The blue beast vaulted through the castle halls, scanning all walls, ceilings, and floors for anything reminiscent of the world he once knew. He could still hear the echoing shouts hound him like rabid dogs hunting an escaped criminal. Finally, the near-hopeless Pokémon located a source of familiarity; he burst through the wooden door, but the room on the other side was different. Changed. Tainted, like everything else.

He did, however unexpectedly, find what he had been looking for. In the alcove made by a wide arched window, a woman leaned against the side wall. Though he couldn't se her face, the jackal recognized the figure etched out in pale moonlight.

"Lucario," she stated without turning around. Although it was a statement devoid of fondness, of excitement, of caring, of love, it soothed him, eased his mind of the panic that was previously the overtaker of his thoughts. The voices matched. He knew this girl.

"You're the apprentice," he recalled. "The human apprentice who trained under Sir Aaron. You were attempting to become an Aura Guardian." She turned then and gave him a slight smile. It was difficult to pick out, considering Lucario could only barely see her features in the dim light, but he managed to notice the muscle contraction in her face.

"It's been a long time since anyone has called me that," she commented, her tone still as flat as an iron. "How long has it been? Decades, centuries? It all tends to run together after some point."

Has she really been alive all this time? Lucario thought, puzzled by the mere presence of his old comrade. From what the princess told him, several years have passed since Sir Aaron held him captive within the staff. Several generations, even, considering the princess herself was quite a few branches down the family tree from the ruler Lucario once knew.

He recognized that the world he once knew was now long gone - the boy with aura similar to that of Sir Aaron's had made quite sure of that. The apprentice, however, still stood before him, though not the same as she once was. She used to be a carefree soul, full of ambition and without tolerance for failure. The way the girl acted now was as though she had no soul at all.

"How have you managed to live so long?" Asked the Aura Pokémon, allowing his curiosity to escape through his lips. He silently cursed himself for questioning her; it was not his place to know, nor was it his question to ask.

"Do not worry yourself for asking such an inquiry," she responded, as though reading his mind. "You, of all beings, deserve to know the full story. However, I tire of this dusty, dank prison. Why don't we train in the forest together, like old times? I'm willing to tell you while we test your aura abilities. I hope they haven't rusted over the years."

"Never," he answered immediately.

"Good. You'll need a certain level of resolve for what you're going to hear."


They stood amongst the serenity of the forest. The homely drone of the Nincada alongside the eye-catching flare of Volbeats and Illumise calmed the two visitors. Lucario studied the wildlife all around them while the apprentice set up the training equipment.

"How are your aura senses?" She asked, still covered by the darkness of a tree's shade. He wished to pick out the finer details about her rather than just her outline, but he believed the apprentice was determined to not give him the opportunity.

"They're - they're fine," he answered quickly, though still unsure.

"You stuttered," she pointed out with a voice still destitute of emotion. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough. I do hope you recall this exercise; small wooden logs attached to a high branch via string will serve as the center of this particular session. You must dodge them as they come towards you, but-"

"I will be blindfolded," Lucario finished. She nodded, confirming his answer.

"When you're ready," the apprentice whispered as she leaned forward and tied the plain black strip of cloth around his eyes, "Just say so." After being directed to the standing point, the Aura Pokémon attempted to summon his long lost power.

At first, he felt only a spark. Lucario caught a glimpse of the world around him, but it was just that - a glimpse. He couldn't feel it like he could before. The trees weren't breathing, the wind wasn't whispering, and the ground wasn't moving beneath his feet. The jackal only perceived that single vision then fell back into the darkness that grabbed at him like the tendrils of an evil beast.

"Do not abandon your lessons." He focused on the voice of the apprentice. "Our master taught us both well - don't do him wrong by failing now." Lucario decided to take her advice and delved into his memories, recalling his first lessons with Sir Aaron.

"You're thinking too much, Lucario!" The shout smacked him like a wave of seawater. "Calm your senses. Ease the storm of your mind. Become one with the environment around you."

"Focus will make or break you," lectured the Pokémon's master. "The trick is not to focus fully on one item or one source of life in the area. You have to broaden your focal point - focus on everything. All life has meaning. As a Guardian of the Aura, you must understand this and respect it. That's why aura exists; it's an emittance of a being's strive for survival."

The entire forest lit up with a blue flame. He could see everything. He could feel everything. The world felt right again, and all it took was a reconnection with his old self and with his master.

"I knew you'd get it," called the feminine voice. "It's like riding a bike. You never forget."

"What... is a bike?"

"Er... that's not important. Before we begin, I want you to focus on my aura." He did so, and was alarmed at what he saw. Every being's aura feels different, and that fact is what makes every being individualistic. All aura does, however, look the same: a bright blue flame-like substance that makes up one's mass. The apprentice's aura felt and looked different.

Rather than the normal blue, her aura flickered between all colors imaginable. It was infinitely changing; you couldn't even blink without seeing a brand new color.

"What is this?"

"Good, you're able to notice the difference. Are you prepared to begin the exercise?"

"Indeed," Lucario responded.

"Great. You should at least be able to focus on dodging while also listening to my tale, no?"

The first peg came without warning. The Pokémon was barely able to evade the swift strike, and he could feel the rush of air following it just brush the hair of his cheek. After that, they began to fall at him like raindrops, attempting to pelt him with an onslaught of pain. He was able to sense them, though, and dodge them accordingly.

"You're performing quite well," commented the girl as he continually shifted, still avoiding the logs.

"Tell me what happened to you."

"So demanding," she commented sarcastically. "I suppose they told you about what happened to Sir Aaron."

"He gave his life to save the Tree of Beginning and restored peace to the land."

"'Peace'... They call it by different names in other worlds."

"Other... worlds?" The apprentice threw more pegs toward him, but these were on longer strings. He guessed that she was forcing him to increase his speed and work on fancy footwork. By the way he flowed, weaving in and out of the pendulum swinging logs, he felt like he was in a coordinated dance.

"Balance was another one of those words. This world was in complete chaos; evil was rampant and sources of ethics were scarce. That's why Sir Aaron gave up his life. He recognized that this world needed change and that the only one capable of such a feat would be the Tree of Beginning. His only miscalculation was that the Tree required two sacrifices."

"I followed him to the Tree willingly, unbeknownst to him, of course. I became lost within the maze of winding paths and, while I was trapped, he offered the Tree his life essence."

"But... it was not enough?"

"No. The Tree required a living vessel to secure its reforming of human nature. I suppose you'd call it a 'living sacrifice'. Anyway, since I was the only one available, I was automatically chosen for the job."

"As a result, our lives were merged. As long as it lives, I, too, remain alive. Our auras match as well, as you noticed."

"I've never seen a rock with such strange aura," Lucario heaved between heavy breaths. The pegs would never stop.

"Then you've never been to the Tree of Beginning," she sighed. "That's why it confused me so much. Every time I tried to sense my way to Sir Aaron, the iridescence gave me a headache."

"I'm surprised you still remember - agh!" A log smacked him in the kneecap, forcing him down. He sensed the apprentice quickly grab the strings to stop the pegs from striking him.

"Are you alright?" It was the first sentence she had said with any sort of emotion. The last thing Lucario expected to get out of her was worry. Helping him to his feet, she scanned him quickly for any major wounds, of which he expected none.

"I'm fine."

"Lucario, your knee..."

"I can stand perfectly fine." He did a few jumps in place for good measure.

"Alright, whatever you say. Let's rest for awhile before more training." They traveled to a river that split the forest in half. You could hear the babbling brook from most anywhere in the forest; it had always served as a central location for any missions pertaining to it.

"You were asking about my memory," she recalled as the traversed the rough undergrowth. "I have a perfect memory. I can relive any instance of my life at any time. I thought it was a blessing, but, just like immortality, it's come to be a curse. There are too many things I'd rather forget." Lucario sat at the creek when they arrived, dipping in his toes to sense a rush of coolness through his body.

"You mentioned other worlds," he stated, that single phrase still stuck in his mind.

"Indeed. The Tree of Beginning is that which connects this world - or universe, whatever you wish to call it - to other worlds or universes. Each one has its own Tree, though they may come in different forms."

"Maybe one that's actually a tree and not a rock formation," grumbled Lucario.

"Well, at least it looks like a tree..."

"What are these other worlds like?"

