Chapter 2

Team Blazing Aura

What's with his eyes? I thought to myself as I looked at the Charmander. That's not normal. Those injuries, they look lethal. How is he still standing? And what does he mean that this is only the first challenge to come?

"Regardless, I am getting ahead of myself. Hello to you all. You can call me Roku, I'm the founder of the Evolution Academy and the line of work for Operative Teams," he said, looking at everyone. " I am also pleased to introduce these three teams who took the time to come and scout you all. Pycu, if you would be so kind, why don't you start?"

The Pikachu with the different hairstyle nodded and stepped forward. "Hello to all of you, my name is Pycu, I am the leader of Team Storm. It's great to see how many Pokemon are willing to help out in these fields. My team consists of me, Jerome (the Quilava smiled when his name was called), and finally Vui (the Eevee just nodded and sighed, as if she had better things to do). I hope to see you succeed in this mission."

Pycu seems nice enough, but I can sense the nervousness from him, putting his leadership into jeopardy, I thought before turning to look at the other two. Jerome seems to have his head partially in the clouds, it makes him seem a bit like a child, but his heart seems to be in the right place. Vui,... I would be lying if I said she didn't irritate me alot. She seems to be stuck up and brash, this means it would be hard for her to not get frustrated at almost anything. Wait… how am I sensing this? I basically just described them the way you would describe a book.

Both the Riolu and Charmander were now looking at me, eyes narrowed. Panic started to swell inside me, why are they looking at me like that? Did they sense how I just did that? The Charmander's look changed to a look of curiosity and calculations. The Riolu was still looking at me, but his gaze was not as piercing. It was more analytical, more so like he was looking into my soul trying to find out more about me.

"Anyway," said Roku. "Next, let's introduce Team Aura. Axle, take it away!"

The Riolu with the goggles sighed, stepping forward. "Hello, I'm Axle, the leader of Team Aura. We only accept applicants who are willing to go through anything. So, be warned. Now my team consists of Eon (the Eevee smiled, although she did seem nervous) and Rain (the Shaymin grinned, he looked full of himself)."

Roku stepped off to the left, so they could see the final trio. "Last, but not least, Team Rebirth, of the Expedition Society. Light, if you would please come forward."

The Pikachu wearing the scarf nodded and stepped forward. "Hey, there everyone, my name is Light, leader of Team Rebirth. The two with me are Fennix (the Fennekin did some sort of twirl and smiled) and Lilac (the Espurr just nodded, not really giving any emotions away. We hope to work with you in the future."

Each team seems to be both similar, but also very different. The leaders all seem to be different. However, it seems each team has a serious member and one who seems laid back, and adventurous. This reminds me of a video game series. Wait, what are video games?

"Okay, now that introductions are over, let's discuss how we will grade you. Each team will have a team leader, so please decide that amongst yourselves," Roku said, with a fanged smile. "While that's going on, me and the others will decide who will go with which team."

The 10 explorers walked off towards the forest to discuss outcomes. Raka, Verge, and Zuko started arguing about who would be the leader. I was thinking about the looks they gave me earlier. What were they doing? What was this all about?

Roku led the others to a small secluded area a little out of the way. He couldn't help, but think about that Pikachu in the crowd. Could she be the one he's been looking for? He would have to double check with Axle about this.

"So, what do you think? About the students, I mean," he said, when they reached the clearing.

"Not many of them stand out at all and I feel as though with the typing of those Pokemon, we aren't seeing much exciting things," Axle said, coolly. "They will have to show merit instead based on how they act."

"I agree, we need to analyze how they can cooperate with each other in these scenarios," said Light. "However, does anyone have one of them that brings any interest to you?"

"I do, but I save mine until after everyone else has gone," Roku said. "I want to see if someone had the same idea as me."

"For me, it was that Charmander who stuck out," said Jerome, the fire on his back flaring up. "He kind've reminds me of Eon and Fennix. He's kind've got that same energy, that same passion for exploration. I feel as though that would keep people moving on the path ahead."

