Story Notes:
It was a quiet night when Deoxys descended from the heavens.
Believed to not be of this world, it went on a rampage, leaving death and destruction in its wake.
Finally defeated by an unknown force, the tragedy of unparalleled magnitude it created remains in the heart of every human.
To make sure that something like this will never happen again, every wild Pokèmon powerful enough to cause such mayhem must be captured, controlled or killed.
Needless to say, this year has been a bad year for Legendaries. This year has also been a bad year for Champion Trainers.
But my year... Has been... THE WORST!
Somber Psychic Espeon and Cheerful Fighter Umbreon
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The red lights shot out Blue's balls simultaneously and landed next to him. In their wake, they left two rather matching creatures, both reminding Lucario of Astrid. They were standing on four legs and their bodies were of the same size, but the similarities ended there.
The one to their left had a ruffled fur as dark as the midnight sky, with circular yellow markings on its limbs. It had an odd stance, which Lucario imagined to be the four-legged equivalent of slouching. The one to their right was colored pink, with a more refined posture and finer hair. This one also seemed to have a tail which split in two at the end, both ends constantly moving in separate directions.
"Hey, look!" the Umbreon said with a boyish voice while nudging his head towards Rukario, "A shiny Lucario!"
"... So?" the Espeon sighed with a serene, female voice before giving Lucario an interested look, "The other one... Has no spikes."
"So!?" the Umbreon repeated with a shocked tone, "Dude, we're fightin' a shiny! Do you know how rare they are!?"
"Not as rare as a Lucario lacking spikes..." the Espeon responded with a hint of annoyance, "... Which should not even exist in the first place."
"Espeon! Umbreon!" Blue shouted in an attempt to make himself heard among the two new arrivals, "Attack plan B! This is an important battle, so do your best!"
"Like, who cares about some genetic defect?" the Umbreon asked, seemingly ignoring his trainer before starting to move towards the two Lucario, "We've got a live shiny right. In. Front. Of. Us!"
"The one with the genetic disorder would be the one with odd colors..." the Espeon muttered before she also moved forward, stopping herself a few steps behind the Umbreon, "... The one without spikes is a miracle of nature."
"Oh, man... Listen to their jabbering..." Lucario muttered while scratching his forehead and focusing his internal aura sensor, "... What the hell's this? I sense no aura from the black one, and a very weak aura from the white one."
"They're Dark and Psychic, respectively," Rukario explained while trying to remember the last time she fought an Eeveelution, "Our aura will not function accurately against them."
"Hmm... No relying on aura spheres, then?" Lucario asked with a slightly disappointed tone in his voice.
"Huh?" Rukario exclaimed confusedly, "No, I meant the aura sensing ability. The aura spheres should be as effective as always."
"Man, you know a lot more than I do, that's for sure... What can you tell me about these two?" Lucario said as he suddenly saw the Espeon wink at him and started to stutter, "F-Fighting-wise, of course!"
"Well..." Rukario said while thinking of a way to explain it to her oblivious partner, "Our attacks will be super effective against the Umbreon, and we possess natural defenses against the Espeon."
"Which one's the Uber-eon?" Lucario asked while watching the two Eeveelutions bicker back and forth about some unknown matter.
"... The black one," Rukario said, realizing her explanations would have to be even more simplified in the future.
"... Seems easy," Lucario muttered as he started feeling guilty at what he was about to do to the poor kittens, "But we didn't come this far to lose in a place like this. Let's go all-out from the start."
"Good thinking," Rukario replied in agreement, "In that case, let us gang up on the black one and finish this quickly."
"Sounds perfect!" Lucario exclaimed excitedly before he set off towards the dark-type, Rukario immediately following suit.
"Yeah, come on! I'll take you all on!" the Umbreon laughed as he ran towards the two of them in response. His focus was primarily on Lucario, and rushed towards him in the hopes of striking fast and hard. However, just before reaching Lucario he noticed too late that the Shiny one had ran around him just outside his field of vision, and she quickly delivered a low kick to trip him up. At the same time, Lucario charged his leg, preparing the most powerful kick of his life.
Their plans were halted as Rukario's leg struck a barrier surrounding the Umbreon, leaving him unscathed. At the same time, Lucario felt himself lose balance as he became repelled by an unseen force. Unhalted by their attacks, the Umbreon leaped up and struck Lucario squarely in the chest, bouncing off him and running between Rukario's legs while tripping her up. Lucario flew back with a pained groan while Rukario tried to regain her balance before a crushing force came upon her head, smashing her down on the ground.
"Sorry 'bout this, sweetie!" the Umbreon apologized while turning around and bowing his head courteously to Rukario, "Let me treat you to dinner tonight as an apology!"
"Not in our house..." the Espeon muttered, her voice dripping with venom.
"Argh..." Lucario groaned in a strained manner, "What the hell...?"
"That Espeon..." Rukario said while wiping some dirt from her face, "She's assisting the Umbreon with her psychic powers. They do not affect him, so only we are getting hit..."
"Alright..." Lucario said as he immediately knew what to do, "... Let me take care of that!"
Pounding his hurt chest once for good measure, he set off towards the Umbreon. The Umbreon stood ready to counter his attack, but struck nothing but thin air as Lucario jumped over him, heading towards the Espeon behind.
The Espeon was taken by surprise as she erected a powerful barrier between them. Lucario felt himself become pushed back by an invisible force, reminding him of the time he had fought the Gallade. Since the force came from directly in front of him he managed to keep his balance, and decided to keep moving forward with quick progress. The Espeon reared back in an attempt to get away, but Lucario fully pushed through the invisible force field and tackled her, pinning her down underneath him.
"Go for it!" Lucario shouted to Rukario, who immediately set off against the Umbreon, who in return was heading towards them.
"Oh my..." the Espeon said calmly while blushing at Lucario's touch, "Perhaps in another time and place, you and I could get ... Better acquainted."
"Hey!" the Umbreon shouted while running towards them at a speed much faster than Rukario, "Paws off her, you pervert!"
Lucario gulped as he braced himself for impact, and the Umbreon rammed him hard in the side, making him fall off the Espeon. The Umbreon then followed up by headbutting him at an upwards angle, sending him to the sky before crashing to the ground shortly thereafter.
Rukario came behind them, having charged up an aura sphere which she used at point-blank range. It flew half a foot before becoming twisted around and reflected by the Espeon's psychic abilities, burning through Rukario who pointlessly tried to cover her face with her arms, transforming every particle in her head into one of focused pain. Despite having trained herself in the ways of the aura her entire life, it became too much as she screamed and fell back.
