The sun was over the tree-line when Lu was awoken from dad's stirring. He yawned a good morning, as was the tradition before going back to sleep. Dad gently stroked Lu's head before giving his dread a light tug. "Time to wake up," he said gently. Lu groaned before he turned over and dropped to his feet. "I want to show you something important… so you know that I know what I'm doing." Lu tiredly looked up to dad as he talked, then nodded with a yawn after dad finished his statement. He followed dad to the sofa, then leapt up to take a seat.

Dad took a seat next to Lu, who crawled onto dad's lap as he pulled a book off the coffee table. The book was opened with a bookmark on Lu's lap. The pictures were familiar at first; pictures of Lu blowing out a birthday candle, them both doing something silly, and Lu having his height measured at the hallway entrance. Dad flipped backwards though the pages and pictures of Lu looking towards the camera in various silly poses started appearing in the plastic pages, soon followed by pictures of Lu being scared as he looked at the camera. Lu placed a hand on the page and he halted dad's progress. "When were these taken?" he asked as he observed images of himself shocked paired with images that were obviously taken moments before. Dad just stifled a chuckle as he told him, "Flashes used to make you jump! Heh… sorry buddy," As he continued to hold his chuckling back, a smile on his face that he couldn't conceal. Lu folded his arms as the pages turned. "Well… I don't remember any of it…" he said with a scowl towards dad's enjoyment. He placed a hand on the page, then turned to face dad. "Why am I grounded again? I didn't do anything wrong."

"It's for your own good. I made a mistake letting you play with wild pokémon before teaching you how to fight," Was dad's simple reply as he gently moved Lu's hand from the book. Lu pouted as he folded his arms, the pages gently turned backwards. He stopped flipping on a page filled with pictures of him in padded gloves and baggy shorts, but Lu continued turning further back. "Start from the beginning if you're keeping me here!" he eagerly demanded as he looked up at dad with a wide smile and big puppy-dog eyes. "Your eyes are very red," was his playful response as he grabbed the cover of the album and flipped every page at once to the first. "Look, with your red eyes," he said as his finger slid over a man holding his wife. "This is my dad." He was clean shaven with a little stubble, a masculine face very similar to dad's. His finger slid to the delicate woman beside him. "This is my mother," he explained. This woman was an opposite to the rough, muscular man beside her. Her hair flowed to her shoulders, and her face was gentle. The two embraced lovingly, only their waists shown in front of a backdrop of forest and a castle.

"This was taken during a trip they had… I don't know," he explained quickly, his finger flew from image to image. Lu spoke up, holding the next page down as dad reached to turn it. "I wanted a little more detail than… this," he said as he looked dad with fake sorrow in his eyes. This didn't deter dad at all, who just slid his finger under the next page. "You can't seriously expect me to remember everything they did when I wasn't alive." Lu lowered his head and moved his hand aside as the next page was lifted. "No… I guess not…" Dad continued with summarizing each image until he reached an image of his mother holding a newborn baby. "And this is me," he said with a humble smile.

He briefly talked about where he was born… how it was right in Stardust City. Pages turned, and dad talked about being an only child raised in the suburb. He spoke of his time at school as a picture of dad as a child covered in bruises surfaced. "Why were you hurt?" he asked as he looked carefully at the image, dad's smile still plastered across his face as he took a tattered selfie with an unconscious sentrent. "Ooohhh… I remember that!" he said fondly as he pulled the book closer. "Some kids were being bullies and sent their pokémon out to take kids' lunch money!" A chuckle escaped his lips as Lu looked at the unconscious pokémon. "I almost got in trouble, but some kids recorded the whole thing!" Another chuckle escaped him as he wistfully said "I wish I saved it..." The page was turned, and his school life stories consisted mainly of altercations after that photo. What became pictures of dad in tattered clothes and a smirk were followed by pictures of him in a gym with boxing gloves on. "Here comes the beginning of what I actually wanted to show you, so listen up."

