Finally, we get to the somewhat more juicy stuff, sorry for how cliche and corny the first six chapters were, but I can assure you that it's all up hill from here with a few minor bumps along the way.
Chapter 7: An Evolution of Love
-POV Aura, 1st Person-
Finally returning to Lumiose City, we walked along south boulevard towards the Pokemon Center. But as we got closer, I noticed a crowd gathered nearby, "You guys see that?" I asked, slowing to a halt.
"Yeah, I wonder what's going on," Dan said. Not even needing to discuss it any further, we quickly changed our course to see what the commotion was all about, and when we finally pushed our way to the front of the crowd, my blood began to boil.
"You worthless piece of shit!" The boy in the center yelled, kicking the small Shinx in the side, forcing it to wheez in pain, and cough up a bit of blood on the pavement. From the way multiple splatters of blood were around it, and how it's body was riddled with many bruises and cuts, I could tell this had been going on for a while, only fueling the rage I felt burning inside.
"I-I'm sorry, Master, please stop." I heard the Shinx plead in a male voice, blood slowly seeping from the side his mouth.
"I never should have caught you, you're absolutely useless in a fight!" He shouted again, continuing to kick the Shinx.
As he was about to kick the Shinx again, I finally snapped, a mysterious translucent blue wall appeared in front of the feline, protecting it from further harm, but the trainer wasn't as lucky, "Gah! What the fuck?!" The trainer yelled in pain, holding his foot from kicking the wall full force, "Who the fuck did that?!"
"I believe that would be me," I called to him, slowly stepping out of the crowd, a blue veil of energy surrounding my body.
"And who the fuck are you?!" He shouted, dropping his foot.
"Aura Borealis, your worst fucking nightmare," I spat with venom in my voice, and without even realizing it, I had summoned a ball of blue energy in the palm of my right hand, pointing it towards the boy. "Stop abusing that Shinx, otherwise, I'll deal with you myself!"
"And what the fuck are you going to do?" I launched the glowing ball of energy at the trainer, hitting him directly in the chest, with smoke erupting from the explosive impact, and a loud shout of pain heard from within.
As the smoke cleared, I walked up the the boy, "Hand over Shinx's ball! Now!" I demanded.
"And why should I?" He asked, his voice filled with spite. I summoned another ball of energy in my hand, his face grew even more angry, though I could see it was just a mask for his fear. "Fine!" He reached for his belt and pulled off a pokeball, tossing it over to me, "Take that piece of trash, he's useless anyways!" The abusive trainer stood up and stormed off, the light around me disappearing as I just stood there confused.
"What was that?" Diamond asked, as her and Dan ran up to me.
"I... don't know, I just got pissed at that trainer for abusing that Shinx, and next thing I know I-" I cut off as I remembered the Shinx, quickly running over to him and gently lifting him into my arms, "We need to get him to the Pokemon Center! Now!" I said, sprinting in the direction of the Pokemon Center.
Within only a few minutes, I had arrived and the Pokemon Center; the automatic doors slid open as I ran inside, stopping at the desk, "Nurse Joy! Please, help Shinx!"
She looked over and I could immediately see her shocked expression, "What happened to it?!" She asked.
"His trainer was abusing him out in the streets, now please, just help him."
Nurse Joy nodded, "Alright," she called out for assistance, saying this was an emergency, and soon after, another nurse walked out with a Wigglytuff by her side, "Wendy, please take Shinx to the emergency room as soon as possible."
I assumed Wendy was the other nurse, since she gave a quick nod and took Shinx from my hold, placing him onto a gurney Wigglytuff had brought, and rushing him to a back room to be treated.
I watched the door close behind them, without looking at her, I asked Nurse Joy, "Do you think he'll be okay?"
She replied to my question in a calm tone, "I don't think his injuries will be fatal, but they didn't look good at all... but, we'll let you know of it's condition as soon as we can."
"Thank you..."
My attention was finally drawn away from the room, as I heard the glass doors of the entrance slide open, spotting Dan running in with Diamond by his feet. The two ran towards me, Diamond leaped into my arms and I held her close, while Dan stopped by my side, "Man, you're fast when you need to be."
