I'm sorry I'm slow as fuck, but I muist perservere, like a Magikarp riding up a waterfall to become a Gyarados. HERE IT IS, THE LONG-DELAYED:
Chapter 11: Impressions
"Now, Riolu, let me introduce you to an old nemesis!"
The two were standing before Aaron's "favorite" training dummy. Riolu raised an eyebrow. ~This thing?~
"Don't underestimate it!" said Aaron, waving his arms wildly. "That dummy's a menace! I swear it's out to get me!"
~...Sure.~
"Listen if you don't believe me why don't you hit it yourself?"
Rolu nodded, walked up to the dummy, and smacked it with a Force Palm. It wobbled and settled itself without incident. Aaron blinked.
"...It never doies that. Let me try!"
He advanced toward the dummy and promptly tripped. Riolu snickered as Aaron got up.
"Look- maybe we don't do the dummy for now. Maybe we fight each other!"
~...Each other? I'll kick your butt.~
"I'll kick YOUR butt!"
~If you insist.~
Riolu instead rushjed at Aaron with a Force Palm. Aaron attempted to counter with one of hios own but missed and was hit in the chest, falling over backward."
~...Maybe it's just you."
"Is... Is not!":
~Mabye you should change your approach.~
"...Change...My... Approach... Uh, got it, I guess."
He slowly got back up and stood at the ready.
Riolu charged him again. This time Aaron extended his palms and created a large barrier in front of himself, which Riolu promptly bounced off of and skidded back from.
~Wow... You're actually pretty good at THOSE.~
Aaron blinked and dissipated the barrier. "I... Am? I've never tried using them much..."
~Well start now. Those Aura barriers of yours are surprisingly strong.~
"Wow..." said Aaron. He grinned. "Hey! Me and you! This proves we can be a great team! We'll be a sword and shield! Like Zacian and Zamazenta!"
~Like who and what now?~
"I mean we make a great offense-defense combo! You offense, me defense! It'll be great!"
~Oh, uh. Are you sure? As like a long-term thing?"
"Of course! Isn't that how Pokemon and humans work together?"
~Right, yeah...~
"Come on, let's do some more!"
They kept sparring well into the afternoon, a sinking feeling forming in Riolu's gut the whole while.
Aaron and Riolu approached the other kids and their Pokemon, who were doing slime sort of knights-and-Dragon-Types game with each other. Aaron turned to Riolu.
"You remember the plan?"
~Are you dure about the plan?~
"Of course! You just gotta trust me!"
~...Trust you, huh.~
"Yeah! Now come on!"
He turned to the other kids and Pokemon and yelled.
"HEY LOSERS!"
Everyone stopped. A few dropped their props.
:What?" Atta said, finally, grumpily.
"Watch this!" said Aaron.
Aaron threw up an Aura barrier as Riolu jumped atop it and backflipped into a Force Palm that Aaron blocked. They separated into a coordinated hand-to hand display of Auric energy before dissipating their powers and bowing.
The other children and Pokemon paused. Then Callie and Munchkin started clapping. Slowly, but surely, all the other children joined in.
"Not bad, I guess." said Louis.
"Pretty good," said Eve
"Fancy." said Atta.
"That was great!" said Callie.
"We... we did it!" said Aaron. "We impressed them! I never do that!"
He turned to Riolu. "It's all thanks to you buddy!"
Rioolu grimaced a bit. ~Uhuh, sure...~
That night, Aaron and Rioluu sat outside the monastery looking at the stars. For whatever reason Aaron had insisted on it, even if it meant sneaking out past the senior Aura Guardians - not an easy feat when many of both they and their Pokemon can sense thoughts and auras.
"Hey Riolu?"
~...Yeah?~
"I'm glad you're here with me now."
~...Thanks.~
Aaron paused. "It hasn't been the same since. "
~Since what?~
"...Since my dad died."
~...Your dad died?~
"...Yeah. It was a few years ago when.. When he got very sick, and..."
He stopped.
~...Oh.~
Riolu also paused.
~My dad...~
"Did he...?"
~Yeah. A Charizard killed him. Left my old pack because of it.~
Aaron frowned even harder than he was already. "I'm so sorry..."
~It's. It's fine.~
"No it's not. I can tell. It's OK for it to be not fine."
He touches Riolu's paw.
"I've got you."
Riolu paused.
~...Thanks. I appreciate it.~
They went back to looking at the stars.
Atta was chewing on something of indeterminate origin when Callie approached her.
"Hey there!" said Callie.
Atta spit out the Thing and snarled. "What?"
"Well I ws thinking-" Callie started to say.
"You think?" said Atta.
"Callie scoffed. "Of courrse I do! Anyway, what IS life with Pawniard and Bishatrp like?"
Atta paused. "...Hazardous."
"Oh, because they're sharp and pointy?" said Callie.
"That and the hunts."
"Ooh, what are those like?"
"We chase something. Usually it fights back. Sometimes we manage to kill it. But it's very dangerous."
"Ooh, exciting!" said Callie.
"...Exciting?" said Atta.
"Yeah! It sounds adventuresome!"
"It was scary and we just did it to eat." She shook her head. "Was it 'adven-toor-some' with your Necrozma cult?"
"Well um." Callie paused. "How do I phrase this? Yres and no!"
Atta raised an eyebrow. "That is contradictrory."
"No, no, I mean - we had a set chill routine, but some fun stuff happened with said routine!"
"Like what?"
"Like we would make these big sacrifices to Necrozma!"
"Human sacrifices? Pokemon sacrifices?"
"What? NO. It was always offerings of things that gave light."
"Light?"
:"Yeah! 'Cause Necrozma lost its light long ago see? And we're trying to help get it back!"
"Ohhhh, right. That makes sense."
:Atta paused.
"Getting to know you more made me... Happy Is that that friendship Aaron talks about?"
...Huh I guess it is! Nice to get to know you too!" said Callie.
She extended a hand.
"...What?" said Atta.
"You're supposed to shake it!"
"Oh."
And so she did.
Nicolas was rummaging around in a dark corner of the Abbey, scrummaging for... whatever he could grab really. It's what he'd been doing ever since he got stuck at this place.
He basically had to learn quickly how to survive on his own. Especially since he had not located where his father and his compatriots were being kept. The Abbey was a scary place.
But he had to conquer it. He had to.
Though if only he had allies...
Meanwhile the Fighting Thieves Nicolas was seeking were idling about in the Pokemon-proofed cel they were stuck in.
Shifty tossed a rock at a wall and it clanged and clattered as it fell to the ground.
"Be quiet in there!" said the Aura Guardian standing guard.
Shifty paused, smirked a little, then did it again.
"I SAID be quiet!"
The guard stood up from where he was sitting to glare at Shifty.
Shifty outright grinned and did it yet again.
The guard came very close to the bars. "How many times do I-"
Shifty suddenly lunged with a Sucker Punch and slammed the guard headfirst into the cage bars, causing him to collapse in a daze and drop his keys, which Shifty promptly scooped up.
"Guys, horry!"
The others rushed over, and Koba used his nimble hands to reach through the bars, unlock the door with the keys, and swing said door open.
"We're FREE!" said Grog.
"About time," said Koba
"Go go go!" said Vallant.
And they all rushed out and away just as the guard slowly started to recover.
Elsewhere, further and deeper in the dungeons, several Aura Guardians had gathered around the masked, cloaked figure, who had been tied up with cords charged with Obscura so they couldn't phase out and escape, their Pokemon contained in crystals to the side.
"All right gang," said Vince. "Let's see who's really behind that mask."
He quickly removed the mask and hood to reveal a woman with dark skin and long, swirling purple hair.
~Hm, no one we know.~ said Carol. ~Time to take THAT off the conspiracy board.~
The tied-up woman snarled, revealing unusually pointy canine teeth.
"Shit," said Polly as she and the others started backing away. "She's an Aura Vampire!"
"Yes, you got that right." said the woman angrily. "Now where is she?"
"Where is who?" said Vince.
"Medea. My girlfriend. She went missing in this region. Thought you Aura Guardian fucks were responsible."
"We're not fucks." said Vince, clutching a hand to his chest.
~I'm a fuck,~ said Carol, her eyebrows wiggling.
"So wait, you weren't here to suck us all dry of Aura in our sleep?" said Polly.
"Only if you did kidnap my girlfriend. Which you don't seem to have, so you don't deserve it," said the woman, shrugging her shoulders as best she could in her binds.
"Reassuring," said Vince.
~Say," said Carol. ~We're investigating a murder and a bunch of dissapearances. Maybe this Medea of yours is related.~
"Really now?" said the woman, raising an eyebrow.
"...Yeah, probably," said Polly. "Whoever's responsible for those probably took your girlfriend."
"If that's the case then I'll help," said the woman.
The trio of Aura Guardians stopped and stared.
"You want to help?" said Polly.
"But you're an aura vampire," said Vince.
Carol nudged him. ~Don't be an ableist.~
"How is not trusting an Aura Vampire ableist?" said Vince.
:"It's like a chronic illness, isn't it?" said Polly. "By various means you wind up with a continued deficiency in your Aura, and need to turn to external sources to replenish itt."
Vince paused... "Fuck you're right."
He turned to the wioman. "Still though. If I untire you so you can help ujs do you promise not to murrder us all?"
"I promise," said the woman playfully.
Vunce removed the cords.
Everyone stayed stock still for a minute.
"Boo," the woman said finally.
The Aura Guardian trio yelped and jumped. The woman laughed.
"Olivia Hallow. Pleasure to work with you all."
