Hi guys. I decided that I will publish new chapters every Sunday or every other. So I hope you like the story so far. You can leave comments and if you like the story, follow me, because at the end of the year I plan to start another story.
It had been almost a week since the incident in the canyon and there had been no word from Professor Oak, which was starting to worry Luna and her friends. As for Storm and Zoe, they got the green light from Luna to start moving around more, even to help out in the tribe, as long as it wasn't too physically demanding or anything that would reopen the wounds. Raichu would still help out on patrols or train with the others, while Sunny and Star would slowly join Raichu. During this time Luna was practicing her ability to distinguish aura with the others and to her surprise she was doing great. In just a few days she could distinguish and find any aura, of course with a limited range. So it was time for her and the rest of the riolus to focus on the next part of their training.
This time Elder Kira was holding the training, along with Zoe who seemed much better and more cheerful than a few days ago. - Since you have all managed to master finding and transmitting aura signals, today we will focus on managing it. - Luna became tense when she found out what she was going to do today. Her last attempt to use and manage the aura was still on her mind. And if she knew, and the Elders explained to her, that these are the basics and that they are not dangerous when they are mastered properly, her close encounter with death was still like a fresh wound, which did not allow her to forget it. Elder Kira began to explain - Aura, like almost any energy in nature, is difficult to control and if not managed properly it can have unimaginable consequences for you and those around you. - Some of the riolus looked worried as they others just continued to focus on Kira's words. - First you need to feel the aura in yourself, to get to know its nature well and how it manifests itself in you. You will achieve this through meditation. With meditation, you will only focus on managing the aura evenly in all parts of your body. Some will find it easier to control their aura, some will find it more difficult, but it will depend on the strength of your will and your ability to remain calm while using it. Using auras under strong controlled emotions can cause even fatal damage. So remember and use the aura smartly and wisely. - After Kira finished the lecture about the aura and the seriousness of its management, all the riolus lined up in a circle, and Luna with them. They sat down in an Indian seat, closed their eyes and tried to focus on the energy inside them, slowly separating themselves from the outside world.
Luna slowly began to ignore the sounds and smells around her, and after a little while, everything she felt on herself. Slowly, but successfully, she cut herself off from the outside world, but still felt nothing, as if she was in a dark nothingness, only her and her thoughts. Luna herself didn't know how long she sat like that, but after what seemed like an eternity she began to feel a slight energy pulsation in her chest area. When she focused even more, it was very strong and very warm. Luna followed the instructions Kira explained to them at the very beginning, and tried to channel some of that energy into the rest of her body, but it didn't turn out well. When she tried to apply just a small amount it felt like it was starting to burn so much that she felt incredible pain. It was the same pain she felt when she was eleven. Luna couldn't take it anymore, so for fear of the same ending again, she tried to bring her back to her chest again, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do anything and almost lost control. When she couldn't take it anymore and was on the verge of bursting, she felt the other energy slowly mixing with hers slowly reducing the pain. After a while all the energy returned to her core in Luna's chest and Luna heard voices calling out to her from all sides. It took her a while to snap out of her meditative state and she felt exhausted and overwhelmed at the same time. When she opened her eyes, the riolus were at a safe distance from her, about twenty meters away, while Kira and Zoe were sitting next to her, holding each of her shoulders. - Are you okay Luna?- Zoe asked worriedly and a little unsure, because she was still drinking in partial shock from the amount of Luna's aura. Luna somehow nodded as a sign of confirmation. - I'm glad to hear that. So...-
Zoe paused, while Kira and Luna waited for her to continue. Zoe then rose to her feet taking a step closer to Luna and then.- Where was your mind to decided to release your entire aura at once. With that amount, you could have done a lot of damage if Elder Kira and I hadn't noticed in time. You could have hurt everyone around you or even worse, you could have killed yourself.- Zoe yelled at Luna, lecturing her like a child. Luna could barely process what had just happened, and Zoe's words shocked her. - Zoe calm down.- Kira told Zoe in a calm voice. "Sorry, I'm really sorry." Luna began to tremble not knowing if her emotions were overwhelming her from the shock or the fear that she had almost repeated the same disaster from so many years ago.
