Brothers in Aura

Chapter one; Sudden arrival

I sat on top of a large hill that stood over a wide and grassy meadow. It was an ordinary day, at least as normal as it gets when you're a completely blind human in a world full of Pokémon. I heard quick yet light footsteps coming towards me, and turned my head in the direction of the sound.

"Lucario, is that you?" I asked, hearing the footfalls come to a stop just in front of me.

"Yes, and I'm afraid that our peace and quiet isn't going to last very much longer." My friend said through telepathy.

"Let me guess, another random person wants to battle me just because I made eye contact with them earlier?" I sighed and took Lucario's paw; he helped me to my feet.

"I'm afraid it's not something as simple as that." He sounded irritated. Hopefully it wasn't something I had said or done to offend the Aura Pokémon, after all, Luke wasn't just my friend and student; to me, he was like a brother.

"What do you mean 'it's not something as simple as that' Lucario, what's going on?" as I said this, the ground under me began to vibrate, and a booming roar pulsed in my ears. I closed my eyes and centered my focus on the forest in front of me. Suddenly the world seemed to flow outwards from where I stood, it was as if the world was made solely of a blue energy; aura, this wondrous energy was the very lifeblood of every living thing in our world, some beings, like Luke and myself, have the ability to sense and control it. I pushed my focus forward into the trees, and suddenly I felt like running as far away from the aura of the creature as possible. I was sensing the Aura of a large creature that resembled a Chinese dragon with a large three-tipped crown jutting from the top of its' head, and a mouth large enough to swallow me whole, I was sensing a Gyrados.

"Run?" I asked my companion.

"No, we have to fight it; it's the only way to make it stop chasing after us." Luke replied, getting into a fighting stance.

"It was nice knowing you." I sighed as I formed a sphere of aura in my open palm, Luke did the same. And as the raging water-type burst through the trees I noticed something I hadn't before; the Gyrados had a teenage boy riding on its' back.

"Hey! Are you that Lucario's trainer?" he asked as I heard him lightly land on his feet.

"Is that your Gyrados?" I replied, still slightly shocked.

"Of course he's mine! You didn't really think that he was wild, did you?" he said, a smile in his voice.

"Yeah, I didn't even think about it when I felt its' Aura coming straight at us." I chuckled, and suddenly a smile crossed my face.

"Heh, sorry about that, he can get a little. . . out of hand." the boy chuckled. "So, you two must be pretty strong if you were planning on taking my buddy on like that, what would you say to a battle?" I could feel his zealous energy, and it brought a wide grin to my face.

"Why not? After all, we could use a bit of a warm up!" Lucario's Aura gave a brief pulse as I said it, we were ready.

"Awesome! I'm Jake, but most of my friends call me Flare, and this guy here," he said, patting the large Water-type's side. "Is Gyro, who are you guys?"

"I'm Mark, and this is my partner and brother, Luke." Flare let out a soft laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked, ready to dish out a comeback if I needed to.

"Sorry, I just don't see the resemblance!" I let out a barely audible sigh, I could just picture the silly grin on his face.

"If you two are done chatting, I think we have a battle to get to!" Luke said, obviously ready to get started, I nodded, humming in agreement, Flare moved backwards, as did I, until we were facing one another, his aura was glowing among the softer auras of the forest behind him. The air was slightly heavier for a moment, as if Celebi itself was watching us and setting the mood just right, I took a deep breath, and snapped my fingers, immediately Luke dashed forwards, charging an Aura Sphere in each hand, Flare quickly reacted, and whistled, his partner lunged forward, mouth open wide, as if to make Luke a midday snack, I sent out a light pulse of aura, and Luke responded, Leaping upwards, aiming downwards. The Atrocious Pokemon followed my brother, only realizing its mistake when it was slammed back to the ground; Luke quickly hopped back, ready for my next command. Flare seemed impressed by our teamwork, but he wasn't about to let that get in the way of the battle.

"Gyro, Hyper Slam!" Luke and I both paused for a second, looking at the other trainer in utter confusion, even Gyro stopped for a brief glance at his friend, as if to say did you really just say that? But a brief moment was all we got to think before I sensed a massive power building near the Gyrados' mouth, I called to my brother, knowing what to do.

"Pop that bubble!" Luke nodded in understanding, jumping towards the water-type with a Bone Staff held in his paws, he swung at the charging Hyper Beam, only to be swatted down and pinned by Gyro's tail, I suddenly realized what Flare meant by 'Hyper Slam' i cringed as the Hyper Beam launched my Jackel-like buddy backwards, he bounced once on the grassy ground, then flipped, landing on his feet with a growl.

"Oh, so that's how we're doing this?" I instantly thought uh oh when I heard Luke's irate tone. He readied a Bone Rush and moved faster than I could track him, appearing behind Gyro's head and sending the mighty dragon crashing to the grass below him, Flare cried out and rushed to his Pokémon's side, worry pouring off of him, I ran over and pulled an Oran Berry from my bag, handing it to Flare.

"That was intense! You and that Gyrados of yours are really something! Also, I'm really sorry about Luke, he can be a little touchy sometimes. . ." I laughed as said Aura Pokemon jabbed me in the arm. Flare chuckled too, relief rolling off of him In light waves, like a pond when a pebble is thrown in. "So, um . . . I know this might sound strange of me to ask, but would you like to come with us?" Flare paused in the middle of reaching into his bag, I felt his eyes scanning my frame, searching for any kind of evidence that I couldn't be trusted, after that moment he went back to rummaging through his pack, humming a tune to himself, he pulled out a Poke'Ball, and Luke tensed, I placed a hand on his furry arm to calm him, Flare called his large partner back to his spherical home, then turned to me.

"You know what? I'd like that, it's been way too long since I've met two guys as strong and in sync as you two, as long as you'll have me, I would be happy to hang out with you!" his aura shone brightly as he spoke, and I smiled, happy to have a few new friends along for the journey ahead.