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Everyone present, the three psychic types, Jason's and Charlie's fathers, Harrison and the Blastoise, stared at the Riolu with surprise in their expressions. Jason, on the other hand, looked behind him, assuming that the Sceptile was referring to that invisible probably-ghost-type pokemon that he couldn't detect.

"Um..." the Riolu focused intently. "Is there supposed to be a ghost type or something here?"

The Charmeleon reached out and hit the back of the Riolu's head. "Moron, he's talking about you!"

"I'd really rather that invisible ghost type theory." The younger Gallade said with a sigh.

"Like I said," the Sceptile spoke. "The two of you would mostly be occupied here in the academy accompanied by me. The two of you wouldn't need any bodyguard."

"I can protect my sister just fine!" the younger Gallade protested.

"But would you really want to involve your little sister in this work?" the Sceptile asked with a sly smile. "While the two of you are here working, you guys can leave sweet little Sarah here under Jason's care."

"But--"

The younger Gallade was startled when the older Gallade suddenly placed his hand on the young one's shoulder. "Peace, Jacob." The older Gallade said. "We've seen the Riolu fight, Sarah will be fine."

"Welp, that settles it." The Sceptile gleefully clapped his hands together. "Jason, looks like you'll be in charge of keeping Sarah safe." The Sceptile patted the Kirlia's shoulder and the Kirlia greeted Jason with a nervous smile.

Jason smiled back and was about to nod when he felt his heart skip a bit. Time seemed to stop around him as he stared in horror as, for a brief moment, he could see his friend Damien in Sarah's place. The young, cheerful Zigzagoon was in front of him, smiling... then in a flash he was bloodied and lifeless. The Riolu almost tripped as he took a step back, startled by what he just saw, only to be held up by the Charmeleon.

"Jason, are you alright?" the Charmeleon asked as he held onto the Riolu's arm to steady him.

"You expect THAT to protect my little sister?" Jacob, the younger Gallade, asked. As much as the older Gallade remained silent, he seemed disappointed or worried.

Even the Sceptile was surprised by the Riolu's display. The Kirlia, however, seemed more determined than anything. "I want to be with him." She said sternly, eliciting the same reaction from all of them:

"What?" everyone asked in unison. Even the Riolu was confused.

The younger Gallade was about to protest when Sarah looked him straight in the eye with her fierce, glowing sapphire eyes. The two seemed to be locked in a telepathic argument, with the end result being the Gallade sighing in defeat. "Alright... fine..."

The Kirlia smiled in triumph as she walked towards the Riolu. "It's final. You will be my body guard during the duration of my stay here."

The Riolu shook his head, still paralyzed by his fear. "No, I can't-- OW OW OW OW!" the Riolu exclaimed as the Kirlia grabbed him by the ear and started pulling him along.

"Nonsense, you'll do just fine!" the Kirlia giggled as he dragged the Riolu away.

"This'll be interesting." The Charmeleon chuckled as he followed along. Before he could take a step though, the Sceptile placed his hand on the Charmeleon's shoulder. "Sir?"

"Charlie, please give this to the Kirlia or me." The Sceptile whispered as he handed the Charmeleon a folded piece of paper. "It contains the address of where they'll be staying for the meantime. Give it to her in case she wants to rest."

"Yes, sir." The Charmeleon said as he took the piece of paper and left.

The people in the room remained quiet, wondering about what transpired before them. "What was that about?" the older Gallade asked. "That Riolu... Jason... what was that breakdown about?"

"You weren't able to take a look?" the Sceptile asked.

"We're not rude that we'd constantly try to peek into the minds of others." Jacob, the younger Gallade, said. "And besides, as soon as he backed away, his mental barriers reset themselves."

"Then I guess I gave him a good mentor." The Sceptile smiled at the Garchomp's direction, who gave him a nod of gratitude. "And besides, Jason isn't the focus of this conversation." 'Not yet anyway' the Sceptile thought to himself. "Shall we return to business?"

