=Reviews=

Orivon Firefist: Thanks for the review, fav, and follow. First off, as Prince said when he meets Aura, he was next in line to be alpha of his pack before they were killed, the pack leader role was passed down through the generations and each of the alphas knew blaze kick, that move as well was passed down through the generations as it is an egg move (and it was convenient for the plot), and second, I am male.

ShadowForge: I'm really glad that you enjoy my stories, I enjoy receiving the positive feedback. The funny thing is that I actually didn't notice myself that Stan wasn't surprised, the only reason I can think of for this is that he was just too happy someone helped him to care, but I guess I was just too wrapped up in thinking about how the end of the chapter was going to be. I have been planning the Lumiose Tower scene back while still writing the first chapter, I actually have all the evolutions for his team planned out, as well as how they join his team, hell, I even have the final chapter already planned out (well, the general idea at least); this story is definitely one of my favourites to write, because if I was in the Kalos region, this is how I would want my journey to go. I also hope that you read my other stories as well, and keep up the good work with yours.

Chapter 8

Diamond watched as the ground grew closer, tightly shutting her eyes and holding Aura close as she awaited their painful death together.

She felt Aura and herself shift around but fear had sealed her eyes shut, and the moment Diamond felt them finally hit the ground, she was frozen in shock as there was no pain… no agony… she was alive?

Diamond finally opened her eyes thinking the worst of it was over, but she was wrong. What laid underneath her made her heart sink and her body grow heavy. Tears suddenly streamed from her eyes as Diamond stared in horror at the man she had finally confessed her love to. Aura lay still as stone beneath her as she trembled and cried out in anguish.

"Aura?! No…! No no no… please be okay! Please, Aura! Don't leave me!" Diamond fell forward and her tears soaked Aura's chest. Her vision grew hazy as she heard an ear piercing screech as red and blue lights flashed in the distance before a white van skid to a stop next to them and two men wearing white outfits jumped out. Diamond's fur stood on end as her eyes flashed purple and she suddenly jumped off of Aura's body with her arms outstretched to protect her love. ("Who are you?! What do you want with us?!") She demanded, subconsciously using her newly acquired telepathy.

Dan ran up from behind the men in white with a woman in a blue uniform following behind. "Diamond! It's okay! These people are here to help!"

Diamond struggled to fight off her instincts until eventually convincing herself that Dan wouldn't lie to her like this, so she very reluctantly lowered her arms and stepped aside to allow the men to pass. She watched the men move Aura onto a gurney and rolled him towards the van. Dan placed his hand on Diamond's shoulder and asked if she wanted to be with Aura. She silently nodded as she was too overwhelmed to even speak.

He lead her over to the ambulance and waited until Aura was loaded into the back, but before they closed the doors Dan hurried over and asked the men if they could allow Diamond to ride with them so she could be with her trainer.

The paramedics looked at each other and shrugged. They agreed to let Diamond come with and helped her into the back before shutting the doors. A woman who was busy hooking Aura up to various life support machines looked over at Diamond and gestured her towards a seat. Diamond didn't even realize they had started driving already as her focus was exclusively on her trainer, soon feeling tears welling up in her eyes again before she hunched over and began to sob.

"Don't worry," the woman said, "your trainer managed to survive the fall so there is a good chance he'll be alright." Diamond sniffled and wiped her eyes. After a few minutes of total silence aside from the muffled blaring of the ambulance's sirens, Diamond felt they had come to a stop and heard the front doors open with the back ones opening soon after. The two men hurried inside to unhook Aura and rush him into the hospital while the woman helped her out of the back. "I assume you want to be with your trainer?" She asked.

("Y-yes… I need to see Aura.") Diamond told her through telepathy.

"I'll help you inside then. You can't be in the room with him during surgery, but you can sit in the waiting room until they call you in." She held out her hand for Diamond and she took it with her paw as they walked into the massive building together. "Since you can use telepathy, could you tell me your name?"

