Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Kung Fu Panda. Any OCs however, are mine unless stated otherwise.
Chapter 4: Wherever there is light…
"Well everyone, welcome to Opelucid City." Riley can be heard saying, as the Chinese natives looked upon the city before them.
It had taken an hour to reach the city, but the group had finally made it to their destination. The hometown of their Pokémon companions.
The group marveled at the traditional yet modern appearance of the city. Nearly everywhere they looked, there were well-craved brick buildings. There were restaurants with their own unique styles, a lively town square with a fountain in the middle of it, a red and blue building that looked to be a medical facility of sorts, and one building that was noticeably taller than the others.
The tallest building stood at a whopping 5 stories tall, compared to the 2 or 3 stories all the others had, with a pair of matching draconic heads that extended upwards to 6 stories tall. The building was split, with one side being a whiter color as its counterpart was black in contrast.
And of course, there was the sprawling society of Pokémon that populated the area.
A rabbit juggling a ball like Riley's (Cinderace), purple cats with yellow patches (Liepard), there were some other Zoroark around akin to Lyla, and-
Monkey's eyes widened. "Woah! Do they have four arms?" Monkey asked.
There was a very gruff-looking bipedal creature with heavily exaggerated muscles serving a customer at a nearby table at a popular-looking restaurant. They had gray skin and four large arms, which looked like they could grind meat off of. And that giant hulking person…was wearing a bright pink tanktop with a matching bow on their head as they handed a large group their meals, one dish in each of their four hands.
"Yes. Yes, she does. You definitely don't wanna be on the receiving end of a Machamp's punches, I'll tell you that much." Riley answered.
'…That's a woman?' The six foreigners all thought.
They all quickly realized that they should just roll with it. After all, even their resident Pokémon companions confirmed that yes, Pokémon were very strange creatures.
One of the patrons caught Shfiu's eye though, causing him to rub his eyes to ensure he was seeing it correctly.
"Are those pandas?" The master asked in surprise.
Indeed, there were some pandas walking around with some other creatures that looked awfully similar to one, but looking ready for a fight at a moment's notice.
"They've made themselves quite at home with the Pancham and Pangoro around Ransei, actually," Lyla responded.
Shifu's brow furrowed. "But why Ran-"
"Hey! I think classes should be getting out soon at Opelucid Academy! Let's go surprise Eri!" Riley interrupted before going off, with Lyla sighing as she gestured the group to follow.
The Chinese masters shared a glance and silent conversation. Riley seemed rather quick to change the subject there.
Nevertheless, the group followed until they reached the city's primary school building. Just about everyone who grew up in the city has attended the school. The doors were opening and most of the younger students were excitedly exiting the building and chatting. There were some boar-like Pokemon that were playfully shoving each other around (Pignite), what looked to be a younger version of the Pangoro that were mentioned earlier, some very armored-looking ones with very pointy-looking helmets (Pawniard), and so many others. There was one young student in particular that stood out though.
Seeing this student, Riley shared a nod with Lyla as her eyes glowed. Before the group's eyes, Riley vanished.
The student looked quite like Riley had when they first met, though there were some very evident differences. For starters…they were yellow.
Instead of the blue fur that Riley had, theirs was yellow. The black portions looked to be tinged with a trace of blue, and the yellow collar was a light blue instead. They wore an excessively large dark red hoodie that practically reached her knees, with the sleeves having been rolled up so that their paws could be seen. They were noticeably about 10 inches shorter than Riley had been.
The Riolu, not paying the most attention, passed the group in their own world.
Lyla frowned at that. "Oi, Squirt! You just gonna ignore me like that?" Lyla called out.
The Riolu froze where she stood before swiveling around to look at Lyla with what seemed like literal stars in their eyes.
"Lili!" The Riolu squealed in excitement before she rushed over and jumped into the Zoroark's arms.
Lyla simply chuckled. "Nice to see you again runt," Lyla said with a smile, ruffling the Riolu's head.
"Wait! If you're here, does that mean Big Bro is back?!" The Riolu asked excitedly.
"I dunno, what's he look like?"
The Riolu went rigid as she turned around to see the illusion that was covering Riley to fade. Seeing him, the Riolu's excitement only seemed to rise even further.
"RILEY!"
Slam!
Riley was knocked over as the yellow projectile collided with him, knocking him to the ground and onto his back as she latched on to him in a big hug. Riley just cackled.
