Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or the Loud House. Those properties belong to Nintendo/Game Freak and (regardless of what happened to him) Chris Savino/Nickelodeon respectively.
Note: Like before, this new version of the story will be based primarily on the anime with aspects of the games, the Adventures manga, and other stuff mixed in. Also, for the sake of convenience, I will be using the following text formats for these particular parts of the story:
Translated Pokémon Speech
Pokédex Entries/Rotom Phone Speech/Thoughts/Computerized Voices/Flashbacks
-=O=-
Location: Luan & Luna's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 5:50 AM EST
"So...tired..." murmured Luan, looking exhausted. "But it'll...it'll be worth it..."
She had spent the entire night setting up pranks for her family. The only ones she had left out were her parents because, quite honestly, she was in enough hot water already with them and the last thing she wanted was to set them off on her again.
But her siblings on the other hand? All of them were fair game, as far as she was concerned. She had even spent an hour or two setting up stuff in Lincoln's room, just in case he came back sometime within the week like Lisa claimed he would.
Still, going through so much trouble to set up pranks for her brother and sisters had come at a cost - she wasn't able to get any sleep at all the night before. After taking a look at her clock and seeing that the time was almost 6 in the morning, Luan lets out a groan since her family made it a habit to wake up around six on school mornings.
'Guess I'm not gonna get the chance to catch up on some shuteye.' thought the comedic teen to herself, frowning as she looked at the clock. '...And it's the first day of school on top of that. Just great.'
It almost made her wish she hadn't spent all night rigging up pranks for her siblings. Almost.
"It'll be worth it, though. No Lincoln means no one thwarting my fun this morning. I only wish I could stay awake long enough to watch the fun..." murmured Luan tiredly, her eyelids becoming heavy from exhaustion. "...Maybe I'll just lay down for a little bit."
After heading back to her bed and practically flopping onto it, the fourteen-year-old was out like a light, falling asleep almost instantly.
-=O=-
Location: Rita & Lynn's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 6:00 AM EST
Elsewhere in the house, the Loud parents were already wide awake, yet exhausted, finding it difficult to sleep the night before.
And the reason why? Today was the first day of the school term. And they knew what that meant.
"Well, you know what today is, right Lynn?"
"Yep. First day of school." replied Lynn, sighing as he remained in place beside his wife on the bed. "Do we have to get out of bed, honey? Can't we just...stay here? Just...shut out the world and hope it goes away?"
Shaking her head, Rita answers "As much as I would like to, we made that same mistake when we let the Protocol get out of control, Lynn. And look where that went."
"Right. The girls going crazy and wrecking the house...oh god, I just remembered something." murmured her husband, wincing. "They wrecked the kitchen, including the fridge and the stove. Which means no breakfast this morning."
"The girls will just have to eat breakfast at school until we get everything back in order over here." said Rita, though she also looked a bit distressed at her husband's words. "Did we at least clear out the fridge after the girls broke it?"
"They probably took care of it when Shirley had them clean up the house." assured Lynn before wincing again. "...At least, I hope they did."
Doing the same, Rita answers "Let's hope so." before glancing at the time. "...Almost seven. Time to get up, I suppose."
"...Yep. Any moment now."
"Lynn. Come on. We can't lie here forever, you know."
Her husband lets out a low whining sound before replying "I know, I know. I'm just...not looking forward to this morning." before finally mustering up the will to get out of bed. As he started to change out of his pajamas and into his usual attire, Lynn stopped and looked at Rita, asking "...Honey?"
Stopping herself from getting dressed as well, Rita answers "Hmm?"
"When we were confiscating things from the girls a few days ago...did you notice anything 'strange'? Like something that just didn't seem right?"
"Almost like something didn't add up?" questioned Rita, causing Lynn to nod. "Then yes, I noticed it, too. When I was taking things out of Lori and Leni's room, I noticed that a lot of the items I confiscated were very expensive brands - the kind they normally couldn't afford with the allowances we gave them. And there's no way they're saving up money for that kind of stuff, since they go to the mall almost every weekend."
"Well...maybe they found a job or something. They are at the age where most teens would be looking for one." said Lynn, trying to rationalize why his two eldest would have such pricey things. "As for me...I noticed that something seemed off when I saw just how many instruments Luna had tucked away in her and Luan's closet, all covered in dust from neglect."
"Instruments cost that much?" asked Rita, bewildered.
"I ran a check online for prices, Rita. She had a sousaphone in there that, aside from the dust covering it, was in really good condition." answered Lynn, frowning. "And those are going for around $1,500 to up to $10,000 brand-new. Used, we're looking at around half a grand."
Upon hearing the prices, Rita's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"WHAT?!"
"I know, right? And that doesn't add up at all, especially considering how many other instruments she had tucked away in there." said Lynn, arms crossed. "So unless she's been hiding some secret savings away or had somehow gotten a high-paying job to afford all those instruments within the 15 years of her life, I'm starting to suspect she might be involved with something shady to earn that kind of money."
"Well...what if she's borrowing the money from her sisters?"
In response, Lynn just looks at Rita like she had just said something foolish before answering "Rita, these are our daughters we're talking about here, as much as it hurts me to say it. They wouldn't lend that kind of cash to Luna for some instruments, especially with how expensive they are."
"Fair point. So we'll confront Luna about this later?"
