*Well, this is a bit surprising. After doing some thinking, I decided to experiment with an old idea I had for a Pokémon/Kung Fu Panda crossover. I'm mainly used to writing Dragon Ball crossovers, but with Pokémon being one of my favorite franchises, I hope this ends up being an enjoyable story as well. Let me know if it's something you'll be interested in seeing more of.
Chapter 1: Spirited Away
An ultimate sacrifice had just been made. In order to save the legendary Tree of Beginning and its guardian, Mew, from dying, another Pokémon named Lucario gave them a significant amount of his Aura. The cost of this heroic deed, unfortunately, was Lucario's own life, mirroring the same fate that his master, Sir Aaron, befell hundreds of years ago.
He, at first, resented Aaron for abandoning him back then, but after seeing what happened via one of the tree's many Time Flowers, Lucario was now overcome with sadness and grief. He looked upon the past projection of Aaron with tears in his red eyes.
The person in question was a young man with spiky dark blue hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue hat with a yellow symbol in its center, a blue tunic with gray sleeves and pants, and blue boots tied down by yellow shoelaces. A black cape was also wrapped around his neck as he sat against a crystal protruding from within the Tree of Beginning's core.
"I have no regrets," Sir Aaron said somberly. "My journey has been good. I served a beautiful queen and… you and I shared many adventures. Those memories will be always be with me."
Hearing this, Lucario struggled to hold back his tears. It made him wish that Aaron hadn't sealed him inside his staff. He would have preferred to die by his side than live in a world without him.
"Master, if you could only hear me, I want to tell you how much it meant to me!"
Sir Aaron then closed his eyes and smiled. "Lucario, farewell. You were more to me than just my student. You were… my closest friend."
"I feel the same."
"Who knows? It could be that one day, we will see each other again." Aaron surmised with his dying breath. "I hope so, my friend."
With that, the Time Flower's projection dispersed and caused the likeness of Sir Aaron to fade away. The crystals where he laid to rest were now all that was left.
Lucario pressed his head against them and mourned his master's death.
"Aaron, my friend. I'm sorry I failed you!"
Then, to his surprise, the ten-year-old Pokémon Trainer, Ash Ketchum, grabbed his paw. He was a black-haired boy wearing a red hat, a blue hoodie, and light blue pants. His partner Pokémon, Pikachu, was currently perched atop his right shoulder.
"That's not true. You proved you're a true Guardian of Aura, like Sir Aaron!"
"Pika!" The Electric-type nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Ash," Lucario muttered. A surge of electricity then shot through his body, causing the Aura Pokémon to wince from pain. His entire being was now being converted into nothing, but small glowing particles of blue energy.
"Lucario, please hang on. You can't leave us yet!" Ash cried.
"I have to go, Ash. Aaron… is waiting for me."
Despite Ash's pleas, Lucario vanished, leaving a single large orb of Aura in his place. This orb combined with another one to form a larger green sphere that floated up to the Tree of Beginning's heart and gave it even more energy.
Ash, Pikachu, Mew, and their other companion, Kidd Summers, looked upon this spectacle in sadness. She was a young adult woman with blue eyes and dark brown hair separated into two large pigtails.
"We should probably catch up with the others."
Ash nodded. "Right."
With Mew's guidance, they then ran through the Tree of Beginning's caverns to locate May, Brock, and Max. Ash couldn't help, but wonder where Lucario could have gone.
Wherever you are, Lucario, I hope you'll be able to be with Sir Aaron again.
Somewhere outside of the Pokémon world…
Although Lucario's Aura may have been expunged from healing Mew and the Tree of Beginning, he still wasn't entirely dead yet. His spirit lingered on, traveling far, far away from the tree's crystalline heart to a dimensional plane that he didn't even know existed.
Many legends of an afterlife were spread throughout Cameran Palace and many places beyond it, but none of them quite compared to the mysterious world that he would find himself transported to. It was a seemingly endless, alternate reality that shifted in size, shape, and appearance depending on the spiritual energy its current inhabitants possessed.
