The battle was slipping.
Skylar knew it the moment their third Pokémon hit the field—a Houndoom, fast and brutal, flanking left around Arcanine's perimeter while a Weavile blitzed from the other side.
Skylar's breath came fast, teeth gritted.
Charizard was already winded.
Scyther was down.
Arcanine growled, spinning to intercept—but he couldn't be everywhere at once.
And the men?
They didn't care about balance or fairness.
They fought like scavengers.
"I'll give you one more chance," the hunter leader said, his voice oily, arrogant. "Walk away. We'll pretend this didn't happen."
Skylar didn't respond.
He was watching the cage.
Inside, Riolu had risen to one knee.
One paw braced against the metal floor.
Eyes glowing.
Aura flickering like the tip of a match.
It locked eyes with him again.
Skylar's heart pounded—not in fear, but in recognition.
He felt it.
A pulse of connection.
The kind Oak had once described as "the rarest bond between trainer and Pokémon: the one that isn't formed through capture—but through choice."
A surge.
A flicker of light.
And then—
CRACK.
The air snapped.
A tremor echoed across the clearing.
Every hunter froze.
The cage glowed with deep blue lines—like veins running through steel.
And then—
BOOM.
It exploded outward in a flash of aura.
The metal bars twisted, melted, scattered.
Smoke billowed—
And from it rose Riolu, eyes blazing.
The hunters shouted.
One turned to his Pokémon. "Houndoom, Flamethrower!"
The beast inhaled—
"Charizard—Protect him!"
Skylar's command came sharp and fast.
Charizard moved like a black bullet, wings crashing down between Riolu and the incoming flame.
A wall of fire met a wall of shadowed scales.
The attack parted harmlessly.
Riolu didn't flinch.
Skylar stepped forward, breath steady now.
"You're not alone anymore."
Riolu glanced back at him—
And nodded.
Then turned toward the field.
Arcanine roared and lunged at Weavile again, barely keeping pace.
But now Riolu blurred into the fight, spinning low into a Force Palm that knocked the ice-type clear into a tree.
The men cursed.
"Take them down! All of them!"
Too late.
Skylar raised his voice.
"Charizard—Dragon Claw, right flank!"
"Arcanine—Flare Blitz center!"
"Riolu—left side, Feint + Quick Attack!"
They moved as one.
Not three Pokémon and a trainer—
But a unit.
Charizard swept low, smashing the enemy's Manectric into the dirt.
Arcanine exploded forward in a comet of flame, sending dust and fire everywhere.
Riolu blinked behind a Crobat and struck it clean across the jaw, dropping it instantly.
Within seconds, it was over.
The hunters' team lay unconscious or fleeing.
The men themselves began to back away.
"You don't understand what you're interfering with!" one shouted. "That Riolu's worth a fortune! That thing is—"
Skylar stepped forward.
His aura surged like a second sunrise behind him.
"Say another word," he said, "and I'll let Riolu respond."
The man paled.
Then turned and ran.
Silence.
The dust cleared.
Charizard landed.
Arcanine padded forward, blood still warm.
And Riolu…
Stood beside Skylar.
Chest rising.
Eyes glowing faintly.
It didn't run.
Didn't leave.
It looked up.
And reached out one paw.
Skylar knelt.
And took it.
A faint shimmer of aura danced between their hands—blue and gold.
And in that moment—
Skylar knew.
Not every partner needed to be caught.
Some found you.