Chapter 1: Life Changing Once More! Part 1
Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Life Changing Once More! Part 1
“Destiny is a gift.”
There was nothing but darkness, as a six-year old boy opened his eyes and found himself walking on a long, walking narrow path that extended out from it, zigzagging ahead into a dark, cloudy haze.
The was Lincoln Loud, the only boy in the entire Loud Family. He was very skinny and had short white hair, with a large tuft of his hair sticking upwards on his left side and two strands sticking up on his right. His white hair was a very unique feature that Lincoln has. He was the only one in the family with this hair color, as his sisters are either a brunette or a blonde. He had an overbite, with a prominent chipped front tooth, noticeable bags around his eyes, and freckles on his cheeks. He wore an orange polo shirt, blue jeans, gray socks with blue and red stripes, and white sports shoes with red stripes.
“Some go their entire lives, living existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose lifting us to greater heights.”
When he got to the end of the path, he looked up and gave out a terrified gasp. Right there in front of him, there was a giant double-door gate that seemed to be taller than his house. Large chains wrapped tightly around the doors, and an eerie, evil-looking face was emblazoned upon it, having glowing yellow eyes and one large mouth with many, many sharp teeth in it. On the center of the gate was a small hole, which had been put on the top of the door face's mouth.
“Never forget that fear is but the precursor of valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero.”
Staring at the pendant around his neck, Lincoln slowly walked towards the door, as he took the necklace off and put it into his right hand, before pulling his arm back.
“Don’t think.”
Without wasting another moment, he thrust his hand forward and shoved the key into the hole in the door. Once he did, a bright light shot out of the hole as the chains around the door disintegrated. Lincoln trembled as he took his arm out of the giant keyhole and watched the double doors slowly open. As they did, an even more intense light began to emerge from behind the gate. Before long, the area around the boy was bathed in the most powerful flash of light he had ever seen...while he saw a strange object flying towards him.
“Become.”
The light then faded away as quickly as it came, and Lincoln was able to open his eyes. When he did, he looked around himself and saw several small, square-shaped lights surrounding him in a large sphere. He then reached up to touch them, but before he could make contact, all the light squares suddenly flew away from him, disappearing into the black void that he was floating in.
Lincoln then opened his eyes again and gasped; he was now sitting upright, on his bed, wearing his pajamas, which were an orange nightshirt with matching pants. Looking around, he could see that he was indeed in his bedroom. The area around him was quiet, with only the chirping of the morning birds outside providing any sort of sound at all. “It was just a dream…” Lincoln quietly muttered, as he yawned and was about to get up, only to stop himself, his eyes widening at the sight of something that caused him to scream at the top of his lungs.
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
The scene opens to Lincoln prepping his Pokemon Belt and Duel Pad, before his Duel Gazer went onto his left eye, making holographic effects appear everywhere.
If life is a game
They say I can't win
I'll never amount to nothing'
Tear me down before my life begins,
The scene changed to Lincoln exiting out of his room, quickly dodging both Lynn and Lisa, the former on her bike playing sports and the latter doing another one of her experiments. He briefly joined Lola's tea party, jammed out to Luna's playing, and praised Lucy's poem. He then dodged a fight between Lori and Leni over a dress. He leaped over a pile of laundry and is disgusted by Lily's stinky diaper as she walks by. Luan then appeared to throw a pie at her younger brother, but Lincoln dodged it in time as he finally made it in the bathroom. In there, Lana unscrewed the bathroom's sink with her wrench, resulting in Lincoln eyes widening before the boy got caught in a large stream of water.
I won't be afraid,
To challenge myself
They won't ever break my fire.
The scene changed to a Six-Year old Lincoln standing in front of the Door to Destiny, as he held Emperor's Key his right hand, before pulling back his arm and thrusting his hand forward and shoved the key into the hole in the door, making a bright light shoot out of it as the chains around the door disintegrated, while the young Lincoln took his arm out of the giant keyhole and trembled back in shock.
My dreams won't die
If I high-five the sky
The younger Lincoln watched the double doors slowly open. As they did, an even more intense light began to emerge from behind the gate. Before long, the area around the young boy was bathed in the most powerful flash of light, as it zoomed in on Lincoln's left eye, Astral flying towards him in its reflection.
Spread my wings,
Take off, it's time to fly!
The scene then changed back to Present-Day Lincoln, who had packed his bags as he reached the stairs of his home and slid on the banister, passing his parents before he reached the front door, with Pikachu, Miraidon (Low-Power Mode) Professor Oak waiting for him.
Take a chance to make it all the way
The scene changed to Lincoln and Pikachu in Kanto, riding Miradion (Drive Mode) while Astral was flying beside them, passing by their friends and Pokemon.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday!
The scene then changed to Lincoln (who had his Dueling Equipment on) and Astral, the former drawing a card in a dramatic fashion.
Take a chance, believe...
The scene then changed to Lincoln pulling out a card, before revealing to be his ace, Number 39: Utopia, just as Astral flew in front of him.
Nothing will bring me down,
The scene changed to Jessie giving off a smirk, before changing to James taking a rose out of his mouth and throwing it, and then changing to Meowth jumping into the air. The scene then changed to Giovanni sitting in his office, as he evilly smiled.
No retreat when I leave all my fears behind
My future's still alive inside!
The scene then changed to Lincoln, Astral, and Pikachu, as they were in a Pokemon Battle, with Pikachu going up against a Gyarados, with the Mouse Pokemon started charging towards while charging electricity, before making his tail take on a metallic sheen, just as it got covered in covered in electrical energy. Pikachu then launched into the air and swung his tail down onto his opponent's head, releasing the energy and creating a massive blast of electricity.
Take a chance and chase my doubts away,
The screen changed, now showing both Kite in his Photon Transformation, spun around with a single card in hand and held it out, revealing it to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. A bright flash covered the screen from view for a moment, before clearing to reveal Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon howling, a cosmic galaxy as the background. The screen then suddenly changed to a water world, where Shark floated with Number 32: Shark Drake in front of him.
Believing gets me through my darkest days
In a desert-like field with the orange sky; Lincoln, Astral, Pikachu and Miradion were beside one another with the human boy already fully Duel equipped and were facing a Photon Transformed Kite that stood a few feet away. The Galaxy-Eyes Duelist reached for his deck, then drew with a roar and then gave a confident face at his opponents.
The scene then showed a fast montage of many different kinds of Pokemon and Duel Monsters, such as Pikachu, Miradion (Ultimate Mode), Charizard, Shiny Gardevoir, Lucario, Gagaga Magician, Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Cowboy, Rainbow Kuriboh and Number 39: Utopia.
Take a chance to make it all the way,
The scene then changed to Lincoln and Astral merging into ZEXAL while Miradion morphed into his Ultimate Mode.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday
The scene then changed to several small, square-shaped lights surrounding Six-Year Old Lincoln in a large sphere, before they scattered in all directions.
Take a breath, my heart will lead the way,
The scene changed to a split screen, showing Lincoln's left half of his face and Astral's right half, before changing to Lincoln throwing up his right hand, while Astral did the same with his left, as both partners suddenly gained a bright golden light around themselves that briefly covered the area.
Take a chance, I'll take a chance in today!
The light cleared to reveal single glowing card flying into Lincoln's right hand, as he Astral, Pikachu, and Miradion (Low-Power Mode) were posing beside one another, with the Emperor's Key in the background, as the title then appeared below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: A Loud Journey
(End Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
About 4 Years Later…
The now eleven-year old boy was currently sitting down at the table eating a bowl of cereal while reading a comic book. Hearing the sound of his sisters coming, his eyes widened before he quickly hid under the table.
"Hey, you guys! Don't forget my golf tournament is this afternoon. You're all going to be there to support me, right?" One of the voices asked, as most of Lincoln’s sisters walked into the room, who all nodded. This was Lori, the self-proclaimed boss and the oldest of the Loud Children. She wore a light blue tank top, brown cargo shorts, blue-gray slip-on shoes, and light blue eyeshadow. To go along with her large blonde hair, she wore white pearl earrings.
"And after that, you're all coming to my charity fashion show, right?" The next girl asked, as the rest of the group agreed. This was Leni, and despite being the second-oldest of the Loud children, she is quite ditzy and is very forgetful, absent-minded, and not that bright. She had long, pale-blonde hair, with side-swept bangs, and three pairs of eyelashes. She was almost as tall as Lori, but taller than all her younger siblings. Leni wore a seafoam green dress, with white frills, and triangular sleeves. With this, she wore red hoop earrings, white slide slip-on sandals, topped with light green bows, and a pair of rounded white sunglasses with black lenses on top of her head.
“And after that, don't forget my grave-digging competition." Added the gloomy, cynical, deadpan, and mysterious eight-year old goth of the sisters. This was Lucy, the fifth youngest of the Loud siblings and the eldest of the younger sisters. She had very pale gray skin and long black hair, with bangs long enough to cover her eyes. She was very thin, and a bit smaller than Lincoln. Dressing in black and white, she wore a black dress over a tank top with black and white stripes, matching black and white striped sleeves and stockings, and black shoes.
Next was Luna, a rock music lover and easily the loudest of the family. The fifteen-year old was slightly taller than one of her other sisters, Luan, but shorter than Leni. She had short brown hair styled into a near pixie cut length, freckles on her cheeks, and wore light purple eyeshadow. Luna wore a purple sleeveless shirt with a white skull, torn crew neck, and triangular sleeves, a plaid skirt similar to Luan's (only lavender), a white belt, purple-tipped socks, and high purple boots. A distinguishing feature of hers was her paperclip earrings. She also wore three black bracelets on each of her wrists and a choker around her neck.
The oldest after Luna was Luan, a very goofy and fun-loving girl with an enthusiasm for comedy, making puns and pulling pranks. Luan had prominent buck teeth, and wore silver braces on her upper teeth, and light brown hair worn up in a large ponytail with a small swirl at the end by a yellow scrunchie (presumably the hair tie), with two long protruding hairs sticking out from the center of her forehead. She was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, a yellow skirt with a checkerboard pattern, yellow socks with a line pattern that were worn all the way up, and brown shoes. She also wore three pink flowers, one on her shirt, and one on each shoe, that served as gag squirt-flowers.
The fourth youngest of the group was Lana, a tomboy who loves to play in mud and get her hands dirty. She had blonde hair, with two downward pigtails tied down with red scrunchies, and was missing her front teeth. She wore a red baseball cap backwards with a small square hole, white socks, white sneakers with two blue stripes, and a murky green t-shirt under dark blue overalls.
While Lana loved to get dirty, her younger twin-sister, Lola, was the exact opposite. She was a pageant powerhouse, whose interests include glitter, photo shoots, and her own beautiful, beautiful face. But underneath all the sugar and spice, lurks a troublemaking mastermind. The six-year old had long blonde hair that she wore down, and a tuft of hair on top of her head pointed to the right. She was missing her front teeth, like her twin, Lana. She wore a long pink gown with a light pink sash, a white pearl necklace around her neck, long light pink gloves, white earrings, and a tiara on her head. Underneath her dress, she wore pink high heels.
Second youngest of the entire Loud Family was Lisa. Though the second-youngest of the Louds, the four-year old was a child prodigy, so she's the smartest kid in the bunch. Because of this, she often tends to be egocentric, boorish, condescending, and sarcastic with other people. She spoke with a lateral lisp, and usually had a stoic frown, though she does smile from time to time. Lisa wore a short, shaggy, brown wig and large glasses, which were black-framed, with two circular lenses that are a translucent blue color. She wore a green turtleneck sweater, dark pink pants, and brown shoes with no socks, all of which drooped down to illustrate her stoic demeanor.
As his sisters were discussing their events throughout the day, Lincoln quietly tried to crawl away. However as he crawled out from under the table, he came across the youngest of the Loud Sisters, Lily. Though she was the youngest, she knew how to walk, currently learning how to speak, and is somehow the most well-behaved child in the family. She had one prominent tooth, and three strands of blonde hair on her head. Lily was very small, and usually just wore a white diaper, though occasionally, she wore a white T-shirt, lavender shorts and white boots.
“Inkin’!” She said happily.
“Shh!” Lincoln shushed her baby sister, before noticing her bottle on the top of the fridge. Putting her on Lana's skateboard, Lincoln pushed the board towards the fridge, causing them to collide and making the bottle drop right into Lily’s hands, letting her drink the contents from it.
Given the opportunity, Lincoln escaped to the living room without his sisters seeing him, before he sighed with relief, as the Key around his neck began to softly glow, as the strange creature he met five years ago materialized in front of him. This was Astral, a being from another world known as “Astral World”. He had a very thin and transparent blue body, with green markings and blue gems all over it. He had blue hair that curls up in a Mohawk and pointed ears, which are pierced with dangling earrings. Astral also had heterochromic eyes, the left eye being luminous gold and the right a clear white.
Lincoln and Astral were extremely confused (though in Lincoln’s case, he was also very scared) when they first met, but after spending more time with each other over the years, they actually became best friends. Though Lincoln was the only person who can see Astral, which makes everyone, including his family, believe that Lincoln was going crazy. While his family tried to convince him Astral didn’t exist, he didn’t listen, as he knew that their bond was real.
“I do not understand why you are trying to get out of your sisters' activities.” Astral said, as he flew next to Lincoln, as he climbed up the stairs.
“Well, Astral, with ten sisters, my calendar's booked everyday with stuff. I'm supposed to go to rodeos, pageants, open mic nights…” Lincoln listed, as sighed and rubbed his head. “Once in a while, a guy just needs some time to himself.”
"Hey, Lincoln! You’re coming to my softball game today, right?" Asked another girl that was waiting on top of the stairs. This was Lynn, the athletic and competitive child of the Loud Family. Lynn had thick brown hair pulled back into a short high ponytail that was smaller than Luan's. Her ponytail was held up with a black hairband. She was slightly taller than Lincoln and had freckles on her cheeks. Despite being the age of thirteen, her short appearance made it seem like she's a preteen, not a teenager. Unlike her older sisters, she had a rounded nose like Lincoln and her younger sisters. She wore a red and white jersey with a red "1" on it, red-and-white track shorts, and black cleats with striped white knee-high socks.
‘Dang it. Should have done a head count.’ Lincoln thought, as he faced his sister. “Actually, Lynn, I've got some important business to attend to. Some of which is Ace Savvy VS the Card Shark.” Lincoln told her, as he pulled out the comic he was reading and showed it to Lynn. “Then I have to meet up with a friend in town later.”
"Lame. My team has won our last six games, and you're the only member of this family who hasn't come out to support me."
"That's because I was supporting six other sisters with their things. Sorry Lynn, I just can't do it today." Lincoln said, as he started to walk away, before Lynn stood in front of him, holding her bat threateningly.
“Sure you won’t reconsider?” She asked the boy, who yelped in fear.
Later, at the Royal Woods Ball Park…
Lincoln, who was wearing various Squirrel merchandise, was giving an unenthusiastic look, as he, Astral, and the rest of his family were sitting on the bleachers, watching the Squirrel's mascot ran onto the field and proceeded to do somersaults "LET'S DO THIS!" The mascot shouted.
"Well, it's a beautiful day at the park. Isn't it, Pep?" The sports announcer, Travis, asked his partner. He was an overweight man who had ginger hair and a long mustache of the same color. He also had eye-bags, a double chin, and a big nose. He was usually seen wearing a white collared shirt.
“Oh, sure it is.” His partner, Pep, said in an enthusiastic voice. He had black hair, a pink nose, white shirt, brown pants, white shoes, and always seemed to have either a bored or dejected expression.
Travis then cleared his throat and said, "It's the bottom of the ninth with the Royal Woods Squirrels up 3-nothing. Could this be another shutout for star pitcher Lynn Loud?" Lynn then walked up to the pitcher's mound, while waving at the cheering crowd. Preparing her pitch, the athletic Loud Sister lifted her leg, turned her cap around, tossed some dirt over her shoulder, and patted her right cheek. “Loud is performing her signature good luck rituals.”
Continuing her rituals, Lynn then proceeded to do a Cossack dance, saying, "Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut!"
Staring at the scene in confusion, Astral asked his companion, “Lincoln, do you believe there’s anything to these kinds of superstitions?”
“Other than giving a massive headache from time to time, no.” Lincoln dryly replied.
“You’re not talking to your imaginary friend again, are you sweetie?” A woman near him asked. This was Rita, the mother of the Loud Family. She wore a salmon buttoned shirt with a white collar and cuffs, dark mauve pants and black flats. To go with her medium length blonde hair, she had white earrings. She also wore light blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She also had bags under her eyes, just like Lincoln did.
Sighing in annoyance, Lincoln replied, “For the last time, Mom, Astral is not imaginary!”
“Yeah, and pigs are able to fly.” Luan jokes, causing a few snickers to come from the family, while Lincoln just groaned.
“Oh, here comes the windup and pitch.” A man sitting next to Rita said, bringing everyone’s attention back to the game. This Lynn Loud Sr, the stern but loving Father of the Loud Family. He wore a sea green sweater over a light green checkered collar and cuffs, brown slacks and shoes. He had a long pointy nose, brown eyebrows, and curly brown hair that's thinning on the top.
Lynn then winded up and threw the ball. However, the opposing team hit the ball and knocked it out of the park, thus making the score 3-1. “Ooh! Looks like the softball gods did not love that Cossack dance.” Travis commented, before the Daisy Hill Daisies knocked the ball out of park three more times, thus, resulting in the Squirrels defeat. “HATED that Cossack dance.”
The crowd then proceeded to boo and hiss, as the mascot looked on in grief.
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, SIS!" Luna shouted.
After the game, The Loud family were all sitting in the parking lot next to vanzilla waiting for Lynn.
The van, “Vanzilla” as the family called it, was a two-tone green and white color scheme with two doors in the side, one of which had a broken lock and a window roller. It had four rows of seating; one with the drivers' seat and adjacent passenger seat and three with seats for other passengers. The license plate read "LLLD". The front of the van bore the name of its manufacturer, Fungo; the "O" had been a belt buckle ever since it fell off years ago in Lynn Sr’s father’s youth. Likewise, the rear door had a badge with the initials "FMC" on the lower right, which stood for "Fungo Motor Company".
Lynn then made her way to the family looking rather down. Lincoln then sighed and walked up to Lynn "Look, Lynn, I'm sorry you lost."
However as Lincoln walked up to his athletic sister she proceeded to yelp and hid behind a dumpster. "What? What's wrong?"
Lynn then poked her head from behind the dumpster holding a rotten banana peel. "Stay back! You're bad luck!" Lynn then threw the banana peel at Lincoln but the boy was quick to tilt his head to the left and dodge it.
"What are you talking about?"
"My team has been dominating all season, then the one time you show up, we lose!"
“That’s ridiculous. I am not bad luck." Lincoln defended himself, only for her Sister to ignore him.
"Yeah-huh you are! Which is why I'm banning you from all future games. Now scram! I have to make things right with the softball gods." Lynn said, as she then proceeded to do her Cossack dance "Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut!"
‘Must…resist…letting out…anger…!’ Lincoln thought, before seeing a Duel Monsters card on the ground. Curious to see what it was, the boy was about to pick it up, only for his father to step in front of him.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Lynn Sr asked, slight anger in his voice.
“Uhh…” Lincoln sweatdropped, as he stared at the card his father had. “I was gonna take that Duel Monsters card to the Lost and Found?” The second he said that, his father picked up the card with both of his hands, before ripping it into pieces, much to Lincoln’s horror.
“You know full well that playing, mentioning, or even having anything related to that horrible game is forbidden in this family!” His father yelled at him.
“I know…” Lincoln said, sadness in his voice.
“This is your last warning. Next time you try and pick up one of those terrible cards, you will be grounded for the rest of the year. Is that understood?”
“But Dad-”
“IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!” His dad repeated, seriousness in his voice. Seeing as he didn’t want to argue with his father, Lincoln just sighed and simply nodded. Sighing in frustration, the father pinched his nose, before he, Lincoln and the rest of the family got into Vanzilla and drove off, with Lincoln looking at the now ripped up card in pieces through the window, with a small girl walking up to it, before falling onto her knees and crying.
Later, at the Loud House, Lincoln was currently sitting at the table, eating more cereal and reading comics, with Astral flying next to him.
“I am sorry about what happened between you and your father, Lincoln.” Astral said to the boy.
“It’s not your fault, Astral.” Lincoln simply said, turning away from his comic. “I just don’t understand why he hates…” Looking around to see if anyone was nearby, Lincoln then said, “‘You know what’ so much.”
“Lincoln!” Leni’s voice called out, as she walked into the room, her hair being all curled up. “Are you coming to my charity fashion show? It's for a great cause: oysters without pearls.”
Before her only brother could respond, Lynn stormed into the room and yelled, “Leni! No! He'll ruin your fashion show just like he ruined my winning streak! HE'S BAD LUCK!”
"Oh, come on, Lynn! That is absolutely ridiculous!" Lincoln replied, angrily glaring at the athlete.
“I don’t know…” Leni sheepishly said.
“Leni, what if his bad luck makes you trip, or jam a zipper, or break a heel..." Lynn began to list, making the quite-forgetful girl gasp in horror.
"The horror! Maybe you should sit this one out." Leni stated, making Lincoln stare at her in disbelief.
“Seriously?” Lincoln asked, causing her to nod. Groaning, the boy went into the Living Room and turned the TV on, hoping to keep his mind off things.
Unfortunately, Lana then pounced onto the boy and hogtied him. "Hey, Linc, you coming to my alligator-wrestling match?" She asked.
"Don't invite Lincoln!” Leni quickly said, as she pulled Lana away from their brother. “He could make your alligator trip, or jam its zipper, or break a heel!"
"What?" Lana asked, confused from what she was talking about.
"He's bad luck." Leni simply said, causing the young girl's eyes to widen.
"Uh...maybe you shouldn't come after all. I'm wrestlin' my first 200-pounder, and I can't take any chances." Lana said, patting her foot down, before walking away.
“This is just gonna escalate from bad to worse, isn’t it?” Lincoln asked Astral, who only shrugged, as he didn’t know where this would lead.
To find out if everyone was actually believing Lynn’s accusation of Lincoln being “Bad Luck”, the boy went to talk to each of his sisters, starting with Lola, who was spraying her hair in a beehive.
Upon seeing the boy, Lola gasped and sprayed Lincoln away, yelling, “GET AWAY FROM ME! YOUR BAD WILL MAKE MY HAIR GO FLAT!”
“Sorry, Lincoln, but you can’t come to my performance.” Luan said, as she was in her clown outfit.
“Why not?” Lincoln asked, probably knowing the response.
“I’m afraid your bad luck might cause a clown car collision. That would put a dent in things!" Luan jokes, as she began laughing. "Get it? But seriously, don't come."
Leaving her sister’s room, he then came across Lisa, who scoffed and said, "Pshaw. There's no such thing as bad luck. There's only science. All else is hooey."
"Lisa literally has a point.” Lori’s voice said, as she entered with her golf clubs. “You're coming to my tournament, Lincoln. This family supports each other." Holding her clubs to her brother, Lori asked, “Can you take these out to the car for me? I need to get changed.”
‘Finally! Someone that believes me!’ Lincoln thought, relieved that Lori and Lisa didn’t believe Lynn’s superstitions. “Sure.” He replied to the oldest sister, before he took her clubs. Unfortunately, he accidentally tripped and lost his balance, causing him to fall into the bathroom, where a lot of clanging then occurred. Getting back up onto his feet, his eyes widened in horror, as he picked up a now dented club. “Whoops!”
"My sand wedge!” Lori gasped in horror, before staring at the boy in disbelief. “You are bad luck! You are literally uninvited to my tournament."
"I retract my earlier statement. BACK, YE CURSED WRETCH! And don't even think about attending my lecture series on thermodynamics!" Lisa said, as the two then walked away, leaving the white-haired boy to himself.
“Dang it.”
"Come on, guys. It's time for my gator-wrestling match." Lana said, as everyone in the family, except for Lincoln and Rita, exited the house and got into the van.
“Do you want a ride to your friend's house, sweetie?” The mother asked Lincoln.
Shaking his head, the only boy in the family replied, “No thanks. I can just ride my bike there. It’s not far.”
Giving her son a hug goodbye, Rita then exited the house and got into Vanzilla, before shouting, “Behave yourself and be home by six!”
“I will. See you guys later…” Lincoln said. As he saw his family drive off, the boy then bolted upstairs, heading into the direction of his room.
Upon entering his room, he pulled out a loose floorboard, revealing a Red Deck Box, a Red Tablet-Like Device, a strange white and yellow device meant to fit on one’s left eye, equipped with a green lens, money, and all of the Duel Monster cards he had collected over the years. Grabbing the devices and Deck Box, Lincoln placed the floorboard back, making sure that it seemed like nothing was actually there, before putting his stuff in a bag and bolting out of the room.