"It's good to see you again, Eri. So how old are you now? 8? 9?" Riley said with a smile, his tone playful.
The now-named Eri separated and puffed her chest proudly. "10!" Eri exclaimed proudly.
"Shoot! I missed your 10th birthday?! Damn it!" Riley said in comic despair, having realized he missed-
"10 in a few days." Eri corrected.
Riley breathed a sigh of relief as he got back to his feet. "Oh, thank goodness! Don't scare me like that! Looks like I came around just in time then."
Eri nodded rapidly. "And you evolved! I'm so happy!" Eri exclaimed with a toothy grin. She then turned to the others with a confused head tilt. "Who're these weirdos?"
The group facevaulted anime-style at the girl's abrupt and blunt question.
"Eri!" Riley chastised.
"What?! They do look weird!" Eri said defensively.
"Just because they look different doesn't mean they're weird!"
Eri gave him a flat look before gesturing to herself with a challenging expression.
"…You being a Shiny and also being weird is a coincidence," Riley stated without changing tune.
Eri rolled her eyes at that before turning to the group. "Hi! My name's Eri! So how do you know Big Bro?" Eri introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, Eri. These are my students, the Furious Five. We protect the Valley Of Peace in China. Beside me are masters Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, and Tigress." Shifu introduced his pupils, gesturing to each of them as he called their names. "And I am their master, Shifu."
"Wait, so you guys call him 'Master' Shifu?" Eri gained an exasperated look.
The group shared a confused glance. "Um…yeah?" Mantis responded.
"Shifu means master! You're saying 'Master Master'! Would I ask you to go to the 'dojo dojo' or make a cup of 'tea tea'?!" Eri exclaimed. 1
The Chinese natives didn't really have anything to say after that, all being too stunned to say anything back, even the one whose name was the topic of conversation. All six had only one thing going through their mind.
'She is definitely related to him!' They all thought.
Riley just cackled. "I won't lie, I thought the same thing a couple of months ago."
Tigress looked to Eri in confusion. "How do you even know that?"
Lyla stepped in with the explanation. "Different areas of Ransei are heavily inspired by other regions of the world. Some species' names are derived from different languages. Flamigo for example, is the combination of 'flamingo' and the Spanish word for 'friend.' Paldea in particular takes much inspiration from Spanish culture."
Riley nodded. "There is a species known as Urshifu, roughly translating to 'Bear Master.' They earned that name after developing their signature styles long ago."
Eri throws some rapid mock punches. "Agile!" she then switches to throwing large and slow punches. "Strong!"
Riley frowned. "No. It's 'Rapid-Strike' and 'Single-Strike.'" Riley chastised his sister.
Eri flailed her arms. "Same thing!"
Lyla just chuckled at the two's interaction and ruffled the young Riolu's head. "It's nice to see you again, Squirt."
"I hope you haven't been giving Mom and Dad too much trouble," Riley said.
Eri became excited as she gestured in another direction. "We should go see them! Mama will be so happy!"
Riley snorted. "Well alright then. Let's go surprise Mom then." Riley said with a smile as the three natives led the way.
The China masters continued to look around in wonder at the city. The advanced yet rustic feel. The people of Ransei were also incredibly unique and diverse compared to back in China.
Eri, Riley, and Lyla were leading the group to the hospital when a Hisuian Zoroark in a regal black cloak walked through the group, bumping into Riley and causing him to fall over.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Riley said angrily as he got to one knee.
"Apologies. It would appear I was zoning out for a minute there." The Zoroark apologized.
Riley noticed something on the ground nearby. The object was a small sphere with a myriad of white, purple, and indigo swirling within it.
Riley felt something familiar about the orb, though he could not figure out why. He had never seen something like it before, or at least he would've remembered seeing such an odd item.
Riley went over and picked up the mysterious orb and held it out to the figure. "Hey, sir. I think you drop-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the orb was snatched from Riley's hand.
"Yes. Thank you." The Hisuian Zoroark thanked hastily, having pocketed his dropped item as he quickly went on his way.
'That was weird.' Riley thought, watching the person walk off with a strange look.
Eri huffed. "Rude!"
"You alright, Riley?" Tigress asked, glancing back at the Zoroark until they were out of sight.
"Yeah. Dude really needs to pay attention when he's walking around is all." Riley answered.
Shifu frowned. "He seemed to be in quite the rush after bumping into you," Shifu stated.
