Steven folded Cynthia's grey pajamas neatly into the bathtub and started working on the stained parts by hand.
"Why did I agree to handwash these..."
He already knew the answer. It was because Cynthia had been entirely too difficult to say no to, and he had managed it anyway.
He hung the pajamas on the line in the backyard, then put his hands behind his back and went to check on the training.
Aggron was sitting on the ground with its back turned to Larvitar. Larvitar was ramming its small, round body repeatedly against Aggron's back.
"That looks less like training and more like a back massage," Steven said, to no one in particular.
He turned toward Honedge.
Honedge had its ribbon-like arm wrapped around the grip of its scabbard, the crimson blade tracing wide, controlled arcs through the air. Scizor stood beside it, watching each swing, nodding at intervals, and occasionally stepping in with a quiet correction.
"Is that Fury Cutter?" Steven walked over to Metagross and asked.
Metagross opened its eyes from Calm Mind, nodded once, and closed them again.
"Good choice. Scizor is an excellent teacher for that."
He thought back briefly to the first time he had encountered Scizor — back then still a Scyther, moving through Petalburg Woods with a speed and aggression that had given him and Metang a genuine fight.
Metagross, for its part, remembered the same encounter from a somewhat different angle. It closed its eyes again and returned to Calm Mind.
Still not enough. The thought ran beneath everything, quiet and persistent. Champion is not the finish line. Battle Legend is further still. We are not there yet.
It wanted Steven to become the strongest in history. Not just the youngest. The strongest.
There is still a long way to go.
Steven rested his hand briefly on Metagross's arm.
Then he walked over to Lucario and settled down beside it.
The training Gurkinn had given him in Kalos wasn't only about Lucario's development — it covered how a Trainer trained alongside their Pokémon, not merely behind them. That was why those weeks in Kalos had been so exhausting. And why they had been worth it.
After dinner, Cynthia came out to the backyard and found Steven and Lucario mid-session. She didn't interrupt. She gathered her own Pokémon and started her own drills — conditioning circuits around the yard, then working through battle combinations with Garchomp and the others.
She had thought about asking Steven if he wanted to go up to Mt. Coronet. She looked at him, decided against asking for now, and kept going.
The days moved quickly after that.
The Lily of the Valley Conference opened.
Steven's leave had three, maybe four days left in it. During the weeks since he had returned from Johto, Cynthia's strength had climbed noticeably. Lucario and Empoleon had both crossed the threshold into Champion-class — not at the same time, but close enough that Steven had spent the better part of an evening quietly satisfied about it.
The Lily of the Valley Conference was held on Lily of the Valley Island, a short distance from Sunyshore City. The venue was different from what Steven was used to — the Ever Grande Conference back in Hoenn had four battle arenas; this one had three. The format ran the preliminary rounds in the smaller arenas up to the Top 16, then moved into the main arena. Full six-on-six matches began from the Top 8 onward.
Steven wasn't worried about Cynthia reaching the Top 16. He was fairly confident she would go further.
The timing, though, was tight. Accounting for travel, he would need to return to Hoenn and formally assume the Champion position right around the time Cynthia made the Top 16. If things in the League moved quickly enough, there was still a chance he could come back for the finals.
They found seats in the stands. Below, the torchbearer came into the arena at a run and touched the flame to the sacred fire stand. The fire caught and rose. Tradition held that the sacred fire used in League Conferences across every region was kindled from a feather of Moltres — and that the same flame, carefully carried, was passed from venue to venue.
"What are you thinking about?" Cynthia tilted her head, watching the slight frown on Steven's face.
"I'm wondering — the sacred fire. Is it always the same feather? Because the flame gets passed on from conference to conference and recycled each time, but if the original source was one feather from one Moltres—"
"Steven."
"Yes?"
"Why are you thinking about that?"
"Because," Steven said, with a quiet smile, "if I don't think about something else, I'm going to keep looking at you, and you'll notice."
Cynthia's face went pink. She folded her arms.
"Then look. I don't mind."
The last three words came out considerably softer than the rest.
She was wearing the same black dress shorts and sheer black stockings she'd had on in Eterna City, with black ankle boots and a beige off-the-shoulder sweater. The whole thing was precisely as difficult to ignore as Steven had suggested.
"Aren't you cold?"
"I brought a jacket. Stop fussing."
"Fair enough."
They watched the fireworks together after the opening ceremony — bright, wide bursts that reflected off the water surrounding the island. Then Steven walked with Cynthia to the Pokémon Center to wait for the draw results.
The opponent that came up was an unremarkable-looking Trainer in glasses with an unusual haircut. He had the general appearance of a Trainer encountered near a research facility in a small town somewhere — the type who always wanted to explain type matchups.
Not a problem.
The real concern would have been Tobias. Steven ran the thought briefly and set it aside. Even at her current level, Tobias would be a serious match for Cynthia — and nobody knew what the other four Pokémon on Tobias's roster were. Legendary or Mythical, at minimum two of them. That was a conversation for another day.
"Actually," Steven said, looking around the Pokémon Center lobby, "I don't think non-competitors can stay here during the Conference."
"Hmm?" Cynthia blinked. "Oh. You're right."
There were hotels outside specifically for family and spectators. During the main tournament, the Pokémon Center was for competitors only — the exception being close family during the final stages, to celebrate.
That meant Steven would need a room outside.
Cynthia's fingers curled slightly around the edge of Steven's jacket. She had a suggestion forming. She decided very quickly that it was not appropriate to say out loud, and didn't say it.
"Hold on a moment," Steven said suddenly. He had spotted a familiar face across the lobby.
He crossed the room quickly.
The short, elderly man he was heading toward looked up at the approaching figure with mild curiosity.
"Chairman Goodshow!"
"Hmm? Who—" Chairman Goodshow squinted. The bodyguards on either side of him moved to block the way.
"Ah — sorry." Steven pulled off the hat, the mask, and the sunglasses.
"Steven!" Chairman Goodshow broke into a broad laugh and waved the bodyguards off. "What brings you to Lily of the Valley Island? Shouldn't you be getting ready to take office in Hoenn?"
"A friend of mine is competing," Steven said. "I came to watch."
Chairman Goodshow's gaze moved, briefly, to the blonde girl standing some distance away looking not entirely at ease.
He raised an eyebrow.
"You have good fortune when it comes to company, Steven."
"Speaking of which — any chance you could arrange a room for me at the Pokémon Center?"
"Ha! You're a League Champion — that's hardly a stretch." Chairman Goodshow leaned in slightly, with the expression of someone who considered himself very perceptive. "I understand completely~"
He murmured something to the bodyguard beside him. The bodyguard went to the front desk, exchanged a few words with Nurse Joy, and returned with a key card.
Steven pocketed it and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, Chairman."
"Think nothing of it! I'll see you at the inauguration later." Chairman Goodshow waved the whole thing away and turned back to his business.
Steven walked back to Cynthia and held up the key card.
She stared at it.
He smiled.
"Right next to yours, as it happens."
Chairman Goodshow had genuinely understood.