IT COMES IN PAIRS (INTRO)
"C'mon, we're losing them!" I said, weaving through the trees.
"I know, but could you just wait a minute?!" She said between tired breaths, leaping from tree branch to tree branch, trying to keep up with me.
I shoot a quick glance behind me, and see Clara, going at practically top speed, but losing ground ever so slightly. I can't blame her, we've been like this since early morning. When I felt that strange energy coming from out of the woods, I knew I had only one opportunity before it faded too far away to track again, before the sun rose any more, before there was more light.
I instinctively started heading towards the source, my partner in tow once she noticed my unnanounced race.
A turn to the left, another to the right, another turn to the left, over a boulder...
I was practically rocketing through the forest floor, I was going so fast I was forced to stop repeatedly so that Clara could catch up. Wierdly, whenever she did catch up to me, she refused to say anything, instead gesturing me to continue foward. I was so going to get lectured later, she's unfortunately that petty.
...
Finally, after what felt hours of running through this maze of a forest, I came to a stop by a clearing, spotting a bush at an advantage point, I decided to observe said clearing from behind it, and in that clearing I could see 3 small silouettes, all of them sitting by a campfire, it seemed like they were chatting with each other, though I was too far away to make out anything of what they said, they seemed overall relaxed. Well, at least that rules out them being lost mindless dungeon creatures.
I stopped my appraisal of the curious critters when I heard rustling from where I came from, and sure enough Clara lands behind me mere moments later, and as she takes a spot besides me in the bush, she proceeds to stare daggers into me so intensely they could've definetly pierced my body.... If I had one.
"What?" I said, or rather thought out loud
""What?", are you serious? Next time at least give me a warning before you start runni-.... heading off into god knows where." she said between worked breaths.
"I'm sorry okay I just-" I whispered, an excuse that was half to her, & half to myself for not explaining anything before suddendly leaving like I should've done in retrospect, at least on the way here.
"You just what?" She interrupted, clearly tired for excuses after running for so long behind her supposed partner "Why.... What are we doing exactly?"
The faint sound of chattering and raised voices snaps my attention from Clara back to the pokemon in the clearing, who were looking like they started eating breakfast. Clara follows my gaze. The 3 little pokemon were new to me, and so I took my time to observe them from where I was. The pokemon were: A dark greenish blue furred bipedal weasel with big red feathers and bigger white claws, a small mostly green bird with a near spherical body with big eyes and a red feather on the top, & an orange lizard with a flame on the tip of it's tail.
With their discussion growing louder, I decided to confirm my suspicion. I focused, the world getting darker around me.
It was hard to explain, but I stopped using my "eyes", instead letting the flow of the wind carry my sight. As I got closer, I noticed things that got in the way, the softness of a leaf in the wind, the ressilience & vitality of the grass, even the early-morning dew above them.
It takes a bit of time, but I finally reach the first one, the weasel. She feels... smug? volatile even, with what I recognize as dark energy, her aura flashing, ever closer to her boiling point.
Moving from that ticking bomb, I pass by the fire, and investigate the small avian. A whiplash of calm, confident psychic aura that feels unfitting for such a tiny bird. It feels heavy, dominant, superior in this place.
I approach the last one, and I'm greeted by a intense, radiant warm, almost overwhelming, but not burning, instead giving energy as if she were a sun. But I notice something amiss, and so I look closer, and despite the abundant amount of fire type energy surrounding her core, I... I see...
I snap back to our hiding place, and we exchange looks. Clara looking at me with something close of a disturbed face. We hold each other's sights for a moment. Maybe she already knows what I'm about to say.
"They're human." I finally utter, the words escaping me in my joy
"Hold on, they can't- I mean-" She shoots glances back and fort, looking for the inexistant physical proof (or lack there of) of her humanity. "Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions? I mean they-"
"I have to talk to them"
"What?" Clara says
"Maybe... maybe the human can... they could actually like..." I go through the bush as I speak, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of direct sunlight on my form, or the complains from Clara, and made my way to the trio.
...
...
It was early morning at the outsides of Mistifying Forest. What had started as a bet between Charm, Natu and Sneasel to see who stayed awake longer turned into a sleepover at the open sky, & even though she was competing against a creature of the night & an early bird, it was the fire lizard the one who acted more awake.
"Admit it, humans are way stronger than regular pokemon" Smokey said between bites of Oran berry.
"C'mon, we all know that if I was allowed to use moves, you would've dropped like a cutiefly!" Sneasel argued while eating her own berry.
Natu was happy to just sit there and enjoy the show, giving little nibles to his berry from time to time.
Indeed, after the first couple hours into the night, the charmander girl proposed they had a little brawl that, according to herself, would help them "kill time". No moves allowed, no punches, no kicks, no bites, the first to drop loses.
At first Sneasel refused, that would just tire them out faster, and they could get needlessly hurt, but it only took a couple of minutes of Smokey pressing Sneasel's buttons to make her angry and accept the challenge.
