It was another fine day in Tokyo as Gallade and Gardevoir decided to do some grocery shopping. Today, Gardevoir was wearing a nice pink T-shirt, Gallade saying, "Ever since you put on that jersey, you've been experimenting with a lot of clothes," Gardevoir nodding and replying, "I never thought I'd care about how I look, but I really like trying new things."

When the two entered a grocery store, Gallade asked, "So when were you thinking of going to the gym today?" Gardevoir replying, "I was thinking maybe after we put our groceries in the fridge," Gallade nodding and saying, "Sounds like a plan."

The two were looking down the aisles when they noticed Blaziken pass by, looking in the fruit section. Gardevoir smiled and squeaked, "Hi, Blaziken!" the chicken turning and noticing her, sporting a smile of her own and saying, "Oh, hey, you two. What's up?"

"Just doing a little shopping," Gallade replied, Blaziken nodding and replying, "Same here," the chicken taking a deep breath before adding, "Just think, a little over a week ago, we could hardly go a day without worrying about something interrupting our past times. Now nothing's come up."

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" Gallade asked as Gardevoir looked rather upset about something, the other two looking at her as her brother asked, "Something wrong, sis?"

"I've been thinking lately," Gardevoir replied, Blaziken asking, "About what?" the girl squeaking, "About Lucario. I can't help but wonder what he's been up to since he quit villainy."

"I haven't thought too much about that, but you got a point," Blaziken replied with a sigh, "He could have joined us but he chose not to. I hope wherever he is, he's not back to causing trouble."

As a matter of fact, Lucario was currently in London, sporting the same street clothes he had worn back in Tokyo. He was simply wandering around, seeming to have no goal for the day or anything. But why specifically was he in London?

As it just so happened, London was where he grew up. Lucario was British and perhaps he simply wanted to see his old home. Either way, he neither looked happy nor disappointed to be back. He simply looked neutral and nothing more.

The dog moved along when he noticed a young boy walking with his father. Seeing how happy the boy was, he let out a sigh. He had claimed not to have any family-related issues, so what was up with that reaction?

He simply shook his head, choosing to ignore this as he carried on, a female voice coming from behind him and saying, "Hey, I know you," the dog turning and blinking as the owner of the voice added, "I saw you on the TV, or rather the telly, eh?" the stranger winking after saying that as Lucario sighed, "If it means anything to you, I prefer to call it TV myself."

The stranger talking to him was a hero who had been stationed to protect London. Hailing from Florida, this hero was a light-blue lobster half Lucario's size. She had two yellow antennae atop her head and, of course, two claws. The left claw was was more like a tiny lance than an actual claw while her right one was more like what one would expect from a lobster save for the lower pincer being yellow.

"Name's Clauncher," the lobster said, holding out her left claw and adding, "Nice to meet you, Lucario," the dog nodding and shaking her claw, replying, "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too."

Lucario then scratched the back of his head, saying, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have somewhere I need to be right now," his stomach suddenly growling, his cheeks bright pink as he maintained his neutral look. However, Clauncher saw right through that look and realized the dog could not afford to buy himself food.

And soon enough, he found himself at a fish and chips restaurant with Clauncher paying for him, Lucario stating, "You seem oddly content eating at a fish and chips place," Clauncher blinking and asking, "Why is it odd?" taking a bite of cod, the dog blinking and replying, "Never mind. It's not important."

"So, you mentioned you were heading somewhere," Clauncher stated, Lucario blinking before nodding and replying, "Yes, I did, didn't I?" the lobster asking, "Would you mind if I ask where?"

The dog let out a sigh before replying, "I'm sorry, but it's personal," Clauncher nodding and saying, "Okay, I understand. You don't need to talk if you don't want to."

After a few seconds of eating, Lucario decided as long as he was being treated to lunch, he could at least try to be more social as he said, "I have a question for you. If you saw me on TV, why are you acting so friendly toward me?" the lobster shrugging and replying, "Because you're not a bad guy anymore, plain and simple."

"But I never said I was turning good," Lucario remarked, "I just said I was going to look for my own path. How do you know I won't turn evil again?" Clauncher simply resting her claws behind her head and replying, "I personally prefer to live in the now. Much less stressful than worrying about the future."

At that moment, a man in fancy clothing walked by and raised his hat, saying, "Top of the morning, Clauncher," the lobster waving and saying, "Top of the morning to you too, Mister Thomas," Lucario saying, "You seem to be fitting in rather well."

Clauncher nodded and replied, "Of course. I don't just focus on keeping people safe. I also like to socialize and make friends with most of the people I meet. I feel lucky to live in an age where folks like us living on Earth is acceptable."

