Yes, this lives! Though I don't expect anyone to actually read this, I've decided to revive this since Discorded Voyage seems to be ignored and I'm still trying to smooth over the next Danganronpa Island and Chapter 3 Sinning.

If by some chance you are reading this, enjoy!


Episode 2: The Legend of Lake Verity


Beep Beep Beep Beep went the alarm clock, receiving a groan from a groggy Lucas in response. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep- the Diamonds had spent quite a bit of the night celebrating- and was in no mood to leave the comfort of his sheets.

"Lucas, I heard the alarm!" cried his mother from downstairs. "Get up or your breakfast is gonna be Pearl's dinner!"

Beep Beep Beep Bee- Reluctant and annoyed, Lucas slammed his hand on the snooze button as he rose up from his bed, noticing a lump by the foot and smiled. It was Leif, slumbering peacefully and oblivious to the sounds that were going on. He still couldn't get over it, he had his own Pokemon at long last. Still, as he sneakily got out of bed- trying his best to not disturb his new friend's slumber- he thought back to yesterday. Somehow, he was able to hear the Turtwig's voice in perfect English, the same with Barry's Chimchar. This hadn't been that great a shock to the youth- looking back on it, there had been times where he could occasionally hear Pearl's voice as well, along with some other Pokemon. As a child, his mother and friends all dismissed it as just a child playing make-believe, but Lucas knew what he had heard. Still, he enjoyed keeping it a secret of sorts, like it was some sort of joke only he knew the punchline to.

Dressed in his normal attire, Lucas made his way downstairs when suddenly, Leif jumped out of bed and stepped right beside him.

"Mornin', Lucas!" greeted the chipper turtle. Lucas kneeled down and pet his Pokemon in return, much to Leif's joy.

Breakfast was a normal affair- pancakes and bacon for the Diamonds and some Pokefood for Pearl and Leif, the former annoyed at having to share, but the latter all too willing to. Lucas was concerned about Pearl's attitude towards Leif but according to his mother, this was nothing to worry about. "She's just used to it being the three of us, she'll adjust," Johanna assured him.

After eating and subsequently cleaning, Lucas retreated to his bedroom and turned on the TV, hoping to find something to watch.

"How many channels and nothin' on?" Lief shook his head, making Lucas grin. Their channel surfing continued until they came across a very peculiar advertisement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Trainers of all across the Sinnoh Region!" dramatically declared the announcer's voice. "It's already that time once again- the sign-ups for the Sinnoh Pokemon League have opened up, it's League Season already! For those of you who've lived under a rock, let me be the one to explain how this goes down! Trainers from all over the Region must challenge the eight Gyms located all across Sinnoh and defeat their Leader, earning their Gym Badge as proof. Collect all eight within the deadline and you'll qualify for the Lily of the Valley Conference, this year located in none other than Jubilife City! The winner of this tournament will earn the privilege to challenge the Elite For and the reigning Champion herself, Ms Cynthia and may very well become the new Champion of the Sinnoh Pokemon League! But remember, sign-ups will be due soon, so if you want to join, register now!"

Lucas changed the channel again, much to Leif's surprise. "Lucas, why'd you do that? I wanted to learn more!"

"Because we aren't joining, Leif," Lucas explained. "The League is for serious Trainers and I only just got you yesterday. There's no way I'm ready for something as big as that!" The Turtwig pouted, but Lucas stayed firm on his belief. Lucas knew that if he were to try and register with a Pokemon he only had for a day, he'd be the laughing stock of the Region! It was simply too risky, and he wasn't about to put himself nor Leif into that kind of stressful situation. Perhaps if he waited a year or two, when he was more seasoned and had more Pokemon to work with...

Morning turned into afternoon when the phone rang. "I got it!" Lucas called, startling the drowsy Leif and Pearl. Lucas saw the caller ID and rolled his eyes.

"Is there any reason why you called instead of barging down my door like you usually do?" Lucas sarcastically muttered.

