Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Alternate from Canon)

The Bonding Aura

(< > Is the translation of pokemon's speech, [ ] is the pokedex and bold are thoughts)

Once our heroes left Sandgem Town, the group talked about themselves and their families. Well, except for Ash. He kept quiet on the topic of parents, except saying that there's not much to say.

Then Ash heard.. and felt something. "What the..?" He says softly. "Hey, I'm gonna train a bit." He says, walking off with Pikachu, Eevee, and Togetic.

"Does he always train by himself far away?' Dawn asked. "Yeah, but he always finds us eventually." Molly reassures.

With Ash, he found some pokemon hunters trying to get a Gible and a shiny Riolu.

The leader seemed to be a woman with silver hair and blue eyes. She also had a Salamence in tow and a strange device, shooting at Gible and Riolu, but they kept dodging.

But some wild pokemon got caught in the crossfire. A Bidoof, a Kricketot, and a Starly seemed to turn into gold from the device.

One of the other hunters says, "Should we grab those three too?" The woman replies. "They're incredibly common. It's a waste trying to sell them." She says, making them go back to normal. But then Pikachu Volt Tackles Salamence away.

"Huh? A shiny Pikachu with Volt Tackle? Now that's worth something." The woman smirks. "Don't even try it!" Ash shouts, guarding the wild pokemon with his body.

"Isn't that -" One of the hunters started to say, however, Pikachu Thunderbolts the hunters before he could finish, forcing the group to flee. At least for now.

Ash goes to the wild pokemon. "Are you all okay?" He asked. Riolu was stunned at the sight. However, the others were in serious awe of Ash and Pikachu.

Ash sees a pouch around the fighting types neck and kneels down. "I'll bet your trainer is worried. I'll help you find them." He says.

<I doubt you could.. he's back in the Lucario Kingdom.> Riolu says. "The Lucario Kingdom?" Ash asked, stunning the pokemon that wasn't with Ash.

<You can understand us?> Gible asked. "Yeah." Ash says. Then, Dawn, Brock, and Molly just ran over.

"Hey, we heard noises. You alright?" Dawn asked, but Riolu growls at her. "Hey, it's okay. These are my friends and my cousin. Molly can understand pokemon, too." Ash reassures.

The wild pokemon nodded. "What happened here?" Brock asked. "Some pokemon hunters were after Riolu and Gible here. Starly, Kricketot, and Bidoof got caught in the crossfire." Ash explained.

"How rude!" Dawn says. "Yeah. Now, to get Riolu home." Ash says. "How are we gonna do that?" Dawn says.

"You been to where Riolu lives?" Brock asked. "Yeah, when I started helping Professor Oak with research before I got my trainer license." Ash says.

"Which means you can teleport us there!" Molly says, Ash nodded and teleports everyone to the entrance of the kingdom.

"Woah.. I thought you were crazy, but now I'm actually here.." Dawn says in shock. "I can only teleport to areas I've been to." Ash says, walking in the village with the pokemon and trainers following suit.

<I live here, too. Even if I'm a wild pokemon, I hang out with an old lady. She helps me learn new moves.> Gible says. "I see." Ash says, and they find an old man.

"Riolu! There you are." He says, relieved as the two hug each other. "Thank you for helping one of the Inheritors of the Aura back home." The man says.

"Inheritors of the Aura?" Dawn asked. "It's a title a handful of Riolu and Lucario have here. They protect the Lucario Kingdom, and they can learn Aura Sphere as Riolu." Ash says.