Champion Cynthia of Sinnoh stared at the Hoenn newspaper spread across her desk, the headline mocking her with its vague sensationalism: "WHO ARE THE DISPLACED AND WHAT DO THEY KNOW?"
She'd been Champion since she was eighteen. Nine years of running Sinnoh, managing crises, balancing political pressures with research pursuits, and establishing herself as one of the most capable regional leaders in the League's history. She was turning twenty-seven this year, had nearly five years of experience on Steven Stone, and yet he was still ignoring her emails.
Fourteen of them. Fourteen carefully worded, professionally phrased requests to host this Displaced trainer while Steven sorted out his region's security issues. And what had she gotten in return? Radio silence and a vague promise to "consider it when the time is right," when she managed to call him.
She sympathized with his situation, truly. Having classified information leaked to criminal organizations was a nightmare no Champion wanted to face. The political fallout alone would be consuming his attention for months. But sympathy didn't make her curiosity disappear.
The papers she'd managed to acquire through entirely legitimate research channels painted a fascinating picture. Lazarus Hunter, seventeen possibly eighteen years old, Displaced from another world entirely. His rehabilitation methods were revolutionary, his aura theory controversial but compelling, and his personal notes on Pokémon behavior suggested a depth of understanding that shouldn't be possible for someone so young.
And then there was what Steven had let slip during their last phone conversation, when she'd caught him in a moment of unguarded pride about his specialist's progress.
"Eight years of battling experience. Started when he was nine."
Eight years. A year before the age most trainers began their journeys in regions across the world. Except Lazarus's experience came from simulations, games where Pokémon training was the core mechanic. Steven had been maddeningly vague about the details, but the implications were staggering.
How much did he know? What insights could he share about type matchups, move combinations, strategic planning? What about ruins and historical sites - had his world's simulations included accurate representations of Sinnoh's ancient locations? Could he help her understand the Distortion World, or Spear Pillar, or the legends surrounding Dialga and Palkia?
The questions multiplied every time she tried to set them aside. It was a professional hazard, really. Once something caught her interest, she couldn't just drop it. She needed to understand, to know, to unravel every thread until the full picture emerged.
A low, amused snort drew her attention to the corner of her office where Garchomp lounged, watching her pace back and forth across the room for the third time in as many minutes. The massive land shark dragon's eyes tracked her movements with obvious entertainment.
"I am not that bad," Cynthia said defensively.
Garchomp snorted again, the sound clearly conveying: 'Yes, you absolutely are.'
"You're supposed to be supportive."
Her partner shifted slightly, his expression managing to communicate both affection and exasperation. He'd been picking up on her restless energy for a week now, ever since the leak about Lazarus's Displaced status had hit the news. But even Garchomp's stabilizing presence couldn't settle the buzzing curiosity that had taken root in her mind.
She was planning her petty revenge on Steven for his continued silence - perhaps "accidentally" challenging him to a battle during the next Champion's conference, or requesting his presence at a ruins excavation that would require weeks of his time - when her computer chimed with an incoming email.
From Steven Stone.
Cynthia practically lunged for her chair, Garchomp's amused rumble following her as she pulled up the message. She could already see from the preview that Steven was being smug about something, and her anticipation mixed with irritation as she began reading.
'Cynthia,
I'm writing to inform you that Lazarus Hunter has made his decision about which region to visit during his temporary relocation from Hoenn.'
Her heart rate picked up. This was it. After fourteen requests, after all the waiting—
'When I mentioned your name to him, he shivered.'
Cynthia stopped reading, her brain struggling to process that sentence.
Shivered? As in he was cold?
'SHIVERED,' Steven had written, with emphasis that suggested he found this absolutely hilarious. 'An actual physical reaction. When I mentioned Lance and Alder? Nothing, not even a blink. You? His eyes went wide, like someone walked over his grave. I'm not sure what you did to traumatize him, Cynthia, but congratulations. You've apparently developed a reputation that transcends dimensional barriers.'
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"What?!" Cynthia said aloud, causing Garchomp to lift his head with interest. "I've never even met him! How is that possible?!"
She continued reading, her confusion mounting with every word.
'Despite this apparently instinctive terror of you, Lazarus has decided to come to Sinnoh. He cited the region being close enough to Hoenn that he could return quickly if needed, and I quote, "might as well face the inevitable sooner rather than later." I'm not sure if that's brave or fatalistic, but either way, he's yours.'
'However, he has one condition: you must give your word that you will not try to convince him to battle you for any reason. I'm curious about that stipulation myself, but he was quite insistent.'
Cynthia sat back in her chair, trying to reconcile these contradictory pieces of information. Lazarus was terrified of her despite never meeting her. He'd chosen Sinnoh anyway. And he specifically didn't want her to ask for a battle.
Why would he be afraid of battling her? She'd never even—
Oh.
Oh.
The simulations. The games Steven had mentioned. If Lazarus's world had games where Pokémon training was the core mechanic, where players became Champion across multiple regions...
Cynthia pulled up her tablet and began searching through her official battle records. The statistics stared back at her, all her nine years as Champion. Zero official losses. An undefeated record that had become something of a legend in League circles and, apparently, a nightmare for anyone who'd faced her digital counterpart.
She'd come close a few times - Alder had pushed her team to their absolute limits during that exhibition match, and Lance's experimental strategy had nearly caught her off-guard in the tournament. But "nearly" wasn't the same as actually losing. When it mattered, when the match was official, she'd never fallen.
If Lazarus's simulations had been even remotely accurate about her battle style, her team composition, her strategic approach...
He knew what he'd be up against. And apparently, that knowledge was terrifying enough to cause a physical reaction.
Cynthia found herself grinning despite the absurdity of the situation. "Garchomp, I think I understand now."
Her partner rumbled questioningly.
"He's afraid because he knows exactly how difficult it would be to defeat me in battle. The simulations must have included my team, my strategies, my undefeated record." She stood up, pacing again but this time with purpose rather than restless energy. "That's why he doesn't want me to ask for a battle. He probably thinks I'll challenge him immediately to test his skills."
Garchomp's expression suggested he was considering whether this was better or worse than her previous obsessive curiosity.
"Which I won't do, obviously," Cynthia continued, already composing her reply to Steven. "If he's that worried about it, the last thing I want is to make him uncomfortable. Besides, there are far more interesting things to discuss than battling."
She began typing rapidly, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
'Steven,
I accept. Lazarus can come to Sinnoh with the assurance that I will not attempt to convince him to battle me. You have my word as Champion.
Though I am deeply curious about why he would have such a strong reaction to my name when we've never met. If his simulations were accurate enough to cause that response, I'm even more interested in what other knowledge he might possess.
I'll make arrangements for his arrival. Please forward his travel details when available. And Steven? Thank you for finally responding to my requests. I was beginning to consider more... creative methods of getting your attention.
- Cynthia'
She hit send and looked at Garchomp, who was watching her with obvious skepticism about her promise not to ask for a battle.
"What? I gave my word. I'm not going to break it." She paused. "Though technically, if he were to challenge me, that would be different..."
Garchomp's flat stare suggested he knew exactly where her mind was going.
"I'm not going to manipulate him into challenging me!" Cynthia protested. "I'm just saying, hypothetically, if it came up naturally in conversation—"
The land shark dragon stood up and moved to physically place himself between Cynthia and her computer, his expression clearly communicating: 'No. Absolutely not. Leave the traumatized teenager alone.'
Cynthia sighed dramatically. "Fine. No battle talk. Just research, ruins, aura theory, and historical analysis. I can work with that."
The aura theory alone was worth restraining herself for. When she'd first read Lazarus's notes - the ones that had been leaked and circulated through academic channels - she'd been skeptical. Type affinity based on personality traits and emotional patterns? It sounded like pseudoscience at best, astrology at worst.
Then she'd shown the papers to Lucario.
Her partner had read through them with his typical focused intensity, his aura sensors processing every word. When he'd finished, he'd looked at her with an expression she'd rarely seen: recognition. Not agreement exactly, but acknowledgment that something in those theories aligned with what he sensed in the world.
They'd spent an entire evening discussing it, Lucario's aura reading abilities providing context that the written theory couldn't fully capture. The way certain trainers' auras resonated with specific type energies. How emotional states and personality patterns created sympathetic vibrations that Pokémon of matching types gravitated toward.
It wasn't absolute - nothing about living beings ever was - but there were patterns. Consistent, observable patterns that Lucario confirmed he'd noticed throughout his years with her.
And Lazarus, had somehow identified and documented those patterns without any formal training in aura reading.
That alone made him worth meeting, worth hosting, worth restraining her competitive instincts for.
Though privately, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of simulations had made her reputation frightening enough to cause physical reactions in someone from another world. The academic in her wanted to understand the mechanics of those games, the accuracy of their representations, the scope of their world-building.
But more than that, she wanted to understand what Lazarus saw when he looked at her through the lens of that knowledge. What version of Champion Cynthia existed in those simulations? What had she done, or what had her digital counterpart done, to inspire that kind of wariness?
The mystery of it was almost more intriguing than the battle would have been.
Almost.
Garchomp rumbled a warning, apparently reading her thoughts.
"I know, I know. No battles. I promised." She returned to her desk and began pulling up maps of Sinnoh's ruins and historical sites. "But there's nothing in that promise that says I can't show him every single archaeological dig site in the region. If he happens to have information about them from his simulations, well, that's just efficient research."
Her partner's long-suffering sigh suggested he knew exactly how the next few months were going to go.
Somewhere in Hoenn, a seventeen-year-old trainer who'd agreed to come to Sinnoh was probably regretting his decision already.
And Cynthia couldn't wait to meet him.