"After school." said Lynn with a nod, before wincing upon hearing the sounds of screaming, cursing, arguing, and a mixed cacophony of clatters, clangs, and other noises. Letting out a sigh, he mutters "...And here we go."
"And they said things would be more peaceful without Lincoln around..." grumbled Rita, glaring upwards.
-=O=-
Location: Hallway - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 6:05 AM
Chaos. Pandemonium. Absolute insanity.
All three perfectly described how things were going at the moment regarding the Loud sisters getting ready for their first day of school...well, save for Luan, who was still dozing off in her room.
The twins were already at it with each other, fists and insults flying as the two blondes brawled with each other, their fight bringing them all over the hallway while Lori, being the only rational-minded one at the moment, tried and failed to break them up.
"Knock it off, you two! C'mon!" complained the elder blonde as she tried to pry the two twins away from each other, only for the sound of screaming to come from her and Leni's room to distract her long enough for Lola to bite down on her arm, forcing Lori to let go. "Agh! You little brat!"
Seconds later, Leni comes running blindly out of her and Lori's room, screaming while covering her eyes with her hands.
Putting her anger at being bitten aside for the moment, Lori hurries over and asks "Leni, what's wrong!? What happened?"
"I was putting on some of my perfume and the next thing I knew, my eyes started getting all burny! It hurts!" whined the younger blonde, moving her hands to reveal her reddened, bloodshot eyes, as well as what appeared to be a light coating of some red substance on her face.
Dabbing a bit of the red stuff on her finger, Lori noted that it smelled faintly like hot sauce. Namely, the spicy kind that Lynn liked using on her meatball sub sandwiches.
Heading into her room, Lori opened up the perfume bottle that Leni had used, only for an extremely spicy aroma to hit her nose, causing her to cough from the unpleasant smell.
"H-hot sauce...!? Who would put THAT in Leni's perfume bottle!?"
Before she could ponder on that further, the sounds of something metallic clanging, followed by Luna cussing up a storm could be heard coming from the hallway, once again drawing Lori's attention to her siblings.
'This is nuts. Why isn't Lincoln here, making sure things are going the way they're supposed...' thought Lori to herself in frustration...before remembering WHY Lincoln wasn't helping. '...Oh. Right. He's not here right now. Dang it. I guess it falls on me to get everyone back in check. Stupid twerp just HAD to pick the worst possible time to go off to that dork Clyde's house.'
Sighing, the seventeen-year-old heads back out of her room, only to find Luna hopping around the hallway on one foot while a metal bucket is stuck to her other one, snarling out curses that, had their parents been present at the moment, would've led to her getting her mouth washed out with soap.
"Luna, what's going on?"
"Some wanker set a bucket fulla glue beside my bed! I stepped in the damned stuff and now I can't get it off!" snarled Luna, waggling the offending bucket about. "If I ever get my hands on the one responsible, I'll kick their bloody arse!"
As Luna continued to cuss up a storm while Lori tried to help her get the bucket off her foot, Lucy peeked out of her bedroom to see what the others were doing before taking a cautious step outside into the hallway, intending to sneak to the bathroom unnoticed.
What she didn't notice, however, was the length of thin wire set up across the bottom of the doorway.
"The others are too busy fighting. If I can just make it over there without..." started the young goth before one of her legs tripped over the wire and broke it, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the floor.
Said wire was also rigged up to another of the pranks that Luan had set up the night before, causing a bucket of white paint to fall and land on her head, coating her completely with it.
The paint can whacking Lucy over the head didn't exactly help matters either.
Rubbing her now-aching head in pain and having a good idea of who was responsible, Lucy moans "Ugh...my head. Stupid Luan and her stupid pranks..." before noticing that her body was completely coated in white paint. "Ugh...really!? I wouldn't have minded so much if it was black paint, but this!?"
As Lucy griped about her new unwanted paint job, Lynn turned around to see what was the fuss, only to spot what looked like her brother's white-colored hair near the stairs.
Grinning victoriously, Lynn says "Gotcha now, Stinkcoln!" before slipping on her lucha mask and pouncing at her target, not realizing who the owner of that white hair was.
Startled at the sudden outburst, Lucy starts to say "What the..." before her older sibling slams her body into Lucy's own with a flying crossbody splash, sending both sisters tumbling down the stairs.
Said collision also ended up drawing Lori's attention away from Luna, causing her to go see what was going on, leading to her finding the two sisters at the bottom of the stairs completely dazed, but thankfully not injured.
'This is becoming a real mess. I can only dread what's going to happen next...'
KA-BOOM!
"MY COMPOUNDS! YOU IGNORAMOUSES JUST RUINED THREE MONTHS OF RESEARCH!"
'That's...not good.' thought Lori with a wince before hurrying back upstairs and making her way to Lisa's room, only to find that the bedroom door had not only been blown off its hinges but had been blackened on one side as if hit with intense heat.
Inside the room, which looked like a bomb had gone off inside of it, she could see the twins and Lisa, all covered with black soot and arguing with each other while whatever science equipment Lisa DID have left after the confiscation was now destroyed.
Thankfully, she didn't see Lily inside the room at the moment. Whatever that blast was, the teen doubted that the infant would've gone unscathed from it.
Moments later, the sounds of rapid footsteps come charging up the stairs, followed by Rita storming into the bedroom.
