The Journey of Aura: Kalos Saga

by AuraCaster

Aura's dream was to make the world a better place for both people and Pokemon, but upon meeting his partner, his dream meant something much more. Follow Aura as he travels across Kalos with his new friends and family, guided by Arceus along the path of destiny to learn who he is, and to prepare himself for the darkness that threatens the very balance of the universe itself.

49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Finally, the day of the fair had fallen upon them with everyone looking forward to some well deserved fun. While a majority of the group had gotten up bright and early, a few of them had taken a bit longer to get up despite the efforts of the others.

Surprisingly, Tia was one of them who'd overslept, the Absol still fast asleep on the couch with Stan and Lilly trying to wake her to no avail.

"I know we stayed up late watching movies, but was it really that late?" Stan muttered, nudging Tia's foreleg once more.

Kibbs tapped her claws on her chin, "If I'm remembering right, it was about eleven by the time we finished Luxray Loadout."

A large grin spread across Stan's muzzle as he thought of the movie, having become a huge fan of crime fighting movies over the month, and Luxray Loadout was one of his favourites.

Lilly poked Tia's forehead curiously, "Stan, maybe you could try giving her a little shock to wake her up?" The Luxio furiously shook his head in denial. "Why not? It'd probably work better than just shaking her."

Stan did what he could to hide his blush as he replied, "Sorry, but I don't think it would be right to do that. Plus she'd probably get super mad at me." He told them.

"Hmph, fine then." Lilly pouted, slightly agitated her idea was so quickly shot down.

"At this rate, maybe it would be best we just let her sleep and wake her up when breakfast is ready." Suggested Prince, who quietly sat at the end of the couch drinking a cup of lemonade.

Aura's bedroom door slowly opened and the drowsy trainer walked out with a yawn, quietly shutting the door behind him. "Good morning. How'd everyone sleep?" As he made his way over to the couch, he was greeted with positive responses from the others with Kibbs asking him the same question. "Not bad. Diamond and I talked about what happened last night so things calmed down enough for us both to get some sleep; though I'm not sure if it helped her as much as me, she fell asleep before I did and she seemed peaceful."

"At least she's getting some rest," Alice remarked, "she'll probably need it for the fair anyways."

Lilly's eyes lit up, "By the way, when are we going? I wanna ride the giant circle thingy!"

Everyone chuckled, "You're probably thinking of the ferris wheel, Lilly," Aura informed her, "and I wouldn't mind taking Diamond on there as well. I'm pretty sure she shouldn't ride anything too exciting at the moment, so I'll just be taking her around the slower rides and games."

"You're not gonna ride anything exciting either?" Stan asked, almost disappointed.

Aura shook his head, "Wouldn't be fair, plus I promised to spend the whole day with Diamond."

With a stretch, Darlene stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen, "It's almost eight thirty, so I should probably get breakfast started now if we're gonna be leaving by quarter to ten."

A few minutes after Darlene had started on breakfast, Diamond had finally woken up. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and turned to Aura's side of the bed. "Morning…" She mumbled, letting out an embarrassed sigh upon noticing Aura was already out of bed. Sitting up and planting her feet on the floor, Diamond stretched before looking at the digital clock atop her nightstand, squinting as she slowly read the time out loud as eight fifty-six. "When did he wake up anyway?" She thought to herself as she stood and walked towards the door. As she stumbled out in a groggy manner, Diamond looked around until she noticed Aura sitting on the couch with the others, the trainer noticing her and smiling back.

"Morning, Diamond. I hope you slept okay." He told her, standing up to hug her and plant a kiss on her cheek then placing a hand against her hip and holding her close.

She took his hand in hers and looped it around her shoulder, lovingly pushing against him and wrapping her own arms around his torso. "It's almost surprising how well I slept. I feel as if a lot of the stress from before is gone all of a sudden."

"Perhaps it's from the way your auras harmonize." Darlene said. Both of them looked at the woman puzzled, asking her what that exactly meant. "How do I put it? Your auras have similar wavelengths that are almost perfectly in sync with the other, so I guess when you two are having a moment of deeper connection together, your essence sort of links together in such a way it can actually share things like emotions or physical pain, but in this situation it must have produced a more soothing effect due to your mental states." Again, the two looked at one another while trying to process all the new information.

Alice eventually let out a sigh and tried to simplify what Darlene had said, "Pretty much being together while your auras are synchronized can have multiple positive effects, in this case it helped soothe your nerves to lower stress."

Even with the briefer explanation, the two stood in silence for a moment, Diamond taking a bit longer to process everything on account of just waking up, while Aura finally managed to understand what they meant. "Oh, okay."

"So...just being together is enough to keep us calm?" Diamond murmured, still a bit confused.

"Don't worry about it right now, we'll learn about it more later. Right now, though, you should probably clean yourself up. Your fur is pretty messy," Aura suggested. Glancing down at her body, she grimaced at the sight of her disheveled fur, looking over her shoulder only to do the same. Despite her bedraggled appearance, Aura smiled and tenderly cupped her cheek while planting a very short smooch on the top of her snout, "Don't worry about how you look, you're still beautiful in every way." He affirmed, pecking her snout again and causing the fox to swoon, shyly looking away whilst her face turned red as she giggled.

"S-stop tha-at." She whined, waving him away while her other paw covered her face.

Aura laughed, "You're even cuter when you act all flustered like that." Diamond suddenly let out a squeak as Aura continued. "Hopefully this part of you stays behind after our kit is born. I never realized how much fun this would be." he teased. Diamond couldn't even respond as her hormones went crazy, only able to clumsily push him away and let out a long "no~!".

"Aura, maybe you should just let her go get cleaned up. Trust me, I know how much fun it is to tease your partner, but you probably shouldn't go overboard." Alice affirmed. "Last time I went a little too far poking fun at Lee, it didn't exactly end too pretty." Letting out a sigh, Aura agreed and let Diamond go to tidy up, but not without giving her one last kiss on the cheek followed by a quiet "love you" before he finally returned to the couch.

"Look at my young man. All grown up and with a wonderful family of his own." Darlene started, "Honestly it's hard to believe you're still only seventeen. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were a few years older with the way you've matured."

Aura rubbed the back of his head. "I guess so, yeah. Maybe being out in the real world and experiencing everything that I have, it really does feel a lot different than when I first left for my journey. Even though it's only been a few months, I somehow feel like it's been a lot longer, almost as if a few years had gone by." He noted.

"It's probably because of the way things have been. Suddenly learning of your responsibility as the Grand Guardian, being out on your own for the most part, and to top it all off, being in a serious relationship not even a month after leaving home and only a few months later already an expecting father with the love of his life." Alice explained, crossing her arms and nodding, "If THAT doesn't make you grow up and mature, then I don't know what would."

Finally, after hearing all the commotion all around her, Tia finally awoke with a tired moan, the others all looking to her as her eyes fluttered open, squinting as they adjusted to the bright sunlight coming in from the large bay-window that illuminated the entire room. "Morning, Tia." Aura was the first to greet the sleepy canine as she slowly lifted her head with a slight wobble.

Quietly grunting, Tia looked around and yawned, "Good morning." She groaned, pushing her forelegs out as she arched her back and lifted her backside, a satisfying pop coming from her joints.

"How late did you stay up?" Lilly inquired as Tia sat on her haunches and shook her head, causing her mane to whip around and fluff up. "We've been trying to wake you up for a while."

Tia blinked, glancing away with a slight shrug, "Sorry, I was having a bit of trouble sleeping so I stayed up a little longer to watch the moon. It always helped me sleep easier."

"Well at least you're well rested for the fair." Aura affirmed.

She nodded, "I guess so, and speaking of which, I don't mean to pry, Aura, but did you and Diamond sleep okay after what happened last night?"

Waving his hand, Aura awkwardly chuckled, "It's alright; and yes, we slept well enough. Diamond seemed to be in a much better mood when she woke up, too, so I'm happy."

Speaking of the fox in question, Diamond was still in hers and Aura's bathroom presently in the middle of her shower. Thanks to her fur being a bit shorter and thinner than an average Delphox, she had been having a much easier time washing it, although she still found it took a good portion of her shampoo to do so. With her fur thoroughly soaked and heavy with water, Diamond kept her ears folded back as she worked on her torso, the water causing her chest fur to clump and expose her slightly enlarged bosom.

