Blue Tears (Pokémon Fanfiction)

by Ave Mikesszz

The life of a Lucario can be summed up in one word- peaceful. ...Or at least it's supposed to be. Oh well, not all dreams come true, no matter how hard you try.

11. Chapter 8

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Oh God, it has been quite some time since I last updated the story, hasn't it? I was so busy with celebrating Easter with my family that I just simply did not find the time to write anything at all!

Even if it probably doesn't, I hope this personal record-breaking chapter will make up or the long wait. Have fun reading it, and please tell me if you notice any grammatical errors or things that don't make sense. I'll make sure to fix them as soon as possible!

Lucario moved to the side swiftly as a fiery whip lashed out at him, missing him narrowly and burning a small tuft of fur on his arm.

He looked back at his adversary, feeling the heat from the volcano beginning to build up even more. He began sweating profusely, watching his opponent's every move.

The Salazzle stuck her tongue out and laughed at Lucario mockingly. "Going to cry soon, big boy?"

Her long, purple tongue whipped around her mouth before disappearing back into it. The Aura Pokemon stared at the scene unfold in visible disgust, before shaking off the uneasiness and getting back into a fighting stance.

"I'm not giving up until you are!" He yelled out to her and smiled, hiding his muzzle behind his paws in order to protect it.

His words were answered with another whip made of fire, one that cut his legs from under him and caused him to be thrown about on the battlefield.

He quickly caught hold of a nearby rock, stopping the Salazzle from throwing him around any further as the whip slowly disappeared.

The Aura Pokemon looked back at his scorched leg, wincing in pain as he got up. He hobbled closer to the female Pokemon and raised his paws once more.

A smirk ran across his face as he brushed dust off of his face, looking up at his opponent again.

Putting his paw to his side and puffing his chest out proudly, Lucario felt a surge of aura rush through him as he summoned his staff to aid him.

He threw the blue bone in Salazzle's direction, catching her off guard and hitting her right in the face, making the bone bounce back to him.

Having hit the first time, Lucario ran as fast as he could, catching his staff mid-run and using it to hit the enemy a second time.

He swung wildly at the Toxic Lizard Pokemon, hitting her right in the stomach and making her kneel down.

At last, he finished his opponent off by whacking one end of his staff against the top of Salazzle's head, knocking her down to the ground and causing her to black out.

Lucario spun his staff around proudly before throwing it up into the air and making it disappear mid-air. He looked back behind himself and bowed down to Huang.

The Lurantis nodded in approval and waved his scythe at the four Magmortar standing around the circular battlefield, causing them to disperse and walk away.

With the Blast Pokemon slowly disappearing, so did the heat of Lucario's surroundings. He exhaled heavily and smiled in relief as the cool heat of the sun slowly replaced the scorching one of the Magmortar.

"I expected way less out of you, considering you're still in all those bandages and what-nots." Lurantis nodded in approval and got closer to his friend.

The unexpected words of praise caused the Aura Pokemon to laugh as he stretched his arms out. He hobbled closer to Huang and put a paw on his shoulder.

"Just because I don't look scary, doesn't mean you shouldn't fear me. A little thing I learned, is to never underestimate your opponent." He chuckled to himself.

"Wise words, for someone like you." Shout exclaimed unhappily and looked at Lurantis as they walked side by side.

"Come on, you're still mad at him? He did say sorry, did he not?" He looked over at Bisharp and smiled gently.

He was met with a scoff. "Whatever..." The Sword Blade Pokemon shrunk himself and flew back into Lucario's mind, disappearing from sight.

"Where to now, Huang?" Lucario asked his friend eagerly and turned his attention back to him.

"Now, I need to take care of Salazzle and get her somewhere where she can recover from your training session. You might as well wait here as I won't be long."

The Aura Pokemon nodded and released Lurantis' shoulder, hobbling over to the shade of a nearby tree. He sat down against the rough bark and exhaled in content.

The coolness of the grass, paired with the dark shadow that the tree's crown was casting, cooled Lucario down immediately from his heated battle.

He closed his eye and leaned back against the tree, relaxing his muscles and feeling the burns from the whip slowly subside.

His sweet moment of peace did not last long though, because as soon as he began dozing off, he felt a strange and soft tentacle-like thing wrapping itself around his arm.

And before Lucario could open his eye back up, he was yanked to the side by whatever it was that grabbed hold of him.

He immediately got hold of a nearby root, ripping it out as he was being dragged across the ground.

A quiet yelp came from his as he was hoisted up above the ground, hovering just above the green grass with his legs outstretched.

The Aura Pokemon looked over to who it was that abducted him so suddenly, only to find a pair of cyan eyes staring into him.

He flinched a little before pushing the Pokemon's head away with his free paw and sighing with a gentle smile. "Is something the matter?"

"Duh! I didn't want to wait so long for you to finally unwrap your bandages, so I decided to help you with them!" Cinamon said with a wide smile as she lowered her friend down on the ground, letting go of his arm.

Lucario sighed and brushed the dust and dirt off of his fur. "I'd love to, but-"

He was cut off as Sylveon put one of her ribbons on his mouth, covering it. "Do you want to help a beauty in distress or not?"

He moved his head back and dragged her ribbon away from his mouth, looking at her in perplexion. "It depends on what the beauty needs help with."

Cinamon looked around before leaning in closer to her friend and whisper into his ear. "I need help with getting some work done."

Before the Aura Pokemon could ask what that work was, he was cut off once more as Sylveon put another one of her ribbons on his mouth. "I'd love to tell you what it is, but I think it's better if you to just do what I say, okay?"

Lucario sighed and nodded, causing his friend to embrace him with her ribbons in a tight hug.

"Well, today certainly won't be a boring day."

Chapter 8: "Mystical overdose."

"The darkness can be blinding at times."

"Ouch! Watch it, they're still fresh!" Lucario winced and flinched in pain as Sylveon unwrapped the bandages around his chest.

She smiled anxiously. "Sorry. I'll try to be more careful, but I'm not promising anything!" She continued to unroll the dressing.

And when she was done, Cinamon tossed the bloodied gauze to the side along with the other. She took a step back and looked up at her friend.

The Aura Pokemon stood up from the ground and raised his arm, looking at it carefully and inspecting the rest of his body along with it.

As if the scar over his left eye, as well as the tattoo on his body were not enough, he was now practically covered in scars.

All of them varied in shape and size, with most of them being plain, straight lines of red, going right across his stomach.

Tufts of his fur were gone, probably due to the burns he suffered back when escaping Andro's facility.

He sighed and shook his head, continuing to look himself up and down. "This will take some time to properly heal up..."

A nervous cough came from Sylveon, who was staring at him in disbelief and awe, blushing lightly. Lucario tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Is- Is something the matter?" He asked sheepishly and began reading her aura.

"N-Not at all! It's just that you don't look like a usual Lucario."

She was scared. But... not in a usual way. She wasn't scared of him; she was scared of whoever did that to him.

In her mind, she thought highly of any Lucario she crossed paths with. They were viewed as extremely powerful, strong, determined.

If there was anything that could beat a Lucario, Cinamon thought of it as something that not even Huang could top.

The Aura Pokemon snapped back to reality and cleared his throat, smiling gently. "Yeah, well, normal Lucario don't have scars like I do. Neither do they have the guts to jump in the fire and help others.

"That's what makes me, me. Even if I would lose a limb, even if I died, I would still help others. But not because I expect something from them; it's because I believe that others have a story just as interesting as mine to tell."

His words seemed to work on cheering Sylveon up, as she immediately lightened up and smiled brightly. She laughed and hit his side with her paw. "You're one valiant Lucario."

Shout joined in to their conversation and materialised himself behind his host, crossing his arms and smiling just as brightly as Cinamon. "What she said. And don't you dare ever change."

Lucario nodded. There was an awkward pause of silence between the two Pokemon, before the Intertwining Pokemon finally spoke up, breaking out of her state.

"A-Anyways, now that we've got you unbound, I was thinking that maybe you could help me run a little errand."

"Of course. What is it that you need help with?" The Aura Pokemon crossed his arms and listened intently.

"You see, I noticed that Oregano has not been feeling very well lately. In the past, when all of us were younger, Ginger would often make us his "special drink" that he never wanted to give us the recipe to.

