Chapter 14
"Hah! Hah! Mmnyah! Yes, Aura! Yes!" Diamond moaned loudly as Aura lovingly thrust himself deep with her, the tip of his member kissing the entrance to her womb. She panted heavily as her tongue dangled loosely from the side of her maw. "Harder! Fuck me harder!" She squealed. Aura grinned coyly and sped up his movements, slamming his human shaft into her vulpine pussy. "Yes~! Breed me like the bitch I am!"
Aura's thrusts started to become very erratic and Diamond could feel him swelling between her walls. "I'm almost there, Diamond!" He grunted.
Diamond snapped her legs around her mate's waist to keep him inside. "Cum inside me! Fill me with your seed and make me a mother! Give it to me!"
"Diamond! Diamond!" Aura continued repeating her name with each harsh thrust. "Diamond! Diamond!-"
"Diamond?! Diamond, wake up!" Her eyes shot open and she sprung up in her sleeping bag.
"Huh?! What?!" Diamond looked around frantically at her surroundings to find she was still in their tent and Aura was crouched beside her with a slightly concerned look in his eyes.
"Are you feeling okay? You were mumbling in your sleep and you're covered in sweat?" Aura placed his hand over her forehead and shrugged. "Your temperature doesn't feel any higher than normal but maybe we should take it easy today just to be safe."
Diamond blushed and frantically shook her head while forcing an awkward smile. "N-no! I'm fine! I… uh… I think I was just having a weird dream, that's all…" She stammered. She rubbed her paw across her forehead and shuddered at how damp her fur really felt.
"Must have been pretty bizarre to leave you this drenched." Aura sighed. "Lucky for us we've been following the river so there's a place close enough to wash up before we eat."
As he stood up and parted the tent flaps, Diamond felt something wet between her thighs and flushed bright red. "R-right. I'll be right out in a second… Just need to get my bath kit…" Aura shrugged and left the fox alone in their tent. Waiting a few seconds to make sure the coast was clear, Diamond unzipped her bag and grimaced at how wet and matted the fur around her groin was. Curiously, she pinched at the sticky fluids and raised her paw, groaning from seeing the thick strings of her sexual juices bridge between her fingers and slowly glide downwards. "Nngh… Why does this keep happening?" Diamond reached over and pulled her towel from her backpack and quickly began to dry her fur and the wet spot left within her sleeping bag before folding the bag and hoping Aura wouldn't notice when he washed them. After an attempt to dry her fur more thoroughly by increasing her body temperature, she quickly regretted it as the fluids simply crusted over and made her even more uncomfortable.
Knowing she had to leave the tent sooner than later, Diamond took a deep breath and gathered her towel, brush and shampoo and held them precariously low to keep her crotch hidden as she finally stepped outside.
"Morning, Diamond!" Stan greeted as cheerful as ever.
Diamond nearly fumbled her bathwear from being startled but thankfully kept her balance and simply offered a friendly wave in return. "M-morning. Sorry but I really need to go and wash up. I'll be right back!" She told them, awkwardly hurrying through the dense foliage to the river. Stopping at a safe distance, Diamond sighed and continued at a more steady pace, eventually reaching the shallow river and finding a clean spot to set down her towel before slowly stepping in. "Brrr! It's a little cold." She shivered, blowing some fire over the water to warm it up. Stepping into the heated water, she knew it wouldn't stay warm for long so she hastfully waded further in to knee deep water where she was lucky enough to find a large stone tall enough for her to sit on and still remain half-submerged.
Exhaling another flame across the surface, Diamond took in a sharp breath and held her nose before dunking her entire body below the gentle waves. She didn't stay under long and burst out gasping for air. Shaking water off her head, Diamond waded back to the edge and squirted some of her shampoo into her paws. She took in the scent of the product and sighed. It smelled just like freshly picked pecha berries.
Diamond quickly spread the suds across every bit of her fur before returning to the stone to rinse off. After dunking her head under the water a second time, Diamond stayed below a little longer to cool her head and think. "Why am I having these dreams now? I fell in love with Aura as a Fennekin but never had such strong urges until a few days ago, and only now it's getting this intense!" She pushed her head out of the water and gasped harshly. "Kha kha! Ekgh! I just don't get it!" She coughed.
Leaves suddenly began rustling behind her and Diamond quickly whipped around fearfully to find nothing there. A cold chill ran up her spine as a low and gruff cackle suddenly came from the other side of the river, prompting her to turn back the other way and bite her lip as she still found nobody there.
"H-h-hello?" She shakily called. "Is someone there?" No response. Diamond felt a lump in her throat as she cautiously began to walk backwards through the water to her things but froze as she heard a coarse growl right behind her. She slowly turned around to see the leaves rustling. "Wh-who are you?!" As Diamond asked this, a large Pokemon trudged out from the brush into view, it had large red spikes on its head and its body was covered with rough blue scales.
It snarled at her. "What are you doing in my territory?" It inquired in a rough deep voice.
Diamond felt her blood run cold. "I-I-I'm so s-s-sorry! I-I had no idea this was your territory, I was just washing my fur."
The Pokemon snarled again. "That is no excuse to get your filthy human garbage in my river!" He paused for a moment and snorted loudly, grinning wickedly at Diamond soon after. "Hmm, you reek of sexual frustration… Perhaps I can let this misunderstanding slide on the terms you become my mate." He cackled gruffly. "After all, it would be foolish to let a young vixen like you go to waste."
