The walk to Dalarin would prove to be a lot faster than Hydra envisioned. Auburn had mentioned that the midway point of the journey would be certain when Arceus' eye was facing directly west to them, and they reached that milestone in about fifteen minutes.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Auburn curled his head around his shoulder to stare at the jackal. "Not much to say?"

"I'm not sure what I could say..." Hydra frowned. "I wish I didn't have amnesia."

"Don't worry, you'll get it back, I'm sure. If you used to live around these parts like you said you did then something should bring them back." The Leafeon uttered before he continued facing forward. "We're almost there."

"How are we going to find this person?" The Lucario curiously inquired.

"According to my dad, they've challenged a bunch of strong-looking pokémon, so all you have to do is look tough!" Auburn grinned and came to a sudden stop, his body swiveling in place to gaze at the Lucario. "What better way to find out just how tough you are than a spar?"

"I'm not sure." Hydra turned away. "I do not know my own strength, I can only judge from my physical appearance."

"So? I'm tough as well, I'll be fine!" Auburn backed away to add some space between them. "C'mon, you scared?"

His taunt didn't work, but the jackal was still going to try and humor him anyway. Hydra took a deep breath and readied a half-serious stance, but it was still enough to get the Leafeon vibrating with excitement.

"Do you like battling?" Hydra felt the eeveelution's positive aura practically smack him in the face.

"Yup! I've done it all my life, so you're in for quite the treat." Auburn pressed his paws forward to stretch wide.

"I'm still unsure, your father mentioned you should not get hurt." Hydra folded his arms after recalling such an important memory—if only he could do that with his real ones.

"I won't get hurt, and even if I do I promise I won't tell!" At this point, Auburn was just desperate to battle him. The Leafeon undoubtedly wanted some action in his life and found the Lucario to be a worthy battle.

"I'll try." Hydra finally conceded and readied himself once again.

"Try to see if you can remember a move." The Leafeon grinned.

Hydra decided to listen and reach into what little muscle memory he had left. An even greater silence swept through the planes they were in, the sounds of distant bird pokémon chirping about making it seem like a battle was not about to take place.

Finally, the jackal silently reeled his arms back and hovered his palms together, letting the energy in his body flow through his paws. A growing bundle of energy formed between his palms, coated with rings and steel energy that only brightened as he charged it.

"Here goes," Hydra warned and stomped his foot forward to hurl the energy in the Leafeon's direction. He did not fully finish charging the attack on purpose, but it was still a surprisingly aerodynamic shape.

Auburn let out a small chirp and quickly leaped away to evade the attack. The energy impacted a nearby tree and exploded on impact, leaving a few bits of shattered steel layering the crater it formed.

"Woah, that wasawesome!" The Leafeon didn't even bother looking back at his opponent, he was more interested in inspecting the damage his jackal friend had done. "Was that Flash Cannon?"

"Yes," Hydra answered flatly. "I did not mean for it to be that potent."

"Wow, that's what you call not potent?" Auburn chuckled and turned to smirk at the Lucario. "I wanna see more!"

Hydra stared at his paws in contemplation. He purposefully made that attack weaker, and yet it nearly decimated the tree it impacted. He didn't want to imagine if it hit Auburn.

"If you're not gonna go again, then allow me!" Auburn snapped the jackal out of his trance before a row of sharp leaves formed from thin air. Hydra could tell it was Razor Leaf, but the Leafeon had yet to throw the attack. Instead, it hovered in the air and followed Auburn as he dashed toward the jackal.

Hydra figured it'd be better to play this spar in a defensive manner, so he focused on parrying everything he could.

As he predicted, Auburn's speed made it so he would instantaneously close the distance between them, causing the Lucario to raise his arms in preparation. He felt a sharp pin-like object smack into his side, and he slightly lowered his right arm because of it. Through what he could sense, Auburn had charged yet another attack—a Leaf Blade.

When a Leafeon uses a blade-like attack, they shift the cells inside the leaf on their forehead to mold into whatever shape they choose. Even with amnesia, Hydra knew this information.