"Must've just lost track of time or something. Maybe bumping into Riley snapped him out of it." Monkey suggested.
"That was another Zoroark, right?" Crane asked.
Lyla nodded. "Yeah. He must be from Sinnoh, or Hisui, as the natives call it. I've never really interacted with those variants very often though, so I'm not all that knowledgeable about them." Lyla explained.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." A voice called out from the distance.
The group looks over toward the voice, with some of them shooting glares at their source. Before them was a group of three Pokémon.
The first was serpentine in appearance with pale green scales. Their face and throat are white, while their back is dark green. Curled, mint-colored patterns extend into the white portion of its face, and they have narrow red eyes. There were two pointed yellow extensions on the back of their head. Coiled, dark green extensions spread out from the sides of their lower neck, as they had an orange bandana tied beneath their head.
The second individual was overall shorter than their comrades. They had a pale, gray body that seemed to be an odd mix of a cat and a weasel. It has a bright red crown and collar made of wide feathers (the middle sections of each look silver rather than red) and a single, thinner feather on each ear. They had two tail feathers and three claws on each paw. There is an oval, yellow gem-like protrusion in the center of its forehead. Its eyes are red with three eyelashes, and four fangs protrude from its upper jaw. The individual is wearing a navy blue jacket and baggy pants.
The third individual was probably the most peculiar yet intimidating of them all as they stood a bit taller than Tai Lung. They were covered in yellow fur with black stripes and seemed somewhat monkey-like in appearance. They appeared to lack a neck and had red eyes, a black spot on their forehead, and a pair of antennae with bulbous tips. The fur on their cheeks and shoulders is spiky and ruffled. They had two black tails with red rounded ends. They also had black feet with three, clawed toes, and five black fingers on each of their hands. They were dressed in violet clothing and had a seemingly amused look directed at the group.
Lyla, Riley, and Eri all glared at the arrivals immediately. Tigress' brow furrowed as she tried to remember why the three looked so familiar.
Riley scoffed. "Well, if it isn't Paul and his cronies. So, what are you up to these days?"
Silver snorted. "You know, I might not have recognized you at first. Your voice sounds even more annoying than before." Silver retorted.
Trip's eyes landed on the others. "And look at that, they brought foreigners." The serpent-like Pokémon spat venomously. "What? Did you need to find people somehow even more of a bad joke than yourself to feel like you belonged somewhere?"
Tigress' eyes widened, her mind clicking as she finally recognized who these were. Her look turned into a scowl.
"Big talk from a bunch of grunts that need to pick on someone else to make themselves feel stronger," Tigress remarked.
Let it be known that she learned a lot about smack talk from her time training with Lyla and Riley. Also, she didn't like bullies.
Paul seemed amused by the statement. "I see you've talked about us. All good things, I presume?" Paul said with an arrogant tone.
Lyla snorted loudly. "I think I speak for both of us when I say we'd rather be sprayed by a Skuntank point-blank than compliment any of you nitwits."
By now, a number of passersby had stopped what they were doing, looking on at the encounter in curiosity.
Paul's smile fell slightly, the amusement he once had fading as Silver spoke. "What are you even doing back here anyway?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I needed to care about if you knew I was here or not. I don't need to tell you anything, other than to screw off." Riley said coldly.
Paul scoffed. "What? Are we 'not worthy of your presence' or something stupid like that?"
Riley blinked. He blinked again. He blinked a third time. Finally, he gave a different reaction…
He laughed.
Riley all of a sudden caught everyone around off-guard when he suddenly began to laugh hysterically. Even his friends and Paul's group wavered in surprise at the sudden hysteria.
After a bit, Riley's laughter died down and he wiped some tears from his eyes. "Heh heh. You know what? I never thought I ever say this, but you're right!" Riley's expression swiftly became unamused. "You really aren't," Riley said in a flat tone.
"What?" All three of the bullies said in sync, baffled.
Riley's even stare at the three didn't change. "We don't have time to deal with your egotistical degeneracy. Unlike you, we actually have something important to do. So why don't you just go talk in the third person about yourselves to someone actually interested? While you do that, we'll actually do something productive with our lives." Riley said with finality, gesturing to his group. "Come on, let's blow this joint."
The group was surprised at this turn of events, but they nodded in agreement. They were all proud that he kept his priorities and emotions in check throughout the ordeal. Even Shifu had a proud smile on his face.
