Feridia: Sequel to Pokémon Iona

Three

Armand woke up to a worried sounding voice. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes he turned to see Aviana whispering into a walkie-talkie, a frown on her face. Silently getting out of his sleeping bag, he made his way towards her, Dustox following him.

"...and she was there, Kaia," Aviana was saying, a shaking hand over her mouth. "She...she was so close to me and I...I just froze. I didn't know what to do, and thankfully Treyton stepped in for me. I hoped that I never had to see her again, but when she showed up...everything came flooding back to me..." She let out a choked sob and tears began to roll down her face. "Kaia, I...I just can't live here anymore."

"I know, Aviana," another voice was heard from the walkie-talkie. "I promise you that once that boy is back home, all of us will leave. We will find a way to leave without the Elite Four finding out. Oriana is already looking for one, and if Damon can disappear from Pandora for three years, then we can leave too. Stay strong, my Beautifly."

Aviana let out a small chuckle at this. "I will, my Altaria."

Aviana sighed and put her walkie-talkie away, wiping her eyes.

"'My Altaria'?"

She jumped and turned, but relaxed when she saw Armand standing there.

"I take it you heard us then?" she gave him a small smile.

"Just near the end," Armand replied before walking away from the camp and sitting on the ground. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Aviana hesitantly nodded and joined him, Swanna settling itself in her lap.

"Back when I was fourteen, Trinity and I were best friends," Aviana began, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "We always trained together and we had the same goal as well; to be part of the Elite Four. Through the years we became closer, and even began dating. However, when we were both twenty-three, the current Champion of the region passed away mysteriously, and Pandora soon took charge as the final Elite Four member. She fired the past Elite Four members and took on three more; Weylyn, Sena, and Trinity. At first, I was thrilled for Trinity that she managed to achieve her dream, while I was stuck on gym leader duty, but something changed. The Elite Four became more power-hungry, and soon the entire region was under their control. What they said went, and no one could have dreams anymore. At the beginning of this, word was soon out that Pandora's younger brother, Damon, had vanished. A search was sent out to look for him, but after a year they gave up. During that year, whenever I would see Trinity, I noticed that she had completely changed. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer anymore, and she treated me like...like garbage. Made me question my self-worth." She felt tears form in her eyes and she let them fall. "Luckily, Treyton and Kaia found out what was happening and saved me from her. If they weren't there, I don't know what would have happened to me. I cut off all ties with Trinity and the Elite Four and switched to communicating through a walkie-talkie so she wouldn't be able to track me." She sighed and a small smile formed on her face. "It took me another year to trust again, but when I was able to, I began dating Kaia. That's why I call her 'my Altaria'."

"I-I don't know what to say to that," Armand honestly replied. "I'm really sorry that you had to go through all of that, and I hope that Salma and I can do something about the Elite Four."

Aviana gave a defeated laugh. "It would just be easier to send you, Salma, and Carnol back home. Us gym leaders will find a way out of here."

Armand gave no answer and the two of them sat in silence until Aviana stretched and stood.

"Let's head back to camp," she said, holding a hand out. "I bet Treyton and Salma are already awake."

Armand took the hand, stood, and followed her back to their camp. Just as she had thought, Treyton and Salma were already awake and looking at the map. Treyton drew something with a red marker while speaking and Salma nodded.