- It's okay Luna, just don't pull all the aura out of one and yes...- At that moment, Luna cut Kira with a trembling voice and tears in her eyes. ,, I didn't free everything, I pulled out... just a small... fragment." This surprised Kira very much, and even more worried and terrified him. It was not natural for a being to possess such an amount of aura. More importantly, how did she managed to control so much power for all these years?' Zoe was also surprised by the words but also scared because not even Elder Kira was able to control the aura by himself so she had to step in too. Slowly the riolus started to approach Luna one by one asking her to is she okay and such. Mio, Rio and Luka were the most worried of all because they were used to Luna always smiling, confident and fearless, while the girl in front of them seemed broken and terrified. - Zoe, it's pass more than half a lessons , take the riolus for a run and pick up another tribe member to help you. I'll stay here with Luna to talk.- Most of the riolus agreed while some like Flash commented. -Why doesn't Luna come with us too. She's not in trouble. Right - Flash asked worried about Luna as the others continued to hold onto Luna in a group hug. - No she's not in trouble. And it wasn't in plan from beginning for her to go for a run with you anyway.- All Riolus except Luke and Rio looked at Elder was confused, waiting for the answer that Zoe gave them. - Even if Luna is human, she is incredibly fast and durable, while you have a long way ahead of you. - The others understood the point of Zoe's words and began to slowly release Luna.
When Kira and Luna were alone Kira started a conversation. - How did you manage to keep that aura under control all this time?- Luna just remained silent not knowing what to answer when she didn't know the answer herself. Kira didn't know where to start or what words to use, but he knew he needed to tell Luna. - Luna, I want you to listen to me carefully.- Luna looked up from the ground and looked directly at Kira this time. - You have an incredible amount of aura. Bigger than anyone I've ever met. - Luna was confused not knowing whether to accept it as something bad or something good. - Anyway, it's dangerous because your aura is wild and powerful, so I'm surprised how you managed to use it without that power itself swallowing you. - As Kira talked about Luna's powers, somehow she became more and more afraid that this power would somehow not be released from her. - But at the same time I admire you. You instinctively managed to use that power for good and to help others. Which proves that you have enough strength in you to control her and that you just need to somehow find the right way to do it willingly without her hurting you. - Those words gave Luna a little hope, that maybe it is still possible to find a way to catalyze all that power into something great and good.
Luna's confidence began to slowly return, as did that indomitable will that the Elders had seen when they first met Luna. - But that will have to wait until tomorrow.- If Luna was surprised by Kira's words, expecting them to either try to get Luna to implement the aura again or try to find a way for Luna to try to implement it. - As we said when I first came to your camp, in order to control great power you also need a strong body that can handle it. It would also be desirable for you to learn to defend yourself and fight hand to hand, because you won't always be as lucky as last time.- Kira rose to his feet and motioned for Luna to stand up with him as well. That's when it finally clicked in Luna's head, that this was slowly turning into battle training. - Don't worry, I won't use special attacks until you reach a certain level.- Luna was a little relieved to hear that, but it didn't change the fact that she would probably get a more severe beating today. When Luna stand up, Kira took an attack stance waiting for Luna to get ready and take guard as well. Luna knew that she was no match for the fighting type pokemon in strength so she had to rely on some of her other traits to equalize. Kira didn't wait a second, but rushed towards Luna at extreme speed and tried to punch her in the head. Fortunately Luna instinctively crossed her arms in front of her in an attempt to block the attack, but it only partially worked as she was thrown nearly two meters from where she was fall straight to the ground. - You have good reflexes. You might have succeeded in blocking if you had taken a better guard and had better balance. - Kira explained to Luna while she stood up and tried to find a field position so that she wouldn't fall out of balance this time. she raised one arm in front of her half bent while she raised the other in a similar position but little more to her side and bent her knees a little in case there was an opportunity to avoid, using it like a shot
Kira smiled briefly as he saw that Luna absorbed his every word like a sponge and took a much better guard. He launched a similar attack again, but this time Luna didn't try to receive or block the attack but with the hook that was in front tried to redirect the attack while at the same time bending out of the path of Kira's strike. This tactic pleasantly surprised Kira, especially since when Luna diverted her attack she immediately tried to attack Kira directly in the stomach with her other hand. But Kira already knew this was coming so he just blocked her kick with his paw. - This is already better. Instead of running away from a fight or blocking blows you're unable to take, you redirect them. But you have to be unpredictable if you want your attacks to succeed.- With that he pulled Luna by the arm he used to block her attack, and flipped her upside down throwing her to the ground, pumping the air out of her lungs. Luna coughed for a minute and tried to get air again. Luna took up a similar guard again and was trying to think of some way to deal even a little damage, but that wasn't the only thing that was a problem. Lucarios have one spine on the back of their palms and one on their chest, so if she's even slightly careless she'll do more damage to herself than to Kira.
- Don't just defend yourself, you have to attack when the opponent least expects it without hesitation.- Luna understood that very clearly, but when you don't know what to expect from the opponent, how can you be sure that the attack will succeed. Kira didn't wait but started attacking again, rushing towards her with another blow, which Luna dodged this time, but Kira didn't stop there. As soon as Luna escaped by ducking to the side, he changed the direction of movement towards her with the next thrust. Luna tried to avoid them as much as she could, but after a few tries Kira still hit her and knocked her to the ground, again. Now it was clear as day to Luna that she couldn't block attacks, redirect them or dodge them for long, so she needed a strategy. And then an idea came to her. Luna got back to her feet despite feeling pain in most parts of her body and being completely bruised from hitting the ground so much, because she wasn't planning on giving up that easily. - Good. You don't give up without a fight, but you'll need more than that.- Luna took an even lower stance this time and patiently waited for Kira to rush at her for the next blow. Kira noticed the change in Luna's aura and knew she was up to something, so he wanted to see what she could really do when she had a plan. Kira went straight for her, when he was about to hit her Luna was about to redirect the attack which disappointed Kira for a second. But when Luna measured the blow she didn't try to hit him again, instead she grabbed Kira's arm with both of her hands and with all her might she tried to flip Kira over her using his momentum and the power he put into the attack, making sure that the spike on his chest didn't injured her.
Luna successfully flipped and threw Kira off but he got to his feet with ease with a smile on his face, turning to Luna, who already seemed exhausted from the fight and training before. Luna seemed irritated that her counter attack had failed and she was slowly running out of strength and ideas on how to defend herself. Kira was about to go after her again, but Luna overtook him and charged at him at full speed, which surprised him. When Luna was only a few centimeters away from him, Kira prepared a block in front of him with his left hand and prepared for a counter attack with his right. At the last moment, Luna changed the direction of the attack, stood on Kira's left side and kicked with all her might, which made Kira only take a few steps back, and Luna moved back a few meters immediately after the attack in case of a counterattack. Kira seemed pleased that Luna followed every piece of advice he gave her. To be unpredictable, she attacked without delay and also did not let her guard down, nor did she lose her balance at any point. On the other hand, Luna didn't care that even if she directly hit him with all her strength, she did almost no damage, and she used the last parts of her strength for those attacks, which Kira also noticed. - That's enough and now.- Luna was kind of relieved, while her legs gave way and she fell on her back from exhaustion with heavy breathing.
-Not bad for a first time,- Kira commented, causing Luna to sit back up and aim directly at Kira. - But I won't lie, you lack stamina and strength in your shots, which will increase with hard and regular training. But you don't attack blindly, you are aware of your weaknesses and your opponent's strengths and you use them against them. Also, every time I commented and pointed out your mistakes and shortcomings during the fight, you immediately tried to correct them as best you could. You can make an amazing fighter Luna.- Kira said the last part with pride, which made Luna incredibly happy. Kira walked over to Luna and held out a paw to help her back to her feet. When Luna got up she shook off the dirt and noticed that her arms and legs were full of scratches and bruises and that she had a couple of them on her face, but she didn't really care. She just prayed that Raichu wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it, since he could be more pushy than her dad at times. Kira and Luna slowly made their way towards the tribe, because Luna didn't have the strength to run back like usual, which Kira used as an opportunity to ask a few questions.- When they defended riolus from vespiquen, you managed to overpower her and her trainer and I'm sure you didn't have enough strength and she still had the advantage of flying.- When they said that Luna was able to defend riolus to Kira, he was surprised, but when he saw Luna's fighting style, he noticed that she didn't have enough skill to defeat a strong pokemon. Luna felt a little uncomfortable but answered anyway.
"I simply ran into a denser part of the forest and tried to change direction as often as possible, so that when it attacked, it could not cause much damage. Then I've been using a climbing hook as a harness for protection, and it's a good thing her trainer was around." Luna explained as she took a climbing hook out of her bag and showed it to Kira, who then asked. - Why was it lucky that the trainer showed up. That should only be an even bigger problem.- Kira asked her why Luna wasn't too happy to answer but she knew that when Kira or any of the elders asked something she had no choice but to answered. "He thought I was a kid and that's why he let his guard down. I managed to create a diversion and instead of continuing the fight with Vespiquen, I dodged her attack and rushed to knock out her trainer. Before she could attack again I put her back in her pokemon ball." Luna laughed nervously as she noticed the surprised look in Kira's eyes and then laughed.- So he underestimated you and you used that to your advantage. That was very quick thinking on your part- Luna was glad that Kira didn't react like the others to lecturing her about her riskiness. But he seemed a little thoughtful in some way. Luna didn't hesitate to ask him what he meant, but he he preempted with words.
-You won't be able to use your aura properly for a while, and you don't have anything but those hooks to use as weapons. We need to find something to help you fight.- Kira said that as if he was actually thinking out loud instead of thinking. was talking to Luna. Luna understood what Kira was trying to say and it made her think about how she could solve this. It's not like she didn't have any weapons at all because she had the arrows she bought from Liam with her but they were just for emergencies, while the climbing hook even if served against Veapiquen, it did not provide assurance that it can be used effectively in battle. Luna had to find something that would help her in the fight and at the same time be easily portable. But everything caused her another problem, which is that Luna has never handled any weapon, so it would take her even more time to master it. Kira noticed Luna's frustration and that she was quite lost in thought. - You've only just started Luna, it's not worth stressing yourself out by thinking too far ahead. Concentrate on what you can do now and only then move on to the next.- , Kira is right' Luna thought knowing she was overdoing it by worrying about mastering and choosing weapons when she couldn't even handle bare-handed combat.
When they got back to the tribe they finally got back to the tribe first they went around the riolus and to check how Zoe was doing because Luna was still skeptical about her and her understanding,, without overloading,,. To their surprise Zoe was not far from the entrance talking to Elder Fang. Noticing that Luna and Kira had returned, Fang decided to go meet them while Zoe went back to the cave to rest. - I see that you decided to start combat right away. How did she show herself for the first time?- Fang exclaimed looking at Luna who was all dirty from being knocked to the ground and with many scratches on her legs, hands, palms and everything that her shorts and T-shirt did not cover, including her face. - Not bad. But she definitely need to get better in several things like strength, stamina, balance... But she wants to learn and has potential.- Fang expected such results considering what Raichu said, that Luna avoids direct combat and has adapted to make ambushes and diversions. But the relaxed atmosphere didn't last long as Fang asked Kira.- Zoe told me what happened this morning. What is your opinion? - Kira became much more serious than usual and answered his friend in a monotonous tone. - Imagine how strong that is when me and Zoe barely restrained her. And Luna says it was only a small part of it?-
While Kira was talking to Fang, Luna was embarrassed and tensely looking at the ground, because if she was just a little stronger and more skilled, maybe Kira and Zoe wouldn't have to intervene. And most of all, if they really had that much trouble to contain a small part of what was inside her, what would happen if everything was released at once. It didn't take long for Fang to notice that Luna was starting to overthink what could have happened, so he tried to calm her down a bit. - It will be difficult but not impossible, that's why instead of worrying you could start by just meditating, without trying to control or implement it. - These words sounded more like, "Sit and watch until we come up with a solution and a way" to Luna. Fang knew he couldn't help Luna much at the moment, but he hoped for Luna's sake and theirs, they would find a solution as soon as possible. A strange melody interrupted all their thoughts, as Luna at the same second began rummaging through her bag pulling out her phone and looking to see who was calling her at this hour. When she unlocked the phone and looked, she did not recognize the number and it was not in her contacts. All of a sudden, Luna decided to answer the phone, while the Elders looked at her strangely, wondering what she was doing. ,, Luna Blackwood by the phone. How can i help you?" Luna answered on the phone, scribbling a response from the other end of the line. After a few seconds, Luna suddenly shouted, gaining the full attention of Kira and Fang.,, Professor Oak.!" The Elders, together with Luna, waited a long time for news from the professor, who were also very interested in the call and to find out what was happening.
