Disciple of the Iron Element: Lucario

Prologue: A Promise

By Tilfang

Author's Notes: This is my first Fanfiction, it is one of many in a series.

Special thanks to L100Meganium for being my beta reader and taking the time to edit!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other namesakes or references to the games; they are all copyrights to Nintendo.

Eighteen Years Ago

A wild Lucario gazed out into the sky while standing on the edge of a cliff. He watched as the sun was engulfed in a concentration of dark clouds. Rain poured down relentlessly on the mountainous landscape known to the humans as Iron Island.

His name was Luke, a powerful Lucario who had once been a part of a legendary rescue team. He had given that up in exchange for a quiet, peaceful life on Iron Island with his mate and his newborn son.

Yes, Luke was a father now, and that fact alone made him happier than ever before in his life.

"Luke," spoke a soft, female voice. "Come inside. It's starting to rain."

"Coming, Aurora." Luke responded as he turned around and walked into the cave in which the voice had originated. As he entered, he saw Aurora, sitting down by the small campfire she had made earlier. Aurora was Luke's mate, a female Lucario who was as strong as she was beautiful. She had once traveled on her own across the Sinnoh region on explorations and adventures, but had recently settled down after meeting Luke. On her lap laid their newborn child, a Riolu, only recently hatched from his egg and was now seeing and hearing for the first time in his life.

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Aurora smiled as she cradled the baby Riolu in her arms.

"He looks just like you," Luke smiled warmly. "Hello there, my son." He said, caressing the baby's cheeks as he hugged his father's paw.

"What shall we name him?"

"Hmm." Luke thought for a moment. "How about-"

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of large footsteps outside of the cave.

Instinctively, Luke soundlessly ran over to the cave entrance, positioning himself whilst signaling Aurora to hide with the baby.

Aurora quickly put out the fire and hid behind a pile of rocks while keeping the baby protected.

Once they were concealed, Luke peeked around the corner of the cave mouth, using his aura sensors to trace the approaching figure.

To his surprise, and relief, Luke could make out a massive, yet familiar, silhouette standing outside.

"You should've told us beforehand you were coming," Luke said, smiling as he emerged out of his hiding spot. "We weren't expecting any guests; I thought you were a human for a second."

The dark figure stepped forward in response, revealing to be a large behemoth made partly of rock and metal. His name was Aggron, and he had been best friends with Luke since they were in their first forms.

"Sorry," Aggron replied, rubbing the back of his head. "It was raining when I woke up; didn't want to send a messenger in this weather."

The iron armor Pokémon was visibly exhausted from running in the rain, and the fact that he was partly a rock type, weak to water, didn't seem to make the journey any easier.

"You must be tired, come and rest inside." Luke invited the large bipedal Pokémon in the cave. Aggron followed his friend, gazing around the iron wrought walls until his eyes rested on the baby Riolu lying in his mother's arms.

"So the rumors are true," a large grin appeared on Aggron's face. "Luke and Aurora are now parents, huh?"

"The egg hatched a few hours ago," Aurora explained. "We were just about to give him a name."

"A name huh?" Aggron scratched his chin. "Well, if he's a boy, then he should be something…heroic."

"Heroic?" Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Who ever said my son was going to become a some fighting barbarian?"

"Aw, being a warrior isn't the same as being a 'barbarian'. I mean, look at Luke." Aggron put an arm around Luke's shoulder. "He's the toughest pokemon around, but he's also one of the nicest guys Iv'e ever known; who wouldn't want to grow up to be just like him?"

Luke blushed out of embarrassment upon hearing the last comment.

"Regardless," Aurora turned back to her baby. "I think his name should be something noble and valiant."

"How about Lionel?" Luke suggested. "That was my father's name. He was a great Pokémon in his time."

"Hmm," Aurora thought. "How about…Lloyd? Yes, Lloyd! It's perfect, noble and valiant." She turned to the baby Riolu. "What do you think?"

The Riolu responded by snuggling up to his mother, giving a playful yip.

"Alright, then it's settled," Aurora said hugging her newborn child. "Your name is now Lloyd."

Aggron let out a groan, he had both hoped to give the child a strong, powerful name, but he knew from experience that once Aurora had made a decision that was that.

"Besides," Aurora continued. "It suits him considering how important he is to the world."

Aggron's face darkened.

"So, the other rumors are true too," Aggron said in a hushed whisper. "Your son is one of the seventeen chosen disciples."

The room suddenly became silent; the only audible sound was the rain gently pouring at the cave entrance. Luke said nothing, slowly nodding at the steel behemoth to confirm his statement.

"You know what this means," Aggron said, glancing at the now sleeping Riolu. "He will not be like the others of his kind."

"We had no choice," Aurora responded. "Once a decision has been made there is no turning back."

"Don't you understand?" Aggron said louder than before. "Lloyd will never lead a normal life! Not so long as he has that-"

"That's enough!" Luke shouted, careful not to awaken his sleeping baby. "It doesn't matter whether or not he will be able to use Aura, my son will lead whatever life he chooses regardless."

"No one asked him if he wanted this," Aggron growled. "He's not even a child for Dialga's sake! Putting such a burden on him like this…it's…it's unthinkable."

"I know," Luke said grimly. "I was against it from the start." He gazed over at Lloyd. The baby Riolu stirred while sleeping in his mother's arms. He then let out a small yawn before awakening. The baby gazed around the room until his little eyes rested on Luke.

"Pappa," Lloyd said softly, reaching his small hands out towards his dad.

"Aww," Aurora smiled. "He wants his father to hold him." She said, addressing her lover.

"He…he can speak already?" Luke said incredulously as he approached his son. Aurora held out baby Lloyd towards Luke who took the boy into his arms. The baby smiled and cuddled against Luke's chest before falling asleep.

Lloyd smiled warmly at Lloyd as he slept peacefully. "Lloyd will become a great Lucario someday." He said. "I just know he will, but more importantly, I believe he will prosper in this world, whether or not he decides to follow the path of disciple."

"Luke…" Aurora leaned on her mate's side, wrapping her arms around his as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Aggron opened his mouth to give another protest, but no words came out. He had remembered that he too had once been a father, but had lost both his wife and child to an illness. The pain of losing both of them was an unbearable experience, one that Aggron had prayed would never happen again. Perhaps that was why he was arguing now, because he did not to see anyone else go through the same tragedy that he did.

"I'm sorry," Aggron finally said, embarrassed for speaking so rashly. "It was not my place to say those things and…you're right," he glanced again at the sleeping baby. "I'm sure one day Lloyd will become a great Lucario."

"No, it's alright," Luke said reassuringly to his friend. "And thank you, for being so concerned for Lloyd. I appreciate it."

They both relaxed as Aurora gathered more wood to start another fire. Using Fire Punch, she quickly set the dried wood ablaze. Luke and Aggron watched without a word as orange flames awakened from beneath the ground and illuminated the dark cave. Luke slowly wrapped Lloyd's body in a blanket so that he was warm and then handed the baby back to Aurora.

"He's lucky, you know," Aggron finally said, breaking the silence. "To have you two as a mom and dad, I couldn't think of better parents to raise him." He smiled sincerely. "Congratulations, Luke, Aurora."

"Congratulations yourself," Luke said, smiling as he sat next to his wife. "Because we have both decided…that we would like you to be his godfather."

Aggron's eyes widened in surprise, completely caught off-guard, something that rarely ever happened to the iron armored pokemon.

"Wha- His godfather? Me?" Aggron struggled to find the right words. "Umm, are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Aurora said. "You've done so much for our family; it's the least we could do. And we think you would make a wonderful guardian to our newborn son."

Aggron stood in there in the center of the cave, eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung agape. Luke had to keep himself from laughing at the sight of the goofy steel type.

"I-I-I-I don't know what to say," Aggron was speechless.

"Just…promise us that if anything ever happens to me or Luke…you'll look after Lloyd in our place," Aurora said.

Aggron's expression darkened. "Don't ever say things like that."

"Aggron…"

"I won't ever let anything happen to you, Luke or Lloyd," Aggron said confidently. "You're all like my family now. I'll protect all of you."

"Please." Luke became serious once more. "Please, just promise us, even if nothing happens, that you'll watch over Lloyd when we aren't here. Treat him as if he were your own child."

Aggron's smile faded, in its place a stood a troubled expression. He briefly glanced at the baby Riolu sleeping peacefully against Aurora's chest. At first glance the boy looked like any other baby Riolu he had seen, but that wasn't the case. Lloyd was Luke's only son, the pride and joy of his best friend.

"Alright," Aggron sighed. He had decided: he would watch over the Lucario family, ensuring that no danger would ever befall them, but if the time should ever come where Luke and Aurora proved to be unavailable, then…

"I promise."