This chapter was originally meant to be done by the time of my birthday the last day of September. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be, but I managed to finish it anyway. That is good, right?
WARNING: This chapter contains a rather strong theme that may be uncomfortable to readers. I'm not going to mention what it is here as it would spoil things further down the page, so if you have weak constitution to this, skip this chapter and wait for the next one.
…You're still here? Okay. Maybe you can stomach it. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.
I encourage all birthday boys and girls to read on, enjoy, and review.
Chapter 15: A Birthday
Weeks have passed since the little school incident for Lucario. It had been almost so long since he learned to be patient and wait for his human partner to come back home. Boredom was the biggest obstacle for the Aura Pokemon to defeat, but he had learned to conquer it by indulging himself in other activities in the house.
Namely, his long endurance to defeat the accursed books that mocked him with long sentences. Not today, he thought as he was sitting alone in the living room, ready a copy of some tale about bean trees and a young woman who was given a baby after she decided to live far away from her boring hometown. Initially, Lucario had just taken that book from one of many Chris showed him just to prove his ego was strong enough to topple them (the Algebra I book turned out to be a truly formidable opponent he was not ready to defeat any time soon…whose bright idea was it to mix words with numbers and all those weird symbols?) but overtime he learned to appreciate that maybe some books were not as boring as they seemed at first glance…
Well, it helped Chris told Lucario the books he had read before were informative books, unlike the one he was reading that did have a story to tell. Though the story was not real, it did seem like it happened. Lucario had indirectly learned how to appreciate the descriptive details of a story book, and he almost never realized how enthralled he was into reading those kinds of books.
It was not just books that helped him distract himself from the many days Chris was absent during five straight mornings. Lucario found some other mundane hobbies with mixed results: watching TV for his newfound thirst to see some action in any channels, indoor gardening to water the plants, the usual housekeeping duty of making sure nothing…or no one would break into the house unguarded, bird watching from the windows, an hour or two of meditation, and the usual thoughts of going back home soon…
The last one always drove Lucario homesick, and that feeling was reinforced more and more whenever he was left alone to look after the house. It wasn't doing it for him to relish in his new life away from the one he didn't know much about… The homesick feeling was fervently fought back by that Riolu of the mind who apparently knew better than trying to accept departure. That little puppy was a real fighter, trying hard every day to convince Lucario to accept the situation he was in and be more openly happy around his human partner. Lucario nevertheless kept at it for many times that was brought up. Somehow, he knew the fight was futile to win for his favor…but he did not want to admit it.
The present time didn't call for such negative thoughts, though. Lucario was too much focused on his book to even notice the passage of time. When he finally had noticed, Chris was already home, showing the usual high spirits of a nice school day gone by. He was used to finding Lucario sitting alone in the living room, sometimes believing he was waiting for the human to arrive to make the day better for him… And really, Lucario was in dire need for attention given his trapped world dilemma. "Greetings," Lucario said. "How was school today?"
"Same old," Chris said, tossing his backpack aside. "Same eventless days, same quiet classes after the teacher has yelled everyone to stop yelling, same amount of homework…" The last one stung Lucario a bit. It meant the teen wouldn't pay him much attention. It had happened often during weekdays and sometimes Chris would even leave the house to do a group project with other people the Aura Pokémon wasn't allowed to meet because…of obvious reasons. Chris had avoided inviting people over precisely because of Lucario being there. The risk was too big to take…
Wait, no. Of course Lucario wasn't much sad about his friend being around him. Why anyone would think he was sad a lot? There wasn't anything about Chris that would make Lucario crazy for him.
"Are you going to do your homework early?" Lucario asked.
"Later on the day. I'm sure you're a little hungry for something, so I'll prepare some steaks for both of us."
Meat meat meat meat meat meat meat meat meat meat meat meat mea-
"I'll gladly take you on that offer," Lucario replied, his mind clearing out from that extremely appetizing word echoing multiple times. After Chris nodded and walked away, Lucario grimaced to himself and hit his forehead with the open book. His carnivore side was another issue of his inner subconscious he had to overcome…but not even the Riolu was safe from wagging his tail about the thought of eating cooked meat. No way was he going to ally with that tyke. Again, too much of a risk.
Time went by as Lucario anxiously waited for the meal only to finally be able to indulge in that succulent taste. Because Chris knew better than to interrupt the overly happy warrior eating his meal (as Lucario was unable to notice how his tail wagged through the chair), he wanted to bring up an important event. Not even ten minutes passed for the meat to stay alive in one piece…or even the bone it used to have as well.
Shrugging that thought away as he collected the plates, Chris knew it was safe to talk to Lucario, who was leaning on his chair with a satisfied smile and ignoring the creaking sound his hard steel back was causing on his seat slightly bending. "I did tell you my birthday is in a few days, right?" Chris asked.
Lucario snapped back from his meat fantasies and opened his eyes. "Your…birthday?" he said, pointing out indirectly with the silence afterwards that he wasn't informed of that day. "N-no, you never said anything about a birthday…"
"Oh. Then I'm telling you now," Chris said. The aura in him seemed to be brightening up like a flame being given more fuel. "My relatives like to gather the whole family for a big party. Sometimes, they like doing it the house of the birthday person, but this time I objected to it because of…well…" He gave Lucario one long look.
"…" Lucario felt guilty, knowing what the reason was. "…I'm sorry."
"N-no, it's not your fault. If anything, this means I care so much about you to keep others from finding out you're here, even if it's my birthday," Chris said. While his cheeks blushed as he looked away in embarrassment, Lucario similarly did the same. Deep down, feeling regretful was replaced by feeling…very happy. Very happy, in fact, the Riolu in his mind couldn't stop wagging his bushy tail. "…S-so, ahem, yes. I really wish you could be there with the family, but…"
"It's fine," Lucario said, forcing a smile. "I could simply get inside your aura and just wander around with you…" He felt like something stung him when he said those words. That was getting too intimate with the human! "T-that would be rude of me, though. You wouldn't tell I'm in your aura if I didn't warn you first."
