Note- Luke's expansive tale continues in this third chapter in just over a month! I don't want to spoil you guys too much, but it's the right move to reward you readers for your commitment and support of this journey. Today we find out what happened to Luke after his horrifying encounter in the wild with a ferocious Ursaring! Let's see where his experience has taken him! Once again, I have to give a big shout out to my good friend for writing his character's experiences in these chapters and I absolutely love having both of our contrasting writing styles in this story! Love ya Zach! Hope you enjoy!


Luke Chapter 4

Warmth beat down on Luke's skin and terror raced through his body. His eyes shot open and light flooded his retinas; nothing but blinding white filled his vision. Soon his senses began to acclimate and a soft, steady beeping filled his ears. With each bit of white that faded, Luke began to make out the scenery around him. Simple, sterile, and full of all kinds of machinery with all manner of gauges and meters. He looked over to the source of the beeping and knew where he was.

He was in a hospital.

Suddenly various figures in white coats and scrubs surrounded him. Somewhere in the mix he saw familiar faces though. He coughed as lights flashed in his eyes and blood pressure was taken, but it was undeniable that the worried faces behind the wall of medical professionals belonged to his family. Luke wanted the answers to a million questions, but the thought of the million he'd receive from his mother made him groan. After the flurry of doctors died down and Luke was deemed okay, all things considered, they one by one exited the room. Only Luke, his family, and the steady beeping of the heart-rate monitor remained.

"So, uh," Luke began to speak, the weakness of his voice shocking him, "Oh wow. I don't sound good." His mother moved to sit beside him, while his father stood at the foot of his bed. His brothers remained seated on the side their mother wasn't.

"Luke," his mother started, the sound of long-worry now relieved carried on her voice, "how are you feeling?" Luke had not processed how he felt, but at the inquiry a sudden awareness of an immense aching in his body overtook him.

"I've definitely felt better."

"Ya think?" his youngest brother smarted off. Luke shot him a look.

"Give your brother a break, Thomas!" their mother scolded.

"I'd say he's already had a pretty long break." Luke's father inserted. Luke knew what conversation he'd find himself in soon enough.

"Y'alright?" Benjamin asked. He was between Luke and Thomas in age, but was much closer to Luke in age. It wasn't long before he'd be able to start his own Pokémon journey.

"Eh," Luke shrugged, or at least shrugged as much as he could. Benjamin nodded in understanding. "I'm kinda tired."

"Ya think?" Thomas retorted once again.

"Tommy, I swear I will get Charm-" Luke stopped mid-sentence, a million questions flooding his mind. "-meleon." He finished his sentence and the beeping of the heartrate monitor began speeding up as panic set in.

"Everything okay in here?" a nurse said as she poked her head in.

"Oh, we're just getting to answer some questions!" his mother replied with cheer. The nurse nodded.

"Just let me know if you need anything!" she said before she left. A silence hung in the air after the nurse's departure. Luke finally spoke up.

"Where's Charmeleon? Where are my Pokémon? What happened? Where am I? How did I get here? Wha-" His father left the room. "Where's he going?"

"To get some help," his mother explained. "Thomas, Benjamin, why don't you two leave the room for a bit? Head down to the cafeteria and grab some lunch?"

"But Mom!" Thomas whined. Benjamin grabbed his younger brother's arm and began pulling him out of the room.

"C'mon Tommy, let's go get some food." Benjamin said as he pulled Thomas along. He turned and nodded at Luke before closing the door behind him.

"Mom, where did Dad go?" Luke questioned, a smidge of aggravation breaking through his cracked voice.

"Now Luke, don't lose your head or anything." His mother said. Her tone had shifted from the cheerful façade to one of more serious, parental business.

"What happened?" he asked once again. The door clicked as it opened and Luke's father walked into the room, a familiar figure following behind. A bruised and bandaged Charmeleon entered. He hurt but his eyes lit brighter than his tail-flame when he saw his trainer was awake. The Flame Pokémon trotted with haste over to Luke and hissed with joy as Luke scratched under his chin.

"Well, at least you can take care of one of your Pokémon." Luke's father said. Luke looked to his father with anger.

"Dad, I didn't think that I was-"

"That's right, you didn't think." His father replied.

