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Under the quiet blanket of night, the nameless lakeshore was peaceful enough to feel frozen in time.
Kael shut his eyes, following Lucario's instructions, trying to calm his heart and tune into everything around him.
He could hear his heartbeat thudding in his chest, feel the hot rush of blood surging through his body. His Pokémon senses were sharper than any human's, and in this kind of environment, every small sound around him slipped straight into his ears.
The soft rustle of grass shifting in the breeze.
Gentle waves are brushing the shore.
A ripe berry falling from a branch.
A Magikarp breaking the surface and blowing a tiny bubble.
The world felt distant, almost unreal, as if Kael had stepped into a different layer of existence. Every tiny noise flowed toward him like a stream of whispers.
But those whispers quickly tangled.
Unordered.
Chaotic.
His brows tightened.
His focus shattered.
Kael's breath hitched as his mind spiraled out of control. He opened his eyes slowly, and the reflection of the starry sky rippled across the lake's dark surface.
Everything was quiet again, as if nothing had disturbed him.
He knew it wasn't an illusion.
The lake was too quiet. His hearing, already sensitive, had become even sharper once he closed his eyes and focused. That concentration pushed his senses to their limit, amplifying everything.
"So if that's the case…"
Even without evolving yet, Kael carried the innate control of a Fighting-type Pokémon. If his hearing was messing with his focus, then fine. He'd just shut it off.
He exhaled softly, closed his eyes once more, and fully sealed away his hearing.
The world fell silent.
Total darkness.
Total stillness.
He slipped back into meditation almost immediately.
But…
After a full day of training, especially everything he endured on the crushing slopes of Breakridge Peak, his body was already running on fumes. Lucario dragging him out of bed for nighttime training had only been possible because of his iron will a will sharpened through countless lifetimes.
Once he cut off all outside stimulation, his remaining willpower didn't stand a chance.
Drowsiness washed over him like warm fog.
His consciousness began to sink.
Deeper… deeper…
He was seconds away from passing out.
"No."
A spark of clarity jolted through his mind.
His senses snapped back. Hearing returned. Eyes opened.
"That was close… I almost knocked out."
He muttered under his breath, a little shaken.
But now he had a new problem.
"If I don't block my hearing, I can't concentrate."
"But if I do block it, I fall asleep."
"What am I supposed to do?"
While Kael wrestled with this impossible equation, Lucario watched from the shadows of the lakeside, a barely noticeable smirk tugging at its muzzle.
It knew exactly what Kael was struggling with.
Because it had planned it.
Lucario technically had the right to choose whatever training schedule it wanted for Kael. Machamp or Infernape wouldn't complain.
But Lucario had deliberately chosen the worst possible time: late at night, when Kael was exhausted and mentally drained.
There was a reason.
Aura, at its core, was the life energy that flowed from every living being—something invisible, intangible, but always present. Every plant, every Pokémon, every human gave off a faint pulse of it.
To learn Aura, you had to feel the world's heartbeat.
Exhaustion made that easier.
A quiet lakeside made it easier.
A still mind made it easier.
Lucario had crafted the perfect environment, all to push Kael's spirit toward awakening Aura.
But even under perfect conditions, sensing Aura for the first time was incredibly hard. Lucario itself needed almost two years of sitting by this same lake before it finally caught its first glimpse of the world's hidden energy.
Kael was talented, no question. But breaking through the doorway of Aura?
That would take at least a year of brutal training.
"Let him taste a little suffering. It'll do him good," Lucario thought to itself.
The night breeze rolled past its fur, cool and calming.
But within that breeze… something stirred.
Lucario froze.
That sensation.
It was familiar.
Too familiar.
A shock flashed through its orange-red eyes.
It whipped its head toward Kael, staring at the lake where he sat.
"That's… impossible!"
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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