Playing the board game with Nurse Joy was surprisingly relaxing. They didn't talk about anything Lucas didn't want too, and Nurse Joy was always willing to listen to anything Lucas might have to say.

"So Lucas, if you don't mind me asking, what about your family? I don't think you and Red are related."

Lucas paused in his piece move, staring down at the board. Nurse Joy waited patiently for whatever he might say. "I- Mom died when I was nine. Claus disappeared then too. Dad was always looking for Claus, leaving me all alone."

Alone. Abandoned. "Grandpa… he was the one who said it best. Dad would go to Mom's grave, leave some flowers, go into the mountains to look for Claus, and I never really got to see him."

Nurse Joy nodded, pushing her piece forward. "That seems very lonely."

"I-I had Boney, but Boney is old now. He can't play with me anymore, and Dad… Dad is like a stranger. I don't know how to act around him."

He had been left alone for three years- Father was practically a stranger. They loved each other in an disconnected, odd way like you would a picture. It wasn't close, and it had no base, no foundation to it any longer. The three years had worn away any familiarity Lucas had with Father.

"You didn't have any friends?"

"There- There were a couple of other kids, but they…" They had been taken in by the Pig Mask army. They called him weird, made fun of him, thought of him as backwards and slow. "They didn't like me much."

Even after Lucas had exposed all of Pokey's lies, and reset the world with the Dragon's power, there was a thread of resentment. The life with Pokey was so much more interesting then the one that they had been reset too, after all. Happy Boxes, Dragon Points…

The concept of money stayed- once that door had opened, it couldn't be shut. But this wasn't what he ought to be thinking about. "Is Red your first friend since then?"

Was he? Ness had saved him in the Junkyard, but the two hadn't actually known each other then. Red… Red had been his first real friend, though Ness had very quickly taken best-friend status.

"Yeah. He was my first real friend. But then I met Ness, and Nana and Popo, and Toony- and so many other people." The adults of Smash Mansion were always nice to him, even if Lucas never really talked to them.

"But you left them to come here?"

"Ness was being-" Lucas's mouth snapped shut, and he sunk into his chair.

Nurse Joy seemed to know what he was thinking. Was she a psychic as well? "You and Ness had a fight?"

"I- Yeah." Lucas looked down, at Ralts head as the Pokémon hummed softly. "So Red and I- I don't remember how, we decided to go on a Pokémon Adventure." He smiled down at Ralts, and hugged him tightly. "I'm glad we did."

"I see." Nurse Joy smiled. "Is this part of the reason why you were so afraid of being abandoned?" Lucas's fingers froze on the game piece. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want too, but I am willing to listen."

It didn't take much to encourage the story out of him. To fill her ears with his own sorrow, while apologizing every half-minute for something she probably didn't want to hear, and her encouraging him to talk, until at last he just talked. He talked, and talked, game forgotten, his confusion and anguish piling out of him in a tidal wave of self-accusation.

Nurse Joy listened to him until the very end.

When he finished, all was quiet. Lucas didn't look at her, fiddling with the Joy Pendant attached to Ralt's handkerchief. "It sounds like to me, you've dealt with a lot, by yourself."

"There was Duster, and Kumatora and Boney though…" Lucas weakly protested. The butterfly wavered before his eyes.

"Lucas? Will you do me a favor?"

Red blinked as the e-mail reply dinged softly on his computer.

Your Pikachu's hairstyle is a year outta date. See, look- I even attached a picture of me in front of my new gym. Geeze, get with the times.

Red stared at the picture of Green in front of the gym, hair still spiked in the exact same way it had always been. He squinted at the picture. No wait-

A single spike was missing.

"Pika?"

Red turned the picture to Pikachu, who stared down at the picture with narrowed eyes. "Pika pi? Pikachu!"

Red nodded to the rather aggrieved response, scratching the Pokémon behind the ears. Pikachu's fur crackled with happy electricity, before Espeon tugged on its tail. Soon, the two Pokémon were dashing through the hallways. They were trained too well to leave behind a mess, or upset anything with their playing.

