"Nnn?" Roark mumbled, opening his eyes and stretching, the warm feeling spreading through his body. He sniffed the air lightly and smiled; there was food. He stood up and reached for his glasses on the dresser, then sat up in his bed. He blinked as a few bags laid by the couch in his room. "Hm...oh well..." he thought, then bounded down the stairs.
"Hello Roark," Riley muttered with a bashful smile. The egg was resting on a blanket that laid on a side table in the dining room.
"Riley! Cool, you get to stay with us!" Roark exclaimed, running to the boy and messing up his hair.
"Hey!" Riley laughed, fixing the spiky mess.
"Roark, if you have that much energy, maybe you don't want to eat dinner and get dessert afterwards," Lena wagged a finger at Roark, grinning.
"Fine Mom," Roark sighed, sitting down and humming.
"You look pretty happy," Byron commented, taking some of the food that Lena made. "Wow, the lasagna is really good," he told Lena with a smile, making her blush.
"But you didn't get to see us beat Gardenia!" Roark exclaimed, then looked at Riley. "You knew all of Riolu's moves, so that really helped!" He told the other boy.
"Usually our family ends up with a Togepi or a Riolu as a partner because of the Aura that runs in those families," Riley commented. "Riolu's the preferred choice, but my father raised a Togepi until it evolved into a Togekiss," he added.
"Cool," Roark said, eating some of the lasagna as well. "Dad likes Rock and Steel types a lot, but I prefer just the Rock types," Roark said happily.
"So that's why you were so overjoyed about the Cranidos," Riley smiled.
"Not only that, we both prefer Fossil Pokemon," Byron told Riley, who looked a bit confused. "Fossil Pokemon are ancient Pokemon who left fossils that the scientists at the Oreburgh Museum are able to revive. Cranidos and my Shieldon are some examples," he said to Riley, who nodded.
"Roark's been going on about getting his own Cranidos once his father and him go to Eterna City," Lena said, sitting down once she cleaned up the counter. "His grandfather is the 'Underground Man' there and promised to take Roark on a tour of the Underground so that he could find his own fossil," she finished, taking a sip of her water.
"So I guess you don't get to go too often there, do you?" Riley asked Roark, who shook his head.
"There are plenty of fossils around here though, so maybe you won't have to search the Underground itself," Byron told Roark.
"He's right. There's still the mine there, which is much closer and has much easier access than the Underground," Riley told Roark. "Other than that, Roark, you said that you like Rock types, right? The mine's perfect for training then because of the surroundings," he told the red-head.
"I'm still going to try," Roark told Byron with determination in his eyes, then turned to Riley. "Then once I get a Cranidos, we should go train there!"
Lena smiled a smile of relief and looked to Byron, who looked just the same.
"Sure. I have to wait for the egg to hatch though," Riley said, smiling at the blue egg on the opposite side of the room.
"Alright," Roark told him, then continued to eat.
"Riley, if you don't mind me asking, how are you planning to spend your future?" Byron asked Riley, wondering what the response was.
"Well...I thought about taking over the Iron Island Mine," Riley replied after a few seconds, chewing thoughtfully. "It was Dad's, after all," he said, "and I don't want to let it continue to be abandoned..." his voice trailed off, and he shrugged, continuing to eat.
"So you're Tetsu's kid," Byron remarked, causing Riley to choke on his food suddenly.
"Aah! Riley!" Roark exclaimed, thumping Riley's back so that Riley's airway could clear.
"Byron!" Lena exclaimed.
Riley sat up, his ears tearing. "Y-yeah, that's Dad," Riley gasped, catching his breath, then coughed and pounded on his own chest.
"Here," Roark said, handing Riley a glass of water. The black-haired boy gratefully accepted the glass and chugged it down, sighing as his throat was unblocked. He laid back, taking a deep breath.
"Who's Tetsu?" Roark asked, blinking in surprise as everyone at the table cast him a look that told him not to even ask.
"Erm...I guess I'd better not ask," Roark muttered, then began to eat again.
~::~::~::~::~.ヒョウタ. .x. .ゲン.~::~::~::~::~::~
"Bed!" Lena called up to the two boys.
"OK Mom!" Roark called back down, then went to stuff pillows under the door slit. "No way I'm going to bed yet!" Roark laughed to himself, then went to go sit by Riley, who was cradling the egg in his arms.
"Are you warming it up or something?" The brick-haired boy asked Riley, who looked up at him.
"I'm just hoping that the Riolu inside hears me," Riley said quietly, smiling as he laid his ear against the blue egg. "There's a faint tremor coming from it. I guess that means it's there," Riley smiled, then set the egg down on a blanket on top of Roark's nighttable.
"So what do you want to talk about? Oh, you said you live in Jubilife, right? But where did you live before that?" Roark asked Riley, curious to know about his new friend.
"I lived in Canalave City," Riley smiled. "It's a beautiful town. There are bridges connecting everything because ocean water surrounds most everything. There's also a lot of ships coming to and from there, mostly cargo from other regions, like Kanto and Johto," he told Roark. "My favorite place of all was Iron Island though. There's lots of fossils there from what I know, and there's so many Steel-type Pokemon there..." Riley smiled, gazing upwards.
"Of course I know about Iron Island, Riley! Dad takes me there every Saturday to play since he's busy digging fossils. Hey...You mentioned the mine there earlier. It's abandoned?" Roark asked him.
Riley fell silent, the smile fading from his face. "Yeah. Since Dad died because of an explosion there, they had to shut it down," Riley muttered, looking downwards.
"Uh...sorry..." Roark said, looking away pointedly.