"It stinks if you're not there physically, but we can't do anything about it," Chris lamented. "…Still, I'm planning to spend some time with you during that day, too. You…you'd like to be with me that day, right?"
Of course! Lucario's inner thoughts rang out strongly. He did not want to choose that obvious option if it meant growing even closer to the human more than his trainer. But saying no now of all times was like killing Chris… There was a way to make it sound like he wanted to without raising Chris's hopes too much. Chuckling, he said, "It's not like I know anyone else, do I?"
Chris chuckled back. "Oh right. I wished you had other options…"
"You're the default one that I like a lot. I doubt having other options would've been better than yours," Lucario happily said without missing a single beat. Inside his head, his face was shown with an extremely stone-faced look of hopelessness. In the background, the Riolu skipped about giggling. "(ARCEUS FREAKING DAMMIT! THAT WAS TOO NICE!)"
"O-oh, that's…sweet of you," Chris said, almost under his breath. However, instead of thinking Lucario was being nice because he wanted to, Chris thought differently. "(I think that steak I cooked put him in a too happy mood… Just my luck… Keep this up anyway, you. This is so much better than having him moping around…) O-oh! And hear this: my parents are coming to celebrate!"
…Wow. That spike in Chris's aura was contagious to be so close to, Lucario thought. The teen's aura was going off the charts with all those positive vibes, and Lucario felt at ease being nearby. Meditating with that aura close by didn't sound like a bad ide- "(I-I-I mean, focus, you imbecile!)" Lucario scolded himself. "Your parents are coming over?"
"Yes!" Chris said. Not even reading his aura would be necessary to tell he was happy. He was smiling ear to ear. "It's been like more than a year since they last visited. I feel so lucky they managed to make room to spend time with the family…and me," he said.
Wait. More than a year? Thinking logically, Lucario didn't want to ask if they hadn't attended his previous birthday at all… Staring at those calendars to get familiar with the passage of time in his alone time wasn't such a waste.
"I may be lucky if I even have a video conversation with both of them," Chris said. "We've only had like 15 of those across the whole year, and they barely last more than ten minutes… Their schedule as IT workers is pretty tight."
Two letters? "IT?" Lucario wondered.
"Information Technology. Basically, they're computer technicians," Chris explained. "They graduated with high honors at university level. Not to brag or anything, but they had some absurdly high grades that even more well-known institutions tried to wrestle them away from the local university in this city."
That was new to Lucario. He knew so little about Chris's parents besides the pictures that were around on the walls or on tables in the house. Recalling those pictures, Chris's father was a tall man with black hair and light brown skin color, while Chris's mother was a slightly shorter woman with long blond hair. It seemed Chris had borrowed his father's looks the most, but he had the same brown eyes and facial design as his mother, except of course his looked a bit more masculine.
"And it shows," Chris continued. "They're so good at it that they have made themselves a name in the world of computer science as freelancers. They know the deepest reaches of the internet like the back of their hands…" That explained why there was a room full of computer equipment Lucario had wandered to while Chris was in school one day. "A job like theirs gives them a lot of money, but it still doesn't compare to money celebrities earn. But the flow is constant…and that means their schedule is pretty tight. They receive commissions from companies outside the city that they're often traveling abroad. It's crazy."
"…But…can't they come visit you a few times?" Lucario asked curiously.
"They've tried many times…" the teen said with some lament in his voice. "The problem is that they are very much organized with every job that needs to be done for whatever corporation has hired them. They also occupy themselves with video conferences and very long messages to CEOs. They make it look easy, but I've seen a few snippets of their work. It's…extremely daunting. I blame how other rival companies latch onto them the moment they have time to breath."
Lucario frowned, and then something occurred to him… What about his parents? Surely Chris didn't know anything about them either. Unlike how the aura warrior tried to force out the memories of his trainer, he came at a blank trying to make heads or tails from his parents. If he was told he was too big and strong for a normal Lucario, did that mean his parents were gods or something? Maybe, but Lucario felt sad there was a void there that didn't say much about his parents…and he wasn't as melancholic about them than his missing trainer.
"At least email conversations are what keep us connected," Chris sighed. "Chat rooms just don't give the time. Here between us…they're extreme workaholics. They love spending every ounce of energy they have into what they like to do."
"They must be very energetic people," Lucario remarked.
"Yes, they are. I just wish that same kind of energy could be used on me…"
…...……….
Lucario's senses had suddenly acted up. Mentally, he was startled by the reaction. Close by, an aura had turned sour in a blink of an eye and said feeling was so strong that his senses, which weren't focusing on anything, were drawn to the negative sensations. From what he could gather, the emotions in that aura had conflicted so much that it was like a flash of red that blinded him for half a second… Did those emotions come from…?
"But then again, I wouldn't live in this house and basically have a college fund at the ready if it weren't for them," Chris said, indirectly snapping Lucario from his brief brainstorming. "They like me. That can't be denied."
…...……….
There they were again, and the source had been located…
…No, Lucario was not seeing things. Now that he had been alerted and sharpened his aura senses, the negative emotions had absolutely come from Chris himself. All the time he had spent with the human, Lucario had never sensed such strong flashes of negative emotions. Chris's aura was so very pleasant to be close to that Lucario would never dare try to make it go sour (not that he would ever admit to Chris his aura was contagious in a good way), but it concerned him a lot an aura could just…flash so negatively even if Chris looked averagely happy reminiscing about his traveling parents.
Wait. Those flashes were surely related to his parents, Lucario thought. Wouldn't that mean Chris loathed the idea of them not being there for him…that he would be so outraged for his aura to flash so strongly? It was so scary for Lucario to see the lively human break like that in the supernatural level. Though Lucario gained a lot of curiosity about those emotions running wild like that, he was not going to take the risk and probe into the matter any further. Lucario was no psychologist, unfortunately, but he would embrace having such potent skill since he could see and sense auras; the living manifestations of life and emotions.
