Chapter Text
The most captivating pair of grey eyes met hers and Diantha felt her breath hitch for the tiniest second. She was currently attending the first Champion meetup conference in quite a while. In fact, they were held annually with smaller, optional conferences thrown in the mix. But with situations in most of the regions, the latest conference had been postponed for quite a while. Team Flare had caused trouble in her own region, Kalos. Thankfully, all of that was mostly over now, and Diantha was currently speaking with the woman in front of her while all of them enjoyed the food catering by this Saffron City hotel.
Of course, Diantha knew Cynthia of Sinnoh - and vice versa. Despite being absolutely calm in her presence, the good-looking blonde woman admitted that she had seen most of Diantha's movies. The conversation during the dinner had flowed effortlessly, and the Sinnohan Champion had just told her the story about Team Galactic, the Red Chain, Cyrus and Giratina. "I would love to meet Giratina one day and see the Distortion World!", the actress stated once the tale was over. Diantha truly meant it, and despite the dangers lurking there, she was fascinated by the fact that her fellow Champion had met such a dangerous legendary Pokémon - and lived to tell the tale.
Before the blonde could reply though, they were interrupted by a loud male voice. It belonged to Wallace - the teal-haired man who 'co-championed' Hoenn with Steven. He rose to his feet, slamming his hands on the table. "The meal is over, and you know what it means - we're done here, and we're finished with business. That means it's party time! No more thinking tonight, we'll have loads of fun drinking!" And with that, he ushered them all to his hotel room, not allowing any protest.
"How has this situation escalated like this?", Diantha wondered, already suspecting that she would probably have a hang-over the following day. "Uuuh, I know, guys", Wallace shouted, and looked at Lance, Steven and Leon "and gals" before giving pointed glances to Cynthia and Diantha. "We're going to play 'Never have I ever'! Ahhh, that'll be so much fun, we'll learn loads about each other!" Across from her, Cynthia appeared to be close to a face-palm, looking almost as unenthusiastic as Lance next to her. "And no cheating, Diantha! You're a great actress, but we want to learn the truth! Leon, bring out that Galarian whiskey! Also, the questions have to be original, so no rephrasing of a previous one!"
This time, Cynthia did face-palm and Diantha inwardly agreed - the other woman had a good enough reason for that. Galarian whiskey was extremely potent stuff, just a few high-proof Alolan rums could compare. Personally, the actress would have preferred Kalosian or maybe Paldean wine, but Wallace was dead-set on giving them all alcohol poisoning, apparently. Across the table, the Sinnoh Champion's grey eyes met hers and Diantha felt a bit flushed, perhaps from the alcohol already served with the dinner. Did the other Champion - the strong, intelligent and stunningly beautiful Sinnohan one - even like women? And why was she even thinking about that? Hopefully the questions wouldn't be too bad.
"Oooh, Leon'll start and then I'm next!", Wallace exclaimed after filling up the shot glasses. "You just want to avoid claiming the first question yourself, don't you?" Steven wanted to know, but he sounded somewhat fond when he said it. Leon smiled happily at the chance to begin. "Great, sounds like fun. Never have I ever…found my way to the next destination without problems." Everyone at the table sighed and collectively drank. Really, Leon was something else sometimes.
Wallace leaned forward, rubbing his hands together and looked way too eager, so the Kalosian Champion lifted an eyebrow. "Never have I ever won a Pokémon battle. Oh no, sorry, that's a lie, woe me. Guess I'll have to drink!" Shaking her head, Diantha wondered how Wallace could be that hyped-up. As expected, all of them emptied the shots one after another, passing the bottle round to fill the glasses up again.
Following clockwise, Steven twisted one of his rings, apparently contemplating what he was gonna say. "Never have I ever considered Pokémon battles to be my one and only career choice." That was a surprise after the first two statements and to Wallace's despair, only Leon actually drank this round. Then again, it was unsurprising. Steven was the Devon hair, Cynthia an archaeologist, Lance worked as a G-Man, she herself had her beloved acting career and Wallace was also a famous Coordinator. Leon was mostly living on sponsorship deals so he could be a Champion full time. Diantha suspected that all of them could quit their Champion career if they had to, but all of them loved them and wouldn't want to miss them.
