When we reached the Pokécentre, I was once again treated to the incredible effect of Cynthia’s aura. She didn’t need to do anything but look at the queue and people melted out of the way, like mist under the sun.

Under her watchful gaze, I quickly collected my partners after a night at the centre and followed her into the treatment room. Even before we entered, we could hear a few excited voices.

Cynthia knocked and after an affirmative answer, she pushed the door open, striding inside with me in tow. The voices, now silent, belonged to Joyce, the attendant that had treated me the day before and another attendant, all three of them looking quite agitated while handling number-filled sheets of paper.

“Ah, Dani,” the attendant from the previous day greeted me, “Who’s that?” she asked, looking at Cynthia with a guarded, almost fearful, expression.

“Let me introduce you to Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh, and close friend and guardian of Dani,” Claire spoke up, causing both attendants to first stare at Cynthia, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets, before gracing me with a similar look. People might not recognise Cynthia’s face, but the title of ‘Champion’ had quite an impact. Though I wasn’t sure what the ‘Guardian’ bit meant in this context.

”Pleasure to meet you,” Cynthia greeted them, before giving me a glance and briefly focusing on the documents in Joyce’s hands, as if asking for permission. Not quite sure how to respond, I gave a minute nod, as I was aware that Cynthia was incredibly experienced in all things Pokémon, so while it wasn’t her speciality, she might bring a different perspective to the table, compared to the three medically trained people. On my nod, she took over the papers and began studying them, a frown emerging on her face as she read.

“What do you think?” Joyce asked after Cynthia was done reading.

“Complicated, look at these data points, they look almost like those of a psychic in form but the values are all wrong,” Cynthia muttered, placing the sheets on the table in the middle of the room, so everyone could see them. Looking at them myself, I could see a lot of numbers, letters and graphs, though I had no idea what to make of any of it. Energy-saturation, personal depletion and numerous other, technical terms that I had never heard of before made certain that I could read the pages but understand nothing.

Instead, I listened to the discussion that began between the four of them, less listening to the almost incomprehensible jargon coming from their mouths and more to the tone of their voice and the way their facial features shifted.

All four of them sounded concerned, but not all of them in the same way. Cynthia and Joyce sounded both concerned but also curious as if my state was both a blessing but also a possible problem. Not terribly worried but certainly concerned. On the other hand, the two attendants sounded a lot more professional, their behaviour the medical version of the polite, fake smile a customer-service employee would don whenever interacting with a particularly annoying customer. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of them.

Finally, after almost half an hour of rapid-fire discussion, Cynthia began to address me directly, slowly explaining what was going on. From what she said, Vio’s healing might have shifted the balance of energy in my body, thus likely changing what effects the accumulated p-Energy had. From what I remembered, each Pokétrainer was slowly infused with p-Energy, the energy Pokémon were made up of, as they trained their partners and as that happened, the energy changed some physical characteristics of that person. It was the reason why Cynthia looked very much like Joyce’s contemporary, despite being almost fifteen years her senior and why Professor Carolina was as spry as she was, despite being incredibly advanced in age. For others, it meant incredible physical resilience, strength or a myriad of other traits. Amongst those traits were psychic abilities, such as telekinesis, something I had been negatively tested for in the past. But now, the infusion of Vio’s Fairy-type power had shifted that balance within me and would likely change something about me.

What, none of them could say. The closets analogue were those psychic abilities, though due to their rare and individually unique nature, it was impossible to even guess what the data points indicated. It was akin to having data points that formed a very similar shape, only in different colours, so to speak. That was also the biggest problem they were facing, they didn’t know what my new abilities might be and how they would manifest. As such, it was impossible to say if there would be sequelae from Vio’s actions, let alone how such problems might manifest.

For now, their plan was to keep me in town for the next two weeks, have me keep a close observation of my physical and mental status and, if I noticed any extraordinary weirdness, something like suddenly being able to read minds or move things with my mind, I should notify them immediately.

It sounded like a bit of an annoyance, from what I could tell, the actual injuries would easily heal within a few days, even now I could almost move around without pain, even if there was some stiffness and soreness remaining. Two weeks was simply overblown for the physical side but this other side, the after-effects of Vio’s treatment, couldn’t be easily estimated, leaving me at a loss.

Luckily, Cynthia reiterated her Grandmother’s invite, suggesting that Professor Carolina had suggested to give me a few lessons in that time, so I wouldn’t just waste it. In some ways, that made my injury a blessing in disguise, getting lessons from a renowned and respected figure was an extraordinary privilege, but that didn’t change that I wouldn’t be able to travel, which, in turn, made my plans for the future a little sketchy. Starting north in two weeks would cut things close with winter, especially if I had to remain in Snowpoint for a time to gain the Badge.

But even if I wasn’t happy about it, going against their advice would be the highest level of foolishness. Hopefully, Professor Carolina’s lessons would be interesting.

After we wrapped the conversation up, Joyce, Cynthia and I were leaving the treatment room together.

“Say, Cynthia, what’s that with a ‘Guardian’ all about?” I asked, curious about the meaning in context.

“Um, you see, when we made your identification, there had to be something in there. Cynthia stepped up as your Guardian, offering to provide all the support a family would provide to their daughter if it was needed. You are an adult, so there is no legal obligation on your side, but if something serious happens to you, Cynthia is the one making sure you are taken care of,” Joyce explained and I noticed a faint blush on Cynthia’s face, one that I suddenly mirrored.

“I’ve got your back,” Cynthia simply assured me, without offering any additional explanation why she had done it. Not quite sure how to react to the sudden development, I simply nodded.

“Thank you,” I gave her a friendly smile, trying to wrap my head around the implications of that. Failing, I decided to change the topic.

“Say, Joyce, I told you about my companion, Wera, right? She should still be at the Gym, could we go over and you talk to her? I believe it could help her a great deal, after all, you said you’re not a great battler either.” I asked, directing my steps towards the Gym, intent to talk to Professor Carolina. Cynthia had said she wanted to give me lessons, so I should get the details from the person involved. And if nothing else, she should be able to give me some more information in regard to that whole ‘guardian’ thing.

The grin on Joyce’s face, as well as the slightly awkward expression on Cynthia’s, made it quite obvious that they had seen through me. Thankfully, neither of them called me on my blatant changing of the topic.

“Sure, I can do that,” she nodded, “I’m sure it’s going to be an interesting conversation, but as with many things, I doubt there’s going to be some sort of easy fix, there almost never is.”

“Hopefully, it’s going to help her get started. She’s great at taking care of her partners but…” I shrugged.

When we got to the Gym, it was easy to find Wera, she was helping the attendant with some of the ubiquitous paperwork. When we walked up, she briefly stared at Cynthia, her presence still awe-inspiring, before focusing on Joyce and me.

I briefly explained to her who Joyce was, before leaving the two of them to their conversation. While we had talked, Cynthia had already acquired an office from the Gym-attendant, making it obvious that she was planning to stay in the area for a time, likely until the mess around the ancient complex was cleared up.

Somehow, I had a feeling that things would get really interesting in those next two weeks.