A/N: I'm back with the first chapter of the sequel! To any new readers, hi! You're going to definitely want to read the original series first, so please check out my other work Silver Screens! You will miss out on a lot of references if you don't, as well as the juicy romance! That's a good segue into my other point for my returning readers too. I promise that this work is not moving away from Diantha and Cynthia's romance, far from it and in fact I'm even adding more romances alongside that one, but I'm also going to take a more actiony approach with this sequel. All the drama and hurdles from the last fic have been solved already, so it's time now to instead build off of that and take it to a whole new level. I'm also going to put some more focus on the supporting cast alongside Diantha and Cynthia here; the last fic had those two rather isolated. It's time to branch out and get a little wild and get into some trouble. I hope you're all ready, because I'm sure the fuck not


The racks of clothes were filled with gorgeous pastels in varying levels of intricate fashion. Boutique Couture truly was a high-end place. There was no way any of the clothing was fit for someplace other than some ritzy gala or a red carpet, yet Gardenia and Diantha were running to and fro throughout the store, pulling clothes off the racks to try on and with smiles on their faces. They giggled each time they passed each other, clearly giddy from the whole shopping experience, and they had amassed a huge pile of cute clothes to buy. For Cynthia and Elizabeth, though… They were having a very different level of success finding any clothes.

"...Huh." Cynthia smacked her lips, just looking around. She and Elizabeth were standing someplace off in the corner, arms crossed and unwavering.

"Yeah." Elizabeth joined in, "I don't see a color darker than pastel lavender here."

"I know. It's so light in here. I don't like it."

Elizabeth uneasily glanced around with narrowed eyes, "I don't see a lick of black in here."

"Or even grey, for that matter." Cynthia sighed, "What is this? Floral heaven?"

"Hey, hey! Easy! There's grey clothes right over there!" Elizabeth countered, voice dripping with sarcasm. She pointed to a mannequin that had a shirt on that was barely even one shade darker than white as snow.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "All this color is making me sick… I wonder if we can slip out."

"I don't believe Mademoiselle Superstar is gonna like that if you ditch her." Elizabeth pointed to Diantha with her thumb, "Come on… Maybe we just didn't look hard enough. There's gotta be something dark in here… There has to be…"

Letting out a sigh, Cynthia slumped her shoulders in defeat. Elizabeth had a point. Diantha certainly wouldn't like it if Cynthia just upped and left in the middle of their shopping day. Maybe she and Elizabeth did look over any dark clothing. They could just be hidden. Elizabeth dragged Cynthia throughout the boutique, on the lookout for anything darker than a pastel, and to Elizabeth's surprise, she found the faintest hint of black in one of the racks.

"Ah-ha!" Elizabeth exclaimed, reaching out for the hanger to pull out that black item. The second she saw it in its entirety though, her expression dropped, "...What's this even supposed to be? Is it a skirt or a top?"

"...I don't think it would cover anything no matter what it was supposed to be." Cynthia sighed, "It's so small."

Elizabeth looked the strange garment over with a pout but something popped into her mind, "You know, this could be a valuable contribution to that clubbing outfit of yours."

Narrowing her eyes, Cynthia clenched her jaw and tried to stop herself from growling, "That was over a year ago. Can you let that go yet?"

"'Fraid not." Elizabeth teased with a grin while she set the top/skirt/whatever it was back on the rack.

Diantha made her way over to Cynthia and Elizabeth after that, a plethora of clothes in her arms, "Hey! ...Oh. Have you guys not been able to find anything yet?" Diantha asked in reference to the fact that Cynthia and Elizabeth had picked out no clothes.

Elizabeth looked at Cynthia and stepped back, leaving Cynthia to explain that one. Shooting her sister a glare for a moment, Cynthia then looked back at Diantha with a guilty grin, "Ah… No, nothing yet. Do you know if there's anything in here that's… you know… black?"

Part of Diantha wanted to laugh at that; she should've expected it, but at the same time, there was part of her that looked pretty disappointed, "Oh, chérie… Black is not a spring color."

