Story Notes:
This is the first posted edition of my story Luca.
Luca is a special riolu who is given to the trainer Felix. Meant for each other, the two endeavor to make the best of their lives together. However, what is life without trials to make bonds grow stronger?
Isn't Life Grand?
It was another two days until we reached the next town. Leo had insisted the first day out that we not turn around for him, even after I told him we weren't heading for a gym, but after that day he claimed his paws felt a little better.
Lady started to get a belly on her since we left the center, and both Leo and I helped Umbreon find some fresh berries for her during our trip. I was very proud of Umbreon, he was taking excellent care of Lady just like I knew he would, even though Lady could be quite difficult at times and didn't like being pampered this much, and while we were out Luca would keep Lady company... Which I still wasn't sure I liked...
Once we made it to the center Luca and I took Leo to see Nurse Joy, while Lady and Umbreon took a short rest in the lobby where many of the trainers came over to pet them and comment on how cool it was to see a Ninetails and an Umbreon and in such great condition. There were one or two young girls that passed by too, and saw that Lady was pregnant, they happily congratulated Lady through their praise. Neither Umbreon nor Lady minded the attention, and in fact I knew Lady loved it.
Meanwhile Luca and I had to explain our "situation" once again to the nurse since she wasn't the one we had gone to for Luca's pregnancy, but thankfully she didn't seem to care, and strangely enough it was as if she had heard it all before. She sat Leo down on a bed while Luca and I stood close by. She gently took his paw, and began carefully poking and prodding it in much the same way I had, though she knew what she was looking for. After a while she smiled and asked Leo to come with her. She motioned for us to follow and explained what she was doing along the way.
"I think I know what's causing his pain, and you're right it's because you're his father Felix. I'd like to take an X-Ray of him if you don't mind, just to be sure about my suspicion and to make sure everything else is alright." She explained calmly and kindly, and managing to worry Luca greatly, but I managed to speak first before she could go into her worried questionnaire with Joy.
"Alright. Thank you." I responded, and knelt down to Leo with Joy as she explained what she was going to have him do. At the end he looked over to me with a slightly scared look since he really had no idea what this "X-Ray" thing was.
"It's fine buddy, I've had a few done on me, there's nothing to worry about and this will help Joy figure out your pains." With my words Leo relaxed a bit and let Joy help him onto the machine.
Luca clutched at my arm when Leo was led into the examination room. "Felix... This isn't something to serious... is it...?" She asked nervously, which I assumed she was talking about both Leo's condition and about the machine.
"No. That machine has been in use for years. All it does is take a quick full body X-Ray of the person, it won't hurt him at all. And as for what's bothering him, Nurse Joy doesn't seem to think it's anything to serious, or I'm sure she would have said something by now." I explained calmly as I took her paw in my hand, rubbing my thumb over her fur as an added comfort to her.
Joy soon finished getting Leo ready and came back out to the control panel to start, giving one last reminder for Leo to hold still, she started the machine.
Poor Leo was terrified when the machine came to life with all the noise one would expect from a large piece of hospital equipment. He was lying flat on a bed, but he no doubt felt like he was on a slab being offered to Arceus. A big ring began to move from the foot of the bed and slowly passed him by, stopping at the end and making one last pass to return to its original place and shut down.
"Alright Leo you can come back out here." Joy said over the small speaker system in the room, and Leo quickly hopped off the table to exit the room, walking at a somewhat faster pace than he usually did...
As he exited Luca was waiting for him. Leo gave her a quick hug before the two of them came over with me and Joy, though Leo did something I rarely saw from him. He held his mothers paw as they walked over, and when they stopped with us he stood in front of her with her paws on his shoulders.
I was touched, but it made me realize just how scared Leo was at the moment. After looking at the two of them I turned back to Nurse Joy's results to see if I could decipher anything. When she was done I stopped trying to figure the confusing things out and joined Luca, putting my arm around her while Nurse Joy began explaining.
"Well I was right. Here take a look." She began as she brought a printout of Leo's paw X-Ray over for us to see. "You see Leo is developing fingers, like his father. I find it odd that this would happen now, but pokemon do mature different from humans with their evolution cycle. But other than this I don't see anything else that would harm him." She continued kindly, and when she finished I saw Luca rub Leo's shoulders lightly as they both relaxed, and I didn't want to worry them more but I had to ask something else.
"Joy. Would you know if Leo will evolve or just grow into a Lucario?" I asked sincerely.
"Well it's not very well known but Riolu without a trainer will grow into Lucario. However not many have been found in the wild so it's hard to study them. Leo however is different, he relies solely on his growth because of his human side, if he "evolves" I would be very surprised, and because pokemon mature so much quicker to survive, he has grown very rapidly. If you remember humans sometimes experience growing pains and growth spurts, I believe this is what Leo is going through more or less. Here let me show you something." She explained as calmly as before, again it was as if she had seen such a thing before. She led us over to the X-Ray machine and had us look at the screen, on which was Leo's complete scan. She pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on Leo's chest area, which had a rather strange circle in the center of it. "You see this? I believe it's his chest spike beginning to form, since the same pattern shows up where his steel wrist pads are now."
"Joy if you don't mind me asking... How are you so sure of this?" I asked with a concerned tone when she paused to give us the opportunity to respond.
"Well...! I..." She stuttered at my question, her confident air from before now shattering like glass. She blushed as she continued but now much more nervously, and unable to look either me or Luca in the eye. "You're not the only human pokemon pair I've seen... Most of my family doesn't like the subject... but... I don't mind it... I can understand... well... what happened to you... and why should love be restricted to humans...?"
"Thank you Joy. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable I was just wondering why you seemed to know exactly what was happening to Leo. The way you talked I was afraid you had seen... too many bad cases..." I said, trying to explain myself and to show her I really didn't mind, I just wanted to know why she seemed so casual when everyone else wouldn't talk to me about it.
