Chapter 10
First Impressions
Upon seeing Nihilego appear in the sky, both the Ice Kingdom and Fire Domain were put on lockdown. Pokemon retreated to their homes while police and warriors took survey to make sure no one was lost or outside, all while keeping an eye on the Ultra Beast. From their view, Nihilego seemed to be attacking nothing, but of course they couldn't see the three small pokemon inside the crater. Then, when they rounded up the pokemon who had fled from the lake, a Luxray claimed that three pokemon were still there.
The four other Libras, Kai, Stephanie, Leona, and Jason, were brought to the Fire Kingdom throne room and forced to wait. They didn't know where Leo, Carson, and Liam were, but were worried for them.
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Stephanie asked, sounding annoyed but simply worried.
Aris Westney shook his head. "It only happened once, about two years ago, when Cosmog was put under extreme pressure. The castle was under repairs when the scaffolding broke. It used its powers to save the pokemon, but that puts it under a lot of stress."
"So, what?" Leona asked. "Cosmog can just open portals to wherever these Ultra Beasts are."
"Only when put under extreme stress, yes," Aris answered.
Steph furrowed her eyebrows at him. Something just felt off about him. Anytime he said anything felt strange. She couldn't put her paw on it.
"So what did you do last time one of the Ultra beasts came through a portal?" Kai questioned.
"Last time one of our Libras was able to hold it off until a guardian arrived," King Hollow explained, the fire on his bone flickering with concern.
"So the other Libra's taking care of it," Jason assumed, relaxing a bit. When he saw the Umbreon and Marowak exchange grimacing glances, his worry returned. "You said that two Libras have been discovered, right? One's at the front, but is the other one doing something?"
"Currently…" The Umbreon didn't know how to let the green eyed Eevee down gently. "No."
"What?!" Leona barked. "You mean that my family could be getting hurt by an Ultra Beast, you know someone who should be protecting them, and you're not sending him or her out there to help?"
King Hollow quickly shook his head in disagreement. "It's not us, it's-"
He was glad to be interrupted by the opening of the throne room door and a voice. "They're all in here? Great. Thank you."
A Lucario stepped through the open door, stumbling over his own paw and hitting his shoulder against the door. He turned his head to his feet and then his shoulder, the noises surprising him. His paws and legs were wrapped in bandages, and he clearly looked exhausted. Liam and Leonardo followed him, but only Leonardo bore the same exhausted look. When the Lucario saw his Eevee and Rockruff friends, he smiled, showing two new fangs in his mouth.
That's when Aris recognized him. The Lucario's smile caused his stomach to drop and his heart to skip a beat. He stepped back, ears falling flat against his head. How was he here?
"Carson?" Kai called with a questioning tone.
"Oh." The Lucario looked at his new paws and chuckled. "Ha, yeah. I kinda just-"
"You evolved!" Leona shouted excitedly.
Two Eevee and Rockruff ran to Carson, Leona arriving to him and giving him the first hug. Stephanie, while excited about the Lucario, noticed Aris's fear when the fighting type entered the room, and then his relief as Kai said Carson's name. She gave him a questioning glare before running to her friend as well, and he noticed it. However, Aris pushed it out of his mind, thinking he must've imagined it.
"It was amazing, too," Leonardo added. "Thought he was making an Aura Sphere, but then a shield appeared in front of him."
"How does it feel?" Jason asked with curious eyes.
"Weird," he answered, opening and closing his fist. "I keep running into things, and everything's louder."
"You're not quite used to being a Lucario yet," Aris observed with a slightly shaking voice that only Steph picked up on. He cleared his throat, ignoring the signals in his brain telling him that this Lucario was familiar. "You're still walking as if you're a small Riolu. But don't worry. You'll get used to it."
Leona's eyes strayed from Carson to her brother. "Liam?" He looked up and met her eyes, but his face remained grim. "What's wrong?"
Liam shook his head and focused back on the ground. He couldn't talk, not after everything that happened. His mind was still focusing on what happened, on the way Nihilego moved and screeched, on how powerful it was. It still scared him.
