Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
Riketz's Training
Mewtwo roars as he throws his hand out and catches Rotom in a mighty pulse of psychic energy before throwing his other hand forward unleashing a Shadow Ball into the small Pokemon's body causing him to explode into sparks and he turns back towards the battlefield in time to see Gengar cleave his Pikachu in half at the waist. Mewtwo growls and runs towards him but suddenly one of Giratina's bladed wings slam him into the ground making him gag in pain and spit blood from his mouth. Mewtwo looks up in pain and his eyes widen when he sees his Charizard flying down towards the ghosts, ("Get away Charizard!! Find a safe place!") Charizard closes his eyes as tears run down his face and he turns flying off into the clouds. Mewtwo applies recover to himself and leaps back throwing his hands up into a battle pose scanning the six ghosts in front of him. Mewtwo closes his eyes and sighs to himself as they all begin charging Shadow Balls, ("A hopeless battle... I will find you later my friend...") Mewtwo forms Shadow Balls in his hands and begins throwing them in rapid succession causing each of the Shadow Balls fired by the ghost Pokemon to explode off of one another creating a massive explosion of shadow energy. Behind the veil of shadow energy Mewtwo teleports, disappearing from the island and as the smoke clears Giratina looks around before stomping the ground hard and roaring,
"He's escaped!!" Gengar chuckles as he slowly licks the blood from his claws throwing the corpse of Pikachu to the side,
"He'll go into hiding now. He won't have enough time to recover before a scouting party finds him. Mewtwo is as good as dead." Giratina nods and looks up towards the sky,
"I suppose there is nothing more we can do here. The clones have all been slain?" Banette stretches her arms as she smiles darkly,
"Yes they're all dead. We've combed the fortress as well and weeded out the other survivors. However we suffered Rotom as a casualty just a few moments ago." Giratina nods and shifts to his origin form,
"Our mission is over. It is time to leave this place." Moments later Giratina and the rest of Vecransyh's team are in flight on their way back to Sinnoh leaving the dead bodies of Mewtwo's clone Pokemon behind them.
Riketz stares at Eira, Lucia and Naomi who stand across from him in a line as he paces back and forth. He stops when he is lined up centered with them and turns to face the three, "I have seen potential in you all. After my training you will be faster, stronger and wiser in battle then you are now." He blinks as he watches Lucia shyly raise her hand. Azura sits on the porch with Aticus watching as she speaks,
"Mr. Riketz? I..." Riketz's ear twitches as he stares at her,
"Spit it out so I can continue." She looks down and off to the side,
"I hate fighting... I don't like people getting hurt." Riketz tilts his head,
"And you think that that will prevent you from fighting in this world? I'm not sure if you've noticed this but we're living in a post-apocalyptic world teetering on the edge of being wiped out in the blink of an eye. In this world death is the law of the land and if we want to have any hope of preventing this world from existing you need to realize how strong you are." Lucia steadily looks back to him and nods, "Good. Instead of doing my usual three year training period I will only be spending one day on each of you, if at any point during our training you manage to strike me in combat then your training will be over unless I feel that you have not realized your own strength."
Meanwhile inside Neo's home a second Lucario/Umbreon hybrid girl walks into the kitchen and smiles to Angela who is starting on lunch, "Hey Angela? Where is Lucia? We were going to play together today." Angela turns to her and smiles as she points out the window,
"She's outside with Riketz right now Ceri. I don't think you should disturb them right now though." She nods and points to the ceiling,
"Is dad up on the roof again?" Angela nods and smiles softly,
"That's the first place I'd look for him." Ceri smiles and heads out of the room sliding open the door looking out into the backyard. She sits down next to Azura and Aticus who look at her in surprise and Aticus speaks,
"Wait there's two Lucarions? Where did you come from?" Ceri laughs as she dangles her legs off the edge of the porch,
"Neo's my dad and Allie's my mom. Hehe, you're Aticus and Azura right?" They both nod and look back over to Riketz. Riketz in question glances over and gives a quizzical look before he appears in front of her looking into her eyes as if staring into her soul,
"Who are you?" Ceri simply smiles and pats the Zangoose on the head,
"I'm Ceri, Neo's daughter." Riketz blinks and shakes his head a few times backing away from her when she pats him and he tilts his head,
"Might have to add another to the training list..." His eyes narrow as he smirks, "How many ghosts have you killed girl?" Ceri laughs to herself and winks at the Zangoose,
"Around forty..." She brings a paw to her chin as she thinks, "Actually it could be fifty..." Riketz nods to her with a light chuckle,
"Surprising but still very good." He then appears back in front of the other girls and Ceri laughs again,
"He's funny. Okay later guys!" She stands and jumps from a standing position up to the roof and she lies down next to Neo, who pats her on the head,
"That's my girl."