"Think fast!" Auburn roared and swung his head down after the Leaf Blade had charged. Unexpectedly, Hydra had parried the attack with just one paw, and he reset the interaction by grabbing hold of the glowing blade and tossing him aside.

Auburn whirled around in the air for a bit before landing on his paw, albeit just a little roughly.

"Huh, not bad at all! You could have hit me back, though!" The Leafeon playfully rolled his eyes. "You're still holding back, Hydra."

"I'm simply following your father's advice." Hydra narrowed his eyes with a slight hint of annoyance.

"Aww, boring!" He whined before readying his body once again. "Have a little fun, I'll be fine!"

The Lucario slowly shook his head. "Especially after the Flash Cannon, I'll stick to parrying."

"You'll change your mind when you see I can be threatening!" Auburn playfully growled and leaped forward with a running start. "Don't regret your choice!"

Not thinking anything different of his approach, Hydra relied on his aura to determine when the Leafeon's attack would begin. Auburn visually tried to keep himself ambiguous, but when he stopped directly in front of Hydra's vision it was clear that he wanted his next move to be seen.

"Watch and learn..!" Auburn muttered to himself before a similar row of leaves scattered from his body to float above his head. "You haven't seen my newest trick, have you?"

Hydra kept his eyes on the attack with complete focus. He didn't bother to answer, thinking that Auburn was just trying to catch him off his guard.

With a small grin, the Leafeon tensed his body before a bright spark emanated from the ends of his fur. The spark trailed off him and instantaneously caught onto the leaves floating above him, combusting them into live flame.

"Huh..?" Hydra audibly questioned what he had just witnessed.

"Cool, right? I can make all my grass moves into fire!" Auburn grinned as the Razor Leaf—flame? Razor Flame? "I like to call this one Leaf Flame!"

"Is that not dangerous for you?" Hydra was too busy questioning the safety as he watched the fire get just a littletooclose to the Leafeon. Now he perfectly understood the burnt edges on the eeveelution's leaves.

"Nah, I can control it very easily! My dad mentioned some weird science stuff about how it worked, but I just know I can do it." Auburn giggled with excitement. "Isn't it awesome?"

All Hydra could think about now was just asking Aagor about how this ability worked. For starters, a grass type turning his grass moves into fire type attacks? The thought of that was preposterous to the jackal. And yet, Auburn stood proud in front of him with an ignited Razor Leaf.

"Be careful," Hydra warned with a frown.

"Psh, stop it already!" Auburn scoffed and crouched lower in anticipation. "You shouldn't be distracted in a battle!"

After realizing the meaning of his words, Hydra returned to his defensive stance and watched as one of the flaming leaves shot at him at what looked like the speed of an arrow. The attack made contact with his abdomen, a spread of temporary fire coursing through his fur.

Hydra stifled any further pain and parried the rest of the onslaught—though his arms could still feel the sting emanating from the fire leaves connecting.

The Lucario let out a small groan of pain and craned his head up to look at Auburn. Once again, the Leafeon was coming in from above after using a projectile attack. Hydra knew that yet another fire attack would hurt, especially considering the type disadvantage.

He thought of something as fast as he could, hoping he wouldn't regret it. Hydra felt time slow down around him, and he carefully analyzed Auburn's movements to find an open spot.

Hydra charged forward, his body moving so fast that all the Leafeon could see was a bright blur. Suddenly, Auburn felt a massive force crash into his body and send him flying across the field before he could even begin his next attack.

When the Lucario halted in place he immediately knew what he had just done. "Oh, shit. Auburn!"

The Leafeon had tumbled into a small bush that luckily saved him from any rolling. Auburn's crawled out with a somewhat confused expression. "What the hell was that?"

Hydra ran to kneel next to him and frowned. "I-I'm terribly sorry, that was too much. I wanted Quick Attack but I ended up using Extreme Speed...are you okay?"

Auburn craned his head up to look at the jackal. He took a good look at Hydra's face, not even bothering to assess himself. Randomly, the Leafeon let out an innocent laugh.