"Hello?" a voice familiar to Luke came from the doorway. A blonde man peered around the corner, his face showed mild embarrassment for eavesdropping. "Mr. Skyler, heard you'd called for me?"

"Morty?" Luke questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Hopefully apologizing for getting you into this mess." Luke's father said.

"Marcus!" Luke's mother exclaimed.

"Dad, Morty had nothing to do with whatever happened. He was long gone fr-"

"No, no." Morty cut Luke off. "I did come to apologize. Ya know, I can't help but feel somewhat responsible for your condition." Luke's father nodded with satisfaction at hearing the gym leader's apology. "I'm mostly here to fill you in on what happened, though." Luke heard a change in Morty's tone, which indicated that Morty apologized only to ease tension.

"Well that would be splendid! The police haven't told us much." Luke's mother had put the cheery façade on her voice once again.

"How much do you remember, Luke?" Morty asked.

"Not much." Luke replied as he searched his brain. "I remember getting lost and everything. There was an Ursaring, then fire. And that's about it." He rested his hand on Charmeleon's head, who had become serious.

Morty breathed in. "So. I guess simply put, you wondered into the woods a few miles north of the Lake of Rage actually! There you were attacked by an Ursaring, probably just for territorial reasons. Charmeleon wanted to protect you and, from what we can gather, flew into a rage."

Luke patted his friend on the head, "Thanks for saving me, buddy." Charmeleon snorted with appreciation.

"Oh he did more than save you." Luke's father interjected.

"Right," Morty said. "He also burned down most of the forest you were in."

Luke looked at the orange lizard, who had once again fallen serious. "Charmeleon." Luke whispered, but the Flame Pokémon would not look his way. Was Charmeleon scared of not being able to control himself? Was he ashamed that he almost injured his trainer even further?

"Luckily the smoke and fire alerted authorities!" Morty switched to a more jolly tone to highlight to silver-lining. "They said when they came across you, Charmeleon was standing over your body shooting flame at any Pokémon fleeing from the fire. If it'd been much longer you'd probably have succumbed to everything and wouldn't be here with us."

There was a short silence before Luke's mother jumped in with, "And we're very grateful to you Charmeleon!" The orange lizard turned and nodded at Luke's mother. Another silence followed.

"And!" Morty said with sudden remembrance, "The workers at the camp found your bag with all your Pokémon. They're all safe and have been transported to the Pokémon Center nearby."

"Where is 'nearby'?" Luke asked. In all this time he still didn't know where he was.

"Oh! Yeah. Well, we're in Cianwood." Morty replied.

"Cianwood?" Luke said perplexed.

"Mr. Morty here pulled some strings when he heard you were the boy they found," Luke's mother explained. "He told us getting you into the best hospital in Johto was the least he could do for getting you into the biggest trouble in Johto!"

"It's true," Morty chuckled.

"So how long have I been out?" Luke asked.

"About a week and a half." His father stated.

"A week and a half!?" Luke asked. "When can I leave? I'm behind on my challenge! I've got to get my badges a-"

"Well, we were meaning to talk to you about that." His mother had put a soothing but firm tone into her voice. "Morty here says you've only got two badges."

"And?" Luke asked.

Morty stood up. "Perhaps this isn't a conversation I should be part of. Luke, I'm glad to see you okay and I wish you the speediest of recoveries. After all, I still have to beat you when you challenge my gym." The ghost type trainer smirked at Luke and nodded to both of Luke's parents before leaving.

"And?" Luke repeated again.

"Well," his mother spoke with care, "your father and I -"

"We think you ought to give up on this league challenge." His father jumped in. "It was a stretch for you to decide on Johto anyways and you're in no shape to continue. And by the time you are, you won't have time to finish."

"What?" Luke asked, dumbfounded. "You can't be serious."

"We are, honey." His mother had grabbed his hand and was rubbing it. "Sometimes things don't work out the way we plan, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You could always start up again in a couple years, maybe in Kanto?"

