Chapter 4.1 Shirou's Training Buddy

Shirou was outside, practicing with Ritsuka, the young fox channeling his own Aura through his limbs as he mimicked his partner. As one, the two young males moved through their stretches, Shirou moving through his motions as he focused on the power within. As he finished his warmup, he let out a breath. “Right, I guess we should focus on practicing renforcement. Normal-type energy seems to work pretty well at that…”

“Yosh! That is an excellent idea! I will practice with you!”

Shirou’s gaze snapped sideways, fixing on a small blue Pokemon standing upright on black paws. The little creature appeared as a clear bundle of blue flames as he looked, and his nose scented leather, passion, and the various scents which reminded him of unsharpened steel. “Ah… and you are?”

“I am Yagi!” The blue jackal replied. “And I am here to assist with your training!”

“He is, yes. So long as he gets permission, and does not run off.” Shirou’s eyes widened as he looked up, seeing an Aura which eclipsed the torch of Yagi’s soul like a bonfire. The much larger jackal-like Pokemon stood, arms crossed, as he stared down at his smaller counterpart. “Yagi, your enthusiasm does you credit, but there is a saying about haste and waste.”

“Yosh! You are correct, sir! I shall do three hundred push ups and two hundred squats to atone for such a mistake!” Yagi snapped off a smart salute, before falling to the ground and beginning his push-ups.

“... He’s not going to stop, is he.” Shirou stated dryly, a small smile on his face as he turned to look at the elder pokemon, “Emiya Shirou, though it seems you already knew that.”

“That I did.” The being cocked his head, and Shirou forced his auric hearing to lapse, allowing him to hear the ‘Lu-car-io’ which identified the Pokemon in question. “We were sent by the Lucario Kingdom, in accordance with the ancient pacts. Our allies, the Clans, passed on that you might be a trustworthy partner for Yagi here. But we need not speak of all of this outside.”

“Yes, Illya-nee would kill me if I conducted political negotiations without her input.” Shirou quipped, clearly amused, “Come on Ritsuka. Cool downs then inside.”

“Of course, Shirou.” The fox replied, “I wonder if Matilda has woken up from her nap yet.”

His question was swiftly answered as the door opened, Illya appearing with a pink-and-white cat-fox grinning in her arms. “Look! Shirou, look, she evolved!” She began to cuddle the happily grinning fairy-type. “Isn’t she perfect?”

“... That was a fast evolution.” Shirou stated after a few seconds of silence as he looked at Ritsuka oddly, “You aren’t going to randomly evolve, are you?”

Ritsuka looked far too smug for Shirou to be particularly comfortable with, but he shook his head. “Not until we’ve discussed it. Matilda seems to have… pushed, somewhat.” He looked askance at his kin. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“All who oppose me and my queen shall die to painful, pink lasers.” The new Sylveon chirped happily, a placid smile on her face. “I shall be the instrument of her vengeance.”

Illya squeed, nuzzling into her starter’s fur. “She’s so cute!”

“Try terrifying,” Ritsuka muttered, grimacing, “I can see why dragons are weak to fairies. Beyond the obvious interaction between type energies, of course.”

The Lucario peered at the new pokemon, then looked at Illya. He then reached over and gave them each a pat on the head, leaving both Pokemon and trainer with a blush. “Well, you two are going to do very well together.” He turned to look at Shirou. “Try to keep them from going too far.”

“You say that like I intend to interfere in Illya’s vengeance on the individuals Matilda is referring to.” Shirou said dryly, a wry smile on his face, “Though I think I’ll stop them if they go too far.”

“...oddly, your attitude fills me with hope.” At Shirou’s questioning noise, Lucario looked around. “This shall be an extended discussion, so we should probably sit down.”

After taking seats, and letting Illya know why there was a Lucario here, Shirou looked over at the jackal pokemon. “So, why are you here, Lucario-san?”

“Three things. One, you are in need of training; I can tell the barest edges of overstrain on your aura. So, for the next two and a half weeks, before you depart, I am going to spend most of my time teaching you how to train. Second, I am here to assess both of you.”

Illya frowned. “Why do we need to be assessed?”

“How much research have you done into previous fallers– or Mystery Gifts which were people?”

“... Honestly, not a lot. But from what little I saw, the majority of the famous ones were assholes. I’d imagine a lot of them ended up dying rather quickly in the wild, and if the records about the formerly human fallers are right, a lot of the nicer ones never got their stories told.” Illya replied carefully, her expression blank, “I think the most well known one was an Eevee, and the only positive faller that’s widely known and admired.”

