There was dirt up his snout again. Lucario sighed deeply, and allowed himself to sneeze and groan into the ground before getting up. He shook his head, ears twitching, ridding his head of the itchy grass blades that got tangled in his sensors upon landing. He was in a large gassy field, a large curving cobble stone wall, encasing the field. The field was over grown and wild after centuries of being un attended, long blades whipping around in the wind, and the wall had been ceased by strangling ivies and vines, turning the grey stone green.

It looked so different, but Lucario still recognized it. The nursey fields. This was where the young pups and their mothers would live until they were paired off to a guardian. He was one of the motherless pups when he was brought here, quiet and uninterested in meeting the other pups with packs. Despite being distant, he could still see them here. The young pups would be playing and wrestling amongst the grasses, the adults watching vigil near by in the shades of the trees.

But now it was empty, quiet, lifeless. An open tomb.

Vaguely Lucario wondered, with the Aura Guardians defeated. Where did the pups and mothers go? Some had lived there for generations. Lucario huffed sadly. They were long past now.

Besides there was another pup he needed to worry about. Ash's pup had been with Lucario when they were separated from the rest of their group. The pup may be bound to Ash, but with him gone, Lucario was now responsible. If only he could find the pup.

Lucario sighed, and let out a sharp shrill bark. It was answered with a much higher chirp. And through the reeds towards the sound Lucario walked. It was a wonder that Lucario managed to find Riolu. The grass had grown up to about the middle of his stomach, so it would swallow a pup. But eventually, a dot of blue could be seen in the greenish gold of the reeds.

"Lu Ca (are you alright)" Lucario growled lightly.

Riolu nodded, making a gentle yipping noise.

"Lu Lu Car rio (come we much find the others)," Lucario took the pup's paw into his own, so he didn't lose him in the grass again.

"Rio ri (where are we)? Olu Rio ri (it feels funny here)."

"Lu Rio (the nursery)."

"Rio olu (why does it feel weird)?"

"Luc car lu (what does it feel like to you)?"

"olu, ri ri (Like it's safe, but it too sad for us to be here)."

Lucario tried very hard not to react to that. He was feeling that safe sadness too.

"Lu Car ca Rio lu (that is the mark of your ancestors pup. It's the message they left for use to find long ago)."

"ri olu ri (what are they telling us)?"

"Car lu lu ca (that this was once a safe place, but tragedy found itself here)."

The reeds thinned out, and eventually broke once they reached the bank of the ponds that were left on the ground. Though, now they were little more then a swamp. Thunder rumbled overhead, something told Lucario that they would need shelter soon. Riolu had broken away from him and began to wander the water's edge. Typical curious pup. Why did it bother Lucario so much that the pup was wandering away from him?

Riolu continued to wander. Small paws getting muddier while walking along the wet banks. Lucario kept an eye trained on the pup as he tried to locate the others through aura sight. Then the sense of nearby danger spiked in Lucario's mind and he turned to the startled shrill of a pup.

Leaping out the murky depths of the swamp, with a strike of white fire falling from the sky, came a horde of the new residents of the nursey grounds. Toxicroak. Several came from the water, all in a rage, all ready to hunt. Their long sticky with slime arms reached out at unexpected speed swiping that the pup with intent to harm.

Lucario was faster. He dashed forward, paws cutting into the mud as he scooped up the pup, and held the little one away from the predators. Usually Toxicroak preferred bug-types as prey, but a young pup who happened to wander into their territory wasn't something that they would turn away. Especially a pup who wasn't marked by a pack or mother.

"Car (stay)," Lucario growled, as he placed Riolu in the tall reeds.

Lucario turned a glare fix onto his advisory the leader of the horde. Weather blackened suddenly; the rain fell in harsh sheet and wind curled and swirled in the air like that of an Arbok strangling its latest kill. The jackal like Pokémon leaped forward, striking at the horde, cutting down as many with his spikes as came at him. They slipped away at his attacks, just as many times that Lucario made a wound in their soft skin. They tried to swarm him, their soft limbs proven just as strong as his, once their sticky hands managed to grip his legs.

Lucario was flung into the mud and pinned down tightly. He struggled, his legs gleaming with white light as he tried to kick them off of his body. But when one was thrown away another would quickly take its place. Lucario knew these tactics, pin down the prey or danger and then inject it with poison, leaving them to die. This was hostile, sometimes hunting, behavior. Lucario knew he was no prey, adults were too tough to hunt or even eat, not worth the effort to kill, pups however. Pups were softer.

