It's the fear - 1

My name? I don't really have a name. Riku calls me Luke, but he's the only one who's ever bothered calling me something other than Riolu. Riku has a name, sure, but that's because he's important. I've been practically ignored my whole life.

Mom tries to tell me that my lack of aura powers means I'm unique and special. I do my best to pretend that her words cheer me up, but they don't. Even without being able to see her aura, I know when I'm being lied to. Besides Riku, she's the only one who's ever paid me any attention. I've tried my best to impress my dad, but nothing ever works. No new technique, no mission I helped out with, nothing. He just ignores me and keeps on walking. If I'm lucky he yells at me for distracting him.

It's not that bad though, since I get to do pretty much anything I want. Rayquaza's Clutch isn't the most exciting place, but I find things to do. Sometimes I'm able to tag along with a team on an easy mission. Other times I train by myself in the cold mountainside. No aura powers, no attention. I get it, so I adapt.

Riku, on the other hand, gets too much attention. He's the one with the aura powers and gets to be the chosen leader while I get ignored. I would be overcome with jealousy if I didn't feel so sorry for him. I am jealous, don't get me wrong. I hate the fact that I'm so weak compared to him; he can see anything with his special "aura vision" he's been bragging about, and I...can't. But at the same time, I can't say I wish to be in his place. He gets so much attention and training that everyone expects him to be perfect. Every mistake of his is berated, and he's forced to perfect and polish his techniques when he should be out playing with everyone else.  

The only time we even get to talk is at night, right around now. He typically comes beaten to a pulp, either from too much training, or dad's frustration with him. I wish one day he'd come back happy. Don't get me wrong, I still hate him for always being better than me. I'm even planning on evolving before he does so that people will finally notice me. Maybe then he'd look forward to evolving and becoming a leader.

He's late. The only reason I can think of is that he was forced to train more. Or maybe not; those slow, echoed footsteps sound like he's coming in now. The stone in the buildings might keep out the wind, but it does a lousy job at keeping out any sounds. Riku must have had a bad day; normally he has a faster step than this. Maybe dad got angry again.

Wow, dad definitely got angry again. It's worse than normal, much worse. I don't know if I've ever seen Riku this bad before. He's covered in bruises that are more than just battle wounds, many of which are bleeding. Judging by how he's walking, I'd also say he has a broken leg. This is going to take a lot of berries.

"What went wrong this time?" I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible as I move over to the wall, hiding my concern. It's not like this hasn't happened before. Thankfully, I keep a secret stash of Oran berries hidden inside the walls. Even though the stone makes for a lousy bed, at least they can easily be removed to form hidden places.

"I told dad that I didn't want to evolve." Riku answers, his voice weak.

"What?!" I'm shocked. I thought Riku was smarter than that. "I told you several times to never mention that to him! It doesn't matter what you want, what matters is what dad expects."

"But...Luke, I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate being ..." Riku stops, interrupted by a coughing fit. I wince at the blood that hits the stone floor, instantly regretting my anger.

"Look, don't talk anymore. Just eat some of these," I say, offering Riku the Oran berries I had taken out of their hiding place. I keep them for events like this, but don't get me wrong, I still hate him. It's ...just... hard to go to sleep when he's moaning in pain, that's all. And I don't want dad to get angry at me if something bad happens to him.

Riku quickly tears through all the berries in front of him. He leaves a bit of a mess, but I don't care. I just sit and watch my gifted brother as his wounds start to heal. I don't say anything, simply waiting until he feels comfortable enough to tell me more. I watch through the hole in the ceiling as the last of the sunlight fades, waiting for signs of the Watchers.

"I thought dad might care about what I wanted..." Riku says, as if he is thinking out loud.

"Riku, you know he doesn't care about that. Nobody cares what you want except mom. All they care about is how special you are," I say, my disgust at his abilities apparent in my voice. "You're the one who has the aura and who's going to become a great Lucario leader. That's all they see when they look at you."

"I hate him..." I stay silent for a moment, not sure of how to respond. "Maybe by choosing to never evolve, I could get him back. Maybe I'm just too scared. I don't know, but I just can't evolve. For once I want people to see something besides a future Lucario when they look at me."

I still don't know what to do. What can I say? If I encourage him to become a Lucario, I will only be ignored more. If I agree with him, then he will only be abused and lectured even more by dad. What can I do? It's a lose-lose situation, and I can't do anything. After all, I'm the weak one.

"Look Riku, just...just try to play along until we can figure out what to do, ok?" We? Why did I say we? I hate him. "Maybe mom will be able to help."

"I doubt it..." And with that, the conversation finished. Riku curls up on the floor, exhausted. After cleaning up the mess he made eating the berries, I join him, ready for a good night's sleep.

---

"Gaaaaah!"

