Chapter 4)
Country of Thieves
Leo quickly put himself in a defensive position, the tradeoff being a deep claw wound to his shoulder. He jolted up to strike back, but the ghost-type attacker had already preoccupied themselves with Shank. The foe was quickly knocked back with a shadow ball to the face, but was unperturbed.
A ghost type? I can't even hit them…
Leo turned his paws outwards, aiming the steel spike at the enemy he had now identified as a Banette in an effort to deter an attack. However, he was knocked back regardless, but only because there was a literal earthquake. He fumbled his bag while falling which grabbed the attention of the banette.
He reached out to retrieve it, but the banette slashed at him with his claw once again, forcing him to retreat his hand, which allowed the thief to take the bag, if only momentarily. Leo groaned in pain as the damage from the earthquake pierced through the adrenaline.
The Banette quickly lost his balance as he stumbled into the path of the earthquake, only to be met with a dragon dart attack from Shank, further stunning the attacker.
"Okili, what the hell are you doing?" The Banette cried out.
Leo turned to his side to see an angry rhyperior stomping over. The earthquake had suddenly ceased, momentarily giving him a moment to breathe. Shank flew over to attack the rhyperior but just as quickly as the earthquake started, a new attack was formed, this time directed at Shank.
Leo pushed through the pain and threw himself at the Rhyperior as it summoned jagged stalagmite-like rocks in the path of Shank. His palm began to glow a dark orange as he slammed it into the rhyperior center mass. Leo tumbled onto the ground adjacent to the rhyperior, but he got up while it didn't.
I did it. I won my first fight.
He turned over, injured but proud, when his heart sank in dismay.
Shank lost? But how?
Leo's energy had evaporated with his attack on the rhyperior, and he was still heavily injured from the earthquake attack. He still managed to stand up, but Leo was quickly overpowered by a hex performed by the banette and faceplanted onto the grassy plains.
The banette began rifling through the two bags he had collected, which allowed a highly injured and still barely conscious Shank to mount a last ditch effort. He lobbed a metal dart at the banette, but was intercepted by a high-velocity torrent of water before spiraling back down to the ground.
"Gawlo, you ought to watch your back." A voice from the trees commented after Shank's counterambush attempt ended in his knockout. "Without my snipe shots you'd be dead a thousand times over…"
Gawlo grumbled. "I had him covered, Bubble-"
"Sure you did. So next time, you want me not to cover you?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Bubble smirked. "And you say that inteleons are bad thieves."
"Ok, just shut up and check the bags."
Leo observed them as still as possible, tracking them with what aura he could gather. His shoulder was still bleeding from Gawlo's shadow claw, and the earthquake left him only able to limp at best, but by some miracle, he wasn't out of the fight just yet- and he intended to make the most of it.
He guessed that Gawlo would likely eat a berry or two to regenerate the damage done to him, which proved accurate. As soon as he guessed Gawlo's guard would be at its lowest, he rolled over and threw a lightning-fast punch at the banette's feet- one that he didn't even know he had in him- knocking him flat on his back. However, like all other previous attacks, his was only doomed to fail; one snipe shot by Bubble and he was sent flying back towards the ground. Furthermore, the Banette had also recovered himself and leapt at him.
One chance, and you blew it.
Leo buried his head in his arms, bracing for the attack. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he was pretty sure of at least one thing.
Anna, wherever I go, I pray I don't meet you there for a long time.
He waited for the attack, but it soon became evident that it would never come. He crawled backwards and uncovered his face to see Gawlo laying right beside him, out cold. A black figure was now dueling the inteleon- a fight it was clearly losing. Leo scrambled backwards as a torrent of water threw his rescuer to the ground then flinched as the inteleon pulled out a bright stone.
"You damn thief…" The figure muttered. "You use that Z-Crystal and the entire region of Resal will hunt you down."
"You mean the rebirth-controlled region?" Bubble laughed and pointed to Leo. "They'd probably pay me for taking out this guy right here."
The crystal pulsed as large volumes of water rose up from the ground, carrying the now-injured figure with it. The water quickly ascended in a tube-like shape and began twisting, tossing them out of view. The waterspout devoured a few trees before suddenly lifting as soon as it appeared.
"If you're going to interfere in someone else's business, at least be good at it…" The inteleon muttered.
Leo laid still as a statue, carefully observing the inteleon with a burning aura.
Come on, I've gotta do something, but everything hurts...
Despite being in his situation, all he could think about was his sister's kidnapping.
This isn't a question of if I can make it through. I have to make it through. For her.
Leo's anger went unchecked as he built up a fury unlike anything he had felt before- which said a lot for someone as unlucky as he was through his life. His heavy breathing alerted the Inteleon and earned him a point-black water attack from the smug thief.
Leo tanked the hydro pump and power-kicked the Inteleon with everything he had, sweeping the inteleon down to ground level with him. Both of them stumbled to their feet, worn with injuries.
Before it even registered in his mind he had beaten Bubble to the draw, he put forth a primal yell and pounced at him.
At least, that's the last thing he recalled before he woke up.
Well, I'm thinking, so I can't be dead.
Leo's mind slowly defogged as he groggily opened his eyes to a domesticated environment - he'd been placed in a bed. He was nowhere he remembered, so he feared that they'd lost the fight and were taken somewhere.
A fear which was assuaged when Shank flew over to his bedside.
"Oh, you're awake."
Leo grunted as he sat himself up to observe the small room he was laid in. The place resembled that of Abaxa's, be it that the room felt like a makeshift hospital- no, scratch, that, it was a makeshift hospital, and his entire right arm up to the shoulder was cast-bandaged.
"Axel told me what you did." Shank explained. "For someone who claims they've been a Lucario for two days, you did some pretty amazing moves."
"Umm.. who's Axel again?" Leo sluggishly asked.
"That would be me." A bisharp announced from across the room.
"Axel, tell 'em what happened please. I don't think he remembers, which isn't too surprising to me."
"Shank told me you 'don't know any moves', which definitely conflicts with using reversal against that water lizard." Axel chuckled. "Seeing the shape you're in after performing that attack, I'm surprised the thief isn't dead."
"Well, reversal isn't known to kill unless the user is dying." Shank clarified. "So even though you beat their skull in, they're not quite dead."
The Bisharp was adorn with bandages, even more so than Leo. However, in the spots that weren't bandaged, burn marks were clearly visible- in the same spots Leo had sprayed just a day or two ago.
"Oh- Leo, I never got to thank you for saving my life from that burn." Axel chipped in. "I was able to get to a hospital in Luvanhalla, but I left against orders to find you.."
"So if I'm injured, how long will it be before my wounds heal? I need to get going as soon as possible-"
"Well," Shank stopped Leo, "the thing is, you should probably already be healed. Aura is a key component of life, so anyone who controls it should be able to heal themselves very quick."
"I told you, I don't know how to do aura, I've got no clue how to-"
Leo froze as he unwrapped the bandages over his arm to find the claw wound to his shoulder fully healed over. Shank smirked and gave him an i-told-you-so glance.
The atmosphere was quickly filled with an empty void as his company left. Otherwise doing no good, he thrust himself up, quick to receive a reality check; his injuries were not fully healed, as his legs still felt bruised. He ambled his way to the door, careful not to strain himself too much. He cracked the door to find Shank speaking with a formally dressed Beartic.
The Beartic smiled as he extended his paw towards Shank, which he met with his tail. "My name is Marshal Byleer, and if I'm not wrong, the Shieldmaster spoke with you yesterday?"
Shank nodded his head. "Was there anything else you needed?"
"Well, first of all, I wanted to return the Z crystal Bubble owned to you guys; it wouldn't be right to keep it. Secondly, on behalf of the Shieldmaster, I've brought the bounty rewards for Bubble's capture. The town of Vaulk would like to thank you and your team. The two thieves are currently being tried for their crimes. Our resources are spread thin, and we can't contain the rebirth and deal with these road thieves."
"Thank you, Byleer. I believe we'll be gone by the hour, so there's no reason to book us another day in here."
Byleer acknowledged Shank and exited the cabin. Leo stumbled out of the makeshift hospital room to a vast array of supplements spread across the floor.
"Well, look who's up. Ready to hit the road again?" Shank beamed a look of urgency.
"Not quite… my legs still ache a lot." Leo grumbled.
Shank gestured to a pink bottle similar to the one Abaxa had given him a couple days prior.
