As you read this, keep in mind that english is not my mothertongue. This was really hard to write. Enjoy!

What is it about this world that has always bothered me?

How selfish and hopeless people can be. Or at least that's what I was thinking, laying in bed, on that depressing, rainy tuesday morning ; my summer vacations had just started but I already had to deal with the same bullshit that made me so damn angry, every year. Every single year, I had to put up with what I thought was the worse about others ; how they only think about their own little self and forget about what persons around them might be feeling. Hell, even people they "love".

What I'm getting at is... Basically, there's a big number of shitheads who really don't give a damn about the personnality of a person. All they care about is the physical appearance ; of themselves, and of the guys or girls around them. Ever wondered why ugly or fat people are thrown aside of society and why some of them become what we call "jerks", denying any social contact with others? Well maybe it has to do with how others treat them in the first place...

I sighed. Again, I was getting moody because of the rain. I got up, stood in front of the window and slipped my hands in my pockets ; the raindrops were hitting the glass panels, guided by strong gusts of wind who emitted a long, gloomy whistling against the walls. The sky looked like a puffy, grey blanket of heavy clouds, inflated by rain that was constantly falling. From the heigt at which I could admire it, my entire village looked like it was mourning as the shadows of the many houses were shaken by intermittent thunder. I was lucky enough to live in a house situated on top of a hill and enjoyed a pretty nice view.

"Heavens are crying today..." said I in a low, quiet voice.

And as I looked over the entire village and a little to the right, I could see the castle, dominating the rest of the little town by it's imposing size. I sighed again, but this time, I could feel a spike of sadness in my own voice. I knew what was really troubling me wasn't the bad weather ; but it was the only reason I was sometimes going to that castle, in the hopes of seeing him. I wouldn't always do ; but when I did... When I did see him, hear him talking or, even better, exchange a short, unexpected glance...

I smiled at that thought. I never dared talking to him...

"Damn, that means I'm just a creepy stalker" I thought, rubbing the back of my head in shame.

Yeah. I probably was a creepy stalker... But hell, I had decided that today was the day. I'd go to his usual training camp, in the forest, hoping that he was there, and I'd talk to him for the first time. I knew he would train there very often because I just happened to overhear a conversation between him and the queen where he explained what he was doing of his days. Since then, I just kept doubting, scared of his reaction if he ever saw me, noticed me. It was the perfect chance to get to know him, though...

"It's a bad weather to bond but... Oh well, I guess..." I complained, grabbing my coat and umbrella.

Outside, the storm felt a lot stronger then it did in front of my window. The rain was hitting my umbrella with such force that in combination with the hurling wind, I could barely keep it over my head. But I was bravely fighting this weather as I was heading for the forest, where the heavy ropes of rain would be less strong. I approximatively knew where I had to go.

But as I was getting closer to the training camp from whence I was hearing fighting noises and a voice, my steps started getting heavier and heavier... My legs didn't work as well, my breathing was getting erratic and little tears blurred my vision. I covered my mouth with a hand right as my steps completely stopped. The sounds, which were still relatively quiet from afar, echoed in my head like a loud gong, a bell that rung in my head indefinitely. I could feel my blood strongly pulsating in my temples and running down my body, like boiling ; my entire body was alert now. My fear and anxiety reached their peak and for a second, my body didn't react at all.

Then I heard one, loud grunt from the training camp. It was clearer than the others ; and it snapped me out of my fear. I wiped my tears away, took a deep breathe. And took another step.

The sounds were getting closer. Closer and closer, every second, every step. Now I was a few meters away. That was... That was it.

I walked around the trees that surrounded the training camp and entered it, my heart pounding fast inside my chest...

"WATCH OUT!"

Everything went so fast ; I was only able to see clearly for a short second, only to realize that I was in the way of a log that was about to hit me. From the size of it, I'd probably get crushed. I closed my eyes... And waited.

But nothing happened. All I heard was a loud thud and some kind of grunting ; and as I understood that I didn't get hit, my entire body started shivering. I opened my eyes again... Only to see that he was standing right in front of me, his back turned to me, and he had stopped the log with both his hands. I took a step back as he let go of the log and turned to face me, clearly angry.

"What are you doing here?"

I looked into his big, red eyes for a second, mine starting to be blurred again by the tears. I started trembling, in an even stronger fear than earlier. He crossed his blue-furred arms against his chest. His blue and yellow fur was wet because of the rain and his paws were covered in mud.

"I...I'm sorry, Lucario, I..."
"Go back." he said as he went back to the center of the training ground. "You have nothing to do here."

I took another step back. There. I had fucked it all up because of my own stupidity. The only chance I had of being able to meet Lucario was gone to shit because I wasn't able to do anything more than being a clumsy idiot. And now he probably just saw me as another annoying kid.

I picked my umbrella up, turned around and, without a word, headed back home. However, as soon as I was far enough, still inside the forest, I leaned against a tree and cried. Cried, cried. Cried my eyes off. Sat down on the muddy ground and curled up to cry. My body was shaken by long shivers as I kept whining in sadness, gripping my own pants, tugging on them in rage, rage against myself. I stayed there for a few minutes, releasing my own stress and shame in a riverfull of tears. It just felt better to release my negative feelings this way.

In an outburst of anger and disappointement, I threw my umbrella away... Only to see that he was standing there, a few feet away from me. Lucario was just looking at me with a somewhat embarassed look. From how he looked at me, he had probably just arrived there.

"What are you still doing here?"

I stood up and wiped my tears away, blushing in complete shame. Great. I had annoyed him and now I looked like a whiny little crybaby.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... to... I don't know, to do what I did..." I stammered clumsily. "To interrupt your training..."

Lucario sighed and picked up my umbrella. He came closer, opened it and gave it back to me. I looked up at him, my eyes still full of tears.

"I told you to go back home, Paul" he said with a strict voice, but he didn't sound angry anymore. "You're going to catch a cold here."

For a second there, just a second... Our gazes met. Only for a very short second was I able to gaze into his eyes, as he shared my umbrella. My cheeks turned bright pink... Until he turned around and left.

Speechless, I did the same. I couldn't utter a word, I didn't even know what to think anymore.

But a sudden thought stopped me right in my track. I looked back.

My name. He had just said my name ; "I told you to go back home, Paul"... How did he know my name?

The next day was a torture. All I could think about was him. While laying in bed, the pictures of how he looked at me, under my umbrella, kept replaying in my mind, over and over again, without a stop. I once again could see his beautiful red eyes, turned to look at me, I could see his strong body, closer to mine than it ever was, I could hear, again, the sound of the rain falling on my umbrella... Our umbrella... And as I closed my eyes, I could feel all of it like it was happening again.

But then I thought about what happened in the training camp ; how I came at the perfect wrong time to be the biggest annoyance. And everytime this replayed in my mind, I sighed. I had been... the perfect dumbass.

But then... Once again, I'd think ; "how did he know my name"? And my heart would start beating fast in my chest, again. He clearly said my name, I knew that, I heard it. But how? I had never talked to him ; I didn't say my name to him ; so how?

Knowing how confused and torn apart I was, I decided to change my mind. And I got up, on that wednesday morning, only to see that it was still raining.

I went to the bathroom to take a good, warm shower, hoping this would relax my tense muscles. I undressed and looked at myself in the mirror. A pretty normal male teenager. Not very tall, not very pretty. Long, dark, messy hair, brown and green eyes. My body wasn't something to be proud of. I wasn't fat ; I wasn't slim either, my belly was just a little round. I wasn't muscular, nor had I anything special. I was just... A teenager.

I slipped inside the shower and turned the hot water on ; it instantly started pouring on my body. I sighed, closed my eyes, lifted my head and enjoyed the warm sensation. Definitely, this was one of life's best feeling. I didn't clean right away, I just stayed there in the shower ; I could feel every one of my muscles relaxing in my body ; from my neck, to my shoulder and my back, even to the legs. Damn...

I took the shampoo bottle in a hand and poured some on the other. I rubbed it on the top of my head first, then on the sides. Then I took the rest of my hair and rubbed it softly, making sure that every single inch of hair was cleaned. Greasy long hair really isn't pretty to look at and it was very important, even if I was a boy, that I regularly took care of it.

I then threw my hair back and kept the shampoo on it while I was cleaning my body. My parents had bought one of those caramel-scented shower gel, and damn, did it smell good. And as I rubbed my body with the shower gel-covered glove, it was like I was cleansing my soul of all my problems and stress. This very simple, daily process of taking a shower was surprisingly effective... Between the hot, relaxing water, the smells of shampoo and soap, and the very simple feeling of cleaning yourself, it was definitely a good way of starting the day.

But then came the moment when I had to get out of the shower... I hurried and put on my bathrobe, shivering because of the sudden cold. I quickly dried my hair and body with a towel, put on some pants, and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. My parents were apparently still sleeping. I looked at the kitchen clock ; seven AM. Damn...

Then my eyes turned to the window. I could see the rain and, in the distance, Cameron's castle. And I thought about him again... What was he doing right now? Was he thinking about me, like I was thinking about him...? Was he annoyed at the thought of how I reacted? And how the hell did he know my name? I sighed again and rubbed my eyes. Thinking like this wasn't going to help...

But maybe talking to him again would? Just... Just to apologize. I'd try to find him in the castle and apologize to him. For everything... Even if that would be far from the relationship I dreamed about, that would still be enough. I just didn't want him to think that I was another annoying little brat. I was pretty young compared to him though... Would he even take me seriously?

I shrugged and prepared my breakfast. I'd do it, then I'd leave him alone. I didn't deserve to be with him anyway...

"Yes, I won't be long, I promise" I said to my mother as she saw me taking my coat and umbrella again.
"Yesterday you came back covered in mud. Please, don't try and look for Lucario again." she asked me in a soft voice.

I sighed. I had told her everything and she perfectly knew that I loved Lucario. I had the luck of having an understanding and loving mother, but this time I couldn't explain the complete chaos that had gone through my mind before taking the decision to go see him again. I smiled, waved, and went out.

In about twenty minutes, I had reached the castle's entrance. I stood there, looking at the open doors ; a few persons were visiting the main hall, where some of Cameron's relics were displayed for all to see. The place was very quiet, in a kind of respect for this highly historical place. A century ago, not far from here, the great battle of Cameron took place, a war that opposed two huge armies. Aaron, Lucario's former master, sealed Lucario and sacrificed himself in order to end the war and save the kingdom. Lucario was only recently freed from his seal, about a year ago, and since then, was all alone.

As I was reminded of our town's history, something caught my attention. It was Lucario ; he was in the castle and was heading right towards me. For a second at least, that's what I thought ; but I quickly realised that he hadn't seen me. I breathed deeply. Relaxed. And came closer to him.

"U-Um... Hi Lucario..."

His ears perked up in surprise and he looked at me... From his face, I could tell he instantly recognized me. He didn't say a word. I guess it was pretty obvious that I had something to tell him.

"I... Huh, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. The way I acted... How I interrupted your training. I'm... I'm really sorry."

I respectfully bowed after apologizing then looked up at with a very shy and unsure look. He silently nodded, as a way to tell me "it's okay".

"Just tell me" he said, "Why did you come to my training grounds?"

The question surprised me as much as the fact that he actually talked to me, which I was not expecting at all. I stayed speechless for a second.

"I... Well, I... Wanted to see how you trained..." I replied in an even shyer voice. I was lying, of course, and it was probably pretty obvious.

"How I train...?"

I looked down at the ground and rubbed a spot on the floor with my shoe, extremely shy. Dammit, why was I born such a bad liar?

"I can show you."

The answer left me so confused that I uttered a vague "sure". He moved his head and kept walking, as if telling me to follow him. Which I did. I walked behind him as he was headed to the training camp ; both of us were silent. He wasn't asking any questions and I didn't have anything to say... I wasn't yet aware of what I was doing ; I was about to spend some time with him.

Very quickly though, we arrived. The place was a somewhat big forest clearing, in a quiet place of the woods ; a dozen of logs were strapped to higher branches with strong, thick ropes. I watched it for a second and sat down on a rock, a few feet away.

Lucario still wasn't saying a word. He closed his eyes and his hair started rising and stopped when they reached a perfectly horizontal position ; they simply hovered there for a second... And all the logs started moving, all at once. I contained a gasp of surprise and almost let go of my umbrella... But I remained speechless when I realised Lucario was dodging every single one of the logs, which were rocking back and forth in a large pendulum motion, in every direction. The pokemon was swiftly avoiding all of them, even hitting them sometimes to give them more speed. While his eyes were closed...

And I kept watching, silently, as he went on for about ten minutes, without a stop, without a break in his focus and without any visible sign of tiredness or weakness. He then managed to get out of the vast zone where the logs were swinging while still avoiding them, and came to me. He looked at me.

"So... t-this is how you train?" I asked clumsily.
He nodded. "This training I learned from my master Aaron."

He turned to look at the logs. I didn't reply. I was just watching him... Being so close to him made me feel extremely uncomfortable and happy at the same time. I was afraid of looking annoying or stupid, but my heart was beating so fast every single time he talked or looked at me.

"It requires unbreakable focus and courage" he continued. "I never was able to reach the strength of my master".

