Luke woke to a bright, sunny morning and found Cynthia already combing out her long blonde hair. The smooth, layered strands cascaded past her waist like a waterfall, each strand catching the light in soft ripples.
Still in her familiar black trench coat, she combed quietly and offered Luke a small smile.
"Shopping all day, huh?" Luke asked, smiling back.
"Not out of the question," Cynthia said, her expression faintly amused.
Haunter hoisted Eevee onto its shoulder, pushed the door open with obvious excitement, pulled on a pair of sunglasses, and grinned with pure smugness.
Down on the street a black luxury sedan sat waiting, courtesy of the Metro City Association. Chairman Preston had actually called Luke the night before, though he'd kept the real reason vague and simply told him to enjoy the day. Luke assumed it was just some perk that came with being close to the Sinnoh Champion, never suspecting he'd become the beneficiary of an entire matchmaking operation.
The driver, gloved and thoroughly professional, said nothing the whole ride. Cynthia gazed out at Metro City's scenery from the plush back seat.
"Where first?"
"Aquarium," Luke said, checking his phone. "There's a Spheal show today."
The aquarium had apparently been cleared for them, since visitors were scarce. Only a young flower seller stood near the entrance, a Hoppip perched on her head, holding a bundle of dew-covered flowers.
"Mister, buy some flowers for the pretty lady?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"I'll take all of them," Luke said. With a $700,000 debt already hanging over him, this hardly registered as a concern.
He accepted the flowers from the stunned girl and handed the whole bundle straight to Cynthia. She blinked, caught off guard.
"It's fine, I saved one for Eevee too." Luke pulled out a single stem and teased it toward Eevee on his shoulder. She flushed and swallowed the petals whole.
A flash of red light released Lucario automatically from its ball. It took the bouquet from Cynthia's hands, shot Luke a cold glance, and vanished right back into the ball.
The aquarium stayed mostly empty. A long blue underwater tunnel stretched ahead of them, Magikarp and Goldeen drifting past the glass on either side, light rippling across the water.
"Kojie!" Haunter pressed its face flat against the glass, making faces at a passing Seaking, which simply spun away, leaving Haunter mildly deflated.
Cynthia tucked her hair back, a faint smile lingering as she walked beside Luke through the long tunnel. The blue light gave the whole space an almost dreamlike quality, as if the two of them had stepped into some separate world entirely. A Gyarados passed overhead, a Mantine trailing behind it blotting out the light for a few seconds.
During the show, Dewgong and Spheal drew genuine applause, and Luke and Cynthia clapped along with everyone else. For a moment Luke caught himself forgetting he was standing next to the actual Sinnoh Champion at all — just an ordinary, remarkably beautiful woman beside him.
He glanced over and their eyes met briefly. A flicker of something bashful crossed Cynthia's gray eyes.
Luke flushed slightly too. "There's another stop after this."
______________________________
Lunch was at a private restaurant the driver took them to, Luke apparently the only guest in the whole place, a Kalos-trained chef personally walking them through the preparation.
Once the chef stepped away Cynthia set down her utensils and said, entirely serious, "Still not as good as what you make."
"Agreed, honestly," Luke said, nodding along with a sigh.
This world had no Disneyland equivalent, apparently, running instead on a chain called Electrode Park. Luke stared up at the massive grinning Electrode mascot with a genuinely bewildered expression. Art really is explosive around here.
"A roller coaster?" Cynthia's eyes lit up.
Luke's expression shifted, though Eevee and Haunter both looked thrilled at the prospect. Garchomp, despite being fully capable of flight on its own, sat strapped into the coaster looking noticeably pale. Lucario matched it, tense and visibly anxious.
Wind tore past their faces as the ride crested. Garchomp let out a genuinely miserable groan from the front row, while Lucario stayed silent throughout, face drained of color.
Cynthia's hair whipped in the wind, her laughter bright and clear, Haunter grinning right along beside her the entire ride.
