Chapter Text
"On a Sunday afternoon, a child was walking in a tall grass patch trying to catch a Dunsparce with their butterfly net, only for them to be mauled to death by a Houndoom when it suddenly leaped out at the child, ripping out their-"
Dawn quickly changed the channel with a frightened look on her face. She was covered in her fluffy, comfortable sheet, protecting herself from the room's chill.
Wildies sure are dangerous. I don't wanna mess with them. Anyway...
Surfing through different networks almost got boring for her, only when she saw Professor Rowan's face where she stopped and turned up the volume.
It was about Professor Rowan's return from Kanto! Which delighted the blunette as she was grinning from ear to ear.
I can’t believe it! He’s finally returning. Which means I can get my very first Pokémon!
The young teen was ecstatic beyond repair. She narrowed her eyes, leaning forward a bit to take a good look at the professor’s stern face. Huh, not much of a smiler, aren’t you?
As she sat back, the door burst wide open. It was Barry Masuda, her best friend from childhood.
“Barry?! What are you-” The blond began to flail his arms wildly.
“Gah! Dawn! Haven’t you heard? Professor Rowan’s back!!”
The girl shook her head. “I know, you loudmouth! I’m on the channel right now, jeez!”
Barry ran to his relaxed, yet tense friend and shook her by the shoulders. “You know what this means, right? That means we can get our-”
“-very own starters and become trainers so that one of us can become champion. I know that, Barry. Holy Miltank, Barry, you can be so…”
She stared at the grinning boy who was jumping for joy.
It was an odd, yet adorable sight.
“...excitable and noisy. No wonder your mom would kick you out so early in the morning.”
Barry held his chest as if he got shot. “Dawn! How could you?! I was about to head to Sandgem to see if he was there…but some random guy came by and told me that I had to wait…ugh!”
He plopped his defeated self on her bed's edge.
"Dude, you're so desperate. You went right before they could even say he's coming back from Kanto, huh?" The blunette chuckled.
Typical Barry.
The blond quickly changed his expression, shaking his head. "No worries!"
He stood up, faced the cozy Dawn, and said, “Let’s not defeat ourselves. In the meantime, you wanna go down to Lake Verity?"
The girl blinked gradually. "Huh?"
“Ugh, you know the lake we used to play by when we were younger? The one where people said had a ‘legendary Pokémon’ in it? C’mon, Dawn! You should know what I’m talking about!”
When she began to rub her chin, he crossed his arms. "If you don't, I'm fining you 2000 Pokédollars!"
She busted into laughter. "Of course I do! I was playing with you! So, you wanna go there and kill some time? Maybe see if the myth is true; if there's a legendary living underneath it?"
"Ah...you know me so well." A dreamy look graced his face.
"If we had our Pokémon and Pokéballs, I'd catch it first though." Dawn felt proud of herself.
"What?! No! Over my handsome, dead body!"
"Ewww, gross, Barry!"
"Welp! Race ya there, Dawn!" The energetic boy bolted out of her bedroom as she was moving from her bed.
She shook her head, wondering if that boy drank too much caffeine.
Dawn walked towards the night table where all her Pokémon figurines and stuffed toys were placed. She smiled as she saw a picture frame of her and Barry as toddlers, grinning with no care in the world.
She couldn’t help but smile. Never change, Barry.
After a while, she went down in her winter gear and let her mother know that she was going to Lake Verity.
Placing the knife on the counter, Johanna smiled. "Be careful, sweetheart!"
“I will!” As she opened the door, Johanna frowned and called to her, which prompted her daughter to stop.
“Mom?”
“Dawn…” Her face grew worried. “There are dangerous Pokémon out there. I want you to be careful, okay? You and Barry.”
The girl faced the snowy outdoors. “Okay.” She bit her lips upon remembering the news report.
“I’ll be safe. I promise.” Dawn stared at Johanna with a determined, yet serious look on her face.
She closed the door behind her.
After greeting her fellow Twinleaf Town residents, she saw an older brunette coming her way as she moved to find her caffeine-filled friend.
“Dawnie!”
"Oh, hey, Mrs. Masuda." The wannabe trainer smiled awkwardly.
"Evening! I'm just wondering: where's that son of mine? He just up and went! Babbling nonsense on how Professor Rowan is making his return from Kanto soon."
Dawn rolled her grey eyes. That's Barry for you.
"Don't worry, he's gone to Lake Verity for us to kill some time until Professor Rowan arrives in Sandgem."
Mrs. Masuda nodded. "Oh, that boy! Just like his father. Says one thing before he up and goes!"
Dawn darted her eyes around, feeling more awkward. "Uh, right. I'll let Barry know about you."
"Thank you. And be safe, both of you!"