Diamond's ears folded back in disgust and terror from his words as she could only imagine how horrific such a life could possibly be if she were to even consider accepting his conditions. "What makes you think I would EVER do that?!"
His grin didn't falter for even a second. "Because you don't have a choice! Grahaha! But if you do refuse? Well, then I'll just have to fuck that tight fox hole by force!" Colour drained from Diamond's face as she saw his large manhood push out from his groin and grow to over half her size. Gory images flooded her mind, if that monster were to get his claws on her there would be no chance she'd survive. "Alright now, bitch! Let's see how flexible you really are!"
As the reptilian predator slowly stepped forward, Diamond's breath rapidly quickened and tears welled in her eyes as his member throbbed with a bead of clear liquid forming at the tip. Desperately acting on instinct, Diamond hastfully inhaled deeply and quickly exhaled a large jet of fire directly into the Pokemon's face, blinding him for just long enough to allow Diamond to escape the water and sprint back to camp crying out desperately for help. In the distance behind her, Diamond could clearly hear the enraged roar of the Pokemon as it cursed into the air and swore it wouldn't rest until it fucked her dying corpse.
Its hateful roars echoed all the way to the campsite with jumping to his feet and staring off in the direction Diamond had gone. Panicking, Aura started running into the bushes without a single word to the others as he had to find Diamond.
It didn't take long at all for the two to find each other only a short distance from camp. With panicked tears staining her cheeks, Diamond didn't hesitate to leap into her mate's arms and knock him to the ground, tightly grasping his shirt and pressing her face into his chest as her damp fur wet his clothes. Aura wasted no time wrapping his arms around his love and calmly shushing her and stroking her back.
"I'm here. Just breath and focus on me." He whispered. Diamond's sobbing slightly let up as she listened to his words and focused solely on the rythmic thumping of his heart. With his eyes suddenly fading to grey, Aura leaned forward and tightened his embrace on the fox as she let out her worries. Finally, once her breathing had slowed and her sobbing faded, Aura slid his arm under her legs and carefully stood up with her cradled against him.
"Master Aura?! Are you-" Prince stopped before his trainer who quietly shushed him before proceeding to walk back. ("Daniel asked me to come check on you. Is Diamond going to be alright?")
Aura glanced at his mate who had significantly calmed down. "I think she'll be fine. She's tough… But I'm really worried about what got her so worked up."
A groan escaped her lips as she sniffed harshly and dug her claws into Aura's skin. "It… It was so… so…" She tried to speak, but Aura assured her it could wait until they got back and she's had some time to calm down.
Upon returning to the others who no doubt had multiple concerned questions as to what happened, Prince quickly relayed through telepathy that it would be best to allow Diamond to have some quiet time to calm down. Once Aura had sat by the fire with his partner shivering in his arms and silently sobbing, nobody said a word as Dan continued cooking their breakfast and dishing out portions.
"Are you feeling any better?" Aura finally asked as her sobbing had completely stopped and her breathing became steady. She took in a deep breath and leaned away from Aura's tear-soaked chest and nodded. "Good, now just try to eat something and explain what happened out there whenever you feel ready."
Diamond sniffled and wiped her eye. "Okay. Thank you." Crawling off of Aura's lap, Diamond took the bowl of oatmeal Dan handed her as Aura picked up a bag of diced berries for her to add. She took a steady breath and thanked them for the food before slowly eating a steaming spoonful. They remained silent for a minute until Diamond sighed and set down her bowl. "It's really strange, but I feel like I should be more affected by what just happened…" Everyone looked at her curiously.
"Maybe it has to do with our connection?" Aura suggested. "I remember Arceus mentioning we were destined partners or something, plus how we both felt such a strong bond before we even met. Maybe it goes a lot farther and even affects our emotions?"
"That doesn't sound too farfetched." Dan interjected. "Even normal trainers can sometimes develop such a strong bond with their Pokemon that simply being with them physically can completely affect their emotions. Just look at how much less timid Diamond's become since we started our journey, clearly this special connection you have is helping her cope with a lot of her past fears and trauma."
"I think that's what it is." Diamond muttered a bit shakily. "After that Pokemon told me he was going to force me to be his mate, I felt better almost right away when I saw Aura."
Aura's eyes widened and he nearly choked on his breakfast. "It what?!" He snapped, a hateful fire suddenly igniting in his eyes as a shadowy aura pulsed around him. His fingers tensed around his bowl as Diamond looked at her mate in shock. After a second, Aura let out a shaky breath and calmed down. "Sorry, but knowing something like that happened to you pisses me off so much… I swear if that Pokemon comes anywhere near you it won't live to regret it."
"A-Aura?!" Diamond flinched.
He looked at her for a moment and felt his anger subside. He let out a sigh and placed his bowl on the ground. "Sorry… I don't know what came over me… But if we do see that Pokemon again he will learn just how bad he fucked up." He gazed at his mate with calm eyes, "and don't worry, I won't do anything too drastic."
Diamond looked down. "I know. I don't blame you for how you reacted. That monster deserves terrible things for what he said… But at the same time I don't want anyone to die…" She took a breath and offered to better explain what happened despite how it wouldn't help the Pokemon's case, but she still wanted Aura to know what happened in more detail.
After Diamond's retelling of what occured by the river and apologizing that she lost her bathing stuff, Aura assured her it was alright before suggesting they pack up and get moving sooner rather than later. Once their camp had been packed and the fire was fully extinguished, the group continued down the trail that would lead them to Camphrier Town.
"Diamond? Do you think you could give me more details about the Pokemon you saw? I should be able to narrow it down in the Pokedex so we can file a report to the rangers as soon as possible." Aura inquired.
With a hesitant nod, Diamond recalled what she could remember from her attacker and described him to Aura who promptly put each defining detail into the Pokedex and soon enough came to a conclusion. "Feraligatr." He said coldly. "I've seen lots of them back in Johto, and most of what I hear about the wild ones are they tend to get extremely territorial and are brutal fighters." Aura put away his Pokedex and grabbed Stan's Pokeball. "At least now we know what we're dealing with. Dan? You should have Spyke's Pokeball ready too just in case."
He looked over to see his friend already holding the red and white ball and nodding. "One step ahead of you. Feraligatr might be a fully evolved Pokemon, but thankfully we have two Pokemon with a type advantage to make up for it."
Aura nodded and as they followed the trail cautiously, three full hours had passed since they set out and unfortunately came to a frightening discovery.
"Aura?" Dan asked. "I think we made a wrong turn at that broken signpost. This path is starting to look really overgrown."
Aura scratched his chin and glanced behind them. "It didn't look that overgrown back there. Maybe it's just a nature path that hasn't been used for a while? We've been going uphill though so we can't be too far off."
Diamond's ears folded back and she started chewing on her claws. "Wh-wh-what if it was just abandoned because that Feraligatr lives near here?!" She shivered harshly and darted her eyes back and forth.
"You said the river was in his territory, and that was a long way back so it would be hard to say. I think this is just an old path and nothing more, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be cautious." Aura suddenly slowed to a stop and in a hushed tone instructed the others to do the same. "Diamond? Do you hear that?" He asked.
Although fearful, Diamond slowly lifted her ears and honed in on the sound. Gulping as she silently nodded and folded her ears back down. "Something is following us…"
Turning around, Aura focused on where he heard leaves rustling and without a second thought, he quickly opened Stan's Pokeball and instructed him to use spark on whatever was in the bushes. The Shinx bursting from his Pokeball in a flash and immediately enveloped himself in a crackling veil of electrical energy. He charged forward with a roar as the foliage parted with a man wearing a ranger outfit emerged, surprising Aura as he hastily called to his Pokemon to stop. Unfortunately, Stan was unable to react in time to the command and slammed head first into the stranger sending multiple pulses of static electricity through his body for a couple seconds before Stan could cease the discharging volts.
Hurried over to the man, Aura quickly apologized to the twitching man and held out his hand to help him up. "We're a little on edge because my partner had a bad encounter with a Feraligatr a ways back and we thought it was following us."
The ranger sat up and rubbed his head, speaking with a slight southern accent. "It's alright. I can understand your worry," he took Aura's hand and stood with a grunt, "that Feraligatr has been causin' trouble 'round these parts for well over a week and ah've been issued to come deal with 'im." He tipped his hat and smiled. "My name is Chris by the way." Aura nodded back and introduced himself along with Stan and Diamond while Dan did the same for himself. "Well it's nice to meet y'all, but we best be heading for the station if we want to be making it before too late. It's back down that other pathway if you're wonderin'. I'll fix you guys somethin' to eat and y'all can maybe tell me a bit more 'bout that gator you met."
Dan nodded. "Thanks. Staying in an actual building would make us feel a lot safer," he paused and glanced back at Diamond, "especially for her."
"Yeah. None of us actually saw the Feraligatr other than Diamond but she didn't mention anything out of the ordinary." Aura explained.
Chris rubbed his chin and hummed. "Alright, well perhaps she was just in shock is all and didn't notice much." He looked at Diamond and smiled softly. "Don't you worry though, I promise that Feraligatr won't be an issue no more. Now we best get a move on before it gets dark. A good night's rest should calm y'er mind right down, and after a few questions tomorrow mornin' I'll escort y'all to the main road. Speakin' of which, where exactly y'all headin' to anyways?"
"We're going to be passing through Camphrier Town on our way to Cyllage City," Aura affirmed, "we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere though since we've been out here for a few days longer than it should've taken."
"Hm, yeah you guys are a good ways off from the road. Y'see, these parts are home to some rather territorial Pokemon packs which is why the ranger station is here. We're here to supervise the surroundin' forest and make sure nobody gets caught in no turf wars."
"T-turf wars?" Diamond shuddered. She didn't have much memory on the subject, but wild Pokemon are taught at a very young age to stay away from other territories unless they were allies, so despite her old home in Santalune Forest having little to no actual territorial claims set by the native Pokemon, she was still taught about pack wars and fights over territory. She gripped Aura's wrist tightly and anxiously scanned around them for any threats.
"Guessin' your partner there understands what a turf war is?" Chris asked upon noticing the Braixen's fearful expression.
Aura couldn't exactly give a straight answer, "I guess she might? Diamond used to be wild when she was young… But I'd rather not go further into that, y'know?"
Though it was vague, Chris understood it wouldn't end very happily if he were to ask any further questions about her past. "I hear you. But as I was sayin', this area has plenty of wild packs who often dispute over territory, so us rangers that get assigned here are expected to act kinda like third party peacekeepers of sorts. Luckily a majority of the native Pokemon have reasonable pack leaders so there's an agreement that if they don't extend their feuds onto folks then we won't interfere with their land and do our best to keep travelers outside their borders."
Daniel cocked his head. "You said a majority of the Pokemon were part of this agreement? So are there more pack leaders like the Feraligatr?"
"Well that's not exactly the case. Some of the packs aren't happy with the agreement but know full well what'll happen if they intentionally attack folks for no good reason. This area is registered as a kind of wildlife preserve, but at the same time that ain't what it is. The Pokemon 'round here don't fall under any of the categories set by the League to officially deem it a nature preserve but with the large amount of Pokemon livin' here the forest is still protected so long as the wild Pokemon keep to themselves."
"So that Feraligatr must have thought Diamond was just a wild Pokemon who wandered into his territory?" Aura asked. The immediate response of denial sent an odd chill down his spine.
"That Feraligatr isn't part of any native packs. It wandered into the area on its own accord and started causin' problems for the Pokemon and people alike." Chris sneered and tightened his fist. "Damn thing's so hateful of people that it's tryna convince some of the native Pokemon to go against the treaties and hunt down travelers for sport. It don't care if a Pokemon is wild or tamed, it's just cruel." Letting out a slow breath, Chris apologized for talking their ears off but assured them his station wasn't too far now and wouldn't trouble them with the local problems any longer, however to his surprise, Aura suddenly shook his head and assured him to continue, saying this kind of behaviour was not right and somewhat wanted to help settle it.
Chris shook his head and kindly denied the offer. "We don't need no civilians gettin' caught up in this. It's far too dangerous taking into account how many people were already hospitalized because of that thing. This area is normally very safe for people that don't provoke the packs runnin' each territory, but there's nothing preventing them from catching wild Pokemon out here neither which does lead to some unfortunate incidents but like I said before, the native Pokemon understand the risk if they kill anyone. However to keep things fair for the Pokemon, if trainers to come into the territory and provokes 'em, well let's just say some stubborn saps come out with a few pieces missin'."
Not much else was said after that, the group understanding most of this unwritten peace treaty but still finding themselves curious nonetheless. Eventually, they reached the ranger station as the moon crested the horizon and Chris introduced them to their room for the night.
After Chris left them to get comfortable before dinner, Aura sat on one of the four cots and contemplated over the whole scenario they had stumbled into. Feeling much more relaxed under a sturdy roof, Diamond grew concerned over her trainer as she thought about his rather reckless behaviour in the past.
"Aura?" She muttered. "What are you thinking of doing?"
He shook his head. "Well just the fact that Feraligatr is terrorizing not only people passing through the forest, but trying to literally corrupt the other Pokemon living here into doing the same. I just feel like this is something I should be helping take care of? Alice said the Guardians were tasked with protecting the balance of nature and keeping peace between people and Pokemon. They-we were like ambassadors of peace. What's going on right now in the forest sounds a lot like the situations Alice said we would handle in the past."
Diamond nodded in understanding. "But didn't she also say something about Guardians not being allowed to interfere with the natural way of the world or something?"
"But this isn't right! Feraligatr just wants to start feuds and cause others to get hurt or even killed! That's the type of thing the Guardians were against and would put a stop to before it could hurt innocent lives!" Aura's eyes flickered with a glint of red light overlapping his pupils.
Diamond folded her ears back and silently looked at the floor. She could feel the vigor his soul emanated and found it harder to deny he was right. During their visit with Alice, she listed off a few of the Guardian Commandments, one of which was to never allow the cruel ways of one to bring harm to the lives of many others. Gently closing her eyes, Diamond slowly sighed from her nose and suddenly surprised the others by facing her trainer sternly with passionate eyes. "Alright. But you'd better think of an actual plan this time!" She told him.
Aura's eyes softened, as did Diamond's, and it didn't take long for Aura to confidently nod back and rub her head with a large grin. "That's the kind of attitude I like to see." He affirmed. Aura stood up and called over the other two members of his team. "Alright, guys. Albeit there's not really much to think over, just know that if we don't encounter that Feraligatr tomorrow when Chris is leading us to the main road, we will be coming right back into the forest and track down Feraligatr ourselves."
Simply hearing the confidence in his trainer's voice filled Stan with excitement as the Shinx jumped up and down happily. Meanwhile Prince looked at his master curiously, not really understanding the need for such a dramatic speech in the first place.
"Are you sure that's a smart idea?" Dan questioned, sitting up from his bed and facing his companion. "I understand this is the kind of thing Guardians might've handled in the past, but what can we do that the Rangers can't? Not to burst your bubble, but it might be better if we stay out of this one considering Feraligatr is trying to turn an entire forest against each other."
Aura glanced away and sighed as he sat down. "I hear you. We'd basically be throwing ourselves into a pool of starving Carvanha if we consider Feraligatr actually managing to convince enough Pokemon to attack us."
"Exactly! We don't know what kinds of Pokemon live out here that it could persuade so we can't properly prepare for it."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Alright y'all! Hope y'er hungry cause supper's waitin' for ya!" Chris called.
Letting out a brief sigh, Aura stood up and lightly smacked his cheeks. "Hmph! Well then as crazy as it sounds, I hope we do run into Feraligatr tomorrow so we can settle this once and for all!"
Something about Aura's determined spirit spread that same feeling to his trio of Pokemon who all collectively looked from their trainer to one another and firmly nodded. "Then getting a proper meal and enough rest is imperative if we hope to succeed!" Prince affirmed cooly.
Stan's fur stood on end spitting out a flurry of tiny sparks. "Yeah! That overgrown lizard won't know what hit him if he shows his ugly face tomorrow! Nobody hurts our friend and gets away with it!" He hissed, showing Diamond a toothy smirk. The fox smiled at her companions, warmed by their shared determination to seek out and pay back someone who did her wrong.
Although he still didn't like the idea, Dan sighed and started toward the door. "If he shows up tomorrow then we'll have no other choice, and as much as I hate to admit it, he probably will if he wanted revenge bad enough. So let's do as Prince suggested and prepare for tomorrow." Nodding back, everyone filed out of the room to eat; but before Aura could leave, Dan stopped him and gave him a serious glare. "Even if Feraligatr doesn't show up on our way to Camphrier Town, please don't try to come back and hunt him down. You already nearly died once back in Lumiose and I don't think Diamond could handle you being torn apart. Not to mention what might happen if the Grand Guardian gets himself killed!"
Aura sighed and put his hand on Dan's arm. "Yeah…. A lot of people rely on me being alive… and I need to also remember that I'm all Diamond has left, too." With a firm pat on his shoulder, Dan let Aura go ahead of him and followed behind to the dining room where a generously made meal awaited them.
After sitting down and thanking Chris for the rather bountiful meal set before them, everyone quickly dug in but paused shortly after the taste registered. Chris nervously chuckled. "Uh...heh, I hope ya'll don't mind the food that much. See I don't cook too often 'round 'ere. That's usually left to mah partner."
Aura quickly shook his head and swallowed what was in his mouth. "No! This is delicious! You sure you don't cook much?"
Chris laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Why thank you very much. I may not cook too often but I've picked up at least a few things from my partner overtime."
("If I may ask, where is your partner?") Prince inquired through telepathy.
"Heh, my partner is off gettin' his wounds treated after a run-in with that Feraligatr. Y'see, my partner is actually a Krokorok so Feraligatr was able to do quite the number on 'im."
Diamond folded her ears. ("Is he going to be okay?")
A snicker passed Chris' lips as he flashed a wide grin. "Ha! Kroker is a mighty fine Pokemon when it comes to battlin' and this ain't his first time against a Pokemon twice his size and with a type advantage. Though knowing what could've happened to him makes me grateful he only suffered a broken arm and tail." Chris sighed. "Anyhow, that's enough about me, so remind me where y'all were headin'?"
"We were on our way to Camphrier Town but got sidetracked and have been in this forest for almost a week." Aura explained.
"Then it's a good thing I came across y'all, I imagine your food was runnin' a bit short."
Dan scratched his cheek and spoke up. "Yeah… Not to be rude, but Aura's been teaching Diamond how to cook while we were on the road, and as you can probably guess not all of our food "survived" their lessons." He informed with a nervous chuckle.
Diamond sunk into her chair in defeat while Aura patted her shoulder and smiled, assuring her no harm was done and reminding her that the last few attempts she had helped him cook didn't turn out that bad. With a melancholy smile, Diamond felt a little better knowing she was at least improving.
Chris chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. "Well I'm sure she's doin' her best, and cooking ain't always easy to learn." He smiled at the fox, showing his support as they resumed their meal with little more than idle discussions spoken until eventually their plates were clean and the sun had long since sunk beneath the horizons. After assuring them he'd handle the dishes on his own, Chris ushered them to the spare room to get some rest for the trek tomorrow morning. Camphrier Town may not be too far from the station, but the steep path up the hill would require a good amount of endurance and stamina.
As the spare room held six beds within for trainers lost in the forest, Aura and Dan let their Pokemon sleep outside of their balls tonight and sure enough everyone had a bed to themselves, with the obvious exception of Aura and Diamond who happily slept under the same covers. Very little noise came from the forest outside, the rhythmic howls of nocturnal Pokemon in the distance was smooth and easily managed to coax the seven tired souls into a surprisingly peaceful slumber.
"Aura? Wake up." Diamond softly said while gently pushing against her mate's shoulder. The fox grumbled as he merely groaned and tightened his grip on the blanket. Crossing her arms and tapping her elbow impatiently, Diamond sighed and crawled off the bed to approach from the other side. "Aura?! It's morning!" She said a bit louder, trying to pull the blanket out of his grasp to no avail. "Hmph, why won't you wake up?" She grunted, tugging on his wrist. "Aura! Come on! I don't want to miss breakfast!" Again she pulled harshly against his wrist with little reaction until finally she was growing slightly irritated with his periodic extra-deep sleeping.
She felt Prince tap her shoulder and looked down at the slightly shorter canine. "As much as I do not enjoy saying it, but Master Aura should try and develop better sleeping habits if he is to become a strong trainer."
Another groan of irritation came from the fox's throat. "Mhm! At least he doesn't oversleep that often: usually he gets up early with Dan and they start cooking breakfast before waking us up." She pointed out.
"Heheh! Well luckily for him he has a dependable team to make sure he actually wakes up before lunch!" Stan snickered, stepping forward with a mischievous grin and sparks popping from the tip of his tail. Prince reached out in front of the young feline and firmly blocked his advance with a disappointed sigh. "Hey?! It worked last time!"
Prince sighed. "We can not always resort to harming Master Aura when waking him up. We just need to be a little less...gentle...when trying to wake him."
Diamond tittered. "And also, aren't you the one who usually sleeps until it's almost lunch if he doesn't wake you up?"
Stan blushed and turned away. "O-okay! But only when we don't have any training plans for that morning… Maybe we just need to be a bit rougher?" Slipping past Prince, Stan jumped onto the bed and started bouncing back and forth over their trainer. "Come on, Aura! It's time to wake up!" He chanted loudly. Eventually landing on Aura's hip, the small feline danced about while gently digging his claws into the fabric. Aura grunted and lazily waved his arm over to push Stan off of him with the Shinx tumbling backward onto the opposite side of the mattress. "Oomph! Well that didn't go as planned…" He poked his head back over Aura's body and thought for a second. "Diamond! Maybe if we both do it he'll actually wake up because you're heavier?!"
Diamond firmly crossed her arms. "What does that mean?!" She asked, not fully understanding why she found that slightly offensive.
Stan shrugged. "Well you're taller than both me and Prince so you're the heaviest out of the three of us." Though Diamond didn't exactly like being called "the heaviest" one of the three, she begrudgingly complied and climbed on top of the bed and, after a moment of indecisiveness, she sat down on Aura's side and blushed as she began to firmly bounce on top of him with Stan chuckling and joining her quickly.
With the two Pokemon awkwardly sitting and bouncing on their trainer like some kind of ride, Prince groaned and held his forehead. "Do you really think this is going to work?"
Stan grunted, "Well if we can't wake him up then we will just have to go have breakfast without him!"
Diamond stopped and let out a sigh. "But he always waits for each of us to have food before he even gets some for himself, even if it seems like he really isn't waking up this time…" Diamond's ears folded back. "What if-what if something is wrong with him?" She suddenly perked up and clumsily jumped off the bed. "What if he's sick and we're just making it worse?!" She cried.
Prince approached their trainer and placed his paw over Aura's forehead. "He feels fine and I do not sense any discourse in his aura. Perhaps he simply had difficulty sleeping last night?"
"Then why isn't he awake yet?" Stan inquired.
Soon enough, they received an answer as Aura let out a long groan and rolled onto his back. He rubbed his eyes and slowly pushed himself up. "Hm? Where is… Oh? Morning guys. When did you all get up?" He asked.
"We woke up a while ago and have been trying to get you up!" Diamond explained.
Aura removed the blanket and let his feet fall to the floor, for some reason he had a suspicious grin on his face. "Oh? Is that what that was?"
Prince cocked his head to the side. "What are you talking about, Master Aura?"
He chuckled. "I guess me talking with Arceus kinda scared you three?" Each of them grew even more curious as Aura casually stood up and stretched. "I guess all that wondering about what to do about Feraligatr was enough for Arceus to meet me in my dreams and tell me a bit more about what kinds of situations the Guardians would handle in the past and how they would take care of it."
Stan gasped. "So we're going to hunt down Feraligatr after all?!"
Aura snickered. "Well kind of. Arceus specifically asked me to "not actively pursue" Feraligatr."
"So this doesn't fall under the credentials for Guardians to interfere?" Prince questioned.
Aura shook his head. "It does, but she says there's no need to look for Feraligatr since it will be looking for us." Diamond gulped and Aura was quick to ease her nerves with his next bit of information. "Even though it sounds bad, Arceus told me about another one of my abilities."
Stan once again gasped excitedly and began hopping back and forth. "What is it? What is it? What is it?"
Aura rubbed the back of his head. "Well funny thing about that is… She didn't really specify what it was. Rather, she mostly told me that my body should know what to do when the time was right. Something about the results being different for each Guardian?"
Prince crossed his arms. "This sounds rather vague, Master Aura? Why would she not tell you what this power was?"
Again all Aura could do was shrug in response. "I'm not sure but this isn't the first time Arceus has been vague about stuff. Must be some kind of 'self discovery' thing. Anyway, I've learned not to question this stuff too much so we'll just have to see what it means later. Right now, let's go get something to eat." Without another word, Aura walked toward the door and stepped out with his team heavily confused, but with not much to go off of, they simply decided to trust their trainer's instinct and wait for the answer as well; however, they did not have to wait too long as once everybody had eaten they wasted no time heading out into the woods.
As they traveled along the trail following behind Chris, the group lagged behind a little to discuss this meeting out of earshot. Aura explained to Dan what he had told his team less than an hour earlier.
"So Arceus spoke to you again last night?" Dan asked quietly as they followed behind Chris along the path.
"Yeah, she was sure Feraligatr would come after us again today so she basically said my body would somehow know what to do, something about one of my other abilities."
"So you don't even know what this ability is?" Dan inquired. Aura shook his head and noted how he assumes it must be related to "self-discovery." Dan crossed his arms and thought, "Sounds like that media cliche if anything, but considering she's a literal god, she's probably got a good reason."
Aura nodded. "Probably because I'm the Grand Guardian; I'm supposed to be some kind of leader so I kind of get why she does this. If great things are to be expected from me then I have to earn that respect and stuff, y'know? If I just get handed all this information at once then I wouldn't know what to do with it."
"So Lady Arceus is testing you?" Diamond curiously asked.
Aura shrugged, "Maybe, she is kind of like a mentor in this case. She helps and guides me when I need but otherwise wants me to learn from experience, and that's why I…" Aura suddenly paused and held his hand over Stan's Pokeball. "You guys feel that?" He said in a hushed voice.
Hearing silence behind him, Chris turned around curiously. "Hey, what're y'all doin'? I don't think stoppin' now'd be very bright." He told them, stepping forward only to freeze in place as Aura held out his hand.
"It's here…" He muttered. Unclipping Stan's ball, Aura clicked the button to release him and quickly explained the situation, to which the Shinx replied with a silent nod and began listening for their target. Sure enough, as Arceus had said, the nearby brush was violently ripped apart as Feraligatr trudged out onto the trail before them.
Feraligatr snarled wickedly with the left side of his face burned severely from Diamond's retaliation the day before. Aura hastfully called out for Stan to attack with Spark, the smaller Pokemon arching his back with sparks dancing across his fur, he crashed into the water type's belly harshly but to their dismay, the large reptile barely winced from the electricity and violently snatched Stan's tail in his claws and growled. "What a pathetic excuse for a Pokemon!" It roared, grabbing Stan by the neck and squeezing just hard enough to prolong the pain he was afflicting.
Stan tried desperately to escape its grip and fruitfully gasped for air. The Feraligatr enjoyed watching his prey struggle and loosened his grip for just enough time for Stan to refill his lungs if only to keep him conscious and aware of the excruciating pain. Though it felt like minutes to Stan, luckily Feraligatr could only hold onto the feline for a few seconds before dropping him as a powerful force suddenly slammed into his face. Feraligatr stumbled back holding its face in pain as a blur suddenly rushed in and swept up the unconscious electric Pokemon.
Prince skidded to a halt by the others and gently lay Stan down behind their trainer who stood with his arm outstretched and breathing heavily. "You've just made the biggest mistake of your life!" Aura shouted between breaths.
Feraligatr finally looked up to see the human and began to chortle maniacally as he slowly trudged toward them. "So this is that fuck-sleeve's master?! Perfect! I can show that bitch just how bad she fucked up!"
Diamond's legs began trembling with her large tail curling between her thighs fearfully, afraid of what that monster was going to do to them. Eventually a firm shout snapped her back to reality only to find Aura slowly stepping forward toward their foe.
"What the hell you think y'er doin'?! Get away from it!" Chris shouted.
Aura continued walking toward the beast with his body glowing under a thin veil of blue energy. "Don't worry about me. Just make sure Stan is alright." He said coldly. His aura suddenly erupted into a great blue flame around him which stunned Feraligatr as well as Chris who'd never seen nor heard of anything like this.
"Aura?" Diamond slowly reached forward toward her mate, but froze as Feraligatr recovered from his shock and let out a bellowing roar that created a powerful wind that did nothing more than blow around Aura's hair.
He looked coldly into the beast's sharp eyes and felt no fear. All he could feel was anger and a powerful determination to protect the lives of his friends, and his mate. He pointed at the Pokemon and scowled. "You can threaten me all you god damn please! But just know that you're only wasting your breath!" Aura's eyes flashed purple and a light suddenly came from the palm of his hand, as if grabbing something that wasn't there, everyone was amazed to see a transparent sword form from nothing within his grasp. With a calm breath of air, Aura swiftly swung his hand down and gripped the hilt of the sword which appeared to have somehow taken on physical properties.
Everyone watched in awe as the boy held the astral blade in his right hand, effortlessly swinging it around like he'd had many years of practice, eventually pointing the tip of the blade directly at Feraligatr. The Pokemon held his composure and grit his fangs. "You really think some fancy lights will be enough to stop me, human? I will slaughter you all!"
Aura's gaze was merciless, staring daggers into the large reptile's own eyes as he spoke. "As I said before: Your threats toward me mean NOTHING!"
The two charged at each other, Aura with his sword raised high and Feraligatr with his claws gleaming brightly. Their attacks collided and sent out a powerful shockwave, both sides pulling back and continuing their rapid assaults on one another.
As Aura swung his sword, Feraligatr would swing his mighty claws in return, blocking the Guardian's blade furiously and forcing him to jump back with surprisingly high agility, landing gracefully a couple meters back down the path between his opponent and his companions. He raised his sword up with both hands tightly gripping the hilt as the blade seemingly emanated a vibrant blue fire.
"This is your last warning! Cease your heinous ways now and leave us be or I will be forced to take drastic measures!" Aura called in a somewhat distorted voice, almost as if a second voice layered over his own.
The Feraligatr smirked. "Ha! It's like you said: Your threats mean nothing to me, human!" He charged at Aura once more.
Aura's eyes flickered back to their normal colour for only a moment before he responded. "So be it!" Aura ran forward and like before the blade of his weapon was met by the claws of his opponent. Every preceding attack from either side met the same results continuously repeating over and over again.
Soon enough Aura could feel his energy drastically depleting as his arms struggled to keep up with their constant assault with the blade in hand, although Feraligatr did not seem bothered at all having more combat experience than the trainer. He had to end this soon yet did not want to fatally wound the misguided Pokemon, but he was running out of options.
He disengaged their connection and leaped back, panting coarsely from the exhaustion while still holding his ground. Recognizing his exhausted state, Feraligatr took his chance and charged forward leaving Aura with the only option to raise his weapon and block the attack.
Diamond watched tensionally as her partner swiftly moved his sword, desperately deflecting each of Feraligatr's attacks as he tried to stay alive. Her fists clenched as he mind rushed with a sudden feeling of vigorous courage and the determination to protect her love.
Without warning, Diamond pulled her stick from her tail and pounced into battle, Dan reached out to stop her but was too late as her stick flashed white and took the form of a sharp blade. She ran to Aura's side as her eyes flashed to a similar shade of purple as Aura's. She lashed out with her blade and violently slashed at Feraligatr's knee causing him to stumble back with a bellowing roar of pain.
Aura took this chance to step back and look at his mate in shock and concern while also feeling gratitude for the assistance. "Diamond?! What are you doing?!"
She jumped back to his side and held her blade in similar fashion to a trained samurai. "What does it look like? I'm helping you fight!"
Feraligatr regained his footing quickly and once again charged forward in a blind rage, smashing his fist into the ground moments after the duo jumped away. "I can see that, but why?!" Aura lifted his sword to block another swipe from the beast, deflecting it and jumping back again.
Diamond hurried over and nimbly slid past their opponent's legs while delivering another strike to his knee before returning to Aura's side. "I'm not going to just sit back and watch you get yourself killed trying to protect me!" She affirmed with another voice faintly overlapping hers as well. She tightened her grip on her weapon and snarled with a flicker in her eyes. "I won't let that ever happen again!"
Diamond rushed forward and rapidly struck the Feraligatr multiple times with her Cut attack until finally they could see it showing some weakness. The exhaustion displayed by the Pokemon gave Aura an idea as he turned to Chris and called out. "Do you have any empty Pokeballs?!"
Chris perked up and began digging through his satchel. "Y-yeah! I got some!"
Aura returned his attention back to the Pokemon. "Good! When I give the signal, throw one at Feraligatr!"
Chris was about to call back but Aura had already rushed back into the fray to assist Diamond in weakening the large Pokemon with countless more strikes from his sword, though with every slice through Feraligatr's tough scales, it became apparent no physical damage was actually being dealt, rather the blade seemed to just faze right through while still causing pain.
Following another brief assault from the duo, Feraligatr finally dropped to his knees while still desperately trying to fight off his attackers who danced around his attacks like they were nothing. That was when Aura called out for Chris to throw the Pokeball. The ranger reeled his arm back as Aura told Diamond to move before Chris lobbed the ball towards them, allowing the sphere to make contact with the tired Pokemon and pull it inside the capsule.
Aura and Diamond stood close with their blades ready just in case it managed to break free, but as the Pokeball teetered vigorously between them, you could see their muscles relax the moment they heard the soft ding that signified a successful capture.
Finally able to relax, Aura's sword evaporated into thin air while Diamond sheathed her stick back into her tail. Chris stood awestruck as he watched the human who, with his Pokemon, single handedly brought down the beast he had been trying to detain for well over a week, pick up the Pokeball and bring it back before firmly planting it into his hand.
"Let's hope this will keep him out of any more trouble."
Staring silently at the Pokeball for a moment, Chris began stammering through his words. "H-how did you… How did you do that?!"
Aura tiredly chuckled. "Well, would you believe me if I said I was an Aura Guardian?" Before giving Chris a chance to answer, Aura walked over to where the others gathered around Stan and crouched down. He gently pet along the feline's back and was relieved he was still breathing and that Dan took the time to make sure he didn't suffer any lasting injuries. "I'm sorry, Stan. You were hurt because of me."
Taking his Pokeball, Aura was about to return the injured Shinx but stopped as he let out a groan and weakly looked up at his trainer. "Don't worry, Aura… I've been through way worse…" Letting out a raspy cough, Stan winced from the pain it caused to jolt through his throat. Aura smiled warmly and returned him, promising to reward his valiant effort accordingly.
"So I take it that was the 'other power' Arceus told you about last night?" Dan guessed.
Aura shrugged. "I would assume so. But I've never used a sword like that before… That must have been what she meant by my body would know. It must come naturally to Guardians I guess."
While Dan proceeded to ensure Aura of Stan's stable condition and notified him of a minor dislocation at the base of his tail, Chris stared at his new Pokemon and thought about Aura's response. He'd heard of the Guardians in fairy tales but never expected them to actually exist. With a small smile, Chris placed the Pokeball in his satchel and walked over to the others.
"We best be off before it gets too late. The road to Camphrier should just be over this hill. From there it should only take two days on foot."
They all looked at one another and nodded. Picking up their bags and following behind the ranger for a good couple more hours until finally reaching the road.
"Thank you for helping us, Chris." Aura said. "Take care of Feraligatr and make sure it doesn't get into any trouble from now on."
Chris smirked and tipped his hat. "I reckon this guy might have a change of heart once he goes through the training at the ranger HQ. And thank y'all for y'er help catching him. Y'all will be legends amongs us rangers for generations to come."
Aura nodded. "Well hopefully we'll meet again. Bye!"
Saying their farewells to their new friend, they resume their trek onward to Camphrier Town and one step close to earning their second gym badge.
