Going forward and beyond {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book I}

III Reggie's P.O.V

To say I was surprised when I saw Paul enter Veilstone City with Ash, Riley, and Dawn would be an understatement. I believe I almost tripped over my foot. I still recall the day before yesterday with disbelief. Not only did my little brother explain to me (He explained something to me!) that they traveled together after meeting a week ago, he had also invited them to stay with us. Is this what it feels like to have your little brother bring his friends to stay over?

Paul had friends now! I squealed in my head. Thanking Arceus no one was reading my mind at the moment, to witness me squealing like a little girl.

But sue me if I am not happy and relieved. I have been worrying about him being friendless forever, but he seems to have gathered three friends overnight. Ash was truly a miracle-worker! I will never doubt that again in my life.

Paul from the three, surprisingly, seems to be closer to Dawn. Even when he was only one year younger than Ash, he had become a figure he looks up to as a role model in some ways and a person he is aiming to defeat in others. Riley is some kind of cousin he goes for advice from time to time, but otherwise, he enjoys staying in comfortable silence in his presence. It is Dawn the one he interacts with, in a more equal standing. With both of them looking up to Ash, they behave similarly around him, if Dawn shows her excitement much clearer. They also seem to have found an understanding in the feeling of being the younger sibling waiting home for their ranger big brother to come home from a mission.

As horrible as it is of me to say, I am happy that Paul had found someone to relate to and be able to converse with about this. Still, it doesn't mean he does not think of her as foolish, but now it is more of a big brother feeling annoying of his little sister. At least, he learned her name and its using it. Arceus knows he seldom learns people's names.

As expected, they both rushed to the gym the following day to have their battles... Poor Maylene...

She is a good trainer and is so close to being at a Gym Leader Level. However, she lacks the conviction and belief in herself. Paul quite literally whipped the floor with her team and Ash did the same right afterward.

With Paul only using Electabuzz for the job and Ash would have easily done the same with just Heracross or Primeape, but he had wanted to use more Pokemon. As he has so many and would like to have as many of them participating in gym battles. Heracross defeated Machoke quite easily, only receiving a few hits. Primeape quite literally knocked Lucario out under five minutes. Only Hitmontop was defeated, having a double knockout against Meditite, but that's only because Hitmontop is a newly evolved and young Pokemon.

Let's just say that she was this close to quitting. Luckily, Ash struck a deal with her. He would leave all three of his Fighting-type Pokemon to her for three months, so they would train her Pokemon and aid her in easing her way into being a Gym Leader. Which was a blessing from Arceus, with Ash's Pokemon helping she'll finally take that last step and blossom into the Gym Leader I know she can become.

Luckily, no one was aware of Ash's presence in Veilstone City, so there was no crowd during the gym battles. Which everyone was glad for because that would be horrible for Maylene's reputation. Not that it stopped Paul from rubbing salt into the injury after her second defeat. I made sure to have a good talk with him afterward because no matter what Maylene was still a Gym Leader and deserves the respect given to one.

Riley, on his side, decided to stay at the gym and help Maylene and her Lucario to bond correctly. I do not know what that means, but it seems that even Ash had noticed that something was wrong. He had tried to explain it to me, something about Lucario trying to push his aura into Maylene in an attempt to bond with her but because Maylene is not an aura guardian it was not working. That the way of bonding of Lucario's with humans without aura was different. Maybe that's why Lucario and Maylene seem to be out of sync lately?