The Riolu barked sadly. He did want to help Chris so badly.
"So I'll make the best out of them visiting me for my birthday," Chris said happily. At least his aura was brimming with positive vibes as usual. "I've spoiled them about all the stuff that's happened, but I've made sure to leave details out of the summaries I've sent them in case they ever showed up personally and we could talk for much longer. Heh heh."
Lucario smiled, his aura senses keeping a very close watch on the teen's aura. "You also have other people celebrating your birthday. This will be better for you," he said.
"The whole family always gathers en masse when a birthday comes up. It gives them an excuse to go all out," Chris said. "Many of my relatives live here in the city, and they can be pretty loud during family gatherings that you could probably hear them laugh in five miles."
"Birthdays are surely fun," Lucario said. He looked down to the floor and wondered something else. "…I don't know when my birthday is, though, and…I don't know any of my relatives…" he muttered.
Chris overheard him. "Oh, Lucario… I-I forgot you'd think about your own birthday and any of your relatives," he said. "I also forgot you're not in your world to find out any of this…"
"…It's fine," Lucario said, shaking his head and forcing a smile. "Not that there any good gifts I could get."
The teen mumbled for a bit. "Well, I could think of a few things that you would like," Chris said.
"Wait, you do?"
"Oh, but I'd rather keep it as a secret," Chris said. The Riolu pouted. "You already made me get lost in thought thinking about when your birthday is and what you'd like as a gift. Maybe I could find out somehow when…"
Lucario was happy Chris showed enthusiasm to help him find that, but what could he find out if Lucario didn't have any leads? He was not hopeful something could appear. "…Well…if you can find out, tell me," Lucario said. "I'd like to get concrete proof of the day I was born. I'm not sure how old I am."
"(Give it or take, you're surely like…one year old,)" Chris thought, perturbed at the thought his house guest was a giant at such young age. Lucario biology was weird. "There's so much for me to look forward to, but I'll help you out. I will never stop giving you attention so we don't feel alone."
The aura warrior did not need to use his aura or read Chris's mind. He was awfully honest about those words. All those days they were together were solid evidence that could not be ignored so easily, though Lucario's futile attempts to distance himself from Chris to keep his trainer as his first best friend never worked. If only that Riolu could just stop jumping merrily around…
Though, despite all these great things to look forward to, Lucario's aura senses could not stop picking up those extreme spikes of negative emotions coming from Chris as the days went by. Ever since he first noticed them, those feelings would appear so suddenly with no warning, surely because the teen would think about his parents and their lack of history with him. It nagged Lucario too much, but he didn't want to pry. What if he could set off a ticking bomb by accident just trying to help a bit? He cared too much about Chris's feelings (not because he really did like Chris, oh no) than trying to wreck them. The Riolu in his head wanted to lend a helping paw all the same, barking loudly when the flashes would appear. And if he was right, Lucario could tell the flashes became more and more frequent with each day that passed. He did think about a few possibilities as to why they appeared so often, but some of them didn't make sense in the great picture. He was told Chris parents would come after a long while, so why even have such strong emotions appear? Did Chris fear another long period of absence from them to bring those sour emotions? If that one was true, Lucario was not sure how he would try to help him out… Saying "I'm here for you" seemed like the perfect line, though it sounded way too nice. Maybe…just maybe, the answer for that would show up by itself?
Before Lucario knew it, days went by quickly, and Chris's birthday was just two days away. From what he got from Chris, the family gathering was going to be big since no other relative had a birthday close to the teen's, contributing to Chris's fact about how they liked going wild with an excuse to do so. He was alarmed to hear all those dishes involving meat. What were those tacos he heard so much about? And those weird dishes called chimichangas? In fact, what were even those words? And why couldn't his stomach stop rumbling the more he tried to figure out why meat was involved in them? Overhearing Chris talk in a strange language he never heard about until now came as a real shocking surprise.
So that same day during the afternoon, Lucario's curiosity got the better of him and he finally asked what the deal was with all those terms coming out with guns blazing. No, he totally did not want to know just to get to the bottom of the mystery related to meat to see if it would make the meat even more appetizing. And no, the Riolu in his head was not wearing a napkin on his neck, holding a fork and a butter knife.
"Oh… Oh…" Chris muttered, the two of them in the living room of the second floor, resting on the couches to watch the rain pouring outside. "I'm of mixed blood."
"Mixed blood?" Lucario repeated.
"My mom and her relatives are not from this country," Chris said. "Well, they were born here, but they belong to another race of people. In other words, they – and me - have Hispanic blood in our veins, so that means they all originated from Mexico, which is several miles down south from this city. Only my father's side is Native American." He touched his skin and showed his hand to Lucario. "It's hard to tell for you, but my light brown skin isn't supposed to be that common further inside the United States. It's pretty easy to tell races apart with first looks."
"So…is it like how Hitmonchan are different from my race?" Lucario wondered.
"Uh, well, I wouldn't put it that way because you two are completely different species," Chris said. "In your case, I'd imagine a…green Lucario that was born in dense forests…or something like that."
"Oh."
"My mother's relatives are very much in touch with their family roots," Chris said. "When we get together, it's like a piece of Mexico was brought over and there are two languages being spoken all over the place because we all know how to talk Spanish. My dad's relatives barely know or understand the language, but my dad is the only one who can talk Spanish fluently thanks to my mom being his teacher."
That explained those strange books separated from the others Lucario found in other drawers. He would growl in annoyance trying to understand anything those weird words were, though he did not like being defeated by those groups of letters after conquering the others.
