Ah, it feels good to finally upload another new chapter. This one is a bit too short, I deeply apologize, but I want to save the big gym battle for my next time :)

Reconnection

"You're ready, Lucario?" asked Jake.

"Born ready. No way am I losing to a human and his pet Lucario!" Lucario replied with great confidence.

"Say that after you've beaten us." The trainer retorted.

"You ask for it!" Lucario snarled, charging.

[Flashback]

Sipping his drink casually, Kai watched as the Lucario duo made their way out of the shop, before turning to Jake, "Ok, let's work on you while those two are it."

 "Huh?"

"You're a committed trainer, Jake, I'll give you that, but from our battle, I can tell you've been relying mostly on brute strength, and that my friend, is something you have to work on." Kai continued.

"You think so?" Jake questioned, slightly annoyed.

"You can't simply punch your way out of everything" Kai shrugged, taking another sip, "I'm not saying strength isn't important, but a good trainer knows how to balance between it and strategy."

There was a short pause when Kai stared at the window, his eyes turned slightly grey as if they were dyed in some unpleasant memories from his past. Fortunately, he snapped out before Jake attempted any kind of disturbance.

"If you only attack without consideration, you'll expose your own weaknesses, and guess who're first to pay the price? Your pokemon. You have to think before giving orders," Kai jerked his thumb at the bar counter where Ryan and Jaden were standing, "You see that guy over there? The one with the headband."

"Jaden?"

Kai nodded, "I had no ideas how, but he figured out my tactic faster than anybody I know, and that's saying something, since most people can't even tell I was pulling their legs. Honestly, I'm not sure I have any winning chance against him."

Kai's voice was somewhere between resentment and admiration, which Jake could relate to. Even though the trainer himself considered Jaden his second best friend after Ryan, Jake was well-aware of the inevitability that someday, he'd have to fight the former champion.

"Anyway, I can tell he's your rival," Kai continued, "So if you still want to beat him, then now is a good time to consider how."

The question hit Jake hard, mostly because he'd never actually thought about it despite desperately in need of a proper answer. At the same time, his chest began to heave with anxiety. If Kai, who'd just flattened him in a battle, doubted his chance against Jaden, how could Jake possibly hope to defeat the former champion? Finally, his worries surfaced, "What should I do?"

"That's yours to answer. Think, what does he have but you don't?"

Jake was tempted to go with handsomeness, but forced himself not to. After all, he was never dump enough to put off his helpers with ill-timed jokes. Brainstorming, the trainer began to compare himself to Jaden. He was a rookie from Sinnoh, who'd barely been on his journey for around one month. His team consisted of four pokemon, three of which were obtained by various means other than battle. He fought two gym leaders and earned two badges. On the other hand, Jaden was a veteran trainer. Sure, he was a newcomer of Sinnoh, but the guy had once held the title of Hoenn Champion. He had three pokemon, but one was the legendary Latios and one was a Dragonite, not to mention a bunch he left behind in Hoenn. He beat Jake and Ryan at the same time, defeating two of their best pokemon without taking a single hit. Ultimately, Jake came to realize the difference.

"He's more experienced than me!"

As much as Jake loved to be wrong this time, Kai's expression pretty much confirmed his undesirable guess. Disheartened, the trainer sighed, "If that's true, then I'm finished."

"Now this…" Kai snapped his fingers, "This is why lots of people fail. They give up right off the bat. You thought your friend Jaden and I easily won our way to this level? I've lost just as many times as I've won, and only those who try can win. So, are you gonna try, or disappoint yourself and your pokemon?"

Jake grimaced, as if suffering from having his insides churned and twisted into a knot. He felt like crap, and that uneasiness didn't come from being exposed by Kai, it was from how utterly right the latter was. All at once, Jake's past battles flashed through his mind, the joy they shared after each victory, the disappointment when they lost, the faith his pokemon had in him. If he let them down, he would be nothing more than the perfect example of an ungrateful bastard.

"I have to!" Jake decided, his voice brimmed with resolution.

"Good," Kai grinned, patting Jake's shoulder, "As for experience, I can't tell you exactly how to gain it, since that's a matter of personal method, but there's one fundamental rule: always remember your pokemon's strength and weaknesses. The brain can never control its body effectively unless it knows what that body can do, right?"

[End of Flashback]

As Maylene's Lucario charged, the spikes on his paws glowed and started transforming. Jake knew that move all too well, since Aurum had used it countless times.

"This guy's fast. I guess he does have some juice to show off…" Jake thought, and gave his order aloud, "Use Bone Rush to counter attack."

The green energy staff manifested in Aurum's paw; just in time for him to catch the first slashes from Lucario. The sound of clashing metal echoed as an intense battle broke out. Both Lucario traded blows back and forth; each determined to bring the other down.

"Their speed and strength are the same." Jake concluded as he observed the battle, "In this case, there's only two ways for it to end: Become stronger than opponent, or wait until he makes a mistake."

Jake's prediction proved precise, but unfortunately, it was his Lucario who received the bad end. Evading a mighty swing from Aurum's staff, Lucario took advantage of his opponent's unguarded legs and with a sweep, nearly knocked Aurum off his feet.

"Shit!" Jake cursed as he witnessed his Lucario struggle to keep balance, but quickly came up with an idea, "Support yourself with the staff!"

The command saved Aurum from a shallow defeat. Before Lucario had any chance to deal the finishing blow, Aurum used the energy bone to steady himself and flipped backward, managing a safe distance. Barely had he any time to recover, however, as Lucario was advancing fiercely with a second wave of attack.

Jake shuddered as he witnessed Aurum narrowly dodge a slash from Lucario, which instead easily sliced through a trunk, "If this keeps going, we'll lose, but given that they're equal in strength, I can't tell if Aurum can beat this Lucario with his normal Aura Sphere. There must be a way to boost Aurum's attack power! Think!"

"Always remember your pokemon's strength and weaknesses." Jake pondered, "Besides his own, Aurum also learnt two new moves when we trained with Jaden, Extreme speed and Swords dance…hold on, Swords dance?"

A grin spread across the trainer's face as he put together a winning formula, though it required a bit of time, "Fall back and use Aura Sphere!"

Jake couldn't see the small nod from Aurum, but his trusty mate definitely knew what to do, as the pokemon's signature energy sphere quickly formed in his paws. Lucario, charging at full speed, was unable to decelerate. Running out of choice, he crossed his clawed paws to form an improvised shield, which barely saved him from taking direct damage. The impact, however, forced Lucario to retreat and took a toll on his paws, rendering them completely numb.

"Now, Swords dance!"

Aurum froze at the command, but he knew time wasn't to be wasted. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and several glowing swords appeared from thin air. The swords hovered around Aurum a few seconds before crossing, and at the same time, his body is covered in a vigorous crimson aura.

"Let's finish this, Aura Sphere again!"

"You think I'll fall for the same thing twice?" barked Lucario, who'd now recuperated and was conjuring his own Aura Sphere. As Aurum charged at him, Lucario briefly noticed he was, for the first time in this battle, on the receiving end. Still, Lucario had confidence to take this attack head-on, as he believed Aurum couldn't pull off any other trick on him at such close distance.

He was wrong.

Their Aura Spheres might look the same, but at the moment those two shining balls clashed, Lucario instantly felt the difference. He was overpowered, helplessly and utterly. Aurum's sphere tore through his and hit him in the chest. Blinding blue light brightened up the battlefield, followed by a thunderous blast, and when the dust cleared, Lucario was seen lying against a tree, defeated.

"If you'd paid more attention instead of attacking mindlessly, you could've easily evaded that Aura Sphere." Jake concluded, walking toward the fallen Lucario, "It's time to honor our deal. I want to see Maylene in the best shape when I battle her tomorrow."

"I had the upper hand. How could I lose to you?" Lucario lamented; his crimson eyes narrowed in a mixture of anger, disappointment and disbelief.

"Because you have no one," Jake replied, kneeling next to Lucario and looking into his eyes, "Experienced or not, trainers and pokemon are meant to be together. We stand behind and assist you in battles. When it's all over, we take care of you so we can start again…of course there're bad, selfish trainers out there, but trust me, Maylene isn't one."

Pausing, the trainer rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a bottle of spray, "You're lucky we're out to train tonight, so I've got one of these. Lay still, I'll take care of your wound?"

Without waiting for any permission from Lucario, Jake began to apply the potion to his chest. Lucario tried to yank away, but the trainer's gentle touch somehow convinced him. Next to them, Aurum frowned, but said nothing.

"Now where were we…ah yes, Maylene. When I mentioned you earlier, she was saddened, but she still talked about you nicely. When the city was attacked, she fought to protect it, even without you by her side. No matter what you think of Maylene, she deserves respect, and I respect her, so why can't you?" Jake explained; lips curved into a smile as Lucario seemed visibly shaken by his words, "Ok, you should be fine tomorrow. And please, consider everything I just said."

Satisfied, Jake stood up and slid an arm around his mate, "Let's go, pup."

…

"Say Aurum, are you mad at me?"

"No, why would I?" the aura pokemon replied.

"Well, I dragged you into a mess, I risked losing you and everyone, and oh…I held that Lucario's paws." Jake replied, smirking.

Aurum blushed at the last part, but spoke nonetheless, "I didn't care much…okay, I was slightly annoyed, but I know you merely did what you had to. And that Lucario seriously needs an ass-kicking."

"More like a wake-up call." the trainer chuckled, "I'm glad thing work out for all of us. If we'd lost, I'd have to eat my own words, and releasing you guys, out of the question."

"It's okay, I trust you…" said Aurum gently, snuggling a bit closer to his human lover, "By the way, when I incapacitated him, why did you use Swords dance instead of attacking?"

"His speed is equal to you, so if we attacked, there's a chance he'd be able to evade. I tricked him to drop his guard, and judging from his rashness, I knew he'd take on your attack once he'd recovered."

"Wow!" Aurum marveled.

"And there's one other thing I must apologize for." Jake said, his voice sounded as if he had to bite his lips for every spoken word, "I send you to battles with my ignorance. I know nothing about your capabilities yet I force my commands on you. Back at Oreburgh, we've learnt Extreme speed and Swords dance, but I foolishly dismissed the latter, since it isn't an offensive move. I was obsessed with beating Jaden and Latios. I'm sorry, Aurum, and I promise that kind of stupidity won't ever happen again. We'll try to win every upcoming battle, but if we lose, I'll make sure we'll lose at our best."

Those warm, sincere words reached deep, and even without them being lovers, Aurum could tell Jake meant everything he said. At this point, the pokemon honestly didn't care whose faults were whose; he just relished having this wonderful human, "Thank you. Should I go back to training?"

"Nah," Jake shook his head, "Let's go home and call it a day. You need to save energy for the big fight tomorrow; otherwise I'd have to battle without my best pokemon."

"You sure can read my mind?" Aurum growled pleasantly, tag wagging. Already he was having a vision of a nice, well-earned slumber, cuddling with his lover.

…

Jaden and Latios didn't get out of the library until it'd passed eleven, both looking terribly drained. Deciding against sleeping with a growling stomach, Jaden went for a midnight snack, and soon, he was munching down a burger while Latios got to enjoy a bunch of chocolate bars.

"Boy, look at you." Jaden chuckled as he noted the chocolate covering Latios' mouth, "I mean, I certainly don't mind buying you chocolate, but you'll get a stomachache if you eat too much of that stuff. And since when a legendary got addicted to this?"

"Hmm," the Eon pokemon pondered, "I guess it all started when I became mates with this really cute human, then he fed me some afterwards."

"You remember?" Jaden asked, making no efforts to conceal the big smile on his face.

"Like yesterday. I think it's permanently stuck with me, just like that cute little human."

"Oh, you bet he is." Jaden replied in a husky voice. They continued to walk and chat casually, until Jaden noticed a familiar figure walking toward them, "Hey, Maylene!"

The gym leader startled slightly as someone called her name, but it was hard to not see a legendary floating next to him, "Jaden…isn't it? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we're just in the mood for some nerdy business in the library." Jaden grinned.

"Aren't…Jake with you?" Maylene asked, blushing.

"No, sorry," Jaden said, "So what about you, what brings this amazing lady out here?"

"Nothing, I wanted to have a walk." Maylene replied. For someone who'd just been complimented, Jaden couldn't help noticing that she sounded oddly and incredibly indifferent, "A walk, at this hour?"

The gym leader went silent, and Jaden could now confirm she was having a slump. Clearing his throat, Jaden continued, "You know, when something bothers me, I'll go to a place I know and let it all out. Work like a charm."

"Err…Thanks," Maylene managed, even though she was more confused than grateful, "I'll see you two at the gym, bye."

Latios waited until the gym leader had disappeared from his sight, then nudged Jaden's arm, "Dr. Phil, huh? You're sweet-talking the girls now?"

"Does it look like I need to?" Jaden grinned, pulling his headband up to reveal the long scar he'd received from a wild Salamence, "Girls love handsome guys with these, don't they?"

"Jeez." The Eon pokemon sighed.

"I'm serious, Latios. I'm not interested in girls. Aside from trainers, nearly half of the girls I've met are shallow air-heads, but I'll help anyone who needs and deserves help."

"Well, I guess that's the way you are." Latios concluded nonchalantly but the gleaming pride in his eyes said otherwise, "Just remember you'll never have to do anything alone."

"Have you ever let me?" Jaden retorted.

…

Maylene planned to return to her gym, but instead, she was wandering around the city. Being a gym leader, she rarely got chances to have leisure walks on the street, but they'd never looked so empty. This somehow worsened her mood.

"Somewhere I know, huh?" Maylene muttered, legs moving on their own and next thing she knew, the gym leader was in front of a place which was, indeed, very familiar to her.

Located on the far east of Veilstone City, the clearing was first discover by Lucario (or rather, Riolu) and Maylene herself two years ago. Clean and fairly spacious, it quickly became their favorite spot to practice and hangout (secretly), at least until Riolu evolved into Lucario.

Running her eyes around the clearing, Maylene smiled as everything remained pretty much the same, including a wooden bench made by none other than Riolu and Maylene herself. As she sat down on it, memories began to flood her mind. The good old days…

When the two discover this clearing, they instantly agreed to make it a secret hangout , and that entire morning was spent making the bench, but when it was finished, Maylene realized she was tired achingly hungry. Hadn't it been for Riolu, who somehow managed to find some berries, she would've starved, and even though the little pokemon seemed just as exhausted as her, Riolu didn't hesitate the slightest to share. Back then, he'd been such an nice, adorable pup.

 And then…he evolved.

It was supposedly the proudest moment in Maylene's life, watching her dear partner grow and mature into a powerful Lucario, but it quickly turned into a nightmare as Lucario's evolution seemed to change more than his appearance. He became distant, stubborn, openly disobeying Maylene's orders on a daily basis. With such disharmony, the gym leader found it increasingly difficult to work with her Lucario and consequently, they suffered from a losing streak since then.

Tears swelled up in the gym leader's eyes. Lucario once chastised her for being weak and pathetic, perhaps he was right.

"Master…"

Maylene couldn't believe in her ears. In front of her stood Lucario, his paw reached out, offering her a berry, his smile was as gorgeous as she remembered it to be. Maylene's dam of emotions finally broke. She didn't care about being weak or pathetic anymore. She just wanted to cry and let it all out.

…

"Why did you come here, Lucario?" Maylene asked.

"I think we both know the reason." Lucario replied, looking thoughtfully at the berry in his paw, "Maylene…no, master, there's something I have to tell you."

"I know, I'm weak, I don't deserve you." the gym leader said bitterly.

"That's not true." Lucario replied, "After evolving, I was confused by my new strength and behaved like an irritated child, but I blamed you instead of admitting that fact. I keep making excuses for myself, thinking that I may become stronger if I fight alone, and I almost took that wrongful path, but tonight, another trainer's taught me the right thing."

Maylene's jaw dropped, completely flabbergasted.

"I understand now, that being strong on my own is meaningless." Lucario continued, "To achieve true power, I need to rely on others, just like they rely on me. So, I'm here to plead you, master: Please lend me your guidance again."

Following his confession, Lucario offered his paw to Maylene, who, after a few seconds spacing out, took it with a smile on her face, "Let's climb our way to the top from zero again, Lucario!"

Maylene never expected to reconcile with Lucario here. The place upon which their friendship had been built was also the place where it was restored.

(At the Pokemon Center)

"Ok, that's enough." Ryan announced, just in time for Blaziken to evade a Flame thrower from Charizard. Both pokemon were sweating profusely from their extensive training, so they gladly obliged.

"Good work, gentlemen! I'm proud of you both." the trainer complimented, "Want some late night snack?"

"I'd love to, but I doubt the cafeteria is still open at this hour." Charizard shrugged.

"I have some in my backpack. Let's go." said Ryan with a grin.

Sure enough, after rummaging through his bag, Ryan pulled out some cookies and two energy drinks, "Darn, there're only two left. Blaziken, you have this one. Charizard and I'll share."

They ate and drank in silence. Blaziken occasionally caught the sight of Ryan sipping from his can, then passed it to Charizard, who didn't seem to mind the slightest. His suspicion grew.

At first, it'd merely been a vague feeling, but Blaziken couldn't help noticing something different between Ryan and Charizard. Granted, they were close friends, but the way they looked and cared for each other exceeded any limit there was between trainers and pokemon. Blaziken wasn't totally clueless, though. Having been with Ryan's father for a long time, Blaziken had seen all short of relationship between humans and pokemon, but still, the theory frightened him. Two males of different races, in love with each other? It sounded insane.

"Blaziken, hello? Blaziken!"

"Huh? Eh, what?"

"You were staring at me. Do I have something on my face?" Ryan asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"He's cute…Wait, what the heck am I thinking?" Blaziken thought. Scratching his beak awkwardly, the pokemon replied, "Nothing. I was tired, that's all."

"Hmm, really?" Ryan didn't look convinced, but he let it slide, "Alright, time to rest for the big fight tomorrow, but before that, I need to do a few things. First off, get out here, Monferno."

From the pokeball's red beam emerged Monferno. The pokemon looked around and immediately cowered behind Charizard when he spotted Blaziken, who only sighed as he'd expected this scenario.

"Monferno," Ryan called, "What are you doing there? Get over here."

Reluctantly, the chimp obliged, though he was still glancing warily at Blaziken all the time, which earned him a tease from Charizard, "Don't be afraid, little guy. He won't bite."

"Listen, Monferno. A gym battle awaits us tomorrow, so I need my team at its best, and right now we're not a team, cuz you still have issues with Blaziken. A few days in the pokeball are a long time, so I trust you've got an answer: Can you accept and work with Blaziken, or can you not?"

"I…I…" Monferno whimpered, torn between his trainer and an undesirable partnership with Blaziken. From Ryan's seriousness, he could tell the trainer wanted to settle things once and for all, but strange enough, Monferno didn't find his trainer's tone threatening at all.

"I know how you feel," Ryan continued, "I'm not forcing you and Blaziken to become instant besties, that kind of relationship takes time…what I really want is you treating him like a teammate, not a serial killer. Easy, right?"

For the second time that night, Blaziken was staring at Ryan, this time for good reasons. Like father like son, Ryan had indeed inherited a few traits from his old man. Similar to master Derrick, he valued unity between teammates more than anything else, and the trainer also boasted a soothing yet unbelievably commanding presence, which actually helped him bend pokemon's will without them even realizing it.

And so the result was clear. Even the avian found himself engrossed Ryan's words, how could little Monferno resist them?  A meek, almost hypnotized nod was his final reply.

"That's one problem solved," Ryan grinned, making a thumps-up, "One more to go. Charizard, could you bring me my backpack?"

Now it was Charizard's turn to wonder what Ryan was scheming, but nonetheless, he passed the backpack to his trainer, who rummaged through it for few second before pulling out a bandana with yellow flame pattern.

Charizard gasped in disbelief. The bandana was Ryan's reward for winning their first ever battle, but the trainer hadn't been wearing it since the start of his Sinnoh journey, so Charizard was pretty sure it'd been locked away in Ryan's closet. Why would it show up at a time like this, and more importantly, what was Ryan planning to do with it? Furthermore, Charizard could spot a new feature on the piece of neckwear: woven into the fabric was a polished gem that emitted a strong, vigorous aura as if it'd been made from crystallized fire.

"Is this…?"

"Your mega stone. Correct!" Ryan grinned as he slid both arm around Charizard's slender neck and tied the bandana in place, "Just a little handiwork of mine…Mmm, looking pretty good on you."

"What's that?" Blaziken couldn't help asking.

"Our new power. You weren't there when Jake pulled off this trick, but Charizard and I saw it. Trust me; you'll know it soon enough." Ryan explained.

"Are you sure about this?" Charizard asked concernedly.

"We can't run away from power, we can only learn to control it," the trainer patted Charizard's arm, "and if I don't step up, we'll go down next time I take on Jake. We both know I hate losing, right?"

At this point Charizard had no other reasons to refuse Ryan's offer. In fact, the pokemon was overjoyed to receive such a gift from his lover while watching Ryan grow into a fine man he always meant to be. If Blaziken and Monferno hadn't been here, he would've pinned Ryan against the bed and showed him how 'big' of a gratitude he had.

Watching Ryan and Charizard, Blaziken knew he was supposed to be glad. His teammate just got a power-up, and it'd definitely help in their upcoming battle. Of course Blaziken was glad, but at the same time, the avian felt this tingling, itchy sensation spread across his body, an uncanny desire to take Charizard's place.

I'm…envious of him?, Blaziken came to a conclusion, which he immediately tried to dismiss, That's impossible? How can I get envious over such a thing?

The avian gazed at his trainer. Just a few days with Ryan, and already he'd changed beyond recognition. What kind of impact would the little human have on him in the future?

(Unknown location - Galactic HQ)

In the control chamber filled with computers, machineries and relics containing ancient text, a middle aged man was looking thoughtfully at the monitors in front of him when the intercom buzzed, "Boss, Saturn has returned from his mission."

"Tell him to get here."

Minutes later, the door opened and a young man in Galactic uniform entered, carrying a briefcase.

"This is it, Boss." said the young man, presenting the briefcase to his boss, who opened it and examined the object contained inside - a large piece of blood red metal.

"Excellent job, Saturn, but we don't have much time left. Have this guarded in the lab then inform the others to carry out Operation Delta. The Lake Guardians must be captured before we draw more attention from the police and the Elite Four." the boss ordered.

Saturn bowed and retreated, once again leaving the man alone. Drumming his fingers on the table, he muttered the line shown on one of the monitors, "Crimson metal contained in meteors from Heaven, summoned by Arceus itself…Combined with essence of the Lakes Guardians into the Mythical Chain. Whoever wears said Chain shall gain the power to command Celestial Beings, be it Creation, Destruction or Order."

...

To be continued