(How are you guys doing? Chapter 3 is here and I can't wait to see how this story will continue to unfold)
"Thanks Professor Rowan, this place sounds really cool." Lucas said while exiting the lab.
Prof. Rowan's explanation eventually led to the inside of his lab and now that his introduction was over, Lucas was prepping to teleport home.
"Well Lucas, I can't say I've ever heard of this village you call home but since you can teleport there, assuming nothing goes wrong, you can get home on your own. Correct?" Prof. Rowan said, standing in front of his lab doors.
"Yeah, I can't wait to tell my friends about this. Oh yeah, I need to tell Kumatora that I mastered the Starstorm..." Lucas mumbled the last sentence. Prof. Rowan didn't appear to have heard him.
"Well, see you and thanks again for explaining everything."
"Really, I should be thanking you for helping out so many Pokémon but regardless, I hope you make it home safely." Prof. Rowan said.
Nodding, Lucas went to the dirt road beside the lab and faced it straight on. Breathing in, Lucas activated his PSI.
"Teleport Alpha."
Feeling the familiar pull, Lucas sped further and further away from the lab and soon enough, the same portal from before appeared and Lucas shot through it, leaving a burning trail behind him. As the portal dissipated, Prof. Rowan nodded at the display and went back inside his lab.
Such a strange boy. I think I've had enough of that for today. Prof. Rowan said, shaking his head with a sigh.
Lucas found himself in the space rift once more but something seemed different. Rather than the dark background previously, the space seemed to be white with light grays. Deciding it wasn't too important, Lucas continued to look forward and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Or, as ordinary as it gets in a rift in space. Lucas didn't even see that scary creature from before.
Maybe it left... Lucas thought as he saw the exit portal approaching him. Bracing himself, Lucas passed through without trouble and the rift was empty once more.
Exiting the portal, Lucas found himself stop on a dirt road and not falling out of the sky like Jack had told him. Letting out a breath and replacing it quickly, Lucas observed where he was. Surely, he could spot Tazmily Village close by since he did teleport. Looking around, Lucas found none of the familiar wooden houses or people near him or even in the distance. He did see a portion of the dirt trail have a small fire on it and not to far away was a lab that looked eerily similar to Prof. Rowan's.
What. Lucas thought.
With only a moments hesitation, Lucas ran towards the lab, doubt in his mind. Reaching the building, Lucas went inside and searched for what he was looking for. He found it quicker than he assumed.
"Professor Rowan!" Lucas exclaimed.
The man of the statement was standing by a desk, checking over files but he stopped once he heard his name being so frantically called. Looking over, Prof. Rowan raised a brow at the sight of Lucas.
"Lucas, I thought you returned home, did you not?"
"I tried to but I came back here instead!" Lucas cried out.
"What do you mean by that?"
"When I tried to teleport home, the portal brought me back here. I can't get back!"
"Calm down Lucas, sit down and explain everything. I'll see if I can help somehow." Prof. Rowan said, heading away from his desk and to a couch nearby.
After taking a seat, Lucas explained how he came to Sandgem Town in further detail and explained how the rift in space was a different color than before going through the pink creature's own portal. As Lucas spoke, Prof. Rowan wrote down everything on a clipboard and asked a couple questions for clarification. After Lucas finished, Prof. Rowan scanned his notes and thought deeply.
"Mm, perhaps there is significance to the colorations of the rifts you spoke of and the event of you encountering this mysterious creature you described. Lucas, let me tell you about legendary Pokémon and one in particular that lives in this very region." Prof. Rowan spoke.
"Legendary Pokémon are very powerful Pokémon that are believed to have a significance to life. For example, there is a legendary known as Mesprit who also lives somewhere in Sinnoh and it is believed that Mesprit was the one to give living creatures their emotions."
Lucas widened his eyes at the mention of Mesprit. Woah, a Pokémon that gave everyone their emotions? That's incredible.
"Now, the creature you spoke of that disrupted your teleportation, I have reason to believe, is a legendary Pokémon." Prof. Rowan theorized.
