Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other referenced media in this story
/The Land of Rebirth/
The trees had gotten much taller and their foliage much thicker since Rio's last arrival. The leaves now red and orange, giving the area a warm colored light as the Outlander walked through the woods. Ryan wasn't anywhere near Rio when he woke, so the only option he had was to search for him. As the Outlander made his way through the forest, the faintest sound of voices started behind him. Actually, they were coming from all around. Probably not a good sign. Rio eventually made it to the clearing with the stump in the middle, along with Ryan and Third.
"Ah, speak of the devil." Ryan said, waving Rio over.
"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" The Outlander asked. Third cleared his throat.
"Something has happened. As you both can see, the trees getting more and more troublesome as of late. I'm afraid that this place will soon be hazardous for the both of you." Third explained. Ryan nodded and crossed his arms.
"Yeah, I was pretty sure we weren't supposed to get chased outta here last time. What are we supposed to do if we can't come back?" The Lucario asked, which reminded Rio of something.
"Actually, what are we doing? You said this is the Land of Rebirth, but all that did was confuse me more." Rio chimed in. Third sighed, hopping off the stump and floating in front of the two.
"I guess now's as good a time as any to get you both informed about this place. I'll try and keep the complexities out, for Rio's sake." Third said. Ryan and Rio stepped in closer and listened.
"The Land of Rebirth does what the name implies. Any Pokémon that comes here will be born anew, be them Purebred or Outlander. In the case of Rebirthing an Outlander, more specifically one with a pre-existing body, the body's old soul and the soul of the Outlander will be forced to either cast the other out, or join together entirely. Having two souls in one vessel is dangerous, so the inhabitants of this Land try to help the two souls reach a decision as quickly as possible."
"Hold on, back that up a bit. Are we dead?" Ryan asked, getting a nod from Third.
"Very dead, in fact. I know that death is a difficult thing to comprehend for you, my apologies." Third answered.
"Ok, so we're both dead. Then, who's body are we in? Or trying to get in..?" Rio asked, getting a surprised expression from Ryan.
"How are you already passed the fact that we are dead?!?" The Lucario yelled. Rio shrugged.
"Shouldn't it be obvious? There's only one Pokémon here that's dead." Third replied. The other two paused for a second to figure it out. After realizing who's body they were inhabiting, Rio and Ryan crossed their arms and frowned.
"You coulda just told us, Third. Sarcastic prick." Ryan scolded the Pokémon before him. Third giggled and floated around the two.
"Oh please, am I not allowed to a little bit of fun every now and then?" The Pokémon asked. Rio shook his head.
"Didn't you just say that something bad was happening here? I don't think now is the time for fun." Rio pointed out. The other Pokémon sighed and sank down to the floor.
"Yes, you're absolutely right. Forgive me..." Third apologized. "Before it slips my mind, have you yet to remember your real name, Ryan?" The Pokémon asked. The Lucario shook his head and shrugged.
"Not a clue. Why?"
"One of the ways to know when the two souls are ready is when the original Pokémon's soul remembers some of the most important things to them, and usually, one of those things is their name. That is why we've been showing you past memories whenever you arrive." Third explained. The Lucario gritted his teeth and gripped his arms.
"Damn. How could I forget my own name?" He said angrily to himself. Rio put his hand on Ryan's shoulder to comfort him.
"Do not be so upset at yourself, almost every Pokémon forgets their name after their death. It would actually be rather strange if you did remember your name after how long it's been since you passed away." Ryan stared at Third with worry drenched over his face.
"H-how long..?" He asked, growing more fearful of the answer every passing moment. Third covered his mouth, realizing that he might've said too much. The Pokémon frantically shook his head no instead of replying. Ryan grew more terrified of what the answer might be.
"How long have I been dead, Third!!" Ryan yelled, making the small Pokémon float away from him.
"I-I can't tell you yet! I wasn't supposed to even say your were dead until you remembered your fami-!" Third quickly covered his mouth again, but it was too late.
"I HAVE A FAMILY!?!" Ryan yelled before falling to his knees. He stayed there for a while before Rio realized he was sobbing. "I-I had... a family..."
Rio went to put his arm around Ryan's shoulder, instead getting tightly hugged around the chest by the Lucario. The jackal smothered his face in Rio's chest, quietly crying. Third floated back, visibly disappointed in himself. The Outlander was surprised at how quickly things turned sour, and tried to remedy the situation.
