[Pokémon] World of Aura

[GuardianofAura]

Hello to all! I am writing a Fan-Fiction called "World of Aura".

It's about a Riolu who was born differently from the rest of his kind, and his closest friend is taken away from him. He needs to learn how to become strong if he is able to face up to the threat which puts the world in danger. It takes place in a new world not mentioned in any other story.

This book was meant to be an idea for a game i wish to create when i'm able to, but i decided to write it as a book. It is quite a big book so far. I believe it is an amazing read for any Lucario/Riolu fan or any pokemon fan. Heck, it is even good for someone who has no clue what pokemon is. In my book, i have not once mentioned the word "Pokemon".

Please give me any comments and criticism you have about my book, good or bad, so i can aim to improve it as much as possible. If you find any mistakes, let me know so i can correct them. I will be writing more daily, so you can expect a few updates to this after around every chapter i write. My book is not even close to being finished, but i would like to get ideas for what i should do next from all of you. If you do choose to read it, then thanks. If you don't, that's fine. Thanks for taking your time to read this, and i hope you choose to read my book! Just scroll down to read it.

P.S. Looking for an illustrator for my book. PM me if you can help, greatly appreciated!

World of Aura

The story so far…

My name is Aura. I am a creature known as a Riolu. But I'm… different from the others. It's a long story. Let me first tell you about my kind.

We Riolu are special creatures who live in the Rukari Mountains, and are gifted in the way of the aura. We can control aura and use it in many unimaginable ways. For example, we can sense the feelings of all living things, we can turn aura into energy which can be used for fighting or recovery, we can create plant life from nothing and many more amazing things. I'm not too good at growing things though.

Riolu all hatch from their eggs on a rare occurrence, once the moon blocks the sun. Or as my Father calls it, a Solar Eclipse. This is when the aura becomes the strongest it can possibly be, and is visible to all. A ceremony takes place once the Riolu hatch to welcome the new life into the world. However, this ceremony only occurs once every 20 years.

Riolu are naturally blue and black, and all look alike in a natural way. We can tell each other apart though by the feeling of each other's aura, or if we decide to wear different things like a flower or a scarf. I don't need to wear any of these things because… well… I'm kind of easy to spot out in a crowd.

Once Riolu find their one true soul-mate, they can change form to what is traditionally known by the name of "Lucario". This evolutionary change can only be made once the sun is in the sky and two Riolu hold true friendship. It is often done in groups, but not always. A group of Riolu would wake up early, just before sunrise, and find a clear view of the sky. Then, they would meditate next to their partner, holding hands, and wait for the sun to rise. Apparently, it is a brilliant sight to witness, and it would be sure to eliminate all of one's negative thoughts or feelings. I wish I could see it someday.

Lucario are the true beings of aura, and have the ability of bending aura completely to their will. They are around twice the size of a Riolu in height and have three spikes growing out of their bodies. The abilities of Lucario are of a much higher margin than the abilities of a Riolu. They are more powerful, much wiser and they are given the sacred duty of guarding and protecting the land.

Riolu do not have the capability or power to make an egg. Only Lucario have the ability to make one. An egg is made by two Lucario climbing to the top of the tallest mountain in our area known as "Spear Mountain" named for its shape at the summit. Then they grasp palms and release a strong burst of concentrated aura into the ground. The aura radiates the Lucario's energy, creating the egg.

Our race's average life span is usually around 50 years, but a selected few can live much longer than that, depending on how pure one's heart is. Legend speaks of a Lucario who has learned the path of Immortality. To us, that Lucario is called "Auridia" or "The God of Aura". No one has seen this Lucario, but many try to find it.

My Story

My father gave me the name "Aura" because he said I was special. I don't know about that, but I sure am different. I'm not like all of my friends. I may be a Riolu, but I can never be the same as them.

On the mystical night when all Riolu are meant to hatch, all the Lucario gathered around their eggs, and looked up towards the sun. Once the Solar Eclipse began, the eggs started to glow and slowly became Riolu. I was one of the eggs. Although I did glow, I did not hatch. All the other Riolu hatched and met their parents for the first time. It took three whole days for me to hatch. At first, there was confusion throughout the village. And then, when I finally hatched, there was shock.

I opened my eyes to look up at my parents. They both looked overjoyed, but no one else was. I looked around and saw that everyone else was shocked. I looked at my skin and noticed that I was glowing a magnificent golden colour, different from all of the others. The Riolu that surrounded me were all blue and black. I was really confused at the time. Of course, I was just a new-born, so I did not know much. Some say that I was a gift from The Creator; others think I am a curse upon these lands. But no one knows for sure. Not even I do.

I was raised just like any other Riolu would have been, but everyone seemed to avoid me a little. Every time I walked into the training centre we Riolu are sent to, the other Riolu walked away from me, scared of me. It was confusing and heart-breaking at the same time. The Lucario trained me away from the group too, because the Riolu didn't want me to be with them in case "something happened". This meant I could not develop my skills faster and I was always lagging behind everyone else. Even the Lucario training me were a little scared of me. But my aura was strong. My Father would always tell me "Just because you're different, does not mean you are worse than the others. Never give in to their thoughts, and believe in yourself." My Father always supported me in troubling times.

Once I was two years old, I was finally told by my parents why everyone was scared of me and avoided me. I finally found out that Riolu like me were considered bad luck upon the village, and that I was the first of my kind. Hearing this broke my heart, and I was hiding away for a little while, thinking if I should run away for the village's sake. But I always would remember what my father said, and kept on going. I may not be like the others, but that doesn't mean I can't do what they can do. So, with determination, I kept on going. While the other Riolu were learning new attacks, I was trying to learn the basics. I was always a step behind.

One day, on my fifth birthday, my father decided to take me up Spear Mountain. I love the walk up that mountain. I love the nature and the way the wind blew on my face. It felt amazing. I had never climbed to the top before, but this time I did. When we reached the summit, it was what seemed like a crater in the ground with a ramp on the edge, overlooking the sea. My father walked towards the centre of the crater, and I followed. My father sat down and meditated, and I did too. But when I did, something happened.

My body started glowing and my eyes turned a cyan colour. Then, all of a sudden, I started levitating off the ground. I was panicking, but I was not in control of my body. My father opened his eyes and looked towards me. His face grew pale with fear and shouted something at me, but I couldn't recognize what he was saying. He tried to pull me down, but he got blown away by a wave of energy erupting from me.

After about ten seconds of me floating and my father trying his best to get me down, I clenched my body together and shot a beam of energy from my chest up towards the sky. My father got sent flying into a wall, and even when in pain tried to get me down. Where this power came from was a mystery to me, and still is. As the beam faded, I slowly closed my eyes as my body gently floated down. The last thing I saw was my father running towards me, shocked by what just happened.

I woke up two weeks later with my Mother and Father over me, who both seemed extremely worried and happy that I finally woke up. As I rose, I think I saw many Lucario and Riolu surrounding me, looking shocked. I couldn't see very well though, and I could barely hear a thing, but I think I heard them talking about me. After about a few hours, I finally fully recovered my sight and hearing. I seemed to have caused a lot of panic for the residents of the village. What happened to me? Where did that power come from? I still ask these questions, even today.

 

[GuardianofAura]

Chapter 1: A New Day

"Wake up, Aura!" my Father shouted. Startled, I fell off of my bed and landed flat on my bedroom floor. My father laughed to himself and helped me up.
"Dad..." I groaned, still half sleep. "…what's with all the shouting? It's still very early."

"Still early? Well, in case you have forgotten, today is the day you finally know what role you will play as one of the village's Guardians!"

I had completely forgotten about that. My eyes shot open and I looked straight toward my father.

"That's today!?" I snapped back, surprised.

"Yes, that's today. How could you forget? It is a very important day for you, so you better wake up and get ready!"

Dad was right. How could I forget? Today was the final day of us Riolu's basic training. We will finally be chosen either to be a user of Natural aura, a user of combat aura or a protector of the village. It all depended on how skilled you were at each of these things. Whatever you are most skilled with will determine which path you will take.

"Err… right" I said. I was hoping this day would not come for a little longer so I could perfect my skills, but I guess you can't delay the inevitable. My father walked out of my room and I followed. I walked into the living room and saw my Mother standing there.

"Morning, Aura!" my Mother said. "No sleeping in today, I'm afraid."

"Morning mom." I replied. "Don't worry, I'm awake now." I walked past her and opened the door to my garden.

My garden was a beautiful place with bright green grass and many different coloured flowers surrounding the wooden fence on the outskirts. It was the best place possible for me to relax. Since my village is on a mountain and my house is on the edge of the village, I could see the view off of our mountain from my garden. I walked to the centre of the garden and sat meditated. When we Riolu meditate, it heightens our focus in aura, and makes us stronger and calmer. I love it when I meditate in my garden. The sound of the wind, the smell of the flowers and grass, the scenery of the mountains below, it all added up to the perfect place to relax. I can never stop smiling when I come here; it is truly a great place.

I could feel the presence of my Mother and Father watching over me, proud of how far I have come. I guess that was another one of my good talents. I could easily tell the thoughts and feelings of others through aura when I am in a state of pure relaxation. It's like a whole new world once you see the world through aura. Everything that is alive radiates aura and the purer the heart, the brighter the aura. When you see the world through aura, everything without life is just black, and all things with life glow a certain colour, commonly different shades of blue.

"Come on, time to go!" my Mother shouted. I stood up and walked over to her. I wondered to myself what path I will be chosen to take today. Whatever it is, I'll be ready for it. My parents walked me to the front door and opened it. As it opened, the sun entered the room and I shielded my eyes from it.

"You ready, Aura?" my father asked.

"I was born ready." I replied. This made both my Mother and Father laugh.

I live in a little place called Koco village. Koco village is a small village based in the centre of the Rukari Mountains. Only Riolu and Lucario live here, and I think it's that way for the whole of Rukari Mountains. We're a peaceful village filled with high spirits and a great personality. The leader of my village is Arone, a descendant of our most famous ancestor, Lokoro. He is a great leader, powerful and wise. Below him are the Lucario that protect the mountains, and the Lucario who train us. Next down the line is us, the Riolu.

The walk to the training centre felt slightly different today. All of the Riolu I walked past were nervous, I could feel it. I was nervous too, but there's no surprise there. Anyone would be nervous when they are about to be given the path that their life will take! But I felt strong today, stronger than usual. The sun was gleaming brilliantly and it was a nice cloudless day. The smell of freshly watered grass filled the air... this really couldn't have been a better day.

