It was tough leaving all of his friends behind, but Aura had to do it. Besides, he would be back... right?
He supposed it would depend on what he found. Ever since his mysterious arrival and his stay under Addie's roof he was always curious as to what his origins were. He was what the people called a Pokemon in the world of humans! He had even arrived with the knowledge of how to make Pokesuits - mysterious suits that allowed for permanent changes to the user's body in order to make them like Pokemon in almost every way. His unstable DNA, when mixed with certain things like suits, could create some incredible changes. It gave people the ability to reduce the effects of things like Parkinson's Disease and smaller cancers! Even if he could not eliminate them (since the suits have to use most of the user, it was impossible to completely eradicate them) he had still made a scientific breakthrough! He should feel like a celebrity! He should be rich and famous, able to live the life most only dream of, simply because of how he was! Hell, he even created a prototype robot that could essentially mimic people, nearly creating human life as close as artificial intelligence would ever get!
Yet... every time he saw someone around their parents, Aura couldn't help but feel empty. He had no parents that he had known of, let alone wonderful memories with them. Sure, he couldn't complain about his relationship with Riley - just thinking about the catgirl made his heart flutter - but everyone always tries to complete their lives in some way, and he was no different. That hole in his life where his parents were supposed to be was simply gnawing at his heart, and not even Riley could completely stop it...
"We're here!" The driver's voice snapped Aura back into reality. Had he dozed off for a moment? The burly Mightyena was extending his paw to the back seat. Right, money... Aura had plenty of that, seeing as how people would buy a suit that could change your life forever if they had to put a mortgage on their house for it (though Aura tried not to make it come to that. He has some humanity in his heart). As most rich people will tell you, however, money rarely ever satiates your hunger for more.
"S-sorry!" Aura said, giving the man his fare, even giving him a fifty percent tip for going into such a deserted area.
"Pleasure doing business with ya'... ma'am." He smirked. Aura got out of the car and took a look at 'herself'. Being flustered about dozing off had changed Aura's gender.
Again Aura mumbled in her head. That was Aura's unstable DNA working, changing her gender like it was operated by a light switch whenever his moods changed. It would be some time before she could change back, but as long as she didn't get flustered again she would eventually change back... eventually...
Aura took this time to reevaluate her journey while the Mightyena let the other three customers out of the back of the van-like car (okay, it was, like, the size of a car, but it was extended like a limo to the point of looking like a van). Aura had allowed Sychic to use her full power in order to trace Aura's Temporal Pawprint - a demonstration of where Aura was at any given time, like watching someone's life unfold backwards in a thousand seconds per second. It nearly harmed Sychic's mind to do it - even when transformed into the Temporal Pokemon Dialga (long story involving a thirty-foot-tall time llama that loved to eat people with Sychic's coloring and attitude) but she was able to go so far back as a small house in the boonies. It was the harsh part of Detroit City that people compared every ghetto to, and there were hardly any suiters, as money didn't go around too frequently here. The only ones with suits would be those who stole them or those who were in the narcotics business. That seemed to pay well in every corner of the globe, sadly.
Aura set her sights on the overgrown path ahead of her. The dirt roads slightly harming her rear paw pads as pavement became a luxury that this city could not afford. About a hundred feet away was the house that Sychic had seen me come from after several years of staying inside - the last thing she had seen before she had passed out for the following three days - complete with darkened windows and a lighter to darker beige color for the base to the roof respectively. Something about this house changed Aura. Something about this house wasn't right... yet, it seemed like home. Home was where the heart was, right? Were Aura's parents in there? Would she have a short trip to reunite her broken past?
Eyes... A pair of eyes were burrowing into the back of her head... The air was still as the other two riders had already departed from the area. The third had been a hooded figure that apparently had something like interest for Aura.
Aura used Extremespeed and formed an Egyptian blade out of her aura - something that only she could do. It would be just as sharp and hard as the original swordcatcher sword that Aura had liked the design of. The design was that similar to a capital U in order to capture a sword - or in this case someone's neck - in between the two ends of the blade. A squeal of fear came from under the hood - feminine in volume and depth, but familiar to Aura's senses. She had seem this person walk into a toy store and had been completely spooked by a jack-in-the-box. It had been hilarious and cute then, but nerve-racking now.
