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(Age 7)
Barry was seven years old when someone new moved into Twinleaf town. He’d only known the house diagonally across his own as empty, so he was naturally curious when he saw foreign, vaguely human-shaped Pokemon unloading boxes from a truck, straight into the house.
When a woman who looked around his mom’s age and a boy who looked around his own stepped into the house, Barry found himself running up to the door and knocking on impulse. He bounced in place after knocking, though he didn’t have to wait long. The mother opened the door and smiled upon seeing him. “Oh, hello,” she greeted. “Who might you be? A new neighbor?”
Barry waved. “I’m Barry! I live over there!” He pointed to his house across the way. “Are you moving in? Can I go inside?”
Whoever’s mom this was was super cool. She let him explore all over the house at his own discretion, even giving him a snack when he asked. He watched with wide eyes as the Pokemon helpers quickly moved around him—there was already a couch and a fridge and everything!
He tried to go upstairs too, but before he could, the mom interrupted him.
“My son is upstairs,” she said, smiling. “Do you want to meet him? You two could be friends.”
Barry nodded a few times, shifting from foot to foot. He sure hoped they could be friends—he didn’t have any right now, other than his family. Other kids said he was annoying.
“Good,” she said. Her face shifted somehow, but Barry stopped paying attention. “Just, try not to surprise him, okay? He’s quiet, and startles easily.”
Barry stared up the stairs, wondering if it would be rude to go while she was still talking.
She must have realized Barry wasn’t listening. She laughed and said, “Oh, I’m worrying too much. Go on, then, I won’t keep you.”
.
“Hi. I’m Barry!” Barry said to the boy upstairs. He was sitting in a bean bag chair, playing on a Gameboy in the otherwise empty room. He looked a lot like his mom.
The boy either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. He continued playing his game—the music coming from it sounded familiar, but Barry couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He sat next to him on the floor. “Is that a Gameboy? I have one too! What are you playing?” He tried to crane his neck to get a closer look, and ended up getting right in the boy’s personal space.
A game over sound played from the Gameboy, and Barry saw the game right as it ended—Tetris. The score he’d gotten was high; higher than anything Barry had ever achieved, at least.
The boy made a frustrated noise and frowned, finally looking at Barry. Actually, Barry realized, his gaze focused more at his temple, or the wall next to him.
“Tetris, huh? I have Tetris too!” Barry said—then realized the boy was still frowning, causing his brain to catch up to his mouth. “Oh, shoot, I made you lose! I’m sorry!”
His frown slowly faded. Barry felt happy with himself. He was getting a lot better at knowing when to say sorry, thanks to his mom teaching him. “So do you like a lot of other games?”
The boy nodded.
“Me too. I also like Pokemon! Do you like Pokemon?”
The boy nodded again, this time more forcefully. Barry grinned. “Hey, me too! There’s this really cool lake near here where you can see tons of pokemon swimming ‘cause the water’s so clear—hey! Do you wanna be friends?”
The boy blinked a few times, then started rocking himself back and forth where he sat. Barry couldn’t really tell what the reaction meant until he eventually nodded once.
“Awesome,” Barry said. “Then we’re friends!” He couldn’t wait to get home and tell his mom and dad he’d finally made a friend. Before he could do that though, there was one more obvious question to ask.
“But, what’s your name?”
The boy paused in his rocking. A puzzled expression appeared on his face—or, no, a thoughtful one. Barry had assumed the kid was just shy, but after a solid thirty seconds (that was, unbeknownst to Barry, actually about ten seconds), he started to worry he couldn’t talk at all. He’d thought only deaf people didn’t talk. Maybe his vocal cords didn’t work or… something.
Barry had just opened his mouth to ask when the boy held out his right hand not far from his face. He made a few different symbols, seeming to know what he was doing.
He looked at Barry (the bridge of Barry’s nose) like he expected him to understand, or at least hoped for him to.
Well, the first hand shape sort of looked like an L, but Barry became lost after that. He had no idea what was going on. “What?”
The boy did the hand shapes again, this time very slowly, as though trying to explain something obvious to a toddler. It didn’t really help.
.
Barry soon learned the alien hand language was actually sign language, as well as the boy’s name, which was Lucas. And no, his vocal cords weren’t broken, he just didn’t like talking much.
He learned a lot of other stuff about Lucas too. Like how he was sensitive to loud sounds, so Barry had to try and keep his voice down—at least, until those increasingly less rare moments where Lucas got rowdy and hyper too.
Lucas got overwhelmed easily, plus Barry had never heard him talk out loud, although he apparently sometimes talked around his mom. But none of that really mattered to Barry.
