I was super excited as we reached the pokemon school. "There he is!" I called out to Papa who was walking normally, and not speeding up despite us almost being there!

It was such an adult thing!

"I'm coming, calm down Vicky." Papa called out and I scoffed, we were almost theeeeere!

"Professor!" I called out racing slightly ahead and he waved himself high above his head.

"Alola!"

"Alola!" I repeated as I raced up to him. "I have my Papa, and Lucario, Papa wanted to come along, and Lucario is his Pokemon now."

"Wait really?"

"Heh! Hmm! Lucario and him had a strong bond that grew super quick, It was inevitable." I sighed while shrugging.

"Interesting." He muttered but smiled at Papa as he finally arrived. "Alola. It's nice to meet you. I'm Professor Kukui."

"Victor Ferrous. Uh, Alola."

"Nice to meet you! Vicky's offer to help with some training was too tempting to not accept. Those Baby Doll Eyes of hers are pretty strong!" Kukui said cheerfully, and I pouted at him, for saying that.

Papa just smiled. "Yeah she does that. This is Lucario."

"Lu!"

"I remember. I saw you fight in the conference. You were amazing." Kukui offered, and Lucario looked a little embarrassed. "But I think I've got your number one fan right here, it's partly why I accepted today." He admitted and then released…

"Lu! Lucario… Lucario!" The Lucario nearly jolted as he seemed to recognize my Lucario!

Oh my ARCEUS.

So many Lucario!

"Another Lucario!" Papa gasped as I couldn't even speak. My jaw was so dropped.

"Haha! This is my partner. How about we call him Luey. That okay?" Kukui asked, but his Lucario was staring and then took a few steps closer and dropped to a knee.

"Lu. Lucario, Lu."

I blinked and then my pokeball popped. Riolu hit the ground and howled. "Riooooo!" She shouted as she leapt for a drop kick, only to end up with her paw grabbed and then twisted, throwing her up and over the half kneeling Luey.

And Riolu went spiraling past, only barely managing to fall into a roll to keep from eating shit.

"Lu?" Kukui's Lucario muttered in shock, that had definitely been an instinctual reaction to the sudden attack.

"Lulululu." Lucario started giggling a bit which had Riolu and Luey both looking at her. One in more awe than the other.

"Rio! Riolu lululu!" She howled, stomping her feet, and suddenly I felt…

"Oh so now it's an issue when someone tries to steal your Mama?" I teased, and Riolu turned on me, and I could feel her aura emanate out as she growled at me.

"Hah. I think you have an admirer." Papa offered to Lucario and she sort of whacked his arm.

"Lu. Lucario. Lu." She spoke to Luey, and he slumped a bit. Oh I think he just got turned down.

Riolu looked over and perked up looking quite pleased.

"I'm guessing Professor, you chose Luey to give Riolu some training?"

"Exactly." Kukui offered, which had Riolu jerk to look at him and then at Luey in horror. "Luey here was one of my pokemon I trained with under Hala, and he took part in my Kanto Conference! Heck. We even fought your Champion Lance."

Papa blinked and even Lucario jerked a bit in surprise.

"I'm preparing to challenge Lance too." I admitted, and Kukui gave me a smile.

"I know." He said and there was a fire in his eyes.

He might have lost against Lance… But there was no doubt in my mind that Kukui wanted a second crack at him, or maybe he just wanted strong battles.

I grinned, all teeth as our eyes met.

Then sighed.

"Unfortunately I just sent my other pokemon home. Otherwise… I'm afraid I'd have to challenge you to a battle."

"Hah! That's a shame." He agreed, and then we both eased up, our smiles returning to more happy ones and not threats. "But training is still good! So how about we get started. Luey knows a lot about how to prepare young fighting types. He'll give Riolu some one on one, to help her learn to fight with more than just her instincts."

I nodded, and then smirked. "And I'm guessing in exchange? You want Lucario to face another of your pokemon?"

"Hah! You got me! That crazy power in your Lucario… I want to give my own partners some training against it."

"Deal! How about it Papa? You mind?"

"Wha, Me?"

"Lucario is your pokemon now Papa." I reminded him, and Lucario both. "That means if she's fighting, then you have to be on her side."

Papa blinked, and met Kukui's eyes, and there was a hint of a fighting spirit in Papa's eyes.

"Alright, sounds fun."

"Rio. Riolu! Rio." There was a voice of opposition. Riolu complained, pointing at Luey, and then at her mother.

So I walked over interrupting anyone else and looked at Riolu. "It's not a matter of just power. But skill. Luey knows skills that your mother doesn't. So we're going to learn everything he knows, and still learn from your Mama, and learn from every battle too!"

My words hit Riolu and she was pouting, blowing out her jowls a bit before nodding.

"Rio. Then she looked at Luey and pointed. "Lu! Riolu!"

"Lu-Lucario." He agreed confidently, and… Was he trying to sound cool? He totally just glanced at Lucario, yep he was totally trying to be cool.

Heh. If trying to impress Lucario got Riolu better training, then I'd take it.

Then Kukui released… Oh my.

"Roar!" Inceneroar did just that, flames blaring as popped out of his ball and glared around, looking down on Lucario through his sheer height as the two of them looked each other up and down.

I nodded as those four fell into their own little world.

Oh well.

"Let's move a bit away and get started." I told Luey, and he nodded as he waved for Riolu to follow even if he kept glancing back to see Lucario…

Heh.

That's hilarious.

—---

I watched on as Riolu and Luey battled, but Luey was going very easy, and kept an eye on the battle going on.

Papa… Was completely out of his element. Kukui was absolutely fighting around Papa, and Inceneroar was a powerful Pokemon, yet… Lucario was doing her best to hold her own, and as I watched…

Papa was getting better. There were hesitations in his orders, he'd flinch when he messed up, and yet…

Heh.

This might be one of the first real Battles Papa had ever since he gave up his league. Not counting play battling with Mama or something.

He was doing well.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Inceneroar really was a monster, but Lucario kept surprising him by just powering through his attacks and sending the poor cat flying. It was pretty funny, but I kept most of my attention on Riolu.

"Riolu! Block it!" I roared and Riolu raised her block despite losing sight of Luey for a moment, and instead of getting clocked in the head, the kick coming up from her side simply sent her rolling back and climbing back to her feet.

If Riolu was a human, then her instruction in more rigid martial arts would have been slow.

But she was a pokemon, and so the best way to learn was to just face it head on.

Riolu, relying on instinct, was fighting a master, and with every swing of her fists she was taught what not to do. Engraving it into her body.

But Lucario wasn't just beating on her, he'd stop and show her a move that she just lost to, and then attack her, expecting her to try it then.

And she was learning, adapting.

Lucario was rightly proud of her daughter, even if Riolu was a little shit.

Riolu had what it takes. The drive to learn, when she wasn't being a lazy little shit, but she had the talent. I just needed to polish her up, before I gave her the physicality to simply blow through it all.

I glanced over and Lucario proved that point.

As a wild pokemon she knew how to fight. She knew dangerous battles, and was no push over, but she'd never had the sort of training that made a fighting type take on the next level. Lucario had learned from fighting types that had decades of practice, and they had learned from decades more, and on.

And Kukui was especially potent. He was a genius, he trained for battle despite being so easy going.

I looked back at Riolu, and smirked.

Riolu regained her feet and raised her fists. Like a boxing stance, mimicking Luey's own pose, but slightly changed as she was smaller, but… Her fighting was being polished up.

Then I looked down.

My team was there watching, each of them staring at both battles. Even Gible was staring, although she could just be zoned out or something.

Either way. I looked at Jangmo-o.

"Watch them well. It's not perfect for you, but you'll fight more like them when you evolve."

"Jang." He nodded a single word, his red eyes locked on only shifting to keep track of the battle.

I grinned and nodded.

It was my mistake as an early trainer. I'd thought I could do it like the games, power my pokemon up, make them strong, and just roll everyone. But this was real life, and there was more to a battle besides just who has the strongest pokemon.

Training, experience. Centuries, millenia of battles, people learned from things that didn't work, and when everyone battled pokemon constantly, it made sense that humanity had learned things that made a pokemon a better battler.

Surge had started it, and Zelos had taught me that, and I'd engraved my mistake into my heart.

I… Believed in all my team, in all my pokemon, but it was my mistakes as a trainer, that had meant my original team would always struggle to learn things that other pokemon learned from simply being beaten over and over when weak.

So…

There was a part of me that was training this second team so particularly to make up for that. To make them into the champions they could become…

And become strong enough, and skilled enough to beat my original team into the dirt.

If I couldn't find the right adversaries for them to grow, I'd make them myself!

Plus… I loved pokemon, and watching them grow stronger was… Exciting!

"Yeah! Go Riolu! Kick his ass!" I roared out, and then my team roared and cried out right alongside me, urging Riolu!

She glanced over looking… Embarrassed! Hehe! But she shook it off and refocused, and Luey. He charged in again.

I kept my instructions limited, letting Riolu learn what she needed, but I still shouted out from time to time, and every time it was important to keep Riolu on her feet.

—--

"That was a good battle Papa." I said as I walked around spraying Potion on the two battles. Inceneroar and Lucario both were sitting huffing a bit as they were definitely tired out.

"Ah, well… It was fun." Papa admitted a bit shyly, and I grinned at his response.

"Yeah it was!" Professor Kukui, was full of energy! "Ah! I wasn't expecting that speed! It was really Extreme Speed!"

"It was Extreme Speed, Professor." I reminded him, and that only made his smile even wider.

"I know! Amazing! I taught Lucar-I mean Luey Extreme Speed after years of trial and error. Seeing it used by Lance's Dragonite inspired me! But yours was even faster!"

"It's one of strongest moves any of my pokemon learned." I admitted. "And did you just say you taught it to your Lucario after just seeing it? You didn't get like an Arcanine to help?"

"Huh? Oh that would have been easier!" He laughed into the sky, loudly at my question and I just shook my head.

Kukui really was a monster.

I glanced at Papa and despite everything, he also looked a little down.

"Did you have fun Lucario?" I asked, interrupting his quiet ruminations and Lucario looked up from where she was resting besides Inceneroar, the two of them were calmly chatting about the battle no doubt, and she raised a fist and and nodded.

"Lu! Lucario." She glanced at Papa and had a big doggy smile. "Lucario!"

"Huh? But I… We lost." Papa muttered quietly.

"Lu, Lucario." She waved it off and I grinned as Papa perked up at her completely unconcerned reaction.

I looked over at Riolu who was surrounded by my team. Well everyone but Gible who I'd been carrying around with me to keep her from running in some random direction looking for the ocean.

But they were all chatting with her happily, and Riolu looked proud at everyone's attention.

It was good. She'd more often cause trouble for the others and they knew it, but right now everyone was enjoying each other's company. Luey I noticed was also taking a break, drinking some water that Kukui had passed out for everyone and I walked over to him.

"Got any bruises you want checked out?" I asked, and he looked at me, and then he spoke.

"I am fine. Thank you."

"Eh!?" I shivered, every hair on my body tingled, and I swear something just raced up my spine. "Eeee! That's so weird! Was that Aura!?" I asked, patting at my cheeks to kind of calm down.

"Lululululu!" He broke into hyena laughter, belly laughing to the sky… Rather like his trainer in fact, and Kukui noticed it.

"Huh? What's going on?" He asked, and Luey looked over and I could practically FEEL the connection between them!

"Is that so? You trained Lucario and Riolu and never had an aura message?" Kukui asked, as he knelt down to stare at me.

"No! I just listen to what they're saying, you know, like you do with any pokemon!"

"Is that so?" He asked, and I felt like there was something he wasn't saying.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just have a very open heart, to have your pokemon so happy to communicate with you."

"We were literally just talking about my pokemon not communicating with me… Lucario? Do you know how to do that?" I asked, pointing and she looked from Luey to me as I was pointing and then just tilted her head a bit.

"Lu?" Luey spoke and then I could feel the aura flowing from his body. And Lucario blinked, and then nodded.

"Lucario. Lu." She nodded, and then as she'd walked over she just patted me on the head.

"Fine. It feels weird anyways." I replied to her, and she just tittered at me.

"Huh. Luey, was always willing to do it, but he learned it after he evolved and we went and fought some Lucario on Poni Island. He learned it then. I wonder why?"

"Lu Lucario." Luey spoke, and then he looked at Kukui, and there was once more that silent Aura communication.

"Aaaah. That makes sense. Heh." He started chuckling and I looked between the three, and narrowed my eyes, as none of them looked like they were going to actually reveal the truth. My narrowed eyes at Kukui, finally had him laugh and say something. "It's something you'll learn on your own. Don't worry about it. Think of it as… Lucario culture. Keep training and you'll figure it out."

"Pfft. Not telling the trainer stuff is dumb. But fine. Whatever." I grumbled, and turned away from the jerk group and heading over to my little ones. Settling in, I hugged Gible who Gibbed once as I squeezed her a little tight as I settled in.

"Rio. Ri!" Riolu said as I sat and I could see exactly what she wanted.

"Tonight we'll battle more, if you aren't too tired after Luey trains you some more. We're in a full training time now…. This goes for all of you. Get ready, because we aren't stopping until we hit the top."

"Jang! Jangmo-ooooo!" He howled to the sky, and Brave was bouncing up and down in the grass her face fierce.

The rest of my team was just as solid, and I grinned. "Well while we let the old people rest up." I called out loud enough for everyone to hear. "Let's do some more training!"

"Riooo!"

"Jaaaang!"

"KuKKuUkkuU!"

"Alright! Let's start-"

"Gib."

I looked down at Gibles' remark, and waited. Was that… Was she responding or just Gibbing?

I squeezed her tight for a moment. Okay. Some one on one time with her sounded good.

"Everyone! Pressure your special moves! Shoot into the lake! Remember! It's not about rapid firing. But learning how to guide your energy and compress it down! Go!" My team roared and took off, all of them even Riolu excited after the fierce battle they watched, and then I looked at Gible.

I tilted her back and she looked up at me, suddenly.

"Gib."

"Mhmmm. Let's work on some moves." I decided and she looked at me for a long while.

"Gib."

"Alright, let's try the easiest move I can think of. I know you know Dragon Rage, but let's try to get something a bit more useful."

I settled her on the dirt, and instantly her head turned to the splashing waves of the little artificial lake and stream that ran through the School grounds.

"Hold on Gible. Focus on me." I told her, gently turning her to look at me, and when our eyes locked I had her as she was staring. "It'll start right here." I told her, pressing into her belly. "That's where you gather your energy." I told her, remembering it from the Gabite and Gible horde.

"Gib."

"Yeah, gather your energy, feel that dragon power. Then just let it stream up. Let's go with Dragon Breath!" I called out as I sidled to the side and aimed her away from anyone. "Let your energy out!"

"Gib."

"Hmm. That's a good first try! But I think we need… Hey Brave, can you come here?!" I called out waving and she looked away from where she was still working on compressing her Dragon Pulse into a sort of Counter Shield. She woogled over and then looked from me to Gible.

"Goom?"

"I'm trying to teach Gible Dragons Breath." I explained and she nodded already knowing what I was needing. "Look closely Gible!" I called out, and pointed her at Brave as she drew in the power into her core, and then, opened her mouth, and purple draconic flames burst out, a mini flamethrower that scorched the ground.

"Gib."

"Just like that. See. Gather it up, and let the energy out."

"Goomy. Goom. Goo Goomy."

I nodded in thanks to Goomy as she was trying to help.

Then Gible… Sat there. I waited, she was shifting a little under my hands, she wasn't just lost in a dream, but actually doing something. Brave was getting impatient, but I reached up and pressed a finger to my lips, and she slowly relaxed and nodded quietly.

Then Gible…

"Gib."She decided, and I could feel her breath in, deep and long and then…

"Gah."

She exhaled, and I could feel a bit of gathered energy release, but it was more like a sigh than a move…

"Goom."

"That was so good!" I called out, ignoring Braves flat response. "You gathered your energy and managed to release it! That's step one! Gible! You did it!" I cheered raising her up above cheering her on.

"Goo, goomy."

"It's not about success! It's about the first step. This is training remember?" I asked her while still dancing around with Gible in my arms, cheering her on.

"Gib."

"Yeah!"