I apologized to him, then Diamond quickly caught my attention, "Is Shinx gonna be okay?" She asked.
"I don't know, but Nurse Joy will let us know as soon as she can." I turned back to the nurse and requested a Class-C room for me and Dan, I did the usual process of scanning my Trainer ID and receiving the room keys, giving one to Dan.
I walked towards the seating area, Diamond following me without question, but Dan had other plans; after he handed Missy's pokeball to Nurse Joy, he came over to us, telling us he was going to head up to the room and start making lunch, I nodded, and he left towards the stairs.
Diamond and I sat there for almost two hours, the small fox falling asleep on my lap as I just stared off into space, though when I heard footsteps walk towards me, I looked up, and saw Nurse Joy walking towards us, and after noticing the relieved smile on her face, I figured she had good news about the Shinx. I shifted Diamond from my lap to the cushions, though this was enough to wake her, so I gave her a quick apology and stood up. "So, how's Shinx?"
Nurse Joy took a clipboard from under her arm, "You shouldn't have to worry too much about him, he'll make a full recovery in a couple days, at most a week, but he did sustain quite a few injuries," she paused to check the pages on the board, "he has a few broken ribs, and some minor internal bleeding, if you didn't get him away from that trainer when you did, his injuries would've been near fatal."
"So when can we see him?" I asked.
"You'll have to wait until at least tomorrow, he's going through some minor surgery to help him recover faster, but as soon as he wakes up, I'll have you informed."
Relief washed over me, "Thank you so much, Nurse Joy."
She waved it off, "It's no problem at all, I'm happy to help injured or sick pokemon whenever I can."
"Thank you. Come on, Diamond, let's head to our room for now." Diamond hopped off the sofa, and followed me up the stairs to our room for the night.
The next morning, I was shaken awake, and heard Dan's voice next to me, "Aura, Nurse Joy want's to talk to you about Shinx."
I opened my eyes, and looked up to see Dan standing above me, "Alright, give me a sec." He nodded and walked away. I got up and stretched, then put on my glasses before walking to the open door, not bothering to put a shirt over my still bandaged chest, "Morning, Nurse Joy, you wanted to talk to me?" I asked, still not quite fully awake.
She looked a bit confused about my chest, but she shook it off, "Yes, I wanted to let you know that Shinx is awake now, and you can come down to see him at any time."
I smiled, "Thanks, Nurse Joy, I'll be sure to stop by a little later." She nodded and left down the hall.
I went over to my bed and woke up Diamond, shaking her a bit and telling her the news, "That's great, when are we gonna see him?" She asked, also still groggy from just waking up.
"We'll head down a little later, but for now, we gotta get ready."
She let out a yawn and stood up, stretching her forelegs with her rear in up, then leaned forward and stretched her back legs, after this, she seemed a lot more awake. She looked to her necklace then back to me, "Could you help me with my necklace?"
I took the silver chain from the black box and tied it around her neck, then I quickly leaned down and took some fresh clothes from my bag, "I'll be right back. Dan, can you make breakfast today?"
"Sure, what should I make?"
I stepped towards the bathroom, "Anything's fine." He nodded and I stepped into the bathroom to change. Once I finished changing, I put my clothes in my bag, and let Prince out of his ball so we could join the others for breakfast.
As I sat down, Dan began to strike up a conversation, "So, there's a gym here in Lumiose City, you gonna try to challenge it?"
I took a bite of the food and thought for a moment, "Mmmh, maybe, but I can't say for sure, I'll have to look into what type of pokemon they use first."
Dan shrugged, "Probably a good idea, besides, we'll have no choice but to loop back around at some point, so if not this time, you can always challenge the gym later."
With our breakfast out of the way, I asked Prince if he would like to meet the Shinx I had rescued the day prior, and of course, he agreed in his usual, chivalrous tone.
The three of us went down to the lobby, taking a quick second to stop and ask Nurse Joy where Shinx's room was, and heading down the hall to finally meet the Shinx.
"Well, here goes nothing." I slowly opened the door and peeked in, seeing the small feline lying on the bed, with bandages wrapped around his abdomen, staring out the window.
