=Reviews=

Orivon Firefist: Aura was able to survive the fall by tapping into his aura abilities and slowing down their momentum just enough so he could survive, plus he's got Arceus lookin' out for him. And as for the assistance with your story, I'm probably not the best person to get advice from, seeing as I have only been writing for a little over a month, why not ask RagingWolf2124? You are doing a colab with them aren't you? They might be able to give you some pointers. BTW, your story is pretty interesting, Debby is easily my favourite character, and I'm glad that you like my story, who knows, maybe Wolf will read mine some time.

ivanvukadin1997: I'm glad that you like my story, and your idea sounds interesting, but I'll have to kindly decline. Having another Grand Guardian alive would disrupt the plot greatly seeing as the last Grand Guardian was lost thousands of years ago according to Arceus.

Chapter 9

It was now two days into Aura's recover as him and his team spent their time sitting in his hospital room watching whatever they could on the small television set.

Diamond let out a long sigh as she lay in the narrow bed with her trainer. "Isn't there anything else we could do other than watch TV?"

"I do have to agree with Diamond, Master Aura. I am a bit tired of sitting in here and doing nothing." Prince affirmed while lazily lying back on one of the chairs and staring at the ceiling.

Stan looked back at the two canines and scoffed. "What are you talking about? This show is so cool!" He told them, looking back to the TV as a buzzer sounded off on the gameshow. The energetic Pokemon chortled as one of the contestants was struggling to climb out of a mud pit.

Aura glanced away for a moment and scratched his nose. "I guess these challenge type gameshows are pretty entertaining, but they do get kind of stale after a while; it's all we've really been watching since nothing better is on." Stan pouted as he had really started to love watching different types of gameshows, finding the trivia ones especially interesting. "Hmm… maybe I can see if Dan's available to take you guys out for the day. I'm sure there's plenty of fun stuff to do around the city."

Diamond looked at Aura with uncertainty. "What about you? It wouldn't be fair for us to go have fun while you're stuck in here."

Aura shrugged. "I'll be fine. I think it would be even less fair if I made you guys just sit in here with nothing to do until I was better. Besides, maybe you could find yourself a backpack to help carry supplies since you travel outside of your ball." Aura smirked and gently nudged the fox jokingly.

Actually thinking it over, Diamond figured she would most likely feel guilty making Aura carry all their supplies when she was more than capable of helping now that she's evolved. "Would you really be fine here all by yourself?"

Stan turned and lifted his paw happily. "Oh! I don't mind staying here with Aura!" He leaned to the side a bit and somewhat hesitantly looked at where his fur was shaved for the surgery. "I'm still recovering too, so I shouldn't go out anyways."

Aura reached over and scratched Stan's head. "Thanks, buddy. I'll make sure we do something fun after we're out." Stan happily nodded as Aura turned to his mate. "Diamond? Could you pass me the phone and the book beside it? I'll call down to the Pokemon Center and see if Dan's available."

Diamond reached over to the nightstand and handed the landline phone to Aura, faltering as she awkwardly tried to lift the heavy phonebook and requiring some help from Prince to hoist it over the bed rail and placing it on her lap; when Aura asked her why she wasn't moving it over his his lap, she shyly explained she didn't want to accidentally drop it on him. Aura chuckled at her reasoning but just went on to begin flipping through the pages until he found the number for the South Lumiose Pokemon Center.

Once the number was dialed in and the phone started to quietly ring, it wasn't long until he heard a click and a woman's voice on the other end. "Thank you for calling the South Lumiose Pokemon Center, how can I help you?" Aura introduced himself and asked if he could speak to Daniel Sanlow. "Of course. One moment."

There were a few short beeps followed by another click as the phone started to ring again with Dan's voice shortly coming through. "Hello?"

"Hey, Dan. It's Aura. If you're not too busy today I was hoping you could do me a favour?"

There was a short pause. "No, I'm free. What do you need?"

"Would you mind taking Diamond and Prince out for a while today? They're both a bit tired of just sitting around in here with nothing to do."

Another pause followed as Aura heard a muffled conversation before Dan replied. "Yeah, I'd be happy to help you with that. When should I come by and get them?"

"I guess whenever you can get here."

"Alright then. I'll head over right away."

They ended the call and Diamond helped put the phone and phonebook back on the table, and after some time Dan had finally arrived. "Thanks a lot for doing this. I owe you big time." Aura said as he pulled some money out of his wallet. "Hopefully this will be enough for everything. Oh, and could you see about taking Diamond to pick up her own backpack and sleeping bag?"

Dan took the money and put it in his pocket, "Thanks, but mind if I ask why Diamond needs them?"

Diamond poked her fingers together shyly. "Well I was actually hoping to start helping you and Aura carry some supplies as we travel, since I'm bigger now and I'm always outside of my Pokeball, but I don't remember asking for a sleeping bag?"

