The Vagabond.

Chapter 4: Watchful trainer.

"Come on! Harder, you can do it!" Decidueye encouraged Riolu as he tirelessly punched the bark of the tree over and over again. His fists ached, his breath was ragged, and he was not feeling well.

But he knew he mustn't give up. Not until his teacher tells him it's enough! The Emanation Pokémon grunted heavily as he threw his punches, all of them connecting on the same spot and digging into the bark.

Decidueye stood behind him, watching him as he trained and tried his best. "Keep your knees bent so you won't push yourself back whenever you strike." He instructed the little student and walked from one side to another.

As Riolu continued to pound his fists into the hard surface of the tree, he could feel as the pain slowly subsided and his fists went numb. He was numb to the pain, but the occasional sting would bring it back.

There was nothing besides him, the tree in front of him and his mentor. But the longer his punches went on for, the more tired he was growing. He breathed heavily, grunting lowly.

Never did he stop, not even for a second. Even when his fists started leaving faint traces of red on the rough bark. He just went on, striking the tree with fierce power. "Straighten your back. That way, you can put more power into your punches."

Riolu began gasping quietly for air, with the never ending flurry of punches continuing to strike the bark. And just like Decidueye had said, once he straightened his back, he could feel as his jabs grew stronger in power.

But even the most unrelenting and robust heroes must stop. As he threw the final punch, he yelled at the top of his lungs, putting his whole body into the strike. Knees bent, back straight, shoulder turned with the arm.

He let his paw slip down the tree as he stopped completely, letting his body finally go limp and falling head first into the tree. Riolu put his forehead against the tree and breathed heavily, looking down at his bloodied fists.

"Good job today. Now come on, let's go eat something and rest for a bit. We're going on a run right afterwards." Decidueye said in a firm, yet gentle tone. To anyone who might have been passing by, he might've sounded like a harsh father. But to Riolu, it was the perfect mentor and friend.

"Yes, just...-" The little Emanation Pokemon laughed heartily and fell down on his back, laying down on the grass he was just standing on. His chest heaved up and down as he took in deep breaths. "Just give me a second."

Riolu laid on the soft grass, enjoying its prickly and pointed blades gently press down against his back. He smiled and laid there, hidden in the shade of the tree. He put his paws in front of his face and stared at the damages.

Thankfully they weren't looking all that bad. Just a couple of bruises, some scratches, blood staining his bright blue fur here and there... Nothing a little wash in the river can fix, so he didn't worry about his paws all that much.

After Decidueye flew him to the crossroads, he had lived with him in the treehouse hidden on top of the biggest and tallest tree here. It wasn't big, and it was hard to climb up the branches to reach it, but as time went on Riolu learned to accept that.

The first time he entered the house, he was shocked. There were books on the shelf to the left of the entrance, as well as tons of souvenirs on the shelf to the right.

Riolu recognised some of them, like the Mystic Water. He had seen many Water-type Pokemon having it tied around their necks, keeping it as a necklace. When compared to other Pokemon of the same species, the ones that held Mystic Water had their ability to control water greatly increased.

There were many things that he didn't recognise however, like the two small crystals, sitting next to each other. One glowing, one not. One was a rhombus, and the other was an orb.