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Chapter 17 - The Story Of Us — Part II

The air popped as Water Gun contacted the weak Rock-Type-infused projectiles that Charon rolled their way. Ronin felt his chest swell with pride at having broken almost each one before it got close to him, but his chest would just as quickly contract as he breathed for air while looking for the next oncoming target.

Muck and dirt covered him from head to toe from the training, and scuffs from close calls ached on his sides as he panted. Unlike before, when the other Starter Pokémon would roughhouse back at the Professor’s lab and Ronin cautiously stayed to himself… it didn’t feel like his senses were screaming at him to get out of the way.

In fact, instead of avoiding, he was pushing back, gaining ground more than he ‘defended’. Feeling the rushing current of Water Type energy inside him burst out at another incoming boulder, he smiled. ‘Charon’s advice really is helpful… I’d like to see any other Oshawott use Water Gun this fast… ’

He had heard what Professor Juniper and the nice green hat lady had said about Starter Pokémon having the Ability to use moves of their Type stronger in times they were close to fainting. Charon’s guidance made him feel like he could do it on command if he so chose.

Though, it wasn’t without trade-offs… Ronin could feel the dripping core of his Water Type energy slow the more and more he used the technique. He snarled at himself, his chest tight as he breathed in, squeezing every inch of his body to build his attack up. A Water Gun more than doubled his size bursted out towards his target once the pressure finally let loose.

The air and boulder cracked, the incoming obstacle giving way with the torrent of water that punched right through it. Still, he forced his attack to continue for another moment, before his own gasping cut it off entirely. His entire body felt drained, weighted…

A sharp whistling noise which caused Ronin to freeze for a moment, making him turn to their ‘instructor’ for today as that was the signal for the end of this exercise. With his arms crossed and expression stern, Charon stared at them with an intensity equally matched by the embers that crackled around his collar.

Still… Ronin didn’t feel intimidated. He felt glad Charon was taking his request for training seriously. He needed to be stronger…

‘I can’t let William get hurt again.’

Ronin stated this to Charon at the beginning of the training when he asked for his reason why they needed to get stronger. It was a rhetorical question, one clearly meant for themselves to think about, but he didn’t miss how the Typhlosion’s eyes had a brief warmness at his declaration.

Faux burning commands and directions immediately replaced the warmness, but Ronin still didn’t miss it.

As he walked over, he saw how his… ‘partner’ had done.

Viridi was moving from the other side of the field, looking near spotless, as if not a speck of dirt had collected on her body from the exercise. She said nothing and paid Ronin no mind and crawled over to where Charon stood as he instructed them to do beforehand. Her boulders were unshattered, and all gathered near the edges of the makeshift arena where they had come to a stop from losing momentum.

The rocks had sizzling needles poking out of them that bore into the rock face, slowly disintegrating it. The trail the boulder took was visible from the broken needles on the ground from it rolling over them.

Ronin recalled her body looking like it was gliding across the ground with how fast she was skittering out of the way of the incoming projectiles. She would then halt once in a safe position and send another volley of Poison Sting at the target she avoided. None of them contacted her as she avoided them all, compared to how a couple of incoming rocks had grazed Ronin in the beginning.

The Water Type couldn’t help but feel like the dirt on his body from the boulders were a bit of a mark on his performance now.

He kept his expression level despite the light jealousy as he continued to walk to Charon and stopped in front of him next to Viridi. He forced his body to stand straight and looked up at the old ghost with attention, unflinching in the piercing gaze of crimson eyes.

“This was only part one of the training this week. I hope you are both aware.” He started, Ronin feeling the air around them get hotter, and dared not look away. “William plans to schedule the Gym Battle for the end of the week. Are you going to give up before then?”

“No!” Ronin shouted, even with his throat being a tad sore from the repeated use of Water Gun.

“Hive Leader said to train. Why Charon asking if Hive give up?” Viridi asked, her demeanor nowhere near the level of energy Ronin was putting into the training.

Ronin glanced in her direction, doing his best to hold in his faint frustration as Charon spoke again. “Well, since you are so excited, let’s try to push your limits little by little…”

Charon’s collar burst into ghostly flames waving in the wind, a smaller will-o-wisp building up at the base of each. Growling slightly and tilting his head upwards, the wisps flew up into the air. Ronin followed with his eyes as they fell down to earth with no influence from the wind or gravity.

The purple embers took spots around the makeshift training ground, some on top of the deformed boulders, some disappearing hidden behind them. All hovering in place and bright, the tips flickering in an unseen wind on a string. “On my mark, you will touch as many embers as you can in the allotted time. You may not use moves, only use your body's natural abilities. Do not hesitate to charge through. View them as an opponent threatening to run through you into William. You need to be physically fast, think quickly, and decisively!”

Ronin nodded in determination while he readied himself. Taking a deep breath, Ronin looked around at the wisps… his eyes quickly locating the closest ember hovering above the ground…

‘I can get there in no time with Aqua Jet, but Charon’s right. I can’t always rely on my moves. I have to be physically strong enough to push myself there as well… especially if I need to push William out of the way.’

The thought made Ronin tremble, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. The sound of a miniature fiery burst behind them echoed into the sky soon after, and Ronin could feel the faint wave of heat from the force of it. Ronin broke into a spring onto the field, directly towards the closest flame.

To his dismay, Viridi reached a purple ember first, with her body leaping through as the flame vanished on contact. Ronin let out a noise, but quickly shifted towards the second closet ember without hesitating. He leaped over a small pile of rock slush to touch one flame, vanishing just as the previous.

Speed and navigation, that’s what this training was for, and Ronin didn’t have either of them to the same level as Viridi….

‘Not yet… I’m sorry Oshawott, I haven’t found another Trainer eligible for Starters… I will through, I promise. I’ll find a Trainer for you.’

He pushed himself forward while holding onto the words of Professor Juniper. She promised to find him a Trainer, and she did.

He has to keep the promise he made to his Trainer now.

His muscles burned and his small lungs aching as he forced more and more air through his body. He slid between two boulders that were close together to snag another ember, even as his mind whispered to him to keep going.

‘Do you feel… lost? Like, you don’t feel like you belong with others, or you aren’t sure you fit in?’

The words of his Trainer only added fuel to his fire. He trudged up a mountain of muddy slush that was the same height as him, kicking off it with all his might to reach another flame face first. Even with the flames being more Ghost Type energy than Fire, he felt warm as he thought about why he needed to get stronger.

‘Why don’t… Why don’t we find our own place together, then? If you want…’

He didn’t slide down; he leaped off the small mountain and was off again. Ignoring how Viridi, skittering forward with speed that made her hard to follow even from the corner of his eye.

Ronin still tracked her despite it, ensuring he wasn’t on her path to one, as he knew he couldn’t beat her in speed. He mentally tailed that Viridi had five, and almost to her sixth flare

He was only on his fourth as he leaped through his latest one, already looking for the next target. Frustration rose when he realized he was behind, before freezing as a voice that wasn’t Charon’s called out. “Time! Come on back…”

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Virid climb down from the pile of rocks and dirt she was on top of and started crawling away. Ronin wheeled around to the voice to see William next to Charon, and then to the left of the field, Ronin saw Rina, Arthur, and Lena standing a small bit away.

Both Rina and Arthur looked lightly scuffed from the practice battle he remembered Lena speaking about having William do. Though Arthur looked entirely soaked with water and mud, much more than Ronin himself was.

The sight of Rina eased a bit of Ronin’s frustration… though he had to force a bit of a smile as he waved and smiled at her while heading back to Charon and William. The two of them were having a silent conversation of some kind as they usually do, Ronin could tell based on their eyes twitching slightly in each other’s direction. Though, Ronin knew that he probably wasn’t the best at hiding his frustration and… worry, judging how William’s eyebrows furrowed and looked concerned.