Leonardo explained how him, Carson, and Liam had found themselves caught at the lake when Nihilego appeared. He went into details about Carson's evolution, and how Tapu Koko appeared to send Nihilego back to where it came he left out was how Liam simply stood back and watched, but that was only because he didn't notice Liam had tried to help.
Carson held out the stone that Tapu Koko gave to him. "He even gave this to me." Unlike Carson, the others didn't feel the power radiating from it. Still, it intrigued them and caught their interest.
Aris smiled in awe and interest when he saw the stone. "That's a Z-stone. Normally a pokemon doesn't receive it until they've completed their trial, but Tapu Koko must think you're something special if he gave it to you himself."
"So we can evolve without completing the trial?" Leona inferred.
The Umbreon nodded. "Well of course, but you won't receive your Z-stone until you go to the Evolutionary Ruins. Unless, you receive it from a legendary like Carson. I would assume the latter, considering that your Z-power capabilities are beyond the normal pokemon."
Carson examined the diamond indentation in the stone. "And this Z-stone does what?"
"After it's made into a bracelet, a Z-crystal will fit right there," Aris explained, pointing to the indentation. "With the stone you can easily get a Z-crystal at the Evolutionary Ruins and even your mega stone."
"Tapu Koko must think very highly of you," King Hollow mentioned sincerely.
Carson smiled again, keeping the words Tapu Koko told him in mind. The tapu believed he was strong. The tapu believed in him. He had to do this, to be a Libra and protect other pokemon.
"So where was the other Libra?" Jason brought the topic back up, not ready to drop it. "You told us one is on the way back from the front line, but why didn't the other one show up to deal with Nihilego?"
Aris sighed. "We don't want to speak badly of her, so it might be best not to tell you."
"Well if we're all supposed to be a team now we need to know about each other," Leona stated, also upset that her family was in danger.
That's when Steph caught sight of the colored bands seared on Carson's left paw. "I've seen those bands before," she stated, causing everyone to look at Carson's wrist. "The princess of the Ice Domain had the same ones, except they were different colors."
Again, Aris and King Hollow exchanged grimacing glances.
Steph laughed in disbelief. "The princess of the Ice Domain is the Libra who didn't go help my family. They could've died, and she did nothing. Did you even tell her that Nihilego appeared?"
"We tried but…" Aris was at a loss for words. He didn't want to speak badly of Kara. "At first, we were supposed to be meeting everyday, but she never came. Now, I try to meet with her at least once a week, but she doesn't go. Most of the time, no one even knows where she is."
"So she just walks around here, doing her own thing with no regard to anyone's safety?" Leona snorted, rolling her eyes.
"She might come to training tomorrow since the last of the Libras have been revealed," Aris suggested.
Stephanie shook her her. "From what you said, it sounds like she isn't going to show."
There's nothing we can do now," King Hollow sighed, resting his bone against the side of his throne. "We'll have to wait until tomorrow."
Steph rolled her eyes, but grumbled in agreement.
"Please, get a good night's rest. All of you."
…
Upon arriving at the Evolutionary Ruins, the seven heard a strong, female voice from beyond the small waterfall. "So the rest of them, all seven? All at once?"
The water stopped flowing long enough for them to walk through. As soon as the morning light in the valley reached their eyes, they saw two pokemon. One was Aris. The other was a skinny, muscular bipedal pokemon with three red claws on each paw and foot, sleek gray fur, and a red, voluminous mane tied back by a teal band. On her right wrist was a Z-stone bracelet, and on her left wrist were three bands, the outer two a light pink and the middle a darker shade of pink.
While the seven amateur Libras were eager to greet the experienced one, the Zoroark raised a questioning eyebrow at them. "Them? Really?"
Stephanie's eyebrows furrowed and her ears rose in surprise. The Zoroark's tone was not what she expected. She half expected the other one, Princess Kara, to act as if they weren't important, but that was only because Kara didn't help her family when they were in danger. The Zoroark in front of her looked friendly, but based on the tone of her voice, Steph could tell they weren't going to get along.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," Aris half-laughed. "Obviously, they got here first."
