@sanianisa Brock's aura was a very vibrant green, indicating his innate power of earth, skilled mind, and huge heart. Ash's aura was a brilliant, nearly orange red, indicating his immense courage and joy, and command over both fire and thunder arts Misty's aura was a bright and brilliant blue, indicating a quiet strength and spirit, and skill with both water and ice Serena's aura was a bright gold, indicating her zest for life, and her command of light and fire arts
Aside from the group's various auras, doesn't seem like there were any foreign and/or malicious aura around them. They're safe for the time being.
Yamaguro smirked, noting that the other Lucario and his friend were inspecting the auræ of the group and their immediate surroundings. Good, at least one person is taking precautions, the warrior thought as he quietly concealed his own. Noticing his master hiding his aura, Shedinja followed suit and as a test, quietly floated towards the Pokémon.
Aight, all good for now, Natsu thought as soon as he'd done with the aura scanning. However... "Hmm?" His eyes caught Yamaguro's Shedinja floating around his Lucario. "Wat?" the latter got startled at Natsu's attitude. Unbeknownst to Lucario, Natsu was looking at the Shedinja. Weird, I can see this fella yet can't sense their aura. Are they... hiding their aura? the blonde boy thought about this scene, referring to Shedinja as "they".
@Jupjami @sanianisa Misty noticed the awkward scene, and motioned for the others to stop. "Is everything okay?" she asked, aware of the uneasy Pokémon.
"Ah, we're fine, really," Natsu answered as both he and Lucario got flinched at Misty's concern. "Just noticing that Shedinja roaming around, that's all," he added. Lucario then looked up upon hearing that... and yep, the Shedinja's there. The Aura Pokémon then angrily grabbed his human's shirt. "Why didn't you tell me about that???" Lucario inquired with a quiet yet furious tone. "Whoa there, sorry bud. I just saw them but couldn't read their aura, y'see..." the boy tried to explain, hoping for his Pokémon to cool down. Only then did Lucario relent and went ahead to check it out. ...aight then, bro's telling the truth, Lucario thought upon finding out about the aura-less Shed Pokémon by himself.
@Jupjami @sanianisa "What happened?" Brock looked back, concerned. He'd heard the commotion, and didn't want the journey to end before it even began.
Welp, awkwardness ensued at this point. Normally it's either Junaiper or Mafoxy who would stop this kind of bickering between Natsu and Lucario, but now that there were more companions... "Sorry about that, folks. It's between Lucario and I. We do this all the time, really," again, Natsu tried to explain whatever's just happened. (Rest assured, Natsu has no problems with Yamaguro whatsoever)
@Jupjami @sanianisa Brock nodded. "Okay...but if there's any problem at all on this likely long quest, I'll do my best to mediate."
Lucario nodded in understanding and Natsu gave Brock a "Yes, sir!" attitude. Junaiper, who's still watching from afar, only could smile at this point.
@Jupjami @sanianisa For the most part, the rest of the day's travel was uneventful. But it was almost nightfall when the group reached Hikichou, a town not far from Nijimachi. Luckily, the inn was not far from the town entrance. (For the most part, towns, cities, and villages are safe zones. You can still find sidequests in settlements, either by exploring or checking a quest board at an adventurer's guild. If you are out camping in the wild, camps are relatively safe--sometimes good things will happen during the night.)
Heh, that was fun, Shedinja said as he approached the Lucario. Sorry I disguised myself and caused the two of you to argue... Yamaguro thought it would be a good idea to test your perception skills~ he added, glancing at his master who was simply walking silently.
"Eheheh, it's okay, it's okay," Lucario awkwardly laughed. "As Natsu said, we do this all the time anyway. We usually have either Junaiper or, uh, Mafoxy to stop us before it get worse, though," he said, realizing that Shedinja probably didn't know Mafoxy yet.
@Jupjami @sanianisa (since it's nighttime, it's best if you go on in the inn for the night. You each have 1000 kin (Ransei's currency) to pay for services and buy goods and supplies. You can earn more by defeating monsters and rogue Pokémon, finding caches in the wild, and as rewards for completing a sidequest. There is a trading sequence that winds all over Ransei.)
That night, Natsu (in his yukata) was looking outside from his room at the inn when Lucario sat down beside him. The boy looked rather sad and Lucario sensed a mixture of hope and worry inside him. "Uh, bro..." the Aura Pokémon called. "Are you still... mad at me?" he asked, genuinely concerned at whatever bothering his trainer (?). "What? No, I'm already done with that," Natsu denied about him getting mad at Lucario. However, since he knew that his very first partner can see through his facial expressions, he decided to spill the beans anyway. "The thing is... I miss her," he said. Some people might want to tease Natsu with a hypothetical girlfriend or something upon hearing what he just said, but Lucario knew that wasn't the case. In fact, Natsu actually missed his little sister. "...Fumiko, huh?" Lucario wondered. Natsu nodded, then had a nostalgic trip down memory lane, especially that one time when his sister got her very first wand. (waitamoment, why does this sound like Harry Potter again?) My dear Fumi... I hope you're doing well out there... Natsu only could hope at this point.
@sanianisa The common room bustled with activity. Brock was famed all over Ransei as a musician and storyteller (which benefited his mercenary and peacekeeping jobs by slipping behind enemy lines undetected), so any inn he stopped at, he had to tell for the people present. Ash and the girls were equally accomplished musicians, actors, and dancers themselves, helping Brock in performances, and doing their own performances (because no evil sect ever expected to be taken down by a colorful band of minstrels!)
"Anyway, I heard there's quite a show at the common room. Wanna have a look?" Lucario changed the topic. This offer seriously perked Natsu up as he immediately stood up and grabbed Lucario's arm. "Really? Leggo~" he cheerfully said while dragging Lucario to the common room. "Whoa..." At the common room, the two found out that their traveling partners turned out to be the performers there. Might as well find something to drink, Natsu thought. (Say, does this inn have a bar or something where you can have some drinks? If yes, what drinks do they offer?)
@sanianisa (if you want hard drinks, those would be in taverns. Inns will usually serve water, juice, and a soda-like drink named awada. Awada and juices can also be mixed into a kind of virgin cocktail. (which are called hikari shochu). Like their harder counterparts, thousands of hikari shochu exist as well (performers, priests, mages, and miko are just a few that choose to indulge in hikari shochu. Like their harder counterparts, some hikari shochu have magical effects. The most common hard drink in Ransei is sake, but you will also find thousands of shochu, or cocktails, in a tavern. In Ransei, some cocktails have magical effects--this is the secret to "drunken Mankey" kung fu.)
"Oi, Lucario, which one do you want?" Natsu called upon seeing a selection of drinks available at the inn. Lucario decided to have some water and Natsu went for juice. The two then sat down and watched the show Brock and co. were delivering.