The crisp mountain air struck them all as they emerged from the trees, looking over the top of the cliff. A cool breeze blew across the terrain, carrying a chill with it.

Which made sense, judging by what they had seen the past night.

"I still can't believe that we saw Articuno!" Max said. "In the Kanto mainland. I heard rumors of one out near the Seafoam Islands, but this far inland?"

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

Ash shook his head. "Nah, Pikachu, that was at Shamouti Island" he said. "Max is talking about somewhere else."

"Kachu" Pikachu said, realizing what he meant.

"What was at Shamouti?" May asked.

"Oh, you know, just a normal day for us" Ash laughed. "World about to end, Legendary Pokemon fighting, the whole nine."

The entire group laughed. Brock may have been absent for that leg of Ash's journey, but he had heard the story, and had been close enough to see some of the effects. May and Max, they had both been along for the ride long enough that they knew not to doubt it.

"Point is, we've seen an Articuno before" Ash said. "That one last night actually looked pretty small, in comparison."

"Maybe it's still young" Max guessed. "Young Articuno tend to do better in cold environments, and here, judging by how fast they're able to move, I'd say it would only take about an hour for that thing to get to Mt. Silver from here."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Max" Brock said. "These Pokemon tend to be very territorial, and there is a rumor that a Moltres lives near there. I wouldn't count on the Articuno living there, because these rumors tend to be real more often than you'd expect."

"Oh, right" Max said.

Ash scanned the forest below, and suddenly broke out into a smile. "Hey, hey guys!" he said excitedly. "See that down there?"

"Hmm?" the three of them asked, looking where Ash was pointing.

"Down there, just about the treetops" he said. "I think that's the Battle Factory!"

"Ah, I think it is" Brock nodded, seeing the bit of building that was within sight. "There's not much else out here, that's gotta be it."

"Let's see here…" Max said, pulling out his Pokenav. "Yeah, this makes sense. Battle Factory is in that direction alright, so if that's not it, then we're getting pretty close."

"Alright, let's go already, then" Ash said, looking left and right down the clifftop to look for a path down the mountain, into the forest below.

"Hold up, Ash" Brock said. "Even if that is the Battle Factory, that's a lot further away than it looks. Besides getting down to ground level, we still have to make our way over there, not to mention if there are any rivers or chasms in the way."

Ash's excitement did abate slightly as he said that, as the knowledge was shoved in his face. "Oh, yeah, huh?" Ash chuckled nervously. It seemed that whenever he got excited, he forgot everything he knew about travelling.

Brock looked down at the valley. "We could probably make it there by the evening if we set out now, but it would probably be far too late to battle by that point" he said. "So, I say we take our time, and we can arrive tomorrow morning without having to rush things."

It was a sensible course of action to take, and Ash, disappointed as he was that his challenge would be postponed another day, saw that as well. "Yeah, I guess" he said. "Man, I wish I had decided to head back to Viridian before this…" he said under his breath.

"Viridian?" May asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Ash didn't mean for anyone to hear him, but Brock, picking up what he could tell of the conversation, realized what Ash meant. "Oh, were you planning to go check up on her?" Brock asked.

May looked up. "Her?" she asked. "Who?"

"Pidgeot" Ash said. "One of my old partners, Pidgeot."

"You had a Pidgeot?" Max asked. "Why haven't I ever met her?"

"Well…" Ash began. "Max, you said you saw the Indigo League as well as the Silver League, right?"

Max nodded. "I watch every conference, every year" he said. "The Indigo conference, the Silver conference, the Lily of the Valley Conference, the Lumiose conference-"

"Ok" Ash said, making sure to stop Max before he listed every conference from every region. "Well, you might remember that I had a Pidgeotto back in the Indigo conference."

"Oh, right" Max said. "She never appeared in any of your other official battles after, though."

Ash nodded. "That's because, when I left Pallet Town afterwards, we ran into a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto that were being terrorized by the same flock of Spearow, lead by the one that I tried to catch on my first day, now evolved into a Fearow."

May, Max, and Brock all remembered Ash's story about the Spearow attack, the one that bound him and Pikachu together. Pikachu remembered that too, shivering slightly at the memory, although that same flock would no longer be a problem for him to handle.

"Well, long story short, we went to help them try to drive the flock off, and Pidgeotto evolved" Ash said. "Together with Pidgeot, we managed to fight them away, but to make sure that they didn't get terrorized again, Pidgeot stayed with them, to protect them until they were strong enough to protect themselves."

