Hikari's Sinnoh Adventures

Author's Note: Well, I've been working on this one more than my InuYasha one (I like this one more, lol), so I was going back to work on that one, while I decided to start a Naruto one, too, which may come out soon, for those that like Naruto. And then school started up again. Yeah, I'm really sad that the summer is over…but oh, well, I was finally able to get this written up!

So, sorry for making you wait, and thank you to my readers and reviewers! I really appreciate it! And I'm not just saying that; I'm really sincere about it! Thank you!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, you know the drill: I own nothing, and dialogue from the game will be used in the story.


Chapter 3: Tribulations of Lake Verity

"This is so exciting!" Kenji shouted at the top of his lungs as we were walking through the woods. He startled me as he said that out of nowhere, and it made me jump a little. Even the leaves on the trees seemed to shake because of him. "Boy, I'm so much more enthused about this than you, Hikari! Obviously I love Pokémon a lot more than you do!" He smiled smugly to himself, eyes closed, nodding knowingly. And that got me ticked off.

"That's so not true!" I shouted at him, defending myself. No one loved Pokémon more than I did, and he knew how much I loved them, too. If anything I would be interested in, it would definitely be Pokémon; however, a red Gyarados? It was just too improbable for me to believe.

"Oh, really? Then if that's true, then you should want to get there as soon as possible. So…I'll race you there!" he proclaimed. Again with the competing, but this time I couldn't help myself.

"Fine, you're on!" Without hesitation, I quickly shouted before he even got a chance to catch his breath, "Ready, set, go!" And then we were both off, racing towards the lake. I had gotten quite a bit of a head start, as it had taken him a second or two to realize that the race had begun. But that was all the time I needed, I had figured. I was sure it would be an easy victory. But as we exited the woods and approached Lake Verity, there were two strangers ahead in the tall grass next to the lake. Apparently Kenji had taken notice, too, for he had slowed down to a halt, just as I had. One person was a boy about our age, and the other was an elderly gentleman, but I didn't recognize either of them at all.

"What's going on…?" I heard Kenji ask, standing beside. We were both looking attentively ahead of us, where the two strangers were having an intent conversation, so much so that they hadn't even noticed us some twenty feet away.

"I don't know," I answered him back quietly. I didn't really understand what they were talking about, but I was able to catch what they were saying to one another.

"Professor, there's nothing out of the ordinary on the other side, either!" I heard the young boy say, exasperated.

"Hmm…I may have been mistaken…" replied the boy's companion. Although he wasn't speaking very loudly, I could tell he had a very gruff voice. "Something appears to be different than it was before, but…" he trailed off for a moment. "Fine! It's enough that we have seen the lake. Lucas, we're leaving."

'Oh, so his name's Lucas,' I thought, as I heard his name. I couldn't get too good a look at either of them, but I was curious to do so. Before I could think even more on the subject of getting closer, I heard them continue on.

"Professor," Lucas started, "you've been gone for four years now. How are you enjoying being back in Sinnoh?"

'Wow, that was really random,' was the first thing that popped into my head as he asked that. 'First, he's all flustered about who-knows-what, and the next thing he's calmly asking how the man's doing?'

"…Hm. There is one thing I can say," the man answered, contemplating. "There are many rare kinds of Pokémon in Sinnoh. The region should serve us very well in regard to our studies." With that said, they turned and came our way, the older man in the lead with Lucas following right behind. Both Kenji and I jumped to either side as they approached, and the gentleman said to us, "Excuse me. Let us pass, please."

"Sorry, folks," Lucas said as he paused in between us. I guess he was maybe apologizing for the older man's curt words to us, and then the boy continued along.

"What was that about?" Kenji finally asked, after a moment of silence as we watched them disappear out of sight. "Those two…" He looked really confused, and it was hard not to laugh because it was hilarious whenever he had that dumb look on his face. Then he turned around to the spot the other two had just vacated. "Huh? HIKARI! Let's go check this out!" He pointed to some object lying in the grass.

"Kenji, we were told not to go into the tall grass…" I started to protest, but I only did it half-heartedly. I was never attacked before by any wild Pokémon, but I also didn't want to disobey my mother's requests.

