(Hello everyone! This is Xybur7! I am so, so, SO very sorry I've taken so long. I'm not too happy about it myself. I do promise you, whoever is forgiving and patient enough with me, that I WILL finish this story... someday. I don't mean years and I don't intend to drag it out so long but I will eventually get this entire story out and finished, I promise. I definitely do NOT want to let this go. That said, this chapter will probably drive a couple more people crazy/ mad with me and you'll see why soon enough. I'm so sorry to have made you wait, but finally, here's chapter 15.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything but the plot. Any and all characters/places/objects belong to their respective owners.)

Chapter 15: Ashes to ashes...

Lucario dashed up to one primid and palmed it hard in the stomach. The primid fell backwards into another one.

"You will not get past me." The pokémon crouched and slowly moved his paws in a fluid, circular motion. Already, a small group of primids gathered near Lucario, about to tackle him head on. Lucario scanned the growing circle of challengers, waiting for their move.

Then, the primid in front of him charged as well as the one behind. The front primid pulled back for a punch. Lucario swiftly ducked and the metal primid's punch sailed overhead into the other primid's face, reducing it to a shiny, silver puddle. Lucario quickly popped up and jump-kicked the standing primid in the chin, knocking it over on its back. The pokémon flipped, landed on the primid's chest, and gave it one good, strong stomp. Small cracks in the ground spread from underneath the primid's body from the force of the stomp and the second primid melted and evaporated away.

Another pair of silver monsters dashed forward. Lucario swiveled around them in a flash and palmed them both to the ground. Lucario's ears twitched. A footstep had sounded directly behind him. The aura pokémon pivoted and caught the primid's fist as another metal primid tried to run up from behind. Lucario tossed the first primid into the air and kicked over his head in an arc, launching the air-born primid higher and slamming the other primid into the other two. Lucario put his paws together and bent his knees to jump. 'EXTREME SPEED!' The aura guardian skyrocketed upward, above the weightless, falling primid. Lucario kicked it downward twice in quick succession, shooting the primid into the grounded group of three and destroying them.

"No mercy," the aura guardian said as he landed gently and resumed his martial art stance. The circle of primids didn't move, but hunched over while still facing the pokémon, as if gaping in awe. One metal primid snapped out of its amazement and ambled toward Lucario, fists flailing. Lucario moved his head up, down, and side to side, smoothly dodging the flying punches.

More footsteps sounded behind him: one pair to the right and one to the left. One power-filled fist flew toward the pokémon's face. Lucario suddenly stopped dodging, took one step back, and stood perfectly still. The front primid's punch zoomed forward, then abruptly halted centimeters before the aura pokémon's face. Lucario didn't blink but held his glare at the now slightly confused primid. Two other punches, one on either side, whizzed by from behind, just barely grazing the pokémon's cheeks. Lucario quickly held his paws out to the sides, letting the two primids stab themselves with the paw spikes. The third primid jerked back with shock, then wound up his arm for another go. With full force, the punch flew into Lucario's snout. Blue flashes flickered around the balled, silver fist and the afterimage disappeared. The aura pokémon quickly reappeared behind the primid, palm pulled back. One, two, and one solid kick later, the primid flopped onto the ground and melted away.

"Who do you think I am?!" The steel fighter flicked his wrists at the other foes and stood straight, his chest puffed out with hurt pride. "You insult me by thinking you can fake me out." The pokémon's voice began to rise. "I have inner focus! I am steadfast! I shall not flinch!"

'No!' the pokémon's conscious said. 'Show no mercy yet hold back. Remain calm. Don't lose contr-'

Pain erupted and spread through Lucario's head. The colors of the battlefield blurred together. The pokémon staggered. One primid quickly took the opportunity and swiftly jabbed him in the stomach.

"Why you…" Lucario clamped his jaw and seized the primid's wrist. With new, increased power, the pokémon spun and flipped the primid over his shoulder into the ground, judo-style. The force already made the primid look flat; when it melted, its shape hardly changed.

"Oh no! Squirtle!"

"Hang in there, Squirt!"

Lucario leaped and hopped on the primids' heads and let his eyes immediately scan the crowd for the shouts. In the middle of the narrow canyon, furthest away from the castle, a beaten up Ivysaur strained to push the limp Squirtle, who was knocked on his back, over on his feet. Red stood on a large pile of boulders near the canyon wall, as much of a sideline as he could find. Just barely did he restrain himself from running over and scooping Squirtle out of danger.

