A/N: So, uh, yeah. This is happening. Why? I don't know. Some of life's best concoctions have come from blending two things together and getting a sum that's better than its parts. Take PB&J for example. Or better yet, maybe I'm just being too philosophical about an idea that got started after I've seen a bunch of TLH fanart with several characters owning Pokémon of their own.

That and the plot bunnies in my head wouldn't stop keeping me awake at night until I got off my butt and started working on this. Now, they can take up vacancy in someone else's head for a change.

Now then, seeing as how this is my first ever crossover story, and seeing as how Pokémon is one of the most popular and expansive franchises of all time, I thought it'd be best if I posted this little Q&A about what you can expect from this story.

Q: Where's the setting?

A: As the summary of the story stated, this story will take place in the Kalos region. To add to this answer, expect to see towns and landmarks from both the X/Y games and the X/Y anime series.

Q: Will the Pokémon appear in accordance to where they are in the X/Y games?

A: Nope. They'll appear where I see fit.

Q: Which Loud House characters will appear in this story?

A: I have plans to include all eleven Loud siblings into this story in some way, shape, or form. Their spots are guaranteed. How they'll be integrated in the story will be, of course, up to me. All I'll say is don't expect them all to have the same relationship with each other as they do in the show. Also, expect some characters of the show, who have made so much as only one appearance, to have a role here, significant or otherwise.

Q: How old will the Loud House characters be?

A: All of them will be the same age as they're depicted in the show. For characters with ages that aren't disclosed, I'll present them as an age that's appropriate for their appearance and their place in this story. Hopefully.

Q: Which Pokémon generations will appear?

A: Generations 1 through 6 only. Since I don't plan for the Alola region to show up, don't expect any of their Pokémon to show up, either.

Q: Will the story feature "game mechanics", "manga mechanics", or "anime mechanics"?

A: I plan to integrate all three in the story as I see fit.

For instance, an "anime mechanic", that you won't see in the games, is how liberally battles are portrayed. If you play the game competitively, or even casually, you usually live and die by type advantage. Nature and moves help but type advantage is where it's at. A Steel-type Pokémon hasn't got a prayer against a Fire-type, for example. But in the anime, type advantage isn't as instrumental to victory, allowing for more freedom in the way battles are won and lost. This also allows for more surprises, too, and that's something that I'll be sure to incorporate.

Q: In what year does the story take place?

A: About 23 years after the X/Y games' worldwide release. That would make it around the year 2036.

Q: Will any of the events from the games or anime series be referenced?

A: The story takes place years after the events of X/Y, so those games will obviously be referenced. That's about it as far as references in that department will go for now.

Alright, I think that about covers just about everything that's mandatory or anything that I'm allowing you to know for now. If you have any other general questions about the direction of this story, don't hesitate to ask and I'll see if I can answer them for you. I'd prefer it if you PM'd me but hey, you do you.

Now then, with that being said, I won't be answering guest questions that are posted in the review section. Why? Well, I realize that guests can't PM, so it may seem like I'm giving them the cold shoulder, but the thing is, if they ask a question that someone doesn't want to know the answer to, I'd be risking giving away something they don't want to know since I'd have to answer that question out in the open for the guest and, by proxy, everyone else to see.

Now, with all that hullabaloo out of the way, let's get started with "Chapter 1: A Loud to Venture".

Kalos. Much like Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova, it's a region notorious for reflecting the fascination that humans have for Pokémon through its various traditions and events.

Some of them, such as Pokémon contests, display Pokémon's ability to dazzle audiences, who come from far and wide to witness the beauty, intelligence, and coolness that Pokémon Coordinators work tirelessly to embed in their Pokémon.

Others, such as Pokémon battling, disclose the close bond that Pokémon Trainer and Pokémon have as they continually forge through battle after battle, being tested in trust and mettle throughout the trek to self-defined glory and recognition.

Through it all, this literal star-shaped region embraces the world of Pokémon and in return, Kalos' inhabitants do the same, whether their cause is for the betterment of humans and Pokémon alike or the satisfying achievement of a longtime dream.

And although Kalos is known for its beauty, refinement, and sophistication, this story begins in a small town that barely reflects those qualities; the humble dwelling known as Vaniville Town. In this gated community lives a young boy, a hopeful youth that aspires to answer to the calling that roars to life within his being at the thought of recognizing his aspirations; becoming the very best Pokémon Trainer that Kalos has ever seen!

Now, if only he wasn't too busy sawing logs on this particular Thursday morning…

CHAPTER 1: A Loud to Venture

Vaniville Town. May 29th, 2036. 8:37 AM.

Vaniville Town; a modest, little suburb that housed little over forty residents altogether. Although the Sun had shown its face to the Earth a little less than a half an hour ago, one family, as usual, was already making a ruckus within the walls of their residence.

In the two-story townhouse, closest to Vaniville Town's entry and exit gate, lived the Loud family. As the surname suggested, they were anything but noiseless.

Rita, the blonde matriarch, clad in a pink shirt and dark purple pants, had both of her hands occupied. One of them was holding tightly to her blonde-haired infant daughter, Lily, as she cried and wailed in her mother's arms. The other was tightly clutching to the handle of the pancake griddle that was harboring a fluffy, palpable, circular mass of pancake batter. Once ready, it would soon join the other pancakes, that were neatly stacked on a white plate next to the stove, along with several slices of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, and Moomoo Milk that was contained in a tall, bulbous pitcher.

"Lynn!" Rita called from the kitchen, exasperation evident in her voice at the multi-tasking she was burdened with. Preparing breakfast for herself, four children, and a husband was easy enough but dealing with Lily in her crying fits on top of that tested Rita's patience. Ordinarily, Lynn would be watching Lily while she attended to the food but for reasons unknown to her, her husband was nowhere to be found.

"C-coming, Rita!" called a masculine-sounding voice from upstairs. "Charles got in my fishing lure box again and he's got one of 'em in his mouth! I can't get him to drop it!"

His yelling was soon followed by the sounds of footsteps romping roughly against the floor and…pottery smashing? Rita hoped it wasn't the cute floral patterned vase that her sister-in-law, Shirley, got for her birthday last year. Knowing her luck this morning, it probably was.

"D-down, boy! Down! You put that…aaaaack! Bad Snubbull! Bad!" yelled Lynn, clearly having his hands too tied to be of any assistance to his wife.

Rita sighed. She supposed this is what was to be expected from being the wife of a fisherman. Still, would it hurt him to stow the lure box away where he knew the Snubbull wouldn't be able to get it? It wasn't like she never told him to do so before and several times at that.

Knowing that Lynn would be too busy to come to her aid, she turned to the kitchen table behind her, where two identical looking, blonde-haired girls sat next to each other behind said table. The dirtiest looking of the pair, Lana, who wore her hair in pigtails underneath her backward worn red cap, spoke up when she caught her mother's eyes, then gulped at the slight frown on her face.

"N-need something, Mom?" Lana nervously asked with a shy grin on her face, showing off one of her missing front teeth in the process.

"Yes," Rita answered rather sternly. "You can start by going back upstairs and getting yourself a cleaner pair of overalls, one without mucus and mud stains all over it. Just because school ended a week ago doesn't mean you're allowed to eat at the table looking like you just came out of a Spoink sty. Once you're done with that, come back down and watch over Lily until your father joins us"

Sighing in defeat, the red cap wearing child hopped out of her seat, ignoring her twin sister's silent taunting as she did so, and walked away, leaving her much cleaner looking sister, Lola, who wore her long hair down underneath her silver tiara, by herself as she gloated at the displeasure cast upon her twin sister.

"I tried to tell her to behave herself," Lola said disingenuously as she smoothed out her pink dress with her pink gloved hands, "but she just doesn't learn. 'Tis a shame, isn't it, mother? Oh well, I suppose that means I get to have the pleasure of her share of the pancakes, right?"

"Wrong," Rita replied, wise to her dainty daughter's sycophancy. "You get the pleasure of going upstairs, waking up your brother and letting him know that the food's almost done."

Lola blanched. She loved her mother's pancakes more than life itself! If she had to march all the way upstairs, wake up her dopey older brother, and then come all the way back, Lana was certain to be back at the dining table by then and by that point, she'd have already ravenously eaten most of the pancakes without mercy, leaving her with but a few scraps at most.

Putting on her best pouty lip and watery eyes, a routine she could work on her father with at least 80% accuracy, Lola tried her best to worm her way out of her mother's request.

"B-but, Mo-"

"Now, Lola."

Dropping the act in a hurry, Lola bolted out of her chair, intent on running towards her targ-

"And no running!" Rita barked when she saw Lola sprinting off like a Liepard. "You'll trip on your dress and hurt yourself!"

Grumbling under her breath, Lola walked toward her objective at a much slower pace. Once she was halfway up the stairs, she looked on in despair as she saw Lana walking past her, all while having a gloating grin on her face. Lola hurried a bit faster, knowing that her bottomless pit of a sister was sure to clean out all the food before she could even have a bite to herself.

Once she made it to the top, she turned to her right and made her way down the hallway until she made it to the very end. In front of her was a door that read "LINCOLN" engraved in the blue wood. In a flash, Lola had that door opened and scowled at what she saw; her older white-haired brother dozing off while was clad in nothing but his white underwear. As usual, he was clutching tightly to his Buneary doll, Bun-Bun.

Lola zipped past all his comic books and dirty clothes, that littered his floor, until she was standing on his bed, glaring daggers at Lincoln's peaceful, sleeping face.

Lola sucked in as much breath into her lungs as possible and leaned into Lincoln's ear until her lips were but a few centimeter's away.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" Lola bellowed with all her might.

To her satisfaction, Lincoln awoke immediately, flailing his limbs about wildly and squealing at the sudden intrusion to his slumber. The dazed, frightened boy shook his head to clear away the tug of drowsiness that beckoned to him and nearly got scared out of his wits again when he saw the face of Lola glaring at him from up close.

"Lola!" Lincoln reprimanded, anger slowly bubbling to the surface. "What's gotten into you?!"

Lola simply shrugged at her brother's indignation.

"Well, maybe if a certain someone didn't sleep like a Snorlax, I wouldn't have to resort to yelling in your ear."

"Yeah? Well, at least I don't look like a Snorlax," Lincoln smugly retorted.

He immediately regretted his comeback when he saw his sister's twisted, insidious frown, along with her clenched fists, gnashing teeth, and furrowed eyebrows. Not even two minutes after waking up and he already made the mistake of inciting Lola's bad temper.

"What was that?" Lola asked venomously, daring him to abide by his words.

"N-nothing!" Lincoln stuttered as he reached for his pillow and shielded himself between him and Lola. "You look as cute as always, dear sister of mine, and certainly not like a fat, giant, slumbering ball of mass!"

He quivered and quaked behind his "fortress" until he heard Lola remark with, "Hmph! That's what I thought."

With that, she hopped off Lincoln's bed and waited for him to peek from behind his pillow before she relayed her mother's message to him.

"Now then, Mom sent me to wake you up. Breakfast is ready and thanks to you being a pain in the butt, Lana's probably eaten all the pancakes before I could get to any of them."

Despite escaping his little sister's wrath, Lincoln couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Pssh. Whatever. It's not like you need the extra calories anyways. I didn't think the 'next greatest Pokémon Contest Coordinator to grace the galaxies' would wanna fatten herself up with pancakes soaked in Roseli Berry syrup."

"Don't be stupid," Lola scoffed. "I'm allowed to have cheat days every now and then. If anything, Cliff's the one that needs to drop a few pounds."

Lincoln groaned in disbelief. How many times did he have to tell her that Cliff, the family Purugly, was supposed to look rotund? It didn't help that poor Cliff would get yelled by Lola for wanting to laze around instead of following her routines that she wanted to try out in Pokémon Contests once she was old enough to become a Pokémon Coordinator.

"Oh, and Lincoln?" Lola warned with narrowed eyes as she leaned against the doorway of his room. "If I don't get at least four pancakes, that dumb Buneary doll's gonna be in a dress and wig before you know it."

Lincoln immediately clutched his Bun-Bun for dear life, stroking its head and whispering reassurances in its ear. Lola rolled her eyes and left him. Seconds later, Lincoln snapped out of his reverie when he heard Lola accidentally bump into her father, who had finally gotten his lure away from Charles.

Sighing with melancholy, Lincoln placed Bun-Bun back on his bed and went over to his closet to grab some clothes to wear for the day. As he fished through his array of orange polo shirts and blue pants, Lincoln thought back to what had been making him unhappy lately.

