Notes- Hey gang, we're back to Luke's adventures! I know, I know, we were kind of left with Chris being stuck in a weird place. Well, not so much weird as sad and depressing. I don't know what's up with that. But I do know what's up with Luke! And just because we like to torment you folk, C. Harris and I decided it was best to leave you on a sort of cliffhanger for that. So in the meantime, here's Luke's continued journey!


Luke Chapter 3

Luke was standing outside of the Ecruteak Gym. The dew was still on the ground and the cries of Spearow could be heard in the distance.

"Early bird catches the worm, I guess." Luke muttered, his throat dry and voice cracking. He rubbed his eyes and smacked himself on the face to try to become more alert. It was early and it was Monday morning, not his favorite combination ever.

He inhaled the vapor rising from his coffee and took a drink, then followed up by biting a chunk out of his breakfast sandwich. He tried to get himself pumped by reminding himself of what he was about to do, but his tired mind didn't care. Luke had a bad habit of staying up late on the nights before he'd have to have an early morning. His mind began to wander back over the past couple of days, thinking back to how he arrived at this moment.

Saturday evening had resulted in Morty asking him to do a spot of research on a whim, and Luke had obliged. After leaving the coffee shop, Luke spent the remainder of the evening training. He and Morty may have become chummy quite quickly, but that didn't mean that Luke was going to hold back on preparing for his battle with the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City.

Poochyena had been Luke's focus during any training done over the past two days, but he had tried to make sure the rest of his team would receive the same level of training all around. He just knew if Poochyena was strong then he would have a simpler time facing Morty, with the typing being in his favor.

Luke heard a door close behind him. He glanced over his shoulder as Morty turned the key, the lock clicking into place. He could smell the Gym Leader's coffee and watched as the blonde trainer walked up and patted him on the shoulder.

"No tea?" Morty said as he stood next to Luke, grinning.

"Not enough caffeine." He replied. The two laughed.

Luke was sprinting to Morty's house, which luck would have it, was on the opposite end of Ecruteak. The library had closed five minutes before, which was the starter's gun that signaled the beginning of his race across the city.

Many places were closing their doors for the evening, locking up and preparing to start business again in the morning on Monday. Luke had spent all day, aside from a quick lunch and training break, in the library studying up on various topics, but specifically anything detailing the history of the Ecruteak towers. And now he was rushing to Morty's house to find out why he'd been sporadically and cryptically tasked to do such a thing.

After a few minutes of good solid running, Luke arrived. Hunched over and breathing heavily, he knocked on the door. As he panted, he heard the knob turn and a gush of cool air hit his face as the door opened. Luke collapsed into the room. Morty chuckled and helped him up.

"So?" Luke asked between breaths, handing him the notes he had taken. Morty looked them over, rifling through the papers. He motioned to Luke, and the two walked over to some chairs and sat down. He looked up at Luke, and opened his mouth to speak. Luke was on edge, eager to hear the Gym Leader speak.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Disappointed by the words but nonetheless thirsty, Luke nodded his head in affirmation. Still reading, Morty stood up and walked into the kitchen to fetch Luke his beverage. Luke took a deep breath and closed his eyes, gathering himself. Keeping his eyes shut, he felt a presence standing before him. He reached out for the glass of water he was expecting and opened his eyes, only to be met with horrid, large read eyes and a toothy, sinister grin.

Luke leapt off the chair and grabbed for Poochyena's Pokéball as the Gengar was cackling and clutching at its torso, mocking Luke. Luke suddenly realized that this Gengar must belong to Morty, and unclenched his Pokéball before sitting back down looking aggravated. It was at this moment that Morty walked back into the room, glanced around long enough to piece together what had happened, and laughed while handing Luke the glass of water.

Gengar continued to hover around Luke while Morty finished reading the trainer from Tohjo's notes. He finally looked up.

"So," he said, staring down the boy sitting across from him, "how would you like to go to the Ruins of Alph with me?" He sat down the papers and saw Luke's dumbfounded expression.

"Uhm, yeah. Yeah!" Luke answered. "Is that what all this was about?"

Morty nodded. "You looked to have that traveling and adventurous spirit about you when I discovered you snooping around in the basement the other day, so I figured why not give a lucky young trainer a unique opportunity?"

Luke didn't know what to say, he was ecstatic at the fact that we was going to get to explore ancient ruins with an elite trainer.

