This takes place two weeks before Ella and her team faces her mom in ch 17 at Oak's ranch during Joker's visit to his first family. Another idea I just couldn't let go.
Joker, Dark Knight
Joker's first family was growing well. Prowling about them in secret was his first,if delayed, goal on this trip back to see them. He'd observe them for a while and make his decision on what to train them in next. While in the wild it was mostly survival by retreating. None of his first family are truly able to be powerhouses so he taught them trickery as is the true weapon of his species. Already he had dealt with some of the dark creatures here who thought his family would be unprotected.
Now the various ghosts and darkness bearers worked for him. Currently they were to silently guard those they thought to bully until he decided they were properly cowed and respectful. The Guardian had made Joker stronger than he could ever have imagined but ultimately his true strength relied in manipulation and fear.
Also, Sunny helped put much of said fear in them. Her moonblasts are something not to be easily endured. Still, Joker didn't wish to take away from her time with Latias. Their giggles were a large part of the first few days here. Apparently they believed his vest and monocle that Aurora insisted he wore when not battling were amusing. Even if it is he would never discard something his family gave him.
The rest of the day would be to view the first family. Teddiursa is now an ursaring. One of the oddish a gloom, the second still in its first form. Arbok from the ekans that was so calm for its kind. One pidgeot and a pidgeotto. Still, they were no match for the sneasels, haunter and houndours that were so convinced they were the baddest of the bad.
Joker had much to think on, proud that his first family still stood together. Six against eight and they still kept themselves safe, if a bit downtrodden. Sunny and himself took on the eight without issue. Compared to the Valley nothing here would truly challenge him save the Oak's monsters. He was slightly disappointed his first family didn't notice the battle. This would lead to much painful training. That was okay. Pain taught a lot.
Taking the form of a ninjask, Joker flits from tree to tree, his illusion turning his bounces into swift looking flying as he goes to make sure Sunny has not gotten Latias into trouble again. He's seen all he needs to train his first family in the methods of his second.
Sunshine is precious though and must be protected especially, mostly from misunderstandings. She is not weak but there ever remains an innocent that she and Latias share. Latias herself has prospered immensely here. Already her pressure reminds me of Zaela's, even if it isn't nearly as strong.
The cry of a human stops Joker's buzzing and he shifts into a furret to creep along the trees, much more silent as he tosses out a few double teams without thinking. The Ranch may be safe but many pokémon here will challenge him both because of his rarity and the strength that he has gained. Some days this is welcome if only to go on a fun chase. Finding a small girl crying with an injured ankle down a small hill is not an instance where he wants distractions.
Before he met the Guardian he would have helped this child by leading humans to her but she is fairly far from the Lab. Hesitation grips the zoroark but ultimately it is Truthseeker's image that resolves him. Both the Guardian and true one would set aside their hesitations to help another. While theirs would not impede themselves in this instance Joker still finds exposing himself to anyone other than his families almost unacceptable.
She is bleeding though. Not bad. And young. Half the Guardian's size.
There is no choice but as to how to approach now. His true form is scary. He knows this. He uses it to shock foes or to intimidate. Sunny's form might work but she doesn't have arms to carry.
Tru is his example. The Guardian as well. He can't talk like the Guardian though. Lucario then. Not all of them can speak as Tru can. But all are trusted.
Hopping down from his perch he picks a male lucario older than Tru. One he met long ago that had a Guardian partner.
Approaching the girl while making noise takes a conscious effort on his part and he slowly says the name of the species he is imitating. Such effort is hard, but is well worth it to add another layer of trickery to his disguise.
The girl turns with a shriek and starts to sob more as broken words flow out. "Stay away! Daddy! Stop! I want my dad! St-stay away!" The way she moves speaks of a broken leg, but only scrapes for blood. Brown hair is in disarray around terrified green eyes. Joker inwardly sighs as she obviously doesn't know what a lucario is. So much for an easy path forward.
Joker merely calms his voice and brings his hands up, careful to tilt the spikes on the back away as he sits down well away from the child. The injuries are not good but also not life threatening. This reminds him of teddiursa. The cub lost its parents to a rock monster and Joker spent three nights staying almost completely still until the barest bit of trust was established.
The human just clutches her calf a bit above the injury and cries more, looking about frantically but realizes soon that her cries aren't being answered by what she wants. "Wh-what are you? Are..ow...ow..are you friendly?"
