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Chapter 3: Mall Prep

I woke up the next morning feeling like I just won the lottery. Everything just felt right, like an encrypted code was finally cracked. That's how I felt to put it lightly. I turned over to check on Lucario to see if he was awake, and he definitely wasn't. I chuckled lightly to myself just looking at his position on the bed. His tail and left leg were dangling off the side of the bed, and his head was propped up against my shoulder. It was an awkward, but awfully cute position. I didn't want to let go of his paw, considering that could wake him up. I don't really know how much of a sound sleeper he is. So I just laid down just looking at his stomach rise and fall as he breathed in a state of peaceful sleep. Well, that's what I was hoping for anyways. I still felt like I was controlling his decisions, but he had no complaint getting in bed.

A few minutes passed while I was lost in thought. Then suddenly I could feel Lucario's muzzle pressing up against my shoulder, and his leg was pulled back into the bed. I laughed and said, "good morning champ."

He responded by lightly headbutting me and saying, "sorry I slept in so long, but this bed is just too comfy!"

"Yeah, now my bed doesn't feel empty anymore either." I just wanted to make sure he was okay sharing the same bed with me as well.

Luckily he replied, "Yeah, now I don't have to curl up in a ball on the floor anymore." He seemed quite happy, and still very cute. And oddly, we never let our hands go, they practically were glued together. We stayed in bed staring at the roof together, basking in our company for a few more minutes until we both finally decided to get out of bed.

I walked over to my window facing the driveway to see if my parents were home, and they actually were home. I turned around to see Lucario stretching and give out a hearty yawn. Heh, I guess he did sleep well. I smiled at my own thought, he seemed to enjoy my company as much as I enjoyed his. "Hey wanna go see what my parents are up to?"

It took him a few seconds to complete his yawn but he simply replied, "sure." I don't know why, but I like those short one word replies. Not like a yes ma'am or a yes master. It felt really casual and more natural I guess.

We both slowly trudged downstairs to see what my parents were doing, and before I even had the chance to head to the living room, my mom practically jumped me.

"Sarah!" She quickly whipped out her phone and cycled through her pictures. "Check out this picture I took!" Her early morning yelling was giving me a headache already.

I asked, "what picture?" Lucario crept up behind me and peered at the phone over my shoulder, also curious to see. She cycled to a photo taken two hours ago and opened it up. I immediately got the butterflies in the stomach feeling looking at the picture. Apparently my mother walked into my room two hours ago, and took a picture of me and Lucario passed out together.

My mom giggled and looked up at us. "Man you guys really did get along well, I never thought a fighting type could look so innocent."

Lucario laughed at that and replied, "Well, Sarah told me not to act like such a tough guy."

My mother's skin instantly turned pale and she dropped the phone right on the ground. She looked as if someone was just murdered in front of her. I reacted by grabbing my mom's arm attempting to calm her down. I said, "oh yeah... apparently Lucario can talk, but don't worry I reacted the same way."

Lucario bent down and picked up the phone for my mom and handed it to her. "Sorry if I startled you."

My mom's skin pigment quickly returned to normal at his kind gesture. "Thanks uh, Lucario." I let go of my mom's arm, trying not to make things anymore awkward.

When everything settled, my dad walked into the room and gave all three of us an odd look. "What's everyone doing?"

"Oh hey dad Lucario can talk." I have no idea why I said it that abrupt, but I figured it would save another near stroke.

My dad replied, "really he can?" He turned his attention towards Lucario, and waited for him to say something.

Lucario nervously answered, "uhh hello."

My dad thankfully just laughed and said, "damn that's pretty cool. I've never even heard of a fully speaking Pokemon."

My mom added, "same here."

We all sat there in a quick moment of silence before my dad broke the ice. "Well Sarah we were planning on heading to the mall for a little bit, so you two can tag along if you want."

I was about to answer, but Lucario took the incentive first and replied, "sure!"

My dad smiled, "alright Sarah, you need to give him a bath before we head out."

I nodded and grabbed Lucario's hand and headed back upstairs. I lead us into the bathroom, turned the light on, and locked the door behind us. I turned around and ended up face to face with Lucario, his neon crimson eyes glowing from the light. I was just about to say something before Lucario suddenly embraced me. I returned the hug, but I had to ask, "what's wrong Lu?"

I honestly expected another serious conversation but it was something different this time. He simply said, "thank you."

I grabbed him a little harder at those words, I haven't really done anything for him that deserves a thank you. "thanks for what?"

"Well Sarah, I never thanked you for letting me sleep next to you, that's all." He was very visibly blushing, but I thought it was sweet. I showed him my gratitude by giving him a soft kiss on his cheek before we broke our embrace. I walked over to the bath tub and started the water. As I sat down looking at the water come pouring out, I was suddenly lost in thought. I may actually be attracted to Lucario! I... I mean it isn't a sexual thing but, my god... I tried to shake the thoughts off, just trying to deny the thought. But even I couldn't deny the dreams I had last night. _Dammit... no! _

I splashed a little bit of water on my face attempting to break the thought process, and also to test the water. Luckily the water was a comfortable temperature, and I put the tub drain in. I turned towards Lucario who was patiently waiting, while curiously watching me. "Alright Lu, I guess I'll scrub your back, and you can do your front?"