"Since you have access to his memories, why don't we find a good one to lighten the mood or something?" Rio asked Third. The small Pokémon nodded and sat on the stump.
"Alright. I'll try." Third replied.
The Pokémon sat there for a moment before a opaque bubble surrounded all three of them. After a few seconds of nothing, the bubble popped to show that the three were in a different location. More specifically, they were heading to a new location. The three had appeared on a large wooden boat out on the ocean. It was dark, but the sky was clear and the sea was calm. On deck were two other Pokémon, a Weavile and a Lucario, the same one from all the other memories. The two were laying on the floor and staring at the sky. As soon as Ryan let go of Rio and realized they were out to sea, and also noticed the two other Pokémon, his face lit up slightly.
"Frost..." He said, a smile trying to appear on his face. The three went closer to hear what Frost and the Lucario were saying.
"So this is you're ship, ain't it? Color me impressed, Frost." The Lucario said.
"Please, do ya really think I own this lil dinghy? My ship would smash this piece of junk into pieces!" Frost boasted. The Lucario snickered and cleared his throat.
"My my, is my little brother trying to have his ship make up for his own shortcomings?" The Lucario said, trying not to laugh while he said it. Frost jumped to his feet and glared at the Lucario angrily.
"I'M OLDER THAN YOU, TWERP!!! And your dumb ass jokes have gotten old!" Frost yelled.
"C'mon Frosty, why the short temper? I thought you'd be the bigger man about such small quips." The Lucario said through snickers. The Weavile stomped on the deck, almost literally fuming.
"Make one more short joke and I swear you're goin overboard!" Frost threatened the jackal, who obviously had another joke waiting to be let out but was too busy keeping himself from laughing to say it.
"Don't be such a twig in the mud, it's not my fault my jokes easily go over your head!" The Lucario finally let out, before being tackled by the Weavile and pinned to the floor.
"You're such a prick, ya twerp!" Frost said. The Lucario laughed.
"You gotta pick one, buddy. I'm no scientist but I don't think I can be a prick and a twerp." The jackal said sarcastically.
"Actually, you're the exception. Congrats, twerp." Frost said. A moment paused before either said anything, and it was really starting to feel awkward.
"So are you gonna get off of me, or do you enjoy being on top?" The Lucario said. "I mean, you are dangerously close to my chest spike. Unless you're into that sorta thing." Frost blushed and quickly jumped away from the Lucario. The jackal getting a good kick out of it.
"Man, you've always been so easy to pick on. Which is strange because you're also the scariest out of the three of us." The Lucario said, sitting next to Frost. The shorter Pokémon shrugged.
"I dunno, maybe it's genetic. My little girl does have the habit of throwin people when they try and pick on her. One time, I tried callin her Minnie and she picked up a table and slammed it on my head! The girl's got some strength." Frost said, smiling as he told the Lucario.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I was training with Koraza the other day and he got a really good bite on me! Look!" The Lucario showed his right arm to Frost, revealing a bite mark on it. "It hasn't even started to heal! Isn't that cool!"
Frost chuckled, softly punching the Lucario in the arm. "So the only thing to hurt the invincible twerp is a child's maw? Ya better not piss of any more children, Ori." Frost joked, getting a chuckle from the Lucario. However, that smile and laughter faded and was replaced with a more worrisome attitude.
"I'm scared for him, Frost. I mean, I'm glad that the experiment worked, but I feel like I might've just thrown my son into something he isn't ready for." The Lucario said solemnly. Frost patted his brother on the back.
"He's your kid, I don't think there's a thing on the planet that'll keep him down, if he's anythin like ya. Besides, it's not like ya could've just, turned it off. It's been a part of you for ages, it only makes sense that some of it got passed down into your kid. But if he turns out exactly like ya and pisses everyone off, I'll watch over him." Frost reassured the jackal. The Lucario smiled and hugged the Weavile with his left arm.
"Geez, how are ya such a softy? You're as cocky as they come, but ya sure as hell worry a lot." Frost said, hugging the Lucario back.
"I dunno, maybe it's genetic." He said. The two chuckled a little before laying back down and gazing at the stars. Frost and the Lucario went on talking about other, much less important, things. Rio, Ryan and Third were already planning on leaving, so they didn't pay either of them any mind. A bubble appeared around the three Pokémon, and the memory started to fade into a splash of blue and purple before the bubble popped, and the trio had arrived at the land of Rebirth.
