Chapter 6
The two faced each other on opposite sides of a sand coated battle field. Lucario narrowed his eyes. The opponent before him was well weaned in the art of the battle. Hariyama's skin was scarred from long ago wounds and although age had wearied and tired her muscles, her eyes still burned with a frightening light.
Lucario had been trained in the ways of control, not fight. Control was necessary if one wanted to master aura. Though, he decided, fighting must contain at least a little area of control. That is why, even under the intense pressure of fighting with a master, Lucario never flinched. (A/N Inner Focus)
Hariyama chuckled, a low rumbling laugh. "Are you ready, my student?"
Lucario nodded, quickly getting into the traditional defensive stance. Hariyama did the opposite, aiming more for offense.
Go. The word was not said but the two battlers felt it, a slight tension in each other's muscles, a slight hardening of the eyes. Then they clashed.
Hariyama thrust out with a powerful arm thrust. Lucario, though lacking in the strength sector, easily surpassed Hariyama with agility and speed. Turning a quick midair somersault, Lucario skidded to a halt behind Hariyama, dodging arm thrust.
Instead, Hariyama's hand slammed hard into the ground, sending shockwaves vibrating through the field. While this was happening, Lucario rebounded on the force that had sent him skidding and used it to catapult himself back with a full scale tackle.
Hariyama chuckled again. "You have been trained well."
Lucario was above her and was just about to strike out with his paws but with phenomenal speed uncanny for such a bulky Pokemon, Hariyama turned and retaliated.
Lucario had barely enough time to react when Hariyama's huge hand caught his in a tight fist. She lifted the jackal up in the air and struck out with her other hand. It cannoned into the air with such force that the air barely perturbed it.
Lucario's eyes widened and he knew the end was near. Closing his eyes, he waited for impact. It never came.
Slowly, the jackal-Pokemon's eyes opened. Hariyama's fist was mere millimeters from his face. He realized that if Hariyama had not stopped a milli-second later, he would have been a squashed ghost.
Hariyama was frowning as she deposited the Pokemon gently to the ground. "You have a long way to go if you even stand a chance against my brother."
Lucario nodded, his eyes downcast. "What will I do?"
"Only one thing – train your heart out. Ask Ditto for advice."
Lucario looked at her in surprise. "You know Ditto?"
A small smirk passed her face. "He's a naughty one, I can guarantee that. I should of told you the time he was owned by a little girl name Mosey. He was quite fond of her, and one day, while Mosey was busy chewing her nails over her homework, he transformed into her school principal while the real one was on holidays, fired her teacher than taught the class for a day.
"Needless to say, they got into all sorts of mischief… that is, until the principal came back. Mosey's parents weren't very happy either. Ditto got disowned. In sorrow, he killed himself."
Lucario's eyes widened. "He- he killed himself?"
Hariyama nodded solemnly. "Yes, it's hard to believe such a trouble maker could be so soft, isn't it?"
Lucario thought back to when he first met Ditto. A small giggle escaped his lips.
'"Give me FIVE more minutes, you hear me?" a static filled voice shrieked from the loud speaker. "One more for each time you were late Riley. Next time it'll be SIX minutes. REMEMBER THAT!"
Then, in a quieter tone, it added, "Soon it'll be a year…"'
Soft…? Soon, the giggle became a full blown laugh. He hollered and hugged his stomach to suppress the stitch growing there. "Ditto? Soft? Spare me!"
Hariyama's lips were twitching. "Yes… soft… BWAHH HA HA!"
The two were rolling around on the ground, laughs racking their bodies. Hariyama had never had so much fun before in her life. Lucario was glad all the seriousness of his quest could be forgotten sometime… then he could just enjoy life!
As the sun sank lower in the sky the two stopped laughing, leaning on each other for support as they staggered back to the river bank.
"Well Lucario, I think you better go back now, lest the voices that call for you to stay becomes too strong to resist."
:Lucario looked puzzled. "What do you mean 'the voices that call me to stay'?"
Hariyama looked at the Pokemon in surprise. "You have not heard them yet?" She smiled to herself. "You have a strong spirit."
"…" Lucario looked at Hariyama. "How do I get back?"
"How you came, of course."
Lucario's sweat dropped. "Err… I don't exactly know myself."
Hariyama slapped her forehead. "That Ditto," she muttered. "so naïve!"
She turned back to Lucario. "You should be able to access the Between in the river."
Lucario cocked his head. "The 'Between'?"
"Yes, it is the boundary between the living and the After, hence the name the 'Between'."
