Lucario Love

Lucario and Ash woke up the next day, feeling refreshed and better than either of them had felt in their lives. The day proceeded as usual, they packed up camp, then everyone piled into the Hummer and Lucario led the way until they reached a small path, lined with cliffs. The path was shaped like a ‘T’ and there was a dead end ahead of them. Lucario stopped here and stood still, as if he’d seen a ghost.
Ash, the person who had seen Lucario’s behavior first, went to his lover. As he approached, Ash accidentally triggered another Time Flower. This time flower showed the group a scene from Lucario’s past. They saw Aaron, Lucario’s friend and lover seal him inside the staff.
Brock said, “Wow… then Lucario was right….”
May asked of Max and Kidd, “If the legend was wrong, then what really happened?”
Ash went to Lucario, who had knelt on the ground and was crying in anger and pain.
“Why…? Why did Aaron betray me, it isn’t fair!!” Lucario spat out through gritted teeth.
Ash put a hand on Lucario’s shoulder, but pulled away when he heard a rumbling in the distance. Lucario looked up to see an army of Pokemon heading towards them. He charged up Aura Spheres and shot them wildly, attempting to knock-out the approaching armies.
“Lucario,” Ash yelled at his lover, “there’s nothing here; it’s just an illusion!”
Lucario stopped in mid charge and looked at Ash. Ash walked closer to Lucario as the vision of the past ended and hugged him. Lucario cried into Ash’s shoulder and said, “I trusted him… and he repaid me by sealing me inside the staff…”
Ash didn’t say anything, but he kissed Lucario on the lips saying, “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you felt in that staff… but I can help to heal those wounds, if you’ll let me.”
Lucario pulled his head away from Ash’s shoulder and looked in wonder and surprise into the young man’s face. As Lucario saw things, there was no trace of a lie in Ash’s eyes, face, or actions. “He’s genuine…he really does love me…” Lucario thought happily through his tears. “Thank you Ash…” Lucario said out loud and said to Ash in their private link, “I love you, Ash… for all time…”
“And I love you too, Lucario,” Ash said in return.

Then, a sudden rumbling in the Aura around them told Lucario that something was coming their way, something big and unpleasant. Lucario let go of Ash and looked around for the disturbance. He found it and jumped with Ash out of the way. Exactly where they were standing, a Regirock had dug up from the ground.
Ash looked on in awe but ducked quickly when he saw it was charging a Hyper Beam. Lucario pushed Ash behind him and quick charged an Aura Sphere and countered the Hyper Beam.
“Everyone, get into the cave, now!” Lucario said as he charged another Aura Sphere. Brock, May, Kidd, and Max went inside the cave, but Ash halted a few feet from the entrance, hesitant. Lucario noticed the look in Ash’s eye and said, “I’ll be right behind you, I promise! Now Go!” Ash nodded after a moment’s hesitation, and followed the others.

Inside the cave, Ash worried for a little while, until Lucario jogged into the cave. Ash ran up to him, kissed him on the mouth, and then punched him on the shoulder saying, “Don’t do that again!! I was really worried about you!” Lucario smiled at Ash, who then hugged Lucario again.
Brock, after a few moments, said, “We have to keep going. We have to save Pikachu too.”
Ash looked up, remembering why they’d come this far in the first place, and said, “Yeah… Let’s get going, before that Regirock decides to follow us.”
Lucario lead the way forward to an exit. What everyone saw when they left the tunnel shocked them so thoroughly that a Thunderbolt from a Zapdos couldn’t have fazed them. They saw a perfectly preserved Pokemon paradise. There were rare Pokemon that were thought to be completely extinct, like Aerodactyl. There were also more common Pokemon, like Wingull flying around the lake, and Magikarp in the water.
Kidd put on her sunglasses and started speaking to her computer ops manager. She asked for a schematic of the Tree. Then, Kidd set down a couple of strings of Recon Drones on the ground. Brock complimented her on the tech she had with her. “Thanks, I’m never unprepared.”

After a while, everyone left the paradise and followed Lucario into another tunnel. Lucario lead them on until they emerged on top of the large plateau, just as beautiful as the untouched paradise below them. “Wow!!” Ash said as he looked out over the view. He and Lucario turned around though, and Ash started shouting for Pikachu. Ash felt overjoyed to hear his best friend calling “Pikachu!!!!” in the distance, that Ash started running up the mountainous Tree of Beginnings, Lucario following after his happy lover.

Ash was suddenly cut off by a towering Regice. The Regice didn’t look happy with the intruders, and fired an Ice Beam at Lucario and Ash, which barely missed the latter, but sent him tumbling down the way he came all the same. Regice was about to finish the job, but its Ice Beam was countered with an Aura Sphere from Lucario.
“Ash, we need to backtrack,” Lucario said calmly after a second round with Regice. Ash hesitated for a moment, then he followed Lucario back to the cave and warned everyone about Regice.