The Aura - Ch. IV: Santalune Forest

"Route 2," Val said. "The beginner trainers usually hang out around here. Maybe we can train you up a bit battling against them, Athena."

Athena nodded, straightening herself on Val's shoulder. I was just behind the pair. I still had the incessant feeling of darkness over me. Then I realized what it meant - something was watching us.

I quickly looked around, my feelers swinging and hitting me in the nose. They started itching and tingling again, pointing me towards the tall grass - right where Val was walking.

"Maybe we'll catch some wild Pokémon," Val said. She stepped closer to the exact spot I was detecting. Alarm bells were going off in my head.

<Val, wait!> I said to her. Her foot stepped in the grass, and a figure leapt out of hiding. A shadowy Lucario, just like the one I saw in my old world, was here. It grinned malevolently at Val.

<Run!> I said to Val. <GO!>

She took off down Route 2, towards a large patch of trees. I faced the Lucario.

<Have some of this,> I said, charging up an Aura Sphere. The shadow did the same, the dark ball of pure aura growing larger in its palms. I launched mine just as he threw his, and they collided in midair, setting off a huge explosion that threw us both back. I landed softly in the grass, but the dark Lucario wasn't so lucky - he had hit a rock, knocking him out.

I ran to catch up to Val, avoiding the tall grass so as to not confront any Pokémon. Running towards the line of trees, I dodged a few trainers who happened to see me. I think one of them even tried to throw a Poké ball at me, but to no avail, luckily. After running for about two minutes into the forest, I concluded that the shadowy Lucario wasn't following me.

I darted past a few trees and tried to spot Val or Athena through the dense foliage. I pushed through several bushes before I heard the cry of a Froakie about twenty yards to my left. I knocked down a few more plants and shrubs before I spotted Val, with Athena on the ground in front of her. It took me all of three seconds to realize what was going on - Val was in some kind of battle - before I was knocked in the back of the head. I turned around, rubbing the sore spot, and saw a small Caterpie, making a vicious face at me like, <Outta my way; I've got a Froakie to annihilate!> It had just used Tackle on my head.

<Not very effective, buddy,> I thought. Turning to Val, I said, <Maybe don't capture this one; it looks it won't be very cooperative.>

<Right,> Val said. "Athena, let's go! It's not worth the trouble."

Athena jumped up onto Val's shoulder and we ran. We didn't have to go very far before the Caterpie got bored and went to find some leaves to lay in.

"Okay, I am totally confused," Val said. "What the heck just attacked us back there?"

"I'm not sure myself," I said. We were alone, I knew (I didn't detect anybody on my super-cool aura radar), so it was safe to talk aloud. "All I know is they've been following me since I came here. Before, actually. I really wish I knew what they were, but I don't have any idea."

Val was silent for a moment. "You are one weird Lucario," she said. "You can talk, and you've got a pack of demon Lucarios coming to defeat and/or capture you."

"Yeah... my life's not exactly the most normal one."

I heard a jingle come out of Val's pocket. I recognized the song as the Pokémon League theme from the Kalos region. She withdrew a phone, groaned, pushed the screen, and held it to her ear.

"Oh, so now you try to call me," she said, a bitter look on her face. "It's been almost two weeks since I ran, and you just now decided to dial my number?!"

She stood silent, listening to a voice on the other line. "Oh, don't give me the "We didn't have time" or the "we thought you were staying at a friend's house" BS. You don't give a crap about me. It's probably better that I ran. Good luck trying to find me."

Val hung up and put the phone back in her pocket. "Sorry you had to hear that. My parents are - well, you can probably come up with nicer words than I can. Let's continue. I'm pretty sure Santalune City is up this way."





He stared down at the smooth, black barrel. He couldn't do this. It was insane. But... there wasn't another choice, was there? His one friend had disappeared two weeks ago and he was achieving such terrible grades that his parents were thinking of signing him up for private tutoring. The steel shined in the moonlight, sending Julius the message he wanted - "no one would care about this. It's so easy; just pick it up and shoot. Simple."

Julius slowly lifted his arm, his face expressionless, and set his hand on the gun. At that moment he hesitated. What if he missed his brain and he just caused himself a lot of pain? He would have to aim carefully. His hand tightened around the handle as he lifted the gun off of the table. His hand shaking, he held it to his temple.

"I'm sorry, mom," he whispered, tightening his finger around the trigger. "You deserved better than me." In that moment, Julius pulled the trigger.

But it didn't move.