Red's eyes closed. He knew he had fallen asleep somewhere in there, but it went ignored as the door to Lucas and Nurse Joy opened and the two people walked out. Lucas was clinging to something in his hands, carefully being packed away in his backpack. Ralts and Wingull followed after him.

"Thank you for waiting so long."

"Sorry Red."

Red shook his head as he pulled himself to his feet. His legs instantly went pins and needles- he had been sitting for far too long. Espeon was immediately right beside him. "Did the therapy session go well?"

It was reaching about one in the morning. Lucas yawned as he nodded, "Yeah, it went really well. I think?"

"Yes, it did Lucas."

Red nodded, "Then I suppose I better get to the Police Station?"

Nurse Joy frowned slightly- "May I speak with you first?"

Red nodded, and she led him into the room.

A few minutes later, with a couple of suggestions, and a few pointed questions about Lucas, Red found himself outside of the Pokémon Center. Lucas wasn't allowed to go with him for this- Nurse Joy promised to bring him over by tomorrow afternoon if Red hadn't returned by then, but this was something Red wanted to keep Lucas separate from. Nurse Joy wouldn't allow Lucas to go either, citing a need to keep the boy from too much stress.

The roads were lit by streetlights, and completely deserted. His two Pokémon followed, as the pokéballs rumbled threateningly. The Police Center loomed before him, vaguely threatening.

Red pulled his cap down low, and stepped in.

Five pairs of eyes turned towards him. "Is that him?"

"Yeah." Steven stood up, and Red peered at the people behind him- One was the sea captain that brought them over. There was also Flint, identified from before, and two others that Red didn't recognize.

"Hey there kiddo." Flint grinned as he leaned backwards. "Name's Flint, I'm part of the Elite Four. Well, the elite four of another region entirely, but we all are elite four here, so don't even think about trying to escape. Only Steven really knows why we were all called here for one person though."

Steven held up his hands. "Before we get into any battles- I just wanted to ask. Are you part of Team Rocket?"

Part of the team that had changed his life for good and bad? Red shook his head in response to the question.

"How do we know he's telling the truth?"

"He was attacked by the man who was attempting to take off with the grunts that managed to get loose. The Interpool Police are attempting to research what is going on right now. They should be finished with questioning soon."

"That's fine I suppose- so the kid really is unrelated to them?"

"No, I don't think that either… But I suppose the end result lies up to you Wallace."

Wallace pursed his lips, cloak elegantly flowing from his shoulders. "I don't really know myself." Eyes evaluated Red for a few moments- "You do seem rather strong. But- well, the only truth that can be trusted is in a Pokémon battle."

Pikachu and Espeon growled simultaneously. A small crackle of electricity arced from Pikachu's back. "Well then Trainer- will you fight me? You may not be able to win, but I wish to see what your Pokémon have to say."

Red nodded. What Wallace was saying did make sense. "Bravo! Come then- let us battle with elegance and grace!"

The room rumbled, as the ceiling began to peel back. Red took a few steps back automatically, looking up as a large water tank began to drop from up above. Helicopters thundered in, and with a loud bang, the water tank thudded into the room.

"Wallace. When did you-"

"Ah, when I heard there was someone you considered strong, I ordered it right away." Wallace grinned at Steven's nonplussed look.

Red looked down- Venosaur, Pikachu, and perhaps Espeon would be best for the upcoming battles. Chariazard would be doused too fast to be of use, and Snorlax would sink like a rock. Blastoise was a water type himself, so that wasn't really of use…

Pikachu first- he was light enough to not sink in the water. "Now then! Let us battle with elegance and grace!"

Pikachu jumped to the front. "Now then, let us ascend-"

"There aren't any ladders." Steven's calm voice interrupted Wallace's, and the man turned slowly. Sure enough, the giant water tank lacked any way of reaching the top.

Red sighed as he pulled out a pokéball and let loose the pokemon inside in a flash of red light. Charizard glowered at the water tank. Red gestured to the top, and Charizard turned his head away. Like he was going to fly towards the giant pit of water-

A poffin was held up.

Charizard stared at it, then at Red. Red's face didn't twitch. Charizard's wings sagged for a moment. Carefully he licked up the Poffin, and spread his wings. In seconds, Red was standing at the top of the water tank on the top of a small platform, and recalling Charizard before he could get doused.

