Chapter 3:
She began to walk faster. Her steps seemed to vibrate the furry that was seething in her.
"Hey, what gives?" I asked, floating up to catch up to her. "Why the attitude Miss?' I said, crossing my arms across my chest, frowning while floating next to her. She didn't even feel important to answer my question.
"Don't you think I'm special?" I asked her instead. "I mean, look at me. I'm transparent and I'm floating." I gestured to my body. She stopped dead in her track and looked at me, frowning. The anger was as clear in her eyes as it had been in her steps before.
"Sepcial?" She repeated, looking at me with her sharp, red eyes that seemed to go through me. But then again, they did go through to me. She could probably see the trees behind me.
"You think you're special. Wait till you see this!" She said. She sounded much friendlier now, more like she was trying to show off. But there was something her voice that warned me that this little thing annoyed her more than it made it happy.
She put forth her fists and they began to grow a bright blue. Then, too long whips of bright blue aura appeared out of those hands,, extending nearly as long as 10 meters. They were glowing bright blue and she held them easily. Then she slashed a nearby tree with one of the whips and it immediately turned to a blue crystal tree. My jaw fell involuntarily and my eyes widened at the sight.
The blue crystal tree was beautiful but that wasn't the thing I was shocked at. I know about Lucarios and their auras but this was off the hook. I had never seen a Lucario do something like that and let me tell you, I know the science in this world is advanced enough to know that this was something impossible.
The Lucario looked straight ahead at her magnificent creation, then with the slash of her second whip, she broke the tree down to mere dusts which flew away with the wind. In a few seconds, the tree was gone, leaving me even more baffled.
"Oh, do you think that was special!" She said in a mocking tone. I only stared at her with my jaw open. Then I shook my head. "What the heck was that?" I asked, breaking out into a smile. I was curious now.
"Nothing you need to know," she hissed and then began to walk in the opposite direction of where she was walking before. I was really getting tired of her attitude but there was nothing I could do about it.
"I'm Achu," I said, trying to hide my annoyance and acting friendly even though she barely deserved it. A period of silence followed. I kept following her, floating effortlessly in the sky, hinting that I wasn't going to leave anytime soon. She sighed and said reluctantly: "Rio."
Rio. What a lovely name for a such a special Lucario. Lovely? What the heck was I thinking. She was the single most stubborn, rudest, most moody girl I had ever met. I face palmed. Thanks a lot brain.
"So, what's eating ya?" I asked casually, floating backwards so I would be right in front of her, making it impossible for her to avoid me. "Uh, none of your business,' she growled and I frowned. "What's wrong with you?" She asked.
"Huh," I replied, confused. What was she talking about? 'You, you're transparent," she went on, glancing down at my body with her eyes. What's wrong with you?" She seemed a bit curious about me although her annoyed expression stated otherwise.
"Oh. I'm dead," I shrugged like it was normal. Sadly, to her, it just wasn't. She looked a bit ashamed of herself for asking. 'Wow," She sighed. "I thought I had issues."
I smiled pitifully at her. "Rio, you do have issues," I pointed out to her. "You just need to work them out. Why don't you let me help you?" She looked down at the ground.
"I don't know," She said. "I don't trust anyone out of tribe. For all I know, you could have some ties to those humans. I hate them!" She sounded sincere.
"Ugh, tell me about it," I rolled my eyes. Jenna flashed into my mind. How she had denied that I even existed after claiming that I almost gave her a heart attack and then refused to help me with a simple task: Move on to afterlife. Ok, Ok, I admit it, it was no simple task, but she could've at least tried.
"Really? What got you?" Lucario asked me, looking up to me where I was floating. "Nothing," I looked away. Hey, she didn't share her secret. I didn't feel tempted to share mine. Although, I could never share my secret with her and I would be lying if I did.
"Achu," She said, looking at me with those red eyes, her gaze penetrating through my brain. Her gaze was enough to tell me that she expected me to tell her what it was. Females!
"Sorry Rio!" I mocked her, looking away and swishing my tail at her. "I don't do problems, but I' getting really interested in yours." She looked away too.
"How can I trust you?" She asked me, I turned to her. "Hello!" I said, waving my hands in there. That question sounded pretty dumb for someone who acted so smart earlier.
"I'm dead. I can't touch anyone. I can't hurt anyone. And besides that, not everyone can see me," I said in a captain obvious kind of tone. "So whatever it is that you need me to do, I'd be doing it in stealth mode with invisibility on a whole new level."
She laughed at me. "Good point," she said. She sounded much better when she laughed then she did when she was growling. Still, I couldn't exactly make friends with her. I'd probably become invisible to her when this task was done. I was really gonna miss her when that time would come.
"So, are you gonna tell me or not?' I said, raising my eyebrows. She kicked the ground below her feet. 'It's my brother," she said in a low tone. 'Yes, what about him?" I asked, rushing her forward before she changed her mind about it.
