Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 30: Lucas?

"Has he picked up yet?", Seijo asked as Ellie tried to call Lucas again. She let it play for a second, hoping for a response, but being met with silence. Ellie sighed and turned off her phone, saying back to Seijo.

"Still nothing."

She slipped her phone into her pocket, then walked over to a small seat and watched the Pokemon Centre doors, hoping he would come through any second. A few people did pass through, but it took about five minutes for one of them to be a familiar face. That being the person she had been trying to contact for what felt like aeons. Lucas held Torchic in his arms as he walked through the automatic doors with a gloom look on his face. He didn't even notice Ellie or Seijo sitting there until Ellie walked over and asked with concern,

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"

Lucas didn't answer right away. Ellie's eyes glanced from his face to Torchic, finding swirls deeply embedded in its eyes and asking again,

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it.", Lucas said bluntly as he brushed past Ellie, reaching Nurse Joy's desk and then tapping Torchic with its Pokeball. Then, he brought out Zorua's Pokeball, asking the Nurse Joy standing with a smile,

"Can I have these healed up for tomorrow, please?"

"Of course!", Nurse Joy responded jovially as she took the two Pokeballs and wandered into the back room. Lucas watched for a second then moved away from the counter, running his hand along the rough counter surface as he made his way to the stairwell. He took a few steps up the stairs when a shout from behind made him stop.

"Hey! You can't just leave me on that.", Ellie called out as Lucas turned around slightly to meet her gaze. She took a breath and said, "I'll ask again, what happened?"

"Roxanne beat me. Badly. Just give me some space for now.", Lucas said sharply as he continued to walk up the stairwell. Ellie watched him disappear up the flight of stairs and called out,

"Lucas?"

But no response came as Lucas had already far gone from the stairwell. Ellie found Seijo coming up behind her with his hands in his pockets, staring at where Lucas was previously.

"Should I go after him?", Ellie asked but Seijo quickly shook his head.

"No, let him get his thoughts together. He'll be easier to talk to after."

"Still, he seems off. Did he really lose that badly?"

"Well, if its got Lucas down that badly, then we better do some training for when you eventually face off against her."

"Right.", Ellie said as she followed Seijo into the back of the Pokemon Centre, where they practised for the next gym battle. But, she could never fully concentrate at any given moment. Her mind was still concentrated on Lucas even as she trained, and she made a note for herself to check on him in the morning after she had given him some time for his thoughts like Seijo said.

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The next day, Lucas walked down the stairs of the Pokemon Centre, after a long night of thinking over how badly the battle had gone for him. The image of Zorua falling from the sky and crashing down onto the jagged battlefield, Torchic being covered in a dozen boulders. Lucas had to claw his way through the boulders just to find Torchic again, and then, Roxanne's final look at him before she left. It told Lucas that he wasn't anything special, that his attempt wasn't even good enough for her face to move an inch. It hurt. A lot.