~Soutarou POV~
'So then why is she making that expression?!?!'
Soutarou nervously looked at Dawn's soft gaze and her fingers that were drawing circles on his chest, while he still held her for some reason. Before Soutarou finally let go just as Misty rushed over and tried to drag Dawn away. Dawn scrunched her nose for a moment before breathing out and holding the hems of her dress and politely saying, "I apologize for that… I got lost in the moment."
Soutarou shook his head and said, "No need to apologize I also got-"
Kaede interrupted and said, "She was apologizing to us. Not you Soutarou."
Soutarou made that face of "oh" before shrugging and saying, "Ah screw it I'm tired of playing the rich noble, let's go back to the trainer with money who's a thug. Yo clerk where's the changing room at."
The manager and clerk's expressions all twitched and they directed the group to changing rooms before Soutarou came out in his normal outfit with his backpack on his back again.
'Who knew those backpacks had a miniaturized feature too so you can just toss it into your pocket if you feel like it, though the weight doesn't decrease any more… So it's like five pounds in my pocket… But no problem, I have the super human physique. Thankfully I carried all the girls' backpacks too.'
Everyone came out in their signature trainer outfits before the group helped the staff put things back with Soutarou releasing Ralts and using her psychic power to speed the process up. No one bought anything other than Dawn, but Soutarou just left a casual 2.5 million dollar tip, for the 5 person staff to split amongst themselves.
After they left Dawn insisted on treating the group to ice cream and the group found itself split with the shy Yellow and Hilda getting dragged over for a secret gossip session by Misty. While Kaede joined Dawn and Soutarou.
Just as Soutarou and Dawn finished their ice cream and were about to start talking, Kaede suddenly jutted in and said, "Soutarou… Do you like girls that look like Dawn?"
Soutarou shrugged and said, "As long as the personality matches, why should looks matter?"
Kaede deadpanned before saying, "Be honest," while Dawn bit the cone of her ice cream coldly as if already partially knowing the answer
Soutarou paused and tapped his chin and said in a hushed tone, "Older… Preferably a bit older."
Kaede breathed a deep sigh of relief and sat down on Soutarou's other side leaning onto his shoulder unabashedly in some weird happiness. While Dawn's expression stayed the same, but her biting of her cone seemed more like the dark type move Crunch from how loudly she bit into it. Dawn smiled and Soutarou didn't notice anything off as she said, "Do tell why. And give an example of your type of 'older' as well. Just for reference…
Soutarou scratched his chin as he envisioned it before saying, "Hmm… Honestly my age is fine too, but I don't know… Something just gets tickled by the thrill of being with an older woman… As for what type of older… anything from one year older to even maybe 25 years older…? Champions Drasna, Lusamine, and Melony are all… bluntly beautiful. Though my personal favorite is probably either Champion Melony, Lusamine, Elite Four Lorelei or Champion Cynthia-"
*CRACK*
Dawn's cone immediately snapped and her eyes turned scary for a moment before calming down again and asking softly, "Why Cynthia?"
Soutarou looked confused again and said, "Because she's Cynthia…? That strong type of woman, that elegance, and that beauty, how could a man not like her? It's more of a question of if you're really a man if you don't like her, though I can completely understand having personal favorites."
Dawn smiled and turned her eyes to Soutarou and pressed a finger against his lips and said, "How old are you Soutarou."
Soutarou gently removed her hand and said, "I just turned sixteen."
Dawn finally relaxed and smiled again saying, "See no problem, I turned seventeen about six months ago. I'm more than a year older than you."
Soutarou raised an eyebrow and said, "I never said I didn't like you did I?"
Dawn's smile fully returned and she said, "I see… You wouldn't happen to have a handkerchief would you?"
Soutarou sighed and rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Dawn and said, "Keep it, but use this instead."
Soutarou instead handed her a wet wipe and she brightened in happiness of Soutarou's thoughtfulness, before thinking about something. The trio went silent while the other trio was Yellow listening to Hilda and Misty animatedly talk about something.