After she had rinsed off all the suds in her fur, Diamond paused for a moment and felt her enlarged belly, she gently rubbed her lower abdomen and smiled, picturing her and Aura holding their beautiful, newly hatched Fennekin kit. "It may have only been a few months since we met, but I couldn't be happier to have a kit with him." Turning off the water and vacating the large shower, Diamond got to work drying most of her fur with the three large towels hanging on the wall, finally taking her wireless hair dryer and brushing out her fur as it dried.

As Diamond finished fixing up her fur and setting it all into place, her eyes trailed over to the pink bikini she acquired a few days prior. She remained silent for a minute before taking both pieces of the swimsuit and holding them up to her body in the mirror. "Will this really be okay...?" She asked herself, thinking of how unusual it will be for so many people to see a Delphox with trimmed fur like hers and wearing human clothing. Yet, although it embarrassed her to no end, she found it almost exciting in its own way. The many times Aura spoke positively of her came to mind, bringing with it some shreds of confidence and a new positive outlook on being such a unique Delphox, just showing how much she had progressed and how close her and Aura really were as a couple.

With a nervous yet ecstatic titter, Diamond set the swimwear back into its place and finished her time in the bathroom by putting on her earrings while leaving her necklace for the day out of fear she may lose it. Smiling warmly into the mirror one last time, Diamond finally left the bathroom and headed out to the main room of the suite for breakfast. Just as Diamond walked through the door, Aura looked up from the TV and waved her over, "Perfect timing. Mom's just about done making breakfast so come sit down."

Briefly sniffing the air, Diamond could smell the aroma of assorted berries and other food wafting through the air, the scent of some kind of cooked meat particularly caught her attention; although, seeing as no one else had a plate yet, Diamond joined them on the couch as what appeared to be some kind of news report was on screen. "What's this?" She asked, seeing Diantha and her Gardevoir stood on the Shalour beach with a reporter, sadly unable to actually read the scrolling words at the bottom of the screen.

"Apparently, over in Hoenn, Wallace put on some kind of big performance during their region's Wailmer migration last week, so Diantha is thinking of doing something special for the one here in Kalos." Aura explained.

Diamond looked at her mate in bewilderment, "Who's Wallace?"

"Wallace used to be the champion of Hoenn a while back, but even though he's no longer the champion, he's still a very popular Water type trainer as well as one of the world's top coordinators." Alice explained. Much of what she said made little sense to the Delphox, so she summed it up. "Wallace did something special this year for the Hoenn Wailmer migration, so Diantha wants to do something special as well."

As Alice explained to Diamond in a little more detail about coordinators and who Wallace was, the news report suddenly began to show footage of Wallace and his partner, Milotic, performing for a large audience with the vast ocean behind them crowded with hundreds of the spherical whale Pokemon passing by, every little while some of them spraying water into the air and creating multiple rainbows above, providing the perfect backdrop for the great elegance that Wallace and Milotic bestowed upon hundreds of thousands of people. Just below the whole scene, a caption scrolling across calling that day "A performance like none other the world has ever seen!"

Hearing Diantha begin to speak brought all of their attention to the screen, "As you at home could clearly see from this footage, in celebration of Hoenn's largest Wailmer migration in history, not only did Wallace sponsor a small number of tournaments all across the region, but for those lucky enough to be in Sootopolis City that evening, Wallace performed an extremely special and unique showcase to honor this wonderful tradition. Therefore, I will be doing something similar for those who decide to watch the migration happening on the beaches of Shalour City with my own partner, Gardevoir." The camera suddenly turned to include the humanoid Pokemon in the shot as Diantha finished her speech, "Although I can not guarantee our little performance will even be half as good as Wallace's, it might just even be as exciting as some fireworks, but even so, we look forward to seeing lots of people celebrate the migration this year." After a quick thank you, the shot finally returned to the news anchor at his desk.

"Though she says it won't be as good as Wallace's, I'm still curious about what Diantha has planned." Kibbs said.

"Well whatever it is, it can wait until after breakfast. Come get it everyone." Darlene told them, shifting some bacon from the pan onto a plate for everyone with hashbrowns, toast, and eggs.

"You stay put," Aura told Diamond, "I'll get your breakfast for you."

Diamond rolled her eyes, "You know I can do it myself, but thank you, Aura."

With Aura and Alice's help, Darlene handed out everyone's plates with equal portions of food, though considering Lilly's vegetarian diet, her plate didn't include any bacon, instead having a small portion of steamed vegetables which she greatly appreciated.

Turning the volume down on the TV, everyone started to enjoy the breakfast Darlene so kindly made for them, Alice taking a few minutes to go wake up Lee who was still asleep, or so they thought as Alice walked in to find her mate in the bathroom having some "private time" before being told to hurry and wash up then come out to eat with the rest. When Alice returned, she decided to just say he was just going to have a shower before joining them and began eating as well.

"So the fair," Tia started, "it will be going on for three days?"

"I think so?" Aura responded, "Can't remember at the moment, but yeah, two or three days with the Wailmer passing the beach on the last day."

"Then I'd imagine Diantha's show won't be tonight." Alice interjected, "So since we still have about half an hour before we leave, we should probably plan out what we all want to be doing today."

Following Alice's suggestion, the whole crew spent a good fifteen minutes looking into what the fair has to offer, then making their own plans based on this information, and before long, they were finally ready to head out for a day of relaxation and fun.

Before they had left the suite, everyone had gone and changed into their beach attire: Darlene and Alice both wearing simple one-piece swimsuits, Alice's of course covered with a light yellow and green floral pattern, Lilly walked along happily with her large sunhat on and wearing a pair of water wings. Stan, Tia, Prince, and Kibbs didn't really put much on other than Kibbs and Prince donning pairs of sunglasses while Stan and Tia simply went with no accessories. Keeping pace next to Alice with a duffel bag full of beach gear over his shoulder, Lee actually wore a pair of brown swimming trunks along with some novelty sunglasses with Alolan Exeggutor at its sides. Aura just wore a standard pair of olive green shorts and a white shirt as he carried his backpack. And finally, Diamond silently followed behind shyly as she wore her pink bikini. Despite being told many times it looked good on her, Diamond still felt embarrassed wearing it out in public, instinctively reaching for her necklace only to remember it was still in the suite.

"You'll be fine, Diamond. I'm sure once we get there you'll barely be noticed." Kibbs consoled her.

"I hope you're right. I feel really out of place wearing human swimwear as a Pokemon."

Eventually reaching the balcony and stairs connecting the city to the beach and descending the short cliff to the sand below, everyone was a little surprised at what they saw. As they walked towards the large amount of booths set up, many of the Pokemon they passed were wearing swimming attire as they walked alongside their human partners.

"This isn't what I expected to see, but it's kind of nice." Aura affirmed, glancing around as he saw all kinds of Pokemon wear a wide variety of swimwear, some of which he could only assume was custom made for the Pokemon wearing it such as a female Ninetales wearing a light blue one-piece with all her tails poking out the back; then seeing such a big Pokemon like Electivire wearing a very large pair of swimming trunks and a huge muscle shirt next to his trainer was certainly a shock.

"I suppose there are even more trainers who view Pokemon similar to how Master Aura does. Possibly seeing them as a more intelligent and evolved species than humans initially assumed." Prince deduced.

Lee lifted his glasses and looked at the other Lucario, "Almost sounded like there was a bit of spite there, Prince. But, I can agree with that for sure, in fact we're probably a lot smarter and more adept than a majority of the human race." He laughed, receiving a glare from Alice that made him stop.

"Sure most humans were too dumb to realize Pokemon weren't just mindless animals for probably thousands of years, but let's just focus on having some fun in the now and leave this whole equality thing for another time." With everyone in agreement, they had a quick recap of their plans and where to meet up at the end of the day before splitting into groups. Of course, not wanting the Pokemon to get lost or other trainers to get concerned; Aura, Darlene, and Alice each took a few of the Pokemon with them.

Seeing how eager Stan was to check out some of the more thrilling aspects of the event, Alice and her group, consisting of herself, Lee and Stan, all started towards the rides. Although, before they left, Lee made sure to hand over the duffel bag to Darlene to take over to the beach.

"After we play a few games and maybe get some snacks, me, Diamond, and Prince will meet you guys on the south side of the beach." Aura said, his arm firmly wrapped around Diamond's waist.