The whimpers she gives strike him hard. Before the Guardian brought him into his new life emotions were muted to him. Defending was all he cared for and nothing of what might touch his heart mattered past that. The Guardian often told him that he was born to be a defender but that if he truly wished to excel that he should learn from the Angel as the fire-dragon was. The child's pain is hard to hear and he scoots closer, nodding and saying 'lucario' even more lowly and soothingly.
Eventually his patience is rewarded after about ten more minutes of inching forward. The child is in too much pain now and a bit desperate as she touches his paw and flinches as he carefully shakes her hand. He saw fire dogs do such a trick for their trainers in play. The very slight giggle she gives, pain and all, has him hopeful.
"You're nice...Please..I hope. My daddy told me not to wander but there was such a pretty bird. I'm..I'm in such trouble. I just want to go home! Grandpa said the pokémon here were mostly nice but never to go alone!" Tears still fall and Joker very carefully wipes them away as he's seen the Guardian do on occasion when thinking of something he is never quite sure what to ask about.
None in his new family truly know how much he watches over them.
This calms her and she pulls at his fur, seeking comfort. This he is used to. Pidgey and pidgey often roosted in his mane when afraid of fearow or startled. Gently Joker takes her into his arms and just pats her until he taps her shoulder and points up the hill while slowly taking the child into his arms.
"Oh!...Lucario? That's your name? You..can get me there?" Her green eyes brim with more hope and Joker knows a bit more as to what his heart can do. Instinct to defend cannot match this sense of pride and care he feels for someone he just met. Is this what the Truthseeker means by serving to find purpose?
A nod spreads a smile over the child's face even as she winces constantly as he stands. Tiny hands dig into his fur and he despairs that he cannot be more gentle. More unnaturally slow movement sends him up the hill and away from the forest section. The trek back to the Lab will be long at this pace but her injuries are not so easily cured. An idea forms but he is unsure how to fit it in with his species. Lucario are defenders. Just as he is. Perhaps he can use one of the Guardian's stories as inspiration. Children enjoy things of such a nature yes?
Making sure she sees his paw come up he threads his fingers in the signs that the Guardian said were the Malestrom Hero's way of performing moves. Query liked that story the most out of all that the Guardian told. He slaps his paw forward in the heroic pose the Guardian insisted was some form of 'cool' ability and he creates a substitute covered by an illusionary double team. Wattson appears with a puff of smoke and grins back at them.
The child gasps as his creation runs off to pluck oran berries he saw growing on the way here. It takes far too much of his strength but it succeeds in distracting the child from her pain.
"How did you do that?! That...That was amazing!" Her eyes glitter upwards as the Wattson clone comes back, only five or so berries as he starts to pick up his pace a bit. Each are placed in her lap but one that he takes for himself to get a bit of his energy back from the substitue. Wattson vanishes in another puff of smoke that is simply his illusion and he just smiles a little as the child eats one of the berries at his nudging after gasping again at the now absent electrivire.
"Can all lucario do that? Are you..are you a legendary? Or a hero?" All humans seem to have such odd quirks. The Guardian uses words she calls curses too often from what Aurora said. The Joy seems to love arguing with strong people and winning somehow. The lizard speaker seems to laugh endlessly at her riolu. Bruno is the one Joker most admires. Able to convey so much with little words.
This child believes him a hero. The story telling works then. Most of the journey goes on with chattering as the girl starts to feel a bit better. Oran berries don't work fully on humans and certainly not on broken bones but her scrapes close enough that she is no longer bleeding and the pain lessons from how she stops flinching as much. His speed increases.
Things do not stay so positive. The quickest way to the Lab goes through the plains nearest the rock warren. Joker has only been here a few days and has not yet found all the possible threats. Nothing has been scented but Zaela is fond of surprising him by hiding underground. Another series of random hand signals and a Mars clone appears. The fake looks over his shoulder and winks at the child as he has seen Zaela do a few times and bounces into the air as if flying to distract anything nearby.
It succeeds as a rock snake that was hiding nearby starts to toss boulders at his clone.
"Your dragon can beat that right?" Watery eyes make Joker know that there is more than just an injury at stake. Its his fault. He gave her hope and to dash it in such a traumatic experience would do more harm than perhaps her broken leg. Drawing on Wattson he gives her a cocky smile and divides his strength more.
