[Edited]

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After having been reassured by Aaron the night before, you actually managed to get some sleep. Not too much, but certainly enough. You had woken up to the sound of someone knocking on your door. Even though it could have been anyone and you looked like a mess while still being in your night gown, you stood up and went to open to see who it was.

"Good morning, Y/N. Looking hot." It was Doni who seemed to be suppressing his laughter. You furrowed your brows at his obviously sarcastic statement and crossed your arms in front of your chest. He carried something in his arms that he soon gave you. "I came to bring you these. They're our knight attire."

You took the clothes from him and looked at them a little more closely. They appeared to be similar to the ones you normally wore, only that every part that was originally blue was now red. You gave the young man a curious glance as if to silently ask him why these and not the usual ones. Doni got as much, so he explained. "You see, every time we're on an official mission, we need to wear our red uniform. It's the color that represents Rota."

"Just like us, the other kingdoms have this obligation as well; Grona kingdom wears green, Kinola yellow and Puleuna blue." The blond added, using his index-, middle- and ring finger as if he was counting down the kingdoms with the help of them. You then nodded understandingly and were ready to go change. "I'm not trying to tell you to stress, but we're meeting in front of the main gates in ten minutes."

"Rouen and Kai will take care of the luggage while Aaron and I will go get the Mudsdale. I'm entrusting you with the task to make sure that the princess candidates and Myron get there in time." The blue eyed male said, smiling at you for a moment before he took off. Seeing Doni in his more serious work mode was a first, and even though it was quite out of character, it was also refreshing.

You quickly changed clothes and couldn't help but stare in the mirror at how the red color suited you just as well as the blue one. Once you had taken your Old ball as well, you headed out of the room in direction training grounds where you were going to pick up your Lucario. Fotula and Liliana seemed to be there as well, calling their Absol and Noivern inside the round objects. "Oh, good morning Y/N."

"Good morning, you two." You grinned at the two females who watched as your Pokémon made its way to you. You gave your Lucario a pat on the head before it disappeared inside the Old ball. The girls joined you on your way to the gates where thankfully Loraine, Camilla and Myron already stood, everyone pretty much ready.

Everyone exchanged greetings and the four other knights soon came with the equine creatures and the bags. "Alright everyone!~ As you already know, I am Doni, division one's captain." The blond exclaimed after stopping in his tracks with the others. You always thought Aaron was the first division's leader, given that he was considered the best knight in the kingdom, so it surprised you a bit when you turned out to be wrong. "All of us will need your cooperation on this mission since we are responsible in case something dangerous were to happen."

"You already know Aaron and Y/N. These two are Rouen and Kai. Approach any of us in case there's a problem." Doni added as he gestured to the dark skinned male and his partner. He cleared his throat before continuing. "There's ten of us and five Mudsdale, so each of you will be riding with one of us knights. We prepared the pairs and would appreciate if you wouldn't complain about them."

"Liliana will be going with Y/N, Fotula with Kai, Loraine with Rouen, Myron with Aaron and Camilla... well, with me." The blond spoke, trailing off a bit near the end. He looked to the side, bringing his hand up to his face in order to hide it. He instructed everyone to get on their Mudsdale and helped those who had troubles.

The equine creatures weren't fully saddled, they only had their bridles, reins and the colored strings that made it easier to tell them apart of course. You sat in the front and felt Liliana wrap her hands around your waist carefully. "T-Thank you so much for allowing me to go with y-you." You couldn't see her face but you were certain she was blushing, just like she always does. "It's nothing. You just make sure to hold on tight."

"Is everyone ready?" Rouen's voice gained everyone's attention as they all - including you - turned their heads towards him. After making sure that everyone indeed was, the ravenet who happened to be the vice captain exchanged nods with Doni. "I will go first while Rouen will be last, to make sure that we don't get separated."

After that, the equine Pokémon finally started to trot ahead. You were still nervous, but also excited. The knights had informed you all that it was going to take more or less three days to get to the Grona kingdom, so it was going to be a rather long journey. While the Mudsdale peacefully moved, following the one with the green string in its mane, Aaron got next to you. Myron was awkwardly holding on to the dark blue haired knight, not feeling exactly at ease with this pair up. What- or rather who you weren't expecting to see was Aaron's Lucario. He kept up with you by foot and next to his master.

