Lucifer stirred slowly. Mew had transformed sometime while he slept. She was a tiny cat again, purring contentedly on his chest, curled around the spike. The tip of her long tail kept tracing up and down his spike lovingly.

She was beautiful. In the afterglow of their love, she seemed positively radiant. It made the breath hitch in the back of Lucifer's throat.

"Mew . . ."

He reached up, stroking her fur softly, but she got up, rubbing his cheek without stopping that adorable purring. Finally, she murmured, "Lucifer . . . Though I don't get to say it as often as you . . . or as romantic as you . . . or as yearning as you . . . I . . ." She pulled back, touching her nose to him. "I love you."

The breath trembled from his throat. "I love you, Mew . . . And hearing that from your mouth is more than enough." They sat in amorous quiet for some time, wrapped in the embrace of the other. It was then Lucifer remembered her bet from the other day, and he gave a low chuckle.

"Mew . . . You lost. You said for last night it was the end of nighttime fun."

He felt her tail flick his nose. "Shut up, you're ruining a good moment."

Lucifer chuckled, nuzzling Mew's nose affectionately. The only sound was their soft breathing, Mew's incessant purring. It was a delight to Lucifer's ears, and he lost himself in the beauty of the sound. Mew . . . and she was all his. The thought made his insides warm.

She sighed. "I hate to break this spell . . . You've even got me doubting that I want to get up today, but . . ." She sighed again before flitting up. "We've got work to do. Today we're registering you for the Hero of the Year competition.

Lucifer made a vague sound in the back of his throat. "Hero of the Year? That one for Sir Aaron?"

"Yeah." Mew crawled forward, touching her nose to his. "I want you to win and be the hero of the year."

"Easy enough," he grumbled, licking her chin. "What's the catch?"

Mew purred again slightly, arching her neck, but she quickly flitted up and transformed for him. Lucifer stared at her—well, himself—no, she as himself, and she threw a wink to him from behind sheer blue eyelashes.

"Well, you're going to win the Hero of the Year festival!"

Lucifer stared at his human form. She looked like him. She had the electric blue eyes, she had the thick blue hair he detested, but his face was pulled up into her bright smile, a stark difference to their personalities. She sounded like him. That slightly graveling voice, rough as the way he spoke, his same tone of voice. The transformation had to be her best yet.

It took Lucifer a moment to understand, and then he smirked. "Oh, I see," he said. He stood, cracking his neck. "You will register as my human name, and I will be doing the fighting in the competition in my Lucario form."

"Yep!" she said brightly. "That way you'll get to hold Sir Aaron's staff and sit in the chair and everything!"

Sit in the chair—?

Mew grinned wickedly, so much like himself that Lucifer didn't doubt she could pose as him, saying, "You'll win both figuratively and literally!" She grabbed his arm, and Lucifer started when he felt her teleport. With a swift dip of his mind, Lucifer staggered when his feet hit the ground.

See, this was why he wasn't a psychic type, and this was why he didn't teleport!

They were just outside the grounds of Cameran Castle again. Lucifer frowned at Mew in his own body. "Warn me next time you teleport."

She just shrugged, throwing him a wink. "You're cute when you're angry. Get over it."

Lucifer scowled, glad his head had stopped spinning. "Well, you're nothing short of irritating at times like this."

"You are so hot." Lucifer jumped when the human equivalent of himself pushed his back into a tree, blazing blue eyes in his vision. Mew cocked her head, focusing on him. "Tell me, Lucifer, have you ever masturbated?"

He blinked in utter shock, most certainly poised to flee from her—she had to be out of her mind!—and then, she was laughing.

She let him go with a wild laugh, all but howling with mirth as tears started to streak down her cheeks. Lucifer scowled deeper, a furious blush on his cheeks, still startled by her sheer audacity, and he turned and stalked off.

