Hi! The author here. Nice to meet you! I'm Ihmp. This here is my first story of this scale. I would appreciate your full honesty in the reviews and I will accept all advice and criticism. Hope you enjoy!

- Ihmp

Lucas trudged through the untangled growth of the ruins alongside his Infernape. If only he could have his partner burn the entire field to the ground. But no, Professor Rowan said this place was important.

Lucas sighed and rolled his eyes at the thought. What exactly could've been so important that he had to stop filling in his Pokédex? Dawn told him he and Infernape were supposed to be looking for "remnants of history," as she called it. Clues and pieces that hinted at the time before theirs. The time of Hisui...

In a burst of rage, Lucas shouted out to the sky, "What fucking remnants?!" They had been searching for an hour without anything to show for it. With a final muttered curse, he moved on and continued making his way through the muddy grasslands of the ruins. Infernape looked at him curiously for a moment before following after him, unintentionally singeing away a bit of grass.

(5 hours later)

Lucas sighed before collapsing in a fit. Why did the professor have to send him? Why not Dawn or either of her parents? But of course, he knew the answer. The professor had the mindset that he could turn Lucas into a devoted researcher. Brainwashed is more like it. With yet another sigh, he looked around the grassy plains in which he had collapsed to find that he had been wandering in a large circle.

Lucas bolted up and shouted to the heavens, "I fucking hate—"

With a crash, Lucas slipped and fell in mud, sliding a few feet further. With a groan, he attempted to push himself back up before slipping and eating more mud. Exhausted and out of patience, Lucas shifted his head upright. It took him a few seconds to register what was in front of him. He had landed face-first into a small indent of burned grass, and in the center lay the corner of something sticking up out of the ground.

He bolted up a second time (with more caution as to not slip) and called over his Infernape, who had been sleeping under a tree. Half an hour later, the duo had dug up what seemed to be something sticking up out of the ground.

"WE DID IT! WE FUCKING DID IT!" Lucas leaped up...and fell flat on his face from slipping.

After a quick phone call and a long journey, Lucas went back home to get some rest. He awoke, got dressed, and went down to the laboratory to find out what the hell was in that chest. As soon as he entered, he was bombarded with questions from the professor, Dawn, and Dawn's parents along the lines of:

"Where did you find this?"

"Do you know what this is?"

"How did you get this?"

"Do you know how big of a discovery you've made?"

"At this point I'd kiss you!"

That last one wasn't actually said. But he wouldn't mind hearing it from Dawn. But that's beside the point. After a few minutes of intense, one-sided interrogation (Lucas just didn't talk. Apparently, screaming multiple times in one day can be strenuous on the vocal cords) the quartet of yapping researchers stopped and explained.

Rowan sat Lucas down and said, "You see, my boy, you've found an ancient artifact from the Laventon period (different periods were named after the researchers overseeing Pokémon study), in the days of Hisui. That there," he said as he pointed to the chest, "was akin to our modern nightstands and was used for storage."

"That's right!" added Dawn. "And since you found it, we thought you should do the honors of opening it!"

To Lucas, the following words meant one of three things. Scenario one: They've already opened it, and this is a trap for them to explain everything to him. Scenario two: Dawn is finally starting to reciprocate his feelings for her and is showing it through kindness. Scenario three is the most likely in that they have no idea how to open the chest. Thinking one in three odds of a lecture wasn't so bad, he went for it.

"Hey Dawn, wanna go out later?"

...Dead silence was her only response. So he went for it again.

"Dawn? Wanna to go out with me?"

...Dead silence. This continued for about three or four times before Lucas gave up and assumed it was scenario three, failing to hear the whispered, "Sure," coming from Dawn. More on that later.

Moving on, Lucas approached the chest, cracking his knuckles and neck before attempting to open it. He failed spectacularly. He tried again only to be met with a second failure. Eventually he gave up and let out Infernape to do the work. Infernape opened it with a pinkie finger near effortlessly. The group leaned in to find an assortment of things in the chest. There was a stained bag of dust that smelled berry-like, a spare set of clothes eaten up by Mothim, a quill, and a journal.

While Dawn and the other researchers were enamored with the other contents of the chest, Lucas reached for the journal, opening it up and starting to read out loud.

"Dear whoever the fuck finds this..."