Craw was surprised. He didn't know that Sam, Sammy, Orenjii and Kiiro were playing music and this good too. He smiled and took Ariela's hands. "Wow... They are really good!" He smiled and looked to the Pokémon who were playing music. Sam played on the Piano while Sammy played violin and both on a level that they could easily have become famous musicians. Orenjii and Kiiro were playing guitar also very skillful. There were also two young male Minun that both played flute. Especially the two Minun were eye-catching since they moved exactly synchronal and also looked like if they hatched from one egg.
Craw smiled. "C'mon. Let's dance a bit!"
Ariela giggled and nodded before they went onto the dance floor.
Craw was happy. Finally he could spend his time with Ariela the way he wanted to. He smiled starting to dance with Ariela.
Ariela smiled. "You are pretty good at this."
Craw smiled and nuzzled her softly. "You are also great at this."
She giggled. "As a Kirlia it is a natural thing for me."
He smiled and looked to her. "This is a wonderful moment... I will keep it as treasure in my heart."
She blushed and looked to him with big eyes. "Craw..."
Craw smiled. He wanted that this moment would never end... But like so many times before this moment had to end as well. Craw grabbed Ariela's arm and pulled her down as he heard the bar stool flying into their direction.
"What is this shit?!" A Machamp was rampaging throwing things around.
Just as Craw had stood up and wanted to step in someone pulled him back. As he turned around there was Sam.
Sam just smiled calmly. "Don't worry about him."
Craw wanted to resist but Sam didn't let him. "If we don't stop him he will hurt someone!"
Sam still stood there and smiled calmly. "If I am right your arm is still not fully cured even if there is any sort of item that could have healed it you would still need some time to recover. Let my mom handle that Pokémon."
Craw looked to him confused. "Your mom?"
"Who do you think you are that you damage our inn?" A tall female Minun went towards the Machamp looking very angry.
Craw looked to Sam worried. "Do you really think-"
He just waved his paw. "Don't worry."
The Machamp looked at the Minun and laughed. "What do you want to do against me?"
The Minun smiled friendly. Then without a warning and with speed he only knew from Brighton she punched the Machamp into the guts using a Thunder Punch. "You and your friends will leave our inn right now. You won't come back ever again."
The Machamp was lying on the ground still holding his arms at his guts. "You will regret this!"
Four other Pokémon , a Houndoom, a Bayleef, a Loudred and a Tangrowth, stood up surrounding the Minun but she kept very calm. Suddenly two lightings rushed at the four Pokémon sending them onto the ground.
Craw looked to the five Pokémon that were standing next to the Minun now. Sammy and a male Plusle were standing there calmly but ready to fight.
The Minun still smiled calmly. "I will kindly ask you now to leave us now and never come back."
The five Pokémon growled and quickly left the inn.
Sam smiled. "See? Nobody messes with the Spark family."
Craw nodded. "You said that your sister is a genius but that she is also so strong... I didn't expect that."
Sam chuckled. "You should never judge a book by it's cover."
Craw smiled weakly. "I think I heard that somewhere already..."
Ariela looked to him and sighed. "Thank you for helping me there..."
Craw blushed. He nearly had forgotten that Ariela was there. "No problem..." He kissed her. How about we eat something?"
Ariela smiled and nodded.
Sam smiled. "Oh You are on a date? Then I will let you two alone for now. I will tell my dad to come to you. He is a really good cook."
Craw nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you."
Sam nodded and left them going to his parents and sister who were cleaning up the mess.
Craw smiled and took Ariela's hand. Together they went to a desk. Craw was a bit surprised how big this inn was and that Sam and Sammy became explorers instead of helping their parents in here. Probably they wanted to use their abilities and knowledge somehow.
Ariela smiled as they sat down. "What do you think is on the menu?"
Craw shrugged. "I have no idea..."
That was when the male Plusle came to their table. Now that close to the Plusle Craw could see that Sam and the Plusle were related. They had the same face and the way they smiled was somehow... charming. "Hello you two. I am Jonathan. I heard you are friends of Sam and Sammy. Oh and of Orenjii and Kiiro as well of course." He grinned. "What can I bring you two. It's on the house."
Craw looked to him surprised. "Oh... You really don't need to."
