Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other show/book/movie/etc I might mention in this story. This is purely made for entertainment purposes and I will not gain any profit from using said copyrighted material.

Chapter 4: Second Chance

A flock of Starly flew above Tangi and Flint as they walked the twisted path of Route 202. Tangi was worried when they came across their first trainer, but Flint stayed the same the whole time and they won with little difficulty. 'Maybe it passed... No, Professor Rowan said it could be genetic... But what triggers it?' As they walked and Tangi pondered on this, Flint tugged on his shorts. He looked down at the fire-type. "What is it boy?" Then Tangi heard the stream ahead and chuckled a bit. "Okay, climb on up." He did so then nudged Tangi's face playfully. The pair laugh together as they finished walking the last stretch of the road, coming just south of Jubilife City.

In a darken room, it stirred. It opened its eyes and began to take in the environment around it. It closed its eyes again to try to sense around it only to find its inner vision was blurred. "What's wrong with me...?" The door clicked open, causing it to turn its head to the light coming from the outside of the room. A young girl walked in, startled to see the Pokémon awake. It tried to rise up from its bed, but she ran over to it.

"No no no! Sorry, but you need to stay in bed! You're not well enough!" She pushed it back down into a laying position as gentle as she could while still appearing stern.

"Hmm, sorry," he replied in a deep but gentle male voice. He took one more look around the room. "Exactly where am I?"

"The Pokémon Center... I found you in an alley way in town." He closed his eyes, trying to remember the events that took place before the girl had supposedly found him. He remembered an alley, but nothing before that. "I see..."

'What was I doing there?' "Oh, sorry," he said realizing he spaced out on her.
She shook her head at him.

"Don't be. You just go back to sleep and you should be fine." He nodded and closed his eyes. She walked to the door and closed it just slightly. She stared back at the bed, nodded, and whispered, "Good night, Lucario." With that, the light disappeared from the room.

"Charmander..."

"You said it Flint..." Despite the fact that Tangi had been to Jubilife many times in his life, it still shocked him how big the city seemed to grow each time he visited. While he was gawking away at the view, Flint decided to jump over from hanging on his right shoulder to standing on both of them almost causing Tangi to lose balance. He took a moment to regain his posture. Tangi chuckled. "Comfortable?"

Flint grinned and patted him on the head. "Charmander char!"

"Ahahah! And to think only a few days back you were a crybaby!" Flint bit down onto the crown of Tangi's head. "Ow! Ow! OW! I'm sorry, okay?! Cut that out!" He pried the lizard off his head with a sigh. "Man, you better not have rabies or something... Oh, almost forgot!" He placed him on the ground and pulled out his PokéDex. "I still gotta register for the Sinnoh League!" Tangi looked around and spotted just the sign he wanted to find; the one pointing towards the PokéCenter. "Okay, you've gotta go into the ball for a bit Flint." He pulled if off his belt, pressed the return button then replaced it as he broke into a run for the center.

Lucario tossed in his sleep, dreaming of familiar terrains. He was looking for someone... someone dear to him. He finally located him in a town, a trainer; his trainer.

~"Sir, I've returned." The boy's face looked shocked at the fact the Lucario before him was speaking proper English.

"What?" Though the Lucario's head was tilted downward, he could sense the boy was mildly confused.

"I finished training like you wanted, sir." Lucario was kneeling to his trainer. He was with this trainer for a short time after hatching into a Riolu, due mainly because of his inexperience with Aura causing his master to become upset with him daily. But one day, the trainer came to him with an offer...

-"Tell you what Riolu," he started. "You stay here on this mountain to train. They say solitude is key to making one stronger. Once you learn to control your Aura powers, use them to find me. After that, we can travel again. Sound good?" He grinned when Riolu nodded. "Then it's settled! Best of luck!" With that, the boy departed.

A month passed. During that time, Riolu had force-evolved when he nearly died from falling down a ledge. As a Lucario, he found it much easier to control his powers. He also had met a hiker that enjoyed to spar his Pokémon against this stray fighter; somehow picking up English from him and getting a basic grasp of it. Excited, he began his search for his master at once while practicing his speech. This proved helpful since most trainers would try to capture him since he was nowhere near the native grounds where Lucarios live.-

The silence made him feel uneasy, so he chose to continue. "Sir? You will keep your promise, won-"

"Oh, you're that Riolu I ditched." Lucario's eyes widened; the human laughing now.

"Wow, I can't believe you evolved much less learned to talk! Amazing! But too bad I replaced the sorry excuse of a spot I had for you the second I got off that rock! Care to meet him?" He tossed a Pokéball into the air, causing it to release the 'mon inside; a Tyranitar. With a grin similar to the one he gave Lucario on the mountain, he shouted his orders. "Tyranitar, Metal Claw!" Lucario had enough time to block the first hit, but the second landed; knocking him into the air. "Now, Hyper Beam!"~

And with that, Lucario woke.

"Thank you for waiting," Nurse Joy had announced while carrying Flint's Pokéball. Your Charmander is perfectly fine, and here's your PokéDex back. I was able to successfully register you for the Sinnoh League. Though, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't Professor Rowan do this for you?"

"Uh..." 'Oh shit...' Tangi said the only excuse he could think of at the time, "I was in such a rush to get to the first gym I just thought he did that already. Then I got a phone call..."

Nurse Joy giggled. "I see. Most trainers do that a lot. Oh, before I forget." She started to rummage under her desk, pulling out a rectangular case. "This is your badge case. You can either make your way and fight in a tournament to face the Elite Four, or, after collecting all eight badges, you can challenge them directly."

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" He smiled and turned from the counter, tossing his Pokéball into the air. "C'mon out Flint!" A flash of light and suddenly Flint was running around Tangi's feet. He bent over and grabbed the eager lizard. "Flint, this is another PokéCenter. You didn't get a proper explanation last time we were at one, but here is where all the sick Pokémon come or people that want to lodge here when no hotels are in the area." Leaning in closer he whispered, "Or if you're cheap like I am and wanna stay somewhere for dirt-nothing." Flint let out a cheerful cry before squirming his way out of Tangi's grasp. He landed with a bump then started to sniff around the room, but never went too far from his trainer.

"Oh! Tangi! Hiya!" Everyone turned to the source of the voice, only to spot Rebecca standing there in her blue shirt and ugly blue-silver skirt. Tangi groaned to himself as she walked forward. "Geez, try not to sound too happy to see me." She giggled and turned to Flint. "Hiya Flint!" She reached out to him. Tangi was scared that his 'mon would try to roast her like Flint tried to when anyone went to pick him as his partner back at the lab, but he just laughed as she bounced him.

"Huh. I thought a replay of what occurred at the lab was going to happen," Tangi confessed.

"Oh no, he was nice to me but I liked Bruce more," Reb replied as she placed him on the counter.

"Hmm..." Tangi looked over at Flint. With a smirk showing on his face, he waved his hand towards him and said, "Got a thing for girls do ya? You little per-" his sentence cut off with a quick chomp from Flint around his right hand he was waving. Panicking, Tangi started to frail around trying to shake off the death grip his 'friend' had on him.

"Ahahah! You two are so hilarious, ya know?" Reb was laughing away at the scene while Nurse Joy was wondering if she should be laughing or helping Tangi. He finally freed his hand (due mainly to Flint becoming dizzy from being shaken so much.)

"Man, I'm going to have scars everywhere before we get our first badge," he moaned while wearing a pouting face. Tangi then turned to Reb, having her being here finally register. "Say, what're ya doing here anyway?"

"Oh, that's right!" She turned to Nurse Joy and continued. "I just checked on him. He was awake, but I got him to lay back down again." Nurse Joy nodded. Tangi felt left out of something that seemed to be major.

"Who? Bruce?"

"No! I'd never get my Brucie hurt!" she shouted in an offended tone.

"... Brucie?" Reb nodded at the two, cueing both Tangi and Flint to start laughing as hard as possible; tears forming from it all.

"Hey, shut up!" Reb walked over to them since they didn't stop and smacked Tangi promptly. Flint laughed harder; falling out of his trainer's arms and onto the ground, banging one of his paws on the ground while Tangi's laughter stopped. Reb had such a serious face on, but she ruined the moment. "It's not his fault he looks like a Bruce!" Flint stopped laughing only to resume even harder with Tangi laughing just as hard. She sighed. "I give up..."

"A-an-anyway," Tangi stuttered, "If you're not here cause of 'Brucie', then who's this he you were talking about?"

Rebecca looked to the phone booths trying her best to avoid answering the question. Tangi was about to say something when a loud crash came from upstairs. "I'll go look!" She turned and bolted up the stairs.

Tangi turned towards Nurse Joy. "What was that about?"

"Well, you see..." she began only to be cut off by a scream from upstairs.

Tangi and Flint were the first up the steps. When he reached the top, Tangi saw Rebecca, on the floor with glass surrounding her, unconscious behind a Chansey that was holding a door shut. Nurse Joy made it up after them, gasped, and then ran toward her to check for injuries. She turned to Tangi. "She's bleeding, but no visible head injury." The nurse checked the rest of her and found multiple cuts across her forearms. "She must have have covered her face to avoid the busting glass..." Tangi cringed and looked toward the door after a bang came from the other side.

"Nurse Joy, what's in there? What Pokémon?"

"It's a Lucario." Tangi turned to her. "This girl found it in an alleyway early this morning and brought him to me..."

"But," there was one thing bothering him. "But why did it snap?"

"... When it was brought in, it was mumbling something about what happ-" Tangi interrupted her.

"Wait, it talks?" Nurse Joy nodded.

"Yes. But, from what I could tell, it was abused. Her story supports this too... Maybe he remembered what happened." Tangi felt disgusted.

'Well, I can't be mad at it for snapping... But still' he thought as he turned back towards Reb. 'She didn't do anything to deserve being attacked.' He looked at Flint; pupils already narrowed again into his "fight" mode, staring right onto the door. "Flint." He turned towards his trainer, not dropping his gaze. "Flint..." 'What should I do...? The professor said he could hurt people or himself.' Tangi sighed. "Flint, I just want you to know one thing." He kneeled down, looking straight into those eyes that seemed to pierce anything he looked at. "... I'm not sure what's going on with you. And I'm scared." Flint raised a brow out of confusion. "But... I'll trust you. So..." Tangi wasn't sure where he was going with this. "So don't be reckless." A moment of silence passed before Flint finally nodded. Tangi let a sigh slip him. "Okay, let's do this!" Tangi nudged the Chansey to make her move then kicked the door open.

"Ember, now!" Flint let loose a barrage of flames that landed their mark on the Lucario, knocking it into a window. He glared at the two challengers and launched an Aura Sphere in their direction. "Dodge!" They both leapt to either side of the door they entered through. "Ram him!" Flint charged his target and succeeded into knocking it and himself out the window. Tangi ran for the window and climbed out onto the little roof that was available to stand on. Both Flint and the Lucario were on the ground in their fighting stances, stepping around in a circle; waiting for some clue for what the other one was about to do.

The Lucario suddenly lunged at Flint. "Get back," it shouted while having an Aura Sphere ready in his hand, trying to smack it into the Charmander. Flint dodged but was met with a second sphere from the other hand.

'Wow, he really does talk... And he's pretty strong... Maybe- No.' Tangi had let the thought of capturing him cross his mind, but shook the thought off as fast as it appeared. 'Only if we can't restrain him will I toss a ball.' "Flint, get close and try to land a Fire Fang!" Flint landed on his feet and launched himself toward his opponent. Fire built around his fangs as he opened his mouth to bite down, but Lucario was faster and managed to dodge. "Damn... Keep at it!" Tangi. Flint missed again but repeatedly lunged at the Lucario to land his attack; finally succeeding on the fourth try. "Okay! Now, hold down onto him and Ember!" Flint did so, Ember fly from his mouth as he stayed attached to the Pokémon. Lucario, cringing at the fire, ran toward the building and kicked the wall with Flint being between the wall and his foot. Flint was pressed against the building, loosening his grip on his prey due to the impact. The second he hit the ground though he jumped backwards from the Lucario; both looking worn out.

"Why... Do you fight me?" Lucario looked up at the human on the roof. "Is it because of him...? He tells you to do so?" He looked back at Flint; those eyes interesting him greatly. They looked like the eyes of a fighter; someone that's seen the battlefield thousands of times before. "Hmph," Lucario grunted with a grin appearing. "And what do you think will happen when you lose? Don't you think he'd abandon you?"

"... I've already lost once and that was from not listening." Flint said in his native tongue; Lucario instantly understanding it. Lucario raised his brow at this response. "Is that what happened to you," Flint asked. "You lost and your old human became 'bored'?"

Tangi kept his eyes focus on the two on the ground. He heard Flint growl but it looked like he was talking with Lucario. 'What are they talking about... No. Stop that Tangi. You have to focus on possible openings.'

"Silence!" Lucario leapt at the yellow lizard and kicked him into a tree.

"Flint!" Tangi jumped down from the roof, stumbling on his landing. He bolted over to the tree and picked Flint up. "Flint, you okay?" He looked at his 'mon. He was about to call him again when his eyes shot open; instantly causing him to leap from Tangi's arms and right towards his target; Lucario responding by kicking the lizard back at the tree; this time cracking it. As Flint stood up again, Tangi placed a hand in front of him. "Flint... Leave it." He looked at his partner with a stern look. "This isn't going to end well if we keep this up."

"Charmander!" Flint glared at Tangi in anger. Tangi knew instantly it wasn't just an expression anymore; it was also his angry towards his trainer for suggesting such an idea.
Tangi closed his eyes, opened them and turned toward the Lucario. He stared for a moment.

"... Flint, I don't think we can stop him as we are... You're still inexperienced at battling. I'll handle this now; you've been hurt enough. Alright?" Tangi turned towards Flint in time to be smacked in the face by the small Pokémon. He looked backed at Flint; his eyes still in his fighting expression, but he was obviously still capable of being a smartass. Tangi chuckled. "Sorry. I didn't consider you feelings at all... Did I?" Tangi stood up and faced the Lucario once more. "We'll have to wrap this up fast. We gotta check on Rebecca still ya know."

'Rebecca...?' The name seemed familiar to Lucario but he wasn't sure how. Right now all he could think of was finding his 'trainer' and settling things. While lost in thought though he left his guard down and missed the command the boy gave his Charmander.

Flint attached himself yet again on the leg of Lucario with the same vice-grip as before. Lucario winced at the pain, but dashed for the building again; preparing to kick the smaller Pokémon into it again. But, just a split second before the kick was to make impact, Flint let go and twisted himself along the leg. He took his chance and dashed upward to the Lucario's face.

"Blast Burn!" No sooner than Tangi's command left his lips did Flint prime and fire the ball of flame at Lucario; surrounding him in pillars of fire before being swallowed by the central flame. Tangi and Flint stood there; waiting to see if the attack had succeeded as they planned. When it died down, Tangi's eyes shot open, seemingly shocked. Lucario stood his ground despite the massive damage.

"... Pitiful," he muttered at the trainer and Pokémon pair. He clasped his hands together to make an Aura Sphere. Flint stood in an evasive stance and Tangi was about to shout something when the light of the sphere disappeared. They stared at the Lucario as he stood there... "Hmph," was all the Pokémon managed to say before falling face first onto the ground. After a brief moment of gawking, Tangi walked over and grabbed the fainted Pokémon.

"Come on Flint. Nurse Joy can check him while we sit with Reb." Flint closed his eyes and sighed. When he reopened they reverted back to his normal blue eyes. He nodded and they marched inside.

As they three reached the entrance, the Chansey from before had brought a medical stretcher to take the Pokémon to his new room. Tangi looked over to Nurse Joy as she came down stairs. "How's Rebecca," Tangi asked as calmly as he could. "She taken care of?"

"Hmm," Nurse Joy replied with a nod. "The cuts weren't so deep to be harmful. She'll be up and about tomorrow." She looked from Tangi to the Lucario. "I take it this was the only way?"

"Uh huh." Tangi handed the Pokémon to Chansey so it could take Lucario to his new room. "Flint was pretty awesome out there," finished Tangi with a wide grin. Then it suddenly struck him about the collateral damage. "Err... Eheh. Um, yeah. The fight kind of got wild and um..."

"Oh, please don't worry," Nurse Joy said with a smile. "We have insurance here for a reason!" She smiled.

"Heh, alright then." Tangi smiled but lowered his gaze to the ground as he did. He looked over at Flint who looked properly worn out (and for good reasons). "Nurse Joy, could we have a room?"

"Of course. I'll have a room ready soo-"

"With two beds." Nurse Joy waited for in case Tangi had something else to add, but nothing followed.

"Understoo-"

"And with Lucario sharing the room with us." To that she raised a brow. "Please. I need to talk to him." She stared Tangi down for a moment before nodded.

"Let me go make the preparations." He nodded as she walked off. He picked up Flint and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs, waiting for the room to be ready for them.

Lucario slowly opened his eyes and found himself inside the PokéCenter again. 'How... I lost?' He cocked his head toward the window in time to see the last glimpse of the sun setting. 'Hmm. I must have if it's this late...' He turned to his right and saw the Charmander from before curled up in the second bed; making him smile to himself.

"I see you're awake." Lucario sat up and looked straight to the middle of the room, There on the floor was the human from the rooftop; Flint's trainer. With a grin Tangi asked, "Feeling better?"

Lucario turned to face the window again. "Aren't these rooms meant for ill Pokémon? Shouldn't you be outside?"

"But inside I can keep an eye on both of you," Tangi retorted. Lucario sighed.

"... I don't need anyone looking out for me." A sigh left the human.

"That's just for now. No one likes to be alone forever."

"That's why no one lives forever," Lucario stated bluntly while turning to face Tangi.

"Heh." He stood up and walked over to the window. "You know... I heard what happened from you. I guess Rebecca saw what happened and brought you here." Lucario looked back at the Charmander before answering.

"Then you know why I wanted to leave."

Tangi stared outside, looking at the tree where Flint was knocked into a few times in the brawl. "Yea, I get your reason for that. I just don't get why you attacked Rebecca."

"What?!" Lucario stared widely at Tangi, then turned and stared at the foot of his bed; racking his brain for a memory of him harming the girl. After a few seconds and nothing turning up, he finally asked, "...Is she well?"

"Yea. She'll be up and about tomorrow morning. She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry she couldn't help you."

Lucario slammed his right fist down onto the mattress. "... She shouldn't blame herself for that."

"And you shouldn't blame yourself for before; nor because of your trainer!" Lucario turned to him. Tangi glared at him before sighing to himself. "Sorry. It's just I know how it is with some situations like this. It's easy to blame yourself because you need something to blame; you being the easiest thing to find." He looked back out the window.

"If something really is your fault, then yes. Blame yourself. But I know you couldn't control what you did to her. And I know being abandoned wasn't your fault. It's HIS fault!" Tangi turned back around to stare down Lucario. "Your trainer misused your trust in him to try and ditch you! It's his fault for attacking you and putting you in here! Not yours!" Tangi took a few, deep breaths before he noticed that Flint was stirring awake. He walked over and picked him up. "Lucario, I'm sorry for yelling. It's just..." he paused. He wanted to pick the right words to say while rocking Flint back to sleep.

"It's just I would do the same thing when I was a kid. Hell, I still do it now that I think about it. 'If it wasn't my fault, then it was no one's fault.' But that's wrong... That only leads to you hating yourself."

Lucario turned his gaze form Tangi to the foot of his bed again; taking in what the human just said. He smiled and closed his eyes. 'Hmph.' When he opened his eyes again, Tangi was laying Flint back down on the bed. He then proceeded back to his spot on the floor.

"Lucario." They looked at each other. "What will you do now?" Tangi waited for an answer but only received silence. "Well," he started, "Flint and I are taking on the Sinnoh League challenge. If your old trainer is in on it, there's a good chance I might run into him.

Lucario raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting I tag along and 'get even'?"

"No. I'm suggesting you try to talk to him first, AND THEN get even. You know; have a clear motive and what not." Lucario chuckled slightly at the poor humor. "And..."

"And?"

"... I wanted to ask if you'd come with us as a team member. You really are something else. Please don't think of that being the only reason I'm talking with you though.
Lucario closed his eyes.

"Before." He opened one eye and gazed at Tangi with it. "When Flint and I were fighting... I fainted, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you catch me then?"

Tangi pondered on this for a bit. "... To be honest, the thought did cross my mind. But..." he stared off. "But I heard you were mistreated. So I guess I thought you'd feel I forced you onto the team and hate me for it. I don't want you to hate me before you know me I guess." Both sat in the silence of the now darken room. "Anyway, it's late. If you wanna talk more, let's do it in the morning." Lucario agreed, and both of them shifted around to get comfortable. "Good night, Lucario." He grunted and they both began to drift into the comfort of sleep.

Morning came faster than Tangi wanted. 'Man, I'm never ready to wake up...' He forced himself into a sitting position before surveying the room. Flint was stirring, seeming to be more unwilling to wake up than Tangi. But Lucario was no longer in his bed. 'Guess he left...' Sighing, Tangi stood up and spent the next twenty minutes packing and preparing himself for the day.

"Certain you won't stay a bit longer?" Nurse Joy was giving Flint a final check up before the two left.

"Yeah, I still need to get my first badge," Tangi admitted with some embarrassment. "Where's Rebecca?"

"She's still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her, but did you want to say good bye?" She handed Flint back over to Tangi.

"Nah. Can you tell her I said good luck to her when she wakes up though?" Nurse Joy nodded as Tangi grabbed Flint. "Any clue where Lucario went to?" She shook her head no this time. "Hope he's going to be okay... Well, we better get going." He placed Flint down on the ground and headed towards the door. "Later Nurse J-GAH!" Tangi had tripped and face planted onto the steps outside. "Man, why is it ALWAYS the face?"

"Sleep well?" He turned and saw the Lucario from yesterday leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Uh... Yea, I guess?" Lucario moved closer. "Hey, were you the one that tri- BWAH!" Lucario used Aura Sphere on Tangi's face and sent him backwards. "Again with the face!" he shouted grabbing it. "And what was that-"

"For?" Lucario looked down at Tangi. "That was for all the snoring you were doing."

"Oh. Sorry." Lucario shot him a questioning look.

"Sorry?"

"I just woke up," was the only response that came to mind for Tangi. "I don't have the energy to argue about if I was or wasn't snoring."

"Hmph. Well, expect to be waking up early. Trainers should train with their Pokémon. Besides, I could use an early morning sparring partner," Lucario finished with a smirk.

Tangi blinked a few times at Lucario before the statement he made sunk in. "Wait, you mean you want to-" he started before Lucario nodded. Smiling, Tangi stood up. Flint climbed up his clothes to his shoulder as he reached out to shake hands with Lucario.

"Welcome to the team!" Lucario reached out but didn't shake. Instead he smacked a book into Tangi's hands. "Eh? Wait, this is mine."

"Yea, I found it. Interesting read. I especially liked the one about that Fenrir fellow. Thus, that is what you shall call me."

"Fenrir... Hmm." Tangi flopped open his book and looked at it. "'The Feral Wolf,'" Silence... "Sounds too cool for you," Tangi muttered; to which he was greeted with a Force Palm to the gut. Flint jumped off and over to the Lucario. Clutching his gut, Tangi muttered, "Fenrir is a perfect name for you..."

"I knew you would agree," Fenrir said with a smile.Chapter End Notes:True story; on my way to Jubilife City in Pokémon Platinum, I encountered a shiny Bidoof... I cried inside but caught it anyway. Then my friend wanted to trade for it... So that's how I got a Lucario before my first gym badge. >.> Though Fenrir is going to listen to me in this story rather than slack off in battles..