Thank you to my readers! I hope you guys like the story so far. Sorry for the wait...this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. x_x
I originally wanted to combine the last chapter that I wrote with this one, but it would've been ridiculously longer than it already is, and there would have been too many ideas for one chapter, so I split them. :/ I sort of rushed at the end of this chapter, too...and again, sorry for any typos/repetitions/etc. *dies*
Something's actually going to happen in this chapter! Gasp! :O Anyways, enjoy, and remember to review!
3 - Pokemon, Trainers, and Chocolate
The elderly man and woman who owned the only tiny shop in the whole of Celestic Town were awake and tending the counter in their little building. It was early in the morning, with only the slight redness in the sky indicating the dawn that was almost upon them. The rest of the sky was still completely dark, however, with the stars still twinkling in the distance. There were no customers entering the shop yet, but the old couple were still at work, setting their supplies up. They were opening the boxes of pokeballs, potions, elixirs, and etc. including some foods and goods to sell to travelers. No one ever came into the shop this early, but their sign hanging outside promised that they would be open, and so there they were.
After setting up, the couple sat there, waiting for customers who would never arrive until much later, both starting to doze off. Suddenly, the door of the house opened, making both workers blink awake immediately.
"Oh! Welcome!" the elderly woman greeted, genuinely surprised that someone had entered. She looked to the door, with her working husband snatching up his spectacles to see who it was. Surprisingly, standing at the doorway was a blue jackal-like pokemon.
The two shopkeepers looked at him with a puzzled expression as Lucario closed the door gently behind him. He got on all fours, crawling stealthily to the counter, sniffing the air as if he was hungry and looking for food. Any other time, the old couple would've shooed the pokemon out, telling it to come back with his trainer. Wild pokemon were always wandering in to search for food during business hours. However, this time, the shopkeepers just looked at each other in confusion. One reason on why they didn't kick Lucario out immediately was that he was a rare pokemon that they had very occasionally seen, and because it was just too early in the morning to move, much less try to shoo a Lucario out of the shop. Not even most pokemon were awake this early in the day. Instead, they just let the jackal wander forward to look at their supplies. Lucario didn't project his thoughts like he used to so that others could hear him think, because he had learned during his brief stay in the modern world that it was unnatural to communicate with humans that way, and that it arose some suspicion. So, he just sniffed around like a normal pokemon, intently searching for something.
"May...we help you today?" the elderly man questioned, sounding a little cranky because of the morning. Lucario sniffed around at the things set on the table little more, before going back to sniffing the air again. Finally, he traced the scent that he was seeking for, peering at an unopened box that was sitting behind the shopkeepers. He immediately pointed a paw at the box, barking with his gruff, audible voice. For good measure, he decided to wag his tail slightly while he was at it. The elderly man and woman turned to see what he was pointing at, and the man crouched down to open the box. Inside, there were wrapped bars of something, perfectly piled up to the brim. The two looked back at the anxious pokemon.
"Um...yes, these are chocolate candy bars..." the old lady said hesitantly. "Would you like to buy one?" Lucario nodded quickly, this time subconsciously wagging his tail. The woman pulled one bar out, then paused. "But...do you have any money to pay for this?" Lucario looked at her with a puzzled expression before shaking his head, and the woman frowned upon seeing this. "Well then, you cannot purchase it unless you have enough money. I'm sorry...but you can trade some berries for it if you want. I'm willing to trade it for...oh...four oran berries." Lucario stared at her for a moment, then barked again, nodding slightly in understanding. With one swift movement, the pokemon exited the store, running out of the town to search for some wild berries to pick and bring back to trade. The shopkeepers looked to each other again in confusion, wondering about what just happened.
~o~o~o~
Riley finally woke up, feeling very stiff and drowsy still. With slight effort, he sat up in the small bed that the kind old lady had let him borrow, massaging his temples slightly. Slowly, he remembered where he was and what had happened the day before. Lucario, Arceus, his mission, his new name, Salamence, and finally, this town. Although he had slept, he still felt very fatigued. He sighed in discomfort, trying to stretch out his soreness.
This is probably from using so much aura... he remembered. This was like a punishment for using so much energy so soon. Peering out the window, he assumed by the position of the sun that it was nearly noon and that he had overslept, despite how sleepy he still felt. With another sigh, he climbed out of bed dragging his reluctant and tired body along. He grabbed his hat that was sitting on the nightstand next to him, placing it back on the top of his head before walking out of the room.
The building was big, and Riley looked around, admiring the ancient scrolls of calligraphy and other various decorations hung on the walls. He was wondering where Lucario was, half just looking around, and half searching for him. After using his aura vision, he confirmed that the jackal wasn't even in town, and wondered even more of where he ran off to. Riley finally shrugged it off. Lucario was always wandering off to other places, so he wasn't very surprised that he couldn't find him. The pokemon would always find his way back, anyways, and that was a fact. There was no reason to worry.
