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"Hey there, Jason." The Charmeleon chuckled as he approached the Riolu. "It's been ages since we last saw each other. Would it have killed you to at least call?"

"Apparently..." The Riolu let out a nervous chuckle. "Joseph would've filleted me if I made contact with the outside. He had my parents make sure that I didn't leave the house without either of them watching me."

The Charmeleon, surprisingly, didn't laugh or chuckle at the Riolu's reply. He merely smiled. "So, my dad wasn't kidding when he said that I had to step up my game to protect you..."

Four months ago, those words would've hit Jason like a bullet train. But after all of the story telling from the Garchomp and the occasional and rare visits from the Sceptile every now and then, Ignatius' decision to keep him protected was no surprise for the Riolu. Still, Jason truly was surprised that Ignatius would ask Charlie to do it, or that directly. "He really said that?"

"Don't think that he said it sweetly." The Charmeleon chuckled. "If I recall, his exact words were 'That pain-in-the-ass partner of yours if getting into a record breaking amount of trouble.' And something else... uh... something about your talents being useful and stuff."

"Of course he did..."

"Though I didn't think that you'd be put under house arrest for your protection." The Charmeleon chuckled as he pushed the Riolu forward forward, the two of them walking along the same direction that the others took.

"I wasn't in house arrest."

"The fact that you haven't set foot out of your house in four months says otherwise."

"Whatever..." the Riolu scoffed bitterly. Regardless of how much he displayed his distaste towards the Charmeleon's attitude though, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad that he and Charlie were together again. And it seems that he has a lot of catching up to do. "By the way, how are Jonathan and Rebecca?"

"The ghost types?" the Charmeleon let out a cocky grin. "They've evolved as well if that's what you're wondering. Basically you're the only recruit that hasn't evolved yet. By the way, I think you forgot to compliment me for my evolution. I mean, c'mon, look at this body." Charlie then proceeded to flex his arms and show off his physique.

"Hm... that's weird..." the Riolu placed his hand against his chin as though he was in deep thought. His expression also changed to a more serious one.

"What is?"

"I seemed to have stopped caring..."

The Riolu was looking straight ahead so he failed to see the Charmeleon cough and almost choke on his own spit as he held back his laughter. Sighing, the Charmeleon began patting the Riolu's back softly with his right hand. "Oh, Jason... you really haven't changed much have you?"

The Riolu chuckled. "It's only been four months, Charlie... and I'm just fourteen, what type of maturity did you expect me to GEEET!?"

The Riolu exclaimed as the Charmeleon gripped his scruff and lifted him off the ground so that their faces were at the same level. "I mean look at you. You're so small, adorable and feeble. Whatever muscle you developed isn't even noticea--OW!"

The Riolu didn't wait for the Charmeleon to finish his sentence when his left hand glowed a blue light which he then used to jab and the Charmeleon's bicep. The jab sent sharp waves of pain coursing through the length of the Charmeleon arm, paralyzing it immediately and causing him to let go of the Riolu. The Charmeleon's entire right arm fell limp at his side and any attempt that Charlie did to try and make it move was futile.

"How's that for change?" the Riolu asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Right... force palm..." the Charmeleon said with a groan as he rubbed his pained arm. "That's new... anything else?"

"Well, I finally got that ranged fire attack going." The Riolu said proudly. "So that's a plus."

"Good for you..." the Charmeleon was still in pain, and his compliment sounded a bit sarcastic. "By the way, I see that you're not bringing your dagger with you anymore."

"Hm? Oh... yeah..." the Riolu smiled as he raised his gaze to the sky. "I dunno, I just keep it at home now since it looked more like an ornament rather than a weapon."

"Aw, but that was from your boyfriend, Damien~" the Charmeleon teasingly cooed.

The Riolu glanced to the side, looking at the Charmeleon with the corner of his eye. As much as he hated it whenever the Charmeleon would tease him about that, he didn't respond aggressively to the comment. "Anyway, the guard said that I would receive further instructions after the patrol takes the psychic types. I'm assuming the patrol was Leaf and Vex, so are you the one who'll give me my next instructions?"

"Yep." The Charmeleon said, flexing his right arm as the sensation returned. "You and I are on guard duty."

