"Lucario, I'm not happy how this situation is turning out." Mandite had pulled me into a dark alley way the next day. All of us were at the heart of the city, where the threats are greater and more populous. I sighed, exasperated.
"I was only being nice, all right?" I replied, and Mandite shot me a nerving glare from underneath his mask.
"That was extremely tactless," he said, "to bring another girl with you right in front of Aurora." I thought back to her bitter response yesterday. She was still upset with me, and refused to even look at me.
"Well... It's not like she has cared for me," I admitted, knowing Mandite knew that I held passionate feelings for Aurora.
"'It's not like she has cared...' For crying out loud, Lucario!" Mandite scolded, "You can be so blind at times, can't you? She does care for you, and you fail to recognize it because you're so wrapped up with the Zhoke-thing!" I snorted – how would a seven year old ever understand.
"Look," Mandite said, his voice calming down, "we can't take any more detours, and we have to pull ourselves together. You can't do this alone – you need Aurora, and Aurora needs you."
"I doubt it," I mumbled to myself.
"Whatever," Mandite said, shrugging, "be that way." The truth was that I wanted more proof from Mandite that Aurora really did hold feelings for me. I was still very uncertain about it, despite what Mandite said. Mandite is only a youngster, and the whole topic makes him rather sick. What would he know about it? Disappointed, I turned away from him.
"I know what you're thinking," Mandite teased, "but I'm not here to blather – I just needed to tell you that someone's waiting for you on the roof." I blinked, wondering who may that person be? Aurora? No, she was sitting under a tree by herself just across the street.
"Well," Mandite said, impatiently, "skedaddle! Don't just stand there and play dumb." I only huffed in response, half amused and half annoyed. With a swish of his cloak, Mandite left, leaving me in the alley, wondering who was up there. Using the garbage heap, I managed to climb onto the angled top, it's black shingles hot from the sun. Looking around, I saw a familiar, lone, white figure overseeing the city.
"Hello again, Lucario," Dhenalix turned around and smiled. I smiled back, glad to see him – hopefully, he doesn't have a message foreboding death.
"Hello, Dhenalix," I replied, walking over to him, "how's your kid?" Dhenalix's fangs glistened in the sun, exposed by his large smile.
"Wonderful," he said happily, "the egg started to move for the fist time. But it still has to wait a few more months before its aura completely formulates into a body." I nodded, understanding, sitting down beside the absol. Eggs were basically containers holding the aura that the mother and father contributed that would eventually form the body of the offspring, as well as its own aura. Dhenalix's smile faded, and his crimson gaze flickered with concern.
"Mandite told me about you and Aurora," he said. I sighed, and closed my eyes. So, he knows as well. Dhenalix shifted to a more comfortable position.
"Mandite is right about the fact that you have hurt Aurora's feelings," he said.
"I know," I groaned, feeling extremely guilty, "but I'm not planning to see Michelle anymore." I heard Dhenalix draw in his breath quickly through his teeth.
"Urgh, this is too hot," he grumbled, changing his seating again before continuing, "I'm not blaming you for anything, Lucario – it's just that you must be careful when it comes to choosing females. They can be really touchy." At that moment, I felt that I was actually talking to an older brother – it was really odd, but it was comforting, in a way. I raised my head and turned to look at him. His wise, knowledgeable eyes stared back.
"Then... What should I do?" I asked. Dhenalix gave me a sad smile and chuckled.
"That's for you to decide," he said, "I do not wish to be in charge of that part or any other part of your life."
"Even if your love is not Aurora in the end, you still must make amends with her now." Dhenalix advised, "She is your friend, after all." I nodded glumly, not knowing how to deal with it. How can I, if Aurora refuses to be less than ten feet from me? And even if I get close enough, would he even listen to me? And if she listened to me, how am I going to explain the situation without admitting that I loved her? I don't want her to know that while she loved Zhoke – and then again, I did. Oh dear, I feel lost. Seeing my frown from my pained, complex feelings, Dhenalix smiled sympathetically.
"That part will be okay," he optimized, "Mandite is a very smooth talker." Again, I nodded, but this time I smiled, too. Always thinking of the bright side, Dhenalix was. It makes me think that way, too. Besides, Mandite was really good with people and socializing, after all. If anything, Mandite will cheer her up. I was about to make another comment when I noticed that Dhenalix was staring at his paws uncomfortably, his moth set in a tight line; to have a little pep talk with me wasn't the real reason why Dhenalix was here, I realized with a frown.