("D-Diamond.")

"I'll let the doctors know you're waiting and they'll call for you the moment you can visit your trainer." She said kindly. Diamond followed the woman into a room filled with countless rows of chairs, as Diamond was told to take a seat, the woman walked to the reception desk and spoke with the woman behind it.

And so, Diamond sat in her chair in absolute silence, anxiously fidgeting with her newly developed fingers and kicking her legs nervously. She slowly looked up as the front doors slid open and Dan came running inside with Aura's bag in his hands. He quickly spotted Diamond, seeing as she was the only one in the room, and he rushed over. "Hey. Any news about Aura?" Diamond shook her head. "That's unfortunate… A-anyways. I figured the least I could do was bring Aura's stuff to him. Oh, and I made sure to bring you this." He set Aura's bag on the chair beside Diamond and pulled out the box containing her necklace.

Diamond stared at the box silently and wiped a tear away. "Thank you." She said as she opened the box and latched the chain around her neck, taking a couple tries since it was her first time doing it herself.

The two of them sat there in silence waiting for some news on Aura's condition. "Diamond?" Someone asked. Diamond looked up and saw a woman in bright pink garbs standing in front of her. "You can come and see your trainer now."

Diamond bit her lip; so Dan gently pat her on the shoulder and reassured her everything would be alright. Diamond swallowed hard and stood from her chair with Dan helping her put on Aura's backpack. She found herself being lead inside a very small room where the lady pushed a button and the doors shut in front of them. As Diamond felt the box slowly begin to rise, the nurse explained to her they were just inside an elevator and were taking it up to the third floor; Diamond didn't know how to feel about this "elevator" as she nervously held onto a metal bar.

The doors finally opened and Diamond hurried to step out into the hallway. The nurse assured her she would get used to the odd feeling and lead her farther down the hall, soon stopping in front of a room marked with a "572" on the door. After the nurse opened the door, she allowed Diamond to enter first. As she walked inside, the first thing Diamond saw nearly brought her to tears as she hurried over to the bed Aura laid on with multiple tupes and wires attached to his unconscious body while the nearby machines beeped and hummed quietly.

"Aura?"

"Don't worry. Aura is just recovering from the surgery, but he should wake up in a day or two."

Diamond looked at the nurse and thanked her for taking her to see Aura, although after staring at him silently for a bit, Diamond asked if she could stay with Aura. When the nurse told her that would be fine, Diamond nearly started crying from joy. The nurse gave a sympathetic smile and explained everything in the room she might need before leaving the two alone together.

Diamond set Aura's bag on the floor and moved a chair to his bedside. With nothing else to do, Diamond sat in silence looking at Aura's body before finally dozing off with the sun slowly rising over the city.


Aura gasped for air as he suddenly awoke to find himself lying on a bed within a familiar white room. Taking a minute to straighten himself out, Aura exit the bedroom and found himself stepping into a vast grand hall where Arceus sat atop her throne.

Immediately Aura began to fear the worst. "What happened? Am I… am I dead?"

To his relief, Arceus shook her head and ushered him closer. "You are still alive, Aura. Your physical body is merely unconscious. You risked your life to save Diamond, but you suffered many fatal injuries in the process."

"Is Diamond alright?!" Aura panicked, not even worried about himself. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as Arceus gladly informed him she hadn't suffered even a single scratch and was currently by his side in the real world. Knowing Diamond was alive and well, Aura finally began to question how he had managed to survive at all.

Arceus chuckled to herself and stood from her throne. "I think you know the answer. Did the truth not reveal itself to you as you and Diamond confessed your love?"

Aura rubbed his head. "I remember something flashing before my eyes, but now everything is just a blur."

Arceus almost looked saddened by his answer, yet at the same time she had a glimmer of relief in her eyes. "Perhaps it was not truly time for everything to be revealed. Although I am sure there is something important you can remember."