"I need the ingredients for that drink and hand it to her as quick as possible. I don't want her falling sick or anything like that. Could you help me with that?"

Lucario closed his eye and hummed softly as he thought.

On one hand, he needed to help his friend; she was in need, after all. And from what it sounded like, urgent need at that.

He was a skilled berry picker thanks to his past experiences, as well as his aura abilities.

As for the cons of helping Cinamon- there were none! Not only did he get to help his friends, but he also got to explore Akala.

At last, the Aura Pokemon nodded and smiled. "Alright, I'm in. What do you need for your blend?"

Sylveon brightened up as her eyes seemed to sparkle. "Wait, seriously?" She asked in disbelief, staring at her friend.

Lucario nodded once again and repeated himself. "Yep, just tell me what you need, and I'll get it for you."

"Yes! Thank you so much in advance!" She proceeded to embrace him in a tight hug using her ribbons once more, before letting him go and clearing her throat. "Sorry."

"Strange. Her intentions are pure, and yet it feels like... she's hiding something from me. You can feel that too, can't you Shout?" Lucario thought to himself, talking with his friend in his mind.

"Yeah. It's strange. I've never seen or felt anything like that before." Shout floated in front of Sylveon and looked into her eyes, getting really close to her.

In a moment's notice, Bisharp shrunk himself and went up into Cinamon's mind right through her head, disappearing without so much as a trace.

"What I need, are Liechi berries, Custap berries, a whole bunch of Spelon berries, and the elusive Enigma berry." Sylveon counted out and looked up at her friend.

"That's all?" Lucario looked on as Bisharp slowly poured out of Cinamon's ear and out into the open, stretching his arms out.

"Mhm! But getting those berries won't be as hard as finding them. You see, the reason why I wanted you to go look for the berries, is because I could not find them."

Shout floated back to his host and laid down on his shoulders, exhaling heavily. Lucario swiftly shrugged him away and continued his conversation with Cinamon.

"I see... And do you know where these berries grow?"

Sylveon nodded eagerly and smiled widely once more. "Yep! I heard they all can be found in the Memorial Hill. Well, all but one." She stopped and took on a more serious tone.

"The Enigma Berry is rare, when you compare it to all the others. It's basically considered a delicacy among Pokemon and humans alike. They can be found in the Ruins of Life."

Lucario narrowed his eye and nodded in response. "The same ruins that are the home to one of the Tapu?"

Cinamon hopped closer to her friend and looked up at his face. "You know of the Tapu? The four guardians of Alola?"

"Of course I do. I read a lot of books, many of which were legends. How could I not know of them?" He put his paws on his hips and puffed out his chest.

Sylveon nodded and backed away, taking in the Aura Pokemon's posture and smirking to herself. "Well, that's all that you need to know. And before I go..." She took the red bandana wrapped around her neck off and held it in front of Lucario to give it to him.

"Cinamon? One more question before you..." Lucario grabbed the bandana and looked back up at Cinamon, only to see she was already gone, running back happily to the colossal tree. "...go."

He sighed in defeat and directed his eye over to Shout, who was floating right behind him with his arms crossed. "Are you two done?"

"I think so. Is there anything useful you found out?"

"Her intentions are as pure and white as snow. Though, I could not find what exactly it is that she's hiding. Whatever it is, Cinamon knows that you can read minds."

Lucario nodded in return and walked past Bisharp, beckoning him to come with. "Come on, let's go get those berries then. The sooner we do so, the sooner we find out what she's hiding."

Shout dragged himself behind his host with a sigh. "Time will tell."

The Aura Pokemon stretched his arms out as he walked, smiling gently. "It always does."

:::::::::::::

A loud yell of a nearby bird made Lucario flinch in response, as he and Shout made their way together through the incredibly dense forest.

It was unlike those that he has seen before- the whole trees were way thicker and taller than those that he had seen back on Gube.

Not that they proved themselves to be a challenge. All it took was a light push from the blue Fighting type's end to topple over a palm tree growing right in front of them.

He sighed. "Do we even know where we are? Or at least where we're going?" Turning to Bisharp, he saw his friend shrug in response.

"So, we're trying to find both the Memorial Hill and the Ruins of Life, based completely off of luck?"

"Seems like it." Shout nodded and floated down to the ground to walk normally instead of flying.

Lucario turned to his friend and tilted his head. This in turn caused the Bisharp to stare back at him in confusion.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just... I have never seen you walk. When did you start appearing like that anyways? You know, walking out of minds and all that." Another shrug.

"When we were writing tonight. You were pretty tired, so I understand if you don't remember."

"Was I? Huh. The more you know, I guess." The Aura Pokemon said as he struck a weak bush, knocking it down and stepping over it.

Being a manifestation of aura itself, it was impossible to read Shout like every other Pokemon, since aura is the thing used for detecting changes in one.

The aura of a corresponding Pokemon changes as the Pokemon thinks and does anything. If it thinks of something bad, the aura surrounding them will change hue.

That's why many of those who have truly perfected the means of using aura can even predict the enemy's moves; it's because the enemy thinks of what they're going to do.

And after they do, it's only a matter of visualizing the actual attack to successfully dodge.

And that's what makes Shout special- he's not a Pokemon, or a living being; he is the essence of a living being.

Or at least Lucario thought of him that way. It wasn't until he finally asked, did he find out otherwise.

"Yes, I am a part of your aura. That's why only you can see me, only you can hear me, and only you can host me." Shout narrowed his eyes and corrected himself.

"I'm not a significant part of it. I'm merely a fraction of a fraction of a fraction and less." He crossed his arms and frowned slightly. "That would make me kind of an imaginary friend, like Huang said."

Noticing his friend's sudden change in attitude, the Aura Pokemon smiled gently and laughed it off. "I don't think of you as an imaginary friend. You're just like everyone else to me."

Bisharp sighed and nodded, seemingly in relief of his host's words. "Thank you." He finally muttered out and continued alongside Lucario, walking by his side through the dense glade.

As if in an instant though, dark clouds began to form above the duo, stretching out for as far as the eye can see.

First it started off innocently; a couple of raindrops here and there, all falling from the big leaves and onto Lucario's head.

As time went on however, the rain only seemed to get heavier by the minute. But the blue furred fighter was determined. He did not stop to seek shelter from the storm that was brewing right above him.

Determination and will to please can sometimes bear devastating results.

As the two friends walked, only one of them held his paws above his eye to be able to see through the awful rainstorm. The other, Shout, could see perfectly and did not mind the water at all.

"Do you think we are close?" Lucario yelled out, being barely audible through the sounds of the storm.

"I have no idea! Let's just go forward and hope for the best!"

And so, they did just that, keeping their heads up and looking out for any signs that they are nearing their destination.

A low rumble began sounding from somewhere in the distance, slowly dying out before coming back with renewed strength and roaring loudly.

But with that, there came a second rumble. Its tremors could be felt under Lucario, but the source itself was far away.

The two noises continued to beat in sync, grumbling and rumbling loudly, before finally exploding in a horrifying symphony of cracks, whips and roars.

The sky flashed a bright white for a split second, and the two friends waited patiently for the boom that was to come.

The Aura Pokemon closed his eye and looked down at the ground in apparent fear, just as the explosion hit.

The thunderclap coming from the farthest reaches of the skies, combined with the blast of the volcano from the deepest parts of the Earth, shook the ground beneath them both, causing Lucario to fall over and fold his ears in fear.

It was the first time that he had ever heard a volcano eruption, and the one he would never forget.

Steadily and slowly, he began opening his eye as Shout called out to him, yelling at him. His voice was muffled, and seemingly... multiplied?

There were two- no, three Bisharps, all standing beside each other and trying to get Lucario to do something, anything.

"Can you hear me Lucario? Don't pass out now, come on!" He yelled at him, and slowly, he got up and shook his head violently.

"Geez, what was that?" The Aura Pokemon shuddered and felt the cold rain hit against his already drenched fur once more.

"A really unfortunate day, that's what it is. A thunder struck and an eruption happened at the same time. Now come on, let's find somewhere to hunker down and wait the storm out."

"I could not agree more!" He replied and looked around their surroundings, seeing nothing past the heavy rain but the greenery of the jungle.

Lucario began hastily moving through the flora, looking out for any and all caves or burrows he might hide in.

The heavy droplets fell from the leaves to the ground and on his face, blurring his vision and soaking him even further.

