A/N: Ah, the hiatus went on longer than expected hahaha. My sincerest apologies, but from now I'll try to update as soon as I can!
Also, I just realised the chapters and comments prior to this chapter was 69. I found myself laughing so hard while uploading this chapter and I'm not even sorry.
It's been weeks, but Riolu still tried its best to avoid humans. Despite that, Riley visited Riolu every day without fail, in hopes that it'll warm up to him eventually. However, he had been met with hostile attacks and defensive responses by far.
"Why are you trying so hard?" Steven questioned softly while changing Riley's bandages.
"I don't know," He shrugged in reply. "I feel a strange connection to that Riolu for some reason. I want to get to know it better."
"You should give it some time," Steven spoke in a concerned tone as he removed the old bandages carefully, only to see the scratch scars still present. He almost winced, before reaching for the ointment, applying it gently on his hand. It twitched slightly in pain from the stings, and Steven instinctively pulled away.
"Sorry, did it hurt?"
"No, I'll live." Riley muttered, glancing at Riolu as it played with Latias and Latios. "But I really do wonder though…what caused it to distrust humans so much?"
Steven fell into silence, wrapping the new bandages from his wrist up to his knuckles. Now that he mentioned it, he didn't give it that much a thought, though he wished he had some answers.
"…there, it should be fine for now."
"Thanks," Riley replied, almost absent-mindedly. His glance traced back to Riolu, his brows furrowing. Somehow, he had a feeling that it wasn't coincidence that the pokemon stumbled into the garden injured. Asides from the swarm of beedrill that chased him here, that is. He wanted to find out why.
He had been keeping watchful eyes on it, hoping he would get a hint, or something of the like, from his behaviour, but could not figure out anything.
"It's getting late, Riley." Steven patted him on the shoulder. "You should get some rest after dinner."
"Ah…yeah, I guess." He flashed Riolu a faint smile, before leaving him with the pokemon in the garden. He glanced at the oran berry he had left for him earlier, and bit into the fruit. A hint of spiciness and bitterness, but it was mostly dry and sour, leaving a sweet aftertaste.
After finishing the rest of the fruit, he climbed on a rock and stared at the moon, seeking comfort under its soft glow. He eventually lost track of time, and curled up, falling asleep.
His slumber was short-lived, when he realised he was struggling to breathe. He was in a tight space, it was dark. He was alone, afraid.
"You're coming back with me, so quit struggling." A rough voice from outside the sack whispered harshly. "You're worth too much, not that you'd know."
That voice, Riolu knew too well. He had to get out. He howled, but it was muffled, silenced almost immediately. The man scaled the wall, getting away with the pokemon.
The noise, however, was heard by the eon siblings. At the same time, Riley woke up, sensing something was amiss. He quickly got dressed, dashed out of his room, and instinctively ran towards the garden.
"Riolu!" He called out, in hopes that the pokemon would respond. Riolu had heard him, but could only reply with a weak yelp. He gritted his teeth, scaling the wall. His eyes darted around for any presence; Whoever that got Riolu shouldn't have gotten far. Even though it was dark, with the landscape only barely lit by the dim moonlight, his ability to sense aura was able to reveal their location to him.
He swiftly leapt off the wall and pursued the poacher, his legs carried him like a feather in the wind. It didn't take long for Riley to catch up, making it seemingly effortless on his part. The poacher's chances were slim at this point, but he was more than willing to take it.
Latias had been following Riley, cloaked in invisibility. While she went after him, Latios stayed behind and looked for Steven, using telepathy to keep in contact. Latias was ready to help him, but Latios quietly stopped her. He wanted to wait for the right moment. She seemed hesitant at first, but she trusted her brother, and conceded.
"Unhand him this instant!" Riley snarled, his eyes clearly burned with fury. The poacher only smirked, pulling out a whistle from his pocket, and blew into it. No sound came out of it, but Riley was still cautious. For a moment, there was only silence, but a shriek could be heard from a distance. A Staraptor and Honchkrow flew in, eyeing at Riley aggressively.
Latias was getting impatient at this point. She knew they were going to attack him, but Latios silently signalled her to stay down.
"You really think it was safe to come here alone?" He smirked. "Honchkrow, Dark Pulse!"
