Hunting in this world is a little different than in the real world, in this world there are only certain species that can really be hunted for their meat but only in designated areas. However I am considering making real animals a thing in this world but are much less common than Pokemon, this pointing towards the theory that Pokemon must have evolved from their animal counterparts and such. (This note was written quite a while ago and I can't remember exactly why. Oh well)
By the way, I had actually written this probably over two months ago but haven't had the chance to upload it as I was trying to stockpile a few chapters. This chapter I dunno where my mind was at but I did write this with the inspiration of another story in mind.
Chapter 42
It was the middle of the day and Aura, along with the rest of the group, were walking through the city, shopping for the supplies him and Prince would need for their trip. They weaved in and out of different shops, they browsed through the wide selections each store had and bought what they deemed necessary and affordable.
With many of the shops being either too crowded already or too small, Aura's Pokemon would loyally wait outside for their trainer with Darlene while he took Diamond and Prince inside. None of them complained since they understood his reasoning, Diamond being his mate while Prince was just as much a part of the whole thing as Aura.
While browsing through a shop for hiking and camping gear, Aura picked up a pair of canteens and some extra durable rope just in case, and after picking up some emergency rations and a special fishing pole that could extend and retract for easier storage, they headed to the counter to purchase everything. However, as they passed through one of the aisles, Aura paused for a minute in front of a glass case full of survival knives and utility knives, they even had a couple larger blades like machetes hung up in the back.
Prince and Diamond could see Aura was interested in the wide variety of blades. He rubbed his chin with a hum. "Better to be safe than sorry." Poking his head up, Aura headed to the cashier, who was a teenage boy no older than Aura with dirty brown hair covered by a camo-print army hat.
"You find everything you need?" The clerk asked, his voice stern but held no resent.
Aura half shrugged, "Kind of, I was actually wondering about those knives on display?"
The clerk nodded and adjusted the bill of his hat, "Sure thing, I'll bring over a key and open the case for ya." With that, Aura returned to the glass case with the clerk following shortly after and unlocking it. "Which one you interested in?"
Diamond and Prince watched Aura lean into the case and figured he'd probably buy one of the large machetes, but to their surprise, Aura pulled out a simple utility knife with a smooth wooden handle and moved it around in his hand. "I think I'll take this one."
The clerk nodded and locked the case, returning to the front counter with Aura and the two Pokemon following behind. After ringing up their things and paying for them, they returned to the others and continued down the street.
"So where are we heading to next?" Lilly inquired, skipping along beside Aura.
Her trainer tapped his chin, "Well we're done with all the basic supplies and stuff like matches, rations, batteries, first aid kit, and even a little survival guide book," he said, counting out the items on his fingers, "so our next stop will probably be to a-" He paused as a slow gurgling sound came from his right, he looked over to see Diamond, holding her stomach with a light blush. "Heh, I guess our next stop is somewhere to eat."
Diamond blushed even more as her stomach grumbled again, "S-sorry. I've just been feeling extra hungry since a couple days ago."
"Your cravings are probably starting to kick in." Darlene told her. Diamond looked at her a little curiously, still not too familiar with the phases of pregnancy. Her stomach grumbled again and Darlene lightly chuckled, "Why don't we walk around a bit more until we find a good place to eat."
Continuing down the street in search of somewhere to stop for dinner, the group happened upon a street where a wide variety of restaurants lined each side of the road. Lights hung above their heads from wires strewn across from each building to the one opposite from it, continuing down the entire street in a zigzag.
"This seems a good a place to start as any." Aura determined. As he lead everyone through the lively street looking for a place to eat, Diamond slowed as she caught a unique fragrance from a nearby establishment. "Diamond?" Aura asked.
She breathed in the warm smell deeply and salivated at the distinct flavour it carried with it. "What is that?" She muttered.
Aura turned to see a cozy little pizza parlor and smiled in amusement, "I guess you've never had pizza before?" Diamond's stomach growled again as she muttered "pizza" under her breath. Aura laughed and looked to the others who had also stopped in their tracks, oddly enough all the Pokemon seemed keen on the scent given off by the parlor, so he looked to his mother and shrugged, "Guess we're getting pizza."
Walking into the parlor with his Pokemon behind him, Aura looked around the restaurant in awe. It was actually quite large and spacious, he even noticed a few other trainers with their Pokemon at some of the booths along the wall.
"Good afternoon, will you be dining in today?" A man asked from behind a small desk.
Aura looked back at his Pokemon, "Uh, yes. Are there any larger booths available?"
The man looked at the group of Pokemon and nodded, "We should have room upstairs, is this everyone, sir?" Aura confirmed these were his only Pokemon and the man took out some menus, "Very well then, follow me to your seat please."
Everyone followed the man to the back of the restaurant and up a flight of stairs to the second floor. There wasn't as many large booths or even Pokemon as there were on the first floor, but having a train of Pokemon walk through didn't seem to bother any of the attendants. They stopped at a long booth on the far wall with three chairs on the open side of the table. Darlene, Diamond, and Aura sat in the chairs while Tia, Stan, Prince, Kibbs, and Lilly all climbed in the booth as the man set down the menus. He quickly pulled a notepad from his apron pocket and a pencil, "Can I get you anything to drink?"
Aura looked around the table for a moment then to the menu, "Uhm...I guess we'll take two pitchers of iced tea?"
The waiter wrote down their order, "Uh-huh, I'll get that for you right away." Stuffing the notepad back into his apron, the waiter left to fetch their drinks. They took this time to look over the menu.
"Hmm...You guys have any ideas for what you'd like?" The Pokemon all looked at one another and shrugged, unable to actually read the menus and not knowing what options they even had in the first place. "Right, uhh...Well I'd guess Lilly would want something without meat since Lopunny are herbivores," the rabbit nodded happily in reply, "so I'm thinking we get a vegetarian pizza and maybe a plain pepperoni one too." He turned to his mother and Diamond, "You guys have any ideas?"
Darlene shrugged and set down her menu, "I know me and Kibbs would enjoy a Hawaiian for sure." The Growlithe quietly barked in approval with her tail wagging.
Diamond skimmed over the pictures on Aura's menu for something, but nothing she saw really stood out to her. That was when the waiter returned with their drinks and set the tray down in the middle of the table with a stack of cups and some straws for the Pokemon. "Here you are. Y'all ready to order?"
Aura watched Diamond set down the menu and sigh, "Sorry. I guess whatever you order will be fine for me." She told him. The man seemed a little taken back by the talking Pokemon, but he just shrugged it off for her being a Psychic Pokemon and focused on his job.
"Could we have three large pizzas then? One vegetarian, one pepperoni, and one...uhh." Aura trailed off as he noticed Diamond had begun intensely sniffing the air, she looked over to a nearby table that was being served and licked her lips hungrily. "Diamond?"
The Delphox looked back and apologized, "Sorry, something just smells really good over there."
Aura turned back to the waiter, "Um, what kind of pizza is that?"
The waiter looked over to the table, "I believe it's a sea lovers pizza."
Aura looked back to the table behind them then to the waiter, "I guess we'll get a half-Hawaiian half-sea lovers for the last one then." The man nodded and jotted down their order.
"Perfect, I'll be back with your order shortly, would you like an appetizer while you wait?" Aura shrugged and just asked for some bread sticks, being the first thing he saw on the menu, before handing the menus back to the waiter. Not long after taking their order, the waiter returned with the bread sticks and some dipping sauce before heading off once again.
"I never thought you'd like a pizza covered in fish to be honest." Aura said as he poured everyone some iced tea.
Diamond shrugged and took her drink, "I don't know either, something about it just smelt so good though; I just couldn't help myself...Is that weird?"
"No no, not at all." Darlene assured as she took one of the bread sticks. "It's probably just your cravings acting up and making you want food you normally wouldn't eat."
Stan blinked and started to sniff the air for a second, "Well I think Diamond's right about it smelling good. Now I really wanna try it too." The Luxio licked his lips and smirked as he continued to inhale the fishy scent wafting through the room.
"Well you are a cat after all, so of course you'd enjoy having fish." Aura laughed.
Lilly stopped nibbling on her bread stick and furiously shook her head, making a sound of disgust as she stuck out her tongue, "Bleh. No thank you. I'd prefer to have some fruits and vegetables rather than smelly old fish." Everyone laughed at the rabbit as she shuddered in disgust.
Aura ruffled her head and snickered, "Well good thing we're getting a vegetarian pizza then, I don't exactly enjoy my fish on a pizza either."
As their aimless conversations went on, everyone would absentmindedly take in the calming scenery and atmosphere of the parlor. The soft old-style music quietly playing in the background complimented the rustic look of the interior, with the walls made of fine red bricks and a few vynal records and pictures hung up around the room. Quite a few photos of people were hung on the wall closest to the stairs, depicting groups of people stood in front of the shop through the ages, appearing to go from early in the seventies up to the present day.
Despite being set up in a large city, the owners of this place sure knew how to keep up the old, small town parlor theme. Growing up in Azalea Town, which was already a small town in itself, Aura felt rather cozy and even a little nostalgic to say the least, but it was still a whole new experience for his Pokemon.
Shortly after coming to the subject of the upcoming tournament, Aura watched as everyone paused and sniffed the air. He knew it was just another pizza being served as the scent of warm cheese and different toppings filled the room, and soon enough the waiter had stopped at their table and set down the tray of pizza with a small stack of plates. "Here's your pizza. Enjoy."
Thanking the man, Aura and Darlene began serving out the slices to everyone. Diamond took one of the slices of sea lovers and happily bit into it, shuddering from the flavour and humming in satisfaction.
"Thank you very much, Master Aura." Prince said as he took a bite of the pepperoni slice he was given.
Stan licked his sauce-covered lips and smiled, "Yeah. Thanks a lot, Aura. This is amazing!"
Aura laughed as he took a napkin and reached past Lilly towards the feline, "It's probably taste better if you got more of it IN your mouth than ON it." Tia rolled her eyes while Aura cleaned off the Luxio's mouth, the Absol eating her own slice much slower with no mess.
"So back to the tournament," Kibbs started, "you have any plans going into it?"
Aura shrugged, "Well we don't know who we're facing, or even who's competing, but we'll probably start doing the training after me and Prince get back and after the festival is over. It isn't until the end of next month so I still have a little time to think."
"With all do respect, Master Aura. Maybe we can think of a plan for the tournament while we are out training?" Prince suggested. "Perhaps you should think of when we would be most effective in certain situations."
This made Aura stop for a minute to think, "I guess you're right. You've all got your own strengths so maybe I should look more into that…" Aura began to scan over his team and rack his brain for all possible advantages they each could have. As his gaze stopped on Lilly, the Lopunny froze in place with a string of cheese connecting her lips and the slice of pizza in her small paws. "You know, I haven't actually gotten to see you in battle really since you and Prince evolved, besides the controlled training of course, so we might hunt down other trainers to do some practice."
The rabbit smiled with the string of cheese snapping and falling down her chin, she looked down curiously while Aura snickered at her. After quickly wiping the cheese off with a napkin, Lilly sheepishly grinned and nodded in reply. "I'll try my hardest for you, Aura."
He nodded, "Good to hear that. And considering how well you and Prince handled yourselves in the cave, I'm sure you'll make me proud." Lilly smiled wide and resumed nibbling at her pizza.
Roughly twenty more minutes of eating and talking had passed and everyone felt well satisfied from their meal. Most of the pizza had been devoured with only half of the vegetarian and a third of the pepperoni remaining, Aura requesting they be packed up to go before he paid the bill and they headed out the door.
The sun was setting as they entered the Pokemon Center and took the elevator up to the top floor. Upon returning to the suite and putting away the leftover pizza, everyone agreed to turn in early for the night since Aura and Prince would have to be up extra early tomorrow, and everyone wanted to be there to see them off.
Retiring to the bedroom, Aura lay across the bed in his shorts while Diamond was washing up in the bathroom. She had adopted the habit of brushing her teeth for a while now since her morning sickness, and she now had her own toothbrush and toothpaste much more suitable for Pokemon. Diamond was just finishing up her nightly routine before coming out into the bedroom and noticing the blank expression on Aura's face. She walked over to her side of the bed and sat down, the slight creak and movement of the mattress snapping Aura out of his stupor long enough to see Diamond looking back with concern.
"What were you thinking about?"
Aura sighed as Diamond crawled under the sheets and shimmied closer to his side. "I don't know. I just can't stop thinking that...maybe I shouldn't actually go on this trip?"
She pushed up on her elbow and looked at him puzzled, "What makes you say that? I thought you were excited for this training?"
"I am," he replied, "it's just that… While we were at the pizza place, I recalled the incident with those crooks back in Reflection Cave, and I just… I can't stop thinking about what if something like that happens again while I'm gone? What if you and everyone else is in danger once I leave?"
Diamond lowered herself back down and draped her arm over Aura's chest, her body firmly pressed against his side which in turn allowed him to wrap his arm around her slightly enlarged figure, absentmindedly rubbing her swollen belly gently. "Everything will be fine, Aura. We still have everyone else here, and Arceus even said that we should be perfectly safe for a while, so there's no reason to worry." She pecked him on the cheek, "Now let's get some sleep. You and Prince are leaving early in the morning and you'll need the energy for your hike."
Aura sighed once more and lightly squeezed Diamond against himself, "Okay. Good night, Diamond. Love you." He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes, Diamond smiled warmly at him before yawning and dozing off as well.
Just after seven in the morning, Aura, Prince, and everyone else stood in the lobby of the Pokemon Center waiting for Gurkinn to arrive. Their bags had been packed tight with all the supplies for their short journey up the mountain forest.
Aura checked his phone nervously as he peered out the window. Diamond looked over as she heard him sigh again heavily. She slowly shook her head and stood up, "Aura." He didn't hear her, nervously pacing back and forth and checking his phone again. She stepped beside him and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks and turning him to face her. "Aura!" She began, a little more sternly, "I already told you, everything will be perfectly fine while you're away. I know how important this training is for you and Prince, and I'd be a little upset if you just backed out now." She tenderly caressed his cheek, "You have a lot of responsibility as the Grand Guardian that you need to uphold. So I can't blame you for doing what needs to be done." Diamond leaned in and pressed her lips against his, "Just promise me you'll come back in one piece, that's all I ask."
Aura smiled and took Diamond's hand in his, "I promise. But please, if anything does happen, Gurkinn will know where we are and I'll still have my phone with me the whole time." He pecked her on the lips, "I love you."
She wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed. "I love you too."
As they pulled apart, the glass doors slid open as Gurkinn walked in with his Lucario beside him. "Sorry if I kept you waiting. But it's good to see you're both ready to go."
Aura nodded and pulled away from Diamond. "Yeah, we're ready to leave whenever you are."
Gurkinn nodded in response and Aura and Prince followed as he stepped back outside to a jeep and climbed inside. After helping Prince up into the back seat, Aura was about to climb in as well but suddenly stopped as Diamond grabbed his arm. He turned to her and they silently stared into each other's eyes for a brief moment, Aura soon pulling Diamond close for one last embrace before leaving. "Be careful." She whispered.
"I will." He nodded, letting go of her and climbing into the car beside Prince.
After the jeep took off down the road it took about ten minutes before they reached the outskirts of the city and climbed out, walking into the woods along a trail. "Alright, you two. As I've mentioned before, this place can be a little dangerous, but you should be safe from anything too dangerous. However I would advise you still stay alert just in case." Shortly after splitting off from the trail onto a more overgrown path, they came upon a metal gate with a warning sign screwed on. "Under normal circumstances this place is off limits to the public, but I have the authority to permit access if need be, so if someone like a ranger or officer finds you out there then there shouldn't be any problems." Taking a minute to unlock the gate, Gurkinn urged the duo through before him, "Now, this is as far as I'm taking you. Just follow the trail I showed you and you should be at the campsite by noon."
"Thanks, Gurkinn. I guess we'll see you in three days then?"
He nodded, "Exactly. Right back at this gate if possible. Good luck you two, hopefully you learn something up here." After shutting the gate and locking it again, the duo parted ways from Gurkinn and were officially on their own from there on out. However, as they hiked up the mountain, none of them had noticed the dark figure watching them from above.
So after reading through this chapter and doing my editing, I noticed just how often I cut through certain conversations and how I generally structured the scene at the parlor. Of course I didn't see any big issues with it but an outside opinion would also be helpful. Hope you guys still enjoyed reading this chapter and I look forward to reading your reviews in the future.
As always, thanks for the continuous support and I hope to write more soon.
