Chapter 2: The Eccentric, Uninvited Scientist
The moment their eyes pulled away from each other, Cynthia had the good grace to pretend as though nothing had happened. Though, she did admit to herself that perhaps she felt her cheeks flushing just the faintest bit at the unexpected moment. Then, mildly irked at the possibility that she had blushed in front of Steven of all people, Cynthia inwardly prompted herself to remain calm. There could be no denying it: when the ex-Hoenn champion across the table looked boldly into her eyes, there was a playful spark glinting in his eyes. She hoped Steven hadn't noticed — or worse, taken delight in — whatever apparent self-consciousness she might have given off.
"Cynthia," Steven greeted in a rather reserved but gracious manner. "It's delightful to see you here." Then, unabashedly, Steven gave Cynthia the briefest of once-overs. Cynthia, in turn, did not miss the significance: her woman's intuition immediately discerned that Steven had studied her the way men did when they found a woman especially beautiful. A memory swiftly rose in her mind: this was not the first time he had looked at her this way. There had been another time, years before at their very first meeting when Cynthia was newly promoted the champion of Sinnoh. She had repressed it for so long since that day, thinking that moment meaningless. Turned out she was wrong.
"I can say the same to you, Steven," Cynthia returned his greeting, her tone even and poised. She would not be deterred by any attempt on Steven's part to tease her in any manner, making sure to stay focused on the conversation at hand.
Steven flashed Cynthia a winsome smile, though the blonde avoided direct eye contact with him as he did so. The ex-Hoenn champion pulled a seat from across the table, Cynthia noting that he would only be a few seats from her.
"I wonder when the last time we encountered each other was," Steven pondered out loud, settling comfortably into his seat.
Cynthia thought it to be a genuine question. "Oh, it was probably at the last Interregional Pokemon League Conference while you were still the Hoenn champion," she offered. "I would think that must have been a couple of years ago."
"Perhaps before I submitted my official letter of retirement," Steven added, looking intently at her. He leaned in, both elbows on the table, attentive in continuing the conversation.
"I suspect that sounds about right. You must have had quite the adventures since then." Cynthia, too, had now placed her elbows upon the table, though she did not lean in the way Steven did. The conversation could resume without the need for her to do so.
"Indeed," Steven confirmed, nodding his head once as if in contemplation. "As a matter of fact, discovering the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs may well be my favorite adventure so far."
Before the two could continue, Stella, Cynthia's younger sister, arrived at the table, glancing around for her name card. Though she was merely seventeen, soon to turn eighteen, it was evident that the teenager was blossoming fully into her youth. This evening, she certainly had no trouble attracting several guys her age. Unlike Cynthia, she had chestnut brown hair, having left it down this evening instead of having held it up in a bun. The look went pleasantly with the carnation pink mermaid gown she donned, making her look as though she were a princess who had waltzed out of a Kalosian fairy tale.
"Cynthia!" Stella greeted cheerfully, wholly oblivious to the previous conversation between the two champions. "Looks like we're sitting at the same table! Grandmother told me so."
Cynthia smiled at her younger sister. "Indeed, it looks like it."
"Hm, where is my name ca— oh!" The teenager was charmed and surprised upon locating her name card. Cynthia could have sworn she saw delight spark in her eyes. Glancing at the direction of Stella's eyes, which rested on what must have been her name card placed by the dinner plate, the blonde realized her little sister would indeed be sitting next to Steven.
Oh, Cynthia thought, looking away from Stella as she feigned ignorance of her little sister's reaction. She was almost embarrassed that her younger sister had become smitten with Steven in the same way that the crowds of women were earlier.
Cynthia could feel Steven's eyes on the two of them as they interacted with each other. "I didn't know you had a younger sister, Cynthia," Steven observed casually. He looked over to Stella, too, and to Cynthia's relief, he did not look at her younger sister the same way he had with Cynthia. If anything, he looked at Stella with a detached curiosity.
Cynthia would have made the proper salutations introducing Stella and Steven to each other, but she was cut off from beginning to do so when Stella interjected a little too excitedly, "I'm Stella, Cynthia's younger sister!"
"Pleased to meet you, Stella," Steven said, giving her a respectful smile. "As you probably know, I'm Steven Stone."
