“Hyper Voice!” I called out, and Phantasm eagerly grinned, baring her sharp teeth for a second before opening her jaw wide and letting out a piercing howl that echoed across the frost-dusted field.

  For her part, Riolu winced but pressed onward, unerringly hunting down the Ghost Type. Her eyes were closed as she marched forward, not letting herself get distracted by the uncountable number of copies Phantasm had conjured around.

  Darting in close, her claws dripping with Poison, she accurately jabbed at the real Phantasm. The Hisuian Zoroark gave a hiss, but the nature of death permeated her core, protecting her from being hurt too much, and retaliated with a heavy Slash.

  The size and weight advantage meant that Phantasm was able to hit Riolu hard, even as she brought up one paw to block the blow. Bouncing off against the ground, Riolu fired off a series of Vacuum Waves, the attacks rippling through the air toward Phantasm.

  “Run through them; they can’t hurt you!” I called out to my evolved Pokemon, and she loped forward, racing across the grass. Riolu raised a foot up, and I knew what was coming. “Jump!”

  With a mighty leap, Phantasm soared above the Earthquake Riolu had just made, the ground not rising high enough to hit the Zoroark. She Tackled Riolu, the two of them tumbling further down the field.

  “Disengage! Hyper Voice close, but out of melee,” I advised Phantasm. Riolu’s arm shot out, her Metal Claws leaving a small cut on the Ghost Type, but she was unable to prevent her from fleeing. The deathly wail of Hyper Voice slammed into Riolu, the smaller Pokemon trying to close the gap between them but failing.

  Phantasm’s evolved speed was too great for Riolu, the attacks whittling away at her. She managed to get close once with a clever Aerial Ace, bouncing off of a nearby Rufflet mid-air (leaving me to wave over Fraxure to calm the bird down) to strike at Phantasm. However, that glimpse of victory was short-lived, with the Ghost Type taking the initiative and unleashing point-blank Shadow Balls, her dual Typing leaving her unconcerned with the close-range explosions of ghostly energy.

  One particularly hard blast knocked Riolu down, and the baby Pokemon rose slowly, her breathing labored. She was having trouble putting weight on one of her legs as well, and noticing that, I called an end to the match. “Alright, we’re done!”

  At the last word, Dun, misunderstanding me, popped out of his ball. “Ah no, sorry. Was just saying the training is over for now; Phantasm wins.” The Hisuian Zoroark snarled at Riolu but quickly got herself under control, shaking her head. That’s good; she’s getting better at controlling her rage in a fight.

  Her inclination to hatred was still great enough that I was reluctant to include her in battles against Pokemon she didn’t know well, but I was glad at how much she had improved in dealing with her instincts. Ironically, Riolu herself was less than okay with this result.

  “Olu!” Riolu barked out angrily, and I just shook my head.

  “Sorry, but you’re in no condition to keep fighting. A stiff breeze could knock you over, and Hyper Voice or Shadow Sneak are a lot stronger than that.” Phantasm smirked beside me, reveling in her victory. Or just a bit of schadenfreude. Well, better than being overcome by hatred. “C’mon, you’ve won plenty of times before; don’t worry about this. We’ll get you fixed up at the Pokemon Center,” I tried to placate the Fighting Type further.

  She didn’t seem happy with that, but didn’t resist as I recalled her. “Dun, can you go and grab Fraxure?” The Dragon Type had busied himself ‘clearing the area’ for us to Train in. Which was actually a vital and needed task, given how many Pokemon were wandering about. However, some of those Pokemon were Axews; the adorable little Dragons nearby had immediately flocked to their middle-stage brethren and began pelting him with questions and playing about.

  I can’t be too mad at him, though; those little guys are cute. More importantly, they probably remind him of home. Fraxure had grown up his whole life surrounded by Axews, up until the past month and a half, where he hadn’t seen any until now.

  Dun slithered over to the Dragons, talking to them for a moment before dragging Fraxure back. “Frax, Fra!” My happy Dragon eagerly cheered.

  “That’s nice,” I said, because this was one of the times where I had trouble making out what he actually meant, beyond a general feeling of ‘he had fun/a good time.’. “Alright, let’s stay vigilant as we head back to Zapapico. It’s getting close to dusk, and I don’t want to be ambushed again.”

  Most of the Pokemon along this steep, grassy path were generally very chill, like the Cetoddles that happily waved at us or the herds of Deerlings led by Swasbucks that calmly grazed nearby. Others like Pyroar would defend their territory harshly but made no aggressive motions towards us as long as we gave them a wide berth. I even saw one male Pyroar looking after a half dozen Sneasel kits. That was a pairing I didn’t expect to see, given their Typings.

  Sneasels were on the more aggressive side, but the presence of a couple of Pokemon out would usually keep even the adults from harassing us. Not so for the Haunters and Gastlys that came out at night, or the occasional Midnight Lycanroc.