To the surprise of everybody, it was actually a really close match. Although older and more experienced, Sneasel had a frail and thin body compared to her opponent's more bulky build, and was more acostumed to hit and run tactics, rather than close and personal all-out brawls. And so Smokey was able to close the skill gap and hold out a whole lot longer than otherwise.
Sadly, before there could be a winner, the natu intervined saying "If both of you drop from exhaustation right here, I won't carry any of you. I'll just leave." And so, both girls stopped, and decided to call it a draw, and have been arguing about it since.
"Yeah, and if I was a human, I would've kicked your ass" lied the charmander, she just liked to mess with her for a little longer.
"Pffffft, no way a human could compare to a pokemon, no offense" she responded, knowing how bullshit of a claim that was.
"Oh yeah? Well, there are stories in our world of people being able to lift over 20 times their weight, and run over 6 miles without tiring." she said, & although she wasn't lying, those records were made by champions, elite athletes and not your average Joe like she wants her to believe.
"Well that's bullshit 'cause Booker... told me..." she was saying, when she noticed the wierd way their friend natu was acting.
"Hey, you okay bud?" asked the sneasel, but Natu wasn't focused on her. He was standing up, looking from side to side, out into the darkness that the campfire didn't reach with too much intensity.
"Charm? Charm what's happening?" she asked to his partner, already feeling something crawl up her spine.
"..."
"We're being watched" simply stated the natu
"shit..." murmured Sneasel before springing up, getting into a defensive stance, giving her back to the campfire. Charm & her partner natu followed suit, each covering each other's blind spots, looking for the stalker.
They kept at it for a while, without dropping their guard, not wanting to give even the slightest hint of an opening to whatever was out there. It did little in the end, since the feeling of creepyness only grew ever so stronger.
Sneasel didn't like the feeling of being observed, of feeling defenseless, but she calmed herself with the knowledge of her past battles, and readied herself for the worst.
Natu was jumping back and fort, trying to see & feel whoever their unexpected visitor was, the fear he felt meant that he needed to concentrate further than normal to keep himself calm & for his abilities to work.
Charm was the most affected one, even if she didn't let it show. This feeling of dread and overwhelming fear reminded her of her past life, of her own imprisionment and life before she came here, and she hated it, she hated it like she never hated anything before. Her heart wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer if she didn't do something, anything, anyo-
"HEY! YOU!!" screamed Sneasel, snapping Charm out of her episode and Natu of his concentration. They both turned, and followed where their partner was pointing, and saw it, their supposed stalker.
It was tall, blue fur with yellow and black details, a humanoid fox, bipedal, with metal bits on its hands and fur that looked like shorts.
Smokey instantly recognized it as a lucario, the evolved form of riolu, and Natu picked up on it, and stored it, along with any other useful info going through her head.
The lucario emerged from a bush at the edge of the clearing, staring at them with their yellow eyes from the spot they just revealed themselves, and started walking fowards, wanting to get close.
"Stop right there!!" Sneasel warned the intruder "Who are you? What we're you doing spying on us?!" Sneasel had dropped it's defensive posture, and now adopted a more aggresive one now that the enemy showed itself, with her claws foward, she was ready to either pounce or start throwing ice shards, waiting for the enemy to make a move for her to counter.
Natu and the Charmander hanged in the back, ready to support Sneasel in case something came from another angle, or she needed their help.
"ANSWER DAMN IT!!" Sneasel was starting to lose it, since the feeling of dread wasn't leaving any of them still.
"We're an explorer team & form part of the Clover guild of Capim town, tell us who you are or we'll be forced to fight you." Natu ordered, it's steel nerves & cool composure being threatened by this lucario, he fell into attacking position with the sneasel.
"W-w-who are you?~" Charm asked, barely able to ignore the creeps the lucario was giving her, her body betraying the act she tried to put up.
When the lucario stopped, they were a few meters away from each other, keeping her yellow steel gaze upon the group.
Suddendly, she kneeled
This caught everyone by surprise, but only Smokey showed it with a "HUHHH??" that escaped her.
"Please, know that we have not come to do any harm. We come here in peace." the lucario explained, not raising it's head once. Not even when the sneasel approached, ice shard in hand, pointing at her head, demanding further explanation.
"Please, before we keep speaking, I have a request." the lucario replied.
Everyone had a puzzled look.
The lucario raised it's head, and directed it's gaze towards the charmander girl "Please, revive the fire."
The human turned charmander instinctively looked back at the campfire. It was almost all died down, only embers remaining in the wood, even though it should've lasted them well until the sun rose completely. They were all nearly completely surrounded by darkness and they almost didn't notice.
Giving careful, anxious steps towards it, she shot a small flame towards the center of the wood pile, and slowly, but surely, there was light once again.
Once the fire was all alive again, all 3 pokemon took a breath they didn't know they were holding as that ever present dread left them almost instantly, sneasel had to catch herself from dropping the icicle on her hand.
Now with everyone more calm, the lucario rose to it's feet, and raised their hands in symbol of surrender.
There was silence for a moment, as the sneasel & lucario were locked in an intense staring duel, so Charm decided to break the stalemate asking...
"And, who are you?"
