Many years ago, the Blue Quarter was known as one of the most famous ports in the western part of the world. During the Industrial Revolution, it was not out of the ordinary to see the port going full blast all night and well into the next day. During the war for Pokémon Liberation, it was a well-known port for not only sending out supplies to the front lines. It was often the place where soldiers returned home to waiting for families as well as going off to fight. Over time, though, the splendor began to fade as the ports in the southern region became more familiar. Nowadays, the Quarter was lucky to get a passenger ship or two every other month. By then, the war for Pokémon independence had been settled, and any income from the port dried up with it. The village that became a city around the quarter fell into decay; not for lack of trying to maintain its upkeep, but a sense of pride was taken away from her people when their lively hood was no longer worth to be part of the future. Few decided to move on, their pride in their home keeping them rooted to the port, hoping that perhaps one day things would return to normal. Unfortunately, the Blue Quarter became a part of Indigo City that it would rather forget. In this day and age, the cobbled streets lay exposed thanks to the lack of repair to the roads; many people prefer to protect themselves rather than rely on law enforcement. Children all too often have to ride or die with a crew rather than look for any future. Domestic arguments were their alarm clocks, and sirens were their lullabies.
The morning sun shone like it did not wish to do so, with the light it gave off weak in the early summer weather. The flippant weather of spring had lingered much longer than normal, allowing for a chilly morning. While it was still warm enough to go out without any thick clothing, the nip of icy wind prevented true freedom. The old port city was still quiet, as though it did not wish to be roused from its slumber. Many of the workers for the port were already there, though many of them didn't work with boats, per say. There was a farmer’s market, with many of the merchants getting up early to set up shop and their wares. For one booth, a repeat customer was there casually eating on off a plate of early morning pancakes and meatroot sausages, a meat alternative which was introduced after the war. The young man sat hunched over his food, slowly eating keeping his eyes open and watching the other merchants. His hood sat against his back, dirty blonde hair falling over most of his face, except one eye, which was colored gray with a few colored flecks. Yawning, he leaned back taking in the salty air and the natural ambiance of the area. Pushing the plate back, he smacked his lips.
"Not that I don’t mind a free plate of pancakes, but… you’re not in the habit of asking me to come out so early. Something on your mind, Granny?"
The one visible eye stared intently at the older women behind the booth, who gave a small smile in response. Years of selling her wares has given a worn look to her, as though her face used to be a stone that has been slowly chiseled down by years of saltwater. Unlike the boy, she was bundled up slightly against the weather, wearing a light jacket, thick jeans as well as two pairs of socks. Her dark graying hair swayed as she shook her head at what her customer had to say, her eyes stern while her voice was jovial.
“Now, you don’t need to be like that. Can’t an old lady be nice to one of her best customers?”
“Nine times out of ten, you would be right, just… I don’t know what it is, just… something feels off about you today, is all,”
“I guess I’m not as good as hiding things as I used to be,” Granny sighs. “It’s that grandson of mine. He’s fixing to do something mighty stupid, and nothing I can say to him will change his mind!”
Lucas gave a look of concern; her grandson had been a good friend to him for many years; possibly a better friend then someone like him even deserved. He had noticed that Nathan had been emotionally distant lately; however, he almost always had a lot on his plate, so Lucas never considered it. If it was enough to get Granny concerned, then it is likely serious.
“Any idea what he could be up to? I mean, I know he can’t be rolling around with the guys in the Upper Quarter. He has too much sense for that.”
“If anything, it would be easier if he was; then I could get Nicholas to drag his black ass back home where it belongs. No, of course that rock head has it in his mind to run away with his brothers after that big social gathering in Indigo proper.”
“That isn’t good, I mean, where is he going to go?” asked Lucas while spinning a stray bit of sausage on his plate.
“Wish I knew. I know this is a bit much to ask, but he listens to you, Lucas. Maybe you can talk some sense into him. He may not realize it, but he is a lot like that mess of a girl of mine. Won’t learn until they have to buy their lesson.”
