Now the adventure really starts. If you thought the story was a cute and fluffy paradise until now, just wait; things will change very soon.

And without further ado, I present chapter 4 of this story.

Chapter 4: Cosmic Encounter

Lucas had slept very well that night and for good reason. Dawn had agreed to go on the journey with him; he was going to get a chance to start his life anew; and he was going to be able to bring his family back on its feet. He slowly fluttered his eyes open and rubbed them as his room came into focus. A pure, soft white light filtered in from outside as the sun-kissed snow glistened and gleamed in the frigid morning air. He turned his head to look at her, and saw that she was sound asleep. She looked so peaceful, cozy, and comfortable that he wondered if she was excited at all for the path they were about to set on. "Then again, the better the rest, the better everything else," he thought to himself.

He lightly turned his head to see the clock. It read 9:00 a.m. "Wow, a solid 10 hours of sleep?" he accidentally said aloud, causing Dawn to stir and flash her eyes open. At this point, Lucas couldn't look away if Arceus tried to make him, and Dawn noticed his face through her foggy vision.

"Oh hey, Lucas. Good morning," she said groggily.

"Good morning, Dawn. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept really well. I had a really nice dream. It was about… it was… D'oh! I forgot already."

Lucas just chuckled, "I hate it when that happens, too."

"What time is it?" she asked, looking at the beautiful light coming from the window.

"9:01, you want to get ready or catch some more z's?"

"I'm good. Let's get started!" Dawn slowly moped out of her bed and stretched, slowly walking towards the bathroom. As she was leaving, Lucas called out.

"Do you have a brush and everything?"

"Yeah, I have 'em all in my duffel bag. Thank you," she said, picking out some clothes, a toothbrush, some paste, and a towel from her bag. "See ya' in a few, Lucas." Lucas waved and got out of bed himself. He stretched his back, cracked his knuckles, and made his way over to the punching bag. He headed out for a quick morning jog around Twinleaf. He usually just punched the bag in his room, but with Dawn there, it'd be rather strange if she was just sitting in his room while he assaulted a punching bag right next to her. The weather was awful, and jogging in the snow was careful, strenuous work, but the icy air woke his senses up immediately, springing him to life for what lay ahead.

Lucas came back into his home heaving and coated in tiny flakes of snow as the sky began to powder the ground, only to almost crash right into to Dawn upstairs as she came out of the shower.

She watched him take a towel out of one of his drawers and pat himself down, opening one of the windows to let the cool morning air into the room and vent the heat out. "Y-you, uh, do this every morning?"

Lucas regained his composure. "No. Normally, that punching bag next to you," he gestured to the hanging bag next to her, "is what I use to keep me awake in the morning, but today looked nice for a warm-up run," he smiled.

"That was a warm-up?" she asked, surprised.

"For me, yes. You should see Barry though. That man can run 20 laps on a track and still have steam for 20 more. He just… he can't stop moving. Trust me, when you meet him, you'll know exactly what I mean," he laughed. Alright, I'm going to shower, too. Mom's downstairs if you want to go get breakfast."

"It's alright, I'll eat with you," Dawn replied, sitting on his bed. Lucas removed the punching bag from the ceiling and the towel from his neck and neatly put it in his closet compartment. He grabbed some clothes from the closet before heading to the bathroom to shower. Lucas was out quickly as well, fully dressed but something missing from his attire. He walked back into the room, opened a drawer, and fitted his hat on his head, turning to Dawn and saying, "Ready?"

"Yep!" Lucas and Dawn picked up their bags and put their Pokeballs in their pockets before walking downstairs, entranced by the smell of freshly baked goods wafting around the lower floor. "Mmmmmm! Smells wonderful!" Dawn chimed.

"I suppose you'll like the pancakes then?" Johana responded, serving them both hot plates of pancakes and a little syrup on each. Lucas went to the fridge and got the margarine before getting the forks and knives for the two. Johana got a plate of pancakes for herself and sat in front of Lucas, who sat beside Dawn. Dawn and Lucas tucked in voraciously while Johana just chuckled. "You two must be starving! Shall I serve up some more pancakes?"

"I'll pass," Lucas said with his mouthful. Johana's expression soured for a moment before she reached over and bopped him on the head.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. Just for that, you have to eat these," she said, going back to the kitchen.

Lucas had a look of raw terror on his face. "Eat what?"

"These," Johana said, holding out a cup full of cranberries and other fruits.

Lucas gulped. He could deal with vegetables; they could be cooked. But fruits? They were vile, sour, hate-filled miscreants of Arceus' creation. He would rather take his chances with a life sentence or capital punishment. "Mom, I-I'm full…"

"Nuh-uh. You're going to eat all of these."