"No problem, no problem! We won't be in there long enough for a wild Pokémon to come out!" Nothing was going to keep him from going, so he ran up to unidentified item with me right behind. "It's…a briefcase? Those people forgot it here. What are we supposed to do with it? We can try to deliver it, but who are they? I heard them say professor…"

Suddenly, before I could reply, two Starly swooped out of nowhere and attacked us. "Waah! Po-Pokémon!? What's going on!?" Kenji cried.

"I don't know! But they're angry!" Both Starly came plunging down at us, then back up, and then back down at us. "Look!" he shouted as he was able to open the briefcase, while I was trying to defend myself from being pecked. "These are Pokéballs! Let's battle using these! Eh…? Which one do you want, then?" he asked hurriedly, pointing to three Pokéballs in the briefcase.

"Um, um," I couldn't decide. Finally, I just picked the one on the right, took it, through it open, and started battling the oncoming Starly. Kenji did the same with another ball. "Piplup! Use Pound!" The battle raged on for a while, as that Starly just wouldn't give up. But eventually, Piplup had been victorious, and both of the Starly fled.

"Whew! That was a close one! But we did it! Though, I don't get why they attacked… Still, wow! Your Piplup totally rocked! But my Turtwig was way tougher than yours!" Kenji laughed haughtily, grasping the Pokéball in his hand.

"Uh, what? Kenji, you're trying to turn the battle with Pokémon – which don't even belong to us – into a competition, too?" I just shook my head at him in disbelief.

"Oh, yeah, they were other people's Pokémon, though, weren't they…" He looked so downtrodden. "But we had to use them… They won't mind, will they?"

"Well, I'm sure that -" But before I could finish, Lucas came back.

"Whew! You found the briefcase? The professor would've gone through the roof if he knew I forgot it here. Huh? Whaaaat!? Did you guys… Did you use these Pokémon!?"

"Um, well, you see, we -" I tried to explain, but he was just so upset and wouldn't give me time to finish.

"Oh, man… How am I gonna explain this to the professor? …This briefcase is the professor's, so I'll take it, okay?" Then he rushed off with the briefcase, apparently going back to meet up with the other man.

Kenji turned to me after Lucas left and asked, "What was that about?"

"I have no idea, but he really just freaked out," I replied, worried that we would soon get in trouble.

"I don't know what's going on, either. Hikari, let's get out of here. My Pokémon got hurt from that battle. If we get attacked by another Pokémon, we might be in trouble. You go ahead…I know we have to go return these Pokémon. They're not ours, but I want to spend just a little more time with this little guy…" He let out Turtwig again and stood behind me. Because I really liked Piplup myself, I let it out, too. Then we made our way back towards Twinleaf Town, forgetting our problems just by spending time with the Pokémon.

We were nearing town when we saw the two once again. "Hey, it's those people! Is that old guy staring at us?"

"Uh, I think so…" Then he came walking briskly towards us, well, me, since I was ahead. That Kenji, always letting everything happen to me; how nice…

"Hmm…" he started, and boy, was he scary. "I heard from Lucas that you used our Pokémon?" We just stood in silence and nodded. "Let me see them, please. Hmm… Piplup and Turtwig… Hmm… I see… That's how it is… Lucas! I'm going back to my lab!" Without another word he turned around and walked away, up towards Sandgem town.

"Uh… Yeah, of course! Professor, wait for me!" Lucas called after him. But before leaving, he told us, "You should visit us at our lab later, I think. We'll be seeing you!" And once again, he ran off to follow the professor.

Kenji was just full of questions. "What was all that craziness about? I mean, if he was angry, he could've just yelled at us, or whatever… And didn't he want their Pokémon back…?"

"I don't know, Kenji," I answered, just as confused as he was.

"Hikari…we should go home, too…" Then he decided to lead the way for once, and we were headed back to Twinleaf Town. I was thinking of how to explain this to my mom. Everything happened so quickly, and so much happened, that I didn't know how to begin, but I would think of something. Until then, I would treasure the time I had left with Piplup.


Author's Note: Okay, and that's the end of chapter 3! I'm glad I finally got it done! I hope you guys like it! I'll try to get the next one up soon, but I'll probably be working on my other fan fictions, not to mention all the school work I've got (and it's only day three of school). But I'll see what I can do! Let me know what you all think of it, if it wouldn't be too much trouble!