"Oh... No no! I didn't mean to sound like that! I sometimes get so comfortable talking about this I forget that I worry who I'm talking to by treating the topic so casually." She replied, regaining herself and taking a more friendly tone than when we first met her. "I've seen quite a few couples, both with human-like pokemon and even with species like your Ninetails. Most of the other Joy's don't see things the way I do and whenever they suspect something they covertly send the trainer to me or call me, but some don't mind it to much and will try helping the trainer themselves. It's rather odd that you found me without an invitation and with your problem, but I assure you Leo is fine. He has no other abnormal skeletal qualities and as far as I can tell he's growing like a normal Riolu."
All I could do was stand with Luca and listen to Joy whom, now that we got her talking casually, was very talkative. Despite this it was a great comfort to hear that she though Leo was fine and developing normally considering his situation.
"Thank you Joy, I'm glad to hear it. When Leo showed us we didn't know what to think. I only have a few more questions. Will he end up with five fingers? He only has three pads at the moment..." I asked casually, now that I knew Joy was sympathetic to our entire situation.
"From the X-Ray I think he will have five fingers. And I'm sorry to say it will be painful for him for a while, until his pads separate that is..." She said remorsefully, looking down at Leo sadly.
"Isn't there anything you can do for him? To make it easier...?" Luca sadly chimed in as she held Leo tighter. Leo however was simply standing by listening, though from how he held himself I could tell he was still nervous.
"Yes... come to thing of it. Pokemon medicine has a lot of remedies nowadays. Now I don't know how well this will work for your situation but this... may help, and if it doesn't I'd try a human pain reliever but be careful if you try that." Joy said with confidence as she looked around and found a pack labeled "Pokemon pain reliever."
"You and your family never cease to amaze me Joy... Thanks again." I replied happily as she handed me the package with a smile.
"Not a problem. If I'm not mistaken your Ninetails is pregnant right? Did you want me to check her condition?" She continued in her casual friendly tone.
"If you wouldn't mind, and I think Umbreon would like to be with her, also if you wouldn't mind." I said happily as Luca and Leo joined Joy and I to walk out of the room now that we had our answers. Joy giggled and agreed to what I thought my companions would want and of course I was right. After she checked Lady out and found nothing wrong she got us a room where we settled down after eating out for a change.
Over the next three and a half weeks we gradually headed back towards home, arriving a week before Lady's expected due date and relaxing for a while after our trip.
Along the way Tarzan evolved into a Luxray, and Leo continued to grow. Joy's remedy worked wonders and Leo's pains rarely bothered him after that day, but even when we made it home his paws hadn't completely matured. His pads had separated gradually and he now had five fingers, but he still complained somewhat of his pads hurting which I attested to how his fingers bent, and figured it would take some time before the pads on his fingers separated into sections to allow him to bend them comfortably. His fur also began to change color gradually, and both Luca and I only noticed it when he was lying next to her one night. As Joy expected his chest spike began to emerge shortly after our visit, as his wrist pads followed suit and began growing into dull spikes. In addition to all of this his ears had started to get longer and his facial features also continued to change, so much so that by the time we made it home my mother hardly recognized him, and at first she thought I had found yet another Lucario to join me. Leo laughed at first and played the part of a new addition just to tease my mother, and when she figured it out he laughed as she threatened to get him back.
Of course I would never forget my mate's birthday although I had a much harder time finding something I thought she would like. Since we were home when the day came I quietly got out of bed that morning and made her breakfast while she slept in. She woke up before I came back upstairs, but as luck would have it I had just finished her meal. She tiredly came down the stairs saying, "Felix...? Where'd you go?" Sadly, wondering why I hadn't woken her since we almost never left each others company unless something was wrong. As she made it to the bottom of the stairs she looked into the living room as I came up behind her.
"I'm right here honey." I said happily which got her to turn around quickly in surprise, but when she saw I was holding a tray for her she smiled and said, "You didn't have to do this..."
"I know but I wanted to surprise you." I replied cheerfully and walked past her to the living room where I set her breakfast down and went to get my less impressive meal and sat down with her.
The rest of the day was very nice. I tried pampering Luca as much as I could but she didn't let me go overboard, and when I asked her what she wanted to do for the day she came up with a wonderful idea.
"How about we spend some time and I teach you some more wave guidance?" She said happily, which I agreed to as long as it was what she wanted. It was something we hadn't done in quite a long time, though I practiced what she had already taught me whenever I could.
When it got late we stopped and went inside. Luca didn't care whether I got her anything or not, and wasn't expecting anything, though she knew I most likely wouldn't let the day end without giving her something. Of course she was right and I had again covertly gotten her something on our way home. But what she didn't know was that Leo was in on it.
Later that night we were sitting on the couch watching TV when Leo came in with his mother's gift.
"Leo!? You didn't...!" She exclaimed as Leo smiled and handed her the package wrapped in blue paper and toped with a silver ribbon. She looked at the present then to Leo and finally to me with a happy smile.
"You two really shouldn't have." She said with a tear in her eye.
"You know we wouldn't forget mom. Open it!" Leo replied happily, hardly containing himself.
The only part that felt strange to me was that Luca was only two, and perhaps even stranger than that was that Leo was only a year and a half younger than his mother. But I didn't let it bother me, after all I didn't see a reason to let it. Luca was the love of my life and Leo was my son. What else mattered?
On Leo's plea Luca opened her present. She gasped when she saw what was inside among some tissue paper.
"I love it...! Thank you Leo!" She said as she pulled out an elaborate blue and gold choker with a few small rubies embedded in its design. She hugged Leo wile still holding it, and once she released him she asked me to put it on for her, since her paws couldn't effectively work the clasp. I smiled as Leo did when she hugged him and helped her put it on.
"How do I look?" She asked happily, once I had it on.
"You look beautiful mom!" Leo replied and, "Gorgeous..." Was all I could say.
She hugged and kissed Leo again before doing the same to me and leaning on me for the rest of the night.
And so things continued until Lady had her puppies, though none of us had to help her at all besides bringing her and Umbreon something to eat. Umbreon took everything upon himself and was with her the entire time we were home. When the time finally came we left the two of them essentially alone, though we were waiting in the next room if they needed us.