‘What is William going to say?’

William kneeled down, crossing his legs as he had his Pokédex out. His expression from before turning into a warm smile while glancing between the two of them and the screen. “Alright, you two did great, and I’m getting an idea of what to focus on for both of you…”

The dirt and muck that covered Ronin’s body felt heavier, as if punctuating how he felt about his own performance. The way William turned to him first lifted it almost instantly. “To start, Ronin, the control you have with Water Gun is amazing for someone who just learned it. Even if you didn’t use Strong Style at the end, I’d still say it’s almost on a par with how hard you can hit someone with Aqua Jet without it. That’s awesome for someone who just learned the move a couple of days ago.”

Pausing for a moment, William typed something into the Pokédex and looked thoughtful. “...However, what you want to focus on is up to you… you have two options we can focus on. We will focus on both in the long term, but which would you rather focus on now? Physical or Special? Close up, or ranged?”

Ronin spoke up quickly with his decision. “Physical, I don’t want to be slow. I want my body to be strong.”

William raised a hand, looking firm but still gentle. “Just so you know, one’s mobility is not the same as… strength. For example, Viridi has mobility on her side, but she’s… squishy.” William explained while motioning to Viridi.

Punctuating his point, William gently leaned forward and poked Viridi on her middle abdomen, slightly squishing downwards just barely. After he moved his hand away, the Venipede chittered and buzzed in response. “Hive Leader squished Viridi. Why Hive Leader squish Viridi?”

“To get a point across… you’re fast, and can get across a field easily, but a couple hits might drain you quickly unless...” William trailed off, typing on his Pokédex. “Viridi, you know Defense Curl, correct?”

“Rolling defense move. Viridi knows move.”

“Can you show me real quick?”

Almost instantly, Viridi curled up on herself. The segments of her body shining soon after, appearing more reflective from Ronin’s view.

After a moment, William reached forward and pressed down again on the similar spot. This time, his finger wasn’t able to press down at all. It was firm all the way across. “Huh… so that’s how it feels…”

William started muttering under his breath, clearly in his own mental tangent before flicking his eyes to Ronin. “You know what, I’m curious… I’m sorry, Ronin, can you use Tail Whip on Viridi?” He asked before he shifted back for a moment.

Ronin glanced back at William, making sure he backed up enough before he shook his lower body. He felt the Normal Type energy that was so… empty of definition, yet flexible, malleable. His tail wagged back and forth with the energy towards Viridi. She trembled as it washed over her, clearly impacted even though she couldn’t see the move.

After his performance, William reached forward and pressed down gently again to see his fingers giving the same amount of give as before Viridi used the move. He hummed as he looked a bit perplexed. “Viridi, how do you feel? …You can uncurl now, sorry.” Viridi’s body rolled out again, retaking her original pose as she looked up at William.

“Viridi feel normal. Why Hive Leader squish Viridi?”

“Just trying to understand the physical effect between stat raising moves and lowering moves on the body…” William said with a sigh, shaking his head. “Nevermind, sorry… alright… give me a moment to get thoughts in order…” Closing his eyes for a moment, William took a deep breath while Charon stared down at the two. His crimson eyes flicked back and forth before glancing at William with their silent discussion.

As they did this, Ronin glanced over to Viridi. She glanced back with her own stare that gave nothing away about her thoughts, how she felt about the training, nothing. She made her speed look effortless in a way that Ronin felt almost… guilty for not being able to be as fast.

He always heard how a Starter Pokémon is the cornerstone of a Trainer’s team, and even saw how the green hat lady’s Emboar stood like a monolith above all the other Pokémon at the lab. He had a physical presence as he stood next to her while she took notes on some new Pokémon the Professor had brought, protective, a wall…

And then there were the videos he saw Professor Juniper watch of a Trainer in a blue jacket and red cap, with a Samurott standing to him. The fully evolved Water Type could draw his seamitar faster than the camera could pick up, cutting through an attack before moving forward to strike. Formidable in every way, and a showcase of the final evolution of what he could become for William.