Cynthia lifted a hand to her cheek, resting her chin in its palm, watching the two carefully without making it known. Within no time, Stella initiated a conversation that took off easily with Steven. As she asked several questions about him, her eyes shined in adoration, her expression smitten with the man before her. The Sinnoh champion did not comment, only listening to their conversation, wary of anything suspicious coming from her little sister. She intended to keep her word to her grandmother.
As it turned out, Cynthia didn't need to worry. Although Stella was starry-eyed with deeply flushed cheeks as she conversed with Steven, Steven himself wasn't encouraging her, remaining polite and distanced instead. Releasing a brief and indiscernible sigh, Cynthia was relieved. Steven truly was a well-mannered gentleman, no matter the dirty gossip of his apparent womanizing. A teenager like Stella blatantly flirting with Steven would get nowhere. There was no need to worry at all.
"Ah, Cynthia, we meet again," a gentle tenor suddenly spoke behind the blonde. Cynthia lifted her head and found Lucian smiling at her. "I didn't think we would be sitting at the same table."
"Oh," Cynthia said in surprise, raising her eyebrows in greeting with a genial smile. Glimpsing briefly at the seat next to hers, she saw that Lucian's name card was placed by the dinner plate, a little detail that she hadn't noticed earlier. "It looks like we are sitting together."
Lucian pulled out his chair and sat down, placing his champagne flute on the table. "It's time we get started. I've heard the food will be exceptional this evening. They've hired some of the finest chefs from Hearthome's elite restaurants to cook for us this evening."
"Hm." Cynthia turned herself slightly towards Lucian in an effort to facilitate the budding conversation. "That sounds wonderful. The museum administration went all out this evening. Chefs from Hearthome?"
"Indeed. I heard we even have media coming in from other regions for the press conference," Lucian added. "It is a small wonder the museum administration is determined to make their best impressions upon everyone." Then, Lucian leaned in just slightly towards Cynthia within a reasonable distance. In a lowered voice, he disclosed to her, "I was not at all expecting to be seated with him."
Cynthia shot an amused smile to Lucian, immediately understanding whom he was referencing. Her amusement doubled when she realized that Lucian's voice was quiet enough for Steven to not have heard what he said. Tilting her head just slightly to him, her eyes shone as she responded in an equally lowered voice, "Maybe we'll have to ask who planned our interesting seating arrangements this evening. I think I would like to, especially since my little sister is enamored with him, as you can see."
This elicited a low chuckle from Lucian.
As Cynthia and Lucian conversed with each other, Steven could not help but observe the amicable, even affectionate, feeling between the two Sinnoh trainers from the corner of his eye. There was something playful, almost warm, about how they interacted with each other, and Steven felt a slight sting of jealousy in witnessing this. Though, he supposed it wasn't entirely their fault: he had been occupied with Cynthia's little sister, who couldn't possibly hide her fangirling. Steven was doing her best to be accommodating to Stella without potentially harming her starstruck feelings. And besides, he didn't know Cynthia all too well himself: the only times they had encountered each other previously were, as Cynthia correctly pointed out, when they were at the last Interregional Pokemon League Conference. There was no reason to feel this jealousy, wherever it came from. Their meetings were polite and reserved, acting friendly towards each other but never as friends. Cynthia probably worked with Lucian on a day-to-day basis, being coworkers with one another. Naturally, they would be closer…
But why was Steven thinking about this tonight when there were far more momentous and urgent matters on hand right now? This evening was about the discovery of the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs, not about his prying questions into Cynthia's romantic life. Whatever the relationship between Cynthia and Lucian, it was none of his business, so Steven thought. Nevertheless, he believed it was time to step himself into their conversation. As soon as Stella had finished her last sentence, Steven politely ended the conversation with her and turned to face Cynthia and Lucian.
"Lucian," Steven projected his voice across the table, skillfully retaining the courtesy in his voice. "How nice of you to join us. It has been a while since we last saw each other as well, no?"
The psychic-type expert was composed, giving Steven a polite smile as he said, "Yes, I would think so. It is nice to see you again, and I am especially delighted and humbled that you have had the honor of helping advance our research on Sinnoh's ancient history."
At that moment, Steven was honored, and mildly surprised, at Lucian's statement. "Well, thank you. But truth be told, this evening isn't about me. It's about all of you and the history of Sinnoh. I think I was just tremendously lucky. If anything, I don't believe the credit is entirely mine to take."
