Painted Ghouls

Chapter 25

"Actually," Lucas spoke, turning his head to look back at the city, "I have a different idea for tonight." The fire-and-fighting type followed his stare, but failed to understand what he was looking at. "Follow me." Without waiting for a response, the male fully turned around and floated away. Silently, she obliged, sauntering after him.

The two moved in silence. Occasionally, the upbeat chirp of a Taillow sounded through the area, but the source of the noise was nowhere near them. The eon Pokémon appeared to be following the dirt path out of the city, strangely enough, and soon the path ended, showing a wide expanse of grass and small shrubbery. With a flap of his wings, he moved toward a rock that poked out of the ground.

Pausing by the stone, he turned to face the fire-and-fighting type, a mixture between a smile and a blank look on his face as he motioned toward the grass beside the object. "Sit down." Confused, she followed his orders, sitting down on the grass beneath her. Lucas stayed afloat in the air. Silently, he blinked at the female, before bringing his vision toward the sky. She traced his gaze, staring up at the sea of stars above them.

"The night sky is the prettiest at this time of the year," he spoke, a rare smile on his maw as he stared at the army of sparkling lights. "When I was younger, I was told that Rayquaza himself worked to make the stars the prettiest and most beautiful they could ever be." He softly chuckled to himself. "He does a good job, does he not?"

Athena nodded, her vision planted on the sky. She never took the time to appreciate the true beauty of the night sky until now; most of the time she would fall asleep under the stars, not bothering to look at them except to confirm that it was indeed nighttime. Even then, she felt no need to look up at the sky.

"Do you think Rayquaza is working to stop the mayhem?" she blurted out, her gaze flickering onto the male.

He hesitated, unsure of the answer himself. "I like to believe so," he spoke, grimly nodding. "Rayquaza had never been fond of humans, but I'm sure he is trying his best to fix the problem. The legendary would hate to see the region in such a poor condition."

Athena nodded, but another question nagged at her. "Is it even possible for the humans to come back?"

"That, I'm unsure of. Believe it or not, there is a Pokémon much stronger than Rayquaza, who is capable of bringing back humans with a simple blink."

"Oh." Athena wasn't sure if she believed what he said. All of her life she only knew of three major legendaries: Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. It was hard to believe that there were even more of them, living somewhere in this world. Shifting around, she brought her attention back toward the sky. "Is this Pokémon working to stop this problem, too?"

"Arceus only awakens when He knows that the problem needs His help," Lucas stated, his claws drumming against the surface of the building they rested on. "So, I'm certain He knows that Rayquaza will bring the region back to normal."

"Oh."

She only knew Rayquaza existed when Lucas first mentioned him to her, all of those days ago. Despite not knowing lots of information about the legendary, she couldn't help but hold respect for it. After all, this legendary had to be trying his very best to fix the region, and rid of the problem. Lucas said himself that Rayquaza disliked humans, but even then, it was trying to bring them back. That was true dedication to Hoenn, proving that the legendary was worthy of his title. She never once doubted him in the first place, but still.

"I'm sorry," the Latios suddenly spoke, his tone much more softer than expected.

Athena turned her cranium to look at him, rather confused and shocked at the same time. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice a little more stable this time. "I haven't been treating you correctly." Looking up at the sky, he would avoid the female's stare. "You see, when I was younger, I had trouble with learning how to properly fly." Gazing back at his wings, he sighed. "My wings are not like other Latios wings. Mine only have two spikes, while the others typically have three. Due to my lack of a spike, I had a hard time controlling my flight."

The Combusken shifted around, growing even more confused than she wanted. The dragon-and-psychic type had proved multiple times to her that he was an exceptional flier- it was hard to believe that he struggled with flying when he was younger. "But you can fly perfectly now," she commented, shrugging her shoulders. "Why does it matter?"

"It made my father frustrated," he solemnly answered, finally meeting her gaze. "You see, my father believed that all Pokémon must be strong to live in this world. Since I was incapable of flying for quite some time, he lashed out at me. He said I was weak." The young fowl Pokémon blinked. The Latios' description of his father reminded her of her own.

"I suppose I inherited that bitterness," Lucas continued, his expression wavering. "I lashed out at you when you couldn't defeat a Wurmple. I thought you were weak, just like how my father thought I was." Forcing a smile, he chuckled. "Silly, is it not? I wanted you to be able to live in this world, and to prove my point, I verbally attacked you." He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe how he acted. "When you first evolved, I then realized your full potential. I knew, at that moment, that you were not weak. You were yourself. I felt guilty ever since then."

Athena straightened her posture, realization crashing through her. Lucas had been acting nicer to her recently- it all started after she had evolved. He must've figured out that she wasn't as weak as he made her out to be. He finally accepted her for who she was at that point. Blinking, she dropped her vision toward the grass. She hadn't even noticed his changes until now. All of this time, she thought of him as a bloodthirsty, no-good Pokémon.

"I'm sorry, too," she shakily spoke, her claws scraping against the dried blades of grass beneath her. A chilling wind buffeted through the area, as if on cue. "I thought of you to be a horrible monster, but I only just realized that you aren't." Looking up at him, she felt a warm feeling sprout through her chest as the Latios flashed a real smile. "You're a friend. You taught me how to fight properly." She looked toward the sky once more. "And you took me in when I needed the most help."

The eon Pokémon nodded, not saying anything in response. Backing up a bit, he shot one last look at the sky, before placing his vision back onto the fire-and-fighting type. "Come," he spoke, "it's time we rest."