“I hope he's still there!” Lincoln said, exiting the house and running up to a light gray colored bike, which had a red plate with the number "1" on it, and light blue pegs on each side of the wheels. Getting onto his bike, he quickly rode off in the opposite direction his family went, Astral flying besides him.
In an abandoned factory's indoor parking lot, two kids were waiting around, wondering where their opponent was, just before they heard the sound of a bike coming towards them. Turning their heads, they saw Lincoln coming down through the entrance, before stopping in front of them.
"Sorry I'm late!" Lincoln said, as he got off his bike.
"And here I thought you might have chickened out." The little kid said with a smug grin. He had large front teeth, wore a baseball cap in reverse that covered his red hair, a green t-shirt with a yellow light bulb over a long sleeve black shirt, and blue shorts.
"Doubt that Akira, and who did you bring with you? Hope it's back up, because you're gonna need it." Lincoln said with a confident smile.
"Your Duel isn't with me, Snowflake." Akira said with a sly smirk over his face as the boy behind him stood up. The boy had brownish hair, hazel eyes, and was a muscular and broad shouldered kid for his age. He wore a dull orange jacket, white shirt, tan pants, black fingerless gloves and bright brown shoes with a black outline.
"Whoa. Yeah I don't think this is very fair." Lincoln said.
"My little bro here says you're pretty good. Well I guess it's time to find out how good you really are." The older brother said, as he cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah I'm pretty good, what about you? What's your deal?" Lincoln asked his opponent, smirking as he knew how confident he is.
"Names Shuji, and I'm the Master of...Fusion Summoning." he said with a smug grin on his face.
“Fusion user, huh?” Lincoln smiled, as he put down his bag and searched through its contents. “Not bad, though I think it would have been better to not tell me that, because now I know what to expect.”
"QUIT YOUR STALLING!" yelled Shuji, causing Lincoln to turn back at him, a confident smile on his face.
"Okay, lets do this. But I gotta warn ya, you're messing with a real Pro Duelist right now." Lincoln said, as he took the Red-Tablet like device and attached it to his left arm while Shuji pulled out his own, which was green, and did the same. Holding his arm out, Lincoln exclaimed, “Duel Pad, activate!” The device then unfolded itself, as in addition to a touchscreen mounted onto the arm, there was a tray coming out of the side of it with five blue and white spaces with red, downward-pointing triangles on each space. Underneath the tray was a small slot, and in the slot was a deck of Duel Monsters cards.
Pulling out the small lens, Lincoln put it onto his left eye and said, “Duel Sazer, Set!”
Shuji grinned, as he and Akira put on similar devices, with Shuji’s being gray with a purple lens and Akira’s being white with a brown lens. Upon doing so, a haze engulfed the area around them for a brief moment. Everything around them still looked the same, except that the area had a very-slight greenish tint to it, and small colored screens were scattered all over the field. A computerized female-sounding voice then said, "Augmented Reality Vision Link established."
Both of them drawing five cards, Lincoln and Shuji shouted in unison…
“LET’S DUEL!”
Lincoln: LP: 4000
Shuji: LP: 4000
Shuji then chuckled, as he grabbed two cards from his and said, “Ready or not, here I come!” Sending one of the cards into his Graveyard slot, he then placed a card into one of his Monster Zone’s and said, “By discarding one card from my hand, I’m allowed to Special Summon The Tricky!”
As the enlarged copy of the card he played materialized onto his field, a humanoid monster that looked like a jester emerged from the card, question marks covering its face and torso.
The Tricky
Attribute: WIND
Monster Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Level: 5
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1200
Position: Attack
“I think that will do for now.” Shuji grinned.
“Strange. He did not use his Normal Summon nor played any Face-Down cards.” Astral commented.
“Either he’s planning something or he just got a bad hand.” Lincoln quietly replied, placing his fingertips on top of his deck. “Either way, it's my move! I draw!” Pulling the top card from his deck, he placed it with his other cards, before examining what he had. “Not bad.” He commented, before beginning his Main Phase 1. “To start, I Normal Summon will be my Goblindbergh, in Attack Mode!” Once the card materialized, a red and orange plane carrying a metal crate shot out of it, with the plane being flown by a goblin-like creature, dressed as a pilot.
Goblindbergh
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 4
ATK: 1400
DEF: 0
Position: Attack
"And Goblindbergh is going to fly high and activate his special ability! When he's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below monster from my hand! Drop the load, Goblindbergh!" Lincoln called to his monster, as the pilot gave its boss a thumbs up, before pulling a lever on his left, which caused the metal crate the plane was carrying to fall onto the ground. Upon impact, the crate opened up, revealing a large creature that seemed to be part-human and part-fortress standing proudly next to Goblindbergh. “Shuji, say hello to Gogogo Golem!” Lincoln said, as the monster flexed its blue and silver-colored mechanical arms as it showed off its olive green stone body. As it stood intimidatingly in front of Shuji, its single red eye began to glow brightly.
Gogogo Golem
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Rock
Level: 4
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1500
Position: Attack
“When Goblindbergh Special Summons a Monster with his effect, he is automatically switched into Defense Mode.” Lincoln said, as he positioned the monster’s card sideways on his Duel Pad, causing Goblindbergh to go into a defensive position.
Goblindbergh
Position: Attack > Defense
“Now I Overlay Level 4 Goblindbergh and Level 4 Gogogo Golem!” Lincoln proclaimed, as both of his turned into orange lights, before shooting into the sky. “With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!” A red vortex then appeared in front of Lincoln, as the two lights were drawn into it. "Legendary warrior of the Gagaga clan... Unsheathe your swords and strike down all the enemies that oppose you! Come forth, and show no fear as you face the challenges ahead!" At that moment, a large pillar of red light erupted out of the portal in front of the Loud. "I Xyz Summon, Gagaga Samurai!"
When the pillar of light faded, a powerful Samurai warrior stood in front of Lincoln, wielding two katana. His outfit was mostly red and smoky gray in color, with long, orange scarves that fluttered in the wind. Circling around him were two orange orbs.
Gagaga Samurai
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Warrior/Xyz/Effect
Rank: 4
ATK: 1900
DEF: 1600
Overlay Units: 2
Position: Attack
“I now activate Gagaga Samurai’s effect! By using one Overlay Unit, I can have any of my Gagaga monsters gain the ability to attack twice this turn!" One of the Samurai’s orbs then flew into its sword, causing it to glow a bright light.
Gagaga Samurai
Overlay Units: 2 - 1 = 1
Pointing to his Xyz Monster on the field, she then finished, saying, "Of course, my Gagaga Samurai is my ONLY Gagaga monster, so I'll have him use the effect on himself!"
“Hate to break it to you, twerp, but your monster is 100 Attack Points weaker than mine.” Shuji smirked.
"Now! Go, Gagaga Samurai! Attack The Tricky!" Lincoln exclaimed, as the powerful Samurai then leapt forward, ready to slice apart his opponent, much to Shuji and Akira’s confusion. But then the white-haired boy added, "And at this precise moment, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Ego Boost! Thanks to this card, I can give my attacking Gagaga Samurai an additional 1000 Attack Points for one turn!" Lincoln explained, as the Spell Card then sent an enormous amount of green-colored energy to his monster, making it more powerful than it was before.
Gagaga Samurai
ATK 1900 + 1000 = 2900
"WHAT?!?" Shuji exclaimed, not seeing that move coming, as the Samurai then slashed his sword, striking The Tricky and sending a wave of white energy towards the large boy, knocking out some of his Life Points.
Shuji: LP: 4000 - (2900 - 2000 = 900) = 3100
"Urrrgh... that stung a little..." Shuji groaned, a little winded after the impact of the attack.
"I'm not done just yet, Shuji..." the white-haired boy informed his opponent, "If you recall, I used Gagaga Samurai's effect; which means I can attack with him again!" Pointing forward, he then ordered, "Go! Attack Shuji directly!"
Panicking a little, Shuji stepped back in fear, as Lincoln’s Xyz Monster then slashed him, causing more of his Life Points to drop.
Shuji: 3100 - 2900 = 200
"No... no this can't be happening!" Shuji said, feeling quite shocked as he stared at his remaining Life Points.
"Hate to break it to you bud, but it looks like you're down to your last bit of Life Points. And if I figured right, one more attack should put you away for good. But then again…" Lincoln smirked as he placed a card Face-Down. “It’s not really over until the last card is played.”
Gagaga Samurai
ATK: 2900 - 1000 = 1900
“Ugh! We’ll see about that, punk!” Shuji responded, as he drew his card. Smirking, he held out the card and said, “I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization!” Just then, two monsters emerged on his field, one being a gigantic blue koala and the other a green kangaroo wearing a purple jacket, red boots, and red boxing gloves. “With this, I fuse my Big Koala and Des Kangaroo from my hand in order to create an even more powerful monster!” Shuji said as his two monsters were then drawn into a red and blue-colored vortex. “I Fusion Summon, Master of Oz!”
Out of the vortex came a huge, muscular green koala with long, hairy ears, wore great big boxing gloves, the same purple vest the kangaroo had, and big red shoes.
Master of Oz
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Beast/Fusion
Level: 9
ATK: 4200
DEF: 3700
Position: Attack
“Master of Oz, attack Gagaga Samurai with Outback Attack!” Shuji ordered, as he fusion charged in and was about to tackle Lincoln’s monster.
“Not so fast!” Lincoln quickly interrupted, as he tapped on his Duel Pad, causing his Face-Down card to reveal itself. “I’ve got a Trap! Negate Attack!” Just as the attack was about to come into contact, an invisible barrier protected Gagaga Samurai, causing Master of Oz to stop and go back to its spot on the field.
“Good move. Not only did you save your Life Points, but you also ended Shuji’s Battle Phase with Negate Attack’s effect.” Astral commented his companion.
“I learned from the best.” Lincoln quietly said, smiling at Astral.
“Ugh!” Shuji growled, as he then exclaimed, “I end my turn!”
“Good, then I draw!” Lincoln proclaimed, drawing his card. Upon looking at it, he thought, ‘Perfect.’ Playing the card he drew, Lincoln then said, "I Summon Gagaga Magician in Attack Mode!" In an instant, a robe and cloak-wearing man appeared on his field, ready to battle. He wore a mostly blue outfit with an orange flame pattern along the bottom. He had bronze shoulder pads on his coat and a large, crooked hat on his head. a long chain with a gold plate connected to it wrapped decoratively around his outfit, and a long red scarf covered the bottom half of his face.
Gagaga Magician
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Level: 4
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1000
Position: Attack
"Next," Lincoln continued, "since I control a Gagaga monster, I can also Summon my Gagaga Child to the field!" He then placed his next monster in Defense Mode, and it appeared on the field as a young boy with a hat and robe similar to Gagaga Magician, but also wearing a school uniform, a pair of red sneakers, and carrying a blue popsicle.
Gagaga Child
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Level: 2
ATK: 800
DEF: 1200
Position: Defense
“Since I Special Summoned Gagaga Child with his effect, I can make his Level match that of another Gagaga monster I control. So I target Gagaga Magician, causing Gagaga Child's Level to change to four!" Gagaga Child then ate his Popsicle, as the stick showed his new level.
Gagaga Child
Level: 2 > 4
“I overlay Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Child! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!” The brothers watched as both of Lincoln's monsters transformed into purple lights and flew into a red summoning portal in front of him. "Celebrated marksman of the Gagaga clan... Draw your pistol in the name of justice! Let your determination guide your aim!" the Loud chanted. “I Xyz Summon, Gagaga Cowboy!"
After his summoning chant was finished, the portal began to glow brighter than before. Then, from out of the portal came a human man wearing typical western-style clothing, complete with a brown hat, an orange bandanna that covered the lower half of his face, a tan vest with a white shirt underneath, black pants with leather chaps and boots, and a tattered red cape. In his hands were a pair of shiny, silver pistols, loaded and ready to fire.
Gagaga Cowboy
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Warrior/Xyz/Effect
Rank: 4
ATK: 1500
DEF: 2400
Overlay Units: 2
Position: Defense
"Since I used Gagaga Child’s effect to Special Summon him, I’m not allowed to conduct my Battle Phase. However, he won't need to attack you." Lincoln said back to him. "I played Gagaga Cowboy in Defense Mode, which allows me to use one of his abilities! By using one Overlay Unit, he can hit you for 800 Points of Damage!”
“HUH?!” Shuji gasped, as one of Gagaga Cowboy's floating orbs flew into one of his pistols.
Gagaga Cowboy
Overlay Units: 2 - 1 = 1
“Fire away, Gagaga Cowboy!” Lincoln exclaimed, as the man nodded and then fired the gun, sending a powerful shot of energy towards Shuji and hitting him hard, causing him to drop his cards.
Shuji: LP: 200 - 800 = 0
WINNER: Lincoln
Upon seeing the image of the winner pop up, Akira dropped his bags of chips in disbelief, as the monsters and holographic effects dissipated. “I don't believe it! You promised me you would clean his clock! What happened?!" Akira asked Shuji in shock and anger, as he took off his Duel Gazer.
Shuji fell to his knees in defeat and just cried out, "I'm sorry..."
“I believe Shuji is what humans call, ‘All bark and no bite’” Astral commented, causing Lincoln to nod.
Meanwhile, the sun began to set as Flight 683 was high in the sky, flying towards its destination.
“Attention, passengers, we will be landing in Detroit, Michigan in about ten minutes," The captain’s voice on the intercom announced, "Please take your seats and fasten your seat belts. We will be landing shortly."
“Finally.” A young man with blonde hair said, as his green eyes looked out the window. He wore a white and purple shirt and necktie with a yellow vest with a grape emblem on the front, purple pants and brown boots. Turning his attention to a yellow backpack next to him, he pulled out a strange blue book with a picture of the Emperor's Key on the front of it. “Of all the places you could have run off to, why did you go there?” He asked in confusion.
Back with Lincoln, the boy was now on his way back home, as he saw the little girl he saw from the ball park earlier sit on the sidewalk, tears going down her face as she held the card Lynn Sr ripped up in her hands, which was taped back together as best as it could. Feeling bad for what his father did, the boy stopped his bike, before setting it next to a tree.
“Hey.” Lincoln said, gaining the little girl's attention, as the boy kneeled down to her level. Looking at the ruined card in her hands, Lincoln said, “That’s a nice card you got there. Is it special to you?”
“Yeah, it was.” The girl said, a tear landing onto the card. “It was my first ever card.”
“Your first?” Lincoln asked in shock.
“Mhm.” The little girl nodded. “My dad gave it to me as a Birthday Present last year. He told me if I took care of it he would teach me how to play.”
Smiling, Lincoln took out his Backpack and pulled out a card, before presenting it to the child. “Here. Since your’s got ruined. Take good care of it, okay?”
Gasping in disbelief, the little girl stared at the card and asked, “Really?!” Nodding in confirmation, the little girl gave the boy a big hug, before she ran off with her new card and yelled, “Thanks, mister!”
Smiling at the deed he did, the boy was about to get back on his bike, before his eyes widened in horror, seeing his family in Vanzilla staring at him, his father absolutely furious.
“I cannot believe this.” Lynn Sr said, as the entire family was in the Living Room, with Lincoln sitting on the couch and all of his Dueling stuff on the coffee table. “My own son, playing a game, which I forbid this family from playing, behind my back!”
“It….” Lincoln trailed off, as he stared at his family. “Dueling makes me happy, Dad. It’s my dream to become a pro duelist. Plus, I’m really good.”
“Yeah, right. Like you are capable of winning anything, jinx.” Lynn Jr stated.
“Junior, I don’t care if he’s good luck, bad luck, or no luck. Our ‘No Duel Monsters’ Rule is law.” Lynn Sr said, glaring at his son.
“This is so unfair!” Lincoln exclaimed, standing up. “You and Mom support the rest of this family in their dreams and activities, but when I find something I like and want to do, you try and shut it down!”
“That’s because they follow OUR rules that helped them discover their dreams!”
“And it’s my destiny to help Astral-”
“How many times do we have to tell you? ASTRAL! DOESN’T! EXIST!” Lynn Sr yelled.
“So you guys thinking me being a jinx is more believable than considering Astral’s existence?!”
“YES!” His family yelled in unison.
“I don’t wanna hear another word about this!” Lynn Sr yelled, before motioning towards the boy's stuff. “All of this is getting thrown out, end of discussion!”
“NO, THERE NOT!” Lincoln countered, causing his family to gasp in disbelief, not expecting the boy to yell at his father. Sighing in frustration, he put his Dueling Stuff back into his bag as he told his father, “I’m only gonna say this once, Dad: Yelling at me isn’t going to work. Punishing me isn’t going to work. Nothing you can think of will change my mind about me and Dueling! I’m going to be a Duelist and I’m gonna help Astral, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
Staying silent for a moment, the father of the Loud family glared at the boy and said, “Yes there is.” Grabbing his son’s arm, Lynn Sr threw the bag he was holding and began to drag the boy to the front door. “Girls, go into your brother’s room and throw EVERYTHING in the van! They are getting sold first thing in the morning!”
“WHAT?!” Lincoln exclaimed in disbelief, as his sisters, save for Lisa and Lynn Jr, the former’s tune changed from anger to fear, while the latter just smirked in triumph. “Dad, what are you-”
“I’m not gonna let my son chase fantasies or things that don’t even exist!” Lynn Sr yelled, as he tossed the boy outside, who stared at him in shock. “So until you decide to give up all this nonsense, you’re not allowed to enter this house or leave this property!”
Slamming the door in Lincoln’s face, the man turned around and walked away, ignoring the boy's pleas.
“DAD! STOP! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!”
“Lynn, don’t you think you’re taking this too far?” Rita asked her husband, concerned for her son.
“Rita, that boy needs to learn his lesson about lying and disrespecting this family's rules.” Lynn Sr glared, as he began to walk upstairs to help his daughters.
“Besides, Stinkoln is Bad Luck! His room and belongings are probably contaminated with it! They have to go!” Lynn Jr added. “We have to think of our own safety!”
“Guys, please! Tell him he's being crazy!” Lincoln’s voice called out from the other side of the door, only for nobody to reply. “…Anyone?”
Lisa, who was still the entire time, stared in disbelief as she thought, ‘Lincoln, as much as I want to help you, I not only don’t want to risk getting the same punishment you were given, I have been focusing on another problem that had even managed to stump me; namely the unique creatures known as Pokemon and how to get the opportunity to study them.’
Her interest in them began after a chance meeting with a Professor by the name of Samuel Oak during a science convention she had attended in the past. Since then, the two had become fast friends and kept in contact with each other through video chat, often engaging in lengthy conversations about the many species of Pokemon the world had to offer.
These conversations eventually led to her wanting to study them for herself in person. However, there was one major obstacle in the way of this goal - her age. Despite being a college graduate with a PhD, she was still only four years-old; nowhere near old enough to become an official Trainer, which had a minimal age requirement of ten years.
From what Oak had mentioned during one of their earlier conversations, the restriction was created by the Pokemon League itself following a number of attacks on younger trainers by a criminal organization that was working out of the Kanto region.
She was aware that she could simply ask Professor Oak if she could visit his lab/ranch in Pallet Town and study the Pokemon he had there, but considering how busy the man seemed to be with his own research, it was highly unlikely that she would be able to visit very often.
So she had started looking into other ways to legally bypass the age restriction. However, she had constantly run into failure over and over again, frustrating her immensely.
As the attempts continued to fail, her frustration grew to the point that she started searching for less-than-legal ways to get past the restriction, only to run into failure there as well. Out of desperation, she had even attempted to create an aging formula in order to make herself older, but that...didn't exactly go as planned either. At least she knew how to make a beard growth formula now.
Still, she didn't want to wait six years before she could finally start her research and her repeated failures to find ways around the age restriction were starting to wear on her patience. It was times like this that she hated being the second-youngest child in the family.
'If only I were around your age, Lincoln… then I wouldn't have any problems passing the League's age qualification.' Lisa thought with a scowl, only for her eyes to widen in realization.
‘Wait, that’s it! Why didn't she see it sooner? The solution to both of our problems was right in front of me the whole time!’ Lisa thought with a smile. ‘If I could find a way to get you to go to Kanto, then I wouldn't have to wait until I am old enough to become a Trainer myself - you could catch them and bring them straight to me!’
Heading up the stairs in determination, the four-year old genius ran past the rest of her family, who was taking everything out of Lincoln’s room, furniture and all, and entered her own, locking the door. ‘And best of all, I won't be the only one benefitting from this plan.’ She continued her inner monologue. ‘You would get to meet (and hopefully catch) some of the Pokemon Kanto had to offer while everyone else gets what they want with you being away. Everyone wins.’
Walking up to a large terminal-like computer with what appeared to be a phone receiver attached to it, Lisa began to press a few keys and said to herself, "I just hope he, Mother and Father are willing to cooperate."
After a few minutes, the device let out a beeping noise, before the screen displayed an older man with short spiky gray hair dressed in a lab coat sitting in a chair...facing the wrong way.
"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?"
"...Professor Oak, you're facing the wrong camera again." Lisa muttered, facepalming.
"Darn it, this always happens..." The old man muttered, before turning his chair around to face the other way. Upon seeing Lisa on his own screen, his look of annoyance quickly changed to one of joy. "Oh! Hello again, Miss Loud - it's good to hear from you again!"
With a smile of her own, Lisa says "It's good to see you too, Professor."
"So, what brings you to call me? Did you want to have another discussion about Pokemon biology?"
"Not exactly - I'm calling for a different reason. Professor Oak, I’d like to cash in that favor you owe me.” Lisa said, gaining the Professor’s attention.
“You must not blame yourself, Lincoln.” Astral said, trying to calm his companion down, as the boy was sitting against the garage. “I don’t think any of us realized how far your family, especially your father, was willing to go.”
“You and Pop-Pop are probably the only people I consider family now, Astral.” Lincoln muttered, as he stared at the pendant around his neck. “If only he was here right now.”
“Lincoln…” Astral softly spoke, feeling partially guilty. The day Lincoln turned 7-years old, the day the duo met each other, Lincoln’s grandfather, Albert, or Pop-Pop, left for a trip and never came back. Most people think he either just abandoned his family or got in a terrible accident. But Lincoln believed that he was out there somewhere, wanting to come home or hoping someone would find him.
“Are the Number cards safe?” Lincoln asked.
“They are safe and secure inside the Key right now.” Astral replied, before frowning. “However, the same cannot be said about your Dueling Equipment and the rest of your cards.”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” Lincoln said, turning his head towards the house. Before he could say another word, the two of them froze, as they felt a strange aura coming from the distance. “You feel that too, right?” Lincoln asked Astral, who nodded in confirmation. Confused, the boy looked around the area, only to see the Key around his neck to give off an otherworldly light and start to float in midair. “What the-?!” Lincoln exclaimed in shock, before the Key then started to point into a certain direction.
“How peculiar…” Astral stated, as Lincoln went to pull the Key away, only for it to go back to where it was pointing to. “It seems as if it were trying to show you something.”
Nodding in agreement, the boy looked at his house, seeing nobody watching him from inside, before he ran off, hoping to find where the Emperor's Key was trying to lead him.
"...Goodness. You weren't overexaggerating when you told me about how stressful living with a family like that could be." Professor Oak said, completely astonished at what Lisa’s brother had just been through.
“Yes, Professor, and if I were to try to help Lincoln or talk some sense to my family, I fear I would only end up with the same punishment. And I can’t call the authorities because…” Lisa trailed, feeling guilty about not being able to help her only brother.
“I see…” Oak said, getting a nod from the four-year old. Smiling in appreciation, the old man stated, “Then perhaps a trip to Kanto might actually do some good for him.”
“You mean…?”
“Of course. And we happen to be lucky right now. Another trainer from the Paldea Region is actually on his way to Royal Woods as we speak.” Professor Oak said, as he displayed a picture of the trainer on Lisa’s monitor.
Recognizing the person, Lisa’s eyes widened as she asked, “Wait, isn’t that Professor Turo’s son, Arven?”
“Indeed. From what his father told me, Arven had just obtained information of a runaway Pokemon he was studying in the area of Royal Woods.” Professor Oak explained, causing Lisa’s eyes to widen further.
“A runaway Pokemon, here?” She asked in shock and confusion. “But Paldea is in the Iberian Peninsula! Why would a Pokemon want to travel halfway across the globe and come here?”
“Yes, that’s what I am confused about as well.” Professor Oak said, placing a hand on his chin. “From what Professor Turo had told me, it might have something to do with this symbol.” Typing on a few keys, he then displayed another image, causing Lisa to gasp in disbelief.
