Chapter Text
Lumiose:
The gentle, constant lurch and roll of the train makes it easy to relax; like the gait of a well-trained dodrio, but with better seating.
The various murmurings and soundclips of scrolling rotom-phones is a little less-so, but such additions had been present in their lives since becoming Sinnoh's Champions.
"I tried to get us a private cart, but the Conductor was a snubble about it," Cynthia murmurs, her breath shiver inducing for more reasons than just the vanillish-flavored ice cream they were sharing.
"Poor guy, I hope he finds his brother one day," Dawn whispers back; noting her shiver, Cynthia pulls away, leaning back in the seat.
"Same," she offers flatly, mischief in her eye; "Still though, you'd think saving the world world have a few more perks..."
The joke is old by a few months now, but it's... welcomed.
While it was difficult not to think back...
The world seemed so much brighter with Cynthia smiling along side her.
Even now, Dawn finds herself lost in the Champion's smile, -and a Champion she would always be, as far she she cared. The position and title didn't mean as much to her, at least for her own sake. Not in the way her Poke-Contests did, anyway.
She was happy to be a 'Master Coordinator' and for Cynthia to be 'the Champion'.
While their respective jobs had taken a up a majority of their time since saving the world, they'd promised each other that they'd always make time to...
Well. 'Hang out'.
Sight seeing, shopping, cycling, swimming -whatever caught their attentions, really.
She tried not to think of them like dates, but...
Dawn looks at the cone Cynthia holds out for her, watching expectantly; knowing if she doesn't act, the older woman will finish the treat herself. And probably tease her about it. Or make those really sad 'doll eyes' at her...
She takes another lick, trying to ignore the way some of the other passengers whisper amongst themselves. Some of them debating their identities and others... their manner of relationship.
It's hard to blame them, she supposes; not when she was fretting over 'indirect kisses' and weather or not the being the 'Saviors of Sinnoh' meant more or less than being friends...
-And Cynthia's... odd boundaries -and occasional lacks thereof- made it harder for her dumb brain not to spit luvdiscs all over the place.
"We'll be there soon," Cynthia murmurs, catching her restlessness. Her good eye glares at the other passengers for just a moment, but it fades as Dawn forces herself to relax, and leans against her side.
Looking at her again, Cynthia gently switches the cone to her other hand, to wrap an arm around her middle; Dawn nestles into the taller woman, feeling sheltered by Cynthia's fuzzy coat and gold gleaming hair. She shudders to think what the rotom-net will will say about it...
"Are you comfortable enough?" Cynthia asks, head tilted just enough to look her over.
-Were she younger, Cynthia would've pulled Dawn onto her lap as though she were a sleepy glameow, but times were... growing different, the older they got.
Her face scrunches, realizing she'd kinda just called herself a purugly-
"Dawn?"
"-I'm cute, right?"
Cynthia's face fills with a light surprise; it passes quickly. "Of course," she assures, ruffling her hand through Dawn's hair.
-Maybe she was a cat-type pokemon to the older woman...
She closes her eyes, content.
In doing so, she misses the way Cynthia's gaze lingers on her; her visible eye teeming with questions, emotions, and thoughts unshared...
-She finishes their cone quietly, deep in contemplation as Dawn rests.
~~~~
The Station is bristling with people, their rotom phones, and their companion pokemon; the noise isn't deafening, but Cynthia deftly reaches for her hand to weaville their way through the crowds without getting separated. It's far from the first time Cynthia has held her hand, -in fact, it usually seems like neither of them mean to, only to end up doing it again... but the woman's grip is purposeful and strong, like an adamant arcanine.
Excitement bubbles up in Dawn's chest; both at their arrival, and for the way Cynthia's cold, battle hardened-determination melts into a playful skitty-ish smile at the sight of her, - Dawn's face flushes, just the same as it had every time the woman made her heart flutter.
Cynthia pulls her to the turn-styles, their wings flying open as they hurridly file through; Dawn barely has time to study the maps before she's pulled into the heart of Lumiose City. Thankfully, Cynthia pauses as she gasps; the Champion chuckles, allowing her a moment to drink in everything from the skyscrapers to the bustling residents and gallivanting tourists, -like themselves.
Everywhere, there were more people than in any other city or town she'd been to across several regions.
"Just how big is this place?" she wonders, awe-strcuk.
"It's more dense than 'big'," Cynthia muses, glancing around herself; spotting several street carts, she tugs Dawn out of the middle of the walkway to one of the vendors selling foods on sticks.
Dawn chuckles; some things never changed...
Above them, a blaring add rang out over the streets. A well dressed elderly lady -and apparent CEO, talking up the city for all to hear. While Dawn didn't care much at first, the promise of 'Wild Zones' and a 'Battle Royal' intrigued her.
-Not to mention how heartwarming it was to see a city take such notable strides to bring pokemon and people closer together!
"Ahhh... construction," Cynthia sighs, also having paused to watch the ad; Dawn looks back at her, finding apology in the Champion's visible eye. "I hope this wont ruin our vacation..."
"I'm sure it'll be fun!" she assures, lifting Cynthia's spirits.
The woman nods, glee always quick to return to her heart. Just as the food is quick to find the woman's stomach.
"Did you get me one?" Dawn asks, eyeing the tasty looking snack in Cynthia's hands; she grabs for it -the dragon tamer scowls playfully, holding it aloft.
"No fair," she whines, as Cynthia finishes it in a single gar-CHOMP.
Chuckling, she chucks the stick in a nearby bin, looping an arm through Dawn's; "You're cute when you're mad..." she teases.
"You're more evil than Team Rocket," she pouts, earning a hearty laugh from the older woman.
She leans down, almost pressing her nose against Dawn's.
"...Well you'll just have to stick with me, to foil my evil plans then, hmm?" Cynthia teases.
Dawn's heart skips a beat, as the light catches so perfectly along Cynthia's mane of hair. Never in all of her contests could she recreate such a dazzling display...
The moment passes, Cynthia turning to lead them through the streets.
Their pace is more leisurely than not, only their bags of luggage really spurring them to their hotel.
~~~
Their boots crunched along the quaint, patterned brick courtyard, and the small sliver of late afternoon sun sneaking its way through the city fell perfectly over the tangle of ivy cascading over the hotel's front.
The hotel itself seemed underwhelming otherwize, -in that its smaller than the other massive towers of concrete surrounding it, giving the establishment a 'hole in the wall' feeling that Dawn found rather charming, since she was far more used to smaller, cozier places nestled in the middle of nowhere and tiny town hostels. And she held little doubt Cynthia had picked it for similar reasons.
Cynthia winks, and Dawn flushes a little as tension builds in her body for whatever little secret dances in the older woman's eyes.
"I'll be the most tranquill little spot -since I was able to book the entire building..." she offers proudly.
Dawn's breath eases away -Cynthia liked surprising her with things like this; sometimes taking her to small getaways, sometimes taking her to large parties of top tier trainers...
It was... sweet. And the way Cynthia lit up like a happiny whenever she revealed her surprises was just... so...
So her.
"That tracks," she baits, a teasing smile on her lips.
"Oh?" Cynthia bites, falling right into her trap.
"Naturally. You need a secret hideout for your villainous planning, don't you?"
Cynthia scoffs, but laughter fills her features; "Hush you," she scolds, ruffling her hair.
Dawn's still giggling when they walk inside.
...
It's about as charming as its exterior, and almost... haunted. -Not by any ghost type pokemon (that she can sense at least), but by the passage of time. As if the building had been stuck in some noir-film, and left to gather dust. Though that wasn't to say it was illkept or untidy.
If anything, that it looked so frozen spoke volumes to the upkeep some poor, unseen souls had to have spent maintaining its... unique atmosphere.
Cynthia leaves her to her gawking and makes her way over to the reception counter; Dawn vaugley listens to them talk of rooms and keys as she studies the hotel's furnishings: large area rugs, mismatching but comfortably worn-looking chairs, potted plants, abstract paintings-
At the *klefki* sound of keys klink'ing, Dawn turns away from the cozy sitting room. Her eyes widen at the impossibly tall man Cynthia is speaking to. -The owner, Dawn assumes. Given how tall Cynthia was, that the man loomed over the dragon tamer was... unnerving. His shiny flowette was also odd. She'd never heard of one with those colors before... was it a regional variant?
Their conversation seemed to be wrapping up however, so Dawn has no time for questions or their answers.
"This way~" Cynthia coaxes, waving a room key in her hands.
Dawn follows, a quick spoink in her step, as they step inside a massive elevator.
"He had the posture of a Zoroark," Dawn whispers, once the ornate elevator doors close behind them.
"I was thinking 'Midnight Lycanroc'," Cynthia teases back, mock-horror on her face. She jabs her fingers at Dawn, -earning a squeal.
"No fair!" she cries, earning a satisfied hum from the older woman.
"All's fair in love and war, my lil' Petlil," the dragon tamer lilts, sending her heart fluttering faster than a finneon's tail.
The elevate reaches the second floor with a nondescript *ding*, and they step out into a vacant hall, sporting a handful of doors to choose from.
"Clearly, I'm an Armarouge," she insists, unable to let go of the admittedly imaginary battle; knowing Cynthia wouldn't resist either, if she goaded her.
"Oh?"
The merriment in Cynthia's eyes betray her 'aloof' stance; Dawn can sense a jibe on the wind -a kind of foresight.
Cynthia's face falls, and for a moment, Dawn thinks she must've miscalculated somehow-
"I don't think I want to be Ceruledge..." she feigns, pressing a hand to her cheek; "-How about Dachsbun?"
"The bread dog!?"
Still holding her pose, the champion's smile turns eerily ferocious.
"-No one would see me coming," Cynthia growls, exuding strange excitement. Bloodthirst, maybe.
Dawn rolls her eyes; admitting defeat. -She never would expect bread to be evil...
"Now, do you want your own room or...."
Cynthia's ordinary question breaks her from her thoughts.
She looks from the doors back to Cynthia, years of battling turning seconds into decisions.
Don't we usually share? she thinks, but that feels too... Something. So she offers something perfectly plausible instead.
"Less work for the staff if we share, right?" she asks, unable to keep her weird hopefulness out of her voice. She liked snuggling with the other woman.
Cynthia doesn't seemed bothered by her barely contained pining though; her smile broadens and she beckons her over to one of the doors.
"Here we go~" the Champion sings.
...
The room matches the rest of the building, just as comprised of old wooden furniture and stately embellishments: old ornate drapes, a large patterned rug, a desk for light work, a small table with a pair of chairs perfect for morning coffees and late night desserts... A bathroom off to the side, a wardrobe, a few bag holders, and of course, the bed.
Big enough for the two of them, but certainly not by much... It also sported a landline just beside it on the wall for room service; that brings another smile to her lips.
She could already picture Cynthia, tired from a day of gallivanting, sleeping in unreasonably late, only rising enough to order lunch in bed...
It was a humble room, but even so, Dawn is powerless to stop the grin spreading across her face.
"I thought you'd like it..." Cynthia murmurs, pleased.
Dawn feels the woman step closer; she angles her head reflexively -always, it felt as if there were some magnetic force between them, or some string of fate.
Cynthia stares at her for a moment, without saying anything.
As she does, Dawn's teeth find her lip, her breath slowing as the taller woman leans closer.
Gently, -almost as if Cynthia wasn't aware she was doing so- she cups Dawn's face.
Her skin warms beneath it.
Her heart hammers.
"Sylveon."
"...What?" Dawn breathes, her brain struggling to catch up when Cynthia's lips are so terribly close to her own.
"Slyveon," Cynthia repeats, pulling away and nodding to herself. "That's what you are. You have the ribbons and everything."
