Chapter 755: This is My Master
"Someone's coming."
Scizor suddenly spoke.
A single sentence jolted Kazuya awake from his memories.
He turned his head toward the supermarket entrance.
The street, which was empty a second ago, now featured a majestic figure.
Those stern red eyes suddenly appeared before them.
In this era, it was easy to scare someone to death.
Fortunately.
Neither Kazuya nor Scizor were ordinary characters.
They wouldn't be frightened by the other party.
Black markings covered its entire body, and the bipedal jackal had two long, flowing appendages hanging from the back of its head.
This posture.
Kazuya was, of course, incredibly familiar with it.
It was exactly the appearance of a Mega Lucario.
Indeed.
Any creature that could survive the Great Darkness event and dared to move alone on the surface was no ordinary being.
This Mega Lucario in front of them had presumably also obtained the Mega Evolution potion back then, and likely fought on the front lines of the battlefield.
However.
Looking at the appendages flowing in the wind behind the other party's head.
Kazuya couldn't help but subconsciously raise a hand to touch his own head.
He wasn't touching his own appendages from when he was a Lucario.
He was touching the ribbon hair accessory pinned behind his head in his previous life.
Unfortunately.
That hair accessory was already gone.
While passing through the space-time wormhole created by Jirachi.
Who knows where that ribbon flew off to.
That was the first gift he had ever given Cynthia, and she had always kept it on her person like a treasure.
Later, it was swept away in the space-time vortex during his fifth life, accidentally falling into his hands in his seventh life, and Kazuya had worn it on top of his head ever since.
He truly hadn't expected.
That it would be swept away again in a space-time wormhole.
Kazuya hadn't anticipated that passing through a wormhole would lead to an accident.
Originally, he thought he would arrive in this world in his Gardevoir body, so he didn't entrust the hair accessory to Volcanion for safekeeping before transmigrating, resulting in the ribbon being lost in the end.
But regret was useless now.
He would just have to see if there was a chance to find it later on.
With Hoopa's "Fetch" and Jirachi's wishing power, there would eventually be a chance.
Right now, finding Big Cat was more important.
Ding-a-ling~
The wind chime hanging at the supermarket entrance rang.
That Lucario was already standing inside the supermarket, staring at Kazuya with shocked eyes.
Exactly the same as when Scizor first saw him.
Probably wondering why there was a Darkrai here or something along those lines...
Even before starting to train Aura and psychic powers, Kazuya could guess what the other party was thinking.
"So-rai."
"Ga-o."
"So-rai?"
"Ga-o!"
An encrypted conversation, comprehensible only to Pokémon, rang out.
As they conversed, Kazuya's eyes gradually widened.
It turned out that Scizor and this Lucario had once fought side-by-side on the battlefield in Sootopolis City in the Hoenn region, and their opponent at the time was a corrupted Kyogre.
However, too much time had passed.
And the Lucario back then hadn't Mega Evolved.
So Scizor didn't recognize this Lucario right away.
The latter didn't recognize the former either.
Lucario sensed two normal Auras here, thinking they were survivors gathering supplies on the surface, so he came to see if they needed any help.
He hadn't expected.
To see a Darkrai here.
[There are still uncorrupted Legendary Pokémon in this world.]
This wasn't necessarily a good thing.
After all, Legendary Pokémon might symbolize a glimmer of hope, but they also symbolized an even greater despair.
If one day Kazuya was invaded by shadow energy, then the despair in this world would increase by another fraction, and the difficulty for survivors trying to reclaim the daylight for this world would also increase by a fraction.
Different people would have different perspectives.
This was also the reason why Scizor chose to peek initially, instead of taking the initiative to go up and say hello.
But ultimately, considering the other party's identity as an Aura Guardian.
He still didn't choose to stop Lucario from approaching.
"This is not a safe place. There are many magical beasts living in Rota City, and they will come to these stores to scavenge for food. Let's leave first," Lucario glanced at the two of them, then turned and left.
Scizor turned to look at Kazuya.
The latter nodded.
Only then did they follow.
Based on Lucario's direction and route of travel.
Kazuya could tell at a glance that the other party intended to lead them into Cameran Palace. He figured this Lucario normally lived there, so the magical beasts inside must have already been cleared out by him.
They followed Lucario, twisting and turning, occasionally jumping onto roofs to advance.
This made Scizor a bit dizzy, prompting him to ask, "Those magical beasts aren't strong. Why don't we just defeat them and go straight? Wouldn't that save a lot of time?"
"...You lived in the wild before, didn't you?"
Lucario stood on a billboard, his eyes tightly shut.
Based on experience.
Kazuya determined that he was using Aura to sense the presence of creatures in the surroundings.
Thereby avoiding the magical beasts aimlessly wandering the city.
"Yeah, I've lived on Mt. Silver for over a decade. Why?" Scizor nodded.
"The rules of survival in the wild are different from the rules of survival in a city."
Lucario opened his eyes and pointed to the adjacent street, "On the next street alone, there are at least several hundred magical beasts sleeping in the streets and alleys. If you make the slightest noise, they will surge forward like a tidal wave. And the noise they make will attract even more magical beasts from further away..."
Like a zombie horde.
Kazuya muttered in his heart, reaching out to pat Scizor, "He's an expert in this area. Just be patient."
"So-rai."
Scizor nodded obediently.
His deferential appearance made Lucario inadvertently steal a few more glances at Kazuya.
He originally thought this Darkrai was a lackey Scizor picked up on the side of the road, as this Darkrai looked quite weak after all.
And Scizor was just protecting his lackey out of a sense of duty as a big brother.
But looking at it now.
It seemed this Darkrai held the higher position.
Scizor's status now looked more like a "guardian" or "protector" of some sort.
A protector...
This title made Lucario feel nostalgic.
Over a hundred years ago, he was also the protector of a human.
He willingly served that man, forging ahead courageously to protect his will and path.
Even though, as a human, he had no actual combat power.
His powerful will to defend peace, even to the death, earned Lucario's utmost respect and acknowledgment from the bottom of his heart.
Lucario didn't feel there was any shame in this.
Being able to stand guard by the side of someone he acknowledged was a joyous and proud thing.
His master felt the same way.
It was just that his master couldn't protect that person until the end, and regretted it for a lifetime.
And he...
Only sighed at the short lifespan of humans.
Lucario ultimately couldn't avoid being separated from him forever.
Since then, he had lived alone in this world, inheriting the will of that man and his master, defending the honor of the Aura Guardians.
Even to this day.
He was still traveling the world as an Aura Guardian, searching for survivors trapped in dire straits and providing them with some assistance.
Returning to his senses.
Lucario couldn't help but smile slightly.
It seemed he had recalled some rather pleasant memories from the past.
They set off again.
By the time they arrived at Cameran Palace.
The sky had completely darkened.
The entire world was plunged into darkness.
If Kazuya closed his blue, flame-like eyes, he would very naturally blend into the background, making it extremely difficult for the naked eye to detect his presence.
The massive Cameran Palace was incredibly quiet.
The entire castle was empty, so much so that even their footsteps produced echoes.
Of course.
That was a face-saving way of putting it for Scizor.
After all, only Scizor made footstep sounds when walking.
Kazuya was floating forward.
And Lucario had fur and paw pads on his feet, so his steps were silent.
Scizor's steel body inevitably made some noise when walking. Even if he deliberately controlled the weight of his steps, there would still be some clanking sounds.
But it didn't really matter.
After all, they were the only three living creatures in Cameran Palace.
"These paintings and photos have quite a sense of age. It's nostalgic."
Kazuya floated down the hallway, his gaze sweeping over the walls on both sides.
On his left was a painting.
The legendary God of Wood was standing under the Tree of Beginning, gazing at the dark sky in the distance, his eyes stern. A Meowscarada could faintly be seen on his shoulder.
On his right was a photograph.
The young Queen Ilene was taking a photo with the Lucario from a thousand years ago. On her other side stood a red-haired girl and a smug-looking little Piplup.
"I didn't expect to see you all here."
Kazuya's lips trembled.
He reached out and stroked the Meowscarada in the painting, then reached out to touch the Lucario and Lorelei on the other side.
The Scizor beside him didn't notice this, just standing blankly in place, looking at the painting, his consciousness drifting back to three hundred years ago.
The Lucario beside them, however, walked up with a strange expression: "Do you know this Lucario?"
"Hm."
Kazuya was silent for a long time before nodding gently, "He was a good friend of mine. We traveled together and experienced many things together..."
"Is that so? He never mentioned you to me."
Lucario's tone suddenly became respectful.
Whether Kazuya was lying or not.
He could "hear" it immediately.
Very few people could deceive an Aura Guardian, unless they were the type who had even deceived themselves.
So Lucario didn't doubt Kazuya's words.
"Oh? You knew him too?"
Kazuya's eyes lit up, and he quickly turned to look at the Lucario beside him.
"This is my master."
Lucario raised a hand and pointed at the Lucario in the portrait.
"???"
Three question marks immediately popped up over Kazuya's head.
When did Lucario take a disciple?
Why didn't he know about this?
Could it be...
"Did you have an Aura Guardian companion named 'Riley'?!"
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