The first day of proper travel had nearly broken Kai. Although Luca had been lying when she had explained to the Mudsdale that Kai was simply tagging along, was in over her head, and would likely give up and go home soon, she was shockingly close to the truth. As Kai listened to this and fought against her own body, she wasn't entirely sure she could disagree—and when she awoke the following morning to limbs nearly too weak to stand, she knew she had to ask Luca if they could at least slow down.
To her surprise, Kai was sat in the back of a cart roughly clattering along the flat trail within only a few minutes of her waking up—and she didn't even have to say anything. As far as she could gather, Luca had made some kind of arrangement the night previous after she fell asleep, and now somehow they had transport.
Kai had found a delightful little nook underneath what seemed to be a painting wrapped in canvas and on top of a large sack of what felt like fruit. Luca had apparently opted to walk, and she spent most of her time alongside their new Mudsdale escort. They talked incessantly, but most of the time it was drowned out by the clattering of the cart and Kai was able to relax peacefully. Other times she could practice manipulating her fire by summoning a wisp behind the cart, though she didn't dare manipulate it further—anything more than a mote may startle her companions or the travelers they passed.
Yet other times, she would actually listen to the conversation at the front of the cart. They talked of current happenings in the world and what the Mudsdale had seen in his travels, and all the while, Luca lied through her teeth about having always been confined to Hollyhead. She was a hilariously bad liar—every part of her story that needed a bit of emotion was completely devoid of it, and there was even once or twice when he asked a question she was clearly unprepared for and she floundered a bit. Thankfully, it seemed he was equally bad at detecting lies and was taking it all in stride.
The next few days were exceptionally boring. They would occasionally pass travelers and would always have company at the rest stops, but there were no issues whatsoever. No Pokémon gave them a second glance, to the point that Kai was beginning to have doubts about Luca's story. On the one hand, her Charmeleon friend seemed to corroborate her story upon waking up and there was a real Pokémon after her in Hollyhead. On the other, Luca described a grand, powerful conspiracy with spies everywhere. They had done their best to go undetected, of course, but they had made mistakes; an organization with that much power should have effortlessly found them by now. Even more puzzling was the Scizor's disappearance: if he just needed to capture one of the two of them his actions would make sense, but Luca seemed certain she was the primary target. What possible reason would the Scizor have to disappear with Dante?
Unfortunately, all the speculation in the world couldn't help Kai come to a conclusion—she simply needed more information. So on the evening of the third day, as they rolled into the first town of their journey, Kai had nothing but questions on her mind.
Once the Mudsdale had finally stopped just inside the city limits, Kai let herself down onto the dusty ground. Somehow, her muscles still found the audacity to squeal in protest at the minor movement even after two full days of rest, but she was at least able to walk just fine now.
Kai had assumed that they were just inside the city limits since they passed only two buildings on either side of the main road, but looking around she could see that they were near the center. It was pitifully small, with only about a half-dozen total buildings. The inn they were parked in front of was unreasonably massive, taking up twice the space of every other building combined—and since no buildings at all seemed to be residential, Kai figured that every citizen simply rented space in the inn.
"Hey, you awake back there, Kai?" Luca called as she wrestled with the clasp holding the Mudsdale to the cart.
"Of course," she replied, padding around the cart to join Luca at the front. "This town is a lot smaller than I was expecting. Is there even a store here?"
"Oh yes, they have a Kecleon," the Mudsdale drawled, pausing to shake himself free of the straps. "She's on the north edge of town, if I recall." He swayed a massive head in the direction that the cart was pointed.
"A Kecleon?" Kai asked. "The same as Hollyhead?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. I guess you two wouldn't know, seeing only one town. Most every store on the continent is managed by a Kecleon."
"Why?" Luca asked.
"A group of Kecleon decided they wanted to sell things. Not sure there's much more to it than that."
"I see," Kai acknowledged as she turned back to Luca. "Do you want to get the bags and we can go?"
Luca's face warped with confusion. "Oh, you think we should top off on supplies?"
"Do you not?"
Luca shrugged. "Whatever you say. We'll be back soon, Thom."
"I'll get us a room, then," the towering ground-type nodded.
The Mudsdale was already long inside the inn when Luca returned with the bags, so Kai didn't bother waiting to speak. "We're not going to the shop. I only want to talk to you privately."
"What? But... you can't lie."
