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The silver moon hung high above the night sky, its cool glow spilling across the world like drifting frost.
Footsteps echoed softly through the quiet forest path.
Kael walked behind Lucario along a narrow trail paved with smooth river stones, the crimson shine in his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
His night vision was so sharp that he didn't even need torchlight. The moon alone was enough.
Tall trees surrounded the path, their dense canopies swaying in the nighttime breeze. Leaves rustled overhead, whispering like distant waves.
Lucario's steps were steady, precise.
Kael's… weren't.
His legs trembled with every step, his body still wrecked from Infernape's brutal training earlier. The energy he once had was gone; only exhaustion remained.
Lucario, of course, sensed everything.
Aura-users did not need to see the body to read the truth inside it.
But he didn't slow down.
He didn't ask if Kael was alright.
He didn't care about muscle fatigue, wounds, or trembling steps.
Tonight's lesson had nothing to do with physical endurance.
Tonight… was a lesson of the heart.
Truth was, Kael was originally assigned only two instructors: Hitmonchan and Infernape.
But after their earlier fight, Lucario went directly to Earl, the dojo master, and made a request.
He wanted to be Kael's third mentor.
Lucario had no interest in teaching punching forms or fancy combos.
He wasn't here to show energy techniques or battle tricks.
He wanted to pass on the Aura.
Just as his own master once passed it down to him.
Somewhere deep inside his mind lay the memory of the one he called teacher.
And in this broken world, where hope flickered like dying embers, Lucario wanted to continue that legacy.
During the earlier battle, he had seen something inside Kael a spark most Pokémon never possessed.
Strength of body was common.
Good instincts? Also common.
But unbreakable will…
A spirit that felt like tempered steel…
And a deeper core that felt as bright and pure as a gemstone…
That, Lucario had never seen before.
Kael wasn't just strong.
He was perfectly built for Aura.
It was like his very soul and body were shaped to carry it.
Lucario made his choice in that instant.
He would pass down the power of Aura to this dark-skinned, crimson-eyed fighter who looked nothing like a typical Aura Guardian candidate… yet embodied all the qualities of one.
His thoughts quieted. His steps slowed.
Kael blinked, nearly bumping into him.
"…We there?" he murmured, barely awake.
His eyelids lifted, and then—
His breath caught.
Before him, the dark path opened like a curtain being drawn aside, revealing a lake bathed in silver moonlight.
A hidden sanctuary.
A piece of untouched serenity.
A lake so still it looked like polished glass, reflecting the sky above with perfect clarity.
Thousands of stars shimmered across its surface, as if the cosmos had sunk into the water.
Moonlight cascaded down like strands of silk, painting the world silver.
A soft breeze glided across the water, stirring delicate ripples that shimmered like liquid stardust.
White sand lined the shore, fine as crushed pearls, untouched by human hands.
Kael stepped forward, and the sand shifted gently beneath his feet soft, cool, soothing.
The sight struck him silent.
The fatigue in his bones loosened.
His mind quieted.
His heart slowed.
It was… beautiful.
"…What is this place?" Kael whispered, afraid his voice might shatter the stillness.
Lucario gazed at the lake, orange-red eyes reflecting the moonlight softened by an emotion Kael rarely saw in him.
"…It has no name," Lucario said.
A hint of nostalgia colored his voice.
This was where Lucario trained as a Riolu.
Where his own master taught him the first steps of Aura.
"Come."
He nudged Kael forward, and the two walked along the pale shoreline, their footprints trailing behind them in neat pairs.
After circling halfway around the lake, Lucario stopped.
He pointed toward the moonlit water.
"Go there."
"…Into the lake?" Kael blinked.
Was this… a midnight swim?
But Lucario didn't explain. He didn't even look at Kael again just waited.
So Kael inhaled, stepped forward, and waded in.
Cold water brushed his ankles, surprising but refreshing.
He walked deeper…
Except that the depth didn't change.
Still ankle-high.
He frowned, then realized the truth A massive, flat stone shelf lay hidden just below the surface, extending far into the lake like a natural platform.
In this moonlight, it looked like he was walking on water itself.
Lucario's voice drifted through the air as if carried by the breeze:
"Sit."
Kael turned. Lucario was still far away on the shore, but his voice reached Kael's ears effortlessly.
Aura transmission, Kael guessed.
Respectfully, he sank down, legs crossed, sitting above the shimmering lake.
Cold water lapped gently against the stone beneath him.
Lucario's voice came again quiet, patient.
"Now… feel."
Kael closed his eyes.
"…Feel what?" he asked softly.
Lucario's reply was but a whisper.
"Everything."
Then silence.
Lucario did not speak another word.
Kael was alone.
Moonlight.
Starlight.
Silver ripples.
The wind brushes across his skin.
The world softened.
The noise of his thoughts faded.
The exhaustion drained away.
Slowly… gently…
Kael let his mind sink downward, like a pebble falling into still water.
The lake quieted.
The night deepened.
And the black silhouette of a young fighter sat perfectly still on the glowing surface lost within the reflection of the stars, as if drifting among the heavens themselves.
Aura…
Was waiting.
Ready to answer the heart that reached for it.
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