It was clear from the conflicted look in Iris' eyes that she didn't like the idea of leaving Force to fend for himself, especially considering what happened the last time she was urged to do an errand or pass a message along while he fought off a hostile opponent.

However, this wasn't anything like that time in the forest. Diablos was not in control of the Lucario's body, and Force had spent the past few weeks training diligently in order to adjust to his evolved form and abilities. Under normal circumstances, Force might have heeded the unspoken advice not to engage the Marowak, but this conflict struck a personal tone with him.

In spite of Seraphina's provocation, Force knew better than to recklessly rush into battle. She could call him 'weak' until the Miltank came home, but he still wasn't going to charge at her like a triggered idiot. Now that he had evolved, and taken the time to adjust to his abilities both on and off the battlefield, he felt only an overwhelming sense of confidence and pride.

He paused to make eye contact with the Kirlia, and offered a quick nod and reassuring smile. It was crucial, in his eyes, that Kaito be informed that his Zoroark rival and a number of other Pokemon had arrived in Celestic Town. If the Togetic had time to prepare, and if Force could hold off Seraphina for a while, then there was a good chance that Kaito, Cecilia, and Diablos could handle the rest.

After what felt like an eternity, Iris returned the smile, wished him good luck, and Teleported from the area. Warmth immediately soaked into Force's body as he formed a condensed sphere of aura into his paws. The sphere crackled with power as he chucked it towards Sera like a pitcher hurling a fastball.

Seraphina had superb reflexes, and without batting an eye, she whacked the projectile aside with her bone, the sphere detonating against the grass, prompting gasps from the human onlookers. Force pushed all distractions from his mind, gathering his energy and focus together. The aura appendages near his ears rose slightly, and the doorway to the future swung open before him, revealing dozens of diverging pathways, but each path was obscured by fog, preventing his eyes from getting more than a glimpse of what lay ahead.

The Lucario blinked rapidly, his gaze refocusing upon the present moment. There were four Pokemon standing across from him, but only Seraphina had hostile intentions towards him. Without conscious thought, he swiftly identified the auras of the remaining three. The Zoroark was Kuro, Kaito's rival, and a powerful illusionist. The unfamiliar bipedal lizard was Circe, a Salazzle seductress, and the cackling imp was Pearl, a Sableye of indefinite age. He filed this information away in the back of his mind, taking note of the fact that all of their auras were steeped in deception, but because they weren't hostile, he couldn't afford to get distracted by their aura readings.

"As engaging as this spectacle may be, if Kaito is being alerted to our presence, we should make haste to complete our preparations, if we don't want to miss our grand entrance," Kuro noted seriously. "We'll leave this to you, Sera, dear."

The Marowak snorted derisively, and the Zoroark snapped his claws, his body shimmering before disappearing from sight. Pearl snickered and likewise vanished into thin air, whereas the remaining Pokemon departed in a less dramatic fashion, but with the agility of a ninja. Seraphina seized this opportunity to lunge towards the Lucario, drawing her arm back and hurling her bone at Force, continuing to charge in its wake.

Force pressed both paws together, focusing for a moment before pulling them apart again, conjuring a baton of light green energy within his grasp. Seizing one end of the aura staff, he struck it against the spinning projectile, deflecting it away from his body and back towards its sender. Without missing a beat, Seraphina snatched the bone out of the air and closed the remaining gap between them. The top of her skull mask glowed with silver-white energy right before she butted her head against his stomach.

The Lucario skidded back from the force of the impact, but felt next to no pain. His evolved form was significantly more adapted to withstanding blunt force than his unevolved form had been. With a growl, he swung his aura baton in retaliation, only for Sera to meet the blow with a swing of her own weapon. She seemed momentarily surprised by the conjured weapon's durability, but a smug smirk tugged at her mouth. With a quick flick of her wrist, she spun her bone sideways, wrenching the aura staff from Force's grip. The instant that the glowing energy left his paws, it dissolved away into nothing, providing Sera with an opening to drive the opposing end of her bone into his stomach.

The blow itself was no more painful than the first, but the impact against his semi-metallic body produced a shower of green sparks. Sensing weakness, Sera struck her weapon against his stomach again, an eerie green flame successfully igniting from that end of the club. Recognizing the danger, Force lashed out with his foot, striking the inside of Sera's leg and dropping her to one knee. Taking advantage of the momentary loss of balance, Force pulled back his arm and drove his glowing fist into the side of Sera's head. The skull helmet covering the Marowak's head was incredibly durable, but the blow still carried enough force to send Seraphina hurtling sideways like a ragdoll strapped to a rocket. Each impact that Sera had with the ground sprayed large chunks of dirt and grass into the air, until the Marowak finally rolled to a stop, an almost thirty yard trail of uprooted grass leading to her resting point.

Force's jaw dropped, and he looked down at his fists in mute disbelief. He was so much stronger now, yet it didn't feel like he was using much effort at all. Maybe this is what so many of his past opponents meant when they said he was so weak that thrashing him didn't even cause them to work up a sweat. Either way, it was incredibly satisfying to see the results of his training in action, against an actual opponent.

Best of all, he was using his greater strength to live out one of his deepest fantasies - finally having the strength and courage to strike back against one of the Pokemon that had frequently belittled him as a Riolu. Standing up to the Marowak was cathartic, and might even discourage the abrasive bitch from insulting other Pokemon weaker than she was. Even if it didn't, there was something intoxicating about wielding a level of power that truly belonged to him, and was the fruits of his own training and natural abilities, rather than simply being augmented by Diablos' power. It made him want to keep fighting, and savor every moment of kicking Sera around until she conceded that she was outmatched, and maybe even groveled a little.

This desire probably didn't perfectly align with the more productive ambitions he had formed since meeting Iris, and becoming a member of Kaito's group, but maybe, just this once, he could afford to be a little selfish.

Quiet laughter traveled across the clearing as Seraphina climbed back to her feet, looking none the worse for wear, apart from the dirt and grass clinging to her dark scales. She retrieved the bone club that lay nearby, and began walking back towards the Lucario.

"Fantastic!" she crowed, her voice giddy with delight. "I wouldn't be satisfied if you couldn't at least do this much," she continued with a sneer.

Force narrowed his eyes. There was something genuinely unsettling about Sera's aura, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. An ominous purple, shadow-like glow had engulfed the Marowak's body, similar to the black aura that Force associated with Diablos' presence, but less extreme. What he could say for certain was that the empowering energy was foreign to Sera's soul, yet simultaneously linked to her fighting spirit. She was genuinely excited for this battle, but the driving force came from something else.

It was as fascinating as it was unnerving, but Seraphina had always been considered something of an anomaly among the various Riolu training at Iron Island. The bone Pokemon had arrived one day, and swiftly proved herself capable of keeping pace with the best of them, both in terms of combat and aura manipulation.

The nearest bystanders shifted anxiously, and Force chanced a glance over his shoulder, becoming increasingly concerned that someone was going to try and intervene. Celestic Town was a small, relatively peaceful settlement, and the absence of a League gym gave little incentive for aspiring trainers to linger in town, but that did not mean that the town was completely defenseless against wild Pokemon attacks, or the actions of criminal affiliates.

As much as he'd like to see this match to its conclusion, Force realized that the center of town was not the best place for this fight. Eventually, they were going to attract the attention of local law enforcement, and that could lead to him being branded as a problematic Pokemon. Despite being native to the region, Force honestly had no idea how Sinnoh's Pokemon Control Bureau handled cases of wild Pokemon fighting within city limits, and he wasn't too keen on finding out.

One of the humans abruptly shouted a warning, but it really wasn't necessary. Force's command of aura had evolved to the point that he could easily detect Seraphina's movements. He pivoted towards the Marowak and knocked her arm aside with his wrist, the blazing bone club barely grazing his shoulder. He lashed out with his foot, but Sera had already ducked back out of range. Warmth spread through the Lucario's body as he produced a sphere of aura within his paws and hurled it at Sera's feet. She leapt into the air with surprising agility, and the sphere detonated harmlessly against the grass. Force formed two more spheres of aura, one in each paw, and chucked them rapidly towards the airborne Marowak. With an audible hiss of delight, Sera used her bone club to smack both projectiles aside, one of the spheres striking the nearby shrine with enough force to blast off a chunk of wood.

Force clapped a paw to his mouth, horrified by the unintentional desecration of the shrine, but he couldn't afford to sacrifice any momentum. Growling in the back of his throat, he formed yet another Aura Sphere into his paws, and hurled it towards Sera. The projectile soared past the Marowak's shoulder, and then changed direction to strike at Sera's back. Anticipating the trick, Sera twisted her body in mid-air and hurled her bone club at the pursuing aura projectile, causing it to detonate prematurely. Unfortunately, the aerial maneuver caused her to miss her landing entirely, and she crash-landed into the dirt with a dull thud. Sera staggered to her feet, slightly dazed, but her body appeared durable enough to withstand the impact without serious injury.

The Lucario charged Sera with blinding speed, drawing back his fist and uppercutting her before she could recover. She recoiled from the blow, and Force drove his knee into the fire reptile's undefended stomach. Sera let out a wheeze of discomfort, clutching her stomach and stumbling back against the shrine, using her free paw to grasp onto the structure for support.

"You like that?" Force growled, stepping forward aggressively. "Would you like another?"

Without waiting for an answer, he swept his leg to knock her feet out from beneath her, and Sera's head slammed against the shrine wall as she fell onto her rump, leaving a sizeable dent in the wood. Her gray eyes glared up at him defiantly, seemingly unconcerned about her impending defeat.

The defiance in the Marowak's eyes sparked a sudden surge of rage through Force's chest, and he lashed out with his foot, striking Sera directly in the forehead with enough force to slam her head down to the grass. The bone Pokemon wisely rolled onto her stomach, protecting the more vulnerable areas of her body from any follow-up assaults. Force stood over the Marowak, fists clenched, but he hesitated. Blood was pounding in his ears, and his entire body was shaking with a mixture of adrenaline and rage.

He felt incredible. He felt stronger now that he ever had before, but he wasn't satisfied yet. Sera had put him through hell during the weeks she had spent training alongside him and his peers. She had subjected him to a series of humiliating defeats and then mercilessly mocked him for his poor performances. She enjoyed picking fights with him because she knew how easy it would be to rile him up, and then punish him for his outbursts and reckless strategies. Simply kicking the crud out of her like this wasn't enough for him.

"Still think I'm weak?" Force spat, prodding the immobile reptile with his foot.

He wanted her to grovel at his feet and beg forgiveness for calling him a weakling. It was a petty desire, but he couldn't let it go. Seraphina was a bully, and he wasn't going to let her off the hook merely by thrashing her.

"You dimwit," Seraphina snickered. Force blinked, but before he could say or do anything, a beam of energy connected his body to the Marowak's, and his eyes bulged in pain as his strength was almost literally ripped from his body and absorbed into hers. He collapsed to one knee, clutching his chest with one paw, as perspiration dripped from his forehead. The pain ended as quickly as it began, but the sudden fatigue remained.

Pain Split, he realized with a jolt of horror. Iris had told him about the technique before, but this was probably the first time he had ever found himself on the receiving end of it. Had Sera only been feigning weakness to encourage him to keep attacking her, while unknowingly bolstering Pain Split's effectiveness? Had she actually planned her strategy in such a way to punish him for thinking his evolution would be enough to overcome her?

Taking advantage of his momentary incapacitation, Sera rolled sideways, slipping through the narrow gap beneath the shrine's support beams, and emerged on the opposite side, giving herself time to recover while keeping a physical object between herself and the opposing jackal Pokemon. Force snarled, pushing himself back up to his feet, but fatigue was setting in hard, and he nearly fell over again.

The Marowak gleefully retrieved her bone club and directed it towards Force like a magician pointing its staff. Eerie blue energy engulfed the Lucario's body, and he let out a gasp as a cold, clammy sensation invaded his body, feeling as though he had just been dunked in ice water. The warmth of aura flowing through his body faded almost immediately, and he struggled to regain his focus. Several seconds passed without success, and Force clenched his fists, narrowly resisting the urge to punch the wooden shrine out of frustration. All his power and strength had somehow disappeared, making him feel just as weak, if not weaker, as he had been as a Riolu.

"Did you really think you could defeat me so easily?" Sera taunted, her voice dripping with smug amusement. "I'm a Ghost-type, you moron, and an aura-user. Your knowledge of my normal tactics and battle style gave you an edge for a while, but your weaknesses are easier to exploit than mine. You have no means to recover once your stamina is exhausted."

Force cursed under his breath, shaking with anger. He should have just kept kicking the crap out of her while she was down, and made sure she was unconscious before trying to get her to admit defeat. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the stone at his wrist had started glowing, an unpleasant reminder of how the stone reacted to his emotional state.

"I told you that I would reclaim the treasure stolen from the Ruins," Sera whispered dramatically, her gray eyes focused upon the pulsing Lucarionite. "Kuro would probably prefer that it remain in your possession, but testing you further is hardly necessary. I'm satisfied. You are unworthy of its power, so as the Sigilyph guardian's successor, I will take it from you until a worthy Lucario can be found."

"Over my dead body," Force retorted with a snarl, internally wincing the moment he had finished speaking. That had been an extraordinarily poor choice of words, but even in a state of exhaustion, his will to fight had not yet been extinguished. Seraphina's gloating effectively stoked the fires burning within his heart, fueling his desire to see karmic justice inflicted upon those who tormented the weak and helpless.

Sera gazed back at him, unimpressed. There was the hint of a challenge present within her gray eyes, silently urging him to put his money where his mouth was. If he really still had the strength to act defiant, then he needed to make good on it with actions.

Force subconsciously grasped the bracer with his paw, feeling the energy radiating from the stone. Warmth was gradually returning to his body, counteracting the clammy feeling inflicted by Sera's Spite technique.

