FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“I am sooo sorry about what happened back there, Max." the black haired trainer apologized for the umptenth time as he nudged a basket of oven warmed rolls over to the lucario.

'It's fine, Keith.' the fighting-steel type reassured the other mentally before taking the obvious offering. 'I probably would have done something similar if I had seen a massive predator charging at me the way I did." the blue and gold jackal chuckled before taking a bite of the roll, the slight taste of gold berry within the bread making him smile.

“Even still, you're welcome to stay here while your wounds heal," the human's features grew somewhat dour as he looked over the lucario's slightly charred form. “though I still think that I should take you to the pokemon center to…"

'I told you, it's not that bad.' the lucario interjected. Reaching a four fingered paw up to rub over his chest, the aura pokemon breathed a small sigh as a pink glow began to emanate around his muscular form. The young trainer watched in awe as the charred fur slowly began to fall away while pure wisps of gold sprouted outwards from the tender flesh beneath. 'See, in a day or two I'll be in perfect condition.'

Keith's eyes widened slightly as the lucario winked at him and then tossed the bread roll he had been nibbling away at up into the air only to then snap it up right before it could touch his nose. “Amazing!" the trainer coughed and then turned his head off to the side to look out the window. “I never knew that heal pulse could work so fast."

'Let's just say that I've learned how to master channeling my aura throughout my body in order to make little tricks like that look easy. Though I do know some other tricks, if you'd like to see them.' crimson eyes watched as a dark flush began to appear upon Keith's face, amusement filling the aura pokemon without end.

“N-no thank you!" the human yelped before coughing into a fist. “I think that it would be better for you to rest up before trying anything strenuous." the scarlet hue that overtook Keith's face after those words left his lips made Max roar with laughter.

Once he calmed himself down, the fighting-steel type gave the other some worrisome news, however, 'I'm afraid that once I'm healed I'll be moving on. I don't want to cause you any imposition with my presence.' Max still wasn't exactly sure how he had come to be within the forest where the human had found him, however, he was smart enough to know that some...unpleasant elements would end up coming to look for him if rumors of a strange lucario began floating throughout the area.

“I doubt that you could do such a thing, seeing the kind of life I lead." Keith chuckled as he turned to look back at the six foot four muscular mound of gold, blue, and black fur sitting across from him.

'And what kind of life do you lead?' the aura pokemon asked while surveying the small beige kitchenette which the two of them were seated within. The vestige of auras which bounced along the walls spoke of many things to Max, but one of the more interesting tales which was silently being told was the fact that the young man sitting opposite to him was someone of great strength and ability.

“Well since you asked, I happen to be the gym leader of this town." Keith answered, his chest puffing up rather proudly.

'Oh really? At your age?' the aura pokemon was slightly surprised by this, especially considering that the young adult couldn't have been more than twenty-three at best.

The human nodded before explaining himself. 'You see, my family has been running the local gym here in Khemera City for the past three generations, and now that I've gained my gym license my mother has decided that it would be a good time for me to inherit the family legacy!" the glow which sparkled within Keith's onyx eyes made the lucario's tail start to wag.

'I have to say, I'm somewhat envious.' though of what exactly Max wasn't sure, however, he couldn't deny the strange feeling of respect which bloomed throughout his chest as he looked over the lanky young man before him.

“Haha, well, it's not all it's cracked up to be." the fighting-steel type cocked his head to the side in question. “Being a gym leader here is really like being the town mayor." Keith said with a long drawn out sigh. “Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, likes to come to me with their problems." sitting back into his chair with a snort the black haired gym leader continued with, “I always knew that mom had it tough, especially after dad left us, but I never knew just how much so until the people in town came asking me some of the most...ridiculous things imaginable." the yellow tinge of exasperation which clouded the human's aura made the lucario's ears nose wrinkle slightly.

'Such as?'

“Oh, Keith, could you let my son have an elemental badge, please? He REALLY needs one to motivate himself to start his pokemon journey." the youth said in a sickeningly sweet female-like voice. “Oh Keith, there's a bunch of wild pokemon causing trouble outside of town, you should look into this!" now the young man's voice was deep and husky like the baritone of a tuba."Oh Keith, your eeveelution pokemon are just sooooo cute. Won't you let my sister have one of them, pleeease?" this time Keith's voice was raised up to almost almost painful octave in mimic of some high school girl.

The lucario couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing again. Tail wagging behind him like mad, the aura pokemon's guffaws sparked Keith to begin laughing out loud, this in turn made several curious eeveelution pop their heads around the kitchen doorway to see what all the commotion was about.

“And you know, the worst part is, most of those people were the same ones who didn't even think I had it in me to become a pokemon gym leader, especially after I only got as far as rank sixteen in the local pokemon league the last year I tried to enter." the young man spoke somewhat wistfully as he stared down at the table.

