Chapter 36:

The next day, both Jude and Lucy received a letter from Infernostar. It was handwritten, and invited both of them to where he and the others were staying.

"This is set to happen in the next two weeks or so. I can imagine you want to go?" Lucy said to Jude.

"That should have been obvious. Of course I'd want to see my old team." Jude said, his hands practically vibrating as he held the letter. After all this time, I'll finally be able to see them again!

Lucy smiled as she watched Jude. I've never seen him so happy before she thought, it's like he's a completely different person.

"Well, lets keep the date in mind." Lucy said, walking over to the kitchen and looking at her calendar. "That is about 20 days away from now. Though until then, we have work to do."

"Good point" Jude responded. 20 days…I can hardly wait!

Meanwhile…

A figure was listening on their conversations outside of their house. They were up against the wall, listening intently. When Lucy mentioned the amount of days until they would visit Infernostar, the figure quietly snickered.

"20 days…plenty of time…"

Before the figure could continue, they heard both Lucy and Jude make their way to the door. The figure silently slipped away, keeping out of sight.

"Alright, let's walk." Lucy said, as the two started down the road. She suggested that the two of them head out for a casual stroll around town. It had been awhile since Jude had done much of anything outside, discounting the visit with Gram.

"So, you said you wanted to know more about my team?" Jude said. He'd guessed that the walk was only a ploy so Lucy could learn about them, since she would be meeting them soon.

"Of course. Which one do you want to start with?"

"Hm. Let's start with Baron."

"The Scizor, right?"

"Yeah. Baron used to be a major pain. When I was traveling across Johto with Infernostar, we discovered that the National Park was pretty much owned by a legion of Scythers. Baron was the leader, and he refused to allow anyone to pass. So, being the slightly aggressive trainer that I was and still am, I called out their leader, and worked with Infernostar to take him down. Realizing he'd just come back and stir up more trouble, I figured capturing him was the best course of action."

"That seems reasonable. If he was just going to cause more trouble, reforming him would keep it from happening again."

"I thought so. It took a bit of time for him to warm up to us, but after a run in with a brutal trainer, he started to learn some respect for others. And after we helped him evolve into a Scizor, he really got his act together."

"That's great to hear."

As the two walked, more and more info about Jude's team emerged. He tried not to repeat what he had said in the past, instead describing their personalities, his history with each one, and how they worked with one another.

After some time passed, they reached the park. Jude put his head down after seeing where they were, with Lucy taking a second to try and figure out why. "…Oh, right. Don't worry, we won't be here long."

She hurried her pace, keeping close to Jude so he would know where to go without having to look up. Lucy noticed a few Pokémon giving them strange looks, but decided against saying anything. "Pay them no mind, they don't know what you've gone through"

The two of them passed through the park relatively fast, and with minimal problems. Despite the looks they got, Jude seemed to recover from thinking about it rather fast. Soon they were back on the streets, as Jude continued to talk about his old team, now giving Lucy some examples of what they did once all 7 of them were together.

"With the absolute madness that was the 7 of us, most normal trainers learned to keep their distance. I started taking names wherever I went, most of the time just from having Infernostar by my side. He just scared anyone that came across him, presumably from his firepower."

"I'm not going to lie, when I first saw him, I was afraid he came to burn the house down."

"Sounds about right. Though as you saw, he really isn't like that, it's just in battle that he lets loose."

"He seemed very formal when he was at the house. Though I can only imagine what he was like in battle." Lucy recalled seeing Judes old video of Infernostar against Lance's Dragonite, but was willing to bet that wasn't even the start of his power.

"Infernostar was never one to start conflicts. He was a peacemaker, but could VERY easily be a peacebreaker if he felt it was necessary."

More time passed while they walked. After a certain point Jude ran out of stories to share, so Lucy instead opted to talk about her own experiences. Jude listening intently, especially since he'd heard almost nothing about her life.

Huh, so that's what she did Jude thought. Lucy apparently used to live out in the woods herself, with her pack of Luxrays. Her family was recruited during the Revolution to assist in tracking down people, with Lucy staying after to help with the HAA. After the Revolution and before she met with Jude, she worked with people to keep them safe, promising them they wouldn't need to be afraid anymore.

"It was a long road to recovery for some people, but I did my best to reassure them. My only goal was to make sure people were happy." Lucy said. "Oh my, look at the sun!" She raised her paw and Jude's eyes followed where it pointed, towards the setting sun.

"Man, we've been out awhile" Jude said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, though it was nice to be able to learn more about one another. Despite you living with me for awhile, we really didn't know THAT much about each other."

"That is true. So, wanna head back?"

"Sure. Though I have a question for you."

"Lay it on me."

"Would you rather walk, or ride?"

"Excuse me?" Jude said, raising and eyebrow before Lucy kneeled down. It took him a moment to figure out what she was doing, before it clicked in his head. "Oh…uh, sure?"

Lucy giggled at his semi-confused response. "I just thought you might want to try something a bit different. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, its cool. I just wasn't expecting it." Jude took a second before walking over to Lucy, hesitating momentarily as he stepped over her.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"Then let's start" Lucy said, as she stood up, lifting Jude's legs off the ground. He put his arms on her back as she started to head back. Along the way they could overhear a few Pokémon who saw them, some giggling, some cooing.

"If this is too embarrassing for you, I can stop." Lucy said, picking up on the amount of attention they were drawing.

"N-No. It's fine. I just need to tune them out."

"Alright, if you say so." Lucy said, as she continued back to home.

Soon they made it back. Lucy kneeled down again, allowing Jude to get off. His face was a little red, but he shook it off rather quickly as they stepped inside.

"Sorry if that was a bit sudden" Lucy said. She had thought of that idea during the walk, she just wasn't sure how he'd react to it.

"Don't be. I enjoyed it, despite the attention that came with it." Jude said. It was true he hated the attention that came with it, but discounting that, it was honestly fun. It reminded him of when he used to do that with Infernostar when he was a Cyndaquil, and the reverse when he was a Typhlosion.

"Ok. Just needed to make sure."

The two of them had dinner soon after. They kept conversation a bit on the down low, since they basically spent the whole day doing that. After that it was time for bed, with Jude heading to his room.

"Night Mom, and thanks for today."

"Goodnight Jude." Lucy responded, before retiring to her own room, turning off the light in the process.

…

The figure from before was back, this time outside the wall of Lucy's room.

"…Let's begin."