The Platinum Adventure
Disclaimer: Check last chapter.
Kenshin: Well, I got you a crown diamond necklace.
Ester: Oh wow! It's really beautiful! I accept your apology!
Kenshin: So, you'll stop cutting me up?
Ester, kisses Kenshin: Of course. Blood is not a good fetish. So what happens in this chapter?
Kenshin: Lucas ends his battle with Fantina, Buizel becomes Floatzel, the bond between him and Cheryl starts to grow and they meet some Psyduck. This and many other things will be present in this chapter. Cue music.
Insert Together by Akiyoshi Fumie
Journal Entry 4: Cheryl, Togepi and Lucas
"I choose you, Haunter!" Fantina tosses her second pokeball, sending out the Ghost Pokemon Haunter. The purple specter laughs as it appears before Gible.
"Another Ghost type…I guess this is a Ghost type gym, though I should have suspected from the maze. Gabriel, use Dragon Rage!" After his first sentence, Lucas commands his Pokemon to fire at the ghost.
"What did I tell you before?" Haunter flies high up to dodge the ball of energy, and then reappears before Gible. With a smirk Fantina then concludes with, "The same things won't work on me. Lick attack!"
Haunter stretches out its tongue and licks the tiny dragon, which wobbles around paralyzed by its disgusting feeling. Lucas feels frantic at his Pokemon's new condition. "Gible, dig underground!"
Even though it heard him, Gible was unable to go underground and get away from him. Fantina sighs. "Like I figured; you don't seem like a challenge at all. Haunter, crush him with Shadow Claw!"
Haunter shoots out its left claw, and reaps at the tiny dragon. Gible falls to the ground unconscious. Lucas sighs in defeat and returns Gible to its ball. "You did pretty good Gabriel. Now time for the others to finish what you started."
Lucas places Gabriel's ball around his waist, and takes out a Nest Ball. He tosses it out and brings forth the Gligar from before. "Let's go Gligar! Use Fury Cutter!"
Gligar flies towards Haunter and swipes at it, doing really minor damage. I mean it's like it didn't even attack it. Fantina laughs at him then commands, "Haunter, give him a Night Shade."
Haunter's eyes glow black and purple, and shoot twin beams of dark energy at Gligar. "Dodge and use Knock Off!"
Using its decent speed the flying scorpion dodges the Night Shade and slams its right claw at Haunter's face. The ghost backs away and rubs its head then glares back at Gligar.
"Haunter, don't let yourself be beaten by an enemy. Use Shadow Claw!" Both of Haunter's claws begin to glow with dark energy, as it flies towards Gligar.
"X Scissors!!" Gligar charges at Haunter with its own attack. The two of them collide with one another intensely.
The two fly past one another, both in the air and silent. Gligar falls to the ground unconscious, showing that it was unable to battle. But the same was true for Haunter, who falls to the ground fainted.
"Wow. Not many people can KO both Duskull and Haunter." Fantina returns her ghost to its ball, and hangs it with the rest. She takes out her last ball, and enlarges it. "Guess it's time for my ace to arrive; Bring a beautiful scene for all to seen, Mismagius!"
Upon tossing her Pokeball she sets free her last and strongest Pokemon, the evolution of Misdreavus. The purple Pokemon looks down at Lucas, who stares at it in shock. "Wow, now this is new. Well, I guess I should use him. Go, Geyser!"
Lucas sets out his sole Water Pokemon. This would be the best choice; Buizel has been trained to become fast enough to dodge its special attacks. The water Pokemon also is on the verge of evolving, which should be enough near the end of this match.
"Let's begin this final battle; never give up, never surrender!" Fantina shouts, as Mismagius flies forward at Buizel. "Psybeam!"
"Agility!" Geyzer uses high-speed movement to dodge the beam, and the consecutive ones later on.
Geyser makes a final leap to dodge the last beam, and appears upside down behind Mismagius. Lucas then shouts, "Water Gun!"
Buizel shoots a blast of water at the ghost, hitting dead at its target. Buizel lands back on its feet. Mismagius glares at the weasel in front of it as leaves pop out of nowhere. Fantina sighs then shouts, "Use Magical Leaf!"
The leaves shoot at Buizel. Lucas commands it by saying, "Dodge them with your Agility!"
