"I've never seen anything like it. In the trip from Spear Pillar to here, almost all of his wounds healed! It's remarkable!"
"It may have had something to do with that Lucario, doctor."
"Quite possibly. Wait. He's waking up."
Hunter's eyes slowly flickered open. "Lucario…" he said. "Where's…Lucario?"
The nurse beside his bed laid a hand on him. "I'm sorry. Your Lucario's been dead for some time now."
"But…where is he?"
"Your friend's in the morgue. But you're not well enough to see him yet."
Hunter sat up, ripping the IV drip out of his arm. It hurt but he didn't care. "Take me to him. Take me there now."
The doctor laid a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, son. You've had quite a day. You were nearly dead when we found you."
"Don't care. Take me to Lucario."
The nurse began filling a syringe with a sedative. "Try to relax, sweetheart. We'll put your Lucario to rest."
Hunter flung the needle from the nurse's hand without touching it. He looked at the nurse, his eyes pleading. "Please. I just want to see him one more time. Take me to him. I'm begging you."
The doctor sighed. "I guess there's no changing your mind. According to your chart, you should be strong enough to walk."
Hunter didn't smile at getting what he wanted. Lucario's dead. Nothing will ever change that.
They eventually arrived at the morgue. The cold of the room seeped through Hunter's pajamas, but he didn't notice.
Lucario was on a stretcher in the center of the room. He looked so peaceful. His paws were folded over his chest. He had been cleaned, and now his fur was clear of burn marks and bruises. It must have been his Aura. Still working in death, Hunter thought.
He walked over to his friend and knelt by the stretcher, clasping Lucario's paw and gently laying his head on his friend's chest. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
It wasn't your fault, a voice said in his mind.
Hunter looked up. "Lucario?"
The Pokémon was standing beside him, glowing slightly and looking down on his student. Nothing you did could have stopped fate.
"I could have been more alert. We would have stopped them and you'd still be alive!" He stopped for a moment at the realization that the nurse and doctor would probably put him back in bed at the sight of him talking to air. He looked over at them. "Can they hear us?"
No. I've frozen time to talk to you.
Hunter stood up, letting go of the body's paw and folding it back in place. He turned to Lucario. "I'll miss you."
Likewise. But, he said, as he began to fade, do you remember the cave in the glade? The one I told you never to enter?
"Yeah. The one sealed up by rocks?"
Open it when you leave. Inside that cave… Lucario disappeared. New life begins…
Hunter watched as Lucario vanished before him, leaving only shining bits of Aura to mark that he had been there. Those too, quickly faded.
The doctor came over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I looked at your head wound while you were out. You should be fine now. We also washed your clothes, so you can leave anytime."
Hunter looked at Lucario's body. "I'm taking him with me. Don't argue."
"I won't."
A few minutes later, Hunter walked out of the hospital, carrying Lucario's limp body in his arms. He started running. They had taken him to the town nearest their mountain, oddly. It was only the work of a moment to jump up the cliffs and run into the glade. It was peaceful. Serene. Untouched.
Hunter walked over to the slab of marble and gently laid Lucario's body on it. He folded the Pokémon's paws over his body, then focused his Aura into a permanent shield, fed by the Aura in the crystals. Now time can't reach him, he thought absently.
He looked over at the cave Lucario had talked about. He placed his hand against it and used an Aura Sphere to blast it open.
It was dark inside the cave. Inside it, sitting on a nest of straw that looked brand new, was an egg.
Hunter could sense all kinds of emotions coming from the egg. Love, grief, care, worry. He picked it up gently, Lucario's words ringing in his head. New life begins.
He left the glade slowly, pausing to gaze at Lucario's body one last time.
He then jumped down the mountain and rode the train home.
When he entered his house in Veilstone, Buizel let out a joyful cry and ran to him, its tails wagging. Hunter gently placed the egg on the couch, and Buizel noticed that Lucario wasn't along. It looked at its owner, puzzled.
Hunter looked at Buizel, sadness written on his face. "He's gone, Buizel."
Buizel's eyes widened. Hunter sat down and turned on the TV. The news was on.
"In the news today a famous archeological site, the Spear Pillar, lies in ruins after reports of a fierce battle between what was apparently a human and a rare Pokémon, Lucario, against the two deity Pokémon, Dialga and Palkia. Fallen pillars and craters now make the site called a "disaster area" by police officials, and the site will not be open to archeologists again until the entire area has been declared safe."
Hunter turned the TV off. He looked out the window. The moon was rising, its ever-widening pool of light finally coming to rest on the egg. Hunter kicked off his shoes and was about to fall asleep on the couch when Buizel's surprised cry of Bui! jerked him back to alertness.
He sat up. A loud cracking noise split the air. Hunter looked at the egg, which had started to glow.
The glow grew so intense that both Hunter and Buizel shielded their eyes. When the light faded, they both looked.
Sleeping in the moonlight, tiny and helpless, was a newborn Riolu.
Hunter picked the little one up and cradled it in his arms. It woke up slowly, reaching up to touch Hunter's face as it yawned. Hunter scratched its ears. "Hello, little one. Welcome to the world."
And there it is! Don't worry, that's not the end. I've got three more stories that are all fired up and ready to go. So anyways, thanks for all the reviews! Hope you liked it.