Soon enough, Lucario had eaten everything as he got up, dabbing his lips with a napkin before saying, "Thank you very much for treating me, Miss Clauncher," the lobster replying, "Don't mention it. And just Clauncher is fine," the dog nodding before saying a quick goodbye and heading off, a smile forming on his face.

The dog carried on when he noticed an elderly woman up against a corner, trembling in fear as a three thugs stood before her, one snickering and saying, "Aye, look at this little old lady's face. Ain't it priceless?" another adding, "Now hand over all your money and we'll let you return home in one piece."

The group stopped when Lucario walked over to them and tapped them on the shoulders, one of them turning and asking, "And who the bloody hell are you?" Lucario grimacing and stating, "It's not right to pick on the elderly."

"And what are you gonna do about it, you circus freak?" the other thug asked as Lucario sighed, "Well, don't say I didn't give you a chance," the dog ramming his palm hard into the man's face shouting, "FORCE PALM!"

When the man fell hard on his back, the dog glared at the others and said, "Unless you wish to join your friend, I recommend running," the other two lifting up their unconscious partner by the shoulders and fleeing in terror, Lucario taking a deep breath and holding out his hand toward the woman.

"Thank you so much," the lady said with a smile, accepting his help, "It's so nice to have another hero in this town to help out that nice Clauncher lady," Lucario replying, "Oh no, I'm just here for a short visit, that's all."

The woman bowed her head and said, "Still, it was very nice meeting you," before walking off, Lucario feeling a sense of satisfaction. It was strange, too, because when he rescued Gardevoir from a robber, he did not feel much from it yet oddly enough, seeing that old woman full of gratitude made him feel like a million dollars, or in this case, well over six-hundred-thousand pounds.

The dog continued his walk when suddenly, a thick cloud formed. Lucario took a deep breath and thought, 'Oh right, I forgot,' thunder sounding before rain began pouring down, the dog shrugging and deciding it was not important.

He then noticed a child running across the street, his eyes widening when a car was speeding right toward him. Seeing this, Lucario immediately sprinted toward the scene, picking up the kid by the back of his collar and pulling him out of the way, the dog growling at the car. He could not believe someone could be so careless.

However, he calmed when the citizens passing by noticed this, smiling and saying nice things about his actions. Even the child smiled up at him and said, "Thank you, sir," before running over to a middle-aged woman nearby, Lucario sighing, "Watch your kid more closely," the woman hugging her son and sniffing, "Thank you."

With that, Lucario pulled out a pocket watch and noticed it was now seven in the afternoon. The dog groaned as he had hoped to finish his business much sooner and leave London on this exact day. But seven did not seem all that late, so why was he in such a hurry?

Whatever the reason, he started to pick up the pace, suddenly screeching to a halt when he noticed the bank being robbed, but not by another group of humans. No, this time it was a pair of villains.

One was a yellow stick bug with leaves covering her body. Her arms were shaped like blades with holes on the edges. Her partner was a light-brown crocodile with black stripes and eyes like a bandit mask. Both were holding big bags of money.

"This is your best plan yet, Leavanny," the crocodile said with a grin, "We keep this up and we'll be the richest people in the world," the bug nodding and replying, "Got that right, Krokorok," before asking, "Say, do you want me to make you an umbrella?" the crocodile shaking his head and replying, "Don't worry about it. I like the rain."

"Funny, because I don't take too kindly to it myself," Lucario said, folding his arms and standing before them. The two slowly turned to face him, Leavanny's eyes widening when Krokorok did not look so scared.

"What's the matter?" the crocodile asked, "It's Lucario. He's our buddy, remember?" Leavanny retorting, "Did you forget he's not one of us anymore!?" Lucario nodding and replying, "That's right."

"Oh yeah," Krokorok replied, "but he's not exactly on the side of good either. I do remember him saying that," Lucario nodding and replying, "You are correct, my good sir, but I am feeling bored today and need something to pass the time," the dog planting his right fist into his left palm.

All went silent as Krokorok laughed, slapping his knee before saying, "Wow, I didn't know you had a sense of humour," Lucario tapping his foot as Leavanny gulped, uttering, "I don't think he's joking."

With that, Lucario charged at the two, holding his arms out and hooking both of their necks. Since they were spellbound, they were unable to respond as they fell hard on their backs.

However, before Lucario could do more, he noticed string against his legs, his eyes widening when he noticed it was coming from Leavanny. The bug laughed wickedly and said, "I feel insulted. You forgot all about my sewing threads."

Before Lucario could retaliate, Krokorok rose to his feet, letting out a loud battle cry before shouting, "CROCODILE CRUNCH!" biting hard into the dog's shoulder.

Lucario cried out in pain before ramming his elbow hard into the reptile's gut, forcing him to let go. But before he could do more, Leavanny had taken this time to bind both of his ankles before pulling the string toward herself, causing him to trip and fall forward, Krokorok holding up his knee and allowing Lucario's chin to ram right into it.

After that, Leavanny proceeded to return her string before wrapping her arms around Lucario's neck saying, "I'll admit, on your own, you're very powerful, but you made a big mistake challenging both of us," the bug leaping high into the air shouting, "LEAF TORNADO!" spinning her body around and flipping her entire body so their heads were facing the ground, the bug ramming his forehead hard into the concrete.

Lucario's head was now bleeding as he grunted in pain, doing his best to ignore this and get back up, Krokorok lunging at him and shouting, "CROCODILE CRUNCH!" only for Lucario to fall backward, sending both his feet into the crocodile's midsection.

With Krokorok distracted, Lucario proceeded to send a series of punches into his face only for Leavanny to dash beside him, shouting, "X-SCISSOR!" crossing the leaves on the ends of her arms and ramming them hard into the dog's neck, his eyes widening as he coughed up blood.

"Like Leavanny said, you made a big mistake challenging us," Krokorok said as he placed his hands firmly against Lucario's arms, lashing his teeth again.

Just as he was about to use his Crocodile Crunch a third time, a certain lobster leaped into the area, spinning her body like a bouncing ball toward the crocodile and ramming her tail hard into his forehead. This was more than enough to get him to let go of Lucario, backing up and rubbing said spot.

Leavanny gritted her teeth in frustration, shouting, "DAMMIT, WE WERE SO CLOSE!" Krokorok shaking the pain off and saying, "Calm down, Leavanny. I was just caught off-guard. There's no way that shrimp can be of much help."

Lucario looked at Clauncher who grinned and said, "Hey, I'm London's official hero, so there's no sense letting you beat the bad guys alone," the dog about to object, but deep down inside, he knew he needed help, so he said nothing and just nodded his head.

With that, both rushed toward the villains as Leavanny simply released thin threads of string from her leaf tips, binding them to Lucario. But before she could take full advantage of this, Clauncher saw them almost instantly and used her claws to cut them, thus freeing the dog from the binding material.

Krokorok simply rushed at the lobster, shouting, "YOU'RE ALREADY BECOMING A PAIN!" the crocodile lashing out his jaws again only for Clauncher to roll up into a ball, quickly getting behind him and resting her claws against his sides.

"What's a half-pint like you going to do!?" Krokorok asked tauntingly before letting out a laugh, Clauncher grinning and replying, "Oh, you shouldn't underestimate me just 'cause I'm short," the lobster leaning back, Krokorok's eyes widening when Clauncher managed to lift him up with incredible ease, leaning back and planting his head into the concrete, connecting a backdrop.

"Now to make sure you stay down!" the lobster added before propelling herself high into the air, rolling into a ball again and spinning toward Krokorok's chest. When she got close enough, she stopped her vertical spin and held her big claw high above her head, shouting, "CRABHAMMER!" the claw doubling in size before she rammed it hard into the crocodile's belly, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets before he closed them, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

All the while, Lucario was no longer having trouble now that he could focus on Leavanny by himself. He had managed to avoid a few karate chops from her as he saw an opening and shouted, "FORCE PALM!" sending his palm hard into her chest, causing her to cough up blood as she tried to hold her ground.

"No, I've come too far to let you ruin this for me!" Leavanny grunted, crossing her arms and shouting, "X-SCISSOR!" rushing toward the dog only for him to stand his ground. Once she was close enough, he held out his arms and took hold of her wrists, stopping her dead in her tracks.

With that, Lucario proceeded to lower her arms and pull on them while they were still crossed. Leavanny cried out in pain when the dog ended up pulling hard enough to dislocate her bones. After that, he dashed behind her and grabbed hold of her wrists again.

Lucario leaned back, pulling the stick bug down and resting her back against his chest spike, shouting, "LONDON BRIDGE!" as he pulled hard. However, he did not wish to commit murder anymore, so he applied just enough force to break her back but not enough for the whole spike to go straight through, especially since she was skinny enough to be cut in half by it.

With that, both villains were out cold as Clauncher grinned at Lucario, saying, "We make a pretty good team, wouldn't you say?" Lucario taking a deep breath and replying, "You got skills, kid."

With that, police officers from Hero Planet were called up to arrest Leavanny and Krokorok, who had regained consciousness. But as the two were handcuffed, Leavanny looked deep into Lucario's eyes and asked, "Why did you spare my life?" the dog taking a deep breath and replying, "I don't like killing anymore."

As the car took off, the dog took a deep breath as Clauncher noticed a big clock nearby saying eight-thirty as she asked, "Hey, don't you need to be somewhere soon?" Lucario pulling out his pocket watch and sighing, "You're right," the dog sprinting off into the distance.