Riley kept wandering, and finally found the kitchen, where the old lady was, probably preparing food for lunch. "Good morning," the grandmother greeted, though frowned when she saw the man. "Hm...did you sleep well? You seem very tired still..."
"Ah...does it show?" Riley laughed. "Yes, I slept fine...I think it's just from the long day yesterday..." It truly had been an extremely long day for him. A lot has happened in such a short time, mostly his coming back to life.
"I see...well, try to rest up today," the old lady suggested. "I don't think that you should be up and about so much. Just relax for now."
The man nodded slightly. "I think that I must..." It wasn't as if he knew where else to go at this point. First, he had to find out things about this "Team Galactic" that Arceus had told him about. But that could wait for the moment...now he just had to regain his energy.
"...Would you like some food?" the old lady offered, gesturing to the table in the kitchen that was piled up with different dishes. It all still looked warm, as if she had just cooked it all up.
"Oh- no, I am fine," Riley answered, shaking his head to decline her offer. "You have already helped me so much..."
"But you look so very tired right now. Eating will help you regain your energy," the woman insisted. "Go ahead and help yourself! I've cooked too much for everyone else, anyways. It is really not a problem."
After much convincing, Riley ate a little bit of the food, until the old lady seemed satisfied enough, and he headed outside to roam around the town. Riley was quite comfortable with this place, because it was quite old fashioned looking. He had yet to see any strange, modern things yet in this world. Lucario had told him that maybe larger settlements were more modernized than this small one. Riley still couldn't imagine the advanced technologies that Lucario had described, though. He would see them, all in good time.
The man didn't walk around very much, seeing the worn out state that he was in, and settled near a small pond to take the old lady's advise, and rest up. He had found a metal bench to sit on, that was conveniently shaded by a large tree. For a little while, he sat there, watching the calm water of the pond, deep in thought about his mission. Then, he slowly drifted off into sleep, putting his problems aside for the moment.
Riley woke up from his mild nap from hearing the laughter of children nearby. Following the noise, he looked around to see two little boys playing with each other close to where he was sitting at. He sat up in his seat, watching them curiously.
"Hey, wanna battle?" one of the boys was saying.
"Sure! We're gonna beat you, though!" the other laughed.
"We'll see about that!" the first boy had pulled out a tiny, strange looking ball, split into two halves. One half was red, and the other half was white. A small white button rested in between both halves, which the boy pressed. The ball immediately expanded to grow to the size of the boy's fist. Then, the ball was thrown. "Go, Starly!" The ball cracked open, sending a beam of light out of it. The light settled to one spot on the ground, and the tiny bird pokemon, Starly appeared from it, chirping cheerfully. This weird event made Riley blink in surprise. How did a pokemon materialize from a beam of light coming from a tiny ball?
I see...that must be a pokeball, he thought to himself, remembering what Lucario told him. Are they doing a pokemon battle, then? He kept watching, now thinking back to his thoughts on this activity. The concept really didn't appeal to him at all, and he would be much more comfortable if the pokemon were set free and not made to battle each other. Yet, the Starly seemed to be quite content at the sound of a battle, and Riley wondered why. As he pondered, the other boy pulled out his own pokeball.
"I choose you, Shinx!" The same thing happened as he threw the ball, except this time, it was a Shinx that appeared from the light. The pokemon cried out happily, dancing around on its sparking paws.
"Hey, no fair! Flying-type is weak to electric-type!" the first boy sniffed accusingly.
"Too late! We both chose our pokemon already!" the other boy objected.
"Aw, fine! We'll still school you guys!"
"Let's do it, then! ...Ready? Battle!"
"Starly, use peck!" the first boy commanded. The Starly chirped, flying forwards with its beak ready in front of it.
"Shinx, use spark!" The electric pokemon charged forwards, cloaking itself in electricity. Starly didn't flinch at the intimidation, still charging forwards.
"Starly, dodge it!" The Starly moved to the side, narrowly getting away from Shinx's electric tackle. "Great job! Now, use wing attack!" The Starly swooped down at the Shinx, wings outstretched. The electric pokemon had no time to react, and was knocked back from that attack. It recovered quickly, though, shaking its head in a daze.
"Shinx, use tackle!" Barely skipping a beat, the pokemon lunged at Starly, but missed by quite a distance, as Starly flew upwards, and out of reach.
"Starly, use quick attack!" The bird pokemon dived towards the Shinx with great speed, slamming into it head on to deal damage. The other boy seemed to be waiting for this, though.
"Now's your chance, Shinx! Use spark!" Shinx cried out with its power as it covered itself with an electric current. Before Starly could get away, it was tackled by a great electric force.
