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The streetlights didn't just welcome Luther and Mai, they also lit the path for Cynthia and Diantha, who strolled under the soft, golden glow.
In the end, Diantha hadn't waited for Cynthia in the city after all. One phone call later, she left the Hearthome City Museum and made her way to the nature park.
When she arrived, she found Cynthia seated on a park bench, calmly eating an ice cream cone. Her expression held a trace of curiosity as she looked at Diantha.
According to Diantha's meticulous travel itinerary, she shouldn't have come looking for Cynthia so soon. Even if that schedule had been torn to shreds, Cynthia knew that Diantha, ever so stubborn, would still follow it to the letter.
"Let me guess, you're wondering why I showed up early?" Diantha asked with a faint smile.
"Very much so," Cynthia replied, taking another bite of her ice cream.
Diantha tilted her head back to gaze at the starlit sky above. "Have I ever told you how much I hate living by a script?"
"Wake up, wake up." Cynthia waved her hand exaggeratedly in front of Diantha's face. "Is this the same woman who treats life like a performance schedule? What happened, did a wild Spiritomb possess you?"
"You don't believe me?"
"Should I? You're the definition of a powerhouse. You juggle the Kalos Pokémon League, a full-time acting career, and now you're launching your own brand. You once told me there were rumors in Kalos about me being lazy. Well, in Sinnoh, we've got legends of you. People in the League say you're like a perfectly calibrated machine, focused, relentless, the ultimate workaholic. With all that... how am I supposed to believe you don't love structure?"
"And what makes you think I enjoy it?"
"Just look at the way you work. You always claim it's exhausting, that you're under pressure, but then you show up, all smiles, like it's nothing. Your Pokémon League duties clash with your film shoots constantly, and yet you manage them both flawlessly. Honestly? I figured you liked living on the edge, thriving on the spotlight, the flowers, the applause, the endless praise."
Diantha didn't respond right away. Her eyes dimmed slightly, a rare trace of melancholy surfacing.
Cynthia crunched the last of her cone, then realized she had no napkin. As she looked around awkwardly, Diantha calmly reached into her bag and handed over a handkerchief.
After wiping her hands, Cynthia sniffed them, then casually pocketed the handkerchief. She leaned in and gently patted Diantha's face, then started squishing her cheeks like clay, drawing out a dazed blink from the usually composed Champion.
"Of course, that's not the real you," Cynthia said softly. "But that's how everyone sees you. Strong. Tireless. Beautiful. Graceful. Refined. You're like a sculpture, elegant and admired, always the center of attention wherever you go."
"You make me sound like a decorative vase," Diantha muttered.
"No way. No vase in the world could hit that hard in battle," Cynthia grinned. "But I do know what's bothering you. You've been buried under all these labels, so many that even you forget which ones are real. The people in Kalos… they've gone overboard. They're not just praising you anymore, they're worshipping you. They've built you up into something flawless, a fantasy that checks every box they've dreamed up."
"All the best parts of you get amplified, and then they crown you as their perfect idol. But… have you ever thought about what happens to you once you become their goddess?"
"I don't want that version," Cynthia continued, reaching up to poke Diantha's forehead. "The Diantha I want around is the one who brings Poké Puffs for my team, who plays dumb games with me, shops with me, gets lost in the aisles, and wastes time. I don't need a statue to hang out with. I want you."
Diantha stood in silence, processing it all. Seeing her still deep in thought, Cynthia reached out again to mess with her, only to suddenly halt and place a hand on her belt.
Garchomp materialized in a flash, launching forward into the dark, racing in the direction Cynthia pointed.
Diantha snapped to attention and immediately hurled a Poké Ball. Her Goodra burst forth in a shimmer of light, dashing into the same direction Garchomp had gone.
In the shadows beneath the trees, the two Pokémon closed in on their targets.
From the sky above, a Flygon swooped down and clashed directly with Garchomp's charge.
Meanwhile, Medicham launched a powerful High Jump Kick, only to be deflected mid-air by Goodra's Aqua Tail.
Without guidance from their Trainers, the Pokémon were left to act on instinct alone. It quickly became clear that Flygon and Medicham were losing ground.
Garchomp, having been pushed back slightly, took it as a challenge. Enraged, it surged forward with a devastating Dragon Rush, slamming Flygon into the dirt. Not giving its opponent a second to breathe, it followed up with a crushing Brick Break to Flygon's wing.
Medicham faltered, rattled by Garchomp's aggressive assault. His timing thrown off, he left an opening, and Goodra capitalized with a point-blank Dragon Breath to the face.
Now badly shaken, the two Pokémon huddled back-to-back, sweat dripping, confusion etched on their faces.
Then came a strange sound, like leaves brushing the ground.
The faint rustling of Leafage echoed through the air. Garchomp and Goodra instinctively glanced downward.
In that instant, two bright flashes cut across the shadows, Flygon and Medicham vanished in beams of red light.
Garchomp reacted first, diving after the sound on the ground.
But it didn't get far.