“That’s…!” Lisa exclaimed, causing Oak to look at her in confusion.
“Is something the matter, Miss Loud?” He asked the child. “It’s as if you’ve seen this before.”
Eyes narrowing at the Professor, Lisa began to rapidly press keys as she simply stated, “Because I have.”
Meanwhile, back with Lincoln and Astral, night soon came as the duo were now in the middle of the forest, following Lincoln’s Key.
“It seems that we are getting close…” Astral commented, seeing the Emperor's Key getting brighter by the minute, before it eventually dimmed out, and fell back down onto Lincoln’s neck. Looking at what was in front of them, the duo looked behind the bushes and gasped in shock.
In front of them was a large, robotic reptilian creature, sleeping on the ground. Its body mostly violet in color, although its face, claws, abdomen, and tail were silver. Its head had a dark purple casque, circular purple cheeks, two pairs of antennae, and black eyes. The eyes had a pixelated display, showing closed cyan pupils
“Woah…” Lincoln stated in awe and confusion, as the duo observed the creature in curiosity, before hearing unexpected rushing from the bushes. Cautious in case it was another strange creature or just a wild animal, the boy cautiously turned to the rushing bushes, a bit of fear on his face, before it faded, seeing what came out.
It was a strange, short and chubby rodent creature. It was covered in yellow fur with two horizontal brown stripes on its back. It had a small mouth, long, pointed ears with black tips, and brown eyes. Each cheek was a red circle that appeared to have contained a pouch for electricity storage. It had short forearms with five fingers on each paw, which was carrying a bunch of apples, and its feet each had three toes. At the base of its lightning bolt-shaped tail was a patch of brown fur.
“Oh boy…” A strange voice muttered, as the small mouse creature walked towards the large reptile, and put down the food it was carrying.
“Hey, there, little guy…” Lincoln smiled, as he crouched down to its level. “What are you doing awake this late-”
“I know you can’t understand me…” The mouse began to slowly say to the boy, who’s eyes widened along with Astral’s. “But step away from my friend, or I will electrocute you!”
Staring in disbelief, the boy couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You can talk?”
“Wait.” The mouse froze, the need of protecting the large reptile fading as it shared the same face Lincoln did. “You can understand me?”
“Well, I-” Lincoln tried to say, only to get interrupted again.
“You can understand me!” The creature happily exclaimed, as it then tackled Lincoln.
“Hey, what are you-?” Lincoln was about to ask, before the mouse carried the boy a small shock of electricity. “OW!” He yelled, unknowingly waking up the strange reptile, its light blue eyes simulating blinking as it saw the scene transpiring. Glaring at the yellow mouse, the white-haired boy yelled, “What was that for?!”
“Sorry, just making sure I wasn’t hallucinating.” The yellow mouse said, rubbing the back of his head.
“Well, you didn’t have…to…do…” Lincoln trailed off, as his eyes widened, seeing the strange violet and silver reptile stand up and glare at the boy, before it let out a gasp, seeing the Emperor’s Key around his neck.
“Oh, uh, hey Miraidon!” The mouse awkwardly smiled, as the reptile, now known as Miraidon walked up to the boy. “Listen, I am so sorry we woke you up, but-”
Motioning the mouse to stop, Miraidon turned back to the boy, and smiled. “Are you the owner of that Key?”
“Y-Yes.” Lincoln managed to say, a little scared of the creature's size towering him. “I’m Lincoln Loud.”
Turning its head, Miraidon then looked directly at Astral and said, “And I am assuming that you are Astral.”
Gasping in shock, the other-worldly being asked the reptile, “You can see me?”
Nodding in response, the strange creature turned back to the boy and said, “I am Miraidon, and I have spent the past 4 years looking for you.”
“Me?”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author’s Note:
After month’s of writing, the first chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey, is finally done. A few things I would like to point out.
First, Lynn Sr’s hatred for Duel Monsters and why he is willing to go to such lengths to stop Lincoln from playing it will be explained in a future chapter.
Second, the person who was speaking at the beginning of the chapter will be revealed in probably the next chapter or the chapter after.
Third, while I know NSL is a hated episode, I wanted to make it different by not only Lincoln not convince he’s bad luck, but give two reasons for the family to treat Lincoln like that, one for the kids believing he is Bad Luck (especially Lynn Jr), and the parents being mad at him for breaking a major rule in their house.
Last, I am debating whether Miraidon will be a boy or a girl in this story, because according to a post on reddit, in Pokemon Violet, people talk to the hyper train NPC, and ONLY then (to our knowledge) suddenly it has the female sign. People are not sure if it's a glitch or some underlying code that wasn't deleted, but I want an opinion.
Fan Art (use these #’s on Twitter (X) for the story you want to post fanart of: (match spelling and casing)
Yu-Gi-Oh Ouroboros: #YugiohOuroboros
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: #ZEXALMiraculous
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey: #PokemonLoudZEXAL
Chapter 2: Life Changing Once More Part 2
Chapter Text
Chapter 2: Life Changing Once More! Part 2
Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL…
“I do not understand why you are trying to get out of your sisters' activities.” Astral said, as he flew next to Lincoln, as he climbed up the stairs.
“Well, Astral, with ten sisters, my calendar's booked everyday with stuff. I'm supposed to go to rodeos, pageants, open mic nights…” Lincoln listened, as sighed and rubbed his head. “Once in a while, a guy just needs some time to himself.”
"Hey, Lincoln! You’re coming to my softball game today, right?" Asked Lynn Jr., who was waiting on top of the stairs.
(Scene Change to the Loud Family waiting for Lynn Jr)
Lynn then made her way to the family looking rather down. Lincoln then sighed and walked up to Lynn "Look, Lynn, I'm sorry you lost."
However as Lincoln walked up to his athletic sister she proceeded to yelp and hid behind a dumpster. "What? What's wrong?"
Lynn then poked her head from behind the dumpster holding a rotten banana peel. "Stay back! You're bad luck!" Lynn then threw the banana peel at Lincoln but the boy was quick to tilt his head to the left and dodge it.
"What are you talking about?"
"My team has been dominating all season, then the one time you show up, we lose!"
“That’s ridiculous. I am not bad luck." Lincoln defended himself, only for her Sister to ignore him.
"Yeah-huh you are! Which is why I'm banning you from all future games. Now scram! I have to make things right with the softball gods." Lynn said, as she then proceeded to do her Cossack dance "Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut! Hutta-hut!"
(Scene Change to Arven sitting in his seat on Flight 683)
“Attention, passengers, we will be landing in Detroit, Michigan in about ten minutes," The captain’s voice on the intercom announced, "Please take your seats and fasten your seat belts. We will be landing shortly."
“Finally.” He said, as his attention to a yellow backpack next to him, and he pulled out a strange blue book with a picture of the Emperor's Key on the front of it. “Of all the places you could have run off to, why did you go there?” He asked in confusion.
(Scene Change to Lincoln arguing with his Father)
“I’m only gonna say this once, Dad: Yelling at me isn’t going to work. Punishing me isn’t going to work. Nothing you can think of will change my mind about me and Dueling! I’m going to be a Duelist and I’m gonna help Astral, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Lincoln yelled.
Staying silent for a moment, the father of the Loud family glared at the boy and said, “Yes there is.” Grabbing his son’s arm, Lynn Sr threw the bag he was holding and began to drag the boy to the front door. “Girls, go into your brother’s room and throw EVERYTHING in the van! They are getting sold first thing in the morning!”
“WHAT?!” Lincoln exclaimed in disbelief, as his sisters, save for Lisa and Lynn Jr, the former’s tune changed from anger to fear, while the latter just smirked in triumph. “Dad, what are you-”
“I’m not gonna let my son chase fantasies or things that don’t even exist!” Lynn Sr yelled, as he tossed the boy outside, who stared at him in shock. “So until you decide to give up all this nonsense, you’re not allowed to enter this house or leave this property!”
Slamming the door in Lincoln’s face, the man turned around and walked away, ignoring the boy's pleas.
“DAD! STOP! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!”
“Lynn, don’t you think you’re taking this too far?” Rita asked her husband, concerned for her son.
“Rita, that boy needs to learn his lesson about lying and disrespecting this family's rules.” Lynn Sr glared, as he began to walk upstairs to help his daughters.
“Besides, Stinkoln is Bad Luck! His room and belongings are probably contaminated with it! They have to go!” Lynn Jr added. “We have to think of our own safety!”
“Guys, please! Tell him he's being crazy!” Lincoln’s voice called out from the other side of the door, only for nobody to reply. “…Anyone?”
(Scene Change to Lisa talking with Professor Oak)
"...Goodness. You weren't overexaggerating when you told me about how stressful living with a family like that could be." Professor Oak said, completely astonished at what Lisa’s brother had just been through.
“Yes, Professor, and if I were to try to help Lincoln or talk some sense to my family, I fear I would only end up with the same punishment. And I can’t call the authorities because…” Lisa trailed, feeling guilty about not being able to help her only brother.
“I see…” Oak said, getting a nod from the four-year old. Smiling in appreciation, the old man stated, “Then perhaps a trip to Kanto might actually do some good for him.”
“You mean…?”
“Of course. And we happen to be lucky right now. Another trainer from the Paldea Region is actually on his way to Royal Woods as we speak.” Professor Oak said, as he displayed a picture of the trainer on Lisa’s monitor.
Recognizing the person, Lisa’s eyes widened as she asked, “Wait, isn’t that Professor Turo’s son, Arven?”
“Indeed. From what his father told me, Arven had just obtained information of a runaway Pokemon he was studying in the area of Royal Woods.” Professor Oak explained, causing Lisa’s eyes to widen further.
“A runaway Pokemon, here?” She asked in shock and confusion. “But Paldea is in the Iberian Peninsula! Why would a Pokemon want to travel halfway across the globe and come here?”
“Yes, that’s what I am confused about as well.” Professor Oak said, placing a hand on his chin. “From what Professor Turo had told me, it might have something to do with this symbol.” Typing on a few keys, he then displayed another image, causing Lisa to gasp in disbelief.
“That’s…!” Lisa exclaimed, causing Oak to look at her in confusion.
“Is something the matter, Miss Loud?” He asked the child. “It’s as if you’ve seen this before.”
Eyes narrowing at the Professor, Lisa began to rapidly press keys as she simply stated, “Because I have.”
(Scene Change to Lincoln and Astral going through the middle of the forest)
“It seems that we are getting close…” Astral commented, seeing the Emperor's Key getting brighter by the minute, before it eventually dimmed out, and fell back down onto Lincoln’s neck. Looking at what was in front of them, the duo looked behind the bushes and gasped in shock as they saw Miraidon.
“I know you can’t understand me…” The mouse began to slowly say to the boy, who’s eyes widened along with Astral’s. “But step away from my friend, or I will electrocute you!”
Staring in disbelief, the boy couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You can talk?”
“Wait.” The mouse froze, the need of protecting the large reptile fading as it shared the same face Lincoln did. “You can understand me?”
“Well, I-” Lincoln tried to say, only to get interrupted again.
“You can understand me!” The creature happily exclaimed.
(Scene Change to Miraidon talking to Lincoln and Astral)
“Are you the owner of that Key?”
“Y-Yes.” Lincoln managed to say, a little scared of the creature's size towering him. “I’m Lincoln Loud.”
Turning its head, Miraidon then looked directly at Astral and said, “And I am assuming that you are Astral.”
Gasping in shock, the other-worldly being asked the reptile, “You can see me?”
Nodding in response, the strange creature turned back to the boy and said, “I am Miraidon, and I have spent the past 4 years looking for you.”
“Me?”
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
The scene opens to Lincoln prepping his Pokemon Belt and Duel Pad, before his Duel Gazer went onto his left eye, making holographic effects appear everywhere.
If life is a game
They say I can't win
I'll never amount to nothing'
Tear me down before my life begins,
The scene changed to Lincoln exiting out of his room, quickly dodging both Lynn and Lisa, the former on her bike playing sports and the latter doing another one of her experiments. He briefly joined Lola's tea party, jammed out to Luna's playing, and praised Lucy's poem. He then dodged a fight between Lori and Leni over a dress. He leaped over a pile of laundry and is disgusted by Lily's stinky diaper as she walks by. Luan then appeared to throw a pie at her younger brother, but Lincoln dodged it in time as he finally made it in the bathroom. In there, Lana unscrewed the bathroom's sink with her wrench, resulting in Lincoln eyes widening before the boy got caught in a large stream of water.
I won't be afraid,
To challenge myself
They won't ever break my fire.
The scene changed to a Six-Year old Lincoln standing in front of the Door to Destiny, as he held Emperor's Key his right hand, before pulling back his arm and thrusting his hand forward and shoved the key into the hole in the door, making a bright light shoot out of it as the chains around the door disintegrated, while the young Lincoln took his arm out of the giant keyhole and trembled back in shock.
My dreams won't die
If I high-five the sky
The younger Lincoln watched the double doors slowly open. As they did, an even more intense light began to emerge from behind the gate. Before long, the area around the young boy was bathed in the most powerful flash of light, as it zoomed in on Lincoln's left eye, Astral flying towards him in its reflection.
Spread my wings,
Take off, it's time to fly!
The scene then changed back to Present-Day Lincoln, who had packed his bags as he reached the stairs of his home and slid on the banister, passing his parents before he reached the front door, with Pikachu, Miraidon (Low-Power Mode) Professor Oak waiting for him.
Take a chance to make it all the way
The scene changed to Lincoln and Pikachu in Kanto, riding Miradion (Drive Mode) while Astral was flying beside them, passing by their friends and Pokemon.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday!
The scene then changed to Lincoln (who had his Dueling Equipment on) and Astral, the former drawing a card in a dramatic fashion.
Take a chance, believe...
The scene then changed to Lincoln pulling out a card, before revealing to be his ace, Number 39: Utopia, just as Astral flew in front of him.
Nothing will bring me down,
The scene changed to Jessie giving off a smirk, before changing to James taking a rose out of his mouth and throwing it, and then changing to Meowth jumping into the air. The scene then changed to Giovanni sitting in his office, as he evilly smiled.
No retreat when I leave all my fears behind
My future's still alive inside!
The scene then changed to Lincoln, Astral, and Pikachu, as they were in a Pokemon Battle, with Pikachu going up against a Gyarados, with the Mouse Pokemon started charging towards while charging electricity, before making his tail take on a metallic sheen, just as it got covered in covered in electrical energy. Pikachu then launched into the air and swung his tail down onto his opponent's head, releasing the energy and creating a massive blast of electricity.
Take a chance and chase my doubts away,
The screen changed, now showing both Kite in his Photon Transformation, spun around with a single card in hand and held it out, revealing it to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. A bright flash covered the screen from view for a moment, before clearing to reveal Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon howling, a cosmic galaxy as the background. The screen then suddenly changed to a water world, where Shark floated with Number 32: Shark Drake in front of him.
Believing gets me through my darkest days
In a desert-like field with the orange sky; Lincoln, Astral, Pikachu and Miradion were beside one another with the human boy already fully Duel equipped and were facing a Photon Transformed Kite that stood a few feet away. The Galaxy-Eyes Duelist reached for his deck, then drew with a roar and then gave a confident face at his opponents.
The scene then showed a fast montage of many different kinds of Pokemon and Duel Monsters, such as Pikachu, Miradion (Ultimate Mode), Charizard, Shiny Gardevoir, Lucario, Gagaga Magician, Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Cowboy, Rainbow Kuriboh and Number 39: Utopia.
Take a chance to make it all the way,
The scene then changed to Lincoln and Astral merging into ZEXAL while Miradion morphed into his Ultimate Mode.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday
The scene then changed to several small, square-shaped lights surrounding Six-Year Old Lincoln in a large sphere, before they scattered in all directions.
Take a breath, my heart will lead the way,
The scene changed to a split screen, showing Lincoln's left half of his face and Astral's right half, before changing to Lincoln throwing up his right hand, while Astral did the same with his left, as both partners suddenly gained a bright golden light around themselves that briefly covered the area.
Take a chance, I'll take a chance in today!
The light cleared to reveal single glowing card flying into Lincoln's right hand, as he Astral, Pikachu, and Miradion (Low-Power Mode) were posing beside one another, with the Emperor's Key in the background, as the title then appeared below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: A Loud Journey
(End Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
As Midnight approached Royal Woods, Lincoln Loud was doing his best to carefully guide Miraidon and the yellow mouse back to home without anyone waking up or someone spotting them. Seeing his destination across the street, the boy silently motioned the two creatures to follow, before they quietly ran to the entrance of the Garage.
“You guys should be safe in here.” Lincoln commented, as he opened the Garage Door, allowing the strange creatures inside. Before he could enter it himself, he heard a voice that he didn’t want to hear.
“LINCOLN LOUD, YOU GET AWAY FROM THAT GARAGE THIS INSTANT!” His father yelled, his voice coming from the second floor of his home.
Turning to the man, who was glaring at the boy from his bedroom window in his pajamas, Lincoln asked, “Do you expect me to just sleep outside with nothing?!”
“Until you decide to come back to reality, YES!” Lynn Sr yelled back, as he slammed the window shut.
“Your old man isn’t letting you inside your own home?” The yellow mouse’s voice asked the boy.
“It’s…complicated.” Lincoln said, as he went to close the Garage Door. “My sister has a Softball Championship game tomorrow, so my family won’t be here. Do you think you can stay in here until then?”
“Come on. You’re not gonna at least give us a reason why-”
“Pikachu…” Miraidon interrupted, stopping the yellow mouse, which Lincoln now knew was called Pikachu, in his tracks and turned to the purple and silver reptile, who shook his/her head, Deciding that it would be best not to push the matter further. Staying silent for a moment, Pikachu sighed in defeat and nodded at the boy, who smiled and closed the Garage for the night.
"Well it's Midnight and they’re still not letting me back inside, so I guess I'm sleeping on the lawn...great." Lincoln muttered in irritation as he laid down on the front lawn, trying to find a spot that felt comfortable on the grass, which wasn't an easy task considering that grass tended to be cold at night.
With a sigh, he gives up and just decides to lay down on his back where he was, facing the night sky. As he stared at the stars twinkling brightly above him, his half-lidded eyes gradually started to close as seconds passed by. After several minutes, he fell into a deep sleep.
Unknown to him, a strange woman had exited out of the house, the bag of Lincoln’s Dueling stuff in her hands. She wore a red hood with an ivory stripe down the center, white thread around the upper trim, and extended as a scarf past her chest on each side. She wore matching robes and a corset with a crop top attached to her hood that covers her shoulders, back, and upper arms. The robes came down just above her ankles, with ivory fringes hanging off the edges. The lower part of the robe, by her thighs, had gold coins that hang off the trim. She had gold and silver rings on every finger, both thumbs and three matching coloured necklaces. She also had matching red bracers on both arms, thick golden bracelets on her right forearm, and two thin bracelets on her left wrist. She wore wide ankle bracelets and flat red shoes with a brown buckle. On her ears were two gold hoop earrings, and had black open sockets in place of her eyes. Her hair appeared red and braided behind her hood. She had a long sharp nose and wore faint red lipstick.
Turning to the white-haired boy, the woman said in a deep voice, “Being imprisoned here by your father’s fear is not your destiny, young one. The gears of fate have begun to turn, and you will soon begin to go down the path you were meant to walk.” Without another word, the strange woman then vanished in a flash of light, as if she were never there.
At the Detroit Airport, the young man, known as Arven, was currently sitting in the Lobby, on the phone talking to somebody. “Sure thing, Professor Oak. I will be sure to stop by the Loud’s residence first thing in the morning. What’s the address?” He asked, as he pulled out a pen and notepad. “1216 Franklin Avenue…” He quickly wrote. “Thank you, Professor…No, it's no trouble at all. After all…” Spotting the strange blue book in his bag, the boy smiled and said, “I have a feeling there’s more to this ‘Lincoln Loud’ than meets the eye.”
As the morning sun shone brightly over Royal Woods, Lincoln's eyes slowly started to open as he woke up from his slumber. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he sat up and looked around in confusion, before realizing what had happened. “Oh, right…” He sighed in sadness, as he stood up and went to the back door, seeing his breakfast being shoved through the doggy door. “At least I still get food.”
“Kids, we have a special treat for you!” His mother’s voice announced from inside, causing the boy to put his head through the doggy door. “Since your father's presentation last week went so well…”
"And your mother's root canals, too..." Lynn Sr continued.
“We’d thought for our annual ‘Start of the Summer Trip’, we would go to Hawaii!” Rita exclaimed, causing the girls to cheer.
“We’re going to Hawaii?!” Lincoln exclaimed in shock, catching the families attention, as they glared at the boy.
“No, WE’RE going to Hawaii. You’re staying here because you’re still grounded!” Lynn Sr angrily said to his son, who frowned.
“Yeah, besides, even if you weren’t grounded, your bad luck would ruin the whole trip!” Lynn Jr added, taking a spoonful of her cereal. “We could get attacked by a shark."
"Or caught in a riptide." Lori said.
"Or stung by a jellyfish." Luna added.
Gasping, Lana proclaimed, "If that happens, I call peeing on the wound!"
"Come on, you guys! Be reasonable!" Lincoln exclaimed, being dejected.
"You're grounded and bad luck, Lincoln! You! Can't! Come!” Lola yelled, as she pushed her brother’s head out of the doggy door and blocked it off, preventing him from trying to go through it again. Frustrated, the boy grabbed his food and walked away from the back door and sat where he had slept, feeling miserable as he ate his breakfast.
About twenty minutes later after breakfast, the Louds (minus Lincoln) were getting ready for Lynn Jr’s Softball Championship game when the athletic sister called out, “Come on guys! The game starts in an hour, and we still need to sell Lame-O’s stuff!”
As the kids went out the door, the parents were stopped in their tracks, as they saw Lisa sitting on the couch, reading one of her books. “Uh, Lisa, come on. We need to get going.” Lynn Sr said.
“Sorry Father, but I cannot participate in spectating Lynn’s game today.” Lisa simply stated, confusing the parents. “I had received a call from a friend of mine and said that an urgent matter suddenly came up, which needs my undivided attention.”
"Now Lisa, that's not how this is..." started Lynn Sr, only to be cut off by his wife.
“How urgent?” Rita asked, starting to get suspicious.
“So urgent that it cannot wait.” Lisa explained, turning to her parents with a serious expression on her face. Seeing that the child wasn't going anywhere, the parents nodded before they started to head out the door.
“Now, to wait for Arven.” Lisa smiled, as she looked out the window and saw her family drive off, before pulling out a tablet, which could display the property’s surveillance system. A few seconds after she had turned on the device, her eyes widened in disbelief, before she ran towards the door.
As the eleven-year old boy watched Vanzilla pull out of the parking lot and drive off, the boy looked around the neighborhood, watching out for anyone that happened to be outside. Upon finding that the coast was clear, he sighed in relief as he opened the garage door, seeing a tired Pikachu and a calm Miraidon waiting on the other side.
Walking out the Garage, Pikachu yawned as he said, “Morning.”
“You look exhausted.” Lincoln commented, a little concerned about the yellow mouse’s health.
“Yeah, I barely slept at all last night.” Pikachu mumbled, as he started to do some stretches.
“Well, it's your fault for staying up until four in the morning.” Miraidon dryly said, causing Pikachu to glare at the serpent.
“Well, can you blame me?! That spare mattress in there was as hard as a rock!” Pikachu countered, as Astral Materialized out of Lincoln’s Key.
“At least you HAD a mattress to sleep on.” Lincoln commented, as he let out a yawn.
“So, it looks like my theory was sort-of correct.” commented a voice from nearby, causing the three to let out a startled cry before they turned to see Lisa, who had an amused look on her face. "...Now I see why Lucy likes doing that to the rest of us so much. That was rather enjoyable."
Calming down upon seeing her younger sister, Lincoln, confused by her presence, asked, "Lisa? What are you still doing here? I thought you left."
"I decided not to attend Lynn's softball game, for someone is coming over to discuss important matters with me.” Lisa replied, as she turned to the two strange creatures in interest. “Still, I was not expecting TWO run-away Pokemon to be here, especially one that can speak English.”
“Well, that’s…” Lincoln froze, as he stared at his sister in confusion. “Pokemon?”
Meanwhile, at the Royal Woods Ball Park, Lynn and Margo were inside of the Squirrels' locker room, getting changed for their softball game.
With a smile on her face as she put on her red and yellow-colored shirt, Margo asked "Hey Lynnsanity, are you ready for today's game?"
"You bet." Lynn replied, just as chipper as her friend was. “So who are we facing today?" She asked as she started changing out of her regular clothing before removing her softball uniform out of her bag.