I looked at him, admiring how strong yet how modest he was. He definitely deserved respect... He turned to me and looked me in the eyes.

"Well, it's your turn now. I hope you watched carefully."
"... What?" I said, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's your turn to train. If you wanted to see me, it must be because you want to learn the ways of the aura."

I stared at him, completely confused and lost now. So he was expecting me to do this thing with the logs? Well... I couldn't back down, now that I had started to create a lie. I couldn't just tell him that I just wanted to stalk him anyway... I stood up, put my umbrella down and stood in the middle of all the logs. My legs were shivering. I swallowed my saliva nervously.

"So hum... I... I'll have to avoid them all? D-do I have to close my eyes?"
"No. I'll just make three of them move. And you can keep your eyes open" he sighed.

He stared at me ; I was worrying so much, shivering like a little girl.

"Tell me. Do you know what you're doing?"
"N...Not really?"

I was completely confused by fear and when he started walking towards me, I seriously thought he was going to yell at me or punish me, and a scared look came across my face. But he gently took my hands and showed me the position to be in.

"Your hands are very important. Switfly move around the logs, and always make contact with them. Don't avoid them."

I looked up at him as he took my arms to position me. My cheeks turned bright pink and our eyes met again as he glanced at my face to see how I was reacting. I gazed at his eyes, once again... And he stayed longer this time...

For a second, I felt like he was pulling me towards him...

But he simply backed away. "Get ready", he simply said. I nodded, unsure about what was going to happen ; but at my surprise, when the logs started moving, only three of them did, and they were a lot slower. Lucario was probably the one to make them move ; I started clumsily avoiding the logs as best as I could... Moving from right to left, trying to follow the advice of Lucario, my original stance quickly became a panicked stance and I fell right on my butt after avoiding another log. I looked over to my right. Lucario had come up to me.

"...That... Wasn't so bad, I guess" he concluded. But I felt in his voice that what I just did was terrible.

"I...I don't think I'm made for this, Lucario..." I replied, little tears forming in the corner of my eyes from the shame. I could feel Lucario's stare on me.

"Maybe you are. Your aura is..."

He paused. Looked away.

"Nevermind that. Get up, we're done for today."

I obeyed and got up, to try and wipe the mud off my pants. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Lucario was still looking away. I bowed respectfully again. "Thank you very much, Lucario" I said with a shy voice. But this time, he turned his head to look at me. He stared at me. No, he didn't stare, he... He gazed. He looked deep into my eyes. Without a word. I did the same. He was... beautiful... His red eyes were hypnotizing.

"Be careful on your way home", he said in a low voice.
"...You too."

I quickly turned around to hide how hard I was blushing. My heart was pounding, my hands shivering as I took my umbrella, and my mind was complete chaos right now. Wow... Did I really just get as lucky as to be able to be so close to Lucario, right now? I headed back home without looking back, knowing my heart would probably explode if I did.

"Paul! Come on, you're covered in mud again!" my mother complained at the sight of my dirty clothes. "Thanks for listening to me, you idiot."
"I love you too, mom" I said with a smile. I knew my mother didn't mean that insult ; it was just our way of talking to each other.

And as I put my coat and umbrella away, my thoughts went to Lucario again. What I had just lived was incredible... For a second, when he looked at me... I felt something strong. Something... Intimate. Something undescribable. Something warm, under that cold rain... Something warm, in that muddy and silent forest. Something that my fragile heart felt in all its intensity. And I knew... Deep inside, I knew Lucario felt that too. I knew it. He had to have felt it.

I looked through the window, watching the castle. It looked like such a quiet place to be right now. I could see little streams of water falling from the roof of one of the tower to lower ones to the main roof, snaking their way between tiles, meeting with other streams of water, growing, to end up falling to the muddy ground, like a little waterfall. And behind one of those... I could see someone. A blue figure...

I smiled... Put my hand on the window, and gazed at that figure... He was looking in my direction. I couldn't see the red of his eyes, from where I was. But I could imagine them.

"C'mon Paul, you're right in time for dinner, for once."
"What did you cook?"
"Waffles!"

I turned around to go to the kitchen, then... Hesitated. Turned around again. The figure was doing the same... Leaving. I smiled again...

"Well someone looks like he's happy..." she laughed when she saw my dumb smile. My sister was already eating the first waffles.
"Got a new boyfriend?" the latter said, with a little grin.
"What? No! Don't I have the right to be happy?"

I was clearly not convincing. Born a bad liar, heh...