The lucario snorted. 'I suppose that's just how it goes. The people who think less of you when you are on the bottom are the same ones on their knees begging up at you when you get to the top.' the disdain was so clear within his mental voice that it caused Keith to chuckle.

“Hehe, yeah. I learned the power of NO after my first month being the gym leader here, and it has definitely made me a few enemies, but...screw it. I can't be bothered. Not when I have to defend the pride of my family's name." Keith raised his hand up, clenching his fist together until his knuckles turned white before turning his glittering eyes back onto the aura pokemon once again. “It is my duty as a gym leader to make sure that every trainer who comes through this town knows that getting an elemental badge is not a trivial matter."

'You seem like a person who'd fight for his honor.' the fighting-steel type thought to himself before speaking telepathically once more. 'Just what is the theme of your gym, might I ask?'

“It's based the theme of having almost every element type, exchanging them during different days." Reaching into his pocket Keith pulled out a small white badge shaped like a diamond. Holding it up to the ceiling the false light of the kitchen shone through turning it a brilliant yellow. Pulling it back and then moving it so the dying sun could shine through, the small diamond transformed shifted from its yellow haze to a gloomy orange. “I have every eeveelution, plus one more which I just recently received, and while I know that they do not possess every type as of yet, I still retain the ability to pass out such a badge, at least according to my gym registration." Looking at the group watching from the doorway, Keith chuckled as the lot of them focused on the mysterious blue and gold jackal sitting across from him. “I'm currently registering the new type eevee I received from my grandfather with the pokemon league, in case you cared." Keith coughed into his hand, the flush from earlier returning as he wondered why he suddenly felt the need to blurt out such a fact. The lucario merely smiled. “A-anyway, in this case, my choice of pokemon lets me differentiate myself from my mother who has thirteen tier three pokemon."

The lucario whistled at that. 'I'm impressed. It's no small feat to raise a pokemon to tier three, let alone thirteen of them. She must be pretty talented.' And not someone the aura pokemon wanted to pick a fight with without good reason.

“Yeah, she's the greatest!" stars shone within Keith's eyes as he spoke about the unnamed woman in question. “I'm really proud to have taken over her position here since she decided to retire."

'May I ask why she decided to do such a thing?'

“Well, since grandpa passed away in the accident she's lost some of the drive she had when it comes to being a gym leader." Keith bowed his head making the fighting-steel type whimper somewhat. “I had already proven to her that I would be a good successor by getting so far within the pokemon league, but I think grandpa dying really just pushed her over the edge. People might not think much about it, but it takes a lot of physical and emotional energy to be a gym leader."

'How so?'

'Think about it. You have to, everyday, prepare yourself to defend your gym against strangers who decide to pop up wanting a badge from you." Max nodded at that. “I don't know how much you know about the entire pokemon league, but giving out a badge is serious business." Keith narrowed his eyes as he continued to speak. “Like, every badge given has to be accounted for, each trainer documented, and the battle between you and said trainer filed with the league. Even one misreported badge can have the league breathing down your neck, and if an investigator comes by and finds out that you're been slipping up...it's over for you." Keith shivered slightly as a unwanted memory flashed through his mind. “A friend of friend had their gym closed down after an inspector found out that some punks had stolen a badge from them. Even though it wasn't their fault the league cracks a mean whip when it comes to this sort of thing."

'That makes sense.' the lucario nodded sagely. 'While I've never personally fought in a pokemon league, my former caretaker spoke passionately about how the things worked with them.' Max chuckled at the memory. 'But to be honest, I think he was more curious about how the journey from home to league affected both human and pokemon rather than the actual fighting that went on.'

“May I ask who he was?"

'His name was Dr. James Monroe.' the lucario immediately found himself set on edge as Keith blinked and then flew up out of his seat, the young man's bright aura growing wild with chaotic colors.

“You knew my grandpa?!" For a moment all Max could do was magikarp his muzzle in the face of the human's kaleidoscopeing emotions, however, once his brain detailed and then outlined those words, he simply nodded. “That's...wow. I...I never knew...I mean...he never said anything about caring for a telepathic lucario in any of the letters he sent me." Keith shakily sat back down into his seat, his black eyes wide with some unknown emotion. “I mean," the young man licked his lips nervously. “I knew that he was working on some top secret projects for the company he was employed at, but this is...like...wow."

The two sat together in silence for several minutes before the fighting-steel type decided to speak, 'How much did you know about the kind of work he did?' Max wasn't sure how to broach the subject of the older man's work with his grandson, but it just felt wrong to completely leave his...the human in the dark concerning...well, the relationship he had with the late researcher.

“Not much." Keith admitted honestly. “I mean, I knew he was studying pokemon genes and how they differentiate themselves from those of humans, but I never really got deep into exactly what it was that he actually did with said research." science had never been a favorite study for the young man, even with his grandfather tutoring him during his middle school years.