"What on Earth is going on up here!? You girls should be getting ready for school by now!" asked the matriarch of the Loud family before looking around the ruined room. "...Oh no..."
"IT WAS HER FAULT!" exclaimed the twins, pointing at the other in order to cast the blame.
"BOTH OF YOU IMBECILES ARE TO BLAME FOR BRINGING YOUR SQUABBLE INTO MY QUARTERS!" snapped Lisa, irritated.
"SHUT UP, LISA!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" roared Rita, causing the three to go quiet. After taking a moment to calm herself down, she adds "I don't care whose fault it is at the moment. Right now, all I want is for you girls to finish getting ready for school. So please, before you test my already thinning patience further..."
They didn't need to be told twice. Wordlessly, the Loud sisters that were present in the room quickly file out of the room and head to the bathroom to form an orderly queue.
As soon as they were gone, Rita sighed before leaving the room, stopping long enough to check on Leni before going over to help Luna with the bucket on her foot.
"Where's Luan, Luna? I don't see her anywhere." asked Rita as she struggled to take the offending bucket off her daughter's foot.
"I dunno, but I bet she's the one who rigged all these pranks up to mess with us this morning." grumbled Luna, wincing as the bucket was twisted about before finally loosening the glue's grip enough for her to pull free. "...Much better. Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome. And Luna?"
"Yeah?"
"Your father and I have noticed something recently - something that hasn't been adding up about the money our family's been spending lately." replied Rita, causing the rocker's eyes to widen in fear as a shiver of dread ran down her spine. "...You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?
"Uh...no, Mom..."
After eyeing the brunette for a moment, Rita nods and says "...Alright. Now then, go get ready for school with the others." before addressing the sisters with a stern look on her face. "Speaking of which, all of you are to come straight home after school is over. Got that?"
The girls nod, not wanting to test her patience further.
As her mother nodded before heading back downstairs, stopping long enough to check on Lucy and Lynn, Luna stood there with a look of absolute terror in her eyes.
'If Mom and Dad's already lookin' into how much we've been spending...oh man, we are boned, big time. They're already mad enough as it is, but if they find out we've been skimmin' off the top with the family savings...'screwed' is gonna be too light of a word to describe it.'
After pulling herself to her feet, Luna heads to her bedroom door to wake Luan up...only for Lori to stop her by grabbing her shoulder while some of the others lead the still-blinded Leni over to the queue.
"Leave her."
"Seriously? Why?"
"Why not? It'll teach her a lesson for rigging all that stuff up just to mess with us." said Lori, hands on her hips. "Besides, we don't have time to waste on waking Luan's lazy butt up. Mom's temper is riled up enough already this morning and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not make her any angrier."
"...Alright, fair enough. She'll just have to deal with the consequences if she's late." concedes Luna before heading over to the queue to use the bathroom.
Besides, with what her mother had to say earlier...she had more important things than making sure Luan would be ready for school to worry about.
-=O=-
Location: Hallway - Royal Woods Elementary, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 8:00 AM EST
As several children of varying ages filed into the elementary school building for their first day of school, a particular group of five were deep in conversation with each other as they went into the building - Ronnie Anne Santiago, Clyde McBride, Rusty Spokes, Zach Gurdle, and Liam Hunnicutt.
"Aw, man...school. Nine whole months of nothing but waking up earlier than what should be allowed, boring lectures, and piles of homework. I wish summer break lasted longer." complained Rusty, hands tucked into his pockets.
"Tell me about it." replied Zach, sighing. "Three months is nowhere near enough time for a break. At least Lincoln will have to suffer through school too before he can try out that Trainer thing he was talking about a few days ago."
Eyes lighting up, Clyde remarks "Speaking of Lincoln, I should mention that he contacted me through video chat earlier this morning."
"Really? What'd he say?" asked Liam, interested.
"Well..."
-Flashback-
Location: Clyde's Room - The McBride Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 6:30 AM EST
"Alright, Clyde - the first day of school without Lincoln. You can do this." murmured Clyde to himself as he was getting ready for his first day of the new semester.
It was going to be a difficult one for him, especially with his best friend on the other side of the Earth, but he'd have to manage until Lincoln returned.
"Hopefully, I'll get to hear from him again soon so he can tell me what it's like in Sinnoh. I bet he'll have all kinds of stuff to tell me and the others when he..."
Suddenly, his laptop 'pinged', signaling that he had just gotten a notification on it.
'Lincoln Loud would like to open a video chat? Accept?'
'...That was quick. I didn't expect to hear from him THIS soon.' thought Clyde before accepting, causing a video chat window to appear on the screen with Lincoln displayed on it.
"Hey, Clyde. I hope I caught you at a good time."
"Hey, anytime's good for me to talk to my best buddy, Lincoln. How's Sinnoh faring so far?" asked Clyde, grinning. "And how's that Trainer School you're attending?"
"Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to going back tomorrow." replied Lincoln, causing his best friend's eyebrows to rise. "I'm learning a lot about Pokémon from my classes. And I've made some new friends here in Sinnoh, too."
"Aw man, you're replacing us already? Not cool, Lincoln." joked Clyde, feigning a hurt expression.
"I could never replace you guys, Clyde. C'mon." said Lincoln, chuckling. "Did you reserve that new issue of Ace Savvy for me? The one that was coming out this week?"
