Entry #5: Killing Intent

Killing Intent, sometimes called Murderous Intent, or shortened to just KI, is an odd power present in a lot of eastern works and media.

Killing Intent can be boiled down to projecting an intent to kill or harm someone else. Some people might feel an odd chill or a vague feeling of nervousness if someone is staring at them intently, but KI ramps it up into an almost tangible force. In anime, the effects of being the target of KI can range from general unease and goosebumps to instilling genuine fear and triggering a fight or flight response, or in the most absurd cases, causing total paralysis or terror-induced cardiac arrest. Symptoms of exposure can vary, but KI is almost always used for the same purpose: letting someone know they're on your shitlist.

Obviously, a desire to do harm is needed to use KI. The potency of KI scales upward with the amount of negative emotion poured in. For example, wanting to belt someone upside the head versus the overwhelming desire to turn someone into a stain on the ground will produce drastically different amounts of KI. People with exceptional mental fortitude, impressive KI of their own, or with a notable Fighting Spirit can resist KI or even ignore it entirely.

With sufficient self-awareness of body and mind, one can modulate their KI and control it. A quick burst is useful for letting someone know you're annoyed, and a steadily rising release is good for unnerving others. Some psychos might have no control over their own, and people aware of what KI is will read the red flags around these people and wisely hightail it. Most people, however, have little control. It just leaks out if they find themselves wanting to hurt someone else.

It's unknown to me how KI is transmitted and received. It seems to be aura-based, but I currently don't have a way to tell if the two are actually tied together. If it's something spiritual and immaterial, then that'll take some time to study. If it's something psychic, and everyone has some level of telepathic talent, at least enough to sense KI, then that might take even longer to study with my lack of special equipment.

Or maybe it works just because. Hard to say.

My own studies into its use have been limited by how KI requires a living target, and most people/pokemon aren't thrilled when they can feel you silently wishing death on them. Lulu has been willing for some tests, and as expected, my own Killing Intent isn't anything special. She finds exposure to my KI uncomfortable, but that's it. These tests are also blunted because it's Lulu I'm working with. I can't muster any genuine hostility for her.

A halfhearted burst from me is enough to shut down conversations with other people, curb confrontations, and something more serious can dissuade weak pokemon from getting closer. I'll need to test full power on someone who can handle it, like a Gym Leader and their pokemon.

Lulu barely has a hateful bone in her body, but her much stronger aura and prowess as a fighter means her KI is potent. Potent enough to give other Lucario pause. If her ire could be roused enough in a fight, I bet she could slow down most foes with a blanket of KI.

Killing Intent is an interesting tool, and I have no doubt I can find a way to use it in conjunction with Rule of Cool (Which seems to synergize well with other parts of my kit. Imagine that?). If KI and aura are tied together, it might answer some questions I have on aura itself.

Julian awakens gently in his hammock to the first rays of pink sunshine filtering through the trees. For a scant moment, he's confused as to where he is, but memories of the days prior filter back into his head.

It's day 4 of his and Lulu's journey. They, along with Paul, are a day's walk outside of Jubilife City.

With a grunt, Julian rolls out of his hammock into a standing position. The chilled, dew-soaked grass sends a shock up his bare feet, chasing away the drowsiness of an early morning. The blonde yawns and stretches his arms above his head, feeling something in his back pop pleasantly. Tapping into his 6th sense for a moment, he feels Paul's aura still dormant in slumber. From his pocket, Julian feels an impatient pulse from Lulu's pokeball.

"Yeah yeah, one sec," he yawns once more and reaches into his pocket, withdrawing Lulu's travel-sized ball. He taps the button twice, once to enlarge the ball and another to pop it open with the iconic pokeball snap-hiss sound.

Before his eyes, Lulu materializes in a flash of white, lighting up the small campground for a moment. As the light fades, Lulu blinks the spots from her eyes before settling on Julian. "About time," she huffs, crossing her arms. "I've been awake for half an hour."

"Good morning to you, too," Julian jokes, storing the pokeball away again. "Sleep well?"

"I suppose…" She sighs and bounces on her heels restlessly.

'She's awful antsy…' Julian watches his partner and starter pokemon turn and look towards the road a dozen or so yards from the campground. 'All the unburnt energy is really starting to get to her…'

On the first day of their journey, Julian tipped some of his hand to Paul with more proof that pokemon and trainers thrive on a healthy relationship, and the younger boy has been processing it slowly. His pokemon were coming to terms with it faster, but it was clear none of them were quite comfortable conversing with Julian or Lulu any longer than needed. Since then, Julian, and by proxy Lulu, have been keeping their training light so their travel partners might digest the info in peace.

Which means poor Lulu hasn't been getting the stimulation she needs.

Walking unburdened even for eight hours a day is nothing to a Lucario. Lulu, being a warrior to her core, has essentially had nothing to do but milk the toned-down training for all it's worth, converse with Julian, or continue her reading lessons for a solid three days. The Lucario was far from idle during the time, but a Fighting-type like her lives for combat.

"I think Paul and his team have had enough time to get over everything," Julian comments, making Lulu turn and look at him sharply. "How about we meditate, run through some forms, and get a morning spar in before we hit the road?"

Lulu smiles, her tail slowly wagging behind her. "I'd enjoy that." She bounds over to Julian's side, and together, the pair sit cross-legged side-by-side.

Julian sighs and lets his grip on his senses ease. Even after months of practice, part of him still hesitates to surrender his whole being to the aura inside of him. After many minutes, the sounds of the forest fade, the light bleeding through his eyelids goes dark, and the wind and grass brushing him cease to be.

For a single terrifying breath, everything is nothing.

Then from the yawning maw of nothing, there is blue.

