Hello Everyone. This will be a series of one-shots about my FC, Aaron the Riolu, Son of the Lucario of Sir Aaron (which he is named after) and Lucaria (Lucario's mate and fellow member of his species.) Keep in mind that there is no overarching story to these one-shots, but some stories will be more connected to one another than others. So, without further ado, let's read!

The Tales of Aaron the Riolu

Chapter One: Aaron's First Encounter with Death

The lone female Lucario ran at full speed through the forest and up the slope of the mountain, one of her paws clenched around a few berries. She ran until she reached a small cave near the top of the mountain, far away from all the dangerous pokémon that would try to chase her away from her home.

She places the berries onto a small pile from her previous trips down the mountain. From inside the cave were the grunts of her two favorite males: her mate and their son.

"Sparring as usual." She thought.

The two of them were always training; from early in the morning to late at night. She too at times will join in on the fun, of course, it was always by surprise. She found it funny to try to throw them off guard.

In fact, she was sneaking up on them right now. With a quick jump she landed on top of her mate, momentarily stunning him.

"Some aura guardian you are." She teased him with her telepathy, "You didn't even sense me walking in on you boys." With that she gives him a playful lick on his cheek.

Quickly, the male Lucario flipped her over so he was on top. He smiles and replies using telepathy as well, "Looks like you could use some more training yourself. If you train with us more often, you wouldn't have been flipped over like this."

She smiles back and whispers in his ear, "I let you flip me on my back."

With a slight blush on his face, the lucario gently kissed her and got up.

The gleeful sound of their son's laughter got his attention. "Mama jumped on Papa!" laughed the young riolu; with both his parents possessing telepathy, it was only expected that he too would have it.

The female began to laugh too.

"Okay. That's enough." Commanded Lucario as he looked toward his mate, "Lucaria. What is it you came in here for?"

The female named Lucaria got up and dusted herself off, "I've got enough berries for dinner. All we need now is to get the meat. Of course, I can't do it without the help of the best mate in the world." She said, playfully poking his side.

The little Riolu's ears perked up at the mention of berries and almost immediately ran out the cave to get them.

"Aaron! What up!" Shouted Lucario who was running after him.

Aaron the Riolu stopped dead in his tracks as he heard his father's demand.

"Aaron, your mother and I have been talking and…well, you know where meat comes from, right?"

"Pokémon." Answered Aaron.

Lucario questioned again, "But do you know how you get meat from pokémon?"

Aaron though for a moment; how do you get meat from pokémon? He tilted his head, his little snout wrinkled as he concentrated, until he finally shook his head as his response

Lucario then said, "Well, we believe that you should know how we get meat. You're going to come hunting with us."

The Riolu's eyes widened. What's hunting? Is it like going to gather berries? Gathering meat sounds fun…and yummy! Meat was one of Aaron's favorite meals next to berries. He jumped up and down, smiling and laughing at the idea of helping his father and mother find food.

Lucaria just smiled, walked up to her mate and whispered to him, "Do you think he'll understand?"

Lucario whispered back, "I hope so."

Into the woods below their mountain did the family of three travel to hunt. Aaron, eager to hunt with his parents runs gleefully through the woods, laughing loudly.

"Aaron! Lower your voice!" exclaimed his father.

Aaron immediately stopped, hearing his father's assertive voice.

"Now, Son," He said, "I sense a small group of eevee beyond those bushes. Do you think you can sneak up behind them and scare them, so they can come over here?"

Aaron smiled and gave his dad the thumbs-up before running off.

Aaron ran far beyond the other side where he saw all the little eevees; playing in the grass, eating delicious berries, some of them even cuddling up with one another enjoying each other's company or grooming themselves and one another. Little Aaron thought they were having so much fun. He thought they would be friendly enough to lend him their meat if he simply asked them. Why does he have to scare them to get it? He quickly shook away that idea. It wasn't like Aaron to question his dad's instructions. He knows exactly what he's talking about.

He got closer to the small herd of eevees; closer and closer…and closer…and closer…and closer…

"BOO!"

Startled by his sudden appearance, the eevees started running away, unknowingly straight toward Aaron's parents. Aaron grinned, their plan was working! Soon the eevees will give them their yummy meat! He could almost taste it!

An aura sphere came from the bushes of where Aaron's mother was behind. Aaron gasped in shock as he saw one of the eevees receive a direct hit from the blast, knocking it out cold. As the other eevees scattered and ran away, Aaron saw his father run up to the knocked-out Eevee. Aaron was running up to it as well. He wanted to make sure the little guy was okay. Why would his mother throw an aura sphere at it when it was going to give them it's meat? He saw his dad grab the unconscious creature.

CHOMP!

Aaron just stood there absolutely appalled at the sight of his own father, using his razor-sharp teeth, bit down hard on the back of the eevee's neck, producing an audible snap!

As a riolu, Aaron could sense the emanation of other pokémon, though it wasn't as strong as his parents'. When he saw his dad bite the eevee's neck, he instantly couldn't sense its emanation.