"It is in Sinnoh and Unova…" Elizabeth muttered, crossing her arms.

Diantha pursed her lips for a moment in thought, but eventually she wound up grinning to herself, "Heh. You two have a point. I think I know a place that'll fit you two better."

"What are you waiting for?!" Elizabeth shot up, "Spill it, sister! I wanna shop too!"

Cynthia held her arm out in front of her sister, "Easy, Liz… This is supposed to be a group shopping day. We can't just leave. You said it yourself, remember? It'd be rude to Diantha and Gardenia both if we ditched them."

"Hang on now, Cynthia." Diantha smiled still, "I'm glad to know that you care, but I want you to have fun too! We can always just meet up at Augustine's lab after we all get to shopping for a while!"

"It's being offered up to us on a silver platter. You better not deny it." Elizabeth warned, eyes narrowed.

Smiling softly, Cynthia walked forward and placed her hands on Diantha's arms, "You're the best.." She hummed, leaning in to give Diantha a kiss.

Diantha grinned into the kiss, laughing softly, "You can find it near Jaune Plaza. It's literally called Boutique Noire. You can't miss it."

Elizabeth nearly gagged at seeing the romance play out in front of her, but she was still relieved at the fact that they could go someplace else, "...Gross."

Cynthia paid her sister absolutely no heed, "Have fun with Gardenia. You should really start making sure she's checking the price tags on the clothes she picks out, by the way."

"Yeah. She might end up pushing the bill on one of us since all three of us got some bank." Elizabeth added.

"And if we leave… You're the only option Gardenia has left." Cynthia explained with a twinge of guilt.

Diantha's eyes widened for a moment but she did her best to school her features, "Ahh.. Don't worry. I'll handle it somehow. Now go out and buy something new to wear! I'll rip that black jacket right off of you if you don't!"

A devious look flashed in Cynthia's eye, "I fail to see how that's punishment…"

That time Elizabeth did gag, and she looked away from the two lovebirds and walked off, "...Ugh, save the banter for someplace private."

Diantha averted her gaze with a shy grin, and Cynthia just glared at Elizabeth. "Oh, grow up." Cynthia countered, "I doubt you'd be any better with a serious relationship."

"But I'm a Plusle without its Minun. You won't be seeing any of that sweet stuff from me." Elizabeth sneered with a wave of her hand. She didn't even dignify Cynthia by turning around to look at her as she walked away.

Cynthia sent an apologetic look Diantha's way as she followed after Elizabeth and went outside. Diantha spun around on her heel, letting out a heavy exhale. She soon plastered on a smile and went searching for Gardenia.

"Oh, Gardenia, darling?" Diantha began a bit uneasily, "Let's play a fun game, yeah? Whoever buys the least amount of things wins!" She laughed emptily to herself. Money wasn't a problem to her at all, but she didn't want Gardenia to get too wild about her purchases if Diantha truly was going to wind up paying…

Meanwhile, Cynthia caught up with Elizabeth outside, and while anger was not outwardly present on her expression, there was a hint of annoyance to Cynthia's demeanor, "You're being moodier than normal."

Elizabeth was squinting from the bright sun but she looked over her shoulder at Cynthia with a fake grin, "You know green is not my best color." She said. That was probably the closest she was going to get to saying that she was jealous because she'd never say the word herself.

Cynthia let out a sharp exhale at that, getting the implications of what Elizabeth was trying to convey. She decided to change the subject, and she looked around a bit, "We should probably start looking for this Jaune Plaza. I remember that all the plazas are based off a color, so we just need to find that colored plaza."

"Right." Elizabeth nodded. Together she and Cynthia walked across the street towards the one plaza, and once they got there, they stood at the base of the blue monument in silence for a few seconds before Elizabeth was the one to speak up again. "I think we have a problem."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "Yeah? What is it?"

Elizabeth flashed an uneasy grin, "Mademoiselle Superstar never told us what the hell color 'jaune' is supposed to be."


"Gardenia, darling, don't you think we've stalled enough?" Diantha laughed beneath her breath at the sight of Gardenia petting one of the local Gogoats.

"Huh?" Gardenia looked away from the Gogoat and smiled once Diantha's words caught up to her, "Oh, right! My bad! These guys are just so cute though!"

Diantha closed her eyes with a smile, "I promise you that there'll be plenty of time to pet the Gogoats later. Cynthia and her sister are already at the lab, so we shouldn't keep them waiting."

Gardenia snickered to herself as she straightened herself out and fixed her top, "It'd give those two a taste of their own medicine if we wait! I can't tell you how many times Liz has shown up late with a cappuccino in her hands whenever we have plans!"

"That… sounds awfully like her." Diantha agreed, tapping her chin, "Ah, but that's besides the point. The trick is to never knock yourself down to their level out of pettiness. You just have to show them how much better you are by being the reasonable one. You catch my drift, right?"

Nodding along, Gardenia snapped her fingers with a devious look, "Not bad… Did you pick that up 'cause of your line of work?"

"It's the only way to keep yourself sane in what I do, darling." Diantha eventually walked over and grabbed Gardenia's arm, seeing as that was one of the only ways she was going to get Gardenia to actually move, "Now let's go. I think that Gogoat is eyeing your hair for its lunch…" She teased, gesturing to the Gogoat with a tilt of her head.

Gardenia instinctively placed a hand over her head to cover her hair, and she finally walked along with Diantha after that, "Not the hair…! It's my best quality…"

Diantha laughed softly, leading Gardenia the rest of the way to Professor Sycamore's lab. She let herself inside and waited for Gardenia to join her side, and from there she could see both Augustine and Cynthia in a conversation right there in the lobby. Augustine glanced over at the doors when he heard them open, and he sported a playful grin when he spotted Diantha.

"Chère Diantha! You've arrived!" Augustine greeted, waving for Diantha to join him and Cynthia, "And you've brought a friend! I do not believe we've yet met, mademoiselle." He reached out in a request for Gardenia's hand as he bowed respectfully, "I am Augustine Sycamore, but many just know me as the Professor. May you enlighten me as to your name?" He looked up to Gardenia with a sparkle in his eyes.

"I'm Gardenia!" She said, giving Augustine her hand. When Augustine kissed the back of her hand, Gardenia just giggled, placing her free hand on her cheek before fanning herself, "Is this how all the boys act in Kalos? Oh, a girl can get used to this…"

"Let's not get boy-crazy so soon, Gardenia." Cynthia teased, crossing her arms, "He does this with every woman that breathes. Just ten minutes ago he kissed my hand too, but I don't believe that was the place he originally intended going for since I shoved his face away from mine." She glanced at her hand with a scorn, "His saliva's still all over my palm… Elizabeth was smart. She fled upstairs to talk with the scientists to avoid this guy."

Augustine placed the back of his hand to his forehead and sighed, "Ah, you wound me, Cynthia…"

Diantha just laughed at the scene playing out in front of her, and she held out her arms for a hug, "I may just be the only woman in the city that won't run at the sight of you, dear Augustine."

"And that is why we're such great friends!" Augustine regained his cool within a second's notice and he returned Diantha's hug. He pulled away shortly afterwards and pointed back at Cynthia with his thumb, "Cynthia was just telling me how she tried Mega Evolution for the first time with her Garchomp! Is that true, Diantha?"

Nodding, Diantha grinned widely, "Mhm! I saw it all myself. It all went off without a hitch too, even though it was her first time."

"Which is incredibly impressive, might I say…" Augustine turned to Cynthia, "Normally there are always complications the first time a Pokémon Mega Evolves. It is quite the risky procedure, after all."

"Well, it was sort of a life or death situation so…" Cynthia just shrugged, barely any fluctuation to her tone, "We improvised."

Augustine nodded along, his hand at his chin, "I see, I see… With this unusual case of yours, I'm sure you can come to master the transformation with relative ease, contrary to most others' experiences with it."