Soutarou eventually randomly decided to just go for it and said, "Hey… Dawn. What do you think about Hisuian Zoroark? Not the Dark type one we have now… But the Ghost and Normal type…"
Dawn turned and stared at Soutarou in confusion before asking, "Why do you ask?"
Soutarou sighed and said, "Because… I miss Zoroark. What about you Akari?"
'Kaede, This better work!'
Dawn turned unreadable, pausing for a moment saying, "My name is Dawn, Soutarou."
Soutarou shook his head and said, "Slip of tongue. Sorry that was a weird thing to say. Still, what do you think about Hisuian pokemon?"
Dawn politely said, "Our Berlitz family still has some of the ancient variants that we've maintained through careful breeding and artificial environments for development. In fact I, myself, have three Hisuian Variant pokemon. I personally think ancient pokemon are more powerful than their modern counterparts, but that also maybe be because my family breed the best of the best back in the Hisui era and the results now are just an accumulation of generations of breeding…"
"But I like Hisuian pokemon and I like anything related to Hisui. I especially like the stories of the Hero of Darkness and Zoroark."
Soutarou raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh, you have pokemon from Hisui?"
Dawn smiled, but didn't elaborate further.
Soutarou nodded knowingly and didn't press, saying, "I see that's fine, every family has their secrets…"
'I pray this gamble works…'
Soutarou muttered, "I wonder how Oshawott is… Samurott is…"
Soutarou immediately changed the topics on purpose with Kaede casting him a subtle glance, before he said, "Dawn. As you're the heir of the Berlitz family and I am the heir of the Morita corporation and Morita family, I propose our families intensify our partnerships. We're already friends and in the future I imagine we'll only have to work more and more together, if not against each other…"
"So-"
Dawn put her hand up and tried to say something before biting it back and just saying, "I- nevermind as for your desire for partnering, our Berlitz family has shifted away from traditional business and now simply owns shares in many major industries. Still I'd be more than happy to open discussion for future joint ventures or investments."
Dawn's mood seemed to be shifting around because she then raised her arm and glanced at her inside-facing wrist watch before saying, "Ah what a pity. I believe it's time for me to leave… Before I go."
Dawn handed Soutarou a card and whispered, "If you-... No, just contact me if you wish. Stay in touch and may we meet again one day."
Hilda quickly got up after wrapping and mentioned to Yellow and Misty that she and Dawn had an appointment to go somewhere. The group met up all together and Dawn as well as the more muted Hilda properly bid the group farewell, before the group of Misty, Soutarou, Yellow, and Kaede who had expected to spend the whole day with the Duo of Dawn and Hilda shrugged and returned to the Cerulean Gym since they had nothing better to do…
~Dawn POV~
As the pair split off of the group Hilda's slightly concerned voice asked Dawn who was clutching her head and leaning against the wall, "Are you alright Dawn?"
Dawn shook her head and emotionlessly said, "It's the voice again."
Hilda's eyes narrowed, but she nodded all the same saying, "I'm sure it'll pass soon, it's better to take your medicine for now."
Dawn gulped a pill that Hilda handed her before she slumped onto the ground before mechanically getting back up and a crazed voice rang out, "Good job Hilda. Dawn still doesn't know much. It won't be long…"
Hilda bowed slightly and said, "Of course Lady Platinum."
Dawn's alternate voice scoffed and said, "Akari. Platinum. And now Dawn. What does it matter… Call me whatever your heart desires… Just keep an eye on them. Don't lose them and the moment he leaves Kaede. I want to know. For now let's focus on finding the Icicle Plate."
Hilda nodded and said, "Our current estimates suggest it's somewhere in Johto near the Lake of Rage or somewhere-."
Dawn's eyes narrowed and she growled, "That's the masked man's territory… You fools, that's not a damned Ice Plate, that's just that freak! What's the other option?"
