"Alright then… sigh. I still haven't found my son."
Ashen Vale raised his head and let out a long, helpless sigh. Today's ordeal was something he absolutely couldn't tell his wife about—otherwise, she'd never let him live it down.
"Let's go ask Simon and Lena. They came with me too. Maybe they ran into Auron and Jace and stuck together."
"Good idea. Let's go."
Ashen and Yuming Da quickly reached an agreement. Without giving Jace's father a choice, the two hooked him by the arms and dragged him off toward where Simon Greaves and Lena Greaves were waiting.
ヾ(▽)ノ [┐'_'┌] ヾ(｀.ヾ)
"Oh? Serena Elm's here too?"
Ashen was surprised to spot Serena among them—didn't expect she'd also be with Lena and Simon.
Seeing the kids gathered there, the three men instinctively straightened their clothes and wiped the playful looks off their faces, replacing them with proper, dignified expressions.
Ashen stepped forward with a gentle smile and asked,
"Have you seen Auron recently?"
Serena answered softly, almost shyly,
"They were just here a moment ago. Then he and Jace went home first. They found a Pokémon Egg inside the Secret Realm and said they needed to go back to put it into an incubator."
Lena nodded earnestly beside her.
"That's right, that's right. Each of them had an egg. Not only that, they also got a ton of items and held equipment."
Ashen and Jace's father exchanged glances.
Before Ashen could respond, his phone rang. He pulled it out, checked the screen, and said,
"Excuse me, I need to take this. It's Auron calling."
He stepped a couple of paces forward, turned his back, and answered.
"Hello? Auron, where are you?"
"I'm at the shop. Where are you?"
Ashen glanced at the Secret Realm behind him and clicked his tongue. He absolutely couldn't admit where he was. If his son found out he'd snuck inside to secretly protect him, only to come back empty-handed, how humiliating would that be for a father?
"Oh, I'm just… wandering outside. I'll be back soon."
"Don't just wander! Can you come back now? There's something I need to ask you."
Hearing the urgency in his son's voice, Ashen nodded quickly.
"Alright, alright. I'll head back immediately."
He hung up and turned to the others.
"Auron just called. He's home already and asked me to come back. I'll be heading off—what about you two?"
Jace's father rolled his eyes.
"I'll go back too. If Auron's already home, then Jace must be as well."
Yuming Da glanced around, then ruffled Simon's hair.
"You two head on. I'll stay and handle these merchants."
"Alright then. Kids, I'll be going now."
"Goodbye, Uncle Ashen!" Serena and Lena said at the same time, while Simon waved silently from the side.
Seeing the boy's gesture, Yuming's heart leapt with quiet joy. His son was finally starting to change—at least he'd learned to wave on his own.
Ashen stepped out to the highway and flagged down a taxi.
"Southside Pokémon Shop, please."
The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
"Well, what do you know. Another one to the Southside shop. Funny thing—I just dropped a student off there. Gotta say, you look a lot like him."
Ashen chuckled.
"That student might've been my son."
"Ha! What a coincidence. First I drove the son, now I've got the father."
"…Driver, could you just start the car?"
"Oh, oh, right. Sorry about that. Buckle up! Funny thing though—you wouldn't believe the fate I've had with your family today…"
"Where's Auron?"
Ashen pushed open the shop door and asked his wife, Elise, who was slumped over the counter.
Without lifting her head, she cast him a lifeless glance.
"Inside. At the workshop."
Then she lowered her head again, eyes glued to her phone.
Ashen knew her well. With business so dead today, her mood was bound to be sour. If he pressed further, she'd snap.
His mouth twitched as he quietly walked toward the back.
"Auron? What's so urgent you had to drag me home?"
He pushed open the workshop door and found his son hunched over the workbench, back turned, staring intently at something.
Auron spun around the moment he entered.
"Dad, you're back. Come look at this."
Ashen leaned in behind him to peer at the table.
"Hm? A Dazzling Stone? No… doesn't look like it. I've never seen markings like these before."
Auron studied his father's profile curiously.
"You've never seen one either?"
Ashen shook his head.
"No. Did you bring this back from the Secret Realm?"
"This one was from Jace. I only found ordinary Dazzling Stones. Look, all of ours are in this box."
He pointed to a container nearby, where he had piled together both his and Jace's findings.
Ashen opened it and raised his brows.
"Ho, that's a lot. You boys did pretty well."
"That's not all. There's something else too, but I'll explain later. Right now—let's talk about this one first."
His eyes burned with conviction.
"Dad, I have a feeling…"
Ashen blinked, surprised.
"A feeling?"
His mind began to turn more deeply.
In their family, every member carried the possibility of awakening Aura, but not all succeeded. Even with a long lineage, true awakenings were rare.
And yet, every recorded Aura-wielder had displayed a unique secondary trait in their ability.
Ashen himself had a wide-ranging Aura. If he stood at the center of Vantora and unleashed his full strength, over half the city would fall within his perception.
His father, Ashford Vale, possessed Aura of depth. That was why, when Mega Stones had first surfaced, the League had entrusted him with several for study—knowing his Aura would prove invaluable in research.
And Ashford had not disappointed. With one glance, he had discerned that these stones contained evolutionary power, similar to Fire Stones and other elemental evolution stones.
Which was why Ashen now wondered—could Auron's Aura trait be tied to premonition? To intuition?
"I heard Grandpa Flint say my grandfather had been studying Dazzling Stones for a long time. He even confirmed they contain evolutionary power," Auron said.
"But none of his experiments ever succeeded in triggering evolution. Could it be because something is missing?"
"And when I saw this special one, I felt—it might be the key to what Grandpa described."
Ashen stared at the unique Dazzling Stone in Auron's hand, then at the ordinary ones in the box. After a long silence, he asked,
"So… which Pokémon do you think this evolutionary power would apply to?"
Auron froze. Why was his father asking him like this? Had he said too much already?
"Uh… I don't know."
He darted a furtive glance at Ashen, trying to play it safe.
Ashen caught the movement, but didn't call him out. Instead, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"You don't know, huh. Then what should we do?"
Auron ventured cautiously,
"Maybe… send it to Grandpa first? See what he thinks?"
Ashen shook his head.
"No rush. Let's research it ourselves first."
"…Okay."
Ashen glanced at his son's uneasy face, hiding a smile. Then he dragged over a chair and sat down beside him, eyes locking on his son's.
"Auron… is there something you're not telling me?"
(End of Chapter)