It was a sunny and warm day as they reached the beach just perfect for swimming.

Craw grinned as he looked around. There were some other Pokémon but not many yet. "OK. So I will go enjoy the water first. Since we are here so early we can choose a good spot but we will need someone watching our stuff while the others are swimming."

Hoshi shrugged. "I will take the watch role. Water and me aren't mixing too well anyways."

Ariela smiled. "But I know you like taking a bath as well."

Hoshi shrugged. "If it's warm yes but ocean water is normally cold."

Damion lifted his paw. "I will join you later in the water. I wanna try something my trainer taught me and see if it helps me relax."

Craw nodded.

Kathrin shrugged. "I will go into the water. Brighton are you with me?"

He nodded. "Yeah I won't miss that on a hot day like this."

Fletcher ruffled his feathers. "I would rather stay here too. The ocean is interesting but somehow frightening."

Craw chuckled. "Yeah probably not your terrain anyways."

Fletcher looked to him a bit angry. "You want to challenge me?"

Craw grinned as he saw the Fletchling glaring at him. "Well you are a flying type and were a feral. It's only natural that you fear the ocean. It's so different from what you know that it is probably pretty fearsome."

Fletcher nearly screamed at that comment. "OK! I will go with you! I won't be afraid of some water!"

Ariela giggled. "OK I will come with you and take care you are not washed away."

Tira grinned. "I will stay with you Hoshi. How about you Ricky?"

He just shook his head. "Nah. I will go swimming a bit too maybe later."

Tira pouted. "Aww c'mon... I thought we want to have fun together..."

He shrugged. "I said I won't act like if we are a couple so I will have some fun in the water." Then he ran to the water.

Rex looked into the sky. "I will enjoy a sunbath first. When I am warmed up I will go into the water to cool down again a bit."

Damion took some calm but deep breaths as he went over to the next pose. He sighed. He found it very difficult to find the right balance and tried it again. It was something Ray taught him to relax a bit.

Ray called it tai-chi. It was a fighting style that was designed to use the opponents moves against them but at the same time bring the own movements into balance. It was like if someone would try to move like water so it would be perfect for a water type like Damion. Or at least that was what Ray had told him.

Damion on his side had his problems with it. He tried to imitate the movements of his trainer but it just didn't want to work. It was like if he wasn't made for it. As he tried a different move he fell over and the little gem that he always carried with him since he found it in the lake and that he carried on a string around his neck fell off and rolled away. "Damn..."

"You are trying to force it too much." The female voice came from behind Damion.

He turned around again to see a female Dewott standing there watching him. He had no idea how long she was watching him and that made him a bit nervous and embarrassed. "How long..."

She chuckled. "About ten minutes. You are forcing yourself too much into the movements. You need to relax. You are looking like if you are trying to copy someone." She bend down to pick up the gem that Damion lost.

He rubbed his head embarrassed. "Because I am... I'm trying to imitate the movements of my trainer..."

She tilted her head as she looked at the gem. "You have something really special here. Where I come from it is called the stone that seeks your soul. It is a stone that is said to find your soul mate. Let me show you something." She took one of her shells and used it to slightly hit the stone.

He nearly wanted to jump but then he noticed a clear tune emitted from the stone. It nearly sounded like a voice.

She grinned. "They are in fact not stones but crystals but have a strange ability. When they are near another of their kind that has the same tune they both start to sing. Because their crystalline structure is pretty unique you may only find one other stone that sings the same tune. Where I come from it is said that if two Pokémon with stones resonating with each other they are destined to be together."

Damion looked at the stone she handed over to him. He looked at her. "Someone told me something similar about it. That it would bring me to my true love..."

She chuckled. "You should keep an good eye on that stone. They can be very valuable. I have one too but it has a different use for me."

Damion looked to her confused. "What do you mean?"

She stared at the stone. "I need to find someone specific and I know that he has a stone resonating to it."

Damion looked to her not knowing what to say.

She smiled and looked to him. "What species is your trainer?"

He looked to her confused. "A Swampert... Why do you ask?"

She grinned. "Because the tai-chi of a Swampert is different from that of a Buizel. Their legs are much longer compared to our relatively short legs and they have shorter torso compared to their height. Also they have stronger muscles in their legs so they can stretch much farther without problems. You have to go as far as you can without losing balance. As soon you notice that you would lose balance you should stop. It maybe doesn't look as good as the pose of your trainer but it is as effective." She calmly showed her the same pose he tried just now and unlike him she looked very elegant with it.

Damion looked to her surprised. "Wow... You are really good at this..."

She smiled. She automatically made some more poses without any problems. "Then how about we train a bit together? It's more fun than just trying it alone. Try to keep up my pace."

Damion nodded.

Together they trained for what only seemed like five minutes for Damion but it was in fact more than an hour. He was so in trance that he first didn't realize as someone spoke to him.

"Hey! Planet to Damion!"

He looked around to see Brighton grinning to him. "You don't want to come into the water finally?"

Damion looked to him confused. "I said I come into the water later."

Brighton shrugged. "Sure but you were out here for nearly one and a half hour now." He glanced to the Dewott. "But I can understand if you want to stay here longer."

Damion blinked. "I was out here for so long?"

Brighton chuckled. "I can understand it. Time flies by if you spend time with a pretty girl huh?"

