(Thank you, RedWarrior702!)
Life's Restrictions:
Chapter II-
Together We Fight
Lucario stood up and got into a battle stance. Too many people had been wandering the woods lately. You never could be sure if they meant you harm or not.
The bipedal Pokémon considered using his Aura Sight, but every time he did that he remembered his master. The bushes rustled once more and Lucario made up his mind. Placing his hands about one foot apart, he readied an Aura Sphere. Speaking telepathically, he said, ~Come out if you don't wish to be harmed,~ Silence greeted his words.
Lucario didn't want to hurt the creature in the bush, but he didn't want himself to be hurt by it either. So he did the only thing that came to mind and directed his Aura Sphere at the bush, but slightly to the left so it exploded on the edge of the leaves.
And a voice, human, said quietly, "Bad idea, my friend." Lucario's eyes widened. He knew that voice. His heart rate sped up. This isn't good. He thought. The last time he fought this particular man he and his Master had been badly hurt. Not again. Lucario decided.
He heard the man say something quietly. In response, a beam of ice flew out of the bush and exploded against Lucario's chest spike. Gasping in shock and pain, Lucario flew through the air, too stunned to brace himself against a tree that had been behind him. He crashed into it and fell to the ground with a thump. As he was struggling to stand back up, another Ice Beam hit him again. He fell back to the ground again. The attacks were coming too quickly for Lucario to react. He tried to push himself back up. Just as he got his legs underneath him, a Zangoose lept out of the bush and slammed into him. The impact sent him skidding backwards on his back. He lay where he stopped, trying to think of a plan of action.
"Lucario, we meet again," The man spoke, walking out of the bush he was hiding in. The Zangoose hopped back to stand beside his trainer.
~What do you want?~ Lucario gasped.
"Not much, I just saw you over here so I'd thought I'd drop by. And maybe something else," the man said. "Zangoose, if you'd please." His Pokemon nodded and readied another attack. Lucario braced himself, knowing this was going to be a tough fight.
Dianna was just walking back to town when Dratini, who had been outside of her Pokeball, suddenly stopped walking.
"What is it?" Dianna asked her Pokemon.
"Dratini! Dratini!" she said back. "Dra!" Dratini began to hurry towards the woods.
Dianna was confused. Oh, how she wished she knew what Dratini was saying. She could tell by the tone of her Pokemon's voice that something was wrong but she didn't know what. Usually when Dratini wanted to say something to Dianna, Lucario would translate. He wasn't here now, though. Something's wrong, I know it. "Wait!" She cried as she caught back up to Dratini. "Now, why don't you stay closer to me next time?"
"Dra.." Dratini said, looking at the woods. "Dratini!"
"Okay, let's go. Lead the way and stay close!" Dianna said, feeling slightly exasperated and frustrated at Dratini and herself.
The Zangoose charged forward. If the man had ordered an attack, Lucario must have missed it. He desperately tried to force his body to move. He had just shakily stood up when Zangoose reached him and stopped just feet from Lucario. Their eyes met for a second and Lucario tried to move out of the way. Before he could move, Zangoose thrust his glowing metal claws into Lucario's stomach. Lucario's eyes widened as he felt himself tossed into the air and thrown several feet before landing on his side and skidding across the ground. He felt dizzy and saw spots dance across his eyes.
No, he thought to himself. No, I will not loose this way. Slowly, he struggled back to his feet, only to find himself tackled back to the ground by his opponent. Once again, he forced himself to his feet, only to fall back down as one of his legs buckled under him. He closed his eyes, wanting to block out all the pain in his body. When he opened them, he saw a smirking Zangoose standing directly above him, Lucario glared at him until his eyes began to blur and he closed them again. He didn't move - his head was spinning and his muscles ached. That Zangoose's fast! I can't even get a hit in! How can I beat something I can't even counter? Desperately, Lucario raised his paw. He began to concentrate, determined to use Protect. The shield flickered into place between him and the Zangoose. His arm shook, and the shield faded. Lucario's paw fell back down again. I don't even have the energy to hold a Protect! He realized. If only I'd kept that Oran Berry!
Dianna rushed through the woods following Dratini. She was being led deeper into the woods than she had ever been. Lucario, it has to be him. She thought.
All of a sudden, Dratini stopped. She looked back at Dianna, then turned forward again. Dianna hurried forward. What she saw shocked her.
Lucario was laying on the ground on the far side of the clearing that opened up in front of her. There were several skid marks on the ground around the clearing. Above Lucario stood a Pokemon that terrified Dianna. It was the same as the one that had killed her family! She watched as a protect flickered into place between Lucario and the other Pokemon and then faded out.
