A New Journey
Chapter 8- Mega Evolution
Gary stared in shock when he saw that boy, Blue, become a Lucario right before his eyes. So, he was right; Blue was really a Pokémon, after all. Only one question remained to nag at Gary's mind- he didn't recall Lucario being capable of illusionary abilities, so how was Blue able to disguise himself as a human? Perhaps the better question was, why did his disguised form look so much like Ash? The resemblance was too uncanny to be a coincidence, but... could Blue actually be Ash's reincarnation?
Come to think of it, one of the last conversations Gary ever had with Ash happened to be on this very subject...
*Flashback*
Ash and Gary were looking at the starry night sky in the camp that they'd set up near the Sinjoh Ruins. It was right after dinner, and everyone except for the two boys had already gone to sleep.
"It's been a while since we last camped out together, huh, Ash?" Gary asked, continuing to gaze at the starry sky.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I think the last time we camped together was at Professor Oak's Ranch, when we were little."
Gary was unsure how to respond, struck silent by guilt. Truth be told, they'd had a lot of fun together when they were kids, but as they grew older, Gary pushed Ash away, thinking only of himself and his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master. It wasn't until the Johto League Silver Conference that they somehow managed to fix their friendship, and Gary couldn't be happier to be back on friendly terms with his childhood friend.
"Hey, Gary, if you could be reborn as a Pokémon, what kind of Pokémon would you want be?" Ash asked Gary, breaking the awkward silence.
Gary blinked in confusion. "That was kind of out of the blue there, Ashy-boy. Why are you asking?"
Ash grinned as he replied, "Just for fun."
Gary closed his eyes, thinking it over until, finally, he looked at Ash and answered, "I'd like to be reborn as a Pidgey. Because Pidgey can evolve into Pidgeot- one of the fastest Flying-type Pokémon."
"Pidgey, huh? Cool."
"What about you, Ash?" Gary asked. "Wait, let me guess; you want to reborn as a Pikachu."
"Nope!" Ash smiled. "I want to be a Riolu."
"Riolu?" Gary asked, confused. "Why a Riolu?"
"Because Riolu can evolve into Lucario. I met an awesome Lucario while I was in Kanto, along with May, Max, and Brock. He was an amazing Pokémon, especially how loyal he was to his people and the way he could use Aura."
"Lucario sounds like an awesome Pokémon," Gary commented.
"Oh, yeah. He was."
*End of Flashback*
Gary blinked in surprise as the memory ended and he was brought back to the present. Now that he remembered that moment, he found it even more shocking that Blue the Lucario's human form looked so much like Ash, who'd wanted to be reincarnated as a Riolu so that he could eventually evolve into a Lucario. The evidence just kept piling up to prove Gary's theory correct, and in stunned silence, Gary turned his gaze to the Lucario in question.
Blue only glared at the members of Team Plasma in front of him. He could feel that Blaziken and Shiny Mienshao's Auras were completely messed up because of the devices on their foreheads. The devices were not only forcing them to power up, but they were also messing with their Auras terribly. If they didn't remove the devices on their foreheads soon, they would cause serious damage to the two Pokémon, permanently.
"Green, you take care of that female Mienshao, while I take care of Blaziken," Blue muttered to his friend.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Blue," Green commented, "Blaziken is a Fire-type. He has a huge advantage over you. I should take care of him."
"Don't worry, Green," Blue replied with a smirk on his lips. "I was trained by Master Cobalion. He trained me how to deal with Fire-types, since he's also part Steel-type, like myself.
The female Plasma Grunt ordered Blaziken to attack, who cried out as he attacked with Blaze Kick. Blue blocked it with a Blaze Kick of his own, causing a heated shock wave from the impact of the two attacks. Gary hugged Skiddo to protect her from the shock wave as the two Fighting-type Pokémon rushed outside to continue their fight.