"I am not leaving my sister with a mentally unstable person." Jacob sternly protested.

"Then why did you agree in the first place?" the Sceptile grinned deviously at the Gallade.

Jacob grunted, seeing as this argument wasn't going anywhere in his favor. "Because Sarah told me that she wants to help him."

"Then have faith in your sister." The Sceptile said. "We have other issues to deal with."

---

"Why did you pull me all the way out here?" Jason asked once the Kirlia had let go of his ear. He rubbed his aching ear between his fingers that began glowing in a faint blue light.

The Kirlia watched as the Riolu dulled away the pain with his healing aura. "You know, you're really one of a kind."

"Why's that?" the Riolu asked as he put down his hand.

"For one, you're the first Riolu I've seen that's THIS connected to the aura." The Kirlia said. "Another would be that not all Lucario's can use their aura for all three known purposes."

"You mean combat, healing and analysis, right?" the Riolu asked.

"mm-hm." the Kirlia nodded. "Most Lucarios can only go up to combat and analysis."

"Well... I can honestly say that healing wasn't an easy skill to master."

"What are you two lovebirds talking about~?" the Charmeleon cooed from behind them as he caught up.

"Oh, hey Charlie..." the Riolu mumbled nonchalantly and the Charmeleon got closer and placed his arm on the Riolu's head, leaning against him as though he was a shelf.

"Uh... is this the partner you haven't seen for months?" the Kirlia asked, feeling a bit awkward with the Charmeleon's presence.

"Aw, you guys were talking about me?" the Charmeleon cooed.

"Maybe." Jason grunted as he elbowed the Charmeleon at his naval, dangerously bordering towards his fragile pieces. Normally, he would've hit Charlie at the stomach, but the height difference made him hit lower.

"Oof." The Charmeleon groaned as he staggered backwards. "Dang man... so aggressive."

"I can see that your partnership's rather... abrasive." The Kirlia said chuckling.

"You can't really consider us the best of friends." The Charmeleon laughed slightly. "Especially considering Jason hasn't left his house in months."

"What?" the Kirlia gasped.

"It's a really long story and I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to tell anyone why." The Riolu mumbled.

"I see..." the Kirlia mumbled. "So I'm guessing your partner is freakily strong as well."

"You know it!" the Charmeleon proudly exclaimed, flexing his arms and showing off his biceps.

"And admittedly... he's stronger than me now." The Riolu distastefully mumbled.

"Aw, we'll never find out until you and I fight." The Charmeleon wrapped his arm around the Riolu and pulled him close, hugging him tightly... really tightly.

"Not... now, Charlie." The Riolu stopped on the Charmeleon foot and squirmed free from his grip. "I apparently have to watch over her."

"I can watch the two of you fighting." The Kirlia said. "I mean, I have nothing better to do anyway."

"Great." The Charmeleon said as he gripped the Riolu's wrist painfully, revenge for him stepping on his foot, and dragged him along, the Kirlia following behind. "We can have it at the arena and you, miss, can sit in the judges' booth."

---

The three soon arrived at an arena-like area. There was a large, empty space in the middle surrounded by barrier protected bleachers. The Riolu and the Charmeleon took their places in the arena while the Kirlia attempted to teleport into the judges' booth above. She looked puzzled when she failed to teleport at first, and when her teleportation failed a second time, she knew something was wrong.

Before she could voice out her complaints though, the Riolu spoke up. "Oh, you cannot teleport through the barriers. You can't teleport in and out of the building as well since it's encased in a large barrier itself."

"We wouldn't want those pesky teleporters now would we?" the Charmeleon added.

"I see." She said as she gazed upon the barrier protected booth. "Um... Jason..." the Kirlia's faced was blushing a bit about having to ask for such a silly favour. "could you help me up there?"

The Riolu didn't make any comment about it, even going to the lengths as to forcing the Charmeleon's muzzle shut by giving him a serious glance. The Riolu led the Kirlia back inside the building, down a different hall and into the judges' booth. The room was rather high-tech compared to other judges' booths considering that it has screens monitoring every angle of the arena. There were several buttons, knobs and switches laid across the control panel, each with their own function in manipulating the arena.