"I woke up to pretty much all of you out like a Bastiodon versus a fighting type. Axel came and explained everything as I was carrying you to the nearby town, and it just so happened that the Shieldmaster of Vaulk wanted to know what happened. Bubble, the Inteleon we fought, is- or rather was- one of the most wanted thieves in the area. Anyways, that potion is part of the reward for turning him in."
Leo picked up the potion and aimed the nozzle where his fur was most tender. He winced a little as the fluid worked its way into the multiple cuts he had, but the effects were very noticeable and instant.
"The potion has a much greater and faster effect on you because of your aura." Shank explained. "So, try not to use too much of it."
Leo's curiosity burned inside him. "So, how exactly does it work?"
"Well, your guess is as good as mine. Nobody knows, really. Nobody even knows how to make them, they just appear with power spot collapses."
Shank tossed the bottle to Axel after Leo had his turn. The burnt metal's discoloration immediately healed back to normal, prompting a heavy sigh of relief from Axel.
"We're about to leave, Axel. I appreciate your help, you're welcome to take anything you need before you leave."
"Huh? I wasn't planning on leaving, I'll join you on the trip."
Shank smiled. "The more the merrier. Though I have to warn you, this is an extremely dangerous mission. We're bringing a Lucario over the mountains, after all."
Axel looked a bit queasy after the mission statement, but his support remained unwavering.
"Alright." Shank picked up his backpack, slinging open the door. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but it's time to put your newly healed selves to the test. I'm not sure if you've forgotten, Leo, but there was supposed to be a warning by that damn orange flying lizard of those bandits, and he still hasn't found us, so we need to find him."
Shank filed Leo and Axel out the cabin after Axel had stashed the remaining supplies in a third sack. The ground was wet and muddy, exposing an overnight downpour. Shank hung a red sign that read "Vacated" on the door before walking to a map on a board right outside the cabin.
"We're headed northwest; hopefully we rendezvous with Xaliz before we reach the mountains."
A slight drizzle still remained of the rain. The terrain was more rugged and stony than the lush grassy hills and muddy forests Leo had gotten used to, which, as far as he could tell, was the only advantage of his new paws: not bleeding from all the sharp stones that littered the path.
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you, Axel, how'd you get infected by Yveltal's dark aura?" Shank randomly asked. "I've never heard of a dark type getting subdued by it."
Axel shrugged. "I hadn't either, until it happened to me. One day I was working in a factory in Horma, the next I was climbing the mountain. I tried to stop it, but my thoughts were overruled every time, and I slowly got weaker and weaker."
"Horma?" Shank lit up. "That just so happens to be where we're traveling! We could use your help navigating the city."
"Well, the city's not in the best shape. Work in the place really slowed down in the few days before I fell victim."
Shank sighed. "Yeah, that tracks. Yveltal must've grown in exponents if he's siphoning dark type aura as far as Horma, which changes our plans a little bit."
"Whoa, hang on." Leo protested. "My plans are unchanged. I can't stay here for another minute more than I have to."
"Well, regardless of your plans, you will need to learn to harness your auric abilities to get through that wormhole."
Shank paused the hike and tossed Leo his sack.
"Speaking of, now's better than ever. Grab the orange spiky berry in there and take a bite."
Leo rummaged through the sack and procured the berry, but before he could take a bite, Axel stabbed the berry with his metal hand and confiscated it.
"Why would you give a Petaya berry to a Lucario-"
"First of all, stabbing it like that was completely unnecessary and we will have to dispose of it once he has eaten it." Shank seethed, taking the berry out of Axel's metal claw. "Secondly, aura is the medium in which special attacks are used. While yes, Lucarios almost exclusively use physical attacks, buffing the special attack of Leo would indirectly buff his aura."
Shank handed the punctured berry to Leo and he took a bite as it leaked a viscous orange liquid onto his paws. The berry was extremely bitter, to the point where he spit on the dirt multiple times to get the sensation out of his mouth. Unlike the other foods he had taken previously, there were no immediate effects; he was no more awake than before, no more healed than before, and definitely not more auric than before.
"So you're "buffing" the aura of a Lucario?" Axel rebutted with an exasperated sigh. "And I thought I was the mindless one."
"Actions speak a thousand words. And slicing our only Petaya berry was pretty loud."
Axel's voice grew slightly more agitated. "Whatever, I would've marched straight back to Horma myself if Leo wasn't with us, damn philosophical ghost."