I cleared my throat and Shinx looked over to us, he gave me a weak smile, speaking in a soft voice, "Thank you for saving me." I assumed he spoke like that because he might have been medicated at that time, probably painkillers since he had just recently gone through some surgery.
"Of course, what was I supposed to do? Walk away?" I asked, a bit sarcastically to try to lighten the mood, yet also keeping my voice as calm as I could.
"Heh, most people would have, while everyone else just stayed to watch the show," he said this with spite in his voice, but it soon lighted up again, "but, I'm glad you at least decided to help."
Diamond suddenly butted in with a question, "How did you know that Aura was the one who saved you? Weren't you unconscious?"
He looked up to me, "So that's your name," I just nodded in confirmation, "well, I was awake long enough to see Aura get my pokeball away from my trainer."
I shook my head, "He's not your trainer anymore, and never will be again."
I could easily see Shinx's face light up, "You mean, I'm free? No more abuse?" He asked hopefully.
This worried me, "Hold on, how long has this been going on?"
Shinx shivered at the thought, simply replying with, "Too long."
Again, Diamond decided to but in, "Why don't you come along with us?"
I quickly turned to the small fox, "Now hold on, I don't think he'd want any sort of trainer after what he's gone through."
Unexpectedly, Prince actually cut in as well, "My apologies, Master Aura, but perhaps Diamond has a point, you are a very caring trainer, so I too think Shinx would be better as your pokemon."
I was about to disagree again, but Shinx spoke up, "Actually... I wouldn't mind someone like you as my trainer."
"What? Even after everything that's happened to you?" I asked in disbelief
He nodded, "Yes, how you saved me yesterday proves that what your pokemon say is true, you are a caring trainer, and I actually feel safe when you're around."
I sighed, "If you really want to, I can have you registered as my pokemon, and we can leave the city as soon as you're recovered."
"That would be nice."
"Well, since you'll be joining the family, I should introduce you to these two," I held a hand behind the pokemon by my sides, "the Fennekin is Diamond, and the Riolu is Prince, and you already know my name is Aura."
"I'm Stan," he let out a short yawn as his eyes began to grow heavy, "and thank you again." Stan's eyes closed as he fell asleep.
"Huh, I guess whatever medicine Nurse Joy has him on made him tired," Diamond pointed out.
"Hm, maybe, but let's go for now, we've been in here for a while, so we should let him rest."
The two pokemon agreed with me and we exit the room, softly closing the door behind us so Stan could rest.
"Well, it looks like we'll be staying in Lumiose City for a while," I paused for a moment, taking my pokedex from my pocket and checking the time, "it's only a little after one, anything you guys wanna do today?"
"Maybe we could go for a walk?" Diamond suggested.
"I wouldn't mind getting some fresh air, and perhaps this would be a good time to make sure we have enough food for the week," Prince added.
"It's settled then, let's go back and let Dan know we'll be out." Prince and Diamond followed me back to the room, making sure I had everything I needed and letting Dan know where we were going.
We walked along the streets, taking in the sights of Lumiose City, and doing a bit of shopping while we were at it.
Finally, after being out for almost four hours, it was time to head back to the pokemon center; although, I had something planned for the three of us, "Hey, guys, what do you say we go to a restaurant for supper?"
"Restaurant?" Diamond question.
I pointed over to a relatively big establishment with a large outdoor dining area, there were a few people within this area, most of which had at least one pokemon by their sides that looked happy to be there, "I saw that restaurant when we came this way earlier, I think it may be one of those special 'Trainer Cafes'."
"What's a Trainer Cafe?" She asked in total confusion.
"Just like the name entails, it's a cafe specially made for trainers."
Now Prince was starting to get confused, "Why would there need to be a cafe made specifically for trainers? Why not visit a regular cafe?"
I found the two's lack of human knowledge to be a bit amusing, but I did the right thing, and began explaining their purpose, "Some places just don't allow pokemon into the building for health and safety reasons, and even though most places do allow pokemon, their restaurants are intended for human customers, and couldn't let a lot of pokemon in for different reasons; so, some people came up with the Trainer Cafes, which are specially made to allow trainers to eat with their pokemon, however, even they have some rules about their health and safety, but they always try to work around them to make sure both trainer, and pokemon are happy."
