//------------------------------// // Part 10: Old Faces, New Beginnings // Story: Tales from the Pokemon Universe: Aura of Empathy // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// Cianwood City Gym: And so, with a new amount of courage and his best friend by his side, Lucario once again found himself in the Cianwood City Gym. Sunset stood on one side of the field, the massive muscle-bound man known only as Chuck on the other. And once again, Lucario found himself staring down, face to face, the Pokemon that was known only by its name of Poliwrath. But unlike before, Lucario felt no fear or didn’t feel intimidated when he stared it down. This time, he knew he could win. This time, the one standing tall would be him, not that oversized frog. In the rafters above, he could see both Kiara and Talonflame looking on, cheering him on silently. “Come Lucario, don’t let that tadpole intimidate you. If three Skarmories, or that damned man Damien couldn’t bring you down, then this Pokemon sure as Mew can’t either!” Kiara thought to herself. “So, the same Pokemon again, against my Poliwrath?” Chuck asked in surprise. “Even if your Lucario lost, badly I might add, last time?” But Sunset stood firm, planting her boots in the gym floor. She would not be swayed. “Who knows, this time might be different,” Sunset asked. “Lucario’s more focused, no longer afraid. He believes in himself, and just from that alone, I know he can win!” “Well, I’ll give you that Sunset,” Chuck admitted. “Your Pokémon definitely looks much more confident in himself. But I don’t think he’s learned any new moves in the short time since our last bout. Same old tricks won’t help, especially now that I know what he can do,” “Who knows? He just might surprise you,” Sunset remarked calmly before sending a thought towards her Pokemon. “Come on Lucario, don’t let this guy’s tough talk work on you. Just trying to scare you. Keep yourself focused, and you can take his Pokemon,” “I know, Sunset,” Lucario said, for the first time not using his telepathy. Sunset and Kiara’s eyes widened, he really was more confident in himself this time around if he was actually speaking in Pokespeech. Talon smirked. “That’s my boy…” he said to himself before shouting: “Now, go on and kick that Poliwrath’s sorry ass!” While it only came out as “TAAAAALLLOOONNN!” to everybody who wasn’t a Pokemon, Lucario understood it perfectly and smiled. “Understood,” He said simply, with a small nod as he cracked his knuckles. Poliwrath sized him up again, he didn’t quite know how, but this was a whole new Lucario he was faced with. This change, whatever had come over the Aura Pokémon, he liked it. This time, he knew things -for better or for worse- would be very different. “Now, let’s do it.” Lucario stated simply as a horn blared in the background. Somebody shouted “Begin!” and both Lucario and Poliwrath charged towards each other in a blur of speed. Their fists glowed with lightning, both ready to sock the other squarely in the jaw with a powerful Thunder Punch attack. Eyes narrowed and Lucario used the Mind Reader ability to predict it coming, and dodged to the left just in time and got behind Poliwrath before forming a club of bone made of blue energy in his paws. “Take this!” he shouted before hitting Poliwrath with a powerful Bone Rush maneuver sending it flying across the gym. Sunset’s eyes widened. Seems Lucario had picked up more moves from Riley’s own than she thought. “Well, that’s… new.” Chuck said in surprise, genuinely interested in Lucario’s fight and possible potential now. He certainly hadn't been expecting that maneuver, faking Poliwrath with a mock Thunder Punch and then getting in behind him with a Bone Rush. Poliwrath quickly recovered, and launched himself towards Lucario, his left foot glowing with a Mega Kick attack. “Oh, is that all?” Lucario mocked before reaching out, and at almost lightning speed caught Poilwrath’s leg. He spun the dark blue Pokémon around and around before tossing him towards the other end of the Gym. “Definite change… definite change…” Chuck murmured to himself as he stroked his beard, quite impressed by this turn of events. Lucario might actually just win this if he kept this up, didn't lose his focus like last time. But he needed to do one last thing to confirm his theory. With a shout, he called out “Poliwrath, use Bulk Up