Her heart crashes back into her chest, and she laughs a little at herself.
"And I am a fearless Noivern," Cynthia adds, tossing her bag to the bed.
"-A terrifying dragon until I feed you snacks?" Dawn guesses.
"Exactly," Cynthia agrees, "How lovely of you to suggest we get dinner together!"
"I did nothing of the sort!!" she playfully protests, setting her own bag down.
"And why, battling after? Oh Dawn, you shouldn't have~" Cynthia sings on, feigning wild dramatics; the lilt in her voice -even pushed into such absurdities- collapsed any argument she'd pretended to have had.
"Battling first," Dawn decides, hoping the dragon tamer wasn't noticing the rising heat in her face; "Then desert."
~~~~
The sun sets as they step back out into the courtyard, and Lumiose's streets grow accosted by shadows larger than most houses Dawn had ever seen; reminding her of a few powerful ghost type moves she'd faced in and out of battle rings.
What really caught her attention though, were the multitudes of neon lights and holograms flickering to life-
One glance at Cynthia told her the older woman was feeling the same, judging by the electric gleam in her eyes.
The wind bounces between buildings, and, noting other trainers parkour'ing their ways across the city, Dawn and Cynthia quickly follow suit.
As the Battle Zone forms, the dark winding alleys line with red holograms and very quickly fill with clatters of battle cries; it seemed around every corner, a glow rotom phones or pokemon moves blazed and flashed.
Their own rotom phones blink to life as they delve in, quickly snapping pictures and cataloging wins.
-Dawn knows it really isn't fair of them to pick on lower level trainers, but the rules of the Royal demanded they work their way up. And that meant starting from bottom. She supposed there was always a chance for a 'diamond in the ruff', much like her self, but with their Champion skill levels, they were climbing the ranks with an almost disappointing ease. The first few trainers they fought didn't even have full teams! And the ones farther in were still clearly working on type coverages. Their promotion battles took only marginally longer, and that was mostly from the monologues the Ranked Trainers always seemed to have prepared.
It wasn't that the fights weren't fun, -it was always nice to see pokemon stretch their legs so-to-speak, but neither her team or Cynthia's could really practice with such inexperienced opponents.
And once word got around that they were challenging trainers, some of the unmatched trainers fled the Zone entirely, which seemed to sour Cynthia's mood.
Dawn figured the Royal was probably the entire reason the dragon tamer had brought her to the city in the first place; and already halfway up the Ranks, she could see why the older woman might be disappointed they were already so far along. It was always difficult doing normal things with everyone else, after reaching a Champion's level.
Which meant they had to make their own fun...
"-First to the top picks the prize?" Dawn offers, leaning against a balcony railing.
"It'll be an honor to battle you again," Cynthia calls up to her from the street below; she spins, her golden hair a rippling like a rapidash's mane in the wind.
"Just don't lose to anyone but me," Dawn replies; the other woman laughs and heads down a different alley, but a feeling lingers in Dawn's heart.
She quickly chases after her, having forgone the winding alleyways for the freedom of the rooftops.
...
With their little game established, the hardest part of battling was getting to trainers before Cynthia could! And since they didn't want to 'double kick' down any of their opponents, either of them fighting a trainer meant the other one had to find someone else... Which meant a lot of running, rolling, climbing, and surprise attacks!
Honestly, the feeling of meowth-and-tandemaus'ing across the city with Cynthia fun.
She doubted either of them would reach 'A' rank before sunup, but only because they only had so much time before sunup, and there wasn't an infinite numbers of trainers to Challenge...
So if they paced themselves enough, they could stretch the Royal out another night or two, -just long enough for their stay in Lumiose~
Just as the thought filled her heart with anticipation, something in the air shifts.
.
.
.
It's not a pokemon's move, or a change of the weather, but something.... else.
-The city fills with a neon violet glow, emanating from the central tower at the City's heart.
Something was wrong.
