-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

New Competition

Somewhere above Pastoria City

I wasn't awake for too long before Dragonite had neared our destination. Beneath us, we could see the settlement on Sinnoh's south coast, Pastoria City. Even though night had fallen, the city was still very much alive, the streets still bustling with people.

Dragonite landed just outside the city, near to the entrance gate. As the two of us walked through, the officer stationed at the gate nodded to us, bidding us a good night. To the unknown eye, I was a trainer on their journey to collect all of the region's gym badges.

Once we stepped through into the city, I felt a familiar aura wash over me. It was dark and unpleasant but I felt some comfort in its cold embrace. Dragonite had picked up on this too, now more alert. Truth be told, I was extremely tired from all the adventuring up until this point. Without paying much attention to the surrounding city, I made my way to the pokemon center, passing the entrance to The Great Marsh. From what I had heard from Elaine, this served as the region's safari zone meaning rare pokemon lived there in abundance.

"Welcome trainer, you're just in time for the city's Millennium Festival!"

Dragonite and I exchanged uncertain looks, this being the first time either of us had heard of such a celebration. Nurse Joy must have picked up on our confusion, elaborating, "Oh, I'm not too surprised if you haven't heard of the festival. After all, we only celebrate it once every one thousand years."

I stayed silent, waiting for Nurse Joy to continue. After a few minutes of explaining, we learned that this festival originated from the Hoenn region to celebrate the passing of a comet that could only be seen every one thousand years. The festival lasted for a week and attracted people from all over to take part in the festivities.

Of course, this begged the question how such a festival had become a staple of the Sinnoh region. As it turns out, the comet is visible from Pastoria City and a select few other places on the region's south coast. Naturally, my interest was piqued and I knew that such a festival must have enticed all sorts of people, including organisations like Team Galactic who would undoubtedly use this festival as a means to further their own goals.

After hearing about this festival, I didn't feel tired anymore. It was a shame that Elaine and the others weren't here to celebrate the festival but it lasted a week and I knew I couldn't let them miss out on something like this.

As we exited the pokemon center, Dragonite and I sat on one of the benches outside to catch our breath. The orange scaled dragon could see I was deep in thought so she took the skies, surveying the area for anything suspicious.

Now that I was alone, I focused my attention on the watch on my wrist. I hadn't used it since Dawn and I had been given them all the way back in Celestic Town but I guessed this was the time to try them out.

The device came to life, two options on the digital screen. From what I could see, both Red and Dawn were doing just fine which was a relief. I paused for a moment, hesitating to reach out to them but after thinking it over, I initiated the call. The line rang, buzzing for a moment and after a minute I thought that it would end there.

"Aaron? Aaron! Oh my, it's really you."

Dawn's voice sounded through the watch, a white light hologram of the blunette appearing out of the watch face. I let out a sigh of relief, seeing that she was okay.

"Where are you? We've got a lot to talk about. Team Galactic managed to escape and they have more legendary pokemon with them."

"Pastoria City. You guys should get here as soon as possible, I have a feeling something's coming my way."

"Right, we're headed to Valour Lakefront so we'll be there in a few days. Sit tight and don't do anything too dangerous."

I smiled at her comment, "No promises." The line went dead, the watch face shutting off. Now that Elaine, Dawn and Red were headed my way, I only had to sit tight but who knows how long I'd be waiting for them.

Dragonite returned from the skies, landing a few feet in front of me. She had a neutral look on her face and I could tell that the area was clear for now. Team Galactic were more than a handful and for once I just wanted to take a break from dealing with them.

Now that I had a moment to myself, I appreciated how important it was to have time for yourself. Since I had come to Sinnoh, I had been too wrapped up in all this Team Galactic business to even have a day to myself. I knew it was selfish, after all, Team Galactic wouldn't take the day off just because I was. But that's what made me human. We're all selfish to our own desires in some way.

I looked around, seeing people gathered in the streets, decorations lining the sidewalks. All sorts of festival stands and food stalls had been set up, families at all stages of their lives enjoying the Millennium Festival. The night was still young and I could see most of the crowd making their way to the coast to enjoy the moonlit beach.

Without wasting another second, I released all of my pokemon, all intrigued by what they were surrounded by.

"Let's enjoy the night while we can. But keep your eyes out for anything, you know, suspicious."

All six of the pokemon in front of me nodded in understanding, turning around to see the festival in all its glory. Sure enough, this atmosphere was unusual and unfamiliar to them but I could see in their eyes how much they wanted to kick back for a day.

Aegislash and Dragapult disappeared into the air, using their ghost type abilities to enjoy the festival their way. Both Sceptile and Arcanine disappeared into the crowd no doubt to stuff their faces with every type of food they could find. That left Dragonite and Ninetails by my side, both more than content to relax under the starry sky as we made our way through the streets, appreciating the beauty of the city.

After a few minutes of walking around, I noticed a large crowd of people gathered near to the city's gym. A makeshift stage had been set up and I could hear the roaring crowd from the other side of the city.

"And that's victory number fourty five for our trainer here!"

Ninetails and I immediately looked to each other, our faces mirroring each other's perfectly. We didn't waste another second, making our way through the crowd to see who this mystery trainer was. The people gathered around the makeshift stage were all fixed on the battle ahead, seeing two trainers in the midst of battle.

Just as quickly as the battle started, it was over. I didn't even have time to see any of either pokemon's moves before the fight was decided. I looked over to the victor, seeing that she was wearing a red bow tie in her light ombre brown hair that fell just past her ears. Her cerulean blue eyes pierced through the night sky and I could see her burning passion for battle from where I was stood.

"And that's victory number fourty six! Is there anyone who can end this trainer's amazing winning streak?"

I could see that everyone else was hesitant to make their way to the stage, fearing that they'd just be another statistic on this trainer's kill list. Without waiting for an invitation, I took to the stage, Ninetails taking a battle stance just in front of me.

"Yeah, I'm next."

The man who was stood at the announcer's station looked a little surprised that I took to the stage so confidently. He hesitated for a moment before turning back to the microphone, "And here we have battle number fourty seven! Will this trainer's streak come to an end?"

I looked over to my opponent, our eyes fixing on each other. Her lips pulled into a smile as she moved her hand to pull out her pokeball. "Hmm, you look a little different to everyone else. Maybe you'll entertain me a little more."

I couldn't help but smile in response. Now that I had a clear view of the girl, I could see that her aura glowed a vibrant gold, much like mine. This was getting more interesting by the minute, "Oh I think I'll do a little more than that."