Just a week later and what have we here? After being lucky to get a chapter out every couple of months, I'm beginning to feel like I'm spoiling my readers haha! As the Whirl Islands Tournament Arc comes to a close, what better way to celebrate than by revealing Luke's adventurous chat with Chris? Several of my readers seemed interested in hearing further details about Luke's journey the past two months. After all, before they reunited on the cruise, the last time we had heard from the Tohjo native had been at the end of the Goldenrod Tournament. My very good friend, whom I've based the character of Luke off of, has been great about writing his character's exploits. So I hope you enjoy the chapters to come and will provide my friend with some feedback for his writing on this story. I cannot stress my appreciation for him enough. Please Review and Subscribe if you enjoyed it!
Luke Chapter 3
"Come on come on come on come on," Luke was repeating to himself as he waited at a crosswalk in the middle of Olivine City. Cars flooded through like a stampede of Tauros, keeping him from continuing his mad dash to the pier. He tapped his foot and fiddled his hands around in his pockets as he kept looking up the one-way, praying for a break in the flow.
The light flashed from orange to white and Luke picked up into a steady jog. His satchel bounced with his gait and he adjusted as needed, as tropical architecture blurred by. Luckily he'd passed through Olivine not long before and had had at least a brief moment to enjoy the stylings of the cityscape.
Luke lamented his recent lack of speed and rounded a corner. The smell of the salted breeze grew stronger and stronger. As the blocks wound down he despised the current state of his legs but was soon in the wide open sight of the ocean. The pier lay ahead and the already-departed cruise liner dwindled on the horizon. The combination of catching his breath, cursing, and game-planning had Luke frustrated.
"Duh." Luke muttered as he smacked himself on the forehead. He rummaged in his bag and snatched a Poké Ball from within. A beam of red light emitted from the device as he brushed his hair back. A large, orange dragon materialized and looked at his trainer with intent.
"As you can guess, we're late for the cruise." Luke addressed his Pokémon who did not seem shocked at all. Luke pointed out to the disappearing ship, "We need to get out there. Think you can do it?"
Charizard stared out toward the sea as if calculating an intense equation in his head. As his Pokémon sized up the situation, Luke glanced over his shoulder to see a young girl with her mother staring at his draconic friend. He lifted his hand to wave, but felt a clawed hand grabbing the strap of his bag.
"Oh no." Luke sighed as Charizard burst into a full sprint, pulling the trainer along with him. With a mighty leap the duo were airborne and headed toward the ship. Luke only hoped he wouldn't have a run in with security.
"You have a good fuckin' day too, buddy." Luke shot at the security man as he left his and Chris' presence. He massaged his neck and pushed his hair back into place before returning his boarding pass to his bag. Somehow the strap had not ripped during their flight.
"You sound a little tired, bro." Chris stated. Luke could tell Chris was curious about what Luke had been up to for the past two months.
I kinda am, man." Luke forced a chuckle, trying to ease his friend a bit. "I'll have to tell you about these past two months after I've rested up a bit." Luke shifted his weight onto his right leg and a dull pain reminded him of the passed time. Still, it was better than what it had been.
Chris affirmed his willingness to wait. While Charizard and Quilava looked each other over, their trainers chatted over their less than ideal lodging situation. But seeing as how Chris' father had given the boys the tickets, Luke kept his issues to himself and offered to sleep on the couch. Chris lauded him for his small sacrifice before the two headed off to the room.
Upon arriving at room 67, Chris pointed out the basics of the room to Luke and then took off to go explore the ship a bit more. Luke threw his bag in the corner, stripped down, and threw on a pair of shorts. Charizard sat in the corner, silent and tracking the trainer's every movement. There was not much space for the beast to fit.
"How about I return you to your ball, buddy?" Luke asked his Pokémon, which earned a snort in return. Luke's face mellowed and he spoke with soft protest to the dragon. "Look, there's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine." Charizard snorted again as he the red beam enveloped and returned him to the Poké Ball.
Luke sighed with heavy exasperation and rolled over on the couch. He buried his face into the side and fell near-instantly to sleep.
Cold hard air fought with bright dancing flames for the right to damage Luke's body further. Smoke, fatigue, and running blood obscured his vision. He was struggling to pull himself to safety while the sad and fearful cries of wild Pokémon mourned the loss of their homes. The cries echoed and grew louder and louder into a sharp, violent assault on his ears as his vision grew redder and brighter.
Luke jolted up from the couch, back sore and sunlight blinding him until his eyes adjusted. Chris' alarm was ringing throughout their cabin and Luke could tell the other trainer was awaiting his eyes to change to the bright light.
"Fuck," Luke groaned through a dry throat. He parted his dark hair away from his eyes.
"And a good morning to you also, sir." Chris greeted. Luke's liberal use of four-letter words made for a nice dichotomy with Chris' speech. They chatted as they prepped for the dining hall, where Luke knew Chris would pry about the past two months. Luckily, Chris had yet to notice the couple of remaining scars on Luke's torso.
