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News of what happened at the Spear Pillar spread like wildfire. The CEO of the region’s biggest energy supplier attempted to summon ancient deities of time and space to destroy the universe, and was just barely stopped by the teenage Champion before both disappeared through a wormhole.
“No,” Cynthia explained for the millionth time, “that is not an exaggeration. That’s really what happened.”
Obviously there was an outcry for those responsible to see justice. But given that the status of the main culprit was currently unknown, there wasn’t much Cynthia could do to calm the growing unrest in the people of Sinnoh.
She should’ve known that an early retirement was too much to hope for.
Interpol had called in everyone who was present at the Spear Pillar for questioning. This included Cynthia herself, but the consensus was that no one had any idea how to even start going about recovering Dawn and Cyrus.
Without enough evidence to pin blame directly onto the Galactic commanders, they were released, but only with the agreement that they would send in reports to Interpol every week.
When Cynthia finally found them, the forth one (Charon was it?) had already made his grand exit. Mars was complaining loudly in the lobby, not caring who heard her.
“It’s not like we need that coward anyway! I say good riddance!”
Jupiter sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’m not gonna act like I’m gonna miss the old coot but you’d think he’d at least drop in his letter of resignation or something.”
“You three look like you’ve had the worst week of your lives,” Cynthia said as she approached. Mars and Jupiter looked up at her simultaneously.
“Oh, it’s totally in the top five,” Mars said, rubbing her face.
Saturn hadn’t said a word since she’d first spotted them, though his eyes followed the conversation with the rapt attention.
Cynthia let out a deep sigh and clasped her hands together.
“C’mon kids, dinners on me,” she said with a grin.
All three commanders stared at her blankly before Jupiter finally spoke, “You’re not even that much older than us.”
“How old do you think I am?”
“Like,” Mars scratched her head. “I dunno, twenty-one?”
Cynthia smirked. “I’m thirty.”
“See? Not that much older,” Jupiter huffed.
“Yeah, you’re not a grandma yet,” Mars piped up.
Seemingly unfazed, Cynthia shrugged and gestured towards the exit. “You guys want food or not?”
“Um...” Mars fussed with the hem of her dress for a moment, unable to make eye contact. “Can I go back to my apartment and get changed first?”
Even the simple act of changing out of their uniforms did wonders for their moods, as if the weight had melted from their shoulders. They could think about the future of Team Galactic and the repercussions of their past actions some other time. Right now, they were just a group of young adults trying to enjoy their evening.
And considering how tacky they looked in their uniforms, Cynthia was thankful that their casual wear wasn’t too harsh on the eyes.
“I would kill for something super gross and bathing in grease,” Mars announced for the whole world to hear.
“Can’t you eat something healthy for once?” Jupiter scolded.
“I’m sorry, did you say, ‘eat something boring?’ No thanks.” Mars stuck her tongue out.
Without much difficulty, Cynthia managed to lead them to a relatively empty diner. They took up a booth in the corner, as far away from the other customers as possible.
Not that it mattered since Mars shouted every word that came out of her mouth. Subtlety was not one of her strong points, Cynthia figured.
“Holy crap!” Mars said through a mouthful of burger. “This is so good! Why haven’t we been here before?!”
Cynthia laughed. “To be fair, this place hasn't been open for too long.”
Mars groaned dramatically. “We totally should’ve had staff lunch here,” she whined.
“You know we never would’ve gotten it approved,” Saturn muttered, poking at his food as if it were some alien creature. Jupiter watched him for a minute before leaning over and muttering something Cynthia didn’t quite catch.
Saturn shook his head in response.
“You’ve gotta eat something.” Jupiter’s voice held nothing but genuine concern.
“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.
“Then you won’t miss these.” Mars leaned across the table and took a handful of fries from his plate.
The speed of which he went to smack her hand could rival a Ninjask. “Back. Off.”
“But if you’re not gonna eat them, why can’t I?”
Saturn thought for a moment, then, while keeping eye contact with Mars, shoved a handful of fries in his mouth. Mars let out a sound that was utterly heart-breaking.
“How could you do this to me?” she cried, though the way she stuffed the other half of her burger into her mouth really ruined the effect.
As Saturn laughed, relief eased its way into Jupiter’s expression.
Cynthia cleared her throat, suddenly aware of how out of place she was. “If you don’t mind me asking,” she started, testing the waters, “what are you plans... name-wise? Are you just gonna keep using your code names or-?”
Tension stiffened Saturn’s frame. “I am not using my old name. Never again.”
Cynthia recoiled as if she’d been hit. “Can I ask-”
“No, you can’t,” Saturn spat.
Mars seemed a tad taken aback by his hostility, but quickly recovered. “Your old name was totally lame anyway. We’ll come up with a better one!”
“Until then,” Jupiter chipped in, placing a hand on his shoulder, “we’ll just keep calling you Saturn.”
“I still think you should call yourself Stanley,” Mars said, the task of holding back giggles being truly monumental.
“I’m not calling myself Stanley.” Saturn huffed and went back to picking at his food.
“Trevor? Goes well with Toxicroak.”
“How does it-” Saturn shook his head. “Does anyone else have any ideas?”
“I like Trevor.” Jupiter grinned.
“Whose side are you on?!”
Despite Jupiter’s protests, Cynthia insisted on paying.
“I’m owed a few favours anyway, don’t worry about it,” the ex-Champion said.
“You’ve already done way more for us than we deserve.”
“It’s not about deserve, it’s about need.” There was an oddly comfortable beat of silence before Cynthia continued, “Besides, I feel like you’ve been through a lot.”
The laugh Jupiter let out held no humour. “That’s an understatement.”
Mars and Saturn walked on ahead, their Pokémon trailing behind them. If Cynthia didn’t know any better, it would’ve been easy to mistake them for a normal pair of friends, teasing and joking as Purugly and Toxicroak chirped along at their feet.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Cynthia said, “do you have any younger siblings?”
A small cloud of breath rose from Jupiter as she frowned. “No. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just- don’t take this the wrong way -you handle those two pretty well.”
“I just worry,” Jupiter said. She brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, letting out a long sigh. “Seems like none of us had a great upbringing, so I just... do what I can.”
With a scoff, Cynthia said, “You’re the mom friend.”
“Please, I’m not that old.” Jupiter smiled, though the action seemed to take far more energy than she could afford. “They’re like my stupid little brother and sister. Annoying, but I gotta keep them in check, you know?” She held out her arms. “Welcome to Team Galactic. We’re a big, weird family but we’re way better than what you’ve got at home.”
Jupiter rubbed her arms, staring down at her feet as she walked.
“For all the shitty things he ended up doing in the end, Ma- Cyrus still did a lot for them.” She gestured to Mars and Saturn, who were still blissfully unaware of the other conversation. “Got them out of some pretty shitty situations. Sure, it was all for his own gain at the end of it, but-” Jupiter shook her head. “Fuck...”
Something about her words caught Cynthia completely off guard. She was suddenly taken back years, back to the summers she spent in Sunnyshore City. How she spent her days bonding over myths and old textbooks with that weird kid everyone told her to avoid. How he would sometimes show up with bruises that he would dismiss. How he would flinch if she yelled too loud. She didn’t find it hard to believe that the same kid would go on to help others out of similar situations.
Cynthia smiled. It was small, but warm and real. “For what it’s worth, I think he cared in his own way.”
“How would you know-”
“You guys have a company nap room,” Cynthia said with a complete deadpan, “If you still think he didn’t care about you at all, then you have vastly underestimated him.”
Jupiter didn’t respond, but the look on her face told Cynthia all she needed to know.
“It’s Julia, by the way.”
“What?”
“My real name.” Jupiter smiled. “Feels weird using it after all this time.”
“Julia.” Cynthia tested the name on her tongue. “Suits you.”
Julia glanced away, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. “Yeah, I guess so...”