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The cold wind bites at the little of her face that sticks out between her bandana and scarf, snow blurring her vision as she makes her way once again to the peak of Mt Coronet. How many times has she made this journey now? More than she cares to count, she knows that much. She hopes that this will be the last time.
She has ventured this far defenceless, all her Pokémon left in Jubilife Village. Sneaking past Pokémon has been easy, relying on the Azure Flute to call for help when she needs it. Sneasler and Braviary have gotten her this far, and she thanked them before she made the final ascent.
The Temple of Sinnoh looms in front of her. The remnants of it, at least. It has been strange to see this place change – from the crumbling columns of Spear Pillar that she knew in her time to the full temple that stood when she first made it up the mountain in this time. Now, it’s somewhere in between – destroyed by Dialga and Palkia, not yet fully finished eroding.
She passes through silently. At the altar, she bows her head, gathering her courage rather than saying a prayer. She blows into the Azure Flute, the tune carried away by the wind. Up here, she won’t summon Sneasler or Braviary, but another Pokémon. It will take a moment for it to arrive, so she sets the flute on the altar and takes a step back.
She waits patiently, and her patience is rewarded. She has met with Arceus before – once here, many more times that she didn’t realise. She could have caught the creature, but could never quite bring herself to do it. This is the Pokémon that made the world as she knows it, and she doesn’t suppose it would take kindly to being confined to a Pokéball.
“Good afternoon,” it says, peering down at her.
“Hello, Lord Arceus.” It always surprises her that it can speak – though it has no visible mouth, and no sound seems to emanate from it. It speaks into her brain, just like it has all along.
“It has been a while since you summoned me here. Do you wish to catch me?”
“No,” she says, taking a step forward and opening her arms to show that she is unarmed.
“Then what do you wish for, little one?”
“I want to go home.”
Her words hang heavy in the air. Arceus looks at her, cold, unblinking. She tilts her chin up, daring the creature to say no.
“Why?” Is what it says instead.
“I was brought here against my will. You brought me here to fix a problem, which I did. I have lived among the people of this time, but they are not my people. I… I miss my mom. I miss Barry, and Palmer, and Cynthia, and all my other friends…”
“I know not of these people.”
“Please!” She cries out, feeling tears falling from her eyes, hot and sticky on her cheeks. “I did what you asked. I completed the Pokédex.”
The Pokémon stops, staring at her once again. It tilts its head, barely perceptible. It thinks. She takes another step forward.
“Please,” she repeats, calmer this time. “I don’t deserve this.”
“True,” Arceus says. “You did what I asked. The space-time rift brought you here unwittingly. I will send you home.”
“Warden Ingo too!” She adds, almost as an afterthought. The Pokémon in front of her chuckles. “He came here from another time too. I am certain of it. Whether we are from the same time or not I can’t say, but… Volo made us both come here. We should both get to go home.”
“Very well. Are your affairs in order?”
“Yes.”
“Have you said goodbye?”
“Yes.” This is a lie – if she disappears, hopefully people will forget about her.
“Prepare yourself. I cannot promise that your journey back to your time will be pleasant… Dawn.”
It was right. Dawn had no idea what to expect, but landing in the lake at Sendoff Spring was not what she had planned. She surfaces quickly, gasping for air and pushing herself towards the shore. She pulls herself up onto the bank, sitting still for a moment to recover her breath. She’s still wearing that stupid Galaxy Team uniform, made heavy with water. She can’t be seen in this – it would raise too many questions.
She pulls off her bandana first, tucking it into the pocket of the jacket. She sheds that too, and throws it into the bushes, hoping that some Pokémon will carry it away to use as bedding. She discards her skirt and scarf, leaving only her top and trousers underneath. The shoes look odd too, and so they go into the lake, sinking towards the bottom. Usually she’d be incensed about someone littering, but as no one will believe her about where she’s been for the last five years regardless, the least she can do it make herself look less mad.
Dawn pulls her hair from her ponytail, and checks her pockets. Her phone is still there, though it isn’t the ArcPhone any longer. The screen is cracked, and it won’t turn on. She hasn’t charged it in five years – she supposes that’s why.
At least she recognises where she is. She should be able to make her way home from here – that’s if her mom still lives in Twinleaf Town. She could’ve moved in with Palmer in the Fight Area for all she knows. Either way, Dawn has to make it to the hotel on the lakefront – someone there will help her.
She finds her legs heavy as she travels through the short path onto Route 214. It looks the same as she remembers, all green paths and tall grass. She stumbles out onto the path, blinking as she adjusts to the new lighting. It strikes her then how cold she is – the water is rapidly evaporating from her body. And when she looks around, she can see the reason – amidst the grass are patches of melting snow – it’s winter.
“Hello?” A voice calls from behind her, and she turns to see a man she doesn’t recognise, coming towards her at a fast pace. She opens her mouth to speak, but no sound comes out other than a croak. “Are you okay, miss?”
“I-“
“Dawn? Champion Dawn?” He asks, tilting his head. “Is that you?”
“Yes.” Her head swims with shock, and she only realises what’s happening to her as he pushes up his sleeve and taps aggressively on his Pokétch.
“I’ve called an ambulance,” the man tells her, shucking off his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. “Let’s sit down here and wait. You’re going to be okay.”
“Thank you,” she manages to mumble out. He takes her by the elbow, guiding her to the ground. She doesn’t remember much else other than getting colder.
Johanna’s phone rings on the table, buzzing loudly against the glass. Barry looks down at the screen – a long string of numbers from a landline phone. It isn’t any number he recognises. From the kitchen, Johanna calls in to him.
“Who is it?”
“No idea! Unknown number.”
“Leave it. If it’s important, they’ll call back.”
A few minutes later, when she’s settled down on the sofa, the phone rings again. At this time of the evening, multiple calls is unusual, and curiosity gets the better of Johanna. Barry looks at her as she lifts her phone, pressing to accept the call and bring it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Ms. Berlitz?” Comes the voice from the other end.
“This is she.”
“I’m calling from Hearthome General Hospital. Your… your daughter is here.”
“Dawn?!” Johanna asks, startling Barry, who sits upright at the edge of the sofa.
“Yes. She presented here a few hours ago. We’ve been trying to get in contact, but couldn’t find a number for you until now.”
“And she’s safe? She’s… alive?”
“A little hypothermia, and we’re running some blood tests. But otherwise she’s in a stable condition. We’ll be keeping her in overnight, but she’s asking for you.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“We’re in the south building – she’s just been moved from the emergency room. Ward four, room ten. You can ask at reception and someone will bring you straight down.”
“Thank you, thank you. Tell Dawn I’ll see her soon.”
Johanna hangs up, staring at the blank screen. Beside her, Barry disappears, up the stairs to where his dad is. Moments later the two of them disappear, Palmer pulling on his coat. He holds Johanna’s coat out to her too, encouraging her across the room. Eyes filled with tears, she bumps into the coffee table as she goes.
Palmer calls Dragonite, and Barry presses Staraptor’s ball into Johanna’s hands. With help from Palmer, she manages to get her coat on, and the two of them leave the Fight Area, with help from their Pokémon. Hearthome City is far away, and all Johanna can think of is her daughter sitting alone in the hospital room.
“She’s fine, right?” Palmer asks, cutting through the silence.
“She will be,” Johanna reassures – for herself as much as him. “The doctor said she has hypothermia, but otherwise she’s fine.”
“Did they say what happened to her?”
“No. I don’t think they know.”
“Will you ask her?” The question has weighed heavily on Johanna’s mind for years – if she were ever to be reunited with her daughter, is it really her place to ask what happened to her? Of course she wants to know; she wants to be able to help. But something like this may be entirely beyond Johanna’s comprehension – where did Dawn disappear to for five years?
The methodical beeping of the heart monitor begins to drive Dawn insane rather quickly. The needle that adds fluids to her bloodstream feels like it’s not quite in right. There’s a flickering light out in the corridor, giving her a headache. If she weren’t stuck to the bed, she would close the blinds, but she is stuck, and she fears that she’ll be stuck far longer than she would like.