Aura thought as hard as he could, soon realizing what Arceus was talking about as the haze around one particular memory finally lifted, leaving Aura's eyes widened from shock. "I'm… a Guardian…? I'm an Aura Guardian?!"

The goddess nodded. "Yes, Aura. You are and always have been a Guardian. Although there is more to it than that. You are far more than just an ordinary Guardian." Arceus looked to a nearby wall and a large, ancient stone tablet suddenly materialized. "The Aura Guardians were created long ago with the DNA of both humans and Pokemon. Their original purpose was to assist us Legends with protecting the balance of the mortal realm and far beyond, and you, Aura Borealis, are the most powerful of them all with strength that rivals even my own. You are the new Grand Guardian."

Aura stood silently as he somehow knew everything Arceus said was the truth, but how could he know that? He desperately scowered his mind for an answer, but there was nothing in even his deepest memories that could help.

"I can tell you are desperate to understand the truth, but have faith in me when I tell you it is best not to force these memories to surface as they could potentially bring disaster. For now, it is imperative that you continue your travels as normal, and overtime you will understand much more as it is needed."

"I would love to, but I'd imagine my body is barely holding together right now… I still don't even understand how I survived!"

"It is likely in that moment your dormant instincts took over and rescued you. As for your physical body, I have contacted one of the many hidden Guardians to assist in your recovery, her name is Alice, a Healing Guardian. She will be able to speed up your recovery faster than it already is."

"Hold on, what's a Healing Guardian? There's more than one kind?"

"Yes. In fact there are three separate classes of Guardians, each with unique strengths at certain limits." Arceus urged Aura to come closer to the giant tablet as she read from its inscriptions. "Healing Guardians specialize in manipulating the essence of life to heal wounds, Strength Guardians are capable of using their essence to form special weapons with unique properties and can also spread a strong sense of courage to those around them, lastly the Knowledge Guardians tend to have higher levels of intelligence and are capable of far more psychokinetic abilities than any other Guardian. Despite these skills being shared amongst the three classes, they are more powerful when used by their respective class," Arceus paused for a moment and smiled at Aura, "and then there is you, the Grand Guardian. You are capable of mastering each of these skills beyond their natural capacity, along with having access to some abilities only you are capable of."

"So, that's why you said that my ability was one that had never been seen before?" Aura asked.

"In a way, yes, but the ability I spoke of was the synchronization of yours and Diamond's auras, this was something no other Guardian has ever accomplished, and the Grand Guardian is the only one capable of that ability. Finally, you should know that you are not the first Grand Guardian. The one before you was sadly lost over a thousand years ago to the darkness, the same darkness that threatens your world now." The room began to glow brightly like during their last meeting. "Remember this, Aura. I can not interfere too much with the mortal realm lest it could endanger the balance; however, I can offer you my guidance when you truly require it, so when that time comes, all you must do is ask and I will answer." The room suddenly flashed with a blinding light that caused Aura to fall unconscious.


"Diamond, please. You must get some rest." Prince pleaded.

"No!" She defied, almost screaming.

"Diamond! It has been two days since Master Aura was brought here, and during that time you've barely gotten any rest, nor have you been eating properly." He retorted, trying to keep a polite tone.

Diamond scowled at the Riolu. "You don't understand, Prince! I can't rest! Not until I know Aura is going to be okay!" She yelled with tears streaming down her face.

Her ears quickly perked up as she suddenly heard a faint groan coming from the trainer. Diamond whipped her head around and watched as Aura's eyes slowly opened. "Aura?!" Diamond practically shouted as she stood up on the chair with her tears now stinging her dry, bloodshot eyes. "I… I th-thought you… would n-never… wake up…!" Diamond cried as her tears rolled along the dark lines of fur already present from earlier tears. "I-I thought I… lost you f-forever!" She hunched over the edge of the bed with her tears leaving dark spots on the bedsheet.

