"This place—Eterna City—really looks like the kind of place filled with ancient ruins," Edward remarked with a trace of curiosity in his eyes as he gazed at the city before him. After flying over from Hoenn, he had come directly to Eterna City, where he had arranged to meet Cynthia.
The ruins she had mentioned—believed to be remnants of a settlement from the Hisui era—were located near the city. Edward planned to visit the site with Cynthia, partly for research and inspiration for his upcoming film.
But when he thought back to the flight he had just taken, his expression turned a little strange. On the plane, there had been only a handful of passengers—himself and a few others. He recognized them all: elite operatives hired by his father and special agents sent by the Hoenn League to protect him. Not a single regular passenger in sight. The realization made Edward's scalp tingle.
"Yeah… this place…" Zoroark, who stood beside him, spoke with a sigh of wonder.
Edward squinted suspiciously at Zoroark. How did it end up here? Edward had originally instructed Zoroark to stay in Hoenn and handle the company's affairs. But somehow, this guy had insisted on tagging along.
"What, remembering something yet?" Edward asked helplessly.
Zoroark's reason for coming was, 'Maybe I'll remember something if I visit Sinnoh.' Whether that would actually happen, however, was still unknown.
"I… I don't know." Zoroark looked at the city before him in a daze. There was something vaguely familiar about it—but also something unfamiliar, as though it hovered just out of reach.
Edward sighed but didn't press the issue. Instead, he pulled out his phone and gave Cynthia a call. She picked up quickly, and after hearing that he had arrived, told him to wait a moment before promptly hanging up.
Edward glanced at the phone. It had sounded noisy on Cynthia's end—clangs and bangs like a construction site.
"Edward!" he soon heard her shout.
He turned around and saw Cynthia jogging over, covered in dust and dirt, waving at him enthusiastically.
"Cynthia, what happened to you?" Edward raised a brow. Was she… coming straight from the excavation site? It wouldn't be too surprising—Cynthia, despite being the Sinnoh Champion, had a well-known habit of pursuing her interests outside of battling.
Cynthia glanced at Zoroark with a curious look, clearly sensing that this Pokémon was special. Still, she didn't probe too deeply.
"I was just at the dig site. We're excavating some ruins and have already uncovered a rather interesting cluster of buildings. Want to come take a look?" she asked excitedly.
Though she phrased it like a question, Edward could feel the urgency and enthusiasm behind the offer.
"Sure," he replied with a smile, leading Zoroark along as they followed Cynthia to the outskirts of the city. A vast ruin slowly came into view, and Edward couldn't help but feel a bit dazed as he looked at it.
He remembered seeing similar architecture while playing Legends: Arceus. Back then, he had helped Professor Laventon complete the Pokédex while sneaking up on wild Pokémon and chucking Poké Balls at them from the bushes—good times.
"This is the most recent ruin we've found," Cynthia explained enthusiastically. "Based on our analysis, it used to be a human settlement during the Hisui era. And what's even more exciting—there are some very surprising discoveries here."
Edward had a few guesses about what those discoveries might be.
"Team Galactic. We found records referencing them. But back in that era, the Galactic Team wasn't the same organization we know today. Back then, they played more of a positive role."
Her words confirmed Edward's suspicions.
After all, the current Pokémon world had a Team Galactic too—especially active in the Hoenn region—causing all kinds of problems and giving the League endless headaches. Who would've thought that the Galactic Team of old was actually a righteous group? Time really does change everything. The irony of it all was quite striking.
"These ruins… are they really that large?" Edward asked, looking around with interest.
"Yes. Based on our estimates, this area was once a major gathering site for people," Cynthia nodded, continuing her tour.
Although technically a ruin, most of the structures had long since eroded with time. What remained were outlines of buildings—mostly stone foundations—and few were preserved in any meaningful way. Only bits of stone here and there hinted at what once stood.
At first, Edward found the site somewhat interesting, but after a while, his enthusiasm waned. It was, after all, mostly just a bunch of rocks. Without detailed historical records, there wasn't much to capture the imagination.
Just then, a researcher ran over excitedly.
"Miss Cynthia! We've discovered something really fascinating!"
"What is it?" Cynthia immediately followed him, with Edward and Zoroark tagging along. Edward couldn't help but compare Cynthia to his older brother—they were clearly the same kind of person. When faced with something they were passionate about, they both became completely consumed by it.
It was like looking at a second Steven—only Steven was obsessed with stones, while Cynthia was into archaeology.
When they arrived at the site, Edward saw a partially excavated ruin.
"A… book?" he asked in surprise.
There, embedded in the soil, were what appeared to be books. Though caked in dirt, it was clear that these were, indeed, books.
"They're so well-preserved? Did you run any anti-oxidation treatments yet?" Cynthia was just as stunned. Finding books in this state of preservation was almost unheard of.
"Yes, we've already applied everything necessary," the researcher replied, carefully pulling out a few photographs.
These had been taken just moments ago—because with something as precious as ancient books, caution was paramount.
"Let me see." Cynthia took the photos and examined them. The writing on the books was slightly blurred, but still legible.
"This… this seems to be a storybook? Handwritten, too?" she squinted at the text—she could recognize the ancient characters.
"What's it about?" Edward leaned in, intrigued.
"Something like… 'Cinderella ran out of the palace in a panic and left behind a…'"
"A glass slipper?" Edward finished, stunned.
(End of Chapter)