It wasn't often that Lucario found himself in the forest at night, but when he was, it was like he was entering a whole different dimension.
New Pokemon running out and about, with their parents watching over them from afar while chatting with their friends or neighbours. The river was no longer see-through and illuminated by the sunlight, instead being dimly lit up by the moon.
There weren't any fish present either, probably sleeping the whole day of travelling and swimming off somewhere in a burrow at the bottom of the bank.
And then there was Lucario, sleepy and somewhat annoyed by the sudden appearance of Zoroark. He knew she would come to get her favour back, but he did not expect it to be at night.
"Is it really that important? Can't we wait for day?" Lucario moaned as she pulled him by the paw somewhere deep into the forest.
"Yes, it's that important. There's no time to waste, come on mutt!" Zoroark said firmly and pulled him harder. She was really eager to show him something.
Even though his aura senses weren't as powerful as during the day, Lucario could still sense a strange feeling emanating from Zoroark, something that's completely not like her.
That feeling was dread and fear. Throughout all the time Lucario had spent with Zoroark, be it the time she told him her story, or the moment he walked out of the colosseum, she was never afraid.
He felt like he should ask her about it, but at the same time felt like it's a bad idea. She might get mad that I'm digging through her mind. Lucario thought to himself.
As they went deeper and deeper into the forest, the moonlight started to get dimmer, and dimmer, until it eventually disappeared. They were now in a place that Lucario had never been to.
He looked around in awe at all the different insects crawling around, not paying attention to his surroundings. But maybe he should have paid attention, as they soon arrived at an old, broken-down gate to what seemed to be a small bunker, sealed by a giant metal hatch.
Lucario bumped into the fence surrounding the complex, all orange and brown from the rust that has accumulated over the years. He held his snout and hissed silently in pain.
Zoroark put her paw over his mouth and looked at him. "We need to stay silent." She said firmly and nodded, moving through the broken fence.
The Aura Pokemon caught hold of her arm and pulled her back. "No, what we need is to know what we're doing." He let go of her and shrugged. "So, what are we doing?"
Zoroark sighed and looked at the bunker. "We are going to find out what's inside. Now come on mutt, there's no time to-"
"And how do you intend on getting in?" Lucario asked and crossed his arms, looking expectantly at Zoroark. "Through the front door?"
"W-We'll find a way..."
"Yeah, after somebody sees and chases us out!" He hissed at Zoroark and sighed. "I've read my fair share of books to know how this is going to turn out. You walk in, somebody captures you, and you're stuck in a cell somewhere.
"But you know what the difference between books and real life is? In real life, you won't pull a lockpick out of tooth or something and open the cell. You will just be stuck until they either let you go, or they do something horrible to you, leading to your death."
Zoroark looked down at her feet and shifted them nervously, avoiding eye contact with Lucario. The latter felt another wave of fear, followed by uneasiness wash over Zoroark.
The blue furred Pokemon backed up and sighed. "Come on Zoroark. Let's go. You'll have time to explain everything to me as we walk back."
Lucario got slightly in front of Zoroark and motioned his head at her, beckoning her to follow him.
"I have a feeling this is going to be a fun day."
Chapter 5: "Fugitive fury."
"Glass is safe until it is broken."
Lucario hummed cheerfully to himself as the fire began dying down, leaving only the sound of the boiling hot water in the pot as the only source of sound in the nightly forest.
He tipped the pot over slightly and poured some of the water into a small bowl filled with different herbs and berries. Lucario then did the same for the second bowl, also filled with all sorts of berries.
Zoroark watched on in awe as her friend cooked up a concoction, mixing different tastes and making them drinkable. She looked down at the bowl that Lucario slid over to her.
"Drink up, it's not harmful." He said as he took a sip of his own, holding the bowl in both his paws. The steam from the water certainly repelled Zoroark, but the scent it was leaving made her curious as to how it tasted.
"It's quite healthy, actually. I learned that from the nurses back at Crimson's kingdom." Lucario announced proudly, putting the cup on the ground beside the dying fire, which dimly lit up their faces.
Zoroark curiously took the drink in her paw and took a sip, not expecting it to be this hot. She immediately spit it out to the side and looked in disbelief at chuckling Lucario.
"Right, I forgot to tell you it's hot." He said between breaths with his laughter dying out.
"Yeah, right." She spat to the side again and took a deep breath, turning to look Lucario right in the eye. "Say, Lucario... If I asked for your help with infiltrating a secret base, would you help me?"
The Aura Pokemon choked on his drink, spitting it out and coughing loudly. He was caught off guard, not only by the question itself but also by Zoroark calling him 'Lucario'. This could only mean that she was being serious.
"W-Well..." He chuckled nervously, about to dismiss her request out of fear and cowardliness. Lucario then looked back into his friend's eyes, seeing a genuine plea for help, as if she's begging him to help her. He just had to oblige at this point
Lucario sighed and took another sip of his tea. "Yes. Yes, I would. You're my friend, I'd feel bad if I didn't help."
He looked back up at Zoroark and saw her beaming with joy. She got up from the ground and rushed up to him, embracing him in a tight and warm hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Lucario!"
"H-Hey! Mind the spike!" Her blue furred friend reminded her through choked breaths. It was rare to see her this happy, and Lucario couldn't help but crack a smile of his own.
"However, you'd have to tell me the exact details. Going into this completely blind is very dangerous." Lucario said as Zoroark finally let him go, breathing heavily. "And I wouldn't want you getting hurt."
Zoroark blushed slightly and looked away, sighing. "That's the thing Lucario, I don't know much about the place. I only know that the ventilation system supposedly leads to every room in the building. That's where I wanted to go with you."
Lucario closed his eye and put his paw up to his chin, thinking hard and calculating the best approach to not only his friend but to also the whole ordeal. "Then I guess that's where we start. As long as my aura has an entry point into the place, I'll be able to see everything."
The Aura Pokemon put his paw on Zoroark's shoulder and nodded gently, smiling. "We'll sort this out. Don't worry."
He picked up his cup and emptied it, drinking the hot tea in a single swig. He let out an audible sigh of satisfaction as he felt the liquid warm him up. Lucario then pointed at Zoroark's cup and looked her in the eyes. "Are you going to drink that?"
She shook her head in response. "Whatever that is, it's not for me, mutt. I prefer cold drinks."
Lucario smiled gently and nabbed the small bowl, drinking its contents and putting it on his own. He laid the two cups right by tree, under his father's memorial.
He could feel Zoroark's interest pique as soon as she laid her eyes on the small wreath, gazing into Decidueye's black feather. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Hey mutt, you wouldn't know who this feather belongs to, would you?"
Lucario swallowed nervously and turned around, facing the Illusion Fox Pokemon. He shook his head. "All I know is that it belongs to my hero." He smiled gently at the memorial and bowed down. "He saved my life on multiple occasions."
"I see." She nodded and bowed beside her blue furred friend. "It's only right that I pay respect too. For luck, you know."
Zoroark looked up at the memorial and sighed, putting her paw under her chin. "You know mutt, that feather reminds me of an old friend of mine. Wonder if it belongs to him..."
"Who knows. Maybe someday we'll find out." Lucario gave her a reassuring pat on the back and smiled. "Now, how about we walk and talk. You'll have time to tell me why you want to go inside there in the first place."
Zoroark nodded gently and followed close behind her friend, who had already started walking in the direction they came from.
:::::::::::::
"So, about that place..." Lucario began, making his way through the thick leaves and branches. "Out of all the things you could explore, why choose an old and abandoned bunker?"
"Two things, mutt:" Zoroark said through gritted teeth, kicking down a particularly big shrub. "One, is that it's not abandoned. Two, is that it's not just a bunker. You'll see when we get there."