Diamond's breath caught in her throat as she felt a trembling hand brush softly against her cheek. She held her paw over it and looked into Aura's weakened eyes. "Diamond… I promised I would never leave you… any of you…" He weakly chuckled. "Even if it sounds cheesy. I really mean it."

Diamond continued to bawl her eyes out, not of sorrow anymore, but of pure joy as she could finally feel relief knowing Aura is alive. Her grip tightened on his hand as a very small and quivering smile found its way onto her lips. "I love you, Aura."

He weakly smiled, staring deep into her glittering red eyes as she stared deeply into his, their eye contact only breaking when Aura looked to the door as someone began to knock. He chuckled as he looked back to Diamond with a sheepish grin. "Could you?"

Knowing what he meant, Diamond tiredly climbed down from the chair and went to open the door to see a tall woman with long, light green hair standing in the hall. Diamond looked up at the nurse expecting them to ask why a Pokemon was answering the door, but instead she just smiled warmly and bowed her head. "You must be Diamond. I'm here to see Aura about his recovery. May I come in?"

Diamond glanced back at Aura and shrugged. ("I guess so?") She opened the door wider and stepped to the side for the nurse to pass before closing the door behind her.

As the nurse walked up to Aura's bed, he looked up at her and smiled. "So I'm guessing you're Alice?"

Alice giggled into her hand and nodded. "That's right. I assume Lady Arceus told you I was coming?"

Prince and Diamond looked at them both, eyes wide in shock. ("Did you say Lady Arceus sent you?") Prince asked, accidentally dropping his chivalrous tone.

Alice nodded and wondered if Aura hadn't told them yet. Diamond looked at him and almost felt a little upset for not telling her about something so important, but knowing he had only just woken up after two days made her let it go. ("No… Aura hadn't told us…")

Alice slowly shook her head with a small smile. "Well to keep it brief, Aura and I are both Guardians while Aura is a very special Guardian. Lady Arceus asked me to come help him heal faster, probably because I'm one of the only Healing Guardians who work at this hospital."

Diamond and Prince both asked what she meant and Alice explained how she could use aura to heal wounds, adding that the telepathy is unnecessary as Guardians can understand Pokemon.

The two canine Pokemon nodded as they were finally given an answer to how Aura could understand them. "So how does this work?" Diamond asked.

Alice chuckled. "I'll show you." Everyone watched as Alice held her hands close to Aura's chest and amazing them when her palms started to let off a gentle green energy. The light quickly spread across Aura's entire form as Alice focused her power towards very specific points on his body.

As the veil of energy faded away, Alice withdrew her hands and sighed with a look of accomplishment while Aura had a look of shock. "I feel amazing! It's like I never got hurt in the first place-ouch!" Aura gripped his side as he foolishly tried to sit up suddenly.

"Careful!" Alice said as she ushered him back down. "I'm glad you feel better, but you still need time to let your injuries fully recover. Even with our abilities it still takes time for major injuries to settle and return to normal, but it shouldn't take longer than a week for you to be good as new." Alice looked at the Pokemon beside her and crossed her arms. "In the meantime, you should bring your partners up to speed on everything Arceus told you."

Aura chuckled and managed to scratch his chin without any difficulty. "Yeah. That would be a good idea."

Alice nodded and walked around to the foot of the bed where she picked up a clipboard and examined it. "I should get most of this stuff changed so nobody gets confused." Prince tilted his head and asked what Alice meant. "These papers show Aura's diagnostics," she could clearly see the confusion the Pokemon displayed, "in other words, it shows everything that was wrong with him and other medical information."

Diamond anxiously fidgeted with her claws. "Alice…? What exactly does it say is wrong with Aura?"

She smiled and started reading off the list. "Even though he was able to use his aura to slow you both down and cushion the fall a bit, he still sustained a lot of broken bones and a punctured lung. He also had some pretty bad internal bleeding and his right kidney had to be replaced." Alice listed off a few other minor issues before assuring them all that almost everything on the list was no longer a concern thanks to their naturally heightened recovery along with her healing aura.

