Never Lost

Four: Making New Friends

Present day...

A short statured, raven haired, young woman walked out of the store with an arm load of groceries in a paper bag. Her hair was pulled up in four long ponytails, two on each side of the back of her head. She was wearing a short blue dress with a black short sleeved jacket over the top of it. Black thigh high boots and a light tan colored scarf around her neck finished off the look.

"Why does food have to be so expensive?" She said with a sigh. "Ever Grande City... 'the paradise of flowers, the sea, Pokémon, and my empty wallet.'" Luca stated as she placed her broke addition to the city motto. She walked down the street till she reached the flower shop that her small modest apartment sat over. She went to walk up the exterior stairs when all of a sudden she heard a lady shout out for help. She hurried and sat her bag down on the bottom step and ran towards the sound of commotion coming from down the street.

"That Houndoom just stole my purse!" Shouted an older woman as she pointed in the direction the Pokémon ran off to.

Luca ran in the direction she pointed. "I'm a Ranger! I'll get your purse back!" She turned the corner in time to see the Houndoom take the next left around the back of a building. There has to be a reason it went after that woman's bag! She thought to herself as she kept pursuit. She rounded the left to find that the Pokémon had cornered itself by a brick wall. Something wasn't right. His eyes were glowing red and there was this black aura surrounding it. "So your master put you up to this huh...? Should have guessed. The Capture Styler isn't going to cut it here. Doubt he wants to become friends." Even though the Styler was an amazing tool, it only really worked with wild Pokémon. Not only was this one afflicted with some sort of dark aura, but she was pretty sure that it was due to human influence, meaning this one was not wild. She reached into the pocket on the side of one of her boots and took out a Capture Lasso. "It's going to be okay. I'll take care of that nasty aura." With a flick of her wrist she sent out a tendril of light that wrapped itself around the Houndoom. It held fast despite his struggling. Luca slowly walked up to it and knelt down. Placing one hand over her heart she held her other hand in front of the poor creature. Her eyes and palms began to glow with the blue and white light that was her aura. Eventually the light began to make the darkness fade away. Once the black aura was gone the Houndoom calmed down. Luca then picked up the end of her lasso, and with the push of a button she retracted the lasso back into the handle.

"That was amazing!"

"Yeah, that sure was!"

Luca stood up and turned around to find two teen boys around her age standing behind her. She stood there in shock for a moment before she could speak. "Um... how much of that did you two just see?" She picked up the purse that the Pokémon had dropped. The Houndoom sat by her side unmoving.

"Enough to know that you can use aura." Stated the black haired teen. His Pikachu sitting on his shoulder.

"It's okay. We won't tell anyone." Said the brown spiky haired older one. "You see, Ash here can also use aura."

"Brock..." He whined. "I've only really done it once, with the help of Sir Aaron's gloves." He rubbed the back of his neck with his face slightly turning red. "But you don't have gloves like those on."

"The aura master Sir Aaron?" Luca asked the boys. She knew all about that story. It was one of the many bedtime stories that her mother had told her.

"Yup." Brock said as he nodded. "By the way, not only are you amazing, but you're beautiful as well!" He closed the distance between the two of them. "Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Luca took a step back. The Houndoom started to growl. She then laughed and placed her hand on top of it's head to calm it down. She looked up at him. Darn her shortness. "I'm flattered... but I'm not interested in dating anybody. I'm pretty work oriented. Nothing personal."

"Oh sorry, I understand." He said as he took a few steps back.

"So you're a ranger huh?" Ash asked as he stepped up and offered his hand. The young woman took it in her own. "I'm Ash, from Pallet Town. This is my friend Brock. He's from Pewter City."

Luca shook Brock's hand too. "It's really nice to meet both of you. I'm Ranger Luca Heart. I'm from the Oblivia Region. I just moved here about six months ago."

"We're here on vacation." Brock said. "So we came out here for the festival that starts tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm on duty for the whole thing. You'd be surprised how busy a Ranger can be in a city." She shook her head. "Where are you guys staying?"

"Oh, we usually camp outside of towns and cities wherever we go." Ash smiled. "It's the best way to travel. Plus Brock here is a really good cook!"

A light went off in Luca's head. "Oh no, I forgot all about my groceries!" She ran off, purse in hand, Houndoom right on her heels. She caught back up to the older woman and went to hand her the stolen purse. The woman stepped back when she saw the Pokémon that had taken her bag. "Oh! Don't worry about him. He had been brainwashed into stealing things. He's all better now." She watched as the woman relaxed. The Houndoom slowly walked up to the one he had wronged and nosed her hand.

"He is quite a gentle one, isn't he..." The woman said as she smiled.

"And a great guard dog." She smiled. "Maybe it would be a good idea if you gave him a new home and take him around with you if you're going to be walking out and about by yourself."

"That's not a bad idea. What do you say?" The lady asked the Pokémon, and he nuzzled her hand some more in agreement. "Thank you miss. I really appreciate you getting my bag back."

"You're welcome." Luca waved as the woman and the Houndoom walked off. She then turned to the guys that she knew had followed her and were now standing behind her for the second time tonight. "As for you two!" She said with authority. "You will not be camping outside of the city limits while you're in town. With the Ever Grande Floral Festival going on, things are going to get a bit crazy around here. You two are staying with me. My apartment isn't much, but it beats you guys dealing with some not so nice people that will undoubtedly be sneaking around wanting to take advantage of the crowds." She motioned her hand. "Follow me."

"Okay, thank you very much." Ash said politely.

"Yes... thank you." Brock said as they followed the Ranger back to her apartment.