- Blessed by Divinity -

A Rival's Return

Following the battle with Professor Sycamore, Sceptile and I pledged to work even harder during training. The loss reminded me that there was still a lot more to do in order to get anywhere close to the top. Both Sceptile and I were excited to try out his new mega evolution but no battle ever reached boiling point, meaning that we couldn't put all of our emotion into it.

The following week, Vulpix and I found ourselves stood at the entrance gate to the city. The snow fox pokemon was the most eager to train, wanting to prove her battling prowess which had gone mostly untested. However, I assured her that her training was sufficient enough for her to battle toe to toe against her fellow ice types.

"Snowbelle City really is something, huh."

Excited nods from the fox assured me that this city was really marvelous. The rustic architecture complimented the snowfall, snow laying untouched on the roofs of every building. Unfortunately, the gym was not open on this day as Wulfric, the gym leader, had other business to attend to. That meant that our gym battle was currently on hold, postponing the day's plans.

"Hey Aaron!"

A jovial voice from in front caused me to look up from my seat at the pokemon center. I hadn't had any plans so I decided to check in at the pokecenter. My eyes fell on a boy who wore a royal blue puffed out jacket. Thick brown fur was attached to the hood that covered the head of the obsidian haired boy. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, clearly wanting to keep them warm.

As he stepped into the pokemon center, another person walked in behind him. A honey blonde girl followed the boy, wearing a bright pink puffer jacked with a short red hat atop her head. I noticed that her hair was significantly shorter than the last time we had seen each other.

I stood up to greet my two neighbours, Vulpix sitting on the table beside us. Instantly, Serena noticed her, complimenting her on how 'cute' she was. I could tell the snow fox was trying to hide her blushing, she really loved the list of compliments.

"Yeah, but it's not open for the day so I've got to wait for tomorrow."

Calem acknowledged my comment, adding that he was here for the battle as well. His tenacity amazed me, always making me think about how he acquired his attentive nature.

The obsidian haired boy also went on to tell me that he and Serena had been travelling the remainder of Kalos ever since the Lumiose incident. The honey blonde appeared to be quite the performer, earning two out her three princess keys on the pair's journey.

"I think I'm going to have a rest in my room for a while. The journey through the snow really tired me out."

Both Calem and I nodded understandingly as the honey blonde stood up from her seat beside Vulpix, making her way to the stairwell beside Nurse Joy's front desk.

At that, my remaining neighbour and I decided that we would have another battle, wanting to test out the other's strength. Thankfully, the heavy snow had appeared to calm down as the sun reached its peak.

As we made our way to one of the nearby battlefields, Vulpix began to bark at a particular spot on the snowy ground. She had wandered off the path that Calem and I were walking on, directly to that spot in the dirt. I went over to see what the problem was, seeing a faint glint out of the corner of my eye.

I crouched beside the snow fox pokemon, my eyes glued to the ice blue hue given off by the buried stone. Instinctively, I picked it up out of the dirt, brushing off the snow to see what the stone was. The smooth edges were coloured white but nearer the center, the stone appeared blue creating a visibly pleasing colour scale.