He brought the book close, and pointed to a picture of him in a boxing ring wearing a tank top and shorts, up against a much larger person in similar attire. "You just went to fighting people bigger than you?" Lu asked as he observed the pictures on the same page. "Nah…" Dad explained, "My parents sent me there to learn how to fight. That was my instructor." With a smile, he placed a hand on Lu's shoulder. "Now I'm going to teach you everything I know." They smiled at each other, Dad gently stroking Lu behind his ear with his head canted to the side. "So… what else did you do as a kid?" Lu asked as dad gripped the album and turned the page. "Is it more fighting? Did you become a bully?" Dad waivered in his voice as he tried to explain himself. "I did fight more… but no one who didn't deserve it." "You mean like the bullies? Were you a hero?" he asked starry-eyed. Again, Dad was unsure how to respond to this. "No… I was just a guy… but maybe you should let me continue and see for yourself?"

Lu nodded as he shivered lightly with anticipation as the page was turned again. "So… I continued with fighting. I decided to take up a mixed martial art called kick boxing, and it turned out that I was quite good at it!" Multiple pages were turned until on the left-hand side of the album were professionally taken photos, and on the right seemed to be more amateur versions of the pictures on the left from a different camera. "This was my first amateur fight. I ACTUALLY managed to impress some people on my first fight!" he boasted proudly as he turned the page again. The pictures of fights started to appear less in frequency in favor of more mundane images. "I shot my way to the top, and I never lost a single fight!" he said as he gave a little nudge. Lu stared, enthralled by his words.

The joy from reminiscing of past fights soon left Dad, and his words became more solemn. "Sadly… I only ever stayed in the amateur league. No one wanted to sponsor me because… get this… winning all the time is boring." Lu's head tilted from this baffling turn of events. "But… wouldn't they want that?" Dad's response was a sigh, followed by a smirk that grew slowly. "Yeah… but if I had been accepted, I wouldn't have met my wife." He turned the page a few more times, skipping past shots of scenery until he reached a picture taken within a gym somewhere, a scientist in a lab coat held Dad's arm up like a referee as an unconscious hitmonchan slumped on his shoulder. Lu was completely mind blown by what he saw. "You fought a hitmonchan?!" he excitedly asked as he leaned forward. "They are like… super tough and good at punching!" He would receive a pat on the head by Dad with a little chortle, Lu's excitement rather amusing. "Yeah… I won too." He gave a proud smile before he added with a shrug "And shot… I guess."

This didn't bother Lu any though, whose reverent smile never faltered. "So… the person who owned that hitmonchan was a founder of a new research organization called 'Holliway Studies' who were so impressed with my fighting they hired me to protect their researchers." Dad gave gentle rubs to Lu's head as he continued his story. "It was through them I met my wife," He said as the page turned, revealing a group photo of young men and women in lab coats. Far to the left, Dad could be seen with his arm wrapped around the shoulder of a woman clad in grease-stained overalls. They both were the eldest of everyone in the photo, and they both looked quite happy. "This is Elena, rest her soul." He gently rubbed the photo, wistfully gazing. "We got along great since day one. She was great with her hands." He turned the page, more group photos taken in exotic locations with people both new and familiar. "She wasn't a scientist, but she kept everything in tip-top shape better than those egg-heads ever could. My job was to keep everyone safe as they mingled with the wild pokémon." He lowered the album to say "I learned about hunting on the job… and honestly… the things they taught me about pokémon psychology and physiology really sped things up."

"So… you knew nothing about hunting when they hired you?" Lu skeptically asked. "Well… like I said… they helped... but look at how good I am now!" Dad boasted. Lu's brow lifted skeptically. "I haven't ever seen you work." The book was laid back onto their lap as Dad waved away his criticism. "I'll take you along some time," was his simple reply as he turned the page to continue his condensed biography. Onward he wrapped up the remaining pictures of his exploits; the exciting adventures and misadventures him and his coworkers got into, and the exiting things they have done. He showed Louis the last picture he took with his friends and coworkers before he moved on to how his life changed when he settled down.

