#anyways you can pry deaf/autistic lucas out of my cold dead hands /lh

[bearimba]

Sorry in advance if this post doesn't make much sense, but! in my defense, this was all originally going to be left in tags (for this post specifically if you're curious). And then the tags breached containment, and they were pretty off-topic anways, so... here we are! There's no particular point here, I'm just writing whatever comes to mind, so fair warning for lots of aimless rambling that leads into even more aimless rambling:

PLA to me is about perseverance. It's about the initial confusion, and the consequent adaptation that changes you fundamentally as a person. It's about using your strengths in ways you never considered before. It's about ✨Willpower✨ even--- ok that's a reference to personal canon but whatever. More than anything, it's about the lengths someone is willing to go through to get what they want, whether it's summoning Pokemon Satan to restart the world, trying to protect your hoe from mentioned Satan-summoner, or just trying to survive in the midst of chaos.

My Lucas is deaf and loses his hearing aids when he first arrives in Hisui (he has a tiny bit of hearing but like. not enough to be useful for the most part), so instantly he's cut off from everyone who tries to help him. He can write to communicate but the language gap is like modern vs middle english---sure it's kinda possible but it's gonna be a pain in the ass, take forever to decipher, and meaning will be lost in translation. It gets easier to deal with as time goes on, of course, but the pure inconvenience will always be there. And then of course he's shoved right into the Survey Corps because they assume he just speaks a different language instead of Literally Not Being Able To Hear Anything. He ends up communicating mostly through gestures when out in the field (he and Akari work out their own system of signals for long-distance communication methinks), and as per Cyllene's suggestion, he eventually puts together some communication cards for general use. When he gets back to Sinnoh, it definitely makes him think about over-relying on technology, but getting into that would segue into unrelated territory.

And poor Lucas doesn't know how to survive out in the wild!! He's a scholar not a fighter!!! He probably read some relevant stuff back in Sinnoh but also his memory is pretty shot. Akari's there to help too (she has a much more active role in personal canon) but a lot of it is still trial and error, and then so so so much research while he has the luxury of being in town. The first time he encounters an alpha pokemon, it manages to sneak up on him from behind, and he kinda sorta nearly dies! After that, he learns real quick to pay attention to the shadows around him as visual clues, including after he returns to Sinnoh (which does ruin Dawn's/Barry's fun a little but it's probably for the best so they don't end up scaring him and getting suckerpunched out of reflex). He ends up using the environment to his advantage a lot in that way, even after he physically adapts to his new setting---after all, no matter how strong you and your pokemon are, there's always going to be someone stronger. You're much more likely to survive if you know how to work around that strength instead. He'd probably take up foraging as well whenever he runs out of supplies. I can't see him hunting for food because 1.) trying to prepare a pokemon for consumption would be Overstimulating to say the least, and 2.) killing a pokemon might be just a little traumatizing for someone who works so closely with them (both before and during PLA). Like sure he'd probably get used to it, but he's not willing to get that far in the first place, so his diet suffers a bit as a result. There's plenty of other examples but honestly this paragraph is getting too long.

Long story short once he gets exiled it's basically Survival Wilderness Training Pt. 2: Hardcore Mode. Of course, he doesn't especially care about his banishment---Lucas is perfectly fine with rules right until the point they become unfair or unreasonable, after which he'll ignore them at his leisure---but sneaking back into Jubilife tends to be more trouble than its worth anyways. From there, its a matter of figuring out who he can and can't depend on. Akari was the person he trusted most but ultimately chose to stay in Jubilife when he was banished, the clan leaders frankly seemed a little childish at first but they're eager to lend him a hand, the wardens can't do much for fear of offending the Galaxy Team, and Volo's willing to help but sticks his nose in Lucas's business too much for his liking. Then again, he can't really be too picky when he's roughing it out in the wilderness and also trying to stop what feels like the end of the world. It's a matter of principles vs practicality, and unfortunately for Lucas, he has some very strong principles.

Aaaaand from here I'm not sure what else to write. Like I mentioned, I didn't exactly have a specific topic in mind while writing this. I'm also pretty undecided on the story beats overall---I haven't actually. y'know. played or watched PLA yet. But these are my thoughts so far at least!