-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Flying Solo

"Good luck May, and Red! Though I'm not sure you'll need it." I pulled the brunette into a quick hug, not wanting to keep her long. "Sorry about Aaron, it's not like him to sleep in like this."

May only smiled, parting from the hug. "Don't sweat it Dawn. It's not like I won't see him again." At that the brunette turned away from Elaine and I, looking out to the coast across where Togekiss was resting.

A warm smile worked its way onto my face as I saw myself in May's position before. It was true that Red had a habit of vanishing out of nowhere but I knew in my heart that he wouldn't leave for good. "Yeah, he has a way with words but I'm sure we'll see him again."

With that, May said her final goodbyes, waving to the two of us as she took to the skies, atop the back of her Togekiss. Once she disappeared into the clouds, that left Elaine and I stood outside the pokemon center. The light blonde turned to me, her characteristic warm smile on her lips.

"We should probably get Aaron up. We have to leave soon." I followed the light blonde into the pokemon center as she made her way through the back hallway, taking the stairs up to the rooms we had rented out for the night.

From what I understood, Elaine and Aaron were used to having free rooms available to them at pokemon centers. Unlike Kalos, this had only become a prevalent thing in the Sinnoh region quite recently. I guessed we were old fashioned like that, but that didn't stop the change from eventually sweeping the region. Having rooms available to trainers was only ever a blessing because even the most experienced trainers weren't afforded a huge paycheck.

Even as the supposed champion of the region, all of the money I had garnered had come from the later stages of my training career as I neared the top. Then again, that's probably why most parents aren't too fond of their children leaving to 'follow their dream of being a pokemon champion'. At a certain point, most kids realise that they reach their peak much quicker than they had hoped, opting to work with their pokemon in their everyday lives.

For that, I was thankful that I had never reached my ceiling. In fact, I still felt like there was much more for me to learn. With May and Red adding some incredible pokemon to their teams, I realised how much more there was to accomplish, even after becoming the champion of this region. In all honesty, I was hoping that I'd experience a fortunate turn of events like those two but I also knew that good things come to those who wait.

"Oh, there's no way." Elaine's concerned voice pulled me out of my thoughts and as I looked up to her, I could see that her gaze was fixed on her phone screen. From where I was stood I couldn't read the screen but I knew not to push other people's boundaries, despite my curiosity.

"Serena's calling me, so I guess this must be important." Elaine looked from her phone screen, to me, her lips pulled into a half smile. "Could you get Aaron? I think this might take a while."

Without waiting for a response, the light blonde spun on her heels, turning the corner to take her phone call in private. That just left me in the middle of the hallway, outside the room Aaron and Elaine had shared the night before.

Something turned in my stomach as I raised my hand to knock on the door. There was no response, even as I knocked again. I took a step back, calling out a certain phantom pokemon to help me out. The mischievous ghost pokemon had a wide smile on her face but she knew what to do, phasing through the door to open it from the other side.

As the door swung open, Gengar was facing away from me, looking out to the terrace at the other end of the room. The door to the outside balcony was wide open and through the window, I could see Aaron looking out over the city from the terrace. I had to do a double take, unsure I was seeing right but sure enough, Aaron was stood on the balcony, shirtless.