Sorry for the late update, but I just had finals, but I'll try to get going on the story again. Okay, Lucario appears in this chapter, but he doesn't meet Sakura until later chapters. Picture his voice as a 15 to 16 year old, not the dark scruffy voice from the movie. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 9: The Missing Element
A creature lay in darkened waters, surrounded by darkness with no light anywhere in sight.
Its eyes were closed as if asleep.
Suddenly, the creature's eyes opened slightly, seeing darkness all around it.
'Where am I?' the creature said, its eyes still not completely open.
A voice echoed through the creature's world, making its eyes open a little more.
Though the creature couldn't understand the words the voice spoke, he recognized the voice.
The creature's eyes snapped all the way open and its dark red eyes glowed with anger.
The dark waters the creature was floating in, suddenly disbursed into thin air and the darkened world suddenly became foggy grey.
The creature looked around and stood up.
'Lucario...'
The creature looked through the darkness as if he saw who was talking.
Its eyes narrowed and its red eyes seemed to illuminate through the fog.
'You...' the creature growled as a fire ignited in its eyes.
0
A sudden explosion erupted in the cave and the bug creature with the halo floated into the cave.
Smoke enveloped the bug creature as the smoke made its way out the cave entrance.
The bug creature let out a few coughs from the smoke as two red eyes pierced through the smoke.
A shadowy figure rushed past the guardian, making it jerk in surprise.
A blue dog-like being emerged from the cave entrance, from the smoke and glanced up at the mid-morning sun, before disappearing into the forest.
The bug guardian finally came out of the cave, coughing and saw paw prints in the dirt.
"How could this have happened? Was its hatred that strong?" the bug creature muttered to itself as the smoke from the explosion died away.
OOOOOOO
"Sakura now!" Espeon demanded as an iron bird struggled to its feet.
Sakura pointed her staff at the armored bird and was quickly engulfed by the colorful wind, that brought it into the staff.
"That was absolutely wonderful, Sakura-chan! And in record time too." Tomoyo said as a silver object in the shape of a wing appeared before Sakura.
"But I still wish I had recorded you capturing Venomoth and Alakazam..."
"Do you ever shut up?"
Tomoyo turned around to see Paul glaring at them with Staraptor hovering beside him.
"Hey! Don't talk to Tomoyo-chan that way!" Sakura said facing up to Paul.
"Hmph! I'll talk however I want, loser." Paul shot back.
"If I'm such a loser, why didn't you capture Skarmory?" Sakura said calmly.
Paul growled in anger and was about to say something back, when suddenly his locater started beeping wildly.
"Huh?" Paul said looking at it.
Paul's eyes widened before taking off towards the forest without another word.
"What was that about?" Tomoyo asked.
Sakura shook her head, not knowing the answer.
Espeon stared off into the distance, when suddenly a horrified expression came over its face.
"What is it?" Sakura said looking down at Espeon.
Espeon looked over at the forest and took off.
"Espeon-chan!" Sakura called after Espeon as she started to follow.
0
Espeon ran through the forest, sensing an all too familiar presence.
'Is it really him? If it is... Sakura might not be able to become a Pokemon Master...' Espeon thought anxiously as he ran through the forest.
Paul ran through the forest, following the pulse readings from his locater.
'This reading is much higher than a normal Sealed Pokemon... Could it be a representative?' Paul thought as the reading got stronger.
A sudden gust of wind stopped Paul in his tracks as the pulse readings on his locater died away.
"What?!" Paul said in shock.
Out of frustration, he punched a nearby tree, causing birds to fly out of the tree.
0
As Espeon ran towards the familiar presence, a gust of wind whipped through the air.
Out of no where, a blue dog-like creature appeared before Espeon in a flash of movement.
"Lucario?!" Espeon gasped.
Lucario glared down at Espeon and let out a grunt of annoyance.
Espeon waited for a response, but Lucario kept quiet as he pricked his ears, sensing someone was coming.
"I sense someone with aura power..." Lucario muttered.
"The next Pokemon Master." Espeon said confidently.
Lucario's eyes widened for a brief moment, before narrowing them in disgust.
"That's what you think..." Lucario growled before disappearing in a flash of movement.
"Espeon-chan! What are you doing?" Sakura panted as she caught up with Espeon.
Espeon stared hard after Lucario before looking over at Sakura.
"It's nothing..." Espeon mumbled.
OOOOOOO
As night fell, a small figure darted into the forest.