Coming into sight of the grand castle, Lucifer felt his ears twitch when he heard excited murmuring. He just glanced at the people who mulled about, but several went flying into the castle with a message. Lucifer ignored them.

Instead, since he had missed breakfast with the sickening teleport, Lucifer found an Oran berry tree. Just as he was about to leap up and get some, he heard a cheery voice intone inside his head.

"Keep your feet planted on the ground and get breakfast!" Lucifer rolled his eyes at Mew's instructions, knowing she was somewhere nearby. "I'm going inside and eating human food—it tastes so good!"

Lucifer's brows pinched at his new challenge. There was no using a Psychic like Mew did—he didn't have the capabilities. He could use a Bone Rush to slam against the tree hard enough that several berries would fall to the ground, but he doubted Mew would be impressed with him hurting the bark of the tree. Any projecting pokemon attack would bring down too many berries at once for only him to eat. He pondered the challenge more until he found an answer.

His aura. If he could concentrate it and throw just a little of it, he could bring them down one by one. Focusing, finding it easier and easier to use his aura, Lucifer sent a tiny spurt up. The berry fell, and he caught it. Easy as thought, he did it several more times as he devoured each berry in turn.

Appetite waning, it was the fourth berry he caught that he realized the commotion was rising around the castle. Glancing over, he saw why—the queen.

She was a bit more elderly now that she had a teenage daughter to secede the throne to, but that didn't diminish her beauty. She had long, curly blond hair. Childbearing hips, they were wide, and it accentuated her slim waist. Green eyes looked out at him, and Lucifer processed her outfit. She did not wear one of her silken, regal dresses, but a cotton one, more fitted for outdoors. The long sleeves protected her from the chill of the wind of autumn.

She smiled when her daughter came running up. "See, Mother? That's him!"

Lucifer resisted a conceited chuckle. So, another came to catch him.

Queen Ilene gave a quiet laugh, waving her daughter back. "It is all right. He is strong, but I am determined."

Then, it all suddenly fell into place for Lucifer. Lucario was not a pokemon native to the region, and rare enough amongst trainers in its native region. To find one in the wild (such as himself) was too tempting an offer for the queen and the princess to pass up. Lucario were famous around these parts—and everyone wished to capture Lucifer because of the legacy Sir Aaron and his Lucario had left behind.

Queen Ilene picked up her pokeball. "Go, Pidgeot!"

Lucifer threw his unfinished berry to the side, delighting in the fight. He wondered half-heartedly in his head whether or not her owning a Pidgeot was a tribute to Sir Aaron owning one.

He contacted Mew through telepathy. "Any restrictions?"

"Nope," she said happily back. "Have at it. I'm coming out to watch."

Lucifer stretched his fingers before moving curiously away from the tree. How would she attack?"

"Pidgeot, use Featherdance!"

Lucifer rolled out of the way quickly, throwing up a Quick Guard when a Wing Attack collided close. As the Pidgeot passed, Lucifer quickly swung his fist and hit the bird square on with a Mega Punch. It squawked before soaring up out of reach. Lucifer looked up, and when the sun almost blinded his eyes from the flying bird, he accessed his aura, letting it flow. The sun dimmed to nothing, and the Pidgeot's aura was clear.

"Now use Agility!"

Lucifer frowned. Utilizing his next attack, he sent an easy Aura Sphere up to the flying pokemon that dove out of the way quickly. Hm. No playing hide and seek—Lucifer would have to take her attacks head on if he expected to hit her.

"All right, Pidgeot, Steel Wing!"

Lucifer backed up several steps as she charged furious before taking an aggressive stance. She dipped low with the attack, and Lucifer parried with a Close Combat.

For every Steel Wing he managed to block it with his fists and feet. Finally, the Pidgeot fell back without getting past his defenses, and Lucifer shot an Aura Sphere back at it. It yelped in pain, and then he heard Queen Ilene say, "Mirror Move!"