While he headed downtown, he was starting to find himself annoyed by all of this rain. Sure, he did not really care before, but now his fur had started to feel heavy from all the moisture. Sure, he had his leather jacket to protect part of him, but that did not cover as much, especially since he refused to button it up.

While he ran, he noticed a car stop next to him, the driver opening the door and revealing herself to be the mother of the child he had saved. She looked at him and asked, "Hello, sir, do you need a ride somewhere?" the dog nodding and replying, "Yes."

He sat in the back seat as the woman's son was seated next to her in the front, the boy looking back and grinning, saying, "Hi, Mister Doggy," Lucario smiling lightly at the kid before giving the address he was looking for. They would have noticed his bleeding shoulder had his jacket not covered it up.

After a while, they arrived in front of a big mansion, the woman saying, "I can't believe I didn't notice you were Riolu's son. You look so much like him," Lucario chuckling and replying, "Yeah, I do, don't I?" the child waving goodbye as the dog waved back.

With that, he slowly walked toward the entrance, taking a deep breath and standing before it for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and slicked his ears back, biting his lip and slapping himself on the cheek. He had come all this way and he would not allow himself to turn back now.

After a few more seconds, he gently placed his hand against the doorknocker, banging on the door once before doing it four more times at a quicker pace. After a few seconds, a young human woman with long brown hair wearing a light-blue gown answered, her eyes going wide as a smile formed on her face, Lucario leaning in for a hug as the woman cradled his head, though only the head for both knew exactly what would happen if their torsos were to touch. This woman was Lucario's mother, Sarah.

Soon enough, Lucario was dry and wearing an unbuttoned fancy suit and sitting at a table for dinner, a human girl around his age with hair similar to his mother's but with freckles on her face seated across from him. She had an uneasy look on her face as Lucario pretended not to see this, asking, "How is school going, Amanda?" the girl muttering, "Fine."

The dog blinked and enquired, "What's with that look, then?" Amanda turning away and remarking, "I think you know exactly what it is," Sarah remarking, "Amanda, that's rude! Your brother finally comes home after all this time and-"

"It's fine," Lucario replied, taking a deep breath and getting up, sighing, "I ran away and became a villain. She has all the right to spite me," Amanda nodding and replying, "Exactly. Thank you for understanding."

"But you admitted you were wrong," Sarah replied, "Not only that, but you came back here to make amends! I think it takes a lot of courage to do something like that!"

Lucario took a deep breath and replied, "Look, I don't really have any desire to stay here. I came to talk to Father, but he's clearly not here. Sorry for wasting your time," the dog getting up as Sarah scowled at Amanda, her hands against her hips as the girl simply had her arms folded, grunting, "Hmph!"

However, just as Lucario was about to exit the room, the girl bit her lower lip and turned to face him. Light tears rolled down her cheeks as she got up and ran over to the dog, placing her hands on his shoulders, pleading, "Please look at me, brother!" Lucario turning as Amanda sniffed, "I'm sorry for being so mean! It's just, when you ran away, I was so sad!"

Lucario's eyes went wide as he remembered it now. Growing up, he and Amanda had a stronger bond than most siblings. He would always play with her when their parents were too busy. Whenever bullies picked on Amanda, Lucario would come to her rescue. On her first day of school, the dog requested a ride there one hour before classes started just to give her the grand tour of the building so she would know where everything was, even walking her to her first class.

Amanda still had tears rolling down her cheeks as she held up her right fist, Lucario nodding and lifting up his left fist, the two pounding them together and holding them there. After that, the two opened up their hands as Amanda wrapped her fingers around Lucario's. The two had warm smiles on their faces as they held their hands like this for a few seconds.

"Good day, my lady," Lucario said with a bow as Amanda gave a curtsy with her left hand pulling on her dress while replying, "Same to you, good sir," the two laughing. Lucario could not believe it. He was actually happy after so many years.

With that, the two returned to the dinner table and talked about various different subjects. There was nothing in particular they were discussing. They just said whatever came to mind and that was good enough, Sarah more than happy to see them connecting with each other.

"Please tell me you're planning on staying, Lucario," Amanda replied, "You only said those things because you didn't think I wanted you around, right?" Lucario taking a deep breath and replying, "I'm sorry, Amanda, but-" Amanda asking, "But what?" Lucario replying, "There's something I feel I must do, and I need to do it my own way. I don't want anyone in my family getting involved with this."

Amanda shook her head until Sarah rested a hand on her shoulder, nodding her head with a smile and saying, "Lucario, whatever it is you need to do, we will support you," Amanda taking a deep breath before smiling lightly and nodding her head.

But just as Lucario was about to take his leave, he noticed it was already midnight, the dog looking out the window at the pouring rain and chuckling before turning to Amanda and saying, "Well, I guess I could put my plans aside for one night," Amanda's eyes sparkling as she gave her brother a hug, though remembered to keep her body away from his spike.