"Besides, you'd save more money if you'd pursue something else. Is being a trainer really a good idea for you?" His father's words were beginning to anger Luke. "By the time you're better I could use some help around the house and with the business and-"

Marcus' voice carried on and on as he listed reason after reason that his son should suspend his journey, his dream, his goal. His mother was shaking her head in agreement. But to Luke everything seemed to stretch farther and farther away. His parents were just shapes and their voices just faint echoes.

Luke thought of his journey so far. His battles with Faulkner and with Bugsy. Meeting the dragon trainers, receiving the egg. Catching his Pokémon, his teammates and friends. Meeting Morty, exploring ancient ruins. Countless experiences and people he'd never have experienced if he'd not undertaken this challenge.

Then he thought of Chris. That trainer from Cherrygrove he'd met early into both of their journeys. That friendship that'd sprung up from traveling together. He had a cruise to meet up with him at. There was no way Luke was just going to throw in the towel and let Chris and Cyndaquil best him and Charmeleon. Chris wouldn't do it, and Luke surely wouldn't either.

"- plus if you'd just think about how w-" his father was still going on.

"There's no way in hell I'm quitting now." Luke said bluntly. His parents stopped, taken aback.

"Luke, I know it's been rough lately," his mother began, "but if you'd take some time to think about-"

"No. Do you see this Pokémon standing right here?" Luke pointed at Charmeleon, who was now staring down Luke's parents. "Charmeleon didn't give up on me when my curiosity got us in a mess. He gave all he could to keep me safe when I wasn't able to defend myself."

"Yes but-"

"No buts! Charmeleon is all in on me and I know any of my other Pokémon are too. So if they're going to give all they can for me, I'm going to give all I can for them. I'm not going to let this stop me. I'm going to compete again and I'm going to finish this challenge. I know you're my parents and you think you know what's best, but I have to do this. I have to do this for me. I've almost died once, I'm not going to get there a second time and regret not finishing this."

"Luke, I-" his mother started.

"No. No 'Luke', Mom. I'm doing this."

"You won't talk to your mother that way!" his father said. Luke could feel himself growing red in the face and he was getting hot underneath his blankets. "You're going to come home once they release you from here and you're going to put aside any of these trainer notions and-"

Luke's father had moved closer to Luke, and was soon face to face with Charmeleon. The orange lizard had hopped up on Luke's bed staring Luke's father down.

"Dad, I appreciate your concern. But you and Mom should leave. I'm doing this." Luke said.

The next ten minutes were awkward as Luke's parents collected their things in silence. Charmeleon stared them down the whole time and Luke could tell he had upset his mother. Finally, they had all their things and headed to the door. His father stormed out, but his mother turned and looked at her son.

"Be safe, please." She said.

"I will. Tell Benjamin and Tommy I'll see 'em later."


"Wow." Chris said. A pause lingered as Chris tried to drum up words to respond with.

"Yeah." Luke sighed. Another extended pause lasted between the two trainers.

"Have you talked to them since?" Chris finally asked.

"No," Luke replied, "I can't say that I have." Luke felt a strange mix of anger and emptiness begin to form in him as his thoughts turned to his parents. "But I wasn't going to let them stop me from all this. I've come too far now."

"Yeah," Chris said, "I definitely understand. You and your Pokémon have a lot invested now, especially since I'm guessing you hit the training pretty hard once you were able to. I mean, Charmeleon's a Charizard now! You and your team must be working like crazy!"

Luke stared off out the window as the ship continued to slow.

"Well, I've gotta make up for lost time at this point." He said as he took another sip of his coffee.


The wind whipped Luke's hair. His efforts to restructure it were in vain so he let it blow. He stood outside the hospital as people came and went from inside the building. Some nurses stood a ways off, smoking cigarettes and sharing office gossip. Luke breathed in, only the faintest tinge of tar and nicotine staining the otherwise pure sea air.

It had been another week and a handful of days since he'd awoken. But in that time he'd built enough strength back to convince the staff he was good for release. Still, he wasn't at near the strength he had been and his leg tinged with a dull pain. Recovery at his speed was not easy, but it had to be.

Luke picked up his feet and headed down the paved path and out into the small city. He moved westward from the 500-year-old-pharmacy-turned-hospital with each step. His distance from the machinery and medicine decreased, but the distance from the trauma remained the same and it was Luke's burden to bear. He could only hope he would find himself farther away from it the more steps he took.

