OK this is what I got to start off with; this chapter is purely for introducing Lucas and giving him his character, along with his partner (first Pokémon). So you will see mostly Lucas and his partner (won't spoil what Pokémon it is) for this entire chapter. Note that I'm not having personality or natures affect stats exactly like they do in the game, In the case of Lucas's partner, I might go through with the setup of a jolly nature. I should also mention that I'm holding a little contest, whoever can guess what Pokémon is Lucas's partner is first in the reviews will receive many props, not much else I can give :p. I'm not going to refer to it by its species name but by its nickname I gave it, I also referred it to some things I found in its bulbapedia page.
Lucas took in the tranquil air of his hometown, the grass and leaves blowing in the wind seemed to be the very picture of peace to him. He took in a deep breath and exhaled. Then, a little red creature popped out of the backpack of the fourteen year old boy. He had lumps on his head that resembled an afro; a single spike protruded out of his back and a tail; as for his front, a yellow mark covering his stomach that resembled a flame.
"Hard to believe this will be the last day we spend in this town huh buddy" said the boy still wrapped around the nostalgia.
The two foot little Pokémon smiled happily and put his arms up, signaling he wanted to get up on his shoulder. Lucas extended his arm and bent down, the little red creature jumped about half a foot off the ground, grabbing the arm, then using it as a gymnastics pole swung himself upwards, then by doing half a back flip in the air, landed on the boys shoulder, and pointed happily to the right, which was the direction of Professor Rowan's laboratory.
"Alright, alright. I'll get moving" Lucas said smiling at his little red hot bundle of joy, he always was the jolly type of character, it was in his nature. He had high spirits and always was there to cheer his trainer up, whether they were in hail or sunshine, his little radiant spirit always came through. It was because of this that he gave him the nickname Raydi; because the radiance of his little spirit shined through the worst of the darkness.
Lucas walked in with his best friend on his shoulder into the laboratory. Professor Rowan was checking over some work that his assistant was showing him. He greeted Lucas kindly, although his intimidating face could have said otherwise.
"Lucas, how was Route 206?" he asked politely
"Eventful to say the least" said Lucas as he put down his backpack and handed over a poké ball to one of the assistants, who happened to be his father. "The report by Officer Jenny was right, there were Gligar terrorizing the cyclists on the cycling road. We found their nest right under the road on a boulder just under the road. One of them latched on to my face and would have stung me if Raydi hadn't burned its tail." The little fire type did a tiny fist pump to show it was proud to have saved his trainer. Lucas's father bent down to be at eye level with Raydi, and smiled has he asked him a question.
"Raydi, how's that flame of yours doing?" The little live coal Pokémon tilted his head up a breath out a bright yellow flame, the hue was magnificent, and the assistant went back to his standard height and turned to his son.
"Raydi's flame is as bright as ever, you must be taking real good care of him Lucas for him to be this healthy." said the father.
His son smiled and replied "Thanks dad!"
The father watched as his boy (and Raydi) went through the automatic sliding front doors of the laboratory beaming with confidence.
Here he thought to himself, 'How he's grown up so fast with his Pokémon, I can remember when he was still a baby, I guess I'm just getting old'
~Flashback~
Twelve year old Lucas sat out at a beach while the sun is setting; he sat dragging his finger in the sand, dealing with his amenable amount of anxiety.He grabbed his hat and crumpled it in his grip, squinting as the anxiety inside him rose. He heard a voice from the distance behind him, calling to him.
"Hey! Mom said dinner's ready! Come back to the house to eat" his little sister left saying nothing else. Gingerly he got up, and headed back to his house.
Dinner was especially quiet that day, the only sounds to be heard were forks and knives colliding with plates. The mood in the room was uncomfortable. Lucas's mother glanced at Lucas as he slowly raised his food to his mouth, his hand trembling with every bite.
"So how was work honey?" said the mother of the family, trying to break the silence.
"It was good" he said "We worked on the data received from Lucas when he went to Route 210" He said as he then returned to his meal.
"Well that's good" she then turned to Lucas, "Lucas I'm proud that you've been helping with Professor Rowan's research with your father"
"Thanks mom" his reply sent no joy, his tone seemed to quiver when he spoke.
"You're going to be a great trainer someday. I know it!" she continued "With your help in the lab and trainers school diploma there is no way you can go wrong"
Hearing these words made Lucas cringe in fear, he dropped his fork and quickly got out of his chair. He ran for the stairs as his mother called out.
"Lucas" she received no answer, and worries filled her mind as it had become obvious that something was wrong.
As he reached the hallway he sped to his room, he slammed the door and knelt before his bed, burying his face in to his bed.