Pictures in the album showed that the two had bought a house in the suburb and eventually had two sons. Dad hunted when there was a "bounty" for a rather dangerous pokémon, and Elena took up a job as a mechanic for the suburban district's police force. A tododile started appearing in pictures, usually next to the youngest child. He explained how the youngest, Fred, found the tododile. The two became inseparable, and eventually left off on their own pokémon adventure. His eldest, Luca, worked hard to get the skills to fly any aircraft anywhere, and ended up becoming a rather successful bush pilot for hire. Once the kids were gone, dad went back to occasional hunting. He had become somewhat famous for his ability to catch anything, but seldom hired for only picking to hunt pokémon that were dangerous. His jobs mostly involved protecting people, or subduing pokémon that had for one reason or another become dangerous. Dad moved into the woods when Elena passed away, unable to be rehired by Holliway Studies when they became a hybrid pokémon and daycare center. There he stayed in solitude until Lu came into his life.

The book was closed, a satisfied sigh was heard escaping dad after what must have been a condensed recap of his life condensed into a few hours. Lu re-opened the album book almost as quickly as it was put down, he flipped through the pages as he asked "So… where is my mom?"
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't see or hear a mention of MY mom once."
Dad's tone grew accusatory as he stated "I don't think I like what you're implying…" but he was surprised by a serious and rather upset look on Lu's face. "W-what do you mean?"
Dad hesitated slightly as he carefully thought out his words. "I guess you're mature enough to know… that I found you in the woods."
"You… found me?"
With a pained exhale, dad continued to explain "I found you. Just… hidden under a bush." Lu looked forward, then after a pause of silence, he moved the album aside before dropping to his feet. He turned to dad with a pained expression on his face. "I'm… adopted?"
"This wasn't obvious?"

Louis turned his head away, unable to face him. "I… guess I should have known?" He was at a loss of words. Dad was quickly beside him, on a knee as he pat Lu's shoulder. "I'm… uh, sorry that I didn't teach you this… do you want to hold off our plans for tomorrow?"
"No… boxing sounds fun… I just…" His head turned to face dad properly, the two looked each other eye to eye as he spoke. "Can you show me where?"
"I don't see why not." He gave Lu a comforting pat on the shoulder. "We'll go after we're done."

One meaty breakfast later, and the two were outside. Dad wore pads on his hands, emblazoned in the middle of each was a target. "How was breakfast?" he asked as he raised his fists, targets towards Lu. "It was great. Bacon is amazing," Lu said as he raised his fists. "So... what are we doing exactly?"
"I'm going to teach you how to stand properly..." He spoke as he gently moved Lu's arms in front of his face. "and we move up from there." His eyes looked up and down Lu's amateurish stance, gently he pushed Lu by the back to crouch him forward. With a pad on his chin… dad contemplated Lu's stance. "Is there any chance that you can do something about your tail?" Lu turned to look at his tail, then back at dad as he asked "What's wrong with it?"
"It sticks out. You need to tuck it away or something." On that prompt, Lu held his stance as his tail pressed firm against his back. "There you go, buddy! You're much less likely to get grabbed like that!" Lu's tail started to wag on the compliment he got, then got a soft bop on the head with the pad. "You have to hold it tight against you. You can't give anyone a chance to grab it. Got that?" Lu gave a few more wags as he smiled, then quickly tucked it against his back once more.

With a padded pat on the head, the two continued with lessons. Dad explained the importance of balance and movement. He assumed a proper fighting stance to bob and weave in demonstration. Lu followed what he saw, bobbing and weaving as dad did. "That's it… keep your feet properly spaced, your bodyweight should be distributed evenly between both legs." He continued, throwing out a few slow jabs for Lu to watch. However, Lu's foot work was wrong, and he was quick to tap Lu's head. "What are you doing with your feet? Your leading foot should be flat on the ground."
"It is," was Lu's reply as dad pressed down on Lu's knee. As Lu's foot flattened completely, his mouth opened as he winced. It wasn't a painful feeling, but it felt incredibly weird as a jolt of numbness shot up his leg. His body shivered to the core as dad realized this was his fault then quickly apologized. "Are you ok? What happened?"
"I… don't know. I never stood on my foot like that before," Lu replied as dad lifted his leg up, trying to examine his foot the best he could through the rubber bootie. "It's fine now. Can we continue?" Dad relinquished his grip and Lu stood back on his feet, more specifically his tips. "Do you ever lose your balance?" he asked as he stood up properly, watching Lu's feet carefully as he resumed bobbing and weaving. "Not unless something knocks me over, no."

Dad apologized with a gentle pat, then he held the pads outward. "Show me what you got." Lu held the stance firmly, then he swung his fist around, and tries to hit the pad on the downward swing. After the third swing of this wild flailing, dad flatly asked "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm trying to do a hammer arm," was Lu's bashful response as he reassumed his fighting stance. "Why? You're much too small to be able to do that."
"It would be cool if I could?" was Lu's embarrassed reply as he continued on with regular jabs, putting as much force as he could muster behind every single strike. Each strike was forceful, but never struck middle of the pads. "You're not hitting your marks," was dad's warning as he watched each wild blow. "Don't worry about hitting it as hard as you can, just worry about hitting it in the middle."
Lu returned his statement with a smile and a nod. His next strikes were weak, but hit the middle of the pads. "Lead each punch with your shoulder, aim to hit the targets with your middle knuckle."

Hours passed, the sounds of grunting and the slaps of fists hitting leather filed the air. It was then that Lu spoke up, asking "So… can we go yet?" as his fists lowered. "Please?"
Dad sighed at first, but a smile grew on his lips as he answered "You made great progress. Let me get my keys-" but was quickly interrupted by Lu blurting "I'll go shower real quick!" Dad couldn't help but feel tickled from his random declaration. After taking his own shower, the two got into dad's truck and headed straight out to the highway. Back onto the dirt road to drive deep into the woods. The driving became walking when the dirt road ended, the two crunched through the sticks as they retraced dad's mostly forgotten steps. The travel wasn't quiet, Louis held conversation with questions about that time. Dad answered what he could as he led the two back to the thicket. He pulled some branches aside as he waved Lu through. "Here it is." He looked around the familiar foliage as he pointed at a specific bush in front of them. "I am very sure this is where I found you." Lu walked unconfidently to the spot, then closed his eyes. His dreads lifted as he looked at the surrounding aura.

Minutes passed, dad watched Lu in silence as he used his aura. "So… what are you doing?" he finally asked. "I'm… not sure, really," was Lu's response as he continued his work. "I thought I could find something… I guess. A trace, maybe?"
"I very much doubt you'll find anything. Remember; I found you years ago." Louis' dreads dropped back to their resting position against his head as he turned to face him. "I know… I was curious, I suppose."
"So, are you done yet?"
"No. Not yet. Give me a few minutes?"
"What are you doing?" he was a little confused as Lu beckoned him over. "A friend lives kinda close by! We can ask around! Come on!" He ran into the woods as dad attempted to protest. He sprinted towards the sound of Lu's beckoning voice, running deeper and deeper into the woods after the blue blur. He chased him through the forest and over a river, heaving as he kept pace. He nearly tripped over him when he came to a sudden stop. "What… the hell?" dad asked as he doubled over in exhaustion. Lu shushed him with a finger before he quietly spoke, "One of my friends might be around here. Please be quiet while I get her." Louis creeped forward as dad whispered, "We have been out TOO LONG!" upon deaf ears. "We are leaving after this!" he whispered louder as they crept forward upon a habitat of fennekin and the rest of their evolution line.