Sometimes, it could look peaceful and tranquil, but at the moment, it was filled with scattered, chaotic pieces of debris. The sky, for lack of a better term, was also imbued with a green hue that would soon be offset by Lucario's blue Aura.
The aforementioned Aura Pokémon landed atop one of these mountain-like structures. For mysterious reasons, he was now back in his physical body, rather than the orb of energy that he initially became.
He looked around the Spirit Realm in confusion.
"Where am I?" Lucario asked himself. "Could this be where Aaron was sent to?"
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The four black appendages hanging from the back of his head floated upward as he sensed the Aura around him. Everything in this entire dimension was filled to the brim with energy, but nothing comparable to his former master's.
What shocked him the most was the fact that hundreds, maybe even thousands of powerful Auras presided here. They were spread out, of course, but that didn't make their existence any less surprising.
He held a hand against his forehead and sighed, "This all seems so strange. I could have sworn I died back there. If I survived, I wouldn't have been able to leave Ash and the others behind like this."
Before he could begin to explore this realm further, Lucario sensed a larger-than-average Aura coming towards him. He spun around to see a green dagger slash straight through the platform he was standing on.
"What?!"
The entire landmass broke into hundreds of smaller pieces, causing Lucario to jump into the air and land on another mountain-like structure. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the individual responsible for this attack.
They pulled back a chain attached to the green blade and smirked. They were a yak with gray fur, long, flame-like horns, and glowing eyes that matched the color of his weapon. An old wartime helmet was also placed along his ears and long, shaggy brown hair.
"Ah! Good reflexes. Normally, none of my opponents see that kind of attack coming." He chuckled. "Then again, they usually never have enough time to dodge, anyways."
Lucario got into a defensive stance and analyzed the yak's body from head-to-toe. His energy was far different from any person or Pokémon he's seen before. He didn't even resemble any Pokémon he knew to exist in both his own and Ash's time.
"I'm guessing you run whatever this place is?"
He snorted in reply. "Suppose you could say that. I am currently the most powerful warrior in all of the Spirit Realm. Not even the strongest kung fu masters, new and old, could match my level of power."
He then took a good look at Lucario's energy signature. Raw chi was practically oozing off every pore of his body, much to the Spirit Warrior's immense delight.
"Though you seem to be a notable exception, my friend. A person with that much chi is hard to come by these days." He said while pointing one of his knives at Lucario. "If I may ask, who and what exactly are you?"
The Pokémon could tell that this animal was itching for some kind of fight, but given his current predicament, he wouldn't be giving him the satisfaction. He simply crossed his arms and maintained a neutral expression.
"My name is Lucario, which is the name of my species. Do you come from a group of Pokémon as well? You seem to be manipulating Aura like one, at least."
The yak raised one of his eyebrows. He had no idea what this fool was talking about, and that fact only served to annoy him more than usual.
"I can't tell if you're mocking me or just spouting nonsense, but no matter. I, General Kai, will make that delectable 'Aura' of yours a part of my collection! And with your power, I can finally return to the Mortal Realm and become the strongest warrior there is!"
Lucario glanced over at Kai's supposed collection. It comprised of small jade statues that were attached to a green belt. Each of them looked like some type of animal, but, as with Kai himself, not any known Pokémon.
Hm. He must have been alive at some point then. That must mean there's a way out of this place.
Kai began to spin his knives around in a rhythmic, circular pattern. His eyes were now completely fixated on Lucario and his Aura alone.
"Now, Lucario, be a good dog or whatever and accept your fate!"
He powerfully launched one of the chains at him, causing the knife to flail about and pick up a bit more speed with each passing second. Lucario anticipated the trajectory of each knife and frowned.
"Only my master can tell me what to do, Kai."
Using the Fighting-type move, Detect, both of his eyes flashed light blue as he expertly evaded the two knives and hopped to another platform. The previous rock formation was sliced into pieces, forcing Kai to pull back his knives and try again.