"But I'm full."

"I'm not going to eat unless you do."

She had him pinned. "Fiiiine. I'll eat 'em." Dawn tried to hold back a giggle as she sat beside him. As tough as Lucas was and as much as he had been through, he never purged his soft side.

Lucas reluctantly extended his hand and received the bowl. Johana then turned to Dawn, "Would you like some as well, dear? They're quite good," she said, popping one from Lucas' bowl.

"Yes please, Ms. Drake." Johana smiled and went into the kitchen, returning with some fruits for herself and Dawn. As they ate, Dawn asked Lucas a question.

"Um, where are we headed first?"

"I think we should first go to Barry's house, and see what he's up to."

"Sounds good to me!" Dawn said, as she finished the last bit of pancake on her plate. "Thank you, Ms. Drake, for letting me stay and making me feel at home."

"Oh, it was nothing. It was nice to have you over. And be sure you and Lucas come to visit or call from time to time on your journeys. Oh, Lucas, you will send me letters, right?" Lucas nodded, not wanting to argue about the fact that he'd never written a letter to anyone in his life and was planning on just leaving texts and calls.

As Dawn and Lucas picked up their things, ready to head outside, Johana placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "I heard you got your first Pokémon from Professor Rowan."

"Yeah, I-I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. I promise I won't do it again."

"I'm not mad, sweetie, I just wanted to know what you choose."

"Piplup."

"The penguin Pokemon? It evolves into Empoleon, a water-steel type, right?"

"I think it does?"

"You know I never told you what type your father used to use in the Elite Four."

"What type did he use?"

"Steel Types," she smiled, "Like father like son and all, I guess. I'll miss you while you're gone, but promise to me that whatever happens out there, you'll be strong and push through."

"I promise. I love you, mom."

"Me too, Lucas. Now go on, Dawn's waiting on you."

"Alright, I'll be leaving then: for real this time," he said, smiling.

"Bye, Lucas. Bye, Dawn. Take care of yourselves, and if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"

"We will, Ms. Drake. Thanks for everything!"

"Bye, mom," Lucas said as he waved and stepped out of the door with Dawn. Johana waved and closed the door as the two started walking towards Barry's house. Behind the door, she began to cough uncontrollably but inaudibly to Lucas.

As they walked, Dawn broke the silence: "How long have you known Barry?"

"Quite a while now. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. We've done almost everything together and we always stood out for each other. In elementary, he was bullied for his stutter he used to have. In middle school, they bullied me because I was a little quiet. But in both cases, we were there for each other and were ready to fight if it ever came to it. We're almost like brothers in a sense. He'd always wanted to go on a Pokemon journey, but I hesitated because I wanted to be a lawyer, as you know. He was so excited when I told him I'd be going on a journey, too."

"Wow, I wish I had a friend like that. Sounds like you two could bring the moon to Earth if you wanted."

"We'd all do that for anyone we care about," he said, looking squarely into Dawn's eyes.

"Yeah, you're right," she said averting his entrancing gaze. The pair were at Barry's house in the next minute. Lucas rang the bell.

Barry opened the door. "Lucas! Dawn! I'm almost ready, give me a millisecond!" he said, racing inside and grabbing some things he would need for the journey.

"That's funny," Lucas said.

"What's funny?" Dawn asked, confused.

"For once he's late." Barry bid his mother farewell and ran outside, closing the door behind them.

"Alright, we've got to get to the 201. We have to go to Lake Verity from there," Barry said, already moving towards the town's exit.

"Verity? Why? There's nothing there," Lucas questioned.

"We've got to properly thank Rowan for our Pokemon, remember? Apparently, there's a legendary Pokemon in the lake. I say we catch and give it Rowan for his research. That'll make him very happy."

"I-I'm not sure he'll really like that. He'll be fine with a polite thank you, you know?" Dawn said, concerned that these two would hurt themselves.

"Nah, there's no way he could refuse a Legendary. Come on Lucas, let's do this." Barry said with excitement and hyper-activity. It was almost as though his body was continually vibrating with energy from an unknown power source.

"I don't think it's a smart idea, but I want to show Dawn Verity anyways so let's go."

"Awesome!" Barry rang as he bolted toward the end of the town. Lucas and Dawn sprinted after him. Barry waited for them at the end. When Lucas and Dawn finally arrived, Barry was unable to contain his energy. He jumped up and down and pumped his arms in the air, like a happy child. "I've always wanted to do this, but here it goes! Lucas: you have a Pokémon; I have a Pokémon. I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!"