Damion blushed glancing angry at Brighton. "It's not like that. She helped me with my training."

Brighton just waved at the comment. "Yeah sure. Just don't forget us. See you later."

The Dewott glanced at Brighton for a moment. "Maybe you should follow him. I wanted to leave now anyways. My team is surely waiting for me..." She then looked back to Damion. "But better be careful who you are calling your friend." Then she turned to leave.

Damion looked to her. "Wait! Brighton is really good. He just likes to mock me."

She shrugged. not looking back.

"I am Damion what is your name?" He ran a bit after her.

She turned to him. "I am Akiko. But you don't need to remember it. We will probably never see again." She grinned. "I am an explorer from the great Takagiri Dynasty. I was just here for vacation and I will not come back here for a long time." She turned to leave again. "Sayonara."

Damion stood there a bit dumbfounded. "Bye..." He didn't know what else to say.

"Finally finished flirting?" This time it was Craw who teased him.

Damion blushed. "I didn't flirt with her..." He glanced to Brighton.

Brighton chuckled swimming around calmly lying on his back. "I didn't say anything to them."

Damion blushed even more.

Craw chuckled. "I saw you with my Aura. Why you didn't bring her over with you?"

He looked down embarrassed. "She didn't want to... She had to leave because she only was here on vacation... She is from the Takagiri Dynasty."

Craw scratched his chin. "Hmm... That's sad but you will maybe see her again when we go there."

Damion rolled with his eyes.

Ariela grinned. "Now let him alone already." She giggled. "Let's have some fun instead."

Kathrin grinned. "How about a race from here to the rock over there?" She pointed to a rock a bit further out in the sea. "I wanna try out how fast I can swim now."

Damion chuckled. "You sure? I am a water type. I doubt that any of you can beat me in a swimming race."

Kathrin chuckled. "Oh you will be surprised."

Brighton swimming next to them laughed. "I wouldn't be so sure that only you two can be fast. I got a lot faster than I was before already."

Craw grinned. "OK since I doubt that I can hold up with you I will just do the judge."

Tira smiled. "Hey Ricky. Wanna bet who wins?"

Ricky grinned. "Sure. I place my bet on Damion."

Tira giggled. "OK then I bet on Brighton. If I win you will have to pay lunch for me tomorrow and if you win I will pay your lunch."

Ricky nodded. "Deal."

Brighton grinned looking to Kathrin. "Wanna bet too?"

Kathrin shrugged. "Sure. When I win you gonna give me a massage and if you win then..." She swam closer to him and whispered something in his ear.

Brighton looked to her with an open mouth.

Kathrin grinned and as Craw gave the "GO!" she dived under water while Damion swam ahead fast. Where Kathrin dived into the water it glowed and Kathrin didn't came up again.

Craw looked to where Kathrin disappeared knowing very well what happened since he was told by Anubis about the training of the others frequently. He slowly swam over to Brighton grinning. "She must have offered you something interesting considering that you forgot the race about it."

Brighton blinked before looking to Craw slowly. "What?"

Craw chuckled. "The race started already and Damion and Kathrin are gone."

Brighton looked to him for a second and then to where Damion and Kathrin were seconds ago. "Oh fudge." He then started to swim as fast as possible.

Craw chuckled. "Must have been something really interesting what Kathrin said to him."

Damion panted as he touched the rock grinning. "First!"

Brighton panted. "No I am first!"

"Finally. Took you ages."

Both of them looked up confused.

There she was. Kathrin was lying calmly on the top of the rock. "By the way it's a draw between you two."

Both of them looked at her confused. "How..."

Kathrin grinned. "I learned a cool thing at training." She then stood up, jumped into the water and the water glowed. As she came up again she had evolved into a Vaporeon.

Brighton looked at her surprised. "Wait... Kathrin?"

Kathrin grinned before transforming back into her Eevee self. "Yep?"

Brighton was speechless.

Damion sighed. "Oh great... Brighton is an Arceus damn lightning and Kathrin can evolve and go back as she pleases... Everyone has some super power in this team except for me..."

Kathrin sighed. "I can probably never fully evolve even if I wanted..."

Damion looked down. "Sorry... I didn't know-"

Kathrin shrugged. "I am fine with that. But always be careful with what you wish. Everything can have a back draw. Brighton moves faster than he can think. Ariela can't turn her ability off. The only one who is well off with his ability is Craw. But he got the abilities he has from the gods to save this world. So kinda a back draw too."

Damion sighed. "Yeah... But I kinda want to feel special too."

Brighton laughed. "Do you have any idea how much I would love to have your ability to adapt fast to every new thing I am learning? I am still running into walls sometimes while training and don't get me started to the point of getting back to move normal. Getting in and out of my lightning heart state is pretty hard but you have no problems with learning something new. It is like if you just need to understand how it works and you can do it."

Damion blushed a bit. "Well... I may be good at learning but that isn't that special..."

Kathrin punched him. "You learned how many languages again? How many fighting techniques? You basically know nearly as much about dungeons as I do and have so many other things you are so far better than most Pokémon that it is astounding that your brain doesn't burst from all the stuff that seems to fit in there."

Damion sighed. "Still nothing compared to Sam..."

Brighton laughed. "Nobody can be perfect but even Sam is astounded by your ability to learn everything so quick. He always says that he has to train hard and to be as good in fighting as he does today he had to train years."

He looked down embarrassed. "I never thought it was really special."

Brighton laughed. "Damn you know more than most Pokémon learn in their life and you are how old?"

He blushed. "15..."

Brighton sighed. "Your real problem is your self esteem I think..."

Kathrin sighed as well. "Brighton that is normal for a teenager. As prince when everyone always tells you how great you are you probably didn't have that problem but normal teenagers start to think about if they are good or cool enough for others when they think about themselves. Especially after learning more about their bodies and get interested in females."

Damion blushed widely.

Brighton rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah I was so pampered in my life. You met my father right?"

Kathrin sighed. "OK. Change of topic. Wanna race back?"

Damion sighed. "I have no chance against you two so make it between yourselves. I can give the start signal tho."

Brighton nodded.

Kathrin grinned. "Same bet as before?"

Brighton looked to her with curiosity. "Are you sure about that?"

She smiled smugly and nodded.

Brighton still looked to her unsure but nodded.

Damion looked to them. "Ready? Go!"

Brighton started to swim while Kathrin evolved into a Vaporeon again and melting into the water.

The race was only a few seconds this time and they both were next to Craw taking some deep breaths.

Craw grinned and looked to them. "Are you two OK?"

Kathrin looked to him. "Tell us who won."

Craw shrugged. "Brighton by an inch or something I would say."

Brighton grinned. "Yes!" He smiled and then looked back to Kathrin. "But you don't need to keep your part of the bet."

Kathrin grinned. "You think I would bail out of a bet? Oh no. And actually I am kinda looking forward to it myself."

Brighton blushed and looked to her surprised.

Craw chuckled and elbowed Brighton. "Lucky you. maybe she can use her evolved forms a bit too. that will surely be interesting."

Brighton looked to him embarrassed. "Did you hear what she said to me?"

Craw grinned. "No but I guessed it. And because of your reaction I am sure now."

Brighton looked to him flabbergasted.

Craw still grinned patting him on the shoulder. "You really have no poker face. Also in my world since we couldn't understand the language of the Pokémon we humans had to learn how to read the Pokémons' emotions just by their acting. Some even learned how to understand them to a certain degree without understanding what they say. So I was in a bit of an advantage here."

Kathrin pouted. "Did you two now chatter enough about that? It is kind of a private topic you know?"

Craw turned to her and smiled but Kathrin was beet red. He chuckled. "Sorry. Just had to tease him a bit after how much he teased me with Ariela."

Ariela giggled.

Kathrin on the other side wasn't so amused. She swam to Craw and punched him into the guts pretty hard. "On my cost I might add."

Craw coughed and chuckled. "Sorry. Won't happen again. But isn't that what friendship is about too? being able to tease each other without hurting their feelings?"

Kathrin pouted again and looked away embarrassed.

Fletcher squawked sounding a bit like a laugh.

Brighton chuckled. "So we are playing that game now? OK. Then how about you Fletcher? Wanna explain where you go off in the night sometimes? I heard some rumors about a Taillow, a Hoothoot and a female Fletchling. Wanna elaborate?"

Fletcher flinched and looked at Brighton nervous.

Craw laughed. "Oh! I never saw such a surprised reaction from you Fletcher. Is there something true to the rumor?"

Damion just arrived and looked to them. "Are you talking about how were their names again...Cecil, Kamille and Pura?"

Fletcher looked to Damion very upset. "That was a secret!"

The others looked at him surprised but then everyone except for Damion and Fletcher burst into laughter.

Damion looked to them puzzled. "Did I say something I shouldn't?"

Fletcher just looked down embarrassed.

Craw had to catch some air as he finally finished laughing. "Why you didn't tell us? Were you so embarrassed that you are so successful with females?"

Fletcher grumbled a bit what sounded more like an angry chirp. "It is just... It doesn't seem normal for civilized Pokémon to not have more than one female... I didn't know how you would react... and now being laughed at is embarrassing..."

Brighton chuckled. "It is nothing wrong at having more than one female. Even in civilization it is totally normal. Even the other way around can happen. It just rarely happens here. We don't force ourselves on females or males because it just feels bad to them. We find our mates by following our feelings. It rarely happens that one feels the same for several females and even then the females rarely are eager to share. Or the other way around."

Craw still had to chuckle. "Yeah. We only laughed because you seemed to be so embarrassed and that is a wonderful new sight. It is hard to read you and very rare that you show such emotions so openly. Also it looked kinda funny and cute on you."

Fletcher still seemed to be embarrassed. "I don't like this feeling... I don't like being laughed at."

Craw nodded. "I know. I am sorry and I think everyone else is sorry too."

The others nodded.

Fletcher looked to him now a bit nervous. "So it is OK if I have more than one female?"

Craw shrugged. "I don't know much about the Pokémon society in that part but it seems like that. I won't have anything against it as long as you are happy. But one condition is there still. First of all you have to make sure that the females are happy with that too. After all it would be bad if they find out later and get angry on you because of it. And second you have to make sure that you don't slack on work with all the females dancing around you now."

Fletcher nodded. "I told them already about everything. They know that there are others..."

Brighton chuckled. "Well maybe they should have told you this. The type of Pokémon that is most common known for these type of relationship are bird like Pokémon. It is mostly in their nature to live together in flocks so it is normal to them that they form these type of relationships with several bird like Pokémon to form a family."

Ariela nodded. "But you have to consider. In the civilization it is also normal that a female can have several males. So don't be surprised that they might also want other males in your flock."

Fletcher nodded. "That is the same in the feral world. Even tho there the males have to fight over the females and normally the strongest gets to choose. I guess that is different here..."

Ariela smiled. "Right. All partners should be consent of what they want from each other. Don't be upset or angry if a female chooses someone else over you. You might not always get what you want and it is important to communicate with each other."

Fletcher nodded.

Craw smiled and stretched himself. "How about we play a bit ball now?"

The rest of the team nodded and so they did. The rest of the day they mostly spend in two groups of four together occasionally changing some members depending on who wanted to do what. It was nearly sundown as Kathrin was approached by Hoshi.

For a moment Kathrin looked to her waiting for Hoshi to tell her what she wanted but as nothing came from the Fennekin she just went back to pack in the leftovers.

As she was finished and Hoshi was still standing there seemingly unsure about something she sighed. "Spill it out already."

Hoshi looked to her nervous. "Uhm... Yeah... My trainer gave me a task... homework for the vacation if you want so."

Kathrin looked to her interested. "I thought this vacation was to finally get some rest from the training... OK what is it?"

Hoshi looked down nervously. "Well the task involves the team... or better everyone of the team but not as team. He said I should get back my trust in my team by telling every one a secret of mine but also have to make them tell a secret of them to me. worst of all it should be a secret that nobody knows about... And I have to tell everyone a different secret..."

Kathrin rolls her eyes. "Well that is pretty hard with Ariela around. Hard to keep a secret from a psychic type that can feel your emotions. Especially if you are around her for as long as I am."

Hoshi nodded. "Y-Yeah and I guessed that you would probably be the one not wanting to tell me a secret that is why I wanted to start with you..."

Kathrin looked at her calmly. "You mean because I am so blunt at times?"

Hoshi nodded.

Kathrin sighed again. "Yeah... I guess that's kinda true. I don't like to spill the beans about every little thing from the get go. But since you are a friend I would make an exception."

Hoshi looked to her confused. "You see me as your friend?"

Kathrin chuckled. "I am not good at feeling shit as you should know but yes. For me you are a friend even tho I am not showing it so open. Well actually my way of showing that I respect others is to be open with them. The ones I don't like I push away but you were decent from the get go. I actually liked that you were so positive all the times. It kinda pulled me up whenever I felt a bit down. You make others around you smile... or better said you made others around you smile. It would be nice to see your old self again."

Hoshi looked to her a bit embarrassed and couldn't help but smile.

Kathrin tilted her head. "Hmm but about the secret... That could be a bit more complicated." Then she saw Craw and Ariela approach and waved her paw signing them to wait. "But maybe I have something that even Ariela doesn't know about me. She probably misinterpreted it as she can feel emotions of others but can't tell at what the emotions are directed. You see at the beginning I didn't have any feelings about Brighton other than that I found him annoying. It needed some days if not weeks for me to understand what I felt for him because he was acting so damn strange towards me. Actually the feelings she thought were directed towards Brighton weren't directed towards him. It is a bit hard to admit now but I kinda had feelings for Craw shortly after meeting him. He was the first male that treated me with respect. Not because he feared me or or something he just treated me normal. He cared for my problems and he accepted how I was and that was something that kinda made me feel something for him. But please don't tell Ariela. It would be so embarrassing I would have to punch you for that."

Hoshi looked to her surprised. "What? Really?" She started giggling.

Kathrin sighed. "Yeah yeah... make fun of me."

Hoshi needed a second to catch herself. "No. I don't laugh about you. It is just... I had the same. I had such a crush on him shortly after entering the team. He seems so nice when needed and really seems to care about everyone and that is what I really like about him. It is something I want to be able to do too what is why I had a crush for him some time."

Kathrin looked to her and chuckled. "Well seems like we have something in common then." She put a paw on Hochi's shoulder. "This will be our little secret then."

Hoshi nodded smiling. Maybe Kirian was right. Maybe it would help her overcome her fear and maybe she will be able to fully trust her team again.

Craw stretched himself as he finally entered their living room. It was close after sundown and he was a bit tired. "OK. Tomorrow we all will be on our own. Couples can do couple stuff and the others can do whatever they want to have fun or relax. The day after tomorrow we will meet up again and get to see the secret base. We gonna furnish it completely and then we will decorate it. Depending on what else to do we will need more or less time but then we gonna have some relax time after that. I heard Ricky and Tira planned one or two things so don't plan something else."

The team nodded and most of them seemed tired as well but all of them in a good way. It was a calm and relaxed atmosphere in the room.

Craw smiled. "Fine. I gotta go and meet Anubis for something in some minutes and after that I will go to bed so if anyone want something from me before the day after tomorrow now is your last chance. I will spend all day with Ariela tomorrow and I don't want to get interrupted by anyone."

The others just waved their paws, claws and hands before heading off to their own things.

Damion went over to Ariela. "Hey do you have the money that I asked for?"

Ariela nodded and handed him a sack of Poké. "When you find some interesting books about medicine or some healing move item buy it. I will compensate it out of my own pocket."

Damion grinned. "I planned to buy some books anyways. But if I find an heal move item I will."

Ariela nodded and Damion headed off into his room.

Rex just grumbled and went into his room. Craw had to talk about him with Anubis too. He was the one having the most troubles with his teacher now seemingly.

Fletcher talked about something with Hoshi. They had went into a corner to talk in private and Craw already guessed what it was about.

Kathrin and Brighton were rather enthusiastic to get into their room and Craw had to chuckle about it.

Ricky on the other side seemed a bit bored and went towards his room. Craw was a bit worried because he was so lively before. Maybe he should talk to Lillith about him when he was at it anyways.

Then Tira went over and brushed her side across Ricky's side making him blush. She smiled. "I would offer you to spend the night with me but I guess you don't want to. But please don't forget our date tomorrow. I will be waiting for you at sunrise. I have planned a lot." She winked to him before going towards her room brushing her tails across his face.

Ricky shook his head before glancing to Tira and sigh. He then went towards his own room.

Craw went to him. "Hey Ricky. have a second?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

Craw smiled. "What's up? You were much more happy and lively as we took you into the team. Did Lillith do so much with you that you are so down now?"

Ricky sighed. "It's only part of it... I mean sure training is tough and she basically gave me an impossible task but that's not what sucks so much..."

Craw grinned. "Is it about Tira?"

Ricky blushed a bit. "A bit... Yeah probably... But not only that... This all... It seems so...Irrelevant... If you get what I mean."

Craw smiled. "You think it is not important enough?"

Ricky sighed and nodded.

Craw grinned. "Believe me it is. I can understand you. You came into this team and all we do now is training and basic jobs. But believe me when I say the training is important. Sure the jobs could be more heroic but we are just silver rank. We are not that far yet that we can say we are top explorers who can go and do the nerve wrecking hero jobs you want so desperately. We need to prepare for what comes. I fought an Aura-less already. I know first hand how dangerous they are. We need to be strong and this training is the best we can get. Also we can't do hard jobs while the training because most of them need days or even weeks to be finished. We just don't have the time."

Ricky sighed and nodded. "I know. It is just a bit frustrating. I want to show you all that I deserve to be on this team..."

Craw laughed. "I wouldn't have chosen you to join the team if I weren't sure that you would be perfect for it. Your personality was one reason why I wanted you. You were carefree and a free spirit. That is something that can boost morale and fighting spirit. I mean look at what we have in our team. Rex who is calm and quiet but furious in battle and he is pretty smart and quick to think of solutions that get the job done. Fletcher who is equally hard to read and quiet the genius especially for a feral. He has more control over himself than anyone else. Damion who is nice but rather shy at times. Tira who has problems dealing with others that she doesn't know and Kathrin who is pretty strict and knows exactly what she wants. They are all Pokémon who are more or less problematic with other Pokémon. Now there is also Hoshi who has her own problems. The only ones who can normally cheer those up are me Brighton and Ariela. But Brighton doesn't always know what to say because he lacks interacting with normal Pokémon that aren't nobles, Ariela is pretty busy herself because she has to learn so much fucking stuff because she wants to become a real doctor and that is a huge boat load of knowledge that she needs for that and that will keep her busy for some more years probably and me who is busy with all the other guild work too. I have to take care of reports and all of the team at once. I mean I already split parts of my work to other team members but I still have a ton of work so I can't always take care of others. That is the reason why you were so important to the team in my eyes. You are someone who can easily get along with many other Pokémon and your cheerful and somewhat carefree personality is infectious. You are the backbone of the team. The one who can everyone make smile. Not only because you are so carefree but also because you are fun to be around. Everyone always can be sure that something funny is happening when you are around. So it worries me to see you so down."

He sighed. "So you are worrying because it would affect the team?"

Craw shook his head. "Of course it is part of it but you are also my friend like every one in the team. If you are worried about something you can always come to me and talk with me. Well except for tomorrow. I will be out with Ariela then... What brings me to the next point. I wrote some times with Seth the past weeks. You normally seemed to get frustration and stress off of yourself by... well hunting after females. Of course I don't want you to fall back to bad habits-"

"And I won't. I learned my lesson." Ricky looked to him sternly.

Craw nodded. "I know. But what about that thing that is going on between you and Tira? Doesn't it work out between you?"

Ricky sighed. "I don't really know. I don't know what to feel about her. She seemingly wants more from me but I don't know if I want to."

Craw looked to him with an amused face. "So... If I get you right you don't want to hurt her feelings?"

Ricky sighed and nodded.

Craw smiled. "Did you tell her that?"

Ricky nodded again.

Craw chuckled. "Then what's the problem? You don't find her attractive?"

Ricky blushed. "Of course I do. My old self would have tried to seduce her on day one..."

Craw chuckled again. "And what did she say?"

Ricky blushed. "Well... She wants it..."

Craw shrugged. "Then where is the problem? You both are old enough and she knows that it doesn't mean something. If her feelings get hurt it isn't your fault and she would get over it. Not that it would be the first time as far as I know."

Ricky blushed and looked to him a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

Craw grinned. "You wouldn't be her first one and if it wouldn't work out you for sure wouldn't be the last one. Just have some fun. You don't need to be a monk."

Ricky sighed. "You aren't the first one telling me that."

Craw smiled. "Well it is your decision. But to tell you a real thing to think about. If you are so worried about what she might think of you then maybe you feel more about her than you are admitting to yourself. Just a little thing that I learned from two Pokémon that were so damn stubborn that they needed nearly a month even after they fell head over heels for each other."

Ricky looked to him a bit nervous. "What?"

Craw chuckled. "I mean it wouldn't be so important for you that she thinks good of you if you wouldn't care for her. But that is something you have to think about yourself." He stretched himself. "I on my end just can give you advice and listen to your problems. What you make of it is your thing. Well I have to go meet Anubis now. For you... Well it is your decision if you want to have fun with her or not." He turned to leave but then stopped. "I wouldn't think about everything too much. Sometimes it is just right to follow your guts." He then left the somewhat puzzled Zorua alone.

It was already dark outside as Craw went up with the elevator. The wind was chilling hinting that fall is arriving. He sighed and stretched himself. Cold weather was OK to him that far he knew but he didn't know yet how cold exactly it would become here. It was a rather mild climate here with warm summers but he guessed that the winters could get pretty cold here too. He arrived at the office level and stepped out of the elevator. He went towards Anubis' office. He was surely still working. He knocked at the door and got an answer soon so he entered. As he entered he saw that Anubis wasn't alone. There was a Combusken that seemed to have talked with Anubis before Craw entered now looking at the Riolu annoyed. "Am I coming too early for the report guild master Anubis?"

Anubis looked at Craw and grinned. "Ahh Craw good timing. Sit down. The report can wait."

Craw was a bit unsure. He hoped that as long as he acted formal it wouldn't be too obvious that he and Anubis shared a more mutual friendship rather than a guild master guild member relationship. He stepped across the pretty big office and sat down next to the Combusken. "What can I do for you?"

Anubis smiled. "This here is Roger. He is a messenger from the Ashen Kingdom. They had a little bit of trouble with a group of Aura-less that happened to not only get through their defense but also managed to get all through the Ashen Kingdom to the borders of our territory." He looked to the Combusken. "Roger this is Craw our most promising newcomer." He made a circling move with his paw. "He had a rather delicate mission and had order to report to me directly. But now that he is here we can use him as well. You see Craw already had the one or other run in with Aura-less. You remember our report about the Aura-less in the training dungeon? It was Craw who defeated and back then he was still a trainee. Since then he and his team got some special training. They are Silver rank but we think they are ready to rank up to gold but there isn't any fitting mission at hand right now for testing them. This mission could be perfect for them."

The Combusken nearly exploded. "Are you kidding?! This is not just some kindergarten mission here! We are talking about a group of whole five Aura-less that are acting in a team and that are not just somewhat good! They managed to escape our watcher and hunter teams that are specialized in finding them!"

Anubis now glared at Roger angrily. "Oh you think he wouldn't be able to beat an Aura-less?"

Roger flinched back for a moment but quickly got his composure back. "He wouldn't stand a chance. I fight them often enough to know how tough it is to fight them and he definitely isn't strong enough."

Anubis now grinned. It was an evil grin. "You heard that Craw?"

Craw sighed. "Do I have to guild master?"

Anubis chuckled. "Yes." He then stood up and went around the table. "Follow me."

Roger seemed very confused. "What?"

Anubis grinned. "We gonna show you."

Roger stood up. "What?"

Craw sighed. "He wants us to fight."

Roger laughed. "You won't last a minute."

Craw sighed. "Yeah yeah..."

Anubis lead them to the training room that Craw knew all too well. "OK. Here. Your fight starts as soon as you are ready." He took a bag and shuffled through it taking out some berries.

Roger grinned. "Setting up berries to heal your little Riolu once he got beaten up?"

Anubis glanced to him. "They are for you. The fight starts as soon as you are ready."

Roger shrugged. "I am ready all the time."

Craw didn't need to hear more. without the Combusken able to react he dashed to his side punching him with a Power Punch. He could feel a rib breaking under his fist.

The Combusken yelped and back flipped to get some distance between himself and the Riolu. He took a deep breath and fired a Flamethrower at Craw.

Craw didn't even flinch and ran right into it. After all the training with Siver and Serene he was used to pain and to make sure he didn't get burned too much he used Ice Punch to counter the Flamethrower filling the room with fog. He had to admit that the Combusken was tough. He didn't even flinched at the pain he surely had as he prepared the Flamethrower by taking a deep breath with a broken rib. Craw used the fog to reposition and used his aura sense to keep track of the Combusken. He then readied an Aura Sphere. It was huge like always easily as big as Craw himself. Knowing it would cause pretty hard injuries at the Combusken he sighed. "Give up now and you get away as you are now. If not I won't guarantee for anything."

That didn't seem to work as Roger just saw that as his opportunity to make out where Craw was standing launching another Flamethrower in his direction.

Craw released his Aura Sphere with a sigh knowing what would come next.

As the attacks connected it seemed for a moment like if they both would neutralize each other but just a second later the Aura Sphere just pushed forward through the Flamethrower till it hit the Combusken.

Craw stretched himself and walked towards Anubis. "He will need some medical treatment... In what situation did you put me now?"

Anubis just grinned. "Believe me. It was necessary. I will let someone take care of him." He opened the door and the fog slowly cleared.

The Combusken was lying on the floor unconscious.

The plan was good. Craw had to admit it. "You are really good at planning ahead. I thought that was something that you all praise us humans for but here you are outsmarting me."

Anubis shook his head. "I just reuse a tactic you once showed me. If we had more time you would for sure find a better tactic."

Craw sighed and looked at the map. "So they will try to avoid the patrols for sure. Once they see the gap here they will break through not knowing that we wait for them here." He pointed to a canyon that had a small natural bridge made of stone. "There we can circle them in and cause the bridge to make them pummel down into the river. As long as there are no flying types they will be crushed by the rocks and if there are any Brighton, Fletcher and Team Avian Strike can take care of them." He nodded. "Sounds good to me as long as the information are right."

Anubis looked to him. "What do you mean?"

Craw sighed. "How do you think did they manage to kill whole hunter teams? Either they are really strong or the numbers are off. Both are things that are hinting that some information are just wrong..."

Anubis looked at the papers he got from the Ashen Kingdom. "Hmm... Yeah but the teams that managed to see them but not able to catch confirmed it's just a team of five..."

Craw sighed. "What if they move in smaller teams till they reach their destination? That would also explain why they are unsure what Pokémon are in the team."

Anubis looked at Craw. "Why didn't I thought of that. We do that with expeditions too..."

Craw nodded. "It could also be that they are just searching for an easy way for an invasion. That would explain why they operate in small teams. This way they can cover a large region."

Anubis was now shocked. "Wait... Do you think they plan a bigger offensive?"

Craw nodded again. "If I would be the master of them I would send an expedition to find a hole in the defense and then send a big group to test their defense on a different region. If I am sure that I could go through I would send the actual army at the actual hole in their defense to make sure that they don't know where I actually want to attack." He pointed to the spot where they planned to trap the group. "I would make this just the second weakest spot and one with a bigger hole over... here." He pointed to a different spot on the map where attackers would have to get through a valley and where they could create a defense that is hard to break through while attacking them from the side. They could also charge in from behind to trap them and then attack from all sides making the attacker unable to flee. "This would be the actual perfect spot for a large prepared trap. They wouldn't be able to escape while we can attack them from all sides."

Anubis was staring at the map. "You always amaze me with your strategies..."

Craw grinned. "It is just a simple strategy tho. I actually used a story from human history. There was a small army that had to fight a huge army and they chose a similar spot to defend the fight lasted several days and even though they were largely outnumbered they were able to fight back for the most time defeating nearly a third of the enemies army. In the end they lost tho as a traitor told them a secret passage that made the enemies able to surround them and trap them in exact such a position. They didn't last an hour. So no matter how strong they are if we counter them from all sides here we can attack them endlessly and trap them giving them no chance."

Anubis nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

Craw nodded. "But that is all only if they do like I think they are working. I would recommend that Sam looks over that plan as well. Maybe he has some more ideas how to make it even better. But don't tell him that it is my plan. I think he is already suspecting something and I don't want him to know about my secret yet..."

Anubis nodded. "OK. I think that is all for now. We don't have enough information to plan further. I will send a message to the Ashen Kingdom asking for all reports with all details they have no matter how contradicting they are."

Craw nodded. "Good. But now excuse me... I really should go to rest now. Ariela is probably already."

Anubis looked to him. "Oh yeah. Just... why did you come here today? I didn't ask for you."

Craw looked to him for a moment confused before he remembered. "Oh nearly forgot. I wanted to talk about Rex and Ricky. OK I actually wanted to talk with Lillith about Ricky directly but because of Rex... What is going on in the training? He is kinda frustrated. Is everything all right with training?"

Anubis sighed. "Yes and no. Dyno the trainer I chose for him came to me yesterday and told me that Rex wanted to stop training with him. He said that Rex didn't like the way he got trained. It seems Rex fears that the fighting style that Dyno taught him is too reckless. There are some other things going on between the two but that is more personally but the training seems the main part."

Craw looked to him with curiosity. "What do you mean with reckless?"

Anubis stretched himself. "Most dragon type moves work by anger and frustration of their user. Some dragon type Pokémon tend to go on a berserk like rampage because of that attacking everything around them including their friends and even family. If you visit the Dragon's Den you will notice that most dragons tend to very aggressive behavior. That is why it is hard to fit a dragon type into an exploration team. They can be a danger to the team itself and Rex doesn't want to go that path."

Craw sighed. "Yeah... He is always considering the best outcome for the team... But how can we help him?"

Anubis smiled calmly. "Don't worry. Just send him back to training and everything will work out. I talked with Dyno and explained him that Rex is different than him and that he needs to find a way to train Rex without going the common path of the dragons."

Craw nodded. "OK I trust you on that. About Ricky... I would like to speak with Lillith in some days... maybe in three or four days. Ask her if she has time then please."

Anubis nodded. "I will. But please be careful. I can't really tell when she is angry or not but I am pretty sure she hasn't forgotten her grudge against you because of what happened back in the war."

Craw sighed. "Yeah..."

Anubis looked to him. "Oh and one last thing. I talked with Sam's father. He will train you. But beside that... Siver and Silver both asked me to find something else for you. They say there is basically nothing anymore that they can teach you. Serene will go on with training your mind from now on she said. She said you still lack in many dungeon knowledge and wants to "fill your empty" brain as she said it. I think she meant because you forgot everything that you once taught us as we formed a team..." He sighed.

Craw looked to him confused. "What? I mean yeah I can understand Serene's point but why Siver and Silver? I never was able to beat them!"

Anubis shook his head. "They said they taught you everything and the only thing that you need now is more strength and that you can get that by training yourself. But I also think that is right. Also it is an opportunity."

Craw looked to him even more confused. "What opportunity?"

Anubis grinned. "Let me give you back an advice you once said to me: You need to find someone who you can train. I trained you now for long enough and you know everything that I can teach you. Now it is your turn to give that knowledge to someone else. Maybe you will be surprised. You can learn much from someone who you are supposed to teach. " He chuckled. "Or at least something like that. I really recommend you to find a pupil of your own to teach. I would even go as far as to recommend to search for a Riolu for that. It might give you some insight of some questions you didn't know you have."

Craw looked to him nervous. "You mean I should teach someone?"

Anubis nodded. "Yes, but not just someone. I would advice to teach a Riolu. Maybe a young one. It would help you to understand some things. In the beginning you trained me but as I got stronger you told me to train others myself. It would show me of my own mistakes and the things I am lacking of you said. And what should I say? You were right. I learned a lot and trained harder to be able to keep up with the progress of my students." He smiled. "I think it would help you too. I recommend to train a Riolu especially since you have some abilities that a Riolu can learn the most from but also because it can help you to notice things that you can't just learn out of books or by someone teaching you. Behaviors and habits of our kind if you want so."

Craw sighed. "But why don't you just teach me that."

Anubis shook his head. "I spend too much time with you as I was a child. I learned so much from you that I adapted a lot of my behavior from you. It wouldn't work."

Craw sighed. "So A young Riolu... Do you have someone in mind? Maybe Hope?"

Anubis shook his head. "As much as I would like the idea of her spending more time with her uncle it would not be working out. First of I am training her myself. Thereby she also inherits a lot of my habits. But more importantly is there Lillith. I doubt that it would be a good idea to let you train her while she is still mad at you."

Craw looked to him and nodded. "True..."

Anubis smiled. "But there is someone else. I young and pretty talented male Riolu that recently joined the guild. He is just eight years old but would for sure become a bronze rank member if he would be allowed to make the exam now. Since the minimum age for the exams is twelve he is not allowed to yet and is stuck in the foster unit of the guild."

Craw seemed to be a bit concerned. "Hmm..." He already heard of the foster unit from Damion. After all the Buizel was in the foster unit himself since the age of six. Some special teams take care of those kids that lost their parents or were abandoned by them. This way the safety and care for the kids is secured but at the same time they are trained to become explorers. Craw had a little bit of a problem with that system. Sure it made sure that the guilds wouldn't lack of future members but at the same time the kids couldn't learn a different job that would maybe be better for them. "Does he even want to become an explorer?"

Anubis looked to him. "I don't really know. He barely speaks to anyone. He is somewhat of a loner. He does his best at everything but besides that he doesn't seem to want to play or speak with the other kids. I hope that by training him and maybe show him a bit how your team works he would understand how important it is to make friends."

Craw sighed. "Yeah... OK. Before I decide I want to meet that boy. I want to make sure that he wants to become an explorer."

Anubis smiled. "Well if you decide to train him you would be allowed to train him how you see fit. If he somehow learns some different things that he likes to learn as a job when he becomes twelve then it is not my problem." He winked.

Craw chuckled. "I see you already planned it all out."

Anubis sighed. "I would also like to change the system but we just don't have enough teachers and talented Pokémon that can teach them different things than exploring. Only a few manage to become guards or traders thanks to my and Serene's guild that provide some knowledge in that field."

Craw nodded. "Yeah... OK I will meet that boy. But not before we are finished with the situation of the Aura-less that broke through the Ashen Kingdom's defense."

Anubis nodded. "Good. That should give you enough time to prepare everything for him."

Craw looked to him. "What do you mean?"

Anubis smiled. "It just rarely happens that a team outside the foster unit takes care of a foster child. In that case it is normal that the team is considered like adoptive parents that will take the child in. What I want to say is that he then has to live with you."

Craw looked to him with open maw.

It was a beautiful morning and Craw held Ariela's hand as they were walking through the city.

Ariela giggled. "So he tricked you."

Craw sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

She smiled. "But I think that is a great idea. It would be like if we had our first child and we can learn a lot from that for when we have our real first child."

He sighed again. "You don't get the point I mean-" He stopped walking and looked to her confused. "Wait... Our real first child?"

She giggled. "You are really slow aren't you?"

He looked to her for a moment like if he needed to process what she just said. "Wait wait wait wait... Are you implying-"

She kissed him. "Yes I mean exactly that." She giggled and looked to him.

For a moment he looked to her shocked but after a few seconds he grinned from ear to ear.

Author's note: Heya here I am again. Sorry for the long wait. I was sick with corona and was in the hospital. Long story short I am now nearly back to health and I can concentrate on writing a bit again. I am pretty bored because I am not even slightly as fit as before and can't even work at the moment because I am out of breath after just climbing some stairs... But the good side is that I now have massive time to write while by physical rehab is going and I will use some of that to write. So you can be expecting some more chapters in near future. See you later!