He tried again, and the trigger stayed stuck. "Come on," he said, tears streaming down his face, "I want OUT!"

"Of the world?"

Julius froze and dropped the gun, which went off. The bullet nearly penetrated through Julius's foot. "What?" he said.

"You want out of this world. You think you're so pathetic and weak that the world would be better off without you. Well I can give you a fresh start. You could be part of something huge. You won't be insignificant; you will make a difference."

"How?"

"By being a leader. General. Commander. You are the missing piece we need, Julius!"

"Yeah," Julius said sarcastically. "And where is this place where I can make a difference?"

A dark red light seemed to emanate from the gun on the floor. Julius felt compelled to pick it up, and he did so. The world began spinning, and he fell to the ground, everything a blur.

"Welcome to the Pokémon world."





"Well, we're lost," I said, trying to take in my surroundings. This patch of woods looked menacing, as if the trees were closing on us.

"I can't see where the sun is through the trees; if I could, I could tell what direction we're going."

I wasn't listening. I could feel some kind of energy emanating from an indiscernible source. Walking to my left, the feeling grew stronger. "This way," I called to Val. "I feel something over here."

"Feel something? Like what?"

"Not sure yet."

I trudged through the undergrowth, which seemed to get thicker and thicker as I went along. Pretty soon my mobility was limited to about a step per five seconds.

I moved one more bush out of the way before I saw it - the source of the energy. It was sitting on a large tree stump, glowing a beautiful shade of purple. A small, spherical stone, barely an inch in diameter, was giving off huge amounts of aural energy; I could feel it.

"What is that?" Val asked. "Looks... magical."

"No idea," I said, approaching the mysterious object. I reached out to touch it.

"Wait," Val said. "What if it shocks you or something?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," I said. I set my paw on top of it and felt energy surge through me. I felt larger and more powerful than I ever had.

"What is that?! Wait, I forgot I had this," Val said, reaching into her bag. She withdrew an item that looked like a Pokédex, but a bit smaller and rounder. She pointed the device at the object in my paw.

"Lucarionite. A Mega Evolution stone," she read. "It says here it can only be used by a Lucario. The Lucario who holds it must have a trusting and loving bond between its trainer, who holds his or her own 'Key Stone'."

"Now that you mention it, this new power I does feel... locked, somehow."

"Locked? You mean, like, you can't access it or something?"

"Yeah. And what is that thing you just used?" I had never seen anything like the machine Val used in the Pokémon games before.

"Item ID," she replied, stuffing it back in her bag. "Snatched it from my dad before I left town. It's been dang useful so far."

I looked down at the stone in my paw. "The Item ID said that I have to have a 'strong and loving bond' between you and me in order to access Mega Evolution."

"And I need my own Key Stone as well," Val replied. "I guess we have no use for it at the moment, mostly because I haven't gotten to know you that much to really call you a true friend. Here, let me put it in my bag so you won't have to carry it."

"Alright," I said, and I tossed the stone over to Val. She caught it and dropped it in her bag. "Now, about getting out of this forest..."

"How WILL we get out?" I asked.

"We've gotta go north, but I have no idea which way that is. You know, Athena?"

Athena shook her head.

"Great," Val said. "Well, maybe if we keep walking in one direction, we'll reach a path or something that'll take us north. Or maybe we can come to a clearing where I can see what direction we should go."

"Probably the best plan we're got," I said. "I'm in."

I looked up and, to my surprise, the sun had gone down and the stars were starting to appear in the sky. "Uh, maybe we should start tomorrow," I advised. "It's getting dark pretty fast."

"Maybe you have a point," Val said. "Now that you mention it, I almost can't see through the trees anymore!"

"So do we camp out here for the night?"

"I guess."

After making a fire pit and igniting the fire, the three of us gathered around the flame. I was getting pretty hot, what with the large portion of fur covering my entire freaking body. I felt like I was melting.

"Mind if I step away real quick? This heat is killing me," I said to Val.

"Sure," she said, and I stood up and walked into the trees, being careful to avoid the stump I'd found the Stone on. Eventually I found a safe distance from the fire that felt relatively cool and laid down in the grass, getting wrapped up in my thoughts.

"I've been here for almost a week now," I said to myself. "I still can't believe this is real. I mean, I'm a Pokémon. A real life Pokémon." I lifted my right paw up to my face and examined it. The small spike on the back of my hand was still kinda freaking me out. "I almost can't remember what it was like to have five fingers." I laughed at my own comment, laying my paw down across my stomach. "Isn't that sad?"