Lucifer jolted when a swift Aura Sphere was sent his way, and he groaned low when it collided with him. The first hit he had suffered from anyone except Mew and Mewtwo.

"Wing Attack!"

The onslaught was fast and furious, and Lucifer applauded the queen's training methods before he took the offensive. Using a Feint that failed, he slipped beneath the large Pidgeot's powerful wings before slamming a Force Palm directly into its stomach. The bird screeched in pain, and Lucifer followed up with a Dark Pulse that sent it sprawling on its back.

He whipped out a Bone Rush, charging to the fallen pokemon.

"Fly, my sweet!"

The Pidgeot flew up quickly with a blast of dust in Lucifer's face. He swiped at it, but it retreated beyond his reach. Tracking its moving aura, Lucifer let the Bone Rush disappear and attacked with a Dragon Pulse.

The pokemon dived around it, and he threw up his arms to help ward off the surprising Twister that crashed down on top of him. He tried to stare through it, but he started on the inside—the attack disrupted his vision. The aura ripped across his vision in messy streaks from the churning of the Twister, and he didn't see the Pidgeot dive bomb with a Wing Attack that sent him gasping for breath. Lucifer fell on his back hard before flipping himself agilely to a standing position.

He knocked away the pokeball sent prematurely to him. The queen had obviously thought the consecutive strong attacks were enough to bring him down.

An Extreme Speed saved his butt from another hard attack, and that was when Lucifer felt a cascade of feathers hit him—Feather Dance! Attack cut sharply now, he altered his offensive strategy to suit his limitations. He needed to be careful—low attack, and low defense from his Close Combat. He felt a quirk of a smile touch his lips as he heard Mew's voice in his head—It all went back to the basics! Dodge!

He attacked with a Dark Pulse that cut the air open, determined to end this quickly. It missed from the Pidgeot's sheer speed before it twisted back down with a shocking Steel Wing.

Lucifer grabbed the chance as he saw it. Jumping, he landed on the Pidgeot's back as it veered back into the sky. A rousing gasp was heard from the onlookers when he grabbed on it, and Lucifer slammed a powerful Force Palm into its back. It screeched before a Steel Wing clipped his jaw hard, sending him falling from the sky.

Lucifer twisted around in the air with an Aura Sphere, taking just enough time to aim before throwing it with all his strength as he fell. He hit the ground hard but rolled to a crouched position, in a forward lunge. He whipped out a Bone Rush for safety measures when the great bird hit the ground. However, Lucifer had no worries since it couldn't bring itself back to its feet.

He grunted as the queen returned her pokemon in shock. He let the Bone Rush disappear, and he turned when he felt Mew's presence.

"Good job, Lucifer."

It was still strange to see her as himself, but the queen immediately looked to her. "Is this your Lucario, sir?" she said.

The blue-haired man sent him a playful grin. Mew's blue eyes twinkled. "Yes, he is certainly MY Lucario."

Lucifer snorted, crossing his arms in disdain and not saying anything.

"He is certainly strong. You have trained him impeccably."

He heard himself chuckle. "Yes. I let him roam free, and it seems that more than once he's managed to get trainers after him." Dexter looked at him. "I sometimes wonder if I should let him roam free, but then I don't have the heart to put him back in his pokeball."

Lucifer resisted snorting again—he didn't HAVE a pokeball, and she would get it if she even tried it! He turned to his "trainer" and the queen. She smiled amicably at Dexter. Lucifer silently thanked Mew on the inside that she wasn't being TOO friendly—he never was, and she kept her answers short and non-frivolous.

"It is a wonder he is so strong. Are you planning to participate in the Hero of the Year festival?"

"I plan to," Dexter said, and then, a hand eagerly pumped his.

"Mother is letting me compete as well this year," the princess said, eyes alight. "My name is Sable. I hope I get to battle you."