"Wh...What?" Hydra stammered and placed a paw against the Leafeon's head. "It must be a brain injury."

"No, it's not," Auburn playfully knocked his paw away. "I'm just laughing 'cause...that's the most emotion I've ever seen you show. It's nice."

"Oh..." Hydra paused in realization. "But are you sure you're okay?"

Deciding to humor him, Auburn rose from the bush to reveal a light bruise darkening his chest, but luckily nothing major. "I'm okay. I mean, you hit me decently hard but I'm okay."

"I apologize," Hydra grumbled. "If I could remember a healing move, maybe I c—"

"Just don't worry about it!" Auburn shook his head, offering the jackal a warm smile. "I'm okay, I already promised I wouldn't say anything to my dad."

Hydra watched as the Leafeon shook the dirt off himself and continued onward. Silently, the jackal followed close by, the guilty look never quite leaving his expression.

Silence took over once again as the two settled on following the path toward Dalarin. In moments like these, Hydra found it a better fit to just relax and appreciate the atmosphere. Even though there were many trees scattered around them, the planes they were traveling in were so vast that they could see miles abroad. If he narrowed his eyes hard enough, the Lucario could notice the silhouette of Dalarin's village ahead.

Hydra let out a small sigh, turning his head down to look at Auburn once more. He should have known that sparring with him would be a bad idea, and he was right to regret it. Part of him wanted to humor the Leafeon and let him live a little, but on the other end, he had to heed Aagor's warning.

He cleared his throat to break the silence before walking side-by-side with the eeveelution. "Your fire trick...when did you discover it?"

Auburn's expression lit up at the question. "Oh! I think I was a bit too young to remember it fully, but I know it from my dad."

"Really?"

"Yeah, when I was an Eevee I would always try and copy his moves to the best of my abilities." Auburn's lips slowly creased into a smile as he recalled.

"I see...I imagine they were all fire moves?"

"Yup!"

"Then, why didn't you choose to evolve into Flareon?" Hydra tilted his head to watch the Leafeon.

Auburn's expression dulled, and he partially looked away from the jackal walking with him. For a moment it seemed like he'd never speak, but eventually, he turned to the Lucario with a frown. "I couldn't, no matter how hard we tried...we couldn't find one."

"A firestone?"

"Yeah...we didn't always live in the Verity Planes. When I was younger I was super impatient to evolve." Auburn lightly shrugged. "So I kinda just wanted the next best thing if I wasn't going to be a Flareon."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Hydra frowned with a light hum in realization. "Do you regret it?"

"I did for a while, at least before I learned my fire trick. It's not like I wanted to be a Flareon specifically, I just wanted to be able to use fire." Auburn turned his head to stare at the burnt ends of his leaves. "But maybe a Leafeon wasn't the greatest idea...I liked them because they could use sword attacks."

Hydra felt a bit of negative energy grow in the Leafeon's aura, causing the jackal to step in front of him and lean down to face him. He placed a gentle paw on Auburn's head before presenting a slight smile. "I forgot to mention you battled very impressively, so I do not think you should have any regrets...I personally wouldn't."

Auburn sheepishly flushed at the comment before nodding. "Thanks, that means a lot. I like battling so...of course I'm gonna be good at it!"

After a humoring laugh, the Lucario backed and led the path toward Dalarin. "By the way, do you know anything about Arceus' eye?"

"How do you not know—oh, your amnesia." Auburn playfully smacked his own head in realization. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Well, I woke up in there...maybe there is some way I can recall my memories by knowing what it is." Hydra crossed his arms and idly watched the distant glass dome he was mentioning.

"Where do I even start? I mean, when the Verity Planes were discovered, everyone used to live in the eye. They figured out that pokémon moves used for malicious intent would magically stop, and it made for a very peaceful place."

"Magically stop? You mean their moves would not work?" Hydra raised a brow. "How would it be possible for a glass dome to detect when a pokémon is inherently malicious? I have to rely on my aura for that."

"That's why we call it magic—or I do, a few people found the dome to have scientific ties to Arceus." Auburn chuckled. "I still find it hard to believe that Arceus would do something like this, though...I more so believe with my eyes."