Once we arrived at the training centre, I stood outside it and looked up at it, knowing that today will be the last day I will come here. It was a large stone building with stone pillars in front of the entrance. From here, parents were not allowed to enter with their children. I walked up towards the entrance alone and my parents waved goodbye. I waved back and I could feel the joy in their hearts as to how proud of me they are. This feeling will keep me from giving up. I know I will make them proud.

"So, finally going to finish training today, eh?" a voice said. I knew that voice. It was Gav, one of the strongest Riolu in the village. He may be strong, but he was not very kind. He was pretty overconfident too. He walked up to me with a cheeky grin on his face. "I have to say, I never thought you would make it this far, knowing your skills!" He had this this smug look on his face and walked off, chuckling to himself. I was not going to be demoralized today, so I ignored him. But I know that he is going to be a pain in the courses ahead. It's strange, I have never seen Gav's parents before, nor have I seen him with his parents.

The first test in store for me was the Nature aura test. We had to meditate in front of a single planted seed and grow it into a flower, using aura. Riolu that are talented in Nature's Aura help with the growth of the lands and trees that fill these mountains. They also make good healers. I wasn't too good at this task, but I could do it. I walked into the room where the test was situated. It was a room which looked like a greenhouse. It had fresh grass on the floor with plants in pots around the room. All of us Riolu were placed in front of one flower seed each, and started meditating.

This process could take from around five minutes to an hour normally. But before I even started focusing, one of the Riolu had already finished. I turned to see who it was, and, as expected, it was Emily. Emily is amazing at Nature's aura and healing abilities. I once witnessed her grow a whole tree in ten minutes. That's fast. As she left the room, she turned to me and grinned.

"Beat that!" she whispered. We were competitive when it came to combat, and I usually won. But in this, it is obvious who is better. She just likes to brag. I smiled back, and continued to meditate.

Making a plant grow takes a lot of focus. You have to see the plant through aura, and focus all of your strength on to that one plant. Then you have to transfer your aura into the plant, giving it the strength and energy to grow. I was able to do this, but I was not as fast as the others. I may not have been as fast, but I always got a good quality plant from my focus.

I saw the flower seed underground and started transferring my energy into it. I could see it slowly sprouting, its roots digging into the ground. As I slowly brought it above ground, I could see the green stem growing taller. As it rose, I felt myself getting weaker by the minute.

Now it finally came to opening the flower, which required a lot of energy because it is usually done by the sun. As sweat started to fall off of my face, I slowly opened the flower and I could see its beautiful white petals. The petals straightened out, revealing the seeds in the centre. I had made a daisy. I broke my connection with the flower and fell backwards with a sigh of relief. I looked around to see who else hadn't finished, but there was no one there. I had to be the last to finish. What seemed like a few minutes was actually around half an hour.

I moved on to the next course, and everyone was there waiting for me. I felt embarrassed, but not demoralized.

"Took you long enough!" Gav said, laughing to himself. "I thought we would have started without you. Not that that would be a bad thing…"

"Oh, do be quiet Gav!" a voice said. That voice was as familiar as the feeling of wind blowing on your face. It was Sarana. I like Sarana, she's a brilliant friend of mine. She is kind, gifted, and always makes Gav look like an idiot. She always made me smile, too. "You arrived around five minutes before him, so I don't see you being that much better!" she said. She always made Gav quiet down from his ranting, and that was relieving for me. "You OK, Aura?" I smiled and nodded at her. She nodded back with a faint smile on her face, and then suddenly turned to Gav and gave him an evil look.

The second and final task is the combat task. You could say it is like a tournament. You are paired up with a random partner, and you duel with that partner. The victor doesn't matter; it is what you do during the battle that counts. Riolu that are talented in skills of combat help defend the mountains from any potential threat, and they search the lands for any creature in need of aid. But we Riolu are pretty competitive, and don't like to lose. So this was a test of power and strategic response to critical situations. And parents were allowed to watch the battles if they chose to, and of course, my parents showed up. Sarana's parents would have showed up, but they were out of the village, sent to help an injured creature.

We were paired by a completely random list wrote by the village leader. Each Riolu would battle three times, depending on their state after the first battles. It is with a different partner each time, so the power of the partner was random.

The list was finally shown. It was a brown piece of paper with all of the Riolu's names on it, attached to a wooden log wall. And to my relief, Gav was paired up with someone else. I looked down to find my name and a moment of horror filled my face. The Riolu I was battling first…was Sarana. The shock that was in my heart was unimaginable. I looked over at Sarana and she looked back at me. I walked up to her and tried to smile, but couldn't.

"Well, good luck, I guess" I said, painfully.

"Good luck to you too." She said back. She walked up to me and placed her palm on my shoulder. "Cheer up, Aura. This would have happened someday anyway!"

"Yes, but not in front of everyone, and especially my parents." She sighed, and gave me a quick hug. She slowly pushed me back and looked at me.
"This isn't easy for me, either." She said. "But it has to be done. At least we get to see which one of us is superior in combat, just like before. Come on, I don't want to be battling someone who won't fight. Give it your all out there, and I'll do the same. Prove to everyone that you're better than they think!"

When we were younger, we had little duels for fun. We would learn new skills from each other, and learned new moves together. We were quite even in combat. I won a few times, and she won some too. She was more powerful than me, but I was clever. Our battles were never the same, and I wonder how it will turn out today. We haven't battled each other for two whole years though, so I have no clue how good she'll be now. I guess I'll find out soon.

"Well, OK." I replied. It was difficult to agree on battling her, but I guess it can't be helped. "Promise me you won't go easy on me though!"

"That's the Aura I know!" she said back. "Of course I won't go easy on you. Make it a good battle, Ok?"

"Definitely. Aura be with you" She walked away, smiling. I turned back at the list. "Yes, good luck to you, friend. This will be a fight to remember." I turned around and saw my parents walk over towards me.

"So, you're finally going to battle Sarana again." My Father said. "I tell you, seeing you two battle in the yard reminded me of my youth days, when I was a Riolu. Except I wasn't gold. I envy you, you know. Battling your best friend in the final days of your training is lucky."

"How in any way is it lucky?" I replied, shocked by what he said. "I don't like hurting her, and if I lose, I would have just embarrassed myself in front of everyone."

"Calm down, Aura." he said, laughing. "Battling your friend here and now is a good thing, it will seal your friendship and it will allow you to respect one another a lot more. Plus, battling in front of everyone would boost your determination of not wanting to lose. Have some faith in yourself."

"Your father's right, Aura" my Mother said. "She obviously means a lot to you, and you mean a lot to her. I can feel it. So go out there and give it your all! It's what Sarana would want."

"I guess." I said. "Thanks." They were right. I couldn't let my personal feelings get in my way of this. When I battle her, I'm going to enjoy myself, just like I used to. "Aura be with you." I said to my parents.

"And may aura be with you, my son" my father replied, smiling. With the encouragement of both my parents and my best friend, I know I can do this.

 

[GuardianofAura]

Chapter 2: Battle On!

I walked up to the battlefield where we Riolu were going to be battling. It was a rectangular field of grass surrounded by a cobalt blue wall which had seats for spectators to watch. The whole village seemed to have turned up to watch, and even the village leader Arone turned up to cheer along the Riolu.

Gav's battle was first, and he was paired up with a Riolu called Marty. I sat down next to my parents and looked down at Gav and Marty. Both of them walked up to each other, bowed, and then walked back to their positions on each side of the field. Gav was grinning, like he knew he was going to win. At the sound of the bell, the battle started.

Gav and Marty started by charging towards each other, palms up high, and slammed their palms together. This was the traditional way to start a duel. The force of their impact created a strong gust of wind to circulate around the stadium. The crowd let out a roar of cheers for both of the Riolu. After about two seconds of pushing against each other, Gav overpowered Marty. He was sent flying and ended up slamming onto the wall; the impact could be felt across the whole stadium. Marty fell to the ground with no movement. The crowd suddenly grew quiet. It was over just like that. The crowd congratulated Gav, and Marty was lifted away from the battlefield, obviously in pain. Gav was definitely very strong.

I saw a wide variety of battles after Gav's, and they were magnificent. The variety of tactics and moves that I witnessed were amazing. I saw Riolu split into many fake forms to confuse the opponent, I saw Riolu bury underground and attack from below the surface, I saw a move that reflected any physical attack back at the attacker, and many more. But after every magnificent battle, I knew my battle was closing in.

After ten amazing battles, it was finally my turn to battle. I was very nervous, but I couldn't show that. I was battling Sarana after all. The next Riolu to battle are meant to wait at an archway at one end of the Battlefield. As I reached the archway, feelings of anxiety hit me. As I slowly walked on to the battlefield, the crowd cheered me on more than I had expected. I assume it is because I am different. No one has ever seen a golden Riolu battle here before. At the other end of the battlefield, I saw Sarana walk up towards me, smiling. As we both reached the middle, we bowed, and smiled at each other.

"Good luck, Aura." She said.

"Good luck to you too, Sarana." I replied. This will be a battle that I will never forget. We walked back to our side of the battlefield, stood on our platforms, and waited for the bell to ring. Time seemed to slow around me as looked around the battlefield. My parents were there smiling at me and Sarana was standing opposite me. After a few seconds the bell rang. Here we go. Time to fight.

I charged towards Sarana with my palm in the air, charged with my aura. She did the same. I saw the pure determination to win in her face, and that made me smile. I knew she would give it her all, and I didn't want to let her down by me not doing the same. We reached full speed and slammed together, the impact creating a small explosion of air from between us. She was very powerful, more than I could remember. My arm could barely stay in the air when she placed pressure onto it. I was struggling to hold my ground, and Sarana seemed just fine. After around ten seconds of continuous pushing, Sarana smashed through my block and lifted her other hand up in an uppercut, sending me airborne. I knew what was coming next; she had done this tactic before. Sarana jumped into the air and lifted her hand up, ready to slam me back onto the floor. I was in a helpless position. Without enough time to think of a way out, I shielded myself from the blow by placing my arms across my chest. When her palm hit my chest, I blocked the impact, but I was sent flying toward the ground at high speed. Quickly reacting to this, I pointed my hands above my head, aimed down, and started spinning. I turned myself into some form of drill. Since I was at a high speed, this meant my idea could work. I hit the ground, but instead of slamming into the ground, I dug straight through, breaking my fall greatly. I dug back out, and Sarana was still airborne at the time.

