Sorry for the short chapter but I just wanted to hurry up and finish it.
Chapter 39: Your Training Begins Now!
Another couple days had passed by since Alice's arrival. It was currently around ten in the morning and, like the past few days, Dan had left earlier that morning to meet with one if the Center's doctors so he could learn more about Pokemon medical treatments. It was rather convenient that there was a class being taught by some very skilled Pokemon Doctors and Breeders about proper Pokemon care, but that didn't stop Dan from enrolling the first chance he got.
But unlike Dan, who's lately been able to get up early, Aura and Diamond had developed a tendency to sleep in a bit longer, in exception to the days Diamond's morning sickness would come early. This morning, however, Diamond thankfully wasn't given such an unpleasant awakening and was still fast asleep, curled up in Aura's arms and her back pressed firmly against his chest. Meanwhile, in the main room of the suite, everyone else was wide awake and were mostly finished their breakfasts. All the Pokemon where on the sofa with the TV switched on and a mystery show playing for them, strangely enough they all found it rather interesting, even Prince was quietly sitting back and watching the screen.
Over by the table, Alice let out a shallow groan and set down the book she was reading, Lee placing his mug of coffee on a coaster and looking at his mate. "Starting to get impatient?" He asked.
Alice sighed and picked up her own coffee, "Kind of. Those two have been sleeping in so much lately. I know this is a time for them to finally get some much needed relaxation, but I'd like to make sure Diamond's in good health at a consistent time."
Lee shrugged and took another swig from his mug, "Well they do have a lot of responsibility now, and not just with the Corrupted Guardians."
"And they probably won't get a good night sleep for a while after their kit is born." Darlene added whilst washing their breakfast dishes.
Another sigh escaped Alice's lips, "I guess so. But if they don't wake up in one more hour, I'm gonna go and wake them myself."
Right on queue the door to Aura's bedroom slowly creaked open with the trainer stepping out with a yawn, "Morning, everyone." Behind him, Diamond tiredly dragged her feet along the floor, swaying side to side a bit with every step she took. Though it was unlikely she'd actually fall over, Aura still decided it best to give her a little extra support and walked close beside her.
"About time you got up," Alice said with a hint of annoyance in her tone. "So, any issues this morning?"
Diamond sat down in the chair beside her while Aura went to grab their breakfast. "Thankfully I woke up without getting sick," she mumbled, lazily supporting her head up in her hand with her arm planted against the table. The fox let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes, groaning a bit as her ears began to twitch from the echoing sounds of the TV.
"But she did have a hard time sleeping last night." Aura added. He set down their plates and sat across from his girlfriend. "I felt you rolling around quite a bit and muttering something in your sleep. Something bothering you?"
She grunted and poked at the food set in front of her, "Not really. I think it's just the pregnancy." A short squeak suddenly escaped her lips as the Delphox felt a hand press up against her forehead.
Alice hummed and pulled her hand back, "Sorry, just wanted to see if you were getting a fever. But you feel perfectly fine so it might just be some anxiety, it'd probably be best for you to talk about whatever might be causing it though."
Diamond cut into her food and sighed, "I don't know. This is all new for me." She stuck the piece of food into her maw.
"Well whatever it is, you can be sure that I'll always be willing to help you." Aura affirmed, reaching over the table and patting her shoulder. With little else to say, they resumed eating their breakfast, Alice reminding Diamond to take the medicine and vitamins she prescribed to keep her and the egg in good health along with her daily checkup.
On the day Alice arrived in Shalour City, she had requested to take a look at Diamond's health, using her aura to be more thorough due to her already strong essence and the chance of their child adopting even more powerful energy from Aura's DNA- which was later confirmed that their kit would contain a higher aura frequency than other Guardian born Pokemon- but during her examination, Alice had discovered that Diamond was indeed lacking quite a bit of her normal nutrients, which inevitably lead to her sudden condition after the use of Blast Burn, since they were unaware of her pregnancy for the first week with much of her needed nutrition being absorbed by the egg without realizing. For this, Alice prescribed Diamond with multiple vitamins and some medicine to make up for it, giving her a checkup ever day to keep tabs on any improvements, and so far they showed to be working as intended.
Before long, the two had finished their breakfast and Aura took their empty plates to the sink. Diamond contently sighed with her stomach full and her energy restored. "So? How you feeling?" Alice asked, cracking open the bottle of vitamins. Diamond opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I got it!" Aura called. He hurried to the door and pulled it open to be met by an unfamiliar man wearing some sort of training uniform with a small, string-tied bag slung over his shoulder.
The man bowed, "Are you Aura Borealis?" Aura slowly nodded. The man slid the bag off his shoulder and reached inside, pulling out an envelope and held it out, "I was sent here to deliver this letter to you on behalf of Master Gurkinn." After handing the letter to Aura, the man bowed again before taking his leave with a quick goodbye.
Raising a curious eyebrow at the man then at the letter, Aura shrugged and closed the door. "That was unexpected."
"Who was that?" He heard Lilly ask from behind the couch, having heard the knocking too and curiously poking over the back of it.
Aura held up the envelope, "I don't know who he was exactly, but I guess Gurkinn sent him to drop off a message." He stared at the letter, "Wonder what he wants to meet us about?"
His train of thought was suddenly broken by the loud screech of a chair forcefully scraping against the floor rang throughout the suite. He quickly looked over to the source and noticed Diamond had jumped up from her seat with her hands cupped over her mouth. Her chair crashed to the floor as she took off sprinting toward her and Aura's bedroom, scrambling as she turned in the door while everyone else watched in concern. Aura didn't miss a step as he ran after his girlfriend to make sure she was okay, having to force himself to stay strong as he entered and shut the bedroom door.
With the entrance to the bathroom being directly to the right upon entering the bedroom, Aura looked in as his mate sat on her knees with her head over the toilet bowl. She violently coughed and gagged until finally lurching forward and relieving her body of the vile sickness. Before going in to check on her, Aura quickly ran to open the window first. After hearing another wave of sickness come from the Delphox, Aura walked in and knelt down beside her, soothingly rubbing her back as she gasped for air.
After a minute or so of nothing more than a few coughs and gags, Diamond could feel her gut calm down and leaned back. Like the last few times Diamond had morning sickness, Aura took the time to help her clean off and comfort her until she felt better.
"Thanks again." She said, leaning her head against Aura's shoulder.
Giving her a quick hug in response, Aura helped the canine to her feet and they left the room together. "I know Gurkinn wanted to meet with me today, but you come first. And we're not going anywhere until you feel better." Embracing her a little tighter as he said this, Aura lead her out of the bedroom with most of the others asking right away how she was feeling. It was nice to have so many friends who cared about her.
[Real quick, I know that just kind of ended abruptly but I did it so I could move on with the chapter. I might have to do more hard cuts like this in the future to avoid getting stuck but I'll try to transition with a decent line.]
Within the letter Aura had received, it briefly explained that Gurkinn had taken an interest in both Aura and Prince during the gym battle and wished to speak with them about some kind of "special training" if they were available, and considering they had no actual plan for the day anyway, this seemed like as good a time as any. However, while Aura and Prince were going to meet with Gurkinn about the training he mentioned, Alice had decided to use this time to enjoy the nice weather.
Before they left for the Tower of Mastery, Alice and Darlene had changed into their swimwear and brought along some beach gear for them. Trailing behind Aura and Prince, Lee was carrying a small cooler of assorted drinks while Alice had a duffel bag stuffed with towels, sunscreen, and other beach-going necessities. Alice had even managed to get a few things for the Pokemon as well.
Hanging from his tail, Stan carried with him a blue bag that contained a couple inflatable beach balls and some other small beach toys.
Not knowing how to swim, Lilly was given a pair of children's water wings because of her small body and a small inner tube to float around with, the rabbit Pokemon carrying it fully inflated around her waist with a youthful smile and a skip in her step.
Tia wasn't really as excited as the others when it came to the beach, preferring to simply enjoy the ocean breeze and watch the others from the shade. Although that didn't stop Stan and Lilly from trying to convince her to have some fun with them.
Diamond and Kibbs walked alongside Darlene who carried a beach umbrella under one arm and a few folding beach chairs tied together in a bundle. Multiple times Diamond had offered to help carry something too, but she was repeatedly denied and told to just relax and enjoy herself. Obviously they did this because she was almost three weeks pregnant with a noticeable bulge forming at her stomach, and granted she fully understood that, but it didn't change the fact that she still hated to just sit back and watch as others do all the work she could easily be helping with. Even if she can help with the simplest of tasks given to her, it left her with a pleasant sense of accomplishment.
Eventually they came to a compromise and Diamond casually carried along a basket containing some of their lunch. Kibbs carried a similar basket in her mouth with more of the food.
Soon enough, the group was walking along the stretch of sandy land that connected the small island to the main shore. Outside the large archway at the base of the stairs, Aura spotted Gurkinn and Korrina standing with their Lucarios beside them. Korrina and her Lucario happily waved to the crew as they approached, the Gym Leader seemed to have the same idea as Alice since she was wearing a red and white bikini, while Gurkinn and his Lucario appeared to be more professional as they simply stood quietly with crossed arms and watched them approach.
"So you recieved my letter I presume?" Gurkinn asked seriously as Aura approached. Aura nodded and held it up. "Good, now come along. I should explain a few things before we begin."
Without another word, Gurkinn walked up the stone stairs and pushed open the large doors. Aura looked at the others and then to Prince before everyone followed behind, Korrina talking with Alice and Darlene on the way.
They passed through the large room housing the enormous Lucario statue and entered the hallway to the gym. Aura never really paid attention to the hallway before as he was more focused on his gym battle, but this time he realized just how massive the place was with multiple doors leading into separate training rooms where humans and Pokemon alike worked together on special equipment.
"I'm sure you are wondering why I asked for you to come here," Gurkinn started. "The truth is that I had been asked a favor by the Legendary Pokemon Arceus to provide special training for you and your Lucario."
Aura paused, "Arceus asked you?" he looked at Prince for a second, "not to seem disrespectful, but why did she ask you exactly?"
Gurkinn shook his head, "I understand it seems a little odd, especially after she explained the current situation, but I would assume she requested this of me because of my lineage. My ancestors may not have been Aura Guardians like you are, but they were trained in the ways of the Guardians and were eventually the first humans to ever master the art of Mega Evolution." He went on, "I knew I could sense great potential from you when you challenged my granddaughter, so I was happy to accept the task to provide assistance with your training." Gurkinn stopped in front of a pair of double doors and turned around. "Before we begin I must inform you that this will not be simple training. Though I may not be able to provide actual aura training, I was given this task by Arceus herself and I intend to take this seriously. So for the next month I will be helping you and Prince to further progress you training, and if everything works out, you might even learn to harness the power of Mega Evolution like my ancestors."
Turning back around, Gurkinn pushed the doors open to reveal a wide beach facing out toward the vast ocean, "Your training begins now!"
Honestly this chapter has been done for a while now but I guess I completely forgot to upload it. Well at least now I'm a bit ahead on chapters since I have up to chapter 41 written, but I'll space out the upload time so I can hopefully stay ahead a little.