The two pokemon were amazed, and I was happy they were so interested in the idea of the Trainer Cafe. So, after asking them again if they wanted to go there for supper, they didn't hesitate to agree, and followed me to the large entrance.
As we stepped through the large doors, easily about six or seven feet tall, Diamond and Prince were amazed at how large the inside was, there were all sorts of pokemon in the restaurant, each a variety of sizes and species.
A waiter walked up to greet us, "Welcome to our Trainer Cafe, how many shall be dining with us tonight?"
"Just me and these two." I gestured to the Fennekin and Riolu at my sides.
The waiter nodded, "Very well," he turned to a short, bipedal cat-like pokemon with blue fur, "Meowstic, could you bring one trainer menu and two pokemon menus?" I looked over to the Meowstic, finding his similar, yet smaller apron and tie to be quite adorable, though I was quickly taken back it's green eyes glowed faintly as it used it's psychic abilities to levitate the menus into the waiter's hands. The waiter gave a quick thanks to Meowstic, to which he replied with a bow, "Now then, let me show you to your table."
We followed the waiter and his Meowstic to a small, round table. I seated myself on the normal chair, while Diamond and Prince climbed up to special stools for smaller pokemon.
The waiter placed a menu in front of each of us, mine looking like a normal menu, while the ones placed before Prince and Diamond had pictures rather than words, obviously since pokemon normally can't read human writing.
"Can we get you anything to drink?" The waiter asked, pulling out a notepad, Meowstic just stood by. I looked over the menu, deciding on a soda, which he quickly wrote down.
Meanwhile, because Prince and Diamond were new to the whole concept of menus, especially this specific kind, Meowstic was explaining how it worked through his natural language, though of course, I understood the whole conversation.
The cat pokemon explained everything he could about each helpful detail on the menus, ranging from foods to drinks, and even small symbols to help learn about the food before ordering.
Finally, after a few minutes of explanation, they had finally ordered their drinks, Diamond requesting some pecha juice, while Prince just asked for some water. Meowstic nodded and looked to the waiter, relaying their order through telepathy. The waiter thanked Meowstic and they left to fetch our drinks.
We looked over our menus while we awaited our drinks, though I did have to help remind the two about some of the details. Soon enough, the waiter and Meowstic returned and set down our drinks, mine and Prince's were in regular cups, while Diamond was given a fancy glass bowl due to her not having hands.
Like before, the waiter pulled out a notepad, asking us if we were ready to order, so I quickly told him our orders and they left once again.
"Thank you for taking us here, Aura."
"It's no big deal, Diamond, I'm just making sure you guys are treated well, like a family should be."
After waiting for a good while, the waiter and Meowstic returned with our food, placing them on the table and leaving to tend to other needs, leaving us to enjoy our wonderful meals.
With our plates cleaned from the food, I paid the bill, and we left the cafe, finally heading back to the Pokemon Center for some well deserved sleep.
Upon arrival to the suite, Dan poked his head out from behind his medical book, "Where've you guys been?" He closed the book and stood up from the sofa.
"Sorry we were out so long, after we finished shopping, I decided to take these two to a Trainer Cafe."
Dan stretched and let out a yawn, "That's nice, but it's getting pretty late, so you wanna call it a night?"
"Yeah, probably a good idea." I set the plastic bags on the counter and quickly put away what I bought, then I started my nightly routine; after saying good night to Prince, I returned him and set his ball on the bedside table, taking everything from my pockets, being my wallet and pokedex, and setting them down next to the pokeball, then, after changing into my shorts and helping Diamond remove her necklace, it was finally time for bed.
With midnight slowly approaching, each of us was in a deep, peaceful slumber, though that didn't last long.
I was awakened from my sleep by a bright light shining through the window, and the sounds of very loud helicopter blades.
I sat up, wondering what was going on, though I quickly got my answer as the wall was suddenly blown apart by a large explosion.
The other two woke up immediately, and just as quickly, we had all begun coughing violently as smoke and dust filled the air.
