"Achoo!" Aaron sneezed, feeling the rain fall constantly on his head. He, along with Sophia and Melissa, followed Caroline as she lead the way through the streets toward her base.

"Bless you," Sophia said to the black haired teen.

"Oh? Looks like someone's talking about you behind your back," Melissa said with a small grin.

"Meh, probably," Aaron groaned. "After what happened today, it wouldn't surprise me."

"Either that, or you're getting sick," Caroline said as she glanced back at the raven hair teen. "You're walking in the middle of a storm with only a beanie covering your head."

"That too," Aaron responded quietly. Sophia approached him and raised her umbrella higher than it was, bringing him under it to shield him from the rain. "Heh, thanks Sophia." Aaron smiled at the ex-roserade.

Lightning crackled across the sky as the group continued through the rainy city. They came to a stop however when Caroline found a sewer pipe. Aaron approached it and slowly removed the lid from the ground, showing the sewers underneath.

"You have got to be kidding me," Melissa said with a groan. "Your hideout is in the sewers? How unoriginal, and disgusting."

"An underground base is more difficult to find and detect." Caroline explained. "Come on, were wasting time just standing around and talking."

The ginger hopped down into the sewer, landing on the walkway within. Melissa groaned again before she climbed down the ladder, following Caroline. Aaron motioned Sophia to go next, to which she slowly went down the ladder as well. The raven hair teen followed her, putting the lid back over the entrance pipe they climbed down underground.

"Ugh, it reeks down here." Melissa coughed as she looked around the sewer, covering her nose as she did.

"Of course it does," Aaron said. "How do you expect a sewer to smell? Like flowers?"

"No, I was expecting more on the lines of strawberries and apple pie," the brunette responded sarcastically.

"If you two are done bickering like children, we should continue." Caroline ordered sharply, earning a small nod from Aaron and Melissa.

The group continued their journey through the sewer, seeing several pokemon, mostly consisting of muks and zubats, along the way. After a few minutes of exploring, the group came across a large door with a control panel near it. Aaron approached it, punching in a few numbers and placing his hand on the interface for a few seconds. Several clicks emerged from the door, and it slowly opened up, revealing a narrow metal hallway. Caroline led the group through it, coming across another door with two hand sized circles on it.

"Talk about security." Melissa awed at the device and their surroundings.

"Rather be safe than sorry," Caroline responded while walking over to the door and placing her hands on the two circles. Then, she made her palms glow lightly in her green aura, which then spread across the door. Several clicks echoed from within the metal door, and soon after, it opened up.

On the other side of the door was a large open space, showing off tables that sat in neat rows with all kinds of weapons placed on them. Soldiers surrounded the tables, all of them were dressed similarly to Caroline, but their clothing had different colors, varying between blue, red, white, and orange, showing off their different ranks. Catwalks were seen across the walls with soldiers walking among them, acting as watchmen.

"Welcome to the base." Caroline smiled at Melissa and Sophia, who were staring in awe at the large complex.

"This place used to be a cave that was connected to the sewer," Aaron said to the two girls. "Over time, we've slowly built our base of operations here. This place is a lot bigger than what you see here."

The group continued through the base, Melissa and Sophia stared at everything as Carol and Aaron led the way. Soon, the four arrived to a large crater, which acted as a training area for the base. Groups of soldiers could be seen within it, all of which were sparring among themselves.

"We have a little over two-thousand soldiers in our cause," Carol said. "They're spread throughout unova, looking out for Team Bellator. We're still growing in numbers, but our overall army is small compared to Bellator's forces."

"How many people does Bellator have?" Sophia asked.

"Over ten-thousand warriors." Aaron answered. "And still growing."

"Whoa," Melissa whispered. "And that's spread all over unova?"

Aaron gave her a nod. "Some of their soldiers are tough aura users, they are not to be underestimated."

"How do you hope to beat that many soldiers?" Sophia frowned worriedly.