Aura shrugged, "I know, but because you evolved, you've also grown quite a bit compared to when you were a Fennekin, we might not be able to both fit in just my sleeping bag anymore."

Diamond was a bit upset they couldn't share a sleeping bag anymore, but she knew Aura had a point. She sighed and placed her paw on Aura's hand. "Aura you sure you'll be okay? I wouldn't mind staying with you."

He chuckled and placed his other hand over her paw. "No, you go have fun. I'll have Stan here to keep me company." Aura scratched the Shinx's head as he let out a mall meow and started purring.

She pulled her paw back and sighed again. "Alright. Take care of him, Stan." She nodded towards the Shinx who looked back and gave a small nod in return, too distracted by having his head scratched to give a proper response.

"We'll see you later, Aura." Dan said as he lead Diamond and Prince into the hall.

"So what will we be doing first?" Prince inquired.

Dan rubbed his chin as they stepped into the elevator. "I think the mall would be a good place to start. There's one in particular across town that should have plenty to do." Once the elevator had stopped on the first floor, Dan asked to use the reception's phone to call them a taxi.


The three of them stepped out of the cab in front of the massive shopping mall, and as soon as they entered, both Pokemon were amazed by the sheer scale of the inside.

"So what do you guys feel like doing first?" Dan asked them. Diamond and Prince's stomachs growled and Dan chuckled. "I guess that answers my question. Let's go see if we can find a trainer cafe."

Stopping to check a floor map, Dan lead them to the nearest cafe and walked in to be greeted by a waitress accompanied by a Lilligant. "Welcome to our trainer cafe. How many will be dining with us today?" Dan told her it was just the three of them and Lilligant hopped behind the lectern to grab their menus while the waitress lead them to a small booth. "So what can I get you three to drink?" She asked as Lilligant handed then each a menu.

Using their telepathy, Diamond and Prince had ordered Pecha juice and water while Dan asked for a cola. While the waitress went off to get their drinks, the three of them looked over their menus. It only took a couple minutes for their drinks to arrive and they put in their orders, Prince and Diamond simply pointing out what they wanted as Dan asked for just a burger and onion rings, pausing for a second before deciding to ask for some Pokepuffs as well. After their orders were taken and the menus were returned, Diamond curiously looked to Dan and asked what Pokepuffs were.

He grinned and leaned forward on his elbows. "Pokepuffs are little cakes that are made mostly for Pokemon. They come in a lot of different flavours too so I'm sure you'll love them."

Diamond and Prince looked at each other still curious about the pastries, but they remained quiet as they awaited their food. Again it wasn't too long until the waitress had returned, balancing most of their food atop a tray while Lilligant carried the rest. "Is there anything else we can get you?" The waitress asked.

Dan shook his head and smiled. "No, thank you." The waitress and her Lilligant bowed before walking off to another table and leaving the trio to happily dig into their lunch. Diamond had been the first to finish her plate with some small bits of her food left hanging around the end of her muzzle; the somewhat gluttonous fox didn't seem to notice at first until Dan could hold in a small laugh as he handed her a napkin. "I thought Braixen were normally super fussy about keeping their fur neat and tidy." He joked.

Diamond took the napkin and blushed as she scrubbed her snout clean. She always had a sizable appetite and often found herself being avoided by the other Fennekin back at the lab for not always keeping her fur in top condition, but despite feeling a little self conscious over her appearance, it only ever bothered her when she let herself go too long without a proper cleaning whereas most of her species would want to clean themselves as soon as possible. Such was just the natural instincts of the often prideful species.

Once her muzzle was cleaned off, Diamond took notice of the plate of multicoloured pastries resting in the center of the table. She looked at the Pokepuffs curiously as Prince reached over and took one, sniffing it for a moment before taking a small bite.

Prince's eyes lit up more than Diamond thought they ever could as the Riolu surprisingly scarfed down the cake and reached for another. "These are amazing!" He praised.

Diamond looked from the joyful Riolu back to the plate of Pokepuffs. She took one with a sliced Pecha berry and bit into it. Her eyes widened as she stuffed the whole thing into her maw and excitedly held her filled cheeks while giddily shaking her head from the absurd sweetness of the treat.

Dan could barely hold in his laughter at their reactions. "I told you they would be good. I guess we should pick some up while we're here to bring back." The Pokemon happily nodded as they continued to devour the fluffy desserts.

After paying for the food and returning to the vast hallways lined with stores, Dan suggested they do what Aura had asked and find a fitting backpack and sleeping bag for Diamond. So taking another look at a nearby map, they casually strolled into the nearest Pokemart where they often had wide varieties of products for both trainers and Pokemon alike. As they walked towards the back where more of the outdoor supplies were kept, Diamond stopped as she saw cases of Pokepuffs and quickly got Dan's attention. She picked up three boxes and turned to Dan asking to buy them.

