Hello, it is SnowLucario. Yes, that rhymes. No, I do not care if that sounds corny.
I decided that I'd work on one chapter of this, one chapter of Four Seasons. I'm hitting a bit of writer's block with that other story, but have no plans to discontinue it. So many of you guys have been depending on me, and I fully intend to finish it. After all, I do know how it will end.
To those of you who are new to my stories, you do not need to read Wing And A Scare, Bounding Through Time, or any of my Hunger Games stories to understand this one. This is completely different, a new take on things. The first chapter is pretty short, but they will get larger.
My goal is 100 reviews, 30 favorites, and 50 follows. I'd like to reach it, but don't favorite it JUST to meet that goal. Make sure you actually like the story first. With that in mind, let's get this show on the road!
Before this story begins, I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Lucas London, and I am seventeen years old. Until recently, I lived a relatively normal, upper middle class life in northern New England. It wasn't perfect, but I was able to deal with it. I never did intend to become a Pokémon trainer, instead preferring to be more of an intellectual. I'm not one of those stereotypical nerds with glasses, but I am nerdy about certain things.
This is a story of friendship, adventure, and angst. It's also a story of hope and loss. It will move you, make you laugh, cry, and shake your fists. It's a powerful story to be sure, and I don't want to waste any time getting into it.
So, when does this story begin? I suppose it begins the day I discovered a Lucario on the street.
"See you later, Lucas!" called my friend from the front steps of my school.
"You too, Zach!" I said.
Normally, my friend and I would hang out together and play video games. Today was the first day of school, however, and both of us were feeling pretty tired. Even though we were in classes with many of the same people as last year, that didn't seem to mean anything in the eyes of the school administrators. They insisted that we do activities intended to help us get to know each other first, which was laughable in my opinion. I already knew all of those other people.
Backpack over my shoulders, I began jogging towards home, passing by lanes of pine trees. The town of Hanover, New Hampshire has a very good reputation for a reason. It's a very nice place to live, so it's really no wonder that it is so expensive. Everyone wants to live here.
Was there something on the back of my backpack, or was it just me? I wasn't quite sure, but it felt like something was running down the backs of my legs...something cold. It wasn't ice, not that cold.
I took my backpack off. Just as I suspected, it was an egg that someone had thrown at me. The yellow yolk in the middle was still on the backpack, and the white part was dripping down the back of my pants. I could hear laughter behind me...no wonder. Johnny and his cronies must have been at it again. And, really, I was used to it. I was bullied quite frequently, called Aspie, or Mr. L. Really, Lucas is enough to call me, thank you very much, but when all three of your initials are the same letter, it's kind of hard not to get made fun of.
Another thing that set me apart? I didn't have any Pokémon partners. While many of my classmates aspired to become trainers, or breeders, I was not one of them. I was just a nobody, a loner, a nerd. This, despite the fact that I've never worn glasses, or braces, or anything else associated with being nerdy. Of course, I'll probably have to start wearing glasses eventually, but that's not relevant to this story.
Anyways...the egg. Because I was wearing black pants, the white of the egg really did stick out. No matter what, if I turned up at home smelling like egg, or tracking it into the house, my mother would not be happy with me. Then again, it seemed that she rarely was.
I had to get the stain off my pants. Opening my backpack, I saw something that would do- a piece of scrap paper from math class. I took it out and wiped the egg off as I went. I was only three blocks from my house, and I knew that my parents were going to get suspicious if I was gone too much longer than normal.
There!
I got the egg white on my towel, and then saw some drip off and mix with something red on the ground...dark red.
Blood sure is a strange color. Particularly when it's mixed with egg yolk.
Wait...was that a Lucario? I supposed that I lived far enough north for them to be common; there was even one of my friends at school who had one. But I didn't expect to see this one, lying on the ground, bleeding.
I'm not an altruistic person; I'm the first to admit that I'm pretty selfish at times. But it would be hard for anyone not to help a Lucario who seemed to be in such a poor state. I didn't know what had happened to it, but I was quick to ask it a question.
"What happened?"
"Stabbed" the Lucario said through aura. "It's...ah, it hurts so bad".
"Hold on. I'll get you help".
I dialed 911, and, after Officer Jenny asked me what my emergency was, I stated, "There's a Lucario on Enfield Street. He got stabbed, he says. He's bleeding a lot, please come and get him!"
While I waited for the ambulance to come, I looked over at the Lucario. It was carrying a Social Security card that identified it as SAMUEL CRANMORE. An odd name for a Lucario, but it wasn't a time to care.
I grabbed some pine cones and tried to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't working. It was still coming out, and I was relieved when the ambulance finally arrived. It seemed like a long time to me, but was probably not more than ten minutes or so.
"Let's get a stretcher!" yelled one of the nurses. Looking down at me, she said, "You! London! Help me get him on!"
I'm not the strongest person, but I managed to get Lucario onto the stretcher. I wasn't surprised that the paramedic knew my last name; she'd gotten the call from me. I helped lift its head in order to get it onto the stretcher. It was heavier than I thought, and taller than I was as well. This is saying something, considering I stand 6 feet, 2 inches tall.
"You can ride with us to the hospital if you want to. Would you like to do that?"