"Well alright. But you still haven't answered my question- why?"
"I heard cries of other Pokemon coming from the inside." A shiver ran up Lucario's spine as she said that. "And it didn't sound like they were having fun."
"Are you saying they are trapped and cannot get out?" He said, trying to remain optimistic and not think of the worst-case scenario.
Zoroark shook her head and walked side-to-side with the Aura Pokemon. "I'm saying that they are kept there. They are trapped, yes, but that's because someone put them there. And I think I have an idea who that might have been."
Lucario and Zoroark went off the path near a small stream of water and continued following it. "Let me guess- Andro?"
The Illusion Fox Pokemon stopped dead in her tracks and stared bewilderedly at Lucario. "Who's Andro, mutt? I was about to say it was Mrs. Meda."
"Oh, right, you probably don't know." The Aura Pokemon chuckled nervously and nodded to himself. "Well, her name is Andro. It's kind of funny when you think about it. 'Andro Meda'."
Zoroark chortled and sighed. "I don't see why you find it funny, mutt, but your attitude amuses me. You're always so positive, like you were born this way."
A silent sigh came from Lucario as the emotions on his face faded away lightly. He ventured back into the moment he was born, the moment when he found out he was all alone. Scared, alone and frail. "It wasn't always like that."
She noticed the sudden change in Lucario's attitude, something which he hoped wouldn't happen. Before he could say anything though, Zoroark's paw landed on his shoulder, catching him off-guard. "Hey, everyone changes. Soemtimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. You're the former, and you should be proud of yourself."
"Maybe you're right." Lucario looked up from the ground and saw the same fence he walked into before. "Enough chit-chat. We'll have time to talk after we're done here."
Zoroark nodded and lead her blue furred friend somewhere safe and secluded, but still close to the whole bunker- "An outhouse? I could've found a better spot to hide in, you know." Lucario said as he shifted his body away from Zoroark's.
"Yeah, I didn't think about that. That's on me, mutt." She said, inching a bit farther from her friend. It was indeed very cramped. And the smell was horrible. Lucario could feel his nostrils being filled by the stink of the waste in the little wooden shack.
He began taking a deep breath in, but decided against it, seeing as the air was too "dirty". He just closed his eye and focused, switching to his aura vision and running through the outside of the complex.
It felt like he had two eyes again, being able to see everything fully and in its true colour. He had almost forgotten what it felt like. The colours themselves were very vibrant, with only the metallic grey blast door being out of place.
Leading into the bunker was a path, one that had certainly seen better times. On the opposite end of it was a large gate, unaffected by the rust that took the fence. It was shut tight by a giant padlock, only opened by a special key.
Running back to the entrance, Lucario looked up and at the hill under which the bunker was situated. He went behind it and began walking up, starting to see something metallic and vaguely resembling a box, or a square.
Upon reaching the top, Lucario found what they were looking for- the ventilation shaft. There was a large, spinning rotor at the top, preventing his physical body from entering, but easily letting his aura vision through.
Once inside the vents, Lucario flew past all the rooms that were filled with different humans; none of them included the human he was looking for. That was, until he heard her voice in one of the rooms.
He stopped abruptly and flew down into the room through a grate, seeing Andro talking through her mobile phone. She looked angry, but her voice showed otherwise.
"I thought we had a deal. Is there a reason why you won't be able to make it today?" She said calmly, awaiting a response from her caller. One that came as soon as she spoke.
"Yes, I have a very important delivery. I just can't miss this opportunity!" An agitated male said on the other end of the line. From his voice alone, Lucario could guess he was about forty years old.
"And you have a delivery here. I don't care how important that something is, you're either here or you don't show your stupid face in here ever again."
There was a long period of silence, followed by a sigh and a grunt of dissatisfaction coming from the man. "Fine."
Andro smiled deviously. "Good. Be here at 10 o'clock sharp. And no buts, I know you have something else to do at that time. I just simply don't care." She chuckled on the side so that the man wouldn't hear her.
"Classic Meda, you wouldn't care if I was bleeding out in front of you."
"Of course I wouldn't, we're just business partners. I could just find another one."
Lucario felt a shiver creep up his spine. If she was being serious, then it's not just a bad person he's dealing with- she's a sociopath, a heartless one at that.
Andro tapped a button on her phone and sighed, putting it in her pocket and sitting behind her desk. Lucario moved back slightly and continued watching her.
"God, why is everyone so difficult to work with." She leaned back on her chair and stretched. "Then again, it is a stressful work environment. Oh well, they knew what they signed up for."
Lucario watched on as Andro looked around herself, a strange feeling of fear setting in. "I feel like I'm being watched... Hmm..." She shrugged it off eventually and returned to her relaxed position.
"It's probably nothing."
Seeing as there was nothing more to find out here, Lucario flew back into the vents with his aura vision and continued looking around, checking all the rooms for something interesting.
He could hear the cries and pleas for help of Pokemon coming from one direction, and decided to see for himself what the whole fuss was about.
...Only to wish he didn't.
As he turned the corner, the voices grew loud enough to the point where it actually hurt his ears. He flew through a grate and looked down, seeing at least hundreds of different species of Pokemon locked behind steel bars in small containments.
Lucario went further down into the endless hole of prisoners, listening to all the screams and pleas in horror. He knew there was something bad about this place, but he never suspected it would be that bad.
Upon finally reaching the bottom, he found a staircase leading even further down. Curiosity overtook him and he followed it, finding himself in yet another cell block. This one, however, was exclusive to only Tauros. There weren't any other Pokemon in the vicinity, Lucario checked twice.
To his left was a dead end, ending with a grey wall. To his right, however, was something Lucario had never seen before- an elevator.
Lucario flew closer with his aura vision, looking at the two buttons on the side of the metal frame. One had the symbol of an arrow pointing up, and the other had an arrow pointing down.
He focused harder, intending on making himself a body in this state, so as to touch and feel his surroundings. Lucario was successful, and when he looked down again, he had formed himself a pair of paws.
He squeezed them shut and felt like he really was there, down in the jail and in front of the elevator. It felt so... real. Lucario placed his paw on the button and could feel how coarse it was, possibly from heavy use.
The Aura Pokemon looked back at the trapped Tauros, all separated in crammed pens with just enough space to sit down. He began making his way down the hallway and noticed a ventilation shaft running along the ceiling.
Lucario tried tuning out the moos coming from the bulls and was successful, though the cries from above could still be heard. With the partial silence, there also came another benefit- new voices.
There was a new and silent voice, somewhere deep into the complex. It was faint and not echoing across the walls, almost as if it was a thought... Lucario kept that a possibility until that voice spoke directly to him.
"I can feel you. You're somewhere there, I know you are, kid. Go deeper in, you'll find me soon."
Lucario tried obeying the voice and tried going further into the complex, only to be stopped by a sharp and blinding headache, knocking him out of his aura vision.
He clutched at his forehead and hissed quietly. "Gah. I thought they stopped." Lucario thought to himself and opened his eye, expecting to see Zoroark in front of him.
To his surprise, the two of them were outside of the outhouse, with Lucario sitting by a tree and Zoroark sitting up on the tree, keeping watch.
She looked down at him and jumped down, breaking her fall with a pile of leaves. "Any good news?" Zoroark asked and crossed her arms.
"I don't think any of the news coming from this place are good."
"...Any news at all?"
Lucario sighed and rubbed his forehead with the headache slowly passing as he did so. "Yes. Andro's inside and she's expecting someone at 10 o'clock. It's supposed to be important."
"I think we just found ourselves a ticket inside, mutt." The Illusion Fox Pokemon smiled and rubbed Lucario's head aggressively, laughing. "Good job!"