He smirked and happily told Diamond to put them in the basket as he took another three boxes for his own team. They continued a little further down the aisle, picking up some Potions, berries, batteries, matches and various different kinds of status healers like Burn Heal and Antidote. When they finally reached the back of the store they were greeted by an grand display of camping gear. Walking past the small display tents, Diamond hurried over to grab a sleeping bag with a pattern resembling the night sky; and only a few feet away stood a large wall that was covered in different bags of all sizes.

Unlike with her sleeping bag, Diamond actually stood in silence as she scowered over the many backpacks hanging before her. It took her a while, but after thoroughly scanning through her choices, Diamond settled for a light pink, child-sized backpack with a smiling Fennekin on the back. The bag was from a set of three, each depicting one of the three Kalos starters, and Diamond felt ecstatic from getting the last Fennekin bag on the rack.

They approached the register and set everything on the counter where a teenage girl scanned and bagged the items, though she seemed a bit curious as to why Dan was buying such a small pink backpack and a sleeping bag meant for children.

He had noticed this and awkwardly rubbed his head as he oddly felt the need to clarify. "Those are for my friend's Braixen. She travels outside her ball and wanted to help carry supplies."

The girl smiled at Diamond and placed the sleeping bag in the backpack before handing them back to the fox while Dan used the money Aura gave him to pay for everything. Giving a brief thanks to the cashier, they left the Pokemart and decided to do a bit more exploring around the mall before heading back to the hospital.


While everyone else was at the mall, Aura and Stan had been enjoying themselves after something other than a gameshow had finally come on screen, and the Shinx really seemed to like watching the action movie much more than those gameshows.

Although Aura had also been a bit distracted as he was debating on whether or not he should actually challenge the Lumiose Gym once he had recovered. He would like to at least try while they were there, but he didn't want to make any final decision without asking what his team thought on the matter. A knock at the door drew his attention as he called for them to come in. The door swung open as Diamond hurried in with her new backpack.

"I'm guessing you had fun?" Aura laughed as his partner climbed onto the chair beside him and took off her bag.

"It was okay," she told him, "Dan took us out to eat and I got my own backpack and sleeping bag! Oh, and we got something else." Diamond unzipped her bag and pulled out the three boxes of Pokepuffs which she placed on the table before handing one to Stan. "At the cafe we had some Pokepuffs, so I wanted to get some for you to try!"

Stan watched in awe as Diamond used her claw to cut the tape and lifted the lid off the box to reveal the multicoloured sweets. "These are for me?!" Stan gasped.

Diamond giggled with a nod. "Yep! We also bought some extra supplies for when we finally leave!" She cheered.

Aura laughed. "You really must have had fun… but speaking of leaving the city, there was something I wanted to ask you guys." Aura made sure they were all paying attention before he continued. "Would you guys be up for challenging the gym here before we left?"

Diamond and Prince looked at each other and exchanged a brief nod before facing their trainer. "If you want to challenge the gym then we would be happy to as well."

Prince placed a paw on his chest and bowed. "Agreed. As your Pokemon, it would be my great pleasure to assist you in qualifying in the League, and fighting by your side is always an honour."

Aura closed his eyes and smiled. "I'm glad I can count on you guys. Since you're the ones doing all the actual fighting, it's only right that you get a say in this."

"If they're fighting then I will too!"

Aura looked over at Stan unsure. "Are you sure? Even though your healing was suddenly accelerated… probably by Arceus now that I think about it… but even so, I've told these two the same thing: so long as you're with me then I'll never force you to fight if you don't want to."

Stan shrugged. "But I do want to fight. I might not be very strong, but I still like to battle, and I feel like it's the least I can do after you saved my life."

Aura smirked and let out a sigh as he looked among his team with confidence. "Alright then. As soon as me and Stan are fully recovered we can start training and take om the Lumiose Gym."

The Pokemon each raised a paw and let out a collective cheer, though their moment of determination was interrupted by someone knocking at the door. It opened shortly after with Alice stepping into the room. "Hey, Aura. Just checking in to let you know visiting hours are over, which does mean Stan and Prince need to go back in their balls."

Aura sighed and took their Pokeballs, wishing them goodnight before returning them both and setting them aside. Dan rubbed his neck and adjusted the plastic bag in his other hand, wishing his friend a good night of his own before leaving down the hall.

Alice smiled as she checked her watch. "Sorry for just coming and going like this, but I promised Lee I would get home extra early tonight."

"Lee?" Aura questioned.

Alice paused. "He's my boyfriend. He usually helps me here at work but right now his sister is visiting us for a while. I thought I mentioned him before?"

Aura shrugged. "Don't think so, but don't let me keep you waiting. Have a good night, Alice."

"You too." She stepped out of the room and gently shut the door behind her. Diamond soon let out a yawn and set her bag on the floor before climbing into the bed with her mate. After all the walking she'd done at the mall, Diamond didn't take long to fall asleep with her ear pressed to Aura's chest, his rhythmic heartbeat soothing her mind and relaxing her body.