Chapter 12

Knock, Knock, knock.

"Come in," Saturn called calmly without looking up from the two glasses of bourbon he was pouring, having anticipated a certain courier's arrival ahead of time. Sure enough, Lucas pushed the door open and stepped into the Commander's office.

"Commander Saturn, sir, I just stopped by to—" the young man began, but Saturn held up a hand to silence him, still yet to look up from the task of pouring drinks. A brief moment later, the blue-haired boss set the bottle aside and moved one of the glasses to the far side of the desk, closer to Lucas, who sat down and picked it up immediately, downing its amber contents in one gulp.

"I wouldn't drink it that fast myself, but to each his own," Saturn said with a knowing smirk. The events that had transpired a few nights ago had no doubt left Lucas in need of a good stiff drink, but that wasn't why Lucas had been so quick to consume the alcohol in this instance. No, he wanted to get the pleasantries out of the way quick, for he had something very important to say; perhaps the most important thing he had decided upon saying in a long time.

"I'll probably regret guzzling that once it hits my system," Lucas gasped as he set the glass down before him. "Now, Commander Saturn, sir—"

"Just Saturn will suffice, Lucas. No need to be so formal all the time."

"Sir, please, I need to tell you something!" Lucas insisted, a faint hint of something unusual in his tone. Was it aggression? No, it was… assertiveness, and this immediately had the Commander intrigued. Thus, he said nothing, and waited for the boy to proceed. Lucas sighed. "Look, Saturn," he began more calmly, biting his lip as he thought carefully about how to phrase his next words, "Y-You once told me that I could speak my mind in your presence, and that's exactly what I must do now. You were… You were right about me, Saturn, about everything. Except for the part about me having a fling with Zinnia, that is!" he babbled nervously, feeling his cheeks redden slightly at the thought. "I wanna stress that she and I… are not…" He bit his lip again. Saturn chuckled knowingly.

"I will not press the matter any further should doing so make you uncomfortable," the Commander told him. Rest assured, I do not judge either way."

"Right, well… Good," Lucas said, shifting uncomfortably on his seat. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, as I said, you were right about me. I was… No, I am regretful of what might have been if I had walked a different path in the years after I was stripped of my title of Champion. I didn't want to settle into some run-of-the-mill job in some dull, stoic company. Uh, no offence, sir," he added awkwardly.

"None taken."

"Th-That's why I came to see you this morning, sir. I wanted to… thank you for having me as your courier for these past few years, but…" Lucas bit his lip again, his nerves beginning to fail him. "Commander Saturn, sir, I will always appreciate what you did for me by taking me on as a Team Galactic employee, but I…" He trailed off, reaching for a Pokéball at his waist. "This is what defines me, sir," he said, holding the red and white ball up. "This is what I'm meant to be, what I want to be. I may have been a courier for the past few years, but in my heart of hearts, no matter what hardships I face, no matter how much self-doubt I might let creep into my mind… I will always, always, be a Pokémon Trainer at heart."

"…I see," Saturn said after what seemed like an immensely long pause. The Commander took a sip from his glass of bourbon before continuing, "You wish to resign as a Team Galactic employee to pursue your own goals."

"If that's alright with you, sir," Lucas managed in a timid mumble, averting his eyes awkwardly.

Saturn let out an exasperated sigh, setting his glass down before leaping to his feet quite suddenly, causing Lucas to do the same in panic. "It is well within every employee's right to resign from employment at any given workplace. Such is the law, Lucas," the Commander said firmly. "It's not a matter of it being alright with me - it's a matter of it being alright with you. Lucas, look at me. Look at me!" he snapped sharply, slamming his palms down on the desk, causing the boy to gasp before hurriedly fixing a pair of terrified eyes on his boss. "You need to stop cowering in my presence! You need to stand up straight, look me square in the eye and tell me with confidence that this is truly what you want!"

The angered Saturn exhaled deeply, taking a seat and picking up his glass of bourbon, downing the contents in one gulp and tossing the empty glass over his shoulder where it smashed on the floor.

