You wake up, feeling Lillie's body laying next to you. You carefully stand up and head outside.
No rain had fallen on the tent this night. Good.
You take a fresh breath and sit down under a tree, sending out Lucario:
"So, time for some more training?"
Yes. Sit down in your position.
You sit in a meditating position and close your eyes. Suddenly, you can feel a certain presence. Midos nods, still holding its eyes closed:
You can feel Lillie's presence, can't you? She is in the tent.
You smile, and whisper:
"Yes. I can feel it. This is amazing."
Lucario stands up and summons a bone:
Keep your eyes closed.
You nod, but suddenly, you feel the hard smack of a bone, hitting your face. You sit back up and check your cheek:
"Was that needed?"
It nods:
You have to feel the bone coming at you.
You laugh silently and close your eyes again.
Now, you felt the bone coming, so you managed to dodge it in time.
Stand up.
You rise and stand still, your eyes closed. You duck, evade and dodge the attacks with the bone again and again, 'till Lucario stops the bone inches away from your face:
Where's Lillie?
You smile:
"In the tent."
You hear Lucario making grinning sounds.
Open your eyes.
You open them, and see Lillie sitting behind you in the tree. She gives you a wink and jumps out of it:
"Aura training, isn't it? I've read about it, so I'm not really surprised. I have one question though." She says seriously, and slowly walks towards you and Midos. Suddenly, she's totally freaking out:
"Can you teach me too?"
You laugh, and Lucario nods.
We'll train later. It says, beckoning at Red, who was running up to you:
"Are you leaving already? I thought you were going to stay here for a while?"
You shake your head:
"Lillie and I are going to take on the sixth and seventh Gym! If we succeed, it will only be a while 'till we can fully focus our attention on Team Rocket. And we'll hit them hard."
He sighs and looks around:
"We will." He says, shaking your hand and pointing at the gym:
"You will destroy this Gym too, and I'll be cheering for the both of you."
Lillie blushes:
"Thank you, Red! That's sweet of you."
He nods and turns around, grinning:
"Don't hesitate, now! The world is waiting for you."
And with those words, he walks away. You give Lillie a warm smile, a kiss too, and you stroll to the Gym next. While walking and holding Lillie by her waist, you inform her about the sixth Gym:
"The Gym Leader is called Sabrina. She uses Psychic types."
She nods confidently:
"I'll use Butterfree then. It'll do the trick."
You laugh:
"That's right, I don't have anything that's good against Psychic. I'll start with Rockruff."

You give her one final hug and let her do her battle first:
"Ladies first." You say, smiling sheepishly. She chuckles:
"What a gentleman of a boyfriend I have." She responds, teasing you. You give her a wink, she winks back and enters the Gym.

When you go inside, you see Lillie, standing at the side of the field. You put a thumb up, and she nods, smiling.
Her battle went well.
Sabrina approaches the battlefield:
"Welcome, trainer. I had a vision of your arrival! I am Sabrina, and I am Saffron's Gym Leader. Feel the power of the mind!" She shouts, sending out an Espeon. You send out Rockruff:
"Let's see what you've got!"