Dawn nodded affirmatively and ran off grinning. I can't wait to become Sinnoh’s champion!
—
Lucas forgot how cold it could be in Sinnoh during winter, but at least he was wearing appropriate clothes.
He opened the lab's doors and as soon as he did, he was welcomed back by Rowan's many assistants.
"Lucas!" His father ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"D- Dad! Wh-"
The man broke the embrace and held his son's face. "How was Kanto? Were the people nice? Was Professor Oak nice? Was the winter there extremely chilly? You wore your winter gear every day, right? Are you-"
"Dad! Stop bombarding me with questions!"
His father backed off and nervously fixed the glasses on his face. "I'm sorry..."
Lucas felt bad. "No, no, it's okay, Dad. I get it. It was all fine, okay? Kanto wasn't so bad. The people were amazingly nice and so was their food. And so was Professor Oak! I've learned so much there!"
He gave a reassuring smile. "It was awesome."
The man fixed his lab coat. "Ah, that's great. I'm glad you had a great time, Lucas."
He looked down at the briefcase his son was holding. "Hey, that's Professor Rowan's. Want me to put it down so you can greet your sister and grandpa? They missed you."
Lucas nodded. "Plus, the journey back was so tiring! Despite the atmosphere, I felt kinda homesick."
He grinned while stretching his arms. "It's good to be back!"
His bespectacled father smiled. "Glad to hear that you missed home. But it's okay. It's not like you're going to leave again, right? Professor Rowan is not going to leave again for now once he comes back."
The boy let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah..."
Lucas shifted his feet. He didn’t have the heart to tell his father about leaving to complete the Pokédex.
Professor Rowan…
As his father went to place the briefcase on the table, Lucas made his way outside the lab. He loved the fact that snow was falling.
Hope you arrive soon, Professor Rowan.
Meanwhile, Dawn had finally reached the entrance of Lake Verity. She held her knees, panting and gasping for air.
“Man, you’re too slow! I got here way before you could."
Dawn rolled her eyes, giggling. "Tell me something I don't know, blondie. Plus, we all know how fast you are. Might as well become a track star."
Barry gave a confident smile. "Might as well be."
"Anyway, let's go to the lake now."
"No!" He began whining. "Feed my ego more before I fine you 10, 000 Pokédollars!"
Dawn shook her head as she pats on her friend's back.
Getting through the annoying bushes was one thing. Stumbling upon a blue-haired man mumbling stuff to himself while staring down the waters of Lake Verity was another.
"The hell?" Barry whispered. "Who's that guy? He's just... mumbling to himself?"
Dawn stood there just as confused.
"The flowing time, the expanding space; I will make it all mine one day. Cyrus is my name, beast of the lake. Remember it. Until then, sleep while you can, legendary pokémon of the lake bed." He spun on his heel and saw the two teenagers staring at him as if he just came out of the loony bin.
The man wasted no time. He walked briskly, telling the adolescents to move out of his way with an icy cold voice that was fitting for the weather.
When they made a path for him, the man went through.
The duo glanced at each other. "The hell's that about?"
"Doesn't matter. The crazy dude's gone so we have the lake all to ourselves!"
Barry nodded. "Let's go!"
The night fell on them yet they didn't mind because the fun was still not over.
Lying on the grass and looking at the starry sky, Barry suddenly asked, "Why do you want to become a Pokémon champion?"
Dawn rolled on her side. "Huh?"
"You want to be a champion, right? So I'm just asking why? A lot of kids have their reasons. You have yours."
"Ah, well, I just want all the fame and the glory. Y'know how much money champions make, right? A ton! And just like you, Barry, I love money!"
They both laughed aloud, causing the small Starlies to fly away.
As he wiped away his tear, Barry shook his head. "You crack me up, Dawn. But is that the only reason why? Money? Getting rich is nice but…is that all there is to it?"
She bobbed her head. "I don't have that deep of a reason. I just wanna be like Cynthia. That’s that!” Her eyes stared at the starry sky with joy.
Be like Cynthia, huh? The blond mused as he looked at his friend.
"What about you, Barry? Never really got to hear why you'd want to become a champion."
The boy closed his orange eyes. "You want to know?"
"Duh! That's why I asked, you clumsy Zubat!"
The boy chuckled. "My goal is to surpass my dad."
He turned around, his back facing Dawn. "I want to prove that I can become stronger than him and I'll show that by becoming a champion myself. I'll show him — and even the whole world! — that I'm a mighty Entei, or more so!"
Dawn sat up. "Barry...your back was turned to me so I couldn't even hear a thing. What, you expected me to strain my ears just to hear what you were saying? Don't be rude."
"DAWN, ARE YOU SERIOUS??" He began hitting her.