'Squirtle's done.' Lucario sensed the turtle pokémon's aura was weak and dormant. 'And Ivysaur's close to fainting too… Charizard is locked in aerial combat… I've lost sight of Pikachu amongst the fighting…' Lucario's gut twisted as he figured out how dangerous the situation would become. 'Red will be unprotected!'

Red fumbled with his team's pokéballs even as Ivysaur shouted back to him not to pull them back. Then a primid dashed in and kicked the grass-type a couple yards. Ivysaur slid and collapsed, unmoving.

"No more! Squirtle! Ivysaur! Return!" Two red beams shot out from the two pokéballs in each of Red's hands and enveloped the two pokémon, pulling them back to safety. Unfortunately, the primid followed the light to the now defenseless trainer.

'I have to help him! Now!' Lucario tried to leap toward them, but finally his foot was caught and yanked back down into restless mob. Lucario quickly kicked his attackers back and searched for a way around.

"EYAAAAH! PUT ME DOWN!"

Lucario stopped and swiveled around. By the other wall, Lucas dangled upside-down from a primid's grip. Desperately, the blond boy jabbed the now broken stick at the primid's hand around his ankle.

'Lucas?!' Lucario made sound that was a mixture of a growl and whine. The rising moral dilemma ran through his brain. Lucario looked back towards Red. A couple primids were already cornering him against the opposite wall from Lucas.

Lucas yelled and caught the primid's fist. Amazingly, the boy fended off the flurry of punches, even while immobilized upside-down. Lucario palmed back another enemy but still hesitated to move to one side or the other.

"STOP!" Lucas cried out "PK-!"

'He's desperate!'

"Lucas!" Lucario heard Link shout.

BAM!

Ness broke the primid's grip with his baseball bat and then shot his energetic yo-yo into the monster's face. Lucas quickly landed on his feet and Ness passed him the baseball bat before resuming the fight.

Lucario unfroze, free from the indecision, and started to move for the trainer but one primid bypassed his guard and hit him square in the gut. The pokémon felt surging hot energy spread from his stomach and he doubled over.

'No! I won't reach him!' Lucario anxiously looked ahead, straight past the approaching enemies at the teenager. The first primid tried to tackle Red, but the teen quickly ducked and elbowed the primid off the little hill. Red hunched over, tired and eyed the next foe. The second one approached him slowly, cautiously, menacingly. Red was cornered, with nowhere to run and no one near to help. The cornered trainer tried to back away, and then the rock he stepped on came loose. Red slipped backwards with a horrified gasp. The primid saw its chance and kicked out. The metal foot connected with Red's shin. A loud crack echoed through the chaos of the canyon. Red screamed out and tumbled backwards behind the rock pile, gripping his leg, and disappearing from Lucario's eyes. The pokémon's heart skipped a beat when he heard the thud from behind the rocks. Blue hot sparks fought for freedom from the pokémon's body.

"That's IT!" Lucario bellowed a roar. For a second, the world stopped. Lucario forgot the risks. He didn't care he was about endanger himself. The only thing flooding his mind was the instinct of a guardian.

"I am done holding back against you demons," the pokémon growled. "Feel the wrath of my aura!" Then, fierce aqua fire erupted around Lucario into an enormous blaze.

"Lucario! NO!" Link shouted from afar.

The sky rumbled as if it was hungry. Lucario barreled into the crowd, intent on pushing through them no matter what. One primid tried to punch him, but miserably failed as the pokémon swiftly dodged and grabbed. A metallic smell rose and Lucario could feel static starting pull at his fur.

'Here it comes…' Lucario tugged the primid with him and swapped places. Then lightning strike came crashing down. Thunder deafened Lucario's pointed ears. He could feel the electricity trying to prick the tips of his paws. The light died away, revealing the primid, stone grey instead of metal silver. Lucario ducked under a punch that continued to sail into the statue. The regular primid crashed into the stone one, and the stone practically shattered to bits.

'So-! So fragile!' Somewhere else, remnant thunder vibrated within the ground. Lucario shook his head and refocused. Like an unstoppable, blazing blue cannonball, the pokémon shot through all the enemies. He leaped over the rock pile, flipped, and, along with the forces of aura and gravity, drop-kicked the primid towering over the injured trainer. Red, dusty and bruised, weakly backed up against the wall to sit up, then slumped. Lucario immediately capped his aura and knelt beside the wounded teen.