"Ash also promised Pidgeot that he'd come back for her someday" Brock said, remembering the farewell. "But, we haven't been through Viridian Forest much in the past few years, and I guess we didn't think to search for her." He looked at Ash with a slightly puzzled look. "What put Pidgeot on your mind?" he asked.

Ash shrugged. "I was just thinking, it's been a long time, and it's high time that I deliver on my promise" he said. "I really miss Pidgeot too."

Brock smiled at Ash's sentiment. "Well, Ash, we have to head back this way anyways, after your challenge" he said. "From here on north, there isn't much in the way of civilization until the edge of the region, mostly mountains. We can backtrack to Pewter, and I'm sure that it wouldn't take long to find Pidgeot in the forest."

May's eyebrows raised. "It won't take long to find one Pokemon in a forest that takes almost a week to get through if you don't get lost even once?" May asked.

"Pidgeot is bound to recognize Ash, or Pikachu" Brock said. "Ash could always call for her, and Pikachu could use Thunderbolt like a beacon. It's not really too difficult."

Ash nodded, the talk about going back for Pidgeot making him feel pumped. "But before we backtrack all that way, we have to do what we came here to do" Ash pointed out.

"Yeah, so let's get moving" Brock said. "Sun's been up for a while, and I hate to waste daylight. At least right now, we're able to see the Beedrill."

"Yeah, that's true" May laughed. "Ugh, Beedrill and Ursaring, why are they so well known for attacking people?"

"Because it's what territorial Pokemon do" Max said. "Just be glad that Kanto doesn't have many Ursaring, most of them live in Johto. The Beedrill, however… Flipped scenario."

"Yeah, which is why we should get moving while we're talking" Brock said, hiking his backpack up higher onto his shoulders. Glancing at the map, he turned east. "There should be a path down the mountain over this way" he said. "Come on."

"Right" Ash, May, and Max said simultaneously.

"Pi-Ka!" Pikachu said right alongside them.

-Route 4-

Quiet footfalls rustled the grass, and a small swooping sound was heard alongside it on the otherwise completely silent trail.

Lucario sprinted at full speed, eyes closed. Even so, he was able to twist around every tree, jump over every stone, and guide them out of the way of other Pokemon.

Behind him, Latias darted through the air, following his lead. Lucario had told her, that through the power of Aura, he was able to sense Ash's location. Her Psychic powers, undeveloped as they were, hadn't been able to do much more than tell her whether he was north or south of her.

Lucario, however, had a much more focused beacon he was following, and ran towards it. His years of training had given him the speed and stamina to travel for hours on end at this pace, although he was rusty from his years in the staff. He could still manage long runs, either way.

He was soon halted, however, when he came to the edge of a rather large chasm. A fissure ran through the ground, much to far to jump across, and the bottom laid a fatal distance away.

"Hmm…" Lucario mused. He turned to Latias. "I am afraid that I must backtrack" he said. "My abilities will not let me cross here, I must find another path."

Latias cocked her head to the side. "You sure that you need to find another way?" she asked.

Lucario nodded. "Yes, it is the only wa-"

Lucario fell silent as he began levitating off of the ground, and flew across the abyss. A trace of fear lingered, but he was rational enough to realize what was happening.

Latias set him down on the other side of the hole with Psychic, before quickly flying over herself. "I'm able to help too, you know" she said. "I'm not a great Psychic, but something about carrying the Soul Dew with me seems to make my techniques better."

Lucario glanced at the small satchel that hung by her side. "Peculiar" he commented, standing up. "Thank you for the assist, shall we press on?"

Latias nodded, and with that, the two of them were off again, running across the landscape. They were making extraordinary time as they travelled, pushing nonstop at speeds that no human could reach alone. However, there were some ways that worried them…

"Can you sense the three from before?" Latias asked as she flew alongside Lucario.

Lucario, eyes firmly shut, nodded. "Yes, however, they are not even back to where you were ambushed the other night" he said. "And I have my heavy doubts that they will be able to track you again. We are too far away from their current position, and we left no visible tracks." True to his word, Lucario took their escape very seriously, and had spent a solid amount of time in the morning jumping between trees and boulders, where his feet would not leave marks on the earth.

Latias felt slightly at ease with hearing that. "That's a relief" she said. "Those Rockets can be a real pain!"

"You speak as if you have had prior encounters with them" Lucario noted as he began to veer to the left, sensing a gathering of Pokemon ahead, that he did not wish to bother. "I encountered one creature under the title "King Onix" earlier yesterday who said that Ash had protected him from Team Rocket as well. What information do you have on the group?"