Riketz stops and scans the three girls in front of himself before reaching out and pointing to Lucia and Eira, "You two will not be trained today. Go about your business." Eira and Lucia both nod before they leave and Eira walks over to her brother who stands before the two enter the house. Lucia sits down and lies across Azura's lap and he starts stroking her hair lightly,
"I thought I was going to be first..." Azura shakes his head and lets out a slight sigh,
"That's the thing, he probably chose Naomi first because Eira is already fairly strong and Naomi is more shy and quiet." Lucia nods and closes her eyes enjoying the feeling of him stroking her hair,
"Well you do have a point there Azura..." Riketz stands directly in front of Naomi before he brings his claws together,
"Now then..." The black claws sink into his paws as the Zangoose closes his eyes and bows slightly, "I need to get a feel for the amount of power you have so I want you to destroy my substitute. The amount of time it takes you to do this will let me know." Riketz steps back and in a puff of smoke a doppelganger stands in his place, "It does not possess the speed I have and it will not use its claws to fight you. But it will be attacking and it will hurt, understand?" Naomi nods and takes a battle stance followed by Riketz smirking a tiny bit, "Good luck." Riketz disappears in a flash and reappears on the roof leaning back against the house. Neo looks over to him with a questioning look,
"How is fighting a substitute going to help if it's not as strong as you?" Riketz glances over to the Umbreon and smirks,
"Doesn't have my speed or power but it has a quarter of my stamina. Angela holds the record of one hour to defeat it." Riketz lays back and closes his eyes, "Tell me when she's done." Neo simply looks at the Zangoose in disbelief,
"It takes an hour to damage you a fourth?!" Riketz chuckles folding his paws behind his head,
"I'm immortal Neo; I'm not going to lose any time soon." Neo nods and looks back down to Naomi as she fights the clone occasionally taking hits but dealing far more hits to it.
Vecransyh leans on the arm of his throne watching Asia who sits on the edge of the Spear Pillar dangling her feet off the edge as she usually does. Cresselia's crescent moon lies on the ground a little to the left of him, "The darkness is too much for her... she just needs a little push for it to take her completely." Vecransyh sits up and whistles, "Asia!" The Lucario girl hops up immediately and walks quickly to her master bowing,
"Yes master?"
"I have a new assignment for you but I want to wait and send one of my team with you when they return." Asia nods,
"May I ask what my assignment is?" Vecransyh nods and folds his hands,
"You did a good job killing Cresselia for me. When Giratina and the others return I want you to take one of them and go back to Canalave city. Once there I want you to find Darkrai. Attempt to recruit him to our side and if he refuses I want you to execute him understand?" Asia pauses, looking down as her eyes close,
"I will do as my master commands..." Vecransyh makes a dark smile as he lays a hand on her shoulder,
"How was your first experience of my power?" Asia finds herself taking a step back letting Vecransyh's hand leave her shoulder,
"I... I don't know... but... perhaps..." Vecransyh tilts his head a bit, "Seeing one of your team with me... wouldn't that give off a hostile feeling to Darkrai?" Vecransyh's eyes narrow,
"You want to go by yourself?" He watches as Asia slowly nods, "Very well Asia. If you wish to be alone when you confront Darkrai then you are to leave now. You've earned my trust." Asia bows again and turns, walking across the glass-like tiles towards the edge, "But Asia..." Asia turns back and catches a dark smirk on the Lord of Demons' face, "Do not fail me. The consequences are the same. Also if you are forced to execute him I want you to return with the cloak he wears." Asia nods to him without another word and casts herself from the tower running straight down the side,
"I will not fail you Master."
On Fullmoon Island Darkrai's eyes remain closed as he floats in front of a grave. A small stone sits behind the disturbed earth that reads: 'Here lays the Pokemon of dreams; Cresselia'. Darkrai's fists clench as tears softly run down his face dropping to the ground in soft splashes. He pauses for a moment, calming himself, before his eyes open again and he looks up at the sky, "I will stay with you in life and we shall be reunited in death my love... I swear this... I will have my revenge."
Riketz awakens from a light kicking into his side from Ceri, who stands over him, "Wake up Fluffy." Riketz narrows his eyes and stands up glaring at her,
"Don't call me Fluffy... ever." Ceri chuckles and pats him on the head,
"But you're just so cute I could just hug you!"
Naomi leaps back as Ceri lands on the ground in front of her on her back and the Lucarion stands up cracking her back as she looks up at Riketz still on the roof with a grin, "Message received!" Riketz leaps from the roof and lands on his feet walking over to Naomi,
"Two and a half hours... not bad Naomi. It's time to begin your real training now." He looks over to Ceri and shoos her with his claws. She sticks her tongue out at him as she walks away and Riketz looks back to the Latios girl, "Ten minute break before we train. You look a little run down from your fight." Naomi nods happily and heads inside the house while Riketz sits down and begins to meditate.
