The Chasm

Just as JC predicted, it took their group five days to escape the snow-laden mountain trails of route 217 and 216 and finally arrive in Eterna City. Serina returned to the group after a full two days of absence, but even after her reappearance the trip remained relatively peaceful. Kira immediately apologized to her and extended her friendship which Serina surprisingly accepted, though the rest of the group could tell she still harbored reservations towards the marked girl. But with everyone now getting along the many stops along the way due to the all-too-frequent snowstorm grew more enjoyable, and each member could say, without a doubt, that these were some of the best days of the journey so far.

Overjoyed to be back in civilization yet exhausted from the trip, they made a bee-line for the Pokémon Center in hopes of securing a warm bed in which to rest. Rowan hadn’t mentioned how long they were going to be staying in Eterna, and after five days of sleeping on cave floors they intended to make every moment count.

“Welcome to the Pokémon Center,” Nurse Joy smiled, “Would you like to rest your Pokémon with us this afternoon?”

“Them and us,” Dawn groaned out, “We need a couple rooms.”

“Oh my, you all do look rough,” she admitted, taking their Trainer Cards, “It’ll be just a minute on the rooms; I can take your Pokémon while you wait, if you’d like.”

Everyone but Serina gathered their Poké Balls and placed them on the trays for Nurse Joy who handed them off to a Chansey, the rotund Pokémon waddling off into the back room. She then scooped up the two babies from the counter and escorted them and Lartar to the back, the Pokémon all eager to get their own rejuvenating treatment at the Center.

“Oh,” Nurse Joy interjected, their cards triggering something in her computer, “I have a message here from Professor Rowan in Sandgem Town; he wanted to know when you all showed up. Should I go ahead and tell him you’ve arrived?”

“That’s fine,” JC said, speaking for the group, “We were expecting to hear from him.”

“Very well,” she smiled, clicking away at her keyboard. “You have two rooms on the third floor: 337 and 339. We’ll page you when your Pokémon are ready,” she added, redistributing their cards.

“Thanks, Nurse Joy,” they all nodded, heading for the elevators. Cameron and JC helped the girls move into their new rooms and afterwards everyone crashed on the couches, the boys not even making it to their room next door.

May was the first one forced awake by the ringing telephone. Rubbing her eyes she maneuvered herself out from under Serina and groggily scanned the room for the in-room device, finally locating it on a counter in the kitchenette.

“Hello..?”

“Ms. Senri?” Nurse Joy asked, “I apologize for bothering you like this but Professor Rowan asked that I check on you all…”

“Check on us?” May asked, running a hand through her hair, “What for?”

“Well he says you all haven’t returned his calls, and to be honest you never came to pick up your Pokémon either…”

“Oh, sorry,” she apologized, “We all fell asleep; we must’ve missed the page.”

“Oh my,” Nurse Joy gasped, “You must have been truly tired to sleep this long! Well your Pokémon are available for you at the front desk whenever you’re ready. Have a wonderful day and thank you for staying with us!”

“Um, yeah, of course,” May shrugged, not quite understanding her surprise. She hung up the phone and dug her Pokégear from her bag, flipping it open and walking into the common room. She had to cover her eyes as she passed the window, due to the sunlight overwhelming her sleepy eyes. It was strange though; if they had really slept long enough for Nurse Joy to be concerned, shouldn’t it be dark by now? Her phone said 7 o’clock; maybe it just got dark really late here…

With everyone else still sleeping in piles on the couches May went about touring the room. It was similar to most of the other rooms she’d seen in Centers, but she’d noticed that since she started staying with Dawn and the others the rooms seemed a bit more… luxurious than she was used to. She paused by the door to pick up the paper lying on the floor below the mail slot, taking it back to the kitchen and seating herself at the counter to read it. Thinking again that it was strange to deliver a paper at the end of the day, her suspicions suddenly peaked when she noticed the date on the paper. Not believing her eyes she immediately checked her phone; sure enough, it wasn’t 7 at night, it was 7 in the morning, the following morning. They’d slept through their entire first day in Eterna City.

