Love Anew ?
#5 of Bonds
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon. They belong to nintendo/gamefreak. I only own the original content.
Notes: I didn't want to do this one you can blame Tamati for this being done. He better be happy with this.
This a squeal to Love Loss. I am tying up loose ends.
"Time goes by slower when you miss the one you love." ~Unknown
~A few hours ago~
A lucario was meditating in the forest. She was trying to calm herself since she had not seen him in a few years, and she was worried that it would not work out. Yet... she had to do this as it was the last thing in her life she had. Looking back, yes, she did mess it up and basically ruined a good thing by breaking his heart. In retrospect, it was lust that drove her away from him, not love. He did love her, and she destroyed it by thinking they could never be equals. That zoroark... she should have never listened to him. It was her fault for being weak. As she realized this, she rubbed her belly and the tears coming from her eyes, knowing what it really cost her both physically and emotionally. Now she would head home, hoping to fix the wrong she created, maybe rekindle the bond she once had with her first love. Her true love...
~Present ~
You always remember how it feels to be hit for the first time? This is especially true of pokémon. Without knowing the pain of being hit one would never learn to dodge, parry an attack, or have the strength to face it head on.
All Link could think of as he was hit with a Force Palm to the face by this lucario who showed up at his doorstep was, 'Damn, she can hit hard.' He was sent flying through the house and through the wall, eventually landing in the backyard. As he finally stopped, he tried to stand up but the pain from his muzzle hurt like hell. He had felt worse, but from only one pokémon ...from his other brother, Kai.
Saber turned his head at Link's comment, only to see his comrade get blasted in the face. Saber had never seen Link taken out like this before. Alarmed, he threw off the popcorn, its contents flying everywhere as he leaped off the couch and ran towards the door where the lucario was, her hand still glowing. Saber's body glowed as swords danced around him, his muscles growing a bit as he gathered strength. He was already at a disadvantage, but he had to defend Queen and her little brother. He gave her a quick glance of fear, knowing he was the only thing between her and this crazy lucario. Queen saw his fear, which surprised her knowing how powerful he is. Taking the hint, she coiled around her little brother. The eevee cried out, wondering what was going on as Queen told him to be calm.
The zangoose ran in and tried Close Combat. It caught the lucario off guard, his first few hits landing successfully but then the rest were parried. To his surprise, she returned the favor with her own Close Combat. Unlike her, he took all the hits and was barely able to stand from the sheer force of the attacks. He knew something was broken inside as he coughed up blood.
He fell to his knees, unable to do much else. Link was already flying at the lucario with a high kick, but somehow she was able to catch Link in mid-flight. She hooked his leg and slammed him into the injured zangoose before delivering a Low Kick to make sure he was unable to do anything else. Link curled up, clutching his stomach and thinking something inside had been broken.
Jeff was upstairs looking down at the carnage. He was trying to keep Reava from trying to help, knowing the dark feline would likely be killed. The lucario did not seem to be holding back.
"Damn it Kai, where are you and Lin?" He was trying to call 911, but was is unable to do so. His hand was shaking with fear from seeing his pokémon get trashed. Queen shook with fear and shock from seeing her love and friend taken out as if they were rookies. She heard her little brother cry, wanting to know what was going on. She promised to make sure he lives if anything happened. The lucario walked toward her, eyes burning with anger.
"Where is Carter, snake?" she demanded. "Tell me, or I will show you what pain really is." She raised her paw which had an Aura Sphere in it.
'She's going to kill me,' was all Queen thought at that moment. Just then, a fur extension wrapped around the lucario's arm, dissipating the Aura Sphere. Queen turned her head to see an angry mienshao growling at the lucario.
"(If anyone will be kicking Queen's scaly hide, it will be me, not some random mutt)," she declared angrily. Queen was happy to see Lin arrive just in time.
A sour looking alakazam was walking down the street. An umbreon walked beside him with a big smile on her muzzle as she trots along with him humming happily. Jeff looked at his ninetales, Jen, who laughed a bit.
'My dear, she is making him walk and not use his power to just teleport home.'
"Well that kinda sucks," he said. "Still, I guess it makes sense. He could become too dependent on his powers." The alakazam grumbled something in pokéspeak as he continued to walk, glaring at Gale from the corner of his eye. She just smiled despite the glare.
Jeff laughed a bit as he thought about how well-trained these pokémon were. All of that trainer's pokémon seemed to, at times, act like a family. Kai had paid the month's rent, a task usually done through the internet with today being an exception since it was down. He knew the umbreon had something to do with it as she seemed to have a mischievous bounce to her step.