Mr. Mime and Espeon had fainted, and Sabrina only had her Alakazam left. You had returned Rockruff and you sent out Metang to take them out with Steel attacks. Now it was Rockruff's time again.
"This isn't over! Alakazam, Psychic!"
Alakazam held his spoons high, and you warn Rockruff:
"Dodge, Rockruff."
But Rockruff kept standing still, and it fainted. You sigh:
"You're stubborn, aren't you? No problem, so am I. Return, Rockruff. Lucario, I choose you."
The wolf appeared on the battlefield, and you can feel the presence of its aura.
This Alakazam is my opponent? No worries.
You grin:
"Then dodge its next attack."
Alakazam used Psychic again, but Lucario managed to dodge the attack and hit the opponent with its bone. Since Alakazam is not a defensive Pokémon, it immediately fainted.
You cheer and hug Lucario:
"Thank you, friend!"
That was the battle? I thought I had to do more.
You chuckle:
"Don't get too cocky now! You battled well, Sabrina. This has been one of the toughest battles I've ever had!"
She nods:
"You were tough, Y/n, but your girlfriend Lillie here is even stronger. She swept through my team as if it wasn't there."
That surprised you:
"Wait, how do you know my name, or Lillie's?"
She smiles:
"I saw it in my visions. You dearly want me to come with you, to help you in the battles to come."
You shrug:
"Well, uhm..."
She shakes her head:
"I can not give you what you want. These battles are too dangerous for Saffron, Kanto, and the world. I will not be a part of its destruction."
You nod:
"I understand."
Lillie was not ready to leave the Gym yet though:
"You're just a coward, Sabrina."
Sabrina rises:
"What did you say?"
Lillie takes a stand:
"I said that you're a coward. You just care about your own life. But what's a life's worth, if everything else is lost? We need your help, Sabrina, the wórld needs your help. If we don't succeed in our mission to destroy Team Rocket, what are you going to do against the entire Team? If you won't fight for us, fight for Saffron City."
You take Lillie apart for a moment, and whisper:
"Lillie, you have a point, but this is a Gym Leader. To convince her, we need to be tactful, and-"
Suddenly, Sabrina approaches you:
"No, Y/n, Lillie is right. I'll fight together with you against Team Rocket. They have been a threat for too long."
You look from Lillie to Sabrina, and they are both smiling. You laugh:
"Well then, welcome! Our HQ is in Celadon City."
She nods:
"I'll be there. Here's your badge."
You received the Marsh badge, and you put it in the box with the other badges.
You give her an understanding look and walk outside with Lillie. Soon, you are sitting on Charizard, flying over to Cinnabar Island. Time was passing, and you had to be fast.

When you are close to arriving, you tell Lillie about the seventh Gym:
"The Gym Leader is a very old man, his name is Blaine. Once, the volcano erupted, and he had to relocate the Gym to the Seafoam Islands. Now he has his precious old Gym back though. He uses Fire types."
Lillie, sitting in front of you, turns around to face you, and lets Charizard fly slower:
"Let me guess, he's fiery?"
You nod, laughing:
"He is, I wouldn't manage to continue battling at that age!"
Lillie smiles and leans back, so that she can rest her head on your chest. Charizard roared and continued the rest of the flight.

There was a lot of commotion going on at Cinnabar Island, and you land to see what's going on. A group of strange pilgrims was standing on a rock, having a speech. Many inhabitants were listening to what they had to say. You and Lillie make your way through the crowd, and the one who seems to be the leader of the pilgrims sees you:
"Young man, what's your name, if I may ask?" He says, stroking his white beard. You step forward:
"I'm Y/n."
The priest-like man takes a step back:
"Blimey! Is it the Alolan Champion?"
You nod:
"It is. What is this all about?"
The man spreads his arms:
"Y/n, which God do you worship?"
You shrug, smiling:
"None, really. But if I had to choose, then I'd choose Arceus, the one and only God out there."
The pilgrim's mouth falls open:
"B-but... have you never heard of Lord Helix, the almighty?!"
Lillie seems confused:
"Y/n... what or who is Lord Helix?" She whispers in your ear. You laugh it away:
"My dear sir, Lord Helix is a hoax, it's a tale."
The priest's followers murmur against each other, clearly angered. The leader speaks again:
"Who do you think you are?!"
You shrug:
"Y/n. You know... it doesn't matter, gods and all the rest of the bunch. See what believing in them does to us? We have so much in common, and yet we still start to fight each other?"
You lock eyes:
"Which God would want thát to happen?"
The man's jaws drop, and you walk away, smiling. Lillie gives you a quick kiss:
"That was amazing! You taught him a hard lesson."
You shrug, sighing:
"Strange Kantonian Gods... where are the Island Guardians?" You ask jokingly.

The red Gym appeared in front of you:
"My turn?" You ask Lillie, giving her a wink. She nods, so you give her a long kiss and head inside.