"But I needed you to prove to me that you would indeed be interested in these types of things. I couldn't tell you what I was planning. You had to be genuine. And look at you, Luke! As genuine as they come!"

Luke gathered himself. "So when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow! Six in the morning! Outside of my gym, okay?"

Luke looked less than thrilled about their departure time, but he knew it'd be worth it. "Fair enough," he said. "I'll see you then!"


The sun had traveled fairly high into the sky, and Luke estimated that they'd been traveling for over three hours now and that they would be arriving at the ruins soon. Luke could tell it was going to be a very humid day, and that was something he was not okay with.

He and Morty had conversed over a variety of topics. For probably an hour the two trainers had discussed the ins and outs of being a Gym Leader, how one attains the title, and how the Pokémon League generally operates. Luke found this all thoroughly intriguing and enjoyed discussing it.

In general, Luke was just enjoying this excursion. He kept thinking about how lucky he was to be traveling with a top-notch Pokémon Trainer like Morty and how unique an opportunity this was. He was also curious as to whether Morty had another reason for asking Luke to come with him, but he told his mind to quit making Luke out to be more than the average trainer. He wasn't some sort of "chosen one".

He had fallen behind a ways and dashed back up to Morty, gripping the straps of his bag.

"We'll be arriving soon. You might want to let your Pokémon see this, the ruins truly are marvelous." Luke nodded and the two stopped walking momentarily, long enough for Luke to release his Pokémon. Morty suddenly began to laugh, a slight chuckle at first but then building up to a hearty guffaw.

"What?!" Luke asked, entirely confused. He had just been following the Gym Leader's suggestion. Charmeleon glared at Morty while the rest of Luke's team looked confused.

"Well, now I know what I'll be up against when we battle!" Morty said as his laughter died down. Luke felt a sinking feeling in his chest and his shoulders slumped. Morty slapped him on the shoulder. "It's okay, there's one more slot on your team left to fill. I'm sure you can catch me off guard with that. Besides, these guys look good and top-notch!" Luke saw Elekid flex in response to Morty's compliment, causing Luke to chuckle.

"Alright guys, this is Morty. The Gym Leader of Ecruteak City," Luke noticed his Pokémon perk up, and specifically noticed Poochyena snarl. "Poochyena, calm down. Yes, this is who I've been training you to battle b-"

"So you plan on playing to the type advantage?" Morty asked.

"Dammit. Quiet." Luke replied. Morty looked surprised at the rookie trainer's gall, but smiled a bit. "Anyways, Poochyena, he's a friend of ours. So calm down." Poochyena looked back and forth at the two humans, then finally relaxed. "Morty invited us to accompany him to the Ruins of Alph and he suggested I release you all so you can behold what a sight it is." Pidgeotto flapped his wings and began to fly over the hill towards the ruins, and the rest followed suit.

After a few more minutes of walking, the came over the hill and the ruins came into view. Luke was intrigued by the ancient presence they held. He could feel an atmosphere of a time long since passed and everything was still. Pidgeotto flew over the antiquated remains of a culture passed and swooped back around to Luke, landing on his outstretched arm. The seven of them marched down the hill and into the archaeological camp that had been set up.

The camp was arranged in a grid format, with olive-green canvas tents in rows setting up mock-streets. There were various people walking in and out of the tents, some toting equipment and others carrying messes of papers and documents. Luke noticed a few academic types shoot he and his loose Pokémon condescending glances and realized he probably ought to return them to their Pokéballs.

"Alright, who wants to stay out with me? It's going to be too cramped for all of you here, and frankly I don't want to piss off a bunch of archaeologists by one of you rascals ruining their site." Luke asked. All of his Pokémon clamored, but Luke saw Wooper leap high into the air and flail about. "Okay, Wooper it is." The rest of his team sighed and expressed their disappointment. "Maybe another time guys!" he tried to encourage before returning them to their Pokéballs.

Luke turned to Morty, expecting the Gym Leader to say something. Morty looked a bit puzzled, before his expression changed to one of realization and he spoke. "Oh, right, you don't know what to do!" He laughed. "Let's go check the main tent," he said as he pointed towards a larger tent near the back of the camp. As the two walked through the dusty lanes, Wooper waddled right alongside them, mesmerized by the nearby ruins.

"So only five?" Morty inquired. "Have you thought about what to fill your last position with?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I probably need an Ice type or a Fighting type honestly, although I think Wooper and Elekid may be able to learn some moves of those types eventually. I do have this egg though." Luke explained, patting his bag at the mention of the egg. He saw Morty's interest rise.

