-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

The Mining City

"Hey Aaron! It's a shame we didn't get to battle at the Champion's Tournament but I'm sure we'll battle soon. I've arrived in Kalos but I was told by a masked man and his Blaziken that you were away from the region."

I paused for a moment before continuing with the second part, "I trust that this pokemon egg will end up in your care. Take care and raise this pokemon well. Leon."

At that, I folded the letter up, returning it to my bag. Everyone returned their focus on the mission, the city gates only around the corner from where we were stood. All of the pokemon returned to their pokeballs, with the exception of Aegislash.

Quickly, the royal sword pokemon and I moved through the city gates, careful not to gather any unwanted attention. I noticed that the gates weren't guarded, meaning anyone could walk into the city from the cave but I knew not to underestimate Team Galactic. They operated in a similar way to their Kalosian counterpart but I could tell they were much more widespread than Team Flare.

As Aegislash made our way through the city, nothing seemed to be out of place. I couldn't see anyone dressed up in Team Galactic attire but Aegislash and I still kept our guard. The first place of interest we checked out was the pokemon center. Upon entering, we were greeted by Nurse Joy in the same say we would be greeted in any other pokemon center.

I scanned the open space, seeing that there were no other trainers in the center. The nurse was stood behind the desk and as we slowly approached, I could see that something was wrong.

"Nurse Joy? Is everything-"

"Welcome to the pokemon center. Would you like to rest your pokemon?" The pinkette cut me off, emphasising her question. I could see a strained look on her face and after a moment of realisation, I agreed.

Instead of taking my pokeballs, Nurse Joy directed me to one of the back rooms. I kept quiet, unsure why everything was so weird in this city. Thinking back, the roads were all empty and there weren't many people out even though the sun was still shining.

Nurse Joy stopped in front of a door, turning to me, "Thanks for playing along. Now that we're out of the way we can talk properly."

I remained silent, nodding to allow the nurse to continue. "Team Galactic monitors everything in this city, including the gates. Unfortunately, they already know you're here trainer. This door leads to a passage which will take you straight to the gym."

Carefully, Nurse Joy opened the door, revealing a descending staircase. Aegislash and I exchanged knowing looks, understanding that we still had to be careful.

"You'll meet Roark, the gym leader. He'll be able to tell you more about Team Galactic and hopefully with your help we can retake our city."

Aegislash and I agreed to help the nurse, turning toward the staircase as she returned to the front desk. The ghost pokemon hesitated for a second which caught my attention. I took a step back, looking down the staircase. After reassuring him, the two of us descended to staircase which lead into a long hallway which stretched in the rough direction of the city's gym.

Not long after, we reemerged through one of the gym's back doors. As we stepped into the open space, I could see a large crowd of people gathered in the main area of the gym. On the gym leader's podium was stood a tall young man who wore a crimson red miner's helmet. We made eye contact for a brief moment but that was all it took for him to make his way over to me.

"Boy is it good to see another trainer."

He extended his hand which I firmly shook. The man introduced himself as the city's gym leader as he stood beside me, looking over the crowd of people who had been gathered in the gym.

"Ever since Team Galactic showed up, this has become the only safe space in the city. We're very underhanded and we can use all the help we can take to reclaim our city."

I nodded in understanding as I turned my attention to the people beneath us. There were people of all ages and professions but one thing was clear, none of them were trainers who could stand up to Team Galactic.

"How long have Team Galactic been in control of this city?"

"Ah man, it's been a while. They came out of nowhere and before we could do anything, they had taken control over the mining museum." He paused for a moment, before continuing, "You look like you can take care of yourself kid. If you can get into the museum I can get reinforcements to you."

Now that I understood the situation, Aegislash and I made preparations to make our way to the museum. I quickly messaged Dawn, filling her in on everything I learned about Team Galactic before making my way back to the pokemon center via the secret passage.

As the two of us emerged from the staircase, the sound of voices caught our attention. Instinctively, the royal sword pokemon slipped into the shadows as I positioned myself around the corner to the main room.

"We know he came here. So what's it gonna be? The trainer or your kid's life?"

The cries of a young girl were all it took for me to spring into action. I called on the help of the forest pokemon as Aegislash reemerged from the shadows to confront the people. As we turned the corner, I was caught in a deadlock between the two Team Galactic grunts who were trying to get something out of Nurse Joy.

As they sent out their pokemon, Sceptile and Aegislash easily took care of them. In shock, the two grunts ran out of the door, leaving the young girl in the pokemon center. She ran to her mother's side and the two began to cry as they pulled one another into a tight hug.

I felt my fist clench with determination to chase these criminals out of the city. Team Galactic needed to pay and I was going to make sure they did.