Buizel tries his best to avoid the leaves coming at him, but they didn't stop in their tracks. The leaves continue to follow him, even with its intense speed.
'Damn, at this rate those leaves will get him.' "Destroy those leaves with Swift!" Geyzer stops in its tracks and opens its mouth while staring at the leaves, firing stars out from its throat to collide with and destroy the opponent's attack.
The attacks make an explosion, one that blocks their vision. But it didn't stop Fantina. "Shadow Ball!"
A ball of dark energy shoots from the other end of the smog and blasts Buizel, sending it flat on the ground. "Geyser!"
Buizel tries its best to rise up, but even though it was the only attack that got it the weasel still feels weak. "C'mon Geyser! You got to get up!"
Geyser slowly rises up to its feet, staring Mismagius in the eyes. Even with it standing back up Fantina was still not impressed. "I'm amazed you still wish to push your Pokemon this hard, but this is also a sign showing that you don't know when to give up. The way I see it, you should forfeit, train some more and come back. At least, you'll be able to interest me."
"Is that what you think?" Lucas asks her with a look of determination on his face. "Geyser's the stubborn type, one who doesn't give up that easily."
Just as he says this Buizel stands his ground as he stares at the ghost ahead of him. "Even if I wanted him to stop, he isn't going to. That's just who he is; a Pokemon who will fight with all he has until the end."
"What a reckless Pokemon. What's the point in having a Pokemon who doesn't quit when it's beat?" Fantina asks the kid.
"Because he knows I'll support him; that's the proof of our bonds." Lucas states, as Geyser shouts out in agreement. Suddenly, the water weasel is covered in a bright light, masking its outline and appearance. Its body shape grows in size. "Geyser?"
"It's evolving!" Cheryl comments, as she stares directly into the light.
The light dies out, and Floatzel now stands where Geyser is. Lucas's mouth opens unconsciously. "Wow, he really did evolve."
Lucas then scans his newest addition. 'Floatzel, the Sea Weasel Pokemon. It is a common sight around fishing ports. It is known for rescuing people and carrying off prey. It's special attack is Aqua Jet.'
"Well, it seems this match isn't as one-sided as you thought anymore." Lucas says to Fantina, who was just as surprised.
"Do you really think he can still win, with the injury gained from that Shadow Ball? Give him another!" Mismagius does what she orders, and fires a ball of darkness at Floatzel.
"Use Aqua Jet!" Following his commands, Floatzel covers itself with water and rockets forward at the ghost pokemon. At this speed it dodges the Shadow Ball and crashes into Mismagius.
The ghost Pokemon falls back after being hit, but rises back up. Fantina tenses up at the situation. "Use Psybeam!"
"Water Gun!" Mismagius charges up its psychic attack. Floatzel opens its mouth and fires off a stream of water, canceling out Mismagius' attack and knocking it back down.
"End this fight with Crunch!" Floatzel leaps at the ghost Pokemon, and sinks its large mouth into it. The water Pokemon then lifts the ghost up and tosses it in the air. Mismagius crashes to the ground, fainting finally.
"And with that, I win!" Lucas shouts, throwing his fist into the air in victory.
"Lucas won!" Cheryl cheers, clapping her hands together.
Fantina returns her ghost ace to its ball, and looks up at Lucas. "Well, it seems you are fantastically strong. I believe I know now your true power."
"You got that right!" Lucas states proudly. Geyser raises his arms in triumph, just before being returned to its ball.
"I am dumbfounded. I underestimated you, but in the end you were strong. Especially your Pokemon." Fantina admits to her defeat, and takes out a purple shiny object. "In honor of your admirable strength, I shall award you this badge."
She hands him the Relic Badge, which he takes with glee. "Alright, I got the Relic Badge!"
"With that badge, you now can use Defog. Once you find the HM you'll be able to blow away fogs with bug or flying Pokemon." She explains.
"Well I doubt that could be useful." Lucas mentions, not being one who uses tricks.
"Aw, but you must remember; there are so many other trainers out there, lots of them strong like you. But have patience; after all with five gym badges you are indeed a worthy trainer." Fantina says, and then she turns around and walks away.
"Five? This is my third badge." Lucas admits, before opening his badge case to reveal his two other badges: the Coal Badge and the Forest Badge.
