"Riolu?" Ash said in wonder and the blue, dog-like Pokemon stared at him. Its Orange eyes met Ash's auburn ones and Ash wondered what Riolu might have thought. He knew he was one of the few people who could use Aura and Riolu was able to use Aura. So would he be able to communicate with Riolu using Aura?
Ash focused, closed his eyes, and tried to feel Aura. He did feel something, but it was very weak, and he didn't get a good grip on it. He opened his eyes in disappointment and at the same time Serena took out her Rotom Phone to use it on Riolu.
Before she could do anything about it, Riolu stood up and suddenly it started running towards the nearby woods. "Hey! Where are you going!?" Ash shouted at Riolu, but it had already disappeared into the woods.
Serena and Gou looked at Ash and Serena said, "Maybe we should go after it." "Yeah, maybe it would be worth it," Ash said, calling Pikachu on his shoulder and set off to run in the direction Riolu had just gone, with Serena and Go following.
****
Riolu ran. While in the egg, it had known Aura and, after hatching, it had thought that the boy who had stood in front of him would have had that same Aura. But no. It hadn't felt the same, and Riolu hadn't felt it either by the girl standing next to him or the other boy who had stood a little further away with Eevee. So Riolu had concluded that none of them had owned Aura and he had better be alone.
Riolu dodged the trees and wondered what he would do now. Maybe it would be worth looking for another Pokemon ally. Or maybe not anyway. He also usually had to travel with the allies and Riolu preferred to be alone. He was an independent Pokemon, although he had just hatched.
Suddenly two Ariadoses appeared in front of him. They hung from the tree in front of Riolu and they didn't look very friendly. Riolu thought he might have happened to their territory and angered them.
Ariadoses spat the web out of their mouth and Riolu had to dodge that it wouldn't have hit him. He, in turn, sent his own attack on Ariadoses and it hit them perfectly.
The Ariadoses faint to the ground and Riolu was amazed at his own strength. It left contentedly to continue running and left Ariados lying on the ground. He had made a plan; he would challenge every forest Pokemon, whether they wanted it or not.
****
Ash, Serena, and Gou arrived at the same place a moment later, and the Ariadoses, who had been estranged a moment ago, again noticed the intruders in their territory. They sent new web attacks against these different-looking intruders and hoped they could be at peace.
"Pikachu, dodge them!" Ash exclaimed as the attacks of Ariadoses came towards Pikachu. "Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed and jumped out of the way. "Eevee, use Swift!" Gou exclaimed and Eevee jumped in the air and sent his star-shaped move to the Ariadoses.
It hit the Ariadoses and they preferred to disappear before the intruders made any much stronger moves. They retreated back to their tree and Gou looked at Eevee with a smile.
"Good job," he said to Eevee, and it looked pleased with itself. "Eevoii!" it exclaimed and waved its tail.
Suddenly they heard a strange bang and Ash turned his head in that direction. "Riolu," he muttered, then pointed his hand to follow the others. "This way!" he exclaimed to others and pointed in a rough direction. "But Ash, how do you know where to go?" Serena asked as they headed in the direction indicated by Ash. "Aura guides," Ash said, then called Pikachu on his shoulder and Serena wondered what a weird thing Aura was.
****
Riolu was pleased with himself. It was.. not attacking, but still somehow attacking the Pokemon that got in its way and because they weren't used to fighting, Riolu's attacks had easily overthrown them.
Riolu frowned. Although it was pleased with its achievements, something was still wrong. It missed the challenge. Bulbasaur, a pair of Rookidee, and Zigzagoon were a piece of cake; he wanted more challenging opponents. And that is what he would look for.
Riolu happened to come to a small square that seemed empty. The sun shone warmly on it and warmed the nearby rock formation. But there were no Pokemon.
Riolu looked around and then sat down on the ground. What it would do now, this was a dead end and it didn't want to go backwards. Bored, it made a few blows towards a nearby rock formation and they hit it.
But.. the rock formation was not just a rock formation, but Onix, who had been asleep and had experienced a nasty awakening from Riolu's attacks.
It got up and Riolu quickly stood up. Here was a more challenging answer! It sent a few blows on the journey and they hit Onix, causing it to turn towards Riolu.
If the gaze could kill, Riolu would have died in that place. Onix looked at him murderously and Riolu realized that his attacks were of no use against it. Riolu swallowed. Maybe hitting Onix hadn't been the best idea in the world after all.
Onix roared and then it crashed towards Riolu. Riolu realize dodge and Onix slammed into exactly where Riolu had just stood. It got up again and plunged again towards Riolu, who hoped he would never have even stepped into this opening.
Suddenly it felt something. Aura. The same Aura he had known when he was in the egg. But how? Then there was also "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" and "Braixen, Flamethrower!" and "Eevee, Swift!" and Riolu saw the three people who had watched it hatch arrive in the square and send the attacks of their Pokemon toward the Onix.