"Whoa, whoa!" the Umbreon burst out with a shocked voice, "Be careful! Never harm a lady's face!"
"With a nose that ludicrously large, missing it would be a miracle..." the Espeon replied with more venom in her voice.
"Hey, pick up the slack, you slow..." Lucario growled at Rukario, but his voice changed to one of worry when he saw her still covering her face in her hands, "... Aw man, right in the face!? How're you doing!?"
"... Ugh..." Rukario groaned, the lingering pain keeping her from making any effort of getting up, "... I have been better..."
Lucario sympathized, his side and chest aching like never before. Every hit from the Umbreon, no matter how it was delivered felt like someone beating him with a large blunt object. He shook his head in an attempt to focus, as the thought of actually losing to these two had yet to enter his mind.
"The sooner you give up, the faster we can become friends!" the Umbreon shouted from a distance, "I'm really a nice guy! Honest!"
"Shut up..." Rukario muttered bitterly with a palm covering her face, noticing Lucario shaking his head in the corner of her eye, "... What's wrong?"
"Damn it, I still have no idea how to deal with these four-legged assholes!" Lucario shouted with his fists clenched, "If they were more human, this would be over by now!"
"I will... Think of something..." Rukario said weakly as she rose to her knees, "Just... Stay back... And be careful..."
The sight of his female counterpart struggling with simply getting to her feet in order to protect him burned through Lucario's eyes, piercing the brain behind them. He gritted his teeth and flexed his muscles, ready to fight once more. But in an instant, all his powers drained as everything around him came crashing down.
Who was he, thinking he could do anything? The only reason he had even survived so far is because others had been there to save him, sacrificing themselves in the process. If not for betraying the small penguin and sacrificing her freedom, he would have become prey at the hands of Brendan. He had already lost count of all the times Zerobi had saved him, when as he had later found out, she had her own worries to deal with.
The Zubat... The Dragonair... Ivy... His many failures seared through his body worse than the aura ever had. Feeling like doing everyone a favor and ridding the world of the blight that he was, he was given the impulse to simply lie down on the ground and die.
"... No!" Lucario shouted defiantly while clutching his head and firmly planting his feet on the ground, "I won't take the backseat! If you think I'll just lie down while some girl steps up and rescues me..."
Lucario felt his anger and determination soar, finally standing up for himself and gaining some reprieve from the haunting visions of the small penguin and everyone else he had let down on his journey. He saw that Rukario was quietly looking at him with a bewildered expression.
"... What!?" Lucario asked, still fuming.
"... Cyon said the same thing..." she whispered slowly while looking into his eyes, at long last seeing her love reflected in them.
"Alright, THAT DOES IT!" Lucario bellowed with rage as he threw his hands out, "Get the hell out of here! Piss off!" Rukario was abruptly snapped out of her daydreaming by his loud voice, having to use her arm to brace herself from falling back.
"Getting captured is not the end, but if I have to spend another minute with you, I don't think that I can survive!" Lucario kept shouting as he felt his anger slowly leave him, "This is MY fight, stay the hell out of it!"
"Uh... What the hell just happened?" the Umbreon whispered back to the Espeon, the hostile atmosphere making him feel uncomfortable.
"I attempted a simple mind destabilizer against the strong one, who quickly broke out of it," the Espeon explained slowly, the vision of her cradling Lucario as he cried like a baby vanishing from her mind, "He seems to have been unaware of it, however... Is this his first battle against a psychic type?"
Lucario now felt as calm as ever, wondering why he had become so mad all of a sudden. He quietly placed the blame with Rukario as he remembered what he had said, and suddenly came up with a plan.
Rukario sat still on the ground, shocked at what she had heard and once more being reminded of how different Lucario was from the Cyon she once knew and loved. However, as her dazzled mind processed what she had heard the Espeon saying, she suddenly realized exactly why Lucario had become so violent. She was about to say something to him before noticing that he was pointing towards the Umbreon.
"Hey, you! The black one!" Lucario yelled with a mocking tone, "How cowardly, needing a girl's help to fight!"
"Says you," he responded quickly, making Lucario cringe.
"I-I mean, there's no need to get the women involved!" Lucario shouted, using a card out of Zoroark's deck, "I say we duel, like real men! No support, no distractions, no holds-barred-beatdown!"
"Huh?" the Umbreon exclaimed confusedly, "We're winning, why would I want that?"
"Come on, don't you see...?" Lucario said as he leaned closer to the Umbreon and lowered his voice, "This is your chance to impress on the girls! Show them what you're really made of, pal!"
"I'm not your pal, buddy..." the Umbreon muttered bitterly before lighting up, "... Still, it'd be more fun than this stomping we're giving you right now..."
"Mm-hmm," Lucario said while nodding feverishly, "Let's duel, and let the best man win!"
"Alright!" the Umbreon yelled excitedly while striking a battle pose, "Sorry, but I'll have to kick your ass now!"
Rukario could not help but smile as she saw Lucario crack his knuckles in excitement. She was impressed at how easily he had turned the battle in their favor. The Espeon and Umbreon duo's power came solely from teamwork, while hers and Lucario's were far from as efficient. They had just recently met, after all. Lucario's chances of taking out one of them in single combat were much higher than otherwise, and after that the rest of the fight should be easy.
"Umbreon, ignore his provocations and stick to the plan," Blue sighed.
"... Spoil-sport," the Umbreon muttered as he calmed down, "Fine, the duel's off."
"... Huh? No, wait!" Lucario burst out with a terrified voice, "You're really gonna listen to him!?"
"Duh," the Umbreon responded with a shrug, "Our duel will have to wait until after you're caught. Actually, I can't wait, so I guess I'll beat the shit out of you preemptively!"
The Umbreon then started running towards Lucario, who had no idea what to do. His physical attacks were all being halted by the barrier, and aside from that there was not much he could do. However, Rukario's frightened stare from earlier when he had been shouting at her suddenly passed through his mind, and he thought of something.
"HAAAAAHHHH!" Lucario suddenly screamed with all his might, making the approaching Umbreon flinch in terror. Lucario took his chance to kick the dark-type's face, but his leg was stopped by the same barrier from before. Using the same leg, he lifted it above his head and let it come crashing down on his opponent, only this time there was nothing stopping it, to everyone's surprise. The heel of his foot struck the Umbreon's back hard, making him lose his foothold and crash on the ground with his stomach.
"AAHHH!" the Umbreon yelled with a pained cough, "What the hell!?"
"Forgive me!" the Espeon said with a louder voice than usual, "I was distracted!"