Fantina grows a look of surprise, and mostly horror. "You mean I lost to someone with two badges!? You're that strong?!"
"What are you talking about?" Cheryl asks the purple dressed woman.
"Look at the badge case." Fantina points to Lucas' case, to which they both stare at. Lucas then places the Relic Badge in the third badge slot, but it doesn't fit. He then tries the one under the Coal Badge, and surprisingly it's a perfect slot in. Lucas and Cheryl gasp.
"So you're the fifth Gym Leader? How does that work out?" He asks her.
"It's just as it looks. Most trainers don't battle me right away and go after Marlene and Wake first. Were you really that confident in fighting me?" Fantina asks him at that last sentence.
"Not really…I just wanted to challenge you. But I guess I might be able to stand against the next two." Lucas says with confidence and a smile.
Fantina rubs her forehead with her index right hand finger, and Cheryl smiles while looking at him from behind. Lucas then says, "Well, thanks for the Badge. We'll be leaving this creepy ass place now."
"Thank goodness!" Cheryl shouts, as the two of them leave the building haste fully.
"Maybe if you come around one time we can have a contest battle! I'll show you how beautiful my Pokemon can be outside of the ring!" Fantina then makes a twirl.
"Sure, maybe!" Lucas shouts back with a smile. By the time they reach the door, Lucas turns to Cheryl and whispers, "Let's get the hell out of here!"
"You don't have to tell me!" And so the two friends left the building and went to the Pokemon center. Fantina continues twirling around.
--
"Here you go; your Pokemon are now healed." Nurse Joy says to Lucas, handing back his three Pokemon.
"Thank you." Lucas takes his tray of Poke balls back, placing them around his waist. "Now for the next gym."
"Well, on the Town Map the third gym is in Veilstone City, but to reach there we have to go through Solaceon." Cheryl says as she looks at a map on the walls of the Pokemon center.
"Good. We'll head out early in the morning." Lucas says as he takes her hand.
"What are you doing?" She asks him.
"Aren't we going to bed?" Lucas asks her. She quickly grows red in the face at his words. "Unless you want to go train outside…"
"Huh? No, of course I'll be going to bed." She says to him, as Lucas and her walk to their set up beds. As she does the egg in her bag starts to shake wildly, gaining their attention. "Are?"
She digs in her bag and pulls out the Pokemon egg, which is beginning to crack. The egg starts to glow before it breaks apart. Lucas and Cheryl stare at the bright light in amazement, Cheryl commenting on its beauty.
The egg finishes glowing, revealing it to be the Spike Ball Pokemon Togepi. "Priii!"
"Wow, it hatched!" Lucas says with excitement.
"It's so darling. Welcome to our family, Togepi!" She then hugs her new Pokemon, who responds back with a friendly squeal.
Instead of giving it a Pokeball, Cheryl decides to sleep with her Pokemon. After all it's still a baby. Sitting in beds placed across from one another the two friends lie down and begin to sleep. "Goodnight Lucas."
"Night, Cheryl."
--
Lucas and Cheryl exit the Pokemon Center with the two seated bike ready to go. "Ready Cheryl?"
"Ready." Cheryl gets on the back seat of the bike, following Lucas who sits in front of her. Togepi, still out of its ball, sits inside of Cheryl's bag for safety. She then wraps her arms around him, bringing up a blush on the growing teen's face. Lucas then begins pedaling with her following, and they head east to the gate.
As they head through the gate, they continue until coming before a familiar face: Paul. "Hey, Lucas!"
"Paul? What are you doing here?" Lucas asks him.
"I came to see if your Pokemon are in top form. A one on one battle should tell me if you're training them right! Go, Lucia!" He tosses a Pokeball, releasing Prinplup from its ball.
"Fine. I guess I can't avoid this; go, Gabriel!" Lucas releases Gible, who squeaks as it appears.
"A ground Pokemon? Big mistake; use Bubblebeam!" Prinplup opens its mouth and fires multiple bubbles at the tiny shark, which jumps up to dodge the attack.
"Dragon Rage!" Gible opens its mouth and fires at Lucia, enveloping it in the dragon ball. Gabriel lands in front of Lucia, who wiggles off the smoke from the last attack.
"You ain't winning this fight so quickly. Use Metal Claw!" Prinplup lunges at Gabriel with glowing arms, and slashes at it.
