Phil woke to the smell of bacon.  He clambered out of his tent to see Rachael cooking bacon.  The Aura Guardian reached over to get a piece, but Rachael smacked his hand with her spatula.

"Wait for the others, and the guest eats first."

"But I like it soft."

"Too bad."

"Fine."

Phil walked over to a clearing and summoned Asta Argento, which was lying by his tent.  Unfortunately, Denny chose that moment to emerge, and was subsequently hit over the head with a fast moving staff.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, didn't see you coming."

"Sure you didn't."

Denny then went to get a piece of bacon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ignoring Phil's warning, Denny tried to grab a piece of bacon, but his hand was intercepted by a smack-happy spatula.  Phil burst out laughing so hard he had to lean on his staff for support.

"I warned you."

"Do not worry, Denny.  He only knows because he tried the same thing five seconds ago."

"Yeah, but Blazer, his partner, is a Fire type.  Which causes his Aura to naturally make his body more resistant to heat."

"So, Denny, can you hold your breath for an extended period of time?" Phil inquired.

"Yes, I can hold my breath for thirty minutes, when still, fifteen if moving at a conservative pace, and five if exerting myself fully."

"That's eight minutes longer than the world record!"

"Is it?  Well what do you know."

Just then Georgia emerged from her tent.

"Morning.  Do I smell bacon?"

"Yes, Rachael, now can we eat?"

"Guest eats first, then yes, you can."

Everyone then lined up for food, and then sat down on a couple logs to talk and eat.

"Georgia, are you going to stick with us until the next town?" Phil asked.

"I may, we are in Belrui country after all."

"Belrui?" Rachael questioned.

"A Pokemon, it is dark purple, black, with a little gold.  It gets its name from the Kalosian words meaning blooded ram, because it looks similar to their Gogoat, the males of which are called rams.  Extremely dangerous, no one knows exactly how they attack, because no one survives.  We also do not know much about their type, although they may have some sort of symbiotic relationship with Noivern, as many researchers observing from afar have been chased off by them," Phil explained.

"Why do we not know their type?" Rachael asked.

"No one as gotten close enough to collect necessary samples and lived," Georgia replied.

"Except for one, and Aura Guardian says that he held them off for a time until a large brown Pokemon came and chased them away.  He said they caused total darkness, but it is possible that what they did to him drove him insane.  He is currently being treated at the monastery for PTSD from the attack," Denny added, "They are also one of the reasons the Aura Guardians settled here.  In a large enough group, they could safely pass through if they all summoned their Aura to make Aura spheres.  Only about seventy-five  years ago did other people start coming through the mountains to reach the area.  Now, many trainers pass through here, but always in groups of more than a dozen, each with multiple Pokemon to walk around them as a show of force.  Georgia sticking with us means we should be safe, as she and Phil both have many large Pokemon, and Phil and I are fairly powerful Aura Guardians."

Just then a large crash was heard from through the trees.

"Where is Mary?"

Phil jumped up and, with Blazer, crashed through the trees to see Mary wrestling with a large male Swampert, and losing. 

"What is going on Mary?"

'This Swampert is attacking me.  Could be any number of reasons why, some worse than others.'

"Would you like some help?"

'I got this.'

Just then, Mary blasted the Swampert in the face with an Ice Beam that cause ice to grow over his eyes.  The massive Pokemon roared in anger, and released the smaller Pokemon.  Mary then slammed him repeatedly with Aqua Tail, until the larger Pokemon ran away.  Although, the Swampert managed to hit several trees on the way out.

"Good job!"

'Thanks.'

Suddenly, Mary was surrounded by a bright light, temporarily blinded, Phil looked away.  When the glow ended, a very large, pink, Swampert stood there.

"You evolved!"

'Great!  Now we all have!'

"Well, come on back, we need to talk about how we're getting through Belrui territory."

Mary nodded, and returned to camp with her trainer.

"Phil!  I see Mary has evolved."

"Yes, now what is the plan?"

"Well, we go through about a hundred miles of Belrui territory, and we need to do it in one go," Georgia answered.

"Well, we need to have strength in numbers too.  How many Pokemon do we have capable of doing ten miles an hour all day?" Denny remarked.

"Blazer can carry Rachael and Georgia, since they will not be able to keep up on foot, and an Arcanine is a much more comfortable mount than a Lycanroc.  Other than that, Evie is incredibly fast and has great stamina.  She can be our eye in the sky, along with Zoey.  Jes can also probably keep up.  How about you Georgia?"

