"P-pops?" Draco stuttered as he lifted his arm at Robert.
The room fell silent again as Robert stared at the teary eyed Riolu. Sniffling several times as he drew nearer to crying, Robert slowly reached for the Riolu's bleeding paw. Taking hold of it, he slowly pulled out a tiny bit of the vase from the cut and placed it on top of the table.
"Junior, are you okay?" Robert said.
"I-I'm sorry...", Junior said as he began to tear up a bit more, letting out louder sniffles.
"It's okay...", he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.
"B-but, I broke your special vase", Junior asked in surprise as he let Robert dab at the cut.
"It's okay, Junior... it's just a vase", Robert said, causing everyone but Saphia and Junior to grew wide eyed.
"Come on, let's go get that cut cleaned out", Robert said as he wrapped the handkerchief around his paw.
To Saphia, a sudden flash of an image from her memory appeared as she saw her mate once more. She stood there, amazed at how Robert acted differently from what she was told of from the others. Suddenly, Junior began to cry uncontrollably as his head pointed up at the ceiling. The room was filled with his crying as he reached forward with his two short little arms. Picking up Junior, he stood up as he gave the hysterical Riolu a hug as he continued to cry wildly. Closing his eyes, he slowly rocked Junior back and forth in his arms as Susan smiled at him. Draco let out a relieve sigh as he slammed his face onto the floor, Scarlet collapsed onto Draco's back, heaving a large sigh onto the back of his shirt.
~Time Skip: 10 Minutes~
All was quiet in the house. The blizzard continued to go strong through the night. Everyone sat in the living room, not saying anything. Junior had cried himself to sleep and was now lying over his mothers lap, his paw bandaged. The remains of the shattered vase remained on the ground, no one had touched it yet.
"I feel as if I should tell you all of the past of my son and I...", Saphia suddenly said while stroking her sons head.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, but if you want, go right on ahead", Draco said as he looked at the pieces of broken vase on the floor.
Feeling a paw rest on her arm, she looked and saw that it was Susan.
"Sweetie, if you're ready, then please go right on ahead", the Mightyena said.
"I will not share with you my entire past, but only the ending of my clans existence... all but myself and my son", she said as she looked around the room.
Everyone had their eyes on her, ready to finally hear the Lucario's past. Casting a single look at Robert, she turned away again and took a deep breath, bracing herself as she began to bring back that single horrible memory of what had happened in the end.
"I was being chased through the snow capped forest with son in my arms... my mate had told me to run from the village with my son...", she began.
~Storytime~
Her breath came in and out in short repetitions as she dashed through the dense array of trees. Hearing the panting and crunching of snow behind her, she knew that her attackers were not far behind. Making a sudden turn, she dodged a giant blast of fire as one of the Houndoom's unleashed a fiery Fire Blast at her. Moving her unconscious son into her left arm, she brought her right paw to her chest and focused up an Aura Sphere. Leaping into the air, she whipped her body around, launching her attack at the Houndoom's, striking the closest one directly in its face. The hit Houndoom dropped to the ground, dead with it's head snapped back from the force of the Aura Sphere. Once she landed on the snow, she was struck by a Houndoom as it struck her with a Flame Charge attack.
Slamming back first into a tree, she panted as she struggled to keep her eyes open from the pain of the fire effective attack. Dropping her free paw into the snow, she slowly readied a Metal Claw attack from the cover of the snow. The last of the two Houndoom's both readied a Flame Charge attacks and then charged forward. Swinging her paw, she stabbed her claws through the skull of the right most Houndoom, but was thrown through the tree as the last Houndoom blew her through the tree. Both panting, Saphia and the Houndoom stood staring at one another. Staggering to her feet, she leaned her son against the base of a tree.
"Does it really take THAT long to kill a single Lucario?" A voice asked.
"I'm sorry, boss, but this one's tough", the remaining Houndoom said as he seemed to cower from the voice.
"Ha! The Alpha of that pathetic clan of Lucario's was stronger than this...", a Houndoom dropped from the trees, landing beside the Houndoom.
This Houndoom's body was nearly completely stained with blood. He was clearly bigger and stronger than the other Houndoom's she had faced during their raid of her clan's village. She knew that he was stronger than the others, since he was able to take down half of her clan on his own.
"I'm sorry Lucifer, but I got too worn out from fighting the other Lucario's", the smaller Houndoom said as his jaws caught fire as he readied a Fire Fang.
"But don't worry, I'll finish her off wi-", the Houndoom was sent flying into the tree as the Houndoom know as Lucifer, struck the Houndoom in its side with a powerful Iron Tail attack.
"I don't need useless trash like you in my pack. My trainer wants this done quickly, before the Regi finds out we're here", Lucifer spat as he looked at the twitching Houndoom.
