"I'm fining you!"

Knuckles groaned and twitched in his sleep. Who was that? And why did that voice sound so irritatingly familiar?

"Didn't you HEAR ME? I SAID I'm FINING YOU!"

Knuckles was jolted awake by the screaming, and he angrily gazed at the blond male who had awoken him.

"Now pay up!" Barry ignored Knuckles' glare and held out his hand for cash.

Knuckles felt himself for some money. Then he realized he didn't have any pockets nor any cash…

"Arrgh! You get five seconds to pay up!" Barry stomped his foot.

"Five-four-three-" Barry began to count at a frantic pace.

Knuckles promptly got up and began to run away. But suddenly, another Barry appeared in front of him.

"You can't run from me! I'm BARRY! I'm going to be the greatest Pokémon master EVER!"

Knuckles turned to run in a different direction, but another Barry appeared to block his way once again, "HEY! You can't run away from ME!" Barry flailed around angrily.

"Hey, I know! As punishment for you being So Rude, I'm going to make you MY Pokémon!" Barry cried.

Knuckles shouted out in pain. NOTHING was worse than THAT!

"Knuckles? What's wrong?" Leaf asked. Knuckles opened his eyes and was relieved to see Leaf standing before him instead of Barry. Knuckles then proceeded to warn her about Barry and his evil plans.

"What? Sorry?" Leaf smacked the side of her head like she had water in her ears, "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to use a translator." She then let out Blathers.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! I LOOOOVE DEFENSE!" Blathers bellowed. Knuckles covered his ears; somehow Chatot's normally irritating voice seemed ten thousand times louder than usual.

"I'm FINING YOU, KNUCKLES!" Blathers shrieked.

Knuckles collapsed to the ground and pressed his paws to his ears as hard as he could. He couldn't TAKE it anymore!

"Knuckles!" Leaf said loudly.

Knuckles released his ears and opened his eyes. Leaf was looking down at him from her bed.

"Are you okay, Knuckles?" Leaf asked, blinking more often than usual.

Knuckles let out a sigh of relief. It was all a dream… but a terrible one at that!

"…Okay…" Leaf laid back in her bed and tried to wake up more. It wasn't often that she woke up to the sound of a thrashing Pokémon. Poor thing. Must've had a bad dream…

After they had all woken up and Leaf had gotten ready, Leaf and the four Pokémon walked out into the main lobby of the Pokémon Center.

"Good morning!" Nurse Joy said happily.

"Hi," Leaf could only smile a little, "How're the Pokémon?"

"Oh, they're all doing much better! The Ursaring and Salamence are still asleep, but other than that, I'd say they're all good to go!"

"That's great!" Leaf smiled. She followed Nurse Joy to go see them. After Leaf recalled her Pokémon, she looked at her newest 'poképal' Pinsir. He was clicking his massive pincers threateningly at Knuckles.

"Hi… Pinsir…" Leaf said tentatively. She never liked giant bug Pokémon very much. And this one in particular looked pretty formidable. Why did Riley have such a creepy Pokémon?

"PINSIR!" Pinsir suddenly shouted.

Leaf jumped in fright, but Nurse Joy smiled warmly, "I think he likes you."

"What? Are you crazy?" Leaf looked at her in disbelief. Now, Leaf had always held a great deal of respect for Nurse Joys. They were brilliant at what they did, and they didn't even get paid much for it in return. But as for right now, Leaf could only wonder how she could be so smart and yet so delusional at the same time…

"Pinsir…" Pinsir clicked his pincers threateningly as he edged closer to Leaf.

"Aw… aren't you… so sweet…?" Leaf looked like she might faint as Pinsir edged in close for a hug. Apparently, the 'threatening' sound of his pincers clicking was actually a sign of affection…

"Pin… sir…" Pinsir hugged her happily for a few seconds before he finally pulled away.

"…Anyway, I think we should go see how Riley's doing, huh?" Leaf turned to the rest of the Pokémon. They seemed to agree, so the six of them headed back to the lobby.

