Welcome to New Locasa City!

We finally made it to New Locasa City and my first impressions of the city was already extremely high. It was a massive city with many attractions and even had a few trainers making cameo appearances in the hit talkshow, PokeTalk.

"Oh! Look! It's Whitney on the screen!" Winter pointed out.

I looked at the giant screen on one of the buildings and noticed Whitney, a Gym Leader from Johto, was making a guest appearance at Estral. "Huh, so there are other trainers from other regions here. That's refreshing to know."

"Well while you two sightsee with each other, I'm gonna go find the gym and beat the gym leader. See ya." Raven said and walked off.

"Yeah. I have weaklings to crush with Ruina!" Lilith said and walked off.

I smiled at them and looked at Winter, Dewott, Victini, and Fennekin. "Well are you all ready to go explore?"

"You bet I am!~ But first, hotel searching time. I hear there are a lot of hotels to choose from here." Winter said and pulled up her map on her phone.

We decided to sit on a nearby bench and search for hotels we could stay at. We soon found a hotel called Grand Plains. We got up and headed straight for the hotel using the navigator on Winter's phone. In New Locasa City, there were mostly Normal Type Pokemon here. This gave me a slight idea on what the Gym was gonna be like.

We soon found the hotel and entered the building. In the lobby area, we found the receptionist had an Audino beside her unlike the last receptionist at Azurglow who didn't have a Pokemon helper. I noticed a woman at the desk who resembled the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia a lot with her blonde hair and black clothing. She had her hair tied in a low ponytail. Next to her was a Gible, a shiny one at that.

The woman got her key card then looked back at us. She recognized me from the ship and smiled. "Wow. So that Victini is actually yours."

I looked up at Victini who was resting on my head then looked back at the woman. "You look an awful lot like-"

"Cynthia? I get that a lot." The woman said with a slight laugh then walked to us. "My name is Aria. I was created from the same cells as Cynthia well not of Cynthia but of her ancestors."

"You're an Artificial Human?" Winter asked surprised.

"Yeah. I was originally created to serve a purpose regarding a certain legendary Pokemon, but my mother didn't want me pursuing that goal and just wanted me to live a normal life." Aria said and looked down at Gible. "This is my partner, Gibby."

I looked at Gible and he gave a happy smile at us. Dewott, Victini, and Fennekin greeted back with gentle smiles. I took out my phone and pointed it at Gible.

[Pokemon: Gible

Nickname: Gibby

Gender: Male

Type: Dragon/Ground

Ability: Sand Veil

Morale: Normal

Bond Link: 70%

Status Condition: None

Moves: Dragon Claw, Sandstorm, Stealth Rock, Iron Head, Swords Dance, Thunder Fang, Scale Shot]

"Pretty cool Gible you have there." I said. "Sandstorm with Sand Veil is a serious combo."

"I know right? I taught Gibby Sandstorm so his ability would have good use. It would've been cooler to have Rough Skin, but I like how unique my Gibby is with Sand Veil. Almost everyone who has a Garchomp has Rough Skin as an ability due to it being more 'viable in battle' according to the more hardcore battlers of this region." Aria said.

"Oh Aria, do you know about Team Myth?" Winter asked.

"Team Myth? Yeah I know of those crooks. They are looking for Pokemon with Mythic Power and it's sickening what they do with that power. I have a goal of defeating their boss and their boss is said to have originated from Sinnoh or...Hisui." Aria said.

"Mythic Pokemon. Could this be the same pokemon like that part Dragon Type Magikarp?" Winter asked.

"Probably. All I know is they are able to force Pokemon who normally don't have Megas to Mega Evolve and pokemon who don't have a G-Max Form to Gigantamax." Aria said.

"Hm...seems like they are trying to recreate the Darkest Day again, but I thought Eternatus was captured." I said.

"I don't know what exactly they are planning but it seems their plan is still in Phase One. Anyway, I watched your battle against Captain Surge and decided I wanted to give you this." Aria said then handed me a Sun Stone.

"A Sun Stone? What for?" I asked.

"To evolve your Petilil. I want to battle you, but I want you to be stronger. You have three Pokemon, and I have three Pokemon. An even match. Plus I wanna see where you truly stand now." Aria answered.

"Right. Okay. I accept your challenge." I said.

Aria nodded and walked off. Winter and I walked to the desk and purchased a key card we could use to get into our room. We headed toward the elevator and rode the elevator to our floor then headed to our room to set our stuff down. We walked in and set our belongings down. As I was about to leave, Winter grabbed my hand.