"Still alive I see... not for long", he smiled as he opened his jaw.
Turning himself towards the Houndoom, he unleashed a monstrous sized Dark Pulse attack. After the attack faded, nothing was left but a long curved line into the ground and several trees with chunks missing from them.
"Trainer? You have a human?" Saphia said as she slowly back away.
"Yeah, I do. He wants the cavern your clan set up your village in, so I want to get this over with and get back and finish off the rest of your clan", she said with a wicked smile.
"You monster!" She shouted as she charged at him, a long blue staff appeared in her paws as she swung with a Bone Rush.
Catching the staff in his jaw, he smiled as the Lucario's eyes grew wide.
"You'll have to do better than that!" He laughed as he snapped the staff in two his his jaw.
Unleashing a point blank Dark Pulse, he sent her flying into the snow. Her body was black from the dark attack, her once blue fur was covered in ash and dirt from being thrown into the dirt and being burned over and over.
"Give up, you can't win", he smiled as he walked towards her.
"...", she bit growled at him.
Turning towards her son, her fighting face faded. Dropping to her knees, she pushed her paws into the snow as she leaned forward.
"That's a good girl, now die!" He shouted as he opened his maw to unleash another point blank Dark Pulse.
Before he could fire, she swung a Metal Claw attack she had readied from the cover of the snow again and swung at his head. Ducking his head, he avoided a deep slash to the face, but lost one of his curved horns as it was sliced clean off by the Luicario. While Lucifer howled in pain, she took this opportunity, she struck the underside of his chin with a Force Palm. Fighting her fatigue, she grabbed hold of his other horn and swung him around herself several times before letting go and sending him at a tree.
"You killed my clan... Now I shall kill yo-", she stopped as she heard several howls in the distance.
Cursing to herself, she ran towards her still unconscious son and scooped him up as she ran through the trees. Hearing the howls again, she pushed herself harder. Spotting a frozen river, an idea came to her. Leaping up into the air, she fell at the river. Charging up a pathetically weak Aura Sphere, she threw it so that it blew a large line through the snow, leading away from the river. Falling into the freezing cold water, she kept her son on her head as she let herself flow down the river, just as the Houndoom's arrived at the scene. Spotting the false trail, they began to look around before bolting down the trail she had left with her Aura Sphere
Hearing the fading shouts from some Houndoom's, she remained silent as the river made a turn towards the direction of her clan. Several minutes later, a light shined at the end of the river, it had finally come out to a waterfall. Spotting a foothold above the water, she used her Metal Claw attack to dig into the hard soil to keep herself from falling out of the waterfall ahead. Crawling on the ledge, she looked over the water and saw the remains of her village that was lit ablaze. Tears filled her eyes as she saw the state of her village.
Bodies littered the floor, both of Houndoom's and various other canine fire types, and her clan members. She spotted a lone human standing in front of a bound Lucario. She saw the man take out something from his pocket and pointed it at the Lucario's head.
"No...", she held her breath as she noticed the pendent around his neck, it was her mate.
A bang came from the object he had in his hand, the Lucario fell to the side, dead. Crying silently to herself, she buried her face onto the floor. Lifting her head up, she glared at the human below. Her ear twitched as she heard Houndoom's running at her direction. Wiping away her tears, she picked up her son and held him tightly as she ran with what strength she had left. As she ran through the trees, a strange yellow flash appeared a little ways behind her, where the Houndoom's were. Following the light, an explosion came. Not knowing what the light was, she continued to run, leaving behind a descending blue light that was firing yellow beams at the opposite direction of the Lucario.
~End of Story~
The room was silent once more at the ending of her story. Tears welled up in her eyes. Susan tried to comfort her, placing her paw on Saphia's leg as she leaned over her son. Beginning to sob, Robert gets up and walks over to the couch that she sat on with Susan. Standing in front of her he placed his hand on her shoulder as he kneeled down slightly.
"Why are you telling us this now?" Robert asked.
"I... I see that I have no reason to hide any of my past anymore. Regice had shown that I had such a past... and I thought it would be best for such a thing to be brought out...", she finally said after fighting back her sobs and tears.
"Sweetie...", Susan said in a soothing voice, "to lose all of your family but your son is a terrible thing...", Susan said as she rubbed the side of her arm with her paw.
"It's okay...", Robert said as he brought himself into a hug with her, holding her as she started to cry more and more.
In the background, Draco and Scarlet secretly bumped their fists with one another, Draco leaning over the back of the sofa as Scarlet sat down.
"You may have lost your family, but don't worry. We're your new family, and we won't let you feel that pain ever again", Robert said softly into her ear.
Lowering his head to Scarlet's ear, he brought is head closer to hers.
"And I just felt a large sure of love coming from Saphia", he whispered with a smile, earning a smile from Scarlet as well.
"Saphia, dear. Do you know who this man was?" Susan asked.
"I do not know, but the Houndoom who seemed to be in charge of the others said that his trainer wanted...", she choked a little as she struggled with her words, "he wanted to finish killing us off before the Regi could arrive", Saphia said.
"You said before that your clan lived in a cavern... The Regi protects many places in the Snowpoint area...", Robert said as he moved his body to the side, now sitting down next to the Lucario as he continued to hold her in his embrace.
"Don't worry, Pops, I'm pretty sure that area is already sealed off by Officer Jenny's patrols when a large explosion and smoke was reported", Draco said, arms dangled on Scarlet's shoulders.
"Pops?" Draco said again, but earned no response from him as well.
Slowly smiling, he rubbed Scarlet's arm. Looking up, she saw that he was smiling as he stared at Robert.
"Looks like she's not the only one feeling love", Draco whispered.
"Seems like all of this will turn out okay... but still, who was that guy she mentioned?" Scarlet whispered back.
"I don't know, but all I know is that Regice and Officer Jenny and her patrol's got that place covered... we already know where the village is now...", Draco said as his face turned serious.
"Yeah...", Scarlet sighed as she leaned back and looked up, kissing him on the cheek.
"I will go to sleep now...", Saphia said in a calmer voice.
"Yes, a good nights sleep should clear you up a bit. Good night, deary", Susan smiled as Robert let go of her.
Getting up, she slowly walked towards the stairs as she held onto her still sleeping son. Stepping on the first step, she suddenly stopped and turned towards the others.
"Robert... Thank you", she said as her face softened as a small smile spread across her face.
Not saying a thing, he nodded with that all so serious face that he always bore. Nodding softly back to him, she turned back and walked up the stairs.
"You know, Robert. You can try and smile for once", Susan smiled as she batted his thigh with her paw.
"Come on, Mom. You know that Robert doesn't smile anymore. I bet he won't even cry", Draco said as he crossed his arms in front of Scarlet.
"That's enough", Robert said as he got up from the couch.
"Why don't we all go to sleep? We've all had a tiring day today", Robert said as he walked towards the stairs and stopped.
"Night, babe!" Scarlet smiled as she gave him a kiss on the lips before getting up from the sofa and leaping step from step up the stairs.
Smiling to himself, he walked up the stairs as well. As Susan walked by Robert, he tapped his finger on her shoulder.
"It looks like our hike went well for Draco", Robert said as he crossed his arms.
"Indeed it does", Susan smiled, "even so, for Saphia it did as well. She's finally shared her past with us, hopefully it will hurt less to hold that to herself", Susan sighed as she walked up the stairs.
Watching as the Mightyena went up the stairs, he stayed still for several seconds. Slowly turning his head towards the shattered vase, he took a deep breath before turning away.
"I'm sorry...", he whispered to no one in the room before going up the stairs himself.
Leaving the pile of broken vase on the floor for tomorrow to clean it up, he went up the stairs as well. At the top of the stairs, he flicked a switch to the right, turning off the living room lights. Door after door, the lights went off as each of their inhabitants got ready to go to sleep after the little events that went on in the house. Going into his own room, he walked through the darkness of the room, the blizzard preventing much moonlight from shining through the window. Walking over the his dresser, he picked up a picture frame from the top of the dresser and looked at it. Sighing, he placed the picture back to where it was and walked towards his bed. A small light came from the top of his nightstand as well as a vibrating sound as someone was calling.
"Unknown number... *Sigh*, them again", he mumbled as he picked up his cellphone and pressed the answer button.
"Mr. Jackson, you know why I'm calling again, don't you?" A deep voice asked from the other side.
"I do...", he said as he turned towards the picture on the dresser.
"Then will you come with us? They've just taken over the entire region of Kanto. Are you still going to say that you won't come back and help us?" The voice asked.
"Until you or myself find a reason for me to want to help, then call me", Robert said before moving his cellphone away from his ear.
"With your delay in rejoining us, you're allowi-!" The angry voice stopped as Robert hung up the call.
Dropping his cellphone onto the nightstand, he sat down on his bedside and looked at the dresser again.
"No more... no more will I fight again... Not after what happened to you...", he said to himself as he stared at the picture of a woman in the picture.
Just for the hell of it, at the end of the story, the flash comes from Regice as it arrives at the village too late to help. I'm only saying this because I mentioned a little of this topic in the story a chapter or so before and I can't think of a moment where this will be able to be explained :P Also, the flashback story is told in 3rd person because I'm more comfortable writing it like that, probably will be for all flashback stories, sorry for the confusion if it caused any :P
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