"Well, Lady and Lupin can keep up, but that is probably it."

"Denny?"

"Matt and Zoey, but Kane does not have the stamina for a trip like that."

"Alright, Blazer will be in the center, with me and Denny alongside.  Jes and Lady will be at the front with their superior eyesight.  Evie and Zoey will be circling above us in the sky, looking out for trouble.  Everyone else will be tight together in a protective circle."

Everyone nodded in agreement, before getting into position.  The group then moved out, each keeping a steady ten miles an hour.  No one talked, the tension in that air could have been cut with a butter knife.  Phil looked around, scanning every inch of the mountainous terrain with his Aura vision.  Denny was doing the same, and so were the girls, just without the special vision.  The two Pokemon circling high overhead felt like Mandibuzz, circling their dying prey, waiting for them to drop.  Few wild Pokemon were out and about, and most of them that were, were the kind that might could get away or not even be bothered.  Once they passed a group of Skiddo, and a single Gogoat, obviously the Alpha, looked up at them, but soon went back to grazing.

However, the area was otherwise bare, desolate, empty.  Certain Pokemon types they saw stayed together, many Steel types resided in the area, and the ones Phil managed to see were surrounded by other smaller, weaker Pokemon.  Ice and Rock type Pokemon had similar entourages.  Of course, Rachael and Georgia could not see most of the Pokemon, because they were all hiding.  Phil could see the fear they suffered on an almost daily basis, but then, he could not see.

Total darkness surrounded them.  Phil called out, "Guys?"

"Phil?" Georgia answered.

"It's me, Rachael, Denny?"

"Rachael is fine, I think she passed out for some reason."

"That's odd, but we can't think of that right now, Denny?"

"I am over here, the darkness just hit my Aura so hard that I had to take a few breaths before I could manage speech."

"Blazer, can you see?"

Blazer barked, and growled.

Phil swore.

"Whatever these Belrui can do, it is smothering my Aura, I can't even talk to Blazer."

"Yeah, I just tried to create an Aura Sphere, and failed."

"Come over here, We'll try together.  All Pokemon, circle up."

Phil felt Denny tap on his shoulder.

"We should try getting Matt and George to help."

"You're right."

Phil tried to release George, but the Pokeball would not open.  Phil swore again.

"Pokeballs need light to send the Pokemon out with, otherwise they're trapped."

"Well, that is a problem, Phil."

"Dusk Balls need less light, Georgia, isn't your Krookodile in a Dusk Ball?"

"Yes, but it is still to dark.  There is absolutely no light."

"It's the middle of the day, and they made it so no light can get in."

"Wait, why have they not attacked yet?" Denny inquired.

"Maybe they want us to run?"

"Then we better think of something quick, I do not think they will wait much longer.  Matt are you here?"

Matt let out a low growl in response.

"Alright, Denny, Matt, stretch out a hand or paw and focus on making an Aura Sphere."

The trio each focused, and slowly, a small Aura Sphere formed, providing just enough light for everyone to regroup.  Then, it suddenly went out and Phil almost collapsed from nausea.

"They did not like that," Georgia needlessly said.

Suddenly, everyone was knocked to the ground by a series of loud blasts.  The Noivern were attacking.  The group was barely hanging on.  Then it stopped, Phil heard growling and fighting.

"Someone must have made it through, come on!"

The group kept running until they could make out the sounds well enough to realize they were right in front of a battle between Lady and the Noivern.  The Aura Guardian wanted to help, but, without any way to see, he was just as likely to hurt Lady.  A strong gust slammed into Phil as two more Noivern landed behind him.  This was it, he was going to die.

Emerald green light burst through the darkness, sending the Noivern battling Lady flying.  Two more beams came through, blasting the remaining Dragon types.  The darkness cleared, and purple Pokemon could be seen in full retreat.   A large brown Pokemon glided over to them, three large green gems floated around his head and another was attached to his chest.

'Quickly, we must go before they regroup.  Return your Pokemon and climb on my back.'

"Come on!" Phil shouted.

Everyone returned their Pokemon, and climbed onto the brown Pokemon, except the passed-out Rachael, who was being carried by Phil.

'Hold on, two Aura Guardians so close to me will super charge my speed, a lot.'