This maneuver did not please him one bit.
"Impossible." Kai growled. "That was a neat little trick you pulled, but it won't work a second time."
"We'll see."
The yak general snarled and leapt into the air, placing himself directly above Lucario.
"Hraagh!"
He tossed one knife after the other at Lucario's feet, but the Pokémon dodged them with ease. Directly afterwards, Kai slammed his body into the ground and attempted to slash his face via close-quarters combat. Lucario thought fast and put his paws together to create a light green bone of energy. He spun the bone around and used Bone Rush to deflect the two jade knives away from him.
To further top it all off, Lucario swiped at Kai's legs and smacked the bone directly across his cheek. A little bit of spit flew out of his mouth as the yak went flying into another platform. It exploded upon receiving direct impact with his back.
"N-No!" Kai stammered.
He fell to his knees and took deep, ragged breaths. Lucario dispersed his Bone Rush attack and stood near the fallen Spirit Warrior. Seeing him in such a pitiful, weakened state was, admittedly, a little hard to watch.
"Give up. There's nothing you have that can defend yourself from any of my moves." Lucario exclaimed. He knelt down and offered him a hand. "Now, are you going to keep up this one-sided fight or are you going help me figure out how I can reach this Mortal Realm you mentioned?"
Kai started to laugh. "Hehe. There won't be any need for my help… if we're going there together!"
Within the blink of an eye, Kai grabbed ahold of his knives and securely tied their chains around Lucario's feet. He then outstretched his back hooves as they glowed a bright green, encasing Lucario in jade stone.
The Pokémon could feel his Aura weakening the more his lower body began to be solidified into a lifeless statue.
"So this is what you meant by making me a part of your collection."
"Precisely. Throughout the 500 years I've been trapped in this place, I have beaten countless kung fu masters and stolen their chi!" Kai explained. "There are still a few I haven't defeated yet, but with you around? Well, I think your energy will be more than enough to get myself out of here. And then no one will be able to stop me, not even the great Master Oogway."
As Kai continued to ramble on, Lucario twitched his paws to see if he could still move them around. He then calmed his breathing and slowly, but surely brought them together.
"If you want to take my energy so badly, then how about I give you some willingly?"
Kai's eyes widened once he realized what was going on. He saw a large ball of blue Aura being formed in between Lucario's palms.
"Wait, don't! You'll disrupt the—"
"Aura Sphere!"
The Fighting-type attack was launched directly at Kai's hands, making it so the Spirit Realm's terrain was split between blue and green hues. Consequently, the chaotic imbalance formed between Kai's chi and Lucario's Aura produced a devastating shockwave that spit Lucario right out of the Spirit Realm. All he could see was a large, towering geyser of blue energy before he lost consciousness and unwittingly traveled from one dimension to another.
Kai wasn't so fortunate. He took the full brunt of the explosion's force and was sent skipping across the Spirit Realm like a stone against water. His gray fur was caked with a few burn marks, but apart from that, he came out relatively unscathed.
His pride, however, was another story.
"Ergh! That chi! I almost had it!"
He angrily slammed his hoof into the ground, producing a large, deep crater in the rock's surface. After blowing out some smoke from his nostrils, he picked up his knives and glared up at the top of the Spirit Realm.
"You may have managed to escape now, Lucario, but mark my words, I will have your Aura and everyone else's." Kai proclaimed in a dark, threatening tone. "After all, I'm known as the Beast of Vengeance for a reason."
From that point onward, he would continue to hunt down the Spirit Realm's kung fu masters, and bide his time until he could exact revenge upon Lucario and his former brother-in-arms, Master Oogway. He also hoped that other Pokémon with similar energies and abilities would cross his path one day.
The Jade Palace was a sacred temple built to honor the creation of kung fu and its greatest practitioners. Located within China's Valley of Peace, it has served as a place of residence for many generations of kung fu masters, including its wise, all-powerful inventor, Master Oogway. Other inhabitants of the palace were Oogway's strict disciple, Master Shifu, and his own students, the legendary Furious Five.