“Alright, I have a plan… I think.” His Trainer suddenly spoke, before looking up for a moment as if double checking. He nodded after a second and turned to Viridi. “Viridi, you’re fast and nimble, but you are going to need to break through moves. Next time we train, Charon is going to teach you Agile and Strong Rollout since you’ll need to pick up those techniques early on to help learn how to use them for other moves as well. Do you have any objections?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Viridi will… listen to Charon. Hive Leader’s command.” She responded, William waiting a moment before nodding and smiling, seeming to relax a little.

“Thank you… I know that this differs from what you're used to back at your own hive... but Charon can help with Rollout better than I can. You’ll need to get a feel for how Agile and Strong moves work like Ronin does now.” William explained, making Viridi look between Charon and Ronin above with a blank expression in her eyes before making a chitter of acknowledgement.

Even with a bit of faint smug joy at getting Charon’s advice down first, Ronin kept his expression serious as William turned to him. “Now… I know you want to focus on your physical abilities… Tell me what you mean by that.”

“I… I want to get faster, better.”

“Right… but faster at what? You already said you don’t want to be slow, but what does that mean for you?” William gently pressed. “You’re excellent at reacting and making split-second decisions in your head, even if the speed isn’t there yet to follow it. Charon and I both saw how you kept track of where Viridi was and decide what target to go for next so you wouldn't be fighting her for an ember. That’s even with the fact that she was going fast enough that it was hard for either of us to keep track of her.”

“That’s awesome. I will not understate your accomplishments. We can train to focus on just general speed and physical strength if you want to improve it more. That means we’ll look for a physical move to work on learning well, but we’ll also focus on skills under that umbrella that can extend beyond physicality. Like… reaction time, for example. What do you think?” William asked, making Ronin look down for a moment at his own scalchop…

The ability to react… to strike back against those who challenge his Trainer, like the Samurott in the video cutting through the attacks with a single swing.

That’s what he has to become. If he wanted to make sure the Trainer who promised him a family, a place he could belong, says safe.

‘If I can’t be faster than Viridi… I just need to react faster.’ Ronin thought to himself, nodding as he gave his answer to William, without mentioning the Venipede.

His Trainer smiled and nodded. “Alright, if that’s the case then I think the best option for you next would be to learn Razor Shell… which means using Water Type energy through your scalchop. Charon says Slash would be better, but I think Razor Shell would give more utility at the moment, and allow you to test how to flow Type Energy through your scalchop.”

William leaded back with a thoughtful expression. “I’ll see if I can find videos of other Oshawott or Dewott using it, but for now, focus on slashing motion with your scalchop with both left and right flippers. When you evolve, you’re gonna get two of them, so might as well adjust to both sides now and start building a reaction to attacking or defending with either.”

Ronin nodded with his own serious expression, but beamed at his Trainer’s support and advice.

William stood up and stretched, letting out a relieved sigh. That sigh turned into a sharp grunt as he rubbed his left shoulder gingerly. “Dammit… keep forgetting how sore it still is…”

The smile flattered at that, even as Lena made a comment about wrapping it up for today so he can heal. Oshawott stared at his Trainer… the kindness, the helping guiding hand that he extended to him…Ronin had to get better, so no one could hurt William again.

He glanced over at Viridi, his eyes narrowing slightly. She may have joined their group suddenly, and she was nice to William, which is all Ronin needed to accept her… she was a family member…

‘But that doesn’t mean your speed will make you better than me, rival.’

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The words on the page slipped from Arthur, making him lose his spot and forcing him to return to the top of the page for the third time in the past hour.

Reading Of Courage, Of Tribute was usually good at letting him wind down after a day of training, but something wasn’t… clicking this afternoon. Even though Lena mandated William and their teams rest the rest of the day after his shoulder bothered him, he still tried to insist on signing up for the Gym battle. Lena shut him down and dragged them all back to the Pokémon Center… but apparently he then went to use the Pokémon Center public computers to research something, making Lena go back out to coax him back into his room.