"Egg? How'd you get one of those?" he was genuinely curious. Luke thought back to the meeting he and Chris had witnessed in Violet City, unsure of what he should say about how he obtained the egg without revealing what he had heard. Morty was a Gym Leader, but Luke and Chris had been advised not to speak so carelessly about what they had seen. That's part of the reason he had kept mum about the egg for so long and tried not to display it too often.

"Uhm, well," he stammered, still collecting his thoughts, "I actually got it in Violet City."

"Falkner gave it to you, didn't he?" Morty asked. "Those birds of his are always breeding. I hate to say it Luke, but you probably are gonna have another Pidgeotto in your ranks soon enough."

"It actually came from a Unova Gym Leader. Drayden? Do you know of him?" Luke didn't want to be caught in a lie, but he was desperately seeking a method in which he could reveal the gift giver. He glanced down at Wooper, still blissfully plodding along and taking in the sights.

"Drayden?" Morty replied. "Of course I know him. Or rather, know of him. I think we ate together at a summit or something-another once. How did you come across Drayden in Violet City?"

"Lance was showing him around Johto!" Luke stated quickly. Morty seemed to dwell on this for a few seconds, and then nodded his head.

"Well, maybe you'll get a cool foreign Pokémon out of it!" Morty said. Luke sighed a breath of relief, and realized they had arrived at the main tent. Morty threw back one of the flaps covering the entry and the two trainers and the Mud Fish Pokémon entered within.

"Well, whattaya know! How ya been you old wraith?" A boisterous voice boomed at the two as soon as they had stepped inside. The man had light-brown hair, a little shaggy, and a few days' worth of growth on his face. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, which appeared to have been worn from much use, having seen many places and experienced many adventures. The man's eyes held an intensity and wisdom, seeming to have the image of one-thousand landscapes burned in them.

"Blue!" Morty exclaimed as he walked towards the man. Blue walked out from behind the desk he had loomed over and grasped Morty's hand, then the two embraced. "I honestly didn't expect you hear. Shouldn't you be in Viridian?"

"Well, yes, but am I ever?" the two laughed.

"Blue, I'm assuming you've never come across this trainer before, so allow myself to introduce him to you." The two walked over to Luke, and Blue extended his hand. Luke grabbed it and firmly shook twice.

"Nice to meet ya! Blue, Viridian City Gym Leader. My gramps is Professor Oak too!" the trainer beamed at Luke. He stood only a few inches above Luke, but that didn't keep the trainer from Tohjo from being overwhelmed. Besides, Luke was sure he would grow enough by the time he was Blue's age.

"Luke!" he replied. "I'm from Tohjo Falls. I would have known you without you clarifying who your grandfather was, but I did get my starter from him!" Blue looked puzzled.

"So you're from the Kanto-Johto border, got your starter from my grandfather in Pallet Town but you're traveling in Johto?" he inquired. Luke saw him glance down at Wooper, who had been wandering around the room, but not straying too far from Luke.

"Yep!" Luke said. "That about well sums it up."

Blue smirked and held his fist out, prompting Luke to raise his and bump their knuckles together. "I like your style!" He seemed very genuine to Luke.

"So what brings you this way?" Morty asked, entering the conversation once more.

"I'm actually heading back. I've been to Goldenrod for business." Blue seemed hesitant to utter that last part.

"With Lance?" Luke interjected, taking a wild guess. Blue appeared shocked and Morty looked puzzled.

"Yes, actually." Blue looked to be in thought for a moment. "Would you all mind walking with me?" Luke nodded, as did Morty. Blue motioned, and the three began to move towards the exit. Luke reached for Wooper's Pokéball, sensing an intense conversation that he didn't want to have to worry about the Pokémon's shenanigans interfering with.

After a couple of minutes, the three trainers were standing outside of the camp, the nearest tents standing a significant distance away. The wind had picked up and was blowing the leaves in the nearby trees, creating a percussive element to add to the melody of nearby chirping Bug Types. Luke felt a tension despite the calm scene.

"How do you know about my meeting with Lance?" Blue asked directly and intensely, a hand resting on one of his Pokéballs. Morty was looking apprehensively at Luke.

"It was just a guess!" Luke replied with earnestness.

"But how would a rookie trainer even think to guess that?" Blue asked, his tone serious.

