Hey...Well, this is my 1st story ever...took me a while to overcome my inner critic and get my story idea to paper. Though this is not my 1st written work, that goes to my Realistic Pokemon World work, that describes this world's, and the world the rest of my stories will be in. I hope you enjoy the read, been imagining this story for several months now...*sigh*...*wince*...Here we go!

*actions/sounds*, "talking", 'thoughts'

Obligatory "I don't own Pokemon, only my OC's"

Will

*click*...*click*

Will was lying across the couch, flipping through channels on the wall-tv late into the evening...bored again. Channel after channel scrolled by, a documentary of Unova, his home region, a crime drama with a detective and his Luxray, some cartoons...he paused at a nature channel. There was a repeat of an episode about the wildlife and the Pokemon Rangers of Route 7...his home and his parents were on the screen.

"...Well it's better than what else is on right now," he said to the large, empty cabin.

Will watched as the episode played on for a few minutes, watching the familiar scenery of Route 7, were he has lived for his entire life. The 2 Pokemon Rangers of Route 7, his mother and father, in the Rangers' iconic red uniform, led the tv crew around the deeply wooded areas off the already forest covered main road. He saw the Pokemon on the route that he has seen for his entire life, though few winter Pokemon that moved to the route during the colder months were there too. They would be returning to Twist Mountain when the weather began to warm, like it was presently. Will sat up for a second when a large cabin, his home with his family on Route 7, appeared on the screen, and he saw him 12-year old self in between his proud, Pokemon Ranger parents.

"That feels like so long ago," he mumbled to himself.

The episode was close to 5 years old, yet Will remembered the days well when the film crew came to do the documentary and stayed in the families cabin for the several days of filming. He remembered feeling excited and filled with energy, seeing new people who lived outside of the route, journeying all around the Unova region, even the world . As long as he could reach back, he wanted to leave the route and travel around the region, particularly while taking on the Pokemon League Challenge. Last year he turned 16, old enough to finally take on the challenge...but he didn't go.

Sure he was ready, old enough, and had plenty of knowledge on Pokemon and surviving. His parents taught him all that, better than any school most cities could have done. But there were 2 things he didn't have, a starting Pokemon and the support of his parents. Will had grown up surrounded by the Pokemon of Route 7, and he could surely catch any one of them with the small stock of Pokeballs his family kept in the cabin for travelers through the route, but none of the Pokemon here stood out to him. Seeing them year after year of his entire life, Will had gotten...bored of them. He wanted to catch a Pokemon he had never seen on the route before, possibly a nomadic natured Pokemon making its way around the region, or going off to a nearby city or route, but then he ran into his next problem.

Being his parents' only child, his parents kept him close and loved him dearly. 'Maybe too dearly,' Will thought. Seeing his talent working alongside them, they planned early to make him into a Pokemon Ranger like themselves, one day taking over Route 7, 'Like some kind of inheritance, heh.' He could almost understand why they wanted to keep him so close, only visiting Mistralton and Iciruss City rarely, staying together as a family on Route 7 as the only Pokemon Rangers. 'Ah, whatever...I am their only son, guess I can cut them some slack with their visions of me. Although, I need to decide my own life...but I don't want to disappoint my only family...' Will's mom and dad was all he ever knew, grandparents dead, no cousins, aunts or uncles. The only friend he had was a random Patrat he found years ago that eventually went on with its life, and a few people he talked to for a few days at the cities.

*thump*

Will threw his head against the couch, 'Sure they are overprotective, and maybe a bit restricting, but they are all I know...and I need their approval!' The most recent thing he tried to expand his life and even try to get a relatively unknown Pokemon to start with for the League Challenge, he didn't want any Pokemon on Route 7, and had no other relatives to give him a young Pokemon as a gift, so he wanted to go on a week long camping trip to Mistralton City and a bit into the Route to Driftveil City. However, he was just met with a simple, "No, we'll talk when we get back," from his parents. They had to make a supply trip to Mistralton and, as usual, Will was left watching the cabin.

"Well...it could be worst..." Will said out loud, almost wanting to test fate.

This trip may have been his last chance to get a good Pokemon, and maybe even prove his parents what he could, and maybe needed to do. The Pokemon League Challenge would begin in less than 2 weeks, right before the start of spring, and Will had nothing to show that he was ready. Little money, no support from his parents, no Pokemon he felt that he needed to start with, and still no way he was going to use a common Pokemon on Route 7, Will felt like giving up for another year.