"I hope that memory put your mind at ease, it was quite enjoyable." Third said to Ryan. The Pokémon realized that Ryan shed a few tears, but not of sadness. "Perhaps that memory meant more to you than I first thought."
"He's my... brother." Ryan said, wiping the tear from his cheek. The Lucario placed his paw over his heart and smiled.
"Wow, you're brother must've meant a lot to you, Ryan. I think this is the first time I've seen you smile!" Rio joked. Ryan laughed a little, wiping another tear from his cheek.
"Maybe it is..." Ryan's smile faded as he looked at Third with a serious expression.
"Y-Yes Lord R-Ryan?" Third stuttered, visibly shrinking under the Lucario's gaze.
"How long does would it take for us to merge our souls together?" Ryan asked firmly.
"M-Maybe a day or two. It would take a substantial amount of focus and energy, so the body would most likely be asleep for that amount of time. But if the two of you learned every memory important to the body, it could cut that time in half." Third replied, scratching it's head.
"How bad would it be if the two of us stayed seperate but in the same body?" Rio asked, getting a serious look from Third.
"Unless the both of you were already compatible in every way, the body would go mad and there would be a risk of losing both souls to that madness. In fact, if the two of you merged without being compatible, the same thing might happen. That is the reason we show the body's memories and why it would take so much energy and focus to merge the two souls without them." The Pokémon answered.
Rio and Ryan looked at each other, then back at Third.
"How do we know if we're compatible or not?" They both asked. Third thought for a moment before answering.
"You wouldn't, not until after the both of you merged. If the two of you liked each other, there would be a chance that you're still incompatible, but even if you were both polar opposites and despised one another, you might still be compatible enough to merge. Even if the two of you learned every memory stored in the body, that isn't a guarantee that you will be able to successfully combine your souls." The Pokémon explained. The Lucario and the Outlander sighed and crossed their arms.
"Then... what would we need to do to expel the other soul?" Rio asked, getting a surprised and worried reaction from Ryan and a frown from Third.
"That's the equivalent of one of you killing the other. The rejected soul would disappear for good, forever bound to the infinite and forgotten. In other words, you don't want to do that." Third told Rio. Ryan didn't say anything, still shocked at what Rio asked and the answer he received.
"What if I just wanted to kick myself out? Give Ryan his body back?" Rio asked, this time shocking Third.
"Y-You would subject yourself to being entirely forgotten? To be torn from the world of the living and the dead??? Rio... what you're asking me is-"
"This isn't my body. The fact that we're trying to get into Ryan's body just means that mine's is probably destroyed or worse. That means that my life and my family are gone for good. But Ryan," The Outlander looked at the Lucario beside him and smiled, "Ryan still has a family. He has a brother who probably mourned his death, and a wife who surely misses him dearly, and a son that grew up without him. He could have a second chance at living without becoming one with me. He can be him again, but I won't be me again."
The other two Pokémon remained speechless. Third had never heard of an Outlander who would willingly throw away their soul for a Pokémon, and Ryan couldn't remember the last time someone would give their life for him. Rio's expression didn't change, showing how genuine he was.
"Rio..." Ryan said, holding his head down. "Rio I can't let you do that for me." When the Lucario looked up, he was crying. "I won't let you get yourself forgotten." The Outlander stared at Ryan for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'll do it if I have to. It wouldn't be fair for me to take you're second chance to be with your family. Like I said, mine is already gone." Rio told the jackal.
"And I won't let you throw your own second chance away. Which is why I decided to-"
Ryan was cut off by the loud roar of some monstrous creature, deep in the forest. The ground started shaking and the sky grew dark. Third started frantically pushing the others into the opposite woods, a fearful look across his indistinguishable face.
"Oh no oh no oh no! You both must leave! There is no time, just go!!!" Third yelled. Rio and Ryan ran back to the first, small clearing with the last ray of sunlight in the center. Before the two departed, they nodded at each other and entered the light.