---

Charlie led Jason through the Military District with his hand constantly on the back of Jason's head. Under normal circumstances, the Charmeleon would've placed his hand on Jason's back or his shoulder. But considering the height difference now... well... the Charmeleon had a lot of opportunities to flick the back of the Riolu's head.

It's been a while since Jason actually got a proper view of the outside. His sensory abilities could only detect living organisms so staying updated with the infrastructure and the layout was an issue. Still, Jason was glad that not much has changed other than the additional security features of several hidden cameras, cloaked agents as well as the spores that the Sceptile Joseph uses for surveillance. Even the barracks was rebuilt and renovated with several additional security.

There surprisingly wasn't much conversation between the two as they walked other than the occasional teasing with Jason's still child-like physique as compared to the Charmeleon's. Regardless, Jason didn't pass on the opportunity to remind the Charmeleon that he still packed a punch. One thing's for sure though, Jason's clearly lost his hold as the Academy's best recruit. In fact, he wasn't even sure if he'd make the top ten.

The stepped inside the Academy and Jason was immediately greeted by a crowd of "new faces". His aura told him that he knew most of these recruits already but his eyes only saw the evolved version. They were all different compared to before in both appearance and skill. He was just glad that there were some recruits that didn't have any evolutions at all so recognizing them wasn't much of a problem.

The Charmeleon and the Riolu later stood side by side in front of the meeting room's double doors. Apparently, this was where the three psychic types were meeting with whoever it was that they were supposed to meet with. They didn't even meet up with the Grovyle and the Ninetails on the way there but Jason didn't bother wondering where they went.

"So, Jason," the Charmeleon spoke up. "we weren't really able to get a decent conversation a while ago now were we?"

"I didn't really think we had a lot of catching up to do considering all we probably did was train." The Riolu said with a chuckle.

"Hey, unlike you, I wasn't on house arrest."

"Again with that?" the Riolu chuckled. "So you did things other than training?"

"Guess who has a girlfriend?" the Charmeleon turned to eye the Riolu slyly.

Jason looked like a combination of unimpressed and surprised. "You've got to be kidding me."

"That's right, I do!" he exclaimed jovially accompanied by a fist pump.

Jason couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "Alright, who's the unlucky lady?"

"Unlucky?" the Charmeleon sounded offended. "Hmph, Vex was rather happy about our relationship."

"You and Veronica... really?"

"Hey, don't act like we're not a match."

"I'm just saying... you're a bit too brutish and ugly for someone as sophisticated as her." The Riolu joked with a slowly softening voice.

"Asshole..." the Charmeleon grumbled as he punched the Riolu at the shoulder.

Jason couldn't help himself but laugh. "Aren't we too young to be dating?" the Riolu asked.

"Psh." The Charmeleon shrugged. "We're too young to have sex. Last I checked there's nothing illegal about taking our friendship to the next level."

"Like best friendship?" the Riolu asked with a grin.

"No, I mean--"

"MEGA best friendship?" the Riolu's grin grew ever wider.

"No--"

"SUPER ULTRA MEGA--"

"Okay, dude, enough." The Charmeleon said as he hit the back of the Riolu's head. "Anyway... what have you found out?"

The Riolu, admittedly, was hurt, bothered at the least, by the Charmeleon's hit. He felt like his brain jiggled inside his head. "About what?" the Riolu asked as he gathered his senses.

"You had about four months of free time doing nothing but getting stronger. I know you had to at least ask someone about something you don't know yet." the Charmeleon said. "I know you heard a lot about things, how you learned so much yet so little... I remember that the Sceptile asked you to meet him four months ago. I know that your parents must know something. I know that you're acquaintances with that Garchomp that apparently works for the Sceptile... you must've learned something."

"Well..." the Riolu pondered. "I asked my dad what he knew about that Luxray, the supposed leader of the terrorists."

"And?"

"My dad wasn't able to finish his story..." Jason lowered his gaze as he remembered what happened that day. "As far as I know, he and dad used to be great friends. Then something about an incident happened... that's as far as my dad could share."

"I see..." the Charmeleon nodded his head. "I'm assuming that incident involved the death of his first wife."

"It is."

"That's where my dad started his story."

"What did you ask him?"

The Charmeleon paused and looked back to it. "I asked my dad why he made me believe that you weren't someone I should trust. You remember how I was always so hostile with you before?"

"How could I forget?" the Riolu replied with a chuckle.

"Anyway, the reason behind that involves that incident and that Luxray."