He chuckled. "You are friends of my children and even though Sam has my charm they don't have many real friends. It's fine."
Craw sighed and nodded. He felt a bit uncomfortable to get things for free and wondered why that but pushed the thought aside quickly. "Uhm... what's on the menu?"
Johnathan smiled. "We don't have a menu here. Just tell me what you like and I gonna make it for you."
Ariela smiled. "How about you surprise me?"
Johnathan smiled and nodded. "That is no problem."
Craw sighed not knowing what he wanted. "What would you recommend?"
Johnathan smiled. "How about a tauros steak with some wedges and a sauce made of tamato, hondew and bluk berries?"
Craw looked to him surprised. "That sounds interesting... I will take that."
The Plusle smiled and nodded before he disappeared into the kitchen.
Craw smiled and looked to Ariela. "Sam's and Sammy's family is... Interesting..."
She giggled. "Yeah. That's right."
He smiled and took her hand. "Are you OK? You are so quiet."
She smiled and looked to him with curiosity. "What do you mean?"
He smiled. "You are quiet all of a sudden since we danced."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "It is what you said... About wanting to keep the moment as a treasury... It sounded like if you would go somewhere... Somewhere without me..."
Craw looked to her surprised. "Really? I am sorry... I didn't want to make you worry. I just have the feeling that this is just the beginning. I think that soon something will happen... Something that will change everything..."
She looked to him nervous. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "I don't know... It is just... Some kind of feeling... Like a shadow that is waiting around the next corner."
She looked to him now more worried than before. "Craw... What do you mean?"
He shook his head. "I can't explain it..."
She sighed and looked down nervously.
Craw smiled and took her hands again. "Ariela. I promise that whatever will happen... I will stay with you till the end."
She looked to him with tears in her eyes but she smiled. "I know..."
He kissed her softly. "I love you and will always love you and if you ask me I would take your hand and we could go wherever you want... But I have the feeling that it is not what you want... I think I know you good enough now to know that you would always go forward with me..."
Ariela smiled weakly and looked to him. "Craw..."
Craw smiled. It was a warm and loving smile. "You want to change this world like Brighton wants to... Like everyone wants to... You want to make this world to a better place... Am I right?"
She nodded with tears in her eyes.
He smiled and gently wiped her tears away with his paws. "So let us treasure these wonderful moments so we will always have a something to hold on in darker times."
Ariela nodded.

Craw looked to the Minun. "Why you don't live with your family in the inn?"
Sam smiled and looked to him. "Even though we love our family we wanted to live our own lives." He took Orenjii's hand and nuzzled her making her squeak and blush embarrassed. "Especially since we want to form our own families."
Craw nodded. "Understandable..."
Sam chuckled. "Of course the place we raised up is important to us but we can't let it chain us to it... I have a principle: Remember the past and plan for the future but live in the moment because the most important is the now and here."
Craw smiled and looked to Ariela before looking back to Sam. "That is very wise... You always surprise me with more... Now philosophy too... Your family really have many talents."
Sam laughed. "Oh well... I just see it as making the best of the gifts that Arceus gave us."
Craw nodded. Then he noticed the golden bracelets Sam and Orenjii were wearing. "You are married?"
Sam chuckled. "Yeah..." He rubbed his arm where the bracelet was. "Since three months now. It was a double marriage." He looked to Sammy and Kiiro.
As Craw looked to the other two he saw that they were wearing golden bracelets as well.
Sam chuckled. "I am still a bit unused to wear it so I take it off on explorations to not lose it."
Orenjii smiled shyly and cuddled onto Sam's side. "We met on an exploration you have to know... We accidentally took jobs in the same dungeon."
Sam smiled and nuzzled Orenjii. "Yeah. As Sammy and I were exploring it after rescuing the client Sammy stepped onto a Stealth Rock trap. Luckily Sammy is pretty small even for a Plusle and since my sister used barrier she was unharmed but the rocks blocked the sight and she was trapped inside. Back then I didn't had a move item that could have helped her and I had no move that could get her out without harming her. That was when Orenjii and Kiiro appeared."
Orenjii smiled. "Kiiro knows Iron Tail and as Sam told him what rock he had to smash to create an opening for Sammy without making the rocks collapse they were able to save her."
Sam smiled and kissed Orenjii onto the cheek. "After that we made some jobs together and spend much time together... also outside of the guild."