"That's fine, hun. Tia, Kibbs and myself will probably just talk and relax for a while. I brought a few books along too for Kibbs and I."

Kibbs glanced at both Tia and Lilly, "We'll also keep an eye on Lilly while she's in the water."

Aura nodded. "Thanks. We'll see you in a while." With a quick wave, the two groups parted ways, Darlene heading back the way they came to the southern shore as Aura led Diamond and Prince further into the booth area. "You know, Prince. You could have gone with my mom to relax instead. No offense, but you don't really seem like the kind of Pokemon to be that interested in carnival games." he said.

"None taken, and I just feel more comfortable coming along with you and Diamond, in case you require my assistance with anything at all." he explained, bowing his head nobily as they traveled the stone pathway.

"I see no issue with Prince coming with us." Diamond said, although her mind was for the most part still a bit elsewhere as, despite so many other Pokemon wearing clothes that day, she couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious about her figure in such an outfit, especially with how Aura held her against him by her waist.

"Neither do I, but I figure he should at least try to enjoy himself just as well." Thinking over what he just said, Aura shrugged and turned to the jackal. "I get this may not be your kind of scene, Prince, but I think you should play a few games too." The Lucario was about to speak against it, however Aura somehow knew what was coming, "And before you say you just wanna be here to help or protect us or something like that, think of this as helping me help you enjoy yourself."

Prince quickly shut his mouth as his trainer smirked at him while trying to rebuttal against it, however he found himself at an impasse in this scenario and simply let out a sigh of defeat and nodded. "Very well, Master Aura. If you wish for me to enjoy myself then I will try some of the games."

Another grin passed over Aura's lips, "I don't understand why you seem so bummed out about having fun, if I remember correctly, you had no issue getting back at me for the shower prank by pushing me into the pond on the mountain."

Also not forgetting that whole incident, Prince actually huffed and faced away from Aura, crossing his arms and slightly pouting in defeat as his trainer simply laughed, all the while Diamond looked absolutely dumbfounded by this whole situation they spoke about. Continuing their way down the path amongst the wide variety of game booths, Aura figured they should start with some more simple games, one of which that he noticed was a water balloon game. "Hmm, some competition seems fun." He murmured.

Once they approached and got the approval that Pokemon could play too, Aura had Diamond and Prince sit on either side of him with their own mounted water guns in front of them. Giving a quick explanation to his partners of how this game worked, the booth worker gave them a countdown to start, all three of them taking the handles of their water guns in hand and, as the bell rang, pressing down on the buttons to shoot a steady stream of water into the small hole underneath their respective balloons.

It didn't take long for one of their balloons to eventually pop, making Diamond jump slightly from the sudden loud noise as another bell rang, signalling the victory of Prince. He looked at Aura for a moment before asking, "Did I win?" Receiving confirmation from his trainer, Prince looked to the man as he was asked what prize he would like. ("Forgive me, sir. But I do not require a prize. I am simply accompanying my master.") Prince responded with a polite bow.

The man blinked curiously as Aura snickered. "Sorry, Prince here is pretty selfless and such. This is his first ever time at something like this as well."

Letting out a hardy laugh, the man waved his hand, "I can understand that. My partner acted similarly during his first time at a carnival. After a few games though he just wanted more and more." He laughed.

After Aura finally coaxed Prince to select a prize, hoping it would help him loosen up a bit, he eventually settled on a small Torchic doll with the plan to give it, and probably any future prizes, to Aura and Diamond's kit once it is born. "Thank you, Prince. That's very nice of you." Diamond said as Aura took the plushie and put it in his backpack.

"Figured we'd at least get a few prizes from the guaranteed winning games, hopefully we get some from other games too." He mentioned, lifting it back over his shoulder and thanking the booth worker before the trio resumed down the pathway. "Since I chose the first game, one of you can choose the next one."

Prince placed his paw over his chest, "Seeing as this is mostly a time for you and Diamond to spend together, I believe she should choose next."

With a roll of his eyes and a chuckle towards the Lucario's extra polite behavior in public, Aura began to point out different games as they walked past until Diamond finally decided. She gestured toward a booth where a woman threw a ball at a tower of bottles, missing all three shots before shrugging and walking away with a slight sulk. "Alright, we can all have a go at this one too." Aura affirmed as they headed toward the game.

Asking for three throws for each of them, the man behind the counter set out nine softballs and stepped aside to allow them each to take aim at one of the four stacks of metal bottles. After instructing Diamond on how to properly throw a ball, Aura demonstrated himself, accidentally missing the first throw, hitting the side bottle on the second throw and knocking down half of the stack, and with his last throw barely managing to take out the bottom bottle and send all but one clattering to the floor. Snapping his fingers in a very brief moment of annoyance, he let out a short "dang it" before sighing with a shrug. Taking a breath, Aura moved behind Diamond and began to help her line up her shot, her first attempt flying well over a foot from her target causing her to blush. Taking her second ball in hand, she threw it only to miss once again. Aura encouraged her to just focus a little more and do her best. Taking her final ball in hand, Diamond reeled back and threw it, subconsciously closing her eyes as she let go, pausing as she heard a loud clang.

As she opened her eyes, Diamond groaned as she only saw three of the bottles had been knocked over, slumping down in defeat as Aura rubbed her back and consoled her. Waiting for the booth worker to reset the pile, Aura instructed Prince to take his turn as another trainer and their Pokemon walked up to have a go themselves, paying no mind to Aura as they waited for the worker to tend to them. Giving him some words of encouragement, Aura and Diamond watched in awe as Prince reeled back and rocketed the ball into the center of the stack, sending the metal bottles flying up as his ball shot right through with an extra loud bang of metal on metal as every last bottle fell to the floor below.

The booth worker let out a whistle, "That's quite the impressive Lucario you've got. Quite the pitching arm on that one." He complimented, taking a stuffed toy off the rack and handing it to the Pokemon. "I've seen a couple other Pokemon take a shot and most of them weren't as close as your Lucario. Only other one I can think of was a Machoke but it took all three shots to knock every bottle down."

("I appreciate the compliment, sir.") Prince affirmed with a short bow.

Departing from the booth and browsing around for another game to play, Aura suddenly found himself pulling Diamond closer as a group of small children ran by laughing and waving little Wailmer flags in the air. Receiving a quiet "thank you" from Diamond, he suggested she stay a bit closer to him as they walk. "I guess more people are showing up now so it'll probably start getting a bit more crowded."

A loud splash followed by a young child's voice calling out "I got one!" had pulled the trio's attention towards a large booth with an even larger pool right beside it. As they approached, they watched as children and adults alike attempted to scoop Magikarp from the large pool, most simply flailing their way out of the shallow nets the guests were provided while one kid happily held out their own net with a somewhat smaller Magikarp flopping inside with a green band strapped around it.

The booth worker instructed the child to return the fish Pokemon to the pool as they offered the boy a toy fishing rod with a green tag tied to it. Walking past the boy and his mother, Aura took a closer look at the water to see at least a dozen smaller than normal Magikarp swimming around with more coloured bands around each of them. "I haven't done this for years." Aura said as he looked up to the booth worker and got their attention. Asking for a chance to play himself, Aura looked back and asked the other two if they would like to try as well, getting a polite refusal from them both, he shrugged and paid for his net.

Now stood right up to the pool, Aura noticed each of the prizes had a corresponding colour to the bands each Magikarp wore, noticing a relatively expensive fishing pole with a golden tag on it, Aura scoured the water for a Magikarp with the gold band, to his surprise only seeing one and biting his lip as he noticed it was actually quite large compared to the rest, however still considered smaller than average for its species. "Do you really think that would be possible?" Prince inquired, hearing Aura muttering his plan and noticing where he was focused. "My apologies, but I doubt these nets are meant to be able to catch that one. I believe it's called a 'red herring'? Or something along those lines." Prince said matter-of-factly.

"That's something I figured as well, but at the same time I see no harm in at least making an attempt." Aura responded, waiting for the fish to swim closer. "If I miss the gold one then I'll just try for a blue one and get a stuffed Magikarp, but that fishing rod kinda interests me."