"I was thinking you might've been in deeper crud with the old lady is all," Barry defensively replied, Lucas imagining the doofy look that would be on his face had Barry been there in-person. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about, can you meet me at Lake Verity later? Sooner rather than later, actually?"

"I guess so," Lucas replied. "I've already finished my chores, so I think I should be allowed. Just tell me this won't end up like yesterday."

"You know I can't make promises I can't keep, L," Barry mischievously replied. "See ya!" Lucas rolled his eyes as Barry hung up. Just then, his mother walked up to him and asked what Barry wanted.

"He wanted to meet up at the lake later, said it was important," Lucas replied.

"Ah, I see," Johanna nodded. "Well, if you're going out, I'd recommend you also make your way to Sandgem some time soon to properly thank Professor Rowan for giving you your Pokemon. I know you're already grateful but..."

Lucas shook his head as he donned his coat and hat. "No, I understand what you mean. I was actually thinking of doing the same." It had been late at night when the two encountered the professor, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to convince Barry as well. Suddenly, he felt a tug at his pant leg and saw it was Leif.

"Ah yes, take Leif with you," his mother insisted. "So you don't have another incident like last time. Just thinking about what happened to poor Barry..." Lucas winced as he recalled Barry's encounter with the Starly yesterday... and how he sat back and did nothing. Some friend he was, he thought to himself. Even if he had very little in the way of doing anything to help, he still should have done something!

Lucas decided to forgo his bike on favor of walking over to Barry's. He knocked on the door and was greeted by the boy himself, who grinned ear to ear as always. The bandages on his fingers were changed, Lucas noticed, but otherwise Barry seemed no worse for the wear.

"Hey, my bud, buddy~" he sang in his terrible singing voice.

"I'm amazed that you're allowed out of the house after yesterday, if I'm being honest," Lucas said with a roll of his eye.

"Because I'm just that awesome, didn't you know?" Barry cockily grinned.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Barry's mother, Samantha chimed in from, behind. "Oh, and good afternoon, Lucas!"

"Afternoon, Mrs. Berlitz," Lucas replied politely, tipping his hat.

"Neckbeard alert!" Barry joked.

"I can go home, you know."

"But ya won't!" Damn, Barry Berlitz was using logic. Lucas never thought he'd see the day.

"Now this is normally the part where I warn you boys not to get into trouble, but it seems like that's never not going to happen," Samantha said before sighing. "Can you at least tell me you'll try and be safe?"

"Can do, Momma!" Barry saluted before pulling out his PokeBall. "Wukong's got my back in case anything goes pear-shaped, just like I said! And L's got me too, right?"

Lucas nodded. "We'll try our best, Mrs. Berlitz," he assured her before the two departed for their destination, making a quick stop at Lucas's to go fetch his bike.

As they slowly pedaled to Lake Verity, Lucas asked, "So, what's the verdict? How'd your dad take the news?" Lucas knew to tread carefully as far as Barry's dad was concerned. Not that he was a bad man, far from it, but he also knew that Palmer Berlitz's job prevented him from being with his family as much as Barry would like.

"Well after the scolding about how careless I was, he said that if Mom asks, he said I'm banned from my Wii," Barry explained.

"But you don't have a Wii," Lucas pointed out. Barry merely grinned, which told Lucas all he needed to hear.

After a minute or so's pedalling Lucas asked, "So, Wukong?"

"Shut up, Lucas." The dark-haired boy snickered at his friend, who gave a rude gesture in response.

As the two reached the town outskirts, Lucas finally asked just what Barry had planned.

"I was planning on going to see Professor Rowan, thank him properly for letting me have Wukong, y'know? But before that, there's this rumor that's been going around that this Legendary Pokemon hanging around Verity and I was thinking we could go catch it!"

"You want to catch a Legendary that might not even exist?" Lucas asked incredulously. "The biggest surprise is that I'm surprised at all, really." "And what pray tell do you plan on using? Last I checked, you don't have any Balls."

