-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Reality

Nothing but the void filled my head. My mind couldn't compute anything that was happening to my body and all I could see was emptiness.

Slowly, I felt the strength in my body return. As I returned to consciousness, the entire front of my body was completely soaked. My clothes didn't hold together too well and as I stirred in my half sleep, I found myself lying face down in a shallow lake.

I sputtered up water as I cleared my lungs. My body was weak but I willed it to move, slowly floating to the bank of the shallow lake.

As I made my way to land, I hauled myself over the rocky bank, sitting on the grassy floor. Fatigue ran through my veins, causing me to collapse onto my back. My eyes wandered the sky, seeing that the sun was shining bright overhead. There weren't too many clouds, a few bird pokemon gliding through the blue sky peacefully.

An air of tranquility settled around me as I slowly rebuilt the strength in my body. I sat up on the grassy floor, looking out to the shallow lake beside me.

But what shocked me most was that this lake was surrounded by a large hill on all sides. There was no easy way out from what I was looking at, the hills shielding the lake from the outside world.

After a while, I stood up to my feet, brushing off the excess dirt and grass from my soaked clothes. I decided that I would be better off if I wasn't encumbered by the increased water weight so I took off my shirt, underwear and socks. In the sunny weather, I was sure they would dry up in no time but for now I would have to go without them. At that, I threw my bag over my shoulders, looking for my next step.

My memories slowly returned to me, remembering the insane battle my pokemon and I went through in the Distortion World. The peaceful environment must have been a sign that something went right back there.

Unfortunately, I was without the help of my pokemon for now. They all deserved to rest do it was up to me to get us out of this situation. I turned around, scanning the scenery. The moment I turned around, I stood face to face with a daunting cave entrance.

Deciding against doing something reckless, I turned to the rocky outcropping that lead up to the hilltop. I let out a deep sigh, shaking the fatigue from my body as I got to climbing.

The natural path paved the way for me as I arrived at the hill's top. Thankfully, the ground was flat and lead to a forest just below. I didn't have anything else to follow so I let nature guide me. I made my way down the sloped hillside, moving through an opening in the trees that lead to a short route.

Without hesitating, I pushed on, moving across the grassy path, arriving at a crossroads. At last, I had found some semblance of the real world. My eyes looked to my right and left, seeing pokemon trainers of all ages going about their lives like normal. They had no clue what unfolded beneath their world, but that was no fault of theirs.

"Hey look! It's Aaron!"

A voice rang out to my left and as I turned to see who it was, a young boy was pointing in my direction. His callout caught the attention of other trainers who were all looking at me now.

Feeling a sense of unease well up in my stomach, I had to take a step back. Remembering that there was a significant price on my head. After going through everything back at the Distortion World, I felt I didn't deserve this to say the least.

It didn't take long for a crowd of trainers to surround me, all of them vying for my head. With my pokemon out of battling condition, there was no way out for me. Even I couldn't sweet talk a crowd this big so it looked like there was no hope.

As a few trainers called out their pokemon, ready to attack, I felt something swoop down and take me into the air. It took me a moment to realise what had happened but as I looked around, I was already high in the sky, surfing along the clouds.