/Sunset Beach/
Rio woke up to a wave crashing down on him and pulling him out to sea a bit. As he tried to stand, the weak sand under his paws were swept into the ocean by the pull of the waves, toppling over the Lucario. He was in chest high water before he was able to finally stabilize himself and breath. Groggy and soaked with saltwater, it took Rio a minute to get back to shore without falling back into the water. Waiting to greet the Outlander was Minerva, laughing her head off, and Kora, failing to stifle his own laughter.
"Gee guys, way to help me not drown while I'm sleeping!" Rio said, shaking the water from his fur.
"To be f-fair, I was about to go in before you got yourself up. After like, the tenth flip I thought something was wrong." Kora said, failing to justify his inaction to the Lucario. In response, Rio flared up his aura, grabbed Kora's arm, and threw him as far into the water as he could. The fox landed just about where Rio was able to stand. Minerva stopped her laughter the moment Kora hit the water. The Outlander gave the Meowth a sinister smile.
"H-hey Rio, buddy, pal, friend o' mine! What say we, uhh..." The cat was quickly silenced by Rio holding her above his head, and chucking her right at Kora. The two collided and the impact created a huge splash in the water. After a half a minute passed, the fox and cat duo washed up on shore. Reluctantly, Rio helped the two Pokémon to their feet.
"Do ya feel better, furball?" Minerva asked sarcastically, shaking sand and water from her fur. Rio shrugged.
"A little bit. Maybe I should do it again, you know, for good measure." The Lucario replied with a grin.
"It's gonna take me ages to get all the sand outta my fur, if you throw me in again I swear I'll actually blow you up." Kora stated. Rio stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms.
"Now that we've each been thoroughly soaked in salt and sand, shouldn't we probably head back to Zeke and the others? I don't think they know we found you yet." The Outlander pointed out.
"Speakin of findin' Kora, what happened to Eva and her meathead friend?" Minerva asked, knocking some sand out of her ear. Kora sucked his teeth and sighed.
"Kane left and Eva followed him right after you guys went to sleep. Why does it matter?" Kora told his two friends.
"I'm just askin. I don't like either of 'em that much, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna know if they're alright." The Meowth replied. The trio went back to Sunset Square, chatting about how their first few days of training went. Minerva bragged about how she was able to lift Nate overhead with ease, Rio went on about his knowledge of Pokémon types and how much more fit he already was, and Kora spoke about how hungry he was.
"I feel like I haven't eaten in days. My stomach's killing me!" The Zoroark complained.
"Do ya think the Bakery's open? Maybe we can get the twerp a pie before he starts whinin'." Minerva said. As the group arrived at the square and entered the Bakery tent, they were surprised to see Nate and Zeke walking out at the same time with crumbs on their faces and several goody-bags in their claws. The two mentors froze, seeing the anger grow in Minerva and Rio.
"What the hell-" Rio started, clenching his paws and flaring his aura.
"ARE THE TWO OF YA DOIN EATING PASTRIES!?!" Minerva finished, positively fuming. Kora stepped back outside, not wanting anything to do with what might happen.
"We spent all morning trying to find Kora, and the second we get back YOU'RE STUFFING YOUR FACES?!?" The two furious Pokémon yelled. Nate stuttered and stammered but couldn't get any words out, while Zeke tried to keep his cool and respond.
"W-we, uh, we figured out that the two of you already found Kora, s-so we wanted to buy you guys s-some pies to celebrate. Right, Nate?" Zeke managed to say. Nate frantically nodded his head.
"Y-Y-Yeah! These are for you guys!!!" The Feraligtr spat out, handing one of the bags over to the literally-on-fire Pokémon in front of him. Unfortunately, Rio and Minerva didn't fall for it for a second. Instead of reaching for the bag, Minerva grabbed Nate's arm tightly and lifted him over her head, Rio doing the same to Zeke.
"W-Wait! We aren't lying, these are for you guys!!!" Zeke exclaimed, unable to free himself from Rio's hold. Kora stepped to the side when his friends walked out, waving hello to the two older Pokémon above them.
"P-Please don't throw us! We're sorry!!!" Nate begged. Minerva and Rio readied themselves to hurl their masters as far as possible.
"Oh, you're gonna be!!! Honestly, the both of ya really piss me off!" Minerva shouted, throwing Nate as far above her as she could.
"How could the both of you be so lazy! I bet you didn't even look for Kora!" Rio said, his aura flaring up.