Latias thought for a moment, before responding. "Well, I think that Ash always had this one band of them on his tail, something personal" she said. "They weren't very threatening, but they were tenacious. But they come from a larger group that's more focused on controlling everything, and some of their people that weren't so silly came after me, my brother, and the Soul Dew in the past."

"I see" Lucario said. "An entire malicious organization, that is disturbing."

Latias nodded. "The two that came after us wanted to use our bodies and the Soul Dew to take over the city" she continued. "They thought that Alto Mare could be a stepping stone, due to how easy it is to protect. But they went in ignorant, and ended up destroying the Soul Dew and killing my brother…"

Lucario paused for a moment, not wanting to pry further around such a delicate topic, but Latias continued of her own accord. "Latios, when he died, formed the new Soul Dew, the one I'm carrying right now. I don't know how they figured out that the new one was made, though, or why they're so into capturing it. All it does for everyone else is keep the city safe and power the defense mechanism." She shook her head. "Those guys are crooks, but I don't think that they'd just want to destroy the city, and I don't think that they'd try the same stunt, anyways. Besides, tracking me an entire region away, that just seems like too much for one town in the waters of Johto."

Lucario didn't completely know all of the specifics of the situation, but based off of what he had heard, it didn't add up for him either. However, there was one thing he was fairly certain of. "Well, worries should no longer be present for us" he said. "Even if they have a way to track us down, we are travelling at a speed that humans can not keep up with. It is a physical limitation, even my friend Aaron was unable to move as fast as I."

Latias tried to be reassured, but Lucario had no knowledge of the modern world, he didn't know that the Rockets could have hovercrafts and planes that allowed them to move faster than most flying Pokemon. However, hopefully, he was right in the aspect that they would have no way to find them with their massive head start on them.

So, she settled with a nod. "Yeah, fair point" she said. "Still, I don't like that they're after the Soul Dew again… It brings up some bad memories…"

"Hopefully, Ash will know something that can help you" Lucario said. "It would appear that he has had experience fighting this style of villain in the past, correct?"

Latias nodded energetically. "Yeah, he's great at it!" she said enthusiastically. "You should have seen him go after the two that were hurting my brother. And I'm sure he's even better now than he was before. I'm sure that he'll be able to help us."

Lucario couldn't help but give a small smile. "You seem very confident in him, for only having met him once."

"He really earned it" she pointed out. "I mean, he just about gave his own life to help stop Latios' torture."

Lucario now thought back. He could now count no less than five times that he had heard of Ash risking his life. His own experience with him in Rota, an adventure between Latias and her brother, and Mew had told him about occasions involving himself, a Celebi, and the Legendary Bird Pokemon, each time sounding like they had pushed him to the brink of his mortality. "He is certainly a unique specimen" he said quietly. "He appears to have a strong moral compass, as well. I am certain that he could make an astounding Guardian."

They approached a tall cliff face. Latias began to ascend quickly, making it over the top, while Lucario ran until we was right beside it, before his legs tensed, and he sprung as high as he could. As his climb slowed, in his hands materialized a large knobbed staff, and he jammed it into the stone surface before rising past it. When he completely lost all momentum, he landed on the bone, and sprung even higher, clearing the top of the face as the bone beneath him vanished into thin air.

Lucario allowed himself a moment to rest. He had had to put a lot of power into those two leaps, and it left him briefly winded. Latias settled down on the ground beside him, lying still. "My wings are very tired" she moaned. "I didn't notice it until we stopped."

Lucario nodded. "We have been travelling at that speed for approximately five hours" he commented. "I myself was beginning to feel some of the fatigue, and I have been used to this form of exertion. I am more surprised that you did not request a break before now, not being use to such travel."

"Fear will do amazing things for your energy" Latias grunted. "I still haven't forgotten last night. If you hadn't show up, well…"

She didn't need to finish, they both new what she was hinting at. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. "Luckily, they shouldn't be able to get anywhere near us, at least not today." She glanced up. "You seem to be in a whole 'nother league, compared to me, though" she noticed. "What exactly do you do to be so powerful on your own?"

"Hm…" Lucario grunted, closing his eyes. "I trained quite frequently" he answered. "It was my duty to the world to be powerful and alert, and it became a part of my being." Opening them, he glanced at the Eon on the ground. "Still, it has been many years since I have put those skills to an actual practice, and they are not all they used to be."

"How many years did that take?" Latias asked.

Lucario shrugged. "Approximately a millennia" he answered.

Latias' eyes widened. "A millennia?!" she exclaimed. "B-But, even our father, he only lived for about 700 years before he passed, and he was a Latios. But you're over 1,000, and still in your prime?"

