Unbroken Disguise

Lucas tampered down on the pout he could feel his lips trying to form.

That Ralts may have managed to Teleport away from him five times now, but he would capture it! He just needed to buy some more Pokeballs. Or a lot of them…

Or maybe he was trying to do it the wrong way? Sure, he’d captured Bibarel as a Bidoof just fine, but Bibarel… Well, as much as he loved the fuzzy guy, he wasn’t the brightest.

Yeah, that could be it… he’d just have to look into how people normally catch a Pokemon like Ralts! The salesman at the last Pokemart he’d visited had tried selling him some strange Pokeballs, maybe one of them could help…

Before that, though, he could use a trip to the Pokemon Center. His team would appreciate some healing, and he really needed to organize his bag. It was beginning to fill up a lot more than he expected it might, especially with the weird rock thing that black belt had given him taking up so much space.

It wasn’t anywhere near being full, not with the way it was so much bigger on the inside, but he’d started haphazardly tossing stuff in it after a certain point and that was starting to take its toll. Reaching inside, he brushed the pickaxe and Vs Seeker out of the way, digging his Journal out of the mess and quickly zipping it back up.

If his belongings started to spill out, he was afraid that he’d be buried alive.

As he slung his bag back over his shoulders, he started flipping through the pages, wondering just where he had started to go wrong with his item management.

“エテルナシティから始まった。"

Ah. Right. Eterna City. That was probably it.

As Lucas left the “Underground Man”’s house, he found himself wondering if he’d ever explore the Sinnoh Underground again. It had been cool, yes. Finding out that there was a vast network of manmade caverns under every inch of the region was like finding out he’d get to explore two regions at once. And to top it off, there was all sorts of treasure down there! Evolution stones, precious gems, Heart Scales, even fossils that he could get revived in Oreburgh!

Though he might not make use of that last one. He’d been embarrassed enough by his last visit there…

But even with the promise of adventure and goodies, the experience had been dampened when he discovered that the whole tunnel system was littered with traps. The Underground Man hadn’t thought to warn him, so his introduction to the stupid things was stepping on a “hurl trap”, as the old man had later called it, and suddenly finding himself launched into a tunnel wall. His ribs felt sore, it hurt to breathe, and his nose had only just stopped bleeding. And that was on top of the danger of mining, which was the whole point of exploring the Underground! He had spent a few hours digging around the bulges in the tunnel walls, but even once he had gained some experience they collapsed a majority of the time. Seeing the partially unearthed treasures get buried under a fresh pile of dirt and rocks hurt his soul, and the dust and debris flying everywhere made his eyes burn.

That was alright, though. It’s not like he needed to explore the Underground. Maybe he could revisit it later in his journey, have his team stop the many injuries waiting to happen once it was more filled out and stronger.

For now, he still had the rest of Eterna City to explore!

He had been glad to discover that Gardenia put up more of a challenge than Roark, though he still managed to take on her whole team with just Grotle. And he really needed to stock up on some more supplies for curing status conditions while he was thinking about that match… stupid Grass types… it was Eterna Forest all over again, but he didn’t have Cheryl to bail him out!

And of course he had spent his time thoroughly investigating any unlocked buildings in the surrounding area for trea- er, trash that he could recycle. That had been how he discovered the Underground Man, actually.

But that left the north end of the city and this so-called “Galactic building” that he kept hearing whispers about.

The team Galactic members he had run into since starting his journey had been weak jerks who ran away as soon as he stomped their teams, barring Mars of course, but this definitely felt different. Setting up shop in the middle of a city like Eterna? They were crooks! The ones he’d run into at least, but if the rumors about stolen Pokemon had any truth to them, then it was the same here.

Part of him wondered what Gardenia was doing about it. Gym Leaders were supposed to take out the bad guys, right? That’s what happened in the TV shows he used to watch with Barry. But if they were feeling bold enough to openly have a building here…

…maybe she was just busy with other stuff. Gym Leaders had a lot to do, after all. And if he’d taken care of Mars, one of their commanders… Well, he could help Gardenia out! He was certain that she’d appreciate him taking care of the problem for her!

Filled with determination, Lucas set his sights on the Galactic building, ignoring the filth and blood that covered him as he stepped-

“Oof!”

