Story Notes:
The story has been finished, the follow-up will be written soon, and it will the be called: The Primal Spark: Another Time, Another Place.
Chapter 37 (meeting the parents)
(Lucas's P.O.V.)
as Ian walked inside, Terese said "Matt, Seena...this is Ian...Lucas's father" while following after him, I walked in behind Terese, soon hearing Matt say
"ah, so YOU'RE the one I've been hearing about, well, it's good to finally put a face to the name!" I then saw Matt walk forward, shaking Ian's hand
"and it's good to meet you face-to-face, Matt, I've seen the bond you and Lucas share, it's something you'd normally only find in siblings, or life-long rivals..." Ian responded, returning Matt's handshake
"th-thank you sir..." Matt said in response, blushing slightly, before releasing Ian's hand, Ian then turned his attention to Seena and continued "and you, Seena...your relationship with Lucas started on a kinship, and without each other, you both would have been alone in Snowpoint...it's good to meet you"
"y-yes...it's good to meet you, too, Ian" Seena responded, hesitantly, Ian picked up on this and responded
"I understand if you feel some hostility towards me, but please, you have to understand, this wasn't easy for me, either..."
"I know that, it's just...why now? why are you here right now?" Seena said in response
"well, I came here because I overheard that Lucas would come back here after he went to Oreburgh, I wanted to meet you all, and I wanted to invite you to come with me, back to the battle frontier" as he said the last part, he looked back at me and said "I want you to talk to Jo' and get her side of this..."
"I know, I know...I was planning on taking the boat when we next went to Snowpoint, but I guess...having you there would stop me needing to look around" I responded
"I was actually hoping we could leave soon" he responded, looking towards the door
"well, we don't really have any womre commitments here, unless..." I then turned to Terese and asked "did you still want to talk to the elder today?"
"don't worry about it" she started, making a waving motion with one of her hands, "just think of it as a reason to come back"
"well, in that case...I guess we could go now, if you wanted..." I said, turning back to Ian
"that would probably be best, besides, I'm sure your friends in Snowpoint want to see you again, anyway..." he responded, smiling lightly
"yeah...it's been about a week, anyway..." I responded, before turning to Matt and saying "Well, I guess we'll catch up when I come back..."
"it's not a problem, Lucas..." he started, leaning back on the wall "but next time you come back...we're sparring, just like old times, okay?"
"sure thing, Matt" I started in response, smiling lightly "but maybe you should take it easy on me..."
"we'll just see how you do..." Matt responded, as I grabbed my bag, I then turned to Ian and asked
"so, should Seena and I just wait for you at the boat, then?"
"that would probably be best, but what about the others?" he asked in response
"not to worry, I'm going to let them stay in Snowpoint, I'll hand their balls over to the nurse there, then, they'll be free to do whatever they want..."
"sounds like a plan..." Ian said, before stepping outside, I turned back to Terese and Matt, and said "once again, it was good seeing you two...and tell Adrian I said hi if he comes back here before I do..."
"hopefully he'll know what we're saying, then..." Terese responded, folding her arms
"yeah...well" I started, while turning my attention to Seena "let's get going, then..."
after we stepped outside, Ian turned back to us and said "you probably won't be waiting on me long...I'm pretty fast, and I know my way around Sinnoh..."
"well, I do have one thing I need to do before we go, maybe you'll be at the boat first, then..." I responded, while unclipping Seena's and Gordon's pokeballs off my waist, I then turned to Seena and said "well, I'll be sure to let you back out when we touch down"
"I know Lucas, I know" she said, smiling softly before I dispersed her form into a red light, returning her to the ball, I then released Gordon from his, the crobat stumbled slightly before turning back to me and asking "how long was I in there?"
"about a day..." I responded, he then lifted himself off the ground, before asking "so, where are we heading?"
"back to Snowpoint" I responded
"ah, well...hop on" he said, turning so his back was facing me "..." he stayed silent as he saw Ian
"well" Ian started "I guess I'll see you at the boat, then..." he then dashed off, to the western exit of Celestic town, I then climbed onto Gordon's back, before he lifted us off the ground...
...after we started moving, Gordon asked "that was him, wasn't it? your father..."