"And I didn't. I asked about the shop, asked if you want to bring the bags and 'go', and asked whether you thought we should restock. Not once have I lied, or even directly expressed an interest in going to the shop."
Luca's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "...What, lies of omission don't count?"
"I'm not responsible for the assumptions of those around me."
"Yes you are! You deliberately implied—" Luca suddenly sighed, releasing the tension in her body. "Never mind. What do you want?"
"I'll be quick. Are you certain about what that Weavile said, with spies everywhere? We haven't s—" Kai paused: Luca's eyes had gone wide with fear, staring at something behind her. She was no longer listening.
Kai turned her head to follow Luca's terrified gaze. There weren't many Pokémon in the street, just a loose smattering, but one immediately caught her eye. A Lucario stood outside of a doorway, having just exited. They now stood there, staring at them, surely bewildered by the sudden terror from Luca.
Kai watched as the Lucario's expression turned from mild surprise to realization to an urgent need to speak to Luca. They strode forward, confidently, quickly, and with clear intention.
"Ohh, god," Luca whimpered from behind, showing her strange habit of not specifying which god. Kai turned back to see pure fight-or-flight. "W-we need to go, Kai," she choked out. She was ready to bolt at any moment, without much thought to the direction.
"Why? Do you recognize that Lucario?"
"No, I j-just—"
"Either way, there's nowhere for us to go. Are you sure we can't just talk? They don't appear hostile."
Luca gave no response, and only continued her fearful stare—though there was some kind of consideration within her eyes now. Turning back once again, Kai saw that the Lucario had read the situation. They still approached, but it was much slower and with hands raised in a calming gesture, desperately trying to not cause Luca to bolt.
"Calm down, we'll talk it out," Kai reassured. She shifted to Luca's right where they waited for the Lucario, side-by-side.
Once the Lucario had entered comfortable earshot, he spoke in a light male voice. "We're OK, Riolu. I'm not here to do anything bad. I only want to talk. I'm going to continue coming towards you, but let me know if you want me to stop."
Although her posture didn't relax in the slightest, Luca didn't bolt from Kai's side. Within less than a minute the Lucario stood before them.
"We're fine," the Lucario smiled wearily. "As I'm sure you know, I'm here to ask you about your Aura. Again, I mean no harm, and I'll leave if you wish."
"...We can talk," Luca reluctantly answered.
"Oh, that's great. And are you fine to talk with this Vulpix here?"
"Depends on what you want to say."
"We'll err on the side of caution, then. Vulpix, would you mind giving us some privacy?"
"I suppose not," Kai nodded to Luca. "I'll be inside."
Kai walked to the inn and through the open door, leaving Luca alone with the Lucario. Normally she would have never left her alone, but this was a special case. The Lucario could feel her Aura, meaning even in the worst case where he only intended to apprehend her, she would be able to explain herself. Even if he turned her in, no Pokémon would argue that it wasn't justified; in a way, this was Kai's way of testing whether she should continue helping Luca.
Inside the inn, there was a simple waiting room consisting of nothing but two open doorways on either side of the room and a low counter bearing a large book laying open to the center. The room on the right was silent, but based on the warm noise from the door on the left, it was some sort of community room. Behind the counter, a Cufant carefully inspected the pages with a sharp-tipped trunk as the Mudsdale waited patiently.
"...OK, you're right. Already paid for in full," the Cufant smiled pleasantly, looking up. "You're in the first room on the right. Additionally, forgive me for mentioning this, but please refrain from going to the second floor. This building isn't nearly sturdy enough."
"Of course," the Mudsdale smiled. "I have a Vulpix and a Riolu traveling with me. Would you mind letting them know which room I'm in when they come?"
At the mention of a Riolu, the Cufant's expression changed. It was nearly imperceptible, but Kai was certain that it hardened a bit. She took note of it, as it meant that either news of a Riolu outlaw had reached the town, or this Cufant was a White Spine spy. "The Vulpix is already here, I assume," he said, looking at her.
"Hello," Kai said simply.
"Just the Riolu, then," the Mudsdale amended. "Thank you."
"Sure." With that, the Cufant abandoned his post and moved towards the exit on Kai's left.
The Mudsdale watched him go. "Didn't want to go with her after all?"
"She doesn't need me with her to go shopping. Besides that, we haven't properly talked, you and I."
