Morce:Hey, I'm back, finally! Rukia, start the chapter!
Rukia:Morce does not own Pokémon or Bleach. He does, however, own the eventual plotline. Everything will become clear in time. Now, without further ado, start the chapter!
Chapter 2: The Beginning of Team Aura Fox
Vulpix panted while glaring at Morce, who simply leaned against a totem casually. "T-That...wasn't...fair!" she exclaimed between breaths. "You-k-knew you would win!"
Morce glanced at her with a smirk. "You did very well, the fact that I was holding back by more than half of my full power notwithstanding. As such, I think you should be glad that you could keep up with me as you are now," he paused in thought. "Perhaps I could train you...Though it will take quite a long time for you to catch up to me, I can help you become stronger than you would be otherwise."
Amane blinked in surprise before she grinned. "Thank you! I promise that I won't disappoint you!" she finished with a mock salute.
Morce only chuckled before glancing towards the guild. "Regardless of future plans, I think we should focus on what we're doing right now, eh?"
Amane nodded and stepped directly over the grate. "Pokémon detected, Pokémon detected! Whose footprint, whose footprint? The footprint is Vulpix's, the footprint is Vulpix's!"
Amane stepped off the grate as Morce moved to stand over it. "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is...uhh...its..uhh..."
"Hey, what's wrong? Sentry? SENTRY?" an unknown voice shouted from below.
Down below, Diglet sweatdrops. "The footprint is...uhh...maybe Riolu's?" answered the sentry.
"What! Maybe? But your job is to-" the voice shouted again before it was cut off.
"I know, but Riolu aren't really common in this region. The only place that I know of that may have some is Crystal Cave, and even then, they are only rumors. Riolu are said to have aura powers and are supposedly tied into a legend of sorts that involves an ancient kingdom, which should say how rare they are. Furthermore, they aren't legendaries, but they are said to be more powerful than the average Pokémon of the same evolutionary level. I've even heard they can cover the distance of two mountains in one night, running on foot!" A silence follows.
"I can verify the aura part, I can actually cover two mountains and a valley in one night, and I have no idea about the rest of it. Crystal Cave sounds vaguely familiar...I'll look into that later. Anyways, are we clear to enter?" Morce replied, shocking the others out of their stupor.
"Well, they don't seem bad, so I suppose you guys are good. Diglet, open the gate!" the same loud voice calls.
All of a sudden, the ground rumbled as the massive gate slowly lifted. The two sped inside and down the ladder before the gate had reached the top.
When they had climbed down the ladder, they immediately noticed a common room of sorts with two bulletin boards on the front(or possibly back) wall. Morce glanced at each Pokémon in the area, while Amane looked around in slight wonder. Before Morce could speak, a Chatot hopped over to them.
"Ah, and who would you two be? I don't recognize either of you," the Chatot stated with slight distrust.
"Well, I'm Morce, and this is Amane," Morce replied. "We're here to start an exploration team, and before you say it, yes we are a bit young, but age isn't the most important factor at play."
The Chatot studied Morce for a minute and quickly glanced at Amane. "I suppose you are correct, but don't say I didn't warn you because I'm doing so now. It is a dangerous business and is not for the faint of heart. Hearing this, do you both still want to continue?" Chatot asked them.
Seeing the two nod, he sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll take you to see the Guild Master. He'll register you as an official team," Chatot explained. "Follow me, please."
With that said and done, the trio head down the latter and head right until they reach a door with a few strange markings on it. "Now, in no way are you to disrespect the Guild Master. Not. One. Way!" Chatot exclaimed. "Am I clear?" After receiving two nods, Chatot knocked on the door.
"Guildmaster! It's me, Chatot! I'm here with potential recruits, sir!" Chatot exclaimed.
After a few seconds, a reply came. "Bring them in."
The group of four sat in silence as Wigglytuff observed them.
"So...you two want to form an exploration team?" Wigglytuff asked with no emotion.
"Yes sir!" Morce responded with a salute.
Wigglytuff stared for a couple of minutes before he chuckled. "Well then, let's get you signed up. You'll need a team name, though."
Morce and Amane only glanced at each other for a second. "Aura fox," they replied in synch. Wigglytuff pulls out some paperwork out of nowhere and quickly skims over it while murmuring. He then held out a paper towards them.
"Sign here please."
Morce and Amane both shrugged. Morce channeled a bit of aura to his paw and stamped it on the line...which somehow spelled out 'Morce L. Ryudo'. Amane simply coated her paws in energy before doing the same and swiping one of her tails over it to reveal 'Amane F. Kitsune'. Morce's eyebrow twitched as he read it , which caused Amane to giggle softly.
Wigglytuff nodded and took the paper back. "Yoom...Tah!" he shouted, startling Amane and Morce. "Congratulations! You're now an official exploration team." Cue high five. "Here are some basic items you'll need..." Wigglytuff dragged a box from out of thin air.
Morce and Amane opened it to find an Explorer Badge, Wonder Map, and Treasure Bag inside. "Now," Wigglytuff said. "I put a couple of special items into that bag, in hopes that they would be put to good use. I found them inside a rock with a strange symbol on it. The only thing I could understand was the general design, which seemed to be based off of the infinity symbol," Wigglytuff explained, which issued a groan from Morce.
Amane pulled out a Glowing Bow and Nine-Seal Afire Collar, while Morce got an Emit Ring imbued with Brave Dust and a Ravage Ring with a Pledge Rock in the jewel slot. Morce whistled in amazement, after all the items were absorbed into them, the same way that the ones in the cave did. (AN:I forgot to mention that in the previous chapter. Whoops XP)
"I figured it was gonna be something special, but three to five star items...Fate truly cannot decide whether I'm the luckiest shmoe ever, or the universe's whipping boy..."
Amane, Wigglytuff, and Chatot, who had remained silent, sweatdropped while wondering, 'How does he know the rarity of the items?'
"Regardless, thank you very much," Morce replied with a bow, never breaking eye contact with the Guildmaster.
"It's no trouble at all. Now, Chatot, if you could please guide them to their rooms. They have a big day tomorrow, after all."
"Of course, Guildmaster," Chatot smoothly and respectfully replied.
When they reached the room, they noticed three empty beds along with two newer ones. "Ah, yes," Chatot replied. "We are a bit short of space at the moment, so you will have to do with room-mates. However, I think that you'll get along just fine. Their team name is Red Emerald, and they were the last rookies to join before you. They'll be back later tonight, so you may or may not see them," Chatot finished before hopping away.
Morce and Amane glance at each other. "Well, this promises to be an interesting adventure," Morce said. Amane smirked and sat by Morce as they watched the sun set outside the window.
The next day found the pair on a mission to find an item at the end of a dungeon. Well, after a rude and loud wake-up call from Loudred, followed by a tour of the town and its establishments as well as their first job. On a different note, Red Emerald did return the previous night, and a mutually beneficial discussion was had between the leaders of the two teams while the rest slept. It was during this discussion that Morce learned a few important things.
First, they needed to do as many missions/jobs as possible to increase their team rank as quickly as possible. More rank meant more storage space in the local item-storage facility, and also helped to increase the reputation of the team and the guild. That and he assumed that his luck would be worse than Red Emerald's regarding missions/jobs, though not necessarily in the same sense.
Second, Red Emerald were indeed the previous rookies...by two and a half years. Red Emerald was already a diamond ranked team, bordering on super. They would actually be higher on the ladder, and more famous, if they could stop unintentionally ending up with long term missions.
Third, and most importantly, his power was literally at fraction of its normal level. He only had access to 17% (and around 25% at full burn) and while not hindering him in the overall sense due to his originally high power level, it was still annoying. He planned to fix that by releasing the, apparently totaled, restriction seal after the day was over. He would need to re-seal it properly. That would require a seal master of unparalleled skill, which meant...Crypt. Again. He was not looking forward to it.
Amane was also due for a check up, by how easily she outmatched the Pokémon of Drenched Bluff, yet her low power level would say otherwise. Speaking of which...