When it was all over Umbreon let us know and told us that Lady wanted us to see them. Despite being exhausted Lady raised her head to see us come in, but remained where she was to let her newborn pups nurse. Luca, my mother and Leo immediately knelt down to get a closer look, while I stood beside Umbreon not far behind them.
"Well how's it feel?" I asked him quietly, which got him to perk his ears and look at me happily.
"Incredible." Was his tired response, but as before I only heard, "Bree." I smiled back and scratched him behind the ears, somehow knowing what he meant.
Once the girls and Leo had told Lady how happy they were and how adorable her pups were they backed up a little to let me have a look. I came up near Lady's head and knelt down while Umbreon stayed beside me and nuzzled his exhausted mate.
The pups were now curled up warmly with their mother, two little Eevee girls and a male Vulpix. The two sisters had curled up together and their brother tried to stay close to both of them. Once I had gotten a look Lady brought her soft tails around to cover them and keep them warm. She still had her head raised and was looking at me now, so I gently placed my hand on the side of her head and kissed her on the forehead, rubbing her lightly when I was finished. She whined happily and gave me a lick on the cheek while I was still in reach.
"They're beautiful Lady, just like their mother... Congratulations." I said as I stood back up, getting a happy whine as she laid her head down on her tails, next to her hidden pups.
I took a step back to stand next to the girls as Umbreon took my place, giving Lady a lick and curling up beside her with his head next to hers. Once he was comfortable she nuzzled him lightly and fell asleep. Umbreon wasn't quite as tired, but he stayed still until he fell asleep some time later.
The rest of us left the two of them alone with their pups and returned to the living room to continue our conversation, but through the entire evening Luca stayed right beside me on the couch, leaning on me and occasionally nuzzling me, not that I was complaining of course, and I held her close as I talked with my mother. It seemed that even the sight of someone else's new kids made Luca amours.
While Luca had her love grip on me Miss Fuzztoes hoped into mom's lap for some attention, while Leo lay down on the floor, using Tarzan as a pillow, which, now that Tarzan was a Luxray, made him a rather large pillow... However Tarzan enjoyed doing this for Leo and remained where he was, silently enjoying the fact that he had out done his sister greatly in both size and power.
As it got later Luca started to doze off. Leo had fallen asleep on Tarzan, and Tarzan was purring as he slept with Leo. Mother had nearly fallen asleep herself so I carefully moved to get up which got Luca to wake up enough to stand with me and accompany me to our room after I told my mother good night. Luca and I enjoyed sleeping alone for a change, though over the past few months Leo had taken to sleeping with Tarzan more than Luca and I.
My sister showed up two days after Lady had her pups. Mother had told her the news while I was still traveling and she too began making her way home once she knew the date Lady was expecting.
Latias was very excited to see us again and gave both Luca and I a hug and a kiss in her human form. When she saw Leo however she turned to look at Kail who was just getting in the door. Once she saw Kail she looked back to Leo with a confused look for a second before her eyes lit up and she tackled Leo to the ground, hugging and nuzzling him silently. Leo hit the ground with an "Oof" but wasn't hurt, and he wrapped his arms around Latias as he told her he was glad to see her again through his laughs.
Kail walked in beside Ashley and both of them laughed at the site of Latias wrestling with Leo. It appeared that Kail was getting along great with my sister and from the way he carried himself he seemed much more relaxed than when we left him. We exchanged greetings, but Kail remained happy and silent for the time being as Ashley quickly asked where Lady and Umbreon were. I smiled and told her to follow me as I headed towards my parents room where Lady had her puppies.
Ashley immediately bent down and pet Lady, who had raised her head at the sound of visitors. Lady enjoyed the attention and moved her tails so my sister and Kail could see her pups.
Umbreon had gone out for a short time to try finding some berries for Lady as a change of pace, and came back as we were leaving. Ashley knelt down and gave him a hug, which surprised Umbreon but he managed a nuzzle back even though he was holding three berries in his mouth. We again left the two of them alone for the time being and exchanged stories amongst ourselves while finding things to do around the house.
Luca took the time to talk with Kail alone and see how things were going, and told me about it later that night as we were going to bed. From what she said Kail couldn't be happier and had indeed relaxed greatly since we last saw him. Meanwhile Latias and Leo headed outside to play, although it wasn't quite as simple as it used to be.
When Luca and I realized the two of them hadn't come back in a while we went outside to look for them. As we came out Latias's shadow flew by in front of us. We followed it to the back yard and saw Latias land and tip her wing to allow Leo to climb off her back before she reassumed her human guise.
Luca immediately yelled, "What were you two doing?!" in a confused and slightly worried tone. From what it looked like Latias was giving Leo a ride as she flew, which worried Luca since she didn't want either of them to get hurt.
"Latias just gave me a ride, she said she's done it a few times for Ashley! Mom you would not believe how awesome it is to fly!" Leo replied enthusiastically with Latias beside him, but Latias seemed tired and I suspected that it was hard for her to carry around someone near her own size, and far over her weight. I saw Luca was somewhat worried, but what Leo didn't know was that she already knew what flying felt like.
"Oh I know what it feels like...! I nearly got sick the first time I took a ride on Silka's flygon..." Luca said playfully, as her worried tone vanished, which only got a surprised look from both Leo and Latias.
"Mom you flew!? On a Flygon?!" Leo asked through his surprise, though he was frozen, unable to believe what his mother had just said.
"Yup, while your father and I were planning to destroy a Darkrai facility." Luca replied after a giggle. "There's quite a few stories that happened before you were born, that you don't know about." She continued, but despite Leo's intrigue she turned away teasingly and headed back towards the house. Leo looked to me but I only smiled and shrugged as I turned and followed Luca in, with Leo and Latias quickly falling in behind us and practically begging us to tell them about the stories they didn't know.
The rest of the day proceeded in much the same fashion, one happy event after the other, though one thing in particular caught both Luca and I off guard. Luca had talked with Kail but he hadn't revealed his and Ashley's new secret. When we rejoined them in the living room after finding Leo and Latias Kail was the first to speak up.