Leo tried to defuse the situation, but he lacked the willpower to say anything more than just the word "stop". Fortunately, their tacit alliance prevailed and they quit bickering, much to Leo's relief.
Without a moment to waste, he spun right back towards the trail, only to grow just as irritated as before.
"So, which way do we go?" Leo asked with exasperation as he watched the path split in two different directions.
"Simple," Shank said, "we're going northwest, so right-"
"Wait.." Axel cut in, "it's extremely cold to the northwest, and you're a dragon type. Wouldn't it just be smarter to go around the mountain and add a few extra days-"
"Aaaalright, I'll stop you at a few days." Shank interrupted. "We don't have 'a few days'. Especially after your testimony about the events in that city. Oh, and since when did you care about whether a philosophical ghost freezes to death?"
Axel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's go."
Though the effects of the berry were not instant, they began to work after a few minutes. The aura was unlike the blue light Leo had seen in the past; it doused everything in a small amount of blue, but the aura was intense. So much so that he had to take a break after a bit longer.
"I've got a headache from this aura." Leo grumbled. "Mind if we pause for a bit?"
Shank muttered an agitated grumble but didn't object.
"I've never heard of a Lucario being overwhelmed by aura…" Shank declared while examining Leo. "Is there somewhere in particular that's emanating a lot of it? Only you would know."
A feint rustling sound crept from a nearby bush before Leo could answer.
"Sit down and take a rest," Shank commanded as he turned to inspect the noise, "I'll check what's going on."
Axel took up a flank position across from the bush, but they were relieved when the metallic face of an Excadrill popped out of the bushes.
"You can't be here!" The Excadrill scowled. "This is a protected site, if you don't leave now we will assume you are thieves."
"Alright, alright," Shank assuaged the situation by backing off. "we don't want any trouble, we're just passing by."
Shank and Axel turned back towards Leo, but a voice stopped them before they could get back.
"Hey, wait!" the voice called back at them. "Is that a Lucario over there?"
The figure pushed through the bushes before emerging through the other side, calling at them to halt once again.
"Perhaps…" Shank admitted as he took up a fighting stance. "Why would you care? You're just a Floatzel."
"A Floatzel that runs this mining operation." The floatzel clapped back. "If you ain't pranking us with a Zoroark, we could use the aura- we're unsure where the crystals are, and it would be a waste of time to check by brute force."
Leo turned to Shank and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but we have to get moving…" Shank echoed Leo and shook his head. "We're on a time crunch, and our Lucario is a little under the weather-"
"I'll pay." The floatzel pleaded. "A power spot collapsed here, which means there is all kinds of hidden stuff underneath the ground. I can give you what we find, a Z crystal perhaps or a revive stone."
Leo groaned. "Remember when you asked me where the aura was coming from? You've got your answer now."
"Relax, the berry's effects wear off quickly, and you won't be as overwhelmed. The aura in a wormhole is bound to be multiple times stronger anyways, so this is good endurance training. Come on, we could use another crystal."
So what happened to "we don't have time"? You'd better walk me straight to the wormhole after this.
Leo was, of course, too courteous to say it aloud. The floatzel led them through an obfuscated path, which lead to a circular clearing in the forest. The floatzel and the excadrill exchanged some words before the excadrill led them into the cave.
The excadrill turned towards the group and began walking backwards. "My name is Vibor, and my bosses name is Geyser. She runs this operation- did she give you the details of our problem yet?"
Leo nodded his head. "Can't promise anything, though. I still have a headache from all this aura."
Vibor frowned, but continued on. "The cave is quite shallow, which is an oddity for power spot collapses."
"I was wondering why it didn't go any deeper…" Axel remarked. "I used to mine before I took up factory work, and I guess life decided I'm an explorer now."
The cave was not unlike that of one on Earth; it was very ambient and dark, so much so that Vibor carried a lantern. The floor, the walls, and occasionally the ceiling hosted stalagmites that were occasionally big enough to cause a hurdle in the exploration. The bigger dens were lush with sparkling ore, which took a great amount of willpower not to diverge from the lead and touch. Vibor eventually lead them into a fork in the cave that led to a dead end.
"We're unsure how to proceed from here," Vibor explained, "we know the aura is concentrated in this spot but the rock is too tough to guess which direction to continue the mine."
Vibor instructed Leo to sit down right at the end of the dead end.
"Check one direction at a time." Vibor instructed. "It should be a deep blue once you get the aura."
