Fantasy's Reality

Note: Anything looking like *this* indicates thought

Anything looking like "this" indicates speech

Chapter 1: An Intersecting Fate

*This insomnia problem is starting to get old.* Bryce thought. How many times had he walked the dog in the middle of the night now? At least there was no noise from the neighbors. They would party so frequently that it was a wonder the cops were never called. He turned the corner and headed for the end of the street. Looking up at the stars, he sighed.

*Why is the world so cold and broken?*

Bryce was a fifteen year old boy. He had brown hair, had average height and weight. Nothing about him seemed different. He just wished someone seemed to notice he was there. Feeling all alone was something Bryce always dreamed of changing, but it felt impossible. There wasn't any support at all. His parents were working, sleeping, or doing something somewhere else…not that it mattered. They had left Bryce to fend for himself ever since he was ten years old. He didn't even have any brothers or sisters to talk to. He'd rather be able to have siblings to talk to than being alone, even if they did come with the occasional fight.

School was just as unsupportive as his family. Teachers… they just were there because they couldn't find other jobs. It was clear their heart wasn't in their job…not even remotely. Bryce was the loner, far away from the others…just stuck watching on the outside. That was old news though…he always was the one sitting by himself.

Bryce continued to watch the road move slowly as the dog continued at its slow pace. That was fine with him; he was in no hurry to get back to the house. Insomnia wasn't helpful…but Bryce knew why he had that condition. With no friends or anyone to talk to or do anything with him, Bryce was usually bored. Homework was always finished quickly, and even with a good imagination from all the videogames he played, he still felt as if his life lacked excitement. So, like most people with free time, he slept during the day occasionally, making his body clock out of whack. Finally he managed to lift his head up and look at the sky, looking at all of the constellations. He knew several from spending several nights looking them up on the internet and reading the mythical stories behind them all…though it would have been nice if someone had told him…

As Bryce continued to look into the sky, he noticed several light moving: a blimp, a plane…but one was moving in an odd zigzag pattern. It couldn't be a shooting star; however, it was falling, even if it was in a weird pattern. Once it got closer to the ground, Bryce noticed that it seemed to be headed to the field at the end of the street. Watching it fall straight downward, Bryce expected a loud crash and possibly an explosion. Instead, the light stopped right before touching the ground, and faded away, leaving a figure to fall a few feet to the ground.

Normally, Bryce would have thought he was imagining things, but this… it seemed too real, so he slowly walked forward, tying the dog's leash to a nearby tree. He glanced around. Nobody else had heard or seen any of what had just happened. Of course, it was about midnight. Once he was a few feet from the unconscious figure, he stopped.

"No possible way." He breathed. The figure in the small bushes looked to be real. Its face resembled Anubis, Egyptian lord of the dead, but its face was blue, with a black mask-like skin around its eyes. There were four appendages on the back of its head as well. The creature had blue shoulders and black paws, with a spike extending from each arm. There was another spike extending out of its yellow chest. It also had blue thighs that almost resembled pants, a long blue tail with a scythe-like tip, and black feet. There was no mistaking it…this was the aura Pokémon: Lucario.

He knelt down and carefully caressed the Pokémon's cheek. The Pokémon was real and breathing… however, something was wrong. Lucario's blue fur felt cold, and it didn't wake up upon his touch.

*What kind of mess did this Pokémon get itself into?* Bryce thought. He knew he had several choices right now. While most people would have called the cops or something irrational, Bryce knew about the world of Pokémon. He also knew that if this Lucario was caught, it was as good as dead. It would be taken to a testing lab for…who knows what.

Would it be safe with him? Yes, but his parents couldn't know. Whether this Lucario wanted to stay with him or not was its choice, but it deserved a fighting chance here. After a little more thought, he finally put his arms under it and slowly scooped Lucario up. At this, the dog began to bark.

"Quiet!" Bryce hissed at him. "We don't need the neighbors to wake up at this hour."

He walked back to where the dog was tied up and slipped the leash over his shoulder and under his arm, tying it into a knot. As he carried Lucario back to his house, he noticed a pair of headlights turning onto his street…cops. They would sometimes check up on a house around here to make sure they weren't causing trouble. While Bryce agreed that was a good idea, he could well imagine the interrogation from carrying an unknown creature in his arms. He ducked behind a huge set of bushes, waiting for them to pass. Unfortunately, a cat came walking by just as the police were passing right next to the bush he was hidden in. Bryce saw the cat walking closer and set Lucario down and put his hand over the dog's muzzle, stopping it from going into a frenzy of barking. He held his breath as he watched the lone car pass by. Finally, the coast was clear. Bryce stood and looked around before picking the Pokémon back up and continued the rest of the walk back to his house.

Slowly, he turned the knob into the house and tiptoed inside. He set Lucario down onto the couch and carefully walked past his parent's room into the garage. After he took the leash off the dog and locked it up, Bryce walked back to where he left Lucario. Knowing he couldn't leave it there, he picked it up one last time and carried it into his room and placed it on his bed. He quietly shut the door and let out a huge sigh of relief.

Focusing his attention back to the Lucario, he noticed that it looked worn out, like it hadn't slept in days. It appeared to be taller than average, almost as tall as he was. He did his best to clean off all the dirt from being set on the ground. Other than that, there wasn't much he could do. He wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with the Pokémon and he didn't have any potions or anything from the games. He lifted Lucario high enough to pull the covers back before setting it back down. Bryce adjusted the pillow to cushion its head and pulled the covers over it. The aura Pokémon sighed and smiled softly. It was just tired…Bryce sighed in relief.

*It looks like rest is all Lucario needs.*

He stayed awake for the rest of the night, caring for Lucario as best as he could. As early morning approached, Lucario began to stir, and then opened its eyes…

Author's Notes: For people who have read chapter 1 before, you know this has been redone because it was very short. I'll be redoing the first 15 chapter s or so, but I'll still be working on new ones as well. Hope people who just started reading enjoy this.