"R-Riley?" Aura stammered, letting the blade dissipate like fog as she saw her target.
"I'm s-s-sorry, Aura!" Riley said, still shaking from shock, "This trip was important for you, so it was important for me! I didn't mean to upset you!" Riley removed the hood, and the hope of turning back into her male form dissipated like her sword. She could never not be happy to see Riley's feline face, sleek yet innocent like a strong cat that didn't want to hurt the feelings of a mouse.
"Riley, you shouldn't have come!" Aura snapped hastily, then realized too late how it sounded, "I meant that it's too dangerous. These people here would kill you just to add credibility to their name, not to mention because we're suiters and you're traveling with a rich guy!"
"Rich girl." Riley corrected in her signature everything-will-be-alright fashion, booping Aura on the snout, "I can handle myself, and I wanted to help you in any way I could!"
"You took karate for three years." Aura pointed out.
"I was teaching people five years older than me!"
"You were seven."
"Okay, so I'm no black belt, but I'm still your kitty as much as you're my brainiac!" She rested her head on Aura's shoulder for a moment, "It would kill me inside not knowing how you were doing on the journey of your life! Plus, I know that you'll keep me safe-"
Riley was cut off as Aura created a shield and covered the flank Riley was resting her head on, blocking both of them from the projectile that had soared at them. The bullet had bounced off of the shield with a loud ting. As Riley yelped, Aura blocked two more shots from different sources from behind and in front of her. Had Aura not had ultra senses (one of the perks of being a Lucario) they would have both gained a few new holes in their bodies. Aura growled at the thugs emerging from the shadows of the three buildings, one per thug.
"Oi, what now, boss?" Said the Sneasel from in front of Aura.
"Maaaaan, they blocked us!" Said the Sableye thug who had fired the initial shot.
"Not to worry boys," The third voice - A female Houndoom and presumably the leader - said with a chuckle. She cocked a shotgun from her left hand and gave it a test fire at Aura's face. It pushed her back a millimeter, but with the preparation time Aura had, she had blocked the shot easily. The dents in the shield told Aura that her own aura was taking a pummeling. This Houndoom girl would be easy to block, but Aura had to hope that she was only carrying a few slugs with her. Luckily she tossed the gun aside like it had served its purpose already.
"We got a special one 'ere, boss!" Said the Sneasel.
"A powerful lovebird!" The Sableye taunted, scratching his head with his pistol like he couldn't wrap his brain around the concept.
"Well then, let's do this the old fashioned way!" The Houndoom girl lifted her head back in preparation for a Flamethrower attack. Aura had to act quick!
Aura used Extremespeed to get close, and hit the Houndoom with a Power-Up Punch attack. The Houndoom threw the Flamethrower up at the ground as the force to her gut forced her head to jerk downward. The ground heated up and Aura was forced to take a step back. What made Aura's senses go off was her chuckle. Aura took a look at the other two, thinking that they would take advantage of her step back and gang up on her, but what she saw made her fur crawl. The Sableye had Riley in his stomach with the Sneasel pushing Riley down quickly, her scream muffled. This hadn't been her first time in someone's gullet (Sychic made sure she was well acquainted with the inside of various stomach types) but these weren't her friends. These were alleyway thugs! Aura made her way there, but the Sneasel had finished pushing Riley's hind paws in and had bought his friend one more second by getting in the way. Aura hit him with a rage-filled Power-Up Punch that sent him through the wall of the building he had come from. Aura looked back at the Sableye who - knowing that Aura was watching - slurped Riley's tail down his gullet like it was a noodle.
"Why YOU!" Aura made her way to the Sableye, but he had touched a gemstone on his gun. Aura's paw hit an impenetrable sphere, which had broken apart almost as fast as it had appeared. A weird symbol appeared over the Sableye's head as energy bursted from him. His stomach - much to the effort of the Sableye - had dispelled a gemstone about the size of his body. Inside, having been inside the same area that the Sableye had gained the gemstone, Riley struggled in the hard gem like a prisoner, her cries completely muffled.
"Ah ah ah!" The Sableye said, wagging his finger at Aura.