Azura looks over to him from the porch and tilts his head a little, "I wonder what he thinks about when he's like that?" Lucia looks up at him with a smile and shrugs,
"Everyone wants to read someone's mind at some time... but Riketz is really mysterious. You could ask him if you want to know." Azura looks back over to Riketz and shakes his head,
"It's clear that he's not an open Pokemon. The last thing I want to do is make him mad." Lucia giggles and snuggles into his lap,
"I think you're just scared Azura." The Floatzel raises an eyebrow and pokes her in the forehead as he smirks,
"Oh? So how about you go over there and ask him?" Lucia shifts her eyes back and forth before poking Azura in the stomach,
"But then I couldn't be here laying on you..." Azura looks up as Naomi appears from inside the house and she sits down next to them letting out a slow breath,
"That was an ordeal... his substitute just wouldn't break!" Azura lifts his paw and points over to the Zangoose,
"Well you still have to fight him for the real training." Naomi cracks her back as she laughs to herself,
"Yeah, don't remind me." She stands up and looks down at him, "Well I'm sure it won't be that difficult. I learned a lot from just fighting his substitute." She looks to Lucia, "You'll do fine Lucia." Lucia nods to her and Naomi walks away from them and over to Riketz, "I'm back." He slowly stands as his claws come out,
"You know the rules. Fight till you no longer can or until you land a hit." Naomi nods as she goes into a battle stance,
"I'm ready." Riketz grins and spins around lunging at her and the Latios girl bends over backwards avoiding the strike and throws her leg up in a kick. Riketz leaps forward and comes down hard thrusting his foot into her stomach making her hit the ground hard. She unleashes a Dragon Pulse from her mouth and Riketz leaps to the side avoiding it,
"You're a fast one." He watches as she gets up and he runs forward. Naomi leaps back to avoid his slash and pivots springing forward and throws a punch towards him. Riketz throws his arm out and grabs her by the wrist swinging her around and he throws her up into the air. He throws his arms up and sends two spheres of energy up at her. Naomi's eyes widen and she throws her arms up to protect herself from much of the impending explosions. The spheres hit her and explode causing her to disappear in a cloud of black smoke. Naomi hits the ground with a thud and Riketz charges another Aura Sphere walking over to her as he holds it out, "Checkmate." Her body suddenly disappears in a puff of white smoke and Naomi drops from the black cloud of smoke above them. Riketz's eyes widen as a fist impacts his head and standing right in front of him, breathing hard, is Naomi,
"I win." Riketz blinks a few times as the sphere in his claws disappears and he steps back looking up at her,
"Well done Naomi." He then bows to her with a smile, "Your training is complete." Naomi smiles to him and nods,
"Thank you for everything Riketz. I will use your training well." Riketz watches as she walks away and back into the house giving high-fives to Azura and Lucia,
"She has a gift for substitutes... I couldn't tell the difference." He rubs his head and growls to himself, "She has a lot of strength too..."
The next day Eira stands in front of Riketz with a serious look on her face. She had taken the last two hours defeating Riketz's Substitute and was now ready to fight him, "Two hours isn't bad Eira. It means your attacks have more power then Naomi's but that does not mean you are stronger then her. For a warrior to succeed they must have a balance of speed, power and defense. Now..." He smirks and readies his claws, "Come at me!" Riketz's eyes flash as Eira runs towards him firing an Ice Beam at him. Riketz dodges to the side and throws a Shadow Ball that explodes on contact making the Froslass groan in displeasure. She shakes it off and shoots another Ice Beam from her mouth while she throws duel Shadow Balls at the Zangoose.
Riketz pauses as his claws spark silver and he grabs the two spheres in his hands bending over backwards to avoid the incoming Ice Beam. He brings the two Shadow Balls together and they form into a much larger one before he throws it back at her. Eira's eyes widen and she throws her arms out blasting the sphere with Sheer Cold causing it to explode mid-flight. She throws her arms forward again letting another blast of freezing cold air rocket towards Riketz and he growls slamming his claws into the ground before he digs down into the earth disappearing from the field.
Eira looks around slowly as her feet leave the ground and she holds two Shadow Balls in her hands, "Come out Riketz!" She floats over to the hole he had created moments ago and throws both of the ghostly spheres into it causing an explosion to fly down the tunnel towards the Zangoose. He suddenly bursts from the ground and Eira's eyes widen when an Aura Sphere explodes on her back forcing her to let out a cry of pain. Riketz smirks and forms another in his claws as he walks over to Eira, who has fallen to her knees reeling from the explosion,
"Are you giving up? Is the pain too much?" She glares at him and brings her hand up throwing another Sheer Cold towards him but its much smaller and stops before it makes it to him. Her hand touches the ground again as her sweat splashes against the earth. Riketz smiles and throws a second sphere into her back forcing her to collapse to the ground with another cry of pain.
