"Elias?"
Pushing open the wooden door, Cynthia stepped inside cautiously.
Earlier that morning, Elias had sent her a letter by Pokémon.
The gist was simple—he'd found something important and wanted her to come as soon as possible.
Elias almost never sounded so urgent, so Cynthia had thrown on her clothes and hurried over without a second thought.
But as soon as she entered the courtyard, the first thing she saw was Cogita tending her flowers, looking rather disgruntled.
Nearby, Lucario was squatting to help, a deep scowl on his face as well.
Doesn't really look that urgent…
Cynthia scratched her head, but went up to the second floor and opened the door to Elias's room anyway.
"What's going on?"
"Why'd you call me over so early?"
She walked up to Elias, who was sprawled on the floor mat, craning her head to see what he was drawing. The sketches made no sense to her, making her even more confused.
"Take a look at this—doesn't it look familiar?" Elias asked, handing her his careful copy of Akari's communicator.
Cynthia took it reflexively.
As she studied it closely, her expression turned odd.
"Elias, you… have quite the imagination."
She couldn't help but smile a little as she set the sketch on the table.
"Mixing my communicator with elements of Arceus, and you still managed to make it look perfectly natural. If you ever came back to the modern world with me, I bet you'd be a really popular designer."
Cynthia hadn't expected Elias to be so whimsical—calling her over so urgently, just for a drawing.
Still, the communicator sketch was pretty well done. At a glance, you could tell it was related to Arceus.
"Arceus?"
Elias echoed in surprise at Cynthia's comment.
He'd actually been trying to mess with Cynthia a little, but now she'd managed to surprise him instead.
"Yeah, that ring around the edge—isn't that Arceus's symbol?"
Cynthia pointed at the sketch, explaining.
But halfway through, her tone faltered.
Wait a second…
Elias had never seen Arceus. He'd never even unearthed anything like this in his research.
How could he know this symbol?
Suddenly aware something wasn't right, she looked sharply at Elias.
And saw him slowly pull out, from Zoroark's arms, a communicator identical to the one in his drawing.
"Are you sure you didn't just imagine this?" Elias whispered.
At the same time, a black-haired girl peeked out from behind a screen.
"H-hi."
She gave Cynthia a little wave.
Cynthia: …
...
Cynthia sat at the table, her mind spinning.
She shot Elias a complicated look, then sighed.
How did he manage to always pick up people who'd traveled here from the future?
First herself, and now this girl—Akari.
"You're sure your communicator only changed after you arrived?" Cynthia asked, picking up the device and turning to Akari.
"I'm sure," Akari nodded, looking a little nervous.
Now that she knew Cynthia was also from the future, she felt some excitement.
But for some reason… Cynthia didn't seem all that happy to see her.
Seeing Akari's answer, Cynthia glanced at Elias, her face growing grave.
That means… unlike herself, who'd arrived for unknown reasons, Akari had been sent by Arceus itself.
Arceus getting involved was never a good sign.
And based on her earlier questioning, the "being of light" Akari had seen really did seem to be Arceus, who'd told her she was supposed to "fix" something by her own will.
For Arceus to say something like that, there had to be some anomaly in this era, something that didn't belong.
The only candidate Cynthia could think of… was herself.
So it was entirely possible that Akari's true purpose was to "remove" her in some way.
That thought was enough to drain all the excitement from Cynthia.
And there was something even more important:
This girl… had never heard Cynthia's name.
As the Champion, Cynthia was nearly a household name in Sinnoh—for someone Akari's age not to know her, there was only one explanation: they weren't from the same timeline.
If Elias ever agreed to go back with Akari, there'd be no way for her to meet him in her own future.
From every angle, Akari was, in the end, a rival.
"So, what are you planning to do now?" Cynthia asked, eyes narrowed as she turned to Akari.
"Ah—"
Being suddenly addressed, Akari stiffened with nerves.
She was in a strange, ancient world, surrounded by wilderness—if she could avoid it, of course she didn't want to wander off on her own.
She glanced at Elias, then at Cynthia.
Drawing a deep breath, she quietly asked,
"Could I… stay here a while longer?"
"It won't be for long."
She didn't have any Pokémon with her. If she left right now, it'd only end badly.
Both Cynthia and Zoroark's faces darkened at her request.
But after a moment, neither could find a good reason to refuse.
She'd already ended up at Elias's house. She had nowhere else to go.
Throwing her out now really didn't feel right.
"Would you rather stay with me?" Cynthia offered, almost against her will.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Akari's expression made it clear—she didn't want to.
Given Cynthia's cool attitude, Akari was as wary as could be.
"Akari doesn't have any Pokémon with her," Elias said, stepping in.
"Let her stay here with Cogita until she's settled."
After all, if Arceus sent her, it's better to keep an eye on her.
---
[Reluctantly, Cynthia and Zoroark both agreed to the arrangement.]
[As she was leaving, Cynthia still couldn't help but give you one last warning.]
"Even in the modern world, no one has ever actually met Arceus," Cynthia said sternly.
"No one knows what kind of god it really is."
"If it sent someone here, it doesn't necessarily mean anything good. Be careful."
Akari's appearance left Cynthia feeling deeply uneasy.
She had a strange sense that she was close to returning to the modern era—
But at the same time, a bad feeling lingered, a constant unease she couldn't shake.
"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her," Elias replied, pulling the sulking Zoroark closer.
"And Zoroark will help, too."
Until he'd spent much more time with Akari, he had no intention of letting his guard down—even if she seemed completely harmless.