While the sun rose, the Pidgeys chirped, the Rattatas scurried about, the Milktanks mooed, the Metapods grew harder... and much more happened when the new day made itself apparent. But for young Ash, he was only able to see half of this. Being blind in one eye, it was tough for Ash to convince his mother to finally let him begin his Pokemon Journey. In the time it took to convince his mother, his rival and best friend Gary Oak has already left a whole month early with his Squirtle.

Putting on his eyepatch to cover his left eye, Ash couldn't help but feel excited to finally begin his journey. Making his way downstairs, he spotted his mother nervously pacing around the kitchen.

"Morning mom." Ash took a seat at the table and began eating his fill, trying to finish as fast as possible to meet up with Professor Oak.

"Oh Ash, I'm so worried," his mother confessed, "do you really want to start a Pokemon Journey. It's been so dangerous out there lately, with Team Rocke-"

"Don't worry mom, I'll be fine!" Ash reassured. He quickly made his way to the door and left, leaving before his mother could change her mind.

Once Ash was outside, he bolted to Professor Oak's lab, no longer able to hold in his excitement. He already knew his starter Pokemon; a small Riolu named Aura that Ash has been raising since it hatched from its egg two weeks ago.

Finally arriving at the lab, Ash took a few deep breaths as to not appear overly excited. Calmy entering the lab, Professor Oak was already patiently waiting by a capsule containing the original starter pokemons.

"Hello Ash, are you ready to choose the partner that will open new opportunities for you?" the professor was trying his utmost hardest to keep from smiling. The best he could manage was a small smirk on his face.

"C'mon professor! Stop playing games, where's Aura?" Ash cut straight to the chase. As he said that a blue blur made its way to Ash and hugged his leg. "There you are Aura! Are you ready to start a Pokemon Adventure!"

"Now I have to warn you Ash, with half your sight missing, you have to be extra cautious in everything you do." Professor Oak lectured. "I have full confidence that your pokemons will always be by your side and it will help you tremendously to trust their judgement, so understand that your safety comes first."

"I got it professor." Ash said positively.

"As long as you know, it's fine by me." Professor Oak walked towards his desk and opened his drawer. He pulled out a wallet sized device and offered it to Ash. "This is a PokeDex. Keep it, use it, cherish it, but don't lose it.. Not only does it analyze and record all pokemon, but it is also a Trainer ID that allows you to battle other trainers."

With that, Professor Oak gave Ash a pat on the shoulder. "I've taught you and Gary almost everything you need to know, so I know anything else I say will be a waste of our time. From making a tent to understanding Pokemon natures, you are well prepared for whatever is ahead of you."

Professor Oak handed Ash Riolu's pokeball.

"But please don't go Ash."

Ash looked at his teacher in shock.

"Sorry Professor Oak, but I'm going to become the Pokemon Master no one believed I would become." Ash gave one last, hard stare at Professor Oak. He grabbed Aura's pokeball and walked off. "Oh yeah, and one more thing, try to be a better liar next time."

This time, Professor Oak couldn't hide his prideful smile as his student proved to him that it will take much more than a simple lie to break his dream.

Ash made it back to his house only to find his mother having a panic attack.

"Oh there you are Ash! We need to go over everything that you're gonna bring, from food to underwear, we hav-" Ash picked up his backpack and released Aura.

"Look mom! It's my starter pokemon. He's a Riolu. Call him Aura." Ash said nonchalantly as he opened the door. "Aura use Aura Sphere."

A blue glowing ball suddenly sped outside the door. It continued to accelerate until it hit the fence, seering a burning hole through the wood.

"See mom, there's nothing to worry about. I have Aura on my side." Ash kneeled to pet Aura on the head. "He has some insane control over his aura, stronger than the average Riolu his age. Professor Oak even says his control is one in a million."

Ash's mother gave a sigh of despair as she realized there was no way she was going to get Ash out of this. Whatever made her say yes in the first place was a large surprise for her, but after seeing her son seem so happy with his first Pokemon just made it impossible for her to say no. He seemed so much more alive than he was with her. And because of that, it would be cruel to shelter him from everything just because he was half blind.

"Alright Ash, if that's what you want to do, then I'll support you all the way." Ash's mother managed to muster up. The thought of her little baby leaving was hard on her, but she also knew holding her baby back would feel even worse.

Ash, not wanting to leave on a sad note, turned around and hugged his mother.

