A/N Here is where I started to try and expand the world my story was set it. I had no idea of the setting when I made the first chapter, so I needed to figured out everything around. The first thing I did was adding in new characters. Uncle Chan is a Hitmonchan, although he isn't related by blood, he is very close to Lucra, Luke and Riku's father. Of course he's been gone for a while...

I also mention two other characters to come later, Steel and Belle. I'm not sure if I like how this turned out, but oh well.

"Uncle Chan, do I have to? I've never done this to him before." I plead, eager to do something other than beat up my younger brother. Chan simply nods in agreement, but I still wouldn't take it.

"But look at him, he's tiny!" Chan raises an eyebrow, as if to say that I'm not that tall either. "Come on, you know he shouldn't be fighting at this age. He doesn't even understand who the Master is."

"You might be surprised." I look up at him, expecting more, but he remains silent. I sigh, and finally consent. I then look down at Riku, who's a lot more eager than I am. I can't blame him though, who could pass up a chance to try and beat up your older brother?

"Begin!" Uncle Chan shoots flames between us, signaling the start of the fight. I put myself into a defensive stance, waiting to see what my little brother will do. He quickly leaps at me, throwing a punch as his hand is swirled in blue flames of aura. I try to block it, only to be thrown backwards, and fall on the ground. Before I can figure out how he's so strong, I flip backwards, regaining my stance.

Not to be outdone, I attack as well, without any blue fire enhancing my own punches. He responds in kind, and we exchange blows, equal in power. I grow more frustrated with each punch, hitting harder and harder, only to watch as my little brother easily matches my strength. I keep my mind focused, though, and soon notice a weakness in his form, and follow through, knocking him off balance, and hitting him squarely in the chest.

Seeing him fall to the ground, I relax, and turn around towards Chan, confident in my victory. Next second, I'm hurled against the wall with incredible force, and suddenly Riku's right in front of me, punching me in the face. Instinctively, I counter-attack, kicking him in the chest, and he falls back down. This time, I double check to make sure he won't be standing back up.

Chan goes over to Riku, who is currently unconscious, and begins to take care of him. "Congratulations, Luke, you won."

"But…but…I…What…" I stammer, dumbfounded by what just happened. Since when did Riku get that strong?

"Now you know to never underestimate your opponent. That's the power of the aura. An early form of Force Palm and Reversal if you want to be literal about it."

I stand backwards, fearful. If he's this strong now…I'll be nothing in no time. "Darn it!" I slam my fist down in frustration. "Is this all I can do? Stupid kid's taken everything away from me! Next thing I know, he'll be the leader, and I'll be a pitiful, aura-less, Lucario. If I can even evolve." A few seconds later, I realize that I said that all out loud, and look up at Uncle Chan, hoping for some answers.

"You are anything but pitiful, Riolu. You are a proud warrior. I have power over Fire, Ice, and Thunder, and your brother has power over aura. Now you must find your own strength, and figure out how to surpass your brother."

I wake up early to the morning call; much earlier than I wanted to. I look over at Riku, who's still sleeping despite some movement outside from Team Regret, and can tell that the Watchers have left. I don't even need to look outside, whenever the Watchers leave his face has some kind of peace about it that I'll never understand. He tries to explain it to me often, talking endlessly about how the life-force has returned to Ambera after being sucked dry from the Watchers. He claims that he can see the Pidgeys waking up inside their warm nests, Glaceons stretching for the new day, and for a moment he feels peace. I know that it's a moment he looks forward to each and every day, and is almost impossible to fully describe; not that it stops him from rambling on and on about it. I can tell that a huge weight has lifted off of him. It's almost like every Pokémon's joy from the sunlight fills his aura, which glows brilliantly. But he's still asleep this time, exhausted after last night.

Sometimes when he's explaining his powers I punch him for sounding so arrogant to me and end up getting into a sparring match. It's a good way to start the day anyhow, and I know he annoys me on purpose sometimes just to fight. Thankfully, he spends so much time developing his aura powers that I can still beat him when it comes to martial arts. Now I know that it's probably just because he can't read my thoughts and movements. Meaning, he's probably already gotten more powerful than me, despite being 3 years younger. Not that all the vitamins that he gets to eat helps. Jerk.

My mind's been racing ever since Riku told me he can't read my mind. If that's true…why did dad hide it from me? If there some advantage to it he doesn't want me to know about? Does he just really not care about me that much? Being ignored is one thing, but this? The implications are rather staggering if I think about it. Nobody can read my mind, or detect my presence telepathically. Period. As I begin to think of the ramifications of this, I smile. This could be fun.

An hour later, I realize that I drifted off to sleep again, and a quick glance at the sky tells me that the day's already begun. After licking myself clean and splashing a bit of cold water on my face, I quickly try to wake up Riku also, who's much less willing to begin the day than I am.

"Hey, wake up!" I imagine it must be weird feeling me shaking him despite not being able to see me, even though he sees the rest of the room. I kick him over, but he's still not moving. I think he needs some motivation.

"Come on Riku, wake up or dad will get you up for me!" That sure worked. Riku quickly becomes alert, remembering the last time that he slept in late all to vividly.