Getting up from the couch, he headed over to a device that Lucas realized looked similar to ones he had seen from the Pigmask army. Following Prof. Rowan, both stood in front of the device, the professor typing something into it.
"The creature you saw wouldn't happen to look like this, would it?" Prof. Rowan asked as an image popped onto the screen. The image was a drawing by a really talented artist as it looked quite realistic but Lucas was more concerned with the fact that the creature drawn did look like the one he encountered.
"Yeah, that's the same one!" Lucas said in disbelief.
"This is an artist's work of Palkia, the legendary Pokémon said to control the forces of space."
"Really!?"
"Yes and from the confirmation that you saw Palkia, that solidifies my theory. Now, I'm no expert at this subject but from what I gathered, I believe that you came from a different dimension." Prof. Rowan declared.
Shock overtook Lucas and all he could do was continue to listen.
"Since you said to have travelled through Palkia's portal and stated that the first rift was dark and that the second rift was light, I think that is how you travelled to our dimension, the different rifts stating that there is a difference between your home and mine. That also explains why I don't know of your village and how you don't know about Pokémon."
Lucas was stupefied. He just heard that he travelled dimensions! More importantly, Lucas' mind drifted back to his home and his failed teleportation.
"Professor, does that mean I can't get back home..?" Lucas asked, fearing the worst.
"Don't think that Lucas, even though you can't get back through your traditional means, that doesn't mean return is impossible. There is a chance that if you were to somehow find Palkia, you could find your way home." Prof. Rowan suggested.
Lighting up, Lucas smiled a small smile before asking a question.
"Couldn't I just go back into the rift and see if I can run into Palkia again?"
"You could but since we don't know when Palkia is going to return to the rift, that process may take a long while. Also, what if you travelled through Palkia's portal and end up in another dimension? The best course of action I think is to find Palkia and ask it to return you home, albeit very risky and difficult." Prof. Rowan explained.
"Alright, thanks professor. I mean it... but how do I find Palkia?"
"That's one of the hard parts as I do not know of it's location but someone in the region might so you must travel far and speak to many people if you are to find the legendary. And while traveling, who knows? You may even encounter it without needing to search but that's not a very high chance."
Prof. Rowan finished his sentence and began towards a larger desk and he pulled some things out from the drawers. Lucas saw Prof. Rowan carrying five Pokéballs and a flat device that he revealed could flip open. Showing Lucas, Prof. Rowan began to explain.
"These balls over here are known as Pokéballs, do you know their use?"
"Yeah, the guy who told me about you had one with a bird named Staraptor in it."
"So you do know, good. Aside from those, the device here is a Pokédex. What about this?"
Shaking his head, Lucas waited for Prof. Rowan to define it's use.
"Very well, the Pokédex is a useful device that, when pointed at a Pokémon, will relay information about said Pokémon. It's habitats, it's height, weight, gender and it will also explain the usual behavior of that species. Many trainers rely on it around the world, although different regions have manufactured their own Pokédexes for their own native Pokémon. I know that you will need these items, along with your very own Pokémon if you want to be safe and prepared out there."
"My own Pokémon? Also, what are these trainers that I keep hearing about?" Lucas wondered.
"Trainers are people who own Pokémon and leave on an adventure into the rest of their region or even distant regions. A Pokémon trainer's job is to bring out the best in their Pokémon through training them and caring for them. Powerful trainers usually take a strong bond between the person and the Pokémon. Most trainers participate in an event known as a Pokémon battle. These are when two trainers meet and fight with one Pokémon each but sometimes, people add different rules such as double battles, which have you use two Pokémon working against the opponents two. Because of these Pokémon battles, most locations in every region contain a Pokémon Center like the one from earlier. They are easily identified by their red roofs so injured Pokémon can be cared for right away, free of charge. And since you are going on your own adventure for Palkia, I thought it appropriate for you to have your own Pokémon."
My own Pokémon? And they are able to fight as well, meaning new partners... This place reminds me of my last adventure but so much more calm. And this place uses currency too... At least it doesn't seem too bad here so I guess I can get used to it again. Lucas settled over the new information.