"Well, the dome is there, no?"

"I didn't see him place it." Auburn shrugged. "Surely there's a better reason."

Not wanting to question his thought process, Hydra decided to pry on something else. "You mentioned everyone used to live in the eye...but when I was in there it looked quite empty."

"Oh, it's mainly used for important gatherings now, they won't let many people inside otherwise. It was a long time ago, but some big disagreement happened and many pokémon started finding loopholes in the way Arceus' eye worked. Not only that, but being cooped up in one place for too long can lead to many abuses of power." Auburn loosely described. "Long story short, now we have five major leading guilds in the planes."

"I know of Ghan and Dalarin."

"Yup, there's Ghan, Dalarin, Birch, Mai, and Yin." Auburn listed, clearly happy to be informing the jackal. "They all have completely different cultures, too! Hopefully you'll enjoy it in Dalarin, but not as much as you'll like it in Ghan!"

"Are you only saying that because you live in Ghan?" Hydra turned to him with a small grin.

"Nuh-uh!" The Leafeon chortled.

After a few laughs the two noticed that the ground below them shifted to a thick gravel, signifying that they were nearing their journey's end.

"There it is." Auburn motioned toward a large archway, the word 'Dalarin' etched into the brick. "We're here."

Size-wise, Dalarin was visibly smaller than Ghan, but not by very much. The streets were far more populated, however, and it seemed as if everyone had gathered for some large event.

"Oh, no way!" Auburn picked up his walk to a small jog and made it into the crowd. Hydra had to rely on his aura to follow the Leafeon through the mess of pokémon.

Not knowing even the slightest bit of what was occurring, Hydra silently followed along and instead let the Leafeon guide him. He didn't know much else other than the fact that he was approaching unintelligible sounds.

Once he managed to push through, the two found a small opening in the chaos, allowing Hydra to see what Auburn was so adamant about seeing.

They were standing directly in front of a stage, and not just any regular one, a fully dynamically structured and professional one. The constant sounds Hydra was hearing were the sounds of pokémon moves being used, and at first glance, it looked like a battle.

"This is Battle Dancing!" Auburn had to raise his voice for the jackal to hear.

"Is this what Pixie mentioned?" Hydra questioned in a similar decibel, his voice slightly louder due to the bass.

"Yeah! Look carefully, they're not even hitting each other!" Auburn lifted a paw to motion toward the stage.

Only now did Hydra focus on the pokémon performing. A Floragato and Zoroark—both female—were exchanging attacks...no, they were purposefully missing? Hydra couldn't quite describe it.

"Why?" The Lucario asked flatly.

"Wynaut?" Auburn shrugged with a small grin. "It's a form of art, a kind of entertainment."

In an attempt to open his mind, Hydra continued to analyze.

The Zoroark had leaped into the air, a Shadow Claw already charged at the ends of her paws. The Floragato stayed grounded and reeled her arms back, a small bundle of flowers visibly glowing between them. Just as the black fox was about to land, the Floragato launched the attack toward her Shadow Claw. A flowery and controlled explosion indicated the impact, and once the mixture of smoke and petals dissipated it was revealed that the two were still unharmed.

Hydra nearly flinched once the crowd he forgot about roared, he was more entranced with the two pokémon on the stage. Only now did he realize they were wearing layers of fabrics and decorations that were both objectively attractive and efficient for movement.

He took a good look at the Zoroark; she was panting, as if she had been performing for hours. Luckily, both she and the Floragato turned to the crowd and presented their bows, signifying the end of the performance.

"Daw! We showed up too late, it just ended!" Auburn pouted.

The Lucario's eyes met with the Zoroark's for a split second. Due to this, he sensed a slight hitch in her aura, something he'd remember from now on.

"Hydra?" Auburn bumped his forehead into the jackal's leg. "It's over now, we can go."

"Right..." Hydra nodded and followed the Leafeon out of the bundle of pokémon in front of the stage. Even the air felt cleaner after leaving the dense crowd, allowing the two to take a deep breath.