Cynthia flashed an apologetic smile for a second, letting out a sigh before speaking, "About that… Garchomp was not a fan of that whole experience, y'know. I don't think we'll be trying that again. Besides, wouldn't you say that making Garchomp even more powerful than she already is is a bit overkill?" She tried to jest.

Diantha's expression fell at that, "How unfortunate… Would you be open to trying Mega Evolution with a Pokémon other than Garchomp?"

"I mean… As long as they don't hate it as much as Garchomp did. She was pretty angry after that whole ordeal… That was not fun to deal with afterwards." Cynthia shook her head at the memory.

"If you ask me, this 'Mega Evolution' thing just feels like cheating." Gardenia commented, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, "I was convinced that Diantha was cheating when she pulled that stunt on Cynthia in that fight. It just seems unfair."

"But no one asked you though…?" Cynthia narrowed her eyes, confused.

Gardenia shot Cynthia a look out of the corner of her eye, but otherwise remained silent.

Augustine stepped up to break the silence, "Well, if you're interested in practicing Mega Evolution, you can either practice with me or with the region's expert and successor!"

Cynthia tilted her head with a playful grin, "I think I'll go with the expert, thanks."

"You wound me yet again!"

"You know…" Gardenia cut in again, staring angrily at Cynthia. She was still hung up about Cynthia's remarks from earlier, apparently, "You'd think you'd cut me some slack seeing as we're on vacation together, but you're still being mean!"

"Honestly?" Cynthia laughed, "You make it too easy. I can't help myself half the time."

Gardenia huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "It's still rude!"

"Come on, it's just fun! You get it the least out of this family. Elizabeth gets it far worse than you do from both me and you, so I don't see why you're complaining."

"You both pick on me for being the youngest!"

"And if we pick up another stray off the street, you can do the same to them!"

"Are you calling me a stray?!"

Elizabeth chose this exact moment to return to the lobby, and she stared at Gardenia and Cynthia with an annoyed look, "Hey, what's with all the noise?!"

Seeing as Gardenia and Cynthia were getting into some silly argument that Elizabeth was inevitably about to join, Augustine turned his attention to Diantha, losing his playful front and instead furrowing his eyebrows; his expression was only serious. "Diantha… I'm afraid there's some news I must share with you. If I could have a moment aside…" His voice was lowered seeing as there were still others around, and when he mentioned a moment of privacy, his gaze wandered over to the three girls bickering beside him.

Diantha looked confused by Augustine's sudden change in demeanor and frankly a bit concerned, so he did as he requested and followed him to a more secluded area on the first floor. When they were alone, Diantha crossed her arms, eager to figure out what was making Augustine act so strangely, "The news, as you've said…?"

Augustine nodded, clenching his jaw tightly. He seemed hesitant to continue, but it was something that had to be shared, "It's regarding the League…" He began, careful to word things carefully for Diantha, "There have been talks from some of the officials for quite some time now about the region's growing disinterest in battling. They do not believe there's a substantial reason for us to remain as a member of the International Pokémon League given our own League's condition. There have been no official steps taken yet, but a vote will be held soon regarding whether or not Kalos will disband its competitive League."

"What?!" Diantha shouted in a rather uncharacteristic outburst, though she wasn't making any effort to compose herself, "Kalos withdrawing from the International League?! The idea is preposterous! Do they forget how hard they've fought to become part of it in the first place?! They're willing to throw all that away?!"

"It seems so… But as I've said, no official steps have been taken towards this. There may not be a lot of opposition to this idea from what I've gathered, but the vote won't be for a while. There's still a chance to change this." Augustine tried to amend his statements, trying to be positive.

"They're not disbanding the League. Not if I have anything to say about it." Diantha shook her head with a sharp inhale, "When were they planning on telling me about this? You'd think that the Champion would have a right to know the second these talks began!"

Augustine glanced away in a moment's display of guilt, "Diantha… I say this with no ill intent, but surely you haven't forgotten… You have been gone for over a month for a film. Even when you were here before, you had very little time for challenges, if there were even challengers in the first place. I'm not saying they're right in thinking this, but chances are that they don't see you as an invested enough leader to care, or to even be respected."

