The wish for Peace, Love and Protection - Chapter 3
The next morning, Leroy woke up as he smelled the breakfast Daniel made. He always loved everything he cooked, one of many talents he has as Leroy thought. As he got up, he licked his lips and went over next to his friend to sit down. "Good morning Daniel, I hope you slept well?" "Sure I did, I just fell asleep later, since I'm still excited about the next things we may see on our journey. And I heard a howl, but I didn't really worry, I mean, you became so strong since we met and started our journey in Unova." Leroy just listened to him, proud to be able to make him feel safe, but when Daniel told him about the howl, he looked away with a deep blush, since he was very ashamed whenever he might lost control of himself, which luckily never happened when his partner saw it. "Oh, uh, I-I heard it too, but don't worry, it was far away, maybe just a lonely Mightyena or something." "Ok then, I kinda guessed so. I mean, many males feel lonely, especially at this season, when they normally find themselves a female. Speaking of that, I hope you are ok? I mean, I never really heard of you with a female. Not even a male, are you sure you can take such a long time without it?" The thought of it made him shiver a little, he has never really been into females, but admitting it to others was never a thing he could make up the confidence for. Especially when they were very important to him. "D-Don't worry, I don't mind it.
I-I'm just waiting for the right one…" "Oh, ok then. You know, if you need my help, I'm always here for you, right? And I don't want you be frustrated after such a long time without a mate. And if something is wrong, please tell me, ok buddy?" He laid his hand on his friends back as he noticed, that Leroy seemed very distracted, as if this topic was making him feel weird or was making him remember it. "Y-Yeah, I know, thank you… I just don't really like talking about it…" With that he slowly got up and walked away without saying anything, leaving Daniel confused.
When he left the lighting, he just walked towards the lake again, before he heard a voice not far from him. "Oh, so the brave Lucario is scared of talking to his human friend about his problem? And now you leave him alone, open for an attack? Not a very good idea Leroy, hehehe…" The chuckle made him shiver slightly before he turned around, not seing anyone though. "Huh? Who was that?! Come out!" "Oh, you can't see me? Not even as a Lucario? Well, I guess I will be so friendly and make it easier for you." With that, Leroy saw a bright light in front of himself, which faded into a Zoroark. But this Zoroark seemed somehow familiar to him. "Ok, who are you and why do you know my name? And why did you spy on us?!" As he thought a bit, he began to growl, waiting for his answer. "Oh, did I find your weak spot? That was too easy, well, let's say, I watch you for a long time. And it was kinda funny to see you being confused about the Aura you felt, but couldn't see, hehehe… The name is Zohor, better remember it, got it-" "So you were the one following us all the time?! So I guess you were sent by that Ghetsis to spy on us?! Then I give you just two choices! Either you run and leave us alone, or you won't be able to! When I am at three, you lost your chance!" Leroys growling got more and more threatening as he began slowly counting. But when he noticed that he didn't leave, he started to think, that Zoroark was crazy and prepared for a battle. "So you don't run? Ok, then come here and show me if you're even powerful enough to keep following us!"
At that, he began concentrating and charging his Aura Sphere before throwing them at the Zoroark, who seemed to easily dodge each of them and get closer, hitting him with a surprisingly strong Dark Pulse just at his belly, making him cough in surprise. He started to realize, that this battle could prove harder than he expected, but now tried to concentrate even more on his feral instincts and on what he learned from all the battles he fought yet. But somehow, the Zoroark kept on dodging each hit, hitting him again and again. As he landed again, he began to think, that he could lose and remembered why he even fought this battle. He heard how the Zoroark chuckled "Is that all Leroy? Have you been just lucky at defeating Team Plasma? That's too easy, too weak! With that you won't be able to protect Daniel!" As he heard that, he got up and howled, losing control of himself and charged at the Zoroark and grabbed him by his arm and kicked him several times into the belly, making him yell out in pain. But when he landed on the ground, Leroy didn't stop, but grabbed him again and kicked him, making the Zoroark fall into the lake. As he tried to get up, the Lucario just landed next to him and pressed him back into the water, growling in deep anger, but also fear, that he can't protect Daniel, not realizing, all the struggling from his opponent to get back up, the struggling started to get less and less as he heard someone call at him "No, Leroy, stop it! Please, stop, you'll kill him!" He then realized whose voice that was. It was Daniel's! He immediately calmed down and let go, but the Zoroark didn't move. He panted a lot and grabbed him, carrying him to the shore. When he saw though, that the Zoroark still didn't move and didn't seem to breathe, he noticed all the bruises on his body. "No… No, that's not me! Wh-What did I do?! N-No, please, wake up!" He began to press his chest in a slow, but steady rhythm, trying to get him back. The longer it took, the more desperately he tried it, beginning to cry, losing the hope and thinking he killed him. "Please, please wake up, d-don't die!" He then began to cough up the water and slightly moved. "Don't worry, it takes more to kill me…" the Zoroark weakly said, just laying there, but finally breathing again. "Y-You live… I'm so glad… I-I'm so sorry, I didn't want to kill you! I- I don't know what happened to me, I-I somehow lost control…" He still sobbed slightly, not from sadness, but from fear, fear of himself. "No, it's ok Leroy… You just wanted to protect Daniel… I bet everyone would have reacted like that, if someone would be in danger, that means so much to them... " He then felt Daniel hug him tightly, trying to calm him down. "Yeah, don't worry buddy, we'll make sure he'll be ok. Help me please, we'll carry him to our camp, so he can rest there." With a little nod, he helped his friend and carried the injured Zoroark to the camp with him.
They sat next to him after they laid him on a big towel while Daniel took out a bag with Sitrus Berries and a bottle with disinfection to clean the wounds carefully. The Zoroark hissed in pain, but then calmed down, knowing that had to be done. Leroy helped his former enemy eat some of the berries, very ashamed of what he just did to him, but also glad, that he could help him.
"Well Leroy… what happened back there?... why did you even fight him?" "I-I was so scared when I he told me how much he knows… and when he said, that I couldn't protect you… I somehow lost control... I don't know, I couldn't control what I do and… yeah, you saw what happened…" "Don't worry about that Leroy… and Daniel? It was my fault… I provoked him… you see, I watch you two for a long time now… I wanted to protect you both, since you saved my family and me from Team Plasma back in Unova… thanks to you, they left Unova and we can live a peaceful life again…" "So that's why you looked so familiar to me…" "Yeah… I wanted to see, if you're able to protect yourself and Daniel, in case Ghetsis and his underlings attack you again… I heard they plan to take revenge… also they are working on a new plan as I heard from some former member's Pokémon…" "Ok then… Still, I'm sorry for what I did to you… I didn't want to kill you… I hope I can someday make up for it… uh… what is your name again?" "I'm Zohor. And don't worry, I already accept your apology. I know you're a very kind guy normally, you just wanted to protect your best friend…" Slowly, Zohor began to sat up, his arms shaking a bit as he did and leaned over to Leroy, whispering "But I'd recommend you to talk to him about your feelings… I bet he'll understand, also it'd make you feel better to have that off your chest. And why would he abandon you after such a long time? I mean, you're trust each other so much and came through much worse, so I bet it won't be a problem." "O-Ok Zohor… thank you… for helping me and also for accepting my apology… I think I'll talk to him later then."
"You're welcome, I'm glad when I can help." He nodded and laid back down, closing his eyes to rest with a smile, knowing he just helped making their bond even stronger.