"Don't worry mom, I'll make sure to become an even better Pokemon Master than Dad."

Ash firmly said. After letting go of his mother, he slung his backpack across his back and walked off to the entrance of Route 1. With his trusty Riolu on his side, he looked at Aura and back at the beginning of his future. With a deep breath he-

"Ash! Don't forget to change your underwear!" Ash's mom called out one last time.

Riolu turned around, not understanding what Ash's mom was saying, only to be quickly dragged away by his flustered trainer.

"Alright Aura, this is how we're gonna do things," Ash began in between pants, "we're gonna stay in Route 1 to do some training. Hopefully while training, we'll find another Pokemon in the area to fight and catch."

Aura gave a nod and a fist in the air to show that he approved and understood what they were going to do.

"Alright first things first, I need to know your moves, so stay still so I scan you with the PokeDex." Ash pulled out his PokeDex and scanned Aura.

Riolu, the aura Pokemon. Type(s): Fighting

Its body is little yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night.

Moves of the Current Pokemon:

Foresight, Quick Attack, Endure, Agility and Aura Sphere

"Dang Aura! You know a lot of moves for a starter Pokemon, we have quite the unfair

advantage that most trainers don't have." Ash said to Aura. Aura straightened his back and puffed his chest a bit more, obviously happy to hear Ash's compliments. "I'm not too sure on how to train you yet because we haven't had a real pokemon battle yet. Let's see if there's any pokemon in the wild willing to fight."

Speaking of the Giratina, there was a nearby wild Spearow plucking away at some seeds.

"Hey Aura, let's see if we can battle that Spearow over there. If we're lucky, we might even catch it!" Excitement coursed through Ash and Aura as they charged over to the Spearow. Not really knowing how to begin a battle with wild Pokemon due to his inexperience, Ash let his eagerness best him. "Alright Aura, use Quick Attack on Spearow!"

Aura sprinted towards the Spearow, only for the Spearow to fly into the air, dodging the incoming Aura Pokemon. Unable to control his speed, Aura ran into a nearby tree, making a large crack appear within the tree.

"Aura are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly. Aura seemed dazed for a split second before running back in front of Ash, ready to listen to his trainer's next command. "Good you're okay. You got a lot of power in you buddy but we need to work on your speed. It's fast but you can't control it."

Riolu nodded as the Spearow flew back to the ground, finally noticing that it was challenged to fight. It squawked in arrogance and fluffed out its wings to try and intimidate Aura. Noticing that it wasn't working, the Spearow decided to charge forward.

"Alright Aura, it's going to use peck, so let's give it a taste of your Aura Sphere." Ash said to Aura. Aura closed his eyes and held his hand up. He was using aura not only to make the Aura Sphere, but he was also keeping track of the distance between him and the Spearow, taking consideration of any other variables like a true prodigy.

Aura released the Aura Sphere when the Spearow was only a few feet before him, making it extremely hard for the Spearow to evade the attack. The Spearow was knocked back into a bush by the strength of Aura's precise attack, disappearing before Ash could take out a Pokeball to catch it.

"Nice hit Aura, but next time, try to hold back a little, you might be too tough for most of the wild Pokemon here." Ash noted. Route 1 was too easy of a training ground for Aura, Viridian Forest may be better suited for them. "Let's see if we can find anything else to fight. I still need a better judgement on your overall skills, plus it helps me get used to battling."

The pair began walking mindlessly in Route 1, searching for Pokemon that were willing to fight. Unfortunately, all the Pokemon seem to be afraid of Aura's appearance and would flee before Ash could say a word. That is until a strange Nidoran (female) appeared before them. She was much larger than the average Nidoran, big enough to be mistaken as a small Nidorina.

"Uh, do you want to have a fight?" Ash asked awkwardly. He found it surprising that a Nidoran was in Route 1, as they were usually past Viridian City. Nonetheless, the possibility of having a Nidoqueen on his team brought childish excitement within Ash to blossom.

The Nidoran glared at Aura, and gave a growl to challenge the Trainer.

"Alright, let's get this started Aura!" Ash shouted merrily. His second battle was about to began and Ash was going to do anything to capture this Nidoran.

The Nidoran charged forward with a tackle. As she got closer, Ash realized just how large this Nidoran was. It was almost as tall as Aura on all fours. But because it was so large, its speed was something not to be proud of.

