Deciphering the inscription

At Qi Shijun's question, Su Bai put on a helpless smile.

"Uncle Qi, you don't think my parents left me nothing but a Pikachu, do you?"

According to the original owner's memories, Qi Shijun was a very decent elder.

To avoid any appearance of impropriety and put Su Bai at ease, he had never asked what Su Bai's parents had left him all these years.

"So that's it... wait! That still doesn't add up!"

Qi Shijun spotted another hole in Su Bai's story today.

"I've never told you about little Cynthia. How did you know about her? And how did you know she was aiming to become Sinnoh's Champion?"

"Uncle Qi, you can find footage of Sinnoh's Champion League challenges online. Cynthia is pretty popular among us guys."

Su Bai gave a deliberately lecherous chuckle.

"But I really didn't know about my connection to her. Maybe it's fate."

"You really did get that shameless streak from your dad. Even the things you say are exactly what he said when he was courting your mom."

Qi Shijun gave Su Bai a smack on the back of the head.

"Since you know how popular she is, put in some effort. Cynthia will be staying in the Dragon Nation to train for a few days. Make the most of your chance."

"Train? What kind of training?"

"Ask her yourself! If you expect me to do everything, should I get married for you too?"

With that, Qi Shijun turned back and exchanged a few words with Cynthia. Her face visibly reddened, but she didn't seem to refuse.

Then Qi Shijun called all the accompanying staff away, leaving Su Bai and Cynthia alone.

"Um... how about we go to the Pokémon Center and let Pikachu and Glaceon recover first?"

"Sure."

Cynthia put on a mask and sunglasses, tucked her blonde hair under a hat, and followed Su Bai out of the municipal stadium to the nearest Pokémon Center.

While Pikachu and Glaceon recovered, Su Bai and Cynthia waited in the Pokémon Center's café.

Although Cynthia wasn't yet the renowned Sinnoh Champion, her striking beauty was undeniable. Even with most of it hidden beneath her hat and mask, her curvaceous figure still drew plenty of stares.

In less than ten minutes, Su Bai had already fended off three people who came over to hit on her.

"Cynthia, does this happen when you go out in Sinnoh too?"

"Hmm... not really. I usually spend my time with Garchomp and the others, or in ruins and libraries. I rarely visit busy places like this."

Su Bai suggested waiting in a private booth, and Cynthia nodded.

They entered the booth, and a server handed them a menu. Su Bai passed it to Cynthia first.

Cynthia's delicate brows furrowed slightly. Her gaze moved back and forth over the menu behind her sunglasses, and she looked troubled.

"How about I order for you?"

"Yes, thank you."

Delighted, Cynthia handed the menu to Su Bai. He ordered her a coffee topped with ice cream and a glass of Moomoo Milk for himself, along with an ice cream cake for dessert.

After the server left, Cynthia removed her sunglasses and mask. Resting her cheek in her hand, she looked at Su Bai with a faint smile.

"The way you acted earlier-is that what you call being jealous here in the Dragon Nation?"

"Huh?"

Su Bai froze, unsure how to answer.

It was Cynthia's turn to attack, and she had gone straight for the finishing blow.

Once the coffee arrived, Cynthia stopped teasing Su Bai. She took a sip, then pulled a fragrant notebook from inside her clothes.

"Since I have plans tomorrow, I'd like to finish my work today instead. Is that all right?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

Su Bai politely gestured for her to proceed. Cynthia thanked him appreciatively, then put on a pair of scholarly-looking gold-rimmed glasses and began reading her notebook.

Su Bai took a large gulp of milk and hurriedly looked away.

Although the café's air-conditioning was running at full blast, he still felt a little hot in the booth.

When dessert arrived, Cynthia's attention finally shifted from her notebook to the cake, and Su Bai took the opportunity to start a conversation.

"Cynthia, what's written in your notebook? May I ask?"

"Hmm, it's nothing much, really. You can take a look."

Cynthia was busy attacking the cake, so Su Bai picked up the notebook himself.

