[Pokemon] A Life to Live; A Max/Joker Story

Sunnyshore City; the town of Technology and Innovation. Max, now age 13, strolled down the beach with Eris at her side. They passed a vanilla cone back and forth, enjoying the beautiful weather while celebrating their graduation to full fledged Aura Guardian.

"Eris, wanna go for a swim?" Max suggested, stopping at one of the piers.

"It sounds like a relaxing idea." The Lucario responded with a nod.

Max stepped into one of the on-beach stalls and changed into her swimsuit before running into the water. Eris followed her, but stayed in the shallows. The two ran about throwing water back and forth, enjoying themselves. Over their splashing and laughter, Eris's ears twitched, making his stop his motions.

"Maxwell, listen." He instructed.

Max stopped her splashing and listened, picking up on the faint cries coming from further down the shore. She closed her eyes, reaching further through aura. This way, she picked up on a couple of people behind a pile of ocean rocks. They were holding something small, repeatedly dunking in into the seawater.

"Eris... I can't tell what that is."

"Allow me." He closes his eyes and placed a pws to his chest, the sensors on the side of his head flaring out. His eyes snapped open. "Its a pokemon!"

The two of them bolted for the rocks, ready to fight if needed. By the time they got there, the people and the pokemon were gone. Max and Eris searched the entire beach, and even the city, but couldn't find a single sign of the people. This angered the blonde. How dare someone commit such an act? She got no sleep that night, as she stared out the window of her pokemon center room. Eris placed a paw to her back and sighed. It was his way to trying to get her to sleep. Max smiled to her partner and kissed his forehead before crawling into bed.

"Good night, Eris." She yawned, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Sleep well, Maxwell." Eris sat against the wall next to her bed and fell into a meditative sleep. She always offered him space in the bed, but the Lucario preferred his sitting position more. It made it easier to react if there was trouble. Tonight was different. Eris focused his aura into his sight as he meditated, reaching to all corners of the City. He wished to ease the thoughts of his partner, so perhaps at least locating the two humans auras from earlier today would be enough. It was a long search, bit he was eventually able to locate their auras; including that of the little pokemon. Eris memorized their auric patterns and broke the connection, finally getting some rest.

Sunlight streamed through the window right onto Max's face. She blinked and groaned, the bastard of a sun causing her to blindly stumble out of bed.

"Erissss..." She yawned, absent mindedly brushing out her hair. "Could you please hand me the tie on the nightstand?"

The Lucario picked up the band and put Max's hair into the ponytail for her, before sliding her a mug of coffee.

"I didn't know you knew how to make this!" She gratefully accepted the mug with a sheepish smile.

"I learned from watching your mother and yourself, Maxwell." He responded. "Though it smells and tastes rather bitter. How are you able to drink such a liquid?"

"Its an acquired taste, bud."

"I also located them."

"Who?"


"The humans from yesterday at the beach."

Max almost dropped the mug. She placed it down on the table and pulled Eris close, resting her forehead against his.

"Please share what you found."

"Of course."

Together, their aura sight swept over the city effortlessly. Thanks to Eris, location the two people wasn't an issue either. They could sense so much when they combined their sight; where people were, pokemon, even the weather (overcast with a high chance of warm rain). Max pulled away and pat Eris on the head with a warm smile.

"They have the pokemon, let's go save it!"

The two ran, following their senses. The rain had started, but it didnt hinder the duo one bit as they towed down the alleys, getting closer and closer. Max skidded to a stop, Eris slamming into her back as she stared at the horrible scene before her.

"...Eris, please go stand watch." She said quietly, no emotion in her voice.

The Lucario wordlessly backpedaled to the entrance of the alleyway, now absolutely sure he didnt want to see what was going to happen next.

Max advanced on the two men shamelessly taking the boxcutter to the eevee. There was blood everywhere; the pokemon, the ground... Them. Each weak cry of pain was a stab to her heart. She grabbed one's wrist tightly, forcing him to drop the blade.

"How DARE you... Play with the lives of others like this." She seethed in a low tone, picking up the blade and placing it to the palm of his hand. "Would you care to feel a fraction of the pain you caused that baby?"

The male shook his head, while the other dropped the eevee and ran for it. Max glanced down at the shivering, blood covered mass, and sighed before turning her attention back to her target.

"If I EVER see, hear, or even sense your aura again. I WILL go through with my response. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Now leave." She let him go and he ran. Max knelt down to the eevee, who backed away. "Please... I'm here to save you." She slowly extended a hand, as Eris came back.

"There is no longer a need for me to stand guard, Maxwell. The two males have been apprehended by police as they were attempting to leave the city."

"Thank you, Eris." Her voice became a soothing whisper "Now, Joker... Please let us help you. You're safe now; nothing like this will never happen again. I swear on my life." She was able to pick the eevee up by the end of this. Max shielded it from the rain as she darted for the pokemon center, getting the care this tormented pokemon needed.

Max didn't leave the center lobby for the rest of the day. Eris could feel her worry. What if they were too late? What if something happened to her in the back?? These thoughts ebbed away as Eris placed a paw to her back. Eventually, the nurse can into the lobby.

"Apologies for the wait. Everything went fine, we just needed to find an all female staff. It seems the trauma the eevee went through sparked a fear of Male humans. She will have some immense scarring, some that will carry over into her evolution, but she will recover. I recommend finding her a home where she won't have a need to be afraid."

"Not to worry, ma'am." Max nodded. "She'll have me."

"Please come with me." The nurse spoke, leading her to the back. The eevee was laying on a table bandaged up. Max carefully approached, extending a hand. The eevee looked up and painfully moved closer, resting her head on the trainers hand.

"You're okay, Joker... You're okay now. You get to come with me when you're all healed up! We'll go on some great adventures and see all sorts of places! How does that sound?"

The eevee gave a smile, showing off the torn mouth it had. For once, it was happy to be alive.

~1 year later~

Joker was still afraid. She wouldn't let Riley anywhere near herself or Max, until Max finally got her to understand that her dad was 'good.' There on, he was one of a few males that Joker didn't mind.

The eevee was also terrified of the water. It was hell trying to give her a bath, and she had to be in Max's arms at all times while on the boat to Iron Island. Joker shivered enough to shake Max as well.

The guardian began training the eevee in very basic combat, gentle exercise and limited battle, as she was still a baby.

It was at this time that Max began exploring the Island thoroughly as well. Not a single stone went unturned, Joker and Eris happily helping as they too began to love the feeling of exploration. This led Max to start work at the Canalave Library, organizing books and even writing her own exploration logs and binding them to attempt to fill the many empty shelves of the older building.