"How is the Luxray tied to it?"

"Where did your dad leave off his story?"

Jason gave it some thought, looking back to events that happened three months ago. "At the part where he discovers his first wife's dead body."

"Right, well... turns out even my dad's first wife died there."

The Riolu stared at the Charmeleon, wide-eyed in surprise. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm dead serious."

"Were everybody's wives involved in this?" the Riolu asked.

"No, just our dads'."

"Wow..." the Riolu leaned back against the wall behind him. "Why?"

"My dad doesn't know." The Charmeleon sighed and leaned back as well.

"And that's why your dad doesn't like me?"

"Let me finish the story." The Charmeleon eyed the Riolu, waiting for some smartass comeback. Once he was satisfied with the silence, he continued. "Anyway, at first, their gang was in mourning for their loss. And by gang, my dad says it was consist of him, your dad, a Blastoise named Bernard, a Tyranitar named Henry, Jonathan's father, a Gengar named Gregory, and the Luxray, Lucius. During the mourning, however, one of them was absent: the Luxray wasn't there. At first, my dad didn't see that as anything suspicious considering it was something that their circle of friends organized themselves and the Luxray was known to prefer being alone.

"However, a thought did cross his mind. Just a split second before they detonated the bombs, the Luxray was running towards them, shouting something. Of course, whatever he was trying to say was cut off by the loud explosion, and the Luxray hasn't made an attempt to tell them what it was after. My dad figured that he somehow found out about the presence of their wives and was trying to warn them... sadly... he was too late."

"My dad mentioned that as well..." the Riolu said sadly, the memories of his father's pained expression flashing in his head.

"Then, days later, the head of the Military District was assassinated. It might've gotten unnoticed as well had my father not been there to submit a report. He was the first on the scene and found that the assassin was the Luxray himself. According to my dad, the people in their gang were the last he expected to commit treason this vile. And among the people of their gang, Lucius was apparently the least likely to commit a crim. Seeing the late field marshal's blood on the Luxray's hands was something that my father never thought he'd see.

"My dad admitted that he didn't want to fight Lucius until he realized how much of a treacherous snake he was. He wondered why, though. Was Lucius planning this from the start? Then something occurred to him. Perhaps Lucius learned of something before they detonated the explosion. What if it's related to his rash decision to assassinate the head? Still, he won't get answers by just wondering about it, he had to capture the Luxray. However, with the evident type disadvantage, my father was quickly subdued and Lucius fled. Later that night, he finds out that your father had intercepted Lucius and let him get away."

The Charmeleon's pause either meant that he was trying to recall what happened next or that was all he knew. "And...?"

"My dad doesn't have anything against you, I think." The Charmeleon replied. "I guess he just... doesn't like your father for letting the Head's killer get away... especially considering that he didn't get the chance to interrogate him."

The Riolu shook his head, having trouble believing what he had heard. "No... there has to be more to that." Jason said. "Dad wouldn't have let Lucius get away like that."

"They were apparently the best of friends, Jason." The Charmeleon said. "I'm sure your dad told you that."

It was true what the Charmeleon said. His dad and Lucius did seem like they were close friends... but... "There has to be more to this story. I'll go try asking my dad again, there has to be a reason for what happened."

"I know, Jason, and I believe you." the Charmeleon said. "That's why I want to know as well. When you ask your dad, I want you to tell me what you learned."

"Right... yeah..." the Riolu said, his voice trailing away as he thought about how he would do it. Last time he asked his dad about it, he couldn't get himself to share past the incident. Maybe if he asked him only about the night of the assassination... if he could avoid having his dad look back to his first wife's death...

"You thinking about how you're gonna talk to your old man?" the Charmeleon asked.

"Partially..."

"Partially?"

"It's just... I had a thought that's been bothering me for weeks now..." the Riolu said with a gloomy expression. "Why are we bothering ourselves about it like this? We're just recruits right? We're not even allowed to go into battle."

"I think you're forgetting that these people seem to be after you." the Charmeleon said. "You're concern and curiosity is understandable, as is mine. You are my partner and my dad specifically said that he wouldn't want any more recruit casualties."

"Yeah... but--"

The Riolu wasn't able to finish his sentence when one of the double doors opened behind them revealing the Sceptile peeping through, gesturing towards the direction of the Riolu. "And your bodyguard is right here."