On the sidelines Aticus stands up with a growl but looks down as Yakira grabs his cloak and shakes her head, "Just watch." Aticus growls and sits back down as Riketz stands over his half-sister,
"You have not yet learned one of the most important things that there is to know about battle. You cannot always win and sometimes it is best to retreat instead of continue. A perfect example would be you heeding my offer to give up instead of trying another attack." He runs the back of his claws over her burns and they slowly heal, "You are dismissed Eira." The Froslass picks herself up and dusts the dirt from her dress, her eyes staying fixed upon the Zangoose,
"Tell me... how many students have you had?" Riketz sheathes his claws as he looks at her,
"I have taught sixty-four people in my life. Two have succeeded in striking me. One is Naomi and the other is Angela. Twelve of my students died during training and all the rest were released." Eira's eyes widen at hearing this,
"How did they die?" Riketz closes his eyes and lets out a sigh,
"My normal training period consists of one year during which I pass on my fighting skills and once a week me and my student have a duel just like the one me and you just had. Whether they miss their families or not matters not to me because they are not allowed to leave until the training is complete. You see, it was not by my hand that they died. They took their own lives. Those who were dismissed still had my respect. They endured being beaten into unconsciousness every week and the other six days they endured my training." Eira looks down with a sigh,
"I can see how that would be hard on their minds..." Riketz simply nods and watches as Eira walks over to join her brother,
"A Lucarion... a hybrid of a Lucario and Umbreon... I am curious to see what traits were passed to her."
The following day Riketz now stands in front of Lucia with his arms folded while the Lucarion girl looks at the ground, "I have spoken to Luna about what I'm going to do with you and she has allowed me to go through with it." Lucia looks up at him with a slightly frightened look,
"W-what are you going to do?" Riketz looks at her seriously,
"Lucia, I know that fighting is the last thing you want to do. I know there are many people like you and I've come to understand that. People like you need a true reason to fight before your strength can be unlocked which is why I'm going to put you into a nightmare situation where you need to save someone you care about." Riketz lays his paw on her forehead and she collapses into a deep sleep. Riketz grins darkly as his eyes flash and Lucia slips away into a nightmare.
"Lucia!" Lucia stands alone in complete blackness and she looks around quickly when she hears the voice,
"A-Azura!? Where are you?!" She feels fear beginning to creep into her heart as she runs forward in the darkness. The darkness lifts a few moments later and she finds herself in a dark forest of trees. Azura comes into view shortly after and she gasps finding him tied to a tree and a Gengar stands in front of him with bloody claws. Azura has multiple bloody slashes on his body and he looks weakly at her as he coughs up blood,
"Lucia... get away from here!" She holds a paw to her chest as tears begin streaming down her face,
"I..." Azura lets out a cry of agony as the Gengar drives his claws deep into his stomach and curves his claws around his internal organs grinning darkly as he listens to the Floatzel's screams. Lucia's eyes grow wide with tears as she watches but then something sparks inside her and her heart skips a beat. She runs forward and throws a punch towards the Gengar with a pained roar only to be hit by a Shadow Punch that knocks her into a tree. She stands and runs forward again only to be blasted back by a Shadow Ball.
Azura slowly looks up at her as blood slides from his mouth down his front and Lucia stands back up holding her right arm, "I'm going to save you..." She throws her paws out to the sides as her body pulses and begins to billow with flames. She disappears in a flash and reappears behind the Gengar who turns only to be sent flying by a vicious blast of ghostly energy. Lucia growls as her red eyes glare at the standing Gengar as she rushes forward and begins throwing Aura Spheres into the Gengar watching with a dark hatred as they impact and horribly injure the ghost. She pins him to the ground with her paws on his chest and she watches as the Gengar explodes from the point-blank Shadow Force into his body.
Lucia slowly stands as her aura dies down and she turns back to Azura only to find his head slumped over forward. Her eyes grow wide as she runs over to him holding his head up as she cries, "No!! No you can't die!! Please!!" Azura smiles slightly as he lets out a strained breath,
"I'm so... proud of you Lucia..." A final breath escapes his mouth and Lucia shakes the bloody Floatzel as she cries loudly against him,
"Come back!! Please Azura come back to me!!"
Lucia's tear-streaked eyes shoot open as she lets out a gasp and she latches onto Riketz crying loudly into his fur, "I couldn't save him!! I... I wasn't..." Riketz lays his paws on her shoulders and pushes her off of him. He says nothing but points to the porch. Lucia follows his claw and her eyes widen when she sees Azura looking over at the two of them with a very confused look. She runs over to him and tackles him to the ground hugging him tightly as she cries into the confused Floatzel's fur. Riketz looks away from them with a slight smirk and walks away passing by Luna as he walks,
"She can use Shadow Force Luna." Luna turns and looks at him with a slightly surprised look,
"But how can she...?"
