Celestic Town was like a strange mix of modern and old. Nestled on top of a lower slope of Mount Coronet, it consisted of a sparse collection of wooden buildings with a small main street down the center.

I passed by many people walking along with their Pokémon, with most of them using their Pokémon as beasts of burden. As we walked, Rapidash would politely acknowledge those we passed, while Togepi would cheerfully wave from his back.

It didn’t take long at all to reach Cynthia's grandmother's house, which was located right at the edge of town. Out of every house in Celestic, this place was the furthest west and closest to the nearby Mount Coronet cave entrance. Off to the side of the path up to it was a small, japanese-style shrine with equine figurines positioned on top. Both Rapidash's and Togepi's eyes lingered on it as we walked by.

I knocked on the front door and waited for a response. Within only a few moments, a thin, older woman with a light brown bob opened up the door.

“Are you Cynthia's grandmother?” I asked.

The old woman narrowed her eyes.

“Cynthia’s Grandmother? Cynthia’s Grandmother? After all this time, I’ve been boiled down to just Cynthia’s Grandmother? I used to be a Professor, for goodness’ sake!”

I blinked.

"I, uh—"

"Oh, no. You're fine. I'm extremely proud of my dear granddaughter. I actually have no complaints about the title, I was just shocked to be referred to as such. Now, what brings you to the abode of Professor Carolina?"

I took a few moments to get past the whiplash I just experienced.

"Cynthia said you'd be able to help with the Pixie Plate," I said.

Her eyes went wide in understanding.

"So you're that person."

Professor Carolina pressed her lips together in consideration and glanced over to where Togepi was sitting on Rapidash. The small Fairy Type waved at the old Professor, who gave her a small wave back.

In all honesty, Professor Carolina didn't immediately make me think “professor” when I first saw her. I was used to always seeing researchers in lab coats or the like, which she wasn’t wearing. Instead, she was dressed in a maroon sweatshirt and sweats, making it look like I’d disturbed her while she was relaxing in her own home. Truthfully, that was probably the case.

"Well, don't just stand there,” she said. “Come in, come in! Though, I'm sorry to you, Rapidash. My home isn't large enough to support a Pokémon of your size."

Rapidash rocked his head back and forth in a horse's approximation of a shrug, and I picked up Togepi before returning him to his Dream Ball. Togepi was a little upset to have her imprinted Pokémon be sent away like that, but at the same time, she was still clearly excited to meet a new person.

"So, coffee or tea?" Professor Carolina offered. "And leave your shoes by the front door, please. I don’t want dirt getting tracked inside."

"Tea would be fine, thank you," I said.

I quickly slipped my boots off and followed her in, keeping Togepi tight in my arms. Carolina led me to a cozy living room with a long couch in it while she herself moved to the kitchen to fetch the offered drink.

This moment alone gave me a chance to look around the room. Outside of a few exceptions, I really felt like I was in an old woman’s home.

Knickknacks and photos were expected enough, but some part of me hadn't really put two and two together in my mind, so the pictures of young Cynthia caught me off guard. In addition to those, there was also an expansive bookshelf filled with thick books titled like "The Effects of Dimensional Waves on Wild Pokémon" and "Sinnoh's Disturbances: A Brief History of Time in Hisui."

I moved to one cabinet in the corner filled with awards given to both Cynthia and Professor Carolina alike, and I stayed there until the aforementioned Professor returned. In her hands was a tray with two cups and a pot of tea.

"So you're the one Cynthia left that egg to, hm?" she said as the two of us moved towards the couch and chairs in the room.

Togepi wiggled in my arms to escape onto the table while I moved to sit on the couch. The second she escaped, she was promptly distracted by a small treat the Professor pulled out of her pocket.

Togepi quickly took it for herself, bowed her head in thanks, then noisily munched on it, sitting on the table.

"Cynthia gave me Togepi’s egg as payment for something,” I said. “I'm supposed to fill out a questionnaire for her.”.

The professor hummed.

"Just a simple questionnaire?"

"It's, uh, a thick one. I just sent it off when I arrived in town after receiving it—”

I paused.

“Huh. Like two months ago. The questions mostly dealt with... history," I said.

The Professor smiled as she took a sip of her tea.

"Sounds like my Cynthia. Have you battled her yet?"

I’d barely talked to this woman, and she’d already caught me off guard twice in this conversation.

"What? No! She's the Champion!"

"And a strong one at that. It's worth the experience to battle such a powerful trainer."

Cynthia was strong, even stronger than Steven, so just the very idea of going up against her was terrifying in its own right. Not wanting to dwell on it at all, I took a sip of my tea and changed the topic.

"So you said you were a Professor, right? Or at least you used to be?"