…Or maybe it was because he got hosed down by Rina herself to clean off all the muck from her ‘surprise’ attack. Using Hydro Pump underground after using Dig wasn’t what he expected her to do. Even with her using a different strategy and battle style with William who was still struggling to give more direct commands…

At least she technically had to clean up her mess.

‘Speaking of Rina…’ Arthur glanced over and saw her lazing about on the couch of Lena’s Pokémon Center room, snacking on Leppa Berries while watching the TV. The sound was low but still enough for her to at least make out the song in the Pokémon Musical performance from how she gently hummed the tune as she ate.

“You didn’t need to use Hydro Pump… though it was strong, I’ll give you that…” Arthur started, turning the page he spent far too long on.

Rina swallowed her snack before responding. “It’s been a while since I’ve used it, so it surprised me too. Besides, it was William’s idea to spring a trap. Blame him, not me.”

“Did he specifically say to use Hydro Pump?”

Rina smirked with a shrug, all but saying ‘no.’ “He tapped on the ground to signal me to strike without saying it verbally. He never specified how.”

“Wasn’t the whole point of the exercise to force him to use verbal commands?”

“Yeah, and he did. He’s still a little shaky but… he’s improving, remember that Protect call?” Rina said, making Arthur just nod…

It was the last move of the battle, after Arthur went sky high by the underground Hydro Pump. Lena had told him to use Bone Rush before Rina used Dig, and he was still holding onto the move for when she jumped out…

Well, Rina jumped out after shooting him upwards. As Lena hadn’t given another command, he maintained Bone Rush for an aerial strike while William and Rina struggled to find him. The young Trainer must have realized what was happening even if he didn’t see Arthur, as he called a second before…

“Protect! A-Above you!”

It saved Rina from a surprise knockout, but Lena had called the spar there after Arthur jumped away... now covered head to toe in mud and water.

…He would be lying to say he was… not displeased, but he had to admit that the surprise attack did work by throwing him off.

There were still smaller things William had to improve that Arthur noticed throughout the battle. Moments where William opened his mouth, before closing it and squeezed his hand for a moment, clearly struggling to think ahead…

‘Rina is right, credit where it's due, William only learned Rina’s moveset beforehand. He was probably struggling to sort through them…’ Arthur mused for a moment, turning to the side before pausing as he noticed Rina’s fixed expression, no longer focusing on the TV. “Rina, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just… I wish he would open up a bit more, if not for his sake, for Lena’s then.” The mention of their partner made Arthur pause and turn to her, seeing Rina’s Aura swirl with worry, pondering, and slight frustration. “He’s too wound up and seems hesitant to even ask for help.” Rina started chewing a Leppa Berry a bit more aggressively than needed before leaning back. “It’s just… I know he has a lot on his shoulders thrown onto him suddenly, especially for a… seven? Eight-year-old?”

“I… wouldn’t be able to tell. William’s Aura is so minuscule I can’t discern anything from it…” Arthur murmured, putting the bookmark between the pages and closing his book. He could tell this conversation would be a bit from how Rina’s Aura pulsed.

“I doubt even he really knows if he was separated from his parents at four or five…” Rina muttered before pressing forward. “He seems insistent… no, not insistent… scared of even opening up or asking others for anything. He tried to apologize for taking up my time for tutoring Ronin even.”

“He’s a good kid, but he’s too independent, for good and bad. I can’t tell if he’s scared to speak up about home or before we met him because he sees it as bothersome, or some other reason.” She said, throwing her paws forward and sighing.

Arthur pulled himself away from the conversation and closed his eyes, focusing inward on his own Aura. The brilliant, burning blue of tenacity and control, the core of what he is… ‘Rina is right. William… he acts older than a seven or eight-year-old, taking his responsibility as Trainer seriously… too seriously.’

The blue flare flicked with hesitation… doubt creeping in. ‘His hesitation towards giving any details is a red flag, however.’