"N-No we did!!! Rio you gotta believe meeee!!!" Zeke tried to say as he was thrown upwards with Nate. When they finally stopped ascending, they could barely make out Minerva or Kora on the ground, but could easily spot Rio from his aura. Nate and Zeke screamed and cried as they plummeted back to earth. It didn't take long for them to crash into the dirt, face down and unconscious. The goody-bags landed soon after, with their contents being mostly crushed or, at the very least, smooshed. It's fair to say that the pastries were more well off than their buyers.
"Remind me to never piss the both of you off at the same time." Kora said with a laugh, taking a few of the goody-bags and sitting beside the fallen Pokémon. Minerva and Rio, now much more calm, decided to do the same.
"If tellin ya not to piss me off worked, I'd know it wasn't the real you. It's one of the things you're best at, twerp." Minerva replied, happily eating some demolished Pecha Berry Pie. While the trio ate their fill, Rio realized that someone was oddly absent throughout the day. He couldn't but his finger on it, but the Outlander knew that something or someone was missing.
"It might just be me, but isn't there supposed to be someone else here?" The Lucario asked, swallowing the last of his crushed pastries. Kora and Minerva thought for a minute, or maybe finishing whatever they had in their mouths, before the replied.
"Now that ya mention it... where's the Muscle Head?" Minerva stood up and dusted the crumbs and dust from her body as she spoke. Each of the still conscious Pokémon sighed deeply and got to their feet. For their day off of training, Minerva and Rio were doing a whole lotta of things and hardly any of them were relaxing.
Before they left to find Jax, Rio made sure that Zeke and Nate were still breathing. Carefully pulling the pokemon out of the ground and planting them on their backs, Rio was greeted to the both of them snoring. Somehow, no one was surprised.
/Half an Hour Later, Near the Hot Springs/
Having no idea where Jax could have went, (and also not having any drive left to actually look) Rio and Minerva suggest that they head towards the Springs to see if he was taking a break from his search. He has been looking for his trainee for almost two days now, surely he would take a break every now and then. Maybe they'll be lucky and catch him trying to relax (and join him).
"Honestly, I would believe that logic more if the two of you weren't grinning so much." Kora said, making his two friends clear their throats and try to act serious. It didn't last long. The moment they felt the heat coming from the springs, the jackal and cat nearly melted. Kora groaned, but decided to keep following the two anyway. Who knows, maybe their luck shines the brightest when they're not doing anything productive.
Only minutes away from the paradise of the springs the group stopped. There was a lot of commotion coming from the springs: water splashing and the sound of attacks hitting each other. The feline groaned, a fight being the last thing she wanted or needed now.
"Can't we have a day where someone isn't fightin' someone else? I'm gettin' tired of all these fights!" She complained, promptly getting shushed by Rio and Kora. As quietly as possible, the three snuck into one of the bushes near the Springs. Sure enough, a fight was going on, much to Minerva's dismay.
The first fighter was Zen, the other Pokémon that was oddly absent. The second was a Pokémon none of the three had seen before. It was a mouse looking Pokémon with soft, yellow fur, long ears, and a tail in the shape of a lightening bolt with a heart on the end. Oh what a mysterious Pokémon, how will anyone possibly figure out what it is? On a different note, Jax was laying on the ground with tiny sparks of electricity coming off of him. It's not easy to say if this was a stroke of good or bad luck, or both.
"Ok, so I guess you two were right after all." Kora stated, watching the fight between Zen and the Pikachu.
"This fight looks pretty even, should we join?" Rio asked.
"Why not? The sooner this fight ends, the sooner we get into those heavenly springs!" Minerva replied, bearing her claws. With a quick nod, the trio started to exit the bush when a loud scream froze them. They ducked back down and saw Zen on the floor, struggling to stand up.
"It's a shame, Bisharp. You got some get power behind your attacks, but I guess there's only so much you can do with such slow attacks." The Pikachu said, sparking as she approached the kneeling Pokémon.
"M-My name is Zen." The Dark-Steel Type said weakly.
"I never asked for a name. Maybe you would care if you weren't standing on such a high horse." The Pikachu stated.
"Bite me." Zen spat out. The Electric Mouse laughed, now right in front of Zen.
"Maybe if you played nice." The electricity sparking around the Pikachu started expanding, which seemed like a really bad sign for Zen. As if his body moved on his own, Rio quickly got between the two fighting Pokémon stuck his right arm out at the Pikachu.