"Starly, no!" the first boy cried, as the Starly was knocked off of its feet, landing, injured, on its back. The bird pokemon chirped weakly and twitched as it tried to get up again. "Come on, Starly! You can still do this!" the boy cheered on for his pokemon. The other boy had a confident smile, as if he knew that he was going to win now.
"Shinx, finish him off with spark!" he ordered. Shinx growled, covering itself with the electric cloak yet again, charging towards the injured Starly. The first boy had a determined look on his face, which was also reflected in his Starly's face as well.
"Starly...use growl!" The Starly glared at the charging Shinx, calling out with an intimidating screech. The bluff worked, as the Shinx flinched. Its electric cloak disappeared for a second, but that was all the time that they needed. "Now, use quick attack!" Starly charged swiftly at the Shinx, tackling it with a great slam. The Shinx staggered from the blow, tripping over its feet.
"Shinx!" the other boy shouted, but the pokemon had already fallen down, though was attempting to get up again.
"Starly, use wing attack to finish him!" The Starly obeyed, slamming its wings at the Shinx. The electric pokemon cried out in pain, falling backwards. This time, it stayed down, too tired to stand back up.
"Oh no, Shinx!" the other boy cried, running over to his knocked out pokemon. He shook it, trying to wake it up. "Shinx! Shinx, are you all right?" The electric pokemon groaned slightly, opening its eyes. The boy looked at it with a relieved expression, scooping the pokemon into a hug. "You did great, buddy," he assured the pokemon. Shinx smiled slightly, patting the boy on the shoulder with a small paw.
"Hey, that was a good battle," the first boy exclaimed happily. Starly was rested on his head, chirping as if it was singing happily. The other boy smiled up at his friend, standing up.
"Yeah! You actually won," he laughed. "Well, that was some good training! Now my Shinx got a little bit stronger, I'm sure!" Shinx cried out in agreement, its cheeks sparking slightly with electricity as it tried to look tougher.
"And my Starly finally learned growl! I've been trying to make it learn that move for a while now..."
"Yep! That was fun. Let's battle again sometime, yeah?"
"Of course!"
"And I'll definitely win next time, you know!"
"Only if I go easy on you."
"I'm serious! We'll get you yet!"
"Heheh! Sure, bring it on!"
The two friends were now chatting away happily now, talking about pokemon. They let Starly and Shinx stay outside of their pokeballs, and the pokemon played around with each other; Starly dancing around on the air above Shinx's head as Shinx jumped around, trying to poke the Starly before it could fly away. Riley was still watching them, though was still unnoticed. He understood it a little bit more, the relationship between pokemon and trainers, not that he understood it fully yet. As Lucario had said, they did act a lot like friends, and it wasn't like the pokemon didn't like their place. It seemed like they actually did enjoy their battles. Battling made them stronger, and also bonded them with their trainers. Now, Riley could at least see why people liked battling each other with pokemon. Just a little.
Finally, one of the boys probably sensed that someone was watching them, because one of them turned and saw Riley staring at them. The boy stared back, falling silent, and when the other followed his gaze, he copied his friend's actions. They both stared at the man sitting under the tree, and Riley smiled slightly, getting up and walking over to them. As he walked over, Starly chirped at him contently, flapping over curiously. It settled on Riley's shoulder, hopping around happily. Shinx also approached him, running around at his feet, staring up at him while barking playfully. Hello, he thought to both of them, using telepathy. The two boys, seeing how comfortable their pokemon were around the mysterious man, relaxed a little.
"Wow, mister! Our pokemon really like you," one of them exclaimed, sounding a little bit amazed. The other boy nodded, also looking surprised.
"Shinx usually doesn't get along with strangers," he observed.
"Ah, really?" Riley asked, acting as if he was surprised. The boy scooped up Shinx, hugging him tightly.
"Yeah! I don't know why, but he's getting along with you...mister, are you a trainer?"
"Um...not exactly," the man admitted, not sure what category he fit into in this generation. The two boys looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
"Do you have pokemon?"
"I don't own them, but I can make friends with them," Riley put it simply.
"Oh! So then, you're a ranger?"
"No, no! Rangers have that weird giant bracelet that tames pokemon! And I heard that all the rangers wear that red uniform..." the other boy argued back before Riley could say anything.
"But they don't need to wear the uniform all the time, right?" his friend asked.
"But they have to wear that bracelet all the time..." The two boys discussed this for a little bit longer.
"...Well, you might say that I am a trainer who does not use pokeballs," Riley finally said. Or does pokemon battles, he thought to himself, though, figuring that that was probably the main point of being a trainer in the first place, didn't say it out loud.