With a growl, the bird pokemon conjured a sphere of dark energy, before launching the beam in Riley's direction. Latios signalled Latias to go, and without wasting a second more, Latias eyes glowed, and casted a shield from the blast. Both Riley and Latias emerged from the smoke unscathed, but her eyes were still glowing. She was sharing her vision with Latios so Steven would know where to find them.
The poacher was caught off caught, but he wasn't about to leave with nothing.
"Both of you, wing attack!" He commanded, and the two bird pokemon wings glowed, hitting Latias simultaneously. Latias retaliated with a mist ball, managing to knock Staraptor down, but Honchkrow, being a dark type, took no damage.
"Now, Night Slash!"
The crow's wing was cloaked in a purple light, before swooping in to deal a direct damage before Latias could react.
"Latias!" Riley ran to the eon pokemon, holding her in his arms in worry as she pushed him back, convincing him that she could still buy him time. She struggled to get back up, but stumbled a little before a sphere of blue energy formed at her mouth, launching it at Honchkrow. It was hit, but still had some fight left.
"Such power…as expected from a rare gem." He
laughed. Staraptor regained its balance, and took to the skies again. It puffed its chest and let out a cry, as if to intimidate the already injured Latias.
"I'll be taking this one with me too," The poacher smirked, seeing the odds turn against Riley. "Shadow ball, Honchkrow."
The bird conjured a purple sphere and directed it towards Riley, but before it could hit, a distant voice could be heard.
"Gyro Ball!"
A silver sphere intervened the fight, smoke from the impact spread across the battlefield. The poacher couldn't see anything, and panicked. Latios, concealed by the smoke, headbutted Riolu's captor, and he broke free, running back with the eon pokemon.
"What just-?!" He realised he was empty handed, and the sack was on the ground. "How dare you!"
"You're not taking him." Steven stood in front of Riley, with Metagross silently beside him. "Or Latias."
"Keh, we'll see about that." The poacher was annoyed. "Staraptor, Close Combat, Honchkrow, Dark Pulse!"
"Metagross, mega evolve!" The stickpin on Steven glowed, and Metagross was enveloped in a bright light. The light from Metagross and Steven's keystone met and fused, allowing its features to begin changing. Metagross' limbs blocked the incoming attacks, and deflected them, along with the light from the mega evolution.
Riley looked on in awe. He never noticed Steven's stickpin was really a key stone that allowed mega evolution. The key stones and mega stones themselves are hard to find, and the bond between a trainer and their partner determined whether or not the pokemon could mega evolve, otherwise the stones would be obselete. He has honestly never seen it happen with his own eyes, and to think Steven and Metagross was capable of such a feat.
"Meteor Mash," Calm and collected, he gave out orders to his partner. One of Metagross' limbs glowed white, its claws seemed to take shape of a meteor. Staraptor's close combat met with Metagross' meteor mash, and the two attacks clashed. But the power of a mega evolved pokemon as strong as Metagross proved to be overwhelming, taking the bird out of battle with a single hit.
Honchkrow's dark pulse was about to reach Riley, when Riolu's blocked the attack with force palm. Riley turned to the bipedal canine in surprise. After all this time when the pokemon refused to get close to him, he would protect him like this?
Riolu's physique wasn't very impressive, but he managed to block the attack. Leaping forward, with another force palm ready, he landed a direct hit on the bird.
"Night Slash!" Honchkrow heeded, and saw an advantage when Riolu was still in close proximity. With quick reflexes, the bird's wing glowed purple and hit Riolu before he could evade the attack.
"Use Counter, quick!" Riley instinctively called. "Trust me... please."
Riolu heard his voice, and remembered how he came after him despite the way he's been hostile to Riley. He decided to put his trust in the human, and landed on its feet before its body was outlined with red energy. The attack that Riolu took returned to Honchkrow twofold, rendering the bird unable to battle.
The poacher fell to his knees, knowing he had lost everything. Metagross reverted to its usual form, and Riley and Steven handed the criminal to the guards, before checking on Latias, who seemed to be better after using Recover.
"We should take her back to the garden, the fountain there has healing properties. It'll help her regain her energy." Steven said, gesturing the eon siblings to follow him. Metagross grunted and went with Steven. Riley looked down at Riolu, before reaching out a hand to him.
"Let's go home together," He smiled warmly, waiting for a response. Riolu had believed all humans were malicious, but Riley proved otherwise. Perhaps, if it's him, he could begin to trust again.
Riolu looked up at him, before leaping onto Riley's shoulder, giving him the slightest smile.
Yeah, let's go.