"What message do you have for me today?" Dhenalix looked up at me, turning the question over in his head. He sighed, pawing a shingle out of earnestness.
"Only a warning," Dhenalix admitted, "be careful when you walk in the forest west of the city – it may be charted as a featureless forest, but it is basically unknown to mankind. It actually has many deep canyons, so you must be wary when you run around – you don't know what's at the edge." I thought about this information, and sharply nodded, showing him I understood. But Dhenalix looked wearily at me, showing that he was not finished.
"Another thing," he continued, "take caution. I do not know what it is, but there is something out there that can kill you without any mercy." I was about to ask what type of pokemon it was when the absol cut me short.
"It's not pokemon," he warned, "it is an alien species, coming from Mandite's world. And it's deadly, so don't take any chances if you happen to spot anything that looks abnormal to you." Dhenalix gave me a long gaze as I thought about these warning in my head, feeling greatly frightened indeed. Maybe this new creature was the reason for Giratina's desire to get Mandite out – there were enough, potentially dangerous aliens in our world for comfort.
"Understand?" I nodded, not knowing what to say now. The absol scratched his white-furred side with his hind leg, and sighed.
"It's only a warning," he said, trying his best to sound as if there was nothing wrong, "it would be a rare occurrence if you happen to pass by this dangerous creature, anyway. The only thing you need to worry about is the forest, all right?" There he goes again, with his optimism; but at least it made me feel better. Dhenalix stood up, indicating that he was about to leave. Giving the town a glance with his red eyes, he frowned.
"Now I have to walk through that crowd down there, and they will all condemn themselves to death because of me," he muttered, shaking his scythed head, "Honestly, absols can't be that scary." We both chuckled slightly, thinking about how silly humans were at times. A sudden wind breezed through, ruffling Dhenalix's long fur, bringing the nostalgic scent of wet earth. Tired of the foreign smell of humans, I relished the breeze, closing my eyes and feeling it run over my face.
"But, I must get that over with," Dhenalix finally said, preparing to leap off the roof, "good bye, Lucario." The absol bowed respectfully, and I in turn bowed back.
"Good-bye, Dhenalix," and with a short nod, the absol flung himself into the crowd, landing on the cobblestone claws spread out. It took a second for all the people to realize that the pokemon of disaster had landed among them before they fled in different directions, screaming about some flood that will occur. Dhenalix looked up at me, shaking his head and smiling, and bounded off for the forest.
By the time I had climbed down from the roof and found Mandite and Aurora sitting under a tree, they were enjoying lunch. The delighted look on Aurora's face told me that she was feeling much better now, to my pleasure. Mandite, on the contrary, was grumbling, poking a half of his sandwich through the hole in his mask.
"I heard there was going to be this great flood that will destroy us all," he said to me, finishing off the rest of his sandwich, "all this gloom and doom is making me feel hungry." I raised an eyebrow – everything made him hungry, but I made no comment. What would be the point of pointing out the obvious? I sat down by them, forming a triangle of friends. At that point, my eyes met with Aurora's, and her face fell. Aurora looked away, looking very ashamed with herself. She gave me a sideways glance, and I smiled warmly, showing that I forgave her for yesterday. Slowly but surely, a smile emerged on Aurora's face. I then looked over to Mandite, who gave me a wink. I smiled back, silently thanking him for the favor.
"Oh, by the way," Mandite said, suddenly remembering something, "Michelle came by while you were partying on the roof." She was looking for me? If she found me, I wouldn't know how to tell her that I was not interested in her. Besides, since when did gardevoirs and lucarios become mates? But love is an odd thing, and I don't blame her. Wait a moment – did I say mates? Could I be already thinking of that?
"What did you tell her?" I asked, taking an apple that Aurora offered to me. Mandite's eyes flashed bright pink with amusement.
"I told her that I traded you for a shilaba," he said brightly.
"Shelgon," Aurora corrected for him, and Mandite just waved it off with his hand, chuckling to himself.
"Same difference," he said, not minding one bit, "anyways, Michelle is looking for you at some city in some swamp, so you're perfectly fine and dandy." I thought about the poor gardevoir, wandering around looking for me in vain. I felt pity for her, and hoped that she would find someone more suitable for her kind.