"Here we are." The Riolu said as he escorted the Kirlia to one of the seats. "That button activates the microphone, those buttons work the lights, though I doubt you'd be needing it now, those are crowd control... and on... and on and on."

"What do you mean by 'crowd control'?" the Kirlia asked pointing to a button inside a glass casing.

"That puts the arena on lockdown and activates a bunch of defense mechanisms or something. I don't really know what it does since I haven't seen it go off yet."

"Can I press it?" the Kirlia teasingly asked.

"Please no."

The two laughed together for a brief moment before the Kirlia asked the Riolu to get down there. She let out a sigh as she watched the Riolu join the Charmeleon down below. She watched as the Charmeleon wrapped his arm around the Riolu and began nudging his head. The two seemed like great friends, they truly did. But... looking back to that Riolu's panic attack a while ago... she saw something inside the Riolu. She didn't know what it was nor did she understand why she was driven to help him, but she just did. There was that indescribable sensation that drove her to want to help the Riolu, and she went with it as she saw no harm in doing so.

"So, you'll be the referee for this fight?" the Charmeleon's voice sounded from the speakers inside the booth.

The Kirlia looked for the speaker button and pushed it. "Uh, yeah. You guys wouldn't mind if I set down some rules right?"

"Don't worry, ma'am, there won't be any killing here." the Charmeleon said.

"I'll be adding more rules." The Kirlia gleefully announced.

"Alright, name them."

"Neither of you are allowed to push your limits. I don't want to see you using that body armor of yours seeing as it tires you quickly. You wouldn't last two minutes in there."

"Roger roger." Jason answered.

"Also, uh... Charlie, please go easy on Jason." The Kirlia said. "I hear bodyguards tend to perform best when they're in good shape."

'Wow, I didn't think she was the sarcastic type.' the Charmeleon snickered as he whispered to the Riolu.

'She's just a kid like us.' Jason replied. 'But yeah, I admit I didn't take her as the kind to joke around.'

"I can hear the two of you as well." The Kirlia's cheerful voice emanated from the speakers. "Anyway, that's the only additional rule that I wanted to add. The two of you may start fighting."

"Also, don't worry about my health." The Riolu said. "I can regenerate using my aura."

"You aren't making us fight so you can measure our specs right?" the Charmeleon asked.

"What? Because I'm from Arkha I'm automatically your enemy?" the Kirlia asked with sarcasm in her voice. "If it wasn't for that 'Ancestral Wrath' thing, our two nations would've been partners."

"You know about that curse thing then?" the Charmeleon asked the Kirlia.

"Charlie, I didn't know you knew about that." the Riolu commented.

"One of the questions I asked my dad."

"So are you two gonna fight or are we just gonna stand here talking?" the Kirlia asked impatiently.

"Pushy..." the Riolu mumbled as he and the Charmeleon got to their positions.

The two took their positions on opposite ends of the arena, the Riolu's hands getting shrouded in aura and the Charmeleon snorting flames through his nostrils. Both of them waited for the other to strike first. They paid attention to every detail, every movement, muscle twitch, even the rising of their chests as they breathed.

"Consider this as pay back for all those moments where you showed off." The Charmeleon proudly announced.

"Aw, I hope you can handle the disappointment of losing again." The Riolu retorted with a grin.

Finally, the Charmeleon breathed in deeply, in quick succession, and exhaled a powerful blast of a flame thrower.

Jason smiled, rolling to the side to avoid the flamethrowing then immediately got back to his feet. His fists were immediately set ablaze when he got up as he punched the air, sending a bolt of fire out of his fist.