"How can they be the Libras?" Her voice was full of disbelief and confusion. "They're not Terrams, they're not from here, and this isn't their home."
"The statues and earth glowed for them, Rhetta. The King and Queen saw it, as did several guards."
"Well, Rhetta," Leona inhaled, attempting to shake off the rough start between them, "I'm Leona, Libra of Lunala's power."
Rhetta sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I apologize. It's nothing against you. I'm not insulting you or your capabilities. It just doesn't make sense why the Tapus of our home would choose foreigners to guard us from the Ultra Beasts, especially when you're all cubs."
"Actually," Steph chuckled, shaking her head. Jason recognized his sister's irritation in her body language. "We're all six, so not cubs."
The dark type nodded and shrugged."Right, well, you're technically not cubs, but until you evolve, you technically still are."
She quickly glanced over the small crowd of mostly Eevee, catching a glance of the unusually small Rockruff and the slim, yet not too skinny Lucario. Her curious eyes paused on him, taking in his features. Though standing wasn't physically hard, he made it seem so. His shoulders were awkwardly pulled back in attempt to stand up straight, and his muscles were tense in the effort it took to hold himself up. It was obvious that his mind wasn't used to the new body. Despite that fact, his kind red eyes and sweet smile brought out a half-grin from her as well. He hadn't said a word, but the aura he gave off was jovial.
"Well, most of you are," Rhetta added, giving a nod to the fighting type. "You must've been the one who fought off Nihilego, and who earned Tapu Koko's colors."
"Uh, yeah, yes," Carson stuttered. He held out his paw. "I'm Carson."
She stared at his red eyes with her light blue ones, getting a feel for his presence. The Zoroark got a certain feeling from him but was unsure of what it was. Something about him felt different, and she stared curiously into his eyes for a few seconds. She didn't shake paws with many pokemon, and those whose did were not from outside her kingdoms. Frankly, due to Terram history, she didn't like outsiders that much, though she hadn't met one off the battlefield until now.
Carson was about to pull his paw back when she extended her own paw and shook his. "Rhetta Mason."
Aris smiled, recognizing the respect Rhetta showed the newly evolved pokemon.
The rest of the introductions were made, but Rhetta didn't extend her paw to anyone else. She made note of all of them, especially Leona and Stephanie. They were the only two girls out of the seven pokemon, and, being a girl herself, she was a big advocate for female power. What also caught her interest were the green eyes of both Stephanie and Jason, who also happened to look very similar. She was able to discard the green eyes, assuming they might take a medication with a side effect, but she knew they had to be related, as did Leona and Liam.
"We're cousins," Stephanie answered, a little too quickly.
Rhetta knew a lie when she heard one. The missing royals from Equilibrium just before the arrival of seven unknown pokemon at the Terram Kingdoms? Those two events were definitely linked, and if they were all Libras, they all needed to trust each other. Right now, though, they were far from that. Rhetta trusted their presence in her kingdoms because she could tell they didn't mean any harm, but that was it. If they were the missing royals, Fire and Ice could end up in a war with Equilibrium.
So, for now, Rhetta pretended to buy their lie. She would have to do her own investigating later. Besides, watching them train with Sir Ronan ought to be fun. She remembered how loathsome and tiring those first days were.
A Greninja, tall and serious, walked into the Valley, eyes focused on the Equilibrians. He glared at them, causing them to freeze. They could sense that he meant business. "These are the other seven?" he asked, not impressed.
"All of them," Aris replied to Ronan.
He nodded. "Good. We'll get started right away. Rhetta!"
"Good morning, Sir Ronan," the Zoroark replied with a pleased smile.
"Has Kara decided to join us today?"
Rhetta shook her head. "I tried as soon as I got back, but it doesn't look like it."
"That's too bad, but we'll have to go one without her. You ready to be the one watching instead of participating?"
"Of course, sir."
Sir Ronan commanded the Libras, excluding Rhetta, to line up. As he paced in front of them, his webbed hands were folded behind his back and the end of his tongue hung down on his back. The Greninja was taller than Carson, and his aura intimidated them.