Sarana seemed impressed at my move, and decided to dive straight at me, her fist pointing down. I sat there and meditated, waiting for Sarana to close in. Meditation allowed me to think. OK. I am weak, but not unable to attack. I can't take her head on; I would be wiped out instantly. Then, I had an idea. I split myself into many different forms of me, only one of them being me. Sarana, confused, charged at one of the Riolu. The Riolu she charged at disappeared, and Sarana slammed into the ground. Luckily, that Riolu was not me. It was one of the fakes. I heard a shout of pain coming from her, and I suddenly remembered who I was fighting. I started to run over to her to see if she was OK, all of my fake Riolu disappearing. But then I stopped. I remember this little tactic. Sarana would seem motionless and helpless, and it would make me vulnerable by looking weak. That's when she would strike. I did not fall for it, and waited for her to rise.

She rose, but looked weak. She was breathing heavily, and so was I. We were both weak, and I knew the battle would not last much longer. I sat and meditated again, trying to regain some of my strength. She did the same. I sat there, my eyes closed, waiting for Sarana to attack. But, to my surprise, she didn't. What she did was stand up and copied my tactic by splitting into many different forms of her, and charged towards me. I could not sense which one was the real one. She was too strong, and I was too weak. Sarana and her copies surrounded me, ready to attack. I was, again, in a helpless state. Sarana was good at doing that. My initial reaction would have been to jump away, but I didn't. My body seemed like it knew what to do. And then, not too long later, I did too.

I charged my palm with aura and waited. All my remaining energy was going into this one attack, and I hope it will work. I stood up, my hand glowing a cobalt blue, and watched all of the Sarana's around me. All I had to do was wait for her to strike. The audience were silent, waiting to know what was going on. I stood there, my eyes closed and waited.

Sarana and her copies finally charged towards me with great speed, all of their palms glowing with aura. I opened my eyes, raised my hand in the air, let out a shout, and slammed my palm into the ground. Upon impact, the earth created a wave which erupted from my palm, eliminating all of the fake Sarana's and sending the real one airborne. I jumped after her, got up close, and slammed her into the ground, just like she had done to me.

She did not block or react; she just went shooting into the ground, making a loud thud when she landed. Did I win? Did I beat her? When I landed, my legs just collapsed, and I fell over. I was very weak, and could not stand. Our attacks left us completely exhausted. I crawled over to Sarana, who lay motionless on the ground, hoping that she was still OK. I placed my palm on her, and, out of exhaustion, just passed out.

I opened my eyes and noticed I was in an unusual room I have never seen before. I was on a well-made bed and felt weak. The room I was in was a wooden plank room with a large window in the wall which I assume is to let sunlight in for healing purposes. I turned and saw my parents sat next to me.
"Welcome back, Aura!" my Mother said.

"Sarana, where's Sarana!?" I shouted, worried about what I had done to her.

"Sarana's fine, see for yourself." She pointed over to a Riolu laying down across the room to me, who looked weak. She was still asleep, and seemed to be OK. I got down from my bed and walked over to her. I laid my hand across her chest, checking how she was.

"You have been out cold for around thirty minutes, Aura." My Father said. "You really know how to put on a good fight! The amount of times I nearly fell off my seat wondering what would happen next… well, let's just say you were amazing out there. And so was Sarana."

"The end of the battle was very touching." My Mother said. "The way you had just won, but still cared for the other's safety. Everyone was commenting on how amazing you two were, and you have some admirers too." She pointed over at a table full of a wide variety of beautiful flowers. They may have been pretty, but my main attention was Sarana right now. I must have hurt her a lot more than I thought if she passed out during our battle. This never happened during our previous duels when we were younger. I sat down and meditated, trying to see the world through aura, but for some strange reason, I could not.

"You're too weak for that, Aura." My Father said, who seemed to know what I was doing. He walked over to me, crouched, and rested his hand on my shoulder. "You may have won, but you are still very weak. Plus, you still have two more battles to go, so save all of your energy for that. Don't worry about Sarana; I know she'll be fine. We'll watch over her while you're gone, so you don't need to worry!" He's right. I have to continue with my battles today. I know that they'll take good care of Sarana, so I don't have to worry about her.

"Thanks, and may aura be with you." I said, slowly leaving the room. When I walked outside, I noticed I was still right next to the battlefield. The house I was in must have been some form of medical room. I heard a lot of chanting coming from the stadium, and ran over there to see who was battling who. I reached the blue wall and climbed on to it, getting a good view of the battlefield. And all I saw was Gav sending a Riolu flying into the fall next to me, making me fall backwards upon impact. Gav won again. Round two has started already? Well, I was out for thirty minutes, so I can't really be too surprised. Once I landed, I steadily stood up and ran over to the list of who was battling who. I know it wasn't Gav, because he was just battling. I reached the brown list on the wall, and tried to find my name. Before I could even find it, I heard someone walk up behind me.

"You'll be battling me next, Aura." said a voice that I could easily recognize. I turned around and saw Emily walk up to me, looking tired. "Are you OK, Aura? You look like you took quite a beating in your battle."

"I'll recover before our battle, don't you worry about that." I replied. "I don't want you to go easy on me just because of what happened, OK?"

"You got it" she said, winking at me. She turned and walked away, and I turned back at the list. I looked for Gav's name, and mine seemed to be just under it, paired with Emily. I guess that meant my battle was next.

I walked over to the archway slowly. I'm battling Emily again. All the previous times I battled her were so she could get a little bit better at battling, and now it seems we're battling for real. This will be interesting. I walked on to the battlefield just like I did before, but Emily was opposite me this time. We walked up to each other and bowed.

"Remember, don't go easy on me" I said. She smiled and nodded, and we walked back to our side of the battlefield. The bell rang, and our battle started. Emily charged up toward me, her fist in the air charged with her aura. I started running, charging my fist with aura. But when I got about halfway across the field, I fell.

I landed face first on the ground, and let out a shout of pain. My leg didn't seem to be in good condition. I rolled forward a few times, and then skidded to a stop. I could feel Emily charging towards me, getting closer by the second. I stood up and tried to prepare myself for her attack, but it was too late. I felt a huge amount of power on my chest, and I got shot through the air, headed straight for the wall. I tried to turn, but I couldn't. I just curled up and prepared myself for impact. I hit the wall at great speed.

I think everyone could feel the impact of my slam on to the wall, but I felt it with extreme pain. I fell to the ground, feeling nearly unable to move. I was badly wounded, and I was struggling to breathe, but somehow I still had the strength to continue. I stood up and turned toward Emily. Just above her on the wall, I saw Sarana and my parents smiling down towards me. Seeing Sarana's smile gave me strength. I would not let them down. All I can do is fight offense with offense. In an attempt to counter strike, I charged aura into both of my hands. I faced my palms together, and waited. But instead of my hands glowing with aura like I had hoped, a ball formed in between my palms. The more aura I charged in to it, the bigger it grew. I looked down at what I was making, and I was more shocked than everyone else as to what I had just done. Even Arone, the village leader, was leaning out of his chair, his mouth wide open from shock. What I had just done was something only Lucario were able to do. I had just made an Aura Sphere.

Aura Sphere is a move unique to Lucario, and Riolu are unable to learn it. It is an attack which required a lot of focus to accomplish. Aura is taken from your body and formed into a blue ball in between your hands, and let loose toward your target. For a Riolu, it shouldn't be possible to have such a move. But it looks like I had just done the impossible.

Emily was still charging toward me, and I decided to interrupt her attack with my new move. I curled my arms behind my body, pushed my arms forward and let the Aura Sphere loose towards her, like how Lucario use Aura Sphere. It glided through the air and hit Emily right in the chest. Upon impact, the Aura Sphere exploded, and Emily was shot in to the wall. She fell to the ground, motionless. I looked up at the audience, the village leader, and my parents with Sarana. Everyone was applauding and muttering words to one another. I saw Gav in the audience, and even he was shocked. I turned my attention towards Sarana, who gave me a wonderful smile.

I ran toward Emily and checked to see if she was OK. Luckily, she seemed to be fine. She's just passed out. I picked her up and carried her to the medical house. When I walked out of the stadium, I sensed myself being followed. I turned and saw that I was being followed by what seemed to be everyone that was at the battlefield. I reached the bed that I once laid in and rested Emily there.

"Aura be with you, Emily." I whispered to her. I turned around and walked out of the building, only to be greeted by the whole village. I wasn't good with crowds, I get uncomfortable with them. The village leader, Arone, walked up towards me.

"Everyone return to the battlefield and continue as you were." Arone ordered. "I will have a word with Aura myself. Aura, follow me."

 

[GuardianofAura]

Chapter 3: The Legend

I followed Arone without question. Being recognized by the village leader is always a great honour. He took me to his house and closed the door behind us. I have never been here before; I don't think any Riolu has. Arone's house was amazing. It was a teak wooden house with sketches in the walls of what I guess is drawings of our ancestors. It even had pictures of other amazing creatures, some flying, some running and others were swimming. They looked like something out of a legend! He had many wooden shelves with amazing antiques laid on top, and a small bed. What really caught my attention was the statue in the back of the house. It was a stone statue of a Lucario meditating, surrounded in candles and flowers. Arone walked up to the statue and started meditating.

"Come, sit with me." Arone said. His voice was deeper and calmer than I had expected. I sat down next to him and I got into the meditating position of the Lucario statue. "I knew you were different ever since you were born, Aura. I was there with your parents, watching your egg right until the moment you hatched. A Golden Riolu may be considered bad luck, but I think more good luck comes from that bad luck. And I don't see anything bad happening yet, so I sometimes wonder if it is true or not."

"I have always wondered about that." I replied. "But my father always tells me to look away from that, and consider all the good things that came from me being different." Arone gave off a small laugh.

"Your Father is a great Lucario." He said. "One of the best here, in my opinion. He once beat me in a duel using tactics I have never seen before. But enough about that. I wanted to talk to you about you personally. All the unusual things that have been happening all seemed linked to you. You took three days to hatch, you hatched a marvellous gold, that day up on top of Spear Mountain, and now this. Aura, there is an old legend I have to tell you. I think you are old enough to know now."

"Ok."

"We were a race known worldwide by all creatures and beings as the "Guardians of Aura" and we help all we can with our aura. But there was one who abused the use the power of aura. His name was Eridin. Eridin was not like most of us. He was… different."

"What, different like me?"

"No, not gold like you. When he was born, a beam shot down from the sky and landed straight on to him, and he let off a bright glow. He became enveloped in aura, and became more powerful than any Riolu ever known."

