[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie winced a little when she noticed she was running a little late to meet up with Jack at the mouth of Rusturf Tunnel. She'd made a detour on the way over to buy extra flashlight batteries, knowing they were heading into a newly opened, unexplored tunnel with little possibility of artificial or natural light. Seeing Jack waiting on the bench, the redhead flushed guiltily and hurried forward.

"Hey, handsome," she greeted him with a sheepish chuckle, bending to give him a light kiss. "Hope you haven't been waiting here for too long. Shall we get started?"

Without waiting for an answer, Aurelie took Jack's hand and tugged him to his feet. Turning toward the darkened entrance to the tunnel, she pursed her lips thoughtfully, before reaching for a Pokeball and releasing her Lucario. Of all her Pokemon, she trusted the blue-grey canine to scout ahead of them in a lightless, unfamiliar underground tunnel like this one.

"Honestly, Jack, you do bring me to the most romantic places," she teased him, her single eye sparkling mischievously. "Robotic kingdoms and now spooky tunnels. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie, or long walks on the beach?"

Despite her tongue-in-cheek words, Aurelie readily approached the Rusturf Tunnel and pulled out her flashlight, shining the beam down the small passage that had been marked on the map Jack had shown her. It was narrow and filled with rubble, with a path that looked barely passable stretching into the darkness between jagged columns and walls of solid rock.

Exciting her notice and interest, though, the walls occasionally reflected back her flashlight beam with tiny, glittering glints and twinkles of light. They might've been simple chips of mica, but they weren't. Having read a little about the recent history of the Rusturf Tunnel on Pokepedia last night, Aurelie knew they were fragments of Tera Crystals growing inside the underground caves.

Having studied those crystals briefly with Naomi Sato, Aurelie was intrigued by the potential of finding raw crystals to study and experiment with on her own. It was why she'd agreed to explore the passage with Jack, even if it seemed like something he should be doing with a fellow Ranger and not a bladesmith.

"Oh well, I guess long walks in a cave can be exciting, at least." Aurelie grimaced a little. "Too exciting, sometimes. Let's be careful to keep an eye out for poisonous Glimmoras and murderous Megalopolans with a spaceship this time, for sure."

To her Lucario, she murmured, knowing she could understand human speech, "Do you sense anything? Let us know if you notice anything unusual coming from the tunnel."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]A pleased little smirk played across Aurelie's lips as she saw—and enjoyed—the effect she had on Jack. It surprised her sometimes that they still liked each other and felt attracted to each other over a year after their first date. All her previous relationships went down in flames by six months, so the mere fact that it still felt utterly natural pairing up with Jack on an adventure and in bed was a striking novelty.

With an effort, she pulled her mind off their gradually, yet startlingly evolving relationship and onto the present moment. "You're right, I did love that metal kingdom, even if it was confusing and scary at times," she agreed with a laugh.

"That place was amazing! And we got through the scary parts just fine," Aurelie concluded. "I think it was because you were there, Jack. But a sweet little holiday getaway somewhere nice and warm sounds good, too, hmm..."

Still chatting idly together, the two of them trailed after the alert Lucario and flickering Chandelure as they investigated the tunnel. She was about to answer Jack's question when her Lucario beckoned them further in. Aurelie's eye went wide when she followed the Lucario deeper inside and saw the cluster of Tera crystals growing out of a tunnel wall, sparkling in the illumination of her flashlight.

"Oh! Ooooh! I recognize these!" Aurelie exclaimed, hurrying quickly toward the crystal cluster. "I know what these are. I've seen these at..."

The redhead caught herself, realizing she was about to say, "In the Rocket laboratory". The next option she thought of, "At the Rocket masquerade ball last Wintertide," was no better. Thinking quickly, she said instead, "At a museum exhibit where they were showing relics they brought back from the meteoroid last year."

Relieved to have thought of something plausible, Aurelie excitedly approached the crystalline cluster, unabashedly dazzled by the glittering growth. "They're Tera crystals, I'm sure of it! I was even reading an article today about how sudden growths of Tera crystals have been showing up all over Hoenn. Maybe that's what caused the quake here."

In front of her, her Lucario raised her head and gestured sharply for caution. As Aurelie started to bend toward the cluster of crystals, a swarm of vaguely familiar Pokemon that looked like cute, doll-like humanoids with yellow skin that flowed into full yellow pantaloons and long black ponytails materialized out of crevices in the tunnel wall or behind stalagmites and boulders in the tunnel. The redhead hesitated, startled by their unexpected emergence.

"Um...hello there," Aurelie faltered. She turned to shine her flashlight on the Pokemon, which she thought looked vaguely familiar but didn't ring a specific bell.

The creature hissed but sidled closer, fixing her with an unrelenting stare out of the corner of its eye. Beside her, she could sense her Lucario tensing, as if preparing for action. The other Pokemon from the tunnel spread out around them, all staring at them with huge, unblinking, wary eyes.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie let out a gasp when she turned and saw the vortex of shadow unleashed by Jack's Chandelure. Furious winds and churning darkness whipped the Mawiles bodily into the air and threw them into the cavern walls. A chill ran through her as she watched the battle.

It reminded her of nothing so much as Cillian Quinn's Shadow Lugia, which she had seen only once but had never forgotten. It had exuded the same fearful aura of menace—albeit in even more powerful and far-reaching waves—that the Chandelure now gave off. Is this what Lugia could've done to all of us? she wondered. This tornado of pure darkness?

