The tongue-scarf of Azul flapped in the gusts of rushing wind as he sprinted toward the Pokémon Centre. Each step carried a thought, accompanied by a worried, racing heartbeat.

'Dammit Azul...' he thought. 'What the hell were you thinking?'

The Greninja couldn't clear his mind regarding the previous events.

Meanwhile, at the Pokémon Centre, Taki exited the Pokémon Centre with Louis' Pokémon in tow, including Braixen, who still had bandages on her body. Miguel winced at the sight.

"Ouch..." he said.

Taki helped Braixen down the single step of the Pokémon Centre.

"You sure you'll be alright, Braixen?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," the fire-fox answered. "I can thank Roy's music for this."

Taki smiled at Braixen's positivity. Then, she caught a glimpse of Incineroar's frown.

The girl said, "What's with him?"

"I told the gang what happened between Louis and Azul," answered Lucario.

Overhearing this, Miguel turned to the group.

"What do you mean?" he said.

The man and girl walked toward the aura Pokémon, who whispered the details of the argument Louis and Azul had moments ago.

"What?!" exclaimed Taki.

"Are you serious?" blurted Miguel.

Lucario nodded. Roy trotted over to the small group.

"What's going on? What happened?" he asked.

Taki leaned in close to Roy's right ear and whispered the information that Lucario had told both her and Miguel. Roy couldn't believe his ears at the explanation of Azul's cold and cruel words. He shook his head and creased his eyebrows.

"Jeez. Such a jerk!" he grumbled.

Then, the sounds of rapidly approaching steps met the ears of the party. They spun to the right and saw Azul, running toward them.

"Oh great. Speak of the devil and he shall appear," the musician groaned.

By the time Azul got close enough to the party, he was near winded. He took deep breaths and placed his hands on his knees.

"What do you want?" said Marowak, trying his best not to throw his Bone Club at Azul's head.

Even though he still needed a moment to recuperate, Azul spoke to the group.

"Where's Louis?" he asked.

"He's not here," answered Lucario, through clenched teeth.

"Why do you care?" he continued.

– "I...I need to talk to him."

Taki marched toward the ninja-frog.

"Y'know, I don't think Louis would want to speak to you after all the things you said to him earlier!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. What makes you think we'd let you talk to him after everything you did?!" growled Incineroar.

The realization of the impact of his choice of words finally hit him.

'He told them all,' he said, internally.

Knowing that they wouldn't listen to his pleas, Azul sighed. Then, he noticed that his pendant continued glowing.

"Guys...look!" he said, lifting the pendant up for everyone to see.

The party were surprised at the glow from the neckwear.

'I've seen something like this at the Ho-Ken temple,' thought Taki.

"It's never done this before," said Azul. "I think...I think something happened to Louis."

Then, something hit Lucario. Not physically, but mentally. He recalled how Louis was nearby the cliffside when he last saw him and stomped away after revealing what happened. The aura Pokémon immediately assumed the worst.

"Oh no..." he muttered.

Without warning, Lucario sprinted past the party.

"Follow me!" he called.

Realising the urgency on the matter, the rest of Louis' Pokémon...and Azul, trailed behind Lucario as he picked up the pace. The aura Pokémon pushed past every bush that was in his way, desperate to see if Louis didn't do anything rash.

"Should we...uh...go with them?" asked Roy.

"That's probably for the best," replied Miguel.

Soon, the remaining humans and their Pokémon followed behind Louis' teammates.

The glistening water surface sparkled as it reflected the light from the sun that reached the eyes of the young adult. Louis sat, watching the horizon, in a meditative state. Louis had a long time to reflect on what had transpired.

"I forgot how peaceful this is," he said to himself.

He closed his eyes and drew his attention to the calming sounds around him. From the rustling of leaves scraping on the ground, to the small waves crashing into the cliffside.

"Yep. I've definitely missed this."

However, as he meditated, the sounds of multiple individuals arguing met his ears.

"Now what?" he mumbled.

Even though he really wanted to see what was causing the commotion, he was too invested and involved in his meditation. So he chose not to. While he continued in his current position, the words came closer and grew sharper and more vitriolic.

The group of Pokémon continued following Lucario's trail as he led the party through the dark forest. To say that the group weren't shy about voicing their dissatisfaction with Azul's actions would be an understatement.

"Dammit, it's your fault that this has happened, Azul," said Marowak.

"If something happened to Louis, I won't hesitate to knock you out!" added Incineroar.

Azul sighed. He knew that the two Pokémon weren't wrong.

"On top of that, you should've come and seen us as soon as you came back to the campus," said Staraptor. "That's what Louis did."

"Everyone, shut up!" called Lucario.

The team stopped and turned to Lucario up ahead. He gestured for them to get closer. Once they were near the aura Pokémon, he pointed past the large bushes, leading to the cliffside. There, they saw Louis sitting quietly.

"There he is," whispered Lucario.

Lucario gestured for the rest of the group to stay put, as he took slow and small steps toward the young adult. He was surprised at the change of mood displayed from Louis. Lucario carefully placed a paw on Louis' shoulder, snapping him out of his tranquil state.

"Huh?" blurted Louis.

Louis twisted his head to the left and saw the aura Pokémon gazing at him, compassionately.

"Lucario!" jolted Louis. "How'd you find me?"

"Wasn't that hard," answered Lucario. "This was the last place I saw you before you left."

Louis sighed.

To help him feel like he wasn't alone, Lucario sat beside the young adult. Then, the rest of Louis' teammates, and Azul, approached one by one and sat alongside him. The tension between the Pokémon didn't go unnoticed by Louis as he felt that the party was nervous and uncomfortable. And Louis knew why that was.

Incineroar shot a glare at Azul.

"This doesn't change anything," growled Incineroar.

"Yeah!" added Staraptor. "You had a lot of nerve showing up after the stunt you pulled!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Louis, as he raised a hand.

"None of that!" he added.

– "But he-"

"Ah! I said...none of that," said Louis, calmly.

Staraptor sighed.

Then, more rustling came from the bushes. Every party member moved their gazes to the left and saw Miguel, Taki and Roy emerge from the small brush-scrub that lined the outer edge of the forest.

"Ah, there they are," said Roy.

Miguel wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"That's a relief," he said.

The humans took small steps forward.

"Do you mind if we join you?" asked Taki.

"Not at all," answered Louis.

As the three humans joined the party, Taki sensed the unease of the group and shifted on the spot in discomfort.

"Louis..." said Azul.

"Hm?" replied Louis.

"I need to ask, why are you letting me stay here? I...thought you said you were done with me."

Louis stayed quietly for a short time, thinking of an answer.

"Let's just say...I had a much-needed wake-up call," he answered.

There was another moment of silence between the pair.

"...me too," said Azul.

The other Pokémon looked on and listened, and finally, learned. After a while, the unease and tension between the party had almost completely disappeared.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from afar.

"Greninja?" Zack called. "Hey, Greninja! Where are you?"

Sudden dread rang through the Greninja's body. He had completely forgotten about Zack. Azul began to feel panicked.

The Greninja's gaze flicked from Louis to Zack, and back again, noticeably concerned.

"You better go to him," said Louis.

Azul shot one more look to the sound of his current trainer, before returning his attention to Louis and nodded. He stood up and dashed away, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. As the dust fell back to the ground, Louis nodded solemnly.

"Are you...feeling any better?" asked Braixen.

Louis turned his attention to the fire-fox and slowly began to smile.

"Yeah. I am," he answered.

Have...Louis and Azul...made peace? It's hard to say. Let's hope nothing bad happens after this.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)

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Thanks again. See you next time