“Indeed.” Lucario tented his fingers. “You two break the mold in many respects; arriving together, with what, as far as we can tell, were First Formed Pokemon, and then simply taking time to get your bearings.” He nodded once. “The locals also have good things to say about both of you, and you haven’t tried to run off and locate a dragon to tame or a Legendary to try and capture. All good signs.”

“People do that?” Shirou frowned, looking genuinely baffled, “That’s possibly the most idiotic thing someone could do! Even more so if they’re familiar with either the world or something equivalent to it!”

“And yet…” Lucario sighed. “The Pearl and Diamond clans especially have a vested interest in avoiding those sort of people, after they lost one of their Nobles to a Faller. In contrast, they also have an interest in the positive ones; Lady Akari herself is a Faller, and her efforts allowed the clans to survive to this day.”

“... The immortal heroine is a faller too?!” Illya despaired, eyes twitching, “We met her a while ago, while we were browsing the markets. I think she wanted to test us too. Shirou met her approval, if nothing else.”

“She had good things to say about you, too. Which brings me to my assessment.” Lucario peered back and forth for a moment. “Emiya Shirou. You are too pure, though that is thankfully changing.”

“Too pure? What does that mean?” Ritsuka chirped, even as Shirou frowned.

“All auras have… color is the best analogy. These auras represent what people are, while their surface reflects their current feelings. Naturally, they bleed into each other with time. A ‘pure’ Aura is a sign that a person has stunted feelings. Shirou, your aura is by no means completely pure, but its depths lacked, and to a certain degree still lack, signs of deep emotions. That is changing, and rapidly. But if you remained like that for long, you would become a blank slate for anything which sought to shape you, to your demerit.”

He turned to Illya. “As for you, Emiya Illya, your Aura is dark; but not black, and not evil. You have drive and will, strong desires and dark impulses that you largely have under control… but your core is threaded with emotions of all sorts, positive and negative, and even now strands of brighter hues begin to outnumber the shadows. Alone, each of you might become broken; together, I think you will each help each other, even as your companions grow and help you in their own ways.” Lucario smiled. “In short, I can confirm Akari’s assessment. Which brings me to the third point.”

“Yosh! I have finished my efforts!” Yagi dashed into the room, sliding on the polished floor and coming to a stop. “Have I missed any of the explanation?”

“We were just getting to you.” Lucario looked at Shirou. “Yagi is… less talented than most Riolu. He is strong, and clever; but when it comes to Aura, he is mediocre. But… “

“You and I are alike!” Yagi yipped happily. “We are destined, not by gifts from fate or fortune, but by our own sweat, to become heroes! We are geniuses of hard work, and shall triumph in this world together!” He pumped his arms. “Lord Wyrdeer sent a message to us and informed us that you and I would be perfect partners! And from what I’ve seen, he was right!”

Shirou blinked twice, before standing and going down on one knee. “...are you going to be my sparring buddy?”

“Yes!”

“Are you willing to try and practice slightly dangerous, stressful, and potent techniques and then find the nearest Pokemon with heal pulse to recover?”

“Yes!”

“And are we going to do so much good in all the small ways heroes tend to forget?”

Illya’s eyes were huge and her pupils dilated as she watched an illusion of a setting sun form in the background, her brain trying not to comprehend the two massive grins on the face of the Riolu and her brother alike. “...by the root, there are two of them.” She squeaked.

“Yes!”

Shirou nodded once. “Welcome to the team, then.” He turned back to Lucario, who was slowly kneading his head. “So, when do we start?”

“Oh dear…”

Ritsuka gave a quiet bleek. “Hmm. I need to learn heal pulse…”

“Ritsu-nii, Eevee can’t learn Heal Pulse.” Matilda deadpanned. “Also, weren’t you Ritsu-nee yesterday? How’d-”

“Shush Matilda.” The aforementioned Eevee muttered, placing a paw on his sister’s muzzle. “Impossible is a word that only quitters use.”

“Three of them.” Lucario corrected, eyeing the normal-type with some amusement. “I’ll add training you to my rotation.”

“Cool, my Aura Spheres keep destabilizing.” Ritsuka muttered, pointing his nose up and forcing a few wisps of blue aura to spin above his face.

Matilda tilted her head. “Okay, I need to learn that…”

Illya looked at her partner. “I really need to learn how to actually talk to Pokemon. Or do you think you can learn to talk like Lucario-san?”

“Probably easier for you to learn, my Queen. That way you can hear the rest of your court as well.” Matilda replied, before frowning and looking at Shirou. “Can you tell her that please?” Again the Sylveon paused, before smirking in fae glee. “Also, I think I can actually see Aura now. Fascinating…”

It was to this scene of domestic chaos that Carolina walked in, a mug of tea in one hand. “...what have I walked into?” She muttered, taking a sip.