Rushing back to camp, we found all the Pokémon trying to stop a vicious argument between Torterra and Gyarados. Luxio stood in the middle of the two, attempting to assert his dominance over the two, and getting nowhere due to the unfortunate difference in size.
"Of course, it's the two we left in charge!" I panicked.
Paul marched over to them. "What the hell's going on? You both need to quit fighting!"
They both turned and launched random attacks at their trainer, forcing him to back off.
"What the...?" Paul retreated to my side. "What's gotten into them?"
"Wow. They're acting just as well-mannered as you."
"Quit the jokes, Girlie. We've got a serious issue on our hands."
"You think I don't see that?! How are we gonna stop the fight between the two largest and scariest team members?"
Luxio called over to me.
"Yes, absolutely. Go ahead, Luxio! Show 'em who's boss!"
Nodding, Luxio howled at both giants to quit fighting and settle down.
They dismissed him.
Irritated, Luxio louder and louder, even firing off a Thunder Bolt.
The attack engulfed both Pokémon. Only Gyarados felt anything, and he refused to back down. They both fired attacks back at Luxio. He dodged, but he was left more frustrated than ever.
Luxio took a huge breath before roaring as loud as he possibly could. His roar made the ground tremble, scaring all of the other Pokémon. As he roared, yellow sparks flew off his teeth in random patterns. These sparks lashed out at the quarreling Pokémon, dealing enough damage to even make Torterra turn his head.
The fight had finally been silenced.
"Whoa! Since when is Luxio capable of that?"
I didn't answer. My eyes were on the cat who looked as surprised as the rest of us at his sudden increase in power. Still, he used the opportunity to order both Torterra and Gyarados to calm down, which they did.
"That roar..." I muttered.
"Hey, Rosa?" Paul waved a hand in my face. "You there?"
I approached Luxio. "Hey, Luxio. Can you do that again?"
He turned his head.
"No. Not the roar. The electricity coming off your teeth. Do it again."
He opened his mouth, tensed up, and caused electricity to engulf his mouth.
My excitement shot through the roof.
"That...That's Thunder Fang!!" I brought my hands up to my face. "You know what that means, right?!"
After a moment, his eyes bulged. He smiled, jumped for joy multiple times, and wagged his tail like an overly-excited puppy.
"It's almost happening! It's almost happening!! Yay, yay! Yay!!!"
Everyone looked at us funny.
"What's wrong with you two?"
"Nothing's wrong. Everything's great! Luxio just learned Thunder Fang on his own, and after that mighty roar, there's no doubt in my mind!"
"No doubt about what?"
"Luxio's gonna be a Luxray soon!"
"Really?"
I vigorously nodded and accidentally gave myself a headache. "If a Luxio learns Thunder Fang on its own, then it means the evolution is only a few days away. And he just gave off the kind of roar only a Luxray can make! Oh, yeah! I'm gonna have a Luxray soon! Isn't that exciting?!"
Luxio leaped into my arms.
I squeezed him as tight as possible. "We've dreamed about this moment our entire lives, huh? Once you evolve, we'll be the most unstoppable team. We'll be even better than Volt and his Luxray."
He purred and licked my face. I couldn't stop jumping in circles.
Paul watched us with a sideways grin, one hand on his hip, and Pikachu and Eevee on his shoulders. "Well, those two aren't gonna calm down for a while." The two shoulder pals agreed. Then, Paul looked at his two problem children. "Speaking of calming down, what got you both so riled up?"
Torterra explained that the pair argued over Dratini, who sat beside Gyarados. He had his tail protectively wrapped around her tiny body. The tiny blue serpent held something that made Torterra wonder if she'd try to eat it or not, but when he tried to take it, she refused. This got Torterra a little upset, and then Gyarados got upset with Torterra.
"Aw, Gyarados! You've known Dratini for what, a day? And you're already such a good big brother. That's so sweet!" I couldn't help but gush over his actions.
Paul went over to Dratini and crouched. "What you got there, Dratini? Can I see what all the fuss is about?"
Dratini looked at Paul, then his hand, then Gyarados towering over her, and then back to Paul. She unraveled her body, revealing a green catseye marble with a green and pink pattern at the core. She slowly pushed the marble into Paul's hand.
"A marble?" he muttered.
I went over to get a closer look, setting Luxio down on the ground. "Hey. That looks like those marbles Mr. Fuji gave us."
"Oh yeah." He looked at Dratini and Torterra. "Where'd you get this?"
They gestured to the wild Venusaur sitting nearby with his evolution herd.
"This is from you?"
It nodded, and Paul's Venusaur translated its response.
"What's he saying?" I asked.
"They're saying that this was found last night. It fell out of that guy's pocket during all the chaos. One of the Bulbasaur found it and nearly ate it."
I made a face. "Yikes. I can't imagine it tastes good. No wonder you ate breakfast so fast. You must've worked up an appetite after being scared shitless."
The Bulbasaur in question looked away with an embarrassed face.
"Well, is this for me?" Paul asked the wild Venusaur.
It nodded again, saying it was a way of thanking him for his help.
"It was your Venusaur that saved the day," I noted.
Smiling, Paul nodded his head to Venusaur. "Well then, you're welcome."
Venusaur bowed once more. It then called to the rest of his herd, who all turned and headed back to the forest. Venusaur waved, and everyone waved back, before he took his leave and led the others back to their home.
After they left, Paul stared at the marble.
"Don't look at it like its poison. It's a good luck charm," I grinned.
"Guess so. Just weird that we now have three of these strange marbles." He looked up as Venusaur came over and grabbed the marble with one of his vines, curiously admiring it. His trainer smirked. "But yes. Perhaps it is a good luck charm."
Suddenly, Luxio went over to Persian. The two stared at each other for a while.
"Right. I forgot. That's Persian. She'll be joining us. Say hi."
Rather than a welcome greeting, Luxio bared his teeth.
Persian did the same.
"Uh, guys?"
In a flash, both cats swung their tails forward and clashed with two powerful Iron Tails.
"Hey! Don't start a fight!"
"Wow," laughed Paul. "They're just as well-mannered as you are, huh?"
"Shut up."
The two cats backed away and met each other's gaze. Then, they sat down, held out their arms, and connected their paws, all while maintaining eye contact. The two also exchanged a few words.
"What's that about?" asked Paul.
"Uh, Persian just wanted to see if Luxio was capable of being the one in charge around here." As I spoke, Luxio moved to my side and leaned against my leg, rubbing his fluffy head across my knee. "He's just as much a leader as he is a softie. Right, pal?"
Luxio puffed out his chest and nodded.
"But don't worry, Persian. You'll still be welcome on the team. There's no doubt we'll be winning lots of battles together in the future. Sounds like a plan?" She responded with a content growl.
"Good."
Meanwhile, Eevee sat as close to Luxio as possible, feeling more enamored with him than ever before. He blushed when she inched closer and closer, and when I teased him about it.
"Don't look so awkward around your fans."
Luxio barked at me.
"Alright, enough fooling around. We should get moving."
"He's right." I turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, gang. Now that everyone's all settled down and on friendly terms, what say we hit the road again to Saffron City? Who's ready for another badge?!"
Everyone cheered.
Luxio and I looked at each other.
"And that gym battle will be the debut of a mighty Luxray. Right, pal?"
He gave a confident stare and sparked his entire body, ready to become the best possible version of himself.