They asked her where she was. What happened to her. She told them honestly – she fell into the lake at Sendoff Spring. The police were in her tiny little room, asking questions she knew she couldn’t give the answer to. I went back in time, she thinks with a laugh. They would keep her in the hospital for the rest of her life if she said that. At least the man that found her corroborated her story – he found her near the spring.
After a few hours of scratchy blanket and lumpy pillows and no TV, her mother bursts into the room. Johanna rushes over to Dawn’s side, pulling her into a hug. She cries. They both cry. Dawn hasn’t felt love or comfort like this in five years. Sure, she’s been hugged, but never with this much affection, this much meaning behind it. When she looks up, Palmer stands in the doorway, unsure if he should come in. She raises one limp arm to beckon him over. He doesn’t hug her, instead standing at the end of her bed.
“I am so glad you’re okay,” Johanna murmurs, kissing the top of her head. “Are you okay, Dawn?”
“Yes,” she croaks out, not entirely sure herself if it’s the truth. Only this morning did she stand at the top of Mt Coronet, begging for her life back. It’s been a long day, and it’s only just turned nine o’clock.
“Oh, wonderful, wonderful. I have missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” Dawn says, and her mother sobs again. All she can do is pat her on the back, a silent apology for years missed.
They asked her the date when she got to the hospital, and Dawn had to admit that she didn’t know. Was she sent back to the time she disappeared, or did she miss out on the same amount of time as she spent in the past? She had grown in Hisui, out of her teenage body and into that of an adult. But five years had indeed past, almost to the day when she disappeared.
“Have your blood tests come back yet?” Palmer asks as Dawn attempts to comfort her mother.
“Yes. All clear.”
“Good. And you’re still staying here overnight?”
“Yes. They asked me if I have anywhere to stay. I…”
“You can stay with us, Dawn. Of course you can!” Johanna says, pulling out of Dawn’s embrace. “You shouldn’t even think that it wouldn’t be an option.”
“I’ll text Barry and ask him to make up the spare room for you,” Palmer offers, to which Johanna nods.
“My Pokémon-“ Dawn asks suddenly, sitting upright.
“We can talk about them later.”
“Are they okay?”
“Palmer took them in. They’ve been training in the Battle Frontier.”
“Are they okay?” Dawn repeats. “Garchomp-“
She doesn’t finish her sentence, the unspoken passing across Johanna’s face. She squeezes Dawn’s hand, trying to push some of her support through.
“There was nothing they could do. It was a few years ago, now. We can take you to her resting place, if you’d like.”
“Yes. Please. I should’ve expected…”
“Dawn, I don’t know what happened to you. And honestly, I’m not sure I want to know. All the possibilities I can imagine are horrible. Leaving your Pokémon out in the middle of Route 214 like that, disappearing for five years without any trace… But if you do ever want to tell me, I will gladly listen.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“We’ll sort everything out for you, okay? Leave it to us.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll get a hotel in the city for the night, and be back with you first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Can’t you stay a little while longer?” Dawn asks, lip trembling with the thought of staying alone.
“Of course. Palmer can make arrangements for us. I’ll stay here as long as you need me.”
Cynthia’s phone blares her awake, ping after ping after ping. Never in her life can she think of a time that she has woken up to so many notifications. Hoping to switch the vibrating off and go back to sleep, she reaches blindly for her phone, instead knocking it off her bedside table. She forces her eyes open, reaching to the ground to lift it. Beside her, Steven rolls over, still asleep.
The light from the screen blinds her, and the first things she notices is the amount of different people that have texted her. There are a few missed calls too, presumably from when she was in a deeper sleep. She rubs her eyes as she looks at the screen, eyes adjusting to the light. Texts from Candice, Volkner, Lucian. People she hasn’t talked to in a long time. But every single message seems to be about the same thing – the news is saying that Dawn is back.
Cynthia sits up straight, unlocking her phone and heading straight for the news app. And there it is, at the top of the international news – ‘Sinnoh’s Former Champion Returns’. She scrolls through the article, finding little detail. No one has any news, other than she was seen at Hearthome General Hopsital late yesterday afternoon. Without thinking, Cynthia shakes Steven awake. He takes a moment to come too, blinking at her blearily.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s Dawn,” Cynthia explains, slipping out from under the covers. The first hints of daylight are only beginning to seep through the curtains now, but Cynthia feels it is her place to go.
“Dawn? She’s… been found?” Steven asks. Cynthia can hear the trepidation in his voice.
“That she has,” she tells him, feeling relief washing over her. He smiles then – it’s clear that this is happy news. “She’s in the hospital. I’m going to see her.”
“Hang on,” Steven says, stopping her in her tracks. “Will they let you in? You’re not related to her, after all. It’s probably family only.”
“I… I don’t know. I suppose not.” She perches on the end of the bed. “I want to do something, though.”
“I thought you didn’t get on too well with Dawn?” Steven reminds her gently.
“Well, not quite. I… I admit that I have mixed feelings about her, but that is largely due to my own… well. That doesn’t matter. She’s been missing for five years, Steven! She could do with a friendly face.”
“Does she have any family? Perhaps if you can get in contact with them, you could arrange to see her when she’s home. Let her have time to gather her thoughts. You as well.”
“I suppose I can call Palmer, though I suppose he’s busy with all the rest…”
“Give him a try,” Steven encourages. “If seeing her now is that important to you, I’m sure they’ll be able to accommodate you.”
“She deserves to hear about what happened to her Garchomp from me. I’m sure that Johanna has told her the news, but…”
“Do you ever think about what happened to her?” Steven wonders, pulling gently on Cynthia’s arm to tug her back into his hold.
“I try not to,” she answers with a grimace, relaxing a little in his arms.
“Strange, isn’t it? The timing of the whole thing. Five years to the day she disappeared, right?”
“Right,” Cynthia hums. “I don’t know if we’ll ever find out what happened to her, where she went. I just pray that it was nothing too bad. Dawn has always been a tough girl. She can handle herself.”
She sends a text to Palmer, realising with a start that the last time she communicated with him was over seven years ago – he probably has a different number now. She makes a start on responding to everyone else, sharing her shock at Dawn’s return, warning her former Gym Leaders not to speculate too much on what happened. To her surprise, Palmer returns her text within minutes, inviting her over in a few days once Dawn has settled back in. He’ll pass her number on to Dawn, he says, and let her get in contact herself.
It sates Cynthia for now. But still full of nervous energy, she pulls out of her husband’s grip, wandering out of their bedroom. After she washes and dresses herself, she makes breakfast, a complicated spread, enough steps to take her mind off Dawn.
Where does someone go for five years, completely unknown to anyone? The police tracked her for years, dredging Sendoff Spring and Lake Valor for any signs of her. But she simply vanished. With the girl’s potent connection to the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh, Cynthia had always wondered if one of them had taken her – Palkia perhaps, into another dimension. She doesn’t suppose she’ll ever know unless Dawn comes out and tells her. She can’t see that happening in this universe.
Dawn rings the doorbell of the house in the Fight Area, standing back while Johanna and Palmer speak in hushed tones at the end of the driveway. The house itself is nice – she’s been here before, once or twice. It’s large and white and modern, a stark contrast to the house in Twinleaf Town that she grew up in.
Barry opens the door, and Dawn doesn’t even have time to process his appearance before he’s enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. He doesn’t say anything, merely tucking his head in against her shoulder. When Dawn manages to get her hands around to his back, returning the hug, she can feel that he is shaking. She can hear the tell-tale whimper of a sob, and finds that her own eyes sting with tears.
“I missed you,” she tells him honestly. In all of ancient Hisui, there was no one like him. No one that reminded her of him, no one that looked like him, no one that could capture that energy that she loves so much. She needs to catch up with him, find out what he’s been doing this whole time, and she supposes now that they live under the same roof that won’t be too hard.
“I missed you too,” he says. No quip about fining her, about how she owes him a battle, just honesty. It’s refreshing, somehow.
Barry pulls back, holding her at arms length, and Dawn finally has time to look at him. She’s relieved to find he looks no different to the last time she saw him – still incredibly slim and lanky, still with silly hair that won’t sit flat no matter what he does. She wonders how different she looks to him. They’ve been best friends since they were toddlers – if there’s anyone other than her mother that could tell what was wrong, it would be Barry.
“Um… I’ll show you to your room?”