Much to Leaf's surprise, the very person they were headed out to see walked inside the lobby as soon as they did.

"Riley?" Leaf cried. All of his Pokémon looked greatly relieved to see him as well.

"Easy now, I'm still a little sore," Riley said as Pinsir ran over to him and looked like he might bowl him over.

Leaf smiled as Riley's Pokémon happily greeted him. Metang hovered around Riley and buzzed happily with a huge grin on his face. Pinsir clicked his pincers affectionately near Riley's elbow. Absol stroked himself against Riley's leg, much like a cat would to its owner. Lucario stood before Riley and quietly gazed at him. Riley stroked his Lucario's head with his hand, "I'm glad to see that you're all doing well."

"Thanks for watching over them, Leaf," Riley looked over at her.

"Hey, it was nothing," Leaf grinned, "I'm just glad everyone's feelin' better now!"

"Me too," Riley agreed as he began to recall his Pokémon.

"Your last two Pokémon are still sleeping in the back there," Leaf told him, "Nurse Joy can take you to see them."

"Thanks; I'll be back in a minute then," Riley replied and went off to find her.

"Well…" Leaf turned to her Lucario, "I guess it's time to hit the grind again…"

Knuckles blinked.

"Hey, let's check out the map they've got here while we're waiting," Leaf mused as she noticed a giant map on the wall.

"Hmm… To get to our destination," Leaf began as she held her chin thoughtfully, "We're going to have to get through the swamps beyond Pastoria City… and then we'll have to travel through many, many miles of mountainous terrain until we reach the snowy frozen landscape before Snowpoint City… It'll be freezing, and I'm sure we'll get lost at some point…."

Knuckles shivered at the mere thought of it.

Leaf sighed, "Man… that'll be one heck of a journey… It'll take several days at least…"

"So," Leaf turned to Knuckles, "What are you looking forward to the least?"

Knuckles considered carefully for a moment before he placed his paw on the swamplands.

"What?" Leaf exclaimed, "We have to trudge through like thousands of miles through mountainous caves and snowy tundra, but you don't want to go through the SWAMPS?"

Knuckles just gave her a look. He still remembered her completely overreacting to the filthy mud everywhere in the Great Marsh.

"Oh… yeah… I guess you might be right…" Leaf recalled sheepishly.

"Planning out your journey?" Riley asked as he approached.

"Yeah," Leaf turned around, "And it looks like we've got a long road ahead of us…"

"Hmm…" Riley looked thoughtful for a moment, "Mind if I come along?"

"What?" Leaf couldn't believe what she just heard.

"I've been thinking…" Riley said thoughtfully, "You have a lot on your plate, guarding Azelf all on your own like that… I want to help."

"You're serious?" Leaf looked appalled, "I mean, you were seriously injured by Team Galactic; why on earth would you want to join me and get put into those kinds of situations again?"

"Because…" Riley looked at the ground thoughtfully before looking her in the eyes, "What happened to me could have just as easily happened to you or someone else… I can't just stand by and allow things like that to happen!"

"You're pretty brave to say that…"

"I only want to help…" Riley said modestly.

"Well, I thank you for that," Leaf smiled shyly.

"So then," Riley looked at the map, "where are we all headed?"

"Snowpoint City is our ultimate destination…You know, because I need to find Lake Acuity and Uxie… Judging by this map, I think it'll take us several days to get there, though…" Leaf told him.

"Wow, you bet…" Riley said with a slight smile, "But I think I can help you out with that. We can get there much faster on my Salamence."

"Wow, you've been to Snowpoint City before?"

"No, but I can take you to Eterna City. That's quite a bit closer than going there from here."

"Definitely! That would be great!" Leaf beamed. Now she wouldn't have to trek through those swamps! And plus, her trek through the mountains would be cut in half!

"So, Riley, I've been wondering… How were you able to like, form that shield when Saturn attacked me? It seemed like it was made of Aura or something…" Leaf mused as they walked outside.

"That's because it was," Riley said seriously.