Lu dragged dad behind a nearby bush. "Why-" dad started, but Lu quickly hushed him. He tapped the side of his head with one of his digits. "Just think at me."
"Why are we sneaking around? Are they your friends or not?"
Lu gave an unsure shrug. "Yeah… but… not all of them" he communicated as he poked his head through. As dad attempted to protest, he shushed him with a finger as he scanned the fox pokémon before them. "Hey. Hera!" Lu communicated to a fennekin that was all curled up. Her head groggily raised to look around in a sleepy stupor. Louis continued to beckon her towards the two's hiding spot, waving the instant she was looking at them. "What are you doing? It's late!" Her eyes widened as she registered dad's prone form. "Why is that here?!" she communicated in a panicked, rushed thought. "It's fine, he's my dad. Are you guys allowing visitors?" Lu asked as he tilted his head to see behind her. She was dumbfounded in her sleepy reply. "He- you-" she stammered with her cluttered mind. "No, it's way too late for visitors!"
"Are you sure? I need to ask your elders a question."
"Yes, I'm sure!"
"Can you ask them to make one exception for me? Pleeeaaase?"
Her eyes squinted as she stared. "Fine," was her reply. She silently marched off a little further into the pack to disappear behind a cave. Dad released a breath that he didn't know he held as he tapped Lu's leg. "So… what happened?"
"Well… I asked my friend if I could speak to her people's elders, so she is going to find out if I can."

With that said, Hera walked back to the two with a duo of Delphox, whose auras revealed them to be a male and female. With sticks drawn, the pair held out their free hands to the bush and the both of them were lifted out from their hiding place. The two struggled as telekinetic force carried them towards the rather upset delphox, their eyes fixed at dad. Hela's large ears folded back as the left angrily stared at her. The right turned its attention to Lu. "Why did you bring a human here?!" she demanded. Louis nervously replied, "He- he's with me. It's fine."
"No… it's not fine! Even one human learning of our dwelling is every human knowing!"
Lu's arms flailed by the elbows as he attempted to pacify the mad delphfox. "He's cool! I promise!" She let out an exasperated sigh after she finished thinking, " We tolerated your presence while you were an innocent curiosity, but now you're a problem." Louis continued to protest as his legs kicked. "W-we just ran over looking for answers! Let's not focus on shoulda-coulda-woulda." Once again, she let out a sigh as she stared. "This question must be very important...would you be willing to fight for the answer?"
His eyes widened at that idea, to which she smiled back. "What's wrong? I thought you aura dogs were honorable warriors."
"Do I have to?"
"After what you did, yes."

Louis turned to dad, who patiently watched their conversation as he was suspended in the air. He spoke enthusiastically as their eyes met, "So… did you get your answer?" but he was met with a nervous reply. "She wants me to fight for the answer… because I shouldn't have brought you here."
"So… are you?"
"Should I? What if I lose?"
"Do you have to win?"
Lu lowered his head in thought to ponder his choices, then he looked back to the delphox to ask "Do I have to win?" She too had to ponder before she responded with "No. Just show us how badly you want it."
"Us?" Lu was lifted higher into the air, able to see all the other fennec intensely focused on their scuffle. He gave a little wave to the onlookers as he communicated, "So… who do I have to fight?" The elder delphox lowered Lu to his feet, as the one that held dad pinned him to the nearest tree. She answered coldly with, "You can fight me," and she readied her stick, free hand extended forward as her stick was held close to her side as a fire spontaneously ignited at the tip. Lu nervously raised his arms as he assumed a boxing stance, his dreads lifted by his aura. "This doesn't seem fair… why you? Why at all?" He was lifted into the air once more, his body much more constricted by the ethereal force. He flailed as much as he could as she dragged him against the ground. "Because I challenged you. Because if I beat you and whatever else your human sends out, maybe they will stay away."