"Alright Aura, use Agility to dodge the tackle," Aura bolted to the right, making the Nidoran miss her target. "Alright, now use a Quick Attack. It's fairly slow so it will be hard for her to dodge."

Aura nodded, understanding his trainer's logic. He bolted once more towards Nidoran, and pushed her back a few feet. The Nidoran appeared to be unfazed and continued to glare at Riolu.

"Wow, she was able to take on Aura's Quick Attack?" Ash was shocked. How strong was this Nidoran? "Alright Aura, let's use Quick Attack one more time, this time, don't hold back."

Aura gave a slight growl of his own and reappeared beside Nidoran, catching her off guard. This time the Nidoran realized she was underestimating her opponent and shot a Poison Sting.

"Dodge the Poison Sting Aura," Ash said hurriedly. He didn't see the Poison Sting until it was too late. It punctured Aura in the shoulder but he seemed to be unaffected by the attack. As a matter of fact, Aura didn't even feel the sting.

Ash looked once more at the Nidoran and examined her horn. When a Pokemon of the Nido family uses a move such as Poison Sting, its main source of poison comes from their horn. But for this specific Nidoran, there was no poison in her sting. Therefore making her stinger feel like one of Professor Oak's needle, and that is equivalent to no pain whatsoever for Aura.

Nonetheless, Ash still wanted to catch this Nidoran, it's large size and brute strength would really give his team more possibilities to last in a fight with other experienced trainers.

"Let's finish this up with a Aura Sphere, Aura," Ash pulled out a Pokeball, ready to catch Nidoran the instant it was hit. Aura held his hand out and a blue sphere appeared. "Aura, she's going to try and use Poison Sting again, I want you to dodge it this time. It would be good practice instead of taking every hit."

Aura nodded in understanding and dashed forward. As predicted by Ash, Nidoran shot another Poison Sting. Aura displayed his nimble body by flipping over the sting and continued to run towards Nidoran. Landing a successful hit, the Nidoran fainted almost instantly. As quick as he can, Ash threw his PokeBall, missing horribly due to his impaired sight. The PokeBall landed a yard short of the fainted Nidoran

"Oh Arceus…" Ash muttered in embarrassment. How could he miss? Luckily Aura came to his trainer's assistance and nudged the ball enough for it to touch Nidoran. The PokeBall opened and a large red light appeared around Nidoran, absorbing her in the ball. The PokeBall shook three times before small sparkles shot out of it, signifying the success of capturing the Pokemon.

Ash and Aura ran towards the Pokeball, both staring in awe that together, they caught their next member to the team.

"We did it Aura!" Ash shouted in joy, "We actually did it!"

The Riolu repeated his name and was hopping up and down.

What was supposed to be a happy moment for the duo was short lived. The area to which the battle between Aura and Nidoran fought was filled with trees. Unnoticed to them throughout the entirety of the fight, they had quite the audience of Spearows and one large Fearow, staring at them.

Ash slowly picked up the PokeBall containing Nidoran. He was closely watching the Fearow, as it seemed to be the leader of the flock of Spearows. Suddenly, a Spearow flew off one of the many branches, towards the Fearow. Its chest was featherless, exposing its bare skin. Ash and Aura recognized the Spearow to be the arrogant Spearow that they fought before. The Spearow squawked and puffed its chest in anger. It seemed like it was communicating with the Fearow in charge.

To be quite frank, when the Spearow finished his anger tantrum, the Fearow jerked its head towards Ash and Aura, and Ash almost felt the Digletts come out of him. Instinctively, Aura noted that the Fearow was the largest threat here and stood between Ash and the Fearow. Ash could feel the rising tension in the air as his life was threatened. A flight or fight response began running through Ash's mind.

'The Spearows are going to attack. No, I take that back, the Fearow is going to attack first,' Ash calculated, 'The Fearow will come, Aura will use an Aura Sphere, since that is what I will tell him to use. It will buy us enough time to run. Viridian City is only 15 minutes away from here. Do I have enough stamina to sprint for that long? Don't know, we'll have to find a safe place to hide so I can use my PokeDex to call for help. No, running to safety is the better option, there's too many to hide from, we need to-'

Ash was interrupted as the Fearow came down upon them.

"Aura, use Aura Sphere!" Ash shouted. The Aura Sphere hit dead on, causing dust and dirt to fly everywhere. Ash grabbed Aura by the hand and sprinted away.

