Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 335: Protecting the World’s Beginning Tree (Two-in-One)

Seeing that Lucario’s heart knot marker was still unchanged, Rio wondered silently. Lucario itself stood there in a daze, as if processing everything.

"If you still don’t believe it, you could go to the World’s Beginning Tree. There might be discoveries from back then." Rio suggested after a moment’s thought.

If he remembered correctly, in the original story, Aaron had left several Time Flowers along the path to the World Tree, recording everything that had happened and his experiences. It was through those that Lucario learned Aaron hadn’t abandoned his beliefs. However, in the original ending, Lucario gave all its Aura to Mew to save the Tree—and lost its life, joining Aaron in death. Now that the "Ash" role had been replaced by him, he wouldn’t let that happen.

"Go to the World’s Beginning Tree?" Lucario snapped out of its daze.

"Oh, right! I remember now—the World Tree has Time Flowers that record past events. Aura Guardians can activate them with Aura power. If you have doubts, you can go see for yourself." Mew, floating midair, chimed in.

"Time Flowers..." Lucario murmured, then nodded with determined eyes. "I’ll go to the World Tree. I want to know the truth!"

"Then let’s go!" Mew beamed. It loved bringing friends to the World Tree.

An hour later, Rio and Lucario were carried by Mew’s psychic power toward the World’s Beginning Tree.

"Look—that’s the World Tree, where I live!" Mew pointed proudly as they flew.

"It’s huge." Rio complimented. It was indeed massive—visible from a hundred miles away. It took them a full half hour to reach it.

But the moment Rio stepped into the World Tree’s territory, a giant stone Pokémon lying within the Tree awakened.

Yes, it was Regirock. It emerged from the Tree and fired a Hyper Beam—directed solely at Rio. Fortunately, Mew reacted quickly and blocked it with Protect.

"Mew~" — He’s my friend! Don’t attack him! Mew scolded Regirock angrily.

But Regirock ignored it and fired a Zap Cannon at Rio. This time, Rio sent out Mewtwo, who caught it with Psychic.

"Sorry, Rio—your presence must have triggered the World Tree’s immune system, so Regirock woke up and attacked you." Mew quickly explained, fearing Rio might misunderstand.

"It’s fine. I know." Rio shrugged, unconcerned. In the original story, Regice and Registeel had also joined the attack on intruders. He’d been prepared.

What did bother him, though, was that Regigigas had apparently made a lot of these Regi. They were everywhere—in every region, guarding important places. He couldn’t help but wonder if, after Regigigas got beaten by Arceus and saddled with Slow Start, Arceus had also dispatched its remaining minions to other regions. Why else were the three Regi so common?

Just as Rio was thinking this, the other two Regi appeared—Regice and Registeel. They joined the attack. "Don’t worry about me—just take Lucario and keep going. These three can’t hurt me with Mewtwo here." Rio stopped Mew from trying to help.

The three Regi attacked simultaneously—Stone Edge, Ice Beam, and Flash Cannon—but Mewtwo blocked them all with Psychic. Seeing that, Mew led Lucario forward. Only humans were targeted by the Tree—Pokémon were safe. Mew and Lucario quickly disappeared from Rio’s sight.

Mewtwo carried Rio, defending against the Regi while following Mew’s direction toward the Tree’s heart. By the time they reached the deepest part, Lucario was standing before a purple, conch-like object—a Time Flower. Mew hovered nearby.

"Rio, your Aura is the same as Sir Aaron’s. This Time Flower needs your touch to awaken." Lucario said when it saw Rio.

Rio raised an eyebrow, walked up to the Time Flower, and crouched down to touch it. The flower-like object opened, releasing a small blue glowing orb. It spread outward, and before Rio and Lucario, an image appeared—a man in a hero’s outfit walking into this very place.

Seeing him, Lucario gasped: "Sir Aaron!"

But the man didn’t respond. He looked around and called out: "Come out, Mew!"

A moment later, a cry came from above—and in the vision, Ho-Oh appeared. It looked down for two seconds, then flashed white and transformed into Mew, landing before Aaron.

"Mew, I know you and the World Tree are one. Please use your power to end the disaster outside. I will give you all my Aura." Aaron said seriously.

Mew nodded. Aaron raised his right hand toward Mew and shouted: "Aura is within me—receive my Aura!"