What did matter was that they both loved Pokemon.
Every day they were out by the lake watching Pokemon, watching battles on TV, or begging their parents for trading cards. It wasn’t long at all until they were practically inseparable. Barry slowly learned sign language so they could communicate easier, but half the time they didn’t even use it. They were best friends.
.
(Age 10)
The day Professor Rowan returned to the Sinnoh region was, at the time, the most exciting, yet scary day in Lucas’s life. He got his first Pokemon, the Pokedex, met Dawn, and said goodbye to his mom. It was a lot.
He’d thought he was ready, yet taking those first steps on his journey was hard. Thankfully, Barry was just as brazen as ever. He didn’t seem scared at all. Just excited. Lucas tried to be more like that.
.
On his adventure, Lucas went through much more than a ten year old should. So did Barry, and so did Dawn.
He had, essentially, saved the world. He never could wrap his head around that.
He’d thwarted Cyrus, a man who couldn’t stand the world as it was, saw all the flaws that went down to its core, all the flaws in humans themselves—and tried to wholly recreate it. Regardless, Lucas couldn’t bring himself to hate him. Of course, that didn’t mean he could just let the man destroy the world he loved.
There were a lot of parts of Cyrus’s thinking process Lucas could understand, but what Cyrus couldn’t see was that the world wasn’t irredeemably messed up. Not at all. He hoped if Cyrus ever decided to leave the distortion world and re-integrate with society, he could see him. Maybe they could be friends, if he ever got better.
Oh, Lucas also became champion. According to some people, he was a prodigy. It was weird to think about, and it didn’t feel true. He tried not to think about his almost-celebrity status. On the plus side, being champion took up far less time than one would think, as new challengers were rare. Even when a challenger made it through, most of them were unprepared for a team of six after going through the elite four.
Lucas turned his focus to filling his Pokedex and studying Pokemon, as that was what he’d always had the most fun with, anyway.
Barry, however, was the opposite—he loved battling more than anything, and was training harder than ever. In fact, they still battled almost every other day.
Barry never seemed to lose his enthusiasm, his drive to become champion. He tried not to, but at times Lucas couldn’t help feeling guilty that he was all that stood in the way of Barry’s dream.
.
(Age 13)
One day, Lucas told Barry he had something ‘big’ to show him. Whether it was big or small, Barry would be excited to see anything Lucas had to show him, so there was no question of if he’d go.
Not to mention his recent bouts of something like frustration when Lucas hung out with Dawn without telling him. He tried to stuff that down because it was dumb and he didn’t understand it, but it made him even more eager to hang out with Lucas one-on-one than he used to be.
Lucas flew them to an extremely remote location in the snowy mountains. Other than the biting cold, Barry couldn’t find anything of note. Just snow blanketing everything, with small bits of mountain rock peeking through every once in a while.
“Sooo, what is it?” He asked.
Lucas looked off into space, still sitting on his Staraptor. Barry noticed a touch of red on his nose and cheeks, and thought he should probably cover the bottom of his face with his scarf. When he caught himself staring, he tore his attention away. He was being weird lately. He really needed to stop that.
Boy, the snow sure was… interesting.
Barry started tapping his foot impatiently, though he knew not to rush his friend. He walked in small circles to ward off the cold, as well as his boredom.
His (im)patience paid off, and Lucas soon looked to him, signing, Please don’t freak out.
Barry’s eyebrows flew up. Now he was really curious. “Um, okay! I won’t. Promise!” He held out his pinky, but Lucas waved dismissively, hopping off Staraptor and returning it to its pokeball. This struck Barry as odd. Lucas usually took any excuse to have his Pokemon out of their balls, as long as they weren’t hurt or in a building that didn’t allow free-roaming Pokemon.
Lucas then dug through his backpack for what felt like minutes; the ultra ball he pulled out must’ve been shoved to the very bottom. The way he held the thing, if Barry didn’t know any better he’d have thought it was made of porcelain. It didn’t quite match up with how carelessly shoved to the bottom of his backpack it was. Something was off.
“Uh, so…” Barry scratched his head. “What’s in it?”
Lucas looked down at the ultra ball, then to Barry. He took a deep breath, and pressed down on the button without another word.
The usual red light of a Pokemon being released appeared, and… and then…
What Barry saw next was hard to describe in words. Well, first he saw nothing, just a blinding, all-encompassing white light. He reflexively squeezed his eyes shut—and when he opened them, he saw a Pokemon.
An elegant Pokemon, with piercing eyes along with golden arches around its middle. Barry had seen this Pokemon countless times in books, movies, TV, you name it. He recognized it instantly. It was Arceus.