Rolling, churning blue inside of him, a raging bonfire inside of the pokemon just inches away at his side, inside the trees, inside the grass, and inside of other pokemon miles and miles away. There is blue on the wind, in the land, in the water, flowing to and fro with a purpose lost to him. He sees everything and feels everything. The 'sight' is utterly captivating to the man-turned-boy.

Aura is life. No doubt about it.

Julian spends what only feels like a moment admiring the world around him with awe before sobering and returning to the main point of his meditation today: understanding himself and his own aura better.

Deep in the recesses of his body, a core of pulsating cobalt sits. The core of aura is darker than Lulu's light and clean azure—sans a tiny needle of the same azure deep within, the same needle of aura Lulu used to break the shell around Julian's aura. Curiously, the needle remains where it is, not expunged or absorbed, but merely static as the cobalt grows a little more each day around it. Why is that?

Julian pulls and stretches his aura like one might a ball of putty, wondering if the needle will move, but alas, it remains. Such a force like aura is not a solid, a liquid, or a gas, but the foreign needle is definitely more rigid than the aura around it. The needle does nothing to him, but curiosity drives him further.

Julian pulls his aura from all directions, shunting it to his limbs and giving him back a peripheral awareness of his own body, but Lulu's needle remains right in the middle, not at all affected by the movement of the aura around it.

How odd. Free aura behaves like a gas exposed to a vacuum. Aura will naturally move to fill a space with less aura unless bound by a will, explaining why raw aura dissipates unless contained. Aura inside of a body is a flexible, more tangible thing. It bends to the whim of the user, willing to take fantastic shapes and transform. Lulu's needle, however, retains its shape, refusing to so much as flex.

For a while, Julian attempts a handful of other things to try to make the needle move, shifting and morphing the orb of cobalt within him in ways impossible to replicate in a 3D realm. He justifies each failure to himself as a decent exercise of aura control on its own. Try as he might, however, Lulu's needle remains as it is. Eventually, he feels Lulu rise from her seated position and knows it's time to stop for the day.

Where awareness left him slowly, it returns as suddenly as a snap of the fingers. For a split second, the sudden deluge of sensation is just too much. The air is cold, the grass feels like blades, the light burns his eyes, and the breeze howls in his ears. For a moment, he wonders if this is how newborns feel; so overwhelmed that all they can do is cry. An instant later, his body adjusts and he's back in the campground.

With a deep breath of cool, invigorating air, Julian rises to his feet in one smooth motion and turns to face a smiling Lulu. As one, they step off to the side of the campground and drop into stretches lasting only a few moments.

"Seventh form, first through fourth set?" Lulu inquires, already moving to the beginning stance.

"Ready when you are," Julian grins, mirroring her.

Moving in sync, the pair surge forward with fists drawn as if to strike each other, only for both to divert their fists to the side at the last second, Lulu's paw spike passing the top of Julian's hand with less than an inch to spare. Both twirl on their feet then unleash a spin-kick that would have their shins collide if not for the trainer and pokemon suddenly raising their kicks much higher at the last second. Hindpaw and foot miss each other so narrowly that Julian swears he feels fur tickle his heel. Neither read the aura of the other as they move, simply trusting their partner to not mess up and cause a painful misstep.

To any onlookers, it would look like the pair are locked in a deadly, synchronized dance just seconds from disaster, but that's the whole point of the seventh form's katas. Trust another as you would trust oneself.

'Anyone else would have given all of these forms flowery names that reek of self-importance,' Julian allows himself to inwardly snort as he and Lulu flow from one stance to the next, oftentimes with nary an inch between them. 'The Lucario are a pragmatic bunch. Why use a funky name when numbers work fine? Though, cool names might be better. Maybe Lulu and I could make our own style…'

As the last move of the fourth set concludes, it leaves Lulu and Julian frozen in place. Lulu's right paw hovers a hair away from Julian's left palm, while his right fist does the same in her left paw. Both take several steps back and settle right away into proper fighting stances.

For a long minute, neither moves, silently sizing each other up. Julian frowns a little when he finds that Lulu's guard is near-flawless as always. He notices her eyeing his left side and tightens his own guard. Taking a deep breath, he lets his eager aura flow freely and empower his body.

Lulu smiles, then rushes forward as a jackal-shaped blur.

Julian's hand snaps up to deflect a punch twisting towards his jaw before he backsteps out of the range of a sweeping side kick. Ducking a palm strike, Julian comes in low under Lulu's guard with an explosive gut punch, one that Lulu jukes to the side to avoid. She reaches out to seize his wrist, and Julian baits her by lingering almost long enough to be caught in a grapple. At the last second, he rips his hand away so violently that the momentum makes him spin on his heel. He lifts a leg in a spinning kick at Lulu's undefended head, but the Lucario hastily raises her arms in a block.

Thwack!

A painful jolt runs down Julian's leg as his kick clashes with her steely forearms, but he ignores it and retreats half a step before Lulu can punish the risky kick with a grab.

Lulu, however, refuses to let him disengage and boldly charges as Julian backs up. She weaves around a palm strike to drive a punch into his unguarded ribs.

Already wincing, Julian starts rolling with the blow as it connects, though it still drives the air from his lungs. He grunts then raises a flying knee that would have caught Lulu in the chin if she didn't lean back.

The pair spar, with Julian giving it his all while Lulu tones herself down to his level. They trade blows, with Julian more often than not being the one hit. He does get one semi-solid kick to Lulu's side, but she isn't fazed by the blow that would have crumpled a grown man.

For all his efforts though, Julian is still a novice of five months to Lulu's many years of fighting expertise. At the twenty-minute mark, Julian curses under his breath when he feels his shaking limbs begin to grow leaden. Inside of him, the wellspring of aura begins to run dry, and with it, his ability to keep up with his partner. No matter how much he tries to keep his Fighting Spirit up to delay the inevitable, he begins to tire.