"Challenge accepted," Lucas said, moving his left foot back and taking his stance. Lucas' enthusiasm was on par with Barry's at this point, making Dawn take a few steps back not knowing what to expect from their battle.

Barry picked up his Pokeball and released his Pokémon: "Go, Richard!" The Turtwig landed on the floor and looked back at Barry before narrowing its eyes and taking a defensive stance by crouching and partially covering its legs with its shell. Lucas smiled as reached inside his pocket for his own Pokeball.

"Kaiser, let's do this!" Lucas cried as he released his own Piplup. The little Penguin Pokémon landed on its feet, but flapped its wings to maintain balance. Once it became steady, both Lucas and Barry called out their first move.

"Richard, attack!"

"Kaiser, hold your ground!" Both Pokemon looked back at their trainer, confused. Barry and Lucas were a bit underwhelmed and just scratched their heads.

"What do you think happened?" Barry asked. Lucas just shrugged his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Dawn was about to fall on her back with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"You two have no clue how to battle, do you?" Dawn said through her incessant laughing. Lucas looked down, embarrassed. "You have to say the name of the attack you want to use."

"Oh, how do we know what attacks these Pokemon know, then?"

"Usually, you can look them up in the Pokedex, but you two don't have them yet. Lucky for you, I know these two Pokemon well from the research I did with Rowan. Kaiser knows Pound and Growl and Richard knows Tackle and Withdraw.

"Alright then! Richard, use Tackle!"

"Kaiser, counter with Pound!" The two Pokemon rushed each other as best they could. Though Kaiser struggled to walk, it had the greater speed and jumped on top of Richard with a THUD. Richard shrugged the attack and kept moving before turning back around and ramming into Kaiser. "Kaiser, use Growl, now!" Kaiser let out a proud, menacing Growl that caused Richard to falter but take no damage.

"Hah! Your attack did nothing! Finish this! Richard, Tackle!" Richard geared up for another run toward Kaiser.

"Kaiser, get out of there!" Lucas yelled. But it was of no use; Kaiser wasn't exactly the best walker and he could barely move out of his stance. Richard connected, but the hit didn't do as much damage.

"What gives? That should attack should have done it."

"It looks like Lucas played it smart in stead of strong. He lowered Richard's attack instead of damaging it," Dawn said, impressed by Lucas' strategy.

"Kaiser, use Pound again!" Kaiser once again leaped as best it could into the air, and came down head-first onto Richard. Richard tried to roll out of the way, but was not quick enough, exposing his underside which Kaiser hit with another THUD. Kaiser waddled back to Lucas, and turned to face Richard, whose eyes were shut."
"Wow, that was an awesome battle you two, but it looks like Lucas wins this one!" Dawn squealed with excitement as Kaiser was cleaning his feathers and puffing his chest with royalty.

"That was awesome Kaiser!" Lucas said, picking up the Pokemon and rubbing his head against its. Kaiser fluttered his arms in excitement and wiggled with joy. "Alright, return, Kaiser," Lucas said, calling his Pokemon back into its ball with a red light.

"You did a great job, Richard. Now have a nice rest, buddy," Barry said recalling the turtwig. Barry than walked up to Lucas and the two affirmatively clasped hands arm-wrestling style before giving each other a pat on the back.

"Next time, I'm going to beat you, got it?" Barry said with confidence.

"Wanna place money on that?"

"Deal, 40 Pokedollars for the winner."

"40 Pokedollars? What am I supposed to do with that, get half a cookie?"

"Alright, 400 Pokedollars."

"Deal," Lucas said and the two shook on it. "Now, we have to go to Verity."

"Not before your Pokemon are healed!" Dawn said. "I have potions and revives right here," she said, fiddling through here duffel bag. "Here, give me your Pokeballs. I'll show you something." Lucas and Barry gave her their Pokeballs and she stood in between the two of them so both could see. "Pokeballs nowadays come with some cool features."

"Like…?" Lucas asked, confused about what needed to be updated about Pokeballs.

"Like you don't have to release your Pokemon to heal them or give them an item. Watch," she said, turning the Pokeballs around and revealing three small symbols on the back. "The yellow symbol that looks like two pyramids stuck together is the revive symbol." She pressed it on Richard's Pokeball and put the revive near the button. The Pokeball briefly opened and the revive disappeared.

"Cool."

"The spray bottle symbol is the potion symbol," she said, pressing it and having the potion disappear into the Pokeball just like the revive. "And the last question mark symbol is the item symbol. Do the same thing I did with the revives but hold an item out to the ball and the Pokemon will receive it!"