"What am I gonna do" he lifted his face to show the start of tears. "The final exam is in 3 days, and I'm not prepared at all, I can't understand half of the stuff they try to teach me. How can I go in completely blind, I'll never pass like that" his head sank back into the fabric, in his heart he remembered the promise that made with his parents, he couldn't go on an adventure until he passed trainers school. The problem was he now so far in it, that he couldn't understand half of the stuff. As the depression sank in deeper and deeper, Lucas could do nothing but fall asleep.
The next day, he walked the streets of Jubilife City tired, aching from falling asleep on the hardwood floor, with his textbook completely covering his face. His eyes were bloodshot, ready to close at notice, and all it served was to fuel the fire raging in his mind.
"Nothing...4 hours of cramming stuff into my brain and I can't remember anything the next morning. I guess I just not cut out to be a trainer."
Then he felt something tug on his pant leg, he saw behind him a small red fire type with a yellow flame decal on his chest. He bent down to be eye level with this creature, with an expression of wonder on his face, try to figure out the intentions of the creature, his eyes not wide open, and his mouth half closed. This made Lucas vulnerable to the fire-types playful attack. The little creature took his finger and moved it up and down in the vicinity of the boy's lips, creating sort of a flapping effect. Lucas then retreated to his upright position covering his mouth in surprise; he did not know what just happened. The little creature with a strange afro then jumped on him and started tickling him. The boy was helpless to the fire-types playful tricks, as he couldn't stop turning and laughing.
"Ha hah h-hey, stop that! Come on ahahaha" the assault continued in the middle of the street as spectators giggled from afar, until a bell from a nearby building, it sounded the start of the school day. Immediately after the sound had passed, the laughing ceased and playtime was over. Lucas had remembered what his schedule demanded.
"Crap! I gotta go" he got up started rushing for the trainers school, but turned back to face the fire type again. "Hey, thanks for cheering me up little guy, I really needed that." With his sincerest gratitude given, he then went back to running to school. Back to the street, the little fire type watched as the boy went off to the building. Suddenly, the happiness he had disappeared, he cheered up the human like he wanted to, his mission was complete. However, he was now left alone. With nobody to play with, and the city returning back to their business. With nobody to call a friend in his life, he went into his alleyway, and kicked a can to keep him occupied.
At the sound of a bell, children came out of the school like water gushing out hole of a once pressured tank. Amongst the crowd was Lucas, who came out ready to walk home. He started his trip to his town until he passed a small alley. He then backtracked until he had a full view of the dark crevice that was the alleyway. Inside he saw the small red creature from before, throwing a can at the wall out of boredom and solitude. He sat there, sulking, feeling lonely and depressed. It was obvious to Lucas this little guy could use a friend. He then came up to the alley, which grabbed the fire-types attention. The two foot, red creature turned its head to see a hand reaching out to him. He looked up to see who the owner of the hand was, and gazed into the brown eyes of the boy from before.
"Would you like to come with me?" he asked, to anybody else this was a simple question but to the live coal Pokémon, this was a dream come true. He happily accepted the offer and leaped onto his shoulder. The two walked to Lucas' house, avoiding the tall grass and jumping off ledges to avoid wild Pokémon. When the duo reached the house, they quietly let themselves in. Our little fire-type friend was amazed with the house. With cushions, shiny appliances, and bright lights creating an excellent ambiance that sure beat living in a trash can. Everything seemed perfect here to him, he couldn't see what could pull him away. After Lucas was done taking off his coat, his mother came down along to greet him, his sister followed.
"Lucas your home, but what's that Pokémon doing here" she asked curiously,
"I met him while I was on my way to school today. I thought it would be fun to bring him here" Lucas answered.
His mom began to worry "Lucas, you can't just bring random Pokémon into the house, they could wreck something."
"I know" he said conceding to her point, A fire-type could do a lot of damage if provoked. "But he was so lonely when I left him, he had to stop me and tickle me to submission to get any fun."
Then his sister Hannah poked out of the background "Did somebody say a Pokémon?" she said, excited by the thought. When she laid eyes on the live coal Pokémon, she ran down giggled with glee.
"It's so cute!" she said after getting out her fit. She went up to the fire type and started hugging it. The Pokémon, not used to the attention, felt strange and started blushing. He knew he wanted this attention, but now it felt weird. The Pokémon then was released from the girls grass, and they spent the next few hours playing together... (author whispers in the narrators ear) wha? (continues to explain mistake) oh, okay! They actually played for one hour.
Then Lucas's dad comes home, and the inevitable begging started. Lucas and Hannah were on their knees with their palms together in praying fashion, pleading away at their parents.
