A Boy and His Lucario Part 20
#20 of A Boy and His Lucario Series
The orange kimonoed Lucario calmly walked through the streets with the soldier. The Lucario and Riolu he passed would all offer slight bows in respect to one of their leaders.
"Soldier, might I ask what species these visitors of ours are?" The orange asked.
"There are two humans, two other Lucario, a Ninetales, and, well..."
"Well? What was the well?"
"I'm not sure how to describe it, my lord. It stood upright like a human, but looked rather like a beast. I've never seen anything like it before."
"I see." The orange walked on, contemplating the mystery creature. The orange heard music up ahead, and saw a large gathering.
"Here we are, my lord. Everyone here began dancing to welcome our visitors. The orange looked to see many Lucario and Riolu dancing to music, which he found was being played by two Lucario and a Riolu. He could tell from the sounds that there was a flute, a koto, and a drum. The soldier put his hands to his mouth and shouted.
"ATTNETION EVERYONE!MAKE WAYFOR LORD JIN!" The music and the dancers stopped, all looking toward the orange. All the villagers bowed in respect to their leader. It was then reviled who the visitors were, for they were the only ones not bowing. The orange and the soldier walked through the crowd straight to the foreigners.
"Greetings travelers. I am Jin, one of the eight lords of the Society of Mountain Lucario. May I ask who you are, and imply as to the nature of your visit?"
"Thank your for receiving us, Lord Jin." John bowed. "My name is John, and these are my friends Kyo, Ashito, Lucario, Celia, and Ninetales. We were sent here by our Sensei, Takeshi Hosokawa." Jin nodded.
"So, Rei was correct after all. Well John, Kyo, Ashito, Lucario, Celia, and Ninetales, welcome to the Society of Mountain Lucario. May I ask why Master Hosokawa has sent you?" John nodded and pointed to Lucario.
"Sensei Hosokawa has reason to believe my Lucario is originally from the Society."
"Is that so? Let's have a look then." Jin walked up to Lucario and looked him in the eyes. "Would you please concentrate your aura with me?" Lucario nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his aura. Jin did the same. The Lucario stood adjacent from one another, eyes closed and their head appendages lifted from their focus. Suddenly Jin's eyes opened and he took a step back. "No... can it be?Chu?" Lucario opened his eyes, confused at Jin's statement. "Chu, it IS you! I can sense it!" Jin turned and faced the crowd. "Citizens of the Society of Mountain Lucario, the search is over! My long lost brotherChuas returned!" the crowd cheered in excitement and the musicians began playing again. "Come! You must all join me in meeting the others!" Jin turned and the soldier singled for the group to follow.
"Do you have any idea what just happened?" Kyo asked. John shrugged and scratched behind his head.
"Well one thing's for certain; Lucario is defiantly one of them."
The group was escorted to the tower. They reached the top floor to see the other six Lucario seated on their thrones, all wearing different colored kimonos. Jin stepped in front of the group and spoke.
"Brothers, sister, I present to you our honored quests, John, Kyo, Ashito, Lucario, Celia, and Ninetales. They were sent here by Master Hosokawa's brother."
"Why did he send you to us?" the red asked.
"Brother, don't you see?" Jin brought Lucario to the front. "It's him! It's our missing brother,Chu!"
"That's enough Jin, take your seat." The red ordered. Jin sat back in his throne to complete the line up, minus the empty seat next to him.
"Fine, but if you don't believe met, just check his aura." The six other Lucario closed their eyes and focused on Lucario's aura. They all opened their eyes astonished.
"It IS you." They all said, completely amazed. The red looked to the soldier. "Soldier, please escort our guests outside, we will be with them shortly."
"Yes my lord!" the soldier answered and began leading the others out of the room. Now only the eight Lucario remained.
"Tell me, why do you call meChu?" Lucario asked. "Who do you think I am?"
"We do not think," said the purple "We know. You are our long lost brother, and your name was destined to beChu."
"We have all had faith that you would one day return." Added the yellow.
"And take your rightful place of leading the Society with us." Continued the green.