Dexter nodded shortly before removing his hand from hers. "My name is Dexter, and I thank you for your time, but I must be going." Mew inclined her blue-topped head and moved on, leaving the princess stunned that she had missed her obvious attraction. Lucifer followed willingly.

Mew registered "Dexter" for the Hero of the Year competition with his faithful Lucario. Lucifer cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the next battle to come.

"Now," Mew said in his voice, "there will be limitations. I'll let you know when I see what you're battling against."

Lucifer just grunted. He had expected as much. This competition was more for learning to use his aura in battle well. As such, when the first round began, Lucifer found himself facing a Raticate.

In response, he couldn't use any fighting type moves. Three attacking moves, plus his Quick Guard, fell off the board.

"Raticate, Super Fang!"

Lucifer crouched, let the giant rat come close, and he knocked him back easily with a Bone Rush. The thing squeaked, sprawling back, and the trainer across the field jolted, amazed at how easily Lucifer retaliated.

Taking no time idle, Lucifer charged with a Mega Punch.

"Raticate, use Quick Attack!"

Lucifer changed tactics with a smirk. He evaded easily with an Extreme Speed, leading the Raticate on a wild goose chase until he swiftly turned the tables by turning the chaser into the chased. Lucifer felled the pokemon with a mighty Mega Punch.

He came back to his side of the field where "Dexter" watched silently, assessing his performance. When the Raticate struggled up again, Lucifer gave a straightforward Dark Pulse.

"Dodge it!" Lucifer blinked nonchalantly when the Raticate managed to move. "Double-Edge!"

Lucifer watched it come forward. Then, as it drew near, he twisted out of the way and whipped out a Bone Rush. As it passed, he slammed it into the Raticate's back and let it sprawl across the ground.

The first win went to him.

As did the next ones. Lucifer fought an agile Medicham next. This time, he was restricted to ONLY fighting type moves. That ill-suited Lucifer because he favored his Bone Rush, but he abided by Mew's wishes.

Currently engaged in a deadly dance of Close Combats, Lucifer managed to force the Medicham away with by slapping his hand against it and letting a Force Palm fly. The pokemon grunted and hit Lucifer in the jaw with a swift Sky Uppercut. Unflinching, Lucifer used another Close Combat before back flipping away from a Fire Punch, and he threw an Aura Sphere down to the pokemon. It erupted somewhere near, blinding the Medicham, but Lucifer knew it missed. Landing lightly on his feet, he shot another through the smoke, and the resounding cry let him know of his success.

Only after he had defeated his opponent did Lucifer let himself rub his smarting jaw. He looked to Mew, and the blue-haired man tapped a finger on his lips in thought. "You should have used a Feint regardless of it failing, it would have allowed you to dodge that attack," she finally said in his deep voice.

Lucifer nodded sharply. "I shall try harder," he spoke through telepathy.

Things got more challenging as they went on. When he fought an extremely speedy Rapidash, he wasn't allowed to use his Extreme Speed or Quick Guard, making it so that he was unable to keep up with the pokemon no matter what. To make things even worse, he wasn't allowed any physical moves either, forcing him to use only projecting moves.

After another Dark Pulse missed and he was forced to endure another painful Stomp, Lucifer snarled, put off that he was forced into this difficult position. It was so tempting to just take the annoying fire horse down with a simple Bone Rush, but the point was that Mew wanted him thinking out of the box.

Instead of attacking, Lucifer threw up a ward of aura energy to save himself from a Fire Blast—to which the crowd gave several impressed gasps—and when the Rapidash charged close again, he sent his Dark Pulse directly into the horse's path. It squealed shrilly, tumbling over its feet, and Lucifer leapt upon the chance given. Pelting it with a Dragon Pulse before it could rise, his attacks were quick and direct, consisting of only Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse, and Aura Sphere. He made easy prey of the fallen Rapidash.