"Aw man, don't tell me that you don’t know..." Margo said, causing Lynn to grin sheepishly in response. "Alright, listen - we're taking on Beaverton's team today.”
Eye’s widening in shock, the Loud asked, “Wait, the Beaver’s made it to the Championship?! They're the worst team in the entire league!”
Indeed. The Beaverton Beavers were, by far, the worst team in the entire Michigan Junior Softball League. In fact, the team was so bad that throughout their entire history, they had never won a game or even scored a single run. As a bit of a joke, Lynn had even nicknamed the team 'the jobbers of the softball world'. It also didn't help their case that the team name sounded incredibly stupid.
“I know! I was in shock, too! Couch said that they got a new player on their team, and since then, they had been training and winning games like crazy.” Margo explained, starting to get interested in what today’s game will bring. “I think we might have a challenge this time around.”
Scoffing off her teammate’s statement, Lynn said with a cocky smile on her face, "Naw, we're going to be schooling the Beavers today. It will be a cakewalk. Especially without that pesky brother of mine showing up and ruining things for me."
"Your brother?" Margo questioned, before snapping her fingers in realization. "Oh yeah, that kid with the white hair. Speaking of which, where is he? I thought you'd be happy to have him here to support you during today's game."
"After what happened during yesterday’s game, I don't want him anywhere near this softball park." Lynn growled as she narrowed her eyes. "Him and his stupid bad luck cost me...us the game."
"Bad luck? You think your brother is bad luck? Seriously?" Margo asked, receiving an angry nod from Lynn in response.
"He is! He was there in the stands during yesterday’s game!"
After giving Lynn a strange look, Margo sighed and said, "Lynn, I don't know how to tell you this, but...don't you think that maybe, just maybe, we lost because the other team was just better that day?"
"No way! It had to be him, I'm sure of it!"
"Well...believe what you want to believe, I guess." Margo replied as she finished getting dressed into her uniform. Once she was fully changed, she added, "See you out on the field, Lynn. Don't keep the rest of us waiting."
"You know as well as I do that they can't start the game with their star player." Lynn answered with a grin, causing Margo to roll her eyes in a good-natured manner before leaving the locker room.
Back with Lincoln, he, Pikachu and Miraidon were sitting on the porch(with Astral floating next to the boy) as Lisa had brought out a projector, which displayed an image on the side of the Garage. “This world..." She started, as an image of a man tossing a strange red and white ball into the air, causing it to open up and release a dazzling flash of white light that quickly starts to take a solid form at his side, revealing to be a creature that looked exactly like Pikachu. "...is inhabited far and wide by creatures called Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon for short."
“Can't say that I've heard of something like that before.” Lincoln said, as he turned to Astral, who shook his head.
"For some people, Pokémon are pets or companions. Others become Trainers to train them for battling or Contests. As for a good friend of mine...well, he studies Pokémon as a profession." Lisa continued, as she showed various scenes of people and Pokemon.
“So...what exactly does being a Trainer entail?” Lincoln asked.
"A fine question. A Pokémon Trainer is exactly that - a person who catches Pokémon found in the wild and trains them. And yes, catching wild Pokémon is legal, as long as you have an official Trainer License, which legally allows Trainers to not only buy Poké Balls, but also catch and train Pokémon."
"And what about that battling thing you mentioned earlier? People actually make their Pokémon battle each other?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes, but to both Trainers and Pokémon, it's more akin to a competition of sorts. It's nothing like any of those barbaric blood sports I've heard about where people force their animals to fight to the death. Every officially-recognized Pokémon Battle is held in a safe, controlled environment that brings no serious harm to the Pokémon involved." Lisa continued.
Frowning, Miraidon added, "Of course, there are a few people who DO try to use Pokémon for nefarious means like that, but the local authorities work hard to crack down on those who use Pokémon for criminal purposes."
Nodding, Lincoln says "Well, that makes me feel a little bit better, I suppose, but why are you telling me all this?"
Smiling at her brother, Lisa simply asked, “Lincoln, how would you like to become a Pokemon Trainer?”
"Today's looking to be a good day for a softball game, huh Pep?" One of the announcers commented while his partner looked enthusiastic.
"Sure is, Travis. Believe it or not, I'm actually interested to see if the Beaver’s can finally win their first championship." Pep replied, a smile appearing on his face. "Ever since their newest member, Vanesa Woods had joined their team, they had turned over 30 years of their losing career into a winning streak. I can’t wait to see her and how she has trained her team in action."
"Well, you won't have to wait long for that, Pep. Here comes the first batter up to the plate, the Squirrels' Star Player: Lynn Loud." Travis commented as Lynn walked up to home plate, waving to the crowd while taking in their cheers and applause.
Once she reached the plate, she started doing her usual good-luck rituals. Afterwards, she gave the pitcher, a light blonde-haired girl who was wearing an orange and blue-colored softball uniform, a predator-like smile before getting into batting position, ready for the ball to be thrown.
Trying to ignore the intimidating smile on the brunette's face, the girl pitches the ball, sending it flying towards the catcher. As it traveled through the air however, it curved slightly, moving it out of the way of Lynn's bat.
"Strike one!"
"Huh? But I..." mumbled Lynn as she stared at her bat in surprise and disbelief while the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher, who stared at the ball, perplexed. "Okay, that was just a lucky fluke pitch. I'll get it this time..."
After giving the ball a strange smile, the girl threw it once more. As the ball headed towards home plate, it suddenly changed direction and moved it just barely out of reach, causing Lynn to hit nothing but empty air.
"Strike two!"
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Lynn in frustration before she glared at the pitcher, who looked a little more confident after managing to get two strikes in on the Squirrels' star player. After giving Lynn a small grin, she rears back and throws the ball one more time, aiming to strike Lynn out.
As the ball flew towards home plate, the trajectory changed drastically, causing the ball to fly towards an entirely different direction. With enough force to rival a pro boxer's punch, the ball smacked hard into Lynn's face, sending her crashing to the ground. As she laid on the dirt, mumbling something unintelligible, the umpire quickly checked on her to see if she was alright.
Upon seeing the blackened eye that the ball had left behind, the umpire gave Lynn a pitying look before helping her back up onto her feet.
Wincing, the announcer says "Ooh...and that's going to hurt like the dickens in the morning...what a rough start for Lynn Loud today, folks."
As soon as her mind cleared up and she regained her clarity, the pain from the earlier blow quickly exploded through Lynn's eye, causing her to cover it up abruptly while hissing in pain.
"Ow...that really smarts..."
After a few seconds of watching the thirteen year-old mutter to herself, the umpire sighed and pointed at first base, saying, "Alright kid, you know the rules. Get walking."
Instead of doing as she was told however, Lynn stomps over to the pitcher and pokes her in the chest, snarling "What the heck was that for!? You did that on purpose, didn't you!"
With a defensive look on her face, the pitcher protested, "No! It was an accident, honest! I was trying to throw it across the plate!"
"Bullcrap! I know you were aiming for my face!"
"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm telling you - I wasn't aiming to hit you with the ball!"
"Liar!" Lynn snapped in anger, poking the girl in the chest harder. Before things could escalate further however, the umpire pulled her away and once again pointed at first base, giving the brunette a commanding look.
After sticking her tongue out at the pitcher, Lynn walked over to first base while rubbing the damaged eye gingerly.
While the brunette continued her walk, Margo stepped up to the plate, being the next one up to bat. After giving the pitcher a glare, she got into a batter's position and prepared to swing. Once the ball was pitched, she swung at it with all of her might.
Unfortunately, she had swung way too hard, causing the bat to slip free from her grip and sending it flying through the air...towards Lynn's face. Watching as the wooden bludgeon headed towards her, the brunette only had enough time to mouth 'oh crap' before it connected firmly with her mouth, causing her to get knocked down to the ground for a second time.
"And once again in the face! That's gotta hurt!" Travis commented, wincing once more. "Do you think she's going to be alright, Pep?"
Staring out at the field, Pep commented, "...I'm not sure, but I think a couple of her teeth were knocked out."
"That's...not what I was asking about."
Seeing what her accident had done, Margo exclaimed, "Oh crap! Lynnsanity, are you alright?" before running over and shaking the brunette's shoulders to wake her up, ignoring the umpire's orders for her to return back to home plate. "C'mon Lynn, speak to me!"
After a few seconds, Lynn's one good eye opened up. Sitting up, she muttered, "Ugh...what happened?"
"Oh, thank goodness..." muttered Margo in relief before reaching a hand out to help Lynn to her feet. "You okay, Lynn? You really got knocked for a loop there..."
Recalling what caused her to get knocked down, Lynn swats the hand away and grumbles "No thanks to that bat of yours. What the heck, Margo?"
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to - the bat just slipped out of my grasp, honest!"
After glaring at her friend for a few more seconds, Lynn groaned before muttering, "...It's alright. Just...be more careful next time." before noticing that Margo was staring at her, wincing. "What? What's the problem?"
"Well, uh...my bat may have done a little bit of damage to your face, Lynn. Nothing major, but uh...it's noticeable."
"Give it to me straight, Margo. How bad is it?"
Scratching the back of her head, Margo replied "...Your mouth is bleeding and you're minus a pair of teeth, Lynn. Sorry."
"What!?" Lynn screamed before feeling at her mouth with one of her hands. Just as Margo had claimed, she felt two empty gaps where her teeth had been before, causing her temper to start flaring up. Her mood only worsened when she moved her hand away from her mouth and noticed a small amount of blood staining it.
While Lynn was glaring at her bloodied hand, the other Louds simply watched on, trying to figure out what just happened.
"Is Lynn going to be alright, guys? That really looked like it hurt." Luna said, grimacing slightly at the blood dribbling from Lynn's mouth.
"I'm pretty sure that this is just a...rough start for Lynn today, Luna. Her games usually don't go like this." Lori reassuringly said. "She'll turn things back around, you'll see."
"Alright, if you say so..."
"Dad, what's going on with Lynn? I thought that all of us dealt with Lincoln' and his Bad Luck..." Lola asked her father.
"I don't know, princess." Lynn Sr replied, unsure of what was going on.
"...Do you think it might be because of Lincoln? He might be here hiding somewhere..."
"Like I said, I don't know. We'll talk about this later - now is not a good time to discuss something like that." Lynn Sr replied, before he began to look around in suspicion. “However, if he is here, then he’s gonna regret coming.”
Back at the Loud House, Lisa had just finished her explanation of what her plan was for Lincoln to go to Kanto and who she was waiting for to help convince their parents to allow him to go. “So, are you interested?” Lisa asked her only brother.
"You've already got me hooked on the idea, Lisa- there's no way I'm going to back down now." Lincoln smiled.
"Good, because I have news on how you can become a Trainer. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Lisa asked her brother.
"Good news first, please."
"There is a minimum age for qualification, which is 10 years old, so if you're that age or older, you've already met one condition." Lisa explained.
"And what's the bad news?"
"...You'll have to go through a single year of schooling first before you can earn the chance to become an official Trainer." Lisa, causing Lincoln and his otherworldly companion to look at her, surprised.
"Aw man, I have to attend school to be able to catch and train Pokémon!?" Lincoln asked, dismayed.
"Indeed. From what Professor Oak said, there were a few...er, 'incidents' a few years ago regarding young Trainers getting hurt or worse because they didn't have the proper experience to take care of themselves or their Pokémon properly, so the League passed a law that requires all novice Trainers to at least complete a year of school and pass a qualification test to earn a Trainer’s License with a Rank-D."
"Rank-D?"
"Ah, another thing I should explain about. The ‘Rank’ system is another new regulation that was passed after several novice Trainers ended up seriously hurt while trying to capture Pokémon that were far beyond their abilities to control. That's why the 'Rank' system exists - to place restrictions, albeit very reasonable ones, on Trainers until they've proven themselves capable enough to the point where they're no longer needed."
"Okay...and how many Ranks are there?"
"Five. All beginning Trainers, following the completion of the qualification exam, start off with their License at Rank-D. This is pretty much your basic Rank, restricting you to a maximum of two Pokémon in your team at a time and only allowing you to capture Rank-D Pokémon. Should you try to catch anything stronger than that, your Poke Balls will electronically lock, preventing them from being used."
Frowning, Lincoln commented, "That seems a bit...restrictive, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but it's mainly to not only ensure that you don't catch anything beyond your ability to control from the get-go. Not only that, but restricting your on-hand party to two active Pokémon at a time will make it easier for new Trainers like yourself to manage your team until you're experienced enough to handle a full team of six Pokémon."
"Got it. So how do I upgrade my License to higher Ranks?"
"Well, you earn your upgrades by collecting Gym Badges for the Pokemon League." answered Oak before ticking the numbers off with his fingers. "2 Badges gets you a Rank-C and a max capacity of 3 Pokemon on hand. 4 Badges result in access to Rank-B and a max capacity of 4. 6 Badges give you access to Rank-A and a max capacity of 5. Finally, getting a full set of 8 badges in a region will fully upgrade a Trainer Card to Rank-S and a full party of 6 Pokemon on hand.”
“However, there is a way to immediately get a Rank-S Card right away, without the need to go to Trainer School at all.” A new voice said, as everyone turned to see someone Miraidon was not expecting to see, her eyes widening in surprise.
"And it looks like Lynn Loud's up to bat again. Let's hope that this time around doesn't go as badly as her first batting attempt did, huh Pep?"
“Well, Travis, we’re about to find out.”
'Okay, Lynn. You can do this. What happened earlier was just a rough start and nothing more. You've got this.' thought Lynn before doing her good-luck rituals once again. Once she had finished, she gave the pitcher a narrow-eyed glare with her one good eye before getting ready to bat once again.
After giving her a cocky smirk, the pitcher threw the ball, aiming to strike Lynn out. Seeing the ball coming towards her, Lynn swung her bat with all of her might. The bat successfully connected with the ball, sending it high into the air, bringing a smile to Lynn's face as she got ready to toss the bat aside...only to notice that it seemed...lighter than it did before.
Perplexed, she brings it up to take a closer look, only for her eyes to widen in disbelief at what she was seeing - the bat had broken in two, leaving her holding nothing more than the handle while the other half laid on the dirt nearby.
As she continued to stare at the broken bat in disbelief, the ball continued on its way through the air for a few more seconds before coming straight down towards the pitcher's mound. Noticing the ball heading her way, the pitcher reached out and caught it with ease.
Tapping on Lynn's shoulder to get her attention, the umpire says "Hey kid, you're out. It's back to the end of the lineup for you."
"Ooh...an infield fly leading to an out - tough luck." commented the announcer, giving his partner a glance. "Speaking of luck, it looks like Lynn Loud's luck had gone sour today, huh Pep? I've never seen a game of hers go this badly for her before."
"Dore."
After realizing that something had gone wrong for her for the third time in the same game, Lynn starts ranting and raving in anger before stomping over to the pitcher's mound.
"You broke my lucky bat! What the hell!?"
Growing irritated with Lynn and her accusations, the pitcher snapped "I didn't break anything, idiot! You're the one that swung the bat, not me!" before narrowing her eyes. "Maybe if you took better care of your equipment, you wouldn't have broken that bat of yours!"
"I do take care of my stuff! You're the one at fault here!"
"Says you!"
Growling in anger, Lynn shoves the pitcher hard in the chest, sending her to the ground. After narrowing her eyes, the blonde-haired girl gets to her feet and shoves the brunette right back.
After a few more shoves between the two girls, their tempers finally explode and the two girls start trading blows with each other, causing the coaches, the umpire and some of the other players to run over in order to break up the brawl.
As the two girls continued to fistfight with each other before quickly being restrained, Margo simply watched on with the rest of her team before letting out a sigh of disappointment.
"Man, today's game just isn't going well at all...we're behind by six points, we're losing to the Beavers of all people and our team captain's acting out just because things aren't going her way."
"Yeah...I hate to say this about the captain, but...she's kinda acting like a jerk. It's pretty obvious that the pitcher wasn't at fault for what happened." commented another Squirrel, causing the others to nod in agreement before discussing what to do about Lynn's unsportsmanlike behavior.
While they started to talk with each other, a strange figure in the shadows continued to watch the two girls spitting insults at each other while being pulled away with an amused smirk on his face.
"Well, well, well...looks like that girl's anger can help me get what I want." He said.
“Do you w-w-want me to activate the energy field, sir?” A robotic voice said behind him, causing the figure to turn around.
“Not yet.” He calmly replied, as he looked out to the field and stared at Vanesa. “After all, good things to those who come to wait.”
Back at the Loud House, Lincoln, Lisa, Pikachu, Miraidon, and Arven were sitting on a picnic blanket, eating Lunch as the being from Astral World was floating nearby. Grabbing a bottle of ketchup, Pikachu managed to open it and began to consume its contents.
"Ahh...that's the stuff..." Pikachu smiled, as he turned to see everyone stare at him in confusion. Glaring at them, the yellow mouse Pokemon defended, "What? It's good!"
"On some fries or a burger, maybe. But by itself...ick." Lincoln responded, as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
“Sometimes I don’t understand your food diet.” Miraidon sighed.
“Says the Pokemon who has a sandwich obsession.” Arven teased, causing the purple and silver reptile to blush in embarrassment.
“He got you there, bud.” Pikachu smirked, as Lincoln gave out a soft chuckle, before Lisa turned her attention over to Arven.
“So, Arven…” Lisa trailed off, cleaning her face with a napkin. “Professor Oak tells me you have been searching for Miraidon for a few years now. Is that correct?”
“Yep. My father was in the middle of his research when she decided to just run off.” Arven explained, as he turned to Lincoln’s Key. “She said something about, ‘The Hero has opened The Door To Destiny.’”
“Hero? Door To Destiny?” Lincoln asked in confusion, before gasping in realization. ‘He couldn’t mean…!’
“I think I remember Professor Oak telling me about those legends.” Lisa said. “They were warriors with extraordinary power and knowledge who would protect the world from those who wish to harm it.”
“Yes. However, there hasn’t been a Hero for thousands of years. At least…” Miraidon said, as she turned her head over to Lincoln and smiled. “Until now.”
Seeing the Pokemon stare at him, the boy’s eyes widened in disbelief as he asked, “Me?!”
“Only a Hero can open the Door To Destiny, the very door you opened four years ago.” Miraidon explained.
“Four years ago…” Lincoln trailed off. “That’s when I met Astral!”
“Indeed. His arrival in this world was a sign. A sign that a new Hero would be born. That is why I came here, to find and help you and Astral in any way I can.”
“But what about Pikachu?” Lincoln asked, as he looked at the yellow-mouse, who rubbed the back of his head.
“Well, you see, I-” Pikachu suddenly stopped, causing the boy to look at him curiously.
“You what?” Lincoln asked in confusion, before something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Gasping in shock, the boy saw a small flock of birds flying in the air. However, they were mysteriously not moving nor falling towards the ground. “What the…?”
“Lincoln, look!” Astral exclaimed, as he pointed to the hose, which had a drop of water frozen in mid-air.
"What's going on here? Everything's frozen!" Lincoln called out in surprise as he looked left and right to see if anything besides them were moving.
"No, time is frozen." Astral corrected.
“Actually, you're both wrong.” Miraidon said, causing the two to look at her in confusion. “According to my sensors, time around the entire town has been slowed down to one ten-thousandth of its normal speed, giving it the illusion that it's frozen. It seems the three of us are the only ones not affected.” She explained, making Lincoln and Astral widen their eyes in shock.
"But how is that even possible?" Lincoln questioned in disbelief at what's happening, but with everything that's happened in their lives, he shouldn't be surprised.
"I don't know, but I've got a feeling the answers we need are nearby." Miraidon said.
“Okay. Me and Astral will find out what’s going on. You stay here in case time unfreezes. Arven, Lisa and Pikachu need to know about this.” Lincoln said, as the three nodded and split up.
A few minutes ago…
"Well, we're at the bottom of the fifth inning, the bases are loaded and the score's 14-0 in favor of the Beavers, who are up to bat. Never thought we would see something like that happen, huh Pep?"
Watching on with a surprising look of interest on his usually drool face, Pep replied “Indeed, Travis. This next pitch could decide the fate of the entire championship."
Trying to ignore the two commentators, Lynn stood on the pitcher's mound, thinking, 'Okay Lynn, maybe today just isn't your day when it comes to batting. But pitching on the other hand...that's something you can do. After all, you're the star player of the team - you've got this.'
After Lynn finished giving herself a mental pep talk, she turned her attention to the person up at bat, only to see red upon seeing a familiar face at home plate; the same girl that had hurled the ball at her face and, in her opinion, caused the destruction of her lucky bat.
"Oh great, it's her..." muttered the brunette just loudly enough for the blonde-haired girl at bat to hear what she had to say. In response, the girl narrowed her eyes before getting into a batting position.
As Lynn felt her blood start to boil at the sight of the girl, her vision started to become blurry, causing her to rub her eyes in order to clear her sight. Upon clearing away the visual haze, she turned her attention back to home plate, only to see something that caused her to explode from rage right then and there.
Standing in the girl's place was Lincoln, who gave her a cheeky smirk and wave before getting back into the batting position. Upon seeing what she perceived to be her younger brother, Lynn lets out a frenzied scream of rage before wildly throwing the ball AT 'him', uncaring on whether he was actually there or not.
Seeing the ball coming her way and not wanting to get hit by it, the blonde girl swung her bat, only to miss and get hit hard in the middle of her forehead, causing her to fall to the ground. Hissing in pain, Vanesa rubbed her forehead, as she got up and said, “You idiot! Don’t you realize that you just cost…yourself…the….game?”
Stopping herself, she saw the ball that hit her floating in mid-air, gravity not affecting it whatsoever; but that wasn't the only thing. Everything and everyone around her seemed to be completely frozen. Lynn still had their expression of complete rage, even though she appeared to be completely motionless; she wasn't even blinking. And not just her: All of the other patrons weren't moving at all either, and the girl had no idea why.
"What's going on?" She asked herself. "Why's everything stopped all of a sudden? Why am I the only one that can move?!"
Just then, the girl heard a whistling sound coming from behind her. Turning her head, she saw a young man with light blue-gray eyes, pale skin and blonde hair that was curled up in a point with a dark green spiked front, also featuring dark green bangs. His attire included a black trench coat with a high collar over a gray shirt, a fingerless black glove on his right hand, and white pants with black boots. He also had a belt with two purple deck boxes for his cards.
"Who the heck are you?" The girl shouted.
The young man then stopped whistling and looked over towards the teenager ahead of him. "Hmmmm..." He hummed as a strange, blue mark appeared over his left eye for about a second. He then looked at the back of the girl's closed left fist, spotting a purple mark that appeared to look like a 91. The man then smirked and asked, "You must be Vanesa Wood, am I correct?"
"Huh?! How'd you know my name?" She asked in surprise.
"I know a great deal about you." The man told her. “Last July, just after your thirteenth birthday, your family moved to Beaverton after your mother received a promotion at her job.”
"Okay, buddy... you're starting to creep me out here..." The girl said. "How do you know so much about me? And why?!"
"...How I know are details you would never understand in your lifetime." The man calmly told her. "As for why, the answer is quite simple, really... You have something that I want, and if I plan on obtaining it from you, I'll need as much information on you as possible, in order to plan for every possible contingency."
"What're ya talkin' about?!" She asked, getting more irate. "You're makin' no sense at all! What is it you want from me?!"
"...Your Number card." He answered.
"My what?"
"Number cards only possess other Duelists." The young man told her. "And I know for certain that you have one."
Vanesa then gasped a little and pulled out a card from her pocket. "Hold on... are you talking about this card?" she asked, holding it up to him, before she snickered wickedly and told the man, "I don't know where this card came from, or why... But ever since I got it, the Beavers have been dominating the league! With this thing, we'll prove that NO ONE is better than us! And I'll knock away anybody that tries to get in my way!"
The tall man sighed and said to her, "Just like the others... you've fallen prey to the card's darkness as well. But that will soon change once I confiscate your Number card!"
"You think you can?" She asked mockingly. "Just who do you think you are saying junk like that without any way to back it up?! Who are you?!"
The young man kept his calm demeanor and told her, "You may simply refer to me as... The Number Hunter."
"Number... Hunter?" She asked, before grumbling and yelled, "Oh who cares?! I'm gettin' real sick n' tired of that annoying attitude of yours!" Getting out her Duel Pad and Duel Gazer she had in her bag in her team’s dugout, she then angrily added, "You want my Number card so bad?! Well, get ready, 'cause you're gonna get it!!"
"Yes, 'getting your Number card' is what I intend to do." The man smirked, as he suddenly exclaimed, “Go, Photon Transformation!”