"yeah, that was Ian..." I responded
"what was he doing in Celestic town?" Gordon asked, as we passed over the mountain
"he was waiting for me, it seems" I responded, looking at the ground
"do you think he went there right after he left the note?" Gordon then asked
"maybe...he said he came to Celestic after he knew I would go back there, myself..." I started, looking in the direction of Snowpoint "anyway...after we touch down in Snowpoint, I want you to show Zoey the temple, okay?"
"but what about you?" Gordon asked in response
"I'm going to the battle frontier, if only to speak with my mother, but before I go, I'm going to let everyone out of their balls, and leave the balls at the pokemon centre, so you'll all be free to do whatever you want..." I responded
"how long do you think we'll be in Snowpoint?" Gordon asked
"I haven't really decided, but I have to speak with professor Rowan and Mesprit some time in the near future" I responded, as I could see Snowpoint up ahead "could you start bringing us down? I wanted to let you all out in front of the pokemon centre"
"sure thing" he responded, starting to lower his altitude...
...about a minute later, we touched down in Snowpoint "thanks again, Gordon" I said, as I put my bag down in front of myself, before pulling the pokeballs out and releasing everyone...
...after they had all gotten back to their senses, Jacob asked "we're back in Snowpoint, aren't we?"
"yes, and you're all free to do whatever you want, I'm going to get our rooms in the pokemon centre, and I'm going to leave your pokeballs with the nurse..." I responded, looking at the group
"but, what are YOU going to do?" Tira asked
"I'm going to the battle frontier with Seena to meet with my parents" I responded, looking towards the boat
"how long do you think you'll be?" Eliza asked
"I don't know, but hopefully, I'll be back fairly soon..." I responded, turning my attention back to the group
"so...where would Jackie be?" Jacob asked
"she's most likely either in the pokemon centre, or at the pokemart" I responded, before moving through the doors, followed closely by the group, after I stepped into the pokemon centre, the nurse saw me and said
"Lucas, you're back!"
"please..." I started, shushing her "save it for when I get back from the battle frontier..."
"you-you're going there? why?" she asked
"well, as it turns out, that's where my mother is..." I responded, before pulling all of the pokeballs I had with me (excluding Seena's) out, placing them on the desk before continuing "could I get the two rooms again?"
"oh" the nurse started, turning her attention from the pokeballs to me "sure thing...that reminds me, the gift I was hoping to give you..." I then cut her off
"if you're going to give me a gift, can it wait until I come back? I don't think I'll be very long..." I responded
"well, I guess I should just give you your room key for now..." she said, pulling the key out from under the desk
"thank you, but the others...they need a room, too, so is the other one avaliable, as well?" I asked, looking back at the group
"yes, it is...did you want the key? or should I just let them in when they want?" she asked
"I'd say the second one...but for now, I have to go..." I responded, before taking the key and leaving with Seena...
...when we reached the boat, a man who looked like a sailor said
"now, I'm going to need to check your standing, nobody gets into the battle frontier without the proper access"
"really?" I started, folding my arms "I'm waiting for my father, maybe you've heard of him, Ian West?"
"Ian...West, the Infernape?" the Sailor asked
"yeah, is there a problem with that?" I asked in response
"...I always wondered why he kept coming back and forth on this boat..." the sailor said to himself, looking down
"well, I'm going to the battle frontier with him, so, I guess it shouldn't be a problem, right?" I asked, before saying "because I don't have any other permission than that..."
"well, I guess it should be fine...you weren't going to challenge the battle tower were you?" he then asked
"I hadn't planned on it, in fact...Seena here is the only pokemon I have with me, at the moment" I said, facing her as I said this
"well, alright then, you can wait for him on the boat if you want" the sailor said, before moving to the side, allowing us past, I moved to the deck, holding onto the iron bars attached to the edges, I then turned back to the sailor and said
"thanks, by the way..." before looking out at the ocean
"I wonder what's keeping him?" Seena asked, as she stood beside me
"I don't know, maybe he went to talk to William?" I responded, turning my attention down to her
"that seems most likely...but then again...we know nothing else about him..." Seena responded
"well...I'm sure he has a good reason..." I responded, looking back at the ocean...
