4:07 p.m. August 1st, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 52.

Events: Rhea and the girls are now on a mission to get into the Silver Bracket, pushing many others in Bronze-tier to follow their example. Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (126 days away). Rhea had her first perma-evolution with Alice!

Rhea spent much of the day exploring the town, learning more about Maiden’s Peak and talking to the elderly residents rather than the paid tour guides as Ash went to visit some people he’d met from his last visit to the place.

She made plans with Amira and Lori to go shopping together in the evening so the redhead could teach them how to better plan for the upcoming trip; the hard part would be tracking what you ate, at what time you ate, and mapping the data with the calories burned, though the girl had an app which took care of it all, which relieved Rhea.

Splitting up to do some personal errands for the afternoon, Rhea walked a trail with her Pokemon to think; ever since Ash had begun teaching her how to access her Aura, so many things were opening up to her.

Nova kept practicing her evolution, further refining some of the pointers her mother had taught her while Alice and Mya talked to their teammate about the upcoming battle. Lulu was sleeping in her usual spot near Rhea’s heart; some days, the Nebula Pokemon was as energetic as Alice, and others, she was a Snorlax.

Glancing at the various Pokemon that passed over the trail, stopping to watch the humans or challenge the Trainers’ Pokemon to a battle, Rhea smiled at the change in position. Alice, Mya, and Nova trounced the weak, young Pokemon or overconfident forest dealers, teaching them little pointers and eventually pulling them into the Lopunny’s games.

They’d come a long way in the last seven weeks since beginning their journey; she couldn’t believe how much her life could change in such a short period, but life and death situations with revelations about her family certainly were heavy topics to process.

Her focus rose to the sun, now falling in the sky; they were growing stronger at a pace that had many of her Bronze-tier peers nervous about being left behind.

The past Legends didn’t have social media to post their daily progress; in fact, Ash laughingly talked to them about Blue leaving snide remarks to him and Red on signs—it did sound like something the Legend would do. It made Rhea realize that the web would probably change a lot in the Pokemon community, and online streaming was becoming a big deal since people could see how Masters lived and trained.

Ash is known as the Grandmaster of Aura and the world expert on it, but he’s never been big into social media since he’s always on the move and didn’t grow up with it… What if I started making guides on Aura? Mom and Dad think it’s purely genetic, but Ash thinks everyone can learn it, and he is the authority…

Closing her eyes, she evened out her breathing and opened her senses; it was becoming effortless. Rhea silently giggled at the looks other hikers gave her as they passed, moving along the trail with her eyes closed.

Lulu’s like a tiny, burning quasar attached to me… Wait, she’s dispersing all that energy when she sleeps? I guess it’s her body naturally trying to compensate for the Victini Core. It’s all spiritual energy, too, but could it be converted to any other form she wants?

The rest of the scenery came clear as Rhea opened her eyes, recalling something she’d heard from her mother while connecting more dots she’d learned along her journey.

Mom… you sly Delphox. It’s not just me affecting my team since I’m not always around them; you gave us all Legendary or Mythical Pokemon with Victini Cores to force our Fortitude to grow and resonate with my Ability. How many layers are there in this plan? I guess she has been plotting this since before I was born…

Rubbing her mumbling Cosmog nestled within her bikini, Rhea hummed.

Maybe I should make a public social media channel with Lori’s help and tell everyone what I’ve learned; it shouldn’t take long to post things, and I’m sure it could help a lot of people. I’ll have to ask Ash what he thinks… That would be cool to see other people growing, too. Maybe we can make it a trend, even if people aren’t as fast as—

“How are things going on the walk?”

“Huh?!”

Alice, Nova, and Mya stopped in their tracks as the Legendary man’s chipper voice sounded around her, yet it wasn’t in her mind or even words; the entire question was transmitted instantly, and her Pokemon felt it, too.

“Haha! You’re probably looking around right now, but I’m communicating your Aura Transmission; think of it as the spiritual version of telepathy. It will be rough for you, but expand your Aura again and project more how you feel rather than thought; it is a powerful method of communicating on a fundamental level beyond words in its rawest form.”

Following his instructions, the world went black again before the pool of Aura colors opened up; she tried to transmit her feelings, and… nothing.

“Haha. I can feel your frustration,” Ash commented after several seconds of trying to work through it. “We can talk about it later, and it’s not the most complicated thing, but, like everything with Aura, there are many levels to it, such as what I’m doing. I just felt you wanted to talk to me about something. Later tonight? Great! Did you have a good walk? I get that you wanted to stop by the shrine by yourself.”

Rhea laughed and turned to stare in the direction of town, obscured by the forest; Ash continued to impress her with just how powerful and ridiculous he was. He reminded her so much of her aunt. Just when she thought she was getting a basic grasp of things, he opened her up to new heights she hadn’t even dreamed of.

Thanks, Ash.

Continuing on her path, she reflected on the vibe of her surroundings; even if it was sunny, clear skies, and warm with a pleasant sea breeze flowing in from the ocean, she could sense the supernatural fields in the very earth she walked on.

Maiden’s Peak may not be anywhere nearly as supercharged as Lavender, but it certainly had a connection to the Ghost World.

Ash’s comments about the elderly playing music at night made her smile; having grown up with Franky, she’d had a totally different childhood than Lori, who was terrified of the spirits, yet Shauntal did have a very spooky Aura that her younger sister might have been sensitive to.

On her roundabout way to the small shrine, she was challenged by a Bronze-tier team from Maiden’s Town that she accepted, feeling happy to practice a little; she felt a little guilty when she saw their ranking on the Battle App—they’d probably been in Bronze-tier for over a year, and Alice’s first opponent was a Metapod—it didn’t last one Fire Punch.

The boys were stunned at the 1HKO, and she warned them that it probably wouldn’t be fair if they still wanted to challenge her; legally, she had to accept at least three in a day before being able to skip, so if they did proceed, her hands were tied if she didn’t want her personal and team score to drop—they didn’t heed the warning.

Deciding on a double match to speed things up, Rhea tried to negotiate a lower bet, but they weren’t taking her ‘pity’ and had their pride on the line as they streamed it.

Nova tried to coach the Illumise and Bulbasaur that came out to face them; unfortunately, Mya simply batted the poor Pokemon’s vines away, was immune to the poison, and ripped off the weak Leach Seeds like they were a flimsy string.

Her Eevee just sat, ears low, while trying to give their panicking opponents advice as the tanky, Steel Pokemon walked after them like some kind of monster.

It was almost out of a horror movie with the terrified Pokemon trying to escape the slow-moving, flaming jaws that chased them until the blaze enveloped them and they were back in their Poke Balls; she’d tried to warn them.

Waving them off and informing them that the Poison attacks they used were ineffective against Mya as a Steel-Type, Rhea continued on her way to the shrine; at least she had her daily matches out of the way.

“Punny-lop-lop…”

“I know,” Rhea sighed. “They were really green, and, after a year, still having only one Pokemon… I guess they didn’t have a lot of funds to continue on but still want to try; they didn’t have to bet 100 credits each.”

“Mawile! Maw-Maw!” her steely girl cheered, throwing her arms in the air with a big grin.

“Haha. I guess it does mean more treats for you girls,” Rhea nodded, guessing what her excited Pokemon were chatting about. “Ice cream when we get back?”

“Pwee!”

“Puny!”

“Maw-Maw!”

“Neee?” her cloudy puff ball yawned, poking her head out of her shirt front to dully look around.

“Pwe-pwe!”

“Nee?!”

“Lopunny!”

“Neee!”

Rhea chucked as they informed the puff cloud about the treat once they got back to town before a flash of light blinded her; stomach twisting, Rhea blinked as she felt gravity inverse, lifting her into the air as twinkling stars radiated out of her glowing Legendary Pokemon.

Oh-no…

Her Pokemon froze at the giant sphere that enveloped them before their environment hazed, and they were in the middle of a street, cars screeching to a halt as her Pokemon panicked a little, glancing left and right. Slack-jawed people on the sidewalk stared at them with the people in cars around them—they were back in Maiden’s Town—she swiftly took them out of traffic, snatching her little puff ball out of the air.

“Neee?! Nee-nee!” Lulu cheered, floating out to spin in circles before landing on Nova’s stunned back. “Nee?”

“Huu-haaa.” Rhea forced a laugh as she saw a woman in a recognizable blue official suit approach her from down the street. “Lulu… Nova, can you explain to her we can’t Teleport into towns or cities without getting in trouble?”

“Pwe-pwee…” Her Eevee forced a laugh, patting the confused cloud on her back as Rhea talked with the officer.

She got off with a warning, but if it happened again, she’d pay a hefty fine—and it was a hefty fine of 100,000 credits per infraction—but, as she promised, she took them to get ice cream, letting her Pokemon explain the trouble it could cause them; still, despite the setback and long walk back to the shrine, Lulu was cute.

Instead of going the long route, she took the short path to the shrine location, letting Nova and her other Pokemon keep Lulu busy with their games as she studied her shaman bracelet; there was a noticeable shift as she got closer to the site, and she ate a snack with her Pokemon outside of the gates since it was closed.

She just wanted to be near the location while examining the artifact; the spirit woman had certainly done something to it, and, before leaving, she promised her that she would help her reunite with her fiancé, or, on second thought, maybe betrothed would have been a better word for the time the ghost was from.

Meeting back with Amira and Lori, they did some shopping, and the redhead helped them set up their health app; Lori mentioned getting a notification that she’d won three battles today, wanting details, not that there was much to tell.

When nighttime came, she got to chat a bit with Ash about Aura, and he promised to tell her more tomorrow morning, recommending they take some melatonin to reset their clock.

Ash informed her that the bracelet had been fine-tuned by the dead shrine maiden to prevent her from unknowingly being taken advantage of by other spirits; in time, she may even learn how to utilize it since the practice of shrine maidens is a variant of Aura, but in a more specialized form.

Rhea was happy to learn there was yet another branch she could go into in time and mentally thanked the shrine maiden for her protection; she also informed them that she’d already gone to the location to tell the woman she’d take up the quest, so they didn’t need to go that night.

Heading to bed, it wasn’t until she was under the sheets with her Pokemon that Rhea realized she’d forgotten to ask Ash about the Aura training series; deciding to bring it up in the morning, she slipped into her dreams.

She didn’t experience any supernatural visions, falling asleep around 2 a.m. to wake at 9 a.m. They ate breakfast and went to the docks to catch the ferry Amira booked for them; at this point, the redhead had all of their account information to make the purchases. Rhea felt bad putting so much pressure on Amira, but the girl said she enjoyed them relying on her.

Boarding the ship to Battle Island—located east of Vermilion City and Route 11—Ash told them about his friend Tucker, a Frontier Brain.

Officially, the Battle Frontier had a sort of Gym System, yet only operated at Silver-tier, Gold-tier, and Master, where you fought the Frontier Brains. It was a multi-regional bracket, and, according to Ash, all the Frontier Brains were at least Grandmaster-tier; they were formed to further push Master-tier Trainers in ways the Gym System didn’t.

Finding a more secluded spot on the ship, Rhea leaned against the railings as they pulled into the open sea, leaving Maiden Town as Ash explained the system; hundreds of challengers came to the Battle Dome a day, and they could prove themselves capable of Silver-tier by competing.

“It takes place in an eight-versus-eight-hour block, right?” Amira asked, looking up the site information. “So, four matches, and it’s a gauntlet, so you must pace your Fortitude…”

“Sounds intense,” Lori hummed, scooting closer to look at her holographic screen as Rhea glanced through her mother’s message. “I’m already Silver-tier after Miky and my huge win against Sabrina, so… it’s just you two that need to qualify.”

“Yup!” Ash confirmed, watching Pikachu, Nova, and Lulu teleport between levels so they could jump down for Zyra to catch each of them out of the air. “You only need one or two wins to qualify; everyone participating will be Silver-tier, and, since it is in a semi-official category, it will let you send an application to the League with it as a reference.”

Rhea absently nodded, having looked over the site that morning. “Cool… Umm, by the way, my mom says some of her Silph friends want us to test out some new prototype Trainer gear; they should have it ready when we get to Vermilion.”

“Go, Mom!” Lori cheered, but it soon turned into a groan as Rhea clarified.

“Apparently… our moms and your sister submitted design input.”

“No! Ruined,” the Unovan girl cried, hanging over the edge. “It’s going to be Ghost-themed!”

“Haha. Maybe not!” Lori shot her a dull look, making Rhea’s smile strain. “Yeah… probably Ghost-themed.”

Amira’s lips were pulled to the side at the news. “My mom? Hmm… I bet it’s adorable and squishy—it’s her style—unless my dad and grandparents had some input, and should I even be testing something from a rival company?” she mumbled to herself, probably having some kind of ethical debate with herself.

Rhea didn’t know what to say, so she left them to decide if they wanted to participate or not and jumped on the meat of the topic she really wanted to discuss, regarding more about Ash’s Aura teacher, her idea on a series, and the Aura Transmission he did the other day.

Settling in beside her while watching their playing Pokemon, Ash wore a slight smile as they discussed his time in Kanto’s northwestern area in the sovereign City-State and kingdom of Rota; it is a medieval-themed area that has strong ties with its roots and is the Aura capital of the world because of it.

He explained that its surroundings are much like Lavender with its defending mist, yet, instead of supernatural, this phenomenon is due to the Tree of Beginning and Mew; it is impossible to find without the express will of the mythical ancestor of all Pokemon.

All of them moved to a lobby when the ocean chill came on with the falling sun, where they found a place to talk; it wasn’t easy with the number of Trainers or tourists that wanted a piece of them, but eventually, they found a spot, and Ash began his story:

“Once upon a time,” he said, wearing a grin as Pikachu settled in next to him with a nightcap and hot chocolate from the boat spread; most of their Pokemon took up their own seats to not allow anyone to crash their private party.

“Around the same time as the shrine maiden’s beloved went off to war, the Paldea Empire’s rising influence had drawn a lot of attention from Kanto since it’s the closest region to the east. The Rota Kingdom was eventually pulled into the war… where my Aura teacher, Sir Aaron—the legendary hero and Aura Guardian; an ancient, 2,000-year-old Legendary-tier Trainer that unlocked Buddy Bonding—comes into the picture.”

Amira accepted some of the chips Lori passed her, each of them munching on goods while listening. “Quite the introduction… Rota is such a small place that we didn’t learn much about it in school, despite it being so close, but I recall they refused all of my grandfather’s proposals to bring Rocket to their kingdom.”

Rhea’s mind was on another part of his story, though. “You weren’t the first one to unlock Buddy Bonding? I thought you and Pikachu were the first.”

“Haha! No, no, no!” he laughed, Pikachu joining him while shaking his head. “Greninja and I may have popularized it when I began my push to the Kalos League, and we showed it was possible to Syncro-Burst, which, heh, was another big upset in itself that the Master’s community went crazy about, but people have been bonding without Poke Balls since… well, since the start of humans and Pokemon!”

Rhea thanked Alice as she accepted the bag of chips she’d gotten from the table; she wasn’t sure if they were supposed to take the whole thing, but no one stopped them, and others were doing the same. Then again, they were also shooting them glances or taking blatant pictures, to Rhea’s displeasure—they couldn’t go anywhere without people plastering their faces on social media.

Still, Ash’s story enthralled her; it showed just how influential Ash had been on the entire Training scene; he’d revolutionized and set the foundation for many things her generation took for granted. The world of Pokemon was shrinking.

Mega Evolution hadn’t been a public thing, much less seen outside of Kalos three decades ago; it was the same for Gigantimax, Syncro-Burst, Z-Moves, and many other things Ash had a hand in popularizing through his extensive travels.

“So… wait, does that mean your Aura Master was over 2,000 years old, and… hold up? Huh?! Did you learn from a ghost? You’re buddy-buddy with some Rota legend?”

“You could say that,” Ash chuckled. “Rhea, I’m sure you know your aunt is very proficient in Aura, right?”

“Mhm! Are you better than my Aunt Cynthia?”

He shrugged. “Your aunt has certain things she excels in, and I have things I excel in; it’s not a competition. Do you know where she learned it from?”

“Her Lucario,” Rhea instantly answered, causing Ash to nod and reveal a shocking mystery.

“And… who do you think taught the first Lucario how to use Aura? Yup!” he chimed at their looks of disbelief. “Sir Aaron taught the ancient Lucario how to access their Aura, and it is through his Aura imprint and disciple Lucario that I was able to learn everything I know; he was the greatest Aura user in… probably all of history, and it was he who stopped the war with the Paldea Empire single-handedly… and without his buddy Pokemon.”

Lori crossed her legs, checking her front as a piece of the chip she bit fell. “Legends are legends—Muk… Open tops can be annoying sometimes,” she grumbled, trying to remove the crumbs.

“Crazy,” Rhea mumbled, realizing how powerful someone could be if they mastered Aura. “What happened to his Lucario?”

“Sir Aaron sealed him into a staff when he tried to stop him,” Ash sighed, looking down at Pikachu, who gave him a leery glare that said, ‘you are never going to do that to me.’ “Honestly, I don’t know why he did it… maybe he wanted to protect him, or perhaps he saw his kingdom’s need for his disciple in the future to help me… Who knows?

“Still, I respect my teacher and know he had his reasons. Haha! No, buddy,” he snickered as Pikachu’s cheeks sparked. “I’d never leave you like that…”

“Pika-pi…”

Ash gave the huffy Electric Pokemon a confused look. “What do you mean I’d totally do it? Bud, hehe, who’s the one that always saves who from kicking it? You’ll never let me go, you possessive rat!”

“Pika-pi-pika!”

“Haha. Yeah, I believe it!”

Rhea laughed with everyone else, wondering what she’d do if her Pokemon were ever in danger and she had the chance to save them at the cost of her own life; ideally, that would never happen, but her brush with death in the face of a gun told her idealistic hopes and innocence wouldn’t save anyone. It really was something that could happen at some point since Rainbow Rocket had their sight on her.

Heading to their cabin, Rhea snuggled into her bed with her Pokemon, reflecting on the story Ash told them before realizing that she’d forgotten to bring up the Aura videos once more. Sighing, she turned over and fell asleep, hugging Alice’s fluffy, warm body.

When morning came, Rhea groaned, and, annoyingly, her hair was somewhat unruly for some reason, forcing her to treat it before allowing Amira to braid it; the redhead was really the best at it. She suspected her Unovan teammate’s bird might have been the cause but didn’t have any proof as the sharp-eyed Pokemon hovered nearby.

Finally getting it tamed, she got the chance to speak to Ash about her Aura training idea as her friends went to grab them breakfast; their presence caused too much of an uproar in the dining hall, with everyone wanting a piece of one of them.

Happy the redhead had braided her hair as the strong ocean current pulled it back on deck, Rhea stared at the vast sea, watching Water Pokemon follow their journey and try to get their attention—possibly in hopes of being fed easy food.

“What did you want to ask me?” Ash asked, releasing his massive Dracovish to join the shocked Pokemon below as the derpy Pokemon entered the school with a belly flop—not pleasant with those sharp plates on its body. “It’s about Aura, right?”

“Yeah! So, I thought that maybe… I could log my Aura progress online? You know, give people a free guide or look into building Aura and what you teach me. It’s not easy, I know, and I’ll tell them how my brother and Dad helped me since I was little, but just like Mega Evolution and all the other new things the internet brought to light—bringing research funds and the like—don’t you think it would be good to see how everyone learns it?”

Holding her breath and knowing there were probably a million reasons he’d shoot the suggestion down, she waited as he hummed, considering her proposal.

“That is an interesting suggestion… There are definitely people who would like to micromanage who have access to Aura.”

Rhea scratched her temple. “Yeah… and I have thought about what you told me about Sir Arron stopping a whole war himself using Aura and the potential that someone bad learns it. Is it a bad idea?”

Ash flipped his back to the rail to look up at the bird Pokemon using the ship as a rest stop or to be lazy while traveling.

“Hmm. I mean, a lot of bad and good could come from it. In a way, I think technology is making people a lot less dependent on Pokemon and themselves; I’ve traveled back in time, and Trainers then were very tough…

“Something I noticed was that most Fortitudes were stronger in the past. Perhaps it’s due to the convenience humanity has built with modern technology, or maybe it’s just something pulled out of each generation’s genetic line, such as what your mom has been theorizing…

“Maybe this could be something that could spark a new wave of Pokemon Masters. Pasio is trying to discover the secret for Trainer growth by inviting all the best Trainers in the world to the artificial island for a tournament—which sounds like a blast—but I’m still skeptical about their Sygna Suits… Let’s do it!”

“Alright!” Rhea grinned. “Umm. Let me try to compile everything, so I can actually bring it all to Lori… She’s the expert on online stuff.”

“Sounds good. Why don’t we work it out on the road to Vermilion?”

“That could work; we need to focus on Silver-tier right now anyway. Thanks, Ash.”

“Haha. You’re always looking to help everyone. What made you think about this?”

Rhea hummed, letting her braid hang over the edge as she joined Ash, flipping her back to the rail.

“I’ve really been thinking hard on a lot of what I’ve learned from Amira’s mom, you, and my friends when I first met them in Pallet’s Center bathroom, throwing up in the stalls after bonding to their first Pokemon… Buddy Bonding and Aura strengthening could be a way to help stop a lot of that if done from a young age. Don’t you think?”

“Theoretically, it sounds possible,” Ash nodded. “We can only put it out there for people to try. I like your reason; it’s good to want to help friends and others… It’s like a big tree; the more roots you spread to others for support, the bigger you grow.”

Amira was scowling when she and Lori returned with their food; apparently, another reporter tried to secretly ambush them, and the redhead had gotten a little mouthy, which had Lori gasping with laughter.

They’d reach the docks of Battle Island by that night, and Ash told them they’d pass Sayda Island—a fossil hotspot that had a lab where Blue studied ancient Pokemon for a time—just before reaching Silence Bridge.

Making it to Battle Island near 8 p.m., they stopped by the facility just before it closed to sign up since you had to be there in person to verify you could make the time. They waited in line for a period before registering to test their skill at Silver-tier.

The attendant noted that Lori was Silver-tier while they were Bronze, and, apparently, it was only due to that reason that they were able to take the test, sparking the Unovan girl to snicker and ask if she should charge Bronze scrubs for the same service because you could make a legitimate business out of this.

Leaving the facility to bum around the city, Rhea nudged Lori, realizing something. “Hey! You didn’t freak out when you got on the boat or get motion sick!”

Lori stopped dead in her tracks. “You’re… right! No way, girl. Did I just go on a boat without even freaking out once? Yo, I’m Muking awesome; thanks, girls!” she cheered, hugging them and laughing. “Your lessons in that underwater death trap of a city totally helped me!”

Amira chuckled as the taller girl picked them each off the ground in an embrace. “You’ve come a long way. Want to do some training before tomorrow?”

“You know it,” Lori grinned, jabbing a thumb at her ready Pokemon, hyping themselves up. “Let’s do some battles, girls—know a good battle arena we can rent, Ash?”

“I got just the spot!”

Testing out a bunch of their new Moves and how much each of their Pokemon had advanced over the last few weeks, Rhea was confident they could make the transition by the time they went to bed. Sadly, a rock fell into her gut when they got to the arena in the morning and saw the bracket they were thrown into.

Lori’s teeth flashed as she turned to Rhea. “Hehe. See you in the second round? No holding back, okay, goldilocks?”

The butterflies that hit her belly dispersed at Lori’s unbothered declaration; they were friends—teammates—and they should make it fun and not a big deal, even if it would set them into Silver-tier.

“Yeah! Make sure you win your first match,” she said, holding up her fist for Lori to bump.

“You know it; you, too, Red!”

“New nicknames, huh, Violet?” the redhead mused.

“Eh… okay, maybe we can work on that. Let’s go, girls—to Silver-tier!”