  None of these were a threat to my team, but they were aggressive enough to keep me on my toes as we marched back down to the small mining city. Thankfully, there were no incidents, so I recalled my team as I made it to the edge of the city, heading to the Pokemon Center to get them healed up first.

  “Out late again, miss?” The question was politely asked by the Nurse, without any true prodding or inquisition. I like that about this Nurse Joy. She only once asked me about where I found Phantasm, and when I refused to say, she let the topic drop entirely.

  “Yup, just hitting that grind before we take on the mountain,” I replied. We had been in Zapapico for almost a week now, after crossing the various mines between it and Levincia. Zapapico was an interesting city, full of a bunch of hard miners and other rough folks. You can really tell that this is a frontier town, that things will only get wilder from here.

  Despite that, the city was well-equipped with accommodations for room and board and a number of other small attractions and shops, as befitting the last major city before a loooooong hike up the Glaseado Mountain, or a slightly shorter one across to Medali.

  The city had a number of benches placed around it to give travelers and workers a place to rest in the middle of hard days. There was no Gym building in Zapapico, but there was a large arena dug out near the edge of town where people would often gather.

  Pretty much every miner had Pokemon to help them with their work, so they would often dabble as Trainers, practicing there. We had been practicing often there in the week we spent here, becoming mildly popular around town. Most of the battles were fairly easily won, but we even lost a couple, though those were only one-on-one battles with weaker members of the team, like Fraxure.

  It’s a nice place, but I think it’s time to move on. The amenities of a town were nice, but we needed to keep moving on, and there was a daunting hike up to the next Gym. In the morning, I’ll grab some winter gear and begin the next leg of our journey.

  ***

  With a puffy jacket over my hoodie and thick winter pants, I marched forward, up the steep hill. Hard to believe we aren’t even at the mountain yet. I was a little warm exerting myself in my heavy clothing, but I knew that it would be much worse to be cold. Currently I had on a soft, thin pair of gloves, but I’d switch those out once we ascended further.

  After a long walk, I came to a fork in the road. I started ascending to the mountain path but didn’t get far before Riolu popped out of her ball, pointing at the other route.

  “Ri,” she said insistently, and I understood it as ‘I/We need to go there.’.

  Cocking my head, I said, “Ok, we can go that way. The Dalizapa Passage leads up the Glaseado Mountain just as well.” I returned Notch to me, the Fairy Type, unfussed by Riolu taking the lead for the moment.

  We trekked down in silence, but I could sense a tension as we did so, eventually asking her, “What’s wrong?”

  “...Iolu,” she muttered after a minute. She’s upset about losing yesterday? That’s… odd. Riolu was the most competitive of my Pokemon, at least when it came to battling. Not that the rest of my team can’t be like that too; Dun constantly seeks to prove himself to the world, and Nightwing in general can be a bit of a sore loser. Still, Riolu usually gets over a loss by the next day at least.

  Further questions down that line were forestalled by us coming to the entrance of the Passage. It was a massive circular hole carved out of the mountain’s side, curving around and dipping down, the depths concealed by the gloom.

  Rotom Phones were equipped with a number of handy functions, including a powerful flashlight, which I had Miles use to light our way down the cave. There were a couple of Pokemon wandering about the tunnel, the Snorunts and Yungoos wandering about and even a particularly irksome Sableye that tried to strike out at us. Thankfully, Riolu caught them every time, knocking the Prankster Pokemon away with a few well-placed Metal Claws and finally an Earthquake to convince them to back off.

  That also drove away most Salandits that wanted to try and fight us, though a few of them still hissed as I passed. One tried spitting acid at me, which I deflected with the wave of a hand and a bit of Aura, the wind blowing the attack away. The lizard-like Pokemon hissed, their back flaring up red before scuttling away into the darkness.

  It’s impressive, the construction of this tunnel. Riolu may not be the strongest, but her Earthquake is still decent, and it didn’t end up impacting the structural viability of it at all (at least as far as I can tell). I wonder how Paldeans built this?

  Turning to chat with her about it, I noticed a tension in Riolu. Her shoulders were stiff, and her fur was standing on end. I pulled us to a stop as the tunnel opened up, becoming much wider and taller. It was also a bit brighter; a few torches hung off the walls here, and I could see where the path dipped down before rising back up, a narrow exit far off that I knew led to the rest of the passageways and (more importantly) a Pokemon Center.

  “What’s got you so tense?” I asked, not wanting to go further before I got to the bottom of what was bothering her.

  “Iolu. Ri, lu, Riolu.”

  “You lost to Phantasm, fine, but you’ve lost plenty of times.” She narrowed her eyes and barked at me. “Look, I’m sorry, but you have. You win plenty too, but it’s not like you haven’t had, and learned from, losses before. So what makes this different?”

  She pouted for a moment, not speaking, or maybe thinking about what she was going to say. Heck, you lost one fight against a Trainer in Zapapico, and it wasn’t this bad, so why did losing against Phantasm one time… the first time… ah. “You’d never lost to her before,” I stated, and she slowly nodded.

