Chapter 25: All Things Have Aura
Here, Rio and Machop were receiving treatment from the Potions; over there, the standoff between Poliwhirl and Pidgeot continued.
The gentle breeze rustling through the forest made the surrounding trees sway, their leaves rustling with "swish, swish, swish" sounds.
In this grim atmosphere, Pidgeot was the first to be unable to contain its frenzied heart. Its spread wings, now encased in a layer of silvery-white steel light, slashed down towards Poliwhirl.
The surrounding trees had long since been broken by the previous fierce collisions, leaving Pidgeot's attack path completely unobstructed. Its speed was extremely fast, reaching Poliwhirl in the blink of an eye.
"[Water Gun]!" The signature move of Water-type Pokémon appeared again, a thick stream of water shooting from Poliwhirl's mouth.
"Splash—"
Pidgeot sidestepped, slicing through the water column with its steel wing, still maintaining its charging posture.
Poliwhirl remained completely unfazed, one water column after another shooting towards Pidgeot.
Seeing the jets of water again, a trace of impatience flashed across Pidgeot's ferocious face. It continued to use [Steel Wing] to cut through the water columns, letting the dispersed water drench the ground.
The Water-type moves were easily broken, making Rio stomp his foot in frustration on the side.
Knowing it was a futile attack, Poliwhirl still persisted in using it. The azure blue light of Water-type energy on Poliwhirl's body could be seen slowly dimming.
"Caw—" Even if it caused no damage, the water from [Water Gun] still soaked Pidgeot's feathers, making it uncomfortable. With an anger-filled screech, it slashed down with its incomparably hard wings.
"Poliwhirl!"
Takuma, seeing Poliwhirl endure this sharp blow, couldn't help but cry out in worry.
The kicked-up dust settled, revealing Poliwhirl, its whole body tensed, stubbornly enduring Pidgeot's [Steel Wing] attack.
"It managed to take that hit head-on this time, but what about Pidgeot's next attack?" Rio worried likewise.
Pidgeot, having landed a hit, flew up directly. Seeing the enemy still standing after enduring its ferocious attack, the ferocity in its heart surged. Grayish-white steel energy welled up in its wings, preparing to unleash [Steel Wing] once more.
"What to do, what to do, what to do..."
Rio wanted to go up and help, but he lacked the strength. Although he had recovered some HP thanks to the Potion just now, waves of powerlessness emanated from deep within his body. Coupled with a throbbing headache, let alone helping in the fight, he even had to concentrate all his spirit just to use the moves he was originally familiar with.
Since adapting to the Pokémon world, this was the first time he had encountered such a powerful opponent. Just the mere aftershock of a simple [Quick Attack] had severely injured him.
Even when sparring with high-level Pokémon before, he had never felt such a deadly sense of threat. This was because the high-level Pokémon in the valley fought Rio primarily for training guidance, and secondly, even their higher levels didn't cross such an exaggerated gap of more than 20 levels.
It should be known that the difference in strength brought about by levels could be quite enormous. After a Pokémon's level increases, it can evolve because the accumulated energy is enough to change its life form. Each evolution brings a significant improvement to its original base stats.
Pidgeot, as the final evolved form of Pidgey, although not one of those powerful pseudo-legendary Pokémon, still had base stats that, compared to Riolu and Machop in their original states, or Poliwhirl who had only evolved to its second stage, were overwhelmingly powerful.
Anxiety, fear, worry, helplessness—various negative emotions continuously welled up in Rio's heart, piling up chaotically.
Whether it was the effect of his injuries or the fear of facing a powerful enemy, Rio was continuously assailed by negative emotions, his expression changing unpredictably.
Noticing that his little brother beside him was not right, Machop, who had been intently watching the battlefield and recovering from his injuries, nervously started to speak: "You..."
Before he could finish, Rio felt the last string in his mind snap instantly. With a sound like a "boom" exploding, the things he saw before his eyes became blurry and chaotic.
"Ah—"
Rio clutched his head with both paws, letting out an irrepressible, miserable scream.
"Ah, Riolu, what's wrong with you?" Takuma, seeing Rio's agonized state, was somewhat panicked, but he couldn't help much and could only anxiously scratch his head on the side.
Suddenly, the corner of his eye caught sight of his small backpack thrown on the ground. As if thinking of something, he pounced on it and rummaged inside.
"Found it."
After rummaging for a moment, Takuma quickly found what he was looking for—a small, somewhat ancient-looking bell.
Takuma held the small bell and walked over to Rio. "I got this bell at the experimental base. The instruction manual seemed to say it's used to calm... calm something? But since it has a calming effect, it should work on Riolu. Never mind, let's try it first."
Suspending the bell near Rio's ear, Takuma shook it forcefully.
"Ding-ling-ling-ling-ling—"
The crisp, melodious sound of the bell rang out gracefully. Although the sound was not loud, it was surprisingly penetrating, cutting through the various noisy sounds of the battlefield and reaching the ears of all the Pokémon.
Any Pokémon that heard this bell's chime felt a sense of peace and tranquility rise within them.
Takuma, Machop, and Poliwhirl all showed serene expressions. Even the ferocious Pidgeot not far away was affected by the bell's sound, the savage look on its face actually slowly receding.
The bell's chime seemed to possess a magical power, gently soothing Rio's chaotic heart. For a moment, the negative emotions in Rio's heart continuously faded, and the unbearable headache also gradually lessened.
"Ah, this is... what?"
Having calmed down, Rio stared at his own paws, an expression of disbelief on his face.
His paws were emitting a blue-green, wave-like energy. A faint blue light pulsed, rippling outwards in concentric circles. However, unlike the usually condensed Fighting energy or other energies, this blue-green light wave did not feel filled with the explosive sensation of combat energies; instead, it radiated an ethereal feeling that could reach the depths of one's soul.
"Could this be... the legendary Aura?"
He recalled the world depicted in the games and anime of his previous life. Besides the various strange moves of Pokémon, many magical powers existed in the world, such as the Aura power that allowed one to connect with the hearts of Pokémon, the Viridian Force for communicating with and healing Pokémon (based on the Tokiwa Power from the Special manga series, an alternative name used since Viridian Forest doesn't exist in this alternate world), the Aura power to sense the fluctuations of all things, the Psychic power to change physical matter and mental thoughts, and finally, the Miracle Power that arises when a human or Pokémon's talent reaches its zenith.
What was now manifesting before Rio was one of these magical powers—Aura.
Aura is a special wave that all living beings possess. It can reflect a being's own spiritual energy and represents the spiritual fluctuations of each creature. Humans and Pokémon, through training, can gain the ability to use Aura. Riolu and its evolved form, Lucario, have been called "Emissaries of Aura" since ancient times, because this type of Pokémon is naturally born with the ability to sense and manipulate this special wave without training. If diligently trained, they can even use Aura to a very profound level.
Aura power was also the only one among the magical powers of the Pokémon world that had a clear training method. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the method for training Aura power eventually faded with history. If what Mew said was true, that the Riolu or Lucario clan, hailed as "Emissaries of Aura," no longer existed, leaving only Rio as the sole "Riolu," then in this Pokémon world, Rio might be the only living being who understood how to use this power.
And Rio had only just experienced an outburst of mixed emotions in his heart, on the verge of a mental breakdown, when by a stroke of luck, he was calmed by the mind-soothing chime of the "Clear Bell," an ancient relic. Under the significant emotional fluctuation, he had awakened the ability to sense Aura.
The blue gem on Rio's necklace also flickered at this moment.
Seeing the Aura continuously emanating from his body, Rio looked up. The scene that met his eyes had also changed dramatically:
Takuma, beside him, radiated a cheerful and lively aura, the color of which appeared exceptionally clear and transparent. Machop, perhaps due to his injuries, had an aura that flickered unstably. As for Poliwhirl in the standoff, having endured Pidgeot's ferocious blow yet remaining standing firm, its aura was now like a candle in the wind, only a faint blue light stubbornly persisting.
When his gaze fell upon Pidgeot, which was gathering power in mid-air, Rio's breath hitched. He saw a deep red, almost black, aura emanating from Pidgeot. This abnormal aura brought a terrifying feeling, as if facing an abyss. However, beneath this deep red aura, there were faint traces of blue-green aura flowing.
"Berserk... Aura..."
Rio vaguely realized something, but it was still as if there was a film over it, preventing his thoughts from becoming clear.
Just then, the echo of the bell's sound stopped.
Without the peaceful and serene chime of the bell, the expression on Pidgeot, which had slowly been calming down, was instantly replaced by a fierce look once more.
In Rio's vision, Pidgeot's deep red aura flared up like a raging fire in an instant, completely covering those few faint traces of blue-green aura.
"Not good, retreat quickly!"
Facing Pidgeot's renewed fierce attack, the critically injured Poliwhirl would definitely not be able to withstand this move.
"Ugh, damn it!"
The Potion had restored HP but couldn't quickly heal Machop's numerous wounds or the exhaustion in his right arm from the intense exchange. Seeing the critical situation where Poliwhirl was about to suffer a fierce attack, Machop gritted his teeth and, enduring the waves of pain in his body, was about to step forward, wanting to block for Poliwhirl for a moment.
"Caw caw caw—"
The fiendish bird cry seemed to sound the battle horn. Pidgeot once again extended its sharp, hard [Steel Wings] and slashed over with devastating force.