"Red! Red! Are you alright!" Fear and concern mixed within Lucario's voice. The pokémon struggled to suppress a flashback: the vision of his previous master, collapsed beside a pillar of crystal, dying before him. "Say something!"

Red didn't answer.

"No! Master!"

"…I…"

Lucario's ears perked up with hope.

"… told… you…" Red lifted his head wearily. "….call me… 'Red'…" the trainer finished with a tired smirk.

The aura pokémon smiled with relief, the moment of panic over. But a sense of foreboding took its place. Lucario's smiled formed into a frown as he gave a glance over his shoulder. Some primids had moved around the protruding boulder and approached with caution but malicious intent. Lucario stood and faced the new enemies. He took a few steps forward, then swiftly pummeled the primid's to the ground. From behind, Red made a weak gasp. Lucario quickly doubled back and kicked another primid that was trying to get to Red from above from off the top of the pile.

"Sorry… can't… run…" The trainer breathed out.

"Your leg…" Lucario gently placed his paw on Red's right shin. Red winced and hissed in pain. Lucario quickly pulled his paw back.

"Ah, ah- that hurts…" Red tried not to yell in pain and took some troubled breaths.

"It's broken."

"Damn…"

When Lucario looked up from the leg, he just then noticed how beat up Red was, far too dirty and bruised to only have been in this one scrape. 'Red's been dodging the thick of things as best he could all this time…' The pokémon realized. 'Squirtle and Ivysaur can't fight anymore and neither can he.' Bright violet flashed from behind the rock pile, then somewhere in the middle of the canyon. A few more primids moved around the corner. Lucario grimaced and stood protectively over Red. One primid charged. Lucario stepped forward, swept it off its feet, backed up, and force-palmed it into the small group behind it. Heat and pain suddenly flushed from the left side of the pokémon's face, as if he had been punched.

Lucario rubbed his sore left cheek. 'Odd… I know I didn't get hit…' A metal fist flew for his face. Lucario grunted in surprise and bent backwards, dodging the punch, spun around, then palmed it up and over onto the ground.

"Lucario... Primid!" Red called out in a panic. Another primid got over the pile and hopped down over the rocks and leaped. Red fell on his side and tried to crawl away. Lucario extremesped to the wall, filling his paw with power, rage, and aura. The primid didn't stand a chance. The pokémon caught its head in midair and smashed it against the crumbled wall. Red shielded his head from the shards and splattering silver liquid. Lucario yanked his paw from the new hole in the rock.

"Come on, Master." Lucario quickly scooped Red off the ground and bounced off the wall one second before the lightning strike. In his aura sight, Lucario could spot the few unsteady auras dwindling in number. 'We're winning…'

"Lu- Lucario… Charizard…" Red huffed out. "…Where's Charizard?"

"Let me look." Lucario landed into the center of the canyon, knelt, and set Red down gently. His focus jumped from aura to aura, searching for the other pokémon. A tired roar boomed in the sky. Lucario and Red looked straight up. The orange dragon was flying overhead, snapping at the last Auroros. The two flew around and over each other, flapping, biting, and pecking fiercely. The Auroros tried to stab Charizard with its beak, but barely missed. Charizard roared and clamped down on the white bird's outstretched neck. Then his wings faltered and Charizard started falling with the fading bird in his mouth.

"No! Charizard!" Red gasped. "Lucario, catch 'em!"

"One: he's a falling 200 pounds plus gravity, and two: I am not dropping you."

Lucario telepathically shouted 'Sorry!' as he jumped out of the way of Charizard's crash landing. Red reached out to his fallen pokémon weakly and Lucario knelt to let him stroke Charizard tenderly. Charizard made a tired sighing sound as he lay on his stomach, his blue wings drooping over his battered body.

"Red's… injured?…" Charizard wheezed. "I'm a… bad pokémon… guardian… letting my trainer… get hurt…"

"It's not your fault," Lucario said to him sorrowfully. 'I'm the one who failed. I saw it happen and couldn't do anything.'

"I'm done…" Charizard admitted. "Can't move… Ivysaur and Squirt?"

"They've been pulled back."

"My turn now… Keep Red safe 'till I get back."

"You have my word."

Charizard gave a little smirk, then conked out. Red returned the pokémon to his pokéball then turned to frown at Lucario.

"You know, I worry about you," he said.

Lucario blinked. "I believe I should be saying that."

"What'd you just promise?"

"To secure your safety."

Red sighed. "That's what I mean. Your number one priority is always to protect someone else. Don't you ever think about yourself?"

