INTERLUDE - CANDICE

“Ugh, so stupid!” Candice grumbled as she kicked some snow. “Stupid Wednesday!”

Like every Wednesday of the week, Candice Suzuna was in a serious mood today.

The ice type gym leader walked through the snowy route north of Snowpoint with a simple skirt and shirt. Her mastery of ice types had made her body practically immune to the cold, although she sometimes wore coats anyway because they felt comfy. There was no point in bringing one where she was going, though. Candice stared at the looming stone temple that was embedded in the side of a small mountain. It had been built by her ancestors thousands of years ago, and like every Wednesday, she was going to go inside of it.

Officially, the Snowpoint Temple wasn’t open to the public because of dangerous wild Pokemon infestations. Never mind the fact that powerful trainers could have handled those without a problem, or the fact that there weren’t any wild Pokemon there at all. Sometimes, the occasional tourist passionate about history or cocky trainer had to be turned back by the League trainers that patrolled and guarded the temple at all times. It wasn’t that interesting, they said. It was for their safety, they said.

Well, that last part was accurate.

Candice gave familiar greetings to all of the League trainers she met along the way, with a warm smile and all. Soon enough, she was at the Temple’s entrance.

“Ayo, Gabe and Paul!” She exclaimed with a large wave.

One of them sighed. “We’re not… that’s not our names,” he said as he handed her ten Pokeballs.

“My bad, I’m terrible with those, but you know that already,” Candice smiled. She noticed that her hand was trembling when she reached out for the Pokeballs, but they thankfully didn’t.

“Good luck again today,” he said, dipping his head. “With whatever it is that you actually do down there.”

“Well, classified information and all of that. If you were a better trainer, maybe the League would give you clearance,” Candice shrugged as the other trainer handed her a long, white dress and an incense. “Ugh, my hands are so hecking full.”

“S’wat you get for shittalking,” he chuckled.

Candice grumbled as she climbed up stairs so large that she could barely step up one at a time. She had always thought it to be strange that the people protecting the Temple didn’t know what they were actually guarding. The League fostered such loyalty that they didn’t even care to know.

The girl took a breath. She would kill to go back to not knowing. Sometimes, it was better not to know.

But enough with those bad thoughts. Being in a serious mood didn’t mean that she needed to be down in the dumps. Her cheerful personality always helped her when she was nervous, and she could be a real chatterbox, although there was no one actually here to talk to. The Temple was so silent that all she could hear was ringing in her ears. Parts of the inside had collapsed onto the ground, and some of the floors were slick with ice so slippery that it was impossible to stop, but Candice knew this place like the back of her hand these days. She probably could have reached the bottom floor with a blindfold over her eyes. Finally, she reached her destination. Inscriptions in ancient, illegible writing adorned the walls and the now-opened doors. Candice didn’t know what had opened these doors in the first place, since they appeared to be unmovable and indestructible, but that wasn’t her problem. She had a job to do.

The ice type gym leader slapped her cheeks to ground herself and stepped into the room with her eyes staring straight at the ground.

Seventeen steps, Candice thought. Seventeen until she saw the thick chalk circle on the ground. She changed into the white dress and took off her socks and shoes before releasing ten Hypno from the Pokeballs the League trainers had given her. Her eyes were still staring away from it.

“Good morning,” Candice whispered. The volume of her voice didn’t actually matter, but she couldn’t help but be quiet.

Good morning, young Candice, one of the Hypno said. She smiled when she noticed that the headache was almost gone now. After all, she had been doing this for almost three years.

Are you ready to begin the ritual? Another one asked. They were all staring away as well. Away from it.

“Give me a little,” Candice breathed out.

One hundred and thirty weeks. One hundred and thirty times, Candice had done this ritual. Her grandmother, who had been the previous Snowpoint gym leader, had brought her here right after her victory at the Conference three years ago, although she lost to Flint, who had been a new Elite Four member at the time. Her grandmother had been diagnosed with bone cancer, and so she had asked Candice to make a choice. Either she could come with her to the Temple, take the plunge, and be chosen as her successor, or she could swear off taking over the gym forever.

Candice originally wanted to take another stab at the Circuit, but she loved Snowpoint too much to refuse. Her grandma had taken her into the temple and finally explained why she went missing every Wednesday morning. A ritual that had been passed from Snowpoint leader to Snowpoint leader— although now, it was passed on to gym leaders. A ritual to keep it asleep. The first time she brought her into this room, she had warned Candice not to look at it until she had stepped into the chalk circle, but she had been fifteen. Fifteen-year-olds didn’t like being told what to do, so she stared anyway.