Instinctively, she backed away, even as her Lucario advanced forward, unfazed by the deep, unnatural darkness. As the Mawiles scattered from the Chandelure's SHADOW STORM, the lupine Pokemon struck the remaining stragglers hard and fast with unerring FORCE PALMs, guided by her innate psychic awareness. The shock wave of the Lucario's strikes sent the Mawiles reeling back in shock.

It made for a good tag team, not that the humans possessed keen enough senses to appreciate it.

Aurelie's retreat led her directly into Jack's path, and she reached for his hand. While she was stiff with tension and unease, he seemed untroubled. Surprised, perhaps impressed, but not alarmed. She envied his composure.

"Is your flashlight working?" she hissed to him. "I think that Pokemon...the Mawile?...snapped it out of my hands when it came at me. Now, I can barely see two feet in front of me in this dark."

As they heard another Mawile squeal a short distance away, followed by a hard thud, Aurelie shivered and then tried to cover it with a wry chuckle. "It's a good thing our Pokemon know what they're doing, right? Especially against the other Pokemon in this tunnel. I wonder what caused those Mawiles to be so aggressive in the first place."

Was it the Tera crystals? she wondered. Or was there something else deeper in the tunnel that Jack hadn't told her about yet? Something perhaps that the Rangers had wanted him to investigate?

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]While Aurelie gladly accepted Jack's proffered flashlight and listened intently to the Ranger's description of Mawile behavior, the Lucario and Chandelure continued to work in tandem to fend off the Mawiles. The blue canine Pokemon moved and fought in the gloomy dimness with unerring precision and grace, striking and sweeping and driving opponents into the Chandelure's ominous, glowing flames. The cave tunnel echoed with the Mawiles' shrieks as they were punched and burned in quick succession.

Finally, just as Aurelie managed to fumble on the flashlight, the two Pokemon finished dispatching and frightening off the few remaining Mawiles. The pale beam of light illuminated the Lucario giving the Chandelure a comradely salute. The redhead let out a shaky laugh.

"You're right, that definitely was a close call at first," she agreed, with a rueful shake of her head. "I'm glad our Pokemon have this well in hand, so we didn't have to fumble around and try to fight in the dark."

She frowned, troubled by Jack's account of the strange influences that Tera crystals were having since the attempted Megalopolan incursion. This was certainly news to Aurelie, who hadn't heard more than that Tera crystal clusters were popping up more often in unexpected places lately.

"I hope the changing effect of the Tera crystals isn't extending to trainers' Tera orbs too," she said hesitantly. "I have a few Pokemon now who've been empowered with Tera shards. I hate to think they'd become as aggressive as those Mawiles.

"But I guess that makes it all the more important to get a sample. Too bad I left my chop saw at home, right?" she joked. Gesturing to her Lucario, she asked politely, "Can you get a few pieces from that crystal cluster? They don't need to be very big, I think. You can rest after that, I promise."

The Lucario nodded solemnly and approached the crystal cluster, not even breathing hard even after its recent exertions. With an almost ceremonial seriousness, the Pokemon bowed its head, closed its eyes, and clasped its paws before itself in an almost prayerful pose. Then, with its eyes still closed, it lashed out at the nearest crystalline spike with an open palm, sharply striking the slender, jewel-like tip.

The impact sent a resonant, chiming tone ringing throughout the cavern. After the echoes died down, a fine hairline crack began to grow and branch along the tip of the crystal. As more cracks split across the crystal, the tip finally tumbled free and fell to the ground, resulting in a finger-length chunk.

Aurelie smiled proudly at her Lucario. "Wow! Nice work. Do you think this will be enough?" she asked, turning to Jack. "Or do we need more?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]When Jack offered to let her take some of the tera crystals for herself, Aurelie eyed the crystal cluster consideringly. She couldn't help chuckling at his image of tera crystal kitchen knives, some of the tension leaving her as she did. She had not liked being in the dark while knowing aggressive Pokemon were coming at them, and some of that anxiety still lingered.

"Hmmm... On one hand, it's a little daunting to think that maybe these crystals are causing strange changes to Pokemon all across Hoenn," she mused aloud, glancing sidelong at her Lucario. "But on the other hand, it's hard to say no to free crystals, especially if you say it's not a big deal..."

Biting her lip, Aurelie thought about it for a moment. Then, with a decisive gesture, she gestured for her Lucario to approach the crystal cluster again. "You know what? I'll take some! I love working with unusual materials, and hopefully such a small bit won't do much harm."

Theatrically, she held up her hand and crossed her fingers, while her Lucario once more closed its eyes, bowed its head, and struck the already riven crystal with its palm. With another ringing, chiming sound, a second small chunk tumbled free. Aurelie bent to retrieve it.

She had tested tera crystals in the past, of course, but there were still so many more tests out there that could be run on these mysterious materials. Aurelie flashed a grateful smile at her Lucario. Shining the beam of her flashlight on the piece in her hand, she already started thinking about different ways to examine it to learn more about its properties and powers.

Then her stomach growled, and she let out another chuckle.

"I guess my stomach thinks we're done here, and I don't disagree," she said, raising her head to look at Jack. "I don't think there's much else here for us to find. What do you say we take a break and regroup?"

Taking Jack's arm, Aurelie beckoned to her Lucario again and then looked eagerly back toward the tunnel entrance. "At least, we deserve a treat after all this. I remember passing by a really promising-looking waffle place in Rustboro City on my way here. What do you say to breakfast food as dinner?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT