Hey guys! Back with another chapter and I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. A shout out to Aewynessa, who has been kind enough to give me great advice on both of my stories and who has a great story of their own called The Divine Chronicles: The Last Heir! If you're looking for another pokemon centered fanfic, go check it out. I think it's wonderful and the description and battle scenes are amazing!
Chapter 9
Libras
Queen Valerie gestured to Carson and said, "Tapu Koko."
Kai: "Tapu Bulu."
Stephanie and Jason: "Solgaleo."
Leona and Liam: "Lunala."
Finally, Leonardo. "Zygarde."
The seven Equilibrians, confused and nervous, stood in the throne room of the ice castle at the earliest hours of Friday morning. The sun hadn't even come over the horizon. As soon as the new guardians had been discovered late last night, an emergency meeting had been called at the Ice Domain's castle. Queen Valerie, Bolt, Silver, the king of the Fire Kingdom, and Aris Westney were the ones who met, but Valerie looked like she was expecting more.
Carson leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, trying his best to understand the situation. "So, what you're saying is that the seven of us are what you call 'Libras'?"
King Hollow nodded. "You were chosen by the legends who protect the land to keep balance and order."
"We're not even from here," Liam pointed out with a questioning gaze. "There has to be some sort of mistake."
Aris Westney, the Umbreon, disagreed. "If the lights on the Evolutionary Ruin glowed for you, that means all of you are connected to the creators of the ruins."
"Tapu Koko? Bulu? Evolutionary Ruins?" Leona growled. "None of this makes any sense."
"The Evolutionary Ruins was the place you were just at," Aris explained calmly. "They were created by Solgaleo, Lunala, and the Tapus to test whether or not a pokemon was ready to evolve as well as detect who was given the power of the creators."
"And you said there were two more 'Libras'?" Carson stood up straight, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering.
Valerie sighed. "Yes. They possess power from Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini." She peered around Carson, looking at the ice door as if expecting someone to walk in. "One of them is fighting with our soldiers against the Ultra Kingdom, but the other should be here. We sent for her, but it seems as if she might not show."
Steph noticed the queen's sigh and her I'm-not-surprised face, but ignored it. "So the Tapus are…"
Aris jumped back in to explain. "Ah, yes. Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini were the shelled pokemon you saw statues of at the valley behind the ruins. While Solgaleo and Lunala only help us when it betters the entire kingdoms, the Tapus often will help a pokemon in need or tell someone when they should visit the Evolution Ruins."
"And we have the powers of these legendary pokemon?" Jason inquired. He seemed to be the most calm out of everyone.
"You are descendants of them similar to how the Wild One is Xerneas's descendant," Aris answered. "And you, Leonardo, you possess Zygarde's power."
"That means I do what?" the shiny asked. Completely opposite to Jason, he seemed the most concerned.
"It means your power creates mega stones and Z-crystals," King Hollow responded. "Throughout our kingdom, we use the power of these stones to strengthen ourselves, and since Zygarde can't be here all the time, your presence allows them to be made."
Jason's ears tilted at the sound of a new word. "Now I know what mega stones are, but Z-crystals?"
"They give a pokemon the ability to use a powerful move that is specified by type."
Carson smiled for the first time that night. "Mega evolution and powered up moves, huh? I think I could get used to that."
"Aris, if you wouldn't mind getting everything ready for training," Queen Valerie requested. "I think it would be to our advantage if we brought in Ronan as well."
Aris nodded his head. "Everything should be prepared by tomorrow."
"I'm carrying the power of a pokemon I didn't know existed until a couple hours ago," Kai yawned stressfully. "I just wanted to go home."
"We will not force you to do this, Kai," Valerie informed. "We will inform your parents that you are here as soon as we can, but it is your choice on whether you decide to take this up or not."
"What exactly are we taking up?" the curious Puppy pokemon asked. "All you've told us is that we have...powers of these legendary pokemon we've never heard of."
King Hollow gestured to the Rotom and disguised Mimikyu. "As Bolt and Silver have informed us and the previous Libras, you would be training until your evolution and after that you'll learn to use your powers."
"What exactly are these powers for?" Stephanie asked, confused on her purpose.
"Could you be more specific?" Aris inquired.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, you know the Wild One. The reason she was given powers in the first place was to protect life and fight against death. She trained and learned to use her powers so that she could fight the Battle of Life and Death. She had a point to everything she was doing."
