Inside a restaurant somewhere on the Indigo Plateau.
"So, what I'm saying is—your Blaziken's natural talent in this area is really impressive. Lucario also watched your battle this morning, and even it was surprised by your progress."
The blonde woman sitting across from Silas popped a piece of macaron into her mouth, savoring the sweetness with half-closed eyes as she spoke.
"Well, it's been training really hard," Silas replied casually. "But what brings you to Kanto all of a sudden?"
He didn't believe for a second that he was the reason this reclusive scholar—who usually spent her days buried in studies of ancient myths—had decided to leave her home. He wasn't that influential.
"Yeah, recently Hunter J has been active near Lake Verity. The League investigation found that she accepted a commission from Lawrence III, and there seem to be traces of Team Rocket involvement too. So they sent me to check it out."
The blonde woman—Cynthia—sighed helplessly as she spoke.
She really hadn't wanted to come. Normally, at this time of year, she'd be relaxing at her close friend Caitlin's villa in Undella Town, only occasionally meeting with a few friends like Drasna, Aloe (Lenora), Gardenia, or Winona.
"Lake Verity, huh? So the 'Mad Collector' has his eyes on the Lake Guardians this time?" Silas tilted his head thoughtfully.
First the Legendary Birds, and now the Lake Trio—Team Rocket was getting bold. Maybe the birth of Mewtwo had given them new confidence.
As for Lawrence III doing something like this—Silas wasn't surprised at all. That "Mad Collector" was a man who would one day set his sights on Lugia, the Guardian of the Seas. The Lake Trio were nothing in comparison.
Cynthia happily ate another dessert. It was hard to imagine how she maintained such a perfect figure.
"Maybe. But the Lake Guardians don't actually live in the lakes. Hunter J couldn't reach them even if she tried." Her tone brightened slightly.
One of the reasons Cynthia got along well with Silas—aside from their mutual respect for Professor Rowan was that he could actually understand her. She didn't need to waste time explaining everything from scratch.
Most people, upon hearing her mention Hunter J, Lawrence III, and Team Rocket, would only react with shock at their alliance, not even realizing their true goal or that Lake Verity was the ancient name for Lake Valor.
Lake Verity's old name was Risshi Lake, a term used back when Sinnoh was still called Hisui.
Only a handful of people even knew that now.
But as a scholar of myths, Cynthia was used to translating ancient texts that used that name, so she'd simply grown accustomed to calling it that.
Not to mention the legends of the Lake Trio themselves—Uxie, the Being of Knowledge who granted people wisdom; Mesprit, the Being of Emotion who taught people to feel; and Azelf, the Being of Willpower who gave people the strength to act.
According to legend, after Arceus created the Pokémon that shaped the material world, it created the Pokémon that shaped the spiritual world—the Lake Guardians. These three Pokémon hatched from a single egg and flew across the land, gifting humanity with wisdom that enriched life, emotions that brought joy and sorrow, and the willpower to accomplish their goals.
Lake Valor was later named in honor of Azelf, who resided there.The other two—Uxie and Mesprit—lived in Lake Acuity and Lake Verity, respectively.
"Hunter J can't do it, and Team Rocket can't easily extend their reach into Sinnoh either but Lawrence III might be able to," Silas said.
From what he remembered, when Lawrence later targeted Lugia, he used a special capture machine that restrained Lugia and left it severely injured, throwing the region into chaos.
He hadn't known the full details before, but linking that incident to the Lake Trio's abilities, the origin of that device became much clearer.
According to myth:
Uxie, the Being of Knowledge, can erase the memories of those who meet its gaze.
Mesprit, the Being of Emotion, can erase the emotions of anyone who touches it.
Azelf, the Being of Willpower, can paralyze anyone who harms it.
The restraining device Lawrence used clearly corresponded to Azelf's ability.
"Yeah, exactly," Cynthia nodded. "That's why our main focus right now is on Lawrence III, who's been spotted near Mt. Silver lately. Team Rocket's just… tagging along."
Unlike J or Team Rocket, Lawrence's motives were simple. The key difference was that he was insanely wealthy. Even among collectors—people who already had more money than they could spend—he was one of the richest.
If he wanted something, there was almost nothing he couldn't get.
Even the League was curious about the capabilities of his massive flying fortress and its operating systems.
"Anyway, enough about that. The real reason I came to Indigo Plateau was to ask you for advice."
Cynthia looked at the remaining desserts, hesitated for a moment, then gave up and turned to Silas, who was focused on his meal.
"Hmm?" Silas looked up, puzzled.
