A brilliant azure paw erupted from the green-spotted egg, scattering shards of the fragile shell in every direction like a mini fireworks display. Seconds later, another paw punched its way through, widening an existing crack in the shell. On a closer look, each hand had a prominent, snowy white bump on the back, an intriguing characteristic of its species. With a final, vigorous shake, the newly hatched Pokemon burst forth, propelling the remains of its eggshell in a scattershot pattern.

Noah gazed in awe at the creature standing before him. Its pitch-black irises, bordered by vibrant red pupils, seemed to glow with a fire of their own. Its fur bore a striking black and blue scheme, save for its eyes and its drooping, black ears. Noah's eyes widened in pure delight, his lips curling into an uncontrollable grin.

It was a Pokemon he was all too familiar with - Riolu.

The Riolu returned Noah's gaze, its tiny face wrinkled in a visage of anxiety. Its red eyes flicked warily over Noah's form, inspecting him as if expecting danger. But Noah remained blissfully unaware of the Pokemon's trepidation. As he wrapped his arms around the visibly nervous Riolu, a sudden wash of relief seemed to come over the creature.

Riolu broke into tears, its small body trembling as streams of saline flowed down its furry cheeks. Noah, taken aback by the abrupt emotional shift, started to question himself. "Did I mess up? Why is it crying?" In a panicked response, he pulled the crying Pokemon even tighter into a comforting embrace, and Riolu reciprocated by locking its petite arms around Noah's torso.

Suddenly, a piece of trivia Noah had stumbled upon years ago flashed through his mind. "Riolu is capable of reading the intentions of people to assure their intentions," Noah recounted, "Maybe that's why its egg was so unusually large because it was delaying its own hatching out of fear of the Team Rocket grunts."

Noah gently stroked the sobbing Pokemon's head, sympathizing with its unfortunate circumstance. Sensing his tender touch, Riolu gradually began to relax. Its tears ceased, and it gazed back up at Noah, its eyes shimmering like twinkling stars, captivated by its savior.

They remained in this intimate embrace for some time, with Noah absentmindedly patting Riolu's head. However, the urgent reality of their situation soon broke the peaceful moment. As he slowly withdrew his arms from Riolu, he noticed its reluctance, a slight dimming in the Pokemon's eyes, a tinge of disappointment creeping in.

"Hi! Would you like to be my Pokemon?" Noah blurted out, his enthusiasm returning in full force.

"Ah, right. I'm Noah, by the way," he hastily tacked on, realizing he'd gotten ahead of himself.

The Riolu let out an amused chortle, clearly entertained by Noah's awkward introduction. With an energetic "Ruff ruff!" it seemed to affirm its acceptance of the newfound friendship. Noah couldn't decode the Pokemon's language, but his gut told him that the Riolu had just given its consent in Pokemon-ese.

Noah embraced the captivating creature, his face lit up with unfiltered joy as he cuddled Riolu. "This is unreal! My very first Pokemon, and it's a Riolu no less! What are the odds?" Noah felt like he was soaring; he could hardly contain his joy. After all, it was his first Pokemon, not to mention the Lucario evolutionary line. was his favorite Pokemon branch.

Feeling the warmth and love from its new trainer, Riolu reciprocated with a tender smile. ; it'd been months since he'd felt this warm.

As they ambled along the forest-flanked dirt path, Noah and his freshly-acquired companion each clutched a plastic bag; one containing an assortment of soda cans and the other brimming with cup noodles. Their postures were alert, muscles taut as they scanned their surroundings, wary of wild Pokémon. Since Noah was still unfamiliar with Riolu's capabilities, they moved cautiously, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

"Damn, where's my system…" Noah could only lament his lack of a system at this moment, as he could only wonder what Riolu's moves were. He didn't dare to ask Riolu to show it to him, lest they attract the ire of wild Pokemon.

Thankfully, there were few Pokemon in the vicinity, for some reason. "Were they scared off by the Arcanine?" Noah pondered, but he couldn't come up with a safe conclusion. Meanwhile, Riolu was as vigilant as ever, his ears slightly floating as they sensed the subtle energy waves in the air; something he'd known how to do ever since he'd gained consciousness.

It was just then, in that lapse of concentration that Noah exhibited, a Pokemon struck. Leaping out of its hiding spot, a Rattata leaped out of a bush at the edge of the road, lunging directly at Noah with fervor. "Shit!" He lifted his hands to block the attack, one that never came.

Like a bullet, Riolu instantly appeared next to the Rattata, thrusting his fist into its body. The attacking rat's eyes bulged, as its body was sent flying into the air, before crashing down several meters away from us.

Noah stared at the Rattata with bated breath, but the rat's body remained limp. He could only breathe a sigh of relief as he finally concluded that the Rattata was incapacitated, maybe even dead. "How'd you do that so fast?" Noah questioned his companion. "Ruff!" It proudly exclaimed, pointing one of its fingers back at itself.

"I don't understand what that means but keep it up!" He laughed. However, deep down, he understood that that situation could've gone very badly, if not for his Riolu. Noah knew that he should have instead commanded Riolu to attack at that moment, instead of raising his arms in defense, which would've gone horribly wrong if not for Riolu's swift intervention.

They continued their journey, with Noah struggling to match Riolu's seemingly endless energy. Finally, gasping for breath and clutching his knees, he pleaded, "Hold up, Riolu. I need a breather."

Riolu, turned to look at him, only now noticing his exhausted state. Seeing Riolu stop, Noah grabbed a soda can from the little stash he was holding. "If only this was cold," He murmured, chugging down its contents nonetheless.

Suddenly, a Pidgey swooped down from the sky, its claws outstretched and aiming at the soda can in Noah's hands. This time, Riolu wasn't prepared, as he hadn't anticipated an airborne attack.

"Caaaw" The Pidgey screeched at the wide-eyed Noah. Noah responded by reeling his arm back, and throwing the soda can in his hands.

"Bonk" The soda can hit the Pidgey on the head with a comedic noise. The next instant, it plummeted to the ground. "Riolu!" "Ruff!" The next instant, Riolu appeared beside the downed bird, smashing his fist into it and defeating it.

"That was close," Noah breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the pain that would have followed had the Pidgey's attack landed, despite it aiming for the can. Crouching down, he inspected the Pidgey's body, whose feathers were now sticky from the soda spill.

The aerial Pokemon was no longer breathing, it seemed that punch was more than enough to kill it. "That was such a good flavor too…" He muttered before another thought flashed through his mind, "Are Pokemon edible?"