"Perhaps having your genes along with Stratos' allows her to use the attacks he hadn't unlocked? Her training is done. I've awoken the fire within her soul and she can fight now." He looks back to her,
"I'm leaving again to search for more survivors. I don't know when I'll return but I will." Luna looks back over to Azura trying to comfort Lucia,
"What did you make her see?" Riketz closes his eyes,
"Azura being close to disemboweled by a Gengar. She promptly killed it but Azura still died. I gave her a taste of both power and loss." He smirks, "I kept my end of the deal and brought the two of them closer." Luna nods with a grateful smile,
"A little unorthodox but it worked. We both got what we wanted." Riketz chuckles,
"Just doing my part Luna, goodbye." He disappears in a flash of silver and is gone. Luna walks back into the backyard area where everyone is as she smiles to herself,
("Once we change this future you'll get to meet your daughter. You'll be such a good father Stratos.")Chapter End Notes:My beta-reader's computer crashed and so this chapter will be revised in a few days or s
"He's escaped!!" Gengar chuckles as he slowly licks the blood from his claws throwing the corpse of Pikachu to the side,
"He'll go into hiding now. He won't have enough time to recover before a scouting party finds him. Mewtwo is as good as dead." Giratina nods and looks up towards the sky,
"I suppose there is nothing more we can do here. The clones have all been slain?" Banette stretches her arms as she smiles darkly,
"Yes they're all dead. We've combed the fortress as well and weeded out the other survivors. However we suffered Rotom as a casualty just a few moments ago." Giratina nods and shifts to his origin form,
"Our mission is over. It is time to leave this place." Moments later Giratina and the rest of Vecransyh's team are in flight on their way back to Sinnoh leaving the dead bodies of Mewtwo's clone Pokemon behind them.
Riketz stares at Eira, Lucia and Naomi who stand across from him in a line as he paces back and forth. He stops when he is lined up centered with them and turns to face the three, "I have seen potential in you all. After my training you will be faster, stronger and wiser in battle then you are now." He blinks as he watches Lucia shyly raise her hand. Azura sits on the porch with Aticus watching as she speaks,
"Mr. Riketz? I..." Riketz's ear twitches as he stares at her,
"Spit it out so I can continue." She looks down and off to the side,
"I hate fighting... I don't like people getting hurt." Riketz tilts his head,
"And you think that that will prevent you from fighting in this world? I'm not sure if you've noticed this but we're living in a post-apocalyptic world teetering on the edge of being wiped out in the blink of an eye. In this world death is the law of the land and if we want to have any hope of preventing this world from existing you need to realize how strong you are." Lucia steadily looks back to him and nods, "Good. Instead of doing my usual three year training period I will only be spending one day on each of you, if at any point during our training you manage to strike me in combat then your training will be over unless I feel that you have not realized your own strength."
Meanwhile inside Neo's home a second Lucario/Umbreon hybrid girl walks into the kitchen and smiles to Angela who is starting on lunch, "Hey Angela? Where is Lucia? We were going to play together today." Angela turns to her and smiles as she points out the window,
"She's outside with Riketz right now Ceri. I don't think you should disturb them right now though." She nods and points to the ceiling,
"Is dad up on the roof again?" Angela nods and smiles softly,
"That's the first place I'd look for him." Ceri smiles and heads out of the room sliding open the door looking out into the backyard. She sits down next to Azura and Aticus who look at her in surprise and Aticus speaks,
"Wait there's two Lucarions? Where did you come from?" Ceri laughs as she dangles her legs off the edge of the porch,
"Neo's my dad and Allie's my mom. Hehe, you're Aticus and Azura right?" They both nod and look back over to Riketz. Riketz in question glances over and gives a quizzical look before he appears in front of her looking into her eyes as if staring into her soul,
"Who are you?" Ceri simply smiles and pats the Zangoose on the head,
"I'm Ceri, Neo's daughter." Riketz blinks and shakes his head a few times backing away from her when she pats him and he tilts his head,
"Might have to add another to the training list..." His eyes narrow as he smirks, "How many ghosts have you killed girl?" Ceri laughs to herself and winks at the Zangoose,
"Around forty..." She brings a paw to her chin as she thinks, "Actually it could be fifty..." Riketz nods to her with a light chuckle,
"Surprising but still very good." He then appears back in front of the other girls and Ceri laughs again,
"He's funny. Okay later guys!" She stands and jumps from a standing position up to the roof and she lies down next to Neo, who pats her on the head,
"That's my girl."
