In checking her mail the next morning, Cynthia found a sealed folder in her mailbox, and she pulled it out with a curious look. It was a thick folder, presumably carrying very important documents, and it had a CLASSIFIED label on the front along with the official seal. She wondered what on earth could possibly be so under wraps and high-priority until she took it inside, where she opened it; it was the script to the movie. It also looked as if there was finally a name attached to the project: Hidden Myths.
Cynthia focused on reading over the script at that point, curious to see how the myths she had provided would be incorporated into the plot. The story followed a young woman from Sunyshore City- Diantha's character, Raina -who comes face to face with the legends of Sinnoh after a journey that started by Raina saving Azelf on a trip to Veilstone City. The climax took place at Spear Pillar where Giratina makes its appearance and drags Raina and the antagonist into the Distortion World. It sounded a lot like Cynthia's own story when she was dragged into Team Galactic's mess, but she supposed the information she gave to Charlie would result in a similar story. It didn't bother her, though. She knew the movie would be painstakingly accurate, so watching a movie based on the legends was something she was looking forward to. Besides, Cynthia knew Diantha would do a good job at basically playing her in the movie.
Cynthia marked up the script as she read it, making a note of the spots she had to take Diantha to so she could get familiar with the setting and atmosphere before filming. She essentially put a timeline together of where they were going and when they should head over. It was just a way to keep organized, because literally no other aspect of her life was and Cynthia would never hear the end of it if she was as cluttered and off-beat as she was normally in life with Diantha. Cynthia had to at least try in this one, she soon came to realize. She just hoped she wouldn't lose that timeline in the carnage that was her study…
She stared at her computer screen, eyeing the document that had been open all day but did not have a single new word typed in it. It didn't help that she left off in the middle of a sentence she couldn't even remember the rest to. She wracked her brain to force words to come out, but the only thing her big head could do in that moment was slam against the keyboard in frustration. Cynthia groaned, wondering why she chose to take this route of book-writing. It was pure torture. She needed a break, even though she had accomplished absolutely nothing.
She closed out of the document, never feeling more liberated than in that moment. Cynthia then opened up an internet browser and figured she'd give some more of Diantha's music a try. That rock musical Diantha showed her a bit of piqued her interest, so Cynthia looked up that. Unfortunately, the musical and its title were completely in French, something which Cynthia did not understand. She knew that the musical was about Dracula, so she just searched 'Dracula musical Diantha' and hoped that would bring up some results. Fortunately, it did. Cynthia played the first live video that came up, just to see what all Diantha did in the musical, since Diantha refused to play the songs that she sang on the drive to Sunyshore.
Diantha strode out downstage in some extravagant costume, adorned with horns and a long, frilly coat with a long tail. Cynthia also noted that she was only in a leotard and knee-high boots under that coat. This must've been Diantha's vampire character of the two she said she played in the show. The song Diantha was singing was certainly catchy, and had an upbeat tune to it even if Cynthia had no clue what Diantha was saying. She sounded incredible live, so Diantha's reputation was well-deserved, it seemed. Even more so, Diantha was an amazing dancer, moving with such grace yet aggressiveness needed for the character, so much that Cynthia found herself unable to tear her eyes off of her...until she realized she was staring. She couldn't help it, though- it was a good performance.
Before Cynthia even knew it, she wound up finding the full musical online somewhere and she watched the entire thing in a single sitting. She didn't understand a single word that was spoken in the musical, but she knew enough about the basics of Dracula to understand the plot at least, and she was fine on just listening to the music and watching the choreography. Once the curtain closed at the end of the play, it dawned on Cynthia what she had just done, and she hung her head in shame with a groan.
"No more games…" Cynthia forced herself to open up the rough draft of her book, "Writing time…"
She couldn't get those blasted songs out of her head the entire time, so it was safe to say she got next to nothing done.
Diantha was enjoying her chance to see some of the hot spots of Sinnoh before filming started, and her first stop was to explore the city she was in- Sunyshore. The hotel she was staying at had little brochures for the visiting tourists, so Diantha picked herself up one and looked it over, seeing which sites she should visit, even if she would wind up deciding to indulge and see everything anyways.
The first thing she noticed was how the walkways and roads were made out of solar panels. The brochure boasted that Sunyshore was a city run entirely off of solar power, which was something Diantha found absolutely fascinating. Sunyshore was such a large city… It was so impressive how they could manage just off of solar energy! She wondered what all would happen on rainy days, though… She then remembered she was an actress, not a scientist, and that she didn't really care.
Her first stop in exploring Sunyshore City was to head to the market to see what they had for sale. Some of the stands sold evolutionary stones, some more sold accessories, but the biggest stands were ones that confused Diantha. They seemed to be selling...stickers? And all of the customers were absolutely ecstatic about them. She only tilted her head as she watched. Perhaps Sinnoh culture was stranger than she initially thought…
She found that one of the stand managers wasn't busy, so she figured she'd at least ask what the strange stickers were. Diantha waved him down, smiling politely.
"Hi!" Diantha greeted him, a beaming grin on her face, "I'm terribly sorry- I'm not from this region, and I've never seen these things before! What are they?"
"What, these?" The manager gestured to the rows of stickers on display, "They're Sinnoh's pride and joy! They're called Seals!"
"Seals…" Diantha tilted her head, "What are they for?"
"It's best if I just show ya'." The manager said, "Do you have any Pokémon I can use to demonstrate with?"
Diantha nodded, pulling out her Pokéball for Gardevoir. She passed it over to the manager.
"Alright, watch closely here, miss." He carefully took the Pokéball and placed it inside of a Ball Capsule, "You put your Pokéball inside of one of these clear things called a Ball Capsule, then you place one of these Seals overtop the capsule. Here, let's just use a simple Heart Seal…" He placed the heart-shaped Seal over the capsule and handed it back to Diantha, "Send out your Pokémon and take a look for yourself!"
Diantha looked over the Capsule curiously before she tossed it, summoning Gardevoir. Gardevoir appeared in a flurry of hearts instead of the standard flash of light. Diantha grinned widely at the sight, completely captivated by it, "My, that's incredible!" Even Gardevoir was stunned by it.
"Like I said, they're Sinnoh's pride and joy." The manager said proudly, "So, you interested?"
"Of course!" Diantha looked over the Seals on display excitedly, trying to pick out ones she could use, "Let's see… I'll take some of the Star Seals… The Heart Seals… Ooooh, then this here Twinkle Seal!"
"You've got good taste." The manager passed over the Seals once Diantha paid, plus a Seal Case with six Ball Capsules, "Here, you can't use the Seals without these! Consider it something to remember Sinnoh by."
"You're far too kind." Diantha graciously accepted the gifts, hanging the bag off her forearm, "I can't wait to show Cynthia these…"
The manager seemed a bit surprised at that, and he blinked a few times in response, "...Would you happen to mean Champion Cynthia? You know her?"
"Mhm!" Diantha nodded with a smile, "I'll be meeting with her later in the week."
"In that case…" The manager dug around his workspace behind the stand before pulling out a box, "Would you mind terribly if I asked ya' to give this to her? It's thanks for all the work she did in restoring Sunyshore City after the blackouts, plus her saving us all from Team Galactic at Mount Coronet."
Diantha took the box from him and smiled, "I would be happy to. It sounds like she's very involved in Sinnoh's troubles."
"She's the best Champion a region could ask for." The manager grinned, "Take care, and thank you, miss."
Diantha just nodded, turning around and walking alongside Gardevoir until they left the shop. Her expression fell immediately after stepping foot outside, and she clutched the box to her chest.
"The best Champion a region could ask for, huh…" Diantha said quietly, jaw clenched.
Gardevoir turned to face Diantha, concerned for her trainer, "Voir…"
Diantha just shook her head, trying her best to seem fine, "Ah… Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm alright, I promise." She pulled out Gardevoir's Pokéball, which still had the capsule on it, "Besides, I can't not be excited about these cute little Seals!"
Gardevoir looked far less concerned than before, and she closed her eyes with a smile. Diantha recalled Gardevoir back into her Pokéball at that point, and her fake smile vanished once in the clear.
Exploring the rest of the city at this point wasn't much of an option anymore. Diantha needed to think some things over, and she didn't want to visit all of the tourist spots in such a sour mood. She'd try again later, once her mood brightened again. For the rest of the day, though, Diantha just went back to her hotel and relaxed.
Once Diantha was done sightseeing across Sunyshore City, she figured she'd spend her two remaining days visiting someplace outside of the city. She heard that Pastoria City had the Great Marsh, so she figured she'd pay it a visit and see if she could find any rare Sinnoh Pokémon. Certainly, if she was going to a marsh, she couldn't wear her usual getup, so she just had to settle for a sweatshirt and some leggings (of course, she still managed to look like a million dollars in them). She heard from some of the receptionists at the hotel that the walk from Sunyshore City to Pastoria City was twenty minutes, and that there were many sights on the way to see, such as the brilliant beaches by Pastoria City. Diantha didn't mind the walk if that was true. She also saw on a map that Lake Valor was nearby, and she thought she'd at least see the surroundings, even if Cynthia told her explicitly not to visit the lake without her.
Making her way through Hotel Grand Lake, Diantha headed north to see the lake, and she immediately noticed a lot of buzz nearby the path through the woods that led to the lake. She furrowed her eyebrows out of curiosity- she wasn't sure if this sort of buzz was normal, and that only made her want to explore the lake more. When she got closer to the lake entrance and was about to ask someone what was going on, she was suddenly stopped by a voice directed right at her.
"And just what do you think you're doing, hmm?"
Diantha turned to see Cynthia approaching her in a sleeveless blue blouse instead of her typical black outfit. Cynthia had a teasing grin on her face, and she didn't stop walking closer, even when they were only a few steps apart. Cynthia shoved her finger into Diantha's chest, making Diantha step backwards.
"I thought I told you not to see the lakes without me." Cynthia was enjoying this far too much, and it didn't help that she now towered over Diantha far more now that she wasn't in heels this time around, "And here I see our little actress trying to sneak around incognito… My, my… I never knew you could be so devious…"
Diantha puffed out her cheeks, eyes narrowed at Cynthia, "That's not it at all! I was only heading to Pastoria City!"
Cynthia tilted her head, smirking widely, "Oh, Diantha… You aren't fooling me with that. Pastoria City is to the south of this resort. You came here deliberately."
Diantha turned her head away and placed her hands on her hips with a huff, "Pffffft… You've got it all wrong. I wasn't going to visit it without you." She glanced at Cynthia out of the corner of her eye before immediately looking away again, "...What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Official Champion business, I'll have you know." Cynthia's face softened at that, no longer as playful as before, "I'm helping with the reconstruction efforts here."
"Reconstruction…?" Diantha furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"
"A nasty bunch of rascals set off a bomb at the lake a little while back. Now that they've all been taken care of, it's time to restore the lake to its past beauty." Cynthia explained, "...That's also part of the reason why I said you couldn't come here just yet. The lake is dried up and blown to smithereens. It's not a friendly sight."
Diantha just nodded, tongue prodding at her cheek. That man at the market was right: Cynthia was definitely an amazing Champion, being so involved with Sinnoh's wellbeing. That also reminded Diantha of something, and she rummaged through her bag to pull out the box the man at the market gave her, "Oh, I just remembered… I met someone at the Sunyshore Market, and he said to give this to you."
"Hmm?" Cynthia took the box at hand, immediately smiling upon realizing who it could be from, "No way, is this from the guy who's in charge of the Seal stand? Aww, he didn't have to get me this!"
"He said it was for helping out with the blackouts and for that incident at Mount Coronet." Diantha said, forcing a smile.
Cynthia let out a laugh, looking back at Diantha, "Well, if you see him again, could you tell him I said thanks? He's way too kind."
"I will. He even gave me all of these Seals to use… We have nothing like it in Kalos, and they're just absolutely stunning!" Diantha beamed.
"I'm glad!" Cynthia looked over her shoulder to see that someone was calling for her, and she turned back to Diantha with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hold you up like this. You said you were heading to Pastoria City, right? Let's see… There's the Great Marsh… Oh, and visit the Scarf Guy while you're down there. I know you're fond of scarves. You might even see Crasher Wake around too. He's the Gym Leader down there. He's a bit intimidating, but he's a cool guy. I don't know if you're into that sort of stuff, but he's a wrestler and I know he has a match today." Cynthia tapped her chin, "...I think that's most of Pastoria City's staples. Have fun!"
Diantha nodded, "I'll keep all that in mind! I won't keep you busy any longer. Good luck with the reconstruction efforts." She smiled.
Cynthia winked, "It's my job, after all! I'll see you tomorrow at Eterna City!"
"À demain!" Diantha said back, watching Cynthia walk off as her expression fell again. Cynthia was certainly a great role model for all of the citizens of Sinnoh, being such a kindhearted and generous Champion. It really made Diantha think about her own region. Sure, Kalos loved her, but mostly because of her looks and fame before she became Champion. Cynthia was deeply involved with the people of her region on a personal level, as seen by the fact she could tell who the box was from just by a few words. Cynthia was the idyllic Champion, a role model but an equal to all the citizens of Sinnoh… Could Diantha say the same for herself?
She shook her head, banishing the thought for now. She wasn't going to sour her mood for the second time. Diantha headed back towards the Grand Lake Hotel so she could make her way to Pastoria City. She had to check out some of the places Cynthia told her about, after all.