"You said it yourself, Lucas," the Commander said more calmly as Lucas warily took a seat of his own, "No matter how much self-doubt might creep into your mind, you won't let it stand in the way of who you truly are. Lucas, I want you to stand up once more and tell me once and for all, speaking from your heart, are you a courier… or are you a Pokémon Trainer? Before you do," he aded sharply as Lucas started to get up, "Know that you are not doing so to assure me, but to assure yourself. Understand?"

Lucas nodded. He then took a deep breath, stood up abruptly, looked Saturn straight in the eye and spoke:

"Saturn, being a Pokémon Trainer is everything to me, and my greatest regret above all others is not coming to terms with that before today. That said, I am handing in my resignation right this minute. That is to say, effective immediately, I, Lucas, no longer work for Team Galactic. Thank you for your time, and now, I must bid you farewell." On that note, he turned to leave.

"Ha ha ha! You see, Lucas? You see how easy that was?" Saturn called after him in an uncharacteristically jovial tone.

Lucas stopped. "Hey... that was easy!" he said, turning around to smile proudly at the Commander.

"And why wouldn't it be? You've had the charisma needed to properly assert yourself all this time!" Saturn told him. "You walked in here with the intent of making a difference, just as you did the other night when Mars was scheming after hours! You did it because you believed you could, and as your former boss, I want you to keep that up going forward! It will get you far, Lucas. Mark my words."

"Well, here's hoping, sir!" Lucas said with an awkward chuckle.

"Saturn, not sir. I do not like my friends to address me so formally."

Lucas stared at him in disbelief. "I'm sorry, did you say friend?"

"Indeed. Do you think I would offer a drink to just anyone who might happen to come in here? Do you think I go around helping everyone to find their inner confidence? Do you think I would've appointed you as a courier in the first place if I didn't trust you? You have always intrigued me, Lucas, from the moment we first met," Saturn told him. "Back then, as we battled, my Toxicroak against your Infernape, I was intrigued by how you stared at me so defiantly, with such determination in your eyes. You knew that Team Galactic was in the wrong and you were more than ready to stand up for what you believed was right. Even when you showed up here for your job interview, I knew that despite how far you saw yourself to have fallen, your confidence and courage were still there deep down. You just needed people like me and Zinnia to remind you of that. To remind you... of what you already knew at heart, and in time, I began to see you as I have always seen Mars. That is to say, capable and brimming with potential. I began to think of you as my unofficial protégé, and in time, I thought of you as a friend. You may not have realised it, but I think you gradually began to feel the same. You offered me support when I was choking on hot coffee. You remained steadfast even as 'Chrysalis' was determined to undermine you in my eyes. You risked getting mauled by a Purugly to bring me information. I think it's fair to say that you and I have grown on one another, Lucas."

Lucas didn't know what to say to that. It all made sense, but it was quite a lot to take in. Thus, he said the only thing he could think of: "May I go now, Saturn?"

"In a moment, Lucas. First, I'd like to ask a small favour of you as your friend, if I may be so bold."

"...I'm all ears."

Saturn reached into a compartment of his desk and pulled out a metallic box of dark grey, the Team Galactic logo branded on it. "As a Pokémon Trainer, you will no doubt be doing your fair share of travelling. I have an acquaintance in Snowpoint City who has been expecting this package from me for sometime now. If you would be willing to deliver this in my stead, I'll see if I can't slip a bonus in your final pay check. Think of it as your last task as the best courier Team Galactic has had in over a decade."

Lucas looked thoughtful. "Let me guess - the contents of that package are for your acquaintance's eyes only, right?"

"You're learning, Lucas," Saturn said with a smile as he pushed the metallic box across the surface of the desk. "Gradually, but you're learning."

"I guess I could spare the time... for a friend," Lucas said as he scooped up the package, returning the Commander's smile. "Onward to a new universe!" he said with a grin, reciting the Team Galactic creed, saluting his former boss.