*Boom*

Will jumped slightly at the sound of thunder, and took a quick peek out the front windows, to the now dark and flashing sky, strong winds beginning to whip the trees. He turned back and flipped to the weather channel, the ever so annoying Castform smiling on the radar showed a storm approaching before turning into its frowning rain form. 'Sigh', Will thought before switching to another channel, he didn't want to relive happy memories watching the nature documentary when he failed his dream again.

Will scrolled quickly threw the channels, before suddenly standing up and tuning back to a battle channel. He saw a rerun of the end of a League Challenge from 2 years ago, the final trainer battling the new Champion Iris. His heart pounded when he saw the scene again, the trainer's already tired Noivern versing Iris' Hydreigon. Iris told her Pokemon to finish the Noivern off with a Draco Meteor, the Noivern, already weakened, couldn't move out of the way, and took the full blast of the super-effective Dragon attack. However, this was the scene that everyone knew of, when the Noivern endured the hit, many say out of love for its trainer, and was able to return with a Dragon Pulse, taking its foe out. Though the Noivern was able to defeat the Hydreigon, Iris still had 2 other Pokemon, and the Noivern quickly went down. Though it was still a defeat, everyone talked about how the Noivern endured a crushing blow from one of Iris' strongest Pokemon, and it was this that finally pushed Will to take on the Challenge no matter what.

*Ringing*

Will's Xtransceiver began to ring, and he saw his mother's image on the phone. Seeing it was a text, he opened it and read aloud,

"'Will, storm comin in, goin 2 wait til 2morrow 2 come back. Stayin at Pkmn Center. Make sure 2 check trash bins 2 stop scavengers. Mom XO.'...Really Mom? Why do you have to abbreviate like this?...Well, it's beginning to pour anyway, might as well get this done."

They had to deal with scavenging Pokemon before, the anti-Pokemon proof bins did help, but if they blew around unsecured, and if someone forgot to close it, 'It was only that one time Will...try to forget about it,' best to check them to make sure. Will threw on some boots, a rain coat, and thew the door open with a crash to quickly get his chore done.

Will knew it was a strong storm, and that it was near the end of winter, yet it still felt like he was being Tackled by the wind and being hit by a barrage of Icicle Spears of rain, and it threw him off for a second. His medium length dark brown hair beginning to whip in the wind, Will covered his face. He went down the steps, leaving the partial safety of the porch roof, and quickly looked at the trash bins. To his disappointment, he saw them knocked over, and surprisingly, one opened with some trash thrown around. 'It must of been some wind to throw that open,' Will thought, 'Might as well just close it, no way I'm going to get the trash blowing around in this storm...Crap, why did this happen no-...'

"What the-? No way..." Will whispered to, what he hoped was, himself.

The one trash bin wasn't opened by the storm, evident by the claw marks etched into the tough light metal of the bin. The only Pokemon in the area that could do such damage would be a large bird Pokemon of prey, or even a Beartic or other large Pokemon with claws. But he could tell this was recent, evident by the trash still being in a pile by the bin, and no Pokemon in its right mind would be out in this storm. Only a Pokemon really desperate for food would not only get near a human cabin, but do so in such dangerous weather. Realizing he was not only still in the storm, but possibly being watched by a starving Pokemon, with large claws no less, Will made a run to the cabin entrance. 'Stop thinking and worrying and just get inside Will!' He yelled at himself, he must of spent several minutes outside, gaping at the trash bins. 'The cabin should be safe enough, windows are small enough and the door should be strong enou-'

"You got to be kidding me...no...no way," Will said in another strangled whisper.

He walked towards a semi-open door, which he sure he closed on his way out, to see the wall-tv still on, the fireplace beneath it still crackling, and large, non-human wet footprints on the carpet, making their way to one of the entrances of the kitchen, near the stairs that go up to the second floor. 'Ok think Will, think. You are inside with a possibly dangerous, hungry Pokemon. With claws...yes sharp claws. Oh yeah, it can open doors too...anything else to add pessimistic mind? Well, can't go outside, bad storm, can't call for help, the signal is messed up by the bad storm, and all that ends up being stuck in a house with a Pokemon that may kill, if not seriously injure me because of a bad-freaking-storm!'

Will slowly closed the door behind him, careful not to make a sound, and started to slide his boots across the carpet, trying to make his way silently to the stairs. He kept a single Pokeball in his room that he swiped from the storage in the kitchen, glad he thought of that. He put his first foot on the step, trying to recall which one was the creaky step, when he caught a glimpse of a large, dark shadow moving to the right, further in the kitchen. 'Great...just great...hm?!'

A large clap of thunder rocked the cabin, and quickly taking his chance, Will scrambled up the stairs and into the dark hallway of the second floor. Not wanting to turn on any lights to alarm the wild Pokemon, he slid his hand along the wall until he reached the second door on the left, his room. He carefully opened the his bedside drawer, and took out the single, red and white Pokeball. 'Sigh...I only got one chance at this...and I could either be dead, horribly injured, eaten, or catch this Pokemo-...wait a sec, this may be my chance! Wait, stop! Am I really thinking of the League Challenge when I may die?...Well, I blame my dreams, here goes nothing!'

Will slowly made his way down the stairs, using the thunder to again cover his footsteps, and made his way to the doorway that the Pokemon first entered. He peeked over the counter at the edge of the doorway, and caught the Pokemon with its back towards him. His eyes bugged wide with the Pokemon he saw. It was bipedal, had a large red mane, with a strange band made the hair into a ponytail like design. The parts of the body he saw was gray and black, and when reached out its left paw, he saw small, red claws. 'The same that ripped into the trash bins,' Will thought. It began to turn its body, and he ducked back into cover, but not before seeing its face, 'Or muzzle?' he thought. He hoped it didn't see him, but he didn't hear any footsteps. He tried to imagine it in his mind, 'Red, ponytail like mane, gray/black body, pointed face/muzzle? What Pokemon is that?! Com on, remember your lessons...wait no, legends...Isn't this that rare, illusion Pokemon, native to Kalos?! It starts with a Z right? Zar...Zoro...'

"Zoroark...!" Will couldn't help but whisper out loud, but then quickly covering his mouth, stealing another quick glance to make sure the Dark type didn't hear him. But then he had to check again to make sure what he was seeing was right.

The Zoroark had put a pile of food on the counter near the sink behind it, and was going through the fridge in a surprisingly calm manner, as if it had done this before, and it almost looked like it was going to sit down and eat a meal. 'A big one though,' Will thought, 'that is a large amount of food.' The Zoroark turned away to the right, and opened the wall-sized pantry, and began to rifle and through more food behind it, adding to the already large pile of food. It took out a bag of special brand of PokeChow, sniffed it eagerly, and ripped it open, spilling some of the contents on the tile floor. The Zororak stuff its face into the bag, and began to eagerly eat.

'Dang it. I hope Gruff won't blame me for his food being eaten. Don't want to be Tackled by that Stoutland again...' Will thought to himself, and started to make his way across the room, in front of the still on tv and towards the second entrance to the kitchen, near the large dinner table. 'Come on, I have to do something, but what! No doubt that Pokemon is average, if not stronger in power...though it did look fairly skinny. And the way it went through the foo-...well most of the food. It was like the Zoroark had been in a human household before, even using human appliances! Most wild Pokemon would just crash through and start making a mess of the food in front of them...what's going on?! Is this a trainer's Pokemon, cause if so I may be screwed...But why would a trainer keep their Pokemon in such poor health, and where are they? Forget that, I'm still going to try and catch this Pokemon! I'll deal with what comes next if it comes to it...' Will said to himself as he formed a plan.

'Ok let's see, even if this Zoroark is weak from hunger, I doubt that this Pokeball will catch it no problem. Also, if I don't catch it, I'll need to chase it out...Ah! There!' Will thought, as he passed the fireplace. He grabbed the fire poker, paused, and held it in the flames for a short amount of time. 'I don't want to really hurt this Pokemon, even if I don't catch it, I don't want it to be hating me for seriously burning it...There! That should be enough to weaken, if not chase the Zoroark out!' Will grasped the now heated poker in his right hand, and clutched the Pokeball in his left, as he made his way to the right entrance to the kitchen, hoping the Pokemon was still distracted by the food. He started to turn towards the doorway, before suddenly slamming his head against the wall, suddenly gripped by fear.

'I can't do this, I could die!...But if I do nothing, I could still die...Crap! Why me, why now?! Who cares about the possibly pay off, even if I get a rare, stronger Pokemon than most starter trainers, it may not even accept me!...Come on Will...come on! Deal with it when you the problem comes to you! Ok...alright...on three!...One...two...thre-!'

Will turned to rush into the kitchen, put one foot through the doorway, poker blazing, when he stopped in his tracks. The Zoroark was facing him, and not only that, had a smug look on its face, as if to say, "Really?" What was also surprising was the appearance of the Pokemon, it was tall, almost reaching Will's height of 5'11, and despite looking skinny and starving, it had an almost curved, yet slightly muscled frame. Will began to silently curse, as the Pokemon took a step towards him, sniffing, and eyeing him in a curious, yet predatory manner. In a panic, Will swung the cooling, yet still hot poker at the Pokemon. The Zoroark quickly blocked the poker with its forearm, but did not seem to know it was hot at first, evident when its eyes went wide and it let out a bark/growl in pain. Will felt a surge of hope, 'I can do this, I burned it!' he said to himself.