"A trainer without pokeballs? Cool!" one of the boys exclaimed. Riley just nodded, glad that that description didn't seem out of the ordinary to the boys, and, gently coaxing Starly off of his shoulder, gave the pokemon back to its trainer.
"Yes...and I must ask...do you two love your pokemon?"
"Of course!" both of them exclaimed, hugging their pokemon closely. The pokemon responded back positively as well, fidgeting in their trainers' grips happily. Riley smiled, knowing that the bonds that they shared were true.
"Then, no matter what you do, make sure that you and your pokemon will never be set apart of each other. Because..." he thought of Lucario as he said this, "...they are your greatest allies."
"Yep! We promise," the boys nodded cheerily, knowing that it wouldn't be hard for them. Their pokemon had the same feeling, as their aura showed.
"That is good..." Riley felt reassured now. After seeing trainers and their pokemon for himself, he finally understood what Lucario had told him. It seemed that pokemon and humans really did get along with each other this way, because of this bond that they shared. Pokemon and trainers were just like friends, and also like partners. Just like me and Lucario, he realized, and suddenly remembered something. "Well, I've got to go now," Riley told the boys and pokemon, turning to walk away. "I must go find a friend of mine. Take good care of each other."
"Okay," the boy with the Shinx said, waving goodbye. The boy with the Starly just stared at the man's back, before asking one final question.
"Hey, mister, is your friend a pokemon?" Riley looked back at the boy's curious face, and smiled warmly. With that, he silently walked off, disappearing from view. The boy stared on for a moment, before grinning happily, knowing that he was right. His friend looked a little puzzled though, staring at the boy.
"Huh?"
"Nothing!" the boy with the Starly laughed, turning to the boy with the Shinx with his wide grin. "C'mon, let's go play by the ruins! I'll race you!" Without another warning, he ran off, with Starly flapping onto his head.
"Wha- hey! That's cheating! Wait up," his friend called hotly, jogging after him.
~o~o~o~
Lucario was sniffing at the ground, still looking for oran berries. He had grown a little frustrated of looking, for he had searched for the whole morning and only managed to find three. He was so close, yet so far from getting that chocolate bar... The pokemon shook his head, feeling a bit silly for going this far for a single bar of candy. Yet, he was determined to get it. He had to get one to give to Riley, so that he could try the sweet snack. Lucario had promised to look for the chocolate, anyways, and didn't want to give up just yet. With a sigh, Lucario looked on, annoyed at how restricted his vision was. It was too foggy around this area to use his eyes efficiently, but oran berries were hard to sense, seeing that they didn't have any aura. Instead, Lucario used his sense of smell, sniffing at the ground and the air for any trace leading to an oran berry tree.
At last, after a few minutes, he sniffed out the scent of the tangy berry, and, following it eagerly, found the tall plant with the one single oran berry that Lucario needed, hanging low on a branch. 'Yes!' Swiftly, before any other pokemon could take it, he snatched it off of its branch. Staring with triumph at the blue fruit, he added it to his stash of three berries that he was holding onto. Now, he just had to go back to the shop and trade them for-
"Lucario...?" With a surprised yelp, the jackal whipped around to see Riley standing behind him, observing him curiously. The pokemon had been so caught up in looking for berries that he didn't bother to sense his surroundings. "What are you doing?" Fortunately, Lucario had hid the four berries behind his back before his friend could see them.
'N-nothing! I'm doing nothing at all...' He didn't want to tell Riley about buying the chocolate, hoping to keep it a surprise, but his acting flustered made Riley feel even more suspicious.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
'Yes...I am fine...really...' Lucario looked away, knowing that Riley could sense that he was keeping a secret. It was nearly impossible to hide something from someone like him, as he had learned a long while ago. Riley leaned over to look past Lucario, and the pokemon flinched, clasping his paws together to hide the berries. His friend frowned, seeing the action.
"What do you have in your paws?" he asked, leaning over some more to look towards what Lucario was hiding, but the jackal immediately turned around so that he couldn't get a glimpse of his back.
'I-it's nothing...' Lucario stuttered again. Riley stared at him with a puzzled expression.
"Come on, you can show me," he coaxed, but Lucario still stubbornly refused to give in. Riley observed him some more before grinning slightly, reaching over to scratch the back of the pokemon's big ear. "Come on..."
Lucario suddenly relaxed at his touch, twitching his ears slightly. That felt kind of good- 'No! I can't!' Lucario moved away slightly, shaking his head. Riley kept at it, though, scratching Lucario's fur comfortably like he would to a pet. This method of convincing the jackal, as he had discovered in their old life, was actually very effective.
'A-ahaha! No, stop it!' Lucario laughed, trying to swat away his hand with his one empty paw. Seeing this opening, Riley grabbed his other paw holding the berries, and Lucario froze. There went his surprise... Suddenly, Riley's grip on his paw slackened, and Lucario looked up in surprise to see that he wasn't looking at the berries, but looking back towards the town with a strange expression.