With his partners wishing him luck, Aura went through his head thinking the best angle to scoop out the Magikarp as it swam in circles just barely out of arm's reach. Out of nowhere, a sudden red light blinked on in the center of the pool and a very quiet buzz sounded under the water. The person running the game must have spent time training the Magikarp as all at once they threw themselves into the air as if to not only show off their ability, but to knock away the nets and cause a bit of minor disorientation in the patrons. This cause both Diamond and Prince to step back and avoid being splashed on while Aura instead took this opportunity to thrust his net out into the mass of shimmering orange scales, and just as the Magikarp all began to dive in unison, the one with the gold band wound up diving headfirst into the net, flopping around in confusion as Aura beamed.

"He caught it!" Diamond quietly cheered, clapping her paws together with a smile.

"Did he?" Prince questioned, Diamond looking confused for a moment before the flimsy strings in the net suddenly gave out, the flailing of the fish undoing the sensitive knots only for it to splash back down into the water and dart away.

Aura stood with a deadpan expression as he stared at the untied net hanging lazily from it's hoop. Thinking he was devastated, Diamond walked up and hugged him, patting his back with an awkward "It's okay". That was when she felt Aura sigh against her shoulder and shake his head, taking her arms and gently pushing them off his shoulders, confusing the Pokemon.

With a shrug and a mild chuckle, Aura rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks for trying to comfort me, but it's not a big deal. You win some you lose some." He affirmed, handing the net to the booth worker before thanking him and walking off. "It woulda been nice to win that fishing rod, but thinking about it now, the way I caught that Magikarp was doomed to fail." He laughed.

"But it landed in the net perfectly." Diamond pointed out, scratching her head.

Aura rubbed her arm, "I'll have to give you a few math lessons sometime," he snickered, "since the Magikarp was falling into the net, it's entire weight hit the net too fast and applied too much pressure which untied the strings." All Diamond could do was rub her forehead as she struggled to understand, not having much education at all considering her past. Even wild Pokemon often learn some very basic stuff if it can help in their survival, but even so, it never included stuff like velocity and mass. "Plus," Aura continued, "games like those are usually meant to fail as they make the nets super loose and almost impossible to actually hold something, it's almost entirely based on luck."

A short walk away from the fishing booth, the trio stopped at a balloon darts game, the constant popping of balloons making both Pokemon's ears twitch slightly, though they assured Aura it wasn't a big issue, he was a bit reluctant to let them check it out for themselves. Watching until the group in front of them left, Aura once again gave the two a brief explanation of the goal of the game before Prince compared it to target practice. Of course, he wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't too hard to throw a dart at a wall of balloons. So deciding to give them both a chance at the game, Aura paid for all three of them and handed them each a few darts. Surprisingly, Prince seemed rather interested in playing this game.

Given the signal to start, Aura quickly showed them how to hold a dart, Prince doing his best with his paws before flinging the dart at the wall, though he may not have been as good as with the ball throwing game, he still managed to do very well and directly hit a balloon with each dart he was given.

"Good shot!" Aura praised, taking up a stance to line up his own dart. Unfortunately, Aura only managed to pop two balloons and snap his fingers in a moment of annoyance. Not letting himself get properly upset over a game, he turned to Diamond as she nervously stood with a dart gripped tightly in her paw. "Calm down, Diamond. You won't be able to properly throw it like that, you gotta hold it more like this." He said, helping guide her fingers to better grasp the dart and position her arm. "I'm not the greatest at darts, but I know enough to throw it." He muttered, guiding her through the motions to at least get a decently straight shot.

Finally letting her take the shot, Diamond managed to hit a balloon with her first dart while unfortunately missing her other attempts. "Better luck next time." The booth worker said as the trio thanked them and walked off.

"I guess a bag of marbles is fun for kids, but it'll be a while before our kit would be able to play with them." Aura said as he placed Prince's most recent prize into his bag. "I dunno about Pokemon, but human babies could easily choke on them."

Prince shook his head, "Oh, my apologies, but I was planning on using those colourful balls for training."

Diamond and Aura looked at each other, "I can't think of how you'd use marbles for training?" Aura admitted.

"I can see them providing some assistance in deflecting much smaller projectiles with pinpoint accuracy, or even perhaps avoiding a barrage of smaller objects." Prince explained. "Admittedly it is not much, however I did not see much at that game your kit might enjoy."

"Maybe, we'll just have to figure it out later, but I do like how you think, buddy." Aura praised, rubbing the jackal between the ears and laughing. "So what game should we check out next?"

"It was my idea to play that… dart game," Diamond affirmed, momentarily forgetting what it was called, "so I'm okay letting Prince choose something."

Aura rubbed his head, "Sounds fair, I also dragged you both to the fishing game, and I'd rather you guys get to experience this place to the fullest."

With both of his companions looking to him for their next destination, Prince looked around, unaware as to the goal of every game around them, so he quickly decided on the game that was simply the closest to them.

As Aura looked to the game, he somewhat recoiled and grunted, "Whoo, basketball never really was my best sport." He muttered as they approached, assuring the others that he was fine playing it, he just wasn't very good.

After Diamond decided to sit out for this one, Aura gave Prince a quick lesson on the goal of the sport, Prince's mind quickly working it into a method of testing his skills in some way which made Aura sigh at the Lucario's persistence toward his training. Giving Prince a chance to play on his own this time, Aura backed away next to Diamond and gave him a thumbs up. The two watched as Prince thrust his arms out and launched the ball into the backboard, flinging it back and almost sending it over their heads had Diamond not managed to catch it with her Psychic.

Giving the worker a quick apology, Aura instructed Prince to lighten up his shot a bit, taking a ball in hand and doing his best to display a proper example of how to shoot the ball. Taking another attempt, Prince imitated how Aura showed him and tossed the ball, perfectly arcing it and hitting the front of the hoop, this time the ball bouncing back into Prince's arms. He furrowed his brow with a look of confusion and frustration, taking on the stance once more and throwing the ball in another perfect arc, this time hitting the back of the rim and sending the ball back into the net ramp just in front of the Pokemon.

Aura hissed through his teeth and approached his partner, patting him on the back and assuring him he did rather well for his first attempt. However, Aura blinked in surprise as he saw Prince leering at the hoop for a moment. He turned to his trainer suddenly and momentarily let go of his chivalrous tone. "Master Aura. Please allow me to try again?" He asked.

Stunned from the request, Aura smiled and laughed, "Go for it." He said, paying for another attempt and returning to his spot by Diamond.

Taking the ball in his paws and focusing on his breath, Prince took the first shot of his second attempt, this time the ball hitting the outside of the net and falling. Gritting his teeth, he took his next shot, his ball once again hitting the rim except this time swirling around before falling off the side. In a moment of frustration, Prince didn't even think as he grabbed his third ball and hurled it in the air, leering at the ball as it once more swerved around the hoop but at last it finally fell through the ring and scored.

Prince stood in silence as he processed what just happened, meanwhile Aura and Diamond approached and congratulated him on his throw. "You actually seemed pretty tense there." Aura pointed out.

Hearing this, Prince suddenly folded his ears back and bowed, offering an apology to his master for acting in such a manner. He was somewhat confused as Aura instead praised him for just that, catching the loyal Pokemon off guard as he was not used to being praised for such uncouth actions and loss of temper.

"Here you are, sir. Your Lucario seemed to be pretty interested in basketball." The booth worker said as he handed Aura a brand new basketball in its box. "Judging by your Lucario's behaviour, I assume this was it's first time playing?"

Aura nodded as he tried to fit the new ball into his bag, "Yeah, he's usually super polite and level headed, it's almost a relief to see him so passionate about something other than training."

The man laughed, "Yep, they're usually like that, impressive really. And since we're on the topic, if your partner there's interested in playing more, you could take him down to the court across town and play. I know the guys who own the place, they give lessons to Pokemon to hopefully make it a national thing." Digging into his pocket, the man handed Aura a business card. "Tell 'em Mick sent ya if you decide to check it out."

"Thanks a lot. Maybe a hobby is just what Prince needed to ease up a little. He's always pretty serious about his training and I'd rather he gets to feel some enjoyment at least every once in a while."

Heading back into the crowd, the three of them spent roughly an hour and a half checking out other booths and playing games, winning some and losing others, Aura soon found his bag nearing its maximum capacity with prizes, many of which would be given to Aura and Diamond's kit after it was born. Within the mess of stuffed toys, Aura and Diamond had also gotten a few smaller prizes for themselves, Prince even taking ownership of a few things as well despite mostly hoping to use them in some form of training.