"That's good to hear. Thanks again Alice." Aura said.

"Don't mention it, just doing my duty as a Healing Guardian and following orders from Lady Arceus." Alice took a few steps towards the door before pausing and turning back with a grin. "Oh, and you should notice something else slowly recover as well, it'll probably be done in an hour or so. Just a little gift from me to our new Grand Guardian." Alice winked at him before walking out the door and leaving the three of them alone in silence.

Aura sighed. "Well… I guess you guys want me to tell you what Arceus told me? Right?"

Diamond placed her paw on Aura's hand and nodded. "Yeah… If we're going to be m-mates… then I should at least know about something so important. Especially if it involves Lady Arceus."

"W-well, I didn't think there was any reason not to tell you." He looked over to Prince and suggested he bring a chair over so he wasn't just standing on the floor the whole time. Prince nodded and quickly pushed another of the plush chairs over to the bed and climbed up.

Once both of them were ready, Aura began telling them about his encounter with Arceus, about the different varieties of Guardians and his role as the Grand Guardian and how he was meant to lead the rest of the Guardians to fend off against a great evil that threatened their world. Everything he said left his partners in awe.

Once he had covered everything he could remember, Prince immediately dropped to his knee and bowed in respect. "Master Aura. I am honoured to serve someone with such an important role in protecting our world. You truly are a valiant and honest leader."

Aura chuckled awkwardly. "Please, Prince. I don't want anybody to treat me any differently just because I'm supposed to be some kind of great leader. Yeah I may have an even bigger goal than before, but Arceus wanted me to just continue our journey like normal. This will sound pretty selfish and cliche, but really, being there for my family comes before any of my new responsibilities."

Again Diamond held onto Aura's hand tightly as her emotions got the better of her. "That really means a lot to me, Aura. You're the best trainer any Pokemon could ask for." She pressed her lips to his cheek suddenly and did her best to give him a proper kiss with her muzzle. "Not to mention the best mate."

He chuckled as Diamond mentioned this. "I just thought of something. Would we be considered boyfriend and girlfriend since I'm a human, or would we be mates since you're a Pokemon?" Diamond giggled with a faint blush as Aura jokingly tapped his chin before shrugging. "Really, I think being mates would be more interesting." He said with a sly grin and a teasing poke against Diamond's belly. The vixen's cheeks flared even brighter from Aura's teasing as she frantically covered her eyes and let out a flustered whine for him to stop.

Aura laughed and assured her it was only a joke, soon realizing something important he had forgotten. "How long have I been out for?" Prince immediately answered with two days and Aura shifted to a more serious attitude. "I hope he isn't upset. Think you guys could do me a favour?" Diamond didn't hesitate to accept without even asking what he wanted. "Think you guys could check on Stan for me? See if you can ask the front desk to call a taxi to take you there." He asked Prince to hand him his bag and pulled out some paper and a pen, writing down directions to give to the receptionist and hopefully to the cab driver. "Here, and you should probably take my Trainer ID with you just in case." Aura handed them the paper and his card and made it clear to be very careful with his ID.

Diamond smiled warmly as she held the items. "You always think about others more than about yourself."

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, looking at Diamond a bit unsure.

With a short giggle, she gave him another quick peck on the cheek. "Of course not. It's one of the reasons I love you." He smiled at her as Diamond hopped down from the chair and lead Prince out the door.


After giving Aura's paper to the receptionist and taking a taxi to the South Lumiose PokeCenter, the duo climbed out of the car and thanked the driver before heading inside. As the doors slid open, they spotted Dan walking out of the cafeteria with Spyke and Nessa at his sides.

Nessa was the first to notice them as she quickly grabbed onto Dan's jeans and informed him of their arrival. Dan waved at the two and they quickly walked over to say hi.

"What are you guys doing here? Is Aura doing okay?" Dan asked.