"You see why - urp - we're the strongest gang around here?" The Houndoom girl said, recovering from her pain, "You don't think we'd recognize the billionaire who made Pokemon a real thing?"
"What do you want!?" Aura said, trying to contain herself for Riley's sake.
"Here's the key word: billionaire. We want to be rich, and you've got the moolah!"
"And if I refuse and just take her back?" Aura was flexing her paws in restlessness now.
"I cancel my transformation, and your little kitty girl goes back into my stomach with the rock! Only I can let her out, hehehe!" The Sableye chuckled, leaning on the gem like it was a simple light post.
"Okay, okay..." Aura said, raising her paws in surrender. Riley was the one bit of comfort and love that she could not lose, "Just... take it then!" She extended her hip so that the Houndoom could take her wallet...
"We always win, hon!" She made her way over and tried to take the wallet... but Aura was much quicker. She used another Extremespeed, but instead of moving towards someone, she leaped up and let gravity put every part of the Houndoom through her throat in a millisecond. When the effects of the attack ended, she pushed the paws of the Houndoom down her throat and into her stomach. Wanting the best bargaining chip possible, she used another Extremespeed to claim the Sneasel on the ground in the abandoned building, though the water from the broken pipe had coated the Sneasel and made her easier to get down, though her stomach was reaching her limit. She hurried back into position just as the Sableye had finished chuckling.
"-ehehehe... huh?" The Sableye looked at the Lucario's massive, squirming gut and did a double take, "W-w-what!?"
"Let her go, or you lose your friends, I taunted through the pain my stomach was putting me through, "and maybe I won't make you dessert if you're fast enough!"
"Aiyeee!" He squealed before reverting back to his original form with Riley back in his gut. He spent three minutes wrenching in his attempt to get Riley out, and eventually she was out, passed out from lack of oxygen.
"You kept your word..." Aura said, though she wouldn't admit that Houndoom had nearly escaped through her throat three times while she had waited before passing out herself, having been put in a space that was way too cramped.
"Yesyesyes, now give me back my family! We only have each other out here!"He pleaded. If Sableye could form tears he probably would be bawling his eyes out right about now.
"As promised..." A few minutes later Houndoom had been spat out, though Sneasel had been harder to get out. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the Sableye reached into Aura's gullet in impatience.
"I can't wait any longer! I'm coming brother!" He went halfway down Aura's gullet before she could protest, dragging out the Sneasel using his feet as an anchor from under a broken pipe leaning out of the ground. A few minutes later the Sableye was gone, having used some strange device to make him and his friends fade into shadows, "We won't forget this!" He called out before disappearing.
"Strange group they were..." Aura contemplated. From his side he could hear Riley coughing, taking in as much air as she could as she regained consciousness.
"Weird thing eating me! No, I... I... huh?" As Riley regained her barrings Aura began to check up on her.
"You're gonna be okay, kitty." She reassured Riley, trying her best not to get the Sableye slobber on her from Riley.
"Well... what did I tell ya'? I told you you'd protect me, my heroine!" She hugged Aura, getting her slime all over the Lucario.
"I love you, Riley." Aura said simply, putting as much feeling as she could into those words.
"I know." Riley said, giving her mate the best hug she could.
The hug seemed to last for years in Aura's mind. They seemed to be getting warmer and colder, Aura noticed, like seasons passing them by as they held each other close. Only the white flecks of powder-like crystals told Aura that the time for warmth was about to end. It had started snowing, and Riley was all wet (even if she had passed half of it to Aura by now). Aura looked at the building she had come here for. Something had clicked in between now and then, like a life lesson learned over many moons: Riley was her family now. If she didn't find her parents, she would always have someone to love with all her heart!
"Come on..." Aura said, picking Riley up and holding her by her waist and her legs like she was a damsel in distress, "Let's get you out of this weather."
"Yes, sir, hehehe!" Riley booped Aura's nose again as she held around his neck. When had he transformed back? No matter; he had Riley, and he was satisfied with that being an unchanging anchor in his messed-up life...
![Azura's Heart-Felt Dance [COM]](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/2189/2189703_AddieSilver_azura_s_heart-felt_dance_com__noncustom.jpg "Azura's Heart-Felt Dance [COM]")