"Distracted? You mean..." Lucario said with a smile before opening his mouth wide, "BAAAAHHHH!"
"Ow! My ears!" the Umbreon groaned as he pulled down his ears to the sides of his head, "Knock it off, asshole!"
"Hah! I bet that barrier doesn't stop sound from coming through, does it!?" Lucario kept going, "YAAAAAHHH!"
"Grr! You want a piece of me!?" the Umbreon growled in response, "I CAN SHOUT TOO, YOU KNOW!"
"GOOD!" Lucario shouted back, not covering his ears to prove that he was more macho than his enemy, "HOW'RE THOSE HUMONGOUS EARS FEELIN', PUNK!?"
"THEY'RE SMALLER THAN YOURS, ASSWIPE!" the Umbreon continued defiantly, as an unseen force suddenly pushed Lucario and sent him sliding backwards.
"Could the two of you stick to fighting, lest you shatter our eardrums?" the Espeon said in annoyance as Rukario could not help but nod in agreement.
"... What?" Lucario asked, clearing out his ears and hearing a rumbling sound. At first he thought he might have developed tinnitus from all the shouting, but noticed that there were thick darkened clouds above them, the sun having completely vanished behind them. His idea of these simply being smoky remnants from the pillars of fire faded as he suddenly felt the faint touch of a rain drop on the tip of his nose.
"She said..." the Umbreon started before leaping up and knocking Lucario straight on the mouth, making him stumble backwards a few steps before collapsing from the heavy blow.
"Ow..." Lucario grumbled, reminding himself of not attempting a bite to pierce through the barrier.
"Easy on the teeth..." the Espeon muttered dangerously, "How will you take responsibility if he loses his heroic smile...?"
"Better give up soon, or your body's gonna be mush once I'm done!" the Umbreon chuckled confidently, "I train by splitting boulders with my head!"
"Wouldn't that cause severe brain..." Lucario said after rising to his feet, stopping himself as the Umbreon looked at him with a vacant stare, "... Never mind."
The Umbreon then came at him again, as he tried dodging but was knocked off balance by the Espeon's psychic abilities. Thinking that the Espeon would be able to knock him down and create a barrier at the same time, he snuck in a kick at the Umbreon as he was falling, only to feel it strike the same force field as usual. What followed was another powerful blow to his head, making him fly backwards in a flip.
"Hahahah! Too easy!" the Umbreon chuckled, his boyish voice making it come off as more of a snicker.
"You sound rather confident..." the Espeon said, not all too happy with seeing her Lucario take such a beating, "... Should I let you handle him alone, perhaps?"
"Oh, man... I am NOT losing to these two idiots!" Lucario bellowed as he got up, filling up with rage that somehow felt more pure than the one he had experienced earlier, "I'm just not. I REFUSE!"
Lucario rushed towards the Umbreon with a mighty bellow, suddenly wanting nothing more than to feel the dark-type's skull crumble under his fist. The Umbreon was more than happy to accommodate as he headbutted Lucario in return, while a barrier blocked Lucario's attack.
Lucario took a step back but soon lounged, attempting another attack. They continued exchanging blows long after Lucario's stamina had run out, his aggressions fueled on sheer spite alone. However, in the end his body would no longer comply with his hatred, as he stumbled backwards and fell to his knees after a particularly hard blow to his stomach.
"Ugh..." Lucario groaned while feeling dizzy from exhaustion. The rain was really starting to come down now, as if the weather itself was signaling his impending defeat. He wobbled as he tried to stand up, and was knocked on his back by yet another blast from the Espeon's psychic abilities, temporarily making the raindrops around him fly vertically.
"Hahah! This is it!" the Umbreon laughed as he suddenly ran towards the collapsed Lucario, who was too weakened to move out of the way. The Umbreon's path suddenly became blocked by Rukario appearing from the side, lifting her leg and getting ready to drop it like a thunderbolt from the skies. However, the mere sight of Rukario's sudden appearance was enough to make the Umbreon hesitate, as he started leaping backwards as a defensive reflex.
"Gah... You... Why're you still here...?" Lucario muttered weakly as Rukario crouched down beside him, his eyes halfway closed in an attempt to block out the rain that was now falling directly on his face, "I told you to piss off..."
"You obviously need my help!" Rukario shouted at him, too taken aback by his brashness to hold back herself, thinking he was barely able to keep his eyes open from exhaustion, "Why will you not see that!?"
"... Don't you... You still don't get it...?" Lucario groaned while looking away from Rukario, her pained expression filling his heart with sadness, looking just like the one he had been forced to endure in his nightmares for so long, "They want me, not you. Run. I... I'm tired of having everyone around me suffer for my own damn problems..."
"... W-What...?" Rukario stammered, not believing what she was hearing.
"If they got you too, on top of everything I've put you through..." Lucario continued with a sad expression, his worries about the helpful yet tragic Rukario genuine, "... Only then, I don't think I could survive..."
Looking down at Lucario with a shocked expression, Rukario felt herself more taken aback by this than anything else he had done so far. This brute that had robbed her of the love of her life, punched her and screamed at her... Did he just say that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her?
Had she judged him too rashly? Was he a good soul, simply thrust into a bad situation? Although Lucario was much less delicate, the kindness that had made her fall in love with Cyon in the first place appeared to still be with him, only hidden from sight. Although she was still bewildered by the whole situation, she now understood that Lucario and Cyon were two sides of the same card.
"... Lucario," Rukario whispered, finally being able to accept the entity beneath her for what it really was, "I promised to help you out. I will not go back on my word."
"Circumstances have changed..." Lucario mumbled as he started planning on how to contact Celebi, so she could return the favor and rescue him from Blue, "We have no hope of winning, but at least you have a faint chance of escaping..."
"... To where...?" Rukario said slowly as she knew there was only one thing she could do to help Lucario now.
"... Not here?" Lucario smirked.
"The journey that brought me here... The only thing that kept me going was the hope of reuniting with Cyon," she said while looking into his eyes, finally realizing that what she could see in him was not something he could see in her, "The journey home... Away from all this... I do not think I can bear it."
She slowly rose to her feet, frightened of what she was planning. Cyon or Lucario, both would have called her insane had she told him what she was about to do. Even so, she knew that if she were to withhold her intervention that could change everything, she would never forgive herself. Her life was already without meaning, this would be a chance to make her delayed suicide something worthwhile.
"But... At least..." Rukario whispered as she shot Lucario one last glance before walking towards the two Eeveelutions, Lucario feeling impressed by her determination to keep on fighting.
The rain had picked up into full storm, pouring down fiercely but without any wind whatsoever to accompany it. All the participants in the battle were silently ignoring the rain, even though the wetness made them all uncomfortable. Rukario knew this would be the last out of everyone's problems in a few moments.
The Umbreon was watching the two Lucario, the sappy atmosphere between the two of them making him feel left out but still wanting to be respectful and not come off as a jerk to his future girlfriend. He realized this might not have been the best of ideas as Rukario's approaching body suddenly started to glow.
"For Lucario's sake...!" she said to herself as every muscle in her started to flex and every individual cell started working overtime, "No... For Cyon's sake...!"
While the insides of her body turned into a flurry of pain and turmoil, the only thing visible on the outside were tiny sparks of blue fire seeping out of random spots of her body. Lucario winced as he recognized the pale blue flames bubbling over her body, remembering just how painful enduring a single moment of them had been. Rukario shared his sentiment and felt like every last inch of her was being covered in acidic fire, the pain of her burned hand and damaged face growing number and number.
Bracing herself, she used all of her strength to jump straight up into the sky. Everyone's neck craned as they saw her soaring above them, glowing like an angel in an aura of blue fire. Her mind entered a state of insanity from the internal suffering she was going through, reasons to both stop and keep going filling her up and helping her ignore the pain a little.
Amidst the sea of painful sensations, she could feel that the attack was finally ready. She thrust both her arms and legs downwards, aimed at the two Eeveelutions who were looking up at her.
"G-GET BEHIND ME!" the Espeon suddenly cried out in sheer terror, as the Umbreon snapped back and started running towards her. Every inch of Rukario's being now wanted them gone, the very hairs on her body stretched out like sharp and hostile spikes towards them.
"AURA STORM!" Rukario screamed with all her might in an attempt to combat the pain overtaking her mind, before she felt her every nerve become ripped apart as she commenced with the attack.
A gigantic beam of bright blue energy left Rukario's body with the sound of a never-ending explosion, striking down on the two Eeveelutions in the matter of an instant. An almost solid-looking wall prevented the beam from fully reaching them, the Espeon blocking the aura with her most powerful barrier as the Umbreon cowered in fear. Five seconds passed before the aura storm broke through the barrier, both of the Eeveelutions screaming in pain as the aura overtook them. The beam covered them completely as it struck into the ground, not even making a dent in the soil but instantly evaporating the grass which lay upon it.
Lucario and Blue were completely frozen, seeing the beam growing thinner and Rukario's aura fading away. Finally the beam went away completely, and as it was no longer keeping Rukario propelled in midair, she fell down to the ground. Lucario quickly rose up in order to catch her, but his exhausted body failed him as he stumbled in the rain. She fell down hard on the soggy soil, alone and with no one to depend on.
The aura had successfully eradicated every bit of growth where it struck but left the ground intact, leaving a peculiar bald spot. In the middle of that spot was the Umbreon, seemingly unharmed but completely motionless and unconscious. By the outskirts of the barren crater was the Espeon, still moving around a little but shaking badly and struggling to get to her feet.
Lucario paid no notice to this as he ran as quickly as he could towards Rukario, who was lying in the rain with her eyes closed. He saw what looked like small cracks in her skin wherever there was no fur to cover it up, and smelled burning flesh.
"Rukario!" Lucario shouted as he fell to his knees, "Damn you! DAMN YOU! I told you this was the LAST thing I wanted!" He was given no response and grabbed a hold of her wrist, struggling to find a vein so he could check her pulse. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to find any signs of life.
"Stop dying!" he shouted, the raindrops dripping down his face starting to turn salty, "Stay the hell out of my conscience, you... Come on! You can't just..."
An odd yet familiar sound came from behind him, as he realized that Blue had just recalled his Pokémon. His eyes were transfixed on Rukario, so he could not bear to look away from her even as Blue slowly walked up to them in the pouring rain.
"... What a tragic end..." Blue said with a dismal voice, unfitting of his shocked expression, "Why would a wild Pokémon do something like this...?"
"Damn it! Was this my fault...?" Lucario shouted, smashing down both his fists on Rukario's lifeless chest in anguish. The impact from his blow suddenly made her left leg jump as she groaned painfully, making Lucario fall back in terror.
"No! She needs medical care!" Blue suddenly yelled, rushing forward and keeping the two of them separated with outstretched arms.
"She... She's alive...?" Lucario stammered hopefully before realizing that the man responsible for this had just pushed him away from her, "... Hey. Is she alive? If not, get that hand out of my face or I'll break it off."
"... I left all my items at home, but I'll take her to a Pokecenter and hope for the best," Blue said as he bent over and carefully picked Rukario up, the old man surprising Lucario with his strength, "Sorry, but there's no time to waste." The fainted Pokémon was the same weight that he had expected, meaning that his Pokémon would be able to carry the two of them at the same time. As his hands were currently occupied, he decided to summon his Pokémon the old fashioned way.
"SKARMORY, I CHOOSE YOU!" Blue yelled loudly, as one of the Pokeballs on his belt suddenly opened itself, bringing out the Skarmory that Rukario had earlier defeated. It was in bad shape, cracks covering its previously untainted helmet, but was still seemingly capable of flying as its peculiar wings were intact. It looked at Rukario with an annoyed stare before bending its head down and letting Blue place her on its back.
"... Listen, when she wakes up, could you tell her I said..." Lucario said before seeing the confused expression on Blue's face, "... No, I guess you can't..."
"I'll tell her," the Skarmory said with a sharp, almost screeching voice.
"Uh..." Lucario exclaimed, imagining his beautiful words being presented by the Skarmory's horrible voice, "That's OK. I'll, uh... Tell her myself, some day."
Blue sat down on the skeletal bird, holding Rukario down so that she would be secured during the flight.
"She's... Too good for this fate," Lucario said with a pained expression before looking at Blue with a quiet rage, "If you think this counts as you catching her..."
"I swear upon my status as a trainer..." Blue said, getting an idea of what Lucario was saying from the look of his face, "... I will set her free once she has healed."
"You had better. If you don't..." Lucario said menacingly with pure murder in the depths of his eyes, "I will hunt you down, Blue."
"... Time is wasting, but..." Blue said as he thought of something to say, "You are... Extraordinary. I..."
Blue then suddenly kicked the sides of the Skarmory, making it fly up a few feet into the air where it kept itself floating with regulated wing flaps.
"Lucario! This must not be our last meeting!" Blue shouted to him with a determined voice, "I will make sure your friend is healed, and then challenge you with a new team of Pokémon!"
Blue then snapped his fingers while smiling and pointing down at Lucario, who looked up at him with anger. The champion trainer got the idea and quickly secured Rukario before the three of them flew off, leaving Lucario alone on the ground below in a pool of rain and regret.
"... Hey... Assholes..." Lucario muttered with disdain while clutching his aching chest, "... I could use some medical care too, you know..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The red lights shot out Blue's balls simultaneously and landed next to him. In their wake, they left two rather matching creatures, both reminding Lucario of Astrid. They were standing on four legs and their bodies were of the same size, but the similarities ended there.
The one to their left had a ruffled fur as dark as the midnight sky, with circular yellow markings on its limbs. It had an odd stance, which Lucario imagined to be the four-legged equivalent of slouching. The one to their right was colored pink, with a more refined posture and finer hair. This one also seemed to have a tail which split in two at the end, both ends constantly moving in separate directions.
"Hey, look!" the Umbreon said with a boyish voice while nudging his head towards Rukario, "A shiny Lucario!"
"... So?" the Espeon sighed with a serene, female voice before giving Lucario an interested look, "The other one... Has no spikes."
"So!?" the Umbreon repeated with a shocked tone, "Dude, we're fightin' a shiny! Do you know how rare they are!?"
"Not as rare as a Lucario lacking spikes..." the Espeon responded with a hint of annoyance, "... Which should not even exist in the first place."
"Espeon! Umbreon!" Blue shouted in an attempt to make himself heard among the two new arrivals, "Attack plan B! This is an important battle, so do your best!"
"Like, who cares about some genetic defect?" the Umbreon asked, seemingly ignoring his trainer before starting to move towards the two Lucario, "We've got a live shiny right. In. Front. Of. Us!"
"The one with the genetic disorder would be the one with odd colors..." the Espeon muttered before she also moved forward, stopping herself a few steps behind the Umbreon, "... The one without spikes is a miracle of nature."
"Oh, man... Listen to their jabbering..." Lucario muttered while scratching his forehead and focusing his internal aura sensor, "... What the hell's this? I sense no aura from the black one, and a very weak aura from the white one."
"They're Dark and Psychic, respectively," Rukario explained while trying to remember the last time she fought an Eeveelution, "Our aura will not function accurately against them."
"Hmm... No relying on aura spheres, then?" Lucario asked with a slightly disappointed tone in his voice.
"Huh?" Rukario exclaimed confusedly, "No, I meant the aura sensing ability. The aura spheres should be as effective as always."
"Man, you know a lot more than I do, that's for sure... What can you tell me about these two?" Lucario said as he suddenly saw the Espeon wink at him and started to stutter, "F-Fighting-wise, of course!"
"Well..." Rukario said while thinking of a way to explain it to her oblivious partner, "Our attacks will be super effective against the Umbreon, and we possess natural defenses against the Espeon."
"Which one's the Uber-eon?" Lucario asked while watching the two Eeveelutions bicker back and forth about some unknown matter.
"... The black one," Rukario said, realizing her explanations would have to be even more simplified in the future.
"... Seems easy," Lucario muttered as he started feeling guilty at what he was about to do to the poor kittens, "But we didn't come this far to lose in a place like this. Let's go all-out from the start."
"Good thinking," Rukario replied in agreement, "In that case, let us gang up on the black one and finish this quickly."
"Sounds perfect!" Lucario exclaimed excitedly before he set off towards the dark-type, Rukario immediately following suit.
"Yeah, come on! I'll take you all on!" the Umbreon laughed as he ran towards the two of them in response. His focus was primarily on Lucario, and rushed towards him in the hopes of striking fast and hard. However, just before reaching Lucario he noticed too late that the Shiny one had ran around him just outside his field of vision, and she quickly delivered a low kick to trip him up. At the same time, Lucario charged his leg, preparing the most powerful kick of his life.
Their plans were halted as Rukario's leg struck a barrier surrounding the Umbreon, leaving him unscathed. At the same time, Lucario felt himself lose balance as he became repelled by an unseen force. Unhalted by their attacks, the Umbreon leaped up and struck Lucario squarely in the chest, bouncing off him and running between Rukario's legs while tripping her up. Lucario flew back with a pained groan while Rukario tried to regain her balance before a crushing force came upon her head, smashing her down on the ground.
"Sorry 'bout this, sweetie!" the Umbreon apologized while turning around and bowing his head courteously to Rukario, "Let me treat you to dinner tonight as an apology!"
"Not in our house..." the Espeon muttered, her voice dripping with venom.
"Argh..." Lucario groaned in a strained manner, "What the hell...?"
"That Espeon..." Rukario said while wiping some dirt from her face, "She's assisting the Umbreon with her psychic powers. They do not affect him, so only we are getting hit..."
"Alright..." Lucario said as he immediately knew what to do, "... Let me take care of that!"
Pounding his hurt chest once for good measure, he set off towards the Umbreon. The Umbreon stood ready to counter his attack, but struck nothing but thin air as Lucario jumped over him, heading towards the Espeon behind.
The Espeon was taken by surprise as she erected a powerful barrier between them. Lucario felt himself become pushed back by an invisible force, reminding him of the time he had fought the Gallade. Since the force came from directly in front of him he managed to keep his balance, and decided to keep moving forward with quick progress. The Espeon reared back in an attempt to get away, but Lucario fully pushed through the invisible force field and tackled her, pinning her down underneath him.
"Go for it!" Lucario shouted to Rukario, who immediately set off against the Umbreon, who in return was heading towards them.
"Oh my..." the Espeon said calmly while blushing at Lucario's touch, "Perhaps in another time and place, you and I could get ... Better acquainted."
"Hey!" the Umbreon shouted while running towards them at a speed much faster than Rukario, "Paws off her, you pervert!"
Lucario gulped as he braced himself for impact, and the Umbreon rammed him hard in the side, making him fall off the Espeon. The Umbreon then followed up by headbutting him at an upwards angle, sending him to the sky before crashing to the ground shortly thereafter.
Rukario came behind them, having charged up an aura sphere which she used at point-blank range. It flew half a foot before becoming twisted around and reflected by the Espeon's psychic abilities, burning through Rukario who pointlessly tried to cover her face with her arms, transforming every particle in her head into one of focused pain. Despite having trained herself in the ways of the aura her entire life, it became too much as she screamed and fell back.
"Whoa, whoa!" the Umbreon burst out with a shocked voice, "Be careful! Never harm a lady's face!"
"With a nose that ludicrously large, missing it would be a miracle..." the Espeon replied with more venom in her voice.
"Hey, pick up the slack, you slow..." Lucario growled at Rukario, but his voice changed to one of worry when he saw her still covering her face in her hands, "... Aw man, right in the face!? How're you doing!?"
"... Ugh..." Rukario groaned, the lingering pain keeping her from making any effort of getting up, "... I have been better..."
Lucario sympathized, his side and chest aching like never before. Every hit from the Umbreon, no matter how it was delivered felt like someone beating him with a large blunt object. He shook his head in an attempt to focus, as the thought of actually losing to these two had yet to enter his mind.
"The sooner you give up, the faster we can become friends!" the Umbreon shouted from a distance, "I'm really a nice guy! Honest!"
"Shut up..." Rukario muttered bitterly with a palm covering her face, noticing Lucario shaking his head in the corner of her eye, "... What's wrong?"
"Damn it, I still have no idea how to deal with these four-legged assholes!" Lucario shouted with his fists clenched, "If they were more human, this would be over by now!"
"I will... Think of something..." Rukario said weakly as she rose to her knees, "Just... Stay back... And be careful..."
The sight of his female counterpart struggling with simply getting to her feet in order to protect him burned through Lucario's eyes, piercing the brain behind them. He gritted his teeth and flexed his muscles, ready to fight once more. But in an instant, all his powers drained as everything around him came crashing down.
Who was he, thinking he could do anything? The only reason he had even survived so far is because others had been there to save him, sacrificing themselves in the process. If not for betraying the small penguin and sacrificing her freedom, he would have become prey at the hands of Brendan. He had already lost count of all the times Zerobi had saved him, when as he had later found out, she had her own worries to deal with.
The Zubat... The Dragonair... Ivy... His many failures seared through his body worse than the aura ever had. Feeling like doing everyone a favor and ridding the world of the blight that he was, he was given the impulse to simply lie down on the ground and die.
"... No!" Lucario shouted defiantly while clutching his head and firmly planting his feet on the ground, "I won't take the backseat! If you think I'll just lie down while some girl steps up and rescues me..."
Lucario felt his anger and determination soar, finally standing up for himself and gaining some reprieve from the haunting visions of the small penguin and everyone else he had let down on his journey. He saw that Rukario was quietly looking at him with a bewildered expression.
"... What!?" Lucario asked, still fuming.
"... Cyon said the same thing..." she whispered slowly while looking into his eyes, at long last seeing her love reflected in them.
"Alright, THAT DOES IT!" Lucario bellowed with rage as he threw his hands out, "Get the hell out of here! Piss off!" Rukario was abruptly snapped out of her daydreaming by his loud voice, having to use her arm to brace herself from falling back.
"Getting captured is not the end, but if I have to spend another minute with you, I don't think that I can survive!" Lucario kept shouting as he felt his anger slowly leave him, "This is MY fight, stay the hell out of it!"
"Uh... What the hell just happened?" the Umbreon whispered back to the Espeon, the hostile atmosphere making him feel uncomfortable.
"I attempted a simple mind destabilizer against the strong one, who quickly broke out of it," the Espeon explained slowly, the vision of her cradling Lucario as he cried like a baby vanishing from her mind, "He seems to have been unaware of it, however... Is this his first battle against a psychic type?"
Lucario now felt as calm as ever, wondering why he had become so mad all of a sudden. He quietly placed the blame with Rukario as he remembered what he had said, and suddenly came up with a plan.
Rukario sat still on the ground, shocked at what she had heard and once more being reminded of how different Lucario was from the Cyon she once knew and loved. However, as her dazzled mind processed what she had heard the Espeon saying, she suddenly realized exactly why Lucario had become so violent. She was about to say something to him before noticing that he was pointing towards the Umbreon.
"Hey, you! The black one!" Lucario yelled with a mocking tone, "How cowardly, needing a girl's help to fight!"
"Says you," he responded quickly, making Lucario cringe.
"I-I mean, there's no need to get the women involved!" Lucario shouted, using a card out of Zoroark's deck, "I say we duel, like real men! No support, no distractions, no holds-barred-beatdown!"
"Huh?" the Umbreon exclaimed confusedly, "We're winning, why would I want that?"
"Come on, don't you see...?" Lucario said as he leaned closer to the Umbreon and lowered his voice, "This is your chance to impress on the girls! Show them what you're really made of, pal!"
"I'm not your pal, buddy..." the Umbreon muttered bitterly before lighting up, "... Still, it'd be more fun than this stomping we're giving you right now..."
"Mm-hmm," Lucario said while nodding feverishly, "Let's duel, and let the best man win!"
"Alright!" the Umbreon yelled excitedly while striking a battle pose, "Sorry, but I'll have to kick your ass now!"
Rukario could not help but smile as she saw Lucario crack his knuckles in excitement. She was impressed at how easily he had turned the battle in their favor. The Espeon and Umbreon duo's power came solely from teamwork, while hers and Lucario's were far from as efficient. They had just recently met, after all. Lucario's chances of taking out one of them in single combat were much higher than otherwise, and after that the rest of the fight should be easy.
"Umbreon, ignore his provocations and stick to the plan," Blue sighed.
"... Spoil-sport," the Umbreon muttered as he calmed down, "Fine, the duel's off."
"... Huh? No, wait!" Lucario burst out with a terrified voice, "You're really gonna listen to him!?"
"Duh," the Umbreon responded with a shrug, "Our duel will have to wait until after you're caught. Actually, I can't wait, so I guess I'll beat the shit out of you preemptively!"
The Umbreon then started running towards Lucario, who had no idea what to do. His physical attacks were all being halted by the barrier, and aside from that there was not much he could do. However, Rukario's frightened stare from earlier when he had been shouting at her suddenly passed through his mind, and he thought of something.
"HAAAAAHHHH!" Lucario suddenly screamed with all his might, making the approaching Umbreon flinch in terror. Lucario took his chance to kick the dark-type's face, but his leg was stopped by the same barrier from before. Using the same leg, he lifted it above his head and let it come crashing down on his opponent, only this time there was nothing stopping it, to everyone's surprise. The heel of his foot struck the Umbreon's back hard, making him lose his foothold and crash on the ground with his stomach.
"AAHHH!" the Umbreon yelled with a pained cough, "What the hell!?"
"Forgive me!" the Espeon said with a louder voice than usual, "I was distracted!"
"Distracted? You mean..." Lucario said with a smile before opening his mouth wide, "BAAAAHHHH!"
"Ow! My ears!" the Umbreon groaned as he pulled down his ears to the sides of his head, "Knock it off, asshole!"
"Hah! I bet that barrier doesn't stop sound from coming through, does it!?" Lucario kept going, "YAAAAAHHH!"