"They're all very different, but they're also extremely similar all at the same time." At that point, she sat beside him, and her features were lightened by the moonlight. He took the chance to observe the apprentice while he could.

The apprentice appeared to be at least a foot taller than Lucario, perhaps standing at 5 feet even. She still wore the same Aura Guardian hat, matching Sir Aaron's detail to detail. The girl took off her hat, revealing a head of jet-black hair that only came to the bottom of her chin. Her eyes were a deep violet color, their hue augmented by the moon's silver glow. She wore a solid black v-neck t-shirt and long blue pants made of a material Lucario couldn't recognize. Brown lace-up boots protected her feet from the taxing monotony of step after step along the open road.

"Denim," she stated. He was a tad confused until she continued, "My pants. They're made of denim, and we call them jeans."

"I see," he muttered, though he was really contemplating what else he may have missed while being held captive.

"Say, would you like to train in a bit of hand-to-hand combat? I could use a rush right about now." The Pokémon nodded, surprised at his own excitement for training alongside his old friend.

He remembered that the girl was fast and strong despite her assumed stature; Lucario had seen her take down opponents more than twice her size. Her courage had always matched her prowess consummately, Lucario had thought. He and his master agreed that she would make the perfect Aura Guardian, but the realm fell apart before she could be tried for mastership status.

They stood three feet apart now, staring into each other's eyes in an attempt to read their next move.

"You may move first," the guardian-in-training told him. He dashed forward, beginning with a slide-tackle aimed to sweep her off of her feet. She reacted quickly, however, and vaulted over him. Lucario leapt to his feet, turning to face his opponent, but she struck him across the face just as he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

The jackal staggered backward, spitting blood. He really hadn't felt quite like this in what the girl put as "decades"; his blood pumped furiously, the dull throb of pain in his face became a mere tedium, and his aura flared wildly, spewing outward as a cool blue flame engulfing his wrist.

He ran at the apprentice again, this time putting his spikes to good use. He swiped at her face, aiming to impale her, but she managed to crane her neck backwards and sideways enough to only have the tip of the spike scrape her cheek. She hopped back and swept a hand across her face. Lucario's friend smirked at her now scarlet hand.

"We missed this," she pointed out before attacking him once more. She jabbed at his face again and again, but each time he was able to avoid the blow. The girl fell to her hands and attempted to use her own legs to put his out of commission, but he was able to jump over this sweep as well.

I believe I understand the point of that training exercise now, thought the Aura Pokémon contentedly. The other aura user was back on her feet before Lucario could counter attack. She tried to strike at his face, but he jumped back and summoned an Aura Sphere for use. This is perfectly fair in hand-to-hand combat, right..?

He threw the ball of energy of maximum speed, but the unexpected occurred: the apprentice managed to catch the sphere in her own aura field and, transferring the blue ball into her own attack, as shown by the multiple colors now flowing through the sphere, shot it back at him.

The Pokémon was too amazed by the technique to react; her Aura Sphere impacted him directly in the chest. Lucario was thrown backward into the dirt and undergrowth, his back roughly smashing into the ground.

"Quite a fall you took there." Lucario could barely focus on the outstretched hand before him. It was practically a miracle, he thought, that he even managed to stand with the apprentice's help. "Are you alright? Sorry about that wallop. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"It's necessary with this sort of discipline, I suppose," he responded. She legitimately offered him a slight smile in reaction, which made the whole experience worth it for the Pokémon. The girl helped him hobble back to the stream, where they relaxed in reclination once more.

"You've gotten better," he told her.

"I thank you for the compliment, but it comes naturally with experience. I'm glad that you've kept your skill level."

"How did you manage to pull off that finishing move?" She stared at him for a moment before answering, her gaze shifting from one of his eyes to the other.

"Honestly, it's quite a long story, to tell you the truth."

"Would you..." Lucario hesitated, thinking carefully about what he was about to ask. When he saw that shine light up the guardian-in-training's eyes, however, he knew he couldn't resist. "Would you tell me about your journeys?"

"My dearest Lucario," she said, smiling, "You don't know how long I've waited to be asked that question."

Author's Note: The prompt for this first entry was "a 'training session' between yourself and one of your team members, though you will be writing from the Pokémon's view."