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Crawdaunt's eyes narrowed as water swirled around its entire body!
"I admit you're fast, but my move isn't slow either!"
Both combatants rushed toward each other simultaneously, moving at incredible speeds!
But Steven trusted Riolu's approach completely.
Riolu took one step forward just before the collision point.
Then leaped into the air!
It spun and struck mid-air, landing gracefully behind Crawdaunt.
This was its signature maneuver.
Crawdaunt was caught off guard—it was too late to brake and turn around.
Riolu's assault punch landed squarely on Crawdaunt's back.
The impact knocked it to the ground, where it slid for several meters before coming to a stop.
Coincidentally, it stopped right at Steven's feet.
Steven looked down at Crawdaunt, lying on the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"This was a good opponent."
Steven first sprayed Riolu with a Hyper Potion, then treated Crawdaunt as well.
After all, it would be a short-term training partner, so he needed to ensure it recovered quickly.
He would return to battle it every day from now on.
How perfect.
After regaining consciousness, Crawdaunt watched Steven depart on Metagross, then quickly crawled along the ground and dove back into the pond.
"Cha!"
I'll never surface suddenly like that again!
Just a while ago, I saw a Garchomp from afar, and now this...
Fortunately, all the Pokémon in this area have already been driven away by me. Otherwise, I would have completely lost face.
Steven returned to the campsite and headed home with Cynthia.
Putting on an apron, there was only one word on his mind.
Cook!!!
In the afternoon after dinner, Steven and Cynthia returned to the mountain behind the house.
They continued their training regimen.
Training could be monotonous, or it could be enjoyable.
Especially with the lively Piplup around to keep spirits high.
Steven, meanwhile, was planning out his upcoming itinerary.
He definitely couldn't stay here indefinitely.
He still needed to meet with Professor Rowan to get an introduction to Professor Oak, so they could discuss the Pokédex and game development in greater detail.
Then he had to keep his appointment with Wallace.
After that, he would head to Littleroot Town to meet with Professor Birch and provide guidance on Devon Corporation's production operations.
And he also needed to prepare for the upcoming Ever Grande Conference.
Steven felt confident about winning the Ever Grande Conference.
For the Elite Four challenge that would follow, Steven would have another month to prepare properly.
When Cynthia eventually participated in the Lily of the Valley Conference, she successfully became the Sinnoh Region's League Champion!
Perhaps not all Champion-level trainers had teams consisting entirely of Champion-level Pokémon.
But the teams of veteran Champions were all at the Champion level.
There might even be Pokémon approaching pseudo-legendary strength.
What gave Steven the biggest headache was his father's close friend, Drake—the Dragon-type Elite Four member of Hoenn.
Compared to a certain Flying-type Elite Four member, Drake was truly a deserving Dragon-type specialist.
(In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Drake's team consists entirely of Dragon-types in the post-game.)
"Riolu..."
"Hmm?"
Steven looked up at the hesitant Riolu standing before him.
"What's wrong, Riolu?"
Normally, Riolu would simply train with Scizor, except during mealtimes and sleep.
It was unexpected for it to approach him on its own initiative.
Metagross also appeared to have been summoned by Riolu and stopped beside Steven.
"Riolu?"
Steven looked down at the words Metagross had written on the ground.
"Master, did you know that you have four different types of Aura within you?"
Steven froze for a moment.
What the heck?
Four types of Aura?
Wait a minute...
"Shouldn't a person only have one Aura?"
Seeing Riolu nod in confirmation, Steven felt somewhat surprised.
Although he was half-native to this world, Steven still remembered that he had transmigrated into Steven's body while still in the womb.
If it were two different Auras, Steven could still understand that.
But what on earth were these four Auras?
Seeing Steven's confused expression, Riolu roughly understood the situation.
Its own trainer didn't know about this either.
"Riolu..."
Anyway, that's what I'm sensing.
I just don't know if the senior next door can detect it too.
"You mean Cynthia's Lucario?"
Steven fell deep into thought.
If Lucario could detect this anomaly, it surely would have mentioned it to Cynthia.
But Lucario's demeanor seemed to indicate complete ignorance of the matter.
"Cynthia! Could you and Lucario please come over here for a moment!"
Steven simply called out loudly toward Cynthia.
He himself was incredibly curious about what these so-called four Auras actually were.
At the very least, he needed to determine what benefits or harms they might have for him.
"What's wrong, Steven?"
Cynthia walked over with Lucario, asking curiously.
"There's something I need to figure out."
"Lucario, how many Auras do I have within me?"
Steven looked directly at Lucario and asked.
Lucario simply closed its eyes and sensed for a moment, then answered with one raised digit.
One?
Lucario said he only had one Aura, but Riolu claimed he had four?
Steven felt like his head was about to explode from confusion.
But Riolu wouldn't lie to him about something like this.
So the issue became clear.
Was it only Riolu who could sense the anomaly in his Aura?
Steven looked at the somewhat bewildered Riolu.
Could he have some special connection with this particular Riolu?
That shouldn't be the case, though—Riolu wasn't someone he had encountered by chance.
Calling it a fateful encounter didn't seem quite accurate either.
It was Cynthia who had told him there was a promising Riolu in the Training Cave in the Unova Region.
Steven had gone there specifically to find it.
What kind of special connection could there possibly be?
"What exactly is going on?" Cynthia's brow furrowed with worry.
"It's nothing serious. Riolu mentioned that I have four Auras, so I wanted to ask Lucario for a second opinion," Steven gently shook his head and explained.
"Four Auras? Will that harm your body in any way?" Cynthia turned to her Lucario and asked with concern.
Lucario shook its head—it didn't know either.
Moreover, it could only sense one Aura within Steven.
"I don't know yet. I'll have to get a proper check-up another day," Steven said, making light of the situation.
Speaking of Aura...
The instance Steven remembered most clearly was from the movie with Mew and Lucario—Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
That particular Lucario had been sealed within the crystal staff in the Tree of Beginning near Cameran Palace.
Perhaps he could find answers by visiting that location.
It seemed another destination had been added to his itinerary.
A must-visit place!
"Thank you, Riolu," Steven said with a gentle smile, softly stroking Riolu's head.
"Thank you for telling me about this."
It wouldn't be good if Steven ended up suffering some terrible consequence one day because of this unknown condition.
"Riolu." Riolu shook its head.
It felt it should have brought this up much earlier.
Steven smiled slightly and said to Cynthia:
"Alright, Cynthia, let's continue with our training."
"How can I possibly train with peace of mind now?"
Seeing the anxious expression on Cynthia's face, Steven's hand unconsciously moved to his chest.
"It's fine. I haven't felt anything unusual for all these years, which means it either has no effect on me, or it hasn't reached the point where it can affect me yet."
"Moreover, my physical condition is improving day by day, so there's really no need to worry."
Cynthia gazed at Steven's reassuring smile, still looking a bit hesitant.
"Really, look."
Steven rolled up his sleeve and showed Cynthia the visible progress from his recent training.
"Then when you need my help, you absolutely must come find me!"
"Okay, I promise," Steven agreed with a warm smile.
However...
Steven already had another person in mind who might be able to help.