Although, thanks to the naturally warm environment that is Alola, he was not cold nor warm- perfectly balanced.

As the two of them trotted through the glade, Lucario felt his paws begin sinking down into the mud below, dragging him to the ground.

It was getting harder and harder to move for the blue furred fighter, causing him to eventually stop out of exhaustion.

He looked up at Bisharp, who could not do anything but stare as his friend was being dragged down.

That was, until the ground beneath him began rumbling once more, and a hole steadily began opening right where he was, pulling him as well as everything surrounding him down into it.

It wasn't a deep hole, only being about ten metres deep. The mud Lucario was trapped in, cushioned his fall as he dropped down.

And as he looked up at his friend, who was beginning his slow descend down into the hole he was in, a fist-sized rock broke off the ground above.

Try as he might, the Aura Pokemon could not move. He shut his eye tightly in anticipation of the rock that was hurdling towards his head at high speeds.

Soon enough, the stone connected with his forehead, causing his world to start swirling and turning, before eventually being knocked out.

Once again, Lucario found himself in total darkness, with no sounds and no scent- only him and his mind.

:::::::::::::::::

It began with a single prod at his abdomen, as if someone was checking if he's even alive. Then it was a light push.

And when Lucario did not wake up, that someone punched him in the stomach so hard that the cogs in his mind began running again, activating his muscles and making him frown and yelp in pain.

A loud thunderclap sounded somewhere high above the sunken ground, causing the Aura Pokemon to finally open his eye and look around, checking his surroundings.

To his surprise, there was nobody here. Neither Shout nor the Pokemon that woke him up were present.

"Strange..." He thought to himself and pushed himself up, trying to get out of the mud.

Unfortunately, by the time he finally woke up, the mud had enough time to harden, rendering him trapped under the newly formed clay.

He tried pushing harder, and when that didn't work, Lucario finally punched the hardened mud and shattered it with ease.

A few more punches were enough to break free of the ground's grasp, and he finally crawled out of him imprisonment.

Lucario walked down the small hill that all the rocks, ground and mud made and stared up at the hole he fell through. Too high to jump up and catch the edge.

He put his paw up to his forehead, right where the rock hit him earlier. There was a narrow and small blood trail, leading down to his left eye and going down his cheek.

Having wiped it away as soon as he found it, Lucario looked around once more, this time looking at the setting that he found himself trapped in.

From the centre of the room, there were many corridors- all of them leading somewhere else. Checking all of them just by himself would take too long.

"Shout? Are you there?" He tried talking to his friend, but no avail. He was left alone down here. Damp and in the dark.

A subtle sigh left his mouth as he sat back against a seemingly random wall in defeat.

Lucario took a deep breath and closed his eye, attempting to collect his thoughts, so as to not make any dumb mistakes.

There was little he could do- it was either checking each individual hallway, and seeing where they would lead, or trying to climb up to the surface from here.

Both options sounded bad, since the mound made from the collapsed ground was too small for the Aura Pokemon to jump up and grab the ledge.

And as stated earlier, checking each route would take too long. There's also the factor of getting lost, something that is very likely to happen when exploring a cave.

"What to do, what to do..." Lucario whispered to himself, his words jumping from wall to wall of the cave. He rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Psst. Over here." A deadly quiet voice called out to him in the distance, coming somewhere from deeper within the cave.

Intrigued, by the sudden call, the blue fighter stood up immediately and looked in the direction of where the voice came from. "Hello? Is someone there?"

No response. Only the faint sound of water hitting against the cold stone floor was heard. And then, it spoke again.

"Follow me." It said, shortly before the distant rumble of returning thunder could be heard in the distance on the surface.

With nothing else to do, and the voice telling him to follow it, Lucario sighed to himself and began walking in the direction of where it was calling from.

He looked out into the pitch-dark biome that stretched out before him, hesitant and suddenly apprehensive of the whole idea of following a strange voice.

Continuing to stare into the cave's tunnel, he felt his vision slowly becoming blurry and his eyes beginning to water.

His breath got shorter and the walls of the cave surrounding began to close up on him, even from behind, pushing Lucario into the darkness.

The Aura Pokemon looked away and ran to a wall adjacent to the tunnel. He breathed heavily, struggling to catch his breath.

Tears were welling up in his eyes, as the image of the pitch-black darkness and what may lie withing, continued to haunt his mind.

The voice spoke again, with thunder rumbling in the background and getting closer. "What is it that you're scared of, Lucario?"

"N-Nothing." He stuttered out and collapsed to the ground, hugging his knees with his eye shut tight.

"There's nothing in the dark, Lucario. It's safe here." It spoke with an emotionless tone, trying to act empathetic yet failing at it miserably.

His teeth began chattering, his head began swirling and the dark began closing in on him, slowly but surely taking up every little spot in front of him.

"No, no, no..." Lucario whispered to himself and hugged his knees tighter as tears began streaming down his cheeks.

He closed his eye once more, but the image of the dark tunnel continued to torment him, driving him further into insanity.

It was at that moment that Lucario felt real, unfiltered fear. He felt it many times before, but never on such a scale.

The other times when he was scared, it was usually followed by a rush of adrenaline, or a sudden boost of determination.

Not this time. There was no happiness, no determination or willingness to move on.

Fear had fully taken over the poor Aura Pokemon. His breath got shorter and faster once more, with breathing beginning to become more of a struggle.

"You're not alone, Lucario." The hushed voice said, as if right around the corner and peeking around it.

"We're here."

The thunderclaps stopped coming, and even the dripping water came to a sudden halt, as the tension of the silence began suffocating him.

"NO!" Lucario yelled and kicked himself off of the wall, gaining a bit of momentum and swinging around wildly with his eye closed.

He screamed loudly as he did so, breaking the quietude and resuming all sounds that once were.

And the moment he opened his eye back up, there was nothing. No voice, no overwhelming darkness; just him and the cave's ambience.

The sound of dripping water also returned, as well as the rumble of the thunders above him.

He exhaled heavily and smiled warily. He was safe.

At last, Lucario finally looked around once more, trying to spot the voice that was talking to him earlier.

He wasn't surprised when he did not see anybody. If the person wanted to be seen, they would walk out of the dark after all.

The smile on his face slowly dimmed down as he looked out into the darkness of the cave in front of him, swallowing audibly.

"I'm scared. But fear won't change anything, not even the choices I make." The Aura Pokemon's brows furrowed as he let out a huff.

"Fear will not change the outcome of my choices, nor will it change my future." He balled his paws up into fists and took a confident step into the dark corridor.

"Fear is only temporary. My determination will live on forever." Lucario continued to repeat this mantra to himself over and over, walking further into his fear's domain.

There were no sounds surrounding him, not even the constant dripping of the water could be heard. The thunderclaps continued to roar somewhere up in the skies, though they too stopped after a while.

Only the quiet beating of Lucario's heart echoed through the dark caverns. There was no more room for fear. Determination and bravery occupied all the space.

"Over here." The same voice from earlier echoed somewhere in the distance.

The blue Fighting-type did not waste any time on thinking and just kept on walking where the voice guided him.

Were he to think in a place like this, his fear would start setting in and he'd panic again.

Left. Now right. Right again. Lucario weaved through the dark hellscape, going from corridor to another one, and from that one- to another one.

Silent pitter patter of small feet could be heard in the distance, presumably belonging to some Bug-type that roamed around these parts.

But what if it was a Teddiursa? Its parent would not be too far away if that was the case.

Lucario shook his head and continued his mantra. "Less thinking, more walking. Don't pay attention to anything."

But the small footsteps did not stop, instead multiplying and increasing in number. It was as if the walls themselves were alive.

He picked up the pace of his walk and shrunk in size as he traversed the dark domain.

As the steps seemed to be getting faster and closer, so did he. His swift walk now turned into a trot with sweat running down his face.

The sound never stopped, only intensifying. The once silent pitter patter of feet turned into a violent rumble that ran through the cave like a river.

Lucario wasted no time and began full-on running. He ran as fast as his legs could handle, going beyond his known limit.

Looks like fear can change a person after all.

The breathing of the scared Aura Pokémon was ragged and heavy, clearly struggling to keep up with the pace his legs set.

But there was no time to stop, and the rumbling only continued to get louder and louder. The voice disappeared long ago, leaving him alone in the darkness once more.