"Leave him alone." Rio said firmly, his aura already flared. Zen chuckled and fell to the side, getting caught in Kora's arms. The mouse glared at the jackal for interrupting her attack before she even said it's name, but was impressed at the same time.
"Looks like the cavalry arrived in the nick of time." The Pikachu said, something about her not sitting well with Rio. He remained silent but was ready to fight, glaring at the mouse. The Pikachu laughed at Rio's seriousness. "Why so tense, kid? He isn't your friend or anything, is he? Maybe you're here for the tough guy over there?"
"I'm only going to ask you once. Leave, before I make you." The Outlander's tone surprised everyone that heard it, including himself. The mouse dropped her cocky nature, annoyed that another Pokémon showed up thinking that they're so tough.
"Is this side of the island just a breeding ground for cocky pricks? Tell ya what, how about you make me leave?" The Pikachu said, sparking brightly. Rio's aura flared up differently than it normally does. Instead of having the appearance of flames emanating from his body, it was much more controlled and compacted. It looked more like a solid glow than a raging fire.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, Sparky." Rio said confidently. The yellow rodent fired a Thunderbolt at Rio, which fizzled our as it hit his dense aura.
"How the..." The Pikachu started to say, being rudely interrupted by Rio jumping above her. The Outlander slammed both of his arms down, missing the mouse and cracking the ground below him. The Pikachu jumped a good distance away from Rio, but the moment she landed he was right in her face again. The Electric Mouse evaded as quickly as she could, jumping into the air. Unfortunately for the Outlander, he was going too fast for his own sake and ran into a tree.
"Reckless, cocky, and stupid? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a copy of- AAAAH!!!" The mouse was hit with a Dark Pulse from below. She had carelessly jumped over Zen, who grinned as the rodent fell to the ground from his attack.
"How's that... for too slow?" He said, getting to his feet. Kora and Minerva helped Rio out of the tree and got themselves ready to fight as well.
"Sneaky bastard. Here I thought you had enough electricity in you to make you an Electric-Type." The Pikachu said, rubbing her side. She grinned when she noticed the four Pokémon preparing to oppose her. "Four against one? I knew you lot were arrogant, but cheaters? At least it's fair now."
"You're calling us arrogant? Maybe we'll knock some sense back into you, Sparky." The Outlander replied, ready to fight again. The Pikachu sucked her teeth and got on all fours.
"Call me Sparky again, see where that gets you." She said, her own aura flaring instead of electricity, not that you'd easily be able to see the difference. With incredibly speed, the Pikachu Volt Tackled Zen, knocking him into Kora and shocking them both. Rio tried attacking her again, thrusting his palm out to hit her, but the mouse dodged the attack easily. Before he could move again, the Pikachu grabbed his arm and threw him into Kora and Zen. As soon as the mouse's back was turned, Minerva grabbed her tail and started spinning her around before throwing her up above the trees. The group tried to get themselves back together before their opponent landed, but they must have forgotten that they're fighting an Electric Pokémon with long-ranged attacks.
With little notice, the four Pokémon were battered with Thunderbolts from above. The assault knocked Zen out of the fight, the paralysis effect being too much for him. After landing, the Pikachu quickly tackled Minerva and fired another Thunderbolt at Kora. Rio was fast enough to block the attack on Kora and knelt down, letting the fox jump into the air off his back. Minerva was able to nearly match the Pikachu's speed, swiping and slashing at her opponent with no avail but at least keeping her distracted. The mouse eventually bumped into a tree, funnily enough it was the same one Rio ran into, and Minerva was finally able to attack the Pikachu. Grabbing the Electric-Type's body tightly, Minerva threw her back with all her might, right at the Zoroark.
"Get a load of this! Dark Pulse!" Kora exclaimed, blasting the mouse with a darker Pulse than usual. The attack was met with a powerful Thunderbolt, exploding on impact and sending the two aerial Pokémon away. Kora landed in one of the springs, while the Pikachu landed gracefully on the ground.
"Phew! You kids are a pretty great workout. Maybe I should come around here more often!" The rodent mocked the three, only really irratating Rio however. The Lucario charged down the mouse, swinging his left arm downwards. When his opponent predictably jumped to the left to dodge, Rio pushed off the ground to hit the Pikachu with back, stunning her for a moment. Minerva jumped over Rio and Slashed at the mouse, sending her towards the springs.