In response, the group leaned forward and held on as best as they could.  Phil had a hard time with this since his arms were occupied with holding the unconscious Rachael.

The Pokemon, which Phil had now identified as the rare Raigi, floated a little higher.  Then, he started speeding up, going faster and faster, until Phil was barely keeping from flying off, Georgia had the Raigi in a chokehold, and Denny was pressed fairly flat to the back of the Pokemon.  A mere ten minutes later they exited Belrui territory, and after another minute or two, the Raigi stopped.

'There, we are out of Belrui territory.  Hopefully the darkness will not have any lasting effects.'

"Thank you, you saved our lives," Phil replied, as he and the others dismounted.  The Aura Guardian laid Rachael under a tree so she would be comfortable until she woke up.

'Well, maybe you could do something for me, I have always wanted to see beyond the mountains, can I come with you?'

"Well, Denny, what do you say?"

"Why me?"

"I'll have a full team again once this egg hatches."

'A Tortalius egg!  I thought they only lived deep in the mountains.'

"So, they aren't extinct?" Phil asked.

'No, but they might as well be to most, the area is extremely difficult to reach.  Not to mention they work together and guard their remaining territory fiercely, seeing as the last humans they saw tried to seal them away to die underground.'

"Well, I will be glad to take you with us," Denny interrupted.

'Many thanks.  Also, my name is Ralph, I once heard a human call another human that and decided it should be my name.'

"Okay, Ralph, here is a Pokeball."

'Ah, the mysterious orb that shrinks a Pokemon down to fit inside.  I should like to see what is inside.'

"Uh, sure."

Ralph touched his nose to the Pokeball.

"He is a bit eccentric," Phil remarked.

"Yes," Denny replied.

"I'll take your word for it, since I can't hear his thoughts."

'I can still hear you.'

"Oh," Phil and Denny both replied.

"What is it?"

"He could still hear us," Phil explained.

At that Georgia started laughing so hard that she could barely stand up.  After a moment Phil and Denny joined in.

"I will set up camp," Denny offered.

"I can help," Georgia 

"I'll check around, and collect firewood."

Phil closed his eyes, and scanned the vicinity, he saw several small Pokemon, but when he went past Rachael, he noticed something.

"Denny, why is Rachael's Aura so much stronger now?  It looks about twice as strong."

"She may have had an Aura Seal on her to contain her powers, and the darkness, which suppressed our Aura, broke it."

"Why would she still have it?  She is old enough to be trained."

"Many women have them, their fathers, and later husbands, never deemed it nesseccary to remove it.  Since they are supposed to be... subordinate."

"Say what now?" Georgia interrupted.

"It is more common in some Aura villages than others.  My father frowns on it, but can do very little."

Georgia walked over and slapped Denny, "So?  Do something, rather than sitting on your Dialga darned butt.  Wait, Phil, are you okay?"

Georgia asked this because Phil literally had smoke coming out of his ears and nose, also he was glowing.

"It's unjust!  Everyone should have the same chance.  Yeah, men are biologically stronger, but that doesn't mean that women shouldn't get a chance.  A women who wants to be able to compete will work until she is as strong or stronger than most men.  Just because someone else is better at something doesn't mean that someone who is willing to put in the work can't.  Some people just want to be a hero, and if you give them just one chance, the future will decide if there's hero buried deep inside."

"Preach it, Phil," Georgia responded.

"She might kill herself by overexertion now though."

"Then I will train her myself."

"Anakin would have to approve."

"No, he doesn't, all he is her former abusive boyfriend."

"It is more than that, many Aura Guardians have fiancées by the age of twelve.  Their parents have most of the say, although we are starting to come away from that.  However, Rachael come from one of the most stubbornly traditional villages."

"What in the Distortion World is wrong with you people!" Georgia and Phil exclaimed.

"I did say we are pulling away from it."

"Nonsense, Anakin will never hurt her again."

"Phil, you do not know what you are saying."

"Yes, I do."

'He really has no clue what is going to happen when we stop in her village.  I just hope both he and the village survive the encounter,'  Denny thought to himself. 

"I am going to get some firewood.  You guys get camp ready, I'll tell Bellezza what happened."

Phil went to go and do as he said, and Denny began to set up camp.  Georgia was a bit lost, because Phil and Denny had gotten so inflamed that their Aura had caused them to speak much faster than she could follow.  However, when she realized Denny was setting up the camp, she hurried over to help, after all, she was a girl of her word.