“Sounds good,” she croaks, embarrassed at the sounds that she makes.
Dawn pretends not to notice when Barry wipes his eyes going up the stairs, affording him the luxury of her ignorance. On the cold nights in Jubilife Village when she imagined going home, she didn’t ever think that each reunion would be so tear filled. He stops at the top of the stairs, looking blankly around him.
“So! I know it’s been a long time since you were here.” He points at an open door. “That’s my room, and beside it is the bathroom. That’s… um, our parents’ room.” The closed door gives Dawn shivers. Though she is glad her mother has found happiness, it’s still strange that it’s with Barry’s dad of all people. “And your room is through here.”
Dawn was expecting a typical spare bedroom – white walls, grey carpet, bland curtains and inoffensive bedding. Instead, she’s met with… pink. Soft pink bedding, her favourite blanket tucked in at the foot of the bed. Her pink rug from her bedroom in Twinleaf Town, a small collection of pink Pokémon plushes – Clefairy and Jigglypuff and an old handmade shiny Buneary from that phase of her childhood.
There’s a desk with a computer – an old one, albeit – and a TV, and a potted plant. Her contest ribbons are hung on the wall – nearly a complete set. When she opens the wardrobe, she’s met with seventeen year old Dawn’s clothes – pink and frilly and over the top. Barry was the one that set this up – she heard Palmer talking on the phone about it. That means that Barry is the one that went to all this effort to make this place feel like home for her. She sits down on the edge of the bed, and bursts into tears, wailing into her palms.
“Hey, hey! What’s wrong?” Barry asks, rushing across the room to sit beside her.
“Nothing! I’m just… so surprised that it looks like this. All my old stuff… I can’t believe it’s still here.”
“Your mom didn’t want to throw it out. She didn’t keep everything, but dad convinced her to put it into storage bags when she moved up here. They’ve been in the loft ever since.”
“And you did all of this?”
“Haven’t slept much. Too excited to see you!”
“Aw.” Dawn smiles, and sniffs, and Barry rolls his eyes.
“I was really worried that you’d be… different. But you seem… mostly the same.”
“Mostly?”
“You know when we went to Spear Pillar, back when we were ten? When we came away from that, I felt different. And you looked different, especially after coming out of the distortion world. It’s the same now. But you’re still Dawn.”
“I… I guess I know what you mean,” Dawn says vaguely. She flops back on the bed. “I’m going to need to buy new clothes.” She pulls at the sleeves of her hoodie – a favourite at fifteen now feels childish.
“I’ll take you,” Barry offers.
“Where do you work that you can afford a whole new wardrobe?”
“I never said whole new wardrobe,” he grumbles. “I can get you a few things.”
“Not enough people paying up when you fine them?”
“Ha ha. Stopped doing that now, actually. One too many people calling me annoying.”
“Joking. I’d appreciate it. And I’ll pay you back, once I get sorted.”
“Any idea of what you want to do?”
“Nope. Work in the PokéMart, maybe? I have no… prospects,” Dawn says, waving her hands around blankly.
“What about getting back into battling?”
“Not sure. It’s… been a while. I would need to see if they want me back.”
“Of course they do!”
“I hear your dad’s been taking good care of them.”
“Five of them.”
“I heard.”
“Cynthia took Garchomp, near the end. Kept it comfortable.”
“She would be the person in the know. I’m thankful.”
“I thought she didn’t like you? You always told me that?”
“It was after I beat her that she kinda became… cold. I don’t know.” They sit in silence for a moment. “Tomorrow, then? Shopping trip?” Dawn suggests
“Of course. Maybe if you’re feeling up to it, Dad could bring your Pokémon over?”
“I’d like that. I… I’m not ill, Barry. Or injured. I don’t need time to rest or recuperate or whatever. I just need things to get back to normal.”
“Alright! Shopping in the morning – maybe even lunch if I’m feeling particularly generous – and then a battle in the afternoon. You’ll be surprised by how strong your Pokémon have gotten.”
“I have no intentions of going for Champion again. I know that’s what this is all leading up to.”
“Never say never!”
Shopping with Barry is surprisingly fun. She has no bank cards or cash of her own – that is to be sorted out on Monday morning. But Barry promises that he’ll pay for a few things for her, and her mom and Palmer transferred him some money for some things from them as well. Barry has never been the most fashionable person Dawn has known, but she appreciates his enthusiasm as they make their way around Jubilife City’s largest department store.
Fashion hasn’t changed that much in the past few years thankfully, and Dawn doesn’t feel too out of her depth when it comes to picking out new clothes. The jeans and hoodie that she wears today are as much for going incognito as they are because they’re all she has left that fits her. These are comfort clothes, and it makes a change from the disgust she felt when she looked in her wardrobe this morning.
She’s never been much of a jeans person, but she picks out another pair – one that fit properly. The depths of winter approach, and so she chooses knitted dresses, wool cardigans, long sleeved tops. Counting in her head, she figures that her mother has given Barry enough for a pair of boots, and so she chooses a new pink pair, so similar to the ones that she wore on her journey twelve years ago.
Trying the clothes on is a long process, and one that Dawn doesn’t find herself enjoying. Her body changed during her time in the past – gone was the soft layer of fat around her stomach, the promise of stability and safety. Not having as much food and constantly being on the go meant that her softness was replaced with hard muscle. For some, this would be desirable. For Dawn, this is a reminder of that time.
Still, she can’t pretend that it didn’t happen. Her time in Hisui has formed who she is now, whether she likes it or not. As she stands in the changing room of the largest store in Sinnoh, she realises, properly, that there is no one to talk to about this. She can’t talk to Barry, or her mom, or Palmer, and while she suspects that Cynthia might believe her, she doesn’t want to be turned into an experiment.
She pulls the dress that she has been trying on over her head, putting it back into the pile. Everything fits, a size down from before, not the usual shade of pink that she bought during her teenage years. A more muted pink, but pink none the less. She changes back into her own clothes, intent on getting back to Barry. But a thought stops her in her tracks. Is there truly no one she can talk to? Or might she just have to look further afield?
Pushing the thought aside, she joins Barry once more, who looks glad to see her. He’s less glad to see the number on the till when the cashier has finished scanning everything, but reluctantly hands his card over anyway. They bag Dawn’s shopping, and the two head back out into the bustling Jubilife City.
There are many fashion shops in Sinnoh, and although this one is the largest, Dawn had an ulterior motive for suggesting this one. She lived in Jubilife Village, and then Jubilife Town, for so many of her years. Longer than she lived in her apartment in Sunyshore City, and she considered that place to be her home away from home. It has changed so much in the five years since she last visited here, and even more since she last saw it, just a few days ago, so strikingly different.
“Everything okay?” Barry asks, noting her silence.
“Just tired,” she answers, glad that there’s some truth to it.
“Milkshakes before we go home? Just like the old days?”
“Still not allowed to drink coffee?” Dawn teases.
“Do you want me to buy you a milkshake or not?!”
“Yes, Barry, I do want that.” A little bit of normality, she thinks. Barry is the one person that doesn’t treat her like she’s about to shatter into a million tiny pieces. Sure, he’s a little cautious of her, and she expects that. But he’s like the Barry from before, and Dawn appreciates that more than she’ll ever be able to tell him.
When they return home, they’re greeted by their parents and Cynthia. The latter comes as a surprise, rising from her seat but making no attempt to move towards Dawn. Barry wrangles the shopping bags from her grasp, and disappears upstairs with them. By the time that Dawn realises that he’s ditching her, Johanna and Palmer have disappeared too.
“I hope you’re well,” Cynthia offers. Dawn gestures to the sofa, and Cynthia sits, Dawn joining her.
“I’m not doing too bad.” It’s true – she’s adjusting, and it’s only been a few days. The relief of being home outweighs everything else at the moment.
“I daren’t ask what you were up to, but if you ever want to talk to someone…”
“That’s what everyone has said.”
“I can imagine.” Cynthia laughs. “Palmer asked me to supervise you. He’s going to give you your Pokémon back.”
“Oh. Do I need supervision? I mean, they were my Pokémon for seven years.”
“It’s just a precaution.”
“I guess.”
“There was one other thing I wanted to discuss with you, though. If you are amenable to a few minutes of a chat.”