The sound of waves crashing on the beach drew duller and duller as Luke moved on through town. He made his way to the Cliff Edge Gate, the first entrance to the Safari Zone. A nurse had informed him with glee that the Safari Zone brought much traffic to Cianwood, part of the reason the old pharmacy had grown into the Cianwood Hospital.

The cliff loomed over Luke, but the lights from the Cianwood Gym caught Luke's attention. He made note of it, but continued on. Chuck was still the leader and while the years may have begun to catch up with him, Luke knew better than to rush in to that battle without any weapons.

Luke's steps had carried him right up to the Cliff Edge Gate, lit with signage to draw eager seekers toward their destination. Luke took a breath and put the hurt in his leg and side further back in his mind, then passed through the gate.


"Safari Zone, eh?" Chris smirked at Luke. "So that's where you caught all those Pokémon."

Luke let out a dry chuckle. "All two of 'em."

"So who are they?" Chris asked with eager curiosity. "D'you catch a tough Tauros? Maybe a mighty Marowak! Or hey, how about a killer Krabby?" Chris' thrill was grating on Luke, but only in the way his brothers tended to grate on him. The trainer from Cherrygrove's genuine enthusiasm for Luke's hypothetical captures was admirable.

"Why would I catch a Krabby if I've got a water type in Quagsire? Or Marowak for that matter too?" Luke replied.

"Oh, so Wooper evolved huh?" Chris was now grinning like a fool. He'd gotten Luke to reveal something about his team.

Luke grumbled and sipped his coffee. "That's all you're getting out of me," he said. "You'll have to find out about my new Pokémon on your own." He took another sip of his coffee and paused to think. "Besides," he started again, "you were going to see Quagsire here at the tourney anyways."

"I'm just playin' with ya." Chris replied. "I'm sure you've got some dandy Pokes to show off. After all, you've won some badges since we last met."

"Yeah." Luke replied. His mind had switched over to the Pokémon he'd caught. Chris would just have to wait to see them.


Route 47 reminded Luke of why he was a trainer. Waterfalls crashing filled his ears and the scent of mist lingered between the canyon walls. As each step carried him across the bridges that spanned chasm after chasm, Luke couldn't help but revel in the wonderment of the scenery. Mist from each waterfall formed fleeting rainbows and silvery pools of water reflected light all around.

A few Beedrill swarmed by, their buzzing almost joining in with the crashing water to create a meditative drone. As the Beedrill passed, the droning waned and Luke's mind snapped back to the time he'd lost and how he must make it up. He picked back up his pace and left the rainbow mists and silver pools behind him. Despite his renewed urgency, Luke had lingered long enough for the moment to have a lasting impact on his memory. He would always describe it with fervor as breathtaking.

As he crossed the final bridge, a bright sign peered over the tree-line and told Luke he wasn't far from the Safari Zone. He passed into and through Route 48, its scenery falling to the wayside in competition to Luke's urgency. The sun was high overhead and it was well into the afternoon by the time Luke reached the Safari Zone gate. All injuries and stamina considered, he'd made good enough time. Still, he was tired.

He hurried by all the stands, booths, and stalls that were set up outside the entrance and upon entering the cool entryway, Luke headed straight to the main desk. A small line had formed and Luke tapped his foot with impatience. When it came his turn, he approached the desk clerk without delay.

"I'd like to do a safari game." He said. "Or whatever you call it."

"You know you can't attack the Pokémon, right?" the clerk replied.

"Yup." Luke answered.

"Well," said the clerk, "Here's your Safari Balls. We've given you 30. Make 'em count. Welcome to the Safari Zone, you may now -"

"Are there any Psychic Pokémon here?" Luke interjected.

"Enough." The clerk replied. "If you're interested in Girafarig, our herd has grown sizably over the past year. That's probably your best bet."

"Alright." Luke said. And with that he headed into the Safari Zone.

Luke had never been to the Johto Safari Zone but he had been to the one in Kanto, back when it had been there. His family had traveled to Fuschia City over a holiday weekend in his youth and while there they went on a guided tour through the Safari Zone. But that had been almost ten years ago and Luke didn't remember much other than the vague sense of wonder that came from seeing so many Pokémon.

