"They communicate with one another using their auras. They are able to run all through the night."
-HeartGold/SoulSilver Pokédex

The cool night air rushed through Rio's yellow fur. He ignored the chills it sent running down his back as he sat in meditation atop the hill. Lu and Riley had yet to respond to his distress signal.

"Are either of you there?" Rio asked with a sense of urgency. He hoped that adding a feeling of panic would alert the other two quicker.

Rio waited and waited and waited when finally, Lu responded, "Rio, what's wrong. Your aura put off a sense of fear."

"I'm alright, but neither you nor Riley have responded for a while. I'm just making sure you are both okay."

"I haven't heard from Riley either, but I'm sure he is just fine." Her aura changed to a more lighthearted one in an instant, "Meet me back at base. I have something to report."

Rio was skeptical of her message. Something felt off about her aura. When communicating, auras usually don't just change from panic to something completely opposite like lightheartedness in a matter of seconds. Rio couldn't just let it go either. What if Lu was in trouble? He had to go despite the bad feeling this left in the pit of his stomach.

Before taking off, he took a look at the moon overhead. It was a crescent moon tonight: a symbol of good dreams and hope sent by Cresselia. Rio wanted a bit more than hope from a legend that probably didn't exist in their mission tonight, but it was all be was going to get. He was grateful for that much as he ran down the hill and into the forest below.

At the edge of the forest, Rio leapt up into the trees. He jumped from branch to branch, bobbing and weaving between the leaves. Rio had made so many trips in this fashion that he had mastered the ability to move silently through the trees. He always liked to imagine that he was a Greninja racing towards his prey.

Even if the trip spanned nearly half a mile, Rio arrived to the trio's base in a matter of minutes. Trips of such length just weren't a huge deal to him after so many of them. As he approached the base, he sensed a familiar life form inside the small treetop hut. "Hi Lu."

Lu spun to face Rio as he entered through the base's leafy curtain that acted as their door. Her huge red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. "Oh thank Arceus you're here. I have some urgent news that I couldn't share through the aura over such a distance."

"It's about Riley, isn't it?" Rio guessed.

"Yes, it is. The poachers we've been tracking got a hold of him while he was on a surveillance mission." Lu shook her head, clearly distraught. "I was near him when it happened. I could feel his aura change, but even worse, I heard him shriek in pain as they sent their guard Pokemon after him."

Rio put an arm around Lu's shoulder, "It's alright, we'll get him. We'll also free the other Pokemon they captured like we originally planned. Everything will be alright." he assured. He didn't quite believe his words though as he sensed Lu's remaining fear.

"Rio, there's another problem. Their guard Pokemon is a Lucario. If we try to get close while communicating through the aura, it'll be able to follow us and learn our plans."

"Well, this complicates things a bit." Rio sat in silence for a few moments. Ideas danced through his head about what to do with this new complication. "What if we overload his senses."

Lu shook her head, "That won't help. Aura doesn't depend on any of our five sense and you know that."

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying that we send dozens of thoughts through the aura to each other and to Riley. He won't be able to hone in on all of them. The more thoughts there are, the bigger the chance is that he will miss an important one. We use this chaos to create an opening and free the Pokemon."

Lu thought it over for a moment. She closed her eyes and, without meaning to, went into a state of meditation. Her feelers glowed with a bluish purple light. Rio could see her eyes move around under her eye lids. "We just can't let him have a chance to attack us. If he is able to hit us, it's all over. At least, that's what I see could happen."

Rio nodded. His plan avoided combat on purpose. Their evolved form was known for varied and unpredictable forms of combat. Each and every Lucario had a different style of fighting unique to them. "We won't have to throw out a single punch." Rio confirmed.

Lu and Rio agreed to rest for a little while before setting out on their mission. The two shared berries and nuts before deciding it was time to put the plan into motion. Lu lead the way while Rio followed close behind. Rio had never seen the poachers' base, but Lu described the layout to him to the letter.

The crates holding the captured Pokemon were off to the side of the camp. There were three different crates, the bottom left one held Riley. Lu explained that the humans hated the smell the Pokemon gave off and complained about it all the time. Their two tents were on the other side of a small clearing. They made a fire pit between the two main features of the camp. She said that she had observed Lucario pacing between the fire and the cages, then back and forth in front of the cages before returning to the fire pit area.

Finally, Rio and Lu caught sight of a glowing orange opening in the trees. The fire was low at this time of night, but Lucario still strode around with full alertness. He was pacing in front of the cages at the moment.

Lu held up a paw and Rio stopped before leaping to the next branch. The two sat in complete silence. The sounds of the bug types in the forest drowned out their breathing and the rustling of the branch they were on. Lucario didn't notice they were there. Lu motioned for Rio to move to a tree opposite to the one they sat in.

