Chapter 12 Vignettes
As Cynthia reflected on her past, she remembered the actions of her team, and the journey that she started.
Not long after obtaining Gible, Cynthia found an injured Riolu, and quickly bonded and took care of it; after all, Cynthia could not bear to see the Riolu suffer any more. Across various battles, she had gained its trust. This triggered its evolution into Lucario not long after. These two team members served her very well in clearing the Oreburgh Gym with no faintings: this gym did not stand much of a challenge. Admittedly the Gym Leaders are supposed to hold back against trainers with no or few badges, but this was a walk in the park. She had received her first badge without her team breaking a sweat. The fact that her team members started to love her for helping them get stronger made her feel very happy for them—something that would continue from then on. As she put her first badge into a small green case, she smiled to herself: she had taken her first step into a larger world of competitive battle.
After leaving the Oreburgh Gym, she met a young girl with a blue shirt and blue shorts. Cynthia walked out to greet the young girl.
"My name is Cynthia. I'm on a Gym challenge. Who are you?"
The young girl spoke, "My name is Candice. I like to use Ice types, and I would like to become a Gym Leader when I grow older."
Cynthia responded, "That sounds like a good idea. Keep working on your dreams. I have always been interested in the stories and myths of this world. To this, I have always wanted to meet Legendaries and Mythicals to study them, and to learn more about the myths and legends surrounding them."
Candice asked, "May I tag along with you, at least for a while? I like the company of other Trainers. We could share tips together."
Cynthia answered, "That seems like a good idea. I'm planning on getting more team members, and I plan on challenging the Sinnoh League one day. I accept your offer."
Cynthia also remembered to keep up correspondences with her friends. She had not seen Volkner in a while, since the entire Bittercold incident which was resolved far sooner than anyone had anticipated. Thankfully, no one died in it, and most of the people affected in the incursion only suffered minor injuries, quickly treatable. Cynthia credited the quick response to the scene as the reason why. She would probably send Volkner a letter on how she was doing.
Something ominous was happening far from Cynthia and her friends, though. A dark presence churned like an alien ocean as the combined efforts and desires of people and Pokémon took form. This entity was Dark Matter. The Bittercold was related to it, but the Bittercold was weaker and less prevalent. While Dark Matter would not strike at the world for some time, its presence was like a monster looming outside the viewports of a spaceship. This could potentially be worse than the Ultra Beast incursions in Alola and Hoenn—at least those were stopped relatively easily by the Alola Trial Captains, Alola Kahunas, Tapu Guardians, Hoenn Battle Frontier personnel, and the Hoenn Gym Leaders. The fear that the Ultra Beasts could pulverize regions ended up being vastly overblown.
Caitlin of the Unova Elite Four could sense this oncoming dread. She e-mailed Cynthia about the terrifying presence that she had felt.
"Dear Cynthia,
It pains me to write this, but I am feeling a terrifying presence, along with visions of a great black sphere with a red core, and sometimes tendrils. It seems to be a 'dark matter'. It seems to by almost psychically aligned, perhaps an onrushing tidal wave of negativity and hard feelings originating from the beings of this world? It's like the Bittercold, but way worse. In addition, I sense some strange buzzing and I think Sabrina of the Kanto region is also feeling a similar darkness. This isn't like the scary but ultimately harmless presence of Tobias or Darkrai. This pain is the real deal. I'm also getting headaches randomly despite taking headache medication. I wonder what is going on. I contacted Colress, who was last seen working for the International Police in return for not going to trial concerning his part in the Opelucid Team Plasma incident. He claimed the dark entity I saw in my visions, was similar to the Bittercold due to their shared emotional origins, but he also thought it was just a vision and needed more solid evidence. Drayden, who personally saw aspects of the Bittercold with those strange shadow-ice creatures, also thought these were similar when we talked, but could not offer much else. What do you think, Cynthia? I would like your help here, considering you played the lead role in stopping the Bittercold.
Sincerely, Caitlin"
Cynthia responded,
"Dear Caitlin,
I am sorry to hear that. I will help you there. These visions… I thought they were also similar to the Bittercold. I do recall a myth of an earlier time, about four hundred years ago. It originated from Kalos. A similar giant black sphere generated numerous shadow creatures that turned local wildlife and people into stone. This caused havoc across Kalos, and it remained a problem until Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde stopped it. While this is a legend, and not exactly recorded in actual historical books, there were reports of strange stone statues of people and wildlife 400 years ago in Kalos—maybe this legend has some basis in reality? I couldn't really find any notable humans in the 'Black Sphere saga'; it has been a while since I read this one. Maybe we can get Tobias to catch all three of them, or convince them to help us against this new threat should it ever arrive. I think Clemont and Bonnie are currently protecting Zygarde, but I just have to explain to them what is going on.
Sincerely, Cynthia
Sinnoh Champion"