"What is this? Who are you?" Lucario questioned. "Start here and go down the line."
"I am Rei, the honorable." The green started.
"I am Shin, the faithful." The yellow.
"I am Chi, the knowledgeable." The pink.
"I am Ko, the wise." The purple.
"I am Tei, first born." The red.
"I am Gi, the duteous." The brown.
"I am Jin, the just." The orange.
"And you," Tei stated "Are Chu, the loyal."
"How do you know that I am supposed to be your brother?" Lucario was confused.
"We've already told you, we can sense it in your aura!" Snapped Gi. "It's the same as our and Mother and Father's!"
"Gi, calm down." Tei motioned for him to sit. "Chu, let me tell you the story of how you came to be. It was about five years ago; the Society of Mountain Lucario was prosperous and peaceful. Humans and Lucario lived in harmony and understanding in this very place. We were lead by our Mother and Father and their Trainer, Master Hidaka Hosokawa. Your Master Takeshi once lived with us too, but left to peruse his own dreams. A few weeks after he left, they came; the men in the black clothing with strange red symbols on their chest. They wanted to take the Lucario as slave laborers and as fighting tools. Master Hidaka and Father would not oblige, so they were attacked. With strange weapons that shot balls of metal at great speed, they took down many humans and Lucario. The human and Lucario soldiers fought back, along with any Lucario who wanted to fight as well. Those who did not fight fled, and separated to ensure maximum security. I was the only other Lucario in the family, our brothers and sisters were still Riolu, so I took Mother and we escaped down the east side of the mountain. We never saw Father or our Master ever again." Lucario couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"But where do I fit in all of this?" he questioned.
"When I guided the family down the mountain, we all had to be very careful in helping Mother, for in her arms she carried an egg." Lucario gasped. "YesChu, you were that egg."
"That's impossible! You said this happened five years ago! I couldn't have been an egg for five years!"
"A Riolu egg will only hatch when the conditions around it are just right." Chi stated. "It can be weeks, months, or even years before the Riolu inside realizes it's in a safe and comfortable state to hatch."
"You were born a few weeks before it all." Spoke Shin. "We could see signs that you were getting ready to hatch, but then-"
"Then they attacked us!" burst Gi. "Those inglorious black monsters are the reason you didn't hatch with the rest of us!" Jin put his hand on Gi's shoulder and pushed him back down to his seat.
"Calm down, Gi! You're voice is echoing off the walls."
"I'll calm down when they're dead! Just like Mother, Father, and everyone else they've slain!"
"That's enough!" barked Tei. "Sit down Gi, we'll discuss this later." Gi did as he was told with an angry sigh. "Please forgive him, he is the second youngest to you, and has always been angry that you weren't here to grow as his little brother." Despite the minor setback of Gi's outburst, Lucario wanted to know more.
"What became of Mother? And how did I end up with John?" he asked.
"When we got down the mountain," Tei continued "Other groups from the Society had joined us and we headed south. Eventually we found a human settlement, but since there were so many of us, we decided not to enter. We stayed the night in a field near a large building with a windmill on it. When we awoke the next morning, everyone was gone; all that remained around us was the grass, stained red by blood. We were all that was left, Mother, the egg, and all the others were nowhere in sight. I knew we couldn't stay, so I took my younger Riolu siblings and fled the area." Lucario stepped back in horror. The building with the windmill was Professor Oak's lab, the field is where John found him. The facts all lined up so perfectly, but it couldn't possibly be true. "Finally after a year of wandering, most of us were now Lucario, and I decided it was time to return. When we arrived back at the mountain, the village was totally destroyed. Using all of our aura, we called all the survivors back to the mountain to rebuild the Society. Before long, we were prospering once again, and the villagers had made us their leaders. Now,Chu, it is time for you to join us."
"But you can't put this on me now! I can't leave my Master!" Lucario argued. Tei sighed and rubbed his head.
"Very well, I'm growing tired. We'll give you time to think about it. Go outside and have the soldier escort you and your friends to the royal palace, we'll continue later." Lucario bowed and began his descent down the tall tower.