Luke stared out at the ocean as he scarfed down plate after plate of food from the buffet. He hadn't had a chance to eat much of late, and he hadn't been able to eat much before that. The boys had chosen to sit near a large window that looked over the sea. He looked up at Chris, whose face held a perplexed expression directed at Luke.
"You notice we're slowing down?" Luke asked, pushing off the inevitable storytelling he would soon have to do.
"Yeah," Chris said. He paused and looked back out the window. "I suppose that means we're getting close to the first stop." Luke grunted in agreement and raked the last bits of some eggs into his mouth. As he reached for a pastry from the plate that had just stepped up to bat, he could feel Chris looking at him once again. He took a bite from the treat, swallowed, and spoke up.
"Guess it's about time I tell you what's happened over these past two months." He washed down the remaining crumbs in his mouth with a sip of coffee and held onto his mug for a long tale.
Luke awoke to the sound of a camp full of bustling –ologists of every kind. The air in the tent was dusty and he rolled over to see a note on the table beside his cot. Rubbing his eyes, he unfolded it and read it by the cracks of light creeping into the tent.
"Luke,
I'm out of here. It's been fun traveling with you but it's time to get back to Gym Leader duties, which sorta sucks. Stop by on your way back so I can beat you.
-Morty"
Luke yawned and placed the note back onto the table. Morty's ability to leave so early was impressive, especially after staying by the fire storytelling late into the night. Of course, he could have left in the night without even heading to sleep. Who knows with Ghost-type trainers like him?
Luke avoided the waking world for another half hour before heading out into camp. It'd been a week since he'd arrived at the camp, and four days since Blue had left. The Gym Leader had decided to meet Lance and discuss the changing of Champion-duties. As Blue had told the younger trainer, sometimes there are certain responsibilities to take when life presents them to us.
"So you're telling me that you impressed Morty enough that he took you to the Ruins of Alph with him? And you made friends with Blue? The Blue? Former Champion of the Pokémon League and current Viridian City Gym Leader Blue?" Chris looked at Luke with a cocked eyebrow.
"I think it's more former Viridian City Gym Leader and current Pokémon League Champion Blue now." Luke replied.
Chris rolled his eyes. "I mean, I don't think you'd lie. It's just somethin' else."
"Yeah," Luke said, sipping his coffee. "I've wondered lately if it was a good idea on either of our parts. Me and Morty." He chuckled a bit.
"But at least we know a bit more to this Lance situation. And at least we know there are good guys like Blue and Morty in on it all." Chris was still looking at Luke, who nodded in agreement. "So what next? You didn't just hang out at the ruins for the two months, I know that."
"Next," Luke replied, "next I got lost."
As one would expected, the hall of the ruin was dusty and dark. Luke had wondered in on his farewell tour of the camp, wanting to check out some carvings in the walls one last time. Charmeleon stood by his side lighting the hall, while Luke examined the carvings in more detail. His satchel lay to the side, as it had only proved to hang in Luke's way while he moved around the carvings.
"See this, buddy?" Luke addressed Charmeleon, pointing at a particular carving. "Move your tail closer over here." Charmeleon swung his tail and illuminated the wall. Luke's fingers traced over a triangle with three intricate circles arranged at each point. Luke pointed at the lower left circle, shaped like a gear, and said, "That looks familiar. I think I've seen it in one of the old myth books we had."
Luke's knees had begun to ache from the squatting, so he turned and plopped down on the ground. His back rested against the wall and he placed his hand to his side. As he shifted his weight toward it, the ground beneath gave way. There was a quick clicking sound and Luke found himself falling backwards.
"The hell," he said as he sat back up and dusted off his back. Cool, musty air was emanating from the passage that had opened up behind him, and he stood up and took a step into it. Charmeleon followed his trainer in, providing light with his tail. "Well this is cool. But there's no carvings in here. Still, cool. Right?" He looked at the orange lizard for validation, which he gave with a slight nod.
Luke took a few more steps into the passage when he heard the sound of stone on stone. He turned to see the entryway to the new passage closing, with his satchel on the other side. Charmeleon hissed and shot a jet of flame at the entryway as it closed shut and Luke cursed.
"Fuck fuck fuck," Luke spoke. "This isn't good. Poochyena, Pidgeotto, and Elekid are still out there and I can't get to them. We've got to find a way out of here." Charmeleon nodded before turning and walking down the passage. Luke knew that the air was flowing in from somewhere, so the passage had to open to the outside somewhere. And he knew Charmeleon knew this as well. So he followed the bobbing tail-flame of his starter into the dark unknown.
"While I was in the hospital I got hold of a book and,"
"You were in the hospital?" Chris had cut Luke off.
"I'm getting there." Luke said with aggravation tinging his voice. "I'm getting there. Geez." Chris raised his eyebrows and waited for Luke to continue. "Right. Anyways, the symbol, it was an old emblem representing space, or existence in a way."
"Space… like, Palkia space?" Chris asked, referencing the Sinnoh legend.
"Exactly." Luke said. "They've seen it on temples over there plenty. But I don't think anyone had noticed it in that particular ruin yet."
"So what'd the archeologists think when you told them about it?" Chris asked.
"Well," Luke said, "I didn't. I haven't seen them to tell them. It took me seven hours to get out of the tunnel, and when I did I had no idea where I was. Turns out it went into and up through the mountains. I came out on top of the mountains and had to keep going to find a safe way down."
"How long did that take?"
"With stopping to sleep and rest and my body weakening, about three days."
"THREE DAYS!" Chris shouted, earning the odd look or two from other diners. "You were on top of the mountains for three days? That's crazy, you're lucky to be alive!"
"Okay, Mom." Luke retorted.
"I mean-" Chris started.
"Believe me, I've heard how lucky to be alive I am enough. I was lucky exposure didn't get me. I was twice as lucky that I didn't bleed out either."
The air was cold up in the mountains. Three days had almost elapsed since Luke had exited the secret passage and emerged onto a path on top of the mountains. It seemed ancient and like it had a clear destination, as it kept winding on towards the north. But Luke couldn't continue northbound when he had his Pokémon left alone. For all he knew some punk had snatched them up, and the thought turned his stomach.
About midway through the third day Luke finally found a slope that he felt was safe enough to descend. He'd spent the better part of the day doing so, and by the time he'd reached the base his body had begun to fade like the currently setting sun. The Pokémon and trainer set up camp as their daylight to do so by dwindled.
Charmeleon sniffed about, but Luke shrugged it off as the Pokémon had been uneasy throughout their ordeal. Luke couldn't deny it though, an energy had grown has they had journeyed further and further along the path.
"It'll be alright, buddy." Luke encouraged his friend. "We're down out of the mountains now. Should be easy going from here."
Charmeleon grunted at Luke.
"No, I guess I don't really know where we are," Luke looked around at the surroundings. Trees thicker, both in size and proximity to each other, than Luke had ever seen before surrounded the duo and the dim light from their campfire. "But I know we're north, and if we keep heading south we'll have to get somewhere eventually."
Charmeleon snorted and laid down to rest. Luke rolled over as well. It was getting colder, and he huddled as close to the fire as he could. If they'd go south they'd make it somewhere, but they'd have to have the energy to make it south. Luke's body ached with exhaustion and his eyelids weighed like stones. Soon he was asleep.
Twigs snapped and awoke Luke. The fire had died down and was nothing but embers at this point and the sudden realization that he was cold set into Luke's bones. He sat up and stretched, knowing he'd need to rekindle the flame. As he did so, a roar that shook Luke at his most basic instinct echoed from the tree line and a lumbering shape erupted forth.
The Ursaring barreled towards Luke and the trainer yelled to Charmeleon, whose eyes snapped open as a large, brown paw swiped Luke in the abdomen and tossed him away. The Hibernator Pokémon shuffled over to Luke, who was groaning as he felt his shirt soak up the warm blood oozing from his stomach.
"Shit." Luke said as the Ursaring moved toward him. Adrenaline rushed through Luke as he pushed himself up and began grunting and shouting at the beast. It did not phase it. Luke's mind raced for solutions before flame blindsided the Ursaring and Charmeleon charged at the Pokémon.
The orange lizard sunk its claws, teeth, and anger into the foe as wave after wave of flame and heat met the Ursaring. As unrelenting as Charmeleon was, the Ursaring retaliated. Charmeleon flew off its feet from another of the bear's paw swipes. As dust kicked up from where Charmeleon landed, Luke could see energy forming at the Ursaring's mouth.
Luke knew that this was Hyper Beam.
He dashed at the Pokémon and threw all his weight into it, which did little. Ursaring once again smacked Luke to the ground, but it had been long enough a distraction for Charmeleon to evade the beam of light that ripped through the forest.
Luke could feel himself growing light, and collapsed back to the ground. Charmeleon was once again laying into the Ursaring, giving all the fight it had. As Luke's vision began to fade, he became aware of the growing flames in the trees. Charmeleon's attacks had become uncontrolled in its rage and the forest was aflame. Luke could smell smoke enveloping them, but he was soon out.
Well, that escalated quickly! We end this chapter on quite the cliffhanger; the weakened, lost Luke finds himself by death's door. Will Charmeleon be able to fend off the monstrous Ursarging? How can Luke survive the spreading fire and smoke that looks to choke the life out of him? What lies on the horizon for this young man? I hope you will tune in next week to find out! Yes, you read that right. The hype train keeps on rolling, next time in Heart and Soul! I will be seeing you soon! Thanks!