"It's a big mess, but it's so fun," Chris said. "And thanks to my mom's side, my food palette can't never get enough of all the dishes we get to eat. This aunt I have goes out of her way to import the richest products all the way from our connections from Mexico. I'm sure you're so going to enjoy all the plates I'll bring over from the party." Oh, finally. He was getting to the good stuff, Lucario subconsciously thought. "I'll teach you how to talk Spanish once I'm sure you have completely understood how to read English. Think of all the stuff you can learn!" Oh Arceus, why. Why did he change topics so fast to something so incredibly stale?
"I look forward to that," Lucario said. Sadly, he meant the food, but Chris thought he meant learning Spanish.
"You'll have a blast learning something else. I don't want you to make faces whenever I use Spanish or you use your aura to hear through my ears all of those funny-sounding words." Dammit, he thought I talked about the language, Lucario thought. The Riolu was similarly depressed.
A booming sound startled them both, making them look outside at the heavy rain. It had been raining too much since the morning, with thunders crackling the air, with their heavy sounds quaking the windows of the house. The storm had been too strong that classes were cancelled for Chris's school. "Strong weather we have today," Lucario said.
Listening to those thunders made Chris remember that day Lucario dropped in his room. "It better not rain this badly during my birthday," Chris said. "We have a roof above our heads, but everyone has to have a safe trip driving there, including my parents. They're supposed to come tomorrow here first before my birthday… You remember our strategy, right?"
Lucario sighed. He was not looking forward to his tailored-strategy. "Hide in the attic, or inside your closet," he said. "And when the time is right when they're not around, come out and stretch to get fresh air."
"Yes. Because otherwise, I don't doubt the whole world will get on your case and your freedom will be over…"
That consequence was enough to convince Lucario to go with the plan. If the pressure of letting Chris's parents know he had been housing a supernatural being was not going to break him, then the multiple national guards of the world will.
His thoughts abruptly stopped when the nearby phone rang. "I've been waiting for my parents to call today. They were going to let me know they're setting up to travel back from Minnesota," Chris said as he got up from the couch and went over to answer the call. "Hello?" He brightened up when he heard his dad reply back. "Oh, hi, dad! It's so nice to hear from you. How are you and my mom doing?" He glanced at Lucario and saw him smiling. Chris's aura was getting strong positive vibes just listening to his dad's voice. "Yes, I'm doing well. It's raining pretty hard today, but I'm fine at home. I'm not planning to step out while it's this hard. But never mind that, how are your preparations going to come back here?"
There was a small pause that eventually turned a little long, confusing Lucario. He noticed Chris was staring into thin air as he listened to his dad talking on the phone.
…Then the contagious aura full of sickeningly good emotions died out immediately with no warning, replaced with a normal aura that pointed out Chris was alive but not displaying any emotions at all. Despite this, Chris's face had a still smile on it, but it frightened Lucario that his optimist had disappeared completely…
"…And…can't you two cancel it?" Chris asked.
Another long pause followed, with Chris's father responding that odd question. Chris was not turning to look at Lucario, but Lucario himself kept a check on his life's essence for any hidden reactions. To his horror, the aura warrior sensed a small flicker of negative aura manifesting…and growing larger.
"But…but you two promised you'd be here for my birthday!" Chris said, not noticing he raised his voice a bit. "You even planned ahead of time to make time for the family! It's not just about me here! Everyone in the family wanted to see you both for the event! Y-you can't say no after we've come this far!"
This was not going well and would not get well, Lucario thought as he sensed that dangerous set of emotions welling up in Chris's aura. Emotions of sadness, disappointment, and solitude were growing ever larger than they were consuming the soul entirely. This was not good! The Riolu in his head was flailing his arms, alarmed at sensing those negative vibes.
"S-so when are you going to come, then?" Chris asked, tears starting to roll down his eyes. "…You're not sure?! How can't you be sure?!" he scolded loudly, and Lucario heard his dad sounding alarmed while trying to calm his so down. "I knew it… I knew this was all too good to be true! Every chance I get to see you two, something else comes up that's more important to attend to! It's like you two are ALWAYS pretending you don't have a son around to tie you down to a single place!"
Lucario was at a loss of words trying to understand and find out what the best approach would be to calm Chris down. Anger was now taking a position next to the other emotions, and all of them nagged at him so badly that he wanted to end them all immediately. None of this was going to end well, he told himself. I wanna help Chris! His inner Riolu cried loudly…and so did he.
"FINE! I don't need both of you here! I'm very used to it anyway!"
And the phone was slammed down, with only the sound of the rain outside keeping the house from falling into dead silence.
Lucario could do nothing but stare at Chris, frozen right there with his hand still resting on the phone he gripped hard. The teen's aura was a mess of negative emotions constantly swirling and trying to overcome each other to see which one would win over his mental state, with no signs of a positive emotion trying to fight them off. Seeing Chris in such state broke Lucario apart more than he could think, greatly ignoring the fact how close he was with the human. What would be the right thing to do now?
It was then something else in Chris's aura pulsated with thoughts so strong Lucario couldn't help overhear bits so strong it would be impossible to ignore. "…Knife…again…should have done that…before… Right on my chest…it will all…over soon… Why…it matters to live…? I have to… I have to…!"
What the he-?!
Lucario was no idiot and realized what was going to happen if he didn't interrupt. Chris's eyes were frozen but his feet were acting on their own, taking a sudden running start towards the stairs to the first floor. However, Lucario was having none of it, so he sprang into action from the couch at the same time and wasted not a single second to embrace the broken down teen to keep him from running off (while minding the chest spike from puncturing the teen). Being so close to that negative aura lashing out wildly because of his interference hurt Lucario more than Chris's loud protests of letting him go, but in the fight of wills, Lucario's will was stronger. Or at least his Herculean strength was, as Chris had no hopes of even budging him once. "LET ME GO!" Chris demanded, angry and sad with tears flying out from his swinging head that was soon restrained by Lucario leaning his neck down against the teen's throat. "DAMMIT, LET ME GO!"
