Ten years ago, Dawn beat Cynthia and became the champion of the Sinnoh Region. The two stopped Team Galactic together, but their heroism didn't end there. The pair didn't let the activities of the criminal organization fade into history as many regions had before. Names like Team Rocket, Plasma, and more have been written into the past in other regions, mere stories now, used to scare kids and teach morals.
The media was quick to eat up Cynthia and Dawn's impassioned, firsthand experiences with Galactic. The pair told stories of battling through huge waves of blindly loyal "cult" members and the Pokemon they captured and enslaved. They also spoke up about the various civilian buildings taken over completely by the criminal team with little to no interference by the law, and when Cynthia and Dawn added on their very intense and personal experiences observing Sinnoh's various ancient, legendary Pokemon being hunted, exploited, and abused for the purpose of bringing about the end of the world… people truly started to pay attention.
"History has repeated itself countless times, let's not let it happen again."
That was the phrase many people started repeating, it became somewhat of a mantra for a society that was starting to open its eyes. Cynthia was all over Sinnoh TV: She was charismatic, beautiful, and brave. The people loved her.
Those long ten years passed slowly but steadily, and a lot of work was done:
Cynthia herself led an investigation into the rise and fall of Team Galactic, and she managed to track down many independent scientists and researchers who had not been caught initially but had been working with Galactic. In interviews, she claimed these scientists were radical and heartless people, hellbent on utilizing science to unlock more power for themselves and their "investors." Multiple Galactic scientists were directly traced back to the rise of Magma and Aqua in Hoenn. It was no surprise then that when Plasma had its surge in Unova, many more mercenary-scientists had undeniable connections and communications with various other criminal organizations around the world.
As Cynthia researched the team more and the years trickled by, she discovered how truly preventable Team Galactic's rise to power had been. The police force were revealed to be lazy and weak, their Pokemon and officers poorly trained. Only a few Jennys were assigned per city, some of which had populations in the hundreds of thousands. So few of these highly proficient, specialized officers were in the Sinnoh Region that crime rates slowly, stealthily, crept up. Studies indicated there was a direct connection to crime rate and Jenny presence in a city.
**Jenny is not a name, it's a title. Jennys are unbiased, incorruptible, and impeccably trained police officers recognizable by their blue hair and arcanines. **
The people in power and many civilians were disillusioned for a very long time about what Sinnoh was really like, my own family being an example. Sinnoh for the longest time had a reputation of being "void of crime." It was considered a marvel by other lands, a perfect example of how a region should be. Sinnoh region citizens were peaceful, law-abiding people according to statistics and news reports all over the world, and of course locally.
Cynthia revealed the ugly truth about that: The crime rate was low because people were lying, and a large group of them were going out of their way to keep all kinds of criminal activity hidden. As such, ten years ago, Team Galactic rose almost completely unhindered by authorities. In fact, the gates were opened for them as many rich families had funded Cyrus and Galactic in some way, most indirectly and when put to trial most of these patrons claimed their business with the criminal team was completely accidental. A bad investment, and many of them got away with their hands clean.
According to Cynthia, the peaceful reputation of Sinnoh was almost entirely a lie. For years and years, reports of missing Pokemon went unanswered, theft was ignored, bribes were commonplace, and the alleys and dark corners of every city were rampant with drug trade and sex trafficking. It was a dark time for many news outlets, most people didn't want to believe all this negative, harrowing information, but had no choice anymore when it was revealed, and outright proven that the Sinnoh police force had sent a single investigator when report's of Galactic activity finally reached the mainstream news.
That was a man by the name of Looker, who'd practically had his investigation hijacked by the then 13 year old girl, Dawn, ten years ago. He paired up with Cynthia and Dawn and helped them every step of the way to the best of his ability. He was a common face on TV now too, admitting outright that he and other members of the police had all taken part in the campaign to "hide crime" and despite many protesters trying to stop it- almost all the files surrounding the events at Mt. Coronet were sealed.
That being said, despite the GOV's interference and best efforts to hide it, almost every Sinnoh citizen now knew that Team Galactic had desired the end of the world and their government had done little to protect them. A thirteen year old girl, a single detective, and the champion were the ones who saved the world...
Because of that people were forced to realize there were criminals in the tranquil Sinnoh region, and there had been for a long time. The police force increased its presence in cities and towns around Sinnoh, establishing "footholds" around the larger areas like Jubilife and Sunnyshore.
Dawn and Cynthia spread a bright positive message to all the people who were scared about the implications of their tax money now being spent on anti-crime defense. What did it mean, was Sinnoh about to become a military state? People had no idea what was going on. But the terrified civilians were soothed as Cynthia, at this point now a proud politician, preached about strength and hope while her now-girlfriend and champion Dawn told the media stories about kids who were never able to make it far, and how the poor and unfortunate couldn't be left behind anymore, as it led them to a life of crime and more importantly...unhappiness.
New studies revealed most kids became members of criminal orgs because they felt like they had no other choice. They were anxious and unsatisfied with the world, and drugs didn't help. Nothing helped. They were poor and getting poorer. Until Dawn and Cynth's campaign against poverty, few people talked about the low income, sick, and homeless populations of Sinnoh. Even less so, the population of abused and abandoned pokemon that resulted because of all this. There was so much ugliness in the Sinnoh region, and its naive and innocent citizens were shell-shocked.
Dawn and Cynthia started merging the Pokemon League and politics. Dawn was the literal champion, defending the title for far longer than anyone had expected. And Cynthia became an actual politician and champion of the people, according to various news outlets who promoted the dynamic duo as much as they could. It seemed like the pair of beautiful women were unbeatable, and Sinnoh's citizens were invigorated and hopeful for a brighter future. There was a massive boom in the economy, new programs were put into place for schools, cities expanded and populations crept up. Until now so much money went into battling and government funded tournaments, earning billions of Poke , and very little of it trickled back down into society. Because of Cynthia, new schools were being built all across the region along with various other types of new housing and job markets.
Then...
Cynthia and Dawn were revealed to be Pokelovers. This made global news. People expected the two to be ashamed and arrested, and many felt betrayed and lied to. Thankfully, there was no hard evidence found, but Sinnoh citizens felt like their "heroes" were criminals and rapists in their eyes. The two didn't go down, however, despite best efforts… until a week ago on national television they finally came out and said how Pokemon rights were being trampled on...and how the love between a Pokemon and a human is not so inconceivable.
And the world listened. It's still listening.
Only two weeks ago I never would have believed any of this, and even after all my suffering and newfound experiences, I doubt I'm ready for what's coming next.