However, that hope was short lived, as the Zoroark grabbed near the handle of the poker, its fur brushing against Will's hand, it twisted and with a strong pull, wretched the weapon from Will's grasp. The Pokemon threw the poker behind it in obvious pain and anger, and glared at Will, suddenly changing to a small appearance of surprise and worry when it spied the Pokeball in Will's left hand. Will, suddenly remembering what he planned, and in a panic, stepped back and threw the Pokeball...which went wide, past the Zoroark, and went into the open pantry behind the Pokemon. Will was, unfortunately, right-handed.

The Zoroark looked behind itself, then back at Will. 'Well this is it, I'm dead,' Will thought, 'who knew this is how I would go.' Will stepped back and began to wince, waiting for the inevitable attack that will, hopefully, give him a swift end. However, Will did not expect what came next...

"I would call that the most pathetic attempt of capturing a Pokemon, expect for the fact that you were able to get one strike to injure me. Then again, that throw was probably the worst in all history," the Zoroark commented, with a snide look on its face, "I would expect better from a want-a-be trainer."

Will was so thrown off, he didn't know how to respond. 'Wait, its talking...to me? How...and why...? It sounds feminine, so I guess its...she is a female. Fits with her frame, I guess. It doesn't sound like she's talking out loud...but I'm hearing it in my head...so does that mean she can...! Hey wait a sec!'

"What do you mean 'expect better from a wanna-be-trainer'?! Last I checked, how can I focus when I'm about to be eaten by a Pokemon?! Plus, I'm also right-handed!" Will shouted in a sudden outburst of annoyance and anger.

The same smug, "really?" face appeared on the Zoroark, with a grin that revealed some teeth, "You really thought I would eat you? Sure I may have pinned you after you struck me, but after that throw...hah!" She threw back her head, her mane flowing behind her, "You are one...interesting human. Ridiculous and pathetic yes...but also interesting."

Anger began growing in Will, forgetting all about the strong, still potentially dangerous Pokemon in front of him, "What do you mean by-...gah!" Will threw up his hands in annoyance, "I oughta...just...get out of here you stupid mutt of a Pokemon!"

The Zoroark's face changed to anger, and despite her weakened state, she grasped Will with her right paw and threw him against the doorway, then pinned him there with her forepaw against his upper chest, her face close to his. "Never...call...me...a...mutt," She growled, almost spitting the words into Will's head.

Will, suddenly finding himself in a bad situation, tried to process what was going on around him. With his anger and annoyance suddenly gone, in place a little of the fear from before, he began to focus on some details. "Uh...ok...wait a sec!" Will stammered, "Sorry about that! Just...annoyed by what you said...Speaking of which, the way you are talking to me, from what it...sounds like...I guess you can talk through...what's it called...telepathy?"

The Zoroark's eyes narrowed, and she slowly released Will, "Hmph...Yes that is what you humans call it. Something any Pokemon can learn, but only through a lot training, or in my case something I grasped so easily, it's like I was born with it." A prideful look entered her eyes, and it looked like she wanted to say something else, but she winced and clutched the burn on her left forearm.

Will, unsure of what to do or say next, stammers, "Uh...yeah...sorry about that. You kind of startled me..."

The Zoroark looked up from her forearm at Will, eyeing him, "You obviously heated that weapon in order to attack me, so are you really sorry for that?"

Gulping, still trying to figure out what to say next, "Well...uh, you did break into my families' cabin, so what was I suppose to do? Let you eat all my parents' Pokemon's food...and my own? Also, judging by the way to talk, and how you used the appliances and stacked the food, I'm guessing you are not a wild Pokemon?" Will still hoped this conversation was enough to keep the Zoroark from attacking him.

The Zoroark looked at him intently again, then pushed past him to the pile of food she stacked earlier. Grabbing the bag of PokeChow she tore open earlier, taking a handful...or pawful...in her paw, she began to munch on the food while seemingly thinking intently. "I did break into your cabin yes...though at the moment I did not consider anyone to be here after I saw the other humans leaving earlier. I would argue that starving is a good reason enough, surviving in the wild was a bit more...difficult than I thought it would be."

Will wanted to stop her from eating Gruff's food, but he knew better to not get between a starving Pokemon and its food, wild or not. "So you did have a trainer then, what happened?" he asked, "Did he release you, did you run away because he, or she, was treating you badly, or...?" Will waited for an answer.

A flash of something crossed the Zoroark's face and in her eyes, though it so quick, Will couldn't perceive what it was. She then answered with, "I did leave my trainer, though I don't trust you enough to give you my whole story. You are, after all, the owner of the cabin I broke into, as well as who I'm technically stealing from at the moment." The Pokemon put the bag down, and tore open a bag of meat.

'Well, at least she stopped eating Gruff's food,' Will thought. "My parents are Pokemon Rangers for this route, so they, as well as I, sometimes take in and heal severely injured Pokemon. Though you are doing so in a more...up front manner, but if we clean this up, and if I can hear your story, I can help you out. Speaking of..."

Will turned and walked to the end of the kitchen, towards a large, wall-sized glass case built into the wall. He opened the door, and reached into the chilled air and took out a small spray bottle. He turned to the Zoroark and motioned her to come closer as he opened a smaller cabinet and took out a small bandage. "Yeah, sorry for burning you with the poker earlier, here, this should help fix you up."

The Zoroarks' eyes narrowed, but she went to Will and help out her left forepaw. "If you try anything..." she warned.

"Relax! If anything I should be worried about you attacking me." Will said, "Also, this Burn Heal may sting a bit."

Will sprayed part of the Burn Heal on the wound, causing the Zoroark to flinch. He then put the small bandage on her forepaw, but spied another wound, one not inflicted by himself. It was a scar, not to large, where her forepaw and elbow met. "Is that a scar? Here, a Potion could help with that." Will put the partially used Burn Heal back and reached for a Potion.

"No," replied the Zoroark, "That is an older wound, and I doubt that fast acting medicine for early healing will do anything."

Will looked back at the Pokemon and closed the door to the medicine. "You sure do know a lot about human objects."

"Well, I should, since I belonged to a trainer for some time."

Will nodded, and gestured to the pile of food on the counter while walking over to it. "You can still have some of the food, but you have to help me clean up this mess."

"...Fine." The Zoroark said in an almost sarcastic manner.

Working together, both cleaned up the food and the mess in the kitchen. Will also put the now cool poker back, and the Pokeball in the trainer supply cabinet from which he got it from. He then gestured for the Zoroark to follow him into the main room. "I'm sure you've had your fill by now, with all that PokeChow and meat. I'm exhausted from all the times I felt like I was going to die and the stress, so I'm going to turn in." Will glanced at the clock next to the wall-tv, and was surprised that it was later than he thought it was.

"I'm sure it would be ok for you to sleep in this roo-" Will said before being cut of by a blur of fur as the Zoroark jumped onto the couch and curled up in a dark and red colored ball.

"Couch is mine," stated the Zoroark.

"Uh, ok then," Will responded as he sat down in a lounge chair, "guess I'll sleep here."

"Your not sleeping upstairs?"

"Nope," Will shook his head, "Don't trust you enough to leave you down here all alone. And trust me, I'll wake up if you try to sneak your way into the kitchen."

The Zoroark gave him another toothy grin, "First off, never underestimate the skill of a Zoroark. Second, aren't you worried the big bad Dark type will eat you in your sleep?"

Will gave the Pokemon a small grin, "No, I trust you enough, and didn't you say the worst you'd do was pin me down?" 'At least that's what I hope you said,' Will thought.

"Hmph," the Zoroark grunted, and curled up again.

"Oh well, let's hope we can sleep through this storm. Think the weather channel predicted it to slow down sometime tomorrow morning. Alright then," Will got up and grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch, "I'll need this more than you, being furless on a cold, stormy night" Will laid back on the lounge chair and covered himself with the blanket. "Well, 'night...wait, what's your name, if you have one anyways?"

The Zoroark lifted her head again, and stared at him with, surprisingly, soft eyes, 'Well, softer than what I've seen so far,' Will thought.

"My name is Luna."

"Well, Luna, I'm Will...'night then."

Luna put her head down again, and Will laid his head back, both waiting for sleep as the storm raged on outside.

*Boom*

*Facepalms self repeatedly" Why did I do this, I'm not ready, it's too long for a 1st chapter...gah! Oh well, I've been thinking of this for months now, and sure I've dreamed of this, though it doesn't mean I'm not nervous about how you the reader will like my work. Even with that, I want any comments you have on my 1st story. I don't have a set schedule yet, but I want to release my chapters as soon as possible. I hope you enjoyed the 1st chapter of my 1st story, The Dark Aura!