Normally, they would spend their time protecting the Valley from bandits and other dangerous adversaries, but no such threats had been seen for quite some time. Everything, for the most part, was rather peaceful.
All of that would begin to change, however, once a certain Aura Pokémon appeared.
Inside the Jade Palace's esteemed Hall of Warriors, Oogway sat in front of the Moon Pool and the multiple candles that surrounded it. He was an elderly green tortoise with a yellow sash wrapped around his stomach. The old master's eyes were completely closed as he meditated on top of his wooden staff.
"Hmmm." His eyes then opened upon sensing a distant, otherworldly chi enter the Mortal Realm. "I wonder what that could be."
He crawled back down to the floor and clasped his staff. Strangely enough, even ripples flowed from the center of the Moon Pool to its edges. The tortoise squinted his eyes and looked up at a golden dragon statue attached to the ceiling. It held an ancient scroll within its mouth that hadn't been opened for hundreds of years.
Oogway wondered if it was now time for that important moment to take place; the moment that the Dragon Warrior would finally be chosen.
"Kai, old friend. Could this energy be your doing perhaps?" He whispered in a calm, quiet voice. "Or could this interesting new chi be something even beyond our realm of understanding?"
He then smiled at the mere thought of such a unique curiosity.
"Either way, I'm interested to find out what it is." Oogway said. "I should tell Shifu about this… new discovery of mine."
Somewhere within the Valley of Peace…
Lighting up the sky in a flash of blue aura, Lucario was rocketed straight down to a forest filled with bamboo stalks. His body haphazardly slammed into the ground, creating an implosion of energy that almost destroyed everything in close proximity to it. Thankfully, there weren't any innocent bystanders around.
Lucario's body laid in the middle of a large crater. He was completely drained traveling from the Spirit Realm to the Mortal Realm, but otherwise, alive.
Lucario…
The Pokémon's ears perked up at the sound of Sir Aaron's voice.
Wake up, my friend. You need to wake up.
"Aaron… is that you?" Lucario weakly muttered.
As he slowly opened his eyes, the likeness of his master's spirit appeared before him. He smiled and held a hand in front of the Steel/Fighting-type, causing their eyes to widen from shock.
"AARON?!"
Lucario bolted upright and looked around. To his disappointment and slight embarrassment, there was no longer anyone there.
"It must have been my imagination…"
He picked himself off the ground and inspected his body for damages. Something felt a bit off about him, but he couldn't exactly tell what it was. It likely had something to do with the clash between his and Kai's energies.
He looked down at his two paws and clenched them together in a repetitious manner.
"Looks like I have my body back. Not that it matters much." Lucario grumbled. "I still have no idea what this Mortal Realm even is."
He walked up to the nearest bamboo stalk and brushed his hand against it. "This doesn't resemble anything me and Aaron saw back at Cameran Palace. And I doubt that wherever Kai lived, there were any Pokémon to speak of."
Lucario bowed his head in dismay. This was far from what he expected to happen after saving the Tree of Beginning and Mew's life. Was fate playing some sort of cruel prank on him?
"I guess our reunion will have to wait, Master," He whispered to himself. "It appears that I'm stuck in another world of some kind, if such a thing is even possible."
He then leaned against some bamboo and crossed his arms.
"Well, I've already dealt with being brought to another era, so I guess this situation isn't that much different." Lucario sighed. "The question is where do I go next?"
He, once again, closed his eyes and sensed the Aura around him. He located a few energies some distance away from this forest, or whatever it may be called. Some were larger than others, but nowhere near his or Kai's level, obviously.
"That way it is then."
For about a half-hour or more, Lucario calmly walked along a trail that would hopefully lead to more populous areas. Along the way, he noticed all sorts of different trees and plants, but not people. It made him wonder if human beings like Ash, Queen Rin, and Sir Aaron existed in this world. Kai was wearing pieces of clothing, so maybe humans and animals were one in the same here. That, of course, brought up more questions than answers, but it was hard not to think of such circumstances.
