[spoiler=The Grand Adventure]Chapter 1: The First Encounter
Once upon a time, there was a young man who called himself Lucario. Wearing his signature black goggles and blue jacket, he traveled to many places to become stronger. But this time, he got lost in a mysterious land where everything was brightly colored, as if a kid had drawn it. The sky was of a color yellow and painted with ice-cream clouds, purple light shone through the spaces between the blue trees and grass… And our young hero was confused as to how he got there.
“Where am I?” He wondered. He looked around and all that he could see was trees, blue ones. It looked like he was in a tropical jungle, like ones shown in books. He was clueless since the last thing he remembered was sleeping somewhere that was NOT a jungle. He walked around and he found another person. Filled with joy, he decided to talk to him, only to find out that he was a warrior. Wearing a fancy red armor set, he looked very strong with a sword on his belt, a spear and shield in his hands. The armored man turned around and responded with a scary look.
“Why are you asking me? I don’t even know the first thing about this place.” The man scratched his hand before asking another question, his eyes staring at his. “Who are you, blue-haired dude? The name’s Caesar, if you need to know.”
“My name is Lucario. Nice to meet you, Caesar.” He simply nodded his head. “Now then, what should we do next?”
“Perhaps I can answer that.” It was from a man in suit. Wearing a finely-made tuxedo, he spoke in a simple manner. “This is a contest. The sun is rising right now, so you got until sunset.” He pointed at the purple sun hiding amongst the trees. “Wait a second… The sun is purple?” Caesar asked in surprise.
“This place is called Imaginate, a place where imagination shapes the world, strange things are considered normal. And this purple sun is an example. But anyway,” He coughed a bit to clear his throat before continuing. “Your goal is to find a certain treasure hidden among the rocks. Find it, and tell me the content. Time limit is until sunset.”
“What’s in it for us?” Lucario asked calmly. “Your ticket out of this place, what else? And furthermore, whoever arrives first and answer the question can leave . Now then, better hurry. Time is ticking.” The man in red ran as fast as possible, leaving a confused Lucario behind. “See ya later, slowpoke! Mwahahahaha!” His evil laugh could be heard even from a distance.
“Right…Anyway, let me ask you one last question.” The man in suit simply nodded. “What’s your name?” There was a brief silence before he answered.
“You can call me… The Host, Lucario. Now then, off you go!” Then he just disappeared.
“That was fun. Let’s not let him wait! Lucario Super Speed Mode, ON!” The young fighter in blue began to run through the trees and the bushes, jumping from one to another like a ninja while his eyes were looking at a cliff far ahead, which was the reason for the “treasure among the rocks”. And he found Caesar standing alone, looking around a lot.
“What’s wrong, Warrior Man? Got lost?” Lucario asked very nicely, which didn’t go well. Because it made Caesar even madder.
“Don’t you dare saying that I…got…los…Oh shut up.” And his anger cooled off in an instant. “Alright, I give up. Where’s the treasure?”
“Since you’ve asked so nicely, I’m gonna show you.” The goggle-eyed man pointed at the cliff up ahead. “It’s ther-“ Before he finished his sentence, Caesar had already gone off in that direction.
“That was quick. You’re not gonna beat me!” Lucario said. He quickly chased the armored man through the forest. With his shield in front, Caesar simply charged through the entire jungle like a bull, pushing away anything in his path.
“MWAHAHAHAHA! Nothing can stop me!”
“How about a tree?” But that didn’t stop him. Caesar just went through the tree in front of his face, leaving behind a giant human shape on it. “Cool.” Lucario complimented as he jumped from one tree to another in order to catch up.
Chapter 2: The First Trial.
And so, the heroes ran through the vast forest and eventually reached a very, very, very tall cliff. Its top reached past the cloud as its surface was filled with sharp rocks. It looked a little scary unlike the friendly forest. On it was a giant metal gate.
“So…This gate is the entrance? Nothing can stop the mighty Caesar!” He hit the door with all his might but it didn’t move, open or break. “It’s big for a reason, I guess. Also, did you even try to read the note sticking on the door at all?” Lucario pointed at a piece of paper glued to the door. On it was the letters neatly written: “Trial of Power: Unity brings forth hidden strength. Use it and push open a new path.” After the man in red read the letters, a very tall column shot up into the sky behind him, a square hole opened in front of the column a few seconds later.