Jeff wondered how he was able to make this dysfunctional family work. It got to the point that they had the same name. His friend, who had been handling the rent for this family, called himself Jeff one and the trainer Jeff two. He hated being referred to by number by his so-called friend. When he finally figured out the other Jeff's middle name, he stuck to referring to him by such.
Kai still looked mad while the umbreon seemed be talking to him in pokéspeak, eventually sighing in defeat. Jeff assumed it had to do with the umbreon whom Jen said was Kai's mate. The thought as to how a dark-type and psychic-type could be together blew his mind, more so when he heard they had a cub together.
The so-called family worked, he could tell. Whenever he checked on them, the house was still in one piece. It was sometimes dangerous to rent to a trainer as their pokémon would... well to put it in better terms, they were pokémon. Simple as that. Yes, he was in love with one, but he had taken precautions for his home, such as making it fireproof. Yes, he loved and trusted his ninetales, but she did have a temper and it was always handy to have a fire extinguisher handy whenever she got angry.
He had feared that the lucario named Link would somehow end up wrecking the house since he was the most destructive pokémon he had ever seen. He had such a childlike attitude and wanted to mess with everything. In other words, he was an overpowered kid. Somehow, the lucario was wrangled by his gardevoir mate named Lily. She seemed to be able to keep the wild lucario in line. It was a bit amazing that they lived off the lucario and his trainer's stunts, or stupidity as he saw it.
As they arrived near their home a loud crash was heard as two pokémon came flying through the window. At first Jeff assumed it was Link having fun with Lin.
Kai sighed, Jeff hearing his thoughts in his mind. 'There goes the deposit.' As he watched them fight, the alakazam's expression changed, seemingly sensing something was wrong, and he vanished.
Jeff could hear the mienshao growl savagely as Gale looked on in shock. She ran towards the house, Jeff quickly understanding that she was going to find the others. Jen looked towards her love for instructions, but Jeff, not wanting to to have her injured in a battle between the two attacking pokémon, asked her to stand by.
Jeff watched as Lin and the lucario both fight. The lucario is unable to do much beyond defending as Lin savagely attacked the lucario. Lin pressed forward with her assault. Seeing an opportunity, the lucario placed her foot on Lin's chest and pushed her away, giving the lucario breathing room. The lucario struck a pose and started to gather energy, as evidenced by the slight glow it gained. Soon, a blue light surrounded the lucario's body.
Jen looked as though she had seen a ghost as her words floated into her lover's mind. 'It can't be... Ruby?'
Jeff looked at her, surprised to hear her thoughts. "This is not going to end well. She always had a vicious streak in battle."
Lin, undeterred by the power surrounding the lucario, attacked again. This time, however, her attacks were parried. The lucario seemed to have gotten faster, quickly shoving Lin back a bit before following up with a Force Palm. A moment later, a loud explosion followed, blasting Lin away. She flew several feet back and braced herself for impact. To the mienshao's surprise, the collision with the house didn't happen. She looked over and saw her father, hand raised and glowing with the same light surrounding her body. He set her on the ground gently.
The lucario, angered by the alakazam's interference, charged at Kai, looking to take down the psychic in one hit as she charged up an Aura Sphere. However, she was stopped before she barely approached him.
'I do not know who the hell you are, but you do not attack my home...' With a flick of his wrist, the lucario's body started to bend backwards. '...or my family!' His clawed fingers closed so as to crush her with his power. The lucario cried out in pain as she fought in vain against this power. She tried to gather more power but to little avail as she could feel the bones in her body begin to break despite her steel typing. The alakazam was about to break her, literally.
Lin ran up to her father and tried to stop him as she was actually afraid he would kill the struggling lucario. A Shadow Ball hit the back of Kai's head, snapping him out of his rage. The grip on the lucario was broken as she fell to the ground unable to stand on her own. Kai turned to see Gale looking at him in anger.
"(You fucking asshole are you trying to get put down? Again?)" Gale barked at him angrily. Kai seemed to actually shrink before the umbreon.
"(I was just going to teach her a lesson,)" he replied, ashamed. The lucario was trying to rise. She coughed up some blood as she tried to heal herself. Lin stood over the lucario.
"(Don't get up. It's best that you stay there, otherwise we will continue our fight and I can tell you will not be able to do much to stop me this time,)" she warned with a growl. As if to further her point, her fur extensions glowed to resemble blades.
The lucario stopped moving but the blue hue around the lucario's body showed she was trying to heal herself. The lucario was about to say something when she saw a ninetales in front of her and a human. She was surprised by who see saw.
'Jen...jeff why are you h... aahhhh!' She was hit by the ninetales, its tails glowing as she growled at the lucario.
"(How dare you come back here after what you did to your mate... or I should say ex-mate? What happened? Your new love saw how shallow you were? Or did you hook up with another sucker?)" she snarled angrily.
"Calm down, Jen," Jeff said.
'Fuck this shit, Jeff. She nearly destroyed him, and now she comes here and attacks mon who have nothing to do with this.' Flames danced around Jen's mouth as she readied a flame attack. Jeff sighed as he pulled Jen by her scruff.
"We do not continue fights unless we are attacked dear...despite who it is." He looked down at the lucario, who he recognized as Ruby. She looked stronger than the last time he saw her but she looked wild. He could tell she was a bit unhinged, though she seemed to be to weighing her options.
He remembered how Carter would say she was always looking at the next step in battle, trying to out think her opponent. It was most likely how she hid what she was doing behind his back.
"I will tell you this only once. We will let you go, but you will leave. Otherwise I will capture you and sell you to the nearest trainer. You destroyed too much here already. It is best you go now." Jeff stated firmly.
Ruby looked up at Jeff in anger. "YOU DO NOT TELL ME... AHHHH!!" Lin put her in a choke hold. Ruby couldn't believe the strength the mienshao had as she tried her best to break out of it.
"(Shut up, you fucking bitch! You nearly killed my sister and brother!)" Lin growled at her. She couldn't really grasp the mienshao's meaning behind her words as her mind was only thinking of escape. The grip of this foe was unlike anything she has felt before. Ruby flailed, trying to break her grip, but to no avail as the mienshao refused to let go. Was she holding back during their fight? Ruby began to see stars as her world slowly went black.
'This was not supposed end this way,' she thought. Gale was about to say something when Kai stopped her.
'No, she attacked our home and our son was nearly attacked. You have a big heart, Gale, but I believe Lin has the right to do this.'
Gale pulled away from him. "(No, our children are not killers. You will not condone this either. You are better than this, Kai. Stop her, or by Arceus I will leave you!)" she snapped. Kai looked at her with an angry look as if trying to see if she was lying, but he could tell she was not. He sighed, knowing she was right like always. Small wonder as to why he hated and loved her at the same time.
Of their three children, Lin listened to her father the most as she adored him. Kai walked over seeing the lucario still struggling but less as she was losing consciousness. He laid a hand on Lin's shoulder, making her stop for a second. She looked at her father with an expression of confusion.
"(Let her go, dear. It is not worth it.)" His voice was filled with much sorrow as she seemed to fidget a bit before releasing the lucario. She hugged her father and shook a bit, realizing what she almost did.
Ruby was gasping for air. It felt as though her lungs were on fire. She once more tried to heal herself, but little changed as she was too exhausted. Her body feels like she just fought a blaziken and a magmar. Jen sat before her, looking down at the defeated pokémon.
'You have been out classed, dear. Leave now, before I finish you. Jen's voice carried across Ruby's mind, the tone of the threat she would carry out. The fox was always like this to her, with good reason.
"NO!!!! I will see him... hack..." Ruby could barely say anything. Her lungs burned from the act. The other Jeff showed up in his boxers with Reava at his side. Gale saw him and stifled a giggle as his choice of boxers were squirtle design. He said nothing, focusing instead on the scene before him.
"What the hell happened? Kai I called out to you why the hell ..." He stopped upon seeing him trying to calm down his crying daughter. He looked away, feeling bad he was about to yell at the alakazam.
"Greg, it is an old friend looking for her former mate/trainer. Let's say it didn't end well like you and Reava did. Also, nice boxers," Jeff said, smiling.
"It's not Greg." He sighed, knowing when he is around this Jeff he would call him Greg. "Look, I am not paying for these damages. It wasn't Link who did this. If anything, I should be covered with renter's insurance."
"I am not blaming you or Link. She, well..." He told Greg everything. Ruby was crying as she argued with Jen, both getting ready to fight once more.
"Why not tell her so she can find him and she can be his problem and not mine." Greg stated mildly. Jeff looked at Greg as if he was crazy as Reava walks over to Ruby and starts to talk to her despite Jen telling her not to.