"Never!" Lucario yelled back. "It's not worth it to let you go!"
"IT'S WORTH IT! I'LL BE FINE AFTER I END THIS STUPID SUFFERING!" Chris cried.
"I won't let you go and that's final!" Lucario growled. "I'm not letting you toss it all way!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
"THEN LET ME KNOW! I WILL UNDERSTAND! I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY YOU NEED ME IN YOUR LIFE NOW!" he growled, letting his own tears fall down his cheeks onto the human's restrained arms.
That moment was when Lucario felt no desire of a struggle from his captive caretaker. All he saw was the teen being reduced to sobbing sounds under his breath, gradually getting loud and silent at random intervals. Though it seemed safe to let Chris go, Lucario was not going to do it in fear he would escape his grasp. He had to keep going at it to cure Chris from his suffering.
"Please, Chris…" Lucario muttered, tears not stopping. "I…I want to help you so badly… You don't know how much it hurts me to see you like this…"
The teen had to give up there. All the tension in his head had to be let out in a better way than the one he had thought doing…
A moment of silence passed as both were back to sitting on the couch, with Lucario never letting go of Chris's right shoulder. His negative aura had eased down somewhat, but its force was strong despite being smaller visually. After about a minute of recollecting his thoughts, Chris sighed under his breath and looked outside to the rain. "…Thank you, Lucario," he muttered, his voice sounding a bit raspy and chocked up. "You…you saved me now from doing that again…"
"Again?" Lucario said. He remembered those…thoughts leaking out from Chris's head. He had a hunch he was going to know what those were. "I'm assuming…this happened before I met you?"
Chris slowly nodded his head, sadness welling up in his mind. "…It happened back when I had graduated kindergarten and we were living in a smaller house. I told you before this house wasn't made until five years ago." Lucario nodded. "You also remember me telling you they are IT professionals, correct?"
"Uh, yes. I do remember some of that and that they like to travel to work," Lucario said.
"Well…back then, their work never had them travel at all," Chris reminisced. "Work was just fine in the city. There was never a dull moment for them that convinced them it was necessary to go out there far away from…me." He completely ignored Lucario's right hand stiffening its hold on his shoulder, and so did Lucario.
"There wasn't a moment that work slowed down so much?" Lucario asked.
"No. It was all good," Chris said. "Our life was fine as it was, and I hardly remember a time when they didn't spend enough time with me. We practically were so happy…until…"
Silence came after that, only making Lucario increasingly more curious about the catalyst of the current line of events. "…Until?" Lucario repeated. "Did something horrible happen?"
"…Not really," Chris said, giving Lucario a side glance that then dropped down to the floor under his firm feet. "I'd say what happened had to do with…me."
"I…I don't know how something not bad happened that made all this happen," Lucario honestly said.
"My parents…loved me so much, Lucario," Chris told him. "They spoiled me rotten like you couldn't believe. I was that kid who had some nice school tools carrying around, the kid with the best toys to share, the kid who was one of the smartest ones who liked to help others…n-not that I'm bragging or anything… All those traits I had were because of my parents. My friends from school liked to talk about them because I used to boast they were the best."
Lucario grimaced. That was one perfect life right there. "I have a hard time trying to understand what could have possibly happened back then," he said.
"…Somehow, one day from what I can recall from my relatives, they thought they were wasting their talents if they easily managed to make a constant healthy living for all of us," Chris said. "Their names in their field of work were getting around after they helped the local companies, who spread the word around to other companies outside the city. Right before they came to thinking that they could do so much more, requests from outsider corporations came and piled up as they got to thinking what to do. Were they going to keep working in their home city, or were they going to take the chance and hit it big?"
"...Oh… That is…"
"…Yes. They chose the latter because…they thought I deserved the best life could offer me through them," Chris said. "So many decisions were made when they made up their minds. They got in agreements with our relatives so that they could look after me in their absence, and even…I had agreed to let them go."
"But why would you agree with them?" Lucario questioned.
Chris slightly embraced himself. "…I was just a kid back then. I didn't know any better about the consequences that would happen, even after they told me those to my face. Just like any other spoiled kid, I was only interested mostly on material things. Back then, I was never aware of what I truly had until I…lost them…in a sense… Would you value the things you have now after you lost them, Lucario?"
Goodness. That question was pretty strong. "I… I would, but…but I already value everything I have," he said.
Chris flashed a small smile. "At least you know how important the stuff you have is. I wished I knew when I was a kid," he said.
"It is normal to children to be like that, Chris. Don't blame yourself so much for it," Lucario encouraged.
"Sometimes…I wonder if I shouldn't blame myself that much," Chris said. "And back when I thought it was going to be easy missing them…it wasn't. It wasn't, at all." He was shivering, and his aura was getting stronger in a bad way. "Weeks after I learned the hard way how I'd miss them…I slowly started going insane… One day, I even tried to…"
The shivering started getting worse, and Lucario, out of instinct alone, placed his other hand on Chris's left shoulder to hold him. The memory he was relieving seemed to be so horrible that it caused the teen to shed tears…
"H-hadn't it been because of my aunt…I-I was about to…to…stab myself on the chest with a knife on the table…"
Lucario's eyes shrunk at the response as Chris covered his face in shame of the memory. Though Lucario's hands were firmly grasping Chris's shaking body, he was at a loss of words, even in his head. Only the sobbing sounds kept him from losing his composure, but the human didn't move. He was too busy crying on his hands to do anything else…
"I-I was so young and I had already decided to kill myself to make it better… I-I was so close t-to making the same mistake again today… A-all because of them… B-because…o-of…t-them…"
The negative aura had been so annoying and stressing to deal with that Lucario. His inner Riolu was sobbing, wishing to make the human happy somehow…
"W-when that had happened, my aunt told my parents about it, and they all agreed that I needed therapy with them," he said. "They came back for two weeks, and I fooled myself into thinking they'd stay with me. I was very confused since…I was just a kid who didn't know any better… It was a very difficult time for me. I couldn't comprehend the things that were going on and…a-and…just thinking that I had the nerve to t-take my own life… I'm…a horrible person for trying to do it…"
The strong feelings building up in the puppy personification of Lucario's mind finally convinced him to embrace Chris, surprising the crying teenager. Chris's eyes widened, indirectly stopping the flow of tears on his face. He was too shocked, with the Aura Pokémon's chin resting on top of his head. He felt those shaking motions from Lucario trying to hold back his choking. Noticing that, Chris was not expecting Lucario to be crying as well. And he also didn't expect his arms to embrace his body so tightly or his own arms clinging on them out of reflex…
"Everything is…fine…" Lucario consoled in a hushed voice. "Everything will be fine… Just trust me. You're not horrible at all."