Jason smiled at his sister. He loved listening to her tell the story of their mother. In fact, he just loved listening to
"So what's our purpose?"
The Umbreon paused for a minute, almost fazed by the Eevee's wisdom. "Well, as far as we've been informed by Solgaleo and Lunala, you're simply supposed to master your powers and proceed to help all pokemon in this kingdom."
"Kinda like the Gemini before the discovery of the Wild One," Liam connected as he began to understand.
"If you're willing to take up this responsibility," Aris reminded them.
Suddenly, all eyes were on the Equilibrians. Everything that was about to happen was dependant on what they wanted. They all exchanged questioning and confused glances, unsure. They didn't want to do this. They didn't want to leave their home (what would they even do about school and homework?) and take up all this responsibility. That was something their parents did a long time ago to protect the kingdom. Their lives were normal until they had read the restricted book. All of this was happening because they broke the rules.
Actually, all of this was happening because their parents were keeping secrets of evolution from them.
"I'll gladly do it," Leonardo volunteered selflessly. He was raised to want to help others, and being a Libra was similar to being a Gemini. It was being part of a team, powers from a legendary, and just helping other pokemon. If he did this, he might be able to honor the Wild One, but most importantly: save lives. Becoming a Libra would mean he could give everyone the chance to be strong.
When the royals thought about it, this was a chance their parents got. If they didn't do it, no one else could. Each of them were chosen to have this power, so they had to be somehow worthy of it. Carson glanced around, and his friends each nodded at him, so he spoke on their behalf, "Of course we'll do it."
Though they agreed, Leonardo was the only one who was one-hundred percent sure he actually wanted to become a Libra.
"I'll get everything ready as quickly as I can." Aris nodded respectfully to the queen and left the ice throne room.
As soon as he was gone, Valerie added, "Do not worry. Everyone will remain unaware of your royal status, including Aris."
"We'll alert your parents right away and invite them to our kingdoms," King Hollow informed. "They'll be free to come, stay if they wish, and watch over your training."
"Actually," Bolt buzzed. "Silver and I were told by Solgaleo and Lunala that Equilibrium is to not be informed of the whereabouts of their royals."
"You talk with them?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow. Normally, he would be fascinated, but now everything seemed as if it were set up against him.
"It's actually how Bolt and I managed to find you," Silver stated, her Pikachu disguise smiling.
"Of course it is," Liam sighed, not surprised at this point.
Valerie shot a shocked expression at the Rotom. "If Equilibrium finds out that we had their children, it could start a war between our kingdoms. What is their reasoning for this?"
"We don't know." Silver shrugged but her carefree look remained. "They did inform us that, should Equilibrium declare war on you, they will not win."
"We'll also do everything we can," Carson added. "This is as much our home now as Equilibrium is."
"I'd have to side with Bolt," Kai stated. "Our parents would never let us do this if they knew."
"Wait, wait, wait," Steph growled. "So we're just not going to tell our parents we're okay? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"
…
The Equilibrians spent the rest of the night arguing over the situation with their parents. Leonardo, Jason, Leona, and Stephanie disagreed with not informing their parents of their whereabouts, but Kai, Liam, and Carson managed to convince them to roll with it until they had a better grip on what exactly was happening. The details were a bit blurry. The one thing they did agree on was that their parents must've been so worried about them. They had been gone for over four days now, and the whole kingdom had to be in panic mode right about now.
A good night of sleep (one they needed after travelling a long distance) was followed by the news that they had the day to explore the kingdoms and get to know the pokemon. They wouldn't be announced as Libras for a little while, which would give them a chance to see the Ice Domain and Fire Kingdom for what they were. The cubs decided to put the worrying out of their heads and try to enjoy where they were. No school, no responsibility, just getting to know everyday life in another kingdom. Steph and Jason continued to eat the Oran berry leaves to keep their green eyes and hide their royal identities.
Liam, Stephanie, Leona, and Kai accompanied Aris Westney after Steph had asked him if she could. Then, the green-eyed Eevee dragged them along so as not to look suspicious. Her instincts told her that there was something up with this Umbreon. It wasn't something that made her lack trust in him, but more like he was keeping something very important from them. She wanted to get to know him more, get to know what he did at the kingdom. So, they were now following him around.
Liam, however, was much better at conversing with him. "So you are Aris Westney?"