"True! But you never came across as the talkative sort."
"You caught me. Let's just go to sleep."
A deep rumble from the Mudsdale's throat told Kai that he was laughing as he opened their door.
As soon as Kai had left, the Lucario gestured for Luca to follow as he moved towards the alley on the northern side of the inn. Luca hesitated for a moment to reassure herself. She was about to follow a stranger into an alley, but it wasn't any old stranger—it was a Lucario. Kai had left so readily because she could be assured that he was a good Pokémon. Beyond that, Luca herself could be further assured that he was truly a Lucario, as he had clearly felt her abnormally small Aura. She followed without complaint.
Once they had followed the wall around to the back of the inn, he stopped and turned around before sitting cross-legged on the ground. It was a classic move to make a child feel more comfortable when speaking to them, but Luca figured that doing so with a naturally shorter Pokémon was normal. She followed suit, sitting on the grass after placing the bags leaning against the inn's outer wall.
"So, you do know why I wanted to talk about your Aura?" he asked once she was settled.
"Because it's small, I imagine."
"Extremely small. Frankly, I'm surprised you're able to stand, let alone act so casually."
"It used to be a tenth the size."
The Lucario looked positively horrified with the new information, and he emanated an accompanying pulse—though the pulse itself was mostly pity. "What happened to you, Riolu?"
Luca hesitated. From her experience acting as a lie detector with Isle, she felt there was not much point in trying to lie. "I don't know," she admitted.
"You don't know? You mean your Aura just shrunk one day?"
"I mean I can't remember. I lost my memory."
"Riolu, as far as I know, the only way for an Aura to be that small—let alone smaller—is terrible amounts of hopelessness and suffering. Abuse is typically the cause, and while your memory loss explains why you are acting normally with whatever damage you must have sustained, are you telling me the trauma was so bad it caused memory loss?"
Luca simply shrugged. There was still the theory that humans didn't have Auras and that she had to grow one from scratch, but that was a bit much to share with the poor Lucario; he was already exceptionally distressed.
"How much can you remember? Your name?"
"No. Had to pick a new one."
"Any family or friends? Your age?"
"No idea," Luca said. Something strange was welling up inside her. She ignored it.
"How much can you remember?"
"As far as I know, I didn't exist before a few months ago."
"Oh, Arceus," the Lucario whispered, horrified. "That must be horrible, Riolu."
"No, it's..." Luca closed her mouth, clenching her teeth. She had intended to explain that she actually found no difficulty in it, and that she was happy, but the unidentified emotion inside of her was bubbling over. It took every ounce of her focus to not burst into tears right then and there, and she had no idea why. Was she really this upset about her missing memory, deep down?
"Oh, Riolu, come here," the Lucario said, opening his arms wide. "This is something that you need to let out."
Without conscious thought, Luca had already scrambled forward to accept the hug. His arms wrapped around her as she clambered up onto his lap, and the instant she buried her face in the soft, cream-colored fur on his chest, every single defense she had put up fell away. Within an instant, her emotions overwhelmed and Luca felt herself begin to bawl.
"I know it's hard," came the deep vibrations of his voice. "You don't even know why it hurts. It's OK."
For what felt like an eternity, Luca sobbed into the Lucario's chest. It was as if a massive well of sadness within her that she was previously unaware of had fought its way to the surface the second she received any sort of pity. A potent cocktail of grief, shame, and confusion swirled around in her, and only when the momentum of it slowed down did Luca get a chance to breathe.
Once it was finally well and truly over, Luca was exhausted. Even if she had been able to sleep the past few days, it felt as if she had just run a marathon. She felt ashamed of herself, but at the same time, her body felt so much lighter—as if a weight she didn't know she had was lifted off.
"...I don't understand," Luca finally forced out. "I-I thought I was doing fine... I thought I was happy."
"What do you think you are now?"
"I'd imagine I'm sad, given I just cried my eyes out to a stranger. I don't know—you tell me."
"I think you're sad," the Lucario agreed, looking down with kindness. "Some of it is a wistful kind of sad. You feel that you didn't quite appreciate what you had before you lost it, and now that it's gone, you feel that you've lost everything. Does that sound familiar?"
"...Yeah, I guess so," Luca admitted, thinking back to the Coalition camp.
"Are you certain you've lost your memory, then?"
There was a strange implication in his voice; he was gently accusing her of lying. "Oh, no, I'm sure. This is all from after my memory loss."
