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Journey to Another World 6

Ch. 106

'You want to go after HO-OH; you can't be serious?!' Practically the whole team yelled at me that next morning, excluding that of Rena and Jenavee who I'd told the night prior.

I sat there a bit, holding my head in my hands, as if trying to stop the ringing in my head from the multiple yells, barks, etc..., from the vibrations trying to scramble my brain. "Look; I just think that it would be a good idea to try and find Ho-Oh and ask it if it wouldn't mind bestowing some of its tears unto me, so that I could recover from whatever is ailing me." At least that was the plan, but who knows if the rumors of the tears of a Phoenix were capable of healing any kind of wound. 'I just hope my fears of it being only a temporary cure are unfounded.'

"This is something that will not be easy to accomplish. Ho-Oh is probably one of the most difficult to locate, and there is a reason for it." Jenavee said to which several in the group nodded to this. "Not only is it said that the tears of Ho-Oh can cure any wound, but if that power were used to its fullest..."

" Then it could be possible for someone to bring back one that has passed on from this world ," Rena finished, to which we all were a bit taken a-back, though no more so than myself.

'If what Rena says is true, then there's no doubt that that kind of power would be coveted. I'm sure that there are many people out there that have loved ones that have passed on from this world, whom they'd wish to bring back.' Though as I thought on this for a bit a sudden realization came over me as the true meaning or hidden words within what Rena had just said slammed home in my head. "Wait a minute Rena...how do you know this?" Rena let out a long sigh and hugged her child a little closer to her in which the little one looked up at her mother with a worried expression.

" I guess I really let the Skitty out of the bag on this one." She slowly raised her head, to stare at the ceiling, took in a long slow breath, and finally addressed us all. " If I am to tell you this entire tale then all of you are sworn to the same oath of secrecy that every Lucario and Riolu has been since the birth of our kind. A secret of...life, itself." This got all our eyes to travel to one another before finally settling back upon Rena who was given a confirming nod that they understood the entirety of the weight soon to befall them and would keep this secret as long as they/we lived.

" Just like many Pokémon out there, each race is known for certain properties that make them unique. For the Lucario race it is our ability to see and manipulate that of Aura." This got every to nod and a few murmurs of acknowledgement of their own uniqueness to other species of Pokémon. " The only thing is...when we Lucario were first brought into this world...we were not born with this ability." This got everyone to pause for a moment and a few mouths to drop open in surprise. " Do not get me wrong, all Lucario are now born with this ability, but according to legend...we Lucario were born with only one thing...the duty to protect that of the most legendary of birds...Ho-Oh."

I wanted to but in at that moment, but decided to let Rena to continue with her story and would probably get my question answered in the completion of her tale. " The story has been passed down from Lucario to Riolu for generations..." She paused for a moment to let this sink in but I wondered if any Riolu would hear about the connection they held with the legendary bird if they never even met their elders/Lucario when at times they were given to those that were deserving trainers. " The legend tells that there was a time when Ho-Oh was in a great amount of trouble. It may have been chance or maybe that of destiny, either way a clan of Lucario and Riolu happened to be in the area and stepped in to help Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh was so thankful for the rescue and that it asked if the group would become the official guardians to it. The Lucario elder agreed to this but since they were only few in number asked the great one if it would bestow a power onto the Lucario and Riolu, in which would allow them to foresee any danger coming and wouldn't be overwhelmed due to the lack of their numbers."

"And in that Ho-Oh bestowed the Lucario race with the power of Aura?" This got Rena to scowl a bit at me for finishing her tale for her, but she nodded in acknowledgement that what I said was true.

" If I did not know any better I would think that you know something about Ho-Oh yourself." Rena accused with that of a scowling look; to which I shrugged.

"It's not so different from the tales told of a legendary bird from where I come from." This got everyone to look at me and I nodded slowly to myself. "There are tales told of a legendary bird called the 'Phoenix' who is said to be immortal. Upon the end of its life, it throws itself into a fire and through the fire is born anew." This got quite a few confused looks amongst the group but finally everyone began to pester me on more about my tale. "I don't know too much more about the Phoenix but what is known is that its tears hold the power to cure any hurt or disease. To which I hope that Ho-Oh is similar to the legendary Phoenix from where I come from, and to that can heal my wounds." 'Though if I remember the game correctly, you can't catch Ho-Oh while in that of the Sinnoh region', I thought as I tried to recall which one of the games it was that you 'could' catch the legendary bird, but for the life of me I couldn't remember.

"I guess the only question is how are we going to patrician Ho-Oh to hear our request, not to mention even stay still for a short while so that we can actually meet up with it," Jenavee said to which everyone nodded. With that thought everyone began to brainstorm, only to be interrupted when someone's stomach growled slightly.

A little later found all of us back at the center, eating a nice meal, and generally discussing how we were to go about meeting up with the legendary bird. "Rena; how is it that the Lucario race isn't still protecting Ho-Oh to this day?" I asked her to which she sighed and leaned a little further back in her chair.

" I am sorry to say that even if I knew that...I could not tell you." She let out a long sigh and looked up to meet me eye to eye. " If you want to know the reason behind that, you would have to seek out the elder from one of the Lucario clans and ask; though even if you were to find a clan and ask the elder to tell you, there is still no guarantee he will tell you completion of the tale." To this I could only nod.

'It's like a grand master denying his student the secret of the Ultimate Technique. He doesn't know if the student is ready to use the technique responsibly or for the right reasons.' "In this case, the elder wouldn't know if the reason I wish to know would either end up having me seek out Ho-Oh for aid or...for darker purposes." This got Rena to look at me with a bit of a confused look but just shook her head. "I don't suppose you can let on as to where or how I might be able to track Ho-oh down?" Rena lightly tapped at her chin for a minute before she lowered her head and sighed.

" I really wish I could help you out with that, but...that has to do with the reason why we no longer protecting Ho-oh ," she said while not looking up and looking me in the eye.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd say something bad happened which ended up with the Lucario no longer needed to guard Ho-oh; or it could be something so bad that even as close as we were that she wouldn't talk to me about it.' I had a bit of a bad feeling about this and with that came a mental image of me finally meeting up with Ho-oh only to have it refuse to help me due to Rena being with us. With that thought I really wanted to press Rena about 'something/anything' about what happened, but knowing that if she didn't want to talk about it then who was I to push her.

A cough rang through my system, but thankfully I didn't feel/taste anything other than a regular cough come up. 'What the heck am I going to do now? Ho-oh really can't be met up here in the Sinnoh region and Rena's hesitance to even anything more about Oh-oh...what am I going to do?'

'Big brother...are you there?'

'Twinkle toes?'