Sinnoh Region, Sunyshore City.
A beachside resort nestled under lush greenery, the sea breeze gently drifting in.
Beside the rooftop pool of the hotel, a Gastrodon lazily lapped at the water's edge.
Meanwhile, beneath the surface, a Milotic rested in the water, its long, elegant body stretching gracefully, scales shimmering in iridescent hues.
An elegant Glaceon lay obediently beside its Trainer, its fluffy body extra plush, blue eyes half-closed, seemingly having just let out a tiny yawn.
On the beach chair lay a blonde beauty, languidly flipping through her phone in boredom.
Anyone walking by would instantly recognize her—this was none other than the famous Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia.
Today happened to be one of her vacation days.
Although a Champion, Cynthia's workload was far lighter than most of her peers.
During her tenure, her daily routine was mostly... taking it easy.
Sometimes she'd get a sudden urge to study ancient ruins and read stone tablets, and occasionally, she'd go shopping with Caitlin or Diantha.
Compared to Lance chasing down criminals or Leon running from endorsement to endorsement, Cynthia's life as Champion was practically serene.
At the very least, she was far more reliable than the Champions of Hoenn or Unova.
A big part of her carefree life came down to one person: Lucian, Sinnoh's Psychic-type Elite Four member.
Lucian was a true workaholic—he didn't just handle his own pile of duties, he even took on the work of the other three Elite Four members.
But when people have too much free time, trouble's bound to follow. And sure enough, here came Aaron pestering her again.
By now, this was his nine hundred and ninety-seventh challenge against her—each time ending in defeat.
But he stuck to her like a leech, impossible to shake off.
Dealing with such a persistent opponent gave Cynthia a serious headache.
She needed a permanent solution.
With that thought, Cynthia's gaze shifted to the "Sunshine" group chat.
This was a chat group Lucian had created back before becoming a member of the Elite Four.
Back then, it was a gathering of like-minded friends discussing tactics and strategies.
Cynthia had been one of the earliest members, but after becoming Champion, the group became less and less useful to her.
Still, she never left.
Today, though, the group seemed unusually lively. Had something happened?
Curious, Cynthia sat up from her lounge chair and started scrolling through the messages with her slender fingers.
It didn't take long for her to find out why.
Turns out they were all celebrating a new member's recent win at the Ho-Oh Cup.
The Ho-Oh Cup... if she remembered correctly, that was a tournament for newcomers, right?
But this person was apparently a Gym Leader.
Cynthia gave a soft smile.
She scrolled up, finding not only discussions about this new member, but also battle footage.
He'd used a Chansey—hardly known for its combat ability… running a SubToxic stall with Minimize...
Cynthia's eyes lit up. Now that was an interesting strategy.
No wonder everyone in the group was calling him a tactics master.
Seeing so many people asking him questions, Cynthia got curious and threw in one of her own.
She hadn't expected much in return.
But to her surprise, not long after, the other party actually sent back a long, detailed reply!
It read like a small essay, meticulously explaining all sorts of ways to use Spiritomb—some of which even she found novel.
Was he some kind of Ghost-type expert? Or did he specialize in Spiritomb?
Either way, the strategy he outlined was incredibly valuable.
Destiny Bond, Curse, Pain Split... just hearing the move list was enough to make your skin crawl. If she used those against Aaron...
Maybe that would finally shut him up for a while?
Thinking that, a sly smile curved Cynthia's lips.
Then she stood up from her cozy beach chair, those long, fair legs moving gracefully.
She pushed open the glass door and walked inside.
There, a creepy-looking Spiritomb was attempting to disguise itself as a potted plant.
Cynthia couldn't help but chuckle. But soon, her expression turned serious as she began strategizing for tomorrow's "training session" with Aaron.
Since this guy had provided such a useful build, she ought to thank him properly.
Opening Caleb's profile, Cynthia paused for a moment, then sent him a friend request.
...
At that moment, a pop-up appeared on Caleb's screen:
["Cabbage Ice Cream" wants to add you as a friend. Accept or Decline?]
Caleb didn't even think before hitting Decline.
Hmph. You think adding me is that easy?
See, back in college, Caleb had seen one scam after another. His anti-scam reflexes were practically instinctual by now.
Whether it was a money scam or a honey trap, if a stranger sent a friend request, he'd slam that Decline button without hesitation.
After all, who could guarantee that someone using a cutesy name like "Cabbage Ice Cream" wasn't actually some burly dude scratching his belly in a tank top?
He'd seen this kind of thing way too many times.
"Heh. Trying to scam me? The person who can fool me hasn't even been born yet."
Caleb gave himself a proud mental high-five.