"Seriously? You really can't leave Aaron alone for even a minute." You snorted at the mostly blue Pokémon who took the effort to glare at you. A smirk made its way on his face before he retorted: "I could say the same about you, brat! Always trying to seduce my poor master." You and Lucario kept going at each other like cats and dogs- or well, like Purrloin and Herdier while Aaron occasionally chuckled at your creative insults. Liliana even sided with you when Lucario said something she considered inappropriate.

Quite a while had passed and the first ones were already getting hungry. Half of you did skip breakfast, so it was to be expected. Since you were in the forest, it was smarter to find a suited place first due to wild Pokémon inhabiting this area. Just as you were working on that, the peacefulness was soon interrupted by a horde of wild what seemed to be Ariados and Pinsir.

Everything might have been fine if it weren't for the bad habit of your Mudsdale to easily get startled when faced with something unexpected. The equine creature let out a loud cry before it went crazy: It started hitting the air with its hoofs, causing both you and Liliana to panic. "We'll be fine, just don't let go!" You called out as you felt the silver haired female tighten her grip on you. Everyone had realized that you were having trouble by then and focused on distracting the bug-type Pokémon.

"Everyone remain calm! Kai!" Rouen exclaimed, having perfect control over his Mudsdale. Loraine sure had it good with someone so reliable and gentlemanly. The dark skinned man that had been called nodded, getting the message. He reached into his pockets and pulled three Old balls out of them, throwing them in the air upon turning the red part. His Charmander, Arcanine and Ninetales were freed from the round objects and immediately engaged in battle with the wild Ariados and Pinsir. All three being pure fire-types, they had a big advantage.

You were too busy with your own problem to be looking somewhere else: "Mudsdale, calm down! Please!" You called out, pulling at the reins almost as if your life depended on it, but it was in vain. Two despicable Ariados wouldn't stop attacking your equine creature with various moves, causing it to gallop away. It was simply trying to escape, it had no intention of endangering both you and Liliana. You needed your Lucario's help, but your hands were tied: if you were to lose grip over the reins who knows what would happen to you.

Aaron and Myron rushed after you on their Mudsdale, but they weren't catching up. Lucario threw aura spheres at the spider-like Pokémon, but it didn't do much damage, considering that fighting-type moves weren't too effective on bug- nor poison-types. You thought the situation couldn't get worse, but you were gravely mistaken:

Your equine creature had just entered a Pineco territory and everyone knows about their rather annoying auto-destructive move. As you quickly passed many trees, you saw the mentioned Pokémon starting to glow. "This is just great! Liliana hold onto me, we're jumping off." You called out loud enough for even Aaron who was quite far behind you to hear. Both he and the silver haired female panicked: "What?!"

You slipped your right leg to the other side, careful since a false movement would have caused you a very painful fall. There seemed to be no end to the Pineco who one after another lit up. Instructing Liliana to put both her legs on the left side, you managed to hold her tightly while never letting go of the reins with your other hand. This was going to hurt, but not as much as being in the middle of a mine field. "Oh Arceus... let's do this!"

After you had said that, you lost complete control over you Mudsdale willingly, and threw yourself off of it. With your arms spread, you actually managed to hold onto a thick branch for a moment or two before the immense pain in your palms became unbearable and you had no choice but to let go. Liliana had been holding onto you just as you told her to, but she was very scared. While falling from the tree, you turned around in order to wrap your arms around Liliana in order to deflect her impact on the ground. It worked quite well, only that it made you cough hard the moment you landed.

The Pineco were ready to explode, you saw that and rolled over and on top of Liliana. You leaned your face down next to hers and used your arms to protect both yours and hers. The following sounds of explosions were proof that the bug-type Pokémon had performed the move 'self-destruct' flawlessly. Stones and smaller pieces of branches came flying from everywhere, hitting you from all sides. It stung a lot, especially on the areas where the skin was n't covered by clothes.