Lucario shook his head. "It's more complicated than that" he said. He still had yet to explain his past to Latias, so he gave a brief oversight. "I lived in the distant past, as an Aura Guardian. To spare my life, my master, my friend, sealed me within his staff, in which I remained trapped in a suspended state for all of that time. He trapped me so I would not fall too to his fate, sacrificing himself to stop a war that threatened to destroy the kingdom. I have only been released recently, on the anniversary of that day, so I am still getting used to using my body in such a way." He cracked a weak grin. "And, from my experience, I was a bit upset that they were celebrating him. Things had looked quite different in my eyes, until I learned the truth."

Latias' knowledge as a Legendary Pokemon was rather limited, so she didn't know just how plausible this explanation was in the grand scheme of things. However, she would be amiss if she didn't trust Lucario to tell her the truth, especially over something that didn't affect her. It was a rather interesting story, anyways. As far as she knew, Lucario was probably the only Pokemon to have seen the ancient times and still walk around today. Most Legendary Pokemon didn't even live that long, save the ones that were akin to gods, but she hadn't ever met any of them.

"So that's where you learned all about this Aura power? In the past?" Latias asked.

Lucario nodded. "Back then, the modern technology of this world did not exist. To survive, to fight, you had to rely on your own strength. That's when the line of Aura Guardians began, a select group of humans with the ability to call upon the force of life for assistance. And each Aura Guardian had a partner. My line had many who trained under these Aura Guardians, from my ancestors, probably down through my descendants. I do not know whether my line continues to this day, the art of Aura seems to have died out in this world, but I wouldn't be surprised if my bloodline still existed somewhere. It became our duty as a family to serve the world, should disaster strike."

Latias' eyes grew wide. Bianca had occasionally read her tales about medieval times, but now she was hearing a firsthand recounting of these tales. In fact, there was one book in particular that she could remember, a story that seemed vaguely familiar to Lucario's own.

"I heard a legend…" Latias said. "There was a man who served a queen, and gave his life to protect the kingdom she ruled from two armies." She saw too many parallels to count between the tale of Sir Aaron. Lucario had even mentioned an Aaron a little while back. "It was a tale of a knight known as Sir Aaron. Don't tell me, that was who you trained under?"

Lucario nodded. "Sir Aaron was my mentor, my master, and my greatest friend" he spoke. "And considering the entire kingdom throws a festival for him annually, it doesn't sound implausible that he has a fairy tale about him. Of course, it's only a fairy tale to those that haven't lived through it or in Rota…"

"I can't believe that it's actually real, though" Latias said. "It must have been tough, living in those times."

Lucario shrugged. "I was born and raised in those times, so I don't exactly have a scope of 'tough' compared to nowadays."

"Oh yeah, huh" Latias said.

Lucario cracked a small grin, before looking up. His stomach had begun to squirm a little, and he knew he needed strength. A few berries the previous night wouldn't be enough to keep him this active, even once he had gotten some rest.

Luckily, in the tree directly above him, fruit draped from the branches. He considered running up the tree and grabbing them, but he had a better idea. After all, what was that old saying? "Work smarter, not harder"?

A miniature Aura Sphere formed in his palm, approximately the size of a large pebble. Scanning a branch that had a large amount of the fruit dangling from it, he saw what appeared to be the weakest point in the structure. Taking aim, he sent the tiny Aura Sphere directly at the weak point. It pierced clean through, a rather large hole appearing in the branch near the trunk of the tree. In fact, only a sliver of bark on either side was holding the connection. A rather high snap rang through the area, before…

*THUMP*

The branch fell to the ground, splitting in two, and several pieces of the fruit rolling off from the heavy impact. Claws glinting dangerously, a swift motion, and the rest of the fruit had been severed from the branch. "Come, we must eat to sustain ourselves. We have a long way to travel yet."

-North Kanto (Approaching the Battle Factory)-

"Wow, he's really taking this challenge seriously, huh?" May wondered.

Brock nodded. "The Battle Frontier sounds more intense than any Gym" he noted. "This is how he tends to get before a League, even."

Ash stood across the field from the group. While they had stopped for the night, ever so close to their goal, Ash had taken the opportunity to get some training completed with his Pokemon. Right now, Phanpy and Corphish were charging each other, Phanpy curled up in what appeared to be an extremely powerful Rollout, while Corphish scuttled as fast as his legs would carry him, claw raised, glowing blue with the energy of Crabhammer.

At the last moment, Phanpy veered to the side. Corphish, having already begun to swing his heavy attack, couldn't stop, and ended up striking the ground. Phanpy came out Corphish from the side, slamming into the crustacean Pokemon and sending him sprawling. Phanpy uncurled, looking very pleased with himself. Corphish struggled, and managed to stand up again, albeit on wobbly legs. "Phish Phish…" Corphish grunted, shaking his claws at Phanpy.