She scoffed in response.

"Don't say it like that. I still am a Professor. I'm just retired. After everything that happened with Team Galactic last year, I just didn't have it in me to continue."

I stilled at the mention of Team Galactic. I had thought they were taken care of without any major issues.

"I heard a group named Team Galactic getting dismantled, but I didn’t think it was bad enough to force someone into retirement. What happened? Was it worse than I heard?" I asked nervously.

"Well, if you aren’t from around here, it makes sense you didn’t get the full story. Long story short, a big operation busted a terrorist organization before it could do too much bad. I used to study Sinnoh's legends, but it turned out half my team secretly belonged to that very organization. Practically all of them got arrested on conspiracy charges, and after that betrayal, I couldn’t bring myself to continue my work."

“Since it was close to ending up in the wrong hands?”

She sighed sadly.

"Yes. Not to mention everything with Cyrus, too. Cynthia took his betrayal the hardest."

I frowned, drawing parallels to Lysandre and Sycamore’s friendship. While I doubted it was anything that deep, I had a faint memory of Cyrus being at least friendly to Cynthia in the anime.

"I didn't know she felt that way. Last I saw her, she was in a great mood,” I said softly.

"That's because my Cynthia is strong."

The Professor puffed up her chest in pride.

"She was hurt, yes, but what hurts her makes her stronger. Within a month, she was back on her feet and working to take down the few of them that were left. I could tell she blamed herself at first, but she was quick to understand that Cyrus had fooled everyone, not just her. The duty of a Champion is heavy on the shoulders. Good thing Cynthia is as stubborn as a Mudsdale.

“But that's enough rambling from me,” Carolina said while waving her hand. “You said you were here about the Pixie Plate?"

"Yes!" I said quickly, now remembering my purpose here.

I slung my pack around to reach inside and dig out the Pixie Plate. Togepi continued to chew on her cookie, watching me nonchalantly. Holding the pink rectangle in my hands filled me with both nervousness and excitement, and my eyes were drawn to it like they were practically every other time it’d been out of my pack..

I placed it on the table. Carolina's eyes lingered on it for a short moment. She seemed only to find it an interesting curiosity, rather than some kind of mystical artifact that passively drew her attention.

"So. What do you think?" I asked.

"What do I think about what?"

"The Pixie Plate," I said, annoyed.

Briefly, I went over my experiences with the artifact as the Professor listened. I made sure to mention its tendency to reappear in my possession, my need to hold it sometimes, its comforting aura, and my experiencing encountering the Blank Plate and how it displayed no special properties like mine.

The Professor tapped her chin in thought once I was done.

“I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t a clue how to help you,” she said.

My expression dropped.

“So I came all this way for nothing?”

“Well, maybe not nothing,” she said slowly.

Placing her cup down on the table, Professor Carolina hurriedly moved over to one of her bookshelves. After taking a moment to browse, she exclaimed “Aha!” and pulled out a thick, jacketed book.

“Hisui’s Original One: Recountings of the Diamond-Pearl War,” she read. “Give me a moment.”

She moved back to her previous seat and spent a few moments flipping through the pages until she settled on one. Using a finger to mark her place, she read a paragraph out loud.

“The war between the Diamond and Pearl Clans was brought to its head when both sides began to collect the mythical plates in an attempt to summon their respective deities and win the war. Once each side collected their sum, they climbed to the peak of Mount Coronet, where they hoped to entreat their god to wipe out the other. However, through sheer coincidence, or perhaps through fate itself, the two clans met in that temple, and all fifteen plates were assembled in one location for the first time.

“The ground shook, the air quaked, and the visage of Sinnoh was revealed to all. Not one deity, as the two groups expected, but two individuals. All humans, man and woman alike, fell to the ground in reverence as the two beings stared down imperiously at the lesser existences below them. As for myself—”

Professor Carolina frowned, pausing for a brief moment.

“I stood tall. It was the only reason I saw what was revealed to me that day. An instance, a moment. A being of pure light briefly flashed into existence above the other two. I cannot put to paper what I saw that day, save for a single word:

“Arceus.”

Professor Carolina dramatically slammed the book closed.

“As written in the personal journal of one D. Kamado after witnessing the conclusion of the Diamond-Pearl war.”

I was speechless.

“A war? Solved by Arceus?”

“Solved by Dialga and Palkia, who took on new forms once they were summoned,” she corrected. “When both the Diamond and Pearl clan realized they were worshiping two separate deities that were part of the same pantheon, they put aside their differences and helped develop Sinnoh into how it is today.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to react to that news. Awe? Horror? Terrified that people had actually succeeded in summoning such powerful Pokémon, only for the creator Pokémon itself to step in and show up?