It was frequently that Mew restricted him of his Bone Rush—in fact, every fight except for the first one. The only other battle she allowed him to use it was a fight against a Marowack where he could use nothing BUT Bone Rush. He understood that she didn't want him relying on it so much, so he squelched his irritated emotions and let himself succumb to her teachings again.

Several times, he was restricted to no sight and no aura either, just blackness, and he would use the aura to SENSE where his enemy was. It was a difficult way to battle, and taxed Lucifer's patience, but he came out victorious every time.

Mew became increasingly experimental with her orders, but the last battle for the title came, and Lucifer found himself paired with the adoring princess.

"Go, Jolteon!"

Dexter spoke. "Lucifer, use only Bone Rush and Aura Sphere." That was new. "Only defend with your natural speed, not Extreme Speed, and aura wards."

So, that was it? Lucifer assessed his new opponent where the trainer was dressed lavishly in a medieval dress. Not to mention how Mew had dressed "Dexter". She wore the traditional suit of Sir Aaron, exactly how Ash Ketchum had worn it, with the lacing blue boots, the same hat, and the gloves with the rounded jewels on the back.

The final battle began, and before Lucifer could let the girl have the first move, she took it.

"Jolteon, Thunder!"

Powerful, and from the front—Lucifer threw up an easy ward from the aura, blocking the attack easily. The crowd "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed over this, but the Jolteon was charging with a Thunder Fang. Lucifer twisted and utilized his favorite Bone Rush, slamming the pokemon to the ground. In response, an electrifying Thunder zapped him from the toes up.

All his fur stood on end from the powerful energy, and Lucifer gritted his teeth at the sheer power that enveloped him. However, fighting through the attack that nearly made his eyes black out, Lucifer threw all his weight and strength behind a Bone Rush that made the Jolteon squall in pain. Then, he felt sand dashed into his eyes, and Lucifer flinched at the gritty pain on the tender area.

Before he could retaliate, Lucifer felt a staggering pain erupt on his stomach first, and when he twisted, again on his shoulder—a Double Kick!

Without sight, Lucifer flipped backwards far to avoid the foe he couldn't see. However, he made an easy fix of that mistake by peering out with the aura. In response, he saw the glittering aura of the Jolteon dashing forward with another apparent Double Kick on hand, but Lucifer accidentally let his eyes stray to Mew's bright aura that took his breath away. This time, it literally did steal the air from his lungs as he suffered another super-effective Double Kick.

Lucifer gritted his teeth and flung himself away before twisting into an athletic back flip. Jumping up and landing lightly on the edge of the round dome, on the secondary level where people gasped and backed up, he took the chance to scrub his eyes to no avail.

Sensing the Zap Cannon hurtling towards him, Lucifer flipped to the next level and dove down to the side when those Zap Cannons didn't falter. However, busy dodging the attacks, when Lucifer flung his body away from another that made his hairs stand on end he landed lightly on an open balcony—the queen's balcony.

In fact, he landed face-to-face with her, and she seemed to press back into her seat because he was suddenly so close to her. Something about her aura, Lucifer wasn't sure, but something about her aura made him falter, scrutinizing her more. Not flinching, he threw an arm back and an aura ward up, and the Zap Cannon collided with it.

She was impressed with him. Not only that, but she was let down that he was "another trainer's" pokemon. Queen Ilene desired a Lucario, and within this half a second, Lucifer wondered if he could fulfill both her AND her daughter's dream. Mew might be sterile in her core form, but as a Lucario . . .

The thought was too tempting to even finish.

Instead, Lucifer wrapped up the battle quickly by flipping backwards and throwing a powerful Aura Sphere towards the Jolteon. Darting towards the rising smoke, knowing he had missed, Lucifer dove through the dust and swung his Bone Rush and defeated the princess's pokemon. She gave a shout of disbelief.

Lucifer glanced over at "Dexter", and seeing Mew, he threw her a secretive grin. When she saw that roughish smile, a flicker of unease wove its way into her aura.

How he would LOVE to tell her of his idea.