Intro:
Hey everyone I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (if you are Americans) to everyone else I appreciate you stopping on by and lads we did it yesterday night (11/30/2020) my story hit 1k views and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has clicked on this story whether you liked it and stuck around and didn't and left after chapter 1 I thank you all for being here. One more thing people seemed to be confused when it comes to Mike so this story will focus on different characters for some chapters the main two characters we will see as the focus of the story is Lucas for the story and hero perspective and Mike for the Team Galactic perspective. From now on I will be putting a COF underneath the chapter title, this means Character of Focus to tell you which character this chapter will focus on. For example the last chapter the COF was Mike and this is what I will be doing for the rest of the story to tell everyone whose eyes we will be reading this chapter through Lucas or Mike and maybe some different people in the future. Anyway enough talk and without further ado let's jump right back into Sinnoh.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokemon in any way this is just a fanfiction, please support the developers and creators of this series by buying and playing Pokemon Platinum Version where sold in your respective area.
AND. HERE. WE. GO
Chapter 12: A New Member
COF: Lucas Diamond
Lucas finished packing his things and left the motel. The smell of bread filled his nostrils and made him realize how hungry he was. Lucas had this horrible habit of putting off things like eating or drinking water when he was focused on something else. Now that no one was there to remind him he really needed to get used to not starving himself. Ever since leaving home, he had to get adjusted to a lot of things but to Lucas, it was all a part of the experience.
"Maybe I can get my team some treats," Lucas said to himself.
This gave him an excuse to go into the bakery, there he picked up 5 things. An egg sandwich for him, a cookie for Bibarel, A poppy seed bagel for Staravia, Jalapeno bread for Monferno, and bacon for Luxio. Lucas released everyone at the park and they all ate and played together. Lucas grew more and more fond of playing with his Pokemon like they were actual friends and it was times like these that he really loved being a trainer. As he was playing with pokemon his phone began to ring, which was odd because he normally never received calls.
"Hello?" Lucas answered.
"Hey idiot, it's Dawn," Dawn said on the other line.
"Oh hey, what's up," Lucas said, smiling to himself.
"Nothing much, look I wanna have a get together in Hearthome City with you and Barry I heard you are on the way," Dawn said.
"Uhh yeah I should be there towards the end of the day," Lucas said looking at his watch.
"Great, when you get here meet me at the Heart Diner," Dawn said.
"Sounds good, good to hear from ya Dawn," Lucas said.
"You too stay safe, cya there," Dawn said hanging up.
Lucas put his phone away and put everyone back in their balls, normally he would have someone walk with him but this time he wanted to be alone. Lucas liked to be alone with his thoughts sometimes, it cleared his head, and with his next gym battle and Team Galactic constantly on his mind, he definitely could use the clear mind. As he was walking he noticed from across the city a sign for a bike shop.
"Maybe I can rent a bike, it would be great for travel," Lucas said, putting on his hat.
It was true, some routes of Sinnoh were hours long, and having a bike would cut that time basically in half. While Lucas loved the exercise, his legs would start killing him after an hour of walking.
As Lucas made his way through the city, he got stopped multiple times for an autograph and pictures. It still felt weird to him that he was seen as a hero when he was just doing the right thing. People would smile at him and constantly thank him as if he just got home from war. It was definitely something he was going to get used to. Eventually, he made his way to the bike shop. He had seen ads about this place back at home and wanted to see first hand why everybody loved it.
"Um, hello?" Lucas asked, looking around the store.
"ONE SECOND," A man shouted from the back.
Lucas walked around and the place was filled with all different kinds of bikes. So many colors and designs that it was almost disorientating to look at them all. Lucas was shocked and just stood there with wide eyes every time he found a bike he liked he immediately found another that topped it. The bikes were on the walls, the ground, attached to the ceiling. It was clear why this was the most popular bike shop in Sinnoh.
"See anything you like?" The man said smiling at Lucas.
"Yeah….a lot of them, how do you get so many of them?" Lucas asked dumbfounded.
"I have connections with stores not just in Sinnoh, I can have any bike from any region here," The man said.
"What about the Mach bikes from Hoenn?" Lucas asked.
"Give me a week," The man almost immediately.
"That's crazy, people are so lucky to buy from here," Lucas said walking around and looking at all the different bikes.