“Right… This is something out of a fairy tale. Treasure, trials, these kinds of things… But that’s what makes life interesting!” Lucario was suddenly pushed by Caesar. “Out of the way! I’m gonna climb up this tower to get the key! Or jump into that hole if that’s what needed!” Lucario just looked at the armored man, very surprised by what he had just said.
“Uh… We only have to PUSH the tower into that hole . Basic, really. A big block and a deep hole in front of it, it's somewhat obvious what we should do. Like that game with the green hero. That’s also the reason for the word "push" mentioned here, though I don’t think you’re smart enough to notice.” He said cheerfully.
“Whatever…I’ll try to push this thing. NOT because you say it.” And Caesar made an angry face. He walked up to the tower and began pushing it. He kept trying and trying and trying, but it didn’t move. He pushed so hard that his face turned red, which was hilarious. After a few minutes, he gave up.
“That thing isn’t going to move anytime soon. If I can’t, no one can.” Slightly discouraged, Caesar punched the tower in anger, which only made his fist hurt. Lucario gave him a slight encouraging pat before standing before the great column. “Well then, my turn!” He began to place his hands on it and pushed with all his might. He was so strong that his feet sunk in the earth, but it didn’t matter for the tall piece of rock: It hardly moved from its original position. “Oh phooey. This thing is as heavy as a mountain! And that might be an understatement.”
Chapter 3: Teamwork + Persistence =?
Lucario stepped away from it as he was thinking about the solution. Looking around, there was nothing else that could help them much with their trial. There was one word in the hint that was the answer: “Unity”. In other words, “teamwork”. Yet… The person he had to team up with was Caesar, who wasn’t very willing to do that. So, Lucario came up with a plan.
“We’re getting nowhere. Alright, want a contest?” Lucario’s question has taken Caesar’s interest immediately. “What’s this about?” Lucario simply shrugged his should and said: “We will both push this piece of rock into its place: The hole. Whoever pushes it into the hole first wins.” It was a very simple trick, yet Caesar fell for it. “Heh. That’s easy. I’m going to beat you. Hard.” With a smile on their faces, Lucario and Caesar began to stand in front of the high tower, its top beyond the clouds.
The two of them began to push it as hard as possible, all of their strength focused on one thing: Move the thing in front of them. And finally, it moved! Though only a little bit, it had revealed that the task of pushing the column of rock wasn’t impossible. Delighted by that fact, Caesar and Lucario kept doing their best at moving it, slowly but surely. After hours and hours of hard work, the tower was finally in place as its square base fitted into the hole and the entire column fell into it. And it went on falling for one minute before it disappeared from sight, sealed nicely in the ground.
“Wow. Never thought it was THAT tall.” Caesar burst out laughing as he wiped his sweat. “Gahahaha. Victory to the great warrior.” He was prideful because of his “victory” over the young man. “Well, good job then.” Lucario just said it without emotion. He heard a strange rumbling sound coming from the giant gate. It sounded like it was opening. Lucario and Caesar readied themselves for the surprises that might come out of the gate. And then, a small door popped open near the bottom of the door. It was the entrance inside the cave. “A gigantic gate. A tiny door. Disappointed level: Over 9000.” Lucario and Caesar began to run into there, hoping to get the treasure first.
Chapter 4: Fear Itself
Lucario and Caesar headed into the cave hurriedly, their steps quicker and quicker. But there was something Lucario noticed: It was very dark. So dark that the light from the entrance couldn’t reach him. He was afraid of darkness, so he had second thoughts about entering. But with the price being a ticket out of this place, Lucario ignored his fear and continued inside. After running for five minutes, he became nervous. There was only a pitch black color surrounding him, which didn’t help calm the young man. He thought of an idea and formed a small blue energy ball, its blue light shone some light into the darkness. It was called Aura Sphere, a technique that Lucario the Blue Brawler had mastered. He held the sphere as he continued his steps carefully. Then he noticed that there was no ground in front of him. Only darkness. He tried poking his foot and there was nothing there. “A dead end?” He wondered. But there was one thing that was out of place: Fingers holding onto the edge of the ground. It took him less than a second to guess whose fingers they belong to. He reached below and pulled up the armored man, who was breathing heavily.