"Don't worry about the numbers, Sophia." Caroline reassured the ex-roserade. "One of my soldiers are a match for ten of Bellator's men, depending on their strength and aura."

Sophia glanced down at the soldiers sparring below, noticing some of them glow in their own colored aura. "Speaking of aura," she whispered. "Are we going to start learning how to use it right away? I kinda wanna see what color mine is."

"If you want to, sure." Caroline gave the ex-roserade a small grin. "We can start in that room over there." She pointed at a door on the other side of the crater. "Meet me there when your ready."

The ginger made her way around the large crater, making it into the room on the other side quickly. Melissa took a step forward, about to follow her, Aaron however stopped her, grabbing her arm quickly and making her cease her movements.

"Wait Melissa, I should let you and Sophia know that some people find it difficult to use aura, some can't even use it," he said. "It may be tough for you guys to get into."

"Relax Aaron," Melissa said with a smile. "You know me, there's almost nothing I can't do."

"I mean it Melissa, this is something entirely different from what you normally do." Aaron continued. "You have to have a clear mind if you want to truly use aura for the first time-"

"Aaron, relax," the brunette said again, keeping her smile. "I know I mess around a lot, but I know when get serious when the situation calls for it. I know I can do this."

"Yeah Aaron, there's no need to worry." Sophia smiled at the raven hair teen. "And even if I can't use it, I still have my old powers to fall back on."

Aaron glanced at the ex-roserade, and couldn't help but to smile back at her. "Alright then, let's begin your training."

The curly haired teen led the way around the crater, opening the door for the two girls. When they entered the room, they immediately noticed how different the interior was compared to the rest of the base. The room was mostly wooden and had the lights dimmed, making it have a more peaceful atmosphere to it than the rest of the complex. They saw Caroline sitting on a yoga mat, her eyes were closed and she lightly glowed in her green aura.

"Let's begin, shall we?" she said, motioning her hand to the three mats in front of her. "Please, take a seat."

Melissa and Sophia took their seats on the left and right mats respectively. Aaron soon joined them after he closed the door to the room, shutting out the sound from outside. He sat down on the mat in the middle.

"To use aura, you need to concentrate," Caroline said softly. "For beginners like yourselves, you'll need to be in a peaceful location to start using it. Once you get used to it, you can use it whenever and where ever you are." She opened her green orbs to look at the three in front of her. "Let's start with a simple lesson, give Aaron one of your hands." She instructed.

The two girls followed the order, extending their hands towards the raven hair teen. He grabbed their palms with his own, which unintentionally earned a light blush from Sophia. Then, he started to glow in his blue aura, which spread to Sophia and Melissa. Both where quickly covered in the blue fiery substance, feeling at ease when they realized how nice it felt.

"This... this feels incredible...!" Melissa awed at the aura around her. "It kinda feels like warm water flowing on the body."

"That's how aura normally feels like," Carol said. "It helps the body in many ways, such as healing wounds or helping you run faster. Now, concentrate on the aura, ease your minds into it."

Sophia and Melissa lightly shut their eyes, relaxing into the feeling of the aura. Aaron released their hands from his grip, disconnecting his aura to them. When Sophia opened her eyes, she saw the aura covering her body was no longer blue, but was instead a hue of purple. She glanced at Melissa, seeing the aura covering her was red.

"It's easier to use aura when it's passed on from another aura user." Caroline explained. "The aura you see now is being generated from you. Like I said before, aura can be used to heal the body from injuries, although it will take a while for the wounds to fully heal, depending on how much aura you use." She raised one of her hands and created a green aura sphere, letting it hover above her palm. "However, aura can also be used as a weapon. Spreading it to the blades of your swords or infusing it into your fists will make them more deadlier than before. You can also make it into spheres and throw them at your enemies. Injuries from aura are more difficult to heal as well, so be careful when you fight other aura users."

The green aura sphere in the ginger's hand dispersed, evaporating into the air. Aaron held up his hands near the two girls beside him and created a blue aura sphere in each one, both hovering above his palms.

