CHAPTER 197

Cynthia's story still echoed in my mind, and it was impossible to get out of my head as I walked out of the League offices with Cecilia and Mira in tow. They were thinking the same thing I was. A mixture of doubt, excitement, and fear marked their faces. The cold night air hit me harder than usual, and I shivered in my coat. A question rang the loudest, beyond the story, beyond the implications and dangers. Why this group in particular? There was no way we were better than the millions of people in Sinnoh. Even if Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie only picked children as Cynthia said, that was still a lot of people to beat. Me? Chosen? I refused to believe it. Just as I had told Bella, the notion was antithetical to my beliefs, but I couldn't deny that it wasn't random.

"We should wait for Chase to meet Cynthia and speak, no?" Cecilia said, breaking the silence.

"Nah. Chasey and conversations can wait," Mira said, stretching. "I'm hungry, and I've got to take Carlos out."

"You'd think the Knowledge girl would want to brainstorm and learn more about this. Even I want to," I said.

Mira smirked at me. "Come on, Grace. Even through all this gift bullcrap, I'm still me, and right now my stomach is rumbling. Plus, all we'd come up with is conjecture anyway, but I'm willing to entertain you tomorrow. See you gals later!"

She waved at us and dashed away. This entire situation had certainly helped patch things up between us more than we already had, but I couldn't help but think she was being too carefree about things. It was like the situation had reversed, and I was the one who wanted to be active and think. Make up plausible scenarios, plan, anything to keep myself busy.

"She has a point. I know I'm not as far along as you two, but our personalities won't change because of this," Cecilia said.

"If she and I are as far as this gets, then you're right," I nodded. "This kind of ruins our plans for our summer vacation, huh?"

Sadness flickered in her eyes. "It must be done, so I suppose it does. We have a duty we can't abandon. We could go later."

"Sure, I'll check my schedule," I joked. She chuckled and the tension lowered slightly. Even if we wanted to go, it wasn't like the League would let us anyway, not when we were assets. Safety measures to use in case everything went to shit and the… calamity started. "What do you think this calamity is?"

"Legendaries rampaging across the region always spells doom for humans," she shrugged. "Perhaps the damage could be contained, since Cynthia assumed that they were beatable, but the deaths and damage would still be staggering."

I nodded. "Hmhm."

I felt strangely calm at that notion. Of course, anxiety and fear reared their ugly heads, but there was no panic now that the shock of these revelations with Cynthia had passed.

"I wish I knew more, though. You'd think they'd communicate to us through dreams or visions or something to tell us what to do if it comes to that," I sighed. "But nope, complete radio silence. Bummer."

"It's never as easy as in the stories, isn't it?" She smiled as we turned a corner.

"You know, I actually have a confession. Hatterene told me about this story when I was with her, although it was a lot less detailed and I didn't really believe it."

"Anything Cynthia didn't add?"

"Nope. It was a story her mother told her," I explained. "And she mostly focused on the Plume and emotions bit."

The streets of Veilstone were dimly lit by streetlights and the ambient shine coming from the building. We continued walking in silence until we reached the Pokemon Center. Today had been such a long day. Training with my team, studying, media training, the battle with Cecilia, the kidnapping and now this. I just wanted to crash in my bed and sleep an entire day, but I knew that wasn't feasible, not when there was so much to talk about. We swung by the cafeteria to grab some food on the way upstairs.

"Say, Cece," I said as we entered our room. "What's your opinion on being chosen? Do you think it holds any water?"

"I honestly don't know. It would seem like the most obvious answer right now, but when has the most obvious answer been correct?" She said. "I don't really care how this happened. I'm focused on winning."

"We don't even know if that's how it works."

"True, but it's something to strive toward, along with badges," she exhaled as she plopped on the bed. "I have to say, I wish I knew the criteria for this. Do I need to lean into Willpower as a concept or do I need to stay true to myself? You'd think someone receiving a gift from the Pokemon embodying Willpower wouldn't have doubts."

"I mean, you'd think the Pokemon embodying Willpower in the first place would know who to pick."

She blinked a few times and then shot up. "Indecisiveness has nothing to do with Willpower."

"Huh?"

"Willpower is… it doesn't mean that you can't have doubts or that you're full of yourself all the time like Chase and Pauline are. It's something beyond that. A grander concept."

"What is it to you? Willpower?" I asked.

"It's… I don't have an answer yet," she said in a defeated tone. "I don't have the words to express it in a way that feels appropriate."

"Fair enough. It is vaguer than Emotion and Knowledge, that's for sure."

"But even those can be vague if you widen the scope enough. On another topic, I'm happy to finally understand why you were so good at understanding Pokemon."

"Yeah, sorry for not saying anything sooner. I just didn't really believe it until today. I don't even think it's sunk in yet," I muttered. Suddenly, my eyes widened when a terrible conclusion popped into my head. "Wait, do we keep the powers when all of this is done? I don't want to lose that ability… I really don't."

Would I even be able to function if I couldn't speak with my Pokemon like I could now? If I couldn't feel the emotions radiating off of each Pokemon, stranger or friend? I didn't think so.

"Cynthia did skip that part of the story, or maybe there are no answers," she said. "This is uncharted territory. None of this has happened in thousands of years."

I hugged a pillow and bit my lip. The possibility of me reverting back to… I hated to call it normal. This was my normal. How I'd been for months. If anything, the way I thought that the old me was a completely different person. It wasn't just abilities that had shaped me. My experiences had as well, but I couldn't deny that they were a part of me. It'd be like losing myself.

"I've just got to hope for the best," I said, squeezing my pillow tighter.

I'd have to tell my Pokemon about all of this tomorrow morning too. I couldn't tell the others, but I could at least tell them. I was sure Cecilia and Mira would confide in their teams as well.

"If you had to describe Emotion, how would you do it?" Cecilia asked all of a sudden.

"Hm…" I hummed. She'd been right. Thinking of the concept was easy enough, but putting it into words was a different beast entirely. After a minute or two, I came up with an answer. "It's the essence of human and Pokemon existence. Without emotions, we're nothing. Just a blank canvas with nothing to say and no story to tell. They're the color palette of the human mind, they guide our choices and they bring our stories to life. Of course, that's not to say that emotions are the same for you and me. They're subjective and differ from person to person. For someone, red might signify anger while for others it means excitement."

"Wait, when you sense emotions, you see colors?"

"No, no, it was just a dumb metaphor," I sighed with a slight smile. "What I mean to say is that they make us unique. Take humans, for example. Two billion of us on the entire planet in total, and not one person is the same as the other. No two people will feel the same happiness, fear, joy, or anger. They make you you and are unique to you alone, and I think that's a beautiful thing."

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"That was… well, now I see what I'm lacking," she said.

"What? Come on, I spoke like some kid trying to be deep for no reason, it was kind of embarrassing," I laughed. "There's got to be more to it than that. I'm sure others would be able to describe it better."

"But you spoke from the heart, and it felt really personal to you. You hesitated at the start, then once you got started, the words kept flowing until you were done. I wonder what Mira would say about Knowledge?"

"She'd probably say she was too lazy to answer," I dismissed. "We've got to make sure to lock both her and Chase down tomorrow. I think it'd be good to travel together for a little bit when we're done with Veilstone."

"Perhaps. I don't think Chase will agree. Not that I mind."

"Stop seeing him as competition already, you guys are friends," I sighed. "Wait, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something—"

I had almost forgotten the meeting with my mother tomorrow afternoon.

—

Cecilia left my room early the next morning since we all had a lot of things to do. Denzel and the others had called yesterday night to ask about the meeting with Cynthia, but we couldn't say anything. Still, rather than lie, we decided to say the truth and tell them that the information was classified instead of making up some half-truth. I could tell that Denzel and Pauline were starting to get irritated, and I couldn't blame them. I knew I would be angry if I was being left out like this. What was the point of not telling them anything when their association with us would get them involved anyway? They'd have to find out eventually. Cynthia was just so convinced that she was right all the time and it was slowly getting on my nerves. Yes, she was older, more experienced and had been through a lot more than us, but I would have liked it if she at least entertained our suggestions instead of shooting us down like she was speaking to children.

"Then again, maybe she does know better," I whispered to myself.

