A/N Welcome back everyone to Pokemon Omega Loud! This chapter will conclude the side story of the Louds and others interacting with the Pokemon in their care. I will admit that this chapter is a bit of a slow burn as it deals primarily with Clyde and his thoughts and feelings regarding his strained friendship with Lincoln. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I did writing it.

Clyde was absolutely enamored with the strange cat that had snuck into his house. Currently he was watching as Cleopawtra and Nepurrtiti interacted with the aforementioned feline. As he continued to stare he began to notice more peculiarities with the strange creature, such as the unusual pink coloration and the odd shape of its tail that reminded him of a cat toy.

The more he thought about it the more he was convinced that this strange animal was something NOT found in nature. And the only person who could possibly be responsible for such a thing was the sister of his ex-best friend, Lisa Loud.

That thought brought an aching feeling in his chest. He hadn't had any interaction with the Loud family since the video contest debacle a year prior. Not since he had abandoned his best friend.

He scowled. Truth be told he hadn't wanted to cast aside their friendship, but after seeing him covered in bruises and with a bloody nose, his dads had decided that they could not allow their precious baby to associate with such hooligans ever again.

To be honest he was ready to argue in defense of his and Lincoln's friendship, but something made him hesitate. He thought about other times he had been caught in the crossfire between Lincoln and his sisters, and found he didn't want that to happen again.

So he said nothing.

For the next month Clyde actively ignored Lincoln, only ever acknowledging him when necessary such as at school, but said nothing beyond simple yes/no answers. He could tell that Lincoln was becoming more and more depressed as time went on, especially when the rest of their friends started to distance themselves from the white haired boy.

He thought about apologizing to his friend. Several times in fact. But each time he did he would chicken out, or tell himself that it was too soon and they both needed more time.

Then Lincoln went missing.

He hadn't noticed it at first but one day Lincoln didn't show up to school. Not unusual, truly, as most kids miss a day or two during the school year due to one reason or another. But then Lincoln failed to show up the next day. Or the next. Finally after a week of absences, news began to filter through the school and the town.

Clyde learned that Lincoln had run away. According to multiple sources, being from people close to the Loud family, the sole Loud boy had been dealing with so much stress because of the fallout from the video contest, as well as still feeling angry about past incidents, that he had packed his bags and left.

What several people didn't believe though, was the rumor that Lincoln had stolen a device made by Lisa that allowed people to travel to alternate dimensions. Clyde, on the other hand, knew full well that Lisa HAD made such a device, due to Lincoln telling him about everything his family does.

Knowing that he would never be able to apologize to his friend, Clyde could only watch from a distance as each member of the Loud family became shells of their former selves.

Coming back to the present, Clyde noticed that the strange cat creature had settled into his lap and fallen asleep. As he stroked the cat's fur, he couldn't help but to smile at the adorable sight.

Taking a deep breath, Clyde lifted the cat as he stood, making sure to not disturb its sleep. Something in his gut told him that this strange pink creature had something to do with the Louds. Quickly glancing at the clock, he knew where one of the Loud sisters would be at that time. So after making sure that he had his wallet and keys, Clyde and the strange pink cat left the house and began to make their way towards Tall Timbers Park.

It was time to have a chat with Lynn Loud Jr.

-=o=-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST SKITTY!?" yelled LJ, drawing the attention of everyone in the nearby area.

Just a few minutes ago, LJ was at the park with Abra, having decided that the psychic Pokemon would make the perfect goalie as she practiced with her friends. Margo, Pollie, Maddie, and Paula had been amazed by the floating yellow Pokemon, and after LJ explained what Abra was and where he came from they each took turns trying to make a goal against the Psi Pokemon. So far none of them had been able to get past Abra's psychic defense, which gave LJ a massive rush as she relished the challenge.

But things soon came to an end when they heard a sound like screeching tires, causing all five girls to look in the direction of the noise.

To LJ's surprise, she saw Lola in her Princess Ride gunning it towards her with a panicked look on her face. Before anything could happen Lola skidded to a stop in front of the Sporty Loud sister and nearly tackled her to the ground.

Lola quickly told LJ that Skitty had gone missing prompting the teen to make the above statement.

"I told you!" said a panicked Lola, "I set Skitty down by my bag while I practiced with my pageant friends and when I finished he was gone!"

LJ tried to calm down the pageant princess but at the same time was in just as panicked a state. If they didn't find the kitten Pokemon soon, Lincoln would tear them a new one AND probably cut the whole family off permanently.

"Okay." said LJ, "Skitty shouldn't have gotten far." Turning towards her friends, LJ addressed the four girls.

"Could you guys help us look?" she asked. "I need you guys to spread out and look for a small pink cat, ok?"

The four athletes nodded and took off in random directions while LJ, Abra, and Lola retraced Lola's steps back towards Ms. Liza's training center to search for clues as to where Skitty had gone.

While the girls looked, LJ had Abra try to sense if it could pick up Skitty's trail but so far they had no luck.

After about an hour of searching, the girls met back up at the park, empty handed.

"Aw man!" said LJ, "Linc's going to kill us!"

"We're sorry we couldn't be of any more help LJ." said Margo.

"Somebody has to have seen him somewhere!" said Lola, "I mean people should be able to notice a bright pink cat, right?"

Just as the two Loud siblings were about to descend into hysteria, a loud meowing noise caught their attention. Looking in the direction the sound came from they were surprised to see a familiar face carrying the missing Pokemon.

As Clyde walked towards the group of girls he watched as a look of relief crossed both Loud girls faces, followed by a look of wariness. What also caught his eye was the strange yellow creature floating next to the girls.