"Neither do you, what's your point?" Barry said with a childish smirk, making Lucas facepalm at his immaturity. "C'mon, imagine the look on Rowan's face when we show it off to him!" Despite Lucas's protests, the blond boy rushed off ahead.

The Verity Lakefront was just outside of Twinleaf Town, a small and cozy forest with the eponymous lake shining brightly in the afternoon sun. Allegedly, it was home to the Pokemon called "The Being of Emotion", though Lucas was skeptical as to whether such a Pokemon even existed, let alone resided in such an obscure location. Lucas and Barry had been coming here for years, ever since they were children, it was in fact the very reason they became friends...

"Hey, are you okay?" asked a small boy with bright yellow hair. Lucas looked up and his tear-stained orbs met the strange boy's, who gave a big grin.

"N-No..." admitted Lucas, who tried wiping the tears from his eyes. He wasn't some crybaby!

"Yeah, I figured," Blond chuckled.

Lucas was shaken from his reminiscing by Barry yelling, "All right, we're here! That Legendary Pokemon won't know what hit him! We've got this, buddy!"

"We won't if you keep shouting..." Lucas thought.

"It's definitely here, it says so right on the sign!" Barry added by pointing at a sign right by the entrance to the forest. Lucas rolled his eyes and the two went in.

The two parked their bikes near a tree right by the entrance and Barry signaled Lucas to follow him. As they walked, Lucas thought he saw something rustle in the bushes and shook his head. Now wasn't the time to wander off like that fateful day...

"Stay away from that boy!"

"Honestly, how can a family live like that?"

"Sorry, Lucas, but my Mommy and Daddy said I can't play with you anymore."

"They say your Mom is a bad person..."

"No she's not!" little Lucas thought to himself but was too afraid to say aloud. The five year old simply couldn't understand it, he and Mommy had been living alone their whole lives, why were they picking on him now for it? Day in and day out it had been like this, he couldn't even find the strength to go to school anymore!

It was all his fault, he told himself. Because of him, Mommy had to stop Coordinating in order to take care of him, that's why his grandparents wouldn't come visit them anymore and why the town she grew up in suddenly shunned her when they moved in. There was only one solution in his young mind- runaway! That way, Mommy could have her old life back and everyone will like her again. She'll be sad for a bit, he knew, but in time, she'll forget about the little parasite (what Micah's Daddy called him the other day) that ruined her life and be even happier than ever!

Packing a pillow and blanket along with one set of clothes into his bag, he snuck out the door and made his way to... to... well, Lucas hadn't quite figured out that part yet. He wasn't sure where he couldgo either. Soon enough, he found himself outside the town limts, somehow managing to escape detection...

Lucas felt Barry nudging his shoulder, returning him to the then and now. "Check this out, L. What's that guy doing?" Barry pointed at a man staring out into Lake Verity, his blue hair swaying in the breeze.

"... The flowing time, the expanding space..." he muttered in a deep, commanding-sounding voice. Lucas couldn't quite make out the rest, but something told him that was for the best. Suddenly, the man turned and Lucas was surprised at seeing how young he looked, in spite of his tired appearance and general presence of a man who was far beyond his years.

"Excuse me," he said to Barry, who was standing in his way. Without hesitation, Barry scooted out of his general direction and allowed the man to pass through. Several seconds passed in silence, neither boy able to quite comprehend what had just occurred.

"What was that about?" Barry asked, more to himself than anyone else. "Weird guy. Ah well, whatever. C;mon, L! We've got a Legendary Pokemon to catch!"

Barry took off ahead and Lucas stayed back a bit some, deciding to let Leif out of his PokeBall for the time being, allow him to get a good look of the area. Leif nuzzled against Lucas's leg as the young teen continued to reminisce, staring out into the lake. He wasn't sure what was causing these flashbacks, but they kept coming regardless.