"Gave Leo a ride did you Latias?" He asked cheerfully, getting a playful smile from Latias and a snicker from Ashley as I got a wide eyed expression and focused on Kail.
"Wait! What?!" I asked as Kail gave me a taunting look.
"We thought you'd be able to understand me Felix..." Kail responded casually, and I looked over to Ashley with my bewildered look. She only laughed hysterically at how surprised I was and told me it happened in much the same way I had described Luca's realization. Though Kail's had happened just the day after we split up.
Luca looked at me with a confused look, she could already understand Kail and didn't realize what had happened until Kail said something. It was then that she snapped her attention to Kail to scold him.
"Kail!!! You didn't tell me you could use wave speech!!!?" She exclaimed in a playfully angry voice, but Kail only smiled happily at the fact that he now had an ability his legend had.
When we had finished sharing our experiences, we once again all found comfortable places to sleep, of course Luca and I went upstairs, Leo and Tarzan followed us but slept together on a temporary bed, but strangely enough Latias soon floated up the stairs and peaked around the corner. Leo caught a glimpse of her and asked if she wanted to sleep with him. Surprisingly though she didn't immediately fly over, instead she looked to Luca and I shyly. Since we hadn't noticed Leo asked if Latias could sleep upstairs that night.
At Leo's question I turned around to see Latias shrink back around the corner slightly. I hadn't expected her to be there but smiled warmly and told her it was alright, and with that she happily rushed to Leo, being her usual amorous self.
The only thing I found somewhat odd is that Kail wanted to sleep in Ashley's room on the floor next to her bed. I had never expected him to get so attached to my sister, let alone that he could use wave speech! It got me wondering just how close they were, but I knew my sister well and if Kail had gotten as close to her as Luca and I were I thought she would tell me. Especially since I was also the only one in our family that had a pokemon mate, which would make me a resident expert for her, even though I knew she would have come to me even if that weren't the case. But as I mentioned I trusted her to talk to me if she needed it and didn't worry myself with it further, after all she didn't need to be constantly taken care of any more.
My sister decided to stay at home for a while as well. She had won two more ribbons for the season bringing her to a total of three. Over the next few days Lady's pups continued to grow. After five days their eyes were open, their fur had grown in nicely, and they were walking around though it was still somewhat unsteady. The Eevee sisters seemed to enjoy playing with each other while their brother just liked to watch over them. Lady particularly enjoyed lying there with the three of them and once they could walk on their own she would play with them using her tails. The Eevee sisters would haphazardly pounce on the furry appendages, and most times they would fall over cutely until they became more aware of their own feet.
Vulpix on the other hand wouldn't chase Lady's tails, he would sit there watching his sisters until Lady started poking him with a tail, which is when he would spin quickly to try catching her in the act, and if he did he would playfully swipe at her. Occasionally he would fall over and Lady would tickle his belly before he could get up. This was the only time I actually saw him play, as he would wrestle fervently with Lady's tail trying to "beat" it.
Though Lady loved lying there with her pups she was fully able to move around and the pups no longer needed constant attention from their mother. So she would occasionally get up to walk around, leaving the pups to play or sleep happily with each other.
As was to be expected, Umbreon still spent all his time with Lady and the pups. It was very sweet to watch, but it was also interesting to see how the pups developed. The two Eevee sisters were "Daddy's little girls" and often curled up with him, while Vulpix liked staying near his mother. Though it seemed they had split up into their species I seriously doubted it was meant that way. None the less it was a very sweet scene and it was hilarious to play with the pups. With how playful Latias was she absolutely loved entertaining the pups, but was always very careful not to get them hurt.
Luca and I preferred to watch and get a few laughs out of it but sometimes one of the Eevee sisters would leap on us and try biting us. It hurt slightly with their needle like teeth but we fought back and roughed the little girls up and they always ran off cheerfully to find one of the other siblings.
Ashley also enjoyed playing with the pups, and she was the first to realize something about Vulpix. He had a more golden color to his coat than the normal iron oxide color Vulpix's usually wore. It seemed he took after his father in at least one respect...
Since Luca had reminded me of her heat before we came home I had been thinking of ways to help her through it without letting the entire house know what was happening to her, especially since half the inhabitants had noses that would detect the change in her scent... The best thing I could come up with was for the two of us to take a short trip alone. That way I could "help" her out and both she and I could relax since no one would be around.
It was a week and a half after Lady had her pups that Leo first came to me with a question. He had managed to get away from playing with Latias and the pups for a moment to ask me shyly, "Dad... Is mom well... having her heat...?"
I was taken aback by this, and wondered why in the world Leo would ask me such a thing, which is when it hit me. She wasn't fully in her heat yet but her scent must have been changing slightly. 'Damn human nose...' I thought quickly to myself, wishing I had Leo's senses so I could have seen this coming. "She will be very soon. Why, is her scent different?" I replied sincerely and quietly as I put my hand on his shoulder to bring him closer, treating my son as an equal on the topic which got him to relax though at the same time it surprised the hell out of him.
"Ya... but if you knew...?" He continued with more of a casual tone.
"I didn't know. That was my best guess. I knew this would happen I really wish I had your nose. Thanks for telling me." I said as I looked past him to Luca, who wasn't acting the least bit different and was currently playing with the Eevee sisters. "Leo, would you be alright here if I took your mother on a trip till her heats over?" I continued sincerely, but not making it sound as if I were leaving him out of something without reason.
"Uhh... sure dad..." Was his response as he blushed lightly at the thought of what this trip was for.
"Ok, thanks again son, and don't tell your mother about this, she doesn't know I have something planned and she doesn't know her scents changing yet. I'm really sorry I have to ask you to ignore something like that, I know how intoxicating it can get for someone with your senses..." I finished and waited for a response before leaving Leo to get back to whatever he was doing.
