-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

The Mining City

"Well at least that's settled then."

Elaine joined Dawn and I as we made our way to the elevator. As we exited the Poketch building and made our way to the pokemon center, I noticed that the two girls weren't talking to each other as much compared to when we first met. Elaine was keeping herself distracted with her phone as Dawn was more than comfortable under the afternoon sun.

We quickly restored our pokemon's health at the pokemon center before making our preparations to split up.

"Like we already agreed, I'll go to Oreburgh directly. Dawn-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll be there to back you up."

I could tell that Dawn could see that I needed a moment with Elaine. She waved goodbye before leaving the two of us stood outside the pokemon center.

"Elaine, I can tell you have something on your mind."

The light blonde looked up from her thoughts, meeting my gaze. Her lips were drawn straight but I could tell that I was right. She half shook her head but after a moment, she spoke up, "I don't know Aaron. I'm starting to think if I'm even needed here."

I stayed silent, not wanting to disturb her thoughts. Elaine paused for a moment, waiting for a response but when I remained quiet, she decided to continue.

"Even Professor Rowan could see the difference in strength between the three of us. I'm just not at that level... yet." She shook off her doubts, now thinking clearly. "While I'm here, I'm going to train so that we can stand on even ground."

At that, Elaine was satisfied. It was always important to establish goals so that we were motivated to reach our very best. The light blonde pulled me into a quick hug, kissing the side of my cheek before leaving for Sage Town.

Once again, I found myself alone on a journey. I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me as I wandered the city. Soon enough, I found myself at the city gate with Oreburgh City just beyond. The paved road lead toward a cave but I could already see the city in the distance.

Dragonite had decided to join me on the short journey, taking care of the mysterious egg. We had been walking for thirty minutes or so when the dragon pokemon nudged my arm to get my attention. As I turned to face her, I could see that she was motioning to the egg.

I moved a little closer, the sound of my footsteps echoing in the large, empty cave. As I focused on the egg, I could see it twitching ever so slightly as if the pokemon was almost ready to hatch. The remaining four pokemon, who had all been resting, emerged from their pokeballs to meet the new team member.

The five of us were stood around Dragonite who was carefully holding the egg at the center of the circle. It continued to shake, each movement becoming more and more exaggerated as the egg slowly began to crack. As the pale shell crumbled off, everyone began leaning closer to see what pokemon had been in the egg this whole time.

"Hold up guys. We should give the pokemon some space."

Everyone sheepishly looked away. I, too, was excited to see who the new pokemon was but I didn't want to overwhelm the young pokemon straight away.

Just as I turned my attention to the egg, it cracked open to reveal the pokemon. A small green scaled pokemon emerged from the egg. Its wide yellow eyes flickered from face to face before turning to me. As I read the pokemon's aura, I could see that it was healthy and felt safe.

"Wow, a Dreepy. Now that letter makes sense!"

As the memories of the mysterious letter came rushing back to me, I scrambled around my bag, searching for it. After a moment, I was able to find it and began to read it to the group.