"Are you sure? Looks like the work of some Patrat to me." I asked her while glancing around, hoping to find the culprit. I knew what a Lucario looked like, shouldn't be so hard to spot if one was nearby.
"I'm sure. I can tell from the scent. You humans can't smell that, we can." Orinthia explained. I forgot just how sharp her sense of smell was.
"But, why would he do that? What does he have against us?" I didn't really understand his motives. Was he a scavenger? Orinthia did tell me there was a Lucario living here who didn't like my presence, but that was almost a week ago. He really was some kind of coward, breaking into our territory while we were away instead of facing us head-on.
Orinthia sighed and stomped her foot on the ground, "He liked me before. I did not. That's how it began."
"Oh." That's all I managed to say. It made a lot of sense now. So he was jealous or something? How did he even know I was attracted to Orinthia? I heard stories about how Lucario can sense the aura of others, maybe he studied me from afar without me realizing. I sighed. I didn't like the idea of a competition, not at all. Still, we had to do something about it. What if he attacked again?
I finally decided to put my thoughts to rest and inspect the damage closely. The canned food was intact, as was the pot I used for heating water. In the end, the only things really damaged were the exterior of the backpack and the camping handbook. Maybe he wanted to read the book and ripped it in frustration when he could not? Or maybe he wanted to make my life here harder by tearing the book to pieces. I sighed and looked at Orinthia for some help, who stared back.
"You realize what it means, Felix?" She asked.
"I think we got a new enemy."
"Yes." She calmly said and smiled before losing her mirth and sitting down next to me, now looking worried.
"What's wrong, Orinthia?" I asked her.
"I don't know what he really wants this time. I'm not going to chase you away just because he tells me to! But he might end up harming you. Can you actually fight?" She looked at me with narrow eyes.
I thought for a moment about the time when I beat up two bullies in middle school with brute force, which was only possible because I took them by surprise, they weren't expecting me to fight back. If I had to fight a Lucario by hand, I was basically dead. They were Fighting-type Pokemon, after all. I swallowed and shook my head, looking at Orinthia with pleading eyes before remembering that she was weak against Fighting-type too. Was that the reason he made her uncomfortable? Suddenly I felt determined. I will protect her, no matter what. I cleared my throat and spoke up,
"Hey, Rin?"
"Huh?"
"I can't really fight. But I'll fight for you. I'm not losing to some cowardly trespasser!" I tried to voice my determination, causing her to raise her eyebrows and grin.
"I knew you would say that, Felix! You've always been so determined. But I should actually teach you how to fight." She offered, still smiling but looking serious at the same time.
"Are you sure?" I was becoming nervous again.
"Yes. If you fail against me, you should go back. I'm not letting you die because of your determination. I don't know how long I can protect you." She paused, "If that's what happens, I'll go with you. You humans don't seem that bad from what I saw today."
"But what about your forest? Are you going to let him take over your area?"
"You're more important to me, Felix. I'm scared of him too. Every time we fought in the past, I lost." She finally admitted, turning away from me. She kept looking at her feet. I pulled her closer. She didn't protest.
"Everything will be alright, Orinthia." I hugged her and murmured. She weakly growled, resting her head on my chest.
It wasn't long before I began dozing off. The fatigue from today was getting to me, not to mention the new threat. My mind was feeling cloudy, but I tried to force myself to stay awake and make plans for what to do about that Lucario. Can I not just try to capture him with a bunch of Poke Balls?
Whatever sleepiness I was feeling disappeared as soon as that thought formed in my mind. I jerked myself up, startling Orinthia. I felt bad, but I couldn't wait to tell her about my idea.
"What's wrong, Felix? You woke me up!" She looked irritated.
"Sorry, Rin; I just thought of something to help you sleep peacefully instead of worrying!" I realized I was entering my manic phase, courtesy of my bipolar disorder, but I didn't care. I got this urge to laugh, but controlled myself to not startle Orinthia further.
"What is it, Felix?" She forcefully shook her head, presumably to drive away any remaining bits of sleep and looked at me eagerly.
"They always criticized me for thinking abnormally. Coming up with unusual solutions to problems and making complicated designs. You get what I'm saying?"
Orinthia nodded.
"Well, I think I know how to put that Lucario in his place."
"How?" She looked confused.
"Simple. We fight him and capture him with a Poke Ball once he's weakened. It's as simple as that. After all, that's why we invented them in the first place, to capture Pokemon without getting seriously harmed."
Orinthia stared at me for a few moments before bursting out laughing, startling some Pokemon in the distance if the rustling sound of the grass was any indication.
"You know, I always knew you were different, Felix! But I think that might actually work. You're talking about those devices you humans throw at us, right?" She said, still laughing.
"Yes, why?"
"I have a few of those stored. Remember that trainer who tried to capture me while I was napping?"
I thought for a moment before remembering. "Yeah. What happened with him, actually?"
She laughed again, "I created some scary illusions and he dropped everything and ran! It was fun! I think he left some other things, too."
I couldn't believe her. "You're telling me that after all these days? Maybe some of his stuff would be useful to us. Where are they?"
"I didn't want to associate you with him, Felix. Don't worry, they are safe in a cave. I'll take you there tomorrow, if you insist." She smiled.