Craw smiled. "You seem to be very happy that the trap happened."
Sam chuckled. "Well it was kind of fate."
"Ohhh! Look who we got here!" The voice echoed through the alley. "If that aren't the kids of that damn Spark family!" The voice chuckled.
Craw looked ahead. "Damn..." Fourteen Pokémon were standing in front of them and as Craw looked around he noticed that there were several more surrounding them only leaving them the way back to where they came from but as he saw there were several very fast Pokémon with the foes that would easily able to catch up to them. "If my aura ability wasn't blocked I would have seen them before..."
Sam smiled. "Don't worry. I will handle them." He just stepped ahead looking around calmly.
Craw wanted to go to him but Kiiro stopped him. "You will love this. Just watch and enjoy and try not to stand in the way."
Craw looked to him confused.
Kiiro chuckled. "Trust me this will be great."
Sammy smiled. "If you think that I am strong or fast... Well then you better watch my brother. Against him I am just a candle in a dark room... He on the other side is like the sun."
Sam smiled. "Ariela? If I remember correctly you know Teleport? Would you be so kind to teleport to the city guards and tell them that they can pick up... 32 defeated Pokémon that will need some healthcare." He was still simply looking around calmly like if he was observing the Pokémon.
Ariela looked to Sam nervous. "Are you sure? It would be hard but I could teleport us all!"
Sam chuckled. "Oh don't worry... I missed out training today and this will be great exercise." He fixed his eyes onto the Machamp.
Ariela nodded and disappeared.
Sam smiled calmly. "Analizing finished. 172 ways of defeating you all. 86 of them are a sure defeat for you. 37 of those are not leathal for any of you... 11 without harming you too much. Only one option will be without harming you at all. Give up now. That is your last chance."
The Machamp laughed and the others joined the laugh. Then the Machamp looked at Sam with a wide grin. "You are kidding right? You have no chance! Everyone! ATTACK!"
The others charged at the male Minun but much to Craw's surprise none of them was able to land a hit. The Minun looked like if he was dancing through the foes hitting one after the other with one single blow knocking them out instantly. He was using move items as well as his own moves. Craw was fazed by the show the Minun put up in front of them. It was like watching a master of martial arts fighting against a mass of unskilled brutal idiots taking out one after the other.
Just as he thought that everyone was beaten Craw felt a hard grip around his neck lifting him into the air. As he looked at the attacker he saw the Machamp who didn't just grabbed him but also Sammy, Kiiro and Orenjii.
Sam who had knocked out the last of the Machamp's companions glanced at the Machamp.
The Machamp just laughed and looked at the Minun. "You messed up boy. I will admit you are very good but if you move just a single muscle I will break their necks faster than you can scream.
He slowly went towards Sam who stared at the Machamp angry. "Three. You made the mistake. Yes I miscalculated a bit but now you let me only three options. One is lethal. As a member of the defenders guild that is a no go for me." He went into a battle stance glaring at the Machamp.
The Machamp squeezed Orenjii and Sammy a bit making them scream in pain. "I SAID DON'T MOVE!"
Sam glared at him. "One option is to damage all of your four arms at the same time in a way that you will let off of the others. I have to warn you that that will damage your arms that much that they will never fully recover. You will be able to use them again after good healing and hard training but you will never get much strength in them again..." He took a deep breath like if he tried to calm down. "The third option is the best for you. Just give up and let them free. If you let them down I will let the guards arrest you unharmed."
"STOP JOKING!" He squeezed the two Plusle females more making them scream louder in agony.
That was when Sam moved.
To Craw it nearly looked like if he disappeared but soon he noticed that the Minun had charged. The Machamp was losening his grip of Craw and he felt how the Machamp was falling backwards.
Craw himself moved as fast as possible trying to catch the Plusle that the Machamp held with the second arm on his side. It was Orenjii and Craw managed to catch her landing swiftly. She seemed to have at least one broken rib and was breathing heavily. As he looked to Sam to tell him that Orenjii needed a doctor he froze.
Sam was standing on the Machamp's chest holding two sword like blue glowing blades at the Machamp's throat. If that alone wasn't a terrible view the look on his face did the rest. His face that normally showed a friendly or interested smile he now saw more than just anger. He gave the Machamp a death glare. "If you ever touch my family or one of my friends again or if you send one of your friends at them I will forget that I am an explorer of the defender guild. I will find you and then the thing that I you forced me to do to you today will be nothing compared to what I will do to you then. That is my final warning."
Craw shivered. This Minun was someone he never wanted to have as his enemy.

Craw looked to Ariela.
Ariela smiled. "You are alright... You have a broken rib and need to recover a bit but you should be able to walk and work normally as long as you watch out not to get hit on the chest again. I will look after Orenjii now."
Sammy nodded and Ariela left them.
Kiiro took Sammy's hand and kissed her softly. "I am sorry... I should have watched out for that asshole..."
Sammy blushed and shook her head. "Then it wold be my fault as well... I think he used some kind of move item that made us not see him..."
Craw sighed. "Your brother is... really strong..."
Sammy smiled a bit embarrassed. "That's true... but his true strength is his mind. He is a true genius. I may have the higher IQ and I remember everything I've ever seen, heard, felt... basically everything... but I no matter how much I learn... against my brother I am nothing... He able to analyze a situation within seconds and whatever he tries out works. His mind and body are in unison. What others have to train for years or their whole life comes natural to Sam. Also his moveset is perfectly balanced and he uses move items to be able to defeat the Pokémon he has disadvantages against."
Craw looked to her. "I really have to learn a lot more..." He sighed.
Then Sam entered the room. "Orenjii is sleeping for now. She will recover again."
Kiiro looked to him worried. "How are the eggs?"
Sam sighed. "They are unharmed luckily..."
Craw looked to him surprised. "She is pregnant?"
Sam nodded.
Craw went to him and put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Congratulations."
Sam smiled weakly and nodded. "It's just that I worry more about her every day..."
Craw smiled. "I know how that feels... At least for a bit."
Sam nodded. He looked to Sammy. "Are you OK?"
Sammy nodded already standing up again. "Yeah... I have to stay home for some time though."
Sam smiled. "Yeah... But I don't think that will be much of a problem. We will think of something with Sarah and Dyle."
Sammy nodded.
Sam sighed. "I will go back to Orenjii for now." He turned to go. "I will insist her to stay here for the night just to be safe. Don't expect me back before tomorrow in the morning."
Sammy and Kiiro nodded as he left.
Craw looked to them. "How does that even work? I mean you are two teams but are married."
Kiiro chuckled. "Our teams are rather small. We share one base. Also Jake our brother and Sarah are a pair and share a room as well."
Craw nodded. "Sounds like you found a good solution for that."
Kiiro chuckled. "That is pretty common here to be honest."
Craw nodded. He stretched himself and sighed. "Well... I don't want to bother you more. I will go to bed now too. I wish you a good night."
They nodded.
Craw went to Ariela and took her hand. "Are you OK?"
Ariela sighed and nodded. "All this... It made me think about what you said earlier... You were right... We should treasure as many wonderful moments as possible..." She looked to him.
Craw smiled weakly and kissed her softly. "Let's go to bed."

Craw sighed as they came back to their room. He let himself fall onto the bed.
Ariela slowly closed the door and looked to him. "Craw?"
He looked to her. "Yes?"
She smiled a bit and slowly went to the bed. "I would like to ask you something."
He sighed. "If you want to ask me to do it with you today I have to pass... I am too exhausted..."
She nodded and sat down next to him. "That wasn't on my mind... At least it wasn't what I wanted to ask you."
He looked to her with curiosity. "What do you want to know then?"
She smiled a bit and let herself sink down next to him. "Why is it so hard for us to decide about our future?"
Craw looked to her confused. "What do you mean?"
Ariela smiled. "Sam and Orenjii... Kiiro and Sammy... They are as old as we are and they married already. They know that they want to spend the rest of their lives together."
Craw smiled weakly. "Ariela... I think you got me wrong. I am very sure about it. I want to marry you. But right now... I just am not ready yet. I feel that it isn't the right time now."
She looked to him. "Why not? I mean I know what you mean. I feel the same but... Why aren't we ready yet?"
He kissed her softly. "I have no idea. I just know that it isn't the time yet. It isn't just a hunch. I just know that we have to wait for something..."
She sighed. "That is frustrating..."
Craw looked to the ceiling. "Yeah..."

Brighton sighed and stretched himself. "Sounds good for me."
Kathrin nodded. "Who we gonna take with us today?"
Craw looked at the list. "The Growlithe and the Bagon."
They nodded.
Craw looked to Damion and Ariela. "You two will take the Munchlax and the Jigglypuff."
Ariela and Damion nodded as well.
He sighed. "Good. That's all. I will see you later then." He stood up. "I have to do paperwork today..." He rolled his eyes. "I hate paperwork... As soon as I am able to go on jobs like you you will have to do some of it as well..." He glanced to Brighton and Kathrin.
Brighton sighed. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I could have helped you already."
Craw shook his head. "No. Everyone has to do their work and as long as I am stuck here I that is my work."
Brighton looked to him unsure but nodded.
Craw sighed. "Now please excuse me." He stood up and went to his office. He sighed again as he saw the pile of papers. Most of them were requests for items and equipment that he requested for the team. Mostly it was berries, orbs and seeds but also some other items like scarves and bows. He heard that teams could request some items to support a team that has temporarily problems with money. Mostly that was used by new teams and teams that had messed up in some dungeons and lost too many items. He started filling out the sheets as someone entered his office. He looked up seeing Anubis.
Anubis went to the table and looked at the sheets. "Equipment requests... Yeah... That is a good idea."
Craw sighed. "Since we are new and make mostly easy jobs that don't give much money for the recruitment our stock runs pretty low... We will need more equipment if we want to start on jobs after this."
Anubis nodded. "That sounds logic. When you are finished with them hand them to Lillith. She will take care of that."
Craw nodded and stopped filling out the request he was working at right now. "Why are you here?"
Anubis sighed. "We have a problem. We found four more Aura-less in the area around the city..."
Craw looked to him worried. "That is really alarming... What is about the kingdom in the north?"
Anubis sighed. "The queen of the Ashen Kingdom swears that no Aura-less came through their borders..." He shook his head. "I know her and she is one of the few trustworthy leaders of the kingdoms... There must be some other way how they came to us... I have the bad feeling that there might be a secret passage or something like that that we don't know..."
Craw looked to him. "Maybe they use some dungeons to get through the borders?"
Anubis sighed and nodded. "I thought so too but then it must be a new dungeon that we don't know about yet or a really old dungeon that got forgotten through time..."
Craw nodded. "Then we should investigate that."
Anubis looked to him. "That is why I am here... I would like your team and some others to explore some dungeons. I will ask Sam and some others to see through some old maps to see if they can find some old dungeons that we missed out yet. I would like you and the other teams then to explore these dungeons to see if there is a hidden passage or something like that. We have to stop the Aura-less from getting here... They are dangerous and we don't know yet who leads them... Even though I have a feeling about that..."
Craw looked to him- "What do you mean?"
Anubis shook his head. "I fear that there is a human..."
Craw seemed to be shocked. "What?"
Anubis sighed. "You know that whenever the world is in danger a human is summoned to save the world right? Well... Sometimes a human comes here without that. We don't know yet how that happens but sometimes humans seem to appear here in this world and those are not always as kindhearted as you are. Some of them caused terror and fear and even caused the problems that the good human was summoned for. I have the bad feeling that the Aura-less are created by a human..."
Craw looked to him nervously. "Why would that be so bad?"
Anubis sighed. "Humans are different than Pokémon. They think much more complicated and have plans that a Pokémon can't understand. You were like that too... You were thinking about things that nobody else thought of... Even now... Sam and Sammy are nothing against you."
Craw shook his head. "I doubt that. I saw Sam and Sammy in action. They are truly genius."
Anubis shook his head. "They might be genius but even they just think a few steps ahead. Pokémon live in the moment. Do you remember the negotiation with Markus? Nobody of us would have thought so far into the future. In fact without you we wouldn't have been able to get onto a consent with him. That is why humans are so special to us... only a few Pokémon ever can think further into the future and even those only can think of a few possibilities. Humans on the other way are able to think about many more possibilities and somehow always find the best one." He sighed. "That is why we need you. You see things that no Pokémon can see."
Craw looked to him surprised. "That really surprises me..."
Anubis nodded. "That is why I want you to help us with that. Maybe you will see something that we don't."
Craw sighed and nodded. "OK. Call me when you need me."
Anubis nodded. "We are still preparing so don't worry. Maybe in a week or so I will come to you again."
Craw nodded. "Till then we should be finished with the recruitment for the new team member."
Anubis nodded. "Don't forget to bring your new member to us for the sealing. I bet you will want to tell your new member the truth as well."
Craw sighed. "Yeah..."

Craw sighed as he was walking through the city. He went on a walk since he needed a clear head. All this paperwork is making his head all fuzzy. He went to the market and looked to some of the things that the market stalls were selling. He saw some interesting things but as he thought about how low they were on money at the moment he decided to not buy anything. He sighed and looked at some more things. Even though he couldn't buy something it didn't harm if he would look what he maybe could buy in the future. He saw some interesting move items that could help him and the team and also some technical machines that he would like to test out. As he decided that he had walked enough he noticed that it was nearly lunch. He hurried back to the base. Since the others should be back from their jobs soon he decided to cook something for all of them but as he reached the kitchen Brighton and Kathrin were already back cooking something. "Oh... You are already back?"
Brighton smiled. "Yeah. The Growlithe and the Bagon were actually pretty good. I would say they are good for the second round."
Craw nodded. "OK... I wanted to surprise you with a lunch today..."
Kathrin shrugged. "That's cool but we were faster." She finished cutting some meat. "Oh and we finished the requests for you."
Craw looked to them nervous and sighed. "But I said-"
Brighton shook his head. "We know what you said but we are second and third in charge. Also I know how much you hate paperwork. Just let me handle that in future. I don't mind it at all and you have a lot of things to think about the last days. Also you trained very hard while we were on pretty easy jobs compared to your training. You push yourself a bit too hard. You should relax a bit more."
Craw sighed and let himself sink onto a chair. "I am getting crazy just sitting in the base and train..."
Brighton chuckled. "Then why you don't search for a hobby?"
Craw shook his head. "Nah... I should be recovered in some days... Then I can go on jobs again."
Brighton put the vegetables he cooked into a pot. "Kathrin would you watch the soup please?"
Kathrin nodded and put the meat into another pot.
Brighton washed his hands and went to the living room. "Could we talk please?"
Craw sighed and followed Brighton.
Brighton sat down onto the couch.
Craw looked at him curious and sat down on the couch on the other side.
Brighton sighed. "Craw... I know you want to be the best to be fit into your role as human who should save our world... But if you don't find some way to relax and distract yourself a bit from the work you will be stressed out at some point till you break. Believe me. I know what I am talking about. Back in the kingdom I had to learn a lot about politics, history of the kingdom and other stuff. At the beginning I was able to distract myself by training with the knights. I even became better than the most of them thanks to my speed but soon I noticed it wasn't enough. I also tried some other hobbies and finding friends to hang out with but my father pushed me into more work so I gave up my hobbies and as he then drove away my friends and love interests I slowly got stressed out and as he finally managed to break my trust into other Pokémon I was totally broken. I was working like a machine but I didn't really care for anything anymore. Only as I found out that this guild could mean my freedom I found back my hope and as I met you and as we finally joined the guild I started enjoying life again. Of course Kathrin is of great help for me to get over my past but I also try out some hobbies again because I know if I only would do jobs and work I would soon fall back into depression. I try out many things. Cooking, reading, training, running and even drawing are things I did the last weeks just to find out what hobbies I wanna do. Even Kathrin tries out some hobbies and you know how she is living for being an explorer."
Craw sighed and looked to him. "How can I start a hobby right now when I have to become stronger? I don't even know what's ahead of us and everyone is expecting me to save the world-"
"I don't expect you to save the world. At least not alone." The Pikachu looked to him serious. "Sure. In the end you will probably be the key to save the world but if we don't help you how are you going to make it till that point? We can't just load all of our hopes on you and expect that we can live happily while you suffer. You deserve to be happy as well Craw. You are my best friend and seeing you suffer from overworking yourself just makes me feel bad as well. So please if you don't want to do it for yourself then do it for us your friends."
Craw sighed and looked to him. "OK... If you insist then I will try to relax a bit more..."
Brighton smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Author's note: Another chapter done. I hope it isn't that boring XD next chapter will have some more action again!