3 days later, Ash's P.O.V
I was looking out the window from the cafeteria, not paying attention to anything around me. Ever since that day at Riley's house, I've been trying to think about whether Lucario and Riley are the same person
Based on everything I know about Lucario, he seems to have similar if not the exact same powers that both Riley and I have. Another thing is that Riley mentioned not knowing about any other aura user... and if Lucario is one, then either Riley was lying or he is actually Lucario himself
"ASH!" a female voice shouted as I gripped my ears. I forgot that my senses were now heighten and more sensitive than before
"Not so loud" I told Leaf, who in turn glared at me with crossed arms
"Wouldn't have needed to shout if you had been paying attention. I mean what could be on your mind for you to be so deep in though" Leaf questioned
"She's got a point Ashy-boy. You've barely even touched your food" Gary commented as he motioned towards the untouched food in front of me
"I've just got some things running around my head and trying to make sense of them" I told them as they both sent me concerned looks and I mean it's not like I could just tell them. How would that even go 'I'm just trying to figure out whether my tutor is the hero known as Lucario. Oh, did I mention he is also my mentor at teaching me how to control my powers. Oh yeah that reminds me, I have powers!'
The respond I'm sure I'd get if I said that is either they laugh like crazy or thinking I'm crazy
"Alright Ash. Just don't overthink too much. Besides a break now and again won't hurt. So, stop thinking and finish your lunch" Leaf seriously said and pushed my food even closer towards me
Nodding at her words, I decided it best to leave my thoughts alone for now and finish my lunch before class starts... however that doesn't change anything, I still need answers 'I have art next... and I'm at an average grade point... maybe I can skip and do some research in the library'
Once lunch was over, Gary and Leaf started making their way to class and I was happy I didn't have art with them or else they'd be suspicious as to why I wasn't in class
Sneaking into the library, I saw a class already there and seemed to be English since the teacher was Ms. Bertha. Looking closer I noticed that Ethan and Blue were inside the computer room and I hoped they wouldn't notice me as I made my way towards the bored student behind the desk
"Umm do you have any books on myths or something called aura" I asked, taking a risk when I mentioned aura as the older student looked up from her phone and with a sigh she moved towards the computer and typed my request
"Well, I don't know what the heck aura is, but there are plenty of books on myths somewhere in the back corner" she said in a monotone and pointed towards the area she mentioned, but made no effort to get up and help
Rolling my eyes at this, I made my way to where the books were and started looking through each book I could find. After looking through 3 books, none of them mentioned aura at all... maybe it wasn't such a good idea to search in the school library since it seemed I wouldn't be able to find anything here, but it was to late to head to class now 'Might as well finish my history homework'
I got my history stuff and started to finish the last bit of homework for tomorrow. A few minutes later, I could feel someone making their way towards me. Guess I was improving at sensing auras
"Ash?" they asked quietly
Looking up at hearing the familiar voice, I saw none other than Calem Xavier. Sure, Calem and I weren't friends, but nonetheless he talked with the teen from time to time. Besides Calem was on the top of the social ladder and was someone you wouldn't expect to be popular with him being a total geek and a big hero/villain fanatic, but somehow, he made it work
"What are you doing here? I didn't know you had a study hall" he said, looking back every once in awhile to make sure no one noticed him. Whether it was due to being with me or because of the teacher, I'm not sure
"I might be ditching my class" I mumbled quietly, gripping my pencil tightly
"Whoa, never took you for the bad boy. Wonder what interesting thing happened to make you ditch" Calem said as he sat down next to me and grabbed one of the books I was looking at "'Myths; real or fantasy', you into the supernatural?"
"Something like that... I'm trying to figure out Lucario's power" I finally admitted. If I had to choose one person to help me out with this, Calem wins due to his knowledge on researching heroes and villains in his spare time
"Lucario's power? That's a hard one. I've been trying to figure that out to, but there is only so much you can find out by typing in 'glowing blue energy' into Google. I do know that you won't find anything in these books. If anything, I'd say the only way to figure this out is if you ask Lucario or he publicly tells the world" Calem said with a sigh, guess he was never able to find the answer
However Calem was right though... I don't think I'll find anything here
Later that evening
Ash looked at the clock and back at the door. Riley was once again not at home and this proved Ash's reasons for about him being Lucario... unless he was at work in Sakaki Industries
Shaking his head, he turned on the TV again and saw a news report on Lucario once again and how he had been captured... wait captured!