I assume I'll know when the aura gives me a migraine?
Leo did as instructed, but most of the work was just a guess; after all, it had been less than five days since he became a Lucario. The direction to his right was a dud, but while checking the direction to his left, he got an unusual ping.
"It was dark blue, right?" Leo clarified.
"Yeah, did you find it?" Vidor replied with a twinge of hope.
As his headache began to clear, he could make out a rush of red & light blue aura emanating from the surface, similar to what he saw when he encountered Axel. Without replying, he rushed to the surface, ignoring Vibor's commands to stop.
Leo weaved his way back out of the cave, with Shank, Axel, and Vibor trailing behind. He turned a sharp corner and bumped into a kricketune, scaring him into taking up a defensive position. However, the kricketune seemed just as scared as him, and in conjunction with it emitting an unusually dark blue aura, Leo assumed it was not an enemy.
"Vibor!" The kricketune shouted. "The camp's under attack, I was sent by Geyser to retrieve you guys-"
"I told you he knew something we didn't, he's a Lucario!" Shank roared at Vibor.
The group resurfaced out of the cave to find Geyser lashing water at a scolipede and a mightyena. The scolipede was gaining ground on the floatzel, and Shank quickly stole its attention with a well-placed dart attack to its face.
Axel lunged towards it but was cut short by Shank and dragged out of the way of its horns with his tail.
"I saved your face from being cut up, you're welcome."
Leo tried to conceal himself behind a lone tree in the flattened site terrain, but the Mightyena rushed at him, causing him to dodge around the tree.
How many more times am I going to need to take a fight?! I've been here all of a few days…
Leo wrung the dark-type canine around the tree a few more times, looking for an opening to counterattack. He knew he enjoyed a type advantage in the fight, but he was taking absolutely no chances; the most he had fought before was maybe a dog many times smaller than what he was facing- without magical powers.
Then again, I have some of my own-
The mightyena had enough of Leo's kiting and felled the tree with a well-placed crunch to the base. Leo ducked out of the way of the freefalling tree, but now he was face to face with a charging mightyena.
He tried to sidestep it again, but to no avail. The mightyena landed a crunch on him center mass, tossing him to the ground. It didn't draw blood, but it stunned him for a few seconds.
Leo picked himself up and readied himself for another attack. The mightyena had tripped after its attack, which put them on equal footing once again, but the tradeoff for that was the mightyena was more furious than ever. Instead of going in for another attack, it circled him as its teeth glowed a vibrant orange and yellow color, before lighting ablaze.
Oh, so it does have a fire attack. Just my luck.
He tried to conjure a projectile at it, but had no luck. The mightyena circled a couple more times before charging in for seconds. He ducked and prepared for the attack, but the mightyena stopped halfway through and scampered off.
Huh? Why did it stop?
"Oh come on, you didn't even try to fight back." Shank remarked as Leo uncovered his face. "You're a Lucario, for arceus' sake."
Leo turned behind him to assess the damage. The scolipede laid burnt and unconscious, while Shank had a few small cuts.
"Wait, how did you burn the scolipede? None of you are fire types-"
Shank chuckled. "It's not aura science- well, that analogy doesn't really apply to you, does it? Anyways, in case you couldn't already tell, you're not limited to using moves within your type set. It's just really hard to learn them."
"Oh, so is that why it took you three tries to fire blast it?" Axel piped up. "While it was cutting me up?"
Shank rolled his eyes. "You don't have to rub it in. I'm getting old, it's hard to fight."
The floatzel caught up, out of breath but mostly unharmed.
"We can't thank you enough." Geyser told Shank. "We're a mining crew, not a military escort- there's no chance we would've been able to take them on."
"Hey, wait!" Vibor shouted at Leo. "Lucario, did you find where to dig?"
He searched his mind for any recollection of what Vibor had described, but he could only remember his flash encounter with the kricketune in the cave.
Wait, living things don't usually have an aura that dark blue…
"I think so." Leo replied. "I saw a dark blue aura on the way out of the cave, where the kricketune and I bumped into each other."
"Ha! You owe me a berry voucher when we get back to Vaulk!" Geyser remarked at Vibor.
"Yeah, yeah, at least we didn't waste our time at the end of the cave. Thank you, Lucario."