Lucario's scattered thoughts were then interrupted by a shrill cry for help. Hiding behind a black tree, he noticed that it was coming from a large, semi-circular building. This building, known as the Bao Gu Orphanage, was a communal shelter for the Valley of Peace's homeless children. They were taken of there until a family decided to adopt one of them or multiple.
And, sadly, it was now being attacked by a group of crocodile bandits. All five of them wore red pants and were holding an old goat at spearpoint. She appeared to be the primary caretaker for a group of duck, rabbit, and pig orphans that were all cowering in fear near the orphanage's entrance.
"P-Please, these children have nowhere else to go! They'll starve if you take this money from us!" She pleaded.
One of the crocodiles mockingly chuckled at the caretaker's distress. "Yeah and we'll starve if you don't fork it over, lady."
Another bandit reached for one of the orphans and held them up by their shirt collar. She was a white rabbit with long droopy ears.
"You wouldn't want us to be desperate and eat one of these cute little bunny rabbits now, would you?"
"AHHH!" The young rabbit screamed.
"Alright! I'll give you anything you want. Just leave the children alone!"
Each of the crocodiles narrowed their eyes and drew their spears closer to the caretaker. "I'm afraid that just isn't good enough, lady. You need to be punished for wasting our precious time here, understand?"
"NO!" All of the kids cried.
Vividly remembering his days as an orphaned Riolu, an enraged Lucario hung his arms backward and sprinted over to the crocodile bandits. Right as a spear was about to stab the old goat, Lucario smashed it to pieces with his paw and slammed his free one into the crocodile's stomach.
Their red, bloodshot eyes practically popped out of their sockets as the croc instantly fell unconscious. The other four bandits could only back away from shock upon witnessing what just happened.
The old caretaker was even more astonished by comparison. "W-Who… are you?"
Lucario turned his head to the side and glanced down at her, frowning.
"Just someone who's here to help."
He then glared back at the crocodile bandits and, without any further delay, used Bone Rush. "Even scum like you should realize that messing with children is beyond deplorable."
"Hey, a guy's gotta eat, man. And who are you calling 'scum', freak? What even are you, some kind of jackal?"
"Wasn't the Jackal Nation taken down by the Wu Sisters with a pair of chopsticks or something like that? That's pretty dang pathetic!" Another crocodile laughed.
Lucario said nothing in reply and let the four bandits laugh it up. Before they could even start attacking, he spun his bone around and destroyed their spears one-by-one. Then, with expert precision, he smacked them in the head, stomach, shin, and any other body parts that he could lay waste to.
The orphans stood awestruck from sheer amazement. The bunny girl was especially impressed by Lucario's performance in battle.
"Awesome!" She muttered.
The crocodiles fell down on the grass and groaned in pain. They couldn't even look at Lucario in the eye without flinching or having a sudden panic attack.
"Get out of here. Now."
They did as Lucario asked and ran away on all fours, leaving the fragments of what used to be their spears behind.
"We'll get you back for this!"
Once they were gone, the Aura Pokémon shook his head and checked on Bao Gu Orphanage's caretaker. She was having a difficult time comprehending what just happened herself.
"Are you alright, ma'am?"
She tightly clutched the bag of money in her hands and bowed as a sign of respect.
"Y-Yes. Yes, I am, dear. Thank you so much for doing that." The goat sighed in relief. "I don't even want to think of what would have happened if you weren't there to help…"
"My pleasure. I'm just glad none of the kids were harmed."
She regrettably nodded. "Indeed. Crocodiles like that are far too unpredictable for their own good."
So that's what they're called, huh?
He then smiled, considering himself lucky that he was able to find some more people to talk to. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what this place is called, do you?"
"Why, of course! We're in the Valley of Peace, one of China's many large, mountainous landmasses." The caretaker informed. "And this is Bao Gu Orphanage, which I've been running for many years now. More years than I can really count, in fact."