Cynthia leaned back after Leon had refilled his glass. She tipped her chin lightly, deep in thought. Apparently, the archaeologist was looking for a loophole in Wallace's rules and judging by the sudden, unexpected grin on her face, she found one. "Never have I ever…had a Y-chromosome." Next to her, Lance groaned as he drank his next shot, and Diantha herself couldn't help but laugh. That was brilliant. "Never have I ever had a Y-chromosome", she finally managed to say before catching the Sinnoh Champion's eyes and burst into laughter again. Leon, Wallace and Steven all emptied their glasses.
Lance glanced around the table and the Kalosian Champion suddenly had a sinking feeling. While someone like Wallace would want to make everybody drunk and Leon would say something good-natured, the Champion of Kanto and Johto would probably be very calculating in his sentence, and likely choose much more dangerous territory than Cynthia. "Never have I ever…had or have a crush on anyone sitting at this table." What had he just said? Diantha gulped, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. This was way worse than she suspected.
Should she lie? Would she even be able to lie? Probably not anymore, because her hesitancy was nearly palpable. Across from her, Cynthia just had to wet her lips in that particular moment and Diantha was sure she felt a slight blush on her face yet again. But no matter what, she would see it through now. Grabbing her glass, she just happened to meet Cynthia's eyes for a second before she closed her own eyes and drank the whiskey. She would make Lance suffer in the following round, he looked way too smug about his question.
After she slammed her glass on the table and grabbed the bottle again for a refill, Leon leaned forward. "Never have I ever had or have a crush on anyone sitting at this table." Now that was the least surprising thing ever, Leon seemed far too preoccupied with getting lost everywhere than finding love. Wallace actually hesitated for a moment before he lifted the glass and drank. That one surprised Diantha, as far as she knew he was in a relationship with the Hoennian Gym Leader Winona. Steven seemed to consider the question for a second before he, too, drank. "Is it…Cynthia?", Diantha wondered. "Hopefully not, I'd probably never have a chance if someone like Stev- what am I thinking? Damn this Galarian whiskey…"
The blonde Sinnoh Champion still stared at her glass, before grabbing it and emptying it in a quick gulp. Her grey eyes didn't glance over to Steven, though. They met her own for the fraction of a second, so short that Diantha wasn't sure if she had just imagined things. Yet she couldn't deny the warmth that spread through her body. Still, she could keep up appearances in public. Staring straight at Lance, she leaned forward. "Never have I ever…wore a cape as part of my usual attire."
Leon happily drank his shot and Wallace rolled his eyes. "You do usually wear a cape when you act as the Hoennian Champion", Steven reminded him. "I sometimes do hate you, Steven Stone." Sighing dramatically, the teal-haired man drank. Steven and Cynthia had no issues with claiming to not wear capes regularly and Lance silently slammed his whiskey back, glaring at the brunette woman across the table.
"Guess we finished this round", Cynthia stated, a slight relief evident in her voice. "Well, you know what that means!" Wallace shouted, jumping to his feet. "Time to - spin the bottle!" The blonde across from her got up. "Yeah, no, thanks guys. I'll head to bed", the Sinnohan Champion stated, getting up. "Awww, come on, Cynthia! How about some strip poker instead?" "Wallace, if you want to tear off your flimsy contest outfit that badly, by all means, go ahead. But please wait until I've left this room." Taking the opportunity, both Diantha and Lance rose to their feet as well, quickly following the archaeologist and abandoning Leon and Steven to their fate.
Closing the door behind them, Lance immediately bid them goodnight and headed to the stairs. "I guess he's still a bit salty because of your cape comment", Cynthia mused before frowning when a dangerously loud laughter could be heard from the room behind them. "I guess I'll head back to my room now, too." Diantha looked her deep in the eyes, marvelling at the grey orbs. "It was nice to get to know you a bit better", the Kalosian Champion finally stated. She felt a bit flushed and it probably wasn't just all due to the Galarian whiskey. "Yeah, absolutely."
Cynthia lifted her hand and inadvertently touched the brunette's. It felt as if Diantha was shocked and then set aflame. "I'll…see you around. Good night, Diantha", Cynthia whispered in a husky voice before finally breaking eye contact. "Good night, Cynthia." Heading back to her room, Diantha changed into her nightwear before lying down on the comfortable king size bed. But sleep wouldn't come for a long time, as the drinking game scenes replayed themselves over and over in the actress' mind. And when she finally did fall asleep her dreams were filled by expressive grey eyes and the lovely Sinnohan Champion they belonged to.