"Well said, Lucas. Now please, move along," Saturn told him before turning his attention to a stack of paper documents. "I have much paperwork to go through."

"Wea! Vile! Wea! Vile!"

The Sharp Claw Pokémon was caught up in a friendly sparring match with Maylene's Lucario in the middle of the Veilstone Gym's main training area. The Aura Pokémon had used Bone Rush to conjure a large bone staff, which it was using to block and parry many of the Dark/Ice type's slashes and swipes. They stopped as Maylene walked in from the back room.

The Gym Leader was wearing a lime green tank top, a dark blue skirt and lengthy feminine boots of bright orange that stretched almost up to her knees, an insignia of the Cobble Badge depicted on the sides of said boots. She had spiked her pink hair up with gel in a pseudo-mohawk and appeared to be wearing a faint layer of lipgloss. A bright yellow sweatband adorned her head, a little insignia of a Pikachu's face right in the centre, emblazoned proudly on her forehead. A fresh band-aid adorned her nose, this one red and white; a Pokéball theme. Weavile took one look at her and burst out laughing. Even Lucario had to turn away to hide an amused smirk at the sight of all those mismatched colours on Maylene's outfit, her clumsy attempt to dress for her date with Candice adorably tragic.

Maylene scowled at the two Pokémon, her cheeks reddening in humiliation. "Sh-Shut up!" she spluttered angrily. "I did the best I could with what I had to work with!"

"Whoa, that's quite the summer get-up you've got going there," Lucas said knowingly as he walked into the room, mercifully having the decency not to laugh. "Sure you don't wanna borrow my clothes?"

Weavile immediately shut up when it saw what Lucas was wearing. With a black top with short sleeves of white, blue jeans, a yellow backpack and red sneakers, hat and of course the scarf, he looked the splitting image of his younger self. He even had the smile.

The smile that Weavile had waited far too long to see again.

"Weavile!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon exclaimed, thrusting its right claw into the air in utmost approval.

"Weavile, go get that jar of Tamato berry relish out of the fridge. We're not leaving without it," Lucas told his Pokémon as he walked past, dialling some commands into the blue Pokétch he now wore on his left wrist.

"W-Weavile?" Weavile stammered, hardly daring to believe it, the Pokémon's eyes wide.

"What, you think I clipped all these Pokéballs to my belt for the fashion statement? Come on, we gotta hit the road while the weather's good!" the young man said enthusiastically, breaking out into a huge grin, with said grin fading abruptly to be replaced with a pained expression and a loud exclamation to match as Weavile leapt at him, knocking the boy to the floor in an overjoyed hug. Lucas laughed at the Dark/Ice type's display of emotion, tussling the fur on the back of the Pokémon's head. "Yeah, I know, it's been a while, and I know I've got my work cut out for me, bringing five other Pokémon out of retirement on top of dealing with an overenthusiastic Weavile, but hey, what's an adventure without a few challenges, right? Okay, you can let go now!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "No, seriously, your claws are digging into my… Yeah, that's better," he said as Weavile released him.

"A boy and his Pokémon. Quite a sight, huh, Lucario?" Maylene said as she walked over and placed an arm around her own Pokémon. Lucario let out a cough-like grunt and smiled, watching along with its Trainer as Lucas got to his feet, Weavile quickly moving to stand at the young man's side.

"Now, before anything else, we gotta make one stop for the night, and it's a big one," Lucas said, shifting the weight of his backpack as he spoke. He exhaled deeply. "I've been putting this off for a while, but… I think it's time."

Weavile, knowing what its master was getting at, put a comforting clawed appendage on the side of Lucas' leg.

"Thanks, buddy," Lucas said as he turned to glance at Maylene. "Maylene, thanks. For everything," he said sincerely. "Good luck with Candice. Give her my best." He started towards the double doors. "Oh, and one more thing," he added, stopping and turning to look back at her with a cheeky smile, "That headband is so you."

