VWOOOSH! I landed, on my face, back in the regular world. But where the hell was I? The sun was rising over the trees with an orange flare, which lit up the sky like a torch in a cave. A very dark cave with lots of little fireflies. The cave was disappearing, though. I lifted my head up and saw Cynthia standing there.
"Oh, you're here." Cynthia pulled me up. Once I was able to stand, I saw a large hot spring in front of me. "Oh, it's... this place..." said Cynthia almost in disgust.
"What is this place, though?"
"It's the Sendoff Spring. It's said to somehow lead to the great beyond..."
"Or, the Distortion World. Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily call that place great."
"Yeah, me neither... oh...! I'm so sincerely sorry! You... you're incredible! You are a fantastic trainer! I will say this on behalf of all Sinnoh: Thank you!"
"For what? All I did was stop Giratina from distorting our world."
"No, not only that, you finally learned an act of forgiveness..."
"...! Oh right! I almost forgot about that!"
"You showed great courage, forgiveness, and kindness. You do have what it takes to be the ultimate trainer!"
"Woah, woah, wait a second! Did you doubt me?"
"Oh, no, no! Quite the opposite, actually. I believed in you, I believed that you weren't completely black hearted. I wasn't going to give up that thought, no matter what. Even if you caused a genocide, I wouldn't change my thoughts about you to save my life! You changed those thoughts for me, though! Thank you, thank you..." She leaned forward and hugged me. I was kind of startled by the sudden action, but I hugged her back. "You are a true hero. A true hero doesn't get that title from just saving lives or defeating evil, a true hero gets his title from showing great acts of courage, forgiveness, kindness, bravery, all of that. And you did! That's what makes you a true hero. You have good in you after all."
"Um, thank you, Cynthia." She let go and she waved goodbye as I climbed the rock wall and exited the spring and returned back to the world I knew, back to society.
The sun was rising beautifully in the east. I found myself to be on Route 214, back on the road to victory. I continued south until I reached Hotel Grand Lake. I noticed that the guy who was blocking the path out to the east route wasn't there anymore. I concluded that Sunyshore City must be back to normal after the Team Galactic incident. Seeing as there was no guy there, I saw it as my opportunity to take my very first step onto this new route. I saw a sign further up ahead which told me that I was on Route 222.
"YAHOO! I've done it! I'm on my way to victory! WOOHOO!" I ran around the route, admiring the scenery, taking in the new air that was the sea air, fighting trainers, and encountering new Pokémon. I stayed on the route for a while until the sun was high in the sky. The sun was bright, it was beautiful. Once I was done though, I exited east to the final city of Sinnoh, Sunyshore City.
Sunyshore City. Just the name alone sounds nice and warming. There was quite a lot to see in the medium-sized coastal city. Well, first of all, there was the regular Pokémon Center and Pokémart, which I went to first. To the northwest of the Pokémart was a festive market. And holy shit, you wouldn't believe how much stuff they had there. It was a very friendly market. There was loud, cheery music playing with lots of vendors shouting to buy their merchandise and other friendly chatter. They were selling regular old stuff, like Pokéballs, potions, repels, and stationery, which kind of defeated the purpose of the Pokémart I was just at. But then they had lots of Pokémon merchandise, like Pokémon backpacks and bags, hats, artwork, and even Pokémon Cards. Huh. When I was done looking at stuff, I went to go look at other things that Sunyshore City had to offer. To the east, there was a weird Pokémon statue and to the southeast (I mean, it is a coastal city for crying out loud). To the north, there was a sandy shore. Standing there was a girl in a white dress. I approached the girl who I heard talking to herself.
"I wonder when he'll be back from the lighthouse. He should be back by now."
"Hello."
"Oh, uh, hi. Sorry, I was just talking to myself. I probably shouldn't do that..."
"Not a problem, miss. By the way, what's your name?"
"I'm Jasmine. You?"
"I'm Vincent, but you can call me Vinny. I'm training to become the strongest person in the world. I just so happen to be a half-Charizard. See?" I showed her my Flame Ball.
"Interesting. I'm a gym leader, from another region called Johto."
"Oh yeah. I've heard of it."
"It's quite nice, actually. I'm here just to visit Volkner, though. But he's suffering from depression. I'm doing all I can to help."
"Are you two, like, besties or something?"