Afterward Luke felt distinctly dizzy while Cynthia's cheeks stayed flushed with excitement.
"Again?"
"Let's — let's switch it up," Luke managed, mostly out of sympathy for Garchomp and Lucario at this point.
The rafting ride passed without much incident, aside from Luke waving at the frog-shaped mascot manning the water cannons and getting a face full of water in return for the gesture.
The Ferris wheel closed out the day. From the top most of Metro City spread out below them, the small enclosed car quiet enough that Cynthia's breathing was clearly audible.
"I find this genuinely remarkable," Cynthia said suddenly, smiling.
She paused, choosing her words carefully, watching the rising view outside the window, a faint smile still on her lips. "The way people cross paths at all. It's a strange, wonderful thing."
"Yeah," Luke agreed, nodding.
"Every connection between two lives creates something, whether it's between people, or between people and Pokémon..."
Cynthia blinked, caught off guard. The sentiment matched exactly what she'd been thinking herself.
"Yes," she said, smiling warmly. "In a lot of ways we're genuinely alike."
"Except I really don't want to be a Trainer," Luke said, firm but easy. "Same as what you said, though. What happens when a human and a Pokémon actually meet each other?"
Cynthia glanced at Eevee curled in Luke's arms and smiled faintly. "Often, people's fate isn't entirely up to them."
Luke rubbed his temples, smiling, resigned. "Honestly, as long as I get to look after them properly, that's more than enough for me."
The view outside kept climbing until the wheel finally crested the top, and for a moment the whole world around them went quiet. Luke and Cynthia's eyes met again, neither one saying anything.
Right then Haunter let out a small burp.
"Kojie (﹃)" — lunch really was excellent.
It wasn't exactly a perfect date, in the traditional sense. Luke hadn't planned it that carefully to begin with. Still, spending a genuinely memorable day alongside the Sinnoh Champion — one of the actual best Trainers on the planet — felt, looking back, like nothing short of a small miracle stacked on another.
Thanks to the Metro City Association's quiet arrangements the entire day had gone off without a single hitch.
The final stop, Cynthia's own suggestion, was Diantha's latest film. Titled Kirlia's Morning, the movie itself was unremarkable enough, the plot fairly forgettable — except for how strikingly Diantha resembled Audrey Hepburn on screen.
Luke nodded thoughtfully. Right, the character was clearly modeled directly on her.
"Recycling a script here and there doesn't seem that hard, apparently," Luke muttered to himself.
______________________________
By nearly eight that evening the day was winding down. Cynthia's flight loomed, and they made their way toward the airport to see her off. The night air was gentle, a soft breeze catching the edge of Cynthia's trench coat as they crossed an overpass.
Back at the Metro City Association offices, Chairman Preston spoke into a walkie-talkie. "Is the Bund ready? Starting the countdown — fireworks on my mark."
"Three, two, one—"
Right as Luke opened his mouth to say something the sky lit up in a burst of brilliant color. Fireworks bloomed overhead like falling stars, trailing bright, intricate patterns across the dark.
Cynthia's eyes reflected the light, her golden hair catching the glow.
"So beautiful," she murmured.
Luke looked at her delicate profile lit by the fireworks and smiled. "Yeah. So beautiful."
Cynthia tucked her hair back, turned to face him fully, and smiled gently. "If you ever visit Sinnoh, I'll take you to see the fireworks there myself."
It wasn't every day a woman extended an invitation like that. These fireworks, after all, marked the very end of summer — arguably the season's most beautiful display.
Luke nodded warmly. "I'd like that."
Time slowed as Cynthia watched the display continue, her hair swaying gently, light and shadow flickering across her face. Luke committed the whole scene to memory as they made their way to the airport, Haunter waving Cynthia off through visible tears.
"Kojie! (;Д`)"
Luke went home. When he woke again it was already the morning of the second day after Cynthia's departure.