The kricketune tossed Vibor a brown crystal who handed it over to Leo. "Thanks again. You'll need this one day, Yveltal isn't a joke."
The crystal was shaped like a three dimensional rhombus, except it had a fist in the middle. Leo was unsure what to do with it, but based on Shank and Axel's reactions, it was pretty important. He thanked Vibor for the gift and waved goodbye as he moved through the thick brush to merge back on the path.
"Now that you have your shiny stone, I hope you haven't forgotten the task at hand." Shank commented while pushing through the foliage. "I might hate his guts, but our plans are dependent on him."
Definitely wouldn't forget MY task at hand.
The more he explored the world of Veras, the more pessimistic he got about finding a wormhole. Even if they do exist, they struggled to beat a team of three raiders; how would they take over an asset as valuable as a literal rift through space-time?
"So, I haven't bothered to ask yet but why are you guys traveling to Horma?" Axel asked.
Leo turned to Shank to answer.
"Well, as you probably could tell, Leo isn't from this world, or so he says. It all adds up though. Apparently, he's been told there's a wormhole in Horma that he can get back to his planet from."
"And you're like, his escort or something?" Axel remarked.
Shank shrugged. "I guess you could say that."
Leo knew that was only half the truth. He figured that Shank didn't want to tell Axel they were attacking his hometown, which was reasonable.
Axel glanced at Leo in disbelief. "I've never heard of another world outside of Veras. What is your planet like? What kind of pokemon exist there?"
"Well…" Leo fumbled with his words, unsure how to proceed. "It's hard to explain? It's a completely different ecosystem-"
"We got all the time in the world for your explanation." Axel commented. "What's it like?"
"Humans kind of dominate the planet. The other species are kind of, subservient?"
Wow, that sounds cruel when I put it like that.
Shank scoffed at Leo's reply. "And I thought this world was cruel. Why would you want to go back?"
Leo wanted to defend Earth, but the more he thought, the more he realized Shank was right.
I wouldn't be in this situation if he was wrong.
"I have too much to lose by staying here. People are dependent on me back at my home… planet."
"Fair enough. Though, if I were you-"
"Guys, look!" Axel interrupted, pointing to a charred trail through the thicket of the forest.
"Alright, we'll continue this discussion later. Leo, try to use your aura, see if you can spot Xaliz."
Leo sat down on a nearby rock and tried to replicate the ping he got when he found Axel a couple days ago. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and…
I didn't actually expect it to work.
The signal was weak, and when he opened his eyes to report on it, he was out of breath.
Shank was taken aback by Leo's burnout. "You need to work on your endurance, but now's not the time for that. Did you find him?"
"I couldn't get a good signal," Leo replied with disappointment, "but I did get one directly east."
Shank cleared a path using his metal dreepies as makeshift landscaping tools while Leo and Axel watched for any activity. After a couple minutes of trudging through the deep forest, they came across a spring.
"No offense, but you could probably use that spring right about now, Leo." Axel commented while scanning him. "You're pretty muddied up."
He hadn't realized it until now, but Axel was right; he was filthy, and his fur was covered in mud. The spring was circular, wrapping around a giant stone formation.
Shank grumbled, "There's no time for that, we need to find Xaliz-"
"Oh, shut up." Axel seethed as he jumped into the spring. "You're just as dirty as the mud sponge to your left."
Shank mumbled incoherently before jumping into the water just as Leo did.
I never knew how much I needed this…
Leo held his breath before diving under the clear blue water.
There's no way a spring as clean as this could exist on Earth… I might not even mind staying here if my sister wasn't kidnapped.
Leo resurfaced to see Axel taunting Shank with splashes.
"Come on, you're so boring."
"Five minutes, then we're looking again." Shank grumbled with a clear agitation.
"Hey Leo, wanna race me?" Axel called out to him. "To the other side of the spring."
Leo had never been a good swimmer, but he was good enough to make a decent time.
"You're on."
Axel grabbed a cheap headstart on him, but he quickly caught up with blazing speed. He completed the race faster than Axel could get halfway, much to his own shock. Axel eventually caught up, but not without voicing an excuse.
"Okay, okay, I forgot how good Lucario are at, well, everything."
Leo climbed out of the water to dry off before hitting the road again when he heard an unmistakable voice roar from a cave hidden in the center of the spring.
"Go tell Shank to share some of those medical supplies before I char him alive."