By now the human is more or less accepted by the entirety of the pack. Scout's endorsement, Lulu's companionship, and Lady Luca's open doting seems to have overcome the awkward public opinion caused by Pops' open dislike of Julian. Until about the two-week mark, none of the Lucario would openly train with their aura, but now the new step seems to have been added to everyone's morning exercises.
Some of the jackal pokémon meditate similar to Lulu, some with more or less aura flaring around them. Some meditate but focus a small sphere of bright, glowing blue in their paws as they sit. Fewer flow through their morning dance with aura trailing their limbs, and some take on even more esoteric exercises. Julian spies one mousy female standing far away, visibly straining as three spheres of aura slowly rotate around her form.
Julian hears Lulu take a deep breath through her muzzle and then smoothly stand once more. Julian follows, already settling into the familiar stance of the first dance.
Lulu shakes her head, confusing him. "Ririon, car ri luro," she says. She slides into a form far more aggressive than that of the morning dances, one paw drawn back and ready to punch while her other is held out spike-first towards him. It looks exactly like the beginning stance of the fighting style that all the Lucario share.
"Wait, hold on…" Julian balks. "You want me, a normal human, to spar with you, a pokemon?"
Lulu smiles and nods, not moving an inch out of her form.
'Well shit…' The blonde boy grimaces. "Here goes nothing…" He raises his fists, spreads his legs, and plants his feet. He's keenly aware of the sheer number of eyes on him
The Lucario across from him tenses, but doesn't make the first move.
Julian gulps.
Ten seconds pass, then twenty. At thirty, Julian cracks and attacks first. He rushes forward, throwing caution to the wind and winding up an uppercut aimed squarely at Lulu's chin. His fist flies, and it seems as if the blow is going to connect for just a second.
Lulu bats away his punch with her open palm. There is enough force behind the parry to throw Julian's poor guard wide open, so the Lucario steps into his arms as if invited before planting her knee squarely in his gut. A fierce cry erupts from her lips.
Julian coughs out an explosive exhale, feeling his eyes bulge behind the force of the blow. He practically bends around her knee and when she steps back, he falls hands and knees to the ground. For half a second, he thinks she's going to press the advantage like the other Lucario do for their own sparring partners and scrambles back to his feet.
Lulu, however, does no such thing and merely retakes her stance.
With a growl, Julian raises his shaking fists again. This time, he moves in slower, now realizing no amount of speed is going to help. He tenses his arms as if to punch, but instead shoots out a low kick intended to trip.
Without even needing to look, Lulu hops over the kick and snaps out her leg in her own kick, one aimed for the side of his head. Again, she let out a snarl as she attacks.
Eyes wide, Julian brings up his arms to guard his face, but Lulu's leg smashes into his guard like a truck. The bones in his arms creak dangerously and instantly ache. Before she can retreat, the blonde teen pushes away his pain and wraps one arm around his partner's leg to keep her in place. His other hand lashes out in a wild punch filled with hope that she would be unable to block while imbalanced.
Lulu's free leg lands and plants itself firmly. At the same time, she raises a single paw and stops Julian's punch dead in her palm with a thwack!
A cold feeling creeps into Julian's gut. "Uh…"
She easily rips her leg from his hold and mirroring his attack earlier, uses that same leg to launch a low kick that he can't dodge in time. The limb is little more than a blur of black fur that barrels into his legs and drops him painfully to the grass.
"Oof!" The human grunts when his clumsy recovery just lands him on his aching stomach. He dares not take any longer than a handful of seconds to rise to his feet again, raising his fists and getting ready for more.
The spar continues on heavily in Lulu's favor. The Lucario doesn't need anything more than the bare minimum amount of force or technique to keep her sparring partner occupied. As they continue on though, Julian begins to notice the corners of her eyes crinkling.
After what feels like an hour, Lulu raises a large paw up with a sigh, signaling the stop.
Panting and nursing several bruises, Julian glances behind him at the sun and notes with dismay that it's probably only been about 15 minutes. He scans around from the corner of his eyes, resentment bubbling within him as he sees that none of the other Lucario are really surprised.
"Ririon…" Lulu addresses him with her paws on her hips. "Grarrio?" She says, her tone disapproving.
"Yeah yeah, I know I suck." Julian kneads a bruise on his arm sullenly as he looks down at his feet. The sides of them have grown yellow with calluses. "No need to rub it in."
Lulu shakes her head and steps closer, raising his chin up with a paw. "Raro," she says. Watch, as he's puzzled out over the last few weeks. She shifts into her fighting stance with her right fist held back. Wordlessly, she thrusts her fist forward in an impressive punch. There's an audible sound and Julian's shirt ruffles slightly from the wind wash. Such a strike would probably spiderweb a slab of concrete like a sledgehammer by Julian's estimate.