I looked back at Winter and wondered what was wrong. "What's up?"

"I'm kind of tired. We spent days on that boat...I have ship lag." She said then sat on the bed.

"You do know that...Nevermind. I guess I'm in no hurry right now. It wouldn't hurt to take a little break." I said.

"Yay!~" Winter said then let go of my hand then got all the way on the bed then laid down to take a quick nap.

I sat in a seat next to the window and watched the scenery of New Locasa City. The city was bustling with people and pokemon, street performers. The city honestly reminded me of Castelia City with their skyscrapers and people running back and fourth in and out of the area. Victini looked out the window as well and stared. This city also reminded them of Castelia City.

...

An hour went by and Winter had finally woken up from her nap then noticed me laying on the other bed, scrolling through my phone and Dewott and Victini playing with each other in the middle of the room.

She smiled and sat up then rubbed her eyes. She stretched and made a tiny sound. "Hey, you actually stayed for this long?"

"Why would I? I don't leave anywhere without my partner." I said then sat up.

Winter blushed a little and let out a soft giggle. "You honestly didn't have to stay."

I shrugged and looked at her. "You've been with me since I started, wouldn't make much sense to have fun without you. Hopefully Aria isn't mad about me standing her up."

"Oh right! You did say you would battle her right?" Winter said then hopped out of bed quickly, surprisingly Fennekin with her sudden movement.

I chuckled and got out of bed then stretched. "Calm down. It's no rush at this point."

"Come on! You're about to battle someone who has dang there the same genes as THE CYNTHIA! I wouldn't want to miss this legendary battle for anything!" Winter said.

I smiled at her and crossed my arms. I called Petilil from her pokeball then she let out a cheerful cry and looked up at me. I crouched down and pulled the Sun Stone from my pocket then looked at her. "Do you think you're ready for Evolution?"

Petilil looked at the Sun Stone then looked back up at me then let out a happy cry. She hopped up and tapped the Sun Stone then her body began to shine brightly as she underwent an evolutionary process. She grew in size and evolved into a Lilligant. My phone buzzed and I took it out of my pocket.

[Lilligant forgot previous moves and learned new moves!]

[Lilligant learned Quiver Dance, Swords Dance, Petal Dance, Giga Drain, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Solar Blade, Leaf Blade, Energy Ball, Grassy Terrain, Ingrain, Synthesis, Aromatherapy, Teeter Dance, Leaf Storm, ???, and ???]

Lilligant hopped up and down happily and twirled around. I smiled at Lilligant then stood up. We were ready to take on Aria and test our might against her. Dewott and Victini were happy for Lilligant. We made out way to the door and exited the room. We then took an elevator to the first floor and left the hotel.

We went to the Pokemon Center and saw Aria there sitting at a table with her Gible, Shiny Riolu, and Shiny Roselia. I walked over to the table and sat in one of the seats.

"It's about time you showed yourself in my presence. I was thinking you had gotten scared and tucked tail." Aria smiled and opened her eyes.

"Well I don't run from any challenge no matter how small. I was simply just resting. I'm ready to take you on at anytime! Lily just evolved and she's ready to throw down." I said and Lilligant gave Aria a determined cry.

Aria looked at Lilligant and smiled. "Well at any other time, I would happily accept...but there's some trouble going on. The Gym Leader is missing and no one knows where she's at. I was planning to go on a search for her with a few other trainers."

"This scenario again? It has to be Team Myth." Winter said.

"My thoughts exactly. They've really let themselves be known. They couldn't have gone down Route 3 or the Locasa Railway. There's maybe only like three places they can be." Aria said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Sanction Garden, The Underground Ruins beneath New Locasa City, or causing trouble in the plaza." Aria said.

"What could they be stirring up this time. Probably still looking for more Mythic Pokemon. Alright, we will help look for the Gym Leader and possibly stop Team Myth if they are behind her disappearance." I said.

"This is what she looks like." Aria said then slid a picture of the Gym Leader.

It was a beautiful woman with long orange hair, light blue eyes, and freckles. She wore a plain white summer dress and shoes.

"Her name is Miriam. She doesn't only use Normal Types but also Fairy and Grass Type Pokemon as well and even has a Mythic Pokemon on her main team just like Captain Surge does." Aria said.

"Miriam. Got it." I said then stood up. "We'll find her and find out what's going on! Once we finish up with them, we'll have our battle!"

Aria smiled. "Alright. It's a deal then." She said then stood up.

We nodded and hurried off to find Miriam and figure out why she's missing from her Gym.