"You betcha. Already have plans to pick it up this weekend so I can mail it to you." answered Clyde before he and Lincoln started discussing the new issue with each other in detail...
-Flashback Cut-
"Hey, enough about the filler stuff, McDork! Did he say anything about putting in a good word for us or not?" snapped Ronnie, interrupting Clyde with a look of irritation on her face.
And by the looks on the other's faces, they seemed to be just as annoyed.
Frowning, Clyde says "I was about to get to that..." before continuing...
-Flashback Continue-
Once he and Clyde were finished discussing the new issue, Lincoln grinned and said "Really, I appreciate you doing that for me. I'll make sure to return the favor. You know I'm good for it."
"Well, you can start by talking to Professor Rowan for me and the others back home. You did promise to talk to him after all." suggested Clyde, causing the white-haired Loud's eyes to light up in recognition.
"Oh right, that's the main reason I contacted you this morning. I do have some news for you regarding what you guys asked me to do."
"You spoke to Professor Rowan?"
'He sure did, bzzt! I even recorded the conversation just so he'd have proof that he did what you guys asked of him!' said Lincoln's Rotom Phone, appearing on the screen, surprising both boys.
After taking a moment to register what was happening, Clyde says "Well...that makes things easier, I guess. I mean, I was going to take Lincoln as his word since he's my best buddy and all, but I'm not going to say no to actual proof. Let's hear it."
'You got it!' answered Rotom before playing back the conversation in full.
"Ah, Mr. Loud. Good to see you again. How was your first day of Trainer's School?"
"Well, it left me with a lot to think about. Other than that, today went fairly well. I'm looking forward to more tomorrow." said Lincoln, causing the mustached professor to nod in approval.
"Excellent." replied Rowan, satisfied. "Anyway, I presume you're here to discuss a few things with me, yes? You mentioned something about wanting to talk to me before heading off to Jubilife City."
"Yeah. There's a few things I do want to talk to you about." answered Lincoln, nodding. "One's kinda important and the other's something I've been thinking about after talking with the others on the way back to Sandgem Town."
"Really? Well, let's hear it then. What's on your mind?"
"Well, to start...a few of my friends back home know about what I'm doing here in Sinnoh and they'd like to give being a Trainer a try for themselves, so...uh..." replied Lincoln, shuffling his feet.
"Ah...a favor for your friends back home. I see. Well, as much as I hate to say it, I won't be able to do anything to help out with that since the semester's already started."
"I know. I've already mentioned that to them before coming to Sinnoh and they'd be willing to wait until next year's semester starts."
"Ah. Well, in that case...I can't exactly guarantee that they'll be able to attend either of Sinnoh's Trainer Schools, but I can see about pulling a few strings to have something arranged for your friends in one of the other regions. No promises, though."
"That's all I needed to hear, Professor." said Lincoln, bowing in gratitude. "I know it's a lot asking something like that of you, especially after everything you've done for me already. Thank you."
Once the recording was finished, Clyde couldn't help but grin - his best friend came through with his promise after all.
"Thanks, Rotom. This is just what I needed to hear."
'You're welcome, bzzt. Any friend of Lincoln's is a friend of mine.' replied Rotom before heading back off-screen.
"Well...that handles that, I guess. So mind filling me in on how things have been back home in Royal Woods?" asked Lincoln, which started another discussion between the two boys.
-Flashback End-
"So he still couldn't get something arranged for this year, but we may have a shot at attending Trainer's School next year, even if it may not be in the same region that Lincoln's in right now." mused Rusty, scratching his chin for a moment before shrugging. "Hey, the way I see it, any region's fine as long as we can get the chance to give this Trainer thing a try too."
While the others nod in agreement, Ronnie frowns and says "A year's still a long time to wait, though..."
"Yeah, but a year's plenty of time ta talk our folks into the idea of lettin' us attend these schools in the first place." countered Liam pointedly.
"Well, you're not exactly wrong about that, but still..." murmured Ronnie, arms crossed. "Did he tell you anything else, Clyde? Anything that ISN'T filler we don't give a hoot about like your dorky comics?"
"Well, he did say that..." started Clyde, only for a loud, shrill shout to ring out, cutting him off and drawing his attention elsewhere.
"THERE YOU ARE, MCBRIDE!"
Turning around, he saw the familiar form of Lola Loud stomping towards him, teeth gritted in anger while the rest of the younger Loud sisters - Lucy, Lisa, and her twin Lana - followed after her.
Storming over and grabbing the collar of Clyde's shirt, Lola snarls "Alright McBride, where is he!? I know you know where he is!"
Startled by Lola's sudden aggression, Clyde stammers "Wh-who? Who's 'he'?"
"Lincoln! Where is he!? I know you're hiding him somewhere!" growled the pink-clad blonde before looking around wildly while still clutching Clyde's shirt. "Where is he!? I'm gonna kill that jerk for causing me to get grounded!"
"Yeah, what she said! I'm gonna hogtie him and cover him in SO much mud once I get my hands on him!" added Lana, cracking her knuckles.
"And I intend to have him serve as my personal testing subject for a long, long while." finished Lisa, looking quite bitter as she adjusted her glasses. "And we know you're hiding him somewhere, Clyde. You're his closest confidant - if anyone happens to know his whereabouts, it would be you. So fess up and save the four of us the trouble."