Ironically enough, Max didn't know what exactly it was that the good doctor did with the information he had gathered from the aura pokemon during the months they had known each other. However, as the mental gears began to turn within his head, the aura pokemon couldn't help but wonder about this new eevee type that the man had sent to his grandson. Could the blood and other samples Monroe took from him have been used to...

“Do you...were you there when grandpa died in the accident?" Keith whispered suddenly.

Max immediately shook his head. 'No. The last I saw of Dr. Monroe, he was relatively healthy.' The blue and gold jackal didn't want to tell the young man that it was his grandfather who had forced him into the pokeball that Keith's eevee had picked up on their way back to the gym leader's home. The beginning of that conversation would have most definitely led into areas that the lucario didn't want Keith knowing about, especially with regards to some of the things the older researcher had been coerced into doing to the fighting-steel type by his employer.

The black haired human sighed.

'May I ask what exactly this accident you speak of was?' he knew that it would bring Keith pain by dredging up that which had led to the older man's death, but Max wanted to try and piece together exactly what happened while he was trapped within his pokeball.

“I'm not really sure." Keith admitted after licking his suddenly dry lips. “Mom said that there was some kind of mechanical explosion which set the underground facility grandpa was working in on fire." Max nodded, silently imploring the young man to continue. “All I know is that his body, along with several others, were burned beyond recognition. It was only though dental analysis that the police were able to even identify him." the lucario's ears twitched at Keith's next choice of words. “The man who grandpa worked for testified that it a malfunction with one of the generators within the place was the reason behind everything."

'Oh really?' Keith nodded 'And what happened to this man?'

“Mom said that he had a nervous breakdown after the accident and had to be admitted to a mental facility. Apparently he was arrested after running down the streets of Helios City babbling something about his pet coming to kill him."

That would have sounded right to Max - he would have most certainly tried to knock his former master's head clean off his chubby little shoulders once he found out that Dr. Monroe had died - if it weren't for the fact that the lucario had no memory of ever leaving his pokeball after being contained within it by Monroe. A quiet sob from the human made him push aside any further contemplations. 'I'm so sorry for your lost.' the words sounded so mechanical to the jackal's ears, but at the same time it was all he could think to say, especially as he watched Keith seemingly curl in on himself.

“It's fine." the young man chuckled. “Grandpa always said that he counted each day as a blessing, but was fully aware that his time was coming. It's just...really sad how he died." the lucario wasn't callous to ask anything else, not when he saw the well of teardrops threatening to spill down from the human's black orbs. “But anyway, you can't be sad forever, right?" Keith smiled tiredly.

'No, but you shouldn't feel obligated to push said sadness aside, either. There's a reason we all possess such an emotion, after all.' those words caused Keith to let out a dry sob mixed with a laugh.

A small squeak caught both pokemon and human's attention. Turning, the pair watched as a familiar brown fennec bounded into the room, the little quadruped quickly hopping up into the black haired gym leader's lap in order to paw at him incessantly.

“It's ok, Scout." the human said apologetically. “I just need to go and cry up in my room...again." Keith chuckled, his eyes slowly streaming. The eevee leaned up to lick the trail of saltwater streaming from its master's face and then nuzzled the other under the chin.

For his part, Max said nothing. His crimson eyes instead taking in how the small fennec continued to console the broken youth, a feeling of...something familiar welling up within his own chest.

The sounds of soft sobs echoed for several minutes before Keith finally found the strength to compose himself. “Well, that was fun!" he chuckled with tear stained eyes, nose dripping somewhat.

Without thinking, the lucario pulled himself up and then walked over to where the paper towels were seated onto the kitchen counter. Pulling one from the roll, he made his way back over to his human and then proceeded to wipe his face. Keith gaped but didn't resist. The little eevee in his hold crooned its name while looking up happily at stronger male. Crimson eyes glanced down at the base evolution pokemon, both canines shared a silent moment with one another before the eevee hopped from its trainer's lap to go about its way back over to where the others were still cautiously watching the fighting-steel type.

A small bark from the smaller pokemon had the group hesitantly pulling away to return to the living room.

“T-thanks. Though, I have to say, that was...rather odd, don't you think?" Keith didn't know what to do as he watched the lucario glance over his face and then turn to toss the now used paper towel into the garbage.

'Not really.' Max replied 'My kind are naturally good at taking care of others, or didn't you know?'

“I'm used to seeing the more ferocious side of your species, so this is somewhat shocking to me." Keith chuckled making the aura pokemon's tail wag. “Anyway, I think I'm done for the day, so I'm going to feed everyone and then go lay down."

'If you show me where the food is, I can do that for you while you head on to bed.'

