Well then. Chapter 50… 50… fif…ty. Fifty. Fifty chapters? Chapter… 50.
I can't believe we're here, but I can believe there's still so much more to do.
Fifty chapters of you people reading me ramble on and on and on about stupid stuff. I can't really believe how much people enjoy this story. I mean, the numbers are all there, but I do have a bit of difficulty believing I deserve it.
Just… thank you.
Okay. Enough sappy stuff, let's get to it.
This is the big 5-0, let's make it count!
The air was tense, muscles were tightening, eyes were wide.
The description Team Ion had given those months back about the Legendary Lucario were reflected in this person right here. Faded blue fur, central spike blunted similar to the metal on a riolu's paws, her right paw spike broken.
Lucario walked right up to Scizor and stared him right in the eyes.
"Hm," she grunted and then raised her arm. Scizor flinched before Lucario even hit him. A glowing bone of white and blue thwacked him on the head. "Not a terrible go at it," she said, eyes flat and tone even flatter.
"Well it's nice to see you too," Scizor snapped, rubbing the top of his head with the round part of a pincer.
"Got the right voice too." She hit him again. The sound of hardened energy slamming onto a metallic exoskeleton rang out like a dull gong. "What else have you got going for you?" She knocked him on the head once, twice, thrice more before he formed a sword of gleaming white and blocked it.
Lucario's eyes widened, and a flicker of genuine shock flew across her face. Scizor, eyes narrowed, and a snarl on his face forced Lucario's Bone Rush away from him. "I get that it's been a while, but you don't get to smack me around!"
Lucario stared at Scizor, eyes wide. "I… your name. Tell me. Now."
"Carapace," he answered, and Lucario closed her eyes and opened them again.
"Well," she said, "either I'm dreaming or hallucinating from stupid."
Scizor crossed his arms. "I agree you are stupid enough to hallucinate from it, but this is real." His expression softened. "I'm real, Lucario. Sorry, I vanished on you, I got frozen by a froslass on Blizzard Island. These four saved me a couple days ago."
Lucario glanced to Team Sunrise, noticing them again as if for the first time. Her eyes lingered on them all in a different way before she turned back to Scizor, an almost lost expression bare on her face.
"I haven't… I didn't think I'd see you again," she said, clearing her throat when it got a little thick. She cleared it again before discretely scratching her face and definitely not wiping at her eyes. "I sure would like to wake up from THIS nightmare right now."
Scizor reached over and pinched her with a pincer, causing Lucario to yelp before smacking him in the side of the head. "Do NOT do that," she warned, before smiling. "Holy fuck." She covered her face, slumping her shoulders and looking ancient for a brief moment. "Cara, I… wait."
She paused and lowered her paws, suspicion covering her face. "How did you get frozen?"
Scizor immediately glanced away. "A froslass, I mentioned that."
"Oh, I heard that," Lucario said, eyes narrowing. "How did a froslass of all things manage to freeze you?"
"Admitting I'm actually skilled? You must be deliriously happy I'm alive if you're admitting that."
"Hardy hah-ha, nice try. How did you get beaten by a froslass?"
"It was cold! She was very good at freezing." He glanced to Team Sunrise for backup. "Right?" Scizor asked, voice rising a pitch.
Lucario also looked at them and read their faces for a moment before narrowing down on Striker. She saw the celebi and dusknoir's glances towards him. "Greeny. Tell me something. Did the froslass put you under any spell? Any sweet nothings she whispered in your ear?"
Scizor, who could not sweat, was mouthing pleas at Team Sunrise.
"Oh, yeah she did something to him that made him all suggestible," Saniya said, casually looking at a hand. "Looked like Attract to me."
Lucario turned to Scizor. "Carapace. Did she flirt with you to lower your guard?"
"… No."
"Cara," Lucario growled.
"She complimented my exoskeleton and invited me in! What was I supposed to do?" Lucario did not look impressed. "I'm sick and injured you wouldn't."
She would. She hit him. Again. Several times.
After smacking Scizor around and speaking excessively cruel words to him, Lucario sighed and decided to properly address Team Sunrise.
"Alrighty then. I hear you four dragged this boneless idiot back." Scizor whimpered from the ground he was now lying on. "And if my impeccably clear memory continues to serve me well, you're Team Sunrise."
"You've heard of us?" Saniya asked, surprisingly calm.
"You could say a trio of kitties told me about you," Lucario replied, eyeing Saniya. "That'd make you the one who sent them back in time." She turned to Striker. "You're the dashing rogue. You're the bad guy who isn't so bad in the end," she said, glancing to Guardian. "And you."
She stepped forward and picked Sean right up. Lucario picked up the riolu to inspect him. "The human-turned-pokémon roughly of this decade. Hmm, yes, I see." She turned him upside down, tugged his tail, looked into his ear, before tossing him to Guardian like a ball. "Checks out."
"It… does?" Sean asked, a little dizzy from the rough handling.
"Oh please," Lucario snorted. "You reek of human."
As Scizor began to pull himself up, deeply ashamed, Team Sunrise took this as permission to introduce themselves.
"It is an honour to meet you, Lucario," Guardian said, setting Sean down and helping Scizor up. "I am Dusknoir."
"Grovyle." Striker nodded.
"And I am Saniya! Sean named me," Saniya giggled, giving out two names right away.
"That makes me Sean," he said, extending his paw for a shake.
"You don't sound so sure," Lucario replied, taking his paw for a quick, surprisingly normal, shake. There was no overly-tight grip or rattling of arms.
"I'm a little turned around," Sean said, still feeling a little dizzy.
Lucario was impressed, and more than a little relieved, at the lack of overeager excitement. Before she could begin with Sean, Dugtrio popped out of the ground.
"Scizor!" Dugtrio said, entirely ignoring Lucario. "We have a request if you are free?"
Scizor, shaking off the humiliation, snapped to attention. "Yes? What do you need?"
On his side, Lucario began to smile.
"My son and I are preparing for an excursion to Labyrinth Cave!" Dugtrio said, bobbing in place. "It would mean a great deal to Diglett if you would accompany us. We are entering to retrieve a Gabite Scale for Ludicolo, he has come quite a bit under the weather, and a cry for help has been extended. Which we shall answer!"
Scizor glanced to Lucario, who was definitely smiling now. "I… sure. Have you asked Chimecho about this?"
"We have!" Dugtrio bobbed faster, his version of nodding. "We would not dare go against Chimecho's orders." It was then that Dugtrio seemed to notice Lucario. "Ah, a pokémon we have not yet greeted. Greetings. We are Dugtrio, apprentice of the Wigglytuff Guild."
"Hello, Dugtrio." Lucario inclined her head, wondering a few things. "I'm Lucario, a rather old acquaintance of Scizor. Would it trouble you if I were to ask a favour?"
"A favour?" Dugtrio asked, eyes focused on Lucario.
"Yes. It's been so long since I've seen Scizor, perhaps I could also join you and your son? I promise to keep an eye on Scizor." She glanced to the Bug-type with a raised eye. "He looks like he's going to keel over from a stiff wind."
"No thanks to you," Scizor grumbled. Lucario's smile widened.
"Hmm," Dugtrio mused. "The directions given by Chimecho were strict and frightful to not meet. Would it be wise to have two pokémon that taking care of may be necessary, or could she watch him as she says?"
Team Sunrise all looked at Dugtrio in a mixture of emotions. Horror for Guardian. Sean stared in confusion. Saniya was giggling in amusement. While Striker gave Dugtrio a considering look.
Scizor also opened his mouth to answer, but a paw on his arm by Lucario quietened him.
"Very well!" Dugtrio said, coming to a decision. "The apprentices of the Wigglytuff Guild are adaptable and can rise to any challenge. You may accompany us, but the trip will take hours of walking, and you may have to fight. We shall endeavour to escort you safely, of course, but risks are inherent with dungeons."
"Thank you, Dugtrio," Lucario said, her cheeks ached from smiling already. "I promise the only ones who will have to worry are the dungeon pokémon and Gabite."
"So, uh, what does this mean for us?" Saniya asked.
Dugtrio turned to them. "You are still on your free time. Diglett and us will take over caring for Scizor today, you are free to do whatever it is you would like to do." He turned to Scizor and Lucario. "Diglett and us will return shortly, and then we shall leave." With that, he vanished underground.
"Should we tell him?" Scizor asked, but there was a gleam in his eye.