"I mean I kind've see my passion in him, but that Pikachu there's something different about her. She seemed to be judging us, looking at us to try and read us. She did seem really nervous, as well, like she didn't know what she was doing," Fennix said, receiving agreement from everyone else.

"She's the one I was going to talk about," Roku said, with amusement going across his face. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we found another one."

"Another what Roku? Wait… don't tell me, you think she's," Eon said, understanding going across her face. "That can't be possible, we've been monitoring all world activity, there's no reason another h-human should arrive."

"A human! Oh, this should be interesting, but I think I know how we should split up the groups," Rain said, a few feet in the air. "We should have you, Eon, me, Fennix, and Pycu looking at the other group. Roku, Axle, Light, and Jerome looking at the Pikachu's group. We could have Lilac monitoring things using her telepathy and Vui can record scores and file what we need to remember."

"Actually, that's a fair point, the four of us will be more so able to tell if there's something different about her. Considering the circumstances, it sounds like the most logical path forward," Axle said, breaking his silence. "Does everyone agree with this?"

"I don't mind sitting this one out," Lilac said, not much emotion showing on her face. "This week has been rough, it'll allow me to relax for once."

"While, I don't like the idea of paperwork, it seems I'm outvoted on this one," Vui said, with a deep sigh. "I don't see what's so special about that Pikachu, but I guess you have your reasons."

"Okay then, let's head back," Roku said. "They must've decided on a leader already."

By the time the teams had gotten back, we still hadn't had a full agreement on the leader. They wouldn't stop arguing and trying to bring up points. I sighed, what had I gotten myself into?

"Okay, we've decided who will be supervising which team," Roku said, turning to face the others. "You all will be supervised by Fennix, Eon, Pycu, and Rain. Can you please tell us your leader for your team."

"I'm the team leader,"Myla said, looking determined.

"Okay then, now for you four," he said, turning towards us. "You will be supervised by Axle, Jerome, Light, and me. Who's your team leader?"

"I'm the leader," Zuko said, stepping forward.

"No, I am," Verge said, pulling him back.

"You're both wrong, I'm the leader," Raka said, pushing past both of them.

While they were doing this, I took a step back. Why was this so difficult? Just because you're the leader, doesn't mean you're the best on your team. The leader has final say, that's true, but a leader needs their teammates to help support them. A leader without a supportive group isn't much of a leader at all. I froze, shocked at what I just thought. Since when do I think of something like this? This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Can they just stop and agree?

"Enough!" Roku said, in a loud voice. His voice didn't share much emotion, but he said it commandingly. The three shut up and looked at him. "Obviously, since you can't agree, I will pick the leader of you."

The scarred Charmander scanned his eyes across us. He then seemed to notice me backing away slightly. He looked at me in the eyes.

"You, Pikachu! You are the leader of this group," he said. Raka tried to protest, but he held up his hand silencing her. I was shocked, why me? Why of all of the Pokemon, would he choose me?

"M-me?" I stammered out. "But, I don't know how to lead. I haven't even been really in a Mystery Dungeon. How can I l-lead a team into danger."

"No buts from you either. You will be leading this mission," he said, with an air of finality. "Now, we will begin the testing. (Authors Note: Team A is Deliah's team and Team B is Myla's team. Probably should've done it sooner.) Team A will go first, get ready. Both teams will also be given a bag each. The bag will contain a few apples, 5 oran berries, and 3 reviver seeds."

"O-Okay, who wants to carry the bag?" I asked my team.

"I'll do it," Zuko said. Roku gave him a simple satchel. Zuko slung it over his shoulder and nodded at me and gave me his warm smile. "Are you ready, leader?"

I blushed heavily at this comment, but shook it off. I was smiling now, how can we fail with this team?