Gible rolls on the ground in pain, just as the penguin continues with its assault. "Give him another Metal Claw!"
"Bite the attack." Gabriel opens its mouth and bites its hand, and then slams Prinplup down.
"What?" – Paul
"Now use Sandtomb!" On Lucas' orders, Gabriel presses its hands to the ground and sand rises up and covers Prinplup, trapping it inside.
"This isn't going to work; Water Gun!" Prinplup releases a stream of water to blow away the sand, which is successful.
But Gabriel had leaped into the air above it. Lucas then shouts, "Dragon Rage!"
Gabriel releases another ball of energy at Lucia. "Counter with Bubblebeam!"
The two attacks collide with one another. But with the Dragon element's stronger trait over Water it overcomes Bubblebeam and blasts the penguin away. Prinplup falls to the ground unconscious.
"Once again I win." Lucas says, as he returns his Pokemon back to his ball. Paul returns Lucia back, and looks up at Lucas.
"Damnit, I lost again. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should train only some…" Paul thinks over, as he looks at his Pokeball.
"I guess that's what I'll do. Smell ya later!" Paul then runs off, leaving the two of them to stare while watching him leave.
"What's with that guy?" Cheryl asks Lucas, who walks back to the bike. "He didn't even say hi to me."
"Well, that's just who he is. Once he sets his mind on something he'll go to the ends of the earth to go through with it and ignore all other things." Lucas explains to her with a sigh. "Let's forget about him. We'll see him again sooner or later."
"Sure." And so the two friends continue biking through the route, heading for Solaceon village.
On the way they come before a crumbled tower. Cheryl soon feels a rumbling in her pocket, and stops the bike with her back pedals. Lucas looks back and asks her, "What's up?"
"My pocket's rumbling." She says to him, digging in her pocket to pull out a small keystone. "It's this thing."
"Where'd you get that?" He asks her, as she rises up and walks to the crumbled tower.
"I got it from some weird guy. He placed it in my hand and crept away silently." She stops by the tower. "I think it's reacting to this tower."
"What? What are you doing?" Lucas asks her.
"Well, I remember that guy telling me something about Route 209 and Stone Tower. I think this is it." Cheryl looks down the tower, and saw a tiny slot where the stone might fit. She bends down and places the keystone in its slot. As she does black fumes emit from the item, and a plate appears underneath it, spelling out 'Hallowed Tower'.
Not long after the plate appears, the part of the tower where Cheryl is leaning over crumbles off, and she falls in totally shocked. Lucas pales as she falls in and rushes after her, shouting out her name. "Cheryl!"
She continues falling down before, but as she does Togepi squeals in excitement, and moves its tiny arms left and right. "Togepi!"
Cheryl reaches out and grabs the tiny Pokemon as they reach the bottom. Before she does her Pokemon stops swinging just as they start glowing. The two of them then disappear in a flash of light.
"Cheryl, are you okay? Cheryl!!" Lucas calls out. His hearts pounds at the speed of a jackrabbit at the thought of what her fate might be.
Just as he was about to send out a Pokemon, Cheryl and Togepi appear behind him in a flash of light. Lucas stops as he looks at her, and soon his heart calms down. "Oh thank goodness you're okay…"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't understand what happened…" Cheryl was just as confused as him at the moment, as Togepi chirps happily.
Back with the tower the keystone rises up from the well-like bastion and lands in front of the two friends. It then cracks open, as a ghost-like enigma appears before them. "It's a Pokemon!"
"Wow. Who knew you had a Pokemon with you that whole time? Ready to catch it?" Lucas asks her, who turns to face him quickly.
"Hold on, I can't just battle this Pokemon. I don't even know what it is!" She says to him, sounding slightly scared at this Pokemon's appearance.
"C'mon Cheryl. You can do it. I believe in you, so you should too." Lucas says to her.
"Lucas…" Cheryl blushes at the compliment she received, and takes out a Pokeball. But as she does Togepi leaps out of her arms. "Togepi, wait!"
"Togeprii!" Togepi wiggles its arms left and right once more, and they start to glow.
"It's doing that thing again…" Cheryl remembers the trick she did before.
