🔹Prompt:🔹
The story of how Lucien came to have the blue flames people now know him for is…an odd one. He doesn’t mind sharing, though! It all started when he was still a Cyndaquil. Back then, all that was on Lucien’s mind was the excitement that came with acing his exams to get into the alchemy program of House Rosewind. House Rosewind was well renowned for their alchemy and other supernatural affairs, after all, and there was no higher crowning achievement than being selected for the Royal Alchemists Rose Court.
Months deep into his time in the alchemy program, one of the instructors had made mention that the Head Alchemist of the Rose Court would be visiting them in a few days to see if any of this year’s new blood should be put on the fast-track to success: A potential mentorship from the Head Alchemist themselves! Excitement took over Lucien as they elaborated on what their task was: Make the most fantastical potion that they possibly could for observation by the Head Alchemist.
Lucien saw the opportunity to make all of his dreams come true. No longer would he just simply be the outcast! The Cyndaquil that people didn’t understand how he managed to get in. No… this was his chance to make sure that no one would ever forget the name Lucien Montebank. He wasn’t going to mess this up!
…is what Lucien thought when he settled down at his private quarters at the academy. He just had to make something so incredible that he was sure to be picked out of the crowd of far more impressive students! So, he set off to work. What would bring the attention of the Head Alchemist straight to him? Transformation elixirs were overdone, revival serums never worked the way that the alchemist intended…think Lucien, think! As he sat there, stumped, a thought crossed his mind: What if he invented a way to change the imbiber to their shiny form? It was UNHEARD of! Changing to other species temporarily was something that many people had done; after all, ditto had revolutionized that field years ago here in House Rosewind.
But changing one’s colors, much less to one of the rarest alterations of their kind? That had never been attempted before. Lucien hurried as fast as his legs would carry him down to the academy library. He had to get some help from the Tropius working the library to reach the high up shelves where the research on Pinkan Island had been stowed away. As an alchemist under the watch of the academy, he fortunately had the permission needed to look at these documents. Some of the other first-years watched him with confusion as he directed the librarian to each tome he needed. Just what was he up to exactly…?
Lucien would learn a lot from the books he grabbed. ‘Pinkan Isle Mysteries’ told him a lot about how a peculiar berry known as a Pinkan Berry had turned all Pokemon there pink. ‘Color Change and You’ was a guidebook for Kecleon about how their special quirks as chameleons worked. ‘120 Patterns of Vivillion’ told him even more about the ways that some Pokemon simply were gifted with many forms of change. However, the more he read, the more confident he became that this plan was just crazy enough to work.
He came back to his room with a solid plan in mind… and a lot of new reagents. Pinkan berries, Kecleon shed, crushed shiny stone and water from Evershifting Sea were just a few of the things that the Cyndaquil had chosen to use in his efforts to concoct an elixir that could give a Pokemon its shiny form. Lucien was so confident, in fact, that he elected to pull several all nighters to finish this on time!
While the first few batches temporarily turned him pink, invisible, made him glow like a nightlight or even temporarily gave him a weird pixelly pattern that he couldn’t begin to describe, Lucien was sure that he was on the right track. As the deadline approached, he finally had concocted an elixir that appeared to render its drinker their shiny form…albeit very temporarily. It was revolutionary! Joy had sprung to Lucien’s heart. This had to be enough! Though, a few seconds wasn’t very much time at all.
Maybe it was the sleep deprivation that led Lucien to the mistake of adding the final ingredient: Essence of Song of Time. In theory (at least, to his sleepy brain) it would resolve the problem and make the effects of his elixir permanent! He didn’t have time to make another elixir-- nor did he have enough ingredients left to make another attempt. He would simply have to hope that this would be enough to score him a mentorship with the Head Alchemist come tomorrow. With his heart full of hope, Lucien finally took a well deserved rest until the morning.
Once morning came, Lucien hurried with his elixir and scribbled notes in hand to make sure he wasn’t late to class. Quite the contrary, in fact: He was earlier than even the instructor. The only person that sat in the room upon his arrival was a figure sporting a massive witch hat adorned with vibrant silver roses. Lucien’s heart skipped a beat. Was that was the Head Alchemist?? It was rather hard to make out the Pokemon’s true form underneath the cloak and hat, but Lucien found himself approached and greeted with a warm voice.
