The beginning of a new road {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book II}

II Cilan's P.O.V

Other than training Scraggy and getting to know the newly born pokemon, we did not have a lot of issues getting to Castelia City. That is, until we reached the Skyarrow Bridge. There we met an angry Gothitelle who trapped us in one of her memories! She had a good friend in Sally and in Sally's family, who worked in a water taci. But as soon as the bridge was constructed, they went out of business and moved away. Gothitelle was so sad and angry at being left alone, that she was now taking it out on the people crossing the same bridge that tore her family apart.

Luckily, we did not have to battle her. Sally, now all grown up, showed up and reunited with Gothitelle. After the reunion, Sally caught Gothitelle and we all parted ways.

The troubles followed us into Castelia City. The whole city got overrun by a gigantic colony of angry Venipede! We crossed path with Trip there as well, who had the brilliant (note my sarcasm) idea of battling the Venipede head on. Luckily, Gym Leader Burgh got there in time with a plan to round them up and herd them into the city's Central Plaza until Professor Juniper can figure out what's going on.

Working together, we found every last Venipede and brought them all to the plaza. Professor Juniper ended up discovering an unusual energy emanating from the Desert Resort, just outside Castelia City. She concluded that the underground energy flow must be what had disturbed the Venipede. The professor and Officer Jenny then took off to find out exactly what's happening in the desert, while Gym Leader Burgh stayed behind to look after the Venipede.

Which is why we are now waiting for the issue to be resolved before the gym battles could happen.

At the moment, Ash, who was finally back from Alola, was training with Mega Houndoom. It seems that Mega Houndoom is a new update. Ash had been gifted with a Houndoominite by the International Pokemon League for achieving his second mastery.

"Hey Ash, how are James, Jessie, and Meowth doing?" Riley asked the Generalist Master.

"Good, a vacation in Alola was what Jessie needed, the pregnancy is making her even more... loud..." Ash chose his words carrfully. "They loved the Woobat, I caught for Jessie, and the Yanmega, I caught for James. Though, James had only just received Yanmega. Then again, James loves any pokemon of his," Ash chuckled.

"I'm so happy for them!" Max cheered, then paused. "I never thought I would say that."

"Ha ha ha," Ash laughed, as Mega Houndoom came to stop by his side. Even if Ash was laughing, they made quite an intimidating pair. "Well, we've all grown up a lot this last year."

"It seems that you guys are having fun," Burgh suddenly appeared next to me with a relaxed smile. "It's been a while Cilan."

"We just saw each other during the Venipede situation," I replied with amusement.

"You know what I mean!" Burgh laughed. "We, Gym Leaders, don't get to see each other as much as we should."

"Well, we are tasked with guarding the cities we are stationed in," I told him with a smile, we then hugged. "It's good to see you doing good."

"I was surprised to see you away from Striaton City," Burgh commented as we parted away. "I knew that you've been wanting to go away and travel... but to join The Saint's group? That I did not expect!"

"He is... much more than what we learned from the Unova Pokemon League and the news," I hummed thoughtfully. "He is brave, smart, kind... but also he can be intimidating, imposing, and intense."

"He seems to be quite the character," Burgh hummed. "I can't wait to battle him!"

"Is the situation over?" I asked him excitedly. "Was it Team Plasma?"