I never played the games set in that time period, but I dearly wished I had. Knowing what truly happened at the end of the war might have helped me now. Unfortunately, it seemed I’d never learn what the games truly contained.

“Wait, then, am I supposed to collect all the different plates?” I suddenly said in dawning horror.

My question was basically answered for me when the professor burst out into laughter.

“No, no, no. All the plates? Please, as if one person could do that one their own. No, I don’t think you need to do that at all. Though, I do think what was written here clearly explains what you need to do.”

She took a deep breath.

“Take the Pixie Plate to the top of Mount Coronet. There, seek Spear Pillar, which only those who are meant to be there can ever find. If you find it, great. If you don’t, then there’s no need to stress further. I can’t personally explain anything, but after everything you described, if you want answers, you need to go to Spear Pillar.”

One word she said echoed in my mind.

Answers.

Was this it?

I had never really put too much thought into why I was in this world, or even how I got here in the first place. Hearing that this may be a chance to do so echoed like a gong in my head.

I stared at the Pixie Plate in thought.

Somewhere, deep inside me, I knew that Professor Carolina was right. I needed to bring the plate to Spear Pillar.

“Though, there’s no need to rush,” she said.

My head snapped up to face her.

“I mean, you’re probably busy enough as it is. I watched your last two show battles. Both were quite entertaining. It’d be a shame for you to miss the third.”

“And the Conference, and the Grand Festival, too,” I sighed. “A lot of things are due to happen soon.”

“Then let me say this: you’re dealing with Pokémon so strong, some consider them deities. Go when you feel ready. Only harm would come from rushing.”

I nodded slowly as my gaze returned to the Pixie Plate. If this was what I needed to do, I would at least wait until after the Sinnoh Conference. I needed to get as strong as possible, first.

Once the conversation died down, I picked up the dozing Togepi, thanked the Professor for her help, and headed off.

I had a lot to think about and a lot to train for. Celestic Town did have a Contest of its own, but I just couldn’t bring myself to compete in it after everything I’d learned. The Grand Festival was soon, however, and I still hadn’t earned my last two ribbons. At least, I could compete in one at my next stop and get closer to my goal.

As it stood, my next destination was Eterna City, home to the Eterna Gym and the Eterna Contest. The city itself was located on the other side of Mount Coronet, which served as a barrier we had to cross. This northern portion of the mountain range was too high up to safely fly over, so the only proper way forward for us would be to go around or right through.

However, that was a job for another day. To let myself decompress, I took my team outside of the town to give them space to casually practice their moves and train.

I had the same Pokémon I had on me that I had on the trip here: Ninetales, Rapidash, Mawile, Altaria, Togepi, and Kirlia. Before I left Professor Carolina’s house, I had talked to her about the possibility of using the Pixie Plate as a held item to boost my Pokémon’s attacks. With how strange the item had been acting, I was worried about the potential side effects of having my Pokémon hold it. However, she assured me it was safe and League approved.

As we practiced, I noticed that simply holding the Pixie Plate was enough to cause a visible difference in the power of my Pokémon’s Fairy Type attacks. Ninetales’s Moonblasts were brighter, and Mawile’s Play Rough came out harder. My plan was to use the plate as a training tool; I would try to get my Pokémon used to what it feels like to have more powerful attacks, then remove the plate to see if they had a better understanding of how to empower their moves. With their previous inspiration from Xerneas, I felt as if having a second source of Legendary influence might bring them to a whole other level.

Truthfully, though, my goal in training here tonight wasn’t to get stronger. I had one important conversation earlier today. I had plenty of time for another.

I called Kirlia over.

“Hey,” I said softly. “How are you feeling?”

Kirlia cocked his head to the side then shrugged, before spinning around on one foot to show he was feeling fine. He held one leg up with perfect balance, looking as if he was having no problems at all.

“Then let’s talk,” I said. Kirlia blinked. “It’s about your potential evolution.”

At that, his expression became serious as he eagerly listened in.

“Since you’re male, you actually have two choices of what you can evolve into. By default, you’re able to evolve into a Gardevoir, which would make you even better with special and Psychic Type moves. Alternatively, I can go out and find a Dawn Stone—as I’ve given the one I had before to a friend—to let you evolve into a Gallade. Being a Gallade wouldn’t provide you a boost to your psychic powers, but it would give you powerful, bladed arms you can use for physical attacks. However, there’s one difference between your options that I don’t want you to get caught on:

“Gardevoir is a Fairy Type. Gallade isn’t.”

Kirlia frowned.

“I want you to know that whatever you choose, it doesn’t make a difference to me. I’m a Fairy Type specialist through and through, but even if you choose to become the Fighting Type Gallade, I’m not going to send you away. If you really want, I can—”

I was interrupted by Kirlia suddenly teleporting forward and embracing me in a hug. Caught off guard, it took me an honest second to process what he just did before just as quickly embracing him back.

“Whatever you want,” I said softly. “It’s your choice.”

At that, he pushed out of my arms and gave me a look like I was a big idiot.

“What?” I asked.

His eyes glowed, and a chunk of earth was ripped out of the ground with his Psychic attack. With that demonstration, I started to feel just as dumb as he was making me out to be.

“Oh. Yeah. You, uh, really like using Psychic Type moves. So you would want to evolve into Gardevoir anyway, and I made this a whole thing for nothing...”

Kirlia smiled then let the dirt fall back to the ground. With one last, almost mocking spin, he teleported back to the rest of the group to continue his practice as if nothing had happened.

As he controlled the Iron Ball to float around him, I couldn’t help but to laugh.

I really cared for every one of my team members. I knew we’d go far together.

Ever since Roark had his show battle against Alex, his Gym had been booming.

On one hand, he lamented the fact he had less free time to dig for fossils, but on the other hand, he’d never had this many trainers excited to face him.

His personal team—which included a few Pokémon he didn’t use against Alex—was currently in their most active period of battling since he’d taken up the mantle. Almost every week, someone would come in to challenge his personal team, and almost every time, he’d win.

He was in an extraordinarily good mood, especially since that rumor he was the weakest out of all of Sinnoh’s Gym Leader was starting to fade away. Purposefully structuring his Gym to appeal to beginning trainers was what started those rumors in the first place, but just because he was nice to newbies didn’t mean he would be easy to defeat against more experienced trainers.

With all this combined, he didn’t even blink when a new challenger arrived one bright weekend morning to challenge his personal team. As the League season was approaching its end, challengers were starting to become less frequent, but each battle had more and stronger Pokémon involved in it.

He frowned, however, when he saw the notes about his upcoming challenger.

“Wait, so not only is his team unrated, but he’s earned no Gym Badges whatsoever and wants to challenge my personal team?”

The Gym Trainer who brought him the notice, alongside his personal team’s Pokéballs, nodded nervously.

“Yeah. In the system, that note’d been there since the start of the League, but he’s never actually been seen anywhere outside of that. You’re not just his first Gym Battle, you’re his first public battle. Ever. People are going to want your thoughts on the fight.”

Roark had mixed feelings about this situation. He was excited about being able to use his personal team again, but he was also extremely confused about what was going on. Truthfully, he’d inherited a bit of his father’s poor people skills, so he might have filed away any warnings from the League on the topic of this trainer. However, just because this situation was strange didn’t mean he’d go easy on who gave him this challenge.

He’d start with Stealth Rock, of course. After that, a Sandstorm would serve to—

“He also doesn’t have a full team yet,” the Gym Trainer said. “He still wants you to use all six of your Pokémon, however.”

Roark’s train of thought screeched to a halt.

“What?”

“He doesn’t have six Pokémon on him.”

“What kind of a trainer challenges a Gym Leader’s personal team without a full team of their own?” Roark asked exasperatedly.

His question received an answer in the form of footsteps.

From the hallway that led into the Oreburgh Gym’s arena, heavy, methodical impacts rang out. Roark stared into the darkened entrance hallway as a figure made himself known.

Dark, long hair ran down his shoulders. A blood red cloak obscured everything neck down. On his face, his lips were pressed into a serious line as his eyes stared right into Roark’s own.

“Gym Leader Roark,” the man arriving in the room called out. “I challenge you.”

Roark’s Gym Trainer ran off to the side, and Roark himself took his place in the drawn trainer box.

“As Gym Leader of Oreburgh City, I accept your challenge!” he replied confidently.

Off to the side, his loyal referee took up his position and started to call out the rules for this battle. The few members of the audience in the room looked on in interest, but few let out any cheers. It was too early in the day for them to really be so active yet.

As the rules continued, Roark listened out for the number of Pokémon to be stated. As it happened, it turned out that his challenger had five Pokémon on his team, which was better than what Roark thought. There were a few trainers out there that tended to use their first Pokémon to set up the field before fainting in a way to give them an advantage, which usually meant the resulting battle would end up as a five on six anyway.

Roark decided he’d pretend this battle was just like that.

“Trainers,” the referee called out. “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Roark said seriously.

“Completely,” said his opponent.

Roark clutched the Pokéball of Rampardos, his closest partner, tightly.

“Then, begin!”

“Come on out, Rampardos!”

“Emerge,” ordered Roark’s opponent.

At that, the room went black.

Roark lost.