...a few minutes later, Ian arrived, the sailor said "alright, since you're all here, I'll take us to the frontier now..." I then heard the boat starting up
"you should probably hang on, this thing goes pretty fast..." Ian said, while holding the bar next to me
"alright, then..." I said, gripping the bar firmly, Seena did the same, then, the boat really started to move, I was surpised at the speed this thing had, it was moving much faster than Bill's boat, but then, he probably didn't have speed in mind when we spoke
"Ian" I started, somewhat loudly, speaking over the sound of waves crashing against the boat "why have I been feeling a burning sensation when you're nearby?"
he turned back to me and said "...I didn't think that would happen to YOU, Lucas..." he then turned back to face the ocean before continuing "it's a resonation thing...it happened between me and my father, too...Professor Rowan said it was a way for parents to identify their child in a crowd, if the parent did something specific, the childs flame would grow in size...allowing them to be distinguished..."
"I guess that makes sense..." I said back as we continued towards the battle frontier...
...when we arrived, it seemed that Joanna was waiting for us
"how did she know we'd be here?" I asked
"I tracked down Will and had him tell the local pokemon centre to contact her" Ian responded, as we stepped off the boat
"so that's why you took a little longer than you expected..." I said, before turning to face my mother, who said
"...it's been so long since I've seen you with my own eyes, Lucas..."
I looked down, before asking "well, now that I'm here...I wanted to ask...why did you leave me in Celestic town?"
"Lucas...you must understand, this wasn't an easy decision for me...I had to choose between having a child and providing it with a future..." she responded, before moving closer and continuing "I'm...sorry that we weren't there for you when you needed us..."
I looked back up and said "I guess, since I never knew you, I never harboured any resentment towards you or Ian...but still, I wish I met you earlier..."
"I felt the same way..." she started, before sighing and continuing "you probably don't remember this, but we came to visit you when you turned six, with the intention of being a family again, but when we saw you, you had grown up so much, you didn't need us anymore..."
"but...nothing was stopping you from just telling me about this..." I responded, looking down slightly
"I feel...it would have just hurt you to know this at such a young age..." she responded, before looking at Ian and continuing "but in a sense, we were always looking out for you..." Ian turned to face her for a moment, before turning back to me and saying
"yes...you realize if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have that house, or the money that kept coming in..."
"I know that, Ian..." I started in response "I'm not mad at you" I said, before turning to Joanna and continuing, "either of you..."
"well..." Joanna started, "would you and Seena like to take a look around?" she asked, looking at us
I shook my head before responding "no, I'm fine, besides, if I want to come here, I'll earn it"
"so...what are you going to do?" she asked
"I'm going to go back to Snowpoint, but, it's good that I finally got to meet you, both of you..." I responded, before moving back onto the boat
"I hope I can see you again..." Joanna said, before putting her hand on Ian's shoulder, he responded by bringing his arm around her back, holding her in a sort of half-hug
"I hope so too...Mom" I said, before smiling as I held onto the bar on the edge of the boat, Seena stood beside me, waving softly before we left...
...on the way back, I asked "why didn't you say anything?"
"I...Don't know, it really felt like it was more, your moment than anything else..." Seena responded, moving slightly closer
"there has to be more of a reason than that, Seena" I said, giving her a quizzical look
"it's just...I mean...eighteen years? I don't understand how they could just let you grow up without them..." Seena said, giving a sad look
"it's okay, Seena, I know it may seem like a hard thing to be put through, but I'M the one who lived it, and I'm fine...really" I said in response
"weren't you ever sad about this?" Seena asked
"...maybe...when I was younger...but I guess that's what made me turn to living with pokemon, I guess you could say...that without going through what I did, we would've never met..." I responded, before turning to her and smiling
"I guess that's one way of looking at it..." Seena responded, before smiling softly
"don't worry about it, okay?" I said in response
"well, I think I'm just scared of this happening again, that's all..." Seena said
"what do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow
"I don't want US to ever do something like that..." Seena responded, frowning slightly
"Seena..." I said, turning to face her, putting one of my hands on her shoulder, before continuing "I would NEVER do something like that, no matter what, I promise you that, Seena..." I then pulled her into a hug, leaning my back against the bar.