Questioning and suspicion poisoned the bright blue Aura, turning it shades darker. ‘He even originally tried to hide that his home had simulators for no reason. He hides so much about himself from the outside, including his knowledge, or misattributions with that knowledge… like Virizion.’

“I can understand your frustration…” Arthur started with a grunt, regaining Rina’s attention as he crossed his arms. “Lena’s Mission is to help guide, protect, and understand William and his origins. Our purpose as her partners is to assist her in that goal…”

He barely held back a scowl. “Yet I didn’t even consider that his lack of Aura may put him in harm's way, yet he clearly knew judging from his reaction back at the hospital. I can’t help when he lies or misdirects because he has no Aura… or even detect that he was so heavily impacted by the Poison until it was too late…”

A soft sigh left the Floatzel as she shook her head. “Arthur, you’re being too hard on yourself again. Even the doctors were confused about that. You’re doing more than enough.” At the frown of disagreement that formed on his face, Rina looked more pressed. “You’re acting like William right now, taking too much onto yourself.”

“Like he isn’t akin to you as well? With the younger Buizel’s in your mother’s nest?” Arthur countered.

“I never said he wasn’t… but he’s putting too much on his shoulders when he’s still healing them, literally! He even tried to schedule the Gym battle today until Lena shut it down! I hope that they’re booked until next week when we go tomorrow…” Rina grumbled while shaking her head, glancing at the TV even as her attention was elsewhere.

Arthur turned the words Rina said in her mind… a slightly uncomfortable pit forming at the connections between William and themselves… and… “The similarities are… concerning. I mean, Lena… is like Charon, in a certain way.”

“What do you mean?”

“...Do you… recall what I saw in Lena’s Aura after the Victory Road collapse?” Arthur asked steadily and carefully, feeling his own as well as Rina’s pang of darkness around each of their Aura’s at the mention of that time.

“..Yeah. I… I do.” Rina started, uncomfortable with the topic, but pressing on. “She… no, none of us were in a good place. Does Charon have the same… ‘scars’, as you called it?”

Arthur wordlessly nodded, thinking back to the first time he saw Charon’s Aura. Back on Route 2. He couldn’t even sense Charon through his Aura when they first tailed William off Route 2, and then when he revealed himself…

Anger that looked ready to erupt underneath scars and cracks that paradoxically mixed with a cold indifference towards the ‘intruders’. The wisps of red that filled his eyes almost had an Aura onto itself that made the bones inside Arthur tremble with fear even as he stood up to defend Lena in case. The air itself felt like it was weighing Arthur down, as if commanding him to yield.

Yet… there was also possessive protectiveness, a mix of warmth shielded by an outside haze of ghostly influence. As if saying — no, declaring: “This soul is not for you. He is under my protection. I will not hesitate to remove you if you threaten him.”

William made Charon stand down, simmering anger and coldness vanishing into concern directed towards William, the same protectiveness lingering above. The flames of red across his gaze vanished, only to reveal red eyes just as piercing, and a collar of purple, ghostly energy.

Charon’s Aura was old, older even than Arthur could recall ever seeing in his life. Yet, it was potent with otherworldly energy mixed with a burning drive that was befitting a dual Fire Ghost Type.

Yet… the weight that Charon forced on them during that first encounter, he wore on his own Aura as well. Scars and cracks across the molten, ghostly core… along with… something deeper within that only he could see if he focused. But he ignored it, focusing instead on the ‘injuries’ around Charon’s Aura… the pain inflicted by reality manifested.

‘But what caused those injuries to you…?’

He had seen many of them from Pokémon and people in the last three years, Trainers who had their Pokémon ‘liberated’, Pokémon who couldn’t find their Trainer anymore… or those who lost people during Route 10 and Victory Road’s collapse.

Lena bore them as well. Scabbed, and pushed deep down to move on… but Arthur could still see it, even Rina could tell just from how Lena acted sometimes.