Diantha's eyes flashed with anger, but she finally got the will to compose herself. It would be unfair to take her anger out on Augustine as he was only the messenger. Instead, another idea surfaced in her mind, "...Fine. I'll head over to the League right this instant. We'll see who's not invested enough to care…!"

"I know you, Diantha. I know how this region admires you. It's not impossible for you to turn things around for this region, but you have to be committed to it. You can't try and balance everything anymore. For this to work, you have to choose what you'll commit wholeheartedly to and stick to it. No more double lives, at least until things are cemented. I hope you understand that much." Augustine pointed out.

"I do." Diantha balled her hands into fists, "I already made the decision before coming over here that I'd focus more on restoring the League to its former glory. Now I'm only more sure of what I have to do. I may have been foolish in the past, thinking I could balance life as a Champion and life as a star, but I know better now. I'm the Champion of this region, and I'm not letting the League fall because of my former incompetence. I'm not going down without a fight."

Augustine couldn't help but smile because of Diantha's words, and he was impressed by her resolve, "There's the battling prodigy from so long ago… I wondered when I'd next see her again."

Diantha laughed under her breath, quirking a brow, "I hope you like her. She's not going away."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. This is my region too, and while I may only be a professor, even I know that a region without a League is bad for business. I mean, what else will get the kids interested in journeying if there's no gyms to conquer! Kids aren't that motivated!" Augustine joked, laughing at his own quips.

"Like I've said, I'm going to the League. I'll see if a chat's enough to intimidate them into backing off." Diantha began, though she spared Augustine one last look before she walked away, "Thank you for warning me, Augustine. And for offering your help. I won't be able to do this alone. I'll be needing you in the future."

Augustine nodded, a smile still on his face, "Just let me know, Diantha. Good luck."

Diantha shot him a smile back before stepping back towards the main area of the lobby. She wanted to tell Cynthia that she had to step out for a little while, and she managed to catch the tail end of Cynthia's argument with Elizabeth and Gardenia as she was doing so.

"Okay!" Cynthia began, stepping between Elizabeth and Gardenia and placing her hands on their shoulders to keep them from pouncing on each other, "Gardenia, if you really are bothered by all my teasing, then I'll lay off. As for you, Elizabeth… Nah, I'm still going to mess with you. You're not getting off the hook that easy."

Gardenia jumped for joy, but Elizabeth looked about ready to tear Cynthia's head off. Luckily, before Elizabeth had the chance, Diantha jumped in to pull Cynthia aside, ending that argument as swiftly as it began.

"Hey…" Diantha started with an uneasy air, trying to find the words, "Something came up that I have to handle. I need to head to the League immediately."

"No, I get it." Cynthia rested a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, "Is everything alright?"

"Ahh… I'll get back to you on that…" Diantha shifted her gaze off to the side.

Cynthia looked concern, and she leaned a bit closer and lowered her voice, "Do you need me to come with you? I don't mind. I'd love to see what the Kalos League looks like, actually."

Diantha let out a long exhale, pondering it over in her head. Maybe having someone with Cynthia's experience in running a good League would help her out, so she might as well.. "If you want, then you can come with. I'm going to try and handle it on my own first, but I might need your help."

"Of course." Cynthia glanced over to Elizabeth and Gardenia, "Should we tell Dumb and Dumber? Oh, wait- I mean, Average and Dumber?"

Diantha scratched her cheek, "If you could, that'd be great. Augustine could probably show them around in my place."

Nodding, Cynthia stepped away to break the news to Elizabeth and Gardenia while Diantha gradually made her way to the doors. When she got close, she turned back to wait for Cynthia, but before she and Cynthia could think about leaving, the doors bursted open suddenly and someone came strolling through. The woman responsible strolled inside, dressed very much like someone on vacation what with her summery clothes and hat, and she adjusted her large sunglasses with a wide smile. She had brown skin and purple hair, and as Cynthia soon came to notice, a very pronounced accent.

The woman threw her arms out to her sides, soaking up the moment where all eyes were on her before declaring, "Nous sommes revenus!"