"Absolutely not!" Lucario barked, looking to Team Sunrise as well. "That goes for you too. Don't go spreading around that I've shown up. I so rarely get treated like an actual pokémon. I'd like to ride this tauros as far as it'll take me."
Sean was not entirely convinced. "Uh… I know Chimecho said it'd be fine but are you sure? Scizor has been frozen for decades, he got winded just after having a spar against Team Flame yesterday and you… hitting him didn't help."
"Don't be concerned," Scizor said. "As rough as Lucario likes to be, I AM tough."
Lucario nodded. "Very true… ugh, still I can't believe you lost to a froslass. You lost to a froslass? Really? Come on, Cara." She tossed her head, greying tassels swinging around. "We literally worked together for years. By Ho-oh's fried wings you are so much more of a disappointment than Tyson."
Scizor smiled. He had spent quite a while getting used to Lucario's method of showing care and affection. "Love you too, Lucario."
"Did she compliment your pincers or something?" Lucario asked, still having difficulty with the idea.
Scizor did not respond.
"Cara?" Lucario asked, turning back to him as he suddenly found his attention diverted elsewhere. "Carapace?"
"Yes?"
"Tell me what she said."
"N-no."
"Did she talk about your pincers?"
"I… no."
"Cara?" she growled.
He wilted. "Yes. Fine. Yes. She did. She called me handsome and complimented by pincers and said… other things I won't repeat."
Lucario sighed wearily and pinched her nose. "You are completely helpless. You can't say no to a girl, and that girl is life in general. Your shell is soft and you are ruinous to my mental health. You fill me with immeasurable disappointment and my day is ruined."
"Love you too, Lucario."
Shaking her head at Scizor, she nodded to Team Sunrise. "I mean. Okay. Watch."
Like before, Lucario formed a Bone Rush. Unlike before, she didn't just tap it on Scizor's head but slammed it right onto the top of Scizor's head. He raised his arms, and something green flashed, and he blocked the blow.
The impact from the blow sent a shockwave through the ground that knocked Sean over and caused Striker to stumble, catching himself on Guardian. Scizor's legs buckled, and he gasped, nearly falling to his knees, but managed to remain standing.
Scizor's legs quivered a few times before Lucario pulled back and he was able to stand straight, after another moment to regain the feeling in his legs.
"See," Lucario said, waving a paw at Scizor. "If I did that to one of you, you'd crumple like a dollar store hooker punched in the stomach. Although, even then…" she observed Scizor's trembling legs for a moment.
"I've been frozen for forty-three years," Scizor snapped.
"And I've only gotten stronger," Lucario said, nodding. "Alright. I'll wait until you're actually healthy to beat you back into intensive care." She cracked her knuckles. But Scizor didn't look concerned.
"As long as you stop beating on me, I'll recover soon enough." His legs still trembled slightly, and all the eyes of Team Sunrise were on Lucario. With just a single hit on someone else, two of them had lost balance.
Lucario winked at them, and Dugtrio returned with someone else. "Hi!" Diglett said, bobbing at Lucario. There was a travel bag covered in dirt emerging with him. "I'm Diglett."
"Lucario."
"We had a bag packed already, so we might as well take it."
Scizor raised an eye. "Is that why you asked me? So I'd carry the bag?"
"No…," Diglett said, unconvincingly. Scizor chuckled and picked the bag up carefully, shaking some dirt off it before slinging it around an arm. Lucario had her little sack of holding, but she silently agreed it was wise to bring more items.
If someone did get hurt it'd take her ages to find something of actual use in her avalanche of wreckage.
"I'll see you four later," Lucario said, giving a single finger-gun to Team Sunrise. "Time to catch up with Scizor."
"Help me," Scizor whispered before he was dragged off.
"Hm," Saniya said, feeling very left out for once. It was interesting, so she didn't mind it. "I wonder what Team Ion are up to?"
"Help!" Scout cried. "The feraligatr is back!"
"Again!" Beheeyem groaned.
"Alarm. Alarm. Alarm," Beldum repeated, monotone. "Alarm: carvanha are learning to fly. Alarm."
"Come on babes, triple lightning bolt!" Electrike yelled before shrieking when a basculin bit his tail and latched on. "Save me! AHH!"
"Leave him to die," Ara snapped.
"I'm coming, Electrike!" Rai yelled, rushing for the fray.
"Heh, yeah, you are. OW! HELP!"
Mane was out peacefully picking berries. And then the wooloo arrived.
Dugtrio burrowed forth.
How it was done, only the diglett and dugtrio knew, and they weren't sharing the answers.
While he and Diglett were both quite fast, their charges for this mission were not quite so quick. Scizor was faster than he was yesterday, but his species wasn't known for their speed.
He had wings, of course, but Chimecho didn't want him risking damaging them at this juncture. No actual flying with them, he could flap them to train up the muscles though.
And the lucario that had so suddenly shown up walked at the same pace as Scizor. She seemed fit, despite her visible age, but taking it easy was definitely for the best.
She was quite chatty as well.
"And so your main job in the guild is identifying visitors?" Lucario asked. She had been talking plenty to both Diglett and Scizor on the way, asking a lot about Diglett.
Dugtrio thought it nice to see his boy be treated with respect. Despite this lucario clearly being eager to spend time with Scizor after so long, part of Dugtrio wondered about that, she and him did not ignore Diglett in favour of each other.
"Yep. I'm not the only one, but I'm the best in the guild at it. Loudred only really likes to work with me because of it."
"You have an interest in language, then?" Scizor asked. Footprint runes were, after all, the primary written language.
Diglett chuckled just the tiniest bit awkwardly. "Y-yeah. Pity I can't write it myself, I could probably scribe for the guild too if I could!"
There was a constant smile on Lucario's face. She occasionally rubbed the tops of her cheeks, as if they were sore from the strain. Glimmers of something cheeky glittered in her eyes, but to Dugtrio's relief she didn't voice whatever it was she was finding so amusing.
Not that Dugtrio noticed, but slowly over the walk, their travel speed increased. He bobbed faster and faster, and the two pokémon accompanying him, and Diglett kept up without any problem. They arrived at Labyrinth Cave, several kilometres far from Treasure Town's east, an hour faster than he had anticipated.
"Well," Dugtrio said, slowing as the gash in the rocks came into view. "It appears we've arrived ahead of schedule!"
"Fantastic," Lucario said, stepping past Scizor and Diglett to come up to Dugtrio's side. She continued walking for a bit, glancing over the entrance of the dungeon before stopping, letting the three catch up. "What do you think, leader? Should we enter immediately or rest for a period before entering?"
"Ludicolo is sick," Dugtrio said.
"But we are going well on time," Diglett added, burrowing up by his father. "And, well." He lowered his voice. "I think giving Scizor a break is a good idea."
The famed explorer Scizor was trying, and failing, to hide the fact he was breathing harder than normal.
"Very good, Diglett!" Dugtrio praised, he turned to Scizor. "We shall rest for a time."
"You don't need to wait on me," Scizor said, waving a pincer. "I am just a guest."
"One who's been on ice for nearly half a century," Lucario pointed out. She pulled a flask from… somewhere, no one saw where and handed it to him.
He took it gratefully. The flask was made of metal and had gouges in it from many handlings with sharp pincers. He blinked. This was his flask.
"This was all I could find of you," she said softly.
He smiled, a little sadly, a little regretfully, and a little happily. Then took a drink.
Scizor gagged and coughed as Lucario laughed. "Is this One Look?" he spluttered.
"Made of only the finest durin berries," Lucario said, smirking at his reaction. Scizor was coughing and spitting. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the flask. "It's not that bad you big grub."
"I can't believe I forgot your abysmal tastes in things," Scizor growled, still trying to rid the flavour from his mouth. One Look. A beverage so bitter even looking at it could make you want to gag.
"There's no burnt popcorn with dark chocolate here, so I have to make my way somehow."
"Ahem," Dugtrio said, reminding them of their presence. "I do request you abstain from any alcohol while we are on a mission."
"Gotcha, chief." Lucario saluted. "Just playing an old prank. I have actual water." She handed Scizor her flask, also metal, and he gulped down several mouthfuls after a careful sip.
"You will burn for the things you put me through," Scizor coughed, the taste was fading now.
"Look at this way. It got your heart pumping and breathing hard, so that sped up your recovery!"
"That… is not how it works."
"Do you FEEL tired?" Lucario crossed her arms.