"Where did that beam come from?"

"No one knows. It was thought to be a gift from The Creator. During training, Eridin was racing through all the courses set at him. He was powerful, and could easily beat any challenger."

"He sound like the opposite of me then."

"You shouldn't speak about yourself like that. You have done things even Eridin could not do. Anyway, one fateful day, he saw this Riolu that he completely fell for. This Riolu also liked Eridin, and envied his strength. Right there and then, Eridin knew he met his soul-mate. They were the perfect couple, and everyone was envious of their friendship. Unlike most, he chose to transform into Lucario with his soul-mate alone."

"Alone? That is unusual… I didn't even know you could do that."

"Remember this is nearly a thousand years ago. Things might have been different then."

"Oh… OK."

"One morning, Eridin and his soul-mate left their village before dawn. The village leader, and my ancestor, Lokoro, saw them leave and, shortly after their leaving, awoke the village and told them that it was finally time that Eridin became a Lucario. They all awaited him at the entrance of the village, ready to congratulate him when he returned. Once the sun rose, a white beam shot in to the sky from where Eridin and his partner were. The joy of finally seeing maybe the most powerful Lucario ever known filled the village's minds. Many thought it would be the start of world peace; others thought he would bring great joy to the hearts of others by him using his aura. Many thoughts spread through the village as to how amazing this could be."

"Was he really that powerful?"

"I don't know for sure, but I guess so. No one knew what happened that fateful day, but, upon the return of Eridin, he was… alone. A Lucario he may have been, but… alone."

"Alone? What happened?"

"Nobody really knows. Day after day, Eridin stayed and meditated underground, and the whole village wondered what was going on, and what happened to his friend. Lokoro decided to check on him, and find out what happened. Eridin would not speak. He just sat there, thinking. Not too long later, Eridin suddenly opened his eyes and ran out of the village and up Spear Mountain. Lokoro, startled by this sudden movement, followed him, still wondering what was going on. Lokoro met Eridin at the summit of Spear Mountain and demanded to know what was going on. Eridin didn't reply. Lokoro tried to connect to Eridin's heart by using aura, but Eridin was too powerful. Shortly later, Eridin spoke. He demanded that he needed more power."

"Why would he need more power? Isn't he the most powerful Lucario?"

"I don't know for sure, but I have some understanding of why. As Eridin spoke, the wind grew harsh and the air felt cold. Right there and then, Eridin lost control. Out of nowhere, a huge white explosion erupted from within Eridin, sending Lokoro flying down the mountain. Lokoro quickly improvised, and cleverly used aura to break his fall, but could not help but think why Eridin has done such a thing. Lokoro returned to the village, and told everyone about what had happened. What happened the next day was just terrible. Lokoro witnessed Eridin run through the land, all life around him slowly decaying at his touch. It seemed that Eridin was absorbing all of the lands aura, all of its life energy. Lands once green and beautiful died and became lifeless. In an attempt to stop this madness, Lokoro and his Lucario hid all of the Riolu underground and charged at Eridin."

"So, Eridin turned bad? That isn't good."

"Lokoro met Eridin in what used to be a field but was now a wasteland. Eridin walked up to Lokoro and his Lucario and again demanded more power. But he was demanding that Lokoro would give Eridin his power."

"I'm still confused as to why he needs so much power."

"I will tell you what I know, in good time. Lokoro knew that Eridin was very powerful, but he was not going to lose. Eridin raised his palms and a beam of energy shot out of them, heading straight towards Lokoro. Lokoro raised his hands and stopped the beam with a shield of aura just in time. Eridin summoned what seemed to be spectral creatures, and a battle began. While Lokoro's Lucario fought Eridin's ones, Lokoro and Eridin met in one-on-one combat. The battle lasted a whole day, and with Eridin's minions gone and the Lucario weakened terribly, Lokoro and Eridin decided to finish their battle.
Eridin held out his palm, and it started glowing with a red aura. Lokoro done the same, but his hand was glowing with a blue aura. They both charged at each other at full speed, knowing one of them would not make it out alive. Upon impact there was a massive explosion, sending the Lucario flying. Within the explosion, Lokoro and Eridin kept their palms together, trying to conquer one another's aura. An orb formed around them, glowing a magnificent blue and red. The orb slowly expanded, blowing everything it touched away. After around twelve seconds of destruction, the orb slowly receded until it was just over Eridin. Lokoro had outsmarted Eridin. Lokoro had given all of his strength not to defeat Eridin, but to imprison him. The orb slowly lifted Eridin into the sky, and there was a massive white flash once he reached the clouds. The air grew quiet; the land was in bad shape, and the Lucario were weak. With a sigh of relief from Lokoro, he fell to the ground. He had won."

"So, what happened to Eridin?"

"Upon returning to the village, Lokoro and the Lucario all agreed to try to resurrect the land around them. It took decades, but the land slowly grew back to normal and the land at peace again. Lokoro vowed to keep all of his concentration on Eridin so that he would not escape, and, to this day, there is always someone watching over him, keeping him locked away. But so many questions were left un-answered. Why did this happen? What happened to Eridin's partner when he and his partner evolved? What was Eridin's goal after getting all of that power? That still remains a mystery, even today. That is the Legend of Eridin."

"That was a great legend. Is it real?" Arone chuckled.

"I'll leave you to decide if it is real or not. You're very unique, Aura. You seem to have the gifts of a Lucario. That beam on Spear Mountain and the Aura Sphere today, they are no coincidence. You are definitely very powerful in the ways of aura. But it seems that you can't control your power as much as you would want. Leave me to think. Return to the battlefield and finish your final battle. I will speak with you again once you finish…" Arone stopped talking and turned around, facing the door.

"It seems you have a visitor, Aura." He said, very calmly. He walked towards the door and opened it, and on the other side was Sarana.
"Sorry!" she cried. "I just had to. I was worrying about Aura and needed to know what was going on."

She seemed to have eavesdropped on our whole conversation. Arone grinned and stepped out of the way of the door to let Sarana and I see each other eye to eye.

"Aura!!" she cried. I smiled, and held out my arms. She ran towards me and jumped straight on to me, making me fall to the ground.

"I was so worried about you! That whole battle I was rooting for you, but I never knew it would end like that!"

"How about we talk about this, elsewhere?" I recommended. Since Arone was still standing there, it felt a little bit awkward.

"Err, right. Good idea." she agreed, and we left Arone's house. I waved goodbye to Arone, and he nodded back at me, and closed the door behind him.
"What you had done was amazing, Aura!" she said. "Everyone is talking about you. I didn't know you could use Aura Sphere!"

"Neither did I." I replied. "I didn't do it on purpose." I remembered our battle, and how hurt Sarana was afterwards. "Are you OK? I did hurt you a lot in our battle, and I feel quite bad about it."

"I'm fine, Aura. Don't worry! I'm more worried about you. I'm sorry I eavesdropped on you, I had to."

"It's fine. I'm surprised it took that long for Arone to notice you were there, considering he can sense the aura of creatures from half a mile away."
"Meh, I have my ways. The village leader said you had the power of a Lucario. That's amazing, Aura!"

"He said I had the gifts of a Lucario, not the power of one. You know I am not very powerful compared to the others, even compared to you. But I do have a way with aura, though most of it I cannot control. Arone said that it was not a coincidence. I wonder what he means by that."

"I don't fully understand it either, Aura. But I know that you were born for a reason. Everyone is. But your destiny obviously holds something special. I just know it!"

"Thanks, Sarana."

"What for?" she asked, confused.

"For cheering me up, that's what. You are my one true best friend, and are always there for me."

We approached the battlefield, and I know that my final battle is coming up. With whom though, I do not know. I guess I'll find out soon. As I approached the battlefield, I was greeted by my parents, who seemed to be waiting for me to return.

"Aura Sphere!" my Father shouted. "Do you know how long it took me to learn that move? Do you? A whole three years, that's how long! And you know it without even being a Lucario. You make me so proud! I knew you were special ever since I first saw you, but this is just amazing!"

"It was an accident." I mentioned. "I didn't know what I was doing. I was more shocked as than anyone else at the time. It was just a coincidence that I made an Aura Sphere."

"In life, there are no accidents. And what you had just done was definitely not a coincidence; I can assure you of that. Oh, and Sarana…" He turned his attention towards Sarana. "…you have a battle coming up any moment now. Be sure not to miss it, OK?"

"Oh, right." Sarana said, startled. "I guess I'll see you later then, Aura."

"Yep, good luck." I replied. "And may aura be with you." She smiled at me and ran over to the battlefield area. I was glad to see that she had recovered. Now I was about to witness how good she was in battle when not battling me.

My parents and I walked up to the seats on the battlefield wall, and I was welcomed by many Riolu and Lucario. My actions seemed to have caused a bit of a commotion.

"Everyone's talking about you, Aura." My mother said. "No one had ever seen a Riolu use Aura Sphere before, and everyone thought it was impossible. So you can imagine that your Aura Sphere incident will not go unnoticed."

"I guess." I said. I looked around and a lot of eyes were on me. I turned my attention toward the battlefield and saw Sarana and her opponent walk up to each other. Her opponent was a Riolu called Manna, a great healer. They bowed, and returned to their positions. Sarana looked up at me and gave me a faint smile, and I smiled back. I guess I wasn't hard to notice in a crowd, since I was the only known gold Riolu in existence. Then the bell rang, and the battle started.

Sarana and her opponent started their battle traditionally, charging up to each other with their palms in the air. They slammed together; the impact of their attacks caused the battlefield to tremble like there was a small earthquake. The determination on their faces showed me that neither of them is even thinking of giving up. Both of them pushed against each other for what felt like half a minute, and finally Manna lost strength. Sarana pushed her opponent back and split herself in to many forms, surrounding Manna. Manna panicked and dug underground, trying to avoid her attack. Sarana sat and meditated along with her copies and tried to feel where her enemy was. She, along with her copies, quickly stood up and ran over towards a spot in the field and charged her palm with aura, waiting for Manna to rise. When he did, Sarana lost her copies and charged at him. She whacked him in the back, slamming him in to the wall. He fell to the ground, motionless. She won without getting hurt once. It was a quick battle too. Manna was never a great fighter, though he didn't like to lose. Sarana walked over to Manna and helped him up. It seemed that Manna was still conscious, but very weak. She helped him out of the battlefield, letting him lean on her shoulder.

I ran over to Sarana to congratulate her on her win. She laid Manna down on a wooden chair just outside of the battlefield. Manna's parents came rushing to their son, hoping to see if he was OK. Sarana turned at noticed me, and ran straight to me.