Noticing Diamond slowing down, Aura stopped and asked if they should rest. Although a bit reluctant as she still wanted to play more games, Diamond agreed, asking if they could perhaps stop and get something to snack on as well. Agreeing to get some food, they started towards the concession area. However, Diamond suddenly stopped as they passed by a ring toss game, catching Aura and Prince's attention as they stopped to question her. Diamond simply responded by pointing to the rack of prizes where she saw a life size Fennekin plush. "Do you think I could try one more time?" She asked. It didn't take Aura long to think it over and allow her to attempt to win the stuffed fox Pokemon. Agreeing how it seemed like the perfect toy for their kit.

Approaching the woman at the counter, Aura asked about the plushie, noticing more life sized plushies of the other two Kalos starters. "For those you gotta ring the bottles near the middle." She explained, pointing at the glass bottles coloured orange.

"How much?" Aura asked, getting the cost of five throws before paying and handing the small plastic rings to his mate. "You got this, Diamond. Just land one on the orange and it's yours."

Taking a breath, Diamond tossed her first ring, watching it bounce around the bottles before slipping between them. Biting her lip, she tossed her second ring, watching it meet the same outcome as the first, the same happening to her third, and fourth throws. Eventually, her ring finally landed on a clear bottle, causing her to sulk as she sadly thought that was it until the woman handed her another ring, explaining those bottles were a free ring, but each attendant only got one per play.

With one final attempt, Diamond desperately let her final ring fly, anxiously watching it bounce across the tops of the glass. She held her breath at it neared the orange bottles, gasping in shock as it bounced over one and landed on another.

Diamond beamed as she clapped at her success. Happily cheering that she won the prize she desired as the woman took it off the rack and handed it to the excited Delphox. Upon receiving it, she turned and held it up to Aura, exclaiming "Look!" as her excitement got the best of her, making Aura happy that her first time at a fair had a happy memory tied with it.

"I'm sure our kit will love it." He said, placing his hands on her paws and giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

"Aren't you adorable." The woman said with a chuckle, overhearing them. "You two have a nice day. I wish you the best." She said as the trio finally left the games and headed off to get some food.

"So what do you guys feel like eating?" Aura asked as he gazed over their options, "I'm in the mood for a burger myself, but let's just take a look around first."

Sniffing the air, Diamond rubbed her stomach and looked to their left, seeing a large sign with a Pecha and Nanab berry on it. "The stuff over there smells good." She suggested. Shrugging, Aura took them over to the stand and stood in line, reading the menu out loud for them with Prince politely declining the offered food. Diamond on the other hand was trying hard to decide, relieved when Aura said she could get more than one item.

Though she didn't know how to read the menu, she did have some knowledge on berries. So while Aura was reading off the menu, she had decided on what to get based on the berry used. Once it was their turn, the large man behind the counter asked what he could get them. Ordering Diamond's food, the trio walked away with a bag holding a few styrofoam containers in Diamond's paws, the fox opening it and taking a long whiff of the contents. Chocolate covered Pecha, Sitrus and Bluk berries, and to Aura's surprise, she actually requested a large cup of Cheri berries.

"I thought you hated spicy food?" He questioned.

Diamond shied away and scratched her cheek, "I do, but ever since my cravings started kicking in I've been wanting something a bit spicier."

"If I may interject, we had plenty of fire types in my old pack, and even those who would rather have mild food would always desire something spicier during pregnancy. This may simply just be a trait of fire types." Prince explained.

Leaving it at that, Aura led them further into the crowd until both Diamond and Prince picked up on something. Aura allowed their noses to guide them towards a foreign food stand where they offered different types of japanese dishes, Aura recognizing some from his youth back in Johto. "Well since they got a lot of things just cooking right in front of us, you guys let me know what you want."

Coincidentally, both canines were lulled towards the takoyaki station as a woman in her late twenties stood in a large black and white kimono flipping the fried balls of dough with a special utensil. "Good afternoon, sir. Would you or your Pokemon care to try our takoyaki? We offer different flavours and toppings." She advertised with a slight english accent.

"Yes thank you. Two orders of takoyaki." Aura began, asking Diamond and Prince what kind and toppings they would like before relaying their order back to the woman.

With their food in hand, Aura led them to the last booth where he would finally get his meal. Getting in line for the burger stand, Aura skimmed the menu as Diamond sniffed the air. "This stuff smells good too." She muttered.

"I could get you a burger as well. Also a drink for you both." Aura affirmed, receiving no protest from the Pokemon as they approached the stand. It didn't take long for Aura to place their order, getting a burger for himself and Diamond and a berry soda for each of them. "Guess the only thing left to do now is find a place to eat. Actually, let's go meet up with my mom and eat with them." Aura suggested, taking out his phone and sending a text to his mother before starting one to Alice. Coincidently, just before he could send his text to Alice he heard her suddenly call out to him. Looking up from his phone, Aura smirked and waved back as Alice, Lee and Stan all walked towards them. Each of them carried a plastic bag which Aura could only assume contained their own food while Alice carried a drink tray with four cups in it. "I was just gonna message you."

Alice shrugged, "We actually saw you walking to the concession and decided to get ourselves some lunch too. Speaking of which, I see Diamond's still going through her cravings." She joked. The Delphox blushed. Listening to Aura's suggestion to find and eat with Darlene, Alice nodded and they set off to find them. "Oh, by the way, Aura. We also saw a ferry at the docks a while ago with a bunch of people getting on. I think it's supposed to be for a tour of the nearby coral reefs. We could probably all check it out before the day's over."

Aura glanced over, "I haven't been to a coral reef since I was a kid in Johto. Seeing what pokemon hang around them in Kalos sounds interesting."

"Well then I won't spoil it for ya." Alice chuckled.

Eventually crossing the beach, they spotted Darlene under an umbrella reading a book with Kibbs and Tia sat on towels at her side. Aura looked toward the water and sure enough saw Lilly wading through the shallows with some child-sized water wings on her arms and a bucket in her paws, every now and then plunging down into the water and popping back up happily before placing something in her pail.

Before they could announce their presence, Kibbs' ear swiveled toward them and looked over. "There they are."

Darlene looked over and was greeted by a wave from her son. "Did you guys have fun?" She asked, putting her book down and stretching. "Lilly! They're here!"

The rabbit lifted her ears and looked back, seeing the rest of them quickly nearing the large blanket on the shore. With a wave of her own, Lilly quickly began pushing her way through the water towards them. "Aura! Look at what I found!" She exclaimed gleefully like a child.

Pausing, Aura turned his attention to the rabbit as she held a plastic bucket up filled about a quarter of the way with seashells. "Nice! That's a pretty good start to a collection." He praised, finding her excitement to be rather cute. Tilting his head, Aura reached in and picked up a pink chunk of coral. "Hey, a Corsola branch. A lot of people make jewelry out of these in Johto, so maybe we can find someone to make it into a necklace for ya. With durable materials of course." He told her, referring to when the casing and chain on Diamond's necklace were damaged in Reflection Cave.

Lilly beamed. "Really? Thanks, Aura!" In her child-like manner, Lilly hugged around his waist with a giggle, thinking about how she would look with her own necklace while Aura patted her on the head.

As she watched the interaction between the rabbit and her mate, Diamond silently scowled as a twinge of jealousy and annoyance arose from her natural instinct of possession over her mate. Catching herself, Diamond shook her head and glanced at the others to see if any of them noticed. "It's fine." She very quietly murmured under her breath, thankful it went unheard by the other Pokemon.

"So shall we dig in?" Lee said as he held up a bag of food in each paw. "I'm fuckin' hungry."

"Lee!" Alice scolded. "There are kids around here."

The Lucario sighed and lowered his arms, "I think you're forgetting they can't understand me. And before you say what I think you're gonna say. You and I both can sense not a single person within hearing distance is a Guardian." This of course made Alice scowl at her mate and mutter how they were going to have a little talk tonight.

Meanwhile, Aura curiously looked at them as they set their food on the blanket. "How far can you sense auras? I mean, I could sometimes sense other Guardians close by me on rare occasions; though I only realized what exactly it was after Arceus told me everything."

"Well the nearest Guardian essence is weak, so they're most likely a child who doesn't even know or they are only part Guardian, mostly being normal human." Lee began to thoroughly explain with his sensory appendages risen. "Also they're currently in that direction." He said, pointing toward the area with the rides. "And the farthest I can sense a Guardian depends on how strong their own essence is compared to their distance, but it's roughly around a four mile radius." The Lucario passively boasted.