I wasn't going to go on route 214 to train today, but I did release my entire team in my room. A few of them eyed the window in surprise because almost a full day had passed since they'd been out. I usually didn't keep them in their Pokeballs that long, and it showed. Princess stared at me and hesitantly chirped. She already knew something was weighing on me. Even with Cecilia, Mira and Chase knowing, all of this responsibility felt heavy to bear. I greeted all of them with a hug— although Sunshine protested and pretended to push me off. I knew that he'd be able to do it without a problem if he really wanted to. Sweetheart clamored at him until he let me embrace him in full.

"Thank you, sweetie," I told her with a bright smile. They'd only been out for a few seconds, but my day already felt brighter. "Yesterday was… busy for me. I did a lot of things after training. I went to that media thing you guys hate and then I saw Cece and Lauren battle."

Pupitar shook in excitement, but then deflated when she realized she hadn't been there to see it. Electabuzz patted her on the head to comfort her. I started preparing their food as I talked. There would be no fancy cooked meal today. It was just something to keep myself busy.

"Then Cecilia's dad was kidnapped by Abel—"

All of them cheered except Turtonator. They had always liked her. Even Sweetheart wasn't jealous of her any longer. That had probably just been a phase.

"—but long story short, Mira kind of saved him. Abel escaped too. Then I was asked to meet Cynthia."

This time, I had Sunshine's attention. I explained the contents of the meeting to them, from the story, to my theories, to the fact that I was now instrumental to Sinnoh's safety and that I might have to contribute to taking down Team Galactic. Jellicent protested the loudest. He hated to see me in danger and demanded to meet Cynthia to chastise her. I smiled softly and rubbed one of his tentacles.

"It's going to be okay."

He swelled, his skin bubbled and he began to drip on the floor.

"It's going to be okay," I said again. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

If he could have cried, I knew he would have. The words struck a chord with him somehow, and he solidified his limb around my hand.

"Don't cry. You're old, but despite what you think, you're still my baby. I hate it when you're sad," I told him. His red eyes flickered, but he nodded, so I turned to my entire family. "Come on, don't be gloomy. It'll be alright!"

Angel's vine tightened around my ankle and Honey tiredly leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. Princess and Sunshine shot each other a knowing look that confused me. They'd gotten along since Solaceon had ended, but this was something more. A deal of some sort. Had they come to some sort of agreement while I hadn't been listening? If they hadn't told me, I wasn't going to pry.

"We're going to spend a lot of time together today, and we won't be training!" I announced. I thought it'd be a nice break from how hard they were working, but only Buddy and Angel seemed to be pleased. Sweetheart and Honey were downright disappointed. "Yikes, tough crowd. We're meeting my mother later. Only Princess saw her once. You were so shy back then, remember? Back in Twinleaf?"

Togetic nodded, but quickly told me to stop embarrassing her in front of the others.

"No, no, you hid behind my leg, gripped my jeans and everything! Could you guys imagine her doing that now?"

Electabuzz chuckled, and soon, more laughs followed. Turtonator surprisingly laughed the loudest, and unfortunately for Princess, there was no earth for her to throw at his face this time. There were her statues lying around, but she didn't want to waste her pretty art. I was happy I'd finally managed to break the tension, though. I knew they were still worried, but we couldn't let anxiety take over. We still had to live.

Once I got food from downstairs, I spent the remaining time I had with my family and we just goofed off together. Angel played around with Sweetheart as best they could in the cramped room. Princess and Honey kept teasing Buddy about how he lost his composure earlier and I kept having to jump in to defend him. He was so embarrassed that he shrunk to the size of my fist and floated in the corner of the ceiling. Sunshine slept next to my bed and his gentle warmth enveloped me like a comfortable blanket.

News of the raids of Team Galactic bases were slowly coming out. No Commanders had been found, but hundreds of grunts and other low-ranking members had been captured. Cynthia had participated in two of them.

"Check it out," I said with a picture of Baltoy on my phone. "This is the next Pokemon I want to join us. Well, that or its evolution. It's an ancient Pokemon, kind of like Cecilia's Golett. What do you guys think?"

Their reactions were kind of disappointing. Princess called Baltoy ugly, Sunshine and Sweetheart said that it looked weak and Honey said that they were weird. Only Angel seemed to find Baltoy cute.

Jellicent was still too embarrassed to comment.

I knew I could have asked for Electabuzz's evolution yesterday night, but I took a gamble. The plan was still to impress Volkner, and I felt more confident now that she'd said that they might agree to tutor us. I thought that Baltoy and Claydol were actually harder to access than Honey's method of evolution. If the ancient city was cleared by League Trainers, then I would have no idea where to look. According to the drawing Chase had seen, there would be some in the castle, or at least that's how I interpreted it. Closer to the king meant that they'd reside in his home, right?

Steven Stone was the most prominent trainer to own a Claydol, but footage of his battles were as rare as Cynthia's, especially now that he was retired. He was still considered one of the strongest trainers in the world, and his team was Champion-level, but he'd retired to commit to his passion about rare rock, minerals and fossils full-time. Unfortunately for me, of the few videos I found, he only used his Claydol in two. It had used multiple Hyper Beams at once, increased gravity to ground the challenger's Swellow and flipped gravity to completely neutralize his Sceptile. I had no idea how I'd even begin to counter that.

Despite me fawning over the use of multiple Hyper Beams at once through each eye, it wasn't actually the most offensive-minded Pokemon. It couldn't deal the damage that Steven's Armaldo, Aggron or Metagross could, but the amount of utility it had made it tricky, and I loved tricky Pokemon. It was able to draw out any fight and use psychic powers in ways I'd never even thought of before, from more mundane things like setting up barriers around the enemy to make their attacks blow up in their faces or grabbing their attacks and saving them for later use, to more ruthless methods like creating a psychic vacuum to completely extinguish all of the flames this other challenger had spent five minutes setting up in order to power up his fire type attacks. Yes, a vacuum around the entire arena. That poor Rapidash's flames went too. Togetic would never be able to replicate the way Claydol fought, that was for sure.

"Guess I'm all in on this Claydol thing," I said. My eyes glazed over the time and I realized it was almost time to go. I went to shower and Electabuzz had laid me some clothes when I came back. I thanked him with a kiss on the cheek and finished getting ready. "Remember this, everyone. I'm coming at this from a biased point of view, so you're going to have to be a judge of character for me. Can I count on you?"

They all agreed, although Sunshine didn't care much.

"And you," I said to him. "Today's the day. Would you be ready tonight?"

He blinked, but then he nodded.

Today would be the day he told me about his old team. I recalled all of them and got going. I almost expected Lou to greet me at the door, but she was nowhere to be seen. I still had no idea how the hell these ACE trainers hid so damn well. I'd be interested in talking more with her, but she wanted nothing to do with me, as she'd shown multiple times yesterday. This was just a job for her, and that was fine.

First, I had to do this and then find Mira and Chase. Cecilia was going to try to rope them into a meeting later. I couldn't deny that I wasn't really thinking about my mother right now. There was too much on my mind. That also meant that I wasn't nervous, or angry, so that was kind of a positive. We'd said that we would meet at a park in Veilstone's south. It took me a while to find her. It was the week-end and this place was packed with both people and Pokemon. She sat on a bench, a book in hand, but she somehow saw me through the crowd immediately. She stood up and excitedly jogged in my direction.

She really did look like an older version of me. Dirty blonde hair, freckles and only slightly taller, but with blue eyes instead of green. Had it been difficult for dad too look at me— no. I couldn't think like that. I bit my lip, stopping any demands from coming. There was no point in asking why she had done it. She had already told me. It had just been her being a terrible, shitty human being. I was coming here in good faith and hoping to make amends or do anything to mend the bridge between us, but I knew there would be no way that we'd ever be as close or friendly as my father and I were.

She didn't lunge to try to hug me, so that was appreciated. And I wouldn't have to see my grandmother either, thank Arceus. It would be just us today.

"G—good morning. Or wait, it's the afternoon now. Thank you so much for agreeing to this, Grace," she said. "I thought you wouldn't."

"You messaged Denzel, didn't you?" I asked. For some reason, my voice came out deeper than usual. I cleared my throat and continued. "He was the one that convinced me."

My mother blinked.

"He was? Wait, he told you about all of that…? Oh no. I really didn't mean to pry, I just wanted to know how you were doing," she rambled. "Did you feel pressured into meeting me? I'm sorry."

To be honest, I had thought that she might have discretely probed Denzel about confronting me, but honestly?

She might just have been genuine.

And that scared me.