This time around, the sensation was still there. The park was gorgeous and Luke often found the natural beauty distracting him from the goal that he came to do. He had to catch a Psychic type Pokémon to support Pidgeotto in their upcoming battle against Chuck. He needed to play to the Fighting-type's weaknesses, because he'd already lost too much time to train his team to compensate for their lack of effectiveness.

Coming through the gate the path split into three directions, and Luke took the middle trail which led downhill. After ample walking he found himself before a reservoir of water. A few informational signs describing the importance of the reservoir to the ecosystem among other such technical things that tourists might enjoy reading about dotted the platform that ran around half the water's edge.

However, the trail ended there and Luke caught wind of no Pokémon other than a Poliwag that disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced. Luke turned back and headed down the right-bound trail, which led into thicker and thicker foliage.

Girafarig was a plains Pokémon and Luke continued trudging deeper into the woods in hopes that he would soon emerge into a vast savanna. But that hope soon began to diminish and when he came to a bubbling spring he sat at the bench nearby to catch his breath. It was a pretty sight and pleasant to the ears, but he hated that he had to rest so often.

"Damn." Luke muttered after about five minutes. The humidity was brutal and he removed his bag so that he might pull his clothes away from his sweaty, suffocating body for a moment. "Okay." He spoke to himself. "Let's try the third trail."

Luke stood again and found a path that looped back to the trailhead. After a bit of walking, a small bridge appeared in his vision. Luke reached it and admired the spring next to it. Another of the informational signs informed him that it was a sinkhole that had collapsed years ago and fed back into the natural water-system of the park. Luke could only imagine what Pokémon were lurking at the bottom, and the idea of Barboach of gargantuan size flooded his mind.

The cracking of branches drew Luke's attention to just the nearest bank of the sinkhole. Upon turning his head to inspect the source of the sound, a Pinsir crawled out of the woods and the two made eye contact. Luke remembered that while Bug-types would not deal much damage to Chuck's Fighting Pokémon, they also wouldn't take much damage either. It couldn't hurt him to try.

Luke reached for a Safari Ball and the Pinsir began to flee. Luke sprung to action and followed it, deflecting branches and leaves and thorns away from him as he followed the Pinsir further into the park. His legs hurt, but he continued to chase and the moment he was within striking distance he launched the ball at the Stag Beetle Pokémon.

The ball made contact, dematerializing the creature into Luke's device, which began to wobble back and forth. Luke trotted over to it and reached to pick it up. It wasn't what he'd come for, but he knew if push came to shove it'd be a valuable asset against Chuck. And as his fingers touched the camouflage-patterned ball, Pinsir broke free. All those strategies Luke had begun to conjure in his mind didn't matter now.

The Pokémon knocked Luke back in its escape and disappeared into the woods. Luke fell on his back and tumbled down the hill behind him, rolling and rolling until he hit level ground. Upon regaining his bearings, he dusted himself off and cursed a bit. The trees were denser here and he saw hills rising immediately behind him into more mountain-esque terrain.

"Well, so much for plains." Luke muttered. But then he heard it, or rather he heard the absence of it. There had been a droning in the background that he hadn't noticed at first, but its sudden absence alerted him. Turning, Luke caught site of a cave in the hillside. Thoughts of angry Ursaring raced through his head and he began to panic.

As he gripped Charmeleon's Poké Ball, a creature emerged from the dark. A yellow and brown Pokémon stood before Luke, its sleepy eyes still adjusting to the daylight. Luke switched his grip to a Safari Ball and threw it at the Pokémon before it could react any further. Light enveloped the Pokémon and after a few shakes, the ball clicked. Luke knew he'd made a successful capture.

"Well, got what I came for." Luke said looking down at the ball. He turned around, and headed back up the hill he had tumbled down. Chuck was about to have his hands full.


You want to talk about covering some ground! From northern Johto to Cianwood City and now the Safari Zone, we have ourselves an eventful chapter here! With just over a month left in his journey until his reunion with Chris on the cruise, what else will his journey have in store? You'll have to find out next time on Heart and Soul. Please Review and Subscribe! We'll see ya soon!