She woke up in the hospital two weeks later. Her grandmother had said it was a defense mechanism it used to stay unharmed when it was sleeping, but the chalk circle somehow made it so that only looking would make you pass out if the ritual hadn’t begun. If her grandmother hadn’t been there to carry her back, she would never have woken up.

Only participants of the ritual were allowed to look. And only when the ritual had already begun. That meant that until her grandmother passed on, she would never be allowed to even steal a glance. The next time she came, Candice decided to actually listen, although she had asked so many questions that her grandmother had somehow been more annoyed at her than at the ever-worsening pain in her bones.

“Why is the chalk there? Who drew the circle?” Candice had asked.

“No one knows.” She had answered. “But it is no simple circle. There is psychic energy imbued in it. There is so much of it, and it is so intricate that nothing we have today could possibly recreate this system.”

“But what is it that we’re actually containing? I want to see.”

“Not yet. You are not ready, and uttering a Legendary’s name in its presence is foolish. Names hold power, Candice. I will tell you one day, when you are further along your training.”

Candice’s eyes had bulged. Legendary. The type of Pokemon that she read about in stories. That were myths.

To be in the presence of one had been mindboggling.

Candice exhaled. “I’m ready for the ritual.”

The Hypno nodded. Their eyes started to shine blue, and their pendulums began to swing in one uniform motion. They had been bred and trained to use the most powerful Hypnosis possible. Candice stepped into the chalk circle, and her hair and dress started to float up, as if it wasn’t affected by gravity any longer. The air was thick and smelled like something was burning. It was hard to breathe, but this was her job. Finally, she stared up at it.

“Its name is Regigigas,” Her grandmother had weakly said weeks later in the hospital as she got chemotherapy. “The stories say that it dragged the continents to where they are today. I personally don’t care to know if that’s true or false.”

“Can I look at it with my Pokedex?” Candice had asked, her eyes shining. She was probably the only fifteen-year-old in the world that had been in the same room as a Legendary.

“Your Pokedex won’t say anything,” Her grandmother laughed and then coughed. The cancer had been worsening fast, but Candice hadn’t liked to think about that. She ignored it and asked another question.

“So why are you… keeping it asleep, then? What if it wakes up?”

“If it wakes up, one thing is for sure. The League will be powerless to stop it, and Sinnoh, along with its surroundings, will be destroyed until it finally stops its rampage and falls into a deep slumber once more. We would have to evacuate millions… but millions more would perish.”

The statement had made Candice’s blood run cold. All of Sinnoh, gone just like that. And her grandmother hadn’t even entertained the idea of fighting it. No one could stand up to a legendary.

“But it’ll go back to sleep?” She asked after what felt like minutes.

“It will. It comes and goes in cycles, but it’s been due to wake up for thousands of years, which is why our ancestors came up with this ritual to keep it asleep. When the League conquered and took over Snowpoint, they were informed of the ritual and kept it going.”

Her grandmother had then explained that if Regigigas ever woke up, its five children would as well. Regice, hidden high up in the cold wastes of Mount Coronet. Registeel, hidden deep inside of the Iron Islands. Regirock, hidden in the Rock Peak Ruins north of the Battle Frontier. The League had agents guarding every single one, turning the occasional unsuspecting trainer away before they could make it anywhere close. There were also two others… but they didn’t slumber in Sinnoh.

Candice gulped as she stared at the humongous Legendary Pokemon. Its body was white like marble, with black, writing-like marks all over its body. A yellow band wrapped around its shoulder, and another yellow protrusion ran down the center of its body. Its eyes were dark and hollow. Lichen, moss, and frost grew all over its body. The Pokemon had been overtaken by nature. One hundred and thirty-one times, she had stared at it, but the sight was still deeply unsettling and wrong. Something this powerful shouldn’t have existed.

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Still, Candice could only see the top of Regigigas’ body. The vast majority of it was buried underground. The Temple had apparently been built after one of its rampages, soon after it went to sleep, so they had to build around its body. The young woman began walking around Regigigas with the most powerful Lax Incense the League could produce, and she uttered these words.

“In ancient times, a giant stirred,

A legend born, a titan heard,

Regigigas, with power untold,

In slumber deep, its strength controlled.

Through ages past, a ritual formed,

To keep the giant, forever dormed,

With sacred words and mystic lore,

Regigigas sleeps, forevermore.

Let not the spell be broken light,

For if the titan wakes in might,

The world may tremble and quake in fear,

And all we hold dear would disappear.

So let us honor the ancient rite,

And keep Regigigas asleep tonight,

For in its rest, we find our peace,

And Sinnoh may thrive another week.”