"Master Aura is doing very well. He had just woken up today and asked us to come check on Stan." Prince explained.

Dan scratched his head. "I've actually just checked with the nurses about him this morning and they say he's recovered enough for Aura to take him. If you want, I could help bring him to the hospital. I wouldn't mind seeing Aura as well."

Diamond bowed to him in thanks as they followed Dan to the counter and explained their situation to the nurse who gladly lead them to see Stan. As the trio entered, Stan jumped up as he saw them enter, recognizing Prince immediately while almost not recognizing the Braixen had it not been for her necklace.

"I'm so happy to see you guys…! How's Aura?" Stan sulked as his mood seemed to change on a dime. "I heard what happened at the tower… Please don't tell me Aura won't make it!" Stan cried. Thankfully, Diamond managed to keep the Shinx calm enough to give him the great news, Stan jumping for joy as he was happy to hear that Aura was going to be fine and congratulated her on becoming his mate. "So what are you guys doing here anyway?" He asked with his head tilted.

"Master Aura wanted us to come check on you, and because you are recovered enough to leave, we are going to take you to go see him."

Stan could hardly contain his excitement as Dan walked over and grabbed the Pokeball Aura had left for the Shinx. "We should probably get a move on, you guys. It's starting to get late and we don't want Aura to worry." He put the Pokeball in his pocket and lifted Stan in his arms before they all departed for the hospital. During the walk there, Diamond and Prince decided to tell the others most of what Aura had told them.

By the time they reached the hospital, the sun was almost completely out of sight as they walked inside. Dan returned Spyke and Nessa to their Pokeballs as they all entered the elevator and quickly ascended to the third floor.

"Knock knock!" Dan said as he opened the door for everyone.

Aura looked over and was surprised to see Diamond and Prince had not only brought Dan with them, but the energetic Shinx as well. "I'm glad you guys made it back safely."

Dan walked over and set Stan on the bed before handing Aura his Pokeball. "How're you doing? I heard something really interesting happened to you."

Aura glanced at his other two Pokemon and smirked. "They told you about that, huh?" Dan chuckled and assured him they purposely left out a few things for Aura to explain himself. "Heh, well first of all I'm actually feeling a lot better thanks to Alice." He said while stretching his back.

"Who's Alice?" Dan inquired. Diamond tapped his arm and told him Alice was the nurse who helped Aura recover faster. He looked from the Braixen to the bed-ridden trainer. "So what's the story with you actually meeting Arceus? Diamond wanted to keep some stuff a surprise and just told me you met Arceus and have some important job to do now."

Stan started to bounce beside Aura excitedly. "Yeah! I wanna hear about your super powers!"

Aura laughed at Stan's child-like attitude. "Well, we've finally learned why I've been able to do all those weird things like during out Gym match and back at the park, also why I'm not dead right now. It turns out that I'm actually a Guardian."

Dan and Stan both looked at him in disbelief. Although Stan didn't know what a Guardian was, Dan didn't know if he had heard him right. "So you mean like an Aura Guardian? Like the ancient race only seen in fairy tales, Aura Guardian?" Aura nervously confirmed with a slow nod. To his surprise Dan actually believed him and began to pace around in awe.

"It truly was a surprise when we learned this as well." Prince affirmed.

Diamond looked down as she remembered how bad Aura looked a few days ago and all the issues Aura had before Alice healed him. "It's thanks to Alice using her healing powers that Aura will be back to normal in a few days."

Aura perked up. "I almost forgot, I figured out what Alice meant by that gift." Diamond excitedly asked what it was and Aura looked at her with a smirk. "Let's just say that I never got a good look at you when you first evolved, but now I know that you look absolutely stunning as a Braixen." Diamond held her cheeks as she blushed while Aura chuckled with a sly grin.

"Th-thank you, but... I don't see what that has to do with being healed."

Aura found her blush to be cute. "Hmhm, what I'm saying is that I guess Alice healed my eyesight while she was healing my body."