"You always were too stubborn for your own good," Sera sneered, speaking barely above a whisper. She brandished her bone club, firing off multiple wisps of eerie green flame that closed in on the Lucario from all directions. Force conjured another baton of aura from his paws and swatted at the ghostly flame as if they were small insects, but for every one that fizzled out, three more seemed to take its place.

One of the blazing embers touched his arm, and the Lucario immediately yelped in pain as the cursed fire seemed to bypass his fur and flesh to burn at his nerves directly. Worst of all, the ember seemed to latch onto his body like a leech, remaining in place despite his frantic efforts to extinguish the burning glow. In a matter of seconds, half a dozen more embers secured themselves to his body, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to let loose an agonized howl. His focus now broken beyond repair by the sheer intensity of the pain, Force felt his aura energy waning, and his conjured baton dissolved like sugar mixed into water.

"Make it stop!" he pleaded, the words escaping his mouth before he could stop himself. Without any hesitation, Sera coldly flicked her bone to the side, dissolving the encroaching wisps. Each clinging ember seemed to slowly expire on its own, but the burning sensation in his skin remained.

Perspiration dripped from Force's brow as he collapsed to his knees, tears of pain and shame welling up in his eyes. He kept his head down, unwilling to let the Marowak see his emotional suffering. He hated feeling weak, or helpless without the support of another, and no matter how much stronger he was now, his own strength never seemed to be enough. His own power was nothing but an illusion, but at the same time, both Cecilia and Lin were incredibly powerful without needing Diablos' power, or anything else to augment their strength. What was so wrong with him that forced him to rely on a crutch?

"Incompetent moron," Seraphina jeered, stepping closer and delivering a precise blow to the bracer at Force's wrist, shattering the crude clasp with little effort, and dropping the still-pulsing stone to the ground. She seized her prize swiftly and promptly retreated, as if expecting him to resume the battle if she dared linger within his range. "Did you actually believe your hatred and anger could ever be enough to overpower me?"

Force growled, but the will to fight had left his body. Pride forced him to lift his gaze to glare at the Marowak through blurry, tear-streaked eyes, unwilling to keep his head bowed to the abrasive Ghost-type.

Seraphina inspected her prize with cold satisfaction, but her gray eyes flicked to meet his when he lifted his head. "A little word of advice," the black Marowak drawled. "Hatred is my power source. Aura connects you to the living, whereas I'm connected to the vengeful dead. Fight hatred with hatred, and I'll always win."

"Don't gloat!" Force spat, punching his fist into the grass and uneasily climbing to his feet. His entire body was shaking from the mixture of emotions running through his mind. "Why are you so hellbent on fighting me? If I'm so weak, incompetent, and stupid, why do you waste your time with me?!"

Sera was silent for a moment, lightly tapping one end of her bone weapon against her chin, her expression unreadable. "Do you really want to know?" she asked, her tone surprisingly serious and non-combative.

"Yes!" Force snapped, restlessly clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Of all the Riolu training at the island, you were the only one worth fighting," Sera answered with an enigmatic smirk. "An outcast among your peers, with a heart longing for a life greater than the role expected of you. None of the others possessed anything like that."

"If you're trying to say that I had potential, then why the hell would you tear me down at every opportunity?!" Force practically screamed.

"A funny thing about acceptance," Sera mused quietly, unfazed by the Lucario's emotional outburst. "The pursuit of it fuels growth, but not the acquisition. Once they have it, people cling to it and lose the passion that spurred them on in the first place. Satisfaction quickly makes a person useless."

A fluctuation in the nearby aura signals seized Force's attention, and both he and Sera shifted their focus towards the crowd of bystanders. Several of the humans had been murmuring amongst themselves since the battle's conclusion, but they abruptly went silent, and the ones standing at the front quickly stepped aside to make room for someone behind them.

A pair of quadruped Pokemon came forward. The first was a majestic fox covered in brilliant, golden-white fur, with numerous flowing tails fanned out behind its body. The second appeared almost feline in nature, with dark skin contrasting with the white fur covering the majority of its body. Force experienced a jolt of recognition at the sight of a distinct, crescent-shaped horn set on the side of its head. As opposed to the Ninetales' direct approach, the Absol prowled along the perimeter of the town center, climbing onto higher ground as to find the ideal vantage point, until finally stopping on the ridge just above the entrance cave of the Celestic Ruins. Wind ruffled the Absol's untamed fur, giving it a vaguely unsettling appearance that nevertheless seemed like it was more for dramatic effect than trying to be imposing. Then again, the Absol's tail was wagging excitedly, which kind of ruined her chances of being taken seriously.

"Doesn't appear that we're too late this time," the Ninetales noted solemnly, his crimson eyes surveying the impromptu battlefield.