"So the two of you are planning to go all out in the exhibition match the day after tomorrow?"
Cynthia toweled her long blonde hair dry and looked over at Steven, who was absorbed in a video game with Diancie.
"Yeah. Alder requested it himself, after all." Steven kept his gaze fixed on the hotel TV screen, his hands moving steadily on the controller.
Diancie puffed out her small cheeks, pressing buttons with determined focus. She was completely absorbed in the game.
Cynthia settled onto the edge of the bed and gently rested her hand on Steven's arm.
"Are you going to use Metagross?" she asked softly.
Even without his ace Volcarona, Alder was far from a pushover. His remaining Pokémon were the product of years of experience — the kind only a veteran Champion could forge.
"No. I'm thinking of sending out Scizor," Steven replied. "It only recently reached Champion level, so this match will be a good opportunity to test its strength."
He didn't spare even a glance at Cynthia beside him. His eyes stayed locked on the screen.
"Cynthia~ Help me~" Diancie called out through telepathy, quickly seeking an ally.
This time she had learned her lesson and kept the communication private, directing her telepathic plea to Cynthia alone.
Cynthia's eyes flickered with amusement. She remembered well how thoroughly Steven had beaten her in games before. Shifting closer, she rested her head lightly on his right shoulder and let her fingers trail down his arm toward the hand gripping the controller. She began tapping gently on the back of his hand, hoping to throw off his timing.
Steven raised an eyebrow. Without missing a beat, he caught her hand and started guiding her fingers to press the buttons himself.
"KO!"
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he released her hand.
"Still better than both of you combined. Three wins straight — admit it."
Diancie drooped, looking thoroughly defeated. "Even when you two team up, it's not enough!"
Steven chuckled. As if those little tricks could slip past him. Cynthia wouldn't have tried that on her own — Diancie must have fed her the idea through telepathy.
The two exchanged a glance — one trainer, one Pokémon — and seemed to reach a silent agreement.
"You won, so now it's my turn." The controller was plucked from Steven's hands. Cynthia fixed him with a pointed look. "Go take a shower. And come back out to help me blow-dry my hair."
Steven blinked. "Wait — I won, so why am I the one being sent off?"
He reached for the controller. Cynthia's glare stopped him cold.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"Hmph! I'll allow Cynthia to play!" Diancie declared with great dignity.
Steven looked at the two of them — already happily settling into the game — and could only sigh and get to his feet. What was the point of being strong if this was where it got him?
"Oh, right — I picked up a set of pajamas for you. They're in one of the bags," Cynthia said, eyes still on the screen.
Steven glanced over at the pile of shopping bags stacked in the corner. There were a lot of them.
"Which bag, exactly?"
"And my new dress~ Please, Steven~" Diancie added, turning her head just long enough to give him a meaningful look.
"You two…" Steven was speechless.
A Champion. He was a Champion. And he was being volunteered for laundry duty.
Not that it mattered — the hotel had a washing machine.
"Oh, about that." Cynthia glanced back at him just before the next round started, her large eyes soft and wide. "The washing machine is full of my clothes. So you'll have to hand-wash yours."
Very cute. Completely unfair. Steven nodded slowly.
"...Understood."
"And Diancie's dress!" Diancie added.
"I know."
Resigned, Steven began sorting through the shopping bags. The two of them had certainly made the most of their day out. He wasn't sure he'd seen this many bags from a single shopping trip before.
"Huh?" His hand closed around a small box tucked between the other purchases. "Cynthia, what's this?"
She glanced over briefly. "Honedge needs a Dusk Stone to evolve into Doublade, doesn't it? I saw a good one while we were out, so I picked it up."
Steven opened the box. Inside sat a Dusk Stone of clearly excellent quality — the kind you could tell was expensive at a glance. He held it up and examined it carefully. It was noticeably better than the one he'd found before.
"Then I'll pass along Honedge's thanks."
"Don't be so formal about it, I just—ah!" Cynthia's sentence ended abruptly in a startled yelp.
Diancie had struck the moment Cynthia's attention slipped.
"Diancie, you've picked up bad habits!"
"It's not a bad habit — it's strategy!"
"Steven, don't distract me right now!"
Steven scratched the back of his neck. If practice was what they needed, there was plenty to be had. But he wisely kept that thought to himself. The last thing he wanted was to be exiled to the floor for the night.
It had been Cynthia's idea to book a king-sized room this time. And if Steven stepped out of line, she had made it clear that Diancie's Diamond Storm would settle the matter.
A Mythical Pokémon. A princess. Heir to the Diamond Domain.
Reduced to a deterrent.
Such was life.
Though, if he was being honest, there were certain advantages to the arrangement. Diancie was, after all, composed almost entirely of top-grade pink diamonds. The thought of sleeping next to that kind of natural wealth gave Steven a certain quiet comfort — not unlike drifting off in a gem vault that didn't scratch.
He dug through the bags until he found a set of black, soft pajamas. They looked nearly identical to Cynthia's. Matching, then. He had to admit — he liked them.
The only issue was the weather. In this cold, hand-washed clothes would take days to dry.
Steven gathered his things and paused at the floor-to-ceiling window for a moment. Opelucid City at night lay spread out below, dusted with a light snowfall. He watched it briefly, then headed into the bathroom and lowered himself into the bathtub.
He stared at the faint green glow drifting across his palm.
Viridian Power. But how do I use it?
He knew the light responded to his intent — it appeared when he willed it. But willing it and controlling it were different things. He had no real sense yet of how to direct it.
If he could figure it out, he might be able to do something for Alder's Volcarona. Alder had spent years giving everything to the Unova Pokémon League — he was a Champion who had earned genuine respect. Helping him, if it was possible, felt like the right thing to do.
But that would have to wait.
"I'll figure it out in time," Steven murmured, sinking lower and blowing a slow breath across the water's surface.
He turned his head toward the Z-Ring resting on the counter beside the bath. The Metagross Z crystal caught the light from its setting, glinting steadily.
The energy he'd received in Orses Forest had been the power of nature itself. The Metagross Z had come from that same source — a result of Steven's first instinct reaching out to Metagross, and the deep, complete synchronization between them. From there, it had fused with both the Steel-type and Psychic-type Z-Crystals, becoming something unique.
Technically speaking, the exclusive Z-Move it enabled carried six elemental attack types simultaneously. By any reasonable measure, it was absurdly powerful.
He hadn't settled on a name for it yet. That felt like something to decide after using it together with Metagross one more time.
The first time it had erupted, the force it produced had been enough to match Yveltal's Dark Pulse head-on. The cost had been immediate — his stamina had drained completely in an instant. The consumption was severe.
Even so, it gave him something: certainty.
As long as the opponent wasn't at the level of a Battle Legend, he and Metagross were confident they could win.
That was the value of having a true trump card.