Aura of a Lucario
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Aura of a Lucario Part 1: Origins.
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I am a Lucario.
Yes, you heard that right, this story is told by a Lucario. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Lucario are just as, if not more intelligent as humans. Through the power of Aura we can speak, read feelings, and, if we are so inclined, can tear you apart.
Lucario typically do not like humans, and for good reason. You make us your slaves through those infernal stasis capsules you call "Pokeballs". You make us work, sweat, bleed, just so you can pick up a few thousand yen. I still hate humans, I want to kill them all, except one, my master. I suppose I can't kill him anyway, he's dead.
Ah, now the questions emerge. "How did he die?" Cram a sock in it will you? I'm getting to that. Yes yes, now where was I? Oh right, my master. Well he was killed by another human being. Why? Why can't humans all get along? We Pokémon never kill each other. No matter how menacing a breed of Pokémon might seem, we are actually mostly vegetarians. The ones who do eat meat only eat the meat of a fallen brother, who either died of old age or accident.
Of course, more questions. "Who killed him?" Will you shut the hell up and let my tell my story?! Anyhow, here's the beginning. Let me know if you have any more questions. Oh, and in case you can't tell, that was sarcasm. Please shut up and pretend to pay attention.
Pokémon do not actually have names at birth. We must first grow up and determine what nature we have. I was born to a normal jackal-headed Lucario, nothing special about her. Ever since I emerged from that egg as a Riolu, some things were fairly apparent.
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Pokémon don't really have "names" per se, as Pokémon speech is rather rough and is based more on tone and inflection then word meaning. Especially since there is only one word in our language, "Lucario". Rather self-centered if I do say so myself, but hey, I didn't invent it. But as I was saying, Riolu get their names from how their personality is. Some common character traits among us are that we are strong, proud, callous and caustically sarcastic. I was named (This is roughly translated because, like I said, Pokémon speech is a tricky thing) "Quintessence". Why? Because I was everything that made a Lucario a Lucario, a stereotype if you will, only without the negative connotation. Unfortunately this pride did me in.
Alright, ever since I emerged from that egg and my aura was checked (Pitch Black by the way, go figure) I wanted to battle. The tribe elder, who most likely sired me, as is the tradition, taught me the basics of battling. I began to get faster and stronger and learned how to pound Pokémon more effectively. I also learned what Pokémon to be wary of, If I faced a Ghost or Psychic, I could be in trouble and while Fire and Ground types are just as powerful as any other Pokémon as a Riolu, they can do serious damage if you are a Lucario because we are given a Steel trait when we evolve. Eventually he told me that there was nothing more he could teach me at my skill level and I would have to learn myself. So I ventured out into the grass and started clobbering some Pokémon. The Bidoof hardly knew what hit them. I got cocky, not a single Pokémon was able to stand up to me, so I decided to venture out further, where the stronger Pokémon lay. This turned out to be a mistake as a Starly nearly pecked me to death, not
killing me of course, but causing some serious pain. I stumbled out of the grass overlooking a human town. I clutched my bleeding chest and looked up at the sign. It was filled with strange lettering and I was perplexed before my Aura translation kicked in. "Twinleaf Town".
I fell to the ground and the sand around me began to take on a crimson color.
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"Oh my God!"
I stirred, but my body refused to move anymore.
"It's hurt!" A male voice, human. Great, I hated humans.
"We need to get it to a center!" Another voice, though it wasn't quite human, it seemed to come from all directions at once, making it impossible to tell where it was coming from. "Should I teleport it?" Oh shit, a psychic.
"Yeah! Quickly Jane! Ryan and I will meet you in Sandgem." The human said. Ryan, was there another?
"Here Dan, hold on to my hand, I'll telepo-"
There was a pop and the other voice suddenly was lost and the ground beneath me changed. "There you go Riolu... Now, let's get you in there."
I heard another pop and I could detect the other two's auras again.
"Here Jane, I'll carry it in, just tell Nurse Joy the situation." I felt a set of hands gingerly pick me up. "Easy... easy." I saw the ground beneath slowly pan out and we moved forward slowly. Eventually my vision was replaced from soft earth tones to obscenely bright linoleum. I heard a ton of commotion and I was slowly put on a stretcher.
"We've got it from here!" A female voice, human, probably this "Joy" they were talking about.
"Hmm... It's going to be difficult to heal it without a pokeball." I heard her say quietly.
I heard the other human, the one that brought me in. "Here's 500, this should cover the pokeball."
Joy walked back over. "Lie still honey." She whispered and I was engulfed in a red light.