"Man, I wanted to see the whole thing. I wonder if Meadow is around here." Auburn pondered while keeping his head on a swivel.

"Meadow?"

"She's a friend, the Floragato you saw perform on the stage!" The Leafeon proudly puffed up his chest. "I've known her for a while."

"I see." Hydra hummed lightly and shut his eyes to focus. The sensors on the back of his head came to a gentle rise, a blue mist of aura now surrounding them. In mere seconds, he located the Floragato. "She's still backstage, but according to the direction she was moving in, she'll be here in a minute."

"Wow, that's handy," Auburn chuckled. "Was that your aura? How does it work? Does it tingle?"

He didn't bother humoring his questions, fully knowing that they were simply meant to tease him. After about a minute of waiting, Hydra's predictions would soon be proven correct once a gentle voice called out to them from a hidden door placed near the stage.

"Auburn!" Meadow jogged up to the Leafeon, the Zoroark from earlier following suit.

"Hiya!" Auburn also jogged up as the two exchanged a small hug. "That was such a cool ending, I wish I could have seen the whole thing!"

"Awe, it's no worries, we do these bi-weekly so it's no fret if you don't make it to one," Meadow flashed the Leafeon a gentle smile before her gaze averted. "And you are..?"

"Hydra," the jackal introduced himself with a small smile. He recalled just how distant and reserved he was at the bakery, and he had luckily improved since then because of that. "A pleasure."

"Why, it's also a pleasure for me!" Meadow instantly approached and offered the Lucario her paw to take. After exchanging a gentle shake, the Floragato craned her head up to face him. "My, you aretall!I didn't know they still made 'mons like this!"

"That's a bit much, Meadow." The Zoroark playfully remarked, reminding the two that she was still there.

"Oh, Epilson, you didn't introduce yourself!" Meadow pulled away and rushed back to stand next to her friend. "Go on~!"

"Uhh, alright? I'm Epilson." Epilson raised a brow at the Floragato's insistency.

"And..?" She pried.

"What else is there?" The Zoroark chuckled and crossed her arms.

"Maybe add what you do, or even the fact that you're th—"

"Don't mention that, please." Epilson gritted her teeth in response.

"Okay, just Epilson." Meadow shrugged and turned to the two boys with a smile. "Alrighty, what brings the two of you here?"

"Hydra is on a bit of a mission." Auburn started. "He works for the Ghan defenders and is here from Dalarin's request to address the pokémon causing trouble at night."

"We requested aid from Ghan? For our problem?" Epilson scoffed in feigned awe. "It's almost like our defenders don't exist."

"Epilson," Meadow lightly scorned. "They're trying their best, especially with how overlooked they can be."

"I don't mean to pry..." Hydra turned to get the Zoroark's attention. "But is there a problem with Dalarin's defenders?"

"For years there has." Epilson heaved a small sigh. "A lot of our funds get poured into tourism, it almost feels like this place isn't meant for living anymore. Because of that, defenders don't really get a lot of reward for their efforts, and it doesn't help that Dalarin doesn't experience much conflict."

"Aside from the occasional petty crime, we're almost always safe from the evil eye." Meadow placed a paw against the Zoroark's arm. "But that's a good thing! I don't know why you're so worked up about getting more defenders."

Epilson felt a frown tug at her lips before she averted her gaze. "Something could happen, and something did, just as I predicted it would."

"I'm sure that delinquent will probably be put in their place." Meadow turned to Hydra with a cheeky grin. "Especially with this big boy here, right~?"

Hydra didn't know how to respond, so he smiled back and nodded at her.

"See? We have someone strong to help out!" Meadow reasoned.

Epilson focused on Hydra with an analytical gaze, a small smile creeping up on her lips. "You know what? Sure."

"Wow..!" Meadow scoffed. "Usually you whine about it for a few more seconds before accepting it."

The Zoroark laughed and continued staring at the Lucario with half-lidded eyes. "Maybe I changed my mind. I wish you luck, Hydra."

Not knowing what to think of it, Auburn decided to chime in with his own thoughts. "Do you guys recommend anywhere nearby to stay? If the night dueler only shows up at night then we're gonna be here for a while."