"…L-Lucario… H-how can you be sure?" Chris asked, the sobbing coming back as he clenched his eyes shut. "E-every time they turn down coming down here, it makes me want to… It makes me want to think why I have to miss them so much i-if they don't make a real effort into coming here… I-I can't take this… I-I can't live with this…"
"…But I can live with you."
"…Y-you…what?"
"Er, um… I mean, I'll be there for…for your birthday," Lucario reassured. "Your parents… They won't be there, unfortunately, b-but I will," he hastily tried to reassure the teen. "You won't be alone when you wake up. I know I can't…I can't replace that feeling of your parents greeting you first thing in the morning, but…I want to do everything in my power to make you happy on that day…" He rested his right cheek on top of his head now. "…The only thing I can do is just be there, though. I… It's all I can do for you, sadly. I don't know if it will be enough to make you smile and be optimistic… But to me…it will be worth it to be there…for you."
"…" Chris did not know what to say to him. He was very much touched that the Aura Pokémon felt that way about him. They really were close friends if Lucario could be that emotional about his issues of loneliness. But, would it be enough to convince him that it was okay to smile again and try to forget how lost he felt?
"…No more words to say, huh," Lucario said, gaze looking away. "I'm sorry. I tried my best to make you happy s-so I guess it was too hard it came out all weird. That sounded so cheesy for sure."
"…N-no, it didn't," Chris said. "In fact…I…I'm feeling better already…"
True to those words, Lucario sensed that nagging negative aura dying out quickly, as a little blue flame of positive vibes was set ablaze in the center of Chris's psyche. But now the problem was it didn't seem to get any bigger. Those negative feelings were still compressing and overpowering it.
Screw that, Lucario thought. The Riolu pouted for a moment and barked angrily.
"That's nice," Lucario said, smiling a bit after the harrowing experience. "I can't bear to watch you lose hope and your attitude, Chris. I just…I just don't want to see you cry. If I could, I'd punch all of those bad feelings and rip them apart if it meant you'd…smile." He punched himself mentally because of how sappy he thought that sounded like, but the Riolu was happy, playfully but at the same time seriously punching the air.
"…Oh…" Even Chris thought that was a little corny…but all the same, he resumed crying. Lucario looked down and was frightened he had screwed up with his words.
"C-Chris, please, don't cry! I-I told you I'd do anything fo-!"
"It's f-fine," Chris choked up. "I-I'm crying because…because listening to you made me feel much better."
"Wha…?"
A quick check on Chris's red aura revealed the red hue was gradually starting to fade away, while allowing that little blue spark to overcome the bad vibes. Slowly and surely, the red flames were soon completely gone, and the blue flames were now occupying the entirety of the psyche. They may not have been much larger than usual. All the same, however, no negative emotions were present anymore. Chris was crying tears of happiness, which Lucario wasn't used to seeing.
Chris's arms warmly embraced Lucario's side, and Lucario reacted doing the same without thinking. His mind was too busy trying to really comfort Chris that he didn't care they were getting too close. "Hearing you trying to make me feel better… After I tried to…take my own life again… I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been here for me…" He sobbed for a bit. "It's like…like you had to be here to stop me…"
Lucario was a little scared his arrival to the "real" world could have possibly meant that he was fated to stop some random person from committing suicide while ignoring his needs to be in his own world of origin. It shouldn't have happened that way, right? He have had to have a right to decide he was needed for some other task he didn't know existed.
"…Or maybe…I'm being too dramatic... Sorry."
Or he thought the moment convinced him it was the absolute truth he couldn't deny.
Either way, Lucario was glad he helped someone close to him from a very dire moment of their lives. He oddly felt stronger not in the physical sense but as a person to be able to overcome such ordeal.
"So thanks," Chris said, leaning on Lucario's right shoulder. "Thank you, thank you, thank you times a million, Lucario…"
"Yaaay! I made Chris happy times a million!" barked the Riolu with all the glee, jumping around and spreading tears of joy all over his mindscape.
"…You're welcome, Chris," Lucario said, sighing. With his left hand, he clutched both of Chris's hands together. "The morning of your birthday, and any other day there is, I will be there to greet you."
Though Lucario completely missed the implications of that sentence, Chris knew there was a "unless I somehow return to my world" part so as to avoid himself from getting his hopes up; his very hidden selfish thought of having Lucario around forever…if it really was possible to somehow cast him back into his world. Right now, during the present, all that mattered was that Lucario was very supportive of him. Chuckling silently, Chris let a few more tears fall down his cheeks and said, "You really are the kindest Lucario I have ever met…"
"I learned from the best," Lucario boasted, though he wished that fact had been from his trainer.
"O-oh… T-thanks," Chris said again, sniffing a bit as the rain continued outside.
