"So what do you want to talk about?"
Riley kept quiet, instead telling me to follow him. And so I did. He lead me to the tent closest to the shoreline and upon entering, I could see that this was his living space. There was a large empty bowl, labelled 'Lucario' to the side. Speaking of, the aura pokemon hadn't taken his eyes off me since I arrived here.
"I hope you don't mind Lucario." As he mentioned his partner's name, Riley gently brushed his hand over the pokemon's head. Clearly he was enjoying it, but his eyes were still fixed on me.
"I'm sure you know all about Lucario and how they can read a person's aura." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I suppose I should be honest with you Aaron. After all, you did save the island from Team Galactic."
Slowly, I folded arms across my chest. Before I could respond, the sound of the tent rustling caught my ear. I turned around and in the tent's doorway stood my own partner pokemon. The egg was still tucked in the pouch and I could see that Dragonite had taken a liking to looking after it. Upon seeing each other once again, I couldn't help but smile as did my partner.
"You and this Dragonite... I wonder..." I could faintly hear Riley's hushed voice and as I turned to face him, I could see that he had removed his gold chain. He held it in the palm of his hand and now I could clearly see what the symbol was.
While I couldn't name the exact symbol, it reminded me of the archaic patterns I had seen in the stone temple from my dream, years ago. Since then, I hadn't crossed paths with anything relating to that symbol so I thought the dream was nothing to be concerned about.
"I'm guessing you've seen this symbol before?"
I stayed silent, avoiding the question. I didn't know enough about Riley to spill my secrets to him. He readjusted his navy blue fedora before continuing, "This is the symbol of the aura guardians. This pendant was passed down to me from by predecessor and I will pass it on to my successor."
The gold chain glinted under the glow of the oil lanterns as Riley tied it around his neck. I thought back to what he said, having heard of the aura guardians. They were a big part of Sinnoh's history but in this new age, their numbers must have dwindled.
"As an aura guardian, I can read into other people's auras and I can see that you also have this potential. Try to read Lucario's thoughts."
At first I was confused, unsure how to go about this. Initially, I tried to focus my gaze on Lucario, but that didn't work. I thought back to the times I was able to tap into this power and each time it was an involuntary response.
"Hmm... You're still dependent on your eyes." Riley's comments confused me but after a moment, I understood what he meant.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I did so. As I focused, I could feel two presences in front of me. I looked closer, seeing that these auras belonged to Riley and his Lucario. Slowly, I opened my eyes and sure enough, I could faintly see the pair's auras. I turned to the aura pokemon, seeing his eyes fixed to mine as they flared up.
"His aura... His potential..."
I could only make out a few words but then again, humans couldn't understand how pokemon thought so I thought my translation was sufficient. After a moment, Lucario's aura become too faint to detect and my eyes had grown tired.
"Wow, I must say I didn't think you'd be able to do it that quickly."
Riley sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck before half turning away. Lucario had become fascinated by the egg so he and Dragonite were having their own conversation.
"Elaine's aboard the ship. It's ready to leave whenever you are." At that, I thanked Riley for his help as he did for mine. As I turned to exit the tent, I felt a warm hand on my right shoulder. I knew it was the aura guardian from his presence but I could tell something was off.
"Aaron." There was a slight pause before he continued, "Team Galactic are dangerous, you should be wary of who you can trust when you reach the mainland."
Noted.
I didn't know how bad the situation had become in the Sinnoh region due to the resurgence of Team Galactic. An aura guardian such as Riley, however, knew much more than I did so I made sure to keep his words at the back of my mind.
Dragonite and I stepped out of the tent and true to his word, Riley had arranged a boat for Elaine and I. It was a moderately sized motor boat that could just about fit at least ten people. As I crossed the pier with the dragon pokemon in tow, I could see a certain light blonde haired girl sitting off the edge of the promenade.
My footsteps seemed to catch her attention as she turned around to see Dragonite and I. She quickly jumped to her feet, ready to leave whenever. As I spun on my heels, I could see that the only other person nearby was an older man who was wore a pristine ship captain's hat which didn't match the rest of his casual outfit at all.
"Ah, you must be heading to the mainland."
I gave a quick nod in response and soon enough, we were on our way to Sinnoh's mainland.
A Few Inches Later
"Here we are, Canalave City."
The ship's captain lowered the anchor and soon enough the boat was tied to the pier. As I locked around the small dock, I could see a huge drawbridge connected the two sides of the city. The roads were paved with clean cut stone.
As Elaine and I stepped off the ship and said our goodbyes to the ship's captain, we were surprised by an older man who was standing a few feet away from us. His back was hunched over and his long hair covered most of his face, obscuring his identity. He was clearly looking at us but wasn't making any effort to approach us.
"We haven't even taken three steps and we're already dealing with this."
I found myself agreeing with the light blonde as she spoke her thoughts. My right hand suddenly felt warmer but before I could look down, Elaine had already taken me by the hand, leading me through the city.
After a second thought, I decided to let her lead me around. As long as we were moving away from that man, I didn't have a problem with our next destination. We quickly rested our pokemon at a nearby center, Nurse Joy saying that we might be interested in the library if we were trainers.
Naturally, the two of us were intrigued at the mention of a library. After recollecting our pokemon from Nurse Joy, the two of us made our way to the exit. But before the automatic doors could open, the pinkette called out to us; "Oh and you should stay away from the Inn. Most think its only a rumour, but that place is definitely cursed."
This was the first time either of us had heard any mention of an inn. We hadn't even seen such a building around the city and we had more or less explored the entire city. I quickly turned to Nurse Joy, acknowledging her concern before Elaine and I exited through the front door.
"That was weird. I didn't even know there was an inn here in this city." I found myself thinking out loud as we walked aimlessly around the city. Elaine was unusually quiet which caught my attention but as I spoke up, she finally started talking; "Hey Aaron, there's something I need to check out at the library, you should rest up for the journey to Jubilife City."
Before I could even say anything, the light blonde spun on her heels, disappearing through the library's large glass double doors. Once she had seen that Elaine had left, Dragonite slowly walked up to me, poking my arm gently. As I looked up to her to see what she wanted me to see, my eyes fell on the same old man.
"Aaron."
A distant voice called out to me. Both Dragonite and I turned in the direction of the voice but there was nothing there. We quickly returned our attention to the old man who was making a gesture with his hand, as if to follow him.
We stayed rooted to the spot for a moment as he turned slowly, walking away at a snail's pace. As Dragonite and I followed the man from a distance, we noticed something unusual. All of the other people around the city didn't seem to see the strange, old man.
After a while, the old man had taken a turn behind the pokemon center, continuing to walk into the dark alley. At the end of the opening, I could see the sunlight pouring through, suggesting that there was something behind the pokemon center. Now, Dragonite and I were curious.
"Come set me free Aaron."
Behind the pokemon center, stood an old, run down building. The worn signpost read 'Harbour Inn', meaning that this was definitely the same inn that Nurse Joy had mentioned. I could see that the front door had been swung open and the old man was nowhere to be seen, even though this was a dead end.
I could feel an invisible force pulling me toward the open doorway and soon enough, I was putting one foot in front of the other. Dragonite was a little confused at first, but she followed my steps.
"You will set me free."