If looks could kill, Luke would have died several times over just from the security guards' glares alone.
Cynthia's dazzling blonde hair drew attention on its own anywhere she went. Add her height paired with Teacher Luke's own six-foot frame walking beside her and the two of them turned heads down the entire street.
"How do you usually get around when you're out?" Luke asked, glancing at Cynthia beside him in her sunglasses.
"Usually we lease out the whole street," Cynthia said, frowning slightly. "Or just buy one outright for shopping trips."
"Sorry for the trouble this time."
Under normal circumstances Cynthia's arrival in the Orient region would've come with a full welcome party from the local Pokémon Society lining the streets and handling transportation the entire trip. She'd pushed back hard on that arrangement this time. Since Luke happened to already be in Metro City she'd simply asked him to pick her up instead.
Once they reached the street Cynthia asked, curious, "Want to ride a flying Pokémon back?"
"I was actually planning on a taxi."
Assuming Luke simply hadn't brought his own transportation Cynthia offered, "I could give you a lift."
"I think we'd get shot down by anti-aircraft defenses."
Openly taking flight within Metro City's borders would draw an immediate shutdown notice, probably before they even cleared the runway.
Cynthia nodded thoughtfully. "Right, I forgot. This region actually regulates airspace."
"Wait, isn't that a Sinnoh thing?"
"No, you can follow the Mt. Coronet and Mt. Silver corridor all the way out to Kanto if you wanted."
"That actually sounds convenient," Luke admitted, genuinely tempted. "Would save a fortune on plane tickets."
Cynthia just smiled faintly. What she didn't mention was that she'd never needed a plane ticket in her life. She owned her own private jet.
Luke called the driver who'd left him a business card earlier. The man, apparently convinced Luke had been on the verge of getting stood up, rushed straight back to the airport pickup point — and froze completely once he saw who was in the car.
Admiration. That was the only word that came close to describing the look on his face.
Cynthia's Chinese wasn't especially fluent, so she stayed quiet during the ride, gazing out the window while gently stroking a dozing Eevee in her lap. A few strands of her golden hair drifted onto the back of Luke's hand, brushing against it lightly. Something about the sensation left him strangely unsettled.
"Foreigner?" the driver asked.
"Yeah."
The driver grew visibly emotional. "Nationality's never the real obstacle! A man who can't hold onto his feelings couldn't hold onto a Poké Ball either!"
Every driver, it seemed, carried an entire novel's worth of personal stories. Right as he wound up to slam a fist on the wheel and really let loose, though, they arrived at the destination.
"Ahh—" The driver looked genuinely disappointed at the timing.
"Next time, maybe," Luke said, patting his shoulder and nodding firmly.
Clinging to the car window as they got out the driver shouted after them through what looked suspiciously like tears. "You two better be happy together!"
"What was he shouting?" Cynthia asked.
"Tipping's not really standard practice around here. You tipped him quite a bit."
"Didn't you cover the fare?"
"I'll be sending you the bill for that later."
"Understood."
______________________________
The neighborhood was quiet and shaded, the buildings a little worn — the kind of older, lived-in block that didn't attract much notice.
"You live here?" Cynthia looked around, taking it in.
"Rent's cheap."
"'The truly wise live in seclusion within the city.' Something I picked up from Professor Rowan."
"If that's genuinely how you want to frame it, sure, I won't stop you."
Haunter reached the door first and eagerly unlocked it. Cynthia stepped inside properly for the first time.
Should I take my shoes off?
Luke glanced at her heels and, with mild regret, said, "No need."
"Pardon the intrusion, then."
To diagnose whatever was driving Eevee's stress response the first step was ruling out environmental triggers. Cynthia scanned the room and found nothing that read as a genuine predator threat to an Eevee. If anything — given that Eevee was technically omnivorous — most native wildlife around here probably had more to fear from her than the reverse.
"Don't worry, this won't take long," Cynthia said, pulling a portable stethoscope from her bag and pressing it to Eevee's chest.
Eevee lay sprawled on the floor, face flushed, clearly displeased with the whole process.
Luke felt an odd pang watching it. You never let ME anywhere near your stomach. Why does an outsider get special treatment?
"Teacher Luke, could you keep an eye on my other Pokémon for a moment?"
"Oh — sure, wait, what other Pokémon?"
Luke blinked, and a beat later his expression shifted sharply. A burst of red light filled the cramped living room, and suddenly the space felt considerably more crowded.
With Cynthia's full team of six now released, Luke's odds of surviving the next few minutes looked genuinely uncertain. Garchomp hovered nearby, eyes bloodshot and radiating pure menace. Lucario stood with arms crossed, gaze ice cold. The two flanked Luke on either side, sizing him up with unmistakable scrutiny.
"Kojie?! Σ(°△°|||)︴" Haunter looked outright terrified. These two are seriously intimidating. Is my owner about to get eaten? Someone help—
Luke, thankfully, had come at least somewhat prepared. After a beat of hesitation he pulled a jar of gleaming, jewel-toned Pokéblock from the cabinet. Carefully sidestepping Garchomp's scythe-like tail he wiped away a bead of sweat and offered it up.
"Grandpa? Candy?"
Garchomp and Lucario exchanged a glance. Then, in perfect unison, the two Champion-tier Pokémon leaned forward and nodded.
______________________________
"You're being very well-behaved," Cynthia said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stroking Eevee, now settled in her lap.
"Vee... o(^｀)o" Eevee's tail gave a wag before catching itself, and it buried its face against Cynthia's knee instead to hide the reaction.
"She's perfectly healthy. Her danger-sensing instinct is even boosting her reaction time overall," Cynthia said softly. "Whoever trained her did an excellent job."
Even Cynthia found herself unable to fully place Luke's true skill level. Tactically he clearly matched her. His Pokémon, while individually not overpowering in raw strength, showed genuinely elite conditioning and technique behind them. The method used on that Haunter bore real similarities to Koga's own approach. And this Eevee shared striking parallels with Red's Espeon.
Then there was the small matter of Luke insisting he had no interest in being a Trainer at all.
"Now that's interesting," Cynthia murmured, smiling faintly, brushing her hair back as she looked up.
That was when, fully focused until now, she finally noticed what her own team had been up to. Garchomp — usually the very picture of "approach at your own risk" — was laughing heartily alongside Haunter, its intimidating reputation thoroughly demolished. The normally aloof Lucario had, with lightning reflexes, already emptied the entire Pokéblock jar directly into its own mouth.
Cynthia blinked, mildly surprised. The Pokéblock I usually buy them clearly isn't measuring up to this.
Meanwhile a Gastrodon had crawled its way up the wall and across the ceiling, leaving Luke wailing in genuine distress.
"NO — I just repainted that wall!"
Gastrodon shot him a dismissive glance and kept right on going, leaving a fresh trail of corrosive slime across the surface behind it.
Luke swore he could hear his wallet shrinking in real time.
"It's fine," Cynthia said. "I'll cover the repair cost."
She crossed the room toward a visibly deflated Luke and crouched down to gather the scattered Pokéblock cubes off the floor. The Oran Berry cubes gleamed like polished blue gemstones, catching the light with an almost impossible clarity.
Surprise flickered across Cynthia's face.
"Perfect quality... Pokéblock?"