The second after he said that, his black outfit converted to white, additionally, a blue mark that resembles a Duel Gazer appeared over his left eye, changing the color from blue-gray to red.
“Prepare yourself, child, for this Duel will be your last!” The Number Hunter said as he equipped a blue and single-bladed Duel Disk that curved on the outside, making it resemble a crescent moon.
Back with Lincoln and Astral, the being from Astral World looked at their surroundings, seeing everyone and everything frozen in time. “This predicament is giving me an uneasy feeling.” Astral told his companion. “I fear that there may be a strange force at work.”
“Well, whoever’s behind this, they sure know what they’re doing…” Lincoln said, before stopping for a moment to catch his breath. The moment he said that, the duo heard a draconic roar, as they turned to see a large dragon-like creature in the distance. “Is that a…?”
“It must be!” Astral exclaimed as the two nodded at each other, before running towards where the large creature was.
What followed after the Number Hunter's declaration was an epic Duel between him and Vanesa. Although everything and everyone around them were still frozen in place, the contest between them was full of action as their monsters fiercely battled each other. But now, by this point, the Duel was about to end...
Vanesa shivered in fear as she stared down what appeared to be a humongous dragon. "What... what's that thing...?" she asked, whimpering a little. "I've never seen a monster that powerful before...!"
Drawing a card from his Deck, the Number Hunter then shouted, "Now, my great beast! Attack!" And with that order, the giant dragon behind him let out a powerful blast of light that sped towards his foe, striking her hard.
"AAAAAAAACKKKK!!!" Vanesa screamed as she took the heavy hit, toppling over and falling flat on her back.
Vanesa: LP 2,000 - 3,000 = 0
WINNER: ???
A screen appears showing that the Number Hunter was the winner as the AR vision deactivated with his clothes returning to normal and his Duel Eye Tattoo disappearing. "Now, to claim my prize!" He called out as he held out his right hand, releasing an energy hand that went to the girl, making her cry out in pain as the Number mark disappeared.
The energy hand returned to the young man in the form of a sphere, which he crushed, causing it to turn into a card. “The Number card is now mine!” He said in triumph, before pocketing the card away in his deck box, and looked at his opponent. “Now, to cover our tracks.”
Back with Lincoln and Astral, the duo had made it to the Ball Park, as they saw a mysterious figure fly into the sky before they flew away from the area. “Who was that?” Lincoln asked out loud, before he saw everything around him started moving.
"Time's moving at its normal speed again!'' Astral called out in surprise, as the duo turned to the entrance to the Ball Park, wondering what had happened.
After seeing the ball hit the ground, the umpire says, "Alright, game's over! I'm ending this one through the Mercy Rule. The Beavers win today's game!" This caused the blue and orange-clad girls to start celebrating while the Squirrels simply stood there in complete shock and dismay.
Lynn, on the other hand, found herself falling to her knees in despair - of all the ways to lose a game in the brunette's mind, the Mercy Rule was the most humiliating way of all. She would rather have the entire team die in an accident than lose in such a manner.
“Hey, kid. You okay?” The umpire asked the girl on the ground in concern, before he turned her over and gasped in horror. The girl’s hair had now turned white and looked like she had become an old woman. “Kid!” The umpire called in distress, as he got onto his knees and put a hand on her chest, feeling a small pulse.
“What’s going on? What happened?” A voice called out, as the umpire turned to see Lincoln run up to him in concern.
“She’s out cold. Her pulse is low and she’s barely breathing!” The umpire said as the Beavers and Squirrels began to surround them.
“I’LL CALL AN AMBULANCE!” One of the Beavers said, as she went to her team's dugout to grab her phone.
Upon seeing the white-haired boy, Lynn's eyes widened, as it began the dots began to connect. ‘That little jinx...it's not enough that his bad luck caused me to lose the game, but now he cost me the championship too? I'll make him pay for this!' Lynn thought as she gnashed her teeth in anger before stomping off to get her family.
In a groggy tone, Vanesa began to speak in a very weak voice, catching everyone’s attention. But all she said was, "N... Number... Hunter…”
“Huh? Number Hunter?” One of the Squirrels asked in confusion.
Gasping in realization, Astral asked himself, “Could it be?” He then held out his right hand out to the girl, sensing the girl's aura. Eyes widening in alarm, the being from Astral World exclaimed, “Her Number and Soul was stolen!”
“What?!” Lincoln exclaimed in shock.
“LINCOLN ALBERT LOUD!” His father’s voice called out, as he saw his family glare at him in absolute anger.
The family, now in the unoccupied Squirrels Locker Room, looked at the boy in disappointment. “Unbelieve. After selling your belongings, after excluding you from our Family Vacation, after forcing you to live outside, you have the nerve to leave home to come here and ruin your sister’s game?!”
“I didn’t ruin her game! I got here as soon as the game was over, honest!” Lincoln defended himself.
Not believing a word he said, Lynn Jr said, "You're truly pathetic, you know that, Stickoln? Not only did you end up making me get clocked twice in the face and ended up breaking your bat in the same game, but because of you and your Bad Luck, I lost through the Mercy Rule and to the Beavers, no less! Do you have any idea on how humiliating that is!?"
Looking at Lynn in disbelief, Lincoln asked her, “Is that all you guys care about?! Someone just manipulated time around town and STOLE that girl's soul! Do you know how serious this is?!”
“There you go again, making things up in your little fantasy world.” Lynn Sr glared at his son.
“I’m not making it up, Dad!” Lincoln countered.
“It’s probably all that Nerd Game junk. It’s making him go crazy!” Luna theorized, making some of her sisters.
Pointing at her brother, Lynn Jr then accused, “It’s probably why he has Bad Luck in the first place! Why else would I have lost?!”
Narrowing his eyes in anger, Lincoln sarcastically replied, "Oh, I don't know - maybe it's because you or your team didn't practice enough? Or maybe the other team was just better than yours?"
"You better shut up right now if you know what's good for you, Lame-O!" Lynn warned.
"Or maybe, just maybe, you just flat-out SUCK and need to resort to placing the blame on others for your failures! You're nothing but a sore loser, Lynn!"
That did it for Lynn. With a cry of rage, Lynn Jr told her sisters. “Grab his arms.”
“Wait, what are you-” Before he had the chance to finish his sentence, his sisters, save for Lucy, grabbed hold of Lincoln, making him unable to go anywhere.
“You listen here, you jinx!” Lynn Jr told the boy, as she took the Key that was around his neck and walked away. Throwing it on the ground, she grabbed one of the metal baseball bats sitting against the wall. “Nobody, and I mean nobody…”
Seeing the young ready her bat, Lincoln’s eyes widened in horror at what she was about to do. “LYNN, NO!” He cried in dismay as he did his best to break free from his sister's grasp.
“Calls me a sore loser and gets away with it!” Lynn finished, as she began smashing the pendant.
“NO! STOP! PLEASE! NO!” Lincoln pleaded as he did the best he could to escape, wanting to stop Lynn from doing anymore damage.
Meanwhile, back with Miraidon, Pikachu, Lisa and Arven, the Iron Serpent began to explain what had happened and where Lincoln had disappeared to, before electricity began to engulf her, causing Miraidon to cry out in absolute pain.
“Miraidon! What’s wrong?!” Pikachu asked in concern.
“Something’s……happening……to…….” She weakly said, before she fell to the ground
“To what?! Miraidon!” Arven cried out, hoping to get a response.
“To…..Lincoln………” She managed to say before losing consciousness as the electricity stopped.
“We need to get her to my room, now!” Lisa exclaimed, as Arven nodded.
Finally releasing the rest of her anger, the athletic sister of the Loud Family panted and said, “You can let him go now.”
Nodding, the rest of the Loud sisters released the boy, who ran and stared down to the ground, grabbing the dozens of pieces of his most prized possession. Staring at the now beyond repair Emperor’s Key, the boy then fell to his knees, and began to cry like there was no tomorrow. Unknown to everyone, a black and powerful aura began to seep out of the Key’s pieces and began to enter the bodies of each member of the Loud Family, save for Lincoln and Lily. Interestingly enough, most of it entered both of the Lynns.
Not wanting to see her son in this state, Rita walked up to Lincoln and tried to hold a hand out to him, only for it to get slapped away. “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!” Lincoln exclaimed in fury, as he pointed at the family, tears were still going down his face. Glaring at his family in absolute hatred and sorrow, the white-haired boy then said, “I will never forgive any of you for this!”
“Good.” Lynn Sr suddenly spoke, as he gave Lincoln a serious look in his eyes. “Then you will never forget it. Maybe now you’ll start obeying us and come back to reality.” Turning to the rest of his family, the father then said, “Everyone get in the van, now.”
Not wanting to upset their father more, the Loud Sisters began to drag Lincoln out of the Locker and towards the exit, leaving a sad Astral.
“Lincoln…”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author’s Note:
After debating for a while, I decided to make Miraidon Female. For those who had read Pokemon Loud Version - Kanto by SilverNugget, I wanted the championship game to be with the Beavers, to mix it up a little, and the black aura that came out of Lincoln’s Key, you probably know what that is. I also wanted to go with SilverNugget’s system of how a Pokemon Trainer License worked. As for the woman who took Lincoln Dueling Stuff, she was the voice from the first chapter. Feel free to give any guesses on who it is.
Fan Art (use these #’s on Twitter (X) for the story you want to post fanart of: (match spelling and casing)
Yu-Gi-Oh Ouroboros: #YugiohOuroboros
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: #ZEXALMiraculous
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey: #PokemonLoudZEXAL
Chapter 3: A Punishing Opportunity
Chapter Text
Chapter 3: A Punishing Opportunity
Panic. That was the only word that could describe the mood of the Loud House, as Arven and Lisa were in the latter’s room, examining Miraidon’s injuries and trying to figure out what had caused them.
“Come on, come on…!” Arven said, as he was skimming through pages of his strange book. “I know I saw something about Miraidon’s health being in here!”
“Well, can you search faster?!” Lisa asked, as she turned back to her computer, which displayed the Iron Serpent’s current condition. “Her condition is getting worse by the minute! If we don’t do something, she’ll die!”
“I’m going as fast as I can!” Arven argued, as Pikachu went towards his friend.
“Pika….” He said, praying that she would be alright. The sound of an engine interrupted his thoughts, as he jumped to Lisa’s window. Turning to the two humans present, he suddenly exclaimed. “Pika Pika Pi!”
“Not now, Pikachu.” Arven dismissed, causing the Mouse Pokemon to glare at the boy and give him a small shock of electricity. Yelping in pain, the Pokemon Trainer stood up and walked over to Pikachu. “Okay! Okay! What do you…?” Arven stopped himself, as he saw Vanzilla pulling into the driveway, before seeing the family inside pushing Lincoln out of the vehicle. “Lincoln?” Arven asked himself, before catching a glimpse at the Emperor’s Key around his neck. Gasping in shock, the boy grabbed his book and flipped to a certain page. Quickly running to the door, Arven said, “Pikachu, stay with Miraidon! Lisa, you're with me!”
“Huh?” Lisa turned away from the monitor, as she looked at Arven in confusion. “Where are we going?”
Turning to the young child, Arven simply said, “To talk some sense into your family.”
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
The scene opens to Lincoln prepping his Pokemon Belt and Duel Pad, before his Duel Gazer went onto his left eye, making holographic effects appear everywhere.
If life is a game
They say I can't win
I'll never amount to nothing'
Tear me down before my life begins,
The scene changed to Lincoln exiting out of his room, quickly dodging both Lynn and Lisa, the former on her bike playing sports and the latter doing another one of her experiments. He briefly joined Lola's tea party, jammed out to Luna's playing, and praised Lucy's poem. He then dodged a fight between Lori and Leni over a dress. He leaped over a pile of laundry and is disgusted by Lily's stinky diaper as she walks by. Luan then appeared to throw a pie at her younger brother, but Lincoln dodged it in time as he finally made it in the bathroom. In there, Lana unscrewed the bathroom's sink with her wrench, resulting in Lincoln eyes widening before the boy got caught in a large stream of water.
I won't be afraid,
To challenge myself
They won't ever break my fire.
The scene changed to a Six-Year old Lincoln standing in front of the Door to Destiny, as he held Emperor's Key his right hand, before pulling back his arm and thrusting his hand forward and shoved the key into the hole in the door, making a bright light shoot out of it as the chains around the door disintegrated, while the young Lincoln took his arm out of the giant keyhole and trembled back in shock.
My dreams won't die
If I high-five the sky
The younger Lincoln watched the double doors slowly open. As they did, an even more intense light began to emerge from behind the gate. Before long, the area around the young boy was bathed in the most powerful flash of light, as it zoomed in on Lincoln's left eye, Astral flying towards him in its reflection.
Spread my wings,
Take off, it's time to fly!
The scene then changed back to Present-Day Lincoln, who had packed his bags as he reached the stairs of his home and slid on the banister, passing his parents before he reached the front door, with Pikachu, Miraidon (Low-Power Mode) Professor Oak waiting for him.
Take a chance to make it all the way
The scene changed to Lincoln and Pikachu in Kanto, riding Miradion (Drive Mode) while Astral was flying beside them, passing by their friends and Pokemon.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday!
The scene then changed to Lincoln (who had his Dueling Equipment on) and Astral, the former drawing a card in a dramatic fashion.
Take a chance, believe...
The scene then changed to Lincoln pulling out a card, before revealing to be his ace, Number 39: Utopia, just as Astral flew in front of him.
Nothing will bring me down,
The scene changed to Jessie giving off a smirk, before changing to James taking a rose out of his mouth and throwing it, and then changing to Meowth jumping into the air. The scene then changed to Giovanni sitting in his office, as he evilly smiled.
No retreat when I leave all my fears behind
My future's still alive inside!
The scene then changed to Lincoln, Astral, and Pikachu, as they were in a Pokemon Battle, with Pikachu going up against a Gyarados, with the Mouse Pokemon started charging towards while charging electricity, before making his tail take on a metallic sheen, just as it got covered in covered in electrical energy. Pikachu then launched into the air and swung his tail down onto his opponent's head, releasing the energy and creating a massive blast of electricity.
Take a chance and chase my doubts away,
The screen changed, now showing both Kite in his Photon Transformation, spun around with a single card in hand and held it out, revealing it to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. A bright flash covered the screen from view for a moment, before clearing to reveal Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon howling, a cosmic galaxy as the background. The screen then suddenly changed to a water world, where Shark floated with Number 32: Shark Drake in front of him.
Believing gets me through my darkest days
In a desert-like field with the orange sky; Lincoln, Astral, Pikachu and Miradion were beside one another with the human boy already fully Duel equipped and were facing a Photon Transformed Kite that stood a few feet away. The Galaxy-Eyes Duelist reached for his deck, then drew with a roar and then gave a confident face at his opponents.
The scene then showed a fast montage of many different kinds of Pokemon and Duel Monsters, such as Pikachu, Miradion (Ultimate Mode), Charizard, Shiny Gardevoir, Lucario, Gagaga Magician, Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Cowboy, Rainbow Kuriboh and Number 39: Utopia.
Take a chance to make it all the way,
The scene then changed to Lincoln and Astral merging into ZEXAL while Miradion morphed into his Ultimate Mode.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday
The scene then changed to several small, square-shaped lights surrounding Six-Year Old Lincoln in a large sphere, before they scattered in all directions.
Take a breath, my heart will lead the way,
The scene changed to a split screen, showing Lincoln's left half of his face and Astral's right half, before changing to Lincoln throwing up his right hand, while Astral did the same with his left, as both partners suddenly gained a bright golden light around themselves that briefly covered the area.
Take a chance, I'll take a chance in today!
The light cleared to reveal single glowing card flying into Lincoln's right hand, as he Astral, Pikachu, and Miradion (Low-Power Mode) were posing beside one another, with the Emperor's Key in the background, as the title then appeared below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: A Loud Journey
(End Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
The entire ride home had been quiet, as the boy was too upset to say a word. The Emperor’s Key was his most prized possession, the only thing he had left of his grandfather, and now his family crossed the line by destroying it.
“Now, you stay out here until we figure out what to do with you.” Lynn Sr glared at the boy, who said glared back at him.
“What is going on out here?!” Arven exclaimed, as he and Lisa were standing at the front door, glaring at the family. Not getting a response from anybody, he then shouted, “Everybody inside, NOW!”
“Hey, you can’t just-” Lynn Sr tried to say, before the usually calm trainer interrupted him.
“I said NOW!” He ordered, as everyone stepped back in fear before rushing inside. Once they were inside, he turned to Lincoln and said, "Get to Lisa’s room, now. It’s urgent."
“What?” Lincoln asked, confused by what Arven meant. “What happened?”
“Just go! It's a life or death situation now!” Arven said, as the boy chose not to question it and ran up the stairs.
“LINCOLN LOUD, YOU-” Lynn Sr tried to order his son and chase after him, only Arven blocked his path.
“I think it's time me and your family had a little chat.” Arven told the father, who felt like his very soul was trying to get out of his body out of absolute fear.
Upon entering the four-year old’s room, Lincoln’s eyes widened, as he saw Miraidon unconscious and extremely injured. “Miraidon!” He exclaimed, as he ran over to the Iron Serpent. Turning over to the yellow mouse, he asked, “Pikachu, what happened?!”
“I don’t know!” Pikachu said, running over to the boy. “One minute, she’s telling us what happened after you left, and then the next minute, her whole body is suddenly engulfed with electricity!”
“....L..Lin…coln….” Miraidon weakly said, her eyes slightly opening, which gained their attention.
“Miraidon!”
“...The…..S..Seal…take..it….” Miraidon continued, motioning towards the item in Pikachu’s hands. Staring at the strange item in question, it was what seemed like a round metal shield with a golden cross-like with four jewels attached to it, and surrounding it were eighteen round empty slots.
Grabbing the item out of Pikachu’s paws, Lincoln then asked Miraidon, “Okay, what do I do now?” The moment he had finished his question, the relic in his hands began to shake and glow, before it engulfed the boy by a golden light.
Slowly opening his eyes, Lincoln gasped in shock, as he found himself back in front of the opened Door to Destiny. “Here again?” Lincoln asked himself in confusion, before he saw what seemed to be a circular stone plinth, which was emitting a faint blue glow. Walking up to the strange plinth, he looked at the strange seal in his hands, and began to compare the two. “They’re the same…” Lincoln said, before the relic vanished. Confused, he stepped onto the strange stone, causing a fierce light to come from it. This made the white-haired Loud to cover his eyes, not wanting to go blind.
(Play Fable III - Theresa’s Theme)
When the light dimmed out, Lincoln gingerly opened his eyes, before he saw himself now standing on the beginning of a VERY LONG stone path, which was suspended in mid-air. Just up ahead of him was a large gate, with a large, complicated-looking lock sealing it shut. Peering through the bars, he could see that the path continued through the gate into another more open area, which had yet another gate at the far end. Looking past that, Lincoln saw that the pattern repeated itself,a seemingly never ending path filled with gates, the path seeming to get wider as it went on. In each interval between them, he could make out what either seemed to be orbs of light or what looked like…cards?
“Okay, this just got even weirder.” Lincoln commented, as he walked over the edge, seeing either an endless white void or more or this strange road, changing in elevation as it went all over the place. “What is this place?”
“You are on Victory Road, young one.” A elderly voice told him.
With a surprised yelp, Lincoln turned to see who else was here with him in this mysterious place. Standing in front of the gate was the strange woman from last night. “Who…who are you?”
“I am Theresa, the Seer of the Hall of Legends. I guided your grandfather in his greatest triumph, but you have an even greater destiny ahead of you.” The woman explained to Lincoln, whose eyes widened in disbelief. “The Emperor’s Key and the Seal of Arceus awoke at the Hero’s touch, your touch, as it would at no one else’s. This means the fate of the universe rests on your shoulders.”
Hesitant at the woman's words, Lincoln stared down at the broken Key around his neck. “It is natural for Heroes to doubt themselves before they begin their journey. That is why they require motivation, such as information that could greatly affect their lives.” Gaining his attention once more, Theresa then added, “Your grandfather, Albert Tsukumo, is still alive.” As soon as he heard those words, his doubt vanished, as he let out a soft gasp in shock, before giving off a small smile. “Though his whereabouts I cannot see, I sense that he still lives, hoping that you will one day find him.”
“How do I find him?” Lincoln quickly asked.
“Before you lies the path you were born to take, and at its end are the answers you seek.” Theresa explained motioning towards the path behind her. “Like all heroes, you will face many trials, but you cannot pass through these gates alone. You will need to gather allies and gain the support of both People and Pokemon. As of now, you have the support of five friends.” As she began to list off the five allies Lincoln had already obtained, see-through versions of them began to appear one-by-one on either the left or right side of the gate. “Lisa, a young child with a brilliant mind; Arven, a trainer that helps with his father's research on the mysteries of the world; Pikachu, a loyal and powerful companion; Miraidon, a mighty beast with extraordinary abilities; and Astral, the being from a distant world who will stand by your side. The latter three of these five will be no doubt your greatest allies. Together you have already taken the first step in your journey. Walk through the gate, and claim your reward.”
With that, Theresa vanished and reappeared in front of the second gate, as the locks on the first gate then vanished, causing itself to open. Going through the now opened gate, Lincoln walked up to an orb of light that stood in front of another plinth. “There is a great power inside of you. You merely lack the means to unleash it. Touch the light, and recover what you and Miraidon had lost.”
Cautiously touching the orb, the light had transferred to his body and Key, before it started to dim down. Staring down in awe, he was now wearing an orange-colored jacket with white trim, a pair of dark brown-colored pants, black fingerless gloves, a pair of black and orange-colored sneakers, and surprisingly, all of his Dueling equipment. But what shocked him the most was his Emperor’s Key. It had repaired itself completely back together, as if it were never broken in the first place.
“Miraidon’s fatal injuries were caused by the damage of the Emperor’s Key. Now that you have awakened the power inside of you, it is now indestructible, preventing her wounds from worsening. However, she will only have a mere fraction of the ultimate power she had lost, for she was almost beyond saving.” Theresa explained, causing the boy to sadden a little. “But do not fret, child. As you continue your journey and obtain Number Cards, her lost power will slowly be restored.” Determination filling him once more, Lincoln nodded, allowing her to continue. “You will return here when you have gathered enough allies to reach the next gate. Now go, be the Hero you were meant to be.” Once more, the woman had vanished, and in her place was what Lincoln assumed to be a portal. Determined to help those he still cared about, he walked into the light.
(End Fable III - Theresa’s Theme)
Returning back to the real world, Lincoln gasped in shock, as he saw the gem in his Emperor’s Key shoot out a small beam of light towards Miraidon. The light then began to surround the Iron Serpent, who seemed to be more relaxed, as the wounds on her body then began to heal themselves. Upon seeing this, Lincoln, Astral and Pikachu did nothing but smile, relieved that she was going to be okay.
“So...let me see if I've got this right.” Arven spoke, as his hand was covering his face. “This whole mess started because Lynn lost a softball game that Lincoln had attended?"
"From what I understand, that would be the case, Arven." Lisa replied before glaring at Lynn. "However, what Lynn hasn't told anyone yet is that she had forced Lincoln to come to the game in the first place by threatening to hit him with her baseball bat."
"That's a lie! I never did anything like that!" Lynn screamed, though the panicked tone of her voice stated otherwise.
Raising an eyebrow, Lisa walked over to her tablet and showed a video to start playing that displayed Lynn holding a bat threateningly with a grin on her face as she spoke with Lincoln in the hallway. "Then how do you explain something like this, then?"
While the other sisters glared at Lynn, Rita asked with a stern edge in her voice, "You mean to tell me that you threatened your brother in order to make him come to your game, Lynn? What in the world possessed you to do such a thing?"
"I...I just wanted him to come and watch me play and he was being stubborn about refusing! I wasn't really going to hit him with it! Honest!" Lynn stammered nervously. "Besides, something like that doesn't matter - he still cost me the game! He's bad luck!"
"I see. So what happened after that?"
"Well...after that, we stopped bringing him along to our activities, worried that his bad luck would end up messing things up for the rest of us." Luna answered, frowning. "Then we found out that he had been playing some nerd game that is forbidden in this family. Refusing to stop, we ended up sealing up his room, and locked him out of the house."
"Um...didn't we, like, sell off his furniture, too?" Leni asked, causing the elder siblings and her parents to look at her, horrified. "...Why are all of you looking at me like that?"
"Leni, why did you have to go and say something like that!? That's something that we didn't want him to know about!" screamed Lori, upset with her younger sister.
"Oh...I wasn't supposed to say that?"
"...You sold his belongings." Arven said, trying his hardest to keep his temper in check. "It wasn't enough that you had to lock him out of the house during the night, but you also had to add insult to injury by selling his stuff. JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!"