"Lucario, do you sense that?" he questioned, completely serious now. The jackal followed his gaze through the fog. He hadn't been using his aura senses all day, and still wasn't using it at the moment.
'What is it, Riley?' Riley's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I sense someone strange in the town..." The aura that Riley sensed was affected by the person's intentions, and he felt something dark in that aura...it was clear that the person was up to no good. Lucario looked at Riley with a confused expression, but the man didn't respond to it, still staring at the fog-surrounded town. Finally, he started to walk back towards it. "Let's go..."
Lucario blinked, then slowly nodded, following him cautiously.
~o~o~o~
Back in Celestic Town, there was a stranger standing in front of the ruins. He had hair that was strangely blue, styled into a bowl cut, and wore a black and white jumpsuit uniform, with a shiny badge clipped on designed with a fancy golden "G." With his eyes on the great ruins, he grabbed out a camera, snapping pictures of it. This was usually what tourists always did when they visited the ruins - taking pictures for sightseeing; but this man clearly wasn't there just to get snapshots for his photo album. He had an air of total business. Finally, he finished snapping pictures, looking at the ruins one last time. "Why does the boss want pictures of this, anyways? Does he just think that it's interesting, or..." he muttered to himself. He himself had no great interest in the designs and ancient paintings of the ruins. "Whatever, I'll give these to him," he sighed, stuffing the camera away in his bag.
As he was just about to leave, two little boys were heard laughing and playing nearby. Looking up, he saw them running very close by him, with their pokemon beating them in their race by a little bit. The stranger looked to them with some sudden interest, though seemed slightly annoyed at the same time. He started to walk over to them.
"Wah, Starly's so fast! How did you beat all of us?" one of the boys sighed. Starly chirped, hopping around happily. Shinx barked, racing in circles around the bird, making the two boys laugh.
"Well, I challenge all of you to a rematch!" the other boy demanded. The other three immediately stood at the ready again, prepared to race. The boy grinned, taking his starting position as well. "All right! Ready? Set! G-"
He suddenly stopped when he saw a tall stranger approaching them. His friend turned around as well when his shadow loomed above them, and Starly cried out, flapping its wings to take position on its trainer's head defensively. Shinx was growling as well, sensing the bad vibes that the man was emitting, standing at the ready as warning sparks were visible at its cheeks. The two kids hesitated slightly as the man glared down at them with intimidation.
"Hey, you brats," the guy sneered.
"Wh-what did you call us?" one of the boys shot back, puffing out his chest to look brave. Another glare from the man made him shrink back again, though.
"I called you brats. So what?" the stranger growled, then pointed at them dramatically. "...Give me your pokemon."
The two friends stared at each other in confusion, but before they could respond, the man reached over and grabbed the Starly by the wing. The bird screeched at him, flapping the other wing at him angrily.
"Hey! Give him back!" its trainer shouted, jumping up to pull Starly back to safety, but the man raised the pokemon out of his reach.
"Too bad! Your pokemon belong to Team Galactic now," he bullied. Though, as he said this, Starly suddenly pecked at his hand with much of its strength, making him yelp and drop the pokemon.
"Starly!" the Starly's trainer caught the pokemon before it fell to the ground. "Starly, are you all right?" The bird chirped, with a slight nod. Shinx was obviously very annoyed by the stranger's actions to its friends and, with its paws sparking, tackled the man's leg with a weak electric shock.
"O-Ow! Hey!" the man hissed, grabbing at his leg. "Fine, if you won't hand over your pokemon, I'll take them myself!" He pulled out a pokeball, tossing it in front of him. "Glameow, teach these brats a lesson and use fury swipes!" A cat pokemon appeared out of the pokeball and immediately obeyed, leaping towards the pokemon and trainers with its glowing claws outstretched. The boys grabbed their pokemon away and hugged them defensively, ready to take the hit. Suddenly, there was a mighty howl, and Lucario charged from out of nowhere, countering the Glameow's attack with the metal spikes on his paws. The Galactic Grunt was taken by surprise at this new arrival. "What the-"
"It is best to leave them alone," a voice said from behind the Grunt, and he whipped around to see Riley standing there, glaring at him.
"M-mister!" the two boys gasped happily at the same time, waving at the man. Riley looked to them with a slight nod in acknowledgment.
"Pft! What, you're these brats' friend?" the Grunt spat. "Well, whatever! I'll take you on, and then I'll win and take all of your pokemon!"
Riley blinked, not really sure what the Grunt was talking about. He'll...'take me on'? What does that mean...?
'I believe that he is challenging you to a pokemon battle...' Lucario pointed out. He was only using telepathy to Riley, instead of just amplifying his thoughts for everyone to hear them.
