Chapter 2: Asher the Lucario

We both stared into each other's eyes for few seconds, neither one of us speaking up or breaking the silence. I was too relieved to see a friendly face, for what seemed like the first time in forever. The feeling washed over me all at once, practically crushing me like a large wave.

I fell back onto the wall, my legs suddenly too weak to stand. I would've hit the rock wall behind me if the lucario didn't run to my side to catch my fall. His arm reached behind my back and wrapped around my torso, allowing me to put my weight on him.

"Whoa there. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, with a genuinely concerned tone in his voice. His friendly and calm smile had turned into a small, worried frown.

I nodded slowly, shaking my head "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry about that" I said in a hushed whisper, looking back up into his scarlet eyes again. Now that he was close, I could finally take a good look at him. For a lucario, he was rather tall, being nearly a foot taller than I was. The lucario had a pretty toned and rugged look to him, though his blue and tan fur was soft to the touch. He had a pair of deep red eyes. Though they appeared to be kind, I felt as if they were staring right through me.

A red bandanna adorned his neck, with what appeared to be a badge of some sort clipped onto it. Along his torso was a brown satchel, that was snapped shut to hide away the contents inside. Along his arms were a few white bandages, but there didn't seem to be any blood on the white cloth. Only the dirt from the fight between the zangoose and weavile blemished his overall look.

It didn't even occur to me how close he was until moments later when I saw that my hand was on his chest. I wasn't quite sure how it got there. Did I reach out to him when I feel, and didn't even notice? I immediately felt my cheeks flush to a soft shade of red. Regaining my balance, stood back up and inched away from the fighting type that rescued me. "Ah, I'm sorry about that…" I muttered in a sheepish tone of voice. I bent over to dust the dirt off of my dress, to avoid looking at him in the eyes.

It seemed like the blue furred pokémon had noticed how close we were as well, as he backed away from me to give me some room to dust myself off. His calm, collected smile had returned to his face, though I could've sworn I saw the slightest hint of a blush under his dark blue fur. Though, it seemed to disappear as fast as it had appeared.

"Excellent. Glad to hear it" He said, clearing his throat "I don't think I need to tell you how lucky you are that I was around" He stated, crossing his arms as he looked down at me "I've been hot on their heels for a better part of an hour after they had robbed a local market" He explained with a sigh "I was worried I had lost them until I heard your cry for help" He explained.

I nodded slowly, looking up at the taller fighting type. "Well… um…. Thank you" I stuttered out, returning his friendly smile. "I…. don't know what they would have done to me, had you not shown up when you did" I said, my soft voice leaving an echo in the cave around us.

"I'd rather not think about that scenario, at the moment. What matters is that you're safe now" He winked, a small smirk on his lips. "My name is Asher, by the way. And you are…?" He asked, holding out his paw to shake my hand

"Sky" I replied, taking his paw and shaking it. His grip was rather strong, but it wasn't painful by any means "It's a pleasure to meet you, Asher"

"Please, the pleasure is all mine" Asher said with a small chuckle. He stepped forward and pulled a leather book out of his bag that rested on his waist. After a few page flips, presumably to an empty page, he spoke up again "Sky, I'm going to have to ask why you're here. Pardon me for my bluntness, but it isn't common to find a gardevoir wandering around in a cave like this" He laughed, taking a pen from the book, ready to take notes on what I said.

The sight of Asher taking out a book to take notes puzzled me. Why would he have to take notes on why I'm here? I pushed that thought to the side with a shake of my head. Wondering why this Lucario was taking notes on my story was the least of my worries now. That, and he did save my life a few moments ago. It didn't seem to be the right time for such questions.

I rubbed my shoulder and awkwardly glanced to the side, staring at the dark walls of the cavern "I…. I don't know. I just woke up here" I said in a soft tone of voice, not meeting his dark red eyes once again.

Despite me not looking at his face, I could almost feel his expression change to a more puzzled look. "I see…" he muttered, scratching down something on his notebook "Well, can you remember anything before you woke up? Were you in contact with anyone before you found yourself here?" He asked, his tone of voice matching his expression.

I froze up at the question. I did remember the night before I fell asleep. The boring day shuffling papers around the office and meeting up with Max after work for a few drinks. Back when I was still a human. "No" I lied, refusing to look Asher in the eyes as I spoke. I honestly would have loved to tell him everything. That I was a human before I woke up here, and that I had seemingly turned into a gardevoir overnight. But I had a feeling Asher wouldn't believe me if I had told him the truth.

By the time I looked back up at him, his eyes had narrowed. He didn't believe that I had no memory of the night before. Luckily, he didn't push me any further past that.

"Hm….. well, what do you remember?" He asked

"I….." the words started to leave my mouth before I cut myself off. If I didn't tell him what I remember before I woke up here, what could I tell him? "All I can remember is my name" I finally said, this time never breaking eye contact with Asher.