Lucian appreciated Steven's modest reply. He took his champagne flute and lifted it, almost as if to propose a toast. "Perhaps a Sinnohan will pass on the favor to Hoenn one day."
Now that Lucian brought it up Cynthia, too, realized she was grateful for Steven in discovering these orbs. She didn't know if she was willing to concede this to Steven, as a small part of her did wish that she could have contributed something significant to the research of Sinnoh's ancient history the way the ex-Hoenn champion had: Sinnoh's ancient myths were one of her biggest passions. This realization served to provoke her lurking jealousy in her subconscious depths, but she smothered it before she would allow herself to feel even a shred of it. She was better than that.
Yet, this brought another question to mind for the Sinnoh champion. Cynthia had the urge to ask exactly what Steven was looking for on his expedition— for instance, what kinds of stones he particularly had in mind of searching, and how he instead ended up with two of Sinnoh's most prized prehistoric artifacts after all that he had gone through.
However, a few more people had arrived at the table, people with whom Cynthia was mostly unfamiliar with, and they too began introducing themselves around to their company for the evening. (The rest of the company were the most prominent administrators of the Eterna Museum, including Kate Mori.) The blonde made a mental note to question Steven later about the details of his expedition. Or better: maybe Steven himself would detail his journey later in the evening during the press conference. Soon, the dialogue around the dinner table strayed far from any opportunity where Cynthia could ask about Steven's voyage across the Mt. Coronet Range, and she surrendered to the likelihood that Steven would discuss it at length sooner or later.
An elaborate three-course meal swiftly rolled out across all the tables, the atmosphere replete with the scent of piquant and aromatic flavors floating in the air as servers bustled amongst the dinner guests. Fashioned after the famous five-course meals in Lumiose, the dinner was doubtlessly first-class: one might almost assume the museum had even flown over some of Lumiose's best chefs to prepare the dinner. With the foods thoughtfully curated for consumption and wine bottles passed around the table (though Stella, being underage, could not take the offer), there was a general mood of joy amongst all the dinner guests. Every dish was impeccably concocted, from the appetizers, a sophisticated terrine mixed from a great multitude of Berries, to the main course, a richly veloutéd dish, to the final dessert, the conventional but delectable crème brûlée.
The hour in which dinner occurred flew quickly, the orchestra performing light and cheerful divertimenti in the midst of it all. When several attendees began standing up, there was the collective understanding that the ballroom dancing would commence shortly. In the meantime, because Cynthia began feeling slightly overwhelmed at the food consumed and having sat down for a lengthy amount of time, she found herself wishing for a breath of fresh air.
"Lucian," Cynthia said, looking over to the psychic-type expert. "I'm going to excuse myself for a bit. Would you watch my clutch while I'm gone?"
Lucian was sipping a glass of wine as he listened to her request. "Of course. Take your time."
"Thank you," Cynthia breathed, and immediately stood up, feeling her body swoon slightly from having sat down for too long with a full stomach. It was good that she could walk around to relieve both her mind and body. The gala had grown much louder in volume as all the guests laughed and chattered along, and Cynthia, who knew herself as an introvert, felt as though she were in a deluge from the sheer stimulation. She did not notice Steven's intrigued glance at her as she left, having felt that letting Lucian know of her leaving would be sufficient for the guests at her dinner table.
As she left, she caught a brief look at her grandmother, noting that she was seated at a table with esteemed Professor Rowan and his newest protégée and assistant, Dawn of Twinleaf Town. At this, Cynthia realized she had momentarily left Stella on her own— yet it was beyond her conceivable conscious that Stella would provoke anything improper. Swiftly, Cynthia ducked out of view from her grandmother before she'd be seen.
Her high heels echoing against the glossy floor, Cynthia swiftly found her way to the ladies' room located in the west wing of the museum foyer. She stood at the foyer of the bathroom, its wide mirrors backlit ambient lights bordering its perimeters. The floor was carpeted in aubergine velvet, softening the jovial clamor from the main hall into a muted cloud of background noise in the distance. The blonde wasn't staring at herself in the mirror, but her hands rested on the counter as Cynthia allowed her mind to blank out for a moment.
