#v: stray riolu (pmd)

[aotoreiki]

Starter for @pokemon-experiments

It had been a short while since Ice’s role in the Aura Tournament finished, and the Riolu had moved on. Quickly, the competition became just another past event to him; he’d entered, he’d progressed, and he’d lost (as he’d expected to). There wasn’t any reason for him to hang around longer.

So for the last few days, he had been making his way back to where his teammates were waiting for him. His only regret was that he was coming back emptyhanded, but that couldn’t be helped, it was how it was.

This afternoon, the weather was clear and breezy. After being on the move for hours, Ice had slowed his pace and finally come to a stop. Just a little break, time to rest and to eat a little, and he would keep moving.

As a precaution, though, he released a single pulse of aura to scan over the area and make sure it was safe. Nothing seemed to be of concern...

...Then he gave the slightest twitch. It had touched something... unexpected. Not any kind of danger, though; no, what he’d felt was the presence of another aura user. Not only that, a familiar one. That Lucario... Ruko?

Was he mistaken? The Riolu released another pulse to make sure. No, it was definitely Ruko. Well... he hadn’t been expecting to come across any of the other participants again, and definitely not so soon. Ice didn’t really feel like talking to anyone right now. But their auras had made contact and presumably Ruko would have noticed and realised he was in the area.

He huffed a little sigh to himself. It would be poor manners to ignore that and keep going on his way. He may as well follow the aura trail to Ruko. It couldn’t be a big detour, right? The aura hadn’t felt too far away, either.

He’d make up for the lost time later. With a few quick bounds, the Riolu was off and running in the direction where he’d picked up Ruko’s presence, eventually coming to a stop in the shade of a low-spreading tree. He stood and watched the Lucario, not making a sound until Ruko noticed him.

#ic ✻ blue and cold #pokemon experiments #v: stray riolu (pmd) #thanks for your patience; hope this works ok! #(please ignore the length... it's just a lot of exposition)

[aotoreiki]

In PMDverse, though he’s a Riolu, Ice’s age is around young adult. He sometimes gets assumed to be younger, because he’s unevolved.

At this point it seems like he won’t evolve. Not whether he actually can’t; but evolution from Riolu to Lucario entails more than just battle experience.

#headcanon ✻ i’m doing this for peace #v: stray riolu (pmd)

[aotoreiki]

The first match was over. It’d been pretty fun to watch, the Riolu guessed... the moves flying around the arena had been power-packed and explosive. He hadn’t expected to see Hyper Beam from a Lucario.

It would’ve been easy to get discouraged without even having started. He definitely couldn’t match that type of fighting. But!

If there was one species he had experience sparring with, it was Lucario. That was really why he’d entered this.

Paws padded silently across the grass as he tightened the red band he’d tied to his right arm, wrapped just-so, so that there weren’t any loose parts that could be grabbed by an opponent. After some thought, he’d opted for a Detect Band to help give a little extra edge to his movement. It was nothing fancy, but neither was he.

He knew very well he was at a technical disadvantage; it was pounded into his psyche. How long and hard do you think he’d worked on compensating for his unevolved form and abilities?

If I can beat even one of them...

Red eyes hardened. If he could win even once, it would make up for all the dirt he’d been put through in order to reach the point where he could even stand on the same level as a Lucario.

#ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament #:) #i gotta tap into the backstory don't i #personal issues

[aotoreiki]

Ah... time to watch this first match and get an idea of how these Lucario handled themselves, compared to what he was used to.

#dash comm ✻ why did you just crack a grin? #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament

[aotoreiki]

What... was that...?

He had also been struck with a sudden terror, so much that he feels like he lost his senses temporarily. That’s never happened before, not as bad as this, anyway. Already reflexively curled into a ball, feeling ill and shaking, wondering why; after an unmeasured period of time, the realisation finally came that the horror wasn’t his own.

It had been so overpowering that he couldn’t tell the difference.

#dash comm ✻ why did you just crack a grin? #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament #just wanted to comment #i'm not 100% up to speed with what's going on here #only bits and pieces

[aotoreiki]

A tournament for Lucario and Riolu...?

Well, obviously, the reality was that it was mostly for Lucario. The overwhelming percentage of Riolu wouldn’t stand a chance, no matter how much they might want to enter. It was clear already from the layout of the tournament. Riolu limited against Riolu early on.

Impassive eyes read over the notice a second, third time. The prizes weren’t too bad. Especially the first prize, naturally. The second prize might be somewhat useless for him, but the first, a bona fide Lucarionite was surely extremely valuable.

It would be nice to legitimately earn such an item for a change.

Could he even make it that far? He was, himself, simply a Riolu. Though the prospect of coming up against his bigger, stronger, more developed forms didn’t bother him in the slightest. Reality was what reality was and disadvantages couldn’t be denied.

Still, if he could even make it partway through...

It might be worth it.

#ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament

[aotoreiki]

He's on his feet, or more precisely, up in a nearby tree again, and in considerably better temper, to watch the next match of the tournament. He also took a stash of those Berry breads up to munch on while observing.

#dash comm ✻ why did you just crack a grin? #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament

[aotoreiki]

Fostea heard about someone reaching out to a certain Riolu in her name. "Even if you don't want to join in, you're welcome to come and watch!" (@hiredempathy)

What was with this? He thought he was good at keeping to himself, but suddenly getting attention over some tournament... maybe people were just really eager to promote the thing. He guessed that was it.

“Hm... if I’m going to go to watch, I may as well go to join.”

He crossed his forelimbs. “...eh. Filling out sign-up forms is annoying, but I guess I’ll give it a shot after all.”

#inbox ✻ i’ll see you around! #hiredempathy #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament #he has been Persuaded

[aotoreiki]

Even if you decide not to fight. It will be an awesome tournament to observe.

The Riolu lifts a paw to his chin. “Hmm... now that, I definitely agree with.” Not just for entertainment value, either. To see what the others do, and what might be able to be learned.

#inbox ✻ i’ll see you around! #anon #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament

[aotoreiki]

I'm guessing fame for you would not be a food thing riolu?

“It’s overrated. More trouble than it’s worth.” That much would have been true even without his special particulars.

#inbox ✻ i’ll see you around! #anon #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament #tumblr's prolly gonna heck up the way this appears on dash #also idk if i will have him participate due to... complications #specifically verse and other participant related complications

[aotoreiki]

You'll never know if you don't try. Just imagine if you did win. You'll be a legend amongst riolu.

“Sure, whatever. Don’t know if that’s a good thing.” Greyface wouldn’t realise it, but he’s an accomplished thief, albeit not an especially well-known one outside specific circles. Low profile and all.

“...I’m thinking about it.”

#inbox ✻ i’ll see you around! #anon #ic ✻ blue and cold #v: stray riolu (pmd) #the aura tournament