Chapter 18
Darlene quickly approached her son with Kibbs following closely behind. She beamed a cheerful smile as she pulled Aura in for a hug. "I was hoping you'd be here, sweetie! How are you?!" She asked.
Aura smiled back although a bit hesitantly. "I-I've been doing fine and I've got a lot to tell you… But what are you doing here and why were you expecting me to be here?"
Kibbs laughed. "Because of the tournament, silly. Darlene and I came here to enjoy the festival and hoped we'd find you here participating in their tournament." Kibbs stepped forward and tilted her head with a smug grin. "Now why don't you fill us in on what you've been up to? After all it has been a while since you called."
Aura swallowed hard and nervously rubbed the back of his head. "R-right. Sorry, we've just been pretty busy lately and only got to town the other day. But we were just heading upstairs to eat so why don't we talk then…?
Kibbs' eyes narrowed at the boy which made him nervously laugh to himself, but her sharp gaze quickly softened within a few seconds as she giggled. "Of course, dear. Your mother and I would be more than happy to join you for dinner. Wouldn't we?"
Darlene thought for a moment before shaking her head and waving a dismissive hand toward the Growlithe. "I would love nothing more, but maybe we should let them relax a bit first? I'm sure they just came back from some intense training so it would be rude to interrupt them now." She looked at Aura and smiled. "Why don't Kibbs and I get ourselves situated in our room for now and you can come get us when dinner is ready? I'm sure you'd like to have time to properly prepare for guests, no?"
Aura and Dan glanced at each other and shrugged. "O-okay then. We'll see you in a bit I guess?" The woman nodded and quickly gave Aura their room number, which as luck would have it, was situated on the opposite end of the same hallway their own rooms were in. Once Darlene and Kibbs had gone to their room and left the two trainers to themselves, Aura rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "That was surprising. Guess I should get started on dinner right away."
Returning Prince to his Pokeball, Aura handed it to Nurse Joy while Dan awkwardly stood by and thought to himself. "Hey, Aura? Why don't I take care of cooking this time around?"
"Hmm… I appreciate the offer, but I think I can manage. Plus I can probably teach Diamond some stuff in the meantime." He smiled at his partner who's eyes lit up excitedly. A few minutes of waiting around later and Nurse Joy returned with Prince's ball in hand. As soon as it was returned to Aura, he immediately let the Riolu back out before everyone headed upstairs.
Almost right after entering their room, Aura went straight to the kitchen and dug through the refrigerator for something he could make into a proper meal for everyone. "Not much to work with really… Guess I'll just have to make something simple like a stew? Maybe some sandwiches on the side?" He stood up and looked over the fridge door at the rest of their group sitting on the sofa watching TV. "Dan? Think you could go grab a few things from the pharmacy downstairs? I think I remember them selling some produce."
"Aye aye!" Dan responded with a salute. He put on his shoes and asked Aura if he needed anything in particular before heading out.
"Okay… Now to really get things started." Aura cracked his knuckles and began carrying various ingredients to the counter to prepare while Diamond brought a chair over to stand on. "Heh, you seem pretty eager to help, but for now it might be good for you to mostly just observe what I do." Diamond didn't seem to mind too much and happily nodded, however an intense stare from her trainer made her freeze up nervously. "Hmm… Stay right there." Aura hurried over to his bag and dug through it. When he returned, he set one of his shirts on the counter while taking another one and holding it up in front of Diamond.
The Braixen looked at him curiously as he instructed her to raise her arms, which she did hesitantly and next thing she knew Aura had abruptly slipped his shirt over her head which caused much of her fur to stand up from the static. She scowled at him for messying her fur but he assured her it was necessary. "I'll make it up to you with a thorough brush afterwards, but right now it's important that you cover most of your fur up so none gets into the food." Then Aura proceeded to take his second, long sleeved shirt and step around behind Diamond, folding the fabric over her head and tying it fastly. "There, and since it's a long sleeve I was able to keep your ears free… although we should still tie back your ear tufts…"
As Aura hurried back to his bag while Diamond watched begrudgingly, the door opened with Dan stepping back inside with a paper bag filled with food. "Yep, they totally had everything you asked for and then some… Uhh, what's going on?" He questioned, looking at Diamond awkwardly standing in the kitchen covered with shirts while Aura was pulling things out of his backpack.
