Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 92: Three Lakes

Dawn's Mansion felt peaceful in a way the League never could.

The morning after we returned to Twinleaf Town, sunlight came through the tall windows and spread across Johanna's sitting room. The Sinnoh League trophy rested safely nearby, still strange to look at even after Lillie and I had carried it together.

Pikachu slept curled against my side on the sofa. Togekiss rested near Lillie with one wing tucked carefully around herself. The battle had ended yesterday, but the exhaustion had not left everyone yet.

Dawn walked in with breakfast plates balanced in both hands. "Mom says winners still have to eat before they start thinking about the Elite Four."

Johanna followed her with a small smile. "Especially winners who stayed awake too late talking about what comes next."

Lillie looked embarrassed. "We were not trying to stay up that late."

Gladion crossed his arms from the doorway. "You were looking at Champion rules until nearly midnight."

Daniel adjusted his glasses. "Technically, they were comparing Elite Four challenge procedures with League Conference traditions."

Tox poured tea without looking up. "Sleep loss is still sleep loss, even when the reason sounds academic."

I laughed a little, but the question had been following us since the trophy ceremony. Lillie and I had won Sinnoh together. Cynthia had accepted both of us as worthy challengers, but we still had to decide when and how to face the Elite Four.

The trophy had not changed what came next, but it had changed how people looked at us. Yesterday, strangers had bowed, cheered, and asked whether we were ready for Cynthia already. I did not know how to answer them without sounding too confident or too scared.

Lillie must have felt the same thing, because she kept glancing at the trophy and then at her hands. Sinnoh had changed us in ways that were hard to explain.

Dawn sat across from us and looked at the trophy with a quieter smile. "It still feels strange seeing both of your names listed together. Strange in a good way, I mean."

"It feels strange to us too," Lillie admitted. "The battle was real, but I still keep expecting someone to say there has to be only one winner."

"There does not," Gladion said, more firmly than usual.

Tox glanced at him. "That was supportive."

Gladion looked away. "Do not make it weird."

Johanna set another plate down, then paused like she had remembered something. "Before I forget, Barry came looking for you a little while ago."

"Barry came here?" I asked, sitting up straighter.

Johanna nodded. "I do not know what it was about. He was shouting about you needing to get on a ship at Snowpoint City. You know how impatient he is. He was gone before I could ask."

Dawn sighed, though she was smiling. "That sounds exactly like Barry."

Lillie tilted her head. "A ship at Snowpoint City? I wonder what that is about."

"We can worry about that after breakfast," I said. "But there is one place I want to visit first."

Pikachu opened one eye before sitting up.

Pikachu's meaning came softly. "The lake near here."

I nodded. "Lake Verity. After everything that happened with Team Galactic and the League, I want to see it again."

Lillie reached for her bag. "Then we should go together."

Dawn looked toward the windows, where Twinleaf's trees moved gently in the wind. "Lake Verity is close. Mom, is it okay if we go?"