The scars from those who suffered and were trying to heal.

The other kind that Arthur saw… were from the criminals who let those scars on their Aura infect and become their new self, redefining them and corrupting all Auras around it given enough time...

And Arthur… wasn’t sure which kind of Charon had. The words from William and Charon themselves, and even Lena’s own internal thought he caught flying back…

“Charon’s old Trainer. He… had one before me, but… he… isn’t gonna want to open up about it though. Not yet, at least….”

‘‘What made you want to stay behind…?’

“I was up long nights in the war.”

“Charon has the weight and similar scars that Lena carries… but I can’t see the true nature of them. I’d need to physically touch Charon as they are too old compared to Lena’s, but… I can assume what they were from.” Arthur murmured.

“...The Zdarovan Retaliation, whatever he went through… or did,” Rina stated uncomfortably.

“...Yes.”

Silence fell over them, the faint noise of the TV nothing but static to them now as they ruminated on this.

Arthur spoke after an uncertain amount of time. “I think… Charon is trying to make up for something with helping William… like how Lena was after Victory Road. Maybe William doesn’t want to reveal what happened before to keep Charon’s privacy, so he’s so secretive about everything to compensate.”

“I mean… maybe? I can agree that he’s trying to make up for something, especially if… he was in a war. And I can agree that William and Charon have a connection as he was the first real Pokémon William saw…” Rina rolled over her words, as if they were stuck in her teeth like the leaf of a Berry. “...But from how he phrased it to me early, William met Charon in Unova, not before, so it can’t be the only reason he’s so secretive.”

“I definitely see Charon’s Aura as conflicted… remember when we watched him give the equivalent of Ranger School endurance training to Ronin and Viridi?”

Rina shivered. “Please don’t remind me. The stories Lena told me… Charon’s lucky that Ronin was enjoying it, else he would have gotten a Hydro Pump.”

“...Right, enjoy the Wild Charge he’ll give you afterwards. My point is that he wasn’t… enjoying it either, but he kept forcing himself through it.”

The Lucario let out a sigh before shaking his head again. “That’s not even to mention the…” His tongue rolled inside his mouth as he closed his eyes and tried to force himself to visualize it once again without Charon in front of him. “The… mark.”

“Mark?”

“It’s… less attached to his Aura, and more his being… but it’s faintly reflected in his Aura, I don’t think Lena notices it when we share sight…” Arthur clarified, frowning and shaking his head. “Something… an event, a Pokémon… a person, something left an imprint on him… and I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.”

Rina stayed quiet as Arthur struggled with his words, but he shook his head. “I don’t know what it is… maybe another Lucario who has more experience with Aura would know… maybe another —”

“I’m stopping you riiight there.” Rina said suddenly, her voice firm enough to make Arthur turn in confusion, before suddenly being pressed into a suffocating enough hug that he couldn’t let out more than a yip of surprise. “You. Put. Too much. On yourself. Did you not just say that William does the same as yourself?”

Arthur tried to give a rebuttal, but it was smothered out by Rina squeezing him with strength that rivaled a Machamp, and warmth to rival a Slugma. “You. Are doing the best you can, and I know that you’ll keep improving. We’ll keep helping Lena the best we can for this Mission… and we’ll break through whatever is around Charon or William to help her, bit by bit. Okay?”

Arthur finally shifted himself enough to get air gasping slightly before letting out a defeated noise. “Fine… but I am going to work harder at least.”

“I didn’t expect otherwise… but know that I’ll be right here to pull you back if you overwork yourself or push yourself too far, like she’s doing with William, alright?”

“...Alright.” Arthur said, a defeated, but not downcast sigh leaving him as he took a deep breath and returned the hug. The tension around his body lightened as he thought to himself.

‘I may not understand William’s Aura… but… I’m going to try and understand Charon’s. Maybe that will be enough to help Lena through this.’

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Co-Writers and Beta Readers:

David “TheBlizWiz” R

Garmfild

SteelTrim