"Please can we keep him, please?" Lucas begged with everything he had, their mother was unconvinced, not even the puppy eyes and the cute frowning face of Hannah could change her mind.
"No, it would just make a mess, and it could burn the house down." she said firmly, but as a researcher of Pokémon, Lucas's father had other ideas.
"Honey, please reconsider. Lucas is halfway through trainer's school already; once he gets out he will go out on a journey. Besides, he would finally be able to get to Jubilife City on his own." he had a good point. They always had arranged a chaperone for Lucas to get to trainer's school, but if they kept this little fire type, he could get there without having to be watched like a toddler.
"Oh all right" she said giving in to the wise husband. They children cheered, as they celebrated with the little red and yellow Pokémon. For the parents this meant another mouth to feed. For Hannah this meant she had somebody to play with. However for Lucas and Raydi, this meant the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
~End Flashback~
Dawn had set on the quiet town of Sandgem. Here, the final farewell would be given to the fourteen year old Lucas. He stood with his partner Raydi, with his backpack on his shoulders and his dreams towards the sky. His family and the professor were behind them to give him a proper send-off. He turned around to face them and their warm faces, Hannah ran to Raydi in tears.
"Waaahhhh! I don't want Raydi to go, who is going to play with him?" she looked up to her big brother with teary eyes. He knelt down to eye level smiling.
"Hannah, I know you're gonna miss him but we've wanted to go on this adventure for so long, you got to let us do it." she turned her head away and her upper lip started to quiver, Lucas patted her on the head. Her attention was not back on him. "Tell you what, when we're out there, I'll catch you a Pokémon you'll always get to call your own okay?"
Hannah looked into her brothers eyes; the deal struck the perfect chord for her. "Okay!"
Lucas bent back up to face the rest of his family and peers. His mother stepped forward, holding something in her hand. "Son, we want you to have this" it was revealed to be a cross-transceiver. Ordered all the way from the Unova region, it was now being offered to Lucas in the palm of his mother's hand. "We want to be able to keep in touch with you no matter where you go, I hope that by making you stay here till now to go to trainer's school has given everything you need to complete your journey. You meet many people and cross many obstacles, but I hope through it all you'll remember us when you take them on." She then cried as well, Lucas could see how much this really meant to them all. He hugged his mother, closed his eyes and took her words to heart.
"Thank you mom" He said to her gentle as they released the embrace. Then it was time for Professor Rowan to say his part.
"Young man, I've seen many young kids like you go" a certain girl in a toque came to his mind "I've known you as an assistant of mine for a long time now, and I believe you have all the knowledge you need to make it to the Sinnoh league. He put out his hand to shake, Lucas with all of his heart accepted.
Now it was time, time to set off on that dirt road that would start off his journey. His long adventure would begin (after Jubilife city), and his dream would be in reach. He took one last look at the people behind him and with tears in his eyes, said one final goodbye.
"Thank you, Thank you all for what you've done!" his tears flowed as he turned around and headed for the route 202. The start of his legacy, and the world just beyond him.
Well, how did you like this chapter? I'm gonna be taking a lot of time to develop Lucas as a character. I tried to go over it (Blazikenrocks: And failed. -.-) and edit it myself so I hope I did a good job. I realize that I probably wrote the longest flashback in shipping his tor so I apologize for the abuse of italics if anybody found it annoying. Furthermore, this is my first story that has been planned out with a plot chart and a list of content for each chapter (that's still in progress). Some of you may have noticed the bold words in between the paragraph. I thought I should try to add my own kind of style to this fic, so I'll be putting that on whenever I either break the 4th wall or just try to get a giggle out of you guys. I should say this straight out, although I planned out my plot for the story and some important scenes. I've decided I'd let you, the readers decide that. Since it doesn't conflict with my plot in any shape I can see. So please leave a review telling me how the chapter was, and what your guess for what Pokémon Raydi is, I know I'm asking a lot, but I hope that I can make it worth your while.
Blazikenrocks: I guess it's time for me to add my own notes. HEY GUYS! Blazikenrocks here. I am Tbird's beta, and I was trying to contact him. His grammar is off… and that's why I read it over for him! Seeing like… 10 mistakes in the first couple paragraphs, I know when he told me he had to read it himself, he failed at it. He didn't fix anything I saw. ANYWAY, here's my little sales thing, if you want to call it that. Do you think your grammar/spelling is off? Do you want to fix it but can't? Then you need a beta! I am amazingly good at fixing grammatical and spelling errors! Contact me if you want something done! I'm always available! (I have too much free time c'mon guys)