Lucas was starting to get scared as he continued walking around the outskirts of Twinleaf. The chirps of the Starly and the piercing gazes of the Bodoof were scaring him. He was starting to doubt his plan... No, he thought to himself. There wasn't any chance of turning back now! This was all for Mommy, so he had to be a strong boy!

At least, that's what was going through his mind when he found himself almost stepping on a Starly , who was about as pleased with this development as you'd expect. Lucas had tried to plead with the Starling Pokemon, but to no avail as it moved to peck him. Lucas took off running, throwing his backpack at the Starly to try and distract it.

Lucas eventually found himself in a forest and in hopes of evading the bird, tossed himself into a bush and stayed there for what felt like forever. As he collected himself, he realized that he had abandoned his stuff in his haste. Now he was without any thing to sleep with or change into! This plan was just getting worse and worse. He knew that this was for the best, and a part of him even believed that this is what he deserved for throwing it away. Lucas tried not to let the tears fall out from his eyes, he couldn't cry now...

Lucas was snapped from his thoughts when he heard a animalistic cry, getting him at attention.

"What the heck was that!?" Leif asked.

"You heard it too, right!?" asked Barry, who had returned to Lucas. "That had to be the Pokemon's cry just now! This is our chance, L, so let's do it!" The two boys and Turtwig slowly moved towards the direction they heard the cry from when Barry almost face-planted.

"B, you alright?" Lucas asked, concerned for his friend.

"I just realized I have no PokeBalls aside Wukong's. I don't suppose you...?"

"Oh for Pete's sake, Barry," Lucas thought while facepalming.

Suddenly, from out of the bushes came not a Legendary Pokemon, but a regular Starly, or at least it would be regular if not for its left eye being shut for some reason. As it stared the boys down, Barry in particular, it dawned on Lucas that this was possibly one of the Starlies they had encountered yesterday... and it looked ready for round two, it seemed. As if on instinct, Lucas stepped forward and tried to stare it down right back.

"Please, just leave us be, okay? We don't want to cause any trouble, honest!"

The Starly scoffed. "You two and that friend with the Piplup were the ones that caused this trouble! Because of that Bubble, my eyes has been all hurt and I ended up getting lost from my brothers as we flew away!" he said.

"Look, I'm sorry about that," Lucas apologized, to Barry's confusion. "But you can't hole us up here like this, we have to go somewhere!"

"Watch me!" cried the Starly as it attacked. As it dived forward at Lucas, he then remembered that he had a Pokemon of his own out.

"Leif, Tackle!" Lucas told his Turtwig who obliged, crashing into the bird.

"Take that, you bully!" Leif said, glaring at the Starly.

"Well that happened," Barry noted. "Hey, since we're already heading there, maybe we could ask Rowan if he can hook us up with some PokeBalls? He did say we could come to him for anything, right?"

"I guess so," Lucas shrugged, returning Leif to his PokeBall. As they began to leave, Lucas heard a sob and turned around. It had come from the Starly.

"Yeah, that's right, just go! Just like my brothers! Leaving me behind all alone..."

Suddenly, Lucas found himself drawing forward to the crying Pokemon, much to Barry's confusion. "Dude, what are you doing?" he asked.

Eventually, Lucas came out of the bush, distraught about what to do now. He had no clothes, no way of staying warm, he hadn't eaten in hours and had no idea where he was, not to mention how dark it was getting! Lucas should've realized how stupid his plan was...

Before he knew it, Lucas started to sniffle and tears rolled down his eyelids. He couldn't stop himself in this situation, so he allowed himself to bawl at what a little baby he was being. Mommy really was better off without him if he was going to be so stupid, he thought to himself. Before he knew it, he felt a weird presence in front of him and looked up.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked a small boy with bright yellow hair. Lucas looked up and his tear-stained orbs met the strange boy's, who gave a big grin.

"N-No..." admitted Lucas, who tried wiping the tears from his eyes. He wasn't some crybaby!

"Yeah, I figured," Blond chuckled.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that... I didn't mean to hurt you, I just acted on instinct," Lucas said, trying to comfort the Pokemon.

