Chapter Text
“Dawn…”
“Dawn?”
“DAWN!”
“Ahhh!” Dawn awoke and smacked her head on her headboard. Her vision was blurry for a moment. When it cleared, she saw the signature head of Barry, her friend and rival.
“Woah! If you die, I’m fining you nine million dollars!” Barry imitated a deep voice and stood in a ‘professional’ position.
Dawn laughed. “I don’t think I’d be able to pay you if I was dead.” She yawned and lifted herself up. “Also, what the hell are you doing in my house?”
Barry shrugged. “I dunno. I’m bored, and you’re the champion of the Sinnoh region?”
Dawn froze for a moment. The Sinnoh Region , she thought. I’m really back home, just like that. She scratched the back of her head, which was throbbing in pain from hitting it. I really went back in time to Hisui, didn’t I?
“Uh…helloooooo? Dawn?” Barry was waving his hand in front of Dawn’s face. “Did your soul leave your body?”
“Oh my god, Barry, chill. I’m literally fine. Now get out of my room, please.” Dawn shoved Barry away from her face and lifted herself out of her bed.
Barry scurried down the stairs and Dawn made her way to her mirror. She was wearing her usual pajamas. She looked over at her desk, which was adorned with a gaming PC, her collection of vinyl figures, and various sketches and drawings.
The teenager’s mind was scrambled. One minute, she was adventuring through the ancient world, where computers didn’t even exist yet. The next minute, she wakes up in her bed in Twinleaf Town, surrounded by technology and modern clothing.
At this point, Dawn couldn’t even remember which name she was used to. She had been called Akari for so long that Dawn felt wrong. However, the people of Sinnoh knew her by Dawn, not Akari.
Dawn sighed and searched her closet for an outfit. She chose a simple hoodie she bought from Veilstone City paired with dark gray leggings. She tied her hair in a low ponytail and made her way downstairs.
“Good morning, Dawn!” Dawn’s mother called to her daughter with a bright smile. In a sudden rush of emotion, Dawn bolted toward her mother and embraced her. She hasn’t seen her mother in months, although it had technically been only a day.
“I love you, mom,” Dawn pulled her mother in tight.
“Uh, I do too, dear! Is there…any occasion?” The two broke from the hug and Dawn awkwardly shook her head.
“No, just uh…felt like you might need a hug?” She smiled.
Dawn’s mother nodded graciously. “Sometimes I always need a hug.”
Dawn proceeded to the front door of her home. She stepped outside and was greeted by immediately running head-first into Barry.
“Ow! Geez, can’t you learn to move out of the way sometimes?” She stepped back, a little further than necessary. She brushed off her pants and looked back at the overenthusiastc child.
Barry gave Dawn a proud look. “I don’t have time for that!” He jumped towards Dawn. “Also, there’s some kind of event in Canalave city today. I’m pretty sure it’s a fishing competition or something. Wanna go check it out?”
“I’ll meet you there later. I just wanna take the morning for myself, if that’s ok.” Dawn glanced at the opening of Twinleaf town.
“Pff, you’re so boring, Dawn!” He ran back to his house nextdoof. Dawn scoffed and proceeded towards the exit of the town.
______
Route 202
“Hey, you! Battle me!”
Dawn whirled around and saw a small child wielding a bug net. He looked at her with determined eyes.
“Uh, are you sure you..”
“YEAH!” The child jumped up and down quickly. “Let’s see who’s Pokémon are stronger!” He threw a Pokeball forward, summoning a Wurmple.
Dawn sighed and threw her own Pokeball. She was startled when an Infernape came out instead of Hisuian Decidueye. Oh, right. I have my Sinnoh team. This is Henry, not Xandyr.
With one Aerial Ace, the big catcher’s Wurmple had fainted. He started at Dawn with big, sad eyes.
“I’m sorry, kid. You asked for it.” Dawn awkwardly smiled and then made her way out of the situation as fast as possible.
When Dawn made it to a Pokémon center, she was confused at the sight of so much technology. She had even almost asked Nurse Joy where she could rest.