"It's not that simple. I have not heard from him in over a year and he has changed his number so I don't know how to get ahold of him. I hope he is ok. Jen had wanted me to have him tracked down, but I don't want to be intrusive."
Kai seemed to be arguing with Reava and Gale as he pointed at Ruby in anger, still holding Lin in his arms.
Greg walked over to try to calm them down as some of the neighbors started to come out, with some calling the police. Jeff looked at Ruby in minimal sympathy. He still felt for her, but not enough to cover for her. If anything, he would tell the police the truth, and she would likely be put into a correctional facility for overly violent pokémon. He sighed knowing she was only trying to see him again, but the way she went about it...
"Ruby, I can't protect you this time," he began. "You destroyed any chance you had to fix this. You had no right to do this. You left Carter, and the way you did gives you nothing to stand on. And yet... you come back thinking he would wait for you. Did you not think that he would try and move on? He abandoned the road you both traveled to find his path once more. The path you both had is gone, and you had best make peace with it."
Greg talked to the officer Jenny and tried to explain what was going on. Jeff could hear him saying it was not his pokémon that did this and that nothing was damaged besides his house. Jeff sighs in relief, seeing she was going to leave. Kai seemed to be saying something to his mate and Reava and Greg looked defeated by something as Officer Jenny left, dispersing the crowd as she did.
Greg walked up to Ruby as Reava seemed to be smiling about something.
"If we help you find him. YOU, not your former trainer, will pay for the damages?" He pointed at the lucario, slightly mad.
Jeff looked at Greg as if he was crazy. "Wait, you're not going to look for Carter, are you? He could be anywhere. He could even be in another region for all we know."
"Yeah, about that... Kai has a program that can find him through the use of his debit card. It's an app one uses on their pokédex."
Jeff looked a bit surprised. "Wait, that stuff is under lock and key at the National Trainer's Hub. It has tons of safeguards."
Greg looked away as if he was guilty of something "Yeah about that... we, uh, already hacked that to find a trainer that took Lyon and Queen once. Well, to say the least we tracked him down fast." he admitted. "And don't worry, the trainer is still alive...well he won't ever look at a Jynx the same way again without wanting to have sex with one," he added. Kai seemed to be proud of that.
Jeff knew psychic-type pokémon were powerful, but Kai and Lily seemed to do things that bordered on illegal. He was surprised that Greg was ok with that. Jeff heard what had happened, but not how he got his pokémon back, and now he knew how it was going to be done. Kai left with Lin and Gale following him back to the house. He could see Link trying to use some plastic to cover the hole where the window once was. Saber just covered his face with his clawed hand shaking his head.
"Ruby, you do realize they are going to give you a chance to find him but... how the hell are you going to pay...?" He stopped as he saw a satchel on her, something he didn't notice before. He was surprised to see that it was still in once piece. The lucario pulled out a pearl, a big one from the looks of it. Where she found it was beyond him.
"I need to find him," she said desperately. "I lost everything, and I realize that now. I have a small connection with him as I know he has one with me. I can't move forward nor can he until this is resolved between us. We still both hold a piece of each other. The bonds between a lucario and their partner are not easily broken. Yes, I cheated on him, I will not deny that, but I lost ..." She moved her paw to her belly. Jen walks up to her.
'A miscarriage.' It wasn't a question.
Ruby stiffened a bit. "Yes... after I gave birth the egg..." She began to sob. "He became angry with me and lashed out at me, calling me worthless. Sure, he was a dark-type and shouldn't have hurt me much, but his words were more damning than any attack, and the next day he left. I tried to find him but ...he was gone. I ...I tried to die many times."
Jen truly looked at her body for the first time. She noticed the scars on her arm and some marks on her neck. Ruby did nothing to hide it, but simply hung her head in shame.
"One day," she continued, "I was at a cliff. I had heard many gyarados lived near there and I prayed they would eat me. I would either drown or let them kill me. But then I heard his voice again. I felt him in my heart." She paused to take a deep breath before continuing. "At first, I thought I was going crazy, but I soon realized that we were still connected. We still held a bond I thought I destroyed. I knew he would not accept me back, but I wanted to ask for one last chance to be with him. I know I could never be his lover again, but I hoped I could be with him and maybe he could see me just as before. I cannot change the past, but I think we both need to say what we both feel once more. Both of us need to see each other once more, otherwise neither of us will be whole."
Jeff looked at her as Lin walked up and took the pearl from Ruby, then gave it to Greg. His eyes went wide.
"Now I can get that ATV!! YES!!" he shouted with glee. Kai just shook his head and focused on the laptop floating in the air.
'Found him. He is outside Aspertia City. He just took some money from the bank recently. His downloaded music is .....the theme from 2001, Eye of the Tiger and the Touch. Your friend has weird taste,' Kai commented, looking at Jeff.
"Carter likes The Counting Crows and some indie stuff, nothing like that." Jeff seemed confused by his friends choice in music and shook his head. "You do know Unova is a bit away from here. We are in a more rural land."
Kai looks at Greg as he looks away from the Alakazam. "No," he said flatly.
'It is the only way this will work. Your dad has been wanting you to visit and...'
"No, hell no. After he and mom found out I was with Reava, they told me what they thought of my choices. I will not see them. We will take her, but it will be strictly there and back here. Well, at least I am not going alone. I don't know how she will react on this trip," Greg said bitterly, pointing at Ruby.
'Road trip, then. I will go, as will Lin, and Reava will come to keep you sane ...Greg' He smiled as he says that making Greg give him a sour look in turn making Kai smile even more.
Lin seemed to glare at Ruby who flinched from her look. Kai and Gale talked, the alakazam trying to calm her down as he scratches behind her ears making her murr a bit.
"Uh, Greg? I thought you said your parents were ok with you being with Reava?" Jeff looked a bit confused.
"I don't want to talk about it," he said resolutely. "We can catch a ferry to Castelia City and another to Virbank City. After that it's a hop, skip, and jump away to hopefully find Carter. Jeff, could you do me a favor and call for repairs to the house? We can't have Link trying to do Bob Vila." Somehow, Link put on a work belt and looked ready to work on the house. Fortunately, Lily was trying to stop him.
"Will do... and be safe." Jeff walked off as Ruby stood up, watching Jeff and Jen leave. Greg (or as he insisted, Jeff) headed back home to get some stuff packed.
Reava watched him leave. The lucario walked up to the liepard. "It will never work. You will never be as happy as we were ... best to be lovers and nothing more. Mateship will never work out."
Reava looks up at the lucario. "(You know I have been told that by many, but why should I care what they think? I am not weak like you and I don't run off and find the first male with a cock.)"
Ruby looked like she was about to attack her but stopped. "Why did you make him do this? I see you have him wrapped around your paw ... like I did with Carter..." She sighed.
"(Unlike you, we both know what we want. If anything, he loves me. If not, he would have never covered for me. He would have dropped me off. Instead, he continues to cover for his lover. I want to see what will ha ppen between your trainer and you, just because you are a fool. You seem to have given up, yet you showed up here looking for him. I know you are not stupid, but you had to know he was not here.)"
Ruby looked at her a bit mad. "You have not answered my question. Why are you doing this?"
"(If you really were over him, you would have looked for that male you left that human for. You tried to die and you said you still felt connected,)" the liepard said. "(To be honest, I want to see you fail. I want him to tell you that you are worthless, that he has moved on. You seem to hope for something different. Just know this: Kai is looking for you to fail, and Lin wants to kick your ass as do most of this home, even Jeff. ...Greg, what a dull name. That other Jeff needs to change his name..."
"..."
"(Anyways, deep down, I need to hear it from both of you to see there is a chance,)" she continued. "(For one thing, I hate to think he would leave me. I would never leave him, no matter what. He is my reason for living. I do know he loves me more than anything. Most people wouldn't cover for their pokémon when it nearly kills a human female. Just so I know, what did your human do for you to prove he loved you?)" she asked.
Ruby thought back to when Carter released his pokémon to live with Ruby. He gave up the road which, as far as Ruby understood, was something he loved. He gave it up for her... to be happy with her. It was then she knew he loved her... he gave up a chance to be a pro just for her.
"I know what he did for me. I know I have to show I am different from then, that I am not a spoiled child who didn't understand what was given up for them. I will prove you all wrong." She walked over to where Jeff was with his pokemon. They looked ready to leave.
Reava smiled as she saw Ruby walk with confidence in her step. "(That is attitude you need. Yet... will he feel the same, dear?)" she said to herself quietly.
Lily returned to see Link trying to duct tape the window while Saber was telling him it wouldn't work, that duct tape wouldn't fix everything. Link answered by duct taping Saber's mouth and then running away from the infuriated pokémon and his attempts to impale him. Lily was quick to restrain the irate zangoose.
"This is going to be a long trip," Jeff said as he looked at the scene.