"You're that kid right, Lucas," The man said.
"Yeah….nice to meet you," Lucas said, he was waiting for him to ask for a picture or something of that nature.
"In that case, pick one, anyone you like it's on the house," The man said.
'Wait…..what," Lucas said, not believing what he just heard.
"Team Galactic really has been hurting business for me so what you did, you have my eternal gratitude, please anyone you like," The man said with a smile.
Lucas didn't know where to start, he was so ecstatic he wanted a bike his whole life but never could afford it. It was the number one thing on his Christmas list every year when he was a kid. After looking for about 20 minutes he found one, the perfect one. It was black with green stripes and the tires looked slick and gave him this great feeling just looking at it.
"I'll take this one," Lucas said, pointing to it.
"Ah, an excellent choice," The man said, unchaining it.
"Wow, really it's free?" Lucas asked.
"Of course, thank you for helping our city," The man said.
Lucas walked out of the shop with his new bike. He pulled out Monferno and started to go on and on about the bike.
"It's so clean Mon, look at this thing," Lucas said.
As Lucas went on and on, Monferno lost interest and went to chase Starlies. Lucas just rolled his eyes, why would he pour his soul into someone who has the attention span of a Wurmple.
"Alright that's enough Mon," Lucas said, pulling out his Pokeball.
Monferno rolled his eyes and went back into his ball, leaving Lucas alone again. Something Lucas realized is that with a bike he could take the Cycling Path, there could see Wayward Cave and go through Mt. Coronet to Hearthome making his traveling time cut in half.
"Fuck yeah, I was expecting to get there at the end of the day but if I start now I can make it there by sunset," Lucas said to himself.
And with this plan in motion, Lucas hopped on his bike and rushed to the Cycling Road. It was so nice to feel the wind from riding the bike, he took off his hat and let the breeze rush through his dark brown hair. It felt great to be going as fast as he was and the nature scene was beautiful with visions of Starlies flying above him and berries planted on the side of the path, Sinnoh was in the stage of in-between Winter and Spring which was the perfect time for Lucas. It wasn't too cold and everything was starting to grow back giving the routes this natural feel to them. The leaves were starting to grow back on the trees and melted snow gave the ground a mixture of water and dirt. The sun gave Lucas a warm feeling mixed with the slightly cold temperature Sinnoh was famously known for.
Lucas reached the Cycling Road and just stared at the long stretched highway right above the front of Wayward Cave. Lucas saw tons of trainers on the road just ready to battle someone. Luckily Lucas had visited the Pokemon Center before reaching the road. They were battling each other and some were training pokemon but they had that look in their eyes that, as a fellow trainer, Lucas knew very well.
"Time for a little practice," Lucas said smiling to himself.
It took a while but Lucas got through the path, the trainers were tough but everyone got the job done. For the longer and tougher fights, Monferno and Luxio carried the team and for more casual or smaller battles Bibarel would overwhelm them with his size and Staravia would outspeed them. There were new pokemon for him to document. Luckily the trainers were nice enough to allow Lucas to put their pokemon in his Pokedex. There were so many new ones and by the end of the road he had close to 15 new submissions to his dex. Lucas was always a collector and this Pokedex was a dream come true to him, he was rewarded for collecting new entries and discovering new pokemon and it made being a trainer that much better.
After a bit, Lucas reached the end of the road but before he went through the route he wanted to check out the infamous Wayward Cave. Wayward Cave was always a point of interest for Lucas, it was almost a secret due to its presence always being in the shadow of the Cycling Road but he knew that there were some really interesting and cool pokemon to see not just inside the cave but outside of it as well.
"Bibarel, come on out," Lucas said, releasing Bibarel.
Bibarel was confused and looked around for trouble, assuming that's why Lucas called him. When he saw nothing he looked back at his trainer with a confused look.
"Relax buddy there is no trouble here I just want a walking partner for when we go into the cave, also I know how much you like the rocks," Lucas said petting Bibarel on his head.
Bibarel smiled and nuzzled Lucas's hand as a thank you and they walked around the entrance of the cave. Lucas saw Ponytas, Gligars, and Machops. Bibarel spent the whole time picking up different rocks, his intelligence was still not very large but his heart made up for it.