A full week ago, he had graduated from the Aquacorde Town Pokémon Academy(or ATPA), a learning facility that taught children about the Pokémon world, as well as general education like arithmetic and reading. Once he was done with his studies, his parents allowed him to apply for a Pokémon Handler's License, an official permit that authorized the owner to legally own Pokémon. Though the only requirement was that the applicants be at least 10 years of age, one year younger than Lincoln was, he had to wait until he graduated from ATPA because his parents wanted him to have a solid educational foundation before he could own Pokémon of his own.

It was a day that Lincoln had waited for for as long as he could remember. Now that he was a licensed Pokémon owner, that meant that he could become a Pokémon trainer and explore the vast region of Kalos, all while embracing the thrill of battle and competition with Pokémon of his own! He yearned to follow in the footsteps of notable legends like Red from Pallet Town. Seeing official Pokémon battles on TV as much as he could, along with reading about the exploits of Ace Savvy, his favorite comic book superhero that solved crimes alongside his Arcanine, only supplemented his desires to take on the Kalos region by storm and dethrone the current Kalos League Champion, Hugh, the suave, charming Pokémon trainer that had legions of fans, mostly women, following his every move and adoring his abilities.

His respect, his mastery of battle, his recognition, and most importantly, the experience that came from getting to such an expert Pokémon Trainer level; Lincoln wanted it all and he knew that he could do it…except for one not-so tiny problem.

His father had expressed his displeasure for the rite of passage that came with children undertaking Pokémon training: exploring the world of Pokémon at such a young, tender age, with nothing more than a few provisions. It was something that he learned about when he started buying Lincoln his Ace Savvy comic books, since that's how Ace began his career. Ever since, the closest he allowed Lincoln to experiencing anything resembling Pokémon training and battling was with his comic books or television matches.

Although Lincoln knew he could wait until he was older to ask his father for permission to train, he just had to be allowed to train Pokémon for battle soon! His best friend and next door neighbor, Clyde, was on his way to do a Kalos journey of his own; exploring the region while honing his skills to be a Pokémon Ranger, a Pokémon handler that was dedicated to protecting nature and most importantly, the Pokémon residing within their natural habitats. He would be leaving home on the 10th of June and Lincoln desperately wanted to live out his dream alongside his best buddy in the world…

But alas, Lincoln knew that it was a pipe dream at best, a fantasy that he could only long for in his head. He would be happy for Clyde, of course, but at the same time, he was envious that his friend could strive towards his goals while he'd be cooped up at home, watching helplessly as time flew by him.

Resigning himself to his fate, Lincoln grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and placed them on his bed. Once he was done with that, he headed to the bathroom to wash up so he could join his family for breakfast. He might not be able to have Pokémon the way he wanted, but at least he could have pancakes the way he wanted…as long as Lola hadn't used up all the Roseli Berry syrup before he got there.

Around thirty minutes later, Lincoln was finally heading downstairs. On his way out the bathroom, he noticed that the doors to Lana and Lola's rooms were slightly open and that they could be heard amusing themselves behind nearly closed doors. That meant that they had already eaten and Lincoln could eat his meal in peace, a radical change of pace from the usually noisy and messy breakfast rituals of dodging thrown food projectiles from Lily and doing his best to cancel out Lola and Lana's constant bickering.

Sure enough, once Lincoln had descended the stairs and had the dining table in his sights, the only person present was a brown-haired man dressed in brown pants and a green sweater.

"There's my graduate of a son!" Lynn called out from his seat at the head of the table. "Glad you're finally up!"

Lincoln returned a smile as best he could, hoping his father wouldn't see through him and pick up that something was bothering him. The boy found his seat next to Lynn and was grateful that a short stack of pancakes awaited him, along with three slices of bacon and some scrambled eggs.

"This looks great, Dad. Thanks for saving this for me."

"Of course, but then again, it was quite the challenge," Lynn remarked somewhat enigmatically. "I've been out to sea and reeled in plenty of Sharpedo, but not one of them had the appetite that Lana's got. She nearly bit my hand off when I went to go for seconds on the bacon."

Lincoln chuckled, knowing full well that his father wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. As he surveyed the table, he was a little disappointed to see that there was no Persim Berry syrup in sight and that the Moomoo Milk was nearly out. He supposed he couldn't complain or be angry, seeing as his mother was a pretty good cook. Speaking of which…

"Hey, Dad?" Lincoln asked as he went to pour himself a glass of Moomoo milk. "Where's Mom? Is she upstairs? I didn't see her when I came down here."

"She went to Aquacorde Town with Lily a few minutes ago. She's just getting groceries so it shouldn't take long for her to get back."

Lincoln could trust that assessment. Even by foot, a trip from their house to Aquacorde Town, which was only possible along the path of Route 1, would take, at most, about ten minutes.

Leaving it at that, Lincoln committed to eating his breakfast, savoring each bite that he had in front of him. He sat in silence for a good five minutes before his father spoke up.

"Say, uh, Lincoln?"

Lincoln swallowed his mouthful of scrambled eggs before he answered back with a "Yeah?"

"Listen, I was thinking that since you've graduated from primary school and you got yourself your own Pokémon Handler's License, it's time we start thinking about your future.

Now, I understand that you've worked hard these past few years and that you deserve a break but all the same, you shouldn't let this summer break keep you from sharpening your mind and keeping your focus on a brighter tomorrow. You've earned the grades to make it anywhere in the world and I don't want to see your efforts go to waste."

Lincoln stewed bitterly at the irony of his father's words; the only effort he wanted to exert was with Pokémon battling and with his father's attitude, despite him stating that he didn't want his hard work to go to waste, that's exactly what would happen if he had his way.

He was sure his mother would approve, seeing as how he never recalled her having any objections to Pokémon training before, but even if he knew for sure, he knew that without both of his parent's permission, a journey through the Kalos region would be next to impossible.

"I…I understand, Dad," Lincoln replied with reluctance, "but what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Why're you asking me? I'm pretty sure you've got a few plans already mapped out, am I right?"

Oh, he most certainly did but Lincoln knew that divulging the truth to his father would be a pointless endeavor.

"Well, I…I guess so," Lincoln vaguely complied.

Lynn gave his son a thumbs up, missing out on the subtle cues of Lincoln's internal angst.

"Good. So, since you're not busy doing anything today, I want you to start looking up some internships that relate to your interests. Internships will give you to the experience you need before you start making your first steps into the real world. You don't need to make a big list or anything but just a few places where you'd like to see yourself working soon. Show me what you've come up with by…let's say, dinner time this evening. Okay?"

Just great. Now he had to spend the rest of the day looking up internships for careers that he had zero interest in pursuing right. But again, Lincoln knew he didn't have a chance to get his father to change his mind so once again, Lincoln disingenuously gave in.

"Okay, Dad. I will," Lincoln "agreed" while looking somberly down at the plate of food scraps that remained.

"Atta boy!" Lynn cheered and gave a hearty slap on Lincoln's back.

The brown-haired patriarch suddenly got up from his seat and started walking away. Lincoln looked up and followed his retreating form until he noted that his father turned around and looked back at his son.

"By the way, since I won't be working with my commercial fishing company today, how would you like to go fishing with me in a couple hours by the lake on Route 1? Just the two of us. Just make sure you get a couple of those internships picked out before we go."

Normally, Lincoln would be happy to know that his father didn't have to leave the house for days to fish for his company, like he had to every so often, but today just wasn't a day that he could find any enthusiasm within him.

"That sounds fun, I guess. Thanks, Dad," Lincoln replied unenthusiastically as he jabbed his fork into one of his pancakes.

Had he not immediately gone back to eating his food, he would've seen his father looking on at him in concern before he went up the stairs. He didn't care to mind his surroundings for he was too engrossed in his melancholy to put up a chipper façade any further.

It just wasn't fair! He loved his father but he could do nothing but lament at the fact that he wasn't more liberal to the idea of his son realizing his goals. Why couldn't he be more accepting like Clyde's fathers? They would never…

Clyde...Clyde! That was it! Why hadn't he thought of it before? Despite all the time they spent talking to each other, Lincoln never bothered to ask Clyde about how his dads warmed to the idea of their son venturing through the Kalos region. Perhaps, there was nothing more to it than their natural dispositions accepting the prospect but maybe, just maybe, Clyde had appealed his case in a manner that got them to approve.

Wolfing down the remainder of his food in a hurry, Lincoln hurriedly took his dirty dishes to the sink and gingerly dropped them off. He then bolted to his room with a new plan in mind and one that would hopefully send him on his way to his destiny.

Lincoln fished through the dresser next to his bed, his fingers finding just about everything but the item he was looking for.

After digging up a half-eaten peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwich, a broken yo-yo, some shoelaces, and a…raisin(?), Lincoln was about to throw in the towel until…

'Aha! There it is!' Lincoln mentally celebrated when his hand found the familiar, cool texture of the screen of his trusty Holo Caster.

Grasping the machine firmly, Lincoln pulled out a palm-sized red device with a half-circular black pad underneath the screen and a tiny white button in the corner. He pressed that button and immediately, the screen flashed, giving Lincoln the familiar view of a list of contacts. He scrolled down on the touchscreen of the Holo Caster until he got to the bottom and pressed his finger on the name "Clyde McBride". Upon doing so, the machine began to hum quietly, continuing to do so until a sharp pinging sound rendered the air and the holographic projection of a freckled boy with dark skin, black, wiry hair, and eyeglasses popped out of the screen.

"Hey, Clyde," Lincoln greeted with a small grin on his face. No matter what sour mood he was in, talking to Clyde was always therapeutic. There was nothing quite like talking to his one and only friend in the world.

"'Sup, Lincoln," the hologram of Clyde answered back. "You don't look so good. What's wrong?"

Lincoln inwardly chuckled. Leave it to Clyde to see through him so easily.

"I'll tell you in a little bit. But first, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Well, you know about how your dads are letting you travel through Kalos so you can get experience before you become a Pokémon Ranger?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, it's just that…how did you get them to agree to it? What exactly did you say to them when you asked for their permission?"

"I dunno. I just asked them and they told me it was okay."

Lincoln groaned. That was the last thing he needed to hear. He was hoping that Clyde had stumbled upon the right combination of words that bought him his freedom but sadly, that didn't appear to be true.

He nearly missed what Clyde had to say next as he somewhat amended himself.

"Well, actually, only one of my dads agreed. My other dad said it was fine but when he said it, he didn't exactly sound like he was completely on board with it. It was one of those 'Yeah, I guess you can go if you really want to' kind of replies. Y'know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Lincoln answered listlessly, still far too bummed out about not getting what he was looking for.

"Okay, so now that I told you all of that, care to explain why you're asking me this?"

Lincoln didn't care to see what the point was at this point but Clyde did deserve to know the truth. Beyond that, confiding in him his inner turmoil could at least prompt some sympathy to come from him, something he really felt he needed.

"The thing is, I wanted to go with you while you were out and about on your journey. The only reason why I never told you until now was because I knew that if I asked my dad, he'd shoot down the idea in a hurry. Sure, my mom may not mind but he definitely would. So, that's why-"

"That's why you thought you'd ask me for advice on how to convince your dad, right?" Clyde interrupted.

"Well…yeah."

"I see," Clyde pondered as he stroked an invisible beard under his chin.

Lincoln looked on at Clyde's contemplating features and despite feeling backed into a corner, couldn't help but feel a sprout of hope taking root within himself.

Finally, Clyde spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"I know this is gonna sound really crazy, Lincoln, but are you absolutely certain that he's going to turn you down?"

"Absolutely," Lincoln said matter-of-factly. "There's no way he's gonna say 'yes'. No way. Dad's stubborn. Once his mind is set on something, he won't let go no matter what."

"Oh, come now, Lincoln, don't you think you're exaggerating just a little bit?"

"Oh yeah?" Lincoln challenged with a quirked eyebrow. "Once, he wanted to have steamed Corphish for dinner and went out to fish for one out by the lake on Route 1. He spent the entire day looking for one, even after some nearby fishermen told him that Corphish didn't live there."

"Okay, so maybe h-"

"He refuses to let Charles eat Poffins after he read some hokey online article about how they can cause cancer, even after our veterinarian said that they were okay for him to consume."

"Alright, I will admit th-"

"And that's not all! Just last month, Dad insisted that he could keep up with his weekend afternoon jogging routine!"

"Why is that so bad?"

"He had a broken foot!"

Lincoln ended his tirade in exasperation while Clyde remained utterly stunned. Silence then ensued between the two friends before Lincoln groaned mournfully again.

"See? Once he says 'no' to me, that's it. It'll all be over and I'll have to go sign up for some boring internship program, where I'll do nothing of interest or fun the entire time."