"thank you, Lucas..." she responded, smiling softly, as I continued to hold her...Chapter End Notes:okay, next chapter will be all Snowpoin
as Ian walked inside, Terese said "Matt, Seena...this is Ian...Lucas's father" while following after him, I walked in behind Terese, soon hearing Matt say
"ah, so YOU'RE the one I've been hearing about, well, it's good to finally put a face to the name!" I then saw Matt walk forward, shaking Ian's hand
"and it's good to meet you face-to-face, Matt, I've seen the bond you and Lucas share, it's something you'd normally only find in siblings, or life-long rivals..." Ian responded, returning Matt's handshake
"th-thank you sir..." Matt said in response, blushing slightly, before releasing Ian's hand, Ian then turned his attention to Seena and continued "and you, Seena...your relationship with Lucas started on a kinship, and without each other, you both would have been alone in Snowpoint...it's good to meet you"
"y-yes...it's good to meet you, too, Ian" Seena responded, hesitantly, Ian picked up on this and responded
"I understand if you feel some hostility towards me, but please, you have to understand, this wasn't easy for me, either..."
"I know that, it's just...why now? why are you here right now?" Seena said in response
"well, I came here because I overheard that Lucas would come back here after he went to Oreburgh, I wanted to meet you all, and I wanted to invite you to come with me, back to the battle frontier" as he said the last part, he looked back at me and said "I want you to talk to Jo' and get her side of this..."
"I know, I know...I was planning on taking the boat when we next went to Snowpoint, but I guess...having you there would stop me needing to look around" I responded
"I was actually hoping we could leave soon" he responded, looking towards the door
"well, we don't really have any womre commitments here, unless..." I then turned to Terese and asked "did you still want to talk to the elder today?"
"don't worry about it" she started, making a waving motion with one of her hands, "just think of it as a reason to come back"
"well, in that case...I guess we could go now, if you wanted..." I said, turning back to Ian
"that would probably be best, besides, I'm sure your friends in Snowpoint want to see you again, anyway..." he responded, smiling lightly
"yeah...it's been about a week, anyway..." I responded, before turning to Matt and saying "Well, I guess we'll catch up when I come back..."
"it's not a problem, Lucas..." he started, leaning back on the wall "but next time you come back...we're sparring, just like old times, okay?"
"sure thing, Matt" I started in response, smiling lightly "but maybe you should take it easy on me..."
"we'll just see how you do..." Matt responded, as I grabbed my bag, I then turned to Ian and asked
"so, should Seena and I just wait for you at the boat, then?"
"that would probably be best, but what about the others?" he asked in response
"not to worry, I'm going to let them stay in Snowpoint, I'll hand their balls over to the nurse there, then, they'll be free to do whatever they want..."
"sounds like a plan..." Ian said, before stepping outside, I turned back to Terese and Matt, and said "once again, it was good seeing you two...and tell Adrian I said hi if he comes back here before I do..."
"hopefully he'll know what we're saying, then..." Terese responded, folding her arms
"yeah...well" I started, while turning my attention to Seena "let's get going, then..."
after we stepped outside, Ian turned back to us and said "you probably won't be waiting on me long...I'm pretty fast, and I know my way around Sinnoh..."
"well, I do have one thing I need to do before we go, maybe you'll be at the boat first, then..." I responded, while unclipping Seena's and Gordon's pokeballs off my waist, I then turned to Seena and said "well, I'll be sure to let you back out when we touch down"
"I know Lucas, I know" she said, smiling softly before I dispersed her form into a red light, returning her to the ball, I then released Gordon from his, the crobat stumbled slightly before turning back to me and asking "how long was I in there?"
"about a day..." I responded, he then lifted himself off the ground, before asking "so, where are we heading?"
"back to Snowpoint" I responded
"ah, well...hop on" he said, turning so his back was facing me "..." he stayed silent as he saw Ian
"well" Ian started "I guess I'll see you at the boat, then..." he then dashed off, to the western exit of Celestic town, I then climbed onto Gordon's back, before he lifted us off the ground...
...after we started moving, Gordon asked "that was him, wasn't it? your father..."
"yeah, that was Ian..." I responded
"what was he doing in Celestic town?" Gordon asked, as we passed over the mountain
"he was waiting for me, it seems" I responded, looking at the ground
"do you think he went there right after he left the note?" Gordon then asked
"maybe...he said he came to Celestic after he knew I would go back there, myself..." I started, looking in the direction of Snowpoint "anyway...after we touch down in Snowpoint, I want you to show Zoey the temple, okay?"
"but what about you?" Gordon asked in response
"I'm going to the battle frontier, if only to speak with my mother, but before I go, I'm going to let everyone out of their balls, and leave the balls at the pokemon centre, so you'll all be free to do whatever you want..." I responded
"how long do you think we'll be in Snowpoint?" Gordon asked
"I haven't really decided, but I have to speak with professor Rowan and Mesprit some time in the near future" I responded, as I could see Snowpoint up ahead "could you start bringing us down? I wanted to let you all out in front of the pokemon centre"
"sure thing" he responded, starting to lower his altitude...
...about a minute later, we touched down in Snowpoint "thanks again, Gordon" I said, as I put my bag down in front of myself, before pulling the pokeballs out and releasing everyone...
...after they had all gotten back to their senses, Jacob asked "we're back in Snowpoint, aren't we?"
"yes, and you're all free to do whatever you want, I'm going to get our rooms in the pokemon centre, and I'm going to leave your pokeballs with the nurse..." I responded, looking at the group
"but, what are YOU going to do?" Tira asked
"I'm going to the battle frontier with Seena to meet with my parents" I responded, looking towards the boat
"how long do you think you'll be?" Eliza asked
"I don't know, but hopefully, I'll be back fairly soon..." I responded, turning my attention back to the group
"so...where would Jackie be?" Jacob asked
"she's most likely either in the pokemon centre, or at the pokemart" I responded, before moving through the doors, followed closely by the group, after I stepped into the pokemon centre, the nurse saw me and said
"Lucas, you're back!"
"please..." I started, shushing her "save it for when I get back from the battle frontier..."
"you-you're going there? why?" she asked
"well, as it turns out, that's where my mother is..." I responded, before pulling all of the pokeballs I had with me (excluding Seena's) out, placing them on the desk before continuing "could I get the two rooms again?"
"oh" the nurse started, turning her attention from the pokeballs to me "sure thing...that reminds me, the gift I was hoping to give you..." I then cut her off
"if you're going to give me a gift, can it wait until I come back? I don't think I'll be very long..." I responded
"well, I guess I should just give you your room key for now..." she said, pulling the key out from under the desk
"thank you, but the others...they need a room, too, so is the other one avaliable, as well?" I asked, looking back at the group
"yes, it is...did you want the key? or should I just let them in when they want?" she asked
"I'd say the second one...but for now, I have to go..." I responded, before taking the key and leaving with Seena...
...when we reached the boat, a man who looked like a sailor said
"now, I'm going to need to check your standing, nobody gets into the battle frontier without the proper access"
"really?" I started, folding my arms "I'm waiting for my father, maybe you've heard of him, Ian West?"
"Ian...West, the Infernape?" the Sailor asked
"yeah, is there a problem with that?" I asked in response
"...I always wondered why he kept coming back and forth on this boat..." the sailor said to himself, looking down
"well, I'm going to the battle frontier with him, so, I guess it shouldn't be a problem, right?" I asked, before saying "because I don't have any other permission than that..."
"well, I guess it should be fine...you weren't going to challenge the battle tower were you?" he then asked
"I hadn't planned on it, in fact...Seena here is the only pokemon I have with me, at the moment" I said, facing her as I said this
"well, alright then, you can wait for him on the boat if you want" the sailor said, before moving to the side, allowing us past, I moved to the deck, holding onto the iron bars attached to the edges, I then turned back to the sailor and said
"thanks, by the way..." before looking out at the ocean
"I wonder what's keeping him?" Seena asked, as she stood beside me
"I don't know, maybe he went to talk to William?" I responded, turning my attention down to her
"that seems most likely...but then again...we know nothing else about him..." Seena responded
"well...I'm sure he has a good reason..." I responded, looking back at the ocean...