"Yes, I am," I said before turning to Raka and Verge who had grins on their faces because of the red across my face. My blush grew even deeper because of that. "Are you two ready."

"Ready as I'll ever be," Raka responded. Verge nodded and we walked up to the entrance of the forest.

"Okay you guys, let's pass this test!" I shouted, raising my right paw into the air. They responded with their own cheer, and we set off into the dungeon, not knowing what would await us, the 4 explorers also following us.

Harrowing Forest Floor 1

We walked for about 4 minutes before reaching a clearing. There was some light filtering in through the treetops. I realized we didn't even know how many floors we were going to have to go through. Mr Balton had told us that Mystery Dungeons were each divided into multiple floors. But, he didn't tell us how many floors this dungeon had. There were two paths branching off in the clearing, one to the left and one two the right.

"Uh Roku, if you don't mind me asking, how many floors are there in this dungeon?" I asked the Charmander.

"There is a total of 5 floors, however Mystery Dungeons change in layout. That's why it's impossible to map one. The dungeon will just keep changing," he responded. "As leader, it's your job to make the decision on what path to take. However, seeing as how you're not familiar with Mystery Dungeons, that may be a problem."

"Okay, thank you," I responded, politely. I took a deep breath, with my eyes closed. I reopened my eyes, determined to pass. "Okay, team I need some thoughts. Tell me what you have as an idea. However, I first have a question, Verge can you sense nature."

"Yes I can, but why do you… oh OH!" He exclaimed, looking at me. "You want to see if I feel something odd, and that the anomaly would be the stairs of the floor."

"Yes, can you please try doing that," I said. He nodded and closed his eyes, touching his hand to the ground. I looked at the other two. "Now, do you guys have any thoughts on how to navigate this place?"

"We could always just head in. Mystery Dungeons tend to connect in all sorts of ways," Zuko said, with a smile.

"While I agree that the Dungeons do tend to connect, it's dangerous to just wander around," Raka said. "I suggest we look for items that could help, I could also give a bit of an overhead look at things."

"Good idea, an eye in the sky sounds good, please do Raka," I said. She nodded and spread her gliding underarm flaps and too off into the sky. I turned back to Zuko. "I need you to watch out for enemies, I want to try something."

Before Zuko could respond, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I sent my senses into the surrounding area, looking for anything that didn't fit in with the landscape. After a few seconds, a few a sharp ping that was following the right path. Satisfied, I opened my eyes and looked at Verge.

"Verge, what path do you feel the disturbance coming from the most?" I asked.

"I seem to feel it the most from-"

"From the right path?" I asked. He opened his eyes and looked at me in shock.

"Y-yeah, it's coming from the right path," said Verge, with a confused look on his face.

"Okay then, onwards and outwards," I said and went down the path at the right. Verge and Zuko followed me and the four explorers brought up the rear. The path then turned to the left and led into another clearing. However, this one wasn't empty, there was a Pokemon standing in front of us. It was a Snivy, with it's snakelike body and slippery look.

"Zuko, I need you to fight this thing with fire, Verge, I need you to cover him from behind," I said, still looking at Snivy.

"Okay, got it!" they both shouted and rushed at it.

I don't know how to use moves yet. I'll need to learn fast so I can help in these situations. Okay, what moves can I know. I tried concentrating, sending electrical energy in my fist when I looked at my fist, it was covered in electricity. I smiled, So I at least know Thunder Punch. I bet I know Iron Tail, it's a big staple for Pikachu. I concentrated again, this time sending energy to my tail to reinforce it. I looked back at it and it was a dark gray and gleaming from light reflecting off of it. That's two moves.

I looked back at the fight and noticed that Zuko had just finished off the Snivy, which was laying on this floor, eyes closed. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Good job you two, but next time, I'm joining in," I said as I walked past them and down the path.

