It had been several months since Lucario's difficult first few weeks in his new body.  With his new ability to manipulate Aura (manifestations of the soul in all living creatures) Lucario had quickly grown to be a sort of de facto leader among the pokemon of the mountain.

As Lucario had instructed before his transformation, many of the monastery's loyal monks had secretly left to come find him (once Wheil's dictatorial two-month imprisonment law was eliminated, of course.) They were joyfully ecstatic upon discovering that he had become the first known transformed monk to have survived past the initial two weeks, as being forced into a new form was something any mind was not prepared to cope with.  It was only Lucario's intense mental training, and the assistance of the wild pokemon of the mountain, that allowed him to come this far.  The monks tried to join in and become a part of the new pokemon commune that Lucario had organized on the mountain, but Lucario would have none of it.

I know from my experiences that you are indeed the best of men, said Lucario speaking to their Aura in the odd way that only he could.   But, the fact remains that you are still men.  I have realized, now, that humanity as it now stands cannot honestly believe that pokemon are their equals; even if they do not consciously act on this belief, it will penetrate their very actions and will affect all that I have created.  The monks contested fervently, but Lucario read in their Aura all that he needed to see.  Do not protest, my friends; if you believe humans and pokemon to be equals, why in the monastery was the transformation into a pokemon the harshest punishment available?  Indeed, if the two groups are both ideal, why did you feel sorry for me when I was turned into this new form?  The monks fell quiet; shame permeated their souls as they reflected upon their inner feelings.  Indeed, they had thought those things...

Lucario saw their strife and was grieved by it.  Do not delude yourselves that because you have bias, this makes you evil.  Every living thing has a bias towards something seperate.  Bias does not matter when determining if something is good or evil.  Rather, if one attempts to eliminate their bias, be their attempt successful or not, it is a reflection on goodness.  I remembered that night I found the dead girl's body that every living creature has a soul.  Every soul has a tinge of bias, every soul is dark...but, as darkness exists in soul, so does goodness and mercy.  Every human, every pokemon, every animal begins as a pure, tender infant, which seeks only love and the right to live.  

Lucario's words entranced not only the monks, but the pokemon surrounding him.

When grown, maliciousness may corrupt the soul of that creature...but, the infantile goodness will remain, however small.  I realized this while consumed in anger at Wheil's actions towards me and the child.  If her death was the result of Wheil's darkness, then my fury and hatred towards him was the desire of the shadows in my soul; and, as my soul has light, Wheil's must have some also.  Before the end comes, he will realize it.  Now, go and form your own community, and perhaps come day it will not only be my pokemon and your humans, but every life on this good planet that exist in equality...but, not now.  We must iron out the chasm that seperates pokemon and humans before this can be achieved.

And the monks left to find harmony.

Eventually, as years passed, fewer and fewer monks deserted the monastery.  When the last supporter of Lucario's ideals and teachings was either dead or gone, Wheil made his move.

Through a combination of bribery, extortion, and trickery, he conned the Council of Five into setting up "provisionary" laws that exploited loopholes in the Mandates that guided the monastery life.  As time went on, the old laws and Mandates began to slip away as Wheil's power grew stronger.  Ambitious and young, Wheil came to rise as the sole head of the monastery.

Oh, Wheil... mourned Lucario as he observed the ever growing injustices of the life of his former comrades.  I pray to Arceus that you will find your light soon ...

Decades passed.  Even the most stalwart of pokemon faded away due to age, but Lucario lived on, unhindered.  Was it his strange circumstance, his affiliation with Aura, or his enlightened state of mind that allowed him to circumnavigate death?  None knew, but Lucario lived on, the old Grandfather of the mountain, leading pokemon and wayward humans alike in an ever marching path that searched for true harmony.

Meanwhle, Wheil turned his attention to less noble matters.  He ordered the study of the "art" of warfare, developed deadly new weapons and strategies.  His monks became militant, marching among hamlets and towns situated on the base of the mountain in the cover of darkness, spiriting away promising children.  

Rumors and fireside tales began spreading among the land that there was an insanse "wizard" living high on the peak with a shadowy army who took children and forced them into the army, and should anybody refuse, that wizard would turn them into a pokemon!!  Some said it was a spell, others said it was affiliation with a powerful pokemon of his own, but the most popular story was that of a vat of shining blue liquid, where people were morphed into a feral shape.

Wheil used the terror to his advantage, winning or scaring over intelligent engineers to his cause.  And eventually, he perfected his ultimate weapon.  It looked simple, a modest Apricorn hollowed out and filled with a mysterious mechanism, but it was in fact capable of capturing pokemon; and, whomever controlled the Apricorn, controlled the pokemon's every move.  With this, Wheil hoped to create a mighty pokemon army.

When news of this spread, enough was enough.  The people of the land banded together, and an army marched on the mountain, determined to put an end to the malignant wizard and claim the weapon as their own.

TO BE CONTINUED...