Powerful Aura energy surged from his palm, enveloping Mew. As Mew absorbed it, Aaron visibly weakened. Soon, Mew received it all and brought Aaron’s desire and Aura to the Tree’s core. The World Tree responded, emitting a brilliant blue light that spread outward—reaching the two battling armies, whose Pokémon stopped fighting, turning from fierce beasts into gentle creatures.

Inside the Tree, Aaron, having given his Aura, slowly fell. He whispered apologetically:

"Lucario... I’m sorry. I had to seal you away—otherwise, you would have followed me anywhere and shared my fate."

"Ending a meaningless war with my life—that’s enough. But I have no regrets. The time I spent with you and Lady Irene in that castle—that was proof that I lived. Thank you, Lucario. Every day with you made me happy."

"Lucario... if possible, I hope to meet you again. My friend."

With that, Aaron’s body dissolved into specks of light, fading into the world. The Time Flower closed again.

"Sir Aaron... I’m sorry. I misunderstood you." Lucario was choked with tears, full of regret for doubting its most important person.

Seeing this, Rio sighed and didn’t say much—just patted Lucario’s shoulder. He knew better than to tell someone in grief to "cheer up" or "move on." That would only invalidate their feelings. The right approach was to allow them to grieve and guide them to accept it.

"Lucario, if you need to cry, go ahead. It’s okay. Your pain is completely understandable—Aaron’s passing is worth mourning." Rio said gently.

Hearing this, Lucario stopped holding back and wept openly—no longer a stoic warrior, but a helpless child releasing years of pain.

"Mew~" — Cry it out. Let it all go. Mew hovered nearby, patting its shoulder.

At that moment, Rio noticed Lucario’s level information had changed. The "temporarily unable to level up due to heart knot" prompt was gone, replaced with "5555 days until next level." Its friendship had also risen from -10 to 0, then to 5.

Rio knew his comfort had worked. He sat quietly beside Lucario without saying a word. Sometimes, silent presence spoke louder than words—letting them know they weren’t alone.

Learn from this, my friend. Unless Lucario spoke first, he wouldn’t speak.

This did make things harder for Mewtwo, who was still fending off the three Regi, repeatedly tossing them back to the entrance. After several rounds, Mew took pity and prepared to use its power to communicate with the Tree and tell it Rio wasn’t an intruder—but Rio stopped it. In the original, that was what led to Lucario’s death. Communicating with the Tree consumed Mew’s energy, weakening it and the Tree. The only fix was Aura power, which Mew had asked Lucario to give—and Lucario agreed, sacrificing its life.

Rio wouldn’t let that happen. With Mewtwo here, the Regi couldn’t touch him. Lucario would not sacrifice itself.

"Rio, do you know how good Sir Aaron was to me? Do you know?" Lucario finally spoke after an hour of sitting with Rio.

"I don’t." Rio shook his head. "But I can tell from your reaction that he was a very good person to you."

[Lucario’s friendship has increased]

[Friendship: 8 (-10 → 8) ]

Rio’s acknowledgment struck a chord. "I want to go with him," Lucario said next.

That made Rio tense. What—still going to sacrifice itself?

"I understand that feeling, but I don’t agree with that choice—because it would break Aaron’s heart." Rio affirmed first, then gently dissuaded.

Lucario looked at him. Rio continued: "Everything Aaron did was for you to live. If you follow him in death, how heartbroken would he be? He could accept you dying in any other way—but not by chasing after him."

Lucario lowered its head. It understood. "But without Sir Aaron, I don’t know what meaning my life has. I don’t know what I can do. Maybe Rota no longer needs my protection."

"Life has no inherent meaning. You give it meaning. If you can’t find one now, I can point you to a path." Rio said.

Mewtwo glanced back—Rio had once told it the same thing: "Life has no inherent meaning."

"What path?" Lucario asked.

Rio spread his arms and said seriously: "Follow me. Together, we can protect the Kanto region—and the whole world. The world today still faces many crises, and your strength is needed."

Lucario was taken aback. It hadn’t expected Rio to suggest following him. Rio continued: "Carry Aaron’s dream with you and see this vast, beautiful world."

"Carry Aaron’s dream... and see the world." Lucario murmured, lost in thought.

After a few minutes, Rio heard the words he’d been waiting for: "I want to carry Sir Aaron’s dream and protect this world with you."