Harrowing Forest Floor 3

It didn't take us that long to clear the first and second floors. We met two Marills on the second floor, who I kindly punched into next week. When we reached the third floor, I used my senses again and led everyone down a path that was straight ahead. After about 7 minutes, we finally hit a clearing. However, there was something in the clearing that gave me pause, or rather MULTIPLE things. In the middle of the clearing was a trio of Spinarak. My face paled immediately as the fear began to go through me. Spiders and bugs, I tried to not panic, but it was too late, I shrieked and jumped onto Zuko, causing both of us to fall down. I was hugging him tightly, too scared to move. I was shivering, of course I happened to forget one of my biggest disgusts/fears.

"What is it? What scared you, did something hurt you?" Zuko said, sitting up with me still hugging him. He noticed the spiders and looked at me. "Are you afraid of spiders, Deliah?" I nodded and he sighed, picking me up with his arms. I started to blush slightly, but otherwise kept holding onto him. He simply walked up over to them, inhaled, and fired a Flame Burst at them. They just crumbled like cookies that had been dropped.

He then looked at me and said,"Why didn't you say you had a fear of bugs that was THAT bad?"

"I-I thought that a leader should be f-fearless, that s-she would always be brave. But, you just saw how afraid I really am. I'm a c-coward," I said, starting to cry a little.

"Deliah, please don't cry, I don't like seeing you like this. You're not a coward, in fact you've been the opposite. You've kept this group together and made great decisions," he said with a warm smile. "Even the best leaders aren't invincible, you need to learn to trust in the rest of us to be there for you."

I felt better now, I had needed to hear that. Then I remembered something, didn't I say something similar? I swore I did, and how clueless do I have to be to forget it? I let go of Zuko and he put me down. I nodded to him and we walked through the path to the right. This time, the connecting path was shorter and we arrived in yet another room. This one had two more Marill and I was happy to take out my rage on them.

Finally, we reached the stairs and continued onwards. Emotions and thoughts swirling through my head, I wondered what was in store for us. Roku had looked specifically at me and Zuko when he said something about "only the first of many to come". What could he mean?

Harrowing Forest Floor 5

Floor four didn't take that long, seeing as how the only encounter was a Caterpie. Like the spider encounter, I was kind've hugging Zuko, who didn't seem to mind that his girlfriend was scared of these things. Finally, we had reached the stairs to the fifth floor. Raka was sitting down, leaning against the wall. When she saw us, she nodded and got up and walked over to us.

"Took, you guys long enough! I've been here for over 15 minutes! What was the holdup?" she asked, clearly a bit frustrated.

"S-sorry, it's my fault, we got held up on the third floor because of what I did," I said, both blushing and looking ashamed.

"Wait…, then what happened to you, Deliah? From what I saw, you were doing well leading them," she said, looking at me with a curious expression.

"Raka, it's not important, let's just go on to the next floor," Zuko said with an anxious look on his face. Raka just sighed and nodded, we all headed up the stairs. I didn't know what Pokemon we were going to fight, but I hoped I could do something.

When we arrived on the next floor, we were in a clearing and straight ahead, was a Nuzleaf and a Carracosta. They weren't wild, at least as far as I could tell, but they looked at us and got into a ready stance.

"Okay everyone, get ready this won't be pretty," I said. "Zuko, you help me fight the Nuzleaf, Raka and Verge, you take the Carracosta."

"Alright!" everyone else shouted and we leapt into action. Zuko shot a Flame Burst directly at the Nuzleaf, who promptly dodged out of the way, responding with a Feint Attack that set Zuko back a little. I retaliated by using Iron Tail, while Nuzleaf was vulnerable, hitting a direct attack and sending him back. I looked towards Verge and Raka for a second, to see how they were doing.

The good news? Carracosta looked like he was fainting. The bad news, Raka was down and Verge looked weak at this point.

"Zuko toss him an oran berry!" I shouted dodging a Razor Leaf.

"On it!" he shouted back. He opened the bag, looked inside, grabbed a blue colored berry, and chucked the berry to Verge. Verge caught it and ate quickly, immediately looking better.