"Alright, that's enough you two" Ash said, catching the attention of the two Pokemon. "Corphish, you're getting really good with Crabhammer. You just need to work on controlling it a little better. Opponents as small as Phanpy are going to move too fast to hit, otherwise."

"Phish…" Corphish looked down.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much, Corphish" Ash said. "Like I said, you're doing a lot better already." He turned to the little blue elephant. "And Phanpy, you're doing great too. You have a lot of speed, power, and control in your Rollout already. I'd say it's time to start practicing on improving your other moves." Ash gave a small smile. "Let's get back to work on Hidden Power."

"Phan?" Phanpy perked up. Hidden Power was Phanpy's only ranged move, so he had had trouble using it very well. He was used to having to throw his body at an opponent to deal any sort of damage to them.

"We'll practice it some now, no need to rush it" Ash said in a soothing tone, easing Phanpy's nerves. "I know that it's hard, but we'll reach it together, right?"

Phanpy's nervousness over moving onto Hidden Power was replaced with a determination. "Phan Phan!" Phanpy nodded.

Ash chuckled. "Alright. But, I think we've done enough for tonight. Come on, you two, let's get some rest."

After a tough training session, the two of them were more than glad to take it easy for the night. The sun had begun to set a while back, meaning the sky was now tainted a dark orange. Brock, hearing that they had finished for the night, ran back to the table to grab two bowls of food for the hard working Pokemon. He made his way back to the edge of the campgrounds just as they stepped back inside. Settling the bowls down, the hungry Pokemon dove forward, happily attacking the food before them, devouring it quickly.

Brock chuckled. "Working them hard out there, Ash?" he asked rhetorically. The way the two acted, you would have thought that they had just trudged through a desert for a week without food or water.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, but we needed to cut it early so that they could rest" he said. "After all, the battle's tomorrow."

Brock nodded. "You haven't been this pumped since you were signing up for the Ever Grande Conference" he noted. He chuckled. "How are you going to rest when you're this excited?"

Ash cracked a smile as he grabbed a bottle of water. "Nah, I'll calm down by later tonight, trust me" he said before downing the contents in one breath.

Catching his breath after taking his drink, he stretched a little. "Hey, I'm going to go for a quick run before I turn in myself for the night, ok?" he let Brock and May know.

May raised her eyebrows. "A run?" she asked. "That's not normally a thing you do."

Ash shrugged. "I need to burn off this energy somehow, right?" he chuckled.

Brock nodded. "Yeah, I guess so" he said. "Whatever you need to do, just get back here before it gets too late, we don't need to send a search party out to find you. This place is all untamed wilderness."

"Yeah, which makes it an odd place for the Battle Factory" May noted.

"That just adds to the challenge" Ash responded. "You don't just get tested in battle, you have to be strong enough to make it all the way out here, after all."

"You know, none of the Gyms we've ever seen were like that" May said.

"Well, to be fair, these Battle Facilities are supposed to be a lot more specialized than Gyms" Brock said.

"And besides, I know of at least one Gym that was this hard to get to" Ash said, turning to Brock. "Remember Koga's Gym?"

Brock smiled, indeed remembering that little adventure. "I swear, that place gave me a Voltorb-phobia" he shuddered.

The two shared a laugh over the old memory, before Ash walked over to his tent. "I'll be off in just a second here" he said, disappearing into the canvas for a moment. He came back out, seemingly no different. "See ya' guys in a bit" he waved, before he started jogging off into the woods.

May looked off where he had disappeared. "You know, even in the past, when he's been to excited to sleep, I've never just seen him go for a run into the woods before. What's up with that?"

Brock gave an understanding look towards May. "Well, May, maybe he also wanted a bit of alone time too" he pointed out. Seeing the confused look on the young brunette's face, he continued. "He's doing great, but losing a friend like that isn't something you get over overnight."

Finally understanding what Brock was getting at, her eyes darkened slightly. "Oh, that's right, huh?" she asked. "I know losing Lucario was tough, I just hope Ash gets completely better soon."

Brock sighed. "Well, good luck with that, May. Let me tell you, this Ash isn't the same Ash I met in Pewter City. Similar, but not quite."

"What are you saying now, Brock, that he'll never get over it?" she asked.

"I'm not saying never" Brock said. "I'm saying it might have shocked him enough to make him change a bit. A few weeks after we lost Latios, Ash was still acting slightly more distant. I think that seeing all these Pokemon die might be beginning to get to him, causing him to grow up a bit faster."