"Grr! You want a piece of me!?" the Umbreon growled in response, "I CAN SHOUT TOO, YOU KNOW!"
"GOOD!" Lucario shouted back, not covering his ears to prove that he was more macho than his enemy, "HOW'RE THOSE HUMONGOUS EARS FEELIN', PUNK!?"
"THEY'RE SMALLER THAN YOURS, ASSWIPE!" the Umbreon continued defiantly, as an unseen force suddenly pushed Lucario and sent him sliding backwards.
"Could the two of you stick to fighting, lest you shatter our eardrums?" the Espeon said in annoyance as Rukario could not help but nod in agreement.
"... What?" Lucario asked, clearing out his ears and hearing a rumbling sound. At first he thought he might have developed tinnitus from all the shouting, but noticed that there were thick darkened clouds above them, the sun having completely vanished behind them. His idea of these simply being smoky remnants from the pillars of fire faded as he suddenly felt the faint touch of a rain drop on the tip of his nose.
"She said..." the Umbreon started before leaping up and knocking Lucario straight on the mouth, making him stumble backwards a few steps before collapsing from the heavy blow.
"Ow..." Lucario grumbled, reminding himself of not attempting a bite to pierce through the barrier.
"Easy on the teeth..." the Espeon muttered dangerously, "How will you take responsibility if he loses his heroic smile...?"
"Better give up soon, or your body's gonna be mush once I'm done!" the Umbreon chuckled confidently, "I train by splitting boulders with my head!"
"Wouldn't that cause severe brain..." Lucario said after rising to his feet, stopping himself as the Umbreon looked at him with a vacant stare, "... Never mind."
The Umbreon then came at him again, as he tried dodging but was knocked off balance by the Espeon's psychic abilities. Thinking that the Espeon would be able to knock him down and create a barrier at the same time, he snuck in a kick at the Umbreon as he was falling, only to feel it strike the same force field as usual. What followed was another powerful blow to his head, making him fly backwards in a flip.
"Hahahah! Too easy!" the Umbreon chuckled, his boyish voice making it come off as more of a snicker.
"You sound rather confident..." the Espeon said, not all too happy with seeing her Lucario take such a beating, "... Should I let you handle him alone, perhaps?"
"Oh, man... I am NOT losing to these two idiots!" Lucario bellowed as he got up, filling up with rage that somehow felt more pure than the one he had experienced earlier, "I'm just not. I REFUSE!"
Lucario rushed towards the Umbreon with a mighty bellow, suddenly wanting nothing more than to feel the dark-type's skull crumble under his fist. The Umbreon was more than happy to accommodate as he headbutted Lucario in return, while a barrier blocked Lucario's attack.
Lucario took a step back but soon lounged, attempting another attack. They continued exchanging blows long after Lucario's stamina had run out, his aggressions fueled on sheer spite alone. However, in the end his body would no longer comply with his hatred, as he stumbled backwards and fell to his knees after a particularly hard blow to his stomach.
"Ugh..." Lucario groaned while feeling dizzy from exhaustion. The rain was really starting to come down now, as if the weather itself was signaling his impending defeat. He wobbled as he tried to stand up, and was knocked on his back by yet another blast from the Espeon's psychic abilities, temporarily making the raindrops around him fly vertically.
"Hahah! This is it!" the Umbreon laughed as he suddenly ran towards the collapsed Lucario, who was too weakened to move out of the way. The Umbreon's path suddenly became blocked by Rukario appearing from the side, lifting her leg and getting ready to drop it like a thunderbolt from the skies. However, the mere sight of Rukario's sudden appearance was enough to make the Umbreon hesitate, as he started leaping backwards as a defensive reflex.
"Gah... You... Why're you still here...?" Lucario muttered weakly as Rukario crouched down beside him, his eyes halfway closed in an attempt to block out the rain that was now falling directly on his face, "I told you to piss off..."
"You obviously need my help!" Rukario shouted at him, too taken aback by his brashness to hold back herself, thinking he was barely able to keep his eyes open from exhaustion, "Why will you not see that!?"
"... Don't you... You still don't get it...?" Lucario groaned while looking away from Rukario, her pained expression filling his heart with sadness, looking just like the one he had been forced to endure in his nightmares for so long, "They want me, not you. Run. I... I'm tired of having everyone around me suffer for my own damn problems..."
"... W-What...?" Rukario stammered, not believing what she was hearing.
"If they got you too, on top of everything I've put you through..." Lucario continued with a sad expression, his worries about the helpful yet tragic Rukario genuine, "... Only then, I don't think I could survive..."
Looking down at Lucario with a shocked expression, Rukario felt herself more taken aback by this than anything else he had done so far. This brute that had robbed her of the love of her life, punched her and screamed at her... Did he just say that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her?
Had she judged him too rashly? Was he a good soul, simply thrust into a bad situation? Although Lucario was much less delicate, the kindness that had made her fall in love with Cyon in the first place appeared to still be with him, only hidden from sight. Although she was still bewildered by the whole situation, she now understood that Lucario and Cyon were two sides of the same card.
"... Lucario," Rukario whispered, finally being able to accept the entity beneath her for what it really was, "I promised to help you out. I will not go back on my word."
"Circumstances have changed..." Lucario mumbled as he started planning on how to contact Celebi, so she could return the favor and rescue him from Blue, "We have no hope of winning, but at least you have a faint chance of escaping..."
"... To where...?" Rukario said slowly as she knew there was only one thing she could do to help Lucario now.
"... Not here?" Lucario smirked.
"The journey that brought me here... The only thing that kept me going was the hope of reuniting with Cyon," she said while looking into his eyes, finally realizing that what she could see in him was not something he could see in her, "The journey home... Away from all this... I do not think I can bear it."
She slowly rose to her feet, frightened of what she was planning. Cyon or Lucario, both would have called her insane had she told him what she was about to do. Even so, she knew that if she were to withhold her intervention that could change everything, she would never forgive herself. Her life was already without meaning, this would be a chance to make her delayed suicide something worthwhile.
"But... At least..." Rukario whispered as she shot Lucario one last glance before walking towards the two Eeveelutions, Lucario feeling impressed by her determination to keep on fighting.
The rain had picked up into full storm, pouring down fiercely but without any wind whatsoever to accompany it. All the participants in the battle were silently ignoring the rain, even though the wetness made them all uncomfortable. Rukario knew this would be the last out of everyone's problems in a few moments.
