Chapter 21
Milo glanced at Rin and called to her as well. "Rin, why don't you join Jaylon and me? I think I need to ask you a few questions about your Riolu." The nerdy looking man said kindly. He couldn't shake the feeling that Frost the Riolu could be familiar…
Rin nodded and sprinted quickly to the two boys.
Jaylon smiled and shrugged. "I guess I lost to Kasmir and you lost to Caprico. I guess we can't always win, huh?"
Rin nodded. "Yeah, Frost would have pwned those Zangeese if he listened to me, but he's hated me ever since I found him."
Milo started to ask something, but was cut off by the rookie.
"Pwned? What the heck is that word?"
"Oh, its Sinnoh slang for owned, or dominated. It pretty much means that Frost could have won if he listened." Rin explained.
Milo directed the two rookies to follow him down the hall ways of Raquaza's base. They younger trainers continued to talk casually.
"Yeah, that Riolu is one piece of work. My Zangoose Rain just is annoyed at me. Your Frost loathes you or something." Jaylon remarked. "How'd that happen? Most Pokémon aren't like that."
Rin shrugged and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear again. "He hasn't ever been happy since we found him in Hearthome. He was a stray hiding in my Dad's work basement. He knew that I loved Riolus and we had picked up stray Pokémon before, so Dad took Frost home. He's just… hard to understand. I kind of wish I could talk to him like you can with your Zangoose."
Jaylon paused and admitted, "Yeah, I guess being able to understand her has helped a bit. She can tell me what she's feeling and why… If you understood Frost that might make things a little better."
Milo was very interested in this topic. He stopped walking and turned around, holding out a Pokéball. "Rin, you found that Riolu in Sinnoh, in a basement? Did it…?" he fumbled with his words, searching for the right ones to express his hunch.
"Yeah…?" the short-haired blonde girl nodded back.
Milo sighed and pulled out another Pokéball. "It's just that my Lucario pair lost a Riolu… he was kidnapped. My Lucarios searched all of Sunnyshore for him."
"Do you think…?" she asked, eyes widening.
"Jason and Jania would recognize their own pup. Let's try." The nerdy looking man nodded seriously. He clicked open the two Pokéballs and the two inhabitants emerged. They were both Lucarios, one was injured (Jason) and the other looked slightly more feminine. The female had slightly lighter blue fur compared to her mate.
The two Lucarios saw and snuggled close to each other, wagging their tails. They saw the two humans and tilted their heads to the side, curious to know what the rookies wanted. It wasn't every day that they saw humans that weren't Milo or his wife Myra.
Rin stared a second longer at the beautiful jackal Pokémon, then realized that she needed to send out Frost. Could it be possible that her Riolu was actually Milo's –the Lugia Rider's friend-? She opened her Pokéball and Frost emerged. He closed his eyes and stuck his nose up in the air. He was grumpy normally, but now he was irked that he had been defeated by a Zangoose half his age.
Milo's Lucarios released their grip on each other and gazed at the Riolu in curiosity. They didn't make a sound out loud, but were somehow communicating through aura. The female Lucario walked forward to the little Riolu and made a small guttural sound.
Frost opened his eyes slowly, as if he expected everyone else to wait on him. Once he caught sight of the female Lucario, he jumped slightly and opened his eyes wide. "Rio Riolu lu-lu rio?" he asked tentatively.
Jason walked forward too and raised the strange attachments on the back of his head in a sign of reading aura. He lowered the ears-things again and said something like a grunt to his mate. Jania nodded and walked closer to Frost.
Jaylon didn't know what they were saying, but it looked a lot like Frost was in fact their pup. The rookie smiled. "I guess frost found his parents… I'd like to have that happen to me."
Rin raised her eyebrow as if to ask, but her attention was drawn back to the scene of fighting-type Pokémon finally finding each other again. It still seemed impossible for Frost to have belonged to Milo, but then again… Rin didn't know what to think. If the Lucarios could identify Frost's aura, then there was no doubt.
Frost seemed to have even bigger doubts. He saw Jania coming closer to give him affection, but he backed up. "LU! Rio, rio… RIOLU!" he shouted defensively. He held out his paw and a vacuum wave attack formed, threatening to collide with the nearest Pokémon.
The female Lucario called Jania looked sad. Jason however stepped forward and held out his paw as well and formed an identical vacuum wave attack.
Rin's eyes widened. "So that's where Frost learned Vacuum wave, he learned it from his dad. I've heard about moves passing down from the father Pokémon in Pokémon breeding. Vacuum wave is such a rare move, I don't think Frost can doubt it now…"
Jaylon didn't know anything about Pokémon breeding science, so he just let the comment in one ear and out the other.