"He's, um, sort of my boyfriend."
"Sort of? Either he is or he isn't."
"Oh. He is."
"Why is he depressed anyway? Where is he?"
"He's on the top of the lighthouse, and the reason he's depressed is because there hasn't been too many trainers around lately, so he's lost his quote unquote 'spark' for battle. So ever since then, he's been depressed."
"Man, poor guy. Don't worry, I'll help him get his spark back! I'll give him such an energizing battle that his spark will turn into a lightning bolt!"
"You'll do that?"
"Yeah! I'll give him the battle of a lifetime!"
"Oh, thank you so much! I can't thank you enough."
So I set off towards the lighthouse and took the elevator all the way to the top. I got a little dizzy, because I was acrophobic. On top of the lighthouse, there was a sailor and a youngster looking out into the distance. Probably father and son. Then I saw him. Volkner. He was sitting in a chair and looking sadly into the distance, longing for something.
"Haaaaahhh... if only there was someone... just anyone... a battle is all I need, but no one comes here these days..." He let out a huge sigh. I sat down next to him.
"Hey, man. You alright?"
"No... I... I'm not. No one ever comes to the gym anymore."
"Well, I think I can help you. I'm a new challenger."
"Oh, really? I just renovated the gym. I've no need to be here anymore. More than anything, I want a battle that will thrill me again. So, as the toughest gym leader in Sinnoh, I'm going to unleash everything in my arsenal on you. I won't hold back." He left, looking a bit more happy.
I looked out the binoculars in the lighthouse and saw the most beautiful thing: the Pokémon League. I was almost there, almost to victory, almost the champion.
I made my way to the gym across the solar panel walkways and saw a man with a red afro standing in front of the gym.
"Um, who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Flint, Volkner's friend. So, I see he's finally come back from the lighthouse. Is this your doing?"
"Oh, yeah, I motivated him- oof" Flint patted me on the back rather hard, but hurting his hand in the process because of my bones.
"Good job, little dude! Now, I want you to go in there and give him a battle so energetic that it'll rekindle his passion for battle! I'll see you around, um, I didn't catch your name."
"Vinny. Call me Vinny."
"Okay. Got it. I'll remember. See you at the Pokémon League!" He walked away, whistling.
I entered the gym and made my way around the gears and cogs in the gym. I fought every trainer in that gym and with my Pokémon as well. Gyarados and Fearow would've been at a disadvantage, and Pikachu's attacks wouldn't be that powerful against Electric types. But Pupitar was very helpful, in that his attacks were rock and ground type attacks, and he could wipe out all electric types with Earthquake. I had my fire attacks which worked alright against the electric types. Finally, I got to Volkner. He looked pretty eager for a fight, as he didn't talk much and just sent out his Pokémon. First, a Jolteon, then a Raichu, and then a Luxray. I easily defeated those tough Pokémon with Pupitar, but there was one more Pokémon. Volkner, now very energized, sent out his final Pokémon, Electrive. Pupitar wasn't so easily taken down by Electrive's attacks, in which it returned the favor by letting out an even stronger Earthquake than before and after the attack, Pupitar evolved into a Tyranitar! I guess all that training payed off, huh? Volkner wasn't upset that he lost, but rather the opposite. He was happier than a king. He gave me the Sunyshore City Beacon Badge and TM57, Charge Beam. He told me of the Pokémon league and how tough it was and that I should prepare for it. I told him that he shouldn't always stay at the gym and travel to sustain his passion for battle. I exited the gym and walked up to the shore up north and saw Jasmine still standing there. I told her of me defeating Volkner and restoring his passion for battle. She seemed pretty happy about it and gave me HM07, Waterfall and said it was essential if I wanted to reach the Pokémon League. I thanked her and headed north to victory.
I surfed north along Route 223, battling every trainer there to toughen up. I also had Tyranitar swim next to me while I surfed on Gyarados to build up his resistance to Water-type attacks. Soon, we got to Victory Road. I went to seek out every single trainer there to fight them and also toughen up my own Pokémon for the Pokémon League. And soon enough, I got there. I actually took so long in Victory Road that it was nighttime. The Pokémon League was on top of a tall cliff with a waterfall leading up to it. I had Gyarados surf up the waterfall and when I got to the top, I entered the Pokémon League.
Victory was within my grasp.
