"Tap... tap... tap..."
Footsteps echoed through the passage.
Lucario passed through the narrow entrance and once again entered the heart of the Tree of World's Beginning.
As far as the eye could see, blue crystals formed from Aura Guardians filled the area. The light they emitted gave Lucario, an Aura Pokémon, an exceptionally warm feeling.
"Sir Aaron..."
Lucario walked straight toward a blue crystal near the innermost area. Looking carefully, one could still make out the blurred silhouette of a young man sealed within.
Crouching down, Lucario raised a furry paw and gently pressed its palm against the surface of the blue crystal.
Even through the crystal, it could still clearly sense the lingering Aura that belonged to Aaron.
"Sir Aaron, the Zorua we left behind in the city has come looking for us. Just as you feared, you were right."
"It didn't want to tell me much and kept insisting that it was fine, but it was obvious that it had suffered terribly."
"That child is even stronger than we imagined."
"Oh, right."
"Zorua evolved. It evolved into a completely new form of Zoroark—one no one has ever heard of before. It's very strong, barely weaker than me. And now, it has met a young Aura Guardian whose strength is no less than yours, Sir Aaron."
"Its future will definitely be brighter than ours."
Lucario slowly rose to its feet.
Looking toward Mew, sealed and protected within the red crystal, the expression on its face gradually became resolute.
"There's only one final step left."
"Sir Aaron, the mission you entrusted to me—I will complete it, no matter the cost."
A rapid series of footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the entrance.
Lucario remained calm.
Very soon, a familiar red-and-black figure rushed out of the passage.
The instant Zoroark saw that Lucario was still safe and unharmed, the tension on its face finally eased somewhat. Even so, it remained visibly flustered.
"Senior..."
Zoroark's voice was trembling slightly.
"It's so late. Why did you suddenly come here?"
Lucario had long since sensed Zoroark pursuing it through its Aura, so Zoroark's appearance came as no surprise. It merely sighed softly.
"Zoroark, you should know exactly what I intend to do."
"..."
Pain gradually appeared on Zoroark's face.
At that moment, Lucario suddenly assumed a fighting stance and slowly said,
"Come and fight me, Zoroark. Just like before. Let me see how much you've grown over these years."
Zoroark was about to refuse, but Lucario had already charged forward.
Its overwhelming momentum made one thing perfectly clear to Zoroark.
If it didn't defend itself seriously, this attack would leave it either dead or half-dead.
Instinctively, Zoroark shed its disguise and revealed the true form of its Ghost-type Zoroark.
A trace of approval flashed through Lucario's eyes, but the voice transmitted directly through Aura was utterly cold.
"Too slow! What have I been teaching you these past few days? When facing an opponent with hostile intentions, you should prepare for battle without hesitation!"
After recovering to its peak condition over the past few days, Lucario easily caught a brief opening in Zoroark's defenses.
Detect!
Force Palm!
Golden light covered Lucario's palms.
With one strike, it hit Zoroark squarely in the abdomen, sending it flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
"Hesitation leads to defeat!"
Lucario's stern voice echoed through the Aura in the air.
Boom!
The wall behind Zoroark barely managed to stop it.
In that instant, the wall caved inward. Under the impact of the overwhelming force, cracks resembling a spiderweb spread across its surface and continued extending outward.
At that moment—
Rubble fell.
Dust filled the air.
As pieces of stone continued striking its body, Zoroark had no time to worry about anything else.
Because directly ahead of it, a sphere of brilliant blue light had already pierced through the dust, rapidly growing larger in its eyes.
Aura Sphere!
There was no time to dodge.
In that instant, an image flashed through Zoroark's mind.
It was something Lucario had said several days ago.
At the time, Zoroark had remarked that even while being affected by the World Tree, it still found Lucario's attacks difficult to withstand. After reviewing their battle, Lucario had responded:
"The relationship of type advantages and disadvantages is also reflected in the interaction between one form of energy and another. Zoroark, at your current level, you need to learn to make reasonable use of everything you have mastered. Even an unfamiliar move can produce an unexpected effect if used at the right moment."