Lucario faltered a bit in response to this information. Whether it be the Valley or China as a whole, he had no idea what any of these places were. He didn't let that fact show on his face, though.
"I see. I'm somewhat of a tourist here, so this entire area's unfamiliar to me."
"Ah! That explains your strange appearance." The caretaker replied. "Was that bandit right? Are you a jackal or part of some species related to dogs that I'm not aware of?"
He nervously rubbed the back of his head and grimaced. He'd need to find out what a jackal exactly was sooner or later.
"Erm… no disrespect, but my species is a bit of a private matter. You can just call me Lucario."
The caretaker rubbed her chin in thought. "Lucario, hm? I'd say it suits you very well. Don't you think so, children?"
"Yeah!"
"It sounds cool… just like you, sir!"
"Can you bring out that bone thingy again? I want to try! I want to try!"
The orphans all began to compliment and talk to Lucario all at once, causing him to get a bit more uncomfortable than he would have anticipated.
"M-Maybe some other time. I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Oh, don't be so hasty, Mr. Lucario! I'd be more than happy to have you stay here for the night or longer if necessary. It's the least I can do after you went out of your way to save all of us back there." The caretaker kindly offered.
"That's a generous offer, ma'am, but…"
He then felt something rub against his right foot. It was the little rabbit girl from before.
"Can't you just stay for a little bit, Mister? Please?"
Seeing the sad look in the bunny's eye, Lucario slumped his shoulders in defeat and agreed to spend some time with the orphans.
"Alright. I'll stay." He grumbled.
"Yay!"
The goat clapped her hands together and beamed.
"Excellent. I'll prepare some lunch for you and the kids pronto. You deserve it after all that impressive kung fu you just showed off."
"Wait a minute. That wasn't…"
The caretaker had already gathered everyone back into the Bao Gu Orphanage before he could finish his sentence.
"…kung fu."
Still uncertain of what 'kung fu' was or how it was used in combat, Lucario rolled his eyes and followed them. Seeing the kids' joyful expressions brought back memories of the time he first met Sir Aaron. It was so long ago that he couldn't even remember what it was like to be a Riolu back in those days.
All he knew was that his friendship with Aaron led to the evolution he had to this day. Without him, he wouldn't have become as powerful as he was nowadays. He still, deep down, knew that there was more training that needed to be done, however, especially in regard to the existence of evil, power-hungry individuals like Kai.
Lucario just hoped that more people like him weren't present in this world. And if there were, he would need to be prepared in case altercations like the one against those crocodile bandits happened again.
I won't fail you again, Aaron. I promise.
The Aura Pokémon then entered the orphanage and prepared to see what else this new world had in store for him. Little did he know that this same building was once home to a famous martial artist and member of the Jade Palace's current Furious Five.
Her name was Tigress, and she was, coincidentally, going to pay a visit there fairly soon.
*And that's the end of the first chapter. The protagonist for this story, as you've noticed, is Lucario from Pokémon: Lucario & the Mystery of Mew (my all-time favorite Pokémon movie btw). I thought his character could fit quite well within the Kung Fu Panda universe, especially in regard to the vivid parallels he has with Kai, the main antagonist of Kung Fu Panda 3. I had a fun time writing their first fight against each other, so I hope you guys liked how it turned out as well. This story will be starting sometime before the first Kung Fu Panda film, so Kai won't be appearing again for a while. He will, however, more of an overarching presence in this story and might even gain control of some more Pokémon that could potentially end up in the Spirit Realm.
Also, just to clarify, Lucario will not become the Dragon Warrior and replace Po. He'll still have a significant role in the story, but Po will still be the hero he was always meant to be. I have some interesting interactions planned for them later on, in fact.
Anyways, let me know what you think of this story and whether or not you'd be interested in seeing it be continued. The next chapter will focus on Lucario meeting Tigress for the first time, so I think that'll be an interesting read once I get to writing it. Take care and have a Happy New Year! :)
P.S. The next chapter for Goku and the Olympians, Chapter 17, will be coming out in the next few days. Sorry for the delay on that.