I nodded before climbing in. Whipping out my iPhone, I texted my mother, I'M NOT AVOIDING YOU ON PURPOSE. I'M JUST GOING TO THE HOSPITAL WITH A LUCARIO I SAW THAT GOT STABBED. IT'S OKAY. I'M NOT TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME OR ANYTHING.
I hit "send" and sighed. Hopefully this would satisfy Mom that I wasn't doing something naughty, I was just trying to help a Lucario I'd seen on the road. Yes, that was what I was doing.
"What's its blood type?"
"I don't know. O negative just in case, that's what we're going to do".
I watched as one of the medics inserted an IV into Lucario's arm and got some blood going into its body. Another medic was hastily trying to bandage its chest, but it clearly wasn't working. I really hoped that this Lucario wasn't going to die. My only consolation was that I had not been responsible.
The necessary electrodes were attached to its chest to record its heart rate, and I was trying to relax. If anything happened to its heart rate, the medics would be onto it right away. Luckily, I didn't hear the heart monitor flatline the whole time I was in the ambulance, so that was a good thing.
Once we did get to the hospital, I walked inside the waiting room as I watched the Lucario get wheeled into surgery. The anesthesia mask had been placed over its face, and I felt a buzz from my phone.
The text read, OKAY. LUCAS LEONARD LONDON, YOU ARE OFF THE HOOK THIS TIME...SO LONG AS YOU CAN PROVE IT.
I stiffened up. How was I going to prove that the Lucario had gotten stabbed? Surely they'd have heard the sirens; they were hell on my autistic ears, but maybe their normal ears would not have been quite as sensitive to them. I wasn't really sure.
I took a picture of the emergency department and waiting room that included doctors in scrubs, several patients in wheelchairs, carrying IVs, or both, and several signs. This would be enough for pretty much anybody except an ultra-skeptic to accept as proof, I should think.
Sitting in a chair in the waiting room, I started browsing the Internet, looking for a pair of pants that looked good. I didn't know if the egg stain was ever going to completely disappear, but I also knew that I wouldn't be able to order anything off of Amazon without my parents' permission.
After about an hour, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Turning around, I saw that it was my little sister, Michelle. She's three years younger than me, and she's nice enough, especially today. She was a real champ that day, coming to visit the Lucario at the hospital.
"I heard that a Lucario got stabbed, and you came here to visit. Is that true?"
"Michelle, you know how OCD I am. I'd never set foot inside of a hospital willingly, except for something like this" I said, rolling my eyes.
After about another hour, a doctor came back out. "Lucas London?"
"At your service" I said, taking a bow.
"No need for that" Michelle said. Sometimes, she acts like she's older than me, which can be quite infuriating. I know that she's only doing that so that I appear more normal in public, but sometimes I feel that it's just not justified.
"In any case", said the doctor, clearing his throat, "the Lucario, identified as Samuel Cranmore, is stable. We have cleaned his wound, although we did have to give him three bags of blood. You may come upstairs and see him in the ICU now".
"Let's go follow him" Michelle said. I nodded, and we began walking along the hallways of the hospital. At a certain point, they all blended together, with the same white tiles for flooring, and the same white walls with holes to the ceiling. Really, you've seen it all before.
"Do you know who stabbed him?" the doctor asked me.
"I wish I did" I said. "Trust me when I say that I know absolutely nothing more than you guys do".
We reached the Intensive Care Unit, and we saw Samuel on the bed. One thing was for sure, he looked worse for wear.
The Lucario was wrapped in so many bandages that they could have been used as a rock climbing harness. He looked like some kind of alien with all of the IVs he was connected to. I felt a spark of rage at whoever had the audacity to do this. Who would stab an innocent Lucario like that?
I heard something about needing to give the Lucario antibiotics because of the pine cones being rubbed into its wound, and I started to feel guilty. Had I not done that, one or more of those tubes might have been unnecessary. As it was, Samuel was fast asleep at the moment. Probably they were sedating him until he became a little more stable, but I wasn't concerned about that.
Suddenly, the door opened behind us, and the doctor came in. It was a different doctor than the one that had given my sister and I the update about Samuel's surgery, but he had a serious expression on his face all the same.
"We found this on Samuel Cranmore. We have no idea what this is, but do you?"
I looked at it.
It seemed to be some sort of necklace. It looked kind of like the Immunity Necklace from Survivor, except that, where the centerpiece would be, there was a gargoyle of Zoroark's head.
"No" I said. "I didn't notice it. Michelle?"
"I have no idea what's going on" she said. "All I know is that my idiot brother just found a Lucario and, being the altruistic idiot that he is, decided to ride with it to the hospital. That's it".
Looking over at the necklace once again, I saw that there was a red gleam in its eye. I knew that Zoroarks were masters of illusions, but this was something different. At least, it seemed to be.
I started to feel light-headed and hot all of a sudden. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I felt like I was going to pass out all of a sudden. This wasn't good...
Before I could say anything, my knees buckled.
I've only stayed in hospital once since I was a newborn (feel free to ask me, I'm an open book), but I did walk through one just yesterday, so I hope I described the scene accurately. If not, please let me know!
I also don't want to make you guys think I own the cover picture, because I don't.
Question: Where are you reading this from? This is just my standard first question for my stories, so yeah.