Suddenly, after Togepi does so the ghost Pokemon spreads out and releases a ghastly wind at the Normal Pokemon. Togepi takes the hit, but doesn't feel pain. "It's a normal type. Ghost attacks don't work!"
"Wish I had known that." Lucas mutters, slumping to the ground at that new information.
Togepi finishes its hand movements, and a stream of flame comes out of its mouth at the ghost, incinerating it. Cheryl opens her mouth in shock. "Wow."
"That was Flamethrower." Lucas says, as he looks in his Pokedex. "Apparently Togepi can use Metronome, which lets it use a random move it thinks up. Is that how you two got out?"
"I believe so. It did remind me of the move Teleport." She comments. The ghost Pokemon rises back up and glares at Togepi and its trainer.
"Togepi, use Metronome again!" Cheryl shouts with a happy tone. Togepi chirps happily and twittles its hands again. But the ghost Pokemon was not going to allow it, and shoots out a part of its body at Togepi.
"Togepi!" Cheryl runs in and grabs hold of Togepi, rolling along the ground as they dodge the attack. There is no way she would allow anyone to hurt her precious baby. At that moment when she stops, Togepi stops its Metronome and releases a magnetized shockwave at the ghost Pokemon.
"That was Thunder Wave." Lucas says while watching with his Pokedex. The now paralyzed ghost Pokemon retreats inside the stone, with its fumes still leaking out. "Cheryl, go catch it now!"
"You got it!" She reaches inside her bag and pulls out a Great Ball she got from Lucas. Throwing it she yells, "Pokeball, go!"
The ball nabs the ghost stone, and lands on the ground where it once was. After a few shakes, the ball stops finally, as Cheryl walks over to it. She grabs it and raises it up in the air. "Yatta! I caught a Pokemon!"
"So you hate having to go in any places dark and ghost related but you have no problem catching a ghost Pokemon?" Lucas asks her, hoping to fill up this plot hole.
"I have no problem with something if it's a Pokemon. After all I can fight back at them. But for something I know nothing about or have control over it just scares me." Cheryl explains, placing the ball around her waist. As Togepi chirps she picks it up and hugs the baby Pokemon. She looks at Lucas and asks him, "Lucas, what is this anyway?"
"Well let's see; 'Spiritomb, the Forbidden Pokemon. Its constant misdeeds and mischief resulted in it being bound to an odd keystone by a mysterious spell'." Lucas says as he reads Spiritomb's profile on the Pokedex. He's growing ever closer to completing his project.
"So now we have another troublemaker, and the fourth addition to my team." Cheryl says, smiling as she looks at Togepi. The tiny baby falls asleep in her arms, tempting them both to squeal 'Aw'.
"Well now that that's over with, let's continue to Solaceon." Lucas says, returning to the bike. Cheryl places Togepi in her bag, and joins Lucas on the bike, returning her arms around him they precede with pedaling towards their next destination.
"I'm glad you're okay. I was worried something bad would have happened." Lucas whispers to her while riding.
"Well, I was fine. You didn't have to." She says to him, embarrassing the boy for his worries. Closing in up on his ears the blushing girl whispers, "But thanks. I'm glad you care about me."
"Eh?" Lucas blushes as well from her words.
Even with this conversation still in their minds it didn't take them long to reach the entrance to Solaceon. Next to the Town entrance stands a tall gray building, which catches Lucas' attention.
"Wow. What's that?" Lucas asks no one in particular.
"That's the Lost Tower." An old man sitting beside the tower says. Lucas and Cheryl turn to face him, as he continues with, "It's where the souls of dead Pokemon go."
"Souls of dead Pokemon? So there aren't ghost Pokemon?" Cheryl asks him with fear poisoning her voice.
"That sounds interesting, even more interesting than the idea of putting Kingdom Hearts on the Wii." Lucas says, making a completely off topic reference. He then gets off the bike and walks to it. "I want to check it out."
"L-l-let's not and-d-d say we d-d-d-did!" Cheryl stutters as she grabs his left arm. She then pulls him to Solaceon with the over her shoulders.
"Aw, but it sounds fun." Lucas complains to her. He is obviously dead set on this.
"No way! There's no way you can beat the ghosts of Pokemon!" She argues back with fear, pulling him back into town.