Only Lucy remained silent, waiting nearby to see what was about to happen.
"Lincoln? Look, I can't say, alright? I promised not to..." started Clyde, causing Lola's grip on his shirt to tighten while her other hand balled up into a fist.
"That's not good enough, buster! Fess up or we'll MAKE you talk!"
"I...I can't say. I promised."
Sighing, the four-year-old answers "I see. How unfortunate. I was expecting you to comply." before snapping her fingers, causing Lana to nod. "Well, there are other ways of making you talk..."
Wiggling her fingers in anticipation, the little blonde tomboy grins and says "I'll make you talk, whether you want to or not, Clyde." before taking a foul-looking ball of what looked like mud out of her pocket.
...At least Clyde HOPED it was mud. The flies that were starting to swarm around it weren't a good indicator.
"Do I even WANT to know why you would have THAT in your pocket!?" exclaimed Lola, disgusted.
Wincing upon recognizing WHAT that ball of gunk was, Lisa remarked "That better not be one of my examination samples, Lana."
"...Gross." murmured Lucy, wincing as well.
"Look, Clyde said he can't say where he is, okay? Just drop it and leave him alone!" exclaimed Rusty, drawing the sisters' attention towards him.
"You keep out of this, Spotty! This doesn't concern you!" snapped Lola before turning to face her twin. "Lana, Clyde doesn't want to fess up. You know what you have to do."
"You got it, Lola." replied her twin before approaching Clyde, holding the ball of dubious brown gunk.
Upon smelling an unpleasant stench coming from it, the others quickly backed away as Lana made a beeline for Clyde...only for Ronnie to grab the back of her shirt and yank her back.
"Alright, that's enough you little munchkin. Back off."
Startled by the sudden change of direction, Lana drops the gunk she was holding, causing it to splatter on the floor.
"Aw, man! I had to root around through Ol' Sloshy to find that one!" whined Lana, causing the other Loud sisters to wince in disgust for a moment before Lola stomps over to confront Ronnie Anne.
"You dare..." snarled Lola, glaring at the older girl.
"Oh, I dare, you little brat. If McDork here doesn't want to say where Lame-O is, then he doesn't have to. That's not YOUR business to know about."
While Lola stood there, flummoxed at the fact Ronnie had the guts to talk to her that way, the other three Loud sisters watched on with bated breath, waiting to see if things escalated.
"This doesn't involve you, Ronnie Anne. Our dispute with our fraternal unit is a Loud family affair, so please, keep your nose out of it." said Lisa, frowning. "Now then, Clyde - Lincoln's whereabouts, please. Now. Before things start becoming...unpleasant."
"And just what are you kids doing here, loitering in the halls!?" exclaimed another voice from nearby, catching their attention.
Standing nearby was the principal of the school, who had a look of disapproval on his face as he glared down at them.
"Nothin', Principal Huggins. We were just about to leave fer our first class." spoke Liam in an attempt to not only diffuse the situation but create an opportunity for him and the others to get away from the Loud sisters.
Catching onto what Liam was doing, Clyde quickly nodded and said "What he said. We'll be on our way, sir." before hurrying off, putting as much distance between him and the sisters as possible. Whispering to the others, he adds "I'll fill you guys in on the rest later."
Watching as Clyde and his group made their getaway for the time being, Lola stomps her foot in frustration before storming off to her homeroom, with Lisa, Lana and Lucy following after her.
-=O=-
Location: Outside The School - Royal Woods High School, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 8:20 AM EST
Meanwhile, at the Royal Woods High School, three more of the Loud sisters were busy with dilemmas of their own.
"Oh man...this is bad. This is really bad..." murmured Luna as she paced about near a distant corner of the main building of the high school, a look of panic evident in her eyes. "Mom and Pop are gonna kill us once they find out about the money we skimmed from the family savings. Especially me. How the hell am I supposed to pay all of that cash back!?"
Out of all the girls, Luna had, by far, 'borrowed' the most money since her usual allowance wasn't anywhere nowhere near enough to cover the amount she spent on her instrument collection before it had been confiscated by her father.
Leni looked just as nervous since the amount she had also 'borrowed' was no small amount, all spent on pricey clothes and materials to make her dresses.
"Um...well, you could say that you managed to get a job recently." suggested Leni, only for the brunette to let out a sigh.
"Leni, I'm fifteen. Most teens don't start looking for work until roughly around that age." muttered Luna, shaking her head. "So unless I can somehow explain how I was able to obtain THOUSANDS of dollars within the span of a few months, I think the jig is up. Even if they don't find out about us nicking from the savings, they'll think I'm doing something incredibly shady to earn that kinda scratch and I'll end up getting in trouble anyway."
"Oh...well, we'll think of something to fix this. Right, Lori?" asked Leni as she glanced at her older sister, who was gazing around anxiously, looking for her boyfriend. "...Lori? Did you hear me?"
Instead of providing Leni with the reassuring answer she was hoping for, Lori just gives her an irritated look.
Now, normally...the eldest of the Loud sisters would be trying to calm the two down and trying to reassure them that they'll figure out something to deal with this mess. However, being unable to talk to her boyfriend Bobby ever since losing her phone, along with the earlier chaos that had taken place this morning, had put her in a foul mood that had only gotten worse since she couldn't find Bobby anywhere near the school.