Scizor sighed. "No."
"Checkmate."
She formed a Bone Rush and pointed it at the dungeon. "Shall we be off, then?"
Dugtrio glanced to Diglett who nodded. "Agreed. Let us enter to retrieve the Gabite Scale. For Ludicolo!"
"For Ludicolo!" Only Lucario cheered with him.
Scizor, who did not know of any Labyrinth Cave before he was frozen, was kept cautiously in the middle of the group. Dugtrio out front, Diglett in the back, with Lucario and Scizor in the middle. Scizor kept shooting daring looks towards Lucario, but she continued playing the part of a cheeky, but still old and feeble, pokémon.
"Oh dear," Lucario gasped, "a sandshrew. Do not fear, Cara. I shall protect you!"
Diglett and Dugtrio were a little uncomfortable with her solely referring to Scizor by his name, or rather part of his name, but neither said anything. Scizor never referred to her as anything but Lucario.
"I've got it!" Diglett said, burrowing down and quickly striking the sandshrew from below, sending it squeaking into the distance.
"Ah… poor little thing," Lucario sighed, watching it go. "He could have been a doctor, but instead, he became a feral."
"You talk a lot," Diglett chirped.
"Certainly do!" Lucario said, equally as happy. "There are some that say that the wise only say what is needed to be said." She left it at that and kept on talking.
"So, Cara, you would not believe the kind of stuff you've been missing. Let me tell you a story about Team Go-Getters!"
"Know it already," Scizor said.
"Oh, do you now?" Lucario scoffed. "I bet you don't know that Wartortle isn't the FIRST human to have arrived in this world."
"Gengar, right?" Scizor asked.
Lucario was silent. "Stop pretending like you know anything!"
"They reminded Rayquaza that it needs to blow up meteors, right?"
Lucario growled. "Okay, who deprived me of my fun of telling Dimitri's story like a wack job clown?"
"I would guess it was Team Sunrise," Dugtrio said. It was not eavesdropping if she spoke loud enough that Gabite could likely hear her.
Lucario chuckled darkly. "Gooooood. Thank you. They probably told you about time going to shit as well?"
Scizor nodded. "They did. Mentioned in the time they came from, you were frozen aaaannd," he trailed off when Lucario gave him a very dangerous Look. Scizor cleared his throat. "Right," he thought. "She wants to pretend as if they don't know who she is."
"They tell you about Team Paradise, then?" Lucario asked.
"That we didn't get to, no." She beamed at his answer. "Go ahead," Scizor said, tiredly.
"Okay, first off Zygarde continues to be a little bitch and empowered or created a hydreigon to be the 'Voice of Life' rather than take care of the mess itself. I'm not entirely clear on those details, and he just started summoning humans willy nilly. Most of them got eaten by Kyurem who was being influenced by some sort of frosty the snow demon…."
As Lucario chattered Scizor's unseen-ears off, Diglett and Dugtrio continued to fight off the dungeon pokémon. Blasts of sand, underground strikes, and even a few quakes made sure that no one thought to mess with them for long.
"I wonder who she is…?" Diglett murmured to Dugtrio.
"Treat this like an escort mission, son," Dugtrio said. "Doesn't matter who she is, or him, they aren't meant to fight if it can be helped. Just keep an eye and a sense on any dangers."
They could detect movement on and through the ground, although Dugtrio was a lot better at it than Diglett. Only fairly heavy moment, though.
As Lucario chatted, she also made remarks on how old she was and how weak Scizor was, and that was why they were being lazy, while also loudly telling Scizor about what life had been like while he was on ice.
"Boring. Very boring."
"Careful, someone might think you actually care," Scizor said.
"Love you too, Cara," Lucario teased.
Labyrinth Cave was not a very long dungeon. Formed less than ten years ago, the distance it took to reach from Treasure Town was less time than it took to traverse it, even with ferals attacking.
Gabite was no intelligent creature of sense and reason. Long lost to the madness of the dungeon, Gabite did only what he knew to do. Fight. Eat. Collect.
The final room of the dungeon was a wide chamber, the ceiling could not be spied and what little light came from the dungeon was swallowed up by the farthest corners.
The four pokémon headed in carefully as a rippling, wet, growl made itself known. Burrowing into their ears and drenching them with the lurid sounds of danger and warning.
"You two remain back," Dugtrio said, softly.
Scizor shook his head, opening his pincers. "I know I'm not entirely fit, but if I'm here, I will not be a burden. I can help you."
Lucario raised an eye at him, but Scizor was stepping forth with the father and son. She nodded and held back, content to watch and intervene only if necessary.
From the farthest point of the room, stepped a battle-worn gabite. He had a great many scars tearing ruddy lines through his chest and arms, spikes wicked sharp and teeth ready to rip and tear.
Gabite roared out, the universal warning across all languages but the four pokémon before him didn't bend or flee. Eyes narrowed and bloodshot, it roared again as the battle began.
Diglett and Dugtrio immediately went underground, disappearing from sight as Scizor flexed his arms. His wings buzzed, and he directed a vibrating cacophony of energy at Gabite who grabbed at its head when the Bug Buzz washed over it.
This distraction was plenty of time for Diglett to burrow under Gabite and then burst out suddenly, a blast of ghostly energy striking Gabite right in the eyes.
It flinched from the sudden Astonish and Dugtrio emerged behind it, swiftly Slashing out faster than the eye could see and striking a line into Gabite's back. He was aiming to retrieve some scales, but Gabite was tough, and none fell off.
Gabite roared and charged the only one it could see, Scizor, as the other two went back underground. Scizor stood his ground and Lucario nodded happily when he took a better stance to hold himself up.
Shining blades appeared around Scizor, and he brought them together in an interlocking pattern to block Gabite's charge like a set of giant, magical, chainmail. It stumbled from the block, and so did Scizor as he felt his delicate Power get suddenly pushed harder than he was ready for.
Scizor broke the interlocking pattern and drove two of the swords through Gabite. Sadly, as these were constructs of a status move, the capacity of damage they possessed was minor. Being stabbed or slashed by one could do some real damage and they could be surprisingly sturdy, but stabbing with them didn't really work.
Gabite slashed out, claws shining, and Scizor took careful steps back, blocking and weaving and striking back as Gabite roared spittle all over him, trying to reach the annoying bug.
He stalled Gabite long enough for Diglett and Dugtrio to try plan two. Popping up behind it, Diglett yelled. "Can you hold him in place?"
Scizor answered quickly. "I can, but not for long."
He pushed with his swords and knocked Gabite back a step. Breathing heavily as his temperature was going up from all this strain, Scizor formed four new swords and stabbed them into place around Gabite's legs, preventing it from moving for at least a couple seconds.
Making sure it didn't try and jump out, Scizor hit Gabite on the head with the flat side of a sword to.
"Get clear!" Dugtrio yelled, and Lucario acted now, running in to snatch up Scizor and pull him back before Diglett and Dugtrio delivered their father and son special.
Earth Power and Magnitude together.
The swords were evaporated from the double shockwave as the earth at Gabite's feet exploded with Power before exploding as the Magnitude struck around it as well, showing Gabite in dirt and stone.
Gabite wasn't downed from this, but that wasn't the conclusion. In the time they had spent underground after the first attack failed, Diglett and Dugtrio had dug out and mulched a section of the underground into soft dirt. Only the fragile top had remained, which they destroyed with Scizor's help, half-burying Gabite.
Moving quickly, they burrowed again to go for Gabite's legs before he could recover. All they needed was a scale, not a defeat.
Gabite delivered a horrible screeching cry as it felt something touch its legs and writhed in the quicksand-like trap it had been stuck into. Gabite's eyes went white, as did its claws, and a shell of white appeared around its body.
Lucario gasped. "Shit," she cursed, pulling the recovering Scizor back into her arms and jumping, throwing them both into the air.
Gabite used Earthquake.
With both Diglett and Dugtrio, both underground and in direct proximity to Gabite, this was cataclysmic.
The entire room quaked, and from their eye in the air, Lucario and Scizor saw the entire battlefield crack and crumble as if an actual earthquake was tearing this dungeon apart.
They landed in the soft dirt as Gabite screeched in victory, tearing itself out of the ground.
Things went from bad to worse when it glowed again. But rather than the thin light of a prepared Earthquake, this was the light of evolution.
Too bright for even Lucario and Scizor to stare at, they had to shield their eyes. When it faded, Garchomp stood.
Bigger, badder, and far more powerful than before.
"Well, double shit," Lucario said as Garchomp postulated in front of them. "Alright, this WAS fun, and now they're hurt. You hold the damn thing off, I'll dig them out."
Scizor nodded, and the two old warriors split.
Eyes flashing with the Power she had chosen not to use, Lucario formed several Bone Rush's. Holding two in each paw and three more floating around her, she added additional bones to them before supercharging aura through the bone fixtures, creating blades of aura.
Or shovels, as they were about to be used.
Dirt began to fly as Scizor led Garchomp away from Lucario, striking him with swords and waves of energy to enrage and distract it.
Scizor danced a deadly dance with Garchomp. He knew at his peak this would be a difficult opponent, Garchomp were mighty pokémon, and a feral dungeon lord on top of that was additionally unpleasant. And he was injured, weary, and definitely not at his peak at the moment.
Best he could do was buy Lucario some time and then swap positions.
Garchomp charged him, gliding across the ground quicker than trying to run for him. A land shark that could fly, there was no place you could be safe from a garchomp.
The same green glow that Scizor had used to block the worst of Lucario 'proof' strike from earlier appeared around him, but thicker and more realised. The Protect cracked from Garchomp's impact but held it back.
Dropping the cracked shield, Scizor formed several swords and slashed Garchomp across the face before taking two in his pincers and slashing at its wings as well.
They weren't as dangerous as they could be, but with enough force, Power, and careful targets, the swords could still do some real damage.
Drops of blood began to trickle from Garchomp, so it decided to entirely lose its shit.
Lucario, digging furiously, tore up enough land to unearth Diglett who was battered but still conscious. "My dad," he gasped, blinking through a line of blood running down from the top of his head. "He blocked the hit for me."
"Do you know where he is?" Lucario asked, sharply before Garchomp's furious roar took her attention. She narrowed her eyes on the beast. Scizor was barely holding it off with a Protect, but it beat the glowing defence over and over, and the shield was cracking, and Scizor was staggering from the strain of holding Garchomp back.
"Y-yeah, I."
"No time," Lucario said and ran for Scizor. His back was to her, and his Protect was perfectly in the way of her attack. "Scizor! Drop the shield on my mark."
Lucario raised a paw to her mouth and breathed out, beginning to form a sphere of crackling purple energy she transferred to her paw. "One… two… MARK!"
Scizor dropped the Protect and dropped to the ground, and Lucario struck Garchomp in the torso with the Dragon Pulse she had formed.
The ensuing blast ripped the air and sent Garchomp flying with a cut-off shriek. It crashed into the wall and dirt fell from the roof as the entire dungeon trembled.
Lucario smirked and held a paw out for Scizor, he took it with a roll of his eyes. Then she tossed Scizor into the air while forming a protective Bone Rush.
Garchomp, unfairly fast, had barely been phased from the attack and had flown right back for Lucario. She had noticed just in time to get Scizor out of the way and was slammed back when it impacted with the quick Bone Rush.
Garchomp, burning with purple energy of his own, tried to bite through the Bone Rush she had, but Lucario formed another one and drove it into its neck, and it was unable to finish biting down.
The force from the Dragon Rush still forced her back many meters, and with the softness of the ground, every inch buried her further into the ground until she was buried halfway.
Lucario pushed and was able to knock Garchomp back, its Power flickered before the Dragon Rush faded. She struggled to get up before it could attack again, but the softness of the soil gave her no leverage.
Garchomp dove for her again but she formed a quick, much weaker, Dragon Pulse to make some space. Lucario scoffed and looked down and growled, her body rippled before a pulse of pure darkness burst from her feet, blowing the dirt away from her and leaving her in a crater.
It was at this time that Scizor also fell back down and his right pincer shown white before he delivered a brutal Brick Break to Garchomp's head.
The resulting crack of exoskeleton on the bone caused Diglett to cringe.
Garchomp fell to his knees while Scizor fell right through the soil and got buried himself. Lucario decided to dig him out later and focus on taking the Garchomp down first.
There was one issue for her that made this fight an annoyance. A dungeon feral this dangerous would be perfectly fine for her to blow a hole in and kill. But this specific Garchomp was Treasure Town's main source of scales. Garchomp Scales were even more powerful than Gabite Scales and could be powered for multiple uses rather than just one.
It was strong, however, and dangerous, which made her want to kill it outright and simply harvest all the scales. It'd be the simpler, saner, option in her mind.
The time it took for her to deliberate this was unfortunately long enough for the Garchomp to recover and eye her again to charge. Lucario formed her Bone Rush again, still considering killing it outright.
Garchomp began to charge before it suddenly staggered and tripped. Lucario blinked as Diglett emerged. "Gotcha!" he yelled, having dug underneath Garchomp to trap it again. "Lucario, NOW!"
Diglett went back down, and Lucario formed her Bone Rush into another Dragon Pulse and unleashed it upon the recovering Garchomp.
It had taken two Dragon Pulse's from her, but a third proved too much. Garchomp crashed against the wall with enough force for the wall to collapse onto it. It didn't get up again.
Lucario sighed and trudged to Scizor to pull him out of the dirt while Diglett burrowed further. "Dad's over here!" he called, popping back up. Lucario swiftly dug him out until she could pick him out.
Out of respect for Dugtrio's privacy, she ensured he was still encased in a thick block of soil so that neither she nor Scizor, could see his full body. But because this was still Lucario, she stuck it on the end of a Bone Rush and carried him around like a giant lollipop.
"I'll just get a few scales," Scizor suggested, recovering quickly from the excitement, while Lucario was inflicting this injustice upon Dugtrio. Garchomp twitched as he took them but didn't come out again.
"Is dad going to be okay?" Diglett asked, worried as they left the dungeon.
"Taking an Earthquake underground isn't ideal," Lucario said. "But he's still in one piece, just knocked out."
"You can't heal him?" Diglett asked, a little shyly but a little hopefully too.
"What you've heard probably isn't true," Lucario said. It wasn't gentle, but it wasn't blunt either. Diglett nodded, he understood.
She continued to carry Dugtrio, and help support Scizor who was having trouble walking, partway back to Treasure Town until the father of the duo woke up.
"Where?" Dugtrio groaned, blinking. He was higher than normal and bouncing.
"Dad!" Diglett cried relieved. Lucario delivered him to the ground, and Dugtrio burrowed down. Appearing next to Diglett. "You're awake! Thank goodness."
Dugtrio's three heads had all been torn up a bit from the blast, and there was more damage that others couldn't see. He wasn't really okay, but he was conscious and tough.
"What happened?" Dugtrio groaned, four of his eyes squeezing shut from the pain and dirt on his face.
"Gabite hit us with an Earthquake, and you took the hit for me," Diglett said, sadly. "And then he evolved, but Scizor and Lucario took him down."
"Don't count yourself out," Lucario said. "If you hadn't have trapped him at the end, it might have gone differently." She didn't say that difference would be Garchomp's life, not theirs.
Diglett blushed a bit from the praise, but Dugtrio only looked aghast.
"Ah… I see," he said, wilting a bit. "My apologies for my failure."
"That's a little dramatic," Lucario commented. She nudged Scizor, and he opened a pincer to show his bounty.
"We have the scales, Garchomp Scales even. Stronger than a gabite, the guild will be pleased."
"With your actions," Dugtrio agreed, "yes. And Diglett's too."
"You helped too, dad," Diglett said, voice getting very soft. Lucario glanced to Diglett, he had squeezed his eyes shut when Dugtrio first apologised and had taken a deep, hard, breath.
"By getting knocked out," Dugtrio said. "Truly, the epitome of skill I am." He squeezed all his eyes shut for a moment and took a breath. "Diglett, I…"
"Don't." Diglett's voice brokered nothing.
"I'm sorry," Dugtrio said, ignoring Diglett's plea. "I have no excuse. I am the weakest of the guild."
"You are not!" Diglett protested.
"In skill and use? I am. At least Bidoof had the excuse of being weak and inexperienced but look how he has grown? Then there is me. Only capable of changing the job lists and staring out at the sea. I'm sorry you have to have me as your parent."
Diglett didn't respond, he just turned away eyes shining and disappeared underground, burrowing away.
Dugtrio looked even more upset at driving Diglett away. Almost as if he didn't notice he had company, he muttered. "All I want to be a hero for my boy. But I'm not his mother, I'm just incompetent. A failure."
"That's… no," Scizor said, feeling greatly for Dugtrio. He knelt down. "Dugtrio, you led us, and we have the scales. Today wasn't, nor are you, a failure."
Lucario, however, snorted. "With that attitude, you sure are."
"Lucario!" Scizor snapped, standing up to face her. "Tough love isn't always the right way."
"Worked on you," she pointed out.
"Dugtrio is not me! At least try to understand him before you start with that."
Lucario snorted again. "I understand enough." She looked to Dugtrio who held a lost expression. "You tried. You also failed. That's fine, who cares. What's pathetic is giving up after one setback."
"This… this is hardly the first time something like this has happened," Dugtrio argued, hesitantly.
"And did you keep trying?" Lucario asked, raising an eye. "Clearly, if you tried today."
"What does it matter if I try if I keep failing!?"
Lucario rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna just say this here before moving onto the important part. You knew we were here when you were muttering under your breath. Calling yourself out in front of strangers, or even people you do know is hardly doing anything except fishing for meaningless sympathy. Grow a spine and think about what this behaviour looks like to your son."
Dugtrio blinked as Lucario looked to the path Diglett had gone, the slight disturbance of the soil on the top showing his paw. "Why have you been trying if 'all you try fails' then?" she asked.
"I…" Dugtrio glanced away. "I just want Diglett to be happy. We joined the guild together because he wanted to. We go on missions together because he wants to. But I always muck things up. He's looked at differently because his father is an apprentice with him and every mission we go on, I make a fool of myself. How can he be happy like this?"
"Look," Scizor sighed. He could see Lucario's approach was having an effect, so he decided she had a point. She always seemed to be right. "Until you started talking down on yourself, he was very happy. Relieved you were conscious, and as we were leaving, he was excited about telling everyone the battle against Garchomp."
"He spoke of you two working together," Lucario pointed out before tilting her head in a considering nod. "Even mentioned to me that his idea of trapping Garchomp for me to finish it off came from your initial idea to trap it. He was proud."
Dugtrio paused. "I… really?" he asked, in a small voice.
"You don't need to take our word for it," Lucario said.
"I'm sure Diglett would say it if you talked to him," Scizor added.
"Then… what should I do? What should I say?"
Lucario snorts. "I have no idea. I'm wise, not a guru. Fix your family issues yourself, it's not anyone's job but yours."
"I…, I see. You're right. You are right." Dugtrio nodded. He breathed a sigh. "I raised him almost entirely myself, you know. I've tried to be his father and his friend, but I couldn't be the mother he never had."
"Thanks for the offer," Lucario said, dryly. "But you're a little young for me."
Dugtrio gasped and blushed red. "N-no! I wasn't insinuating…"
Scizor began to laugh, and Lucario smirked, letting Dugtrio stew in it for a moment before he laughed as well.
"To change the subject," Lucario began, "did you invite Cara for this because Diglett wanted to, or in the hopes that he'd make up for your perceived failings, because you're a fan of his, or all of the above?"
"Is there another option of none of the above?" Dugtrio asked, weakly.
"No."
"… All of the above."
Lucario smirked. "Knew it. Pay up." She extended her paw to Scizor, who rolled his eyes and gave her a Garchomp Scale. "Eww." She tossed it back to him.
"What did you expect?" he laughed. "I don't have any money on me."
Shaking her head at his poorness, she smirked at Dugtrio. "I totally get the admiration though," she said, voice teasing as Scizor's shell went a funny colour. "A lot to admire about him. Very strong, endlessly loyal, actually possesses some sense AND a sense of humour. Lots to love about Cara."
"O-oh? Admitting your feelings at long last?" Scizor said, trying to shake off the blush.
Lucario's smirk did not leave him with confidence. "Truly, there are tales I can tell of his bravery and strength against adversity. Why there was a time with a coven of delphox…"
Scizor proceeded to get embarrassed by a dozen nice things Lucario said about him as they made the trip back to Treasure Town.
Scizor was not able to handle compliments and tried to run away several times. He tried to instigate an argument or three, but Lucario was ceaseless.
By the time they made it to Treasure Town, he was a shivering shell of shock.
"Truly, I've been quite miserable without him," Lucario finished. "While we had parted ways as teacher and student for a few years before he disappeared, I still liked to journey with him. I've never really had any friends in this world, because of the inevitable pain of losing them." She glared at Scizor.
With more than a bit of heat, and some hidden emotion, she growled. "Which was strongly reinforced."
"I still can't believe you gave up," Scizor grumbled, trying to bait her into taking it all back so things would feel normal. "Old age has gotten to you. You're far too nice to be the Lucario I knew and tolerated."
But she didn't get angry at the jab, just a sad smile. "Eventually I got to the point where I believed I couldn't even find a body and tearing Blizzard Island to pieces looking for one was just too much."
Scizor relented. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"You're alive now," Lucario said, sighing. "I'm sorry for giving up. Truly."
"Thank you for coming with us and saving us in the end," Dugtrio said after arriving in town, bobbing in place. "We'll leave you two to your reunion, we shall go in search of Diglett."
"Know what you're going to say, yet?" Scizor asked.
"No. Perhaps we'll know when we see him."
"That's better." Lucario nodded. "Trying to plan every word starts to get a bit insincere. Just talk to him. Talk with him."
Dugtrio nodded his thanks and went underground, knowing that Scizor would get the scales to Ludicolo. They had discussed it on the walk back.
For him. He was looking for his son.
Dugtrio looked everywhere he could think of. Diglett's Sentry where he liked to look at feet. He checked their room, a room only they could access that was further down than the third floor of the guild. Diglett was not there.
He came to the third floor and asked Loudred and Croagunk who were on sentry duty, but neither had seen Diglett.
"What happened to you? Why are you looking for him?" Loudred asked, very loudly as usual. He narrowed his eyes. "You didn't upset him again, DID YOU?"
Dugtrio muttered some sort of evasion and disappeared. But that word. Again. Rang in his head over and over.
And not just because Loudred was loud.
He checked the beach, Wurmple and Swellow were there, Spinda's Café, Lucario and Scizor had already left, and Marowak's Dojo.
Eventually, Dugtrio looked out to Sharpedo Bluff and found his normal spot of contemplation taken up by someone else.
"Hey," Dugtrio said, burrowing up to Diglett. He wasn't quiet as he approached, so Diglett didn't jump. They both knew the sound of the other.
"Hey," Diglett replied, a little sadly. He looked out at sea, and just saw waves. Dugtrio looked out to see and saw enrapturement, wonder, beauty, and so much more.
It was almost difficult to look away from the sea, but he wasn't here for it. He was here for Diglett.
"Why do you like the sea so much, dad?" Diglett asked. He understood it was pretty and the sounds were nice, he was used to going to sleep to the gentle sounds of the ocean. And also remembered nightmares, waking up to the sounds of the sea in turmoil.
"There's a lot of reasons, son," Dugtrio sighed. "The clear of the water. The reflection of the light. The sound of the waves. But… I love the sea because…" he hesitated, this wasn't something he liked to talk about. Dugtrio couldn't quite say the words as he was supposed to, so he said only part of it. "Your mother loved it."
Diglett perked up. Dugtrio never spoke out his mother. Ever. "She did?"
"Yes. More than anything else…" he paused before adding something. "Except you."
Diglett smiled a little and glanced out at sea with a new look upon it. He wondered why but wasn't sure if he should ask further.
"Diglett, I'm sorry I…" Diglett tensed a little, only too ready to hear what he always heard. "Said what I said." Diglett blinked, that was different.
He looked to Dugtrio who had cast his gaze out at sea again, taking the sounds of the waves to strengthen himself.
"I often think I'm not good enough," Dugtrio admitted, "to have a son like you. I worry that I embarrass you and wish I could be someone you were proud of."
"I am proud!" Diglett said, protesting that idea entirely. "Dad I…, I love you. You don't need to prove anything to anyone! I don't care what anyone says, and I haven't heard anyone say that. Except you."
Dugtrio had heard it. Maybe not often, maybe not in direct words, but he had heard it before. He chose not to say that, however.
"Thank you. If there is anything I am proud of more than anything else, it's that I got to raise you."
Diglett moved in close, and they leaned on each other for a moment. Dugtrio was still injured, so they needed to go back to the guild eventually. But for a moment, they'd enjoy the moment.
"Dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"Was that the Legendary Lucario?"
"Hahaha. Yes."
"Cooool."
"Would you like some tea?" Azumarill asked.
"Yes, please. Thank you," Marill said, accepting the cup and sipping from it.
Marill had completed his jobs early today thanks to Bidoof and Flaaffy covering for him. They knew he didn't get a lot of time with his family anymore and even Flaaffy, indignant as he could be when someone else had it better, sympathised with that.
Paras was also off. She was having a rough couple days and decided to plant herself out in the woods for a period to recharge.
They understood.
"Marill, tell me more about Crested Pond?" Azurill begged.
"Sure. After Bidoof got splashed by a magikarp, Flaaffy tried to shock it but missed and got his wool all drenched as well. He wasn't too happy about that."
Azurill giggled, picturing Flaaffy stomping around with his wool in his eyes.
"Paras taught it a lesson though, and she continued to be very strong there, lots of Water-type's like us, but Flaaffy doesn't have the best aim."
Azurill giggled some more, and Azumarill smiled at her boys talking and playing. They were both very proud of Marill, and he still lived in town. But both of them did find themselves missing him a bit.
Family time, however, was sadly never something they could have for long. A soft tapping at the door spoke of interruption, and Azumarill answered it, knowing who would be on the other side.
"Good afternoon, Cherrim," Azumarill said, smiling. She invited in the covered flower pokémon and looked to the boys.
"Would you two be able to stock us up on some fruit?" she asked.
"Yep," Azurill said, and he took Marill by the paw to take him out. Marill nuzzled his mother as a goodbye, and they left her to her work.
"Do keep an eye out," Azumarill called before the door was closed and Marill nodded. He remembered the odd warning from Armaldo. It was vague and frustratingly general, but he had given it directly to them.
Marill let Azurill lead him to the marketplace, and they were able to get a deal on some apples and oranges from the Kecleon Brothers, stuffing the fruits into Marill's travel bag. Their mother would need plenty more time with Cherrim, so they decided to go for a wander, enjoying each other's company as they used to.
They wandered through town, talking to pokémon. There was a bit of a buzz going about town, even as Sunflora ran about with a bit of a panic in her eyes trying to stop it from spreading before she could at least confirm it.
Not being one for gossip, they wandered on.
Azurill wanted to go to the beach and Marill had no issues with that. But halfway down the track, there was an odd, distant, sound that attracted both of their attention.
"What's that?" Azurill asked before, as the young kid he was, he just ran off after the sound.
"Wait!" Marill squeaked, barrelling after him. "Don't just run off!"
Azurill, deciding to be playful, ran faster and Marill had a bit of trouble catching up as they went further off the track. Azurill was smaller and could toss himself with his tail quite well while Marill had neither advantage.
He could try an Aqua Jet, but he didn't want to hit Azurill by accident.
Eventually, however, he caught up. "Azurill, don't you do that again!" Marill snapped, panting for breath. The warning to be careful flashed through his head, and he grabbed Azurill to pull him back to the track.
"Shh," Azurill said, resisting. "Look."
Marill didn't care and went to carry him by force, but then he did notice the sounds were louder. Pausing, he gave Azurill a Look to be still and crept forward, poking his head through some leaves.
On the other side, the makers of the noise were in plain sight.
A lucario and what looked to be the same Scizor that Team Sunrise had rescued. At first, Marill was ready to jump in. They were fighting, and Scizor was not fit for a fight. But then he noticed both were laughing and smiling.
Scizor also had translucent blades dancing around him, deflecting blows from Lucario's Bone Rush. Hard energy hitting harder energy in dull thwacks and clangs.
Lucario with a single Bone Rush extended nearly twice as long as she was tall used both ends of the materialisation to box Scizor back. Spinning and flicking it to wear down the swords and giving sharp, brutal, jabs with it through cracks in Scizor's metaphorical shield.
It was the sounds of his exoskeleton being smacked that they had heard.
Lucario, spinning the Bone Rush faster, shortened it and swung down brutally, aiming to take Scizor down with one hard strike to his head.
He managed to catch it, however, with a pair of crossed blades clasped in each pincer, but her strength was causing his arms to shake and legs to buckle.
Lucario smirked and released, stepping back and letting her Bone Rush fade to nothing.
Relieved, Scizor slumped to the ground, panting hard to catch his breath.
"Well, I gotta admit," Lucario said proudly. "After forty-three years of being frozen, you handled that a lot better than I expected."
"I'm. Just," Scizor panted. "Getting. Started." He began to stand up, aiming to continue, but she caught his shoulder and stopped him.
"You're definitely not in shape for this though," Lucario said. "Playing the strong guy in front of Dugtrio is all well and good, but you really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard."
"I'm fine," Scizor panted. Lucario did not look convinced. "Come on. You've got to have been bored to tears without a proper challenge. Fight me!"
"I'd prefer to get more than ONE day out of this," Lucario drawled. "Don't try and one-pump-chump me, Cara. Resting and healing is important."
Scizor snorted bitterly. "You of all people would actually try and claim that?" he scoffed.
She sat down with him. "So, I'm a hypocrite of the largest, most awesome, order. Sue me."
Scizor groaned. "It's not fucking fair that I'm feeling so shit," he cursed, having a worse mouth around Lucario. Or just in private, really.
Lucario gave him a nod. "Yeah. It's not. But while I really would like to talk about your 'feeling' and 'emotions' after being frozen for half a century, and I think you really do need to talk to someone about it, this isn't the time."
"It isn't?"
"I won. Victory is mine. The fight is over. But we've got some company." She then turned to look straight at Marill and Azurill. "You can come out now."
Marill and Azurill jumped. Lucario had given no indication she had noticed them. The only time they had been even a little loud was when they were sparring.
"What do we do?" Azurill whispered.
Scizor, who also looked surprised, said. "I think… the marill is part of the guild? You can come out, you're not in trouble."
Deciding it would be better, they did come out. "Who are you?" Marill asked, making sure Azurill was behind him. "And why were you fighting Scizor? He's meant to be taking it easy. Chimecho's orders. You don't want to go against her orders."
"Uh, well." Scizor glanced to Lucario, not sure what to say exactly since she wanted to be discrete about her identity.
"Are you Scizor's super best from years and years ago?" Azurill asked, poking his head out from behind Scizor.
Marill gasped and noticed how aged the lucario looked, but she said. "No, no. Just your average, regular, run-of-the-mill super-powerful lucario. I am nobody important."
Azurill gasped in delight. "Lucario ARE strong, aren't they? We learned a lot about the Legendary Lucario from Banette. Lucario must be a super-strong kind! Will Riolu be strong too?"
Lucario chuckled at Azurill's childlike excitement and helped Scizor up. "Probably. Lucario, in general, are pretty awesome. I should get this old bug back to bed, but I don't know the way. Could you show me?"
"We can show you!" Azurill nodded and began to lead the way. Marill continued to put himself between Azurill and them, but he was more relaxed now. Lucario ended up carrying a highly-protesting Scizor back to town on her back.
"You are supposed to be resting," she cooed. "Don't want to get in even more trouble with the scary Chimecho."
"She is scary," Scizor grumbled, he may have had no choice, but that didn't mean he had to like this.
"Scarier than me?" Lucario asked. Scizor did not answer.
Azurill's pathfinding skills weren't the greatest, and while Marill kept him on track, they ended up exiting partway into the town rather than near the crossroads.
"How did we?" Marill asked, confused and looking back. There was no time to look back, however, as the town was in a buzz.
Spotting the four, a new pokémon rushed up to them. Bidoof.
"Marill, have you heard?" he asked, trotting up to him. "The fellas here are talking about Lucario, the Legendary Lucario, here in little old Treasure Town."
Marill blinked at him, and Scizor cleared his throat. Bidoof looked to him and then made a very curious sound.
A mix between a squeak, a gasp, and a shriek.
Lucario, already feeling a headache coming on, gasped excitedly. "The Legendary Lucario!? I'm such a big fan, where is she?"
Bidoof fell into something of a hyperventilative coughing fit as Lucario played it harder. "I mean gosh darn it, I've followed her work for years! My whole life, because she's been around everywhere for so long. Made myself look just like I reckon." She put on something similar to Bidoof's accent as she went.
Unfortunately her overacting attracted more attention.
"Good job," Scizor snarked as more than a few eyes fell on them and there was a great hush that fell over the town.