The Aura Pokemon shook his head as soon as he was released from her grip. "What about all the Pokemon? They're trapped further down into the bunker. If I can find some sort of switch, then we could release them and have them help us get out."
"Let's just focus on Andro for now, mutt. She is what we're going after, not the trapped Pokemon." Zoroark added and smiled at Lucario, patting him on the shoulder. "We'll release them after we deal with Andro, alright?"
He sighed and looked down at his feet, defeated. He knew there was no convincing her, he just had to hope that everything would turn out alright. "Alright. I'll take your word for it."
"That's the spirit!" She chuckled as she shook Lucario, though he felt like he was not there. His mind was somewhere else, thinking about that strange voice that called out to him... But who was that?
It told him to go deeper in, whatever that meant. Maybe it meant deeper into the facility? And how did they feel him? Through telepathy? Maybe some sort of strange psychic abilities?
Lucario could do nothing but speculate about what the voice had meant... Or he could use his aura vision again and go down into the complex again. But what if the headache returned?
"Hey, mutt, you there?" Zoroark called out to him. "Hello, Earth to mutt, how copy?"
The Aura Pokemon shook his head and looked up at her. "You good? You zoned out for a while there." She asked him with a concerned look on her face.
He nodded at her and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just... thinking about something."
The Illusion Fox Pokemon bent down to his level. "Hey, you owe me a favour. You can't back down now, mutt."
"I know. I wasn't going to. I made a promise, and promises are made to be kept."
Even though Lucario said that, inside, he felt uneasy about all of this. He felt like something bad will happen the moment they enter. Like Andro is expecting them... again.
He can't let the negative thoughts overwhelm him though. He needs to stay positive! Yeah! They can do it- No, they will do it!
"That's the spirit. Stay strong, Lucario." His voice reassured him as he hyped himself up. The moment it spoke though, a new idea formed inside Lucario's mind.
"Hey, Zoroark? Could you go somewhere else for now? I need to focus." That was a lie though. Of course, he had to focus. He just didn't want Zoroark to be around.
She shot him a quizzical look and shrugged. "Alright, whatever mutt." His friend said and turned around, going down the hill and away from the vents and Lucario.
The moment he couldn't see her, Lucario sat down with crossed legs and called out to his inner voice with a question in mind.
It responded rather quickly, the image of a floating purple orb in an endless white void beginning to appear. "Yes, Lucario? What is it." It spoke, and the orb shook as it did so.
"I have a question. Do you know who that voice from before belonged to?"
Even though the orb had no eyes, Lucario felt that it was staring at him judgementally, making him feel uneasy. "What makes you think I do?"
"Well, I figured that since I don't know, maybe you would."
An audible sigh came from the orb. "It's another Lucario. That's the only explanation. You were using aura to navigate around, and the only Pokemon that can detect aura is..." It stopped, waiting for him to finish the sentence.
"...A Lucario?"
There was a sudden moment of silence before the sound of the voice clapping made itself apparent, scaring Lucario a bit. "Yes, good job. Now that you've got it figured out, run along. I don't know what you want to do with that piece of information, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's better if I don't know."
Lucario gasped quietly as his mind was ejected from the white void, finding himself back near the vent system, the sound of the fans whirring returning and filling the air.
"Another Lucario, huh? Let's put that to the test then."
He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of any thoughts and flying out into the vents once again using his aura vision. This time, he wanted to find out what was deeper. He wanted to find whoever it was that spoke to him earlier.
The journey through the vents back to the jail cells was easy, but returning there at all, wasn't. Lucario didn't like all the noise that the captive Pokemon were making.
He dropped down to the bottom and went the same way he did earlier when the headache stopped him. He went past that point, and... Nothing. No headache. He was safe for now.
Lucario continued heading the same way, ending up in an obscenely long hallway with seemingly no end. Looks like someone liked the idea of reoccurring eternal hallways and drops.
"There you are kiddo. Thought I'd lost you there for a second. Like I said earlier, just head forward and you'll find me eventually." The unknown voice came back.
Doing as he was told, Lucario continued walking ahead. That is, until he was stopped by another heavily reinforced blast door, just like the one on the entrance.
Lucario looked for any cracks, any holes he could squeeze through, eventually finding a hole dug up by some small mice, leading into the walls. Without hesitation, he slipped right in.
He traversed and looked around the inside of the walls, searching for another hole that would lead him out. Once Lucario finally found one, he headed inside.
It wasn't the biggest room, he had to admit. The Aura Pokemon looked to his left, then his right; there was nothing on either side. Then he looked forward.
In the middle of the room, was another Lucario, just like his voice predicted. He was weak and starved, with many visible and untreated scars on his body.
Among the scars were also strange markings, made of something black. It didn't take him long to deduce that these were tattoos. There were two lines that ran all the way up on the inside of the captive's legs, joining on his stomach and continuing up, splitting into many spirals on his chest.
The room itself was very dim, with only one light just above the blast door illuminating a part of the room and just enough to cover the other Lucario's face in light.
Upon getting closer, he found out that the stranger is chained up. His feet were tied down with a chain, held closely to the ground. His arms, however, were in a strange sort of iron glove that clamped them together in a way he couldn't move them.
The stranger scoffed and laughed weakly. "Don't worry kid. I'm used to this, it's no biggie." There was a period of silence before he spoke again. "I imagine you have a lot of questions. Well don't worry, I'm here to answer all of them."
Lucario stayed silent; partly because he didn't want to talk but also because he couldn't. He just did not know how to speak in his aura vision. He only nodded and crossed his arms, waiting for the answers.
"One of the questions is probably "who am I?"." The chained Lucario laughed weakly and looked up at his aura visitor. "I am your father, Lucario. Your true and biological father."
Lucario visibly recoiled backwards, losing his footing and stumbling backwards on the ground. He shook his head, looking up at his supposed dad. But how? How and why was he here? And why was he not there for all of Lucario's life?!
A sharp pain shot through Lucario's whole body, before all of it started surging into his head, forming yet another blinding headache. He looked up at his father, who was smiling softly.
"You're losing grip of your aura. Keep it in its place, kid. Don't let it slip out of control, or we're all doomed." The heavy blast door behind him creaked loudly as it opened, letting inside a scientist with the escort of a Magnezone and a Vikavolt.
That was the last thing Lucario saw, and when he returned to his physical body, Zoroark was already sniffing him, her muzzle right in his face.
He gave her a light shove, pushing her away slightly to catch her attention. "I'm alright, stop it. You don't have to worry."
"It's hard not to worry when your friend doesn't move no matter what you do!" She huffed angrily and crossed her arms, looking out at the rusty gate. "I bet that whoever that person was that Andro was expecting will show up soon."
Lucario got up from the ground and stretched out his arms and legs. They were sore again, yet not as much as all the other times when he sat down like that.
"Probably. Do we have any plan? We need to have one if we're trying to infiltrate a whole military base." Lucario said with a smirk, putting his paw on his hip.
"Nothing but facts, mutt." Zoroark laughed lightly and shook her head. "I was hoping you'd have one." She looked at him expectantly. "Do you?"
"One. And it's not guaranteed it'll work." The Aura Pokemon said hesitantly, unsure whether or not they should continue. But alas, it's now or never. He either helps his friend out, or he loses her trust.
They've gone too far to go back now.
:::::::::::::::
The plan was perfect! Seemingly no margin for error, and even if they screwed something up, they could still make it out of there easily; just turn around, push past everyone and everything, and run for your life!
And yet, even then, they failed. Lucario looked up at the other Pokemon he saw earlier, looking down at him in pity as he was being transported in a small cage with a piece of rope tied tightly around his wrists and muzzle.
He sat down on the cold, metal floor of the cage and closed his eye. I don't understand, what went wrong? He thought to himself and sighed out of frustration.
In a moment's notice, Lucario found himself back at the hill just above the hatch down into the facility. It was right after he had told Zoroark the plan that the truck they were expecting arrived.
They both quietly jumped down behind it, clinging on to the back doors of the van, where Zoroark used her illusions to make herself and Lucario barely visible to the naked eye.
As the hatch creaked open, the van drove on to the pad that revealed itself right under. After doing so, the pad began descending down into the complex.
Everything was going well so far. No one saw them yet.
After they stopped, the man drove his vehicle a little further in, eventually passing a metal gate and then stopping in front of another. The one behind them snapped shut, closing them in.
Lucario's heart thumped heavily in his chest, praying that they would not get caught. He could feel the same fear and uneasiness present in Zoroark as the driver and a security guard conversed.
"Halt." The guard said unenthusiastically. "State your reason for being here."
"Delivery for Andro Meda. Oh, and I'm also here to pick up some Pokemon that are ready for the black market." The van driver clarified and sat back in his seat.
The other man started flipping through some pages, muttering something to himself. "Name?" He asked, not bothering to look up from the papers.
"Yuri Nikitin." He driver answered and tapped the steering wheel nervously.
A long period of silence ensued before the guard finally said something. "Alright, everything checks out. Proceed to delivery bay 5. I'll send someone to grab everything from there."
The gate in front of the van suddenly flew open, letting Yuri through. He drove carefully through, as the duo on the back of his vehicle clung onto the doors tightly, holding their breath in anticipation.
When Lucario opened his eyes back up, he saw the guard staring at the back of the van, yet not saying anything or pointing at anything. He just stood there and stared.
Based off of the thoughts that were running through his mind, none of them being about the Zoroark and Lucario on the back of the delivery van, the Aura Pokemon concluded that they were safe.
The moment the van stopped, both of them silently hopped off and got to the nearest wall, with Lucario holding his friend's paw. He looked back at her and nodded with a sparkle of hope flaring to life in his eyes.
She nodded back and they started to make their way to the nearest door, Zoroark going first with Lucario following closely behind with his eye closed, holding her paw and using his aura vision to guide them both through the maze they found themselves in.
Sure, he might have spent some time exploring the complex with his aura vision, but Lucario never memorised anything other than where the jail cells were and where Andro's office was.
The Aura Pokemon kept sending her telepathic messages to tell her where to go instead of speaking normally. He didn't want to risk anything. Their and the captives' lives were at stake.
The two of them exhibited tunnel vision, skipping over anything that wasn't Andro. They did not pay attention, and maybe that was their mistake.
While being focused on one thing may be good, as you don't get distracted by anything else, it has its own downsides. For one, you stop focusing on your surroundings.
As soon as Zoroark and Lucario turned the corner to the hallway in which Andro's office was, a Machamp stopped them with a Dynamic Punch straight to Zoroark's gut, sending her flying back into Lucario.
The two of them crashed into a wall, making a decently sized hole. Lucario opened his eye back up to see what happened, seeing the same Machamp rushing towards them with his fist drawn back.
The Aura Pokemon blocked with his arms, trying to minimize the damage, only to meet the same fate as Zoroark. The two of them laid motionless on the floor, as a team of security guards and scientists started surrounding them and dragging them somewhere...
...And that's why Lucario was here, being transported to someplace he had no knowledge of. Maybe if he paid attention, maybe if he detected the aura of the Machamp, they wouldn't have been here.
But that's the past. What's important, is to focus on the present. The blue furred Pokemon looked up ahead, now seeing where he was being led to.
In front of him, was a fully transparent, large box, sealed from all sides with only a small magnetic lock on the door being visible. There was nothing else on it, or inside it, aside from the lock and some very small holes to allow fresh air to flow in.
The guards moved his cage close to the entrance before opening both it and the box, pushing Lucario inside of his cell and closing the door behind him, trapping him inside.
He looked around, searching for any way out, anything that would help him do so. The first thing he did after that, was try punching the plexiglass that surrounded him, only for his fist to bounce back and not leave a single mark.
"It's pointless, you'll just tire yourself out." Sounded a familiar voice behind him...
"You." Lucario said telepathically, turning around to face Andro. "You won't get away with this!"
Meda scoffed and started laughing at his words, bewildering him and making him mad. He rushed at the glass she was behind, crashing into it with his shoulder.
To no surprise, it did nothing again. Andro stopped laughing and snapped her fingers at him, catching his attention. "Stop that, I need you alive. You'll be a useful asset to me."
She chuckled again and started circling the cage he was in. "You know, I intended on catching you myself. But since you came running to me yourself, who would I be not to accept that?"
Lucario growled in response and stepped backwards to the centre of the cage, his gaze following Andro. "Once I get out of here, you'll beg me for mercy!" He yelled at her.
She laughed again and continued to circle the cage. "Ooooh! So scary! So feisty! And how do you want to get out, Lucario? You're at my mercy!"
She was right, there was nothing he could do. At least not at the moment. "There will come a time when you pay for everything you have done here. Including trapping my father down here!"
His words seemed to catch Meda off guard, as her laughter stopped abruptly. She turned on her heel and pressed her face against the glass, staring at the Aura Pokemon with a blank expression. "Your father?"
She took her time considering his words before the thought came into her mind. "Your father!" She said with a much more enthusiastic approach. "You mean that old fool? How do you know of his stay here?"
Lucario felt that she was beginning to grow more and more curious, eager to learn. Just like him in his younger days. He scoffed and shrugged. "Why would I tell you? There's nothing for me in it."
At that, Andro clapped twice, and a massive TV began descending down into the room outside his cage just above the door to his whole cell. The screen was black, and a quiet white noise could be heard.
"What the-" She sighed and tossed her hairpin at the TV, triggering it to turn on and show Zoroark, all tied down, the same way as him. The only difference being that she was tirelessly throwing herself against the walls of her cage, screaming with every attempt to break out.
"There." Andro turned to Lucario again, a smirk playing on her lips. "Answer truthfully or you can say goodbye to your friend."
"What, you'll release her and keep me down in here?" He laughed, only to be stopped by Meda's own laugh.
"No, I meant we'll sell her. You'd be surprised how much people from Kanto can pay for a Zoroark. It's quite ridiculous, actually."
Lucario rushed at the wall of his cage, right where Andro was standing and rammed his shoulder into it, pounding his fists on the plexiglass and growling at her. "No! You can't! I'll do what you want, just don't do anything to her!"
Meda, amused by his reaction and satisfied with his response, clapped twice again and the screen disappeared. She turned to look at Lucario again, who was now panting heavily. "Good boy.
"Now tell me, what do you know about your father?" She asked and began circling his cage again.
Lucario sat down in the middle of his containment and closed his eye, shrugging. "Nothing. I never met him face to face."
"Then how do you know of his stay here?"
The Aura Pokemon crossed his arms and straightened his back. "I could feel his aura all the way from here." He raised one finger on his paw and continued. "A fun fact about aura; the aura of a father and a son aren't very far off from each other."
Andro rubbed her chin as she listened curiously. "I see... And what about your mother? Where is she?"
"I know nothing about her. I was born alone, and I never met my parents." He opened his eye back up and stared at Andro, smirking. "The same happened to you, am I right?"
All the while he was gathering intel about this whole complex, talking with his father, answering questions, Lucario was also doing one thing passively- reading Andro's memories and thoughts. Some could say he knew exactly everything about her, but that was far from the truth.
While on the outside he knew a lot about Andro Meda, the Aura Pokemon knew just enough to scare her, even if just a bit.
"After you were born, your mother died." He continued staring deep into Andro's eyes, penetrating her soul and making her feel uneasy. His calm demeanour was driving her crazy.
"You father? You never met him. You only knew he existed. From the moment you could speak, you were alone. Nobody wanted to play with you, not even other kids."
"How amusing. You think that just because you know a little bit about me, you'll scare me?" Andro shouted at him.
"Oh no, I don't think so." Lucario chuckled. "I know so."
After a long period of silence, his captor turned around to the exit and opened the door. She gave him a quick glance and turned back around. She was now talking with two men who were standing just outside the cell. "Give him an ink. I'll give you further details later."
With that, she walked out of the cell and the same two security guards made their way inside- one hauling a cage on wheels behind him and the other with some sort of black stick with two prongs at the end.
They opened the door to his holding cell and the man with the stick walked inside. Lucario stood up in response and made his way towards him.
The baton hissed with electricity, which made Lucario change his plans and head straight to the exit of his cell, where the second man positioned the cage just outside the door.
The Aura Pokemon promptly made his way inside the small cage, not wanting to get shocked. The first man then walked out of hiss plexiglass holding cell and closed it behind himself before doing the same with the small cage Lucario was in.
After that, they both hauled him to the exit and through blank hallways, where there were no sounds of screams or cries for help. It was nice to have at least a moment of silence in between all the noise.
The three soon arrived in an empty room with only one thing present inside- a metal table in the middle of the room.
The guards let Lucario out of the cage and motioned towards the table. "Lay down on it." The man with the baton said, with it once again hissing with electricity.
The Aura Pokemon obeyed and laid down on the table. It was cold and smooth, as expected from something made from metal. He looked around and saw a third man, dressed all in black, as opposed to the two security guards who were dressed in dark green, formal clothes.
The third man was holding a weird machine, which was plugged into the wall with a long cord. He was wearing a black apron with a white skull in the middle of it, along with shorts and a tank top, both of which were also black.
He quickly tied a white bandana around his head, keeping his long hair out of his eyes. He turned to the guards and ushered them out of the room. "I'll take it from here. You two can wait outside."
Both of the guards wheeled the cage out of the room and left it, shutting the door behind themselves. Lucario was left alone with the stranger, who was now inching closer to him.
"Hey there big guy. I need to do something to you, something that you won't find pleasant." He hushed Lucario before he could even speak and continued. "Yeah, I don't like it too, but I have to do it, nonetheless.
"Just cooperate and I promise nothing bad will happen to you." He got closer to Lucario and pressed a button on the side of the table. After that, two pairs of metal rings clamped down on the blue furred Pokemon's paws and feet, holding him in place.
He could feel his breath get shorter, his heart pounding in his chest. Lucario tried to break free of his restraints, but to no avail. He was stuck. He looked back at the man holding the strange pistol, which was now buzzing.
What Lucario did not notice before, was that the gun ended with a sharp point. One that was soon pressed against his forehead and dragged down across his scarred eye two times, making an 'X' on it.
Lucario yelped in pain and shuddered at the feeling, beginning to thrash on the table. The man slapped his arm lightly. "Hey! Come on, I know this hurts, but you have to be strong! Don't flail around like that or I'll mess up and stick this thing in your eye or something."
The Aura Pokemon stiffened his whole body and closed his eye shut as the man continued to drag the sharp point across his body.
From the centre of the 'X' on his eye, the man drew a straight line down all the way to his jaw. After that, he withdrew his machine and continued his work on his torso.
He made two curved lines from each of his shoulders down to his chest spike, circling it. From the circle, the man drew two triangles pointing outwards.
Two lines were then made, each from the farthest point of the triangles. They were dragged down a distance, and then a quick line pointing outwards was added. The man repeated that process once more, this time dragging the two lines from the existing ones.
At the end, in the middle and right beneath Lucario's chest spike, the man added an arrow pointing upwards at the circle around his spike.
Right after that, the buzzing from the machine stopped and the man huffed in satisfaction. "Alright big boy, you're now officially inked! Or tattooed, whichever term you prefer."
Lucario could feel blood filling his mouth, probably from how hard he bit down on his tongue. He looked at the man, tears beginning to stream down his face.
The tattooist smiled softly and pet him on the head, in an attempt to comfort him. "There, there. It's all over now."
Once that was done, Lucario was let free from his bindings, after which the two security guards walked back into the room and opened the cage, waiting for the freshly marked Pokemon to enter.
The Aura Pokemon hopped off the table with his legs shaking slightly and his tail curled up around his own leg. He got into the cage and looked back at the tattoo artist, who was taking off his apron.
The two waved goodbye to each other, and Lucario was wheeled out of the room, now with a new scar to add to his collection- both a mental and a physical one.
That encounter broke him. Being unable to do anything while somebody else violated him. Lucario sat down inside the cage and looked down at the tattoos he's been given, both impressed at how well they looked but also scared of what else they might do to him in here.
It was clear; Lucario had to find a way out of this hell. Not only that, but he also had to free everybody else. The task would be hard, but with enough determination, strength and intelligence, he'd be able to pull it off.
"Look what they've done to you, how they hurt you. Will you just let that slide by?" The voice in his head pointed out.
Lucario shook his head and looked around the hallways he was being dragged by. Blank, grey walls, with the sound of screams and cries from above beginning to make their way to his ears.
"Then what are you waiting for. An invite? Time doesn't wait, and neither should you."
"It would be dangerous to just lash out at the personnel without any plan." Lucario answered the voice in his mind, quietly speaking under his breath so as to not attract attention.
"I have a plan Lucario. Why won't you let me take over for a little while? I'll make sure to get us all out of here."
"No. I won't give in to you. Father warned me that you're slipping away and to keep you at bay. You're too dangerous, he says." He replied calmly.
"Is that so? He's an old fool, he doesn't know what-"
"Silence. I'll be the one to decide whether to give you full control or not." He cut the voice's speech short and cleared his throat, closing his eye and awaiting his arrival at his cell.
It would not be long before he escaped. He just needed time and a plan...
...and lots of willpower.
Upon his arrival, the personnel were kind enough to take the ropes holding Lucario's paw and maw off. They closed the door as soon as he entered, and the magnetic lock clicked shut, trapping him once more.
The Aura Pokemon stretched his jaw and paws, thinking back to what his voice had said before. He was right. There's no time to waste, Lucario had to come up with something fast.
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of another lock opening and closing, with what sounded like metal being pushed along cement. Lucario looked behind himself and saw a metal tray with food and a single plastic cup of water right beside it.
He walked up to it and sat down right in front of the meal, on his knees. The Aura Pokemon picked up the food from the tray and stared at it.
It looked like a grey paste with small bits of berries inside. The smell it emitted was... It could be better, to say the least. Lucario took a bite of the paste hesitantly and swallowed hard.
To no surprise at all, it lacked a flavour and texture. It went down his throat incredibly smoothly, something that unsettled Lucario and made him shiver. Though even if tasteless, it was enough to satiate his hunger.
He had not eaten anything in a long time, so it was good to eat anything at all. After eating what little he gathered in his paws, Lucario grabbed the plastic cup and drank the water inside.
It washed his mouth clean of the grey goo and left his feeling refreshed. Though it tasted a little strange, he did not mind it. Water was water, who would care where it came from. As long as it's drinkable, Lucario did not protest.
After eating his meal, the voice in his head spoke again, only this time it was a lot calmer than before. "I have another plan, Lucario. One that does not involve me taking over you."
"I'm all ears then. Go on, tell me. What is your plan?" The blue furred Pokemon spoke unenthusiastically.
"The first step to freedom, is to know this place like the back of your paw. Use your aura vision, look around yourself, do whatever it takes to gather intelligence about this hellhole."
Lucario nodded and smiled, poking the side of his head. "See, now that's a good idea." He talked a bit louder, now that he was all alone.