Asher jotted a few more notes down, his mouth forming a confused frown "A classic case of amnesia then?" he said with a smirk, snapping his book shut and returning it back to his bag "Well, if you have nowhere to go, you're more than welcome to come with me, back to my guild. We can set you up with some temporary housing until you get your memories back" He suggested, taking his badge off his bandanna.

I was about to open my mouth to accept his offer when he pressed his badge against the unconscious zangoose. As the badge made contact with the thief, a bright light flashed from the badge. In an instant, the zangoose had vanished.

Terrified, I took a step back, my legs trembling at the sight. "W-what did you do them?"

"Hm?" The lucario glanced over at me, the sight not seeming to faze the fighting type in the slightest "Oh, I just teleported our friend here to the authorities. It's completely harmless" he said, tapping his badge against the weavile. The same flash of light appeared, with the disappearance of the weavile followed shortly afterward.

"Our badges have a certain function to them. They can teleport criminals to the proper authorities, saving us from having to drag them back to the guild" He went on to explain "It also allows a team to teleport to the guild after a mission has been completed, or in an emergency"

"So… those badges can teleport you anywhere?" I asked with a small tilt of my head, calming down after he explained the situation.

"Not exactly" Asher said, clipping his badge back on his bandanna "It only allows the guild member to teleport back to their guild. The badge can't bring you anywhere other than that." he said with a small smile. "I'd offer to take you back to my guild, so we can properly assign you a temporary room, but I can imagine you're hungry"

I hadn't noticed it at this point, but I was rather hungry. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since last night, or however long it had been since I was back at my home. As if right on cue, my stomach let out a low rumble. My cheeks went red with embarrassment "I-I guess I'm pretty hungry…." I admitted "But… I don't have any money" I pointed out.

Asher shook his head with a smile "Don't worry about that. I can cover this meal for you" He said with a general wave of his paw "But, we're going to have to walk to get a place where we can eat. Fortunately, there's a town nearby, named Aryith. Just so happens to be the town where my guild is located" Asher said with a wink "It's about a thirty minute walk from here. Do you think you can make it there?" He asked.

I nodded, walking over to his side. "I should be able to, yes" I whispered. I awkwardly rubbed my shoulder again, while looking up at him.

I'll admit, I did feel a little guilty looking into his eyes. Not only did I lie to the man who saved me, but I was still acting nervous around him. After all, he's done, I felt like I should be comfortable around Asher, at least, more than I was when he saved me from the thieves. He did offer me a place to stay, and to cover a meal for me as well. And yet, I felt so timid around him. It was something I wanted to fix by the time we reached Aryith.

Asher didn't seem bothered by this, however. He just gave me another calm and pleasant smile, as if he wasn't offended by my shy nature around him "Alright then. Right this way" he said, walking towards the same tunnel he appeared in just minutes ago.

The two of us walked in silence for a short amount of time, neither of us saying a word. The path we took was just as straightforward as the tunnel I was traveling down before I met the zangoose and weavile. Still, I didn't want to distract the fighting type, in case he needed to pay attention to get us out of this cave.

My mind still raced with the possibilities for why I was in this situation. The feeling of this being all just a dream was slowly fading away. This all felt too real to be one. The soft sounds of our footsteps hitting the ground, the feeling of the stone structure around us, the damp atmosphere in the cave… it was all too vivid to be a dream.

But if it wasn't a dream, then why was I here? Pokémon were just creatures in a video game, back where I used to be. A fictional universe, with fictional beings. If that was the case, then why was I one of them now?

I let out a deep sigh. This was all too confusing for me. And all this worrying was getting me nowhere. I had to just focus on one thing at a time. And the first thing on that list was to get to Aryith.

Asher noticed my rather loud sigh, as his ear flicked slightly at the noise. He glanced over his shoulder at me, his sharp red eyes making my heart skip a beat "Is everything alright, Sky?" he mused, continuing to walk down the stone path ahead of us.

I didn't answer him right away. As much as I wanted to tell him everything was fine, I had a feeling Asher knew that I would be lying. Besides, he did at least deserve an honest answer from me at this point. He saved my life, after all.

"No." I finally said, breaking away from his gaze, to stare at the dark path ahead of us "I… don't know who I am, and how I even got in this cave." I said, my voice wavering slightly as I confessed to the male lucario "All I know about myself is my name. I'm a little scared if I'm honest." My eyes began to well up with tears. The emotions I felt when I first woke up in this cave were starting to get back to me.

I felt a paw on my shoulder. Asher had walked over to my side, the sympathetic look returning to his face. "You're going to be okay." He assured me. "After we get something to eat, we can head over to my guild. You can get some rest, and we'll see what we can do for you then."

It may have been just a few words, but hearing Asher tell me everything was going to be okay did help somewhat. The feelings of despair and hopelessness slowly ebbed away as I placed my hand on top of his paw. "Thank you, Asher."