"That's too bad," I mumbled, biting into the apple, "she was a nice person." Mandite shot me a look, and motioned towards Aurora.
"Well, she was," I said indignantly, "and so are you." I added, to prove what I said was only meant as a compliment.
"Aww," Mandite said in a sappy voice, turning away and flicking his hand, "you're making me blush." I rolled my eyes and laughed. Mandite was also very silly, as I have said many times over. I was about to take another bite of my apple when a far off voice yelled,
"Look! Wild pokemon!" I jerked my head to the source. Running down the lane was a boy with green hair, with a rather fierce looking luxray at his heel. I stood up, dropping the apple in my hand and pulled my self into a defensive stance.
"Get 'im, Aruku!" he shouted, pointing at me, and the luxray dashed forth, his massive paws literally thundering on the ground. He sprung off the ground and unsheathed his claws, ready to tear my face apart. The spikes on my paws lengthened into long, metallic daggers in response. But before I could react any further, a bright light flashed behind me. Mandite lunged in front of me, slashed Galaxia upwards underneath the luxray's claws, and then used the hilt of his sword to smash him down. Aruku the luxray slammed into the ground, with Mandite lightly landing on the ground, sheathing his sword. I blinked, my metal claws melting back to normal spikes. All of that happened in one second, or maybe less. That's another good reason not to mess with Mandite – he could back stab someone before they even thought to get out their dagger.
"Hey!" The green haired boy skidded to a halt behind his pokemon, "what the heck were you doing?!" Mandite looked lazily up at him, sounding very unimpressed.
"What the heck are you doing with my pokemon?" he retorted, throwing cape around his body protectively. The boy blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah, I can talk," Mandite answered for him sharply, "and I'm not a pokemon, got that kid?" The trainer looked about fourteen, two times older than Mandite, but behind the mask, he appears to be much older, and certainly reaped its benefits. The boy stood, agape, staring at Mandite. As usual, they found the new creature before them very odd.
"All right, quit looking at me like that," an annoyed Mandite spat, "just tell me what in the world were you doing with my pokemon?"
"Those are your pokemon?" The trainer asked, seemingly impressed. Mandite looked at both of us.
"Uh... Yeah," he said, nodding, "pretty cool, huh?" The trainer narrowed his eyes.
"Is that all?" he asked. Mandite blinked, uncertain how to answer that question.
"No," he said, pulling his backpack to him and started sifting through it for a "pokeball", "I have more here..." I gave Aurora an uneasy look, and she bit her tongue, worried about how this might turn out.
"Here's my shimbala," Mandite finally said, after a thorough search.
"Shelgon," Aurora hissed, flattening her ears, glancing briefly at the staring pokemon trainer.
"Oh, right," Mandite thanked, "Shelgon!" Dramatically, Mandite pulled out a rubber ball and held it out. Judging by the disbelieving face on the boy, I could tell something went wrong.
"That's a pokeball?" The boy pointed at the rubber ball Mandite held out. The little warrior, gave the ball a second glance, blinked, and his eyes widened. Aurora smacked the palm of her paw in her face and turned away. Mandite stared at the purple rubber ball, splayed with various yellow smiley faces, blankly gazing off in random directions. All of us stood in awkward silence, as a stray newspaper fluttered by. Oh no...
"It's..." Mandite gave the rubber ball a long look, "... It's customized!" The boy raised his eyebrows, as Mandite looked at the ball curiously, obviously pleased with his answer. I sighed with relief – the situation could have been much more embarrassing, or perhaps more threatening. It was possible that the pokemon trainer could have discovered we were wild, and possibly could have captured one of us.
"Customized?" the young trainer asked, sounding like he half believed our claim.
"Yeah," Mandite said, tossing it into the air before snatching it again, "you don't have one?" Now that Mandite had a good foothold on the subject, he began to talk smoothly. In fact, the way that Mandite had said that so casually and cool, the pokemon trainer's eyes widened with curiosity.
"No," he said, "can I see it?" Mandite held out the rubber ball, and the trainer reached for it. Suddenly, Mandite raised it out of his reach.
"Nuh-uh-uh!" Mandite taunted, waggling his hand teasingly, "I don't want any smudges on it – that's why I have gloves." He brandished them pleasurably and then, like Michelle, he daintily placed the "pokeball" inside his backpack.