Dianna's heart stopped. She couldn't move, could hardly breath. "Dratini?" She heard her Pokemon ask. The sound didn't register in her frozen brain. "Dra!" The Pokemon tried again, no response. "Dra, Dratini dradra," Dratini said more urgently. Getting frustrated, Dratini reached forward and gently nipped Dianna on the arm. Slowly, Dianna's gaze was torn away from the fight and toward her arm. She stared blankly at it for a few seconds and then turned to her Pokemon.
"Did you just bite me?" Dianna asked stupidly. Dratini looked at her for a second, and nodded.
"You bit me..." Dianna said again. Then, her brain choose to work again. "That hurt!" she whispered, remembering where she was. She turned back to the clearing holding her arm. "Lucario's not doing too good.." she observed.
"Dratini! Drani!" Dratini chirped.
"Hmm..." Dianna muttered. "Well, let's give it a try. That Pokemon looks tough, though. You think you can handle it?"
"Tini," Dratini said confidently.
"Okay, let's do it."
Lucario was exhausted. He just wanted to give up. He had no energy but something was urging him to get back up; keep fighting. He would have but he no longer had the energy. He had failed, that fact had drilled deep into his already broken heart and split the crack a little more. Memories he had blocked came back, no longer being restrained.
The sky was overcast. But to Lucario it felt like it was sunny. He had just beaten a number of trainers that had gotten in his master's way and won with barely a scratch. His master was beaming proudly at his number one Pokemon. Together, they entered a town, the first one they had been to in weeks. The first place they visited was the Pokemon Center. Because Lucario was not injured, his master just asked for some food for both of them. When they were done eating, they both left the Center and went to check out the gym.
The first thing Lucario noticed when he walked through the gym doors with his master was that this was a water gym. It was the first he had ever been to, but it was obvious thanks to the large pool sitting dead center in the middle of a battle court. There were several platforms for non-water species floating in the water. After his master announced his challenge to whoever was there listening, a girl appeared. The humans exchanged words and soon Lucario found himself on one of the platforms in the water, ready to fight.
The fight was easy at first. The gym leader had sent out a weak level Finneon which Lucario quickly beat. The next, a Qwilfish, was slightly harder but Lucario was still able to defeat it without much trouble. It was the last Pokemon that caused Lucario the most problems. It was a Milotic. The fight was short and one sided. Lucario was knocked out easily. However, he would never forget what the Milotic told him.
"For every three wins, there's a loss waiting for you in the future. Don't try to run away from it, let it come at you full force. If you run, it'll only get more wins piled on top of it and you'll be hurt worse in the long run. Remember that."
Lucario felt his strength draining. It looked like there was no hope for him. He would fall. Even after all his hard work getting stronger, helping Dianna and Dratini get stronger, it would still not be enough. If only he had trained harder; focused on his training instead of theirs, he might have won this fight. He thoughts left him as he gave into the darkness.
"Okay, here's what we are going to do," Dianna whispered. She quietly told Dratini of her plan.
"Dra," Dratini nodded. The serpent like Pokemon started to sparkle with electricity. Dianna moved back just a little bit to prevent herself from being shocked.
"Do it," Dianna whispered. Dratini let all the electricity in her body rush out and strike the Zangoose that had been attacking Lucario. The Pokemon screamed in pain and fell to one knee, having taking a direct hit from Dratini's powerful Thunderbolt attack.
"Dragon Rage," Dianna whispered to her Pokemon. Dratini took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, flames flew toward the Zangoose and missed when the Pokemon dodged at the last second, jumping into the air high enough to get a good look at his attacker.
"Zangoose, zan!" he called to his trainer. The trainer followed Zangoose's gaze to the bushes Dianna and Dratini were hiding in.
"Zangoose, Quick Attack," he muttered coldly. The Pokemon let out a cry and angled his body downward. The Zangoose landed on the ground feet first and charged forward, his speed picking up to levels any human would never beat. Dianna and Dratini didn't have any time to react before the Pokemon was on top of them.
The attack was powerful. Not strong enough to knock Dratini out, but strong enough to knock them out of the bushes. Dianna felt the wind get knocked out of her when she rammed into a tree. The world began to fade in and out as she gasped for air. Her chest burned - it felt like her lungs were being filled up with fire. Her head began to pound. Then, as soon as it left her, her breath came back. Greedily, she gasped for air. Her vision cleared, though her headache did not let up. She opened her eyes, not realizing she had ever closed them, and looked frantically around for Dratini. She found the Pokemon looking at her worriedly a few feet away. "I'm okay," she croaked out.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The two 'rescuers', I see." the voice startled Dianna and her head snapped around to where it came from. The man who had attacked Lucario stood in front of her. Dianna struggled to sit up.