Moonlight lit up the forest's path and the little creature trotted down the path with seriousness in its eyes.
As the little creature strode into a clearing with a lake and a cave, a bug creature with a halo appeared, hovering over the lake.
"Who goes there?" the bug creature demanded.
"Give it a rest, Shedinja, I know he escaped." Eevee said.
Shedinja sweatdropped and looked hopelessly at the ground.
"Yeah, it was a complete surprise. I didn't think he would be able to break free of the stone's hold on him until someone touched it. Or to be able to transform straight into his strongest form without the nominee's power." Shedinja said.
Eevee nodded and looked up at the crecent moon.
"I'm not much of a guardian if the one I'm guarding runs off on me." Shedinja said.
Eevee shook its head. "It's not your fault, Lucario isn't a normal Pokemon..."
"What do you mean?" Shedinja said.
"He was trained directly by Sir Aaron, so his control over aura is extraordinary. But that's not the only thing..." Eevee said.
Shedinja didn't know what Eevee was trying to tell him, but decided not to press further.
"Here," Shedinja said as the Shiny stone floated down to Eevee. "I'm not the one to be testing the nominee to see if they are worthy to be the next Pokemon Master."
Eevee nodded and walked back towards Sakura's house with the Shiny stone on his back.
"Hopefully, the girl will be able to overcome him." Shedinja mumbled as it watched Eevee disappear into the darkness.
OOOOOOO
"Eevee-chan, where have you been?" Sakura said as Eevee came in through the window.
"And what's on your ba-" Buizel stopped mid-sentence as his eyes widened at the sight of the lightly colored stone Eevee was carrying.
Sakura looked at it in interest as Eevee set it down in the middle of the floor.
"It's the Shiny stone. The stone that held the Metal representative." Eevee said.
"Really?! But where is he?" Sakura asked looking around.
Eevee looked at the ground. "This representative isn't as easy to impress as that jellybag."
Buizel looked up at Eevee and glared, knowing Eevee was talking about him.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"The truth is, I wasn't even aware that Sir Aaron made him of all Pokemon to be a representative." Eevee said.
Seeing the confused look on Sakura's face, Eevee shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find out who he is yourself. And don't worry, that won't be long..." Eevee sighed.
OOOOOOO
It was Sunday morning, and Sakura promised to do grocery shopping.
"Okay, I need bread, miso..." Sakura was cut off when she accidentally bumped into someone.
"I-I'm sorry!" Sakura said bowing in apology.
"Hm? Oh, no problem. I hardly even felt it."
Sakura looked up at a man with spiky, blond hair, who was wearing a blue coat with yellow buttons on the sides.
"Geez, I've been bumping into a lot of people these days. Anyways, sorry again." Sakura said rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.
The man waved a hand in front of him. "Stop apologizing, I already said it wasn't a problem."
"Volkner! Where did you go? Oh! There you are!"
Sakura turned around to see a girl with blue hair run up to them.
The girl's eyes widened when she saw her and walked over.
Sakura was a little surprised by her reaction, but the girl quickly smiled and reached out her hand.
"Hi there! My name is Marina and that's my brother, Volkner. What's yours?" Marina said.
"S-Sakura Kinomoto." Sakura said in surprise shaking Marina's hand.
"Enough chit-chat, let's go." Volkner said walking away.
"Ohh, you're so anti-social! Sorry, but I have to go. See you later, Kinomoto-san!" Marina said as she raced after Volkner.
"B-bye..." Sakura said dumbfounded from the random meeting.
When Marina caught up to Volkner, she sighed in exhaustion.
"Sheesh, you walk too fast." Marina complained.
"You almost gave away yourself when you stared at her." Volkner said.
"But I didn't, besides, it just surprised me." Marina said.
"Well, be on guard next time so you won't be surprised." Volkner said as he gently knocked on the back of Marina's head.
"Ow!"
"I hardly even hit you."
"It still hurt!"
"Quit complaining."
"Hmph!"
OOOOOOO
As Sakura started her way home from the grocery store, her mind kept going back to when she met Marina and Volkner.
'Why did she look so shocked when she saw me?' Sakura thought.
Suddenly, a jolt pulsed through Sakura's body, making her flinch.
'A Sealed Pokemon?' Sakura thought looking around.
A sudden explosion rocked the town, as smoke billowed from the forest near Penguin Park.
Sakura skated as fast as she could towards the forest as the sound of fire trucks was heard in the distance.