“...I...don't know how wise that would be, especially with how nervous some of the others seem to be around you." Keith had been forced to contain his flareon after the fire type had refused to allow his master anywhere near the dangerous lucario; the human was well aware that he owed the fire fox some extra treats for disregarding the other's protectiveness of him.

'If you say so.' Max decided that it was better not to push the issue and simply returned to his seat to pick up another bread roll.

The rest of the evening passed by in silence for the lucario as he meditated while allowing the human to go about his daily activities uninterrupted. The fact that the fighting-steel type was watching every move Keith made through the veil of blue aura his kind were able to see through went completely unnoticed by the gym leader, however, it was an invaluable tool for the fighting-steel type as he found himself noting every gesture the young adult made, that included Keith stripping down and then placing himself within the upstairs shower. The blue and gold jackal hissed as he watched the younger man bathe himself, the slow sweeps of the gym leader's hands floating gentle up and down his body made a burning pressure rise within Max's chest. Thankfully the human didn't spend very long washing himself down. Once the raven haired youth had finished and then slipped himself into bed, curling himself within a ball underneath the blankets atop his queen sized mattress, Max silently disengaged himself from the realm of the aura, got up from his seat, and then began walking through the kitchen into the living room.

The eeveelutions who were still awake at that time of evening watched the taller pokemon carefully, many of them still feeling trepidation around the unknown male stalking through their master's domain, yet none said a word as Max went about checking the house, securing all of the doors and windows, and then casually stepped his way within the gymnasium that Keith's family had built so long ago. Though modernized to fit the current era, crimson eyes looked around the massive room with a calculating look shimmering within their dark depths.

'I don't know how you did it, but that's twice now you saved me, Monroe. Now I need you to show me how can I return the favor.' Max thought.

For minutes on end the pokemon did nothing as he stared blankly ahead of himself; in the shadow of the hallway Scout silently watched the larger pokemon curiously.

****

It was later the next day when both Max and Keith were sharing a late lunch together, the human having slept well past breakfast, that the two began talking about the future.

“Max, what are you going to do after you leave here?" the raven haired male was truly curious about this, as with his massive size and build it would be really hard for the lucario to live his life without some level of notoriety following after him.

'Probably find a place where my kind roam and then live out my life in relative peace.' the fighting-steel type knew that there would be no place he would fit in at within the realm of human society, even though he was the epitome of what one could expect from of a domesticated bipedal jackal.

“That makes sense." Keith nodded. “I can't image anyone trying to capture you, not after you caught that pokeball I threw at your head the other day." the two chuckled at that.

'I don't believe that I would ever allow another human to use me as their pet or tool, not after everything that I've gone through.' he growled dangerously.

“What do you mean?" Keith's innocent question made Max curse inside of his head.

He really didn't want to bring up the facts regarding what Dr. Monroe had been talked into doing by Tore, the human who had once owned him, but by the look in Keith's onyx eyes his human wasn't about to let him back away from the line of thought his statement had began creating.

'Let's just say that, my last owner was the worst of the worst when it came to raising me.' the snarl that bubbled up out from the blue and gold jackal's throat was enough to make the hairs on Keith's neck stand up.

“He was that bad, this trainer?"

'He wasn't a trainer. He was businessman.'

“I don't understand."

'As you can tell, I'm not like regular pokemon.' the no duh written on Keith's face made the fighting-steel type chuckle darkly. 'Hah, no. I mean...a part of me is, or was, human.' the young man stared in shock at that. 'Yeah, it seems that Dr. Monroe had to do something in order to save my life when...something happened to me. He didn't tell me everything, but he hinted at the fact that he chose to mix human genes into my body in order to keep me from dying after my owner wanted me experimented on.' the day after he had been cleared for any possible disease or infection had been the day when Tore showed Max the worst of what human cruelty could offer a pokemon. How his mind hadn't been broken by the harsh conditioning the pudgy like pimple had put him through spoke volumes about his control over himself, but the times when he had gone mad...when the pain of his training had been too much...days of hunger and thirst and...sorrow filling him to the point where he thought he would explode...those times had turned him into...

“Unbelievable' Keith whispered. Max shook himself as he returned his focus back to his human. “I knew grandpa had advanced knowledge in pokemon biology, but to hear that is...amazing...but in a scary way."

'Don't ever think bad about Dr. Monroe!' Max barked as he shot up from his seat startling Keith. 'He was a good human, and someone I am proud to have known.'

Keith waved his hands in front of his face, a nervous smile on his lips. “Believe me, I wouldn't ever denounce anything grandpa had done. He was my hero, after all."

'I...I'm sorry.' the lucario apologized while plopping himself back into his seat. 'I...owe him a big debt for being so kind to me during the days when my owner possessed me.' turning his head to look down at his scarred palm, the fighting-steel type thought back to the last tournament he had been forced to fight in for the sake of Tore's amusement, all the while the good doctor watched on in silent grief. 'He once said that it was he who owed me the debt, but I never understood what that meant.' Gnashing his fangs together the lucario swore to Arceus that would give anything to go back to the day when Monroe had sealed him within his pokeball just for the chance to kill the his master and then whisk the older researcher from the underground facility which had become his unfortunate tomb.