Wallace was left standing at the bottom of his tank, as his competitor stared down at him. Red smirked a little, eyes on his opponent. The Champion of Hoenn. Just how tough would he be? Would he be like Lance, with his dragon-types, where pure energy had crackled through the air, and his blood had sung.

The last time he had felt complete excitement over a purely Pokémon battle was when Gold had climbed the mountain to challenge him. Would Wallace be just as interesting?

Wallace was frowning up at him. Red smirked, eyes evaluating his opponent.

Wallace wasn't sure why exactly he was hesitating. This pressure that the child gave off… "Wallace?" The former champion looked at him. His eyes were soft and understanding. "He gives off a rather intimidating air, doesn't he?"

There was a cocky, self-assured smirk on the kid's face, as crimson eyes seemed to glow. A chill air hung over the battlefield, as if they were about to battle atop a frigid mountain rather then a water tank. If he listened close enough, he could hear the wind howl through crags in rocks.

The Pikachu perched on his shoulder didn't look very cute and cuddly either. It seemed to have the same eyes as the child- confident and ready to beat him down. It was the same look Ruby and Sapphire had in their eyes whenever they faced him.

Wallace swallowed hard, and ignored the question. Steven had seen this child fight once before, so he knew the answer. Each of the Elite Four gathered in the room could feel this power pulsing through the room. "Well then, it looks like I should get up there. Drake, can I ask for a lift?"

The Sea Captain nodded, and pulled out a pokéball. A Salamance took to the air, carrying Wallace to his doom- no, not doom, why did he already think he was going to fail? It made no sense- he was a very strong, powerful trainer after all. He shouldn't be thinking he was going to fail so quickly. Thoughts became actions. He would win this battle and find the truth behind this mysterious trainers words.

"At times your Pokémon should dance like a spring breeze, and at times they should strike like lightning. I want to feel bedazzled by your masterful performance!"

Wailord appeared in a flash of light- "Wailord! Use Rain Dance!"

Rain began to fall from the sky, obscuring the other trainer from view. Wallace smirked- as much of a cheap shot that was, if the other couldn't talk, then that gave him just that much more of an advantage over the other. "Now, use Water Spout!"

Water rushed in a straight line, directly for where Pikachu ought to be standing.

There was a flash from above, and Wallace couldn't help the gasp of surprise. Somewhere during the rain dance Pikachu had moved, and started charging itself up. A bolt of pure energy fell from the sky, slamming into Wailord.

The Pokémon didn't have a chance to react- he instantly began sinking. "A one-hit K.O. huh? Simply marvelous!"

His Wailord was no pushover. Just how strong was this Pikachu to be able too one-hit faint his Wailord? "Let's do this Tentacruel."

If he could just poison the Pikachu, then his victory would be self-assured. It was doubtful the child had another Pokémon that could hit as hard and as fast as Pikachu. "Tentacruel, Sludge Bomb!"

Purple blobs were hurled by long, long tentacles. Pikachu zapped the first two out of the air, before it was hit by the third. It wobbled slightly, before forcing itself to remain standing. "Pika!"

Electricity arced from rain-drop to rain-drop, slamming into Tentacruel. The Pokémon faltered for a moment, before rallying. With Tentacruel's clear body ability, there were no burns, but-

Pikachu jumped back to it's trainer who held out a single berry. The poison was instantly cleared from the Pokémon's system, putting an end to that plan before it could really take place. But that was fine, after all- "Tentacruel- Ice them!"

Water froze and tiny pieces of hail dropped into the pool. Pikachu cried out as he attempted to jump away. Wallace grinned- with that, Pikachu's concentration was broken, and he could get in two attacks-

The lightning bolt that shot down from the sky mercilessly slammed into Tentacruel, sending the Pokémon sinking towards the bottom. Wallace recalled the Pokémon, and reached for his next one, eyes on the battlefield. With the rain still falling, it was hard to see where exactly Pikachu was…

The icy mist cleared beneath the falling water, to reveal Pikachu. It's legs were covered in ice, caught by the attack. But Pikachu had continued charging its attack despite the pain. That was fine though- Wallace smirked. With Pikachu's range of movement reduced, there was no way it could faint the next Pokémon.