"Anubis," She said his name. "He was following me when I was going out in the woods. You know about my special Aura so my tribe of Lucarios is very protective of me, especially when it comes to those humans. But let me make this clear, I'm no coward. I like an adventure every now and then. I hate being shut up in a place all day and all night." I stomped the ground below her. I put my hand on my forehead.
"Yes, and I suppose this Anubis refused to allow you to go outside," I said. "What no," She answered. I listened carefully. Lucarios sure had strange ways to portray family bonds.
"Actually," she went on with her story. "He's my step brother and he couldn't care less about what happened to me. Or so I thought. I was sneaking out and he followed me. As soon as I realized I was being followed, I began to run. He followed me along, trying to stop me. He shot several aura spheres at me, trying to get me to stop but did I listen to him? No! It only made me run faster to get away from all of it. The tribe, the step brother, everyone."
"Yes," I said, understanding every word she said. After all, I was only in the forest because I wanted to get away from Jenna. I tried not to think about her and focus on Rio.
"I should've listen to him," Rio said, a hint of hurt in her voice. "I encountered one of those humans. He threw out an Arbok at me and told it to attack me. Before I could make a move Anubis interfered and got hit y the Arboks poison sting. He told me to get out of the way and so I did. He battled the Arbok bravely but with each of his moves, I could sense the weakness in him. Finally, the Arkob ended up beating him altogether. That idot trainer! He left after the battle like it didn't matter what would become of us. He didn't even bother to clean up his mess!"
"They never do," I rolled my eyes. That trainer was obviously just trying to train his own pokemons. But I was more interested in what became of this Lucario.
"I tried t help him," Rio went on. "I didn't know he cared. He had fainted but I think there is something wrong with him. I took him back to the tribe but nobody knows how to heal him. Anubis! Always trying to be the hero!"
Wow! Anubis sure did a number on himself for his step sister. At least from what Rio described. For all I knew, this pokemon could lose his life.
Rio on the other hand didn't seem much impressed by her brother's sacrifice. She saw it as a show off while I believe the Lucario was just being noble. But then again, I hadn't met this guy.
"Take me to him," I demanded from Rio. "I know I'll be able to help him." Rio looked taken aback by my offer but I could see in her eyes that she looked at me like I was her only hope.
"Achu?" She said, frowning. There, she was back to the being cold. "What would others think when they see you?" Now, Rio had been dumb precisely twice.
"Rio," I said, trying to explain again. "They can't see me. All you have to do is act all casual and walk up to Anubis. I'll just have a quick look and see if there is something I can do."
"Act casual," Rio repeated, "I could pull that off! Ok, let's move! This way!" Finally, I got through to her!
She led me down an odd path hidden behind the grass and trees. I easily walked through all the trees while she had to move them of her way. It was a while until a spotted a group of Lucarios standing together, whispering something to one another.
"Is this it?' I asked Rio. "Yes," She whispered, probably trying to avoid looking like an idiot by talking to herself.
While she passed by the groups of Lucarios, some of them whispered, taking glances at her every now and then. I think I heard someone say that it was Rio's fault that Anubis was injured and how would she marry him if he died. Females I tell you!
"Where's Anubis," I asked Rio but she didn't answer me. I got the hint to shut up and just follow her. We came to this big tree that had a huge hole in it, making a small room in its trunk. Poor tree! Hey, I'm just saying!
Rio went inside of the tree and was greeted by a much older looking Lucario. "I see you have returned to check on his welfare," he said, geeting up from where he was kneeling, revealing a weak looking Lucario sitting up against the wall.
"I couldn't care less about Anubis Elder dude," Rio shook it off. The old Lucario sighed and so did I. This girl had issues. I floated up to the weak looking Lucario and tried to see the problem.
The Lucario stayed still as he was completely unaware of my presence. I went around him, looking for any physical injuries and then, I spotted it. It was the place where the poison sting must have hit him when he tried to defend Rio. He was poisoned. No wonder he was losing health.
I floated back to Rio. "We need to leave! Quick!" I told her and then began to float out of the tree. 'Ok, catch you later elder!" She called out to him and ran to catch up to me, leaving behind a baffled, elderly Lucario.
Once we had passed all the other Lucarios and were back in the main forest, I stopped to let Rio in on the info I had now.
"Anubis has been poisoned," I explained. "It must be the poison stings. Anyway, we need an antidote." Lucario just stared at me Blankley like I had just said that we'd need to travel to the moon to find a cure for cancer. Zeesh!
'What's an antidote?" She asked me, penetrating me with her red eyes once again. I forgot that I was dealing with a pokemon whose information on the outside world was equivalent to that of a recently born pokemon.
"It's a medicine that can instantly cure poisoned pokemon," I explained. "Drinking it would mean that Anubis will quickly regain his strength. But there's a problem." I put my fingers to chin.
"What problem," Lucario asked. "We'd have to go in the city. The place where humans live," I pointed in the direction of the city. Lucario didn't seemed to dread it but she didn't look to fond of the idea either.