Asher nodded and gave me a reassuring smile. His paw never left my shoulder for the rest of our walk in the cave.

It wasn't long before we started to see sunlight peeking out of the entrance of the cavern. After being underground for such a long time, the sun was blinding to me at first. I lifted my arm to shield my eyes, giving them a moment to adjust to the brighter environment. The cool and damp feeling of the cave was soon replaced with the warm sun beaming down on my skin. A small breeze passed through the two of us, just as my eyes adjusted to the new setting.

With a few blinks, the area around us became clearer. Trees surrounded the entrance of the cave, with bright pink and white flowers adorning the area around the entrance. The rocky path we had been taking changed into a small dirt path, that snaked its way through the forest in front of us. To my left, I saw a wooden sign drilled into the hard rock of the cave entrance. It read 'WHISPERING CAVE'.

"It won't be too long till we get to Aryith now." Asher said, his paw leaving my shoulder and returning to his side. "We just need to clear this forest. This path should lead right to the town."

I nodded, taking in the forest around me. The wind passed through the forest again, stirring my green hair, and white dress. Asher's fur waved in the wind as well, blowing off some of the dirt he picked up on his fur from the cave. "It's… very pretty" I finally said, grasping my hands together and bringing them to my chest.

"Just wait until you see Aryith" Asher winked. He started to walk along the dirt path, looking back at me with his usual warm smile. "I have a feeling you're going to like it"

"I… think I will too." I said, giving him a small smile in return. A small flutter of hope sparked within me as we continued our walk to the town.

We continued to walk through the forest, following down the narrow path that apparently led to Aryith. The dirt path only had room for one person to walk on, making it impossible for us to walk side by side as we did in the cave. Though, it did give me a chance to take a closer look at the guild member ahead of me.

The brighter lighting of the forest made it much easier to read his features. His fur was a bit longer than what I would have expected from a normal lucario. His fur shone brightly as the sun beamed down on him, giving his fur a glossier look than it did in the cave. The fur did little to cover his toned body, however. Muscles rippled along his chest, back, and biceps. While his build didn't make him large by any means, his strength was on full display to me now.

I hadn't noticed it in the cave, but the way Asher walked matched his calm and serious personality. It's hard to describe it, but it looked as if he walked with purpose in every step, confident in himself and his abilities.

It was then I noticed something….off about the forest around us. It was too quiet. Aside from the breeze that passed through the forest occasionally, and the soft padding of our footsteps, there was nothing else coming from the forest. No birds were chirping, or bugs buzzing around the forest.

At first, the lack of sounds coming from the wilderness had me a little uneasy. What was wrong with this forest? Where was all of the life one would expect from a place like this?

Maybe they were all in the town we were heading to? If all other pokémon were like Asher and me, then it would make sense that most of the pokémon would want to live in communities. Maybe the flying and bug type pokémon lived at Aryith as well?

I didn't have much time to think about this, however, as I soon started to hear voices nearby. Several of them, all talking over each other. Along with other sounds, none of which I could tell what the source of the noise was coming from.

Asher seemed to notice it as well, his ears perking up and a smile forming on his face. He glanced over his shoulder at me, giving me a wink "Sounds like we're just about there"

After passing through a few more trees, we came to a clearing. Just about 100 yards away from us, I could see what appeared to be a small town. The dirt path we were on led to what appeared to be a marketplace, with dozens of stands, all with different pokémon behind them. The stands have various goods on them, ranging from berries to even weapons. Patrons darted from stand to stand, talking with and buying goods from the stands.

Further down the market, I could see a stone path, that led to an open area within the town. It lead to a circular opening, where several buildings were on the edges of said path. In the center of the circle was a large stone fountain, water pouring from the top into a circular pool below. Several more pokemon were walking from building to building, talking amongst each other. Some even sat at the edge of the fountain, chatting and catching up with their fellow residents.

The most eye-catching thing about the town, however, was the building behind the fountain. It was noticeably larger than the other buildings in the town center, being around three stories tall. The first and third floors appeared to be normal, but the second floor appeared to have a small gap in between, giving the structure a sort of square shape. In the center of the gap was a statue of a crescent moon, the moon itself having a brilliant white color to it. At the foot of the first floor was a staircase, that lead back down to the town center below.

Asher took a few steps away from me and turned back to face me, with the town facing his back. He gave a wide grin. "Welcome," he said, "To the town of Aryith."

And that's the end of the second chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

Asher is going to be a central character to the plot going forward, so you can expect to see a lot of him in the coming chapters!

Of course, there will be more characters added to the story later on, but for now we have our two main characters here: Sky and Asher.

More to come of these two in the next chapter!

By the way, I recently got art of Sky! Her art is going to be the cover of the story for now, but if you want to see it in a better quality, head over to my DA to check it out! I'm LuprinaWolf over there.

Art was commissioned by iamthevoidsmelody on Instagram. Please go and support the artist!