Lucario reluctantly shifted its attention away from the three abnormal humans and turned to face the three Pokémon surrounding it.
Gallade, Togekiss, and Houndoom… clearly not easy opponents, and based on their levels, all of them slightly outclassed it.
Lucario didn't dislike humans, but it had never considered becoming anyone's Pokémon.
So very quickly, Lucario came up with its answer. It turned to face Togekiss, because by sheer bad luck, that one just happened to be blocking the way home!
"Lucaaa!"
Lucario clasped its hands together, and when it opened them again, a cerulean Aura Sphere had already formed.
"Togekiss, use Aura Sphere too!" Mark shouted excitedly. Lucario had chosen Togekiss, which meant it had chosen him!
As for what Lucario truly thought inside, they could figure that out slowly after catching it.
Joseph and Sato saw this and tacitly withdrew Houndoom and Gallade, leaving the battlefield to Mark and Togekiss.
Bang!
The two Aura Spheres collided directly, triggering an explosion in midair that canceled each other out.
Seeing the second Aura Sphere appear, Lucario was clearly a bit stunned.
Living in seclusion and lacking exposure to the outside world, it honestly had no idea that any Pokémon other than the Lucario line could use Aura Sphere.
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
While Lucario was dazed, several more blue attacks shot in, this time as sharp Air Slashes.
Realizing it was too late to dodge, Lucario instinctively crossed its arms, trying to take the attack head-on.
It was just a slashing move. Its steel body wasn't just for show.
Clang~ Clang~ Clang…
The Air Slashes struck Lucario without suspense, but it was as if they hit solid steel. The blades of wind left no mark on Lucario and soon dissolved into blue light, vanishing entirely.
"Toge!"
Togekiss didn't even wait for Mark's next command. It had already launched a second wave of Air Slashes from the sky.
Lucario looked up at the blue blades flying in once more and, for some reason, had only one thought in its mind.
Escape! Run! Run for your life!
'…But I'm Lucario, our kind is known for attacking. Why am I only thinking of running now?'
Just that brief hesitation was enough. The second wave of Air Slashes came crashing in again, striking Lucario hard.
In Mark's hands, Togekiss's Air Slash was like a legendary move, every hit guaranteed to make the opponent flinch… yes, guaranteed!
Maybe a single Air Slash wouldn't hurt Lucario much, but in a flinching state where it couldn't even use moves, how could it possibly fight back?
Off to the side, Sato also nodded quietly. This Lucario was definitely fated for Mark.
Because the vast majority of Lucario had the ability Inner Focus, which made them immune to flinching, an innate counter to Togekiss.
But this one had clearly fallen into the flinching state, which meant its Ability could only be Steadfast, or the rarer Hidden Ability, Justified.
Now, Togekiss had successfully suppressed Lucario with Air Slash. Even if the opposing Lucario was gaining Speed due to Steadfast, it was meaningless
With wave after wave of Air Slash crashing down, Lucario could only rigidly maintain its defensive stance, passively taking the attacks each time.
Even when it saw a steel-gray Poké Ball flying toward it, Lucario still didn't quite understand how it had actually been defeated.
"Why are you using a Heavy Ball? Lucario's not even that heavy, it won't increase the catch rate," Sato asked without hesitation, puzzled.
However, Mark didn't respond. He just watched nervously as the Heavy Ball on the ground shook continuously, a second empty one already gripped tightly in his hand, just in case.
Seeing this, Sato stopped talking as well, silently waiting through this moment that clearly meant a lot to Mark. As for whether the catch would succeed, neither of them believed Mark would fail.
Ding~
A crisp and pleasant sound rang out. Mark jumped and shouted with joy; after three years, he had finally caught his fifth Pokémon.
A Lucario!
"Caught it! Oh yeah! I caught Lucario! haha… haHAHAHA"
Watching the ecstatic Mark descending into madness, Sato and Joseph couldn't help but feel helpless… and genuinely happy for him.
Over the past three years in Shadownight Town, it wasn't like he hadn't gone alone to the Forest of Shadows to train. He had always wanted to catch a new partner.
But maybe it just wasn't the right time. In these three years, Mark really hadn't caught even a single new Pokémon.
As one of the three "powerhouses" of the Shadownight Gym, with Sato growing at a freakish pace ahead of him and others like Sina chasing close behind, Mark had been under enormous pressure.
And one of the biggest things holding back his growth was that he couldn't freely catch Pokémon as he pleased.
Even with the foundation of the Reverse World and no longer lacking money, Sato had no way to help him solve that problem.
Luck is an elusive thing.
That method of faking danger just to push Mark into a life-or-death crisis and then catch a Pokémon, that wasn't something they'd ever try.
Every cause has its effect. If you lose your fear of life and death, one day, you'll pay the price.
It took Mark several whole minutes of excitement before he finally calmed down a little.
"Come out, Lucario!"
A flash of red light, and Lucario reappeared by Mark's side. Yet it still couldn't quite believe that it had been caught… by a Trainer who looked so utterly unreliable?
'How the hell did that damned gut feeling come true?!'
"Lucario, I'll be counting on you from now on. Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Mark, your Trainer… hehe… heheHEHEH~"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Lucario looked at Mark, whose smile was turning increasingly deranged, and suddenly felt a wave of despair about its future life.
"Arbok, Lapras, Reuniclus. Come out and meet our new friend!"
Mark's "welcome ceremony" wasn't over yet. With a huff and a puff, he threw out three more Poké Balls, each a different color.
The three new arrivals, combined with Togekiss and Lucario, made up Mark's entire current lineup. Just one more, and his team would be complete!
As Mark bounced around introducing Lucario to everyone, Sato and Joseph looked up at the sky in unison.
"…Lunchtime already, huh?" Joseph said quietly with a sigh.
Sato nodded and replied, "A bit early, but acceptable."
"Boss, boss, didn't you just ask me something?"
Suddenly, Mark shouted to Sato, even though they weren't standing far apart.