Eight – Luciform

"Um…what is this exactly?"

"You know, I don't really know. I just heard about it in the papers earlier." Both C and Ava looked at the sign above them. It said 'Luciform Costume and Design Store'. The text was a golden color, with the background of the sign was red. The text seemed to be painted on, with several paint marks on it. "Let's go in."

They walk in the front doors, to see many costumes all over the place. It contained many different costumes, ranging from black to white, red to purple, purple back to red, and anything in between. It also had sizes from small to large in general, size Small to at least Triple X Large. It doesn't seem to be a casual store like any other store.

They walk forward, Ava looking at the crimson red colored carpet. She then looks up, seeing a stand up front. C looks at the person at the stand. He was wearing a beanie cap with glasses that has a thick black lens. He was also wearing a yellow scarf to somewhat match his long main yellow and design black jacket. He also wore a black turtle neck shirt.

"Hello," started the person behind the stand, "Welcome to Luciform, how may help you?" He looked down. "…And your Glaceon?"

"Nothing much," C responded, "Just need to find something that will…seem decent."

"Alright, just follow me." He looks at someone else who was looking at one side of the costumes. "Hey Lenny!" The person he was talking to turned to him. "Take over." He walked over to the stand.

The man was in the front, having C and Ava behind him. "So how long have you had the scarf?" C asked.

"I've had it for at least seven years," the man responded. "Back when a few friends and I were given scarfs of different colors. After the incident of a friend being sniped in the eye…" He looked over to C, seeing several scars over his eye. "…Uh…" He looked over to the main room, "Hey Lenny! Can you take over longer than expected?"

"Sure." Lenny yelled out.

"Thanks." He looks back at C. He smiled at him. "I thought you were dead."

"I am," C responded, "I am dead."

"Well, you don't get that every day, do you?" They both hugged, and released after 1 second.

"Um…" Ava started, "Who's this?"

"This is Gen," C responded, "Short for Genesis. He was a friend back in my childhood."

"So you're dead?" Gen asked.

"Yes—"

"How are you walking around freely?"

"Long story, but I can do this:" He touched a wall, and made the wall age out. Gen saw as C scraped the wall, the wall dust coming off of the wall. He then touched the wall again, forming the wall back to its original state; the gap where the dust came off is filled back with wall.

"Wow," Gen said, "And the Glaceon?"

"Her name is Ava," C responded. Ava looked at Gen. "She was from the Surface."

"Ah, the Surface; I've heard bad things there." This caught Ava's attention. "Frasier once tried to go there…" This caught C's attention, "…He said he should be back by the next day; but he never came back. Hard to say what happened to him after that time."

"Uh…" C started, "I just found him not too long ago…"

"Really?" Gen asked.

"Yeah…about a foot under…" Gen stayed quiet for a while, then said,

"That really explains why he never came around…" He took off his cap, revealing his medium length white hair.

"Uh…you're hair color seemed to change…"

"I know…it started to change a little after I got this scarf. Not sure why it ended up like that. So I wear this cap to cover it up so people won't see that I'm not old."

"So how old are you now?" C asked.

"I'm sixteen. Do you still have an age or what?"

"I'm still going with the age I was supposed to have before I died. So right now, I would be, still am, fourteen."

"Okay." He looked back at the costumes. "Follow me; I can help you find something here."

About 20 minutes later…

C came out of the dressing room, in the clothing that Gen picked out. He was wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt, with the top red Poké Ball on the left side, and azure jeans. He still had the shaded glasses.

"Okay, it seems decent…" Gen said, "but not decent enough. I don't think you should worry about that for now. Are you still gonna wear the scarf?"

"Yes," C responded.

"Okay then… Do you need the long jacket?"

"Probably not; do you have something shorter in length?" C asked. Gen thought about it for a moment, then said,

"Yeah, I think so.…In the same design and color?"

"Sure, I guess. If not, then better."

"Alright then."

After a while, Gen came back with a black jacket with no design at all. "This is the first thing I found."

"Alright." C puts it on, looking at Gen.

"You don't have to pay for those; I can see why… I'll just put these," raising C clothing by a little bit, "away in a locker."

"Okay…can I ask you something?"

"Sure, just let me put this up first." After a few minutes later, Gen came back to C and Ava. "Okay, what do you need?"

"Okay…" C started, "have you ever…talked to Pokémon before?"

"Yes—"

"Like, actually talk to them in the language we speak."

"Yes, why else do you think I didn't ask you if you were talking to uh…" he started to snap his fingers, "…Ava?"

C thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Do you have any Pokémon?"

"Yeah," Gen responded, "I have a Jolteon. He ran away as an Eevee from the Surface, and I met him a few days after. I had a Thunderstone and gave him the option to evolve or not. He did, so he's a Jolteon now. I didn't want him to put him in a Poké Ball, but I asked him and agreed to be in one."

"Do you have him right now?" Ava asked.

"Yes, I do," Gen responded, he moved his right side of the jacket and revealed the Poké Ball in his belt. It was about the size of a standard golf ball. "Want me to take him out?"

"Yes, please." Gen took out the Poké Ball and pressed on the button. The Poké Ball grew in size to about the size of a baseball. He threw the Poké Ball to the ground; it landed and bounced halfway, and opened up. Bright blue lights appeared out of the Poké Ball. A Jolteon was formed on the floor from the bright lights. Eventually the bright lights disappeared and the Jolteon was on the floor. The ball came up to Gen's hand.

The Jolteon looked at C. He then looked at Ava. "Uh…Gen," the Jolteon started, "…Who are these people?"

"This is a friend who always wanted to go by the letter C…" Gen responded looking at C. He turned to Ava, "…and this is Ava."

The Jolteon kept staring at Ava, "You're from the Surface, right?"

"Yes," Ava responded, "Why do you ask?"

"You were a friend of Amber, right?"

"Yes…" Ava looked down, "She had a good life…"

"So she…" the Jolteon looked away, "Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah…" C said. The Jolteon looks up at him.

"You can understand me?" the Jolteon asked.

"Yes, I can," C responded. "Just like Gen over here." The Jolteon looks at C's scarf, then at Gen's scarf.

"Is it because of the scarves?" the Jolteon asked. C looked at his red scarf, Gen looking at his yellow scarf. C takes off his scarf, and looks around, "Can you still hear me?"

"Yeah, I can," C responded. He puts on his scarf again, hiding the ends within the jacket. "It could be after we received the scarves…"

"Just the two of us…or…?" Gen asked.

"Maybe also the others…" C responded.

"Who are the others?" the Jolteon asked.

"The other friends involved…" C responded. He thought about it for a moment, and then he asked to the Jolteon, "Do you have a name?"

"Yes. It's Joule. Why?"

"Just asking." C looked at Gen, "Should we go to Frasier's house…?"

"No, I think they already found out…"

"Okay…" C thought some more, and then asked, "Where are the others?"

"From those who received the scarves?"

"Yeah."

"The nearest one lives in the nearby city by this city."

"Okay—where would that be?"

"Maybe we should go with you. You might get confused by the directions I would say."

"Okay." C looked at Ava, "You okay with them joining along?"

"Sure," Ava responded.

"Alright, we go."

"Alright," Gen said, "Let's go." They walk to the front door. Gen turns back to the front desk. "Hey Lenny! Take over; I may not be back after today!"

"Got it!" The 4 walk off from the Luciform Costume and Design Store, hoping to find the next city.