Riolu was stronger than Reiji had expected. At level 22, it was already in the Elite tier, which meant the spoiled brat had had it for quite a while.
If Riolu and that Gallade had hatched around the same time, then Riolu had fallen badly behind.
Gallade was already approaching the Advanced tier, while Riolu was still only in the lower end of the Elite tier. In the end, it had simply ended up with the wrong Trainer.
There was no real mystery there. Under that bastard, it never got proper training or care. Most of the time it was chained up, beaten, cursed at, or starved as punishment. No wonder it looked half underfed.
Reiji could only sigh. Sometimes that was just how life went. He'd started out stranded on a desert island himself and had nearly died there. If the wild Pokémon had gotten to him first, he would've ended up as something's dinner.
One other thing was a shame: this Riolu only had one Ability. Still, that Ability's proficiency was surprisingly high—higher than Riolu's own level, in fact.
That was probably tied to Calm Mind. Maybe its stubborn will played a part too. Or maybe the constant abuse had forced it to sharpen that part of itself just to survive.
Only something like that—living under endless beatings and filth—could grind out a will like Riolu's. Reiji had no idea what, exactly, it had been put through. In the end, all he could do was let out another quiet sigh.
Inner Focus meant a Pokémon's mind had been trained to the point that attacks wouldn't make it flinch. Even Intimidate couldn't shake it. Pokémon with this Ability simply didn't flinch.
Of course, Mold Breaker, Teravolt, and Turboblaze could still punch through that effect. And gaining Inner Focus afterward wouldn't cure a Pokémon that was already flinching.
To put it simply, Pokémon with this Ability were hard to rattle. That was why this Riolu's fighting spirit was so hard.
Then there were Riolu's other two Abilities...
Steadfast ignited whenever it flinched and raised its Speed. In battle terms, getting flinched boosted its Speed by one stage.
Justified raised its Attack by one stage whenever it was hit by a Dark-type move. If the attacks kept coming, the Ability could trigger again and again.
Justified was Lucario's Ability. The reason Reiji was thinking about it now was simple: this Riolu might only have Inner Focus on paper, but the way it carried itself reminded him of both Steadfast and Justified.
That made it unusually rare.
Riolu only had one Ability, yet you could still see the shape of those other two in it. One of them was even Lucario's. That meant one thing: its will was extraordinarily hard, and winning it over was going to be difficult. Honestly, Reiji had no confidence at all.
Beating it into submission was out of the question. That creep had already tried that, and everyone had seen how well it worked. It hadn't helped at all. It had only made things worse, stoking Riolu's hatred for humans until it trusted none of them.
If force didn't work, then softness was the only option left.
But Reiji wasn't the Trainer who had hatched Riolu. The one advantage a first bond might have given was already gone. Getting into Riolu's head now would be hard, and Riolu wasn't going to open up to him willingly. That was the real problem.
The moves weren't all that surprising. Riolu's potential was what it was. Still, it did have two inherited moves: Sky Uppercut and Mind Reader. Poliwhirl also knew Mind Reader, the same kind of sensory move.
The only other move worth special attention was Calm Mind. Its proficiency was high, which explained why Inner Focus had developed so far. So Riolu did have some psychic aptitude after all.
Then there were Mind Reader, Protect, Endure, Work Up, Metal Claw, Crunch, and Calm Mind. Those stood out right away. Their proficiency was noticeably higher than the rest.
And just from what those moves did, the pattern was obvious. They all leaned toward mental discipline, endurance, or defense.
So Riolu must have taken plenty of beatings. It had probably used those moves over and over to block or endure attacks, and that was how they had been drilled so high.
Reiji let out another quiet sigh, closed Riolu's panel, and opened the Poké Ball.
"Mm?" Riolu came out still curled up, half asleep. It must have been sleeping inside the ball.
Then it found itself in a strange cave, heard the steady patter of rain outside, and snapped awake at once. Its head came up fast, its eyes swept the cave, and the first thing they locked onto was Reiji.
It bared its teeth immediately and dropped into a fighting stance. The next second it was already ready to leap at him and bite him down. Then it noticed the chain was gone.