“If I run into him today, I’ll see what I can find out. I don’t know if I can get to him if you can’t, Granny, but I’ll give it my best shot,”
“That is all I can ask of you. Now, how have you been doing? I haven’t seen you in a few days, and Nicholas doesn’t know what you’ve been up to either,”
Lucas swivels in his chair to face the empty port. “I’ve been having this odd dream lately.” Looking down at one hand, Lucas flexes it a little. “I’m on a beach, completely untouched nobody is around at all. On my left is the ocean, so still it could pass for a sheet of glass.”
Granny grunts as she listens, spreading batter and setting out sausage to fry on the sheet griddle she cooks on. “Sounds pretty serene to me. Would be a great place for tired bones to retire, too.”
Turning back, Lucas gives a small weak smile before returning his gaze to the fleet of derelict boats floating on the pier. “You would think that. I would love to think that, but I just keep getting this feeling of restlessness. I want to walk forward toward the horizon, yet I just I feel like I’m rooted to the spot.”
“Maybe that is your head telling you ‘it’s time to leave’; you graduated in top ten percent of your class, for goodness sake. You got too much potential to be wasting away here,” said Granny.
“I can’t, I just… can’t, there are too many people here for me to just up and leave. I have a lot of people here that did a lot for me when Mom passed. I can’t just turn my back on them now,”
Granny sighs deeply, standing back, giving Lucas a hard glare. “Boy, don’t you go around killing yourself trying to payback every fool that does you a good turn. Some people just want to be friendly, some are just looking for someone they can get favors back from, and Lord knows there are too many of that type hanging around here,”
“That is why I have people like Nick and you to keep an eye out for me. Nice to have a few pairs of eyes watching my back,” replied Lucas.
“Oh, now you have jokes. Go on, get, I’m going to be having customers that will actually listen to the advice I give,” chided Granny.
The conversation did seem to lift the melancholy mood both participants had. Laying a few bills in the tip jar, Lucas gave Granny a kiss on the cheek as he passed her by.
“I’ll talk to Nathan if I see him. By the way, when is that social thing you talked about going to happen?”
“I think it is going to be sometime tonight or tomorrow. I know he isn’t telling me on purpose so I don’t get in his way. Do your best, but don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
“No promises,” Lucas called over his shoulder.
The morning could either pass as a swarm of activity, or just a large waste of time. Thankfully for Lucas, it is the former, allowing him to keep his mind off the feelings of anxiety that had been bubbling within him for the past few months. He quietly wondered why it had been starting to bother him so much lately. It was never that he was unconcerned about his future, it was just the sense of wasting time, no matter what he did, was slowly taking over every moment of living. It also didn’t help that for some reason, just paying back what he owed people was beginning to irritate him. Lucas always believed in paying back any kindness he was giving, as it is only fair. Recently, he had a stabbing feeling in his chest, even if someone asked for something trivial like grabbing something off a tall shelf, or passing napkins.
Pulling himself out of his reverie, he found he is close to a corner store. Rolling his shoulders as he was feeling a little thirsty, he walked inside, the doorbell chiming as he walked in.
“Hey spud,” greeted the clerk, a rather heavy set woman hair done up in what Lucas felt was an outrageous hair style. She chewed gum with purpose, watching what sounded like a boxing match on T.V.
“Hey. You guys got any of that sparkling water left?”
Without even looking away, she pointed toward the drink isle. “Just got a bunch in, bottom tier inside the third door.”
“Thanks.”
The woman grunted, leaning back in her chair to tug her shirt down over dark skin then returning to watching her match. Pulling out two bottles from the fridge, Lucas heard something in the aisle behind him. Pausing, he listened closely, as he heard what sounded like kids talking. There is the sound of shuffling, cursing and something falling. Curiously, Lucas walked towards the back of the aisle and stood behind the shelf to see what is going on. There are two kids there, both hastily trying to pick up snack cakes that had fallen to the floor. Both are dressed in ratty looking clothing, with one of them attempting to force them into the pockets of pants far too small, while the other started putting them in the sleeves of his coat. Sighing under his breath, he walked up to the kids, clearing his throat to get their attention.