"How's this for a workout?" Kora asked, slamming the mouse with an Incinerate directly to the side. When the smoke cleared, much to the Zoroark's dismay, the Pikachu was mostly unaffected. Similar to Rio's aura, the Pikachu's aura was strong enough to negate, or at least weaken, the damage of Kora's attack. As if to anger Kora more, the mouse dusted off her shoulders and turned away from the fox.
"You're right, kid. That was more of a massage." She said, stretching just to piss him off more. Kora pounced at the Pikachu, too angry to realize he fell for her bait, and got hit with a Thunderbolt at point-blank range. The electricity was strong enough on its own, but Kora's water-soaked fur nearly doubled the damage he took.
"Kora!!!" Minerva and Rio yelled, their short moment of worry being stopped by more electricity. The Pikachu hit Minerva with a Thunderbolt, sending the cat back several feet. For Rio, the Pikachu struck his head directly with a few Thunderbolts, dazing the Lucario, and rushed in to attack him directly. Before the Outlander could reorientate himself, he was hit in the gut with a surprisingly powerful punch, knocking him to his knees.
"Iron Tail!" The Pikachu exclaimed, striking Rio in the side of his head with her iron encased tail. Rio's aura dissipated as his body hit Kora's and they both were knocked into the spring.
"It's about time we finished this massage session then. Thunder!!!" The Pikachu said, raising both arms to the sky. A menacing, dark grey cloud appeared above the spring, overflowing with electricity. Kora and Rio started to panic and couldn't get out of the water before the Thunder activated.
"NOOOOO!!!" Minerva shouted, sprinting over to the spring and leaping above Kora and Rio. Whatever her plan was, Minerva was struck with the full force of the attack. For a whole ten seconds, Minerva was taking the Thunder head on, before falling into the water. There was so much excess electricity that the feline's body gave off sparks after the attack finished.
"And then there was two." The Pikachu said, her aura sparking up. Rio and Kora ignored her, lifting Minerva out of the water and placing her near Jax. The two paused for a moment before turning to the Pikachu.
"I told you to leave." Rio said coldly. His aura was darker than before and remained dense and close to his body.
"You really shouldn't have done that." Kora told the Pikachu. A menacing black aura started emanating from the Halfbreed. The sudden change in attitude and tone signaled danger to the Pikachu, not knowing whether or not she'll regret letting this battle go on for so long. Another major red flag was the fact that she couldn't just see their auras, but she could almost feel them. The mouse might've learned enough about Aura to control her's and see others, but she has never felt another aura before.
Kora almost instantly appeared in front of the Pikachu, slashing with bright red claws at her. Whenever she moved to dodge, Kora would react in just the right way to almost hit her. Whenever he planned for it or not, the Pikachu jumped too high for her to move out of the way of any more attacks. Kora slammed his arm into the small Pokémon's side and sending a small pulse into her, sending the mouse towards Rio. The Lucario didn't move, but the Pikachu could sense something happening. Rio didn't react until his opponent was less than a meter away from him, lowering his body and plant both paws on either side. When the Electric-Type was directly in front of him, Rio kicked upwards with great force directly into the Pikachu's back. As the mouse was sent skyward, Rio and Kora stood where she would land, staring blankly up at her. The fox and jackal stood ready to attack her the moment she was in range.
'Not bad. I actually felt that kick.' The Pikachu thought to herself as she fell. Before she reached the top of the trees, the Electric Mouse cloaked herself with intense electricity. When mere seconds away from the two attacking Pokémon, the Pikachu sent two highly compressed bolts of electricity into both of them. Rio and Kora were instantly inflicted with heavy paralysis, neither capable of moving an inch. The most they could do was fall to their hands and knees.
"What is up with you kids sending me to the sky? None of you look like you could have done anything while I was up there, so all you did was give me room to breathe." The Pikachu told the two. She dusted her shoulders and rolled her shoulders. "If you thought more during the fight instead of only trying to hit me, you probably would have had a better chance at beating me. Just like your uppity friend, the amount of pure strength behind your attacks is nothing to scoff at, but if all you think about is solely attacking, you might as well be useless."
With his anger subsided and his mind back with his body, Rio managed to force himself to stand on two feet, before falling back to a knee.
"Y-You're not too sh-shabby yourself, Sparky." He said, panting heavily. The Pikachu smiled and turned away from the Outlander.
"Hmph. If I needed to know I was good, I wouldn't come to some fledgling who can't even fight properly. Maybe your bird-brained mentor can teach you something useful when he's conscious again." The Electric-Type told Rio.
"How d-do you know..." Rio was straining himself just to speak, the paralysis starting to overcome him. The Pikachu turned to her head to him and grinned before jumping into the trees and leaving. Shortly after her leaving, Rio finally collapsed.
/Several Hours Later, Jax's Training Field/
Kora was the first one awake, confused about how he had showed up here. All he remembered was seeing Minerva take a powerful Thunder directly and falling in the Spring afterwards. Whatever damage he took from the Pikachu caught up to him when he tried to stand, some of the paralysis still in his system. The Zoroark noticed Zen, Jax, and his two friends nearby, unconscious and sparking but still very much alive. Rio has his aura faintly surrounding him, and Minerva had a kind of glow to her.
Initially, Kora thought that Zeke and Nate had brought them here, but they were no where to be found. The only other conscious Pokémon around was... another Zoroark. The Pokémon laid on his back, one leg on the other leg's knee, his paws behind his head, and he stared into the evening sky.
"Wh-Who are..." Kora could barely speak, the paralysis seemed to gain its strength back. The Halfbreed breathed heavily and sat back down.
"You still have a ton of electricity inside you. Try not to move too much, and keep your body on the ground." The other Zoroark said. Kora listened, although he was planning on laying on the ground anyway. "For convenience sake, you can call me Z."
"I've never... seen you on the island before." Kora replied. His body really didn't want him talking right now, every sound that escaped his maw took a lot of energy out of him.
"I'm... new. Came here earlier today. Guess it was fate that brought me here to help you." Z replied, pulling a Lum Berry from his mane. "Eat this. It'll help you heal quicker." Z tossed the berry into Kora's paw, who was reluctant to trust the stranger.
"How l-long have I b-been out?" Kora asked, biting into the green berry. It tasted vaguely familiar, not good but familiar none the less. Z pointed up at the stars before answering.
"You tell me. It's basically night time, so you can figure that out yourself." The Zoroark stood up and tossed four more Lum Berries at Kora before starting to walk away.
"Make sure your friends eat those as soon as they can." Z told Kora, waving a goodbye and disappearing into the forest. Kora's paralysis finally faded, but his body was still mostly sore from the battle with that Pikachu. What's more, Kora didn't believe everything that Z said was completely true. From the looks of it, the two Zoroarks wouldn't cross paths anytime soon.
The sky grew dark much faster than Kora expected, but before the sun set, his friends finally woke up. Kora quickly gave the paralyzed Pokémon the Lum Berries he was left and helped each of them to their feet. Unfortunately, Minerva took a bit longer to get up. When the first few minutes passed, the others thought she would wake up any second. But more time passed, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour, and the feline didn't move. Kora started to worry, and to make matters worse, he wasn't able to hear her breathing because his mind was racing and was plagued with countless worrisome thoughts. The longer she took to wake, the more cluttered and unfocused Kora became. Almost an hour passed, and still nothing. Rio and Kora both sat in front of Minerva, waiting for her to move or say something. A snide remark about saving them, or a sarcastic complaint about having her take the Thunder by herself. Kora even wished she'd open an eye and laugh about how worried he looked.
Jax and Zen left the three alone, giving them some blankets and keeping the talking to a minimum. Almost a whole hour passed before Kora or Rio opened their mouths to speak.
"Can you still sense her aura?" Kora asked, turning his head towards the Lucario while keeping his eyes on Minerva. Rio shrugged.
"I can't tell what I'm seeing. I think that Pikachu messed up my head or something, because whenever I try to see aura, all I see is yellow." The Outlander replied. The two remained silent, keeping their focus on Minerva and hardly moving from their spots. You'd think you were looking at two statues in the dark of night.
It was pitch black out when Rio and Kora decided to sleep. They couldn't remember how much time passed, but their already weakened bodies could. Kora curled up around Minerva, making sure her head wasn't covered by anything and giving her enough space to move if she woke up in the middle of the night. Rio laid right next to the fox, making sure he was able to still able to see the feline before going to sleep. The two boys hoped to rise in the morning to good news of Minerva's well-being.