  “You’ll get there in time; when you evolve, it’ll be a huge boost too.” The topic of evolution was always an awkward one to bring up around her; it was something we both wanted for her and worked by us becoming more in sync, but it wasn’t something we could force. This time seemed more awkward still, and I followed her gaze down and to the side of the cavern.

  There, above a pile of somewhat less smooth rocky platforms, was an opening to a side tunnel. It was fairly well concealed, easy to miss if it wasn’t pointed out. Why does she want to go- “Oh. Oh! This is where they live?”

  “Olu,” she nodded.

  “Alright, let’s go. I’m su-” I stopped myself, not wanting to project my feelings onto someone I hadn’t met. “I’ve always wanted to meet your sensei. Let’s show him how much you’ve improved.”

  The grin she gave me was still tinged with nervousness, but the fire was back in her eyes as we marched onward. And we’ll need it, if this is who I think it is. I could only vaguely remember them from the games, but Riolu had told us a bit about her year exploring the land, and the details appeared to line up.

  There were a great many foes Riolu had fought in her mostly solitary journey, and even a few Pokemon she had a friendly relationships with. She embellished the tales a little, but we had experienced plenty of trials ourselves traveling together, so I knew plenty of it was true too.

  The times I sensed the least self-aggrandizement came from the one who gave her the toughest challenges too. All lessons learned at the hands of the one I had roughly translated as ‘sensei,’ who pushed her martial and Auric supremacy to their limits.

  Admittedly, I was able to help her with a few innovations too, but he was obviously a large part of why she improved as much as she did between her and Dun’s second and third matches. We climbed up, dancing around a group of Snorunts chilling nearby, and headed through the far smaller side passage.

  The first thing I noticed going through there was how much chillier it was. The Passage had been a bit warmer than the outside, safe from the brisk winds. That changed when we entered this tunnel and only increased as we went further through it. By the time we had exited this short path to a wider cavern, I was shivering slightly even through all my layers. That wasn’t what took away my breath and made me stop and stare in awe, however.

  The four massive, irregularly placed pillars, clearly shaped purposefully and almost reaching the ceiling, were impressive. The platforms sticking out of the small cliff, like massive stairs to ascend upon, looked cool too. But what really made me freeze was the sheer power I could feel radiating off the top of that cliff, the only visual sign the familiar hint of Terastalized light sparkling off the edge, did so.

  Maybe when I first assumed that Riolu was saying ‘Ancient-Blizzard-Resting-Beneath-Mountain,’ I wasn’t actually so wrong in my translation. I knew this Tera Lucario was strong, but whoa! Shaking off the awe, I said to my Pokemon, “So do we just go up or…?”

  I wondered if there was some protocol for this, and apparently there was, as she made a fist. “Fist covered with something? Glove? No, gauntlet!” Then I saw a Gumshoos and Frigibax charging towards us.

  “Vacuum Wave, keep them at a distance!” I started running around, which prompted the Gumshoos to try and chase me for a moment before he painfully realized how foolish that was. By himself, the Frigibax got beat handily, and by the time the Gumshoos turned around, giving up chasing me, he was quickly dispatched by Riolu.

  With powerful legs, Riolu dashed ahead, catching up to me. As we bounded up to the first step, more Pokemon stepped in our way. A speedy Dugtrio tried to hit and run Riolu, only to be shaken up by an Earthquake when he tried to hide underground. I shoved a Frigibax off a small ledge with a burst of wind (she wasn’t hurt, just annoyed and had difficulty climbing back up on stubby legs), and Riolu scared off a Dunsparce of all things, which was brave enough to fight us, but quickly cowed by an Aura Sphere.

  At the very top, Lucario stood in the center of the flat ground. His body shone with Terastalization, a hexagonal snowflake pattern Tera ‘hat’ above his head as he dispassionately analyzed us. It was also achingly cold, the chill emanating off of him feeling like it was cutting through my clothes and straight to my bones.

  Few Pokemon stood up here beside him, but one of those was a Houndstone. The shaggy, grave dog Pokemon loped towards us, and Riolu met him head-on, her claws glowing with Distorted energy. She’s learned Shadow Claw already? Nice!

  Houndstone jumped towards her, and she slid under it, scraping her Shadow Claw against his underside. The Ghost Type gave a pained cry, landing and whirling about to face Riolu, who had already gotten up. Pale purple energy began gathering around the Houndstone, wisps of Ghostly power, and I felt a slight spike of fear.

  “Detect!” I shouted, and Riolu’s eyes flashed at my command. Not a second too late, she dodged out of the way, the burst from Last Respects blasting apart the ground she had been standing on. Not sure how Last Respects works here, if the Pokemon we beat along the way powered it up or not, but I really don’t want to find out. “Shadow Claw again!”

  With Riolu faster than the evolved Ghost Type, we were able to set up a pattern where she would cut into him with Shadow Claw and then Detect away from the counterstrike. Eventually, the powerful Pokemon slumped down, defeated.