and then Dig!” Poliwrath quickly began glowing with an ethereal green light, his strength and power increasing before he leaped downwards into the ground. Almost in an instance, Lucario froze up like a statue. “No… No, not that attack again…” He whispered to himself frantically, beginning to panic as his eyes darted right and left as he searched desperately for where Poliwrath had gone. Talon groaned and muttered: “Oh, no… No, no… not again!” to himself in worry. “Come on Lucario, snap out of it!” Kiara shouted in fear. Thankfully, Sunset knew just what to do. “Come on Lucario, you can do it! Snap out of it!” she mentally shouted. “I… no, not just me… Kiara, we all believe in you! Remember your training!” Sunset’s words managed, by pure chance, to get through to Lucario, and he thought back to his training with Riley and his Pokemon. “Feel the energy of the Earth around you, feel the Aura. It’s with you at all times, never lose sight of that,” Riley’s Lucario instructed. “I… I cannot,” Sunset’s Lucario admitted after a few moments. “Just try. You have the potential. Just reach out, and sense the farthest thing you can. Doesn’t have to be miles away, can only be just a couple feet ahead hidden beyond your sight,” Luke instructed calmly. “I know you can do it, you can already sense things close by even if you can’t see them. Now we just have to expand that horizon. Block out the rest of the world, let the impossible… become possible.” Lucario, thinking back, blocked out the rest of the world except for what was around him and then his eyes shut, as he listened only for the sound of Poliwrath’s burrowing. Then, he ‘saw’ him in a sense. Right below him, an orange glowing form tunneling beneath the gym floor in an attempt to take him by surprise. His eyes shot wide open as he sidestepped to avoid a powerful uppercut like the one that had downed him before exclaiming “The Aura… is with me!” and formed a powerful glowing blue sphere in his paws. Not a Focus Blast, but a full-fledged Aura Sphere and shoved it right into Poliwrath’s chest. “Sweet Lord Necrozma…” Kiara whispered as she saw Poliwrath, finally defeated as the Pokemon fell backwards, swirls in its eyes. It landed with a powerful thud on the gym floor, and Lucario blinked as he looked at his paws. Had… Had he really did that? Did he really just perform an Aura Sphere? “That was awesome, Lucario!” Sunset said, as she scooped him up in a bone-crushing hug. “Can’t… breathe…” Lucario coughed out, and Sunset quickly released him, blushing red in embarrassment. “Er, right… Sorry.” She apologized. “Now, that’s what I call a rematch!” Chuck said excitedly as he threw his hands up in the air and returned his Poliwrath. “Edge of my seat, the whole time!” “But… But you weren’t in a seat…” Lucario said in confusion, scratching his head with a paw, as sweat trailed down his muzzle. “Note to self, teach him about expressions…” Talon murmured. “Here, think you’ve earned this Sunset,” Chuck said, as he pulled the Storm Badge, a bronze colored medal shaped like a fist out of his pants and handed it to Sunset. Sunset smiled gratefully and pinned it to her shoulder bag. Chuck then had a thought come to him. “Hold on, I’ll be right back!” He soon returned with a medal and placed it around Lucario’s neck. “And I think you, Lucario, you’ve definitely earned this. You rose above the fire and came back even stronger. The perfect example of qualities I value in my students.” “But… But I was never your student…” Lucario trailed off. “Just take the damn thing and accept it already like a normal ‘Mon…” Talon muttered shaking his head while Kiara giggled at Lucario’s befuddlement. Eventually, Lucario took the hint and just let Chuck give him his reward. Kiara flew down and pulled the already thoroughly embarrassed Aura Pokémon into a huge wing hug. “Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of you Lucario!” she exclaimed, as Lucario’s cheeks flushed bright red. “I knew you could do it, see? I told you, I told you! And look what happened!” “Guess I should listen to you more often, huh…?” Lucario trailed off and Kiara gave him a smug look. “Yes, yes you should,” Kiara remarked and Sunset stood in the background of the two young Pokemon, trying very hard not to laugh her head off. As they left, Chuck shouted: “If you ever want a rematch with yours truly, don’t hesitate to call!” Route 40: Somewhere a few nights later in a seaside forest that led to Olivine City, Sunset and Lucario found themselves in front of a Pokemon Center. Isolated from the main ones in the smaller towns and cities that made up the Johto Region, it was a halfway point between the Whirl Islands, and Olivine. In the distance, beyond the treetops, Sunset could see Olivine’s famous Glitter Lighthouse shining a light through the darkness. Sunset had heard it was powered by an Ampharos, instead of the usual giant rotating lamps that were in normal Lighthouses. “Just another day of travel, and we should be able to reach our next Gym Badge,” Kiara said as she flew inside the gym and perched herself on a nearby couch. Her Pokeball that her father had gifted to her was stored safely in Sunset’s bag. “...Arceus above, can’t wait for the chance to rest my wings though. Feels like I’ve been flying for three days straight!” “You have.” Lucario pointed out. “You’ve been more excited than the rest of us for this.” “Hey, what can I say? First real gym battle here!” Kiara remarked and Sunset chuckled as she sat herself down beside Kiara and stroked her head feathers reassuringly. “You’ll get your chance, don’t you worry…” Sunset told her. “Hey, what’s that…?” her Ninetales asked, as his ears perked up. Soon, Sunset heard it too as chatter caught her attention and she sat up straight in her seat. Lucario let out a low growl, he knew one of those voices. “Damien…” he growled out and Kiara’s eyes widened in shock, before they narrowed. She and Sunset followed the Aura Pokémon’s angry gaze to a blue haired trainer -Exactly as Lucario had described him- talking with a bunch of other trainers. A huge collection of Pokeballs rested by his side, an amount that was definitely far from legal for any trainer to carry around if they had Pokemon inside them. “Wow, there’s quite a collection!” one admiring trainer said and Damien chuckled. “Yeah, caught ‘em all myself!” he laughed. “Hey, didn’t you used to have a Lucario?” someone asked. “Yeah, but that thing was so weak, left it out to the wild!” “What you’re not telling them is that you sicked your Skarmories on me, you bastard…” Lucario thought, as his paws clenched tight enough to draw a bit of blood. But Lucario’s blood wasn’t to be the only drawn that day, as he soon found out. To his shock -And Damien’s to be sure- Sunset got up off of her seat and socked the devilish boy right across the jaw with a hard right hook. “‘Ey, what the ‘ell was that for you whacker?” Damien shouted as she rubbed his jaw. “What the Hell do you think? Abusing your Pokemon, your friend, asshole!” Sunset snarled as Damien’s ‘Friends’ slowly began to back away. It seemed when the going got tough, the so-called tough got going. As Damien’s friends quietly took their leave, Kiara smirked to herself. It seemed, when scum got put too close to a fire, they showed their true colors. “Oh, you mean that Lucario? He was a worthless piece of sh-” Damien started, but he didn’t get a chance to even finish, as another punch from Sunset, this one to the gut, sent him sprawling to the floor. “Hey, what’s going on in here?” An angry voice shouted, and Damien swallowed as a large burly man dressed in a chef’s attire walked in. “This little bitch just socked me in the jaw, that’s what!” Damien shouted, trying to place the blame squarely on Sunset. “Yeah, and with good reason, considering he outright admitted to abandoning his Pokemon!” Sunset snapped, pointing towards Damien. “I don’t care which of you two started the fight, I’m ending it. This is my cafeteria, not yours to play around in!” the chef shouted. Just as he was about to grab them and probably march them outside, another voice chimed in. “Don’t you mean my cafeteria?” the local Nurse Joy asked, placing her hands on her hips and the chef looked thoroughly quailed. “Don’t forget who you work for!” “Sweet Arceus… She could give Fluttershy a run for her money in terms of pure scariness at times…Just thankful she doesn’t have ‘The Stare’...” Sunset thought to herself. The cook seemed to challenge the local Joy with a stare down contest for a moment, before he backed off. “Y-Yes ma’am…” the cook stammered out before quickly taking his leave. Nurse Joy then turned her attentions to a certain rat of a Pokemon Trainer, if he could even be called that. “And just