“Yes, sure. I mean, I’m not going anywhere.”
“We are in the final stages of preparing the Sinnoh branch of the Battle Institute. A place for trainers to truly check their own strength, without requirements like gym battles. Those things can be rather inaccessible for adult trainers, what with specific opening times and many of them being so far out of the way. Have you heard of it?”
“I don’t think so. Is it an… established thing?” Dawn asks. Cynthia nods, and for the first time, Dawn realises that Cynthia has aged more than anyone else she knew. There are a few wrinkles around her eyes, wrinkles that were not there at all five years ago.
“There are a few. One in Kalos, one in Hoenn, and one in Unova. They are all doing exceptionally well, so they approached me to ask if we could set up a branch here.”
“Why did they approach you? Why not the Pokémon League?” Cynthia bristles a little at that, and lays her hands flat against her knees.
“The chairman of the Sinnoh Pokémon League passed away two years ago. I was contacted to ask if I would be interested in chairing, and I accepted. It is a way for me to remain involved without the huge commitment of being Champion.”
“Oh. And is Mira still Champion?”
“She is. Five years, undefeated.” The older woman sighs. “I should get to the point. I would like to invite you to be part of the Battle Institute.”
“No, thank you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to battle anymore. That’s why I –“ Dawn pauses, realising she can’t give her scheme with Mira all those years ago away.
“You were always so good at it.”
“I didn’t like it, though. Performing in contests was far more enjoyable to me, and if I go back to anything, it will be that.”
“And will you?” Cynthia asks. There’s a knowing lilt to her tone – she knows that Dawn has no plans to go back to contests any time soon.
“I don’t know.”
“We will have non-battling roles available. If you are looking for a job… well, it’s not particularly glamourous, but you could be a receptionist. Or a record keeper. Or even a cleaner, if that’s what you desired. I’d like you to be part of this, Dawn.”
“You want my face on it, Cynthia,” Dawn sighs. “My name will draw crowds.”
“For a while, perhaps. But the Battle Institute is a household name itself, even if you hadn’t heard of it. Once the initial excitement has passed, it will remain busy. And I know you can cope under pressure. It will be in the Survival Area, so not too far from here, should you wish to stay here.”
“I’ll think about it,” Dawn says, more to stop Cynthia talking than because she actually intends to.
“Wonderful. Now, shall we go meet your Pokémon again?”
Palmer meets them in the back garden, Dawn’s Pokéballs lined up on the windowsill. She approaches hesitantly, eyeing them carefully. Three Pokéballs are identical – Empoleon, Pachirisu, and Togekiss. The other two are obvious – a Quick Ball for Froslass and a Safari Ball for Carnivine. The choice of which Pokémon to see first is obvious.
She takes Empoleon’s ball from the sill and throws it in one swift motion. The Pokémon lands on the grass of the back garden, ready for battle. But its eyes widen when it sees no Pokémon to fight, eyes falling on Dawn. It chirps in excitement, just like it did as a Piplup, and runs towards her. Dawn meets her first Pokémon in the middle, gathering her friend up in a hug.
“Oh, I missed you!” She murmurs into its feathers, feeling relieved when Empoleon chirps and chirps, a sure sign of being happy to see her.
The next Pokémon she sends out is Pachirisu. It is much louder in its excitement to see Dawn, clambering up her leg to sit atop her head, squeaking loudly for everyone to hear. Empoleon laughs when Palmer lifts the EleSquirrel down, setting it gently on the ground so that Dawn can see the rest of her Pokémon.
Togekiss comes next, and while it is still glad to see Dawn, it is much more reserved than the previous two. In Togekiss’s presence, Dawn feels herself inexplicably calmed – how she wishes it had stayed with her in Hisui. Carnivine is more excitable, spinning in circles around Dawn, her own personal plant orbit. Froslass doesn’t show any affection, but Dawn can still see a smile on the Ice-Type’s face.
“No disasters,” Palmer says. “I hope they’re up to your standards, Dawn. Might need a little bit of work for contests again, but the five of them are in good shape.”
“Thank you, Palmer. And thank you, Cynthia, for taking care of Garchomp. That was very kind of you.”
“It was my pleasure. I knew you would’ve wanted Garchomp to have the best care. It went very peacefully.”
Dawn nods mutely. At that, Cynthia excuses herself, Johanna appearing from inside to see her out. Dawn and Palmer stand in the garden, her Pokémon still celebrating their reunion with their trainer.
“I hope they didn’t cause you too much trouble,” Dawn mumbles. “It must have been a lot of extra work, looking after them.”
“Not at all. I think it really helped your mom, actually. She did most of the care taking for them, even though she has her own Pokémon to look after too.”
“I’m glad they’re all okay, and healthy. They look amazing.” Dawn says with a smile. Palmer returns it, but a little more tense.
“What did Cynthia want to talk about?”
“Did you know they’re opening up a branch of the Battle Institute here?”
“I’d heard whispers, but nothing more.”
“She asked me to be involved. Offered me a job. I said no, and then she offered again. Not a battling job, but as… a receptionist. Not something I saw myself ever doing, but…”
“The League and Battle Frontier receptionists are paid well,” Palmer tells her. “I imagine it’s the same for the Battle Institute. Worth a think, I’d say. I mean, you don’t have to listen to me. But… well, you could do worse. And who knows how long it would take you to get a job elsewhere? The five year gap on your resume would require some explaining.”
“I’ll think about it,” she says, honestly this time.
Johanna lends her laptop to Dawn, insisting that she at least start preparing to get back to work. If she’s refusing special treatment in talking about her five year disappearance, then Johanna won’t treat her any different to anyone else. It’s a fair compromise, Dawn supposes, but she’s never had a proper job before, and isn’t really sure where to begin.
She wonders what happened to her money. There was a fair amount of it in her bank account before she was transported to the past, and while it isn’t enough to live off, it would be enough to get out of this house and back into her apartment in Sunyshore City. She liked that apartment plenty, and wonders what happened to it as well. Is it lying vacant, thick with dust? Or did Johanna sell it?
Dawn uses the laptop to find the number for the bank, and then calls from her new phone. Thankfully, her account is still open, and they promise send her a new card. Once that’s done, she runs downstairs, glad that no one else is home, and rummages through the bowl of keys that sits by the door. Most of them look the same, made for cabinets around the house, but at the bottom of the bowl she finds the key that she’s looking for – the one for her apartment in Sunyshore City, complete with Cherubi keyring.
Going to see if her apartment is liveable is a job for another day, but the fact that her mother still has her key feels like a good sign. Dawn trudges back upstairs, opening the laptop once again. This has been routine for a few days now – usually, she looks on a few sites for jobs, finds nothing interesting, gets distracted by something else, and then watches some TV for a while. She submitted a resume to the PokéMart in the Fight Area, but they were quick to tell her that she was overqualified.
Palmer told her about jobs in the Battle Tower – cleaning and maintenance, which wasn’t exciting but would pay money. Though taking it or the job Cynthia offered in the Battle Institute do sound appealing, part of Dawn knows that she has no experience in real jobs, and would be absolutely useless at either of them. For the past twelve years of her life she’s lived mostly on her own schedule, and the thought of working on someone else’s makes her feel ill.
So she abandons the search for today, instead using the computer to look up something that has been burning in her mind ever since her return. She hasn’t had a true moment’s peace until now, her mother or Palmer or Barry always looming over her. But she types ‘Ingo’ into the search bar, knowing that her search is unlikely to be fruitful. However, a hoard of news articles come up from the past few weeks, showing pictures of the man that came to be her friend in the past.
Clicking into the first one, Dawn steels herself for what she might see. Pictures of the man, bewildered and raggedy but otherwise alive, standing beside a man who looks almost the same as him. She scrolls down, scanning the article. He was found on the train tracks underground in Unova, thankfully near one of the platforms where someone was able to help him to safety.
He appeared where he disappeared five years ago, the article goes on to say. Eyewitnesses described his disappearance – he vanished into thin air in the middle of a battle, leaving his opponent bewildered and his Pokémon panicked. Now, he has been placed right back where he disappeared. It’s the same as Dawn’s story, though for her, no one witnessed her disappearance or her sudden reappearance.
