CHAPTER ELEVEN:
MEETING THE LEADER
-Udon-
Greeting us on the other side of the door was a throne room of sorts. It was very elegant and royal, but still rustic like the rest of the village.
"Welcome, Otherworlders," I heard a voice say.
There was a Pokémon sitting down, waiting for us to arrive. She was mostly orange with a mushroom-like cap on top of her head. She also had tiny t-rex-like arms and a tail on her backside.
"What brings you three to the Hidden Village?" the Pokémon asked.
I paused before answering. One wrong move and we could all be thrown back in the dungeon, possibly to rot forever.
"We were traveling through the woods, and I guess we must've taken some kind of wrong turn somewhere," I said.
The Pokémon stared at us for a few seconds, before eyeing Aura.
"They are telling the truth, Loom," Aura stated. "They got lost trying to find the mountain."
"The mountain?" Loom uttered. "You guys thought you could get to the mountain without any food or supplies? Are you insane?"
"Remember, they are Otherworlders," Aura said back. "They most definitely are insane."
"In a good way, though." Amp added.
We all looked at Amp.
"What?" he asked. "I'm trying to make sure we don't die here."
"You're not going to die," Loom responded. "Unless what Aura has said isn't true."
"I assure you, they mean no harm," Aura reassured. "I read their aura, and it was clean."
Loom looked at us again. She seemed very untrusting of others. I only hoped what Aura said was true, and that she did have a good heart.
"No one must ever know about the village," she said. "Those who have crossed paths with it must vow to keep its secrecy."
"We promise we won't tell a soul about this place," I said. "Right, guys?"
Ruffles and Amp agreed. If we got out of here, no one would know besides us.
"Very well," Loom said. "Now, since you three have nothing on you, you can rest here for a day or two to get your bearings."
Thankfully, Aura was right. She seemed to be a nice Pokémon.
"Now, you may leave my quarters," she continued. "Aura will show you where you'll be sleeping tonight."
We followed Aura outside, and he shut the door behind us.
"Thank you so much for sticking up for us in there," Ruffles said. "We've kinda been through a lot."
"You're quite welcome," Aura replied. "I know what it's like to be lost. Like the world is against you, and you're just trying to find a place to call home."
He seemed like a good guy. I'm glad that he found us before anyone worse did.
"Hey, could you show us where we can get a decent meal?" Amp asked. "I'm starving."
Aura chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't call it anything gourmet, but I'll bring you to the pantry," he said.
Just then, it dawned on me that I hadn't ever brought up our names.
"I'm Udon, by the way," I said.
"I know your names already," he interrupted. "I have the power to read aura, remember?"
I guess that did make sense.
As we all followed Aura, I couldn't help but think of what he said earlier about the others like us. The Otherworlders, as he and Loom called them.
"So, now that we're done with all that, can you tell us about the Otherworlders?" I asked.
Aura stopped in his tracks. "I can't say much, but I can say this," he said. "Otherworlders are quite rare. We have, however, found a few like yourself that have been searching for a way home."
He paused, not quite sure how to say what came next.
"None of them have survived," he finally uttered, hanging his head.
That was not what I was hoping to hear.
"How come?" Ruffles asked, a worried look on his face.
"The Elite Four," Aura replied. "They're a ruthless team of Pokémon that have stopped at nothing to kill every Otherworlder in their way. But the ones that haven't died to the Elite Four still have met their fate on the treacherous road ahead."
Suddenly, I remembered what the Pokémon that attacked us in the city had said. He was hunting something called anomalies. Was that another term for Otherworlders. And if so, was he on the Elite Four?
"Hassel," I uttered. "Someone named Hassel tried to kill us back in Talardi."
Aura looked shocked. "He's part of the Elite Four," he said. "How did you survive him?"
"I can barely remember," I said back. "I know he hurt Ruffles, and I tried attacking him, but I don't recall anything past that point."
"Actually, I remember something," Ruffles said. "Yeah, Udon's fist got all glowy and sparkly, and then I passed out."
It was all coming back to me. I remembered now how I punched Hassel, and how my hand looked like it was shooting off little lightning bolts.
Aura's expression changed to surprised. "I don't believe it," he said. "You actually used Thunder Punch?"
All three of us stared at him. What was he talking about?
"What's that?" I asked.
"There's a rumor, well, it used to be a rumor anyways, about Pokémon being able to use ancient powers in battle," Aura explained. "I didn't think it was real. But if you're telling the truth, this could be huge!"
I paused, dumbfounded by what he just said. I used some kind of ancient power? And how, exactly, did I do that?
"Udon," Aura said, placing his paw on my side. "You could change this world forever."