"Thank you Dawn, very cool," Barry said.

"No problem. Now we can go to Verity," she said, smiling at Lucas. Barry wasted no time in charging ahead into the opening that lead into the lake while Lucas and Dawn walked right behind him.

"Alright! We're here! Now let's go catch that Pokemon!" Barry yelled with excitement as he plowed forward into the clearing with Dawn and Lucas chasing after his heels.

The trio had reached Lake Verity, with the sparkling lake with its mesmerizing blue currents and lush grass in sight. Barry began to convert his amazement into speech: "Wow! I remember when we used to play here all the t—" Something else was suddenly arrested his attention, something greater than all the beauty at the lake. "Who's… that?" he said, pointing to a man with aqua blue hair, night-black pants, and long-sleeved shirt, and a white and grey vest with his hands folded behind his back, looking out into the heart of the lake with great certainty in his eyes.

"I-I don't know," Lucas said, equally puzzled. The man looked menacing, yet completely in control and rational, unsettlingly rational. It was almost as though he was devoid of expression.

"…The flowing time… the expanding space… I will make it all mine one day," the man began. His voice reminded Lucas of villains from action movies: gruff, low, and slow. It was intimidating and resonated with great power within. "Sleep well Pokemon of the Lake bed, because I'm coming: for you," he said with cold tone before turning around and heading towards the opening that led back to Route 201. Dawn, Lucas, and Barry didn't move, paralyzed by confusion and fear. The man neared them and stopped. He silently looked at the three of them, but his gaze seemed to affix on Lucas, particularly his hat. "Allow me to pass. Step aside," he said sternly, causing Dawn to shiver a little. The three parted for a moment as he stepped between them and left.

"Wow, what a weird guy, right?" Barry said, his nerves becoming calmer in the man's absence.

"Yeah, he was. He scared me a little," Dawn said. "Did you notice he was looking at your hat, Lucas?"

"Really? Why would my hat matter to him?"

"I don't know, but he doesn't exactly look like one who would muse over fashion sense."

"Well, he's gone now so there's no point in talking about him. LET'S CATCH THAT POKÉMON!" Barry roared. As he said that a loud but soft cooing call echoed around them. "You hear that? That's the Pokemon! We just have to go and ca—"

"What? Go and what?" Lucas asked.

"Fuck! We forgot to get Pokeballs. WE FORGOT THE POKEBALLS?!"

"Yo! Calm down! It's alright. I'm sure there are other ways to thank Rowan other than catching Legendries, Barry. Besides, we heard the Lake Legendary, and that is a cool story to tell in its own right," Lucas reassured.

"Yeah, I guess so. How far is Sandgem from here?" Barry said, recovering from the raging despair he had only moments ago.

"It is…" Lucas said, pulling out his map that he had created from the day before while Dawn was sleeping, "40 kilometers."

Barry said something under his breath.

"What?" Lucas and Dawn both said.

"Nothing, gotta dash!" Barry said, bolting out of the lake's bank and out to route 201.

"Barry, wait for us!" Dawn called, but the speedy kid had already left them in the dust. "Should we go after him… or does he always have to do that?" Dawn asked jokingly.

"Trust me; it can be a blessing sometimes," Lucas replied. "Do you want to see the lake before we leave?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful. I-If we have time and all."

"There's plenty of time. If we're fast enough, we can be at Sandgem before sundown." Dawn began to walk further along the bank of the lake, the soft lapping of the water relaxing her. Lucas walked right next to her.

"Barry and I used to play here as kids. I still know the whole place like the back of my hand," he said, chuckling. "Barry and I used to sit here and count the Magikarp and Lopunnies that ran around. We even saw a Gyrados here once." He paused letting the sound and sights collect within him.

"It's so wonderful," Dawn said.

"Yeah, it's winter now so the lake is super cold, but in the summer it's perfect for a swim," he said, reminiscing on the times he and Barry played around in the water and pretended to be battleships. He and Dawn moved a little closer together, their hands almost touching.

Lucas wanted to stay there: with her, with the lake, but he knew they had to get moving. "I promise you'll see this place in the summer, but for now, we have to go to Sandgem."

"Right, let's get going." She adjusted her duffel bag's strap and looked at Lucas who turned and faced the exit-way. Lucas led her back onto Route 201. They crossed the path that led to Twinleaf and neared a patch of grass.