A swirling Sandstorm burst to life, sweeping in with intense force and shrouding both Garchomp and Goodra.
By the time Cynthia and Diantha arrived, the chaos was still thick. They quickly scanned the area to ensure their Pokémon were unharmed. Once satisfied, Roserade and Gardevoir were released to assist.
Garchomp and Gardevoir combined their strength to slash through the storm cloud.
And as the swirling dust cleared, there stood a familiar shadow.
Cacturne.
Not far ahead, its eerie silhouette lingered at the edge of the light.
"Don't even think about running, Roserade, catch him!"
Understanding Cynthia's command, Roserade lashed out with Vine Whip, aiming to entangle Cacturne and stop it in its tracks.
But just as the air cracked with the sound of Roserade's vines slicing forward, Cacturne suddenly spun around. With unexpected precision, it countered using its own Vine Whip, intercepting Roserade's attack mid-strike.
Cynthia's eyes widened in disbelief. As the Champion, she was deeply familiar with countless Pokémon species. She knew for a fact that while Cacturne was a Grass-type native to deserts, it shouldn't be able to learn Vine Whip, at least not naturally.
Even Diantha faltered for a moment, but quickly regained composure and called out, "Goodra, Ice Beam!"
Because Cacturne had paused briefly to shift its stance for Vine Whip, its momentum was disrupted, just enough for Goodra to catch the rhythm and fire a precise Ice Beam.
The freezing blast struck true, staggering Cacturne.
Garchomp surged forward without hesitation, tackling the frozen, reeling Pokémon and pinning it down effortlessly.
Most Pokémon wouldn't have managed that, Cacturne's body was covered in sharp spikes, but Garchomp's tough hide and steel nerves made it unfazed.
Roserade acted swiftly, binding Cacturne tightly with Vine Whip. Seeing the situation under control, Cynthia dusted off her hands and called into the woods ahead, voice calm but commanding, "Are you just going to let your Pokémon fend for themselves?"
Moments later, a shadow detached from the dense forest, revealing a man partially obscured by the darkness.
Now standing in the open before both Champions, he visibly flinched.
Cynthia narrowed her gaze. "I'm curious, what exactly were you watching me and my friend do?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the man replied flatly.
"Oh? You're really going with that?" Cynthia's voice sharpened slightly. "I noticed you early on. At first, I thought you were just a random traveler, but something felt off, you stayed in the exact same spot way too long. That area isn't even part of the trail, it's pitch black, no Pokémon nearby, and nothing of interest around. Why would anyone crouch there silently for so long?"
She folded her arms. "So I had Garchomp charge your way just to test my hunch, and surprise, you ran. If you weren't watching us, how did you react so fast?"
She nudged Diantha with her elbow and smirked. "Even in Sinnoh, you can't escape paparazzi or diehard fans."
Diantha squinted at the man in black, studying his figure for a moment before cautiously asking, "…Ruiyan?"
Cynthia blinked. The name threw her off for a second, but then realization dawned.
"Wait, your boyfriend?" She asked, immediately jumping to conclusions.
Diantha ignored the remark and pressed forward, "Ruiyan of the International Police, right? Last I heard, you were investigating a covert organization in Unova. What are you doing here?"
The man's shoulders tensed ever so slightly, just enough for both Champions to notice.
Cynthia gasped. "Oh-ho, so it is your boyfriend! You recognized him just from a silhouette in the dark?"
Diantha sighed and pressed her palm to her forehead. "Cynthia, have you ever donated to the Pokémon Academic League?"
The non-sequitur threw Cynthia off. "Huh? I mean… yeah, probably. Ever since I became Champion, I think I've donated every year. But Bertha usually handles that kind of stuff and sends it over as a group donation."
Diantha pressed further, "Then have you ever read the research reports or academic summaries they send out to donors?"
"I skimmed a few," Cynthia admitted. "Why? What's that got to do with anything?"
Diantha looked like she was losing patience.
The Pokémon Academic League was a coalition formed by professors and researchers focused on specific Pokémon fields. Several such academic circles existed, but the most renowned among them was the Rainbow University Pokémon Research League.
Because Pokémon research often required rare data, special conditions, and substantial funding, the Academic League routinely raised money from League Champions, Gym Leaders, and even public benefactors.
Three years ago, one such group at Rainbow University, studying how birth environments and habitats influenced Pokémon genetic traits, received a Cacturne from an anonymous donor.
The donor claimed the Cacturne had learned Vine Whip, despite it not being in the species' known move pool, and had encountered it in a forest near the edge of the Unova desert.
While the team initially suspected a rare genetic mutation, they realized the Cacturne was a perfect specimen for researching adaptive evolutionary traits in Pokémon.
Using it, the team completed a major research proposal and successfully secured further grants.
Diantha remembered it clearly, she had met Ruiyan during that period in Kalos and had seen the very same Cacturne. She also vividly recalled the sizable donation she'd made to the project back then. She wasn't hurting for money, but adding an extra zero had definitely made her wince.
(End of Chapter)