"The night dueler?" Epilson mimicked with a small smirk. "Cool name."

"Thanks, I thought of it on the spot! Gives us something to call them." Auburn grinned in response.

"Hm, we can head over to the east district if you'd like?" Meadow offered after she turned to playfully pat the Leafeon on his forehead. "I know someone there that could get you two a good room, free of charge~!"

"Really!? That'd be so cool!" Auburn beamed.

"Cool, I think I'll probably he—"

"Epilson, you should come with!" Meadow latched her arm onto the Zoroark's wrist just before she could dismiss herself.

Epilson visibly shrunk at the offer before heaving a sigh. "I don't know, I promised a friend I would hang out with them."

"Awe, c'mon, it's just to lead them there and chat for a bit." Meadow insisted with a smile that even she could not resist.

"Fine, but I'm only gonna be there for a little bit." She conceded with a small smile aimed towards specifically Meadow.

"Great! Alright, everyone, follow me!" The Floragato announced after she raised an enthusiastic paw in the air.

"Here we are~!" Meadow practically shoved the door open to a large, multi-story brick building she had led them to.

Hydra had to stay outside for a while just to admire the sheer size of the hotel. "How many stories is this?"

"About eight, the biggest in all of the Verity Planes!" Meadow giggled at the sight of the Lucario's awe. "Come on in, we can have the highest floor if you'd like."

"I-I think I'm fine with something on the lower side." Auburn sheepishly laughed.

"Someone's afraid of heights." Epilson grinned mischievously. "I'll remember that~"

"Don't even start..." The Leafeon narrowed his eyes at the fox before turning away.

After watching the Zoroark giggle to herself, the group made their way towards the main desk. Along the way, Hydra would understandably distract himself with the interior decoration. It made sense; from what he knew about Dalarin's tourism he figured that they'd try their hardest to impress any visitors.

"Oh, hiya Meadow, Epilson!" A bubbly midday-Lycanroc peeked his head from above the counter, his eyes quickly noticing the two males trailing them. "Oh, you have some visitors!"

"Yup, these people are justsotired from theirlongandexasperatingjourney here, and it's such a shame they don't have a place to stay!" Meadow visibly exaggerated and leaned her body onto the counter to address the rock canid. "My dearest Talus, do you think you can help with that?"

"O-Of course! I wouldn't want anyone to not have a roof over their heads!" Talus affirmed with a light pink hue visible on his cheeks. "I'll have it ready for you right away!"

"Thank you so much!" Meadow beamed and snuck up the counter to plant a small kiss on the top of Talus' head. "Let us know~!"

The moment Meadow backed away to rejoin the flabbergasted group she faced them all with a puzzled look. "What? I said we could get it for free."

"I wasn't aware you were going to seduce the clerk." Hydra playfully scoffed down at her.

"Hah! Just be generous." Epilson turned to grin up at him. "Unless you wish that was you."

"What happened?" Auburn was too busy stuffing his face with complimentary appetizers aligned on a counter to notice the conversation.

All three of the adults slowly eyed each other before shrugging. "Nothing." A unanimous word.

As promised, Talus had the room ready and listed to be used in a mere five minutes. Meadow snatched the keys—with audacity, since it wasn't even her room—and guided the three up into an elevator.

"I forgot how cool this technology was..." Auburn said as he innocently hummed in an attempt to match the elevator's whirring noise.

"A few really smart pokémon discovered how to form electricity into circuits that can make cool machines like this." Epilson leaned into the back of the elevator cube as she watched the door close.

"We're inventing new things every day, I can only wonder what the next big thing will be." Meadow held onto a nearby wall rail. "There's probably going to be something new this festival."

"Oh, yeah! When is the date?" Auburn inquired. He fully knew, but was just asking for Hydra so the jackal wouldn't feel embarrassed about it—especially in a room with girls.

"It's this week, silly." Meadow poked the Leafeon's cheek. "On Friday, don't forget."

"Right, so four days!" He nodded.