The team that appeared on the healing monitor was briefly unfamiliar to Dawn, but she eventually recognized them as the Pokémon she used to become champion of the Sinnoh region. Infernape, Luxray, Crobat, Gastrodon, Garchomp, and Roserade. She had seen each of these Pokémon in the Hisui region, too. But she hadn’t used any of them, coincidentally.
Dawn sat down in the Pokémon Center for a bit. She opened her bag and noticed the usual items: potions, Pokeballs, and revives. Of course, they looked wildly different from the items that Dawn used in Hisui.
She reached her hand around in her bag and felt something pointy. Her hand closed around the object and she pulled it out, not expecting at all to see it.
The Arc phone.
It wasn’t her usual phone, like she would’ve guessed. The Arc phone still had it’s Arceus symbol on the back and it’s white case. Dawn turned on the phone, only for it to act like a usual one. She scrolled through some apps, reminding herself of the horrors of social media.
The teenager sighed. She put the object back in her bag and got up from her seat. She reached for the exit of the Pokémon Center.
“Dawn?”
Dawn turned around and saw a boy about the same height as her.
“Hey, Rei.”
“Rei?” The boy said. “Who’s Rei?”
Dawn stared at him for a moment, then smacked her face with her hand. Goddamnit, they look so similar. “Sorry, I mistook you for someone else I know. What’s up, Lucas?”
Lucas shrugged. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing champion things? Like, isn’t that a big deal?”
Dawn shook her head. “Nah. If someone shows up to the league they’ll probably send me an email or something. Nothing’s happened yet and to be frank, I doubt anything will happen any time soon.”
The teenage male nodded. “Huh, ok. Well, have fun? I guess?” He walked past her and left the PMC.
Dawn stared at the floor. I need to remember I’m not in Hisui anymore. It’s such a weird feeling, but I don’t really think it’s something everyone should know about.
Someone popped into Dawn’s head. She had an urge to talk to someone , and she knew exactly who.
_______
Celestic Town
A woman was investigating the ruins inside of the cave in the center of the town. She analyzed the tiny details closely, taking note of anything peculiar or unusual.
Cynthia sighed. She had investigated these ruins far too many times, yet she never could figure out what message lay within it. She had researched Sinnoh’s myths and legends for longer than she could remember, yet this specific spot seemed to be giving her trouble.
The sound of footsteps hitting the stone floor echoed throughout the cave. Cynthia turned to face the source of the noise. She spotted a man, a bit taller than her, glancing at the paintings on the cave walls. His blonde hair was long and tied up, and he wore old-style tunic and trousers.
His focus went from the walls to Cynthia. His eyes widened for a moment, almost as if he was surprised at something.
“What do you know about this place?” He finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. Cynthia looked back at the wall.
“This painting is meant to depict the guardians of Sinnoh’s lakes and it’s deities of space and time.” She pointed to the shapes in the painting.
“ Sinnoh… ” the man echoed. “Oh, my apologies for intruding. I’m not from…around here.” He stepped towards Cynthia. “May I take a closer look at the painting?”
“Of course,” she replied politely. She watched the man inspect the painting. She shuddered at his expression and general aura. Something about this mysterious man didn’t quite…sit right with Cynthia.
“Tell me,” the man said suddenly. “Do you know the names of these Pokémon?” He pointed to the depictions of the lake guardians.
Cynthia nodded. “Of course. These are Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie. And the deities are Dialga and Palkia.” She pointed to each one respectively.
The man looked back at Cynthia. He narrowed his eyes slightly, in a manner that increased Cynthia’s suspicion.
“Dialga and Palkia,” he said. “Do you by chance know where they reside now?”
Cynthia raised her eyebrows. “The champion of the Sinnoh region caught them, and is using them to keep the balance of the universe. She’s a very responsible Pokémon trainer.”
The man nodded once again. “I see. Could you tell me her name?”
“Dawn.” Cynthia’s suspicion grew immensely. She had never met this strange man before, despite knowing practically everyone in the region. The fact that he was asking about legendary Pokémon concerned Cynthia.
“Dawn,” he repeated. “Well, thank you for your answers.” Without another word, the man walked out of the cave. Cynthia followed his path with her eyes until he was out of her sight.