Cynthia absentmindedly brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "You know how my grandfather recently proposed the concept of friendship-based evolution? I've been thinking—it's time to raise my seventh main Pokémon. After some thought, I chose this one."
As she spoke, she pulled out a Pokémon Egg from somewhere.
Without even checking what it was, Silas instinctively asked, "Did your Roserade reach a breakthrough?"
His voice was full of surprise.
The Cynthia sitting before him was quite different from the one she would become in the future—not only in personality and demeanor but also in her team composition.
Like Silas, Cynthia followed an elite-training approach. Currently, she had only six Pokémon: Garchomp, Lucario, Milotic, Gastrodon, Spiritomb, and Roserade.
Among them, Garchomp, Lucario, Milotic, and Roserade were all raised personally by Cynthia from eggs, while Gastrodon (West Sea form) and Spiritomb were captured.
The former came from the Fuego Ironworks, while the latter was obtained during a ruins exploration.
Of course, the strength of her Pokémon was naturally formidable.
Garchomp and Lucario were Champion-level, Milotic was quasi-Champion-level, and the remaining three were Elite Four-level.
At least, that was how it used to be.
But according to Cynthia, she didn't plan to raise a new Pokémon until Roserade reached the quasi-Champion tier.
In other words, her current team should be: two Champion-level, two quasi-Champion-level, and two Elite Four-level Pokémon.
That was enough to leave Silas astonished.
"No, not yet but it's close. From the time this child hatched until it reached the Elite level, enough time has passed for Roserade to break through," Cynthia said, clearly delighted at the topic.
"Congratulations! Looks like your debut isn't far away," Silas said with a grin.
Here, "debut" didn't refer to setting out on a journey as a Trainer at age sixteen—it meant entering an official tournament as a Trainer.
Yes, up to this point, Cynthia had never participated in a single league conference.
So even though her strength was immense and she had achieved much, her official Trainer Rank was still the same as Silas's: Advance-class.
After all, Trainer rankings in the League had to be advanced one step at a time—there were no shortcuts, no skipping tiers.
"That's basically me—someone who can battle a Champion to a draw," Silas thought wryly.
Cynthia had never clearly stated her reason for avoiding tournaments, only that she was waiting for "the right moment."
Silas could more or less understand.
Unlike a certain Flying-type Elite Four member obsessed only with Dragon Pokémon, Cynthia wanted to become a master of all types.
Rather than becoming Champion first and then slowly raising her team afterward, she wanted to stand at the summit with all her Pokémon fully trained.
That would be something to see—imagine it: Champion of the regional tournament, winner of the Elite Four Championship, and then challenging and defeating all three Champions in a row.
Silas smirked at the thought—it would be a legendary feat, one that would shock anyone who had never heard of Cynthia before.
"Yeah, once I finish training this one, there should only be one last goal left," Cynthia said, revealing a bit of her plan.
That meant there were probably two or three years left, Silas quickly calculated.
He didn't continue that topic, though, and instead turned his gaze toward the Pokémon Egg in Cynthia's hands.
At a glance, his eyes widened.
"Is that a Togepi Egg?"
That one, he knew well.
Although he hadn't seen his own Togekiss when it was still an egg, the Togepi stage wasn't much different in appearance.
"Mhm, I traded it for a Garchomp fang," Cynthia replied with a cheerful smile.
For a moment, Silas didn't even know what to envy first.
Should he envy her for owning a Champion-level Garchomp, for having a Dragon Fang, or for the Togepi Egg itself?
Oh—actually, the last one wasn't necessary.
He already had a Togekiss. That was some comfort. "I'm not poor," he told himself. "She's just too rich."
"So you came here to ask this handsome expert, the proud owner of a Togekiss, how to raise a Togepi, huh?"
He straightened up with a grin—the realization making him puff out his chest. "Someday, I'll be able to brag, 'I taught the Sinnoh Champion!'"
Cynthia chuckled. "Raising its friendship isn't the problem—I already have a Soothe Bell ready. I can use Budew's evolution into Roselia as a reference, but the main issue is diet.
I asked my grandfather—he said your Togekiss's energy signature seems quite different from most Togekiss, and its mastery of its moves is exceptional, so I was wondering…"
She hesitated, a bit embarrassed.
After all, the details of Pokémon training were a Trainer's core secrets, and it felt a little forward to ask.
"If you don't mind," she added quickly, "I'll compensate you appropriately."
"That's not really an issue," Silas replied after a brief thought.
"But to be honest, my training method is still more of a hypothesis. I don't yet have enough data to prove that it actually works."
...
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