Blinded by the light and smoke, I was unable to notice someone approaching us, until it was too late. Diamond screamed in horror, though it was quickly muffled, "Diamond?! Are you okay?!" The Fennekin didn't answer, instead, all I heard was men laughing, "Who are you?! Show yourself!"
The lights began to dim and the smoke started to disappear, revealing a pair of men in identical red suits. The man on the right laughed, "Who we are isn't important, what matters is that you come with us back to our headquarters."
"Why should I go with you?!" My eyes widened when the man on the left lifted a mass of yellow and red fur into view, "Diamond!"
I was about to rush to my bedside table and grab Prince's pokeball, but a distinct click stopped me in my tracks, I turned to see the man on the right held a gun in my direction, "Ah-ah-ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he pointed the gun to his left, putting the barrel inches away from Diamond, "unless you want me to blast this bitch's brains out."
I watched Diamond quivering in fear, but with no other options, I complied and stepped back, away from the Riolu's ball. The man chuckled, "That's better," he holstered his gun and the two men jumped back into their helicopter, "meet us at the top of Lumiose Tower, alone and unarmed, otherwise this bitch goes over," he shook Diamond by the scruff of her neck, "you have one hour." The helicopter's door closed and it rose up into the sky, flying off in the direction of the tower.
I clenched my fists, "Dan, go get Officer Jenny, but don't let them follow me up, I can't risk Diamond getting hurt." He silently nodded and I sprinted out of the room, leaving everything behind as I ran through the streets towards the tower.
I reached the tower, seeing hundreds of people standing around it, wondering what was going on at the top. I pushed my way through the crowd, many people shouting at me, but I ignored them and continued running.
I reached the maintenance ladder and hastily climbed to the top, nearly slipping a few times, but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop, not until Diamond was safe.
Reaching the top of the ladder, I climbed over the edge, and stood in front of the two men, Diamond still being held up be the scruff of her neck, "Good, you came," one of the men said, "now be a good boy and get in the chopper."
I was about to walk forward, but I stopped when Diamond began calling to me, "Aura, no, don't do it!"
I looked at the fox, tears falling from her eyes, mine doing the same, "No, Diamond! I promised I'd keep you safe, that I'd always be there for you." I walked closer and allowed the other man to cuff my hands together behind my back, "Now let her go," I demanded.
The one holding Diamond smirked, "As you wish." He released his grip on the fox, dropping her over the edge.
"Nooo!" I started writhing in anger, trying to escape the grasp of the men.
Suddenly, my body was enveloped in a blue light, "What's going on?!" One of the men said.
"This must have been what the boss was talking about!" The other one guessed.
The light grew brighter as I began to feel more and more power build up, suddenly causing an unseen wave of energy to push the men away, shattering the cuffs on my wrists, and allowing me to leap off the tower after the falling Fennekin.
I approached her, holding out my arms and wrapping them around her small form.
She pressed her head against my chest, tears falling from her eyes, "Aura, if we don't make it, I want you to know that I... I love you, Aura!"
Hearing those words brought my mind back to when Arceus first spoke to me...
I remembered the day we met, how I felt when I first locked eyes with the small fox, and now I realized what that spark meant...
Diamond was the one...
The one who shared my power...
The one who shared my destiny..
The one I loved above all others...
I raised Diamond's chin, looking into her beautiful red eyes, and I knew it right then and there...
This was it...
I pulled the fox towards me, locking our lips in a deep kiss...
A kiss that marked the beginning of our future...
The beginning of... Our destiny!
I pulled away from Diamond as I was blinded by a bright light, and as it disappeared, she was no longer a Fennekin... She had become a Braixen...
Memories that I didn't recognize began flashing before my eyes, revealing to me who, and what I was...
I began to feel the familiar energy building up within me, but now, I knew what it was, and what it meant.
As we quickly approached the ground, I adjusted our positions, holding Diamond in a tight embrace above me, with my back facing the ground.
Moments before hitting the earth below, I tightened my embrace around Diamond, saying the one phrase that would secure our fate forever... "I love you, too."
Holy Arceus! That ending took way too long to re-write, I'd say about maybe 2-3 hours of nothing but pacing and repeating dialogue to myself. But I'm glad that it's finished.
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