"You wouldn't make it to the top anyway. There's a deep fog that blocks people from advancing any further." The old man informs them, bringing Lucas to defeat. None of his Pokemon know Defog.
"I got to find that HM." Lucas mumbles to himself.
As Cheryl drags him into town, Paul approaches them once again. Without paying attention to Cheryl he pushes her away from him and lifts Lucas to his feet.
"Lucas, what are you doing? It's about time you got here." He says to his friend, as Lucas brushes his clothes of dirt.
Cheryl tries to get back up and tear him to pieces, but is tangled in the bike she was dragging. Lucas then asks him, "Whatever. Any reason you're here now?"
"Oh I just wanted to tell you about the ruins this village has. There is an HM down there that should help you move on, and it has an interesting Pokemon you should add to your Pokedex." Paul says, as his leg begins to twitch.
"Really? Then I could study the ruins." Lucas mutters to himself as he thinks it over.
"Anyway, I trained my team there. I'll be leaving now. Ja ne!" He then jets off, heading north of the town.
Cheryl finally gets herself off of the bike, furious and enraged. "Where is that bastard!"
"He left. But he did give us some good advice." Lucas says, as he looks around for some local. "Hey sir. Do you know where the ruins are?"
"Well, if you're here for that then go northeast of where you are." He then points to where the ruins would be.
"Thank you." Lucas then grabs the bike and begins to pedal alone. "Ready Cheryl?"
"I'm going to the Pokemon Center!" She shouts at him, sounding totally angry. She then storms off, while Lucas watches her stomp away.
"Are?"
--
Lucas walks inside of Solaceon ruins, his interest rising high. As he enters the ruins he notices a set of writings on one of the walls. He walks closer to it with interest, and gets a much better look at it. But as he looks at it he lifts his eyebrow in confusion.
"Huh?" The words on the wall were written in some strange language. Lucas could not tell what they were.
Suddenly he hears a squealing noise, gaining his attention. Turning around he sees a black Pokemon floating in the air. But what intrigues him more is that the Pokemon almost looks like the letter E. Of course there's a giant eye on its body that may make you think otherwise, but it still resembles one.
"What the hell is that?" Lucas scans the Pokemon with his Pokedex, but without catching it he could only get its name 'Unknown'. "Well that doesn't help."
Another squeal noise grabs Lucas' attention beside him, and he sees another Unknown. But this one is shaped like an F. "It's a different shape!"
Then it clicks; those letters on the wall are Unknown! If his theory is true then there are 26 different Unknown that take the shape of letters. And if that was true, he could read the wall. Turning back to the wall Lucas begins to try and decipher it.
"So that's what it says." Lucas then heads further down into the ruins, going past the many Unknown he sees.
As he heads down deeper he notices six of them have come together, and he could read them as the word FRIEND. "Wow. That's kind of cool."
He continues deep underground, and finally comes to the end. There he sees another wall with the same type of words on it as the one above. Lucas begins to read them. 'FRIENDSHIP. ALL LIVES TOUCH OTHER LIVES TO CREATE SOMETHING ANEW AND ALIVE.'
"I'm not sure I know what that means…" He mumbles to himself. The trainer then looks around, and notices two items on the ground. He bends down to pick the first one up, which looks like an HM disk.
"Finally, I got it! Now I can explore that tower. I could get allot of training done there too." As Lucas thinks it over he remembers that Cheryl was upset at him.
He then realizes that when Paul pushed her it really got under her skin to be ignored like that. Lucas then remembers that she also yelled at him, and it might have been because he neglected to stand up for her. "I really should apologize…"
Lucas then notices the object that was beside the disk, and picks it up. "It's a nugget. These things are rather pricey!"
Lucas then comes up with an idea; he could buy her a gift to make up for his naivety. After all, girls like expensive things right? So with this in mind Lucas walks back up the steps to head outside the ruins.
After two minutes of walking he got lost. He now stands before a dead end. "Crap. Guess I should just dig out."
He then grabs his Premier ball and releases Gabriel. "Gabriel, use Dig! But try not to ruin this place."
Gible squeaks then burrows underneath them, making a path to the surface. Lucas follows his dragon Pokemon, leaping in after him. Soon after tunneling they reach the end of the line, and Gible pops up from the hole he made. Lucas sticks his head up afterwards, and climbs out, the items he found placed in his bag behind him.