With the voice slowly disappearing with an echoing laugh, the Aura Pokemon sat in the middle of his holding cell and closed his eye, stepping outside of his body and turning around to face himself.
In this form, Lucario took a closer look at the tattoos that the other man had given to him. He was about to say that they don't actually look that bad, but the reminder of how much it hurt to get them snapped him back to reality.
He shook his head and turned back around to fly out of one of the breathing holes in his cell. Once outside, Lucario took a last look back at his physical body. Motionless and seemingly meditating.
And so, he went outside to explore, recognise, memorise and ultimately break free of his chains.
The base was bland. There was nothing on any of the walls, and most of the hallways ended in dead ends. It truly felt like Lucario was trapped in a concrete maze.
On his first journey out of many, the Aura Pokemon had learned where his friend, Zoroark, was kept. She was inked as well, presumably in the same way he has been. The only difference between them was the pattern and the colour of the ink used; hers was white, his was black.
As to where she was being held in, it was on the complete opposite end of the hallways filled with Tauros. Were Lucario to get out, the first thing he should do would be to rescue his father first.
That choice wasn't made because this was his father. It was made for pure strategy. Father's cell was another long hallway away from his cell, only his was to the left of Lucario's.
The plan was eventually divided into four parts, those being:
Step 1.: Rescue Father. Due to the difference of where Zoroark's cell was and where his father's was, the most logical option would be to first go left and rescue him, bringing him along to...
Step 2.: Rescue Zoroark. Once reunited with dad, Lucario would then run back to rescue Zoroark, where they would then use the elevator at the far end of the cell block to go up and...
Step 3.: Find a route to the exit. The escapees would then follow Lucario, who would have hopefully memorised the best and fastest route by now, right to the exit. It'd take a long time to get to know all the places where different Pokemon are stationed, as well as cameras.
Step 4.: Escape. After dodging and avoiding all of the dangers inside, the trio would make a beeline for the power supply, destroying the generator and turning all the lights off to make sure they get out safely. After that, they'd get out through the ventilation system and walk out above the complex on the hill, where they would scatter and wait everything out, or at least until thing don't calm down.
"Fine by me, mutt. As long as we get out of here safe and sound, I don't care if you come for me first or last." Zoroark shrugged right after Lucario told her the plan. Now he just needed to tell his dad about it.
Going through the same mouse hole as he did the first time when he met his real, biological father, Lucario felt a wave of uneasiness and dread sweep over him. He hesitantly squeezed through the hole that led to the inside of the cell and froze in fear.
It was Andro. He did not hear her through the blast door, but now that he was inside, not only could he hear perfectly what she was talking about, Lucario could also see what she was doing in the process.
"Spit it up! Where. Is. The. OASIS?!" Meda yelled at his father as she kicked his stomach. She then grabbed hold of his jaw and squeezed it tightly, pulling him in her direction. "I know that you know where it is. So why don't you just tell me, and I'll be on my merry way?!"
His father growled and smiled right in Andro's face. At that exact moment, Lucario picked up a very faint aura signal, one that was coming from his dad. It was a telepathic message sent to Andro.
"In your dreams, Diabolus." The message read. The woman grunted in dissatisfaction and stepped backwards, away from him.
"Two days. I'm giving you two days." Andro crossed her arms. "During that time, I will go to such lengths that many would call inhumane, just to get what I want. I will not hesitate to kill everyone you know and love, just for you to tell me where The Oasis is hidden."
"And after that?" Another message from his father. Lucario watched on in fear and anticipation as Andro looked at the captive, her sadistic smile replaced with a cold seriousness.
"I'll dispose of you. You're just a waste of space here if I can't get what I want."
His father laughed loudly and flailed in his chains, staring at Andro. Even though he was laughing, Lucario did not detect any joy or amusement in his current range of emotions. The only feeling he found was fear.
That pure fear ran back to Lucario as he watched on. And while his father was laughing right in Meda's face, she nonchalantly pushed the blast door open and slammed it closed behind herself, leaving the two of them alone.
After the laughter died out, the captured Lucario turned to look at his son, smiling. "Hey kiddo. Anything I can do you for?"
"The first and obvious one would be to not die. I'm not losing a second dad." The aura Lucario replied and flew closer to his father, sitting at his feet and looking up at him. "Second is to answer a question."
His dad laughed weakly and nodded. "I assume you want to ask what The Oasis is?"
"Exactly. And why the hell does Andro want to know where it is?" Lucario enquired.
His father sighed. "The Oasis is a place where Pokemon that are in danger, need help or just want to feel safe, gather and form one large family. And your old man is one of the founders!" He laughed.
Lucario did not find it funny at all. He only scoffed and stood up, standing at eye level with his father. "Why not just tell Andro where it is and be free then?"
"Lives of the few, over the lives of the many. I'd rather die and save hundreds of Pokemon, than give them up and make them suffer as I have." His father replied coldly. "I thought Decidueye taught you to be a good Lucario."
At the mention of Decidueye, Lucario's ears perked up and he tilted his head. "You knew Decidueye?"
"How could I not? He's the second founder of The Oasis and a close friend of mine." His father hung his head lower and looked down at the ground, shame overtaking all his other feelings. "I'm sorry I wasn't there with you, Lucario.
"The truth is that I left you on that hill, because I was afraid. I was afraid of what would've been, of the things I would mess up... I just didn't want to hurt you. And so, I decided to leave you to yourself.
"I stalked you around, followed you through your many adventures back when you were a little Riolu. I led you to Decidueye by making all those "cries for help" and let him take over from there."
Lucario shed a single tear after his father stopped explaining himself, before forming himself a bigger form and embracing him in a hug. Even if neither of them could feel it, it was still comforting to do so.
And after all this time, Lucario finally found what he was looking for. Amidst the crying, the fear and all the pain, Lucario found home when near his father. He then walked away from him and nodded.
"I understand, dad. I'm just happy to finally have met you."
His father also let a tear slip from his eyes, with it splashing at his feet on the ground. "Would you look at that, kid. You're making me tear up." He laughed softly.
After a moment of silence, Lucario finally got to tell his dad about the escape plan, with him nodding at all the four steps he had made. "Sounds good kiddo. I don't see any flaws. So, what, you'll just have to memorise the layout of the facility? Is that it?"
Lucario nodded and smiled brightly, proud of himself. "Right as rain."
His father smiled widely and nodded. "Look at you. All grown up. I remember when you were still a little egg!" He laughed. "I'm proud of you. Honestly."
Lucario continued to smile and felt the aura of Andro entering his own cell, making his fur stand on its end. "I've got to go dad. Soon, I'll get us all out of here."
The aura vision of his father's cell disappeared as he returned to his physical body. Lucario narrowly opened his eye and stared at his guest. "What is it this time, Meda? Came to question me more?"
"No." She blankly said, keeping her voice low and hollow of any emotions. "I came to grab you. You'll be my "hostage", if I can even call it that."
Lucario stood up hastily and ran up to the side of the cell she was on. "What?! What do you mean by that?!" He screamed bewilderedly and banged on the plexiglass.
"I mean that I've already won." This time, a small smile played on Andro's lips as she pressed a button to call in the two men that always transported him. They came not too soon after the button was pressed, wheeling the cage on a cart behind them.
The first man with an electric baton entered his cell, but this time, Lucario was not going off without a fight. He turned to the man and put his paws up, balling them into fists.
He felt his feet get lighter as he hopped around, warming himself up. He took a couple of short breaths and sent the man a telepathic message.
"Run while your legs are still facing the right way."
The human only smiled and charged at Lucario with the prod crackling with electricity. The Aura Pokemon ducked under the initial attack and jabbed the man's elbow, successfully disarming him.
