Chapter 23
Thunder boomed through the air as dark clouds quickly began to blanket the sky. "Shit! This one looks real bad, we need to find some shelter!" Aura looked over to Daniel and saw he'd already taken out his Town Map.
"One step ahead of you, but maybe you should return Stan to his ball. Not to be that guy, but having him out might attract some unwanted lightning."
Aura nodded and quickly took Stan's Pokeball from his belt. "Sorry, buddy. But Dan has a point."
The little Shinx looked at the sky and smiled. "Don't worry. If it keeps everyone else safe then I'm happy to go back in my ball."
"Thanks. I'll let you back out once we're all clear." After recalling the electric type back to his ball, Aura began pulling out a thin rubber poncho from his bag, suggesting Diamond grab the two small ones in her backpack for her and Prince.
"Good news, looks like we're only a couple minutes away from the Daycare so maybe we can hunker down there until the storm blows over."
"Well then let's move it!" Aura exclaimed, helping Diamond and Prince put on their ponchos before the group hurried down the road as the rain came pouring down. It didn't take very long for them to reach the Pokemon Daycare and they ran to the front door and scrambled into the foyer. "Phew! We made it… You guys doing all right?"
Diamond removed her poncho and set down her bag. She pulled out her towel and started to dry her fur, giving her necklace a quick wipe as well. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just a bit of rain-"
"KRA-KROOM!"
Diamond's entire body tensed, "a-and th-thunder…"
Aura grabbed two towels from his bag and passed one to Prince. "Kinda wish I got some better raincoats though. Hopefully the owners don't mind us waiting out the storm here."
"So long as you don't cause any trouble it shouldn't be a problem at all."
They all turned to see a man standing behind the counter with a large grin. He looked to be in his early thirties and wore a green cap that hid his curly black hair, and a pair of matching pair of green overalls with a blue t-shirt underneath.
"Oh! Sorry for just barging in like this but we kinda needed to get out of the storm," Aura explained while drying his hair.
The man pushed off the counter and walked closer. "No need to apologize. People can come in as they please since they're usually here to either pick up or drop off their Pokemon, it is a Pokemon Daycare after all." The man stepped forward and raised his hand, "My name's Kerry, the current overseer for the Daycare."
As Aura was a bit preoccupied helping his Pokemon dry off, Dan introduced them all accordingly. "Nice to meet you, Kerry. I'm Daniel, he's Aura, and those are his Pokemon, Diamond and Prince." Dan gestured to the Braixen and Riolu respectively.
"I also have a Shinx, but I put him back in his ball so he couldn't accidentally attract any lightning," Aura affirmed as he helped dry Diamond's tail, "speaking of which, would it be all right if we stayed here until the storm's over?"
Kerry nodded. "Fine by me. We have some spare rooms for situations like this anyhow."
"Thanks a lot, Kerry." Dan said, "Hopefully we'll be on the road again by tomorrow."
Out of nowhere, a long, white and brown figure rushed into the room and nearly tripped Kerry as it happily barked a greeting, "Linoone~!"
Kerry regained his footing and sighed. "Linia! I've told you to slow down when indoors!" The Linoone looked back and lowered her head, letting out an apologetic whimper. "Haah… Just be more careful."
"Is that your partner?" Dan asked.
Kerry glanced at the Normal type. "Yeah. She's been with us for years in fact," he knelt down and stroked the Pokemon's smooth fur, "she helps our Herdier corral the Pokemon in the fields, guess she's done though if she's in here." Linia let out an affirmative bark of confirmation.
A sudden booming crash of thunder startled Diamond and made her jump with a loud yip, her head narrowly missing her trainer's chin.
"Woah! It's okay!"
She turned around with a relieved sigh. "S-sorry. It just caught me off guard.
He draped the towel over her head and playfully ruffled it. "Well we haven't been stuck in a storm like this until now."
Kerry went over to the window and shook his head. "Yeesh, looks pretty bad out there. Hopefully all the workers made it back inside safely."
"Thanks again for letting us stay the night," Dan said, "we wouldn't last a minute out there in a tent."
Kerry waved his hand. "Don't mention it, it's not like we could just force you out there in good conscience. Anywho, I'll show you guys to a spare room and then I gotta go help make sure all the Pokemon are present and accounted for. Afterwards y'all can join us for dinner, my sis is a great cook."
Aura took the towels from his Pokemon and folded them neatly. "Sounds great, thank you."
They followed Kerry down the hallway, passing by an archway leading into a kitchen where a black-haired woman was standing at the stove, a delicious smell wafting through the air. "Wow, that does smell great," Diamond commented with a sigh.
"You've got that right. Even if my nose isn't as good as yours, I can still tell that food is gonna be delicious!"
Kerry glanced back. "Your bond must be really strong if you can understand her so well. You must've been partners for a long time?"
Aura smirked. "Actually, we've only been together for about a month, I can just naturally understand Pokemon like it's a second language."
"Really?! That's something to behold, are you some kind of psychic?"
"Err… Something like that? But it's nice to know we come off as such good partners, don't you think?" Him and Diamond looked at each other.
("Maybe it's because we're mates?") She replied, using her telepathy so Kerry wasn't left in the dark.
The breeder looked at them in surprise. "You two are mates?"
Aura looked forward. "We are. That isn't a problem, is it?" He inquired, a nearly unnoticeable hint of spite in his tone.
Kerry quickly shook his head. "Not in the slightest! We've supported trainer and Pokemon relationships even before the WPOS was created, in fact we often have interspecies couples come here asking for help producing an egg. Sorry for acting so surprised though, I imagine you both have to put up with a lot and it kinda leaves you on edge."
Aura actually smirked. "Thanks, I don't really care how much people hate on me for it, but one hateful remark towards Diamond," he closed his eyes and took a breath, "let's just say it's not a good idea."
Kerry nervously gulped, thinking what the mysterious trainer could do to those unlucky enough to cross his path like that. "W-well anyways, here's your room. I'll let you guys get settled. Bathroom's right there and you can put away some stuff in the minifridge if you wanna keep it cold. Other than that feel free to hang out here and watch TV or walk around the house. I'll come fetch ya when dinner's ready so see ya then!" With Linia at his heels, Kerry hurried back down the hall while leaving Aura and Dan to change into some dry clothes.
"Hey, Aura?" Diamond asked, sitting on the bed as Aura dug through his bag.
He slipped his shirt over his head before responding. "Yeah? Something wrong?"
Diamond shook her head. "No, I was just curious… remember when you were going to tell me about human-Pokemon relationships?"
"Yeah, and I assume you're gonna ask me to explain it?" She nodded. "Well, I guess we have time before we eat so I might as well." He took Stan's Pokeball and let the Shinx out beside Prince. "You guys wanna hear this too?"
"I wouldn't mind learning more about this function." Prince affirmed.
"I don't know what you're talking about but I wanna know too!" Stan followed.
*Authors note: Exposition time, everyone!*
Aura sat down beside Diamond and took a breath. "Well to start off, I don't know what I can really say about human-Pokemon relationships other than they were never actually illegal, but a lot more people were against it before the WPOS shut-down system was made."
"What's that?" Diamond asked.
"The WPOS stands for Willpower Override System, and it's pretty much the core system for how Pokeballs work. It restricts a portion of the Pokemon's free will so their trainer has more influence over them, but it still left the Pokemon with enough free will so it can still have it's own thoughts, just make it harder to rebel against the trainer's commands."
"So this gives you control over the three of us?" Prince wondered.
Aura shook his head. "Yes and no? It does give me a little more influence over you and Stan, but unless I give an explicit order for you to follow then it pretty much does nothing and you're acting on your own decisions, although it does help that they have an optional setting to disable some of the system functions and give the Pokemon more free will. But only for the trainer that specific Pokeball is linked to.
"So then what about me?" Diamond asked.
"That's where the total shut-down system comes in. You were under the influence of the WPOS at the start, but with how advanced the Pokeball is they were able to implement an automatic shut off for Pokemon that mated with their trainers…" Both of them suddenly blushed and they heard Dan snicker from across the room.
"Sorry, but that is how it works." Dan pulled out his textbook and flipped through it for a moment. "Since the Pokeball is linked to the trainer's profile just like their Pokedex, whenever the Pokemon is either returned to their ball or is scanned by the Pokedex or is taken to a Pokemon Center to be healed, they undergo a small bio-scan and if they find traces of certain 'substances' in the Pokemon's body then it will send a signal to the Pokeball and automatically perform a total shutdown of the Willpower Override System. Furthermore, any sequential Pokeball that Pokemon's DNA is linked to will also undergo the shutdown." He closed his book and smiled. "Although, that's just the textbook definition."
Aura sighed. "Right… A-anyway, since we're mates it completely shut off the WPOS in your Pokeball which means you're pretty much as free as a wild Pokemon."
Diamond looked over her body with a puzzled expression. "B-but I don't think I feel any different?"
"Probably because of how I always treat you guys." She looked at him curiously. "The way the system affects the Pokemon also depends on the trainer and takes into account any previous orders; since I want you guys to have your own opinions and feelings, the WPOS is essentially useless for you three."
Diamond, Prince and Stan all glanced at one another. "I still don't get it?"
"Heh, maybe you should tell them about the story behind the Willpower Override System." Dan suggested.
Aura shrugged. "May as well." He took out his phone and quickly pulled up a related article.
"It was almost thirty years ago, Pokephilia wasn't seen as an acceptable act by a large majority, but despite this it was never outlawed and there were still thousands of trainers across the globe who participated in these interspecies relations, including three of the world's most respected and well known trainers. They kept their love for their Pokemon a secret for many years, but knowing how this descrimination not only hurt countless innocent trainers but also hurt the Pokemon as well, these three trainers decided to put their high status at risk to make a change that would help millions of innocent people and Pokemon. It was in the Sinnoh Region where it eventually took place, the League assisted the trio in their endeavors and set up a special event that was to be broadcasted live across the entire world on nearly every channel.
"The trainers stood together on stage in front of millions and admitted to being in love with their Pokemon, but of course almost everyone started to either hate them for their ridiculous claim or not believe them and assume it was all a publicity stunt, so they proved to everyone that the love shared between them and their Pokemon was truly mutual."
"So what did they do?" Diamond asked, getting into the story.
"The trainers sent out the Pokemon they were in love with, making sure to keep their Pokeballs in clear view the entire time, and ordered them to tell the crowd they were not in love; however, none of the Pokemon did as they were told and instead, with the telepathic abilities of one of their Pokemon, they were able to reaffirmed what their trainers had said and claimed to be in love with their trainers. Most people started to claim they must have ordered their Pokemon to say this beforehand, but anticipating this reaction, the three trainers proceeded to destroy the Pokeballs of their partner Pokemon and once again told them to say they were not in a relationship. Still the Pokemon refused and proclaimed their love for their trainers and simply destroying their Pokeballs would not change that fact. Since without the Pokeballs, the Pokemon were technically wild again and completely free from the WPOS, many people could not deny the proof before them and were inclined to take the Pokemon's words as the truth and eventually the majority turned to supporting these relationships as hundreds of people began to crowd the stage proclaiming their own love for their Pokemon. This event then brought upon the creation of the WPOS shutdown system: when a captured Pokemon mates with a human, whether it be consensual or not, the Willpower Override System would completely shut down, restoring the Pokemon's free will entirely and totally revoking the trainer's influence while still keeping the Pokemon tied to their ball. Future updates to the system then included the optional shutdown setting alongside the inability to recall the Pokemon without manually authorized reactivation or the full consent of the Pokemon."
As the story finally came to an end and Aura returned his phone to his pocket, Diamond looked at her mate in disbelief. "So, you couldn't even return me to my ball unless I let you?"
Aura nodded. "Exactly. Although since I did the manual shutdown for Prince and Stan I can still return them as normal, but whether you guys follow my orders or not is entirely up to you. The only difference is that I did the manual shutdown with Stan and Prince which only deactivates the basics of the WPOS, but it doesn't change the fact that I want each of you to have the freedom you deserve no matter what. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you may technically be my Pokemon, but you're my family before anything else."
Diamond felt tears welling in her eyes as she leaned against her mate. "I still don't understand a whole lot of what you just told us, but I'm really glad you aren't like those other trainers."
He smirked. "Well we have a long road ahead of us, so you can ask me this stuff anytime you feel like it, same goes for you guys." He said, looking at Prince and Stan.
They heard a knock on the door. "Hey, guys. Hope you're hungry cause dinner's ready!"
Dan quickly stood up and called back. "Thanks, Kerry. We'll be right there!" As they heard Kerry leave, Dan grabbed his Pokeballs and let out his team. "Time to eat, everyone!"
As Dan led his team out into the hall, Aura stood up and followed behind. "Come on, guys. Let's not make them wait for us."
While Stan and Prince hurried to the door with their trainer, Diamond remained on the bed quietly. "I-I'll be right there." She said, ushering for them to go on ahead. As soon as everyone was out of sight, Diamond picked up her Pokeball and stared at it deeply, smiling as she thought about how lucky she was to have a partner like Aura. She set her ball back down and hurried to catch up with her family.
With the morning sunlight shining down on the rain-soaked earth, it was time for the crew to head out on the road once again. Aura and the others stepped out to the front of the Daycare, turning back to see Kerry and Linia standing by the door. "Thanks again for letting us stay the night. It was nice meeting you."
Kerry waved his hand, "Don't mention it, it's always nice to have visitors, even if it's just for one stormy night." He leaned out the door and looked down the path to the small mountain in the distance. "Since you're gonna be traveling to Ambrette Town next I'd advise taking extra caution once you get through Connecting Cave, the cliffs on the other side get real dangerous after heavy rain and could easily turn into a landslide. My advice, keep your distance from the edge and stay close to the mountain side."
Dan nodded and looked up from his Town Map. "Thanks, Kerry. We'll keep that in mind."
"That's good to hear. And best of luck with your next Gym battle, Aura!"
"I appreciate it! See you again sometime!" With their farewells out of the way, the group was finally back on the rather muddy road.
Dan glanced over to Aura for a second. "By the way, did you remember to call your mom after supper last night?"
Aura pulled out his phone. "Yep, but I probably would've forgotten again if Diamond didn't remind me." The fox crossed her arms and nodded. "So how long should it take before we reach Ambrette?"
Dan nodded to himself and closed his navigation device. "It should only take a few hours to pass through Connecting Cave so we might reach Ambrette by tomorrow morning if not later tonight if we keep moving."
"Awesome, once we get there we can start our training for the next gym! How's that sound, guys?" His team quickly nodded in approval and felt psyched to finally earn their second badge.
With spirits high from finally returning to their journey, none of them were expecting what awaited their arrival in the near future.