"Great win!" I said. "A win without you even getting hurt, you made excellent use of your tactics there. You're more powerful than I thought!"
"Thanks!" Sarana replied. "Better get back to the battlefield though. We don't want to miss who our third partner will be, do we?"

"Not at all."

We walked back to the battlefield together and awaited the showing of the third and final battles. As we walked up to the crowd of Riolu waiting for the list to be revealed, we encountered Gav, who was also waiting.

"So, it looks like you've had a bit of luck today Aura, haven't you?" Gav said, chuckling to himself. I ignored him and turned my attention to the list that was just being placed. I ran over to it and saw Sarana's name right at the top. She was paired up with Emily. Sarana ran up beside me and looked at the list. She tapped at my shoulder.

"Aura, look…" she said, with shock in her eyes.

I turned my attention to where she pointed, and it was Gav's name. And paired up with him was none other than the name Aura. I couldn't believe my luck. I was battling Gav. I looked back turned towards Gav, who seemed to have known this would happen. With a smug look on his face he walked up to me.

"Battling me, eh?" He said, confidently. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, because you'll lose in seconds. I'm far too powerful for the likes of you."
I frowned at him, not saying a word. I knew he was powerful, but he was not very smart. Beating him would not be easy, but it was possible. I walked away from him, and Sarana followed.

"Don't worry, Aura." Sarana said, reassuringly. "I know you can beat him. I believe in you. All you need to do is believe in yourself."

Sarana was right. I had to be positive if I stood any chance of winning. I had to stay strong.

"I'm going to head home for now, Sarana." I told her. "I need a quiet place to relax. Good luck with your battle!"

"OK, and thanks." She said.

I returned home and headed for my garden. I knew that would be a good place to relax and think. Once I got there, I sat down and meditated. Lots of crazy things have happened today. I battled Sarana, I used Aura Sphere, I had a great talk with the village leader, Arone, and now I am going to be battling Gav. This is definitely a day I will not forget.

After about twenty minutes of relaxing, I could feel a very strong presence of aura near me. I opened my eyes and turned around, but no one was there. I turned to face the cliff's edge and looked down to the land below. I tried to see if I could see any movement, but there was none. Then, all of a sudden, I saw something run across the plains below. It wasn't clear, but it looked like a Lucario. No, it couldn't be a Lucario. It didn't have the colour or aspects of one. What was it? It slowly faded out of view, and then I heard a voice in my head.

"We will meet again." it said. I almost jumped out of my skin in shock. Was that voice that creature's voice? How could I hear it? What did it mean by "we will meet again?" I have many questions, but I cannot worry about that now. I have a battle to get to.

I made my way back to the battlefield. On my way back, I looked at the sky and saw it turning red. The sun was setting. I love the sunset. The clouds turn a beautiful orange and the sun turns an amazing red. I got to the battlefield and saw the Lucario light the torches around the area, preparing for night. I made my way to the seating area and searched for Sarana and my parents. I saw Sarana and my Mother, but not my Father. I headed to both of them, wondering where my father was.

"Hey!" I shouted. They both turned to me and smiled.

"Hey Aura!" Sarana shouted back. "How was the relaxing?"

"It was…different." I replied. "Where's dad?"

"He's not here." My mother said. "He said that he needed to go somewhere. You know your father, always full of mystery!"

"Oh, OK." I turned towards Sarana. "I assume your battle went well, Sarana?" I asked.

"Yes, it went brilliantly." Sarana replied. "I enjoyed the battle with Emily, she's quite tough! But I won."

"Great! That's good to hear. So, when's my battle then?"

"Now." A voice said. It was Gav. "You came back just in time for the fun. I can't wait to see you embarrass yourself." I let off a small grin.

"Overconfidence is your weakness, Gav." I mentioned. "You never know the true outcome until it actually happens."

"I don't need to be overconfident to know that I will win, it's just plain obvious. See you on the battlefield. And don't think Aura Sphere will help." He left.

"You'll beat him Aura, I know it." Sarana said. "And I'll be here watching over you."

"Thanks." I said. "I better get going. Aura be with you."

"And may aura be with you."

I walked onto the battlefield with Gav opposite me. We walked toward the middle of the battlefield, bowed, and walked back to our positions. I looked up to where Arone was meant to be and saw that he returned, and seemed to be in deep thought. My heart was pounding. I had never battled Gav before, nor have I ever wanted to. I have seen how he fights, and it isn't pleasant. I looked up at Sarana and mother cheering me on. I couldn't lose with them watching. The bell rang, and the battle begun.

We charged toward each other, palms in the air. This is going to hurt. We clashed together and Gav cut straight through my defence. His fist slammed onto me and his other one did an uppercut on me, sending me flying. Gav ran under me, waiting for me to land to do a powerful attack. I split myself into many fake copies to try and evade this attack. Somehow, he knew which one was me, and punched me, sending me into the wall. I fell to the ground in extreme pain, and Gav walked over to me, his hands charged with aura. It looked like he was going to finish me off in one more blow.

"Is that it?" Gav said. "Is that all you've got? I expected more from you. You're pathetic." After he said that, I stood up. I had an idea.

"I wouldn't be so sure." I replied. I dug underground quite deep and Gav followed, just like I wanted. I stopped digging, looked up towards Gav and let an Aura Sphere loose toward him. It hit him and exploded, sending him flying out of the hole. I dug my way back up, wondering where Gav was. When I poked my head out of the surface, I heard a yell and turned to see Gav charging at me. I climbed out of the ground and charged towards him. When we were close to each other, instead of attacking Gav, I slid under him and slammed my fist into his back. But to my surprise, he barely felt it. He turned around towards me and landed a massive hit on me, launching me back into the wall again. I fell and landed face first on the floor. I slowly got up and created an Aura Sphere, and let it loose towards him. He lifted his palm and wacked it straight back at me. When it hit me, it exploded and I fell back to the ground.

"Hmm, nice try Aura." Gav said. "But I already told you that you can't win." He walked up to me, picked me up, and punched me. I fell back to the ground in pain, but stood up again.

"I won't give up…" I said. Gav walked towards me, grinning, and hit me again. I tried to block it, but I couldn't. After hitting the ground I tried to get back up, but my arms just gave up.

He walked straight up to me and readied his attack. I was absolutely helpless. Time seemed to slow down around me. I saw Sarana run over to me on the wall, shouting. I had let her down. I closed my eyes and readied myself for his attack. Gav raised his palms and slammed them down onto me. I expected a huge amount of pain, but felt nothing. I looked up, confused as to how there was no pain. To my horror, I saw Sarana take the attack, and she to the ground.

"Sarana…" I said, trying to shout but couldn't. That was it. Gav had crossed the line.

The world turned quiet. The world around me turned dark and Gav turned blue, as if I was seeing the world through aura. I started glowing a bright blue and my eyes glowed a cyan colour. I looked like I was surrounded in a blue flame. I stood up and turned towards Gav. Sound stopped and the world grew motionless.

"You have gone too far." I said.

I charged at him and slammed him with my fist, sending him flying into the wall. He fell, stood up and charged towards me in rage. I focused my aura into my hands and created an Aura Sphere. I know he can block it, but not like this. I slammed my Aura Sphere on the ground and it started shooting many more Aura Spheres, heading toward Gav. He started hitting them away, but I kept them coming. Eventually he started getting hit by them and lost his balance. I focused all of my aura to my chest, and let off a huge light blue beam headed straight for Gav. The impact of my beam felt like it shook the whole mountain. It hit him and he shot out of the battlefield, screaming. He slammed into the mountain behind him at great speed.

I started breathing heavily, my head grew dizzy and I fell to the ground. I looked over to Sarana who was not moving. My eyes slowly closed. The last thing I saw was Sarana on the ground motionless, and my Mother run towards me with Arone.

 

[GuardianofAura]

Chapter 4: Sarana and the Aura Stone

I opened my eyes and found myself in an area which is nothing but black. There isn't even a floor. Where am I? What happened? All I can remember is Sarana taking my blow for me in my battle. But I can't remember anything after that. I stood up, frustrated at my lack of memory, when a light appeared in the distance. I walked towards it cautiously, having no clue as to what it was. As I got closer, it became clearer and clearer as to what it was. It was a Lucario surrounded in a red flame. It seemed to be meditating. I have no clue who it is, I have never felt its aura before. As I approached the Lucario, a sudden feeling of terror entered my body, stopping me. I backed away from it, scared.

"Who are you!?" I shouted, trying to be brave. There was no reply. I tried to see it with aura, but it wasn't there. This really worried me. I have always been able to see another creature with aura, but obviously not this one. "What are you?" I asked. It did not reply.

As I moved closer, it moved. The movement startled me, making me fall backwards. All of a sudden, the Lucario's eyes opened. The eyes were just red, they didn't even look like eyes. Then, it spoke.

"I will find you. No matter what it takes. They stopped me, but they will not stop me this time. They will all pay."

The area around me started to shake with what seemed to be an earthquake. What is going on? The earthquake got stronger and the Lucario's aura started expanding, creating an orb of red light around it. When the earthquake got out of control and the aura around this Lucario reached an enormous size, the Lucario spoke again.

"I WILL find you!" it shouted. Straight after it spoke, there was a massive explosion from within the Lucario, and when it hit me I screamed, fading out of consciousness.

I opened my eyes and sat up, gasping for breath. It was just a dream. But it didn't feel like a dream at all. It looks like I am in my room. I tried to get out of my bed but felt a lot of pain in my left leg. It seemed my battle with Gav injured me a lot. I steadily lowered myself onto the floor and limped over to my window and looked outside. It is around midday and is another cloudless day. I tried to remember what happened before I blacked out, but struggled. I could only remember battling Gav and Sarana taking my hit for me. I hope she's OK.

"What happened?" I asked myself.

"A lot happened." a deep voice replied. Startled, I turned to see who it was and noticed a Lucario sitting in a chair in the corner of my room. It was Arone. He stood up and walked over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "You gave everyone quite a shock back at the battlefield, including myself. You've been out for three whole days." Three days! That's a long time.

"But what happened?" I asked. "I can only remember…" the thought of Sarana came to me. "…Sarana! Is she OK? Is she hurt?"

"She's fine, Aura. No need to worry. So, you don't remember anything after Sarana, then?"

"No…"

Arone explained my battle to me and how I completely lost control. My first reaction was shock as to how much power I had that I didn't know about. Second, the worry as to if Gav is OK, because I did hurt him quite a bit. Third is where my power came from.

