Chapter Text
The thing about redemption was that somewhere along the way, you had to realise your own mistakes. Which took admitting that you were in the wrong.
And the thing that Volo hadn't realised, when he had set out on his journey to meet Arceus, was that meeting the god of all pokémon face-to-face had a funny way of accelerating that process tenfold.
There were only so many years that denial could last when Arceus Themselves appeared before him, talked in a loud voice yet a grave tone, and turned its back to him.
After that meeting, he had many, many years to ruminate.
He had watched villages, towns, cities - spring up where once marshlands and uninhabited icy tundras had been. He had watched the gradual urbanisation of the Hisui region and those surrounding it; the transformation of people’s relations to pokémon; the cultural and social shifts that happened over decades and centuries that only he and a few others bore witness to.
These days, he - she - went by Cynthia. It was a name that she chose for herself, the ebbing of culture and hard tradition easing the way to discovering an aspect of herself that she doubted Hisui would have allowed. Though she was on the frontlines fighting to memorialise the histories and cultures of those who had lived in Hisui before, there had certainly been room for acceptance to grow, and grow it had.
Even sat where she currently was, sat in a small cafe in Eterna City, she could see changes that hadn’t existed the last time she had visited, only a decade prior. In the place which had once been the Sacred Plaza and the Galaxy Team’s Summit Camp, many new establishments had set up shop and just as many had vanished over the years.
Time moved so quickly.
Some days it felt like the burning shame was the only emotion he was capable of feeling, interspersed with pulses of swirling guilt. Living other lives helped, carving out artificial meaning into a life that she was fairly certain Arceus had turned Their back to. She wouldn’t blame it.
But until she could put voice to a litany of apologies in front of the person who deserved them the most, she had to continue – it was about all she could do.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of someone wearing a bright-red scarf that trailed out in two tails behind her as she ran towards the Pokémon Centre. Could that be–?
Cynthia tapped her fingers on the side of the half-finished mocha, Togekiss’s great grandson beside her. The Togetic had been nibbling on some plump beans as they waited. It seemed that Professor Rowan’s intel was right – one of this year’s Pokédex holders might just be the person she had been waiting for.
She shot Ingo a quick message on her Poketch, then proceeded to take her long-cold drink to the counter.
“Thank you,” she smiled warmly at the owner.
Mia returned the smile, soft and indulgent as it always was. She had been a sweet young lady, and she had retained that trait as the years had gone by, though she was no longer quite as young as she had used to be. Cynthia suspected she knew something was up – the frequency at which she visited the cafe made her unchanging appearance more than a little suspect, but she doubted Mia would say anything.
It was a wonder that anyone as sweet as her could have been descended from someone as exuberant as Meili had once been.
Picking up Togetic, they headed off in the direction of the Pokémon Centre. The walk gave her plenty of time to muse over how to handle the interaction.
Anything that would mess with the time-space continuum was out of the question, though Ingo had informed her that it was more durable than stories would have most believing. She was not about to take that risk.
That meant nothing that could hint to Akari’s future jaunt to the past – nor anything that might lend itself to hinting that Cynthia was anyone more than a passing Pokémon Trainer and archeologist. Tricky, tricky. Still, she wanted to make a good first impression.
It wouldn’t do anything to make up for the mistakes that still haunted her, kept her awake at night despite how distant they were, but it would go some way to easing the churning ball of remorse that dogged her every step.
In the end, when she finally came face-to-face with the girl, her panicked eyes zeroed in on the Pokédex. The sight of Akari’s spitting image almost made her freeze in place.
“Oh, that device you have – is that a Pokédex?”
The girl – not Akari, Ingo had said, but hadn’t given her the actual name – looked taken aback by the sudden ‘greeting’.
“Uh, yeah. Yes, it is.”
Cynthia hummed. There was a certain irony to it, now that she thought about it. The modern Pokédex was based on the first Pokédex that Professor Laventon, Rei and Akari had completed, centuries ago; and now that same girl was using it to assist another professor in their research. She wondered if the knowledge of pokémon gained from this Pokédex had helped Akari complete the Hisuian one – yet another aspect of the time loop that would soon close..
“That brings back some memories.” She said, then decided that she couldn’t refer to the girl as ‘not-Akari’ forever. “Pardon me, but what’s your name?”