"W-well, we couldn't have Lincoln's bad luck affecting the rest of the family..." stammered Lola, shaken by the raw anger Arven was showing.
"Bad luck or not, Lincoln is your son! Your own flesh and blood!" Arven snarled as he glared at the Loud family with a look of disgust on his face. "What in the world were you all thinking when you decided to lock him out of the house!? Or deciding to sell his belongings!? What kind of disgraceful excuses of a family are you!?"
Caught off-guard, Lynn Sr defended, “Well, it's his fault for disobeying us on such a grand scale.”
"And you think that's a good enough excuse to do something like that to your son!?" answered Arven, glaring at the matriarch of the Loud family. "Have you ever considered what kind of psychological damage something like this could do to Lincoln's psyche?"
"I...I hadn't thought of that..."
"And that's not the worst part of it. I don't know if any of you are aware of this or not, but by locking your son out of the house at night, all of you have ended up breaking the law."
"Wait...you mean to tell us that our parents committed a crime!? Seriously?" asked Luna, wide-eyed.
"Indeed - the crime of child abandonment." answered Arven, causing the two parents to look at him, appalled.
Pointing at Arven, Lynn Sr protested "But we didn't do anything else to him aside from locking him out of the house! We'd never abandon our son!"
"Fourth degree child abandonment." Lisa replied, causing her parents to stare at her in confusion. "To put it simply, all of you knowingly locked Lincoln outside of the house, potentially placing him in danger. Something like this is punishable with imprisonment up to 10 to 25 years, regardless of whether he had been harmed by your actions or not."
"T-that's actually a crime!?" Rita asked, terrified at what she had just heard.
With a shaky nod, Lisa answered "It is, Mother. And we should be considering ourselves lucky that Lincoln hadn't contacted the police about what happened."
"You should be considering yourself lucky that I haven't contacted the police either!" snarled Arven, causing the Louds to pale at his words.
“Arven....surely you...you wouldn't..." Lynn Sr stammered with a fearful look on his face.
"If it wasn't for the fact that your son wouldn't want something like this to happen, I would have all of you arrested without any hesitation!" Arven snapped, before taking a deep breath. “Besides, justice has already been served.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, because of your daughter's actions, this family is now cursed with a fate worse than death.”
“WHAT?!” Everyone exclaimed.
Opening his strange book to a page with a broken Emperor’s Key and a Black aura coming off of a miserable person, he explained, “Your daughter had broken the Emperor’s Key, a very ancient and sacred relic. By destroying it, you and all who had done its true owner wrong will be inflicted with the Karmic Misfortune Curse.”
“The Karmic Misfortune Curse?!” Lucy exclaimed in absolute fear, causing the attention of the room to go towards her.
“You know what that is, Lucy?” Lana asked the goth.
“It’s one of the universe's most powerful and dangerous curses! It brings the most severe misfortune to those it afflicts for the rest of their lives! While it’s not fatal, it will make you wish it was!” Lucy explained, seeing her gape at her wide-eyed and completely speechless. Thankfully, the silence didn't last very long as all of them started shouting at her all at once, creating a jumbled cacophony of voices.
“BUT THERE’S A WAY TO BREAK IT!” Arven shouted at the top of his lungs, causing everyone to stop and cover their ears.
“Oww…” Lily garbled, covering her ears with a grimace on her face. “Too woud…”
“Continuing where, Lucy right?” He asked, getting a nod for a response. “Continuing where Lucy left off, there is a way to be free from the Karmic Misfortune Curse.”
“Well, don’t just stand there! Tell us how to break it!” Lola demanded.
Reading the page he was on, Arven quoted, “‘In order for the afflicted to break this curse, they must pay their karmic dues and earn the forgiveness of the wronged in question. Note: Must be a true and genuine apology, or it doesn’t count.’”
Silence filled the room for a few seconds, before the athletic sister of the Loud Family burst out laughing. Glaring at Lynn Jr, Arven then asked her, “What’s so funny?"
Calming down, she replied to the boy, “Well, it's just that I can’t believe there’s someone worse than Stinkcoln at telling lies.”
“WHAT?!” Arven exclaimed in disbelief.
“Yeah, everything you said since you got here has been a bunch of baloney that you and Lincoln cooked up so he could have an excuse for his Bad Luck!"
“Young lady, I've never told a single lie and I don't intend on starting now, especially about your brother. Everything I told all of you has been the absolute truth." Arven replied with a frown. After everything he said, this brat was still in denial?!
"Right...." Lynn snarked before getting to her feet in order to leave the room.
Crossing her arms while glaring at her sporty sister, Lisa asked, "And just where do you think you're going, Lynn? Arven hadn't finished speaking with us yet."
"Like I'm gonna stay around while some loser spouts a bunch of crap before trying to guilt-trip me over Lincoln's Bad Luck ruining my game." Lynn Jr replied with a roll of her eyes before turning to face the rest of her sisters and adding, "I don't know about the rest of you, but there's no way I'm going to buy any of that nonsense he was saying earlier. I mean, come on - Our family getting cursed by Stinkcoln’s stupid necklace? Don't tell me you girls are actually falling for all of this!"
After taking a few seconds to consider Lynn's words, Lola stood up and said, "You know what? She's got a point. Why are we listening to this stranger ramble on about stuff that'll never ever happen?" Grabbing Lana's arm and dragging her out of her seat, she added. "C'mon Lana, let's go."
"Lynn's right! I can't believe that I'm listening to some stranger spouting a bunch of nonsense." Lori muttered as she stood up as well. Giving Lisa a menacing glare before she walked away, she added, "Next time you decide to waste my time like this again, I'll literally turn you into a human pretzel."
"Sorry Lisa, but I'm leaving too. Even I'm having a hard time trying to believe what's being said here." Luan added before a grin appeared on her face. "Though I think I'll be able to come up with a few good quality jokes out of what I've just heard."
Giving Arven an apologetic look as she got to her feet to leave as well, Luna says, "Same here. No offense dude, but some of that stuff you were saying sounded a little over-exaggerated."
Narrowing his eyes, Arven asked, "So that's it then? You're just going to walk away without giving me a good reason why you treated your own brother like an outcast?"
Turning back to the boy, Lana said, “You want a reason? Fine! It’s because he’s delusional and causes nothing but trouble for the rest of us!”
“Yeah, we’d be much better off without a meddling twerp like him in our lives.” Lori nodded.
“I vote in favor of sending him to live with Great Aunt Ruth for the summer! Maybe rubbing those disgusting feet of hers and eating moldy pudding will teach him not to ruin our activities, especially MY sports games!" Lynn Jr declared, as most of the Loud Family voiced their approval for Lynn's suggestion.
Hearing that they wanted to send Lincoln away, Arven's eyes lit up, before turning to Lisa and giving a small nod, meaning it was time to put their plan into action.
With a quick clearing of her throat, Lisa says, “Before we come to any decisions regarding our current situation, may I make a suggestion regarding Lynn’s proposal?”
“After taking a few seconds to consider her request, Lynn Sr nodded and replied, “Very well, Lisa; you have the floor.”
“Thank you. Now then, while I concur with the idea of sending Lincoln away, I would like to propose that we alter the course of Lincoln’s destination for his ‘Punishment’ instead of Auth Ruth’s.”
“No way! He screwed over my game and cost me the championship! I want him to pay for what he’s done!” Lynn Jr objected as she glared at the four year-old, who merely smirked at the outburst.
“Really now, Lynn. Proposing your idea purely for the sake of revenge? And here I thought you were doing this for the good of the family.” Lisa retorted smugly as the others lared at the thirteen year-old.
“Not cool, dude. Not cool.” Luna added, shaking her head in disgust.
Nodding in agreement, Leni said, “I can, like, totes understand sending Lincoln away because of his bad luck, but now you’re just being a jerk!”
Soon enough, the rest of the family (save for the mother) started to voice their own disgust as well, creating a cacophony of angry voices. Realizing that her idea was starting to lose support, Lynn Jr let out an irritated groan before replying, “Fine. We’ll go with Lisa’s stu[id idea! So what is it then, poindexter? Sending him to Clyde’s house? Or maybe even making him stay in that bunker of yours?”
Lisa and Arven grinned upon hearing this. They had set the bait and now it was time to see if everyone else would take it. “How does the idea of sending Lincoln to a foreign land sound to you?” Lisa replied, catching everyone else’s attention.
“Wait, you want to send Lincoln somewhere foreign? Like ‘out of the United States’ foreign?!” Lynn Jr asked in disbelief.
“That would be correct. Think about it, Lynn - if Lincoln is literally thousands of miles away, then surely his ‘bad luck’ couldn’t affect you or your games from such a distance, correct?” Lisa asked, causing a small grin to form on Lynn Jr’s face. “And that’s not all. Not only will his ‘bad luck’ be away from the rest of us, but it also means one less person to compete with in the household as well.”
Quickly realizing what this meant, a grin slowly formed on Lola’s face as she asked, “Wait, so that means one less person to with over the TV or the sweet spot?”
“One less person to drive around?” Lori questioned, catching on as well.
“And we like, won’t have as much competition when it comes to using the bathroom in the morning either?” Leni asked with a smile.
Lisa nodded once more, causing the three blondes to start chattering excitedly with each other over what she had proposed. While this was going on, the others narrowed their eyes as they watched the second-youngest member of the family very carefully. She was up to something, but they didn’t know what it was.
Once the chattering had died down, Luna crossed her arms and asked, “So, Lisa… mind sharing with ‘where’ you want to send Lincoln? You didn’t exactly share that fact with us, y’know.”
“Yeah! We wanna know where you’re gonna send him!” Lana added as she pointed at her younger sister accusingly, prompting everyone to face the little genius, waiting for an answer.
“I was wondering when someone would ask me that.” Lisa replied, adjusting her glasses with a smirk. “If you really must know, I happen to have a friend - a fellow scientist like myself by the name of Professor Samual Oak.”
“Who?” Lynn Sr asked, not familiar with the name.
“She’s talking about that very nice man she met at last year’s science convention.” Rita replied to her husband.
“Indeed, and he’s currently looking for people to help him with his research.” Lisa continued.
“That’s why I am here.” Arven added. “I was sent by him to see if you allow your son to assist him in Lisa’s steed.”
“And why can’t she go herself?” Lola asked, perplexed.
“Two reasons. A: I’m not old enough to physically help Professor Oak, but Lincoln is. B: I believe spending the summer helping him with his studies should get him to stop believing in his little fantasy world and give up his Dueling habit.” Lisa said, though her second reason was a lie, for she only said that to convince her parents.
“And just where does this ‘Oak’ friend of yours live?” Luan inquired, wanting further details. “What does he study?”
“The island he lives on is located near Japan. As for his studies, they have to do with the local wildlife residing there.” Arven explained, showing no signs of deceit in his words. After all, what he and Lisa claimed technically was the truth.
“So he’s like a zoologist or something? Lana asked with interest.
“You can say that.” Lisa replied before muttering under her breath, “Though what he studies aren’t your average run-of-the-mill animals…”
Before anyone else could raise any further questions, Lynn Sr pointed at the stairs and said, “Girls, go to your rooms. Me and your mother need to discuss this with Lisa and her friend.”
While Lola, Leni and Lori easily complied with the order, the others reluctantly started making their way to the stairway and headed to their respective rooms.
With a look of reluctance, Rita replied, “I’m not so sure if I want to go through with this. Can’t we just try to work things out with Lincoln?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think something like that is possible, considering how angry we are towards him and vice versa. I believe it would be best if we put some distance between us for a while.” Lisa commented.
‘She’s right. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’d only be placing everyone in harm’s way by keeping him here.’ Rita thought as she mulled over her daughter’s answer. Though she desperately wanted to keep Lincoln home, doing so would only lead to further friction between him and the rest of the family, especially Lynn Jr.
After quashing any remaining reluctant thoughts, she finally said, “ I suppose I’m on board with this.”
“Good.” Arven said, as he pulled out a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to the parents. “Just sign here, and give him the money you owe and we’ll depart in two days.”
“Money?” Lynn Sr asked in confusion, before Lisa took his wallet and receipt out of his pocket. “Hey!”
Examining its contents, Lisa took five thousand dollars out of her father’s wallet and said, “This money was obtained by selling off Lincoln’s property WITHOUT his permission. So by all rights, it belongs to him.”
“But…” Lynn Sr stuttered, trying to figure out a way to get the money back. “But I was going to use that for our trip to Hawaii…” After receiving a glare from the Pokemon Trainer, Lynn Sr let out a sigh before nodding in defeat and signed the paper.
“Glad to see you agree. Now that we’ve got this meeting out of the way, we will go and inform Lincoln about his departure.” Lisa said, as she and Arven went upstairs and headed to the four-year olds room, leaving a mother and father alone to their thoughts.
Meanwhile, in a pocket dimension inside the Emperor’s Key, Astral had been examining the heart of a very large airship, staring at a strange pillar with a red “39” on it. This was the Different Dimension Airship, a vehicle with a light green glow and golden circle rails all over them, made out of thousands of gears. It was mysteriously made up of one hundred main gears in which a few were already or will be marked with a strange number like symbols.
The gears that were already marked were activated and each moved a hundredth of all the ships gears, increasing its functions and capabilities. “It seems that any damage the ship received when the Key got damaged has been fully repaired.” Astral said to himself, before looking at all the other main gears. “And all the Numbers we’ve gathered have been accounted for-” He froze, as his eyes widened in fear, before flying over to an inactive gear that had a “96” on it. “No! He’s escaped!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author’s Note:
I! HATE! MOVING!
It is so much work and gives me little to no free time to write. I only managed to get this chapter because I was able to take a break for a few days after finally listing the house. If any of you were wondering why the total value of Lincoln’s belongings was five thousand dollars, it's because some of his stuff, such as his comics, were rare and valuable.
I also bet you weren’t expecting Fable III to come into play in this. It was not only one of my favorite games, but it is probably the first Rated M game I ever played, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
As for Albert’s last name, he did not originally have one, so I just decided to go with “Tsukumo”.
Next chapter, Lincoln spends his last full day in Royal Woods hanging out and discussing recent events with his best friends. How will they react? Stay tuned.
Also, I have been wondering something. Out of all the Loud House NSL fics out there, how is there not one with the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Series, where the family is on trial for what they did to Lincoln and the defense attorney(s) are Phoenix, Apollo, and/or Athena and the prosecutor is Miles Edgeworth?
Fan Art (use these #’s on Twitter (X) for the story you want to post fanart of: (match spelling and casing)
Yu-Gi-Oh Ouroboros: #YugiohOuroboros
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: #ZEXALMiraculous
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey: #PokemonLoudZEXAL
New Project Announcement Trailer:
Nintendo Presents
An endless sea of shallow water was before them, reaching the horizon in every direction. It reflected the dark sky, billowing with black storm clouds.
A Monolith Soft Production
The occasional flare of lightning illuminated a shadowy purple demon, one with a "starry" body that took on an elongated form, staring at a strange group. Her hair underneath her massive crown is a deep indigo, and her "face" only had small pale lips visible.
Associated with Intelligent Systems and AlphaDream
The first person of this group was Noah, a young man with pale skin, long black hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes. His main appearance comprises a red jacket, a power frame on its back, straps on his chest in an X-shape, a short sleeved turtleneck underneath, black pants with straps, and black boots. In his hands was his red sword, Truthslinger.
Standing next to Noah’s right was Mio, a young woman with neck-length silver hair styled into a bob cut and golden eyes, with cat ears similar to a Gormotti. She had a blue and red gem similar to a Flesh Eater Core Crystal on her chest. Her appearance comprised a white jacket with black accents, a white tank top underneath, white skirt, and white boots with black leggings. Mio wielded in both of her hands the Sundancers.
On Noah’s left was Mario, an Italian man with fair skin, was short and stocky in stature, and was a bit portly. He had bright blue eyes, a big nose, and a thick dark-brown mustache with six bumps on it. Mario had short brown hair with two sideburns, three large bangs pointing upwards, four short bangs pointing upward at the back of his neck, and a sprout-shaped cowlick. He wore a red sweater and blue overalls with yellow buttons. He wore a red cap that has the "M" symbol for the first letter of his name and wore white gloves, and brown dress shoes.
Next to Mio was Mario’s twin brother, Luigi. He wore a green hat with an "L" symbol on it. He wore a long-sleeved green shirt and blue overalls on the inside, and red and white striped socks similar to that of a candy cane. Luigi was a fair-skinned, tall Italian man with an oblong face. He has short brown hair and a dark brown mustache. He has bright blue eyes and wears white gloves and brown shoes.
On Mario’s left was Eunie, a High Entia girl, characterized by the small white wings atop her head. She had shoulder-length light brown hair and blue eyes, and her outfit consisted of a sleeveless skin tight jumpsuit, a black hooded jacket with yellow-green accents, and black sneakers with the same green accents. Additionally, she also wore a belt adorned with a power frame and a black choker. In her hands was her signature weapon, the Caduceus Gunrod.
On Luigi’s right was Taion, a young man with dark skin and a slim build with messy brown hair. He sported a long flowing orange scarf, an Agnian jacket with orange highlights (albeit opened), white arm guards, a dark jumper and trousers with rolled-up cuffs, and white boots. He also wore glasses and had a blue wedge-shaped core on his chest, which wasn’t shown. On his left arm was his weapon, Totality, which had the ability to summon a collection of drone-like entities resembling origami birds known as Mondo.
Standing by Eunie’s side was Lanz, a remarkably tall and muscular Machina with distinctive gray skin, golden lines along his face and arms, and white hair. He wears military style gray cargo pants, a tight gray tank top, some kind of black and blue coat adorning the Keves symbol, and black metallic boots. Additionally, he wears metallic gloves. Lanz’s weapon, the Adamant Shell, was currently out, which also acts as a shield, as well as a turret, which he uses to protect his friends.
Next to Taion was Sena, a girl with a small physique and dark blue hair. The tips of her hair as well as certain lines along her body glowed in the same blue light as the gem on her chest, which appeared to be a Core Crystal, similar to a Blade. She wore short denim shorts and a belt as well as a black crop top and a small denim jacket. Additionally, she wore gloves and boots with white plating, a color associated with the military of Agnus. In both of her hands was her own Blade, the Meteor Smasher.
Next to Noah’s legs was Riku, a seafoam-green Nopon with a fluffy tuft of brown hair on his head. He was equipped with Kevesi armor that covers his entire body except for his stomach and legs, and wielded a gun as part of the Variable Arms.
Right behind Mio’s legs was Manana, a pale orange Nopon who was using her cooking pot as part of the Variable Arms. She had long, pink twintails, wore a white chef's hat on her head, a white apron with red stitching and a lilac bandana.
Behind Noah and Mio was Shulk, a man with pale blonde hair grew to his tailbone, and now wears a gray trench coat with a red shoulder cape, black pants, boots, and had a prosthetic right arm wielding the Monado REX+.
Standing next to Shulk was Rex, a muscular man with large brown hair, sported a small goatee, had a golden right eye, and a scar where his left eye was supposed to be. Rex wore a blue sleeveless vest, a skin tight turtleneck, black pants with a tailcoat, and black boots. In his hands were the Firelight Swords, also known as the Aegis Swords.
Flying next to Mario’s head was Starlow, a Star Sprite. Her body was yellow and round like a ball, had brown feet and a small flashing star floating above her head.
Flying next to Luigi was Prince Dreambert, a Pi'illo that wore red royal clothing. His shoes were white and his pillow head was red. His face was located at the center of his head, making him look slightly different from other Pi'illos.
Standing on Sena’s right was Goombella, a pink female Goomba with a pith helmet, a pale tan shirt, and a red ascot around her neck, the center containing the Crystal Star, with a 智 engraved on it.
Next to Lanz was Koops, a teenage Koopa that sported a green shell, wore a light blue sweater hoodie with blue shorts outside of it, white shoes with a brown underside, and he seemed to sport had a bandage on his snout while one of his eyes seemed half-lidded. On his left wrist was a metal arm brace, which had the Diamond Star on top, with a 勇 engraved on it.
Next to Goombella was Flurrie, a wind spirit. Her body was a pale grayish-purple, each part of her rounded figure bouncing with each movement like she was a living cloud. She hovered in the air with no legs, fitting for someone known as a wind spirit, gold bracelets on her wrists, green pearl earrings, and yellow pearl necklace hanging around her neck, which had the Emerald Star, which had a 雅 engraved on it, hanging down from the bottom. Her hair was a shade of light purple, wildly styled similarly to that of a mad scientist's, but for Flurrie, it seemed to suit her as a wind spirit. She also had big red lips, though whether she added lipstick or not was unknown as they were a perfect cherry red.
Standing by Koops’s right was Yoshi, a green dinosaur wearing red boots, a pair of orange pants with white polka dots on it and a black belt that had the Gold Star with a 力 engraved on it, and the red spines on top of its head were shaped in a mohawk.
Next to Flurrie was Vivian, a beautiful shadow creature with a small wisp connecting her to the ground in place of legs. Below the red and white striped hat she wore was light pink curly hair, the curly bangs concealing her eyes. On her right ring finger was a golden ring, embedded with the Ruby Star on top, containing a 仁 In her right hand was a golden sword with Fuchsia highlights, which had been dubbed, “Facinna”.
Right on Yoshi’s left was Bobbery, an old Bob-omb with a dark brown color with blue feet, wearing an old, worn out white navy cap, which had the Sapphire Star embedded on top, a 栄engraved on it. His fuse sticking out from the top of his hat, a ship wheel that spun around as his windup key, and sported a long, bushy gray mustache.
Next to Vivian was Ms. Mowz, a white Little Mouser who wore red high-heels, a red mask, and had a heart-shaped tail. Hanging on her left ear was a golden earring containing the Garnet Star, which had a 信 engraved on it.
“We won’t let you defeat us! Your power is nothing compared to the bonds that connect us!” Mio exclaimed to the monster.
“Eraqus, guide my hand.” Noah quietly said, before putting a hand on his sword, Truthslinger. He then pulled out a thin silver sword with a black hilt with violet glowing lines and a circular hole near the pommel, while his left arm is covered in a glowing armor gauntlet. “All our friends, all our world’s are counting on us.” He trailed off, as he prepared his sword, which began to glow a bright white light. “We won’t let it be destroyed!”
“All of us…!” Noah trailed off, as he, Eunie, Lanz, Riku, Koops, Yoshi, Vivian, Bobbery, and Shulk prepared themselves.
“Together…!” Mio continued, as she, Taion, Sena, Manana, Goombella, Flurrie, Ms. Mowz, and Rex did the same.
“SHALL WIN!” They both finished in union.
The screen then went black, as the ‘Xenoblade Chronicles 3’ title-card then appeared on-screen, before the Crystal Stars flew across the screen, their star dust forming Crystalized Letters below the title-card.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Legend of the Crystal Stars
The title-card then vanished, and was replaced with…
NOW IN DEVELOPMENT
Author’s Note 2:
That’s right! I was planning on doing this later, but in honor of Monolith's 25th Anniversary, I decided to begin development on my Xenoblade 3 x Thousand Year Door crossover. More details will be revealed in due time. Feel free to give ideas for Arts (attacks) and Chain Attack Names and effects for Mario, Luigi, and their partners.
Fan Art:
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Legend of the Crystal Stars: #XC3andTTYD
Chapter 4: A Past Long Forgotten
Chapter Text
Chapter 4: A Past Long Forgotten
Last night…
The Loud House was silent, save for the occasional creak of the walls settling and the distant rustle of trees outside. Moonlight spilled through the living room windows, casting eerie shadows as Lucy glided across the hardwood floor, her black nightgown blending seamlessly with the darkness.
She kneeled before the half-forgotten boxes of Lincoln's belongings. Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened the nearest one, rifling through old comics, trading cards, and a few worn-out shirts. And then, there it was—Bun-Bun. The stuffed bunny, a relic of Lincoln's childhood, stared back at her with its button eyes.
Clutching it to her chest, Lucy whispered, "I don't know if retrieving you will help me make up with Lincoln, but I can't let Dad get rid of you."
She turned, making her way back up the stairs. But as she reached the second floor, she paused. Voices murmured from her parents' bedroom—low, urgent. Curiosity tugged at her, and she took a cautious step toward the door, pressing her ear against the wood.
"Lynn, I know you don't like him playing Duel Monsters, but this is getting out of hand," Rita's voice carried through the quiet. "We HAVE to tell him!"
Lucy held her breath. Tell him what?
Her grip tightened around Bun-Bun, her mind now brimming with questions she hadn't even thought to ask before.
Lucy pressed herself closer to the door, straining to catch every word.
"You think telling him will fix this?" Lynn's voice, sharp with frustration, cut through the quiet. "Rita, we agreed—this stays buried. No one knows, and no one needs to know."
Rita sighed, her tone weary but firm. "We can't keep pretending she never existed, Lynn. Not when—" she hesitated, her voice growing softer, "not when Lincoln is starting to remind you so much of her."
Lucy frowned, gripping Bun-Bun a little tighter. Who?
Lynn scoffed. "Lincoln is not her. He has nothing to do with Lyra." His tone wavered—just for a second—but then hardened again. "I lost her, Rita. And if we bring this up now, if we—if we tell him, it'll be like losing her all over again."
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
"Lynn… me, your father and brother are the only ones who know she existed," Rita finally whispered. "Doesn't that feel wrong to you?"
Lucy's breath hitched. The only ones who know?
She pressed herself tighter against the door, her fingers tightening around Bun-Bun. A name she'd never heard before—a piece of family history she didn't even know existed. And yet, her parents spoke about Lyra as if she had once been just as real, just as present, as any of them.
Inside, Lynn exhaled sharply. "Rita, there is no reason to bring this up. Not now, not ever. It's in the past—we left it there so we don't open old wounds."
Rita's voice was calm, measured. "I know. And I'm not saying we tell him today, or even soon. But, Lynn…" She sighed, "We can't pretend she never existed. Not to ourselves."
Lucy felt her heart pound. There was something weighty in their voices—not regret, not unraveling, but something unspoken that neither of them had ever voiced before.
Lynn was quiet for a long moment. Then, his voice came. "I know, but it's better this way."
Lucy froze. She had never heard her father sound like that before—like he had accepted something, even if he hated it.
She backed away from the door slowly, as if the walls themselves were holding something sacred within them. She didn't understand what she had just stumbled upon.
But she knew one thing for sure: whatever Lyra was to her family, whatever history they had buried—her parents weren't about to dig it up.
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
The scene opens to Lincoln prepping his Pokemon Belt and Duel Pad, before his Duel Gazer went onto his left eye, making holographic effects appear everywhere.
If life is a game
They say I can't win
I'll never amount to nothing'
Tear me down before my life begins,
The scene changed to Lincoln exiting out of his room, quickly dodging both Lynn and Lisa, the former on her bike playing sports and the latter doing another one of her experiments. He briefly joined Lola's tea party, jammed out to Luna's playing, and praised Lucy's poem. He then dodged a fight between Lori and Leni over a dress. He leaped over a pile of laundry and is disgusted by Lily's stinky diaper as she walks by. Luan then appeared to throw a pie at her younger brother, but Lincoln dodged it in time as he finally made it in the bathroom. In there, Lana unscrewed the bathroom's sink with her wrench, resulting in Lincoln eyes widening before the boy got caught in a large stream of water.
I won't be afraid,
To challenge myself
They won't ever break my fire.
The scene changed to a Six-Year old Lincoln standing in front of the Door to Destiny, as he held Emperor's Key his right hand, before pulling back his arm and thrusting his hand forward and shoved the key into the hole in the door, making a bright light shoot out of it as the chains around the door disintegrated, while the young Lincoln took his arm out of the giant keyhole and trembled back in shock.
My dreams won't die
If I high-five the sky
The younger Lincoln watched the double doors slowly open. As they did, an even more intense light began to emerge from behind the gate. Before long, the area around the young boy was bathed in the most powerful flash of light, as it zoomed in on Lincoln's left eye, Astral flying towards him in its reflection.
Spread my wings,
Take off, it's time to fly!
The scene then changed back to Present-Day Lincoln, who had packed his bags as he reached the stairs of his home and slid on the banister, passing his parents before he reached the front door, with Pikachu, Miraidon (Low-Power Mode) Professor Oak waiting for him.
Take a chance to make it all the way
The scene changed to Lincoln and Pikachu in Kanto, riding Miradion (Drive Mode) while Astral was flying beside them, passing by their friends and Pokemon.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday!
The scene then changed to Lincoln (who had his Dueling Equipment on) and Astral, the former drawing a card in a dramatic fashion.
Take a chance, believe...
The scene then changed to Lincoln pulling out a card, before revealing to be his ace, Number 39: Utopia, just as Astral flew in front of him.
Nothing will bring me down,
The scene changed to Jessie giving off a smirk, before changing to James taking a rose out of his mouth and throwing it, and then changing to Meowth jumping into the air. The scene then changed to Giovanni sitting in his office, as he evilly smiled.
No retreat when I leave all my fears behind
My future's still alive inside!
The scene then changed to Lincoln, Astral, and Pikachu, as they were in a Pokemon Battle, with Pikachu going up against a Gyarados, with the Mouse Pokemon started charging towards while charging electricity, before making his tail take on a metallic sheen, just as it got covered in covered in electrical energy. Pikachu then launched into the air and swung his tail down onto his opponent's head, releasing the energy and creating a massive blast of electricity.
Take a chance and chase my doubts away,
The screen changed, now showing both Kite in his Photon Transformation, spun around with a single card in hand and held it out, revealing it to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. A bright flash covered the screen from view for a moment, before clearing to reveal Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon howling, a cosmic galaxy as the background. The screen then suddenly changed to a water world, where Shark floated with Number 32: Shark Drake in front of him.
Believing gets me through my darkest days
In a desert-like field with the orange sky; Lincoln, Astral, Pikachu and Miradion were beside one another with the human boy already fully Duel equipped and were facing a Photon Transformed Kite that stood a few feet away. The Galaxy-Eyes Duelist reached for his deck, then drew with a roar and then gave a confident face at his opponents.
The scene then showed a fast montage of many different kinds of Pokemon and Duel Monsters, such as Pikachu, Miradion (Ultimate Mode), Charizard, Shiny Gardevoir, Lucario, Gagaga Magician, Gogogo Golem, Gagaga Cowboy, Rainbow Kuriboh and Number 39: Utopia.
Take a chance to make it all the way,
The scene then changed to Lincoln and Astral merging into ZEXAL while Miradion morphed into his Ultimate Mode.
Take a chance forgetting yesterday
The scene then changed to several small, square-shaped lights surrounding Six-Year Old Lincoln in a large sphere, before they scattered in all directions.
Take a breath, my heart will lead the way,
The scene changed to a split screen, showing Lincoln's left half of his face and Astral's right half, before changing to Lincoln throwing up his right hand, while Astral did the same with his left, as both partners suddenly gained a bright golden light around themselves that briefly covered the area.
Take a chance, I'll take a chance in today!
The light cleared to reveal single glowing card flying into Lincoln's right hand, as he Astral, Pikachu, and Miradion (Low-Power Mode) were posing beside one another, with the Emperor's Key in the background, as the title then appeared below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: A Loud Journey
(End Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Take a Chance)
Present…
The room was unusually quiet, the air thick with anticipation. Lincoln sat cross-legged on Lisa's bed, absentmindedly fiddling with his now-restored Emperor's Key, watching as its golden surface shimmered faintly in the dim light. Pikachu sat beside him, his ears twitching at the slightest noise, while Miraidon lay curled up near the wall, her breathing slow and steady as she rested from her ordeal. Despite her stillness, the occasional spark flickered off her metallic scales, remnants of the power she had yet to regain.
"They've been gone for a while…" Lincoln muttered, unable to shake the unease creeping into his chest.
"They'll be back soon," Pikachu replied, though there was an uncertain edge to his tone. "Still don't get why they needed to talk to your parents for so long."
Lincoln frowned but said nothing. He wanted to believe that Lisa and Arven had everything under control, but something about the way they had rushed off made his nerves itch.
The Emperor's Key pulsed in Lincoln's hands, a faint golden glow flickering across its surface. Before he could react, a ripple of energy cut through the room, and Astral materialized before him, his form shifting in and out of the visible spectrum like a mirage.
Lincoln barely registered Miraidon's shifting posture beside him—his full attention was locked onto Astral. "You don't usually show up like this unless something's wrong." His voice was steady, but his grip on the Key tightened.
Astral's golden eyes burned with intensity. "Something is wrong."
Pikachu tilted his head, his ears twitching. "Uh… what?" He glanced between Lincoln and Miraidon, noting how both of them were focused on something he couldn't see. His tail flicked in irritation. "Okay, what's happening? Why are you two staring at empty air?"
Lincoln ignored Pikachu's confusion, his gaze unwavering as he addressed Astral. "What happened?"
Astral floated closer, his expression grim. "Number 96 has escaped."
Lincoln felt his stomach drop. His pulse quickened, his grip on the Key growing tighter. "This is bad…"
Miraidon's tail curled slightly in curiosity, a flicker of interest sparking in her violet eyes. "Number 96?" She echoed, her voice carrying a quiet intrigue rather than immediate alarm.
Lincoln inhaled sharply, his mind racing. "How did he escape?"
Astral's tone was heavy with urgency. "The damage to the Emperor's Key must have weakened the Airship's defenses, just enough for him to break free."
Pikachu let out an aggravated sigh. "Okay, great. The kid's panicking, Miraidon looks curious, and I still don't know what's going on! Can someone explain what this invisible conversation is actually about?"
Miraidon shifted slightly, pushing herself up just enough to meet Astral's gaze properly. "Forgive me, but I am unfamiliar with this Number 96," She said, her voice calm and measured. "Would you mind explaining?"
Astral regarded her for a moment before answering, his golden eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion. "Number 96 is unlike anything you've ever seen. He is not simply a being of power—he is an embodiment of chaos and deception. He manipulates others, corrupts minds, and thrives on conflict."
Miraidon absorbed this information, her gaze thoughtful. "I see… but why does he pose such a personal threat to you?"
Astral's glow dimmed slightly, his form shifting as if the question had struck something deep within him. "Because Number 96 claims to be… my dark side."
Lincoln inhaled sharply. His fingers clenched around the Emperor's Key.
Miraidon's tail flicked as she processed this revelation. "Claims to be your dark side?" She echoed. "You don't believe him?"
Astral's voice was firm, unwavering. "I refuse to."
Pikachu sighed loudly, folding his arms. "Okay, cool. Now we're talking about dark sides? And I still don't know what's going on!"
Lincoln barely registered Pikachu's frustration—his mind was spinning with what Astral had just revealed.
Miraidon watched Astral carefully, studying his expression. "If he says he is, then what is he really?"
Astral's golden gaze locked onto hers. "A shadow, perhaps. Or simply a force that exists to oppose me. I do not know if he is truly a reflection of me, but what I do know is that he cannot be trusted. His existence alone threatens everything."
Lincoln exhaled shakily. "And now he's free…"
Astral nodded. "And he will come for you."
Before Lincoln could respond, footsteps echoed down the hallway. Lisa and Arven had returned.
Lincoln barely had time to process Astral's warning before the approaching footsteps grew louder. His grip on the Emperor's Key tightened, his heartbeat quickening. This was no longer just about leaving—something far greater was at play, something he was only beginning to understand.
Miraidon glanced at him, reading the conflict in his expression. "You're thinking about what Astral said," she observed, keeping her voice low.
Lincoln exhaled, nodding. "I knew this journey wasn't going to be simple, but I didn't think I'd have something like him coming after me."
Astral's form flickered slightly. "You were always meant to face great trials, Lincoln. Number 96 is only one of many."
Lincoln swallowed hard. "That's not exactly comforting."
The door swung open, and Lisa stepped inside, adjusting her glasses, her expression neutral but firm. Arven followed close behind, scanning the room quickly before his eyes landed on Miraidon. His tense posture immediately relaxed, relief washing over his face.
"Oh, thank Arceus," Arven muttered, exhaling deeply. He took a few steps closer to Miraidon, his gaze softening as he took in her stable condition. "I was seriously worried… You looked awful earlier."
Miraidon opened her cyan eyes fully, acknowledging him. "I recover quickly," she murmured, her tone carrying a quiet strength.
Arven managed a small chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah, well, next time, try not to scare me half to death."
Lisa cleared her throat, bringing the conversation back on track. "We've come to an agreement," she stated.
Lincoln sat up straighter, feeling a mixture of anticipation and certainty settle within him. "It's official?"
Lisa nodded. "Mother and Father signed off. You leave in two days."
A genuine smile spread across Lincoln's face. He had spent so long trapped in a house that had barely felt like home, surrounded by people who had cast him aside. Now, he had a future beyond this place—one filled with possibility.
"That's great," Lincoln said, unable to hide the relief in his voice.
Arven gave him a knowing look. "Yeah, it is. You get a fresh start."
Pikachu blinked, surprised at Lincoln's reaction. "You're actually happy about leaving?"
Lincoln nodded, gripping the Emperor's Key tighter. "More than happy. I get to go somewhere new. Somewhere where I don't have to deal with all of this."
Miraidon observed him carefully. "That's good."
Lisa straightened her glasses. "There's still one more thing—preparation."
Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "What kind of preparation?"
Arven reached into his bag and pulled out several neatly stacked bills. Without hesitation, he handed the bundle directly to Lincoln, the weight of it solid in his grasp.
"That's yours," Arven said simply.
Lincoln stared down at the money—crisp, tangible proof of something being returned to him. He thumbed through the bills, his breath catching slightly as realization settled in.
"Five thousand dollars," Lisa confirmed. "The amount that was rightfully yours after our parents sold off your belongings without your consent."
Lincoln inhaled sharply, tightening his grip on the money. He had never held this much before—never had anything of his own in such a meaningful way.
"They weren't thrilled about handing it over," Arven added, crossing his arms. "But Lisa made sure they understood it wasn't theirs to keep."
Lincoln swallowed hard, looking up at the two of them. "This… this is really mine?"
Lisa nodded. "Consider it a step toward independence. A foundation for your new journey."
Lincoln exhaled, a mixture of relief and newfound determination filling his chest. He wasn't just leaving. He was being given the means to start over—to reclaim what had been stolen from him.
Miraidon shifted, observing him carefully before letting out a slow breath. "You're in good hands," she murmured, her voice quieter than before.
Lincoln turned toward her, brow furrowing slightly. "Miraidon?"
She gave him a small nod, then, without another word, tapped the Poké Ball resting near her. A soft red glow enveloped her form, and in an instant, she vanished, retreating into the safety of her Ball.
Arven glanced at Lincoln, then the Ball, then back to Lincoln again. "She's resting."
Lisa adjusted her glasses. "Understandable—she's been through a great deal. Let her recover."
Lincoln stared at the Poké Ball for a moment longer before nodding. Miraidon had helped him in ways he hadn't even realized. If she needed to rest, he wouldn't stop her.
Astral floated beside Lincoln, who barely turned his head, but he knew exactly what was coming.
"You are meant for more than just escape," Astral murmured, his voice resonating in Lincoln's mind. "Your journey is not just about leaving—it is about stepping into your destiny."
Lincoln swallowed, his fingers tightening around the Key. He could feel it—the pull of something far greater waiting for him beyond these walls.
Miraidon had retreated, but Lincoln wasn't alone. He had people—real allies—standing with him.
And for the first time in a while, he wasn't afraid.
Lisa straightened up. "We'll finalize everything soon. But for now, make sure you're ready."
Lincoln exhaled slowly. He wasn't just preparing to leave anymore—he was preparing for everything. The unknown path ahead, the dangers waiting for him, and the undeniable truth: He had a destiny.
And whatever awaited him beyond these walls—he was ready to face it.
The house remained unnervingly quiet after the family meeting. Tension hung in the air, thick and unspoken, but Lucy's mind had long drifted elsewhere. The weight of the name she had overheard last night—Lyra—had been gnawing at her thoughts, demanding answers no one seemed willing to give.
As she climbed the attic stairs, Bun-Bun clutched tightly in her arms, she whispered under her breath, trying to make sense of it all.
"Who are you?" She murmured to herself. "Why has no one ever spoken about you?"
Her voice felt small against the vast, forgotten space of the attic. Dust coated every surface, floating lazily in the dim light that peeked through the single round window at the far end. Boxes were stacked haphazardly, some labeled, some left untouched for years.
Lucy's fingers brushed over the lids, searching. "If you were just some distant relative, they wouldn't be afraid to mention you. But Dad sounded like…" she hesitated, shaking her head as she pushed forward. "He sounded like losing you meant something."
Her gaze flickered between the boxes, scanning for anything out of place. She had no idea where to start—had no idea if Lyra's existence had even left a trace.
Then, as she moved one particularly heavy box aside, her fingers brushed against something odd.
A subtle seam in the wooden floorboard.
Lucy froze. Slowly, she pressed against the edge, and to her surprise, the board shifted ever so slightly, revealing a compartment beneath it.
Her breath caught in her throat as she reached inside, fingers grazing worn leather. Carefully, she pulled it free, brushing the dust off the cover.
Lyra Loud
Lucy's heart pounded.
Her fingers trembled as she opened the journal, flipping through pages of faded ink, reading dreams, thoughts, emotions scrawled by a hand she had never known until one entry caught her eye.
Dear Diary,
I've never kept a diary before, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I want to remember things—important things, silly things, everything in between. My twin brother Lynn says it's weird. He doesn't understand why I'd want to write down my thoughts instead of just saying them. But some things aren't meant to be said aloud. Some things need to be written, just for me.
Lucy's hands shook slightly. Lyra wasn't just some distinctive relative.
She was Dad's twin.
She was family. A sister to their father—someone who had once been just as real, just as alive, as any of them.
And yet—she had never heard her name before. None of them had. It was like she had been erased.
Lucy's breath came fast, frantic, as she said to herself, "I've gotta show this to Lincoln."
The afternoon was quiet, but not in a peaceful way—it was the kind of quiet that felt temporary, like the storm of his departure hadn't fully arrived yet.
Pikachu padded along beside him, his small paws barely making a sound against the floorboards. His ears twitched, picking up the muffled voices of Lincoln's sisters behind closed doors, distant chatter that neither of them had the energy to care about.
The yellow Pokémon glanced up at Lincoln, whispering, "Why are we sneaking? It's not like you're running away."
Lincoln tightened his grip around the Poké Ball in his hand—the one Arven had given him, containing Miraidon. Though he wasn't an official Trainer yet, Arven had entrusted him with her, letting him hold on to it for now.
"I don't want anyone to see you or Miraidon," Lincoln murmured, his voice low but firm. "If my family catches a glimpse, they might start asking questions I don't feel like answering."
Pikachu flicked his tail thoughtfully. "Fair enough."
Astral floated beside them, unseen by Pikachu, his golden glow faint but unwavering. "Your instincts serve you well," he murmured, his voice threading through Lincoln's mind. "They see only what they wish to see. They would not understand."
Lincoln nodded slightly, gripping the Emperor's Key in his other hand. He was almost in his room.
He nudged the door open, stepping inside.
And just like that—emptiness.
The shelves were gone. The posters were gone. The desk, the bed, even the small marks on the walls where furniture had once rested—erased. It wasn't just empty. It was hollow.
Pikachu stepped inside cautiously, his fur bristling as he looked around. "Whoa…" he muttered before frowning. "They really took everything. It's like no one ever lived here."
Lincoln swallowed, feeling an odd weight settle in his chest. He had expected his room to be cleared out, but seeing it like this, stripped down to nothing, made something click in his mind.
Lincoln stepped further inside, scanning the room, trying to feel something—anger, sadness, nostalgia—but all he felt was hollow.
Astral hovered beside him. "You have lost nothing," He reminded Lincoln. "What you left behind was never truly yours to begin with," he said softly. "But what you take with you—who you become—that is yours alone."
Lincoln exhaled slowly, brushing his fingers against the blank wall, where a poster had once been.
Lincoln stiffened.
Before he could react, the door creaked open, and Lucy peeked inside. Her eyes widened as she took in the empty room—but then her gaze dropped.
She froze.
Lincoln cursed under his breath, moving quickly. He grabbed the edge of the door and shut it with quiet urgency, sealing them inside the hollow space.
"Lucy," Lincoln started, voice low but firm, "I need you to keep quiet."
Lucy barely registered his words. Her gaze was locked onto Pikachu, her expression one of pure confusion.
Lucy blinked. "Uh… Lincoln?"
Lincoln sighed. "Yeah?"
Lucy pointed at Pikachu. "Why is there… a giant mouse in your room?"
Pikachu scoffed. "Mouse? Wow, rude." However, all Lucy heard was "Pika? Pikachu."
Lincoln exhaled, rubbing his forehead. "It's… complicated."
Lucy studied Pikachu for a long moment, then turned back to Lincoln, tightening her grip around something in her hands.
"I didn't come here to ask about this," She admitted.
Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you here?"
Lucy hesitated.
"I found something. About Dad," She whispered.
Lincoln's breath hitched. "What do you mean?"
Lucy hesitated before stepping closer, carefully unwrapping her fingers to reveal a worn leather-bound diary. The cover was faded, but the name scrawled across it was still visible.
Lyra Loud
Lincoln's breath hitched.
Pikachu watched the exchange curiously, glancing between Lucy and Lincoln. He flicked his tail, sensing the shift in atmosphere. "Something tells me this is really bad," He muttered.
"I found it in the attic. Hidden," Lucy murmured. "Dad never told us about her. And based on what I read—he never planned to."
Lincoln swallowed hard. "What did you find?"
Lucy flipped open the diary, scanning the words until she reached the first entry. "It starts with her saying she's never kept a diary before. She talks about wanting to remember things, important things… but then she mentions Dad." Lincoln leaned in, his fingers twitching at his side. "She says her twin brother, Lynn, thinks it's weird."
Lincoln's stomach dropped.
His Dad had a twin.
A twin none of them had ever heard of. A twin that had been completely erased.
Astral's glow flickered faintly beside Lincoln. "Truth buried beneath years of silence," He murmured. "You were never meant to know. Yet here it is, calling to you."
Lincoln exhaled shakily. He didn't know what this meant, or why their father had kept Lyra a secret—but he knew one thing for certain.
This changed everything.
Lucy flipped through the worn pages carefully, her fingers brushing over faded ink until she found an entry that stood out. The date was decades old, yet the handwriting remained steady, determined.
She cleared her throat and read aloud.
Dear Diary,
Lynn and I have made up our minds—we're going to be professional duelists. Well, at least, I am. Lynn keeps talking about how he's going to be the greatest duelist of all time, how no one will ever beat him, but if I'm being honest… he's really bad at this.
He thinks all you need is power. That if you throw down strong monsters and attack without thinking, you'll win every duel. But that's not how it works. He refuses to plan ahead, doesn't even bother reading his opponent's plays properly. I try to explain strategy to him, but he just says, "Strategy is overrated. Winners don't hesitate—they crush their opponents!"
Except… he keeps losing. To me. A lot.
I told him today that he needs to actually think before making a move. He rolled his eyes and said, "Thinking slows me down!" Honestly, I don't know how he expects to become a champion like this, but I guess it's just his style.
Still, I have to admit—his confidence is kind of inspiring. Even when he fails, he picks himself right back up, convinced that next time will be different. Maybe I should start seeing things that way too… except, unlike Lynn, I actually know how to play this game.
Plus, I don't know why, but Dueling makes me feel alive. When I'm in a match, when I'm planning my next move, when I see everything coming together the way I envisioned—it's the best feeling in the world. Like for those few minutes, nothing else matters. Just me, my cards, and the fight ahead.
Lincoln leaned in, his grip tightening around the Emperor's Key. His father had once dreamed of being a duelist. A professional. But something had changed.
Astral, hovering unseen beside Lincoln, spoke softly. "The past has a way of shaping the present, even when it is buried."
Lucy closed the diary carefully. "They loved dueling," She murmured. "It was more than a game to them."
Lincoln nodded. "What happened?" He whispered.
Lucy frowned, flipping through more pages, but she hesitated before answering. "I don't know. But whatever it was… Dad didn't want us to know."
Lucy flipped through the pages carefully, scanning for anything that would give them more insight. She stopped when her fingers brushed against an entry that seemed different—written with even more urgency, more excitement.
"This one's big," she murmured, eyes widening slightly. She cleared her throat before reading aloud.
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow's the day. The Duel Academy entry exams. Lynn and I have been training for this for months, and now it's finally happening.
Lincoln's breath hitched. Duel Academy.
He had heard about it before—an elite school where aspiring duelists could refine their skills, study strategy, and eventually compete at the highest levels.
But their father had never once mentioned trying to get in.
Lucy continued.
Lynn keeps bragging about how he's going to ace the exam with his 'unmatched skills.' I've stopped trying to explain that brute force isn't going to impress the instructors. He'll have to learn that the hard way when his reckless plays don't get him anywhere.
I, on the other hand, know I have what it takes. My strategy is solid, my deck is balanced, and I've been practicing relentlessly. This exam isn't just another duel—it's my ticket to something bigger. A future that actually belongs to me.