"Now, place your hands under the spheres to hold them." The ginger ordered.

Sophia slowly slid her hand onto Aaron's palm, carefully avoiding contact with the blue sphere. Melissa however went in and tried to touch the sphere, only to recoil her hand back and yelp at the burning sensation in her hand.

"Ow! Hot hot hot hot hot!" she yelled, waving her hand around back and fort, trying to ease the pain.

"Don't touch the sphere directly!" Caroline told the brunette. "It was made with the intent to hurt others."

"Could've said that before I tried to hold it..." Melissa grumbled under her breath. She tried again, this time sliding her hand underneath the sphere and onto Aaron's palm. The curly haired teen slowly put his hands down, allowing the spheres to stay in the girl's palms. Slowly, both spheres changed into Sophia's and Melissa's respective colors, purple and red.

"It's kinda like holding an energy ball," Sophia whispered, looking into the now purple sphere.

"It may take some time for you two to create aura spheres of your own," Caroline said. "But now you know what it's like to hold one. When you get used to using your aura, I'll teach you how to infuse it with weapons."

Melissa and Sophia felt the orbs disperse in hands after a few seconds, watching as it evaporated. Both smiled at one another, happy at the fact that they can use aura now.

"Thus ends our lesson for today," the ginger said. "Tomorrow, when you have more energy, I'll teach you more about the arts of using aura. Go on, rest up for today, I've already prepared your beds in the barracks."

"W-we're not going back to the house...?" Sophia asked slowly. "But... what about all of our belongings?"

"We can't go back Sophia, not with Team Bellator hunting you down," Aaron told the ex-roserade. "But don't worry, our belongings should be safe. They're after you, not the house."

Sophia sighed sadly, not happy with the news. "So we'll be living underground then?"

"For now, yes." Caroline answered. "But once Team Bellator is defeated, you can go back to your house again, I promise."

"We can't risk your safety Sophia," Aaron said.

"... O-okay... I guess..." Sophia mumbled.

Melissa hoped up onto her feet, seemingly unaffected by the fact she has to live underground. "Do you guys have any food around here? I'm famished," she said.

"Oh, of course," Caroline responded. "The cafeteria is near the entr-"

"That's all I needed to hear," the brunette said before she grabbed Aaron by his wrist and dragged him along. "Let's go Aaron! You're leading the way to the food!" She cheered gleefully.

"H-hey! Wait a minute!" Aaron yelled while being forced to come along. "You can't just drag m-!"

"Yes I can," Melissa told him with a smirk. Sophia quickly got up from her spot and followed the two, while Caroline laughed quietly at their bickering.

"You're going the wrong way!" Aaron yelled at the brunette. "The cafeteria is over there! Near the entrance!"

"Why didn't you say that before?!" Melissa yelled back, turning them around and following where the raven hair teen pointed his finger towards.

"Did you not hear Carol say it was next to the entrance?"

"She said that?"

"You're hopeless."

"Less whining, more leading the way!"

"I would be leading the way if you weren't dragging me like a child!"

"That's because you are a child."

"Oh please, I'm way more mature than you are."

"Kay."

The trio passed by several groups of soldiers along the way, all of which were staring at Aaron and Melissa in bewilderment. Some of them whispered to one another, wondering why the second in command of their army was being hopelessly dragged by some random recruit.

"Can you let me go?" Aaron asked, tired of being dragged on the floor.

"Why yes Aaron, I'm fully capable of letting you go," Melissa responded with another grin.

Aaron groaned at the brunette in annoyance. "Ugh... fine. May you let me go?"

"That's better, but no."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm enjoying embarrassing you in front of your peers."

Aaron groaned in annoyance once again, while Sophia laughed quietly at their antics. Some of the soldiers watching the spectacle couldn't help but to join the ex-roserade in her quiet laughter, finding the duo's bickering amusing.