...a few minutes later, Ian arrived, the sailor said "alright, since you're all here, I'll take us to the frontier now..." I then heard the boat starting up
"you should probably hang on, this thing goes pretty fast..." Ian said, while holding the bar next to me
"alright, then..." I said, gripping the bar firmly, Seena did the same, then, the boat really started to move, I was surpised at the speed this thing had, it was moving much faster than Bill's boat, but then, he probably didn't have speed in mind when we spoke
"Ian" I started, somewhat loudly, speaking over the sound of waves crashing against the boat "why have I been feeling a burning sensation when you're nearby?"
he turned back to me and said "...I didn't think that would happen to YOU, Lucas..." he then turned back to face the ocean before continuing "it's a resonation thing...it happened between me and my father, too...Professor Rowan said it was a way for parents to identify their child in a crowd, if the parent did something specific, the childs flame would grow in size...allowing them to be distinguished..."
"I guess that makes sense..." I said back as we continued towards the battle frontier...
...when we arrived, it seemed that Joanna was waiting for us
"how did she know we'd be here?" I asked
"I tracked down Will and had him tell the local pokemon centre to contact her" Ian responded, as we stepped off the boat
"so that's why you took a little longer than you expected..." I said, before turning to face my mother, who said
"...it's been so long since I've seen you with my own eyes, Lucas..."
I looked down, before asking "well, now that I'm here...I wanted to ask...why did you leave me in Celestic town?"
"Lucas...you must understand, this wasn't an easy decision for me...I had to choose between having a child and providing it with a future..." she responded, before moving closer and continuing "I'm...sorry that we weren't there for you when you needed us..."
I looked back up and said "I guess, since I never knew you, I never harboured any resentment towards you or Ian...but still, I wish I met you earlier..."
"I felt the same way..." she started, before sighing and continuing "you probably don't remember this, but we came to visit you when you turned six, with the intention of being a family again, but when we saw you, you had grown up so much, you didn't need us anymore..."
"but...nothing was stopping you from just telling me about this..." I responded, looking down slightly
"I feel...it would have just hurt you to know this at such a young age..." she responded, before looking at Ian and continuing "but in a sense, we were always looking out for you..." Ian turned to face her for a moment, before turning back to me and saying
"yes...you realize if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have that house, or the money that kept coming in..."
"I know that, Ian..." I started in response "I'm not mad at you" I said, before turning to Joanna and continuing, "either of you..."
"well..." Joanna started, "would you and Seena like to take a look around?" she asked, looking at us
I shook my head before responding "no, I'm fine, besides, if I want to come here, I'll earn it"
"so...what are you going to do?" she asked
"I'm going to go back to Snowpoint, but, it's good that I finally got to meet you, both of you..." I responded, before moving back onto the boat
"I hope I can see you again..." Joanna said, before putting her hand on Ian's shoulder, he responded by bringing his arm around her back, holding her in a sort of half-hug
"I hope so too...Mom" I said, before smiling as I held onto the bar on the edge of the boat, Seena stood beside me, waving softly before we left...
...on the way back, I asked "why didn't you say anything?"
"I...Don't know, it really felt like it was more, your moment than anything else..." Seena responded, moving slightly closer
"there has to be more of a reason than that, Seena" I said, giving her a quizzical look
"it's just...I mean...eighteen years? I don't understand how they could just let you grow up without them..." Seena said, giving a sad look
"it's okay, Seena, I know it may seem like a hard thing to be put through, but I'M the one who lived it, and I'm fine...really" I said in response
"weren't you ever sad about this?" Seena asked
"...maybe...when I was younger...but I guess that's what made me turn to living with pokemon, I guess you could say...that without going through what I did, we would've never met..." I responded, before turning to her and smiling
"I guess that's one way of looking at it..." Seena responded, before smiling softly
"don't worry about it, okay?" I said in response
"well, I think I'm just scared of this happening again, that's all..." Seena said
"what do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow
"I don't want US to ever do something like that..." Seena responded, frowning slightly
"Seena..." I said, turning to face her, putting one of my hands on her shoulder, before continuing "I would NEVER do something like that, no matter what, I promise you that, Seena..." I then pulled her into a hug, leaning my back against the bar.
"thank you, Lucas..." she responded, smiling softly, as I continued to hold her...Chapter End Notes:okay, next chapter will be all Snowpoin