"That was definitely a ghost," Kenny insisted.

Aaron shook his head vehemently. "At most, it was a wild Banette."

"Can we agree," I declared, "to forget about it? I don't like ghosts."

Kenny poked me playfully. "Aw, Deedee is afraid of ghosts."

"I'm not afraid! And Kenny, aren't you afraid of swimming?"

"I chose Piplup as a starter, and I train with my Empoleon and Floatzel in the water. How can I be afraid of swimming?"

Aaron smirked. "Floatzel is practically a Pokémon meant for people who can't swim."

The three of us were having a picnic at the bottom of Mount Coronet. I had cooked delicious poffins for my and Kenny's Pokémon; Aaron's Heracross – the only Pokémon he had on hand at the moment, since a lot of his Pokémon were in the Hearthome City Pokémon Center after his exhibition battle against the new gym leader Ace – preferred honey. Kenny could also cook nutritious Pokémon food, while Aaron and I prepared ham-and-mayo sandwiches.

Kenny shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I don't want to sound ungrateful," he said in an awkward tone, "but I started going vegetarian a few weeks ago."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "My bad. Heracross can have the ham in your sandwiches, then."

I poked Kenny. "Since when did you give up meat?"

"Since I found out that Sunkern can make non-meat foods taste perfect."

Aaron nodded. "A lot of grass types can do that. Leavanny does her best, but you'd have to rip bacon out of my cold, dead hands."

When we finished, we bundled everything in a giant disposable bag. The area was popular among campers, so we had no difficulty finding a proper place to toss our waste. I opened a map of Sinnoh on my Poketch. "We're between Oreburgh and Eterna, but Oreburgh City is closer. We can get there on foot and give Togekiss a break."

Several minutes later, we had to turn back. A mudslide had made the path unsafe to hike through, and the sheer rock cliffs looked unstable. I didn't want to risk flying Togekiss through the ravine only for a landslide to catch us by surprise.

"Looks like we're flying to Eterna City," Aaron declared. "Sorry for making your Togekiss work so hard, Dawn."

"Not at all," I assured him. "We're happy to help however we can. When we reach Eterna City, I can call Ash and ask him to transfer some of his flying Pokémon. That will give Togekiss a break and allow the three of us to split up Oreburgh and Canalave."

Kenny whistled. "Smart thinking, Deedee."

I bopped his head with my knuckles. "Stop calling me Deedee!"

We flew over Cycling Road. Far below, cyclists zoomed down the highway. Cycling was an option if Togekiss really needed a break, but entering Eterna City meant you had to bike uphill. For me, that was a last resort.

Next to Cycling Road, Wayward Cave sprawled on the grassland. It might have been an illusion from flying so fast, but the cave seemed to twist around itself, forming a maze visible from the sky. I blinked, and the illusion mostly passed. Gible munched on the tall grass and scurried in cutting paths, the Pokémon resembling Sharpedo but on land. A young Pokémon trainer with long blonde hair watched from behind a rock, a Pokéball in her hand. The sunlight reflected in her narrow, silver eyes.

"Watch the road!" Aaron exclaimed.

Kenny leaped to my defense. "We're above the road, Aaron."

I turned back to look at the boys. "Did you see that? In front of Wayward Cave—a young version of Cynthia."

Kenny looked at me earnestly. "Maybe Cynthia has a little sister."

"She doesn't," Aaron stated. "Not in Sinnoh, anyway. Even in the Elite Four, no one knows much about her. Her grandmother lives in Celestic Town – on the opposite side of Mount Coronet from Eterna City – but as far as anyone knows, she doesn't have any other family in Sinnoh."

I focused on flying Togekiss. "She's a mysterious Champion." On the other hand, Steven Stone was more of a public figure, especially as the young head of Devon Corp. Both Champions were celebrities, but in the eyes of the public, they were practically opposites. Only a handful of trainers knew their shared love of research, and I was privileged to be among them.

My plan for Eterna City was to go straight to the Pokémon Center. Ash would transfer some of his flying Pokémon, one of us would stay in Eterna City to speak with Gardenia, someone else would fly back to Oreburgh City, and a trooper would head all the way to Canalave City. I wanted to volunteer to go to Canalave, because I knew Kenny might not feel confident flying over open water, and Aaron might still be a bit tired from the exhibition battle. Also, Jubilife City is one of my favourite settlements in Sinnoh. It holds special memories as the location of my first Pokémon contest; besides, what girl doesn't like the great city?

Eterna City had other plans. As we began to touch down, Gardenia waved at us from her flower clock. Togekiss circled around the gym's open roof, Gardenia's Skiploom guiding us on a safe path to land indoors.

Gardenia's dark green shawl bunched around her as she squealed in joy. "Dawn, hon, it's been forever! And Aaron, it's wonderful to see you—I watched your exhibition battle, and your Leavanny was splendid!"

Leave it to the grass type specialist to single out another trainer's grass type.

Gardenia offered her hand to Kenny. "I believe this is the first time we've met. My name is Gardenia, and I'm the Gym Leader of Eterna City."

"It's great to meet you, Gardenia. I'm Kenny – I'm good friends with Dawn and Ace, the new gym leader who was Aaron's opponent in the exhibition battle – and this is my youngest Pokémon, Sunkern."

Gardenia squealed when the small grass type peeked at her from behind Kenny's thick auburn hair. "Omigosh, Kenny, your Pokémon is adorable! I just adore grass types." She beamed, and Sunkern imitated her wide smile. "Sunkern isn't native to Sinnoh. How did the two of you meet?"

"I'm a Pokémon coordinator," Kenny explained. "I caught this little one while competing in Johto."

"How do you feel about evolving her?"

Kenny held Sunkern in his hands. "That sounds exciting! Sunkern, what do you think?"

Sunkern bounced on Kenny's palms, eager to grow. Gardenia placed a hand on my friend's shoulder. "Follow me."

Gardenia led us through her gym to the back. Rows of Cherrim danced in the sunlight, while a challenger battled a flower lady in the flower clock's afternoon area. At the back of the gym were several evolution stones. Aaron picked up the Leaf Stone and admired the intricate veinous design.

Gardenia held up a Sun Stone, which shone amber and gold under the sunlight. "If Sunkern touches this and wants to evolve, she'll become a beautiful Sunflora. But your Sunkern is cute and perfect the way she is, so it's entirely up to you."

Sunkern looked up at Kenny, who nodded with an encouraging smile. She leaped from his hands and bumped the Sun Stone.