There was cry across the swamp bank. A battle cry. Thankfully Riolu was no ordinary pup. Ash had done well teaching the little one to defend himself. Even after his hiding place amongst the reeds was discovered (or Riolu left it himself, Lucario really hoped that the pup wasn't that reckless), the little one was holding his own. Vacuum Wave after vacuum wave the pup shoved their enemies back.

Lucario looked away for now. He needed to break out of the hold before he could do anything. Summoning an aura sphere was easy enough, but he'd need to be a little more creative with it. Harning his soul, Lucario pulled his energy into a concentrated point right in the middle of the many hands holding him down. The toxicroak were blasted away with a wave of bright blue light. Lucario scrambled to his paws, and called upon another energy to banished the rest of the swamp monsters away. From his body came the raging pulsing ray of dragon fire. A living rippling wraith of colorful plasma that struck down the bottom feeding toxicroak. In the end the ground, wettened with rain water, was littered with smoking bodies of freshly barbecued frogs.

Then came a cry of distress from across the swamp bank. Lucario was already running before he had turned to look. Two toxicroak had cornered Riolu, the numbers and exhaustion having taken their toll on the little one finally allowing them an opening to seize his small form.

Lucario wasn't fast enough this time. One toxicroak held the pup down, while the other's arm was lit with a vile violet glow and then struck Riolu. The Pup shrieked. And Lucario ran faster.

Aura Sphere was the safest move to pull as they never missed the intended target, and thank Arceus in his panic Lucario remembered that. Blue balls of energy bashed the poisonous frogs away from the pup, or at least disoriented them enough for Lucario to snatch the pup away from them and run. It was cowardly to run from a fight, but he wasn't going to put Riolu in any more danger then necessary.

Once they were far enough from the swamp, Lucario slowed down and looked at the pup in his arms. Riolu's muzzle was flushed with an ill shade of indigo, and the pup was warm in Lucario's hold. Poison. Lucario held back a growl; he should've done worse to those toxicroak. The pup whimpered and began to squirm, little paws reaching towards the ground. Eventually break from where he was held and tried walking...only to stumbled to the ground after a few steps. Stubborn thing. Lucario shook his head and scooped up the pup, holding Riolu closer, not letting him walk on his own.

The pup needed medicine. Sadly, that wasn't something that Lucario was well trained in. Petcha could be used to cure poison, he learned that from his time as a wild pup. Whether or not they were currently in season was something that Lucario didn't know.

Thunder crashed overhead. The cold rain suddenly becoming noticeable. Icy droplets pelted down on them soaking through their fur and chilling their skin. The pup would need shelter before Lucario could look for any petcha. He started running, hoping that something from his ancestors left behind still remained. And thankfully it was...

Lucarios were known from many things as a species, but digging wasn't one of them. It wasn't a skill that was used that often, only really by the females when making a den to protect their young. Lucario remembered that on the other side of the nursey grounds was a shallow cliff side built of soft dirt and stone. The mothers would usually dig out dens there and care for the newly hatched pups inside.

The cliff was still there, but the dens were long destroyed. Lucario shifted Riolu on to his back and slowly dug out an okay den. It wasn't as big as the ones the mothers had made, and those usually had soft grass floors for nesting. Being an outsider Lucario had rarely seen the inside of their dens, but sometimes he managed to sneak a peek. Still the dirt was soft, and more importantly dry, which was better then any of the now wet grass and leaves outside. He deposited the pup in the corner furthest from the den exit, growling at Riolu to stay there, before dashing out into the storm in search of petcha.

The ground was mud, the sky dark and the storm raged harsher by the time Lucario returned to his makeshift den, but his foraging was successful. Riolu was right where the adult had left the pup thankfully, and still conscious enough to eat. Lucario left the small pile of petcha he gathered by the pup, before take his post near the door. The toxicroak wouldn't leave their swamp, but they knew little about what another Pokémon are out there. They needed to be ready for a fight at any...

There was a whimper from inside the den. Lucario abandoned his vigil with out a thought, creeping back into the den. The pup kept whimpering and reaching for him. Before Lucario knew it, he was curled up in the back of the den, a pup tucked into his side. He looked over Riolu, suddenly finding the sight of the pup curled up close, utter adorable, and how he liked the feeling of having a small thing dependent on him...

Curse his instincts for making him soft...and curse Ash for bonding to such a cute pup.

They'd look for the other once the storm passed...


A/N:

Okay, I kinda blacked out in the middle of this, and in editing. So, if thing don't make too much sense, sorry...

So yeah here are a lot of Lucario head canons, and hopefully cute moments. Enjoy

Thanks for reading.