It was dead.

Lucario opened his mouth and sensed that his bite left a clean kill on his prey. He also sensed the stirred-up emotions of his son building up inside him. Lucaria walked into the opening and saw her son who had the most upsetting look across his face. She sighed and walked up to him. "Aaron…"

Aaron quickly ran off, back to their home in the cave on top of the mountain, tears sliding off his face and landing in the grass where the Eevee his father had killed once played in.

Soft moans from Aaron echoed in the small cave. He sat in the deepest part of the cave where the sunlight never reached. The cave floor at where he was sitting was being stained by his tears. How could his dad do that? Why did he do that? What happened to the Eevee's emanation? Where did it go? Did it…disappear? Will the same thing happen…to him?

Aaron wasn't completely unaware of what it means to be dead. His father told him the time he 'gave his life' to save the world from the Tree of Beginning's carnivorous demands; and was later giving a second chance to live. He knew what it meant to die, but he never witnessed it himself. The sudden feeling of the Eevee simply…not being alive unsettled him. It was just there, then in the blink of an eye…gone…

"Aaron."

The riolu turned around and quickly turned away when he found out it was his father: the killer. "Go away."

Aaron said softly. Lucario walked up to him, "Aaron, I know you're upset. But listen to me."

"No."

"Aaron…"

"Papa killed Eevee!"

Lucario lowered his head. "Son, I had to. To get meat…a pokémon has to die."

Aaron still looking away, asked harshly, "Why‽"

"Because," he said, "it would have suffered if I didn't."

There was silence for a moment until Aaron finally looked at his father, "Suffered?"

"Son. Right now, your mother is…preparing the meat from the Eevee."

Aaron looked confused. He tried to look past his father, out the mouth of the cave to see for himself what his mother was doing.

"Don't look, Son." Said Lucario, "You've seen enough already."

Aaron looked back at his dad.

"Aaron, to get meat from a pokémon, the pokémon's body must be…broken up into pieces. If the pokémon were still alive, it would be in great pain and it'll still be in pain until it could no longer take it. That's called 'suffering'. And causing something to suffer is one of the most wicked things imaginable."

Aaron didn't think of it that way. "Pokémon's body is meat?" he asked his dad.

Lucario responded, "Yes, Son. the pokemon's body is the meat we eat."

Aaron was taking a lot in just a short time, but he seemed to put the pieces together: a pokémon's body is meat, a pokémon mustn't suffer to get meat, the pokémon has to die so it won't suffer. Seems understandable, yet there was one thing he didn't quite understand, "Papa. You said killing is bad."

"No, Aaron." Lucario corrected, "I said murdering is bad. Murdering is when you take someone's life out of vengeance, pleasure or simply for the sake of it. Killing is when you take someone's life for a more reasonable purpose. It isn't wrong to kill a pokémon for food, but it is wrong to murder a pokémon because you're angry or it makes you happy or simply because you want to."

"And it's not like the Eevee didn't realize it might become food for someone else." Lucario continued, "Some pokémon understand they are food for other pokémon, so they take a chance when it comes to being out in the open like that."

"Why did it run away?" asked the still confused Aaron. Surely if the Eevee knew it was natural for it to be eaten by other pokémon, why would it deny its natural purpose and run away?

His father answered, "It may have been afraid to die."

"Afraid?" Aaron asked.

Lucario nodded, "Some pokémon are scared to die, because they're afraid of what might happen to them when they die. The truth is they don't know where they're going to go."

That reminded Aaron of how he sensed the Eevee's emanation disappear. "Papa. Where did Eevee go?"

Lucario sighed, he didn't say anything for a second but then replied, "Son, I don't know where the Eevee went, but whose who are blessed go to Heaven when they die. So, there's no need to be scared. You, me and your mother are blessed, for we follow the Creator. And all who follow Him go to Heaven; and in Heaven, there is no pain, or suffering or death."

Lucario gives his son a kiss on the cheek, "I know you are scared of dying, Aaron, but I'll tell you: As long as you follow the Creator, death is nothing to be afraid of."

Aaron smiled a bit and hugged his dad, "Thank you, Papa. I love you."

"I love you too, Son." Lucario replied.

Lucaria walked in on them, "How are my boys doing?"

"Just fine, Love." Answered the male, "Aaron and I talked about what happened. He's all better now."

Lucaria grinned and kneeled to her son, "I'm glad to hear that." She said as she gave Aaron a kiss on his snout. "Supper's ready."

Aaron got up and ran out the cave to eat, knowing that killing for food isn't wrong. Although he was still a little upset that the Eevee had to die, he was sure with the certainty he can muster that it was in a better place.

Thank you so much for reading the first of (probably) many one-shots in this story. I hope you liked it. Do leave a review to tell me what you liked and what you think I can improve on. I would really appreciate it. Again, thank you so much for reading and I'll see you in the next story. See ya!