Kung Fu Lucario

Chapter 2: Crouching Tigress

*Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 1! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and I hope you enjoy Chapter 2! It mainly focuses on a fight between Lucario and Tigress.

Lucario took a seat at one of the orphanage's many wooden tables. Once the caretaker passed out each kid's portion of rice and noodles, she also took it upon herself to accompany him there, alongside a few orphans who were particularly interested in learning more about their unusual-looking savior. One of them was the bunny girl, Tú, from before.

The Aura Pokémon was given a pair of chopsticks to eat with, but he couldn't seem to hold them properly in his paws. Food just fell the moment he brought it close to his mouth.

The elderly goat found this rather amusing, given the fact that Lucario was, for the most part, a grown adult. His deep, gravelly voice couldn't have come from someone any younger, after all.

"Having some trouble, Mr. Lucario?" She chuckled.

Lucario cleared his throat and sheepishly nodded.

"Yes. I'm afraid I've never... used these utensils before." He said while trying and failing to pinch a piece of rice with his chopsticks. "Thank you for the meal, though, ma'am. I appreciate your kindness."

"My pleasure, dear! And please just call me Ms. Shānyáng. There's no need to be so formal."

Lucario bowed his head in understanding. "If that's what you prefer."

He then noticed Tú reach into his bowl with her own chopsticks and hover some noodles in front of his face.

"They're pretty easy to use once you get used to them." She kindly said. "Here. Try some!"

A part of him felt a little embarrassed being fed by a young girl, but it wouldn't be right to decline her act of generosity either. Upsetting a child wouldn't be wise in any situation and this moment was no exception.

"Thank you."

He then grabbed Tú's chopsticks and slurped the noodles down his throat. They tasted, to his pleasant surprise, absolutely delicious.

"Wow. These are good!"

Not wanting to waste a single morsel of his food, Lucario quickly gobbled up every piece of rice and noodles he could find. He even managed to master using chopsticks within seconds, which took him and everyone else a bit by surprise.

"Well, it looks like someone was hungry." Ms. Shānyáng quipped.

Tú nodded. "More than that! He must have been starving!"

Lucario took a sip of tea and smiled. A piece of chocolate would have been the icing on the cake for this type of meal. Sadly, he had a feeling that candy bars, like the one that human child, Max, gave him, didn't really exist in this world.

"You're both right. I haven't eaten that much food in quite a while."

Ms. Shānyáng raised one of her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Really? That's a bit hard to believe, given your current physique. You appear to be in rather good shape."

"That is mainly a result of my Aura. I've done my fair share of... training and fighting in the past, so normally, I can go without eating anything for days or even weeks at most."

Tú and the other orphans' eyes lit up at the mention of Lucario's training.

"Then you really are a kung fu master! I knew it!" A duckling beamed.

A young pig nudged him with his shoulder. "Pfft. Obviously. No one can fight that good without at least some experience with martial arts."

Lucario scrunched up his nose in minor annoyance. They were still under the impression that his Aura and attacks were a product of kung fu, or whatever style of combat existed in this China country.