"Where did you get it?" The trainer asked, his eyes following the rubber ball back into the backpack. Mandite looked up.
"I caught it in -"
"No, I mean the pokeball," he corrected himself. Mandite sighed a small breath of relief, before explaining grandly,
"Got 'em in Hoenn – there's millions of them!"
"Do they have different colors?"
"You bet!" Mandite assured, giving him a wink. I caught Aurora's eye, and I grinned at her. She smiled back, obviously enjoying the scene, judging by the amused twinkle amongst her flaming eyes.
"So," Mandite finally said, after a long, respectful silence, "what's your name, kid?" The trainer grinned and ruffled his green hair.
"I'm Ivan," he answered, "and you?"
"Mandite," the little warrior replied kindly, "very nice to meet you, Ivan."
"You too," Ivan said, nodding. He glanced back at his luxray, Aruku, who emitted a playful growl, shaking his heavy black mane. Ivan looked back up at us, and a sly smile crept onto his face.
"Say, Mandite," Mandite looked up at Ivan, apparently confused.
"... Mandite?" Mandite responded, raising his arms in a shrug. Ivan blinked, and then rolled his eyes, laughing.
"Mandite," the boy said.
"Yes?" Mandite asked, tapping the tips of both of his hands together.
"Wanna have a battle?" Ivan challenged. At the sound of these words, Aruku jumped in place in anticipation, letting loose a growl. I gazed at the electric-type, wondering what will Mandite say next. Hopefully, Ivan wouldn't call a match on Mandite's "shelgon". I watched the warrior anxiously, wondering if we had that time to spare. As usual, the mask over his face made the warrior look expressionless when he thought about light decisions.
"Oh..." Mandite hummed, finally making a noise, "I really don't have much time..." Ivan's face looked downcast all of a sudden, and Aruku's ears drooped slightly. They must have been so hopeful to test their strength, that this disappointment made me feel a little guilty.
"... But I guess I have time for a quick skirmish," Mandite added happily, and once again, Ivan's face lightened up as Aruku chased his tail one time around. I smiled, looking at the pair, trainer and pokemon. I never liked the domesticated as much as wild ones, but Aruku was starting to grow on me.
"All right," Ivan said, punching a fist in the air, "one-pokemon skirmish it is!" Mandite nodded, tapping his mask thoughtfully as he watched the boy point at him.
"Choose your pokemon!" Ivan commanded, and without a second thought, Mandite pointed at me. What? This decision was without my consent!
"C'mon, Lucario," Mandite said in a dull tone, "be a man for once in your life!" I heard Aurora attempting to suppress a laugh behind me, and I sighed. Slowly, but surely, I walked up, center stage. Ivan gave a nod to Aruku, and the pokemon growled, and leaped in front of him, clawing the ground. Meanwhile, Mandite was trying to resolve an issue, concerning the fact he had never conducted a pokemon battle before.
"I got this Aurora!" he hissed, "everything 's gonna be fine – you wait and see." I glanced back to see Aurora still worried-looking. Mandite was rummaging through his backpack, picking up the occasional random object before tossing it back inside. I turned back to face my opponent, slightly deflated-feeling. This was going to be a pretty interesting game...
"Aha!" Mandite brandished a small, red handbook with a pokeball emblem etched into it, "lo and behold!" Aurora seemed unimpressed, as well as I. Mandite gave us both a look, appearing to be confused.
"What?" he asked. Aurora shook her head.
"Let me help you," she said wearily, and Mandite stepped away from her, clutching the little book.
"For your info-may-shawn," Mandite said, "this handy-dandy manual has every move every documented for every documented pokemon. I can perfectly do this myself!" In response, she looked like she was about to say something, but then sighed, and shrugged. Mandite flipped through his book, humming to himself, oblivious to the defeated look on our faces. Ivan raised an eyebrow before asking,
"Are you... Ready?" Mandite stopped his flipping in mid-page turn, and glanced up with his yellow eyes.
"Yes," he answered, closing the book, patting its cover. Ivan smiled, and then announced,
"Then let the battle begin!" Ivan pointed to me. I stared into the eyes of my opponent, and growled. Aruku roared, shaking his mane, sparking from electricity.