"Barry!" cried a man rushing up to the boys, looking like an older version of Blond or rather, Barry. "What did I just tell you? Don't run off around these parts!"

"Sorry, dad," Barry apologized. "But look! I found him! Told you he went this way!" It was then Barry's Dad noticed Lucas and allowed himself to smile a bit. In turn Lucas saw the man carry his backpack in one hand, still containing his supplies.

"You're Lucas, right?" he asked. When Lucas nodded, he added, "I'm Palmer and he's Barry, we're your neighbors. Your mom asked us to help look for you. Been worried sick, she has."

"W-Worried?" Lucas asked, confused. "She couldn't be, she should be happy-"

"Now that's enough, son," Mr. Palmer said sternly, but not unkindly. "I'm not sure where you've gotten that idea from, though I can hazard a guess, but stop thinking that right now."

"Yeah!" Barry added loudly. "Your mom's been searching all over town for ya, and I bet you wanna see her too, don't you?"

Lucas reluctantly nodded. He was surprised that his mother was so worried, to the point where she'd asked for help from the same townspeople that had shunned her. And even more surprising was that someone actually helped! Lucas begun crying again. All this time he had assumed she'd be happy with him gone and all he had done was make her even more upset.

They returned to the Diamond residence where Johanna grabbed her son in the tightest embrace she could create. "Lucas, I was worried sick! How could you do that!? Do you know how awful my life would be without you in it!?" she cried.

"No, I didn't," he admitted. "But now I do! And promise I'll never do it again! I'lI never make you cry again, Mommy!" Johanna hugged Lucas even tighter in reply.

The next day, Lucas sat alone again at lunch until he noticed a presence sir next to him, turning out to be Barry.

"Uh, Barry?" Lucas asked.

"Yeeeeessssss?" Barry stretched out his reply with a wife grin that seemed almost infectious.

"Why are you sitting next to me?"

"Why not?" Barry asked back as if Lucas had said the dumbest thing ever.

"Because everyone hates me," Lucas replied as if it were the most simple thing in existence.

"Aren't I a part of "everyone"? And I don't hate you."

Lucas almost dropped his sandwich he was so stunned. "Why?"

"Did you do something bad?" Barry said, again answering a question with a question.

"I don't have a Daddy." This made Barry laugh, which made Lucas frown.

Barry's eyes widened and he flailed his arms around when he realized he had upset his compainion. "No no no no no no! I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at everyone else! I've been trying to ask my parents about why everyone was so mean to you and your mom and wouldn't help us yesterday but they wouldn't tell me! And it's over something that stupid?"

"It's not stupid to me..." Lucas was starting to cry, which made Barry slap himself.

"Well, if they give you any guff for it, come to me!" Barry prudly said, pointing at his chest.

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"Cuz that's what friends do."

"We're... Friends?" Could it be true, was he really making a friend for the first time?

"Yep!" Barry's smile was wide and briggbabf welcoming and at long last, Lucas finally felt like smiling back.

Lucas carefully placed the Starly in his basket and he and Barry started pedalling as fast as they could towards Sandgem Town, in hopes of getting the Pokemon to safety soon. As they pedalled, Barry looked over at Lucas and smiled.

He was really glad to have a friend.


As you can see, I'm taking the anime's version of the League and adding it to my own story. Mostly because I've never been a fan of how the protagonist just randomly decides to tackles the gyms/E4 for lolz and there seems to be no structure to the leagues in the games. So I'm giving a little more meat to everything. Besides, who doesn't love a good Tournament Arc?

This is only a smidge of Lucas's backstory ftr, I will be adding more as the story goes on. Hope you like what you see so far!

And that wraps up this chapter! As always tell me what you liked/didn't like and don't forget to favorite/follow/check out my other stuff!

Ja ne, see ya later!

- Brian

Next Time: "A Line in the Sandgem"- Lucas and Barry take the injured Starly to Sandgem Town and Barry reveals what he wanted to talk about.