The dinner prepared by Professor Carolina was just incredible, there was no comparison to the simple fare we had eaten during my previous visit. It even compared favourably to the expensive restaurants in Jubilife, let alone in the other towns, it was just too grande. It wasn’t just delicious, there was a sense of grandeur to the dinner, the ambience giving an indescribable feeling. And that feeling affected the, objectively delicious, taste, elevating it to yet another level.

Conversation during dinner was relatively light and luckily focused on Pokémon and their training, allowing me to learn and contribute to the conversation, if it had focused on almost any other topic, I could only have listened in silence. Overall, I learned a great deal during the dinner, even a light conversation between two Pokémon Champions with immense experience held enough profound lessons to amaze me.

During dinner, and even before, I had tried to get Cynthia to tell me what her gift was going to be. Sadly, she only grinned, not giving me even the smallest hint and what was a little infuriating, it seemed that Professor Carolina could understand what her Grandmother had in mind with a single glance, wearing an amused smile whenever I tried to get information.

Alas, all good things, even a wonderful dinner, had to come to an end at some time and as the conversation was winding down and we were enjoying some tasty ice cream and coffee, Cynthia made a request that I should have expected.

“Can you show me your partners, I’d like to see how they are doing,” she asked, genuine curiosity shining in her eyes.

“Certainly,” I nodded, looking to Professor Carolina, ”Is there anywhere special we should go to do so?” I asked her, seeking her consent as the owner of the house.

“As long as the two of you don’t start a battle like a pair of squabbling children, you can head into the garden,” she grinned, nodding towards the open doors that let a cool breeze into the house.

I followed Cynthia out and was, once again, briefly stunned by the incredible view. From up here, on top of the plateau Celestic Town was built upon, Eastern Sinnoh stretched like a map and the clear day let me see incredibly far.

“It looks wonderful, doesn’t it?” Cynthia asked, standing next to me, a nostalgic expression on her face, “I always liked Grandma’s place, Celestic Town is a wonderful place.”

“It truly is, both the ambience and the people are wonderful,” I agreed, “It’s a lot more welcoming and comfortable compared to Eternia City on the other side of the mountains,” I added, the sour taste of that town still somewhat lingering, even after over two weeks. The people there had been weird.

“Fear can make people do strange things,” she told me, her expression turning solemn, “Have you heard the tale of Forestburgh?”

“I’ve heard that a town of that name existed and that it was destroyed, but not many details, people don’t want to talk about it, it seems,” I replied, curious what she had to say.

“Understandable, few people like to be reminded of that tragedy,” she nodded, “Forestburgh was a town in northern Eterna Forest, between Eterna City and Floaroma, while also providing an alternate path north, to Snowpoint City,” she began, and I nodded along, having heard that part before.

“We’ve still not fully figured out what happened that night, what went wrong,” she shook her head, a trace of guilt in her voice as if she was feeling responsible, “From what I’ve read in the League reports, an alarm was raised but before reinforcements could be sent, before even a real defence could be mounted, the town was lost. Countless Ghost-type Pokémon had flooded the town, especially Ghastly, but also Haunter and Gengar. The people had little choice but to abandon everything, fleeing into the night. Thousands died that night, and even more the following days, as people were scattered in Eterna Forest. It was bad,” she let out a sigh, “Those who survived, most went to Eterna City, unwilling to travel further. You can imagine how those people felt about Pokémon and, by extension, those who train them, right?” she asked, a sad smile on her face.

“Yeah, they wouldn’t like them,” I nodded in understanding, even if I was a little disappointed. Why did people blame the Trainers for the actions of wild Pokémon? It took me a moment to remember the creed of the Church of Freedom and their strong, almost predominant, presence in Eterna City and a grimace played over my face. What a match.

“Anyway, I’m sure Charm remembers you,” I grinned, trying to push away the gloom caused by the earlier story. With a quick grab, I pulled out Charm’s Pokéball, sending him out in a flash of red light. He looked around for a moment, ready to fight at a moment's notice, before relaxing when seeing Cynthia.

“Just an old friend, Charm, she wants to see how I’ve been treating you,” I told him, only to start laughing when he stepped up to me, not quite embracing me, but wrapping his tail around me in a protective gesture, one claw on my shoulder.

“He does look good,” she complimented, her eyes studying my partner with an intensity likely caused by her extensive experience. “You’ve been focusing on his special attacks, haven’t you? His fire and whatnot?” she asked, after a moment.

“I have,” I confirmed, a small part of me surprised at her insight, but really, I shouldn’t have been. She was the Champion after all. “He does quite well with them and it feels like the right path to take,” I tried justifying myself, only for her to make a dismissive gesture with her hands.

“There’s no wrong answer here, he is quite obviously thriving under your care and incredibly protective of you. His attitude towards you, alongside his continued growth in strength, is the best marker for progress you can ask for. If your Pokémon are content and continuously growing, they will become powerful eventually. If they aren’t content in their situation, but despise their trainer, no matter how well you care for them, they won’t reach their full potential,” she reminded me once more and I briefly worried about Su. The feline was still often surly, making me wonder if he was content or if he despised me.

“How about the Ralts you caught back then? You said she evolved?” she asked after I had Charm demonstrate a few of his moves, sending fire out into the air above the cliff.

“Sure, Charm, you’ve shown off enough, let little Vio show her stuff, too,” I told my partner, calling him back into his Pokéball before sending out Vio. As always, she briefly checked that no threats were near, before noticing Cynthia and instantly hiding behind my leg.

Cynthia giggled at her behaviour, a mischievous grin on her face. “Well, I guess the little one is doing fine, she even evolved. Still a little coward, but some things won’t ever change, I guess,” she paused, her expression turning solemn, “I’m glad things worked out with the two of you,” she added, making me nod in agreement, thinking of my blunder during my first encounter with Vio. Things could have gone very differently, but I had been lucky.

Once Vio had demonstrated a couple of her moves, too, and we had spoken of my attempts to teach her some more defensive moves, it was time for Su, the surly Luxio. He looked at Cynthia with a certain, feline disdain in his eyes, only for his fur to stand on end when she gave him a glare. He dropped prone immediately, almost rolling on his back and showing his belly in submission, making me chuckle at his behaviour.

Just like the other two, we spoke about his attitude and she gave me some advice in regards to his continued care before I called him back into his Pokéball.

“You’ve done well with those three. Follow me,” she gestured back towards the house and we went back in. I was a little confused but also intrigued. Inside, she guided me to one of the side rooms and there, sitting in a strange apparatus with a thick bottom plate, was a colourful egg, almost the size of my head.

“What’s that?” I asked, not quite certain what I was looking at. My guess was a Pokémon egg, but I had never seen one, only heard of them.

“Rio, my Lucario, was approaching a limit and we decided that it would be better for his training if he shed some of his accumulated strength. That way, he can train back to the limit and be stronger for it,” she explained, “The easiest way for a Pokémon to deliberately weaken themselves is to have offspring. This is the egg of Rio’s offspring. I want you to take care of it until it hatches and to train the Riolu. I’m certain it will become a valuable partner for you,” she explained and for a moment, I was stunned at the gift.

“Thank you,” I told her, my voice a little choked from emotion, “I’ll take good care of them,” I promised, aware of just how important Charm’s offspring would be to me and how great the responsibility to take care of them was. And how incredible of an opportunity it was, there was no way the offspring of one of Cynthia’s Ace-Pokémon would be weak.