"Ah ah, none of that now, I wouldn't want you to get hurt," the man said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and applied a little force, effectually stopping her.
"Let me go!" she cried in anger and began to wiggle her body around.
The man grabbed her chin in his free hand and forced her to look him in the eyes. "You will stop this nonsense. You're too young to be getting involved in grown up affairs. Zangoose," he called. Dianna could only watch as the white and red Pokemon smirked and advanced on Dratini. She could see a sphere of blue light forming between the Pokemon's paws.
Dratini tried her best to get away, but the Zangoose was quicker. It shot the ice beam right onto Dratini's back. Dratini cried out in pain. "Dratini!" Dianna cried, her efforts to escape renewed. One of her legs caught the man holding her down in the gut and caused his right hand, the hand holding her down, to let go of her. Dianna quickly scrambled away and rushed towards her Pokemon. "Dratini!" she said softly as she looked at the injured Pokemon as she knelt beside her.
"Dra tini! Dratini," the Pokemon said, wiggling away from its trainer. Dratini looked injured but not so bad she couldn't fight.
"Okay, then.." Dianna said uncertainly. "Use Flamethrower then Thunder," she instructed.
Dratini nodded and followed Dianna's instructions. The Zangoose screeched as the attacks landed on it but it managed to stay standing. Its fur was charred and smoking in several places.
"Ice beam again, Zangoose," the man growled. He said it so quietly Dianna could hardly hear him.
"Dratini use Protect!," Dianna ordered. The Ice Beam hit the shield. It was a powerful attack but Dratini managed to keep her shield up although it wavered a few times.
"Follow up with a Dragon Rage!" Dianna commanded.
"Dra," Dratini answered with a nod. The Dragon Rage hit the spot where the Zangoose was standing. There was an explosion and the resulting smoke blocked Dianna's view of her opponent. Suddenly, something bowled into her side and flung her back. Dianna cried out as she felt her back and head slam into the tree. The pain was horrible! She couldn't think. The world spun in many different ways. Dianna lost track of what way was up and which was down.
The next few minutes were a blur. She remembered seeing another explosion but wasn't able to make out where it came from. Before she knew it, she had lost consciousness.
…..
She woke later with a major headache. It took a few minutes for her to focus her eyes. She was startled to see another face staring into her own. "What? Who are you," she asked, her voice sounding hoarse.
"Shh," the voice was male. "Here, drink up." the stranger pressed a cold glass of water to her lips. Quickly, Dianna gulped down the water. While she did so, the stranger began to talk.
"I was walking through the woods when I heard the sounds of fighting. I followed the sound and when I got here you were out cold. Me and one of my Pokemon chased off the man who had attacked you. You've been out for around ten minutes."
"Where's Dratini... Lucario..." Dianna choked out.
"You're Dratini's fine. I didn't see a Lucario..." he handed her a Pokeball. "I put the Dratini back in its ball. It was hurt pretty bad."
Dianna took the ball and pressed it to her lips before clipping it back on to its holder. "Lucario, I want to know where he is,"
"I already told you, I don't know."
"No..." Dianna cried. "You have to find him! He was hurt... That man! He must've taken Lucario!"
"Relax! I'm sure your Lucario's around here somewhere. Why would he want your Lucario?"
"He's not my Lucario. He's a friend of mine."
"What do you mean? Is he a wild Lucario?".
"No, he's not wild. He belongs to someone. He's never told me who..."
"So he was abandoned."
"No, he wasn't abandoned! He said his trainer told him to wait here in these woods for him. Please, we have to find him!"
"We will... but I don't see why he's your responsibility. He's not your Pokemon. He's not your responsibility."
"Yes he is! He's my friend. As much of a friend as Dratini is. Please, you have to look."
"I will, but let's get you home. You need to rest."
"No! You said you'd help me find Lucario!"
"I know what I said and I said I would help. I never said when. You are in no shape to be walking around looking for some Pokemon. You need to get home."
"No. Not without Lucario. I won't leave without Lucario."
"Ugh. Fine. Where'd you last see him?"
"Over there." She pointed in the direction she thought was the clearing. "He was laying by a tree. He's hurt bad. I think he fainted.
"Alright, wait here," the man hurried off into the woods.
Chapter Words: 2,994
Current Story Words: 6,303
Current Story Views: 25
Current Story Reviews: 1
Uploaded: 7/24/11
So, there you have it, chapter 2. Please, review! I need the inspiration.
Once again, please leave at least 1 review. Just one. Review this chapter and you can ignore this little beg at the end of the chapter. Just one for the story, not just this chapter... Thank you for reading!