In short, she was currently in 'Bobby Withdrawal' mode and when she was like this, rational thinking and consideration towards her sisters' plights were the last things on her mind at the moment.
"Can you two shut up for five minutes!? I'm literally going through some major Bobby Withdrawal right now and I can't think with you two running your mouths!" snapped Lori, causing Leni to go quiet, fearful of inciting her older sister's anger.
Luna, on the other hand, looked absolutely livid as she snarled "Bobby Withdrawal? BOBBY WITHDRAWAL!? I don't know if you understand this, but our situation back home is FAR more important than the fact you can't speak with your boyfriend! Do you realize just how screwed all of us will be, me especially, once Mom and Dad find out what's been going on!?"
"How dare you!?"
"I dare because we have far more serious things to worry about than the fact you can't go without talking to that doofus for five minutes!"
"DOOFUS!?"
As the two sisters started to argue vehemently with each other, drawing the attention of other students nearby, Leni quietly slipped away to put some distance between them and her.
After managing to move a fair distance away from the argument, Leni sighed in relief before muttering "Today is totes not a good day. First that really burny perfume and now this..." before noticing something nearby - Bobby talking to another girl that clearly wasn't her older sister, but looked to be around the same age.
Once he and the unknown girl had finished talking, Bobby hugged her before sending her on her way, causing Leni to gasp before snapping a quick picture with her phone and hiding away behind a nearby corner.
'O-M-G...Bobby's totes cheating on Lori? She'll need to know about this...'
(AN: And so begins an alternate take on 'Cheater By The Dozen')
-=O=-
Location: Luan & Luna's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 8:45 AM EST
Moaning in exhaustion, Luan opens her bleary, tired eyes as she slowly starts getting out of bed.
"Ugh...I feel terrible. I don't care if it's for the sake of a prank, I'm never staying up all night like that again..." groaned the teenage comedian before letting out a yawn. "...What time is it? And why didn't the others wake me up?"
After taking a moment to get her bearings, Luan checked the time on a nearby alarm clock, only for her eyes to go wide upon seeing the time - a quarter to nine.
Panic starting to set in, Luan cries out "Aw crap, I'm going to be late!" before hurriedly rushing over to the closet to get some fresh clothes...only for one of the pranks she had set up the night before to go off, splattering her with a pie made from some of the stuff she had found in the fridge overnight while she was setting everything up.
And going by the fact that the fridge had stopped working a few days ago due to the skirmish between the Loud sisters wrecking the kitchen...'spoiled' was too light of a term to describe the contents of that pie.
Sputtering in disgust while trying to wipe the pie's vile contents off her face, Luan stumbles out of her room, only to trigger yet another prank she had set up, causing a bucket filled with water to land on her head, drenching her pajamas and causing the bucket to block her view.
Unable to see, the fourteen-year-old stumbled around the hallway, trying to find her way back to her room, only to end up stumbling into Lincoln's room by mistake and triggering the pranks she had set up in his room - mousetraps set up all over the floor.
Howling in pain as she hopped out of her brother's room clutching her foot, Luan stumbled over a tripwire set up at the foot of Lincoln's bedroom door, sending her crashing to the floor.
Said wire was also connected to a pair of buckets - one filled with glue, the other with feathers - that up-ended their contents onto their target.
As she lay there, sprawled out onto the floor and looking like an overgrown chicken, Luan moaned "Pranks...aren't as funny...when they backfire on the prankster...ugh..." before getting to her feet and slumping over to the bathroom to use the shower.
Going on how things were going so far, she wouldn't be surprised if she ended up missing her first day outright.
'This is all the others' fault. They should've just woken me up instead of ditching me like that.' thought Luan bitterly as she got into the shower, clearly ignoring the fact that it was her fault that her sisters chose to leave her behind.
After getting cleaned up and making absolutely sure to avoid setting off any leftover pranks on the way back to her room, she quickly changes into a fresh set of clothes before bolting out the front door to try and at least make it to her school before it was too late.
-=O=-
Location: Entrance - Royal Woods Middle School, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 9:15 AM EST
Thirty minutes later, Luan staggers through the front entrance of the main building of her middle school, looking absolutely winded.
Comedy and entertainment may have been her stronger points, but athletics? Not so much.
Gasping heavily as she attempted to catch her breath, Luan moaned "I need...to start exercising more..." before stumbling down the hallway to get to what would hopefully be her first class of the day before it was too late.
"If those...those jerks think this morning was bad...ooh, just wait until...ugh, I'm too tired to be angry right now." grumbled Luan in between breaths as she made her way to class, only to stop upon seeing Lynn and her friend Margo coming down the hallway from the other end.
"...And that's what happened, Margo. Because of Stinkcoln sticking his nose where it didn't belong, all of us ended up getting into trouble. I'm grounded for three months, no sports or extra-curriculars." said Lynn, apparently finishing what seemed to be some kind of explanation.
"Aw man, for real? Three months?" questioned her long-nosed friend, looking at her while feeling a bit conflicted about what Lynn had to say.
On one hand, not having Lynn on the team would make things harder for the Squirrels to make it to the championship. Superstitious or not, she was one of the better players the team had at the moment, and with her being out of action for three months...it wasn't going to be easy for the Squirrels to get enough wins to get to the championship game, especially with rival teams like the Lions gunning for the title as well.
On the other hand, however, Lynn's absence would also mean that the rest of the team wouldn't have to worry about her 'no going number two until we're number one' rule or any of her crazy superstitions for three whole months. Several members of the team, herself included, had come close to having 'accidents' during the games because of this unorthodox belief and it'll be nice to be able to 'take care of business' freely without worrying about Lynn pressuring them to hold it in until the game's over.
On top of all that, from what she understood regarding this whole mess that started everything in the first place, it seemed like Lynn was trying to push more of the blame on her brother instead of admitting that part of the situation was her fault for letting things get that out of hand.
Not that she would voice that opinion out loud, of course.
"Yep. And until then, you and the others will have to make do without me until I'm able to play again."
Scratching the back of her head, Margo answers "Well, I don't know what to tell you, Lynn. I mean, we'll try to hold down the fort while you're out of commission, but it's gonna be hard with the '#1' of the team unable to play for the Squirrels for three months."
"Yeah, I know it'll be tough without the top player pulling the weight for the team, but I'm sure you and the others will do great. I mean, no one else on the team is as good as me, but I think the Squirrels will manage until their star player's ready to get back into action." said Lynn in a confident tone that practically oozed prideful arrogance as she pointed at herself.
Trying to fight back the irritation she felt at Lynn's remark, Margo simply answered "We'll try our best, Lynn." before noticing Luan approaching, looking livid. "Uh...Lynn? Is that your sister?"
"Huh?" asked Lynn in confusion before noticing her older sibling storming towards her. "Oh, it's you. Finally got your lazy butt out of bed?"
"No thanks to you! You and the others just left me high and dry!" snapped Luan, furious at her younger sister's dismissive tone. "What gives!?"
"Well, what did you expect, huh? Did you really think we would do ANYTHING for you after what happened this morning?" replied the younger brunette before giving her older sister a pointed look. "And don't try to play dumb, because no one else would think to set up all those pranks throughout the house except for you."
A growl escapes Luan's lips, though she doesn't try to deny Lynn's words.
"So what if I did? You girls need to develop a better sense of humor! It was just a couple of pranks!"
"Yeah, at the WORST possible time for you to be pulling them, especially with Mom and Dad completely cheesed off at us!" retorted Lynn, her notorious temper starting to flare up. "And for the record? No one thought your pranks this morning were funny."
"They were for me! Pranks are meant for the prankster to enjoy!" countered Luan, eyes narrowed.
"Says the joker who says that comedy is meant for the audience's enjoyment, because you sure ren't making the rest of us laugh with those stupid pranks of yours! You're full of shit, Luan!"
"You want to know what's full of shit!? Your stupid superstitions!"
"You take that back!"
"Make me!"
Seeing the argument between the two teens becoming more and more volatile, Margo wisely backs away, putting distance between herself and the arguing sisters as their dispute becomes more and more heated by the minute before finally breaking out into a full-blown shouting match, causing other students to stop what they were doing to either try to calm things down, repeatedly cheering out "Fight!", walking away without doing anything to help or start recording the incident with their phones.
More so the latter three than the former. Teenagers can be jerks sometimes.
-=O=-
Location: Cafeteria - Royal Woods High School, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 1:30 PM EST
'Ugh...today couldn't possibly be any worse. First, we go through that absolute nightmare of a morning, then I'm unable to find my Bobby-Boo-Boo-Bear anywhere and now I've got Luna mad at me because I snapped at her while she was bringing up some legit concerns about Mom and Dad.' thought Lori as she absently picked at her lunch, seemingly not interested in eating at the moment. 'She literally doesn't realize that when I've got Bobby on the brain, I don't exactly put it to use on anything else.'
Part of her wanted to apologize to Luna for lashing out like that while the other, more prideful part of her felt that since her sister called Bobby a 'doofus', she didn't have to apologize to Luna about anything.
Admittedly, Luna DID have a good reason to be concerned about what was going on back at home, mainly because she was among the ones who spent the most money from the family savings. Those instruments weren't cheap, after all.
Why, if it weren't for the fact she was distracted with other matters at the moment, she would be just as concerned about the situation back home, if not more so, since she was the main reason that she and her siblings were able to access the savings in the first place.
'And Mom and Dad never would've discovered what was going on if we hadn't lost our cool with each other, wrecked the house, and gotten our stuff confiscated to pay for the repairs. This is just another thing that twerp's at fault for.' thought the blonde bitterly to herself, mentally shifting the blame towards her brother. 'If he had just stayed out of our business while the Protocol was active like we told him to, this wouldn't even be a problem in the first place.'
Before she could dwell on the matter further, Lori's eyes caught onto Bobby entering the cafeteria, causing them to light up before she ran over towards him and hugged him, her lunch forgotten for the moment.
"Bobby Boo-Boo-Bear! I missed you!"
"I missed you too, babe. Haven't heard back from you in a week." replied Bobby, patting her back with a smile on his face. "What happened?"
"Got into some trouble back home. Ended up getting grounded and my phone got confiscated, but I'll get it back eventually and we can start calling and texting again like normal once I'm in the clear again." replied Lori, eventually breaking off the hug. "It's a real shame too. Our anniversary date was supposed to be this Friday, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was..." replied Bobby, scratching the back of his head.