Riley sighed. "It's fine. I know it's going to be hard for me to try and reopen the mine in the future, but I can't give up," he said, clenching a fist. "It's my inheritance after all, just like your inheritance is the Oreburgh Gym," Riley said, smiling at Roark with a glint in his eyes.
Roark grinned back, then went to go look at the egg. "Hi Riolu," he said, staring at the blue egg. He could have sworn that it twitched slightly.
"Roark! I know you stuffed pillows under that door! Now turn the lights out and go to bed!" Lena yelled.
Roark cringed. "Uh...OK Mom!" He called back, then sighed as he actually turned the lights out. He jumped as a blue glow came from behind him.
"It's just the aura," Riley chuckled, showing Roark the shimmering blue light.
"So is it some type of energy or something?" Roark asked, gazing at the swirling air.
"Eh, you could say that," Riley replied, then walked over to the bed and let the aura fade away. He blinked as he stared at Roark for a few seconds, then his face grew red. "S-Sorry, I forgot this was your bed!" Riley blushed more, then walked over to the couch.
"It's fine, really," Roark pointed out, stifling a laugh from seeing Riley react like that. "Come on, I don't have a problem with it. It's a big bed anyways," he said, then climbed onto the left side of the bed, removing his glasses and setting them down.
Riley blinked, then clambered onto the other side of the bed and pulled the covers up, momentarily confused as to the blushing that grew across his face. "Good night," he said, shutting his eyes.
"G'night," came the sleepy reply.
~::~::~::~::~.ヒョウタ. .x. .ゲン.~::~::~::~::~::~
"Daddy," Roark said in a sing-song voice.
No reply.
"Daddy," Roark said in the same voice, but slightly more annoyed.
"Mmf."
"DAD! Today's Saturday!" Roark yelled, whacking Byron across the head with a pillow and running away laughing.
"...Oh yeah, I forgot," Byron said, sitting up and stretching. He rubbed his head where Roark smacked him with the pillow and yawned, getting out of the bed.
"You seem excited," Riley smiled as he still laid in the bed, warm under the covers. "EEEHHH!!" He yelled as Roark yanked the covers off, exposing his body to cool air.
"Hey, that woke you up!" Roark laughed, then got attacked by Riley's pillow.
"That's what you get," Riley harrumphed, then paused. He smiled and threw another pillow at Roark, racing out of the room as the red-head chased him with both pillows in hand.
"Roark, if you want to go, best go take a shower," Lena told Roark as the two boys ran into the room.
"Huh? Oh, today is Saturday, isn't it?" Riley asked Roark with a smile. "So that means..." he told Roark, recoiling as he firsthand experienced the red-head's reaction.
"IRON ISLAND!" Roark cheered, yelling at the top of his lungs and dashing back into his room to grab a towel and some clothes.
"Riley, could you wait until Roark gets done to take a shower? He's just so impatient when it comes to this," Lena told him, a little embarrased.
"Sure, I can wait," Riley told Lena politely, smiling a little bit and wincing as he rubbed his ears. He went back to the room and prodded the egg lightly, sitting down on the ground in front of it. "Good morning, Riolu," he said with a kind look.
"How's it doing?" Asked a voice from the doorway.
Riley turned around. "Oh, good morning, Leader," Riley told Byron, then turned back to the egg. "It moves a little bit, so I know Riolu's alive in there," he replied, lifting the egg from the blanket. "It's warm," he smiled, holding it close to his cheek.
"Heh...yeah, sorry about Roark's acting like this, kid. He's always like this about Saturdays, so I'm wondering when he'll break of that habit?" Byron laughed, then turned around to go to the kitchen. "Breakfast should be ready when you finish cleaning," he said, tossing Riley a light blue towel.
Riley caught it and looked to Byron. "Thank you," he said.
"Riley, Riley, Riley, your turn, and hurry!" Roark's voice could be heard from the other side of the house.
"Roark, don't be rushing things!" Lena yelled to Roark.
Riley laughed to himself and stood up, wrapping the egg back up and carrying it with him to keep it safe in case Roark decided to run in and trip over the mess of clothes he made.
~::~::~::~::~.ヒョウタ. .x. .ゲン.~::~::~::~::~::~
"Just how I remember it..." Riley remarked as his blue eyes wandered over the sight of Canalave City.
"I've never actually been to the city itself; we've had Staraptor fly us straight to the island a lot," Roark commented, his red eyes bright as he took in the view as well.
"But you've seen this place a lot when you were much younger," Byron told Roark, putting a hand on his head.
"Really?" Roark asked, blinking. "Well, I do remember visiting the Gym here before...it shut down though, didn't it?" Roark asked him, not noticing the dark look on Riley's face.
Riley was silent, continuing to walk and ignore the conversation at hand. He forced himself not to let any ideas fall into his head; he made a promise.
Byron glanced to Riley quickly, then back to Roark, trying to keep his son's attention away from the other boy's face. "Yeah," he replied shortly, ignoring Roark's confused expression.
"So we're taking a ship to the island?" Riley finally asked Byron, letting go of the thoughts he had after the mention of the Canalave Gym.
"Yep," Byron said proudly, recieving an excited squeal from Roark. "So if we don't hurry, we'll miss it!" He exclaimed, running in the direction of the port.
"Hey! No fair cheating!" Roark yelled after him, waving his arms around wildly. "Come on Riley, we can't let him beat us!" He told the aura user, a determined look in his eyes.
"Got it," Riley replied with the same look, and both of them pelted after Byron with smiles on their faces, catching up to him once they reached the ship.