Meanwhile, Green was fighting against May's Shiny Mienshao. Both of them seemed to disappear at the same time, surprising Gary with how fast both Mienshao were. With no time to waste, the female grunt ordered one of the male grunts to take care of Green and Gary while she and her partner went to catch the talking Lucario. The young grunt nodded as they left.
"Wait! You're not getting away!" shouted Gary, ready to release another of his Pokémon, but the male grunt blocked his way.
"Heh, I don't think so, jerk." The Plama Grunt smirked behind his mask as he threw one of his own Poké Balls and a Liepard came out, growling at Gary menacingly.
Gary scoffed. He didn't have time to fight with this fool; he needed to get his friends to the hospital and help that Lucario. The grunt ordered the Liepard to attack Gary, but it didn't even move from its spot, confusing both of the humans; why did he not attack?
That was when Gary realized that Liepard wasn't looking at him, but rather, his eyes were focused solely on Hugh, who was still lying unconscious where Gary had left him, with a Soothe Bell, and was badly wounded. Gary slowly moved to stand in front of Hugh protectively as the Liepard continued to stare at him, unaware of the flood of memories flashing through its mind of a gentle old man with two children. He didn't like the male child at all, but he'd felt something special for the girl. She'd even given him a collar with a Soothe Bell that made him look very cute. Then one day, some humans forced their way into his home and took him away from his family, leaving them behind, along with the Soothe Bell. That boy who was lying on the ground, bleeding, was his family. Liepard hissed ferociously before unexpectedly turning around and lunging at the male Plasma Grunt, attacking him viciously.
Gary gasped in horror as he watched Liepard attack its Trainer without mercy, biting his neck. It was at that moment that Max and the Gym Leader of the city, Elesa, came to help.
"Gary!" Max called.
Max and Elesa paused, stricken by horror when they saw the Liepard on the dead Plasma Grunt with blood dripping from his fangs. Their fear was only intensified when Liepard suddenly ceased his attack to get up and walk towards the unconscious Hugh. Max prepared to summon his Pokémon, but Gary stopped him.
"Wait, Max, I think I know what's going on."
His suspicions were right; the Liepard stopped in front of Hugh, cooing gently in worry, before softly licking Hugh's face. Hugh moaned in pain as he slowly regained consciousness, but then he looked at Liepard's face and his grimace was replaced by a soft smile as he started to pet him.
"Hey, it's been a while. You've changed a lot since the last time I saw you, but I still recognize your eyes. How you doing, Emerald?"
Emerald the Liepard meowed as he softly nuzzled Hugh's face, both of them crying that they'd finally found each other. Max was still clueless as to what was going on, exactly, but before he could ask, something jumped out in front of them, startling the group, and moved away just as fast. Gary explained that a Mienshao was fighting against May's Mienshao and, realizing the danger the unconscious May and injured Hugh would be in if they remained there, Gary asked Elesa to take May and Hugh to the hospital. Elesa nodded and took Hugh and May away on her Zebrstrika. Gary then told Max to stop the Mienshao as he rushed out of the theater to help Blue with Skiddo following him.
"Right. Stop them. Don't make it sound so easy there, Gary," Max muttered to himself sarcastically. "How am I supposed to do that, exactly? They're so monstrously fast that I can't even see them!"
Then, Max remembered May telling him once that her Mienshao has a very strong sense of smell and that she doesn't react well when she is around foul smells, which when strong enough, could even knock her out.
"Okay, I think I've got it now! Stunky, come on out!"
Max called out his Stunky, then took out a gas mask, seemingly out of nowhere, and placed it on his face. He then ordered his Stunky to use its Stench ability, releasing a foul liquid from its rear that left the stadium smelling like a hundred dead Rattata had been decomposing inside of it for days.
Bam!
Suddenly, the two Mienshao fell to the ground, having fainted from the horrible smell that was surrounding them.