Gosh, this night is already exhausting, Cynthia thought. Of course, being the Sinnoh champion, she was expected to attend such high-end events. Yet, her rather introverted disposition prevented her from fully engaging and, at times, enjoying these exclusive events. She would rather be at her home among her messy research papers, burying herself into books with classical music droning softly in the background.
Cynthia reassured herself that there would only be another couple of hours, and then she would head back to her hotel to rest. She was practically the face of the Sinnoh region, and so it was of utmost importance for her to maintain her composed disposition. Yes, she could endure the rest of the events tonight, she reaffirmed to herself.
Upon leaving the ladies room, Cynthia noticed a slight kerfuffle at the main foyer of the museum lobby. Several security guards in black surrounded a short, if not paunchy, man dressed in a white lab coat, his mauve hair wrapped into two prong-like claws encircling his head, his red-tinted glasses skewed along the bridge of his nose on his face. From what Cynthia could discern, his back was hunched over and his gravelly voice grumbled along as he faced the guards, seemingly unperturbed by their persistent refusal to let him through. In between the guards, Cynthia detected coffee stains spilled amongst his white shirt and pants, and close to his chest, he clutched a thick and old leather folder, papers sticking out.
"I demand that I enter!" the man asserted, his wizened face expressing anger. "I am one of the top scientists at the Galactic Energy Corporation and was told to attend this evening's gala!"
"Again, you have to show us your invitation, Sir," a bodyguard emphasized. There was a sense of exasperation in his voice. "Otherwise, we must ask you to leave the premises."
"But I am a guest, I can assure you. I've just misplaced my invitation. I find this treatment towards me deplorable!" As soon as the man finished, he spotted Cynthia from a distance and singled her out. Giving her an unusually broad and suspicious smile, he called to her. "Ah, Miss Champion of Sinnoh! Of course, you would be here. Please help me out here, I'm in a bit of a rut, as you can see."
Cynthia gave a slight jolt at having herself called out and paused her walking. She had not been planning to interfere with whatever potential altercation might have risen between this dubious person and the security guards. Likewise, she had not been looking at their direction the entire time either when she had overheard this little dispute, but now that she was called out, Cynthia felt uneasily conscious of the matter. The blonde wished she sincerely hadn't heard the man address her, for she could have gone back to the main hall in peace, innocent of the knowledge that she had been singled out. Defeated, Cynthia turned her head towards the group, calmly looking at them.
"May I be of assistance?" Cynthia asked.
One of the security guards was sympathetic to her. "You're free to leave, Miss Champion. We—"
"Excuse me!" the man interrupted brazenly. "That is not how you treat a guest!"
"—are taking the matters under control. This man is merely claiming to be a guest when we simply don't have his name anywhere on our official guest list."
"As I insist, I was given the invitation, but I've simply misplaced it, that's all! You surely must have the wrong guest list. Every other corporate executive and scientist at Galactic has been invited and I am included as a result. Here," the man said as he produced a wrinkled and stained business card from the inner pocket of his lab coat, "I can prove my identity." And before anyone else could say anything — namely that his business card was hardly an appropriate means for identification — he snatched it away and tucked it back into his inner pocket, patting it several times as if for safekeeping.
"My name is Charon," he continued without stopping, his unusually broad smile held as he spoke. "I am one of the Galactic Energy Corporation's leading scientists where I conduct my research. I have every right to be here this evening as this event pertains to my research. I have evidence that there is a third mythical orb and this must be announced at tonight's press conference!"
Cynthia's ears perked at hearing the scientist's words: a third mystical orb? What could that have possibly meant? Unable to contain her curiosity, she looked at Charon now with interest.
"Aha, now I see I've caught the interest of Miss Champion!" Charon was gleeful. "Of course, Miss Champion can't resist hearing about the latest research on Sinnoh myths, now."
The security guards were not having any more of this man's ramblings, however. They collectively gathered around him and began motioning him away more seriously, ready to resort to physical means in ejecting the man out the museum premises.
"Wait!" Cynthia found herself exclaiming, interrupting their movement. "Could you say more about this third orb? You're saying there's one more orb beside the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs?"
At her request, the security guards glanced at her in surprise. Charon, meanwhile, cackled in delight.
"Miss Champion," one security guard said politely to her, "We are not allowed to have uninvited guests in here."