"What? You've gotta be kidding me right now! You can use Aura like a Lucario? How is that even possible?"

"Everyone has the power of Aura inside them. But I am able to tap into that energy and control it, much like a Lucario can. Lucario are masters of aura. I'm pretty good, but I wouldn't say that I'm a master just yet."

"So… you aren't half Lucario?" Leaf asked.

"No," Riley chuckled, "But the truth is, I'm training myself to become a Guardian of Aura."

"Guardian of Aura?" Leaf repeated, "Sorry but, what the heck is that?"

"Well," Riley began, "I suppose someone from Kanto wouldn't be familiar with any of the legends, but I will say this: an Aura Guardian's duty is to protect all those in need. It's a gift to be able to manipulate the powers of aura like I can; therefore, I intend to use it wisely."

"Well… that sounds pretty honorable," Leaf smiled.

"Thanks," Riley said modestly, "Now… Come on out, Salamence!"

The ferocious dragon from before appeared in a flash of red light. It immediately perked up at the sight of Leaf and hurried over to take in her scent. Knuckles tensed, even though he could sense that the Pokémon's intentions were not hostile.

Leaf winced when the Pokémon came over, half expecting it to want to eat her. But she opened her eyes when she heard it happily humming.

"Awww…" Leaf petted the Salamence's head as he nuzzled against her, "You look scary, but you're just a sweetie on the inside, aren't you?" Knuckles relaxed.

"Wow… Salamence has never greeted me that way…" Riley looked a little cross.

"Maybe Salamence just likes my Aura or something…" Leaf shrugged.

"Salamence can't sense Aura," Riley pointed out.

"I don't know…" Leaf shrugged again.

"Well, at any rate, I suppose we should head off to Eterna City now," Riley said as he climbed onto Salamence's back.

"Actually, would you mind if we went to Sandgem Town first really quickly?" Leaf asked.

"Why?"

"Well, when Team Galactic figured out that Azelf wasn't at Lake Valor… They completely blew it up, right? I'm afraid the same might happen to Lake Verity… since Mesprit isn't around."

"Where is Mesprit?" Riley wondered.

"No idea…" Leaf shrugged, "But I'm still worried about the landscape of Lake Verity and all the Magikarp and other defenseless Pokémon there…"

"Alright then, let's get going," Riley said and offered his hand.

Leaf looked at Salamence and then at her Lucario, "Uh… I don't think there's a lot of room; maybe it'll be safer for you to get inside your pokéball, Knuckles…"

Knuckles grunted; apparently not pleased with the situation, but allowed himself to be sucked into the pokéball without complaint.

"Well, what do ya know…?" Leaf turned Knuckles' pokéball over in her hand, "That's the first time he's ever went into the pokéball…"

"Your Lucario refuses to go into the Pokéball?" Riley looked surprised.

"Yeah… that's not bad, is it?" Leaf wondered.

"I don't know. Can't say it's ever happened to me before…" Riley shrugged.

"Well, I guess we should get going…" Leaf said as she finally took Riley's hand and climbed onto Salamence behind him. She had to admit she was kind of nervous to ride on a dragon, but after seeing how sweet he really was, she figured it couldn't be so bad… right?

Riley winced slightly when Leaf wrapped her arms around him; it was then that she realized that she had bumped against his sore side… where Toxicroak had first used Poison Jab…

"I'm sorry!" Leaf apologized profusely.

"It's fine," Riley tried to act like it was nothing.

"Alright, Salamence, you remember where Sandgem Town is, right?" Riley asked his Pokémon.

Salamence looked back at him with confusion.

"Alright… How about Jubilife then?" Riley asked.

Salamence nodded and promptly took off before Leaf had a chance to argue. Jubilife? No! She hadn't agreed to that awful place with all the creepy clowns everywhere! Oh well, it was too late now… Leaf was too afraid to move, much less complain about their destination while she was soaring up so high in the air.

Leaf squeezed her eyes shut to keep herself from looking down and getting dizzy. She'd definitely have to learn to get used to this sort of thing…