Training continued on. For about two more days I had been struggling on trying to manifest my Aura powers into a physical form.

Then, Lucario tried a different tactic. Without warning, he summoned his staff and lunged at me. After dodging some swings from sidestepping, he wouldn't stop. He wanted to see if I could block it. He kept coming, I dodged, dipped, dived, and jumped to get out of the way. Then something snapped.

It was annoying me. My rage was building. I wanted it to stop. I wanted to end it. I backed up, and used my adrenaline as fuel for my intentions. I held out my hand and focused once more, and finally, it happened.

A sword made out of shimmering blue light took form in my hands. I clutched it and blocked the Bone Staff Lucario was advancing at me with. He kept trying to drill through it, to test whether it would disappear, but it stayed. Satisfied, Lucario retreated.

"Excellent! You can summon an Aura weapon! But I am surprised at what you are using for your weapon... Most Riolus choose the Bone Staff, your pick is... Unusual."

More unusual than you think, buddy... I thought.

It was getting to be evening that day. Glaceon was walking nearby and Lucario saw her, I had the feeling he had a crush on her.

"Hah... Just look at her, her ears billowing in the wind. She's just so breathtaking." He said.

"You made some significant progress today. You can leave early." Lucario said, then he went in pursuit of Glaceon.

I turned around and began to walk back to my hut. I caught Crystal and Jake hanging out outside of a building in the market.

"Hey guys!" I said as I approached them. "How are you?"

"Things went better. Not as hard as yesterday." Said Jake. "Why are you out so early?"

"Lucario let me go early because he had some... Business to attend to."

"Oh, cool!"

They were sitting at a small table outside a large brick chateau.

"This is the best place for food in the village. It's really popular."

"What's it called?"

"The Miltank Bar." Crystal said. "She's an awesome cook. I love the food here."

Looking around, I saw the place was packed. It seemed like half of Hidden Village was here.

"Sit down!" Jake said.

I sat down and had a lot of fun. The food was delicious, fried Oran Berries with a sauce made of "secret ingredients" and Pecha Berry Juice. When all the sweet food was downed, my energy felt completely refreshed.

"So, how was it?" Crystal asked.

"Amazing! That's the best stuff I ever tasted!" I replied enthusiastically.

We began exploring the markets, I finally got more familiar with the village, most Pokemon either owned shops or worked at the Luxray Guild to make money, and then they blew the money for food, supplies, and decorations for their houses. It was a simple life, much more simple than my human life, I loved it.

"So how long will it be before you can join the two of us?" Asked Jake after about an hour of walking around the village.

"A few more days, last time I checked." I said.

The sun was beginning to set. The purple streaks in the sky became more noticeable at night. The sunset was beautiful in the valley. This was the first real time I got to see anything as detailed at this. I was really impressed with the sights. The Village was beautiful, the plants and flowers growing on the sides of the roads, blue flames burning on torches to light the place, which seemed to know exactly when to light at night, and the friendly chattering of the Pokemon talking to their friends. The place was peaceful, simple, and colorful. Not like the city back at home. Everything there was complicated and grey, the complete opposite of this.

We walked around a while. Crystal and Jake talking to me about some of their best adventures in the guild, I realized many of the missions they went on yielded large rewards, and battle experience. Each mistake they made they learned from, and never made again. For a small team, they knew how to operate like an army. It was really interesting to hear some of their strategies and combos, combining each other's abilities to defeat their enemies.

It became nighttime, and most of the day Pokemon were going to bed. Night Pokemon were beginning to come out. Crystal and Jake said goodbye as they went back home to go to bed, I did the same.

I was exhausted from walking around the second half of the day, and when I hit the bed, I practically passed out.

I dreamed I was in the middle of town square in nighttime.

I was walking around aimlessly when I saw Luxray, Lucario, and Blastoise walking in my direction. It felt so real, maybe Riolus and Lucarios can do these sorts of things when they dream?

"Yes, I believe it is true." Luxray said.

"Are you sure, sir?" Asked Blastoise. "Nobody could do such a thing, it is impossible."

"I would have known if a traitor was in our ranks, Luxray." Said Lucario. "I would have sensed it in a heartbeat."

"I would believe you, Lucario, but you have made mistakes before. And it is not a traitor, it is an impostor."

"How do you know this, anyway?"

"When Team Darkness attacked the other night, I heard Houndoom discussing with his comrades about replacing one of our guild members. As a spy. Until that impostor is revealed, the guild will be on lockdown. No missions or planning, just guarding the village. Blastoise, as head of the Defense division, strengthen the guards on the borders and make sure nobody gets in or comes out."

"Yes sir."

"And Lucario, I want you to be extra-attentive on the members. Any one of them could indeed be a traitor."

"As you wish, sir."

"Very good. Our strategy meetings will be just between the three of us, instead of the entire council. Once again, no missions until this impostor is caught and brought to justice. This meeting is adjourned."

"Thank you, sir." Blastoise and Lucario said in unision."

Luxray and Blastoise walked away, while Lucario stayed behind.

"Dream Watching already, Nathen? I'm impressed you have come this far so fast." Lucario said, looking directly at me. "I know you cannot help it, but you will soon learn to control it. I will ask you this, train harder. You and I tomorrow will be focusing on sensing an individual's intentions or their identity. The Zorua you met earlier will aid you in this training. I bid you a good night."