"No problem dad I won't let it bother me... I just wanted to know..." Leo replied while still blushing. After that conversation I knew I had to take Luca on that trip soon. Leo was the only one I was worried about that wouldn't understand what I had planned and now that I knew he was alright with it I could surprise Luca.
Lady started to get a belly on her since we left the center, and both Leo and I helped Umbreon find some fresh berries for her during our trip. I was very proud of Umbreon, he was taking excellent care of Lady just like I knew he would, even though Lady could be quite difficult at times and didn't like being pampered this much, and while we were out Luca would keep Lady company... Which I still wasn't sure I liked...
Once we made it to the center Luca and I took Leo to see Nurse Joy, while Lady and Umbreon took a short rest in the lobby where many of the trainers came over to pet them and comment on how cool it was to see a Ninetails and an Umbreon and in such great condition. There were one or two young girls that passed by too, and saw that Lady was pregnant, they happily congratulated Lady through their praise. Neither Umbreon nor Lady minded the attention, and in fact I knew Lady loved it.
Meanwhile Luca and I had to explain our "situation" once again to the nurse since she wasn't the one we had gone to for Luca's pregnancy, but thankfully she didn't seem to care, and strangely enough it was as if she had heard it all before. She sat Leo down on a bed while Luca and I stood close by. She gently took his paw, and began carefully poking and prodding it in much the same way I had, though she knew what she was looking for. After a while she smiled and asked Leo to come with her. She motioned for us to follow and explained what she was doing along the way.
"I think I know what's causing his pain, and you're right it's because you're his father Felix. I'd like to take an X-Ray of him if you don't mind, just to be sure about my suspicion and to make sure everything else is alright." She explained calmly and kindly, and managing to worry Luca greatly, but I managed to speak first before she could go into her worried questionnaire with Joy.
"Alright. Thank you." I responded, and knelt down to Leo with Joy as she explained what she was going to have him do. At the end he looked over to me with a slightly scared look since he really had no idea what this "X-Ray" thing was.
"It's fine buddy, I've had a few done on me, there's nothing to worry about and this will help Joy figure out your pains." With my words Leo relaxed a bit and let Joy help him onto the machine.
Luca clutched at my arm when Leo was led into the examination room. "Felix... This isn't something to serious... is it...?" She asked nervously, which I assumed she was talking about both Leo's condition and about the machine.
"No. That machine has been in use for years. All it does is take a quick full body X-Ray of the person, it won't hurt him at all. And as for what's bothering him, Nurse Joy doesn't seem to think it's anything to serious, or I'm sure she would have said something by now." I explained calmly as I took her paw in my hand, rubbing my thumb over her fur as an added comfort to her.
Joy soon finished getting Leo ready and came back out to the control panel to start, giving one last reminder for Leo to hold still, she started the machine.
Poor Leo was terrified when the machine came to life with all the noise one would expect from a large piece of hospital equipment. He was lying flat on a bed, but he no doubt felt like he was on a slab being offered to Arceus. A big ring began to move from the foot of the bed and slowly passed him by, stopping at the end and making one last pass to return to its original place and shut down.
"Alright Leo you can come back out here." Joy said over the small speaker system in the room, and Leo quickly hopped off the table to exit the room, walking at a somewhat faster pace than he usually did...
As he exited Luca was waiting for him. Leo gave her a quick hug before the two of them came over with me and Joy, though Leo did something I rarely saw from him. He held his mothers paw as they walked over, and when they stopped with us he stood in front of her with her paws on his shoulders.
I was touched, but it made me realize just how scared Leo was at the moment. After looking at the two of them I turned back to Nurse Joy's results to see if I could decipher anything. When she was done I stopped trying to figure the confusing things out and joined Luca, putting my arm around her while Nurse Joy began explaining.
"Well I was right. Here take a look." She began as she brought a printout of Leo's paw X-Ray over for us to see. "You see Leo is developing fingers, like his father. I find it odd that this would happen now, but pokemon do mature different from humans with their evolution cycle. But other than this I don't see anything else that would harm him." She continued kindly, and when she finished I saw Luca rub Leo's shoulders lightly as they both relaxed, and I didn't want to worry them more but I had to ask something else.
"Joy. Would you know if Leo will evolve or just grow into a Lucario?" I asked sincerely.
"Well it's not very well known but Riolu without a trainer will grow into Lucario. However not many have been found in the wild so it's hard to study them. Leo however is different, he relies solely on his growth because of his human side, if he "evolves" I would be very surprised, and because pokemon mature so much quicker to survive, he has grown very rapidly. If you remember humans sometimes experience growing pains and growth spurts, I believe this is what Leo is going through more or less. Here let me show you something." She explained as calmly as before, again it was as if she had seen such a thing before. She led us over to the X-Ray machine and had us look at the screen, on which was Leo's complete scan. She pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on Leo's chest area, which had a rather strange circle in the center of it. "You see this? I believe it's his chest spike beginning to form, since the same pattern shows up where his steel wrist pads are now."
"Joy if you don't mind me asking... How are you so sure of this?" I asked with a concerned tone when she paused to give us the opportunity to respond.
"Well...! I..." She stuttered at my question, her confident air from before now shattering like glass. She blushed as she continued but now much more nervously, and unable to look either me or Luca in the eye. "You're not the only human pokemon pair I've seen... Most of my family doesn't like the subject... but... I don't mind it... I can understand... well... what happened to you... and why should love be restricted to humans...?"
"Thank you Joy. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable I was just wondering why you seemed to know exactly what was happening to Leo. The way you talked I was afraid you had seen... too many bad cases..." I said, trying to explain myself and to show her I really didn't mind, I just wanted to know why she seemed so casual when everyone else wouldn't talk to me about it.
"Oh... No no! I didn't mean to sound like that! I sometimes get so comfortable talking about this I forget that I worry who I'm talking to by treating the topic so casually." She replied, regaining herself and taking a more friendly tone than when we first met her. "I've seen quite a few couples, both with human-like pokemon and even with species like your Ninetails. Most of the other Joy's don't see things the way I do and whenever they suspect something they covertly send the trainer to me or call me, but some don't mind it to much and will try helping the trainer themselves. It's rather odd that you found me without an invitation and with your problem, but I assure you Leo is fine. He has no other abnormal skeletal qualities and as far as I can tell he's growing like a normal Riolu."