"What's everyone looking at us for, big bro?" Azurill asked, not quiet because he didn't think that was needed. "Uh… this is Lucario. She's just a really strong Lucario. That's all." He said this was the absolute certainty of a child, and it was enough to pause the crowd for a moment.
Then Guardian appeared and scared the townsfolk away, saying. "Boo."
Satisfied with some space, Guardian turned to the four. "My apologies, Lucario," he said. "Apparently you were spotted this morning, and word managed to spread. Sunflora has been trying to curtail the rumour, but such a thing is impossible even for her."
Lucario shrugged. She was disappointed by the reaction from the townsfolk, but she hadn't been mobbed yet, so it was already several steps up from the last town she visited. "It was bound to happen eventually," she said.
"Are you really the Legendary Lucario?" Azurill asked, cocking his head.
"Sure am," Lucario answered, nodding. "But I prefer just Lucario."
"Okay, Just Lucario!" Azurill chirped and ran up to her. "I learned about you in class!" he squeaked. "You're really cool."
His enthusiasm was different from the annoyance she normally experienced, and so Lucario found herself giving him a real smile instead of a stiff quirk of her lips. "Why thank you. You're pretty cool, too."
Azurill gasped and bounded to Marill, who was a bit tongue-tied. "She said I'm cool!" Azurill cheered. He turned back. "Miss Lucario?" he asked. "Could I get an autograph? Could I get one from Mr Scizor too?"
"A-and I'd like to apologise for spying on you, earlier," Marill said.
Lucario laughed. "You were hardly spying on anything secret," she said, walking to the pair. "Sure, Azurill."
Marill was obligated to carry Azurill's collection of autographs whenever they were out and about, just in case, and so was able to procure if for Lucario to put a paw print into and Scizor to draw one of the eyes on his pincers for Azurill.
Thanking them both a lot, Azurill did some more dances around them. "Now I have Dusknoir and Lucario and Scizor and Grovyle and Shinx and-" He continued rattling off famous pokémon he knew, and Marill shook his head fondly at him.
"Miss Lucario?" Marill asked. "Can I ask how long you're going to be here for?"
"You just did," she teased and he blushed. Lucario hummed and shifted Scizor on her back. "I was swinging around initially to see Team Sunrise and Team Ion. But since Scizor is here, I came a bit sooner than I planned. I still want to see Team Ion, so I'll probably be sticking around until at least they turn up." Diglett had already informed her that they weren't here, but on their way back.
Nodding, Marill stepped back. He felt a bit better with the idea that someone like Lucario was here. Treasure Town would be very safe, especially for Azurill, with her around. Scizor too. And Team Sunrise, Wigglytuff, and Armaldo. He reassured himself to stop worrying so much over a vague warning.
Kids got into trouble all the time. That was probably it.
Nodding to the pair, Guardian waved them off. Marill gave goodbyes, he was taking Azurill home. Scizor and Lucario waved as well.
Once they were gone, Guardian turned to the famous duo. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff has invited you to the guild," he said. "He'd like to meet you."
"I'm sure he would," Lucario said, only a little dryly. "I do hope Wigglytuff is like what I've heard, and not I'm used to. Stuffy, boring, or even worse. A fanboy."
"The Guildmaster can be enthusiastic to a fault," Guardian explained, beginning to lead the way, "but he is like that with everyone."
Concerned, she glanced to Scizor, who had the gall to laugh at her expression. Scizor wasn't forced to walk the rest of the way, but with the extra-bumpy ride that suddenly happened, he wished he had.
To Lucario's relief, the guild was not entirely full upon her arrival. Dugtrio and Diglett weren't there, and several pokémon were still out. Still, Loudred, Croagunk, Chimecho, and Flaaffy were more than enough to grate on her nerves on the lowest level, and the middle level had several excited pokémon teams as well she had to smile and wave away.
Armaldo, however, made an immediate good impression on her by stomping out of the Guildmaster's Chambers and shouting at the pokémon to stop being shrill fools. "You are professionals in training!" Armaldo barked, after quieting them. "You will behave like it."
"M-my apologies," Chimecho said, clearing her throat. "I am not normally like this. Could you bring Scizor after me, he seems… injured."
"You can blame that on me," Lucario said, following her to the medical wing. "I hear you're scary and that no one wants to go against your orders."
Chimecho seemed more than a little uncomfortable with that. "O-oh? Oh, dear. I am thought of that way?"
Sensing she may have actually hurt Chimecho's feelings, Lucario dumped Scizor on the bed and decided to leave quickly. "Err, I think that's neat."
Chimecho seemed a bit happier with that but also happy that Lucario was already edging out of her room. She didn't like medical rooms, the sterile smell brought back too many unpleasant memories.
"Well, I'll leave him to your capable… appendages."
Wandering back out, entrusting Scizor to Chimecho, Lucario came upon Armaldo. He looked down at her, tall bastard that he was.
"Hello, Lucario. I am Armaldo." He inclined his head to her, she nodded back.
"Thanks for calling them off," she said. "I might have cracked some eggs if they got any louder."
"I would love to assure you it's not normally like that." Armaldo rolled his eyes. "But I would be lying. Follow me, the Guildmaster is waiting."
"The Guildmaster…" Lucario tasted the word. "Funny word that. Guild…master. MASTerr. Gwiledmaster. Gilllldmaster."
"What are you doing?" Armaldo asked, but a lot more politely than he'd normally be.
"Just seeing your threshold for nonsense," Lucario replied honestly.
Armaldo almost cracked a smirk. "I've spent far too long with Wigglytuff to put up with it from others."
"Fair enough."
He opened the doors, and Lucario stepped into Wigglytuff's Chambers. It was as messy as always with treasure chests overturned, the broken window still broken, two doors at the back, and the overly large throne in the centre.
"Sweet place," she said, glancing about. "Messy but intentionally messy. The throne is a bit much, however. It makes you look like a douche."
"Welcome, Lucario!" Wigglytuff beamed, unaffected by her words. "It is excellent to meet you, friendly-friend!" He raised his arms in joy, and the air itself seemed to break upon his enthusiasm.
"Okay." Lucario raised her hands. "Calm it down big boy, we only just met."
Wigglytuff had a look far too innocently unaware to be honest, and Lucario frowned when she felt the effects of a Mute Orb go up. The ear-popping sensation was unmistakable.
"What is it that you want?" she asked, guarded. She was no stranger to meeting self-assured, important pokémon. She didn't like it when secrecy was involved, however. And Mute Orb's were never a good sign in her experience.
"Your arrival is unexpected but is fortunate for us," Armaldo said, stepping up to stand by Wigglytuff.
"Alright. Start talking to clear up this 'I am looking seriously evil' before I start blasting," Lucario warned.
"Oh!" Wigglytuff gasped. "My apologies, Lucario." He glanced to Armaldo. "You didn't say this would be private?"
"I instructed Dusknoir to say that," Armaldo snapped. "My apologies, Guildmaster. And Lucario." He nodded at her. "We've got a potentially dangerous situation about, and we were hoping you would be able to help."
That sounded a bit better, but she still didn't like it. "Alright. I'm willing to listen, but why the Mute Orb?"
"It's a precaution," Armaldo answered. "There is a lot of sensitive information that is going to be discussed."
"You don't trust your own apprentices?" Lucario raised an eye.
"It's not so much that," Wigglytuff answered, sighing. "Although I truly wish we could explain to them all what is going on. Instead, it is the danger of our potential enemy learning of our information."
Again, Lucario wasn't very impressed. "If something is going on that could endanger them, not telling them is a failure on your part as a leader."
"Will you let us explain first?" Armaldo asked, a touch of frustration entering his voice. He agreed with much of her words, but things needed to be shared before judgements could be made.
"Very well," Lucario said, waving them on. "Make me day."
"We do ask that you agree to keep this to yourself," Wigglytuff added.
"Anything I hear I will tell to Scizor," she said without hesitation. There wasn't much hesitation in return before she received a pair of nods. "Go on then. Dazzle me."
And so, they told Lucario of Darkrai. How he sought to end time and in how pokémon came from the future to avert the disaster he had caused. She listened quietly until they reiterated the point.
"Darkrai is almost certainly continuing his plans," Wigglytuff explained. "Recent information that Team Sunrise obtained points strongly in that favour."
"That being?" Lucario asked.
