Jubilife City.


    8:06 AM, Friday, 16 January 2044.


    <hr>


    Lucas shot up in a cold sweat.


    He had a slight headache gnawing on his skull, and his hands were trembling. He smacked his cheeks with both hands, shaking his head to jostle his brain in case he was still hallucinating and the room was about to be replaced by another cavern.


    In case something crazy, like being warped to a place with a raging waterfall or some other nonsense, was about to happen.


    He looked around the little room. It wasn''t anything special, just a bed, a mirror on the wall, and a little shower in the corner.


    “Not even a TV…” Lucas said, his eyes wandering around the new environment before coming to a halt as if they''d hit a wall.


    Next to his bed was a little wooden dresser with a lamp on top—and a sleek black parcel. The gift bag from the mart.


    Next to it lay a black envelope.


    He reached out and slid it off the dresser, cautiously opening it up in case it blew up in his face.


    It was a card.


    “You forgot this, Lucas Gray.”


    Lucas''s eyes widened. He’d tossed everything out of his bag in a frantic panic the night prior. This didn’t help alleviate any stress he’d been feeling; in fact, his gnawing headache seemed to be biting down harder on his skull.


    Why was he so stupid and careless? So useless? He couldn’t even take care of himself, much less his Pokémon—Azure had almost died! He had almost died at least six times in those woods, only to make it to the Capital and blackout with no money.


    Forget being a trainer; he wasn’t even a normally functioning person.


    Knock knock knock!


    The door slowly opened, a pink-haired woman peeking her face inside, which lit up with a gentle smile.


    “You’re awake, good…” the nurse said, slowly walking up to the bedside.


    “Yeah… I’m sorry, what happened?”


    “You had a seizure. But there’s no need to apologise, sweetie. It was out of your control, nothing you could do about it.”


    Lucas grimaced at her words. That was exactly the problem. She wasn’t doing anything to make it better in any way. Anyway…


    “Whose room is this?” he asked.


    The nurse smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.


    “Yours, dear.”


    “What? How? I don’t have—”


    “That’s okay, I paid for it.”


    “With your money?” Lucas almost jumped out of his bed.


    She nodded lightly.


    “I couldn’t just leave a helpless boy out in the street like that. It’s dangerous out at night. This is the Capital.”


    “You… really shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry, Miss!”


    “Aww, sweetie, you don’t have to apologise. It’s my job to help those in need. If someone’s sick or hurting, what kind of nurse would I be if I didn’t help?”


    Lucas hung his head down, unable to look her in the eyes. This had to stop. First Dawn, now the nurse—this had to stop. He couldn’t keep leaning on other people like this.


    “I’m sorry, Miss. Thank you…”


    “My name’s Glee. Nurse Glee. What’s your name, dear?”


    “Damn it—I’m so sorry, you don’t even know my name. I’m Lucas Gray from Twinleaf.”


    “Twinleaf? I hear that the town’s not that developed—don’t tell me you walked here through Route 202 at night, Lucas—I hear there’s a horrible Lux pride prowling around that The Rangers are still yet to get under control…”


    Lucas sheepishly stared back down into his blankets, the plaster on his face carrying more weight than before as Nurse Glee did the math in her head, adding a dash of “worst-case scenario” to draw a conclusion.


    He knew all about the Lux pride.


    “Sorry, Miss—I mean, Nurse Glee—do you know how I can get a League ID?”


    Her brows briefly furrowed in confusion before she answered.


    “From what I know, League IDs are only given to super important members of the PLA. Those are your Elite Four members, the Champions, the League President, and their various personnel. I heard Unova even gives PLA IDs to Gym Leaders, although they’re only auxiliary members at best…”


    “Sorry, I don’t know what auxiliary means…”


    “They don’t see them as ‘that important’ for the most part. For most regions, Gym Leaders have regular trainer IDs like everyone else before and after they become Leaders. So…” Glee hugged his hand with her own, “If you want all those neat privileges like free rooms and complimentary supplements for your babies, train hard and become a League member! Okay?”


    Oh, he heard her loud and clear. If he wanted to stop pleading for his life and being at the mercy of random strangers, he needed to become someone important.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Did you get that?


    If he wanted to stop being powerless, if he wanted to control situations, he needed to become somebody. Someone no one could ignore.


    But first, his mission.


    “Okay, Lucas. Your bag is at the front, though it’s quite empty—OH!” The nurse turned to the black parcel sitting on the dresser. “I’m sure you’ve seen this already, a man came in late at night and said to give this to you…”


    Lucas’s heart sprang into a mini frenzy as memories of the faceless man in a green suit from the market came flooding back.


    “Sorry, what was he wearing?” he asked.


    “Pardon?”


    “The man who gave you this parcel—was he wearing a green suit? What was he wearing?”


    “I’m not sure I follow, sweetie… What man?”


    Lucas’s breath was sucked out of his body when her words reached his ears. All the while, she stared at him with a confused, empathetic expression like he was out of his mind before getting up and leaving him with the words:


    “Come by to the front when you’re ready.”


    <hr>


    About five minutes later, Lucas was walking down a corridor lined with doors, wearing his black shirt with the black parcel in hand.


    20, 19, 18, 17—the doors were labelled until he got all the way down to 1 and turned the corner to—


    “WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!”