'Just ANOTHER thing to blame Lincoln for...' thought Lori bitterly to herself before nodding. "A shame too, since I was really looking forward to it."
Glancing aside, Bobby replies "Me too. I...uh, guess we'll have to put it off until you're outta the doghouse, huh?"
"I guess, though that won't be for another three months..." murmured Lori, grumbling the latter part to herself. "A-anyway...think we can spend some time together while we have the chance? I'd love nothing more than to spend the rest of the lunch period with my Boo-Boo-Bear right now."
"Erm...I'd love to, babe...but uh..." replied Bobby before glancing aside. "I've got...some really important business to take care of. Like, REALLY important."
"...Oh." said Lori, sounding a bit disappointed. "Well...maybe another time then."
"Sorry, babe. If it wasn't for that important business - which is totally important, I promise - I'd be right here with you."
"...Is it really THAT important?"
"Extremely important, babe." replied Bobby before his phone's ringtone went off, causing him to check his phone. "Hello? Oh...oh, hey. Yeah...yeah, I'll be with you in a bit. Just give me a few minutes, okay?"
While Bobby spoke to the other person on the phone, Lori silently watched on, wondering who it was he was talking to.
"Yeah...yeah, okay. Alright. I'll be there in a few." finished Bobby before ending the call. "Sorry, babe. I gotta go. Catch you later?"
"...Yeah. See you later, Bobby. Love you."
After giving Lori a brief kiss on the cheek, Bobby replies "Love you too, babe." before running off, leaving the blonde standing there alone.
'...What on Earth is so important enough to pull his attention away from me so quickly?' thought Lori, perplexed as she watched Bobby leave the cafeteria. 'And who was that on the phone with him?'
Before she could ponder upon it further, the sound of Leni's voice rang out from nearby, calling her name.
"Lori! Lori!"
Broken away from her thoughts for the moment, the elder of the two blondes sighed before turning around to face her younger sister.
"What is it, Leni?"
"O-M-G, Lori! Thank goodness I caught up with you! I gotta show you something important!"
'Probably another dress or something.' thought Lori, rolling her eyes before answering "Look, whatever it is, make it quick. I've got other things to worry about right now."
While she fumbled about in her bag for her phone, Leni replied "It's about Bobby, Lori! I think he's cheating on you!", causing Lori's eyes to widen in disbelief.
"You think he's doing WHAT!?"
"See for yourself." said Leni before handing her phone over, which had the picture of Bobby and the unknown girl hugging on the screen. "He's totes cheating, Lori! He's no good!"
Feeling her world starting to come crashing down around her, Lori murmurs "Th-this can't be right. He's my Bobby Boo-Boo-Bear. My babe. He wouldn't cheat on me like this." as she stares down at the picture.
"Well, do you know who that girl is?"
"That's Teri. I think she's one of Bobby's co-workers at the pizzeria." said Lori, frowning. "But why would she be hugging him like that? Unless..."
"...Unless he's cheating." spoke both sisters in unison before looking at each other.
After taking a moment to let this newfound revelation settle in, Lori speaks again, saying "...Okay, maybe we're looking too deeply into this. I mean, this is my Bobby Boo-Boo-Bear, right? My boyfriend. My babe. He wouldn't do this to me, I know it. But still..."
Leni stands by wordlessly, waiting for her sister to finish.
"...It couldn't hurt to look into it. When school's out, we'll have a sister meeting back home over what to do. Now beat it...I need to be alone right now."
Leni nods again before scurrying off, leaving her now-forlorn sister behind.
-=O=-
AN: Chapter 8 is done and I'd like to apologize for the holdup, but real-life crap got in the way again - the owners of the hotel I was working at sold the place to new owners (the hotel used to be a small-time independent one, but the new owners are working with an affiliated hotel chain) that didn't want or need live-in housekeepers, so I was back to where I had been before - trying to find a place where I can keep a consistent roof over my head. And what pisses me off about this whole situation is the fact the old owners never told me and my family that they weren't selling the place until it was too late to do anything about it. My family and I could've had plenty of time to prepare, maybe have something set up in advance so this wouldn't be a problem, but no. So now you know why it took so long to get the chapter out. I hate it when this kind of crap happens. Really, I do. And I wanted to add more to this chapter, but felt that I'd kept you guys waiting long enough already. Maybe in the next one, I'll continue onwards, along with some stuff that's going on with Lincoln in Sinnoh. Maybe.
But rest assured, I'm not abandoning this story like I had to do with the last one.
...Anyway, let's change the subject from those upsetting topics, yeah?
Here is this chapter's quiz question: Can you name all the Steel-Types that Byron DOESN'T use in battle?
As usual, the person who provides the correct answer will get to name the next Surprise Trade Pokémon. Good luck to all of you.
Speaking of which, congratulations to 'ratchetanon' for providing a...technically correct answer (even I didn't think of adding the doors of the gym's entrance to the total number of doors). Your choice of Crawdaunt will be included as one of Lincoln's Surprise Trade Pokémon.
And with that, only three spots remain region-wise: Kanto, Alola, and Paldea. Three chances left to decide who will be joining Lincoln's team in the future. And I should remind you that only ONE more starter can be included as one of those choices.
As usual, I hope you enjoy the chapter and look forward to the next one. And I'd like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. Here's to spending 2024 writing more for you guys.