"Of course," Cynthia obliged, "that's understandable, I realize that. Perhaps, we can discuss this outside? It shouldn't take too long."
All of the security guards were askance, blinking doubtfully at the matter. "Well," the same security guard who had spoken earlier confessed, "as long as you are outside the museum, this shouldn't be too much of a problem…"
"Excellent!" Charon declared.
Cynthia sighed, wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into. And yet, this mention of the third orb was so tempting she could not resist what it meant…!
Within a few minutes, Cynthia and Charon stood outside the entrance of the Eterna Museum, surrounded by tall pillars and the grand red-carpeted stairs leading below to the lamppost-lit sidewalk. Cynthia waited patiently as Charon gulped down a champagne flute she managed to get a hold of from a passing waiter. Night reigned in the sky, the crisp wind blowing mildly in the fresh air. Cynthia was slightly chilly, but she ignored it as the discussion with Charon began.
"Thank you for that refreshment. I was parched ." Charon finished the last of the champagne, the glass empty in his hand now. The scientist had the admittedly irritating habit of stressing words and syllables of words in his sentences, something that Cynthia had to suffer through. He was simultaneously pretentious and contentious.
"I would appreciate it if you began talking about this third orb you mentioned earlier," Cynthia began, hoping to get to the heart of the matter as soon as possible. "When you refer to the third orb, you mean to say the rumored orb—"
"The Griseous Orb," Charon corrected without any apology to Cynthia. "Yes, that's the one. You know very well what I refer to. The one that could potentially summon Giratina, the third mythical dragon, yes. And it's not rumored , mind you, it's real . It seems that Mister Steven Stone here did not find that item, and I have several questions myself I would like to ask him about the matter. Why, for example, were they not discovered along with the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs? Don't you find that suspicious?"
Well, you yourself are a little suspicious, Cynthia thought, but out of courtesy, she did not express this on her facial expression, let alone say it.
"I don't expect you to know that much about this third orb." Charon's voice turned condescending and proud. "After all, there are hardly any scholars and researchers studying the phenomenon. I'm one of the very few who is looking into it."
It seemed that Charon was going to do most of the talking, whether Cynthia liked it or not. She was going to have to be patient with this arrogant scientist. "Would you please speak more about your research?"
"So, as you know , the reputed legendaries in Sinnoh are Dialga and Palkia, who respectively created time and space. We have several ruins scattered about Sinnoh detailing this, predominantly including the two statues that you find here in the center of Eterna City and the famous ruins in your hometown of Celestic." Here, Charon's mention of Cynthia's hometown disturbed her; of course, she was used to having details of her life leaked out around the world, primarily thanks to tabloids and gossip columns, but the fact that this man had that knowledge was unsettling.
"Now, with this in mind, you may be wondering, especially after studying what we see in the Celestic Ruins, why is there a third light? Everywhere in Sinnoh, we hear about two dragons and their wars in primeval times. So , our current hypothesis is that those three lights are actually for Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, naturally, and they correspond to Sinnoh's three freshwater lakes accordingly. But what if we could say the same for Dialga and Palkia? We could also hypothesize that the third light is Giratina."
Truth be told, none of this information was new to Cynthia, but she allowed Charon to continue for the sake of hoping he would get to the Griseous Orb. The hypothesis he had mentioned was well-known amongst the academic circles of those who studied Sinnoh's ancient history and its ruins.
"Now, the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs were merely mentioned in myths passed down, both oral and written, and they were thought to fit Dialga and Palkia, naturally . However, throughout the ages, the supposed existence of these orbs helped contribute to the decline in the belief of both the existence of Dialga and Palkia. Can you believe that we even have people who don't believe in the existence of Dialga and Palkia? Fools, the lot of them." Charon grunted in disgust and lifted his paper-stuffed folder. "But now with these orbs discovered, we can surely ascertain that these mythical dragons, indeed, exist! We shall prove this world wrong!"
"This is all very fine and well," Cynthia acknowledged. "Of course, it's understandable that people would find it hard to believe these incredible pokemon exist. I think we are well aware of the scarcity of researchers involved in the ancient history of Sinnoh."