Lucario then turned to face the man's abdomen, head butting it before standing up and finishing him off with a quick blow to the jaw.
"You rely on crutches like weapons too much." He placed his foot on his head and kept him in place. "Learn to fight for real."
"Behind you, idiot!" The voice in his sounded, but it was already too late. The second man, a hulking mass of muscles hurdled his large hammer-like arm at Lucario, sending his spiralling backwards.
The exact moment Lucario's back hit the wall, he pushed himself off of it and charged straight into the man, hoping to topple him. He was unsuccessful, and only pushed him back by a metre or so.
"I thought Lucario were stronger." The man said and drove his elbow down at Lucario's head, knocking him down to the ground. He then grabbed the blue furred fighter by the collar and hoisted him up, dragging him to the cage and throwing him inside.
The Aura Pokemon grumbled something and spit out some blood, its crimson shade reflecting the artificial lighting of the room right into Lucario's face. Andro got closer and bent down in front of his cage.
"You do that again, and I swear I'll dispose of you." She said calmly and snapped her pale fingers. "To his father. I have some questions for him."
"But boss, what about-"
"I said to his father. I'll send someone to take care of him later." She cut off her henchman and motioned towards the man inside his cell. "He'll be fine."
Lucario sat calmly in his cage all the ride there, but somewhere midway through the road, the voice in his head made its appearance again.
"Maybe if you paid more attention, you would've gotten out." It barked at Lucario and sighed. "Disappointment."
"Shut up." The Aura Pokemon retaliated at the voice, mumbling under his breath. Not soon after, he was wheeled into his father's cell, where he was let free and out of the cage.
He looked at Andro in confusion and got up to leave, before the burly man grabbed his head and put him in a headlock, turning Lucario around so that he could face his own father.
He stared into his dad's eyes, a flame of deep hatred burning inside his eye. "Is that why you had to go?" He narrowed his eyes at his son.
"It was a failed attempt. Nothing more." Lucario snapped back. Maybe too quickly, as he could feel a tinge of sadness and madness spark in his father's aura.
The man adjusted his grip on Lucario's head, and Andro soon walked in between the father and the son, smiling sadistically. "Well, well, well, would you look at that. A family reunion!" She laughed loudly and looked between the two.
"See, if only you would answer my questions, give me what I want, maybe I wouldn't have brought your son into this. Look what you made me do, Lucario." Her voice turned into a low one the more she talked.
"Let him go, Diabolus." His father yanked the chains that were holding him, in an attempt to break free. "He's got nothing to do with The Oasis!"
"Oh, I know he doesn't! It's just that you do, and since I have your son here, I might as well use him as a sort of hostage." She laughed again.
"I wanted to wait a bit longer before actually escaping, but I don't think we have any other choice now. We both know how this will go. She'll hurt me, and you won't say a thing. I say, we make a run for it right now." Lucario spoke to his father.
"Given the circumstances, I think you're right." A hard smack on his cheek brought the father back to reality, as Andro grabbed his son by the ear and pulled it.
"Don't zone out now! Your son's here. You wouldn't want to make a bad impression on him, would you?" She retrieved her hand and got a lighter out of one of her lab coat's pockets. "Look what I've got here!"
The next thing she took out, was a hairpin. She turned the lighter on and started to heat up the hairpin until it turned red. "You know where this'll go next, don't you?" Andro smiled at Lucario's father and put the hairpin close to his son's face.
Lucario sweat and breathed frantically as he stared at Andro's arm. His father said nothing, looking away. "Fine then."
In a moment, she pressed the pin hard against Lucario's forehead, making him scream in pain as the melting, metal prong melted through his fur and skin. She pulled it away and pressed the pin against another spot on his forehead, causing him more pain.
Andro looked back at his father and sighed. "More drastic measures it is." Another thing she took out was a piece of cloth and some water. "You know what to do." She motioned towards the man.
Before Lucario could even react, he was being held in an uncomfortable position, where he was laying on his back on the man's knee with his head slightly pointed downwards.
Andro tossed the cloth over Lucario's face and opened up the bottle, looking back at his father. "Last chance." She said coldly, and after no response, she started pouring water on the Aura Pokemon's covered face.
Because the man was restraining his movement, the only thing he could do was flail his legs around, but even that did nothing. As Andro poured the water on his face, Lucario found himself unable to breathe, as if he was drowning.
He felt his consciousness slipping from his grip, a black spot appearing in the corner of his eyes and slowly growing bigger. He couldn't breathe. He was helpless.
Just when Lucario closed his eyes, Andro stopped pouring water on him and the man lifted him back up. The blue furred Pokemon coughed violently as the water shot out of his nostrils.
"Just give me what I want, and I'll let him go, you fool!" Andro shouted at him.
"Mind if I... take over?" The voice in Lucario's head asked, sounding a lot more devious than usual. "I'll get you all out of this."
Lucario shook his head and chuckled. He looked at his father and sent him telepathic messages. "Look at me, father."
He obeyed and looked at his smiling son. "I'm sorry." Lucario said and let his free will slip as the voice in his head took over his body.
Instantly, he found himself in a white void, surrounded by TV screens, all portraying what is happening in Lucario's eyes, or what he sees.
Having nothing else to do besides to watch the show unfurl, the Aura Pokemon sat down on the ground and stared at the screen, watching what will happen next.
Lucario's body grabbed on to the man's arm and pulled it aside with ease, compared to the earlier confrontation. He quickly rolled out of the man's grip and stood up with watering pouring down his soaked face.
He stared in his eyes, though his own eye was the thing that everybody was looking at. The burning flame of hatred now roared inside his soul, turning his eye fully red.
"What is it that that idiot would have said right about now?" Lucario spoke the same voice he had always used, though it was clearly not him. "I assume some catchy one-liner. Whatever. Just come at me. At least try to win."
The man yelled and sprinted towards Lucario, who had put his paws in front of himself and flipped the inside of them towards himself, letting the man run into the two spikes on his paws.
Lucario kicked the man away and followed up with two quick hooks, both aimed at the man's liver, making him fall over and gasp for air.
The Aura Pokemon scoffed. "I expected more of a fight." He turned to his father and smiled. "Now for you, old man. I may be unfair but promises I do keep. I'll get you all out of here."
Lucario fired small aura spheres at the chains that restrained his father and let him free as he fell down to the ground, scrambling to get up. "You're not...- You're not my son, are you?" He looked up at the body of his son.
"No right now, no. But does it matter? You guys are getting out of here, I'm just helping. So how about you take the hint, and let me help you guys?" Lucario put his paw out to help his father up.
His father accepted the help, and they both looked up at Andro, who was standing in the corner, trembling in fear. "S-Stay back!"
Lucario started advancing on her before being stopped by his father holding him back. "Don't. The police will handle her." Lucario huffed and went up to the blast door instead, pushing it open and leaving Andro alone in the room.
Meanwhile, the real Lucario watched on inside his own head as the voice and his father make it out of the cell. "Yeah! Go on, guys! I believe in you!"
His body flinched and shuddered as the voice controlling his body heard his voice. "Looks like we switched roles, didn't we Lucario?" He smiled.
"Looks like we did... Can I call you Shout?" Lucario asked out of the blue.
The voice, taken aback, smiled and laughed in confusion. "Why that?"
"You know, you're loud, aggressive... like a shout!" Lucario laughed merrily and awaited his response.
"Well, if you want to, then I don't see why not." Shout turned to Lucario's father and smiled. "You can call me Shout. Your son gave me that name."
Lucario's father smiled back and nodded. "Alright then, if you say so."
As they travelled through the long hallway leading back to Lucario's holding cell, he found himself growing incredibly bored. He laid down on the ground of the void and turned to speak to Shout.