Riolu saw that Reiji wasn't guarding himself. It never even registered the other Pokémon in the cave. With one kick off the ground, it launched straight at him.
Smack.
It never made it close.
Poliwhirl swatted it out of the air with one slap.
Poliwhirl let out a tired breath and stood at the cave mouth, watching Riolu struggle back up in the rain. Then it bared its teeth in warning. Another problem child. Great.
Riolu dragged itself up through the rain and charged the cave again. It wanted the human.
Another slap sent it flying.
Poliwhirl barely even needed to move. Against a Riolu like this, a casual flick of the hand was enough. It couldn't muster any real interest. This felt like beating up a child.
Still, protecting Reiji came first.
So Poliwhirl stayed planted in front of him and never moved aside. Riolu had its resolve, and Poliwhirl had its own.
Riolu got back up again and rushed through the rain toward Poliwhirl.
And got slapped away again.
Then it got up again.
And charged again.
Again.
Again.
Reiji lost count of how many times it tried.
At last, Riolu hauled itself back up one more time and stared at Poliwhirl through the curtain of rain. The blue figure in front of the cave was already starting to blur into doubles.
But Riolu still didn't fall.
It didn't retreat either.
It didn't even look like it knew how to quit.
It staggered forward one step at a time, swaying as it came.
Poliwhirl raised a hand to slap it away again.
Riolu collapsed first.
It hit the rainwater face-first and blacked out.
"Poliwhirl, bring it inside."
Reiji had never tried to stop it. No matter what Riolu wanted to do—whether it was rage, hatred, or all the anger it had built up over time—he was going to let it do it.
Poliwhirl grabbed Riolu and carried it into the cave, set it down beside Reiji, then stepped back to keep watch in case it woke up and tried to attack again.
Reiji looked down at the Riolu that had kept dragging itself back up out of the rain, over and over, until fresh wounds and old ones blurred together across its body.
He took out a dry towel and wiped it down first.
Then he treated its injuries with medicine.
Once he finished with the wounds, he picked up the still-warm bottle of MooMoo Milk from beside the fire and fed Riolu a little at a time. Sometimes too much went in at once and Riolu coughed it back out. When that happened, Reiji wiped it clean and started over.
After about half a bottle, he wrapped Riolu in a dry towel and laid it down on the moisture pad across from the fire. He even set a piece of dry wood under its head for a pillow, so it could finally sleep properly.
Then he let the rest of the Pokémon out in batches so they could have breakfast too. He made them keep it down so they wouldn't wake Riolu.
Once they finished eating, they all went back into their Poké Balls. Light rain was still falling outside the cave, and there was no telling when it would finally stop.
As long as the rain kept coming, exploring was going to be difficult. Once it cleared up, he'd have Pelipper scout for people nearby. He needed to find a Pokémon Center as soon as possible and get Riolu there. The injuries on its body were too many and too deep for him to deal with by himself.
The rain kept going.
And going.
It didn't start easing off until evening, and only then did it finally begin to stop.
Riolu woke up once during that stretch.
When it opened its eyes again, its first thought was that maybe it had died. Part of it thought that wouldn't be so bad. Living hurt. Living was exhausting. If it were dead, at least the pain would be over.
Then the fire cracked.
Riolu looked up at the damp stone ceiling of the cave. It felt the blanket over its body. It felt the heat from the fire on its skin. Bit by bit, those things dragged it back from that numb edge, and it realized it wasn't dead at all.
It was in a cave.
Riolu threw the blanket off at once and tried to stand, only to realize it couldn't. In the end, it had to prop itself up on its forelegs and look around.
Reiji was nearby, drinking water and watching the rain.
Spinarak hung in the upper corner of the cave.
Poliwhirl was watching it.
The moment Riolu saw Poliwhirl looking over, every muscle in its body tightened. It still remembered being slapped away by that "tadpole." It wasn't a match for that thing. And with that Pokémon guarding the human, there was no way Riolu could get close.
In the end, it was still too weak.
"Eat that."
When Reiji noticed Riolu was awake, he casually tossed over a Fighting-type Pokéblock so it could recover some strength.
The block rolled to Riolu's feet.
Riolu didn't even touch it.
It didn't want anything from a human.