As Riley and his friends walked away from Paul and his goons, Paul was furious, his hand crackling with electricity from his rage. How dare he! No one ignores Paul and gets away with it!
With Riley and the others, Viper pats Riley's arm with her tail. "Way to go, Riley!" She praised.
Mantis scurried on top of Crane's hat and stood on the edge facing the direction Crane was. "Who needs to bother with them anyway?" Mantis asked rhetorically. Crane nodded in agreement with his friend.
Lyla wraps her arm over his shoulder with a wide grin plastered on her face. "They're right. Paul and his goons are just a bunch of assholes." Lyla stated confidently.
Eri gasped as she pointed to Lyla. "Lili said a bad word!"
Lyla just gave the girl a flat look. "And what word would you use to describe them?"
Eri put her hand to her chin and looked up in thought. After a few seconds of thought, she simply shrugged. "Fair point."
Shifu then elected to speak up. "Though Lyla's words are…crass, I agree with everyone. By walking away, you have already proven yourself a better person than they will ever be."
The others chimed in with their own acknowledgments, even Tigress gave a nod with a slight smile in approval. Riley couldn't help but smile, knowing that he had found the right people. He noticed Eri and, like the bundle of joy she was, she somehow managed to smile even wider at seeing her brother so happy, which caused him to smile even wider. He couldn't help it, his little sister was just a ball of sunshine.
The moment is ruined, however, as they hear a sound akin to thunder as they turn to the source. They saw Paul, whose arm was still charged with power, had struck the ground in front of him. The Electivire glared at the group with barely contained fury as he lifted his crackling arm to point at Riley.
"RILEY! FIGHT ME! RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" The enraged Electivire demands.
All the Pokémon around went silent, freezing at the Electivire's bold demand. The Five and Shifu were left confused, as Lyla and even Eri froze at the demand.
Riley turned to face Paul with an unfazed look.
"No," Riley stated.
His response brought gasps from the onlookers around them. The onlookers murmured to each other in shock at his bold refusal. Even Paul and his cronies were momentarily surprised by this action, they thought he wouldn't hesitate to accept the challenge.
Throwing away his surprise and replacing it with his previous fury, Paul glared at Riley. "Why not?"
Riley gave him a level look. "Why should I? Why should I bother caring about what you think? I am not the same person I was years ago, but you, you haven't changed a bit in the years I've been gone. I have nothing to prove to you. You challenged me like a brat throwing a tantrum when he didn't get the toy he wanted. At least have the dignity to act your age, because as far as I'm concerned, my little sister here is far more mature than you will ever be." The Lucario declared, turning back to his companions to walk away.
"So, you fall in with those outsiders? You and Sir Aaron are disgraces to your kind!" Paul barked back.
Everyone nearby flinched at the bold declaration. Lyla and Eri paled (with Lyla turning so white you'd think she was a Hisuian Zoroark at first glance) as they looked at Riley. The others moved their gaze to Riley…but something was different about him. His eyes were unfocused and his body trembled. His teeth bared as he snarled with pure hate. Eri had never seen her brother so angry before, but his friends and sensei had…
It was the same hate-filled fury they saw the day Oogway passed away.
Paul smiled at this, everyone around could feel Riley's angered Aura and he knew that he said the right words to get his attention. Riley had always gone on and on about how great his grandfather had been, so by insulting his grandfather he knew he had the Lucario pegged the second it left Paul's mouth.
His companions, however, didn't quite seem to hold the same sentiment.
Trip looked over to him with hesitation. "Woah dude. Are you sure you should've said that?" The snake-like Pokémon questioned.
Silver looked over and shared the notion. "Yeah, man. Isn't that taking it a bit too far? This is Sir Aaron we're talking about after all." Silver agreed with Trip, he thought that Paul might've just crossed a line this time.
Paul scoffed. "If he's so great, then why did he let himself get killed so easily?"
This caught Shifu's attention. Riley's grandfather was murdered? In the time he knew Riley, the lad had never mentioned anything about how Sir Aaron had passed. Was this why he always looked so down after mentioning his grandfather?
Upon hearing Paul's second statement, the tension radiating from Riley grew exponentially, with his eyes overcast by shadows as his head tilted downward.