'There should be a stream nearby. I just need to find the stream and follow its path. It should lead me to Viridian City,' Ash planned. Just as Ash and Aura made it to the stream, a wave of Spearow came crashing down on them.

"Aura, another Aura Sphere," Ash commanded. He didn't expect the Spearows to catch up to them this quickly. Fatigue was beginning to hit Aura as he was nearing his limits. A battle with a unique Nidoran and fighting off a flock of Spearows proved to be a tough challenge for the prodigious pokemon. But Aura promised Professor Oak to keep Ash safe. Aura shot another Aura Sphere straight in the middle of the flock, causing another burst of dust and smoke. Surprisingly, one Spearow was not fazed by the explosion and came rushing towards Aura. Unable to dodge, the Spearow scratched at Aura's right eye.

"NO!" Ash screamed as he saw a trickle of blood coming from the Riolu's eye. Ash grabbed the Spearow and threw it against the tree out of pure anger. The Spearow fell with a splash before falling into the stream. "Aura are you okay?"

The Riolu was not paying attention to Ash as his sights were set on a Fearow wanting to kill. Adrenaline rushed through Aura as he spun around Ash and took the Fearow's Drill Peck head on. Aura flew back a few yards, hitting his head against a random rock near the stream bed. Horrified, Ash screamed in agony to witness his friend's pain. Aura's fur was covered in dirt and roughed up scratch marks were evident throughout his body. He picked up Aura with both hands, holding his body close to his as he ran for the safety of the city.

The Fearow and its flock of Spearows were keeping up with Ash's running. They nipped at him with every chance they got. Pulling at his clothes and even ripping off the eyepatch that hid Ash's blind eye. When it seemed that everything appeared to calm down a bit, Ash put Aura down and pulled out Aura's PokeBall to call him back but that was a grave mistake. The Fearow charged at Ash, using its powerful talons, it ripped Ash's hand free of the Aura's PokeBall. The PokeBall now in the air, Ash couldn't help but watch as the Fearow pierced Aura's PokeBall, breaking it. Aura began to glow a faint blue as the breaking of his PokeBall was taken as a sign of releasing a pokemon. Aura, now seen as a wild pokemon, no longer had the safety of its trainer.

Spearows began swarming Aura, trying to take him away but Ash wouldn't have it.

"If you want to take away Aura, you're going to have to kill me instead." Ash cried. He swatted away as many Spearows as he can around Aura and shielded him with his own body. He could feel the beaks of the angry birds pierce his flesh, taking out their anger on him, bit by bit.

"Oh my Arceus!" Ash heard a girl scream. "Braixen, Flame Charge!"

Intense heat filled the air as it scared away all the Spearows. Squawks of anger could be heard as they retreated away. Ash rolled to his back, to hurt to stand up. He observed his broken friend and observed his eye. The scratch left a large cut across Aura's eye, most likely blinding him for the rest of his life.

"Hey, we got to hurry up!" A blonde haired girl wearing a red blouse towered over his ragged body. "The Spearows are gonna come back and they're gonna be even more pissed. Why don't you recall your Riolu while you're at it."

"I can't." Ash rasped out. "The Fearow… it broke my Po-"

"C'mon, no time to waste," the girl grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him along while he held on to Aura with his other hand. Ash turned his head to see the flock of hundreds of Spearows. Is this what happens when you hurt only one Spearow? "Viridian City should be just a few more minutes from here. Come on."

No matter how hard the group sprinted, the Spearows would always catch up.

"Run ahead and bring your Riolu to a pokemon center, I'll hold them back," the girl said. "Sylveon, come on out!"

Without putting any thought into anything, Ash said a quick thank you and ran. Tears were running down his cheeks as he worried for Aura's life. Fortunately, the girl kept her word because no more Spearows appeared in Ash's way.

"Hold it there boy!" A voice shouted. "What are you doing with that Riolu?"

Officer Jenny came driving up to Ash with her motorcycle.

"Please Officer Jenny, my Pokemon are hurt an-" before Ash could say any more, Officer Jenny took Aura out of his hands. "Wait!"

"Why did you steal this Pokemon?" the officer harshly pressed. "Don't you know stealing is bad."

"No, I was attacked in Route 1 by a flock of Spearows and here," Ash pulled out his PokeDex and showed his trainer ID. "This is my trainer ID."

Officer Jenny looked at Ash's PokeDex and began looking through his information.