The elevator made an audible chime before the steel doors swung open, revealing a completely different area. Now they were on the third floor, which was just high enough for Hydra to enjoy the view and low enough to where Auburn wouldn't freak out.

"Three-eleven, here we are!" Meadow propped herself up to the door and slipped the keycard inside. A quiet beep signified the unlocking before she quickly shoved it open and switched on the lights as if she'd been there before.

It wasn't much, but it was a lot more than Hydra was expecting. There was only one bed, but it was large enough that the two could fit in with an acceptable distance. In the corner was a chair and a small table meant for dining, and on the other side was a small mechanism that the two did not know of.

"That's for calling room service!" Meadow could feel the two staring before she waltzed in and snatched the metal tablet. "You press this button and it will call someone over if you need anything."

"Convenient." Hydra chuckled.

"The best in the planes," Epilson added with a small grin. "I recommend you two get some rest, especially if you're going to be awake all night."

"Right! If we want to not be tired at night, we're gonna have to sleep now!" Auburn suddenly sprung up at the realization before he leaped up on the right side of the bed. "Sorry guys, we have a mission to complete!"

"Mission sleepy time?" Meadow cooed with a playful roll of her eyes. "Looks like Talus made sure the bed was big enough for you, Hydra, you should thank him for that later...especially considering this was a last-minute room."

"I will, and thank you for getting it for us." Hydra nodded and watched as the two backed away through the door.

"I'll see you hopefully tomorrow?" Meadow asked, only her head visible through the doorway.

"Yup!" Auburn chirped.

And then, the door was shut. A faint locking noise was heard—looks like the doors locked on their own. Hydra scrolled around the room and noticed the room's keycard lying on the table, Meadow somehow managed to sneak it on there without them realizing.

"C'mon, hurry up and sleep so we can catch that guy!" The Leafeon was already tucked in the sheets with his eyes forcefully shut.

"You can't force sleep, Auburn." Hydra meticulously eyed the room, even analyzing it with his aura. He shut the curtains to the window but made sure to keep a slight crack open—one that only he would see.

"But you can't sleep while...what are you even doing?" Auburn opened his eyes to raise a brow at the Lucario.

"It's nothing, just some safety measures." Hydra sighed and made his way over to the bed. Auburn felt the mattress drastically shift as the jackal entered, but luckily it wasn't too bad. Once the two were comfortable, they found themselves staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't think you'd follow me all the way to Dalarin."

"Are you kidding? I wanted an adventure like this for so long now, it's a miracle my dad even let me." Auburn scoffed and turned to idly watch the jackal. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Hydra shifted his head to lock eye contact with the Leafeon's tan pupils.

"Well, you still have your amnesia, right? You must be pretty confused about everything, evenIget confused sometimes."

"The great Auburn gets confused?"

That earned a small laugh from him.

"Yeah, I do. I'm just wondering how it feels to just...not really know anything about yourself." He turned away to stare at the jackal's scarred arms. "Especially since you've been through so much from what I can tell."

"It's difficult to describe." Hydra hummed in thought. "It doesn'tfeellike something is missing, even though I know it is. It's almost as if it just doesn't exist."

"Weird."

"Yeah, but I've been getting important things like my muscle memory and fighting abilities back, so that should be of use." Hydra finally shut his eyes as he was speaking. "I'm sorry for hitting you so hard, by the way."

"I already mentioned that it's nothing. I don't even feel it!" Auburn pridefully stated.

Hydra opened just one eye to look. The Leafeon had a point, but the Lucario could still see a somewhat bruised spot on his chest. He reached his paw forward and gently placed it against the darkened fur, a dim pink light emanating off his palm. Auburn let this happen with an amused look, feeling the faint pain slowly fade away.

When his paw pulled away, there was no longer a bruise.

"When did you learn that?" Auburn let out a surprised laugh.

"I don't know, just now?" Hydra exhaled in realization. "Something felt kinda familiar and then I knew how to use Heal Pulse."

"Awesome! Are there any other cool things you can rem—"

"Auburn, go to bed..."

"Fiiine..."