"Whiscash, show me again how elegant and superior you are!"

The water-ground type splashed into the water. He could see across the way, to where the kid stood. The hat was tugged down low, hiding whatever expression could be in those crimson eyes. "Go, use Earthquake!"

Pikachu let loose with another bolt of energy, that rolled off of Whiscash easily. The Pokémon flinched-

Clods of earth rose into the air, shaking the ground and causing cracks to appear in the floor. Pikachu cried out as it hurtled towards it-

There were two nearly simultaneous flashes of light. Wallace frowned in disappointment as his prey disappeared, even as he congratulated himself. One Pokémon down- though for the price of two was a very heavy price indeed. "Let us fight Whiscash! We will not let our earlier fight be in vain!"

Long vines whipped out of the rain, wrapping around the Wiscash and squeezing. Wallace took a step back automatically- "Frenzy Plant?" The powerful move slammed into Wiscash, nearly sending the Pokémon into a dead faint.

Wallace pulled out a full restore, and leaned down quickly. In seconds the Pokémon was up and moving- but that cost him precious, precious time. Large purple globs of poison were hurled by green vines, slamming into Wiscash and sending it reeling backwards again. Wallace's hand dipped into his pockets- All he had were four full restores, and he had just used one of them. "Wiscash, hang in there! Use Hyper Beam!"

Venosaur blinked, and folded in its leaves as the attack shot through the air. Across the battlefield, the child twitched, before holding still. Venosaur was too big and slow to move out of the way in time. The bolt struck true, slamming into Venosaur, and making the Pokémon stumble back a step. The leaves, crispy now, attempted to shake out some kind of powder.

"Wiscash, dive under the water, don't let it touch you! Ludicolo! Go!"

Wallace smirked at the other across the sea. "I hope you don't mind me speeding up this battle a bit! It's time for a double battle."

The guy across from him nodded, pulling out a second pokéball as well. Wallace snapped, "Ludicolo! Use Giga Drain!"

Ludicolo took a deep breath, before shooting bright green seeds towards Venosaur. The Pokémon didn't even flinch- instead it shot its own set of seeds out. They fell into the water.

The child across from him was writing away furiously, writing commands on his Pokémon's thick skin. It made Wallace wonder for a brief moment on how he had been giving commands earlier, before dismissing the question. It was unimportant now- his earlier attempt to keep him from communicating had failed.

His eyes flickered downwards, where Whiscash swam through the sea. Green plants grew, despite the water, as Venosaur shook out it's slowly greening leaves. The Leech Seed had worked, despite Venosaur's apparent miss.

Wait, what was the second Pokémon-

Water splashed and churned, as a giant Pokémon slipped under the surface. A Blastoise? Why not Pikachu?

Water rose in a solid wave, creating a surf-like attack. Wallace took an automatic step back as Blastoise blasted the water apart. Venosaur's vines whipped out in that moment, wrapping and choking around Whiscash. "Oh no!"

Wiscash flopped uselessly, and Blastoise took advantage of the trainers distraction to slam into Ludicolo. The grass type instinctively used Leech Seed, the small seedlings taking plant in Blastoise skin. The water Pokémon stumbled back, head shaking.

Another flash of red light, recalling Blastoise- he had been used exactly for what was needed. Wiscash was also recalled- he was out of the fight for the rest of the day. "Let's go, Gyarados!"

A small, yellow mouse darted forward, perching atop Venosaur's head. Electricity crackled dangerously. Somewhere during the battle, the kid had managed to completely heal his Pokémon- just how good was he to be able to do that? And with electrical attacks were super effective on flying-water types…

But he needed to eliminate that Venosaur. Pikachu by itself would be more then easy enough to handle if he could just eliminate that Venosaur.

The kid's hands were writing commands on Venosaur's back leg, quick and steady. "Gyrados! Use Earthquake!"

It might not get rid of the Venosaur, but it would upset Pikachu. And combined with Ludicolo- "Ludicolo, surf!"