"Ten laps around the Valley. All of you." Confused by his command, they simply exchanged glances. "Did I stutter! Move it!"
His sudden sharp voice caused the pokemon to jump, and they immediately began running, tracing the edges of the mountain. Stephanie and Leonardo were closer to the front, tailed by everyone else. Carson trailed at the end due to his longer legs, but still kept up.
After one lap, their hearts were beating crazily. The perimeter of the Valley was long, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Then, when they began on the fourth lap, they were exhausted. Only Steph and Leo kept going at the same pace while everyone else slowed. At first, the two Eevee were competing for the lead, but now they were competing with themselves just to keep running.
When they finally finished, their legs were wobbly, their throats were dry, and they gasped for breath. Ronan simply chuckled. "Push-ups, now."
"Are you kidding?" Leona coughed, sweat rolling down her face. "At least let us breathe."
"Push-ups. Now!" he commanded sternly.
"How many?" Steph asked, getting irritated with Ronan.
"As many as I say."
Everyone sighed, but got into push-up position and began repeatedly bending and extending their arms. They were slow, mostly due to the ten laps that left them drained of energy. While they did their push-ups, the Greninja stood in front and lectured.
"My name is Ronan, but you will call me sir or Sir Ronan. I don't like complaining, so you better shut your yaps and do what I say. Under no circumstances will you interrupt me, or else it's ten laps around the Valley. If you think you're strong, trust me, you're not. Water breaks will be once every thirty minutes and lunch will be everyday at twelve-thirty. I want everyone hydrated and fueled. Any questions?" He looked at the seven pokemon, who slowly did their push-ups without a sound. "Good. Now I want another two laps, backwards run, around the Valley. Then grab some water and meet me back right here! Go!"
They wasted no time, not wanting another ten laps as punishment. After just a few minutes, their intimidation of him turned to irritation. They reminded him of Mrs. Sandomir, only instead of homework he gave physical punishments. Just the warm up was more exhausting than their actual training back at home.
When they finished, every stood in line in front of Ronan, breathing heavily and wanting to sit down.
Ronan called Rhetta and an Eevee up to stand opposite to each other. "Name and signature move," Ronan requested.
"Uh, Jason, sir. Could you, uh, please clarify what you mean by signature move?" He swallowed, unsure of what exactly to say next.
"Tell me which one of your moves you can perform the best."
"Right, uh, my signature move is Shadow Ball."
"Show me."
"Uh." Jason glanced to Rhetta, questioning if Ronan's command was to shoot at her.
"What are you waiting for?" Ronan questioned, letting his irritation show through the tone of his voice.
"Aim at me Jason. I can take it," she assured.
He nodded and spread his paws out, evenly distributing his weight. This was his first impression, not only for his new teacher Ronan, but for Aris and Rhetta as well. To add on, he was the first of all his family and friends to show what he had. He wanted to prove to his teachers and new teammate that he at least had potential and would be a valuable asset to the team. For not being on the Battle or Bot teams, he considered himself to be a little strong. Now was his time to find out.
He inhaled and his heart rate increased, sending energy rushing through his veins. It gathered at the front of his mouth, shaping and growing into a deep purple sphere that cackled with purple sparks. Once fully charged, he aimed and shot it at Rhetta. It spiraled through the air, releasing small flecks of purple dust as it flew. Before reacting, Rhetta examined the form and power. She flicked her wrist and her paw became coated with a white aura. With one slash from her Aerial Ace, the ghost type move shattered into particles of energy and dissipated into the air. The Zoroark pulled her paw close, shaking off the pain with a surprised look. Normally, destroying an attack did nothing, but that Shadow Ball really hurt.
Sir Ronan continued to call up the Equilibrians. It gave them a chance to rest and him a chance to see what they were made of. Rhetta was also able to test her new teammates' powers. Liam's Swift left much room for improvement, Kai's Fire Fang left quite a sting but could've been better, Leona's Quick Attack was near perfect, Leonardo's dragon type Hidden Power was phenomenal, and Stephanie's Iron Tail left Ronan with interest. What really surprised him was Carson's signature Endure move, considering it was defensive instead of offensive.