"Please, let me introduce ourselves properly"
The natu perked up at the strange wording, and shot a quick glance around, but saw no one, and felt no one else out there.
The lucario held up a hand, opened their mouth, but didn't say anything, they looked lost, as if they didn't know how to explain themselves. Finally, they spoke again
"I am Clara, the lucario, and this..." She gestured towards her side "Is Smoke, my partner. The human"
There was a silence so deafening that morning, that it was as if the trees, the wind, & even time itself stood still to not interrupt anything, watching the scene before them unfold.
"Uhh, where... where is he?" Asked the natu, looking around again, maybe he missed something? Or someone?
"He... He's, well... invisible" responds Clara, rather dryly
Charm snaps out of her trance, realizing the use of the word "human partner" by the lucario, she was ready to repeat to her the script about her just roleplaying as a human and how it was all an act & everything's definetly okay and normal, but she couldn't, because she was interrupted.
Interrupted by a laugh. Sneasel's laugh
Be it a nervous laugh because of what had happened earlier, because of the all nighter the group had pulled, or a genuine one because of what the lucario had just said about having an invisible imaginary human friend, it was hard to understand.
But she laughed, and laughed, and laughed more.
She had given up trying to keep an imposing appearance, as she just dropped the ice shard on her hand to the grass, and almost fell herself.
"Y-you ...heheh... you're saying that... you have ...heh... youuu have an... imaginary frieee..." Sneasel could barely speak between laughing fits, tears had started to form on her eyes.
Natu just stood there horrified, thinking that their previously sneasel friend had just gone insane, he was already making plans on how to escape along with Smokey.
"Yes, as I said, my human partner is invisible, no one can see him, or hear him." the lucario reiterated "He thought at least one of you would be able to spot him, to hear him speak." She looked at the charmander, stoicism giving away to sadness "He wanted to speak to another human so much. He's feels sorry for what happened."
There was silence again, interrupted by the occasional chuckle of Sneasel.
"Prove it"
"Excuse me?" the lucario questioned
"Prove it" repeated Smokey.
She was done with this, with all of this. With the nerves. With her tiredness. With Sneasel's laughing fit. With this lucario and it's invisible human. & that naggin feeling of uneasiness on her back that even though there was now sunlight all over the place and was day proper, compelled her to turn around in case something had just crawled up behind her while they were talking, and it would not leave her alone no matter how much she tried to ignore it. She. Was. Ending it. Right now
"Prove that your friend is human. Do something only a human would" Smokey said plainly.
"But how could-" the lucario wanted to argue, but cut herself short, as she snapped her neck to her side, Clara stood there in silence, looking into nothingness for a moment, then turning to our group.
"Okay, I think we got something" Clara said, as she took a couple steps back, extending her arm out. Aura started forming around her digits, forming something resembling a long staff.
Before anyone could formulate any questions, the lucario made a motion, and pointed the long, still forming rod into the ground, close her eyes, and focused. As more aura ran through her, the object started to take a more solid form, and expand in length.
What Natu and Charm would've recognised as the move bone rush initially, had a wierd, unnatural form at one end of it, the one end closer to the ground had way more aura running to it, and soon they saw why.
Clara, the misterious lucario that had caused them so many problems that morning, moved again, this time spreading her legs, rotating her body to the side and lowering it closer to the ground, and holding the aura rod with both hands, & lifting what's now clearly a spearhead from the ground, and pointing it directly foward.
Charm instantly recognized that pose, and the weapon of the lucario, and was left speechless. Natu didn't get it at first, but when he did so, he was shocked.
But sneasel...
"That proves, NOTHING" Sneasel wasn't smiling anymore, it's words carrying such vitriol that even her charmander partner, who was behind her, could envision her expression just from her tone of voice.
If the lucario noticed how she looked, she didn't show it, keeping her expression neutral. After seeing that the sneasel didn't notice (or cared about) what she was doing, she exhaled, stood up again, and with a motion of her hand, dissapeared her aura spear.
"That didn't convince you, huh?" said Clara to Sneasel, who still maintained her expression and skeptiscism.
"Then how about this?" said Clara, now pulling another pose, she faced foward, separated her legs slighty, put both her hands togheter, and flexed.
Aura started forming around her body again, way more aura than before, all of it running to her hands, it was almost blinding. Clara separated her hands, and grabbed with both of them something in the middle that resembled a handle, flexing harder, the lucario directed all the generated aura not both ways, but only upwards, resulting in a massive amount of energy scaling on top of each other.
Clara focused even harder now, trying to mold and contain such energy to her will, it took a couple of agonizing seconds to her, but finally her aura started to act accordingly, and took the shape that she wanted.
Charm, Natu, even Sneasler, they all stared astonished, as Clara formed an aura sword the size of herself.
Clara, now satisfied with her results, took a breath, and almost instantly the sword broke into a million pieces, they floted for a bit before dissapearing. Sweat was starting to form on her palms.
The first to recover was Charm, who instantly questioned "Who-... What are you?"
Clara drops her hands to her knees, breathing heavely, she responds "I'm a lucario... named Clara... with a human soul named Smoke... and we would like you... to takes us to a bed."