Barry thought he might have gasped, though he couldn’t be sure. One moment he stood, and the next he stumbled backward—then stared up at the cloudless sky from the cold, snowy ground. He winced when he hit the ground, but forced himself not to make a sound out of some irrational fear.
The next thing he saw was Lucas’s face hovering over him, pulling him to sit up by the arm.
I said don’t freak out, he signed. Barry ignored him, entirely caught up with something else.
He stared at Arceus. Arceus stared back.
Its aura was overwhelming, but the Pokemon (could something like Arceus really be called a Pokemon?) itself just stared impassively, as though waiting for a command or something. It didn’t comfort him at all—Barry knew it was under no obligation to obey orders. Everyone knew what Arceus was. It could do anything. And Barry could do nothing about it.
He whipped around to Lucas, not even wanting to look at it. “D-did you—did you catch this thing?” Barry cringed as soon as the words left his mouth—he prayed the Pokemon wouldn’t smite him or something for calling it a thing. Actually, he prayed that he was dreaming and this was some weird pseudo-nightmare.
Lucas’s expression told him all he needed to know.
The ridiculousness of the situation hit him. And—”In an ultra ball? Lucas—y-you have a master ball!”
Lucas shrugged, looking sheepish.
If Lucas refused to use his master ball on Arceus, the creator of the freaking universe (oh, it really was the creator of the universe a few feet away from him), Barry knew he’d never use the thing. Might as well have smashed it. It was a little funny, but Barry would have time to laugh later.
He stumbled over his words trying to ask a single coherent question. “That’s—! How—how did you catch it? Does it listen to you? Can it uh—can it battle? Wait—where did you find it?”
Lucas produced a blue flute from his backpack and presented it to Barry, like that answered anything. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Lucas smiled crookedly. He pushed the flute in his pocket, shrugging. He wasn’t going to explain further. Great.
Whether or not he wanted to answer, Barry had more questions to ask. The only problem was that he could hardly stand another second near Arceus. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he up and bolted. Not with his nerves.
“C-can you… please put it back? Please?” He felt embarrassed to beg, but the thing wouldn’t stop staring at him—it was seriously freaking him out.
Lucas nodded, probably taking pity on him, and clicked on the ultra ball again. Barry half-expected for it not to work, but it went back in like any other Pokemon. No smiting occurred; Lucas closed the ultra ball.
Barry knew him well enough to tell he was relieved for it to be away, too. No matter how much he loved Pokemon, nobody could stare down Arceus and not be at least a little afraid.
A quiet settled in with Arceus gone. Barry watched the snow fall where the Pokemon had stood. He was, for once, speechless. What should he even say? Where to start?
While he sat in the snow, Lucas settled down in front of him, crowding his view. His brows were drawn, and he frowned slightly. What do I do? He signed.
Barry floundered. “I… I don’t know!” He hated not knowing what to say. “I don’t have any clue! What do you even want to do?”
Lucas rubbed both hands over his face harshly. He stared hard at the ground, eyebrows still scrunched. His hands wrung together—then briefly pulled apart as he signed I don’t know.
Barry sighed. He didn’t like seeing Lucas upset. “Why did you catch it?” Was it because he’d failed to catch Giratina all that time ago? He’d never seemed torn up over it before, but maybe Barry wasn’t looking close enough.
Lucas signed a quick response this time. I had to. He paused. It’s mythical. I had to.
Barry shook his head. “You really didn’t have to, you know. Nobody’s forcing you.”
Lucas met his eyes; he looked lost. Barry’s heart squeezed. The overwhelming need to do something suddenly overcame him.
Barry liked to think he gave pretty good hugs (regardless of whether his mom said he hugged too tight), and it was all he could think to do in the moment. At first Lucas sat still, though only a moment later he hugged back just as tight as Barry.
“If I were you,” Barry said, eyes on the snow, “I’d release it. I know why you caught it, but I don’t think it’s right for you to keep. I mean, I know you’re a prodigy and all, but you’re still only thirteen.”
Lucas didn’t respond directly, just burrowed further into the hug.
Somehow, Barry had a feeling he’d gotten through to him.
.
(Age 14)
One day, Lucas received a letter from none other than Professor Oak. The Professor wrote that he wanted to meet him on Route 224. He apparently had a mystery he needed Lucas’s help solving.
What Lucas found upon arriving was, well, a rock. But a special rock, of course. The Professor told him he was exactly the person he needed: a Pokemon trainer who’d gone on a long, harrowing journey and grown along the way.