I focused my attention on the stars. "My only real friend in the universe is in an entirely different world," I realized. I hadn't quite thought about just how far apart Julius and I were. "I wonder how he's doing without me."

I shut my eyes, letting the small breeze blow over me, cooling me off. I hadn't even realized that I'd drifted into sleep until I heard Athena's voice and felt something shaking me awake.

"Come on, get up sleepyhead!" she said. I opened my eyes and looked at the small, blue-and-white frame of Froakie. "It's morning?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Athena said. "Val's finding us some Berries in the forest, so we've got time all to ourselves!"

"Really?" I said. <Maybe, if we have some time...>

"Athena, do you want some training?" I inquired.

"Training?" Athena asked, making a face. "Like what?"

"Battle training."

"Oh...! Yeah, I guess. If you could give me a few tips, that'd be great! After all, you've probably fought in tons of battles yourself!"

<Well, actually...> I thought to myself. "Alright, let me get up first." I stood, the sun gleaming against the treetops, looking over the small Froakie. "You want some tips on battling?"

"Uh-huh!" Athena said, nodding.

"Well then, let's begin." I said, clapping my paws together. <Let's see... first tip...> I looked around at the campsite. The fire had been cleaned up, with only a small indentation in the grass of where we'd placed the rocks that formed the fire pit.

"First... how do you use your moves? What goes on in your mind while you're attacking?"

"Uh..." Athena thought for a moment. "Usually, I think about what move I want to use, and then I think about what I need to do to accomplish the move..."

"Alright, let me tell you something," I said. "The only thing you need to do is think about what move you want to use. Your body will naturally react and execute the move."

"Really?!" Athena seemed stunned.

"Yeah," I said. "Knowing this'll save you valuable time when you're battling, and you'll be able to attack faster. Here, let's try."

I stepped away from Athena about five feet. "Now, attack me like you normally do."

"Wait, really?!" Athena asked. "I don't wanna hurt you!"

"Don't worry, I can take it. I'm quite a strong Pokémon."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. This'll be fun!" I smiled. "What move are you gonna use?"

"Um... Water Gun?"

"Great. Use Water Gun like you normally do."

Athena opened her mouth and, after half a second, shot a burst of water out, which hit me square in the face. It felt like getting softly slapped in the face: doesn't hurt that much, but still leaves a bit of a sting.

"That was good," I said. "Now try my tip."

"Alright," Athena said. Immediately she opened her mouth and shot another jet of water at me. This one hit harder, and made me stagger back a little.

"Woah..." I said. "That was great! Much better!" I said, grinning.

"You think so?" Athena asked.

"Yeah, I do!" I replied.

"It's a little weird to do, but I guess it works!"

"Your move was actually more powerful as well."

"Seriously?!"

"Yep! You're actually pretty good at using moves."

"Aw, thanks!" Athena had a huge smile on her face. "Any other tips?"

"Hey guys!" I heard Val call from the distance.

"Sorry, I'll have to teach you later," I said to Athena.

"Okay..." she said, disappointed. "I hope Val brought some good berries!"

"Me too," I said. "Let's go see what she got us!"

Athena followed me as I walked over to Val. "What'd you get?" I asked.

Val reached inside her bag. "Sitrus, Pecha, and Rawst berries. I got the Pechas just for you, Athena!"

"Yay!" Athena cried, jumping up and down with excitement. Val set two pink berries down on the ground, which Athena promptly picked up and started eating.

Val handed me a few Sitrus berries. "I hope you like citrusy flavor," she said.

"Oh, I love citrus," I said, taking the berries and biting into one of them. Just like with the Oran bread I'd had, my taste buds went crazy for the stuff. It tasted just like Mountain Dew (not sponsoring or anything), with a hint of orange. I ate the rest of the Sitrus berries quickly.

Val ate her Rawst berries quickly as well. As soon as all three of us had eaten our fill, we started talking about what direction we should head in.

"Santalune City to the north of this forest, according to the Town Map," Val explained. She pointed in a certain direction. "North is that way. I figured that out using the position of the sun. I found a clearing while gathering Berries where I could see the sky pretty clearly. Heading that way, we should reach the City in no time."

"Sounds good," I said.

"Right!" Athena agreed.

"Then let's head out!" Val said. She turned and started walking into the trees. We followed, heading towards the first Pokémon City I'd ever been in, and towards the Santalune Gym.