"Well, at least it worked. I just hope City Hall doesn't sue me for this," commented Max as he removed the device from May's Mienshao's forehead.
XXX
Colress was at the top of a building with his machine that controlled the Pokémon, able to spectate on the battles below without being noticed. He was fascinated by how well Blue was able to hold his own against Blaziken in Central Park. No matter how many fire attacks he was hit by, the Lucario always managed to fight back, like the fire attacks had no effect on him at all.
"Fascinating! If we could capture that Lucario, I'm sure it would make for a perfect specimen to perform experiments on," commented Colress to himself, smirking.
Meanwhile, Blue was still fighting against May's Blaziken. The Aura Pokémon was thankful that Cobalion had trained him to be tolerant to fire attacks when he was still a Riolu...
*flashback*
Blue and Cobalion were walking through the mysterious cave in the Reversal Mountain. The little Riolu could not understand why they were going there without Keldeo, who was training under Cobalion to become one of the Swords of Justice.
"We're here," Cobalion said as they stood at the entrance of another tunnel.
Blue glanced inside of the tunnel but immediately backed away when he began to feel some kind of heat radiating from it. Then, the little Riolu saw a pair of glowing eyes through the entrance before the whole body was illuminated by what little light the cave had. Blue could feel that the Aura of this Pokémon was just as strong as Cobalion's.
"Cobalion, it's good to see you, my friend," said the mysterious Pokémon. Then, he looked at Blue and remarked, "I see you've got another apprentice besides that brat, Keldeo."
"Blue, this is Heatran, an old friend of mine and your new sparring partner."
Blue's jaw dropped as his eyes widened in shock. He looked first at Heatran, then to his master. He was hoping to find some hint that this was some sort of messed up attempt by Cobalion at making a joke, but he looked dead serious as he stared back at the young Riolu.
"Are you out of your mind, master?! He's gonna kill me!" Blue shouted at Cobalion before turning to Heatran. "No offense, Heatran. I think you're cool, but there's no way I could hold my own in a fight with you."
"No offense taken," Heatran replied with a smile before turning to the legendary fighter. "I agree with the little one, Cobalion. Don't you think having him spar with me would be a bit... excessive?"
"I know both of you are concerned about this, but it's necessary for Blue to become more tolerant to fire attacks," Cobalion said to them.
Then, the legendary Pokémon told them that Blue's final form would be Lucario, a dual-type Fighting/Steel Pokémon just like himself. They might be strong fighters, but they were at a major disadvantage when it came to dealing with fire attacks. Cobalion even mentioned that he was once defeated by a Fire-type, and he felt very humiliated by the experience.
"One day, Blue, you will face an opponent who'll be a Fire-type. Even as a Lucario, you'll still be at a huge disadvantage. That's why you need to train to be more tolerant to fire attacks. Not only to protect yourself, but also to protect someone who's important to you in the future."
*End of Flashback*
Blue was thankful that Cobalion, through his Spartan style of training, had conditioned him to be more tolerant to fire attacks. Blue could feel that Blaziken's attacks were getting weaker from overusing Heat Wave. Now, all he needed to do was use his Extreme Speed to take the device off of Blaziken's forehead, and the fight would be over. However, before he could do what he planned, he heard a cry and looked to his right to find an Eevee cowering in fear beneath a tree that had been struck during the battle and was about to fall on it. Blue cursed as he used the Extreme Speed he'd intended to use to end the battle to get to the Eevee in time. The Eevee was surprised to see a Lucario had saved her.
"You need to run!" Blue shouted to the Eevee. At first, she stared at him in confusion, but then her eyes widened in terror when she saw the rampaging Blaziken rushing towards them. Since he wouldn't have time to avoid the attack while also carrying Eevee, Blue used his body to shield her from the attack. He gasped as Blaziken stabbed him in the chest with his claws, causing blood to drip from his mouth as he lost consciousness. The Eevee cried out in horror as Blaziken tossed Blue's unconscious body into the lake to drown, but not long after, a shadow rushed past Blaziken and jumped into the lake to rescue Blue. The shadow was none other than Gary Oak.
In the water, Blue was roused into a state of semi-consciousness as his body slowly sank deeper into the lake. He felt the air rush from his lungs as the water around him became darker, but when he tried to move his limbs so that he could swim back to the surface, he found that he was too weak to even lift a paw. This was it; Blue was going to die, just because he had let his guard down for one moment. His thoughts were on his master, the Swords of Justice, his friends from White Forest, and his mother and how he'd never see any of them again. He'd failed to save Zoroark, and now, he'd never get to see her again.
"Mom…" thought Blue as he closed his eyes.
When Blue opened them again, he found that he was no longer sinking to the bottom of the lake, but rather, he was floating in a strange white void. He was confused as to why he was there, in such a strange place.
"Blue," a familiar voice called to him.
Blue turned toward the source of the voice and gasped in pure shock when he saw Zoroark, his mother, standing before him. He was about to rush towards her when the dark Pokémon stopped him.
"Blue, you have to go back," Zoroark said to her child. "It's not your time yet."
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Blue questioned softly.
"My child, no matter what hardships you may have to endure, you will never be alone. You have friends from this life and your past life to help you."
Blue didn't understand why his mother was saying such things, but he only had time to call out to her before a bright flash of light blinded him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gary with his single arm around him, trying to pulling them back to the surface. The task proved to be impossible with only one arm, but that didn't stop Gary from trying to save him. He wouldn't let Blue die- not when he felt so certain now that he was Ash's reincarnation.
While Gary would gladly give his life to save Blue's, Blue stared on with utter horror as he saw Gary struggle to pull them both up, the exertion causing him to use up his limited air supply faster and giving his face a slight bluish tint as a steady stream of air bubbles escaped from his mouth.
Eventually, Gary's struggling grew weaker, and unable to just sit by and idly watch this unusual human die trying to save him, Blue finally sent Gary a telepathic message through his Aura, 'What are you doing?! Can't you see that you'll drown if you keep this up? Stop! Save yourself!'
Gary wasn't surprised by the unexpected message, since he knew Lucario could comunicate with other beings through Aura. Instead, he just gritted his teeth and shot back, 'I already lost a friend once because I didn't do anything to save him. I won't let it happen again!"
Blue stared at Gary in surprise as he felt the last of his oxygen supply leave his lungs. Why, why did that human care so much about him? He barely knew him, but for some reason Gary was still adamantly trying to save him, even if it meant having to die trying. Then, several images flashed through both their minds- images that Gary recognized as memories of him and Ash, while Blue only recognized them as parts of his dreams- as they felt their hearts start beating in sync. Then, the stone in Gary's bracelet started to shine just as the stone Green had given to Blue when he was still a Riolu began shining before a bright light completely surrounded them both.
XXX
Eevee was quivering in fear as the remaining members of Team Plasma surrounded her with an odd device in their hands. Though they lamented the loss of Lucario, they'd managed to luck out and find a rare Pokémon like Eevee for their troubles. Before they could attach the device to her forehead, however, a large explosion erupted from the lake, startling the Grunts as the water fell on them.
Eevee was surprised when she saw the Lucario who'd saved her with a human in his arms. Gary was completely shocked as he stared up at the Lucario before him. Blue was different somehow, like he had just evolved into a new Pokémon, even though Lucario was supposed to be the final evolutionary form of Riolu. The evolution even healed the wounds caused by Blaziken.
Blue looked at Team Plasma with anger and intense, raw power in his eyes.
"This battle isn't over yet."
To be continued.
Tah dah! I hope you like the chapter. I admit, it was hard to write it, especially after being on a mini vacation. Please, do not forget to leave your review. It's them that make me write faster. ^^
I want to thanks Flock o' Seagulls for beta editing this. ^^