When I went into the kitchen after spending the night in Professor Carolina’s home, my eyes went a little wide when I saw who sat at the table. Certainly, I had known that Cynthia came by for dinner every week but that didn’t explain why she was sitting here now, a mug of something steaming in her hand. Nor did it explain why Joyce sat across her, a similar mug in her hand and a grin on her face.

“Dani, you look…” Joyce paused, as she studied my state, “You look good. At least once I look past your scrapes, you need to take care of yourself, girl,” she added, her voice both amused and admonishing at the same time.

“I do try,” I refuted her, knowing that my tumble down the mountain could have caused serious injuries. But at the same time, there was little else I could have done at that moment, those Bronzor and Bronzong were simply too powerful.

“My grandmother told us about your discovery, I’ll join you when you report to Kodra. Joyce joined me because she was one of the experts consulted regarding your physical state. What exactly happened that she was consulted?” Cynthia asked, looking seriously worried.

Joyce simply looked at me, clearly not intending to answer Cynthia’s question, if she even knew the answer. I wasn’t quite certain how much data she had been given but either way, she deferred to me.

“You remember little Vio?” I asked, causing Cynthia’s frown to deepen as she nodded, “When she saw I was wounded, she decided to help. By my understanding, she used a combination of Hypnosis and Disarming Voice to dominate and lure a Geodude in before using a variation of Draining Kiss to absorb its strength and transfer that energy to me. Was quite the ride,” I explained and for once, I was treated to an absolutely flabbergasted expression on Cynthia’s face, who had clearly not expected that.

“That’s…” she began, only to shake her head, “Well, that’s not something I’ve heard about. There are reports of Pokémon being able to heal other Pokémon and even people, but it’s not a terribly common ability. Lady Bee can do it if I recall correctly?” she looked over to Joyce, who simply nodded.

“Yeah, Bee can do it, but she, just like the rest of her line, uses a medium to soften the impact of the energy. Miltank use a similar trick, just that they infuse their power into milk, not eggs,” she shrugged, “That your Vio managed to do so without a medium, and that you survived the infusion, is quite remarkable.”

“But not something you should casually experiment with. Such experimentation has a good chance to see you dead, or your partner gravely wounded,” Cynthia warned, looking deadly serious, “Please, take care of yourself.”

“I plan to, not like I planned to run into a mob of Pokémon who wanted to turn Wera and me into smears on the ground. We barely managed to get out, I’m not even sure how we did it,” I shook my head, digging into my breakfast to get out of the conversation.

The rest of my breakfast was quite peaceful, we shared a bit of idle conversation, mostly Joyce asking about Claire and pestering me for a few stories of my journey, and soon, it was time to head to the Gym.

Joyce excused herself, going directly to the Centre to discuss my case with the nurse there, while Cynthia and Professor Carolina accompanied me. There was something special about moving through town with Cynthia. While I was quite sure that people didn’t recognise who she was, it was almost as if she exuded an invisible sense of pressure, making people move aside instinctively, giving way to the three of us.

When we met Wera at the Gym, she looked at me with a frown, clearly not certain what to make of the three of us.

“Hey, Dani. Dad told me to wait here for you and bring you into his office,” she greeted me, briefly glancing at my two companions.

“I’m sure Kodra won’t mind if we join in,” Cynthia interjected, her tone allowing absolutely no refusal.

“Let’s go meet him,” I nodded, looking at Wera expectantly. She just shrugged, guiding us into the Gym and to the office we had met in before. After a brief knock, we were invited inside.

Kodra looked just like he had before, burly and physically imposing but the moment he looked from his paperwork and saw Cynthia and Professor Carolina walk into his office, I could almost smell his nervousness and he immediately stood up.

“Champion, it’s an honour to have you here,” he almost bowed to Cynthia, before looking at the Professor and actually bowing. “Professor Carolina,” he greeted, staying bowed for a few seconds.

“We’re here to discuss the discovery these two made, I’m certain you can understand my interest. Did your daughter inform you that they found a modern artefact in there, too?” Professor Carolina asked and for a moment, Kodra visibly frowned before shaking his head.

“No, that must have slipped her mind, she only gave me a brief summary yesterday,” he explained, before asking all of us to sit. It was quite obvious that he was deferential to Cynthia and the Professor but at the same time, it was his Gym and office.

“Dani, right? Thanks for keeping my little girl safe, are your wounds recovering well?” he asked, addressing me directly for the first time.

“They are, thank you,” I nodded, giving a brief glance to Cynthia who just sat there, a polite smile on her face.

“Dani, can you report about that complex? Wera already gave me the details regarding your mission, it’s marked as a success for you, we’ll discuss your performance when you come for your battle test,” he assured me, the complex clearly at a higher level of priority.

Just like the night before, I told my story, only that Kodra was clearly the worse listener, compared to Professor Carolina. I didn’t even get to the point where we entered the complex before he asked a question regarding the area around the opening. Before I could give a reply, Professor Carolina cleared her throat, silently admonishing him for the interruption and allowing me to continue talking, now without further interruptions.

By the end of my tale, again ending when I got knocked out of the complex, both Kodra and Cynthia looked quite concerned. They asked for the piece of cardboard, this time I remembered to include it in my report, and studied it briefly before deciding that there was nothing to be learned from it.

“Worrying,” Cynthia was the first to speak after everyone had gone silent to consider the report. “It’s one thing to discover an ancient complex, there are a few we know about and we learned something from their study. But given that artefact, somebody got there first, somebody who didn’t inform the Pokéleague of their discovery,” she looked at her Grandmother, her gaze serious.

“Just to make sure, you haven’t heard anything? No new or weird discoveries to be considered, no questions that can be considered unusual?” she asked, her voice concerned.

“No, after Dani told me about it yesterday, I already considered my recent correspondence, there was nothing in there that hinted at new discoveries,” the Professor shook her head, her voice just as worried as the one of her Grandmother.

“Kodra, you know these mountains the best. It’s quite likely from the description we were given that the rockslide these two cleared up was caused from the inside, probably a heavy impact on the wall. Pokébattle, would be my guess. But that also means that the actual entrance used by whoever left that piece of cardboard is somewhere else. Any idea where we should start looking?” Cynthia continued, now focused on the Gymleader.

“There are hundreds of caves in the Coronal Mountains, or even thousands depending on how large you want them to be to count. I know a few near that complex but nothing that hinted at its existence,” he shook his head.

“Was to be expected,” Cynthia nodded, “I believe the League will prepare a team, maybe with a local or two, to clear the complex, that allows us to find the entrance from the inside. I’ll have to discuss with Lucian who will take the lead, it’s going to be either him or me. Whoever it is, we’ll interface with you in regards to supply and logistics,” Cynthia told Kodra, getting a nod in response.

“Dani, Wera, we might have questions for you in the near future. Dani, given your injuries, I don’t think you should travel for the next week, maybe two weeks,” she told me, before glancing at her Grandmother, “Grandmother, would you be so kind to take her in?”

“Oh, sure, I’d have done that without you asking. She’s welcome to stay as long as needed,” she replied, though her focus was on me.

“Good. Wera, any plans to leave town for now?” Cynthia asked, getting a headshake in response.

“If there’s nothing else, the meeting is adjourned,” she declared, looking at Kodra as if asking if there was something else. When he shook his head in the negative, she stood, intent on leaving the office.

“Dani, come with me, we’ll head to the Centre. I’d like to hear what Joyce has to say,” she told me, her tone both concerned but stern at the same time. Given her stance, there was little I could do but bid the others farewell and follow behind Cynthia.