The Umbreon nodded. "Yes. I think it's safe to assume you've read my books."
"Only all of them!" Liam smiled in amazement. He was a huge fan of the fiction books written by this Umbreon. "I got to play you in A Night's Sky in my last school play."
"I played the Honchkrow," Kai added with a prideful smile. "It was my first time be-woah!"
Kai tripped over a large, white paw with three long nails and hit the stone ground. The pokemon who caused the small Rockruff to fall over stepped aside, and apologized. "Sorry 'bout that, mate." He reached down with his even bigger front paw and helped Kai stand back up. "Didn't see you there."
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where…" Once Kai met the hypnotic, gleaming red eyes, he was at a loss for words. The pokemon before him had a long, red body with white paws, a crazy white mane, and stood on two legs, despite looking like he was meant for all fours.
"Ah," the pokemon chuckled, "I remember when I was a li'l Rockruff."
Kai was speechless, but Aris had a request to make. "Glad we ran into you Logan. These four will be evolving soon, and I was hoping to gain your assistance in training them in a few days."
Despite the frightening look of his gleaming eyes, when the pokemon smiled he looked truly happy. "Anything for you, Aris. Kati and I are always at the arena whenever you need." He looked to the Umbreon's side, finding three Eevee accompanying him. "Any idea what you want to become?"
"Not...quite." Similar to Kai, Liam was confused by the pokemon that stood before him. It was another that he had never seen before.
"Whatta 'bout you?" The red-eyed pokemon nudged Kai, snapping the Rockruff out of his trance. "Midday or midnight?"
"Uh...what?"
"Do you want to be a midday Lycanroc, or a midnight Lycanroc? Ya know. Like me, or the other one?"
"Wait, I-I can evolve into you?"
The Lycanroc blinked at him, confused how Kai didn't know. "Well, yeah." He looked over his shoulder as someone called his name. "Sorry, mate. I've got to go. Kati and I will see ya soon."
Once Logan was gone, Aris chuckled at Kai. "I'm guessing you've never seen a midnight form Lycanroc in Equilibrium."
"No," Kai breathed with a half smile. "But that is so cool."
"It all depends on the time you evolve," Aris stated as he began walking to his next stop. "Eventually some Rockruff would've evolved at night and sent the word out."
"Okay, evolution, cool." Stephanie jogged to walk right beside Aris. "I want to know what you do."
Aris raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"
"Well, besides doing whatever this is."
"You mean preparing for training?" His heart twitched. This girl before him reminded him so much of someone he knew long ago. Their personalities were so similar.
"Yeah, but what's your role at the kingdom?"
"I'm the advisor to the rulers of both the Ice Domain and Fire Kingdom," he answered. "I also, as you know, write books. But, my main role is training all the Libras."
"Do you have powers?" Leona asked.
"No more than the average pokemon."
Steph raised an eyebrow, suspicious of his qualifications. "So then how do you know how to train the Libras?"
He mentally chuckled, knowing she wouldn't question him if she knew exactly who he was. "I've had experience."
"With the other Libras?" Liam guessed.
"One of them, at least. The first Libra I trained was Rhetta Mason, and we moved very quickly. She was very dedicated."
"Just changing subjects here," Steph commented, "but when exactly do we get our powers?"
Aris chuckled. "First, you need to train, then you need to complete your trial at the Evolutionary Ruins, and once you evolve you'll have complete access to your powers."
"And what exactly is this trial?" Liam questioned.
"It's different for every-"
A loud, cracking noise interrupted Aris. The sound echoed through the air and caused stomachs to lurch. Everyone in the city ducked, thinking that a projectile was coming, but no noise came after that. Heads went to the source of the noise: a blue crack in the sky, as if it were cutting space open, surrounded by pulses of purple energy. Dark clouds covered the sky, blocking out the sun and leaving a thick atmosphere. The crack pulled apart, and soft white tentacles emerged, followed by the being they were connected to.
…
Uninterested in Aris, Carson, Leonardo, and Jason were invited by a group of pokemon to come take a look around the Ice Domain. A friendly Luxray, funny Decidueye, and a sweet Lilligant were their company. They visited a few sights, including the ocean, and ended up at the lake where the Equilibrians first discovered they were Libras. By that time, a few clouds had started to cover the skies, but they stayed to talk about the kingdom.