You thanked Arceus and all other gods that the whole bombardment had stopped as you breathed out a sigh of relief. "Y/N!" Both Aaron and Myron exclaimed, the dark blue haired knight safely jumped off of his Mudsdale and rushed over to you, leaving Myron on the equine creature by himself. He and the other were unharmed by the explosions since they had refuged themselves behind a boulder when all that happened.

"A-Are you alright?" You asked as soon as you raised your head, suppressing another series of coughs. Tears flowed down the silver haired girl's cheeks as she nodded. She couldn't believe she didn't have a scratch on herself when you were hurt so badly, because you had put her safety before yours.

In the meantime Aaron had reached the spot where you two lied and carefully placed his arms around you, helping you sit up. "What were you thinking?!" He exclaimed, burying his face in your shoulder. Despite them being quite bad, he was relieved that you only had several injuries. Who knows how it could have ended. "I-I'm okay, it's not that bad!"

"Don't lie to me." The dark blue haired male muttered, pulling his head away. Liliana had managed to sit up as well and couldn't feel guiltier. Myron managed to get off of the Mudsdale as well and approached your small group, kneeing next to you. Even Lucario seemed very worried as he reached his master's side. "Y/N! It was brave of you to protect your partner, but you overdid it!" - It was probably the first time he had called you by name and not 'brat'.

The others had successfully defeated the Ariados and Pinsir and were finally able to join you, not sounding less worried than everyone else here. Camilla especially. "What happened here?!" Doni hadn't been on the scene, so he had no idea of what could have caused you all those scratches and bleeding. Feeling it was the least he could do in this situation, Myron explained what happened.

The knights had all gotten off of their equine creatures and discussed what should be done and how your wounds should be treated. Kai seemed to stare at you with an unreadable expression though, and Aaron still held you in his arms. "I will go find Y/N's Mudsdale. Camilla, you stay here please."

After that, Doni quickly mounted his mostly brown creature and rushed off. Kai retreated all the fire-type Pokémon he had sent out in battle and Rouen approached you and Aaron. He sent a Chansey out of his Old ball and kneed next to you, asking Myron to make some more space. "My Chansey will heal you roughly, but we'll patch you up later. We can't afford to stay in this territory much longer or else we might get ambushed again."

"Thank you." You forced yourself to smile at the ravenet who despite knowing that it wasn't genuine, returned the gesture. The mostly pink Pokémon cried happily before touching your arm and using Heal Pulse. Your wounds didn't close up, but you felt much less pain and the bleeding ceased.

* * *

It was slowly getting evening and despite all of today's difficulties, everyone had managed to get to a safe spot where you would spend the night. Doni managed to retrieve your Mudsdale which turned out to be quite hurt as well. It felt better upon receiving treatment from Rouen and his Chansey.

There was another, smaller problem before you got here: Everyone insisted that you should ride with Aaron and let Liliana on a Mudsdale with Myron. You refused and insisted that you could still make it since you were one of the only ones aware of the silver haired female's fear of men. In the end, they let you have your way which resulted in your being exhausted now.

You currently sat on a rock near a small pond that wasn't too far from where the others were currently setting up the tents. Kai had also started a small fire which would prove useful when preparing meals. You held your arms out and took off as much as you could of your knight attire without revealing anything unnecessary. The bleeding had stopped at least, but the scars were rather unattractive. You also had splinters in your palms, probably from back when you gripped that one tree branch before falling to the ground.

You heard someone approach and immediately hid your hands, turning in their direction. It was Camilla and Aaron. Your best friend seemed to be carrying a small bag of some sort. Both of them seated themselves next to you and once again asked you about your condition.

"You really scared me back there." The caramel haired female mumbled as she carefully pulled you into a hug, not squeezing too hard. She didn't want to hurt you even more than you already were. You patted her back gently and closed your eyes for a bit. Body warmth really was soothing, especially in such situations. The chestnut brown eyed girl pulled away and placed the little bag on your lap.

"This is a small emergency kit I prepared back at the castle. I know you're hurt and that you're trying to hide it, but your knight in shining armor here will see to your wounds." Camilla winked, gesturing at Aaron who obliviously just sat there. A soft pink color dusted your face as you watched your best friend leave with her last comment. "I better help the guys cook! Or else I get the feeling we'll end up starving.~"

You and the dark blue haired young man were left in a short moment of silence before he held out his hand. You stared at it, not quite sure what you were supposed to do with it until he bluntly told you. "Show me your hand."