'No no no… C'mon! I need one good hit!' Julian growls. 'Gimme something here! I don't want to be behind her forever!'

Julian rallies the last dregs of his aura, enough that a blue glow begins to surround his body, making Lulu warily pause. The light show of life energy and determination to prove himself gives new life to his Fighting Spirit. Rule of Cool, which has been absent the entire fight, begins to spool up too.

'I want to prove to her that I'm truly her equal. I want her to be proud.'

Friendship clicks into place neatly behind FS and RoC, sending the teen's flagging strength through the roof. Utter euphoria floods him.

"Go big or go home!" Julian gasps out, blurring forward so quickly that his eyes just can't process everything fast enough, turning the world into a smear of color. He needs no sight, however, as his aura guides him.

Julian flips forward, curling up and somersaulting through the air so fast he begins to feel nauseous, but he pushes his nausea aside and kicks his leg out in a savage heel-drop aimed right at Lulu.

Her aura flutters in surprise, and for a moment, Julian swears he's going to get a solid strike on her! Finally, after months!

The Lucario's arms flash up above her head in a near-instant guard, and Julian's heel crashes into them like a falling thunderbolt.

Boom!

Lulu's eyes widen as she actually buckles somewhat. Under her, the ground gives out and craters with a crunch, burying her paws half an inch into the dirt. A short shockwave from the impact flattens the grass around the pair.

For a long moment, Julian stays suspended in the air, and looking down at Lulu, he can see her surprised eyes peering up at him. Then as quickly as Julian's burst of might came, it evaporates into nothing and gravity resumes its hold on him. 'Huh. I wish that dramatic hangtime lasted a bit longer.'

"I didn't think this through very well…" Julian grunts, tilting backward. His strength spent, the blond falls backward to the ground where he lands with a flop, laying spread-eagle. He pants, mouth open, as his leg throbs. What little aura he has left goes towards easing the aches in his overexerted body. "I'm tapped. You win, Lulu."

Lulu finally lowers her guard, giving her arms a little shake as she does so. She looks between her paws and her trainer, an odd mix of emotion dancing in her aura. "What was that about?" She finally asks, looking down at him. Even if her aura is jumbled, her ruby eyes are full of concern.

Julian grunts and forces himself to sit up, grimacing at the effort and the shakiness of his limbs. "I'm just trying to be a challenge for you, is all. It's a long way to the throne of the Champion, and I want to catch up to you so that I'm more than a warm-up." He then slowly rises to his feet and rests his hands in his pockets, favoring the leg that doesn't feel like it kicked a brick wall. "I guess it's for me, too. I want to be strong the way you are, even if it takes a while."

The Lucario's mouth drops open a little, but it closes soon after and morphs into a soft smile. The look on her face and the affection worn plainly in her aura makes Julian's chest warm as his keystone twinkles with a medley of colors.

'I'll never get tired of that feeling,' He smiles back and gently rubs a thumb across the pendant hanging from his neck.

"Let's run through our cooldown and eat," Lulu plants her forepaws on her hips. "You used a lot of aura in that last attack, and a good meal will get you ready for the road."

'The Lucario fighting style is nutty…' Julian thinks to himself as he nods along to Lulu's words. 'Utterly inhuman. Built from the ground up with superpowers in mind and passed from parent to child. It needs a name, a proper title to be venerated. I can only imagine the sort of things we could get away with during a dramatic reveal of the name."

"What was that?"

As one, Julian and Lulu turn and find a befuddled Paul standing before his tent. The younger boy's mouth is hanging open a little and his aura is twisting and turning as he processes what he's seen. Oops.

"Just some morning training," Julian answers as casually as he can, dropping into cooldown stretches as he does so. Lulu upturns her muzzle and pays Paul no mind, starting her own cooldown. "Meditate, stretch, forms, spar, stretch. Standard morning, really." Julian rises from a toe-touch to give Paul a pointed look. "You're not one of those guys who only use battles as training, are you?"

Paul's eyes narrow. "No. The forest isn't spacious enough to train effectively, is all. I plan to put my pokemon through their paces in Jubilife." He crosses his arms. "That's not like any training I've ever seen."

Julian shrugs, standing once more. "I'm hands-on. Just as I help Lulu grow, so does she help me. A personal touch and willingness to learn on both ends makes for sick gains all-round." He rubs his bruised ribs. "Though, I have a ways to go before I catch up."

Paul just gives the older teen a flat look, one that says yeah, right. "Whatever. If you want to let your pokemon knock you around, then you do you." He turns back to his tent, reaching for the belt of pokeballs sitting at the entrance of his tent before hesitating. He turns and looks over his shoulder unsurely. "Angelo?"

"Hrm?"

"Can you…" Paul can scarcely seem to believe what he's about to ask and has to force it out. "Can you actually talk to pokemon just because you're friends with them? You aren't pulling any tricks?"

Now it's Julian's turn to hesitate. He hums and walks over to the mostly burned-out fire in the middle of the camp, stalling as he thinks of an answer. "My situation is a bit different from the norm. I understand them, yes, and you can too if you work hard enough at it." He kicks a half-burned log back into the coal base under the ash, slowly bringing the fire back to life. 'Though that's a tricky road without aura. Why are you still asking? You've watched me have full conversations with Lulu for the last three days.'

Paul crosses his arms and snorts. "Right. Different. Like any of this is normal."

The blonde shrugs.

Much of the morning is silent after that. Julian dons his boots, packs up his and Lulu's side of camp, and cooks a modest breakfast for himself and his partner, using up the last of their fresh food. Paul, meanwhile, releases his pokemon to feed them and packs up his tent.

