Character · Pokemon
Lucario
Reads the aura of anything alive, which in practice means it knows what you intend to do before you do it.
In Otakana the clue reads: Blue jackal that senses aura
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- 7 · Normal
Aura in this corner of the franchise is a life energy that everything gives off, and Lucario reads it through the four appendages on its head. It can tell where a hidden creature is standing, whether a person is lying, and what a fighter will throw next. Fighting and Steel by type, it evolves from Riolu through friendship, and only during the day.
It arrived in front of its own generation. Lucario headlined the eighth Pokemon film in 2005, a year before Diamond and Pearl reached players, so a great many fans met it in a cinema rather than in tall grass. That head start plus a slot in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008 turned it into one of the most recognised designs outside the original 151.
It has held that position since. Mega Lucario in the sixth generation, a permanent place in competitive formats, a near-guaranteed top ten finish in every popularity poll the company runs, and a starring role in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. For a design that arrived as a film guest star, it has done better than most of the creatures the games were actually built around.
Spelling LUCARIO
LUCARIO is seven letters, four of them vowels, and the tail runs A, R, I, O in a straight line that usually falls in one go. The Japanese katakana reads Rukario, with the tapped R that English ears keep filing as an L. The localisers agreed with your ear and printed the L. One C, no doubled letters, and the O on the end is not optional.