Tales of Ignus: Lucario's Story (part 9)

Unknown World, Laboratory, Year Irrelevant


I see Velkin pointing at us as a large group of armed men point guns at us. Immediately, my life flashes before my eyes. I see myself taking my first steps. Tears of joy welled up in my mother's eyes as my father beamed with happiness and pride in his son. Immediately, another image flashed before me. I was crying in the dark as my parents came to comfort me. My father would then hum in a deep, soothing pitch as mom would sing a beautiful lullaby.

Another image flashed, showing me sulking in my bed. Dad was sitting next to me. The words he said would stay with me forever.

"Son, you have a gift..." He said. "...and I know that one day, you'll use that gift to do good."

More images of my parents teaching me how to do things that would benefit myself and others came and went. I felt happy. Then horrific images flashed here and there. My village in flames, followed by the blood of the werewolf hunter on my paws. My parents, dying at my feet. It was like a nightmare that I couldn't wake from. I wanted to scream, but my tongue fluttered in vain.

I was brought back to the present when I heard Jon's voice. He was firm, but reassuring.

"Get behind me. I'll protect us." He said. My eyes widened with shock.

"Jon, you'll die!" I cried out. Jon simply shook his head.

"Looks like I missed telling you a few things about me." He whispered. Stepping forward, his body shielded us from everyone's imminent rain of fire.

"KILL THEM!" Velkin screamed, pointing at Jon, who advanced slowly. He appeared so intimidating as he calmly, approached the guards. It was almost as if Jon was teasing them.

The guards opened fire, pounding Jon with everything they had. The bullets pinged off of Jon like pebbles bouncing off an armored truck. I stood in awe as Jon charged at them, acting as if it didn't faze him.

"Guys, I love looking like a hero as much as the next guy, but I could use assistance." Jon hinted. Anemoi threw a guard and began using him as a weapon against the other guards.

"You two go free anyone else who may have been captured. We'll hold them off!" Anemoi instructed. Thornton grabbed my paw and pulled me after him.

"Let's go! They've got it under control! Jon can't die!" He exclaimed.

The pitter-patter of our feet running along the floor echoed down the corridor. Thornton stopped me at our first door, and we peeked through the window. I broke the silence as I glanced at Thornton while he tried opening the locked door.

"Y'know... Ever since you mentioned Ignus, I became curious as to what it is." I said, checking for guards.

"Ignus is anything you can imagine. It's a beautiful place." Thornton replied, peeking into the lock. I shook my head. I wasn't fully satisfied with that answer. Surely there was more to it than that.

"No, I mean... What's the purpose of Ignus. What IS Ignus?" I say, hoping to clarify the question. Thornton glances at me before going back to teasing the lock with a pick, trying to get it open.

"Now that's a good question that I'd be glad to answer. Ignus is a beautiful place that serves as a haven for those who are oppressed. Anyone who desires freedom searches for Ignus. One of my many plans is to find those who are in need and offer them a place in Ignus to live." He answers.

I felt more satisfied now. Thornton popped the lock open and smiled.

"To be honest, I have no idea how I did that." He snickered. "I just kept jamming the pick in a bunch of different ways until it opened."

We entered the room and saw that most cells were empty. We turned and saw a green creature sitting in a cell. He sat up and leaped at the cell bars.

"Wow! I never thought I'd ever see a fellow Pokemon ever again!" He cried. "And a kitsune saved me too? No way! C-can... Can I pet you?" He asked.

Thornton didn't seem to mind. In fact, the attention seemed to make him happy. He smiled and let it happen, then he pulled away and acted like it didn't happen.

"Erm... You didn't see me act like that, right?" Thornton asked.

"What do you mean? What were you acting like?" I asked, winking. Thornton seemed relieved. We turned to speak to the green Pokemon.

"By your appearance, I'd say you were a Grovyle." I deduced. The Grovyle nodded.

"Yes. My name's Daltin." He replied. "If you were shown the video while you were being interrogated, you'd see that the first one was me."

"Wait... You were the one who jumped at that one guard's face while they tried holding you down!" Thornton laughed.

"You're insane! I like you!" I say to Daltin.

"I just wanna go home... But they discovered where my home was and sent guys to burn it to the ground." Daltin said solemnly.

My heart broke upon hearing those words. I knew exactly how this guy felt. I comforted Daltin as I knelt beside him.

"Hey, I know that feeling. My village was burned down, my family shot in front of me, and everything I once held near and dear to me was reduced to rubble and ashes... All because I ha-" I stopped myself. If I tell him, I feared that I may scare him into distrusting me. I held my tongue.

There was a loud rumbling and we peeked out of the doorway. Guards were screaming and running away as Jon and Anemoi were setting fire to the laboratory. Velkin stopped and leered at us. If looks could kill, we'd be dead.

"All my work... Ruined! You even destroyed our hope for finishing our only means of inter-dimensional travel! We'll have your heads on a stake! I promise you that we will!" He yelled in anger.

"Lucario, you said you wanted to see Ignus? It's about time we paid it a visit... Shall we?" Thornton asked with a smirk as he opened up a drop portal. I could barely contain myself!

"Oh, boy! I can't wait!" I exclaimed, bouncing happily. Daltin stopped us from jumping in, and he looked shy about something.

"Um... Can I come with you? I don't have a home anymore." He asked. Thornton nods and beckons to him. A smile slowly spread across Daltin's face as he was welcomed to jump into the drop portal.

"To Ignus! Sorry... I always wanted to say something that sounded cool like that." I say as we jump in. We were welcomed by that sucking sound once again, followed by the sparks of light as the portal closed shut behind us.