"Hmph." Charon snorted. "I would think that us Sinnohans have more dignity and respect for our ancient traditions to look into the matter. Anyhoo , I have gathered enough research to hypothesize that we may finally discover where the location of the Griseous Orb may lie! And with this knowledge, we can prove the existence of Giratina as the third light, the third dragon of Sinnoh!"
Cynthia blinked. For a solid couple of seconds, she was genuinely unable to speak. "That— that can't be! That's amazing!"
"Indeed it is, dearie." Charon smiled smugly. Then, he held the folder high in his hands. "I have my documents here to prove it. These contain my months' worth of research."
Charon's calling her dearie would have ordinarily perturbed Cynthia, but the excitement of the existence of the Griseous Orb overruled that feeling. Shifting her eyes from the folder to Charon, she asked, "Could-could you speak more about where—"
"Uh, uh, uh," Charon interrupted Cynthia's question, lifting a hand as he wagged his index finger back and forth. And then, as if to protect his folder, he tucked it under his arm. "This information is strictly confidential. I don't intend to tell you only for you to run off and announce it to everyone in the gala in my place. That's called stealing , and too much of that goes around in academia, let me tell you. Stealing people's research and writing it in their own papers, I left all of the Sinnoh academia because of this blatant cheating when my own research was ripped off from peers whom I had thought of as good colleagues of mine! Galactic Energy Corporation pays a far better salary than a professor's salary anyway ."
Cynthia was finding it more and more difficult to carry on a conversation with the man. "So, I suppose that means you would want to come in here to announce it yourself?"
"Exactly." Charon nodded his head vigorously in confirmation. "The security guards have had a huge misunderstanding and it must be rectified at once . There must have been an error on the guest list! They surely have the wrong copy. You can even talk to my boss, Cyrus! He's in there, and you surely must recognize him, the CEO of Galactic! He should be able to get it all sorted out."
Cynthia frowned slightly. She knew of the name Cyrus, probably having read his name somewhere in the newspapers about being the famous billionaire of Sinnoh's biggest energy corporation, but she had never met him. "I'm afraid I don't know the man," Cynthia admitted to Charon.
"Well then, you can find someone who does! There must be someone in there who has access to the list and can confirm that my name is on it! Get the museum director, or the organizers, or whoever organized this event! I must- get- in- there!"
Cynthia blinked, unsure of what to make of Charon's insistent demands.
"You must think I'm crazy, dearie," Charon said offhandedly. It seemed that he had noticed Cynthia's blank expression, but in the tone of his words, there was no hint that he was offended. "That's alright, even my colleagues at Galactic think the same. But I assure you, I'm not crazy, just merely passionate about the work I do. My research is impeccable and Cyrus, bless him, had the intelligence to hire me for it."
A silence dangled in the air, Cynthia baffled at the eccentric scientist before her and Charon humming to himself in complete indifference to her reaction. After all this, Cynthia had to wonder if Charon gave himself too much credit as a scientist. She, too, wanted to argue she was passionate about her interests in Sinnoh mythology, knowing the feeling of awe in researching and finding discoveries as any scholar, but the man standing before her was almost disconcerting in his fervor.
"Alright, well," Cynthia managed to say, taking a breath, "I admit that I'm very interested in what you have to say about the location of the Griseous Orb. I, ah, am happy to check in with the director and see if we can do anything about it. You might need to wait out here for some time, but I will do what I can."
"Excellent!"
Taking one final breath, Cynthia excused herself from Charon and went directly back into the museum. A couple of security guards looked at her in confusion, curious at what she was discussing with the uninvited scientist. However, Cynthia merely passed them by, thinking of someone who might be able to check if there was another way of verifying the list of attendees for tonight's gala.
Ah, Kate Mori! She might know something, Cynthia thought, walking hurriedly as she lifted the folds of her gown in her hands.
By the time she arrived back to the main hall, the ballroom dancing was well underway, the orchestra performing a joyful waltz that drifted through the air. Cynthia glimpsed at the table she had been sitting at, but Kate was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it looked as though everyone had left the table and went off elsewhere, leaving the servers to clean up after the dinnerware. Sighing in vexation, the blonde turned elsewhere, hoping to find the familiar figure of the museum director.
