Tap, tap, tap, Chimchar skids against the ground, the wall behind him and the Geodude right in front of him, lunging forward. Tap, tap, click! Chimchar leaps to dodge a boulder tackle, and plunges down with a critical Ember.

The Geodude goes down.

Chimchar runs over with a grin, and Luce high-fives him. It's getting easier to coordinate attacks, but all the Pokemon in the area have a type advantage against Chimchar, so it's quite tough to get going.

"Working hard, aren't ya?" the Hiker says with a hearty laugh.

He had caught Luce trying to head in and offered to follow, simply because an old soul like him was concerned for a newbie with his arm in a cast.

Luce talks slowly, especially with only a small Poketch writing pad to converse with, but they manage. He does get talked over a lot, though, but he's used to that much.

Luce gets through most of the Ravaged paths with the Hiker, who crushed boulders out of the way for him.

He figures it makes sense-- you need the Gym Badge to get past this point in the game, but realistically, any fighting type should be able to smash rocks, and the road should be clear for travels between towns.

"Oh crap! Dodge that, kid!"

Luce is ripped out of his thoughts to a Zubat trailing too close to him, and a gush of water shooting in their direction.

Thankfully, Water gun doesn't do much real damage to a human from afar, and Luce got off with just a slightly stinging drenched pant leg. 

The Zubat totters aside, evidently near fainting at this point.

Out from the rocks popped up a Psyduck, clambering across the stones with a sort of presence in its movements, the kind you never see in a Psyduck of all things. And it looks angry-- very annoyed.

(Maybe it's female. Female Pokemon always seemed more irritable... or wait, is that sexist?)

The Zubat is hiding behind him now, using him as a shield. Luce has half a mind to be annoyed that he's getting attacked because a Zubat is using him as a hiding post-- but he dismisses it in favour of approaching the Psyduck.

"Wa--" the Hiker speaks up, reaching for his Poke Balls, but Luce assures him that he'll be fine.

Upon closer inspection, the Psyduck was a little dizzy, a little scratched up. Evidently, the Zubat had disturbed her nap to begin with, and the Psyduck chased it over from one of the cavern ponds in retaliation.

Just like the Psyduck from last night, Luce realizes. Irritable and short-fused. 

Is she the same one?

Psyduck huffs, looking at Luce and seemingly recognizing Luce. She turns away almost in resignation, holding her head in a headache-- just like the night before.

Luce sits down, reaching for a Potion in his bag to heal the Zubat. The Zubat brrs and flutters, but smiles, spinning a circle of gratitude around Luce before leaving.

Luce then holds the Potion up, and gestures for the Psyduck to come forward.

The Psyduck almost glares at him, and Luce jolts, afraid of a retaliation-- but the Psyduck stomps angrily forward, sitting down with a huff, almost as if to make a statement about her headache.

Luce laughs as he sprays the Potion on the Psyduck, who hisses back in annoyance, but looks like she's doing better now.

Chimchar cheers out a greeting, and Psyduck stares at him before sighing with all of her shoulders.

-

They make it out of the Ravaged Paths, and the Hiker bids them goodbye to head back toward Jubilife.

'Lunch', Luce signs to Chimchar, and Chimchar, seeing the picnic mat, cheers in delight. It signs the word for Lunch over and over again, and Psyduck hasn't stopped glaring yet.

Wait.

Luce yelps as he spots the Psyduck-- she followed him?!

He thought she went back to the cave pond-- and why didn't the Hiker say anything about her?

Psyduck glared at him, as if challenging him to chase her away-- and Luce crumples. Sitting down, they share a meal of rice balls and tea, enjoying their lunch with one unexpected visitor.

(Oh, she's a doozy alright. Maybe Barry's an esper.)

Turns out, Chimchar can write, though his writing is about as legible as a child that just started kindergarten.

And a Pokemon's understanding of human language is about as coherent as a two-year-old's, where they can instinctively understand meanings but don't really construe words.

Which is a little tough, since Chimchar learning the alphabets aren't very useful without teaching him actual words. But oh well, he'll manage. Seeing a Chimchar start drawing in the sand is not something he thought he'd find peace watching. 

At some point, Psyduck had settled by Luce's side, snoozing lightly.

Chimchar kicks some sand as he runs, and Psyduck gets up immediately, adding a footprint to the beautiful smiley face on the ground. Chimchar gets angry, and they chase each other around.

Luce signs for Chimchar's name, and Chimchar obediently comes up to him.

Psyduck has her hands on her head, but he looks over, curious.

Luce looks at it-- and then reaches toward his bag, retrieving an empty Poke Ball from the pocket. Tilting his own head to the side-- he hopes the Psyduck knows what he means.

(Do you want to come with me?)

Psyduck squints, holding her head a little harder. Luce falters, but just as he moves to put the Poke Ball back into his bag, the Psyduck runs forward with a warcry-- and bobs her head right against the button.

Luce has never felt a Poke Ball rattle three times and click literally in his hand before, but it sure is a nerve wracking experience.

(And heck, this Pokemon agreed to come for the food, didn't she?)

Psyduck pops right back out, huffing in a sort of pride-- and Luce engulfs her in a one-armed hug. Well, he's not complaining about it at all. It's not a Psychic type Pokemon like he'd been advised to get, but it's a new companion nonetheless and he's happy enough.

-

After cleaning up the area, Luce heads toward the smell of flowers with Chimchar at his shoulder and Psyduck toddling by, distracted by every other flower on the road.

Communication with Psyduck is a little easier. She didn't have proper, five-fingered hands of any sort to learn signs, but she learned how to read them easily enough, and Chimchar was more than eager to supply his own explanations in their tongue.

Psyduck's interactions with Chimchar boiled down to Psyduck sleeping, waking up then glaring at the cheerful chimp, and Chimchar chasing after the golden duck after a prank of some sort.

Luce honestly doesn't know if they get along or they hate each other.

He sets the map down on the ground and finds out where he is-- just on the outskirts of Route 204, nearing Floaroma.

If this was the game, entry to this side of the road was impossible until you had the Oreburgh badge. So it's refreshing, yet slightly unsettling that he's come this far without a single Gym badge in his pocket.

(But, in hindsight, little people in this world have badges to begin with, so these limitations have little substance here. But does that mean he can go to Canalave now if he wanted to?)

Well, he'll think about it later.

Floaroma smells sweet, with the misty waft of pollen and honey mixed in with the petrichor that never seems to fade.

That, combined with the sway of the trees, the chitter of the Combee, and the rainbow-coloured flowers across the horizon-- it just made a breathtaking image, a blessed land cradled by the gratitude of nature.

He stops by the Pokemon Center to heal up, but it doesn't take long, so he rented a dorm and headed back out again.

He has his cast taken off and changed for a simpler sling and brace, because Chansey's healing does wonders for injuries in this day and age. He just needs to lay off of it for a while longer and it'll be peachy in no time.

[It's nice that the Center doesn't charge trainers for the facilities,] he writes in his Journal as they settle down by the flower fields, avoiding the flowers and sitting by the carefully crafted walkway between them.

Resting the notebook by his thigh and uncapping the pen with his teeth, it's fairly easy to write one-handed. He pauses when Chimchar tugs at his pants cuff, pointing suspiciously at some commotion in the distance.

A uniformed group stands menacingly across from each other, their faces stoical as a statue.

An aroma lady approaches them, frowning. "Would you let me pass?" she asks, polite even with her impatient tone.

The grunts have obviously been standing there for much too long, and the meadow's a popular tourist spot. Evidently, no one appreciates the herd of uniformed men.

To her embarrassment, the grunts don't even spare a glance at her. Her face grows red and she struts forward, "please clear the road, you're being a nuisance and I have business at--"

The grunt slaps her hand away fiercely, and she gasps, stepping back in surprise. A few people around them whirl around in alarm. The grunt retains their expressionless demeanor, and moves back into an at ease position.

Like a soldier on standby, Luce realizes. 

They're stoical unless you approach them, on display until someone goes through the boundary they aren't supposed to cross.

Luce recognizes this.

Mangaverse, he deems. These grunts were soldiers don't have a will of their own, and operate like a group of machine soldiers.

"You alright?" a Bug-Catcher approaches the Aroma Lady frantically. Clarifying that she was alright, he sizes up the grunt, "hey! What's with you guys? Don't you think you've been enough of a--"

And he's shoved to the ground in a similar, but much rougher manner. Then the grunt returns to their original position, like nothing had ever occurred.

"You punks are--!!"

"Enough!" a Hiker interrupts, "they're not worth it. Let's go."

The Bug-Catcher tuts, but he turns away to begrudgingly admit he's right.

"Geez, what's with those guys?" he mutters, dusting off his shoulder as he marches away from the scene, the rest of the crowd dissipating with him, "the meadow's for everyone! What makes them think they can just do this?"

"It's fine," the Aroma Lady sighs, "I'm sure they'll be gone eventually."

Luce stays by the shadow of the tree, watching them leave. The grunts, just as before, don't even move. They probably hadn't even acknowledged the disturbance.

[My first run-in with Team Galactic.]

He closes his Journal and puts it in his bag, returning Psyduck and Chimchar to their Poke Balls one after another. Chimchar whines at first, but after a sad look from Luce, he consents.

Luce didn't encounter Team Galactic at Jubilife like the game Lucas would have, so he starts here. Which means that ultimately, the events of the story will still run on whether he clears them in order or not.

He sighs. 

Guess he'll have to do the main character thing and go.

-

After asking around and then looking at a few signs along the way, he finds himself at Valley Windworks. Route 205 isn't blocked off by Galactic Grunts-- which means he can go straight ahead to Eterna if he needs to.

That is, if the girl didn't stop him.

"P-Please, anyone!" she runs right into him, crashing into his back in a way strangely reminiscent of Barry-- but she's too small to bowl him over. 

So Luce turns around to find the little girl, tears in her eyes, her breath shaking. He holds her by the shoulder, crouching down and trying to get her to calm down-- but his breath holds at the torn-up lab coat in her arms.

The edges are brimmed with some still-damp blood, the coat torn up with far too many holes to be worn ever again.

"What's going on?" a Youngster approaches them from a distance-- but he sucks in a sharp breath at the sight, "oh god. What happened?"

"M-My papa," she sobs, "he was working and-- and some people just barged in and--" she breaks out into wails, and Luce brings her to his chest in a one-armed hug, rubbing her back in a vain attempt to soothe her.

"Wait, your papa-- he got attacked? Where?"

His eyes meet the Youngster's, and Luce realizes that there's no way to communicate the situation well enough if she's this inconsolable.

He doesn't think her dad is dead. They need him to work the power plant, after all. But the blood means he's not exactly having a luxurious situation in there, either.

So Luce lifts the girl to his side with his good arm, standing up and balancing her carefully as she sniffles into his shoulder.

He doesn't have any other free hands to write, so he nudges his head in the direction of the power plant. The Youngster takes a moment, but he blows.

"Wait!" he says, "you're heading for it? That's reckless! We should go get some of the stronger trainers in the town--"

He's interrupted by the girl, who drops the lab coat and panics to pick it up again.

"Papa's coat!"

She struggles to grasp it, and Luce cringes as she jostles his bad arm harshly with her foot-- but the Youngster lunges for it, snagging it out of the air whilst helping to balance her at the same time.

"Careful," the Youngster says, "here, hand her to me."

Luce doesn't need another moment, because as soon as she's off her, the pain comes back tenfold and he holds his arm, trying hard to not let the pain show on his face.

(It'll fade, he reminds himself, it'll fade in a second.)

He gestures at Valley Windworks again, and raises his Poke Balls to assure the Youngster he's capable of defending himself if need be.

"Ah--" the Youngster realizes Luce's about to head out again. But this time, he scrunches up his face and nods. "Alright. I'll go find help from the town. You be careful, alright?"

It's not until he's run off toward the town that Luce feels the sinking feeling in his gut that he's just made a mistake.

Because despite everything-- he genuinely hasn't fought a Trainer before in this life.

He'll be fine, he'll be fine. 

He'll be fine, right? 

He lets Chimchar and Psyduck out of their Poke Balls and signs 'battle'. Chimchar nods. They have been listening in, after all, they know what's going on.

Luce takes a deep breath and hopes for the worst to not be so bad.

-

The grunt at the doorway is unlike the ones at the Floaroma Meadow. Luce approaches them-- and she turns to him sharply, eyes blown wide and fierce.

Luce flinches, but he steps forward instead of back, and the grunt moves. She sets her feet shoulder-width apart and draws her Poke Ball.

Luce swallows, and sets a hand on Chimchar, a clear signal.

Glameow comes out, and Chimchar leaps forward with a sharp Scratch across the feline's face. Chimchar doubles right back to Luce's shoulder, and Glameow hisses, bouncing back to the grunt's feet.

Glameow looks up, but the grunt doesn't look back. She simply points forward and commands, "hypnosis."

Luce reacts immediately, extending his arm outward. Chimchar instinctively runs to the hand, and Luce tosses Chimchar into the air right out of the range of the Hypnosis.

He falters when a wave of crushing exhaustion spills through him, but he raises his head and signs for Ember.

Chimchar doesn't need a timing guide this time. 

The Glameow is quickly taken out, and returns to its Poke Ball.

Luce holds his head, falling to his side right beside Psyduck. His eyelids weigh heavily, and he bites his lip at an attempt to stay awake.

In the last dredges of his hazy vision, he sees the grunt turn around, almost unfazed, before switching places with another grunt stationed inside, a male this time, who takes her place as the door guard.

His nap approximately lasts five seconds.

Psyduck sprays him with a Water Gun and Chimchar is at his chest, crying dramatically. The moment he wakes up, though, Chimchar cheers and jumps in glee, and Psyduck huffs, pointing annoyedly at the Windworks again.

He pats them on the head as he begins to think.

They're a little away from it now, just enough for the grunt to ignore him. But the new grunt is back at the door and another battle won't allow him to get through-- who knows how many of them are left inside to just go on an endless chain?

It's better to just sneak in, right?

So time for an unconventional solution.

"Back door," he suggests, signing slowly before spelling it out so both of the Pokemon can hopefully understand.

The back door of Valley Windworks seemed to be fenced off, leading to water-- but there's a clear hind entrance around the water mill with a little bridge leading in.

It's strange architecture, but who's he to judge?

Luce quietly trails over, crossing a little of Route 205 into the small path-- if his memory serves right, there's the ledge here that you can't climb in the games.

It only takes him two tries, an improvised escape rope being used as a climbing rope, and Chimchar's sturdy arms to get him up there. Maybe Psyduck helped by standing under him as a cushion, but aside from the temper tantrum as a result, they get through with no issues.

And then, he sees it.

A straight path into the back of Valley Windworks. There aren't any guards posed in this place, but there are a few patrolling the perimeters. Luce finds the door pretty easily.

Unfortunately for him, it's the very frustrating wheel-handle sort of door people usually put on high security safes, and you definitely need two large human hands to crank it open. 

(That is, if it's not locked to begin with.)

And Luce does not have two large human hands at the moment. Or two hands for the matter. Oh hey Chimchar has two hands, but they're not human. 

Psyduck in fact has a glare and a temper, but neither of those are helpful right now. 

"Ember," he suggests, and Chimchar spews an orb of fire that burns the knob for a second, then nothing happens. So Luce looks up and--

--and there's a window. Okay then.

Using the same rope and careful climbing as before, albeit with a lookout this time, they make it up to the balcony, where it's much easier for Chimchar to sear a hole through the glass to fit a hand through and unclip the latch.

It's simple from there.

There aren't many grunts stationed around the second floor. They're mostly in the perimeters, and the first floor. The second floor is laden with Pokemon instead.

He could send Chimchar around to scout the area, but there are only Glameow and Zubat around. A Chimchar would really stand out-- and Psyduck, even more so.

So he returns his Pokemon to their Balls and clips it at his belt with a soft shush. They look on skeptically, but ultimately did not burst out in defiance, so he guesses it's alright.

Luce likes sneaking around.

'Lucas' has always been quiet, so sneaking up on Barry and scaring him before he realizes has always been a hobby. 'Cece' had other things to worry about, and sometimes, hiding and skulking around was just a style of life, a situation they inevitably find themselves stuck in.

Well, that's beside the point.

He maneuvers around the Zubat, ducks around the Glameow-- and has to fight two of them, but Psyduck handles them easily, knowing well enough how to handle Zubat without any commands. Cave spite, perhaps?

They attract some attention with the noise, but there are plenty of blind spots within the machinery, and Luce dodges them enough to get through.

(Or at least, he thinks he does. He's quite sure a Glameow glanced his way a couple times, but ignored him. Maybe their instructions weren't exactly to get rid of intruders, or some of them just couldn't be bothered.)

Deep inside, he's anxious.

Zubat weren't known for their eyesight, but they're known for surveillance because they're, exactly that, bats. It's hard to think that only one of them's attacked him thus far.

They probably already know he's in here. Just like the Glameow, they're simply ignoring him for some reason.

(Is it because they don't see him as a threat?)

(Or because...)

"So..."

Luce freezes against the computer behind him-- and he doesn't dare look over.

"...find anything interesting yet, little boy?"

Luce looks up over his shoulder slowly, and his heart iced over in dread.

Mars sits on the desk behind him, considering her nails and inspecting a chipped point of polish. She looks over her shoulder and smiles, her tone deceptively honeyed despite her amusedly curled lips.

(...or because they've already reported back, so they don't need to do anything.)