Team Pack: Aura the Riolu

Chapter 2

"Team Heroes?" Shadow questioned, blinking and tilting his head to the side. "Who are they?"

Lightning and Swift glanced at one another with a knowing look.

"Team Heroes is another team of Pokémon who help stop bad guys like we do." Lightning explained, making gestures with his paws as he spoke.

Everyone except for the other Team Pack members looked at the electric mouse like he'd grown a second head.

"If they're a fellow rescue team then why haven't you told us about them?" Pearl asked the Team Pack leader with a small frown and a flick of her ears.

This time, it was Swift who answered the young Sylveon's question.

"The reason we haven't mentioned Team Heroes before is because we've only encounter them once in the past." She told them with a deadpan look on her face.

"So, let me get this straight," Shadow began in a thoughtful tone. "You guys have only met this so-called 'Team Heroes' once and that was when exactly?"

Lightning fidgeted nervously, his thunderbolt-shaped tail gently flicking from left to right.

"I met them during a meeting with the other team leaders." The Team Pack leader admitted with a sheepish smile and a nervous glance in Shadow's direction.

Shadow's eyes narrowed and he had just opened his mouth to say something, but another voice spoke up before he could.

"Yes, the little electric mouse speaks the truth. We have only met once before."

The small group of Pokémon all jumped and spun around, looking for the owner of the voice.

At the sight of a familiar Ambipom and an Infernape standing there with four other Pokémon standing beside them, Lightning's eyes widened a he gave the small group a friendly wave in greeting.

"Heya Blaze! Heya Star!" the Team Pack leader greeted the two as they stepped forward to exchange friendly greetings.

"Hey yourself." Blaze said in return. "How've you been, little electric mouse?" the Infernape stated with a teasing grin forming on his face.

Lightning scowled and crossed his arms, giving the older Pokémon an unimpressed look. "Not funny, Blaze!" he muttered dryly with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Do they not get along or something?" Snow whispered into Swift's ear.

The Aipom sighed softly and nodded her head in response. "Not really, but they get along for Star's sake." She said this while gesturing to the Ambipom standing beside Blaze.

"But why don't they like each other?" the Vulpix asked her with a confused look on her face.

Swift sighed softly and glanced over at Star, who was looking over at them curiously.

"Lightning doesn't like Blaze because he was the one who kidnapped Lightning's sister, Static, thinking it was Lightning." The Ambipom explained, sighing sadly and glancing over at Blaze as she spoke.

"Wait, he did WHAT?!" Shadow nearly shrieked, his red eyes popping wide open in shock. "Why did he do that?" he hissed in a low tone, narrowing his eyes and lashing his tail.

"Because Blaze had this idea that it was Lightning's older brother, Thunder, who killed his sister, Flare."

"But Light said that it wasn't Thunder, he said it was another Pikachu from his clan!" Swift protested with disbelief. "The Pikachu had a thunderbolt-shaped scar on his forehead, and if I remember correctly, Lightning said that the Pikachu's name was Voltage."

After Swift had spoken those words, everyone just stared at the young Aipom with wide eyes and gaping jaws.