  Lucario, who had observed the whole show, gave a quiet bark, and Riolu stepped aside, marching up to face him. I joined her, despite the sweat freezing on my face, and the two of us gave a small bow of respect. Both of us had a fist in a palm, the gesture recognized by the long-lived Lucario either through his Auric understanding of the emotion behind the motions or simply through having seen such a thing before.

  He’s clearly lived down here a long time, and underneath the Terastalization, I see the fur on his chest has faded with age, no longer beige but almost pure white. There are no creaks from his bones or any other signs of frailty that would come from age. He walked around us, inspecting us. Mostly towards his former student, but there was some curiosity towards myself as well. Why’s he so fixated on my back though? Oh, it’s because of my Aura! I read like a Flying Type to him, but I don’t have any wings.

  ‘Explain.’ I shivered, for once not from the cold, but from the communication, his Aura imparting the message against mine. There was a lot more information than that in the message he sent, but it was difficult to precisely define.

  Riolu had far less trouble than me, immediately launching into her tale. She told her former teacher about where she had gone and her rematch with Dun. Then about how I had asked her to join my team and key moments from our journey so far.

  The cold didn’t fully abate, but it subsided, the Lucario pulling it back into him. I wonder how it feels to be Terastalized all the time? Can he sense where this energy is coming from, how it feeds into him?

  The Lucario gave an amused huff, sensing my curiosity. Then, deciding to satiate his own, he gave an order. ‘Battle.’ He was looking at me, though, not Riolu.

  “Ah, you want to fight me? I won’t be as tough as-”

  ‘Known.’ Well, okay then. Here’s hoping I don’t get crushed fighting one of the strongest Pokemon in Paldea. There was still some worry, but it abated when I saw Riolu. If she trusts him, then I should be fine. I can at least trust her.

  Shucking off my jacket for ease of movement, I took a stance before the jackal-like Pokemon. It was cold, but I knew I’d be exerting myself hard enough in a minute to more than make up for that. For his part, he merely shifted one foot back slightly. Launching forward, I threw a couple of quick jabs at him, testing out his defenses. The Lucario swiftly evaded all of them with slight motions of the head. When I threw a hook punch at him that he couldn’t dodge, he just knocked the blow up too high with a paw.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Damn, he’s so fast. And I know he’s holding back his speed still be- wait… he’s not faster than me. Lucario’s lip curled up in a smirk, and he threw a punch towards my gut that I hastily blocked with an elbow, the impact causing a slight twinge of pain. But it’s not too bad. He’s matching me perfectly for speed and power. The only reason why he seems faster than me is because he’s not reacting to my Moves; he’s reacting to the thought behind them.

  A good martial artist practices enough that such things become second nature, and so I let go. Not thinking about strategy or anything complicated, I just started fighting. My eyes were keyed onto his joints, the elbows and knees, wrists and ankles. The parts of the body he had to move for any strike or block, reacting to any of his openings. I kicked and punched where I could, not wildly, but with motions practiced enough that I didn’t need to think on them.

  I’d like to feel that my years/decades of training, in both this world and the last, had made me a decent martial artist. It was not enough to match him, however. A Pokemon whose very nature was built around it and had then dedicated the entirety of his life to martial arts. He met each of my blows with ease and was still winning even as he held back so much. I grunted from each hit I took, knowing I had to do something to change the situation.

  When my stance was slightly off, I hadn’t repositioned perfectly; Lucario took advantage of that, moving around my lead leg in a way I wouldn’t be able to kick without falling off balance on my back foot. He wasn’t expecting me to hover slightly and smack the foot into his gut anyway, causing both of us to pause.

  The pause on his side ended quicker because it was only a momentary surprise, and he lashed out, burying a fist in my side. “Ghrk!” I coughed out, sliding backwards in the air before dropping down. Note to self: it hurts to both hit and get hit by him. Those steel bones are no joke. Ok, hitting him hard is out of the question, but if he’s going to limit himself to my level, then that opens new options.

  Rushing back in, I threw a couple of blows at him. Feints to my real goal, but with enough power behind them that he had to treat them with respect. Especially since I didn’t need to rely on my footing nearly as much. As he deflected one arm to the side, I pushed past, a burst of Aura-boosted speed letting me get behind him and sweep out his feet, my other arm catching him in the shoulder and throwing him down.

  I followed him down, knowing if I didn’t, he’d just roll away. Pinning him down, he stopped me from getting Mount position, so I slid from the loose Side Mount I had to Scarf hold. Trapping one arm against my body as I lay atop him, I started trying to push it down to my legs with my free arm, the other wrapped around his neck and head.

  This was one of my favorite positions back in my old life and great when grappling here. I have a ton of options, and so long as he sticks to merely my strength, he can’t get out. If he went past that to beat me, I’d absolutely count that as a win - grappling was usually dangerous against Pokemon because of their enhanced strength, but I stood no chance if he brought a fraction of his own to bear, whether sparring or grappling, and here I didn’t have to worry about the toughness of his bones.