May laughed, apparently loud enough to stir a few of the others from their naps. Cameron and Dawn sat up and stretched, looking around the room to take in their surroundings.

“Good morning,” May said, catching their attention, “Breakfast?”

“Funny,” Dawn chuckled, her stomach growling. “I am hungry though…”

“Oh me too,” Cameron agreed. “Is it time for dinner yet?”

May laughed again, “I told you; it’s time for breakfast. I’m going to head downstairs and see what they have in the store,” she said, getting up from the counter, “You want anything?”

“Ha-ha, May, you got us,” Dawn sighed, “Now seriously, what’s for dinner?”

“Um, I don’t think she’s kidding,” Cameron said, glancing at Dawn’s Pokétch.

“What..?” Dawn said, checking her watch. “When… what?”

“It’s right,” May said, not even looking up from putting on her shoes, “We took one long nap.”

◄►

After taking a moment to freshen up, May, Dawn, Serina, Cameron, JC and Kira all headed downstairs to reclaim their Pokémon. Lartar and the babies were especially thankful to see the group again; having no Poké Balls to return to, they’d been left in Nurse Joy’s care overnight without the slightest idea as to why their companions never picked them up.

Then, following a lengthy reprimand from Professor Rowan over the videophone and grabbing a bite to eat at the Center, the group set out in search of a place called Legendary Hill, a supposed landmark on the outskirts of the city. For JC, Cameron, Kira and May this was their first time in Eterna City, and as they followed Dawn’s trusty Pokétch to their destination the four of them eagerly tried to see all they could. Carved into the foothills of Mt. Coronet’s western slope, Eterna was sandwiched between its two natural borders: the mountain’s massive figure that seemed to stretch on indefinitely in either direction and the equally impressive Eterna Forest, one of Sinnoh’s many natural, undisturbed woodlands.

As they passed the many condominiums, shops, restaurants, and even the Eterna City Gym, JC, Kira, Cameron and May couldn’t help but notice how old everything felt. Most of the buildings were newer, yes, but for some reason the city just felt old; ancient, even. JC in particular felt a strange elation in his stomach as they walked along their way, and when they passed by the Eterna Museum he could’ve sworn he felt something beckoning—no, urging—him to come inside.

Maybe this is how Kira felt in Snowpoint… he thought to himself, a shiver running through him as he imagined what that might entail.

“Hey Dawn,” he spoke up, “Have you been in the museum before?”

“Sure have,” she nodded as she continued forward to their goal, “Why? What’s up?”

“Well, just curious… What sort of things do they have in there?”

Dawn glanced at him over her shoulder, “It’s a museum; they’ve got old stuff. What kind of a question is that?”

“Never mind,” JC shrugged, ending the conversation as quickly as he’d started it. Dawn shrugged too and returned to her Pokétch, but Kira leaned close to him and whispered in his ear.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he reassured her, giving her a peck on the forehead. “I was just curious is all.”

“We can visit later if you’d like,” Kira offered, “If you think it’s interesting then I’m sure it is!”

JC smiled; ever since route 217 Kira was acting just like her old self again. It was a refreshing throwback for him and everyone else, but it surprisingly took a little getting used to.

“That’d be great,” he said, closing his hand around hers.

It wasn’t long before the city buildings gave way to open parks of rolling hills. Not too far from them was a particularly large hill, topped with a monument of some kind and completely surrounded by a crowd of people.

“Is that the place?” Cameron asked.

“Yep, that’s it,” Dawn confirmed, leading the group towards the multitudes, “What’s with all these people?”

“I’m not sure,” May sighed, “But whatever the reason is, it’s going to make finding Rowan’s friend pretty hard…”

Everyone joined in on a groan, remembering why they had walked all the way there in the first place. The crowd was thick and everyone was murmuring softly to one another, so when JC and the others moved closer they still couldn’t tell what the gathering was all about. Glancing around at the myriad faces they didn’t recognize anyone, so JC reached for his Pokégear to call the professor just as a few sentences from the crowd floated to their ears.