"Hey, Shout. Mind if I take back control yet? It's kinda boring here, I don't know how you stayed here for so long."
The voice laughed and nodded to himself, tugging at Lucario's father's arm. "Sir, can you please hold up? There's something I need to do." He asked politely
The older Lucario nodded and crossed his arms, waiting.
In the blink of an eye, Lucario found himself flying back to his body from the void, swapping with Shout on the way.
As Lucario fell down to his knees, he clutched at his chest and felt the fur around it. He was back safely. "You'll get used to it eventually, kid." Shout spoke to him.
Lucario nodded and struggled to catch his breath. "Hi dad." A pause for a deep breath. "...I'm back."
"Come on kiddo, we don't have much time until Andro sounds her-" A loud horn blared through the hallways with the light turning red in sync. His father sighed. "-alarm. Let's just get a move on."
"Agreed." Lucario got back to his feet and pat his father on the back, beginning to run in the direction of his cell. "See you at the cell block!" He laughed.
"Like that? That's cheating!" His father ran right behind him, keeping up with the pace Lucario had set to his surprise.
In a moment's notice, they were both back at the cell block, where the Tauros mooed and yelled in frustration and fear. The duo swiftly made it past them and Lucario led his father to Zoroark's cell, where she was already waiting for them.
"Hey mutt. Thought you guys forgot about me. What's up with those weird sounds and the light?" She asked Lucario's father as he worked on the lock.
"It's an alarm. It tells everyone in the facility that there's an active breakout in the process. And that means that we need to move; fast." He fiddled with the lock, unable to open it. He groaned in frustration.
Lucario pushed his father to the side lightly and punched the lock with his fist, breaking it in half. He opened the cell and bowed down to his father. "It's as easy as that, old man." The Aura Pokemon both smiled at themselves.
"Uh, hey guys? I don't want to ruin anything, but we have to go." Zoroark got out of her cell and pointed in the direction that the two of them came from.
There, barely standing up and holding some sort of switch was Andro, smiling at them. "This is not the end! I am not finished yet!" She yelled at them and waved the switch around.
"You thought you could just ignore me?! You should have killed me when you had the chance! Or at least knock me out, you idiot!" She calmed her breathing and pointed her chin up, looking down at them.
"You shouldn't have given me the chance to stand back up."
Click.
She pressed the button on the switch, and immediately, the whole complex went dark. No lights, no alarm sounds, even the Tauros went silent. The quietude was deafening.
That is, until a sudden explosion went off somewhere in the distance above them. Then another, this time closer. And another.
Andro laughed maniacally as the symphony of explosions ringed through their ears, bringing death closer and closer to them all. "I won't go down on your terms. If I die..."
All the explosions stopped as suddenly as they came, and Andro looked at the shocked trio, smiling with blood running down her face.
"...Then I'm taking you with me." She closed her eyes and anticipated the last explosion, only this one never came. "The hell?!" Andro flipped her eyes back open and shook the remote, clicking the button over and over.
"No. No, no, no, no, NO! NOT LIKE THIS!" The human looked back up, seeing the two Lucario and a Zoroark press a big red button near the elevator. In an instant, all the cells in which the Tauros were kept opened up.
At first, everyone was hesitant. One brave bull dared to step outside and found himself unharmed. "We are free!" He yelled out to everyone and cheered as they ran out with him.
Looking around for a way to escape, Lucario found a vent shaft that was knocked out of its original position, pointing downwards and allowing for a quick and easy access point.
"Over here guys! Come on, I'll let you up!" The Aura Pokemon called to his friends and beckoned them over, getting low to the ground and putting his paws in front of himself so he can help them get up into the vent.
After doing so, Lucario looked back at Andro and saw her running to them three with her hand outstretched. As he himself got up with the help of Zoroark, he put out his paw for Andro to grab on.
With a loud grunt, the human jumped up to Lucario and held on to his paw. She looked up at him and frowned.
"What's the matter? You don't want to escape with us?" The blue furred Fighting-type smiled down at her.
Andro looked down at the Pokemon beneath her, then up at Lucario again. She gritted her teeth and let go of him. "See you in hell." She said, just as the stampede crushed her beneath.
"I won't be seeing you soon, but I'll make sure to send you letters." He replied and jumped down on the back of a rushing Tauros. "I'll see you guys up at the surface! My dad will guide you, Zoroark!"
With no time for a proper farewell, Lucario yelled out quickly through the sounds of the rushing bulls. When he had the chance, he jumped off of the Tauros and onto the staircase leading up to all the other captive Pokemon.
The Aura Pokemon ran up the stairs, hoping to hear the cries of all the Pokemon to know that they are alive. To his horror, there were no sounds. Only a distant rumbling could be heard, along with the beeping of a fire alarm.
He looked up, seeing nothing but rubble and fallen rocks all the way to the top. With nothing else to do, Lucario grabbed on to the nearest boulder and climbed up atop, finding his footing so as to not fall.
With the strength that he had left, the Aura Pokemon began scaling the fiery ruins as everything crumbled around him. Walls collapsed, the ceiling was starting to give out, fire lashed out from everywhere... There's no way he's making it out.
"Hey! Think positively, you blue idiot! You can do it! You can get out- No, you WILL get out! To your left, now!" Shout commanded him, and he obeyed, jumping to the rock on his left and continuing his climb.
"Jump to your right in three, two, one, JUMP!" He timed his command perfectly with the explosion that occurred on Lucario's left as he climbed. He looked back at the fire it created, unable to make himself look away.
"Snap out of it, big guy. We're not dying here, come on!" Shout continued to reassure him, motivate him to go on. He continued to fuel his determination, knowing that's the only thing keeping him up straight right now.
Were Lucario to lose all hope in a time like this, he'd be dead in seconds. His muscles completely burned out, and all of his energy is drained. It is a miracle he's able to still walk, let alone climb.
His determination and perseverance were the only two things keeping him alive right now.
"A little more! Go Lucario! You can do it; you can't let go now! If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your dad! Do it for me, for Zoroark, for everybody!"
Lucario roared as he grabbed on to the ledge leading to the elevator. He flimsily made his way into the shaft, grabbing on to a cable and starting to scale it.
His eye burned a crimson red, illuminating the way in front of him. There was nothing that could stop him. He will get what he wants- freedom.
Finally making it up to the last floor, Lucario jumped out of the shaft and tumbled into the open air out of the outhouse. He laid on the grass for a solid minute, breathing heavily and looking up at the ventilation system on the hill.
Eventually, a loud bang sounded from the system, and out came his father and Zoroark, all well and happy. After seeing they're alright, Lucario felt that same headache that he had earlier return, only this time sending him straight to sleep. With that, he blacked out.
"The last few days were interesting to say the least. So much happened in so little time, I don't where to start.
"I was captured by a human called Andro Meda. Pretty comedic name, if you ask me. She didn't catch me in a Pokeball, she captured me and put me into a cell, where I was kept for some time, along with Zoroark.
"In there, I found my real father. I didn't get to know him much, given that we had so little time together, but I plan on bonding and catching up with him the moment I wake up.
"But then it would mean that you would no longer be my dad, Decidueye. Although, even then, I'll keep loving you as if you were one. Because in the end, you were kind to me, raised me to be a good person.
"I owe all of my adventures to you, you big owl."
TO BE CONTINUED
Next time, on "Blue Tears":
"Hey, chill out, little man! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Then let me go, you overgrown bird!"
I had so much fun making this chapter, I cannot even express it! Sure, it took a while, but I hope it was worth it! The next time you see Lucario, he'll be exploring a whole new area, meeting new people, and finding out what The Oasis is all about!
Stay tuned, folks, because the show is just getting started!