Everything went black. I shouldn't be able to feel anything in a pokeball, feel the passage of time, but I did. Pain could do that for you. I felt a sense of panic and I thrashed against the walls of the ball. Cracks appeared along the side of the ball and suddenly the world returned to normal, the ball its normal size, though cracked and useless. "Shit! He broke free! We'll have to sedate him." I writhed and screamed as I felt a needle jam into my arm. I suddenly lost the will to fight and everything was sort of distant, as though you were watching from another body. I was engulfed in the red light again and I was once again in the confines of the pokeball. I drifted aimlessly inside. I weakly punched a wall, though it did nothing. The ball stopped shaking, that was it, I was caught. I suddenly felt the wounds on my chest close and my strength somewhat return to me, though I was still sedated.
I was released from the ball and I stood shakily on a counter. There was a Blissey next to me. "You... Bastards! What have you done to me?!" I said in English.
"Blis-B-Blissey Bliss Bliss" She held out an egg.
I quickly translated the universal Pokémon language. "Here, eat this, you'll feel better."
Everything faded to blue as I turned on Aura vision. I looked over at Blissey and Joy. Both were radiating a pure bright pink, meaning they had the best of intentions. I was still suspicious though. I ate the soft-boiled egg and suddenly everything seemed as if all pain and sorrow had disappeared.
"Did you drug me?!" I asked angrily.
Blissey shook her hands franticly. "No! The egg has the natural power of happiness inside it!" She said in Pokémon.
Nurse Joy spoke up. "Riolu, I know you're scared right now, but you'll have to trust us. We mean you no harm. All this is for your own good and we promise we won't hurt you."
I scoffed. "Yeah, and I'll believe that from a human."
Blissey spoke. "She's right you know."
"Rio! Lu!" Translation: "Fuck off!"
Blissey gasped and waddled off angrily.
Nurse Joy looked back at me. "I have no idea what you just said to her but you had better watch out, she can make your life a living hell. By the way, she knows Psychic"
A thought drifted through my mind. Blissey was standing with a pink glow about her and I was crashing through several walls. Not a good thing.
"Anyhow, that egg will cure anything else that ails you. Enjoy the high while it lasts."
I groaned and felt the egg applying its healing energy. Suddenly I felt sleepy and I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
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I woke up groggily. SOMETHING was touching me in a very inappropriate place. "Ah, so he's a boy."
I sat up very quickly and covered myself. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" I looked up to see who was checking me out. It was a pair of Ralts.
"Relax." One said through a mindlink. "We just wanted to know whether to call you a he or a she."
"You could have just asked!" I said angrily.
The other Ralts spoke up. "We were impatient."
"Couldn't you have just read my mind or something?"
"Sorry, we're Ralts. A bit out of our skill range right now."
I groaned and got up. I took a quick glance at my sheath, no erection thankfully. "At least it was you guys, not the human. I swear I would have taken his head off."
One of the Ralts got up and wiped a bit of dirt off its "Gown", or whatever you want to call it. I wonder, are they born wearing that, does it come in the egg or is it made for them? I don't know, I'll have to ask a Gardevoir sometime. Oh right, back to the story. "By the way, welcome to the team. I'm Ryan, a male of course, and this is Jane, my female."
" A female!" She corrected angrily.
Ryan let out the psychic equivalent of a laugh. "Come on, you know it's gonna happen eventually."
"Not with you." She looked over at me with a gleam in her eyes. "Now maybe this hunk over here..."
"Are we going to finish introductions, or are we just going to continue with our sexual preferences? By the way, I'm straight and I like long walks and fresh wine." I said sarcastically.
Jane spoke. "Wait until you meet Dan. He's our master. I know you don't like humans very much but he's a good guy, you'll see."
I shrugged and lazily chewed on a piece of grass, more of a way of thinking than an actual meal. Could I escape? Nah, he'd just recall me. Unless I got far enough away, but what was the range?
Suddenly I detected another aura and I turned around to see the human, Dan, standing there. He knelt down to my level and spoke gently, as if to a child. "Now then Riolu, I realize this wasn't exactly the greatest start to a relationship, but let's just start over. I'm Dan, and I see you've already met Jane and Ryan."
Ryan's aura flared indignantly. "Hey! Why'd he list her name first?!"
"Because he likes me better, dumbass."
Dan ignored them. "Look, I know that you don't like humans, and I understand that. In fact, I'm not going to force you to do anything if you don't want to." He held out a pokeball. "This is your ball. If you hold down this button, the ball will break and you'll be free to do what you want."
