Chapter 4: Lucario's Story
I didn't get the courage until a few days later, when we were getting ready to stop training for the rest of the night. By this time, Lucario had started teaching me defense.
"Um, Lucario?" I started. "The other night, I couldn't sleep, and I heard you talking about someone named Lopunny. Who is she?" I only said this so he would think I only listened for the first few minutes.
Lucario stopped. After a few seconds, he turned to me.
"I need to take you somewhere tomorrow," he said. "Then, I will tell you."
The two of us were silent that night and I went to bed without a word. I kept wondering who Lopunny was and why she was so important to Lucario. Could it be she was a girl he loved? What happened to her?
The next morning, we left after breakfast. Gallade and Machamp said they would occupy themselves by dueling with each other (I bet they must have been bored all this time).
Lucario and I walked a long time until we got to a large place with a really cool gate. Then I realized: this is a graveyard. We walked farther, past a lot of gravestones. Eventually, we got to a place under an old oak tree. It looked like there wasn't anything there except for an old rock, but then I saw a word engraved on it. It was kind of easy to read it, especially since it was big:
LOPUNNY
I stared at the headstone for a while before looking at Lucario, who kneeled down. It took me a second to realize that he was crying.
"You wanted to know who Lopunny was," he said quietly. "She was special. She knew just what to do when we were married."
I knelt and said, "I thought PokéGuardians weren't supposed to be married."
Lucario reached over and put his paw on the headstone.
"We aren't," he said, "but Lopunny asked the Queen for special permission, and it was granted. We were married the next night."
I looked down and saw some weeds that started crawling up on the headstone. I pulled them out and set them aside. Lucario continued.
"She didn't distract me when I had work to do. She always brought surprises when I was upset at someone or something. Her last surprise was telling me that, if we had a child, she would do her best to raise it if I was too busy. We decided to have a child, but with that decision came tragedy. Lopunny began having severe complications soon after we found she was pregnant. I brought her to the hospital, where she delivered an egg. I didn't realize how close to death she was until she loosened her grip on my paw. I tried to keep her alive, but there was little I could do. Soon, Audino told me she was gone. I wouldn't believe her until Lopunny's paws were cold. Then, Audino told me worse news. She said that the egg was dead as well."
I didn't realize how still I was until my feet started waking up. I fidgeted a little and tried to listen to Lucario's story.
"I left to go to Hitmonchan to give him my resignation, but I actually wandered back home. I stayed awake all night, and Gallade came the next afternoon to find out why I didn't come in the morning. He went straight back and told Machamp, who was a Machoke then, and they came back. Machamp tried to snap me out of it while Gallade cleaned up, but I couldn't come to the present. When I finally came back to my senses, I asked Machamp to turn in my resignation, but he told me it would be better if the three of us left on a journey so I could gather myself. I agreed, and Hitmonchan gave us permission. I grew stronger, just as much as the others did. And now, we're back."
I thought about the entire story on our way back. I noticed that Lucario stopped crying as we left the graveyard. Lucario gave me the rest of the day off, so I started playing around with my belongings. The necklace that Arcanine gave me still looked as strange as it was the day she gave it to me. I tried to guess which pieces were from which item, but I could only identify the Amulet Coin.
Soon, we had dinner and I went to bed. I had a really weird dream that Lopunny appeared and said that I was her son, but I think I woke up out of fear. I can't be Lucario's son! He said his child died with Lopunny!