Then its stomach growled.
Loud.
It could smell the Pokéblock now, and saliva had already started pooling in its mouth, but it still refused to pick it up.
Poliwhirl looked at it and flexed an arm. "Whatever you plan to do, you'll need strength first."
Riolu shot back at once. "Why? Why do you protect humans?"
In its mind, humans were all rotten inside. None of them deserved trust. It didn't trust humans. Not a single one.
Poliwhirl blinked. "Why? Then why not find the answer yourself?"
Ever since it started traveling with Reiji, Reiji had never treated it badly. They were partners. They fought side by side. They lived together. Reiji was family.
Why did it protect Reiji?
Was that even a question?
Wasn't the answer obvious?
Reiji protected it. It protected Reiji. Wasn't that what family did?
Why did there even need to be a why?
Poliwhirl didn't really understand the question at all.
"You don't understand anything," Riolu barked, furious. Then it forced itself up and kicked the Pokéblock away.
Poliwhirl caught it neatly.
"Oh, I understand," Poliwhirl said as it walked over and stopped in front of Riolu.
That kick had already taken a lot out of Riolu. It was panting hard now. When Poliwhirl came closer, Riolu shut its eyes and braced for another beating.
But the blow never came.
Instead, Poliwhirl held out a fist in front of it and said, "Your aura's strong. So why not see it for yourself?"
Riolu had already shut its eyes and accepted the hit.
When it realized the fist had stopped in front of it instead of smashing into it, it opened its eyes again and stared blankly at that large white fist hanging there.
Then it looked from Poliwhirl's eyes to its fist, then back again.
Again.
Again.
In the end, something in Poliwhirl's face made it move.
Riolu slowly raised its paw and touched fists with it.
The moment their fists met, aura flowed between them, and Riolu saw exactly what Poliwhirl wanted it to see.
They were memories.
Poliwhirl and Reiji on the deserted island.
Back when they were both scraping by just to stay alive.
Reiji had shared food with it from the very beginning. They had a little shelter that kept off the wind and rain.
There had been a time when Reiji stood out in a storm to protect it and ended up sick himself.
Later, more and more companions joined them. When one of them fell ill, Reiji risked being hunted by Beedrill just to steal Berries and save it, and he came back with injuries to both legs.
Back then, Reiji had encouraged them, disciplined them, stayed with them, and grown with them.
They had lived together.
Fought together.
Come all this way together.
Poliwhirl withdrew its fist. "That's my answer."
Then it gently set the Pokéblock down again and went back to Reiji's side.
"Poliwhirl, you've grown up."
Reiji had no idea what the two of them had just said. Darkrai wasn't in the cave, so there was nobody there to translate.
Once the rain had eased, he'd sent Pelipper and Darkrai out in opposite directions to scout the area. The moment either of them found signs of people, they were leaving for the nearest town.
Poliwhirl scratched the back of its head, suddenly embarrassed by the praise. Then it tucked both hands behind it, sat down beside Reiji, and let Reiji pet it.
Riolu stayed there in a daze.
It was still trapped inside the memories Poliwhirl had shown it.
Only when Poliwhirl spoke again did Riolu finally come back to itself.
"I'm not protecting humans. I'm protecting Reiji. I'm protecting the family I care about most."
Riolu looked down at the Pokéblock on the ground, then back at Poliwhirl sitting beside Reiji, chatting and laughing with him.
It didn't know what this feeling was.
It had never known one like it before.
And it had no idea what to do with it.
In the end, it lowered its head.
That was when it saw the Pokéblock again.
This time, it didn't reject it.
Riolu picked it up and started chewing.
Don't misunderstand. It still hated humans. That wasn't something that would change easily.
But it was going to look for the answer.
Its own answer.
Not long after that, Darkrai and Pelipper returned together. Reiji packed up at once. They had to head for the nearest town now and find a Pokémon Center for Riolu.
He had already put out the fire in the cave. If a forest fire broke out because of him, he'd end up carrying the blame for that too.
Once everything was packed away, he slung on his bag, climbed onto Pelipper, and headed for the town Pelipper had found.
Only after reaching people would he be able to work out where he actually was on the Kanto mainland.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]