Before long, the campground is cleaned up, so Paul recalls his pokemon, then he, Julian, and Lulu set out on the road towards Jubilife.

As they walk, Lulu peers down at the dirt road, then lifts her snout to sniff at the air. "It's rather strange," she begins, "that we've been moving for four days now, yet we've not seen any other humans."

Julian blinks. "Huh. You're right." In turn, Julian looks over to Paul. "Hey, Paul? Is this some kinda funky route we're taking? There's been no one else for days."

"We're taking route 233 through Bewilder Forest," the younger boy explains. He slows slightly to pull out his pokedex and opens it up, showing Julian and Lulu a map on the screen. Zooming in, the map shows a faint network of roads leading through the dense woods north of Sandgem and south of Jubilife. In the middle of the wooded area is a red, pulsating dot representing the two trainers and single pokemon. To the left of the woods is the much more hospitable route 202, the route used in the old pokemon games.

'If we're here…' Julian's eyes glide to the west on the map, past route 202. 'Then the Lucario pack must be right around there…' He eyeballs a section of wooded area just east of a blue stream.

"Bewilder Forest has a population of tougher than usual pokemon owing to the Stantler that live here," Paul grunts, putting his pokedex away. "The Stantler scare off anything wimpy with their illusions, pokemon and people alike."

Julian frowns. "Huh, really? I haven't seen any Stantler around."

"Because you keep your Lucario outside of her ball," Paul explains, gazing out into the dense woods around them. "A Normal-type with any kind of sense is going to avoid a Fighting-type. I found several when I was out hunting the last few nights."

"Makes sense," Julian mulls. 'Bewilder Forest is home to stronger than usual pokemon, eh? I wonder if I can finally find Lulu a teammate here.' Then he frowns as the logistical issues of expanding the team rear their ugly head. 'Fuck. Lack of income is really screwing me here. If we take in a new member and they need some kind of special training or accommodation, that could eat into funds that we just don't have.' Julian can almost feel the weight of Bob's bonus in his backpack, but he hesitates. 'No. I don't think it's going to happen this early. We'll have to see what kind of money odd jobs in Jubilife can provide and go from there. As tempted as he is to expand the team, the last thing Julian wants is for himself, Lulu, and any new additions to suffer because he let them fall into the Perpetually Broke and Hungry Hero trope that some anime series are so fond of.

The sound of yelling and a distant explosion rumbles through the forest, making the trio stop and tense up. Lulu flicks her ears and turns her narrowed eyes to the west. "That sounded like it was coming from one of the other roads." She visibly focuses, her dreadlocks waving in the wind. "I'm also reading several powerful auras to the west."

Julian closes his eyes and expands his senses. There, on the edge of his 6th sense, is a smattering of auras all muddled together, but two signatures he's dedicated to memory stand out.

Ash Ketchum and Pikachu.

'And here I thought we were setting a pretty good pace, having left before them.'

"I feel 'em too," Julian reopens his eyes to look between a bemused Paul and serious Lulu. "Lady and gent, shall we investigate?"

Paul continues to look at Julian flatly, but Julian can feel the younger boy mulling his answer over through the stilling of his aura.

Lulu, on the other hand, is decisive. "Yes," she says firmly, expression serious as she dramatically raises a clenched fist at chest level. "We should check and be sure whoever is out there isn't in trouble."

'I want to go as well, but not for that reason,' Julian smiles and nods. "Paul?"

Paul gives Lulu an unsure look but eventually answers Julian. "Whatever. Let's go see what happened."

Together, they cut through the woods with Lulu leading them. The Lucario sets a hasty pace, moving just short of a jog that forces both Paul and Julian to hurry after her. While most of the pokemon they come across wisely make way, one stout Stantler, a deer-like pokemon with impressive antlers, takes offense to the trio stomping loudly through the brush. Stantler steps up to challenge them, but quickly turns tail and flees with a panicked scamper when Lulu levels him with a red-eyed glare and a sharp spike of Killing Intent. They trundle through the brush and up a hill, heading towards one of the plateaus in the forest and following the increasing sounds of commotion ahead.

When they emerge from the woods, Lulu, Julian, and Paul are treated to the sight of Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, and Brock handling what looks like the tail-end of an argument between their pokemon. The three trainers are obviously in the middle of a picnic, owing to the folding table with several plates of food set out and the crackling cooking fire a few yards away. None of them have noticed Julian, Paul, or Lulu yet.

Ash's Aipom and Dawn's Piplup are both hanging their heads in embarrassment as a Turtwig between them shakes his head, exasperated.

The Turtwig looks like most others of his kind, being a small, green tortoise with a large head, bright yellow eyes, and a brown shell. Sprouting from the bark-like skin of his head is a single twig with a pair of green leaves.

'Piplup must have gotten into it with Aipom, resulting in that explosion earlier,' Julian looks at the ground under the tree where Ash and Co are resting, seeing small, blackened craters in the grass. 'And I'm guessing Turtwig stepped in before it got out of hand.'

"Thanks for playing peacekeeper, Turtwig," Ash's voice and smile are filled with relief as he kneels down to pat the Grass-type tortoise on his head.

Turtwig smiles back. "No prob!" He beams. "I can take a lot of things, but friends fighting isn't one of them!" Turtwig then hops and chomps down on Ash's head with his powerful, beaked mouth.

Julian almost sprints at full speed to push the stupid kid out of the way of the attack, hesitating only when Turtwig's aura glows with nothing but affection.

Ash cries out in alarm at first, but it melts into laughter soon after when Turtwig only puts enough strength in his bite for a fond nibble. 'And by god, what a nibble it could have been.'