The Aura Sphere drew closer and closer.
As the image of Lucario standing on the beach flashed through its mind, Zoroark's heart became calmer than ever.
At the same time, white light covered its amber eyes.
A powerful psychic wave erupted outward.
Psychic!
Although it was a Psychic-type move outside its own typing and Zoroark wasn't particularly proficient with it, just as Lucario had said—
It only needed to be used at the right moment!
Psychic, which held a clear advantage over Fighting-type energy, forcibly twisted the Aura Sphere's trajectory several degrees to the right!
"Boom!"
In the next moment, Lucario broke through the dust.
Seeing that even Aura Sphere, which possessed a certain degree of automatic target tracking, had been neutralized by Zoroark, a faint smile appeared on its face.
Well done!
Very quickly, Zoroark realized something.
This was no coincidence.
Every attack Lucario had used was something it had either mentioned to Zoroark or personally demonstrated during this period.
And Lucario had taught it methods to counter each of those attacks as well.
"Why!?"
Using Phantom Force to predict Lucario's attack and evade it in advance, Zoroark didn't take the opportunity to counterattack. Instead, it asked the question that had been tormenting it.
However—
Zoroark had missed its chance to strike.
For Lucario, whose Aura covered the entire battlefield, there was no such hesitation.
Turning around, it immediately fired a Vacuum Wave.
The attack instantly struck Zoroark and sent it flying once again.
Looking at Zoroark struggling to rise from the ground, Lucario didn't use Aura this time.
Instead, it spoke aloud.
"The Tree of World's Beginning is like a large wooden barrel with a hole in it. If the hole isn't repaired, then no matter how much light it absorbs, it won't solve the problem."
"Zoroark, the mission Sir Aaron left me here with was to find a way to repair that breach once the Tree of World's Beginning regained its source of light."
Zoroark instinctively roared.
"But it shouldn't be you!"
"No."
Lucario answered calmly.
"It can only be me."
"Besides me, the only person in this world who can skillfully control Aura is Lord Chen Mo. Do you want Lord Chen Mo to sacrifice his life for the Tree of World's Beginning?"
"!"
Zoroark froze.
There was an indescribable sense of release in Lucario's voice as it softly murmured,
"So it can only be me."
"..."
Zoroark slowly lowered its head.
Its claws dug fiercely into the crystallized ground as guilt and unwillingness filled its heart.
If only it could control Aura.
Then it could take Lucario's place and repair that breach.
But after all these years, it still hadn't awakened its own Aura.
Damn it!
Zoroark slammed its fist into the ground.
Lucario slowly walked over and gently stroked the red-and-white fur atop Zoroark's head with its paw.
"Zoroark, you're different from me. In the past, Sir Aaron and I traveled to many, many places with everyone else. We experienced countless thrilling and exciting adventures. My life has already been filled with more than enough."
"But your life has only just begun. The time you spent traveling with us should only be a small fragment of your life. You deserve a fuller, more beautiful life."
These words were not a lie.
Lucario was immensely satisfied with the adventures of its past.
But Zoroark was different.
Although Aaron had taken it in shortly after it was born, compared with the time Zoroark had spent inside the secret realm, that period was almost insignificant.
In Lucario's eyes, since Zoroark had already made a promise with Chen Mo, it should embrace the journey ahead and enjoy its life instead of being held back by a Pokémon belonging to the past like Lucario.
"Zoroark, thank you. You've already done wonderfully."
Lucario smiled.
"To be able to see you again at the end... makes me truly happy."
Just as Lucario was about to stand and accept the fate awaiting it at the end of its road, an angry voice suddenly rang out from nearby.
"Yes. You're happy. But Lucario, have you ever considered whether Zoroark will be happy afterward?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Lucario turned toward the entrance in astonishment.