"I have to admit…" Arone said. "…you are much more powerful than I ever could have imagined. But, just as I thought, you don't seem to be able to control your power. I don't think anyone thought you were going to beat Gav…"

"Theoretically I didn't beat him." I interrupted. "I wasn't really in control of myself."

"But you still won. I have a question to ask you, Aura. Something important."

"What is it?"

"Would you…" Arone was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Enter." Arone said. The door opened and my Father walked in.

"Dad!" I shouted, my face filled with joy.

"Aura!" he shouted back. He ran over to me and picked me up, giving me a big hug. "I was so worried about you…" he pushed me back and we looked at each other. I saw a tear fall from his eye. "…are you OK?"

"Got a bit of a bad leg, but I'm OK." I replied. "It's great to see you again!" All of a sudden, my Mother appeared at the door with Sarana next to her. I seem to have attracted some attention. "Mom! Sarana!" I shouted.

"Aura!!" they screamed, and ran over to me. My Father put me down and Sarana jumped onto me and gave me a hug.

"We were so worried about you, you've been out for quite a while!" my Mom said.

"I'm so glad you're OK." Sarana said, who seemed to be crying.

"Are you OK, Sarana?" I asked, worried about how she got injured in my battle.

"Sarana's fine, Aura." My Mom said. "She didn't suffer much damage."

"Oh good, that's great news!" I replied. "But what about Gav? Is he OK?"

"He's a bit weak from your battle and embarrassed as to how he lost, but he's fine." My mother said. Sarana still hasn't let go of me.

"This was meant to be a private question…" Arone said, confusing everyone. "…but since everyone is here and you will all find out eventually, it doesn't seem to matter now. Aura…"

"Yes?" I replied, very intrigued.

"Would you like to train with me?" he asked. Shock filled the room. Sarana let go of me and turned towards Arone.

"What!?" I replied, my mouth wide open with shock. It was a huge honour to be trained with the ways of aura by the village leader's trainers, but by the village leader himself…

"You heard me." Arone said. "I have seen your potential in the ways of aura, but you need to learn to control it. I think the best way to do that is if I train you personally."

I didn't know what to say. There are very few Riolu who are chosen to specially train the ways of aura because their talents were recognized, but I have never once heard of a Riolu chosen to train with a village leader. Lucario sometimes train with the village leader, my father is a good example, but not Riolu.

"Aura…!" Sarana said, her mouth wide open. I looked over to my parents. My mother was in shock but my dad just smiled and nodded at me.

"Of course I will!" I replied. "I can't say no to that!"

"Then it's decided." Arone said. "Meet me at sunrise tomorrow morning and we'll discuss it more then. I must retire to my house, I have work to do." He stood up and walked over to the door.

"Arone…" I said, stopping him. "I had a very unusual dream while I was "asleep" and I think you might like to hear about it." He looked intrigued.

"We'll discuss more tomorrow. I will speak to you then." Arone walked out of my room and closed the door behind him.

"Aura…" my father said. "…you never cease to impress me. Looks like your skills have finally been recognized. I am so proud of you!"

"You're absolutely amazing Aura!" Sarana said. "I always knew you were destined for great things ever since I first met you."

"We'll leave you two to talk." My mother said. "Make sure you get rested for tomorrow, Aura. You have a big day ahead of you, a start of a new life!"

"I will, mom." I replied. "Aura be with you both."

"And may aura be with you, son." My father replied. My mother and father both walked out of my room and closed the door.

"What were you chosen to do, Sarana?" I asked. Since I missed the ceremony, I was interested to see what Sarana was chosen to do.

"See, that's the weird thing. I was noticed to be caring and good at all of what I done. I was told you and I were "inseparable"…." This made her blush a little bit. "…so they told me that I was to do whatever you were to do."

"So, that means…"

"Yep. I will be training with you." I smiled and nodded at Sarana. This was great news! Sarana and I would be training together! I looked out the window and saw Arone walking back home. He turned his head and looked straight at me. He smiled and nodded. Looks like he knew this was happening too. I turned back to Sarana.

"Have your parents come home yet?" I asked, curious because I had not seen them for a while.

"Yep, there home. Your father came home with them, I'm not quite sure why. But I was glad to see them home safe and sound, and they were glad to see me."

"As expected! But I wonder where my dad went off to during my battle…"

"I don't know, but you know it had to be very important if it was to mean missing your battle."

"Thanks for helping me by the way. During my battle."

"That's OK. It's what friends do right?"

"Well, maybe not THAT."

"I couldn't leave you there helpless AND about to get hurt a lot more. Gav was taking it too far and I knew I had to do something."

"And that caused me to lose control and destroy Gav completely."

"Yes, it did." She chuckled. "Shows you how good friends we are, right? Always looking out for each other."

"It sure does, Sarana." There was a brief moment of silence between us which felt a little bit awkward.

"Oh, I have something for you Aura." Sarana said. She picked up a beautiful blue stone from my desk and placed it in my hand. It was a small diamond shaped stone which was tiny compared to my hand. Once it reached my palm, it started glowing a beautiful ocean blue. Sarana opened her other hand, revealing a second one. "It's an Aura Stone."

"Really!?" I said, astonished that I was holding an Aura Stone in my hand. "How did you get this!?"

Aura Stones are beautiful stones which shine when held by a creature who is strong with aura, mainly Riolu and Lucario. If two of the same coloured Aura Stone are held by two creatures gifted in aura, they are able to tell where one another are and feel their feelings. But they are very, very rare. Only two of each colour exist in the world at any given time, and there are nine different colours. Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, White, Grey, Purple, Orange and I don't know the last one.

"My parents gave me them." Sarana said. "They were given them as a present from someone they helped, but they thought that we would make more use of them than they would."

"Thanks, Sarana. It really means a lot."

"No problem! Now we will always know where each other are and if one another are OK."

I limped over to my desk and reached for some Binding String given to me by my father. Binding String was a white string which is able to attach to two ends of an object without the need of a hole, making it perfect for necklaces or bracelets. I gave Sarana some and we both made a necklace with the Aura Stones hanging from them. We placed the necklaces over our necks and watched as they started to glow brilliantly.

"I have to head on home now." Sarana said. "My parents will need to know that you're OK. I'll see you soon!"

"See you later Sarana, and may aura be with you." I said. She smiled and walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. It was great news knowing everyone was OK. I looked down at my new Aura Stone necklace and admired its beauty. The way it glowed was just amazing. But one thought kept on pestering me. What was my dream about? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I decided to go and meditate in my garden for the time being. A lot of weird things have been going on lately, and I need to free my mind of all of those troubles. I limped over towards my door and reached for the handle, but it opened without me touching it. I looked to see who was behind the door, and it was my dad.

"Oh, hey Aura." My dad said. "Mind if I talk to you for a little bit? I have some questions, and I'm sure you do too."

"Sure." I replied. I did have a few questions to ask him. I sat back down on my bed and my father sat down next to me. "So, what did you want to know?"

"Well…" he started, but then stopped. He looked down at my chest and saw the Aura Stone. "…what is this? It can't be…"

"Yep, it's an Aura Stone. Sarana gave it to me. She said her parents gave it to her. She has one of her own too."

"Fascinating. I didn't know that her parents had Aura Stones. Consider yourself very lucky. And clever use of that Binding String. But enough about that. What I was going to ask you is this. When you entered the phases when you lose control, you could not remember a thing afterwards, correct?"

"Yes."

"And have you noticed why you enter these phases?"

"Not really…" I had never thought about that. Why do I enter these sudden moments when I lose control? That time at Spear Mountain I have no clue why, and with Sarana it was because she was hurt.

"You seem to enter these phases by expressing extreme feelings for others. When you worry about them or something has happened to them, you lose control and try to defend them."

"That's true with Gav and Sarana, but not on top of Spear Mountain. What happened then?"

"I'm afraid I don't know that. But it amazes me. You are very strong, but you can't control your strength. I think Arone made the correct choice as to train you, he is a great Lucario and will teach you many things. He will be sure to help you master your abilities, like one of my old friends."

"I have a question to ask you."

"Yes?"

"Where were you when I had my battle with Gav?"

"Ahh, I knew you would ask someday." He fell into a deep thought. After about ten seconds, he smiled and looked up. "But I cannot tell you that answer, you are not ready. I never wanted to miss your battle, but things happened."

"Not ready? What do you mean?" I wondered.

"In good time, Aura. I'm sorry, I cannot answer that question. But I will tell you someday. I promise."

I know that if there is something he can't tell me, it must be for good reason. So I accepted his answer.

"Aura… there is one more question I must ask you." My Father said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"When you were talking to Arone, you said you had a weird dream. Is it OK if you can tell me what the dream was?"

"Of course."

I explained to him about my dream and the mysterious Lucario.

"So that's what the dream was." My father said. He seemed really interested in it. Fear filled his face. "Well, best not to trouble yourself with this and relax. You have had a very rough week! OK, I'll leave you now. Get some more rest ready for tomorrow. I'll see you then!"

"OK." I replied. "Aura be with you."

"And may aura be with you." He walked out the room with a smile on his face, but I could feel that he was worried about something. About my dream. He closed the door and I lay down on my bed. This week has been one crazy one, and it has been full of surprises. I put my mind on the days ahead, not on what has happened. Tomorrow is going to be a new day. Tomorrow, will be a new start.

 

[GuardianofAura]

Chapter 5: The Storm

I woke up the next morning with the sun gleaming brightly through my window. I sat up and slowly lowered myself onto the floor, knowing my leg is still hurt. I placed my feet on the floor and felt no pain. It seems my leg has healed, or someone healed it. I walked over to my window and I could see the grass blowing in the wind, Lucario and Riolu walking around; it all seems very peaceful as usual. I looked down at my chest and stared at my Aura Stone. I lifted it up with my palm and admired its beauty. It looked even better when sunlight shone on it, maximising the blue shine coming from it. I could sense where Sarana was, and it seemed like she was…

"Aura, you awake yet?" a voice said from behind the door. I walked over to it and opened it, seeing Sarana on the other side.

"No, I'm not awake at all!" I replied, sarcastically. "Big day ahead of us today. How long have you been here?"

"Oh, I just arrived about five minutes ago. I didn't want to be late, and I didn't want you to be late either. How's that leg of yours doing?"

"Oh, it's just like new. How did you know about…"

"Oh, I kinda might have healed it while you were sleeping." She interrupted. "I thought you might like the surprise of it being all better when you woke up."