"I guess we'll have to walk through the wild grass then," Lucas said, "but it's a good thing we have our own Pokémon now." He ventured out into the grass slowly, trying not to make a sound. Dawn followed right behind him. Lucas proceeded through the patch unscathed, although Dawn had to battle a Bidoof. She fled the battle, however, reasoning that she wanted Hazel to save her energy for later. The two made their way down the route until they began walking through a large patch of grass that would lead to Sandgem. They trekked through the grass and eventually reached a town that had a few buildings and a romantically soothing atmosphere. The scent of evergreens wafted in the air as Dawn and Lucas walked through the calm and peaceful town.

"That's the research lab. Professor Rowan works inside there," Dawn said, pointing to a large, blue building next to the Pokemon Center, "and that's the Pokemart."

"Awesome, we can get ourselves some Pokeballs, then!"

"Right, but how about we grab something to eat? We've been walking almost all day and my legs are super tired."

"I-I'm sorry. You're right. Let's head to the Pokemon Center," Lucas said, leading Dawn into a building with a Pokeball symbol and a red roof.

Lucas stepped inside and walked over to the reception desk, where a nurse was filing through some papers. She then turned to the two and said "Hello, and welcome to the Sandgem Pokemon Center. How may I help you?"

"Hello, we're trainers on our journey and we would like to have a room for the night, please."

"Of course. I'll need to see your trainer IDs or Sinnoh IDs, please." Lucas and Dawn didn't have trainer IDs, but because they were 18 they carried Sinnoh IDs instead.

"Lucas Drake and Dawn Avery, right?" Lucas and Dawn nodded. She handed them each a room key. "You guys have room 4. Just go upstairs and take the first left," she said.

"Thank you," Lucas and Dawn both said, turning to go to the room. Lucas unlocked the door and walked in. The room was neat and cozy and reminded him of home. It had a television, a bathroom, and two bunk beds.

"I'll take the bottom bunk," Lucas said.

"Sounds good to me. I'll take the top bunk then," Dawn chimed. Dawn slung off her duffel bag and placed in the corner by the door while Lucas placed his backpack on his bed. "There's a mess hall downstairs. Do you want to go grab some food?"

"No need, mom actually packed us some food," Lucas said, fishing two boxes out of his backpack. "Here," he said, offering her a box. He then opened his and took out two spoons from his backpack, giving her one. "Bon Appétit!" he said before digging into his quesadillas. Two quickly finished their dinner, and Dawn migrated from her bunk to his. She sat down beside him and asked, "I'm not that sleepy yet, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I'm not sleepy either." The two sat in silence, musing over things they could do with each other to pass time. Then Lucas' face flashed a happy smile as he remembered something he had wisely done the day before. "Actually, I think I packed a bunch of DVDs for the trip, because mom told me that Pokemon Center rooms had TVs and DVD players in them," he said, rummaging through his bag to pull out several DVD cases.

"Awesome! I love movies! Which ones do you have?"

"Well…" Lucas scratched his head a little, "they're good movies but they're all action and adventure. I'm not sure if you'll like them…"

"Are you kidding, I love those kinds of movies."

"Well I have Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Dark Knight, and some Star Wars movies. I personally like Star Wars. How about you?"

Dawn was dead silent, making Lucas worry if he had upset her in any way. She then collapsed on the bed, her eyes and expression cold. Lucas was startled for a moment before he bolted over to her and began to gently shake her. "Dawn?" No response. "Dawn, please, it's not funny," he said, his voice reflecting his fear and panic. "Dawn?! Get up!"

Dawn's mouth then moved a little. She kept her eyes closed, but a giggle escaped from her mouth. "Help me Anakin. I am weak," she said in a cunning but frail old man's voice before breaking out into a fit of laughter. Lucas' eyes widened and he slumped on the bed beside Dawn, letting out a huge sigh of relief and taking deep breaths to let out his built-up anxiety. "Not funny," he said, although his expression revealed his humor.

"It was funny and you know it," she said through her laughter.

"She's right," Lucas thought, "it was kind of funny." He tried to remember how panicked and worried she'd gotten him, but just couldn't be mad her. Besides, her laugh was disarmingly cute. A minute later, her laugh finally dissipated.

"Guess that means a yes to Star Wars then?" she said.

"Yeah, it does," he said, getting up off the bed to insert the Revenge of the Sith CD into the player before grabbing the remote and sitting down next to her. They'd both seen the movie before, but for some reason, they were keen on watching the whole thing end to end once more, seemingly more interested in the company than the activity.

Alright, thanks for reading yet another long chapter. And I promise, things are going to get more dark and serious as the story progresses, much more so than the game-story can furnish. Thanks once again to everyone who reviewed the story! Cheerio, everyone!