A tan hand reached across the table to take the lucario's four fingered paw into a gentle grasp. Looking up, the blue and gold jackal found his lips twitching slightly as Keith wrapped his fingers just a little bit tighter around his paw.

“You know, if you want, we could go to…" before the gym leader could finish his thought the sound of a small alarm going off had him up out of his seat. The lucario found himself on high alert as the human's aura radiated with a flaming red tinge of anger. “Someone's...enter the gym?"

'I thought your gym was closed for the weekend?' that had been the reason why Keith had been wandering through his favorite patch of forest yesterday, as a week long series of battles had driven him to the point of mental exhaustion.

“It is. Which means that either I forget got to lock the door, or someone's here that's not supposed to be." when a sudden influx of eeveelutions came barreling into the room, the lot of them barking their heads off, it was clear which situation presented itself to both Max and Keith. “I'm sorry about this. I'll go and check this out and then be right back."

'No.' Keith gaped a little when the lucario stood up from his seat, literally towering over him. 'We'll go see about this together. I'm not letting you face whatever this is alone.' the human wanted to argue with the other but the fighting-steel type's crimson eyes spoke to the fact that he would brook no argument from the other.

Coincidentally enough, both of their hands were stayed interlocked together as they charged through the long side hallway which lead to the gym, the nine eeveelutions trailing right behind them, only breaking apart when Max spoke a quick mental plan to Keith.

Once inside the gymnasium all eyes immediately came to focus on several humans dressed in black and red standing within the center of the room. From his vantage point up on the rafters, a position he had taken after Scout told him about him sensing something...off about the intruders, Max counted that there were nine of them in total. Most of them were older than Keith, though not by much, and had a strange dark gray mist surrounding their auras which made the blue and gold jackal quietly snarl.

“I don't know how you got in here, but the gym's closed for the day." Keith announced cooly.

“We know," One of the people, a scruffy looking redhead with a black streak running across the side of his face, said while casually sauntering in front of the others, the obvious leader by default it seemed. “but we heard rumor that you have an interesting pokemon here and so we thought we'd come by and check it out."

Max felt his heart freeze up as he wondered if these people were there for him, however, he quickly shook away that idea after the redhead spoke again.

“Now how about you go and ahead and show us this new eeveelution?" the group snickered.

“Hmm, no. Now leave." Keith said deadpanned.

“Awww, come on, pretty please."

“Get out before I show you the door." Keith growled, sparking his pokemon to do the same.

“Now that's kinda a mean thing to say." the nameless group leader moaned before reaching behind his back.

Max watched with calm disdain as the intruders flew back as one, the lot of them grabbing what appeared to be oddly mismatched pokeballs, before tossing them out. In a flash of white iridescent light over a dozen pokemon of various types roared as they situated themselves before Keith and his eeveelutions. The largest of the pokemon, a massive steelix, slithered like a trained attack dog in front of the other trainers, yet for some reason the lucario felt as though there was something not right going on here.

“But since you're going to be so rude about it, how about a battle?" the cocky human interloper asked, though from his tone a rejection of his suggestion was not something that would have acquiesced to.

“How about I just call Officer Jenny and let her settle this matter instead?" the group chuckled at that.

“Well you could do that, but no telling what might happen to you, this place, or your pokemon if you go through with that decision." hatred burned bright within Max's soul as his aura unconsciously warped the metal underneath his paws.

“Alright. But I'm going to establish some rules for this little brawl." Keith said, his black eyes watching the sixteen pokemon standing in the center of his gym with some empathy but a lot more disdain that he would have cared to admit to.

“Sure, go right ahead." the redhead shrugged haughtily.

“Considering that an all out fight would end up destroying this place, this'll be a two on two battle. The pokemon who collapse onto the ground will be returned to their pokeballs or sideline. Whichever side stands without any pokemon by the end of it submits to the authority of the winning side, agreed?"

The group snickered and then nodded.

“Alright Team! I want Vapor and Sparky out front, now!" the black haired gym leader barked. Immediately the vaporeon and jolteon in question came together in front of their trainer while the other eeveelutions pulled back to circle Keith.

Max grunted but made no move to act as a scyther and machamp walked out front of the assembled pokemon, the others moving backwards to watch.

“Vapor, ice beam! Sparky, thunder wave!" the two pokemon growled and then released their respective attacks against the other two pokemon.

In the ensuing moments that followed the lucario watched as Keith expertly commanded his team in a coordinated show of physical and elemental force for which shook the very gymnasium. The machamp and scyther worked in time to try and counter their opponents, however, their trainers were either very inexperienced or just clueless as they walked into several well placed attacks Keith shouted for. In an instance the two were knocked out, the jolteon and vaporeon none the worse for wear, at least until the opposing pair were called back into their pokeballs. The second this happened the ground beneath the two eeveelutions shook and then exploded catapulting the duo up into the air, however, instead of crashing back down Vapor and Sparky hovered for a second and then painfully crashed into one another.

“Vapor! Sparky! What are you doing to them?!" Keith shouted in shock.

“We just called out our next set of pokemon to fight, is all." the redhead snickered while watching the two eeveelutions slam into one another over and over again until they were left whimpering in agony.

“Stop this!" Keith roared!

“Why? They haven't collapsed on the ground, so they're still in the fight." When it became obvious that whatever force was holding the now unconscious pair of eeveelutions was not going to let them go, the jackal howled before releasing a bright pink laser from out of his maw. The stream of condensed etheric energy shot between the jolteon and vaporeon, hitting a previously unseen gengar directly within the face. Without the ghostly pokemon holding them up the pair began to plummet to the ground like comets, yet before they could hit the hard linoleum Keith recalled both into their pokeballs.

“What the hell was that?!" the incensed redhead shouted as he and the others looked to where the gengar was currently twitching within a crater that had been made from the force of its impact with the floor. Snapping his head up the man tried to locate exactly where the energy beam could have come from but by the time he did Max had changed his position to directly above the group.

“Pan! Peter! Go!" like a shot a leafeon and sylveon jumped out onto the center of the gym. When the ground began to grumble once more Keith shouted, “Pan, use dig! Peter, ready fairy wind!" Both pokemon growled and then did as commanded.

Before the other humans could say anything the floor trembled and then erupted as a previously hidden dugtrio was forced out of the ground by the leafeon, only to then be blown backwards by a pink typhoon sweeping free from the sylveon's feelers. The triple decker pokemon moaned in pain as it sailed backwards into an unsuspecting trainer. The sound of both crashing together barely registered to Keith as he glared daggers at the intruders.

“That was dirty pool!" the nameless gang leader hissed as he reached for something behind his back, Max couldn't see what because of the black pants the other wore.

“Are you gonna finish what you started or give up and leave?" Keith growled.

Behind the man two trainers stepped forward to order a mankey and electabuzz to get into the fray.

The rest of the fight devolved into a series of shouted commands and dirty tactics which caused almost all of Keith's pokemon to fall, however, for every tactic the group tried it cost them another pokemon. Sadly, this left Keith with only his eevee Scout to face off against the massive steelix from earlier and a frightening feraligatr whose jaws snapped at the much smaller pokemon.

“Seems like you're a little outmatched." the redhead taunted.

'No he's not.' the other humans looked around wildly for who had spoke, the lot of them quickly growing nervous as they noted no one else around, that was until a previously unseen lucario dropped from out of the sky like a fallen angel to stand beside the growling eevee.

“Where the hell did he come from?!" one of the gang spoke as they looked over the oddly sized, not mention muscled, behemoth of a jackal that was glaring at the lot of them.

“I'll give you one more chance, leave. Now!" Keith shouted, clearly uninterested in answering the question.

“Steelix, wrap around the eevee. Feraligatr, ice fang!" the two pokemon moved like greased lightning at the red head's command.

“Scout, dig! Maximus, aura sphere!" Scout, was able to just get out of the way of the steelix's gargantuan tail just as the rock snake attempted to encircle his tiny form just as Max finished gathering the aura within into the palm of his paws. Right before the feraligatr could chomp down on the concentrating blue and gold jackal the lucario ducked down and then released the ball of energy into the water type's throat. The force of the blast, being a direct hit, sent the crocodile skyward like a shot, however, before the other could get very far up the lucario jumped and then swirled around to kick the other directly into the steelix. The steel-ground type clumsily fell onto the ground from the force of the two hundred pound alligator hitting it at almost thirty miles per hour.

Least to say, the feraligatr was out of the fight...but still alive, if barely.

“What kinda freak of a lucario is that?!" the redhead fearfully inquired as he looked upon Max who dropped into a perfect three point landing onto the ground.

“He's not a freak." Keith said making the aura pokemon turn to face him. “He's my pokemon." A strange smile appeared on the lucario's muzzle as he turned to look at the human who had just claimed him. “Now let's finish this! Maximus, dragon pulse!" immediately the lucario dropped down onto all fours, muzzle pulling back to release a vicious snarl right as a rising pink wave of energy engulfed his being.

Before the redhead had time to bark out another order the aft forgotten eevee sprang up from the air knocking the still somewhat dazed steelix into the air.

A blast of solid pink energy hit the steel-ground type pokemon into the center of its mass, a howl of pain was raised from the creature as it flew backwards to where the opposing trainers were standing in awe.

It was quick reflexes that saved the humans as the redhead pulled out a plain red and white pokeball to return the other to the darkness within the sphere, a grunt escaping the human as he looked over at the gym leader who was congratulating both of his two remaining pokemon.

“Seems that I win!" Keith cheerfully announced, sweat beading down the side of his face.

“Screw you!" the redhead said as he pulled a black magnum from behind his back.

Time seemed to slow as Keith gasped while watching as the other slowly squeezed down on the trigger. The sound of the bullet exiting the chamber momentarily deafened everyone within the room. However, before the needle nosed piece of metal could get so much as ten yards it stopped dead in midair.

“The hell?!" the man screeched as he tried to fire another bullet, yet in trying to squeeze down on the trigger once more the punk found the gun shattering within his hand. A howl escaped from the human's mouth as metal bits dug deep into his palm, but the other truly squealed when the still hovering bullet flipped around and then struck him within the shoulder.

Those who stood beside the man gaped as he fell backwards, a blossom of red blooming directly from his now damaged shoulder, all the while the lucario standing in front Keith radiated a dark purple haze.

“Leave." Keith said shakily, making the others turn to look at him fearfully. “Get out, and don't ever come back!" black eyes burned with rage as the gym leader glared holes at the group.

Without a word two others helped the fallen man up before the lot of them turned on their heels to hightail it out the door of the gymnasium.

Once he was sure that the ragtag bunch was gone, Keith walked over to the doors of the gym and then quickly slammed them shut. Falling to his knees, the black haired youth let out a shaky breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

'You did real good against them.' Max said making the gym leader smile at his guardian angel in blue and gold fur.

“Thanks to you." Keith replied before slumping backwards against the cold metal of his gym doors. A tiny croon made the black haired human turn down to look at his only conscious eeveelution. “It's ok, Scout. It's all over now." the little eevee rushed up onto its trainer's lap and then proceeded to nuzzle the living daylights out of the other. Keith laughed tiredly, his right arm lifting up to pet his normal type pokemon onto the head just as his tired eyes began to dip slightly.

*****

“You didn't have to carry me to my room. I could have made it on my own." Keith said from underneath the covers of his bed, fatigue clouding his voice.

'Before or after you passed out onto the ground?' the lucario teased as he ran a cool wet washcloth over the tired gym leader's head. Though it might have seemed odd to those who did not experience them, a pokemon battle put great deal of mental and psychological strain onto a trainer. Couple that with the mental clusterfuck that had mixed within Keith's heart from the combination rage, fear, and trepidation that the youth had felt during the two hour long battle, not mention almost being shot, and it should have been no surprise that the human had nearly collapsed in on himself after the fight. Now without the adrenaline pumping through his system the human's body was slow shutting itself down, the consequence of the strain on his system having made itself apparent to the aura pokemon as he watched the young man's bright blue aura slowly fade to an inky black.

Keith laughed as he sat back against the headboard behind him. “Could you do me a favor, Max?"

'Don't worry, I'll take care of your eeveelutions for you.' Black eyes stared at the fighting-steel type somewhat confusedly. 'It doesn't take a psychic type to know that you want your pokemon to be healed after all that, Keith.' the human chuckled.

“Thanks." And then the other promptly passed out.

Max didn't so much as bat an eye as he pulled the cloth away from his human's face. Gently settling the gym leader comfortably onto the bed, the lucario leaned forward to press a kiss onto Keith's head and then turned to walk out of the room.

Taking care of the eeveelutions was an easy enough task for the aura pokemon, his natural healing powers easily extending from himself to the others in order to repair the damage which had been done to them during their battles, however, even with their physical parts having been repaired the group would still need time to emotionally heal. Settling the lot into the living room with some food and the tv playing, Max decided to let the group's natural bond go to work doing what he could not as he began to walk the perimeter of both the house and the somewhat ruined gymnasium.

At his side, the fighting-steel type found a certain little brown shadow trailing his every move.

'I can take care of myself, you should go and be with the others, Scout.' the aura pokemon mentally spoke while looking around at the damage which had been done to the gym.

The eevee barked its name several times, the noises easily translating themselves into the larger pokemon's brain. A smile touched the edge of the jackal's lips once the normal type was finished speaking.

'I understand. You're welcome to do as you like.' that got a happy bark from the little fennec.

Max said nothing as continued to survey the area, taking into account exactly what could be fixed, what needed to be replaced, and what features would have to be added in the future before nodding to himself. Walking out of the gym back into the house the fighting-steel type made his way to the living room to check on the others, the aura pokemon was not surprised to find that most of the eeveelutions were sound asleep together in a giant puppy pile. A smile tugged at his lips as he silently padded over to the kitchen to fix himself something to eat, though that smile soon grew feral as the crimson glow of the setting sun bathed itself over the aura pokemon's muscular form.