"It says that your only Pokemon is a fainted Nidoran how do I know for sure that this is your Riol-"

"Just let the him pass Officer." The cute girl who save Ash appeared. "He really was attacked, and you sitting here and wasting time only makes the Riolu's life more in danger."

"Please trust me," Ash begged. "If you bring me and Aura to the pokemon center, I'll even call Professor Oak and he'll explain everything about me being a trainer."

"Fine, I only have enough room for you two though," the Officer helped Ash and Aura to the motorcycle and rode off to the nearest pokemon center. Ash looked back at the blonde girl and gave a grateful smile, not caring whether she can see it or not.

After silently promising to learn the blonde haired girl's name, Officer Jenny arrived at the pokemon center in the nick of time. She even ramped up a stairway and skidded right through the entrance of the pokemon center.

"Officer Jenny how many times have I told you to not do that anymore." Nurse Joy casually said as if this was the tenth time Officer Jenny has done this.

"Too many damn times," Officer Jenny chuckled.

"Please Nurse Joy, my Riolu is seriously inju-" before Ash could finish his sentence, the nurse immediately grabbed Aura and put him on a stretcher. She gave a loud whistle for two Chanseys to come.

"Bring him to the Emergency Room quick," Nurse Joy said worriedly, "I'll be there soon." She turned back around to glare at Ash. "What were you thinking, letting your own Pokemon be beaten almost to death?"

Ash just stood there in shame. Not wanting to be reminded about how much of a horrible trainer he was. He made way for his belt and pulled out Nidoran's pokeball and handed it Nurse Joy. Before he could answer, the nurse turned on her heel and left to attend to Aura.

"It's alright kiddo, she'll get over it eventually," Officer Jenny said, "now call Professor Oak, I need to have a small chat with him."

Ash walked over to one of the centers community computers and began to dial Professor Oak's number.

"Oh hello?" The Professor called out, "Ash, is that you? You already made it to your first pokemon center? That is extremely fast!"

"Hello Professor Oak, this is Officer Jenny," at that moment the large screen finally loaded, showing the professor's large face and cluttered desk.

While the professor was covering for Ash, all Ash could think about was his Riolu. He's seen the injuries on Aura and they weren't something to take lightly. What would his teacher say about him? How would his mother feel about him? How would he ever regain his pokemon's trust again?

"Ash right?" Officer Jenny called out. "I have to apologize about what I said earlier. I mistaken you for a robber."

"It's understandable officer." Ash muttered.

"Cheer up kiddo, by what old man Oak told me, you're quite the passionate kid," the officer encouraged, "You're half blind, but you got some real spunk to you. Don't let that go just because of some bad luck."

As Officer Jenny left, Ash reluctantly walked back to the computer monitor to see the professor.

"Ash…" the professor began, "how are you feeling?"

"...beat…" Ash muttered.

"Don't let it get to you Ash." Professor Oak comforted, "All this happened not because you weren't a good trainer. You understand that right? It happened because… well I don't really know but…"

"It's okay professor, I know how it happened." Ash answered.

"Wait Ash, hear me o-" Professor Oak was cut off as the screen turned pitch black.

"So that's it huh?" Ash turned around to come face to face with his savior, the cute blonde. "Of the four years of my pokemon journey, never have I seen such a stupid reason to stop travelling." Ash said nothing. Only looking at the ground. "You're a pokemon trainer. Your pokemons are going to get hurt. There's nothing you can do about it."

A long pause was awaiting for Ash's response but nothing came out.

"You're so useless, you're making feel sick." Like Nurse Joy, the blonde girl also turned around and left Ash to be.

"Ash right? I heard Jenny say it while you were talking to her." Nurse Joy called out. "Your Riolu is going to be okay but, there are some things I have to warn you about. Your Rio-"

"Please, his name is Aura, he's not like the average Riolu." Ash didn't mean to say that but every time Nurse Joy called Aura a Riolu, he felt like she was belittling him. Aura was a strong Riolu, not just a Riolu.

"Ahem," Nurse Joy cleared her throat, "Sorry, Aura. Aura is blind on his right eye. He won't be able to see anymore." Nurse Joy paused to let the information sink in for a bit. "I also found traces of a serious concussion. He'll be out until tomorrow evening. But because he suffered serious damage to the brain, don't be surprised if there are some things that may hinder Aura's life."

Tears were pouring down Ash's cheeks. His pokemon, no, his friend took so many hits for him and he can't do anything about it. Ash put his hands to his face in utter defeat as he silently cried.

