I've had pending commenting on this story since like, forever, give or take a couple years; apologies for that. But I did get to the catching up part which is good because this is one of the most interesting premises for a canon character centric stories I've seen in a while. Take one of the best Pokémon movies and hold on to one of the best characters it has and then start asking more questions. Backstory! I'm a sucker for that to my own detriment.
And I'll be commenting more on that as I give out a deeper reading since the first time I was in HURRY UP CATCH UP modo aka "easy modo". I have some things I really want to give commentary on if no one has beaten me on that, like for example I like what you have done with the Aura Guardians as a context thing and how they socially seem to function like the Phantom Menace Jedi Order except they are much less known it seems...? And then this reflects with Aaron's early character. In particular the scene with the dummy seems to be either foreshadowing or meta commentary on how sometimes you are not fit to be eg.: a cop, but it's the only thing that's there where your abilities can flourish anyway.
Anyway, I'm expecting to catch up more on the Adventures of Aura Doge and their Future Human Companion. Good job on getting to write this, I know I've said this elsewhere but it deserves more repetition.
Yay! Two cakes!
Thank you! Glad you're such a big fan of the premise.
Anyway I was able to motor it and produce Chapter 8! This one is BACKSTORY HO, plus some new peeps:
Chapter 8: Stories
It had been a few weeks since Polly was attacked.
The other Aura Guardians had organized squads to find the perpetrator. There was no luck. Polly herself was fine. Fine. She'd dealt with worse.
She was idly sipping some tea, Metagross and Dunsparce by her side, when Carol and Lovegood approached.
~Are you OK dear?~ said Carol.
"Don't call me dear. And I'm fine."
"~Well you've been kind of... sulking.~
"It's because our potential culprit to those murders was literally right in my face and we still haven't gotten any further than that!"
~Polly, calm down,~ said Metagross.
Dunsparce hissed worriedly.
"I'm fine," said Polly.
~No you're not,~ said Carol. ~Come on, hang out with the rest of us. It's staff luncheon day!~
Lovegood nodded. ~Socialization may help with aggravated mental states, depending on the person.~
"Hrm. Fine." said Polly.
She got up, and she and her Pokemon followed Carol and Lovegood out.
------------
There was a party going on at least. With refreshments - double good.
Even so Polly wasn't feeling particularly up to socializing with anyone other than the food. Regardless Carol approached her.
~How's it going?~
"Okay."
~That doesn't sound convincing.~
"It wasn't meant to be."
Carol gave a telepathic sigh and sat down next to Polly.
~Look, I know you're frustrated about the lack of leads. But don't beat yourself up. We've been through worse. Way worse. Remember how I lost my voice?~
"...Yes. You were born to a noble house. A rival lord's Pangoro beat you. You survived, but lost your voice and much of your hearing and your family disowned you for it. You've had a hatred for the rich since."
~Well I hate them for a lot of reasons! That was just the catalyst. Point is, I've been through ****, you've been through ****... together some murder mystery is no big deal.~
"Alright, thanks." Polly sighed. "I... I miss Eliot. And Sir Donovan."
~We all do.~
"This is kind of getting depressing for party conversation."
~Agreed. Let's go find someone else.~
The two got up and started looking around the party - as well as sampling food - before they found Vince.
~Vince! Hey!~ said Carol.
"How are you doing?" said Polly.
"...What do you two want?" said Vince.
"Someone better to talk to than each other."
~It's better in threes, you know.~ Carol winked.
Vince winced. "No thanks."
"What, are you too good for us?" said Polly.
"N-No. I mean yes. I mean gah."
Carol telepathically snickered. Vince sighed.
"Honestly I wish I was too good for you guys. But I know I'm not."
Polly raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I've been put down all my life," said Vince.
~Is this about the "terrible wizard" thing?~
"No. Or at least. Your little nickname isn't the worst of it."
"I think I know what you're getting at." said Polly. "Didn't your parents try to keep you away from the outside world because you were an Obscuric?"
"Not even because that," said Vince. "Because I wasn't even a very good Obscuric. Even after I finally ran away and found the monastery it took years for me to get to where I am today. And in the meantime... everyone picked on me. Except you two. And... I still don't feel like I'm good enough."
~Ah, yes, I remember now...~ said Carol.
"I feel sorry for that Aaron kid," said Vince. "He was in the same boat I was."
"I've been keeping an eye on him," said Polly. "So has Metagross."
"That's good."
"Guys! Guys! Hey!" said another voice.
"Not her," whispered Vince under his breath.
A redheaded woman with a red, white and pink uniform approached the three. "Whatcha guys talking about?"
~Our lives, Hannah,~ said Carol. ~It involves lots of suffering. Join us.~
"Ooh, uh, well, I stubbed my toe earlier if you're talking about suffering!"
Vince rolled his eyes.
"You guys should probably cheer yourselves up!" said Hannah. "Have you seen any cute Pokemon around?"
"My Dunsparce is probably hiding from you again," said Polly.
"Aww, too bad! She's wonderful. I love Dunsparce - so buzzy and sweet!"
Polly chuckled. "Take it easy on her."
"I will!"
"What are you all yammering about?" This time Nightjar approached the growing gaggle of gossiping Guardians.
"Cute Pokemon!" said Hannah.
"Our lives," said Vince.
"Hmph," said Nightjar. "Sounds trivial."
"Well, it's better than sucking up to Ryan constantly," said Vince.
"Ooh, burn!" said Hannah.
"Y-you take that back!" said Nightjar, eyes widening and taking an aggressive posture. "Ryan- he- you plebeians don't understand!"
"Plebeians?" said Polly. "You're the one who-"
"Enough."
Everyone stood at attention when Ryan showed up.
"Er, Ryan, lovely to see you," said Nightjar. "I wasn't arguing on your behalf again I swea-"
"I said enough, all of you."
Everyone grew quiet. Ryan turned to Polly. "Polly. I need to talk to you about a few things."
Polly raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"I've gotten a bit of help for our case."
Polly was now paying full attention. "Go on."
---------------
Two Aura Guardians walked into a bar.
Polly looked around as she and Ryan took their seats. "Are you sure he's here?"
"He said that's where he'd meet us. Hard to overhear in this place."
Polly looked around. There were various humans and Pokemon in the bar, in varying states of drunkenness. A man was passed out in his chair. A Gardevoir was drunkenly floating around hiccuping. A Spinda was actually walking straight for once.
Then Polly saw a slim man and his white Florges approach. Polly noticed the man was wearing a white cloak and robes, and had green hair, purple eyes, and a pretty, cheerful-looking face.
"Hello! You two must be the Aura Guardians I'm looking for."
Polly immediately scanned the man's surface thoughts. She couldn't get much further than that but what she did pick up was friendly, warm, inviting.
"...Yes. Yes we are."
"Nice to meet you, Beo," said Ryan.
"My pleasure!" said Beo.
"Polly, Beo is the head of the Blue Wave Society. Another organization that protects those on the Auric Spectrum." He gestured to his Florges. "This is Madam Sprout."
Polly stared a bit and nodded before telepathically addressing Ryan.
~...Why do we need more than one?~
~The Aura Guardians have a wide reach, but are scattered and divided into separate factions. The Blue Wave Society is more concentrated, precise.~
~Okay, but why do we need their help for a murder and a dissapearance?~
~Beo will explain.~
"So, Beo," said Polly. "What do you know?"
"The murders and disappearances you encountered were far from the only ones," said Beo, frowning. Madam Sprout hung her head.
Polly's eyes widened. "There have been... more?"
"Yes. Aurics found dead or, more often, missing in very specific ways matching your description all over this region. And mentions of suspicious activity beforehand for each. This has included Aura users under the Blue Wave Society's care."
"This... This is concerning," said Polly.
"Which is why we're joining forces with the Blue Wave Society. They have valuable resources to help," said Ryan.
"Very well then, Beo. What can you provide us?"
"People! More eyes and ears to figure out who's doing this... Ooh, ooh, and we can share supplies too!"
Madam Sprout chittered in response.
"I ought to help," Beo said. "After all..."
He held up one of his hands. A tiny pinprick of Fighting Aura light shone before disappearing.
"I'm an Auric myself!"
Polly thought. She didn't entirely like getting outside help but if this guy was one of them and could help then...
"Alright!" said Polly. "Welcome aboard."
"Yay! Drinks on me then!" He turned to the bartender. "One scotch on the rocks!"
Polly and Ryan stared. Beo gave them a quizzical look.
"What?"
------------
Two Aura Guardians walked into a completely different bar.
"Why are we doing a different bar?" said Polly.
"Easier to cover our tracks," said Ryan.
The two sat again. This bar was much the same as the last, albeit with different people and Pokemon.
The person that approached them, however, was new. A young man, around Polly's age it seemed like with dark blue and black clothes, icy blue hair and eyes, and glasses, and a Corviknight approached.
"And you are...?" said Polly.
The man stared at her and Ryan for a moment before nodding, as did his Corviknight. "Terrence Morendo, at your service. I'm here on a mission. This is one of my Pokemon partners, Zawisza" His Corviknight gave an affirmative "cor" and a squawk.
"And that mission is..."
"One of my friends and his Pokemon partner are missing. I've tracked whoever did it here, to the Genesis Mountain range, and now found you Aura Guardians. And I could use your help. In return I will lend you my services."
Polly raised an eyebrow. She scanned Terrence's surface thoughts and found she was being suppressed, even harder than with Beo. She didn't like that.
"...What kind of services?"
"I don't have powers like you do. But my Pokemon and I are good fighters. And good at tracking down the kinds of people who'd do such a thing."
Zawisza cawed and nodded.
"Terrence contacted me about our current crisis," said Ryan. "Thought he could help. Thought he ought to help. We'd provide him with lodging at least."
Polly gave Terrence a look. Beo she could tolerate, but this guy just waltzing right in with his mental reinforcements and making himself at home?
~Are you sure about this guy Ryan? I can't read him. That's bad.~
~As far as I can tell he means no harm and is just as invested in this case as we are. Give him a chance.~
~...Fine.~
"We will gladly accept your help, Terrence.
Terrence nodded and bowed. "Thank you, Aura Guardians. I suppose we celebrate with a drink."
He turned to the bartender. "Give me a mixed berry drink for me and my Corviknight please!"
Polly and Ryan stared again.
"What?" said Terrence.
------------------
It had been a month or two. Riolu had gotten used to life with his new companions. Even if said life was a bit... hectic.
He and Shifty had just commandeered a pile of bananas (which were apparently different from Nanab Berries) and going to town on them.
"Man, this is great!" said Shifty.
He slumped back.
"Reminds me of the old days..."
"Old days?" said Riolu.
"Uh, yeah! You don't think I just crawled out of the egg and ended up where I am now, did you?"
"...Really?"
"...Okay I kind of did. But then it got complicated I swear."
Riolu raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"Now, see I was born a street Rattata, like I am now, in a faraway land! But then, a band of pirates found me! We went on all sorts of pirate adventures! We even saw Kyogre!"
"Wait, really?" said Riolu.
"Yeah!" said Shifty.
"...What are pirates?"
"Thieves like us but on a boat!"
"...A boat?"
"It's... I'll explain later. Just know it was awesome."
"Then how did you end up here?"
Shifty frowned. "One of the pirate adventures went wrong. A bunch of nasty humans started cracking down on piracy. Our whole "steal from the rich" policy came back to bite us. I woke up in a cell in a bar with no memory of how I got there. My crew was gone. I eventually escaped and wound up with the others by chance."
"Oh. I'm... I'm sorry I guess..."
"Nah, not your fault. It was those asshole humans." Shifty pat Riolu on the head. "Heh... You kinda remind me of me back then. Nowhere to go until you found the right peoplemons."
"...Heh. Were... were the others pirates too?"
"Huh? Heck no. You know what, you should ask them. I'll save you some bananas."
"...Sure."
Riolu trotted off, leaving Shifty to idly munch on bananas.
-----------
Riolu found Grog scrubbing himself with a towel.
"Wha- Oh, hey Riolu! Was just giving myself the old wishy-washy!"
"I thought you said Wishiwashi was a Pokemon."
"It's both, silly!"
Riolu sighed. "Anyway. Shifty said to ask you what you did before the Fighting Thieves?"
"Oh, uh." Grog shifted worriedly, clacking his claws together. "I... I killed people."
Riolu stared. "You mean, like, killed other Pokemon for food?"
"No, I... Killed humans. I was an assassin. It was awful."
Riolu's eyes widened. "You what? My dad said- my dad said the Vow forbade Pokemon killing humans!"
"Apparently these humans didn't care! I had to do it or they'd kill me!"
"That's... that's awful!"
"The good news," said Grog, perking up. "Was that I wasn't very good at it. I was too polite. I would always yell "Sneak Attack!" before I struck my foe."
"What happened after that?"
"Eventually they got fed up with my poor performance and I got fed up with them and I escaped here! I've been much happier without them!"
"Hm. I see."
"...What's wrong?"
"...Nothing. Do you know where Vallant is?"
"Oh yeah! Over that way."
"Thanks."
Riolu headed off. Grog looked at him in confusion before scrubbing himself again.
--------------
Rilou found Vallant cutting firewood with his arm scythes.
"Vallant?"
"What do you want, kid?"
"What happened to you before you joined the Fighting Thieves?"
Vallant sighed. "Okay, why do you want to know?"
"I was curious."
"...Fine. I was a knight."
"...A knight?"
"See there's this human that's arbitrarily in charge of all the other humans in a given area right? Sort of an... alpha female or alpha male, I haven't heard of humans having any alpha enbies except in like... Unova, long ago, and that was a Pokemon anyway. They call them a king or a queen. Knights work for the king or queen."
"Oh. So you worked for the alpha human?"
"Yeah! And it was glamorous. I got all the food and attention and, hehe, attractive boy mons I could ever hope for."
"...But then something happened."
"Yeah. This asshole human knight got jealous of me. Framed me for a crime I didn't commit. I was exiled. Now I'm stuck here, committing actual crimes to survive."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
"Meh. I never needed them."
"...I'm going to find Nicolas now."
Riolu trudged off. Vallant shook his head.
"Weird kid."
-----------
Riolu found Nicolas studying a tree stump.
"...What are you doing?" said Riolu.
"Science!" said Nicolas.
"...What?"
"It's how you learn how the world works!"
Riolu raised an eyebrow. "...How do tree stumps tell you how the world works?"
"Well, I'm trying to look at the rings on trees! See how they age!"
"...That's how you tell?"
"Yeah! Human scientists figured that out!"
"They did? Neat..."
"Yeah! I've been learning to be like them!"
He frowned.
"Humans probably won't let a Chimchar do science with them though..."
"They won't?"
"Yeah! What I hear is they only let other humans do it! At least in the Rotan and Kantonian courts..."
"Really? That's no good..." Riolu looked around. "Where's your dad?"
"Oh, he went that way," said Nicolas, pointing.
Riolu headed off in that direction as Nicolas continued investigating the tree stump.
---------
At last, Riolu found Koba sitting, meditating. Riolu moved to tap Koba on the shoulder when Koba spoke.
"I know you're there."
Riolu stopped. Then sat next to him.
"Koba?"
"Yes?"
"Your whole deal is being a leader to the Fighting Thieves... Why?"
Koba was silent for a moment.
"They're all like me. Did you speak to the others before coming to me?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Did you notice a common thread in their stories?"
''...Humans?"
"Yes. humans always let them down, disappointed them. I too, was like them when I was young."
"How?"
Another pause.
"There was a human I loved very much, who I aimed to please, both out of the ancient laws of the Vow and out of sheer desire for friendship. But he did not love me back. He beat me, berate me, told me I wasn't strong enough. Eventually, heartbroken, I fled."
"O-oh..."
"You see, Riolu... Humans can very well make Pokemon stronger, smarter, greater. But the human always wants something out of the bargain. If you are to make a pact with one you must know the risks."
"I... I see."
"And even if it succeeds... the relationship is always one of master and servant. Nothing more, nothing less."
Riolu paused. Then shambled off, leaving Koba to his meditation.
Now Riolu too was lost in thought.
***
Some art:
Hannah by
Daydre
Beo by
Lidjia
Beo by
Zakuru
Terrence by
Enduro
Terrrence by
yubakeme