After a few more minutes of gently pushing aside clusters of people amidst the festive jamboree, Cynthia finally found Kate laughing in a small circle of people, holding a champagne flute in her hands. Without any moment to waste, Cynthia waited for a slight moment of pause in Kate's discussion with her companions. Immediately seizing the next small gap of their conversation, the Sinnoh champion tapped lightly on her upper arm, requesting her attention.
"Ah, Cynthia! How delightful to see you here!" Kate greeted Cynthia amiably. "Why don't you join u—"
"Actually, this is rather urgent, you see," Cynthia interjected, regretting that she had to cut off Kate. She normally did not like to do this, feeling improper and conscience-stricken in doing so. "I'm sorry, could we speak privately just for one minute?"
Kate blinked, surprised. "Oh, okay." The museum director turned to her companions, all of whom looked at both women expectantly. "My apologies, but you'll have to excuse me for just one moment."
Cynthia led Kate about a meter away from Kate's companions in their own corner, and she began speaking in haste, "There is a scientist from the Galactic Energy Corporation who says he was invited but cannot come in. The security guards claim that his name is not on the list."
"Well," Kate started, "then he should have an invitation, does he not?"
"I think he mentioned he had misplaced it, so that's why he can't get in."
"Then there's nothing I can do," Kate said with finality, and then looked at Cynthia perplexed. "Why is this so important?"
Cynthia took a breath, wondering if she would sound out of her mind as she said her next words. "This scientist claims that he has research to prove the location of the Griseous Orb."
"What?!" The museum director's eyes widened. "Preposterous!"
"I— I know it's hard to believe, and I don't know to what extent he claims to have the truth," Cynthia confessed to Kate. "But surely, there must be a way to check if this man is actually on the list as an official guest. It seems as though he's legitimate..."
Kate shook her head. "I mean, I'm very sure our list of guests is final. I highly doubt that any one of us made a mistake as we planned this event. Even if this scientist is truly from the Galactic Energy Corporation, their representatives sent us their list of guests twice to confirm all those who would attend."
Cynthia faltered at Kate's response. She sounded quite confident of herself, and the blonde suddenly was not sure if it would be any use to question her any further.
"Again, I'm very sure of our work. There's no way we made a mistake on our end," Kate finished. "I'm sorry, Cynthia, but I don't think we can do anything. The dancing has already begun, and look—" Kate glanced at the watch on her wrist. "Already more than half an hour has already passed! We'll be starting the press conference soon. We can't afford to stay behind schedule."
Cynthia sighed. "I— I see. Thank you."
Kate gave her a sympathetic smile. "Why don't you enjoy yourself? The dancing looks like terrific fun. I'm going to head back to my group."
At this, Kate left Cynthia alone. In turn, Cynthia glimpsed briefly to the center of the main hall, multiple partners engaged in their merry dancing. The women in pretty dresses of silk and taffetas laughed alongside the men in dinner suits, twirling about in their fun. Yet, Cynthia was too occupied with the eccentric, uninvited scientist now waiting outside. With Kate now having told her nothing could be done to invite him in, Cynthia found her mind distracted. Sighing once in agitation, the Sinnoh champion shifted her eyes away from the dancing. The mention of the Griseous Orb was too appealing for her to pass her up on the knowledge. Surely, there had to be an alternative way of letting the man named Charon inside?
"Ah, Cynthia," a familiar voice spoke suddenly from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. "I was wondering exactly where you had wandered off. I almost thought I was chasing you."
Startled, Cynthia jumped at the voice and turned to see who it was. "Steven," Cynthia uttered, purely dumbfounded.
The ex-Hoenn champion chuckled briefly, low and breathy; then, he gave her a warm smile, as if amused he had frightened her. He bowed slightly before her in greeting, and Cynthia found herself unable to say or do any sort of appropriate gesture in reply. A moment of silence passed between them, Steven looking into Cynthia's grey eyes once more as she shifted her eyes away to the side, totally taken aback at his shameless forwardness. For a reason Cynthia herself could not understand, she refused to meet his eyes, and her heart softly fluttered the longer she felt Steven's gazing at her. The music and the laughter and the delightful chatter mingled into one muffled sound in the background; all of it seemed very distant now as time extended between the two champions.
Despite Cynthia's apparent demureness, this did not discourage Steven from continuing to look at her. Placing his left hand behind his back and offering his right hand to her, Steven asked in the most gallant and eloquent voice he could muster, "May I have a dance with you?"