Chapter 271: Cynthia's Ancestor
A short while later, Lorelei returned.
Just as she sat down, the girl who had been staring at them stood up and walked over.
"Excuse me, are you Lorelei?"
"Yes, I... Huh, Lila?"
Lorelei responded instinctively, but when she looked up, she was surprised.
Will and Lucario exchanged a glance. They hadn't expected Lorelei to know this woman.
"It really is you! I've heard so much about you. I didn't expect a Kanto celebrity to come to Sinnoh. Are you here to find Cynthia?"
Lila smiled and shook Lorelei's hand.
"Mhm. I'm preparing for the Elite Four Tournament, so I wanted to visit Senior Carmela to learn some techniques. And speaking of celebrities... I'm nothing compared to you."
"Haha, I can't compare to you." Lila waved her hand casually.
It seemed she was a celebrity too. But Will honestly didn't recognize her, so she definitely wasn't as famous as Lorelei.
"So this is the legendary 'Incredible Piplup.' Hmm, he really is a different color from normal Piplup. And chubby, too."
Will had just lifted his chin proudly. Hearing the last part, his smile instantly vanished.
Except for his disastrous start as a Weedle in his first life, he didn't think he'd ever been skinny.
"Yeah. My Piplup is different from others. His body has some issues that prevent him from evolving, and his color changed too," Lorelei explained, nodding.
But instead of being sad about it, she seemed quite pleased with Will's uniqueness.
"Is that so? No wonder he hasn't evolved despite his high level. I thought you gave him an Everstone."
"Why would I do that? Piplup is super cute, but Prinplup and Empoleon are cool too. Is using Everstones common among Coordinators?"
Lorelei picked Will up and rubbed his soft belly. The more she rubbed, the more she sighed in admiration. Piplup was simply the cutest Pokémon in the world. This layer of short downy feathers was a masterpiece of design.
"Yes. After all, many Pokémon change their appeal after evolving. For example, some Coordinators specialize in 'Cute' performances, but if their Pokémon evolves, they have to change their style."
"Oh~ I didn't know that." Lorelei nodded, then introduced Will and Lucario. "This is Lila, a very famous Coordinator in the Sinnoh region. She and another Coordinator named Johanna are known as the 'Twin Princesses' of Sinnoh. Lila is called the 'Tiger Lily of Celestic Town'."
"Don't use that name, it's so embarrassing! Johanna and I are ancient history." Lila blushed and waved her hand awkwardly.
"Johanna?"
Will tilted his head, thinking. He felt like he'd heard that name somewhere, but he couldn't place it.
"Really? No wonder I haven't seen your performances on TV in the last two years."
"Have you watched TV in the last two years?" Will gave Lorelei a suspicious look.
While traveling, they had nowhere to watch TV. And at home, the TV was always monopolized by him and Lorelei's mom watching soap operas. Like "My Billionaire Eevee,""The Overbearing Riolu Falls for Me," and "The Dragon King Charizard Returns to Reclaim What is His"...
If the actors were all humans, Will would find it disgusting. But with Pokémon and humans acting together... well, even poop had to be tasted to see if it was runny.
"Five years ago, I gave up on becoming a Top Coordinator. Seeing Johanna like that, I realized I didn't love performing. I only did it because everyone around me was doing it."
Lila sat next to Lucario and tried to pet him.
Lucario dodged. Although Lucario is a canine Pokémon, they aren't the type to let just anyone touch them. They are very wary of strangers. Even if the person had no malicious Aura, they wouldn't let them touch freely.
"So what are you doing now? And what about Johanna?"
"I opened my own clothing store in Celestic Town. I'm a Pokémon Stylist now. As for Johanna... I heard she found a boyfriend and is about to meet his parents."
"!"
Hearing Lila's words, Will's eyes suddenly lit up.
Because he suddenly remembered who this person was, and who "Johanna" was.
Lila. A character who appeared in the anime, fixing Dawn's messy hair. In the future, she would be a famous stylist who designed Contest outfits for Wallace, and she possessed considerable strength herself. If it were the future Lila, becoming a Gym Leader should be a breeze.
As for Johanna... that was Dawn's mother. Although Johanna didn't appear much in the anime, she held the title of "Top Coordinator."
In that case, Dawn's birth should be within three to five years. So fast...
Will sighed inwardly. The chaotic era was coming. In about 15 years.
He wondered how many of the messy events from the anime and movies would happen in this world. Or maybe none of them would happen, occurring in other timelines instead. That would be best, of course.
Lorelei would become a Kanto Elite Four member in the future. If anything big happened, she would definitely be involved.
But even if she was involved, it would mostly be local matters.
Locally... whether it was Lugia, Ho-Oh, or the Legendary Beasts... given their friendship, they'd have to give the "Leaf God" some face. It shouldn't be a problem.
The fear was having to support other regions and running into battles between gods. Will had no connections with the Legendaries of other regions.
Just then, a girl burst into the cafe.
It was the 14-year-old Cynthia.
She hadn't changed much from a year ago, in terms of looks or style. She was just a lot taller. In the future, she'd probably be even taller than Lorelei.
"Sister Lorelei~? Sister Lila, you're here too."
"Long time no see, Cynthia." Lorelei waved, patting Will's head.
Will casually lifted his chin in greeting.
Although Cynthia was a very popular character, that was only for people who hadn't lived in this world. Having lived here for so long and gotten used to the style of the people, Will didn't have any filters when looking at her. At most, because of Celestia, he had a fairly good impression of this kid.
"Mhm! Mom is looking forward to seeing you. She's already preparing food at home." Cynthia nodded gently, then turned to Lila. "Sister Lila, come eat with us today too. You haven't eaten with Mom in a long time. She sometimes wonders if you've forgotten her."
"Then I'll shamelessly tag along for a meal." Lila grinned, dropping some of her politeness with Cynthia.
It seemed they had known each other for a long time. Which made sense. Celestic Town was tiny, with a population of maybe less than ten thousand. Cynthia, Lila, and even Carmela were celebrities in Celestic Town; they definitely interacted. Lila being so strong might even be due to Carmela's guidance.
Led by Cynthia, they passed through a forest and arrived at the Celestic Town advertised on TV.
Similar to the Dragonite territory, it was located in a valley plain surrounded by mountains on all sides.
However, the plain where the Celestic people lived had many scattered trees. The houses were mostly two or three-story western-style buildings, unlike the wooden houses built by the Dragon Clan.
And there were many abrupt, deep pits in the ground. Inside the pits were caves that seemed to lead underground.
"I heard Celestic Town has many ruins left behind, are they in those caves?"
"Mhm." Cynthia's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. "Grandma says Celestic Town is the oldest town in Sinnoh, existing since the Sinnoh region was born!"
'Your grandma is wrong,' Will shook his head secretly, but didn't voice his objection. He had at least that much emotional intelligence.
The Hisui region did have places named "Celestica," like the Celestica Ruins and Celestica Trail. There must have been a Celestica Village or Tribe in the past.
But not here.
The Celestic Town beneath their feet was rebuilt later. In the past, this place was the Ancient Retreat.
Cynthia's ancestors in the Hisui era lived here. They were:
Cogita. A woman shrouded in mystery who knew countless histories of the Hisui region. But according to her, it was passed down from her ancestors. Also, this woman could command Enamorus, a Legendary on par with Thundurus and Tornadus, and she held the Pixie Plate. In short, a very formidable woman.
Volo. His true identity was a direct descendant of the ancient Sinnoh people. He also knew a lot and was the mastermind in the game, aiming to capture Arceus and use its power to recreate the world. Volo was confirmed to be Cynthia's direct ancestor. His Pokémon team was almost identical to Carmela's and Cynthia's original configurations, minus a Sceptile.
These two were obsessed with and interested in the history of the Sinnoh region. With them there, they naturally collected many ancient objects and stored them in the Ancient Retreat. Including some objects from the Celestica people.
The group who rebuilt Celestic Town here saw these objects and assumed they were descendants of the Celestica people, naming the town "Celestic."
That was the origin of Celestic Town, a small misunderstanding.
But the descendants of Cogita and Volo were just like them. They were still obsessed with researching the history of the Sinnoh region. Professor Carolina, Cynthia... they were all the same.
He just didn't know about Carmela.
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