I held the ball in my paws. A digit hovered over the tiny button. But I thought pensively. What am I going to do next? The Lucario won't take me back now that I've been captured once, it would tarnish their honor. I had nowhere else to go. I sighed greatly and handed him the pokeball. He smiled. "That's what I thought. Now then, I'm going to set a couple things straight here. One thing, I will never keep you in here, ever, unless you are being unruly and violent. Second, and pardon me if this is a bit embarrassing, but I will not stifle your personal life. If you have the urge to go out and screw something, don't let me stop you."
I blinked a couple of times. "Um... alright then?" I squeaked out the next words, as every single molecule of my being screamed for me not to ask it. "I have to swallow my pride to say this, but will you train me... Dan?"
He smiled. "Of course, we'll start whenever you want to."
I had to admit, for a human, he wasn't so bad. He was certainly direct, that's for sure. For the first time, I tried to examine his aura closely. I immediately regretted this though as it flared in a brilliant, incandescent rainbow and it washed over every last inch of my body, nearly tearing apart my mind. I released just in time and I was flung back a few feet. I had a massive headache. "Damn... that hurt."
I wasn't quite sure what had happened. I had never seen anything like that before, normally in that situation I would have asked the elder, but he wasn't around, so I was resigned to the fact that it's probably better to leave his mind alone.
Dan looked over me. "What happened?"
"I'm not quite sure what either..." I said.
"Hmm... Ryan probably used confusion on you as a joke or something."
I looked over at him. He shrugged. "Wasn't me, really." He said over a private mindlink.
Jane nodded. "Yeah, we didn't do anything."
Dan cracked his neck. "Well, it's been a long day, we should be heading to bed." He walked a couple of steps then quickly turned around. "Oh right! I forgot a couple of things. First of all, what's your gender, I'm pretty sure you're male, but with Pokémon, you never know."
"I'm male."
"Ah, that's what I thought. Now then..." He flipped open a red box-like thing. It scanned me for a couple seconds.
"Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. It has the strange power of being able to see emotions such as joy and rage in the form of waves."
He looked up in surprise. "Really? What am I feeling now?"
I reluctantly tapped into one of my most basic abilities. Waves radiated from all nearby creatures, I absorbed one of Dan's and relayed the info. "You are relieved that I am OK, and you have a mild headache." I smirked a little as I dug deeper into one of the waves. "You are also lonely because your girlfriend is yet to ask you for sex."
He blushed and Ryan and Jane tried extremely hard to keep from laughing hysterically. "Touché, Riolu." He gave a couple nervous chuckles, "Let's try and forget that."
Ryan scoffed. "Fat chance."
Dan cringed. "Ok, now then, for the manner of your name..."
Jane piped up. "How about Luke, it's fitting enough, and simple."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to become a Lucario, so you name me Luke, real creative."
"I think it's a fine name Riolu, if you want it."
I thought for a second. It was a fairly decent name now that they mentioned it. "Fine, Luke it is."
Dan smiled. "Good! Now, finally, if you're hungry, I have some salad in the kitchen."
"Sa-lad?" I said, confused.
"Yeah, a medley of various vegetables, mainly lettuce, lightly drenched in dressing. Come on, I'll show you."
I jumped downstairs, transferring my momentum to the balls of my feet so I rolled at the bottom. Dan laughed. "Impressive, but there are stairs you know." I looked to my right at the stairs.
"Oh... oops."
Dan slid down the banister and landed gracefully at the bottom. "Stairs are overrated anyway." He walked over to the kitchen and pulled something out of a box thing I later found was called a Refrigerator.
He handed me the bowl. "This is salad, as you can see, it's just a bunch of veggies." He poured in a bit of ranch dressing. "Eat up."
I was getting a bit hungry, and the ranch certainly added a bit of flavor. Within minutes the entire bowl was gone and I rinsed my paws off in a nearby stream. Dan was waiting for me, "You good?" I nodded. "Great! Now I'll show you to your quarters. We've got running water here by the way, you don't need to go to a stream."
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to life here."
Dan looked down. "Don't worry Luke! You don't need to apologize for anything. You can adjust at your own pace or not at all, it doesn't bother me." He stretched out, it was nearly pitch black now, despite being just past the summer solstice, so I knew it was late. He led me to a room upstairs. "This is your room, if you want it, if you want to sleep with Ryan and Jane or outside, that's fine too. Wake me if you need anything."
Dan was certainly giving me a lot of freedom. I actually kinda liked this though, it meant that I wasn't so much as a slave, more just like a companion.
I settled down on the bed. Dan had a grin on his face. "G'night Luke."
"Hey Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"For... a human, you're not so bad."
Dan had a quizzical smile on his face as he turned around. "Thanks." He said sincerely.