Wrapped in her signature black coat, Cynthia wandered aimlessly through the streets of Hau'oli City.
Her exquisitely beautiful, pale face turned toward the distance. The warm sea breeze drifted by, like the gentlest lover's hand brushing across her bangs.
Alola was gorgeous—an endless stretch of deep blue ocean, a clear and spotless sky, laughter and joy ringing in her ears.
The whole city seemed that way. No pressure, no exhaustion, no gloom. Lighthearted happiness was its main theme.
If she'd come here on vacation, Cynthia was sure she would've gotten swept up in the city's relaxing atmosphere.
But…
This time was different.
"Caitlin…"
Cynthia pressed her lips together. Even now, after becoming Sinnoh's Elite Four Champion, standing at the very peak of the Sinnoh Region's Trainers…
She still felt flustered and anxious. She was worried about her sister. Deeply worried.
Caitlin's change had been so drastic. They'd been so close before—practically sisters.
After that last call, Cynthia had only been mildly uneasy. But the information sent from Alola afterward had completely shattered her calm.
Caitlin had actually become part of an evil organization? That was impossible…
How had it come to this?
Beep-beep-beep…
Suddenly, Cynthia's phone started ringing nonstop. She glanced at the screen, brows knitting slightly. It was from Professor Kukui.
And it was a call for help?
She didn't understand, but in the next instant, she had a guess—had he run into Team Rocket?
Cynthia pocketed her phone, hurried out of the city, released Garchomp, and flew straight toward the location Kukui had sent.
...
"Hydro Pump!"
"Dodge it, now!"
Back at Ten Carat Hill, the battle raged on.
At Kukui's panicked shout, his agile Lycanroc—already worn out from constant evasions—finally slipped up and took Tapu Fini's Hydro Pump head-on.
With a thunderous boom, his Midday Lycanroc was blasted into the air by the sheer force of the Hydro Pump, slammed into the ground, and lay there, unable to get back up.
"That's all you've got, Professor Kukui?"
Damian's grin widened as faint green motes of light flowed from his hand into Tapu Fini's body.
The power of Viridian washed through Tapu Fini, healing her injuries and easing the mental fatigue from the long fight.
Her earlier exhaustion vanished. Tapu Fini was buzzing with energy again.
She was absolutely confident—she could keep going against ten more.
"…"
Kukui's expression grew darker, his brows tightly drawn as he stared at the powerful Tapu Fini across from him. The hard-won damage from the fight had already been undone.
On his side, Magnezone and Braviary were down, Incineroar was injured, and Lycanroc had just taken a heavy hit.
Tapu Fini, though…
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Weren't you going to beat me and 'save' Tapu Fini?" Damian said cheerfully, continuing to rub it in.
"Damn it! You're just spamming that healing ability on Tapu Fini. That's so cheap!" Olivia couldn't stop herself from yelling.
"Cheap?" Damian couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Hahaha—this is killing me. Queen Olivia, I really didn't expect to hear that kind of line from you."
He laughed himself out, then went right back to merciless mockery.
"This isn't some regulated Arena match. And I've only been using Tapu Fini from start to finish."
"At the end of the day, you can't even get past Tapu Fini. You're so weak it's honestly kind of sad."
He was starting to wonder if Olivia actually had water in her skull.
This wasn't an official battle. Since when was he banned from using the power of Viridian?
He'd already been holding back by only using Tapu Fini against Kukui the whole time.
"And speaking of cheap—Queen Olivia, you trying to use a Pokémon to jump me doesn't count as cheap?"
Damian's tone went cold and sarcastic as he twisted the knife.
She'd clearly realized straight-up beating Tapu Fini wasn't going to be easy, so she'd tried sneaking out a Cradily, aiming to grab Damian—the Trainer—himself.
Unfortunately for her, that Cradily had gotten one-shot into a nice, deep "sleep" by a Shadow Ball from the evil gray fat guy who'd been lurking in Damian's shadow the entire time.
When he was out in the field, his own safety came first. That was exactly why his Shiny Gengar stayed in his shadow.
If the other side decided to ignore the rules of engagement—like Olivia trying to kidnap the Trainer—Shiny Gengar could counter immediately.
Olivia's face had gone completely black, her chest rising and falling rapidly again.
Kukui's expression was grim. He'd never expected to one day fall this low.
He hadn't even managed to beat a single one of his opponent's main roster Pokémon—and that was in a 2v1.
"Damian, I think we should talk this out."
Kukui's face flickered through several emotions before he spoke, clearly torn.
He couldn't win. He just couldn't.
"Kukui…" Olivia's expression shifted drastically.
But he just raised a hand to stop her, silently signaling her not to speak.
He glanced at the other two battlefields. To his surprise, even with a massive type advantage, Nanu was clearly struggling.
Kukui could tell Caitlin was still perfectly composed, actually. She was calmly glancing over at Damian's side while fighting.
Hala and Proton, on the other hand, were locked in a fierce clash—and Hala even seemed to have the slight upper hand.
That Proton executive… really wasn't all that strong.
But it didn't matter. Of the three, the one that truly mattered—the core of everything—was their leader, Damian.
"Oh?"
Damian watched Kukui with clear interest, waiting for him to continue.
He was honestly curious what the professor thought they could "talk" about.
But before he could answer, a dominant roar echoed from the sky. A deep blue Pokémon streaked toward them and slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and sand.
Everyone turned toward the source of the sound.
Footsteps approached, slow and steady. A tall, elegant blonde woman walked into view, her fierce Garchomp right at her heels.
"Champion Cynthia!"
Relief flashed across all of their faces—especially Kukui's. Champion Cynthia, you finally made it.
"Cynthia…"
Caitlin's delicate features twisted with complicated emotion, and her gaze turned so tangled it could've been plotted on a pie chart—her heart a mix of too many flavors to name.
She could pretty much guess why Cynthia had come to Alola.
"Now this is getting interesting."
Damian's grin stretched even wider as he looked Cynthia over from head to toe—the woman who'd climbed to the top of Sinnoh—and the Garchomp behind her.
"Caitlin."
Cynthia's gaze swept quickly across everyone present before finally settling on Caitlin.
"Caitlin, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"