Riketz stops and scans the three girls in front of himself before reaching out and pointing to Lucia and Eira, "You two will not be trained today. Go about your business." Eira and Lucia both nod before they leave and Eira walks over to her brother who stands before the two enter the house. Lucia sits down and lies across Azura's lap and he starts stroking her hair lightly,
"I thought I was going to be first..." Azura shakes his head and lets out a slight sigh,
"That's the thing, he probably chose Naomi first because Eira is already fairly strong and Naomi is more shy and quiet." Lucia nods and closes her eyes enjoying the feeling of him stroking her hair,
"Well you do have a point there Azura..." Riketz stands directly in front of Naomi before he brings his claws together,
"Now then..." The black claws sink into his paws as the Zangoose closes his eyes and bows slightly, "I need to get a feel for the amount of power you have so I want you to destroy my substitute. The amount of time it takes you to do this will let me know." Riketz steps back and in a puff of smoke a doppelganger stands in his place, "It does not possess the speed I have and it will not use its claws to fight you. But it will be attacking and it will hurt, understand?" Naomi nods and takes a battle stance followed by Riketz smirking a tiny bit, "Good luck." Riketz disappears in a flash and reappears on the roof leaning back against the house. Neo looks over to him with a questioning look,
"How is fighting a substitute going to help if it's not as strong as you?" Riketz glances over to the Umbreon and smirks,
"Doesn't have my speed or power but it has a quarter of my stamina. Angela holds the record of one hour to defeat it." Riketz lays back and closes his eyes, "Tell me when she's done." Neo simply looks at the Zangoose in disbelief,
"It takes an hour to damage you a fourth?!" Riketz chuckles folding his paws behind his head,
"I'm immortal Neo; I'm not going to lose any time soon." Neo nods and looks back down to Naomi as she fights the clone occasionally taking hits but dealing far more hits to it.
Vecransyh leans on the arm of his throne watching Asia who sits on the edge of the Spear Pillar dangling her feet off the edge as she usually does. Cresselia's crescent moon lies on the ground a little to the left of him, "The darkness is too much for her... she just needs a little push for it to take her completely." Vecransyh sits up and whistles, "Asia!" The Lucario girl hops up immediately and walks quickly to her master bowing,
"Yes master?"
"I have a new assignment for you but I want to wait and send one of my team with you when they return." Asia nods,
"May I ask what my assignment is?" Vecransyh nods and folds his hands,
"You did a good job killing Cresselia for me. When Giratina and the others return I want you to take one of them and go back to Canalave city. Once there I want you to find Darkrai. Attempt to recruit him to our side and if he refuses I want you to execute him understand?" Asia pauses, looking down as her eyes close,
"I will do as my master commands..." Vecransyh makes a dark smile as he lays a hand on her shoulder,
"How was your first experience of my power?" Asia finds herself taking a step back letting Vecransyh's hand leave her shoulder,
"I... I don't know... but... perhaps..." Vecransyh tilts his head a bit, "Seeing one of your team with me... wouldn't that give off a hostile feeling to Darkrai?" Vecransyh's eyes narrow,
"You want to go by yourself?" He watches as Asia slowly nods, "Very well Asia. If you wish to be alone when you confront Darkrai then you are to leave now. You've earned my trust." Asia bows again and turns, walking across the glass-like tiles towards the edge, "But Asia..." Asia turns back and catches a dark smirk on the Lord of Demons' face, "Do not fail me. The consequences are the same. Also if you are forced to execute him I want you to return with the cloak he wears." Asia nods to him without another word and casts herself from the tower running straight down the side,
"I will not fail you Master."
On Fullmoon Island Darkrai's eyes remain closed as he floats in front of a grave. A small stone sits behind the disturbed earth that reads: 'Here lays the Pokemon of dreams; Cresselia'. Darkrai's fists clench as tears softly run down his face dropping to the ground in soft splashes. He pauses for a moment, calming himself, before his eyes open again and he looks up at the sky, "I will stay with you in life and we shall be reunited in death my love... I swear this... I will have my revenge."
Riketz awakens from a light kicking into his side from Ceri, who stands over him, "Wake up Fluffy." Riketz narrows his eyes and stands up glaring at her,
"Don't call me Fluffy... ever." Ceri chuckles and pats him on the head,
"But you're just so cute I could just hug you!"
Naomi leaps back as Ceri lands on the ground in front of her on her back and the Lucarion stands up cracking her back as she looks up at Riketz still on the roof with a grin, "Message received!" Riketz leaps from the roof and lands on his feet walking over to Naomi,
"Two and a half hours... not bad Naomi. It's time to begin your real training now." He looks over to Ceri and shoos her with his claws. She sticks her tongue out at him as she walks away and Riketz looks back to the Latios girl, "Ten minute break before we train. You look a little run down from your fight." Naomi nods happily and heads inside the house while Riketz sits down and begins to meditate.