The Charmeleon stopped with the flamethrower the moment the Riolu rolled out of harm's way. At first, he readied himself for the Riolu to charge at him and engage him in close combat. Instead, he was surprised to see the Riolu's fists ablaze as he shot out a fire bolt. 'Impressive, he's finally got that range attack down.' He thought to himself although he made no attempt to guard against it. If anything, he wanted to show off in front of their spectator that he was strong enough to take on the Riolu's flames.

He stood his ground, preparing to feel the soft touch of the flame as it would hit his body. He was completely and utterly surprised when the bolt of fire smashed against his chest painfully and knocked him backwards.

"What's the matter, Charlie? Surprised?" the Riolu taunted as he began punching and kicking the air in quick succession, sending a salvo of fire bolts flying towards the Charmeleon.

Charlie let out a growl of annoyance as he drew a deep breath and let out another flamethrower. Even though the Riolu's flames should've been much weaker than his, evident in the fact that his flamethrower easily swallowed up the fire bolts, he didn't like how he was hurt by it. In fact, his flamethrower charged straight forward with the Riolu in its path of destruction once more.

The Riolu pointed his hands to the ground as fire erupted from his hands and feet, propelling him upwards and forwards towards the Charmeleon. The flames on his hands were replaced by Jason combat aura, switching from fire punch to force palm, as he crash down on the Charmeleon and the two were locked in close combat. Even though the Riolu was smaller, weaker and a tad bit slower than the Charmeleon, he managed to hold his ground quite well.

The Kirlia watched in awe as the two pokemon fought hard in the arena bellow. None of them seemed to manage to land a single blow on the other. She could sense that the Charmeleon was clearly supposed to be stronger and faster than the Riolu, but Jason managed to keep the Charmeleon's assaults at bay, using his force palm to parry the Charmeleon's dragon claw.

"Jason's aura is more fluid now than it was the first time." the Kirlia mumbled to herself. "He can even shoot out fire from his fire punches and _blaze kick_s. Not only that, but his fire is infused with his combat aura, giving it partial fighting affinity. That'd explain why he managed to harm the Charmeleon. Then again this monologing habit of mine may be a bit unhealthy... " A few moments of silence from her passed as she returned to just observing the squabbling duo. She then reached for the PA button and pressed it. "Alright guys, fighting's over."

The two were just about to land another hit, which would've most likely been parried, when the Kirlia spoke. She was actually surprised that the two were able to stop instantly considering their momentum. She just guessed that this was yet another display of Avalon's soldiers' capabilities. She stepped out of the judges' booth and made her way back to the arena, during which she wasn't able to hear the conversation that was going on between the two.

"Don't you think it's weird how she's just kind to you?" the Charmeleon asked.

"Yeah..." the Riolu replied. "Though she doesn't seem hostile, maybe she's just really friendly."

The Charmeleon placed his hand on the Riolu's shoulder. "Remember, Jason, it took these people four months to decide to send three people to help us."

"We shouldn't view these people as enemies. It's just your blood talking."

"What if there's a reason for that?" the Charmeleon asked. "What if our two nations are meant to forever be in conflict?"

"There's a reason Haven was formed, Charlie." The Riolu said sternly. "We have to at least make the effort to break that stupid cycle."

"Wait... Haven?"

Their conversation was interrupted abruptly when the double doors swung open as the Kirlia walked in. "Sorry to have to cut your match short. I got bored just watching you guys and thought that maybe we should do something else."

The two pokemon dropped their conversation and acted as though nothing happened. "Like what?" the Charmeleon asked.

"Well..." the Kirlia hummed in thought. "a formal introduction would be nice." She extended her arm, beckoning for a hand shake from either of them. "My name is Sarah Pearce. It's a pleasure to be your acquaintance."

"I'm Charlie Hunter." The Charmeleon said as he shook her hand.

"And I'm Jason Alexander." The Riolu said and shook her hand after the Charmeleon let go.

The moment the Riolu's and the Kirlia's hands touched, however, a weird sensation crawled over the two pokemon and both of them let go in surprise. Neither of them seemed to know what happened as both of them were equally confused and staring at their palms. The Charmeleon, though, only eyed the Kirlia with suspicion.

"Um..." the Riolu mumbled.

"Well..." the Kirlia said awkwardly. "How about a tour of Avalon?"

The Charmeleon was about to make a hostile comment when the Riolu jabbed at the Charmeleon's stomach, causing him to groan in pain.

"Sure." The Riolu said. "Where would you like to start?"

"Jason-- OOOF" the Charmeleon was about to protest when the Riolu jabbed at his stomach again. Charlie was about to jump out of the way when the Riolu shot out a small fire bolt and landed the jab anyway.

The Kirila giggled at the weird display before her. "Why don't we start here at the... what do you call it... Business District?"

"We call it Market District here." the Riolu corrected. "And, no, we can't really go there. The Military District is in full lockdown until we catch whoever's responsible for the terrorist attacks."

"I see." The Kirlia nodded. "Is that why we had to pass through a thick forest instead of the main road?"

"Yeah..." the Charmeleon groaned, rubbing his aching stomach from the Riolu's jabs. Whatever it was that happened, Jason believes that this Kirlia isn't hostile and with the certainty that he would constantly jab the Charmeleon for it. Charlie decided to trust the Riolu's judgement for now. "Anyway, there isn't much to be toured here in the Military District, you've pretty much seen all that there is for the public eye."

"Aw." The Kirlia pouted. "How about you guys introduce me to your other friends?"

"Why?" the Charmeleon asked.

'Hm... why indeed..?'_the Kirlia asked to herself. _'Why am I making such an effort to befriend this Riolu? And that sensation that washed over me when we shook hands... just what is that Riolu anyway?' the Kirlia dismissed those thoughts quickly before she started rousing suspicion. "Yeah, you're right... I'm being pushy with you guys aren't I? Let's just go back to the meeting room. I kind of dragged you out of there before they could tell me where I'll be staying."

"Oh, well I have it right here." the Charmeleon reached into a pocket of his vest and pulled out a scrap of paper and handed it over to the Kirlia.

"Hm, will you look at that." she mumbled. "Well, can you guys take me there?"

"Okay." The Riolu nodded. The Charmeleon went on ahead and lead the way while the Riolu gestured towards him. "Ladies first."

---

From the Academy to the residential area, the Kirlia remained silent, pondering about what had happened and the different questions in her head. Just who is this Riolu to her? Why did she have to sudden urge to just... help him? They just met that very day and already she feels like she's known him for a long time. Maybe she should just forget about it... perhaps it's just puberty. Or... maybe there's another thing that's involved.

She stopped walking, causing the Riolu, who was walking behind her, to stop as well.

"Is something wrong?" the Riolu asked.

"Jason, I need to show you something." The Kirlia said. "Is there a place where you and I can be alone?"

"Hey, what are you lovebirds on about?" the Charmeleon called out from the front. "The Academy's just around the corner."

The Riolu looked at the Charmeleon then back to the Kirlia. He could tell that the Kirlia was worried or something and that she feels that she really has to show the Riolu something. "Charlie, you can go on ahead. Sarah wants to show me something in private."

"Jason, you're too young for that kind of thing!" the Charmeleon joked.

The Riolu and the Kirlia blushed heavily, knowing full well what the Charmeleon meant. "It's not that kind of thing!" the Kirlia exclaimed, tempted to hurl the Charmeleon away with her psychic abilities but resorted to just grabbing the Riolu by the wrist and dragging him away.

The Charmeleon stood there, amused and disappointed at the same time. He didn't trust the Kirlia fully, but he trusted the Riolu's judgement. Still, the fact that the Kirlia was going to have Jason alone was unsettling to the Charmeleon. He knew that the Kirlia didn't mean anything adult about her request, but honestly, the Charmeleon would rather they do adult things rather than what he feared they would actually be doing.

"Oh well, at least the Kirlia's not my responsibility right now..." he mumbled to himself as he began walking away, not towards the Academy but not after the Riolu either. "I wonder where Vex went..."