A young man wearing a T-shirt and shorts stood there, accompanied by a group of Pokémon, rapidly making his way inside.
"Lord Chen Mo..."
"Lucario! Let me ask you—"
Chen Mo stared directly at the blue jackal-like Pokémon.
"Do you think Zoroark will be happy?"
"I..."
Lucario glanced at Zoroark.
Seeing the helplessness and despair in its companion's eyes, Lucario's heart trembled.
It forced itself to look away and slowly answered,
"If it's Lord Chen Mo... then Zoroark will definitely be happy."
"Bullshit!"
Chen Mo charged directly in front of Lucario, grabbed it by the chest, and shouted furiously.
"Why was Zoroark able to come back from death!?"
"Why was Zoroark able to regain its sanity after going berserk and completely losing control!?"
"Why was Zoroark willing to remain in a secret realm where there wasn't a single other living creature for nearly a hundred years!?"
"I'll tell you why, Lucario!"
"Because of you!"
"Because of all of you—the companions it once lived with!"
"It gritted its teeth and endured hunger! It endured the agony of death! It endured loneliness! It endured torture beyond imagination while it was out of control!"
"It endured everything, step by step, until it finally made it to the present!"
"It fought with everything it had. It even broke free from death itself just to see you again and recover the most precious thing it had ever lost."
"Let me ask you one more time, Lucario!"
"After you die, do you really think Zoroark—after everything it has gone through—will be happy!?"
Chen Mo practically ground out those final words, one by one, through clenched teeth.
As a Legendary-level lifeform, Lucario's height had long surpassed the limitations of its species, making it almost as tall as Chen Mo.
At this height, staring directly into Chen Mo's eyes, Lucario could clearly feel the anger that seemed ready to spill from those pupils.
Faced with Chen Mo's furious rebuke, Lucario's arms hung weakly at its sides.
It lowered its head.
Unable to meet Chen Mo's gaze, it could only speak in an extremely faint voice.
"But... there's no other way..."
Seeing this, Chen Mo silently let out a breath of relief.
Before coming here, what he had feared most was arriving too late—finding that Lucario had already transferred its Aura to the dying Mew.
His second greatest fear was that Lucario had already lost all desire to continue living.
After all—
Aaron had long since turned into a crystal after transferring his Aura.
And aside from Zoroark, with whom it had spent the shortest amount of time, Lucario's former companions had all passed away over the long passage of time.
Chen Mo had already confirmed this on the night before leaving the secret realm, through the Poké Balls left behind by the many Aura Guardians.
The Poké Balls of that other world looked exactly the same as the classic red-and-white Poké Balls Chen Mo remembered.
Although the Pokémon stored inside them wouldn't become hungry as quickly as the other Pokémon within the secret realm, the Poké Balls had no mechanism for replenishing their energy.
Over a long enough period without sustenance, they too would eventually lose their lives.
The only reason Lucario had survived through such an unimaginably long period was because it had been sealed inside a massive Aura crystal.
The crystal connected to the Tree of World's Beginning provided Lucario with a small amount of energy—barely enough to keep it alive.
So, with its Trainer and companions all gone, Chen Mo had been deeply afraid that Lucario no longer had any reason to live.
Compassion cannot save one who has chosen death.
If Lucario truly insisted on dying, then even if Chen Mo had a thousand different methods, he would never be able to stop it.
To prevent that outcome—and also because he was genuinely furious—Chen Mo had used Zoroark as his point of attack and thoroughly berated Lucario.
Now, it seemed the approach had worked.
Lucario truly cared about Zoroark.
It had merely forced itself to ignore those emotions because of its mission.
It still wants to live!
"Who says there's no other way!?"
Remembering how he had felt when he watched Lucario die in the movie Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, Chen Mo slowly released his grip on Lucario.
Determination filled his eyes.
I, Chen Mo, refuse to accept tragedy!
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
Go check it out and dive into the full experience.
Claim early access here: [email protected]/plotwired
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews unlock 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.