Julian glances over to Lulu, who stands with her arms crossed, unruffled by the false alarm. 'Perhaps her more finely attuned aura clued her into Turtwig's intentions before me?' Julian muses. To his left, Julian sees Paul smirk, and even without focusing, the blonde can feel Paul's jolt of pride. It's not for himself, so who…? Julian takes another look at Turtwig, who lets Ash go, leaving both trainer and pokemon grinning.

Ah. 'Paul must be comparing his Torterra to Ash's Turtwig.' Julian has been in the presence of the massive terrapin for several nights in a row and given ample time to gauge him, Julian is certain Torterra would be daunting to all but the upper echelons of the Pokemon League. Torterra would even be a substantial challenge for Lulu if the two ever clashed… Well, Torterra would be a challenge if Julian didn't invoke any reality-bending anime nonsense. 'Not exactly fair to compare a 1st stage pokemon to a 3rd stage, but I guess I understand where Paul is coming from. I can't promise I wouldn't be a bit of an asshat if someone I didn't like had a weaker Lucario.'

Paul scoffs loudly, drawing all the eyes of Ash's group towards them. "Not an ounce of control over your pokemon…" Paul shakes his head, seamlessly slipping from a grumpy teen into the classic Jerk Rival persona. "Pathetic."

Ash, and by extension Pikachu, both level Paul with a glare as Ash sets his befuddled Turtwig down. "Paul? You sure like showing up out of nowhere, don't you?"

"You idiots were making so much noise that we heard it from the other side of the forest. We came to make sure you weren't burning the place down," Paul snarks. He looks down at Turtwig. "Well well, a new pokemon?"

"That's right!" Ash smiles. "He's pretty cool, huh?"

Paul smirks. "Doesn't look like much to me, especially since you can't control him."

Not seeing a reason to intervene, Julian sighs and resigns himself to wait until the pair of kids eventually come to blows.

Dawn tries to see the good in everyone. It's not always easy. In fact, sometimes it's really hard. Her mother's Glameow wasn't always so fond of her, instead seeing Dawn as a rival for her mother's affections. For the longest time, Dawn thought the cat pokemon hated her for no reason. As she grew older, though, Dawn began to understand just what motivated her mom's pokemon to act out. Glameow wasn't being mean for no reason, she was afraid of being replaced. She was good deep down, as this all came from the love Glameow had for her mom.

Dawn forgave Glameow easily.

Dawn's childhood friend, Kenny, was often a jerk to her, teasing her and labeling her with unflattering nicknames. Again, Dawn wasn't sure what prompted it, so she withheld the upset feelings that wanted to burst forth and really dissected what Kenny was doing. She separated his actions from his words, and came to the realization that Kenny didn't intend to come off as mean, he just wasn't sure how to express what he felt. He stuck with her through thick and thin, even when their adventures would land them in trouble with adults.

She didn't even need to try to see the good in Ash and Brock. Both boys are easy to trust on a level deeper than words. The way they spoke to each other, their pokemon, to her… They're unmistakably good.

'So what is Paul Shinji's problem?'

Dawn watches Ash and Paul bicker back and forth with her hands folded over her chest, Ash's indignant fury versus Paul's mean words. Try as she might, Dawn can't find anything redeeming about Paul. Every word, every action - they're just plain cold, sometimes cruel.

Dawn takes a deep, slow breath.

The purple-haired boy stands with his arms crossed, his scowl a stalwart shield that Ash's words bounce off of. "What I mean…" Paul's words are slow and mocking, as if he's trying to explain to a particularly dull Slowpoke, "is that a trainer should be able to control their pokemon. If you let your Turtwig bite you like that, it breaks the whole chain of command. No wonder your pokemon are all so weak." Paul shakes his head. "You don't bother to catch any worthwhile ones, and you don't even train the ones you have."

Dawn takes another breath, even as she feels her temper begin to rise. Where does this guy get off saying stuff like that?

Ash's face flushes red in anger, and from the worried look from Brock, Dawn can tell this isn't normal for the pro-trainer. At her feet, Piplup and Aipom watch the goings-on with worry.

"Oh yeah?" Ash gestures to his Turtwig to come up with his hand, and the Grass-type gladly marches up to stand in front of his trainer confidently. "How about we settle this with a battle?"

Paul's smirk is almost vile. "A battle? Please, you lucked out with your draw last time. You think a weakling like this Turtwig can stand up to any of my pokemon?"

Dawn takes another breath, and stops. Argh! That's it! Something about Paul just sets her off!

"Hey!" Dawn steps forward and points an accusing finger at Paul, making both him and Ash stop and look at her. Normally, Dawn might wilt under such intense attention, but right now she's too ticked to care! "Where do you get off being so mean to everyone!?" She demands. "Just because Ash does things differently doesn't mean it's wrong! Heck, I'd argue the way you train pokemon is wrong! You should be nicer to your team!"

Something flashes across Paul's face, something both annoyed and… thoughtful? As quickly as it came, though, it's gone and the scowl returns. "Oh please, rookie, don't start with me. Out of everyone here, you know the least about proper training."

"There is nothing wrong with being nice!" Dawn asserts once again, growing irritated with the blockhead before her. "I don't need to be a pro to know that!"

Paul hesitates, glancing backward at the pair behind him.

Dawn follows his eyes.

Behind Paul is the mysterious trainer she met briefly at Professor Rowan's lab, Julian Angelo. Dawn was too caught up in the battle between Paul and Ash to get a good look at him before, but she's content to set the blockhead aside for a moment to fix that.