Both looked up at the same time, one sneering as she tried to keep collecting his cakes, while the other looked like a deer in headlights.
“You know you should put those back,” said Lucas.
“The fuck is you looking at? Mind your own business!” The harsh voice retorted, surprisingly feminine.
“Plear, I don’t know if this is a good idea anymore. Maybe we should just try to go to the church like mom said,” Coat boy said.
“You know they don’t give anything good. That clerk isn’t watching, and I’m hungry,” growled Tear.
Lucas already knew the clerk is more alert then many gave her credit for. Looking over their heads, he could see her eyes over the shelves, glancing in their direction. If they tried to walk out with their gains, it would not end well. He had never seen it for himself, but he heard stories that the clerk called the police on kids, and how they often went straight to Quarter Corrections. Looking at their clothes, Lucas didn’t like their odds of having someone to pick them up.
“I’ll tell you what; if you put back all those cakes, I’ll get you the bigger ones in the box,” said Lucas.
The one in the coat eyes lit up, glittering a bright green in the light. “Really? You really mean it?”
“Don’t listen to him Tear, no way he is…” Plear cut herself off as Lucas plucked two boxes off the shelf and started heading towards the counter. He didn’t look back, even when he heard several cellophane wrapped cakes being shoved into a box and sneakers hitting the floor to catch up. He was paying for his drinks as well as their cakes as he turned towards them.
“Now if I give these to you, I hope I don’t see you stealing again,”
“Whatever, we won’t. Just give us the boxes already!” Plear’s grubby hands reached up for the boxes greedily standing on her tip toes to get to them.
“We should say thank you,” said Tear weakly.
“I’m thanking him by not kicking his ass, now gimmie!” cried Plear.
Giving up he gave them the boxes and both bolted out the door. Tear returned whispered a thank you then left to rejoin his friend.
“You are way too nice to those kids. They should learn they can’t walk into a place and get what they want,” said the clerk, still watching TV.
“I don’t know, I just didn’t want to see two kids end up in a cell. Who knows how long it would take someone to dig them out, you know?” said Lucas
“Some kids don’t deserve to get dug out of there.”
Choosing not to answer, the boy took his drinks, leaving the store. Clouds rumbled as they rode across the sky, bringing with them a gust of warm air. Pulling the hood over his head, Lucas glanced toward his right to see the two kids running towards the Sticks, the poorest and the roughest area of the Quarter.
"Arceus, this place is a shit hole," he cursed while watching them until they vanished around a corner.
The Upper Quarter is a deceptive place. Thanks to its proximity to the richer parts of Indigo City, it wasn't in as much disrepair as the rest of the Quarter. Sometimes, the higher echelon of Indigo would trickle their way down to indulge in services that would be looked down on in their society. For the first time in a few weeks, Lucas paused in his daily wandering to look up at a building. The two-story structure was refurbished from one of the older buildings in the area. A rather simple sign on the side of the building depicted a Pokémon helping a human from the ground while a human carried a smaller Pokemon. From what Lucas understood, it passed itself as a community center of some kind which was open to the public. Years ago, Lucas had been privy to an interesting scene. A man that probably had more money than he deserved had been kicked out of the building. A rather burly Throh blocked his way back in. The man had been begging to see someone in there, practically emptying what could easily have been ten grand onto the ground.
When the Throh stood unmoving, the man started to look around seeing that he was attracting a small crowd. Without even thinking he had quickly picked himself up and ran, leaving behind all the bills he had thrown out. Lucas had wisely hung back when the feeding frenzy for the money started, though he had felt eyes on him. Looking up at one of the windows he found a Bayleef staring down at him curiously. The second he noticed it, the Pokemon stepped away from the window and closed the curtains. While drama like that first day, never happened again Lucas noted that it seemed to attract more customers since that first incident. Perhaps that was the reason why the place was left alone; it was making money. He never got close enough to confirm it, however, he saw people go in and come out feeling different. While never one to be superstitious, he just felt his neck hair tingle whenever he passed by the place and tried his best to avoid passing in front of the building if he could.