Would he want to speak with her? Would he even remember her? Though Dawn arrived in the past with her memories intact, Ingo’s journey was not as smooth. He might have regained his memories of this time now he’s back where he belongs, but he may have forgotten her in the process.
She finishes the article. Like her, his family are glad to have him back. His brother, Emmett, mainly, though a woman that Dawn vaguely recognises to be one of the Unovan Gym Leaders features in the photos as well. The article describes him as a ‘Subway Boss’ and some quick searching leads her to discover the Battle Subway – a location in central Unova that Dawn supposes is the equivalent of their Battle Frontier. An easy way to find him, Dawn supposes – if she can rack up the wins.
Battling has been in her veins for twelve years, and even in these past few weeks, not battling has been tough. Her Pokémon in the past were far different to her current team, but she felt the same synergy with them as did her usual friends. Perhaps taking on this challenge and finding Ingo is just what she needs to feel normal again.
Her phone buzzes on the mattress beside her – a confirmation email from the bank that her new card is on the way. When it does, Dawn knows what her first purchase will be – a return ticket to Nimbasa City.
The idea doesn’t go down as well with her family. Palmer questions the purpose of the trip, while Johanna forbids her from going at all. Dawn has to remind them that she is an adult, and she is free to do what she wants. She tries not to be accusatory, but she tells them about her bank account, about her trip to Sunyshore City where she found that her apartment had been lying empty for the last five years.
“We’ve only just gotten you back,” Johanna says, “and you want to disappear again?”
“Not disappear. Go on holiday. To a place that is well known, and safe, and I am happy to give you all of my travel details. But I am going, mom.”
“Take Barry with you,” she says weakly.
“No. I am coming back.”
“You’re going to go back to Sunyshore City,” Johanna accuses, though her tone is more sad than angry.
“Probably. I got used to being away. It’s strange to live with other people again.”
“We’ll see you when you get back, then,” Palmer says, standing from his chair. He helps Dawn to her feet too, and ushers her out of the room, closing the door behind her. She understands that her removal was for her mother’s sake – he will talk her round to the idea.
With the tickets bought, Dawn packs for the trip, not entirely sure what to wear in Unova. Nimbasa is known for being a very fashionable city, and her wardrobe is still lacking. Still, she packs what she has, hoping that the weather is kind to her. Her mother doesn’t see her off at the door – not a surprise, really, after all the huffing, but Barry and Palmer both wish her well on her trip.
She’s only flown a couple of times in her life. A few holidays as a child, and a League conference when she was sixteen and deemed old enough to fly by herself. The holidays were in Hoenn and the conference in Kanto, but Dawn has never stepped foot on Unovan soil before. As she boards the plane, she’s overwhelmed with nerves. Steeling herself does little to help – all she can do is remind herself that she’s going for a very important reason.
Nimbasa City is far bigger than Dawn expected. Far bigger than Hearthome, with towering buildings and shining lights. She had expected this of Castelia City, but this is something else entirely. She gets a little waylaid on the way to her hotel – the bright colours of the amusement park draw her in. She doesn’t spend long, but does indulge in some candyfloss.
Still early in the day, she checks into her hotel, a little overwhelmed by the city. Time to herself helps a lot, and after fifteen minutes she’s ready to take on the true purpose of her visit. Gear Station rises from the ground in the middle of Nimbasa City, a particularly old building compared to those around it. Dawn struggles to find the entrance at first, but once inside, she’s blown away.
The inside is perfectly round, with tunnels leading outside at evenly spaced intervals. In the centre is a large column holding the whole building together. They don’t have anything like this in Sinnoh, and for the first time in her life, Dawn truly understands the feeling of coming from a small village.
She reads the signs beside each tunnel as she makes her way around the outer wall. Ingo supposedly deals with Single Battles, she’s read. She’ll be here a while racking up the wins, she supposes, particularly given that she’s out of practice. Once she finds the right track, she hesitantly makes her way down the stairs, looking nervously at the group of people huddled on the platform. They seem to be waiting for the train, but none of them seem particularly anxious about the time.
Dawn approaches the desk, hoping that this is the best way to find out how to participate. The clerk is very helpful, and signs her up for the usual seven battle challenge. Just like in the Battle Tower, Dawn supposes, but she’ll be battling on a train instead. It’s a novel affair, but she reckons that the Unova natives would be just as amused by the Battle Frontier back home.
Eight trainers board the train, separated into four cars with an attendant in each. A voice comes over the intercom – the train will depart in one minute, when all battles will begin. They will do a loop around the surrounding area and return back to Gear Station. Dawn readies herself for battle, the younger girl in front of her looking particularly ready to battle. She rolls Empoleon’s battle over in her hand, and as the train lurches into motion, she tosses it into the middle of the carriage.
Seven wins come surprisingly easily, and though Dawn finds herself out of breath when they return to Gear Station, she also feels… better. Like she did before, when she was newly in her role as Champion. The feeling is largely unwanted, however. She left the life of a Champion behind for good reason.
She leaves the station, looking for lunch. No one here in Unova knows her, at least not to see. She finds a café easily, ordering sandwiches and coffee, somewhat of a novelty to her. Once that’s done, she slips out the door, heading back to Gear Station. She waits on the platform once again, crowded in with the other trainers.
Another seven wins down, Dawn stands on the platform once more. Adrenaline has kicked in, and she knows she has it in her to get another seven and meet Ingo. Empoleon, Froslass, and Togekiss have carried her this far. Battling is second nature to her. She can do this.
Her first opponent on this third train almost gets her, Togekiss struggling to get back on its feet. But it does, firing off another Aura Sphere at its opponent. The rest of the battles go easily, Dawn almost worried that she’d lost some of her skill. The train grinds to a halt then, somewhere in the middle of the tunnel. The intercom flickers to life.
“Congratulations to… Dawn,” comes the voice, one that she finally recognises. “Please stay where you are. The train is making a temporary stop for the title battle.”
Her final opponent beams at her as she returns her Audino, scampering into the carriage behind. From further up the train, Dawn can hear the sliding of the electric doors, loud against the eerie silence of the train tunnel. The man that appears through the door looks a lot more put together than the Ingo Dawn knows, but it is unmistakably him. His eyes widen as he spots her, standing frozen in the doorway for a moment. He shakes his head.
“Sorry,” he says, taking his spot at the end of the field. “I should have introduced myself right away. My name is Ingo. Congratulations on getting twenty-one wins in a row. Sorry for my delay. You look an awful lot like someone I used to know.”
“I am someone you used to know,” Dawn says, and Ingo smiles in recognition.
“Akari… well, I am glad to see you made it back safely. And I look forward to battling you again.”
Dawn sits around the station, not sure what to do with herself until Ingo’s shift ends. The lights go out overhead, and a steward tries to usher her out of the building. She lamely tells him she’s waiting for Ingo, and he rolls his eyes and moves along. It doesn’t take too long until Ingo emerges from the tunnel that she found him in. He greets her with a wave, but doesn’t move from the mouth of the tunnel.
A few along, another person emerges, wearing a white version of Ingo’s outfit. He marches up, and the two fall in step beside them. As they pass her, Ingo nods, and Dawn scrambles to her feet, trailing behind them. They march straight out of the station with no further explanation. The same steward who tried to shoo Dawn away earlier sighs as the three of them pass.
Outside, Ingo lets out a sigh, while the other man stretches. Now Dawn gets a look at them, she has to assume that the man she doesn’t know must be Ingo’s twin, if not brother. They look so similar in every way – except for their demeanour. Dawn always thought Ingo grumpy, but had put it down to him being torn away from his home just as she had been. But it seems now that it is just his default position – grumpy, and at odds with his ever smiling brother.
“Sorry about the wait,” he says, sighing deeply once more.
“No worries. I don’t have anything else to do.”
“Nimbasa City is an interesting place, especially for a young girl such as yourself. I’m sure you could’ve done some sightseeing.”
“It’s fine, Ingo. I came to see you.”
“And who is this?” His brother interrupts. He stood so still, so silently, that Dawn almost forgot he was there.
“My name is Dawn. I met Ingo a while back. I… heard he was back, and I thought I’d pop over to see how he was getting on.”