“I don’t need your help! I could easily get out of there!” Lucario ignored that comment as he looked down. It seemed to be endless, so he tried throwing his aura sphere down. And it fell down and down, having no sign of stopping. Eventually, its blue light was gone. “Well, jumping down is a no-no, alright.” Caesar sat down on the ground as he cursed the Host for taking him here. Lucario didn’t care and simply headed off in a different direction with an aura sphere in hand, trying to find another way or a clue. He walked and walked, but he ended up where he started, shown by an armored man sitting on the ground, sleeping. Caesar was probably bored, or tired and just took a nap. Lucario didn’t give up and kept on with his search.
The light in his hand slowly faded, his body became heavier, his mind was more tired with each seconds of fruitless search passed. He couldn’t stand it longer and fell on the ground, the light vanishing at the same time. Lucario gave up. It seemed that they were fated to stuck in Imaginate forever, with no way of returning home. Horrible thoughts began to fill his mind, his will weakening gradually. Lucario whispered to himself: “Forgive me… I was weak.” But then, he heard a friend’s voice in his head.
Giving up already, Lucas? It was Lucario’s ghostly friend, Rio, that was speaking inside his head.
“Yeah… I don’t know what to do anymore.” Lucario said, his voice showed his tiredness very clearly.
I don’t think so! I know you can find a way! Now get up and start searching again! You made a promise in the past, and no way are you going to break it! Rio said with determination. Fueled with a new strength, Lucario got up and created another aura sphere. He set his mind into one thing and one thing only: Find the way that leads to the treasure and get out of this place alive. Then he realized something. He decided poked Caesar awake, which might not be the wisest action. His body was sweating a lot, as if he was having a nightmare. Surprised by the poking, he just punched Lucario hard in the face.
“HOLY! THAT HURTS! What the? It’s stuck! The goggles! They’re stuck in my eyes! The pain!” Lucario rolled on the ground, crying in pain as he was trying to remove the goggles from his eyes. Caesar looked at the young man in pain, lit dimly thanks to the light from a glowing blue ball in mid-air. “What is that little floating ball? Your ball?” After managing to remove the goggles, Lucario put it on his head as he answered Caesar’s “question”. “Yes, yes it is. Problem? Anyway, there’s a question I must ask you. This could affect our current relationship, so be truthful.”
“What…what is it?” He asked, slightly freaked by what Lucario said. “Hey Salad man, do you have any special abilities other than your fancy weapons? Also, there’s a dish called Caesar Salad if you don’t get the joke.” Lucario said. “Yeah. Fire breathing.” And that one answer resulted in a scream from Lucario. “WHAT? IF YOU CAN DO THAT, WHY WON’T YOU LIGHT THIS PLACE?” Caesar thought for a second before saying one simple answer. “I never thought of it.” Lucario let out a long breath, disappointed by Caesar’s lame answer.
The armored man stood up and released a breath of fire, easily reaching a few meters. The fire lit the torch in front of him, light began to fill the room, though still a bit dark. There was another torch nearby, so Caesar also lit it. Despite the darkness, the room was easily visible thanks to the men’s good eyesight. And what they saw shocked them. An entrance was in front of them. The only catch was that, it was about a few hundred meters away, and that there was a big, I mean big, gap between where they was standing and the door. From the gap was about six columns of rock, two of which was lit by Caesar. It could easily be guessed that they were torches, made to light up the surrounding. Then they noticed letters on the ground underneath their foot. “Trial of Wisdom: Eyes of Truth, Din’s Fire. Uncover the lies and burn a new path. Push back the darkness and illuminate the hidden truth.” The trials were getting harder and harder, and time was getting shorter and shorter.
“Well… This complicates things.” Lucario said as he made his aura sphere disappear.
Chapter 5: Brainstorming!
“Alright…Considering the distance, it’s impossible to reach the other side by jumping, so there must be a button or a mechanism somewhere.” Caesar just looked confused, mostly because he didn’t get Lucario’s techno babble. “Simply, there must be something that can get us across. So we’re going to find it.” The two of them went around the edge to look for a button or something similar. But there was no result. Lucario remembered that the hint mention the “Eyes of truth” and “Uncover the lies”. Something that fooled the eye and only the “Eyes of Truth” can reveal it. Also, the fact that it was “eyes” was a hint in itself. As for Din’s Fire, it must’ve been talking about Caesar’s ability. Then, it struck him. If Din’s Fire was talking about Caesar’s ability, then “Eyes of Truth” must be talking about his! It took him less than a second to guess which ability of his was mentioned: Aura Vision. By focusing aura,