Lincoln looked up and saw Clyde committing to his invisible beard quirk again. Though he didn't think he could be of much help, he was still interested to see that he was still brainstorming for ideas

"Again, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but are you absolutely sure he's going to reject the idea?"

Really? Didn't he just explain why he absolutely would?

"Clyde, we've just been through this," Lincoln bemoaned while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Of course he'l-"

"Wait. Just hear me out first, Lincoln," Clyde pleaded.

Lincoln simply folded his arms, frowned, and waited for his "consolation".

"Like I said before, one of my dads didn't exactly like the idea of me roaming Kalos on my own. Well, on my own with a few of my own Pokémon but you get the idea. Anyways, I think the reason why he allowed me to go…was because he understood it was something I wanted to do. He realized that I wanted to be a Pokémon Ranger more than anything and I guess by that point, he had no choice but to accept that."

Lincoln's hardened features softened.

"So you think…if I just go to him and plead my case…he'll just accept that that's what I'm going to do and support me?"

"Absolutely. This is your dream we're talking about. No loving parent would want to get in the way of their child's future, would they? Especially when their child is Lincoln Loud."

Lincoln thought about Clyde's words and smiled when he found comfort in them. Truly, his father couldn't be all that rigid, could he? Would he really prop up his own convictions and wants over his son's? Now that he thought about it, Lincoln saw no reason why he would.

Smiling the first genuine smile since he woke up, Lincoln looked on at Clyde wearing a similar expression as him.

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose it can't hurt to try. Thanks, Clyde. Talk to you later. I've got some work to do now."

"Don't mention it. See ya on the tenth!"

With that, the hologram shut off. Lincoln turned off his Holo Caster and placed it back where he found it. Once he was done with that, he reached for the laptop that was stowed away underneath his bed. Lincoln hadn't lied when he said that he had some work to do. After all, his father wanted him to look up internships and that's exactly what he would do.

Only, they weren't exactly the types that he felt that his father would approve of. It was all part of a plan he just cooked up: he would tell his father what he wanted to really do at dinner tonight, all while his mother and three sisters were present. He hoped that Lola, Lana, and his mother would approve of his idea and show his father that support in Lincoln wasn't such a stupid idea. Meanwhile, Lincoln would present a few noteworthy Pokémon Trainer internships that would prove that training also had credibility beyond just training and winning battles.

As Lincoln booted up his laptop, set on pushing his plans into action, a figure stepped away from his door. Said figure had heard just about everything from Lincoln and Clyde's conversation and left to go about their own way.

And so, with his mind made up, Lincoln spent the next few hours on the Internet, searching rigorously for the apprenticeships that would hopefully gain his father's endorsement. Though his virtual forage, he found only one opportunity that would accommodate for his need to depart from home on the tenth of June.

Before Lincoln could press on further in his research, his father called him to make haste for the fishing outing that he had planned for them earlier. In no time at all, Lincoln and Lynn were on their way to their destination, with Charles, the family Snubbull, coming along for the trip. In about twenty minutes, the father/son duo, clad in red fishing vests, have their lines cast in their designated lake as they sit back and wait for their catch to spring forth from the waters…

Kalos Route 1. May 29th, 2036. 2:35 PM

One could add fishing with his father to the things that Lincoln enjoyed immensely. The routine for doing so was an experience that only titillated his Pokémon Trainer ambitions.

First, his father would cast his line into the water and wait for a Pokémon to take the bait. Once he was able to successfully heave the creature onto dry land, his father would send his Snubbull into battle and beat the Pokémon into submission, thus securing a meal for the day. Although it wasn't quite like battling Pokémon in official matches, it was the closest thing that Lincoln had and it was a pastime that he cherished deeply.

Today, however, was not one of those days where Lincoln could wait for the thrill to come with bated breath. He was far too engrossed in what he had discovered in his internship search. What he had managed to stumble across was exactly what he was looking for. But the question was, how could he relay the news to his father without him freaking out?

He thought that Clyde's words emboldened him but once he found himself right next to the source of his perturbation, his resolve melted in a puddle.

Before he could think any further, he felt something nudge him softly in the ribs. He looked towards his right and saw his father looking down at him from where he sat cross-legged by the lake.

"Lincoln?" Lynn asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, Dad?" Lincoln answered somewhat apprehensively.

Instead of answering him right away, Lynn simply looked out at the crystal blue waters of the lake for a few seconds before replying, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

That got Lincoln's heart racing in a hurry. Just how did his father know that he had something on his mind? And more importantly, what could he say now that he was being called out on it?

Lincoln mentally scurried around for a lie to satiate his father's curiosity until he felt a hand grab him by the shoulder.

"Let's go with the truth, okay, Lincoln?" Lynn said with an amused smirk on his face. "I know that face; the one where you're trying to make something up and think you'll get it past me. Look, I figured out that something's been bugging you since I saw you at breakfast this morning. Whatever it is, I can help you. That's what parents are for."

The boy wanted nothing more than to let his father know that it was him that was making him anxious but not at the risk of hearing him turn down his journey proposal. It was hard enough to work up the courage to let him know about it at dinner, like he had planned before, but now? There wasn't a chance he could do it.

But really, wouldn't it be better to tell him about the Pokémon Trainer internship program he found about now rather than mull about it further and risk losing his nerve? Lincoln supposed that divulging him with the truth now would be for the best but that wouldn't make his objective any easier.

"W-well, you see, Dad," Lincoln fumbled out, "I just…I just I wanted to let you know tha-"

Before he could finish, Lynn instantly took his hand off his son's shoulder and returned it back to the handle of his fishing pole.

"Woah!" Lynn exclaimed as he tightened his grip on the pole. "Hold that thought, Lincoln! I think I have a bite!"

Ordinarily, Lincoln would join in on his father's enthusiasm but he just couldn't find to fire within him to engage in the excitement. He was far too despondent about being denied his chance to be honest and get his grand plan initiated right away, even if it didn't involve his mother and sisters.

Sighing woefully, Lincoln just reeled in his own fishing line as he waited for his father's struggle with his catch to come to an end. It didn't take long for the commercial fisherman to finally reel in…

"Another boot! Dang it! How many times am I gonna keep pulling these things in?! That's that ninth one this month!" Lynn grumbled as he reeled the large, black boot in before chucking it past his shoulder. At the sight of the tossed boot, Charles, who had been lounging about in the grass lazily, ran towards it and before the boot could touch the ground, the Pokémon caught it in his teeth and chewed on it with aplomb.

"What a good waste of Basculin bait, too," Lynn further complained as he looked towards his right at the cooler that he brought along. He opened it up and shoveled past layers of ice cubes until he found his plastic, oval container of carved up Basculin that he always used as bait.

"Sorry about that, Lincoln," Lynn apologized as he grabbed a chunk of his bait and slid it effortlessly onto his hook. "Now, what was it you were going to say?"

Lincoln tried to search for that kernel of bravery that he had earlier, that tiny spark of courage that allowed him to open up to his father, but when he couldn't grab onto it, he tossed aside that ambition in a hurry.

"Nothing," Lincoln said in a defeated fashion. He saw the "I'm not buying it" look on his father's face before insisting, "Really, Dad, it's nothing. I'll tell you and Mom tonight at dinner, okay?"

'Better to not steer far from the course, anyways,' Lincoln reasoned. He had wanted to tell him during dinner and that's what he would do, even if the tenseness killed him.

"Well, alright then," Lynn replied, still not completely satisfied but not willing to press the issue any further. For now, he would bask in the tranquility that this summer afternoon brought for him and his son.

Oh yeah, and get a catch that wasn't supposed to be worn on your foot. Seriously, who chucks boots into a lake?!

The Loud Residence. May 29th, 2036. 7:38 PM

The stage is now set and all the required players are assembled. Time is winding down, disaster is almost imminent, and the stakes have never been higher.

Okay, so maybe such a dramatic declaration wasn't necessary for the mundane custom of dinnertime but Lincoln couldn't help himself! The food, freshly caught Barboach, that he and his father reeled in a few hours ago, seemed to taunt him menacingly from the middle of the table, it's glazed eye boring holes into him.

Either that or Lincoln is too freaked out and anxious to make his move like he wanted and is projecting his fears on Pokémon that his family, sans Lily, who could only drink formula and eat mashed baby food, were tearing into like there's no tomorrow.

He looks down at his plate of untouched Barboach chunks and frowns, frustrated at his passiveness. Why couldn't he go through with this? His mother, father, twin sisters, and baby sister were all in one place, surrounding the dinner table like he wanted. Thankfully, though, they weren't paying him any mind to ask what's wrong with him and/or why he hasn't touched his food yet.

That was a relief, at least. At least now, he could summon the wherewithal to begin his course of action without being intruded on. Now, all he needed were but a few moments of self-encouragement and he would be right as rain.

"Hey, Linc?"

Or not.

He snaps out his reverie and follows where the voice came from, looking around at his left until he's staring into the worried eyes of Lana, who has him in his sights like he was a half-eaten potato chip that she dug up in her couch diving expeditions for "essential nutrition". He nearly cringes when he sees the look of concern plastered all over her face and Lincoln can't help but feel guilty at the uneasiness that he inadvertently caused her.

"Oh, uh, h-hey, Lana," Lincoln nervously chuckles. "Need somethin'?"

Lana picks up her fork and points towards his plate.

"You haven't even dug in yet. You feelin' okay, bro?"

"Well…I'm just not all that hungry, I guess," Lincoln reassures to the best of his ability while giving her a shy grin. "Don't worry about it."

A beat of silence ensues before Lana simply replies with a terse and quiet, "Oh."

Another beat of silence. Then another. Then another. Then another. And then everything clicks in Lincoln's mind. He looks at the Barboach in the middle of the dining table and sees nothing but a few slabs of meat left on the skeleton. As he predicted, when he looks back at Lana again, her eyes seem to be pleading to him. The telltale drip of drool, sliding out from the corner of her mouth, only punctuates the validity of his suspicions.

"Yes, Lana, you can have my share of the food," Lincoln laughs, then chortles when he sees Lana drop her fork to reach for his plate with exuberance.

"Thanks, Lincoln! You're the best!"

Her cry of gratitude attracts the attention of everyone else at the table, including a bad-tempered little girl with eyes that exude the greenness of envy.

"Hey!" Lola shouts when she spots her twin closing in on Lincoln's plate, causing Lana to freeze in her tracks. "Why do you get Lincoln's portions of the Barboach?! I want them!"

Lincoln, Lily, and their parents look on as they sense the hostility beginning to bubble to the surface. Lynn and Rita know when to put their foot down and break things up but despite the odds not being in the favor of a peaceful outcome, they like to think that one of these days, their twin daughters will resolve disputes without coming to blows or insults.

Lincoln and Lily, on the other hand, always liked dinner with a show and simply sit back and enjoy the imminent fireworks.

Meanwhile, Lana turns to Lola, determined to fight for what was hers while getting under her twin's skin at the same time.

"Well, first of all," Lana begins with a practiced haughty smirk that she reserves specifically for these occasions, "I'm older than you, which means th-"

"BY TWO MINUTES!"

"Whatever. Anyway, since I'm the oldest, that means I get first dibs. Second, even if that wasn't true, Lincoln gave them to me because unlike you, I'm not a bossy brat," Lana smirks and relishes in the steam that seems to be pouring out of Lola's ears.

However, she regains her composure quickly, a giveaway gesture that suggests that she's come up with a retort of her own.

"Oh yeah?! Well, at least I'm not a butt sniffer!" Lola sneers with folded arms.

"H-hey!" Lana objects with furrowed eyebrows. "That was one time and the only reason I did it was because I wanted to know what the big deal was since Charles does it all the time!"

"Butt sniffer, butt sniffer, butt sniffer, butt sniffer, butt sniffer," Lola chants as she jabs her finger into Lana's chest with each succession of her insult.

"Shut up, Lola!"

"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuutt sniffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" Lola taunts with an intentionally irritating singsong voice and follows up her mockery by tugging down on Lana's red hat, causing Lana's head to violently jerk backwards.

She recovers instantly and with an objective that's far from pleasant.

"That does it!" Lana bellows and tackles Lana out of her seat and onto the floor. Lily claps excitedly and giggles as she witnesses her older sisters roll around on the floor, yank at each other's hair, and bite at each other's limbs.

Lynn and Rita, on the other hand, have seen enough and quickly get out of their seats to break up the quarrel. Rita grabs hold of Lola and yanks her away before she can successfully get Lana into a Full Nelson while Lynn holds Lana down before she can spring back up to her feet and go back at it with a flurry of wild punches.

"Girls, that is enough!" Rita exclaims angrily. "You both know that this is unacceptable behavior! How many times have we told you not to fight, especially when we're all eating as a family?!"

"None of you are getting Lincoln's share!" Lynn chimes in. "In fact, you're not getting dessert, either! Instead, you're both going up to your room for the rest of the night!"

This immediately gets the squirming twins to halt their frenetic movements in favor of looking at the floor with downcast demeanors.

Lincoln, who was merely taking everything in as it happened, panics once he realizes what's about to transpire. This was not part of the plan. He needed all the morale support he could get to take the brave step forward.

"Wait!" he shouts, getting the attention of everyone present. "Before you guys send them off…"

He trails off when that queasy feeling in his stomach begins to churn but swallows down his inner bout of nausea to continue.

"There's something I have to tell you all," Lincoln timidly finishes while he looks away from all the stares he's getting.

He snaps his attention back to his family, more specifically, his father, when he hears him let out a whimsical laugh.

"Oooooh, that's right," Lynn chortles as he lightly slaps his forehead with the heel of one hand, "I almost forgot about those internships that I wanted you to look up earlier. You want to tell us about the ones you found, right?"

Lincoln bashfully nods and prays that his pounding heart mercifully stays in his ribcage where it belongs.

"Well, okay then," Lynn agrees while letting Lana off the floor. "If it's important enough for Lola and Lana to hear about, then I suppose I can let them stick around until you're done."

Rita lets Lola go and nudges her back to her seat. In a matter of seconds, Lincoln is the center of needed but anxiety-inducing attention as his family surrounds him from their seats at the dining table.

'Here goes nothing,' Lincoln thinks while bracing himself for the emotional rollercoaster that he knows is sure to follow but hopes won't be too much of a bumpy ride.

"Okay, first of all, there was only one internship I found that interested me. I looked around for hours after I came across it but nothing else piqued my interest quite like this one did.

Second of all, this is one that I really, really want to stick with. I know I've only been spent a day doing research but I know that deep down, this is the one for me."

Lincoln, despite the relative success he's had thus far with making himself heard, can't help but shut his eyes and dread for the worst. The calm, steady tone of his father's voice is the only thing that gets him to slowly open his eyes, one after another.

"Well, if you really feel that way, Lincoln, let's hear about it."

The adrenaline in his body spikes when he realizes he's on the hot seat again but nervousness aside, Lincoln prepares to go to bat once more.

It was time for his next plan of attack; appeal to his parents by presenting the founder of the internship program as the intelligent individual that she was. Lincoln, admittedly, didn't care too much to look up on the establisher. Heck, he couldn't even find pictures of the woman but from what he recalled, she had gone to college and, as if to further showcase her brains, wrote the outline of the program using words that Lincoln had to constantly look into his dictionary to figure out the meaning of.

That had to count for something, right?

"So, anyways, the internship program is run by a professor that has her own lab in Aquacorde Town. Her name is Professor Spruce and she has a Ph.D in both Engineering and Biochemistry," Lincoln rattled off with a bit of grin.

As he predicted, his father's eyes dazzled and his once neutral expression blossomed into a gleeful state. His mother, however, remained as impartial as it did when he started.

Before he could think about why that was, he had to go with the next phase of his plan; slowly but surely give out all the fine details of his desired internship, thus inspiring tolerance in his parents at a steady, manageable rate.

He decided to go with the most radical one first.

"And well…" Lincoln stammered, "t-the thing is…in order for me to do this…I…I-I'm gonna have to leave home for a little w-while."

Lincoln is far too anxious to close his eyes again, wanting to take in everyone's reactions at once to see what he had to deal with.

Lily just cooed and babbled with the best of them while Lola and Lana both stare at him with slightly shocked faces and agape mouths.

Meanwhile, joy is no longer present on his father at all. Instead, a stern, boldened face is all Lincoln can see. He briefly looks towards his mother again and once more, finds her to be giving him nothing more than an impersonal glare.

Although, Lincoln could swear that there was a glint of knowing behind her eyes but he couldn't dwell on it for long as his father's voice called out to him for his attention.

"Is that so?" Lynn questions.

"Y-yes, Dad," Lincoln affirms with a quick nod of his head, "it is so."

"I see," Lynn remarks as he taps the side of his head with his fingers, a sign that he's taking in everything his son has said.

A full minute of silence, in all its tense-filled, nerve-racking "glory", eclipses before the patriarch speaks up.

"You still haven't explained to us what it is that this internship entails and I'm gonna be honest, Lincoln, I don't like how vague you're being. What exactly aren't you telling us that you don't think we'll like?"

Lincoln's eyes widened as he feels the stability of his position wobble and shake underneath him.

"I-I'm not worried about any of them," Lincoln admits as he wrings his hands together nervously. "I'm worried about you."

"Oh?" Lynn asks somewhat irritably. "And why is th-"

"'Cause I know you won't like what it is," Lincoln interrupts with slight firmness in his voice.

Though taken slightly aback by the defiance in Lincoln's tone, Lynn continues, undeterred.

"That depends on what it is. Now, I know you didn't waste all day hoping that I'd just approve of whatever haphazard internship you came across, did you? I expect only the best for my son and you're not going to sully your school efforts by accepting any slipshod opportunity tickles your fancy."

Everyone in the room can sense it; the thick, tense energy that permeates through the atmosphere as the heightened ire of father and son reaches towards a climax.

Lincoln remains silent after his father's supposition and trains his eyes at the table while softly balling his fists.

"Lincoln?" Lynn outwardly seems to beckon but inwardly demands.

No reply.

"Lincoln, are you listening to me?"

Having seen just about enough, Rita places a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Lynn, don't you think you sho-"

Lynn gently pries that hand off without even looking at her. All eyes, except for those of Lincoln's, follow him as he approaches his son, stopping when he's standing right next to him, his shadow looming over his silent son menacingly.

"No, Rita, I want to get to the bottom of this right now. If Lincoln's so anxious about my approval, then he's going to learn if he's going to get it. If he won't, then I'll help him steer in the right direction when he looks for more internships tomorrow."

Once again, his words don't get his son to look up at him or answer him. They do, however, get him to shake slightly in his seat.

"Lincoln?"

Again, no reply.

"Lincoln, you will answer me this inst-"

"It's a Pokémon Trainer internship!" Lincoln bellows as he smacks his open palms against the wood of the table, making the silverware and plates shake and rattle momentarily.

There. It was finally out of his mouth and out in the open. Now, all that was left was to wait for the rejection so he could sully off to bed and mope.

"A…a what?" he hears his father ask in a befuddled manner that Lincoln has never heard from him before.

The bitterness and indignation within him stirs him to getting everything off his chest as he explains, "It's a Pokémon Trainer internship. Professor Spruce is looking for new trainers to promote her technology while they travel Kalos to train and challenge other trainers. The only requirements are that applicants want to explore the region to train Pokémon and fight opponents, which they can only do if they have a Pokémon Handler's license like I do. For some reason, she also specified that they be relatively new and inexperienced to Pokémon battling. Oh, and I think there's some 'aptitude test', too but I don't think I should have a problem with that. All I have to do is turn in an online application and see if I can get in."

"And…you're saying that you wish to sign up for this internship program?" Lynn asks, not missing a beat. "Is that correct?"

Lincoln vigorously nods his head and looks up at his father for the first time since he walked over to him.

"Yes, Dad. That's correct. I'll know if I got it on June 9th, one day before Clyde leaves on his journey."

The room stills as the following silence only furthers to build towards the contention that's sure to proceed.

And then…then Lynn laughs. Genuinely, honestly laughs. It's Lincoln's turn to be puzzled now as he takes in the mirthful, jovial expression his father has as he mellows out of his laughter to address him cordially.

"Well, it's no wonder you were worried about me. Lincoln, you really didn't think I'd ever let you do this, right?"

Anticipating for the doom to befall him was one thing but hearing the closure surmounted Lincoln's fortitude.

The boy can only stare back at his father, hurt evident on his face. Lynn doesn't take it in at all, choosing to explain himself to his son instead.

"Leave for home to do what? Travel around an entire region by yourself? And for what? To train Pokémon for battling? And then what, Lincoln? What will you do with yourself then? Last I checked, Pokémon Trainers don't have a salary."

Lincoln snaps out of his sullen stupor to look around for signs of encouragement from his sisters of mother. By now, his mother has looked away, clearly distraught from the outcome of this altercation. Meanwhile, Lana plays with a pigtail of her while also looking away. The only one to meet his eyes with Lola, whom to Lincoln's dismay, is wearing a smirk on her face that is far from benevolent, almost as if she was satisfied with the hot water that her brother has found himself in.

The boy can sense his meager handle of control slip away and hurriedly relies on his last trump card left up his sleeve.

"B-but that's the thing, Dad, I-I won't be by myself," Lincoln fumbles out meekly, "See, Clyde's leaving home in a few weeks to learn about the in's and out's of being a Pokémon Ranger and I was hoping that you'd accept so we can go live out our dreams together. He's really smart, too, Dad. We both graduated from ATPA at the top of our class, remember? We can both look out for each other and.."

The hardened glare and scowl he gets from his father effectively silences him into submission. Defeated, Lincoln slinks into his chair.

"Lincoln, traveling through an entire region while living off the land are two completely different things from studying and going to class. Besides, a Pokémon Ranger is a job, Lincoln. Clyde's striving for an occupation that will provide for society and for a family.

Winning battles and tournaments is nice and all but that fame and glory won't last forever. Besides, you can't be the best all the time. What will happen when someone comes along and beats you and no matter what, you can't defeat them? Then what, Lincoln? Are you just going to run back home with your tail tucked between your legs without anything else in the world to lean on and all because you never bothered to use your talents for something productive?

I understand that you're young and that you think you have all the time in the world to play around but you can't afford to make mistakes and get sidetracked with these whimsical little fantasies. You ought to start living for the future, Lincoln, not getting swept up with sensations that will only lead to your downfall."

"B-but…" Lincoln starts up again once he feels the slightest twinge of inspiration to fight back but once more, loses his nerve.

Rita, sensing the toxicity of the situation building towards dangerous heights, silently motions for her twin daughters to leave and head to their room and to take Lily with them. There's some resistance on Lola's part but she eventually gives in to her mother's defiant glare and grabs Lily from her high chair before following behind Lana.

Once they've headed up the stairs, Lynn is back on the offensive with his input.

"And even if all of that wasn't true, even if Pokémon training was the most stable, financially secure job in the world, the fact of the matter is, Lincoln, you are far too young to be wandering around Kalos and battling dangerous Pokémon and strangers just for the thrill of it. What if something happens to you, huh? What do you expect us to do with ourselves if you get hurt? Or worse?"

"I…I told you, Dad," Lincoln feebly urges with not that much left in the tank, "I can handle it. And like I said, Clyde will-"

"I don't care what the McBrides do with their son!" Lynn roars and pounds a fist against the dining table, causing Lincoln to squirm about fearfully in his seat. "You are my son, which means that I am responsible for making sure that you don't go out there and make a complete fool of yourself by doing something you'll regret!"

It was those last few words that did the trick.

"Fool". "Regret".

Those were things that his own father, the man he looked up to and loved, associated with his ambitions. He thought he couldn't do it. He thought he'd fail. He thought that…because he thought that he was a failure.

Gone was the fear, the apprehension, the timidity the submerged Lincoln into a state of uneasy compliance.

Now, all that's left is unyielding rage, rage the he plans on letting loose on the man responsible for dragging him down.

Pushing his chair back, harshly scraping the legs of it against the floor, Lincoln stands up and turns towards his father, trembling and shaking as his conscience urges him to keep a hold of his anger.

He doesn't listen.

"Oh, so now you care about responsibility, huh?! Since when do you care about being responsible?!" Lincoln barks with bared teeth, pointing an accusatory finger at his father.

"Lincoln Loud," Lynn fires back with a snarl that matched the ferocity of a Gyrados, "you will learn the meaning of respect and you will learn it now! I am your-"

"Father?! Is that what you were gonna say?! Don't make me laugh!" Lincoln barrels through without the slightest bit of remorse.

He inwardly smiles in triumph at the aghast, wounded look on his father's face but if Lincoln knows anything, it's that he's not even close to being done.

"Between you outright rejecting my dreams and you leaving home for days to fish for your dumb company, I can't even tell what you are anymore!"

"Lincoln! Lynn! ENOUGH!"

The stern, pleading cry of Rita causes both father and son to look towards the Loud matriarch, who appears to be one-part furious, one-part spooked, and two-parts devastated.

