Updated 28/02/2023

"My name is Matthew Alexander and… I guess I'm supposed to be dead. At least, that's what everybody has been thinking for the past six years… Well, I'm not. And whatever group or person finds this video, don't show it to anyone else. Not yet. Trust me, you'll see why… Alright, let's start.

"I was born on February 16th, 1987, and am currently eighteen years old. If you think the math is a bit weird it's because you're right. It shouldn't be like that, but my biological age is, in fact, eighteen when it should be around thirty.

"It's because of my healing. The human body wasn't meant to contain this kind of power. Every single moment, my cells are threatening to rip themselves apart because of my psychic energy. The healing counteracts that, and makes it so any cell that does die is replaced immediately. It also means that any injury I get is healed much faster than anything else. What would take someone months to heal takes me minutes, if not seconds.

"Another side effect is my age. My age will go up, but the age of my cells won't. They're just replaced, and I'm stuck with an eighteen year old body. The same one that they used for their experiment.

"Team Saber told me I was their biggest success. It didn't feel that way. I don't even know if I can die anymore. And maybe that was their biggest flaw.

"Or maybe their biggest flaw was the creation of him. Though, I don't think they even knew what they created."

The spear ever so slightly crept closer to his forehead until he felt the sharp stone tip press into it. Matthew was certain that it would draw blood if it were any sharper. Though it did just that when the lucario went one step further. The trickle of warm liquid finally snapped him out of silence.

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" he said frantically, and the point on his forehead eased slightly. He sighed and his leeway was promptly taken away, making him wince. "I accidentally walked into your territory and because I'm a human, I'm a threat. I get that. I'm very sorry that I did and will be more aware from now on. Just-" He was cut off by the lucario stepping forward which not only made Matthew wish the spear wasn't as close to his head but its hand spikes as well.

"Could you please back off with that spear?!" he snapped at it.

He got his wish, and the point was retracted from his head. The lucario then twisted the spear around and swatted him on the side of his head with the butt end of it. He felt his ears ringing after the pain had subsided. His eyes were blurring and the bleeding from his forehead had yet to stop, painting the snow below him soft shades of pink and red.

What the hell is happening? Am I blacking out? With his healing ability, his senses would have been restored by now, if not sooner. The grey that was beginning to plague his eyes turned a deathly darker shade.

He could still see out of the narrow patch of sight. The lucario observed him pensively, eyes darting over to analyze every inch of his body.

"You are an odd one…" it whispered, readying its spear again, "We will see what the elder makes of you." The spear swung back then came careening towards his head and caused Matthew to black out instantly.

He awoke with cold snow being dragged against the open hole in his shirt, causing his body to shiver… or so he tried. His body was not moving to his commands and was laid perfectly still with the only movement coming from his right leg, being pulled off in some direction by an unseeable force.

As his sight began to clear up, partly from the shock of cold, he realized the force was the lucario and it was dragging him to who knows where. Directly up, he saw thick branches weaving amongst each other as though part of a giant wicker basket.

Matthew looked around him, but again finding his head was held firmly in place. He tried to use his psychic powers to force his head over. It succeeded in moving two inches to the left but no more. And then he couldn't move it at all. What was this? His limbs weren't bound by any rope and the lucario's grip wasn't greatly strong.

"You're not getting away. You will face the consequences of your trespassing," the lucario said, letting a feminine tone slip through her speech. She turned her head and shot Matthew a glare that caused him to stiffen. It wasn't by fear, he just felt himself go as rigid as a board before the lucario continued dragging him by his leg.

"What did you… do to me..?" he said, trying to ignore the built up snow on his back. He realized that his psychic wasn't keeping him warm anymore. A panic-driven quake drove through his body that managed to shake him a bit before he was locked in place yet again.

"The more you struggle now, the faster your energy will deplete, and you may end up freezing to death. I suggest you be still and you'll get warmth soon," she said. Her spear in her opposite hand twirled to face him, threatening him with the pointed end. "I merely disabled your body functions using aura, but seeing that it is a bit imperfect, you'll have to not move for some time, got it?" she shoved the spear a few inches shy of his face without looking before returning it to her side, "I won't hesitate if I need to."

"And I s-suppose this a-aura of yours isn't w-wearing off any time s-s-soon?" he asked, feeling the cold send his lips into a stutter.

The lucario turned around, "So you understand me then? That will make things much easier later on… as long as you don't try to escape. Then it may be a lot harder."

He did understand her, another perk of the powers he gained. What was once a mess of speech comprised solely of fragments of the pokemon's name came across as perfect English to him.

She jerked his leg and Matthew felt snow slide up the hole in his back to right behind his neck. No matter how hard he tried to shake the snow out, it clung to his shirt collar and laid against the sensitive skin. He could only be thankful for his pants which had been unscathed in Team Saber's attack. They kept the snow out a considerable amount better than his shirt.

His train of thought caused a disturbing alarm to siren. "Are y-you part of T-T-Team Saber?" he asked tentatively. If it was true, then he was truly screwed.

"Team Saber? What's that?" she replied, not bothering to turn around. "If it's a group of humans you're with then I am definitely not. My tribe takes pride in the way that we are not accompanied by humans at any time. Nor has anyone ever come from a previous servitude with a human."

Matthew couldn't use his psychic to confirm her response but considering her rather haughty undertone, he took the answer for what it was. He tried to calm himself down, which, unsurprisingly, was difficult to accomplish.

The lucario continued dragging him along the snow without skipping a beat. The canopy had drastically blinded his view of the sky, only blips of white cloud could be seen through the tangle of branches. How far had they gone into the forest? Too far for comfort, his mind replied.

He began hearing rustling from both sides of him, with even a few muffled pieces of speech here and there.

"It's a human…" one said.

"It has weird hair, maybe it's sick?" said another.

"I hope so. The less of them, the better."

This back and forth of speech didn't calm Matthew's nerves down one bit.

"We're nearly there, you'll get your warmth soon," the lucario said, beginning to drag him at a slightly faster pace. While the idea of heat was appealing to Matthew, he definitely didn't want it if it meant being around here for long. This lucario or maybe even her whole tribe wasn't part of Team Saber but staying in the same place for an extended period of time was just not an option.

"Please… if you h-h-have any m-mercy… l-let me g-g-go and I s-s-swear I'll n-never c-come b-b-back," he said, trying to contain the cold-induced shakiness as best he could.

She laughed, and Matthew didn't need her to answer to understand her response. "Humans… Apply some tension to their structure and they crumble like a house made of sand. You should be praying that the elder does not punish you harshly, I know I won't be." She continued to laugh to herself for some time before tapering off and regaining composure.

Matthew felt his body go over a bump, knocking his head on the rock-hard snow-ice and caused ringing to sound off.

"Watch yourself, there's a root," the lucario added mockingly.

Gee, thanks a lot, he thought, ignoring the pain.

The voices among his sides were becoming more and more prominent, hopefully that meant this freezing drag was about to end soon. The conversations that he heard, however, still managed to keep his anxiety from getting too low.

"I wonder where Shali found it... Maybe it doesn't have a home," a younger voice spoke.

"I've never seen one with white hair, did it get stuck in the snow?" another questioned, with a voice similar to that of the first. A pair of riolu, Matthew thought and felt his body stop.

"Tuwa? Meli? Could you tell the elder that I have a human that wandered in?" the lucario named 'Shali' said.

"Okay!" one of the voices said cheerfully, not giving much indication which of the pair it was.

Footsteps in the snow could be heard trailing off, followed by, "Meli! Not fair! Wait for me!" said Tuwa. More footsteps were heard going off.

"Y-y-you know…" Matthew started, still not warranting a head turn from Shali, "if y-you let m-me into w-w-where your tr-tribe is… I m-might d-d-do some b-bad things… seeing that I am a h-h-human," he threatened half-heartedly. Of course, he didn't want to actually do anything to hurt them. But sometimes a threat was enough. While this didn't cause her to move her head, it did prompt her spear to jab at his left leg and in his rigid state, it hurt much more than it should have.

"Is there actual weight to your statement or are you just trying to scare me?" she said, not sounding that she cared much about what Matthew had said.

Matthew didn't respond. The lucario was too determined for her own good. Or for his, for that matter. The spear left his leg and dragged a steady flow of blood with it. "Exactly as I thought," Shali said, satisfied.

There were a few more minutes of dragging with no speaking between the two of them. Matthew was becoming increasingly paranoid of the fact that he might get hypothermia soon if there wasn't a good source of heat somewhere close. And just when he thought he would pass out again, he heard the unsteady crackling rhythm of fire.

His eyes, which had been frozen to the sky, looked around at his surroundings. He felt a general sinking feeling being settled in his gut. Multiple riolu and lucario were looking at him with a variety of emotion. Some with interest, others with anger and, more interestingly, a few with amusement. They were completely silent too, a feature which he found very unnerving. Shali continued dragging him through the crowd without halt.

In his field of view, there were a few lucario who stood out from the rest. They bore a crescent of red across their chest spike and on top was a single dot, the same pattern appeared right above their eyes. Matthew could only pick out two or three as he passed them, but they appeared to be holding back the rest of the pokemon.

As the crowd thinned from either side he saw trees with a thick structure, much thicker than one would find randomly traversing through a forest of varying magnitude. They also had crescents and a dot symbol present on their trunks.

Then, there it was. The holy grail. Fire. It was a slight bit bigger than an average campfire and he could feel its heat reach him comfortingly. The logs were arranged illogically, and its collapse seemed rather imminent, but those thoughts took a backseat to relief. He let a sigh escape his lips.

The sun was only shining through a breach in the canopy. Snowing just a couple of minutes before, winter had taken the time to relax but if he knew the Johto region as well as he did, it would be back sooner than later. And with a lot more vigor.

On that thought, he realized the ground was not covered in snow, thankfully, and was instead more just frozen solid. He felt glad about not dealing with the snow before coming to terms with the greater situation at hand with Shali dragging him further away from the crowd.

He stopped moving and his eyes went to the lucario standing above him. Shali remained motionless and eventually she dropped his leg to the ground. Matthew, realizing what this could mean, tried to move around but found he was still locked in.

"Didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" Shali whispered.

"The human is still trying, is he?" an older, gruffer voice said. Matthew attempted once more to move his head and this time he actually managed to. In fact, all his limbs were completely free again. It confused him and he remained relatively motionless on the ground before the voice said, "You can stand, human, as long as you don't cause trouble."

He tilted his head to either side, seeing neither lucario nor riolu, and pushed off the ground to stand back up. Finally, the snow which had been forced into his shirt, while only small bits now, dropped out. Heat from the fire carried over and warmed his body generously, stopping his shivering for now.

Shali stood in front of him but since she was shorter, he had no problem seeing who was speaking to him. Three lucario stood, each with the markings that were seen on the guards with an addition to the pattern being another crescent that mirrored the one below it, creating an odd eye shape. The one on the left didn't appear to be very intrigued by much of anything but the right one, who held a scar to the left of his chest spike, had a disgusted look on his face.

The one in the middle was the one who stood out the most. On top of having the markings of the former two, its spikes appeared to be shiny and polished. On its wrists there were metal shards being held up by a ratty looking string. "My name is Arphal, and I am the elder of the Aperta tribe," he said, an almost archaic overtone being heard. It was then Matthew noticed his grey fur near his ears and markings on his head.

Matthew's thoughts immediately went to teleporting, but he was stopped by two roadblocks. One, they could easily notice him glowing bright and stop him with their aura again. And two, even if he managed to get that far, he wouldn't have enough energy left in him after the teleport to do hold onto anymore heat. He would just end up succumbing to the cold. So, for now, he had to play along with the conversation.

"May I ask why I am here?" he tried to say as politely as possible.

To his surprise, Arphal replied quickly and with a similar tone, "So you can understand us, hmm? Well, as I am sure Shali has told you already, you were trespassing into our territory and have to face the consequences."

"While I assure you that I had no intention in coming into your territory, there weren't any markers to indicate that I was," Matthew replied, being aware of the eyes that were burning into the back of his head.

Another surprise from Arphal, he smiled. "There were many markers at the start of the forest near your human houses, were there not?"

At first Matthew thought he was joking but quickly remembered he had landed in the forest, not in front of it. "Well, you see I-" he cut himself off. Openly saying that he teleported there? Was he crazy to think of such a thing? Shali and the rest of the tribe likely weren't with Team Saber but who knew what they would do with him if he divulged that information. He finished after gulping, "...I must have accidentally missed them. I'm sorry that I did."

Arphal nodded understandingly which gave Matthew some hope, although that did not last with the following words. "I'm quite certain that you are telling the truth. Regardless, you are a human and any human who comes into the Aperta territory is to be executed."

This caused a murmur of speech to be heard by the spectators behind Matthew, but Arphal quickly silenced them with a wave of his hand. Matthew felt venom start to gather in his speech, waiting to be released but hesitated, not wanting to guarantee his demise. His healing power had still not come back yet, the solidified blood on his forehead and leg still made themselves known. Shali's aura had yet to leave him fully.

Calmly, he said, "Sir, you seem to be very wise. If people find that I am missing, they will send many search parties into this area and may kill some of your tribe. Neither of us want that and both of us want me to leave here. So, I suggest you allow me to leave, and I will never come back."

This time there was very audible laughter from the crowd, so much so that Matthew felt embarrassed, even if he didn't know what for. The two lucarios adjacent to Arphal, who had held neutral expressions for the majority of their conversation, allowed their snickers to be heard. Arphal himself had an amused expression but surprisingly, he didn't hear any hints at laughing from Shali.

"Elder, I don't believe he thinks we're serious," she said clearly, making Arphal turn back to stoic quickly.

"Yes, well it appears that way," he said to her, then turned back to Matthew, "It seems that you forget that we can sense aura quite well. It also seems that you have lied about search parties coming to look for you, I'm afraid."

Matthew's breath hitched and he had trouble comprehending what he was listening to. He had no idea what to do. Of all the things he had gone through, this is how it would end? He was about to be murdered and would never have the chance to alert people of Team Saber. When he opened his mouth to speak, Shali beat him to it.

"However true that may be, Elder, there is something more here. Have you looked into his aura further? I'm certain you will be surprised," she said.

Arphal nodded and angled his head down slightly in concentration. His aura sensors on the back of his head were lifted by an invisible wind. Matthew couldn't physically feel anything probing his very spirit but there was definitely… something there that caused discomfort to rocket through him. Shortly after Arphal started, his eyes opened, and his aura sensors drifted back down. He seemed enlightened and was overtly surprised. "Well, this is a very interesting development."

Matthew didn't like the tone one bit. "What does that mean?" he asked.

Arphal grinned, "Your aura is quite unusual."

"I'm pretty sure I got that. Exactly what about it is unusual?" He took a defiant step forward but was stopped immediately by Shali, shoving her blunt end of the spear back into his gut. He doubled over and fell to his knees, his hand resting on his torso which was gaining a new bruise.

"Talk harshly to the elder again and I can promise more than just a poke," Shali said, returning the spear to her side. Matthew attempted to get up again but was locked in place. Her aura had bound him again.

"Perhaps it is only natural for him to be a bit… unstable. Especially considering what his aura is," Arphal said, a small wind blowing his fur to the left. "Human, it appears you have two separate auras residing within you."

This didn't exactly drop any bombshells for Matthew, but to the spectators behind him, there were several instances of gasping and confused mumbling. Two auras? What is that supposed to mean? he thought, not giving much in the way of facial expressions. Was he supposed to feel scared or unnerved? The significance hadn't dawned on him quite as much as it had on others. I mean, how would I even have a second aura in the first place? It's not like there's…

Wait.

Oh.

Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me.

He is my second aura? That son of a-

"This does change some things, I must admit," said Arphal, raising a paw to silence the crowd. He still held some visual awe from his recent discovery.

Being careful to not earn another injury, Matthew calmly said, "What does that mean in regard to myself?"

"An individual with two auras has never been properly observed before. Perhaps we should keep this one for the time being to determine if they are dangerous," the lucario to the left of Arphal said.

"While true, Taregan, it is a human no matter the number of auras it has," said the lucario on the right. He did not seem terribly maligned to what 'Taregan' had to say but it was not without bitterness hidden beneath. "My daughter brought this human in. I think it would be fair if she upheld our laws."

Oh, so he's Shali's father. Guess I should've known, they both seem to hate me, Matthew thought.

"Now, now Tokala, you've made your point," said Arphal, looking beside him and staring each of the arguing figures down until they both stared at the ground. "This is a new occurrence and while I agree with Taregan in the way that this should be investigated-" Taregan put on a prideful face, "but as Tokala points out, we must also follow what we've lived by," Taregan returned back to being indifferent.

"What do you suggest then, Elder?" asked Tokala, glancing at Matthew with reproachful eyes. Matthew could feel the intense heat that they gave off and began to be increasingly more uncomfortable than he already was.

Arphal took a step forward. "In three days, your fate will be decided, human. To die or to remain as a means to our education. Should the latter come true, you will stay until the end of your days and never be freed. Keep in mind that should you ever lash out against any members of my tribe or attempt an escape, your death will be certain and drawn out for your crime. Do I make myself clear?"

He had made himself clear and Matthew did not like it one bit. This couldn't happen to him, and he wouldn't let it happen if that was still possible. But with Shali shackling him with aura and Arphal and the other two deciding his potential death, things looked a lot bleaker than he wanted them to be.

A spear end struck against his back, "Answer the elder, human," hissed Shali. The spear end was replaced with the sharpened point, lightly digging into his back.

"You made yourself clear," said Matthew, not looking at Arphal. This is only a blip, Matthew. You can get over this. It's not like you haven't gotten yourself out of tight situations before, a rather optimistic side of his mind said. But he wasn't so certain it would hold true.

"Good. I hope I did," Arphal said. His smile seemed gentle though looks were all too often deceiving. "Shali."

The tip of the spear left Matthew's back. "Yes, Elder?"

"You will be in charge of watching the human. Your border patrol duties will be put with someone else." Arphal began walking back to his original position. "I assume that you are well prepared for the job?"

"Absolutely, Elder. I won't let you down."

"I trust that you won't."

Matthew suddenly felt his whole body shift upwards and before he realized it, he was standing straight up. Shali walked forwards and stopped as her spear grazed his arm, making him nervously shiver. She can control my movement now? Oh, that's just perfect, he thought sarcastically.

"This judgment has come to an end," said Arphal, holding a stern gaze that made the forest deathly silent. His eyes wandered over the lucarios and riolus before speaking again. "We will now recite our pledge to Sphaera…"

To the side, Shali dipped her head down and closed her eyes as though in prayer. Matthew was left confused, Sphaera? I guess that's who their god is, I didn't think anyone used anything other than Arceus though. Interesting.

"When an open palm is met with another…" Arphal started.

"An open palm allows the flow of aura…" everyone else said.

"When the flow of aura is held with an open palm…"

"The flow of aura holds true for all…"

"A true aura is to be held with an open palm…"

"For the truth is a right given to those blessed by Sphaera…"

"Sphaera remains our guardian and as such…"

"We hold her gift with an open palm and wear it until our end," everyone else finished.

Amen, I guess. There was another uneasy quietude amongst the forest where you could hear Fletchling and Taillow miles away, chirping happily as though they had caught a meal. It was broken just as he began to enjoy it.

"Well said, everyone. You may go about the rest of the day as you please," said Arphal. He turned his head to Shali, "Take the human over to that tree there," he pointed to a tree near the fire, "We don't want him to freeze on us yet." He walked back towards a tree that had the tribal symbol on it and picked up a decent length of rope from its base. "Tie him up in case your aura falters for any reason."

"Of course, Elder," she said with a seemingly subliminal message that read, 'Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen.' Shali took the rope from him and grabbed Matthew's forearm as well. With his aura-locked body, he mindlessly followed the direction she pulled him.

Matthew was having a plethora of negative thoughts towards this tribe. But the one that he supposed, to put it to a word, suppressed the majority of them was that this was fair in most of their minds. It was true that humans treated pokemon the very same, capturing them without permission and juggling their fate with unstable hands. And it was also true that he himself experienced firsthand that dreaded side of mankind.

Shali dragged him until they were both just a few inches away from the tree where Matthew felt his body force itself into a sitting position. She held the rope spool with one arm while she pulled some length out with her opposite hand.

She went off to the left, trailing rope behind her. She continued to circle the tree until the rope had coiled firmly around his chest. With a pull that shoved all the air from his lungs, she tied it in a reef knot. Just as though it appeared he maybe had a chance of untying it, she led the rope until the knot was at the opposite side of the tree. The bark was rough in places but provided a decent comfort to his back from the open shirt hole.

Her figure returned to his line of sight and she stood solidly. The bottom of her spear dug into the earth only a few inches ahead of his feet. Though her head was turned, Shali still gave a presence of intimidation. While Matthew was well aware of this, he wasn't overly invested, his mind was elsewhere.

I still can't believe you are my second aura. It seems I can never get away from you, huh? Matthew thought to himself. He waited for a response but only heard radio silence. It had been this way for too long and the fact that he hadn't responded or actively played a part in his thoughts was very unnerving. Where the fuck are you? he said in his head and again garnering no answer.

A wind blew by, sending a brick through his concentration and causing a shiver to quake his body. The fire flickered, briefly having no flames before rising strong once again. The heat met his skin and he attempted to scooch closer to it but found the rope was too tight.

On the opposite side of where he stood, a lucario brought a piece of wood over and threw it onto the fire, breaking the flame-stricken ones and causing a storm of sparks to erupt from the top.

There was the brief hope that the wood would pop and send embers to burn the rope off. Of course, it didn't happen. He needed to plan if he wanted to get out.

He had to be patient. He had done it before, he would do it again. And this time, without him.

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Peace!

-Minusbomb