“I still can’t believe it! Two at the same time?! And here of all places!!”

“Well you know she likes history! Maybe they’ll sign my Pokétch…”

For some reason Dawn’s ears seemed to perk up at the last comment and she broke off from the group, pushing her way into the crowd and heading straight for the center of the hill. Forcing her way to the innermost circle she almost tripped as she finally burst into the open, met with the sight of her mentor and another man gazing up at the monument.

“Ah, Dawn,” Cynthia said, facing her, “I’m glad you made it.”

“Hello, Teacher,” she smiled. Her friends eventually broke through the crowd themselves, Cameron, JC and Kira staring wide-eyed at the pair in front of them.

“Steven,” May exclaimed as she ran to embrace her mentor, “It’s so great to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too, May,” he said, holding her tight.

“Hm. Why don’t we ever hug?” Cynthia poked at Dawn, “Maybe our relationship needs some work.”

“But, Teacher… I thought we got along well…”

Cynthia laughed, “Always so serious, Dawn. And how are you Serina? It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

“Likewise,” Serina curtsied, “It has been a while since we last met.”

“Too long,” Cynthia smiled.

“Steven,” May interrupted, “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you both doing here? I mean it’s great to see you and all, but Eterna City’s a little out of your way…”

“Ah, well strangely enough, after your last call I received a message from Professor Rowan asking me to accompany Cynthia here to Eterna City. I imagine you can guess why…” he winked.

“So you two are the ‘someone’ he mentioned?” Dawn asked, pointing a finger at the both of them. “But why? Is something wrong?”

“We’ll get to that in just a minute,” Cynthia assured, turning to the crowd. “Everyone, we appreciate the attention, but Mr. Stone and I would like to have a word with this group alone, if you’d please…”

The crowds who’d been listening intently to this exchange groaned in disappointment but respected Cynthia’s authority, slowly dispersing from the hill and returning to their lives. Once they were truly alone Cynthia once again addressed the group.

“To answer your question Dawn, yes: something is wrong. But first, I believe introductions are in order. For those that haven’t met him, this is Steven Stone: Champion of the Hoenn region and a dear friend of mine.”

“It’s an honor to meet you all,” he bowed, and arm still draped around his student. “I was truly relieved when May told me you all escaped Snowpoint in one piece. You acted very bravely.”

Everyone stuttered out a “thank you”, stunned from suddenly receiving praise from a Champion.

“And my name is Cynthia: Champion of Sinnoh and Dawn’s mentor. I know Steven already said it, but it really is a pleasure to meet the rest of you.”

“Oh no, the pleasure’s ours,” Cameron blurted out, “I mean, it’s so amazing just to be this close to you! You’re basically a legend back home, your Championship! I mean, your Highness…”

Cynthia put a hand to her grinning lips, “Well thank you, Mr. Suou. It’s nice to know I’m adored with such… enthusiasm,” she laughed.

Dawn rolled her eyes at him, slightly embarrassed at his behavior. “You’ll have to excuse him, Teacher; I was recently told he’s got a bit of a fascination with you…”

“Oh it’s no problem,” Cynthia waved it off, “To be honest, I get that a lot. Nice to know it’s not just you, eh, Steven?” she winked mischievously to her fellow Champion. He laughed and shook his head; it was the truth after all.

“But getting back to more important matters; in light of certain… happenings, we—meaning Rowan and ourselves—decided it’d be best to pool our thoughts and figure out a plan for you all.”

“Which is another way of saying ‘here’s the plan’,” Steven chimed in. “While you all escaped Snowpoint unharmed, this fiasco has shown us that there’s danger for you here in Sinnoh at a level we hadn’t anticipated. May, Dawn, and Serina’s encounter in the woods revealed someone somewhere has been intercepting and recruiting wielders before we’ve even learned of them. And then there’s the mystery of Kira’s assailant; if the cases are related—and we expect they are—then this person has obviously expanded their scope and set their eyes on the young wielders we have identified.”