Rio jumped down to the middle of the camp and back up into the trees on the other side. Lucario, who had been turned away in that instant, snapped his attention to the center of the camp. He closed his eyes and his feelers began to glow.

"I can see you two. Give yourselves up and I won't hurt you." He spoke.

Rio smiled, it was working. "Eh, maybe. Or maybe I can just move to the tree next to me." The two Riolu jumped to the trees next to them, but Lu jumped back to where she had been sitting before in an attempt to add some confusion. Lucario opened his eyes and looked around the clearing, his feelers still stood at attention.

He turned to follow Lu, and when he did, Rio jumped to the tree adjacent to the cages. Lucario stopped and turned to where Rio sat. As he turned to follow Rio, Lu jumped closer to the humans' tent.

Lucario turned to her and growled, "I can sense your malicious intent you brat. Make another move and I will attack."

Rio smiled, "Alright, we can do our work from here. Hey Riley, are you there?"

A fourth aura stirred. Rio's message had acted like a gentle poke to the sleeping Pokemon's mind. Riley was now part of the fun.

"Hey Riley, try to punch a hole in the cage." Lu sarcastically suggested. She knew that Riley couldn't actually do it. The cage was made of a super durable steel meant to hold any Pokemon in.

"Stop guys, the guard will sense your messages." Riley replied with a sense of fear.

"Too late," Lucario snarled viciously.

"Guys run, you can't save me. Just get out of here." Riley messaged as Lu and Rio once again changed branches. Rio even jumped down into the camp in front of Lucario to add to the effect.

Lucario trained his eyes and ears on Rio and sprang up to the trees after him. A wave of panic washed over Rio. He had not expected Lucario actually give pursuit. Lucario glared down at him, teeth bared and fists clenched.

"You made a bad move, ya little runt. I'm going skin you alive and take your annoyingly colored pelt to my masters." He threatened.

Rio hadn't calculated that he might be an easier target to track down because of his unique fur coloring. Lu and Riley blended into the dark blues and greens of the forest like a normal Riolu. Rio did not. Rio's bright yellow fur stuck out like a sore thumb, especially at night time. It must have made it easier for Lucario to find him, both with and without the use of aura.

Trembling, Rio tightened his paws into fists. He took a deep breath and swung at Lucario. Because of his over confidence, Lucario was caught off guard at Rio's ability to actually hurt him. He fell down to the forest floor below with a loud thud. It took him only seconds to regain his wits and spring back up into the trees.

The branch shook violently when he landed. The bouncing of the platform caused Rio to lose his balance. Lucario took advantage of this and slammed his fist into Rio's stomach sending him to his back. Lucario then tried to stomp on Rio, but he rolled to the side and right off the branch. Swiftly, Rio grabbed for a twig to keep from falling. Lucario towered over him and lifted a foot to try to stomp on him again. 

Rio decided to let go and drop to the ground. No sense in staying up there and fighting. He rolled towards the fire in the middle of the camp. He looked up just in time to see an aura sphere attack fly out of the tree Lu was perched in and into the side of a cage. In the stress of confronting Lucario, he had totally forgotten to check with Lu on her status.

"Lu, how are you faring over there?" Rio asked.

"Just fine, keep distracting your new friend." Lu responded. She sent another aura sphere down into the next cage successfully freeing more Pokemon.

Rio spun around just in time to see Lucario fling himself down at him. Not entirely in control of his actions, Rio charged a mini aura sphere and launched it at Lucario. The attack connected with Lucario about a foot from Rio's face. Lucario was launched backwards into the trunk of a tree behind the tents. Scrambling to his feet, Rio ran to meet up with Lu, Riley, and the other freed Pokemon.

"We need to leave, now! I'm not sure how long it will take Lucario to get back up from that." Rio ordered.

"He will still be able to track us." Riley mentioned, "He's like us, but stronger. He can sense us from miles away."

"Then we should get moving right now." Lu suggested. The other two knew it was more of an order than a suggestion though.

The trio decided to run along the ground with the freed Pokemon instead of up in the trees. Someone had to act as body guards for the little guys. Not long into their escape, the trio of Riolu felt an enraged aura wash over the serene one of the forest.

Rio waved his paw for the Pokemon to continue running away. Lu and Riley paused with Rio, all three knew what the source of such a hateful feeling was. He felt their auras become troubled and afraid. Rio was certain that if he could sense his own aura, it would be just as terrified.

Another howl was cut short by human voices, "Shut up Lucario." 

"Go back to guarding the catch ya dumb mutt!"

Lucario's rage filled aura disappeared and was replaced by one of annoyance. Finally, the aura disappeared all together, and the trio guessed that he had fallen asleep feeling defeated from his loss. The peaceful mood of the forest returned as the hoard of Pokemon fled, no longer afraid of such a terrifying foe.