Azura looks over to him from the porch and tilts his head a little, "I wonder what he thinks about when he's like that?" Lucia looks up at him with a smile and shrugs,
"Everyone wants to read someone's mind at some time... but Riketz is really mysterious. You could ask him if you want to know." Azura looks back over to Riketz and shakes his head,
"It's clear that he's not an open Pokemon. The last thing I want to do is make him mad." Lucia giggles and snuggles into his lap,
"I think you're just scared Azura." The Floatzel raises an eyebrow and pokes her in the forehead as he smirks,
"Oh? So how about you go over there and ask him?" Lucia shifts her eyes back and forth before poking Azura in the stomach,
"But then I couldn't be here laying on you..." Azura looks up as Naomi appears from inside the house and she sits down next to them letting out a slow breath,
"That was an ordeal... his substitute just wouldn't break!" Azura lifts his paw and points over to the Zangoose,
"Well you still have to fight him for the real training." Naomi cracks her back as she laughs to herself,
"Yeah, don't remind me." She stands up and looks down at him, "Well I'm sure it won't be that difficult. I learned a lot from just fighting his substitute." She looks to Lucia, "You'll do fine Lucia." Lucia nods to her and Naomi walks away from them and over to Riketz, "I'm back." He slowly stands as his claws come out,
"You know the rules. Fight till you no longer can or until you land a hit." Naomi nods as she goes into a battle stance,
"I'm ready." Riketz grins and spins around lunging at her and the Latios girl bends over backwards avoiding the strike and throws her leg up in a kick. Riketz leaps forward and comes down hard thrusting his foot into her stomach making her hit the ground hard. She unleashes a Dragon Pulse from her mouth and Riketz leaps to the side avoiding it,
"You're a fast one." He watches as she gets up and he runs forward. Naomi leaps back to avoid his slash and pivots springing forward and throws a punch towards him. Riketz throws his arm out and grabs her by the wrist swinging her around and he throws her up into the air. He throws his arms up and sends two spheres of energy up at her. Naomi's eyes widen and she throws her arms up to protect herself from much of the impending explosions. The spheres hit her and explode causing her to disappear in a cloud of black smoke. Naomi hits the ground with a thud and Riketz charges another Aura Sphere walking over to her as he holds it out, "Checkmate." Her body suddenly disappears in a puff of white smoke and Naomi drops from the black cloud of smoke above them. Riketz's eyes widen as a fist impacts his head and standing right in front of him, breathing hard, is Naomi,
"I win." Riketz blinks a few times as the sphere in his claws disappears and he steps back looking up at her,
"Well done Naomi." He then bows to her with a smile, "Your training is complete." Naomi smiles to him and nods,
"Thank you for everything Riketz. I will use your training well." Riketz watches as she walks away and back into the house giving high-fives to Azura and Lucia,
"She has a gift for substitutes... I couldn't tell the difference." He rubs his head and growls to himself, "She has a lot of strength too..."
The next day Eira stands in front of Riketz with a serious look on her face. She had taken the last two hours defeating Riketz's Substitute and was now ready to fight him, "Two hours isn't bad Eira. It means your attacks have more power then Naomi's but that does not mean you are stronger then her. For a warrior to succeed they must have a balance of speed, power and defense. Now..." He smirks and readies his claws, "Come at me!" Riketz's eyes flash as Eira runs towards him firing an Ice Beam at him. Riketz dodges to the side and throws a Shadow Ball that explodes on contact making the Froslass groan in displeasure. She shakes it off and shoots another Ice Beam from her mouth while she throws duel Shadow Balls at the Zangoose.
Riketz pauses as his claws spark silver and he grabs the two spheres in his hands bending over backwards to avoid the incoming Ice Beam. He brings the two Shadow Balls together and they form into a much larger one before he throws it back at her. Eira's eyes widen and she throws her arms out blasting the sphere with Sheer Cold causing it to explode mid-flight. She throws her arms forward again letting another blast of freezing cold air rocket towards Riketz and he growls slamming his claws into the ground before he digs down into the earth disappearing from the field.
Eira looks around slowly as her feet leave the ground and she holds two Shadow Balls in her hands, "Come out Riketz!" She floats over to the hole he had created moments ago and throws both of the ghostly spheres into it causing an explosion to fly down the tunnel towards the Zangoose. He suddenly bursts from the ground and Eira's eyes widen when an Aura Sphere explodes on her back forcing her to let out a cry of pain. Riketz smirks and forms another in his claws as he walks over to Eira, who has fallen to her knees reeling from the explosion,
"Are you giving up? Is the pain too much?" She glares at him and brings her hand up throwing another Sheer Cold towards him but its much smaller and stops before it makes it to him. Her hand touches the ground again as her sweat splashes against the earth. Riketz smiles and throws a second sphere into her back forcing her to collapse to the ground with another cry of pain.
On the sidelines Aticus stands up with a growl but looks down as Yakira grabs his cloak and shakes her head, "Just watch." Aticus growls and sits back down as Riketz stands over his half-sister,
"You have not yet learned one of the most important things that there is to know about battle. You cannot always win and sometimes it is best to retreat instead of continue. A perfect example would be you heeding my offer to give up instead of trying another attack." He runs the back of his claws over her burns and they slowly heal, "You are dismissed Eira." The Froslass picks herself up and dusts the dirt from her dress, her eyes staying fixed upon the Zangoose,
"Tell me... how many students have you had?" Riketz sheathes his claws as he looks at her,
"I have taught sixty-four people in my life. Two have succeeded in striking me. One is Naomi and the other is Angela. Twelve of my students died during training and all the rest were released." Eira's eyes widen at hearing this,
"How did they die?" Riketz closes his eyes and lets out a sigh,
"My normal training period consists of one year during which I pass on my fighting skills and once a week me and my student have a duel just like the one me and you just had. Whether they miss their families or not matters not to me because they are not allowed to leave until the training is complete. You see, it was not by my hand that they died. They took their own lives. Those who were dismissed still had my respect. They endured being beaten into unconsciousness every week and the other six days they endured my training." Eira looks down with a sigh,
"I can see how that would be hard on their minds..." Riketz simply nods and watches as Eira walks over to join her brother,
"A Lucarion... a hybrid of a Lucario and Umbreon... I am curious to see what traits were passed to her."