It was Maylene's turn to tackle Lucas to the floor with semi-serious fury. "I'll show you what's 'me'!" she declared, starting to vigorously tickle the boy's ribs. Lucas laughed, but it was more due to amusement at the Gym Leader's reaction than the tickling she was subjecting him to.

"Uh, Weavile? Little help, please?" Lucas said between chuckles.

"Vile," Weavile said nonchalantly, turning a blind eye to its master's plight, a sly smirk on the Sharp Claw Pokémon's face.

"Traitor!" Lucas called jokingly as Maylene continued to tickle him.

Twinleaf Town was peaceful as the sun set overhead, the wild Starly ceasing their warbling as they took roost for the evening. The only sound to break the blissful silence was someone knocking on the door of the southmost house.

Johanna opened the front door of her home, smiling when she saw who awaited on the doorstep. "Oh, hello, Dawn. Come on in," she said cheerfully.

The young woman who served as Professor Rowan's dedicated assistant removed her time-ravaged white beanie as she stepped inside, her flowing blue hair far longer than it had been in her youth, now reaching far down behind her at a length that would rival Champion Cynthia's. Her old black and pink top had long since been replaced by a white lab coat, a pair of blue-rimmed half-moon glasses resting on her nose. She wore professional-looking black jeans. All that remained to resemble her childhood attire was a pair of bright pink boots, albeit a larger and more stylish pair than those from her youth.

"Sorry to bother you, Johanna, but—" Dawn started.

"Dawn, dear, you could never bother me. It's always delightful to see you," Johanna assured her as she walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. "Cup of tea?"

"Please," Dawn said as she took a seat on the couch, careful not to sit on the Glameow that was curled up on the cushion. The Normal type Pokémon looked up at the visitor and mewed in greeting, prompting Dawn to scratch the feline behind the ears, smiling down at it.

A few short minutes later, Johanna came back into the living room with a drinks tray lined with two mugs of milky tea and several Shalour Sable shortbread biscuits. Dawn took one of the biscuits and dunked it in her tea, only for the snack to break in two, half of it falling into the hot liquid. She stared at it with visible irritation for a moment… and then she and Johanna both burst out laughing.

"Isn't that always the way?" Johanna asked, chortling. "Just when you're relaxed, your biscuit decides to go for a swim!"

Dawn set her mug down on the table, mirth still present on her face. "No need to worry - I like them soggy," she said, prompting another bout of laughter from both women.

"So, what brings you back to my humble abode, aside from the top quality biscuits?" Johanna asked half-jokingly as the pair settled down. "Did Professor Rowan send you round to check up on me? Bless him, he's a real sweetheart under that serious exterior."

"Actually, I just wanted to know if you've heard from… Well… I mean, I wouldn't bring it up at all, except that Barry's in my face about it every time he calls me. 'You tell Lucas that if he doesn't go home and visit his Mom, I'm gonna give him such a fine!'" Dawn declared, doing her best imitation of Barry's voice.

Johanna chuckled, taking a sip of her tea before responding. "Sounds like Barry alright. That boy's got his heart in the right place, but sometimes I think that mouth of his needs a little reining in. As it happens, your timing is almost impeccable, Dawn. I say almost because you actually just missed Lucas by a few minutes."

Dawn almost dropped her teacup in disbelieving shock. "He… He finally came home?!" She asked in amazement.

Johanna smiled knowingly. "Don't look so surprised, my dear. For all that's happened in the last few years, he's still my son, and my son is a good boy at heart," she stated without a hint of doubt. "And just between you and me, I knew that he wouldn't be able to stay away from his mother's home cooking forever. You should've seen his face when I put a bowl of his very favourite stew down in front of him. His eyes nearly fell out of his head!"

Dawn smiled at that. "So he told you why he spent so long away, then?" She asked.

"Oh, I know why he didn't come home for so long," Johanna assured her. "I always knew, He thought I didn't know, but I did. He made some mistakes and exiled himself from his home out of shame, feeling that he wasn't worthy of his own mother's love. Nonsense!" she cried, making Dawn jump slightly. "As if I could ever be ashamed of my only son, and I told him that when he was here earlier. I told him that no matter what happens, I will always love him, and he should never, ever be ashamed to show his handsome face around here, and if I may say so, he has become quite the handsome young man, and from what he told me about his life over the past handful of years, he's still single," she concluded, giving Dawn a playful nudge.

"Johanna!" Dawn exclaimed, her cheeks flushing bright red. Johanna laughed.

"I'm just teasing, dear!" she assured her guest. "Still, the young man who earns your hand in marriage will be one lucky lad, if you don't mind me saying so. And if it should somehow come down to a contest between Lucas and Barry, well…" Johanna raised and lowered her eyebrows playfully, "I think you can guess which side I'm rooting for."

"Johanna!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop!" Johanna said, laughing. "You know I only tease you three like this because you always made a good team. You aways had each others' backs growing up, and I know that regardless of whomever you all end up marrying, you'll all still be true friends far into the future, and between you and Barry, I can't imagine better friends for that boy of mine."

"Mm. I appreciate that, Johanna," Dawn told her, picking up a fresh biscuit and biting into it. She chewed with her mouth closed and swallowed before continuing. "So where is Lucas now?"

"Oh, he'll be back in a little while. He went over to Sandgem Town to pick up some bread and milk. If you want to wait—"

"Johanna, you couldn't throw me out of this house now that I know one of my best friends is back in the neighbourhood," Dawn stated boldly. There was an awkward pause before she let out a mad giggle. "Wow, that was blunt of me!" she exclaimed, grinning.

"Blunt? I'd say it was razor sharp!" Johanna responded. The pair laughed.

"It's so nice to sit down and chat like this," Dawn said, setting her teacup down, a little tea and some soggy biscuit pieces in the bottom of it.

"Isn't it just?" Johanna said, nodding in agreement. "How's Professor Rowan?"

"Remarkably active for someone who's confined to a wheelchair these days. That reminds me - his 70th birthday is next month. Any chance you'd like to—?"

"I'll be there with bells on," Johanna said proudly, and I'll talk with Barry's Mom to make sure that both of our respective boys get him a thoughtful present."

Dawn smiled. "Those boys really are quite a pair, aren't they? Lucas and Barry… Twinleaf Town is much too quiet without them."

"Too true," Johanna said, again nodding in agreement. "Sometimes I open the front door to go for a walk and instinctively take a hurried step back lest I should get trampled in the rush of those two unceremoniously charging in, dirt all over their faces and eager for a good home cooked meal." She chuckled. "Old habits die hard."

"Speaking of home cooked meals, biscuits are always a nice treat, Johanna, but I would honestly love to try some of your home cooked stew sometime. I remember once, Barry was talking to me about your cooking and he had the most spaced out, dreamy look on his face. He said that your cooking was second only to his own mother's, and I'm pretty sure that's the highest praise a feisty young boy can give."

"Well, cheers to that, "Johanna said, chuckling. "As it happens, I plan to get another pot of stew going shortly for when Lucas gets back. You're more than welcome to stay for dinner if you'd like."

Dawn smiled. "Johanna you're too good to Lucas, Barry and myself. You know that, right?"

"Speaking of Barry, see if you can get him on the phone. As long as I'm cooking for two of my favourite grown up kids…" She trailed off, smiling knowingly at Dawn.

"Again, you're too good to us, Johanna," Dawn said as she pulled out her PokéGear and flipped it open, soon locating Barry's name on her list of registered contacts.

End

And there it is, folks - my longest and most ambitious fanfic ever. What did you think? Was it zany enough for you? Sinnoh ten years into the future... If only we had that in the form of a game. Know what I'm saying? (Seriously, where is my DP remake, GameFreak?!)

I should mention that I do have plans for a sequel, but it might be a while before I get it started. Anyway, leave your thoughts in the reviews and I'll see you later. Remember, gotta catch 'em all!