Like a Deerling in the headlights, Lincoln makes a break for it, shouting out angrily as he bolts past his father to run up the stairs. He doesn't pay any mind to Lola and Lana, who were standing by the top step, clearly eavesdropping on the argument downstairs. All he wants is solitude and the feeble grasp on his inner peace that it can afford.

Downstairs, Lynn winces when he hears the slamming of a door come from upstairs and slumps into Lincoln's seat at the dining table.

Catatonically, he stares off into space, completely out of sync with his surroundings, not paying any mind to his wife walking up behind him and rubbing his shoulder softly with her hand.

"Whenever you're ready, I need to have a word with you in the living room about…what just happened between you and your son. I don't have to tell you that you don't have much of a choice."

After heading upstairs and making sure that none of her children are up and snooping in on her, Rita returns to find that her husband wasn't where she left him. She surmises that he's already taken a spot on the living room couch and when she looks to see for herself, there he sits, face buried in his open palms.

She takes a spot next to her moping husband is about to speak first but he does it first

"Rita…was I too hard on him?" Lynn feebly asks.

Without even looking up, he can tell his wife as a "Well, duh" look on her face and quickly reprimands himself.

"Wait…don't answer that. Of course, I was. Let me rephrase that."

Lynn rubbed his temples and breathed deeply through his nose, fighting the urge to break down into tears.

"What I meant was, did I make the right call by telling him that signing up for that internship was forbidden?"

"That depends on your feelings about the matter," Rita told him firmly. "As a father, do you think this opportunity is in Lincoln's best interests?

"Of course not!" Lynn retorted immediately as he spun around to look at Rita. Once his eyes locked with her stern ones, he quickly shied away from her gaze.

"I mean…I-I guess so," he amended.

"Oh? So, are you certain or uncertain? Don't change your answer because of how you want others to feel. Stand firm on your own convictions."

"That's just it, Rita," Lynn lamented in self-deprecation. "I don't…I don't have any convictions."

"Of course, you do, dear," Rita assured as she patted Lynn's leg, "You love your children more than anything in the world. We both do. That's your conviction."

Lynn sighed mournfully and shook his head.

"No, not like that."

He looks down at the hand on his leg and covers with one of his own.

"What I mean is…I don't know what to do about this, about him. I turned him down off pure instinct because I always thought that if my son was going to make something out of himself, he wouldn't do it by going down the path of an impulse-bound glory hog without a clue, especially without us to be there to guide him back to his senses."

Rita smoothed her thumb over his hand when she saw him trembling slightly.

"But then, when he told me off like that…when he said that I rejected his dreams, I gained a new perspective. In a way, one could say that when I turned away his dreams, I turned him away. And…and when you think about it, maybe that's true. I've never seen him act like that before. I don't know how long he's been wishing to become a Pokémon Trainer but if it's been for a long time then…"

Lynn grit his teeth and grabbed onto his wife's hand harder than he intended.

"Then I've destroyed him," Lynn states in a scornful, harsh whisper. "And the worst thing is, I still don't have a clue if that was for the best or not. I can't commit, Rita. Where's the conviction in that?"

After his painful confession, Rita didn't know what to think now. All she could do was go back to what she overheard his son talk about earlier and how concerned she was about his confrontation he would have to have with his father on the subject.

"I think I have an idea about how much he wants to do this," Rita said without really thinking.

That at least got her husband to look at her, breaking out of his self-pity for the moment so she decided to work with that angle further.

"Earlier today, when I was about to do some laundry, I heard my son talking to Clyde with his Holo Caster in his room. I heard just about everything from him: how worried he was about telling you about his trainer goal, how happy he was when Clyde urged him onward to tell you everything. I heard it all."

"And what do you have to say about all of that?" Lynn queried.

Rita took on a smile and divulged, "Well, it's like you said, Lynn, Lincoln is a boy with the potential to make a name for himself in the world. If he thinks he can do something with this internship, and more specifically, with his Kalos expedition, I can't find it within me to turn him down."

She sniggered when he saw Lynn look at her like she sprouted Heracross wings out of her back.

"But…how can you be so calm about it?" Lynn faltered with desperation. "Aren't you worried that something might happen to him?"

"Of course, I do," Rita attested, "but if I never took risks, I would've listened to my parents and not marry the most wonderful man in the entire world."

Though flattered by the compliment, Lynn's primary setting was still on "worrywart".

"Rita, this is more than a risk, it's a gamble and a huge one at that. You know I'd do anything for Lincoln, for any of my children, but I can't help but feel like…I dunno, that something might happen to him and-"

"You sound less sure of yourself than before," Rita interrupted with a cocky smirk. "Are you sure you don't want your son to follow his dreams?"

"I…I-I guess?" Lynn answered tepidly.

"Lynn, I want to ask you a question and please try not to be offended by it," Rita asked with sincerity.

"What is it?"

Rita looked away at the floor, not wanting to meet Lynn's scrutiny head-on.

"Do you think Lincoln would get hurt out there if he went or are you just worried he'll fail because you've felt like a failure before and you don't want that happening to him?"

She could only guess that she had wounded his pride with that line. She hadn't meant to do it but it was the only thing that Rita could think of that explained Lynn's reluctance about letting Lincoln be off on his way like he wanted. The silence she got was a strong indication that she hit right on the mark.

With that knowledge, she got up and faced Lynn, who was bowing his head in shame.

"If you truly believe that Lincoln getting into training at his age isn't the right call, you need to tell Lincoln that he's not going no matter what and put your foot down on the matter for good. I may not agree with it but I'll be right behind you if you honestly feel as though Lincoln shouldn't pursue his ambitions.

But if you happen to go against that, tell him that you and I both support him and we'll be here for him, no matter what."

After that, Rita left him to wallow in his thoughts, hoping that he would be honest about his feelings either way. Before he went up the stairs to her and her husband's bedroom, she gave him one lasting glance before going about her way.

The darkness of his room failed to replicate the darkness and melancholy that simmered in Lincoln's soul as he curled up in his bed with his head laid against his tear-stained pillow.

Lincoln didn't know how long it had been since he told his father off like that but to him, it might as well have been an eternity. God, how he wished that he hadn't said anything at all. If only he kept his stupid mouth shut instead of going with what he wanted, he'd be sad and frustrated but at least it'd only be his problem and not anyone else's.

He hadn't meant what he said to him, how he didn't know who he was just because he had a job that kept him from home for days at a time. It wasn't his fault he had to make sacrifices to look out for ungrateful children like him. All those long, taxing nights out at sea and for what? For him to come back home so his son can mouth off to him?

But still, Lincoln couldn't help but feel hurt at what he thought his father implied; that he would regret becoming a Pokémon Trainer. He never heard anyone, much less his own father, express doubt in his decisions before. But not just his decisions, his dreams, the fantasies that he felt embodied him as a person. Lincoln would've honestly felt better getting smacked across the face than listen to that than endure that.

Now, all that was left for him to do was try to sleep, try to prevail against his mind that replayed that painful fight over and over again.

"Lincoln?"

Lincoln shot up and looked towards his locked door. He felt his heart sink and his stomach twist and constrict.

'Not him. Not now.'

"Lincoln, we need to talk. Open up."

Lincoln turned on his lamp, instantly cutting the darkness away and sighing defeatedly. The voice outside his room wasn't going to go away any time soon and if Lincoln was going to face the music, at least he could get it out of the way and not have to worry about it tomorrow.

Shuffling towards the door slowly, Lincoln opened it and there, standing outside his room, was Lynn, looking down at him with emotions that Lincoln was too fearful to decipher.

"Hey, son."

"H-hey, Dad."

Lynn motioned for Lincoln to have a seat on his bed. Lincoln obeyed but didn't look up as his father took a seat right next to him. Father and son stayed silent for what Lincoln guessed was about a god five minutes.

Finding the resolve to be brave, Lincoln looked up at his father, intent on making things right. If he was going to be brash and stupid enough to reprimand his father like that, than he owed it to him to be a man and right his wrongs.

"Um…Dad, I-I'm really sorry about…about yelling at you like that. I should've never said those horrible things about you. You're the best dad anyone could hope to have and I don't have the right to tell you otherwise."

Immediately, Lincoln was beside himself as he was wrapped in a loose side hug, despite his dreary expectations on what should've happened there and then.

"It's okay, son. I forgive you," Lynn said steadily. "But Lincoln…I need to ask for your forgiveness, too."

Lincoln's eyes widened, "M-my forgiveness? But why?"

"I've been holding you back all this time and until now, I didn't realize that I was until your mother told me that I've been doing it all along," Lynn scoffed bitterly, clearly angry with himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Lincoln asked, curious at his father's enigmatic words.

Lynn released his son and turned around until he was directly facing him.

"Lincoln, do you know why I became a fisherman in the first place?"

"Yeah," Lincoln affirmed with a nod. "You said that you love the seas and the thrill that comes with catching Pokémon with your quick wits, dexterity, and-"

"Throw that bunk out the window, Lincoln," Lynn cut off with the shake of his head. "That was all a lie."

Lincoln only gave him a blank stare. Lynn sighed and ruffled a hand through his hair.

"Lincoln, the reason I took up fishing as a career was because I had nothing left. I never graduated from school like you did. When I was growing up in Kanto, I was too stubborn to take school seriously. I didn't want to learn anything that required work and studying. I'd rather do something "cool", like surfing or motorbike riding or…just about anything than hit the books.

So then, after I got held back for the fourth time, my parents had enough with me and forced me to live with my uncle in Johto so he could straighten me out. I was twelve when that happened. Unlike my parents, my uncle never told me to do anything with myself. The only thing he did was teach me how to fish. The reason? Well, he wasn't going to have his nephew not know how to feed himself."

Despite everything, Lincoln let out a tiny laugh, though his father seemed anything but annoyed at that.

"I hated it. In fact, I'm still not that big of a fan of it. The only reason why I put up with it is because it's the only way I can earn money for the family and because it lets us have some bonding time together," Lynn said as he smiled brightly at his son.

His world-weary expression returned as he continued to spin his tale.

"Anyways, like I said, I didn't enjoy it at first but since it wasn't anything like learning from teachers at school, I learned to tolerate it. Once I learned that I had a knack for it, I started looking for work, anywhere I could and before too long, when I was twenty-one, I was catching Pokémon for markets.

Despite the taxing, boring work, I thought I had it made since I was making enough money to sustain myself but then, everything changed when I met your mother four years after I became a commercial fisherman. To make a long story short, despite the fact that we loved each other, I could never get her parents' blessing to marry her because they thought I was a loser. No way were they going to let some smelly 'ol fisherman marry their school teacher aspiring, Master's degree earning daughter."

Lincoln frowned, "Well, that's dumb to think because you're not a loser."

"That's what your mother always told me," Lynn said with a laugh, "but regardless, I still felt like they were right about me. Even now, I can't help but feel like they were onto something. And even if they were wrong, once your mother and I got hitched and moved to Kalos to start a new life for ourselves, I vowed to be the best father I could be for our children. I wouldn't let them make the same mistakes I did, not taking their education seriously and all. They would have a future, they wouldn't be a bum like me.

And then, when you came into our lives, I was amazed and proud when your diligence shone through and you barely had to get me to prompt you to take your schoolwork seriously. Of course, having your mother be a teacher at ATPA certainly helped you stay in line, didn't it?"

"Sure did," Lincoln chortled.

Sure, having his own mother as his is teacher was a bit of a source of social awkwardness, but if anything, at least it pushed him to avoid the painful experience of his own mother giving him anything less than a B-.

"Anyways," Lynn continued, "you did everything that I never did when I was your age and I was so caught up in the euphoria of seeing you go farther than me that I…I unknowingly clamped a tight grip on you. I let my insecurity of myself dictate how you should live your life and all because I couldn't see past my own shortcomings."

Despite his self-deprecation, Lynn suddenly let out a hearty laugh and ruffled Lincoln's hair.

"I should've guessed that you would've wanted to do this, what with all those Pokémon tournament battles you'd love to act out in your room when you thought no one was watching you."

"Daaaaaaaaaad," Lincoln whined half-heartedly as his face flushed lightly.

He got over doing that when he was seven and Lincoln thought that he had been discrete the whole time. Apparently, he wasn't discrete enough.

"Anyways, son, I want you to know that I'm sorry for getting in your way. You've proven that you're way more capable than me when it comes to making life-changing decisions and I should've trusted your instincts from the beginning instead of hoping that they'd align with my plans for you."

With that, Lynn hugged his son once more, content with everything that played out. His bond with his son was mended and he was now willing to let his son be his own person.