"Okay Bibarel let's go, you can keep your favorite rock but only one," Lucas said.
Bibarel looked at the two he had in his hands and spent 3 minutes deciding which was better, he finally settled on a white one that was smooth.
"Man you and rocks," Lucas said laughing as he entered the cave.
The cave was mostly a maze and Lucas found some useful items lying around from abandoned camps and even some trainers wanted to battle. Bibarel was overwhelmed with the number of rocks laying around and just loving the alone time he and Lucas were having.
"I said one Bibarel, you don't have room," Lucas told Bibarel while looking through his bag.
That pokemon likes rock more than Trainer Steven I swear.
Bibarel walked up to Lucas and gave him a rock that looked like the wall at Roark's gym, the moment when Bibarel showed that he belonged on the team. Lucas took it and smiled, he always saw the potential in Bibarel even when he was a Bidoof but that moment was something truly special to both of them and they never forgot it.
"Thanks, buddy, I'll keep this one," Lucas said smiling as he put the rock in his coat pocket.
Bibarel smiled and hugged Lucas being affectionate as always.
"Alright buddy alright you're suffocating me," Lucas said laughing.
As the pokemon and trainer were messing around a quiet voice came from around the corner, it was a girl who looked tired.
"Um, excuse me," The girl interrupted.
"Oh, hi there can I help you?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, I'm lost and you look like you know your way around, mind helping me out a bit?" The girl asked.
"Of course, follow me," Lucas said leading the way.
The girl walked with Lucas, she looked younger than him, she had long red hair and wore a skirt which Lucas thought was weird to be wearing that in a cave.
"So what's your name?" Lucas asked.
"Mira, and you?" Mira asked.
"Lucas," Lucas said.
"Oh yeah, I saw you on the news, congratulations, truly impressive what you did," Mira commented.
"Oh thank you, I don't think I did anything special but others think otherwise," Lucas said.
"You did something people would never do, and that's pretty special and really commendable," Mira said.
Mira went on about how she was a trainer herself and how she specialized in special attacks. Lucas listened very closely because any information about battles was noteworthy and he found her talks about special attacks very interesting. Eventually, when they reached the cave exit, Mira had a sigh of relief.
"You're a lifesaver, thank you," Mira said.
"No problem," Lucas said.
"Just a random question but why were you in that maze anyway?" Mira asked.
"I was looking for some rare pokemon but so far haven't found anything," Lucas said disappointedly.
"There's another entrance to the cave kinda hidden from view that you can try," Mira said.
"Seriously?" Lucas asked, surprised.
"Yes," Mira said.
As they walked out of the cave, Mira took Lucas to the secret entrance, she was right it was very hidden from view and almost had no way of standing out. The only reason Lucas really saw it was because Mira had to point it out to him.
"God it could have fucking teeth and I still wouldn't have seen it," Lucas said.
"Ha, yeah it took me a couple of times to see it too, I have to go but I hope to see you again, goodbye Lucas," Mira said waving.
"Bye, Mira, good luck in your career," Lucas said, still looking into the secret entrance.
Lucas walked into the cave and it looked the same but automatically he saw Onix's and different pokemon. However, one Pokemon for some reason caught his eye, a Gabite. Gabite evolves into the pseudo legendary Garchomp, very few people have them because they are known to be extremely hard to tame and it takes a strong trainer to get the trust of one. Lucas wanted one, he knew Gabite would be a great addition but also saw it as an opportunity to see if he is a good enough trainer.
"Bibarel, I need you to use Yawn on that Gabite," Lucas whispered to Bibarel.
Bibarel yawned at Gabite which released a cloud of some sort that hit the wild Gabite making it fall asleep.
"Nice work buddy," Lucas said, pulling out a Pokeball and throwing it at Gabite.
It was a success, making Pokemon fall asleep was the best way to capture them giving them almost no resistance to pokeballs.
One Hour Later
Lucas released his new Gabite into a field and it looked confused and even angry. This was to be expected by the wild dragon type. Lucas tried to talk to him but it was no use, Gabite refused to listen and even kicked dirt at Lucas. This went on for about 20 minutes until Lucas pulled out a couple of treats for Gabite, only then would he even look at Lucas.
"Look, I know you probably hate me right now but I know we can make a good team," Lucas said, kneeling to Gabite.
Gabite still had an angry look on his face but was listening and stopped trying to defy Lucas for a second. Lucas took this as an opportunity and took Gabite into the field and tried to battle with him but things went unexpected…
First Battle
"Gabite, attack," Lucas said
Gabite just turned around and threw a rock at Lucas.
"Seriously," Lucas sighed.
Second Battle
"Gabite, use Dragon Claw," Lucas ordered.
Gabite turned around and bit Lucas on the leg.
"OW YOU MOTHERFU-"
Third Battle
"Gabite, let's do this, use Dragon Claw," Lucas ordered again.
Gabite instead used Dig but Lucas didn't care it was progress, horrible progress but progress nonetheless.
A couple of hours passed by and Lucas gave up. Gabite still would not listen to him directly and would still give him a major attitude. Lucas was getting really annoyed and decided that this was enough training for today and put Gabite back into his ball.
"We'll work on you later, I gotta hit the road," Lucas said hopping on his bike.
Lucas biked through Route 206 until he reached 207. He knew this connected back to Oreburgh City and if he wasn't in such a rush he would have stopped by but he knew he was so close to Hearthome City. He just needed to go through Mt. Coronet and he was home free basically. Route 207 has a more mountain type environment which was expected. It had less mud and trees than Route 206 and in some ways, Lucas' preferred this environment.
However, what Lucas was really here for was to finally see Mt. Coronet. Each region has it's famous mountainscape. Hoenn has Mt. Pyre, Johto and Kanto have Mt. Moon and Mt. Silver, Unova had Twist Mountain, and Sinnoh had Mt. Coronet. It was the center of so many myths and legends about Sinnoh regarding Arceus and the creation of the region. Lucas rushed to the entrance with excitement in his body, he was finally going to see what all the hype was about.
It was dark and had this creepy feeling in it with a mix of mystery. Water dripped down from the ceiling and the cries of Zubats filled the cave. Lucas had to climb up rocks and even navigate past little areas of water. There were so many avenues to go and Lucas was almost overwhelmed but he had to stay focused. He explored a bit and even saw some new pokemon.
'Wow this place is insane," Lucas said looking at a pond within the cave.
While the place was cool, Lucas was not equipped to really take on Mt. Coronet yet but he knew he would be back. With one last look, Lucas left Mt. Coronet and with a heart filled with readiness to go back once he was ready.
Lucas went through Route 208 and it had bridges over a river of some sort, it felt like a completely new part of the region on the other side of Mt. Coronet. It was weird but Lucas wasn't complaining, with his lack of travel experience he was happy to take in all sights he could, every route he wanted to see and every town or city he wanted to experience all of it. Hearthome City was famous for Pokemon Contests so he was definitely going to see a couple of them and couldn't wait to experience all the town could offer.
Before Lucas knew it, he was right at the doorstep of Hearthome City, but before Lucas could dive into gym battles, shops, and contests first things first he had to meet with Dawn and Barry.
Outro:
And bam chapter 12 is history, I know not as in-depth or long as the last one but more of a relaxed pace and mainly to explain Lucas' team. I hope you all enjoyed and leave a comment telling me what you liked, disliked, etc. PM with any questions or if you wanna tell me a person with no eyes could edit this better I will gladly take them. Thank you everyone for reading and I will see you in the next chapter!
Don't forget to smile,
Shocker
Question of the Chapter: What has been the best chapter so far and why? What was your favorite part of this chapter?
For me, I loved doing Mike's backstory; lots of freedom and it was very fun to tie Brendan into this universe of mine. Also, my favorite part was Gabite's attitude towards Lucas that was fun to write.
Important Events:
-Lucas gets a bike
-Gabite joins the squad
-Lucas enters Hearthome City
Lucas's Team (5/6):
-Monferno: Ember, Mach Punch, Flame Wheel, Cut, Leer
-Luxio: Spark, Charge, Tackle, Bite, Flash
-Bibarel: Water Gun, Headbutt, Rock Smash, Yawn
-Staravia: Wing Attack, Aerial Ace, Quick Attack, Tackle
-Gabite: Slash, Dragon Claw, Dig, Take Down, Iron Tail
Next Chapter: Old Faces and Rivals
As Lucas enters Hearthome City he meets with some familiar faces!