The following day Riketz now stands in front of Lucia with his arms folded while the Lucarion girl looks at the ground, "I have spoken to Luna about what I'm going to do with you and she has allowed me to go through with it." Lucia looks up at him with a slightly frightened look,
"W-what are you going to do?" Riketz looks at her seriously,
"Lucia, I know that fighting is the last thing you want to do. I know there are many people like you and I've come to understand that. People like you need a true reason to fight before your strength can be unlocked which is why I'm going to put you into a nightmare situation where you need to save someone you care about." Riketz lays his paw on her forehead and she collapses into a deep sleep. Riketz grins darkly as his eyes flash and Lucia slips away into a nightmare.
"Lucia!" Lucia stands alone in complete blackness and she looks around quickly when she hears the voice,
"A-Azura!? Where are you?!" She feels fear beginning to creep into her heart as she runs forward in the darkness. The darkness lifts a few moments later and she finds herself in a dark forest of trees. Azura comes into view shortly after and she gasps finding him tied to a tree and a Gengar stands in front of him with bloody claws. Azura has multiple bloody slashes on his body and he looks weakly at her as he coughs up blood,
"Lucia... get away from here!" She holds a paw to her chest as tears begin streaming down her face,
"I..." Azura lets out a cry of agony as the Gengar drives his claws deep into his stomach and curves his claws around his internal organs grinning darkly as he listens to the Floatzel's screams. Lucia's eyes grow wide with tears as she watches but then something sparks inside her and her heart skips a beat. She runs forward and throws a punch towards the Gengar with a pained roar only to be hit by a Shadow Punch that knocks her into a tree. She stands and runs forward again only to be blasted back by a Shadow Ball.
Azura slowly looks up at her as blood slides from his mouth down his front and Lucia stands back up holding her right arm, "I'm going to save you..." She throws her paws out to the sides as her body pulses and begins to billow with flames. She disappears in a flash and reappears behind the Gengar who turns only to be sent flying by a vicious blast of ghostly energy. Lucia growls as her red eyes glare at the standing Gengar as she rushes forward and begins throwing Aura Spheres into the Gengar watching with a dark hatred as they impact and horribly injure the ghost. She pins him to the ground with her paws on his chest and she watches as the Gengar explodes from the point-blank Shadow Force into his body.
Lucia slowly stands as her aura dies down and she turns back to Azura only to find his head slumped over forward. Her eyes grow wide as she runs over to him holding his head up as she cries, "No!! No you can't die!! Please!!" Azura smiles slightly as he lets out a strained breath,
"I'm so... proud of you Lucia..." A final breath escapes his mouth and Lucia shakes the bloody Floatzel as she cries loudly against him,
"Come back!! Please Azura come back to me!!"
Lucia's tear-streaked eyes shoot open as she lets out a gasp and she latches onto Riketz crying loudly into his fur, "I couldn't save him!! I... I wasn't..." Riketz lays his paws on her shoulders and pushes her off of him. He says nothing but points to the porch. Lucia follows his claw and her eyes widen when she sees Azura looking over at the two of them with a very confused look. She runs over to him and tackles him to the ground hugging him tightly as she cries into the confused Floatzel's fur. Riketz looks away from them with a slight smirk and walks away passing by Luna as he walks,
"She can use Shadow Force Luna." Luna turns and looks at him with a slightly surprised look,
"But how can she...?"
"Perhaps having your genes along with Stratos' allows her to use the attacks he hadn't unlocked? Her training is done. I've awoken the fire within her soul and she can fight now." He looks back to her,
"I'm leaving again to search for more survivors. I don't know when I'll return but I will." Luna looks back over to Azura trying to comfort Lucia,
"What did you make her see?" Riketz closes his eyes,
"Azura being close to disemboweled by a Gengar. She promptly killed it but Azura still died. I gave her a taste of both power and loss." He smirks, "I kept my end of the deal and brought the two of them closer." Luna nods with a grateful smile,
"A little unorthodox but it worked. We both got what we wanted." Riketz chuckles,
"Just doing my part Luna, goodbye." He disappears in a flash of silver and is gone. Luna walks back into the backyard area where everyone is as she smiles to herself,
("Once we change this future you'll get to meet your daughter. You'll be such a good father Stratos.")Chapter End Notes:My beta-reader's computer crashed and so this chapter will be revised in a few days or s