Cynthia learned during casual chatter on the way back that Diantha had cleared a new game, so she decisively sought Diantha's help.
Diantha took the controller, glanced at the screen, nudged some books on the floor aside with her foot, and sat down willingly.
While controlling the game character, Diantha asked, "I heard on my way here that there's a case involving a Pokémon amplification device in your region?"
Cynthia was shoving a big handful of potato chips into her mouth; her chip-grabbing hand didn't stop as she mumbled, "Sort of; it was originally Lucian's case, but after it turned out to be a nasty one, Cyrus came and got Lucian to hand it over; then he made a huge mess, and now the case is back with Lucian."
Cynthia got a bit dizzy from her own explanation and held a chip up to Diantha's mouth.
Diantha leaned down to bite the chip, chewing slowly and deliberately.
Cynthia munched on her chips, her eyes fixed on the heavily armored protagonist on the screen, controlled by Diantha.
The protagonist was wielding a massive broadsword; under Diantha's control, he was fighting a three-person-tall, pus-covered, slime-coated, purple-black poison-gas-emitting, fuzzy spherical creature.
The terrain was disgusting— a swamp that slowed the game character's movement; even with the game's built-in poison immunity bonus, the character's vision was still obscured by the monster's toxic gas.
Cynthia had fallen to this stage over twenty times; she'd come so close, only to get whipped to death by the monster; this three-phase beast was absolutely nauseating!
Watching Diantha cautiously roll after every swing, Cynthia felt irritated… this high-attack, high-health, low-speed monster deserved a few extra sneaky hits.
But the controller wasn't in Cynthia's hands, so she could only eat her chips and grumble inwardly.
When Diantha had whittled down a quarter of the monster's health bar with this ultra-conservative, sneaky approach, the monster finally changed; its fuzzy, greenish-slime-dripping body suddenly sprouted a dozen tube-like fleshy appendages, which stiffened briefly before flailing wildly around it.
"Diantha, be careful; one whip hurts a lot," Cynthia said, picking up another chip to reward Diantha.
Diantha had no time to bite the chip; she was maneuvering the protagonist inch by inch closer to the monster's massive, revolting body, slyly dodging the fleshy appendages thrashing into the swamp.
"Why don't you hit those protruding flesh bits? Going under its feet just makes it roll— useless."
Diantha didn't reply; she'd reached directly beneath the monster, and the protagonist's broadsword began hacking at it like a blunt knife cutting meat.
Cynthia wanted to warn Diantha again that the monster would roll, and a rolling crash was an instant kill; going for the underbelly wouldn't work.
The monster's hulking form started moving; the elongated fleshy bits trembled rapidly around its body, and its pustules burst, releasing a black mist—an obvious wind-up for a roll. Seeing Diantha not leaving the attack zone, Cynthia figured they'd have to start over.
Just before the monster rolled, the protagonist suddenly executed a flurry of rolls, darting to its rear and landing a heavy slash; the monster halted its roll, turning to attack the protagonist instead.
Diantha kept up the pattern: hit once, roll, hit once, roll; when a rolling one-shot threatened, she circled back for a heavy strike… Cynthia watched, dumbfounded, as Diantha spent nearly 30 minutes grinding the monster to death.
"Isn't there a second and third phase?" Cynthia said, grabbing the controller. Diantha tossed it to her, but it was still not fully processed.
"You play games this recklessly too? The newbie tutorial tells you attacking weak points can interrupt the monster's charge-up; earlier stages show it too— if you time it right, you can stop phase transitions; once the charge is broken, it gets a big stagger; I baited it into constant staggers, so of course it couldn't switch phases; I haven't seen your playstyle, but I bet you were just hacking at the monster's flesh bits head-on."
"What do you mean 'this recklessly too'? Are you hinting at my Battle style?" Cynthia said, happily checking her game trophies to see what hidden BOSSES were left.
Diantha flopped onto Cynthia's bed, thought for a bit, and said, "The amplification device incident in the Kalos Region was tracked and stamped out by Fire Type Elite Four Malva, but its origins couldn't be traced; it's been three years since any region reported similar cases… I feel like the Kalos group wasn't fully dealt with and might've come to your Sinnoh; Cynthia, you need to step up and handle this."
Cynthia set down the controller, flopped onto the bed too, hugged a Wigglytuff plush, and said, "Not yet; the enemies in the shadows come and go without a trace—they seem tough, but once they surface…"
Cynthia's lips curved into a menacing, bloodthirsty smile.
Diantha, seeing Cynthia's expression, burst out laughing; she realized her worry might've been unnecessary.
"Diantha, you're so busy— how do you still have time to clear Wailing Path?"
"Oh, I've got a new gig lately; I registered a new online account as a virtual game streamer; my fans gifted me a bunch of games, so I streamed this one."
Cynthia looked at Diantha in surprise. "You're streaming?"
"Is that weird? I try anything new; no one recognizing me as Diantha makes it more fun."
Diantha pulled out her phone and showed Cynthia her account.
An impressive fanbase -40,000 followers in three months… was Diantha just naturally successful at everything?
But the fan comments were baffling; were her followers all mama's boys? Why were they all calling her "Mommy" in unison?
It was utterly confusing!
"With so little time, isn't your streaming schedule inconsistent? How do you keep so many fans?"
Diantha shrugged, "Guess it's just my personal charm."
"Fair enough, I'll give you that, but aren't you acting anymore?"
"I still do; I just don't take roles unless the script's right. My focus is mostly on the Kalos Pokémon League now; my assistant Miwa says that my influence is solid, so keeping it to one film a year works fine."
Diantha sighed and continued, "But starting next year or the year after, it'll get rough— Champion matches, commercial events, new movie releases; I'll barely have time to breathe; at least this year… I want to relax properly."
"That bad?" Cynthia's eyes widened. "Can't you push some of it off?"
"I admire how carefree you are, saying that so casually; I'm a Champion, sure, but I'm also a public figure— credibility matters; how could I break commitments?"
"Speaking of which, there's a legend about you circulating in the Kalos Region."
"Huh?" Cynthia didn't catch on. "About my Battle win streak?"
"No, about how you were unhappy with your first year being packed with Sinnoh Pokémon League schedules, then started skipping all sorts of League events without reason; online rumors say the Sinnoh Pokémon League has someone specifically coaxing you to represent them and attend various events," Diantha laughed heartily as she spoke, "Did you know? After hearing about you, the Kalos Pokémon League sent someone to talk to me, full of concessions between the lines."
"Filming and commercial events keeping you busy is fine; we'll make sure it doesn't clash with your schedule in the future," Diantha said, "Your antics spooked them— they're afraid I'll follow your lead and ditch Pokémon League duties for other stuff."
Cynthia got mad, "What's that supposed to mean? Steven got saddled with all sorts of nonsense his first year too, then flew off worldwide digging up rocks— why doesn't anyone call him out?"
"Calm down, calm down; about Steven, I've got some news about him— want to hear?"
Cynthia felt gossip wasn't exactly proper, but seeing Diantha's sly, eager face, it was too tempting to resist…
"Steven's got a rumored girlfriend in the Kalos Region."
Cynthia froze mid-rub of her plushie.
This wasn't gossip— this was a nuke! The Hoenn Region Champion, that stone-loving, stone-like man, catching feelings?
What kind of beauty could melt that rock and recover his humanity? She had to know.
"I have got no clue on that; it came up in a chat among the Elite Four. I'm curious, but I've got an image to maintain, so I can't ask."
"Then why tell me!" Cynthia felt Diantha was toying with her; dropping half a bombshell and leaving it hanging was pure torture!
Diantha grinned triumphantly, ignoring Cynthia's frustrated look, got up, and started rummaging through Cynthia's wardrobe for pajamas; it was getting late, and per their schedule, they'd head to Veilstone City tomorrow to visit the Veilstone Museum.
Diantha suddenly remembered something, turned back, and asked, "Games, manga, archaeology— you're good at all those; what about the last one?"
"I've found it."
Diantha set the pajamas on the bed, undressing as she asked, "Seedling?"
"Of course, a seedling; Debut Blind Pick 6V6 beat Professor Rowan, successfully handled a Misdreavus with an amplification device— for a Rookie Trainer, his record's impressive; I'm quietly watching, secretly watering and fertilizing."
Diantha's interest was piqued. "Got any data? Give me a copy; now I'm curious."
Cynthia looked at Diantha, down to her underwear, and couldn't help but cover her forehead. "Shower first; how are we supposed to chat comfortably like this?"
(End Of This Chapter)
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