They hit Onix and Onix roared. It changed direction and instead of Riolu went to come towards those three people and their Pokemon. That same raven-haired boy who had been staring at Riolu's eyes when he hatched noticed Riolu and shouted, "Riolu, help us!"
Riolu thought for a moment and then started running towards those people. At the same time, it sent a few blows to the trip and they hit Onix and this now seemed to be hesitant as to which one it would attack, Riolu or those people.
It made a decision and decided to go towards the people. Riolu rushed to the people and the raven-haired boy said to him, "Riolu, let's evict that Onix together. Pikachu, you get help too!"
Pikachu, next to the boy, nodded resolutely and his cheeks sparkled. "Pika!" it said and Riolu looked at the boy.
He felt it in the same Aura in the boy and realized that the boy was still the one where Riolu had sensed it when he was in the egg.
Riolu nodded and come next to Pikachu. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt when it hits again. Riolu, you can use Vacuum Wave," the boy said, and also the girl and the other boy next to him prepared.
Onix roared and attacked again. It rushed towards them and the black-haired boy shouted, "Now, Pikachu and Riolu!"
"You too Braixen!" exclaimed the girl next to him and the other boy also exclaimed, "Eevee, ready!"
They sent their attack at the same time towards Onix and they also hit it at the same time. Onix roared and leaned back. Then it regained its balance, decided that for it the battles were in it and set off.
"Yes, good Pikachu and Riolu!" the raven-haired boy exclaimed and Pikachu exclaimed in satisfaction, "Pika!" Then the boy turned to the girl and the other boy and said to them, "Thanks Serena and Gou for helping. You were awesome! Especially the Flamethrower in Braixen was awesome!"
Riolu saw that the girl blushed as the boy praised her and the other boy noticed it. "Thank you, Ash," Serena said blushing and Gou rolled his eyes. Then he spotted Riolu and said to Ash, "Hey Ash, what about Riolu? What are you going to do with it?"
Ash turned back to Riolu and Riolu now felt that the boy was indeed the one where he had known that Aura. The boy, named Ash, stared at him and said, "Hey Riolu, do you want to come with me?" He picked up one Pokeball and Riolu realized what he meant.
Riolu thought for a moment and then nodded. With the boy, he would probably get many opponents with whom to fight and food every day. Besides, he wanted to find out more about that boy's Aura.
Ash was sure Riolu would have liked to battle before agreeing to be caught. In fact, he could have bet on it. After he noticed how Riolu had challenged every oncoming Pokemon to battle. So his surprise was great when Riolu just pressed his forehead against the Pokeball and disappeared inside it.
The ball swung three times and then stopped, announcing that Riolu had been successfully caught. Ash grinned wide and lifted the ball into the air. "Hey everyone, I just caught Riolu!" he exclaimed and Pikachu jumped in the air shouting "Pika"
Serena and Gou watched as Ash dropped below the Pokeball and let Riolu out again. Pikachu, Eevee, and Braixen (They were the only Pokemon currently out of Pokeballs) came to greet the newcomer and Riolu watched each one in turn.
"Ash hey, maybe we should go out here before that Onix comes back," Gou said and called Eeveen this to his ball. Serena did the same for Braixen and Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder.
Ash nodded to him and then said to Riolu, "Riolu, would you rather walk, or travel in your Pokeball?"
"Ri!" said Riolu and showed his legs. It didn't like Pokeball very much and preferred to be out of it. Ash nodded at its decision and so they set off to walk away from the square.
****
"Hey Ash, you said something about Aura or that it guides you. What is it?" Serena asked as they walked toward their stopping place. Riolu led their ranks and then came Gou. Ash and Serena walked side by side last and Pikachu was on Ash's shoulder.
Ash thought for a moment. "It's like a kind of force, a bit like invisible energy.." he said slowly and Serena seemed interested. Then he shook his head. "Sorry Serena, I can't explain it properly. Maybe you should ask Rotom, it knows."
Serena sighed, she would have liked to hear the explanation in Ash's words. However, she took out her Rotom Phone and asked it, "Hey Rotom, could you explain to us what an Aura is"
"Sure," Rotom said. "Aura is a form of spiritual energy. It is described as the Essence of every living creature. In the past, there were once humans that could sense Aura and control its power. These humans, known as Aura Guardians, traveled around doing good Deeds and passing on their skills to those who also Possessed this innate ability "
"But the Aura Guardians disappeared from history, for some undisclosed reason, a long time before the present era. Today, very few are able to use and sense the Aura."