OOOOOOO
"Electabuzz, thunder now!" Paul commanded.
Sakura emerged into a clearing as Electabuzz fired his Thunder, creating another explosion.
"Hey! You're drawing attention!" Sakura yelled as Paul just shrugged.
"Well, if people do come, I'll just order Electabuzz to zap them to sleep." Paul said.
"You wouldn't!" Sakura said in shock that Paul would attack innocent people.
Voices where heard coming from the forest and bushes rustling as the Firemen started towards them.
"Get ready." Paul said to Electabuzz.
Electabuzz charged up its energy and the voices drew closer.
"I know! Sleep Powder!" Sakura called out.
Venomoth emerged from the staff and flew over the forest, releasing a blue powder from its wings over the unexpected firemen.
The voices died away and Sakura sighed in relief.
A sudden figure emerged from into the opening and Electabuzz fired another Thunder attack.
The creature dodged the attack and sent a purple x-shaped energy at Electabuzz.
Electabuzz was hit full force and was sent crashing into the ground.
The creature looked like a scorpion with two front claws and a tail with two spikes. Its body had alternate shadings of purple and lavender with turquoise spots on each of its claws.
"Staraptor, Aerial Ace, go!" Paul commanded.
Staraptor took off towards Drapion with great speed as it readied itself for another attack.
"Steel Wing!" Sakura commanded as Skarmory shot out of the staff, headed straight towards the scorpion-like creature.
Drapion sent out another X-shaped energy attack, but seemed to bounce off of Skarmory, unaffected.
Both Skarmory and Staraptor hit Drapion full-force, sending it hurtling backwards.
"Stay out of this!" Paul shouted.
"Staraptor would have gotten hurt!" Sakura said.
"Why does it matter to you, whether or not my Pokemon get hurt, huh?" Paul shot back as he turned his attention back onto Drapion.
"Now, use Whirlwind!" Paul commanded.
Staraptor flew over to Drapion and whipped up a hurricane, enveloping it in the gust.
"Electabuzz, use Thunder!"
But Electabuzz had been poisoned and was writhing in pain, unable to carry out Paul's command.
Paul glared at it with such a cold gaze, Sakura felt sorry for Electabuzz.
"Hmph, Staraptor, Close Combat!" Paul said turning to Staraptor.
Staraptor hit Drapion right out of the hurricane, knocking it out in an instant.
Before Sakura could react, Paul threw another one of his red and white balls at Drapion, capturing it.
Sakura fell to her knees, seeing how quickly Paul had captured it and she hardly did anything.
"Now we're even, loser." Paul said picking up his prize.
A purple plate appeared before him and he placed it in his pocket.
He walked over to Electabuzz and gave it a small kick. "Get up."
Electabuzz had its eyes closed and was clutching its stomach in pain.
"Get up!" Paul said louder as he kicked Electabuzz again.
Electabuzz let out a gasp of pain as Paul groaned in annoyance.
"Stop it!" Sakura cried tackling Paul to the ground, not wanting Electabuzz to be in more pain.
"Can't you see Electabuzz-san is already in enough pain?" Sakura said.
"If he was in enough pain, he would've gotten up. Now get off!" Paul said pushing Sakura off him.
Paul got off the ground and walked over to Electabuzz.
"You've rested enough, get up."
Painfully, Electabuzz got to its feet, wavering with each step.
"Good. Return." Paul said returning Electabuzz into the Pokeball.
Paul looked over his shoulder at Sakura, who had picked herself up off the ground, and narrowed his eyes.
"Just mind your own business and stay out of my way." Paul said walking away.
Sakura looked at the ground sadly.
She had to find a way to free the Sealed Pokemon captured by Paul, she hated seeing them be treated so cruelly.
"I have to do my best to get them back." Sakura said as two blazing red eyes watched her from a tree in defiance.
"If that's the best the next Pokemon Master can do, she doesn't stand a chance." Lucario growled as Sakura headed out of the forest.
To be continued...
Well, this one didn't come out as good as I wanted it to, but oh well. I'm sick right now so I can't think as straight as I want to, anyways, I didn't want to spend too much on Skarmory's capture and focus on introducing more characters to Sakura. I noticed Sakura didn't have that big of a role in this chapter, but I guess it was necessary. Sheesh, Paul turned out very violent in this chapter, it works actually. Hope you've enjoyed it, I'll try to get more chapter up soon. Please Review!