-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Parting Ways

"Alright, we don't have any time to lose here. We should get going to the league." Elaine spoke up, turning away toward the waterfall separating us and victory road.

I had to admit, I was surprised at how much the light blonde had changed. When I first met her, honestly, I didn't think too much of her. Well, she came into the room with Aaron so it wasn't exactly a fair comparison but now, I felt like I was looking at a different person entirely.

When she regrouped with us back in Celestic Town, I had a feeling something about her had changed. After all, the same girl who came to the region would never challenge the standing champion to a battle out of nowhere. Since then, I was only more and more impressed with her and how at much she had changed.

Something must have happened back on her first mission here. None of us knew exactly what but whatever it was, clearly changed something within her. Elaine hadn't opened up about what happened back then which told me that it must have been something important.

Now as we surfed along the calm waters atop the backs of Empoleon and Primarina, the two of us had become much closer. Just like May, the light blonde became someone I viewed as a sister and someone I could rely on.

"Do we seriously have to go through victory road again?" I let out a deep sigh, not wanting to go anywhere near the cave that had given me so much trouble earlier in my training career.

"Yeah, well, how bad can it be?" Elaine turned to me, her eyes filled with innocence. She might have changed, but no amount of training could prepare anyone for the trials of victory road.

Between the countless trainers who had poured years and years into their training, the numerous dangerous wild pokemon and the near untraversable terrain, I wasn't sure which I hated more as a young trainer. Then again, I was sixteen when I arrived here the first time and now five more years had passed and I was sure I wouldn't have to go through those same trials as before.

"Wh- Is it meant to be this... quiet?"

Part of me thought Elaine was joking around but when I followed her into the cave, sure enough, the only thing I could hear was our dull footsteps echoing throughout the huge cave. I quickly looked around, unsure if my mind was playing tricks on me. But the more I looked, it only confirmed what I suspected.

"No, something must have happened here. Keep your eyes out in case whatever came through here is still around."

With that, I took the lead, making my way through the cave with Elaine close behind. Even Empoleon was surprised to see that everything was so quiet, the water type by my side five years ago when we came here the first time.

Around an hour later, we came to a fork in the road. I looked over to my left, seeing that the cave extended on. I recognised this as the route we took before to continue our journey. Then I looked to my right, seeing an opening in the mountainside, the midday sun pouring into the cave from the outside.

I took a step closer to the opening, realising that it wasn't here five years ago. Elaine must have picked up on my confusion, unsure if something was out of place.

"Dawn."

The mention of my name caused me to step back in surprise. I wasn't sure if I heard correctly, looking around frantically for someone who called my name.

"Dawn? Is everything ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." Elaine's face was brim with concern and as I looked to her, it was clear she hadn't heard what I heard.

"You mean, you didn't hear that?"

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