Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 51 - The Luc of the Draw

Both Kyra and Riley were looking forward to battling one another, the two Lucario shared the same sentiment and looked forward to battling once Riley had taken them to the perfect spot.

Nate and Willow however were still cautious and hung back slightly. Riley's sudden appearance at a coincidently convenient time was certainly suspicious and something they had expected Kyra to pick up on. But she hadn't. They didn't understand why Kyra was much more relaxed around Riley than they were, if anything she had more reason to be sceptical.

"This isn't going to end well. It's as if Kyra's letting her guard down too much," Willow commented, worrying for her best friend.

Nate nodded, "I see where you're going, Riley is definitely suspicious, especially with that control of aura too. Then again, maybe he'll be able to help Kyra out so she won't pass put every time she tries using it," he suggested, giving Riley a chance.

Willow saw sense in what Nate had said regarding Riley potentially helping Kyra, but she was still sceptical as to Riley's potential ties with Team Galactic. "Whatever happens, we need to make sure we can protect Kyra. I don't trust Riley at all and worry he has something to do with Team Galactic," she replied, falling quiet so she and Nate didn't upset Kyra.

The area Riley let them to was surrounded by rocks with an arch leading to the makeshift battle field. Kyra and Lucario took note of the terrain and saw it would be good to take advantage of during the battle. Kyra let Eevee settle herself in Willow's lap once she had sat down to watch the battle unfold.

"Be careful, we don't know what Riley's capable of," Willow warned as Kyra turned to walk away to face Riley.

Kyra smiled, "Don't worry, everything's fine. Lucario wouldn't be willing to battle if something was wrong," she reminded, going back over to Lucario before Willow could dissuade her any further.

Willow was still tense and stroked Eevee to try and calm herself down...but it was to no avail.

Before battling, Kyra made sure Lucario knew of the plan, essentially working off of what they had learnt whilst battling Maylene. Kyra had her Staff at the ready whilst Lucario got ready to form Bone Rush when it was called.

Riley and his Lucario were intrigued by Kyra's use of her Staff, it wasn't normal for trainer to have a physical bond such as a weapon like this, but he wasn't going to complain about the change of style.

"We'll take the first move if you don't mind. Use Aura Sphere," Riley called, hoping to gauge how strong Kyra's Lucario was.

Kyra knew that Lucario would want to prove she had just as powerful of an Aura Sphere as Riley's Lucario, but right now it wasn't the time to make that call. She knew just how stressed Lucario got when forming Aura Sphere when she wasn't ready to or felt too pressured, she wasn't going to put her partner through the stress of it.

"Block that with Metal Claw," Kyra called in reply.

Kyra's Lucario nodded and blocked the oncoming Aura Sphere with ease, flinging it away into the rock to prove her strength.

"Not bad, blocking an Aura Sphere and flinging it away like that is no small task, but that's not all we've got in store. Use Flash Cannon," Riley complimented, continuing to call on the offensive attacks.

Kyra figured her best call would be to counter with Force Palm to deflect the Flash Cannon away. It was still too early for an Aura Sphere call, and using Bone Rush this early on would give her whole strategy away.

"Alright Lucario, counter that with Force Palm," Kyra replied, hoping Lucario would have read her aura to learn the specifics of the plan.

Lucario had indeed read her trainer's aura and jumped to the side of Flash Cannon to hit it away with Force Palm, the power of both Flash Cannon and Force Palm surprising her.

"Now we'll call on the offensive. Use Force Palm again," Kyra called, not wanting to risk Aura Sphere just yet.

As Kyra's Lucario ran in towards Riley's and readied her attack, Riley had his call ready. Testing Kyra's reflexes was by far the best was of seeing how she could think on the spot.

"Close Combat, take advantage of Lucario being close," Riley said calmly, despite the call for one of the strongest Fighting Type moves in existence.

Kyra doubted she would be able to get Lucario out of Close Combat's range in time. To her dismay, Lucario was flung back long before she could make a call.

Lucario used Bone Rush to break her fall to stop any risk of injury and nodded towards Kyra to show her she was OK. Kyra however, she was far from confident. Close Combat was a powerful attack and had no doubt done her partner no favours, especially since it was super effective.

"I think I'm ready to use Aura Sphere. Right now going in close is too risky, that Close Combat was powerful," Lucario explained. Kyra trusted Lucario and called for Aura Sphere.

As the attack formed between Lucario's paws, Kyra noticed something wrong. Although Lucario had made out that she was ready, the Aura Sphere between her paws had little power behind it.

"Let's see who's Aura Sphere is stronger shall we? Use Aura Sphere too," Riley called, putting Kyra under further stress.

Kyra didn't know what to do, she wanted to call for Lucario to defend again, but doing that would only make her seem weaker, something she didn't want to happen. Then again, the Aura Sphere Lucario had currently formed was no match to the one Riley's Lucario was forming.

The two Lucario sent their attacks at one another, it was already clear to Kyra which Aura Sphere was stronger.

Kyra was ready to call for Lucario to protect herself with Bone Rush, but then the unexpected happened.

Despite being smaller, Kyra's Lucario had formed a more powerful Aura Sphere. As the two Aura Sphere's met, the smaller of the two ripped through the other and used the larger attacks power to help power up its own. Riley had no time to call a defensive attack before his Lucario was hit.

"You alright Lucario?" Riley asked, worried for his partner.

Riley's Lucario nodded and stood back up, he wasn't finished yet.

"Good, now use Bone Rush," Riley called, making the next move.

Likewise, Kyra and her Lucario were ready to attack with their form of Bone Rush. As what had happened in the Veilstone Gym, Lucario's attacks seemed to be powered up by Kyra's movements to attack in unison, leaving Riley's Lucario unable to battle.

Riley was impressed by Kyra and her strategy to battle alongside her partner. He hadn't seen a trainer and pokémon so in sync before and expected he wouldn't see it again. His Lucario was just as impressed and praised his previous student's better technique.

"That was a great battle, well done," Riley congratulated as he and his Lucario walked over to join Kyra and her own.

Kyra stroked Lucario between her ears and praised her, "Thanks, it was a great battle. Both Lucario battled well," she agreed.

Nate and Willow walked over to rejoin the slowly forming group, Eevee jumped back onto Kyra's shoulder and congratulated Lucario on her win.

Riley suggested he showed the group a good place to camp out and asked if they'd like his company whilst they stayed on Iron Island. Willow was still sceptical, but Kyra was eager to learn more about Riley's Lucario and potentially about previous Aura Guardian's. Nate was left wondering whether or not Riley could be trusted since his battling style had been rather ruthless, but at the same time, he didn't want to upset Kyra by not going.