"It's really not fair…" May murmured. "Ash helps save all these places and people and Pokemon, and is forced to give up part of his childhood as payment."

Brock raised an eyebrow at May. "Yeah, but Ash is the one making these choices, after all. As much as it hurts him when someone doesn't make it, it would hurt him even more if something happened when he didn't try at all. He'll always give things his all."

"He just needs to not beat himself up so much" May sighed. "He doesn't deserve this."

"I agree with you, May" Brock said. "But there's not much that we can really do about it. It's just, well, Ash."

"Yeah, I guess…" May said dejectedly. She sighed again. "Maybe we can see if we can talk him into at least a little sense, though."

"Really?" Brock asked. "Sense? Ash?"

The two looked at each other for a moment, before cracking up.

Ash found himself running through the thick shrubbery of the surrounding area. While he understood exactly why it was in such a remote location, he couldn't help but question why it was placed in such a wild place. The Pokemon were plentiful out here, as was the foliage.

Narrowly avoiding a faceplant, courtesy of a rather large tree root, Ash suddenly found himself clearing out of the trees, and jumping into a small clearing. It couldn't have been more than ten feet across, and in any direction, the forest was just as thick, but he nodded. "This will work" he said to himself.

He had more reasons to go for a run than to simply burn off energy. Sure, what he would be doing would leave him tired, but that wasn't the point.

With a sort of grim expression on his face, he reached into his pockets, feeling the soft fabric in his hands. Grabbing it, and pulling it out, Sir Aaron's gloves flourished into view. The rather light material, with the heavy gem set in the center of each. Taking a deep breath, which caught in his throat, he pulled each glove onto his hands.

There was a strange hum of energy that took place as each one fit snugly on his hands. Each of the dim white gems began to exude an extremely faint blue light, swirling lightly within as it reacted to his own life force. The swirling blue made his stomach tingle uncomfortably, as he remembered that moment, Lucario's final moment…

He had made up his mind already about beginning to train himself to use his Aura, but actually doing it was completely different. He was sick of being a helpless human who got lucky enough to catch the attention of Legendary Pokemon. Attention wasn't enough, being helpless got innocents killed. And if it took every ounce of strength and willpower he had, he would learn to be strong on his own.

He winced as he realized what that would entail. That burning feeling, the electrocution worse than anything Pikachu could do to him, what happened when you tried to use your Aura without practice, or use it too much. And for the first, well, he had no idea how long, that would be what he'd have to go through until he learned, on his own.

He wished he had a master like Lucario had had, someone who already knew all the tricks, the techniques. But as far as he knew, the only other living being who could have taught him was, well…

Ash shook his head. "May and Brock are going to be suspicious if I don't come back tired" he laughed, and sighed. "Let's get this over with…"

-Northern Kanto-

As the sun had begun to set, Lucario and Latias began to slow down. There was still light to travel by, but not much, and it was time to wrap things up for the day anyways.

The day had been fairly uneventful, which the duo was grateful for. They did not need any more hindrances on their quest to find Ash.

Lucario closed his eyes. For a while earlier, it had gotten easier to follow Ash's trail. It was odd. For maybe thirty minutes, he shone more like a beacon, and for another thirty following that, he was worried that he had lost the trail for good, until he sensed him once again. He had no idea what was causing his Aura signal to fluctuate in such a way, but he hoped that nothing bad had happened.

Beside him, Latias groaned. "My wings are hurting…" she said. "I've never flown so far, so fast before."

Lucario glanced sideways at the Eon. "I am sorry, but we still have a little ways more to travel before we can safely stop for the night" he said.

Latias nodded. "I know, I just think I'll have to set down and walk for a while, now."

Lucario raised an eyebrow. "Walk?" he asked. "Pardon my ignorance, but you don't appear to have any legs."

Smiling lightly, Latias was suddenly enveloped in a soft whitish-blue light. Lucario stared in awe as her wings shrunk into her body, her neck shortened, she righted herself in the air and touched down to the ground.

When the light cleared, Latias was gone, and in her place, a young woman, wearing a green and white skirt, and was spiky brown hair. The satchel was slung over her shoulder. Lucario's mind immediately told him to go on the defensive, but he stopped when he heard Latias' voice in his mind.

"See, I can walk just fine" she said telepathically.

Lucario's brief moment of tension left him, and he looked at the Latias-turned-human skeptically. "I have never heard of such a transformation" he said. "How did this come to be?"