    “Sorry!”


    Following a blurry collision, he stumbled onto the polished peachy floor, rubbing his head.


    “Use your frickin’ eyes and look—LUCAS?!” Barry shouted in his usual missile-loud voice.


    “Barry? What are you—”


    “What the hell are you doing here, Lucas? I thought you’d hang back and cry with that old man, I didn’t think you’d be out here—you’re in Jubilife City!”


    “Well…” Lucas licked the floor with his eyes, his head drooping down like frozen snot from a cubchoo’s nose. “The Professor gave me a job to—”


    “Anyway, I was just about to leave. I had no idea you were sleeping here too. Where’d you get the money? Get this: my mum was freaking out, bro. Straight tweaking! She called Dad and told him I didn’t come back home last night—she was so pissed, but Dad was super proud and flew all the way out here from the Frontier to see me. Bro, check this!” Barry pulled out a wad of crisp dollars. “Fifty thousand, bro! That’s after I paid for my double room. You should’ve said something; we could’ve slept together—not in a gay way or anything, of course. Though, I’m sure you’d be into that with how sensitive you get!


    o(*￣▽￣*)o


    "Anyway, I’m heading out to the School. I bet they have a bunch of cool techniques I can teach Leonardo (that’s Turtwig’s new name, by the way) before I go get what’s mine in Oreburgh. That Roark guy’s so screwed; he has no idea!


    "Anyway, later, Lucas. Let’s see how far you can get out in the real world!”


    Like the yellow flash of lightning he was, Barry zipped out of there with no warning, just like he’d appeared.


    Lucas barely even got a word in.


    New town, but nothing new. He was used to it. But on the bright side, he had a sense of direction. A vague one, but still.


    The Pokémon School. That was definitely his best bet. With any luck, he’d find Dawn or the Professor—no. No. He was going to go there to learn more and get stronger so he could finally get a hold of himself.


    Finally get some semblance of strength. Of power.


    He turned the corner and found himself back in the main lobby. A few voices were echoing around. People had already filled up the waiting chairs and sofas, although it was only about eight in the morning when he looked at the clock.


    “Lucas, you’re not leaving without your stuff, are you?” Nurse Glee’s voice sweetly rang in his ears.


    “No, sorry—I mean… I was just checking out the time,” Lucas made his way to the counter. “Here I am…”


    “Good. Your stuff should be here right around…”


    Suddenly, Lucas felt a soft nudge against his shoulder and turned around to see—


    “A Blissey?! Woah!”


    Nurse Glee gleefully giggled.


    ☆: .?. o(≧▽≦)o .?.:☆


    At Lucas’s childish awe, his bright blue eyes widened in amazement as he fully ate up the eye candy that was the giant pink marshmallow blob holding his bag and clothes in a neat pile.


    “You’re so big! Much bigger in person,” he said, taking his stuff back. They smelled different. Better. “Thank you, Nurse Glee! You’re awesome! I was starting to get worried about my scarf since I didn’t see it in the room…”


    “Oh, it’s my pleasure, sweetie. That scarf must mean a lot to you.”


    “Yeah, my mum… gave it to me two years ago. It was Christmas…” his voice was semi-muffled.


    “Aww, she must be a nice lady. By the way, that blond boy—was he your friend? I thought I heard him talking to someone before I saw you walk in here.”


    “Yeah, Barry and I grew up together. It’s our first time here—my first time at least. He travels around with his family during the holidays. His dad takes him to all sorts of cool places; he visited his uncle in Alola last year—apparently, he owns Aether Paradise! That’s so unfair! Why don’t I… what?”


    Nurse Glee’s eyes were glued to his face, an intrigued expression on her face.


    “Sounds like you’d very much like to—”


    “No way! I’m fine. I’d never want to be like Barry. I’m fine with what I have!”


    …


    “I was gonna say you’d like to go on trips and see the world too…”


    She noticed Lucas’s face turn a tinge pink, as if he’d shown her something he wasn’t supposed to.


    “Right… Anyway, sorry for the trouble, Nurse Glee—and thank you so much for everything!”


    Embarrassed, Lucas ran out through the automatic sliding door and left the Pokécenter.


    It was fine. Besides, he couldn’t hang back while Barry was out there. Ahead of him. But it wasn’t like Barry had worked for anything, with his dad funding him and all. He was the real girly one for getting funded by Daddy. That sort of stuff was for sissies, Lucas bet his dad would agree.


    If...he was still around.


    That didn’t matter though. Lucas was gonna do it. Oh, he was gonna do it all right. All by himself, he’d become powerful. He’d become strong and respected. Yes, strong and in control of everything around him.


    He was gonna DO IT! (╬▔皿▔)╯


    The morning winter wind ran through his face, blowing his hair like a whistle. Trees planted by the pavement had their lightly snowed leaves tossed to and fro and all that stuff. If you looked closely, you’d see the sneaky silent green burmies and wormadams chilling in the trees, perfectly camouflaged. Flocks of starlies and chatots flapped their wings in the early blue sky as they passed by each other and chirped incessantly.


    The sunlight’s yellow rays were bleeding over the metropolis’s tall buildings, with some early morning runners doing what early morning runners did.


    Lucas wrapped his scarf around his neck, straightening his jacket.


    Time to head out.