Aura's eyes widened. "That's pretty far."

Lee shrugged, "It's a bit above average for intensely trained Lucario, the normal average only about two to three miles with routine meditation and practice. It also helps being a Guardian Pokemon so my abilities are enhanced naturally." He explained, not wanting to upset his fellow Lucario.

Aura's eyes grew even wider in bewilderment. "Guardian Pokemon?"

Now it was Lee's turn to curiously look at Aura. "Didn't Darlene teach you anything about the Guardians?"

Once again Alice scowled at him, this time actually smacking his arm angrily. "That was rude! Why is it you can sound so damn smart sometimes but act like an idiot the rest of the time?!"

The jackal rubbed his arm with a hiss. "Ow! Shit, Alice! Sorry I'm not as informed on everything as you are. I didn't know much about Aura before we met."

As Alice let out a sigh and crossed her arms, Darlene scratched her head nervously. "The thing is, before Aura was even born and I learned he was going to be the Grand Guardian; Arceus was concerned if he were to take on such a huge responsibility while he was still so young it would make things a bit harder for him later in life. So she asked that he have the chance to live a normal life before being put into the middle of something so huge like aiding the legends with protecting the balance."

"I was told she was also afraid that Aura might not be as compassionate if he was only raised to be the Grand Guardian." Kibbs added, "That's why she wanted him to grow up as a normal human."

Prince nodded in agreement, "Living the life I had with strict training my entire childhood, I feel my life would be drastically changed if I was raised similarly to Master Aura and vice versa."

Spending a while talking with each other and finishing their meals, Aura offered to take their trash and let everyone rest for a bit longer. Lilly quickly took off and returned to the water to continue her search for shells. As Aura returned, he walked at a brisk pace and pointed over his shoulder. "Hey, the que for the ferry is actually almost empty right now. We could probably take a ride out to the reef before it gets busy again."

The mention of the ferry ride brought Lilly back to the beach excitedly. "Can we go?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Aura turned to the others. "Depends on what everyone else thinks. We could wait until tomorrow if anyone would rather go back to the carnival stuff." All around they thought about it, none of them had any issue with taking the ferry trip now. Stan took a bit longer to decide as he did want to go on more rides, though he didn't want to ruin the others' fun so he happily chose to tag along.

Quickly packing up their stuff and bringing their bags, the group as a whole walked across the beach to the large dock. Upon arrival, everyone was instructed to wear a life jacket before boarding. Taking varying sizes of the bright orange vests from a large rack, the man and woman working there handed them out. As the two employees went over the standard routine showing how to fasten the buckles, Aura ushered Tia and Stan closer so he could do it for them. Now buckling his own vest, they headed up the metal ramp aboard the ferry and were informed they would be leaving in roughly ten more minutes.

Though it wasn't a very big crowd, many people and Pokemon alike stood by the railing or sat on the metal benches in the middle of the floor.

"W-whoa." Diamond muttered as she stretched out her arms to steady herself as the boat suddenly rocked. Concerned she may lose her balance, Aura took her arm and guided her to one of the benches. The others followed. "I've never been on something like this before." She said as they watched another group boarding, the rocking from before being caused by a Pangoro clumsily stumbling on board.

"You can lean on me if you have to." He offered, keeping his arm around her. Glancing to the others, Aura sighed. "Since we have a bit before we set off, no one did explain what a Guardian Pokemon was yet."

Looking at him, Darlene offered a brief explanation. "It's basically a Pokemon that has some Guardian essence in them. It mostly just makes their abilities a bit stronger than normal."

"That's it?"

"Kind of." Alice interrupted, "It's not exactly that important, but I'm sure Arceus will teach you more about it if need be." She finished.

Finally hearing the captain coming over the speaker informing all passengers they would be taking off very shortly, the metal structure jerked forward before starting it's decently smooth voyage to the nearby coral reef. As they cut through the water at a brisk pace, Aura watched as Diamond's fur danced in the wind.

"Nothing like the clear ocean air to make you feel lighter." Kibbs commented whilst taking a deep breath through her nose.

"It certainly helps you breathe." Prince added, taking in the scent as well.

"Hey, check this out!" Stan called as he stood with his front paws on the railing.

Gathering around the Luxio, the group watched a large school of Finneon swimming alongside the boat. Randomly breaching the water's surface with a few Lumineon joining in. Lilly's eyes lit up from the sight, meanwhile Tia hid a sorrowful expression as the fish Pokemon brought back memories of her mate returning from the shorelines with a bountiful catch. Witnessing a few other sea-dwelling Pokemon join in on the fun made the Absol smile a bit as it reminded her of their own group.

"Alright everyone, we are now approaching the reef and will be slowing down momentarily. Please refrain from letting your Pokemon swim around in the waters below as we do not want to disturb the ecosystem below us. Also please do not throw food into the water either. Thank you." The captain announced over the intercom. Aura watched as a teenage boy slowly lowered their hand full of bread crusts.

As another voice came over the speakers listing off all the species living in the waters below, Lilly caught a glimpse of something shiny just off the edge of the railing. Kneeling down to get a closer look, Tia curiously watched as well. Both Pokemon suddenly falling back as a Lanturn flew from the water with a sly grin, the Pokemon hearing it chuckle as it dove back into the water.

"That was rude." Tia scoffed as she shook a bit of water from her head.

"What?" Aura asked as him and Diamond were too busy watching a Milotic swimming in the distance with a trio of Feebas beside it.

"Some blue and yellow Pokemon splashed us." Lilly told him.

"That can happen on a boat." Aura affirmed, looking back toward the serpent.

"At least it didn't shock you." Lee commented as he leaned against the rail, adjusting his sunglasses. "I was shocked by one as a Riolu and it wasn't exactly fun."

Hearing another splashing sound, Lilly scowled as she waited for the fish to resurface and deliver a bit of payback. However, nobody was expecting a duo of large eel-like Pokemon to fire out of the water and wrap their arm-like fins around both Tia and Lilly before sinking their fangs into their shoulders.

Both girls let out a shrill scream of pain as electricity coursed through them, catching the attention of every passenger on board only for them all to watch in terror as the two Pokemon were forcefully yanked back into the ocean.

"Lilly! Tia!" Aura cried as he let go of Diamond and sprinted to the railing to witness the pair of navy blue eels fighting to pull them underwater. The only thing keeping them afloat were the life jackets. Aura quickly threw off his backpack and undid his life jacket to jump in and rescue them, only to be stopped in his tracks as a smaller version of the eels rocketed out of the water and slammed against him with a Headbutt.

Just as he slammed against the metal flooring, Aura heard another scream as he saw another large eel reach up and grab a young girl through the bars, her mother screaming in terror as she watched the Pokemon tear the life jacket from her body and dive below the surface. Aura quickly jumped up to just barely witness the other two do the same with Tia and Lilly and plunge back below the boat.

Fueled by worry and anger, Aura's eyes momentarily flashed purple as he effortlessly jumped atop the railing. "Keep Diamond safe!" Was the last thing he said before diving into the water.

"I'm coming too!" Stan shouted as he too slashed through the straps on his vest and threw himself into the water.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" The woman hyperventilated. "Suzy! Suzy no!"

Feeling for the mortified mother, Darlene offered comfort to the woman. "She'll be okay. Aura won't let them get away. I promise." Though her words held great truth, they also held a very small amount of uncertainty as she stared at where her son jumped into the waters. "He's a very special young man." She muttered.

"Aura!" Diamond cried as Alice held her back.

"He'll be fine! Just stay close to the middle here!"

Meanwhile, below the waves, Aura hastily swam deeper into the reef, desperately chasing the slight glow of the three eel Pokemon. Though not the best swimmer, Stan did his best to catch up to his trainer and join the pursuit.

Watching the slender Pokemon begin slithering their way into a narrow passage one by one, Aura scowled as his eyes once again flashed purple. He reached out his hand and shot out a small aura sphere into the last Pokemon's back, causing a small explosion and knocking it into a large piece of coral.

The impact against the coral forced the Pokemon to release it's hold on the small child as it's soft skin was easily pierced by the jagged stony structure. A thin stream of blood was carried by the water from the puncture wound as the coral branch snapped off, remaining deeply embedded within the aquatic Pokemon's flesh. Though it didn't feel right, Aura left the wounded Pokemon as he swam to the barely conscious girl, taking her in his arms and looking between the boat and the narrow passage below.