"Deliah! The Reviver Seeds are gone," Zuko said, firing another Flame Burst at the Nuzleaf.

"Okay, that means we have to be careful. Just focus on dodging and counter attacking when you can," I shouted back, using Thunder Punch on Nuzleaf, hoping to paralyze him.

The 4 explorers were watching the battle intently, analyzing each of the four and sending the information back to Lilac to be recorded. They had made notes of things, like the Pikachu's "episode". That was surprising, especially because of how she acted for the whole dungeon up to that point.

"They're doing well for being new to this all," Jerome said, watching the Pikachu slam an Iron Tail against Nuzleaf sending him back quite a bit. "So what do you think?" he asks the other three.

"Well, Roku seems to at least be right about something being up with her," Light says with a bit of a smirk. "She seems to be a decent leader, but she seems to pile the blame on herself. She needs to learn to rely more on her teammates."

"I agree," Axle said. "The Charmander does seem to be a good fit for her. He seems to be dependable and focused on helping in any way he can."

"I still can't believe you and Fennix convinced these two to do this," Jerome said, looking at Light. "No offense, but I think it's a bit much for them to be fighting such high leveled Pokemon. Also, having Lilac make them think there was Reviver Seeds was a little bad."

Just then, they heard an explosion and looked to see the Charmander and Treecko, both fainted with Carracosta on the floor next to them. It seemed that he had gotten the Charmander when he wasn't looking. The Pikachu was still fighting Nuzleaf, but she kept taking more and more hits, before eventually taking a close quarters Razor Leaf. She was sent flying back and she hit the floor with a thud.

"Light," said Nuzleaf. "When you done said we would be battlin' Pokemon, I reckoned you meant stronger than just four kids, but oh well, guess I should finish this."

They watched as he walked over to the Pikachu who was trying to get up. His hands started to gain a blackish tint to them.

I was not feeling good, I had taken way too many hits up close. I had fought way recklessly. As I tried to get up, I saw Nuzleaf walking over to me, his hands glowing.

No, not like this. How can I ever find out what I'm doing here and help Zuko with his dream if I'm beat now.

"Sorry little miss, but I done reckon we were a bit too hard for you, I'm sorry about this," Nuzleaf said, as he raised his arm. He brought it down, and I only saw darkness. We had lost, I felt angry at myself, but then I realized something. I was still conscious. But, how? I had taken a direct attack in close proximity.

No, I can't think about this now. This is my chance to show them my drive. I promised Zuko that we would become a great team. I won't fail him.

I opened my eyes and saw Nuzleaf walking away, towards the explorers. I thrust out my arm, my whole body aching, and sent energy to it. However, this energy was different. I looked at my arm, noting how it was glowing blue. Aura, the lifeforce of Pokemon, and I was using it. I concentrated forming it into a sphere shape and firing it at Nuzleaf before collapsing again. I saw it hit him at full force and him crumpling over. It was then that my eyes closed and I lost consciousness.

The four explorers had seen Nuzleaf cause the Pikachu to faint, walking away from her sleeping body.

"Why did y'all make us fight kids? Reckon it really wasn't fair," Nuzleaf said."I reckon y'all should at least consider the Pikachu and Charmander. They seem to-"

It was then that a blue ball of pure energy hit him in the back, sending him flying into the trees. They turned and saw the Pikachu, her paw outstretched, blue energy crackling from it. Her eyes, they were glowing a deep, dark blue. Then about five seconds later, she slumped over, now unconscious. For a few brief seconds, no one said a word. They kind've just stared at the Pikachu, the energy dissipating and returning back inside her.

"What the heck just happened?" Jerome asked, a complete look of shock across his face. "I swear Nuzleaf had made her faint, and what was with that blue energy. I've never seen a Pikachu do something like that."

Axle and Roku glanced at each other for a second, understanding passing between them as their theory had been proven. They had found what they had sensed from her.

