A Boy and His Lucario Part 13
#13 of A Boy and His Lucario Series
"Try to relax, Lucario. Sensei Hosokawa won't turn you away or look down on you." John said, trying to comfort Lucario on their way to Sensei Hosokawa's quarters. Lucario had his head down from the time they had left the living quarters, and he really didn't have much to say. John reached down and scratched behind Lucario's ear. He could feel the tension in Lucario's body ease.
"Thank you Master. You always know just what to do."
Lucario gulped as the pagoda came into view. John began to stroke the top of Lucario's head. This calmed him some more. John opened the door to the pagoda and led Lucario inside. In the middle of the floor sat Sensei Hosokawa and Ashito, meditating to an incense stick. Ashito opened his eyes when the stick stopped burning. He turned around and smiled when he saw John and Lucario.
"Good morning guys! I'm just finishing up my session with Sensei, are you guys next?"
"In a sense, yes." John said. "Lucario wanted to speak with Sensei Hosokawa." Ashito nodded with a grin.
"I see. Well, don't let me get in your way." He turned back towards Sensei Hosokawa, bowed, and left. Sensei Hosokawa opened his eyes. He looked at John with a smile. John bowed and followed behind Ashito. Lucario turned around with a look of disbelief on his face. The door shut behind John with a quiet clack.
"Lucario, please follow me." Sensei Hosokawa said as he reached for his cane and stood up. He slowly made his way to the steps on the wall, Lucario followed. Now that he was alone, Lucario noticed he was taller than Sensei Hosokawa. The average Lucario was about 4', but compared to a Lucario, Sensei Hosokawa looked to maybe be 3'9. 'He really_is_ a small man.' Lucario thought to himself.
When they reached the top of the steps, Lucario was somewhat surprised. It looked much like the old woman's house in the Viridian Forest; a floor table with four cushions, a small kitchen, and a bed of to the wall. The only difference really was the hole in the floor that was placed so the dragon on the ceiling could be seen from the downstairs. Sensei Hosokawa walked to the small kitchen and grabbed a tray.
"Please, join me at the table." Lucario did as he was asked and sat opposite the small man. Sensei Hosokawa poured two cups of tea and gave one to Lucario. Lucario nodded to show his thanks and took a sip. "Lucario, I have heard of your ordeal, please, tell me through your own words what has happened." Lucario tilted his head with a confused look on his face. Sensei Hosokawa chuckled. "Oh yes, that's right. John came early this morning and talked to me, he said you had a bad dream, but were too nervous to ask me yourself."
Lucario slumped a bit and looked at his tea. 'Does Master think I'm afraid? Is he right?' he thought.
"Lucario, please tell me what is bothering you." Lucario looked at Sensei Hosokawa with a look that meant "How?" "You my friend are a very special Pokémon. You have the ability to sense and manipulate the life force known as aura. I want you to use your aura to speak to me. Concentrate, feel the aura flow through you. Allow yourself to use it to speak telepathically." Lucario nodded and focused. He felt his aura flow; he concentrated, harder, harder.
"Like this?" he spoke. It surprised him a little. He had just spoken without opening his mouth or even using his vocal chords. Sensei Hosokawa grinned and nodded.
"Now, tell me your story."
John and Ashito walked through the dojo garden.
"What does Lucario want to talk to Sensei about?" Ashito asked.
"He had a bad dream last night and wanted to confront Sensei about it. He thinks that Sensei might have a solution." Ashito's ears drooped a little.
"I see. We've all had our share of bad dreams, especially those of us who go through hard times. Is something going on with Lucario?" he asked in what sounded like a concerned voice. John sighed as he looked at the plants.
"You could say that..."
Sensei Hosokawa took a sip of his tea and waited for Lucario to start. Lucario took in a deep breath and began his story.
"I realize we've only been here a few days, so it must have been a least a week ago. Master and I arrived in Cerulean City and I was immobilized with a sprained ankle. He thought we could both use a walk around the city park, so he carried me around the next morning. We ran into a girl looking for her lost Pokémon. We searched for a while and eventually found her; she was a Lucario as well. The four of us spent a lot of time together in those few days. Celia-the other Lucario-and I had begun to get very close to one another. Before we knew it, we were in love." Sensei Hosokawa smiled as Lucario mentioned love. "But before I knew it, I had to leave her. I love her very much, Sensei. And this dream I had... It just makes everything feel like it was all for nothing. Like we never loved each other... Like I betrayed her." Sensei Hosokawa took another sip of tea. He smiled at Lucario.
"Lucario, I have been in your place my friend. When I chose to come here many years ago from Japan, I too had fallen in love. But, like you, I continued on my way, leaving behind a beautiful woman. I was still young back then, and I too had dreams like the one John tells me you've had. I also felt guilty. But over time I realized that they meant nothing. I still loved this woman and no dream ever changed that. I went back to Japan years later and we were married. Mrs. Hosokawa may have passed on, but all those years certainly weren't for nothing." Lucario listened intently and carefully as he drank his tea.
"But Sensei, what does it all mean?" Sensei Hosokawa grinned.
"Don't give up." These words hit Lucario like a train. "If you truly lover her, someday, you will have her." Sensei Hosokawa then dismissed Lucario.
John was taking a nap in his room when Lucario walked in. John was almost silent, with the occasional sound of a deep breath. Lucario removed his kimono and set it next to the bonsai tree. He went to the bed side. John was using the sleeping bag as his sheets, just as he said he would. Lucario curled at John's feet and thought over what Sensei Hosokawa had said to him. 'If I truly lover her, someday, I'll have her. If I truly love her...' Lucario closed his eyes and a tear ran down his cheek. Lucario felt something wipe his face. The tear was gone. He opened his eyes to see John sitting up, smiling.
"Why so sad buddy?" he asked. Lucario sat up and smiled, another tear running down his cheek.
"Master?"
"Yes Lucario?"
"I love her." John smiled and held Lucario close.
"I know you do. That's one of the things that make you so great." Lucario closed his eyes and smiled, still in John's arms. A slow strain of joyful tears streamed his face.
"Master?"
"Yes Lucario?"
"I love you, too." Now John shed his own tears of happiness as well.
"I love you too, Lucario." And there they sat, holding one another, tears running down their faces, just happy to have one another.
As the day progressed, it seemed there was no one to be found. Even Ashito wasn't seen.
"Hey Lucario, since we don't have training today, why don't we go for a day on the town? It's been a while since just the two of us hung out." John suggested. Lucario wagged his tail and smiled.
"That sounds like fun. Just us!" he happily sang. They headed for the main dojo and exited out onto the streets. This part of the city-in a way-could've been considered the China Town. It was very traditional Asian, with small square houses and venders selling produce or fish from their little stands. John bought a couple of apples for the two of them and they set out further into town. All the while, John told Lucario Kyo's, Ninetales', and Ashito's stories. Lucario was fascinated by them all, but one thing made him curious.
"Master, if humans have been in the Pokémon regions for thousands of years, why have they only been making themselves known over the past century?" he asked. John didn't know how to answer that. But Lucario was right, it was rather curious.
"I don't really know why that is." He finally replied.
"Why what is?" a raspy voice asked. John and Lucario stopped and looked over to see an old man with bushy white eyebrows and a long white beard. He was sitting on the floor of a house porch, pealing potatoes.
"Well sir, we were just curious as to why we in the Pokémon regions have only made our selves known to the rest of the world in the past hundred years." John stated. The old man chuckled and set his peeler down.
"Oh, I can tell you why. My father was a youngster when that all happened." He stroked his beard as he told his tale. "Long ago, my father was working outside with his father on the family farm, he was a young boy, no older than 10. It started out a nice sunny day when out of nowhere the sky turned black with hints of purple. Then two large Pokémon appeared in the sky. They were recognized as the legends of time and space, Palkia and Dialga. The two had gotten into an immense battle, but no one knew why. They fought for days, all the people locked inside their homes in fear of what could happen. Then one day, they sky turned and turned and formed a large funnel. The winds moved faster than anyone had ever witnessed and with a bright flash, everything was right and sunny again. It was found out a few years later that landmasses that were never known to man were being discovered, and with humans inhabiting them, each group of people different depending on the landmass. That my dear boy is why we've only made ourselves know in the past century. We've only been here that long."
"What do you mean "been here"?" John asked.
"That battle between Palkia and Dialga made a rip in the fabric of time and space, sending our regions into an alternate universe." John and Lucario both widened their eyes.
"I guess that explains Kyo's story..." John joked.
The boys managed to see most of city that afternoon. The sun was in the earliest stages of setting when they came upon a hill that looked over the city. They decided to stop there and rest; it had been a long day.
"Would you just look at that, Lucario? The sunset on the city looks really nice." John said as he sat under a tree on top of the hill. Lucario was standing next to him. He nodded his head.
"It does look nice. A nice calm ending to a busy day." Lucario sat down beside John who started to scratch behind Lucario's ears. Lucario expressed his joy through his wagging tail and a smile. But after a short while the wagging slowed and eventually stopped. Lucario slumped down into John's lap. John chuckled; he had put Lucario to sleep. He stroked the top of Lucario's head and watched the sunset.
"You are my best friend, and nothing is ever going to change that." John quietly whispered into Lucario's ear. Lucario shifted with a snort and a light kick of the leg. The light of the sunset shone brightly on Lucario's sleeping, smiling face.
John carried Lucario back to the dojo. As he made his way to the Chinatown, the large street lights slowly transitioned into candle lit lamps on tall posts. The city looked just as nice at night. Some people sat outside and quietly played a tune of their erhus or kotos. John entered the main dojo, empty as usual. Upon entering the main garden he heard singing. He looked around and found Siegfried tending to some flowers.
"Hey there Siegfried, wie gehts du?" John asked interrupting the song.
"Oh, Guten Abend, John. Was ist los mit Lucario?" he asked.
"Nothing, he just fell asleep. We had a long day looking around the city."
"Viel Spaß. Ich bin nur tendenziell diese Blumen, bevor ich ins Bett gehen. Du sollst gehen, um zu Bett auch." He said as he patted to ground around a patch of flowers. John nodded.
"I'm heading there now. See you in the morning." He said and made his way to the living quarters. Waiting for him there was Kyo.
"Well look who decided to come home." He teased. "I wanted to tell you about tomorrows training."
"What about it?" John asked.
"Sensei is tired and wants to rest tomorrow, so Siegfried is going to be leading us. It's going to be standard Pokémon training tomorrow."
"Cool, Lucario will love that." Kyo chuckled a little.
"Well if he's the only one sleeping, he's not going to love it when his trainer falls asleep on him." He snickered. John smiled.
"I know, I know, I'm heading there now." John shifted Lucario and held him against his shoulder. "I just hope he won't be awake all night now." John continued down the hall and entered his room. He gently set Lucario onto the bed and covered him up. He pulled a packed meal and two candy bars out of his bag and placed them next to the bed. He quickly wrote a note and set it next to the food. It read:
Lucario,
If you wake up before I get back, please enjoy your food. I'll be back before sunrise. If you have any questions, talk to Ashito.
Love you buddy,
John
John put on his backpack and left the room. He went and knocked on Ashito's door. Ashito was there almost instantly.
"Well here there John! What's up?" he asked in his usual happy tone with a wag of the tail.
"Ashito, I need a favor."
After much searching, John found himself in downtown Saffron. He had gotten some information form a woman who clearly didn't know the way as well as she thought. 'Now, all I have to do is find the Pokémon Center. Look for the giant P...' he told himself. He went from street to street, corner to corner until he finally found the large Pokémon Center. It was surprisingly quiet for such a large center with only a few people walking around with their Pokémon. John walked up to the counter where Nurse Joy was standing.
"Excuse me ma'am, is there a phone here available for me to use?"
"Certainly, they're right over there." Joy said as she pointed to the far wall with videophones lined up along the wall. John found one that worked and looked through the phone book.
"Here it is." He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear, waiting for the screen to show his caller. On the screen appeared a teenage girl with a smile on her face.
"Hello!" She said in a happy manor but then she looked surprised. "Huh? John?"