Subconsciously tapping into his abilities like he had a few times in the past, Aura began to telepathically speak to the Luxio. ("Stan. Take the girl to the boat.") The sudden voice in his head shocked the feline as this was the first time Aura had ever used telepathy, though the intense look in his discolored eyes convinced him to take the back of the girl's shirt in his mouth and hurry back to the surface. All the while Aura looked back to the hole and started swimming inside.

Back at the surface, Alice and Darlene sat with Diamond and the woman, who introduced herself as Robin, as they tried to keep them both calm. "Something's coming up!" Lee called. They all gathered around the railing near the rising bubbles, both Diamond and Robin hoped it was their loved ones.

Gasps escaped their lips as Stan erupted from the water with the young girl in his teeth. "Shomebody! Help ush up!"

Running to grab a life preserver, Prince threw it out to the lion Pokemon. Stan grabbed hold with his paws and let the two Lucario pull him in. A man instructing his Gothitelle to lift the Pokemon and child back into the boat.

Once him and Suzy were set on board, Stan let go of the girl's shirt and violently coughed up some water while desperately gasping for air. "Where's Aura?!" Diamond asked.

Between gasps and coughs, Stan explained their trainer followed the Pokemon into a hole. "He didn't look out of breath at all and his eyes were glowing purple." He told them, sputtering out a bit more water from his lungs.

"He must have tapped into his abilities again like he did back in Lumiose City." Alice thought aloud. "If he's able to breath underwater that's the only explanation I can think of." She shrugged.

"Suzy?!" Robin cried, hurrying over and lifting her daughter in her arms. "Suzy?! Wake up, sweetie!"

Rushing over, Alice looked over the girl. "She took in a lot of water. Damn Eelektross." Scowling, Alice hovered her hand over the girl's chest as a teal energy wafted through her fingers.

"Wha-what are you doing to my baby?!" Robin snapped, somewhat afraid of the strange powers before her. As if it were routine, Lee stepped over and held out his paws producing a light yellow glow. This glow soon wafted toward the woman and quickly transitioned to a soft pink as the Lucario's Heal Pulse calmed her nerves. "W-what are you…" She trailed off.

"It's hard to explain. But I'm helping her." Alice briefly explained, guiding the waves of light to Suzy's mouth and into her lungs. "Lee, give me some energy."

Nodding, the jackal placed his left paw on Alice's back with a faint orange glow flowing from his upper wrist to her back. This caused the teal aura Alice produced to glow slightly brighter as she used some of her life essence to not only evaporate the water in Suzy's lungs, but soothe any harm to her organs and steadily refill them with breathable air. After a minute, Suzy groaned and began coughing with all the water left spouting from her mouth with a little extra help from Alice's aura.

"Oh my god! Suzy?"

"M-mom?" The little girl moaned painfully, coughing again.

Robin embraced her daughter with teary eyes, thanking Alice for whatever it is she did. "But… What about that boy who jumped in to save her and those Pokemon?"

Alice looked over at Diamond who sat with her paws over her eyes holding back tears of worry as Darlene gently caressed her shoulders in a maternal manner. "Aura… Please come back to us."

Back below the colourful aquatic ecosystem, Aura used the narrow walls of the tunnel to plant his hands against and essentially pull his way through at a much faster rate. Every now and then the trainer would grit his teeth in concern as he passed by tiny clumps of white or brown fur from his missing Pokemon.

"I swear to god if they're hurt." He snarled, his pupils contracting as the rest of his eyes continued to glow brightly in the murky darkness of the tunnel. Eventually the tunnel slowly began to grow clearer as Aura passed by some glowing stones in the walls. Soon he found himself out of the tunnel and inside a large pool of water, resurfacing to take in the sight of the huge cavern filled with bioluminescent moss and mushrooms.

Swimming to the edge of the pool, Aura pulled himself over the ledge and scoured the room for the missing Pokemon. A visible look of bloodlust filled his gaze upon seeing the unconscious Pokemon being sprawled out before an old man in a wetsuit with a psychotic smile spread from ear to ear.

"Now these two look nice and ripe!" He cackled as the Eelektross slithered a little distance away with a darkness in their eyes that matched the heinous glare of the man's. This unique darkness enraged Aura as a shadowy aura emanated from his own eyes with his pupils constricting even more and becoming dark slits like an enraged beast. Another evil cackled came from the man's dry lips as he reached behind his neck and began unzipping his wetsuit.

Aura's eyes widened before he literally shot out of the water surrounded by a fiery energy darker than the void of nothingness. "Get the FUCK away from them!" He demanded with a voice so distorted and demonic he sounded from the deepest pits of hell itself.

"What the fuck?! How could you idiots let that kid follow you?! And how the fuck did he make it through the fucking tunnel?!" The Eelektross stayed silent as the man leered at the uninvited guest. "You've got no business here kid! You don't know who the fuck you're messing with!" The man screeched, a narrow lightless aura surrounding him as well.

"I don't give a fuck who you are!" Aura roared back, shaking the cavern itself.

Suddenly the man sprinted towards Aura with his bloodshot and hollow eyes full of empty, unending rage. Summoning a black dagger from a cloud of smoke, the man lunged at Aura and stabbed the blade into his chest with a maniacal laugh. "Alright boys, time for a snack!"

The man suddenly froze as he felt a grip so tight he felt the bones in his wrist practically disintegrate as his forearm began burning as if drenched in the flames of the underworld. Looking into Aura's demonic eyes, the man could see nothing but the destructive and infinite lust for revenge and bloodshed. As if staring into the eyes of the devil himself, the unstoppable anger inside wanting nothing more than to reduce the man to literally nothing while sending him to the infinite void until the end of time itself. Air left his lungs as Aura effortlessly stabbed his arm through the man's chest, pitch black smoke rising from the wound as his lifeless blood flowed from the hole like a waterfall. The last thing the man saw before death could only be compared to the infinite rage of pure and unbridled destruction of the end of all life in the universe.

None of the Pokemon in the cave budged while the Eelektross didn't even flinch as they stared lifelessly at the display of violence. As Aura ripped his arm from the wound and turned his attention to the eels, the Pokemon seemingly lost consciousness and suddenly collapsed with a dark glow abruptly flashing around them before vanishing, leaving them lying unconscious with shallow breaths.

Without a word, Aura blankly walked to his own Pokemon who remained in a deep sleep. He lifted them both under his arms before the three of them suddenly became enveloped in a dark sphere of energy and vanished into thin air. Immediately, Aura materialized back at the entrance to the tunnel, the blood on his arm washing away as he swam back to the surface.

Out of nowhere, the glow in his eyes began to slowly pulse as he neared the surface until his eyes returned to normal and he slowly began to lose consciousness. Using his last bit of energy to push himself to the surface and faintly heard Diamond's voice crying out for him, Aura soon blacked out as he felt himself being lifted from the calm waves and placed upon the metal floor of the ferry.

Diamond wept as she sat next to her unconscious trainer, repeatedly crying out his name with an unstoppable river of tears washing down her cheeks.

"He's going to be okay." Alice affirmed, gently patting her shoulder. "He probably just used up too much of his own life essence to breathe underwater. After a few hours of rest it'll be like nothing happened."

"Even so, we should still get him warmed up. His body lost a lot of heat from the lack of energy." Lee brought up whilst doing his own examination and working as a temporary life-line by transferring just enough of his own energy to keep Aura's intact.

"Maybe I can keep him warm?" Diamond offered through hics and sobs.

"That would most likely work. Prince, help me take Aura to the bench over there." Lee ordered. The two Lucario lifted the unconscious trainer and carried his limp body to one of the benches with Diamond anxiously following behind. Though she would normally fidget with her necklace whenever she got nervous, she aimlessly held her paws at her chest since her necklace was still in their room.

Once Aura was set on the bench, Diamond quickly took her place close to his side, wrapping her arms around his form and pulling him tight against her as Darlene brought over some towels given to them by one of the crew members. Taking the extra large towel, Darlene helpd wrap it around both Aura and Diamond to keep the heat from the fire fox trapped underneath.

Squeezing Aura even tighter, Diamond sniffled as his cheek was pressed firmly above her bosom. His shallow breathing lightly blowing at the loose fur on her breasts, though Diamond didn't even react or feel embarrassed at all as the only emotion she could feel at the time was sorrow.