“It is nice to see one of this year’s students is so enthusiastic that he’d show up TWO hours early…”
“U-Uh-- yeah! Yeah. I just…”
Lucien’s words were losing footing, the man laughing nervously as he set his elixir onto his desk. The faint glow of the alchemist’s eyes could be seen under the hat as they inspected the potion.
“How…intriguing. What is this, young one?”
“O-Oh! Uh, this?? This is what I call the Shiny-fier! I-If you drink it, you will find yourself permanently changed to your rare form! I-Isn’t that incredible??”
Yet another nervous laugh escaped him-- but no laughter followed in the empty room. He hadn’t really anticipated that he would be here getting judged alone by the Head Alchemist. He didn’t think anyone ever showed up this early besides him!!
“Well? Go on, then. Drink.”
Lucien’s heart jumped into his throat. He had to drink this NOW?? What about his instructor?? His peers?? On the other hand, if this failed, he wouldn’t have to face the laughter and scrutiny of his class…and so the Cyndaquil took the potion in hand and uncorked it. Bottoms up, he supposed, tilting it back and downing the elixir.
At first glance, the elixir seemed to be working. His fur shifted from blue to a reddish brown, and the Head Alchemist took a step back in surprise. Lucien puffed out his chest proudly, his flames poking out from his back in pride. He had done it! Even if he wasn’t chosen, surely this would be enough to earn him prestige above his peers! It was a revolution! He would go down in history as one of the brightest minds of their age--
And then his fur shifted color again to a darker bluish black. The clenched hand in front of him shifted to a faint white-- and he was horrified. It worked yesterday night! What had went wrong?! The flames on his back had continued to burn brightly..and soon they, too, changed. It was an alluring blue, much like one would expect of ghostfire. Lucien frowned, waiting for his body to shift again. It must have still been temporary, right?
Except this time, nothing happened. Even after the deafening silence of two straight minutes, nothing changed. The blue light illuminated the Head Alchemist’s hat and cloak, but still gave no more for him to go off on in regards to how they were feeling about what had just happened. Lucien began to panic internally. Did he do something wrong?? Well, technically yes as he clearly wasn’t a shiny but still! Was he going to be laughed out of the room?? Expelled?? Would he even be able to see his parents again and have them recognize him as the same Cyndaquil he was before? So many questions swam through his head, his legs trembling as he debated on simply running--
“Absolutely fascinating!”
The voice gave him some pause. What?
“I have never before seen a Cyndaquil change their -flames-, young one. What did you say your name was?”
”L-Lucien! I-It’s Lucien.”
“Well, Lucien…you have a VERY bright future ahead of you. It is clear that your…Shiny-fier needs some work…but! What you have accomplished in its stead is nothing short of incredible. I would be honored if you were to join me at the Royal Rose Court as my apprentice.”
Lucien thought he was dreaming-- and as his body began to glow vibrantly, that dream only seemed more likely. His form extended out, the flames now rippling down his entire lower back and his fur becoming that much fluffier. Maybe it was the effort he put into making this potion, or the excitement of being offered apprenticeship. Whatever it was, he was evolving right here, right now. As the glow faded, the ghostlike light of his new flames continued to burn.
“C-Certainly, H-Head Alchemist! I would be honored!”
“Just Z will do fine, Lucien. Let us go-- it may seem unfair to the other students, but…I was much like you once.”
Lucien resolved to always put his all into his work, especially now that his mistake had actually earned him his dream apprenticeship. As such, the blue flames that he had accidentally created now served as a very fond reminder of where he is now and what it took for him to get to this point. It was a statement of hard work paying off, even if the results weren’t quite what one expected. His mentor simply hopes that Lucien doesn’t try his hand at changing the flames of other pokemon with that ‘revolutionary’ idea of his any time soon..
1684 words. I had a lot of fun with this particular prompt!
