"Cynthia, this is Luke — the one from the Orient region I mentioned before."
Cynthia stepped closer to the camera, her figure resolving into focus. The usual black trench coat had given way to a white lab coat, gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. No makeup, just bare, striking features — cherry-toned lips, pale skin, deep gray eyes — golden hair spilling down to her waist.
Luke froze for a second. That is genuinely too much beauty for one video call.
"Hello," Cynthia said, nodding, a faint smile forming. "Professor Rowan speaks quite highly of you."
"He's far too kind," Luke said, faintly flustered.
"He doesn't hand out praise lightly, for what it's worth." Cynthia smiled. "Also — your research interests overlap with mine, apparently."
Cynthia herself worked as a mythologist back in Sinnoh, having sunk considerable time into legends surrounding time and space specifically. Meeting a fellow researcher — one personally vouched for by Rowan, no less — genuinely piqued her curiosity.
"You two catch up," Rowan said, already standing. "I'll go grab some coffee."
That left Cynthia and Luke alone on opposite ends of the call. Silence settled in for a beat.
Luke stroked the sleeping Eevee absently, mind racing. That voice. Why does it sound so familiar?
Then it hit him — all at once. The Cynthia on screen suddenly overlapped perfectly with the chibi golden-haired avatar from the game, and that faintly husky voice from team chat clicked into place with total certainty.
Like a bolt of lightning, Luke froze completely.
It's... it's actually her?!
The rich woman who's been paying me to game with her is the actual Sinnoh Champion?!
Holy. Crap.
His face did something complicated. Cynthia tilted her head, puzzled. "Is something on my face?"
"You're just — a little too — no, wait—" Luke rubbed his own face. "Sorry, give me a second to compose myself."
Cynthia paused, a small smile tugging at her mouth — there and gone again in an instant, like ripples fading off a Swanna's wake.
"Have we met before?" she asked, gentle.
Luke shook his head.
"No?" Cynthia rested her chin on one hand, thinking it over. "Then why does your voice sound so familiar to me?"
She genuinely couldn't place it. A Champion's schedule left precious little room for anything extracurricular, mythology research eating up what remained — gaming, lately, had become a rare luxury.
Luke's expression twisted internally. How am I supposed to answer THAT. "I'm the guy you've been paying to carry you through raids"? In the middle of an academic video call with Professor Rowan sitting right there?
No. Absolutely not the moment. If she asks who Teacher Luke even is, this gets awkward fast.Not confessing today.
"Might just be misremembering," Luke said, deliberately vague.
"Hm..." Cynthia scratched her head, visibly unsettled by the loose thread.
Right then, Rowan returned with his coffee. Cynthia offered Luke a small nod and smile. "If you'll excuse me."
Her figure drifted gracefully out of frame.
Rowan took a sip of coffee. "In any case — feel free to transfer Eevee over whenever's convenient. Outside of that, I don't think there's anything else to worry about."
Luke thought for a second. "Does your institute still need staff, by any chance?"
"Oh?" Rowan's eyebrows rose. "Reconsidering after all?"
"No, just curious."
Luke had to admit — seeing Cynthia in person had genuinely tested his resolve for a moment there. But as a properly principled young man of his generation, sticking to his stated goals mattered. Said he wasn't becoming a researcher, he wasn't becoming a researcher. Consistency mattered.
After thanking Rowan, Luke ended the call and carried Eevee over to its cushioned bed, watching it curl and shift restlessly in its sleep.
"The rich lady's actually Cynthia," Luke murmured to himself. "No wonder money was never an issue."
"...Wait. Does that technically make me a kept man of the Sinnoh Champion?"
He coughed, swallowing hard. "No. Absolutely not. Business as usual." He straightened. "She might be rich, but Teacher Luke does not live off other people's money."
In two months, flat, since the world had shifted — Haunter, Eevee, an entire chat group full of legends, and now, apparently, a direct line to Cynthia. The whole situation had a distinctly surreal quality to it. But Teacher Luke, professionally trained in coping with absurdity by this point, adjusted quickly enough.
"No wonder she said the rate felt cheap," Luke said, mildly devastated. "The actual Sinnoh Champion paying tens of thousands an hour wouldn't even be unreasonable."
After a brief, intense round of self-reflection, he exhaled and let his nerves settle.
"Stay calm. Red's already a fan of mine. Gaming with Cynthia isn't that big a deal in the grand scheme."
"The invoice still goes out as usual, though. Can't start giving discounts just because she's pretty."
His logic, as far as he was concerned, was airtight: business was business. Sinnoh Champion or not, special pricing wasn't on the table — otherwise, what kind of professional was Teacher Luke, really?
He gave himself a mental thumbs-up for the reasoning. "Free rides? Not happening."
______________________________
It was late. Between the day's chaos and the mental whiplash, Luke was out cold the second his head hit the pillow.
In the dark room, a faint rustle stirred. Eevee, fully recovered, cracked open its dark, glassy eyes, scanning the room with sharp alertness.
"Vee?" — tonight's the night?
A ghostly face slowly emerged from the wall, Haunter grinning and nodding.
"Kojie!"
"Vee?" — what are we training tonight?
"Kojie kojie!" — you'll find out when we get there!
______________________________
Back at the Rowan Research Institute, Cynthia was still turning the earlier moment over in her head.
"Where would I have even met him," she murmured. "It's just... so familiar."
Voices over a call always distorted a little, and between her packed schedule and how long it had been since her last real gaming session, the memory stayed stubbornly out of reach.
Rowan, meanwhile, was busy logging the case details Luke had shared. "An Eevee with Anticipation, but an unusually volatile temperament..." He smiled to himself. "Quite the interesting pair, those two."
"That Eevee from the call?" Cynthia asked, curious.
"Yes." Rowan nodded, running through the symptoms again. "Might partly be stress from adjusting to a new environment — though it's a shame it won't tolerate a transfer for direct examination."
Cynthia smiled faintly. "I'll go see the little one myself, then. I'm heading to the Orient region soon regardless."
"Ah, the Master League this fall?" Rowan stroked his beard. "Who are you up against?"
"It's being hosted in Metro City. Likely facing Lance, from Kanto."
Cynthia covered a small yawn with one hand, clearly worn down. "Which is exactly why I keep saying — after this break, my schedule's completely gone for the rest of the year."
"Do you know anyone out there? Want an introduction to a few contacts?" Rowan offered.
"Shouldn't be necessary."
In her mind surfaced the image of the tactician who'd built an entire strategy around Perish Song, dirty tricks and all.
"I actually made a friend recently," she said. "He's from Metro City too, it turns out."
She scratched her head, thinking. "What was his name again... Teacher Luke?"