Crane then turned back to Paul with a questioning look. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Paul looked smug. "Let me ask you something Bird, have you noticed anything odd while in Ransei? Pokémon are the natural inhabitants of this nation, always have been…haven't you noticed something that doesn't line up with that?" Paul asked.
The group attempted to figure out what he meant. Something that doesn't line up? They hadn't really seen anything that seemed out of the ordinary about the inhabitants. Viper looked around at the people surrounding them and tried to see if she could figure it out. The people around seemed normal for Pokémon as Riley had told them about earlier. She saw a Cinderace, Bisharp, Liepard, Gothitelle, pandas, Zoroark-
…wait…
Viper turned back to the panda she saw just a moment ago. Riley had mentioned something about Pancham and Pangoro being very similar to pandas, but she knew that was a panda she had just seen, just like the one they'd seen at the shop earlier. "Pandas…" she finally managed to say.
Monkey scratched his chin. "Now that I think about it, I can't remember the last time I heard of someone seeing a panda back in China…" Monkey trailed off.
"Then…why are they here?" Crane continued Monkey's thought, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.
Tigress' mind suddenly flashed to the vision she had gotten after her fight against Tai Lung. The people that were running in terror and being slaughtered, she hadn't been able to see them clearly and her focus had been more directed to Riley and the white Lucario in the memory, but now their silhouettes cleared like a fog being blown away. They had been pandas that were running…so that meant…
"No…" Tigress said softly, the realization hitting her like a rampaging Tauros.
"Based on what we were told, some crazy guy started a genocide against all pandas and most of the survivors fled for Ransei…and Riley was there when it happened," Paul revealed.
Tigress couldn't sense Aura, but even she could feel a difference between the tension and the pure rage that felt like a wildfire coming from Riley beside her. She could tell that he was seething with every word Paul spoke.
But he just. Kept. Talking.
"Clearly, Sir Aaron wasn't all that he was cracked up to be. Especially if he got himself killed so easily." Paul egged on.
That was it.
That. Was. It.
Tigress and the others looked over to gauge Riley's reaction. Something was seriously off about him. It felt like the same fury from that day at the palace, but something was…different. The fury that day was out of a sense of desperation; someone's desperate last stand to prove themselves.
This feeling…wasn't desperation.
This feeling she got from looking at him, wasn't that. It wasn't the righteousness he gave off when he stood against Tai Lung. And it definitely wasn't joy or anything near the likes of happiness.
Riley's hands twitched, the first bit of motion he's displayed since his grandfather's death was brought up.
This wasn't anger.
Riley's arms hung low. Lyla and Eri looked increasingly alarmed and began stepping away from him.
This wasn't rage.
Riley turned toward Paul and his goons, moving like a dangling puppet as he faced downward, his expression unreadable. The China natives backed up as well from their friend.
This wasn't fury.
A low red glow could be seen radiating from his eyes, as a dark aura surrounded his body and engulfed him in what could only be described as pure darkness. The people of Ransei looked on in pure terror at what was happening, recognizing this sinister darkness.
This…was hatred.
The dark aura dispersed. The red glow coming from his eyes had darkened but glowed ominously brighter than before. Violet clouds swirled around him as if they fed from his inner darkness. Even Paul, whose expression had been oh so smug before, quickly morphed as if he was looking at death itself and backed up in fear.
This was feral. This was wrath.
This…was evil.
"Paul…" Lyla said softly as she tried to comfort Eri, who was shaking like a leaf. "…what did you do…?"
The being that stood before them was no longer Riley. This was something long since believed to be gone. A malicious force that could not be reasoned with. Something the residents of Ransei had not seen for centuries and only now told of in stories…
This was…
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A Shadow Pokémon.
Outtake:
Lyla wraps her arm over Riley's shoulder with a wide grin plastered on her face. "They're right. Paul and his goons are just a bunch of assholes." Lyla stated confidently.
BONG!
Lyla got knocked to the ground as she was suddenly hit by a circular shield with red, white, and blue on it. It bounced back to its sender in the distance, a visibly annoyed Aegislash with the same colors.
"Language!"
Lyla gets back up, a large bump on her forehead and a livid expression.
"PISS OFF ROGERS!"
Lyla's expression became alarmed as she began to try and scurry away, seeing the Aegislash winding up the shield for another throw with an angered expression on his face.
"OH NO! NOT AGAI-"
BONG!
1: This is true. It really does translate to "master."
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed and feel free to review! Let me know what you all think about the story so far.