Naturally, Carson and the Luxray split off in their own continued talk of the kingdoms. "So you've never heard of the Libras?" the Luxray asked, unaware that he was staring right at the newest Libra.
Carson shook his head. "No, never."
The electric type looked surprised. "That's really different."
The Riolu shrugged. "I guess I just live too far away."
"But even other kingdoms have heard of the Libras."
"Equilibrium doesn't-well I mean I read a book about Equilibrium that said they didn't know much about our culture." Carson choked as he nearly let the secret slip, but was able to cover it up.
"Yeah, but I still know a lot about Equilibrium. It used to be a monarchy, but now they're a representative democracy. You have the Representative Council that makes the decisions in the kingdom, and each pokemon holds the position for life."
Completely shocked about the Luxray's knowledge of his home, Carson asked, "How old are you?"
"Six, almost seven."
"And you get to know all that?"
"Well…" He paused, confused. "What do you mean by 'get to'?"
Carson bit his tongue as he slipped up again, but it made him think. Why don't I get to know about Ice and Fire?
"You just seem to know so much," Carson stated monotonously, hoping it would save him a second time.
The Luxray chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I'm kind of a nerd. I like to know all about different governments and cultures and how we're different from...let's say Equilibrium."
Carson's eyes widened in curiosity, asking the Luxray to explain.
"My opinion might be biased since I live here, but I think it's one of the best forms of rule. We have kings and queen who were voted into their position, that way everyone gets a say, and they rule for life, but the position isn't hereditary. If the pokemon feel that she's not ruling properly, we can take her from her position and put in someone else. Plus, since the Ice Domain and Fire Kingdom pretty much coexist, no single pokemon makes all the decisions."
"Wow," was all Carson could say.
"Carson," Luxray began seriously, "what do you want to do? As in a job?"
The Riolu chose his words carefully this time, telling the truth but not giving anything away. "I think I'm just going to be doing what my dad does." By that, he meant becoming part of the Representative Council in Equilibrium.
"But is that what you want to do?" When the Luxray finished his question, he was met by confused silence from the fighting type. "Jobs here aren't hereditary. I'm expected to figure out and do what makes me happy. I can do anything I want and learn as much as I desire."
First, Carson smiled in disbelief, but it soon became a look of despair. "I can't believe how much I didn't know. I-uh. Wow, I…"
He never got the chance to finish the sentence due to the sound of something snapping clean in half. The noise was loud and hurt Carson's ears. He looked toward the source of the noise, directly above the lake, where an opening had formed in the cloudy, dark sky. Immediately, every backed away from the water's edge. A few pokemon that had been spending their day at the lake immediately fled as white tentacles emerged from the expanding opening in the sky. Curiosity and shock kept Carson and his friends from leaving, despite their danger senses going off.
The creature used its limb to pull its head through first, showing the 'hat' on its head decorated by multiple stars. It tugged and yanked, desperately pulling its body through the opening, the energy radiating from it becoming stronger. With one final pull, the beast was able to get through.
Time seemed to slow down in Carson's eyes. He immediately recognized it from Leonardo's description: Nihilego, the symbol of the Ultra Kingdom. The amount of power Carson felt with his aura was incredible, practically the same as the cloud pokemon he now knew as Cosmog.
Nihilego seemed confused, suspended in the air, and though it had no visible eyes, its head turned all around as if taking in its surroundings. Then, it seemed to pause on the Riolu. Carson's stomach dropped to the ground. He had no idea if it was looking at him, but at the same time he knew that it was focused on him, as if waiting to pounce.
It was free. Finally. The world was so full of color and light. It was happy, at first, but after it sensed the presence of three certain pokemon, Nihilego became scared. Their auras were similar to the pokemon, powerful pokemon, that it knew from long ago.
Without warning, Nihilego attacked, spraying electric bolts randomly out. Carson, frozen, didn't see the bolt until it hit him head on. The impact threw him to the ground, and the painful electric pulses in his body kept him down.
Leonardo's instincts kicked right in. While he was able to dodge, a few others weren't so lucky, including Liam and Carson. They were struck by the powerful Thunderbolt, slammed against the ground like dolls.
Without missing a beat, Leo replayed the forming of the Thunderbolt in his mind and perfectly mimicked it. Though his own bolt wasn't nearly as powerful, it hit Nihilego head on with powerful sparks flying off.