The two attacks combined, sending a muddy, slippery mess towards the two Pokémon. Venosaur roared as its vines took to the skies, Pikachu clinging to them for dear life. The kid flattened himself behind his Pokémon, barely keeping from being buried himself as the muddy water broke around Venosaur.

It didn't hurt him too much- The grass-poison type even seemed to enjoy it a little, leaves shaking off water droplets. Pikachu up above bounced off the vines, electricity creating a halo around himself. Wallace swore impressively as he shouted, "Gyarados! Hyper Beam!"

Pikachu's attack would hit first- it was faster then the Hyper Beam that Gyarados had to charge. But- once charged, the attack would not stop. "Ludicolo! Use-"

Wallace command died midway as Ludicolo spun uselessly. The kid across from him smirked slightly. Poison. When had Venosaur attacked? "Return! Milotic!"

The beautiful Pokémon appeared in a flash of light, ready to attack and fight. Pikachu up above brought a bolt of pure energy onto Gyrados, making it fall back. Gyrados refused to faint. Instead, it's Hyper Beam slammed back into Pikachu, caught in mid-air with nowhere to go.

"Milotic! Ice Beam!"

The kid flinched- he must've forgotten about the Ice Beam. Wallace smirked as the Ice attack slammed into Venosaur. The Pokémon cried out in pain, leaves frozen solid. The kid scowled, and recalled his Pokémon- Venosaur was out of the fight completely.

There was a moment of silence as he looked up to Pikachu. Hands lingered close to pokéballs- Wallace wasn't about to let up for a moment. "Gyrados! Hyper Beam again! Milotic, ice that Pikachu!"

At the double attack on his one Pokémon, the trainer finally seemed to make a decision.

Espeon gracefully bounded into the situation, something clutched in her mouth as she used Swift to bound up into the sky. Wallace smirked- A psychic type against a water-flying? Especially one so small against the gigantic Gyrados?

There was a flash of red light, recalling Pikachu before the two attacks could hit. At the same moment, Espeon pressed her paw against the thing clutched in her mouth.

Wallace wasn't the only one gaping as Snorlax appeared in mid-air, hovering right over Gyrados. The water-flying had a pained look on his face, as if asking the world why him, before the Snorlax, as directed by gravity, crushed the giant Pokémon beneath its weight. Below, Steven winced sympathetically.

The two Pokémon sank into the water tank, which barely cushioning their fall. Water sloshed outwards, puddling across the floor along with earlier attacks. It was too much for Gyrados- caught between the electric attack and Snorlax's huge weight, it fainted dead away.

All that was left was Milotic.

There was no possible way he could win. As the red light recalled Snorlax before it could drown, and Pikachu once again took center stage, the end result was clear. Wallace stared at the boy across from him, crimson eyes on the champion. "Bravo. Simply marvelous. You and your Pokémon move with the purest of grace and beauty. But- I will not give in here! Milotic!"

The Pokémon shot off another ice beam, freezing the water in a straight path. Pikachu dashed straight for him, electricity crackling around him in a halo. Wallace watched with sad eyes as the last, final blow was struck.

Pikachu happily hopped from ice-block to ice-block back to its trainer. The kid smiled slightly as he picked Pikachu up, and held him up into the sky.

Clapping filled the air, as a voice that Wallace could not identify spoke. "What an astounding show of strength… Kanto Champion Red."

When a tornado started bearing down on Smash Mansion, no one took much notice. There wasn't really any need to take notice. Smash Mansion was, after all, a very safe place. Ness even mentioned going up onto the roof to watch the tornado.

When the Tornado turned out to be filled with copies of gooey bombs (and not pokéballs like Toon Link intended) people began to panic. Windows were boarded up with any available metal (Fox had sobbed pitifully in a corner as his Airwing was taken apart. Falco patted him consolingly on the shoulder) and everyone had 'battened down the hatches'.

Still, Ness, Nana, Popo and Toon Link all hadn't had any real idea on how to react when Zelda and Peach had gathered them away from the observatory. Toon Link just wanted to see what kind of havoc would be wrecked from his rather ill-thought out attempt at distracting everyone. "Come on then, we shouldn't stay out too long or we'll be caught in the storm."