In the early morning, the building appeared with a rosy hue, the windows betraying nothing of what was inside. Pushing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie Lucas studied the construction for a few minutes.
"What am I doing here…I am never going to get in..."
"Now, is that the right attitude to have?"
Turning to right where the voice came from, a familiar sight greets Lucas. A Froslass hovering nearby, a small if smug smile on her face. Aishia is a Froslass that Lucas had known since childhood. While he didn’t know the ghost type on an intimate level, she was one of the few people that knew the full extent of his anxiety. While she did express concern that he should talk to someone more able then she, Aishia kept his doubts away from his father figure.
“The Union Club gives me the creeps. The more kids not on the street at night the better, just it rubs me the wrong way for some reason,” Lucas said while turning back to look at the building.
“What can I say? Maybe you're just allergic to being social,” responded Aishia
.
“You do realize how badly that can be taking it out of context, don’t you?” said Lucas.
“Probably. What I see is a place where people can have a good time and forget how crappy it is to live around here. Any place that gives the kids somewhere to go rather than running the streets is a plus in my book,” said Aishia.
Lucas couldn’t argue with that, as he himself felt the same way. His adoptive father ran an arcade out of his restaurant; however, at night when the bar opened he had to kick the kids out. The Union Club was open a good deal into the night which was perfect for parents that had to work long hours. While the boy wouldn’t dispute the good the Union Club was doing, it didn’t shake the feeling that something was off about it.
“So, tell me what brings you out here today? Haven’t seen you for the past few weeks,” asked Lucas.
“My job. We got this big promotion thing going on tonight, and I’m being worked like a trainer Pokemon to help get it ready. Mr. Hughes is usually so well organized that I just usually take calls and look pretty. Everybody has been worked to the bone by this point,” Aishia complains while making an overdramatic sigh.
“Promotion?” Lucas felt the word stuck in his memory then he remembered what he had spoken with Granny about. Maybe this was the thing Nathan was planning to use as cover to skip town?
“What, is it some kind of fancy party or something?” Aishia gives Lucas a curious look for a moment before she answers. “Company anniversary, you know, the Velocity Heights tower? it’s going to be there.”
That was certainly news to him. Velocity Heights was probably the largest media company in Indigo if not the world. It is also a prominent toy company as well that nearly every child owed some fond childhood memories to. Lucas had never asked where Aishia worked, and she never talked about it other than her usual complaints about her job. In hindsight, it probably should have been obvious she worked somewhere important, as Lucas went over her rants in his mind. It also brought up a point he is now curious about.
“Now that I’m thinking about it, you said you were around here because of your job. What are you doing exactly? Handing out tickets for that anniversary thing?”
“I wish it was that easy, Mr. Hughes invited a friend of his to come by early for something. Problem is, he never showed up at the tower. What I heard that he is somewhere in the Quarter, so my boss is having me look for him,”
“Two pairs of eyes are better than one. Can’t be too hard to find him if he is lost around here,”
“Thanks. You always were sweet on a lady,” said Aishia.
“Only fair, seeing as you did help Nicholas out when the refrigerator blew in the bar the other week. I’ve already been up from the pier and close to the Sticks and I didn’t see anything too odd. Let’s double back towards the Boardwalk and work from there.”
“No good there, I’ve already been around the Boardwalk and more than half the Upper Quarter by this point, only place I haven’t checked is the central part of town,” said Aishia.
“Guess we’ll check with Nicholas then. If there is anything going on, he’ll know about it.”
Krabby Cakes, like much of the Blue Quarter is a far cry from what it used to be. At one point, it had been a known location for celebrities passing through to sample the local beers, wines and cuisine. Signed pictures lined the walls of the establishment from titans of the entertainment world. Those days were many years ago; now, Krabby Cakes was little more than a watering hole for the locals… for better, or for worse. Currently, a pair of Machoke were hauling in the shipment that it had received. Nicholas, now approaching his golden years, was likely a powerful man in his youth. His arms are burly with muscle, though the girth around his belly showed that he had gotten used to life owning a restaurant. His balding head sports a few wisps of graying hair, though the rust red beard is a good indicator of what the top used to look like. He dresses plainly, wearing nothing but a flannel shirt with slacks.