He is? Hm...I did not think that people would challenge others to battle for this kind of purpose... Reading Lucario's mind, Riley saw that the jackal apparently didn't know that, either. I do not want to battle him, though.
Lucario was growling slightly, while glaring at the Grunt. 'It is fine. I can settle this quickly-'
There was a great roar coming from the sky that stopped Lucario's thoughts. Everyone looked up to see a huge shadow up above them, and instinctively, they all moved back a little, to not get squashed by the landing shadow. There was a huge buffering of wind as the large pokemon landed, and then Salamence was there, standing in front of Riley and Lucario, facing the Grunt with a very intimidating look.
"Wh-whoaaaaaa!" the two boys exclaimed in amazement.
"A Salamence?" the Grunt thought aloud, apparently very shocked as well. Salamence snorted at him, not looking very impressed. Riley stared at Salamence's back.
"Salamence...have you come to take the battle?" he asked. The dragon answered with a confident roar, stomping a foot as a sign that it was ready.
"F-fine! We'll still school you guys," the Grunt growled, though didn't sound nearly as confident as he was before. Glameow still bravely held his ground, staring up at the great dragon while trying not to flinch away. Riley sighed, looking to the ground. He really didn't want to battle with pokemon, but it seemed like there was no backing down now.
"Very well..."
"Okay then! Let's begin the battle!" the Grunt sneered. The two boys and their pokemon stood at the sidelines, cheering on Salamence. The Grunt started first. "Glameow, use fury swipes!" The cat pokemon hissed, lunging at Salamence with glowing claws.
'Riley! You must tell Salamence what to do,' Lucario informed.
Ah- y-yes... Riley had forgotten about that part for a moment. This was his first time battling, after all. "Salamence, dodge it!" The dragon easily shifted out of the way of the incoming claws, and Glameow rebounded from the grass, sneering at Salamence in slight frustration.
"Argh! Use fury swipes again, Glameow!" The cat obeyed, leaping up with its claws outstretched. Riley briefly went through Salamence's mind, seeing what his moveset was.
"Salamence, counter with dragon claw!" Salamence jumped forward swiftly, with his own claws glowing dully in purple light. That attack effortlessly knocked fury swipes away, and Glameow was sent flying. The cat managed to cling onto a small pillar of the ruins instead of crashing headlong into it, not taking any additional damage.
"Go again, Glameow! Use quick attack!" The Glameow jumped off of the pillar, becoming a blur as it charged towards Salamence.
"Salamence, use fly!" With a great flap of wings, Salamence flew up into the sky. The wind that he whipped up already buffered Glameow a bit, slowing the cat's running as it looked around, disoriented. When Glameow was finally able to get it together, Salamence dived down, tackling the cat roughly. Glameow fell onto the grass, struggling to get up as Salamence landed nearby with a growl.
"Come on, Glameow! Get him with scratch!" The cat suddenly leapt up again, flying at Salamence with its claws. Before the dragon could move back, Glameow latched onto his wing, raking it with his claws. Salamence roared in pain, trying to shake the cat off, but Glameow held on.
"Salamence, use fly again!" Salamence flapped his wings once again, and rocketed upwards into the sky. The Glameow didn't stand a chance in holding on, though scratched through the dragon's wing a little more before falling off shortly after Salamence took off. The cat didn't fall very far down because of how close the dragon was still to the ground, but the impact almost knocked out the weakened pokemon. Salamence was screeching as he flew up above, readying his dive downwards.
"Get up, Glameow! come on!" the Grunt ordered, glaring daggers at the struggling cat. Glameow tried very hard to stand again, but was too tired at this point, falling down again as his paws failed him. The Galactic Grunt narrowed his eyes at the cat's exhaustion, hating it for humiliating him. "You useless pokemon!" he snarled at it in fury. Riley flinched from that insult, even though it didn't apply to him.
How could he? Treat his pokemon that way, even though Glameow tried his hardest... The cruel, senseless aura that Riley felt from the Grunt shocked him greatly. Clenching his fists, he looked away, his hat covering his expression, just as Salamence started to finish his final attack. The dragon's accuracy was flawless, as he tackled Glameow one last time. The cat meowed sharply as he was knocked back, landing limply on the grassy ground, completely knocked out.
"Wow! They did it!" the boys cheered, astonished by how easily Salamence won the battle. Shinx and Starly were jumping around, cheering for Salamence's victory.
"Oh, come on, Glameow!" the Grunt hissed, as he pulled out a pokeball, returning the fainted Glameow to it. Cramming the ball into his pocket, he glared towards the pokemon and people who opposed him. "Fine! You can keep your stupid pokemon! But this won't be the end of it. Team Galactic will teach you a lesson!" Lucario's ears twitched.
