'Man, I hope they can understand me. These guys can do that emotion-sensing thing, can't they? They can tell I'm being honest, right?'
The younger Lucario turns to its senior with an eyebrow raised, an astonishingly human gesture, as if saying 'Well?' or 'I told you so.'
For a moment, everyone holds their breath as the scarred pokemon narrows its eyes in thought. Even the Lucario up in the trees watch nervously. After the longest moment in Julian's life, the large Lucario finally deflates under the younger's stern, disapproving gaze. It - no, he. Something about him seems distinctly masculine to Julian - murmurs something under his breath and waves a dismissive paw.
His junior smiles and breathes a sigh of relief, putting its paws on its hips in yet another human gesture. It freezes, however, when the elder male turns away and murmurs something else in its rough voice, something too quiet for Julian to fully hear.
Julian breathes out a silent sigh and shifts on his feet, nervousness still bubbling in his gut. "So is that a yes? Can you show me to a town or something? I'm lost and alone out here, and if you show me I can get out of your forest and leave you alone."
Without any warning, the seemingly alpha male Lucario effortlessly hops back up into a high tree branch, landing upon the limb without so much as a sound or a disturbed leaf. He glances back down at both Julian and the junior pokémon.
The smaller Lucario regards Julian and raises its paw to its chin, seemingly indecisive. Then with a deep breath and a resolute nod, it turns away, making Julian's heart sink. They're just going to leave him here alone in this for-
The Lucario bends slightly and holds its arms out backward before looking over its shoulder. It looks as if the jackal pokémon wants to…
"…Carry me?" Julian blinks. "Well, erm. That's really kind and all, but you don't need to go that far. You can just point me to a town and I'll get going. Also, not looking to slight you so don't take it that way, but I think I'm probably a little too heavy for you."
And indeed the pokémon looks a little too overconfident. While the Lucario is definitely taller than the 3 foot average described in those old video games, this one is still a head shorter than him if the ears aren't counted.
The Lucario's brows furrow in annoyance. It waves its arms as if asking him to hurry up.
'Then again, I'm not that tall anymore either and my spare tire is gone now. Whatever, I'll humor…'
With it's back bent and tail slightly raised, Julian can clearly see that it is a she.
'…Her.'
"Okay, if you really insist…" The formerly grown man sighs, fully expecting the Lucario to crumple under his weight. He steps closer and drapes himself slowly over the back of the jackal, finding himself surprised when she doesn't even budge. He grips her shoulders and yelps when she easily scoops his legs up under her forepaws and stands up straight as if he isn't even there. "H-Hold on…"
Her legs tense, then she leaps.
Julian has to bite his lip to keep from yelling into his ride's ears as the ground rushes away under them, almost as if gravity simply ceased caring. The Lucario carrying him lands softly in a tree branch that groans under their combined weight, but it holds steady.
Ahead, the alpha male Lucario turns and jumps onto a distant tree branch. He flies with practically no arc and once again makes no sound.
As one, the entire Lucario trope, Julian and his savior included, rush to keep up. They all cut through the air with only a faint whistle from their sharp spikes marking their travel.
Julian grimaces and hugs the back of the pokemon carrying him, keeping his head pressed to the back of hers as to not be smacked by an errant branch. Despite his stomach rolling and churning he still manages to groan. "Definitely not my idea of an ideal day…"
Through the wind whistling in his ears and through his chest mashed to her back, the blonde both hears and feels his savior let out a distinctly canine chortle.
Julian huffs. "You don't need a laugh about it. How would you feel if you ended up in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar body likely due to some fuckery that your government workplace got up to?"
She spares a second between jumps to look back at him, confusion plain on her face.
"Oh, right. Pokémon. You don't have to worry about things like workplace incompetence. Whatever the hell happened, I'm just fine blaming them…" The teen grumbles. "Do you have a name?"
She looks back at him again, this time with an inquiring "Rrrr?"
"I can't just keep calling you 'that Lucario that saved me from getting pulped' now can I?" Julian muses, making an effort to think of anything other than the speeding forest floor below them. "I'll go first. Julian is my name, Julian Angelo. Yours is?"
She doesn't respond for a moment. "Rrrurrru," she says, sounding as if she's struggling to not roll her Rs.
"Ruru?" Julian murmurs, trying and failing to pronounce it as she did. "Eh, I'm sorry for butchering your name. How about a nickname so I don't look completely incompetent? Does Lulu sound all right? Kinda sounds like what you're trying to get across. Probably not the most original nickname for a Lucario, but…"
She tilts her head, then nods uncaringly.
"Glad we've got that out of the way." Julian takes a deep breath and ignores the smell of sweat and dog coming from the newly dubbed Lulu. Slowly but surely, his stomach begins to settle. "So, the guy who very obviously wanted me dead. He seems like a protective one. Is he your…" The teen pauses and thinks for a moment. "Husband? Mate?"