All I could do was stand with Luca and listen to Joy whom, now that we got her talking casually, was very talkative. Despite this it was a great comfort to hear that she though Leo was fine and developing normally considering his situation.
"Thank you Joy, I'm glad to hear it. When Leo showed us we didn't know what to think. I only have a few more questions. Will he end up with five fingers? He only has three pads at the moment..." I asked casually, now that I knew Joy was sympathetic to our entire situation.
"From the X-Ray I think he will have five fingers. And I'm sorry to say it will be painful for him for a while, until his pads separate that is..." She said remorsefully, looking down at Leo sadly.
"Isn't there anything you can do for him? To make it easier...?" Luca sadly chimed in as she held Leo tighter. Leo however was simply standing by listening, though from how he held himself I could tell he was still nervous.
"Yes... come to thing of it. Pokemon medicine has a lot of remedies nowadays. Now I don't know how well this will work for your situation but this... may help, and if it doesn't I'd try a human pain reliever but be careful if you try that." Joy said with confidence as she looked around and found a pack labeled "Pokemon pain reliever."
"You and your family never cease to amaze me Joy... Thanks again." I replied happily as she handed me the package with a smile.
"Not a problem. If I'm not mistaken your Ninetails is pregnant right? Did you want me to check her condition?" She continued in her casual friendly tone.
"If you wouldn't mind, and I think Umbreon would like to be with her, also if you wouldn't mind." I said happily as Luca and Leo joined Joy and I to walk out of the room now that we had our answers. Joy giggled and agreed to what I thought my companions would want and of course I was right. After she checked Lady out and found nothing wrong she got us a room where we settled down after eating out for a change.
Over the next three and a half weeks we gradually headed back towards home, arriving a week before Lady's expected due date and relaxing for a while after our trip.
Along the way Tarzan evolved into a Luxray, and Leo continued to grow. Joy's remedy worked wonders and Leo's pains rarely bothered him after that day, but even when we made it home his paws hadn't completely matured. His pads had separated gradually and he now had five fingers, but he still complained somewhat of his pads hurting which I attested to how his fingers bent, and figured it would take some time before the pads on his fingers separated into sections to allow him to bend them comfortably. His fur also began to change color gradually, and both Luca and I only noticed it when he was lying next to her one night. As Joy expected his chest spike began to emerge shortly after our visit, as his wrist pads followed suit and began growing into dull spikes. In addition to all of this his ears had started to get longer and his facial features also continued to change, so much so that by the time we made it home my mother hardly recognized him, and at first she thought I had found yet another Lucario to join me. Leo laughed at first and played the part of a new addition just to tease my mother, and when she figured it out he laughed as she threatened to get him back.
Of course I would never forget my mate's birthday although I had a much harder time finding something I thought she would like. Since we were home when the day came I quietly got out of bed that morning and made her breakfast while she slept in. She woke up before I came back upstairs, but as luck would have it I had just finished her meal. She tiredly came down the stairs saying, "Felix...? Where'd you go?" Sadly, wondering why I hadn't woken her since we almost never left each others company unless something was wrong. As she made it to the bottom of the stairs she looked into the living room as I came up behind her.
"I'm right here honey." I said happily which got her to turn around quickly in surprise, but when she saw I was holding a tray for her she smiled and said, "You didn't have to do this..."
"I know but I wanted to surprise you." I replied cheerfully and walked past her to the living room where I set her breakfast down and went to get my less impressive meal and sat down with her.
The rest of the day was very nice. I tried pampering Luca as much as I could but she didn't let me go overboard, and when I asked her what she wanted to do for the day she came up with a wonderful idea.
"How about we spend some time and I teach you some more wave guidance?" She said happily, which I agreed to as long as it was what she wanted. It was something we hadn't done in quite a long time, though I practiced what she had already taught me whenever I could.
When it got late we stopped and went inside. Luca didn't care whether I got her anything or not, and wasn't expecting anything, though she knew I most likely wouldn't let the day end without giving her something. Of course she was right and I had again covertly gotten her something on our way home. But what she didn't know was that Leo was in on it.
Later that night we were sitting on the couch watching TV when Leo came in with his mother's gift.
"Leo!? You didn't...!" She exclaimed as Leo smiled and handed her the package wrapped in blue paper and toped with a silver ribbon. She looked at the present then to Leo and finally to me with a happy smile.
"You two really shouldn't have." She said with a tear in her eye.
"You know we wouldn't forget mom. Open it!" Leo replied happily, hardly containing himself.
The only part that felt strange to me was that Luca was only two, and perhaps even stranger than that was that Leo was only a year and a half younger than his mother. But I didn't let it bother me, after all I didn't see a reason to let it. Luca was the love of my life and Leo was my son. What else mattered?
On Leo's plea Luca opened her present. She gasped when she saw what was inside among some tissue paper.
"I love it...! Thank you Leo!" She said as she pulled out an elaborate blue and gold choker with a few small rubies embedded in its design. She hugged Leo wile still holding it, and once she released him she asked me to put it on for her, since her paws couldn't effectively work the clasp. I smiled as Leo did when she hugged him and helped her put it on.
"How do I look?" She asked happily, once I had it on.
"You look beautiful mom!" Leo replied and, "Gorgeous..." Was all I could say.
She hugged and kissed Leo again before doing the same to me and leaning on me for the rest of the night.
And so things continued until Lady had her puppies, though none of us had to help her at all besides bringing her and Umbreon something to eat. Umbreon took everything upon himself and was with her the entire time we were home. When the time finally came we left the two of them essentially alone, though we were waiting in the next room if they needed us.
When it was all over Umbreon let us know and told us that Lady wanted us to see them. Despite being exhausted Lady raised her head to see us come in, but remained where she was to let her newborn pups nurse. Luca, my mother and Leo immediately knelt down to get a closer look, while I stood beside Umbreon not far behind them.