More symbols and Aurora explodes from the ground to rush at the rock snake as his first substitute dives to flamethrower the rock snake and expire in smoke while using a shadow claw. Aurora slams into the rock snake faster than she every truly could and hits it with a payback that his illusion covers as some sort of tail attack. His substitutes can take perhaps two hits and deal very powered down moves of his. They are never meant to truly cause damage as much to distract. Doing this severely drains him but if worse comes to worse he can speed away and drop his disguise. The child would suffer the loss of her hero but would be fine physically.
More inspiration from Wattson's dramatic acting make the next summoned substitute seem as if he's truly struggling to form it. The child encourages him.
"You can do it! I know you can! Go!" Her arms wave about, her hope truly rising and he acts like it spurs on the last symbol he casts as the most giant puff of smoke summons what truly causes the rock snake to take notice after Aurora hits the snake with one last dark pulse disguised as a water pulse.
Zaela in all her glory towers over them and roars almost as loud as she truly could. That is still a work in progress but should be easily accomplished. The King roars a lot after all. Its somewhat annoying actually.
The child lets out a sound of wonder and the rock snake looks suitably intimidated as fake Zaela stops forward in slow, menacing strides. She would not normally have a dripping, open maw of dark pulsing teeth but Joker feels he can make her a bit more imposing. Draconic energy starts to leak from her claws and it takes almost all of his remaining strength to form purely fake meteors forming above her in numbers the real Zaela couldn't create without set up.
The rock snake makes a sound that could be called the deepest 'eep' ever and dives into the ground. Joker lets fake Zaela roar in triumph how she really would and then she turns to stare down at her summoner. The child goes very quiet as she realizes just how massive the King Garchomp is. Joker prays to Arceus this never gets back to the Guardian's sister as he makes the clone bow to him in obvious respect and then lumber away to slowly fade away into smoke.
"That was amazing! You really are a hero! Oh my gosh grandpa won't believe me!"
Quickly he starts up again, running a bit faster as she gushes over his actions. This is good. She's not at all focusing on the pain.
It doesn't take that much longer to reach the lab and he's stopped before then as a man with a massive sea turtle rushes up. Joker's fur stands on end. The sea turtle is more powerful than Zaela. By a huge amount.
"DAISY!"
"Daddy!"
Joker slows and waits patiently, stilling and eyeing the shockingly fast sea turtle following her father. The child's father eyes him for a moment in concern but also sees the stains of berries on the child's mouth and the careful care Joker has while holding her.
"Daddy! Lucario saved me! He's a hero. He fought off an onix with his friends! They just appeared! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off!"
"Its okay baby. I'm sorry that I've had to pay attention to Gary so much." Gently, and without apparent fear of Joker, the man takes his daughter back, careful not to jostle the injured leg. The sea turtle stands nearby, one massive cannon more or less pointed at him but Joker doesn't sense malice. Just concern for the child.
"I'm sorry. I was so scared!" The child wraps her arms tight around the man and he just sighs and pats her back and head.
"Its okay Daisy darling. Your brother has a fever. Its dangerous for a baby to have one and I've not been giving you any attention. But you can't wander off without blastoise again alright?" The sea turtle turns at his name to look over his trainer's child and Joker takes the moment to make his escape.
One of his favorite illusions is joltik for the size of its species. Already moving in short hops of the electric bug's manner of travel Joker must admit the confused sound the sea turtle makes when it turns to find him missing are very satisfying. The high grass here completely hides his smaller form from sight. The sea turtle doesn't have a great sense of smell but Joker admits to himself that he'd easily be detected if he were in the water with the monster. Illusion or not.
"Wha-I...Where did he go? I wanted to thank him. Blastoise?" The sea turtle just grunts in confusion.
"But..He was my hero! He saved me daddy! I was alone and he came when I asked for help." Joker was pleased. No one knew who he truly was. That was how his kind protected others. Alone and without need for thanks.
"I know baby...But...We'll come see if we can find him some other day. Lets go get you to grandpa. He'll be able to set your leg so we can take a teleport to Viridian Hospital." Joker looks back and waits until only the child is looking over her father's shoulder. Lucario stares back at her again, waving for an instant with a finger over his lips as if to hush her. She just waves back and grins the brightest smile he's ever seen. A puff of smoke and he's back a joltik, hopping away to find Sunshine.
Her bones will be fine. What he is truly proud of is making sure her heart is strong. That this Daisy will grow unburdened by the fear he so regularly uses against his foes. Perhaps this will create a story to inspire as Truthseeker's words inspire him.
Joker was content.
Plus he'd finally have a story to tell Query.