“It’s Dawn.” The surprise softened into plain bemusement. “Do you have a Pokédex too?”
“In a sense.” Cynthia smiled. “Dawn – I’ll remember that name. My name is Cynthia, I’m a trainer too. You must be on your journey to complete the Pokédex. Are you doing the gym challenge too?”
She already knew the answer, but the chance to keep the conversation flowing was too alluring to give up. Dawn had none of Akari’s wariness, but all of her wide-eyed wonder and cheer, and the duality of the two was enough to make her throat close up slightly.
Hisui had done a number on her.
“Yeah! I just got my second.” Dawn grinned. “What brings you to Eterna City?”
She took a beat too long to answer, because ‘looking for you’ wasn’t acceptable when not even Professor Rowan knew that she was looking for a girl who fit Akari’s likeness. In the end, she settled on her usual excuse.
“I’ve been studying pokémon mythology lately, out of curiosity. Here in Eterna City, there’s a statue of an ancient Pokémon. Have you seen it already?”
Dawn nodded.
“According to myth, it was an extremely powerful Pokémon. It’s one of my favourite places to visit, and there’s a lovely cafe just nearby. And, well, you never know - you might end up encountering something like it on your travels!”
Dawn’s expression said that she clearly didn’t believe Cynthia, but knowing what she did, it’s all she could do to stop the sorrow from crumpling her face and giving something away. She couldn't do anything about Dawn’s fate, but perhaps she could help the girl herself.
What exactly had Ingo said about this loop? He was one of the constants in her life, and though they met once a decade at best, she had been asking him more and more questions as the decade of the time loop closing drew nearer.
Fixed events were fixed. She couldn’t change Dawn’s return to the past, no more than Ingo could stop his own past self’s return. Think – with that restriction, what did she have on her that could help Akari?
Cynthia blinked.
She was thinking too hard. Perhaps what she could do, as Sinnoh’s current Champion, was less about what she could do for Akari, and more about what she could do for Dawn. The past could not be changed, but the time that she was currently living and the time that stretched into the future was free game.
“I’ve just remembered,” she said, “try taking this!”
Shifting Togetic to her left arm, she reached into her bag. From the depths of the plain black handbag, which held no more than a few miscellaneous items, her wallet and her pokéballs, she drew a small disc. “If you’re filling up the Pokédex for Professor Rowan, this HM for Cut will let you go travel to places that might have been previously inaccessible. I hope it helps – and do give my regards to the professor, would you?”
Dawn took the HM that she thrust into her hands with the bemused acceptance. “Thank you! I will.”
“Thank you.” Cynthia said, heart once again rising too high in her chest. She blinked a few more times, clutching Togetic a little too tightly. “I must be going now, but it was lovely meeting, Dawn. I hope to see you around.”
“Nice to meet you too!” She chirped, waving goodbye, and there was that bright-eyed eagerness again.
Cynthia didn’t quite flee after that, but it was a close thing.
Arceus. What had Hisui done to this girl? What had she done?
She hadn’t known quite what to expect when meeting Dawn for the first time, but it was clear upon seeing her that Akari looked almost identical. Too identical.
Akari had been fifteen when Volo had first met her in Jubilife Village, and yet by the time Volo had departed from Hisui, she seemed almost crushed by the burdens she had been forced to carry. Her visage had still been as youthful as Dawn’s, but her eyes had been sunken, weary. The few glimpses he had managed to catch, after their battle and just before he had left for Johto, she had looked even more run-down, jumpy and paranoid – for good reason.
He hadn’t cared then. For Cynthia, though, it was the at the top of her laundry list of regrets.
Her Poketch pinged with a new message.
She checked it, eager for a distraction, wondering if it was Ingo, but it was just one of the Sinnoh League’s weekly bulletin emails. She hadn’t heard from Ingo in a few years, and she had a feeling that she wouldn’t hear from him again until the loop had closed. Unlike her, he had both a living counterpart to avoid and a way to stay off-the-human-radar for many years on end.
With no hope of something to derail her thoughts and nobody but her pokémon to talk to, she was left with a racing mind and new determination.
What could she do to help Dawn in the here and now? Togetic chirped up at her, seeing the smile she’d put up in Dawn’s presence rapidly fading.
Well. She thought she had some idea.