"Just-urgh-just making sure Diamond's fur doesn't get into the food." Aura grunted as he pulled out more items.
Nessa peered over the couch. "You do understand that we have not had many issues with fur getting into our food when she helped you cook, right?"
Aura nodded. "Y-yeah but this is a bit different… Ah-ha! Guess these are more useful than I thought!" Finally getting onto his feet, Aura jogged back to the kitchen where he slapped down a plastic case full of spare shoelaces. "Until we get some proper hair ties, these will have to do." Using a knife to cut open the package, Aura quickly stepped behind Diamond once again and told her to hold still as he used some of the laces to secure her long tufts of orange ear fur. "There, and now we're ready to cook!" He said triumphantly, grabbing a large pot and a cutting board from the cabinets.
Diamond tugged on the shirt she wore and grimaced. "This feels ridiculous…"
"I think it looks cute!" Missy commented with a joyful smile, making Diamond blush and shyly fidget with her necklace.
"All right! Ready to start the lesson?!" Aura loudly asked his partner, receiving a sigh and a nod from the slightly embarrassed fox. "Great! First lesson, kitchen safety!" Diamond sighed while Dan couldn't prevent a loud snort from escaping his throat as Aura began to exhibit how to properly and safely cut vegetables.
After a solid two hours of cooking, dinner was just about ready as Aura stood closely behind Diamond while she held a small knife in her paw as Aura guided her paw to safely cut the sandwiches.
"And~ there! Everything is ready for dinner!" Aura said as he took the sliced sandwich and set it on the stack. "All that's left is to set the table and bring my mom over."
"I could set the table for you while you get your mom?" Dan offered.
Aura nodded and began to remove the ties from Diamond's fur. "Thanks, so while you do that everyone else should go wash up." Tossing the clothes he used to cover Diamond's fur onto his backpack, Aura slipped on his shoes and stepped out into the hall.
Diamond turned to the other Pokemon and then glanced toward the bathroom. "I guess if Aura says to wash up then we should." Heading to the bathroom first, Diamond noticed a wooden stool near the bathtub and moved it closer to the sink as the rest of the Pokemon all started piling in.
Since there was only one sink and not a lot of room, Prince suggested two at a time as he stepped beside the stool offering to go last. "Hmm, Nessa? You and Diamond can go first then help Daniel set the table." The Kirlia nodded and gracefully stepped onto the stool beside the fox. Diamond leaned over the sink to grab the bar of soap and turned on the hot water, placing her paw underneath until it began steaming.
"Um, Diamond?" Nessa asked warily. "Could you maybe make the water a little cooler for me?" Diamond looked at her curiously as she lathered her paws, though she soon let out a quiet "oh, right" before turning the cold water on as well. Nessa bowed her head as Diamond handed her the soap. "Thank you, after all, the rest of us are not Fire types." She giggled.
When those two had finished washing their hands and stepped off the stool towards the hanging towel, Prince urged Spyke and Stan to next as the two shorter Pokemon climbed onto the countertop.
"Daniel?" Nessa inquired as her and Diamond stepped out of the bathroom, "would you like us to help set the table?"
The trainer looked at the girls and smiled. "Well most of it is ready but you two could go grab some potholders and the sandwiches for me… By the way, potholders are those little cloths that you put under pots to keep the table from being damaged… They should be in the tiny drawer near the stove." Dan explained as he led the girls into the kitchen where he opened the drawer and handed Nessa the cloths along with some placemats he didn't realize they had.
"I guess I'll take the sandwiches then!" Diamond reached onto the counter and slowly dragged the large tray off and carefully lifted it off, thanking that it wasn't heavy at all so she wouldn't lose her balance.
