This chapter turned out to be way longer than expected, but at least I managed to get it written in roughly a week. I have a general idea for the next two chapters so I hope to get them out before the end of the month, but I can't guarantee.

Now I'm not going to keep you all waiting any longer, so here's the newest chapter.


Chapter 30: Wilted Lilly

After earning his second badge, and spending some quality time with Diamond. Aura and the others had left Cyllage City the next day and were now headed towards their next destination.

A few hours after leaving the city that morning, they found themselves traveling through a lush forest with plenty of flower bushes wherever they looked. It was a serene setting and they felt it would be cruel not to have everyone enjoy it.

"What say we break for lunch and let our Pokemon out for a while?" Aura suggested, slowing down and looking around, "I've always liked this kind of natural areas, it's really refreshing."

Diamond's stomach quietly rumbled. She blushed and glanced away as Aura chuckled. "I could use something to eat." She muttered in embarrassment.

Dan looked into the sky, seeing the sun not too far from it's peak, "I guess it's close enough to supper time, but I don't really get how you two can be so hungry already." He laughed.

Aura shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it was all the excitement from my battle yesterday." He started scanning their surroundings for a place to rest, seeing a small clearing not too far away and leading them to it. "Alright everyone, come out!" Aura tossed the three Pokeballs containing his team into the air.

"You guys too." Dan followed, tossing his Pokeballs up as well.

Flash after flash, each of their Pokemon stood in a group before their trainers.

"What do you need from us, Daniel?" Nessa inquired, elegantly walking towards her trainer's side.

Spyke crossed his arms and looked around, "Yeah, are we lost or something?" He raised his paw in a fist, "Or are we gonna do some battling?"

The trainer shook his head. "No, we're just stopping for a bit to have lunch." He explained, gently picking Missy up from the ground and petting her head.

Aura smirked, looking over to his own Pokemon as Prince approached him, kneeling down at his feet, "Is there anything you would like me to do, Master Aura?"

Aura awkwardly scratched his cheek, "Thanks for the offer, Prince. But you can just relax for now, okay? You and Stan put of quite the fight yesterday and I want you two to keep resting for a bit longer."

Prince nodded, "As you wish."

After Prince stood up and walked away, Aura looked over to Tia and Diamond who were standing by and speaking with one another. He smiled and made his way over to them. "Hey you two, mind helping we with something?"

The halted their conversation and set their attention on the trainer. "What is it?" Diamond asked.

"I was wondering if you two could help gather some firewood? We'll go a bit further away though cause I don't really wanna ruin this place," he explained, looking around the lush clearing.

Tia nervously nodded and turned towards him, "O-of course. I'd be happy to help."

Aura nodded, "Good, we could also think of this as a training exercise since you two didn't battle in the last gym match." He started walking towards one of the far edges of the clearing with the girls quickly following.

A few minutes later they had found some small trees in a craggy area with more rocks than grass.

"This looks like a good spot. And most of these trees are dead anyway so it should be fine to cut a few down for wood."

Tia curiously looked up, "But do we really need that much wood?"

Aura smiled, "We could probably leave a pile for anyone else who passes by the clearing after we leave, so it won't go to waste. Now, let's get chopping!" He said, rubbing his hands together. Pointing to one of the trees, Aura let Diamond be the first up, "See if you can chop down that one with Cut."

The fox happily nodded and pulled her stick from her tail, a long white blade of energy forming from the tip as Diamond ran toward the sun-dried tree. With elegant movements, the bipedal canine jumped forward and slashed at the trunk, skidding to a halt behind it with the wood sliding down and falling to the rocky ground.

Diamond smiled cheerfully as the blade vanished with Aura and Tia jogging towards her. "How did I do?" She asked.

Aura lifted the small tree that was not much taller than the fox who cut it. He admired the smooth cut at the base as he ran his finger along it. "Not bad. You're getting a lot stronger for sure." Diamond's tail wagged from the compliment. "Alright, now it's Tia's turn."