He walked away, and my sleep continued.

I woke up right before Blastoise was about to spray me with water, so that I had enough time to jump out of the way before he could drench me. I got in a defensive position and crouched down, looking straight at him. Blastoise smiled.

"Lucario is teaching you well." He said. "Come. It is time to continue training."

The usual sight of the sun barely rising in the distance marked the beginning of the day. I became more used to the routine, spending most of my time getting myself into gear, more specifically, Battle Stage 1.

Lucario was talking to Blastoise and had a Ditto, and the Zorua I met before next to him. I knew they were part of today's training.

The three came over to me and Lucario spoke up.

"Today we are going to focus on detecting impostors." Lucario said. "Ditto and Zorua have volunteered to help me in this task."

"We get to play hide and seek!" Zorua said playfully.

"I hope I am of help to you." Said Ditto.

"These two will take the form of me, we will all spread out and hide. It is your job to find the real me by using your sensing. By the end of the day you will be able to do it without even trying."

"Close your eyes and count to fifty!" Said Zorua. "And no peeking!"

"Okay." I said.

I closed my eyes.

"And try not to see our auras moving away from you." Said Lucario, "That would make things much easier to you."

I turned around and focused on my past and tried not to think about the Aura, I began to count, and when I reached fifty, I opened my eyes, turned around, and saw the three were nowhere to be found.

Closing my eyes and bringing myself to Battle Stage 1, I saw three paths mixing around in front of me, then they all shot off in three different directions. I decided to start with the one on the left. It lead straight through the group of kids and went into a clearing in the forest. I saw a Lucario resting by a tree, but when I focused on his Aura, I saw that it was Zorua casting an illusion around herself. I scratched her off the list and followed the second path, which seemed to be next to the third. I came my way to Miltank's bar and saw two Lucarios sitting calmy in the middle table.

"Ah, traced our paths?" One said.

"But which of us is the real one?" The other said in the exact same voice.

Focusing again, I saw two Lucarios in the Aura, then I tried something else.

I had the instinct to rewind what happened. It was strange, I saw the ghosts of Lucario and Ditto sitting down on the table, Lucario on the left. Ditto on the right. Ditto then transformed and copied Lucario's aura completely. I came back into reality.

"Lucario's on the left." I said simply.

"Correct!" They said in unison.

Ditto changed back and Lucario acknowledged me for identifying him.

"So, what did you think of that training exercise?" Lucario asked.

"It was fun." I said.

"Good, because we're doing it again."

We continued the exercise throughout the day, and we finally stopped around evening. Not catching a single break, I was using more Aura than my first day, but my energy was not as drained. My body was getting used to the exercises. By the last time we did the exercise, I was able to figure out the fake Lucario without using the rewinding technique.

Lucario dismissed me and I played another round of tag with the younger trainees (Who dragged me into it against my will) and headed back to the guild.

On the way back to the guild, I saw Glaceon walking by herself in the opposite direction towards me.

"Hey Glaceon!" I said. "How are you?"

She looked at me in alarm and started to hurry back.

"Wait up! What's going on?"

I caught up with her and put my paw on her shoulder to stop her. We were in the main hall of the guild. Blue fire burning in torches hanging from the ceiling, the mossy green bricks reflecting the blue light cast an eerie glow across the hall. When my paw touched her, I saw someone different in her place, someone who should not have been here, or her, for that matter. Someone that Luxray was warning his Blastoise and Lucario about the night before.

I had caught the impostor.

She was a Zoroark, who transformed into Glaceon. I was speechless. Realizing what had happened, she jumped backward and got into a defensive position. Her form shimmered and she turned back into the Pokemon she was impersonating.

"So, a child has found me. I did not expect someone as pathetic as you to discover me."

"You wooed Lucario to distract him so he couldn't tell who you were, didn't you?" I said.

"Yes. I also made him fall in love with me so he could give me information about the guild's plans so we could counter them, and sweep the guild away like a pile of dust!"

There was a pause, neither of us moved.

"I suppose that now I told you my plans, I should just kill you, and say you were the impostor, and say I had to kill you because I found you out. It is all too easy, since you have showed up precisely the time I captured the real Glaceon, the guild would believe me."

I summoned my Aura sword and aimed it at her, bringing myself into BS1.

(A/N: The battle stages are going to be abbreviated from now on.)

"I won't let you pass off any information to Team Darkness about the guild." I said.

"You and what army!" Zoroark/Glaceon laughed.

The fight was on.

CLIFFHANGER! I KNOW, I'M A JERK, BUT HEY, THE BOOKS I READ DO IT ALL THE TIME.

THE FAN-ART CONTEST IS STILL ON, AND THANKS TO SOMETHING DICTIONARY RELATED FOR HIS REVIEW, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME MORE FROM EVERYBODY READING THIS SO I KNOW WHAT TO IMPROVE ON. AND IF YOU LIKE THIS, SHOW IT TO SOME OF YOUR FRIENDS TO HELP THIS STORY GAIN SOME POPULARITY! THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP LATER TODAY OR THIS WEEK!

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