Lucario still kept a close eye on Chris's aura for the remainder days before his birthday came. To his surprise, those negative, sudden waves were gone completely, though they were replaced by a reduction in his positive vibes. They were better than nothing, Lucario thought, but he lamented how the aura would be brighter usually. The human's heart clearly ached about how he would miss his parents' presences during his day. There was no doubt that the talk Lucario had with him helped ease his mind… The birthday that was coming soon was something to fear for the Aura Pokémon. It was going to be the pinnacle of emotions for the teen to endure…so Lucario needed to play his cards right.
That momentous day came when the morning's sunlight illuminated the dormant room. Spotted with his back leaning on the side of the bed, Lucario opened his crimson eyes and turned to look at the light through the curtains. Today was his birthday…
He heard grumbling noises from over his shoulders, making him look over them at the waking human. Lucario spun around his seat and smiled, staring at Chris yawning.
On second thought, just a greeting wouldn't suffice to Lucario. Convinced by his inner Riolu, he leaned forward and pulled Chris into an embrace before he could realize what was going on. When he did, Chris blinked a few times and looked at the back of Lucario's head. "Good morning," Lucario spoke, "…and happy birthday, Chris."
"…" Chris wordlessly hugged the Aura Pokémon back and shut his eyes; his leaking eyes. He leaned his head to rest it on Lucario's head and muttered, "Thanks…and good morning to you, too."
Then Lucario growled in appreciation and started nudging his head against Chris's, much to the surprise of the teenager.
Then he stopped, noticing the move was too kind and unlike him to do. He pulled back, blushed, and cleared his throat as he readjusted his seat. "S-sorry. I was, uh, overwhelmed with emotions," Lucario said, his smile intact. "Today is your birthday, however. I wish you the best to enjoy your day to the fullest. I…I hope I helped you start on the right foot."
"…Oh. Thank you so much, Lucario," Chris said, shedding a few more tears that Lucario noticed. Tears clearly of joy that made the Riolu wag his tail quickly and vigorously. "I…I'd say just having you greet me at the start is so meaningful to me."
"Likewise," Lucario said.
And then, Chris hugged him back tightly. "Happy belated birthday to you, Lucario," Chris earnestly said, shocking the blue jackal.
"W-what?" Lucario was taken aback as Chris pulled back.
"I did my research a little bit, you know… Since you didn't know when your birthday would be, I decided to look up a few things on the internet," Chris revealed. Oh, the internet, Lucario thought. The strange place full of information the teen would rely on when doing his homework from time to time. But how was it possible for Chris to deduce Lucario's birthday from the internet alone? "According to…well…when your world of origin was created, I think your birthday would be…September 28th."
"My…world of origin… Y-you mean my home, right?" Lucario said.
"Yes. Well, things are a tad complicated there…" Chris said. "Your generation wasn't made, but I guess the world was still there. You came out from that game and…it would surely make sense that you were born on September 28th. Or, maybe April 22th. I think September fits you more since that's when your generation first came to be." Only to Chris himself, he didn't exactly remember when he had taken Lucario's egg from the game. He didn't breed the only way for him to obtain a Riolu. He had raised that Riolu into a Lucario, and he could have sworn the data was still there. But ever since the real deal manifested in his world, any data of that party member was gone, though the proof he had obtained a Riolu and then a Lucario was there.
He felt there was no need for him to mention Lucario he had raised him through the game's player avatar. That was some complicated stuff to talk about right now and Chris didn't have a clear mind to discuss that much.
Back on the subject of his birthday, Lucario found out that September 28th was…two days ago when they had that incident happen. "…Oh… My birthday was 2 days ago, then," Lucario said, looking worried. "When…"
"Say no more, please," Chris said, knowing what Lucario meant. "You shouldn't feel bad for what happened. I'm…really grateful to you, Lucario. That's why I went out of my way to make you understand that day was special to me."
"S-special to you? I can't understand how it was special…"
"You comforted me during a very saddening time when I couldn't think clearly… That's why."
"…I… Oh…"
Chris chuckled. "To you, personally, it surely something you didn't wish, bu-"
"No, I disagree with that," Lucario quickly said. "I wished with all my power to make you happy and optimistic. It's…what…keeps me going," he struggled to say the very nice words. "…Yes, it's the truth. I'm very, very lucky I got to live here with you. I would have gotten into so many troubles I wouldn't be able to handle by myself. You're…very important to me."
"T-thanks, I guess," Chris said, blushing as well as Lucario. "…It was your birthday, though. I wanted to give you a present for your birthday and for aiding me back then." Confused at those words, Lucario saw Chris getting off from his bed and walked to the closet, where he opened the two doors and picked up a wrapped gift on the floor, though it looked like he struggled to lift it. Lucario stared at the gift, wrapped in glittering light blue with a black ribbon on top. Maybe he was thinking too hard, but those two colors were the most prominent in his body…
The present was set on the bed, right in front of Lucario's chest. He saw the box bouncing a bit. "A-a present for me?" Lucario stuttered.
"Yes. I thought real hard on what to give you yesterday when I went shopping with my relatives," Chris said. "I brainstormed a lot about what you'd like, so I found this. Go ahead! Open it up."
Lucario didn't know what was so fitting for him to use. He looked back at the present and slowly started to tear the wrapping paper and the ribbon, lost in thought trying to guess what the gift was. After making a little mess of torn paper on the bed, Lucario opened the cardboard box and peered inside… It was a pair of two large black dumbbells, with handles so long it would be hard for a normal adult hand to completely cover it and two weights each that looked and felt too heavy for beginners. And it was the truth. In the time Chris had carried the box with them, he was already sweating.
"Any strange looks I got from my uncle, he just brushed it off as me being a kid," Chris said, looking a tad peeved. "Sometimes I hate how people see me as just a kid. But here you go, Lucario. Your own set of dumbbells."
Receiving a gift like this was weird for Lucario, as this was the first time he was ever involved in such gesture. As he stared at the dumbbells for a little while – indirectly making Chris think the gift was not up to his expectations – he moved his hands down into the box to pick the gifts. Unlike how Chris had struggled to pick up the box and carry the thing all the way from the mall, Lucario easily heaved the two items on his hands, feeling almost no weight on them. There was just a bit of pressure as he started doing a few reps with no trouble at all.
"Oh, come on. These were the heaviest I could find…" Chris said.
But Lucario smiled and looked at him. "These are very nice… They're the only things in the house I can feel some weight on. And besides, I won't look weird doing reps with nothing on my hands," Lucario said. "Thanks for the birthday present, Chris…and I hope you have a good day today."
"…Thank you," Chris said, his aura flaring up with happiness. "I was a little worried you weren't going to like your gift, but thank you." Lucario set down his dumbbells and went to hug Chris, which he then returned the gesture. Honestly speaking, the teen didn't think the Aura Pokémon was going to hug him again. Now that he did, it gave him peace of mind during the day…
Later on, however, before Chris was about to set up preparations for their meal – which would be then followed by him leaving the house to go to his party with his relatives – the phone rang. The two of them were in the living room when it happened, with Lucario relishing his new training equipment. The dial receiver displayed that it was Chris's parents talking… Chris's aura had tensed up the moment he saw the numbers, and he swallowed up his breath as he took the call. "…Hello?" Chris asked. Lucario, whatever happened, was ready to keep the teen from falling into depression. "…Thanks for the greetings, but I still know you aren't going to come today."
"…"
"I know you're sorry now. You already told me you couldn't come here in the end. Thanks for bringing my hopes up again."
"…"
"…Sure. You're going to make time later for me. Look, you're trying really hard to make amends, but I really can't trust your word anymore."
"…"
There were some sobbing sounds coming from a female Lucario heard over the phone. No doubt that was Chris's mother. Listening to her sobbing didn't make Chris change his expression…at first. His face twitched a bit as the talk continued.
"N-now you know how I felt when you couldn't make it… I know your job is the best one there is, and I believe this opportunity is golden for us to have a future…b-but what's the point if you can hardly see your son grow up? I want you two to understand we already are okay…"
"…"
"…I…I have no hopes what you're promising me is going to happen. Now that sounds way too good to be true," Chris said. "You've been doing this many times already it's hard for me to believe your word."
"…"
He sighed. "…Fine. I'll give you that chance again," he muttered. "But…this better be it, okay? Because I can't deal with this anymore… S-so…stop crying, mom."
The call had been pretty tense even if Lucario didn't need to use his aura senses to see how Chris truly felt. It ended soon after Chris and his parents had exchanged a few more words that weren't much related to the issue. When he hung up the phone, Chris rubbed his eyes a bit and looked back at Lucario. "What did they say?" Lucario asked.
"They…they said they want to come back and stay with me for real after they're done with their work schedule," he said. "…But I don't trust them much with their word. They're not even sure when that would happen. Like I told them, I'm not going to get my hopes up for a day they don't know will come at all."
"I'm sorry for knowing how badly your family matters are…"
"Oh no, on the contrary," Chris said, forcing a smile. "Now that you know this much about me…I can feel much better telling this to someone so close to me."
Lucario blushed. "Er, um, well, it's hard for me to ignore it since I can't leave the house…"
"Either way, it's okay," Chris said. He looked down at his feet for a moment, deep in thought. "…Do you think they'll come, though?"
"Huh? W-well…" Lucario had his guard down when that question appeared. "…M-maybe, but not for a long time. Like…probably a year or so…"
"…Yes. I think so, too. I'll be careful not to build my hopes up so much, though. It's not healthy and it didn't do any good to me…" Lucario reached out to grab his left hand. "Huh?"
"I'll be here to give you my support. Don't forget that," Lucario reassured with a small nod.
"…You really are the kindest Lucario I've ever met."
"I'm the only one. I win by default," he boasted, with his inner Riolu sticking out his little chest.
Chris chuckled. "Oh, you…"
And the day went on with Chris's renewed albeit general optimism. He went on to enjoy his birthday away from his house with his relatives, leaving Lucario for hours until the early hours of the night. The Aura Pokémon, just for fun, kept an aura link with Chris all day long to give him a sense that he was also there at the party – without the unneeded side effects of people screaming and calling the police to subdue him. He enjoyed seeing Chris talking to uncles, aunts, and grandparents, having fun playing with cousins close to his age, and the people frantically dancing to music that sounded too foreign to Lucario. The day turned out to be enjoyable with no sadness in the teen's psyche, easing Lucario's mind and entertaining the Riolu, who kept a very close eye on the human having fun.
Finding out when his birthday was…making Chris happy…Chris giving him a birthday present… Lucario thought he got it made.
The blue jackal felt strong emotionally, which was surely the greatest kind of power his kind was supposed to attain over physical strength. He thought his efforts to lend Chris a hand during his most troublesome times were the best actions he had done yet, as much as he forced himself to dislike the fact there was no way to go back and keep himself apart from him. But he couldn't help thinking trying to distance himself from Chris was wrong and even more wrong the more they spent time together. Deep down, Lucario really, really wanted to say Chris was…
Not yet. No, it was impossible to think it was the truth. There was no proof…
His inner dilemmas had to wait for another day in the future, because when Chris returned with the food he promised, Lucario (and by extension his inner Riolu) was off having a long nocturnal field day after he came to meet one of the most wonderful dishes in Mexican cuisine to ever grace his eyes and nose…
Tacos.
…You made it through after all? Oh. Good. I hope the fact Chris tried to opt for suicide wasn't too strong to make you feel so uncomfortable. But I did warn you, so…
I had a good birthday myself, even though it wasn't as crowded as previous years since things get a little harder the older you get. I enjoyed spending time with my family. I will commit myself to making something bigger next year, because it looks like things just get quieter and quieter.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I encourage you all to review.
Or else Lucario will be put under harsh Spanish lessons day by day.