At the mention of its name, Regigigas stirred. Artificial, robot-like sounds echoed throughout the room, and its eyes came alive, blinking like glitching computer screens. The entire temple shook. The Hypno intensified their Hypnosis, and Candice steeled herself. The Legend’s arm moved a few inches, slowed, and then it fell back into a deep sleep. Candice released a breath she didn’t know she was holding and collapsed on her knees.

Young Candice, step out of the circle, one Hypno warned.

She gave her a shaky nod and stepped out of the chalk’s boundaries. The ritual was done. She had bought Sinnoh another week.

As she had done for one hundred and thirty weeks. One hundred and thirty-one, now. None of the other gym leaders knew about this. Not even the older generation. It was her burden to carry and hers alone, along with higher-ups in the League. If something happened to her, the League Secret Service would swoop in and quickly train another person before the week was over, but there were also people in the know that would be capable of going through with the ritual if there wasn't enough time. Still, tradition dictated that the next Snowpoint gym leader would be the next ritual bearer.

But how could Candice give someone such a burden? And to whom? Her grandmother had apologized to her before dying, and Candice didn’t understand at the time. Now, she did.

Sometimes, it was better not to know.

——

“Ugh, I fricking hate Wednesdays…”

“Everything go alright down there?” The League trainer asked as Candice exited the Temple.

“You perv,” she smiled. “You just wanted to see me in that dress.”

“I have a girlfriend, and I’m very happy.”

“I won’t tell her,” Candice said as she handed him the ten Hypno’s Pokeballs.

“Don’t spread lies about me. I’m serious.”

The worst part of the week was over, and Candice could finally go back to being her silly, joking self. She was all smiles as she stepped back into Snowpoint. The city had never felt as alive as it had the past few days. People were happy to have their small city be all over the news, thanks to those four trainers that had survived going through Mount Coronet.

What were their names again? Candice wanted to give them her thanks somehow. She hoped that they’d battle her at some point soon. It wasn’t every day that Candice could use her lower-level teams, and they had gotten very rusty. Still, unfortunately, she was going to be busy all day, so there would be no time to practice. Candice stepped into Snowpoint’s only jail and gave a hearty greeting to the officers stationed there. The city was a tightly-knit community, so crime was incredibly low. Snowpoint was nothing like Jubilife or Sunyshore. Still, every city needed at least some law enforcement, but they were often bored out of their minds.

“Candice! Haven’t seen you in a while,” he happily said. Snowpoint was small, so she basically knew everybody’s face. Although the more accurate statement would be that everyone knew her.

“I’m here to see our guest,” she said. It was easy to remember Craig’s name. After all, he was extremely fun to battle, and he had beaten her the last two years on the first try. This time would be different!

“Ah, the wonder boy,” the officer replied.

“Wonder boy? Come on, he ain’t that special,” She said, contradicting her own train of thought. “Hope you’ve been keeping his stay a secret like we asked.”

“Of course, of course,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Follow me.”

The officer led Candice to what was possibly the most comfortable jail cell of all time. Hell, there weren’t even prison bars! It was just a locked wooden door. Candice stepped into the room with a grin.

“Craig, my boy,” she said in a mocking tone. “How does it feel to be a criminal?”

The black-haired man stared at her for a few seconds and rolled his eyes. “Pretty bad, all things considered. I’m kind of wasting time here. I thought I’d be out by now,” he complained as he typed away on a laptop. “At least I get to answer my emails. I was very backed up.”

“Is that a new computer?” Candice asked.

“Wha— I mean, yes, but why do you even remember what computer I had last year?”

Candice stared at the ground and twiddled her thumbs. “No reason.”

“Shi— stuff happens on the road. It broke, and I got a new one.”

“Ahem,” she coughed after a few awkward seconds of silence. “I came here to tell you that you’re free to go. The trainers I sent to check if your story was right or not confirmed that the people your Salamence killed were from Team Galactic. It was tough, you know? Their corpses were barely recognizable, and their uniforms—”

“Please don’t describe the state of their corpses, Candice. I just ate brunch.”

“Haha… my bad,” Candice winced and scratched the back of her head. “Anyway, you’re free to go, but I did have a few things to say.”

Questions from the League, Candice omitted.

“Go ahead.”

“This Savika individual,” Candice started. “Are you sure she’s not the one that disclosed the lake’s location to Team Galactic? The League didn’t know about it beforehand, but we were looking for it, so we’re wondering how Team Galactic beat us to it.”

The League now knew about all three lakes. Verity near Twinleaf, Valor near Sunyshore, and the newly named Acuity near Snowpoint, but due to Team Galactic stealing their files with Rotom, they also knew where Valor was. That meant that both the League and Team Galactic now knew where the three lakes were. Candice didn’t know what they were planning to do with them. If her short time working for the League had taught her anything, they must have known the answer. They just weren’t telling her and the other gym leaders, at least not yet, but if they weren’t, it probably had world defining consequences. She did know that they were building a veritable fortress around each lake to prevent Team Galactic from ever getting near them again.