"Shinx and Litleo of Team Ion and Riolu of Team Sunrise met with Dialga on the matter of Meowth's erasure from time," Armaldo explained. "It told them there was no hope and offered to remove the memory of Meowth. Meowth has explained since he was revived with you, that Dialga could see him. But we recently learned that Dialga has no memory of this occurrence, nothing at all, and that the same night they stayed in the Hidden Land, everyone had a nightmare."
Lucario nodded slowly. "Yes, I do remember Scout claiming Darkrai revived him." She called him by his name. Because everyone knew it. "An odd thing, but I could believe it."
"You could?"
Lucario nodded again. "I've met a few darkrai in my time. The first was just a wanderer, the third was a prick but a fun one to fight. The second one was an exceptional hero against all who painted him the villain. That darkrai managed to fight Dialga and Palkia at once for a time and bought enough time to calm them down… hmm."
Her eyes were distant for a moment, thinking of another time. Another place. She blinked it away. "There's a couple of flaws with the story you are presenting to me," Lucario said. "First off, I know you aren't telling me everything. Unless you are just easing me into this, which is no need, you'd better tell me."
"There is, but we-"
"Secondly," Lucario said, speaking over him, "evil legendary pokémon are very uncommon. They don't tend to last very long. More often they are just upset over some annoying grievance they throw a temper tantrum about. Although, thanks to the reduction of the power gap of legendary's in this world, such things don't happen nearly as often. Which is nice."
"What do you?"
"Thirdly… well, actually I don't really have a third one. You're going to have to tell me much more before I can give you any help. How do you know Darkrai was the architect of the collapse of time?"
And so they told her.
"This is difficult to believe, I know," Wigglytuff said, "but there has been proof of the matter. Meowth, Scout, he has a perception of the world that is… unlike any others."
"He claims to have 'played a story' that our world is represented by and because of that he understands events that have happened and are to happen. He knows things he can't possibly know otherwise and no explanation other than his word on why have even begun to make sense."
Lucario frowned. "You're telling me he's isekai'd into our world?" she asked. Those words meant nothing to Wigglytuff and Armaldo.
"Uhh…?"
"Normal average everyday person dropped into another world," Lucario answered, rolling her eyes.
"You… know of this?"
"A-are you?"
"Eh." Lucario waved a paw in a so-so manner. "I'm not average by any means, but you could kinda consider me such a thing. Heh, what Felix would say if he saw me now…" she smiled, looking far away again.
"So you… also have this perception?" Armaldo managed.
"Nah." Lucario shook her head. "I've played video games before, of course, but that was ages upon ages ago and nothing like this. Nah, this is more like an alternate universe that got split off and stuck around because it was unique, with the whole no-human thing."
At their befuddled expressions, or really just Armaldo since Wigglytuff seemed to be enjoying this, she changed the subject. "We're not here to talk about me and the annoying secrets of this world. You're saying the meowth has got some insider knowledge of things? Well, I haven't seen that before, which is interesting, but I could definitely believe something like that." She shrugged. "Even if it's not what he thinks it is. He seemed human to me, maybe he just got some 'divine' knowledge and his mind filled in the blanks?"
"He's not, actually, human," Wigglytuff pointed out.
"Really? He went for a handshake."
"He did THINK he was a human, however," Armaldo said. "Riolu, specifically."
"Okay." She raised her paws. "Things are beginning to get complicated in the way that we don't need to focus on. Assuming I believe you, what's next?"
Unable to drop the point completely, Wigglytuff said. "It was his information that led us straight to Scizor. Where no one else could find him." The words 'not even you' was not verbally said but hung brightly in the air.
Lucario raised an eye but couldn't actually muster a retort to that one.
"Fine," she sighed. "Darkrai is a supreme evil grandmaster of all things bad. What do you want ME to do about it?"
"Uh…" Wigglytuff blinked. "Well, since you were here, we were kinda hoping you would help?"
Lucario shrugged. "Unless Darkrai is suicidally overconfident or he's a LOT stronger than he should be, then he won't be coming anywhere around here while I'm around."
"That's a bit overconfident of yourself to say," Armaldo retorted.
Lucario smirked. "Indeed. Unlike most, I have a reason to be, so." She glanced out the broken window and nodded. "Look. I'm here for my own reasons: Scizor, that riolu, and Team Ion. I'll stick around for a while, but I'm not going to loiter here forever waiting for something to happen. If something does happen and I can do something about it, I will. That's about all I can offer you, I don't know where Darkrai is and nor will I be able to find him."
"If that's all then we'll gratefully take it," Wigglytuff said, giving a kindly smile.
Armaldo wanted to ask about Lucario trying to sense him, debated it for a moment, and then just did so. "You are supposed to be one of the most powerful aura users in the world," he said. "Able to sense pokémon trapped in the madness of dungeons. You started Rescue Teams on that principle. Is there no way you could detect Darkrai?"
Lucario levelled him with a look cold enough to freeze Scizor all over again. "No," she answered. "There are a lot of things said about me, Armaldo, and the vast majority are not true. Fewer still are even partially true."
She raised her paw, aiming it at him like she was to create an attack and launch it. He tensed, Wigglytuff did not. Nothing happened.
"I cannot control my aura," Lucario stated. "I still have it. And thanks to my age, my aura is ridiculously powerful. But I can't use Aura Sphere. Aura Sight. Aura Purge. Any of the fine-tuned stuff is beyond me. The only thing I can do is a Bone Rush." She formed one. "And that was with months of training fresh off evolution that was supposed to fix that problem before I broke myself all over again."
She shook her head, the useless tassels swinging with her. "And my ability to sense pokémon in dungeons is a different story. Times where my aura flares and I cannot control it and I detect every fucking life form across some random distance. If Darkrai starts loitering in a dungeon for weeks at a time, maybe I will pick something up randomly. I assure you I will tell you if I have anything to tell."
She looked back to the door, feeling rather done with the day and wanting to go and annoy Scizor for entertainment. She was not polite enough to wait to be excused, but she did have something else she wanted to say.
"There is one thing I do believe you should keep in mind," Lucario said, turning back. "Where is Cresselia in all of this?"
"She should show up eventually," Wigglytuff said, knowing what Scout had given them.
Lucario nodded, accepting that. "When she does, I want you to keep something in mind. If she's like the cresselia I've personally met, then she'll be single-minded in her desire to destroy Darkrai. It won't matter what she has to do to pull it off. I'd keep that in mind when dealing with her."
And with that, she walked out.
Echo, echo, do you hear a voice, no?
Nothing speaking maybe cause they're sleeping?
Bounding around, carefree in the wind now.
Hard to let go, but you're never alone.
Echo, echo, do you hear a voice, oh?
Someone's speaking but everyone is sleeping?
Running around, carefree in the wind now.
I won't let go, but you're never alone.
Echo, echo, I do hear a voice, oh?
Am I speaking or am I really dreaming?
Fleeing farther, careless in the dark now.
I won't let go, you are never alone.
Echo, Echo, do you hear an Echo?
Echo's speaking are they really weeping?
Running Echo, forgotten in the dark now.
Please just let go, you are never alone.
There we go.
So, what do people think of Lucario? Originally she was only going to show up in person in Chapter 40, but I enjoyed writing her so damn much I decided to bring her back!
She is quite strong, but we'll see in what way later. The vision of her most pokémon have isn't reflective of what she is really like. She's viewed often as some sort of heavenly saviour, a beacon of Strength and Good. She doesn't like the hero-worship, that's for damn sure.
Anyway. That's two chapters in a row with like… no Team Ion! And this one barely even has Team Sunrise in it! What's with that? Just a little break of sorts. I COULD write parts with Team Ion, but they aren't doing a whole lot except walking and sightseeing and arguing with Team Gazer. Maybe next chapter if the people want to see them again? Team Sunrise definitely are back in the spotlight next chapter.
Also, results of the previous poll:
1st was 'He's (very) flawed, but he's trying.'
2nd with the same amount of votes each was 'He's great, I love him.' And 'He's an idiot, but also cute so I root for him.'
Which is very nice to hear. People do like Scout.
And since this seems like a good avenue to continue, let's move onto the next most divisive character in the main cast. Mane. What do you all think of him?
Also, a great list of alcoholic beverages made from pokémon berries can be found here, it's where I got One Look from:
archiveofourown dot com /works/21948358/chapters/52380118
Echo, echo, do you hear a voice now?
Sh̶e is speaking, no you are not dreaming.
You won't escape, drowning in the dark now.
S̛he̛ won't let go, you are never alone.