****

Filing a report with the local Officer Jenny the next day was something a trick though as the older woman had come out with a team to take pictures and a statement from Keith so that she could put out a warrant for the group in question. It took some clever truth telling to make the others believe exactly what had happened with regards to the exploding gun, seeing as there were no cameras around to record exactly what had happened, but thankfully the blue haired cop brought the entire story once she had her growlithe partner question Keith's eevee on the matter.

Once the woman and her team had gone both Max and Keith then began working together to repair the gym, thanking Arceus all the while that the insurance would cover most of the damage done to the gym. Getting the materials for repairs over the next several days was easy enough seeing as Keith's mother had kept good connections with some people in the construction business, and in a strange way the two week long repair job had turned from a chore into a fun exercise as Max worked with the other eevees to return the gymnasium to its former glory. Keith didn't question why the lucario had chosen to stick around, as despite his earlier declaration about the other being his, the fighting-steel type had no real reason to continue to stay with him. Instead, the raven haired gym leader chose to simply appreciate waking up snuggled against the other, the aura pokemon having filed his chest spike down so that it wouldn't poke the human in his sleep.

That Max had taken to wrapping the human within his arms every night, was something that Keith found himself very much appreciating, though he wasn't sure what to think as he found the fighting-steel type's groin pressing deeply into the folds of his rear end night after night. The black haired youth found himself very confused when his own body would respond in kind to the soft murmurs of the other in the morning as they lucario lay asleep, his unknown dreams calling for him to whimper, pant, whine, and then groan into his human's ears. That the lucario had bitten down onto Keith's neck one morning during, what was probably a nightmare, had made the fighting-steel type slightly self-conscious after he had come awake with the scent of blood in his nose.

Keith had merely laughed, though, much to the aura pokemon's confusion. Keith explained that many of his eevees had bitten him numerous times when he had been training them, and that he was somewhat used to the experience. The fighting-steel type wasn't consoled on the matter until Scout bound into the room and then began licking the wound he had made. When asked by the larger pokemon Max if what the human had said was true, the lucario had found relief when Scout admitted that, yes, Keith had been bitten quite often and still was to this day by his more playful jolteon, Sparky.

It had never entered in question exactly what their relationship was with one another once the gym was reopened, neither human nor lucario wanting to broach the chasm that was the unspoken vow between them. Instead, as the days turned to weeks, Keith found himself subconsciously instilling the aura pokemon into every facet of his life that could be allowed, with the exception of most pokemon battles. Both Max and he having long since realized that the aura pokemon was far too powerful for most trainers to handle. Yet, on those rare occasions when there was a trainer who proved to have a very powerful pokemon in question, and who seemed to be able to handle that power with expert efficiency, the lucario would ask to be allowed to challenge them in a fight that had nothing to do with their quest for a elemental badge.

Those were some of the most fun times to be had to Max.

The meeting between the blue and gold jackal and Keith's mother had been something that put the human on edge as he nervously chewed on the nail of his thumb while the older woman looked over the very strange fighting-steel type, yet his anxiety was all for naught as Max posed as nothing more than an abnormally sized lucario that Keith had stumbled upon one day, the aura pokemon refusing to speak psychically to her in order to play up the charade, instead barking out his species name as per what was to be expected of him. Having the pokeball Max had been contained within, something that both had forgotten about until Scout reintroduced it into the pair's life - the sneaky eevee storing it away with his personal stash of toys - helped with the story. Though the orb in question was quickly shattered into pieces later on by Keith.

The older woman was skeptical at first, however, her skepticism soon changed to amusement after she pit three of her pokemon against her son's new acquisition. That Keith had skillfully commanded the fighting-steel type to victory against her tier three pokemon proved to be a great amusement, even as the former gym leader noted that how Max seemed to react without orders from time to time during the match. Once the battle was concluded, the aura pokemon only a few bruises to show off the strain of the fight, she simply shrugged, commented on how Keith looked nice with the light brown streaks running through the roots of his hair, and then packed up her things so that she could depart for the Unova region later on at the end of the week. It seemed that she had met a nice school teacher by the name of Daniel Pride and had decided to move in with him.

Keith could say nothing to this, knowing very well that his mother had long since wished to try her hand at another relationship once he was grown up and established, though he did wonder why Max got a funny look on his muzzle at the mentioning of this Daniel person's name, but he chose to say nothing, even after the older woman hugged them both and then left out of town. Keith realized that it was better to just leave some things be, this included the rumors he had heard about with regards to a group of unknown bodies having been found torn to pieces outside of town. The remains were mostly unrecognizable, though from the stories floating around town it seemed that all of the bodies had oddly coloured pokeballs crushed and scattered around them.

No. Better to just let some things be instead of worrying over them. At least, that's what he told himself as he snuggled within the warm embrace of the larger male who was breathing quietly against his chest, his tailbone itching slightly.