Lincoln exhaled slowly. Lyra had been determined.
She had wanted this badly.
Astral's glow flickered beside Lincoln, his voice threading through his thoughts. "She was ready to shape her destiny. But destiny is rarely so simple."
Lucy's fingers trembled slightly as she flipped to the next page. "There's another entry," she murmured.
Lincoln leaned in, his grip tightening around the Emperor's Key.
Lucy took a breath and read aloud.
Dear Diary,
I am furious. Absolutely livid. The results from the entry exams came back today, and somehow, I got a low score. Not just low—abysmally low. They denied me. Said I wasn't good enough. But Lynn? He got a perfect score. A perfect score.
I know something's wrong. There is no way I failed. I know my deck, I know my strategies. I saw the way the proctors looked at my plays—they were impressed! So why did my score say otherwise? Why was Lynn, of all people, accepted without a hitch?
Lincoln frowned, his mind racing as Lucy continued.
So, I started digging. Talking to people. Asking questions. And that's when I found out the truth—Lynn paid Vector to switch our test scores.
Lucy's voice caught in her throat for a moment before she pressed forward.
Our best friend. The one who was supposed to have our backs. He took money from Lynn and changed the results behind the scenes, ensuring that Lynn got in while I was left behind. And Lynn? He just went along with it like it was nothing.
I confronted him. I demanded answers. But you know what he said? He just shrugged and said, "It's not my fault you failed."
Like I had imagined everything. Like I was just some sore loser. Like the truth didn't even matter to him.
And tomorrow, he leaves for Duel Academy. He goes off to live the life that was supposed to be ours. He gets everything, while I'm left with nothing.
But I'm not going to sit here and let this slide. I'm going to find Vector. He's the only one who knows how deep this actually goes. And I will make him answer for it.
Lincoln exhaled sharply, pressing his fingers against his forehead.
His father had betrayed his own twin sister. Had stolen her future. Had let her be erased.
Lucy stared at the page, her voice quieter now. "She was supposed to get in," She whispered. "She should have been there, not him."
Lincoln nodded slowly, his mind spinning as Lucy's words hung in the air. The betrayal, the stolen future, the confrontation that was supposed to happen—it all felt like it was leading to something bigger.
But the question gnawed at him.
What happened next?
Lincoln inhaled sharply. "Keep reading," he said quickly. "There has to be more."
Lucy frowned and flipped through the remaining pages. Her fingers skimmed across blank paper.
Nothing.
She flipped faster, her movements growing more frantic, but the ink stopped at that last furious entry.
She swallowed hard. "That… was the last entry."
Lincoln's stomach dropped.
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.
Lyra had planned to confront Vector. She had been determined to get answers. But there was no follow-up. No resolution. Just… nothing.
Lincoln exhaled shakily, pressing his thumb against the worn edge of the diary. "She never finished it."
Lucy nodded slowly. "Either she never got the chance… or she didn't want to."
Astral's glow flickered beside Lincoln, his voice quiet, yet weighted with meaning. "Truth abandoned. Or truth taken."
Lincoln's grip tightened around Miraidon's Poké Ball. His father had erased Lyra's existence, buried everything.
And now Lincoln had only half of her story.
But if this diary was where her words ended, then he had only one choice. He was going to have to uncover the truth himself.
Lucy stared at the diary in her hands, her fingers tightening around the worn edges as the quiet stretched between them.
Lyra's story was unfinished.
But maybe someone still knew the rest.
"I think you should talk to Mom," Lucy said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Lincoln lifted his gaze, his expression unreadable. "Mom?"
Lucy nodded. "Last night, I overheard her and Dad talking about Lyra. They were arguing… about whether they should tell you. Mom wanted to, but Dad refused."
Lincoln swallowed hard. That was twice now—twice he had heard that his father had actively chosen to keep Lyra buried in the past. But Mom had wanted to tell him? That meant she knew something. Something that might finally give him the answers he needed.
Lincoln exhaled, nodding firmly. "Okay. Let's talk to her." He turned toward the door, ready to step out and confront the truth head-on—only to pause at the threshold. Slowly, he turned back to Lucy, his gaze sharp but curious. "…Why were you in the hallway last night?"
Lucy stiffened for half a second before adjusting her grip on the diary. "I was… looking for something," She admitted quietly.
Lincoln tilted his head. "Looking for what?"
Lucy hesitated.
Then, without a word, she reached into her bag and carefully pulled out something soft, worn, and unmistakably familiar.
Bun-Bun.
Lincoln's breath hitched.
His childhood stuffed bunny—something he had thought was long gone, sold off along with everything else his parents had deemed unnecessary—was sitting in Lucy's hands, safe and intact.
"You—?" Lincoln's voice caught, his fingers twitching slightly as he stared at the plush.
Lucy nodded, her grip gentle but firm. "I couldn't let Dad get rid of it," She whispered. "I didn't know if keeping it would make things right between us, but… I couldn't let it be erased like everything else."
Lincoln exhaled sharply, emotions swirling inside him.
Lucy had risked getting in trouble—risked sneaking into the storage boxes of his discarded belongings—just to save this. Just to save something of his past. Something that still mattered.
Slowly, she held Bun-Bun out to him. "It's yours," She murmured.
Lincoln swallowed hard before reaching forward, his fingers brushing against the worn fabric. The familiar texture—the years of quiet comfort the bunny had given him—settled over him like a wave.
He wasn't sure what to say. But for the first time in a while, he didn't feel like he had lost everything.
Without another word, Lincoln stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Lucy.
Lucy stiffened at first, surprised, but then slowly relaxed into the embrace. She held onto him tightly, as if she had been waiting for this moment—waiting to be forgiven.
Lincoln exhaled, closing his eyes. "Thank you," He whispered.
As he spoke, the faint shadowy dark mist that had been lingering within Lucy began to seep from her body. It curled through the air, silent and unnoticed, twisting briefly before evaporating entirely, vanishing without a trace.
Neither of them noticed.
The room remained unchanged, the embrace unbroken, the moment untouched by any realization of what had just happened.
Finally, Lucy pulled away, looking at Lincoln with wide, relieved eyes. "Anytime time," she murmured.
Lincoln gave her a small, reassuring smile before turning to Pikachu, who had been watching the exchange with quiet curiosity.
He looked down at Bun-Bun, then back at Pikachu.
"Stay in here until I get back," Lincoln said firmly, extending the stuffed bunny toward him. "Keep him company for me."
Pikachu blinked, staring at Bun-Bun for a long moment before cautiously taking it. "Uh… sure?" He muttered, cradling the worn plush in his paws.
Lincoln nodded before turning toward the door.
It was time to find Mom. And it was time for answers.
Lucy followed him out, closing the door softly behind them.
Silence settled over the room.
Pikachu sat there for a few seconds, his ears twitching as he stared down at Bun-Bun.
Finally, he sighed, flipping the bunny over in his paws and narrowing his eyes slightly. "So, you've been with him for a long time, huh?" He muttered. "Tell me… just how much has he been through?"
The stuffed bunny, of course, didn't respond.
Pikachu exhaled, shaking his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Rita sat at her desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard, eyes narrowing at the blank document staring back at her.
The cursor blinked. Mocking her.
Her latest novel idea deadline loomed, but inspiration refused to come. Every idea she started to type felt stale, predictable—like she was recycling concepts instead of creating something new.
She sighed, rubbing her temples. Maybe she needed a break. Maybe she needed coffee. Maybe—
KNOCK KNOCK!
Rita flinched at the sudden sound echoing against her bedroom door. She glanced at the clock. Midafternoon. No one usually bothered her during writing hours unless it was important. She hesitated for a second, then straightened in her chair. "Come in," She called out.
The door creaked open. And standing there—was Lincoln.
Rita sat up slightly in her chair as Lincoln stood hesitantly in the doorway.
"Hey, Mom. Can I come in?" He asked, his voice quiet but steady.
Rita blinked, noting the seriousness in his tone. She gestured toward the chair near her desk. "Of course," she said gently. "What's on your mind?"
Lincoln stepped inside, closing the door behind him before glancing around the room.
"Is Dad in here?"
Rita's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "No. He's downstairs. Why?"
Lincoln hesitated, his breath was slow, measured, but Rita could sense the weight behind it—the way his mind was turning, the way he was preparing for something bigger than just casual conversation.
Before Lincoln could continue, Rita gave him a soft smile. "Are you ready for your trip?"
Lincoln blinked at the unexpected question. He hadn't thought much about preparations—only about leaving, about finally being free from the home that had never truly felt like his.
"I… think so," he murmured. "Lisa and Arven have been helping me get everything set."
"The path forward is set, but the past remains unresolved," Astral murmured to Lincoln.
Lincoln exhaled, nodding firmly. He turned toward the door, ready to step out and confront the truth head-on—only to pause at the threshold. Slowly, he turned back to Rita, his gaze sharp with determination. "What do you know about Lyra Loud?"
Rita froze.
Lincoln watched as the warmth in his mother's expression faltered—just for a moment, just enough for him to notice.
She blinked, gathering herself quickly, but Lincoln had already seen it.
Rita exhaled, shifting slightly in her chair, fingers toying with the edge of her notepad. "Lyra Loud…" She murmured, almost as if testing the name, weighing it in her mind before saying more.
"Lucy found her diary," he said plainly. "She and I read through it."
Rita's fingers tensed against the paper.
Lincoln pressed forward. "She was supposed to go to Duel Academy," he continued. "She should have been accepted, but she wasn't. Dad cheated. He stole her future. And after that, she planned to confront Vector… but there were no more entries after that."
Silence. Heavy. Suffocating.
Rita didn't move for several seconds, her expression unreadable. Then, with a quiet inhale, she finally spoke. "I wanted to tell you," She murmured. "I always did." Rita lifted her gaze to him, her voice steady, but her eyes conflicted. "But your father… he didn't want anyone to know. Not you, not your sisters. Not anyone. It's why he hates Dueling."
Lincoln swallowed, heat rising in his chest. "Why?"
Rita's lips parted—then hesitated. Then, instead of answering, she asked quietly, "How much do you really want to know?"
Lincoln met her gaze without hesitation. "Everything."
Rita exhaled, her shoulders subtly tensing.
Lincoln pressed forward, "Dad wanted to be a duelist. He wanted that life. What changed?"
Rita stared at him, searching his expression for something—uncertainty, hesitation, anything that might make her hold back. But Lincoln was steady. Unwavering. He wasn't going to let this go.
Finally, she closed her laptop, resting her hands against the desk as she leaned forward slightly. Rita stared at him for a long moment before exhaling deeply. "I think it's best if I just showed you," She said finally, her voice quiet but firm.
Lincoln blinked. "What?"
Without another word, Rita stood, grabbed her purse from the nearby shelf, and strode toward the door.
Lincoln stiffened, exchanging a glance with Astral, who hovered beside him, his golden glow pulsing faintly.
"Where are you going?" Lincoln asked, standing up.
Rita didn't stop, didn't hesitate as she pulled open the door. "Come with me," she said simply before stepping out into the hallway.
Lincoln hesitated for a second, his pulse quickening. He had expected resistance. He had expected secrecy. But this? This felt like something much bigger.
Astral floated closer, his voice threading towards Lincoln. "The truth waits. Whether you are ready or not."
Lincoln swallowed hard, then followed his mother out the door.
As Lincoln followed his mother toward the front door, Astral hovered silently beside him.
Rita reached for her purse, then called out toward the kitchen. "Lynn, I'm heading out. I need to run a quick errand."
From the kitchen, Lynn Sr.'s voice responded, distant but casual. "Alright. See you later."
Lincoln glanced toward the kitchen, half-expecting his father to question her sudden departure—but he didn't.
Nothing. No suspicion. No hesitation. Just acceptance.
Rita opened the front door and stepped outside. Lincoln followed, Astral drifting beside him unseen.
Once they had walked a bit away from the house, Rita finally slowed her pace. She exhaled, turning to Lincoln with a look that was unreadable—thoughtful, conflicted, but steady. "I wasn't sure if I should ever bring this up," She admitted. "But after everything that's happened… I think it's time you knew the truth."
Lincoln swallowed. "About Dad?"
Rita nodded. "About Lyra. About Duel Academy. About everything that happened back then."
Astral hovered slightly closer, his glow pulsing as he murmured, "The veil begins to lift."
Lincoln inhaled sharply, preparing himself.
Whatever his mother was about to say—whatever truth she had kept buried—he knew it was something that would change everything.
FLASHBACK
Lynn Loud Sr. adjusted the collar of his Slifer Red jacket as he walked alongside his roommate through the bustling halls of Duel Academy. The corridors were alive with chatter—students discussing strategies, lessons, and their latest duels.
But Lynn wasn't paying attention to any of it.
He was too busy worrying.
It had been a week since his arrival, and already, the cracks were showing. He had lost every match he had played, his brute-force tactics proving ineffective against actual strategy. And now, whispers were beginning to spread about him—the new kid who had somehow gotten into Duel Academy but couldn't back it up.
His roommate, a lanky duelist with spiky green hair, glanced at him. "You look tense, man."
Lynn forced a scoff. "I'm fine."
But his hands were clenched, his heartbeat a little too fast.
And then—
The intercom crackled to life.
"Attention, Lynn Loud. Report to the Chancellor's Office immediately."
Lynn froze mid-step.
His roommate raised an eyebrow. "Whoa. What did you do?"
Lynn's stomach twisted. "I don't know," He muttered.
His roommate eyed him carefully, then shrugged. "You want me to come with you?"
Lynn hesitated for a moment. The logical part of his mind told him to refuse—that whatever this was, he had to deal with it himself. But the weight pressing against his chest told him otherwise.
"…Yeah," Lynn finally said, exhaling. "Yeah, that'd help."
His roommate gave a small smirk. "Alright, man. Let's go."
Together, the two started toward the Chancellor's Office, Lynn's nerves tightening with every step.
Lynn Loud Sr. walked beside his roommate, his steps growing heavier as they approached the large double doors of the Chancellor's Office. His heartbeat quickened.
He didn't know why he had been called here, but the sinking feeling in his gut told him it wasn't good.
His roommate nudged him lightly. "Relax, man. Maybe it's nothing."
Lynn didn't respond. He wasn't convinced. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the doors.
Inside, the Chancellor sat behind his massive desk, hands folded, his expression unreadable. But Lynn's focus immediately shifted to the other person in the room—his father, Leonard Loud.
Lynn's stomach twisted. His dad shouldn't be here.
He stiffened, taking a slow breath before speaking. "Dad? What are you doing here? I was gonna call home weekly, remember?"
Leonard lifted his gaze slowly, his expression lined with exhaustion. His shoulders sagged under a weight Lynn couldn't quite place.
And then—his father spoke.
"It's your sister."
Lynn blinked. "What?"
Leonard didn't elaborate.
Lynn huffed, his jaw tightening. "Oh, great," He muttered bitterly. "Let me guess—you're taking her side, aren't you?" Leonard's face tensed, but Lynn pressed forward, shaking his head. "What, so I pass my exam like everyone else here and suddenly I'm the bad guy? Why can't she just understand that she failed?"
Leonard swallowed hard, his grip tightening at his sides. "Lynn…" He started, his voice heavy.
But before he could say anything else, the Chancellor shifted his attention to Lynn's roommate.
"Mr. Kael," he said firmly. "Could you step outside with me for a moment?
Lynn's roommate, now known as Kael, hesitated, glancing at Lynn, but the Chancellor's sharp gaze left no room for argument.
"…Yeah, sure," He muttered, stepping toward the door.
With a quiet click, it shut behind him.
Kael shifted uneasily, arms crossed as he leaned slightly toward the door's window's.
He couldn't hear anything.
But he could see.
Through the glass, Lynn sat stiffly across from his father, his posture tense, his expression unreadable. Leonard Loud, however—he looked different.
Drained. Defeated. And then—Kael saw it.
Leonard's shoulders trembled ever so slightly, his head bowing lower as he spoke.
Tears.
Lynn's father was tearing up.
Kael glanced up at the Chancellor, who stood beside him, equally silent. The older man's face remained neutral, but his eyes were sharp—focused entirely on the scene unfolding beyond the glass.
Inside the office, Leonard continued speaking, his words too quiet to reach them.
Lynn stiffened.
Then—his eyes widened.
Even from outside, Kael saw the shift in his roommate—the way his chest rose in a sharp, strained inhale.
The way his hands gripped his knees.
The way, after a single agonizing moment, his breath hitched— and he broke.
Lynn gasped, his body curling forward as he collapsed out of his chair, hitting the ground with a force that made Kael instinctively step toward the door.
The boy clutched his face, his hands trembling as his entire frame shook with uncontrollable sobs.
Kael had never seen him like this. Never seen him cry. Never seen this kind of raw, unrestrained devastation.
Inside, Leonard moved instantly, kneeling down, placing both hands gently on his son's shoulders.
Kael swallowed hard. His fingers twitched slightly by his side. "…Should we go in?" He murmured to the Chancellor.
The man exhaled through his nose, watching the scene carefully. "No," He said quietly. "Not yet."
Kael hesitated, glancing back through the glass, watching as Leonard pulled Lynn close, whispering something neither of them would ever hear.
Lynn only cried harder. And then—
Through the thick walls of the office, muffled but undeniably clear, they heard Lynn Loud scream.
"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"
The anguished cry reverberated through the hallway, sharp and broken, filled with a guilt neither Kael nor the Chancellor fully understood.
Kael's breath caught in his throat.
The Chancellor's expression finally shifted—just barely—but enough to show that even he hadn't expected the sheer rawness of Lynn's pain.
Kael swallowed hard, staring through the glass, watching as Lynn clung to his father—shaking, sobbing, broken.
And for the first time since arriving at Duel Academy—Kael realized his roommate wasn't worried about some class or Duel.
This was something deeper. Something irreversible. Something that had shattered him completely.
END FLASHBACK
Present Day…
The wind whispered through the trees of the Royal Woods Cemetery, rustling the leaves in a solemn rhythm as Lincoln Loud stood in front of the gravestone.
LYRA LOUD
BELOVED DAUGHTER, SISTER, AND FRIEND
GONE TOO SOON
Lincoln swallowed hard, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. Beside him, Astral stood silent, his usual ethereal glow dimmed in the overcast light. Rita Loud, his mother, stood between them, her gaze fixed on the name carved into the stone.
For a long moment, none of them spoke.
Then, Lincoln inhaled sharply, his voice barely above a whisper. "…How did she die?"
Rita closed her eyes for a brief second, as if steadying herself. Then, she exhaled, her voice quiet but unwavering.
"Murdered."
Lincoln's breath hitched.
Rita's gaze remained locked on the gravestone, her expression lined with grief.
"By Vector."
Lincoln felt his pulse hammer in his ears. His stomach twisted violently, his mind racing to process the weight of those words.
Vector. The same man who had orchestrated everything—the stolen exam scores, the manipulation, the lies. The same man who had ruined Lyra's future. Had taken her life, too.
"…Why?" Lincoln asked, his voice hoarse. "Why did Vector kill her?"
Rita's expression darkened, her lips pressing together. "Nobody knows," She admitted quietly. "All we know is that Vector was never caught. It was like he vanished without a trace."
A chill ran down Lincoln's spine. Vector had destroyed Lyra's life. Had stolen her future. Had taken everything from her.
And then—he had disappeared. Like a ghost. Like a shadow that had never truly existed.
Lincoln's breath was shaky, his mind racing.
She shook her head, her hands trembling slightly. "Your father never forgave himself."
Lincoln swallowed hard, his breath uneven.
Rita continued, her voice heavy with sorrow. "He blamed himself for everything, Lincoln. If the exam scores had never been changed, Lyra would have been safe. She wouldn't have been…" Her voice faltered, cracking under the weight of the truth.
Lincoln clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.
And then—it hit him. He finally understood.
Why his father had always despised Duel Monsters. Why he had never let Lincoln or his sisters fully embrace the game. Why he had shut down any conversation about his past at Duel Academy.
It wasn't just hatred. It was regret.
Because it had been his love for Duel Monsters—his obsession with the game—that had cost Lyra her life.
Lincoln's breath was shaky, his mind racing. His father had once dreamed of being a Duelist. Had fought for a place in Duel Academy. Had taken Lyra's future for himself. And in the end—it had killed her.
Astral's glow flickered beside him, his voice threading through Lincoln. "The past cannot be undone. But the truth must be faced."
Lincoln stared at Lyra's name, his chest tightening.
Rita turned to him, her expression softening, but her voice firm. "Lincoln," She murmured, "your father doesn't want you to suffer like he did."
Lincoln's breath hitched slightly, but he didn't look away from the gravestone.
"He's afraid," Rita continued. "Afraid that if you keep chasing this dream, you'll end up just like him—broken, full of regret, carrying a weight you can never put down." She hesitated, then placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know how much dueling means to you," She said softly. "But maybe… maybe it's time to let it go."
Lincoln's fingers twitched at his sides.
Let it go? Drop everything? Forget the one thing that had kept him moving forward?
He exhaled slowly, then turned to his mother, his gaze sharp, unwavering.
"I can't."
Rita blinked, taken aback by the certainty in his voice.
Lincoln swallowed hard, his chest tightening. "Because Dueling is my Destiny… and it's probably the only way I have to find Pop-Pop."
Rita's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened. "…What?"
Lincoln's expression remained firm, but his voice was quieter now, tinged with something deeper—conviction. "Mom, I know this is gonna be hard to believe, but I just found out something important" He said, his voice steady. "Pop-Pop is still alive."
Rita's lips parted slightly, shock flashing across her face.
Lincoln reached beneath his shirt, fingers wrapping around something cool and solid. And then—he pulled it out.
The Emperor's Key.
Rita's breath hitched as she stared at it. Not shattered. Not broken into pieces like it had been a few hours ago. It was as if it had never been damaged at all.
For a few seconds, silence hung between them, thick and heavy. Rita's gaze flickered between Lincoln and the restored key, her mind racing. Then, finally—she exhaled. And with a quiet, measured voice, she said only three words.
"From the beginning."
Author's Note:
After so much time and effort of how I wanted this to go, I had to change Lincoln's last day in Royal Woods to be either the next chapter or the one after. Anyways…
1. Anyway, now you all know why Lynn Sr's hated towards Duel Monsters. Wonder how this key point will play into the story.
2. Also, Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is still going. I just need to work out the main issue; How to turn the original Anime Duel into one with TCG effects and ruling.
3. Lyra is an OC of mine, in case anybody is wondering. May she forever rest in peace.
4. The Karmic Misfortune Curse does not take effect until the Midnight after it is inflicted.
Replies to Comments:
alwynonlinerreading: Sorry, but like I mentioned in Chapter 3, this curse is not fatal (but it will make you wish it was)
Guest: No, the Mother of the Loud Family was not included in the cacophony of angry voices.
ABC: Like I said, this story takes inspiration from SilverNugget's "Pokemon Loud Version: Kanto"
Rocky: I agree with you. They can't blame Lucy when the curse starts. She did warn them.
thunderdragon453: We will see.
Pete: Thank you for pointing that out.
MarimenCarmen2: Thank you.
(Previous comment deleted.)
gfr091702 on Chapter 1 Tue 13 Aug 2024 01:57AM UTC
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TheChaosTheorist on Chapter 2 Wed 05 Jun 2024 05:51AM UTC
Last Edited Wed 05 Jun 2024 05:55AM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 2 Wed 05 Jun 2024 05:56AM UTC
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TheChaosTheorist on Chapter 2 Wed 05 Jun 2024 05:59AM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 2 Wed 26 Jun 2024 11:57PM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 2 Thu 05 Sep 2024 06:12PM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 2 Thu 05 Sep 2024 06:23PM UTC
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MarimenCarmen2 on Chapter 3 Mon 21 Oct 2024 11:42PM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 3 Wed 20 Nov 2024 09:49AM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 3 Sat 08 Feb 2025 06:24AM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 3 Sat 08 Feb 2025 06:25AM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 3 Sat 08 Feb 2025 06:42AM UTC
Last Edited Sat 08 Feb 2025 07:09AM UTC
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Juubi_mage0327 on Chapter 4 Thu 12 Jun 2025 01:16PM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 09:46PM UTC
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Juubi_mage0327 on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 10:04PM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 10:05PM UTC
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Juubi_mage0327 on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 10:18PM UTC
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gfr091702 on Chapter 4 Fri 13 Jun 2025 10:27PM UTC
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(4 more comments in this thread)
Deathmaul18 on Chapter 4 Sun 15 Jun 2025 05:47AM UTC
Last Edited Mon 23 Jun 2025 06:28AM UTC
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Deathmaul18 on Chapter 4 Tue 21 Oct 2025 06:59AM UTC
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