But now, there was only one thing that was left for him to do. If he wanted to prove that he had truly turned over a new leaf, he was going to have to let his little Fletching leave the nest and grow into a proud, mighty Talonflame.

"So, with that being said…" Lynn said, intentionally dragging his words.

"Y-yeah?" Lincoln asked as a tiny kernel of hope took root, sensing that his father was going to tell him something that he would like.

"Both your mother and I talked before I came up here and…"

Lincoln's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Could it be? Was this really happening?

"We both agree that you are more than ready to take up your Kalos expedition and sign up for that Professor Spruce internship."

Instead of belting out a fast stream of expressions of gratitude, like Lynn expected, Lincoln just leapt out of his spot on the bed and clamped onto his father in a tight hug.

"Woah, woah, woah, easy there, ya little Mankey," Lynn laughed as he pried his son off of him to place him back down where he was. "I've got a few conditions for you to keep up with if you're going to go through with this."

Lincoln nodded enthusiastically as he squirmed excitedly about.

"First, you're only leaving home if Professor Spruce accepts you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Lincoln promised dutifully without erasing his big, toothy smile.

"But then again, seeing how smart you are, I doubt that's going to be an issue. Second, I still have concerns about you walking about in a giant continent with only you and Clyde so make sure that you contact us with your Holo Caster and give us updates on what's going on with you. Understand?"

Lincoln gave another "Yes, sir" and waited for his father to give him more demands to keep up with.

"Good. Now then," Lynn said as he leaned a little closer, "third, and most important of all, I want you to give everything that you are to Pokémon training but all the same, once you feel like the thrill is gone, or you've accomplished everything you've wanted out of your journey, come back home and start looking for real work."

"Understood," Lincoln replied. "Thanks, Dad."

"No, son," Lynn corrected as he stood up off the bed, "thank you for being the best son a father could ask for. I love you and I'm proud of you. Never forget that."

Then, Lynn walked towards the door but stopped in front of it to give his son one last look for the evening, one of pride and gratification before bidding his son a goodnight.

"Goodnight, Dad," Lincoln said and sat innocently on the bed as his father left him and closed the door behind him.

Once he thought it was safe, Lincoln hopped up and down on his bed in jubilee, springing into the air with frenetic abandon.

Finally, the haunting worry of his father's rejection had flown past him and beyond that, he wasn't disappointed or angry with him after all.

He didn't have a care in the world now and in return, he hoped that the world would care to continue for that levity for the days ahead.

The Loud Residence. May 30th, 2036. 8:16 AM

Upon leaving their room to officially start the day, Lola and Lana couldn't quite pretend that things would be normal. They still had the angry words of their brother buzzing about in their heads, as if they were an angry swarm of Beedrill giving chase to prey or intruders that haphazardly wandered into their territory.

They didn't have time to dwell on it, though, as before they could head off downstairs to eat breakfast, Lincoln came strolling out of his room, whistling a merry tune. Lola and Lana turned to each other and exchanged puzzled looks. Just what could Lincoln be so happy about?

Lola, in particular, was a bit peeved at her brother's content state of mind and stopped him in his tracks before he could he could walk any further.

"Oh, hey, Lincoln," Lola said snootily. "You seem awful chipper for someone who's grounded."

"Maybe he found some Cherri berries in the trash like I did a few days ago," Lana suggested with a shrug. "They don't taste bad if they're not rotting."

"Oooooooor…" Lola declared with a hair flip, "maybe he's finally understood how privileged he is to have such a perfect sister like me in his life. I knew he wasn't dumb enough to not come around eventually."

Lincoln glared daggers at Lola, shaking his head at her condescending remark.

"Um…no, Lola," Lincoln said before scrunching up his face in disgust and turning to Lana. "And, ew, definitely not, Lana."

He soon reverted to his happy-go-lucky self as he bent down on one knee to get at the same eye level as his twin sisters.

"Actually, I've got some great news that I wanted to tell you both about! Not only am I not grounded but Mom and Dad are letting me go with Clyde if Professor Spruce accepts my application!"

A huge smile broke out on Lana's face as she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Lincoln's neck in a tight hug.

"Woah! You mean, you get to become a Pokémon Trainer, after all?!" Lana asked excitedly.

Lincoln returned the hug, scooping Lana up in the air as he replied, "Looks that way to me!"

"Alright!" Lana cheered and laughed giddily when Lincoln started spinning around in circles, chanting at him to go faster and faster as he did so.

The "ride" only lasted for a few seconds, though, as Lincoln put Lana down in favor of turning to Lola. If her giant, toothy grin was any indication, she was just as happy as Lana was but she hadn't said anything to make that sentiment concrete in Lincoln's eyes.

"Aren't you happy for me, Lola?" Lincoln asked as he eyed Lola's stiff, unmoving form.

"I. Am. Very. Happy. For. You," Lola sounded off robotically through the teeth of her static…and to Lincoln's obsservation, somewhat unnerving smile.

Brushing it off as his mind playing games with him, Lincoln just bent down and kissed Lola on the cheek, missing out on the way Lola's right eye twitched as she remained frozen in place.

"Welp, I'm off to get started on that application! See ya 'round, you two!" Lincoln said and turned back to his room to begin working on it.

Once Lincoln was out of sight, Lana was yanked by the collar of her overalls by Lola and dragged towards their room.

"Lola, what are you doing? I wanna eat-"

"Shut it," Lola snapped as she flung her bedroom door opened and pushed Lana inside.

Looking around to make sure that they weren't being followed or spied on, Lola got in her room and shut the door quietly behind her.

What Lincoln had just told her…it couldn't be allowed. Not if she had anything to say about it.

25 minutes later…

"Can you believe Mom and Dad would do this?!" Lola ranted as she paced back and forth in front of her bed where Lana was laying on while digging a finger through her nose for "gold". "I mean, our irresponsible hooligan of a brother goes wild and yells at our dad and they just let him do what he wants?! This is…this is…"

Lola trailed off when her eyes briefly caught the sight of her clearly uninterested sister picking her nose.

"Lana!"

"Huh?" Lana uttered as she regained her bearings and turned to Lola, her finger still comically wedged in her left nostril.

"Were you listening to a word I've been saying for the past twenty minutes?!" Lola asked indignantly, cringing at Lana's disgusting habit.

"Define 'listening'," Lana retorted and proceeded to continue her booger excavation.

Truthfully, she always listened to Lola, no matter how much of a prissy crybaby Lana thought she could act like while she cast her burdens upon her through her ranting and raving.

However, she only did so when she felt that Lola was being honest with herself and Lana could tell from a glance; Lola was acting completely disingenuous.

"Ugh! You're impossible!" Lola sneered. "Look, the point is, we cannot allow Lincoln to leave!"

"Why not? Aren't you happy for him?" Lana asked, flicking away a tiny glob of dried mucus from out of her nose.

Normally, that would get Lola to gag and lash out, but she was far too engrossed in her tantrum to pay Lana much mind.

"No! Why would I be happy for someone who gets to tell off our dad and be allowed to do what his heart desires?! It's not fair!" Lola complained and stomped her foot down to show her dissatisfaction.

Lana smirked. Not even her foot stamping had any heart to it. She had just about enough of Lola's pretending now. It was time to pull back the curtain on Lola's true feelings and Lana had a good inkling about what they were.

"Hmmmmm, I don't think that's why you're mad," Lana scoffed lightly as she got off the bed to walk over to Lola to stare her down face-to-face. "In fact, I know that's not why you're mad."

Lola spluttered for a moment but fired back quickly with, "Oh, and what's that supposed to mean, huh, Lana?!" and grabbed Lana by the straps of her overalls to tug her closer until their noses touched.

"Easy; you'll miss Lincoln when he's gone."

Lana guffawed when Lola released her and held her cheeks in a useless attempt to hide the blush that was spreading across her face.

"D-don't be ridiculous!" Lola denied as she glared at her amused twin sister. "Why would I miss Lincoln?! H-He's nothing more than-"

"The best brother in the whole, wide world and someone you'll miss after he's left us?" Lana interrupted with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Exactly!" Lola said without thinking.

It took about three seconds for Lola to realize her error and felt her face grow hotter than it already was.

"I-I mean…no, what I meant w-was, I'll…ugh! You're wrong, Lana! You hear me?! Wrooooong!"

Lola charged out the room, leaving Lana behind to chortle in delight at how easily she saw through her sister's act. Once Lola made it to the bathroom, she locked herself inside and leaned against the door. Her mind was racing with Lana's words, the ones that dared to paint the picture of Lola missing the company of, out of all people, Lincoln!

How could Lana be so stupid? What was there to miss about Lincoln? His habit of reading comic books in his underwear? His disgusting love for peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches? His hogging of the TV when she wanted to watch her romantic dramas? His meddling when he wouldn't let her train Cliff, to be a proper Pokémon Contest competitor, in peace?

His patience when he helped her with homework that she struggled with? His boo-boo kisses that he'd always give her when she hurt herself? His tender approach when he brushed her hair whenever her mother was too busy? His piggyback rides that made her feel like a queen riding a noble steed?

Lola snapped out of her mulling when she felt moisture running down her cheeks. She rubbed at her face vigorously until those stupid tears were gone.

Even her mind was playing tricks with her! No, she wouldn't miss Lincoln! She wouldn't, she wouldn't, she wouldn't!

But all the same, Lola knew that she had to do something. Lana was clearly trying to keep it together with the news of her brother's departure. The poor girl was clearly broken up inside and if she was devastated, she could only imagine how Lily would feel once her brother would leave them all behind to gallivant off into Kalos to do heaven knows what.

It was there and then that she made up her mind on what she was going to do. Lola promised herself that she would do whatever it took to convince Lincoln to stay but she knew it wouldn't be easy. Her first thought was destroying that darn laptop of his but figured that Lincoln would just ask his parents for theirs to use and there was no way she'd go as far as to intentionally destroy her parent's stuff.

Then, another idea roosted in her head and she chuckled wickedly to herself while the idea made itself at home.

Now there was a solution.

Meanwhile, in Lincoln's room, the white-haired youth had his laptop resting on his lap as he laid in his bed with Cliff curled up next to him.

"Now, let's see here…" Lincoln muttered to himself as he looked upon the empty application that his laptop screen presented to him. He had skimmed through it the night before, taking special note of the aptitude test that was attached at the end of it. He'd deal with that later. The first thing he felt like doing was filling out the general information section.

"'Name'," Lincoln read aloud as his eyes scanned the screen. "Pssh, that's an easy one."

As quick as a flash, Lincoln typed out his name where the application designated it be placed. He looked a bit lower at the next required portion that had yet to be filled in.

"'Date of birth'. Quite the headscratcher, eh, Cliff?" Lincoln chortled as he gave his pet Purugly a quick scratch on the head.

"Puuuuur," the Pokémon mewled contently, loving the brief bit of attention he was getting.

Lincoln chuckled at his reaction and returned to the task at hand.

"Alrighty then, next up is…"

Next up was figuring out where that shift of weight in his bed came from. He closed his laptop, put it off to the side, and looked up to find…

"Lola?"

Lincoln looked on at Lola and felt a nervous sweat coming on. There she was, with that creepy looking grin from earlier. Lincoln didn't pay too much mind to it before but now that he got a good look, he couldn't help but squirm about nervously.

"Hi, Lincoln," Lola greeted with flair. "How is the most amazing brother in the entire known and unknown galaxy doing on this fine Friday morning?"

And now sugary compliments, too? Just where the heck was all of this coming from? Was this all a ploy? A prelude to carnage that she planned to unleash on him? Alarms rang off in Lincoln's head, telling him to get out of there as fast as he could but he couldn't urge his frightened limbs to spur into action.

"Um…fine, I guess," Lincoln timidly answered, swallowing in response to his slightly dry throat.

"That's good, that's good," Lola remarked offhandedly as she pulled off her pink gloves and laid them down beside her.

Then, she sat right in front of Lincoln's bare feet, much to Lincoln's growing confusion.

"Soooooo, I was thinking that your feet must be pretty sore, right? I mean, all that jumping you did, after Dad gave you the news, surely must've done a number on 'em."

Lincoln recalled to the events of last night. After his dad left him, admittedly, he had started jumping around on the bed in pure euphoria. He had done it loud and long enough to get complaints from everyone in the house, especially from Lola.

But his feet weren't feeling sore at all. So, if that was what Lola was concerned about, for whatever reason, he would tell her not to worry about them.

"Well, not really but-"

"Of course, I'm right. Glad you agree," Lola said as she gently grabbed Lincoln's left foot with both hands. "Allow me to soothe you with my delicate touch."

"Lola, I don't think th…"

His protests died, no, melted into a soft sigh the instant the smooth pads of Lola's thumbs pressed into the arch of his foot. Lincoln didn't know why Lola was doing this but as she continued her ministrations, kneading his instep with her palms, he couldn't find any reason to object to this gratifying attention he was treated to.

After a few minutes, Lola finally spoke up as she switched to his right foot.

"Feels great, doesn't it?" she asked with a hint of smug satisfaction in her voice.

"Yeaaaah," Lincoln sighed when he felt her knuckles pressing into the sole of his foot.

"And it's only something that you can get here at home," Lola remarked. "Remember that, Lincoln."

While her brother looked up at the ceiling, dazed and content at her massage, Lola inwardly chortled at how everything was going according to plan.

It was simple; act nice to Lincoln all day until the bonehead realized how good he had it here at home and forgot all about Professor Spruce and her dumb internship. It was more than he deserved, what with him wanting to leave them behind and all, but she had to press on for Lily and Lana's sake. They (and totally not her) would be crushed without Lincoln in their lives and Lola couldn't live with herself if she couldn't do something to stop him from hurting her sisters for his own selfish pursuits.

After about ten minutes, Lola wrapped up her handiwork and gave Lincoln's foot a soft pat to stir him out of his content stupor. Once their eyes met, Lola said, with a practiced smile, "If you need anything else, dear brother of mine, just let me know."

And with that, Lola shuffled off the bed, taking her gloves with her as she walked out of his room and closed the door behind her.

Lincoln wiggled his treated foot about, mulling over what had just happened. Despite the little tendrils of pleasure that were still floating about in his head, his concern overrode his contentment.

This was completely unlike Lola in every way imaginable. First of all, he figured that the last thing on Earth that she would want to do is give foot rubs, especially after she drew the short straw during their last visit at great-aunt Shirley's house and had to rub her nasty, fungus festering feet for nearly an hour. The poor girl was traumatized well after that and couldn't even look at her own toes without feeling nauseous for at least a month.

Second of all, Lola wasn't usually this…charitable. Oh, she wasn't all bad but Lincoln couldn't describe Lola as altruistic. There had to be a reason behind her actions just now, probably something that Lola wanted from him but didn't want to open up about. If that was true, then Lincoln had to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible.

'But what could it be? What does she want from me?'

Deciding to leave that be for now, Lincoln groaned in frustration and picked up his laptop, intent on getting through his application and-

'Wait a second,' Lincoln thought to himself as his face took on a mischievous smile at an idea that came to mind.

Like he had said to himself before, Lola was acting way differently than she normally would. Something had to have caused this strange behavior from her and if it was all an act, like Lincoln thought, then with just enough prodding, he could get her to snap and show her true colors.

With Lincoln's plan all mapped out, he opened up his laptop and got right back to work on his application, all while thinking about what to have Lola do next.

If she really was keen on doing whatever Lincoln wanted for the day, he'd have a field day for the next couple of hours.

That evening…

Lincoln clicked the "Send" button on the email that had his application attached to it, watching as his ticket to freedom successfully shipped off to Professor Spruce's inbox. He put his laptop back under his bed and smiled. That aptitude test was a lot easier than he thought it'd be. It wasn't really hard at all; the questions were about general Pokémon know-how like the number of different types and the status conditions that they could inflict, stuff that Lincoln learned about in ATPA long ago.

The only peculiar part of the test was the one part that wasn't really like a test at all; the part where he had to give a short-written response, with at least 250 words but less than 500, on what he wanted to gain out of the internship. In the end, he could only say the he wanted to win the Lumiose Conference and defeat the Kalos League Champion. It was the simple truth and Lincoln was happy with his 367-word answer when it was all said and done.

But regardless, he knew that his day couldn't end like this. Not without getting to the bottom of Lola's antics. Although he was happy with the progress he made in getting Lola to crack, sensing that her resolve was slowly chipping away with each request, it still wasn't enough. Getting Lola to make him a peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwich didn't work. Asking her to clean his room didn't work, either. Getting her to do his laundry produced dissatisfactory results.

Just what could he do to make her snap? Lola was being especially stubborn, more than she had ever been before. Nothing short of making her stick her face into one of Lily's dirty diapers would…

Hold on…

Oh, yes. That was sure to do the trick.

"Ooooooooooh, Lola?!" Lincoln bellowed, knowing that Lola would come scurrying to his room in no time at all to greet him with a false sunny disposition.

Soon enough, within seconds, Lola raced into his room, needing a few seconds to catch her breath as she leaned over and sucked in much needed air before leaping onto Lincoln's bed, staring at him with her big blue eyes and once again, giving him a dutiful, big grin.

"Yes, Lincoln?"

Lincoln stifled the urge to chuckle. Who did she think she was fooling? Her teeth looked like they were ready to chew into him and tear out his organs one by one and her eyes were glazed with transparent fury.

"I was just wondering, you think you can change Lily for me? Mom wanted me to do it but I'm faaaaaar too busy to take care of that. There's just so many comics I could be reading right now."

He didn't miss the way her eye twitched and knew he had to throw more salt in the wound.

'Just a little bit further.'

"Great! I knew you'd understand! Thanks again, Lol-"

"That does it!" Lola yelled at the top of her lungs and Lincoln could swear that her roar caused the entire house to shake. "I can't take another second of this!"

With a mighty leap, Lola tackled Lincoln down and yanked him up the lapels of his shirt until her nose bumped against his. From his vantage point, Lincoln could clearly see the veins in Lola's forehead and neck swelling and her teeth grinding into each other as she bore her fangs at him.

"Who do you think you are, huh?! What makes you think you can just..."

Lincoln braced himself for more of her diatribe but after that last word, she merely dropped her grip on Lincoln and bowed her head, hiding her eyes from him under the shadow of her blonde bangs. Lincoln sat up a bit, trying to get a feel on what was happening by getting a better view of Lola's face.

"Just what, Lola?"

"J-just…" was all she could say and by now, Lincoln realized that her voice was shaky and choked up, almost as if she were trying to hold back from crying.

Just what was it that he did that made her act like this?

"Lola?" Lincoln asked out of concern.

When he didn't get a response, Lincoln reached out a hand to tilt up Lola's head to get a good look at her expression.

"Lola, what's wr-"

His hand was swiftly slapped away as Lola looked back up at him. Lincoln couldn't dwell on the pain in his hand; he was far too busy dwelling on the pain evident on Lola's face. She had the same mad look as before but with a noticeable difference.

Tears. Genuine, angry tears were streaking down her face, running into her makeup, and smearing her skin.

"You're what's wrong, you stupid jerk!" Lola shrieked. "You're my big brother! You're Lana's big brother! You're Lily's big brother! You're supposed to be here!"

Once that loud and unexpected outburst came out, Lincoln could only watch as Lola's lips quivered and throat hiccupped with her soft weeping.

"For Lily, for Lana…f-for me."

Despite caution urging him to reconsider, Lincoln reached out and pulled Lola in for a hug, letting her face bury into his chest through the soft fabric of his shirt. He soothingly rubbed her back as the disharmonious sounds of her muffled sobbing tugged at his heartstrings.

"So, that's why you've been acting weird all day," Lincoln uttered quietly in complete understanding. "You've been trying to get me to stay by acting all nice."

All Lola can do is continue her crying.

"Lola, I'm sorry," Lincoln whispered. "I was so caught up with myself to take notice of how you'd feel. You're right, I am your big brother and I'm supposed to be here to look after you."

A beat of silence follows as Lincoln prepares to give her the word that he knows will disappoint her.

"But…"

At that, Lola looks up at Lincoln, her crying reduced to sniffling and whimpering.

"This is something that I really want to do, Lola. And now, I get to go out there and do it. I'll always have you guys forever but opportunities like this don't come around often and I want to take advantage of them when I can."

Preparing for another loud and angry objection, Lincoln is shocked when Lola's puffy eyes begin to water again.

"B-but, Lincoln…"

Lincoln blinks back his own oncoming tears, swallows the lump in his throat, and kisses Lola on the forehead, hoping to put her at some ease.

"I'm always going to be your big brother, Lola. Nothing's going to change that and nothing is going to make me want that to be any different. In fact, no matter what I do with myself, I'll always know that nothing will make me more of a champion than having you, Lana, and Lily as my sisters."

Lincoln was thrilled when Lola finally started to show the tiniest hint of a smile.

"You…you really mean that?" asked Lola.

Lincoln smiled lovingly, "Of course, I do. I love you, Lola. You, Lana, Lily, and our parents and pet Pokémon. The hardest part about leaving will be not seeing you all for a while."

Lola let his words sink in for a good couple of seconds while Lincoln hoped that she wasn't going to make things any more difficult for them both.

"And you promise you're gonna keep in touch while you're gone, right?" Lola questioned.

"Absolutely," Lincoln promised solemnly.

"Every hour?"

"Hmmm…how about every other day of the week."

"Every minute?"

"Lola."

"Every second?"

"Lola," Lincoln chided playfully, causing Lola to giggle.

"What? It was worth a try, right?" Lola asked with a laugh.

Her infectious laugh was music to Lincoln's ears. He was certain that he had no other similar obligations to deal with since he was sure that Lana was honest when she was happy with him. Now, he could rest easy knowing that he had everyone's blessing.

"You know, Lola, I suppose if I'm gone, there's one good thing that can come out of this," Lincoln said as he picked up Lola and held her close to him.

"Really? Like what?" Lola asked curiously as she stared into Lincoln's eyes.

Suddenly, much to her surprise, he lightly tossed her onto the mattress and loomed over her with mischievous intentions evident in his narrowed eyes and haughty smile.

"You won't have to worry about the tickle monster anymore!"

Lola giggled wildly and curled herself into a ball, knowing what Lincoln meant by that. For the next several minutes, despite her half-hearted, empty protests, Lincoln would tickle her in several different spots that Lola unsuccessfully tried to cover up. Despite not being on the receiving end, Lincoln couldn't help but laugh along with his sister.

"By the way, Lola, there was no dirty diaper to take care of. Your nose is safe for the evening," Lincoln said in between heaving laughs and went back on the assault.

Nine days have passed since that day and now, Lincoln's family waits for him to give them the news of his application.

What will be in store for Lincoln? Failure or success?

The Loud Residence. June 9th, 2036. 8:25 AM

Much like the night that Lincoln and his father verbally sparred, the living room was chock full of nervous energy as Lana, Lily, Lola, and their parents surround the dining table, waiting upon their son to come down the stairs and give them the news about his application.

While they were all certain that Lincoln would succeed, the feeling of not knowing for certain restricted them from celebrating too early.

Lana chewed her fingernails nervously while Lola fidgeted with the tiara on her head. Even Lily seemed rather jittery as she waited for her brother in silence.

Rita and Lynn held hands in a tight grip as they heard slow creaking, coming from the staircase, grow louder and louder with each passing second until...

Until the sad, weary look of Lincoln Loud's face greets them as he comes into view from his slow descent.

No one made a move to comfort him, knowing that their attempts would be in vain.

His bowed head, his defeated look…even his cowlick seemed to droop in absolute angst.

"Ladies and gentleman," Lincoln sighed heavily…then perked up with a cocky smile and hands on his hips, "you are looking at one of the proud interns of Spruce Labs."

After realizing the dupe that had just been dished out, everyone left out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding and leapt out of their chairs.

"Woohoo!" Lana cried and ran up to Lincoln to hug him tightly around his leg.

"C'mere, son!" Lynn yelled as he marched over to his son and knelt to hug him.

"I'm so proud of my little man!" Rita exclaimed and joined in on the group hug.

Lola casually strolled over to the mass of family members, carrying Lily in her arms and flashed Lincoln a warm smile.

"Of course, you succeeded," Lola said matter-of-factly. "You're my brother, after all. Failure was never in the cards."

Lincoln soaked in the adulation of his family, happy that they could as proud and happy that he was right now. Before long, though, Rita broke out of the hug to face her son directly.

"Oh, Lincoln, that reminds me, I have to show you something. Wait right there."

With a pep in her step, Rita headed into the kitchen. Upon returning ten seconds later, she held at medium-sized package, wrapped in brown paper, under her arm and laid it at the feet of her son.

"What's this?" Lincoln asked as he softly nudged Lana and his father off him so he could pick up the parcel and inspect it.

"Just open it and you'll see," Rita suggested playfully.

Doing as she told, Lincoln tore away at the paper until he saw dark orange peeking through the remaining shreds of paper left. Hastening his hands, Lincoln tore off the last bits of paper until the item was in his grasp.

It was a dark orange outfit, Lincoln could tell that much, but he couldn't quite discern what it was until he draped each piece of it over his arms.

On his left arm was the jacket of a tracksuit. It was a bold, dark orange with three white lines draping down from the shoulders to the cuffs of the sleeves. A tiny silver zipper clasp, that Lincoln realized was in the shape of a Pokéball, fastened the white teeth of the jacket in place. Speaking of the zipper's teeth, they were surrounded by one fat, white line that ran from the bottom of the jacket to the collar.

On his right arm was the pants of the outfit. They had the same orange color as the jacket and three white lines that ran from the hips to the bottom.

Lincoln beamed as he looked up to find his mother looking down at him proudly.

"I ordered it for you a few days ago. It's your very own tracksuit. Thick enough to keep you warm when it's cold but thin enough to keep you cool when it's hot. Hope you like it. If my son's going to become a Pokémon Trainer, he's gonna do it in both comfort and style."

"Thanks, Mom," Lincoln extolled as he gave his tracksuit to his father so he could have his hands free to hug his mother. "You're the best!"

"Don't forget, Lincoln, before you leave tomorrow, you have to make sure that you have all your stuff packed and ready to go," Lynn reminded him.

Lincoln turned to his father with a reassuring smile.

"Actually, Dad, when Professor Spruce sent me her congratulatory email, she told me not to worry about packing. Apparently, she has something in her lab that'll take care of the packing for us."

"Well, if that's the case, I guess I better trust her. Her two Ph.D's tell me that she knows what she's talking about," Lynn joked, earning a few laughs from his wife.

Lincoln broke out of his hug, intent on going to his room now.

"So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go tell Clyde the news and join you guys for breakfast, okay?"

"That's fine with us," Rita permitted as she patted Lincoln's head. "Just don't forget to join us."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll see you in a-"

"Hold up, Lincoln."

Before Lincoln could race off, he looked down at Lana's disapproving face. Lincoln winced. Had he neglected Lana and not even realized it?

"Something wrong, Lana?" Lincoln asked apprehensively.

"Put on your tracksuit for a second," Lana answered. "I need to see how you look in it."

Oh. That was all? Lincoln could do that. He went into the kitchen and quickly changed out his regular clothes into the new tracksuit. Upon returning, everyone but Lana gazed upon him in awe. Apparently, it was good looking enough to warrant four thumbs up. Now all Lincoln had to do was see why Lana wasn't giving him one herself.

"So, what'd you think?" Lincoln asked as she looked down at Lana's contemplative state.

She hummed thoughtfully as she eyed Lincoln from head to toe and then, from toe to head.

"While you do look cool, well, cooler than usual, I think you're missing something."

"Like what?" Lincoln shrugged.

She resumed her thinking face for a few good seconds until her face lit up and she snapped her fingers together.

"I got it! Lincoln, kneel on the floor, okay?!" Lana demanded excitedly.

"Alright," Lincoln agreed, not seeing the harm.

Once he was on his knees, Lana bounced over to him until her eager face was up close to his.

"Okay, okay! Now, close your eyes!"

Lincoln complied, waiting for Lana's surprise to pass. Lincoln was slightly on his guard as he thought about the possibility of Lana pulling a dirty prank on him. Though, the rational part of his brain told him that Lana only liked to pull those stunts on Lola and even if she didn't, there was no way she'd do that in front of her parents.

Before he could think any further, he felt something fit tightly around his head.

"You can open them now!" he heard Lana cry out.

Upon doing so, the first thing he spotted was Lana…without her hat. Lincoln was taken aback at the sight; he rarely saw Lana without her hat. The girl even wore it to bed and in the shower, for goodness sake!

That's when it hit him like a bag of bricks.

"Lana…Lana your hat. It's...it's-"

"Right on top of your head, right where it belongs," Lana stated proudly with folded arms. "'Course, I had to adjust the back strap so it'd fit you but it works."

"But you never go anywhere without your hat. Why would you give this to me?" Lincoln questioned.

"I already told you, didn't I? You'll look way cooler. And 'sides that, I wanted to give you something that you'll remember me by."

Lincoln wiped away at his eyes with his sleeve when he felt the sting of fresh tears pooling in his pupils.

"T-thanks, Lana," Lincoln said with a slight quivering voice.

He was snapped out his sentimentality when Lana lightly punched him in the arm.

"Hey, don't get all teary-eyed on me," Lana teased. "The only crying should be from all those opponents you beat with your cool Pokémon. Got it?"

Lincoln stood tall and petted the top of Lana's slightly sticky hair, eliciting a cute, gruff giggle.

"Right. Thanks again, Lana."

Lincoln then turned to leave to head to his room, intent on telling Clyde the good news via Holo Caster; by tomorrow, they would be traveling the region of Kalos together!

That evening…

After putting away his umpteenth Ace Saavy comic book next to his bedroom dresser, Lincoln still couldn't find the lull of sleep within him. He turned off the lamp on his dresser and bemoaned his predicament.

Rereading comic books didn't work. Counting Mareep didn't work. Watching old Lumiose Conference tournament battles on his laptop really didn't help, though Lincoln had to admit that he was really feeding his hyperactive mind more than anything at that point.

Sighing, he laid on his back as he stared up at the ceiling and the fan blowing a cool breeze on his blanketed body.

He was far too excited to sleep. Tomorrow couldn't come any sooner if it was 11:59 PM and that wouldn't happen for at least another two hours. On top of that, according to her email, Professor Spruce wanted to meet him in person at her laboratory by noon, meaning that even if he woke up at his regular time, which was usually around eight to nine in the morning, he'd have to wait even longer until it was time to get started on his journey.

Groaning, he started counting Mareep again until…

"Lincoln?"

He perked up at the sound of his voice being called and realized that a tiny sliver of light, coming from the hallway outside of his room, peeked through the crack that his now unopened door allowed. He turned his lamp back on, wincing at the sudden burst of light that hit his eyes. Once they were adjusted to the lit room, he could clearly see Lola, clad in her pink sleep gown and timidly looking up at him.

"Oh, hey, Lola," Lincoln greeted with a small smile on his face. "What's up?"

"Well, uh, I-I was wondering…" Lola said, utterly flustered for reasons that Lincoln couldn't quite understand.

"Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight? Since you're leaving tomorrow, it'll be a while since I get to see you and I…"

Lola trailed off and rubbed at her arm as she shyly dragged her foot across the floor. Lincoln nearly squealed. He had almost forgotten how cute Lola could be.

Knowing where she was going with this, Lincoln smiled and called out to her.

"I understand. Get in here."

In a flash, Lola ran across the room and leaped his into bed, giggling when she landed on Lincoln and made him cry out. In no time at all, she was underneath his blanket, grabbing onto him like he was the softest, cuddliest Teddiursa plush toy in the world.

"You comfortable?" Lincoln asked while softly stroking his fingers through Lola's flaxen hair, careful not to pull too hard.

"Uh huh," Lola mumbled contently.

"Good. Well, goodni-"

"Hey," called a voice that sounded almost like Lola's but just an octave lower and a tinge gruffer. Lincoln and Lola looked away from each other to where the voice came from and found Lana standing at the doorway, wearing an oversized dark green shirt, something that she always wore to bed.

Lincoln knowingly asked the eldest twin sister, "Lemme me guess, you want in, too, Lana?"

Her exuberant nod of the head was all Lincoln needed to hear before he allowed her access with, "Alright, you can come. There's plenty of room for you, too."

"Awesome!" Lana shouts and leaps into bed in the same manner that Lola did. Just like with Lola, Lincoln was too slow to get out the way of the blonde-haired projectile and had the air knocked out of his lungs when Lana made her ungraceful landing on top of him.

Taking it in stride, Lincoln waits for Lana to wiggle past her slightly agitated sister until she's on the other side of him, clutching onto him the same way Lola was doing.

"Thanks, Lincoln," Lana said with a wide grin.

"Uh, fair warning, Lincoln," Lola spoke out with a haughty sneer on her face. "Lana farts when she sleeps. It's the worst."

"Pssh, you're way worse than I am in the sleep farting department," Lana snaps back, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"I don't even do that!" Lola protested with rosy cheeks.

"Yes, you do!" Lana bantered, gleeful at how she was getting under Lola's skin.

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

Lincoln looked back and forth between the bickering twins and chuckled. Though he was sure his nights under the open Kalos sky would be much quieter than this, there was nothing quite like sharing a bed with his younger twin sisters.

He just hoped that they were pulling each other's legs with the sleep farting thing. He didn't need another reason to be kept up at night.

The Loud Residence. June 10th, 2036. 9:30 AM

'Tracksuit?'

Lincoln looks at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and pulls up his tracksuit zipper until it's unquestionably zipped up to its highest point.

'Check! Hat?'

Relying on his reflection once more, Lincoln tugs on the flap of the hat resting on his head, satisfied with how securely it's held around his noggin.

'Check! License?'

Lincoln stuffs his hand in his left pants pocket and pulls out his trusty black wallet. Upon opening it up, he sees his Pokémon Handler's License securely fastened in its transparent, plastic sleeve. Once done, he puts it back where he found it.

'Affirmative! Holo Caster?'

He pats the conspicuous bulge in his right pants pocket, his fingers molding around the telltale shape of his trusty Holo Caster.

'And there it is! Game face?'

Lincoln looks back up at the mirror and fashions his mouth into a victorious smile and focuses his stare until his eyes are full to the brim with the determination and vigor that Lincoln found appropriate for a Pokémon Trainer.

'Aaaaaand check! Alright, Lincoln Loud, you're all set to take Kalos by storm!'

And with that, Lincoln headed out the bathroom, laser-focused on his objective to meet Professor Spruce in Aquacorde Town and officially begin his Kalos journey. Though he would be happy to help the professor showcase her technology, his primary goal was getting his feet wet in brand new territory, territory that would hopefully lead to the title of the Kalos League Champion when it was all said and done!

As Lincoln headed down the stairs, he stopped when he saw his father standing by the bottom of the staircase. Lincoln waved at him and walked right past him; only to stop when he felt the firm grip of his father's hand grasp his shoulder.

"Lincoln, you do realize that Professor Spruce needed you there by noon, right? It'd take you half an hour to walk from here to Aquacade Town if you had concrete blocks for shoes and you were dragging your feet," Lynn explains with amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, but you never know what'll happen," Lincoln retorted with wide eyes and a huge grin. "I don't wanna be late for even a second."

Lynn simply chuckles and gives his son a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, if you insist, Lincoln, I won't stop you. Just make sure you wait to say goodbye to all of us after you come back and have your stuff packed to leave again, okay?"

"I wouldn't dare do anything else," Lincoln promises. "See you in a bit, Dad."

"See you in a bit," Lynn replies and makes his way up the stairs, leaving his son to stew in excitement.

With that, Lincoln takes a steadying breath to calm his jittery nerves and marches towards the front door, the vague but promising visions of a new and thrilling adventure swirling about in his head.

Once he's at the front door, he grips the knob, turns it, and swings the door open, basking in the Sun's rays that flood him in their radiance.

Even the stars in space beckoned him to take his first steps into the invigorating unknown! What choice did he have now other than to answer their call?

No choice at all and Lincoln Loud wouldn't have it any other way.

Lincoln Loud is headed out to embark on his Kalos journey, exuberance and giddiness evident in his being as he forges onward to Aquacorde Town to meet his new mentor, Professor Spruce.

What surprises await him at Spruce Labs? To find out, don't miss the next chapter of PokéLoud Journeys!

A/N: I am so, so, so, so, sooooooooo sorry about this huge ol' block of words you just had to sift through. See, the reason I did it all in one go was for the following reasons:

1. I figured that you didn't want to read several chapters of what's basically the introduction to the story so I put everything in one chapter for the sake of expedience.

2. I couldn't think of anywhere to divide this content into several worthy chapters to begin with.

3. After the long road I realized I had ahead of me, I was tempted to just post a fragment of this chapter as the first one and then continue doing so until I got to the end but the thing is, I didn't want to do that because if I did, I'd be tempted to procrastinate. If I'm going to swim out in these open waters, I'd rather throw myself out there instead of gingerly dipping a toe in at a time.

Well, there you have it, folks. First chapter is now out of the way. Don't expect updates to be frequent. This story will require a lot of planning and research, meaning that I can't overlook even the slightest detail before I submit the next chapter.

Grammar and spelling errors, I can live with rectifying, but the last thing I want is continuity errors called out on, especially so deep in the story.

Like, seriously, I will literally cry myself to sleep if that happens.