"And you must be one of them, aren't you?" asked Serena Ash with wide eyes and Ash nodded. "Yeah, I am, I found out on one of my journeys," he explained, looking at Riolu again, who was confidently in the lead. "But I haven't used Aura in a while, I can't even remember how to use it anymore. Maybe that's why I got Riolu; so I could learn to use Aura again."
Serena listened to Ash in wonder. "Wow Ash, I would never have guessed that you could use Aura. It must have been exciting to know that you possessed such a rare ability and know how to use it," she said admirably and Ash frowned.
"Well, I don't know, it was quite an adventure too," he muttered and suddenly remembered everything from Lucario to Sir Aaron. Then he grinned. "But I much prefer to be a Pokemon Trainer than the Aura Guardian"
Serena nodded and asked Rotom again, "Rotom, which Pokemon know how to use Aura?"
"Currently only two; Riolu and its evolved form Lucario. Of these two, Lucario is able to control the Aura more completely," Rotom explained and Serena nodded again. "Oh, I see now why you got Riolu," she said and Ash smirked.
****
They finally got to their stopping place and noticed that the sun was already setting. "It's not worth continuing the journey anymore today, setting up tents here and continuing the journey tomorrow," said Gou and others nodded.
They set up the tents, quickly ate something and then went to sleep.
After a few hours:
Ash woke up to the fact that he felt someone calling him. It was not an outspoken invitation, but he seemed to feel it only inwardly. He got up to sit down, meandered out of his sleeping bag, and went out, carefully that he would wake up Gou or Pikachu.
Outside, he saw Riolu sitting in the sky staring. It was a clear night and the stars were clearly visible and the crescent moon shone in the sky. Ash shivered a bit, there was no very warm air and he was wearing only shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
Ash walked slowly to Riolu and sat down next to him. "You called me, didn't you?" he asked this and Riolu turned to look at him. "You did it with the help of Aura, didn't you?" Ash continued and Riolu nodded.
"That's what I did," he said, and even though Ash couldn't see its mouth moving, he could still hear Riolu's words. "How.. how do you.." he stumbled and then realized. "With the help of Aura, of course," he muttered and Riolu grinned.
"Great Ash, you don't seem to be as dense as I thought," it said through Aura and Ash raised his eyebrows. "How so dense?" he asked and Riolu sighed.
"Ash, try to use Aura instead of talking in the normal way," it said and looked at Ash quite demandingly. Ash frowned and asked, "Why?"
"I'm going to teach you again the Aura use, starting with the simplest, speaking through it. Because I'm just a Riolu, I can not even properly use the Aura, but when I hopefully someday evolved into Lucario, we can start proper education. So the focus now and try to find Aura, successfully, Master," Riolu explained, and Ash sighed.
"I guess you should be called Master here," he muttered, but closed his eyes, focused, and tried to find Aura.
It was easier said than done. No matter how Ash tried, he didn't get a proper grip on Aura. "I can't, I don't know anymore," Ash said apologetically to Riolu, but this one didn't approve of the surrender. "Once again," it said commandingly and Ash sighed and tried again.
This time he felt something different. He got, as if from something invisible, and tried to talk through it. "I guess I'll succeed, won't I?" Ash said through Aura and Riolu nodded in satisfaction. "So you did, Master," it said and Ash frowned at the name.
"I'm not a 'Master,'" he said, but Riolu shook his head. "To me, you are," he said, and Ash felt the conversation end there. Riolu got up and left.
"Practice using the Aura as often as you can, just the way you learn it properly," it said and turned to leave. Ash remembered something just then
"You said a moment ago I'm not as dense as you thought. What did you mean by that?" he asked in confusion and Riolu grinned.
"You have to figure it out for yourself," it said, but then took a teasing look on her face. "But I can say it's somehow related to this girl."
"Serena, huh?" Ash asked, even more confused. "But how.. please let me know, I am your Trainer, I have a right to know!" he exclaimed, but Riolu just shook his head.
"It's too late to ask, Ash. You have to figure it out for yourself," it said and then disappeared into the tent, leaving Ash to sit out confused and muttering the word "dense."
****
In the morning, they packed up the rest of the stuff, ate a quick breakfast, and set off again. Riolu was again in the lead and there was no trace of the demanding mentor he had been at night.
It was a slightly windy day and Serena lifted her face against the wind. She let it take all her sorrows and worries away and eventually turned to Ash with a wide smile.
"Ash, I feel like this journey is just beginning and that it's going to be an all time journey," she said happily and Ash grinned.
"You're telling the truth," he said, and Pikachu on his shoulder also said happily, "Pika!" "This journey is going to be one of the best, I have a feeling for it" Then he raised his fist resolutely in the air and exclaimed, "Hulbury, Ash Ketchum is coming to challenge you!" and Serena giggled.
Oh yes, Ash got Riolu and Aura is involved again. And I can tell you enough that Riolu will become Lucario during this story.