"How come you can only access it by water?"
"You know the 4 elements, right?"
Lucario nodded. "Water, earth, fire and air, aren't they? But what do they have to do with the Between?"
"Earth and air are the main elements. Water and fire are secondary, created by the clashing of earth and air. But of course, unless you want to get badly burnt, you wouldn't want to get back to the After using fire would you? So water is the option."
"Umm.. I'm not entirely sure what you said just then apart from that you access the Between using water, correct?"
"Yes."
Lucario cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "Then let's get started!"
Hariyama led him to the same little river he arrived by. It gurgled a watery welcome as he splashed into the center, careful not to be swept away by the strong currents tugging at his paws.
Lucario turned to Hariyama, raising an eyebrow. "Is anything supposed to happen right about now?"
Hariyama allowed herself a small smile. "In ordinary times, you wade into a river and nothing happens. However…"
The old fighting Pokemon strode briskly over to the edge of the stream so she was parallel to Lucario. "If you have escaped the clutches of death numerous times, like I have, you may activate water's portal."
With that, she placed her large hands tenderly on the ground, and dunked her head in the water. Lucario stumbled back, startled by the splash, slipped and fell into the crystal clear river. He momentarily saw Hariyama's eyes glowing an eerie red before he popped back to the surface with a gasp.
Suddenly, the currents tugging at his paws began to spin faster, and more furious by the second. A small whirlwind soon formed, begging Lucario to surrender to its power.
The Pokemon gritted his teeth and held on stubbornly. He knew this was some sort of test… wait, were they the voices Hariyama was telling him about? Either way, he wasn't going to give in.
Lucario stared in fascination as the light from Hariyama's eyes got so bright, that it pierced through the water and shone on his chest spike. Slowly, what started as a small dot grew… and grew… until it was shining completely on Lucario. Lucario closed his eyes. He knew that it was coming…
WHAM!
The sensations crashed into him so hard and sudden that he had barely enough time to collect himself. Once more, the confusion of the Between enveloped him, making his sight suddenly sharper, he taste duller, then switching around again. Lucario winced as his head started pounding, it was all too much for his brain to take. Briefly, he heard Hariyama's soft but strong voice telling him to hold on, and not give up – help is coming.
Lucario set his jaw and waited. But no one came. There were many voices in the Between, and the colours swirling around him were hypnotic… but when he closed his eyes there was only pitch black.
"Help…" one voice cried. "Please help me! My children, what will they do without a mother…?"
"It was never my fault," another hissed, "Silvertown was the one who ditched us at the edge of the Amazon, Silvertown is to blame! We should never have trusted him."
"Cuuuu-bone!" one moaned.
Lucario tried to block the voices but it was no good. They reached his heart, full of Pokemon and human's rants and pleads of help, forgiveness, betrayal… But who was listening? Only him. And they seemed to sense that and moved to crowd in on Lucario, who was already having a hard time with one voice tempting him with the offer to become a Commission member, so he may be with Aaron.
"Won't you give me your soul…?" one whispered, holding out a swirling, colourful hand. "I sold mine to the Devil."
"If only you folk knew what I have been through…" one sighed, drifting away. "If only you knew…"
"Lucario…"
Lucario flinched and writhed as the words assaulted him. Don't listen. Don't listen don't listen don't listen.
"LUCARIO!"
Don't listen don't listen don't listen don't listen don't listen…
"FRIEND LUCARIO, ARE YOU THERE?"
A hoax – don't listen don't listen don't listen don't listen don't listen…
"LUCARIO YOU BAKA, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING? IT'S DITTO! D-I-T-T-O! JUST FOLLOW THE BLUE LIGHT!"
Don't – wait, wha? Ditto?
Lucario opened his consciousness. He scanned the scenery. So confusing… there! A glimmer of soft blue beckoned to him to come closer. Giving way to his instincts, he headed forward. One step, two steps, three…
The light washed over him, and he was back.
A/N Hey hey hey! Sorry for the long wait. School was vvveeerrry busy. Had 2 big projects going on at the same time.
Aaron: Not entirely true. You were intimidated.
Well, yeah. I don't like writing action scenes. Gives me the shivers. But finally, I struck up enough courage to continue, the rest just came naturally! Sorry for the sort of cliffhanger, but you know, I wanted to update soon just to show that I'm not discontinuing this one! Nup. No incomplete story. Next chapter will feature more on the Commision and DITTO!
Meanwhile, enjoy your day!
*log off*