…face first into the ground as an all too familiar body crashed into him.

“Woah, are you okay Lucas? You really need to watch where you’re going!” his ever annoying neighbor chastised him.

Lucas would remember this. He’d put it in his Journal for sure.

“No, wait, that’s not important right now!” Barry continued on, ignoring the way that Lucas’ nose had started bleeding again. “You came to see the Pokemon statue, right? I’ll take you there!”

Quickly grabbing his hand, Barry dragged him through the streets of Eterna City, past the Galactic building and to a huge statue on an even bigger pedestal. Lucas didn’t bother fighting against it, having long ago learned better than to even try.

“What the…” Barry started, suddenly stopping in place a few yards from the statue.

Lucas was pretty certain that Barry wouldn’t be shocked by a statue of all things, so he looked around, wondering what had caused his fr- rival to suddenly freeze up.

“...So, this is Eterna’s Pokemon statue…” a cold voice rang out.

There were a handful of people in the area, but Lucas’ eyes honed in on a finely dressed man. His suit was an odd color, if a bit familiar, but what caught the boy’s attention was his tone.

Normally he’d think a man with spiky blue hair would be chill and relaxed like a Water type, or maybe a bit cold, like an Ice type, but…

It was like there was an emptiness behind the man’s eyes. They seemed beyond cold. Like there was nothing beyond them.

It matched his unbelievably monotone voice.

Something was really familiar about him though. Lucas had been caught up on the suit, so he looked it over once more, wondering if he could jog his-

“Isn’t that the guy from Lake Verity?” Barry whispered to him.

Ah. That would explain it. Barry always had been better at remembering faces than him. What had the man’s name been… Claytus… Kyrus… Cyrus! It was Cyrus. He remembered writing it down now…

But apparently the weirdo who liked to talk to lakes and statues was done for the day, and was now walking towards them.

“Pardon me. Step aside.”

Lucas and Berry looked at each other, and then the wide swathes of empty grass around them. There was no reason to ask them to move.

But, with this Cyrus guy being as weird as he was, Lucas obediently stepped aside, letting the man walk between them and go off on his way. Though he didn’t appreciate the old man telling him how “unsightly” his appearance was before leaving. He just hadn’t had a chance to clean up yet! Maybe his next stop should be the Pokemon Center to rent a room for the night..

Barry, never one to get caught up on anything for more than a few seconds, was moving the conversation along as soon as Cyrus had disappeared into the crowds of the city as if nothing had happened at all.

“Oh, hey! When we smacked together, a brilliant flash of inspiration came to me! An easy way to become a great trainer!”

Lucas didn’t hold much confidence in it being anything of the sort, but it would probably be entertaining to hear at least, so he leaned in, showing that he was interested.

“All right, listen close…” Barry leaned in, whispering into his ear as if it was some grand secret. “Make certain all your attacks hit! Avoid enemy attacks for sure! You do that, you’d never lose! You’d be the invincible Trainer!”

Lucas resisted the urge to throttle his rival, if only because that advice was technically correct, if completely useless.

“Anyway, go check out the Pokemon statue. See you around!”

And with that, Barry ran off into the crowds.

If only he would take the time to slow down a bit, really take in his surroundings… he could join Lucas in discovering all sorts of treasure! Though that would mean having to split it, so maybe Barry rushing was for the best…

Alone once again, he of course scoured the surrounding park, and perhaps the buildings, though he wouldn’t admit that if asked, but not much came up besides some useless information about the statue and Sinnoh’s myths.

It was as he was searching through his Pokedex for anything that might be the Pokemon the statue was made for that he was next interrupted.

“Oh, that device you have…”

When he heard the voice behind him, he turned around to see a tall blonde woman. Something about her seemed… special, in a way he couldn’t quite pin down.

It was probably cooties, like Cheryl.

Lucas was brought out of his memories of the beau- er, black clad woman when something ran into his legs.

For once, it wasn’t his rival slamming into him with a Thud!

Lifting his Journal, so he could look down at his feet, he found that it was a Buneary, though it was on the smaller side of the ones he had seen. A younger one, maybe? They were sort of neat, but he figured he had enough Normal types on his team with Bibarel and Togepi.

Although, hadn’t he just crossed into Hearthome? It probably wasn’t a wild Pokemon at all, but where…

“Oh, thank goodness that you happened to be there!”

Looking above his Journal, he saw a woman running towards him. But she seemed to be struggling, since she was in high heels and a pink dress…

She paused for a moment when she reached him, swiping her long brown hair out of her face and adjusting it beneath the headband she wore.

With a smile, she continued. “If it weren’t for you, who knows how far away my Buneary could have run… Baby Buneary, back into the Pokeball you go!”

With a flash of red light, the Pokemon returned into its ball.

“I’m Keira!” She paused, waiting for him to return an introduction.

He nodded.

Her smile grew a bit stiff as he threw her off her game, but she continued on anyway. “I’m a Pokemon Contest judge. Be sure to drop by the Contest Hall so I can thank you properly!”

Thank him properly?

Maybe she wanted to add to his hoa- trash collection! That he was planning to recycle. Yes. Definitely what he planned.

He nodded once more, already looking forward to it.

She took that as an awkward dismissal, which, in a way it was, and he returned to reading over his Journal.

Where had he been? Let’s see… Cynthia gave him the HM for Cut… he got himself cleaned up and explored the city a bit more…

There’s what he had been looking for.

“ジュピターをたおし。”

His defeat of a second Team Galactic Commander.

Where was the Looker?!

A member of the International Police would have been super useful right about now!

Lucas really hoped that he hadn’t just stood by the doorway in that Team Galactic disguise and left this whole mess to him… but he had called Lucas a “first-rate trainer” and allowed him to clear the building on his own so far, so maybe he really had…

He looked down at the Pokeball in his hand nervously. Bibarel had fainted, and Grotle was poisoned and not doing too hot.

Maybe going to every floor to clear out all the grunts and ste- reclaim all the loose items had been a bad idea. But, in his defense, he hadn’t expected a Commander even stronger than Mars to be here! She was even stronger than Gardenia had been!

Or, more specifically, her Skuntank had been stronger. The Zubat had been as much of a joke as the rest of the Pokemon in the building, but her stupid ace just wouldn’t go down!

If Jupiter had one more Pokemon, or worse, someone else showed up, he would be screwed! He’d already eaten through all of his healing items, and it’s not like he could accept defeat like a reasonable trainer in any other battle.

It would be his first loss! Which, you know, would be unacceptable to anyone other than the Champion, but probably wasn’t as important as the fact that Jupiter had a couple of kidnapped Pokemon cowering behind her!

But Jupiter scoffed. “Losing to a child… Being careless cost me too much.”

She returned Skuntank’s Pokeball to her belt, before scowling at him. “Well, aren’t you tough…? It’s okay, though. Our official Pokemon statue investigation is finished. Mars has collected energy from the Valley Windworks. We’re pretty much finished here. I’ll let you in on one little thing.”

She smirked, as if she knew he’d be unable to do anything with what she was about to tell him. “Our boss is researching the myths of ancient Pokemon. With the power of mythical Pokemon, he will become the ruler of Sinnoh. I suggest you keep out of Team Galactic’s affairs from now on.”

She pulled her hand back, as if readying to throw another Pokeball.

But she had said it was her loss?! How could she still have more?!

“This will be your last warning!”

His questions were answered as she threw what must have been a smoke bomb instead, leaving the room in the confusion.

Lucas coughed and tried to keep it out of his eyes. With how much had been getting in them lately, maybe he should invest in some goggles or something…

“I got my Clefairy back, and it’s all thanks to you!” A voice shouted out from right behind him.

He jumped in fright, before sighing in relief. In the heat of the battle, he had sort of forgotten about the old guy who was watching…

“But that Team Galactic…” the old man looked down the corridor, as if he was waiting for another one of the weirdos to pop up. “They said ‘Clefairy came from space. Hand it over!’” He repeated their words in a mocking tone before scoffing. “Their logic baffles me still. It’s like they’re from space!”

The old man collected himself. “Anyway, they seem to be gone now. Thank you very much, young man!”

He suddenly grabbed Lucas’ hand, ignoring the Pokeball in it, which made things awkward as he tried for a shake. The two of them grimaced, but the old man powered through it. “I can’t thank you enough right now, but cruise by my Cycle Shop, okay?”

The man gathered the stolen Pokemon and left. Lucas did the same… after double checking that he had looted the entire building.

Somehow, there wasn’t a trace of any of the Galactic thugs or the Looker!

Had he chased after them? Maybe he arrested Jupiter on her way out. Can’t stay to chat if you’re doing important stuff like that. Yeah, that makes sense…

When he went to the Pokemon Center afterwards to get his team checked out, he was greeted by a surprise visitor.

“I’ve been looking for you!” Cynthia called out as she spotted him in the lobby. “I’ve got something nice.”

Lucas thought that nice was a weird way to describe a Pokemon egg, but he didn’t really have much room to judge. He’d seen a few eggs in his lifetime, growing up near Professor Rowan’s lab, but the one that Cynthia held didn’t look like one he’d seen before. Blue and red triangles covered the white surface.

“I wanted you to have this Pokemon egg. Will you accept it?”

Lucas’ jaw dropped. Even if he spoke, he wouldn’t know what to say.

Pokemon eggs were a big deal! You don’t just- just give them away to people! That was crazy talk!

But… At the same time, he would be crazy to say no!

And so, hesitantly, he accepted the egg.

As he handed over his three Pokeballs to Nurse Joy, he found himself wondering just what had come over Cynthia to make her give up a Togepi egg like that. These things were super rare! Or, that’s what his Pokedex told him, anyway.

But it had been acting up lately, so he wasn’t sure how much he could trust it… stupid ghosts…

“We’ll restore your Pokemon to full health in no time at all! Please just wait nearby so we can call for you when they’re done!” Nurse Joy told him with a smile.

It kind of creeped him out, how they all looked the same. Were they a type of Pokemon or something?

Not particularly interested in answering that question, and having nothing better to do, Lucas wandered the lobby, looking at the posters and flyers they had hung up.

Hmmm. Hearthome City Gym was definitely on his list of things to do, but his team could probably use a break before diving right into the next one. Plus he wanted to see if he could catch that Ralts first…

And then there were those contests that Keira girl had mentioned… but it looked like the next one was still a little ways out…

Only one other poster stood out to him. “Amity Square,” it read, “the perfect place to stroll with your Pokemon! Develop a deeper bond with your adorable friends!”

A park specifically designed for Pokemon? That sounded like a good way to help them relax. It might be a good idea to visit the place before he went into any more battles…

But he doubted his team would be healed any time soon, so to pass the time he opened his Journal back up, trying to tune out whatever garbage was on the TV.

“The Pokemon League is still investigating the incident at Alamos Town that happened yesterday morning, and details are sparse. Luckily, an independent news crew managed to capture footage-”

Got a bicycle from the old man… tried travelling east only to discover that portion of Mt. Coronet is filled with boulders too heavy for his team to move out of the way…

He frowned as he read the next entry.

“森の洋館ではビーダルはいあいぎりをつかった。"

That stupid mansion…

He couldn’t believe Gardenia was such a scaredy-Glameow.

It was just an old building in the woods! It’s not like it would actually be haunted.

Had she not taken care of Team Galactic because she was too afraid? Heh. Maybe he should ask for a reward for taking care of that mess for her…

He released Bibarel in a beam of red light. The simple minded Pokemon stared at him blankly, but waited for a command instead of wandering off blindly.

Progress was slow, but it was still progress.

Lucas snapped his fingers, and pointed at the overgrown plants blocking the way.

Bibarel’s teeth took on a shine, and he quickly gnawed a path through for them.

Cut was so useful! He’d already backtracked a bit and collected things that had been out of his reach before, with this spooky place being the last on his list. So many goodies that had been tantalizingly close before were now in his hands!

Which is to say, he had a bunch of new berries and TMs stuffed in his bag now.

And that stash would only grow with this! A “haunted” house, the path inside overgrown with plants… nobody had been here in ages, he was sure! And that meant nobody could have taken any treats left behind!

He noisily stepped through the tall grass, wanting any wild Pokemon inside to have a chance to scram before he made his way through the building.

Not seeing any reason to return him, Bibarel stayed at his side, his dull eyes looking back and forth as he waddled along.

The door creaked open, the hinges still working, if a bit rusty, when he entered the Old Chateau.

The place was pretty gross. Dust everywhere, cobwebs hanging all over, the wallpaper was peeling and the place looked like it wasn’t far from falling apart.

But he wouldn’t let that stop his treasure hunt!

He patted Bibarel on the back as he led the way, poking into room after room. There wasn’t a Pokemon in sight, and there was all sorts of neat stuff! Some sort of… well, he wasn't sure what it was, but Bibarel tried to eat it, so it was probably food!

He wasn’t sure what to make of the weird stone plate that had some nonsense about being a shard on the universe on the back of it, but he stuffed it in his bag all the same.

He also found another TM, some weird notebook that was falling apart and illegible, some other sort of candy…

More and more items were stuffed into his bag with every section of the Old Chateau he explored. He had been right about it being ripe for the picking!

It had all been going well… until he explored one room in particular.

There was a TV in it, which was powered on, but showed nothing but static. He didn’t think too much about it being on, what with the lights in the building still working just fine. His mom would be mad if he constantly kept the lights on in his room, but somehow keeping this whole place on was fine? Someone was probably really mad about that…

But the TV hadn’t been the important thing. It was the way that he felt like he was being watched. He and Bibarel looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anything in the room with them…

Until a Ghastly suddenly appeared out of nowhere and licked his face.

He didn’t scream! He definitely didn’t scream! He definitely didn’t run out of the stupid haunted mansion as fast as he could, dodging and weaving around all the Ghastly and Haunter that were suddenly everywhere laughing and jeering at him.

But he definitely did do something to his Pokedex. Or maybe one of the ghosts did it? Either way, the thing was acting funny now. The screen would show static occasionally, or the data would be obviously wrong…

He just hoped whatever it was, that it wasn’t permanent. Professor Rowan didn’t just hand these things out left and right, and if he found out that Lucas had busted his after only two Gyms…

Well, Lucas just wouldn’t let him find out.

“Thank you for waiting, we’ve restored your Pokemon to full health!” Nurse Joy told him as she returned his Pokeballs. “We hope to see you again!”

He nodded his thanks before walking out of the Pokemon Center and pulling out a pencil so he could update his Journal to the present.

After the run in with all those Ghost types, he’d gone down Cycling Road, where he happened to run into one of Professor Rowan’s assistants. The man had given him this fancy gizmo he called an Experience Share, but Lucas wasn’t so sure about using it. Not yet, at least. Of course, running into another of Rowan’s assistants just before entering Mt. Coronet and receiving the Vs Seeker and Dowsing Machine had been a bit weird. Why not just send all of this stuff with one person? They were only a route apart!

Then he had explored the route beneath Cycling Road for a bit yesterday… he briefly considered exploring the caves at the back of it, but thought better of it when he felt a weird… presence. He wasn’t sure of how to describe it, really. It was like… like something was weighing down on him. If he could feel it from outside the cave, even if it was faint, he figured it must be really powerful. Not something he really wanted to risk with an egg he had to protect.

Of course, the egg had hatched into Togepi once he came out from beneath the underpass, but even then he didn’t feel safe taking a newly hatched teammate into a place like that. The stretch of Mt. Coronet that led from route 207 to route 208 was at least somewhat well travelled and comparatively safe.

It was probably extra safe since that weirdo Cyrus had been in there, scaring off all the wild Pokemon. He didn’t have any proof, but he was convinced that his encounter rate had been lower because of the man! All his stupid ranting and raving about a “weak human spirit” and how “strife has spread”... he could complain about this “deplorable state of affairs” all he wanted, so long as he did it away from Lucas!

Grumbling, Lucas finished penciling in the changes and shoved his Journal back in his bag, vowing that he would eventually organize it…. Probably.

Looking up, he noticed a large sign that he assumed was for Amity Square. Hopefully this place was-

“Lucas! Wait a moment!” someone called out to him.

He turned around, wondering who in the world had actually picked up his name. It’s not like he was giving it out, so maybe Barry had shared it with someone?

Oh. Maybe he was the one to give it out. The green haired guy and his… not Pikachu. He hadn’t been able to find it later when he checked his Pokedex, so he was still at a loss for what exactly it was.

Hmm. If this guy had a rare Pokemon like that…. Maybe he had some tips for catching Ralts!