The trainer looked around and noticed a slightly larger tree in the distance. He took a second to go over Tia's attacks before giving her an order, this being the first time he has actually done any form of training with her.

"Let's try out a Slash attack. Okay?"

Tia nodded and took a stance with her legs spread and her head lowered. She focused her gaze on the tree as a low growling resonated from the dark-type, her horn began to glow white and extend before the Absol took off sprinting toward her target.

With a powerful leap, Tia dove forward and furiously swung her head, a loud "shwing!" sound echoed as her razor sharp horn effortlessly sliced through the thick wood and caused the tree to fall to the ground behind her. Flicking her head to the side, Tia's horn shrunk down to it's normal size and ceased to glow as she turned around to see the impressed faces of the other two.

Diamond's eyes glistened as she was awestruck by the sheer power her friend displayed. Tia lightly flushed from the looks she received. "Did I do good?"

"That was amazing, Tia. You've really got a lot of power behind you." He praised, walking over to the downed tree and kneeling at it's base. "You and Diamond have some great technique to get these cuts to be so smooth."

The girls blushed and looked at each other with proud smiles. "Do we need any more wood, Aura?" Diamond asked, tightly holding her stick secretly just wanting to show off her skill even more.

"I think we have enough for the fire and then some, but I can see you're eager to keep training so maybe you two can chop these down a bit more, how about it?"

He couldn't me more right about the two being eager to train. It was in their nature as Pokemon to want to grow stronger and battle, although some Pokemon don't feel as strongly towards the act, it is always a part of who they are.

With a little help from the canines, Aura moved the trees further into the rocky clearing and positioned them in specific ways. He wiped his brow and got his distance from the wood with the Pokemon standing by his side, loyally waiting for a command as their trainer reviewed the situation.

"I think a good place to start is to get rid of all the branches. But not much challenge there…" Aura scratched his chin with a firm gaze on the two dead trees, snapping his fingers with a grin and taking his phone from his pocket, "Let's try this. See how close you can cut each branch to the base as quick as you can. Test your accuracy."

The Pokemon nodded and faced their targets, curiously glancing back at Aura as he tapped his phone to bring up a stopwatch. With Diamond holding her stick firmly in her grasp, and Tia readying herself to pounce, they felt excited to finally be getting some well needed exercise.

"I just wanna make this clear. This isn't a competition, okay?" The two looked at him as if offended by the statement, causing the Guardian to awkwardly chuckle. "A-anyway. Tia, let's try your Night Slash this time, and Diamond continue with Cut. Ready? Go!" He said, tapping his stopwatch as the two took off with their attacks ready.

Tia ran noticeably faster than Diamond, quickly overtaking the fox as she pounced towards her tree with her horn glowing purple with a dark trail behind it. With smooth and easy movements, splinters of wood flew in the air as Tia's horn slashed through the branches, quickly bringing her head back up to do the same with the other side.

At the same time, only a few seconds behind Tia, Diamond nimbly leaped forward and sliced her blade clean through the thin branches, following Tia's actions and slashing back upward to clear off the other side.

"That was great you two! Only took about ten or so seconds to finish." Aura praised excitedly. "Now let's see how you did." Pocketing his phone, Aura hurried over to the Pokemon and reviewed the results.

As Aura did that, Diamond looked over to the Dark-type with a friendly smile, the Absol returning a shy one of her own. "So how close did we get?" Diamond asked, walking behind the kneeling trainer and peering over his shoulder.

"Both of them look pretty damn close. A few were a bit off but otherwise perfect." He looked over his shoulder at them, an enthusiastic grin spread across his face from the excitement he felt as well. "Ready for the next step?"

After a few minor adjustments to the trees, Aura lead the two back to their starting position and rubbed his hands together. "After this there will only be one last thing I wanna try, and then we'll head back to the others," he glanced back to the direction they came from and rubbed his head, "they probably think we got lost or something."

"Nah, we figured you might have been training." They heard a voice say. The leaves began to rustle behind them before a starred tail poked out followed by a blue face bearing a cheerful grin. Tia blushed as the feline strode out from the bush with his tail flicking in the air.

"Stan? I thought I asked you to rest for today?" Aura said with a somewhat stern yet confused tone.

The Luxio awkwardly laughed as he couldn't deny his trainer's words. He shrugged, "I kind of got bored sitting around and doing nothing. So when I heard something going on over here I came to have a look." He sighed with an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

Aura knelt down next to his Luxio, patting him on the head. "It's fine, I just want you all to be healthy." Stan nodded as his trainer stood back up, "Now then, shall we continue?"

Diamond and Tia nodded happily before facing the trees once again. Stan excitedly walked up to his trainer's side and sat down with a smile, he was very curious about the training, but he couldn't help finding his gaze slowly drifting toward the Absol's rear, causing his face to faintly flush as he quickly forced himself to glance away.

"I want you guys to use Cut and Night Slash to cut these logs down to size." The two nodded as Aura took some mental measurements, "Three even pieces should be good for both of them. They don't need to be perfect, just do your best, got it?"

Receiving another nod of confirmation from the two, Aura gave them the signal and they took off again.

Stan's eyes were glued to Tia. The Absol lunging forward like before, but this time she swiftly swung her head back and forth. Right as she landed, the tree immediately broke apart into three logs.

Lagging a couple seconds behind, Diamond firmly slashed her blade similar to a skilled swordsman. What she lacked in running speed, she certainly made up for in accuracy and agility as her slashes were slightly smoother than Tia's. Just like the other one, Diamond's target instantly collapsed with clean cuts down the trunk.

"Great job you two!" Aura called, applauding their skillful work. He looked down to the Luxio at his side and blinked, "Stan? Are you okay? You're nose is bleeding."

The Luxio suddenly snapped back to reality from his hypnotized state and felt something running down his lips. He quickly wiped the crimson liquid away with his paw, "U-uh. Yeah… I'm fine." He stuttered, glancing back at the Absol's slim yet firm figure as her and Diamond approached.

Aura couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the feline, though decided to leave it be, knowing Stan wasn't one to keep serious problems from him. The trainer returned his attention back to the others and nodded, "Alright, last thing for now then we head back for lunch, okay?"

The Pokemon were just about to answer when an explosion suddenly rang through the air. "What was that?" Diamond panicked, frantically looking around.

"I don't know, but judging by that smoke it can't be good!" Aura pointed towards the sky where a pillar of smoke rose up in the distance. "Stan! Go tell the others there might be trouble while we go check it out!" The trainer said.

Stan glanced toward the smoke, "But I want to help!"

Aura shook his head, "You can run fast, so you can get back quicker. Besides," he looked to the other two, "Diamond and Tia haven't really been in any fights lately, so they should have a bit more energy saved up."

"Aura is right." Tia stepped forward, "Please, Stan. Go tell the others. We'll be okay."

The Luxio blinked in a confused yet flustered manner at the Absol, but nodded nonetheless as he quickly spun around and took off back to the others.

Aura faced Tia and Diamond and nodded, "Let's go." The two followed close behind their trainer as he started running in the direction of the smoke, each worried something bad awaited them, but at the same time, they couldn't help but enjoy the thought of a possible battle after their short training session.

Pushing their way into another clearing, they noticed a small crater near the steep dirt wall at the back with a large group of Electrike and Houndour creating a ring of sorts around the low cliff. Through the open spaces between the Pokemon, Aura's eyes widened as he spotted a small brown Pokemon with cream coloured fur in large clumps around it's body, next to it stood a bulky Pokemon with purple fur.

The purple Pokemon grabbed the small Pokemon by the ear and lifted it in the air, eliciting a squeal of pain from the injured Buneary as the Granbull loudly barked in anger.

Adjusting himself to get a better look, Aura accidentally stepped on a small twig causing the Granbull's ear to twitch and turn it's head towards the three onlookers. The Granbull appeared battle torn with one of it's large fangs missing and it's right eye forced shut by a large scar.

"This isn't good." Aura muttered, watching the Granbull roughly toss the Buneary to the ground and stomp toward them, the Pokemon around it following it's movements and turning as well.

The dog glared at them and snarled. "What are you doing trespassing in MY territory?!" It barked.

Aura stood up, "What are you doing to that Buneary?" He questioned.

Granbull bared it's teeth and growled in anger. "You have one chance to leave, human! Or you'll suffer the same as this worthless thief!" It barked again, glancing back at the injured Buneary.

Sensing the impending danger, Diamond and Tia jumped in front of Aura ready to act at a moment's notice. Diamond held her stick tight while Tia arched her back as if ready to pounce. "You'll regret threatening our trainer!" Tia growled.

Behind them, Aura could also tell things were about to get rough as he started glowing faintly with blue energy. "We aren't going anywhere."

A pulse of anger showed on the Granbull's forehead. "You've made a big mistake!" With a loud roar, Granbull gave the order to attack. Every one of the Electrike and Houndour around it suddenly rushing the trio intending to rip them apart for intruding on their land.

"Diamond, surround them with Fire Spin!"

Twirling her stick like a baton with both ends lit ablaze, a spiraling stream of fire shot forward and created a large burning ring around them. Moments before the fire completely engulfed the horde, many of the Electrike escaped with the use of Quick Attack and scattered about. Though some were not as lucky as howls of pain came from the swirling flames.

The Electrike that avoided the attack make quick work surrounding the group with showers of sparks surging from their bodies, but they were only the beginning as out from the wall of fire emerged each of the Houndour that had taken the hit, many of which completely untouched and even stronger.

Now circled by at least a dozen of the canine Pokemon, Tia and Diamond slowly backed up close to their trainer while the aggressive Pokemon slowly closed in.

"What are we going to do? There's too many of them." Diamond observed, frantically looking around.

Aura gasped, "That's it! Tia, even it out with Double Team and use Shadow Ball!"

Glancing over her shoulder, the Absol lowered her head and let out a low growling sound before multiple slightly blurred copies of herself spread around them, each of which began forming a ball of purple and black energy at their mouths then firing them in every direction, exploding on impact with each of the circling Pokemon.

The copies of the Absol quickly disappeared with the original standing back in her original position, the trio now surrounded by a ring of unconscious and badly weakened Pokemon. But as they began dragging their fallen allies away, the Granbull snarled from behind the dying flames Diamond created.

"You lost!" Aura called, taking a step forward, "If you don't want to end up like your friends here, leave that Buneary alone and go back to wherever you came from!"

The Granbull glanced around the clearing at the burnt and bruised Pokemon before facing the trio again with a nasty glare. "This isn't over!" It barked, storming off in the direction the others had gone.

Nodding confidently, Aura hurried to the Buneary with Tia and Diamond close by. "You think she'll be okay?" Tia asked, able to tell it was a female.

"I hope so, we'll take her back to make- huh?" Aura paused as the rabbit Pokemon began to weakly squirm in his arms. It slowly opened it's eyes, but instead of the thankful joy they hoped to see, her eyes were filled with absolute terror as she violently squirmed in Aura's grasp.

"H-hey! Calm down!" Diamond said, trying to coax the Pokemon.

The Buneary stopped squirming for a second as a blue and white ball formed near it's mouth, immediately firing off an Ice Beam at Aura's face and creating a thick layer of ice around his head until he finally released her, the rabbit running off into the forest without looking back.

Although they were concerned for the injured bunny, they were more worried for their trainer as fell back with a thud from the ice. Diamond acted fast as she exhaled a small flame at the ice and quickly melting it off, her and Tia helping the trainer sit up as he harshly shivered with water dripping from his head.

"I-I'm o-o-okay. T-t-t-thanks." He stuttered.

"They're over here!" They heard Stan's voice, looking off to where they came from to see the Luxio jump through the foliage with Dan and the rest of them all trailing behind.

Dan nearly fell back as he saw his friend dripping with water and shivering as Diamond and Tia were closely pressed against him. "What the hell happened? You look like you got in a fight with a Dewgong or something!"

Aura grinned, "T-try a B-B-Buneary." He joked.

Dan sighed, "Come on, let's get you back now, we'll probably settle down for the night to make sure you don't get sick." With some help from the Pokemon, they helped Aura back to the campsite and prepared for lunch.

Sitting around the fire with a broiling pot of stew hung above it, Diamond kept herself pressed against Aura to give him extra warmth, not wanting to leave his side in fear he could get sick. Although she felt even warmer herself as Aura had removed his wet shirt and held her by the waist, leaving the fox just a bit aroused by the situation as she rest her head against his chest.

"It's already getting dark." Aura said, Diamond looking up and seeing him facing the sky.

"Well with you deciding to train when you went to get wood, and then having to bring you and get the wood you cut all back here before we could start cooking, it's not surprising that the day's already gone." Dan noted, pouring some of the stew into a bowl and bringing it to Aura. "So, what did happen in that clearing back there? All I know is that after Stan went to find you, he came running back in a panic about some smoke or something."

Diamond let go of Aura so he could reach out and take the bowl. "After we got to that clearing we saw some Houndour and Electrike around a pretty beat up Granbull. I guess the Granbull was their pack leader because it was talking about us trespassing in it's territory."

Dan brought another bowl over for Diamond and began dishing out some for everyone else, "That's really weird. Granbull are usually more docile Pokemon, I wonder why this one was so aggressive." After setting down some bowls for the other Pokemon, Dan filled his own bowl and sat next to Aura.

"I guess this one just doesn't like to follow the norm," Aura glanced at Diamond and smirked as she shoveled a spoonful of stew into her mouth, not bothered by the heat at all, "kind of like me." The fox suddenly looked up at him, pausing as he wiped a bit of gravy off her chin.

"You've got a point. Stuff like the Pokedex only really bases these kinds of things on the average data, but that doesn't mean they're all like that." Dan stroked Missy's back as she sat by him eating from a bowl.

Diamond's ears twitched and swiveled around. "Something up, Diamond?" Aura asked.

She looked behind them with her ears continuing to twitch, "I swear I heard something in the bushes. Maybe those Pokemon followed us." Standing up with her stick drawn, Diamond carefully watched the rustling bushes waiting for something to pop out, and what did left them all a bit surprised.

The leaves and flowers parted as a Buneary weakly pushed it's way through the plants and stumbled forward, it's nose twitched as it sniffed about as if lured there by the smell of their food. "Well, this looks familiar." Aura whispered to himself. Not even a foot out of the brush, the small bunny let out a quiet squeak of pain before falling to the ground.

"Is that the Buneary you found with the Granbull?" Dan asked while Aura carefully crawled toward it with Diamond following.

"Looks like it. Must have come here looking for food." The trainer gently picked up it's beaten body, carrying it back toward the fire as Dan retrieved his first-aid kit. "Hopefully she won't try to run away again when she wakes up."

Taking the kit from Dan, the two sat together and began treating Buneary's wounds. Aura felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Stan sitting behind him. "Wouldn't you be able to heal her with your aura? You did it for Missy, right?"

Aura sighed as he continued to help Dan apply bandages, "I don't want to rely on my aura too much unless necessary. Besides, I felt pretty drained when I did it last time, and I don't want to risk it if that Granbull shows up again."

After a few minutes of tending to Buneary's wounds, Aura had Tia and Diamond watch over her while he and Dan set up their tents. "Aura! She's waking up!" Diamond called just as Aura finished with the tent.

The Buneary groaned and opened her eyes, as soon as she saw the familiar faces around her she quickly began to squirm again like before, but this time it only made her wince in pain before panting lightly. "P-Please. Don't hurt me." She whimpered, her entire body shaking in fear.

"We're not going to. We were the ones who saved you from that Granbull." Aura tried to explain in hopes she'd calm down.

"Here, if she came here looking for food, we might as well feed her." Dan suggested, bringing over a small bowl of the stew and kneeling down next to Diamond. The Buneary blinked in confusion as the human scooped up a spoonful of the food and held it to the Pokemon's mouth. "Go ahead."

Cautiously sniffing the food, Buneary slowly took a small bit of it into her mouth, pausing in shock from the flavour as she quickly swallowed and leaned over for another bite. Her fears pushed aside and almost immediately forgotten as she desperately satisfied her hunger.

Once the bowl had been emptied, Buneary let out a sigh and looked around at the group, now sitting on a small cushion between Aura and Diamond. "Thank you for helping me." She said while poking her paws together. "And I'm sorry for attacking you earlier."

Aura waved his hand, "It's no big deal. You were just scared is all, makes sense considering you were just being attacked before we found you."

"Do you have a name?" Diamond asked, eating more of the stew.

Buneary lowered her head, "Kind of. My old trainer never gave me a name, but one of his Pokemon would call me Lilly after after they found me in a flower bush."

"Old trainer? So you were abandoned?" Aura asked in shock.

Lilly nodded, "He abandoned me because I had wouldn't evolve and had trouble keeping up with the rest of his team. I wasn't with them for long, but It's been hard trying to survive in the wild after already being weak from the training he made me do."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Aura sighed, "It's disgusting how selfish people can be. Abandoning a Pokemon just because of the way they evolve?"

"Why don't you catch her then?" They turned around to look at Tia as she meekly lowered her head. "I-I mean. You took me in after I almost killed you, and you were still kind to me. Maybe Lilly could come with and have a better life?"

Aura looked down at Lilly with the rabbit returning his gaze. "Would you be okay with joining us, Lilly? It's up to you."

The Buneary felt a tear in her eye as she eagerly nodded, "I'd be happy to be your Pokemon. I wouldn't be able to survive out here in the wild alone, and if I were to be caught by anyone, I'd want it to be you."

Everyone couldn't help but smile. Aura felt a tug on his shirt, turning to see Diamond standing behind him with one of his empty Pokeballs in her paw. She lightly blushed, "I was honestly hoping to ask her myself, so I got one out while you were setting up the tent."

Aura snickered as he took the ball and reached up to rub the fox's head, "You really do know me well." Turning back to Lilly, Aura held the ball in his hand and smiled, "You ready?" Receiving a nod from the rabbit, Aura lightly tossed the ball toward her, Lilly reaching out with one ear and pressing the button on the front. In a flash of red light, the ball popped open and pulled in the normal-type, clicking shut with a "ding" and falling to ground.

Aura picked up the ball and happily grinned at it, "Welcome to the family, Lilly." He whispered, Diamond appearing just as happy behind her trainer. With a new member to the team, it wasn't long before everyone had decided it was time to turn in for the night.

While the two trainers returned their Pokemon for the night, Tia had other plans in mind. "Excuse me, Aura. Would it be alright if I stayed out here tonight?" Tia's request was met with a look of confusion from the trainer, "I'm worried those Pokemon that were attacking Lilly might come back. I though I could keep watch for the night just in case."

Aura looked back towards the woods and thought about it, "You have a point, Tia. That Granbull did say it wasn't over, but are you okay with staying up all night alone?"

Tia nodded, "It shouldn't be a problem. Dark-types often prefer to be up at night anyways."

"Alright then. I'll throw a bit more wood on the fire for you then." Getting a thankful nod from the Absol, Aura knelt by the campfire and started adding some small twigs and logs, just enough to keep it burning for at least a few hours, "If it starts to die, just toss in a few twigs if you need, okay?"

Tia sat next to the flame and bowed, "Thank you, Aura. Good night."

"You too." Letting out a yawn, the trainer stepped toward his and Diamond's tent and reached for the loose canvas flaps, but he suddenly froze with wide eyes as he felt like something wasn't right. Before he could even question it, he sensed something nearby that left him with one thought. Danger.

Following his senses, Aura whipped his hand out to his right with a translucent blue barrier appearing in the air around him and the tent just in time to disrupt a huge blast of fire shot from within the dark forest. Hearing the commotion, Diamond ran out of the tent while Tia jumped up from beside the fire and stood next to her trainer.

"What's going on?!" They heard Dan call as he crawled out of his tent with Nessa and Spyke at his sides, although immediately he was surrounded by multiple Houndour and Electrike snarling with a hungry look in their eyes.

"Looks like Tia had the right idea after all. That Granbull's back for more!" Aura exclaimed, the barrier vanishing as the Granbull trudged out from the woods with even more Houndour and Electrike at it's sides. "Stan, Prince, help out Dan!" Tossing the two Pokeballs into the air, white flashes of light shot toward the surrounded trainer with the two Pokemon appearing in front of him.

Growling loudly, Granbull started towards Aura with a predatory glare in it's eyes. It barked out in anger with the Houndour behind it opening their maws and releasing swirling streams of fire around the clearing, raising a wall of fire that trapped them all within.

"Do what you wish to the other pests! But these three are mine!" Granbull roared, the remaining Electrike and Houndour running to the others while Granbull continued towards Aura, Tia, and Diamond.

"You guys ready for another fight?" The girls nodded. "Alright then. Tia, use Slash! Diamond, use Psybeam!"

Leaping forward, Tia's horn glowed white as Diamond prepared to unleash a pink beam of energy behind her. The Granbull scowled at them, taking a deep breath, Granbull flung it's head forward to release an ear-splitting Roar attack.

Tia let out a howl of pain with her horn returning to normal as the powerful soundwaves pushed her back. "Are you okay, Tia?" Aura called. The Absol let out a grunt as she pushed herself off the ground.

A second later, Diamond fired off her Psybeam over the Absol's shoulder toward the bulldog Pokemon, this time scoring a successful hit against it and hearing a cry of pain. Diamond confidently smirked knowing the power of the attack, but her expression suddenly changed to one of shock as a thin purple beam fired off from the cloud of smoke, nailing the fox directly in the chest and knocking her off her feet.

Aura called to her in concern as she lay on her back groaning in pain. "Pathetic!" Aura turned back to the cloud of smoke to see the Granbull standing almost unfazed by the attack. As the bulky canine started to trudge toward them again, Aura backed away and hurried to Diamond's side, helping the Braixen up while she held her head in pain.

Aura held out his hand with a blue sphere forming in his palm. "Back off, now!" The fairy-type scowled at him. Letting out another roar, it slammed it's fist into the ground causing a line of sparkling blue rocks to shoot up from the ground towards them. Knowing he couldn't escape the attack, Aura fired off the Aura Sphere and immediately wrapped his arms around Diamond. "Please work!" Closing his eyes, a blue glow surrounded both him and Diamond just as the pair took the powerful Stone Edge attack and were flung across the campsite. Thankfully though, the ball of energy Aura launched hit it's mark and exploded against the dog, sending it rolling back as well.

Aura slowly pushed himself up with Diamond groaning underneath him. He winced as he wiped a bit of blood from his cheek. "You'll regret doing that!" They heard the Granbull bark, looking over to see it standing up with a painful scowl on it's face. Off to the side, Tia let out a howl as she dove toward it with her horn glowing light-purple.

An agonizing scream rang through the air with a loud crunching sound. "Tia!" Aura called. Granbull smirked with it's fist firmly planted into the side of the Absol's face, a barrage of punches and kicks followed suit as a cloud of smoke formed around the two with more and more pain filled cries rang out. Finally, the smoke vanished as Granbull delivered one last kick to the Absol's side, sending her bouncing across the clearing with dirt and bruises covering her body.

"It's over for you!" Granbull reeled it's head back with a ball of yellow energy forming in it's maw. About to unleash a powerful Hyper Beam to finish them off, Aura tightly held Diamond as he prepared for the worst, but it didn't come.

Out of nowhere, a crescent-like blade of purple energy crashed into the canine's back, forcing it to let out a cry of pain and throw of it's aim, unleashing the yellow beam directly into the sky overhead. The Granbull heavily panted from the huge release of energy and turned around with a scowl. Weakly pushing herself up, Tia panted as she glared at the wild Pokemon.

The Absol's fur stood on end as an ominous red glow outlined her body. "I won't let you hurt my family any more!" Feeling a wave of anguish course through her body, Tia took a deep breath before letting out a distorted high-pitched howl with dark crimson sound waves resonating through the air.

The Granbull let out a howl of pure suffering as it desperately covered it's ear in absolute agony. Finally ceasing her howl, Tia's horn glowed bright purple before she let out a loud bark and threw her head to the side, firing another crescent-like blade at the suffering Granbull and causing a massive eruption of debris that launched the Pokemon skyward and deep into the forest.

Realizing their leader had been defeated, the Houndour and Electrike that hadn't been knocked out began gathering their fallen allies and retreated back into the woods, the ring of fire dying down shortly after their departure. Free from the Pokemon, Dan and the other Pokemon hurried over to Aura's side while Tia slowly limped over.

"You guys alright?" Dan asked.

Aura nodded with Diamond quietly groaning in his arms. "I'm okay, but Diamond could probably use some medicine." The fox let out another groan as she rubbed her head.

As Dan hurried back to his tent to grab his medical supplies, Stan rushed over to Tia and helped her back to the others. The Absol winced as she sat down with quiet whine. "Thank you." She whispered. The Luxio bowed his head and glanced at the dying fire.

Stepping closer, Stan took a few pieces of wood in his mouth and tossed them into the circle of stones, releasing a steady bolt of electricity at the kindling with a small flame building from the ashes.

Dan quickly returned with a white box in his hands and kneeled down by the fire. He clicked open the box and removed a white bottle with a blue lid, "These painkillers should tie you guys over for now," he handed the bottle to Aura and resumed digging through the container, "I'll get started on brewing some tea that should help sooth more of the pain and help clear out any bacteria."

Aura lowered his head in thanks and popped open the pill bottle. He shook out a few of the tablets and gave them to the Pokemon before taking one himself. After a minute of silence, Aura looked over to Tia and smiled, "Thanks for saving us, Tia. And you even learned how to use Perish Song."

The Absol meekly smirked from the praise, "I'd do anything to protect my family," she muttered.

"Alright everyone, the tea is ready. It'll make you a bit sleepy as well so it should be easier to sleep through the pain." Pouring the herbal concoction into some small cups and bowls, Dan passed them around to everyone and started packing up his first-aid kit.

"Here, Diamond." Aura held the cup to the fox's lips and carefully tilt it so she could drink easier. Once her cup had been emptied, Aura quickly drank his own before slowly standing up with Diamond cradled in his arms and bringing her into the tent. He reemerged shortly after with the others' Pokeballs in his hands, "You guys get some rest too, we'll head out first thing tomorrow and get you all properly treated at the Pokemon Center."

After returning the three of his Pokemon and setting them inside his tent, Aura sighed and walked toward the edge of the clearing.

"What are you doing?" Dan asked, returning his Pokemon as well.

Aura knelt down by the singed grass, "Just checking to see if the fire they surrounded us with is completely gone." He pinched the blackened ground and noted the warmth around it, "I think we're safe for the night, but we should let someone know about this once we get to Geosenge Town in the morning."

"Good idea. But right now we should get some sleep, it's been an interesting night and we need to get up early to get going." Dan walked over to his tent and stepped in, turning around for a moment to say goodnight while Aura did the same. Finally getting some well-deserved rest so they can get an early start come morning.


Honestly I'd been having trouble deciding on how to introduce Lilly into the story, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully you enjoyed the chapter and the story thus far. I appreciate helpful feedback and seeing what you all think of the story. I make sure to read reviews and respond to them if possible.

Until next time. ~Aura