As hope of getting away from the chaos began to die out, Lucario saw something shine at the end of the long corridor, something metallic but not quite.

He laughed loudly to himself and continued sprinting, only picking up on speed and not minding the pain that his overworked muscles were bringing him.

Eventually, he leapt in the direction of the shine and grabbed on to it, finding the sharp end of an Alolan Sandslash's claws.

As he drew his paws back and winced in pain. The rumbling of feet stopped, and he was once again met with silence.

The Sandslash looked down at his strange visitor and titled his head in both confusion and surprise. "Who- Who are you?"

"Are you the voice?!" Lucario asked a tad bit too loudly and put his paws back of the stranger's claws, this time careful not to stab himself.

"Am I who? Look dude, I don't know what you are talking about. Now let me go before-"

"WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE, I BEG OF YOU!" He clung on to the forepaws of the Sandslash and stared into his eyes with his own, as if pleading for help.

The Mouse Pokemon looked back at the way he was going in and reluctantly nodded and sighed. "I guess I can take you with me. Just- Just don't destroy anything once we arrive, okay?"

Lucario hastily nodded and hugged the Sandlash, putting his arms wide around him and pressing himself against the stranger's cold body.

He was quickly pushed away by the ice mouse, who picked up a basket off of the cold floor and looked at the Aura Pokemon. "I have boundaries dude. Respect me, and I will respect you. Now come on, I don't want to keep the others waiting."

Once he got off the ground, the blue fighter trailed closely behind Sandslash, keeping his distance and looking at the strange ice spikes on his body in curiosity.

Among everything that has happened today, one thing stuck out the most, and it was Lucario's sudden loss of aura manipulation abilities.

He suspected there was something wrong with him ever since he woke up in the cave. Shout was not there, he could not detect the voice's aura, and neither could he use aura vision to explore.

His worries were answered when he tried reading through the Sandslash's mind, resulting in a mild headache appearing.

"This is... new." He thought to himself and looked down at his paw in disbelief. "Have I lost the spark?" He clenched his fist.

He continued this motion time and time again, all while trying to at least detect anything's aura. But, once again, he was met with headaches and more pain.

The two of them travelled through the complete darkness, with Sandslash seemingly developing some sort of fondness to it, seeing as he was so fond of the area.

His movements were precise and plentiful, taking many turns and not walking down a single hallway for too long.

Lucario simply followed, experimenting and seeing what else he could not do any more.

Though, he was stopped abruptly as Sandslash stopped and made him walk into one of the ice spikes of the stranger's back, piercing his own skin lightly.

Upon looking down at the small wound, the Aura Pokemon felt an immediate chill run up from that small prick up his nervous system. He shuddered.

"Oi, watch your step dude. We're here." The Mouse Pokemon announced.

"And... where is here?"

Sandslash turned around, completely stumped, and stared in bewilderment at Lucario. "When were you born dude, yesterday? How can you live here and not know of this place?!"

The blue Fighting-type smiled nervously and tilted his head. "I wasn't born here. I fell in here."

A good minute of silence passed before Lucario repeated himself, thinking the stranger did not hear him the first time. He was met with a shush from him.

"Wait, fell in here? As in through the ceiling?"

"Exactly like that. The ground beneath me collapsed and I accidentally fell into the hole it created." Lucario explained.

"No, that's...- that's impossible. You either have amnesia or you're just pranking me dude. Quit it." Sandslash crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

The Aura Pokemon stood up straight and backed off a little. "I'm being serious! I do not have the slightest clue where I am!"

"Ha ha, yeah, sure dude. Very funny. Now seriously stop it."

Frustrated, Lucario leaned into the Mouse Pokemon's face and huffed in annoyance. "Then what do I have to do to convince you?"

"Show me the hole, perhaps? Or have you forgotten your way there too."

"As a matter of fact, yes, I did." The blue fighter turned around and looked out into the same darkness he came out of. "I... I'm afraid of the dark. I ran through here blindly and stumbled onto you."

As absurd as it may have sounded, a sigh came from Sandslash, almost as if he finally admitted defeat and believed Lucario.

"That's enough to convince me too, I guess. Nobody who lives in a cave would be afraid of the dark. But that leads me to another question... how? How did the ground above give out?"

Sandslash carefully scratched the underside of his chin with his hooked claws, humming quietly to himself as he pondered.

Eventually he stopped and looked Lucario up and down, before shrugging and beckoning him to follow. "Come on, we'll figure something out later. You look like you could use something to eat dude."

At the mention of food, the Aura Pokemon's stomach immediately grumbled in dissatisfaction, reminding him of the many days through which he made it without eating.

It felt like the last time he ate a hearty and actually filling meal, was way back after he came back from Crimson's kingdom. After that, he only ate enough to keep him standing upright, never truly satiating his hunger.

He put his paws on his stomach and smiled in embarrassment. "Yes, something to eat sure would be nice..." He chuckled.

Sandslash continued to move further into the dark hallway, with light slowly beginning to seep out of the supposed end of it.

A sweet aroma filled the air surrounding the two of them, something that Lucario's nose noticed and made his mouth water at it alone.

They moved closer and farther into the light, and as they did, the scent grew stronger too. The unusual silence was now replaced with an odd and silent hum coming from the light.

Lucario looked past his newly found acquaintance and found that the area in front of them was blocked off by a small door with torches on the wall surrounding it.

Besides the torches, a different shade of the same light seemed to pass through the cracks and small holes in the door and walls.

Compared to the torches', which were tinted yellow, the illumination from within took on a more orange dye, like a campfire's.

Sandslash put his hooked claw on the handle and pushed the door open, revealing a small and cozy room, illuminated by a single campfire shining brightly in the middle.

There was everything here- food, strange vials, water, beds... It was like a nursery or an infirmary.

Almost like the one in Crimson's kingdom, but not quite.

Lucario moved his eye from spot to spot, checking every little detail and nodding to himself. "It's a nice place you've got here."

"Thanks dude. It's basically like a supply closet for everyone who lives down here." The Mouse Pokemon said as he sat down on a bunch of leaves, acting as a sort of sitting chair.

"Who did you bring in today, dear? Is it another wounded?" A female voice suddenly sounded from somewhere further into the room.

"No, he's an outsider. Says he fell through the ceiling."

The other figure made her presence known by walking out from behind the large campfire, looking at the Aura Pokemon and narrowing her eyes.

It was another Sandslash, but compared to the one he already knew, she was a different shade of blue- her fur was darker, and the ice spikes on her back were lighter.

"Through the ceiling? How?" She asked and turned to look at the newcomer.

"It's a long story." Lucario swiftly answered and avoided the question. He knew how it happened; he just did not want to tell it again.

"Long or not, I still want to hear it." The female Sandslash insisted, right before the male stepped in and stopped her.

"Don't pressure the poor guy into telling you. He's lost and just wants a place to stay. Can't we do that for him without asking any questions? Isn't that what people like us do?"

A long pause ensued, with only the crackling of the fireplace being heard in the background as the female Sandslash thought hard.

She put her hooked claws under her chin and rubbed it gently before turning to Lucario again and nodding. "Alright. Welcome to the Blue Line, bucko."

"The Blue Line?" The Aura Pokemon asked, bewildered at the words. He tilted his head in apparent confusion.

"Yeah, it's a name we use for out little company we run here. We help the ones in need down here; wounded, lost, et cetera."

As Sandslash talked, Lucario nodded in understanding and smiled gently. "I see. I won't be staying long though, there's something I need to attend to."

The two Pokemon that helped him, suddenly snapped their heads to look at him. Their once big and gentle eyes, now turned into terrifying beady little points of white.

"No, we insist! You must stay here for a little longer." The female insisted and put her paws out to try and catch Lucario with her claws.

The latter began backing up, bumping into the male Sandslash as he did so.

The two of them looked at the blue fighter, a smile beginning to creep onto their lips as they outstretched their claws to him.

The Aura Pokemon heard a crackle of electricity right behind him, scaring him into turning around and losing sight of the couple.

Unfortunately for him, he saw nothing past the open door. Instead, he felt as the hooks at the tips of a Sandslash's claws sunk into his skin; slowly and painfully.

Lucario winced in pain and put both his paws on the claws and pulled them away from his body. He turned back to see the two traitors grinning widely at him.