Luke sighed, then took in a deep breath before turning to Morty. "There's a bit more to that story about my egg." He turned back to Blue. "After a friend and I battled Falkner in Violet City, Lance and Drake of Hoenn and Drayden of Unova appeared and began speaking with Falkner about several disappearances that had occurred lately. They quickly realized we were present and Drayden gave me an egg he had carried while Lance advised the two of us not to speak about this event too carelessly." Luke breathed again. Blue eased up and let his grip off his Pokéball. The tension quickly dissipated.

"Fair enough," Morty said. Blue nodded at him. "So what has Lance been wanting with you, Blue?"

Blue looked around, then spoke. "He wants me to take over as Champion. I'm a former Champion, so I qualify to step up and take over."

"What about Red?" Morty inquired. Luke knew of the trainer, in fact it'd be odd to come across someone who didn't know of the trainer from Pallet Town. He was renowned as the top trainer of his generation, and possibly one of the greatest of all time. He had abdicated the position of Champion after claiming victory over the Pokémon League and defeating Blue, who had just attained the title, seeking instead to train with his Pokémon further.

"Well, that's what I said." Blue looked up at the sky, then back at Morty and Luke. "But no one knows where he's gone."

"He's not at Mount Silver?" Morty asked, a disturbed tone entering his voice.

"Wait, Red was at Mount Silver?" Luke questioned. "That's near my home! I can't believe I'd never heard that!"

Blue addressed Luke. "He didn't like to advertise it, no one really did. He was seeking solitude so all who knew granted him that." Luke thought over it and came to the conclusion that it was a rational thing to do. "But no, he's gone. Lance checked there first. He said he found Red's cabin empty, most things were still there but his bag was gone. No one has any idea where he's gone off to. Gramps tried to find out if Red's mother knew, but all she said was that she had received about two weeks earlier, dropped off by a Pidgeot, stating that he'd be gone for a while but not to worry about him."

"So is this gonna be chalked up as another one of the disappearances Lance was investigating?" Luke asked.

"No telling." Blue responded.

"I mean, it's not unlike Red to disappear to go train. When did you last have contact with him, Blue?" Morty said.

"Probably three days before his mother received the note." Blue said. "I had gone up the mountain to visit him on my off day. We chatted and had a friendly one on one battle. He didn't indicate anything other than that the day before he had flown to Pallet to visit with gramps and his mom."

Morty remained pensive, staring into the middle distance. Luke was enthralled by the mystery of all these happenings, but he was also experiencing a fear coming from his instinct. Morty shifted his weight, looked over to the tree line and spoke as he looked back towards Blue.

"So why does Lance want to resign?" he inquired.

"He said he needs more time to devote to investigating these disappearances." Blue responded. "He is getting a bad feeling is what he told me. He said he doesn't have time to be bogged down with being in charge of the Pokémon League and would like to get to the root of this before it turns out to be something much worse."

"So are you going to do it?" Luke asked quickly. Blue looked at him.

"Probably," he said with a sigh. "I hate all that responsibility, but Lance has a valid point. If it's for the best, I can take over as Champion." Luke could sense the unwillingness in Blue's demeanor, and realized that the trainer had a sense for wanderlust just like Luke held himself. He looked at Morty, and saw the seriousness on the Gym Leader's face. It was obvious that Luke was once again privileged enough to be part of an important conversation among elite trainers.

"Well, I came here to show Luke around and hopefully help quench his thirst for adventure," Morty said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. Blue smiled slightly, and looked at the trainer from Tohjo.

"Ya know, you seem to have the same look in your eyes that I had when I started my travels. You can't stay in one place for too long, can ya?" Blue's voice had lightened in tone, but Luke could still perceive a sense of weariness in it.

"I don't have too much of a choice if I want to conquer all these gyms." Luke said in reply. Blue smiled and nodded, then turned and motioned for the other two to follow him back into the camp.

The afternoon sun had raised high into the sky, and it was shining down on the three. The olive hued tents were drawing nearer, and soon the trainers were back in the to-and-fro of the archaeologists. As a worker bumped shoulders with Luke, he shrugged it off and stumbled forward ahead of Blue and Morty.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself!" Blue teased. "Ya might get lost!"


Well, that was certainly an interesting turn of events. Luke seems to have good luck at getting chummy with important fellows. Probably because he's a charming, attractive young man. But I digress. Anyways, more is in store for Luke in the next chapter, a lot more actually. So I urge you to stick around, stay tuned, and all that jazz. Feel free to comment and give a review if you feel like it, but until next time, au revoir!