Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 96: Blazing Horizon

Snowpoint City looked different when we reached it without a Gym Badge waiting at the end.

The snow still drifted across the rooftops, and the cold still bit through my jacket, but the city felt quieter than the last time we had come here. Back then, the Icicle Badge had been waiting. Now, the next road was not a Gym challenge or a League bracket. It was something wider.

Cynthia stood near the harbor, speaking with a sailor beside a large ship marked with the name S.S. Spiral. Her coat moved gently in the wind, and she looked like she had known exactly when we would arrive.

Barry's shouting about a ship suddenly made more sense.

Lillie noticed the ship's name and smiled faintly. "A spiral means returning and moving forward at the same time. That feels right for us."

Cynthia turned before I called her name. "I thought you would come. I'm glad I waited for you."

Lillie stepped beside me. "You knew Barry would send us here?"

Cynthia smiled. "Barry is very good at creating urgency. Sometimes that is useful."

Gladion crossed his arms. "That is one way to describe him."

Cynthia looked toward the sea beyond Snowpoint. "I think it is good that our world is constantly changing. Of course, I do not want it to become what only one person wants. A world like Cyrus envisioned would leave no room for shared joy."

Her voice stayed calm, but I could hear Spear Pillar behind her words.

"The world I want to see is one where Pokémon and the people around them can be happy for each other," Cynthia continued. "I want you to keep traveling to many far-off places. I want you to keep meeting all kinds of people and Pokémon."

Dawn hugged her coat tighter. "So you came all the way here just to say that?"

"Yes," Cynthia said simply. "And because your horizons will expand again if you visit the Fight Area."

Daniel looked toward the ship. "A new frontier after the League."

"Perhaps," Cynthia said. "Or perhaps the same journey seen from farther away."

Pikachu's meaning came softly from my shoulder. "Another road after the road."

I nodded. "Then we will go."

Cynthia's eyes warmed. "I hope our paths cross again."

She left us with the sailor, and before long we were aboard the S.S. Spiral as it pulled away from Snowpoint's harbor. The cold water stretched around us, and Sinnoh's snow slowly faded behind the mist.

Lillie stood beside me at the rail. "The League, Aaron, Bertha, Marley, Cresselia, and now this. It feels like Sinnoh keeps asking us what victory means after winning."

"Maybe that is what Cynthia wanted us to learn," I said.

Tox leaned against the rail nearby. "A win is an event. Recovery, travel, and responsibility are the condition after the event."

Dawn smiled at him. "That was almost cheerful."

"It was accurate," Tox said.

I looked at the Fire Medal space in our case, still empty, and thought about Flint. He had been the spark that pushed Volkner back toward battling, and now he was waiting as the third Elite Four step. Fire could warm, burn, guide, or destroy. Flint usually made it feel like all four at once.

The ship carried us toward the Battle Zone, where Barry's fine was probably already growing.

Barry was waiting at the Fight Area docks exactly the way I expected.