A creep ran up his spine as he gently pushed away the male with his foot, as the claws that attempted to capture him were getting closer than before.

"Stay back." He warned and got lower to the ground, readying himself for the worst. When the duo did not listen, he yelled at them again. "Stay back, I say!"

Channelling his aura into an Aura Sphere and using the cloud of dust to get away wasn't an option. His aura senses were gone for the time being.

And even if he could, it would be dumb for Lucario to do so. With the dark surrounding him, he'd get lost again and would have to rely on the voice from before miraculously coming to save him.

Shout could not instruct him or warn him of oncoming attacks... "What to do, what to do..." A drop of sweat ran down his head, landing on his paws.

With no other option, or even a chance to talk his way out of the sticky situation, only violence remained a viable choice.

Not too much, but enough to knock them out, or just scare the two Sandslash away.

Lucario waited, patiently watching the two sets of claws get closer and closer, all the while his mind was yelling at him not to engage.

Eventually, the female Mouse Pokemon charged at him with her small paws imitating a sort of drill.

Due to her being farther away than her male counterpart, the Aura Pokemon was able to dodge by sidestepping into a wall.

The limited space in the small room would prove a problem to successfully deliver good attacks as well as dodge.

His fist rose up, ready to strike the back of the Ice-Type but stopped due to a slight miscalculation.

He was prepared to fight without the use of aura, even in such close quarters combat and relying purely on his own skills. What Lucario did not foresee, however, was the ice spikes on the backs of the Sandslash.

Cold to the touch and can cause immediate hypothermia if impaled on one. A small stab or a prick isn't much, just a small cold.

Were he to not notice the spikes in time, his whole fist would drive into them with enough force to render the arm useless, potentially killing him.

That means counterattacks were off the charts for the blue Fighting-Type, as he would usually strike his opponent on the back with one.

"Not good. I have to take them head on and take the lead. Set my own pace." He thought to himself and charged at the female from the side.

He drew back his fist and managed to hit the enemy. Before he could use his second fist to launch a follow-up attack, the male let out a loud cry as he ran at him the same way that the other Sandslash did.

Lucario, taking advantage of the situation, dropped down to the ground and laid flat on his stomach, letting his other assailant trip on his body but giving enough time for his first enemy to recover from the blow.

"Join us! It's fun here, we do fun things!" The female hissed as she stabbed her claws into the ground right beside her visitor's head.

The latter rolled to the side and jumped up, moving back farther into the room and having his opponents follow him. "I'll pass, thank you."

Being so close to the fire reminded the Aura Pokemon of today's morning training that Huang gave him. The heat back then was unbearable, but now it felt like nothing.

As he stood still with the fire raging right behind him, the two Sandslash smirked in unison and split up; one going to the left and the other going to the right of Lucario.

A moment later, they both attacked, with the only difference this time being that their claws were not stretched out. The duo both had them behind their bodies, as if dragging them behind themselves.

Stepping back wasn't an option- the campfire stood in the way. Going left or right would be downright insane, and moving forward would just leave Lucario in the same position as earlier.

In a moment of desperation, the Fighting-Type took a deep breath and bent his knees. He put his paws to his sides and balled them up into fists, closing his eye.

"Concentrate... Let your heart beat the same tempo your punches create. And when you're ready..." Lucario opened his eye up and exhaled.

"Strike!" He yelled and stretched his fists out to his sides, just as his two opponents got close enough to connect with the fists.

A shockwave sounded as they both got knocked to the sides, crashing into nearby walls and making dents in them.

They were not knocked out, still trying their best to claw at their enemy by stretching their paws out and scratching the air.

The ice spikes on their back stopped them from freeing themselves. Lucario smiled and chuckled. "The best offense is their defence!"

"No! Please, stay with us! We swear we won't hurt you!" They pleaded in unison, staring at the victor with their beady eyes.

"Once again, I'll pass." He quickly dismissed their calls and looked around the lair, looking for anything that might aid him in getting through the cave.

There was not much here, other than the occasional fruit or berry. No light sources that would last for long enough to find an exit either.

If he had his aura senses, Lucario could just make a flame appear in his paw to light the way or use his aura vision to see everything clearly.

That wasn't an option though. Try as he might there was still nothing that seemed to spark them back to life once more.

He picked up a long enough stick from a pile of them, as well as a piece of cloth from one of the beds. He tied it around the stick tightly, making it look like a soft club.

Putting it near the flame of the campfire, the makeshift torch immediately lit up in its own, orange fire.

Lucario looked around the room again and shrugged after not finding anything else useful enough to aid him.

He grabbed a couple of berries and ate them right in front of his immobile enemies, smirking in the process. "You get what you deserve." He said with his mouth full.

Having finished his short and small meal, the Aura Pokemon held the torch in his paw with confidence, grabbing the door handle and pushing it open with a creak.

The controlled fire did its job, lighting up the area in front of him perfectly. Now, it's just a matter of time until Lucario finds a way out.

Then again, the Sandslash said something about falling in here being impossible... Does that mean there's no entrance and no exit?

If so, then he's trapped down here until somebody either finds him or he makes his own exit.

The former option would require a lot of waiting, too much to be exact. There's no way that Lucario survives for so long with only a bit of berries that his enemies had back in their lair.

Then that would mean that the only viable way of getting out of this dark pit of hell, would be to dig your way out of it, something that the Aura Pokemon was not good at.

"How did they get berries or the wood then? This has to mean that they had ways of getting out other than going to the naturally formed exit." He thought to himself as he walked through the dark hallways.

He was right. There was no way they could get either of those without going out to the surface. The only thing left to do was to actually find their tunnels.

...But where? This cave stretched out for miles, and the light source would eventually run out, leaving Lucario alone with the critters that roamed this place.

Maybe if he would not zone out, maybe if he would just pay attention to what path that male Sandslash took, maybe then he would be able to find the exit.

The Fighting-Type sighed and just continued walking forward, hoping for the best as the flame burned brightly in his paw.

Eventually, a familiar voice called out to him, accompanied by a crackle of electricity nearby. "Are you lost?"

"No, I'm just...- I'm just searching for the exit." He retaliated.

"Blindly?"

"Yes. That doesn't mean I'm lost, it means that I don't know where I'm going."

"You don't know where you're going, and you don't know where you are. That's the definition of lost, Lucario." The oddly calm voice echoed off the walls.

"Alright, have it your way then. I admit it, I'm lost." Lucario finally admitted and stopped walking, looking around himself and waving the torch around. "Happy?"

He was met with a sigh as the voice beckoned him to follow once more. "I'll show you their tunnels. Just don't run off like before."

The Aura Pokemon nodded before continuing talking. "I promise I won't. I want to know, however, who are you exactly? And why are you helping me?"

A long pause ensued, with just the occasional crackle of electricity and flame from his torch. He eventually got a response. "It is up to fate to decide whether you find out or not."

"Wise words. Did you take them from a book?" Lucario said as a joke but was surprised when an answer came.

"No, I never read any books. Now stop asking questions and follow my voice."

The Aura Pokemon hesitated before asking another question, despite the voice telling him not to do so. "Anything I can call you then?"

"...Aitch." The voice calmly replied, leaving Lucario alone in the darkness and quietude for a moment again. "You can call me Aitch."

"A nice name. Guide me then, Aitch. Be the voice that tells me what to do." He called out joyfully and smiled, walking in the direction he last heard Aitch in.

::::::::::::::

It was a long walk, and Lucario's torch gave out about halfway to the exit, but through the power of sheer will (as well as Aitch's reassurance), he made it to the exit tunnel safely.

On his way there, he had no more encounters with the critters that he met earlier or with any other crazy inhabitants of the cave.

The tunnel itself was a tight fit for Lucario, as he could just barely fit inside. It was practically a miracle he managed to squeeze through to the surface.

The light temporarily blinded him the first time he emerged from down below. The Aura Pokemon shielded his eyes from the sun with his paw, putting it in front of his own face and closing his eye in the process.

Aitch left him alone again- he prefered to stay in the cave for at least a little longer before also coming out. His appearance and his whole character remained a mystery.

Once his eye adjusted to the light, Lucario looked around to see where he was, only to see he was back in the jungle.

Tall and lush trees sprouted from everywhere around him, leaving only a small patch through which the sunlight came down to earth.