"Aruku use Shock Wave!" the boy commanded, and beams shot from the luxray's gaping mouth. My eyes widened, seeing the intensity of it, and I jumped to avoid being struck. Mandite behind me stepped aside and watched the ground absorb the lightning. My feet came in contact with the cobblestone once more, steadying myself with my arms. I glanced up to see a very impressed Ivan.
"That was quick!" he exclaimed, "Aruku, use Thunder Fang!" The luxray ran towards me, his paws pounding on the ground heavily. I looked back at Mandite, hoping he would call out an attack or at least something. But no – he was flipping through his book, frantically. Just in time, I sidestepped the luxray, and blasted him with a quickly rendered aura sphere. Aruku staggered, sliding away from me.
"Uh... this looks cool," Mandite finally stopped on a page, "Lucario, use Poison Sting!" I blinked, and my mouth dropped open. Mandite looked up at me, and then back down at the book.
"Um... Maybe not," he said, flipping through some pages, "Lucario use – LOOK OUT!!!" My eyes flicked back to Aruku, who had taken those few minutes to conjure up Iron Tail.
"DO THOSE CLAW-THINGIES!!" Mandite shrieked, waving his arms wildly. Instinctively, the spikes on my paws molded over into claws of steel. I flung one of them to parry the tail, but as I pushed away the tail, Aruku twisted his body so that he chomped his Thunder Fang into my other arm. Suddenly, I felt my arm muscles seize up, and I yelped from shock. Never before I felt so pained – it burned! Forcing myself to concentrate, I summoned my aura to my center of gravity, and then let it go. Instead of my regular, blue aura, a deep violet cloud out from me, outlining each pulse of dark energy. Instantly, Aruku was flung off, and crashed onto the ground. Panting, I watched the luxray get to his feet wearily, clutching my stinging arm. Aruku groaned, and shook himself before snapping back into acute attention. I glanced over my shoulder to see how Mandite was handling things. Currently, his eyes were flicking from left to right at an incredible pace, reading a page.
"Can you use Sludge Bomb?" he asked me.
"No," I answered.
"How about Earthquake? Can you do that?"
"No, Mandite,"
"Steel Wing?"
"Mandite, I don't have wings,"
"Can you at least use Fly?" I turned so that I looked more comfortably at him over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
"You wish," I answered.
"Well," Mandite said, getting agitated, "can't you at least do Hyper Beam?"
"Good choice!" Ivan yelled, "Aruku, use Hyper Beam!" I looked back at Aruku, ready to send an aura sphere into his unsuspecting face, but too late. A large beam of hot light shot towards me. Thinking on my toes, I rendered an aura sphere, drawing upon my power to make it quickly. And, before the actual heat singed my fur, I flung the aura sphere into the blinding light, causing a large explosion to occur. I was surrounded by the smoke that whirled around the powerful reaction, and taking advantage of the cover, I jumped as high as I could into the air. As the smoke cleared away, I could tell that everyone else was looking for me as I started to fall down back to Sinnoh – everyone but Mandite, the only one who was capable of seeing through the thickest of fogs. Luckily, he was simply staring straight, so he wouldn't lend out a dead giveaway on my attack. But I also knew that luxrays had excellent vision, and was capable of seeing through walls. Did Aruku spot me as I jumped into the air? I controlled my rapid descent, so that I would land somewhere over or around Aruku for better chance at surprising him.
It was too bad that Aruku, in fact, did see me. Aruku crouched low, looking up at me, and pounced. He was a very strong luxray, and he reached my altitude in no time. Okay, concentrate – it was too bad that my plan didn't work, but let's take this to my advantage. I'll combat in the air, since Aruku is here. No problem; this is just like swimming through water – it's just I'm sinking like a rock.
I had begun to fall before Aruku did, so I was below him, making me a weak target to his claws. I began to plan an attack from my vantage point.
"Lucario!" I heard Mandite's voice call to me, "Work with gravity, not against it – get above Aruku!" Mandite may know nothing at all about pokemon moves, but when it comes to fighting strategies, Mandite was king. I could imagine that his Uncle Tally, being a knight, taught him a strong foundation, and then Mandite himself honed his thinking skills. Every time I had seen him parry an attack, it was done so easily and almost casually. He had the eyes and the mind of a soldier.
"Aruku, use Iron Tail!" Ivan commanded, and the spiked end of the wiry luxray tail began to glow white. If I wasn't careful, this attack could knock me into the ground.
The swinging mace swung down towards me.
"Lucario, get that tail!" Mandite shouted, and the gears of his plan clicked in place in my mind. I flung my arm out and grabbed the whip-like part of Aruku's tail. Using the strength of my good arm, I swung Aruku by his tail around in a complete circle once before letting go of him, gravity aiding Aruku's velocity as the luxray rocketed down. I fell after him, giving him one final burst of acceleration by a short blast of aura from my paws. Aruku slammed into the cobblestone, creating a crater on impact, with me falling paws stretched forth.
"Lucario, roll!" Mandite's command made me realize that I was about to hit the ground harshly myself. So, to soften the impact, I curled up into a somersault just as my paws brushed the surface of the street. The momentum I had gained during the fall was put into forward motion rather than downward. I rolled several times before I uncurled in mid-roll and landed on my feet. Whipping around to look at Aruku hoping he was all right, I heard Mandite say,
"That was the most impressive ten seconds I have seen you at combat." But the fight wasn't over. Aruku struggled to get to his feet, shaking violently; he finally managed, and shook himself over, stomping the ground as if he was never touched at all. I growled, backing up so that I could listen to Mandite without him needing to yell.
"Are you left-handed or right-handed?" he whispered to me urgently. I look back at him, wondering why was he asking such a question.
"I'm fine with my right – why?"
"You'll see," Mandite quickly answered, "are you okay with your left?"
"I guess so," I said, not sure if I really was fine with my left – luckily, it was the one that was injured. If it had been my right paw, then I wouldn't be able to use my claws as effectively. I preferred to attack with that paw and defend with my left.
"Do you remember to do that blue bone attack you used against Zhoke?" Mandite further interrogated.
"You mean Bone Club? Yes – why?"
"Can you react to sight within ten milliseconds?" Mandite asked, ignoring my earlier question.
"Wha- what?"
"Just repeat after me!" he hissed before shouting, "Lucario, use Bone Club!" I closed my eyes, and focused my aura at my paws, holding them together side by side. Then, I drew them apart, as aura took shape as a long, thin bone. I reopened my eyes, spinning my staff in a wide circle in front of me, before slashing it to my side in one, long swoop.
"Lucario," Mandite whispered again, "Try your best to keep me in your vision, and copy me, all right?" Mandite made it seem obvious what the plan was, but somehow, I did not get a clue. However, I followed Mandite's orders, taunting Aruku as I slowly circled around the battlefield, with Mandite becoming more and more easier to see. Luxray stayed within a sraight line of me, so that eventually he had his back turned to Mandite. He couldn't see that Mandite had a broken branch within his hands.
"Aruku, use Shock Wave!" Ivan declared.
"Charge!" Mandite hollered, and I sprung forth, spinning the bone in my paws. I veered off to one side to avoid being paralyzed, and swung my staff low like Mandite swung his branch, knocking Aruku off his feet. Mandite thrust the branch into the air vertically, and so did I, the end locking underneath the luxray's jaw. Aruku was pushed upwards, and I slid behind his now-mangy figure and used my left arm to shoot him across the arena, engulfed in blue aura. I quickly rushed to meet him, and mirrored Mandite's upward slash. I jumped to join Aruku's flailing body, and used a downwards slash to knock him into the ground.
"Lucario!" Mandite yelled, reminding me that I couldn't see him from my backside, but my opponent had gotten to his feet, and lunged at me with his fangs flaring with electricity. Instinctively, I dropped down to the ground on my back. As he sailed over me, I rolled, kicking my feet into Aruku's stomach. The luxray slammed into a nearby tree with his side, before collapsing on the ground. Now, the time for him to get up and continue the match was ticking from ten seconds down.
"Eight," Mandite whispered, watching the limp figure in the grass struggle to make it to his feet.
"Seven," I looked over to Ivan, who looked completely shocked by the state of his pokemon.
"Six," Ivan started to shout out his pokemon's name.
"Five," The boy was running now.
"Four," Aruku was shaking uncontrollably as he urged himself to stand.
"Three," Aurora, who had been watching silently, gasped.
"Two," The determination in Aruku's eyes seemed to falter, and he closed them, groaning.
"One," And then Aruku gave way, and fell down, fainted. I heard Ivan's heavy running stop behind me, his breathing hard.
"Come back," Ivan panted, and Aruku morphed into red lights, shooting over my head and back into its capsule. I then silently watched Ivan pat the pokeball fondly.
"You did great today, Rukie," he whispered to the gleaming red and white surface, before placing it in a small backpack he had slung over his shoulder. Then, he looked up at me and Mandite, smiling and nodding.
"You guys too," he added, "in fact, you both were AMAZING!" I modestly looked down at my feet, while Mandite only shrugged and replied,
"Oh, don't be silly," in such a voice that made all of us laugh. Ivan, regaining control of his laughter, looked at Aurora standing behind Mandite, and smiled.
"You," he said, pointing at her, "are one lucky gal to have this guy right here." Ivan explained who he meant by giving me a firm pat on my back. I stumbled forward and before I could brace myself, I was nose to nose with Aurora. I blinked, not comprehending what was going on for a moment. Then I pulled away, my senses kicking in.
"Well," Aurora began, finally answering Ivan's question, giving me a incomprehensible look, "Lucario is a good friend." The green-haired boy only tilted his head back and laughed, leaving the two of us not knowing why.
"Hey, um, guys?" Aurora and I looked down to our feet to see Mandite looking up at us, "I am kinda in an awkward position right now, so can you..." The two of us backed away, giving Mandite some room, feeling equally embarrassed. Apparently, Mandite was still standing in front of Aurora when I had bumped into her.
"Sorry Mandite," she apologized. Ivan raised his eyebrows at her.
"Yeah, she can talk too," Mandite answered for him, and chuckled. Ivan nodded, and hoisted his backpack further up his shoulder.
"Well," he said, a tinge of morose in his voice, "it was a pleasure battling you guys," Mandite nodded, his eyes flashing a bright, blue color.
"You too," he said. Ivan waved good bye, and turned to leave. A vision of a battered, mangy luxray made me worry a bit as it flashed in my mind.
"Will Aruku be okay?" I called out to Ivan. The boy turned around and ruffled the hair on the back of his head.
"He'll be just fine," Ivan answered, "and I bet we learned a thing or two from you guys! Hope to see 'ya soon!" All three of us waved good bye in return.
"You too!" and then Mandite added quietly to himself, "I hope." I watched Ivan walk around the corner of the street, and he was gone. I sighed – I guess I have to refresh my judgments about pokemon trainers. I suppose they weren't all that bad, just like absols. I dropped my arm to my side and turned around to look at the other two. Mandite was picking up his backpack, settling it on its dignified perch atop his head.
"Man, I hope there are customized pokeballs somewhere in Hoenn," he muttered. I smiled, remembering Mandite's remark. The little warrior looked up at me, his amber eyes gleaming.
"Ready to for the road again, hot shot?" he asked, tugging on the straps of the backpack. I smiled and gave him a sharp nod.
"Hey Mandite," Mandite turned on his heel and looked at Aurora, "you're forgetting this." In her paw was the little, red manual that Mandite had dropped at some point during the battle. His yellow eyes stared at it for a while, before his waved it off with his hand.
"Your lucky day, then," he said, turning right back around, starting to walk off, "I think Lucario and I can do just fine without it." At that point, he had tilted himself just enough so I could catch his wink. I only smiled back. Aurora looked between me and Mandite, shrugging. She tossed it back onto the grass, before walking beside me, the two of us lead by Mandite. The late afternoon light shone brilliantly on her fur, bringing out the bright blues. I glanced down, feeling awestruck by the sight of her, and feeling a tad bit sad, reminding myself her heart was not with me.
"Lucario?" I turned my head so that I gazed at Aurora's beautiful face.
"Yes?"
"You were really something back there," she said, looking away from my eyes at the slightest angle. I just shrugged, feeling embarrassed that this fight had gotten so much positive attention.
"So are you saying that he was nothing before that?" We heard Mandite say, several yards ahead of us. Aurora snorted.
"Of course not," Mandite let us catch up to him before he remarked
"You know, I am so hungry I think I can eat a Stromboli right now." Aurora raised her eyebrows, not knowing what Stromboli was.
"Shelgon?"
Ah! I messed up the ending - crap. This chapter was okay, better than the last one at least.
So... Yay or Nay? Rate and Review please! Thanks! ^^