"Ok, but you are going to have to guide me Achu," She said and I was only too happy to oblige. I motioned to her to follow me and she did.
Achu?" Rio asked as I was floating along the path that led back into the city. "How did you die?"
I know exactly how I died but it was a memory I had worked hard to repress because I wasn't too keen on recalling it. Instead, I always tried to remember all the good times I had a human. I had barely lived my life as a Pikachu because I died almost a month after my conversion. "Long story," I told Rio to shrug it off.
She thought I was offended because she didn't ask anymore on the subject. It didn't matter either because now, we were standing right outside Hearthome city. I came to halt in the air.
"Ok Rio," I told the Lucario. "You are going to have to fit in. You know, act like walking in a human filled city is something yo do on a regular basis."
"Why?" Rio asked. I face palmed. "Just do as I say," I told her. 'I know what I'm doing."
She did exactly what I told her to; in the beginning anyway. She walked like the city was nothing new, trying to hide her fascination at all the odd things that surrounded her. But that was the trick right? The people around us had to think that she belonged to some local so that they won't try to catch her.
I floated ahead of her, turning around every now and then to see whether she was following me. I led her to the pokemart where I was sure we could find the antidote. Then, all we had to do was be real careful in shoplifting and our work was done.
It wasn't so easy. As we stepped into the store, Rio looked around at all the different medicines and pokemon items. "Where is the antidote?" She whispered to me.
I looked around too and then, spotted it on the top shelves where a few trainers were standing, browsing through different kinds of potions on the lower rack.
I turned to Rio and was filled with horror. I knew what she was thinking and it was not according to the plan! 'Rio don't!" I yeled to her but only she heard me. Even if she heard me, she still didn't listen to me.
She pulled out those aura whips and slashed them in the direction of the antidotes. It wrapped itself around one of them and Rio pulled it down, bringing down the rest of the stock to in her frantic attempt to acquire one.
"Hey!" One of the owners called out. 'What the heck was that?" Apparently, these people were far too impressed with Lucario's special aura then they were with spotting a shoplifter minus the security cameras. Zeesh!
"It's mine!" One of the trainers called out. Rio ran for the door and in a second, was out of the pokemart. The trainers followed, each of them pulling out a pokeball.
I easily slipped through the walls to see what became of my friend. I saw her surrounded by a Gallade, a Charizard and a Luxray, all three belong to the three trainers around her.
Charizard, on the command of its trainer, used flamethrower on Rio. Alhough she was easily able to doge it, she was hit my Luxray's spark and she fell down. Before she could get up, thr Gallade attacked her with his physco cut. Lucario managed to shoot aura shpheres but they hardly did anything in her defend.
"Rio! Run!" I called out to her. "Just do it! I know what they want and they have almost succeeded!" They were all battling her to catch her and with the special aura like her, she didn't belong with an arrogant human.
Rio pulled back her whips and they disappeared into the plams of her hand. She made a run for the woods, dodging an ultra ball while at it and I floated along quickly after her.
She was injured and badly too. She was barely able to run without stumbling but somehow, she managed to run into the forest and ditch those trainers who were following close behind. Call it, a pokemon's will to live.
She fell heavily to the earth when she came to a halt and panted for breathe. "Rio, are you ok?" I cried worriedly, landing on the ground next to her. She was quite out of breathe and couldn't speak.
As she slowly struggled to her feet, still panting for breathe, I floated up. "I'm fine," She mange to say although her appearance stated that was anything but fine.
"I have to go back," She said, still breathing heavily. My eyes widened. "No Rio! Listen to me!" I said, panicking. I knew the trainers were still looking for her. After she had so foolishly demonstrated her special powers, I doubt that they would give up easily.
"Why should I listen to you?" Rio snapped at me, shutting me up. "You almost got me killed! Go away Achu! I don't need your help!"
I think she was exaggerating. Those traiers wouldn't have killed her, only caught her and about me going away part, it never happened. Not because I didn't go away, because she did. She sped off into the forest, leaving me behind. "Rio!" I called out.
I was panicking on a whole new level now. I was afraid that Rio might do something aggressive in her furry or desperation. I had to do something. But what could I do? This being dead thing is really frustrating!
Jenna. I felt a bolt of electricity flow throw my tail and ears at her name. She had to be able to do something. If there was one person who could stop those trainers from capturing Lucario and acquire the antidote. It was her! The only problem was, she wasn't exactly easy to convince. I couldn't just walk up to her and say, "Hey Jenna! I need you to stop a couple of rascal trainers from capturing my friend. Oh and if you could grab an antidote while you're at it, that be great! Ok thanks!" That would make me look like an insane dead Pikachu which she probably thought I was. But she was my only hope, like I had been only hope for Rio's brother.
I wish Jenna wouldn't be so hostile to me. Females!
Thanks for readinSincere thanks from me and PartTimeEmo for reading this! Leave a review!
Next time on guardian Ghost Pikachu: Will Jenna help Achu? And what will become of Rio? What wpuld happen if she is caught by the trainers?