I was right, he thought, the Louds do have something to do with this cat.

When he came to a stop in front of the group of girls, the pink cat leapt from his arms and ran towards Lola, who scooped it up into her arms and gave it a massive hug.

"Skitty! We were so worried about you!" she cried, "Where did you run off to?!"

"I found it in my house, eating some cookies I had just made," said Clyde.

After that Clyde and the two Loud sisters just stood around looking a bit awkward. LJ's friends just stood there not sure what to do, other than wait for someone to make a move.

"So…" said Clyde, "How have you guys been?"

LJ looked at him with a suspicious look. "What do you care, Mcbride? Last I checked you didn't want to associate with us."

Clyde flinched at the question before a look of shame mixed with sadness crossed his features.

"Look," he began, "I'm sorry. I was just so fed up with getting caught in the middle of all your family's drama that I just wanted to distance myself from you guys." He sighed before continuing. "By the time I got over what happened and wanted to apologize, Lincoln had disappeared."

Clyde began to sniffle as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"I just want to apologize for how I acted."

LJ and Lola looked at each other, a silent conversation going on based on their expressions, before LJ rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Look, McBride." She said, "If you want to apologize to Lincoln, we can get you in contact with him."

Clyde looked up in shock.

"Wait! You know where Lincoln is?!" he said, "I thought he had run away!?"

"He did." said Lola as she cuddled Skitty, "But Lisa managed to track him down a couple of weeks ago and we've been in contact with him ever since."

Clyde began to get excited, thinking that he could finally apologize to his best friend.

"Well where is he!? Is he alright?"

"He's fine." said LJ, "He's in another dimension, competing in competition with his Pokemon."

Clyde stopped looking confused, "What's a Pokemon?"

LJ groaned in annoyance. "Look, just meet us back at our house and we'll explain everything."

-=o=-

Half an hour later, Clyde walked up the steps leading up to the front door of the Loud House. He was a little nervous, since he was worried about what Lincoln had been doing for the last year since he had gone missing.

After knocking, the door to the house was opened by Lucy who looked Clyde up and down before moving to the side to allow him entry to the house. Sitting in the living room was the entire Loud family, minus Lincoln and Lana. When looking around he could find no trace of the mud loving sibling.

"Where's Lana?" Clyde asked.

"She's with Lincoln," said Luan. "She's how we've been able to contact Lincoln."

With that the Louds began to explain everything that Lincoln had been up to, aided in part by Lisa who shared recordings she had made of Lincoln's Gym battle and May's Contest. The family also introduced Clyde to the Pokemon they were taking care of as well as told Clyde everything they knew about Pokemon in general.

At first Clyde couldn't believe what he was told, thinking that it was all an elaborate prank by Luan and that Lisa had created all the 'Pokemon' in her lab, but after seeing all the footage provided by Lisa he had to admit, he was intrigued.

"So let me get this straight." he began, "Lincoln has been in a different dimension for the past year, training and interacting with creatures more amazing than anything I've ever seen, and you guys are ok with that?"

"To be honest, not really." said Rita, "But after everything Lincoln's been through, and after everything we've done to him, we decided to let Lincoln compete in the Gym Challenge."

"Besides," said Luna, "It looks like Linc's finally found what he's good at and is doing well at it."

"Is there any way I can talk to him?" asked Clyde.

"Well right now Lincoln's on the way to the next City to challenge their gym, but he said he would contact us as soon as they got there." said Lynn Sr.

Clyde nodded his head taking the information in.

"Could you guys call me when he does?" said Clyde. "I really want to apologize to him for my actions."

After getting confirmations from the Louds, Clyde left the Loud House and made his way towards home, thoughts of his friend bouncing around in his head.

"I hope you're doing okay, buddy." he said to himself.

Meanwhile in another dimension, Lincoln was once again standing on the bow of the S.S. Wingull. At either side of him stood May and Lana, as they all stared at the horizon. As they watched they could see a distant landmass getting closer and closer and they began to grin in anticipation.

They had finally arrived at Dewford Town and Lincoln's next Badge.

A/N So Clyde now knows about Lincoln's adventures and wishes to reconcile with his former friend. Meanwhile Lincoln and Co. have finally reached Dewford Town where Lincoln will compete for his second badge as he tries to repair the relationship between himself and his sporty older sister, LJ.

As a side note, I've had a few people ask if I can have Clyde join Lincoln on his journey. I'm not 100% on board with that idea as I have to figure out where to insert Clyde into what I already have planned as well as what he will do during the journey (example: gym challenge, contests, etc) if I do include him.

Anyways, next chapter Lincoln and Co will head towards Dewford Gym where Lincoln will challenge Brawly for his next badge.

-=o=-

Lincoln

Pokemon on Team: Lynn (Combusken (F)), Kirlia(F)*, Wrath (Taillow (M)), Lola (Bounsweet (F)), Dratini (M), Joltik(F)

Pokemon in Storage: Phantump(F), Zigzagoon(M), Wingull(M), Slakoth(M), Shroomish(M), Carvanha(M), Whismur X2(M/M)

Loud House: Skitty(M), Abra(F), Mimikyu (F)

May

Pokemon on Team: Marshtomp(M), Beautifly(F), Skitty(F)

Lana

Pokemon on Team: Lizzy (Treecko (F)), Scar (Poochyena(M)), Wormy (Dustox(F)), Ninjask(M), Paras (M)

Pokemon in Storage: N/A

Loud House: Shedinja (X)

*denotes shiny Pokemon