Hilda nodded solemnly and said, "Our other option is the Ruins of Alph or rather near it."
Dawn's eyes narrowed and she said, "And you think the Masked Man hasn't found that damned plate already? What of the Draco Plate or the Zap Plate?"
Hilda shook her head and said, "No sign of them I'm afraid."
The strange version of Dawn just sighed and said, "Then we'll go after the Icicle Plate, keep Dawn occupied with searching for ruins in the belief it'll reveal something about my voice. Once you find the plate, return with it to Unova before meeting in our Johto compound."
Hilda nodded and said, "As you wish."
The crazed Dawn smiled deeply before saying, "I'll leave her to you."
Hilda nodded before repositioning herself and Dawn back in their former positions and feigning as if Dawn had passed out for a moment, before saying, "You're finally awake Dawn! I was so worried."
Dawn went back to normal and said, "I guess I collapsed from lack of sleep… Well… the good news is I'm not hearing the voice anymore."
Hilda nodded and said, "That's good. Come let's go back to the hotel, you need rest."
Dawn just yawned and replied, "Alright…"
What the Duo didn't notice was a small blue headed Ralts, with the move Camouflage active that was suppressing its aura and holding a phone, that teleported away.
~Soutarou POV~
Soutarou and Kaede who were now sitting in a corner holding the phone that Ralts had just brought back. Pulling up the photos app and clicking on the latest video, with both sharing a pair of airpods just to listen to the audio…
By the time Kaede and Soutarou finished listening, both had grim expressions. Soutarou said, "Seems like Dawn is innocent. Or rather the real Dawn is-"
Kaede finished, "But it seems that she's been inhabited by her predecessors…"
Soutarou nodded with a heavy expression before saying, "Well at least her main goal isn-"
Kaede just clamped her hand over his mouth with an extremely annoyed expression saying, "Don't you dare raise a flag! I've been cursed too many times, by jinxing myself so don't even think about finishing that line."
Soutarou turned confused, but he still went along with it. Kaede just scratched her chin and said, "Do you know what the plates are?"
Soutarou nodded slowly and said, "Yeah… I do… Those plates… They're the plates of Arceus. Supposedly they're Arceus' life source, but clearly Arceus just left them laying around so it can't possibly matter that much. But still each plate offers unimaginable energy of each type that it corresponds to. Not only that, but any pokemon, even legendaries who find themselves holding an Arceus plate will experience significant growth over the period of time that they hold it."
Kaede's eyes snapped to Soutaoru and she softly said, "Even legendaries?"
Soutarou nodded and said, "Any Legendary."
Kaede turned worried and said, "That's not good Soutarou…"
Soutarou shrugged and said, "You're right… But… We can do something… We can leak the information to the Masked Man."
Kaede's eyes hardened and she said, "Absolutely not!"
Soutarou shrugged and said, "It's a better choice, the Masked Man doesn't trigger my instincts that negatively at the very least he'd let me live. But that version of Dawn, rather Akari… I doubt it and if she does… She'll kill you guys and then throw me into a basement somewhere. Which is the worse option here? Plus if we give the Masked Man the plate Akari will fight with him for it. So we have to-"
Kaede shook her head and she said, "You don't understand Soutarou… The Masked Man… The Masked Man defeated the trio of Blue, Cynthia, and Red with a Swinub, a Delibird, a Baxcalibur, an Alolan Ninetales, a Weavile and an unknown legendary by the name Chein-Pao. To put that into picture Soutarou… Blue is at least at my level, Cynthia is at the higher end of Master level, and Red should also be nearing, if not on the lower end Master level as well."
"For reference… There's only been one other trainer I've ever known to be able to deal with Master level trainers like that and that person was a Legend level trainer. Meaning the Masked Man is likely half way there or low legend level… Giving him the plate of arceus is like signing a death waiver and begging the world's most dangerous person to get even stronger."
Soutarou shook his head and said, "Well then we're screwed either way… The only thing I see in every damned direction is… danger on the horizon."