"Good job Gabriel. Return." Lucas sends his Pokemon back inside.
He then looks at the Pokemon mart. He couldn't go see Cheryl until he has a gift to give her. It would be best to have something to give a woman when apologizing. Lucas walks inside the mart, and looks around for any items he could give her.
"Hello? Is there anything here I can give to someone for a gift?" He asks the counter lady.
"No, sorry. We only sell Pokemon items." At her words Lucas sighs in depression. "Oh, but they do sell some stuff in Veilstone. There exists a department store."
"Ah, thank you!" Believing he would have to wait to apologize for the time being, he decides to just go see her and give his verbal 'sorry' for the moment.
Lucas comes before the Pokemon center and sees her sitting in a chair looking down at her fingers twitting in her hands. He walks up to her, his footsteps bringing her attention to him. Slightly red she says, "Lucas, you're back. Did you find anything in the ruins?"
"Yup. I got the HM Defog, and discovered some weird Pokemon inside the ruins." Lucas replies to his friend. "I'll be ready to explore the Lost Tower. I just came by to let you know."
"Oh, okay. Good luck in there." Cheryl says to him.
Lucas then takes in a deep breath, preparing to apologize to her. "Also, I'm sorry."
Cheryl turns back to face him, a look of confusion on her face. "Huh?"
"Back when you got pushed down by Paul, I totally ignored your feelings. I should have stood up for you and-"
"It's okay, Lucas. I got over it." She interrupts him. Inside she was glad he realizes her feelings a bit, but it didn't matter to her. Cheryl's anger belongs to that blond idiot, not him. "I just hope something like this won't happen again."
Lucas turns to face the outside door. "Cheryl, I'll make it up to you someday."
"But Lucas," Before she could continue he has already gone out the door. She stands up and runs to the window and sees him off. "I said it was okay. He doesn't need to make it better, but still…"
As she thinks of Lucas' generosity she becomes happier.
--
"Man, this place really is spooky." Lucas mentions to himself after entering the tower. He walks up to the steps, about ready to continue his trek.
As he does he encounters numerous Ghost type Pokemon, though only Gastly and Haunter. To deal with them he uses Natsu and Blitz, both of them could use the training anyway. His early fear soon disappears, for now he realizes that there is really nothing to be afraid of. All he sees is tombstones honoring deceased Pokemon, no spirits of them.
By the time he reaches the third floor he begins to notice a thick fog blocking his vision. 'So this is what he meant. Now here's your part, Zephyris.'
He sends out Staravia, and has it flap its wings to blow away the smoke around them. "Alright, time to move on." Lucas and Staravia continue up the steps with anticipation.
After his bird Pokemon blew away the fog on the next floor and went past it, they come to the top. Lucas sees two old ladies standing before a tombstone covered in the same fog as the ones earlier. He didn't see anything interesting there, so he has his Staravia blow away the smog. Without making his presence known he tiptoes downstairs, down with exploring this place.
--
By the time Lucas reaches the Pokemon center it was about 3 o' clock. He goes inside the center and inside the room him and Cheryl rented, and sees her feeding Togepi a bottle of milk. Turtwig is shown playing with Chansey in a game of ball and Spiritomb is just…brooding.
She sees Lucas entering with Staravia on his shoulder, and says, "You're back. How was it?"
"Dull. You didn't miss anything exciting there." Lucas tells her.
Cheryl sighs at his comment. Of course there wouldn't be anything that could catch his eye there; it's a cemetery for Pokemon. Togepi finishes its bottle, and falls asleep in Cheryl's arms, just as she says, "So, do you wish to head forward to our next destination?"
"Not yet. I feel this is a good time to rest. We'll head out in an hour." He says to her, sitting beside her on the bed. He then releases his own Pokemon so they can play with Cheryl's. Monferno messes with Turtwig, Luxio heads outside with Chansey and Staravia to play ball, while Gligar and Floatzel pester Spiritomb. Gible stays inside chewing on Lucas' foot.
"That's good. Togepi just fell asleep." Cheryl says, cuddling her adorable baby. "It's like taking care of a real baby."
"I guess that's something only a woman can truly appreciate…" Lucas says with a smile, kicking Gible off his foot. He watches Togepi sleeping peacefully in its trainer's arms and chest. He could only feel a little envious of the baby being hugged by his friend.