"That… was Aura," Axle said, unsure himself of what had happened. "That move was Aura Sphere, it's mostly a move Lucario use, but I've never seen a Pikachu be able to learn it. Much less one with that much power."

"How did she do that?" Light asked, walking over to the unconscious Pokemon. He looked at her, as if trying to find out why just by using her appearance. He sighed, not finding anything in particular. "We'll, it's apparent that we will need to have her intern for one of us. With these kinds of powers, she'll need help."

"I have an idea," Roku said, walking over to Light's side. "We'll each have her take a month with each of us, that way she can learn even more that way. However, when all the months are done, she can choose who to apprentice for."

"I think we should take the Charmander, as well," Jerome said, looking over at the Fire-Type. "He seems to be a good partner for her, pushing her forward with support, but also not afraid to challenge her."

"Okay then, we'll let her choose where she wants to go first, then we'll go from there," Axle said, joining the rest of the group

Roku looked down at the Pikachu, his eye glowing and his mind was full of thoughts. He should've felt happy, he had finally gotten to the next part of his plan. However, he knew what would come and he wanted to prevent it.

I've finally found you, he thought to himself. I'll make sure you actually get to live close to a good life. You won't have to deal with what I did. I'll make sure of it.

I woke up laying in a bed of hay. However, I was in some sort of clearing. I realized that I was in the clearing before the dungeon. I sat up, my whole body aching and looked around me. The explorers were talking to the rest of my group. The other explorers and Team B were gone, probably to do their test. Zuko noticed I was awake and ran over to me hugging me. I started to blush at this, but he was warm and I liked it.

"You, did it Deliah! You won it for us! But, how did you beat Nuzleaf, I remember you being hurt really badly," he said looking at me, his eyes full of concern.

"That's part of what we are going to discuss," Roku said, heading over to us. He had a smile across his face, as if amused by this. "First off, we need to know your names, all teams and members should know the names of their apprentices after all."

"You mean you all want us as apprentices?" Zuko asked, his eyes kind've sparkling a bit and with a huge smile on his face. Roku nodded and laughed a bit at Zuko's expression. "Well, my name and Zuko and her name is Deliah. Thank you so much for this!"

"It's our pleasure, now you will actually end up working with all of us in turn, instead of apprenticing for just one of us. You can choose who you go with first," he said, mostly in response to Zuko.

"Wow! We get to apprentice with a guildmaster and three famous teams! Well, Deliah, I'll give you the choice, since you did win this for us," Zuko said, turning back towards me.

First, I think I would like to learn with a leader who is also a Pikachu. Pycu seems nice enough, but he does seem to lack a bit of confidence. I guess that leaves me with Team Rebirth.

"I choose to work with Team Rebirth," I said, the confidence swelling up inside me.

"A good choice. Who better to learn from then a Pokemon who is the same species as you," he said, smiling. "Okay, then last order of business, you will need a team name to help distinguish you. Do you have one?"

"Again, that's your choice Deliah, I think I like having you as the leader," Zuko said with a huge smile.

Maybe it should be something that combines our abilities. Maybe something to do with fire and electricity. Wait, someone probably already did it. Maybe something to do with Aura. Yeah, that sounds good. Fire is always blazing. Aura … blazing … I'VE GOT IT!

I turned to look at Roku, who had at first seemed cold and distant, but he seemed nice now. Someone I could trust. I finally felt a sense of clarity after coming to this world

"Our team name… is Team Blazing Aura!" I said, finally feeling a sense of closure at what I could do in this world.

Again, I don't own the ideas to Team Rebirth, Aura, or Storm. Those ideas belong to Soniclink137 so go check out his stories with these characters. Also, to clarify something, Deliah's Aura was a darker blue than a normal Aura. The fact that she can harness it will be brought up next chapter, which won't be up for one or two weeks because I need sleep. So hope you enjoyed and see you next time!