"If Lucario is actually Riley... he could be in trouble and I'm probably the only one who may be able to even locate him. I mean I think I have his aura signature memorized... hopefully" the aura user whispered to himself as he sat there wondering if what he was about to do was going to be a good idea or not... especially since Lucario flat out told him not to get involved after meeting the hero by total accident 2-3 hours ago... ok find, he literally followed him until Lucario cornered him and asked why he was following him
Flashback
"I-I want to volunteer and become your partner!" Ash exclaimed without hesitation
Lucario looked at the teenager in front of him. Batman, Green Arrow, Flash and Aquaman might have all allowed teenagers to run around in costumes and fight, but he wasn't about to allow a kid no older than 10 to join in this life, not under his watch
"You have a life ahead of you. Don't waste it trying to play hero kid. In this life, not everything will end up the way you want it to. Stop following me and don't try and get involved"
With that Lucario left, leaving Ash to stand their shocked at the response and in defeat went towards Riley's, not noticing the concerned look that Lucario gave Ash's retreating form
Flashback over
He knew that Lucario was probably saying that for his own good... but since hearing on the news about Lucario needing a partner, the idea just seemed to fit him, as if he were destined for this
"Ahh screw it, Riley or not, permission or not, Lucario needs help and I'm going!" he declared and ran towards the closet to find something he could wear so he wouldn't be recognized
Ash looked from the balcony wearing a random cloth he styled as a hood, his regular clothing (and was he happy he decided to go with dark clothes today) and a pair of sunglasses. Glad it was dark and there was no one around, he took a deep breath and after a brief hesitation took a jump towards the rooftop below
Although there were times he almost fell from a rooftop, Ash had to admit that this was actually fun... but he couldn't afford to get distracted as he was on a mission after all!
"He has to be here somewhere... unless I actually haven't memorized his aura" Ash mumbled to himself and closed his eyes to confirm he was going in the right direction and resumed his path until reaching what was hopefully the right warehouse as he tried to land without making much noise... which he slightly did
Making his way closer, Ash peeked through the glass window at the top of the warehouse as he tired to get a view of what was going on, trying not to get spotted at the same time
Eyes wide, Ash saw none other than Lucario tied up and hanging upside down inside the warehouse. Ash's eyes widened at the fact that he actually was about to rescue Lucario "Alright Ash... just do the things that Riley taught you and you'll be fine" he told himself and took out a small black pellet he had found on the floor in Riley's closet
Hoping for the best, he threw it onto the window, which resulted in it breaking the glass and landing on the ground as black smoke appeared
Ash, seeing his chance, took the opportunity and jumped in; landing as quietly as he possibly could and made his way over to Lucario. The older hero turned his head and looked surprised to see the younger aura user here of all places
"What are you doing here?" Lucario whispered as Ash concentrated hard and suddenly made a ninja star out of aura appear. Being careful, he threw it towards the rope cutting down Lucario from his imprisonment
Helping him stand, Ash looked at the older hero "Saving you of course! I told you that you needed my help... but no you just had to go and do things on your own and because of that you got captured" he said in a half serious tone
"We'll talk about this later. Seeing as you are here, help me take this guys out" Lucario said, and Ash smiled happily as he nodded at being able to get in on the action
Few minutes later
Ash couldn't believe he had just fought beside Lucario of all people! If Gary could only hear him or see now, he'd be so jealous!
Meanwhile, Lucario was over beside Detective Norman Maple and a few other officers
"Is he your partner?" asked a police officer as the others all turned towards the teenager who was currently leaning on a wall
Norman looked curious at this as well. Lucario was someone who said he didn't want to do something, but then does it in the end like joining the Justice League... maybe he had finally decided on getting a protégé like the others
Lucario in turn looked at the teen and could only sigh. He had a feeling that Ash would be coming out on the field more after today. Deciding not to comment or answer the officer, Lucario made his way towards the young aura user and told him it was time to leave
After making some distance from the crime scene the two stopped and Ash turned towards the older hero with a sigh "You know you couldn't have kept this a secret from me forever. I would've figured out that you were really Lucario... Riley" Ash revealed as Lucario took off his mask and was revealed to be none other than Riley
"Besides I wanna help! You saw how I did back there! Every other hero has a partner; Batman has Robin, Flash has Kid Flash, Green Arrow has, well had Speedy! Please, please, please" Ash said with a pleading face as Riley sighed, knowing this bound to have happened eventually. He should have known telling the teen to stay away was a bad idea... they never stay away in the end
"Alright fine! You can help... but you're gonna need a code name and some more training if you wish to get on the field" he said and Ash grinned, not at all bothered by the idea of more training
All that he needed now was a code name... wait a minute! A name that he remembered reading about suddenly came to mind...
"While anything to do with aura is now considered a myth, there has been rumors of an old legend surrounding the secret apprentice known as Riolu"
That's it!
"I accept and I already thought of a hero name! Call me Riolu" Ash declared with a smile
"Riolu?" Riley asked in confusion as he didn't think Ash would know about that name
Ash nodded "I found out about the name by accident, but the day I did... it just called out to me. Riolu is said to be a myth and the secret apprentice of Lucario. It only makes sense that the myth become real. Besides I don't feel like any other name would feel right either... so yes, I want to be known as Riolu" Ash replied seriously
"Alright Riolu... your actual training begins now"
Calem has appeared and yes I decided to make him a nice character since almost all high school themed stories have Calem as the bad guy in a way. Calem is a big hero/villain fan here and one of the few nice popular kids. He and Ash interact, with Ash making Calem the third on his list of popular kids who he doesn't hold a grudge against, Dawn and Lillie the other two in case you forgot. Also sorry for not including a fight scene, I still suck at those and probably won't include any in detailed description until later on in the story. Besides Ash has been accepted an official protégé of Riley with the hero name Riolu. It was between Riolu and Pikachu for me, but I went with Riolu and you'll see why it wasn't Pikachu due to reasons you'll find out either in this or the sequel. Till next time people ;)
P.S. I feel I'm literally updating this to fast *insert awkward laugh*