"...Do you want to talk about it?"
Luca checked the sky. Although the sun was still above the horizon, the telltale hues of red and orange had already appeared. It wouldn't be long before sunset. "...I do, but I want to get inside before the sun sets."
"Why is that?"
"I just don't like the dark."
"I see. At some point tonight, I need to make a supply run to a clan of wild Pokémon. So, how about this? You can go wait inside while I travel. On my way back, I'll buy a fire kit so we can have light. Then I'll come get you, and we'll have our own little heart-to-heart campfire right here."
"I don't understand. Why are you so interested?"
"I can tell you need someone to talk to, and I want to help. No more, no less."
"...OK."
The Lucario nodded decisively. "Feel free to wait wherever's comfortable, then. I'll find you via your Aura."
In response, Luca finally scrambled out of his lap. Freshly released, he stood and broke into a jog, following the alley back into town. Luca followed at a brisk pace, but hugged the inn's wall around to the empty door frame. Steeling herself for more social interaction, she entered.
Now that she was inside, Luca realized where the constant prickling Auras that she had been doing her best to ignore since her arrival were coming from. To her left, there seemed to be the equivalent of the Explorer Coalition's dining tent. Although muffled by the acoustics of the building, the deafening roar of a wide varity of Pokémon was unmistakable. The innkeepers counter was vacant, so Luca set her sights on the loud, busy door.
Inside, she found exactly what she expected. A messy arrangement of round, low tables held a huge group of Pokémon—about three dozen, by Luca's estimate. She barely had a second to soak in the sight before one of them stopped themselves mid-sentence to address her.
"Oh, hey Riolu," a Pignite said. "Are you OK? What's wrong?"
"Huh? What do y—...Oh," Luca realized, touching her face with her paw. It came away wet; somehow, once again, she had forgotten to clean herself up after crying. "No, I—I'm fine. I'm just looking for my group, a Mudsdale and a Vulpix."
"If you turn around, they're in the first room on your right of the opposite hallway," the Cufant sat at the same table recited.
"Oh, thank you." Luca backed out of the room, leaving the still-roaring tavern. Once she has out of sight, however, she stopped and listened intently for any conversation at the closest table.
"That was weird," Luca could just barely hear the Pignite say under the noise. "Did you see her eyes?"
"Nah, I think I know what happened," a third voice came. If Luca recalled correctly, the third Pokémon at the table was a Glameow.
She didn't continue, and although Luca strained her ears, she could hear no response whatsoever from the Cufant and Pignite through the surrounding conversation. She briefly wondered if there was some visual context she was missing, and if she should risk peeking around the corner, but it wasn't long before the Cufant spoke up.
"...What, you're going to make us ask?" he said, a tired annoyance in his voice.
"I'm building suspense!"
"Oh, for—that's not how you build suspense. Tell us what happened."
"Fine, fine. That Lucario is still in town, right?"
"I guess?" the Cufant said. Luca could hear the shrug in his voice. "Why?"
"Lucario can see your Aura, right? Well sometimes, if they tell you about your Aura, it can hurt. Rock you to your core, you know."
"And you think he told that Riolu about her Aura?" the Pignite's voice came.
"It makes sense, right? That Riolu might be a Lucario herself, one day. Of all the Pokémon, she's the most likely to want to know about her own Aura."
"I'm pretty sure Riolu can see their own Aura, actually," the Cufant said.
"What? Really?"
Luca turned away, making her way to the opposite hallway. She wasn't exceptionally interested in listening to misunderstandings about her species—and besides, she had already gotten what she wanted. It seemed they, at least, saw her as an unremarkable Riolu. It was strange: in Hollyhead, they seemed hyper-vigilant for any unidentified Riolu once she was revealed as an outlaw. Kai had said that the Scizor had made a scene and scared everyone, but even then, nobody seemed to remotely care in the tiny city she found herself in. There wasn't even a place to put posters.
Luca arrived at the closed door pointed out to her and paused to shake her head free of worries. There was no point in speculating about something that could only be good for her. After taking a moment to wipe her eyes and smooth her fur—hopefully enough to conceal the fact that she had been crying—Luca pushed the door open.