The blonde boy looks a few years older than her, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old, and stands taller than all of them sans Brock. His messy blonde hair is pulled back into a low Ponyta tail, and his green eyes watch Ash and Paul in a bored but still alert manner. Much like Ash, he sports a light tan, the sort one acquires from hours and hours outside every day. The rest of him, though…

Ash and Paul, much like other trainers Dawn has met, both have lean, athletic figures. Paul's baggy clothes hide it better, but he's got the same fluid, self-assured gait that Ash does. That's what the life of a trainer does to you, said her mom some months ago. Brock is a bit bulkier due to being older, but that's kind of expected.

Julian, however, is built differently. His body is nothing but solid muscle, and even at rest, Dawn can see the sharp lines that run across his arms and under the tight shirt he wears. Heck, his biceps are almost three times as large around as hers. His face, likewise, is nearly devoid of any fat, making him look sharp and angular. 'What did he do to get like that?'

He looks like some sort of perfectly sculpted storybook character or an actor from an action movie. Even if boys are still kind of icky, Dawn has to admit that the older teen would be right at home in a fantasy playing the dashing hero. His choice in pokemon, a Lucario, drives the image home perfectly.

Said Lucario stands beside Julian, posture relaxed and in control. Dawn isn't sure how to tell if Lulu the Lucario is strong or not, not having seen a Lucario in person before meeting Julian, but the silent confidence that hangs around Fighting-type is obvious. Her red eyes are focused on the back of Paul's head as if trying to stare a hole through him.

What really strikes Dawn is just how the older boy and his Lucario stand together. It's the same way her mom and Glameow would back during their pokemon coordinator days, all of which Dawn has seen videos of. She can't put a name to the feeling, but it's something she's only ever seen in partners who have worked together for years. Her mom and Glameow, Ash and Pikachu, and now Julian and Lulu.

…But Julian said he's only been a trainer for a month or so, so how did that happen? And why would a guy like him want to hang out with a grump like Paul?

The more she ponders the mysterious blonde trainer, the less things make sense…

"Don't look at us for backup," Julian sounds amused as he answers Paul's stare. Julian chuckles and rests his hands on his pockets as Paul's scowl deepens. "You already know my opinion on the matter."

'His opinion on the matter?'

"Tch," Paul growls, turning back to face Dawn. "Butt out, rookie. Don't concern yourself in affairs you can't and won't ever be able to handle."

Dawn feels her temper flare up again. 'Gosh, why does this guy infuriate me so much?' Outwardly, she says; "If you're so confident, then how about I battle alongside Ash?"

"Dawn?" Ash blinks, turning to her. "You don't need to do that. I can handle Paul fine!"

"Hmph," Paul's smirk returns. "What? A two-on-one match? I didn't realize you were that stupid. Two times zero is still zero."

At Dawn's feet, Piplup's own temper finally boils over. So red in the face it shows through his feathers, Piplup furiously flaps his flippers and trills angrily in a tantrum as he stomps up to stand beside a surprised Turtwig. It takes a moment, but Piplup calms down enough to just glare hatefully at Paul.

"I guess that decides it," Ash shares a look with Pikachu, who shrugs his little shoulders from his place on Ash's shoulder. "If you're okay with a two-on-one, that is."

"If you both want a beatdown, then have it your way." Paul unclips a pokeball from his belt and holds it up. "You'll be an appetizer before we get to Oreburgh."

"Oreburgh?" Ash asks with a blink. "You're taking the Gym Challenge?"

"I am," Paul confirms. "Both Angelo and I are. If you want to even think of making it to the tournament, then you better shape up." He lifts the pokeball in his hand and expands it with a push of the button. "Our last battle left a bad taste in my mouth, so I want to give my pokemon a chance at revenge." With a grunt, he tosses the ball high. "Chimchar, standby!"

In a flash, the pokeball splits open and spits a beam of light down to the ground. The light takes the form of Chimchar and fades into nothing, leaving the flame monkey pokemon standing ready. He gives Turtwig a hard look, but eyes Piplup warily.

"Turtwig might be weak to fire," Dawn grins. "But Piplup will put Chimchar out like a match!"

Piplup puffs up importantly, trilling with confidence.

Behind Paul, Lulu growls and turns to Julian, halting the battle before it can begin. "Ririon," she begins roughly. "Rao. Lucarao, lu."

Julian's brows furrow. "What?" He asks, incredulous. "Lulu, even if it's two-v-one, this is still a stacked match. The number difference matters less than you think it does."

The Lucario shakes her head. "Ro. Rilu ca ru rao. Lu ca rarao," she says insistently.

"Not… officially, no." Julian looks away. "But this isn't an official match. The rules can be whatever they decide."

'Can he understand her that well?' Dawn wonders. Expert trainers can learn how to communicate with their pokemon after years together, everyone knows that, but this seems way too precise for having been a trainer for just over a month.

'Was Julian lying?'

Lulu's eyes harden. "Ririan, cairo ra lurao."

"But Paul could just use another pokemon?"

The Lucario raises a paw. "Raco rura ca ri crua," she says, pointing to Ash and Dawn, then to Paul.

"Gah, fine…" Julian grunts reluctantly. He steps forward with Lulu in tow to stand next to Paul. "Ash," He addresses the surprised Kanto-borne trainer. "If you and Dawn insist on ganging up on Paul, then I'm obligated to step in and even the odds by making this a two-on-two."

Lulu steps onto the field with that worrying confidence and nods down to Chimchar, who breathes a sigh of relief.

Paul turns and gives Julian a sharp glare. "I don't need your help, Angelo."

"I know," Julian crosses his arms and closes his eyes. "I want to see you try to bend a Lucario's sense of fair play. I promise you can't do it either."

"I was under the impression that your Lucario didn't like me," Paul mutters darkly.

Julian huffs out a half-hearted laugh.

"She doesn't."

"Rio cairo!"

Julian and Lulu speak at the same moment, then share a look.

Brock moves from behind Ash and Dawn, taking up a spot at the side of the arena. He gazes at all the pokemon within, seemingly troubled. "I suppose I'll ref this match," he begins. "This'll be a standard double battle, one pokemon per trainer. The last side with a pokemon still standing will be the winner. Does everyone agree?"

Ash, Paul, and Julian all nod, with Dawn following suit a second later. 'Oh shoot this is my second battle ever and it's a two-on-two against a pair of strong pokemon oh shoot oh shoot.'

To her left, Dawn watches Ash grin eagerly. He shakes with a barely contained nervous energy.

Across from Ash, Paul remains stoic.

Finally, across from Dawn, Julian…

Julian cracks only one eye open. His arms are crossed, but he lifts his right hand up to chest level and extends his pointer and middle fingers, kind of like one of those signs that ninjas in movies use. What happens next makes Dawn's skin tingle.

Around the edge of Julian's green iris, a glowing band of blue forms. At the same time, Lulu's ruby eyes glow with the same blue bands. All of a sudden, Dawn begins to realize just how out of her depth she is.

"Take it easy on them, Lulu," Dawn barely hears Julian murmur.

Brock raises his hand and chops it down. "Begin!"

"Ember/Razor Leaf!" Ash and Paul's voices overlap.

Chimchar is faster, leaping up high and taking a deep breath. "Char!" He yowls, blasting glowing streaks of orange light from his mouth right at Turtwig.

Turtwig moves a second later, whipping his head from side to side with the leaves on his head glowing a bright green. From the leaves shoot crescents of green, leaf-like energy blades that zip up to meet Chimchar's Ember almost too late.

Cra-cra-cra-boom-oom-oom!

Razor Leaf meets Ember in a spectacular staccato of explosions uncomfortably close to Turtwig, forming a cloud of acrid black smoke.

"Turtwig, go through the smoke and use Tackle!" Ash orders without missing a beat.

Turtwig chortles and does as ordered, running through the smoke with a speed unbefitting a turtle pokemon. He charges straight for Chimchar, aiming to catch him as he lands.

"Chimchar, dodge and retaliate with Scratch," Paul's order is both unworried and unhurried.

Chimchar's feet scarcely touch the grass again before he nimbly leaps and somersaults over Turtwig, making the turtle skid through the grass in an effort to stop. Turtwig turns just in time to wince as Chimchar slices into his face with a swipe of his glowing nails.

"Oh no, Turtwig!" Ash cries out, worried but not yet losing his cool. "Force him to back off with Razor Leaf!"

That's when Dawn shakes her head and realizes she and Piplup are part of the battle too, and they've done nothing so far! "Piplup! Use Bubble on Chimchar! Help Turtwig!"

Piplup takes a deep breath and shuts his beak, letting Bubble build up.

"Intercept!" Julian barks.

In the field, Lulu tenses, a wispy blue glow surrounding her.

As Piplup thrusts his head forward to release his Bubble attack, a black, three-fingered paw closes around his beak.

"What?!" Dawn whips her head around to Julian, only to find him still standing in his imposing stance with no Lucario to be found. She looks back at Piplup, and sees Lulu in front of him, clamping his beak shut with her paw. 'How did she get there so fast?!'

Piplup struggles in place, his eyes wide in panic as shining blue Water energy peeks out between Lulu's fingers. The shine keeps building, but Lulu refuses to release him, even as Piplup slaps desperately at her paw with his flippers. With nowhere else to go, Bubble detonates still inside Piplup's mouth.

A dull boom rattles the field and Piplup's body puffs up painfully from the pressure, finally prompting Lulu to let go and leap backward out of retaliation distance. A gout of hot steam escapes Piplup's mouth and he deflates like an untied balloon, stumbling about with unfocused eyes.

Across the field, Julian sighs. "Lulu, let's not drag it out. Knock Piplup out, please."

"Piplup! Snap out of it!" Dawn calls, helplessness creeping up inside of her. "You can do it!"

Piplup blinks blearily, but before he can get his bearings, Lulu closes in with the speed of a homing missile and strikes the little penguin square in the side of his head with a brutal punch. The force of the blow spins Piplup around on his feet before he crumples to the grass like a sack of rocks, leaving Turtwig alone on the field against Lulu and Chimchar.

Dawn can hardly believe it. They lost in two hits. Dejected, she breathes out a heavy sigh and takes Piplup's ball from the pocket of her dress. "Piplup, return."

In a flash of red, the knocked-out penguin is recalled to his ball, which Dawn cradles to her chest. She looks back to the battle, watching as it goes sour for Ash.

"Turtwig, dodge the Embers!" Ash calls, a frantic frustration laced into his words.

Turtwig, rather than dodge, stands defiant as another volley of Embers rains down on him, exploding like firecrackers as they strike. As the smoke clears, it shows Turtwig wincing and barely standing.

"You can take it, huh?" Dawn barely hears Julian mockingly murmur, his focus on Turtwig.

'You can take it? Who is taking what? Turtwig?'

Paul smirks that same awful smirk. "Your pokemon won't even listen to an order to dodge?" He asks, seemingly one step away from laughing. "Tear up your license now, Ketchum."

Both Ash and Pikachu openly scowl at the taunt.

To the side, Lulu stands with her knees bent and arms held up in a loose guard, ready to jump into the fight but not interfering. Behind her, Julian drops his stance, letting his arms fall to his side and his other eye open. The glow in his eye vanishes, same as the one in Lulu's.

Dawn misses much of the match after that, too focused on replaying what just happened in her head and holding Piplup's ball close. Piplup didn't even get a chance to properly attack. Heck, the explosion from Bubble didn't even hurt Lulu! Her fur wasn't even ruffled.

'How strong is she?'

Dawn looks up just in time to see Turtwig get bowled over by Chimchar's raging Flame Wheel. Turtwig is left flat on the ground, covered in soot and burns. With a grunt and amazing effort, Turtwig rises to his feet… only to fall again, too exhausted to keep fighting.

At the side of the arena, Brock reluctantly raises his hand. "Piplup and Turtwig are unable to battle. Lucario and Chimchar are the winners."

Paul snorts and rests his hands in his jacket pockets like he expected nothing less, with a beaming Chimchar scampering over to rest at Paul's side.

In the field, Lulu rises out of her stance and returns back to Julian. The blonde pulls the Lucario close and whispers in her ear, making Lulu frown and shake her head, saying something quietly back. Julian rolls his eyes and lets her go. Idly, Dawn wonders what the conversation was about since they haven't been shy about openly talking before now.

Ash hangs his head with a sigh at the loss but bounces back with a small smile. He walks out to the field where Turtwig lays, still conscious but panting in exhaustion. Ash drops his backpack next to him and roots around in it, taking out an Oran berry that he offers to Turtwig.

The Grass-type sniffs the berry, then takes a tired bite, slowly chewing.

"There, you'll feel better in no time. You did great out there." Ash praises, stroking his pokemon and being careful to avoid touching any scrapes or burns. He then looks up at Julian and Paul with his smile still in place. "Great battle, you guys! Chimchar and Lulu are really strong!"

Paul says nothing, just raising a brow. Julian however, looks away and bites his lip, conflicted for some reason. At his side, Julian's Lucario taps his arm and says something too quiet for Dawn to make out.

Paul hangs back, but Julian and Lulu begin to walk over. As they do so, Julian looks at Dawn and gestures for her to meet him where Ash is tending to Turtwig.

Before she can turn and ask, Brock is already at her side with a reassuring smile.

Dawn gives the older boy a relieved smile, and together they walk over.

"Turtwig has got some real guts," Julian praises with a smile as Dawn and Brock come to a stop by him, Ash, Turtwig, and Lulu. "And he's quite fast, isn't he? Fastest turtle I've ever seen."

"Heheh, yeah," Ash scratches his cheek bashfully

Julian hums as he looks over Turtwig, who in turn stares back up at him through bites of Oran. "You might want to speak to him about the whole 'look how tough I am, I can take any attack' thing when it comes to dodging, though."

"Huh?" Ash asks, bewildered.

"Turtwig seemed like he was trying to prove something. At least it seemed that way to me," Julian explains, gazing down at an equally bewildered Turtwig. "Am I wrong?"

The Grass turtle looks away.

The tall blonde shrugs. "Just my two cents." Then he looks at Dawn, who breaks out into goosebumps when his eyes indescribably sharpen for a split second. "Dawn, you're a new trainer, correct? Did you bring any restoratives for Piplup?"

Dawn feels herself freeze. She didn't.

"They're something you might want to stock up on next time," Julian looks away. "I'm sorry for how banged up Piplup got. If you want, we can fix him up for you," he gives a half-lidded look to Lulu, who huffs in what looks like embarrassment and nods. "Can you let him out for a moment?"

Dawn looks down at the pokeball in her hand. "Erm. Okay?" She raises the ball and taps the button, letting it pop open and deposit Piplup at her feet.

Piplup is wobbly, but conscious again and sits on the ground, sulking over the embarrassing loss. On the side of his head is a nasty bruise in the shape of a three-fingered fist and he breathes with a quiet wheeze from Bubble's backfire.

Lulu steps forward and plants her paw on the top of Piplup's head, making the penguin tense up. Then from her paw, a luminescent, sparkling mist a brilliant pink in color trails down Piplup's body.

Dawn feels her jaw drop as Piplup's bruise fades away into nothing and his wheeze vanishes in the span of several breaths. Piplup himself blinks incredulously and stands as Lulu withdraws her paw, cutting off the pink glow. He stretches to and fro and takes a deep breath, then jumps with obvious joy as nothing aches. He looks up at Lulu with a wide smile, his loss seemingly forgotten.

The Lucario offers an apologetic smile.

"Heal Pulse," Julian answers the question on Dawn's lips, and on Ash and Brock's too if their own expressions of surprise are any indicator. "A useful move to have in the field and for training. It's not a one-to-one replacement for real medicine, but it's useful first aid."

'Only first aid? Not a replacement? Lulu undid the damage of a whole battle!'

Julian clears his throat, glancing up at the treeline behind them. Dawn glances back too, but doesn't see anything. "Thank you both for the battle, and no hard feelings, yeah? A two-on-one didn't sit well with Lulu."

"No prob!" Ash grins, standing and offering his hand. "It was fun! Maybe we'll meet again! We're winning next time, though!"

Julian smirks a 'I know something you don't' kind of smirk and takes Ash's hand, giving it a shake. "Sure thing."

"Are you two done with the chit-chat?" Paul calls over to the group grumpily. "We've still got several hours to Jubilife."

"Don't get your prissy panties in a twist," Julian calls over his shoulder, and Dawn can't help but giggle behind her hand. The blonde offers them a wave and turns back to Paul, Lulu in tow. "Nice seein' ya again, and good luck out there. Watch the skies."

"Watch the skies?" Brock asks, bemused. "Wonder what he meant by that."

Paul, Lulu, and Julian depart, melting back into the foliage and returning to the road they were using. Not even five minutes later after the gang returns to their now cold lunches…

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

Dawn's head shoots up along with Ash and Brock's, and cackling above the camp in their obnoxious Meowth balloon is none other than Team Rocket. As Jesse and James waste no time going through their motto, Dawn can't help but look down in thought.

'Watch the skies? Did Julian know? How did he know?'

Everything she learns about the trainer named Angelo leads to another mystery… It almost feels purposeful.