"BARRY, BARRY, I WAS JOKING! HAHAHA! I HEARD YOU!"
Once they calmed down, Dawn sighed, patting her friend on the back. "But is it warranted? Do you need to prove to your dad that you're strong? You're already a strong-minded person, Barry. Hell, your dad's not a bad person. I don't think...he thinks you're weak."
Barry tilted his head from side to side. "You're wrong; he did. He doesn't hate me; I don't hate him, but I am disappointed that he thinks I'm just a weak crybaby who's unable to pass him in strength and vigor."
He sat up and held his knees to his chest. "He'd laugh at me every single time I'd tell him that I want to become a champion someday. Someone who’d surpass him. I want to prove that to my dad, Dawn."
The girl was stunned. Palmer's so nice though. But even nice people can be sucky.
His reason is much more personal than mine.
Putting his hand on her shoulder, she was drying out of her thoughts.
"I'm glad we can be serious about our rivalry this time around, Dawn. Everything we did was a competition!"
Dawn scratched behind her head, letting out an awkward laugh. "I wouldn't say everything, y'know."
"But this time around, we can fight to see who'll become champion first!"
The blunette gave a determined look. "Yeah! Right on, Barry!"
Immediately cutting them short was the cry of a Pokémon. Was it the legendary itself?
"Wait...Barry, do you hear that?"
"Yeah, I do." They looked around, perplexed and clueless.
"Could it be that legendary?!" Barry began jumping for joy.
"I wanna catch it!" Dawn raised her hand in a fist until she forgot one thing. “Wait…”
"WE DON'T HAVE POKÉMON!" They both yelled at each other.
The teenagers began to briskly walk away from the lake. Barry asked, "Professor Rowan would be at his lab by now, yeah? I mean, he has to be."
Dawn agreed. "Hope so."
As they continued, Barry then suddenly said, "Race you to Route 201!"
"BARRY!"
The duo raced each other to the beginning point of the route. Once they arrived, Dawn was panting with Barry giving the most smug smile of all time.
"That's cheating! You're a fast...runner!"
"Pah! You're just too slow, Dawn. Too slow." He got up to her face as she laughed, slapping him away.
"Right! Now we shall race each other to his lab in Sandgem Town!"
Dawn shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I swear, Barry, is everything a race to you?"
The blond gave a mighty laugh. "C'mon, one more please!"
The goo-goo eyes made the girl sick to her stomach. "Ew, okay! It better be the last one, dammit."
"Yay!"
"Ready, set, go!"
They ran to their heart's content, although Barry was passing out Dawn by a mile. And she wasn't having it.
No, I can't lose to this guy again.
Running through the tall grass was sort of difficult, but Dawn was not going to let Barry win.
Not now, not ever.
She started accelerating, much to her friend’s- no, rival's surprise.
"WOOHOOO! I'VE FINALLY SURPASSED BARRY IN A RACE!!"
He began to grin when she stopped to celebrate. "Okay, okay, Dawn. That's cool and all but don't forget we got a...lab...to go...um, Dawn...you should look behind you."
When she calmed down, she heard the soft cry of a pokémon which prompted her to slowly turn around.
It was a Kricketot!
One thing, Dawn: Never go into tall grass without Pokémon!
"Shit. I'm such an idiot," Dawn whispered harshly.
The Pokémon looked at the duo curiously, wondering what they'd do momentarily.
"Dawn, let's just...safely walk around it. But then again, it should be harmless. Right?"
He was hoping that was the case, but he saw Dawn frozen in her place. He tried to whisper loud enough to call her but she was frozen in fear.
Dawn's lips quivered, struggling to stand and watch it be confused. She jumped when she felt Barry’s little touch on her shoulder. “Y- yeah, we can ignore it.”
They hung on to each other as they gradually moved around the idle Kricketot.
The kids sighed in contentedness, thinking that everything is going to be all right.
Then all of a sudden, a wild Bidoof scampered toward the duo. It hopped over Dawn’s head, stealing her baby pink beanie.
Dawn was shocked and turned on her heels, prompting Barry to scream out her name.
That idiot! He began to give chase.
“Hey! You stupid Pokémon! Give back my beanie!” She hoped she could catch it before they could reach directly in front of the Kricketot.
The Bidoof used Tail Whip on the cricket-like Pokémon, sending it back by a bit. Dawn stopped, sliding onto her feet. Which caused her to fall face-first into the grass.
Barry reached her and tried to help her on her feet. What they had come to realize was that the Bidoof was constantly tackling the Kricketot, which was storing energy.
“We gotta go, Dawn!”
“What’s it doing?!”
There was fear in his eyes. “I don’t know. Whatever it’s doing, it’s not good. And we’re too close.”
One more tackle and there was an explosion. The Kricketot used Bide, and it was very effective.
While Barry yelped as he got knocked backward, Dawn got thrown into a tree which caused her to shake violently upon impact.
The Bidoof weakly fled the scene alongside the Kricketot.
When Barry came to, he felt blood running down his face. His head was bleeding.
He winced as he slowly got up. What…the hell was that?
The blond looked around worriedly for Dawn until he heard her wailing in pain. “Dawn!”
As he knelt beside her, she screamed louder. Dawn wasn’t saying anything coherent.
Barry tried to calm her down. “Hey, it’s okay! They’re gone. C-can you stand?”
She violently shook her head, crying, “They’re…coming.”
The boy grew confused, awkwardly laughing. “Who…? Dawn, what are you-”
The girl was moving in and out of consciousness. Barry began to panic, calling out for assistance.
Her vision was off. Weird symbols, weird voices, and weird figures. Her vision became blurry.
Feeling a nudge on his arm, the crying boy glanced down at a Pokémon. It was a Buneary!
While Dawn's vision was blurry and her hearing going in and out, she could tell it was Professor Rowan yelling at Barry with the voice coming from another person; a younger voice from a boy with blue hair and a hat on his head.
She knew how screwed she and Barry were. Including her legs and her mental state.
—
"What were you two doing in the tall grass without Pokémon?! Are you insane?!"
They were in Dawn's house with Professor Rowan sitting on the couch across from Barry and Johanna, while Lucas was standing awkwardly at the door.
"We were trying to reach your lab, Professor Rowan! We just..." The blond laid back on the couch. "...wanted to receive our first Pokémon." He winced, touching his bandaged forehead.
The old man slowly turned his head to a sympathetic Lucas, who was staring at Barry. The boy then noticed that the professor was gazing at him, and he then nodded.
"Ah, so you're one of those foolhardy, wannabe trainers?" He pinched his nose bridge, sighing so hard it made both Lucas and Barry flinch.
"Professor," Johanna began, "I remember telling Dawn that she shouldn't go into tall grass without Pokémon to protect her. That she should be careful. I-"
"Teens are known to be extremely reckless. I wouldn't fault you; it was a warning. Now, tell me, Barry. What exactly happened."
The blond told him everything that happened, their stupidity stunning the professor and making Lucas feel uncomfortable as to whether he should feel the same way or be sympathetic.
Opening her bedroom door, Dawn was in her wheelchair. Her eyes were glassy and filled with despair.
Johanna went to help her down, placing her next to the couch. The Pokémon Professor sighed once again, but this time, it was more of a groan.
Bolting up, Barry declared, "Professor, it was my fault why Dawn got hurt. I was the one who ran into the grass first, wanting to race and everything. But I completely forgot about the rule everyone should know."
The blond turned to Dawn, tears filling his eyes. "I'm sorry, Dawn."
The wheelchair-bound girl was shaking her head. "Barry... I was the one who got myself hurt. You were trying to stop me. I- I got myself hurt. It's my fault, Barry!"
They began to argue whose fault it was. Johanna was more or less amused, Lucas felt the same while Professor Rowan wasn't having it.
Is that how it feels like to have an extremely close, long-time friend? Argue over anything? Lucas thought fondly, breaking out into a smile.
Startling the poor boy out of his joyful musings, Rowan told them that was enough.
"It was both of your faults! You could’ve stayed out of the fight and left your beanie alone. Ran away while you could. That was the least you could’ve done."
The man stood from his seating. "Now look at that, you're in a wheelchair. Your legs are rendered useless because of your idiotic decisions!"
Barry leaned back with Dawn putting her fingers on her forehead.
"How can any of you want to become trainers when you allowed that to happen? You're not worthy of becoming trainers at all!"
Both teens widened their eyes, yet they never said a word.
Lucas tightened his lips. While the scolding was very much needed and well-deserved, he thought that was too harsh.
Johanna was rubbing both Dawn and Barry's knuckles, soothing them.
Rowan rubbed his forehead, telling Lucas that they needed to go as he was tired.
The man told Johanna that she didn't need to apologize on their behalf as it wasn't her fault.
As the professor and his apprentice left, Dawn sobbed into her hands with Johanna comforting her while Barry sat, and stared at the wall.
Looks like...our dreams got crushed.
—
Dawn was supposed to be asleep, but she just couldn’t.
Papers were dashed across the room, all with drawings of Unown on them. Every one of them.
Her hair was disheveled. Scratches sat on her arms. The blunette was in her wheelchair, staring at the black screen of her TV.
The glow of red eyes peered at her through the screen.
Dawn didn’t move a muscle, but she smiled, despite not knowing what was the being stalking her in the night.