"Thanks professor! Um, again."
"Not necessary. After all, this adventure seems more important than the normal reason to become a trainer. Now follow me. Although this is unscheduled, I should be able to provide you with the normal starters as your first choice." Prof. Rowan said, leading Lucas down a corridor.
At the end of it, there was a room that held more lab stuff and there were two desks in the center of the room. Equipment was on the far table with more papers and the near table held a brown suitcase sitting importantly. Prof. Rowan went up to the near table and opened up the suitcase, showing Lucas the contents. Inside were three Pokéballs laying about but if Lucas had to guess, he supposed the Pokéballs weren't empty.
"These Pokéballs contain the starter Pokémon for this region. All regions have their own unique starters but they all have only three choices between the typings fire, water and grass. Let me show you your potential partners now." Prof. Rowan said, grabbing a Pokéball.
The Pokéball flew into the air with a flick of the wrist and while at the peak of it's launch, it opened and a white light shot out of the inside, the light zapping onto the lab floor. When the light faded, the ball closed and the floor now had an orange chimp with a flame for a tail and the fur on the top of it's head styled so that it looked like fire. It let out a greeting after looking around the room and smiling at Lucas and Prof. Rowan.
"Chimchar!" (Ta da!) The Pokémon said while striking a pose.
Grabbing a second Pokéball, Prof. Rowan did the same motions and after the flash of light, to the left of the fire chimp was a blue penguin with a white face and two light blue ovals on it's stomach. Checking it's location for a few seconds, it's gaze fell on the two humans present and it then put it's flippers to it's side and puffed out it's chest. Turning to the side, the blue penguin closed it's eyes and made a noise.
"Lup." (Hmph.) The Pokémon let out.
Prof. Rowan picked up the last Pokéball and from it, a green turtle appeared to the left of the penguin. It's lower jaw and the bottoms of it's feet were yellow and on it's back, a brown shell with thick black lines on the sides and a line going across the shell. Atop it's head was a brown spot with twig growing out of it, two leaves hanging on either side of it. The turtle curiously observed the new room it was in but was then interested in Lucas. Smiling, the green turtle chirped a greeting.
"Turtwig!" (Hi there!) It said before turning to the Pokémon beside it.
"Lucas, these three are Sinnoh's starter Pokémon and as a bit of a side note that I forgot to mention, most Pokémon cries are often their name so if you find their cry is pronounceable, then that Pokémon is likely saying it's name. But it's always a good idea to double check using your Pokédex. Now then, on the left there is Chimchar, a fire type. In the middle is Piplup, a water type. And on the right is Turtwig, a grass type. Now, think carefully. Which Pokémon will you choose?" Prof. Rowan asked seriously.
"Char, char!" (Pick me, pick me!) Chimchar excitedly said, performing a handstand and flipping back onto it's feet.
"Piplup lup lup pip piplup pip." (My fighting is top notch but I don't think you can handle me.) Piplup said pridefully.
"Twig turt turtwig. Twig?" (I'd like to come with you. Please?) Turtwig said, imagining many adventures with wistfulness.
Lucas faced Prof. Rowan and turned back to the Pokémon. Looking between all three, he realized this choice was a lot harder than he thought. Lucas made an awkward smile and embarrassedly scratched the back of his head.
Will the other two be upset I picked one over them? I hope they don't get mad at me... And all of them are good choices too. Lucas thought.
"Um, I choose..."
(Heyo, you're already on chapter 3? What do you think? Next chapter, you get to see Lucas take his starter and hide his confusion at a bunch of stuff so look forward to that! Huh? When? Well... I am notorious for losing my drive and leaving a story hanging for weeks and maybe even months but months have a rarer chance so hopefully after a few weeks or so, I'll update. Or who knows? I could have a constant stream of motivation for this fic and update within days but that probably won't happen. Not with my other stories needing a lot more tending to than this one. Okay, I'll stop rambling and see you in chapter 4, look out for that)