That wasn’t right . She placed her hand on her forehead. That man has something else behind his simple look. I can tell.
The blonde woman walked outside the cave herself. She proceeded toward her grandmother’s home. Suddenly, she caught sight of a Crobat flying into the town from above. She was startled for a moment, then noticed a rider on its back.
The Crobat descended to the ground. It’s rider hopped off and returned it to its Pokeball. Cynthia recognized the small, dark-haired teenager almost immediately.
“Good evening, Dawn,” Cynthia said. “What brings you to Celestic Town?”
Dawn was breathing heavily. “I wanted to talk to you. About…a lot of things.”
Cynthia nodded. “I don’t see why not. Here, we can go to my grandmother’s house.”
The two women walked to the back of the town. Upon entering the house, Cynthia’s grandmother smiled and welcomed Dawn. They sat down at a nearby table.
“Cynthia,” said Dawn, “have you ever heard the name of the past Sinnoh?”
Cynthia shook her head. “I can’t say I have. In all of the myths and legends I’ve read, it’s only ever been referred to as the Sinnoh region.”
Dawn sighed. “Huh. Well, would you believe me if I said I was sent back in time, before Sinnoh was even called Sinnoh?”
Cynthia looked up at Dawn. “Honestly, based on all the events you’ve been through with legendary Pokémon, I wouldn’t be.” She laughed, and then her expression got serious. “What was it like?”
“It’s called the Hisui region,” said Dawn. “There’s no computers or anything modern. Pokeballs had just been invented. And everyone I know from the future seemed to…have an ancestor.”
“Is that so?” The blonde woman tried to imagine someone who would be her ancestor, but the only things she could think of looked stupid. “Do you know why you were sent there?”
Dawn reached for her bag and shuffled around in it. She pulled out a phone of sorts, covered in a white case with a familiar symbol on the back.
“This is the only thing that stayed after I came back to the future. It’s called the Arc phone, so you can probably guess who gave it to me.” Dawn held out the phone to Cynthia, who took it and inspected it.
“It looks like Arceus,” she said. “It was the one that sent you back in time, wasn’t it?”
Dawn nodded. “And back here. Though I can’t determine why.”
Cynthia turned the object on. “It acts like a normal phone,” she observed. She scrolled through the apps, looking for anything out of the ordinary. “Oh!”
“What?” Dawn rose from her seat and went behind Cynthia. The screen was golden. Ancient-style letters appeared on the screen.
“Break the Solar Flow,” Cynthia read aloud. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the letters again.
Dawn tilted her head to the side. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Cynthia shrugged in response. “Do you usually get cryptic messages that take over the screen?”
“I mean,” said Dawn, “I guess a message appeared there when I first got it saying ‘seek out all Pokémon’. But I’ve never seen this one before.”
Cynthia looked to the side. She thought about each word in the message, trying to figure out what the goal of it was. Break the Solar Flow. What exactly is the solar flow? Is it Earth’s rotation around the sun or something? Is it the sun’s reflection on the moon?
“I’m gonna look into this,” the taller woman said. “Let me know if anything else pops up.” She handed the phone back to Dawn.
Dawn nodded. “You got it.” She put the Arc phone back in her back and headed towards the door. “Thanks for talking with me.”
“Any time,” Cynthia replied.
_
Passageway to Route 211
A very tall, blonde man entered the passageway between Celestic Town and Route 211. He glanced at the route guard, who was staring at their smartphone. He approached the guard, who looked up from their device.
“Can I help you?” they asked with a somewhat shaky voice.
The tall man nodded. “Could you tell me,” he replied slowly, “where the champion of the Sinnoh region lives?” He loomed over the route guard, who was staring at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Twinleaf Town,” they said. “The furthest house in the back, I think. If I remember correctly.”
The blonde nodded, then proceeded to the exit of the passageway. “Thank you. I’d like to pay her a visit.”
The route guard kept their eyebrow raised. They stared at the man as he closed the door and left the passageway. Something about that man didn’t seem correct to them.
The blonde man walked quietly through the route, and a smug grin spread across his face.