It was now nighttime in Fuchsia City, and the group had taken to explore the sights for a little bit. As expected, it was very lively and riddled with Japanese culture. There were booths set up all in a line all across from each other selling an assortment of food and offering other activities. Austin and Lucario wasted no time in going straight for some of the delicious food while Yellow decided to look at different kimono outfits at a particular stall.

"I bet I would look really cute in this," Yellow commented while she looked a particular one over.

Yellow blushed as she thought what Austin would think before her Pokeball opened up and Tentacool popped out.

Yellow smiled at it and knelt to be more eye level with it. "What is it, Tenty?" she asked kindly.

"Cool," it replied while pointing at the kimono.

"You want me to try it on, too?" Yellow asked, receiving a nod from the Tentacool.

"Well, I guess so," Yellow said slowly as she took it off the hanger and went behind a folded curtain to change.

Meanwhile, Austin and Lucario were staring at the various types of sushi in hunger. Austin immediately went to grab a piece of sushi with his hand, but it was soon slapped away by Lucario.

"Master Austin, you should know better. Use chopsticks to grab sushi instead of your hands," Lucario scolded slightly.

"Right. I guess I got carried away," Austin said sheepishly before getting a pair from a stack off to the side.

"Chuuuu," Pikachu poked at Austin's shoulder once Austin began eating the sushi.

"Oh? You want some too, Pikachu?" Austin asked the rodent, receiving a nod in the affirmative.

Austin handed a piece to Pikachu who promptly put it in its mouth. The rodent chewed and smiled at the great flavor, but something was wrong.

"Chaaaaa!" Pikachu cried as it begin running around in circles frantically.

"Sorry, buddy. I accidentally gave you the extra spicy kind," Austin said apologetically.

Pikachu quit running and glared at Austin. Austin could tell by the look Pikachu was giving him that he would be in for a Thundershock later.

" This sushi is delicious! Here is some for you, Charmeleon!" Austin smiled as he gave some to the Hybrid Pokemon.

"Char!" Charmeleon exclaimed in delight once it tasted the food but quickly tried to hit his happiness in a veil of indifference.

" Too cool for sushi, huh," Austin asked with a chuckle.

To which Charmeleon just puffed out his chest.

( ~ Chuckle ~ )

Austin smiled as he glanced at Bulbasaur giving Ditto some sushi who was shyly eyeing the Japanese cuisine.

" Tenta, tenta," Tenty muttered as it wandered alongside Oddish over to the group.

"Oh hey," Austin greeted once they saw it.

"Why aren't you with Yellow?"

"Oddish !" Dish replied as it pointed to a folding curtain a short distance away.

Soon, Yellow emerged from behind the curtain somewhat shyly wearing the Kimono outfit. She also had her hair down out of the usual side ponytail. She then made her way over to Ash and Lucario, followed by Dody. She did a slight pose for the group before asking their opinion.

"Hey. How do I look?" she asked nervously.

"You look lovely, like a true princess," Lucario answered as he ate his sushi with chocolate he had melted on Charmeleon's tail.

"Pika, Pi !"

Austin jumped and raised his thumbs as he pretended to chew his sushi.

He knew he didn't want to add more fuel to the fire that was Yellow's crush.

" Dish, Oddish !" Dish yelled as it turned red and fell over on its back.

"Uh, Dish?" Yellow asked it.

"Hahaha! I think Oddish fainted due to how great you looked," Lucario told her.

Yellow just blushed in embarrassment.

"Attention, everyone. Our traditional kimono dance this month will be performed by our very own Janine in five minutes! Please make your way over to the stage at the front," a male's voice said over the intercom.

"That sounds like fun!" Yellow exclaimed.

Once the group had made their way over to the outside stage, it was apparent there weren't any seats available to sit in. They managed to get in front of everyone and stood the closest to the stage so they had the best view.

By the time the lights on the stage dimmed and the curtain rose. Behind the curtain was a young girl with shoulder-length dark purple hair. She wore a traditional black kimono outfit with matching black sandals. She stood in a pose where she had one fan in each hand. One was outstretched and the other one was covering her face. She then gracefully moved the fan away from her face to reveal brown eyes and a lovely smile before she began to dance.

Austin's eyes narrowed as he saw the future gym leader of Fuchsia City and the daughter of the current gym leader; Koga.

Lucario glanced at Austin who was on edge since his mind threw in the possibility of Koga being a part of Team Rocket.

If that were the case, what should I do?

Austin wondered as Janine continued the dance as everyone watched her movements. Her moves were so mysterious and intriguing, yet so beautiful. It was clear Janine must have undergone much practice to get the dance just right. She then began to move towards the group until she was just in front of Austin, causing him to tilt his head in confusion. She gave him an alluring smile and a wink before gracefully moving back towards the stage.

Austin's face didn't change one bit at the gesture that Janine had given him. Yellow, meanwhile, turned red but looking at Austin's deadpan face calmed her down.

The dance went on for a few more minutes before finally ending. Everyone applauded the superb job Janine had done. As she left the stage, she looked towards the group and gave another wink that Austin could have sworn was directed at him. With that, she disappeared behind the curtain. Austin stood transfixed for a moment, staring at the place where Janine had left before Lucario waved his palm in front of his face.

"Are you alright ?" Lucario called as he felt a spike in aura from him.

" Yeah, I am alright. Let's go, the night is still young. Let's enjoy this festival." Austin said he released everyone from their pokeballs.

Under Bulbasaur's leadership, the group of Pokemon enjoyed themselves in the booths, burning away their trainer's wallet.

....

Later in the night, Austin and Lucario sat on the side of the benches in comfortable silence.

" May I ask what had got you so tense ?" Lucario asked as ate his cotton candy.

" You know that girl who winked at me, I think she might be related to the evil organization I told you about."

" I beg to differ, that girl who made your maiden jealous had a pure aura to her."

A little annoyed Austin replied," I'll take your word for it and Yellow isn't my maiden, Lucario."

" Could have fooled me? Her aura is always filled with joy when she is with you and your aura also has spikes of happiness with you are with her."

" That's because we are friends."

" Hmm, maybe times have changed for friends to have such beautiful spikes in the aura around each other."

" Can you tell me more about Aura ?"

Lucario took a deep breath before saying," Ki or Chi or Wave are the maybe different names humans have given it. Aura is the life force that fills up all the space inside a person or pokemon's body. It makes up every living thing and each person has their own unique… for lack of a better word, look."

" Is there a difference between Aura and the soul ?" Austin asked as he wondered why his aura was similar to Sir Aaron's. In canon, Ash could use aura and he could have been related to Aaron but what about him? He wasn't Ash so why was his aura similar or did he have ash's soul inside his body?

" Aura is the life energy that flows through the soul while the soul is something that could be called the being's whole existence."

" I don't follow," Austin said to which Lucario replied.

" Of course, you didn't, when did I start showing you the path to follow? Jokes aside, the best way to describe the difference is that if Aura disappears then the person dies but if the soul disappears then the person is gone."

" Can you elaborate?"

A little annoyed Lucario said," When a person's aura disappears they have a chance to be reborn as something else but if a person's soul is gone then they are gone for good. There is no second chance, there is no new life it's just that ( ~ Snap ~ ) the end."

Austin's mind was filled with many thoughts.

" Can other pokemon learn the art of aura ?"

" Yes and no, it depends on their aptitude and amount of aura."

" Since I can somewhat use aura, how much do I possess ?"

Lucario burst out laughing at Austin's words.

" What ?"

" Sorry, sorry, I just found it hilarious that you said you can use aura. Human, you aren't using aura, you're just releasing your aura in bursts."

" Oh !"

" Aura is heavily linked with your emotions, the more intense an emotion the greater the burst of the aura is."

" Yeah.... you're right."

" Of course I am."