“But, Mr. Stone…” JC began, “There’s something about all this that hasn’t been making sense to me. Rowan said that the wielders and everything was a secret. How can someone be targeting us if nobody knows who we are?”

“Oh there are ways to find out,” Cynthia answered, “Trust me Jemkyn, no secret is perfectly guarded. For instance, our oracles Anthea and Concordia are a magnificent tool in our search for young wielders, but it would be foolish to believe they are the only ones in the world with that gift. The point is three of you are still unpaired, and the other two aren’t nearly at full strength. You’re all vulnerable.”

“I keep hearing that,” JC commented, “When am I actually going to stop being vulnerable?”

Steven laughed at his honesty, “It’s a long road, Mr. Kalmikov, a very long road. Which is why we’re doing our best to get you started in the right way; we’ve decided to send you all to the Unova region.”

“Unova…?” Kira asked surprised, “But that’s on the complete opposite side of the world!”

“Exactly,” Steven continued, “And far from the eyes of whoever’s trying to harm you. Hopefully your absence will buy us the time we need to uncover your assailants.”

“Not to mention you’ll be among your own people,” Cynthia added, “The wielders of Unova have a more active presence than we do here, and you all should get plenty of training during your stay.”

“So you’re… sending us away…?” Dawn said, slightly fazed, “I—I would’ve thought that with all that’s happened you’d want us closer than ever…”

Cynthia shook her head, “It’s because of what happened that we’re sending you away. Unova was the safest place we could think of.” She put her hands on Dawn’s shoulders, “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine. We’ve already cleared it with Unova’s wielders and they’ll be there to greet you when you arrive.”

“Is their leader a Champion, too?” May asked, jerking back in surprise as both Steven and Cynthia burst into laughter. JC, Kira and Cameron were surprised at the sight; they’d never seen a Champion in such a casual setting before, and it was exciting to think they were suddenly this close to the most important people they could think of.

“Certainly not,” Steven finally said, still chuckling to himself. “Unova’s Champion is… well how would you describe him, Cynthia?”

“Let’s just say he’s not the most capable man out there, and he’s most definitely not a wielder. No, the wielders of Unova are led by a man named Noland García. You’ll be spending your time with him.”

“And what sort of training are we going to be doing?” JC asked, “Some of us don’t have partners yet…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Steven assured, “You’ll find out when you get there. Now, your trip to Unova will be by boat, my boat, the S.S. Tidal. A bus will pick you up here tomorrow at 7:30 and take you to a small port nearby where the Tidal will be waiting for you. After that it’ll be a few days’ trip to Unova. And that’s it; we’ll keep in touch but this is the last you’ll see of us for a while.”

May and Dawn let out a depressed moan, sad to see their mentors go.

“Oh come now, you’ve been away from us before,” he laughed. “But I suppose we should be going; we’ve caused enough of a stir as it is…”

“Actually, Steven, I have one more thing I wanted to do while I was here,” Cynthia said with a smile, “Ms. Fuego, do you mind if I borrow Jemkyn for a bit?”

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise and Cameron struggled to contain a fit of jealousy, but Kira merely nodded, further evidence of her revived personality.

Cynthia smiled again and beckoned to JC who followed her to a bench close by. Realizing Cynthia’s desire for privacy, Steven made an effort to round up the others.

“So, who wants to visit my favorite café in all of Sinnoh, my treat? It happens to be just inside Eterna City…” he trailed off, the rest of the group following him eagerly. Kira glanced back at JC and Cynthia only once, sighing out any anxiety she held and following Steven and the rest of the group back into the city.

Back on the bench JC sat quietly, not entirely sure what to say to a Champion, much less Cynthia. He merely sat with his hands in his lap and stared at the monument before him: a tall column topped with two statues, one of Dialga and one of Palkia. The column had numerous inscriptions along its length in a language JC couldn’t make out, and as he strained to focus Cynthia laughed to herself, the boy suddenly realizing he must’ve looked strange to her as he squinted so intensely.

“You won’t be able to read it,” she told him, “It’s an old language, and certainly not something they teach you in school.”

JC straightened up at that; could she read his thoughts?

“Ma’am?” he asked.

“It’s Shianese, one of the first languages seen in the Sinnoh region. Archaeologists have only just recently begun translating it, but they’ve already learned so much from the many ruins containing these carvings. Did you know that it’s been found as far as the mainland? A place called the Sinjoh Ruins…”

JC looked over at Cynthia who smiled brightly at him. The soft breeze that swept over the hill could barely lift her long, blonde hair from her shoulders, but it was just enough to completely clear her face, a sight JC had never seen in pictures or on TV. Cynthia always wore her hair over one eye, but now in front of him, JC was in awe. He always knew she was beautiful, but as she looked at him with her pale gray eyes he couldn’t help but feel that she was absolutely perfect in every way.

Cynthia smiled again and he blushed, somehow managing to tear his eyes from hers. “That’s, um, interesting to hear…” he jumbled out.

“Archaeology and myths have always been a fascination of mine, even before I found out I was a wielder. When Rowan called me to his lab and told me that my beloved legends were true, well, you can imagine how happy I was.”

JC tried to imagine a young Rowan telling an even younger Cynthia about the world he himself had just learned about recently. He tried to fathom her excitement and it brought a smile to his face; he wished his own experience had been under better circumstances…

“So what about you,” Cynthia continued, “How do you feel about this world of ours?”

“I’m not sure I understand the question,” he blushed, absolutely terrified of speaking foolishly in front of her.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” she laughed, “Our world; this world of legends and wielders. What do you think of it all?”

“Oh, well, I can say it’s a lot to take in all at once… But after finding out about Serina and meeting Kyogre, I guess I’ve accepted it.”

Cynthia nodded, “It is a lot to have suddenly dumped on you. Sorry about that, by the way. I would’ve preferred a smoother unveiling for you all. Speaking of which, how’s Ms. Fuego? She seemed normal enough, even with that eye of hers in plain view…”

“She’s getting along,” JC answered. “It was a little rough recently, but she’s sort of gone back to how she was before we even started our journey.”

“Oh I certainly hope not!” Cynthia suddenly exclaimed, startling JC as she caught him off guard, “She was so timid before! I was glad to see her finally coming out of her shell.”

“Yeah, it was nice to see her fitting in with everyone…” JC agreed, a flag suddenly going off in his head. “Wait a minute… how did you…?”

Cynthia winked at him and he blushed again, quickly dropping the subject. But Cynthia continued on:

“Jemkyn, you have to understand that as young wielders we find you very valuable. We identified you two the day you were born and we haven’t let you out of our sight since.”

JC felt his stomach turn as he realized that his “private time” with Kira on their way to Snowpoint really hadn’t been that private after all. If Cynthia had been privy to every moment of their lives until now… he could feel his face growing redder by the minute.

He cleared his throat nervously, deciding to turn the conversation onto Cynthia instead and using her openness as segue for his own question.

“Um, Miss, may I ask you something?”

“Please, call me by my name. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other in the future; we might as well get this relationship started off right,” she said, her lips smiling sweetly. “But yes, you can ask me anything, Jemkyn.”

“Thank you… Miss Cynthia,” he finally said, unable to completely shirk the respectful title. “Well, it’s just that May mentioned you were partnered when you were six years old. I was just curious why we weren’t told until now.”

“Again, sorry, that was my decision as well,” she apologized, getting up from the bench. Cynthia moved closer to the monument and leaned her back against it, facing JC but lowering her head and closing her eyes in thought. “Jemkyn, do you know why we’re wielders?”

“Um…” he thought, remembering Rowan’s explanations. “Uh, it’s because we’ve got a disease—no, Pokérus—and it matches with a Legendary… or something…”

“Well that’s how we can synchronize with them, but why? What are wielders for? What’s our purpose? Do you know?”

JC stayed silent; he couldn’t answer her.

Cynthia looked up, “I know, and I’m one of the few that do. I know what our purpose is, and it’s because of that purpose that I held off telling you all as long as possible. I wanted you to enjoy your childhood without this world looming over you like a dark cloud.”

JC stood up as well, “What is it? Our purpose, I mean.”

Cynthia shook her head. “I’m not sure I should be the one to tell you that,” she said, glancing at the sky. “Although given who I am I should be…” she muttered, “Anyway, just know that I have your absolute best intentions at heart. When you finally meet your partner you’re going to be one of the greatest wielders we’ve ever seen,” she said, hugging him tightly. “Well, next to me, of course.”

“Um, Miss Cynthia: who is my partner? Do you know?”

The woman grinned once again, giving JC an unspoken affirmative.

“Well…?” he urged, “Who is it?”

Cynthia laughed to herself and turned back to face the monument. “Do you know why I suggested to Rowan that we meet here?” she asked, “In this city, at this precise hill? It was for your benefit…”

“I’m not sure I follow…”

“You had to pass by the Eterna Museum to get here, yes?”

“Yes…” JC answered, slightly suspicious at her scheming.

“And?” she asked, her eyes looking very excited. “Did anything… happen along the way?”

JC’s heart dropped; knowing the details of their trip was one thing but how could she possibly know about that? But her smile was evidence enough; somehow she knew.

“I, um… well…”

“It’s alright,” Cynthia comforted as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You felt something as you passed by, didn’t you? A sort of tug on your soul, am I right? And this,” she said, motioning to the monument, “While it doesn’t hold any true connection its meaning should be blatantly obvious…”

JC’s mind was racing and he couldn’t seem to keep up with it. How did she know so much about him? How did she know what he felt not an hour ago when he hadn’t told ANYBODY about it? It was downright scary to think about.

He took one step back; “How?” was all he said.

“Because I feel it, too,” she said, taking his hand. “You and I are similar in many ways, Jemkyn. Inside that museum are some old relics that have certain… connections with Legendaries. Among them are the three Time-Space Orbs: the Adamant Orb, The Lustrous Orb and the Griseous Orb. I’m sure you’ve heard of them before,” she smiled.

JC nodded slowly, “Dialga… and Palkia…”

“And Giratina,” Cynthia added, “While he doesn’t have statues built of him he’s still part of the group.”

JC was finally catching up with her. “Are you saying that I’m—that my partner is…?”

“One of the Creation Trinity,” she finished. “The Adamant Orb in particular is what called out to you today.”

JC staggered backwards and plopped onto the bench. Dialga… The Adamant Orb was connected to Dialga. He couldn’t believe it; sure all this wielder stuff threw reason to the wind to begin with, but never in a million years would he have guessed that his partner would be so… well, legendary!

Cynthia returned to his side but said nothing, instead brushing his hair with her hand like a mother and child.

“Why does it affect you, too?” JC asked without looking up at her, “The Adamant Orb; you said you can feel it like I do. Why?”

“Oh, it’s not the Adamant Orb: it’s the Griseous Orb for me,” she explained. “The Time-Space Orbs were leftovers cast off by the Original One at Creation, along with several other orbs and relics. My partner’s Giratina, so the Griseous Orb is just as much a part of me as it is him.”

“So what about the Lustrous Orb? Do you know Palkia’s wielder?”

JC must’ve hit a serious nerve because Cynthia quickly averted her eyes from him. “I did,” she said, almost forcing the words out, “Once. They died.”

“Oh, I… I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s alright,” she said, straightening up, “It’s good that you know. Maybe it’ll help put all of this into perspective for you.” Cynthia stood again but this time with the air of parting.

“He’ll be coming for you soon,” she said as she started to walk away, “Your partner, when the time is right. But until then, please be safe. I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to you.”

“Wait,” JC said, jumping up, “If you know mine, then do you know what everyone’s partners are going to be? Like Cameron or Kira?”

“I do,” she nodded.

“Well, are you going to tell them?”

“It’s not my place…” she said, walking further away.

“Why not?” he called after her, “Why tell me and not them?”

“Because that is my place.”

“But why?” he shouted, not even expecting an answer at this point.

Cynthia stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to be your mentor.”