I watch as Riku stretches and yawns, waking himself up for the day. As I begin to stretch, he gets ready, finally sitting down with a clear 'do I have to?' expression on his face. He looks pitiful, but I can't help feel for him. I did make a promise, and I'm going to help him whether I want to or not.

"Come on Riku, it won't be that bad. I'll talk to mom, so hopefully we'll be able to get dad to ease up on your training for now." This idea clearly intrigues Riku, who begins licking himself clean. "Maybe he just needs some time, he's never quite been himself ever since Uncle Chan left on that mission a year ago."

After a while, he notices the grin on my face, and asks why I'm so happy. "Are you up to something again? You know what happened last time." And boy do I remember. It was perhaps the only time dad had paid attention to me, and it wasn't pretty. He found out that I had been stealing some vitamins from Belle's storage for my own training. I was sore for weeks. He typically doesn't mind me taking other stuff from his own stash of supplies from his team, but I guess vitamins are a lot rarer than all those scarves and orbs. "Luke?"

I snap back to reality as I get my Ursaring fur jacket. "Nothing you need to worry about. I wouldn't want dad reading your mind and finding out my plans, right?" I say, winking at him. "Oh, by the way, you're training your aura vision today, right?" I had to double check, since my idea depended on that.

Riku started stretching, giving a rather cute yawn at the same time. "Yeah, we're supposed to be fighting and training without opening our physical eyes all morning." Darn it, there's a huge tear in my jacket. I finger it, remembering it from training yesterday. I guess it grew bigger over the course of the day. "No wonder it's torn after all those rock slides you break apart."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll get Belle to stitch it together or get me a new one. Oh, and where's mom right now?"

Riku closes his eyes for a second, concentrating. "She's in the garden, meditating. I guess it's some kind of long-range scouting. Odd…she seems a sad. Almost like how dad was feeling yesterday." Riku openes his eyes, and I can tell he is concerned. "Do you know what's wrong?"

I wish. "Are you kidding? You'd know long before I would. Besides, they keep secrets from us all the time. I'd be the last person to find out. Can't you just read her mind or something?"

"Heck no!"

"Why?"

"She'd kill me! Telepaths can tell when their mind is being read, you know. It'd be like waltzing into one of dad's war meeting and saying 'Hi, mind if I just listen to everything that happens here?"

I sigh. "Sorry I asked. Now I need to get going, and you don't want to be late."

"Still won't tell me where you're going?"

"No. Why are you curious anyway? Can't you just…ah…" I pause realizing the truth. "You can't see where I go, because of fancy mind-block thing." I smile, enjoying this.

"Hpmh. I shouldn't have told you." Riku crosses his arms, annoyed at me. "At least I'll be doing something interesting today. I bet you plan is just to try and steal something now that you know about the mind-block."

I tighten my fist, trying not to get angry after he practically saw through my plans in a heartbeat.

"So…that means you can tell me now. Since I practically know what you're doing." I remain silent. "Please?"

"Ha! Not after that. You go off and do you 'interesting' stuff, and I'll do my boring stuff, thank you very much."

"Pretty please with a Pichu on top?

"No."

"Luke, come on!"

"I said no! What's it matter to you anyway? I'll go wherever I want, it's not like anyone cares about me anyway."

Riku pauses, scratching his ear as he thinks about what I said. "But…I care."

"And who else?" I yell out, saying what's been building up inside for a long time. "Name me one person who would care if I disappeared." Riku stands back in surprise. "And mom doesn't count." So much for not getting angry.

Riku lowers his head, silent.

"I didn't think so." After a bit of uncomfortable silence between us, I speak up again. "Look… I'm sorry for yelling. I'm not angry at you." More like angry all the attention you get. "I won't leave you or anything, I'm just…"

"What about Belle?"

I can't help but laugh at the mention of that grumpy Bellossom. Riku always knows how to make me laugh. "Maybe. I do enjoy teasing him."

"What about that old mountain guy?"

"The crazy hermit? Now you're reaching. He doesn't even recognize me. He thinks I'm some girl he knew way back when. He'd probably be glad if I stopped seeing him."

"Oh, I know! Uncle Chan loves training with you!"

My eyes light up a bit at his mention. "I guess so…too bad he's been gone for so long. Dad's never been the same after he left. Maybe he'll come back someday soon. Now, do you want to spar a bit before you head out?"

Riku doesn't even bother to answer, but immediately dashes at me, trying to hit me, but I quickly jump over it and counter-attack. We have fun for a bit, until Riku pauses, squinting his eyes a bit as his ears perk up. I recognize the expression, as well as the fear, and know that dad is calling for him to come quickly. Without a word, he quickly darts to the door. Then for a moment, he pauses. "You know, Luke, even though he never says anything, dad does care about you. He holds his feelings deep inside, but I can tell. He loves you in his own way, but for some reason is afraid to say anything."

"I appreciate the gesture, but it doesn't mean anything if he never says so."

With that, Riku left, and just like that I am alone. Again. This time, though, I smile. If I'm right, today will be a very fun day.