  Lucario knew all this as well, and he picked up on something I had missed. He resisted as hard as he could within his limits with the strength of his arm but also called upon his Aura. As I had used it too, that was fair game, and I immediately felt the cold intensify around me.

  I hissed and tried to hold on, but eventually I slipped before I could get the Pokemon in an armbar. As I winced and pulled away, Lucario used the fact that I wasn’t pressuring him as much to explode into motion, wrenching a gap between us and snaking his arm out of my hold.

  Throwing myself away from both the cold and any potential counterstrikes or pins he could make, I created some distance between us as we both got back up. Welp, I tried hard. Still, might as well go all out to impress Riolu’s sensei.

  Forgoing traditional martial arts, I began running around him, throwing chops out into the air. With my Aura, those otherwise ineffectual strikes became blades of air, slashing across the field. Lucario gave a howl of triumph, knocking the Air Blades aside with glowing fists, his Aura raging bright. And still so controlled. I’m certain he has vastly more Aura than I do, but he’s limiting the amount he’s outputting, instead using perfect control of the amount he uses to overwhelm my attacks.

  Such a limitation meant that he couldn’t just fire off Aura Spheres at me - the amount of power it took to send a Fighting Type Aura out at range was simply much greater than what it took for me to do the same with my Flying Type Aura. Of course, he had also demonstrated how much better he was than me in close combat, which is what he moved to do, rushing towards me as he deflected my blows.

  I danced back as best I could, but he had the advantage. In speed, I could glide across the ground, letting me match him moving forward at the speed I moved backward. However, there was a limited amount of cave to run to, and soon, he cornered me.

  Desperately, I tried to block his blows, blades of air striking out to try and knock off his balance or force awkward dodges. He flowed around or blocked my blows, matching me in melee as I tried to sheathe my arms and legs in Flying Aura to hold him off, which I did. For a moment.

  Then a blow snaked under my guard, hitting me in the chest. A flash of blue light lanced off his paw and radiated through my body, my breathing growing tight. My breath stopped, and darkness grew at the corners of my vision before consuming it entirely, and everything faded away, and I lost consciousness.

  ***

  I woke up to see a pink light and a furry face hovering over me. Blinking my eyes, I refocused, seeing Riolu hovering over me with Lucario hanging back, a powerful Heal Pulse shooting out of his palms and onto me.

  “Wha-what happened?” I asked, my mind slowly putting the pieces together as I recalled the end of our fight. “Oof, that last shot, that was a good one.”

  Riolu didn’t seem too happy, still worried about me. There wasn’t anything different in Lucario's stance or demeanor, but through my Aura I felt a small twinge of guilt from the ancient Pokemon, as if reprimanding himself for this situation. Guess it’s hard to remember how weak humans can be, how easy we are to hurt. I think he still was going as hard as I was; I was just hitting too hard for me to take what I was dishing out.

  “Don’t worry about me,” I told Riolu, coughing. I sat up slowly, drawing upon my own Aura to get my energy back and recover further. “Have you had a chance to spar against your teacher?” She shook her head.

  Taking deep, calm breaths, I told her, “Go on then, show him everything you’ve learned.” She gave me a toothy grin in response before waving me off with her hands. I shuffled back, giving them plenty of room to go at it, while also getting the other message there. She wants me to stay out of her fight, at least for now. To show him how she stands on her own.

  My littlest Pokemon was very proud, but I’d let her have this chance; I had the feeling we’d be here for a while and have plenty of chances to fight together as well. In the center of the wide outcropping, Riolu bowed to him, and Lucario stood there impassively. The message was clear: ‘You want me to bow back? Earn it.’

  The Ice Tera Pokemon clearly felt no need to hold back against Riolu as a fellow Pokemon, for the moment she took a step forward, Lucario disappeared. Blinking, I missed the blow that sent Riolu sprawling across the floor. Whoa, it's been a while since I couldn’t keep up with a Pokemon’s visual speed. Even Hassel’s Dragonite using that same Move, Extremespeed, I can sorta see. This Lucario is on a whole other level. Literally, from what I could remember of the games, with this being like a Level 70 or something static Tera encounter in those.

  Riolu recovered quickly, rolling to her feet and firing off an Aura Sphere at her sensei. There was a faint hint of surprise before he dodged out of the way, like he almost couldn’t believe it. Must have sensed her using it in the tunnels before but never have seen it from a Riolu before. Given how much work it took Riolu and how naturally it comes to Lucarios, I can’t blame him.

  Firing back, he unleashed a barrage of Aura Spheres, the massive blue orbs sailing over the flat, rocky field. Riolu met him shot for shot, and while each of hers was smaller, the impacts caused both Aura constructs to burst apart whenever they met. Glad she was able to figure out how to fire those one-handed; she couldn’t keep up with the barrage he's outputting if she had to use the trick I had first started her on.

  Seeing this, Lucario decided to stop playing that game (even if we all knew he had the stamina to outlast her, that would hardly be a test of her skill). His next few Aura Spheres began curving around, evading her attacks to strike at her. This necessitated that Lucario himself had to move and dodge Riolu’s unimpeded attacks, but that was easily enough done as she got knocked about.

  Leaping up high, Riolu came down with a hard kick on Lucario that he couldn’t avoid. Raising his arms up in a cross block, he caught the blow, and she flipped off of it, beginning to punch and kick him, which he matched.

  I couldn’t tell if any of the attacks were proper Moves or not, but I was able to see when Riolu’s stance shift became one. A fluid motion like a dance fit in neatly against the constant flow of blows Lucario rained down upon her, letting her just barely deflect or dodge every attack he tried to use.

  Confusion was apparent on Lucario’s face before a brief moment of panic as Riolu’s power surged, Dancing Sword complete. With a sharp cry, she launched herself into a chop. Her Brick Break managed to land, digging hard into his shoulder even as his arm blasted her side, a lance of Aura striking her.

  She dealt with the Force Palm better than I had, knocked to the side but still on her feet (and not even Paralyzed). Still, for all that she had a boost and landed a super effective attack against him, Lucario had weathered her blow much better than the one he had dealt her. And that’s discounting all the hits he landed before now, which are adding up.

  Riolu was too stubborn to quit now, though, and she gave a Howl, raising her fighting strength further. Lucario flicked an ear and disappeared, appearing behind her. Before he could lash out with a lightning-fast Extremespeed attack, though, she disappeared in turn, Copycating his speed to appear behind him and landing a powerful elbow of her own.

  Or so it seemed. My eyes had difficulty keeping up, and I missed how he had narrowly tilted back and dodged the Move, his red eyes glowing bright blue. Detect. He saw it coming. In response, his fists struck out like shooting stars, each blow taking her down further, until she was down on one knee.

  The evolved Pokemon seemed surprised that she had lasted that long but simply raised a fist back, covered in icy energy, to finish the match off. Riolu pushed off the ground quickly, clasping his arm by the elbow and stopping the blow. Utilizing her lower center of gravity, she flipped him by the trapped arm, landing a devastating Reversal on him.

  He crashed into the ground, and for the first time, he gave a small cry of pain. That Move had hurt him, and she wasn’t prepared to let up on that. Raising a leg, she stomped down, unleashing a point-blank Earthquake. The Move knocked him over, but as he spiraled through the air, he raised a palm and unleashed a bright beam from it, the Flash Canon blasting into Riolu and fully taking her out this time.

  I rushed over to her and started reaching for Potions, but Lucario waved my worries off. Gathering water from the air in his paws, he sprinkled it around us, the Life Dew rejuvenating us. Riolu and I recovered a little bit, while all of his injuries instantly healed. We did that little, huh? Not even a quarter of how far he could go.

  As Riolu sat up, Lucario gave her a bow. Her eyes grew wide, and for once, she didn’t care enough to stop her tail from wagging eagerly, showing how ecstatic she was. “You did great out there,” I told her. Then to Lucario I asked, “And if you don’t mind hosting us for a while, I think we can show you even more.”

  There was the barest grin on his face, and he gave a quick nod.

  ***

  We spent the next week within the cave, training under Lucario. Being a master of Aura, he had plenty of knowledge on the subject to help Riolu. I made sure to practice with my own Aura as well, though the differences in our biology meant he was limited in the advice he could give me. Still, I feel like I’m getting better at using it, just a bit. Incorporating body motions into using it really helps with how much I can save in terms of my reserves.

  We had theorized a bit on why that was, if it had to do with ingrained patterns in the world as made by Arceus, or if it was psychosomatic, but he pointed out that it didn’t matter in the end. Whether it came from beyond the world or within myself, all Aura existed as both a part of the world and more than it. At least that’s what I think he was getting at. I’m still not the best at understanding him.

  Whatever his past or history was, he was not keen to disclose it, and my few attempts on the subject had been frostily rebuffed. Pokemon weren’t social creatures in the same way humans were, and it showed in things like how easily they could ignore an uncomfortable question. People could do the same, of course, but most would at least have an urge to respond to a question, even if they ignored it.

  It wasn’t just theorizing and practice we spent our time on. Occasionally we’d spar against him as well, but generally, he handily beat any Pokemon or strategy I used against him. The one time where Dun finally beat him, his Terastalization shattering after having fought everyone else on the team first (save Fraxure), he had recovered it by meditating for an hour.

  “Damn, it took a Hawlucha we fought like a week to recover that.” I commented to the still-meditating Lucario.

  He opened one eye as if to give me a look like, ‘What else could you expect?’ Or maybe ‘I am me; that’s the difference.’

  Laughing, I said, “Yup,” awkwardly scratching the back of my head. “So… we have to go soon. In two days.” There was a sound of cracking ice as his head tilted, looking confused for a second before he nodded in understanding. Right, when you spend your years underground, you don’t tend to notice when day and night is. I only know because of my phone.

  That was also the reason why I knew we had to go. My parents had been able to arrange some assured time off soon, so I was going to meet them at the Gym. Honestly, two days is a bit much; better to leave now, but Riolu’s so close to getting some new tricks down. I can arrange the match ahead of time by sending the Gym a request online, and then if we do a fast march up there, we’ll still make it.

  That assumed that our journey up went entirely smoothly, but that was a problem for future Nemona. Current Nemona was slipping down some side tunnels with Riolu to practice her new Move. Hmm, do these count as new Moves or just techniques, skilled applications of old Moves? Don’t know; I’ll have to check later.

  Lucario’s Auric sense range was great, but he admitted it was harder to pick out particular details the more other Pokemon were about. We also practiced while he was sleeping to better keep the secrecy.

  “We’ve got two days left. With that in mind, I think we need to put a stop on Aura Armor. Don’t frown; that one was always going to be tricky.” The Fighting Type is generally on the frailer side and very offensive. Surrounding herself in a constant barrier of Aura would likely be vastly draining and possibly no better than just Iron Defense once she evolves.

  “On the bright side, the two offensive Moves are looking good. I really think you’ll get them in time.”

  “Hisss!”

  “Ah right,” I said, looking at the pack of Salandits, all flaring their backs at us. “We better deal with them too.” Which really is the other benefit of being surrounded by other Pokemon for this Training; tons of targets to practice on.

  ***

  Checking with Miles one last time, I knew we had to leave, but there was one more thing to do. “Lucario,” I called out, walking to him with Riolu at my side. “Thank you so much for teaching us; it’s been an honor.”

  ‘Satisfactory.’ Jeez, talk about harsh standards if that is all we get. Though, let’s see if we can’t kick it up a notch.

  I stuck a hand out to shake, which he stared at curiously. “Oh, uh, it’s a handshake. A formal, respectful gesture among humans, often used during greetings or farewells.” I explained. He didn’t quite roll his eyes, but I could tell that he saw the motion as pointless and opening yourself up to potentially being struck or thrown. Then I felt a bit of consideration, as if that was the point of the gesture, a sign of trust in the other party.

  “Riolu!” She barked out, getting us back on track.

  “Yeah, like she said, we’d like one more match against you. To show you how much we’ve grown and what we can do as a Trainer and Pokemon, together.” Not that I haven’t already, but not with Riolu yet. He’s used to most of our tricks by now, but we’ve still got a few that might surprise him.

  He just took a stance in front of us, and I stood back, giving them room to fight. There wasn’t a countdown or timer, just a moment where all of us felt it, our Auras aligned. Once more, Lucario began the fight by blurring forward, but this time we were ready.

  “Detect!” Riolu moved rapidly, throwing herself into what I thought was a sure strike that turned out to be a feint, knocking aside another strike, her eyes blazing with blue light.

  He’s in too close for our new Moves; those are mostly midrange. “Poison Jab,” I directed. Pushing an arm forward, her claws glistened with toxic energy.

  Lucario was much too experienced to let that attack get close to him, well, and understanding the natural drawback that came alongside his Terastalization and how Poison attacks could hurt him. Grabbing her arm by the wrist, he arrested her movement.

  “Earthquake!” I called out, punching a fist forward. Lucario let go of her and jumped away as Riolu raised her foot. She stomped down, but instead of shaking the ground, propelled herself off of it, landing a lightning-fast Quick Attack into the airborne Lucario.

  He grunted, grazing her with an Ice Punch as she rebounded off of him, the two Aura Pokemon landing with looks of intense concentration. 2.8 to 3 meters between them, perfect range.

  “Force Whip.” Even before I spoke the words, Riolu had been gathering her Aura in her hands, creating a thin beam from each. Much like Force Palm, however, the beams didn’t run straight but instead curved and moved around fluidly.

  Whipping the Aura constructs about, Riolu weaved a field of pain in on the Tera Pokemon. Lucario narrowed his eyes, pushing forward through the attack. He attempted to close with her, batting the whips aside with Aura-wreathed fists of his own. As he did so, the glow around his fists diminished while her whips grew stronger, beating into him and stealing more of his strength.

  The Move might be called Force Whip, but we managed to get them to have properties more like Drain Punch. Admittedly, I’m not sure how effective it will be on Pokemon that don’t rely on Aura- oh shit!

  I shouted the last part out loud as Lucario conjured a bone from the ground and blindingly fast blocked the whips and clubbed Riolu in the head with it. The blow at least made a bit more room for her; I guess we can use her next… actually, not yet. Let’s beat him at his own game.

  “Copycat,” my voice echoed throughout the cavern as Riolu drew her own bone staff out of the ground, mimicking the Move Lucario had just used. You’ve been studying him for a year, and this past week. I’ll trust you know how he moves and how to counter him.

  With a battle cry, Riolu charged forward, sweeping low with her bone. Lucario easily blocked the telegraphed blow, but even as he was moving to block, Riolu drew another bone up with her free hand.

  Adjusting his grip, the Ice Type began using his longer single bone like a quarterstaff, deflecting the dual strikes Riolu used. Each one was designed to force his guard open, and while he was too skilled to let that happen, her own mastery allowed her to stop him from countering.

  I felt it before it happened and called, “Counter!” Right as Lucario moved to press his superior height and strength against her. She opened her guard at my command, taking a heavy strike across her face. Spinning with the blow, she brought both her bones to bear, cracking so hard against his side and left leg that the bones (she was holding) broke.

  He winced at the blow, whirling around to throw a few Aura Spheres that Riolu desperately dodged away from. Lucario jumped forward after her, pouncing on her with a series of Meteor Mashes.

  “Reverse course, Trailblaze!” Riolu was clipped by one of his blows, her shoulder dipping down even as she smashed past him, surrounded in a green energy that sped her up. On the flip side, though, even while favoring one side, Lucario seemed stronger than ever. Copycat the Meteor Mash? She won’t have the STAB he still gets even while Tera’d. Swords Dance? No time to buff up, and Dancing Sword won’t catch him off guard again. Close Combat? Maybe, but she needs a way to get in close.

  “Final Clash pattern, let’s go!” Riolu dashed ahead, a glowing blur as she Quick Attacked forward and to Lucario’s weak side. From there she was supposed to launch into a Close Combat, Endure the counterstrike, and Reversal as the finishing Move.

  I tossed the Tera Orb over where she was going, the ball breaking open and covering her in crystals. Lucario’s eyes widened, the experienced Pokemon for a moment overwhelmed by all of the energy he was sensing. Ha, technology to duplicate one of the greatest feats he’s achieved, and so new compared to him that I bet he’s never felt it before.

  Riolu capitalized on that, slamming into him repeatedly with fists and kicks, striking out with empowered Tera strength. For the first time, he was beat back, truly pushed off-balance by Riolu’s strength. We’re winning!

  No sooner had I thought that than Riolu was sent flying back, a boom hitting me as I saw Lucario’s slightly outstretched hand. Did he just Extremespeed one-inch punch faster than the speed of sound?!

  However fast it was exactly, the Move had been too quick for Riolu to even Endure properly. I could tell because Riolu crumpled to the ground as she fell, while Endure would have forcibly held her body upright. The Tera ‘hat’ fist still hovered over her head, but I felt how weak she was as she struggled to push herself back onto her feet.

  “You can do it! You’ve got this!” I shouted out to her. Lucario was not going to wait, but also not looking to rush into a trap. Covering his fist with ice, he punched the ground, spreading out a thin sheet over it, racing towards Riolu to either trap her or make her lose her balance. Right before it reached her, Riolu snapped her head up, staring straight at me. A soft smile formed on her lips before she was encased in ice.

  Something about how tuned into her as I was in that moment warned me, and I threw myself to the ground, covering my head and neck. A split second later, the icy prison around Riolu erupted, icy shards flying everywhere, the ice no longer able to contain her, to contain my Lucario, roaring defiantly.

  Turning to face her, I saw a blinding blur zip across the battlefield, far faster than a Quick Attack; she was using Extremespeed while still evolving. Insane. She’s so strong! I could only watch on in awe as she started striking the Ice Type rapidly, truly matching him on equal footing for the first time.

  Shockwaves radiated outward as the two Lucarios clashed shin to shin, fist to fist. She must have snuck in a Drain Punch in the opening salvo to keep up with him like this, even with the boost from evolution. The surprise from that had faded, however, and now the wild Lucario was pushing her back, bit by bit.

  “All right, one final move, The Hand, dumbass!” My Lucario stepped back, clapping her paws together before raising her right and swinging it down. Following the motion of her hand, a large Aura construct in the shape of a humanoid hand swung down towards the Ice Type Lucario.

  He raised both of his hands to catch it, paws burning bright blue as it was slowly forcing him down. Despite the name inspiration, that Move won’t delete the matter it hits; it just hits hard. My Pokemon pressed down harder, provoking a desperate cry from the Ice Type as he pulsed his Aura, lancing into the giant hand and causing the construct to explode violently.

  I heard the shattering sounds of a Terastalization breaking, and as the dust cleared, I saw the male Lucario still standing, having just barely held on, the snowflake Tera ‘hat’ still above his head.

  On the ground lay my Lucario, and I rushed over to her. Her Terastalization was gone, and she was defeated, unable to even muster the energy to get up but not quite unconscious. “You did it!” I cheered, hugging her tightly. “You evolved.”

  “Lucario,” she gave a faint cheer back. ‘Thank you, Nemona.’.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you have a great day.

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Carbink, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Lucario' (Lucario, Female, Fighting/Steel)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Fraxure' (Fraxure, Male, Dragon)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves