to her Pokemon as much as their daughter.
"Morgan, you can sleep in my mom and dad's room. Skyler, you can have the guest room on the second floor and Lucas can sleep in the den on the first floor just down the hall from me," Ashley gestured as she pet her Ninetails Whisp, who had been sleeping on an elevated platform in the living room.
"Actually, Lucas and I can share the guest room," Skyler said curtly. The seriousness in his tone and body language made his Dragon Clan roots show more prominently, and seemed more authoritative.
"I told you, there's plenty of room, you don't need to squish together. That den is actually much, much larger than it sounds," Ashley replied.
Skyler's eyes narrowed dangerously but Lucas interjected, "I want to share a room with Skyler,"
The Coordinator blinked a few times but nodded, "Well, if that's what you prefer. I'll let you get your things settled and I can started on dinner,"
"I can help you once I'm done. I'm not much of a chef but I can chop and peel," Lucas added.
"Absolutely not. I've said it before, you are my guests. You will not lift a finger as long as you're in my house,"
The three Trainers did as they were insisted and went to put their things away in their rooms. Morgan went down the hall while Skyler and Lucas unpacked in the guest room. As Lucas went through his duffelbag Skyler said nothing. His strange behavior and out of character snaps were starting to worry his partner, "Skyler, is there something wrong? You've been acting weird all day. Did I say or do something to piss you off?"
Skyler gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and then let out a breath, "No, it's nothing you did. I'm the one being rude. I'm sorry and I'll try to be less serious during dinner. Ashley is a very sweet girl and she's being very kind to host us like this. I can understand why you liked her as much as you did,"
After cleaning up from the road, the three went down for dinner where Ashley had finished preparing the meal. The Trainers were astonished at the feast their hostess had put together in such a short time. Fish from the bay were prepared in a variety of ways with local fruits artfully cut and served on platters. There were even several bowls of Pokemon food for the three guests' teams. The food smelled as delicious as it looked, and after weeks of camp food and vending machine fare, the home-cooked meal was a welcome change.
When everyone released their Pokemon and sat down, Lucas held one Pokemon back, "Ashley, there's someone I'd like to introduce to you personally before we eat,"
"I've seen many of these Pokemon in the stories about you. It's so wonderful to see them in person, and it's so great to see you and Gizmo still thick as thieves as well,"
"Not this one," Lucas summoned the last Pokeball and the tall Lopunny, "This is Stella,"
Ashley clasped her hands over her mouth, "Oh Lucas she's beautiful. I can see exactly what parts are Rex and which parts are Luna. And you've raised her so well!"
"Of course I did, you gave her to me. I wanted you to see her yourself so you'd see I never forgot our friendship," Lucas replied. For several moments neither Trainer said anything, and those feelings in Lucas' chest came back as Ashley looked at him with tears in her eyes. A cup crashing to the ground broke the trance.
"Sorry about that," Skyler said gruffly, "I'll pay to replace it,"
Ashley shook her head and waved her hands, "Oh don't worry. Accidents happen. Anyway. I was so excited about showing you three my home today I didn't get much of a chance to ask any of you about yourselves. I want to know as much as possible about Lucas's friends. Since we have him in common that makes us friends too!" Ashley gestured and everyone started eating, "When did you meet Lucas, Morgan? And I didn't get a chance to mention it earlier, but I love your outfit, it's so daring! If you ever chose to get into Contests your image would be a big hit in the ring!"
"I met Lucas just east of Hearthome. We got into a huge fight over a wild Pokemon and we've been fighting ever since,"
"Oh, that must have been just after I left. I'm so glad Lucas managed to move on so quickly. I really felt bad about how we left things. Did you start dating right away or were you friends first?"
Morgan started laughing. A genuine, warm laugh unlike her usual snark. She laughed and laughed, tears running down her eyes and smearing her heavy makeup, pounding the surface of the table, struggling for breath and trying to get her composure, "You genuinely think. Me and Lucas. Are dating?"
She fell over with a fresh fit of cackles and Lucas glared at her, "It's not that funny,"
Ashley blushed, "Oh I'm sorry! When I saw the two of you—your look would be a very good match for Lucas'-and well, how suspicious you was acting of me earlier in the day, I just assumed. How silly of me!
"So does that mean you don't have a girlfriend right now, Lucas?"
Lucas chose his words carefully, "No, I don't have a girlfriend at the moment-"
"Lucas, I know what I'm about to say is so out of the blue and completely inappropriate, but ever since I saw you today I've had to get this off my chest, and I know if I don't I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I know in Hearthome I told you I wasn't interested in you, that I wasn't as infatuated with you as you were with me. At the time it was true. I've never dated a boy like you, and I haven't since, but when we said goodbye at the Pokemon Center and I gave you Luna's egg I couldn't let go of it. For the longest time I felt so bad, and I couldn't forgive myself or figure out why, and every time there was a story about you in Sinnoh I'd always read it, even if was just a paragraph long. The more I thought about you, the more I realized what an idiot I was back then. You were the kindest, most noble Trainer I ever met and I was a fool to not see it that night in the park. I know I have no right to ask this, no right to say this, especially after all this time but when I saw you today telling you this was all I could think about," Ashley spat out the words awkwardly and quickly, the other people in the room staring silently in shock and amazement. No one more so than Lucas himself, "Lucas I think I'm in love with you!"
In that moment even the Pokemon stopped eating and sat in silence. Diablo's ears flattened but no one else made a move. Lucas felt his face flush bright red and stammered out, "W-what?"
"I love you. It's been a year, but is there a chance you still have some feelings left for me?"
Lucas' mind went blank and his mouth flapped open and closed, not knowing how to react. Time seemed to stop entirely as everyone waited for him to react, including himself.
Finally the silence was broken by the sound of someone getting up from the table. Wordlessly, Skyler got up and left the room.