"I would like to be a parent someday." Cheryl says, a blush appearing on her face.
"I know you'll be a great mother." Lucas whispers under his breath.
Cheryl hears him a little and turns to him. "Huh? You say something?"
"Uh, no. I was just thinking out loud." Lucas says frantically. He then tries to change the subject. "So, um, what do you like to do beside play with Pokemon?"
"Well, I learned botanic skills from Gardenia when I was young. It stuck to me and became responsible for my choice in my former job at that flower shop. But then I started to desire something more, and it diminished my enjoyment at that shop." Lucas places his hands on his lap as she tells him of how she came to become a florist.
He then asks her, "Really? Have you told him you quit to travel the world?"
"Have I what?" It is at this point that Cheryl realizes that she didn't even tell her boss of her sudden quitting. A sweat mark falls slowly down her face. 'Goddammit!'
"You didn't do it, did you?" Cheryl's head bows down in defeat.
This continues for a while as they continue talking with one another and learning more of each other. By the time they realize it time became 4 o' clock. Lucas and Cheryl return their Pokemon to their balls, even Togepi, and they each head north of Solaceon going past the Pokemon Day Care center.
In the next route they find plenty of trainers battling one another and training. The two friends enter into their fights and battle it out together. With this training Turtwig becomes Grotle and Gabriel evolves from Gible to Gabite. They continue moving through the area, and soon come before a group of Psyduck.
The birds seem to be blocking the way into a separate area behind them. Cheryl looks at them, and notices that they seem to be in a daze. "They seem sick."
"Maybe we should come back later. They're not exactly in our way at the moment, but now we can't do anything." Lucas says, looking at his portable town map. He then walks past the café close by and continues east for Veilstone. Cheryl notices him walking off and runs to catch up.
As they continue the clouds above begin to turn dark, as if rain would be dropping on them unannounced. No sooner then they enter the next route that it does rain. Being caught in the rain Lucas takes off his jacket and holds it over Cheryl's head. Since he has a cap he could hold it off.
"Thank you." She says to him, accepting the jacket to block the rain for a bit. But she was worried for Lucas' own health.
They continue running across the raining route, hoping to reach Veilstone quickly. When it didn't let up they stop underneath a bridge to wait it out. Underneath it Lucas stares at Cheryl. "Cheryl, you doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You should worry about yourself. After all you don't have anything to protect you from the rain." Cheryl replies to him, before holding his jacket over both their heads.
"I'm a strong guy. I'll be fine-Achoo!" Lucas sneezes suddenly, tiny molecules of mucus coming out his mouth. Lucas then looks up and sees light piercing out of the clouds above. The rain starts to calm down. "Alright, let's get going."
Lucas and Cheryl make a run for it to the end of the route, hoping to make it to Veilstone before they become drenched again. By the time they reach Veilstone it finally starts raining again, but they were able to make it to the Pokemon Center.
Lucas and Cheryl book a room for the night, since they won't be able to go to the Gym for the day. He takes off his wet clothes and begins to dry them, left in only his boxers. Cheryl does the same herself, but wears a nightgown she brought with her.
Just as Lucas goes to bed, he sees Cheryl going to her own clad in her sleeping outfit. Both of them blush at the sight of the other in their attire. Of course they keep quiet and don't look at each other for the rest of the night.
With their backs facing the other, Cheryl gathers up the courage to say, "G-goodnight Lucas. Hope you don't get sick."
"Goodnight Cheryl. You look nice…" He whispers that last part to himself, but in a way that he hopes she hears him.
The two friends then awkwardly fall asleep, as rain pours down on the window and lightning strikes outside. Tomorrow he would challenge the Veilstone gym, and get the Cobble Badge.
Kenshin: And that was the problem!
Dante: Well while you were listening to Shouri no Uta I was busy fighting off that Greiga lion you could have beaten easily.
Yusei: None of that shit ever happened and you know it!
Kenshin: It will in that original story TCM came up with. You know, the one that has all of us in it and will be published when he's older?
Yusei: So in the future we'll be fighting against a giant lion?
Kenshin: No, I will. You'll be battling a giant falcon.
Yusei: Sounds easy. A half dragon like me won't have any trouble against an oversized bird.