An old man was sitting on a chair, a staff to lean on in his hand. He had a white moustache and he wore a white hat. He slowly stands up, moaning:
"Hmmm. Sorry, old bones, eh?"
He stands still at the arena:
"I'm Blaine, the Fire type Gym Leader. Let's have a fiery battle, shall we?"
You nod and send out Lucario because he sent out Magcargo.

Your Rockruff was battling Blaine's last Pokémon, which was an Arcanine.
"Rock Throw!"
Arcanine was able to dodge a few rocks, but not all of them. It growled and rushed towards Rockruff, but it used another Rock Throw, and the Arcanine fainted.

"Good battle!" Blaine says, incredibly loud for his age. You shake hands next:
"Thank you, it was! Your Pokémon are amazing!"
A red haired fellow approaches Blaine:
"Sir, there's another trainer that wants to battle you. Do I let her in?"
Blaine waves his hand:
"Yes, yes, let her in." He says, turning back to you:
"Here's your badge, lad. You're nearly there, with only the eighth Gym standing in your way."

You received the Volcano badge, and Lillie had her battle, which she won decisively with her Wartortle.

You were about to leave with Lillie, but you had one final question:
"Sir Blaine, I-... nevermind. It was a stupid question."
He shakes his head:
"There is no such thing as stupid questions."
You sigh:
"Well, I was about to ask if you would like to join us in our hunt for Team Rocket."
He nods:
"Team Rocket... I've seen them in my younger days, a long time ago. You don't see them often, especially not on Cinnabar Island. But, I'm afraid I'm too old for another journey. I'm sorry."
You smile:
"I completely understand, although you're really fit for your age. Thank you, we'll be off then."
He points his staff at the red haired man:
"But he isn't! Buck, do come over, will ya?"
The man called Buck walks over to you, and Blaine introduces him:
"Buck here is a great fellow! He helped a trainer catch Heatran once! Can you believe it? He's really adventurous, and not too old either!"
Buck gives Lillie a warm smile:
"I'm willing to help you both, and so is my Claydol! I hate Team Rocket, I'm more than willing to take them on. Count me in!"

He seemed like an energetic and confident person, and he reminded you of Hau, so you gladly accepted his help, and sent him to your HQ, where Misty would surely inform him about everything.

"Our fellowship is growing with the day." You say to Lillie, sitting under a tree again, Lucario at your side.
She nods:
"It is! Remember when I asked you to spend more time with me because our fellowship was consuming so much of our time, back in Pallet?"
You smile, throwing your arm around her:
"I remember, and what you said back then was true. I'm glad there are so many though, and I hope there will be a lot more members to come!"
She chuckles against your chest:
"I hope so too, but I love this even more." She whispers, giving you a long, romantic kiss.
You set up the same tent you used last time, and you were about to head inside when a stick nearly hit your head! You turn around to see... no one...
Strange...
You feel something running or flying away with your aura power, but it isn't strong enough to feel where. It was too dark to chase after it in the forest as well.
You summon Lucario, just as Lillie approaches you:
"Oh yeah, you were going to teach me how to use aura! Thank you so much, Y/n. You're the best boyfriend ever!"
You shrug:
"You're the best girlfriend ever! Lucario is also one of the best teachers, isn't it, Lucario?" You say teasingly, and Lucario gives you a growl.
You, Lillie and Lucario trained for one hour, until you were too tired to go on. Lillie was able to feel presence as well, and you trained your abilities too.
Lying down, with Lillie's head on your shoulder, you think about the future:
"Only one Gym left... I can't believe it!"

There it is, the 28th chapter! I hope you liked it. I know I'm rushing things a bit, but this chapter is the last rushed one. I don't want to make a thousand chapters with Gym battles!

The collab story with TheLoneWanderer17 is also going well, although school is taking up most of my time. If you haven't checked the story out, do so! I think you'll like it!

Question of the week:
"What do you think of the new UB's that have been announced?"
I love them, don't know why though. I think I just love the concept of UB's.

I can't promise to upload once a week, especially with the collab story, but I'll try!
I hope you're all doing well, have a great day/ week, and I'll see you in the next chapter or in the collab story! Stay safe.
~Golf