'Riley...is this man possibly one of the people that we were searching for? The ones that Arceus had told you about...' Riley didn't seem to be listening, though, as he didn't move from his position at all, or even answer the jackal. His eyes were covered as he stood like a statue, not looking towards anyone. Lucario couldn't even read his aura to tell what he was thinking. Trying to ignore the jeers of the two boys, the Grunt started to walk away, grumbling and muttering to himself.
"Man...I can't wait till I get that promotion. I'll get better pokemon...I'm sick of this useless Glameow..." he was saying. As he passed Riley, he was unexpectedly grabbed roughly by the wrist. "Wha-" His head snapped up to glare at Riley, only to feel intimidation suddenly show in his own expression. Riley's eyes had changed slightly, flashing to an electric blue color, as his aura flared with anger.
"No pokemon may be called useless, or stupid," he said softly, though there was a hidden edge in his voice, making it sound almost murderous. "Remember that."
As he let go of the young man's wrist, the Grunt stepped back slowly, as if stunned for a second, before turning around and bolting away from the area. Riley watched him run, his dark emotions subsiding for the time being. Instead, he drew his attention to Salamence, who was growling in discomfort. Glameow's scratch attack had raked quite deeply into his wing, and there was a little bit of a red puffiness at the wound as some blood slowly dripped out of it. The dragon was walking in circles, trying to reach his wing with his head, but it was just out of reach. This was agitating the pokemon, making him growl even more and louder in frustration. Riley approached it cautiously, being careful to not get tripped by Salamence's sweeping tail.
"Salamence! Be calm, be still," Riley comforted with his soft voice. The dragon took little to no notice of him, still trying to grab onto his injured wing. The man stepped forwards some more, and managed to catch Salamence by the long neck, stopping the pokemon's constant cycling. Salamence was still growling, though, showing his teeth as he glared at Riley, moody from his injury. "It's all right, Salamence. Be still..." Riley stroked the dragon on the head, and while doing that, reached over with his other hand to touch the scratch wound. The pokemon hissed slightly in pain when Riley's icy hand made contact with the bloody wing, but then, the man summoned up his aura, creating a soothing cloak of energy around that hand as he raised it over the injury. Salamence blinked in surprise as the pain slowly ebbed, then was finally able to relax, lowering his wings slightly and closing his eyes in sudden comfort.
When he was finished, Riley removed his hand from the wing, the visible glowing aura vanishing from his palm, and sighed, stroking the dragon's head soothingly again. "I am sorry, I am only able to numb the wound for a little while, but I cannot heal it completely..." Salamence opened his eyes again, staring at the man before nudging his shoulder with its head. Riley was a little bit surprised at this action, and slowly placed a hand on the dragon's snout. With that, the pokemon closed his eyes again, a low rumble sounding in his throat - it was a sign of friendship. Riley smiled at that, patting Salamence's snout lightly. "You did well, Salamence..."
Lucario had walked over to join them, and nodded in agreement. 'Thank you very much for all of your help,' he thought to the dragon, smiling a little bit as well. Salamence kind of reminded the two of Pidgeot - Pidgeot was very loyal and strong, and Salamence showed the equal traits as the great bird did. Standing together at the moment, the trio seemed like a team; acting as equals.
"Mister!" Riley looked up again, to see the two boys running over to them. They both seemed out of breath and excited, and the same could be said for their pokemon.
"Mister, that was just awesome!" the boy with the Shinx exclaimed, practically running in place. The boy with the Starly nodded rigorously in agreement.
"Yeah! It was a great battle. You guys are so cool," he added with shining, energetic eyes. "Thanks for helping us out...those Team Galactic people are meanies."
"Ah, you are welcome..." Riley frowned at the boy's mentioning of Team Galactic. "That person just now...was from Team Galactic, correct? Do you two know anything about them?"
"I dunno," one of the boys answered, "But my daddy said he doesn't like them...mommy doesn't, either. They said to stay away from them...their commercials look nice, but they're really just meanies."
"I see..." Riley looked to Lucario for information on these things called "commercials," but Lucario shook his head, knowing nothing about them.
"They steal other people's pokemon!" the other boy exclaimed angrily. "I heard from some grown-ups that they set up giant bases everywhere, and take all the pokemon that they want!"
"Bases...? Do you know where they are?"
The boy shook his head. "I just know that they're at places! Why? Are you going to go after them, Mister?"
"Wow! That would be so cool!" his friend cut in, waving his arms around. "Are you going to? I know that you can take them on!"
"But there's so many people in Team Galactic! There's no way to take them on..." the other boy argued.
"But we've got Cynthia on our side!" his friend argued back. "And all of the gym leaders, too, not to mention all those other awesome trainers."
"They won't have time to deal with Team Galactic! I hear that everyone's really busy."