who the Hell are you supposed to be?” she asked, glaring at him harshly. Damien let out a small whimper of fear. “Oh! Nurse Joy used Mean Look, and it seems to be Super-Effective!” Flareon chimed in a mock announcer’s voice, and for once Ninetales wasn’t tempted to Ice Beam him into oblivion. “Oh, I’m just a Pokemon Trainer that just got assaulted by that woman over there!” Damien said, playing the innocent card as he tried to regain his composure, much to Sunset and her Pokemon’s complete disgust. “Why you little pile of…” Flareon growled, fire snorting from his nostrils. Ninetales snarled, baring his ice-like fangs. “That little coward… Ooh, he makes Alolan Rattata look nice!” the Fox Pokémon hissed out. Meanwhile, Damien continued playing the Blame Game. “That little bitch punched me in the jaw, and then in the stomach!” he shouted, pointing to Sunset, who Nurse Joy quickly looked towards. “Is that true?” She asked critically, an eyebrow raised dangerously. “Considering the crap he’s pulled, I’d gladly do it again…” Sunset snarled in a low tone, crossing her arms. “That… that trainer,” she said, barely getting the words out. “Abused his Lucario and left him for dead!” “That’s not true, I never even owned a Lucario even once in my life!” Damien retorted. “Funny, you were just bragging about leaving one for dead just a few minutes ago!” Sunset shot back. “Well, guess there’s only one way to prove this…” Nurse Joy started, before swiftly taking Damien’s Pokedex from him. Sunset smirked as she remembered that Pokedexes carried a record of all Pokemon a trainer owned, even released ones. The only way for that record to be cleared was a total memory wipe, and that only happened if the trainer was accused of a serious crime and found guilty, or passed away. Damien began to look fidgety, and nervous as Joy put his Pokedex through a scanner. “Oh, lots of Pokemon here…” Joy murmured to herself before her voice turned into a low growl. “Well, I’ll be… Looks like you did own a Lucario at one point. Seems Sunset might have been telling the truth after all…” Damien, knowing his fate was sealed ran for the Pokemon center doors, only to be met by Kiara, her wings blocking the entrance and her beak charged up with a nasty Drill Peck. “Going somewhere, bastard?” She asked, her voice filled with nothing but hatred for the ‘Trainer’ who’d abused her best friend. Damien tried to make a break for it in another direction, only for Flareon and Ninetales to leap into his path. So, Damien tried for the window, only for a certain Pokemon to leap into his path. “Remember me?” Lucario asked, a glowing Aura Sphere charged up in his paw. Damien didn’t have time to say anything before Sunset knocked him out with another hard punch to the jaw. “Good riddance…” she muttered. “So… So, what’ll happen to him now?” Lucario asked. “There’s an Officer Jenny a few miles back. My guess, Nurse Joy will call her and Damien will be taken into custody, and face trial.” Sunset reassured. “That’s right. He’ll never hurt you again Lucario…” Nurse Joy said kindly, and was taken off guard when Lucario hugged her, sobbing. “Thank… Thank you… Thank you both.” Sunset pulled her friend into another hug and let him cry into her shoulder. “It’s okay, let it out… It’s all over now. Shh… Shh…” she whispered kindly. Floaroma Town, now: “So, that’s what happened,” Sunset explained to Iris. “Damien got arrested, and if I remember correctly, he’s still serving time…” “Oh yeah…” Sunset’s fellow champion replied. “Ash did mention he heard about Damien’s arrest on the news, and his Charizard seemed to be particularly grumpy for some reason for the next few days. Not sure why.” Iris shrugged. “C’est la vie, right?” Sunset remarked with a small laugh and Iris returned it before she looked at her watch and then back at her Druddigon. “Listen, I gotta get back home. It’s getting late, and it’s a long flight back to Unova,” Iris apologized. “Plus, you know how my husband can’t cook a good meal to save his life. He thinks he can, but he can’t,” Iris sighed. “Yeah, I know how that is. The same thing with my Auntie Luna actually. She's smart in all areas… except cooking.” As Iris took to the skies, the moon and stars as her only guide, Sunset smiled as she looked towards a lake where a familiar serpentine form was playfully teasing her Dragonair. Life was good. The End