After showing Ronan what they had, he finished the day by making them run more, go through basic drills, and do more push-ups. As he promised, they took plenty of water breaks and had a small lunch of Oran and Cheri berries. This training was more physically challenging than anything they had before. It left them drenched in sweat and with trembling muscles, and their session didn't end until the sun was about to set. Before they were dismissed, however, Ronan had a few words to say.
"First impressions are everything," he barked while they stood in line. "They determine how a pokemon thinks about you from then on, and it's really hard to change that. Right here, right now, I'm going to tell you what impression you've made on me."
"I remember what he said to me," Rhetta whispered to Aris, a half-smile forming on her face.
"I remember not agreeing," Aris replied, raising an eyebrow. "His impression was much different than mine."
"I think they were both right, though."
First up was Leonardo. Ronan stared down at the shiny Eevee, recalling the memories of the Hidden Power. "Good technique, but you need more power."
Liam's Swift, though not too powerful, was perfectly formed. "There's room for improvement, but not terrible."
"Powerful and unique move for your size and species. You may be small, but you definitely pack a punch." Kai knew he was a little smaller than most Rockruff, not by a lot, but enough to notice. It was something he was a little insecure about, but Ronan's comment on his strength helped him feel more confidant.
While the Greninja gave somewhat of a complement to everyone so far, Stephanie was not so lucky. "Overconfident, sloppy, and weak."
Unlike her female cousin, Leona received praise. "Impressive Quick Attack. I expect the same effort with your other moves."
Ronan could tell the Lucario had evolved fairly recently, due to his constant "Strong defense, something most pokemon lack. Don't expect me to ease up on you because you've already evolved. If Tapu Koko gave you that Z-stone, you still have to prove to me why."
Finally, Jason: "Very strong. You know exactly what you're doing."
Rhetta smiled. "You may not have agreed, Aris, and I have no idea if Ronan really believed what he said, but that wasn't the point."
…
Liam emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his drenched head with a soft towel. "He's not as bad as I thought he would be."
"Easy for you to say," Stephanie groaned, planting her face in a pillow. "He didn't call you weak and sloppy."
"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," Jason reassured, placing a comforting paw on his sister's shoulder.
"He complimented all of you except me."
"He didn't compliment me so much as he said I wasn't terrible," Liam pointed out.
"I'm on the varsity Battle team and you act!" She wasn't angry at him, but more herself. After realizing what she just said, she sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"It's okay." Liam smiled in attempt to cheer her up. "I don't know why he said that either. You're probably the best fighter out of all of us."
"Why do you think we work so well together?" Carson asked with a grin on his face. "That was his first impression of you. You can prove to him that he was wrong."
"I want to be strong, you know?" She chuckled sadly at herself. "Mom was strong, really strong, and she still is. I just feel like everyone expects me to do something great like her, and being a Libra is my chance to be like her."
"You know you don't have to be like Mom, right sis?"
"But I want to be. Mom was so strong and I want everyone to think I'm strong too. Now I really can be like her. I can have the same powers from a legendary! I can be like a Gemini." After seeing their unenthusiastic faces, she sighed. "It's different for you guys. You don't want to be like your parents."
"Are you kidding?" Carson laughed. "My mom evolved into a Gallade! Everyone expected me to do something great like that. Now I can mega evolve and you think that's going to be easy? I have to prove that I can do this."
Steph rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Let's do it together, then."
"He called me small," Kai pointed out with a shrug. "If that helps."
"It doesn't," Leona teased. "What would help is finding the princess and getting her to training."
"What's with her, anyway?" Kai questioned. "You guys were getting attacked and she didn't show up."
"Well, Rhetta didn't either," Leonardo defended.
"Rhetta was at the front line of war fighting the Ultra Kingdoms," Liam pointed out. "I saw the princess the moment I walked into the throne room."
"Maybe there's more to her," Jason suggested. He liked to think that every pokemon had a reason for doing what they did.
"I hope so," Leo sighed.