"I made reservations for you for the whole week." Nurse Joy said as she patted Ash's back. "It's more than enough time for Aura to recover from his injuries. You'll be surprised how fast a pokemon can recover."

Nurse Joy gently opened Ash's hand and placed the room key and Nidoran's pokeball in his hands.

"He's in room 2B if you want to visit him." With that, the sympathetic nurse left Ash to be.

A few hours passed before Ash slowly made his way to Aura's room. Aura was sleeping on a small bed, hooked up to machines that kept track of his heart rate. He had various bandages all over his body, and a large wrap on his head that covered his right eye. Not wanting to leave Aura's side, Ash unknowingly fell asleep on one of the chairs. During the middle of his slumber, he could've sworn he heard loud explosions and someone saying 'Pika Power', but he thought nothing of it.

Before he knew it, Ash woke up to the loud crunching beside his feet. Rubbing his right eye, Ash recognized the Nidoran happily chomping away at its food. He also noticed a small setup table with a plate of cold eggs and bacon. Seeing that it was already well past noon, Ash couldn't help but dig into the food.

Halfway finished with his food, he felt a strong tug at his leg. Looking down, he saw Nidoran looking at him.

"You need something Nidoran?"

Nido

Nidoran was looking at Ash then at his food then back at Ash.

"You want some bacon?"

Nido

"Was that a yes?"

Nido Nido

Nidoran violently shook her head up and down, confirming her hunger for Ash's food. Ash was about to say no, but he took one more glimpsed at Nidoran. The cute little rodent was raping Ash with her eyes and before he knew it, he shared half his bacon with the large Nidoran.

"Nido"

"Yeah I hope you like it." Ash muttered in complete annoyance that he lost to a Nidoran. The Nidoran jumped up the chair beside Ash and placed her head on Ash's lap. She was also looking at Aura worriedly.

"You're worried for Aura too huh?" Ash asked sadly.

"Nido"

"Me too," Ash said hoarsely. "Hey Nidoran, I totally forgot to give you a nickname the day Aura and I caught you. Do you mind having one?"

Nidoran vigorously shook her head back and forth, suggesting that she does not mind having a cool nickname.

"How about, Queen?"

"Nido," Nidoran said in disgust.

"Oh okay, scratch that then." Ash said amusingly. By thinking of a name for Nidoran, it was helping Ash keep his mind off of his stress.

"Stinger?"

"Nido"

"Royal?"

"Nido"

"Tank?"

"Nido"

"Luna?"

Ash was expecting another rude remark but was welcomed with a surprisingly nice quietness. Ash glanced at Nidoran, to see her nodding her head so hard, he was afraid her horn will come flying off.

"Luna it is then." Ash confirmed. At that precise moment, a small movement caught Luna's eyes.

"Nido!" Nidoran pointed at Aura excitedly. Ash swiftly made his way to Aura and watched as his friend made his first steps back to life. Aura tilted his head at Ash and slowly rose from his small bed.

Unable to control himself, Ash hugged Aura, desperately trying to hide the tears of joy. He didn't want Aura to see him cry because that would just make Aura worry even more about him. Ash didn't let go until Nurse Joy walked in to check how they were doing.

"I see Aura has woken up now," Nurse Joy interrupted the moment, "I hate to do this but now that he's awake, I would like to do a physical check-up on Aura."

Ash slowly let go of Aura and watched as Nurse Joy carried him away.

"You can come and watch too if you want," the nurse called out. Without taking a second thought, Ash and Nidoran ran after Aura for moral support. The small group made it outside to an empty battlefield. Nurse Joy placed Aura down and began checking his reflexes and heart rate. She then put a pen to the left side of Aura's face.

"Grab it Aura." the nurse said. Aura made a grab towards the pen and perfectly held it in his hands. Aura handed it back to Nurse Joy and this time, Nurse Joy held the pen to the right side of Aura's face. "Grab it now Aura."

Aura stared at Nurse Joy, confused by what she meant. To Aura, there was nothing to grab, but everyone can see the pen taunting Aura. Aura looked at Nurse Joy once more and saw that she was being completely serious. Aura slowly turned his head only for the mischievous pen to follow along. Aura looked back at the nurse, completely lost. He grabbed at the air, but that wasn't right. Slowly, Aura began to grow frustrated, using both hands to grab at everything around him. The look in Aura's eyes was beginning to become more hopeless as he couldn't find anything to grab.