It contained transcriptions of ancient script-or, more precisely, various forms of Unown. The handwriting was elegant yet carried an underlying sharpness. Cynthia had probably copied it herself.

In the past, Su Bai certainly wouldn't have understood it, but with the ancient script proficiency he had randomly received from the system, he could read it without much difficulty.

"The legendary Pokémon, Dialga, ruler of time, and Palkia, ruler of space... this treasure, the Adamant Orb, can enhance Dialga's power. The people..."

Hearing Su Bai's convincing interpretation, Cynthia stopped her spoon in midair and stared at him in disbelief.

"You can read it?"

"I'm guessing. I really like mythology and ancient scripts, so I often go to the library to read books about them."

Su Bai had only wanted to show off a little. After all, a shared interest was a great opportunity to bring them closer.

Besides, could it really be called showing off when it was in front of his own fiancée?

Su Bai had no idea how much of a stir his casual remark had caused in Cynthia's heart.

"Su Bai, please translate it for me!"

They had originally been sitting across from each other, but Cynthia now moved right beside Su Bai. She picked up her pen and notebook and looked at him expectantly.

Her reaction puzzled him.

"You can't read it? Then what were you doing earlier?"

"This is an inscription recently unearthed in the Sinnoh Region. I was trying to decipher it."

Only then did Su Bai realize he had taken his showing off too far.

But Cynthia was gazing at him so eagerly now, and her fragrance drifted straight into his nose.

"Bai, please? I really hope you'll help me."

Cynthia pressed her palms together, held them against her forehead, and pleaded softly.

He was in trouble. It was Cynthia's turn to attack again.

No Pokémon fan could resist Cynthia acting cute, and Su Bai was no exception.

"All... all right. But it's just a hobby, so my translation might not be correct."

"That's fine. It's a hobby for me too."

Su Bai avoided making any guarantees, but in Cynthia's mind, he was entirely capable of attempting to decipher it. Those few lines earlier had proved that.

With Cynthia's approval, Su Bai began interpreting the text, putting on a show of working it out.

The contents were mostly ancient people's conjectures about the Adamant Orb and a few legends passed down about time and space.

Cynthia took notes as she listened, her heart already filled with a tangle of emotions.

As a mythology scholar, the more she heard, the more credible Su Bai's interpretation seemed. Yet she never questioned why he understood any of it.

A great father would naturally have a capable son. Su Bai's father, Professor Su Zhe, was a Dragon Nation mythologist whom even her grandmother greatly admired. It made sense that Su Bai could already have such accomplishments at his young age.

Besides, the Dragon Nation's mythology research was far ahead of the rest of the world.

People believed Mt. Coronet was the origin of the world, but in fact, the Dragon Nation already had a complete mythology of its own when Mt. Coronet first formed.

Even so, Su Bai's performance astonished Cynthia.

He had devoted so much effort to raising such an outstanding Pikachu, yet he had still attained such a deep understanding of mythology.

Su Bai, how did you manage it?

At that thought, Cynthia felt not only admiration, but also a little pride.

"That's it, more or less."

"Mm, thank you, Bai."

Cynthia tilted her head and gave him a sweet smile that could melt the winter cold.

"With such a deep understanding of mythology, would you like to become an assistant researcher at the Historical Research Institute in Celestic Town? Its director, Professor Carolina, is my grandmother."

"Thank you for the offer, Cynthia, but I'd rather take things one step at a time and finish my studies in the Dragon Nation first."

Su Bai had no desire to become a mythologist. Sinnoh's mythology scholars frequently had to conduct archaeological digs-or rather, crawl into tombs-and those Unown acted like lunatics. He wasn't going.

Besides, Su Bai still had to complete his academic credit quest, so he used finishing his studies as an excuse.

Cynthia didn't press him. Everyone had their own ambitions, after all.

"All right, then. But if you change your mind, you can contact me anytime. I'm sure my grandmother would love to have such a knowledgeable assistant."

"Thank our grandma for me."

Cynthia rolled her eyes at Su Bai, then gave him a playful smile.

"Our?"

Su Bai chuckled.

"Your grandma."