Make that a terrible night's sleep. I groan, trying to open my eyes. As soon as I'm able to, I can clearly see that Riku's not in good shape. He's panicking after another nightmare, and boy he looks pathetic. His tail's between his legs, and his head's so low it's almost touching the ground.

I turn away, frustrated. "It's only a bad dream Riku, just catch your breath and go back to sleep before you wake everyone else up."

"No, it's not a dream, Luke. It's real. They're everywhere." Great, not this again. Stupid Watchers. Boy, they really scare him, don't they? Now he's running around in circles.

"Just calm down, the Watchers can't hurt you. Now go back to sleep, and stop using your special vision to look at them. It doesn't do you any good."

Riku doesn't say anything, but instead stops running around and looks like he's about to cry. He walks over to me, curling up right next to me. He's warm, but he's shivering like he's freezing. "I...I can't help it. They say it'll get better after I evolve, but..." his voice trailed off as he started to cry.

I hold him close with my arms, doing my best to comfort him. Don't get me wrong, I still hate him...most of the time. But how can I hate him now? Normally he's the gifted one that steals the spotlight. Right now he's just a scared kid. "Try telling me what you see," I offer. "Maybe that'll help."

Riku sniffs, wiping the tears off his face. "That's the problem, Luke, I don't see anything. Everything has aura in it. Everything. The Pokémon, the trees, the air, the mountains, the water... But at night, when the Watchers come out, everything becomes dark. Nothing's there." He looks at me with a pathetic face that's just yearning for answers, but I can't help him, so I let him continue. I'm the weak one, remember?

"The Watchers are....devoid of any kind of life force, just sucking in everything around them. All I can see is a .... burning blackness, a complete emptiness. When I look out, it feels like I'm isolated from everyone and everything. I'm alone. I don't want to be alone." He starts crying again; this obviously wasn't helping. I don't know what to say, except to stop crying up so I can get back to sleep. I guess in some small way I'm lucky that I can't see the aura.

He's letting out a constant low whine while tears run down his face, making his fur stick together. I don't mind. He needs someone to comfort him right now, and that's the older brother's job, right? "Riku, you're not alone. I'll always be here."

That seems to be all that Riku needs as he finally starts to drift back to sleep on my shoulder. It's quite comfortable having something warm close by, so I fall asleep quickly myself, hoping to salvage some kind of sleep for tomorrow.

"Promise me you'll never leave."

So much for sleep. Now I'm beginning to get annoyed, and it shows through my voice. "Promise? Why do you need me to promise? You know if I'm telling the truth or not with all your gifted powers."

"Promise me! I have to be able to trust you!" What's his problem? That's it, I've had it.

"Trust? Trust? Why do you care about trust? You have all your special aura seeing powers so you can always tell if someone's lying or not. You don't need trust when you can see everything, know everybody's emotions, pry into people's minds with your stupid telepathy."

Riolu doesn't say anything for a long time, and I instantly know that I've made a mistake. Once again, I've let my bitterness get the best of me. I really should work on that. I should apologize, but I'm still too bitter right now. I should just keep my mouth shut so I don't say anything else I'll regret.

Finally, after one of the longest silences in my life, Riolu speaks again, but it's not what I was expecting to hear. "Dad said I shouldn't tell you."

"Then for Arceus' sake, don't say anything, or we're both going to end up like you did."

Once again, he falls silent, debating whether to say anything or not. Right when I think I'll finally get some sleep...

"I can't read your mind."

"RIKU JUST GO TO SLE......wait, what?" This is not what I was expecting to hear him say.

"I just said, I can't read your mind."

Ok, now I'm really confused. My special brother, destined to be the future leader can't hear my thoughts? He doesn't seem to mind intruding on other people's thoughts, I know that much. "I heard, but...why? I don't get it."

"Well, the way dad explains it, for some reason your mind blocks out the aura inside of you, preventing it from reaching out in anyway. That's why you can't use it. However, at the same time, that barrier also prevents others from being able to read your mind, or try to access it in anyway. In fact, I can't even see you when I use my aura vision. That's why I feel so alone at night when the Watchers are out."

Well, he's definitely serious, that's for sure. It's almost like he wasn't a scared puppy just five minutes ago. I think I understand now. "So that's why you wanted me to promise. I'm the one person you can't instantly tell if they're lying or telling the truth."

Riku slowly nods, and once again, I feel horrible for lashing out at him. I just...can't help hating him sometimes. But he really wants to trust me, perhaps more than anyone else in the world. It's the least I can do to reach out, right?

"I promise, Riku. I'll never leave you." He seems to be satisfied, and we finally both go to sleep. For once, I see a smile on Riku's face. I don't remember him smiling since he was just a baby. I realize now that trust is a powerful thing. My promise was able to give a scared and overwhelmed Riolu joy.

I wonder how long I'll be able to keep that promise.