"Alright make sure to take the frozen stuff all the way into the freezer this time. If I see even one box sitting in the bar when you leave, I will personally make it my mission to make sure you have the worst time sailing back to Sango, you hear me?"
The Machoke flinched at the threat as Nicholas knew their boss well enough to carry it out. While they got to work doing their jobs properly, Nicholas noticed Lucas and Aishia approaching from the southern road. Tossing an inventory list onto a bench that was located outside the bar, he walked up to them both.
"Well now what’s this? Aishia aren’t you supposed to be answering phone lines about now?” Turning is gaze on Lucas, he frowned a little. “What about you? I mean, It’s a little early to come back home.”
“I’m helping out, Aishia here is looking for someone and I thought it would be a good idea to help her look,” reported Lucas.
Sighing, Nicholas nodded his head, already knowing what Lucas would say. “I already paid Aishia for that,” he internally groans. Straightening himself up, he stares at them both in a level manner. “Can’t say that I’ve heard anything on the grapevine, not this early in the morning. How about you two check out the church? Heard its running its monthly health clinic today. There’s bound to be someone there who may have seen him,”
“Oh, that is today? Shoot, I said I would help Father Glenn out to set up,” Lucas panics.
“Aishia, can you do me a favor and make sure those Machoke don’t break anything in there? I just fixed the last of the chair legs and I don’t want those walking wrecking balls to get careless.”
Looking between the two of them Aishia began sensing why she was being gotten rid of. She floats into the restaurant without a word, leaving Lucas alone with his parental figure. The stone-faced gaze Lucas received was starting to make him squirm. He wasn’t sure if he had done anything wrong, and even as he tried to rally his memory to see if he forgot something, Nicholas spoke first.
"Is something going on?"
Confused, Lucas looked at the ground as if to find inspiration there. “N-no, not really, just minding my own business is all,”
"Is that why you've been seen wandering around town like a zombie and throwing yourself at even the tiniest thing people need help with? I don’t mind that you’re not getting into trouble, it’s just that this doesn’t seem healthy with how much you try to do in a day,”
"It isn’t that big of a deal, I’m just paying back what I owe to people. You taught me that, right?"
“I did, yet from what I’ve been hearing, you are boarding on self-sacrificial. You are nineteen years old! You should be looking for ways to live your own life, not renting it out to every Joe Shmoe that asks.”
Bile like anger welled in his throat forcing Lucas to bite his tongue at the remark he wanted to make. Why in the Abyss is everyone getting on his case about this?! Stuffing his hands in his hoodie Lucas stayed quiet for a moment. “I’m just handling business, I’m not hurting anyone. Look, I’ll be in for my shift after I help Aishia out, okay?”
“No, you won’t. You’ve done all the overtime I can give you for nearly three months,” replied Nicholas.
“It isn’t my fault that Sylvania keeps calling off and I’m the only one that knows how to run the hot bar,” argued Lucas.
“I’ve got a new hire that is just as good as you with an open schedule. How about you go about and be social for a change? You’re too young to be wasting your life in the arcade and in your room watching T.V.
But…!”
“I mean it, Lucas, try to make some friends that are not on the internet. Some social interaction with kids your own age will do some good. Why don’t you try visiting the church? I know they got their clinic going, with the help of that Union Club place. Maybe go out and get some experience in a social setting,”
Grinding his teeth at his frustration, Lucas growled out an affirmative answer.
“I can’t believe I have to do this. Most parents are trying to find ways to keep their kids in line. I’m trying to actually get you out of the house. If there is something bothering you, it wouldn’t be any problem if you want to talk about it,"
Looking down, Lucas tried not to meet Nicholas eyes. “I’m okay, I’m just going to head over to the church now.”
As the boy turned on his heel to head in that direction, the store owner shook his head.
“That’s what they all say.”
Long Dream Part One End.