Lucas wasn’t sure how to handle the idea that he was the perfect fitter of this description, but if it was to catch a mythical Pokemon, he’d do just about anything. So when he was asked to carve into the stone the name of what he was most grateful for over his journey, Lucas decided to be honest.
A few people and Pokemon popped into his mind at the prompt, though he figured it would be best to put down the very first person he thought of.
When the Professor looked over what he’d answered, he said, “Well, this Barry must be very lucky to have you as a friend.”
Lucas just shrugged, smiling.
About an hour later, he had a Shaymin in his party. It was a sweet, gentle Pokemon. Lucas studied it, befriended it, showed it off, and helped it change forms. Eventually, he released it. It was only right.
.
Barry was fourteen when he realized it.
His mom, well-meaning, asked him if there were any girls he liked.
Barry, not thinking on it too much, had told her no; because there weren’t. He never really thought about those things.
Lucas was there too. He was eating over at Barry’s house, which he did more often when they were younger, yet only did on occasion now. He signed, Are there any boys?
Barry spat out his food. “Lucas!” He exclaimed, red in the face.
“What did he say?” His mom amusedly asked. Barry ignored her.
What? Lucas signed, the perfect picture of innocence.
“That’s—ugh! No! There’s nobody!” Barry frantically shook his head, making an X with his fingers.
Lucas raised his hands up. Okay, okay, his expression said. He was smiling. It was slight, but he was definitely smiling. For some reason, the thought of Lucas not believing him sent him into a panic.
Barry stood out of his chair, palms flat on the kitchen table. His fork clattered against his plate. “Why are you smiling?”
Lucas crossed his arms. He turned his gaze to the wall, schooling his expression into something neutral.
Barry waited, but Lucas refused to sign further. “Whatever,” he grumbled, sinking back into his seat as quickly as he’d risen. “I really dunno what you mean by that. I mean, that’s just not... who would I even…”
Who would he even like like that?
They spent the rest of dinner in mostly quiet, and Barry’s mind raced.
.
(Age 15)
One Spring day, Barry decided to give Lucas a bouquet of Gracidea flowers. He’d played with Shaymin some when Lucas had it a year ago, and Lucas had told him quite a bit about the Pokemon—and, incidentally, Gracidea flowers. It seemed, to Barry at least, to be the perfect thing to go along with his (not so) recent realization. He’d even cleared the idea with Dawn (who had approved of it) he was so nervous.
“Here,” Barry said, bouncing on his heels. He realized belatedly that the moment he chose to give them may have been a weird one, right after a Pokemon battle (where he’d lost, but he swore the matches were getting closer and closer).
It was too late to turn back, though. Lucas blinked at the flowers owlishly. Did he not realize he was supposed to take them? Barry shook them a little in his direction. Lucas finally accepted them tentatively, with a question in his eyes.
Barry psyched himself up, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. He’d prepared a whole script in his mind, but it was rapidly falling away.
“So, um,” his voice cracked, and he promptly cleared his throat. Off to a great start, Barry! “So, you probably already know the meaning of those flowers. Well, obviously, since you’re the one who told me in the first place, haha! I’m just, really grateful that you’ve always… stuck around! So thanks! And—” He flapped his hands around aimlessly. “I also like you a lot! A lot lot lot! Like, like-like!” He grinned uncertainly. “Do you know what I mean?”
Lucas nodded quickly, a small smile spreading across his face. It wasn’t that Barry thought Lucas would reject him, but a wave of relief nevertheless crashed over him, despite his heart still pounding a mile a minute.
Lucas walked up to him and cautiously placed his hands on Barry’s shoulders. He still held the bouquet in his right hand, so some flowers tickled Barry’s ear.
Lucas asked another question with his eyes. Barry nodded dumbly, though he wasn’t sure what to.
Lucas gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then stepped away. His face was red—Barry felt like he could explode at any moment.
“Okay! Yeah! That's—right!” Barry shouted, covering his burning face with his hands.
Lucas scratched at the back of his head, looking awkward but happy. Thank you for the flowers, he signed. He hesitated before he continued, I’m grateful for you too.
Barry wasn’t sure what the strangled sound he made next was. He fell dramatically onto the grass, if only so he didn’t have to look at Lucas anymore—He didn’t think he could handle that well at the moment. “Lucas, you’re seriously killing me! I’m dying!” He wailed, one hand clutching his chest. He was only half-joking.
He heard Lucas laugh brightly, and his stomach twisted over itself.
.
Later, Barry asked if they were still best friends. He wasn’t entirely sure how this stuff worked, okay?
Lucas looked at him like he was ridiculous. Of course we are, he signed. We’ve always been best friends. I don’t think that’ll ever change.
Barry couldn’t help his big, stupid smile.