"Well how's it feel?" I asked him quietly, which got him to perk his ears and look at me happily.
"Incredible." Was his tired response, but as before I only heard, "Bree." I smiled back and scratched him behind the ears, somehow knowing what he meant.
Once the girls and Leo had told Lady how happy they were and how adorable her pups were they backed up a little to let me have a look. I came up near Lady's head and knelt down while Umbreon stayed beside me and nuzzled his exhausted mate.
The pups were now curled up warmly with their mother, two little Eevee girls and a male Vulpix. The two sisters had curled up together and their brother tried to stay close to both of them. Once I had gotten a look Lady brought her soft tails around to cover them and keep them warm. She still had her head raised and was looking at me now, so I gently placed my hand on the side of her head and kissed her on the forehead, rubbing her lightly when I was finished. She whined happily and gave me a lick on the cheek while I was still in reach.
"They're beautiful Lady, just like their mother... Congratulations." I said as I stood back up, getting a happy whine as she laid her head down on her tails, next to her hidden pups.
I took a step back to stand next to the girls as Umbreon took my place, giving Lady a lick and curling up beside her with his head next to hers. Once he was comfortable she nuzzled him lightly and fell asleep. Umbreon wasn't quite as tired, but he stayed still until he fell asleep some time later.
The rest of us left the two of them alone with their pups and returned to the living room to continue our conversation, but through the entire evening Luca stayed right beside me on the couch, leaning on me and occasionally nuzzling me, not that I was complaining of course, and I held her close as I talked with my mother. It seemed that even the sight of someone else's new kids made Luca amours.
While Luca had her love grip on me Miss Fuzztoes hoped into mom's lap for some attention, while Leo lay down on the floor, using Tarzan as a pillow, which, now that Tarzan was a Luxray, made him a rather large pillow... However Tarzan enjoyed doing this for Leo and remained where he was, silently enjoying the fact that he had out done his sister greatly in both size and power.
As it got later Luca started to doze off. Leo had fallen asleep on Tarzan, and Tarzan was purring as he slept with Leo. Mother had nearly fallen asleep herself so I carefully moved to get up which got Luca to wake up enough to stand with me and accompany me to our room after I told my mother good night. Luca and I enjoyed sleeping alone for a change, though over the past few months Leo had taken to sleeping with Tarzan more than Luca and I.
My sister showed up two days after Lady had her pups. Mother had told her the news while I was still traveling and she too began making her way home once she knew the date Lady was expecting.
Latias was very excited to see us again and gave both Luca and I a hug and a kiss in her human form. When she saw Leo however she turned to look at Kail who was just getting in the door. Once she saw Kail she looked back to Leo with a confused look for a second before her eyes lit up and she tackled Leo to the ground, hugging and nuzzling him silently. Leo hit the ground with an "Oof" but wasn't hurt, and he wrapped his arms around Latias as he told her he was glad to see her again through his laughs.
Kail walked in beside Ashley and both of them laughed at the site of Latias wrestling with Leo. It appeared that Kail was getting along great with my sister and from the way he carried himself he seemed much more relaxed than when we left him. We exchanged greetings, but Kail remained happy and silent for the time being as Ashley quickly asked where Lady and Umbreon were. I smiled and told her to follow me as I headed towards my parents room where Lady had her puppies.
Ashley immediately bent down and pet Lady, who had raised her head at the sound of visitors. Lady enjoyed the attention and moved her tails so my sister and Kail could see her pups.
Umbreon had gone out for a short time to try finding some berries for Lady as a change of pace, and came back as we were leaving. Ashley knelt down and gave him a hug, which surprised Umbreon but he managed a nuzzle back even though he was holding three berries in his mouth. We again left the two of them alone for the time being and exchanged stories amongst ourselves while finding things to do around the house.
Luca took the time to talk with Kail alone and see how things were going, and told me about it later that night as we were going to bed. From what she said Kail couldn't be happier and had indeed relaxed greatly since we last saw him. Meanwhile Latias and Leo headed outside to play, although it wasn't quite as simple as it used to be.
When Luca and I realized the two of them hadn't come back in a while we went outside to look for them. As we came out Latias's shadow flew by in front of us. We followed it to the back yard and saw Latias land and tip her wing to allow Leo to climb off her back before she reassumed her human guise.
Luca immediately yelled, "What were you two doing?!" in a confused and slightly worried tone. From what it looked like Latias was giving Leo a ride as she flew, which worried Luca since she didn't want either of them to get hurt.
"Latias just gave me a ride, she said she's done it a few times for Ashley! Mom you would not believe how awesome it is to fly!" Leo replied enthusiastically with Latias beside him, but Latias seemed tired and I suspected that it was hard for her to carry around someone near her own size, and far over her weight. I saw Luca was somewhat worried, but what Leo didn't know was that she already knew what flying felt like.
"Oh I know what it feels like...! I nearly got sick the first time I took a ride on Silka's flygon..." Luca said playfully, as her worried tone vanished, which only got a surprised look from both Leo and Latias.
"Mom you flew!? On a Flygon?!" Leo asked through his surprise, though he was frozen, unable to believe what his mother had just said.
"Yup, while your father and I were planning to destroy a Darkrai facility." Luca replied after a giggle. "There's quite a few stories that happened before you were born, that you don't know about." She continued, but despite Leo's intrigue she turned away teasingly and headed back towards the house. Leo looked to me but I only smiled and shrugged as I turned and followed Luca in, with Leo and Latias quickly falling in behind us and practically begging us to tell them about the stories they didn't know.
The rest of the day proceeded in much the same fashion, one happy event after the other, though one thing in particular caught both Luca and I off guard. Luca had talked with Kail but he hadn't revealed his and Ashley's new secret. When we rejoined them in the living room after finding Leo and Latias Kail was the first to speak up.
"Gave Leo a ride did you Latias?" He asked cheerfully, getting a playful smile from Latias and a snicker from Ashley as I got a wide eyed expression and focused on Kail.
