Disclaimer: We don't own Loud House or Pokemon. All rights to Loud House belong to Nickelodeon. All rights to Pokemon belong to Nintendo and Game Freak. All rights to the "It's (Not) Your Fault" Loud House comic goes to JaviSuzumiya on DeviantArt. Credit for the story idea goes to SuperSonicBros123.
Reunions and Reconciliations
Lincoln stood in the battle arena of the Oreburgh Gym, looking at the Coal Badge in his hand. After a short while, he takes his badge case out of his backpack, opens it, and puts his Coal Badge inside.
"This is so awesome." said Lincoln.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to get to the Pokemon Center to get my Pokemon treated." said Roark. He exits the battle arena and heads out the gym doors. After a short while, Lincoln steps out, and sees his family and friends from Royal Woods, along with Sam and Dawn, walking over to him.
"Umm...hi, everyone." said Lincoln. He then notices that his family members had tears forming in their eyes.
"LINCOLN!" they all shout as they run towards him and envelop him in a family group hug.
"It's really you!" says Lana as she hugs her only brother.
"We were worried sick!" said Rita.
"Don't ever leave us again!" said Leni.
"Guys... I can't breathe!" said Lincoln. After a few seconds, they all finally let go of him.
"Lincoln, we are so sorry we didn't believe you about that stupid photo!" said Lori.
"We were wrong!" said Lola.
"Wait, what made you all suddenly believe me about that picture?" asked Lincoln.
"Someone at my school pointed out something in the photo that proved it was altered." said Lynn Jr.
"And I looked at the security footage of that moment and saw that you and Sam didn't kiss." said Lisa.
"Why didn't you just do that after I suggested it?" asked Lincoln.
"I was caught up in the moment." said Lisa.
"How did you guys even find me here?" asked Lincoln. Lisa points towards her drone that was monitoring them right now.
"I have drones in many alternate dimensions." said Lisa.
"Ummm.., can someone please tell me what's going on here?" asked Dawn, getting everyone's attention. Lincoln lets out a sigh as he knew he had a lot to explain to her.
"Let's sit down." said Lincoln as he points towards the bleachers. "It's going to be a long story."
After everyone takes a seat, Lincoln and Sam explain to Dawn everything that happened back in Royal Woods that led to them coming to the dimension they're in right now; about how someone posted an altered picture of them kissing, everyone at their school and the press constantly harassing them about it, Stella dumping Lincoln, Luna breaking up with Sam; Lincoln's sisters, except for Lily, giving him a hard time, Lincoln exploding on them with pent-up frustration, Lincoln stealing Lisa's Dimensional Watch, meeting up with Sam at the Royal Woods High School, and finally, leaving their dimension for the one they were in right now.
After the story was done, Dawn could only look at Lincoln and Sam with tears in her eyes at what she learned the two have had to endure. She suddenly leans towards Lincoln and wraps her arms around him in a hug.
"I'm so sorry that you and Sam had to go through all that, Lincoln." said Dawn as she nuzzles Lincoln's cheek, making him blush a little.
"Pardon me." said Stella, getting Lincoln's attention.
"Oh... hi, Stella." said Lincoln as he looks away with a pained expression on his face.
"I have something to say to you." said Stella.
"What?" asked Lincoln with a nervous look on his face. Stella stands up, walks over to Lincoln, pulls him out of Dawn's hug, wraps her arms around Lincoln, and hugs him with all her might.
"I AM SO SORRY!" cried Stella as tears run down her eyes. "I should've believed you when you said that photo was fake!"
"We're sorry, too, Lincoln!" said Clyde as he, Zach, and Liam joined in a group hug.
"We should've been there for you when you were being bothered by everyone!" said Zach. Tears started to form in Lincoln's eyes as his friends embraced him. As they let him go, he notices that one of his friends was missing.
"Hey, where's Rusty? Didn't he come with?" asked Lincoln, making his family, and friends from Royal Woods, scowl.
"Don't mention that scumbag!" said Stella, making Lincoln recoil.
"Why would you want to see him?!" asked Lynn Jr.
"Linky doesn't know." said Leni, making everyone else remember that Lincoln wasn't there when they found out who made the photo.
"Know what?" asked Lincoln.
"That Rusty was the one who made that photo of you and Sam kissing!" said Lola, shocking Lincoln.
"WHAT?!" replied Lincoln with anger in his voice.
"Yeah, he literally made that photo to get you and Stella to break up, so he can try to get together with her!" said Lori. Lincoln growls with fury at the reveal.
"If I ever see Rusty again, I'll punch him in the face so hard he'll literally have eyes in the back of his head!" said Lincoln.
"We already gave that slimeball the beating of a lifetime." said Lynn Jr.
"Aw, man, you did?" replied Lincoln in a disappointed tone of voice. "Then there's no point in me getting him because I'm pretty sure that anything I could do would seem like nothing compared to what you all did."
"Doesn't mean you still can't take out your frustrations on him." said Lori.
"I guess." said Lincoln. Everyone then looks at his Monferno who followed him out of the battle arena.
"Now I'm pretty sure you have a lot to tell us about also, Lincoln." said Luan. Lincoln looks at Monferno and grins.
"I think you're right." said Lincoln.
Lincoln then goes on to explain to everyone from Royal Woods everything he and Sam have been through since they arrived in the Sinnoh region; meeting Professor Rowan amd Dawn, learning about Pokemon, Lincoln attending the Pokemon School, getting his first Pokemon, and his plans on competing in the Sinnoh League.
"Your Monferno is so awesome!" said Lana as she hugged Monferno while Lily was hanging from his tail.
"I would very much like to meet this Professor Rowan." said Lisa.
"Do you have any other Pokemon besides Monferno and that beaver-looking one we saw?" asked Lynn Jr.
"Yep." said Lincoln as he takes out his Staravia's pokeball and lets him out of it.
"What's this one?" asked Lisa.
"This Pokemon is called a Staravia, part normal type and flying type." said Lincoln.
"What was that beaver one called?" asked Luan.
"That was a Bibarel." said Lincoln. He then takes out his Hisuian Zorua's pokeball and lets her out of it. The Loud sisters and Stella look at her with delight as she looks back at them and does a head tilt.
"O-M-Gosh! It's totes adorbs!" said Leni as she grabs Zorua and hugs her with glee.
"I wanna pet it!" said Lola.
"No, me!" said Lana.
"Zorua's a girl." said Lincoln, making the girls squeal with delight.
"What's this Pokemon like?" asked Lisa.
"Zorua's part normal and ghost type." said Lincoln.
"Ghost type?" replied Lucy with interest as she pets Zorua's back.
"Yeah, ghost type Pokemon are ones with connections to the afterlife." said Lincoln.
"Wicked." said Lucy. After a minute, the girls set Zorua down on the floor. Lily crawls over to her and pets her head; all of a sudden, Zorua backflips and transforms into Lily, surprising everyone.
"She turned into Lily!" said Lori.
"But she has a tail." said Lola.
"Zorua can transform into any living creature." said Lincoln.
"Fascinating." said Lisa. Wanting to show off, Zorua turns into the rest of Lincoln's sisters, then his parents, and then each of his friends; after that, she returns to her normal form.
"That is so cool!" said Clyde. Sam lets out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?" asked Luna.
"Just remembering the first time that I saw Zorua use that ability." said Sam, making Lincoln and Dawn blush.
"Please don't say anything." begged Lincoln, only to have Lori cover his mouth.
"No, I think we want to hear this." said Lori with a smirk.
"Spill it, Sam." said Luna.
"Well, Zorua turned into Dawn; then she walked up to Lincoln and kisses him on the cheek." said Sam. "You should've seen him blush." Everyone but Lincoln, Stella, and Dawn laughed.
"Wish I saw that." said Lynn Jr.
"Does Sam have any Pokemon?" asked Lana. Sam replies by letting out all her Pokemon.
"Rad!" said Luna.
"That's Prinplup, my first Pokemon." said Sam, pointing at Prinplup. "She used to be a Piplup until she evolved."
"Evolved?" asked Lisa.
"You see, Lisa; when some Pokemon gain enough battling experience, they turn into stronger ones." said Lincoln. "My Monferno use to be a Chimchar until he evolved, Bibarel use to be a Bidoof, and my Staravia use to be a Starly."
"Fascinating." said Lisa. Sam then points at Luxio.
"This is Luxio; she used to be a Shinx before evolving." said Sam; she then points at Kricketune. "That's Kricketune, formerly a Kricketot." She then points at Zubat. "And this is Zubat."
"Looks like my kind of Pokemon." said Lucy, looking at Zubat. Sam then points at Onix.
"And Roark isn't the only one with an Onix." said Sam.
"Your Pokemon are cool!" said Lana.
"Where have you and Sam been staying, Lincoln?" Rita asked her son.
"We rented a beachside cabin in Sandgem Town." said Sam.
"Beachside, you say?" replied Lola with interest.
"Yeah, it's a nice place." said Lincoln. "It has two bathrooms so we each get one."
"Sweet." said Lynn Jr.
"Are you really going to keep trying to do that Sinnoh League thing now that yours and Sam's names have been cleared?" asked Lana.
"I might as well." said Lincoln. "I already won my first gym badge, so I might as well go for the others."
"You can't just travel an entire region by yourself!" said Rita.
"It does sound kind of dangerous." said Lynn Sr.
"You let a four-year-old experiment with toxic, explosive, and radioactive chemicals, without proper safety equipment, and in the same room that Lily tends to occupy sometimes." said Lincoln, making his parents look at each other with fear on their faces.
"Lisa isn't careless." said Rita trying to save face.
"Mom, sometimes even though we live in a house, we don't have a roof over our heads thanks to some of Lisa's lab explosions." said Lincoln. "I'm surprised after so many of those incidents you haven't made her move her lab to her bunker yet."
"I'm surprised that your neighbors haven't called Child Services out of concern for your kids' safety." said Sam, making Lynn Sr and Rita look at each other with worry.
"They make some good points." said Lynn Sr. Rita looks at Lisa with a stern look on her face.
"Lisa! First thing you're going to do when we get home is move your lab to your bunker!" said Rita.
"Yes, mother." said Lisa with a nervous look on her face.
"And it would be better for you if you did that, Lisa." said Lincoln. "It's a lot quieter than doing experiments in the house, and there'll be less distractions."
"Interesting points, brother." said Lisa.
"And it's not like I'm travelling by myself." said Lincoln. "Sam will be with me, and so will Dawn."
"It's not that we don't trust Sam, but we would feel better if one of your older sisters was with you." said Rita.
"Why not have Luna stay with us?" asked Lincoln.
"Me?" replied Luna.
"Yeah, it will let you start repairing your relationship with Sam." said Lincoln.
"I definitely wouldn't mind doing that." said Luna with a smile.
"Well, if she wants to, then I guess it'll be okay." said Lynn Sr.
"Maybe she should head back home to our dimension and get some of her things to bring here." said Sam.
"Good idea." said Luna.
"When we get back to our cabin, we'll let you grab some stuff for yourself from your house." said Sam.
"Okay, thanks, Sam." said Luna. Lincoln looks at his sisters with some guilt on his face.
"And guys, I'm sorry about yelling at you the night I left." said Lincoln. "After everything I've been through in my life, and what happened because of Rusty's photo, I couldn't hold back my frustrations anymore."
"You shouldn't have to hold anything in, Lincoln." said Lori.
"If you're upset about something, you could always talk to us." said Luan.
"But sometimes you guys don't take anything I say seriously." said Lincoln. "Sometimes I feel like you don't even care about me." His family was shocked by what was just said.
"How can you believe that?!" asked Rita.
"You kicked me out of the house for two days over a superstition without a second thought." said Lincoln, surprising Dawn.
"They really did that?!" asked Dawn, making Lincoln's parents and sisters look away with shame, and shocking his friends.
"You really did that to your own bro, Luna?!" asked Sam, making Luna recoil.
"They didn't even try to find a way to remove my 'bad luck', or at least provide me with a tent or even a sleeping bag or blanket." said Lincoln as he frowns at the memory.
"How can you do that to your own son and still think you have any right to call yourselves his parents?" Stella asked Lincoln's parents.
"We'll believe and do almost anything our daughters tell us without a second thought." said Lynn Sr with shame.
"We're still ashamed of what we did." said Rita.
"I can't believe Lincoln hasn't called the police on us." said Lisa. "Evicting someone under the age of eighteen is a felony." Rita and Lynn Sr look at each other with fear.
"It is?" asked Lincoln with a look of contemplation on his face.
"Did you know that before or after we threw him out?" asked Lori.
"Before." said Lisa with shame on her face.
"Any reason you didn't bring that up before we did it?" asked Lynn Sr.
"I was too bought in by the superstition nonsense." said Lisa as she looked away with more shame.
"But you're supposed to be a girl-of-science." said Sam. "How can someone like you be bought in by that?"
"A question I have no answer to." said Lisa. All of a sudden, Dawn turns Lincoln towards her, and hugs him tightly.
"I can't believe you've been through so much in your life, and still be able to smile." said Dawn as she strokes the back of Lincoln's head and kisses his cheek, making him blush, and his sisters giggle. He was suddenly pulled out of the hug by an irate Stella.
"Hey! Don't kiss my boyfriend!" said Stella as she holds Lincoln close to her.
"Your boyfriend?!" replied Dawn as she pulls Lincoln away from Stella by his arm. "You dumped him!"
"Well, I'm un-dumping him!" said Stella as she pulls Lincoln back towards her by his other arm. As Stella and Dawn were doing tug of war with Lincoln, Lola was recording it with her phone.
"Lola, what are you doing?" asked Lori.
"I'm recording this to show Rusty." replied Lola. "I'm going to tie him to a chair, tape his eyes open, and make him watch this; it'll drive him crazy seeing TWO girls fighting over Linky."
"Oooh; good idea." said Lori.
"Make it on a big screen!" said Luan.
Lincoln has made peace with his family. What else awaits him and Sam as their Sinnoh adventure continues?
"Let go of my boyfriend!" yelled Stella as she continues to tug on Lincoln's arm.
"You let go of him!" replied Dawn as she tugs on Lincoln's other arm.
End of Chapter 18
Pokemon on Lincoln's team: Monferno (M), Staravia (M), Bibarel (F), and Hisuian Zorua (F).
Pokemon in Lincoln's collection: Monferno (M), Staravia (M), Bibarel (F), and Hisuian Zorua (F).
Pokemon on Sam's team: Prinplup (F), Luxio (F), Kricketune (M), Zubat (F), and Onix (F).
Pokemon in Sam's collection: Prinplup (F), Luxio (F), Kricketune (M), Zubat (F), and Onix (F).