You hesitated a bit but held out your own, letting the male delicately grab it as he looked for all splinters. He then reached inside the small bag and pulled out a small jar filled with something of golden color along with something that you assumed was a needle. You weren't a big lover of needles, but you weren't fond of the idea of your hand getting infected with bacteria either.

"Camilla told me to put some honey over your palms and let it dry. She said it'll be easier to get the splinters out." Aaron commented and opened the small jar. You watched as the male poured some of the honey over your hands. You didn't know how, but it seemed like he got distracted, given that the sweet liquid was slowly starting to flow down your arm and drip to the ground.

"Aaron, it's spilling." You couldn't help but chuckle at the young man's clumsiness, especially his reaction. His face got hotter out of embarrassment and he quickly put the jar down. "Sorry! I shouldn't be wasting it like this..."

The knight gently raised your left hand and neared his face to it, sticking out his tongue which he soon trailed up your arm. The slightly wet sensation sent shivers down your spine. Not only that, but the bright red blush searing through your cheeks gave you the impression that your face was on fire. "A-Aaron w-what are-..?!"

The male raised his gaze at the mention of his name. The expression he wore on his face could be described with one word: seductive. Now you knew what girls meant when they talked about this; If there was a look that could make women pregnant, then this was certainly the one.

Aaron froze in his place as if he had just now realized what he did, his eyelids slowly flying wide. The color of his face soon matched yours and he instinctively let go of your hand. "I-I didn't mean to-... I'll go see if dinner is ready." Having tried to get himself out of this situation, the dark blue haired male stood up and was about to leave if it weren't for your quick intervention: "W-Wait!"

He can't just expect you to be fine with him leaving after having done what he did, raising your hopes like that. You didn't want him to go, so you grabbed his wrist with your right hand, the one that wasn't smeared with honey. "Y-You said you'd help me..."

Silence was Aaron's answer as he hesitated. He gulped before seating himself across you again, never looking directly at you. "You're right... They'll probably come tell us when it's ready anyway." The knight said unsurely and took your other hand as well, pouring some more honey over it.

While the two of you waited for it to dry, Aaron never once let go of your hands. He held them firmly in his, staring at them as if they were the most interesting thing around. Your heartbeat had picked up its pace and at some point it made you worry that Aaron might be able to hear it. The young man was in the same situation though.

Once it was time, the blue eyed knight took the small needle again and neared it to your palm. You glanced at it carefully, and once it touched your skin, you shut your eyes. "This will hurt a little." Was Aaron's silent comment before you could feel the mentioned pain. He repeated the process on the other hand as well until there were no splinters left. "All done here..."

You opened your eyes again upon hearing the young man's soothing voice. He was already reaching for something else in the bag. Pulling it out, he revealed it to be a bandage. The dark blue haired knight asked you to hold out your arms, and so you did as requested.

Aaron carefully patched both your arms up, occasionally looking up from them, unconsciously seeking for eye contact. Your orbs locked once, and during that once, none of you dared to look away anymore. It felt as if time had stopped completely.

"...Excuse me." The sudden voice of Myron snapped you back to reality, causing both of you to look his way. You were so caught up in the moment that you didn't even notice him approach. The white haired boy cleared his throat before awkwardly repeating what he had already said: "Dinner is ready... Sir Rouen sent me to call you two."

"We'll be right there." You replied, looking away somewhere to the side. Waiting until the color of your face turned back to normal, you nervously started twiddling with your fingers. But once Aaron had put his slightly bigger hands on top of yours, all your worries were washed away.

Despite having started in an unexpected and unfortunate way, this trip might turn out just fine.

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A/N: SEASON THREE OF FREE! HAS STARTED AIRING AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER :)))

Btw what other Animes do you guys watch? :3 Excluding Pokémon~

The World Cup has come to an end... Croatia might have lost the finals, but they're the second best and I am still proud!~ (They'll always be number one in our hearts. <3)

Congratulations to all of my french Readers for ranking first.^^

Aaron in Rota's knight attire:

Thank you for Reading!