Lucario got up from the ground and shook off the excess dirt and dust that accumulated on his fur, taking a deep breath of the clean and fresh air.

He smiled in content before trying to connect with the aura surrounding him in an attempt to see if he got his aura senses back.

To his concern, he still could not do anything with aura. It was as if he got completely cut off from it. He put his paws behind his head and gave the black appendages growing there a squeeze, thinking that would solve the issue.

It just gave him a headache, leaving him dazed, confused and lost. He shook the pain off and took a look around again.

This time, he noticed the sound of human children playing around somewhere in the distance, as well as their concerned parent's voice.

With no other option in sight, Lucario began moving in that direction, following a stranger's voice once more today.

He travelled through the thick vines, brushing some aside and ripping some out of the trees.

The bushes growing around all the greenery had big and hard spikes sprouting on their branches. First encounter with those thorns caused the Aura Pokemon to yelp.

Thankfully, he's quick to learn on his mistakes, and he simply jumped over the next bushes he found on his way.

The sound of the children playing seemingly started getting quieter and quieter as Lucario moved further forward, eventually stopping completely.

Lucario knew he was going the right way, as whereas the human kids stopped their friendly chats and squabbles, a lower and more masculine told them to stay quiet.

That same voice was then heard crying, weeping and gasping for air through his tears.

It wasn't long before the blue furred Pokemon got to the area in which these humans resided- a graveyard.

He came out from behind the trees surrounding the whole place and took a curious peek around, his ears perking up in surprise.

The graves were separated by small and short hedges, as well as old and dilapidated fences.

They were only slightly taller than the hedges and had tall spikes on the top. Grey in colour, they perfectly depicted the graveyard's atmosphere- dark and gloomy.

There were more than just one human family. Multiple of them were standing or kneeling in front of different graves. Some alone, some with company.

Though different, they all shared one thing in common- none of them looked happy. As expected from a graveyard after all.

Lucario walked out from behind the flora and began walking in the direction of a wooden sign, far behind the place itself.

As he got closer, the words that were written on it slowly got more and more comprehensible.

"Route 9." The Aura Pokemon read out loud and stared at the road that stretched out behind the sign.

He walked to the other side of it and read it once more. The text was different.

"Memorial Hill. Would you look at that, I made it." He smirked to himself and looked back at the graveyard.

There were no short of different berry bushes and trees in the vicinity, but without his aura, picking the right berries would be tough.

But tough does not mean impossible, and Lucario didn't waste any time just standing around. He walked past the sign and stepped into the cemetery ground.

The sounds of weeping men and women got louder as he did so, filling him with dread and a strange feeling of fear.

Thankfully, no human noticed him as he walked past. Only a few children took a quick glance at him, right before turning away in apparent fear.

Lucario could see as their hair stood on their end, giving them goosebumps and all that. He smiled and continued his jaunt through the burial grounds.

A small and broken path lead outside the confinement of the grey fences, opening up into an area full of tall grass and berry trees.

Not thinking much of it, the Aura Pokemon fiercely kicked the first tree he saw, leaving his foot in slight pain and making a few Liechi berries fall to the ground.

He striked again, and more Liechi berries fell. Once more, and some Custap berries fell down.

Lucario set his hind paw down on the ground and shook the tree with vigour, thinking more fruit would fall down, only to see nothing.

He bent down and untied Cinamon's bandana from around his own neck, laying it down on the grass and carrying the berries over to it.

Once they were all there, he tied the piece of cloth in such a way so that it resembled a small bag to store goods.

He got back up and looked around in search of more of the same trees.

Thankfully, there were plenty more just sprouting here and there, growing tall and stretching their leaves out into the sun. They were able to grow so much thanks to no disturbance from humans.

Lucario ran up to the nearest one and put the bag on the ground before shaking the tree violently, making its leaves rustle as plenty of fruits fell to the ground.

This one seemed to yield only Spelon berries, as they were the most plentiful amongst the rest. The Aura Pokemon took the few Oran and Sitrus berries that fell too, eating them on the best.

Both of them on their own were pretty bland, but when eaten together, they unearthed a whole new continent of flavour.

A splash of sweetness, paired with a dash of sourness and a sprinkle of spiciness, gave for a fresh and filling meal, one that made Lucario groan in satisfaction as he revelled in the taste.

Just like with the previous Liechi and Custap berries, the blue Fighting-Type put the Spelon fruit in the small piece of cloth before tying it up once more and getting up to his feet.

He had all the things he needed. All but one, at the very least; the Enigma berry was the only one that remained.

Just like Cinamon said, none seemed to grow in here on Memorial Hill. But thankfully, the place where they did grow was not so far away.

If it wasn't for the fact that Lucario had read so much about Alola itself back when he was a Riolu, he would not have known that the Ruins of Life were connected to Memorial Hill.

"Judging off the position of the sun..." Lucario looked up at the bright star and hummed quietly to himself. "East is there." He pointed in the direction he chose as east and began moving there slowly.

As he walked, he took the time he had to examine humans that were gathered near the cold, stone graves.

A young woman cried over a male human's memorial, kneeling down in front of it and putting her hands together, muttering something.

Another woman seemingly did the same thing; kneeled in front of a grave, crying and having her hands put together while muttering something.

Every person here shared this, even the children, some of which were bowing down to some graves, doing just as their parents told them.

All graves on the burial grounds had at least one person in front of them- all but one.

An overgrown and mossy stone tablet laid motionless in the corner of the graveyard, waiting patiently for someone to come and talk to it.

Out of respect and pity, Lucario slowly approached the grave and kneeled down in front of it just like all the humans did.

He put his paws together and closed his eye, before beginning to speak, thinking that this is how humans connect and communicate with their dead relatives.

"Hello, Mister..." He opened his eye to look at who he had the pleasure of meeting, only to see that the name was covered by moss.

Without hesitation, Lucario put his paw out to it and scraped the moss off with his claws, smiling gently when he was done. He went back to his original position and continued.

"...Mister Xander Conollo. Please don't be alarmed, I am not here to hurt you in any way. I just wanted to say that whoever you were, you deserve more than to be forgotten.

"I am sure you lived a great life, Mister. I don't know if there's nobody to take care of your grave for you, or if they all simply forgot, but I promise that very soon someone will come to talk with you daily."

The Aura Pokemon talked to himself, believing that he truly is talking to a human's spirit or soul.

Once he was done, he opened his eye back up and got up off the ground, smiling widely and bowing down in respect.

It wasn't long before he heard a human child call out for his father's attention, all while locking eyes with the scarred Pokemon.

Lucario's ears folded back and pressed against the top of his head in slight fright. The father turned back from the grave soon after and gazed Lucario.

He reached down into his pocket, and the Aura Pokemon took that as a sign for him to run away.

Lucario couldn't see what exactly that human pulled out of his pockets, as he was too busy running in the opposite direction.

He passed a sign, not bothering to read it. A long stone road stretched out before him as he sprinted forward.

Not long after entering the road made of stone, the blue furred Pokemon started seeing more and more flowers appear.

They were plentiful and beautiful, their colours much more vibrant than any that he has seen before.

As Lucario went further, pink scales started appearing, shining dimly and radiating a strange power that he has never seen or felt before.

He brushed it off for now, continuing to move forward and further down the road.

As he did so, a low and quiet hum was heard, not stopping for even a moment.

Curious, the Aura Pokemon travelled past all the vibrant flowers and fish-like scales, caring more about the source of the sound than his surroundings.

He soon found himself before the entrance to some sort of ruins, overgrown with thick vines and moss. The hum was emanating from within.

Taken over by curiosity, Lucario stepped inside the ruins, leaving his bandana full of berries at the entrance.

A dark and mysterious aura suddenly filled him as he jaunted further inside, driven only by his explorer's spirit.

Every part of him was telling that this is a bad idea, that he should turn back around and run before something attacked him.

But nothing ever did.

Now filled with dread, the blue furred Fighting-Type continued moving forward through the damp and abandoned hallway, with the hum getting louder by the second.

Fear and anxiety started setting in, sitting right beside the dread, as the three feelings tried pushing him out of these ruins.

But just like with the scales he saw earlier; he brushed it off and continued.

He eventually made it into a room dimly lit up by torches on the walls, with thick and bountiful berry bushes sprouting on the sides of the room.

In front of him was an altar with two sets of stairs on either side, leading up to a stone tablet, behind which was something.

Intrigued, Lucario carefully moved towards the shrine and made it up the stairs, examining the tablet before turning his gaze to the strange thing.

It was a light pink shell, resembling a Beautifly's head. A set of pink antennae sprouted from the top, with a black proboscis on the bottom.

It was hard and cold to the touch, unmoving while it emanated the strange humming noise.

Lucario felt tempted to knock on the shell. And so, he did.

The low hum suddenly stopped as the shell cracked at the top, right above the set of insectoid eyes.

The Aura Pokemon turned white and took a step back as the top portion of the shell began rising, with a set of blue and stationary eyes being slowly uncovered.

He could make out, that whatever it was rising out of the shell, was a human-like figure. Unlike humans, however, the figure was completely black and fully encased in the shell.

Its dark body was soon completely out of the shell, using the top of it as a sort of hat, from under which grew out tentacle-like pink hair.

Under the hair was a circular head, sporting the blue eyes mentioned earlier with pink eyebrows and white markings under both of them, but surprisingly no mouth.

The head was connected to a very small portion of the body, from which sprouted two thin arms with puffy pink bracelets on each wrist.

The body continued downwards and into the shell, looking as if it was trapped.

Lucario spotted as the proboscis from underneath the figure retracted into the bottom portion of the shell, and the antennae from the top of their "hat" moved down and formed two strands of long hair.

Without a warning, the set of eyes of the figure's face sparked to life with a glint, blinking at the Aura Pokemon in confusion.

"Answer me, mortal. To what purpose have you summoned a guardian deity back to the living plane?" The figure asked, astounding Lucario even more.

"A guardian deity? Does that mean you're...-" The blue furred Pokemon's eye flew wide open as he stared at Tapu Lele.

"Indeed, that is my more common name among you pests." The Tapu floated up into the air, suspending itself slightly above ground and staring down at its visitor. "Now answer my question."

Lucario stuttered as he took another step backwards, standing on the edge of the altar. "I-I didn't know it was you, I never intended on summoning you."

"Then why have thou knocked on my shell? Was it not to ask questions, or to beg for help?" The legendary started moving, no longer stationary and moving in circles around Lucario.

"N-No, it was curiosity that drew me to your place of slumber." He eventually answered and followed Tapu Lele with his eye, watching it carefully.

"A fool's drive and a foolish reason. I heard a saying among humans back in the day. If I recall correctly, it went like "curiosity killed the cat"." The guardian deity stared at Lucario from all sides, inspecting him and his body.

He swallowed nervously and shuddered. "Forgive me for disturbing your peace, oh great one." A chill ran down his spine as the Tapu stopped in front of him and stared back into his eye.

"Your body is broken, as is your mind. You have been through many tough trials, and through every single one you prevailed, gaining one more scar to your growing collection."

The Aura Pokemon watched as the legendary put its hands out, causing the same pink scale he saw earlier to appear in them.

Its shine was far brighter than the ones he saw before, radiating with the same energy as all the others did, with the key difference being that it was stronger.

Tapu Lele floated down towards her visitor and stretched her arms out to him, offering the strange glowing fragment of her shell.

"Take this, and you shall be free of your scars. No longer will you be haunted by past battles and trials, able to enjoy life to its fullest." It said, and Lucario could sense a smile coming from it, even though it had no mouth.

He happily took the offering and held it close to his chest, feeling the aura around himself slowly beginning to warp as he regained his aura abilities.

With them, there also came Shout. He appeared in his usual form and stood behind Tapu Lele, staring at his friend in horror and disbelief.

"Lucario you poor fool..."

Those were the last words that Lucario heard come from the aura projection of Bisharp, as his vision went blurry, and his hearing got worse.

"What is... happening...?" He asked and put his paws on his head, dropping the scale and looking up at the guardian deity.

"I gave you a piece of my life, and in return, I shall take yours." It innocently giggled and floated down closer to Lucario, who shook his head and dropped to his knees.

"No... Why are you... doing this?"

"To prove a point. To make everyone realise, that being the deity of life, does not mean that I only heal others. I can also take that life instead of giving it."

Soon after hearing those words, the Aura Pokemon dropped to the ground; devoid of his life force and lying motionless on the stone-cold floor.

And so, the adventure of Lucario came to a tragic end.

:::::::::::::::

He woke up with a loud gasp, breathing heavily and taking air into his lungs at a rapid rate.

The Aura Pokemon looked down at his paws, before moving them around his body. He was fine.

As he calmed his breath, he finally looked around to see where he was. The same white void to which he grew so accustomed to surrounded him.

Not long after this discovery, Shout appeared by his side and shook his head, looking down at his friend. "I tried to warn you."

Lucario slowly got up off the floor, stretching his arms out and sighing. "I never heard you. I lost my aura sense back at the cave."

Bisharp tilted his head and smiled. "Is that why you didn't run away when I told you to? Or when I lit up the cave for you to traverse?"

He nodded and smiled back nervously. "Precisely." A long pause ensued before he spoke again. "Am I... dead?"

Shout shook his head once more. "The Tapu are very different from each other. Tapu Lele only says that its cruel, and that it wants to kill to send a message.

"Instead of actually killing however, it passes the spirit of the living being that comes into contact with its scales off into their own white void, where they're alone."

"If I'm supposed to be alone, then why are you here?" Lucario asked as he tilted his head and looked at his friend.

"I'm a part of you, so in a way, you're still alone in here." Shout chuckled and nodded to himself.

"I see. So, I'm not dead?"

"Not for long, at least. The deity of life though said to be guilelessly cruel, feels remorse for those it trapped in their void. And so, while it may like only a few minutes in here, Tapu Lele brings back the soul of its victims after a few hours of consideration."

The words that came out of Shout's mouth deeply interested Lucario as he stared in awe at Bisharp with his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Where did you learn stuff like that?!" He finally asked to which Shout laughed.

"You see, all Lucario carry not only their own aura, but the aura of their past ancestors and their alternate selves as well." Bisharp walked closer to Lucario and put his hand on his shoulder, smiling gently.

The two locked eyes as they gazed into each other's heads, smiling at each other.

"Wait, alternate selves? You mean that-"

"Shush." Shout swiftly stopped his friend's question and hushed him. "Some questions are better left unanswered. Even I don't know how that can happen."

Before Lucario could say anything else, he felt himself being dragged down into the floor of the white void and under it, returning to his body.

Tapu Lele stared down at him, floating right above his head and looking unamused. "I shall spare you just this once, mortal. Never show your scarred face around here again."

The Aura Pokemon shook his head and stood up from the ground with a sigh. "Thank you, oh great one. I apologise for my intrusion, and I promise that it will never happen again." He bowed down.

"Hmph." The Tapu crossed its arms and floated back to its shrine. "Before you go, traveller, take my depleted scale. For if you ever decide to ask me an actual question, connect with my aura through it."

It motioned towards the scale in Lucario's paws as he looked at it in intrigue.

No longer containing the devastating energy of the guardian deity, this pink scale emanated faint aura of a powerful being. It no longer shined.

He looked back up at Tapu Lele, who sat down in its original place of rest and encased itself in the shell once more, returning to emanating a low hum through the altar.

Lucario jumped down the raised shrine back to ground level, moving past the lush bushed and dim torches.

He walked through the damp hallway, now feeling the loud and powerful aura of the legendary sounding through this whole place.

The scales that were scattered around inside we dimmer than before but have not completely lost their shine. Knowing better now, the blue furred fighter avoided making contact with them.

As he slowly made his way down the hall though, a small and thin vine growing out of one of the cracks in the wall caught his eye.

Lucario leaned down to inspect it more closely and found an Enigma berry hanging on to the small plant.

He gladly took it, carefully ripping it off the vine, as it retracted back into the crack in the wall. He smiled.

The berry itself wasn't big, nor was it small. Fruits usually don't emanate any aura; this one was the exception to that.

The aura that it gave off was the same as the Tapu's, though a lot fainter and less powerful. It was contained.

With the black berry in his paw, Lucario now moved swiftly in hopes of getting back to the Oasis as fast as possible.

He finally got outside of the Ruins of Life, picking up his makeshift bag at the entrance and putting the Enigma berry inside with the rest.

The Aura Pokemon then moved on the same path as he did earlier, walking all the way back to Memorial Hill and back into the jungle.

He moved carefully and hastily at once, careful not to fall down any hole again, but fast enough to hopefully make it back before night.

The sun shined its evening colours down at the jungle, illuminating and enveloping it in an orange glow.

Lucario shielded his eye with his paw as the blinding sunlight shined into it.

"I can feel Huang's aura somewhere further in front of you. Turns out it wasn't all that far away, huh?" Shout materialised himself beside his friend and floated alongside him.

"Looks like it." He answered and continued forward, turning his walk into a trot, his trot into a run, and beginning to sprint not long after.

He felt as all the leaves, branches and bushes hit against his whole body, splashing his fur with the leftover rainwater from earlier today.

Lucario put his paws in front of his face as he ran through a dead and hollow tree, smashing through it and making bark fly in all the directions.

He tumbled forward, rolling off a hill and landing back up on his legs. He laughed and resumed his sprint, getting ever so closer to Huang and the Oasis.

After pulling off that stunt, he prepared to do another, noticing mud right under a fallen tree. He smiled and fell to the ground on his back, keeping his momentum and sliding on the mud under the tree.

He rolled forward once more and sprang up to his feet, right before stopping himself by catching on to a tree overlooking the Oasis from above.

While in that vantage point, Lucario noticed that there were hardly any Pokemon around, with most of the visible ones being either old or very young.

The Aura Pokemon decided not to think of it too much and slid down the gradual cliff as the calm wind and low hum of nearby bodies of water synced in a perfect harmony.

He took a deep breath and sighed in content, stopping at the ground and brushing the dust and dirt off of himself.

There was quite some distance between him and the big tree in the middle, so Lucario used that little time to reflect on what happened today.

The morning went smooth, with a quick battle with Salazzle in a hot environment. Whether that was just because Huang said so or if it had an actual purpose was left for him to ponder about.

After that, Cinamon the Sylveon asked him a favour; to bring her certain berries that grew at Memorial Hill and in the Ruins of Life.

With nothing else to do and wanting to help his friend, Lucario gave in and accepted to help her, venturing out into the wilderness in search of these two places.

Unfortunately, he was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and in the middle of a volcanic eruption. The strike of the thunder and the eruption combined made the ground from beneath his feet collapse in of itself, causing him to fall down into a pit.

Once he was down, he got hit with a rock and got knocked out, as well as lost his aura abilities for a duration of time. And when he got up, he found himself in an incredibly dark cave.

Without the use of aura vision, Lucario miraculously made it through the darkness with the help of a mysterious stranger called Aitch, one who never revealed his form to him.

There was some trouble in the cave system, but it was short lived, as the Aura Pokemon took care of it easily and quickly.

When he finally made it out, he found himself in Memorial Hill, where he gathered three of the four types of berries he was tasked with collecting.

The fourth one he found after a confrontation with one of the guardian deities- Tapu Lele. It gave him back his aura abilities with the use of its powers and gave him its scale to use as means of asking questions or calling for help.

After making it out of the Ruins of Life with the last berry in hand, Lucario ran as fast as he could back to the Oasis, knowing that Oregano was still sick and needed those berries as fast as possible.

And so, he ran, eventually making it back to the Oasis and going down the shaft leading to the "Nine Wonders" cafe under the big tree.

It sure was a lot that he went through today, and that reflected on his appearance. Lucario looked like he climbed out of the deepest pits of hell- drenched in sweat with mud all over his body and dirt clinging on to him with the sweat.

He fell down the shaft and tumbled forward, protecting the berries by putting them close to his chest and sighing once he stopped rolling.

Upon looking up, the Aura Pokemon saw no one. There was nobody here to greet him, no sounds were coming from the back, and not even Cinamon was here.

It felt like it was a ghost house, and that thought alone made him shudder. He got up to his feet and hobbled forward over to the counter.

He rang the bell, expecting somebody to come pay him a visit and welcome him in with a cheerful smile. That never happened.

Seemingly out of options, he called out. "Hello? Cinamon, are you here? I have the berries you asked for."

Quiet whispers could be heard right after he said that, with all of them suddenly disappearing as fast as they came.

"Yes! I'm coming, don't worry!" Cinamon answered and the sound of pots clanking against each other could be heard, right before she emerged from inside the kitchen.

"What are you standing out here for? Come on in! No need to be shy, Lurio!" Sylveon beckoned him to follow her using her ribbons, while slowly disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Lurio? Is that what you're going to call me now?" Lucario shook his head and followed, with the berries swinging slightly from side to side as he held them by his side.

"D-Do you prefer not to be called that?" She asked nervously as she made it to the door on the opposite side of the kitchen, opening it and looking back at her visitor.

"No, I don't mind it at all. It's just... Actually, never mind. I like it." He nodded to himself.

Cinamon gave a slight blush and punched him lightly on the shoulder with one of her ribbons. "Oh, shut up..." She smiled and looked back into the dark room.

A moment passed before she clapped her paws, and in the blink of an eye, a giant fire lit up the whole place, revealing all the Eeveelutions sitting behind a table full of meals, along with Huang and Wei standing on each end of the rectangular table.

"Since we didn't give you a proper greeting the first time around, we thought that maybe we could give you one right now!" Cinamon explained as she turned around.

Her bright expression quickly started to fade away as she saw the blank stare on Lucario's face. "L-Lurio?" She asked awkwardly. "Are you o-okay?"

"Are these berries I gathered even needed?" He finally asked, putting the small bag in front of himself.

"W-Well, not really... But-"

"Do you know what I went through to get them? Through what hardships I endured to even get close to them?" He leaned down and gazed into Sylveon's eyes.

"N-No, I don't, but please listen to me! I can-" She was stopped by an abrupt hug from Lucario, who pat her on the back and laughed.

"I'm only joking! Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything- how could I be?!" He got up and looked at all the food laid out in front of him. "You made this all just for a simple greeting?"

Cinamon was taken aback by the sudden gesture, taking a moment to let everything sink in. She eventually snapped back to reality and nodded. "Well, it's like a tradition here to meet newcomers with a big and hearty meal!"

Lucario put the bag on the ground beside her and looked at the table, his mouth already watering at the sight of all the delicacies.

Ginger stepped up and cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of everyone gathered. "Well, now that all that is said and done, it's about time to dig in!"

"Itadakimasu!" Everyone said in unison, with even Huang joining in and chuckling to himself lightly.

The room immediately filled up with everyone's voices laughing loudly and talking with each other, all the while enjoying the food they made.

Lucario smiled widely from ear to ear, walking up to the table and kneeling down in front of it. He bowed down to show respect and as a way to thank everything that made this meal possible.

After a short while had passed, he got back up on his knees and began eating the food in front of him, completely lost in its flavour.

"...And after that, we ate like there was no tomorrow! I honestly cannot remember when the last time I ate so much in one sitting was! Needless to say, I enjoyed every moment of that sitting."

"After an incredibly filling meal, we had a competition to see who could eat a whole bowl of noodles the fastest! I was quite surprised when it turned out to be me, as nobody else participating really ate anything."

"I hope to see Aitch someday again in the future and to learn who he really is. Maybe he has something to do with all the thunderstorms and the eruptions that have been happening today? Who knows, only time can tell."

"I think I'll stay far away from dark spaces for quite some time now. I want to explore Akala more, maybe even travel to Wela Volcano and investigate the mystery of Aitch there."

"But for now, his sudden appearance and your sudden disappearance stay a mystery to me, Decidueye. I wish to find out what happened to you one day, and I promise I'll do that."

"Oh, and when I was going of Tapu Lele's shrine, it gave me its depleted scale! So as to speak to eat from a distance, you know. I'll use it as a last resort should anything ever happen to me."

"It was a fun day, filled with both fun as well as horror. Nevertheless, night is coming, and my eyelids are starting to close on their own. Goodnight, father. Sweet dreams."

Next time, on "Blue Tears"

"Lucario, that's enough! You showed him who's the boss here, now get off of him and run before more come!" Shout yelled at him.

Lucario did not mind his friend's warnings though, intending on beating his already fallen opponent even more into the ground, along with anyone else that might come.

"Fine then! Let them come! I'll make sure they remember my face until the end of their pathetic lives!"