"Maybe...they will have time to," Riley sighed, mostly to himself. Arceus said that this world was in peril - no one would just stand back and do nothing if they would all be destroyed.
"Huh? You think so?" the boys asked. Riley looked up, apparently surprised that they were listening to him.
"What? Oh, I am not sure..." he replied to them slowly, still pondering about it. The kids stared at him for a moment, until a sudden female voice called from the distance.
"Boys! Where are you? It's time to head home now," the voice said. Both boys turned at the sound of the voice, following it.
"Okay, auntie!"
"All right, Mom!"
They both turned back to Riley with wide smiles. "Well, we've got to go now! I hope we'll see you again sometime," one of them said energetically. Riley smiled back and nodded.
"I hope so too..."
"Bye bye!" the other boy exclaimed, pulling out his pokeball. "Shinx, return!" Shinx barked cheerfully one last time before it was hit with a red beam coming from the ball, returning into it. With that, he gave one last wave before running towards the calling woman. The boy with the Starly followed this example, pulling out his own pokeball.
"Come on, Starly! Let's go home," he urged, holding his pokeball up. Starly chirped, flapping its wings slightly before it returned to the ball as well. Putting away the pokeball, he turned one last time to Riley. "Oh, Mister! You should bring that Salamence to the Pokemon Center. They'll heal up his wing in no time," he suggested, pointing to a building close by. The building was quite shiny, with a bright orange roof to mark what it was.
"Oh, really?" Riley asked. "All right, then, I will take him there." The boy nodded, starting to run after his friend.
"Bye!"
Riley waved at the boys who vanished as they ran too far away to see, and then dropped his hand, looking around. He had noticed that Lucario had snuck off a few moments ago, and was now trying to locate him again. Salamence looked around as well for the jackal.
"Lucario? Where did you go now?"
There came a bark, as Lucario ran up to them looking almost excited, and Riley looked to him with a curious frown. 'Here, Riley,' Lucario said as he raised one of his paws to him. In it was a small, rectangular package, wrapped in paper and metal foil. Printed on the of the wrapping paper was a colorfully decorated print, with the large letters spelling "CHOCO" printed on it. Lucario urged Riley to take the bar, and so he did, eyeing it carefully.
"What is this?"
'That, my friend, is chocolate,' Lucario nodded dramatically. 'Now, you may try some of it.' Riley observed the strange bar for another moment before grinning back at Lucario.
"Very well...come, we'll walk to that building first, and then I will try it," he decided. Lucario looked to the building with the orange roof that Riley had gestured to, before nodding in agreement.
'All right...let's go.'
Riley motioned to Salamence to follow, and the dragon followed, rumbling deep in his throat as he eyed the Pokemon Center. He didn't like human civilization that much, but he walked with them anyways, allowing a tolerance this time. As they walked, Riley looked to Lucario with a gentle smile.
"Lucario..."
'Yes, Riley?'
"...Thank you. For this," he nodded to the chocolate. Lucario smiled back, almost cheerfully.
'...You are welcome.'
~o~o~o~
A great fog covered the landscape, and, though it was dawn, two figures stood at a cliff at the edge of the town, watching over the hidden road. The wind blew gently from behind them, urging them to venture on. Both Riley and Lucario stared on, unflinchingly surveying the cloaked land. They had a long journey ahead of them, and a lot of places to explore...this adventure wouldn't end so quickly as others. Riley sighed, feeling the wind tug at him, then from out of his large pocket, pulled out a chocolate bar and took a bite out of it, chewing thoughtfully. Lucario looked over at him with curiosity. As Riley swallowed the sweet candy, he looked back at Lucario and smiled.
"It is very good, is it not?"
Lucario grinned and nodded. 'Of course it is.'
Riley nodded back, looking back out towards the fog. "Well, shall we go?"
'Yes,' Lucario replied, and there came the noise of claws scraping the earth as Salamence trudged over. The dragon nudged the two of them, and Riley pet him on the snout. Salamence's wing was all healed, thanks to the Pokemon Center, and he was completely ready for flight. 'Good morning,' Lucario said to him. Salamence gave the jackal a low growl in greeting. The three of them were much like a team now, and Riley felt that Salamence would be following him and Lucario for a while.
"Are you prepared, Salamence?" Riley asked, and Salamence nodded immediately. "All right, then...let's go."
Riley and Lucario climbed onto Salamence's back, and the dragon flapped his mighty wings once again. They took off into the sky, becoming a dark speck in the fog before disappearing completely from view. Thus, the sun, dimmed by the heavy clouds, rose high above, into the sky. The third day has come.
A/N: For those who did or didn't recognize it, the beginning of the last segment was based on the little part at the end of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, with Sir Aaron and Lucario. I just wanted to throw that scene in there, because I liked it a lot. X3