Frost was getting frantic to disprove the Lucarios logic. "RIO!" he shouted and stopped his 'vacuum wave' attack. "Lu rio lu-lu Riolu rio! Rio-rio Riolu lu!" he glared at them.
Jania knelt down and grunted something. Her red eyes took on a sad look and her ear/hair things rose up again to indicate aura use. She was communicating with telepathy, a talent that fighting-type Pokémon were not usually gifted with. Lucarios were the exception to this rule.
Frost backed up and bumped into Rin's legs. He looked scared and angry.
"What's going on?" Jaylon asked.
Milo shook his head. "Oh, right. Jason and Jania don't know you, so you can't hear their telepathy. Anyways, it goes along the lines of this; Frost doesn't believe that my Lucarios are his parents, but they are certain he's theirs. Jania is now explaining her side of the story." Milo adjusted his glasses and said sadly, "It seems that Frost was kidnapped when he was a young pup. He was taken to a lab and tortured, then left for dead. Frost doesn't think that his parents could have let that happen to him."
"What?" Rin asked and held her hand to her chin. Her Pokémon was tortured in the past?
"Yeah, I'm not sure why yet, but it couldn't have been good." Milo nodded gravely. He glanced at Jaylon and pointed to a room with the number 150 on it. "Jaylon, the people who want to see you are in that room. Go on ahead; Rin and I will straighten this all up."
The brown haired boy nodded and strolled over to the door. He glanced back to the Riolu and Lucario pair. He smiled sadly and entered in the room.
Inside the small room was a pair of computers and a table in the middle, holding up various electronic devices and scalpels. Two people in lab coats were inside, inspecting something in the microscope. The female scientist glanced up from the research and gasped. She had red rimmed glasses and long brown hair tied up into a bun. She called the attention of the male scientist to look at Jaylon.
The male scientist turned from his work on the nanotechnology and gave Jaylon a weird look. He had brown hair as well, and it was in the style of a comb-over with sideburns down his jaw line. He didn't have glasses covering his hazel eyes. The male scientist walked toward Jaylon and asked, "Now, who might you be?"
Jaylon glanced between the two people. They looked familiar… "I'm Jaylon Wicklow from Mauville city in Hoenn." He paused and asked back, "And you two are…?"
The female scientist's eyes grew wide. She replied in a breathless tone, "I'm Judy, and this is my husband, Hector Wicklow…"
Jaylon smiled and held out a hand in greeting before catching on the same surname. But how was that…? Jaylon had a weird feeling of de-ja-vu, hadn't Frost just gone through this? The rookie trainer gasped for words but found none. Judy and Hector WICKLOW… his parents…!
Judy ran forward and hugged his head to her chest. She was on the verge of tears. "Oh Jaylon! I'm so sorry for leaving you with Aunt and Uncle Quincy and not saying where we were going! We had to go undercover; Raquaza requested we work with Milo Bertram for the translating and other technologies…"
Jaylon could hardly believe it! His mom was hugging him; his own mom who he hadn't seen for years and years! Contrary to how the Riolu acted, Jaylon hugged his mom back. "I finally found you… I guess legendary Pokémon are good luck…" he said and hugged his mom even tighter.
"Legendary Pokémon? What are you talking about?" Judy Wicklow laughed slightly.
Jaylon broke form her hug and explained excitedly, "I thought you guys were kidnapped or something, so I thought that if I got the help of a Legendary Pokémon, I could find you again. So then I meet a legendary, but I don't capture him. Then a few days later I find you guys!" even though his hunt for his parents was over now, he still had a fascination for legendary Pokémon. That wasn't going to change.
Hector Wicklow stepped forward and hugged his son with a proud look on his face. "So, did you go to Fallabor town? We worked on the translating experiment there. It was controversial, but Judy and I thought about you and freed a Zangoose for you. You both knew you wanted to be a Pokémon trainer."
Jaylon's voice raised an octave in surprise. "You…? You knew my blood type and let Rain go free into the wild? You knew that she could communicate with me?"
Hector nodded. "You and I have the same blood type, so I made sure I could understand her before letting her go. So I can only assume that you found her." The brown haired scientist smiled. "My, you sure have grown, my boy."
Jaylon hugged both of his parents and thought happily, thanks, Kasmir. Your legendary-ness brought me to my parents.
"Now," Judy said, wiping a tear from her eye, "we have to hear all about you and your Pokémon adventure so far. Tell us everything!"