- Blessed by Divinity -

The Right Trainer

The journey to Couriway Town was fairly short. My pokemon and I were determined to get to Snowbelle City, our next destination, so that we could work for our eighth and final gym battle. Couriway Town was only a short stop on our longer path.

As soon as I stepped foot into the town, I felt the cool moist breeze gently brush against my face. I looked around quickly, my eyes falling on a huge cascade of water, crashing right before me. I guess I didn't notice it at first as I was absorbed in my thoughts, but now that my mind had returned to reality, I could drink in the beautiful sight right before by eyes.

A few pokemon were lounging around at the base of the waterfall, enjoying the gentle push of the water as they lay in and around the small lake. I turned slightly to the right, noticing that there were much more, smaller waterfalls, each with pokemon living their lives beside them.

I tore my eyes from the waterfalls before me, turning to the main town. Unlike some previous towns and cities, the architecture here was much simpler. The buildings appeared conventional in size and structure. Besides the pokemon center, most of the buildings here looked more old-fashioned in appearance. Quickly, I found myself staring at the town around me, breathing in the atmosphere.

"Aaron!"

A jovial sounding voice caught my attention, turning my focus away from the interesting town buildings. I spun on my heels at the sound of footsteps, my eyes falling on a tall, grey-eyed man, whose pitch black hair sat atop his smiling face. The large white lab coat gave away his identity, not that he seemed to be hiding it.

"Professor Sycamore, it's good to see you."

I returned the polite greeting as the pokemon professor extended his hand. His excited manner indicated that there was something that he wanted to tell me.

"I have heard plenty of stories about your gym battle from all over Kalos! I also heard about your work at the pokeball factory in Laverre City. You seem to be a prodigious trainer in the making."

I nodded, noting that Professor Sycamore heard about what happened in the factory, telling me that he knew of and about Team Flare.

"If you don't mind, I would like to challenge you to a pokemon battle. All this talk of a powerful young trainer has seemed to reignite my passion for battling!"

Without taking the time to consider, I accepted the request. I had heard that Professor Sycamore used to be a very strong in his youth. Admittedly, I was interested how a battle between the two of us would end.

A few minutes later, the two of us were stood at either end of one of the local battlefields. The pokemon professor had an excited look on his face, mirroring how I felt.

"I have a surprise for you, Aaron! I'm sure you'll be excited by this."

At that, Professor Sycamore sent out his chosen pokemon. A tall blue scaled pokemon was released. Her body was covered in glistening white spikes, a red underbelly and yellow star symbol on her head. Long, thin fins extended from the pokemon's arms and back, giving her the appearance of a shark.

Around the Garchomp's neck, a silver pendant hung, a dark purple stone with a red and yellow spiraled core hung. The mach speed pokemon let out a deafening roar, showing off her clear power.

"Sceptile, let's show them our power."

The grass pokemon emerged from his pokeball, staring down his opponent who was not backing down an inch. Quickly, Sceptile looked back to me, nodding in understanding as our thoughts synced up once more.

"I was hoping that Sceptile would be your choice Aaron. After all, we've got something special to show you."

Acknowledging that our opponent was Professor Sycamore's strongest, Sceptile and I knew that we had to be cautious.