Lucario pondered this for a few seconds. "I am a guardian by nature. It is my duty in life to serve and protect others. It's what I feel that I have to do. "

"Duty? Lucario, forget what you have to do. What do you want to do?"

Lucario went silent.

"… Did you ever get to decide how you wanted to live?..."

'My time in death…' Lucario realized as his heart started racing behind the steel thorn in his chest. 'Why am I remembering it now?' But the pokémon shook his head clear of the memory. Faint cheers echoed in the distance.

"It's the same thing," Lucario finally answered softly.

Red gave him a sorry smile, as if he felt pity of a sort. "Aaaaand, that's what worries me." Then Red stopped and frowned, confused, and looked around. "What's going on?"

The pair noticed the cheers in the background growing louder. The sun had set but there was still light out. Lucario scanned the crowd with his eyes. Fox and Falco high-fived each other. Kirby was victoriously dancing with King Dedede. Bowser laughed in the air and grabbed Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi into one big hug. The battle was done. Link grinned while rubbing his left cheek. Pit came and slapped him on the back for a job-well-done, so loud that Lucario could feel it. Actually, he could feel the smack on his back. But before he could wonder, Pikachu came bounding towards him.

"Lucario! Lucario! We did it! We did it! They're all gone! We won!" she squeaked excitedly. As soon as she saw Red however, scratched and bruised in Lucario's arms, she screeched to a halt, satisfaction turning to sad horror. Red apparently could read the pokémon's expression.

"Hey, Pikachu," the trainer said happily and calmly. "Don't worry. I'm okay. It actually doesn't hurt that much right now." Then Red looked up at Lucario. "Hey, Lucario. I'm starting to get heavy, aren't I?"

"No," Lucario lied politely. He was really tired and everything seemed to be getting heavier. "You can't walk."

"Eh." Red shrugged. "I can hop."

"But-"

"That's a hint. Put me down. I know you want to hold someone else."

'I must remember: Pit needs to be tenderized later.' Lucario begrudgingly put the trainer on his one good leg. Red wobbled and Pit and Link rushed over to catch him.

"Hi guys!" Pit piped as he slung Red's arm around his shoulder. "Wow, Red, you look kinda beat. What's up?"

"The sky," Red jokily said and smirked.

"Wha- oh! Up! I get it! Lol!"

Lucario started an annoyed growl until Link patted him gently on the shoulder. "Trust me. If anyone can crack jokes, then they'll be fine." The Hylian carefully smile reassuringly, a big bruise on his left cheek.

Lucario nodded, then looked back down at Pikachu with a secret, sweet smile. Pikachu grinned her cute grin and hopped into his arms. Lucario held her against his chest and over his shoulder. Her scent relaxed his tired muscles and calmed his aura. They softly touched, nose to nose.

"Aaaww."

Lucario and Pikachu peeked to the side. Pit and Red were watching with giddy amusement while Link covered his face with his hand.

"That's so cute!" the two boys exclaimed.

Lucario and Pikachu flushed scarlet and sniffed in embarrassment. Then sniffed again in confusion. Then again with terror. Lucario's fur stood on end, but not from static. The pokémon looked at each other. Pikachu's dark eyes sparked with fear.

"The wind's shifted," she whispered. "It's blowing from the other end…"

"I smell it too." Lucario was afraid to use his aura sight. He didn't want to see. But he had to.

Slowly, Lucario closed his eyes, the ribbons on the back of his head rising with his focus. Not far off and swiftly approaching, was a whole other unsteady army of thousands. Lucario's eyes shot open as he gasped. 'The sheer magnitude!... We can't handle that! Not after we just fought!'

"Lucario? What's wrong?" Link asked.

"There's too much," Lucario breathed hoarsely.

"Wha-?"

"Order a retreat."

"Guys…" Pit tried to break in.

"Retreat? Why?"

"Because there's more!"

"What!? How much m-!"

"Guyyyyyyys!" Pit's voice rose with panic.

Link and Lucario turned to the angel, then followed his pointing finger down the canyon. In the dark distance, a thick line of faint silver shimmered in the fading light. It grew bigger and bigger quicker and quicker until, like a wave of terror, it flooded towards them until it engulfed the dim horizon.

(How'd you like it? Please, leave me a review! If I happened to make a spelling/grammar mistake, inform me of that too so I can fix it. I really do look forward to all of your comments and appreciate the complements. Thanks so much. I'll try to get 16 done soon. It will come, I promise.

Thanks for putting up with me. Your support is all the motivation I need.)