"Thanks Sarana, it really helps."

"No problem! Right, we better get going. Don't want to be late, now do we?" My father walked up behind Sarana, giving her quite a fright.

"I'll take you two there." He said. "I need to talk with Arone anyway. Come, we'll get something to eat and then leave."

Food sounded like a great idea right about now! My species doesn't need as much food or water as the common creature because we get most of our energy from the life around us and its aura energy. But we still need it. My father went and grabbed us some Ahora Berries. They were these large blue and red berries which were shaped like an acorn and tasted great. He handed two each to Sarana and I and we ate them almost immediately.

Straight after food, Sarana, my father and I all left to go and see Arone. The walk there was relaxing, but I can feel a storm coming in. And I can also feel that my father is worried about something. He had this serious look on his face which showed it all. After about eight minutes of walking, we arrived at Arone's house.

"Wait here." My father demanded. "I will speak with Arone alone, and then you should begin your training. Don't worry, I shouldn't be too long." He walked up to Arone's door and knocked on it. I heard a faint voice say "enter" and my father did, closing the door behind him.

"C'mon Aura, let's go hear what they're saying!" Sarana whispered.

"You don't have much respect for privacy, do you?" I said.

"You know me too well. Now let's go!" We walked around the house, trying to find a good place to listen in on the conversation. Finally, we found a hole and walked up towards it, and listened.

"…are you certain of this?" Arone said.

"Positive." My father replied. There was a slight moment of silence.

"This worries me greatly. I must check up on my stationed Lucario on Spear Mountain."

I felt a big shiver run down my spine and turned to look towards the sky. There were clouds rushing in pretty fast, faster than usual. The clouds were very dark and I could hear thunder. I got worried and ran up to Arone's door and opened it.

"Sorry!" I said. "But you might want to check outside. Something's going on with the weather." Arone and my father ran past me and looked towards the sky.

"Arone…!" my father shouted.

"It's happening." Arone murmured. "Loukir, go and warn the village about this. Get the Riolu underground and have the Lucario prepare a shield around the village."

"Yes, Arone." My father replied.

"Aura, Sarana, come with me." Arone ordered. "I'm afraid your training will be cut short. We must ascend Spear Mountain. I must check something."

Sarana and I followed without a word. What's going on? Sarana looked like she was wondering the same thing. Arone ran slow so we could keep up with him. We ran up the path which leads to the Peak of Spear Mountain and took a route I had never seen before. Arone ran ahead and turned, running into a cave. Sarana and I followed. When we reached the end of the cave, I saw Arone next to a Lucario who seemed to be unconscious.

"Oh no…"Arone said, worried. He turned towards me. "I am very glad that you are here, Aura. If it weren't for your dream, we would never have seen this coming. This Lucario here is one who keeps "him" sealed away. But… looking at his condition… I think that he might be free."

"What, you mean that…" I said, but I was interrupted.

"Yes. Eridin is free."

I entered a state of shock and horror. Eridin is free? That must mean that the Lucario from my dream, that was Eridin? And since he's free, then that means…

"Koco Village!" I shouted. "It's in trouble!"

"That's why I told your father to get everyone prepared. Come, we need to get back to the village."

Arone picked up the unconscious Lucario and we ran back down the mountain and into Koco village. Once we arrived, I saw Riolu run into the underground tunnels and many Lucario follow, while some stayed behind and created the shield around our village, including my father. The weather was getting violent. Arone ran over towards my father, with us not far behind him.

"Loukir!" Arone shouted. My father turned around and saw us running towards him. "What's the news?"

"The Riolu and most of the Lucario are being escorted underground and the Lucario gifted in the ways of combat and aura have stayed behind to defend the village." My father replied. "What of Raike?" Raike must have been the Lucario we found on Spear Mountain.

"Unconscious, but OK. Please take him into the underground tunnels while I help with the shield. Quickly!" My father took Raike and ran over to the cave leading underground.

"Aura, Sarana…" Arone said. "Please follow Loukir and the others and get to safety."

"But Arone…" I replied, trying to explain that I could help.

"No. Just get to safety. We can handle this."

"You don't know that!" Sarana shouted. "If what I heard about Eridin is true, you'll need all the help you can get. And Aura here is very powerful as you know! You have to let him help!" Arone was silent for a moment.

"…Fine. I wanted to wait until I could properly train you for this, Aura, but I guess that'll have to wait. Somehow I need you to enter that phase of power you enter sometimes. I know I am asking a lot of you, but we need all the help we can get if this is going to happen."

"But, I don't even know how!" I replied. "I don't purposefully enter these phases, and I am barely in control when I do enter them!"

"Which is one reason why I wanted to train you, but that isn't really possible right now. Just meditate and focus. Sarana, stay with Aura. He may need the help. But if anything looks bad, run for the cave."

"OK." Sarana said.

"I must help with the shield now." Arone said. "Good luck." He ran over to the centre of the village and shot a continuous beam up towards the shield, helping it stay up.

"I'm here for you, Aura." Sarana said. "I know you can do this."

I sat down and focused, and Sarana sat next to me, holding my hand. I know I can do this. I focused extremely hard, but the thunder around me made it difficult. After a few minutes of focusing, nothing happened. Then, out of nowhere, a red beam shot out of the clouds. It hit the shield and disappeared. The shield blocked the beam. It didn't look very powerful. After a few seconds, many more red beams started raining down on the village. I could hear the Lucario all losing power with shrieks of pain after each beam that hit the shield. I heard one Lucario fall, and that created a gap in the shield above me.

"Aura, Sarana, get to the cave!" Arone shouted. Sarana and I immediately got up and started to run towards the cave when all of a sudden a red beam shot straight through the hole and headed straight for us. I pulled Sarana close to me and shielded her from the beam and braced for impact. The beam landed, but did not hit me. I turned around to see what had happened and I saw my father standing there, trying to repairing the hole. He must have destroyed the beam.

"Run Aura, now!" he shouted. I nodded at him and ran towards the cave with Sarana. We lost our footing a few times after each impact from the beams. We reached the cave and I turned to see how my father was doing. He turned to look if I had made it to the cave and out of nowhere a beam landed straight onto him, creating a huge explosion.

"DAAAAAD!!" I screamed. I ran out to help him and Sarana followed. When I reached him, the beams stopped and the shield disappeared. Many Lucario lay on the floor, tired and out of energy. I saw my father laying there, not moving.

"Wake up, dad." I cried. I tried shaking him, trying to see if he was OK. "Wake up!" I felt a palm on my back. I started crying. "Please! Wake up!" All of a sudden I felt the earth starting to shake, but it wasn't an earthquake. I heard Arone scream at everyone to get underground and I felt someone try to pick me up. I wouldn't move. I was in tears.

I opened my eyes and they were glowing cyan again. I looked up towards the sky and saw a huge meteor shower headed for the village, with one massive meteor among them. These meteors were not random, these were created. Somehow I can tell by the way they are formed. I was not in control of myself, so I instinctively defended the village by shooting a huge beam into the sky, just like I had done before. It hit the meteors, vaporizing everything it touched. Once it hit the huge meteor though, it blew up, creating a massive explosion.

The explosion created an enormous blast of air to hit our village, sending the Lucario along with Arone flying off the mountain. I too was sent flying through the air and Sarana was with me. She grabbed onto my hands and I grabbed on to hers tightly. I was slowly fading out of consciousness, and Sarana was pulled out of my hands by something. I tried to call her name, but my mouth opened and no sound came out. The last thing I heard was Sarana screaming as she was pulled away from me. I closed my eyes and fell out of consciousness as I plummeted to the ground.

 

[GuardianofAura]

Sorry for the delay, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 6: Will

I woke up in an un-familiar bed and the smell of mossy rocks filled the room. I pushed myself up and let out a shout of pain and fell back down again. I looked at my arm and it had a neatly wrapped bandage around it. Where am I? What happened? I can't remember anything.

I carefully got up from the bed and slowly lowered myself to the floor. The floor and walls were made of wooden logs attached very neatly. I reached the floor and fell over. My leg is hurt too? I pulled myself back up by using the bed and looked over to a table on the other side of the room. It had a vase of blue flowers and a beautiful stone attached to a string lying next to it. I limped over to the stone and picked it up. I stared at it and admired how beautifully it glowed.

All of a sudden I had a flashback of a Riolu falling away from me. That was… Sarana! I… I remember it all! The attack, the village, and… my father. I hope he's OK. I can feel that he is still alive though, I just know it. And Sarana… I'm worried about her. OK, so if Sarana still has her Aura Stone on, I should be able to tell where she is.

I placed the Aura Stone around my neck and meditated, focusing on where Sarana is. As I focused, the Aura Stone started floating and pulling me in a certain direction. The Aura Stone pointed over to the window. I limped over to it and looked outside to see that I was very high up on a mountain in an area I have never seen before. This was not anywhere near Koco village, nor the Rukari Mountains. The Aura Stone pointed northeast of where I was, over to a plain which was shrouded in fog. The further you look, the thicker the fog. That means Sarana has to be there.

I heard a door open and loud footsteps afterwards. I panicked and limped back over to the bed. I fell over again and tried to get up, but I couldn't. I turned to the door of the room I was in and heard the footsteps get closer. I backed myself up into the wall, waiting for the door to open. I watched the door slowly open and I started breathing heavily in panic at whatever it was. It poked its head through the door and looked over to the bed I was in, seeing it empty. It opened the door wider and looked around, only to see me backed up into the wall in terror. It was a tall creature in blue and black robes with a dark blue cape. It had brown boots on and had blue hair.

"It's OK, Aura." It said, calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you." It knew my name? "My name is Will." it said, cheerfully. He took his hat off and revealed his face. What is he? "It's great to finally meet you at last!"

"I…I don't know you." I replied, still scared.

"Oh, sorry." Will replied. "I thought you might know me. But secrets are still secrets, it seems. Unlike you, I am a human."

"A human? How…"

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I don't think you asking them in the state you're in will help." He walked over to me and tried to pick me up. I let him, and he placed me back on the bed. He grabbed a close by chair and placed it in front of me. He sat down and looked up towards me. I stared back at him, confused. Humans are not meant to be on these lands, they come from a faraway place not visited by us Riolu and Lucario, so I'm told.

"First of all…" Will started. "…as I have said, I am a human. I have been living in these lands for longer than I can remember. I have been here way before you were born, Aura. The birth of one of the likes of you is said to be bad luck, so I came to the Rukari Mountains just in case something would happen. Also, I wanted to witness the birth of a Golden Riolu. I couldn't miss something as amazing as that, now could I? I have been watching over your village, especially you, for a while now, just in case that "bad luck" occurred. Of course, I started questioning the fact that you were bad luck because of how pure a heart you have. Anyway, I was in the forest below your village on my way to finally visit you when I started hearing explosions. I looked towards the sky and saw these beams headed for your village. I tried to find a place up quite high to witness what was happening. I climbed to the top of a tall tree and heard no more explosions and saw no more beams. When I thought the attack on your village was over, I saw these meteors fall out of the sky, along with a huge one. I felt so helpless and worried for the sake of your village when all of a sudden I saw this blue beam headed for the meteors, wiping out all of the meteorites and destroying the huge one. The shock wave from the explosion of that meteor pushed me off of the tree and I fell to the ground. When I landed, I started running towards your village, hoping everyone was OK. Not long later, I heard something fall through the trees and hit the ground behind me, and saw you. I took you to my home and treated your wounds, and I think you know the rest."

"Did you find anyone else other than me?" I replied, thinking about my father and Sarana.

"Sadly, no. Why do you ask?"

"Because I wasn't alone when I was falling. Sarana was with me. But I felt something pull her away from me."

"Hmm, I'm afraid you are the only one that I have seen so far. But I aim to find out what happened to the rest. Can you tell me your perspective as to what happened?"

I told Will everything that happened that week. I told him everything right from the start of my trials up to now. The battles, my power, my father, and all that happened on the day of the attack. I even told him that time on Spear Mountain. I have never been this trusting with a stranger before, but somehow I knew I could trust him.

"Hmm…" Will said. He seemed very surprised when I mentioned my father. "It all makes a lot of sense. What you told me has fixed many holes of questions I have had. You were not born out of coincidence, and your power is also no coincidence."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You aren't the only one who has said that. Arone and my dad also said that. What do you mean by it?"

"Well, based on what you have told me, I can explain. The time when Lokoro banished Eridin was a time of great sorrow. But a legend circulated the tribe and no one knew where it came from. But that legend was "The time a Riolu is born of a different colour amongst a tribe will be a time of great crisis". That is no lie, but it wasn't exactly true either. Your birth was not signifying bad luck; it was foretelling Eridin's escape. Your power is one equal to Eridin's, and is that way so you would be trained to stop his return. But since no one knew of this, you were not trained. Arone and your father seemed to have found this out, but too late though. That is why you were chosen to train with Arone. That is why your father has supported you in many amazing ways. That is why you have had that dream. It was foretelling the escape of Eridin. We may be too late to stop his escape, but we are never too late to stop him from what he will do. I have done a lot of research on Eridin and I think I know why he changed so dramatically back then. His lust for power was not for himself, but for his partner. He lost his partner when he evolved and no one knows why or how. But Eridin seemed to be trying to gain enough power to bring her back. He tried to resurrect his partner. But he got so consumed on doing this; he lost control and did not care about anything but resurrecting her. His intentions were pure, but his ways were not. Does this all make sense to you, Aura? I hope I'm not overwhelming you."

"It makes perfect sense!" I replied. I was so glad that my being here was not bad luck, my whole life I worried about that. "But, how do you know all of this?"

"That story is to be told another time. But right now we need to focus on getting back to Koco Village. I need to speak with Arone and we need to know if everyone is OK. First though, you need to heal up. We can't travel around when you're injured. Come, follow me."

Will walked over to the door and turned, waiting for me. I slowly got myself back down from the bed and limped over to him.

"I think it'll be best if you got to know my house a bit better." Will said. "I think you'll be living here for a while."

"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because I am going to do what Arone would have done. I will train you."

"What?" I shouted, surprised. Humans aren't beings of Aura, how can he train me? Also, how does he know about that?

"What, you think I can't? Oh, it's because I'm human, right? Thanks to a good friend, I can use aura just like any Lucario. But I have different ways of using it. I think it will be best if I train you because I can teach you things no Lucario know. Come, let me show you around."

He took my hand to help me walk better. My leg hurt, but I was OK to walk.

"Obviously you know the guest's bedroom." Will said, indicating the room we are in. "But I think we will rename it to "Aura's Room". You have a bed and a window with a brilliant view, a chair and a little table to yourself. This room will be your home, so help yourself to anything here." We walked outside of the room and into a big room which took up most of the house.

"This is the living room." Will said. This room had a large cream sofa on the wall to the left which seemed very comfortable. In front of the sofa in the middle of the room was a blue square carpet with a pattern on it. The pattern was light blue circles starting from the centre and getting larger after each circle. Then there was a wooden table on the wall to the right of the sofa which was surrounded by two wooden chairs and a stone stool. There was a stone fireplace in the corner of the room next to the table and opposite the sofa. It was lit with fire and wood and the smell was brilliant. There was a window behind the sofa and another on the wall to the left of the sofa. The one behind the sofa had a clear view of the land below, like my room's window. The other window had a great view of what seemed to be a garden. In the corner to the left of the sofa there was a metal circle which looks like it can be lifted.

"You're free to come in here anytime you like, Aura. The sofa is where I relax, the table is where I eat, the rug is where I meditate and the fireplace is obviously to heat up the room. Plus, I like the smell and look of fire. Feel free to use this room as much as you like."

Will took me over to a door next to the table and opened it. This room was very different from any room I have ever seen. It was a small white stone room with no windows and one torch on the wall.

"This room is where I focus, Aura." Will said. "It is really easy to focus here. The walls are sound-proof, making it quiet. The room is just white because it is easier to see the world through aura when you don't have any colours interrupting you. It's a nice room, but only when you need to focus somewhere quiet and not be disturbed. Otherwise it's quite boring."

We walked back into the living room and I fell over. My leg really isn't too good.

"You OK, Aura?" Will asked.

"I'll manage." I replied, groaning. "Thanks for the concern though."

Will helped me back up and pointed over to that metal circle in the floor.

"You see that metal plate over there? It's covering a hole leading underground. We will go there eventually, when you are ready. But right now, I think it would be best if you stayed away from there." We walked over to a ladder on the wall and Will placed me on his shoulders and climbed up.

"Up here is my room." Will said. "I would have stairs, but I thought it would take up too much room."

As Will climbed up the ladder, I admired his room. It was a room just like my one downstairs, but it has a glass roof. Will got to the top of the ladder and put me down on the floor.

"I knew you'd like it." Will said. "I love watching the stars at night, so I got a glass roof to watch them while I sleep."

"That's amazing!" I said, in awe of his roof. His bed was pretty large and I saw something glowing on his bedside table. I limped over towards it and stopped. Will placed his hand on my shoulder and walked over to it, picking it up. It was an Aura Stone.

"Surprised?" Will said. "I too have an Aura Stone. I keep it here as my night light, it glows an amazing green when hit by moonlight. I guess you might be wondering where the other one is?"

I nodded. Where is the other one? Surely the other one would be held by someone of importance to him.

"Well, I would love to know myself, but I cannot find it." Will said. He looked up towards the sky. "But I always hope to find it on my travels. I know I will someday." He looked back down at me. "Anyway, let's go outside. We can use this door here." He pointed at a door on his wall.

We walked over to it and Will opened it. As soon as he did, a blast of fresh air filled his room. It felt and smelt great. I walked outside and nearly fell over from the wind. It looks like Will's house was built on the side of a mountain. The right side of the house was in the mountain, if you judged it from where I was looking. The stone stairs leading down were attached to the mountain. I carefully and slowly walked down the stairs with the help of Will. When I got to the bottom I pressed my feet on the cold moist grass and felt a shiver run down my spine. Why did it feel weird to walk on moist grass? It's not like I haven't before. But it felt good to be outside again. There is a small stone wall surrounding Will's house and garden which was about five meters away from the house. It was just about as high as me, and I could easily climb over it.

"I built that wall so I could know which area of land was my own and where it was ok to do some gardening." Will said. The grass was very neat and there was a stone pebble path from the door of the house to the gate of the wall. To the left of the house was the garden. We walked over there and I admired its beauty. It had some amazing green bushes filled with beautiful berries of all sorts. And just past the garden behind the house was a patch of flowers next to the wall. It looked like my garden back home. I walked over to it and looked over the edge, admiring the view.

"I guess this part would remind you of your home, Aura." Will said. "I loved how you meditated in your garden with an amazing view from it, so I decided to edit this part of the garden and do the same."

I'm glad Will had done that. I love my garden, and it is great that he had one which was in a way the same. I closed my eyes and felt the wind blow on my face, it felt amazing. All of a sudden, I felt a surge of power in my leg, and it wasn't hurting anymore. I turned around to see Will's hands around my leg and his hands glowing a bright blue.

"There we go." Will said. "It should feel much better now. Sorry if I surprised you, but you have to be relaxed for my healing to work."

"Thanks Will." I said. That's twice my leg has been healed, and without me knowing too.
"It's absolutely amazing here."

"Thanks."

"But, do you live here alone?" I asked.

"I do now." Will replied. He went from being happy to being deep in thought. He used to be with someone else?

"What do you mean "you do now"?"

"It's a long story, and I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh, OK. Sorry if I…"

"It's OK. Now, I think it's time for us to get some rest. It's getting late. You may have just woken up, but I can sense that you are still quite tired. Tomorrow, we'll travel back to Rukari Mountains and find out what is going on."

We headed back into the house and I found it much easier to walk now, but my leg still hurt a little and my arm was still in bandages. When we got inside, Will walked over to the sofa and fell onto it, looking shattered. I sat down next to him.

"Well, I'm glad I finally got to meet you Aura." Will said. "I'm glad you aren't hurt too badly. You're a great Riolu, and I look forward to training with you."

"I'm glad I met you, Will." I said. "You're the first human I have ever met, but I think you're a great person. I cannot wait for training with you. I'll go and get some rest now. Aura be with you!" When I said that, it caught Will's attention.

"Where did you hear that from?" Will asked.

"Err… it's what my dad always says when we say goodbye." I replied. "I thought it was great, so I started saying it. Why?"

"Hmm… it's what I always say to my friends. We say "May Aura be with you on your journey". But anyway, get a good night's sleep. Aura be with you."

I walked over to my room's door and opened it, turned back to Will who looked deep in thought, and closed it. I walked over to my bed and climbed onto it. Today has been a great day. I met Will, I have a new friend, and a new home. But I hope everyone else is OK, and Sarana, and my father. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.