“You’re one of many! He has had so many well-wishers, though they have lessened in recent weeks.”
“I’ll meet you at home,” Ingo says, keen to get rid of his brother. “I would like to catch up with Ak – Dawn.”
“I shall see you later then!” His brother says, swivelling around on the ball of his foot and wandering off in the other direction. Ingo sighs again.
“My twin brother,” he explains, “Emmett.”
“Ah,” Dawn says, nodding in understanding. There were twins in her class at school, and they were nothing like these two. They were so similar, and Ingo and Emmett seem nothing alike.
“Shall we get dinner? There’s a diner around the corner.”
Dawn nods in agreement. There are only a few diners in Sinnoh, novelty things, knock-offs of the Unovan specialities. She’s a little excited about that, but most of all, she’s excited to speak with Ingo about their shared experiences. They share a booth, some of the diner’s patrons excited to see him. Dawn fumbles with the menu, not sure what to choose, and Ingo ends up ordering for her so they can eat sometime this evening.
“I assume… you kept your memories?” She begins with, keeping her voice hushed. “From then… and before?”
“Yes. When I landed here, I remembered everything about when I was here before,” he tells her, voice equally quiet. “And I kept my memories from our time in Hisui.”
“Must be strange, having that mix…”
“Indeed. The memories in Hisui were formed without the memories from my real life, so they feel… odd.”
“Arceus is a strange Pokémon indeed.”
“Arceus? That is the being that brought us there?” Ingo asks, eyes widening in surprise.
“Um.”
“Dawn.”
“Yes,” she says. “I begged it for us to return to our own home time. And I should have asked you first, I know, but-“
“Though some time to say goodbye may have been favourable, I’m hardly going to complain about you bringing us back to our homes.”
She nods quietly. The decision has been weighing on her for the past few weeks. Ingo had more of a life than she did. He was fully integrated into the Pearl Clan, joined in with their efforts to rebuild Hisui into what is now Sinnoh. He trained regularly with Zisu in Jubilife, and protected Sneasler right up until the Noble Pokémon were released from their titles. She had nothing, and it didn’t occur to her until she returned to Sinnoh that it may have been a selfish decision to rip both of them from Hisui.
“Why… Akari?” He asks.
“My great-grandmother’s name,” she answers with a wry smile. “Something panicked me when I ended up on that beach, and I didn’t want to tell Professor Laventon my real name. So I just… said the first thing that came into my head.”
“I wonder if your great-grandmother was named after you,” Ingo chuckles.
“Don’t say that. I don’t want to think about the many ways in which I messed up the timeline.” She ties her fingers in knots. “I was expecting to get back and nothing be the same. I would go home and my mom wouldn’t be there, my friends, my Pokémon…”
“But everything is the same?”
“As far as I know.”
“Then everything has worked out. Don’t fret too much.”
He nods, the brim of his hat tilting down to cover his eyes. A motion so familiar to Dawn, it fills her with some sort of long missing emotion. Something that she only felt in Hisui. A sense of longing for home. But she is home now. She has been reunited with all her Pokémon, and her friends, and her family, and though there’s still a ways to go before things are truly back to normal, she knows she’s on the right track.
Their food arrives before Dawn can say anything else. Not wanting to spread their secret around, they keep quiet while they eat. It’s only on the walk back to Dawn’s hotel do they dare speak again, confirming with the other that everything truly is okay. They will be okay, given a little more time. Ingo bids her goodbye at the door to the hotel, offering her a napkin from the diner with all his contact details, should she want to contact him. She rips the napkin in half, and borrows his pen to write her own details down for him. He glances at her full name, and back up to her face, a small smile appearing on his face.
“The Champion?”
“Former Champion,” she corrects.
“No wonder you did such an excellent job.”
And then he’s gone. Not ready to go to sleep, Dawn wanders around the city for a while longer, trying to shake off some of the nervous energy that has been building for the last few days.
Returning home to Sinnoh is a lot less stressful on a plane, Dawn finds. She hasn’t flown much in her life, but finds the experience oddly calming. There’s something otherworldly about flying in a plane, at least compared to the modes of travel that she is more familiar with.
Something about the experience battling on the Subway in Unova has set something alight within Dawn. Something stirs, deep in her core, an instinct that she locked away many years before. She was a good battler, and at one time, she did enjoy it. Perhaps losing her childhood to battling, to the Pokémon League, turned her way from it. Her Pokémon were strong, stronger than anyone else in the region. Her battle against Mira was staged, and a part of her is certain that if she were to challenge Mira again, she would easily secure victory.
Perhaps it is adrenaline talking. Madness flowing through her veins. The weight of a new Pokéball in her pocket, the excitement at the prospect of training a new member of her team. Replacing Garchomp felt like an impossible task, even before her return from the past. And her new friend is not a replacement, but an opportunity, a way to cover bases that she didn’t have before. And the prospect of the League looms in her mind, something to consider if nothing else.
Her mother is still giving her the cold shoulder when she returns, though Palmer and Barry both welcome her with open arms. All the time she has spent travelling has allowed her to think, and she announces her intentions to move back to Sunyshore City. She thanks Palmer for his hospitality, and promises Barry that he can stay whenever he wants. Dawn turns to her mom, biting on her lip to stop tears.
“I’d rather have you in Sunyshore than wherever you were before,” Johanna admits, enveloping her daughter in a hug.
“It’s not that far away,” Dawn agrees. “And I’ll come and see you! Every week!”
“As long as you’re safe, and happy, that’s all that matters to me.”
And then the tears come, held back in Unova when she met Ingo, held back on the plane when she started thinking about what would come next. Dawn clings to Johanna, and for the first time in a long time, Dawn is certain that everything is going to turn out okay.
Sunyshore City has never been home, not really. Twinleaf began to feel less and less like home as time went on too, and the Fight Area never stood a chance at being home. Jubilife Village was closer to home, in an odd way. Her own freedoms, her own space, enough of a support network around her that Dawn never felt on her own despite living solo.
Even with all of that in mind, Dawn is determined to make Sunyshore City feel like home. She spends the first while decorating, buying and building and arranging furniture. Hints of Twinleaf Town, hints of the Fight Area. Even things long kept in storage from her villa in the Resort Area – probably too pricy to be keeping in an apartment like this, but they’re nice nonetheless.
Somehow, after all of this, Dawn feels more like herself. Everything is pink and fluffy and sparkly, just how she had imagined her own space as a child. Gone are the clinical white walls and boring grey furniture, replaced with things of Dawn’s own choosing. She lets her Pokémon out to explore. Carnivine and Empoleon don’t seem to care much at all. Froslass pokes about a little bit before deciding to sit down again. Togekiss seems keen to explore, but doesn’t move from its spot.
Pachirisu is the opposite – moving all over, getting stuck in the lampshade and having to wait for Carnivine to lift it out. The newest member of Dawn’s team, a tiny Pokémon that the Pokédex refers to as a Gothita, wobbles to and fro, making sense of its new home. Togekiss takes it under its wing, finally moving from its spot to show Gothita the layout of the apartment.
Dawn collapses on the sofa, tired from a day’s work. The issue of finding work still looms over her head. While this apartment has no costs other than utility bills, those still cost money, something that she is rapidly running out of. Finding something boring in Sunyshore will have to do for now. Perhaps she won’t be able to live out the life that she envisions, not right now, but that will come.
Her pep is returning, slowly but surely. As Gothita tiptoes back into the room, Dawn feels something that she hasn’t in a long time – confident.
The PokéMart is not an interesting job, nor is the uniform in any way flattering. The repetitive nature of the job makes it quick and easy to learn, and her coworkers are nice. Dawn does not, however, appreciate the many looks every day from people about to open their mouths and ask ‘Aren’t you…’ before deciding better than that. She plasters on a smile, and thinks about what she’ll be doing when she gets home and isn’t selling Pokéballs to people who think they know better than her.
She’s saved the world twice, Dawn reminds herself when a Rich Boy raises his eyebrows at her. She has completed two Pokédexes, she thinks when a Collector starts listing the benefits of different Pokéballs to her. She was the Champion for seven years, and only lost when she rigged it, she tells herself when an Ace Trainer recognises her and starts talking about how she fell off. She met Arceus, she wants to scream when anyone is rude to her. And she won’t be here for much longer.
That’s how she copes, screaming inside her head while remaining bright and sunny on the outside. It’s how she coped with the League for so long, although knowing that the PokéMart is only a temporary job helps matter immensely. One of her coworkers gets sent to work in the Veilstone Deprtment Store, and Dawn gets an upgrade to supervisor, because she’s one of the few employees who is actually an adult. She doesn’t mind the extra responsibility, but she does mind the gossip magazine reporter who decides to make a show and dance out of her new job.
In the evenings, she takes her Pokémon for a walk, usually in the direction of Lake Valor. Six of them walk in a straight line behind her, Gothita at the front where Dawn can keep an eye on it, and Empoleon at the back to keep everyone else in line. She’s heard mean comments when passing, but keeps her head held high, because Dawn has a plan.
It takes just over a week of training by the sea for Gothita to evolve. Gothorita, according to the Pokédex. It looks a little bigger, a little poutier, and a little stronger. It isn’t up to the same levels of her other Pokémon, and won’t be for a while yet, but Dawn is already confident about the progress that the newest member of her team is making. They march back to her apartment the same way they came.
Twelve years ago, when Dawn first took on the Gym challenge, she got on fairly well with most of the gym leaders. They were impressed that such a young girl could battle so well. Aside from Fantina, no one knew her mother, knew that Pokémon were in her blood. During her tenure as Champion, that good relationship was easy to maintain, mostly due to their bemusement that someone so young was Champion.
Cynthia had become Champion at nineteen. At the time, Gardenia had just become Gym Leader in Eterna, making her the youngest. Between then and Dawn’s ascension, Candice, Roark, and Maylene took their positions. People turned their nose up at fourteen year old Maylene being a Gym Leader, though she was hardly the youngest that the League had ever seen. Though the other League members welcomed Dawn with open arms, many articles wrote about how she was far too young to be doing such a job.
When she moved to Sunyshore the first time, aged sixteen, Volkner kept an eye out for her. She had always been sort of scared of him – he rarely smiled, rarely spoke to her, and although she had beaten him in battle a number of times, she was always waiting for him to declare another rematch, determined to beat her.
He does the same now. She doesn’t notice at first, but she hears from a concerned neighbour that the Gym Leader stands on the overhead walkways every morning to watch her leave, and often stands there in the evenings too, making sure she gets home safe. Her neighbour is concerned, but there’s no need to be. Dawn tells her that Volkner is an old friend, and the woman seems happy enough.
This morning, she looks up to the walkways, and sure enough, there stands Volkner, leaning against the railings, travel mug of coffee in his hands. Dawn ventures a wave. He lifts his hand in response, before turning and heading in the direction of the Gym. Dawn heads on to work, feeling a little less on edge than usual.
She spots him again in the evening, just as her neighbour said. This time, she pauses as she waves. He responds as he did this morning, but this time, he doesn’t move.
“Are you busy?” Dawn yells up to him.
“It’s time for dinner,” he calls back.
“After that?”
“What do you want?”
“A battle!” She says. That piques his interest. He smiles, shakes his head.
“Shouldn’t be surprised. You can come over for dinner too. Meet me at the gym.”
She can tell that he wasn’t planning of this – the gym is entirely closed up for the day, and he’s fumbling with his keys when she makes it up the stairs to the gym. Volkner doesn’t look annoyed, though, and leads her through the gym to the office at the back. She remembers hating this puzzle when she first traversed it years ago, but Volkner is able to move the gears into the correct position by pushing a button by the door.
Dawn does not expect a gourmet dinner, and isn’t at all surprised when Volkner holds out two different flavours of instant noodles to her. Most hosts would be slightly more generous, but she can hardly complain – this is barely a kitchen at all, just a space with a sink and a kettle and a toaster. She selects the Tamato berry flavour, and Volkner nods in appreciation.
They eat in silence. He’s never been one for conversing much with her, and she isn’t a fan of talking while eating. It makes for a good arrangement. He finishes his food first, setting the cup on the counter and waiting patiently for her to finish.
“My neighbour thought you were stalking me,” she tells him. He raises an eyebrow at this.
“Just keeping an eye on you. I know what Sunyshore can be like. Better than most, I would imagine.”
“She was just looking out for me too. You know, weird old man standing above my apartment every day, waiting for me to come out.”
“I’m not old.”
“Old enough to be a creepy old man, if I didn’t know you.”
“Whatever,” he huffs. “You wanted to battle? I thought you didn’t do that anymore.”
“I need some practice,” she says, and he nods approvingly.
“Practice for…”
“You’re not going to believe me if I say keeping my Pokémon in good health, are you?”
“Not really. What are you planning?”
“Nothing concrete,” Dawn confesses. It’s true, there’s nothing certain in her plans. But the plans have been bubbling for a while, and she wants to see what she can do. The last time she was completely happy was when she was around fifteen, and that same sense of enthusiasm for life has been slowly returning to her.
“You shouldn’t just battle me,” Volkner advises. “Go to Snowpoint. I’ve heard Candice is getting particularly strong. Battle everyone – it’d be worth your while.”
“Get all my Gym Badges again, you mean?”
“Why not?”
“They don’t have an expiry date.”
“Yeah, but you’re severely out of practice. Wouldn’t do you any harm.” He gets up, leading her out of the office and back into the main part of the gym. “I heard about your Garchomp, too. Funny, I warned Cynthia about it before you had even left my gym all those years ago.”
“Yeah. Didn’t even get to say goodbye. Cynthia looked after it for me.”
“I assume you have a sixth team member now?”
“Yeah. It’s not… really ready for battles yet, though.”
“Three on three, then. Two of your fully trained Pokémon, and your new one. Two of my fully trained Pokémon, and a new one of mine.”
“Fine. Please don’t go easy on me. I want to know if I…”
“If you still have it?” She nods. “If there’s anyone that can disappear from battling entirely for years and still have it, it’s you.”
Volkner sends out his Electivire first – no surprise there. Dawn counters with Froslass, knowing that none of her Pokémon are particularly suited to this fight. He graciously allows her the first move – Hail – and Froslass disappears within the snow. She can feel Volkner roll his eyes from across the room. Electivire punches out blindly, none of its attacks hitting Froslass, all while taking damage from the Hail.
Froslass fires a Shadow Ball from within the Hail, hitting Electivire square in the chest. Now knowing where Froslass is, it’s able to use Fire Punch, melting through the Hail and hitting Froslass head on. It doesn’t fall though, disappearing once more. Dawn calls for a Blizzard, and Electivire is no more.
The Hail fades as Volkner returns his Pokémon, Dawn doing the same for a fair battle. Out comes Luxray – exactly who she expected to see. She sends out Carnivine, with a warning for her Pokémon to stay as far away from Luxray as it can. She calls Leaf Tornado – not Carnivine’s strongest move, but one that with chip away at Luxray’s defences until she is confident at making her move.
Unfortunately for her, Volkner sends Luxray straight towards Carnivine. Another Leaf Tornado does not deter it, and soon it has its teeth clamped around Carnivine’s arm, jaws glowing red with the power of a Fire Fang. This gives Dawn a chance to command Power Whip, which both damages Luxray and allows Carnivine to shake it off. Luxray dashes forward again, outspeeding Carnivine, this time for an icy attack. Blue fangs do not deter Dawn, nor Carnivine, though the attack leaves it shaky. One more Power Whip has Luxray pushed away to the other side of the field, and an Energy Ball finishes it up.
Dawn has won, she knows that already. But curiosity makes her finish the battle. She and Volkner return their Pokémon. Her hand curls around Gothorita’s Pokébal. Volkner stares at the third Pokéball in his hand.
“Don’t laugh,” he says.
“I won’t,” she reassures him, though she admits she’s curious about what has the potential to make her laugh at all. She throws Gothorita’s ball at the same time that Volkner throws his, a very familiar Pokémon appearing on the other side of the field.
“Pachirisu!” Dawn squeals, seeing one of her favourites appear.
“I know you like them. You inspired me, to be honest. Didn’t think much of them, but yours is something special. Wondered what I could do with one myself.”
“Not really your type,” Dawn concurs.
“When were you in Unova?” Volkner asks.
“A few months ago. How do you know about Gothorita?”
“Saw Caitlin not that long ago. You know, from the Battle Castle? She’s over there now. Elite Four. Has been for a while."
“Oh, yeah. I don’t think I ever got that far in the Battle Castle.”
“She has one of them. The big one, anyway.”
“Interesting! I’ll have to look her up, see if I can watch any of her videos…”
“You really are taking this seriously, aren’t you?” Volkner says with a chuckle. Dawn finds herself flushing with embarrassment – her first foray into battling proper trainers again, and she’s been caught out.
“I guess I am.”
Gothorita isn’t her most offensive Pokémon, but then, Dawn supposes that Psychic type Pokémon aren’t. Her first command is for Hypnosis, and she can see Volkner shake his head. It misses, and Pachirisu gets up into Gothorita’s personal space, Volkner calling Swift and Discharge in quick succession. Psyshock doesn’t do much to keep Pachirisu back.
Another Discharge, and another Psyshock, and Gothorita stumbles back. From father away, Dawn is more confident in a Psybeam, but Pachirisu is simply too quick, and gets a third Discharge in, knocking Gothorita out. Dawn sighs as she returns Gothorita to its ball.
“Let’s call it a day there. I think you won.” He crosses he field, Pachirisu scampering onto his arm before he returns it.
“I guess I did, but…”
“It’s a new Pokémon. You need more time to get used to each other. It’s only recently evolved too, right?”
“Yeah. Two weeks ago, maybe.”
“Go back to the start. Roark. Use Gothorita as much as you can, out in the wild, random trainer battles. Then go to Gardenia.”
“I can’t really take the time off work to be journeying like I used to,” Dawn admits with a smile.
“You have days off. You can use Fly. Do one city at a time. And keep up your evening training.”
“You can come with me, sometime. I can give you Pachirisu tips.”
“Maybe.” He chuckles a little at that. “Keep at it. You want to be on top again?”
“I think I do.” It’s the first time she’s said it out loud. The contest dream is still there, hovering in the back of her mind, the set of ribbons so close to completion. But she never got the same buzz from contests as she did from battling. Her time away cemented that in her mind.
“You know what to do then.”
From his pocket, he pulls out a Beacon Badge, and presses it into her palm.
“I have one,” she reminds him.
“They’ve been slightly redesigned. New, and shiny. You may as well have one. I don’t get to give them out too often.”
“Thanks, Volkner.”
“I never liked that Mira girl. Beat her, right?”
“I’ll do my best.”
The Pokémon League International has a database of all championship battles. In previous years, one would have had to go to the library, or their headquarters in Saffron City, in order to watch back clips of reigning champions. Dawn never did this before her first battle – at the time, she didn’t know it was an option. In the last few years, the database has been put online, though now you need to pay to access it. Dawn coughs up the money, knowing it will be useful.
With the new laptop she bought, she sits through all ten of Mira’s most recent matches while she paints her nails. Her team doesn’t seem to have changed at all from when Dawn battled her – the first of the ten battles. Though this one was staged, Dawn watches it anyway, looking solely at the way Mira commands her Pokémon, rather than the Pokémon themselves.
The next battle is against a much younger trainer, and Mira struggles against them. Though she comes out victorious, it isn’t without losses, and Dawn watches both her and her opponent crumple. She shakes the younger boy’s hand, and wishes him well.
Her Alakazam will be the main issue. Mira’s first Pokémon, and her strongest companion. While Froslass’s ghost type moves may be able to take it down, she isn’t entirely sure that Froslass is strong enough to take on Akalazam. As she continues to watch, Mira’s strength grows. Aaron challenges her at one point, as does Lucian, though the latter only fights with two Pokémon before giving up.
The League has a new ground type specialist in Bertha’s place after the woman retired three years ago. Dawn has yet to see the woman appear in any of these videos, and a quick search online for her brings up only forum posts speculating about how she battles from before she took her position. That’s another obstacle to her challenge, but it’s nothing that Empoleon and Carnivine can’t handle.
Mira’s Togekiss seems to tire easily. Gengar doesn’t have the best aim. Porgyon-Z only seems to use Tri-Attack, even though it does have other moves in its arsenal. Magnezone does not have Levitate, Dawn notes. And Sandslash is by far Mira’s weakest Pokémon, only knocking out one opponent in all ten battles – even in Dawn’s staged battle it didn’t do much.
Dawn has to wonder how Mira has survived this long. Her team is lacklustre, and she doesn’t seem to make much of an effort to train them up. Dawn clicks out of Mira’s section of the website, hesitantly hovering over her own name. Under her tab there are twenty six battles over seven years. She clicks out before she’s tempted to watch them, and clicks into Cynthia’s tab. Thirty nine battles over nine years. It isn’t that Mira is doing a good job – it’s that the Elite Four have stepped up.
That presents a new problem. The database has no information on the Elite Four battles – no videos, no transcripts, no numbers of battles won and lost. Searching generally online doesn’t bring up much either. As all the battles happen behind closed doors, there aren’t any unofficial pages with statistics, and the official pages are even less helpful. All Dawn can do is hope that when the time comes, she is strong enough to beat the Elite Four.
Behind her, Gothitelle appears, having silently slid up to peer over its trainer’s shoulder. It hums, and Dawn shuts her eyes tight, knowing that her Pokémon is about to show her a vision of the future. She doesn’t want to know. She wants to be able to do things herself, and besides, Gothitelle can’t give her a timeline of when these events happen. The Pokémon chirps, and sets its hand on Dawn’s head. It’s oddly comforting, and when Dawn opens her eyes, the shimmery quality of the future vision is gone.
“Don’t do that again, okay? We can win without any cheats. Just with our strength.”
It takes months before she’s ready. Months of wondering if she’s making the right decision. Of writing and rewriting her resignation letter from the PokéMart. Of battling Barry on the weekends just like the used to. Of sparring with Volkner, watching her Gothitelle and his Pachirisu get stronger and stronger. He tells her when he thinks she’s ready, and she shakes her head.
To prove to herself that she is truly ready, she makes an all too familiar journey, one she has made more times than she cares to count. Dawn packs a bag, and wraps up warm, and ventures up Mt Coronet. The path is muscle memory to her now – where to pause and look for Abomasnow, where to wait for falling snow that she has disturbed, which cave entrance leads the way she wants to go.
The air thins, chills, as she gets close to the summit. It looks different to when she was here before – back when the land was called Hisui. The altar to the Pokémon that created the world still stands, reminding Dawn of that awful battle against the man that foisted Giratina on her. That Pokémon remains her worst enemy to this day, always slithering in her dreams.
She kneels in the snow, melted everywhere else by this point in the year but still lying thick in the heights of Mr Coronet. She bows her head, praying to who? - she’s not sure. But she stays there until the cold becomes unbearable. She stands slowly, and lifts her head. Somehow, she expects to see something. One of the deities, perhaps. But there is nothing there but the softly falling snow. Dawn turns her back and heads back down the mountain the way she came.
Back in Sunyshore, she makes a warm cup of tea, and lets its heat melt her body from the inside out. She packs her bag for the next day, sliding the resignation letter into the bag’s front pocket. It’s the same bag from when she was ten, and though it’s silly, Dawn hopes that it’ll bring her a little bit of luck.
She doesn’t expect to sleep well, but it comes easily. When she wakes in the morning from an oddly dreamless sleep, she wonders how much Gothitelle had to do with that. Still, she can hardly complain – she feels well rested and ready for the day ahead. Breakfast and coffee, and she’s on her way.
For a while she contemplated tackling Victory Road again, but the prospect of that is nowhere as entertaining as it was the first time around. Besides, her Pokémon no longer know all the hidden moves that would make traversing the route possible. Instead, Dawn flies to the top of the island, right outside the main building. She stops there for a moment, looking around at her surroundings. It has been six, nearly seven years since she’s been here, having never ventured back after her loss.
Chin raised, shoulders back. No smile, but a stern look of confidence that tells everyone that she means business. The entrance hall is empty aside from the receptionist, who recognises Dawn immediately. She processes the paperwork, and with a nod, sends Dawn on her way. The metal doors slide open, clanking shut behind her, and Dawn steps forward to her new challenge.