The Umbreon was watching the two Lucario, the sappy atmosphere between the two of them making him feel left out but still wanting to be respectful and not come off as a jerk to his future girlfriend. He realized this might not have been the best of ideas as Rukario's approaching body suddenly started to glow.
"For Lucario's sake...!" she said to herself as every muscle in her started to flex and every individual cell started working overtime, "No... For Cyon's sake...!"
While the insides of her body turned into a flurry of pain and turmoil, the only thing visible on the outside were tiny sparks of blue fire seeping out of random spots of her body. Lucario winced as he recognized the pale blue flames bubbling over her body, remembering just how painful enduring a single moment of them had been. Rukario shared his sentiment and felt like every last inch of her was being covered in acidic fire, the pain of her burned hand and damaged face growing number and number.
Bracing herself, she used all of her strength to jump straight up into the sky. Everyone's neck craned as they saw her soaring above them, glowing like an angel in an aura of blue fire. Her mind entered a state of insanity from the internal suffering she was going through, reasons to both stop and keep going filling her up and helping her ignore the pain a little.
Amidst the sea of painful sensations, she could feel that the attack was finally ready. She thrust both her arms and legs downwards, aimed at the two Eeveelutions who were looking up at her.
"G-GET BEHIND ME!" the Espeon suddenly cried out in sheer terror, as the Umbreon snapped back and started running towards her. Every inch of Rukario's being now wanted them gone, the very hairs on her body stretched out like sharp and hostile spikes towards them.
"AURA STORM!" Rukario screamed with all her might in an attempt to combat the pain overtaking her mind, before she felt her every nerve become ripped apart as she commenced with the attack.
A gigantic beam of bright blue energy left Rukario's body with the sound of a never-ending explosion, striking down on the two Eeveelutions in the matter of an instant. An almost solid-looking wall prevented the beam from fully reaching them, the Espeon blocking the aura with her most powerful barrier as the Umbreon cowered in fear. Five seconds passed before the aura storm broke through the barrier, both of the Eeveelutions screaming in pain as the aura overtook them. The beam covered them completely as it struck into the ground, not even making a dent in the soil but instantly evaporating the grass which lay upon it.
Lucario and Blue were completely frozen, seeing the beam growing thinner and Rukario's aura fading away. Finally the beam went away completely, and as it was no longer keeping Rukario propelled in midair, she fell down to the ground. Lucario quickly rose up in order to catch her, but his exhausted body failed him as he stumbled in the rain. She fell down hard on the soggy soil, alone and with no one to depend on.
The aura had successfully eradicated every bit of growth where it struck but left the ground intact, leaving a peculiar bald spot. In the middle of that spot was the Umbreon, seemingly unharmed but completely motionless and unconscious. By the outskirts of the barren crater was the Espeon, still moving around a little but shaking badly and struggling to get to her feet.
Lucario paid no notice to this as he ran as quickly as he could towards Rukario, who was lying in the rain with her eyes closed. He saw what looked like small cracks in her skin wherever there was no fur to cover it up, and smelled burning flesh.
"Rukario!" Lucario shouted as he fell to his knees, "Damn you! DAMN YOU! I told you this was the LAST thing I wanted!" He was given no response and grabbed a hold of her wrist, struggling to find a vein so he could check her pulse. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to find any signs of life.
"Stop dying!" he shouted, the raindrops dripping down his face starting to turn salty, "Stay the hell out of my conscience, you... Come on! You can't just..."
An odd yet familiar sound came from behind him, as he realized that Blue had just recalled his Pokémon. His eyes were transfixed on Rukario, so he could not bear to look away from her even as Blue slowly walked up to them in the pouring rain.
"... What a tragic end..." Blue said with a dismal voice, unfitting of his shocked expression, "Why would a wild Pokémon do something like this...?"
"Damn it! Was this my fault...?" Lucario shouted, smashing down both his fists on Rukario's lifeless chest in anguish. The impact from his blow suddenly made her left leg jump as she groaned painfully, making Lucario fall back in terror.
"No! She needs medical care!" Blue suddenly yelled, rushing forward and keeping the two of them separated with outstretched arms.
"She... She's alive...?" Lucario stammered hopefully before realizing that the man responsible for this had just pushed him away from her, "... Hey. Is she alive? If not, get that hand out of my face or I'll break it off."
"... I left all my items at home, but I'll take her to a Pokecenter and hope for the best," Blue said as he bent over and carefully picked Rukario up, the old man surprising Lucario with his strength, "Sorry, but there's no time to waste." The fainted Pokémon was the same weight that he had expected, meaning that his Pokémon would be able to carry the two of them at the same time. As his hands were currently occupied, he decided to summon his Pokémon the old fashioned way.
"SKARMORY, I CHOOSE YOU!" Blue yelled loudly, as one of the Pokeballs on his belt suddenly opened itself, bringing out the Skarmory that Rukario had earlier defeated. It was in bad shape, cracks covering its previously untainted helmet, but was still seemingly capable of flying as its peculiar wings were intact. It looked at Rukario with an annoyed stare before bending its head down and letting Blue place her on its back.
"... Listen, when she wakes up, could you tell her I said..." Lucario said before seeing the confused expression on Blue's face, "... No, I guess you can't..."
"I'll tell her," the Skarmory said with a sharp, almost screeching voice.
"Uh..." Lucario exclaimed, imagining his beautiful words being presented by the Skarmory's horrible voice, "That's OK. I'll, uh... Tell her myself, some day."
Blue sat down on the skeletal bird, holding Rukario down so that she would be secured during the flight.
"She's... Too good for this fate," Lucario said with a pained expression before looking at Blue with a quiet rage, "If you think this counts as you catching her..."
"I swear upon my status as a trainer..." Blue said, getting an idea of what Lucario was saying from the look of his face, "... I will set her free once she has healed."
"You had better. If you don't..." Lucario said menacingly with pure murder in the depths of his eyes, "I will hunt you down, Blue."
"... Time is wasting, but..." Blue said as he thought of something to say, "You are... Extraordinary. I..."
Blue then suddenly kicked the sides of the Skarmory, making it fly up a few feet into the air where it kept itself floating with regulated wing flaps.
"Lucario! This must not be our last meeting!" Blue shouted to him with a determined voice, "I will make sure your friend is healed, and then challenge you with a new team of Pokémon!"
Blue then snapped his fingers while smiling and pointing down at Lucario, who looked up at him with anger. The champion trainer got the idea and quickly secured Rukario before the three of them flew off, leaving Lucario alone on the ground below in a pool of rain and regret.
"... Hey... Assholes..." Lucario muttered with disdain while clutching his aching chest, "... I could use some medical care too, you know..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -