Outside the cave, 12:00 AM,

Phil woke slowly, for he felt great pain.  He could also hear something sizzling and crackling, and felt a wave of heat wash over him.  As Phil slowly opened his eyes, he saw that there was a campfire burning.  It was only but a few feet away.  Phil tried to sit up, but was promptly pushed back down.

"Phil you need to rest, lay down."

He complied, but he asked, "Denny, why am I so weak?"

"Your body was not ready to attempt that skill.  Also, your Aura is building steam, flowing from the innermost parts of you out to your skin.  Soon, you will be stronger, faster, and have more endurance than before.  The more you train your Aura the sharper these contrasts will become.  Basic Aura abilities include telepathy, healing, telekinesis, aura sensing, memory sharing, incredible speed, strength, endurance, and the ability to project attacks.  Like the ones Pokemon use, but the majority of attacks able do be produced in this way are in more of the unofficial 'special' category, such as Flamethrower, Water Gun, and most commonly Aura Sphere."

"That seems pretty cool, but what about that chant?"

"The chant may be part of a set of ancient techniques that we are trying to recover.  Really if you do not mind, I would like for you to write down the whole thing at some point.  It would be archived."

"I don't think so, Denny, that may be one thing I take to my grave.  I really do wish I didn't know it."

"I see, well you need to rest.  Go back to sleep."

Phil turned over and quickly fell back asleep.

The next morning,

Phil, once again, woke slowly, he detected the fragrance of cooking food.  He sat up, slowly.

"Good morning sleepy head.  I was wondering when you would get up.  I got some eggs from a little Chansey house and some milk from a herd of Miltank over there.  They stay here and eat berries.  I have a friend of mine check on them every three days.  He lives nearby on the top of the mountain, and looks down at them with binoculars.  The cliff face does not work well for rappelling so he does not come down unless it is an emergency."

"Well, that is nice, but where are we?"

"This is Aura Valley as I call it.  It is my 'secret base.'  All most every Aura user has one, and they vary quite a bit.  I use mine as a place were a few Pokemon I brought here in Pokeballs can roam free.  They enjoy it quite a bit.  This valley also is full of Aura energy, making it the perfect place to train you."

"So, how do we begin?"

"First, we eat breakfast."

"Oh, good idea."

"Denny, if healing is an Aura ability, then why could you not heal Henry?"

"Two reasons, one I did not want to reveal my skills.  Two, I am pretty bad at healing, and could have caused more harm than good.  All I can do are minor injuries, and I can not do even do those if there are several injuries packed together in a area."

"I see, so what will we do first?"

"First, we will start with honing your Aura.  Eat now, or I will throw you in the river."

Phil decided that a morning bath might not feel so good.  He ate quickly, and did not ask any more questions.

"Phil, I am going to put a blindfold on you.  I want you to try and find me with the blindfold on."

Phil nodded, and Denny placed the blindfold over his eyes.  Denny then spun him around so fast he fell on the ground and ran off.  Phil wandered around trying to make sense of the area, but kept bumping into trees.  He was really starting to get upset, he had been doing this for hours.  He could not do anything.  Suddenly he remembered a lesson his father had given him on Zubat.

Flashback, 7 years ago, a cave deep in the preserve

'Dad, how can the Zubat move in the dark without hitting anything?'

'Well, you know how sometimes if you shout in an enclosed area you get an echo?'

'Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?'

'The Zubat make really loud sounds, ones we can not hear.  They can hear them though, and they can actually see what is ahead with the sounds.'

'That is so cool!'

Present day,

"Maybe I need to imagine sending sound waves bouncing around?"  He thought to himself.

Phil closed his eyes and imagined waves of energy coming out from him.  He opened his eyes, and saw the valley, but in a blue light.  He looked around and saw brighter blue in the form of his and Denny's Pokemon.  He turned and looked around the valley, and saw a bright blue glow sitting in a tree.  It was brighter than the Pokemon.  He guessed that he was seeing Aura, and Denny, being an Aura Guardian, had a brighter Aura.  He walked over to the tree, and looked up.  The lowest branch was more than twelve feet above his head.

"There you go Phil, that took you a good part of the morning.  I think lunch sounds good right about now."

"I agree, but how did you get up there?"

"Later, first we eat."

Denny prepared some delicious ham and Oran berry sandwiches.  Phil, Denny, and all the Pokemon wolfed them down eagerly. 

As they ate, their unseen guardian thought to himself, 'Phil caught on to that quickly.  It took Adam a week to get that at all, and a month to master it.  I hope Phil continues like this, it may become his greatest asset.'  Then Denny began to tell Phil some of his plans, and Horace stopped his musing to listen.

"Your Pokemon are going to train from now on as well.  We will set them to practicing attacks, or learning new ones.  That way you are not the only member of the group becoming stronger."

After lunch Phil and Denny got the Pokemon a routine set.  Every day Craig would watch the TM video of Zen Headbutt and practice it.  Blazer would work on Ember, trying to increase its power and duration, so that he would eventually learn Flamethrower.  Evie was set to teach Edward and Jes how to use Iron Tail.  Sir Kane and Zoey wanted to increase their speed and agility.

Phil and Denny began gathering supplies for supper.  They soon had it ready, and everyone ate another hearty meal.  Denny told them that they had to go to bed, or tomorrow would be rough.  So, they went to bed, and Phil exhausted from the day's training fell asleep quickly.

One Week Later,

Phil and Denny had been practicing Phil's "Aura Vision" all week.  They would play Hind-'N-Seek, but with Phil blindfolded.  That way he had to use his Aura powers to find Denny.  This time Denny was hiding behind a large waterfall.  It was hidden from view when you enter the valley, and was strangely silent.  Denny had somehow made it up the nearly sheer cliff behind the waterfall, the only one in the valley that was not smoother than glass.

"There you go.  I think we need a new game, take off the blindfold and come and get me."

"How?  The lowest ledge is well over my head."

"I am at least six inches shorter than you."

Phil looked around.  He now could see things just as normal, or he could switch to what he called Aura vision.  He tried jumping, but the ledge was just too high up.  He got a running start, but still could not reach the ledge.  Phil looked around with Aura to see if there was something hidden, but could not find anything.  He remembered what Denny had said last night, 'Your aura is building steam, flowing from the innermost parts of you out to your skin. Soon, you will be stronger, faster, and have more endurance than before.'

Phil thought to himself, 'If my aura comes from the innermost parts of me, then maybe it is like adrenaline.  My dad once told me that some people can force an adrenaline rush, and maybe I can do that with aura.'  Phil imagined energy building in his chest, and he felt stronger in his abdomen.  He then imagined, or by this point ordered, the energy into his arms and legs.  He ran for the ledge and jumped.  He went past the ledge and crashed into a soft tree.  He was glad the tree was soft, or he would have difficulty trying again.  He failed time and time again.  He either missed the ledge, overshot, or did not jump high enough to begin with. 

The sun began to set, and Denny said, "Phil, we are going to continue with this until you get up to me.  I am actually quite impressed at your progress."  They soon went to sleep, because they were both very tired.

Three Days Later,

Denny woke Phil at sunrise this morning.  He wanted Phil to practice a new skill, telepathy with his Pokemon. 

"Phil, I know you have not mastered the aura skill I have you doing, but I think you are ready to begin work on the next task.  I want you to try and communicate with Blazer.  It should be fairly easy, at least when you compare it to other tasks I have set you to.  Just imagine that you are sending a thought to Blazer, telling him to wake up.  I know you could do it aloud, but doing it mentally will allow him to possibly speak back."

"Well here goes nothing."  'Blazer, can you here me?'

"It is ok if he does not respond first...."  Blazer had gotten up.

'Good morning Blazer, I hope you had a nice sleep.'  Blazer looked confused.

'How can I hear Phil if his mouth is not moving?  Did he become a ventriloquist without telling me?' 

'No silly, Denny taught me to speak with you mentally.  He said it would be easy, but I didn't think it would be so easy as to get it first try!'

'Ouch, stop yelling, or would it be mind-shouting?'

'Good question, I will ask Denny.'

'I think you might have a hard time with that.'

'How so?'

'Denny seems to be in shock.'

"Oh, Denny are you alright?"

"Are you already communicating with Blazer?  How is that possible?  It would take either a really strong bond with the Pokemon or person, or a strong aura user.  I think we ought to test the strength of your aura."

"How do we do that?"

"Simple, I have an artifact that can read the power of an aura.  At first I did not want to use it, but we must check it."  Denny led Phil to a cave that was hidden be a rather large oak tree.  They entered the cave, and Phil thought it looked very normal.  Until he noticed the strange object in the middle of the cave, it looked like a bronze podium.  It had a clear rock set in the middle with two similar rocks in the shape of hands were on either side of it.  It also had three lines on the middle rock a red one about a third of the way down, halfway was a orange line, and a green one almost all of the way down.  "This artifact can sense the strength of an aura.  The red line is the average  person, and the green line is the highest measured aura.  Now be aware, like your IQ your aura rarely changes, and if it does it is usually in extremely small increments.  Place your hands on the hand shaped rocks."

Phil did so and the middle rock began to light up.  It quickly passed the first line, then the second, and slowed considerably around two-thirds of the way down.  It finally stopped just after it slowed.  An ancient looking bit of writing appeared on a fourth, previously invisible rock, and Denny whistled.

"Phil, I guess I had better explain that bit of writing.  You see aura is measured on a scale of one to 1138.  The average person measures in at about 379, the average aura user at 569, me at 721, you at 802, and the highest recorded strength at 935.  That means you have the strongest raw aura of anyone alive today, by fifty-nine.  My aunt has a measure of 747, previously the highest.  I have to tell you Phil, aura users rarely break 775.  I am truly glad to teach you.  I am going to let you practice talking to Blazer and your other Pokemon on your own.  Also, from now on we are only going to practice on the cliff in the mornings, because; there are several things I would like for to learn during the afternoons."

Deny led Phil out to the waterfall cliff, and Phil continued to try and climb it.  He still could not get quite the level of control needed for the jump.  Denny soon called for lunch, and they had some more of Denny's sandwiches.  Then Denny called Phil and they went back into the cave where they had met the ghost Pokemon.  Denny pulled Phil to the side of a large cavern, the same one the Torkoal had been warming last time they were there.

"We are going to meditate.  I think the strength of your aura may be so much that you need more control.  We will meditate until dark, and from now on we will meditate after dark each night."

The Next Day,

"Ugh...  Denny, I can't do it."

"Of course you can Phil.  I know you will get it eventually."

Phil just sighed and tried again.  He jumped up and overshot the ledge by inches.

"You are getting closer Phil.  Now you only miss the ledge by inches.  Remember when you overshot it so bad the first time that you landed in a tree?"

"What about the time I face-planted into the trunk of the tree?"

"Oh, good times."

"Easy for you to say.  After all, I am the one who nearly dies every half-hour, from crashes."

"Well, Phil, I think it is time for lunch."  Just then Phil's stomach made a very loud rumble.

"I think my stomach agrees."

They ate some of Denny's sandwiches.  They were better than canned provisions, but they were getting a bit tiresome.  During lunch Phil practiced talking to his Pokemon.  Phil could now speak to all of them at once, and he did not even have to do it mentally. 

"Phil, now I want you to practice hiding your aura.  We will play hide-'n-seek, just like before, except you will be the one hiding."

"Sure, just let me grab my jacket.  I used wish I could have left on my journey during the summer, but now I am glad I didn't.  I don't think I would have met you if I left during the summer."

"Well I hope you do well."

Denny then went to the waterfall, were he would count.  Phil went and grabbed his jacket.

'It sure was nice of Granpops to make this for me.  I wonder what all it can do?'

'Are you asking me, or have you just forgotten that I hear you thoughts now?'

'I was just talking to myself.  Oh, but I was just thinking.  Is it bad to talk to yourself mentally?'

'You have always asked weird questions.

'Whatever, Blazer, I hope you don't help Denny with that nose of yours!'

'What, I would never!'

'So you didn't help Joe find me that time.'

'What, he was five years younger than you.'

'Fair point.'

'You had better get going. Denny doesn't like to be kept waiting.'

'You're right.'

So Phil set off.  He met Denny at the waterfall, and Denny told him that he would count to two hundred.  Phil darted off, he found a small indent in the side of the cliff, and he scooted into it.  He sat there and he felt his aura.  He knew Denny would find him easily if he could not contain his aura, so he imagined stuffing it into a small pillowcase.  He then "stuffed" the "pillowcase deep in his abdomen.  When Denny came around Phil thought he was done for, he had forgotten that Denny would not be wearing the blindfold.  Denny looked at the cliff, straight at Phil.

"I could have sworn that I heard something over here.  Phil is hiding his aura well, but I will find him."

Phil thought Denny was just messing with him.

"Denny, I know that you found me.  You don't have to tease me about it."  He stopped hiding his aura, and stopped wanting to not be seen.  Denny looked like he had seen a ghost.

"What is it now Denny?"

"I think your jacket allows you to become invisible!"

"Wow, I guess that is one of its hidden tricks."

"Since you obviously have this down pat, I think we start offensive training."

"Ok, what do I do?"

"Follow me."

Denny led Phil across the valley.  It was a rather long walk, and it took them most of the day.

"I think the mental part of it is coming naturally to you.  Like seeing aura, talking to Pokemon, and hiding your aura.  The issue is doing things physically.  Now you see those targets?  Imagine your aura flowing into your hand, as a ball, then throw it."

Phil tried time and time again, but with little success.  The best he did was make a shower of sparks. 

"Phil, it is time to meditate, but I think we might be here another couple weeks practicing and such."

So they went on their way, and Phil wondered if he would ever master his aura.

A/N I know this chapter is longer than most.  I just really wanted to get as much of Phil's training as possible in this one chapter.