Whatever he said, it makes a wave of quiet murmurs break out amongst the pokemon. One Lucario in particular stands from under the largest hut and makes her way over, and as she walks, anyone in her way steps aside and inclines their head, signifying her importance to the teen interloper.
As she walks closer, Julian can make out the gray hairs on her muzzle much like Pops, and although no less fit in body, her eyes are much more gentle. Rather than look like blood similar to the male Lucario, her eyes sparkle like rubies. She comes to a halt just arms length away from Pops, her expression shifting into something unimpressed as she lays a forepaw on her hip. The growl that comes from her lips is quiet and followed by a raised eyebrow.
Pops, who didn't so much as flinch when his daughter laid into him, wilts under the stare of the lady Lucario before him. He looks away first and mutters something too quiet for Julian to hear in reply.
'Oof. Tough luck pal. Sucks being whipped, don't it?'
Lady Lucario pokes Pops in the chest, just under his spike, in a clear warning to behave. Then she turns to Lulu with a smile and opens her arms.
Lulu returns the smile with one of her own and steps into the offered hug. Both pokemon turn their chests just a bit so neither are poked by the other's chest spike. Lady Lucario nuzzles Lulu tenderly before releasing her and turning to face Julian.
'If Pops is Lulu's father, does that mean Lady Luca here is her mom?' He wonders as the elegant Fighting-type steps closer.
Lady Luca stops just short of him, almost uncomfortably close, her nose twitching as she sniffs the air around him. Julian doesn't stop her when she pulls at his clothes with a frown, then she gently lifts his scratched arms up to inspect them. "Graroo?" She asks something of him, looking up at him with an expression that isn't quite a frown, but not pleased either.
"Eh?" Julian looks down at the small cuts littering his arms. "It's no big deal. I just need to clean them and I'll be fine. No need to worry about me."
Lady Luca clicks her tongue and shakes her head just like a disappointed mother might. She places one large, flat forepaw over the largest cut and closes her eyes.
The teen winces when her rough paw pad pulls as the laceration. "What are yo...!"
Under the Lucario's paw, a pink glow shines between the gaps where his arm and her paw meet, stopping Julian's protests dead in his mouth. The pink light is so warm and inviting that he couldn't pull away even if he tried, and that warmth slowly travels through his arm to diffuse through his body. It flows like warmed molasses, down his arm, to his core, then to the rest of his limbs. Under Julian's awe-struck eyes, all the cuts on his arms knit themselves together and fizzle like water in a hot pan, vanishing as if they never existed.
Struck dumb, Julian doesn't fight at all when Lady Luca pulls him along to the large hut shared by her, Pops, and Lulu. He doesn't fight when she gently coaxes him into a bed of soft leaves and runs a soothing paw through his hair. He barely notices Lady Luca shoo away a horde of curious Riolu crowding the entrance. Slowly outside, the day turns to night. Several times Lady Luca and sometimes Lulu come to check on him, but he's too caught in his own thoughts to care.
It was one thing to find himself stranded and his body changed by unknown means.
It was another thing to be carried around by a bipedal jackal who should not have the muscle needed to even lift him.
One could even rationalize the phenomena around Pops and his hostile intro as a hallucination.
But his wounds just closing on their own, and the sensation of that pink light filling him with warmth, chasing away his soreness...
Witnessing, or better yet, feeling what any sane person would call "magic" first hand really hammers everything home.
Julian Angelo is lost.
"Luro?"
Julian groggily awakens as he feels a large paw settle on his shoulder and gently shake him. With a hiss, he cracks open his eyes and looks up at the owner of the paw with bleary eyes.
Kneeling at his side and hovering over him is Lulu, who stares down at him. She blinks, her red eyes almost shining in the dark early dawn of the alpha family's hut. Behind her and through the entrance of the hut, Julian can see the dark morning just barely begin to lighten.
As tempted as he is to lay back down and sleep, the man-turned-teen can see his steamy breath in the chilled morning air. Without Lulu lying at his side sharing her willingly-given body heat, he'll just suffer if he tries to get more shut-eye. There's not much choice but to rise.
...Not that Lulu or Lady Luca will let him sleep in anyway. God, how he wishes for some coffee. Even the fake imitation stuff with carcinogens would be a blessing. At least the cold doesn't make his joints ache like it used to. Oh, the horror of realizing that thirty is officially old territory.
"I'm up…" Julian grunts, rising to his feet. "Lemme get some water and I'll be along…"
Lulu nods and smiles, already wide awake despite the ungodly hour. The terrible things Julian would do for such a power.
Don't forget to powers tone..