“They attacked her,” Craig sighed. “She’s innocent in all of this, leave her alone. She already hates the fact that you’re going to be sending League trainers to guard the place permanently. I know I told you that I thought they’d come back, but… why? I know that the lake speeds up your thought process, but that seems like too easy of an answer. Something else must be important about this lake. Something that you’re not telling me.”

“Believe it or not, I don’t know the answer. It’s above my pay grade,” Candice shrugged. “Now, these kids that you told me about yesterday. Why did you omit their presence this long?”

“I promised to,” he said. “Believe it or not, I’m a man of my word. Apparently, the world thought them to be dead. Now that they’ve revealed themselves, I felt like I could finally talk about it.”

Candice’s eyes widened. So they were the same kids that had brought fame to Snowpoint? She hadn’t even made the link until now. Now she definitely wanted to meet them and chat. Maybe she’d go easy on them for their gym battle… it wasn’t like she knew how hard she should go on them anyway, and she would get a lot less complaints if the fight was too easy instead of too hard, especially with all of the attention on them. It wasn’t hard to imagine the public outrage if she utterly crushed who had barely made it out of Mount Coronet alive, one of which had been abused by her father.

“I had to lie to them about Team Galactic possibly coming back. Did you know that she was one of the hostages at the Valley Windwords powerplant? I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth,” Craig said with a pained look. “She had a panic attack just hearing the name Team Galactic.”

“Well, what’s done is done,” Candice sighed. “Gonna sign up to battle me tomorrow? You’re going to have to go after the four kids, though.”

“Why not just do it today?” He asked in an annoyed tone. “I gotta get back on the road.”

“I’m busy today, I’ve got to meet with the dock workers’ union. They’re threatening to strike if they don’t get better pay— I mean, I certainly agree since they keep Snowpoint alive, but try telling that to our union-buster mayor. Anyway, the negotiations are going to be a headache.”

“Ouch. Good luck with that,” Craig said as he grabbed all of his bags. “When I become the Champion, I’m going to delegate all of the political stuff to the League. Can’t be bothered to deal with it.”

“That’s what I thought too, when I became a gym leader. I thought my gym trainers would deal with it, but nope,” Candice sighed. “It sneaks up on you, you know? Duty.”

Craig stared at her for a few seconds. “You’re carrying some heavy shit, I can tell,” He said as he clapped her shoulder. “Oh, crap, I swore. Ah, dang it.”

“I’m not a kid,” Candice said.

“Yeah, you are,” he laughed as he left. “See you tomorrow.”

Damn it, I’ve got no chance, Candice thought to herself. If only I was a few years older…

She leaned against a wall and took a few minutes to herself. It was hard to see how confident Craig was when she knew for a fact that even though he would probably win the Conference, he simply had no chance against Cynthia. Candice had battled her a few times for fun, but she utterly crushed her without even going all out, and the ice type gym leader wasn’t that much worse than Craig was. Candice honestly believed that no one would dethrone Cynthia until she retired or died. She was a once in a thousand years talent.

Candice wasn’t on good terms with the Sinnoh Champion these days. Not after it was revealed that she just watched as trainers died in Eterna Forest due to Team Galactic’s interference. Volkner and Maylene thought the same, but Gardenia and Roark were on Cynthia’s side. Roark thought that the ends justified the means, and Gardenia was just being Cynthia’s lapdog, as always. This created a rift between the two camps, and their relationships were a bit on thin ice. Maylene especially couldn’t believe Gardenia was still taking Cynthia’s side. She felt the most betrayed out of all of them. Still, eventually, they’d have to talk it out, and Cynthia had told them that she would invite them to chat soon. Face to face, and there, she would finally give them the answers they sought.

The gym leader sighed. Battling Craig would help her destress and unwind, and so would seeing the four kids be happy when they won against her. She’d give them a good show, pretend to be helpless, and enjoy the smiles on their faces.

Candice reset her mood to her silly self as she exited the police station and started walking toward the docks. It would do wonders to calm down tensions between the two negotiating parties, and she’d be able to act as a bridge of some sort. Cynthia had apologized and said she would keep them better informed next time, but not that she wouldn’t do it again. That was the straw that had broken the Camerupt’s back. Still, Candice knew the weight of duty. She knew it better than every gym leader.

Sometimes, it was better not to know. So at the end of the day, even though she would protest and express her anger, she would keep her head down and listen.