Latias shrugged. "It's just a skill me and my brother had. We don't know how it happened, but we've always been able to warp the light around us to change things. We can become invisible, or transform into other shapes."

"That is, quite a handy skill to have" Lucario said, impressed. "Although I am curious, how come you are using telepathy now, when you hadn't before."

"Sadly, when I transform, I don't seem to be able to get a working voice" Latias said. "I can't speak human or Pokemon when I'm not in my real form. I used to be completely mute when I transformed, but I picked up how to use telepathy a while back, with some help from my friend Bianca." She held her arms out to the side. "Actually, this is how Bianca looks. I've always felt comfortable, mirroring her body more than anything else."

Lucario nodded, satisfied with the explanation. "Very well, if you can walk, then I believe we can continue our journey now" he said, taking a few steps forward, before stopping.

Latias who was just starting to walk as he did, stopped as well, confused. "I thought we had to get going?" she asked.

"Hmm…" Lucario growled, eyes closed, ears up. "Something is off" he thought. "But what could it be? I don't sense any bad Aura..."

"Hm?" Lucario's eyes shot open. "No, it's not that I don't sense any bad Aura, there is no Aura, no living creatures, anywhere around us!"

Looking around, he remembered that mere moments ago, there had been quite a few life signals in the area. They had seen Rattata and Pidgey along their path. But now, for a large radius around them, hundreds of feet, there was not a single trace of life.

"But if there are no Auras present, then that should mean that there is nothing present to worry us" Lucario reasoned. "So why can't I shake this feeling…"

"Lucario, what's wrong?" Latias asked, an edge of worry in her voice. She could tell that something had the Aura Pokemon concerned by the way he had froze and hadn't made a sound besides his initial growl.

Lucario looked back at her. "I, I don't think anything is" he said uncertainly. "I had grown worried that there was no Pokemon anywhere near us, but considering there are no other Auras, I believe us to be safe at the moment."

Now it was Latias' turn to frown. "Lucario…" she began. "Sometimes, Team Rocket doesn't need to be here in person to cause trouble" the fear took ahold of her voice. "If all the Pokemon have fled, that could mean…"

She stopped, dead silent, as a tremor ran through the ground, and a loud, metallic, thumping sound. Quickly, both the tremor and the noise grew much louder, much, closer.

Lucario took an offensive stance. "I still don't sense anything" he protested. "What is happening."

"It's a mech-" Latias began to say, but the thought message died very fast as a nearby tree toppled, and the massive machine made its way into view.

The mech stood almost as tall as the surrounding trees, which meant it was almost four times taller than Lucario. Made of dark grey metal, a large red 'R' emblemized on its front. Its main body was vaguely egg shaped, the thin end being pointed forward and slightly down, almost as if aiming at them. Thick, powerful looking arms with hands that could grasp the thicker trees of the area with room to spare. Sturdy legs that cracked the ground they stood on.

And spotlights shining right at them. A robotic voice rang out at them. "HAND OVER THE ARTIFACT OF DRAGON, OR I WILL BE FORCED TO REMOVE IT FROM YOUR PERSON MYSELF!"

Lucario's extra-sensitive ears ached at the booming, sharp voice, but he didn't waver from his spot. "What is that thing?!" he shouted.

"This is a modern world" Latias said grimly. "I'll put it in easy to understand terms. People have taken metal, molded it into warriors, and then power it, so they can control it without needing to be there. It's a suit of armor that's been programmed to act a certain way."

Lucario's eyes widened. "This world… Is both fascinating, and terrifying" he admitted. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he would say it. This "mech" as Latias had called it, it had him completely terrified. "What is an Artifact of Dragon?" he asked.

"I don't know" Latias said, just as confused as Lucario.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!" the mech boomed. "RELEASE THE ARTIFACT OR I WILL BE REQUIRED TO USE EXCESSIVE FORCE TO REMOVE IT FROM YOUR POSSESSION!"

Lucario growled, eyes narrowed. "You are not the only one capable of force!" he said in a challenging tone. The spikes on his hands elongated, glinting cruelty in the late afternoon light. "As my old friend Aaron once said, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

The machine didn't understand what Lucario was saying, but interpreted the use of Metal Claw perfect. "ENTERING COMBAT MODE!" it declared, stance changing from intimidating, to one that seemed to be ready to pounce. "TARGETS: LUCARIO, STEEL/FIGHTING! LATIAS, DRAGON/PSYCHIC! CHANCE OF SELF VICTORY, 95%! CHANCE OF LOSS, MINIMAL. ARTIFACT OF DRAGON LOCATED ON THE LATIAS! TAKE OUT LUCARIO SO THAT LEGENDARY CAN BE FOCUSED ON COMPLETELY!"

