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The first special thing in Hoenn that had come on his path, was a festival. Lucian didn’t mind, as he could use a moment to leave the thoughts that still haunted him at bay. Just a moment where he could endulge into something else. Never had someone managed to break his heart this bad, but he figured it would just take some time for him to get over it. ”Come on, Lucian,” he muttered, looking down at the donut he had just bought. Even a treat could bring back a thousand memories. ”It’s just a donut,” he softly told himself, before taking a bite.[break]
Followed by his Ninetales, he made his way over to a quieter spot where he could sit and eat at peace. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one that was taking a break. His eyes briefly darted over to the two Pokémon that were with the man, before looking at him again. ”Yeah, lunch break,” he said, holding up the ring-shaped sweetened dough. His Ninetales sat down on the ground, gracefully wrapping her tails around her feet as she watched the other Pokémon. ”It’s alright. It’s my first time experiencing a festival like this.” At least the food was good. Which was the main reason he had decided to come here.

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The man next to him seemed to be filled with some kind of radiating energy Lucian could become jealous of. Apparently, this was the second time the man had visited the festival. That meant the man was familiar around here, as Lucian was not. Perhaps he would learn a thing or two about the region today, which could come in handy later on.[break]
Lucian raised his brows in surprise when the man suddenly noticed that he wasn’t on ‘just a break’, as he was lacking the enthusiasm pretty much every other person present shared. The man softly scoffed when his company stated that he was either heartbroken or a walking bag of depression. ”It’s that obvious, huh?” he said, looking at his donut for a second, noticing how he had lost his appetite, for now. ”It has been a rough couple of months.” There it was, yet he hadn’t answered the question of the man just yet. Heartbroken or depressed. ”And perhaps a little bit of both, I’ll admit that.” He leaned back into the bench, letting his yellow eyes wander over to the man next to him. The Ninetales narrowed her eyes a little as she watched the Dragonite, not knowing what to think of him just yet. Even she seemed to have changed after Kalos, which saddened him, even though he wouldn’t admit it.

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They were in the same situation. Lucian curiously eyed the dark-haired man next to him, wondering how they possibly could be. Perhaps he had recently experienced some heartbreak too. It was either that, or he was a walking bag of depression, as he had phrased himself. ”Which one are you? Heartbroken, a walking bag of depression, or both?” He eyed the man once more before the fireworks distracted him.[break]
As he looked up at the sky, he found his thoughts wandering for a second. His companion, the Ninetales that hadn’t left his side for a moment since he had arrived in Hoenn, looked up as well. ”Soul brothers, huh? I’ve never had one before.” So many different colors were launched up in the sky, where they exploded into a thousand little sparkling slivers. Lucian hummed when the man offered him an ear. Something that hadn’t happened to him in a while. ”You know, you meet some girl and you think she’s finally going to be the one, and then it turns out she isn’t.” That was the closest thing he could give right now, as this person was still a stranger. A nice stranger, but still a stranger.

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A humming sound came from the long-haired man as his companion told him that it was rough. Yeah, you could say so.[break]
Now, they truly seemed to be soul brothers, as the man told him that he had a mixture of both. Lucian eyed the man as he told him that he would get over it. Would he? He wasn’t too sure about that. Of course, the wound was still fresh, and those words sounded so strange right now, but deep down he knew there was a truth behind them. Because people were made like that. They were made to learn how to deal with loss and heartbreak and pain. They were made to go on, no matter the situation. ”Yes, of course, I’m a man,” he said, straightening his back a little. He was a man.[break]
Crying it out. The other told him that even he cried from time to time. ”I don’t think I can remember the last time I cried.” Which was a lie. Because he could remember it. Not that the other man needed to know that. It was rather personal, and a very, very long time ago. ”I suppose not, no. But sometimes it just comes on your path,” he shrugged. He hadn’t been out there, looking for love. It had happened to him. Like a train that had hit him. And now that train had left him to die on the side of the road. How poetic. ”Twenty-one, almost twenty-two.” He eyed the man. ”You?” He didn’t look that much older.

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Lucian wondered if the other person had thought that he was much younger. Apparently, he was twenty-four, which meant they were nearly the same age.[break]
Just as the man was about to introduce himself, there was a sudden cry. Lucian looked up, frowning as he caught the scent of burnt wood. Thick black clouds of smoke found their way into the air, polluting the festival that had been so careless for most of the visitors. Lucian got up from his seat, watching how his company took off. Quite the hero he was, or so it seemed.[break]
After briefly exchanging a look with his Ninetales, they followed. Mostly because he was curious what was going on, not with the intention of being the hero of the day. He wasn’t a hero, that was. Suddenly, a shrine maiden was clinging onto his arm, telling him that the priest was still inside. Trapped. Lucian clenched his jaws together, as more eyes came his way. No, he was supposed to keep a low profile. If he backed down now, that would only make him suspicious. Or a coward. Or both. He looked up at the man he had been talking to before, taking his arm back from the maiden as he stepped his way. ”He’s trapped inside.” Lucian knew a lot about fire. Some of it common knowledge. That priest wasn’t going to survive the fire if they started trying to extinguish the fire. ”Alright, nobody is putting any water on this until that priest is out.” Adding water to the fire would only add a boiling steam, which meant a saint would be… well… cooked up like a dumpling. ”Leesi?” He looked at his Ninetales, nodding, before looking at the stranger he had been talking to before. ”We need to go in there to get him out.”

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Before he knew it, the guy he had been talking to seemed to be in complete control of the situation. Lucian raised his brows in surprise when the man mentioned something about the job of an ex-elite four member, which made him question where he had gotten himself into right now. Anyhow, it seemed like he wouldn’t be forced to endanger his own life, as the stranger took the job upon him to free the priest.[break]
Within a minute, the man was out, breathing and well. He had probably inhaled a lot of smoke, but once he would be off to see a doctor, he wouldn’t be his problem anymore. He crossed his arms, looking at the Arcanine, softly humming at the words of the other person. ”Just common knowledge,” he shrugged it off. Well, let’s say he wasn’t the type of person that took compliments. Not anymore, that was.[break]
”So, you’re elite four?” he asked, not sure whether or not he had heard it right.