"But can't Master Hand take care of it?" Ness whined, refusing to budge from his seat.

Captain Falcon easily picked him up to sling him across one shoulder. "He could, but Master Hand left earlier. He said that he was going to check on something that's been bugging him. Peach, Zelda, any news on Red and Lucas?"

"No. We haven't seen either of them, and we nearly have everyone gathered in the Kitchen."

Toon Link frowned. Why were these adults so hard to please? Every other adult was willing to let a problem go if sufficiently distracted… Unless- "I'll do it!"

"Hmm?"

"I'll go look for Red and Lucas. Me, Nana and Popo."

The three conspirators smiled innocently at the adults. Captain Falcon grinned in response, even as Ness started futilely pounding on Falcon's back. "That's nice, but I don't really think you guys should be out wandering around in this storm."

"Hey!" Nana and Popo scowled darkly. "Mountain winds while climbing are a lot worse then this! Especially when the blizzard's start rolling in!"

"Yeah, I remember that one blizzard, on Mount Athabasca. It was the first time we climbed a mountain by ourselves, wasn't it?"

The two puzzled over it for a few moments. Captain Falcon frowned, looking to the two women, who didn't look very happy themselves for a few moments. At last Peach smiled as she laid a gentle hand on their shoulders. "I know you both have done very brave things. So for me will you go to the dining room and wait there?"

It was always hard to tell Peach no- it was even harder when she gave you that hug that made you feel warm and fuzzy from the inside out. Nana and Popo nodded in response, and turned to the door with the same goofy looks on their face.

Peach grinned as she led them away, and Captain Falcon walked out with Ness. "Link?"

Toon Link looked up with a blink. Zelda, not his Zelda, but still Zelda in a way that only the other Link understood. She was staring at him like she would her Link. He swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat to be called his real name. "Link, do you know what is going on with Red and Lucas?"

"Kiiiiiinda?" Toon Link tried, fluttering his eyelashes at her. "But I promised Lucas not to tell."

Zelda nodded serenely. "I trust you. If you want, I could assure Peach that Red and Lucas are both safe. That would not break your promise, would it?"

It wouldn't but- it was kinda sad that he had already failed at keeping everyone's minds off of Lucas and Ness. But at least this way nobody would inquire too deeply to find out that Lucas had taken off to a world that wasn't his own.

"They are safe, correct?"

Toon Link grinned as he gave her two thumbs up. "Of course they are! Lucas is pretty brave, and Red's pretty good at fighting. Those two beat down Wario didn't they?"

Zelda smiled her serene smile as she nodded. "Yes, you are right. They both know how to take care of themselves. I just worry about Lucas. Red can be hard to understand, but at least they are of the same age."

Huh?

"HUHHHHH?! Red's twelve too? I thought he was like- sixteen! Sixteen or seventeen! No wonder he kept sitting at our table! I thought he just didn't like any of the adults…" Toon Link's eyes swirled as his entire world was rearranged with a single statement.

"Is that so? It always seemed to my wisdom that he was twelve years old just like you were." Zelda paused, looking off into the distance.

Toon Link shook his head. "I believe you Princess." I will always believe you. No matter how far the distance, or what you want me to do, I will always believe in you.

"Well, I do hope that Lucas will be reminded of his courage while with Red." Zelda smiled at Toon Link. "Link, would you like to come with me down to the dining hall?"

"Of course Princess." Link smiled at her, and walked beside her as they exited the room. Outside of the Mansion the wind of his tornado began to pick up loudly.

a/n: Oooh, who could the mysterious voice's owner be? Guess you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out~ And this chapter is a bit serious, but more light-hearted as well. Anyways, Guest, Mother 3 is just like the other Mother games, both amazingly saddening and yet astoundingly funny as well. I'm focusing on the angst here, but there will be a chapter later focusing on the more light-hearted elements (like Mr. Saturn's). Congrats on your WiiU :D
Thank you all for your reviews! It makes me really want to continue this story :) I already have about 80% written, I just need to finish up with the last two-three chapters and then we can all wait to see the conclusion to this adventure. It'll probably end up being around 20 chapters, so I hope you're ready for the long haul!