Louis was picked up once more to be flung against a different tree. He stood up, just to be lifted into the air and turned to face her. "Why don't you run away? You're great at that." Once more, he was flung against the wall as she continued her taunting. He shakily stood to his feet as he faced her when a whistle from dad caught his attention. "Don't let them mess with you!" he demanded as he looked him straight in the eyes. He silently watched as dad then started to wiggle against the tree. The more he moved, the more space he created for his limbs as the delphox holding him struggled. It held its head with its stick hand as a pain obviously arose. It released dad as it rubbed a temple with its free hand, then quickly extended its free hand once more. As soon as dad touched the floor he was pressed against the tree once more, but he was able to wiggle free much sooner than before. It pointed its stick as it growled at him, and dad raised his hands as he scowled back menacingly.

Louis tried to run to dad's aid, but he was intercepted by psychic energy. He was forced to look her in the eyes once again as a mocking chuckle escaped her lips. He flailed harder as he was flung against the same tree, a louder thunk emanating from this impact. As he was lifted into the air once more, dad called out, "Don't just flail! Use back and forth motions!" Lu's struggles became more concise until he forced her to release him. She growled when she was forced to release him from her hold, but a smile crept on her face as she stared at him. "I hoped you wouldn't catch on," she said as the fire on her stick puffed into a bigger flame. She leaned forward before she suddenly broke into a sprint. She reached him within moments, swinging her stick with precise strikes. Lu raised his arms to block the attacks, but still felt the sting of each strike. He threw straight punches out to little effect. She took every punch head on, then smacked him to the ground with a hard strike upon his head.

Lu once more stood up, standing ready as he read her aura. He was done being entertainment. "Please… just answer my question. It's not a hard one. Please…" he pleaded. "Have we fought enough?" Her reply was simple, "I believe you were punished enough. Ask your question," she said as she sheathed her stick back into her tail. Her friend followed suit as the other fennecs that watched started to gather at the edge of their dwellings. They watched as Louis clasped his hands together as he pleaded, "Please… I was found around here as an egg years ago. Do you know of any… aura dogs that live around here? Or possibly come around?" The elder gently rubbed her chin as she eyed him over, "You don't look like you come from a familiar lineage… but I haven't gotten to know any aura dogs." Moments of silence passed before Lu decided to reply. He incredulously asked, "Is… that it? Do you have anything that I can use?" but was met with a nonchalant shrug as she replied, "My people have not encountered aura dogs since we moved from our previous home… besides you."

He stood in disbelief, his mouth slack-jawed as well as a little sore from the brief beating he had received. She communicated with her delphox partner briefly, a little more understanding in tone when she turned back towards Lu to say, "My equal also knows little of your kind. I apologize that we could not be more useful," as she keeled down to meet him eye to eye. He couldn't contain his sigh any longer, and with it escaped a quiet whimper. "Hey hey…" she continued sweetly, "you will find your heritage one day." She smiled at him until he smiled in return, but then promptly wiped it away when she said, That said… I don't want to see you around here again. Tell your human the same goes for him." Louis blinked after this emotional whiplash, and after a moment of silence he was ordered to leave.

The two started their walk back to the truck, the way illuminated by dad and his flashlight. Lu quietly followed close behind dad, his head hidden in his hoodie. Eventually, dad broke the silence when he asked, "So… that didn't go so well, did it?" which received a solemn response of, "Nope."
"Did you get anything useful?"
"Nope."
"So what happened?"
He inhaled deeply, then spoke as he exhaled, "We aren't allowed back." Dad just gave a chuckle as he spoke, "Well, I go where I want… you aren't losing a friend, are you?"
"No. I can just hang out with her outside of her home."
Dad replied with a shrug. "So… who else can you ask?" Lu spoke with uncertainty, "No one… I think," as he looked to the ground in defeat. "I got beat up for no reason, today sucks."
"You just need more practice. Everyone starts out at the bottom."

The two talked about fighting and techniques as they made their way back home. Bruised and humiliated, Lu sunk into bed to forget the awful night he just had. Surely the future would be more promising.