Cynthia

Over the past few months, several major events had shaken the long-peaceful Sinnoh Region.

The first was a young rookie Trainer sweeping through the Lily of the Valley Conference and passing the trials of Victory Road.

After several years without a Champion, this meant the Sinnoh Region finally had a new one, bringing fresh youthful energy to the Sinnoh League.

This Champion's name was-

Cynthia.

The next two major events were also connected to this young Champion.

With a Sinnoh Champion finally crowned, the aging Sinnoh Elite Four no longer had to struggle to hold things together. Three of them retired at once.

If not for concerns about leaving the League entirely in the hands of inexperienced newcomers, the sole remaining member, the Ground-type specialist Bertha, would probably have retired with them...

An Elite Four member retiring was not a major event in itself.

But with three vacancies opening at once, choosing replacements became a particularly troublesome task.

Naturally, that work fell to the new Champion.

The Pokémon League, Sinnoh Region.

Boom!

An explosive crash rang out from the battle court behind the League.

"Graaar!"

Its rough skin covered in spikes, Garchomp slapped its dragon tail against the ground with a series of sharp cracks.

Garchomp threw back its head and roared, its cry carrying a chilling menace.

Before it, a battered Gallade knelt on one knee, staring at its opponent with sharp, defiant eyes full of frustration.

How was this thing so monstrously strong?

Even giving it everything I had, I couldn't win...

With that thought, Gallade's eyes rolled back, and it collapsed.

"The battle is over!"

"With a score of six to two, Champion Cynthia wins!"

The referee standing nearby in a hard hat waved his flags, announcing the result.

Behind Gallade, a young man with long, pale blue hair sighed helplessly.

"I lost."

He looked across the court. Behind Garchomp stood a woman in a black trench coat, her arms folded and her blonde hair streaming in the wind.

She seemed to be assessing him.

If you ignored the pink lollipop between Cynthia's fingers, she really did cut an impressively dashing figure.

We're the same age, so why could I only just beat two of her Pokémon, even after giving it everything I had?

Despair welled up inside Lucian, but he still tried to preserve the last of his composure.

"Thank you for the lesson, Champion Cynthia."

Lucian lowered his head and bowed to Cynthia.

"I look forward to learning from you again next year."

"?"

At his words, the previously commanding Cynthia blinked and instinctively tilted her head.

"But you already passed?"

Are Psychics really that concerned about their appearance? Even bowing at ninety degrees didn't mess up his hair at all...

"Remember to report to the Pokémon League tomorrow, along with Flint and Aaron."

With that, Cynthia slowly raised her hand and recalled Garchomp into its Poké Ball under Lucian's astonished gaze, then left without looking back.

"Is... is that right?"

Lucian stood rooted to the spot.

He had lost so badly, yet he had still passed the Elite Four assessment?

"Don't worry. With your abilities, you're more than qualified to join the Elite Four."

Seeing his reaction, Bertha, who had been quietly watching from the sidelines, walked over and smiled, patting Lucian, whose confidence seemed to have shattered.

"Actually, when little Cynthia challenged Victory Road, the previous Elite Four only managed to defeat two of her main Pokémon between them."

Late at night.

Celestic Town, Sinnoh Region.

"Haaah-"

Carrying the blonde beauty, Garchomp slowly landed outside the villa. Cynthia quietly yawned from its back.

"I'm so tired..."

After entering the villa, Cynthia sat on the couch and stared blankly at the dark screen.

After all these days, the assessments to select the new Elite Four members were finally over. The three Trainers she had chosen were as young as she was, but at least their abilities were solid.

With Bertha guiding them, they should soon adjust to their duties as Elite Four members.

She should be able to take it easy for a while now.

Yet despite finally having a long-awaited break, she had no idea what to do.

She could not even be bothered to open the game she had been dreaming about day and night...

Cynthia sighed. After putting her waist-length hair into a simple bun, she picked up the phone on the table.

Raised by her grandmother from childhood, she was fairly traditional. Her main occupation was Mythologist, with Sinnoh Champion merely a side job, and she rarely used her phone.

So, unsurprisingly, she had left it at home when she went to the Pokémon League this time.

Of course, when she was particularly bored, she would still open Poké TV to watch Professor Oak's Pokémon Day Care series, or check for new developments in archaeological excavations in other regions.

But this time, something seemed different when she turned on her phone.

In the center of the lock screen, a message from the PokéNav appeared before Cynthia.

[Qingyu: Sorry I haven't replied all this time. I'm doing much better now.

The Gym my parents left behind is a precious treasure to me, so if possible, I'd like to try keeping the Sunshine Gym running.

Also, congratulations on becoming the Sinnoh Champion!]

Qingyu?

After six months, a sudden message from the childhood friend she had almost completely lost touch with made Cynthia's pupils contract, and the corners of her mouth lifted involuntarily.

Even much of the exhaustion from several consecutive days of work faded away.

Although she had seen the message a little late, Cynthia was genuinely happy for Qingyu when she learned that he had emerged from his grief.

It took tremendous courage to recover from such a tragedy.

Had she not been so busy in the months since becoming Champion, she might already have given in to the urge to travel to Paldea and bring Qingyu back to Celestic Town to recuperate.

Now, though, it seemed he did not need her help?

Cynthia smiled with her lips pressed together, slowly tapping out two lines on the screen.

[Cynthia: It's all right. I'm just glad you're back on your feet.

I remember the Sunshine Gym is in Cabo Poco in the Paldea Region, right?]

Since I have some free time now, should I just go over and see how Qingyu is doing?

Keeping a Gym going on his own can't be easy. Shouldn't I help however I can?

I remember there's a fairly strong Riolu at Grandma's research lab, isn't there?

After waiting a while without a reply from Qingyu, Cynthia opened Poké TV as she continued thinking.

The first video on the home page immediately caught her attention.

"A video Steven shared? And this user's name..."

Azure Feather.

Cynthia raised an eyebrow and instinctively tapped it.

"Hello, class! I'm Azure Feather, a new streamer."

The familiar voice had changed a little, but she still recognized its owner instantly.

It really is Qingyu!

Is he trying other ways to quickly win back interest because the Gym has been abandoned for too long?

Cynthia immediately understood Qingyu's thinking.

But after watching both videos he had posted, she suddenly felt as though she no longer quite knew her childhood friend.

Has Qingyu really become this impressive in the past five years?

Then again, she herself had risen from a rookie Trainer to a regional Champion. It was perfectly natural for Qingyu to grow into a capable Gym Leader.

After the videos ended, Cynthia noticed that Qingyu was livestreaming. Brimming with curiosity, she tapped into his stream.

"Sure, Garchomp can't learn Dragon Dance, so it's nowhere near as prestigious as our Maushold with Mouse Dance, but it's still pretty useful~"

Yet the moment she entered, she heard Qingyu making fun of Garchomp.

And it was one of the top three insulting jokes Garchomp hated most.

Cynthia instinctively glanced around the living room.

Fortunately, several days of intense battles had clearly left Garchomp exhausted as well. It was already sleeping soundly, hugging a Gible pillow.

It had not heard the voice coming from her phone.

Holding back her laughter, Cynthia slowly typed a line into the livestream chat.

Before sending it, she made sure to select Paid Message and set the amount to the maximum, turning it a brilliant gold.

[Mythologist Cynthia: If Garchomp heard that, it would probably be pretty angry, wouldn't it? (/laughing behind hand)]

Since it's Qingyu, showing up in his livestream should help bring him a little more attention, right?

Cynthia's thinking was certainly not wrong.

Qingyu, however, was now breaking into a nervous sweat.

It's Tuesday! Here's an extra chapter in exchange for following along. That's pretty sincere of me, right~