The beast remained nearly unaffected, but cried out anyway, confused. It floated backwards, crying as if it were being hurt, but not a single scratch was on its body.
Leo almost thought that something was wrong with Nihilego, but was convinced otherwise as small boulders of rock formed around it. It hurled the chunks of rock at him, and in response he rapidly fired his Hidden Power. The glowing blue orbs of dragon power collided with the Power Gem, slowing the rocks down enough for him to get out of the way. They left craters where he once stood.
After seeing how Thunderbolt failed to do much harm, he attacked with his Hidden Power. After Nihilego simply let the attack hit it, it floated away and cried again as if it were scared cub. Hidden Power did more damage than Thunderbolt, but that still wasn't much. Leo was confused by Nihilego's behavior, but had no time to react on it. While the beast was still distracted, Leo acted.
"Get out of here!" the shiny yelled to those still around. To keep Nihilego distracted, he continued to fire his dragon type orbs, surprised at how well he was doing against this supposed powerful pokemon. "Liam! Carson!"
Liam was frozen. His brain shut down, his paws shook. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears that he couldn't even hear Leo calling for him. All he could focus his mind on was the creature in front of him. Despite its friendly look while it swayed in the air, its cry sounded more like a shriek and its tentacles seemed to harshly whip back and forth. His ears fell back against his head, and his eyes widened in fear. This beast was strong, stronger than anything he saw before. Liam knew he wasn't strong. He couldn't fight.
Carson shakily gained his footing, the electricity still dancing in his muscles. His brain, also affected by the Thunderbolt, had trouble letting his eyes focus on his surroundings. He could make out the pokemon fleeing from the lakeside while the shiny pokemon bounced back and forth, firing moves he couldn't quite make out.
When his hearing finally came back to him, Leonardo's desperate voice rang in here ears. "Could use your help anytime now guys!"
Of course he wouldn't abandon a friend in need, or even all these strangers. Once his vision focused enough, he found a rock spiraling at him. The Riolu swung to the side, the rock just barely scratching his arm. He exhaled with relief, clutching his arm. No blood, but it still stung. Focusing back on the fight, he found Leonardo running out of steam.
Nihilego stopped attacking long distance and came in close, spinning through the air with its tentacles surrounded by a dark aura. Leo was desperately running away from Brutal Swing, but couldn't go any further as he was cornered in a semicircle of tall boulders.
Carson bolted, arms swinging by his side as he feet sped over the dirt. He wasn't fast enough to stop Leo from getting brutally hit by the dark type move, but he was fast enough to grab hold of Nihilego. Carson grabbed onto the back rim of the beast's hat, dragging it down before it could float away.
"Leo!" The Riolu called for backup, only to find Leonardo laying in a painful position on the ground. His eyes swiftly darted to the next available pokemon. "Liam I need your help!"
Liam could only watch. He brain wouldn't function, wouldn't tell him what to do. He couldn't remember how to form an Iron Tail or Swift. His muscles shook too much for him to even move. He was afraid.
Carson struggled, desperately trying to hold on. "You have to help these pokemon!"
"I-I," Liam stuttered. He stepped back, fear filling his chest. "I can't."
A row of stars cut through the air, poking Nihilego with sharp edges. It wasn't Liam who fired the Swift attack, but Leo. The shiny Eevee forced himself to run, despite the pain hammering his shoulder.
It was then that the beast decided it had enough. It released an electrical blast, throwing Carson off and knocking the oncoming Eevee back from where it came. It found the Riolu still standing, managing to have been missed by the Thunderbolt, though he looked about ready to collapse.
Nihilego screeched again, sounding a bit more desperate than it had before. Small sparks of psychic energy passed through its skin, forming a large, pink and purple orb in front of its body. The orb only continued to get bigger, taking in great amounts of energy. Carson could feel the deadly psychic move being formed, and knew this might be it. A fighting type was very weak against a psychic type move, and the Psywave was going to take him down hard.
Carson looked to his friends and immediately knew they couldn't help. Time seemed to slow as he saw the condition they were in. Liam was petrified, and Leo was out cold. Luckily, no one else was here to get hurt, but his friends would be. It wouldn't mean much if he got hurt himself, but his friends.
Maybe this is what my parents were trying to protect me from. Maybe this was why they kept information from me. He couldn't know if this beast was mentioned in the restricted book, but if it was, they were keeping it from him for a good reason. This pokemon was way too powerful.
Carons looked at his paws, his dirt covered, cut up paws. They didn't shake. He wasn't afraid. He was okay. I'm okay. He shook his head. This pokemon was exactly something he shouldn't have been kept from knowing. This was why he had to know. Powerful pokemon like this needed to be told about to everyone so that they could know and prepare for the worst. His parents had been trying to protect him, to make sure he didn't get hurt. They had been protecting him the wrong way for far too long. Now, that was his job, a job he needed to do right. He was a Libra.
"I need to protect them now," he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes, energy building up in his chest, and clenched his paws. He felt so small and useless in his ever-growing world. He wanted to be strong, to mega evolve, and to prove who he was. "I have to grow up. I'm-I...I am a Libra."
A slithering, multicolored beam came from Nihilego, cutting swiftly through the air. Instead of moving, instead of dodging, he put his paw up, instinct and adrenaline controlling him. His aura became something real, something tangible, snaking around his arm and forming a shield in front of his body at a simple command. The Psywave fiercely bashed the aura shield, emitting a bright burst of light and an echoing explosion, but the shield remained strong, glowing a bright blue.
The glow, however, wasn't coming from the shield, but from the Riolu behind it. Carson shone with a blue and white aura while his eyes glowed red. The figure that the aura coated began to change as the orb of energy in his heart poured out power. His legs and arms stretched to become longer, the rounded bumps on the back of his growing paws jutted out and pointed at the tops, the small blue ears filled in to fit his longer snout, and the aura-sensing appendages on either sides of his head split, doubling in number and size.
Nihilego cowered back. It was scared. It didn't want to fight. It just wanted to be free from the darkness.
The aura around him shattered, breaking into small shards that evaporated in the air. The shield that the Riolu made was now too small to protect the large, muscular Lucario. With a wave of his paw, the aura lost its shape and retreated back to him. He got into an attacking stance, gritting his teeth. He was ready to protect his friends.
Before either Carson or Nihilego could do anything more, a blur of yellow and orange shot by and slammed into the beast. When the blur slowed, Carson made out the shape of a pokemon with half of a shell on each arm and a long orange plume on its head. The claws at the ends of its arms glowed with a white aura as it slashed at Nihilego with Aerial Ace.
"Tapu Koko," he whispered in awe. Carson's heart linked with the guardian's. He felt every swipe, every time energy was released through the claws. All he did was watch, but his help wasn't needed anymore. He observed the power of Tapu Koko, the pokemon who deemed him worthy of carrying great power.
Nihilego screeched in terror, causing Carson pain. The aura he felt was overwhelming and painful, stabbing his brain with sharp needles. He clutched his head, closing one eye while attempting to keep the other on the battle between Tapu Koko and Nihilego. It was more one sided than it was an actual battle, but the intensity was high.
With one final hit, Tapu Koko knocked Nihilego back through the opening in space it came from. It squeaked one final time as the vacuum sucked it back in, and the crack sealed itself.
The Lucario didn't realize how hard he was breathing until the fighting stopped, until everything was still and quiet. He looked down at his new paws, which had healed slightly, and noticed the spike on the back. He smiled, looking at his arms and legs, feeling his ears, snout, and aura-sensing appendages. He laughed, not believing he evolved. He felt stronger. His senses felt like they were sharply heightened. The world had hundreds of more colors, his heart sent energy pulsing through his veins, his ears picked up on the sound of the small waves, and his paws felt the electricity radiating from…
Carson looked up to find Tapu Koko floating directly in front of him, very close, and took a step back. The guardian closed his eyes happily, as if grinning, and then held out a claw. The Lucario looked at the object Tapu Koko was holding. It was a thin, hexagonal, black and white stone with a diamond-shaped indentation in the center.
Carons felt a powerful aura radiating from the stone. He slowly reached out and took the object from Tapu Koko. At that moment, three bands began to glow on his wrist, painlessly searing into his fur. The outer two bands were orange while the middle was yellow. The Lucario looked questioningly at the stone, the colored bands on his wrist, and finally to Tapu Koko. The guardian bowed to his descendant, and the descendant bowed back, though he was a bit more awkward about it.
"You are strong, Carson. Never forget that."
Just as quickly as he arrived, Tapu Koko was gone, leaving Carson in amazement, yet confusion.