It turned out she needn't have bothered cleaning herself up, as her companions had already gone to sleep for the night when she arrived. As much as Thom and Kai were different, they had one thing in common, at least: they both seemed to relish sleep to a degree that Luca never had. Dante's habit had honestly convinced her that it was a fire-type quirk, to rise with the sun—but Kai reliably slept before her and woke up after her.
Regardless of the cause, Luca had nothing to quell her boredom. Rather than sitting alone in the unlit room and fighting her fear of the dark, she chose to quietly turn around and return to the main room of the inn. The soft light suited her needs, but hanging out in the lobby of what was essentially a hotel wasn't what she wanted—nor was joining the social sea to her right. She continued outside, into the open air of the evening.
Luca stopped to survey the darkening town. The only light she could see was at the still-open shop, with the unfamiliar Kecleon still on duty. Unlike her Hollyhead counterpart, she stood attentive despite no one else being present—and once Luca had exited the inn, she noticed immediately. She acknowledged her presence politely: not expectant of any interaction, but receptive to it if it came her way.
Giving a small wave, Luca padded over. The Kecleon perked up, now ready to greet her.
"Hi Riolu!" she chirped energetically. "Can I help you?"
"Hi, Kecleon," Luca smiled. "I actually just wanted to use your light, if you don't mind. I don't do too well with the dark. May I sit with you?"
"Of course," she affirmed, suddenly ducking down beneath the counter. "But hold on, you might like this better."
Some rustling later, the Kecleon popped back up. She proudly held a small steel lantern. "Better, eh?" she smiled. "I'm sure moving somewhere out of view would be preferable for one in your situation, eh?"
Confusion quickly turned to fear as Luca realized the implication of what the Kecleon said. "W-what do you mean?" she said, acutely aware of how poorly she was hiding her reaction.
"I heard from your friend in Hollyhead," she said, lowering her voice and suddenly speaking with deadly seriousness. "The one that looks an awful lot like me. I'll help you the same as he did."
"Why?" was all Luca could manage to say.
"Why are we helping you?"
"Yeah, I mean—I haven't done anything for you. What reason do you have to not treat me like the outlaw I'm meant to be?"
"I don't know, actually," the Kecleon admitted. "I was simply told of a Riolu being hunted like an outlaw, and that I should treat her well."
"...He knew I was headed this way?"
"It was more of a continent-wide message. We Kecleon keep in touch."
"Wait, so every Kecleon throughout the continent knows who I am and wants to help me?"
"Those that work as shop keeps, yeah. Pretty good deal, eh?"
"The best!" Luca sputtered.
The Kecleon beamed in response before she changed the subject. "Now here, you see this on the base?" she said, running a single claw over the surface of the lantern. Beneath it, there was a small ratcheted wheel half-exposed in the smooth metal. "You just give it a flick," she said as she did so, "and it's lit. Now, if you close the lid, the flame goes out. Got it?"
"Got it. Thank you so much, Kecleon. I'll bring this back before I leave town, and after this is over, I'll make sure to pay back all of you that helped me."
"Aww, you're a sweet one. I can see why he took a liking to you. Goodbye, Riolu."
"Bye!" With that, Luca grabbed her new lantern and hurried to the back of the inn.
Once she arrived, she sat and cradled the lantern in her lap before lighting it. The dark surrounding her was gently pushed aside by warm light, and Luca sighed with relief. It was so unbelievably reassuring to be alone and to have light. Her encounter with Kecleon couldn't have gone better, and it seemed that she had gained invaluable allies before she even knew it.
Still—as happy as she was to have the Kecleon on her side, it didn't make sense. No matter how much she thought about it, she hadn't acted unlike an outlaw during her first meeting with the Kecleon of Hollyhead. Despite this, he seemed to have decided to help her in that instant, even going as far as to send out a message. Either they helped every outlaw that crossed their path, or they knew about her beforehand. Of all the possibilities, it seemed the most likely that the Kecleon intended to gain her blind trust—but for what purpose, she couldn't say. They didn't seem to be aligned with the White Spine, but who else could know about her?
Luca held the lantern, lifting it out of her lap and placing it to her side. She decided: whenever the Lucario returned, she would tell him her entire story. She needed someone to talk things through with, and neither Kai nor Thom were suited to it. When it came down to it, she really missed Dante—his flame, the light it created, the warmth of both his body and his personality—but most importantly she missed how easy he was to talk to. Until she got him back—and she would get him back—the Lucario would have to suffice.