Immediately, she returns her pokemon to their balls, and heads for the tower. Now running across rooftops with worry, not elation. She doesn't call out for Sinnoh's other Champion -she knows Cynthia would see it too, knows beyond reason or thought that the older woman would be making her way there as well.
She reaches the foundation of the tower, out of breath and out of panic, as grim readiness settles into her bones.
Two people stand near the the tower door, but the light is so bright that Dawn can hardly make them out.
There's a few other people skirting the edges, not daring to brave the strange light, -and there, just a few feet away from herself, was Cynthia.
"Should we call the Grand Duchess?" she asks, wincing from the glow.
"Diantha left Kalos a few nights ago," Cynthia barks, clearly on edge as she studies the Tower. "I offered to fill in for a few days."
Ahh.
So that was how Cynthia had managed to sneak them away...
"I guess it's up to us-" she starts, already braced for whatever they were about to walk into.
"-Dawn, behind you!"
Cynthia's shout is well timed, and Dawn spins on her heels -pokeball opening midturn- without hesitation.
Red eyes gleam in the darkness of the alley behind them; with her vision still rent from the Tower's light, Dawn can't quite make the creature out, but her trusty typhlosion growls. And at its side, Cynthia's garchomp hits the pavement; even without it's mighty roar, Dawn can tell exactly how it readies itself by the sound of its talons scraping against the road.
"I've got this! G-"
"-I'm not leaving you!"
-Behind them, the light fades from the tower and then flashes twice at bright.
Pulsing. Pulsing was never a good sign...
-Whatever is happening, Dawn has no way of knowing if it's already too late or not.
And in front of them, the creature in the alley begins to glow.
-This, Dawn knows well.
Evolution.
But the pokemon that slashes wildly at her typhlosion isn't... normal.
Mega Evolution depend on Trainers' Lifeforces, -and bracelets and stones besides! There was no way-
"No fucking way..." Cynthia murmurs, also taken aback by the Mega-Pidgeot. Her Garchomp valiantly fires off a 'Devastating Drake', thanks to the Dragonium Z crystal Cynthia'd picked up awhile back; the dragon clips one of the bird's great wings, but the beast doesn't go down. It only marginally slows.
"Cynthia-" she calls, her nerves on a razor's edge. The bird dives at the dragon tamer, but Cynthia pivots away in the nick of time-
While not the strongest of pokemon, what a normal flying type lacked in bulk, Mega Pidgeot more than made up for in stamina and speed.
"What the hell is going on in this city!?" Cynthia scoffs, tackling Dawn to the ground.
She rolls them both, pulling her behind a parked car.
-It wasn't great cover, but it was better than splashing like a magikarp out in the open.
Tornado-like gusts of wind splinter to wither sides of the road, -the bird cries, going in for a 'brave' dive, but the few extra seconds has shaken the confusion from Dawn's reflexes.
"Extrasensory~"
-Her typhlosion acts almost instantly, stepping into the pidgeot's path with complete trust in her.
The Pidgeot flinches.
It's more than enough time for garchomp. It's dagger-like teeth bury themselves into the bird pokemon's flesh with an almost sickening *crunch*.
Dawn knows it's not the dark type move Cythnia is utilizing, but a normal, far deadlier one: Thrash.
The Pidegot flaps and screams, but not even it's mega form is strong enough to break free of garchomp's unwavering bite.
One-
-Two-
-Three-
Seconds pass, and the bird's vision begins to swirl. -Lack of air causing Confusion, she thinks, but the sustained damage will make it Faint...
The bird goes limp, but Dawn knows it isn't dead. That Cynthia would never allow her partners to take an innocent life.
The garchomp releases it's prey, -not out of instinct, but in spite of it.
It truly respected Cynthia.
And truly, the pair were frightening.
Dawn shivers, returning her own beloved teammate to its ball; Garchomp stays at the ready, and Cynthia pulls them both to their feet.
They glance back at the tower, the pulsing increasing rapidly.
Whatever was happening, it was going to happen now.
"Dawn-"
Cynthia's voice rings in her ears as
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