The mech pounced forward, scorching the ground beneath it as it flew at Lucario. A normal Pokemon might have been in trouble.

However, he was not a normal Pokemon. He had skills of a knight, and an Aura Guardian. He had a feeling that the mech was unaware of this fact, and had gravely underestimated his opponent.

As a heavy metal fist threatened to crush him, Lucario sidestepped, avoiding the attack, before swinging his claw upwards, and cutting a gash in the shoulder joint. The fist buried itself in the ground, which gave Lucario the moment he needed to gather an Aura Sphere, and throw it directly into the weakened spot.

The joint was shattered, and the arm disconnected from the rest of the mech completely. "HEAVY DAMAGE SUSTAINED! CHANCES OF VICTORY BEING RE-EVALUATED!"

Lucario didn't feel like giving it a chance to finish its calculations. Feeling confident, now knowing just how flimsy this large mech was compared to him, he sprung up, claws shining brilliantly, before making an X-slash across the mech's torso, leaving a deep cut. The robot stumbled backwards from the impact, sparking critically. And before it could think to make a move with its remaining arm, Lucario formed a Bone Rush, leapt forward, and stabbed right through the center of the X.

The glowing rod burst through the other side, scraps of metal flying out with it. The headlights on the robot quickly faded, which Lucario was able to interpret as the "death" of the mech, it no longer had the power to sustain itself. As it fell over backwards, Lucario jumped back, bone still embedded in the machine, before launching a very large Aura Sphere straight where the bone was, destroying most of the robot, and cleaving what was left in two.

Lucario landed again, admiring his handiwork. "So that was a killing machine created by those villains?" he asked. "Not much of a challenge, I must admit."

Latias' eyes grew wide. "I've never done half that well against one of those things, I usually need to trick them under something to I can crush them. But, you just tore it apart!"

Lucario nodded. "I have fought much tougher opponents in my time" he said. "I must admit, it appeared intimidating at first, however, it was not as physically strong as it would make you believe."

He caught his breath for a moment, the exertion on top of the long day meaning his victory hadn't been as effortless as it appeared. Glancing over, he continued. "It said that you had this Artifact of Dragon that it was after. But you said you have no idea what it is."

"And I don't" Latias said. "Honestly, besides myself, all I have is the-" she stopped, eyes growing wide, as she looked down at her side, seeing the leather satchel. "The… Soul Dew…"

"You said the Soul Dew was the soul of your brother" Lucario noted. "Perhaps that was what it meant by "'Artifact of Dragon.' The soul of a Dragon"

"But that doesn't make any sense" Latias protested. "The only powers the Soul Dew has are giving the water to Alto Mare, and powering the DMA. Why refer to it as an 'Artifact of Dragon' if all it is, is the Soul Dew?"

"Sadly, your knowledge is probably greater than mine" Lucario huffed. He sat back. "After that exertion, I believe that we will stop for the night, here. I am much too tired to continue now."

Looking at him worriedly, Latias began to glow again, before resuming her true form, and laying on the ground. "But you took out that big thing like it was nothing" she said in her Pokemon voice.

"True, however, I was already tired from our day, and having to move so fast, hit so hard, it drained my remaining strength" Lucario explained. "Come, the sooner we rest, the sooner we will be able to awaken tomorrow and find Ash. I sense he is drawing rather near."

"Really?" Latias asked, tired but excited. "Maybe he'll know what's going on?"

"That is always a possibility" Lucario conceded. "Rest now, Latias, so we can find out soon."

"Alright" Latias said, closing her eyes.

Lucario soon followed suit, but before he could sleep, he heard the question in his mind. "But do you think that Ash will be able to help me get Team Rocket off of my trail? They are really persistent."

"If there was one thing I learned, it's to never underestimate that kid" Lucario said back. "He, he is a lot more than meets the eyes."

And he hoped, that he could bring all that he was, out to the surface. Soon, when he found him, Ash would be capable of almost anything, if he was willing to try. And he knew that he would.

Chapter end.

I know it's been a while, but I warned you all at the beginning, this is a backburner project. Although, I didn't expect it to take almost two months. Sorry about that.

This was mainly a filler/set-up chapter. Very soon, Ash will have his first battle, at the Battle Factory, and Lucario said that Ash isn't too far away either.

So, what will happen? How will Ash's battle go, when and how will Lucario find Ash, and what the heck is going on with Team Rocket calling the Soul Dew the Artifact of Dragon?

Sorry, evil as that was, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, drop a review on the way out, if you're willing, and until next time, cya!