Diamond beamed as she quickly leaned over and embraced her mate while the others were still wondering exactly what was going on. Realizing this, Aura decided to once again explain everything he had learned. In the end Dan stood even more amazed as he ran his hand through his black hair.

"You really are important. I can't even imagine having so much responsibility just dropped on you like that, I'd probably crack under the pressure right away."

Aura sighed. "Yeah, but it's nothing I can't accomplish so long as I have my family with me. Speaking of, Stan? Think you're ready to become an official member of our family?" The Shinx's smile spread from ear to ear as he started to jump for joy. "Ow! Heheh, okay okay, settle down there." Aura laughed. Stan struggled to sit still as Aura lightly tapped the Pokeball engraved with the four-pointed star against Stan's forehead, the young lion being pulled in by a flash of red light before it let off a short ding to signal a successful capture.

Aura immediately let the electric type out of his ball and happily welcomed him to the team. Soon enough, someone knocked at the door and Aura called them in.

Alice stepped in and happily waved as if unsurprised by the commotion she walked in on. She went to the foot of the bed and replaced the clipboard. "Good news. Your files are updated and you'll be out of here by the end of the week." She looked over at both Dan and Stan and greeted them accordingly. "This must be your friend Dan, and the Shinx you rescued in the park." She chuckled while shaking the feline's paw.

Aura nodded. "Yeah, but how did you know? I never mentioned them…" Aura paused. "Let me guess, Arceus told you about them?"

She giggled. "Yeah. She felt it was necessary to inform me about everyone traveling with you, but that's not why I came up here. Just had to replace your file and let your friend know that visiting hours are over." Aura looked over to the window only now realizing how lte it had gotten.

Dan shrugged as he needed to head back to the PokeCenter anyways to make supper for his team, wishing them all goodnight before leaving the room.

Alice waved to Dan before turning back to Aura. "Also, I'm sorry to tell you that it's company policy to keep your Pokemon in their Pokeballs at night, even though it's just cruel." Alice had turned her head and muttered the last bit.

Aura sighed. "Not much I can do about that." He took the Pokeballs of Stan and Prince and held them out. "Sorry guys, hope you don't mind sleeping in these for a few nights." They shook their heads and let him know it was fine, Aura nodded and returned them to their balls and set them atop the nightstand.

Diamond felt a little nervous watching Aura return the other two and was expecting him to return her as well, but instead he didn't even reach for her Pokeball and started to move over a little. "A-are you not going to return me too?"

He shook his head and looked up at Alice. "I hope it would be okay to keep Diamond out of her ball at least. I'd feel much better with my girlfriend sleeping next to me."

Diamond smiled as she felt a bit emotional. Thankfully Alice nodded and started towards the door. "Lucky for you I think they do allow patients to keep at most one Pokemon out to keep them comfortable." She started chuckling as she wished them both a good night and left them alone together.

"Well?" Diamond turned to see Aura had shuffled over to make enough room for her and gently pat the bed. "Aren't you coming to bed?"

The fox held her reddened cheeks. "R-right." Diamond took a minute to undo her necklace and set it on the nightstand before slowly climbing into the bed next to Aura, feeling her body grow warmer as she was pressed close against Aura's body under the thin covers.

Aura wrapped his right arm around her, enticing a small "yip" from the vixen as he pulled her a little closer which left her to melt in his loving embrace. Aura hummed as he adjusted his body under the covers and rested his head against Diamond's ear. "I never realized how warm you really felt." He told her, causing her to shudder in his grasp and blush. "Good night, Diamond… I love you." Aura kissed her forehead softly.

Her blush brightened as she was no longer sleeping with just her trainer, but she was snuggled up close with her first ever love. She shuffled her body a bit closer against Aura's and rested her head on his chest, his rhythmic heartbeat soothing her nerves and making her feel safer in his arms than usual. She sighed contently and with her final conscious words, she softly told him "I love you too."