-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

The City on the Coast

"Hey Aaron, over here!"

A familiar voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up, seeing Dawn, Elaine and Red all stood to the side of the city's department store.

Two days had passed since we were all together and I spent most of that time by Arcanine's side. On both days, the fire type would try to convince me that he was healthy but I wouldn't leave the pokemon center until Nurse Joy cleared him.

When we had last spoken, Red told me all about Veilstone City, warning that it would be safer for me to lay low for a while, especially after the Mount Stark incident. The silent trainer had taken the initiative, searching the city, high and low, far and wide for any signs of Team Galactic.

The moment he got into contact with me, I knew that he had found something. We agreed to meet the girls outside the department store, the three trainers waiting for me.

"..."

Red took the lead, walking off in the direction of a large building stood atop a hill near the city's coast. Dawn quickly recognised what the building was, joining Red as the two trainers walked ahead.

I was walking beside Elaine behind the two trainers ahead of us. Since arriving in Sinnoh, we didn't have any opportunities to spend time with each other, alone. On top of that, Elaine and I had been on opposite sides of the region up until not too long ago. So, this brief moment we shared together highlighted how special she was to me and how much I needed to protect her.

But, Elaine wasn't the same trainer as the girl who arrived in this region a month ago. Maybe it was the time we spent apart but I couldn't help but notice how much she had changed. She was a much more capable trainer and I had a feeling that the time she spent alone with her pokemon had something to do with that.

Soon enough, the four of us were posted up around the building's perimeter. As part of the plan, Elaine and Red took the left, Dawn and I took the right.

From what the blunette had told me about this building, it was originally a front for the Team Galactic HQ. But thanks to a certain young trainer, they were chased out of their base of operations. Since then, the building had been repurposed into a research lab.

Apparently, an unnamed organisation had bought the building out a few years ago. From the outside, I could see all sorts of complex machinery inside the building. Numerous scientists were attending to all sorts of machines, writing down whatever they were seeing on the screens.

"What's so special about this place? It's just a big science lab."

Dawn shook her head, disagreeing. "Wait until we get inside, then you'll see what this building really is."

I followed the blunette's lead as she entered through a back door. We entered into an empty hallway that stretched onward leading to a storage room. Dawn pushed on, moving stealthily across the hallway. I decided against calling out any pokemon as per the blunette's advice.

Not long after we entered the building, we had already moved onto the next floor. As I looked around the second floor, it became more apparent what was going on inside the building. I recognised the Team Galactic uniforms that the grunts were wearing. Dawn pushed forward, not getting distracted by the trainers and scientists.

Before we moved onto the next floor, Dawn took a detour, making her way toward one of the storage rooms. She carefully leaned against the metal door and after a moment, she pulled out a key card. She scanned the card over the scanner but to no avail.

"Where did you even get that from?"

Dawn looked over to me, realising she had a Team Galactic key card in her hand. "Oh, this? I picked it up last time I was here." She turned to the door, a half frown creeping onto her face.