Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 43: Recovery...

A horizon filled with soot was all around them. The grass was painted a dark grey, the land barren of any houses or residences, and the Pokemon there being very few and far between. The only ones there were the Sandshrew that lived off of the dirt, taking what little nutrients the land had to survive, and the Skarmory that stood proudly, in the leafless trees or hiding in the tall grass, waiting for their prey to appear. Then, there was the one oddball creature, Spinda, that should've never lived in a place like Route 113. Yet, they drowsily walk around the route, unaware of the bleak environments around them.

Admittedly, it was not the best place for Lucas, Ellie and Seijo to go after what had happened at Meteor Falls. But, they had mostly been backed into a corner. There was no other way to the next town other than going back through Fallarbor Town and through Meteor Falls. A slight problem with that was that it was completely inaccessible to the public and destroyed. So, the only way through was to venture through the route.

They had passed through some crop fields for a harvest that had long been over, with the farmers not even being in sight anywhere around the fields. In fact, the only building was a small abandoned glass shop, which once sold many an item. But, that was a while ago. Now, it was just a hollow husk, painted with bright red text on the door spelling out 'CLOSED'. Still, it had been a long trek and as soon as Lucas pushed the door, it flew open and revealed the interior to be mostly destroyed, yet habitable still.

"Guess we can stay here.", Lucas called out to the rest of the group, as they began to make their way inside. They found smashed pieces of pottery all over the ground, but areas where it was free from any sort of glass, which they used to create a little area to sleep. It also remained much warmer than the outside area, and a small candle sat upon a desk nearby, which Torchic lit to give them a little light. Seijo settled down his sleeping bag and thought the others would do the same. Ellie did set her's nearby, but Lucas went into another room without warning, locking the door behind him.

Lucas' hands vibrated as he clenched his phone that was ringing vigorously. Lucas took one hand off his phone and locked the door, then placed it onto the floor of the room. He set his sleeping bag in front of the phone, then accepted the call.

"Hi Mom!", Lucas cheerfully spoke as the call began to load. He was expecting his mother's face to appear soon, but nothing much happened, "Is your camera working?"

"Oh, no. It broke."

"How?"

"Well, I got Taillow to grab my phone, and they dropped it right in front of me. Onto the floor. Which equals broken camera."

"They're a little terror."

"Yeah, but I still love 'em regardless. Anyways, how's your journey going so far?"

"Oh, it's going well. I'm just in Route 113 right now."

"Oh, so you're well along! Is there much there to do?"

"Not really. Just a plain of dead grass and ash from Mt Chimney."

"Oh well, at least you're not in Meteor Falls right now."

Lucas froze as soon as his mother said that, his brain soon turning back to the memories that plagued him from the day that Team Storm attacked Meteor Falls. But, he couldn't let her know that he'd been to Meteor Falls. So, he decided to play dumb and act jovial as he asked,

"What's so bad about Meteor Falls? I passed through there a few days ago and it was fine."

"Oh, honey, you haven't heard? Well, it's been destroyed. A few unknown terrorists from an unknown group have attacked Meteor Falls and destroyed it. Some say they are remnants from Team Magma or Team Aqua. But, they refuse to give out the name of their new group."