Shortly after the rest of the Pokemon had exited the bathroom and the table had been completely set, the door clicked open as Aura stepped inside followed by their guests. "Looks great." He said upon noticing the table neatly set. Dan thanked him and mentioned how he had a little help from Nessa and Diamond with the arrangement.
"Mmmh! And whatever you made smells delicious too." Darlene praised as she removed her shoes. "Kibbs and I will go wash up real quick and then you can start telling us all about your adventures and properly introduce us to your friends!" Of course it did not take long for the two to wash up and return to find Aura and Daniel moving the couch closer to the table. "And what is this?" Darlene asked curiously.
"Oh, I just figured this way nobody has to sit on the floor and eat their food." Aura went to his bag and retrieved some towels while Dan did the same and the trainers draped them over the cushions. "There, now if anything spills it won't make a huge mess." He looked to his mother and went to pull out two chairs. "Here, you and Kibbs sit here." The women walked over and took their seats, Kibbs' chair having a few pillows on it to give her some more height.
Once they were seated, Aura walked to the opposite end of the table where he took the empty spot next to Diamond. Aura took a breath and smiled awkwardly, not really used to being a dinner host much less when the guests are both his real mother and the Pokemon who'd helped raise him like a second mother. "W-well, dig in! I hope you like the sweet-curry rice and sandwiches, Diamond helped make some of it." The fox blushed and held her cheeks.
Darlene poured some curry onto a plate of rice and set it down in front of Kibbs. "That's very nice, I assume you're teaching her how to cook?"
Aura filled a plate with curry as well and passed it down to Prince while Dan did the same and set it in front of Missy. "Actually yeah. She was interested back when she was a Fennekin but had to wait until she evolved. It took some time but I think she's really been improving." He finished filling another plate and set it down in front of Stan before working on his own plate.
Diamond had insisted on getting her own plate ready this time, although she accidentally let the ladle slip from her paws and land on her plate of rice with a loud clang, spilling some of the curry sauce on the table and splashing some onto her fur. Diamond anxiously froze and just stared at the mess she made. "I-I'm sorry!" She quickly apologized to Aura who simply smiled back and handed her a napkin.
"Don't worry about it, just a bit of curry sauce." While Diamond wiped her chest and lap clean of the small splatters, Aura wiped up the bit that spilled on her placemat before taking the ladle and pouring her curry instead. Once everyone's food was dished out and Diamond was finished wiping her fur, Aura sighed and straightened his back. "Before we eat, I want to properly introduce my new family to you, mom and Kibbs."
The women looked at each other and smiled. "Well don't keep us waiting, I'm eager to try your improved cooking!" Darlene laughed.
Aura rubbed his head. "R-right. Well anyway, you've probably noticed the newest member since our last call." He gestured to the Shinx who was hungrily staring at his meal with drool dripping from his lips. "Heheh, well I want you to meet Stan. We met him when we first arrived in Lumiose and we rescued him from an abusive trainer."
Stan looked up and beamed. "Yeah! Aura's been an awesome trainer! Not like Tyler…" He shook his head and smiled wider. "It's really nice to meet you though!"
They lightly laughed. "It's nice to meet you too, Stan." Kibbs said. "We're happy that you're enjoying your time with Aura."
"Stan's gone through a lot, but he's strong and we managed to show his old trainer how wrong he was when he abandoned him." Aura looked at the Shinx to see him back to staring intensely at his food, so with an amused sigh, Aura shook his head and decided to not hold them all from eating any longer while he continued the introductions. "Next I want you to properly meet Prince who I'm sure you remember."
The Riolu set down his spoon and put his paws together before respectfully bowing his head. "It is a great honour to meet you both. You raised Master Aura well and I am proud to be his Pokemon." He looked towards Kibbs and bowed again. "Master Aura speaks highly of you as a second mother to him, so I suspect much of his compassion towards Pokemon is thanks to having you in his life, and for that I am very grateful."
"Hmhm, why thank you." Darlene mimicked his act of respect while Kibbs simply blushed and waved her paw in a slightly flustered and dismissive manner. "So, I guess the only one left for you to introduce is the lovely Braixen sitting beside you, dear." Darlene said rather coyly.
Aura and Diamond both flushed red and seemed to shy away. Though soon Aura gently breathed in and cleared his throat. "Mom. Kibbs. I'd like you to finally meet Diamond. Her and I… we felt a special bond when we first saw each other back at the lab. We both knew right away we were destined to be partners… When we went back to Lumiose City after winning at the Santalune Gym she evolved in a way that really surprised us both…"
Darlene sighed. "Aura, we know all about the fall from the tower that night. And just so you know, Kibbs and I are both very, very proud of you, but it makes us even prouder to know that despite all the controversy around it, you and Diamond are happy to be together as mates."
Diamond suddenly choked on the sandwich she was eating and began to violently cough as Aura worriedly handed her a glass of water and thoroughly rubbed her back as she loudly gulped the drink, letting out a large gasp as she could breathe again.
Aura sighed in relief and looked at his mother in shock. "How did you know about us being mates?!"
Kibbs shook her head. "Honestly, I thought you'd become at least a little less dense after being on the road for a month."
"Aura. You must've realized that I'm also a Guardian, and as your mother we've also been visited by Arceus periodically."
Daniel looked at Aura surprised. "Wait, you didn't realize your mom was also a Guardian?!"
Aura deadpanned and awkwardly rubbed his head. "I… guess I never thought about that… But yeah, that does make a lot of sense." He sighed and looked at his mother in the eyes. "So I guess Arceus told you pretty much everything then? You know I'm the Grand Guardian and how Diamond and I became mates…" Aura went quiet for a moment, but soon he showed a wide smile and nodded. "Guess I owe Arceus a thank you. She's kept you up to date on my journey while I've neglected to."
Darlene smiled. "Well only the important things, but otherwise you still haven't properly introduced me to your friend here." She gestured towards Dan who smiled kindly and bowed.
"Right. My name is Daniel Sanlow and I met Aura back in Aquacorde Town. He helped me pick up my stuff after a Zigzagoon tripped me and my gear sorta spilled out from my bag. After that we took the bus together to Sycamore's lab." Dan looked across the table towards his team sitting on the couch. "As for my Pokemon: the Chespin is Spyke, the Kirlia is Nessa, and the Sylveon is Missy. Spyke was my starter Pokemon and Nessa we met in Santalune Forest. Missy, though…" Dan quieted down and sighed. "Well Missy has actually been my Pokemon for a long time and unfortunately isn't in the best place health-wise. Sycamore helped me figure out she has a new strain of Pokerus and is helping me find a cure."
Kibbs and Darlene looked at the Eeveelution sorrowly. "Oh dear. I'm so sorry to hear that."
Dan shook his head. "Don't be. In fact, for now she's doing a lot better thanks to Aura."
"Although I haven't gotten a proper grasp on how to use my healing aura, Alice taught me the basics and I was able to restore some of Missy's energy."
His mother smiled. "That's a very noble thing to do. Knowing you're still as caring as ever really makes me proud of you. I know for a fact that destiny chose right when it made you the Grand Guardian."
With introductions out of the way, Aura began retelling some of the other details of their journey, like some of their most memorable battles, about the time they helped Gwen reunite with Kelsy, and how their recent detour through a dense forest along Route 5 lead to the prevention of a massive territorial war. Although soon enough the food on the table had considerably depleted and it had started to get quite late in the afternoon.
Kibbs covered her mouth as she yawned. "My, time certainly flies doesn't it. I'm sure you have plenty of preparation to do for the tournament tomorrow, so perhaps Darlene and I should take our leave." She hopped off her chair as Darlene stood up from hers. "It was nice being able to talk with you again like this, Aura. Your mother and I will be here until after the tournament so if you ever need us for anything feel free to stop by."
Aura nodded. "I will, and I hope you enjoyed dinner."
"It was delicious." Darlene smiled towards Diamond. "You make sure to keep practicing, too. I'm looking forward to trying a meal made by my new daughter-in-law." Diamond squeaked and hid her vibrantly brightened face as Darlene chuckled playfully. "Hehe, I'm just teasing," she walked around the table and placed her hands over Diamond's paws, "really, I'm happy that you and Aura make each other so happy." She surprised the vixen with a loving embrace that brought a unique warmth to the Braixen's heart. "Arceus had also told us about your past, but you've done well to not let it bother you anymore. So I couldn't be happier to accept such a sweet young lady as my new daughter-in-law." She kissed her lovingly on the forehead and stepped back. "We'll see you all later. Have a good night!"
As Aura led Darlene and Kibbs to the door, Diamond gently placed a paw over the spot Darlene had kissed and felt a tear stream from her eye. She smiled warmly and closed her eyes, grateful that the world has given her such a wonderful new family to love her.
Awoken from his slumber by the morning sun peeking through the curtains, Aura groaned as he got out of bed. Putting on a shirt, he looked back at the sleeping fox under the covers hugging her own tail. He glanced over at the opposite nightstand where Diamond had her necklace and her stick neatly set aside for whenever she woke up. Curiously, Aura walked around the bed and picked up Diamond's wand, noticing the coarseness of the bark and even the once heavily splintered end was very smooth like it had been heavily polished. Through his palm, Aura could feel a certain energy flowing within the twig and wondered what kinds of mysteries it held. Deciding to look into this anomaly another day, Aura gently placed the stick back on the nightstand and went into the kitchen to start on breakfast for everyone.
Sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in hand, Aura took some time to think about Diamond's birthday, or rather, her hatchday. Sipping his beverage slowly, he looked over at his sleeping mate and sighed. "I've got to get her something more than just a recipe book… Maybe mom could help me, she might have some ideas?" Gulping down the rest of his coffee, Aura quickly prepared a plate for the other three and went to get dressed. "Maybe I should ask Prince to let the others know I went out for a while."
Quietly walking over to the couch where his other two Pokemon slept under a shared blanket, he gently began to nudge Prince's shoulder until finally the Riolu opened his eyes and yawned. "Good morning, Master Aura. Did you sleep well?"
"I slept fine. I have a favour to ask you though. Could you let Stan and Diamond know I had to go out for a while? I left your guys' breakfast on the table and there's some berry juice in the fridge too."
Prince bowed slowly. "As you wish, Master Aura. Would you like us to clean up the dishes too when we finish eating?"
Aura assured him that wouldn't be necessary but thanked him for the offer before grabbing his bag and his shoes and quietly heading out the door. He hurried down the hallway and knocked on his mother's door hoping her or Kibbs might be awake. Thankfully after a few moments of silence, Darlene opened the door already awake and fully dressed for the day. She smiled at him. "Good morning, Aura. What are you doing here this early?"
He scratched his head. "I was… kind of hoping you could come help me with something… it's for Diamond."
She nodded. "Of course. Come in and we'll talk on the sofa." Darlene opened the door wider and allowed her son to step inside. She gently shut the door and met with Aura on the couch, Kibbs hopping up between them and greeting the young Guardian.
"Heh. Morning, Kibbs." He stroked the dog Pokemon's head and looked at his mother. "What I wanted to talk about is to do with Diamond's birthday. I wanted to ask you for some help finding her a good present."
Kibbs suddenly tossed her head up and leered at Aura almost as if she were offended. "Are you telling us that you haven't gotten her a gift yet?! I would imagine her hatchday must be really close if you're bringing this up?!"
Aura raised his hands in defense. "N-no! I did find her something already, a recipe book to help her learn cooking better, but I want to give her something else; something that shows her how much she really means to me."
"Like that necklace?" Darlene asked. "I saw her wearing it at dinner and could only assume it came from you." Aura confirmed this and his mother rubbed her chin in thought. "Well unfortunately we don't know her as well as you, but seeing as she feels so fondly about that necklace, perhaps something similar? We could go down and look through the market before the opening ceremonies start for the tournament?"
"Yeah. Thanks, mom. I have my bag already and told Prince I'd be heading out, but just to be safe I might go ask Dan to keep my team company until we get back. I'll meet you both downstairs in a few minutes." Aura hugged his mother and Kibbs before quickly standing up and hurrying his friend's room to discuss the plan.
Diamond slowly opened her eyes and sat up with a yawn and stretched. She looked to her left rubbing her eyes. "Mmh, Good morning, Aura…" She expected to hear her mate's caring voice, but all she heard was silence. She moved her hands from her eyes and thought maybe he was just still asleep, only to be shocked that he was nowhere to be seen. Diamond threw the blanket off of her and went to the kitchen hoping he might be there, but she saw nothing other than three plates of food set out on the table with plastic containers covering them to keep the heat in.
"A-Aura?!" Diamond frantically looked around the room and noticed Prince was gone too, however she noticed the curtain for the balcony door moved aside and hurried to the glass door. She slid it open with hope that Aura might just be getting some fresh air, though she had mixed feelings when she saw only the Riolu quietly meditating with another of his candles burning next to him.
"Good morning, Diamond." He greeted calmly.
Diamond stepped out with her paws anxiously over her chest. "Prince! I can't find Aura anywhere!"
The meditating Pokemon slowly shook his head but otherwise did not move a muscle. "Master Aura thought you may worry so he asked me to tell you he was stepping out for a bit and would be back shortly." He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Master Aura has not left yet either, in fact I can still feel his aura nearby." Prince let out another calm breath and pinched the wick of his candle before standing up. "Master Aura did prepare the three of us something to eat but I wanted to wait for you and Stan to wake up so I put some bowls over the plates to keep the heat inside."
Diamond's stomach suddenly gargled quietly and she quickly blushed. "Maybe we should wake up Stan then and start eating? And sorry for interrupting your focus."
Prince placed a paw gently on his teammate's shoulder. "It's all right. You were just worried about Master Aura… Speaking of which, I can actually sense him getting closer." The two went back inside and heard the mechanical lock on the door click open and Aura step inside.
"Oh, good morning, guys! Hope I didn't make you worry too much, Diamond."
Diamond quickly jogged over and hugged him around the waist. "Maybe a little, but I'm just happy you're back."
Aura nervously chuckled. "Well actually I just came back to let you guys know that I have a few errands to run with my mom and asked Dan to keep you company. But don't worry, I'll be back long before the tournament starts this afternoon!"
Suddenly Diamond gasped in shock. "The tournament starts today?! I-we need to get ready!" Suddenly Diamond's mood had done a complete one-eighty as she rushed over to her nightstand and grabbed her stick and necklace before hurrying to the bathroom to clean her fur.
Aura laughed and looked down at Prince. "I have to get going, so would you mind making sure Stan gets up and that you guys eat before I get back?" Prince bowed loyally to his master and assured him they would be fine. Then Aura finally headed down to the lobby where he found Kibbs and Darlene seated on the sofa waiting for him. He rushed over and waved his hand, apologizing for the wait before the three set off for the marketplace.
"Thanks again for helping me. Diamond's been wanting to learn how to cook for a while but she deserves more than just a cookbook." Aura sighed. "You see, Diamond's parents were apparently killed by poachers on her birthday, which was the same day she was brought to Sycamore's lab. That's why I want to finally give her something to look forward to every year now instead of just a reminder of losing her family…"
Darlene smiled and patted her son's shoulder. "That is an incredibly thoughtful thing to do. Arceus did tell us that Diamond's parents were unfortunately lost when she was still just a kit, but that's all, nothing about how it happened nor that it all happened on her hatchday no less." She hugged her son. "I'm very proud of you for caring so deeply about her happiness. I thought you just wanted her gift to be special because it was her first birthday with you, but now we know it holds so much more meaning." Once they finally parted and continued on to the market, Darlene peered down at Kibbs and got her attention. "By any chance would you happen to have any ideas, Kibbs? After all you are both Fire type Pokemon?"
The canid shook her head and shrugged. "Well we barely know Diamond past what we saw yesterday and from everything Aura's told us about her. Even Lady Arceus never gave us much context into her personality other than her timid nature?"
The two Guardians sighed. "Well we have a good several hours still until the tournament, and honestly it does feel nice for the three of us to spend time together again like this." Aura and Kibbs looked at Darlene curiously. "It's gotten pretty quiet back home since you left on your journey, Aura. We haven't really seen you much other than the few times you called."
Aura glanced away guiltily. "Yeah. Sorry about that. We've been pretty busy and I kept forgetting to call. I'll try to call home more often though!"
His mother giggled. "Thanks, hon, I'd love that. It will be nice to talk about things with someone else for a change."
Kibbs looked up at her trainer a bit peeved. "Hey! I'm not that boring!" She defended.
They all began to chuckle happily. "Well you're not exactly the best company when taking a nap." Darlene retorted jokingly.
Kibbs returned a forced sneer and scoffed, facing away with her nose up. "How dare you-" Suddenly the Growlithe came to an abrupt halt which quickly prompted the other two to stop as well. Darting her eyes back and forth and twitching her ears, Kibbs turned to her left and stood tall and alert like a blood-Houndour locking onto something's scent. Without a word, Kibbs began trotting off in that direction leaving Aura and Darlene to simply shrug and follow behind, eventually coming to a stall carrying a large variety of accessories.
"What's up, Kibbs?" Aura finally asked.
She pointed a paw at a display wrack and grinned. "See those stud-earrings? The reddish-orange ones?" She waited for Aura and Darlene to locate the studs and nod. "Well guess what? Those are made of genuine Firestone! And not only that, but they're imported straight from Cinnabar Island!" Kibbs practically squealed as if hoping to get a pair for herself.
Aura took a closer look. "Firestones from an actual volcano?" He glanced over to the old man managing the stall and called for him. "Excuse me, sir? How much are these earrings?"
The man smiled and rubbed his hands. "Ah! Those are valuable studs crafted from Firestone mined deep within an active volcano over fifty years ago! They don't exactly come cheap, my friend."
Aura took out his wallet and looked into the man's eyes. "I only asked how much?" He said jokingly.
The old man snorted in response and ushered him over to the register. "Heheh, I like you, boy. Something about you really grabs my attention more than anyone else I've ever met. These are for someone very special, aren't they?" The man asked, picking the studs off the display and setting them in a small box. "Although the professionally cut Firestone is worth a hefty sum, the price is a bit diminished by the cheap metal the crafters had used. So the price would be about seven-thousand Pokeyen!"
Aura nodded. "I'll take them." The old man smiled and set up the register for Aura to scan his card and finalize the sale.
With the earrings wrapped in bright cyan tissue paper inside a small black box, the old man snickered as he tied a red ribbon around it with a quaint bow on top. "Here you go. I'm sure that special somebody will greatly appreciate these."
Aura cocked his brow from the cryptic feeling the old man provided, however nothing else seemed out of the ordinary so he simply ignored it and graciously took the box. "Thank you very much. Have a nice day, sir." Aura bowed and the old man laughed, waving them off and wishing him luck.
"Is it just me or did that man feel a bit… I don't know…" Kibbs wondered.
"Who knows?" Aura shrugged. "Anyways, I'm glad I asked you guys to come along. I think you may have helped me get the perfect gift." Kibbs waved a dismissive paw as Aura gazed at the small box in his hands. Though he couldn't sense anything off about the stones within, he felt like that merchant was far more than what he seemed.