"Are we there yet?" a slightly winded, though still battle ready Amane asked.
"Actually, yes, it appears to be about five hundred feet in front of us," Morce said with one eye closed and the other glowing slightly.
"Is it safe?" Amane asked as she looked around for any possible traps. "I don't want to fall into another pit, or pull a repeat of that other fiasco on the second floor."
Morce opened his closed eye and grunted. "Those were both accidents caused by you not having my paranoia and me not thinking to use my aura sight. Still went smoother than what I was expecting."
With that said, Morce stepped forward to pick up the item...and was challenged by a team of four Pokémon (Shellos, Anorith, Lileep, and Chingling), and a fight much like the one in Beach cave broke out. With one exception. Morce made a bone out of aura...and then charged it with Amane's Flamethrower. The end result: lots of burns and a quadra-KO.
"Huh, almost a Penta-kill," Morce absentmindedly commented. Amane stared as he grabbed the item off of the ground and started to walk back the way they came.
"You commin' or what?" he asked while turning his head backwards. Amane snapped out of her astonishment.
"Uh, yeah...Are we done here?"
"Eeyup."
"Then couldn't we just use the badge...you know, to teleport out."
"...Eeyup."
"And you were about to take the long way by going back through the entire dungeon?"
"...Eeyup..."
"...Are you going to actually answer in more than one word?"
"...Eenope."
"..."
"..."
"...Can we leave now? Don't answer that, just do it."
Both explorers were teleported away in a beam of light.
That night...
Morce and Amane were alone in their room, as requested by Morce, who was explaining the situation to Amane.
"...So that's why I asked for them to leave us be for a while." Morce finished. "I'm going to try to fix my own power flux before I even attempt to see if you have any issues. As such, this may get a little crazy and I would advise staying back."
As he stopped speaking, he was incased in a black and white glow as a horribly disfigured symbol appeared over Morce's entire body. After quietly releasing the seal, he exploded with energy that pushed Amane back a few feet and onto her back. Morce appeared to be in a trance before the energy settled and he stopped floating and glowing.
"Ow. That hurt a bit," he sat down to steady himself as Amane trotted over.
"Are you okay?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice. "And will you be able to check my core as well?"
"Yeah," he coughed, "I should be able to, though I need permission to touch your chest."
Amane flushed slightly, but nodded her consent. Morce gently put his paw on her chest and for a moment she could feel his heart beat and vice versa. Then her world exploded with red.
From Morce's view, she was floating, her tails waving menacingly while reminding him of the legend of the Kyuubi. His heartbeat increased slightly. She looked beautiful with the red shimmering cloak...and he needed to focus. Apparently her power was partially locked. He removed the first block, but there was more than one. The one that concerned him most was the one that mirrored his, and evolution block. That had to have a serious tie to their fate. The rest of the blocks, though, were merely a result of trauma. All they would need to break is the individual realization that she even had such power. All he could do now was wait.
When her vision cleared, Amane was back on the ground and Morce was smiling. She heard him say something about rest before she blacked out.
A voice from outside chuckled as a Bulbasaur walked in to the room. "Looks like you're beat. You should worry about resting yourself, rookie."
"Oh, back off, Q," Morce chuckled. "You aren't exactly the definition of 'alive' at the moment, either."
The Bulbasaur, nicknamed Q by the guild as a whole, laughed heartily. "I suppose not. Still," he said in a now serious tone, "you should seriously get some sleep. Even Cynders could feel the amount of strain on your power, and he sucks at sensing anything other than an explosion...or Loudred," he snickered.
Morce grinned slightly as well before yawning. "Yeah, I can see your point. Go get the others and bring 'em in, but keep it down. I'll be out like a light in about ten seconds." Morce said as he laid down on his bed, near Amane.
Q smiled as he quietly left the room. "Those two are gonna' go places. I can feel their importance, and so can the other two...Ah well, we didn't come here for the glory anyways. Still though, that intel I received disturbs me greatly...I'll tell them when and if they're ready," he finished as he left the guild, with no one the wiser.