"Wait! What?!" I asked as Kail gave me a taunting look.
"We thought you'd be able to understand me Felix..." Kail responded casually, and I looked over to Ashley with my bewildered look. She only laughed hysterically at how surprised I was and told me it happened in much the same way I had described Luca's realization. Though Kail's had happened just the day after we split up.
Luca looked at me with a confused look, she could already understand Kail and didn't realize what had happened until Kail said something. It was then that she snapped her attention to Kail to scold him.
"Kail!!! You didn't tell me you could use wave speech!!!?" She exclaimed in a playfully angry voice, but Kail only smiled happily at the fact that he now had an ability his legend had.
When we had finished sharing our experiences, we once again all found comfortable places to sleep, of course Luca and I went upstairs, Leo and Tarzan followed us but slept together on a temporary bed, but strangely enough Latias soon floated up the stairs and peaked around the corner. Leo caught a glimpse of her and asked if she wanted to sleep with him. Surprisingly though she didn't immediately fly over, instead she looked to Luca and I shyly. Since we hadn't noticed Leo asked if Latias could sleep upstairs that night.
At Leo's question I turned around to see Latias shrink back around the corner slightly. I hadn't expected her to be there but smiled warmly and told her it was alright, and with that she happily rushed to Leo, being her usual amorous self.
The only thing I found somewhat odd is that Kail wanted to sleep in Ashley's room on the floor next to her bed. I had never expected him to get so attached to my sister, let alone that he could use wave speech! It got me wondering just how close they were, but I knew my sister well and if Kail had gotten as close to her as Luca and I were I thought she would tell me. Especially since I was also the only one in our family that had a pokemon mate, which would make me a resident expert for her, even though I knew she would have come to me even if that weren't the case. But as I mentioned I trusted her to talk to me if she needed it and didn't worry myself with it further, after all she didn't need to be constantly taken care of any more.
My sister decided to stay at home for a while as well. She had won two more ribbons for the season bringing her to a total of three. Over the next few days Lady's pups continued to grow. After five days their eyes were open, their fur had grown in nicely, and they were walking around though it was still somewhat unsteady. The Eevee sisters seemed to enjoy playing with each other while their brother just liked to watch over them. Lady particularly enjoyed lying there with the three of them and once they could walk on their own she would play with them using her tails. The Eevee sisters would haphazardly pounce on the furry appendages, and most times they would fall over cutely until they became more aware of their own feet.
Vulpix on the other hand wouldn't chase Lady's tails, he would sit there watching his sisters until Lady started poking him with a tail, which is when he would spin quickly to try catching her in the act, and if he did he would playfully swipe at her. Occasionally he would fall over and Lady would tickle his belly before he could get up. This was the only time I actually saw him play, as he would wrestle fervently with Lady's tail trying to "beat" it.
Though Lady loved lying there with her pups she was fully able to move around and the pups no longer needed constant attention from their mother. So she would occasionally get up to walk around, leaving the pups to play or sleep happily with each other.
As was to be expected, Umbreon still spent all his time with Lady and the pups. It was very sweet to watch, but it was also interesting to see how the pups developed. The two Eevee sisters were "Daddy's little girls" and often curled up with him, while Vulpix liked staying near his mother. Though it seemed they had split up into their species I seriously doubted it was meant that way. None the less it was a very sweet scene and it was hilarious to play with the pups. With how playful Latias was she absolutely loved entertaining the pups, but was always very careful not to get them hurt.
Luca and I preferred to watch and get a few laughs out of it but sometimes one of the Eevee sisters would leap on us and try biting us. It hurt slightly with their needle like teeth but we fought back and roughed the little girls up and they always ran off cheerfully to find one of the other siblings.
Ashley also enjoyed playing with the pups, and she was the first to realize something about Vulpix. He had a more golden color to his coat than the normal iron oxide color Vulpix's usually wore. It seemed he took after his father in at least one respect...
Since Luca had reminded me of her heat before we came home I had been thinking of ways to help her through it without letting the entire house know what was happening to her, especially since half the inhabitants had noses that would detect the change in her scent... The best thing I could come up with was for the two of us to take a short trip alone. That way I could "help" her out and both she and I could relax since no one would be around.
It was a week and a half after Lady had her pups that Leo first came to me with a question. He had managed to get away from playing with Latias and the pups for a moment to ask me shyly, "Dad... Is mom well... having her heat...?"
I was taken aback by this, and wondered why in the world Leo would ask me such a thing, which is when it hit me. She wasn't fully in her heat yet but her scent must have been changing slightly. 'Damn human nose...' I thought quickly to myself, wishing I had Leo's senses so I could have seen this coming. "She will be very soon. Why, is her scent different?" I replied sincerely and quietly as I put my hand on his shoulder to bring him closer, treating my son as an equal on the topic which got him to relax though at the same time it surprised the hell out of him.
"Ya... but if you knew...?" He continued with more of a casual tone.
"I didn't know. That was my best guess. I knew this would happen I really wish I had your nose. Thanks for telling me." I said as I looked past him to Luca, who wasn't acting the least bit different and was currently playing with the Eevee sisters. "Leo, would you be alright here if I took your mother on a trip till her heats over?" I continued sincerely, but not making it sound as if I were leaving him out of something without reason.
"Uhh... sure dad..." Was his response as he blushed lightly at the thought of what this trip was for.
"Ok, thanks again son, and don't tell your mother about this, she doesn't know I have something planned and she doesn't know her scents changing yet. I'm really sorry I have to ask you to ignore something like that, I know how intoxicating it can get for someone with your senses..." I finished and waited for a response before leaving Leo to get back to whatever he was doing.
"No problem dad I won't let it bother me... I just wanted to know..." Leo replied while still blushing. After that conversation I knew I had to take Luca on that trip soon. Leo was the only one I was worried about that wouldn't understand what I had planned and now that I knew he was alright with it I could surprise Luca.
Chapter End Notes:
Yes the next chapter will continue where this left off... ;>.>