He smiled and said, "sounds like a plan." I turned the water off and motioned for Lucario to climb in the tub. Luckily he did exactly that and slowly slid into the tub adjusting to the temperature change. He shifted around in the water a little bit before he looked up at me ready to start.

I opened his paw and poured out a little bit of body wash for him. I repeated the same motion for myself and started to rub it onto his back fur. I haven't really noticed before, but his muscles are super tone! Well I guess that explains his effortless ease to lift me up so easily. I took a second break from my work and looked up at his face. I immediately felt my face start to burn up from the look on his face. His eyes were closed, mouth wide open, and looked like he had just walked out of heaven. I've never seen anyone in that form of ecstasy before. I decided to ask, "enjoying yourself mister?"

He quickly jerked his head to me and changed his expression to a more depressed one. "I... I'm sorry."

I laughed a little and splashed some water in his face. "Oh and I almost forgot to clean your face."

Luckily he returned my laughter and splashed a little bit of water on me as well. He said in a sly manner, "oh I'm sorry my hand slipped."

I scoffed, "guess I deserved that one didn't I?" I looked at him for a second, inspecting for any spots that we missed, but thought the job was satisfactory enough for a mall trip. I pulled the plug and let the water pour down the drain. I turned around to grab a towel when I heard Lucario shake off the water all across the room. I wanted to act angry, but I couldn't bring myself to it. Instead I just said, "oh gee thanks Lu, now I have to dry off the house."

He put his head down and replied, "I'm sorry, it was instinctive."

"No biggy Lu, not that big of a deal. Either way I was drying something off, you know, just the object changed."

We both laughed at my last comment, and I felt like a cheap philosopher. I unlocked the door and headed down stairs with Lucario trailing closely behind. The first thing I heard as soon as we got downstairs was my dad yelling out, "you two goof-balls ready yet?"

I restrained myself from making a smart ass remark, instead I just replied, "sure." With those words all four of us headed out the door to walk to our local mall. That was one perk of living in a suburban area, but I've always wanted to live in a more rural area. My parents were in front of us, both of them holding hands. While me and Lucario were a few feet back, also holding hands. I still can't help but find it amazing how us simply holding hands can make us feel so much closer, and luckily we both equally enjoy it. I typically hated walking to he mall, since you have to cross through a bad part of town, but with Lucario right next to me, I lost any sense of fear.

About a quarter of the way through our walk my mom turned around and looked at us and seemed quite pleased. I decided to simply ask, "what?"

She replied with a, "oh nothing, just making sure you guys are doing okay." I felt like she had more to say, but she just couldn't or didn't want to. I think even Lucario sensed it too, considering he started to look at me curiously.

We were about half way through the walk, and so far up until now, nothing but small talk was made. My dad broke the calmness by stating, "hey this place has been reported for wild Pokemon attacks recently." I felt Lucario squeeze my hand a little bit harder showing me that he would protect us. Well either that or he was nervous. I just hoped for the protection part. But before I even had time to ask my dad a question, my mom shrieked in horror.

I frantically yelled out, "what do you see?!" I couldn't spot what she spotted until my dad stepped out of my vision, and shielded my mom. I froze as soon as I saw the wild Pokemon, it appeared to be a small group of Zigzagoons. And it appeared the alpha male of the group was in the process of attempting a tackle. I quickly glanced over at Lucario, basically pleading for help. But when my eyes met his, his expression was something I've never seen before. It kinda scared me, he looked like a hardened warrior. As if timed perfectly with my thoughts, Lucario let go of my hand, clenched his fist, and leapt forward giving off a very heroic scream. His speed was incredible, and balance was perfect. I just sat there, now amazed as I watched Lucario's fist connect with the Zigzagoon's tackle. Within a blink of an eye, the Zigzagoon was now knocked away at least twenty feet away from the impact sight in a glorious explosion of golden light.

When the alpha male's body finally rested from the tumbling, the rest of the Zigzagoons quickly fled into a nearby alleyway. Lucario quickly ran towards me and embraced me, giving me a soft kiss on my neck. "I told you earlier, I would protect you." I quickly returned his hug, and I, for some reason just wanted to cry. In the end, I was just glad the whole ordeal was over.

My dad walked over to us, patted Lucario on the head and said, "nice hit there, and uh thanks for saving us."

My mom also added, "Thanks so much Lucario, and here I am thinking you weren't safe around Sarah, but now you are practically her guardian angel."

I saw Lucario blush over those words, and he tried to hide it from my parents. He replied, "I will do anything to keep your daughter safe. Besides, I know she would of done the same thing for me."

The rest of the walk went with ease. Lucario was holding me a little closer to him, which I didn't mind at all. I could see the mall on the approaching horizon, and my dad out of the blue asked, "hey Lucario, what type of attack did you use back there?"

Lu replied, "my previous owner called that a force palm, it has a chance to paralyze an opponent."

My dad asked again, "I'm guessing that's why the damn thing didn't get back up again?"

Lucario replied, "I don't know, I hit him pretty hard so..."

All of us laughed at that, simply enjoying a lighter moment as we stepped inside the mall.