"Are you sure it's wise to give him such a choice?" Ko asked.
"If we don't, he would surly leave at the first opportunity." Said Rei. "Or if he were to stay, he would never truly lead."
"Rei is right." Tei said. "We need to give him time to spend in the Society. Perhaps he will see that this is where he belongs if we just let him explore what we have to offer him."
Lucario told the soldier the lords' order, and he escorted the group to the palace. It wasn't far from the lords' tower, but away from the large bazaar. It looked much like the tower had, white with blue roof segments, only it was wider and didn't climb as high. The soldier handed the group off to a palace hostess, who led everyone to their rooms.
"We'll have the ladies in one room and the men in another, is that alright?" the hostess asked. Kyo was about to object when Ashito stepped forward.
"Oh yes, that seems like it would be a very good idea! Don't you think boys? Shouldn't we give the girls their privacy?" Kyo and John blushed while Celia and Ninetales giggled.
"Excellent! Gentlemen, this will be your room here, and ladies, yours is the one opposite. If you need anything, come find me or one of the other hostesses!" and with that, the hostess took off down the hall. Kyo called out to the empty hall.
"Hey! Wait a minute! This is-" Ashito put his hand on Kyo's shoulder.
"Now Kyo, we've come a long way fromSaffronCity, and I think it's time we give the girls a break, don't you? Give them some time just to be girls." Kyo sighed and nodded. "Great! Now come one, let's check out our room!" in a blue blur, Ashito shot into the room, leaving a breeze behind him. The boys peered through the sliding doors and watched Ashito jump from one thing to the next, marveling at everything he saw. Finally he found the beds. "Oh these beds are so extravagant! They may look like just simple sheets on the floor, but oh the tradition! And look at these splendid designs! Oh and feel that softness of i-!" Ashito set one paw on the sheets and was knocked out cold. John shrugged with a chuckle.
"I guess being Ashito can be pretty tiring." The girls continued to giggle and walked into their room.
"We'll be right here if you need us, boys." Ninetales winked and closed the door behind her. John, Kyo, and Lucario stepped into their own room and began to unpack their bags. They did so quietly as not to wake Ashito, who was lying on his back, mouth open, tongue hanging out, and quietly snoring. His trench coat had come undone and his torso was showing. Seeing this, Lucario snickered and began rubbing Ashito's fuzzy belly. The Husky's leg started kicking, followed by a quiet moan.
"Hehe, I've always wanted to do that." Lucario giggled.
John sat on a small cushion on top of an observation tower connected to the palace. The sunset painted a marvelous picture across the entire village, made perfect by a warm, gentle breeze. John had changed into his kimono, hoping to fit in better with the locals, but also hoping not to be confused for a soldier because of the black and gray coloring. He took a deep breath of the clean mountain air and sighed in relief; it was certainly a nice substitution from the city air. Suddenly, a familiar voice entered John's head. It was hushed and gentle.
"Excuse me, may I join you?" John turned to see it was Ashito, but did he look different. He had only his trench clothes with him, so he borrowed a kimono from the palace. It was white as snow, with elegant streams of cyan, which flowed smoothly and naturally around his body. The sun light made his light blue fur glisten. He looked beautiful.
"Sure, have a seat." John said, patting another cushion next to him. Ashito sat and looked out to the village.
"It's beautiful. I still can't believe we're actually here, that the Society actually exists."
"Yeah, I'm still getting used to it too. And what are the odds that Lucario is actually from here? Everything just lines up so perfectly." Ashito wagged his tail and smiled.
"Yep, everything lines pretty well, doesn't it?"
"Almost too well. It all seems like a story, you know what I mean? A boy loses his parents to an evil organization, finds a friend whose family is killed by that same organization, they go on a journey, make friends with a former agent of said organization, find out his friend is from a secret society, finds it, and learns about how his friend came to be. Now all we'd need is to find the ones that killed my parents and the story would be pretty much complete." Ashito said nothing. His tail stopped wagging and he looked out into dead space. Finally, he lowered his head and spoke.
"John... there's something I need to tell you."