Ash could not bare to look. The pain in him just grew heavier the harder Aura tried. Nidoran sat there quietly, not understanding what was going on but sensing the deep emotions from its trainer was enough to make her feel sad.

"Aura…" Nurse Joy whispered. She slowly moved the pen to Aura's line of sight and almost instantly Aura grabbed it out of her hands. He looked at Ash to see his approval but all he saw was the pained look of guilt.

"Aura… your right eye is blind." Nurse Joy gravely said. The Aura Pokemon threw his hand over his right eye, covering and uncovering it, testing to see if the nurse was telling the truth. "Aura, we must continue with the test. We will have time to discuss your future after the test."

Aura nodded his head in pure shock. He didn't even realized he was half blind until now. How was he going to protect Ash now? How can a blind pokemon protect its trainer?

"Aura, we are going to test the moves you know," the nurse said as she pulled a small scratch paper with the moves Aura knew, "I have the list of moves you are supposed to know after scanning you. Are they Foresight, Quick Attack, Endure and Agility?"

"You're forgetting Aura Sphere," Ash grew out of his despair. "He also knows Aura Sphere."

"Are you sure?" Nurse Joy asked, "I scanned him myself and it says Aura Sphere is not a move he knows."

Ash pulled out his PokeDex and scanned Aura again.

Riolu, the aura Pokemon. Type(s): Fighting

Its body is little yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night.

Moves of the Current Pokemon:

Foresight, Quick Attack, Endure, and Agility

"I could've sworn he knows Aura Sphere," Ash asked incredulously, "Show us Aura, use Aura Sphere."

Aura looked at his trainer and gave an understanding nod. Closing his eyes, Aura strived to redeem himself by showing he is still able to fight. Holding his hand out, Aura focused on his surroundings, trying his hardest to feel the strength within him.

But he felt nothing.

Opening his eyes, Aura was half expecting to see the blue ball in hand, ready to launch at his will, but nothing was there. He shut his eyes and tried again and again and again. But every time he failed and failed and failed.

"It seems he lost his ability to control aura," Nurse Joy said sadly, "Let's just carry on with the rest of the test, and see where he's at."

In the next ten minutes, Aura was determined to have lost half his sight and his ability to control aura. Although everything about Aura was deemed as 'ok', all Ash could think about was how he ruined Aura's life. Aura was supposed to be an undefeated Champion among pokemon. Excelling at everything he did. All of it lost because Ash couldn't see a way to save Aura.

"If you want my personal opinion, I believe Aura should not be participating in Pokemon Battles anymore," Nurse Joy gave her input, "being half blind is already a large disadvantage but also unable to use your strongest trait in battle makes that disadvantage much larger."

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. Don't participate in Pokemon Battles?

"I'll leave you and Aura to talk about this." The nurse walked back into the center, leaving behind the broken fragments of a disabled Pokemon.

Silence fell among the group of three. Not really knowing on how to break the tension in the air, Ash walked up to Aura.

"Aura…" Ash called out. Aura hanged his head low. Not wanting his trainer to see his shame. "Aura look at me."

Ash kneeled beside Aura, while Nidoran followed close by to see what was going to happen.

"Look at me Aura." Ash said once more. Anger tore at Ash's chest once he saw Aura's tears. Ash caused this because he was weak. Ash wanted to quit his journey but after looking at the despair within Aura, what the blonde girl had said held some truth. He can not end his journey here. He can't because Aura wanted this journey, and to respect that he shouldn't end it here.

"Aura, we are not going to stop here." Ash said adamantly. "No, we are going to make it far. Yeah, you're half blind, but so am I. Together, with Nidoran and many more friends to come, we will be your eyes, but the real question is: will you be mine?"

Ash pulled out another PokeBall and offered it to Aura. Aura looked at his trainer and rubbed away his tears. He didn't care if he was blind or if he can't use his aura. If his trainer says that there was going to be a second chance, then there is going to be a second chance. Aura tapped the white button of the PokeBall and a red light consumed him.

Unknown to the small group, Professor Oak and the blonde girl stood behind the touching scene, glad that there was still hope.

So this is my first story. Um, I don't know how people will feel about this, but I hope you liked it? Please tell me about any mistakes you found in this. Uh. Thanks for reading?

Oh! Also, if you're interested, Ash began his journey at the age of 13, I'll explain this later if I feel like writing. Just putting that out there...