Shortly after the captain explained they would be returning to the beach earlier than planned due to the unexpected events, Tia and Lilly both started to squirm and moan from the dull pain that coursed through their bodies. Seeing a few sparks skip across the surface of their fur, Darlene went to ask for some paralysis medicine from the crew. Once the girls were treated and regained consciousness, they jumped in shock and looked around frantically.

Lilly rubbed her shoulder where some bandages covered the bite marks left by the Eelektross. "What happened?"

"You two were unfortunately dragged underwater by a group of Eelektross. Though luckily Aura was able to save you and the little girl they tried to take as well." Kibbs explained.

"I jumped in after you too, but Aura had me take the girl back up before he rescued you guys." Stan added, the whole time looking Tia over with concern. Emotions took over as he quickly wrapped his foreleg around Tia's shoulders, "I'm so glad you're okay."

The Absol blushed and awkwardly looked away until Stan finally let go, turning his attention back to the bandages around her shoulder. "Wait! Where is Aura?" Tia suddenly asked as guilt began to well up inside from the thought she caused Aura to be injured once again.

A nod from the Luxio helped her calm down a little as he pointed to where Diamond and Aura sat huddled together under a towel. "Alice was telling us he must have used his powers to breath underwater. Maybe he was able to do it for you and Lilly too?"

"Either way, once we get back to shore we'll probably head back to the Pokemon Center so you two and Aura can get some rest after all this." Darlene affirmed as she laid a towel atop each of them. "Depending on how you three feel though, we may be able to come back this evening for a bit."

Meanwhile, Diamond gently caressed the top of Aura's head as he lay against her. Her body produced enough heat to slowly dry Aura's cold, damp skin as he lay still as stone in her grasp, the only sign of life being his shallow breaths and his faint heartbeat against Diamond's skin. As the shore came into view, Diamond's ear twitched as she heard Aura let out an exhausted groan. "He's waking up." She announced to the others, urging them to come closer.

Aura finally opened his eyes. The boy too disorientated to even realize how close his face had been to his partner's chest. Diamond helped him sit up as he let out a groggy moan and voiced his confusion by questioning where he was and what happened. He let out a sudden gasp as he recalled what happened just before being tackled by an Eelektric. Though he thought he was actually running to the railing, his body remained still until his subconscious caught up and brought him back to reality.

While he attempted to jump from the bench, for real this time, he found himself practically paralyzed as his limbs felt too heavy to move more than a few inches let alone lift his entire weight. "What the hell's going on?! I need to go after…" Aura slowed his frantic voice as he finally noticed both Tia and Lilly stood mere feet from him with towels over their shoulders.

"Everything's fine, Aura. You rescued both of them and the little girl already." Kibbs told him softly.

"But… How?" He stammered.

"You don't remember?" Stan asked.

"The last thing I remember is watching Lilly and Tia get dragged down by the Eelektross. After that everything is all fuzzy."

Alice and Darlene looked at each other. "If we do assume your instincts kicked in how we think they did, then all the energy you used might have caused some short term memory loss. Isn't that what happened when you and Diamond fell from Lumiose Tower as well?" Alice said with her arms crossed in thought.

"Honestly I don't really remember. I do recall us falling… And the sudden realization of how I felt about Diamond," he added with a faint blush, "but it feels like that was so long ago I can't remember much of the details that well."

"It doesn't matter right now." Diamond snapped, "I just want to go home and make sure Aura gets some rest. And you two as well." She said calmly, looking at Tia and Lilly with a kind smile.

"It seems Master Aura's compassionate nature is rubbing off on you." Prince nodded. "But I agree. I can sense his aura has become much weaker and is not recovering very quickly."

Not much else was said during the trip back to shore, although the crew working on the ferry were kind enough to supply everyone on board with passes to allow them priority access to the ferry tomorrow. As they approached the shore and helped Aura to stand by wrapping his arm over Alice's Shoulder, the group were finally able to return to their temporary home and rest.

Watching from under a tree atop one of the cliffs that encased the massive beachfront, a familiar cloaked figure casually sat whilst eating a cinnamon bun he had "bought" from one of the vendors below. Taking a quick drink of luke-warm beer he had sitting beside him, the man's hood fell from his head to reveal his white hair with a red streak down the left side of his bangs.

Tossing the empty glass bottle over his shoulder, Isaac took out a small device and tapped a button causing a holographic projection to appear with a spinning wheel and the words "dialing" written below. Eventually the device let off a ping and the projection shifted to a woman in an expensive looking suit with her hair tied back.

"Good afternoon, Sheila." Isaac said with a condescending smirk.

The woman grumbled and pinched the bridge of her nose just below her glasses. "What the fuck is it this time, Isaac?"

Isaac shrugged coyly, "Am I not allowed to check in with my favourite colleague anymore?" He teased.

"Blow it out your ass. I'm busy with some very important paperwork after some dipshit grunts got caught again!" Again Sheila sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "So just hurry up and spout your bullshit so I can get back to work."

Isaac scoffed, "Well if you must know; remember that runaway bitch from two weeks ago? The guy who bailed only a few days after we so graciously took him under our wing?"

Sheila groaned, "God all those legal papers really fucked my wrist. But why are you bringing him up? Even the boss says that druggy isn't worth our time hunting down since we'll just find him in a ditch with his dick out and a needle in his arm." She suddenly shuddered from the mental image, "God damn I can only imagine how many STDs that idiot has."

"Gee, thanks for sharing." Isaac scowled, "Anyway, as I was saying. I was keeping watch over the kid and he went out to the reef by Shalour, and coincidentally that's also where I could just barely sense that runaway's essence below where their boat stopped." Sheila nodded with some minor interest now surfacing. "Unfortunately I couldn't see much from where I am, but let's just say the kid might be getting stronger."

"And you say this because…"

"He went underwater, the druggy's essence went bye bye, and the kid teleported back to the surface along with two others." Isaac explained as he set down the communicator and grabbed another beer.

"Well for once I guess it's a good thing you called. So where's the Carrier now?"

"Eh, he used a lot of his energy so I guess they're heading back to where they're staying." Isaac affirmed as he now began to take out a pack of cigarettes.

"Okay then. I'm going to go inform the boss about this." Without even a farewell, Sheila ended the connection and the hologram blinked out of existence. Meanwhile at the building she was working, Sheila stood from her desk and began walking down a large corridor to a set of expensive double doors. She firmly knocked on the wooden surface with a stern voice inviting her inside.

The moment Sheila entered the massive office, the chair behind the desk suddenly swiveled around to reveal Lucas sitting with his Flareon on his lap, a cigar in his mouth, and a cocktail in his hand. "What is it you need, Sheila?"

"Well, Master Lucas. Isaac just contacted me and informed me of a few things. Firstly, the runaway from two weeks ago is no longer an issue."

"So he took care of him?"

"Not exactly, sir. You see, Isaac said that it was the Carrier who killed him. But according to him, the Carrier might be growing stronger since he is now able to perform a flawless teleportation with more than just himself."

Lucas chuckled as he sipped his beverage. "As expected, the boy grows stronger overtime. However, he also becomes weaker the longer our Master's essence festers within his own."

"Perhaps we should take this as a sign to rethink our methods of capture and extraction. If the Carrier learns to harness our Lord's power before he can be reborn, I don't see much of a chance for our success."

"Oh how naive you are. Even if he harnesses the power of our Master, there will always be a chance he can overtake the boy's feeble mind and body. The difference between the two is thousands of years of experience!" He harshly affirmed with a slight scowl. "Although, seeing as we can not bring death to the boy without also destroying what little essence remains of our Master, sadly we will have to bide our time until we can discover a way to extract his essence without any risks, and unfortunately we can not securely capture him as is without risking a repeat of last time." Lucas paused as he thought back to the failed attempt to capture Aura inside Glittering Cave. "Him and his partner are beyond unpredictable. So until we can find a solid method of containment for him, all we can do is keep an eye on him and that Delphox of his."

"As you wish, sir. Thank you for your time."

Lucas silently waved Sheila off as the woman just as quietly left the office and closed the door behind her, leaving Lucas to sit in solitude with his Flareon. With silence filling the room, Lucas took a drag of his cigar and ashed it. "I will be the one to revive him." He muttered as he turned his chair back towards the large window overlooking Lumiose City.